Masked Justice

Chapters

I Am Thou, Thou Art I
A Team Awakens
Deadline
A Matter of Factory
The First Calling Card
You're Fired
Endless Forest
Permissions

I Am Thou, Thou Art I

Date: Unknown

Princess Twilight Sparkle walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle's dungeon. In her magic was a stack of files, a notepad, and a large brown book. She came to a door that was being guarded by two royal guards. One of them saw her approach and stepped aside “The prisoner is ready for you. Let us know if you need anything.” he said in a stern voice.

Twilight gave him a quick nod and looked towards the door. She took a deep breath before walking through it. She looked around the small room to see nothing but a small metal table, two chairs, and another pony in one of the chairs.

Twilight took a seat silently and laid her items on the table. She stared at the pony across from her and tried to hide her sadness. The pony was just a filly, yellow coat with a red mane and a pink bow “Apple Bloom, part of me hoped that Celestia was wrong when she told me about this.” she said.

She waited for Apple Bloom to respond but nothing came so she continued “I guess we should just get down to business then.” she said in a professional voice. She opened one of her files and looked it over “You are being suspected of being a part of a criminal group called the Phantom Thieves.” she said.

That seemed to get Apple Bloom's attention “We ain't criminals.” she said with a low tone.

Twilight felt her heart hurt but she continued on “You're facing a lot of serious charges Apple Bloom. Thievery, vandalism, unlawful use of magic.” she gulped before reading the last charge “And murder.” she finished. She looked up at Apple Bloom who just gave a slight glare back. Twilight sighed and put the file down “With charges like these it's certain that you will be tried as an adult and banished or worse. But there is a way to lessen the punishment.” she said.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer to her “And what would that be?” she asked.

Twilight felt slightly relieved that she was interested “If you give me the names of your accomplices then I can convince Princess Celestia to go easier on you.” she said as she grabbed a note pad and quill in her magic.

Apple Bloom sat back in her chair and frowned “Ah ain't just gonna give up mah friends.” she said.

Twilight's ears flattened against her skull “Please Apple Bloom, I don't want to see a filly banished. It will be better for everypony if you gave me their names.” she said.

Apple Bloom was about to deny her again when she suddenly got an idea. She leaned closer to Twilight again “Alright, how about this? Ah will give ya their names but ah'll do it by tellin' ya mah story. And ya have ta promise ta listen ta the whole thing. Do we have a deal?” she asked.

Twilight lit up slightly and readied her quill “That will be perfect, but I only want the truth okay? I don't have time for pony tales.” she said.

Apple Bloom relaxed a bit “Okay, buckle up. This will be a doozy of a story.” she said.

Twilight opened another file and put it in front of Apple Bloom “Let's start with the first pony to receive one of your calling cards.” Apple Bloom saw a picture in the file of an older brown stallion with a black mane “Tell me why you chose Filthy Rich as your first target.” Twilight said.

Date: Wednesday, march 3rd

Apple Bloom woke up to a bright morning. She jumped out of bed, quickly put her bow in her mane and walked downstairs to the dining room. She saw her sister Applejack waiting for her “Mornin' sis, come here and get yerself some breakfast.” she greeted.

Apple Bloom walked over and grabbed an apple “Ah'm not too hungry so ah'll just have an apple on the way ta school.” she said.

She started walking towards the door but was stopped by Applejack's hoof on her shoulder “Hold up there. I'll walk ya ta school today.” she said.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow “Why? Ah know the way ta the school house.” she asked in confusion.

Applejack's face turned serious “Ah don't want ya walkin' around alone after what happened last night.” she said.

Apple Bloom felt her interest growing “Ah don't remember anythin' happenin' last night. What are ya talkin' about?” she asked.

Applejack started looking around the room as if searching for the right words. After thinking for a few seconds she faced her little sister again “Last night some stallion was pullin' a carriage through town at a dangerous speed. Ah don't know how but he lost control. He got into an accident which took the lives of five ponies, includin' his own. Ah wouldn't feel comfortable leavin' my kin alone after somethin' like that.” she explained grimly.

Apple Bloom felt her heart drop. An accidental death was rare in ponyville but an accident causing multiple deaths was almost unheard of. Apple Bloom calmed herself down before speaking “Alright, ah don't think ah want to be alone after hearin' that.” she said.

Before either of them could say anything else, they heard knocking at the front door. Apple Bloom walked over and opened it to reveal Scootaloo on the other side “Hey scoots, what are ya doin' here so early?” she asked.

“My aunts told me not to walk to school alone because of some accident that happened last night, so I thought I would walk with you.” she explained.

Apple Bloom was about to agree but she remembered what Applejack was telling her. She turned around to face her sister “Uh do ya think ah could just walk with Scootaloo instead?” she asked.

Applejack's eyes looked between the two smiling fillies for a few seconds before she sighed “Alright, just be careful and keep an eye out.” she said.

The two fillies quickly thanked her and headed out the door. Applejack watched as they walked down the path out of Sweet Apple Acres. She turned away and took a breath “Well those chores ain't gonna do themselves.” she said as she walked away.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo walked down the path in silence until Apple Bloom broke it “Did yer aunts tell ya the specifics about the accident?” she asked.

“Yeah, they did.” Scootaloo answered.

“Did the news scare ya?” she asked.

Scootaloo waved a hoof in the air dismissively “Of course not. I mean, it was kinda shocking but I'm not scared. It was just one accident. Besides I'm too aware of my surroundings to fall victim to something like that.” she said with a cocky grin. After walking a few more steps she tripped and fell on her face.

Apple Bloom tried to hold in her laughter “Ya sure about that?” she asked.

Scootaloo got up and looked back at what tripped her. She saw what looked like a bright red ruby “Stupid rock.” she said as she lightly kicked it.

Apple Bloom took the gem in her hooves and smiled at it “What a pretty gem.” she said.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes “It's just a rock, and I think it's pretty ugly looking.” she said in a grumpy tone.

Apple Bloom put it in her bow for safe keeping “You're just mad that this stupid rock kicked your flank.” she said.

Scootaloo started walking away “Whatever let's just get to school already.” she said. Apple Bloom caught up to her and they walked the rest of the way with no more interruptions.

When they reached the schoolhouse they saw many foals playing out front before class started. After scanning a bit they spotted Sweetie Belle waiting for them. They ran up to greet her “Howdy Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo smiled in excitement “I can't wait until after school. We're definitely gonna get our cutie marks in blindfolded archery.” she said.

Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her neck with a nervous smile “Sorry girls but I can't today. I got grounded.” she said.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow “Grounded? What did ya do?” she asked.

Sweetie Belle's cheeks reddened in embarrassment “I wanted to make dinner for Rarity last night because she was really busy and I may have caused a small fire.” she admitted.

Scootaloo pouted “I guess we can try for those cutie marks after your grounding.” she said.

Sweetie Belle nodded “Thanks, it will just be today and tomorrow. After that I can crusade with you girls all you want.” she said.

Before they could talk more, Cheerilee walked out of the schoolhouse and got their attention “Alright children, you can come in now.” she said before the students filed into the building.

After class Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said their goodbyes to Sweetie Belle and parted. The two fillies started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres “I'll drop you off at your place, then I'll head home.” Scootaloo said.

“Are ya sure ya want ta head home alone?” Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chest and smiled “I told you that I'm not scared of runaway carriages.” she said.

Apple Bloom looked past Scootaloo and a look of fear crossed her face “Watch out!” she warned.

Scootaloo ducked and covered her head with her fore hooves. After a few seconds of nothing happening she looked up to see Apple Bloom holding in laughter. She got back to her hooves and dusted herself off “That's not funny.” she grumbled.

Apple Bloom successfully fought back her laughter and cleared her throat “Ah'm sorry, ah know you'll be fine on yer own.” she said.

Scootaloo was about to speak but noticed something up ahead “What's your sister doing talking to Filthy Rich?” she asked. Apple Bloom looked to see that Applejack was indeed conversing with Filthy Rich and she didn't look happy.

Apple Bloom frowned with suspicion “Come on, let's get closer and listen in.” she said before running into a bush close to the two ponies.

Applejack stomped a hoof “Ya know that's not fair. Be reasonable.” she said.

Filthy put a hoof up to try and calm the mare “Please my dear Applejack, you have to understand. Last year barnyard bargains sold out of your apple products and they are only getting more popular. I need double the order from last year to keep my stores stocked. It's basic business practice.” he explained.

Applejack shook her head “Our harvest ain't as good as last year. Ah can match last year's order but double is crazy. We need those apples too.” she said.

Filthy Rich thought for a few moments before speaking “Since we are good friends, I'll give you some time to think about my deal. If you come up with an acceptable counter offer, you know where to find me.” he said before walking away.

Applejack growled before walking back towards the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo emerged from the bush with annoyed expressions “He's just as greedy and inconsiderate as his daughter.” she said.

Apple Bloom glared at the retreating stallion “Yeah, Filthy Rich thinks he can treat Sweet Apple Acres like one of his factories.” she said.

Suddenly a dizzy feeling came over Apple Bloom and her vision began to blur. She put a hoof to her temple until the feeling went away “Ah just got the strangest headache.” she complained.

Once her vision came back to normal she saw Scootaloo shaking her head as if to rid it from something “Yeah me too. I w-” she stopped and looked past Apple Bloom with a shocked expression “Um, isn't that supposed to be Sweet Apple Acres.” she said while pointing.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow and started turning “What's that supposed to m-” she stopped when she saw the land that was supposed to house her family's farm. All the trees were gone, replaced with stumps. Even though it was midday, the sky was dark and stars were visible. But the most shocking sight was the large metal building in the middle of the land “What the hay! When we left this mornin' everythin' was fine!” she said.

Scootaloo started running towards the entrance “Come on, I'll bet we'll find our answers in that building” she called back.

Apple Bloom wanted to protest but her curiosity got the better of her and she ran after her.

The two fillies ran through the decimated farm land but stopped when they saw two figures in front of them. They looked to be ponies but instead of fur they looked to be covered in a shadowy substance. They wore clothes that made them look like factory workers and had metal masks covering their faces. Apple Bloom took a few steps back “What are those? Ah can't even tell if they're mares or stallions.” she said.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes at them “I can't tell if they're even ponies.” she said.

Suddenly the figures turned and noticed to duo “Intruders!” one said in an androgynous voice.

“Seize them!” the other said as they ran towards the fillies.

Scootaloo jumped in front of Apple Bloom and took a defensive stance “You're not seizing anypony as long as I'm here” she said. The figure grabbed a hold of her tail and lifted her off her hooves. She started waving her hooves around wildly “Let go of my tail you jerk!” she yelled.

Apple Bloom ran towards them “I'll save ya.” she said but was quickly caught by the tail by the other monster. As Apple Bloom hung upside down she felt the bright red gem fall from her bow. Luckily she was able to grab it again out of the air.

The two monsters looked at each other with their prizes held up “We should take them to the basement. The boss can decide what to do with them.” it said and they headed off towards the massive building.

Once inside they were taken down a flight of stairs. They found themselves being carried through many rooms filled with boxes and rusty tools. They finally came to a small room and were dropped onto the ground. Apple Bloom recovered first and glared up at the monsters “What do ya want with us?” she asked while hiding her fear.

The two monsters stayed silent but a voice came from behind them “I heard that you needed me. This had better be good, I'm a very busy pony.” said a masculine voice.

The two monsters turned to face the voice allowing the fillies to see who came in. Apple Bloom gasped when she saw Filthy Rich walk in. He wore a black suit with a design that looked like it was covered with bits but the strangest thing about him was his glowing yellow eyes. Filthy gave a smirk “Ah Apple Bloom it's so nice of you to visit my factory.” he said.

Apple Bloom growled at him “This ain't yer factory. It's mah family's farm. What did ya do ta it?” she demanded.

Filthy's expression turned darker “That's none of your business little filly. This land belongs to me and so does your family.” he said.

Scootaloo stomped closer to him “What did you do to them?” she asked in anger.

Filthy turned away from them “Why would I tell you when you won't live long enough for it to matter.” he said before glancing back at the shadowy monsters “You know what to do.” he said before walking out of the room. The monsters turned to the fillies and started advancing on them.

Apple Bloom started to back up into a corner “What are we gonna do?” she asked Scootaloo.

“Run!” she yelled before attempting to run past the monsters. Unluckily one grabbed her and threw her into a wall. Both of the monsters walked to the fallen Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom wanted to run in to help her but she was frozen from fright. She collected herself when she heard Scootaloo's voice “Run Apple Bloom. I'll distract them and be right behind you. Don't look back” she said.

Apple Bloom watched as a monster picked her friend up again and slammed her against the wall and held her there. Suddenly she heard a deep male voice in her head “Are you okay with watching your friend meet her end?” it asked.

Apple Bloom gulped “N-no.” she said.

“Would you do whatever was needed to change her fate?” it asked.

“Y-yes, whatever it takes.” she said.

After a few seconds the voice responded “That's all I need to hear.” it said. Apple Bloom felt a sharp pain in her head as is something was trying to force it's way through “Place your vow to me.” it said.

Apple Bloom felt a moment of relief from the pain and experienced newfound determination “Let go of her!” she shouted at the monsters.

The monsters released Scootaloo and let her fall to the ground as they turned to face Apple Bloom “It seems that this one wants to die first.” one said

“Let us oblige.” the other said.

They cornered the filly and held up their hooves, preparing to stomp. Before they could do anything, a blast of air knocked them back. When they looked back up they saw that Apple Bloom was now donning a steel mask around her eyes. Apple Bloom felt the mask with her hooves before she was met a overwhelming urge to rip it off.

She attempted to pull it off with her hooves but it remained stuck to her face. She tried again and pulled with all her might. It felt like her skin was being brought with it and her suspicion was confirmed when she started smelling blood. That didn't seem slow her down as her need to get the mask off grew. After a few more moments the mask came off with a sickening rip, leaving her face bloody.

Apple Bloom smirked despite the pain and her eyes glowed yellow. A blue energy started covering her body causing the monsters to back up slightly. The blue energy separated from her leaving her in a new outfit. She wore steel knights armor with some light leather armor underneath. She had a war hammer holstered at her left side and a crossbow on the other side and a shield on her back. She wore no helmet but still had her steel mask in her hoof.

The blue energy materialized into a steel chest plate, two gauntlets, and a helmet, all being connected by nothing but electricity. While the armor had no mouth it proceeded to speak “My name is Galahad, the protector. I am the rebellious force in your soul.” he said.

Scootaloo watched on in awe “W-what?” she asked.

Galahad floated behind Apple Bloom “If you strive to protect those close to you then I will grant you the power to do so.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded courageously “Do it.” she said.

The monsters righted themselves “It seems that we should stop playing around.” they said. The two of them were engulfed in darkness and when the darkness dissipated they left two fireflies about the size of Apple Bloom. Instead of light behind them they had fire jetting from them.

Galahad looked down at Apple Bloom “Wield your hammer and shield with courage. Call upon me when you have need of my power” he said. Apple Bloom put the mask back onto her face and Galahad disappeared.

She stood on her rear legs while taking the war hammer in her right hoof and the shield in her left. The first firefly flew towards her at high speeds but she bashed it with her shield then hit it across the face with her hammer. The other firefly flew to her side and rammed her. She was knocked to the ground but got up without any problem. It came at her again but she sidestepped the attack and brought her hammer down onto it, slamming it into the floor.

The firefly dissipated into the air and Apple Bloom faced the other. The firefly flew close and spun blowing fire around it. Apple Bloom jumped back and took off her mask again, luckily it came off easily. Galahad immediately appeared and Apple Bloom pointed her hammer at the firefly “Strike it down.” she called. Galahad put it's gauntlets forward and a small spark of lightning came out of him and struck the firefly. It fell the the floor and dissipated like the other. Apple Bloom returned the mask to her face and Galahad disappeared again.

With the room cleared she holstered her weapons and ran to Scootaloo. She helped her up to her hooves “Are you okay?” she asked.

Scootaloo watched her with amazement still on her face “How did you do all that? What was that Galahad thing? Where did that outfit come from?” she asked.

Apple Bloom shrugged with a nervous smile “Ah don't know. Ah was kinda on autopilot but we should get out of here.” she said.

Scootaloo gestured to the doorway “Lead the way. You're the one with the super powers.” she said. Apple Bloom nodded and walked out of the room with Scootaloo close behind.

They slowly walked through the dark basement. Apple Bloom glanced around trying to remember the path back up. They came to a room with two doorways, one leading forwards and one to the left. Apple Bloom turned to her friend “Do ya remember which way we came from?” she asked.

Scootaloo shrugged “I don't know. I was too busy trying not to get foalnapped, but we aren't gonna get anywhere by standing here.” she pointed a hoof to the left path “Let's go left.” she said.

Apple Bloom wanted to argue her logic but after giving it some thought, she couldn't find any fault with the plan “Alright, remember ta stay behind me.” she said before heading down the chosen path.

Scootaloo followed while rolling her eyes “Yes mom.” she said sarcastically.

The two followed the path for a minute until they came to a dead end with many wooden boxes around. Scootaloo looked around for any kind of doorway but gave up and her gaze returned to Apple Bloom “I guess it wasn't this way. At least nothing happened, let's head back.” she said. With nothing in the room for them, they turned to leave.

“Wait, who's there?” said a voice.

Apple Bloom turned back towards the room and took her hammer and shield in hoof. But she didn't see anything “Who said that?” she asked.

After a few seconds the voice spoke up again “Apple Bloom?” it asked in a voice that was starting to sound familiar but she couldn't place it.

After giving it some thought she remembered who's voice that was “Spike?” she asked as she loosened her grip on her weapons.

The voice seemed to light up “Thank Celestia you're here! Let me out of this box.” he said.

Apple Bloom looked around at the multiple types of boxes that filled the room “Can ya give me somethin' a bit more specific?” she asked.

“The metal box in the middle.” he said.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo approached the box. They started lifting the lid with all their strength. With some effort they threw the lid off and looked inside. To their relief Spike climbed out. They looked over him and saw that he was wearing a cobalt colored thief outfit with a cloth mask tied around his head. They also noticed dual daggers attached to his belt.

Spike dusted himself off then turned to the two fillies “Thanks, but what are you two doing here?” he then noticed what Apple Bloom was wearing “Wait, do you have a persona too?” he asked.

Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion “Persona? What's that?” she asked.

Spike rubbed his chin in thought for a few seconds before shaking the thoughts away “I'll explain later, after we get out of here” he said.

Apple Bloom wanted an answer but she knew that it would have to wait “Alright, we should be close ta the exit” she said. She and Spike took the lead as they walked back to the split in the path and walked though the last doorway. After walking though two more rooms they found a flight of stairs “Bingo! The exit should be right up here.” she said.

They ran up the stairs only to be met by two of the same type of monsters that attacked them before “Intruders! Let's take these ones back down.” one said.

Spike took his daggers into his claws and took a fighting stance “More shadows.” he muttered. He then turned to Apple Bloom “Ready for a fight?” he asked.

Apple Bloom stood on her back hooves and readied her weapons “As ready as Ah'll ever be. Scootaloo stay back!” she said.

Stootaloo took a few steps back and frowned “Alright then, go ahead and be awesome without me” she muttered bitterly.

The two shadows transformed, one into another firefly while the other turned into light blue turtle with icy spikes on it's shell. Spike noticed the ice on the turtle and smiled “Leave the turtle to me.” he said. He ran towards it and slashed it twice causing minimal damage to it's hard shell. It retreated its legs into it's shell and spun towards him. Spike jumped over it, turned and pulled his mask away from his eyes “Butch!” he called.

From behind him appeared a purple three headed hydra with green fire around each of his heads. One of butch's heads spit a small amount of fire at the turtle. Even with the small amount of fire the ice melted and the turtle flipped onto it's back. While it struggled to get up Spike jumped and stabbed both daggers into it's softer belly causing it to dissipate.

Spike looked over to Apple Bloom who seemed to be struggling. The firefly kept high until it attacked then flew back out of reach. Apple Bloom growled “Get down here ya varmint!” she shouted. It granted her wish by swooping down and bashed into her, knocking her back slightly.

“Do you have any type of ranged weapon?” Spike asked.

Apple Bloom nodded “Ah have a crossbow but no bolts” she said.

“Use it.”

“Did ya hear me? Ah have nothin' ta shoot.”

“Trust me just use it.”

Apple Bloom reluctantly grabbed the empty crossbow and bit onto the mouth trigger. She aimed at the flying nuisance and bit harder. To her surprise a glowing blue bolt appeared and flew towards the firefly. It hit it's target causing it to fall to the floor. Apple Bloom shook off the surprise and took off her mask “Galahad!” she called. He appeared and cast another small spark to finish it off.

She put her weapons away and turned to Spike “How did ya know that would work?” she asked.

“I'll tell you later, let's hurry before more come” he said.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes “You'd better have answers to all these questions” she said as she followed them out of the building. They continued running until they left what used to be Sweet Apple Acres.

Scootaloo started turning back to the factory “Alright it's time to explain. First, what happened to swe-” she stopped when she fully turned and saw the farm just how it was and the factory was nowhere to be seen. “Wha- bu- what the hay!” she shouted. She turned back to the others to see that they no longer were wearing those strange outfits “Now what happened to your costumes?” she asked.

Apple Bloom looked down at herself to see that Scootaloo was right. She reached for her hammer and shield and felt them “Ah still have mah weapons” she said as she grabbed them. She then noticed something off about them “Wait why are they made of plastic now?” she asked.

Spike tried to calm them down “I can explain but you'll have to follow me back to the library.” he said. With no arguments the three left for the library.

As soon as they entered the library Spike looked around “Twilight are you here?” he asked. After a few seconds no response came “Good.” he said. He ran over to a bookcase and started looking under the fantasy section.

Apple Bloom walked up next to him “What's all this about, and why's it good that Twilight ain't here?” she asked.

Spike found what he wanted and pulled out a large brown book “Because she doesn't believe in what's in this book.” he said.

Spike held the cover out to Apple Bloom and she read it out loud “Research findings of the metaverse? How's this book gonna explain anythin'?” she asked.

Spike opened the book and cleared his throat “This book talks about a place called the metaverse, that's where we just were. As far as I know there's only one way to enter the metaverse, and that's the ruby. That's how I got there, but I dropped it when I got captured. Now that I think of it how did you enter?” he asked.

Apple Bloom thought for a second but then remembered something. She reached into her pink bow and held out the bright red ruby “Is this the ruby ya were talkin' about?” she asked.

Spike lit up and took it in his claws “This is the one! I found it a few weeks ago. I tried to eat it but somehow I couldn't bite through it. After researching I found out it was magical.” he explained.

Scootaloo only seemed more confused “Okay so even if that ruby took us to that place, how? It's not like we were trying to go to that freaky place.” she said.

Spike flipped through a few pages of his book “To understand that, first you have to understand where you were exactly. That place was called a palace, it was Filthy Rich's palace to be exact.” he said.

“Oh yeah Filthy Rich was there, but somethin' felt...off about him.” Apple Bloom said.

“That's because it was his shadow. In a way it is him but at the same time it's kinda not.” he said.

Scootaloo face hoofed “I'm tired of these riddles.” she said.

Spike chuckled “I'm explaining as fast as I can. There's a lot to get to.” he cleared his throat “There are some ponies that have a distorted view of the world. If that view is distorted enough then a palace is created in their heart. Filthy Rich must think that he owns Sweet Apple Acres and the apple family.” he said.

Apple Bloom frowned “That's why he thinks he can just double his usual order out of the blue.” she growled. She then looked to Spike with a pleading expression “There has to be someway to stop him.” she said.

Spike looked slightly worried “Uh maybe but we'll get to that. First I have to explain how to enter somepony's palace.” he held out the red ruby “There are three keywords the ruby needs to access a palace. It needs the pony's name, their distortion, and a location. Only when you say all three keywords will you enter a palace.” he said.

Scootaloo nodded in understanding “So we entered because we said that Filthy Rich treated Sweet Apple Acres like a fa-” Apple Bloom stuck her hoof into her mouth

“Stop, we don't want to go again.” she said

Spike laughed “Don't worry, we'd also have to be close to the location to be pulled into the metaverse.” he said.

Scootaloo pushed Apple Bloom's hoof out of her mouth “Okay but I think it's time to talk about Galahad and Butch.” she said.

Spike nodded “Right. They are called personas. They are the rebellious feeling inside of our hearts. I think that everypony has one but only some can access them. They are similar to the shadows in the metaverse but more tamed.” he said.

Apple Bloom rubbed her chin in thought “So they're a part of us? That explains why ah know what Galahad can do.” she said. She then thought of something else “But what happened to our weapons, why did they turn to plastic?” she asked.

“The palace is part of a pony's subconscious, if they think that the weapons are real then they will work like real weapons.” he answered.

After a few seconds of silence Apple Bloom spoke up “So you said there might be a way to stop Filthy's distorted view of the world right? What is that?” she asked.

Spike seemed visibly worried “Uh well yes i-i think so, but I think it's too dangerous.” he said.

Apple Bloom looked at Spike with wide pleading eyes “Please tell us. If we don't do somethin' mah family could be ruined.” she said.

Spike sighed “Okay, deep in every palace there is a treasure. Something that means a lot to the pony. If we were to steal that then the pony might have a change of heart.” he said.

Apple Bloom smiled wide “That's perfect, all we nee-” she stopped and frowned “Wait, did ya say might?” she asked.

Spike looked through the book until he reached a certain page “The pony who wrote this book tested this by stealing the treasures of ten ponies. Only two ponies survived and the writer had no idea why.” he said.

At this news Apple Bloom and Scootaloo froze in shock. Scootaloo recovered first “Well there's no way we can do that. Filthy doesn't deserve to die.” she said. She turned to Apple Bloom and saw that she was deep in thought “You're not actually thinking about doing this are you” she asked.

Apple Bloom was brought out of her thought “Ah don't want Filthy dead but maybe we can figure out how ta steal the treasure safely. Mah family is in trouble.” she said.

Spike put a comforting claw on her shoulder “If you want to try, I'll help you.” he offered.

After a few seconds Scootaloo stepped closer to them “Alright, count me in too. I might not have one of those persona things but I'll still help in any way I can.” she said.

“Thanks y'all, it means a lot ta me.” she said.

Spike gazed out a window and saw that the sun was about to go down “It's getting late, let's talk about this more tomorrow.” he said. The others agreed and they separated for the night.

Date: Unknown

Twilight shook her head and sighed “I told you not to lie to me. This isn't a game, it's serious business.” she said.

“But it's all true. All of it is in that book.” Apple Bloom said.

Twilight levitated a large brown book onto the table “Yes I know. Research findings of the metaverse by Dr. Cognition Conundrum. I've already read it and there is no evidence that these experiments were even conducted. Dr. Conundrum made it all up, that's why I keep it in the fantasy section.” she said.

“Me, Spike and Scootaloo experienced it first hoof.” Apple Bloom said.

“That's another thing I have a problem with. Spike wouldn't have anything to do with this. I've known him since I was a filly, he wouldn't hide this from me.” she said.

“He had to keep it from ya.” she said gently.

Twilight got up from the chair “This is over. It's obvious that you have no intention of telling me the truth of your story or your accomplices.” she turned around towards the door “I'm sorry Apple Bloom but I can't help you.” she said.

“Wait! Listen to mah whole story before ya write it off as a lie. What do ya got ta lose?” she asked.

Twilight stopped in her tracks before walking back to her chair “Alright, I don't believe you but I guess the least I can do is hear you out.” she said. She took out her notepad and wrote Scootaloo's name and Spike's name with a question mark.

Author's Note

I really don't know how this story will do but I just had the hunger to write and this idea was fun so let's see where this goes.

A Team Awakens

Date: Unknown

Apple Bloom slowly opened her eyes to see that she was not in her bed. She looked around to see that she was in some kind of cage. The room around her cage was a mix of different shades of blue. In the middle of the room was a white unicorn stallion with a mane of black and gray. His cutie mark was of a quill in a black hole.

“Who are ya? Where am ah? Ah thought ah was in mah bed.” she said.

The stallion looked towards her with a neutral expression “You were in your bed, or more specifically you still are. My name is Mystery Index, although you may call me Index.” he said.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow “Ah'm still in bed? Do ya mean this is a dream?” she asked.

Index nodded “In a way, yes. Although unlike most dreams this is very real. This place is called the velvet room” he said.

Apple Bloom started feeling uncomfortable under his gaze “So why am ah here?” she asked.

“I brought you here to give you fair warning. I am a being who is only interested in stories and the ends of those stories. But recently I've started to wonder. Can somepony with a bad ending avoid or change their fate.” he said.

Apple Bloom backed up slightly “Bad ending...What does that mean, are ya trying ta help me?” she asked.

Index shook his head “No, I am no character in this story. I am but an observer. I've told you what I must and will do no more. Whether your story changes or not will be up to you. We will talk again in the future, but for now this is goodbye.” he said.

Apple Bloom tried to stop him but before she knew it, she was waking up in her bed. She looked around to see that everything was normal. She put a hoof to her head and sighed “What a strange dream.” she said

Date: Thursday, March 4th

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo walked to school together again. Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom in excitement “Spike's gonna meet us in front of Sweet Apple Acres after school. This is gonna be so cool.” she said.

Apple Bloom smiled and raised an eyebrow “Ya know this is gonna be really dangerous right?” she asked

“That's what makes it so cool” she said.

As they arrived at school they were greeted by Sweetie Belle again “Hi girls, what did you do yesterday” she asked.

Scootaloo lit up and spoke “You wouldn't believe it we-” Apple Bloom covered her mouth

“Sorry, me and Scoots have ta talk in private” she said then pulled Scootaloo away.

Scootaloo frowned at her “What's the big idea? I was just gonna tell her what happened. We can trust Sweetie Belle.” she said.

“Ah know that we can trust her but ah think we should keep this ta ourselves fer now.” she said.

Scootaloo thought about it but eventually agreed “Alright but we will tell her eventually.” she said.

The two walked back to Sweetie Belle “So? Are you gonna tell me what you did yesterday?” she asked.

Scootaloo opened her mouth to speak but no excuses came to her mind. She closed her mouth and thought for a moment. She then opened her mouth to speak again “Nothing.” she said simply.

Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes “Are you sure nothing happened? Cause it really sounded like something happened.” she said.

Scootaloo started to sweat “No, nothing happened. Just a regular boring day.” she said. She saw Cheerilee coming out of the schoolhouse to greet the students “Hey look, school is starting. We wouldn't want to miss that.” she said. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo walked past Sweetie and into the school. Sweetie watched the two with suspicion.

After school Apple Bloom and Scootaloo started walking back to the farm “So any plans for when we get back to the palace?” Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom looked to her friend “Well ah guess we sh-” she bumped into something and fell on her back. She looked up to see Filthy Rich standing above her. She was frozen in fear.

Filthy reached down to her with a hoof “My apologies Apple Bloom. I was not focusing on where I was walking.” he said.

After a few seconds Apple Bloom took his hoof and let him help her up “Y-you're not mad at us?” she asked.

Filthy looked confused for a second then chuckled “You must mean about the deal with your family. That's just business, no reason to be angry at anypony.” he said.

Apple Bloom blinked a couple times before collecting herself “Ah guess you're right. Well we gotta get goin'.” she said.

Filthy started walking away “Remind Applejack to think about our deal. I can't wait forever.” he said as he left.

Apple Bloom turned to Scootaloo “Did ya see that? He didn't remember seein' us in the palace.” she said.

Scootaloo shrugged “I guess he doesn't know what's going on in his own palace. That's good news for us though.” she said.

The two continued until they met Spike in front of the farm “Hey, so are you sure that you want to go back there.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded “Ah have ta find some way ta help mah family, and ah think this will work.” she said.

Spike nodded and brought out Apple Bloom's hammer and shield “Alright, here I brought your things. Do you have the ruby?” he asked.

Apple Bloom fished the ruby out of her bow and held it out “Ah got it right here.” she said.

“Good, do you remember the keywords?” he asked.

She nodded and looked down at the ruby “Filthy Rich, Sweet Apple Acres, factory.” she said. The ruby lit up three times and the dizzying feeling washed over them again. When the feeling wore off they saw the factory in front of them.

Scootaloo looked to Spike and Apple Bloom to see that they were wearing their costumes again “Alright let's get in there.” she said

Spike stopped them before they could start walking “Wait there's something we have to talk about.” he said.

“What about?” Apple Bloom asked.

“The book said that referring to ourselves by our real names might have some effects on the palace and the palace owner. Just to be safe, we should have code names. At least me and Apple Bloom.” he said.

Apple Bloom started thinking “Code names huh? What should mine be?” she asked.

Spike rubbed his chin in thought “Maybe we should go with something simple like Paladin.” he said.

“Alright, ah like that. Now what should yours be.” she asked.

Scootaloo raised her hoof “Oh I got it. You will be Drake.” she said.

Spike smiled “That's not bad.” he said.

Scootaloo looked prideful for a second before turning back to the factory “Now let's go.” she said and started walking.

Apple Bloom got in front of her “Stay behind us just in case we face more shadows” she said. Scootaloo frowned but let them lead the way.

They entered the building but found no shadows in the lobby. They walked through a hallway then found themselves in a factory floor. They saw many conveyor belts with apples on them. The apples would enter a machine and come out as bits.

Apple Bloom looked over the room in shock “Is this really how he sees the farm? As some kind of money machine. This is crazy.” she said.

“Crazy is subjective really.” said a voice behind them. They turned around to see shadow Filthy. He took an apple off of a conveyor belt and took a bite “To me, not taking advantage of a business opportunity is crazy.” he said.

Apple Bloom was sure to stay on guard “What do ya want?” she asked with suspicion.

“What do I want?” he asked back to her. His expression turned into a scowl “I want all of you out of my factory. Although if you'd rather stay, then I could get somepony to entertain you.” he said. He tapped the floor twice and a shadow appeared before them “The choice is yours.” he said.

Apple Bloom readied her weapons “Ah can't just leave, this is too important ta me.” she said.

Filthy Rich took a step back to allow his shadow space “Fine then, have it your way.” he said. The shadow took form and it turned into a zombified stallion carrying a great sword in his mouth.

Spike took out his daggers “That sword looks dangerous, watch out Paladin.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded and looked back at Scootaloo “Keep yourself safe, while we handle this” she said.

Scootaloo reluctantly took a couple steps back. Spike pulled out a revolver and fired but the zompony was able to block with it's sword. It ran in and swung the heavy sword at him. He jumped back just in time to avoid it. Apple Bloom came behind it and swung her hammer into it's side. It recovered quickly and bucked her a few feet away. Spike gasped and ran towards her.

He didn't see the zompony swing the sword at him again. It slashed him across the chest and he flew into a nearby wall. Apple Bloom got in front of him defensively “Are you okay Drake? Are you bleeding?” she asked.

Spike looked down at his chest to see no gash or blood “That hurt but it didn't cut through me. Maybe that has something to do with us being in the metaverse.” he said.

“Well that's good ta know.” she said. She pulled her mask off and summoned Galahad. He fired a spark at the zompony but it shook the electricity off fairly easily. It charged her and she held her shield in front of her. With a swing of it's sword she was thrown a few feet away from it's sheer power.

It advanced on Spike who was still struggling to get back up. Apple Bloom took her crossbow in her mouth and fired. Two shots made it into his side. It turned back to her and held a hoof up covered in black and red energy. The same energy appeared under Apple Bloom and shot up. It didn't feel hot but it burned at her skin.

Once the attack ended, her legs gave out and she fell to her stomach. She attempted getting to her hooves but the pain prevented her “W-we can't give up.” she said.

Scootaloo watched as her two friends were in pain and still in danger. She gritted her teeth and ran into the battlefield “Stay away from them!” she shouted.

Filthy turned to her and chuckled “Or what? What could you do? These two actually have some fighting capability, however mediocre they may be. You're just a disabled pegasus.” he said.

Scootaloo's face twisted in anger “I'm not disabled! And I don't care if I stand a chance or not, I'm gonna help!”

Filthy disregarded her words “You're less than worthless. Not even worth killing. I hate wasting time so scram, me and your friends still have business to take care of.” he said turning away from her.

Scootaloo got his attention again with a stomp “I'm not worthless! I'm tired of hearing that just because I can't fly! If anypony is worthless it's you! You lost your worth when you thought you could ruin an innocent family for money! I won't let you have your way!” she yelled.

Suddenly Scootaloo started getting a splitting headache “It seems that my time has finally come” said a stern feminine voice. Scootaloo started screaming in pain and holding her head in her hooves as the voice continues “I feel the rebellion in your soul growing. You want to rebel against everypony who put you down. You want to rebel against gravity itself. Show me, show me you have the will to fly.” she said.

In a flash of blue energy a pair of goggles appeared on her face. She pulled at it with all her strength until it ripped off. The blue energy covered her body. When it left her, she had a leather aviator pilot jacket and a white scarf around her neck. Her persona took form behind her. She was a green eagle wearing a flight helmet sitting inside a tornado. Scootaloo smirked “It's time to turn this around, show them what you can do Earheart.” she said.

Earheart flapped her wings, causing razor sharp winds to pass through the zompony causing it to back up from the pain. Scootaloo ran to Spike and Apple Bloom “Are you ready for round two.” she asked.

Spike got back up and summoned Butch “Help me out Butch” he said. Butch summoned a green energy that covered Spike and the pain started fading away. He pointed to Apple Bloom “Now for Paladin.” he said.

The same energy healed Apple Bloom and she got to her hooves “Thanks Drake. Ah didn't know you could do that.” she said.

Spike noticed the zompony again and took his daggers back in his claws “We can talk later, we need to finish this.” he said.

“No problem.” Scootaloo said as she took out a combat knife and held it in her mouth. She ran under the zompony and slashed at it's legs. It tried to kick her but she was fast enough to dodge it.

Spike summoned Butch and sent fire it's way. It wailed in pain but shook the fire off.

It ran towards him but Apple Bloom slammed her hammer into it's hoof causing it to fall onto it's stomach. Scootaloo summoned Earheart and used her sharp winds to knock it onto it's side. She then ran past it, cutting along it's side with her knife. The zompony let out one last wail before going limp and dissipating.

The three sighed in relief and faced Filthy. To their surprise he didn't seem angry or even disappointed “It seems that I've underestimated you. No matter, nothing has changed. If you continue to sully my factory with your presence then you will surely fall to the dangers within. Leave now and don't come back. If you do, I promise I won't underestimate you again” he said. He disappeared into the shadows leaving the three alone.

Apple Bloom wiped some sweat from her forehead “Maybe we should leave and come back tomorrow. I'm beat.” she said.

Spike nodded and turned to Scootaloo “Maybe we shouldn't have told you to stay back, we couldn't have done that without you.” he said.

Scootaloo put on a prideful smile “That was so awesome. I wish Rainbow Dash could have seen me.” she said.

Apple Bloom giggled “Come on, we can pat ourselves on the back later.” she said. She stopped when she looked back and saw small brown bag sitting where the shadow was “Wait what's that?” she asked.

Spike picked it up and peeked inside it “It's a bag of bits. Did that shadow drop this?” he asked.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow “Do ya think they'll be real bits when we leave the metaverse?” she wondered.

Scootaloo's expression lit up “If we get bits for this, maybe we can do this as a job. Maybe we can even get our cutie marks in...” she frowned “What would you call what we're doing?” she asked.

Apple Bloom thought for a moment “Since we're trying ta steal Filthy's treasure we'd technically be thieves.” she said.

Scootaloo smiled again “We could get our cutie marks in thievery!” she said happily.

Spike face palmed “That's not a cutie mark anypony would want.” he said. Shortly after that they decided to leave Filthy's palace. Once back in the real world, Spike looked in the brown bag again and saw that the bits were real “Hey, these are real bits.” he closed the bag and held it out to Apple Bloom “Maybe you should hang on to them for us.” he said.

Apple Bloom looked a bit shocked “Huh? Why me?” she asked.

“These might be able to help us with buying supplies and I don't know if I trust Scootaloo not to spend them immediately.” he said.

Scootaloo pouted “Hey! I'm responsible!” she shouted.

Spike rolled his eyes and handed the bits to Apple Bloom “Anyway, let's meet here again tomorrow okay?” he asked. The two agreed and they went their separate ways again.

Date: Friday, March 5th

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were once again walking together. Scootaloo was buzzing her little wings excitedly “I can't wait until after school so I can do more with my persona.” she said.

Apple Bloom shook her head and sighed “Remember that we ain't doin' this fer fun.” she said.

“Doing what for fun?” asked a familiar voice behind them.

They yelped in shock and whipped around to see their friend Sweetie Belle “O-oh nothin'. We weren't talkin' about nothin'.” Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie looked confused “Doesn't that mean that you were talking about something?” she asked.

Apple Bloom mentally face hoofed “Whatever, how are ya doing sweetie?” she asked.

Sweetie Belle smiled brightly “Much better now that I'm not grounded anymore. Now I can go crusading with you girls again. Wanna hang out after school?” she asked.

Scootaloo's mind raced to think of some excuse “Um well...I don't know because...” she turned to Apple Bloom and whispered “Apple Bloom help.” she said,

Apple Bloom smiled after thinking “Chores! That's it! Ah have so many chores ta do today...and Scootaloo was goin' ta help me.” she said with what she hoped was a convincing smile.

Sweetie Belle frowned at the obvious lie “Okay? Well maybe I can come and help too.” she suggested.

Scootaloo started to panic “No you can't b-because...Apple Bloom's family hates unicorns!” she said.

Apple Bloom glared at her “Scootaloo!” she growled.

“I-I meant that it will be tiring work so you might just want to stay home.” she said.

Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes at her two friends but decided to give up “Alright well maybe we could hang out tomorrow.” she said.

Apple Bloom sighed in relief “Yeah that sounds good.” she said.

The three continued to school in silence. After school Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waved back to Sweetie Belle before walking off together. She watched the two as they walked “Those two are up to something and I'm gonna find out what.” she said before tailing them.

Sweetie Belle followed behind them while hiding behind bushes, carriages, and other ponies. She noticed that they were walking towards Sweet Apple Acres where Spike was waiting. Sweetie Belle ran into a nearby bush to eavesdrop on them.

Spike greeted them with a smile “Hey girls, are you ready.” he asked.

Scootaloo nodded “Yeah, Sweetie Belle was getting suspicious but we came up with an excuse not to hang out with her today.” she said.

Sweetie Belle felt hurt listening to that but decided to listen further.

“Alright Apple Bloom, take us in.” Spike said.

Apple Bloom nodded and pulled out the ruby and spoke to it “Filthy Rich, Sweet Apple Acres, factory.” after three blinks from the ruby Sweetie Belle's vision went blurry. When her vision came back she saw the three in their metaverse outfits with the factory behind them.

Sweetie rubbed her eyes just in case what she was seeing wasn't real. Unfortunately nothing changed. The three were about to walk towards the factory when Spike stopped them “Wait, Scootaloo doesn't have a code name yet. What should it be.” he asked.

Scootaloo smirked “I thought about that last night, just call me Aviator. Sounds awesome right?” she asked.

Apple Bloom and Spike looked at each other then back to Scootaloo “Alright ah guess we can call ya Aviator.” Apple Bloom said.

They continued walking to the factory and Sweetie shook off the shock of what she was seeing “This wasn't what I was expecting. I just thought Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were dating in secret. I have to get to the bottom of this.” she said before sneaking behind them.

They walked back to the factory floor to see two shadows guarding the next room. Apple Bloom made sure that it was just the two of them before turning to her teammates “Looks like it's just the two of them.” she said.

Scootaloo took her knife out “no problem, we'll make easy work of them” she said before clutching the knife in her teeth.

Apple Bloom nodded and took her hammer and shield out “Alright, just remember to watch your backs.” she said. The all jumped out of their hiding place and ran towards the two shadows. The shadows immediately showed their true forms. One turned into another firefly while the other one turned into a yellow alligator who's maw sparked with electricity.

Scootaloo dodged the firefly who tried to ram her. She swapped her knife with a mauser pistol. She missed two shots before hitting it causing it to lower to be in range. She summoned Earheart who sent her winds towards the firefly. It's fire went out and it fell to the floor. Before it could recover, Scootaloo sliced through it causing it to dissipate.

Apple Bloom and Spike faced down the alligator. It tried to chomp down on Spike but he sidestepped and slashed at it's side twice before it backed out of range. It turned to Apple Bloom and opened it's mouth and electricity flew out towards her. It struck her in the chest but hardly affected her. She smirked and took her cross bow in her mouth and fired a few bolts into it. While it was distracted, Spike summoned Butch and burned it with his fire. It flailed in pain and Apple Bloom finished it with a hammer to it's head.

While they celebrated, Sweetie Belle watched in shock “Have I been friends with secret super heroes...or maybe they're super villains. I have to make sure.” she said and followed as they walked into the next hallway.

She peeked around the corner to see them looking at multiple doors in the hallway, looking slightly lost. She suddenly heard hoof steps behind her. She turned to see a shadow staring down at her “You're not suppose to be here” it said threateningly. Sweetie screamed and ran out into the hallway.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Spike turned to the sound and saw a shadow chase Sweetie Belle into a room “Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom called in shock. They ran into the room after them. When they entered they saw Sweetie Belle was caught by the shadow. Apple Bloom took her weapons in her hooves “Put her down.” she commanded.

Behind them Shadow Filthy walked in “Well well well, what have we here.” he said.

Spike turned to him and growled “Not you again.” he said.

Filthy glared back at him “I'm the one who should be saying that! I let you go and how do you repay my kindness? By trespassing on my property again!” he shouted with a stomp “And I told you that I wouldn't underestimate you again. Unluckily for you, I'm a stallion of my word.” she said. He knocked on the metal floor twice and four shadows appeared beside him “I'm going to deal with our new intruder while you four kill these three nuisances. Don't disappoint me.” he said.

He and the shadow carrying Sweetie Belle started walking towards the door. Sweetie started struggling against the shadow “What's going on?” she asked.

Apple Bloom ran towards them “Don't worry Sweetie, we'll save ya” she said. The four shadows blocked her way and took form. Before her stood a firefly, icy turtle, and two zomponies. Apple Bloom growled as she backed up into a defensive stance “We'll have ta get through these shadows first” she said.

Scootaloo readied her knife “They'll be done in no time at all.” she said.

As they started the fight, Filthy and the shadow brought Sweetie to another room where there were shackles attached to the wall. Filthy pointed to the wall “Lock her up there.” he said. The shadow did as it was told and shackled her hooves to the wall.

Sweetie backed up as close to the wall as she could “P-please I don't want to die. Rarity please save me.” she pleaded.

Filthy walked up to her “Calling for your sister to save you from yet another mess huh? How many times do you think it will take for her to tire of helping you out of every little situation you get yourself into? In the real world you can't just expect sompony to save you. You have to have a strong will, and get things done yourself. As I do.” he said.

Sweetie Belle lowered her head as tears started falling from her eyes “...You're right. My sister can't help me. My parents can't help me. Nopony can help me.” she said sadly.

Filthy nodded “At least you will die knowing that you stopped lying to yourself.” he said. He started walking towards the door.

“I'm not done.” she said causing Filthy to stop and turn towards her. She wiped the tears from her face and looked up towards him with determination in her eyes “You're also right that I have to stop being a coward do it myself.” she said.

She started to grunt as a pain shot through her head “Ha ha ha I see that you're in the mood to make a little trouble my dear!” said a high pitched male voice “Come on, take my power and let's have some fun!” he said.

Filthy growled “Not another one” he turned to the shadow “Get off your lazy flank and kill her before it's too late!” he yelled. The shadow ran towards her but was blown back by a blast of air. Sweetie was suddenly wearing a Black mask with bits of pink, blue and yellow paint on it. She pulled at it and ripped it off with a scream of pain.

Blue energy engulfed her and left her wearing a black hoodie with spray paint of multiple colors staining it. The energy formed into a brown stallion with a icy blue mane and blank white eyes that had frost flowing from them. He also wore a old looking brown hat and a necklace that ended in a clock. Sweetie smirked up at them “Let's do it Fagin.” she said.

Fagin held his hooves out causing Sweetie's shackles to be covered in ice. After a few seconds the ice shattered the shackles and freed her.

The shadow turned into an electric alligator. Sweetie stood on her hind legs and ten inch metal claws came from two gauntlets on her forelegs. The alligator charged her with it's jaws open. She sidestepped and scratched twice at it's side. The alligator knocked her away with a swipe of it's tail. She recovered and took her mask off, allowing Fagin to appear. He caused ice to form on the alligator's midsection before it shattered. She then ran and gave it one more slash across the face causing it to dissipate.

Filthy growled and advanced on her. Sweetie ran out of the room and slammed the door closed. She summoned Fagin and he formed ice around the door “That should hold him for some time, now time to find my friends.” she said.

She returned to the previous room and saw that her friends were still fighting. All that was left was one firefly and one zompony. Sweetie Belle took out an automatic rifle emptied it's magazine into the zompony's back. It turned and charged her. Before it could reach her, a spark of electricity struck it's back causing it to fall to the floor and dissipate. Sweetie summoned Fagin and formed ice on the firefly. It shattered hard causing it to dissipate.

Sweetie sighed and wiped some sweat from her forehead before smiling at her friends “I'm happy to see you, but can you explain what just happened?” she asked.

Apple Bloom chuckled “Yeah, let's get out of here for now. We'll explain at the clubhouse.” she said. They all left the factory and to the CMC clubhouse.

When they arrived, they explained everything they knew to Sweetie Belle “Ah think that about covers it. Ah'm still shocked that ya got a persona too Sweetie.” Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie Belle giggled a bit “Yeah, and I would've never guessed that this was what you were hiding from me.” she said.

Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck “Yeah, sorry about that. We just didn't want information like this getting out.” she said.

Spike nodded “But now that you know the situation, would you like to help us steal Filthy's treasure?” he asked.

Sweetie Belle smiled and pulled the three into a hug “Of course, I wouldn't miss out on a chance to help my friends.” she said.

The four separated and Apple Bloom yawned “We should head home fer now but let's meet here tomorrow, okay?” she asked. The other agreed and they all went their separate ways.

Date: Unknown

Twilight took her quill and notepad in her magic again “So Sweetie Belle was also a member of the Phantom Thieves?” she asked.

Apple Bloom frowned “Not was. She is a Phantom Thief. All of us are. Nothing happened to the Phantom Thieves.” she said.

Twilight wrote Sweetie Belle's name and dropped the notepad “You're wrong. Even if what you're saying is the truth, the Phantom Thieves are done.” she said. Her horn lit up again and a red ruby floated up beside her “You said that this gem is the only way to reach the metaverse and now that we have it, you can't do Phantom Thief work.” she said. She stared at the gem and sighed “Of course that's only true if what you're telling me is the truth and I'm still not sure about that.” she said.

Apple Bloom sighed sadly “Believe what ya want. Ah'm gonna stick ta mah story.” she said.

Twilight wanted to comfort the sad filly but she restrained herself “Go ahead and continue your story.” she said.

Deadline

Date: Saturday, March 6th

Apple Bloom walked downstairs after waking up. Once down she saw her sister in front of the front door. On the other side, she noticed Filthy Rich. He straightened his tie with a stern look in his eye “My dear Applejack, I'm afraid that I've grown tired of you dodging me. I've come to hopefully put an end to this.” he said.

Applejack gasped “Ya don't mean that ya expect that ridiculous order now, do ya?” she asked.

To her relief, he shook his head “No, but I have come to give you a hard deadline. I'll give you a week, seven days to give me what I'm owed. If I still don't have the products by march 12th then I'll take my business elsewhere.” he said.

“Can't we talk about this?” Applejack asked.

He frowned “We've talked enough. I will not let you delay this forever. Good day.” he said before turning and walking away from the door.

Applejack slammed the door shut and growled “What happened to ya Filthy. Ya used ta be so understandin'.” she said. She turned to see her younger sister staring at her “Oh, did ya hear any of that?” she asked. Apple Bloom nodded causing her to sigh “Try not ta worry about it. Me and Filthy are just havin' a disagreement.” she said.

Apple Bloom scuffed her hoof against the floor and hung her head “Will we be okay if we give him what he wants?” she asked.

Applejack averted her eyes “It might be hard, but we'll get through it. We always do.” she said.

Apple Bloom looked up with determination in her eyes “I'm going to go play with my friends.” she said.

“Alright, have fun. Remember ta be home in time ta do yer chores.” she reminded. The filly nodded and ran out the door.

She burst into the CMC clubhouse to see her friends waiting for her. They smiled at the sight of her but their faces fell at the sight of panic on her face “We have a problem.” she said.

Spike walked up to her and put a claw on her shoulder “Calm down. What has you so panicked?” he asked.

With a calming breath, Apple Bloom explained “Filthy came by the farmhouse this mornin'. He gave mah sister a deadline to honor his deal. He said that we have until the 12th before he takes his business somewhere else.” she said.

Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin in thought “So counting today, we have seven days to stop him. Can we do it that fast?” she wondered.

Scootaloo nodded with confidence “Of course we can. With the four of us and our personas, this will be a breeze.” she said.

Spike crossed his arms and hummed in thought “I've read the book on the metaverse many times but I don't know how long it takes to trigger a change of heart. I guess we'll just have to work as fast as we can.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded and took the ruby out “Are we ready?” she asked. All her friends nodded and she spoke the keywords.

They looked around to confirm that they had entered the metaverse. Once they saw the tree stumps, they knew it worked. Spike turned to look at Sweetie Belle “Before we go any further, you're gonna need a code name like the rest of us. Does anypony have any ideas?” he asked.

Scootaloo nodded “We can call you punk. Just look at you in that paint stained hoodie, it fits.” she said.

Sweetie cringed at the name “I don't think I want you to call me punk. How about...Hoodlum? It sounds a bit less insulting.” she said.

Apple Bloom nodded with a smile “I like that a lot better. Alright, in the metaverse ya will be known as Hoodlum.” she said.

Scootaloo pouted “I thought punk was a great code name.” she muttered. The rest of the team ignored her and they entered the factory. They walked into the factory and arrived at the factory floor. After scanning the area, they were relieved to see no shadows.

They then hurried into the next hallway with two door to the left and a staircase at the end. Apple Bloom stared at the doors “Should we check those out?” she asked her team.

Sweetie shook her head “I don't think so. We saw that first room yesterday and Filthy took me to the other one when he captured me. There wasn't anything in there.” she said.

Spike nodded “Upstairs it is” he said. They walked up to the second floor and through a door to see another factory floor. This one was also filled with conveyor belts but there were many ponies placing the apples on the belts. They all had blank, exhausted expressions on their faces.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at the ponies “Who are they?” she asked.

Apple Bloom gasped in realization “Ah think ah recognize them. They look like the vendors that run the fruit and vegetable stalls in Ponyville.” she said.

Sweetie looked at them with concern “They look like they'll drop any second now. We have to help them.” she said.

Spike shook his head “I don't think we could. I think they're part of Filthy's distorted mind. So they aren't real.” he said. He started rubbing his chin in thought “Would this mean that the apple family aren't the only ones Filthy Rich is exploiting?” he wondered.

Apple Bloom's ears flattened against her skull “How could nopony know about all this?” she asked.

Sweetie tried to lighten to mood a bit “Maybe it's not as bad as it seems. As Drake said, these aren't the real ponies.” she said.

Scootaloo seemed uneasy “It's still hard to watch them work themselves to death.” she shook the thought from her mind “We should continue.” she said. She walked out from behind a conveyor belt.

Apple Bloom saw something ahead and grabbed Scootaloo to pull her back “Wait Aviator! Look.” she said. They peeked out to see two shadows with their backs to them. They were standing near a spiral staircase in the middle of the factory floor.

Scootaloo smirked “They don't see us, maybe we can surprise them.” she said.

That seemed to remind Spike of something “I think I know something we can try. In the book about the metaverse it says that shadows can be disoriented by forcefully removing their masks. I can sneak up behind one and do it but somepony else will have to do the other.” he said.

Apple Bloom raised her hoof “Ah'll do it.” she volunteered.

Sweetie turned to Scootaloo “After Paladin and Drake do that, me and you will jump in to help them finish them.” she said.

Scootaloo nodded “Right. I'll be ready.” she said. Apple Bloom and Spike quietly departed to sneak behind the shadows. They looked at each other and nodded before jumping on the shadow's backs. The both ripped the masks off and jumped off.

The shadows screeched in pain and they turned into their real forms. One was a zompony and the other was a large humming bird with a blade instead of a beak. They were both on the floor and looked dizzy.

Sweetie and Scootaloo jumped out of hiding and took their masks off. Fagin formed ice on the humming bird and Earheart send sharp winds towards the Zompony. Both of the shadows howled in pain from the attack but recovered from their dizziness.

The humming bird flew towards Apple Bloom and swung it's bladed beak at her. She held her shield in front of her to block the onslaught. Spike ran up and jumped, trying to strike the bird with his daggers. It flew back to dodge and flapped it's wings faster to send sharp winds at the two of them.

She winced at the slight pain but was overall still alright. Spike was a different story as he let out a scream and fell to his knees. The humming bird charged the downed dragon but Apple Bloom quickly took her cross bow out and fired a few bolts at it. She then took her mask off to summon Galahad. He then shot a spark of electricity at the bird to finish it off.

Scootaloo and Sweetie faced the zompony. The zompony swung it's great sword at them but they both dodged. Sweetie ran in and gave it three scratches with her metal claws. It tried to retaliate but Scootaloo interrupted it with a few shots from her mauser. Sweetie then took her mask off to allow Fagin to shatter ice around it to finish it off.

Apple Bloom ran to Spike's side to help him up “Are ya alright? I know that the attack hurt and all but it shouldn't have done that ta ya.” she said.

Spike caught his breath before speaking “It's another quirk about personas. They have certain types of attacks that are extremely effective against them. It's the same with shadows. Butch's weakness is wind, so that's why it hurt me so much.” he said.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “So we all have weaknesses. That's lame. What's mine?” she asked.

Spike shrugged “I don't know. The only way to find out is to experience it.” he said.

Sweetie frowned “I'm not excited to find out.” she said.

Apple Bloom patted Spike on the back “Will ya be okay ta continue or should we head out?” she asked out of concern.

Spike took his mask off and Butch appeared. He was covered by a green energy and the pain melted away “I'm good now. I can go on.” he said.

They were about to scale the spiral staircase but Apple Bloom got dizzy all of the sudden as she got flashes of her bedroom. She blinked the images away “Did y'all see that too?” she asked her teammates.

Scootaloo nodded “Yeah, that looked like your room.” she turned to Spike “Drake, did the book say anything that could explain that?” she asked.

He nodded and tried to remember what the book said about it “There are some parts of palaces where the distortion is weak. Apparently shadows avoid those areas because of that. So they're basically safe rooms. There has to be one around.” he said.

“Is there anything else we should know about them?” she asked.

“The book said something about being able to teleport between the safe rooms and the palace entrance, but it was pretty vague about it.” he answered.

Sweetie nodded in understanding “I hope we can figure it out, that would be useful.” she said.

Apple Bloom noticed a door on the wall past the staircase “Maybe that's it? Let's check it out.” she said. She entered the door with the others following close behind. The room was a small storage room with boxes and tools strewn about. In the middle was a old looking metal table with a few sturdy boxes around it that could act as makeshift chairs.

They once again got flashes of Apple Bloom's room but it was much clearer now. Spike nodded in confirmation “This is definitely a safe room. Let's take breather here before moving out again.” he said.

The others agreed and took their seats on the boxes. A thought crossed Apple Bloom's mind “Hey Drake, will we know the treasure when we see it or what?” she asked.

He pondered that for a moment “I can only go off of what the book says since I haven't actually seen a treasure myself. It only describes the treasure as something important to the palace owner. Although it does say that it would be hard to overlook.” he explained.

Scootaloo sighed in annoyance “I hope it doesn't take too long. We don't even know how big this palace is.” she said.

Sweetie Belle thought for a second “From the outside, the factory didn't look like it could hold more then three stories. Since we're almost to the third floor, it shouldn't take too long to find it.” she said.

Scootaloo jumped off of her box “Then what are we waiting for? If we hurry we can be done today.” she said.

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement “Aviator's right, we can't just sit around forever.” she said. Spike and Sweetie Belle hopped off of their boxes and they walked out of the safe room together. There were no other shadows around so they quickly made their way up the spiral staircase.

They then came to a small room with normal doors on three of the walls. On the last wall was a large metal door with a sigh over it that read “To the CEO's office”.

Scootaloo lit up at seeing the sign “That's gotta be where the treasure is. Too easy.” she said before attempting to walk through the door. It refused to open for her and she bonked her head into it “Ah! What's up with this door? It's broken or something!” she growled.

Spike looked unamused “Or maybe it's just locked.” he suggested.

Scootaloo blinked before looking back at the door “That would make sense but I don't see a key hole or anything.” she said.

Sweetie Belle walked up to three indentations next to the door “I think these might be important.” she said. Apple Bloom studied the indentations. One looked like tree, another looked like a cloud, and the last looked like a star.

She hummed as she thought “Ah guess we gotta find these things ta get through the door. Three keys and three other doors. This might take longer than we thought.” she said.

Spike glanced between the three smaller doors “Where should we start?” he wondered.

Apple Bloom quickly pointed a hoof towards the door to their left “That one. We will probably have ta go through all of them anyway.” she said.

With no arguments, they continued through the door. Past that was a long hallway that was cut in two by a stretch with no floor. Instead there were horizontal conveyor belts carrying apples. Lasers shot down from the ceiling and sliced the apple in half before they were carried through a few holes in the walls.

Spike took a step back from the sight “What the...how's somepony supposed to get through here?” he wondered.

Scootaloo walked up to the conveyor belts “Are we supposed to jump between these?” she questioned.

Sweetie Belle saw a series of wires that connected all of the devices making the lasers. They all seemed to connect to a button on the other side of the death trap “I think that button over there turns the lasers off.” she said.

Spike shook his head “We would still need to get over there to press it, or at least one of us.” he said.

Scootaloo put on a brave face “I'll take care of it.” she offered.

Apple Bloom shook her head and stepped in front of her “No, ah'll do it. Ah don't want anypony else gettin' hurt if they don't have ta.” she said.

Scootaloo frowned with worry as Apple Bloom watched the lasers for a pattern. She then heard Earheart's voice in her head “Will you truly sit there and do nothing when you know you can support your friend?” she questioned.

Scootaloo hung her head as she thought “Support?” she muttered quietly. She then felt something in her heart that made her understand. She smiled and put a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder “Before you go, let me do something to help.” she took her mask off to summon Earheart “Do it!” she commanded.

Earheart flapped her wings at Apple Bloom who was instantly covered in a glowing green energy. Apple Bloom looked over herself as her body seemed to get lighter “What did ya do? Ah feel light as a feather.” she said.

Scootaloo gave I wide grin “Speed. I boosted your speed. I thought it would help you out here.” she boasted.

Spike raised an eyebrow “I didn't know you could do that.” he said.

Scootaloo averted her eyes sheepishly “Neither did I until now, but better late than never right?” she said. She then looked back to Apple Bloom “Now get going, It won't last forever.” she said.

Apple Bloom nodded and faced the lasers which now looked less daunting. She jumped past the first two easily. A laser quickly came for her midsection but thanks to the extra speed, she got out of the way in time. She smirked before nimbly weaving through the rest of the lasers to end up on the other side.

Her friends applauded her causing her to blush lightly. She then reached up to press the red button. The lasers cut out and the conveyor belts stopped. The rest of her team quickly jumped across the now useless belts to join her. Sweetie Belle pulled her into a quick hug “That was amazing, great job!” she congratulated.

“Ah couldn't of done it without Aviator's power.” she said.

Scootaloo gave a proud smile “I guess I do deserve some credit.” she said. They all shared a laugh before continuing through to the next room. The next room was a large almost empty room. The only thing in the room was a robotic unicorn standing in the middle.

Spike took his daggers in his claws “That thing looks dangerous, but I don't think it sees us yet.

Sweetie Belle noticed something behind it “Look behind it, one of the keys!” she exclaimed. They glanced to see the star shaped key waiting in an indentation in the wall.

Apple Bloom eyed the robot warily “Do ya think we can get it without fightin' that thing?” She asked.

Scootaloo shook her head “I doubt it. Let's just trash the thing and be done with it.” she said.

Spike sighed and nodded “Fine but let's be careful, it doesn't look like a pushover.” he said.

Apple Bloom took the lead as they walked up to it. The unicorn's artificial red eyes narrowed at them “This is a restricted area! Come quietly or suffer the consequences.” it said.

Scootaloo lowered herself into a stance “You wish! We're taking you to the junk yard!” she exclaimed.

“Hostility detected. Activating attack mode.” it said. It's horn opened up and a series of cyan, magenta, and yellow spirals shot out at Scootaloo. She was too shocked to dodge and was thrown a few feet away.

Sweetie gasped and ran over to help her up “Are you alright?” she asked.

“I'm fine. Watch out!” she warned as another wave of psychic energy shot toward them. They both jumped to safety as Apple Bloom and Spike came up behind the unicorn with their weapons drawn. Spike gave two slashes to it's side before Apple Bloom jumped and gave a hard strike to it's head.

The unicorn recoiled from the attacks before using it's horn to summon a ball of blue nuclear energy between Spike and Apple Bloom. It exploded and sent them in different directions. Spike recovered quickly but Apple Bloom stayed on the floor while wracked with pain.

Scootaloo came up behind it but it turned around and slashed at her with it's horn. She got up off the floor and growled “It's fast, I guess I'll just have to be faster. Come on out Earheart!” she shouted as she summoned her persona. Earheart enveloped her in the speedy green aura.

Scootaloo smirked through the combat knife in her teeth. She dashed in towards the unicorn and dodged a swipe from it's horn. She slashed it's chest twice at blinding speeds. It attempted to shoot psychic energy at her but she jumped high over it. With a spin, she delivered a devastating strike across it's face that knocked it to the floor.

She turned to Sweetie Belle who was behind her “Come on Hoodlum, follow up.” she said while holding a hoof out to her.

“I'd be glad to.” Sweetie said while bumping hooves with her. She gave the downed unicorn two slashes before giving one final slash with both claws. The unicorn recovered and tried to attack her with it's horn but she was able to jump back in time.

Spike ran over to Apple Bloom who was just getting to her hooves “Here, let me help.” he said before summoning Butch to heal her.

She gave him a grateful nod before summoning Galahad “Strike!” she commanded and a bolt of lighting came down on the unicorn. It fell to the floor once again from it.

Spike looked impressed “Whoa, that was powerful! And looks like it was weak to that!” he said.

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes in focus “We're going in all at once! Ready?” she questioned.

“Ready!” they all exclaimed. They all dashed in at the same time. They all attacked as they dashed by before turning around and attacking again. They repeated that many times, getting progressively faster.

Once they stopped, Apple Bloom gave the air a celebratory buck as the unicorn dissipated behind her “Yee-haw!” she exclaimed

Scootaloo gave a tired chuckle “That was exhilarating!” she said.

Sweetie wiped some sweat from her forehead “And exhausting. Do you think we can call it a day?” she asked.

Apple Bloom nodded “Good idea. Ah'm still hurtin' from that blue attack. Ah think that might have been Galahad's weakness.” she said.

Spike nodded “Looked like it. I think that was a nuclear attack.” he said.

Scootaloo walked up to the star shaped key “Well if we're leaving, we should at least put this key in place while we can.” she said before taking it in her mouth.

Spike turned back to the door “Alright let's head back to the safe room.” he said.

They quickly made their way to the safe room while quickly setting the star key in place on the way. When in the safe room they sat down to rest. Sweetie turned to Spike “What did the book say about teleporting? Walking all the way to the front of the palace sounds tiring.” she said.

Spike hummed in thought “It didn't say much. Hey Paladin, maybe try doing something with the ruby?” he suggested.

Apple Bloom nodded and took the ruby in her fore hooves. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the entrance to the palace. After a few seconds she heard Scootaloo speak up “Wow, you actually did it!” she said in an impressed tone.

Apple Bloom opened her eyes in shock to see that they were indeed outside of the factory. Sweetie gave her a smile “How did you do it?” she asked.

She rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled nervously “Ah don't really know, but ah think ah could do it again if ah needed to.” she said.

Spike nodded “Well that's good. Let's get out of here.” he said.

Date: Unknown

Apple Bloom woke up from her sleep to find herself in a cage once again. She looked around at the blue surroundings and the mysterious unicorn in front of her “This dream again?” she asked.

Mystery index shook his head in disappointment “So you've written off our last meeting as a mere dream? How utterly predictable. This is no fiction created within your feeble mind. I'd think you'd take me a bit more serious since I gave you that warning.” he said.

Apple Bloom's eyes widened “Ya mean, all of that was true? Even about the bad ending ya keep talkin' about?” she asked. Index nodded causing her ears to go flat against her skull “Can ya tell me a bit more about this ending?” she said.

Index stayed silent for a few second as if he was contemplating how much to tell her “Everypony has a story. Every story needs an ending. It is an inescapable fate...at least that's what I've always assumed. I've chosen your story to watch to see if an ending is fate or merely one of countless possibilities.” he said.

Apple Bloom gave a determined look “Ah'll change mah fate. Ah know ah will with the help of mah friends.” she said.

Index turned away from her “It matters little to me whether you do or not. Either way I will have my answer.” he said.

Apple Bloom felt her eye lids get heavier until she fell asleep.

Date: Sunday, March 7th

Apple Bloom woke up again the next morning with a yawn. She hummed grimly as she thought back to what she thought was a dream “Velvet room.” she mumbled to herself. She shook the thought away from her mind for the moment and jumped down from her bed. She yelped in pain as she landed due to her sore leg muscles.

Applejack poked her head into the room “Apple Bloom? Was that you? Ya sounded like ya were in pain.” she said.

Apple Bloom tried to hide her pain “Ah just accidentally kicked my nightstand. Nothin' ta worry about.” she said with a nervous smile.

Applejack walked up closer to her sister with suspicion “Ya know ah don't like bein' lied to.” she said simply.

Apple Bloom sometimes hated having the element of honesty for a sister. She tried to think of a explanation that wasn't technically a lie “Ah...ah'm just a bit sore from playing with mah friends yesterday.” she said.

Applejack sighed “How many times have ah told ya ta not go overboard. Ah know y'all are havin' fun and all but ya got ta know when ta take breaks. That goes for workin' as well as playin'. Ah've learned that lesson the hard way.” she said.

Apple Bloom sighed in relief and nodded “Ah understand. Ah'll try ta take it easier today.” she said before walking past her sister.

Later, she walked into the club house to see all of her friends. Spike turned to her and smiled “Hey Apple Bloom, how are you feeling?” he asked.

She shook her head “Not so good. Ah'm still hurtin' from yesterday.” she said.

Spike chuckled “I'm glad I'm not the only one. Maybe we should hold off on the palace until tomorrow.” he said.

Scootaloo frowned “Aren't we on the clock though? Shouldn't we be taking every chance to raid the palace we can?” she asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head “As much as ah want ta get this done, ah agree with Spike. We shouldn't be workin' ourselves ta the bone. We'll just take today off.” she said.

“I guess you have a point.” Scootaloo said. She then took out her combat knife which was reduced to cheap plastic in the real world. She frowned down at the toy.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at this behavior “Is somethin' wrong Scoots?” she asked.

“Doesn't it bum you out that our weapons are actually just toys? I know that it probably doesn't matter but I wish we had some cooler stuff.” she said.

Spike rubbed his chin in thought “It might actually matter. The more realistic the weapon looks, the stronger it will be in the metaverse. Unfortunately I have no idea where we can get more realistic weapons.” he said.

Sweetie Belle smiled as she remembered something “I think I actually saw something yesterday that would be perfect. Follow me.” she said happily as she walked out of the door. The others looked at each other and shrugged before following.

“Ta-da!” Sweetie said while gesturing to the building she brought them to.

Apple Bloom read the sign out loud “Friendly Fire's replica weapons? When did this get here?” She asked.

Sweetie shrugged “I'm not sure. I think the owner just moved the shop here from Canterlot. Either way, this will be useful right?” she asked with hope in her voice.

Spike gave her a reassuring smile “This is exactly what we need. Come on, let's take look inside.” he said.

They walked into the store to find many different types of weapons adorning the walls. They turned to the counter that had a door behind the presumably led to the back of the store. Suddenly a stallion walked out from the back. His coat was a dull green while his mane and tail were a tan-ish brown “Did I hear somepony enter?” he asked as he glanced around.

His gaze landed on the three fillies and dragon. He gave them a warm smile “Hello children, is there something ol' Friendly Fire can do for ya?” he asked.

They walked up to the counter and Apple Bloom spoke up “Howdy, we are uh...we're big fans of weaponry. So we'd like to purchase some replicas to decorate our rooms.” she said with what she hoped was a convincing smile.

Friendly Fire's smile faltered slightly “I'm not sure if I'm comfortable selling to children.” he said.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance “Why not? It's not like they're real weapons.” she complained.

“They might not be real but last time I sold a replica to a colt, I got in real hot water with his mother. Apparently he was going around whacking ponies with that replica sword. I can't afford to get in more trouble.” he explained.

Sweetie Belle looked up at him with huge sad eyes “Please sir. We were so excited learn more about weapons throughout history.” she begged.

Friendly Fire hummed in thought “It is nice to see the younger generation getting interested in historical weapons.” he muttered to himself. Suddenly he gained an idea “Okay, how about this. I'll sell you some of the lower quality stuff I have. If a good amount of time passes without me hearing from any angry parents, I'll be more open to selling stuff of higher quality. Deal?” he offered.

Apple Bloom thought for a second before nodding “It's better than nothin', deal.” she said.

Friendly Fire grinned “Great, what can I help you find?” he asked.

They all laid their cheap plastic toys on the counter “Can we get somethin' like these.” she asked.

He whistled as he looked over them “I can see why you came to me. These are cheaply made and barely historically accurate. I can definitely get you little ones something better.” he took a quick account of the weapons “War hammer and shield, dual daggers, combat knife, and claws.” he said to himself.

He came out with replicas that were obviously still plastic but were higher quality. The hammer had a black head with a small spike at the top. The handle was striped black and red. The shield was trimmed in red while the majority of it was back. In the middle of it was a white crescent moon emblem.

The daggers were curved blades with silver hand guards and black handles. At the bottom of the handles was a silver design that resembled fire.

The combat knife was a blue-ish gray with a dark green cord wrapped around the handle.

The claw's blades were silver while the gauntlets they were attached to were brown. Attached to the sides of the gauntlets were plastic feathers.

Friendly fire looked down at his items with pride “The hammer and shield were designed after what the night guards were rumored to have used a thousand years ago. The daggers were designed after what young dragons used to defend themselves when their claws were underdeveloped. The combat knife is designed after what guardsponies always had on hoof as a secondary weapon. The claws were designed after claws that griffons used to protect their own claws from damage from overuse. So, what do you think?” he asked.

Apple Bloom seemed impressed “It's still plastic but it's a lot better than what ah had before. What do y'all think” she asked her friends.

Scootaloo marveled at her new knife “This is so much cooler than that other knife. I can't wait to use it!” she squealed before realizing what she said. She cleared her throat “i mean, not use it.” she corrected.

Spike was checking his daggers out “I didn't know dragons used daggers, I like them.” he said.

Sweetie smiled down at the claws “They're so cute.” she said.

Apple Bloom chuckled “Sounds like we'll take them.” she said.

“That will be 48 bits total.” Friendly Fire said.

Apple Bloom looked through her coin purse and hoped that they had found enough bits from shadows to cover it. Luckily she had more than enough and hoofed over the bits. Friendly Fire happily took them and waved the kids goodbye “Thank you for your business, and remember our deal.” he reminded.

“We will, bye.” Apple Bloom called back before leaving with her friends.

Date: Unknown

Twilight hummed in thought “Friendly Fire? I think I've seen his shop before, although I haven't had a reason to visit it. So he supplied weapons for all of you?” she questioned.

Apple Bloom nodded “He only sold us replicas but they worked just like real weapons in the metaverse.” she said.

Twilight wrote a few thing in her notepad “So he wasn't aware that he was assisting criminals?” she asked.

Apple Bloom glared at the princess “Ah'd appreciate it if ya stopped calling us criminals.” she said.

Twilight glared back “I'd appreciate it if you provided even a shred of evidence to prove any of your claims.” she countered.

Apple Bloom sighed “Fine, can ah just continue my story?” she asked.

Twilight nodded “Please.” she said.

A Matter of Factory

Date: Monday, March 8th

Apple Bloom was walking to school with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie looked Apple Bloom over “Are you feeling better today?” she asked.

Apple Bloom giggled “Don't worry, ah'm as fit as a fiddle. As long as Spike's okay, we can explore the palace today.” she said.

Scootaloo grinned wide “I saw him this morning, he said he's raring to go.” she said. She then sighed in annoyance “I wish we didn't have to go to school. I just wanna hurry and kick some shadow flank already.” she said.

Sweetie Belle gave her a disappointed look “Please tell me you've been studying. We have a test today.” she reminded.

Scootaloo's eyes shot open “That was today? I thought that was next monday!” she exclaimed.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes in amusement “Ah guess that means ya didn't study.” she assumed.

Scootaloo glared at her “I thought I had more time!” she turned to Sweetie Belle with pleading eyes “Can you just pass me a note with the answers when you finish. You're always one of the first ones done anyway.” she begged.

Sweetie shook her head “I'm not getting in trouble because you don't study.” she said.

Scootaloo hung her head in defeat “I'm as good as dead.” she said.

Suddenly they heard mocking laughter behind them. They turned to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking behind them. Once the laughter died down, Diamond smirked at Scootaloo “Let me guess, you're gonna flunk the test today huh bird brain?” she mocked.

Scootaloo glared back “I doubt you'll do any better!” she shot back.

Diamond laughed “I'm going to ace it for sure.” she said. She then leaned to Silver to whisper in her ear “You're gonna let me copy off you right?” she asked.

Silver rolled her eyes “Yeah yeah, I know the drill.” she whispered back.

Scootaloo then gained an idea “You wouldn't be acting so superior to us if you knew about wh-” she was cut off by Apple Bloom covering her mouth with a hoof.

Diamond started to walk past them “See? Even your friends don't want to hear you.” she said.

“How sad.” Silver threw in before following after her friend.

Scootaloo pushed Apple Bloom's hoof from her mouth “What was that for?” she questioned.

“Ya were about ta tell her about the metaverse, weren't ya?” she asked.

She nodded “Yeah, what's the use of being awesome heroes if we can't brag about it.” she said.

Apple Bloom face hoofed “We can't tell anypony about this. What if somepony takes the ruby and uses it to enter the metaverse? They could get hurt.” she scolded.

Scootaloo sighed “Fine. Let's just get to school and get this over with.” she said.

Later, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked out of the schoolhouse with content smiles. Apple Bloom turned to her “So how'd ya do?” she asked.

“Got an A. How about you?” she asked.

“Could've been worse. Ah got a B-” she answered.

Scootaloo then exited the building with her head hung low. Her two friends glanced at each other before offering her comforting smiles “What did you get?” they asked.

Scootaloo started walking past them “I don't want to talk about it. Let's get to the clubhouse, I need to blow off some steam.” she said.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie held in their giggles in before following after her.

The four of them stood at the entrance of Filthy's palace in their metaverse outfits. Sweetie Belle turned to Apple Bloom “Do you think you can do that teleporting spell again?” she asked.

“One sec” she said as she pulled out and closed her eyes in focus. After a few seconds, she opened them to see the safe room once again.

Scootaloo walked towards the door “Now let's get out there so I can have some fun.” she said.

Sweetie Belle furrowed her eyebrows “I think you're enjoying this too much.” she said.

Spike shrugged with a smile “It is pretty exciting. If we have to do this then we should try to have fun with it.” she said.

Sweetie chuckled and nodded “I guess you're right. As long as we're still careful.” he said.

Apple Bloom put a hoof on her shoulder “We'll be alright. Ah won't let mah friends down. Now let's get that next key!” she said.

“Yeah!” the three replied with wide smiles. Apple Bloom opened the safe room door to see three shadows guarding the staircase. Two of them had their backs to the them while the other paced slowly behind them. Scootaloo took her combat knife in her mouth as was about to step out of the door.

Spike grabbed her and pulled her back “Calm down. We have to sneak up on them and get the jump on them.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded and narrowed her eyes and she planned out the attack “Once that wonderin' one passes the other two, me an' Hoodlum will take their masks off. At the same time, Aviator will do the same ta the other one.” she turned to the others “Okay?” she asked.

Sweetie looked impressed “You're good at planning out sneak attacks.” she complemented.

Scootaloo nodded in agreement “Yeah, I'm game.” she said. With them on board, they put the plan into action. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran as quietly as possible when the wondering shadow turned it's back. Once they reached the stationary guards, they jumped onto their backs simultaneously. They then pulled their masks. After hopping off of them, Apple Bloom turned back just in time to see Scootaloo ripping the mask off of the third shadow.

The shadows wailed as they were forced into their true forms. Spike then joined the others as they faced the icy turtle, electric alligator, and zompony. The shadows stumbled around dizzily as they tried to recuperate from the attack. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle decided to take on the zompony together while Spike and Scootaloo split up to the other two.

Scootaloo pulled her mask off as she ran towards the alligator “Earheart!” she shouted as her persona materialized and started flapping her wings. Sharp winds were sent and the shadow growled in pain from it. It recovered from it's dizziness and opened it jaw to send a ball of electric energy at the incoming filly. She nimbly sidestepped the ball and sliced across the shadow's body with her knife.

The alligator whipped her with it's tail to send her sprawling across the floor. She got back to her hooves to see the alligator charging her with open jaws. She gritted her teeth and quickly took her mask off “Help me out!” she called out. She was covered in green energy as the shadow was about to bite down on her. It chomped down on air before Scootaloo came from it's right side to stick her knife into it's side. With that it dissipated into nothing,

“Aviator!” Spike called. She turned to see him standing near a flipped over turtle shadow “Follow up!” he called as he held a fist out.

Scootaloo quickly ran over and bumped her hoof to his fist. She then took her mask off “Persona!” she shouted. Earheart appeared and send a strong gust of wind down towards the unprotected turtle. The winds ripped through it's body and dissipated it.

The zompony held a hoof up as it was engulfed in cursed energy. A large area of the ground was covered by the same energy. It shot up and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were engulfed in the attack. Once the attack let up, the two shook off the damage they had taken.

The zompony then charged Apple Bloom, readying a slash with it's great sword. She brought her shield up in time to catch the attack. Her legs buckled slightly from the force but was able to hold the attack back. Sweetie took the chance to pull her mask off “Fagin!” she shouted. He held his hooves out as he formed ice on the zompony. The ice shattered hard causing the shadow to fall over and dissipate.

They then looked around to make sure that all of the shadow's had been defeated and smiled in relief when they saw they were done. Sweetie kept her mask off and Fagin sent a wave of healing energy towards Apple Bloom “Are you okay?” she asked.

Apple Bloom caught her breath before giving her a reassuring smile “Ah'm alright. Thanks for the help.” she said.

Fagin finished healing Apple Bloom and started on Sweetie as the other walked up to join them. Scootaloo returned her knife to her holster “We're really getting the hang of this!” she said.

Spike nodded with a grin “You're right. We'll have that treasure in no time.” she said. With that they scaled the staircase to return to the small room on the third floor. They saw that the star-shaped key was still where they left it.

Scootaloo then turned to the next door “Let's see what's behind door number two.” she said before they walked through. On the other side was a long gap in the hallway with another door on the other side. They walked to the edge and glanced down to see a series of large gears spinning.

Spike took a step back “T-that looks painful.” he said.

Apple Bloom scanned around the room for anything that could get them to the other side “How is anypony supposed to get through here?” she wondered.

Sweetie Belle seemingly noticed something and walked slightly closer to the edge. Scootaloo buzzed her wings a bit “Maybe it's to keep everypony but pegasi out. I'll handle this.” she said.

Apple Bloom grabbed a hold of her before she could even attempt to fly “Stop Aviator! You know you can't fly!” she said.

Scootaloo struggled out her grip “Maybe danger like this is just the motive I need to get flying!” she argued.

As they continued their argument, Sweetie narrowed her eyes at certain spot over the gears. She took a few steps back and stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. Her actions caught Apple Bloom's attention “Whatcha doin' Hoodlum?” she asked. Without answering, Sweetie took off running towards the edge. Her three friends gasped “Hoodlum!” they all called in panic.

She ignored them and leaped off of the ledge. To everyone's shock, she landed on seemingly thin air. She turned back to face them and gave a bright smile “I thought so.” she said in a prideful tone.

The other three were at a loss for words. Apple Bloom attempted to speak “How...what?” she asked.

Sweetie knocked on what she was standing on with a hoof “There are platforms that lead across the gap. They're really hard to see but they're definitely there.” she said.

The three blinked a few times before staring down at Sweetie's hooves. After a few seconds Scootaloo shook her head “I still don't see it.” she said.

Sweetie rolled her eyes before she took her mask off and summoned Fagin. Without any order he started forming ice in a square around Sweetie. There was now an outline of the platform “There, now you can see it. I'll lead and Fagin will do the same thing for the others.” she said before turning and jumping to another invisible platform. She continued to jump as Fagin outlined the platforms with ice as they passed. With the path clearly marked, the others were easily able to follow until they finally reached the other side. Spike breathed a sigh of relief “I'm glad we have you with us Hoodlum.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement “Yeah, that was amazin'.” she complemented. They then continued through the door to see a similar room to where they found the star-shaped key. This time there was a robotic pegasus standing in the middle of the room. Behind it was the white cloud-shaped key. She hummed in thought “Another one of these, but this one's a pegasus.” she noted.

Scootaloo smirked with confidence “We already beat one of these, this will be no problem.” she said.

Spike gave her a disapproving stare “Don't get overconfident, remember to be careful.” he reminded.

Apple Bloom took her weapons in her hooves “Let's do it.” she said before walking forward with them into the robot's line of sight.

It activated and gave the usual warning “This is a restricted area! Come quietly or suffer the consequences.” it said.

Spike narrowed his eyes “We won't be scared off so easily.” he said back.

“Hostility detected. Activating attack mode.” it said before flapping it's metallic wings. From the wings came dangerously fast winds pointed towards Spike who was too caught off guard to dodge.

“That's not happening!” Scootaloo shouted before ramming into Spike's side to knock him out of the attack's path. The winds then surrounded her but they were barely able to scratch her. The pegasus was about to fly towards her to attack but Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle intercepted it.

While they distracted it, Spike got back to his feet and rubbed the back of his neck “Thanks Aviator. I owe you one.” he said.

Scootaloo shook her head “You don't owe me anything, this is just what friends do for each other. Plus that attack would've hurt you way more than me.” she said.

“You're right, but let's get back in there. Paladin and Hoodlum need us.” he said. They both gave a nod before rejoining the fight.

Apple Bloom tried to bring her hammer down on it but her attack was easily blocked by a metal wing. Sweetie attempted to attack from behind it but caught a hind hoof to the face. Spike came in and dug his daggers into it's side. The pegasus then spun around quickly with it's wings sticking out to knock Spike and Apple Bloom away.

It then summoned four storm clouds with a flap of it's wings. They each flew above each of the intruders. They all started to panic but none of them could avoid getting struck by the lighting. Spike, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all screamed in unison while Apple Bloom quickly shook the attack off.

While the others tried to recover, the pegasus set it's sights on Sweetie. It took off like a bullet towards the already hurt unicorn and rammed it's head into her. The attack was powerful enough to knock her into the wall.

“Hoodlum!” Apple Bloom called with concern before running to her fallen friend. Scootaloo and Spike started attacking the robot again to get it's attention. Once Apple Bloom reached Sweetie, she saw blood seeping from a wound on her forehead. Her eyes widened “Are ya okay?” she asked.

Sweetie tried to push herself back to her hooves but was too wobbly to make it “I...d-don't feel so well.” she said through the pain.

Apple Bloom laid a comforting hoof on her head “Sit the rest of this fight out. We'll get ya help after.” she said. Sweetie nodded and sat on the wall while breathing hard. Apple Bloom turned back to the fight. The pegasus was busy trying to fight off Scootaloo and Spike so it didn't notice Apple Bloom approaching from behind. She swung her hammer as hard as she could into it's side causing it's legs to buckle.

Spike pulled his mask from his eyes as Butch appeared “Get it!” he commanded. Butch blew a small amount of fire at it which seemed effective as the pegasus fell to the ground and it's synthetic mane caught fire. Spike smirked and turned to Scootaloo and held a fist up “It's your turn!” he called.

Scootaloo bumped his fist with her hoof “On it!” she said before dashing towards the downed robot with her knife at the ready. She gave a devastating slash to it's torso which created a large gash. She then turned to Apple Bloom and held her hoof up “Finish it!” she called.

Apple Bloom bumped hooves with her before glaring at the robot “Gladly.” she said before raising her hammer high. She then brought it down into the gash Scootaloo had created. With a few sparky twitches, the robot dissipated. Apple Bloom then faced Spike and Scootaloo with urgency “Hoodlum's really hurt! We need ta retreat now!” she said.

Spike nodded “You two help her. I'll grab the key.” he said before running off. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo ran off to Sweetie Belle. They each got on one of her sides to help her walk. Luckily Fagin's ice still marked the in invisible platforms so they made it over without much trouble. Spike quickly placed the cloud-shaped key in it's place while the others started down the staircase. They quickly brought her to the safe room and Apple Bloom teleported them out.

Once out of the palace, they pulled Sweetie into the cover of some apple trees so that no one could see her. Scootaloo started to panic “What do we do? Should we bring her to a hospital or something?” she asked.

Spike shook his head “We can't do that. Just imagine what kind of questions they'd ask. We have to bring her to somepony who can keep a secret.” he said.

Apple Bloom gasped as she got an idea “Ah think ah know who can help her. It will be a bit of a walk though, how're yer legs feelin'?” she asked.

Scootaloo spoke up before she could answer “I'll just carry her on my back, we need to hurry.” she said.

Sweetie smiled at her “Thanks Scoots.” she said before resting on her friend's back.

They made their way through the everfree forest as quickly and carefully as possible. Soon they saw the residence of Zecora coming up in the distance. Apple Bloom glanced back at Sweetie who was still being carried by Scootaloo. The wound had been bleeding for long enough that it was now dripping from her face. Apple Bloom furrowed her eyebrows in worry and picked up the pace. They reached Zecora's front door and Apple Bloom banged on it.

The zebra luckily answered quickly and smiled when she saw who had knocked “Apple Bloom, it's nice to see you. What do I owe this visit to?” she asked.

Apple Bloom gestured back to her injured friend “Can ya help her?” she asked.

Zecora frowned at the sight but turned to walk into her house “A wound like that is nothing new. I happen to have the perfect brew.” she said.

Apple Bloom smiled at the news and followed her inside with the others. Zecora walked over to a shelf filled with different potions and quickly found the one she wanted. It was a small round bottle with a cork blocking the red liquid. She uncorked it and held it out to Sweetie “Drink please and allow your pain to ease.” she said.

Sweetie gave the potion a sniff before pouring down her gullet. She felt almost instant relief as the pain in her body lifted. Zecora took a nearby rag and wiped away the blood from the filly's face. The others were shocked to see that the wound was nowhere to be seen, as if it was never there to begin with. Sweetie pulled herself off of Scootaloo's back and put a hoof where her wound was with a smile “That's amazing! What was that?” she asked.

“My brew will heal those in slight danger, but be warned it cannot heal wounds too major.” she said.

Spike chuckled “I guess we were lucky that the injury wasn't too bad.” he said.

Zecora then turned to them with a questioning stare “Now explain to me how a filly got so hurt. Please make your explanation overt.” she said.

The fillies and dragon suddenly got quiet as they thought of some way to answer that wouldn't get them in trouble. Apple Bloom suddenly spoke up “Our clubhouse! We're fixing it up and we made a mistake that caused Sweetie's injury.” she said. Her friends smiled and nodded in agreement.

Zecora rubbed her chin in thought as she pondered the explanation. After a few seconds she nodded “Construction can be risky. I'm glad you made it here quickly.” she said.

Scootaloo got and idea and spoke up “Now that I think about it, we still have a lot of work to do on the clubhouse. It would be nice to have a few of those potions on hoof in case we hurt ourselves again.” she said.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow and leaned in to whisper to her “What are ya doin'?” she asked.

“Think about it, we could heal from bad injuries without needing to use Butch or Fagin.” she whispered back.

Apple Bloom nodded in understanding and smiled before turning back to Zecora to get her answer “The potion isn't easy to make. Something in return I'd need to take.” she said.

Apple Bloom took out her bag of bits “How much fer five?” she asked.

Zecora frowned in suspicion at how desperate they seemed for the potions “I can let them go for five bits each. That is the deal we can reach. I'm still not sure why this is what you need, but I'd rather sell these to you than leave you to bleed.” she said.

Apple Bloom started counting out the correct amount “Trust me, these will be a big help.” she said before offering the bits.

Zecora took the bits before turning and grabbing a saddle bag. She then filled it with five of the same healing potions. She then gave Apple Bloom the bag “Use this to help carry the load. And remember that you are always welcome at my abode.” she said.

They all waved to her before leaving. Scootaloo gave a wide smile “Awesome! With these potions, we'll be unstoppable.” she said.

Apple Bloom giggled but frowned when she saw Sweetie Belle. She walked a bit closer to her “Are ya goin' ta be okay?” she asked.

She nodded and smile “I am! That potion really did the trick!” she exclaimed.

Apple Bloom stared down at the ground sadly “That's not what ah mean. After what happened, do ya still want ta help us? Ah won't blame ya if ya don't.” she said.

Sweetie frowned as well “It was really scary.” she shook her head “But you're one of my best friends, I would go through anything to help you. Plus what Filthy Rich is doing is wrong and I want to put a stop to that too.” she said.

Spike put a hand onto Apple Bloom's back “You don't have to worry about us. We're doing this because we want to, it's our choice. You aren't forcing anypony to do anything.” he said.

Scootaloo nodded “We're all in this together and we're getting out of it together. We'll be just fine. Filthy Rich won't get away with this.” she said.

Their words brought a smile back to her face “Thanks. Ah really couldn't ask fer better friends.” she said.

Spike nodded before glancing around “We should hurry home. It's getting dark and the everfree forest is much more dangerous at night. We'll meet up for the palace tomorrow.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded “Yeah, ah sure can use a rest after all that.” she said.

Date: Unknown

Twilight narrowed her eyes in suspicion “So Sweetie Belle got that injury in the metaverse? But I thought you said that couldn't happen in the metaverse. You said that a slash from a great sword wouldn't cut through you so how did the wound happen?” she questioned.

“It's because of the power of our personas. They protect us from fatal injuries but the more damage we take would weaken the protection. Eventually it could weaken enough ta let a sword cut straight through us.” Apple Bloom explained.

Twilight took a few seconds to put down some notes before continuing “So that was the moment you realized how dangerous what you were doing was?” she asked.

She nodded “It was.” she said.

“Then why did you keep doing it?” she wondered.

Apple Bloom averted her eyes and stared down at the table between them “It was the right thing to do. Ah couldn't quit when ponies were still suffering and ah could've stopped it.” she glanced back up at the princess “Ah'm sure ya can understand that.” she said.

Twilight's ears flattened against her skull but she shook the sadness away “Wait, no. You still haven't convinced me to believe in your story. It still doesn't make any realistic sense.” she said.

“But yer gonna listen ta the end right? Ya did promise.” Apple Bloom said.

Twilight sighed “I will, but try to be a bit quicker. I don't have all night.” she said.

The First Calling Card

Date: Unknown

Apple Bloom woke up in her cage in the velvet room again. She sighed and glared at index who was reading a book “Why am I here again?” she questioned.

Index answered without looking up from his book “That's what I should be asking you. I'm not the only one who can bring you here, so can you. Since you're here, I can only assume you have questions.” he said.

She gasped “Ya mean ah brought myself here because ah wanted answers? And you'll give me those answers?” she asked.

Index placed a bookmark into the book before slamming it closed “I may have the answers you seek, I may not. We will not know until you spit it out.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded “First of all, why am ah stuck in this cage? Did ya stick me in here?” she asked

“You're the reason you're in that cage. You're a prisoner of fate. We'll see if you can break your bars.” he said.

She raised an eyebrow “So if ah try to break out of here, ya won't try to stop me?” she asked.

Index rolled his eyes “No amount of physical force will break the bars. The cage represents your destiny.” he said.

Apple Bloom hummed in thought “So the only way ta escape is ta prevent the ending yer always talkin' about.” she concluded.

“I find it disappointing that you've only figured that out now. Do you have any other questions?” he asked.

Her mind raced to think of another question to ask since she wasn't sure when she would get another chance. She then gasped as she finally thought of something “Have ya been visitin' mah friends like you've been visitin' me?” she asked.

He just shook his head with a disinterested expression “That would only be a waste of time. Like you, they are prisoners of fate but they just don't have it.” he said.

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes “Don't have what?” she asked.

“The potential to change fate. From what I've seen of your story thus far, you stand a much better chance of surviving the coming calamity.” he said.

She took a step back with wide eyes “S-survive a calamity? What calamity? When?” she questioned.

Index opened his book once again before continuing where he left off “That's enough for now. Leave me.” he said.

Apple Bloom felt an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion fill her. She growled as she tried to fight against it “no! N-not yet! Ya h-have ta te-tell me about th-this cal-” she tried to say before passing out.

Date: Tuesday, March 9th

Apple Bloom's head shot up from her pillow. She tried to calm her heavy breath before putting a hoof to her forehead “Calamity? Was he tellin' the truth?” she shook the thought from her mind “I can't think about that right now. If anythin' happens mah sister and her friends will handle it.” she assured herself. With a deep breath she hopped out of her bed to get started on the day.

Once she got to the outskirts of the farm, she saw Scootaloo, Sweetie, and Spike waiting for her. She tried to push her thoughts about the velvet room to the back of her mind and greeted her friends with a smile “Howdy. Why are ya here too Spike?” she asked.

“I thought I could walk with you to school and we can talk a bit about our plans.” he said.

As they started their walk, a idea came to Apple Bloom. She turned to Spike “Hey Spike? Do ya know if that book on the metaverse says anythin' about some place called the velvet room?” she asked.

He was slightly worried by the serious tone in her voice. He thought back to what he read in the book “Velvet room? I don't remember anything like that. I could check again if you want.” he offered.

Apple Bloom shook her head with a weak chuckle “No that's okay, it's not important.” she said.

Sweetie frowned with concern “Where did that come from? What is the velvet room?” she questioned.

“Nothing, it's...just a dream ah had.” she said while averting her eyes.

Scootaloo hummed in suspicion “You seem too worried for it to be a dream, are you sure?” she asked.

Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her neck nervously while prying for something to get her out of this situation “Well, ya see-”

“Look at that, the blank flanks are taking their pet lizard for a walk!” a not very pleasant voice said. The four of them instantly recognized the voice and turned to see Diamond Tiara walking behind them with Silver Spoon by her side. They both wore sinister smiles on their faces “Just keep your pet away from me, I don't want to get rabies.” she said.

Spike crossed his arms with a frown “Don't you have anything better to do right now? We're busy.” he said.

Silver scoffed “I can see that you three are very busy not getting your cutie marks.” she said.

Scootaloo growled and stomped up to Silver “Just leave us alone!” she shouted while jabbing a hoof into her chest. Silver stepped back and held her chest while wincing.

Diamond stepped between them and glared at Scootaloo “Don't you dare touch her with your filthy hooves! You hurt her!” she accused.

She just rolled her eyes in annoyance “I barely touched her! She's just being a drama queen!” she shouted in her defense.

Apple Bloom was about to agree with her friend until she saw Silver's face. She truly looked to be in some kind of pain and her eyes seemed watery. Diamond huffed and stuck her nose in the air before turning to her friend with a comforting smile “Come on, let's get away from these brutes. We'll get some ice cream before school.” she said before leading her away.

Spike gave Scootaloo a disappointed look “You didn't have to get violent with her.” he said.

Scootaloo groaned “I didn't jab her hard enough for it to hurt, I swear. She was just playing the victim for sympathy.” she said.

Sweetie frowned “Please don't fight.” she said.

Apple Bloom jumped in to assist her “She's right, we should be using our time ta talk about Filthy's palace.” she stated.

After a few moment the others agreed and they discussed their plans before they reached the schoolhouse.

Later that day, the four of them returned to the palace and teleported to the safe room they discovered. Before heading out they sat at the table. Spike cleared his throat before speaking “Let's talk about what we have left of this palace a little.” he said.

Scootaloo thought back “Well we only need one more key to get into the CEO's office.” she recalled.

Apple Bloom continued her thought “That means we probably need ta get through some kind of obstacle and fight another robot pony.” she said

“Most likely an earth pony if the pattern continues.” Sweetie Belle added.

Scootaloo gave a confidant smile “But after that, we'll be done. The treasure is behind the door, I can feel it.” she said.

Apple Bloom chuckled with a shake of her head “We don't know that fer sure but bein' optimistic ain't a bad thing.” she said.

Scootaloo slammed her fore hooves on the table in excitement “What are we waiting for? Let's get to it! I'm aching to stretch my legs after that boring school day!” she shouted.

Spike facepalmed “Alright alright, just be quiet. We are intruders so we shouldn't be shouting.” he said.

Scootaloo blushed and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment “...Right, sorry.” she said. The others shared a quick laugh before they decided to head out. They ascended the spiral staircase to the room with the four doors. The entered the door that should hold the final key. They arrived in a seemingly empty hallway with a door waiting for them on the other side.

Sweetie Belle looked around with unease “I don't see anything dangerous, but somehow that makes it scarier.” she said.

Spike nodded in agreement “Let's take it slow just in case.” he said. Apple Bloom took the lead and took slow steps while keeping an eye out for any surprises. Around the middle of the hall the heard a metal scraping sound above them. The snapped their gazes up to see a thick metal door falling towards them. They yelped and shuffled back in fright. The door slammed to the ground and completely blocked their way.

“Sweet Celestia! We were almost crushed!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Spike put a claw on the new obstacle and frowned “But now we have a brand new problem. How do we get past this?” he wondered.

Sweetie Belle scanned the walls for any kind of switch only to find them bare “I don't see any way to raise it back up.” she noted.

“Maybe we can break through it?” Scootaloo suggested.

Spike was quick to shake his head “It's too thick. That would never work.” he said.

Suddenly Apple Bloom heard Galahad speak in her head “Please allow me to assist.” he said. Instantly she knew what he had in mind and smiled.

She got the others' attention “Maybe Aviator's right. Make way.” she said. The others seemed confused about her plan but decided to give her the room she asked for. She ripped her mask off “You can do it Galahad!” she shouted. The persona appeared and crossed it's gauntlets into a cross before shooting forward. He crashed into the door hard enough to puncture a hole big enough for the fillies and dragon.

The others were speechless as Apple Bloom donned her mask again and Galahad disappeared. Scootaloo ran up to her “That was so cool Paladin! I wonder if Earheart can do that?” she wondered.

Spike was still staring at the hole in amazement “I stand corrected.” he mumbled.

Sweetie giggled “I guess we shouldn't underestimate our personas.” she said. Once they calmed themselves down they walked through the opening and the next door. As they expected they arrived in a relatively empty room with a tree-shaped key at the end and an earth pony robot protecting it. What surprised them was the robot's condition. The other two looked new and vigilant while this one was rusty and seemed to be struggling to stay on. Black smoke blew out of a vent on it's side.

The group stared at the sad sight in surprise. Sweetie Belle furrowed her brows in concern “It doesn't look so good.” she said.

Scootaloo nodded in agreement “It looks about ready to drop. Why does Filthy have this thing guarding a key?” she wondered.

Spike looked down in sadness “This might be somepony who Filthy's overworking out in the real world. I hope they're okay.” he said.

With that information Apple Bloom felt any need to fight leave her body “Ah don't know if ah'd feel alright fightin' somethin' like that.” she said.

Scootaloo sighed “I doubt it could fight even if it wanted to.” she said. They approached it to see it it would act hostile towards them. They stopped in front of it but it didn't even react to them.

Spike waved a claw in the air in case it didn't see them “Hello?” he tried.

A weak robotic voice came from the machine “Rest...I need...rest.” it said more to itself than them.

Apple Bloom shrugged “Ah guess if it ain't gonna attack us there's no reason for us to hurt it.” she said.

Sweetie smiled slightly “That's good. Let's get the key then.” she said.

They all agreed and started to walk past the malfunctioning machine but only got a few steps before a familiar voice came from a speaker system “Just a reminder that anypony seen slacking will be immediately let go.” Filthy said.

At those words, the robot stood a bit straighter “C-can't...but m-must.” it pushed out. It started shaking violently and more black smoke emitted from it's vent.

Sweetie took a step back “What's it doing?” she asked.

Apple Bloom stood on her back legs and took her weapons in hoof “Ah think it's gonna try ta fight us. Get ready fer anythin'!” she said.

The others readied their weapons and watched the robot carefully. The machine threw it's head up towards the ceiling and let out a metallic screech. It's rusty body was covered in a purple energy before it turned towards the kids “T-this is...a re...” it seemed to be struggling to get the words out “Come qu...qui...” it seemed to give up as it stood ready for battle.

Apple Bloom dashed forward and aimed her hammer at the side of it's face. To her surprise, the robot barely flinched from the attack. It then raised both fore hooves with intent to crush the filly. She quickly brought up her shield which took most of the impact, she was still struggling under it's weight. She gritted her as she pushed against the force with everything she had.

“Butch!” Spike called before fire was sent into the robot's side which caused it to wince and back up from Apple Bloom. He jumped to her side quickly “Are you hurt? Do you need to be healed?” he asked.

She caught her breath and smiled “No, I'll be okay for now. Thanks Drake.” she said.

Scootaloo jumped and slashed into it's side, doing minuscule damage. Sweetie tried to plunge her claws into it's other side but they just bounced off. The robot stomped the ground which created a shock wave that threw Sweetie and Scootaloo back.

Scootaloo growled “What happened? It looked so weak before but none of our weapons are scratching it.” she said.

“Did it power itself up?” Sweetie wondered.

Spike rubbed his chin in thought “I think that aura is boosting it's defense. Something has to work, we just have to keep at it.” he said.

The robot faced Sweetie Belle and opened it's mouth to reveal a missile. It shot out and Sweetie took her AR out to fire at the projectile. The bullets blew the missile up before it could reach her. Spike struck while it was distracted and slashed both of his daggers into it's back. The robot didn't react to the attack and countered with a buck that sent him flying.

Scootaloo put a hoof to her mask “I'll show it.” she said before summoning Earheart. She was enveloped in a speedy green aura. She ran up and started giving it blindingly fast slashes with each doing minimal damage. It threw a hoof towards her but she easily dodged before continuing her assault.

While she kept it busy, Apple Bloom took her mask off “Come on Galahad!” she called. He appeared and he cast a bolt of lightning which struck his target. The robot's legs buckled under the force and Sweetie gave it a slash to the face as she jumped past.

Spike smiled as he noticed something “That's it! Magic's effecting it!” he shouted.

“You don't say.” Scootaloo said with a smirk before summoning earheart. She sharp winds at the robot which circled it and scratched at it's metallic body.

It seemed angry as it fired multiple missiles from it's mouth wildly. The kids ran around as they tried to dodge them. Scootaloo was dodging them will little trouble since she still had boosted speed. Sweetie shot any that got near her with her AR. Spike got out of the way of most of them but one caught him off guard and was headed straight towards him.

Apple Bloom jumped in front of him with her shield held out in protection. The missile exploded against it and she was blasted over Spike. He ran back to help her back onto her hooves. Without asking this time, he summoned Butch and healed her. She smiled and gave him a nod “Ah appreciate it.” she said.

He then turned his attention to the robot and sent more fire it's way. It took a few steps back from the fire and Sweetie jumped behind it with Fagin ready. Ice formed over it's legs to restrict it's movements. More sharp wind blew from Scootaloo and the robot was started to look weakened. The purple energy dissipated leaving it vulnerable.

Apple Bloom took her mask off and pointed a commanding hoof towards the robot “One more should do it!” she said. Galahad struck it with lightning causing it to give one last metallic wale before falling dissipating to nothingness.

The four of them sat down to catch their breath. Spike sighed “That was more difficult than it should have been.” he said.

Sweetie managed a chuckle “But we're really starting to look like a real team.” she said.

Scootaloo nodded and smiled “You're right about that Hoodlum. We're getting better every day.” she said.

“Ah can't imagine tryin' ta do this without y'all.” Apple Bloom said.

Spike smiled at his friends before getting back up to his feet. He walked over to the green tree-shaped key and took it “The last key, now we can get into the CEO's office.” he said.

Apple Bloom walked up to his side “Ah hope his treasure will be there so we can finally be done with this.” she said.

They were quick to return to the locked door. Spike was about to fit the key into it's place but stopped before turning to the others “How are you all feeling? If you're feeling tired, we can put this off until tomorrow.” he offered.

Scootaloo waved a hoof in the air “Just a bit winded but I'm still raring to go.” she said.

“I'll be fine. I don't need a break.” Sweetie assured.

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement “We don't have much more time, we should continue.” she said. Spike gave them a nod before turning and fitting the key into it's place.

The door was automatically opened and they saw a large hallway ahead. There was a red carpet on the floor and marble columns on the sides. There were two giant paintings hung up on the walls, on on each. One was of Spoiled Rich and the other was Filthy Rich himself. They walked in while taking in the surroundings.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes “Just as I expected, the rest of this place looks like a sweatshop while the hallway to Filthy's office looks like a frickin' mansion.” she said.

“Shows where his priorities are.” Spike said.

When they got near the middle of the hall, three shadows appeared in front of them “Stop! You intruders will go no further!” one of them said.

Apple Bloom quickly got her weapons out “Ah should have known that he'd have protection here.” she said.

The shadows transformed into two fireflies and a zompony. A firefly charged Scootaloo but she was ready for it and sidestepped it. She didn't she the other one dive down towards her and blasting fire down at her. She tried to shield herself with a hoof but once the attack ended, she noticed that she was still being burned. She tried to smother the bits of fire on her but they didn't seem to want to go out. The burning wasn't unbearable so she decided to leave it for now.

The firefly that missed her dove back at her but was interrupted by a crossbow bolt piercing it. With that distraction, Scootaloo was able to land a slash with her knife. Apple Bloom then brought her hammer down onto it's back to finish it. Scootaloo turned to the other firefly and summoned Earheart to attack it with wind. The shadow fell the the floor in pain and Scootaloo offered Apple Bloom a hoof “Finish it Paladin!” she said.

They hoof bumped before she took her mask off and Galahad finished it with a devastating bolt of lightning.

Sweetie ducked under the Zompony's Great sword before Spike fired at it's back with his revolver. It turned towards him and blasted him with cursed energy. Spike gritted his teeth as he powered through the pain. Sweetie hopped onto it's back and plunged her claws into it. It screeched in pain but was silenced when Spike blasted it with fire to finish it.

Once the shadows were dealt with Scootaloo was able to rid herself of the flames that were burning her. Apple Bloom walked over to check on her “Are ya alright Aviator?” she asked.

“Yeah, being on fire was so much fun.” she answered sarcastically.

She suddenly felt her pain fading as Sweetie and Spike approached with Fagin healing “You have to be more careful, that could have been bad.” Sweetie said.

Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck “Yeah I know. Sorry, and thanks.” she said.

Apple Bloom turned towards the large wooden doors at the and of the hall “Ah guess that's the office.” she said.

Something seemed to get Spike's attention as he started sniffing the air “Is...is that?” he wondered.

Apple Bloom was confused as she didn't smell anything out of the ordinary “What are ya smellin'?” she asked.

“Sapphires...” he shook his head “No, it's emeralds...” he raised an eyebrow “Amethyst?” he wondered.

Scootaloo stared at the door ahead “Does Filthy keep his gem safe nearby or something?” she questioned.

“I don't think so. It smells like every gem I've ever known, but it's different somehow.” Spike said.

Sweetie hummed in thought “The treasure maybe?” she suggested.

Apple Bloom took a few steps forward “Only one way ta find out.” she said. The others followed her through the door. Once inside they saw a large wooden desk with gold trimming. The room was surprisingly empty of life but their was something that caught their attention. Floating above the desk was some kind of cloudy light.

Spike walked up to the light and gave it a cautious sniff. He lit up “This is it! This is what's causing that delicious smell.” he said.

Scootaloo hopped onto the desk “So this is the treasure?” she reached a hoof out to it only for her to phase straight through it “What? How are we supposed to steal it when we can't touch it?” she questioned.

“The book mentioned something about this.” he tried to recall it “Distorted desires don't usually have physical forms.” he said.

Sweetie raised an eyebrow “You said usually, so does that mean they can have physical forms?” she asked.

He nodded “I think it'll change forms of the pony in the real world is aware of it. They have to know that it's in danger of being stolen.” he said.

Apple Bloom hummed in thought “How do we do that? We can't just tell Filthy that we're gonna steal his desires.” she said.

Sweetie gasped happily as an idea came to her “I know how we can do it. Let's go back to the real world for now, we'll talk about it in the clubhouse.” she said before dashing out of the door. The others just shrugged before following after her.

Once they got back to the clubhouse, Sweetie grabbed a novel and opened it “I've been reading this book recently and one of it's characters gave me an idea.” she said.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “We're gonna copy some book? Lame.” she said.

“Isn't that what we've been doing this whole time?” Sweetie countered.

Scootaloo blinked a couple of times in shock before blushing “Fine, what's this character then?” she questioned.

“She's known as Phantom. She's a famous thief. She's so skilled that nopony can come close to catching it. So for fun she likes to warn the ponies that she's gonna steal from to make it harder.” she said.

That seemed to get Spike's attention “That's exactly what we need to do. How does she do it?” he asked.

“A calling card! She sends a card to a museum or something that says exactly what she wants to steal and when she'll do it. Maybe we can do something similar.” she finished.

Apple Bloom nodded “That's perfect! We'll send him a calling card.” she hummed in thought “We just need to figure out the right way to do it.” she said.

“We should just put it on his doorstep right?” Sweetie asked.

Scootaloo shook her head “No, we have to make it much more public.” she said.

Apple Bloom was surprised to hear that “Public? Why?” she asked.

“He's ruining lives. We have to do more than stop those distorted desires, we have to expose what he's been doing.” she said.

Spike seemed unsure “I don't know if we should, doesn't that seem like a bit much?” he wondered.

Apple Bloom shook her head “No, she's right. Ponies need ta know what's been goin' on. We should make a whole load of callin' cards and spread them around the market. If he doesn't see 'em right away then ponies are sure ta bring 'em to him.” she said with a prideful smile.

Scootaloo smiled and Sweetie nodded in agreement. They then turned to Spike to see if he was convinced “Alright, that doesn't sound bad. How do you think we should make the cards? We can't hoof write them in case somepony tries to trace them back to us.” he said.

Sweetie raised a hoof in the air “My sister has so many magazines that she won't notice if some when missing. We can cut out the letters to write out a message.” she said.

Spike snapped as if he remembered “I can get some of Twilight's card stock paper that we can use too.” he said.

Scootaloo frowned as she thought of a problem “We have to write something right? What do we write? I have no clue.” she said.

Apple Bloom's mind returned to what Filthy was trying to do to her family “I'll think of the message tonight.” she offered.

“Then I'll help make the cards” Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom nodded and smiled “Ah think we have our plan. Let's go back home fer tonight. Tomorrow we'll meet back here. Ah'll bring the message, Sweetie will bring the magazines, and Spike will bring the cards. Sound good?” she asked. The others agreed and they dispersed for the day.

Date: Wednesday, March 10th

After school Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle returned to the clubhouse. Apple Bloom held a sheet of paper in her mouth that contained her message. The other two both had stacks of fashion magazines on their backs. When they entered, they saw Spike waiting for them with a stack of red card stock in his claws. Apple Bloom set her paper down and stared at the cards with a questioning tilt of her head “Red?” she asked.

Spike rubbed the back of his head “I thought Twilight might notice if some of her white card stock went missing.” he said.

Scootaloo shrugged “Red's cooler anyway. We want these to really catch ponies' attention.” she said.

At those words Sweetie smiled and laid her stack of magazines on the floor “I thought so too! That's why I worked on this last night!” she said before pulling a piece of paper from one magazine. She proudly showed it off to the others. The paper showed a drawing of a pony wearing a top hat. A hoof laid on the hat's brim to pull it over it's eyes. A horn poked out of the top hat and a wing came out from behind the pony's head.

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrows in slight surprise “That's a real nice drawin' Sweetie but why are ya showing it ta us?” she wondered.

Sweetie beamed at the complement “I thought it could be a logo of sorts. Any calling card needs a logo. Just a message would be too boring.” she said.

Spike rubbed his chin as he pondered the idea “It would make creating the cards longer but I guess we can draw that on them.” he said. A thought then crossed his mind causing him to turn to Apple Bloom “Speaking of the cards, did you write the message?” he asked.

She nodded and gave him her paper. He took it and began reading. Overcome by curiosity, Scootaloo and Sweetie walked over to read as well. Scootaloo reacted first “Oh I can't wait to see the look on his face when he reads this.” she said.

Sweetie tilted her head and pointed down near the bottom of the paper “What's this part at the end? 'signed the Phantom Thieves' is that us?” she asked.

Apple Bloom blushed and averted her eyes “Ah thought we needed a name and that character in Sweetie's book was named phantom so...that was the best ah could come up with.” she said.

Sweetie gasped happily “We'll be just like phantom!” she squealed.

Scootaloo nodded in agreement “A name like that is sure to scare Filthy out of his horseshoes.” she said.

Spike glanced at all of the materials around him “Let's get started on these cards, we don't have all day.” he said. The others agreed and settled down to work.

Later that night, they idled around Ponyville's market waiting for everypony to clear the area. Sweetie stared at the moon that hung brightly in the sky. She then started tapping her hoof anxiously “I hope they all leave soon, my sister will be wondering where I am.” she said.

Apple Bloom wanted this done as soon as possible but she didn't want to get her friends in trouble “Maybe we should come b-”

she was interrupted by Spike pointing towards the market “Wait! Look! I think they're leaving.” he noted.

Apple Bloom looked to see that he was right. The few ponies that populated the area were dispersing. She gasped happily and nosed though the saddlebags she brought and took out a stack of the calling cards they made. She gave spike half of the cards “Do y'all remember the plan?” she asked.

Scootaloo nodded “Of course. You and Spike spread the calling cards while me and Sweetie keep watch. Easy peasy.” she said. Apple Bloom and Spike nodded to each other before running off in separate directions.

Date: Unknown

Twilight hummed in thought “So that was when you spread those calling cards around the market?” she asked.

Apple Bloom nodded with a smile “Yup.” she confirmed

“So you admit to the vandalism.” she said.

The filly's smile was quickly replaced with a frown “We did it for a good reason.” she said in an attempt to justify her actions.

Twilight sighed and gave her temples a rub in annoyance “It's still illegal, even if it wasn't it's not even close to your worst charge.” she said feeling a slight sadness at remembering the filly's murder charge. She shook the thoughts from her head “Just continue telling me your version of the events.” she said.

You're Fired

Date: Thursday, March 11th

Cheerilee pointed to the math equation on the board as she continued to explain it “...and with that we get the answer which is? Scootaloo, would you like to give it a try?” she asked. The pegasus didn't hear her since she was too busy staring at the clock and tapping her hoof impatiently. She frowned and cleared her throat “Scootaloo!” she said with a slightly raised voice.

“Huh?” Scootaloo asked as she finally tore her gaze from the time. A few snickers came from the other students but she ignored them.

Cheerilee sighed as it was obvious that the pegasus hadn't learned a single thing all class “Do you have somewhere to be that's more important than class?” she questioned.

A smile grew on Scootaloo's face “Actually-”

“Scoots!” Apple Bloom hissed.

Scootaloo groaned in annoyance “No ma'am.” she answered in a bored tone.

Cheerilee knew that she didn't really mean that especially since the filly's eyes almost instantly returned to the clock. The school teacher pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath “Why don't we end class a bit early today, it's only a few minutes away.” she said.

The students gasped happily before jumping out of their seats and dashing out of the door. Scootaloo gestured Sweetie and Apple Bloom to follow “Come on! We have to hurry!” she called back to them before dashing with the two following behind.

Cheerilee wasn't very happy about how quickly they cleared the room “You'd all better be ready to learn tomorrow!” she called after the class but it was unlikely that any of them heard her.

Apple Bloom caught up to Scootaloo as they ran through Ponyville “Why are we runnin'? Spike should be watchin' ta make sure that Filthy sees the cards, we shouldn't be in a hurry.” she said.

“I want to see it myself though! I can't help it, I'm excited!” she said.

Sweetie struggled to keep up with her more athletic friends “Can we take it a little slower?” she asked but the question fell on deaf ears.

Once they arrived at the market, they saw confused ponies gathered in groups. Every group had at least one calling card. They spotted Spike and approached him “Hey Spike. Did Filthy see it yet?” Sootaloo asked.

Spike greeted them with a smile but shook his head “A lot of ponies found them but not- wait, there he is!” he said as he noticed the rich pony entering the market with his wife.

Scootaloo couldn't stay still due to her excitement “Alright, just in time.” she said as the four of them hide behind a nearby unmanned stall.

Spoiled Rich glanced around at the ponies who seemingly abandoned their stalls to talk “What is wrong with these slackers? What could be so important that they need to discuss right now?” she complained.

Filthy was also interested since they all seemed to be staring at something he couldn't see “Well let's see.” he said. He walked over to a group of ponies and tapped a stallion on the shoulder “Excuse me sir, what is it that you're looking at there?” he asked as he pointed down at the red card in his hooves.

The stallion gasped once he recognized Filthy. He looked down at the card and back up to Filthy before holding out to him “I uh, think this is for you.” he said.

Filthy thought that was strange but still took the card. He noticed that the letters were all cut out of a magazine and read “Filthy Rich, slave driver and CEO of greed. You ruin hard working ponies with impossible deals and work your employees to the bone. We can't turn a blind eye to your actions so we decided to steal your heart and destroy your distorted desires. Signed, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.” he said.

Spoiled gritted her teeth in anger “Who did this? This is libel! Show yourself, we can sue for this kind of defamation!” she yelled.

Filthy chuckled and shook his head “Calm down, I'm sure this is nothing but a harmless prank rather than a real threat. Nopony will steal my heart, that's just crazy.” he said.

Spoiled turned to the pony who gave them the card and glared at him “Dispose of all of these cards, now!” she commanded.

The stallion shrunk back from her raised voice and nodded “Y-yes ma'am.” he said before dashing off to find the rest of the cards. Once no one was looking, Filthy frowned down at the card in his hoof. He dropped it to the ground before stomping on it.

The three fillies and dragon who were watching from the empty stall suddenly felt a slight dizzying feeling, almost like a toned-down version of entering the metaverse. The world darkened around them and they saw that Filthy Rich had been replaced by his shadow self. He glared down at the crumpled cardstock at his hooves with his glowing yellow eyes “Steal my heart? I'd like to see them try.” he threw his head up towards the sky “Come on Phantom Thieves! Come, and we shall handle our business once and for all!” he shouted. In a flash shadow Filthy was gone and everything was back to normal.

Spike rubbed his eyes to check is something was wrong with them “Did...did all of you see that?” he asked.

Apple Bloom nodded “Ah did, but ah don't know why ah did.” she said with a puzzled expression.

Scootaloo notice the other ponies around going about their business as if nothing happened “I don't think anypony else saw it, just us.” she said.

Sweetie hummed in thought “Do you think it has to do with our connection to the metaverse?” she suggested.

Spike started thinking on that idea but quickly shook it off “We can think about that later. If the treasure appeared then it won't stay that way for long. If we're doing this, it has to be now.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded “Then let's get to the clubhouse and grab all of our stuff.” she said.

After a short amount of time the group had arrived at the clubhouse and quickly gathered their weapons and the saddle bags carrying their potions. Apple Bloom took out the ruby and glanced between her friends “We don't know what Filthy has planned for us once we get there. Are we all ready?” she asked.

Scootaloo smirked in excitement “Bring it on.” she said.

Spike chuckled before nodding “I'm ready too. I really think we can do this.” he said.

Sweetie gave a sweet smile “As long as we're together, I know we'll be okay.” she said.

Apple Bloom then spoke the keywords to the ruby and the now familiar dizzy feeling washed over them. When their vision cleared, they saw the tree stumps and the huge factory standing in the middle. Apple Bloom was quick to use the ruby once again to teleport to the safe room. Before heading out, they jumped onto the boxes around the table for a quick meeting. She turned to Spike “Do ya think there will be anythin' different here since we sent the callin' card?” she asked.

He shrugged with a shake of his head “Nothing that I remember from the book, but Filthy does know that we're coming so security might be tighter than usual.” he said.

Sweetie rubbed the back of her neck with a nervous smile “Maybe calling him out so publicly wasn't a good idea, but now we can't turn back.” she said.

Scootaloo pounded her fore hooves together “Whatever, grabbing this treasure will be easy. Let's get out there already!” she said.

Apple Bloom chuckled “Well ah can see that ya have no second thoughts but yer right.” she held a hoof towards the middle of the table “We'll get this done fer sure.” she said.

Scootaloo threw a hoof out to meet Apple Bloom's “You got that right!” she shouted.

Sweetie added her hoof to theirs “As nervous as I am, I believe too.” she said.

Lastly Spike laid his claws on their hooves “I'm starting to get excited too. I'm glad to be here with you all.” he said.

Apple Bloom glanced between her friends “Phantom Thieves on three.” she said.

“One...” Sweetie started.

“Two...” Sootaloo continued.

“Three...” Spike said before they all looked back to Apple Bloom.

They all threw their respective limbs into the air “Phantom Thieves!” they shouted.

With that, they exited the safe room to the factory floor. To their surprise they didn't see any shadows waiting for them or guarding the spiral staircase. Scootaloo glanced around with an eyebrow raised “I was expecting some guards right off the bat.” she said.

Spike chuckled “You sound disappointed.” he said.

“Kinda.” she admitted.

Sweetie was more relieved to see the lack of shadows “Maybe Filthy didn't have enough time to tighten the security. Either way I'm glad.” she said.

Apple Bloom was still suspicious but lead the group up the stairs towards the CEO's office. They stood outside of the door to the hallway. Apple Bloom took her hammer and shield in hoof “Ah think Filthy probably has this hall guarded.” she said.

Scootaloo nodded “That's probably why there weren't any shadows anywhere else, they're all behind this door.” she said.

Spike and Sweetie readied their weapons for the onslaught they'd likely face on the other side of this door “We're ready.” they said. They then opened the door and ran in but quickly stopped when they noticed the hallway was empty.

Scootaloo sighed and put her combat knife away “Did he give up or something?” she wondered.

Spike hummed in thought “I do find it strange that he's not trying to stop us, but maybe this will just be easy?” he said.

The group made it to the end of the hallway with noting showing up to stop them so they headed into the office. Like the rest of the place this office was empty as well. The light that hung over the large desk was now gone. In it's place was a framed picture on top of the desk. It had a slight unnatural shine to it. Apple Bloom approached the frame “Is this the treasure?” she wondered out loud.

She turned the frame around to see a picture of a smiling Diamond Tiara. Scootaloo frowned “Not any kind of treasure I'd want.” she said.

Sweetie noticed the multi-colored gems that ran along the frame's trim “The frame itself is kinda pretty.” she said.

Apple Bloom sighed “It don't matter what the treasure is. We just have to get it out of here so Filthy's distorted desires will disappear.” she said be for taking it in her mouth. She led the others out of the office and they ran down the hallway in hopes to get out as fast as possible. Their hopes were dashed when a shadow landed directly in front of Apple Bloom, barely missing her with it's hooves. The filly yelped in shock, causing the framed picture to go flying behind her. They turned to see Filthy Rich catching the treasure.

He looked down at it and gave a victorious smile “The plan worked perfectly.” he said.

“Plan?” Spike asked while glaring up at him.

“My plan to catch the Phantom Thieves in the act. If I knew it was just you kids, I wouldn't have gone through all that trouble.” he explained.

Scootaloo ground a hoof on the floor and growled “So that's why this place was empty, it was all a trick.” she said.

Filthy turned away from them “Correct, but now that I know that you're no threat I'll leave you to your fate.” he turned to a shadow next to him “Make sure they get their punishment while I return my treasure.” he said.

He was about to walk away but stopped when Sweetie spoke up “Ho-how could you do this? Ponies are suffering, and you can't even bring yourself to care!” she accused.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds “It's how the worlds works. Ponies screw each other over to get ahead. Sunshine and rainbows don't keep a steady stream of bits coming in.” he said.

Apple Bloom gave the ground a stomp while grinding her teeth “That's a lie! Yer just making' excuses for yer actions! Ya just don't care 'bout nopony but yerself!” she shouted.

That actually got Filthy to turn back towards them. Fury filled his eyes as he stared them down. He gave the framed picture to the shadow accompanying him “On second thought, hold on to this. I'll handle this one personally.” he ordered. The shadow bowed in respect before taking the frame and stepping back.

Scootaloo scoffed “Just you? Are you trying to make this easy for us?” she taunted.

Filthy's mane started to spike up and harden. His coat started to turn a dark gray “You're right, this will be easy...for me.” he said before he started to grow. His now dark gray coat completely turned to iron. His mane stood sharp like blades as it too turned to iron. He finally stopped growing when he towered over the kids. He sat down and held his fore hooves out as they started to morph. His left hoof became a metallic claw while his right became a saw blade.

Scootaloo stared up in shock “What in Celestia's name...” she said.

Apple Bloom took a deep breath to calm herself down before taking her hammer and shield in hoof “Ah guess we have ta fight him.” she said.

Scootaloo turned to her with a questioning expression as if she didn't think she heard her correctly “We're fighting that giant thing? For real?” she asked.

Spike fought against his instinct to run and tightened his grip on his daggers “We don't have much choice, he has the treasure.” he said.

Sweetie shut her eyes tight in an attempt to banish the fear from her mind. She opened her eyes extended her metal claws “Ponies are counting on us. Apple Bloom is counting on us.” she gritted her teeth “I can't be afraid.” she concluded.

Scootaloo looked between her friends before chuckling “You're pumping me up now! We're gonna topple this beast!” she yelled with newfound confidence.

The gigantic, robotic Filthy began to speak “First you trespass on my property, then you create chaos in my factory, now you threaten to take my treasure? I'm going to make sure I'll be reimbursed for everything you put me through!” he shouted. He then raised his metallic claw before bringing it down towards the four.

They quickly dispersed in different directions causing the claw to smash into nothing but ground. Sweetie charged and scratched at his iron coat doing almost nothing. He opened his mouth and blew fire down at her. She gasped but couldn't escape in time. The fire enveloped her as pained screams rang out from the flames. Once the attack ended, Sweetie was on the ground with her hooves held to her head in an attempt to stop the dizziness.

Filthy tried to capitalize on the chance by raising his saw up. It was sent down towards the downed filly but a strike of lightning to the saw was enough to send it off course. The saw landed a couple feet from Sweetie and stuck in the floor. Apple Bloom helped her up “Do ya need healin'? Ah got the potions.” she said.

Sweetie shook away the pain and gave Apple Bloom a grateful nod “Thanks Paladin, but I'm okay. Save them.” she said.

Filthy finally dislodged his saw from the ground and raised it again. Sweetie took her AR out and fired a quick burst at his face causing him to recoil from the pain.

Apple Bloom got her attention “it's dangerous fer ya ta be this close Hoodlum. It be better if ya attacked from afar.” she said.

Sweetie knew that she was right and nodded before retreating a good distance away. Scootaloo watched as Apple Bloom was the only one up close to the colossal Filthy “I'll go help Paladin.” she said.

Before she could dash off, Spike stopped her with a claw “No! I'll do it. Fire won't affect me much so it'll be less dangerous for me.” he said.

Scootaloo sighed but backed up “Fine, you have a point. I'll still support you with some speed though.” she said before summoning Earheart to speed Spike up. They gave each other a nod before he took off.

Apple Bloom jumped out of the way of the metallic claw before seeing the saw coming her way. She held her shield out in protection and was struggling to keep the saw back. Spike jumped and slashed through the saw. With lightning speed, he turned around and gave another slash. He recoiled and tried to counter with another strike from his claw. Ice formed on various places along the leg which stopped it in it's tracks “Now Aviator!” Sweetie Shouted with her mask held in her hoof.

“Got it!” she said before ripping her goggles off and summoning Earheart. Sharp winds were sent which hit as Sweetie's ice shattered, adding to the damage.

Filthy growled in anger “I will not be made a fool by foals!” he yelled. He then aimed his head down towards Apple Bloom and Spike before opening his jaws.

“Fire” Spike guessed “Get behind me” he called to Apple Bloom. She ran behind him as he prepared to block as much of the flames as possible. To his surprise fire never came out, instead the mouth sparked slightly before an electric blast was fired. Spike gasped before he was electrified. He clenched his fist and let out a scream as he tried to endure the attack. When it ended he fell to his knees, breathing hard.

“Drake!” Apple Bloom called in concern. She dug through her saddle bags for a potion but the two of them were smacked away by Filthy's metallic claw. Sweetie pulled her mask off but hesitated on who to heal first. Because of her hesitation, Filthy was able to send his saw towards her.

“I'm coming!” Scootaloo yelled as she jumped in front of Sweetie and got send a few feet away from the saw.

Sweetie then quickly decided to heal Spike. As they were trying to recover, Filthy let out a laugh “Now you realize the mistake you made by coming back.” he said.

Spike slowly made his way back to his feet “T-this isn't w-working. We need a plan.” he said.

Scootaloo dizzily made her way over to them while holding her head “I have a plan, I'm gonna pay him back twenty-fold for that.” she said.

Sweetie hummed in thought “How can we defeat him though? We just don't have the power to damage him.” she said.

Apple Bloom glanced up and gasped with a smile “Ah got it!” she announced.

“What?” her friends asked.

“Just keep him distracted, this has ta work!” she said.

Scootaloo seemed to gain her energy back “Leave it to me.” she said before speeding herself up and running back into the action.

Spike took his daggers in his claws again “Come on Hoodlum, we have to help before she gets herself killed.” he said before the two ran to join her.

Scootaloo sidestepped a blast of fire before sending her sharp winds up towards his face “Come on! Show me what that useless machine can do!” she taunted. Filthy growled and raised his saw. Suddenly his eyes were iced over, blinding him.

He then felt revolver rounds hitting around his face. He swung his arms wildly towards where the bullets were coming from. Spike panicked as he tried not to get crushed,

Apple Bloom took her crossbow in her mouth and aimed high above Filthy's head. The large crystal chandelier hung dangerously over the machine. One good shot would be all it took. She calmed her breath as she tried to line it up. Once she was confident, she bit down on the trigger. The chandelier was suddenly dropped and crashed into the blinded Filthy with tremendous force. The entire chandelier shattered and a crack appeared on Filthy's forehead.

Apple Bloom noticed this and pointed “There! Hit him right there with everythin'!” she ordered.

“Coming right up!” Scootaloo shouted back before sending some winds to the crack. It was enough to enlarge the crack.

Spike ripped his mask off “Full power Butch!” he commanded as a fireball crashed into the crack, spreading the cracking further.

Sweetie summoned Fagin “We're doing it!” she squeaked. An icicle formed over her before shooting and weakening the metal even more.

Apple Bloom knew that it couldn't take much more. She couldn't help but smirk as she slid her mask off “Ya know what ta do Galahad.” she said. Once the persona formed, he crossed his arms and charge forward. He bashed into Filthy's head. The cracking started spreading all over the metallic body. It then all started to fall apart.

Once the entire robot had fallen apart, all that was left was a downed Filthy Rich surrounded by scrap. The fillies and dragon all put their weapons away and approached him. He was still alive but he obviously wasn't a threat anymore. He weakly looked up at them before hanging his head in defeat “That's it. I give...you win. Just finish it.” he said.

The four looked to each other before returning their gazes to the pathetic looking stallion. Apple Bloom gave him a sympathetic look “We won't hurt ya anymore. That wasn't our goal.” she said.

“Your goal?” he asked. He turned to his right to see the framed picture of Diamond. He managed to walk his way to it. He sighed sadly at the sight of it “I'm sorry. I failed you.” he said.

Scootaloo tilted her head “Is that really your treasure? I mean, I know that's your daughter and all but I'm sure you have other pictures.” she said.

“It's not the picture, it's the frame. Diamond made it herself for my birthday a couple years ago. Of course she had help from a few maids and butlers but she still made it. It was the first time she made something for me. I don't get to see her often because of business, but seeing this on my desk it...it keeps me going.” he said.

He took it gently in his hooves and clutched it to his chest “Please don't take it from me.” he pleaded.

Apple Bloom laid a comforting hoof on him “ah know it's important ta ya, but we need ta change yer heart. Yer hurtin' ponies. Bein' unfair ta them. Ah'm sure that ain't what ya want ta be teachin' yer daughter.” she said.

His grip on the frame lessened “Y-you're right. I got so wrapped up in my business that I forgot how to treat ponies. The apples are dear friends, how could I do this to them. I doubt they'd ever forgive me.” he said.

Sweetie offered him a smile “Of course they will. If you apologize, you'll get past this I know it.” she said.

Scootaloo nodded “Friends fight and get angry at each other sometimes. Trust me I know. But if you're really friends, you'll make up.” she said.

Spike chuckled “I've seen my fair share of squabbles between friends, being the assistant to the princess of friendship, and it all works out in the end.” he said.

Apple Bloom flashed a big smile “Ah already forgive ya, and ah know mah family so ah know they'll forgive ya too.” she said.

A smile found it's way onto his face “Thank you...Phantom Thieves.” he took one last look at the picture in his hooves before holding it out towards the young apple “Here, take it. It's the least I can give you for setting me right.” he offered. She gratefully accepted the frame. He then began to glow with a golden light. The light grew brighter until the stallion was no longer visible. It then disappeared along with him.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and looked around “What? Where'd he go?” she wondered.

Apple Bloom gave a knowing smile “Ah think he's off ta do the right thing.” she said.

Before anyone else could speak, a tremor started. Sweetie gasped “What happened? Did we do something wrong?” she asked with urgency. They then saw the area around Filthy's office start to crumble into pure blackness.

Spike took a couple steps back in shock “Run!” he shouted before dashing off. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly started passing him and Sweetie struggled to run beside him. They descended the spiral staircase as it fell apart. They eventually made it out of the factory and made a mad dash for the exit to the metaverse.

Scootaloo looked back to see the crumbling nipping at the heels of Sweetie and Spike “Kick it into high gear you two!” she shouted back at them.

Spike tried but didn't speed up at all “I don't think I have high gear!” he wheezed.

Apple Bloom noticed the gate ahead that marked the exit “It's right there! Keep runnin'!” she ordered. In a flash they felt the rays of the sun again. They skidded to a stop and began trying to catch their breath.

Scootaloo was the first to recover from their run “Why did that happen? The whole place just collapsed.” she said.

Spike was bent over with his hands on his knees, panting “I think it's...because Filthy's shadow...left.”he manged to get out.

Sweetie laid on her side in an attempt to rest her legs “So his palace is just gone?” she asked.

Apple Bloom hummed in thought as she took the ruby in hoof. She wanted to test something “Filthy Rich, Sweet Apple Acres, factory.” she said. At the words, the four of them tensed. After a few seconds they all relaxed again “So it is gone, like really gone.” she said.

“That's good right? Filthy should be fixed now, right?” Sweetie asked.

Apple Bloom's face turned grim “Hopefully but remember what Spike's book said. Most of the ponies who had their treasure stolen...didn't make it.” she said.

Scootaloo hung her head before shaking it “No, we did everything right. He'll be fine, I know it.” she said.

Sweetie nodded in agreement but didn't seem as sure as Scootaloo “I'm sure you're right, but we should make sure tomorrow.” she said.

Spike seemed to remember something “Speaking of the treasure, where is it?” he wondered.

The others hummed in thought as they searched around for the framed picture. While they saw no frame, they did see a loose picture lying face down. Apple Bloom picked up and the other crowded around to see. It was the same picture of Diamond Tiara that was inside of the frame. Scootaloo sighed “This is all we get of the treasure, lame.” she said.

Spike chuckled “Remember that this wasn't about the treasure...” he paused and turned to the picture “But what should we do with it? We can't just leave it here.” he said.

Sweetie joined in at staring at the image “Maybe we should just give it back? I mean they-”

“What are you creeps doing!” yelled an accusing voice. They froze and slowly turned their heads towards Diamond Tiara's furious face. She pointed to the picture “Answer me! What are you doing gawking at a picture of me!” she demanded.

Apple Bloom's mind raced for an excuse that sounded believable. She came up with nothing “W-what are even doing here?” she asked.

Diamond's glare deepened “If you must know, Silvy wanted to get out of the house because her dad was being a jerk so we went on a walk. Then we stumbled on you clowns drooling over a picture of me!” she shouted.

Apple Bloom glanced behind the pink filly to see Silver Spoon. She almost didn't notice her with how quiet she was being. She even seemed to be hiding slightly behind her mane, which was hard due to it being in it's usual braid. She started to open her mouth to address the out of character pony but was interrupted by the picture being snatched from her.

Diamond held the picture close to her chest so they couldn't see it anymore “I don't know how you got this but if this happens again, I will press charges.” she then stuck her nose up and started trotting off “Come on Silvy!” she called.

The gray filly looked as if she was snapped out of a trance and quickly followed her friend “C-coming!” she said before taking off.

Apple Bloom watched them walk away “Did...did y'all see that?” she asked.

Scootaloo sat down and crossed her fore hooves “What? Diamond Tiara thinking we were creeping on her? Yeah, I saw it.” she grumbled.

After a few seconds, Apple Bloom shook her head “Forget about it. We should go home and get some rest.” she said.

Right on cue, Spike stretched and yawned “Good idea, I'm beat. Let's meet again tomorrow.” he suggested. The others agreed and they separated for the night.

Date: Unknown

Apple Bloom's eyes opened to see a mostly blue room from her caged view. She sighed as the sight was becoming more familiar “Why am ah back here?” she asked to the Stallion who was silently reading a book.

After a few seconds the book softly closed and he finally addressed her “Apple Bloom, I see you made it through the trial.” he said flatly.

She smirked in pride “Yeah, in yer face. Me an' mah friends avoided that bad endin' ya were talkin' about.” she boasted.

A hint of an amused grin graced his face “You think Filthy Rich was the tragedy I described?” he asked.

Apple Bloom's ears flopped against her skull “Not...anymore.” she muttered.

Index shook his head “tsk tsk tsk. Don't get a big head from one victory. You'll need to get though much more to change fate. But that's enough for now, leave me.” he said before returning to his book.

Apple Bloom felt a sleepy feeling wash over her. A thought came to her and she tried to fight though it “w...wait! You know things r-right? Like the past and future?” she asked.

His gaze didn't even rise from the pages “do not mistake me for a magic 8-ball, I do not give out predictions.” he said.

Apple Bloom knew that she didn't have long before she was forcefully removed from this room so she tried to get to the point “Did something happen to Silver Spoon?” she shouted.

That actually gained a reaction from the stallion. He glanced up from his book, after a few seconds he finally spoke “Everypony has a story, if you want to know it then read it yourself.” The filly frowned before succumbing to the force pushing her to sleep.

Endless Forest

Date: Friday, March 12th

Apple Bloom's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up from her bed. She pouted in annoyance “What's his problem, can't he just give me a straight answer once in a while.” she complained to no one. She shook her head before slipping out of bed and getting ready for the day. When she was ready, she found her sister reading a letter by the kitchen table. Her expression was difficult to read “Howdy sis. Whatcha readin'? It good news?” she asked with hope.

Applejack laid the letter on the table and sighed “Not sure Bloom. It's from Filthy. Apparently he wants us to meet him later today at the marketplace. Since today is the deadline he gave, ah think he wants that ridiculous order.” she started walking away from the table “Ah better start gatherin' everythin' fer him. Ah hadn't done it yet 'cause ah was hopin' that he'd come to his senses 'bout this.” she muttered.

Apple Bloom stopped her by grabbing a hold of one of her hind legs “Wait, don't do it.” she said.

Applejack raised a confused eyebrow at her little sister “Now why wouldn't ah?” she questioned.

She froze for a second when she realized she couldn't tell her sister that she knew that Filthy was better now...or at least she hoped. She shook that thought away “Ya should keep havin' faith. Maybe he did change his mind. Give him a chance.” she said.

Applejack hummed thoughtfully before turning to her sister with a small smile “Alright, we'll go see him later. Meet us there after school. Now get yer flank goin' before yer late.” she said.

Apple Bloom glanced back at the letter that was left at the table with a smile. That was proof that the stallion was still alive so that lifted a weight from her mind.

She found it difficult to focus on class since after school she would find out if all her work this past week would be for nothing. Cheerilee turned to her students “Now, can anypony tell me the I before E rule?” she asked.

Scootaloo shot up from her seat “It's three o'clock! Class is over! Come on girls!” she headed towards the door “Bye Cheerilee, thanks for the history lesson!” she threw in before dashing out with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle close behind.

Cheerilee rubbed her temple to nurse her upcoming headache “That was obviously a language lesson.” she muttered in annoyance as the other students took that as a sign to start filing out.

Spike who was waiting outside of the Schoolhouse saw his friends dashing out. They gestured for him to follow. He joined them in running “So you said Filthy sent your family a letter? What did it say?” he asked.

Apple Bloom shrugged “Ah didn't read it but mah sister said he called mah family ta the marketplace. He didn't say why but ah'm hopeful.” she said.

Sweetie tilted her head in thought “Do you really think we changed his heart?” she wondered.

Spike sighed “I hope so otherwise all of our hard work would be down the drain.” he said.

Scootaloo hummed skeptically “It does seem hard to believe. All we did was steal from him and lecture him about being a good pony, that doesn't seem very helpful.” she said.

“It was a good lecture though.” Sweetie pointed out.

“Ah thought so. Thanks Sweetie, at least somepony has some faith.” Apple Bloom said.

They started to slow to a walk when they were coming up on the marketplace. They were surprised to see almost all of the stalls empty but a mass of ponies gathering together. The gave each other questioning glances before silently agreeing to check it out. Once they got closer, they saw that Filthy Rich was what they were crowding around. Apple Bloom was surprised at the state of the stallion. He was usually so put together and oozed power. Now he hung his head in what looked like shame. His mane was unkempt and the bags under his eyes hinted that he didn't get a lot of sleep the previous night. His tie was also loose.

Scootaloo cringed a bit “Dang, did we do that?” she wondered.

Apple Bloom was about to respond but was cut off with her sister's voice “What's all this? Did Filthy ask these folk here?” she wondered.

The filly turned to see her sister accompanied by Granny Smith and Big Mac. Applejack then turned to the rest of the CMC along with Spike “What brings ya here Spike? Did mah sis an' her friends tell ya 'bout what we were goin' though with Filthy?” she asked.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck with a chuckle “Uh yeah. I hope you don't mind me coming to see what this is all about.” he said.

She smiled to show her answer “It's not a problem. Ah know ah'd be more curious than a raccoon near a trash can if ah were you.” she assured.

Their attention was attracted by Filthy speaking up. His tone almost sounded scared “I...I think that's everypony I asked out here, and then some.” he said. He took a breath for confidence before continuing “I'm sure you all know me, I do business with most of you.” he said. That earned a few scowls and glares from the audience.

He tried his hardest to ignore them, but their stares dug deep into him “I know that many of you aren't very happy to be reminded of that. I've been terrible to you. I've taken more than I should while paying much less than fair. I overworked my employees to the point of sickness. I only did it because...” he sighed “No, that's no excuse.” he muttered.

He then bowed his head low “I'm sorry. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I understand if you want nothing more to do with me.” he said.

Apple Bloom felt a tug on her heartstrings. Without thinking she pushed through the crowd to the front “Ah forgive ya!” she shouted, getting everyone's attention.

“Re-really?” he asked out of surprise.

“Ya ain't a bad pony, ah know that fer a fact. Ya were always a nice an' fair business pony up till recently. Ah'm sure a lot of ponies here can vouch fer that.” she said. A couple of ponies muttered light agreements. She walked up closer to him with a smile “As long as ya go back ta bein' that pony, ah don't see why anypony would stay mad at ya.” she finished.

She heard the hoofsteps of her family behind her “Ah couldn't have said it better mahself.” Granny Smith said with pride.

Applejack nodded in agreement “She took the words right outta mah mouth.” she turned her attention to Filthy “No harm no fowl. Ya always done right by us, ah wouldn't fault ya for a slip up or two.” she said.

“Eeyup” Big Mac threw in.

Tears threatened Filthy's eyes, but he fought them back “Thank you, so much. And it goes without saying but your usual order will be more than enough. And going forward I'll make sure that I never fall into such greed again.” he promised.

Feeling the forgiveness in the air, the rest of the ponies in the crowd started offering their own acceptance, some being more reluctant than others. After a couple of minutes the ponies started to clear out. Apple Bloom returned to her friends and Spike greeted her with a grin “I'm surprised you were so quick to forgive him, you seemed so angry at him.” he said.

Apple Bloom placed a hoof to her heart “Ah was, but ah just couldn't stand watchin' him beat himself up so bad.” a wide grin grew on her face “But in other news, we did it!” she celebrated.

Scootaloo raised a hoof to the air “Yeah! I knew we would!” she shouted.

“We should celebrate somehow.” Sweetie suggested.

An idea came to Apple Bloom “Yer right an' ah know just how ta celebrate.” she said.

“To the Phantom Thieves!” the four cheered followed by glass cups clinking together. They sat in a circle in the clubhouse, a milkshake in front of each of them. They shared a laugh before enjoying their treats.

Scootaloo let out a celebratory laugh “We did it! We're heroes! I wonder if this is how Rainbow Dash feels when she does her hero stuff.” she said.

Spike chuckled at her antics “You're getting a pretty big head.” he said.

Sweetie giggled “I think we all deserve to be proud, we worked really hard for this.” she let out a long sigh “It still doesn't feel real. I almost expect to wake up soon to find out it was all a dream.” she said.

A mischievous grin grew on Scootaloo's face “Want me to pinch you?” she asked.

She responded by flinching back “Don't you dare!” she shouted.

Before they could get into an argument, Spike held his glass up again “I also want to thank our leader.” he said. The three fillies gave him questioning glances since they never talked about leadership. He turned to Apple Bloom “Apple Bloom, we never could've got though it without you there to lead us.” he said.

Apple Bloom blushed out of shock “W-what? Leader?” she asked.

Sweetie recovered from her confusion quickly and smiled “That's a great idea Spike, Apple Bloom would make a great leader for the Phantom Thieves!” she said.

Scootaloo hummed in thought before shrugging “I mean I would've liked to be the leader but she would be my next choice so I'm fine with it.” she said.

Apple Bloom was a bit embarrassed by all their praise, but she gave a thankful smile “Thank y'all. If ah'm goin' ta be leader, then ah'll make sure not ta let ya down.” she said.

That made a thought cross Sweetie's mind “That reminds me, what do we do now? Do we look for some other bad pony to change?” she asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head “It might be better if we took a bit of a break, this work is tirin' an' we don't wanna get hurt.” she said.

Scootaloo didn't seem too pleased with that but nodded anyway “I guess you have a point but let me know if you hear about anypony that needs their hearts changed, I'm always in the mood for more of that.” she said.

Spike covered his mouth as a yawn escaped him “Speaking of being tired, I'm going to get some sleep. You all should do the same.” he said.

Date: Unknown

Twilight hummed in thought “So that's the story you want to go with?” she questioned.

Apple Bloom nodded “Since it's the truth, yes.” she said.

Twilight rubbed her face in annoyance “I admit that your story is interesting but even if I believed you, which I don't, Princess Celestia and Luna wouldn't accept something so out there.” she sighed “At least if I give them the rest of the Phantom Thieves names, I still might be able to help you.” she said. She took out her note pad “So is it just the four of you?” she asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head “Nope, ah'll have ta continue mah story for ya ta learn the other's names.” she said.

Twilight nodded and levitated another file in the air “Alright we'll move on to your next target, which was much more ambitious than Filthy Rich.” she said. She dropped the file on the table causing a picture to slip out. The picture depicted a white stallion with a blonde mane “Prince Blueblood. Tell me about what happened with him.” she said.

Apple Bloom waved a hoof in the air “Ah'll get ta him. Important stuff happened before we went ta Canterlot, ah gotta talk 'bout that.” she said.

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh but decided that she might get some useful information out of this “Fine, as long as it's important. Just don't take too long.” she said.

Date: Saturday, March 13th

Apple Bloom laid in bed lazily. She was really regretting taking time off of Phantom Thief work. Surprisingly there were little to no work to do on the farm so she was extremely bored “Maybe I should visit one of my friends.” she suggested to herself. She liked that idea, but the only question was which one to pay a visit. She mentally decided and hopped out of bed.

She knocked on the door to the to the library, confidant that Spike would be home. Instead of the dragon, Twilight was the one to answer. Apple Bloom assumed she was on her way out anyway since she wore saddlebags on her back “Oh hello Apple Bloom.” she greeted with a smile “Did you need something?” she asked.

“No, ah was just here ta see Spike.” she said.

Twilight stepped aside to invite her in “Go right in, he's just organizing the library right now. I was just about to go grocery shopping, so I'll be back later.” she said before walking away.

Apple Bloom entered the library to see a stack of five large tomes levitating across the room. Upon closer inspection she noticed shaky purple legs visible from behind the books “Spike?” she asked.

At her sudden voice, Spike yelped and toppled along with the stack. He luckily emerged from the pile alive, though rubbing his head in pain “Ow.” he said with a wince before noticing Apple Bloom “Oh, hey. What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Ah was just bored an' wanted ta see a friend.” she said.

Spike picked himself off the floor and dusted himself off “It's good to see you too but I'm probably not gonna be much fun to hang out with for the moment. I have to reorganize the library after one of Twilight's late night research sprees. It'll probably take all day.” he complained.

Apple Bloom didn't like the thought of this trip being for nothing, neither did she like the thought of leaving Spike to take on this job alone. She smiled before taking three of the books Spike dropped and stacking them on her back “Ah'll help. Ya seems like ya need it.” she said.

Spike sighed in relief “Thanks Apple Bloom I was-” he suddenly stopped and crossed his arms “Wait, what's that supposed to mean? I could easily do this alone, I am Twilight's number one assistant for a reason.” he said.

Apple Bloom smirked as a sly idea entered her mind. She slid the books off of her back before turning to the door, acting nonchalant “Alright, ah guess ah'll just go see Sweetie Belle, maybe she needs mah help with something.” she said.

With only two steps towards the door Spike jumped in front of her “Wait, I do want help! Please!” he pleaded.

Apple Bloom giggled and patted his head “Ah thought so, let's get ta it.” she said.

As she started to work Spike pouted “That was mean.” he muttered.

Scootaloo stood in front of Sweetie Belle in the middle of ponyville. She started pacing back and forth like a drill Sargent “So you want to get stronger, is that it Private Belle?” she questioned.

Sweetie shook her head in regret “I knew I shouldn't have asked you to help me exercise.” she said.

“Too late. You're gonna be stronger than a pro hoofball player by the time I'm done with you.” she said.

Sweetie sighed “I just wanted to get better at running.” she muttered.

Scootaloo dismissed her words with a wave of her hoof “We'll run later. For now we do push ups. One hundred push ups now!” she ordered.

Sweetie stepped back in surprise by the ludicrous order “H-hundred? I can't do that many, you can't even do that many.” she complained.

Scootaloo frowned at her lack of faith “I'm a Phantom Thief, I can do anything. Watch.” she said before assuming the position. She started doing push ups at a great pace “One, two, three...”

Her fore legs started to burn and the grass under her were being drowned in sweat “F-forty seven. For...forty e-” she collapsed before being able to finish the forty eighth push up.

She wheezed on the ground for a few seconds before hearing applause from Sweetie “That was amazing, not a hundred, but still really impressive.” she said.

Scootaloo felt a bit better from the praise, or maybe that was her body going numb “Now that that's over with, let's cool down with a lap around Ponyville. Ready? Go!” she shouted before preceding to continue laying still.

Sweetie gave her a questioning glance “I kind of expected you to start running.” she said.

“I'll be honest, I can't move my body.” she said before clearing her throat “Change of plans! Your exercise will be carrying me home and putting me in bed.” she ordered.

Sweetie giggled but complied by laying the pegasus across her back and trotting away.

Date: Sunday, March 14th

Apple Bloom met up with her friends and they walked around town to pass time. Scootaloo sighed in annoyance “Do we have to take a break from Phantom Thief work? I'm so bored.” she complained.

“Ah'm bored too but we can't change somepony's heart without a target.” Apple Bloom said.

Spike rubbed his chin in thought “Maybe we could just ask around and-ack!” he was cut off by a stallion ramming into him. The stallion was a green coated unicorn with a short darker green mane. He quickly got back to his hooves “S-sorry.” his head darted around frantically “Is she coming?” he questioned no one in particular.

“Is who coming?” Apple Bloom wondered.

The stallion's irises shrunk in fear as he noticed something approaching “She's here! I need to hide!” he panicked before hopping into a nearby barrel.

By his reaction, the kids started looking around to find the monster that had him so frightened. They saw no monster, but they did see a mare skipping towards them while humming happily. She was an earth pony with a pink coat and a red mane pulled into a ponytail. She stopped in front of them and smiled sweetly “Hello children! Have you seen a handsome green stallion roaming around these parts?” she asked.

They looked to each other and silently agreed. They looked back to the mare and shook their heads. The mare patted their heads “That's okay, I'll keep looking then.” she said before heading away.

Once she was out of view, the stallion popped his head out of his hiding spot with a relived sigh “Thanks kids, I owe you one.” he said.

Sweetie looked worried “Who was that and why didn't you want her to find you?” she asked.

The stallion hummed in thought “I guess an explanation is the least I can do for you.” he crawled out of the barrel and held a hoof out “My name is Sturdy Oak, and that mare is Heartshine. She's my ex-marefriend as of last month, but that didn't seem to make it through her skull.” he said.

Apple Bloom tilted her head “Why did ya break up with her?” she questioned.

Sturdy Oak rubbed the back of his neck “She got really clingy. She hated when I spent time with anypony else. It got so bad that she would sometimes follow me when I went somewhere alone just to make sure I wasn't meeting up with somepony.” he said while glancing around to make sure she wasn't coming back.

Spike raised an eyebrow “Then why is she going around looking for you so happily?” he asked.

Sturdy Oak continued to get more distressed as he told the story “She refuses to accept the fact that we broke up. She keeps acting like we're still together. I'm...” his tone shifted to a terrified whisper “I'm worried she might do something drastic sooner or later.” he said.

Scootaloo shrugged “Why don't you call the cops or something?” she asked.

He shook his head “I'm afraid that might make things worse.” he turned away from them “I have to go, it's rare when she loses sight of me and I don't want to waste it.” he said before disappearing behind a corner.

Apple Bloom turned to the others with a smirk “Are y'all thinkin' what ah'm thinkin'?” she asked.

Scootaloo mirrored her smirk “New target.” she said.

Sweetie Belle hummed in thought “I'm not against it but wouldn't we have to find the other two keywords before doing anything?” she asked.

Spike gasped as he remembered something “Maybe we don't.” he said.

“What's that mean?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Just take the ruby out and say her name, then say Mementos.” he said.

Apple Bloom thought the order was strange but she complied. She held the ruby out in front of her and spoke the two keywords “Heartshine, Mementos.” she said. After two blinks of the ruby, to their surprise they started being pulled into the metaverse. Once the dizzy feeling finished, Apple Bloom looked around to see that her friends were all in their Phantom Thief outfits. The moon was high in the sky like it usually was in the metaverse. The thing that caught their attention was the Everfree Forest which was waiting a couple feet from them.

Scootaloo Stared at the forest and blinked a couple times in disbelief “Is that the Everfree Forest? But we were just in the middle of Ponyville. What is this?” she questioned.

“Mementos.” Spike said “It's a palace but not for one specific pony. It's everypony's palace.” he said.

Sweetie raised an eyebrow “Everypony's? Why did we come here? We wanted to change Heartshine's heart.” she said.

“We will. A pony whose distortion is more mild won't make a palace, those can be taken care of here.” he explained.

Scootaloo nodded in understanding “So will it be just like other palaces, finding a treasure and all?” she asked.

Spike scratched his head in thought “Uh, no not really. But we can worry about that later. First we have to find our target.” he said.

Apple Bloom nodded with determination “Then let's get in there!” she commanded. The others agreed before they entered the forest. Once inside they saw that the path split up ahead and the trees surrounding the path were growing too close together for them to stray from the path. The leaves glowed red slightly. Scattered around the ground and trees were what looked like veins with a glowing red liquid flowing through them. Apple Bloom poked one of the veins in curiosity and shuttered at the squishy nature of it. She turned back to Spike “So uh, how do we find our target?” she asked.

Spike chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck “We just have to...look.” he said.

Scootaloo's eyes widened “You mean we have to search the whole forest? That'll take an eternity.” she complained.

Apple Bloom wasn't happy about that answer either, but she wasn't about to argue “Well ah guess we have no choice.” she pointed a hoof towards the left path “Let's start with that left path.” she said.

With that they started down the path. As they walked, they looked around at their surroundings. Even though they were in a forest, they couldn't shake the feeling they were inside a massive beast. Apple Bloom stopped when she saw two figures ahead “Wait! Look there.” she said. The two figures resembled timber wolves but they were made up of the same material as shadows. Instead of just having a mask on their faces, they had masks scattered around their bodies.

Sweetie seemed slight worried “Are those timber wolves?” she asked.

Spike took his daggers in his claws “No, they're shadows.” he said.

Apple Bloom smirked “At least they haven't noticed us yet. We can get the jump on them.” she said.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “But which mask do we rip off?” she wondered.

Sweetie Belle gave her an unamused look “Obviously the one on their faces.” she said.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle volunteered to sneak up on them. Apple Bloom was just about close enough to jump on its back before it suddenly turned and saw her. She gasped before it threw a claw at her which knocked her to the ground. Sweetie gasped and turned to her downed friend “Paladin!” she shouted with worry. She turned back to the second shadow only to see the claw swiping at her.

Spike and Scootaloo panicked, seeing their teammates laying uselessly in front of the shadows. She ran to the two as one of the shadows transformed into a zompony. The other shadow ran to the other side of the group before transforming. It turned into a floating pony skull with fire in its eye sockets.

Spike turned back to the skull and took his daggers out “We're surrounded.” he said.

The zompony raised a hoof to summon curse energy to burst around Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle managed to get back to her hooves and quickly helped Apple Bloom up “Are you alright?” she asked.

Apple Bloom obviously seemed hurt but smiled anyway “Ah'm alright, ah just got too cocky. Let's turn this around.” she said. The zompony tried to interrupt them by swinging its great sword down towards them but they separated fast enough to avoid it. Sweetie Belle pelted it with her AR to distract it to allow Apple Bloom to slip behind it unnoticed. With a jump she brought her hammer down on its back. Sweetie then gave it a flurry of slashes to the chest.

The zompony bucked its back hooves out at Apple Bloom but she managed block it with her shield. Sweetie took her mask off and sent an icicle at it. It pierced its chest before it dissipated.

The floating skull attempted biting Scootaloo but she quickly sped herself up to dodge and counter with her knife. Spike fired at it with his revolver to gain its attention. It worked as the skull faced him and breathed fire towards him. He just smirked as the fire enveloped him barely doing anything. Sharp winds then ripped through it to finish the fight.

Spike and Scootaloo returned to Apple Bloom to check on her. She finished downing a healing potion and wiped her mouth “I'm fine, after one of Zecora's potions.” she said.

Sweetie turned back to the path “We should be more careful.” she said. The others agreed before turning a corner. What they saw shocked them.

“Is that a dead end?” Scootaloo asked with a groan.

Spike walked up to the wall of trees blocking their path “It looks like it. I guess we have to go back, there's no getting through these trees.” he said. After some groaning and complaining, they turned around and tried the other path.

After getting through a few more shadows, they saw something in the trees ahead. The trees looked as if they were forcefully parted and behind it was a swirling black and red portal. Sweetie tilted her head “Do...you think that's what we're looking for?” she asked.

Scootaloo shrugged “It's the only thing here that doesn't look the same so probably.” she said.

Spike gulped “So we just jump in?” he asked nervously.

Apple Bloom hummed with worry “Ah guess. So who's first?” she asked.

Scootaloo nudged the earth pony forward “You're the leader aren't you? Then lead.” she said. As much as she wanted to argue with this, she had to admit that she was right. She took a deep breath before leaping into the portal. The others now felt better about following and weren't far behind her.

They ended up in a forest clearing with Heartshine's shadow sitting in the middle with a gleeful smile on her face. She saw them approach and gave them a wave “Hello you all! Have you seen my soulmate anywhere? It seems like we got separated somehow. I don't know how it happened since we're always so close.” she said.

Spike shook his head “She really is delusional.” he muttered.

Heartshine seemed to have heard and glared at him “What did you call me? What do I have to be delusional about?” she questioned harshly.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes “Obviously the fact that you're obsessed with your EX-coltfriend.” she said with emphasis on the ex.

The mare's face seemed to darken as a scowl appeared “Lies. I love him and he loves me. You are just trying to get between us.” she said with a low growl.

Sweetie tried to calm her down “We aren't trying to to do anything like that. Sturdy Oak just doesn't feel safe with you following him everywhere like that.” she said in an attempt to convince her.

Heartshine covered her ears with her hooves and gritted her teeth “Shut up! You're just trying to keep us apart just like the rest of them! I won't let you, I'll fight for my love!” she screamed. The kids took a couple steps back as Heartshine was engulfed by darkness. The darkness quickly faded to reveal a pink, heart-shaped ghost in her place. The ghost held a lance in one arm and a shield in the other. She gestured to them with the lance threateningly “Just leave us be!” she shouted.

The Phantom Thieves all took their weapons out but didn't attack yet. Apple Bloom glanced to Spike “What do we do Drake? I don't see any treasures.” she said.

“We just have to beat her, that should trigger a change of heart.” he said.

That got a grin out of Scootaloo “Now you're talking. Let's do it.” she said.

Apple Bloom nodded and turned her focus back on to Heartshine “We're doing this for your own good, remember that.” she said before charging forward. She tried to slam her hammer into her, but it was easily blocked by her shield. Heartshine tried to swipe at her with her lance, but she jumped back to avoid it.

Heartshine quickly turned to block a few bullets from Spike's revolver. She then sent a ball of light at him. It connected with his chest causing it to burst. He grit his teeth slightly from the pain but stayed on his feet “That shield's getting in the way.” he said.

Scootaloo ripped her mask off with a smirk “I'll just blow it away!” she shouted before Earheart sent a powerful gust of wind at her. She tried to block the wind, but her shield was blown out of the way. Wasting no time, Sweetie Belle gave her an uppercut with her claw. Heartshine was thrown into the air.

Apple Bloom took her mask off, and Galahad flew up to bash into her. She recovered in midair and dove down towards Sweetie with her lance aimed at her. She was suddenly filled by a green aura that gave her the speed she needed to dodge. She sighed and smiled towards Scootaloo “Thanks Aviator!” she called.

Scootaloo gave her a nod before focusing back on the fight. She leaped into the air and slashed across Heartshine's back with her combat knife. While she was distracted, Sweetie took the chance to give her a devastating strike with her claws that sent her to the ground. Sweetie gasped happily and turned to the others “This is our chance! All together!” she called out. The others nodded and all charged at once. They dashed past her at blinding speed over and over again, a strike every dash. The all stopped suddenly and Sweetie put a hoof to her mouth with a smile “Sorry if we hurt you.” she said with a giggle as Heartshine collapsed from the damage she sustained.

The shadow reverted back to Heartshine and she tried to get back to her hooves but failed. Apple Bloom stepped in front of her which caused her to flinch and cover her eyes with her fore hooves “I'm...sorry. I-i just... couldn't lose him.” she tried to say through quite sobs.

Scootaloo shrugged “Why is he so important to you? Aren't there other stallion you could date?” she suggested.

Heartshine shook her head without uncovering her eyes “No, there's nopony else. He's the only one who ever gave me a chance. Before him, I had nopony. No friends, and barely a family. I didn't mean to make Oaky uncomfortable, I swear. I just...didn't want to be alone” her sobs increased in volume “But I just made everything worse, again! I ruined the only good thing I had!” she cried.

Apple Bloom laid a hoof softly on her head which caused her to cautiously peek from behind her hooves. Apple Bloom gave her a sympathetic smile “Nothin's ruined. Ah'll bet he'll forgive ya in a second if ya explained an' said yer sorry.” she said.

This caused the sobbing mare to raise her head slightly “You really think so?” she asked.

Spike smiled and crossed his arms “Couldn't hurt to try.” he said.

Sweetie nodded “And give him some space if he wants it.” she said.

Heartshine managed a sad smile and slowly got up “I'll do it. It's the least I can do for everything I put him through. And before I go, I wanted to thank you for setting me straight.” she said before disappearing.

Scootaloo turned to Spike “So that was it? Is her heart changed now?” she asked.

Spike nodded “Yeah, but we should make sure tomorrow. Just in case.” he covered a yawn with his mouth “But first, let's get out of here. I'm beat.” he said. The others nodded and they turned to exit.

The sun had gone down and the moon was high in the night sky. Sturdy Oak was almost home after a full day of running and hiding from his ex-marefriend. He froze once he got close to his home. Standing in front of it was Heartshine. He took a frightened step back.

“No wait! If you give me five minutes, I swear you'll never have to see me again!” she cried desperately.

Sturdy calmed down due to the genuine sound in her voice. He gulped and walked slightly closer, still keeping some distance between them “O-okay. What d-did you want to talk about?” he asked.

She quickly bowed her head “I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry! For everything I did in our relationship!” her voice started to waver “And for all of the crazy things I did after you broke up with me.” she said quieter.

Sturdy was speechless from shock. He didn't know what to expect from this conversation, but this was the last thing he expected “Wh-what?” he asked.

Heartshine wiped away the tears that started to flow “You were the only one who ever showed me kindness and I was afraid that you'd leave me once you found somepony better.” she lifted her head and cleared her throat “Well, that's all I had to say. I'll...go. I'll try my best to make sure you don't have to see me anymore.” she said before turning and walking away.

He suddenly felt he heart start to ache “Wait!” he called out.

Permissions

Date: Monday, March 15th

Princess Luna stared up at the starry night sky that would soon be lit up by her sister's sun. She heard hoofsteps behind her which caught her attention. She glanced back to see Celestia “Good morning sister. Is it time to bring the sun up?” she asked.

Celestia joined her sister on the balcony “Soon.” she answered simply. The two stood in silence for a few moments until Celestia broke it “Something seems to be bothering you.” she noted.

“Of course there is. Do you recall what is happening to our ponies?” she questioned a little harsher than she meant to.

Celestia gave a solemn hum “Trust me sister, it troubles me as well. Ponies losing their lives due to mysterious causes seemingly at random.” she said.

Luna raised an eyebrow “Has the autopsy been conducted on the latest victim?” she questioned.

Celestia nodded but her expression stayed the same “It has but we've learned nothing new. He was just like the others, it's like his brain just shut off. No sign of a struggle or illness.” she reported.

Luna gritted her teeth slightly “Whoever is behind this is making a complete fool of us.” she growled.

Her sisters hoof landed on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her “Try not to get worked up. Stressing ourselves won't solve anything. Once I raise the sun, I want you to get some rest.” she said.

Luna was quick to shake her head “I will not. Ponies are dying as we speak. I shall speak to the doctors who performed the autopsy, perhaps we missed something.” she said.

“If there were clues to be found though autopsy, they would've found it. I will send a letter to Twilight soon. The three of us shall figure this out together and I'd rather you be in the best shape for that. Please get some rest.” Celestia said.

Luna closed her eyes to think about the proposal. Twilight would be a valuable asset in figuring what was happening. She opened her eyes and nodded “Fine sister, you win. I'll get some sleep, but wake me as soon as Twilight arrives.” she said before exiting the balcony.

Cheerilee finally got though a class without one of her students trying to end it early. She turned to her students with a smile “That should do it for today. Before you all go, I do have some important news.” her smile faded to a concerned frown “Due to...unexpected events. School will be closed for the next two weeks.” she said. The students didn't seem to pick up on her concern and gave a short celebration before getting ready to leave. She sighed in annoyance “Even though you won't be coming to school, I still encourage you all to keep up with your studies on your own.” she said even though the odds that they would study were slim to none.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle met with Spike who was waiting outside of the school. Apple Bloom greeted him with a smile “Howdy Spike. What brings ya here? Is it Phantom Thief related?” she wondered.

He reciprocated the smile but shook his head “No, actually I won't be able to do any of that for some time.” he said.

Sweetie Belle's brows furrowed in concern “Is something wrong? Are you hurt?” she questioned.

He relieved her worries with a chuckle “Nothing like that. Twilight was called to Canterlot by the princesses. She wanted me to come with her just in case.” he said.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow in interest “What do the princesses want?” she asked.

“I'm not sure, Twilight doesn't even know. I could be gone for weeks” he said.

Apple Bloom's ears flattened against her skull “Well ah guess we won't be doin' any Phantom Thief work then. We can't do it without ya, yer too important ta the team.” she said.

Scootaloo sighed “This would have been the perfect time for that since we just got some time off of school. What else am I supposed to do over this break?” she questioned.

Sweetie Belle giggled “Study?” she teased.

“No way!” Scootaloo shot back.

Spike gave an amused smile “Well we don't leave until Wednesday so we can hang out until then.” he said. The others agreed and they decided to hang around a park.

Once there, they saw a peculiar sight. The unicorn they met the previous day, Sturdy Oak was using a hammer to finish building a bulletin board in the middle of the park. Their curiosity led them to approach him “Uh, hello?” Apple Bloom said to gain his attention. He stopped what he was doing and turned to them.

After a few seconds he seemed to recognize them with a smile “Oh, it's you kids again. Nice to see you.” he said.

Sweetie Belle noticed the difference in his mood from the last time they met “You seem much happier than you did yesterday.” she pointed out.

Sturdy Oak chuckled “That's because I am. You see, Heartshine came up to me last night and to my shock she apologized. She seemed so genuine that I couldn't help but to forgive her.” he explained.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “You got back together?” she asked.

He shook his head “I'm not ready for that yet. For now we agreed to just be friends. I'm just grateful that she came to her senses.” he then gave the kids a knowing smile “And I know just who to thank.” he said.

Apple Bloom's heart sank. How could he have figured it out. Maybe they were too quick to solve his problem, or maybe he saw them enter the metaverse. She gulped as she tried to think of a way to get out of this situation “W-we didn't d-”

“It's all thanks to the Phantom Thieves.” he stated.

Apple Bloom stopped and glanced to her friends, who only shrugged. She turned back to the stallion “Did ya say the Phantom Thieves?” she asked.

He nodded in excitement “You know them right? They're the ones who changed Filthy Rich's mind, and I know they did the same for Heartshine!” he said.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck “How do you know it was them?” he asked.

Sturdy Oak's smile fell to an embarrassed frown “I...don't have any proof.” he shook his head “but I still know it was them! Who else could have done it?” he reasoned.

Apple Bloom tried to calm him down “Y-yer right. It could have only been the Phantom Thieves.” she tried to think of a way to get him off of this topic “By the way, what's that thing yer buildin'?” she asked while pointing at the bulletin board.

He smiled again “I was thinking that I wanted to do something for the Phantom Thieves in return for what they did for me.” he said.

Scootaloo eyed the board with a frown “So you built a bulletin board for them?” she asked.

He nodded and used his magic to hang a sign near the top of the board that read “Phan-board”. He looked upon it with pride “I wanted to help them help even more ponies. I made this so that ponies could post their troubles and hopefully the Phantom Thieves will see them.” he said.

Sweetie nodded in understanding “That's really nice of you.” she said.

Scootaloo agreed “Yeah that should be really useful...for them, I mean.” she said.

Sturdy took the hammer back in his magic and turned back to it “I hope so, but I should get back to finishing it up.” he said. The others nodded and said their goodbyes before leaving to enjoy their day at the park.

Date: Tuesday, March 16th

After school Scootaloo dragged her friends towards the park again. Spike frowned at her “Why did you drag me out here again? I had chores to do you know.” he complained.

Scootaloo trotted ahead of them in excitement “Come on, we need to take a look at that Phan-board. I bet it's filled with requests for us. We'll never get through it if we don't start now.” she said.

Apple Bloom hummed skeptically “Are ya sure?” she asked.

“Definitely!” she answered. She then gasped when something ahead caught her eye. She saw the Phan-board with paper covering almost every inch of it. Scootaloo dashed forward happily and the others followed soon after.

Once they arrived their smiles started to fade. Apple Bloom started reading what was posted on the board “What are the Phantom Thieves? What's with this board? Can anypony post papers here?” she read.

Spike crossed his arms with a disappointed frown “I guess we shouldn't of expected ponies to know us already.” he said.

Scootaloo Scanned the entirety of the board “There has to be at least a few requests.” her eyes landed on a few papers “Help me move in to my new place.” she read.

Sweetie tilted her head “I don't think they understand what we do.” she said.

Apple Bloom couldn't help but chuckle “We'll just have ta make ourselves known the hard way. Fer now let's just enjoy the day. We won't see Spike fer a while when he goes off ta Canterlot so let's hang out while we can.” she said.

After a few seconds Scootaloo nodded with a pout “Alright, I guess we ca-” she was cut off when something impacted her from behind. Her and her friends her thrown to the ground by the force. She whipped her head around to find who was responsible “Hey watch where you're goin-” she stopped when she saw the wall-eyed mail mare scrambling back to her hooves “Oh, hey Derpy.” she greeted.

The mare gave an apologetic smile “Sorry, I just don't know what went wrong.” she said before quickly gathering all of the envelopes that flew from her bag upon impact. She then took to the air again to continue her deliveries.

Apple Bloom's eyes landed on a stray envelope that was left behind. She gasped and picked it up “Derpy! Ya missed one!” she shouted after the retreating mare. It seemed to be futile as the mail mare was already out of earshot. She frowned and stared down at the envelope “What are we gonna do with this?” she wondered.

Scootaloo came up beside her to get a look at it “What's it say?” she asked.

“Ah'm not gonna read somepony else's mail.” Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie Belle hummed in thought “Maybe we should deliver it? Whoever it's being sent to might need it.” she said.

Apple Bloom smiled at that idea but frowned when she scanned the mysterious envelope “Ah don't see an address, or a name. How was Derpy even supposed ta deliver this?” she wondered.

Scootaloo nodded towards the envelope with a smirk “I can think of one way to figure out who it's supposed to go to.” she hinted.

After weighing the pros and cons, Apple Bloom rolled her eyes “Fine, but ah'll only read enough ta figure out who this goes ta.” she said before carefully opening the envelope as to not tear it. She pulled the letter out and started reading. Shortly after starting her face fell from curiosity to concern.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “Well? Don't leave us waiting. What's it say?” she questioned.

Apple Bloom took a few moments to finish the letter before looking around at her friends “It's a threat, blackmail I think.” she said.

“What? Blackmail? Are you sure?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom's eyes returned to the letter “It says somethin' about an important meeting in Canterlot. It's kinda vague but it sounds like somethin' bad will happen if he doesn't show up.” she said.

Spike noticed something “He? Who was that letter supposed to be sent to?” he asked.

She gulped before answering “Filthy Rich.” she said.

The name sent a wave of uneasiness over the group. Spike rubbed his chin in contemplation “Maybe this is why he became so greedy.” he wondered.

Sweetie gave a concerned frown “Are you sure it's actually blackmail? Maybe it's nothing to worry about.” she said with a hint of hope.

Scootaloo grinned “We should make sure, let's investigate.” she said.

Apple Bloom pondered that idea for a few moments “Maybe but we wouldn't be able ta find much out without going to Canterlot.” a smile grew on her face as she remembered something. She turned to Spike with excitement “Can we go to canterlot with you and Twilight?” she asked.

Before he could answer, Scootaloo raised a hoof in the air “Now that's what I'm talking about! That's a great way to spend our break from school!” she celebrated.

Sweetie Belle nodded “Okay, I'm in. I'm too curious about this letter to let this go.” she agreed.

Spike got their attention by waving his arms in the air “Hey! Aren't we forgetting something? Like your families not wanting you to go on a random trip to Canterlot. And besides that, who knows if Twilight would even let you come.” he said.

Apple Bloom raised a hoof “As leader of the Phantom Thieves, here are yer assignments fer the day. Get permission ta go ta Canterlot. Later we'll meet up at the library ta convince Twilight together.” she said as she put her hoof out.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo added their hooves to hers with grins on their faces. Spike chuckled slightly before adding his hand “I guess it's worth a try.” he then glanced to the letter “But what should we do with this?” he wondered.

Apple Bloom hummed in thought as she stared the letter down “Ah guess we should deliver it ta Filthy Rich. We can't peek in on this meetin' if he don't know there's a meetin'.” she decided. They then made their way towards Filthy's mansion.

When they arrived, they took great care to not be seen. They sneaked up to the doorstep and dropped off the letter before beginning to sneak off. Before they could get too far from the residence, a pink filly peeked through the window to spot them skulking away. Diamond's eyes narrowed in suspicion “What are those blank flanks up to now?” she wondered aloud. She decided to investigate and moved over the doors and opened them. When she saw the lone envelope she put two and two together. She grabbed it and took the letter out without a second thought. Her expression changed to one of anger and shock as she read the content. Her eyes darted to the direction the fillies and dragon disappeared in. She thought about chasing them down and demanding an explanation but stopped herself. A grin grew on her face as an idea formed in her mind. She carefully put the letter back into the envelope and closed it up. She then called back into the house “Daddy! You got a letter!” she shouted with false ignorance.

She trotted up the stairs and knocked on the door to his home office “Come in!” she heard him call from inside. She opened the door, causing him to glance at her for a second before returning his gaze to his work “Is it important Diamond? I'm much too busy at the moment.” he said.

Diamond walked up with a sweet smile and the envelope was place on his desk “A letter was left on the doorstep. I thought it was probably for you.” she said.

Filthy rubbed his chin in confusion “I thought Derpy already came by with the mail?” he wondered to himself before shrugging “Well, thanks for bringing it to me honey.” he said before opening the letter and beginning to read.

Diamond expected the ghastly expression that grew on her father's face, but she tilted her head like she had no idea “What's it say daddy?” she asked.

He was snapped out of his horror and folded the letter up to keep it from his daughter's eyes “It's, uh nothing. Just some business that I'll need to attend to in Canterlot. I'll be heading there tomorrow.” he said, trying to mask his worry.

Diamond pretended to be upset “But you're always away on some kind of business trip! I was excited to spend some time with you! Can I at least come with you this time?” she pleaded.

His eyebrows furrowed and her patted her head “Sorry but I can't. I'll be very busy and wouldn't have time to spend with you. I promise that we will when I get back.” he said.

Diamond's eyes started to well up with tears “I don't care if you'll be busy! I just want to be where you are!” she cried before sobbing into her hooves.

Filthy held his forehooves up in surrender “Alright, we'll go to Canterlot together and I'll set aside some time to be with you. Okay?” he asked.

Diamond lifted her head and started wiping her tears away “P-promise?” she asked with a hint of hope.

“I promise.” he said in relief that he was able to cheer her up.

Diamond gained a wide smile and tackled her father with a hug “Thanks daddy, you're the best!” she claimed.

He wrapped his forelegs around her and smiled softly “Anything for you princess.” he said as his mind was still racked with worry.

Apple Bloom walked though Sweet Apple Acres as she went through the plan in her head. She split up with her friends so they could all ask their guardian's permission to go on this trip. She wasn't sure how she was going to get her sister to go along with this, but she had to try. She started to hear loud thumping and know she was coming up on her sister. She spotted her bucking an apple tree causing all of its fruits to fall into buckets which were placed under it “Hey Applejack!” she greeted.

She turned and wiped some sweat from her forehead “Howdy sis. Need somethin'?” she asked.

Apple Bloom paused for a second to get her thoughts in order “Ya know how we have that break from school?” she asked.

Applejack raised an eyebrow “Yeah, what about it?” she questioned.

Her eyes danced around her surroundings “Well ah was talkin' with Spike and the other crusaders and we thought it would be fun to take a trip durin' it.” she said.

Her sister's eyes narrowed on her “Just y'all?” she asked simply.

Apple Bloom waved her hooves in front of her defensively “Of course not! Apparently Twilight's takin' Spike ta canterlot 'cause of somethin' fer the princesses an' ah thought we could come along.” she explained.

Applejack mulled over the idea for a few nerve racking moments before finally nodding “Alright. Only if Twilight's okay with it. Ah trust her like kin so ah know she'll take good care of ya.” she said.

Apple Bloom jumped up in celebration “Thanks sis!” she exclaimed before dashing off.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at her sister's behavior “Ah didn't think she was so excited ta go ta Canterlot.” she shrugged “Well ah hope she has fun.” she said before returning to work.

When Apple Bloom reached Twilight's library she saw Scootaloo waiting in front with Spike “Howdy, how'd it go Scoots?” she asked.

She smirked and snickered “Even if I didn't get permission I would of just went anyway and apologized when I got back.” she said.

Apple Bloom gave a concerned glare “Ya did get permission, right?” she asked again.

Scootaloo nodded quickly “Of course I did, I was just joking.” she said.

Apple Bloom let out a sigh of relief “Good, now where's Sweetie?” she wondered.

“Right here!” called the familiar shrill voice of their friend. Sweetie Belle ran in to join the group “Sorry I'm late. My parents were fine with it but my sister happened to be visiting and she was being super over-protective. It took some time to convince her.” she said.

Spike gestured to the door to the library “Now only one more pony to convince.” he said. Apple Bloom took the lead and opened the door. They were met with legions of items flying around covered in a lavender aura.

Twilight saw them enter and her eyes landed on Spike “Where were you all day Spike? We need to pack and I can't decide on what to bring.” two large tomes floated over to him “I don't know what the princesses need so I don't know what would be more useful, this book on astrophysics or this one on moral philosophy!” she panicked.

Spike held his hand up in an attempt to calm her down “Take a breath, we'll never finish packing if you're panicking like this.” he said.

Twilight took his advice and took a few calming breaths “Thanks Spike.” she then noticed the three fillies in the room “Did you girls need something?” she asked.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned to Apple Bloom, so she guessed it was up to her “We wanted to ask you for a favor.” she said.

Twilight nodded but glanced back at the not yet packed supplies behind her “Okay, as long as it's quick.” she said.

Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her neck nervously “Well, we heard about this here trip yer takin' an' we wanted ta ask if ya'd mind takin' us with?” she asked.

Twilight sighed and shook her head “I don't know what he told you, but this isn't a vacation. It's important business with the princesses. I won't have time to foalsit.” she said.

Spike jumped in to help “Well you trust me, right? I can watch them, and you just let me know if you need me for whatever the princesses want.” he said.

Twilight actually started to consider it “Fine, I guess that's okay. But you need to make sure that your parents and guardians know about this and are okay with it” she said.

Apple Bloom smiled wide and nodded “We already got permission. Thank ya so much Twilight!” she said while the others already celebrating.

Twilight couldn't help but smile “We leave early tomorrow so I recommend going home and packing.” she said. The kids all nodded at each other before separating to prepare for the trip.