A Failure of a Story that I'm not deleting merely for future motivation.

I am aware that this chapter is coming to you a bit late and I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do that will remedy this fact, so I shall not pine over it.

Need I even say it? Church has done it again. He is some super-juggernaut, helping everyone (including me) with things. Thanks, Church.

This chapter is set in the past, just a day after the the final episodes of Season two, "A Canterlot Wedding (Part one)" and "A Canterlot Wedding (Part two). I will be covering what happened to diverge the Mane 6 and cause them such distress.

The final thing I wish to share with everyone is a Group you must all join. The group I speak of contains everything you will ever need and is run by (You guessed it!) Church. A link to the group can be found here

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Years ago, when the Elements of Harmony were still a band of six incredible ponies, Equestria was a tranquil nation. All evil that was brave enough to challenge the elements was swept aside as the six ponies won all of their epic battles against their enemies. Nothing could go wrong...

At least they thought nothing could go wrong...

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"We sure did a good job yesterday against those Changelings." Rainbow Dash boldly proclaimed. "Obviously, we did even better because we had me!"

Applejack was the first to protest about Rainbow Dash's selfish statement. "Now hold it there, Dash. We didn't even beat those Changeling things: they overrun us! How d'ya explain that?" Applejack queried provocatively, begging for an answer.

"Well, uh- they only beat us because they could transform into me! The only pony in Equestria who can match the awesomeness of me is replicas of me!" Dash frantically replied. nervously eyeing the others in the hope of not receiving a challenge. Dash hated losing: she knew it and her friends knew it. They had lost yesterday, after all.

Fluttershy, being something of a sister to Rainbow Dash, hated to see her in such an awkward and uncomfortable spot: action must be taken! Be brave, Fluttershy... She reminded herself in the mild hope of a temporary confidence boost.

"Umm, can I have everypony's attention for a minute?" Fluttershy politely and delicately asked with her soft but near-silent voice that could melt through titanium. Each and every one of Fluttershy's friends abruptly turned their heads towards her, giving her all the attention she didn't desire. It caused Fluttershy to flinch a bit, but she must go on. With a brief clearing of her throat, Fluttershy proceeded with her speech.

"Girls, does it really matter if we won or not? Equestria was saved either way, thanks to Shining Armour and Princess Cadence." Fluttershy quietly stated. Rarity, Applejack and Twilight nodded in agreement and seemed to let the pressure off of Rainbow Dash.

Dash sighed a relieved but mute sigh and gave Fluttershy a look to display her gratitude. Courtesy of Fluttershy's clever hedging, Dash was rescued from being the centre of attention and removed from the interrogation chair: this was one less battle of pride she had to face and potentially swallow. In a final attempt at showing her appreciation, Dash mouthed Fluttershy a grateful "Thank you" whilst attention was on Fluttershy and not her.

Noticing Dash's kind gestures, Fluttershy smiled at her to show her acceptance of the gratitude: it was the least she could do to help her fillyhood friend!

"Well, work down at Sweet Apple Acres don't do itself, ya'know." Applejack spoke into the void of silence that the six friends had caused, breaking it and reforming conversation. "Ah best go and get my Buckin' Boots on an' get to work!"

Before Applejack could dismiss herself and traverse home, Pinkie Pie exploded in excitement. Applejack stopped in her tracks instantaneously. "Ooh! Ooh! I know! To celebrate the victory of Equestria over the Changeling race, we should totally throw a party! We can have cake, streamers, presents, games, music - did I mention there'd be tasty cake?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed ecstatically. She was bouncing up and down uncontrollably as if some form of stimulant had been ingested. Saying that though, it wasn't common to see her in any other state: she was a pony who lived in a care-free world.

"Do calm down, darling." Rarity gently expressed in an attempt to neutralise Pinkie's radical mood. "I'm sure we can have a party soon. I can't do tonight though as I simply must design a new outfit for this momentous occasion!"

"How about tomorrow! I'm free, we're all free: PARTY!" Pinkie hollered. It was evident that she was perhaps a bit overly excited for just a party: Pinkie threw parties regularly, so why was she so enthusiastic? Nopony knew.

Twilight rounded off the conversation neatly by providing her final verdict. "It's settled, then. Everypony meet at SugarCube Corner at six tomorrow!" She finished. Everypony (Aside from Pinkie) nodded in silent but mutual agreement: it was a date.

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It was quarter-past six in the evening when the final barrage of knocks graced SugarCube Corner. With a spring in her step and a stimulated bounce, Pinkie bounded her way over to the door: it was the final guest for the party! Now the roster was complete!

"Hey, Applejack! I'm super-duper glad you could make to this super-duper awesome party we're running!" Pinkie said with great strains of effort. The effort input in question was Pinkie's desperate attempts to remain at least fairly calm. Craziness was something Pinkie could expel later on in the night when things heat up and become increasingly hectic.

"Howdy, Pinkie. Sorry ah'm a tad late... Ya' see, there was some mighty hard work to complete on the farm..." Applejack excused herself, glancing nervously from side to side. She was fully aware that her excuse was wafer-thin at best; there was an actually reason for her distinct absence at the party. Nopony must be informed of such facts.

"It's no problem, Applejack!" Pinkie exclaimed. All she desired was to get herself back into the crazy party that was ensuing behind her. "Come right in!" She added politely.

"Thank ya' kindly, Pinkie" Applejack stated meaningfully.

With a simple and fluid movement, Applejack leapt inside SugarCube Corner and removed her hat, poising it deftly on the hat stand which was situated on the right side of the door. After the beginning entrance ritual was done, Applejack trotted off at a steady pace over to her friends so she could dispense her greetings between them. She hadn't seen a pony all day with the aggressive rigmarole of bucking apples on a farm.

On the other hand, Applejack continued to be aware. Although her element was honesty, some things just require to be kept under wraps or havoc will be wreaked.

As Applejack approached her friends and got closer to them, she began to overhear their colloquial chit-chat. The conversation was a thick mixture of formal and informal; the former mostly emanating from Rarity. The latter was a mixture of ponies' voices but the discourse remained mild and benign in general. How pleasant, Applejack pondered.

It was early days for this party. Music and casual discussion was just the beginning; Applejack was sure Pinkie must have plans for later...

"Hello Applejack!" Twilight cordially welcomed.

"Umm, Hi Applejack!" Fluttershy hesitantly began.

"Good evening, darling." Rarity professionally acknowledged. "Wouldn't you agree that my outfit is simply ravishing?" She continued, provoking eye-rolls from her other friends, unknown to Rarity. Applejack chortled gently at this notion.

"How's it goin', AJ?" Rainbow Dash casually greeted. Rainbow Dash's simple and informal manner was enough to cause Applejack a slight but coverable blush of light pink across her cheeks. 'I must talk to her as soon as possible.' Applejack decided.

Furiously shaking her head to remove her side-tracked thoughts, Applejack found her manners and considered replying to her friends. With a quick splutter and clear of the throat, Applejack's ability to talk was rejuvenated once more.

"Howdy, y'all! Are we all havin' a dandy time at this 'ere party then? Have ah' missed anythin' important?" Applejack commenced her introduction in one fluid speech.

"Naah, little has happened so far and for the next hour or so Pinkie's got nothing scheduled. It's just small talk, cake and music at the present moment." Rainbow Dash replied with a mildly disinterested tone to her voice. It was clear as day that Rainbow Dash was a little bored...

"Hey, uh, Dash... Can ah' talk to you for a minute outside?" Applejack questioned, looking downwards and avoiding Rainbow Dash's gaze as she spoke. Applejack could feel an intensely warm feeling spreading across her face as her cheeks must have been inclining in hue to a glow of red. 'Wow, I wasn't aware that I was quite so... Bashful.' Applejack considered in her mind. Looking up to meet Rainbow Dash's stare (Or, at least Applejack expected a stare), Applejack instead discovered a cerulean pegasus pony with a very confused look plastered across her amazingly cute face. The aforementioned face looked as if it was surveying Applejack's body, leaving no nook or cranny not investigated. This left Applejack feeling awkward... To say the least!

"Well, if it's so awesomely important that it requires the attention of me immediately then yeah, sure: you have my attention. Make it quick though, I wanna grab some snacks before anypony else wolves them down in my lack of presence!" Rainbow Dash concluded. Applejack could do no more than roll her eyes playfully about the whole "Big-headed Dash" attribute and  turn tail, heading for the door with Rainbow Dash following close behind.

Once the two ponies were outside, Applejack began to deliver the speech she had practiced viciously whilst trying to achieve a perfect run-through. Everything went perfect on her side.

"Dash. Ah' just wanted to let ya' know that ah' like ya'. By like, ah' do mean as in 'Significantly like'. Ah' love your fearless attitude and never-give-up morale, it's both inspiring an' cute. Your body is lithe an' streamlined, toned with muscles and strong. Ah' also love the way you keep your mane messy like ah' do. Everythin' about ya' is so amazingly perfect an'- okay, ah'm cuttin' it here. You know ah' ain't one of those mushy love types, but ah' still love ya'. Sure ah'm not straight like everypony thought, but ah' don't care. You're attractive enough to break the line ah' guess!" Applejack jested, laughing lightly at her playful joke. Something wasn't quite going to plan though...

"Eww! Get away from me AJ! I ain't no crazy filly who's into the same gender!" Rainbow Dash roared, scooting as far away from Applejack as she could get: this meant departing from Applejack's side.

Although Dash may have not intended to offend, she certainly had. Applejack was distraught! Admiring Rainbow Dash was something she had always done and something she would never get out of the habit of doing. She loved Dash...

By this time, a few minutes had passed and the two equines had gone they're own separate ways. Rainbow Dash had darted inside and thought nothing more of it whilst Applejack was positioned in a heap on the cold, hard, ground outside. Tears would not stop forming in Applejack's bright green eyes. Moving was too much effort and really wasn't worth the cost of something so valuable: Applejack's dwindling energy levels.

"Girls! That stupid bitch of an Earth pony out there just came onto me! Like, eww! I thought everypony was straight nowadays!" Rainbow Dash exasperated in a fairly disgusted voice.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Rarity brought up in an attempt to defend Applejack and prevent an argument. Instead, Rarity had fed Rainbow Dash's fire and now she was tremendously angry: more so than ever before. Despite this, Rarity still soldiered on. "There's nothing wrong with a female appreciating another female. You're just too stubborn to accept these things!"

"F*** you!" Rainbow Dash retorted with a spit of distaste and a pout. She wasn't having mess.

Fluttershy cringed at the usage of such profanities in her proximity.

"Oh do grow up, Fluttershy! It's just a word!" Twilight proclaimed in annoyance. Being timid was one thing, but cowering at the sound of a few letters? That was just pathetic in Twilight's opinion.

"Lay off Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash sneered at Twilight in an attempt to protect Fluttershy. In Fluttershy's current state, the defensive pursuit had gone unnoticed.

"Dash? Don't raise your voice at me or I'll use some mysterious magic on you." Twilight threatened. She had tricks up her sleeve...

"Oh yeah? Egghead, you ain't got nothing on me - best god damn flyer in Equestria! You're just stuck in a library all day with no life! I bet you aren't even sexually active you silly filly!" Rainbow Dash fought back with a smirk. Dash's comments appeased her.

"Okay, that does it! Best flyer, eh? Let's see how well that goes for you without any wings!" Twilight shrieked menacingly. With a twisted expression and a fierce cackle, Twilight rose to her haunches and performed some elaborate magic on Rainbow Dash.

One swift glance backwards sent Dash over the top: the final straw had been snapped. With a fierce growl, Rainbow Dash charged and attacked Twilight. The two ponies proceeded to fight viciously as their other "friends'" arguments escalated rapidly in intensity.

Applejack was still moping around outside when she heard a sharp and shrill smash resonate from inside SugarCube Corner. Alarm bells begun ringing and Applejack instinctively charged indoors. The sight she encountered was nothing she would have ever expected to discover from her friends.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were fighting very roughly. There was blood around the floor and bundles of hair from their manes scattered sporadically like sprinkles on a cupcake. Rarity was shouting and hollering at Pinkie about having no idea what life was about. Pinkie was throwing back her own insults of a similar vain and Rarity not knowing what life was about. It appeared that Rarity had spoke of something very sensitive to Pinkie; besides, it had triggered Pinkie to scream uncontrollably and pounce on Rarity. Rarity refrained from fighting back though: she simply whined and whimpered about not messing up her beautifully styled mane or her lavishly applied expensive make-up.

Central to the chaos was a little bundle of fluff of a pale yellow and light pink hue. It was most definitely crying, the whimpering was audible from a mile away. Fluttershy was clearly saddened by this scene too and may additionally have been subject to some harsh verbal abuse.

Chaos was an understatement for the description of SugarCube Corner presently.

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Eventually the ponies began tiring out. It was time for the final verdicts.

Gasping for air, Rainbow Dash began her ending statement. Although it was a massive struggle to get her words out, Rainbow Dash soon fell into a rhythm in which she could speak between each deep breath she took.

"I want... Nothing... To do with... Any of... You ponies... Ever again!" Rainbow Dash announced with great difficulty. "I'm going to chase... My career as a Wonderbolt... Good riddance to bad ponies..!" She continued.

"Good! Leave! I'm going back to Canterlot, away from you waste's of space!" Twilight boldly exclaimed. Her mind was obviously set. "Oh, here's your wings back, witch features." Twilight added with venom in her voice. Surely enough, Rainbow Dash's wings magically reappeared in their original position.

"You are all so uncouth! I don't need any of you! You've always been a burden to me; it's time for me to leave and make my life the Canterlot dream!" Rarity concluded arrogantly.

"Fine, all leave! I'll have parties with my old friends again! Mr Turnip and Madame Le Flour wouldn't do such mean things! Pinkie Pie informed. With that statement, Pinkie's mane lost all forms of previous bounciness and became one, straight, streamlined mane.

"Everypony's leavin'! Ponyville sure will be becomin' an idle place from now on then..." Applejack quietly remarked with a sense of realisation stabbing at her. Her friends were all leaving, but that wasn't the final conclusion: furthermore, there was nothing she could utter and no action she could perform that would change their minds.

"Well-" Fluttershy began through sniffles. Crying was one thing Fluttershy had not ceased to do. "If- If you're all going, I'll just stay alone in my cottage. If you- you need me... I'll always be there..." Fluttershy muses. Nopony paid her any attention, though.

And with that, the Mane six diverged and went their own ways within life. Some took turns for the better and some plunged downwards in a negative spiral. For reminders of how each pony fared over ten years, re-read the chapters prior to this one.

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Wrote this whole chapter between midnight and seven am. I'm still posting it and everything, I just think it may not be absolutely perfect.

This took up too much space and too much time, but alas, it may be worth it. I haven't read it yet but I hope it retains fluency.

I'll write the next chapter for "Fluttershy Plays Tetris" when I can be bothered.

Watch out for the Paranoia sequel! I'm fired up to begin work on it as soon as possible.

That'll do for now.

-FluttershyAllTheWay