The Filly with the Purest Heart

by ZachWebbEX

Rating: mature
Tags: Original Character, Mystery, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Suicide / Self Harm, Horror, Violence, Diamond Tiara, Death, Main 6, Drama, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Silver Spoon
Length: 40809

During the Cutie Mark Crusader's zany outings to acquire their cutie marks, strange and frightening occurrences begin to plague the inhabitants of Ponyville. What started as a simple quest for their cutie marks will now become something much more.

Scootaloo decides to tell her friends about her latest idea to acquire a cutie mark. Cutie Mark Crusaders Treasure Hunters. Yay! Although Applebloom seems a little apprehensive about it, Sweetie Belle assures her that this latest adventure will be a successful one indeed. Scootaloo plans to search for a rare artifact around Fluttershy's cottage, just outside of the view of the Everfree, having taken inspiration from reading the Daring Do novels. Although Applebloom has her doubts, she and Sweetie Belle decide to embark on this latest outing with Scootaloo, and they proclaim that they will get their cutie marks at last.

However, Diamond Tiara overhears their latest plan, and with an attempt to cause them more pain, discovers that two of the three crusaders do not actually dislike her. How will she respond to this? What will she tell Silver Spoon? Will she be able to put her feelings of resentment towards the crusaders aside, and finally admit to them what she has been thinking all of this time.

Amidst all of these rather innocent events, a series of disturbing and strange occurrences begin to effect the inhabitants of Ponyville, and the events to follow will begin to reveal to the crusaders that their destiny is far more grand than simply obtaining a cutie mark.

Published 2019-12-13 04:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-01-10 06:59:07 UTC

Chapter 1: An Amusing School Day

It was only three weeks before Nightmare Night, and the leaves of all of the trees around Sweet Apple Acres had already began to change colors. The date was Tuesday, and Applebloom had just woken up. She hopped out of her bed and looked around her room briefly.

“Sheesh, another mornin’ of school, I am already looking forward to the weekend.” said the distraught filly as she wondered into the upstairs bathroom of the Apple Family House to wash her face.

Applejack was in the kitchen downstairs preparing breakfast for herself and Applebloom. She had heard her little sister’s hoofsteps upstairs and knew that she was awake by this time.

“That girl always wakes up about as graceful as a pig sliding on Blueberry syrup.” laughed Applejack with a wide grin. She had thought what she said was rather humorous, even by her standards.

Applebloom had finally finished her business in the upstairs bathroom, and had begun to descend the stairs towards the feint smell of apple fritter waffles, her mouth watering all the while.

“Oh boy, mah big sis’ must have done finished breakfast, no need to keep the food a-waitin’!” thought the filly to herself as she started to run towards the kitchen. Applejack noticed her enter the kitchen and take a seat at the table in the center of the room.

“Howdy sis, I have finished your breakfast, be sure to eat up, and don’t forget your saddlebag, don’t want to leave it here like yesterday.” said Applejack warmly as she placed the plate of apple fritter waffles in from of her little sister.

“Thanks Applejack, I won’t forget mah saddlebag this time.” said Applebloom as she began to eat her meal.

“Just be glad that BigMac had brought it to you during recess, he found it in front of your bedroom door yesterday morning.” said Applejack.

“I had already thanked him, it must have fallen off of mah self while I was leaving for school yesterday.” said the filly as she finished up the waffles.

“That sure was good sis, I got to head out to school now, I will see you when I get back!” said Applebloom as she left the table and gave her sister a little rub on her muzzle.

“Be careful sugarcube, and have a good day!” said the orange farm pony happily as she waved her sister goodbye.

“Hopefully they will meet up with me before I arrive at school, the morning walks are always more entertainin’ with them around.” thought Applebloom to herself as she exited the entrance of the farm.

She then proceeded to walk up the road to the left of the farm entrance, and before too long, made it to the outskirts of Ponyville where she knew the rest of the way like the back of her hoof.

“Just a little further, and we can get this day started, this plane old day.” sighed the filly to herself as she began to walk through the main square of town.

As she continued to trot through the main square, she passed Sugarcube Corner and her eyes noticed the selection of baked goods displayed in cases that sat in front of the windows. She could not see anypony she recognized around her immediate vicinity, but she knew that Pinkie Pie was already in the kitchen of the bakery, and making a wonderful batch of goods for the day. A little while longer, and before Applebloom knew it, she could see the schoolhouse and the playground in the front yard right ahead.

“Almost there, at least this time I did not forget mah darn saddlebag.” thought Applebloom to herself as she continued to trot at a comfortable pace towards the school.

“I don’t see Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle yet, they must already be in class, I guess.” said the filly to herself quietly as she approached the open gate that led into the playground.

She saw several of her classmates running and playing around her, as it was still ten minutes before class was to officialy start. Still, no sight of her two friends as she decided to head into the school building to see if they were already at their desks. Before she could even enter through the door, she heard somepony approach her from behind. She turned around, and upon seeing who it was, she let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes.

“If it isn’t the resident blank flank here again this morning.” said Diamond Tiara towards her favorite pony to tease. She made sure to use a mocking tone when she exclaimed this.

“Don’t you ever get tired of sayin’ the same thing each mornin’ Diamond?” asked Applebloom as her ears fell to the sides of her face.

“Oh come on, it never gets old, and your reaction is hilarious every time.” said Diamond Tiara, chuckling to herself.

Applebloom rolled her eyes again, but immediately noticed that her usual compatriot was not at her side this morning.

“Where is Silver Spoon, she is always by your side in the mornin’, is she already in class?” asked Applebloom, with curiosity.

“Oh, that is a good question blanky, she has not showed up yet, maybe she is just running a bit late.” said Diamond Tiara, still chuckling at the names she was calling the filly in front of her.

“Blanky, that’s a new one, look, class is about to start, I gotta go!” said Applebloom with haste as she trotted quickly towards the classroom door.

“Hey, don’t run away, are ya scared?” said Diamond Tiara in her usual sarcastic tone as she watched Applebloom run down the hallway towards the classroom.

“Hmm, there is no reason to get too upset with her, those silly names she manages to come up with when she tries to insult me, they are actually kinda cute, hehe.” laughed the filly to herself as she approached the classroom door.

The door was always open at this time of day, once the teacher was sure that every foal had arrived for the morning, she would close the door and begin the lesson for the morning. As Applebloom arrived inside the classroom, she saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sitting at their usual spots, whispering to each other and giggling every so often. This brought a smile to Applebloom as she approached them.

“There ya two are, I am glad to see ya, I had another runnin’ in with Diamond again.” said the filly as she sat at the desk behind her two friends.

“Aww, hi Applebloom, I am sorry we were not outside to greet you, but Scootaloo had a secret to tell me, and she wanted to do it in the classroom, where not many ponies could hear us.” said Sweetie Belle with a smile towards her friend.

“That’s okay Sweetie Belle, but what kind of secret could Scootaloo have for you?” asked Applebloom as she turned her attention to her purple-maned pegasus friend.

“Well, it would not be much of a secret if I told you.” giggled Scootaloo to herself as she turned around to look at Applebloom.

“Hey, you mean you are not goin’ to tell me, why not?” asked Applebloom with a frown forming on her muzzle.

“Oh don’t get sad Applebloom, I will tell you after class, I never liked letting all of my friends know my secret at the same time, it is better to build suspension, besides I would have told you first if, you know, you were here.” said Scootaloo as she smiled at both of her friends.

“Okay, I guess, but make sure ya tell me right after class.” said Applebloom towards Scootaloo.

“I will do one even better, I will tell you at recess.” said Scootaloo with a sneaky grin.

“Hey, that sounds even better!” said Applebloom happily.

“Ms. Cheerilee is here, let’s talk about this later, we don’t want to get in trouble for talking in class now.” said Sweetie Belle to her friends.

The clock above the chalk board had indeed shown that it was now time for class to begin, as their teacher had entered the room, and closed the door right behind her.

“Alright class, I assume everypony who was going to show up today already has, so let’s turn our attention to the front of the room okay?” asked the teacher with a gentle tone to her voice. All of the foals in the room did as she said, and Cheerilee trotted to her desk as she glanced over which of her students were present today.

“I see Silver Spoon is not here today, have you heard from her Diamond Tiara?” asked Cheerilee with curiosity.

“Umm, no, come to think of it, I have not heard from her today, I guess something came up that she did not tell me about.” said Diamond Tiara to her teacher.

“I see, well, everypony else is here today, so let’s go ahead and go over the lesson from yesterday in a bit more detail now.” said the chipper teacher as she started to draw some math problems on the chalkboard.

“Oh boy, wherever you are right now Spoony, I wish I was there with you.” thought Silver Spoon with disdain over having to be at school without her best friend.

Within a few hours, the bell rang, alerting everypony that it was now time for recess.

“Okay everypony, be careful on the playground and try not to wonder out okay?” asked Cheerilee as she opened the classroom door and allowed her students to trot towards the playground. All of the ponies journeyed calmly towards the front door of the school house, with Applebloom and her friends in the back.

“Alright Scootaloo, as soon as we get outside, ya got to tell me that secret, you did say that once recess began, you would.” said Applebloom as she walked beside the young pegasus.

“Yeah, I know, let’s go sit beside the water fountain, I will tell you there.” said Scootaloo as the three fillies raced towards the water fountain in the middle of the playground.

“Alright, you are going to be so happy once you hear this Applebloom!” said Sweetie Belle with a joyful tone as the three foals sat right around the beautiful cobblestone water fountain.

“I sure am excited, now, spit it out already girl!” said Applebloom with anticipation.

“Okay, well, uhh....” began Scootaloo, before finally finding the words she was trying to articulate towards her curious friend.

“I have came up with a new way that we can try and get our cutie marks, see.” said Scootaloo with joy building up around her whole being.

“That just sound like every other plan ya have, Scoots, how is that a secret?” asked Applebloom with a slight hint of disappointment to her voice.

“No, wait, she has not got to the best part.” said Sweetie Belle as Scootaloo continued her explanation.

“You see, I had borrowed a few Daring Do novels from Dash, and having read some, I saw how fun it was whenever the main character had to find a secret artifact.” said Scootaloo.

“Hmm, are you suggesting what ah thank you are?” asked Applebloom with more interest in her tone.

“She sure is, we are going to be Cutie Mark Secret Treasure Hunters!” said Sweetie Belle with laughter as she hoof-bumped Scootaloo.

“Huh, that does sound pretty darn interestin’, maybe we can come up with an idea of what it is we are looking for.” said Applebloom as she looked towards her two friends.

“I have not thought of that yet, I was more thinking that we just look around, ummm, say, Fluttershy’s cottage, yeah, I bet we can find some kind of treasure there.” said Scootaloo trying her best to come up with an idea.

“Isn’t that awfully close to the Everfree?” asked Applebloom with a tint of nervousness about her.

“Well, yeah, but if we let Fluttershy know that we are there, she can watch us, or maybe even help us find some treasure, that way, it will make it easier to get our treasure hunting cutie marks!” said Scootaloo to her two friends.

“That sounds like a stupid idea, humph.” said Diamond Tiara as she snooped in the conversation, revealing herself from behind the other side of the water fountain.

“Hey, nobody asked you, if ya think it sounds stupid, then mind your own business.” said Scootaloo with a tone of annoyance.

“Aw, no need to be so hostile Scootaloo, I was just being honest, I mean, how many times have you three blank flanks tried to do something overly-spectacular, only to come up empty in the end?” asked Diamond with a pragmatic tone.

“Alright girls, lets try to be cordial here.” said Sweetie Belle as she looked over to Applebloom with a look of concern.

“Oh, trust me, I am not jealous of your little crusader activities, honestly, I pity you three, wasting time doing useless things instead of trying to figure out your actual talent.” said Diamond with a stuck-up poise about her.

“That’s it, if you don’t like the way we do things, then just get out of here, the only reason you are bothering us right now is because Silver Spoon is not here to keep you company.” said Scootaloo, who by this point, was beginning to get even more frustrated.

“Yeah, I wish she was here to keep me company, better than three idiots like yourselves!” shouted Diamond Tiara as she got right up into Scootaloo’s face.

“Okay, that does it, I’ve all the presence of mind to kick your flank silly right here!” yelled Scootaloo right into the face of the prissy pony.

“Yeah, I would like to see you try it.” proclaimed Diamond Tiara as she was not showing any signs of fear.

“Girls, please, Ms. Cheerilee will hear us, and then we will all get into trouble.” said Sweetie Belle with a look of worry.

“Don’t worry about me Sweetie Belle, the only pony who needs to be worried is Diamond.” said Scootaloo with a hint of laughter.

“Trust me Scootaloo, you do not want this, a blank flank like yourself has no right in putting a hoof on an elite like me!” said Diamond Tiara with a fierce tone towards the pegasus.

“Alright, that is enough, both of you stop this instance, ya hear!” yelled Applebloom as she used each of her forehooves to separate Diamond and Scootaloo from each other. She continued on.

“If you get into trouble Scootaloo, then you may not get to come with us for the treasure hunt.” said Applebloom to her friend.

With these words in her mind, Scootaloo started to calm down, but she still turned her head away from Diamond Tiara.

“Hehehe, of course the little winged blank flank needs one of her blank flank friends to help her.” said Diamond with a tone of resentment as she started to trot the other way.

“Umm, hey Diamond, I know that Silver Spoon is not here, but if you want, you can ask her if she would like to join you in helpin’ us find some secret treasure.” said Applebloom out of the blue.

“What?” asked Scootaloo as she looked at Sweetie Belle with a look of confusion.

“Do you got something you want to say to me too, Blanky?” asked Diamond as she trotted back over towards Applebloom and stuck her face right into the face of the Red-Bow haired filly.

“Hey, don’t let Diamond Tiara do that to you Applebloom, show her who is boss!” said Scootaloo as she looked towards her friend with concern.

“If Silver Spoon is up to it, then would you two like to come along with us, looking for treasure can be real fun, and I am tired of all of this fighting anyway.” said Applebloom with a calm poise to her voice that made her two friends stare at her in schock. Diamond Tiara moved herself away from Applebloom, and could only stare with a look of confusion herself towards her enemy.

“Applebloom, what the hey are you thinking, if you are trying to pull a prank on Diamond, then good job.” said Scootaloo as she stood beside Applebloom.

“This is not a prank Scootaloo, I am just sick of this fightin’ and stuff, I do not hate Diamond Tiara or her friend, even if they hate us, it is not right to hate anypony.” said Applebloom, with a carefree smile.

“I’m not going to even ask right now, we can worry about this later, recess is almost over anyway, and I was wanting us to go to Fluttershy’s cottage after school anyway.” said Scootaloo as she started to trot briskly towards the school building.

“Umm, yeah, the offer from Applebloom is still open Diamond, if you and Silver Spoon want to come with us, you can, and if you don’t, well.... Umm.... Then you don’t have to I guess.” said Sweetie Belle with a look of sadness as she stared towards the ground.

“Sweetie Belle, you are approving of what I said?” asked Applebloom as she looked towards her pure white coated friend.

“I agree with you, even if Scootaloo doesn’t, all of this fighting is pointless, I don’t even hate Diamond or Silver Spoon.” said Sweetie Belle as she turned towards the tiara-clad pony with a warm smile, the same as Applebloom’s.

“I... Don’t, what, no...!” mumbled Diamond Tiara to herself as she was unsure how to respond to this. She managed to utter another semblance of words towards the two ponies, who despite being her frequent victims, have decided to extend a kind gesture towards her.

“No, just.. Don’t speak to me anymore right now, please just leave me alone.” said Diamond Tiara as she shed a tear from her right eye and walked back towards the class room.

“Huh, she seems to be deep in thought, let’s leave her alone and go back to class and join Scootaloo.” said Sweetie Belle as she and Applebloom ran back towards the classroom just as recess ended.

The rest of the school day went on as normal, and as the school bell started to ring, Ms. Cheerilee started to let her students out of the door to exit the building.

“Have a great day everypony, I will see you all tomorrow, be careful and kind to each other, and remember to do your homework!” said the teacher with a joyful expression on her face as she watched all of her students exit the room. She noticed that Diamond Tiara was slow to get up out of her desk and leave, and when she had began to exit the room, a look of confusion was all upon her face.

“Diamond Tiara, are you alright sweetie, is there something bothering you?” asked the concerned teacher as she looked at Diamond Tiara right in the eyes.

“No... Nothing.. Is.. Wrong.” said Diamond Tiara with a slow and silent tone about herself.

“Okay, if you say so, see you tomorrow right?” asked Cheerilee with a more positive vibe around her now.

“Um, yeah, see you tomorrow Ms. Cheerilee.” said Diamond Tiara, who despite what she experienced earlier, was still trying to fake a positive response to the teacher.

Cheerilee waved her student goodbye as Diamond Tiara walked outside of the school house and out into the playground exit, where the road to Ponyville was. She saw the three fillies that she enjoyed torturing so much just a few feet in front of her. They seemed to be all heading to their respective homes. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo waved at Applebloom as each of the two fillies ran off in the directions of their homes, with Applebloom staying on the same road that she knew lead to her family’s farm.

Once she saw that Applebloom was alone, Diamond Tiara made a slow advancement towards the unsuspecting filly and managed to match her pace, now trotting along side her.

“Oh, Diamond Tiara, what are you doing here, your house is off in that direction.” said Applebloom with a confused, yet warm tone to her voice.

“Tell me what is really going on here, you no good blank flank, what kind of trick is this, I am not going to fall for one from a stupid pony like you!” said Diamond Tiara as she looked at Applebloom with hate in her eyes.

Applebloom could only stare at Diamond Tiara with a shocked expression on her face, but did finally manage to say something to the infuriated pony.

“I am not mad at you Diamond, nor am I trying to prank you, I just want to get to know you, and your friend Silver Spoon.” said the little yellow filly with a soft and pleasant look to her face,

“I, just don’t understand you, I... I... Don’t understand you.” said Diamond Tiara as she slowly started to back away from Applebloom, before slowly trotting towards the direction of Silver Spoon’s house.

“That’s okay Diamond, maybe one day we can understand each other.” said the little yellow filly as she ran back towards her family’s farm with a peaceful smile and comforting eyes on her face.

Diamond Tiara had arrived in the vicinity of her friend Silver Spoon’s house.

“Applebloom, why did you say those thing to me, why then, why now, oh my, what have I done?” asked Diamond Tiara to herself as she began to feel some guilt in her heart.

She approached the door to her friend’s house, with a single tear falling from her eye, and began to knock on the door.

Chapter 2: A True Friend's Love

After finishing her conversation with a confused Diamond Tiara, Applebloom continued her trek to Sweet Apple Acres. She was anticipating going to the clubhouse late in the day and meeting her friends there. She had to admit to herself that the idea that Scootaloo came up with to get their cutie marks sounded like an exciting time to say the least. She hurried along through Ponyville and before too long, she had began to see the wooden fence that surrounded the family owned farm.

“This day promises to be an excitin’ one for sure, but boy am I hungry tho’.” said Applebloom as she raced towards her house, making sure to keep track of her saddlebag this time. She did not want to loose it again after what had happened yesterday.

Applejack was finishing up raking the leaves that had fallen around the house, and had placed them in several piles around the area. She was in the process of putting the piles of leaves into plastic bags when she noticed her little sister running towards her, the little filly sporting a smile across her face.

“There you are sugarcube, how was school today?” asked Applejack as Applebloom trotted up to her.

“Oh, it was okay, Scootaloo has came up with a new way that we can get our cutie marks!” said Applebloom.

“I see, well, go ahead and put your saddlebag in your room and I will make lunch for ya, and then you can tell me all about your day.” said Applejack with a gentle tone.

“Alright, I will see ya in a moment sis.” said Applebloom as she ran into her house and began to trot up to her room to unpack.

After taking care of her brief business, Applebloom returned to the kitchen where Applejack was trying to find the right meal to make her little sister happy.

“There ya are lil’ sis, what would you like to have for lunch, yer choice darlin’.” said Applejack as she turned around to face her sister.

“Oh, just a few tomato sandwiches and some hay fries, if that is okay.” said Applebloom modestly. She sat down in the same seat she used that morning for breakfast, and looked around the kitchen, noticing that Applejack had made a lot of apple preservatives and had placed them in jars beside the sink.

“Alright, two tomato sandwiches and hay fires comin’ right up.” said Applejack as she prepared Applebloom’s meal.

“Scootaloo wants us to try our hooves at being treasure hunters.” said Applebloom abruptly to her sister, as she finished preparing her meal.

“Treasure hunters, well, that sounds interesting.” said Applejack as she laid the two plates containing the sandwiches and fries in front of her sister.

“Yep, she said she got the idea from a Daring Do novel that she had borrowed from Rainbow Dash, and she is convinced that we can find something.” said Applebloom as she began to eat her lunch.

“She is always the impressionable one huh?” asked Applejack with a smile as she sat at the chair adjacent to Applebloom.

“Yeah, I guess, but you never know, it might just work.” said Applebloom.

“Where exactly does she plan on looking for treasure, did she tell you?” asked Applejack with curiosity.

“Oh, well... You see.” began Applebloom before her sister interrupted her.

“Somewhere dangerous right, knowing that silly little filly, she probably wants to go to the Everfree to try and find this treasure.” said Applejack as she began to giggle slightly.

“Umm, not the Everfree exactly sis, she wants to go to Fluttershy’s house and ask her if she wants us to search for treasure, at least I think.” said Applebloom trying to remember the exact details that Scootaloo had briefly spoken on earlier.

“Well, just be safe lil’ lady, and if you go near Fluttershy’s house, do make sure you ask her if it is okay first, she may be busy today after all.” said Applejack as she walked over and gave her sister a little kiss on her cheek.

“Aw, don’t worry sis’, I will make sure that we stay out of trouble, I am not in the mood to do any dangerous thing today anyhow.” said Applebloom as she began to put her dishes into the sink before heading out of the door.

“I take it you are going to the clubhouse right, to wait on yer’ friends?” asked Applejack.

“Yeah, they should be there anytime, I will be sure to tell Scootaloo that we need to be careful okay?” said Applebloom.

“Alright, take care then hun, see ya later.” said Applejack as she waved her sister goodbye.

Applebloom then exited her house, and began to trot at a brisk pace towards the clubhouse that was not too far away from her family’s farm.

“I hope Scootaloo will listen to reason, then again, maybe she plans on being careful this time around.” said Applebloom with a giggle as she got closer to the clubhouse.

Diamond Tiara had arrived at her friend’s house. The events with Applebloom just a short while ago continued to be on her mind. She was able to pull herself from thinking of those words that Applebloom told her for a short while as she began to knock on the front door of Silver Spoon’s Three story mansion. For about two minutes, there was no response, at least not one that Diamond Tiara immediately registered, and she began to get slightly worried.

“Huh, is she out with her parent’s right now..what is up?” asked the confused filly to herself.

After nearly three minutes of waiting in front of the door, she finally heard a muffled voice and the sound of hooves trotting down wooden steps.

“Hold on, I’m coming, sheesh!” yelled an exasperated voice as it approached closer to the door.

“She does not sound very pleased, what could have happened?” asked Diamond Tiara to herself with worry.

The silver-coated filly had finally unlocked the front door and opened it. Although on her way to open the door, she had a rather sour expression on her face, upon seeing who it was on the other side, she immediately beamed with a shining smile.

“Oh, Diamond Tiara, I did not think you would be here today, this is a rather nice surprise for sure.” said Silver Spoon.

“Spoony, I am glad to see you, why were you not at school today, and is your parents home?” asked Diamond Tiara as she approached Silver Spoon to give her a hug.

“Watch out darling, I have a cold right now, and I do not want you to get it as well.” said Silver Spoon as she appeared to try and hold back a cough just now.

“I guess that explains why you were not at school today, hehe, oh well.” said Diamond as she backed up slightly from her friend.

“As to the question of my parent’s whereabouts, they are out of town as usual, they both had to attend some stupid meeting about relegating the financial disputed up in Baltimare or something.” said Silver Spoon with a tone of annoyance as she turned to the side of the front door to allow her friend to come in.

“That sucks, they are never around for you, I hate that you have to be alone so much.” said Diamond Tiara with a tone of anger in her voice as she sat on one of the three couches in the main living room of the mansion.

“I get used to it, besides, they have never been ones to show affection anyway, I have been basically forced to raise myself for the past three years due to them having to be out of town so much.” said Silver Spoon as she closed the front door and began to trot over to a rocking chair that sat straight across from the couch that Diamond Tiara had sat on.

“So, what brings you here today Diamond?” asked Silver Spoon as she picked up a tissue out of a box sitting on the table next to her. She rubbed her muzzle before sneezing again. She then made sure to throw it into the garbage can on the opposite side of the rocking chair immediately after.

“It’s about those stupid, classless, insufferable blank flanks!” said Silver Spoon with a new tone of annoyance in her voice as she leaned further back into the couch that she had just began to get comfortable in.

“Oh, them again, right.” said Silver Spoon before she continued.

“What did they do this time, spill something unsavory around you, display rather bad manners again, or were they just plain annoying again?” asked Silver Spoon as she picked up a glass of tea off of the table beside her.

“Aw, where are my manners, would you like some tea Diamond, I had just prepared a nice warm batch minutes before you arrived.” said Silver Spoon with a kind gesture towards her friend.

“You are sick, I will make it myself, oh and thanks for the offer..just take it easy and I will be right back.” said Diamond Tiara as she waved at her friend and walked into Silver Spoon’s kitchen where she saw a tea kettle and a few cups beside it sitting on the stove.

After preparing her tea, she hurried back to speak to her friend about the events that had transpired that day. She still had a spell of confusion waver in her mind up until this point, and she figured if she told somepony about it, the feeling would undoubtedly disappear.

“Alright, whenever you feel ready to talk to me, go ahead.” said Silver Spoon with a calm tone towards her friend.

“Thanks.” said Diamond Tiara. She then continued to speak about the events of the day.

“I overheard those stupid fillies and the plans that they had for getting their stupid cutie marks, and when I decided to break the news to them about how foolish an idea that it was, Scootaloo got pretty fed up with me.” said Diamond Tiara to her friend.

“That sounds like her, that pegasus is always high strung about something, I think she is the most annoying pony in all of Ponyville.” said Silver Spoon with a chuckle as she sneezed again.

“Yeah, and if it was just that, then I would have no problem with what those blank flanks said.” spoke Diamond Tiara as she had to re-focus herself again.

“What, did the other two crusaders gang up on you too since I was not there, if so then how cowardly of them.” said Silver Spoon as she started to get a slight hint of anger in her voice at the prospect that her friend could have been hurt.

“No, that is not what happened at all, Applebloom tried to break up the fight between me and that stupid pegasus, and she did not even seem to be mad at me.” said Diamond Tiara with confusion as she took a sip of her warm tea.

“What, huh?” asked Silver Spoon who had just finished her own tea, a look of surprise stirring over her brow.

“Yeah, and even Sweetie Belle was trying to treat me nice, only Scootaloo herself was being rude to me, it’s funny... I kind of appreciated Scootaloo’s honest disdain towards me, at least her behavior today made sense.” said Diamond.

“It sounds to me like they may be trying to prank you into lowering your guard, Tiara.” said Silver Spoon cautiously as she pointed one of her forehooves at her friend.

“I thought so too, so after class, I decided to confront Applebloom herself about it, but not only did she still insist on being friendly, she even said she wanted to get to know me and you.” said Diamond Tiara as she looked down towards the floor with a small hint of sadness.

“What a freak, wanting to know more about us, despite all of the stuff that we do to them, now I am sure that this has to be some kind of joke.” said Silver Spoon who was still trying her best to understand what her friend was telling her.

“No, call me crazy, but she honestly seemed to be sincere about it, and... Umm... Did you really have to call her a freak?” asked Diamond Tiara as she could not help but feel bad after hearing her friend call Applebloom a freak,

“What, Tiara, you actually believe her, I mean come on, you have said worse things about her in the past after all.” said Silver Spoon with even more confusion running through her mind.

“I know Silver Spoon, maybe you are right, she was probably trying to get me to perform something so unbecoming of myself as to lower my guard and feel vulnerable around her.” said Diamond Tiara as she had finished her own tea.

“See, now you are acting like yourself again Tiara, those fillies are no doubt mad at us for the way we treat them, and they are only trying to get back at us by trying to play with our minds.” said Silver Spoon as she picked up another tissue and rubbed her muzzle gently with it.

“You may be right, but at the same time Spoony, why do we honestly treat them like that for, what have they really done to us?” asked Diamond as she got off of the couch and started to ponder some of her actions towards the crusaders.

“What?” asked Silver Spoon with an even more bewildered tone than before.

“I mean why are we always so rude to them anyway, I never really thought about it until this day, I guess the conversation with Applebloom made me think about this more.” said Diamond Tiara as she walked over to Silver Spoon and place a hoof gently on her shoulder.

“I don’t know Tiara, I only ever followed in your lead, since you did not seem to care for them that much, I always assumed that they did something bad to you in the past, that is all.” said Silver Spoon as she returned the gesture and placed her own forehoof onto her friends face.

“Well, that is the thing, none of them ever truly did anything to me, for as long as I have known them, I do not know why I am resentful towards them.” said Diamond Tiara as she removed her hoof from her friend’s shoulder and walked a short distance away.

“Look Tiara, this is obviously upsetting you right now, let’s take our minds off of it for a while and go to my room, maybe we can solve some more of those crossword puzzles if you would like too.” said Silver Spoon with a gentle tone to her friend.

“I think I would like that Spoony, I think I would like that a lot.” said Diamond Tiara with the same gentle voice as the two fillies walked upstairs to Silver Spoon’s room.

As the two friends approached Silver Spoon’s room on the third floor of the mansion, Diamond Tiara suddenly spoke up, surprising the young silver-coated filly.

“I almost forgot, but this is the funniest thing ever.” said Diamond Tiara chuckling to herself.

“What is it Tiara?” asked Silver Spoon as she opened the door to her room.

“Applebloom and Sweetie Belle actually invited us to join them on that stupid treasure hunt, what do you think of that?” asked Diamond Tiara.

“Really, well forget about it, I am sick right now anyway, so let’s just hang out in my room for a while, okay?” asked Silver Spoon as the two fillies sat on the rug in the middle of the bedroom.

“Yeah, forget I said anything.” proclaimed Diamond Tiara with an almost subtle somberness to her voice.

Applebloom had finally arrived at the staircase that led to the entrance of the clubhouse. She decided to enter the clubhouse to see if her friends have arrived.

“I wonder if they are already here?” asked the filly to herself as she entered the clubhouse.

There were many sheets of paper posted on the bulletin board, each paper which had words scribbled upon them depicting one of the crusader’s many schemes to acquire their cutie marks. Almost all of the sheets of paper had large red marks crossed over them, suggesting that those past schemes did not work.

“Heh, I wonder if this latest adventure will also warrant a red x mark on it too?” laughed Applebloom to herself as she noticed that her friends have not yet arrived.

“So they are not here yet eh, I guess I should just wait here until they show up.” thought Applebloom to herself as she took a seat at the round table that adorned the center of the clubhouse.

After what felt like twenty minutes of waiting, Appleboom finally heard faint hoofsteps outside the clubhouse and quickly got off of her seat to open the club house door. When she looked down towards the bottom of the staircase, she saw Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo trotting towards it.

“Girls, you made it, I was beginnin’ to think that you would not show up!” said Applebloom with a look of joy.

“Oh about that, I had to help Rarity with a dress real quick, she wanted to know what I thought about it, and you know how that goes.” said Sweetie Belle with a sigh.

“Yeah, and I had to pack some stuff that we would need into my saddlebag here, it turns out that you need a lot of gear for treasure hunting, who would have thought,” said Scootaloo as she had her saddlebag strapped around her.

“Let’s come inside, we can discuss the plan in here.” said Applebloom as her two friends ascended the stairs and entered the club house.

“That bag sure does look awfully heavy Scoots, are you sure that we will need this much luggage for our treasure hunt?” asked Applebloom as she looked at how full the saddlebag seemed to be.

“Trust me Applebloom, we will need every bit of it, Daring Do was always prepared for her adventures, and I figured that we should be as well.” said Scootaloo as she took her saddlebag off and sat it on top of the round table.

“I didn’t really bring anything, I figured you would have that covered Scootaloo.” said Sweetie Belle as she took a seat at the round table.

“That’s fine, I wasn’t really clear about that part anyway, you two don’t need to bring anything, as long as you are here, that is all that matters.” said Scootaloo as she sat between her two friends.

“Aww shucks, Scootaloo, that’s nice.” said Applebloom with a smile.

“Now, before we begin to go over the plans for the day, I need to ask you girls a question.” said Scootaloo as her tone changed to a more serious one.

“Oh, okay, what is on your mind?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“About what happened with Diamond Tiara today, what was that all about.” said Scootaloo as she looked at both of her friends with a confused look draped across her face.

“Huh, about that Scoots, I was serious, we do not need to be fightin’ all the time, it just felt like a waste.” said Applebloom to her friend.

“What do you mean, she was the one who started it, she did not have to butt in if she did not have anything nice to say.” said Scootaloo with an annoyed expression.

“I know, but that is just how she is right now, and you getting mad at her will not help things.” said Applebloom with a calm tone.

“So what, we should just try and be nice to her while she bullies us, that does not sound like something that makes sense to me at all.” said Scootaloo as she turned to Sweetie Belle.

“You agree with me right Sweetie, there is no reason to be nice to Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, it’s not like they care about us anyway.” said Scootaloo trying to reason with her friend.

“I don’t know Scootaloo, I was confused at the time, but the way Applebloom was handling it compared to you seemed to make more sense to me.” said Sweetie Belle in response.

“What, so are you two just going to leave me hanging then, is that how it is?” asked Scootaloo as she began to have a hurt look on her face.

“No Scootaloo, you know I love you and Sweetie like sisters, I would never leave you alone, I really do care about you.” said Applebloom as she placed her right forehoof onto the distraught pegasus’ face.

“Yeah Scootaloo, I feel the same way, we did not act that way today to be mean to you, we were just trying to go about it a different way, I guess.” said Sweetie Belle as she sounded unsure of how to properly respond.

“Huh, well I don’t know what you two are trying to pull here, but I will never accept those two stuck up fillies as friends, not after the time that they teased me for not having parents.” said Scootaloo with a tear starting to fall down her left cheek.

“They did what?” asked Sweetie Belle with a shocked look on her face.

“Yeah, it really hurt, and I can never forgive them for that, what right do they have to judge me for something like that, they don’t understand the struggles that I go through, and they just ignorantly tease me because of it.” cried Scootaloo as her face fell between her hooves. She began to sob quietly into the round table as her two friends looked upon her with concern.

“That does sound like a bad thing to do, and you are right Scootaloo, if you really do not like them, then it would not be right fer me to try and convince ya’ otherwise, but I think the best thing we can do right now is talk to Diamond Tiara about it.” said Applebloom as she began to gently stroke her crying friend’s mane.

“No, I don’t care about them, I don’t want to understand them, I HATE THEM!!!” yelled Scootaloo as she started to sob even more.

“I know it hurts Scootaloo, but don’t let that make you feel bad, just know that you are an awesome pony and that nothing anypony says can ever change that.” said Sweetie Belle as she gave Scootaloo a tight, yet gentle hug.

“Thank you girls, you are right, I cannot let this ruin my day, as much as I hate those two, it is not right to let these feelings ruin me right now, we have a fun day still awaiting us.” said Scootaloo as she placed her face up from her hooves and wiped her tears away.

“There, there, that’s it, just relax Scoots, we both love you, and we always will.” said Applebloom as she joined Sweetie Belle in giving Scootaloo a warm embrace.

“Oh thank you girls, I love you too, a pony could not ask for better friends, no family.” said Scootaloo as she now began to shed tears of happiness.

“We will always be your family Scootaloo, until the end of time, I swear it by the honor of my name.” said Sweetie Belle as she also began to cry.

“No matter what might come up between us, we must never leave each other feeling sad, it is our responsibility to look after each other.” said Applebloom as she continued to hug Scootaloo tightly.

“We must learn to share this love with not just ourselves, but everypony around us, no matter how bad they might seem, I just cannot bring myself to hate another pony.” continued on Applebloom as she released Scootaloo from her loving embrace.

“You are right Applebloom, hating another pony only makes me feel sad too, to show love even in the face of hate is the only way for me to truly be happy.” said Sweetie Belle as she moved her hooves onto Scootaloo’s face, and gently turned the pegasus’ head to meet her own.

“Our love for you will know no bounds Scootaloo, just know that whenever you feel down, and never forget that.” said Sweetie Belle as she gently rubbed her muzzle against Scootaloo’s cheek.

“Thank you girls, I love you both, I really do love you both.” said the young pegasus with tears of joy covering her cheeks.

“Now let’s forget about all of the bad stuff right now, and let’s go have us a Cutie Mark Crusader’s Treasure Hunt!” yelled Applebloom with absolute glee as a wide, peaceful smile covered her face.

“Yeah, I like the sound of that.” said Scootaloo quietly as she began to feel the love around her force her depression to completely wither away.

Chapter 3: Wires

It had been about twenty minutes since the Cutie Mark Crusaders have left their clubhouse. They have decided to go about the treasure hunt that Scootaloo suggested earlier in the day. It was only about a thirty minute trot from the clubhouse to Fluttershy’s home, the destination for the special adventure.

“We will be there soon, just a bit further.” said Scootaloo as she was keeping pace with her two friends on her ever-reliable scooter.

“It’s almost like that the scooter is part of ya’ name or somethin’.” said Applebloom with a raised eyebrow towards her friend.

“I love this thing, sure, it would make more sense to just go the way on hoof, but using my scooter makes any kind of trip far more enjoyable.” said Scootaloo proudly as she jumped in the air and did a kick flip with her prized possession.

“So, any idea where we are to even begin once we get there?” asked Sweetie Belle towards Scootaloo, as the three fillies approached their destination, the home being within their sights now.

“Yeah, we let Fluttershy know we are there first, then we ask her if she wants to help us, if she is not there, we will have to look by ourselves.” said Scootaloo.

“I see, but wouldn’t it be wrong to be on her property if she is not home?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“I mean, sheesh, fine... If she is not there, then we can come back tomorrow I guess.” said Scootaloo as she had a slight sad expression about her.

“Oh cheer up Scoots, I cannot imagine why she would not be takin’ care of her animals, she does that all of the time anyway.” said Applebloom with enthusiasm.

“See, that is the right attitude to have, right Sweetie Belle?” asked Scootaloo with a teasing fashion towards Sweetie.

“Yeah, I bet.” said Sweetie Belle dismissively.

The three friends had finally arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage, and with a quick haste, made their way to the front door.

The sun was starting to head down towards the west of the horizon as mid-day approached over a rocky wasteland. There were dead trees, with no traceable sign of leaves, adorning the barren landscape. Skulls of cows and crows could be found buried in the sand here and there, and a few tumbleweed would ever so often blow across to and fro. A series of mountains surround the wasteland on the northern and eastern sides of the landscape, but otherwise it was a wide open rocky field.

Two pony-like figures, each appearing to be at least adult in size, were slowly trotting along the wasteland. The two figures were within ten feet of each other, with the larger of the cloaked travelers slightly in the front. The smaller one, which was a little behind, would occasionally glance around up in the air, then down at the ground, and finally proceed to look left, right, and behind itself every five or so minutes. The smaller figure appeared to have a hastened breath of sorts, as if paranoid about something that had yet to occurred.

The larger figure would turn around every so often as well to look at it’s smaller companion, before turning to focus on the terrain in front of it.

“You sure seem antsy today, it’s not like any one will be following us, ya know.” said the larger of the two hooded creatures, with a somewhat deeper masculine voice.

“Picking on me for being careful, go ahead then, laugh at me, but at least I will be ready should any royal guard ponies be in the vicinity.” said the smaller figure with a raspy, yet feminine voice.

The two hooded figures continued their trek through the wastelands, before coming to a small basin at the foot of one of the many mountains that dotted the northern side of the area. They trotted slowly towards the lake that was at the bottom of the waterfall, which itself was coming from a cave on the side of the larger mountain above them.

“Now this is okay, a good break for a while, before we get to the Eastern Pines at least.” said the smaller figure as it removed it’s cloak and walked towards the larger figure as it still left it’s cloak on.

“For someone so paranoid, Graceful Sky, you sure seem willing to let yourself be exposed by removing your cloak so quickly.” cautioned the larger pony to the smaller one, as it turned out to be a female Pegasus, with a dark blue coat, and a two-toned orange and black mane, along with a tail that had the same colors as the mane.

“Hey, I doubt anypony would be around here, besides, I need to cool off my wings, come and join me, it will be fun!” said the pegasus mare as she jumped into the air, but only slightly so, before slowly flying by her larger friend. Her cutie mark of white cloud with a bright sun over it particularly seemed to shine bright in the afternoon weather.

“I guess, why not?” said the larger figure to itself as the cloak was thrown off of it’s body. A larger stallion, with a long brown mane, a black jacket of sorts on his upper body was what revealed himself after discarding the cloak. He had black leg bands around his two hind legs, as well as a pare of glasses in front of his blue eyes. His cutie mark, resembling an infinity loop sign surrounded by four colored shapes, basked in the sun as he followed his comrade towards the lake at the mountainside.

“Too bad you are an Earth Pony, if you could fly like me, you would not need to trot quickly to keep me in your sights.” said the pegasus, as her dark pink eyes looked down at her stallion friend with a teasing, yet playful gaze.

“Oh, I don’t wanna hear it right now, let’s just enjoy this afternoon, before we have to head to the Eastern Pines.” said the stallion as he adjusted his glasses, before giving a wink back to his friend as he ran below her at a similar pace.

Graceful Sky landed on the edge of the lake as her friend appeared right behind her. She turned around to look at him, with a relaxed look on her face.

“Hey Lateralus, do you think that stone is still near the Everfree where we left it last month?” asked Graceful Sky as she slowly dipped herself into the water. She shuddered a bit as she quickly adjusted to the slight chill the lake had at this time of day.

“I dunno’ Sky, but should it have moved in location since our initial interaction with it just a month prior, then we will surely have no trouble finding it none the less.” said Lateralus as he removed his glasses and placed them on the ground, a few feet away from the shore of the lake.

“Oh gosh, we left our hoods behind, what if we cannot find them?” asked Graceful Sky as she lowered her head underwater, before quickly raising back up again, with a silly look directed at her colt friend.

“Who cares, I know exactly where we left them, so let’s get a little relaxation going, and then we can head towards our destination.” said Lateralus as he looked at Graceful Sky with a slight joyous expression.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had finished up their crossword puzzles and had since went back down to the living room, where they had gotten lunch for the day. After finishing, the two friends decided to simply lounge around on the couch as they continued to spark up on things that occupied their minds.

“So Tiara, is that situation concerning those silly blank flanks still pestering you, like I said, don’t let is get to you, we will confront them tomorrow about it.” said Silver Spoon with a tone of assurance towards her friend.

“Only if you are over that cold, I don’t want you showing up to school sick.” said Diamond with a little worry in her tone.

“I am already feeling better, besides, if anyone can get to the bottom of what those stupid crusaders are up to, it’s the two of us when we are together!” exclaimed Silver Spoon with a gentle smile towards her friend.

“Sounds right to me, um.. Look, it is starting to get late, I am going to head home for now, but I will see you tomorrow, right?” asked Diamond as she got off of the couch and proceeded to walk towards the door that led out of Silver Spoon’s mansion.

“Sure, see you tomorrow Tia’!” proclaimed Silver Spoon with a chipper demeanor as the two friends decided to depart from each other for the day.

On her way back towards the Rich Estates, Diamond Tiara could still sense some remnants of Applebloom’s words audible in her head. She tried to shake them out, but for some reason, this only made those damned words louder and more prevalent.

“Trying to befriend me, probably so she can strike me at my most vulnerable, that sounds like her alright, a stupid, clumsy, farm pony!” yelped Diamond Tiara to herself as quite as she could muster. She had approached the gate that led to her father’s mansion. She sighed with relief and looked forward to laying in her own bed for the rest of the day.

“Me and Spoony will get to the bottom of this tomorrow, nothing to fear at all Diamond.” said the filly to herself as she opened the gate and trotted towards the mansion’s front door.

The knocking on her door made Fluttershy wince back in fear for a slight second, before regaining her composure a moment later. She was not expecting any visitors for the day, though she was excited that perhaps somepony was willing to stop by for a bit.

Outside of the door, Scootaloo had finished her diligent knocking and was waiting for a response from the other side of the door. Either a audible acknowledgement from Fluttershy, or a physical one of her opening the door would do.

“Maybe she is not home right now, it’s like I said Scootaloo, we will have to try again later.” said Sweetie Belle as she stood to the right of her pegasus friend.

“Wait a minute, I hear it but it’s faint, can you hear it?” asked Applebloom with curiosity as she trotted over and stood beside Scootaloo opposite the side Sweetie Belle was on.

“No, I don’t... Wait I do now.” said Scootaloo with joy as the three fillies backed away from the door with anticipation. They knew that if they were in close proximity of the door when it opened, then the owner of the house would be very startled. Fluttershy was very jumpy over things, even if those said things were relatively harmless.

The door creaked open and Scootaloo could make out an eye looking over the three friends. The door then opened some more, and out from the cottage came Fluttershy with an inviting look etched across her face.

“Oh girls, it is you, what brings you here today.” asked Fluttershy with her usual soft, but pleasant voice.

“We have something to ask you Fluttershy, we would like your help with something.” said Scootaloo with an excited tone.

“What would that be?” asked a perplexed Fluttershy.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Treasure Hunters Yay!” yelled all three fillies simultaneously, as the sudden outburst caused Fluttershy to jump back with a startled expression.

“Oh my...” whispered Fluttershy to herself as her pet bunny, Angel, hopped over to her side. He had a confused look upon his face as he patted his foot and stared at his caretaker with an annoyed expression.

“Oh sorry about that Fluttershy, we are just excited about this whole thing.” said Sweetie Belle with an apologetic tone.

“Yeah, we did not mean to startle you or anything.” said Applebloom.

“We just want you to help us look for some treasure around the Everfree, it is an idea I came up with to get our cutie marks, what do you think?” asked Scootaloo with joy.

“I see.” muttered Fluttershy to herself as Angel hopped in place with an excited expression on his face.

“Aww, it looks like Angel wants to help us, please, can you help us too?” asked Scootaloo as she gave her best attempt to look adorable to the Element of Kindness.

“The things I get myself involved with, huh?” asked the yellow pegasus to herself quietly as she began to weigh her options on the matter.

“Well then, not in the Everfree, but we can walk around my cottage, I am sure we will find something interesting around.” said Fluttershy with a nod as she turned around and signaled for the three fillies to follow her. Angel hopped along right behind her, and Scootaloo followed.

“Come on girls, this is gonna be great!” said Scootaloo who was happy to finally begin her treasure hunt, something she has been wanting to do ever since she read about the adventures of Daring Do.

Elsewhere, the two ponies that had taken a break in the lake by the mountainside, had finished drying up and had donned their hoods once again.

“That jewel, we need to find it soon Graceful Sky, the longer we are separated from it, the more depressed I feel.” said Lateralus to the pegasus that was trotting beside him.

“Don’t worry, we will secure it, and then the real mayhem can begin.” said Graceful Sky as the hood around her face covered her eyes. A wicked smile could still be seen across her face none the less.

“Not mayhem, but order.” said the stallion with a jubilant tone as the two ponies trotted away from the lake and further into the wasteland.

Chapter 4: Fear...Fear Absolute

Fluttershy and her new company, a rambunctious collection of fillies, had began their search for any sort of treasure that could be deemed interesting. Fluttershy herself was not entirely sure exactly what Scootaloo was hoping to find near her cottage, but she figured that she could devote a few hours to entertaining Scootaloo’s idea. She figured it was only the nicest thing to do.

“Let’s start by looking near that collection of burrows over there.” said Scootaloo with joy as she pointed her hoof in the direction of the area that she wanted to go.

“Burrows, you mean where the animals go to sleep at?” asked Fluttershy with a trace of confusion in her tone.

“Yeah, I do not follow either Scootaloo, why start there?” asked Sweetie Belle, curious to see the plan in detail that Scootaloo had made.

“Does it really matter where we start Sweetie, I mean sheesh, those burrows are the closest thing to us that looks like it could hold something cool, that is all there is to it.” said Scootaloo with minor annoyance in the direction of Sweetie Belle.

“Jeez, they are not going to start fightin’ already are they?” thought Applebloom to herself as she followed her friends towards the burrows that Scootaloo had taken an interest in.

The three fillies and their reluctant chaperone had all arrived near the burrows, which were located beside a fenced in cobblestone pool. There was a garden containing flowers, vegetables, and even wheat to the left, opposite the cobblestone pool.

“Wow Fluttershy, I did not know you had such a beautiful collection of things in yer’ yard.” said Applebloom with a joyful expression.

“I like that pool too, what is it for, do you use it?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Oh no, that is for the animals that I look after, and that garden over there is where I grow the ingredients to make the various meals for my animals as well.” said Fluttershy with a gentle tone.

“Heh, they are talking about silly things, I guess that I am the only one taking this quest seriously right now.” thought Scootaloo to herself as she started looking down each of the burrows for any sign of gold, emeralds, or just about anything else that she figured would constitute as treasure.

“Anyway, I will search the burrows closest to the garden, Sweetie, you look at the ones near the pool, that way we can cut the time of our search in half.” said Applebloom as she did not want Scootaloo to do it all by herself.

“Alright, you don’t have to join us if you do not want Fluttershy, as long as you know where we are, then Rarity won’t get mad about me and my friends being this close to the Everfree.” said Sweetie Belle politely to Fluttershy.

“No, it’s alright, I assure you, you girls just enjoy yourselves, I am having fun taking in the sun rays myself.” said Fluttershy as she smiled back at the unicorn filly.

“Aww, thanks Flutters!” said Sweetie Belle with a giggle as she joined her two friends in their hunting expedition.

The day was steadily coasting along as the time was now around five in the evening. The chill wind of the evening was a welcome feeling to a certain mare as she was sitting on her haunches right outside of the Golden Oaks Library. She was reading over a certain book that appeared to contain various ingredients for potions, as well as the location where said ingredients could be found. She also had two other books, similar in width, right at her side, as she just finished to one she was reading.

“Huh, that was somewhat interesting, though it does little to calm my suspicions at the moment.” thought the mare to herself as she adjusted her reading glasses and proceeded to levitate another book in front of her eyes with her purple aura-based magic.

“Artifacts and Runes, A Complete Guide to Equestrian Gems Volume 21.” said the mare to herself quietly as she read over the title of the new book that she now had in front of her eyes.

“Twenty-one volumes, really?” asked the mare to herself quietly, almost beside herself, as the door right next to her opened.

A small being walked out of the library and now stood next to the mare. It looked at her with it’s arm’s crossed until the being spoke up, with much haste to it’s voice.

“Any clues to that odd premonition that you spoke of yesterday, Twily?” asked the being with a shining gleam in it’s eye.

“Not yet Spike, despite the fact that I know that I have read over these books at some point in the past, I have to be sure that nothing important was forgotten.” said Twilight as she took a small pause in her speaking before continuing.

“Wait, you don’t mean that you are going to read all of the books in this library to try and find the answer, do you?” asked Spike as he glanced into the window of the library. He took note of the hundreds of books that adorned the library’s shelves, and shuddered at the thought of having to go through every single one of them.

“Haha, no I am not going through all of these books Spike, I am already aware of which books could help with the situation, looking from them will take no time at all.” reassured Twilight to her assistant as she stood up on her hooves and opened the door to her library.

Spike followed her in as they made their way to the living room, which was located in the room left of the main library.

“Don’t you get these weird thoughts from time to time, about possible dangers to Ponyville?” asked Spike as he and Twilight took a seat on two adjacent pillows near the window of the living room.

“Weird thoughts, all of my bad feelings have some merit Spike, you can not discard them, remember my suspicion of the wedding in Canterlot between the fake Princess Cadence and my brother?” asked Twilight as she tried to convey herself to Spike in a manner that would make the young dragon believe her.

“I am not doubting that Twilight, but this time around, there is nothing that would even indicate anything about something bad heading to Ponyville.” said Spike as he tried to get on the same page as his beloved mother figure.

“Nothing that you know of, but until I can grasp the scope of this strange energy that I have been feeling lately, throwing caution to the wind will simply not suffice.” said Twilight with an adamant nature as she levitated the book that she began to read earlier back in front of her face.

“What, do you have the Pinkie Sense now?” asked Spike jokingly.

“Hey, I was not a believer at first either, but even she agreed that something was not right about the overall feeling of Ponyville lately.” said Twilight with some edge to her voice as she continued to skim through the current book she was reading.

“If you say so.” said Spike as he looked at Twilight with a look of confusion as he decided to put his trust in Twilight for the time being.

The evening was beginning to set in as the sun was slowly setting in the horizon. Scootaloo and her friends had finished their search of the animal burrows around Fluttershy’s house, and have since moved to looking around the back yard of the area. When Applebloom noticed that night was slowly approaching, she decided to make mention of it to Scootaloo.

“Um, Scoots, it is starting to get late, I know we had not found anything so far, but maybe we can look some more another time.” said Applebloom to her friend.

“What, it is already this late, I guess time flies when you are as occupied as me.” said Scootaloo with some disappointment to her tone.

“Goodness, I lost track of time too, but don’t worry too much, we can continue the day after tomorrow.” said Fluttershy with a quiet tone to Scootaloo.

“Day after tomorrow, that sounds good.” said Sweetie Belle as she finished up her search around the rabbit cage in the back yard.

“I have to help Pinkie Pie bake some treats for a party tomorrow, but the day after that, I am sure that I will be free.” said Fluttershy with a tone of assurance to the three fillies.

“Oh alright, I guess we should wrap up our little quest today, we should head home before our family begins to worry about us.” said Scootaloo with a saddened feel to her words.

“Don’t be sad Scoots, I am sure that we will have fun tomorrow at school, and who knows, the next time we look for treasure out here, we might find somethin’ special.” said Applebloom as she trotted over to Scootaloo and gave her a warm smile.

“Okay, well, I will see you girls tomorrow, and Fluttershy, I will see you the day after tomorrow!” said Scootaloo as she hopped on her scooter and began to leave the area.

“Um, Scootaloo, do you want me to escort you home, since your house is further out of the way that Applebloom or Sweetie Belle’s?” asked Fluttershy as she could feel some sort of somberness surround the young pegasus.

“No, it’s alright, I will be fine, thanks though.” said Scootaloo quietly as she made her way towards the front yard, and then down the road that led back towards Ponyville.

“I am sure she will be fine, she was just excited about this treasure hunt today, but there will always be next time.” said Sweetie Belle as her and Applebloom began to trot back down the road to Ponyville.

“Okay, I will see you girls in two days then, you take care now.” said Fluttershy as she and Angel both waved the girls off.

“See ya Flutters!” said Applebloom as she and Sweetie Belle began their trek back to the main square of Ponyville.

“Alright Angel, let’s get inside and get you all washed off, you got a lot of dirt on you after helping Scootaloo look in those burrows.” said Fluttershy as she petted Angel on the head. Angel started to hop back to the front of the house as Fluttershy trotted right behind him. She took a look around her cottage at the tree line that formed the Everfree Forest. She always enjoyed the atmosphere of the evening so close to the forest. Despite being known as a timid mare, she had become comfortable with being so close to the mysterious forest, and she was usually never startled by any strange noises that came from within the Everfree.

However as she reached the front door to her house, she could make out the feint whisper of some sort of being not too far behind her. She froze at this notion and proceeded to turn around, her stomach starting to form a knot. She could feel her breathing quicken as she heard the whisper again.

“Help me.” exclaimed a quite, barely noticable whisper as it struck Fluttershy like a hammer on nails.

“Umm, hello?” asked Fluttershy as she responded to the whispering that she noticed. The source of this sound seemed to have came from deeper into the tree line around her house.

Angel had already hopped into the house, taking the rabbit door that was at the bottom of the normal one. Fluttershy dismissed the whispers and opened the door to her house to follow Angel to the bathroom. As she began to close the door, she heard it again.

“How could you leave me like this?” asked the voice as it increased slightly in volume. Fluttershy became visibly shaken at this point as she began to whimper and back away from the still open doorway.

Night had just fallen as she could not make out much of the forest surrounding her house. The only lighting in the immediate area was a lamp post a few feet down the road from her house, and another lamp post in her front yard. Other than this, it was very dark in the immediate area.

“Who is this?” asked Fluttershy, gulping down some saliva as her throat began to tense up.

“Help me.” proclaimed the voice one more time before Fluttershy slammed the door shut. She then locked the door and shut the window blinds around the front two windows surrounding the door. She then trotted backwards, not taking her sight off of the door when all of a sudden, she heard loud and frantic knocking on the other side of the door.

“LET ME IN!” yelled the voice, now in a loud menacing roar as the knocking on the other side of the door began to grow more violent.

“Please, leave me alone, I don’t know who you are... B-but please... Just leave me alone.” said Fluttershy as she began to cry softly to herself. She huddled up into a ball and continued to weep quietly as she was hoping for the knocking on her door to stop.

“Please, help me.” said the voice one final time before the knocking finally died down. Fluttershy could hear hoofsteps begin to leave her front door as she noticed that the sound was heading back to the Everfree Forest.

She managed to calm her crying, but she could not form another thought after this. She also noticed that Angel was now standing beside her with a look of worry over his face. He then hugged one of Fluttershy’s front legs as he tried to consul his caretaker.

“Did...did you hear it too Angel?” asked Fluttershy as she began to notice that the rest of the animals in the house were now huddling up beside her as well.

Angel shook his head in acknowledgment as he and the other animals had also heard the violent knocking and menacing voice from earlier.

“What do I do, what if it happens again?” asked Fluttershy to herself as she stood up and tried her best to cheer up the animals beside her.

“It’s okay my friends, don’t worry, whatever that was out there, it is gone now, let’s just relax.” said Fluttershy, more to herself than the critters around her. The animals around Fluttershy started to go off in their own ways, each of them heading back to their makeshift cages and beds. Fluttershy then turned to Angel with a comforting smile before beginning to speak once more.

“I think it is time for that bath of yours, okay?” asked Fluttershy to her rabbit companion.

Angel still looked worried, and tears could even be seen forming around his little beady eyes.

“Oh Angel what is wrong dear?” asked Fluttershy as she turned on a lamp that sat on a table beside the stairs, which led to the bathroom.

She could see that Angel was staring at something to the right of them. She looked at Angel closer and could see that the bunny was now sitting down as he began to shiver and stuff his head into his paws, crying heavily.

“Oh Angel, please don’t cry, what is....” is all Fluttershy could manage to say as Angel stood up and pointed towards the direction that he was looking earlier.

Fluttershy turned in the direction that Angel was pointing, towards the living room to the right of them. There were three windows in the living room, and all of the window blinds were rolled up, revealing the surrounding area outside of them.

There in the middle window staring back at them was the source of what was no doubt causing Angel to have a breakdown.

Fluttershy stood quietly, with no emotion showing. She could only blankly stare at what she saw in that middle window. Angel had a look of absolute terror on his face as he held his caretaker as tight as he could.

In the window staring back at them, was what appeared to be a foal, a foal without skin.

The animals in the house began to wail loudly as they noticed that Fluttershy was in a mortified state, and once they had too turned towards the window she and Angel were staring at, they then knew why.

Chapter 5: Free Your Mind

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.

Chapter 6: Withering my Intuition

“What is going on?” asked Rainbow as she trotted towards the employee desk of the bakery with confusion rattling around her mind. She had heard Fluttershy yell something unintelligible as she had just entered the establishment. She also noticed Pinkie standing in front of Fluttershy with a confused look of her own on her face.

“Oh... My.” whimpered Fluttershy to herself as she backed away from Pinkie and turned her attention to Rainbow.

“Fluttershy.” said Pinkie to herself quietly as she also focused on Rainbow, just now noticing that she had arrived.

“Fluttershy, why were you yelling at Pinkie Pie?” asked Rainbow as she was standing on the other side of the counter, but staring straight into Fluttershy’s eyes.

“I... I don’t know.” said Fluttershy solemnly as she averted her gaze from Rainbow and stared at the ground.

“It’s not like that, Dashie, Fluttershy has not been feeling well, she was supposed to help me with some baking today, but she is not feeling up to it.” said Pinkie as she regained her composure and approached Fluttershy gently.

“Oh, I see.” said Rainbow as she trotted behind the counter to stand beside Pinkie. “Did she tell you what was bothering her, she can be hard to pull an answer out of at times.” continued Rainbow as she was now standing in front of Fluttershy.

“No, that is the thing, she will not tell me anything, she got really upset when I continued to try and ask her, and well, you know the rest.” said Pinkie with an awkward look on her face.

“Okay, I got it, don’t worry Pinkie, I will take it from here.” said Rainbow as she placed one of her forehooves gently under Fluttershy’s chin.

“Hey sweetie, it’s okay, just relax, take deep breathes.” said Rainbow with a soft tone of voice towards her suffering friend.

Fluttershy began to whimper some more before she finally lifted her gaze from the floor and met Rainbow in the eyes once again. Her breathing began to soften as a relaxed look now fell upon her face.

“There, that is better, now let’s go somewhere else and talk about this, so that way Pinkie can get back to her work here.” said Rainbow with a gentle smile as she gave Fluttershy an endearing hug.

“Oh Rainbow.” whispered Fluttershy as she gratefully returned the hug, holding her friend very tightly.

“Aww shucks girls, you are going to make me cry again, haha.” said Pinkie as the uplifting sight before her began to move her on a positive level.

“But Rainbow, I still have to help Pinkie, I did promise her after all.” said Fluttershy with a tone of guilt as the two friends had ended their hugging embrace.

“Oh don’t worry about that Flutters, you and Dashie go somewhere and relax, I can handle all of this here, really.” insisted Pinkie to her distraught friend.

“Umm.. Okay, but only if you are sure.” said Fluttershy quietly as she began to leave the area behind the counter and returned to the outer part of the bakery.

“Hey listen to Pinkie, she will be alright, now let’s go to the Flower Sister’s Shop and look around, that has always put you in a chipper mood.” said Rainbow as she trotted to stand right beside Fluttershy.

“You girls have fun, see ya later!” said Pinkie happily as she began to bounce around playfully before returning back to the kitchen to finish up her work for the day.

“You heard her, let’s go.” said Rainbow with excitement as she made sure to stay right beside her friend as the two left the bakery, and headed out into the streets of Ponyville.

“Th..thank you Rainbow Dash, I appreciate this.” said Fluttershy with a soft voice and a warm smile on her face.

“Don’t mention it, now let’s go to the flower shop!” said Rainbow as the two pegasus ponies slowly, but surely trotted off in the direction that Rainbow had in mind.

Elsewhere, Twilight had finished her preparations for the day as she had left Spike behind at the library to look after the chores that needed to be done. She had more pressing things to focus on, such as the source of the strange energies that she had began to detect in the past week. She had a book levitated in front of her while she trotted slowly down one of the streets of uptown Ponyville. She waved and greeted a few ponies here and there, but she was mainly focused on looking for the source of the disturbances that she was sure had to be close by.

“Not here, maybe if I get closer to the Everfree forest, then the signal might become clearer.” thought Twilight to herself as she turned her attention to one of the streets that she knew would lead to the outskirts of the mysterious forest.

“As long as I do not tread too far into the forest, I should be fine, but, I do need to find the source of this soon, otherwise it will drive me crazy, hehe.” laughed Twilight to herself as she was now moving along by herself down a lone road that led in the general direction that she wanted to go.

“I can hear Spike now, he will probably tell me that I am over reacting to this, but I have to believe my intuition here, it has been rather reliable in the past after all.” thought the unicorn to herself with great conviction.

She had made it a good bit down the road as the sight of the outlying trees of the Everfree began to appear in her vision.

“Aha, there is it, and I can feel the signal of disturbance growing, whatever has been making me feel uneasy, it is not far from here.” said Twilight to herself as she moved off of the road itself and simply trotted over the grassland that surrounded the road, which would get her to her destination quicker.

“I hope this works.” thought the unicorn to herself, when suddenly, she felt a shiver down her spine as she saw something, feint, but present none the less, standing just barely into the trees of the forest. Twilight was only around two-hundred feet from the forest herself, but she could not make out the features of this mysterious being. Instead, she continued to trot towards the forest slowly, as she tried to focus on the being that was shadowed in the forest.

“Who in Equestria is that, could it be Zecora, or is it somepony else?” thought Twilight to herself as she had slowed down her pace, and began to cautiously look around her to see if any other ponies were nearby. There were wheat and flower fields around the area, and a few wooden windmills here and there, but there was no other ponies around this part of the town. Only Twilight herself and the strange shadow occupied this area for now.

“Should I introduce myself, maybe once I get closer to him, or her.” thought Twilight to herself as she continued to approach to shadowy being slowly, making sure to keep her focus on the area around the being as well, as to not let anything unexpected to happen.

Once she was within fifty feet of the tree line of the Everfree, she could see the being clearly. It was a pony, a stallion, but the rest of the being was still hard to make out, as the sunlight could not pierce the trees that the pony was standing under, making it hard for Twilight to see anything else of the strange pony.

“Umm, hello?” asked Twilight as she put the book that she was levitating into the saddlebag on her back. “Are you okay, I noticed you here from afar, and you have not moved at all since.” said Twilight calmly, but with a feint tone of caution.

The pony did not respond, but did slowly inch closer to Twilight’s location, as he had exited from under the trees, allowing the sunlight to bathe him and reveal his full appearance.

He was a unicorn, with a auburn-brown coat, a slicked back brown mane, and a full beard and mustache which sat upon his face. He was clothed in a traveler’s cloak of sorts, with only his front hooves and face visible. He had blue eyes, which had an indifferent expression about them, as he now stood only a short distance from Twilight Sparkle at this point. Twilight backed up slightly once the mysterious pony had arrived in front of her, as she was taken aback by the fact that he was at least three times larger than her. His fore hooves were also rather muscular in appearance, and she assumed the rest of his body shared a similar physique as well.

“H... Hi.” said Twilight meekly as she fell upon her flank with a tone of fright and uncertainty. She was not sure who or what exactly this pony was, but she was certainly intimidated by his stature and facial expression. She had to be sure to leave some distance between them, in the instance that something bad happened.

“What are you doing here, leave.” said the stallion with a harsh, coarse voice as he looked down at Twilight with a frown on his face.

“Wha.. What?” asked Twilight as she continued to sit on her flank, staring up at the large stallion with a look of confusion and fear on her face.

“You heard me, leave.” said the stallion as he reiterated his statement from earlier towards the frightened and confused mare.

“Wait a minute, what is going on here, who are you, and why are you near Ponyville?” asked Twilight as she stood back up on her hooves and decided to trot only slightly closer towards the stranger pony. She had mustered up some confidence at this point, as she was sure being close to her hometown gave her some kind of advantage.

“I like your headstrong question, not backing away from me in fear anymore eh?” asked the stallion as he stood his ground, not moving an inch, and still keeping a look of anger and aggression on his face.

“I am not going to let somepony like you scare me, just because you are larger than me does not mean that I am weak, and it certainly does not give you the right to be so rude.” said Twilight as her eyes narrowed and an angry expression now covered her face as well.

“That is understandable, I am not trying to use my size to intimidate you, it is your own mind that is making you think that.” said the stallion with a calm and clear tone.

“Wait, what are you on about?” asked Twilight as her anger turned into confusion again. “Are you trying to scare me or confuse me, I cannot figure out which right now?” continued the mare as she now took a few steps towards the large pony, albeit with a scared body language.

“Fine, I will give you a moment, but tell me, why are you here, forget about why I am here, tell me your reason for coming to this forest first.” said the stallion as he brushed one of his fore hooves through his slicked back mane and continued to stare intently at Twilight.

“Why should I tell you anything, for all I know, you could be the pony causing all of these strange energy readings that I have been detecting lately.” said Twilight as she suddenly realized in saying this, she basically did tell the stranger why she was there.

“Hehe, works every time, you told me your reason even when you did not want to.” laughed the pony to himself as he stepped forwards and stood right in front of Twilight, with only two feet on distance separating them at this point.

“Darn it, I told him too much.” thought Twilight to herself as she looked up at the stallion in his eyes with a quiver in her mouth. She let out a soft whimper as she began to tremble some, and she had began to back away slightly upon growing more uncomfortable with his presence.

“Aww, do not be scared my lovely mare, just relax, I am not here to hurt you.” said the stallion as he relaxed his facial expression and smiled gently at Twilight before beginning to speak again. “Your own paranoia is getting to you right now ma’am, and you ought to try and focus a little, what is your name anyway?” asked the stallion as he sat on his own flank and leaned his back against one of the trees on the tree-line that they stood within.

“And.. And why should I tell you my name?” asked Twilight suspiciously as she managed to regain her composure slightly and sat on her haunches, trying to relax herself enough to get more clarity on the situation.

“See, you’re paranoia is messing with you again, now you will not tell me your name because you are a stuck-up pretentious unicorn.” said the stallion with a slight smile.

“Hey, don’t call me that, it’s just...” said Twilight before she had lost thought of what it was she was trying to say.

“Since you seem to be having trouble even remotely functioning in any kind of self-respecting way possible, I will tell you my name instead.” said the stallion as he laid his back on the ground and stared up at the leaves and branches which covered the blue, sunny sky above them. He rolled over to his side and rested one of his fore hooves under his cheek as he stared at Twilight with a curious look about him.

“You are kinda cute you know.” said the stallion as he laughed slightly at his own words.

“Eh, what?” asked Twilight as she stood back up on her hooves again, and began to blush a vivid crimson.

“Anyway, about my name, I will tell you.” said the stallion as he looked at Twilight with the same indifferent expression in his eyes that he had when she had first seen him.

The bell had sounded for recess at the Ponyville school, as all of the students raced out towards the playground where they could spend the next half hour musing over each other’s activities and interests for the day. Except, there were a few fillies who had other plans for this afternoon recess.

“I see them over there.” said Silver Spoon as she was trotting slightly behind her friend, Diamond Tiara. The two fillies were near the swing set when Silver Spoon noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders hanging around the cobblestone fountain in the middle of the playground.

“Hey, that is where they were hanging out yesterday, it’s like they don’t care that we see them anymore.” said Diamond with an annoyed expression.

“Remember when we first started teasing them, they would use to hide from us all of the time, especially Scootaloo, but now here they are, just out in the open without a care in the world.” said Silver Spoon with a hint of anger in her voice.

“I guess they have grown too big for their own good, let’s go knock them down a peg Spoony!” said Diamond with a mischievous tone to her voice as the two friends trotted towards the water fountain, with the Crusaders being their only focus at the moment.

Applebloom and Scootaloo were drawing pictures with paint brushes, which they were holding in their mouths. Sweetie Belle was watching them with a joyful expression, until she looked up and saw that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were now approaching them from the swing set.

“Hey girls, look who is coming over here.” said Sweetie Belle with a slightly worried tone.

Scootaloo and Applebloom looked over in the direction that Sweetie Belle was, and indeed they saw the two trouble makers now standing right across from them.

“I knew we could not just have a nice and relaxing time, now could we?” asked Scootaloo to her two friends with a sarcastic tone as she stared at Diamond Tiara with a look of defiance in her eyes.

“Hey Scoots, don’t loose ya’ head over this, just stay calm okay?” asked Applebloom as she tried to reason with her friend.

“This time I am here too, you no good blank flanks, so there is no getting out of this like last time.” said Silver Spoon as she put her hoof around Diamond Tiara with a gesture of assurance to her friend.

“Yeah, and now you are going to tell us about what the hey happened yesterday, and no lying, tell us the truth.” said Diamond Tiara with anger in her eyes as the mere sight of the Crusaders made her stomach turn.

“She is still upset with us, why?” asked Sweetie Belle to herself quietly as she could not figure out the source to Diamond Tiara’s anger.

“Don’t fret over it, these two are just salty that they can never be as cool as us!” said Scootaloo with laughter as she approached the two fillies and eyed Diamond Tiara, face to face.

“I am actually glad that you are being honest in your hatred towards us, that makes sense.” said Diamond as she returned the gaze back at Scootaloo, the two fillies now in each other’s faces.

“Scoots, I told you to remain calm, don’t act like this, it will solve nothing.” said Applebloom as she approached Scootaloo and gently tugged her back, away from Diamond Tiara.

“Hey Applebloom, what gives, she is antagonizing us, we have to stand up for ourselves!” yelled Scootaloo towards her friend as she was frustrated that Applebloom would try and stop her.

“Ah’ don’t care, acting like that will only prove their point, just stay calm and don’t let ‘em get to ya.” said Applebloom calmly as Sweetie Belle trotted over and stood beside Applebloom, with the same gentle smile on her face too.

“See, they did this yesterday too Silver Spoon, Scootaloo is acting normal, but those other two, they will not get mad at me, in fact, they are trying to act nice to me.” said Diamond Tiara as she turned towards her friend with a look of confusion and worry on her face.

“Huh, you are right.” said Silver Spoon as she did not know what to do about this current development that had transpired.

“Remember what I told you yesterday, about what Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon teased me about, how they made fun of me for not having parents?” asked Scootaloo to her two friends as she tried to make a case for her anger towards Diamond and Silver Spoon.

“What, did we do that?” asked Silver Spoon with a look of fear and sadness on her face as she turned towards Diamond Tiara for an answer.

“Yeah, so what, it’s true.” said Diamond Tiara as she let out of stream of air from her nostrils in anger, looking at Scootaloo with resentment.

“But Diamond, that is not funny, why did we say that?” asked Silver Spoon as she took a few steps back from her friend in shock at what she had just heard.

The Crusaders noticed this too and stared on with their own feelings of shock and confusion.

“What, are you going to turn on me too Spoony?” asked Diamond Tiara as her look of anger turned into desperation.

Silver Spoon turned towards Scootaloo and looked at her with a blank expression on her face.

“When you told me that these three teased you yesterday, I thought you were being serious, but now I can see that the only one who was doing the teasing, was you Diamond.” said Silver Spoon as she turned her attention back to Diamond Tiara for a moment.

“No, it is not like that Spoony, don’t try to side with them, you have always approved of my teasing of them in the past.” said Diamond Tiara as she tried to reason with her friend, trying to justify her actions in a somewhat dignified manner.

“And for that I was wrong, do you see it Diamond, look at Scootaloo right now.” said Silver Spoon as she was motioning her friend to look upon the little pegasus filly that stood before them.

“Yeah, and what about it....” said Diamond Tiara as she cut off her words immediately as he mouth opened to form a gape.

Scootaloo stood in front of her own two friends, she had tears rolling down both of her cheeks as she was crying softly. She was trying her best to hold the tears back, but thinking about how she was teased for not knowing her parents only pushed her to cry even more.

“Scoots, don’t cry, it will be okay.” said Sweetie Belle with a gentle voice as she patted the distraught pegasus lightly on the back.

Diamond stared at Scootaloo, and could feel her stomach forming into a knot as she tried to say something else but she could not bring herself to do so.

Silver Spoon then turned her own attention back to Scootaloo and began to speak. “Scootaloo?” asked Silver Spoon with an unusual gentle tone as she slowly approached the three Crusaders with a gentle smile adorning her face.

“Y-yes?” asked the orange pegasus as she was still wiping away tears of hurt from her eyes.

“I... I am... Sorry, I am sorry, I AM SORRY!” yelled Silver Spoon as she fell to her haunches and began to sob into the grass below her.

“What?” asked Scootaloo to herself as turned to look at both of her friends with confusion.

“Oh my, I did not see this coming!” said Sweetie Belle with a surprised look of her own.

“Silver Spoon?” asked Applebloom as she trotted towards the crying filly and place her left forehoof gently upon Silver Spoon’s head.

“I am sorry Scootaloo, please don’t let what we said hurt you, I was wrong to say that, and I understand if you hate me.” continued Silver Spoon as she was sobbing even fiercer into her hooves, unable to bring herself to look up at the fillies that she had tortured for so long.

“Spoony, why, WHY!??!” yelled Diamond Tiara as she began to cry herself. Diamond Tiara then ran away from the fillies and out of the playground. She had to get away from this scene. It was simply too much for her to bare at the moment. A ton of conflicting emotions began to fill up in her mind as she could not get the image of Silver Spoon laying on the ground, and crying out of her head.

“I do not care right now, I just need to get home.” said the filly to herself as her own tiara had fallen off her head while she was racing towards the direction of her home. She did not care though, she only wanted to be alone, in her bedroom right now. For that was the only place that she could find solace at the moment. The only place where things seemed to make any sense.

Chapter 7: Convictions of Mistrust

Silver Spoon laid onto the ground with her face buried in her own hooves. She had heard Diamond Tiara scamper out of the playground as she lifted her head up and stood back on her hooves. She turned her attention to Scootaloon and, though still teary-eyed, she held a confused look about her as she approached the Crusaders.

“Why did Diamond Tiara run off for, what the hey happened?” asked Silver Spoon as she looked off into the direction she knew Diamond’s house to be.

“It would seem to me that your own confessions towards Scootaloo had caused her to feel some kind of guilt, I saw the look on her face as she ran away, it was a look of pain, and sadness.” said Sweetie Belle as she trotted over beside Scootaloo and looked at the exit of the playground, where Diamond Tiara had just galloped through.

“Oh goodness, this is all my fault, now she is going to blame herself.” said Silver Spoon as she began to fall into despair again.

“You don’t have to worry about me Silver, just worry about your own things, I appreciate the apology, really, but just worry about your own friend.” said Scootaloo as she had cleared the last of the tears from her eyes as she stared at the ground inconspicuously.

“No, you don’t get it Scootaloo, I am sorry for what I said, but I accept that you can’t forgive me or Diamond, that is fine.” said Silver Spoon as she wiped a few tears of her own away.

“Now hold on a minute, I never said anything about that, it’s just weird to hear these things from you, that is all.” said Scootaloo as she turned towards Applebloom with a look of confusion on her face.

“That was very gracious of you ta’ do Scoots, I am very happy fer’ ya.” said Applebloom as she embraced her Pegasus friend with a hug.

“Recess is about over, let’s go back to class, and then we can talk about the rest of this later.” said Sweetie Belle.

“Okay, that is fine.” said Scootaloo as she and her two friends trotted slowly towards the school house, just as the bell signaling the end of recess began to ring.

“Oh Diamond, where did you go, home I hope.” thought Silver Spoon to herself as she headed back towards class with the rest of her peers.

Ms. Cheerilee was finishing up her reviews of the student’s work for the day so far. She always took the time that the students used for recess in order to grade the tests that had came earlier in the day. She could hear most of her students galloping back into the classroom, and once she had finished grading the final test, she looked up to see that most of her students had already made it back into the classroom.

“I see everypony is almost here, we will resume class in a short moment, as soon as the last few of your classmates arrive.” said the teacher with a smile and a gleam in her eye. This gleam faded, though, once she saw Silver Spoon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders enter the room. She could see that the four fillies had a troubled look on their face as they trotted their way in. She could make out what appeared the be signs of crying around the eyes of both Silver Spoon and Scootaloo, and once she had allowed her students to take their seats, she began to address the four fillies in question.

“Scootaloo, what happened, why do you and your friends look so roughed up for?” asked Cheerilee with a concerned tone towards the reckless Pegasus filly.

“Me and Spoon had a little argument, but it is over now, we are good.” said Scootaloo with an unamused tone about her as she averted looking anypony in particular in the eyes.

“An argument, is that right Silver Spoon?” asked Cheerilee as she then turned her attention towards Silver Spoon, and held a look and anger and disappointment on her face.

“N-no, I was just apologizing for something that me and Diamond had teased her about earlier, I was truly sorry, I.. I swear.” said Silver Spoon as she began to whimper a little at the statement she had just made. The emotion and events that had just transpired over the last twenty minutes were still taking their toll on the filly. She was not adjusted to feeling this way, especially without the presence of her friend, Diamond Tiara, around.

“Speaking of Diamond Tiara, I don’t even see her anywhere, is she scared of coming into class?” asked Cheerilee to Silver Spoon as she raised an eyebrow thinking about the reason that Diamond was not present in class.

“No, she ran off after Silver Spoon apologized, but listen Ms. Cheerilee, don’t get mad at Silver Spoon, she did not do anything wrong, she gave a heart felt apology to Scootaloo for the times that she was mean in the past.” said Sweetie Belle as she looked over towards Silver Spoon with a look of empathy and depression sewn across her pure-white muzzle.

“Uhh.. Alright, so Diamond ran off...again.” said Cheerilee. She had known Diamond Tiara to have ran off from school a few times before, for various reasons, mostly reasons related to being a trouble maker. She was not too surprised to hear that at all, but the hear the Crusaders defend Silver Spoon, now this certainly threw her off guard. She glanced over towards each of the three crusaders, and then back at Silver Spoon, before returning her gaze the papers that laid on her own desk.

“Alright, you are not in trouble then Silver, but after school, you should go check up on your friend and see why she ran off.” said Cheerilee as she wanted to get back to the lesson for the day.

“Okay, I will do that.” said Silver Spoon with some semblance of a smile as she was still worried about the mindset of her friend at that particular moment.

The two cloaked ponies that had been wandering in the wasteland for the last few days had arrived at a train station out in a nearby canyon. It was past noon at this point as the sun was beginning to make it’s way back down west so that the moon could inevitably be brought out. The larger stallion of the duo trotted slightly in front of his mare friend, yet she was flying above ground, around twenty feet above him, looking around at the local scenery. She had a look of glee in her eyes and a wide smile around her muzzle as she flew up in the air, doing backflips and occasionally flying back down near her partner, much to his chagrin.

“You sure are having fun Sky, maybe a little too much fun for my tastes.” said Lateralus, looking up at the Pegasus above him, with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

“Oh who give a hoof if anypony sees us like this, what are they going to do to us anyway, huh?” asked Graceful Sky, who continued to float about diving from side to side in the afternoon, sunny skies of the canyon. “We are almost at the train station anyway, but you said you did not even want to take it.” said Graceful Sky with a disappointed tone as she stared down at her compatriot with a pleading look in her eyes.

“You know, it’s rather ironic that a Pegasus pony would complain about traveling in a train, uhh I don’t know, because maybe you can freaking FLY!!!” yelled Lateralus as he stood up on his hindlegs and reached his head up as close to Graceful Sky as he could. “You can fly, and I can’t, yet I am not the one complaining about having to travel on hoof, now am I?” asked Lateralus as he returned to all fours and continued to trot at a average pace, paying no heed to the antics of his Pegasus partner.

“Yeah, I can fly, but traveling by train sounds nice, it’s not like we should have too much to worry about, my paranoia from earlier has even calmed down, I think the heat was just getting to me a little back in the wasteland, that is all.” said Graceful Sky as she lowered the altitude of her flying to only be about three feet above Lateralus.

“I was beginning to worry about you a little, I did tell you not to fly too close to the sun.” said Lateralus as the two hooded ponies were now within five-hundred feet of the train station, which was located at the end of a small town just north of Appleloosa.

“Hey genius, Pegasi are immune to weather, I was joking.” said Graceful as she stuck out her tongue and pulled down her left eye-lid, making a silly, somewhat offensive gesture towards her friend.

“Those actions really speak to your mental maturity Graceful.” said Lateralus as the stallion flipped his long, brown mane to the side and adjusted the glasses sitting in front of his dark blue eyes.

“Oh, lick my flank!” said Graceful Sky with an annoyed tone as she flew above Lateralus, and making another obscene gesture towards him.

“Typical silly responses.” thought Lazarus to himself as the two ponies had finally arrived in the small desert town. The town was sat up on the base of a large cliff, but the train station was up on the cliff itself, looking over the rest of the town. The train tracks themselves were constructed on the long winding land that was above where the top of the cliff was. The two traveling ponies knew that these train tracks would eventually lead them to the Eastern Pines, and Lateralus was certain that they would not necessarily even need the train in order to make their voyage to the said destination.

“We are going to take the train right?” asked Graceful Sky as she landed on the ground beside Lateralus as the two ponies had arrived in the central part of the town.

“Oh for goodness sakes, fine, we will take the train!” said Lateralus with an aggravated tone as he finally gave in to his partner’s demands. “We will take the train, but we must make sure not to rouse any attention while we are out here.” continued Lateralus as he stared at Graceful Sky with a fierce look in his eyes.

“Don’t worry about me, I know how to fit in with the crowd, they won’t notice a single thing at all.” said Graceful, sure of herself.

“Well, forgive me if I have a hard time believing you.” said Lateralus with a mocking tone as the two ponies made their way towards a food market on their trek to the train station.

‘Hey Lateralus look, Rocky General Foods, that is what the sign says, I bet we can get some good snacks in there to take with us on our train ride!” said Graceful Sky with an overjoyed tone.

“Alright fine, but make sure not to get too much, I know we have amassed a good number of bits, but I would like to save them for situations that actually matter.” said Lateralus with a hesitant look about him as he followed Graceful Sky into grocery store.

“We have been getting a few strange looks from the ponies here in town, I even saw a griffon or two look our way as well.” said Graceful Sky with some suspicion beginning to fester in her mind.

“Probably because we are new around here, and these cloaks we are wearing probably don’t help in keeping us from getting noticed easily, which is rather ironic if you think about it.” said Lateralus as he picked out a few snacks for himself from several of the grocery aisles, making sure to keep track of his Pegasus partner the whole time.

“But nopony has any reason to suspect anything from us, so there is nothing to worry about, right?” asked Graceful Sky as she had trouble selecting what she wanted to take with her on the train ride ahead.

“Exactly, so keep your mouth shut, and everything will be just fine, now hurry up and pick out something, we don’t have all day you know!” said Lateralus annoyed as he trotted over beside his partner.

“But I can’t decide if I want the chocolate or vanilla sweet roll!” said Graceful Sky with a surprising amount of sadness in her voice.

“Really, this is what the fuss is about, over what kind of darn sweet roll that you want?” asked Lateralus with a bewildered expression dotting his face as he could only hoof palm at what he was hearing.

“Hey, nothing is more serious than a mare and her sweets, don’t rush me here, ya got it!” exclaimed Graceful Sky as she turned to Lateralus with a teasing look on her face.

“Sweet Celestia help me.” thought Lateralus to himself as Graceful Sky finally decided to pick the vanilla sweet roll to take with her.

“Finally, now let’s get some drinks to go with this, and then we can get the hey out of here.” said Lateralus with anticipation to get to the train station as quickly as possible.

“For somepony who does not seem to be too worried about being found out, you sure do sound rather scared right now Latzy!” said Graceful Sky with a playful tone as the two cloaked ponies made their way to the beverages section of the grocery store.

“I told you not to call me Latzy, please that.... Ya know what, never mind.” said Lateralus as he began to blush a little, the more he thought about the situation, the more he started to blush.

“Aww, you can be so adorable at times, anyway I am getting the Dr. Salt, what do you want, the Hoof-a-Cola?” asked Graceful Sky as she had already picked out the drinks for both herself and her antsy friend.

“Like I have a choice in the matter, now let’s go pay for these, and get out.” said Lateralus with a worried tone as the two ponies casually trotted their way towards the cash registers located near the front of the store.

‘Hey, that aisle there does not look too crowded, let’s go check out there.” said Graceful as she trotted down towards the register with the number 14 on a sign above it.

“Okay, anything to get us out of here faster.” said Lateralus as he began to notice sweat drops fall down the sides of his face.

There was only two ponies ahead of them, and they had finished paying for their groceries rather quickly, as Graceful Sky had placed their own snacks in front of the cashier.

“Good afternoon ma’am, how are you doing today?” asked the cashier, who was a rather young mare with a yellow coat and purple mane.

“Aw, thank you, we are having a good day, right Latzy-Watzy?” asked Graceful Sky as she cooed the words to her bewildered friend, which only caused him to start sweating even more profusely.

“Deep breaths Lateralus, just take deep breaths.” thought the stallion to himself as he tried to ignore the teasing of his partner.

The cashier giggled upon hearing Graceful Sky say those words to the stallion standing next to her, and proceeded to scan the groceries that the two ponies have gotten.

“Alright, that will be twenty-five bits.” said the cashier. “Hey Latzy, twenty-five bits, you heard the lady.” said Graceful with a taunting tone as Lateralus handed her over the bits without putting up any kind of fight.

“See, that was not so bad, you should really learn to not be so stingy with our money.” said Graceful as she handed the bits over to the cashier. The cashier then put their groceries into some bags before handing them over to her two unusual customers.

“You two have a great day, thanks for shopping at Rocky General Foods!” said the mare cashier with a chipper tone.

“You too sweetie, see ya.” said Graceful Sky as she and Lateralus began to exit the grocery store.

“Geez, you could have said bye to her as well, you are always so rude and awkward.” said Graceful as she nudged her friend in the side of his flank.

“The things you put me through, you know I hate crowded places.” said Lateralus, as he wiped away the sweat that had continued to roll down his face.

“Huh, I did not know that crowded areas bothered you so badly, and here I thought you were supposed to be this tough no-nonsense stallion, hehe.” laughed Graceful as the two ponies had finally began their journey towards the train station that sat at the top of the cliff over looking them.

“Go ahead and poke fun at me while you can, because our work starts soon.” said Lateralus.

The two dysfunctional ponies had made their way up the winding, steep road that led to the train station. Though, in actuality, Graceful Sky was flying the whole time, while Lateralus merely trotted up the sharp cliff on hoof.

“I bet you wish you were a Pegasus right now, hahaha.” laughed Graceful as the two ponies had almost made it up the steep road that led to the entrance to the train station.

“Nah, not really, I can trot for miles, you are the one who is too lazy to walk, and besides, we are here now.” said Lateralus with a matter-of-fact tone as the two ponies entered the front door into the station.

“Once we get to the Eastern Pines, then our search can truly begin.” said Lateralus as Graceful Sky landed on the floor of the station beside him.

“Boss will be so pleased once we finally get to the Everfree and secure that gemstone, then we can utilize it’s magical properties and really make a statement against Equestria.” said Graceful Sky with a malicious look in her eyes as the two ponies waited in line to receive their train tickets.

The bell had sounded for class to end at the Ponyville school building. All of the fillies and colts had already left the premise by this time, except for the Crusaders and Silver Spoon, who had decided to stay behind for a short while. They were having a conversation with Cheerilee about what had happened in more detail that day.

“So you are going to go check on Diamond Tiara, right Silver Spoon?” asked the teacher as she looked at Silver Spoon curiously.

“Yeah, she can get rather down at times, but I know just the thing to cheer her up!” said Silver Spoon with joy as she turned to the Crusaders with a bright smile on her face.

“Yeah, and what would that be?” asked Scootaloo with an uneasy look on her face, as she was not used to seeing Silver Spoon stare at her with any other emotion other than anger and resentment.

“I was thinking that one of you three could come with me, you know to sweeten up the whole recovery process.” said Silver Spoon as the four fillies had waved goodbye to their teach, and had now entered the playground area.

“Those fillies sure are silly, but that is why I love them.” thought Cheerilee to herself as she could only smile in amusement at the antics of her cherished students. Cheerilee then went back to finishing the review process over her student’s work for the day as the feint laughter and talking of the fillies outside began to go quiet.

“So, who wants to come with me to Diamond Tiara’s house and check up on her?” asked Silver Spoon to the three confused fillies trotting beside her.

“Well, as much as I would love to see how Diamond is doing right now, I have to help mah’ brother and sister on the farm today, but we can ask her if she wants to go treasure hunting with us tomorrow though.” said Applebloom with a smile towards Silver Spoon.

“Oh, okay, what about you Scootaloo, you were the main target of our teasing, but having seen me apologize to you, maybe she will say sorry too if you come with me.” said Silver as she then turned her attention to the Pegasus filly.

“Well, about that, I have to get back to the orphanage today, I am supposed to help clean around the dumpster at the back of the building.” said Scootaloo with an awkward tone to her voice as she began to sweat and tremble slightly.

“I will go with you!” said Sweetie Belle as she trotted in front of Silver Spoon and looked in her eyes with sincerity.

“The other girls may be busy today, but Rarity told me that she will not be home for a while after I got out of school anyway, so I might as well visit Diamond Tiara with you!” said Sweetie Belle to Silver Spoon.

“Hey, that sounds like a good idea, thanks Sweetie Belle!” said Silver Spoon as Scootaloo hopped onto her scooter and began to speed away towards the location of the orphanage.

“Look, I will see you girls tomorrow, that is when we will go treasure hunting at Fluttershy’s again, you and Diamond Tiara are welcome to come too if you want, see ya!” yelled Scootaloo as she rode away on her scooter in a hurry, and out of the sights of the three remaining fillies.

“Wow, she sure seemed in a hurry, but after everything that she had been through today, I guess it makes sense.” said Applebloom as she slowly began to trot down the road that led to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Anway, ah’ will see ya’ two girls tomorrow, bye!” said Applebloom as she cheerfully began to gallop down the dirt road that sectioned off from the paved road, which led from the school to the main square of Ponyville.

“Oh Applebloom, I would actually like to talk to you later alone, maybe tomorrow before school starts, is that okay?” asked Silver Spoon as she managed to get the farm filly’s attention before she managed to gallop off too far.

“Um.. Yeah, sure Silver Spoon, we can talk tomorrow before class, about anythin’ you want to talk about.” said Applebloom as she smiled warmly towards Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle before turning back towards the direction of her home.

“Thank you.” said Silver Spoon to herself quietly as she briefly watched the red-maned filly gallop out of sight down the old dirt road that led to her family’s farm. She then turned her attention back to Sweetie Belle, and began to put on a friendly smile in front of the white unicorn filly, not sure what to ask her next.

“Well... Sorry for the awkward air around us all of a sudden.” said Silver Spoon as it was just her and Sweetie Belle at this point, trotting in the location of Diamond Tiara’s home.

“Hey, it’s fine, it’s now like we have ever really talked before, I can imagine how unusual this might seem for you.” said Sweetie Belle as she looked at Silver Spoon with a small grin and a relaxed expression in her eyes.

“Aww, thank you Sweetie Belle, you really know how to calm a pony down, hehe.” laughed Silver Spoon as she returned the warm facial greeting back to Sweetie Belle as the two fillies were approaching the gate that led to Filthy Rich’s mansion.

“I don’t want to force myself too much here, I will just let you do most of the talking at first, you do know Diamond Tiara more than I do after all.” said Sweetie Belle towards Silver Spoon.

“Alright, I can say the same to you, just act natural, if you do not feel comfortable doing or saying something, just let me know okay?” asked Silver Spoon to Sweetie Belle.

“Thanks.” proclaimed Sweetie Belle as she watched with amusement as Silver Spoon pressed the button on the speaker that sat beside the gate around Filthy Rich’s property.

A few seconds of silence went by, until an elderly male voice could be heard on the speaker. “Hello, welcome to Filthy Rich Estates, I am Goldenhoof, butler of the Rich family, how may I assist you today?” asked the butler on the other end of the radio.

“Hey Mr. Goldenhoof, it’s me Silver Spoon, I am here with a new friend, we just want to check up on Diamond Tiara, and make sure that she is okay.” said Silver Spoon as she glanced over to Sweetie Belle and began to chuckle. Sweetie Belle returned the giggle as the two fillies thought that the sound of the butler’s voice over the speaker was just the funniest thing ever.

“Is that so, well as far as I know, Diamond Tiara has not returned home yet, I have not seen her since this morning before she left for school, did something happen?” asked Goldenhoof over the radio to Silver Spoon, with a worried tone audible in his voice.

“Well that’s the thing, she had gotten upset earlier during recess, and she took off galloping out of the playground, I thought that she may have been heading towards her home, but it would seem that this is not the case.” said Silver Spoon to the butler over the radio.

Sweetie Belle listened to the conversation with both curiosity and worry in her mind, as she was hoping to find out that Diamond Tiara was at her home. Instead, she was not home, and the butler was not sure where she was at. This indeed perplexed Sweetie Belle, but all she could do right now was listen in to Silver Spoon and Goldenhoof’s conversation.

“So, you do not know where she is right now?” asked a fearful Silver Spoon as she eagerly awaited the butler’s response on the radio.

“No, I am afraid not, but why don’t you and your new friend look around town for a while, I am sure that Diamond Tiara probably got upset and decided to run off to Sugarcube Corner, that is where she told me that she likes to go when things make her upset.” said the butler with re-assured tone.

“Oh, okay, thank you Mr. Goldenhoof, I will see you later.” said Silver Spoon as she mover her hoof off of the button that was on the speaker, which she had pressed down the entire time she was speaking to the butler.

“It would seem that we are going to Sugarcube Corner then?” asked Sweetie Belle as Silver Spoon turned her attention away from the speaker and towards the general direction of where she figured the bakery would be.

“Yep, let’s hope she is there, I would hate for her to be missing for some reason, especially if it is my own fault.” said Silver Spoon with a tone of despair in her voice as she and Sweetie Belle trotted back towards Ponyville at a brisk pace.

“Silver, even if she is not at Sugarcube Corner, it would not be your fault anyway, so don’t go beating yourself up over this, understand?” asked Sweetie Belle with a comforting look on her face as she turned her attention towards the depressed filly.

“Thank you Sweetie Belle, your compassion really matches your name after all.” said Silver Spoon as she immediately stopped moving for a second and grabbed Sweetie Belle with a big hug. “Thank you so much Sweetie Belle!” continued on Silver Spoon as she let the white unicorn go and stared at her with a few tears of joy in her eyes.

Chapter 8: Fell on Black Days

The afternoon air was gently weaving it’s way around Ponyville as the sunshine itself glistened throughout the entire town square. Feint aromas of flowers and even trees could be sensed from the wind, as the idyllic afternoon could be hard pressed to paint an even better picture. This especially made Rainbow Dash’s time with Fluttershy all the more precious and comforting, such pleasant conditions couldn’t possibly fail to cheer the depressed yellow mare up. Well, at least Rainbow Dash thought that as she and Fluttershy had arrived just outside of Daisy’s Flower Shop, which was only half a mile from Sugarcube Corner.

“See, we are here now, so let’s take our time and enjoy what this shop has to offer, I know that this will improve your mood.” said Rainbow to Fluttershy as the two friends entered the door into the flower shop.

“Oh, thanks again Dash, but I know that these kinds of things can get rather boring for you, if you don’t want to do this, then you don’t have to.” said Fluttershy meekly, as she subtly looked in the direction of her speedy friend.

“Aw nonsense, you know I would do anything to help you Fluttershy, and if you do not want to talk about it right now, then the least I can do for you is show you to a good time, and I know that you love to come here anyway.” assured Rainbow to her friend.

The two pegasi trotted to the back of the flower shop, where they say Daisy wandering around. The flower mare was closely looking over each of the various plants and fruits that she had in stock for the day.

Daisy seemed rather at peace with working here, and anypony who came to visit could not help but feel happy along with her. While she was preparing to water some of the flowers that had just arrived at her shop the day prior, she noticed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy approach her.

“Why hello there Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash.” greeted Daisy with a benign demeanor that seemed to temporary put Fluttershy at ease.

“Wassup Daisy, how are thing goin’ around hear today?” responded Rainbow, trying to sound more interested that she truly was. It was not that she didn’t enjoy being in Daisy’s shop, it was simply that she was not used to coming here unless she had Fluttershy with her.

“Oh... Umm... Hi Daisy, it’s a pleasure to see you today.” spoke Fluttershy in her usual, soft and unassuming tone.

“What brings you two here today, looking to by some more of these white roses that arrived a few days back?” asked Daisy with enthusiasm as she made a gesture over to the remaining stock of white roses that remained in the shop. They all sat in vases, filled with water, and all of the vases were placed neatly on top of a table that sat close to the entrance of the shop.

“Well, not exactly, we just decided to stop by and enjoy the sights, and in this case, the smells too.” said Rainbow as she began to sniff the wonderful aroma of all of the flora that surrounded her. This sensation put her at ease and she certainly hoped that it did for Fluttershy too.

“Oh, that’s okay, just let me know if you need anything.” said Daisy while she continued to tend to the various flowers that adorned her shop.

“Thanks.” said Rainbow as she made her attention back to Fluttershy, who seemed rather jaded by the whole experience.

“Hey, are you alright Fluttershy, you seem rather quiet right now, even more quiet than usual?” asked Rainbow with concern as she could not help but see that Fluttershy had not reacted to being in the shop the was she usually did.

“No, it’s just, I fell as if something or ....rather somepony is watching me.” said Fluttershy with an eerie, yet calm tone as she stared right into Rainbow Dash’s eyes before turning to look at some of the flowers around her.

“Hmm, okay, well I doubt that anypony other than me is watching you right now, but like I said Flutters, if anything is bothering you, just let me know.” said Rainbow Dash as she smiled to her friend, trying her best to cheer Fluttershy up.

Fluttershy did not respond, but rather continued to focus only on the flowers that directly befell her gaze.

“Huh, you are really taking in the sights of all the flowers here, at least I am glad that something is taking your mind off of the things that were bothering you earlier.” said Rainbow as she gently patted Fluttershy’s head, trying to reinforce the fact that she as there to help.

“I just hope that I am not coming off as overbearing, that is all.” continued on Rainbow, trying to not make Fluttershy get uncomfortable or do anything that could set off the timid mare into even more emotions of anxiety and despair.

“Huh...ehh... No, it’s just that...” murmured Fluttershy as Rainbow began to notice a few tears start to form in the yellow mare’s eyes.

“Flutters, whats wrong now, is the pollen in the air getting to you, because if it is, then we can step outside for a short while.” suggested Rainbow Dash, not sure of the reason for Fluttershy’s sudden change in mood again.

“No, what I meant was that as long as I am staring at these flowers, then I don’t have to look at the horrible thing that is staring at me through the front window of the shop.” said Fluttershy without any discernable trace of emotion as she began to tremble. She then began to gaze at the surrounding items in the shop, at anything, as long as it kept her eyes off of the ‘’thing’’ that had unfortunately decided to peak at her through the shop window.

“Wh.. What?” asked Rainbow Dash as a sudden feeling of dread and fear fell down her spine, causing sweat to beat quickly down her forehead.

“What did you say?” asked Rainbow again as she put her forehooves gently around Fluttershy’s face, and then turning it to meet her own face.

“Please Dash, please don’t make me look at that thing in the shop window over there.” said Fluttershy as she fell to her haunches, accidentally knocking over a vase of petunias that were sitting nearby in the process.

“Don’t make you look at what, Fluttershy what are you talking about?” asked Rainbow Dash as she noticed that several of the other ponies that stood in the shop around them began to look their way.

“Is everything okay?” asked a light green pony, with a cutie mark resembling a harp.

“Yeah, everything is fine, now if you will excuse me.” said Rainbow as she could not be bothered to be distracted from Fluttershy’s predicament for a second longer.

“Woah, that was strange.” said the light green pony as she continued to look upon the flowers that she had previously taken interest in.

“Fluttershy, listen, what’s wrong, I am not going to ask again, is it the same thing that was bothering you back at Sugarcube Corner?” asked Rainbow Dash as she sat right beside Fluttershy, placing her own head right next to her friends in a comforting manner.

Fluttershy did not speak once again, but merely began to quietly sob, laying her head onto the floor. She sobbed as quietly as she could, but before long, she was crying louder than she would have liked.

The commotion caused all of the ponies in the shop to gather around Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, each pony showing signs of visible concern over the condition of the distraught mare.

“Seriously Rainbow, what is wrong with her, is she hurt?” asked the same light green pony from earlier, as she trotted over to Rainbow Dash’s location. Rainbow Dash herself stood back up on her hooves, still keeping her gaze on the crying Fluttershy, who now laid sprawled out on the floor.

“I told you before Lyra, I don’t know what is wrong with her, this has me worried too.” said Rainbow Dash as she could feel her heart break from the sight of Fluttershy crying violently into the floor of the shop.

“Oh girls, please tell me, is she hurt?” asked Daisy who had immediately noticed what had happened to Fluttershy. Daisy had already secured a first aid kit from the back room of the shop, and was now galloping towards Fluttershy with a panicked look in her eyes.

“What, n-no, at least not physically, I don’t know what the hey is wrong with her, and that is only making me angry!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she could now feel her heart begin to beat faster by the second.

“Well, is she like having a mental breakdown or something?” asked another pony who emerged from the crowd that stood right behind Lyra. This statement made Rainbow Dash scowl in anger, as she turned around to see what pony had made this rather offensive statement.

“BonBon, don’t say rash things like that, you will only make this worse.” said Lyra as she turned around and chastised her friend upon realizing how insensitive her comment was.

“No, I did not mean it like that Lyra, I am being serious, Rainbow Dash said she was not hurt physically, so what is the next best thing to assume?” asked BonBon as she had also began to show signs of concern for the weeping Fluttershy, who at this point was now full-blown wailing in fear.

“Whoah, whoah Fluttershy, calm down girl, it’s okay, I don’t know what is bothering you right now, but I am going to take you to the hospital okay.” said Rainbow Dash as she could feel tears beginning to form at the bottom of her shiny, magenta eyes.

“Hey, let me come with you, it’s the least I can do, she can lay on my back, and I will carry her to the hospital, that would be easier than you having to carry her would it?” asked Lyra as she tried to convey the concern that she had for Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash.

“Sure, fine, let’s hurry.” said Rainbow Dash as Lyra quickly, but carefully, levitated Fluttershy in her own magic. Lyra then laid the broken pegasus gently on her own back, before proceeding to quickly make a dash for the front door of the flower shop.

“Dear, what happened to that poor girl, can anypony please tell me?” asked Daisy as she began to cry herself upon seeing the shocking condition that Fluttershy was in.

“One minute she was fine, and then the next, she was laying on the floor, crying, and freaking out.” said Rainbow Dash in a panic as she had no time for anymore words, she quickly followed behind Lyra as the two ponies exited the shop, leaving the rest of the ponies to only be able to stare in confusion and fear.

At this point, Fluttershy had fallen unconscious, and the sheer force of her crying and hyperventilation had forced her mind to temporary shut down. Both Lyra and Rainbow Dash had taken notice of this, which only caused their trot towards Ponyville Hospital to dramatically quicken in pace.

“Please Celestia, tell me you are going to be okay Fluttershy, please, oh PLEASE!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she was now crying at full force herself, all the while not even bothering to fly. She chose to trot beside Lyra, so she could keep a constant eye on Fluttershy, and make sure that she was okay.

In the midst of the confusion and panic, the two rushing ponies heard a loud, yet regal-sounding voice pierce their ears, causing them to come to a complete stop right in the middle of the main square of town.

“Oh my Luna, what happened to her?” asked a distraught Rarity, who had dropped her two saddlebags to the ground, and had galloped frantically towards Lyra and Rainbow Dash’s direction. She had visible panic in her eyes as she ran over to Lyra and immediately stared at the comatose Fluttershy with much dispiritedness.

“Rarity, I am glad that you are here,something happened to Fluttershy while we were at the flower shop, I will explain more once we arrive there, but for now, we have to hurry for the hospital!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash to Rarity with much haste to her disposition.

“Oh no, no Fluttershy.” thought Rarity to herself as she had to exert a lot of effort to keep tears from welling up in her eyes.

Within the next twenty minutes, Lyra, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity arrived at the Ponyville hospital with Fluttershy in tow. She was immediately taken into personal care by Nurse Redheart, once the nurse had seen the condition of Fluttershy firsthand.

The three mares who had brought Fluttershy to the hospital now found themselves waiting anxiously in the lobby, which was station to the left of the hallway containing the actual operating rooms. It was essentially on a room outside of the Intensive Care Quarters.

“So you say that she just randomly had some sort of breakdown, is that it?” asked Rarity who had just finished hearing out Rainbow Dash’s explanation of the events that preceded her own intervention.

“Yeah, we were just looking around the flower shop, when all of a sudden, Fluttershy began to act strange, and... I don’t know, but she kept making mention of something...” trailed off Rainbow Dash as she seemed to be lost within her thoughts.

“Mention of what darling?” asked Rarity as she became worried upon hearing Rainbow Dash trail off on her statement.

“That’s just it, she never did tell me!” replied Rainbow Dash as she seemed to grow gloomy from the sudden realization of her own helplessness in the situation.

“By the time that me and BonBon had entered the flower shop, Fluttershy was already on the floor, she was almost flailing around wildly, and screaming rather violently into her hooves.” stammered Lyra as she tried to accurately describe the events from her point of view.

“I would surmise that only when Fluttershy is feeling better, that is when we can get an accurate account on what had troubled her so.” insisted Rarity as she stared towards the hallway, that Fluttershy had been wheeled down in a gurney, earlier in the day.

“I hope you are right Rarity.” agreed Rainbow Dash who could only stare at her hooves in despair upon the direction that the day had taken, not at all wishing that this would be the outcome.

“I am sure everythin.....” stammered Lyra as something in the corner of her eye seemed to demand her undivided attention.

“What were you sayin’ Lyra, I wasn’t paying attention, sorry.” chided Rainbow Dash as she had just managed to hear the end of Lyra’s strange exclamation.

Lyra herself did not notice anything Rainbow Dash said, instead, she merely stood up on her four hooves, and began to slowly trot down the hallway opposite the Intensive Care Unit. The hallway that led back to the admission centre of the hospital.

“Uh, Rainbow darling, where in Equestria is Lyra going?” asked Rarity, her left forehoof on place on her chest. She had just seen the look in Lyra’s eyes as she had began to trot away from them. It frightened her.

“What do you mean, she is...” stuttered Rainbow as her words slipped in her mouth as soon as she noticed that Lyra was no longer among them.

“What the hey, wait here Rarity, I will see what is up.” assured Rainbow as she began to quickly gallop down the hallway that she had believed Lyra to have traveled down.

“No sweetie, she went down the other hallway, back towards the entrance of the hospital.” emphasized Rarity, who almost managed to find slight amusement in Rainbow Dash’s lack of a sense of direction.

“Yeah, ok then.” said Rainbow with a slight blush of embarrassment while she began to trot down the correct hallway this time.

“Why did Lyra leave, maybe she had to get home to BonBon, yeah, that must be it.” thought Rainbow to herself as she began to smell a scent that stunk of saline in the air around her. “Ugh, I hate Hospitals.” mused Rainbow to herself as she could only think about the next time that she could get to see Fluttershy,

Before she knew it, Rainbow had arrived at the check-in desk of the hospital, in which a waiting room next to it was situated. She did not see Lyra in the waiting room, and upon becoming slightly nervous, began to approach the secretary to see if she had seen the pony in question.

“Excuse me miss, did you see that green pony that was with us earlier, the one that has a lyre for a cutie mark?” asked Rainbow as polietely as she could muster.

The secretary pony looked at her with some mild amusement before motioning her hoof towards the doors that led to the outside lot of the hospital.

“She just stumbled out there, I asked her if everything was alright, but she would not answer, it was almost as if she was stuck in a trance or something, very unusual indeed.” recounted the secretary.

“Alright.” With that, Rainbow Dash quickly trotted out of the double doors of the hospital into the lot outside. She did not notice Lyra at first, but upon walking a bit further into the lot, which had began to lead back into the streets of Ponyville, she finally found the mare she was looking for.

“Lyra there you are, what happened, why are you out here?” asked Rainbow Dash in confusion as she began to feel a chill in the air around her. Evening was closing in fast as she could see the stars starting to form in the sky. “Huh, must have been in there longer that I thought.” retorted the pegasus to herself before trotting beside of Lyra and looking closely at her.

“You, alright?” consoled Rainbow Dash as she began to feel another rush of anxiety feel her head again.

“I saw it Rainbow, I saw it!” babbled Lyra with hysteria as she turned to Rainbow Dash with tears staring to fall down her muzzle.

“Oh brother, what did you see?” asked Rainbow Dash as she dreaded the idea of another one of her friends having a mental breakdown on the same day as the other.

“It was Fluttershy, she was dead.” blurted Lyra as she then gently buried her head into Rainbow Dash’s chest, and then began to emit a soft, heartbreaking sob. This action left Rainbow Dash without any kind of response that she could immediately turn to. The sound of Lyra, another of her childhood friends, sobbing into her chest really began to tear her heart into shreds. The normal squeaky, sweet, and peppy voice of Lyra, to now be emitting such a pained and pitiful cry.

Rainbow Dash could only begin to cry too, the culmination of the day’s events and the sound of Lyra’s cries ultimately driving her to do the same.

That, and the statement that preceded the crying, the statement about Fluttershy being dead.

“Fluttershy, dead?” thought Rainbow Dash to herself while she tried to consul her second broken friend of the day. Her own tears making it hard to communicate with Lyra, so for the meantime, she merely allowed herself to cry alongside the unicorn instead.

As Lyra began to lift her head from against her friend’s chest, she managed to find the strength to compose herself momentarily. She stepped away from Rainbow Dash, before readjusting her stature to look more relaxed and sure of herself. Although she still felt the weight over what had just caused her so much mental pain earlier, she did not want to involve Rainbow Dash in it any longer.

“I...I’m sorry, what, was I just.... Doing?” asked Lyra as she was still sniffing up the tears from her outburst prior to.

“Oh Lyra, you had began to cry, and I was so worried about you, it is bad enough that Fluttershy had gotten worse today, but then you too began to get upset.” said Rainbow Dash as she was confused as to how Lyra could not remember the reason for her crying just a moment ago.

“Why was I crying for, sheesh, I must have really let my mind wander huh, hehehe.” laughed Lyra as she managed to brush the last trace of tears out of her eyes.

“Lyra, you can’t fool me, I know you did not forget, the thing you just told me, I know you did not forget!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she could feel a mixture of lying and fear in Lyra’s tone.

“Just leave me alone, I am just trying to not make a big deal out of this, I mean Fluttershy is in the hospital right now.”

“But Lyra, you were beginning to freak out just like Fluttershy did earlier, and that worries me.”

“I know Dashie, but forget about me, let’s just worry about Fluttershy for now.”

“But your tears Lyra, I could feel how hurt and scared you were from the sound of your voice, I am not going to ignore that!” yelled Rainbow Dash to Lyra as several of the ponies, that were trotting up the street beside the lot, began to stare at them.

“I know what I said, about Fluttershy okay, but I also realize that it was all in my head.” said Lyra as she continued to try and explain herself to Rainbow Dash.

“While I was in the waiting room, something overcame me, I don’t know what it was, but I suddenly saw this mental image, it was terrible Dashie!” cried Lyra as more tears started to make their way down the poor unicorn’s cheek.

“Just don’t think about it right now Lyra, let’s get back to the waiting room with Rarity, we can talk about this later, okay?” assured Rainbow as she put her hoof around Lyra, and gave her a warm smile.

“Thanks, thanks Dashie.” soothed Lyra softly to her friend as the two ponies began to trot their way back into the confines of the hospital.

Author's Note

Allow me to be the first to say that I have no talent at writing, but I enjoy it none the less. So there is that!:applecry:

Chapter 9: Even Flow

A few hours prior to nightfall, before the tragic events that caused Fluttershy to be rushed to the hospital, a certain event was still coming to fruition in the perimeter of the Everfree Forest. Twilight Sparkle had come across a strange stallion who had requested her to leave the area, though she decided against that. Despite the feelings that she had around him, the stallion had not tried to harm her yet, but had decided to merely sit down and have a talk with her.

He had declared that he was going to tell her his name. This had intrigued Twilight, as in the back of her mind, she was certain that this pony had something to do with the mysterious energy readings that she was picking up all around town. These energy readings had been occurring for a while now, and she knew that it had to start with this pony before her.

“My name... Well just call me... The Contortionist.” said the stallion as he was now sitting on his haunches against a tree that was several feet in front of Twilight herself.

“What, Contortionist, but that is a nickname, and not your real name!” yelled Twilight who was not satisfied with the answer that the large, bearded stallion had given her.

“Well, that is the answer that I am giving, because even if I told you my real name, it would not mean much, it’s not like my real name has any value anyway.” lamented the Contortionist as he merely sat on the grass in front of the large oak tree behind him, staring at Twilight with no discernible emotion in his eyes.

“Your real name has no value, what kind of answer is that, you would have no reason to hide your name if you were innocent.” ventured Twilight as she had come up with the conclusion that this so called Contortionist must be guilty of the energy readings now.

“You can think what ever you want, Ms. Twilight Sparkle, but you think you know so much, but I assure you, I believe that you know so little after the fact.” mused the Contortionist as he began to roll around on his back slowly, still keeping his eyes locked with Twilight’s own.

“Wha... B-but... I, I thought you did not know my name?” asked Twilight as she was beginning to grow nervous and unsettled by the pony’s words and actions before her.

“Of course I know your name, you are the student of the Sun Princess for crying out loud, everypony knows your name.” said the Contortionist as he decided to stand back up on all of his hooves and slightly move toward Twilight’s location.

“Oh, I see, I guess that makes sense, but that does not mean you know anything about me on a personal level, so don’t try to act like you can manipulate me with those words of yours.” cautioned Twilight as the tip of her horn began to emit the same purple glow that many ponies had become to fear over the past years.

“Please, I could care less about your attempts to seem competent, I have nothing to loose here, and your town here, well they have everything to loose.” rebuked the Contortionist as he turned his gaze towards the location of Ponyville, that lied beyond the road behind them.

“So you are an enemy of Ponyville, and by extension, Equestria!” said Twilight as she focused the magic in her horn, causing the purple glow around it to cackle with electricity.

“No, I am not an enemy of anything, just an auditor.” insisted the Contortionist as he showed no visible signs of fear from the display that Twilight was putting on before him.

“There you go with those round-about answers again, you cannot even believe yourself, so you are just making excuses to try and sound neutral about all of the accusations that I am throwing at you.” declared Twilight as she maintained the glow of magic and electricity that surrounded her horn, almost spiraling around it like a funnel.

“Yet, these are accusations that are being made by you, only one lowly pony, and just because you might feel a certain way, it does not mean that it is necessarily the right way.” chimed the stoic stallion, who began to trot a few steps away from Twilight, though not out of fear, but out of sympathy.

“Heh, haha, you know, I rather appreciate your way of words Mr. Contortionist, you definatley sound like you had some kind of premier education in the past.” laughed Twilight as she had rarely came across another pony who composed themselves like the strange stallion that she had met this late afternoon.

“Nah, nothing like that, whatever it is you assume about me, it is most certainly not true, you don’t know me, but I know you.” countered the Contortionist as his right eye began to twitch, turning his neck at an angle that caused his head and facial expression to become demented.

“I will not tolerate this anymore!” yelled Twilight as she shot a vibrant, purple beam of magic and electricity right towards the stallion, though he retained the same expression that he held prior to.

The beam of energy collided with the stallion, destroying the trees around him, and creating a moderate sized crater in the ground from whence he once stood. Twilight seemed saddened that she had upset the land around the stallion, not wanting to harm the forest all because she wanted to silence the pony before her.

Despite this, she glanced around the area before her, only seeing the crater that she had caused and the trees around it, laying in pieces on the ground. No sign of the stallion though, and Twilight did not necessarily feel pleased about this revelation either.

“Surely that could not have been enough power to kill him, I did not want to do that!” panicked Twilight as she began to quickly trot around the landscape of the Everfree in a attempt to find the body of the stallion that she believed to be taunting her earlier.

She had noticed a similar sensation in her mind that she had felt when the stallion was in her presence earlier. This occurred to her while she was galloping down the tree line of the Everfree. She began to realize that she was not far from Fluttershy’s cottage, she seemed to be surprised by the amount of ground that she had covered so quickly.

“Did he teleport away from my attack, and if so, why did he decide to go to Fluttershy’s house?” asked Twilight to herself in panic as she noticed that nightfall was now rapidly approaching her. Within the next fifteen or so minutes, Twilight had managed to come across the gate that led to Fluttershy’s home. The animals were all running around her cottage, playing and eating, but Twilight did not see Fluttershy herself anywhere.

“Did that Contortionist pony come here or not, I could swear that I sensed him in this direction, it was the same feeling that I had when I first met him after all.” thought Twilight to herself as she was now using the purple glow on her horn to light the darkness around her.

It was beginning to grow dark and cold outside, but Twilight could not turn herself away from the investigation that she was currently undertaking at the moment. She felt that there was still too much risk associated with that stranger pony, and the last thing that she could do right now was to calm herself down.

“You should spend less time worrying about me Ms. Sparkle, go to the hospital in Ponyville, Fluttershy needs you right now.” sneered the familiar voice of the stallion that she had believed to have killed from earlier.

“Huh, what?” asked Twilight as her eyes widened in fear, and her pupils now the size of small dots.

“I am fine, that attack was pitiful Twilight, so don’t worry about me, but as for your timid pegasus friend, well, maybe you should worry about her.” laughed the Contortionist as he appeared on the road that led from Fluttershy’s Cottage to Ponyville.

Even though he was over two-hundred feet away from Twilight at this point, she was even more afraid of him than when they were closer. He seemed to be in a distorted shape compared to earlier, as if his features had become exaggerated from before, no longer looking like an ordinary pony anymore.

“Did, did my magic from earlier do that to him, oh no, I am sorry.” said Twilight as, despite what the stallion had been telling her, she still held the notion that his current appearance was of her fault, and this still saddened her despite everything else that was occurring at the moment.

“Goodness, despite being the Element of Magic, you do have some kindness in you, maybe too much.” said the Contortionist as his distorted appearance began to settle back down into the one that Twilight was familiar with.

After this display, he vanished into thin air for a split second, before appearing much closer to Twilight than before, now being within twenty feet of the frightened unicorn mare.

“As I said before, you should head to the Ponyville Hospital right about now, your fellow Elements could use it after all.” said the stallion as he had once again withered into thin air, leaving only Twilight herself, standing outside of Fluttershy’s property, with a sick feeling in her stomach.

“Flutt...Fluttershy, what could have happened to her?” thought Twilight to herself as she disappeared in a flash of purple light, leaving only the sight of a circle of singed dirt in her wake.

Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle had approached the direction of Sugarcube Corner, after having spoken to the butler over the radio back at Rich Estates. Silver Spoon was certain that her friend would be there, as that was the spot that Diamond Tiara would usually go to when she was feeling down and out.

Sweetie Belle was merely following in suit, as she did not know much about Silver Spoon or Diamond Tiara personally, though at least it seemed that she could trust Silver Spoon at the moment.

Even though nightfall had come across Ponyville, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle had insisted that they look in the bakery for Diamond Tiara first, before deciding to head home for the evening. They had spent the prior hours looking around other locations that Silver Spoon had found Diamond Tiara at in the past, just to be sure, before deciding to end their investigation at Sugarcube Corner itself.

“Hmm, I thought for sure that she would be at Tinsil’s Tea, you did say that she loved to go there during the evening.” said Sweetie Belle to Silver Spoon as the two fillies approached the door of the bakery, seeing the silhouettes of several ponies in the dimly-lit windows that were on both sides of the door itself.

“So did I, I have found her at Tinsil’s before, she loves to go there after a difficult day, but according to Tinsil herself, Diamond Tiara had not been there the entire day.” sighed Silver Spoon as she was hoping for Diamond to be in one of the seats of the bakery that they were just about to enter.

Upon coming into Sugarcube Corner, the feint smell of baked goods, cookies, cakes, and the like began to feel in the noses of the two fillies. Despite the worried state of mind they were both in, these pleasant smells did manage to calm them both down a bit. They then began to search for Diamond Tiara among all of the other ponies that were present at the bakery this evening.

“Hey Silver, do you see her anywhere yet, I don’t.” said Sweetie Belle as she began to feel a surge of panic rush into her mind.

“No, I don’t see her here either, maybe Pinkie Pie has seen her here earlier in the day, let’s go ring the bell at the table over there, that is where Pinkie is usually during this time.” said Silver Spoon with a hastened tone.

The two fillies approached the employee desk of the bakery, and Silver Spoon gently tapped on the bell that sat beside the cash register. A pony that Sweetie Belle knew as Mrs. Cake approached the two fillies after about thirty seconds of silence. By this time, the other customers in the bakery had began to leave out through the door. Only a handful of ponies remained in the building at this time.

“Oh girls, it is so nice to see you this evening, although it is getting rather late.” said Mrs. Cake to the two fillies with a joyful expression on her face.

“Hi Mrs. Cake, we were wandering if Pinkie Pie is still around, we are trying to find Diamond Tiara, and we were wandering if anypony had seen her here today?” asked Silver Spoon to Mrs. Cake, with fear and confusion starting to form in the filly’s eyes.

“Oh my, I see, well I have not seen her today, but Pinkie, she might have, but something happened earlier today, something concerning Pinkie’s strange sense.” said Mrs. Cake who was starting to sound a little worried herself.

“Are you talking about the Pinkie Sense, if so, then I am a believer.” said Sweetie Belle, recounting the many times that she saw the proof of the strange ability in action. Although she did not believe it at first, many things that had transpired since have changed the filly’s mind greatly.

“What, Pinkie Sense?” thought Silver Spoon to herself as anything that had to do with Pinkie Pie would always surprise her.

“Yes, it was the strangest thing, she said that Fluttershy was supposed to show up earlier in the day and help her with the baking.” recalled Mrs. Cake as she tried to remember the specific words that Pinkie had told her from the night before.

“Oh yeah that is right, Fluttershy told us that yesterday, how she was supposed to help Pinkie today, that is true.” proclaimed Sweetie Belle as she had managed to remember that detail from yesterday, after the Crusader’s day of exploration had ended.

“I see, well something happened to Fluttershy while she was getting ready to help Pinkie, though I am not sure of the exact details.” continued on Mrs. Cake as she had a look of confusion on her face, the same as the two fillies before her.

“Something happened to Fluttershy, what?” asked Sweetie Belle with a saddened tone as she began to feel anxiety well up into her mind.

“What in Equestria is going on today?” asked Silver Spoon as she now had more things to worry about than just Diamond Tiara’s location.

“I don’t know the details, but Pinkie did tell me that Rainbow Dash came by around that time, and that she took Fluttershy with her to go visit Daisy’s Flower Shop,” resumed Mrs. Cake as she tried to recount all of the details that she heard from Pinkie earlier in the day.

“Okay, but where is Pinkie right now?” asked Silver Spoon as she noticed that Mrs. Cake had yet to tell them anything about the party pony herself.

“Forgive me, I forgot about that, Pinkie said that her Pinkie Sense had told her to go to the hospital, she had left about an hour and a half ago.” said Mrs. Cake as she now had an obvious look of concern about her.

“What, hospital, you don’t think this has to do with Fluttershy, do you?” asked Sweetie Belle as even more panic began to overtake her whole psyche.

“I hope not, but at least, if you find Pinkie there, then she could tell you if she saw Diamond Tiara at any point during the day.” suggested Mrs. Cake as she tried to find a way to consul the two fillies before her.

“Thanks Mrs. Cake, but what about Rarity, I heard her say that she was going to stop by and ask Fluttershy something, she told me this morning, did my sister ever come by?” asked Sweetie Belle as she had just managed to remember this detail from within the back of her mind.

“From what I know, I don’t think she did come by today, but I do not know for certain, again, Pinkie should have a clearer understanding of what is going on than I do, you two should go to the hospital and ask her.” said Mrs. Cake.

“Then we shall do that, hey who knows, maybe Diamond Tiara will be there too.” said Silver Spoon as she turned her attention to Sweetie Belle.

“That could be true, I do hope that you two find her, I would hate to think of a poor little filly out all by herself at night.” gasped Mrs. Cake as she tried to calm herself down, as to not make the two fillies become further distressed.

“Don’t worry, we will find her, and we will also find out what is going on at the hospital. Let’s go Sweetie Belle!” exclaimed Silver Spoon with a gleam of determination in her eye as she stared at the unicorn filly.

“Y-yeah, thanks Mrs. Cake, we will see you soon.” said Sweetie Belle as the two fillies quickly galloped out of the bakery.

“I hope everything is okay.” thought Mrs. Cake to herself as she began to close down Sugarcube Corner for the day.

The moon was now in the middle of the night sky, as many bright stars began to shine and twinkle all around it. Luna’s work was always a sight to behold, even if the night itself was perceived as being scary and foreboding.

These were the things that strolled through Diamond Tiara’s mind as she trotted down a lone street of Ponyville all by herself. She was doing her best to not be found by Silver Spoon at the moment, as she still felt hurt and betrayed by her friend’s actions from back at the playground.

“I can’t believe that she sided with that blank flank like that, for all we know, those were crocodile tears.” hissed Diamond to herself as she was still suspicious of Scootaloo’s display of sadness from earlier.

“She probably only pretended to cry, to try and rouse a reaction of remorse from me or Silver Spoon, and unfortunately, it at least worked on one of us!” bellowed Diamond Tiara to herself as she felt anger in her heart over Silver Spoon trying to defend Scootaloo.

“I mean, the Scootaloo that I know is too tough to resort to crying, she would try to fight me, not cry like a sissy.” continued on Diamond to herself quietly as she had come to the end of the street that she was trotting down at the moment.

“No point in beating on it any further, I saw Silver Spoon with another of those blank flanks from earlier, she must have thought that they were pretty slick, what with looking for me and pretending to care about me, but I managed to stay hidden from them.” thought Diamond as she made a conscious effort to not speak to herself aloud anymore, as to keep any unwanted attention off of herself.

Suddenly. Diamond Tiara saw a bright flash of purple light in the street over from the one that she currently occupied. It dazed her for a moment, but she managed to regain her senses nonetheless.

“What the hey was that, did those two get more help in trying to find me, I better figure this out, it is getting late now anyways.” thought Diamond Tiara as she trotted between a set of houses that lied in between her and the bright light she had seen from earlier.

After Diamond had quietly managed to maneuver herself between a series of houses, she found herself on the next street over, and the sight before her brought about both feelings of confusion, and panic. She saw Twilight Sparkle, standing in the middle of the street before her, and she could see a look of fear and dread on the unicorn’s eyes.

“That is Twilight, what is she doing out here this time of night, although I guess she could ask me the same question.” thought Diamond Tiara as she approached the unicorn with caution.

“Hey, excuse me, is everything alright?” asked Diamond Tiara as she trotted up to Twilight, standing right beside the unicorn.

“Huh, hey, who are... Oh it’s you.” said Twilight as she was confused to see a filly standing beside her at the moment.

“Hey, don’t act all surprised or nothing.” said Diamond with a hurt tone, as she believed that Twilight was not happy to see her.

“Aww, I’m sorry, I did not mean it like that little one, I am in a hurry that is all, one of my friends is in the hospital, and I need to get there as soon as possible.” soothed Twilight to the confused filly standing before her.

“What, one of your friends is in the hospital, who is it?” asked Diamond Tiara as all of the things that were on her mind at the moment seemed to fade away, this new revelation now taking center stage in her head.

“It’s Fluttershy, I do not know what happened to her, but I need to get to the hospital right now and find out!” urged Twilight as a look of unease filtered her voice.

“Fluttershy, wait the same pony who the Cutie Mark Crusaders went to have that treasure hunt with.” thought Diamond Tiara to herself as she turned her attention back to Twilight. “I am coming with you, if something happened to her, then what if, what if something happened to one of them too?” asked Diamond Tiara as she looked at Twilight and approached her closely.

“Wait, am I seriously worried about those blank flanks, I mean, what is wrong with me, why should I be worried.... No... enough, I need to see what happened.” thought Diamond to herself as she looked up at Twilight and awaited her answer.

“You need to get home right now little miss, it is too late to be out all by your lonesome.” demanded Twilight as she looked at Diamond Tiara with conviction in her tone, not wanting the filly to get hurt.

“No, I am coming with you whether you like it or not, that is how it’s going to be!” exclaimed Diamond Tiara with a determination that actually managed to surprise Twilight a little.

“B-but... Oh fine, but we have to hurry.” said Twilight as she did not like the idea of the filly following her, but she was too preoccupied with Fluttershy at the moment to put up any more of a fight.

“Okay, let’s go to the hospital, but I hope that everypony is okay, truly I do.” lamented Diamond Tiara to herself as she quickly galloped right behind Twilight, following her in the direction of the hospital.

“What could have possibly happened to this Fluttershy, and does it involve the Crusader’s, I know that they mentioned something about hanging out with Fluttershy as of late, but this, none of this makes any sense.” thought Diamond Tiara as she tried to comprehend the reason behind Twilight’s friend being in the hospital.

“Oh Fluttershy wait for me, I will be there soon.” said Twilight meekly to herself, as she turned her head around in order to make sure that the filly was still safe behind her.

“What is your name by the way, I may have heard it before, but it has been a while since we met, wait, I don’t think that we ever properly met!” said an exasperated Twilight as she could not recall introducing herself to the filly before.

“My name is Diamond Tiara, and no, you are not missing much, I am not a very good pony.” sighed Diamond Tiara as she felt intimidated in Twilight’s presence.

“Don’t be like that Diamond Tiara, just relax and we will be at the hospital shortly.” assured Twilight as she allowed Diamond to catch up to her. The two ponies were now galloping right beside each other, so this way, Twilight could keep a closer eye on her.

“I cannot let the Contortionist hurt any more ponies, I have to get to the bottom of this now.” thought Twilight to herself as she could now see the hospital in the distance ahead of her.

Chapter 10: Immortal

Ponyville Hospital had never seen such an influx of visitors as it had this particular night. With Rainbow Dash, Lyra, and Rarity having been present in the waiting room, waiting for Fluttershy to finally awaken from her coma. Pinkie Pie had quickly arrived at the hospital as well, and before long had joined them. She was certain that something bad had occurred, due to the ominous power of her Pinkie Sense, and upon arriving in the waiting room, her suspicion was confirmed. It had now been ten minutes since the party pony’s arrival, before two additional ponies had also admitted themselves among them.

Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon quickly trotted in, and upon seeing the crowd that had already gathered around them, they knew that Mrs. Cake’s words from earlier were now all too true.

“So it is true, Fluttershy really is in pain!” cried Sweetie Belle as she fell to the floor, her mind wallowed with despair.

“Oh no, what could have actually happened to her?” asked Silver Spoon, as she noticed the grim look on all of the other ponies present in the room around her.

“Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?” asked Rarity as she had since approached her sister, and began to try and comfort her.

“Sis, me and Silver Spoon were looking for Diamond Tiara, we tried searching all over Ponyville for her, but we were not able to find her anywhere.” urged the little unicorn filly as she managed to regain her composure and stand back up on all of her hooves.

“Looking for Diamond Tiara, why, whatever do you mean my dear?” asked Rarity with curiosity as the words spoken by her little sister have seemed to surprise her somewhat.

“We had even looked at Sugarcube Corner, that is where we met Mrs. Cake, she told us that Pinkie Pie ran off towards the hospital, she said that Pinkie might know where Diamond Tiara is!” insisted Silver Spoon as she was worried about Fluttershy indeed, but not on the level that she was worried about her childhood friend.

“Oh, well, now that you mention it, I have not seen her today.” said Pinkie as she approached Silver Spoon with an air of sadness about her.

“You haven’t seen her today, oh, I see, well sorry for bothering you.” sighed Silver Spoon as a few tears began to well up under her eyes.

“Oh don’t cry girls, I am sure that she is somewhere safe, there is nothing to worry about.” said Rarity as she tried to now comfort both of the distressed fillies before her.

“Yeah, I agree with Rarity, she is surely fine, why, my Pinkie Sense has not told me about anything bad happening to her after all.” declared Pinkie Pie with a high level of confidence in her voice.

“Pinkie Sense, not that again.” thought Silver Spoon as she was not convinced of this strange power that she had heard a lot about recently.

“I believe you Pinkie Pie.” said Sweetie Belle as she truly did believe in the party pony’s unusual talent.

“Anyway, what happened to Fluttershy?” asked Sweetie Belle, who was still awaiting an answer, from her sister mainly.

“I will tell you after we get back home, now quiet down.” insisted Rarity as she could begin to hear a series of hoof steps galloping towards them, from the direction of the admittance hall.

“GIRLS!” yelled a voice from towards the direction of the admittance hall of the hospital.

“Umm, did anypony else hear that?” asked Lyra as she thought that she was loosing her mind again.

“I heard it too Lyra, who the hey is that, it kinda sounds like...” began Rainbow Dash, before a familiar purple unicorn had suddenly trotted her way into the waiting room.

“Now Twilight is here too, the whole crowd is showing up today!” said Lyra who was surprised that word had spread about Fluttershy as quickly as she assumed it did.

Twilight was not alone either, within a few more seconds, another filly had also arrived in the waiting room, although her facial expression suggested a feeling of fear and confusion, even beyond the rest of the ponies present.

Diamond Tiara stared with wide eyes, right into the faces of Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon, who were only standing a mere few feet in front of her. She did not even register the other ponies in the room, as her gaze was fixated upon her two classmates instead.

“Hey, there is Diamond Tiara, see, I said that she was going to be okay!” cheered Pinkie Pie as she began to hop around the waiting room with joy.

Diamond did not pay Pinkie any mind, instead subtly approaching the two fillies that her gaze could not tear away from.

“Oh, Diamond Tiara, you are here too huh, I see.” stammered Silver Spoon as she began to stare at her forehooves, the look on Diamond’s face had began to make her feel uncomfortable.

“Diamond, we were so worried about you, me and Silver Spoon looked all over Ponyville for you, but no matter how hard we looked, we could not find you at all!” exclaimed a surprised Sweetie Belle, who had not yet picked up on the mental state of the filly standing before her.

“I found her, or rather, she found me on my way to the hospital, I told her that she needed to head home, but she would not listen to me!” shouted Twilight as she was rather surprised by the amount of ponies who were already present in the waiting room, not realizing how long it must have been since Fluttershy had arrived at the hospital.

“If I had know who was here prior to, I would have went home like you said, Twilight.” rebuked Diamond as she gave a menacing glare towards Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon.

“Tiara, wh... What?” asked Silver Spoon with a hurt tone in her voice.

“After what you pulled today, you are the last pony that I wanted to come across.” began Diamond as she was now puffing out air from her nostrils. “I knew that you and Sweetie were looking for me, I saw you periodically throughout the day, but I was able to fool you, and stay out of your sights, at least until now.” continued on Diamond Tiara as she began to make her way back down towards the admittance hall.

“Diamond wait, we are not your enemies, why are you acting this way, what happened to you?” pleaded Sweetie Belle as she could not comprehend the reasoning for Diamond Tiara’s sour mood.

“The next time I see you blank flanks, you are going to get what you deserve.” cautioned Diamond Tiara in a low, quiet tone, just loud enough for Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon to hear.

With those words spoken, Diamond Tiara quickly galloped her way out of the waiting room, and down the admittance hall. Before long, she had arrived at the doors that led to the exit of the hospital.

“I am sorry about Fluttershy, but if those two are there, then I am afraid that I have no business being here!” thought the estranged filly to herself as she began to trot her way back home.

“Wait, I just realized, this whole time I have been so fixated on those damned fillies, that I forgot about my tiara!” yelled Diamond as she had suddenly put one of her forehooves on her head, but she could not feel the tiara at all.

With a panicked look in her eye, she began to race back towards Rich Estates, confident that her tiara must have fallen off somewhere around there. “I will find you my precious tiara, you are my only friend now!” exclaimed Diamond as her left eye began to twitch uncannily, and a mischievous smirk now donned her face.

The ponies that remained in the waiting room were all staring at each other with looks of confusion, after the scene that Diamond Tiara had just made.

“Horses, what was wrong with that filly, sheesh.” said Lyra as she had only heard negative things about Diamond Tiara since the Rich Family arrived in Ponyville.

“She doesn’t seem like a loyal friend to me.” declared Rainbow Dash, who was upset with the way that Diamond had treated Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon.

“Don’t let her words get to you darling, she is just having a bad day, let it go.” soothed Rarity to both Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon.

“Maybe I should throw her a party, yep, that might cheer her up!” squeed Pinkie Pie with an upbeat tone as usual.

“I don’t know about that right now Pinkie, but forget about it for now, what happened to Fluttershy?” asked Twilight as she was now staring at each of her friends present, with a worried look in her eyes.

“Well, you see...” is all Rainbow Dash could get out of her mouth before Nurse Redheart had trotted into the waiting room, causing the pegasus to go silent.

“Huh?” questioned Twilight as she turned around and saw the nurse standing in front of the hallway that led to the operating quarters.

“Fluttershy is awake, but she is feeling rather weak at the moment, we request that everypony return home for the night, however, feel free to come and visit her in the morning.” declared Nurse Redheart as she took some time to look upon all of the ponies that were present in the room before her.

“What, we cannot see her right now, what kind of horse apples is that?” asked Rainbow Dash with an upset demeanor.

“Yeah, we saw how fragile she was earlier, we just want to make sure that she is okay!” yelled Lyra who was also rather upset at what the nurse had just told them.

“I am afraid that this is the only way, it is as you said, she is in a fragile state of being right now, and will need the night to recover from whatever was ailing her.” went on the nurse with no sign of wavering in her voice.

“N...no, I am going to see her, and no one is going to stop me!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she began to leave her seat and approach the nurse that was preventing her from seeing her most cherished friend.

“Rainbow, that is enough, we will listen to the nurse, if she says that everything is okay for now, then we have to trust her, I may not know what happened to her personally, but we need to trust the doctors for the time being.” commanded Twilight as she had a look of sympathy in her eyes, trying to calm Rainbow Dash down.

“But Twilight, you don’t understand, I saw what happened to her, how much pain she was in, it was unbearable to witness!” cried Rainbow Dash as she put her face in her forehooves and began to sob quietly.

“Oh Rainbow, please don’t cry, everything will be okay, let’s just listen to the nurse, please.” insisted Twilight as she had to make an effort to wipe away a few tears as well.

“But I... I... I understand.” admitted Rainbow in defeat as she began to wipe away the tears from her eyes, before staring back at Nurse Redheart, wanting to hear what the nurse’s response would be.

“Thank you for understanding us, we do not want to upset any of you, we are only doing what is best for our patient at the moment, please try to understand this, you will be able to see her very soon.” said Nurse Redheart as she began to trot back down into the operating quarters. “Everypony take care now.” finished the nurse cheerfully as she waved all of the ponies a good night before disappearing completely down the confines of the hallway.

“See ya in the morning nurse!” laughed Pinkie Pie as she began to hop happily around the room again, in an effort to try and cheer Lyra and Rainbow Dash up.

“I agree with Twilight darling, if they say that Fluttershy is in a stable condition, then what harm will it do to wait until the morning, that is what would be best for Fluttershy.” said Rarity as she put one of her forehooves gently around Sweetie Belle.

“Okay, but first thing in the morning, I am flyin’ my flank over here to see her, and nopony is going to stop me then!” declared Rainbow Dash as a small smile started to form on her face.

“See, that is better Rainbow darling, now we should begin to focus on other things now, and take our mind off of this for a while.” began Rarity as she noticed the time that was displayed on the clock above her.

“Besides, it is getting late, I need to take you two fillies home.” said Rarity as she turned her attention to both her little sister and Silver Spoon.

“Oh, okay.” said Silver Spoon who was rather confused by all of the events that had transpired around her thus far.

“Alright fine, let’s go.” said Sweetie Belle as she was still upset that she would not get to see Fluttershy tonight.

“I will see you girls tomorrow morning, I want all six of us there to greet Fluttershy, someone be sure to let Applejack know about this too.” said Rarity, who began to leave the waiting room, with Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon following right behind her.

“Don’t worry Rarity, I will make sure that all of us are here tomorrow morning to see Fluttershy together.” declared Twilight as she, and the remaining ponies in the waiting room, waved off Rarity and the two fillies.

“Be careful okay.” said Twilight as she watched the three ponies exit down the admittance hall, and walk out through the doors that led outside of the hospital.

“Well, if this is all said and done, I better get back home to BonBon then, she is sure to be worried sick about me, and I can tell her that Fluttershy is going to be alright!” chimed Lyra, who began to leave her seat as well, heading towards the same direction that Rarity and the two fillies had taken earlier.

“Alrighty, see you soon Lyra, take care, and remember, if there is anything that you ever need to talk about, just let me know.” said Rainbow Dash as she gave Lyra a hug, and gently stroked her mane for a few seconds before letting her go.

“Bye Ms. Sparkle, Bye Ms. Pie, I hope that you two have a good night as well.” said Lyra with a gentle tone as she began to trot out of the room.

“Bye, Lyra.” said Twilight quietly as she turned her attention to the two remaining ponies in the room with her.

“Well, I am going home too, I will see you girls first thing in the morning!” said Pinkie Pie with a cheer as she began to hop out of the hospital.

“Wait Pinkie, I wanna come with you, I guess I will see you later Twilight.” said Rainbow Dash as she began to follow the party pony out of the waiting room.

“Rainbow Dash, I will follow you and Pinkie, can you two at least tell me what happened to Fluttershy while we head home?” asked Twilight as she quickly galloped towards Rainbow and Pinkie, with a look of yearning in her eyes.

“Well, I saw what happened first, but the next bad thing that happened to Fluttershy, only Rainbow and Lyra were there for that.” said Pinkie as she started to head out of the exit of the hospital.

“I can tell you what I saw, then Rainbow Dash can tell you her part.” continued Pinkie as she waited for her two friends to catch up with her.

“Listen to what Pinkie tells you first, then I will tell you about what went down at the flower shop.” said Rainbow Dash as Twilight was now trotting right beside her, the two ponies following Pinkie Pie away from the hospital.

“Thanks Dash, thanks Pinkie.” said Twilight as she was eager to hear of what had caused Fluttershy to end up in the hospital in the first place. Despite this, she could not get the thought of the Contortionist out of her mind, but she did not feel like bringing him up to her friends at the moment, especially when she was not quite sure of his involvement in all of this. For now, she would have to wait until the morning, until she got to see Fluttershy in person, or at least she hoped.

“But what about Diamond Tiara, will she be alright, would she even be in any kind of mood to let me escort her home?” thought Twilight as she began to listen to Pinkie’s account of the events concerning Fluttershy.

Diamond Tiara had finally arrived at the gate that surrounded her father’s property. She knew that her parents were not home, and that only the staff that her parents had hired awaited her. This seemed to anger Diamond slightly, but not as much as having met Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon at the hospital.

“Still no sign of my tiara, I should have paid closer attention to when it fell off earlier today, now I am never going to find it!” yelled Diamond Tiara as loud as she could, but still making sure to also be as quiet as possible.

“Those worthless parents of mine, never around to be with me, always off somewhere doing something stupid, I hate them, I hate those blank flanks, and maybe, I even hate you Silver Spoon!” cried Diamond Tiara as she kicked at the gate door around her father’s property, not caring if she broke it or not.

“Heh, it actually came loose, who cares, I hope somepony breaks in and trashes this place, it would serve my stupid dad right!” thought Diamond to herself as she took the broken, rusty lock that she had kicked off of the gate door, and placed it next to the intercom that sat on a cobblestone pillar.

The intercom sat right beside the gate door itself. It was used to call upon the butler and gain permission to enter the property. However, seeing as she lived in the mansion itself, Diamond Tiara felt no need to even bother with the intercom in the first place.

“No need to call the butler, after I broke my way in.” thought Diamond to herself dismissively as she approached the front door to her father’s mansion, and began to knock on it.

“Coming, just a second.” said a muffled voice from behind the door, Diamond could hear hoofsteps getting closer to the door, before she finally heard the doorknob turn from the other side.

After the door was unlocked from inside, the door was pushed open, revealing a butler standing in the doorway, and looking down at Diamond.

“Thank sweet Celestia, you are finally here, I was so worried about you Diamond!” cried the elderly butler as he attempted to put his hooves around the little filly, all the while trying to wipe the tears of joy from his eyes.

“Yeah, I bet you missed me, about as much as my parents do, please Goldenhoof, don’t give me none of this foolishness tonight, I am tired, I am going to my room, and I DARE you to get in my way.” snapped Diamond as she held a seething look of hatred on her face while she stared at the confused butler before her.

“Uhhh..... Okay Ma’dam as you wish, I will leave you alone.” said Goldenhoof as he wiped the rest of the tears from his eyes, and instead stared at Diamond with a look of betrayal, as he tried to hide the fact that her words had really hurt his feelings.

“It’s not like she could even be bothered to care about anypony’s feelings anyway.” thought the butler to himself as he watched the angry little filly trot up the stairs to her room.

“I wonder how she got in without calling me on the radio first, oh well, no sense in worrying about it right now, because Mr. Rich is certainly not worried about it.” thought Goldenhoof to himself as he secretly held a hatred for Diamond’s parents as well, all because of the way they treated their poor daughter.

Goldenhoof had since locked the front door of the mansion, and had turned off all of the lights in the first floor, before trotting upstairs to finish his cleaning for the night. He made sure to stay clear of Diamond Tiara the whole time, not wanting to upset the filly any further.

Diamond Tiara had finally arrived in her room, once again uncaring over her missing tiara. Only rage filled her mind as she began to lay on her queen sized bed, which was surrounded by a soft lavender veil that went all around the space of the bed itself.

She would close the veil around her bed when she did not want to be seen, or disturbed by any outside force. She could only see the feint outline of the environment outside of the veil itself, but she did not mind, she would rather be in the confines of her bed, than be out in the world that had angered her so much this day.

“Applebloom, you put all of your friends up to this, didn’t you, you stupid, worthless, farm pony.” said Diamond Tiara to herself, in a rather loud tone, not trying to be discreet about her anger anymore.

“I hope you die, I really do, hehe, I hope it is painful, but most of all, I hope that I get to see it!” yelled Diamond again as a manic look began to overtake her face. She then laughed with a twisted sound, a cackle that almost sounded demonic, and not from that of a filly.

Before she could ramble any further on her bed, she heard a whisper from somewhere within her room, and not to far from the bed itself. Something was whispering, her name.

“Dia...mond...Tia...ra..”

This quickly changed the filly’s mood, as she was no longer angry at the moment, but instead, she was now fearful, fearful of the dark unknown.

“Did I.... Just hear somepony whisper my name?” thought Diamond Tiara to herself, as she tried to look through the veil around her bed, but she could not see through it well enough to make out anything from the outside. That, combined with the lack of light in her room at the moment, made it impossible to see if anypony had indeed ventured into her private quarters.

“Nah, I am just hearing things, and I am not going to let them distract me from how much I hate those stupid, worthless, Crusaders, who in my opinion, should not even be allowed to live!” yelled Diamond Tiara one final time before she suddenly began to realize the gravity behind the words that she had spoken.

“Wait, am I really saying this stuff, about wanting those blank flanks dead, what, no......what..... Why am I saying this?” thought Diamond to herself as she suddenly felt an urge to open the veil around her bed, as if the temperature from within the veil was starting to roast the little filly alive.

She opened it as quickly as she ever had before. Though, it seemed to do little with calming her down.

“This is not right, I know I am angry about it all, but.... B..but.... Applebloom, she is so nice, and cute....and my first friend.” stammered Diamond Tiara as a knot began to form in her throat. She could almost feel her stomach rising up and coming through her windpipe, as if she was going to vomit all of her bad feelings out.

Then came the thoughts of all of the pictures, that Diamond Tiara knew were hanging around her room. Pictures of her jewelry, Silver Spoon and herself, pictures that she had drawn herself, and one final picture, one that, for some reason, she could just not bring herself to take down.

A picture of a four-year old Diamond Tiara playing with a four-year old Applebloom. Playing in Sweet Apple Acres. Playing and having fun.

“What....what happened to those times, why pretend to like me again Applebloom, after all of those years where you did not acknowledge me before.” cried Diamond Tiara to herself as she could only slightly remember the memories of her and Applebloom in their early childhood, playing together on the farm, without a care in the whole, wide world.

“We.... We used to get along, almost like sisters, but you, you stopped caring about me, you forgot about me, just as my parents have now forgotten, just AS SILVER SPOON HAS NOW FORGOTTEN!!!!!” yelled Diamond Tiara with all of the energy that she could muster.

Tears were now beginning to roll down the filly’s face, as the image of Applebloom’s own face, the image of her smile, was beginning to form in Diamond’s mind. It was too much for Diamond Tiara to handle.

The very fact that she had wished death on this innocent farm filly had began to make her sick. The very thoughts themselves caused Diamond to fall under absolute guilt and despair, as all that she wanted at the moment, was to know that Applebloom herself was alright. No, she wanted to make sure that all of the Crusaders were alright.

“Wait, no, please no, these are just words, I don’t want anything to happen to her, or her friends, please Celestia, noooo!!!” yelled Diamond Tiara as she was now clutching her chest. The area around her heart was beginning to hurt badly.

The pain almost caused Diamond Tiara to pass out.

“Dia...mond...Tia...ra” whispered the feint voice again, as despite the agonizing pain and grief that the filly was in at the moment, the haunting sound that she had just heard seemed to pull her out of it.

“Is, is anypony there?” asked Diamond as she shakily reached for the lamp beside her bed. She turned the lamp on, with the light illuminating the whole room.

Diamond Tiara stared on, as her eyes were widen with despair, fear, and an even more primal emotion that she could not even begin to register. The source of these whispers, she had wished to have never seen them. The sight before her, it caused her to vomit profusely onto the bed sheets around her.

“Diam...ond...Tia.ra...” continued on the whispers, as the filly herself could now see the source of them.

Sitting in front of the closed door, the door of her room, staring right at her, was Applebloom.

A skinless Applebloom.

She had the same eyes, the same facial structure, and even through the whispering, Diamond could make out the same accent from this being as well.

“App... Applebloom?” babbled Diamond Tiara, as despite the absence of skin or fur, she was certain that the creature sitting on the other side of her room was Applebloom. An Applebloom that was staring right into her soul.

“Ah’ love you.” said the skinless filly in the same accent, no, the same voice that Applebloom herself would have used.

This made Diamond Tiara loose it, she continued to vomit the contents of her stomach out onto the bed, and even the floor around her.

“Ah’ wanna’ be together with ya’ Diamond.” said the abomination as it began to crawl, almost like an infant, towards Diamond’s bed. Although it crawled slowly, Diamond Tiara could feel her pulse growing weaker, the closer the entity got to her.

“I want to be with you too, Applebloom.” insisted Diamond Tiara as fear had began to turn the rich filly insane, as if the skinless foal before her was really Applebloom. She no longer cared anymore, for as far as she was concerned, this thing was Applebloom.

Chapter 11: This Love

The night was slowly transitioning into dusk as Princess Celestia was beginning her daily task of raising the sun, as she had always done. The transition into the morning hours were especially peaceful at Sweet Apple Acres, or rather, they normally were. Applebloom laid in her bed, still tossing and turning, nearly falling onto the floor at separate occasions through out the night. In her dream, she was standing in a moon-lit grassy plain, opposite Diamond Tiara.

The tiara-clad filly stared back at her with a troubled expression, and seemed to back away from her whenever she attempted to get closer. “Diamond, what are ya’ doin’ here?” asked Applebloom, as she was sort of aware of the fact that she was dreaming, but was still unsure of what exactly the meaning of this dream was.

Diamond Tiara did not respond, but merely directed her gaze towards the moon, and the hundreds of stars that twinkled all around it. Applebloom attempted to close the distance between herself and Diamond again, but just as before, Diamond Tiara backed away, moving herself further from the confused pony.

All the while, she returned her gaze back to the farm filly, before she began to shed tears from her frightened eyes, which glowed with the moon light, the reflection seeming to turn her tears into a silvery color.

“Diamond, why won’t you answer me, what in the hey is wrong wit’ ya?” pleaded Applebloom as she was making a conscious effort to remain still now, as to not disturb Diamond any further.

Again, Diamond refused to respond in any way, except that now, she had suddenly fallen onto the grass below her. She rolled over onto her back, and was now clenching her chest with one forehoof, and her stomach with the other. Diamond seemed to be in immense pain, as she was now emitting groans and wails consistently.

This disturbed Applebloom further, as she galloped with haste towards the suffering filly before her. She laid down right next to Diamond, who was still rolling and writhing with pain.

“Tiara, please, tell me what is wrong wit’ ya?” cried Applebloom as the sight of Diamond’s suffering had began to emotionally effect her.

Diamond was clenching her chest with a much tighter grip that before, her fur itself was wet from the midnight dew that was scattered all upon the grass that she was rolling in. Applebloom placed her muzzle onto the side of Diamond’s face, in an attempt to comfort her.

“Calm down Diamond Tiara, calm down, it will be okay, I promise ya!” soothed Applebloom with a gentle whisper into Diamond’s right ear. No sooner had Applebloom uttered these words, that she then noticed Diamond Tiara reaching for two jagged pieces of rock that were laying next to her.

“Gyaahhhhhh!!!!” screamed Diamond with a piercing sound of anguish and misery. This caused Applebloom to jump back onto her hooves, inadvertently putting more space between the two again. She could now only stare back with an unadulterated horror in her eyes, as she was standing witness to the grisly act that Diamond was now committing onto herself.

“Oh my goodness, no, no!!!” shrieked Applebloom as her mouth dropped open, her eyes as wide as they could physically manage to be.

Diamond Tiara was clawing into her throat and stomach with the two sharp pieces of rock that she had found earlier. She held one jagged piece in each forehoof, all the while still lying on her back. She began the abhorrent act without any sort of warning or provocation.

“Agghhh, please help me Applebloom, please help me!” wailed Diamond as she seemed to finally acknowledge the distressed farm filly’s presence. She then began to saw one of the jagged pieces of rock back and forth on her stomach. It had quickly sawed into Diamond’s abdomen, as blood and stomach acid began to flow out of the wound rather quickly.

“Diamond, quit doin’ that to yerself, what has happened to ya?” cried Applebloom as she noticed that blood was now beginning to flow from the areas that Diamond was clawing into herself.

“Applebloom, don’t let me die, please, please, PLEASE, guahhh!” screamed Diamond, as she had now sawed the other piece of rock deep into her throat. Blood was spilling exceedingly quick from the filly’s neck, as she had cut her jugular during the macabre act. The most disturbing part of this, however, was that her words quickly turned into gurgles and unintelligible babble. She had sawed through her vocal cords as well.

Her fur and skin turned pale, her tears flowing from her eyes as quickly as the blood was from the self-imposed wounds.

Applebloom stood back with an almost catatonic look upon her. She was in complete shock at first, but instinct had kicked in at this point. She had tried to approach Diamond Tiara, and pull the sharp rocks out of her hooves.

However, when she had approached the filly to try and save her, Diamond merely increased the force and intensity that she used to saw into her own flesh.

Applebloom stood frozen in her tracks, as Diamond Tiara, with one final swipe, had completely beheaded herself. Her intestines had fallen out of her stomach, and her severed head still had tears flowing from each eye.

“Why, why did this have to happen?” asked Applebloom to herself with a whimper as she could feel her stomach begin to churn violently. The young filly then proceeded to vomit upon the grass below her. She grew light headed, stumbling to the ground and doing her best to not look at what remained of the massacred filly beside her.

Applebloom took one look up at the moon, noticing that the former white body of rock had now turned red. The crimson moon shined rather menacingly upon the unholy scene below it. The whole atmosphere of the situation causing Applebloom’s heart to race at an abstain level.

She felt as if her heart could burst out of her chest at any moment, as her breathing began to die down. With one last tear strolling down her cheek, she suddenly saw a flash of bright light above her.

Before she could make out the source of this light, she had abruptly awaken from the nightmare, and found herself sitting in her bed, with cold sweat pouring down her forehead.

Her bed sheets were slightly dampened from the sweat, and her throat felt dry. She was almost dehydrated from the vast amount of sweat that she had produced as a result of her nightmare.

With some difficulty, Applebloom managed to climb out of her bed, taking a moment to glance out of her bedroom window.

She noticed that it was morning, and with a sigh of relief, she realized that the horrible event that she had witnessed was only a dream. Yet, she couldn’t help but comprehend, how real and despairing that it truly felt.

“Phew, calm down girl, it was only a dream, that is all.” thought Applebloom to herself as she opened her bedroom door and began to trot to the bathroom at a moderate pace.

“Yet, if it was only a dream, then why do I suddenly fear for Diamond’s life?” asked Applebloom of herself as she entered the bathroom and approached the sink.

She turned on the faucet, and began to drink from the trailing water, only stopping to take a breathe every now and then. After what seemed like hours, she had decided that enough was enough, and turned the water faucet off.

“I need ta’ talk to somepony, anypony, just to get mah’ mind off of this bad stuff.” lamented Applebloom as she trotted out of the bathroom. She ventured downstairs and saw Granny Smith sitting at her usual spot, the rocking chair in the living room.

She was sitting by a fireplace, as the cold autumn air was beginning to set in all around Ponyville. Granny had a book in her hooves, as she seemed rather focused on the reading material before her. She did not seem to notice that Applebloom had arrived in the living room at first, until the little filly spoke up.

“Hey Granny Smith, how ya’ doin’ this morning?” asked Applebloom as she slowly approached the old mare, with a bewildered look on her face.

“Good mornin’ there little filly, what seems to be the matter, school will be startin’ soon and you have not even had breakfast yet.” declared Granny Smith as she laid her book down on the coffee table beside her.

“Oh nothin’ is wrong Granny, I just had a rough time gettin’ to sleep last night, say, do ya happen to know where Applejack is?” asked Applebloom as she took a seat on the couch that sat beside the rocking chair.

“Your sis, oh, some of her friends came by this mornin’ before you woke up, they asked that she go with them to tha’ hospital.” said Granny Smith as she glanced over to Applebloom, noticing the look of despair upon the filly’s face.

“H-hospital?” stammered Applebloom as the horrible nightmare that she had just awoken from began to play back in her head.

“Oh yeah that is right, Rarity is the one who came and told Applejack about needin’ to go to tha hospital.” chimed in Granny Smith as she started to remember more of the details that she had heard earlier.

“Did Rarity say anything about who was in the hospital, Granny?” asked Applebloom as her mind could only think about what had happened to Diamond Tiara in her nightmare.

“I think she said it was... Fluttershy, yep that is who was in tha’ hospital, Rarity told me and your sis that she was not feelin’ well yesterday.” recounted Granny Smith as she slowly got off of her rocking chair. She approached Applebloom, realizing that the little filly was not feeling quite herself.

“Fluttershy is in the hospital, w...wh....why?” stuttered Applebloom, as she was under the assumption that Fluttershy should be doing just fine.

“Rarity said that she did not have enough time to explain in detail, but she assured me, before she left with ya’ sister, that Fluttershy would be okay.” assured Granny Smith as she gave a warm hug to her distraught granddaughter.

“Are ya’ sure Granny, that Rarity said that?” asked Applebloom as she hugged her grandma back as tight as she could.

“Trust me youngin’, there is nothin’ to worry about, now ya’ sister has already packed ya’ lunch for the day, so don’t worry about anything, just go have a fun day at school ya hear.” comforted Granny Smith as she pointed towards the kitchen where Applebloom’s saddlebag was.

“Oh alright, I will try.” insisted Applebloom as she waved Granny goodbye, before grabbing her saddlebag and trotting out the front door.

The morning sun’s rays glistened over Applebloom as she took a moment to appreciate how pleasant they felt. She took a look around her farm, looking at the piles of leaves that were gathering around the various trees that dotted the landscape.

“Boy, it sure is pretty out here this time a’ year.” said the farm filly to herself as she began her journey to the school house.

“I hope that Fluttershy will be okay, but even more right now, I.... I just wanna see ya’ Diamond Tiara, to know that you are okay too.” thought Applebloom to herself as a single tear had fallen from her cheek, and on to the dirt road below her.

Fluttershy had finally awoken from her sleep, and she noted that it was only twenty minutes after eight in the morning. She was surprised to see that all of her friends were in the room with her, including Nurse Redheart. She took a moment to look at each of them, paying close attention to Rainbow Dash. She was the last pony that Fluttershy had seen before she had fallen into the coma, and, for some reason that she could not grasp at the moment, was the only pony that Fluttershy felt comfortable around.

“Fluttershy are you feeling better?” asked Twilight Sparkle as she had a look of relief on her face, after fretting about the whole situation the night before.

“Umm, yes, I am feeling okay now, thank you Twilight.” replied Fluttershy with a polite, and gentle tone.

“Thank goodness girl, you had us all worried sick, am I ever grateful just to see you awake right now!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she found herself wiping a few tears from her eyes.

“We are going to throw you the biggest party later today, to celebrate your recovery!” laughed Pinkie Pie as she could not help but bounce around the room with joy.

“Thanks Pinkie, but I am not feeling in the mood for that right now, I... I just want to go home, if that is okay nurse.” said Fluttershy with a saddened tone in her voice.

“Yes, you are free to go, but only if you feel that you will be okay.” said Nurse Redheart as she still held a look of worry on her own face.

“Oh, you do not want a party, well okay, I don’t want to do something if it makes you feel uncomfortable.” said Pinkie who seemed perplexed at Fluttershy’s response to her party.

“I am sorry Pinkie, I do not mean it in a disrespectful way, I just don’t feel right at the moment, and it will take some time before things feel normal for me again.” responded Fluttershy as she did not want to upset her friend for merely trying to cheer her up.

“Before things feel normal again, what do you mean?” asked Rarity who seemed worried about the statement that Fluttershy had just made.

“No, I assure you girls, I am okay, but it will take some time before I am ready to join in on any kind of party.” insisted Fluttershy who did not want her friends worrying about her anymore.

“Are ya’ sure sugarcube, do ya’ really feel okay?” asked Applejack with concern, as she remembered how upset she was just an hour and a half earlier, when Rarity had told her about the whole ordeal.

“About as sure as I can be at the moment.” said Fluttershy as she slowly removed herself from the hospital bed, before trotting over to stand in front of her friends directly.

“You do not have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to, but do you at least want one of us to escort you home?” asked Twilight with concern.

“Well, maybe Rainbow, she was the one I was at the flower shop with, there is something that I want to tell her anyway.” said Fluttershy as she turned her attention to Rainbow Dash.

“What, me?” asked Rainbow Dash with confusion, not sure of how to feel about Fluttershy’s statement.

“We can all meet for a gathering tomorrow, but for now, I just want to go home, and I want you to walk with me there, Rainbow Dash.” replied Fluttershy as she held her gaze down at the operating floor below her.

The rest of her friends stared at her with looks of confusion, sadness, and worry, but they did not want to make Fluttershy feel any worse, so none of them decided to deny her request.

“If that is what you want darling, then that is fine, we can talk later.” soothed Rarity as she looked at Fluttershy with a smile of approval.

“I agree with Rarity, whenever you feel most comfortable, that is when you can tell all of us about what is bothering you.” said Pinkie as she ceased her hopping for the moment, in order to give Fluttershy a hug.

Twilight and Applejack both gave her a warm and comforting smile, which made Fluttershy sigh with relief. She was pleased to have such trusting and understanding friends.

However, she felt that Rainbow Dash was the only pony that she could talk to at the moment, and that nopony else would understand her more than the friend who had been by her side since foalhood.

“I will see you later then Fluttershy.” said Twilight as she, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity all exited the operating room, with each pony waving Fluttershy goodbye one final time.

“Thanks girls.” replied Fluttershy graciously as she turned herself to face Rainbow Dash directly.

“I guess I’m ready if you are.” said Fluttershy, staring into Rainbow Dash’s eyes with a look of uncertainty.

“Yeah, let’s head off then, but just to be sure, she is cleared to leave, right nurse?” asked Rainbow Dash towards Nurse Redheart.

“Yep, she is good to go, as long as she feels okay now.” replied Nurse Redheart with a chipper tone.

“Well, you heard the nurse, let’s go.” said Rainbow with a smile that made Fluttershy blush.

“Thank you, thank you so much, Dashie.” gushed Fluttershy as the two pegasi exited the operating room.

They made their way down through the admittance hall, before finally trotting out of the hospital itself. Fluttershy was happy to no longer be in the hospital anymore, as the fresh air of the outside world began to fill in her lungs once again.

“Now, what is it that you wanted to talk about?” asked Rainbow Dash as she decided against flying for the time being, opting to stay beside her friend instead.

“I want to tell you what I saw the night before I came to Sugarcube Corner, about what had made me upset in the first place.” began Fluttershy as Rainbow Dash noticed the sudden change in the timid mare’s mood. “Then, I want to tell you what I saw in the flower shop, about the thing that put me in the coma.” continued Fluttershy as she turned her gaze to meet Rainbow’s.

She had a look of somberness in her eyes, but she knew that somepony had to know about this, and she decided that Rainbow Dash should be the one.

“Alright, I am listening.” said Rainbow Dash with both anticipation, and fear in her mind. She was not sure if she was ready to hear this story, but for Fluttershy’s sake, she was going to listen nonetheless.

Applebloom had arrived at the playground of the school house, where she saw Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo waiting for her.

“There ya two are!” exclaimed the excited farm pony as she gleefully galloped to meet her two friends, the three of them embracing in a group hug beside the swing set.

“I am glad to see you Applebloom, did you hear about Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle had already told me just a few minutes ago.” said Scootaloo, who was upset at the fact that one of the kindest ponies she knew was hurting.

“Yeah, Granny Smith told me, but she also said that Fluttershy is okay now, so don’t worry about it Scoots.” declared Applebloom as she began to look around the playground, trying to see if she could spot Diamond Tiara.

“Me and Silver Spoon were actually at the hospital last night, we did not get to see Fluttershy then, but I am relieved that she is okay now.” said Sweetie Belle as she began to notice a frown forming under Applebloom’s muzzle.

“Wait, why were you and Silver Spoon at the hospital last night, how did you find out about Fluttershy then?” asked Applebloom with a sudden haste in her voice.

“We were looking for Diamond Tiara, remember?” asked Sweetie Belle as she began to explain her situation to Applebloom. “We had searched all over Ponyville, and the last place that we looked was Sugarcube Corner.” said Sweetie Belle. “We were going to ask Pinkie Pie if she had seen Diamond Tiara at any point in the day, but she was not there.” continued Sweetie Belle as she tried to figure out the reason behind Applebloom’s sudden change in mood.

“Why would Pinkie Pie know anything about Diamond Tiara?” asked Scootaloo with a tone of curiosity.

“Because Diamond usually goes to Sugarcube Corner when she gets upset, but we did not find her there either, however Mrs. Cake told us where Pinkie Pie had gone, and had said that she might know where Diamond Tiara was.” chimed in Silver Spoon as she had suddenly trotted up towards the three Crusaders.

“Oh Silver Spoon, hi.” said Scootaloo, who was still thinking about the event that had transpired between them yesterday.

“Hi Scootaloo.” responded Silver Spoon as she glanced over towards Applebloom, before resuming her part of the story.

“Anyway, we decided to go to the hospital, in hopes of finding Pinkie Pie.” recounted Silver Spoon.

“Mrs. Cake had told us about Pinkie going to the hospital, and that was when we found out that she had gone there because it had been Fluttershy who was in the hospital.” explained Silver Spoon to Applebloom.

“Then, the next thing I know, we are at the Ponyville Hospital, standing face to face with Diamond Tiara!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle as she was still shocked about having met Diamond Tiara in the waiting room last night.

“Wait, you met Diamond Tiara at the hospital?” asked Applebloom with a confused and surprised tone in her voice.

“Yeah, she arrived with Twilight a bit after we got there, I can’t remember why she was with Twilight, but after seeing us, she did not stick around for long.” lamented Silver Spoon, as she could still remember the words that Diamond had said to her and Sweetie Belle in the waiting room.

“It turns out that she was purposely avoiding us the entire time, she did not want us to find her, she yelled at us and ran right out of the hospital.” mumbled Sweetie Belle with a saddened look in her eyes.

“She must have went home after that, I guess she was still upset about what happened yesterday.” said Applebloom as she put Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon’s stories together in her mind.

“I guess, but I have not seen her at the playground yet, she is probably not even going to come to school today.” sighed Silver Spoon as she knew how Diamond Tiara could get when she was upset.

“Wait, she is not here yet?” asked Applebloom as the memories of her nightmare started to seep back into her consciousness yet again.

“No, and class is about to start, I think we should head inside.” replied Scootaloo as she was not too concerned with Diamond Tiara’s current whereabouts, given her animosity towards the rich filly.

“Relax Applebloom, I am sure she will be here tomorrow, she can’t stay mad at us forever.” assured Sweetie Belle, trying to cheer the farm filly up.

“It is not her being mad at us that I’m afraid of, I’m just worried about her, that is all.” said Applebloom as the school bell began to ring.

“What do you mean, Applebloom?” asked Silver Spoon, confused at Applebloom’s prior statement.

“Oh nothin’, it’s just a feelin’ I have, but forget about it, let’s just get to class now.” replied Applebloom as she followed her other classmates into the school house.

In the back of her mind, she could only see the weeping, severed head of Diamond Tiara from her nightmare. It was engraved in her mind, and her own stomach began to churn at the thought.

“After school, I’m goin’ to Diamond’s house!” declared Applebloom to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Silver Spoon just before the four fillies had arrived at the classroom door.

“I need to see her, I just gotta!” insisted Applebloom as panic and despair had taken over her mind. The three other fillies stared back at her with confusion plastered across their faces.