The Ponyville Horror

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Table of Contents

Chapter 1

The Ponyville Horror
Chapter 1

Rainbow Dash sat back on her cloud, relaxing as she normally did, she loved the feel of the cloud against her; soft, fluffy, and extremely comfortable. She felt bad for earth ponies and unicorns; they could never know the enjoyment that she got from it. She was taking it easy, physically, she had healed, but Doctor Nightly, Ponyville’s unicorn doctor, had insisted that she take a few more days off from work. The last thing that they wanted was for her to over exert herself.

Rainbow Dash rolled over on the cloud and looked down onto the town below. Construction workers had nearly completed the reconstruction of Sugarcube Corner after its destruction in the Battle of Ponyville between the residents of Ponyville and their kangaroo and gryphon allies against the Everfree Plains Missile Base’s combots. That had been a month ago, at the end of March of the year 1002 of Celestia’s reign. It seemed like that had been forever ago. Now it was the last day of April, and everything was starting to return to normal.

Mostly normal, anyway, the town was missing some of its inhabitants. Vinyl Scratch, the unemployed unicorn DJ who had gone nearly a year without playing a gig, Surprise, the giggly straw maned Pegasus pony who, despite the fact that she had wings, could easily be Pinkie Pie’s sister, and Whirlwind, a the most junior member of the Ponyville weather team. The three of them had gone to South Island, the homeland of the kangaroos for a holiday.

Rainbow Dash was somewhat jealous, she wished that she’d been able to go with them, but the doctor didn’t want her travelling.

Rainbow Dash heard a quiet shuffling noise from behind her; she rolled onto her back and sat up. ‘Whirlwind?’ she asked.

Indeed, the grey Pegasus pony was standing in front of her on the cloud that was just big enough for the two of them. His bright red eyes looking at her sadly. ‘Hi... Rainbow Dash’, Whirlwind said, there was guilt in his voice. Dash could tell that for sure.

Rainbow Dash had been injured during the battle of Ponyville by Legion, the multiple consciousness entity that had taken over Whirlwind’s body, and Rainbow Dash could tell, that even a month later, he was still guilty about it.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be in South Island?’ Rainbow Dash asked as she made room for him on the cloud and offered him a seat, which he took. He sat down gingerly, taking care not to intrude on Rainbow Dash’s personal space.

‘I came back’, Whirlwind said with a shrug. ‘Vinyl Scratch and Surprise say hello, they were in Port Beagle the last time I checked up on them’.

Rainbow Dash smiled, ignoring the fact she hadn’t the faintest idea where Port Beagle was.

‘I’ve done a lot of thinking lately, and I decided that I’m going to be tending my resignation as a member of Ponyville’s weather team’, Whirlwind continued.

Rainbow Dash’s mouth fell wide open. ‘What? Whirlwind! No! You can’t quit!’

‘It’s a free country...’ Whirlwind began, but was quickly interrupted.

‘Technically, it’s not, Equestria is an Absolute Monarchy, where we’re basically subject to the princess’ will, yeah, we’ve got laws and junk, but if the princess doesn’t like you, she can decide to lock you up and throw away the key... if she wanted to, which doesn’t sound like something she’d ordinarily do, but it’s not outside the realm of possibilities’, Rainbow Dash said.

Whirlwind raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash in response to her statement, which sound like something that he would have expected Twilight Sparkle to say, or something.

‘What? I do live in a Library now, you know? I do read... sometimes’, Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. ‘I read a bunch of books while I was laid up you know? You should have seen Twilight, she was so proud’, Rainbow Dash added with a smirk.

Whirlwind glanced down at the ground, Rainbow Dash mentally kicked herself, and she had known that Whirlwind had a thing for her for months. That was probably what had made things so hard from him, he felt responsible for her getting hurt. Rainbow Dash scooted over to him and gave the Pegasus stallion a hug. ‘Hey come on! It wasn’t you who hurt me! It wasn’t your fault! Stop beating yourself up over it!’

Whirlwind returned her hug and began to cry quietly into Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. This was more than a little awkward for her, Rainbow Dash was hardly the most qualified to comfort somepony when they needed it. Now she felt bad. Whirlwind was her friend, she needed to do something nice for him, she needed to be a friend to him, and she needed to figure it out now. ‘It’s okay... it’s okay...’ Rainbow Dash said quietly as she continued to hug her friend.

Before Rainbow Dash knew what had happened, Whirlwind had started kissing her. She let it happen, one little kiss couldn’t hurt. Whirlwind needed to feel better... but as the kissing continued, Rainbow Dash found herself liking it, worse, she started kissing him back.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were an item. She knew what she was doing with Whirlwind was wrong, but it enticed her even more the fact that it was. The more wrong that it was, the more excited she got. Rainbow Dash was on her back now, Whirlwind was on top of her, and she felt her wings as they began to spread. She noticed that his were too.

This was wrong, she knew it, he knew it, and they both loved it all the same. That was when Rainbow Dash felt something poking her between her legs, and then she felt Whirlwind enter her. Rainbow Dash moaned in pleasure. This was wrong, so very wrong, but Rainbow Dash’s mind wasn’t interested in that, all she cared about now was the here and now. It was wrong, but that was what made it so good.

The two Pegasus ponies made love on that cloud, minutes felt like hours. Soon enough Rainbow Dash felt her back arch and she let out a cry of pleasure as she reached her peak, she felt warmth shoot through her body as Whirlwind reached his climax as well. The two Pegasus ponies exited each other collapsed backwards on the cloud, breathing heavily, and slowly having the realisation of what they had done, and the implications of it set in.

Whirlwind sat up and backed away. ‘I... Rainbow Dash... I... I’m so sorry... I... I don’t know what came over me! I... I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’ With that, Whirlwind dived off the cloud and headed for his home on the outskirts of town.

Rainbow Dash was about to call out for him, and then she too realised what she had just done.

She’d had sex. With Whirlwind. While she and Twilight were in a relationship. Rainbow Dash had just cheated on Twilight Sparkle. She’d gotten caught up in the moment, and she’d fallen. She was supposed to be the loyal friend and lover, and she let this happen. How could she let this happen? Rainbow Dash fell onto her back and looked up at the sky.

How could she tell Twilight?

...

Twilight Sparkle had just finished re-shelving the history section of the Library when there was a knock upon her door. Twilight trotted over to the door and opened it, greeting her visitor with a smile.

‘Hello Raindrops... did you forget to bring something to me when you were doing your post route earlier?’ Twilight asked.

‘Ah, no, not this time! I promise!’ Raindrops said, the beige coloured mare said, nervously running a hoof through her teal mane. Raindrops was Ponyville’s mailmare, and was, quite frankly, very bad at her job. She was clumsy, forgetful, and all around ill-suited to the job that she had been given, unfortunately, she was also the only pony in Ponyville who had been willing to take the job after the departure of Derpy Hooves, now known as Ditzy Doo, from the town. They were stuck with her.

‘Oh, well that’s good! You’re getting better!’ Twilight said with a nervous smile.

‘Uhh... not really’, Raindrops said with a shrug. ‘It’s okay Miss Sparkle... I know I suck at this job, you don’t need to pretend like you haven’t noticed... but no! I came by because I found this at the bottom of my mailbag when I got done today’, Raindrops said, she opened up her mailbag and pulled out what was clearly a book that had been poorly wrapped up in a brown postage paper. ‘It didn’t have an address on it or anything, so I asked my boss what I should do with it, well, we usually get rid of unmarked mail, but I figured... it’s a book, so why not donate it to the Library!’

‘Oh!’ Twilight said in surprise as she took the book from Raindrops. ‘Why thank you! That’s very kind of you! Do you know what the book is about?’

‘Ah... no, I didn’t look at it, I’m not allowed to open other ponies’ mail... even if it’s not actually going to anypony... I think... I’m not actually sure, but I’m sure it’ll get better use here than rotting with the rest of ponies’ rubbish, right?’ Raindrops asked.

‘That’s quite all right, thank you Raindrops!’ Twilight said brightly. Raindrops waved her goodbyes and Twilight shut the door behind her, she set the book down on the table and went back to re-shelving her books, she’d take a look at it later.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rainbow Dash gently pushed open the Ponyville Library door and trotted inside. Twilight Sparkle and Spike were busy reorganising the bookshelves as they did every couple of weeks, and of course, by Twilight and Spike, Rainbow Dash actually meant just Twilight. Spike actually wasn’t helping, just pretending to look busy by swapping the places of two books back and forth over and over again, occasionally moving down the line so that Twilight wouldn’t notice he wasn’t actually doing any work.

‘Uh... Twilight?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash and smiled sweetly at her; she trotted over to Rainbow Dash and planted a kiss on her lips. The kiss was brief, lasting for no more than a few seconds, but during it, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel horribly guilty, she was a terrible person, and here she was getting wonderful treatment from Twilight, ignorant of what Rainbow Dash had done. ‘Wha... what was that for?’ Rainbow Dash asked nervously.

‘Because I felt like it’, Twilight said sassily, and proudly, in a way that one would have expected out of Rarity, she grinned at Rainbow Dash and gave her a wink.

Spike gagged, pointing a claw at his mouth to show his disgust, but then immediately went back to pretending to do what he was pretending to do.

‘Uhh... heh’, Rainbow Dash said nervously, rubbing her hoof against the back of her head. ‘Uh... Twilight? I need to talk to you about something...’

Twilight’s grin faded. ‘Rainbow? Is everything okay?’

‘Can we go upstairs?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight nodded in agreement and the two mares trotted up the stairs and shut the bedroom door behind them. Spike looked up from where he was sitting on the floor, his interest in Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s relationship was minimal most of the time.

‘WHAT?!’ Twilight screamed.

Spike’s head shot up in interest. The door to the bedroom flung open and Rainbow Dash ran down the stairs as fast as she could, Twilight had taken to throwing various objects at her and chasing her with the very large and very heavy looking book that Raindrops had brought to her this morning. Rainbow Dash threw open the door and galloped out into Ponyville proper.

Twilight stopped at the front door and continued to shout after Rainbow Dash‘I DON’T WANT TO EVER SEE YOU AGAIN RAINBOW DASH! DON’T YOU DARE EVER COME BACK HERE!’ Twilight ended the ‘conversation’ by slamming the door shut.

‘Twilight? Is everything okay?’ Spike asked.

Twilight took a few steps and collapsed onto the floor in tears. Spike rushed over to her and knelt down next to her. ‘Twilight? What happened?’ he asked.

‘R... Rainbow Dash cheated on me Spike’, Twilight said, she got back up to her hooves and ran up the stairs to her room, still levitating the big book and pulling it along with her. ‘Leave me alone, Spike! I want to be alone!’ she cried out as she slammed the door behind her.

Twilight leapt onto her bed, grabbing her pillow and holding it close to her, she buried her head in it and sobbed heavily. Twilight cried, and cried, and cried, and cried, and cried, and cried. She only stopped crying when her tear ducts went dry, and even then she wasn’t feeling any better.

Part of what was making Twilight upset was who Rainbow Dash was. Rainbow Dash was the Element of Loyalty. What she had done to her was a huge slap to the face, the most disloyal thing that a pony could ever do to another had been done to her by loyalty itself. What did that say about the ideals that they all held dear? If Rainbow Dash could do that to her... what about the rest of her friends, what were they capable of?

Twilight sat up on her bed and wiped her eyes, and took notice of the book that Raindrops had brought to her this morning. It was lying on her bed. She pulled it close to her, the title wasn’t printed on it, which was odd for a book in this day and age, the book had to be pretty old, and it did look to be pretty old.

But if Twilight Sparkle had learned anything, it was this: never judge a book by its cover. Maybe a bit of reading would help take her mind of Rainbow Dash, she pulled the book under her face and opened it up to the first page and began to read.

...

Rainbow Dash trotted through Ponyville nervously. Her heart was filled with guilt, she knew that she had done wrong, she had done the worst thing that she could have ever possibly have done, how could she live with herself? What would she do now?

Twilight Sparkle had thrown her out, it was only going to be a matter of time before the rest of her friends found out, and they were going to be just as disgusted with her as Twilight had been. Now Rainbow Dash needed to figure out what she was going to do. She would need to find where she was going to be sleeping tonight. Since moving in with Twilight, Rainbow Dash had sold off her cloud home, and Cloudsdale had reclaimed it for material. She had no place to live, and she couldn’t ask one of her other friends, they’d be finding out soon, and they’d side with Twilight in the issue, as they should, Twilight was the victim, and Rainbow Dash had victimised her.

Rainbow Dash turned north, she knew one place she could go where she wouldn’t be in anypony’s way, while she knew where she was going, she hung her head low and wasn’t quite paying attention to what she was doing, and hadn’t noticed that she’d walked right into somepony.

Rainbow Dash’s head shot up. It was Doctor Nightly. ‘Oh, hey doc’, Rainbow Dash said plainly.

‘Hello Rainbow Dash, good thing I ran into you, I’m going to have to move your check up back a few days... is Tuesday going to be okay with you?’ Doctor Nightly asked.

‘Yeah, sure, whatever’, Rainbow Dash said unenthusiastically. Today was Thursday, and Rainbow Dash was fine, she knew she was fine, she didn’t need this extra check up, but the good doctor was very insistent that he keep a regular eye on her condition.

‘Rainbow Dash? Is everything all right? You look... down’, Doctor Nightly asked.

‘Yeah, I’m fine’, Rainbow Dash said plainly.

‘Are you sure? Because if something is wrong, you can tell me, doctor/patient confidentiality applies’, Doctor Nightly said.

‘I’m sure, bye doc, see you Tuesday’, Rainbow Dash said as she passed him and continued on her way without looking back. Rainbow Dash turned and headed along the east road out of Ponyville and into Whitetail Wood, where she happened upon a small cave opening. Rainbow Dash felt her way along the darkened tunnels of the cave until she reached the lowest point. At the end she discovered the big metal door to the Everfree Plains Ballistic Research and Development Facility, better known by its acronym of EPMB. Rainbow Dash went over to the control door, punching in the password of ‘aurora borealis’, and standing back as hazard lights began to flash, the air hissed with steam. Rainbow Dash covered her ears as the opening mechanism for the door pulled the door back, and the sound of metal grinding against metal split the air. The door rolled to the left and Rainbow Dash trotted inside, only flinching slightly as the door shut behind her. It wasn’t exactly the best place to sleep, but it was better than being on the streets.

...

Twilight Sparkle picked up her head from the book that she’d been reading when she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

‘Twilight! It’s me! Spike!’ Spike called out as he pushed open the door. ‘I know you said you wanted to be left alone, but I came to see if you wanted any dinner?’

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Spike’s question. ‘Spike? It’s far too early for dinner!’ Twilight said with annoyance in her voice.

‘Twilight... it’s six o’clock, you’ve been up here for hours...’ Spike said.

‘No it’s not Spike, I’ve only been up here for like ten minutes and...’ Twilight paused when she glanced at the clock on her bedside table, indeed, it did say six o’clock, it been a quarter to noon when she had come up here. Twilight looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting. ‘Wow, I knew that this book was good’, Twilight said with a smirk. ‘I didn’t realise it was THAT good’.

‘What have you been reading?’ Spike asked.

‘Oh, it’s this really interesting book! It’s called the Tome of Alhazred, and it’s sort of a book about everything!’ Twilight said. Though Spike didn’t think it was that helpful of a description.

‘Can I see?’ Spike asked as he walked towards her, and the book.

‘NO!’ Twilight cried out, snatching the book up and pulling it close to her. ‘Uhh... I mean... not until I’m done with it... heh heh...’ Twilight said, chuckling nervously and glancing around. ‘Dinner sounds good, Spike, I’ll be down in a minute... I just... uh... need to find a bookmark’.

Spike shrugged and walked out of the bedroom and back into the kitchen, Twilight set the Tome of Alhazred back down on her bed and continued reading, she didn’t know what it was about this book... but it was so... interesting, she just couldn’t stop.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Twilight Sparkle did not come down for dinner, Spike sighed and ate without her, wrapping up what was left over and placing it in the refrigerator before heading upstairs to check on Twilight. He opened her bedroom door and discovered, much to what he expected, Twilight nose deep in the book.

‘Twilight?’ He asked.

Twilight looked up and gave him an annoyed look. ‘I said I would be down in just a minute Spike’, she said in annoyance.

‘Twilight, that was four hours ago’, Spike said, pointing to her clock with now said ten o’clock.

‘Oh... uh... heh heh’, Twilight chuckled nervously. ‘I’m sorry Spike’.

Spike let out a sigh in annoyance. ‘It’s fine Twilight... just, promise me that you’re not going to be couped up in here all day tomorrow reading that book, go outside and talk to your friends!’

‘Oh, I will Spike! I promise’, Twilight said. ‘I’m actually almost done, I’m going to finish up this book and then I’m going right to bed’.

‘Okay Twilight, good night’, Spike said, shutting the door behind him and walking off to the spare room that he’d taken as his since Twilight and Rainbow Dash had gotten together.

Another hour passed, two, three, before Twilight Sparkle reached the last page of the Tome of Alhazred and closed the book; of course, she had not noticed the passage of time, just as she had not noticed when Spike had interrupted her. She was however, quite tired, and now that she had finished the four thousand page book, she could go to sleep. Twilight pulled the covers over herself, and found herself unconsciously snuggling with the book, she was much more tired than she thought she was, and drifted right off to sleep.

...

Twilight Sparkle found herself at Sugarcube Corner the next morning, despite the fact that the Cakes had not yet reopened the shop for business; the building had been completed enough for them, and Pinkie Pie, to live in. Pinkie Pie must have still been asleep, which Twilight found odd considering it was midmorning. She trotted up the stairs towards Pinkie Pie’s room and knocked on the door.

‘Pinkie!’ Twilight called out to her. She got no reply. ‘Pinkie?’ Twilight asked again, still getting nothing. Twilight tried the door, it was unlocked, and so she pushed the door open. ‘Pinkie Pie? What gives? Are you deaf or something? I guess I should be surprised considering you make explosives for fun and...’

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth fell open and she could not believe what she was seeing. Pinkie Pie was suspended from the ceiling by a rope around her neck. Twilight screamed.

...

Twilight’s eyes shot open, and she discovered herself lying in her bed. ‘Pinkie!’ Twilight cried out. She through the covers off her and leapt from bed, she scampered down the stairs and out the door, she galloped at full pace down the high street, skidding to a halt at Sugarcube Corner, Twilight burst through the door and galloped up the stairs, bursting into Pinkie Pie’s room.

‘PINKIE!’ Twilight cried out.

Pinkie Pie sat up in bed. ‘Huh? What? What’s going on?’ she said sleepily.

Twilight ran over to Pinkie Pie’s bed and leapt into it, throwing her forelegs around Pinkie Pie and hugging her close. ‘Oh... Pinkie... oh Pinkie! You’re okay, you’re okay...’ Twilight said as she began to cry into Pinkie Pie’s shoulder.

Pinkie Pie, highly confused, merely shrugged inwardly and hugged her friend back. ‘Well of course I’m okay! Why would I not be? Silly!’

Twilight did not answer, she had fallen back asleep, grasping Pinkie Pie tightly, ‘Oh... Pinkie...’ she mumbled in her sleep.

Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but feel more than a little awkward as she lay in her bed, Twilight holding her closely. This was everything that Pinkie Pie could ever want. Twilight, her crush, the pony that she adored dearly was here, in bed with her. She was cuddling, with her!. She was being affectionate, with her! It was everything that Pinkie Pie had ever wanted, and she wanted nothing more than to lie here the entire night with Twilight Sparkle, holding her close and keeping her safe. Twilight was clearly worked up about something. Pinkie Pie wanted to wake her and ask what was going on, but she looked at Twilight, sleeping so peacefully beside her, she couldn’t do it.

She thought more about the situation itself, and frowned. This was everything she wanted, but she couldn’t let it continue. As far as Pinkie Pie still knew, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were still together. Pinkie Pie imagined that Rainbow Dash might not be too happy about Twilight sleeping here, with her. Pinkie Pie fought the urge to just lie here and let it happen, Twilight was so warm, and cuddly, and she was here, with her, but Pinkie Pie knew she had to do the right thing. She took care to gently wriggle her way out of Twilight’s grasp without waking her, and crawled out of bed. She gently picked Twilight up and draped the sleeping unicorn over her back, she must have been really tired, because this probably would have woken up anypony else. Pinkie Pie walked slowly out of her room, making sure not to wake Twilight with any sudden movements.

Pinkie Pie walked Twilight back to the Library, carrying her up the stairs to her bedroom. Pinkie Pie was surprised to discover that the bed was empty. Where was Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie could only wonder. She pulled the covers back on Twilight’s bed and gently placed the sleeping unicorn in her bed. Pinkie Pie had to bite her hoof to keep herself from laughing when Twilight immediately wrapped herself around this really big book that was lying on the bed. That was so Twilight. Pinkie Pie got herself under control and pulled the covers back over Twilight. She thought about giving the sleeping unicorn a goodnight kiss on her forehead, but decided against it. It wouldn’t be appropriate.

‘Goodnight Twilight’, Pinkie Pie whispered as she backed out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her and letting the unicorn sleep.

...

Twilight awoke the next morning bright and early; she let out a yawn and stretched out her legs. She looked around, she was in her room. She had sworn that the last thing she remembered was being at Sugarcube Corner, in Pinkie Pie’s bedroom... but then she figured that if she was here, then it must have just been a dream.

Twilight hated dreams within dreams, you never knew if you were actually awake or not, and slapped herself on the ankle of her left foreleg to make sure that she was actually awake. She discovered that she was and got out of bed. It was nine o’clock in the morning, she had promised Spike that she would go and see her friends. She picked up her saddlebags off the floor and immediately began to stuff the Tome of Alhazred into it, and was mildly disappointed when the giant book did not fit. Never mind the fact that it took her several moments to realise that she was trying to fit the book inside it.

‘Huh...’ Twilight said to herself as she set the book back on the bed. ‘OH! I know! I’ll go see Rarity and see if she can’t make me some bigger saddlebags!’ Twilight said aloud to herself, despite the fact that she didn’t actually need bigger saddlebags; the thought that she didn’t actually need these bigger bags didn’t cross her mind in the slightest.

Twilight Sparkle trotted down the stairs and out the door to Carousel Boutique, passing by Spike, who was cooking breakfast on her way out, not even taking notice that she had passed him. Only one thought occupied her mind. Bigger saddlebags.

She made the quick trot across the town towards Rarity’s shop. She opened the door to Carousel Boutique, listening to the bell on the door as it chimed.

‘Welcome to Carousel Boutique, now what can I... Twilight! Darling!’ Rarity said as she walked out of the back room and trotted over to her friend.

‘Hi Rarity!’ Twilight said with a smile.

‘Twilight! My dear! How good to see you!’ Rarity said with a twinkle in her eyes. ‘What can I do for you!?’

‘Well, I was hoping to see if you could make me some bigger saddlebags... seven litres should be good’, Twilight said.

‘Oh! Of course darling! I’ve got an idea already! I’ll get started on them right away! Give me three hours and I’ll have them ready!’ Rarity said happily.

Twilight smiled at her friend, she knew she could always count on Rarity. ‘Thank you so much, Rarity! How much do I owe you?’

‘Oh, Twilight! Darling! Don’t even worry about it, for one of my very best friends? Free of charge!’ Rarity said.

Twilight frowned. That was Rarity for you, she was generous, sure, but sometimes Twilight thought she could be a bit too generous, Twilight would feel bad taking them without paying for it. ‘No, Rarity, really! I insist on paying for them! You’ll do a good job, I know you will, you deserve to be paid for it’.

‘Twilight, dear, I appreciate you’re admiration in my skills, but really, I shant take your money!’ Rarity said. ‘I insist!’

Twilight sighed, and then a look of anger began to form on her face. ‘RARITY! I’m going to pay for the damn saddlebags! Now how much!?’ she cried out angrily.

‘Oh... well, uh, if you’re really that adamant about it... for a seven litre saddlebags I would charge, one pound two and six’, Rarity said nervously.

Twilight blinked and realised exactly what she had done. ‘I... I’m sorry Rarity; I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I... just... well, things aren’t going very well right now...’

Rarity’s mouth fell open. ‘Oh Twilight! What’s wrong?!’

‘Rainbow Dash and I... sort of broke up, she cheated on me and I threw her out’, Twilight said.

‘WHAT?!’ Rarity cried out in surprise. ‘How could she!? Oh Twilight! This is the... WORST... POSSIBLE... THING! I think I need to find Rainbow Dash and have words with her!’

Twilight offered Rarity a small smile. ‘Thanks Rarity, you’re a good friend... I should go and let you get to work’.

‘Well, all right Twilight, but please! If you ever need somepony to talk to, come to me!’ Rarity said. ‘I’ll never forsake you!’

‘I appreciate that Rarity’, Twilight said with a smile. She hugged her fellow unicorn and waved her goodbye and allowed her to get to work.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rainbow Dash awoke at what felt like late morning, far earlier than what she usually slept to. Twilight had liked to get up early, so Rainbow Dash found herself waking early as well. Rainbow Dash sat up and looked around the room that she had found to sleep in. This room, clearly, what had once been the personal quarters of Doctor Emerald Sparkle. Everything in the room might have been over a thousand years old, but it all felt as if it was brand new. Rainbow Dash looked over to the door, and jumped slightly when it opened, a maintenance robot, a robot in the shape of an earth pony with two manipulator arms jaunting out of the side of it had come check if the room needed tidying, as it likely had every day for the last for who knows how long.

The robot studied Rainbow Dash for a few moments before speaking in its artificial voice. ‘Please. Vacate the bed’.

‘Why?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

The robot continued to study Rainbow Dash for a moment before giving an answer. ‘So that the sheets may be changed’.

Rainbow Dash hopped off the bed and let the robot do its work; it pulled the sheets off the bed and just as quickly put new ones on.

‘Thank you... I guess?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

‘You are welcome’, the robot said. ‘Is there anything you require?’

‘I’d like to be happy, think you can manage that?’ Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically.

The robot stayed silent for a moment before answering. ‘I will require a hardware upgrade before being able to perform that function’.

‘What?’ Rainbow Dash asked, then she realised something, Emerald Sparkle had lived here, alone, for who knows how long, that had to get pretty lonely. Rainbow Dash found herself getting disgusted at the images that were popping into her head. ‘No! I don’t want that! You can leave’.

‘Affirmative’, the robot said as it turned and departed from the room.

Rainbow Dash had to wonder if the robots even recognised the significance of the fact that she was living here now? Probably not. Rainbow Dash was bored already; she couldn’t exactly show herself around Ponyville right now. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had probably all found out about what had happened by now, and they were likely rallying to Twilight’s side. Good, they should. Twilight was the victim in the matter, not her. She’d stay here for a couple of days, out of sight, out of mind... hopefully.

It’s not like anypony would come looking for her here. Twilight had told her and the rest of their group of friends the password to the door of EPMB, but the likelihood that they’d come looking for her here was pretty low.

Glancing around the room, Rainbow Dash noticed rows of books upon books. Emerald Sparkle and Twilight Sparkle were clearly related. Rainbow Dash picked one up at random and opened it up. She noticed instantly that it was a physics text with complicated mathematical equations scribbled into it. Contrary to popular belief, Rainbow Dash actually wasn’t half bad at math, and she had taken a number of physics courses in her stint at flight school before she’d been kicked out.

She put a stop to that line of thought immediately; Flight School wasn’t something that she wanted to think about. She already felt terrible as it was.

Knowledge of mathematics and physics may not be exactly required to fly, but if you wanted to fly well then it was pretty much necessary. Mathematics never lies. Proper math can get you results. No pun intended. Getting ready for the year 1000 Best Young Flier’s Competition, Rainbow Dash had done a lot of work trying to figure out exactly what she’d need to do to pull off the Sonic Rainboom. Six months of discrete research, she did have a reputation to uphold and she wasn’t going to get anywhere with the reputation for being an egghead, and she had finally worked it all out. Then it just came down to practicing and trying to make it work... well, everypony knew how that turned out.

Rainbow Dash immediately shut the book again, returning it to the shelf. The equations scribbled in the margins of the books were far too complex for her mind to grasp, maybe even too complex for Twilight.

Rainbow Dash pulled another book; this was a book on robots. Printed design documents for the various robots that Rainbow Dash had encountered. Spritebots, combots, and the protecolts, which were the maintenance robots that had just changed the bedsheets, Rainbow Dash read through the book, discovering that it was quite easy to follow, and decided that, since she really had nothing better to do, might as well read it.

...

Rarity had finished Twilight’s new saddlebags ahead of schedule; she draped them over one of her mannequins to inspect her handiwork.

‘Ahh, simply divine! Twilight is sure to love them!’ Rarity said as she pulled them off the mannequin and headed out the door to take them to her, almost literally running into Pinkie Pie in the process.

‘Oh! Hey Rarity!’ Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

‘Ah... hello Pinkie Pie, sorry, can’t stop to chat, I have a delivery to make to Twilight’, Rarity said.

‘What a coincidence!’ Pinkie Pie said. ‘I’m just on my way to see Twilight, she showed up in my room in the middle of the night hugging me and mumbling to herself, saying she was glad I was okay’.

‘Oh? I wonder if that has anything to do with what happened between her and Rainbow Dash?’ Rarity asked.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened. ‘Something happened between Twilight and Dashie!?’ she asked in surprise.

‘She didn’t tell you?’ Rarity asked in surprise, figuring that if Twilight had been to see Pinkie Pie last night, then Pinkie Pie was sure to have already gotten the scoop. Pinkie Pie shook her head in the negative. Rarity frowned and motioned for Pinkie Pie to follow her. ‘Come, walk with me Pinkie Pie, we need to be very supportive of Twilight, she’s going through a rough patch, Rainbow Dash cheated on her’.

‘What!?’ Pinkie Pie cried out. ‘That doesn’t sound like Rainbow Dash at all!’

‘I know! That’s what I said!’ Rarity said. ‘I cannot believe that Rainbow Dash could do something so... horrid. Cheating is the. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!’

Pinkie Pie nodded her head in agreement.

‘So we need to be very understanding and supportive of Twilight in her time of need’, Rarity said.

‘Uh huh!’ Pinkie Pie said, nodding her head firmly in agreement. Now it made sense to her why Twilight’s bed had been empty when Pinkie Pie had taken her home last night. Pinkie Pie wondered if her choice had been the right one. If she had known, maybe she could have comforted Twilight... but the more she thought about it, the more she was glad she had taken Twilight home. She would have felt like she was taking advantage of Twilight’s emotional state otherwise.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity had made the trip across town and arrived in front of the Library. Rarity reached out and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened up to reveal Spike.

‘Oh! Hi Rarity, Hi Pinkie Pie’, Spike said, as if he’d been expecting somepony else.

‘Hello Spike!’ Rarity said with a smile. ‘Is Twilight in?’

‘Uhh... yeah, she’s upstairs, you can go on up... just let me warn you though, Twilight’s not in the best state of mind right now... last time I saw her she was crying and hugging this book that she got real close like’, Spike said as he stepped aside.

‘Thank you Spike’, Rarity said sweetly.

‘You... you’re welcome’, Spike said with a nervous grin. Rarity and Pinkie Pie trotted up the stairs and knocked on Twilight’s bedroom door.

‘Go away Spike... just... leave me alone right now, okay?’ Twilight said sadly.

‘Twilight! It’s Rarity!’ Rarity called out to her.

‘And Pinkie Pie!’ Pinkie Pie added.

‘May we please come in?’ Rarity asked.

Twilight was quiet for a moment, but eventually gave them permission to enter. Rarity pushed open the door. Twilight was lying on her bed, wiping tears from her eyes and clutching a very large and heavy looking book close to her.

‘Twilight, darling!’ Rarity said as she trotted over and took a seat on the bed next to Twilight. Pinkie Pie took a seat on the opposite side. ‘I can’t possibly imagine what you must be feeling right now, but you can talk to us about it!’

‘Yeah Twilight! We’re you’re friends! We’re here for you!’ Pinkie Pie said, smiling brightly at her.

Twilight offered Pinkie Pie a weak smile back. ‘Thanks girls... I... I just keep thinking to myself, what happened? Did... did I do something? Did I not please Rainbow Dash enough? What did I do wrong?!’

‘Oh Twilight! There’s nothing wrong with you! It’s Rainbow Dash who’s got something wrong with her if she can’t see how good you are!’ Pinkie Pie said, patting Twilight reassuringly on her flank.

‘Indeed! When I see Rainbow Dash, I intend to give her a piece of my mind!’ Rarity said. ‘Now, you need to get out and have some fun! How about you set that book down and we’ll...’

‘NO!’ Twilight cried out as she clutched the book closer to her. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were both taken aback by Twilight’s outburst, and she began to eye the two ponies nervously. ‘Uh... heh heh... I... I’m really sorry girls... I think you’re right, I need to get out and have some fun, give me a few minutes to get ready’.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked at each other, it was the stress, it had to be, the two of them smiled at Twilight, they departed from the room to give her some time to get ready, and not giving the outburst another thought.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ten minutes later, Twilight trotted down the stairs wearing the new saddlebags that Rarity had made for her.

‘Sheash Twilight and I thought Rarity took forever to get ready’, Pinkie Pie said with a toothy grin, causing Rarity to give her an annoyed look, and getting a nervous sounding chuckle from Twilight.

Ultimately, Rarity said nothing to Pinkie Pie and turned back to Twilight. ‘Twilight! Dear, you look absolutely smashing with those new saddlebags!’ she said leaping up from her seat and pacing around Twilight and giving her a look over. ‘Absolutely smashing!’

‘Thank you so much Rarity! I really love them!’ Twilight said smiling brightly at her friend. ‘I have your payment right here, 1 pound two and six!’ Twilight added, levitating several coins out of her new saddlebag and depositing them in Rarity’s saddlebags to make sure that the unicorn wouldn’t try to ‘casually and accidentally’ leave the payment behind.

‘Oh you’re quite welcome Twilight!’ Rarity said with a smile. ‘Anything for one of my good and dear friends! Now come! Let’s go find Applejack and Fluttershy and have fun today!’

Twilight nodded and Pinkie Pie, being the closest to the door and opened it up. As luck would have it, Fluttershy was outside the door preparing to knock on it the second that the door opened, and as a result accidentally knocked on Pinkie Pie’s face.

Fluttershy let out a gasp of horror. ‘Oh! Pinkie Pie, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!’

Pinkie Pie looked mildly disappointed at the incident. ‘Pinkie sense has failed me...’ she said quietly, but then turned right back around at Fluttershy and gave her a bright smile. ‘It’s okay Fluttershy! I know you didn’t mean it! We were actually just coming to find you!’

‘You were?’ Fluttershy asked. ‘We’ll I’m glad I was able to save you the trip, I was coming to talk to Rainbow Dash, and she was going to help me move...’ Fluttershy stopped right in her tracks as she noticed a wave of depression overtake Twilight Sparkle at the mention of Rainbow Dash’s name. ‘Twilight?’ Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie Pie took Fluttershy aside and explained the situation to her as Rarity stepped forward to comfort her fellow unicorn. Fluttershy’s eyes got wide at Pinkie Pie’s explanation.

‘That... that can’t be true! That doesn’t sound like Rainbow Dash at all!’ Fluttershy said. ‘Poor Twilight...’

Pinkie Pie nodded her head in agreement. ‘We’re all going to go find Rainbow Dash later and give her pieces of our minds!’

‘You’re... you’re not going to hurt her, are you?’ Fluttershy asked, looking horrified.

‘Of course not Fluttershy! We’re just going to give her a good talking to’, Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

Rarity and Twilight trotted out of the Library, Twilight was still looking sad, but no longer looked like she was about to break down into tears. Whatever Rarity had said to her had obviously helped.

Rarity trotted over to Fluttershy and leaned in close to whisper into her ear. ‘Fluttershy, be a dear, fly over to Sweet Apple Acres and warn Applejack about what’s going on, the last thing we need is Twilight having another breakdown’.

‘Oh... okay, if you think that’s best’, Fluttershy said nodding in agreement. Before leaving, she trotted up to Twilight and gave her a smile. ‘Don’t worry Twilight, it’ll be okay! Would it be all right with you if I gave you a hug?’

Twilight nodded in affirmation and Fluttershy wrapped around her friend for a gentle hug. Twilight couldn’t help but smile. ‘Thank you, thank you all so much, you girls are the best friends a pony could ask for!’

...

Rainbow Dash had spent a couple of hours studying the robotics manual, and had decided to take a walk around the missile base, it wasn’t long before she’d found some kind of workshop, filled with several half assembled robots and various in assorted tools. She thought to herself, why not? What was the harm in fooling around with them? She trotted over to the workbench, where a single, mostly intact spritebot was lying on the bench. It looked as if somepony had been working on it relatively recently. Rainbow Dash looked to discover that the back panel had been taken off. She discovered quickly that one of the robot’s thermionic valves had not been screwed in all the way, and gave it a quarter turn to the right.

More to her surprise, doing so caused the robot to snap to life. The spritebot began to chirp and buzz and make all sorts of noise.

‘Diagnostics complete, begin recording’, the artificial voice of Emerald Sparkle barked loudly. ‘Head researchers log, Doctor Emerald Sparkle recording, timestamp, 2259, 22/1/4006 ROG, I refuse to use that new calendar... Yes, Doppler, I know, stay on topic. Well, here we are. Spritebot, Durable, Subject Epsilon, SD-E is the only remaining prototype of the durable combat model spritebots. The Durable project was designed to increase combat effectiveness in Spritebots... a sort of just in case project. One of these days, that bitch is going to find out that I’m down here. I need something to protect myself with, especially once I hook myself into the mainframe, there will be no going back, once I get in, there’s no coming back out. Disconnection from the mainframe will result in brain damage, test upon test confirmed that. Without taking measures to protect myself when I am most vulnerable is nothing short of a death sentence. Well, that was the goal of the durable model spritebots, sadly to say, the project was a complete failure. Of the five prototypes, Subject Epsilon was the only one to remain stable. Subjects Alpha through Delta’s artificial personalities went insane, and unfortunately self-terminated. While the project was an ultimate failure, SD-E, or Sadie, as I’ve come to refer to her, was not. While not a true artificial intelligence, Sadie is able to emulate certain facets of personality and emotion common in ponykind, thus, is able to mimic happiness, sadness, disappointment, regret, et cetra, while these emotions are not real and not genuine, it leaves a avenue open for further research into developing artificial intelligence. Sadie’s artificial personality is even more advanced than Doppler’s, who would be jealous, except his AP hasn’t been programmed to feel emotions... Unfortunately, it will be quite some time until that avenue can be explored, with the durable spritebot project a failure. I have to start from scratch, I’ve had an idea that I’m very excited about, but I can’t afford to waste much more time. I have to finish designing the combat robots and hook myself into the mainframe by the end of this year if I’m going to have any hope of getting them ready for my grand design. EPMB’s minifacturing facilities, while advanced, are slower than mass production, with only being able to produce an average of 1.6 combat robots per year, I need to get started... this could be so much easier... if only I had access to the Fillydelphia Ironworks, as luck would have it, somepony cut the hardlines, isolating the Ironworks from the rest of the network, probably thanks to some idiot digging a ditch or something. This is Doctor Emerald Sparkle, signing off.’

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times. ‘Huh’, she said to herself.

Sadie, the spritebot lying on the table, began beeping at her, trying to get her attention. Rainbow Dash looked down at the robot and noticed that it’s rear access panel had been taken off and was laying on the work bench. ‘You... want me to put this back on you?’ Rainbow Dash said, picking up the rear access panel. Sadie beeped in a happy sounding tone.

‘Uh... okay, I’ll see what I can do’, Rainbow Dash said. She placed the panel on the open part of the robot, and picked up a screwdriver in her teeth, lucky for her, the screwdriver had a small magnet in the end and attracted the screws to it. Rainbow Dash screwed the cover back onto the robot. ‘Umm... okay, it’s on’, Rainbow Dash said when she was done.

The spritebot chirped happily at her and began to flap it’s wings, rising into the air and flying out of the workshop. Rainbow Dash looked at it as it flew away. ‘I’m not sure if that was a good idea or not’.

...

Twilight and Co. arrived out in front of Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy had flown ahead to warn Applejack of what was troubling the lavender unicorn. She trotted up towards the road that leads to the farm, greeting the group warmly

‘Howdy ya’ll’, Applejack said. ‘Twilight, Ah jus’ want ya ta know, Ah’m real sorry this happened to ya, if that no good lousy cheater can’t see tha value in ya, then she don’t deserve ya. Yer better than her’.

‘Thanks Applejack’, Twilight said. ‘It really means a lot to hear you say that’.

Pinkie Pie, who was next to Twilight leaned over and patted Twilight on the back, she was about to say something, but the act had startled the lavender unicorn... which was odd, because it really shouldn’t have. Her saddlebags split open at the seam and the book that she had secretly been carrying fell out on the ground.

‘Uh... Twilight? There any perti’clar reason yer carryin’ around that big ol’ book?’ Applejack asked.

‘Yes!’ Twilight said snatching it up and pulling it closely to her. ‘Not that I’d expect an illiterate hick like you to understand’,

Everypony’s mouths fell open and they all gasped. They couldn’t believe that Twilight had actually just said that.

Applejack looked sorely at Twilight for that comment. ‘Yeah, maybe Ah can’t read like ya, but just cuz you got yer fancy Canterlot education don’ mean yer better than me!’

‘How about you go buck some apples Applejack’, Twilight snapped at her. ‘It’s what you’re good at’.

‘How ‘bout you go soak yer head! It’s honestly what ya need!’ Applejack quipped back.

Twilight turned and ‘accidentally’ swatted Applejack with her tail and galloped away. Applejack was furious she was ready to leap at the unicorn and beat the tar out of her were Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy not quick to hold her back.

Rarity picked up Twilight’s tattered new saddlebags and looked at them in disappointment. ‘What was that all about?’ she asked.

Nopony had a good answer.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Pinkie Pie had elected to head over to the Library to check up on Twilight. Their friend’s emotional state was clearly worse than they thought. Pinkie Pie gave it about an hour, and headed over to the Library, and knocked on the door, Spike answered and looked up at her.

‘Hey Pinkie’, he said.

‘Hi Spike... is Twilight here?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Yeah... I guess you can go up, I don’t know if she wants to see anyone though, she came in really huffy, and then broke down crying about three seconds after coming through the door and ran upstairs without saying a word to me’, Spike said. He took a step aside and allowed Pinkie Pie entry. Pinkie Pie trotted up the stairs and stiffened her resolve. There was a good chance that she wasn’t going to like what was on the other side if the door. She reached out and knocked on the door.

‘Go away Spike...’ Twilight said from inside.

‘It’s me... Pinkie’, Pinkie Pie replied.

Twilight said nothing in response, and Pinkie Pie pushed open the door, to discover Twilight curled up on her bed, rocking back and forth, clutching that book she’d had with her at Sweet Apple Acres.

‘Twilight?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘I don’t know what came over me Pinkie Pie... I just... I just looked at Applejack and then I got really angry. I still can’t believe I said that. I’m so horrible...’ Twilight said, continuing to rock back and forth. ‘What’s wrong with me Pinkie Pie? You’ve all been so good to me... Why did Rainbow Dash cheat on me?’

Pinkie Pie frowned, Twilight was struggling, the look in her eyes just made Pinkie Pie feel as though she needed to dive head first into a pit of sadness.

It was already late in the day, the sun was going down. Pinkie Pie trotted over to Twilight and sat down next to her. ‘I don’t think that there is anything wrong with you Twilight, you’re just hurt, and you want to lash out at the pony that hurt you, except she’s not here’.

Twilight nodded. Rainbow Dash had hurt her so much, she started to cry. Pinkie Pie approached her and wiped the tears from her friend’s eyes, smiling warmly at her.

‘Thank you Pinkie’, Twilight managed a weak smile. ‘You’ve been so good to me...’

‘You’re my friend Twilight, I care about you!’ Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile.

Twilight’s smile grew slightly more. She loosened her grip on the book and allowed it to fall onto the bed. Twilight sat up and gave Pinkie Pie a tight hug. ‘Pinkie Pie, you’re the best friend anypony could ever want. Thank you so much’.

‘Oh... Twilight! I’m not that great’, Pinkie Pie said modestly, rubbing a hoof against the back of her head.

‘Oh, don’t sell yourself short Pinkie!’ Twilight said with a smile. ‘You’re great! I... I wish that I’d seen how you felt about me before... you would have never cheated on me...’

The two of them sat quietly for a moment, Pinkie Pie wasn’t really sure what to say to that, but nevertheless, she tightened her grip on Twilight, giving the unicorn a big hug. ‘I’m always here for you Twilight’, Pinkie Pie said finally.

Twilight smiled, and enveloped the large book in her magic and levitated it into the air, placing it on the shelf. ‘Pinkie Pie... can I ask a favour?’

‘Of course you can Twilight!’ Pinkie Pie said.

‘I didn’t sleep very well last night... I’m... I’m not used to sleeping by myself anymore’, Twilight said. ‘Would... would you like to stay the night?’

Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure what to say about that. ‘Um... Twilight... I don’t know if that would be appropriate...’

Twilight frowned, but then gave Pinkie Pie a weak smile afterwards. ‘You’re always trying to look out for me Pinkie Pie. I appreciate it... I just... I just don’t want to be alone, that’s all’.

Pinkie Pie gave Twilight a small smile. ‘Okay’, she said finally.

Something at the back of Pinkie Pie’s mind was yelling at her, a little voice that was telling her that this wasn’t a good idea. Pinkie Pie ignored it.

Pinkie Pie and Twilight laid themselves down on Twilight’s bed, looking up at the ceiling. Twilight stretched out her right hoof and took Pinkie Pie’s left and gave her a smile. ‘Pinkie Pie? Thank you for being such a good friend to me’, she said, Pinkie Pie watched as a single tear ran down her cheek.

Pinkie Pie smiled back at her, and reached around and wiped the tear away. Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Pinkie Pie lay next to Twilight for a moment, looking up at the ceiling thinking about how she had come to be in this situation.

A book fell from its place on the shelf, landing with a hard thud. Pinkie Pie sat up and looked at it, discovering that it was the same book Twilight had been holding before. She looked over at Twilight; she had not even so much as stirred. The unicorn was fast asleep. Pinkie Pie rose from the bed and trotted over to the book to pick it up and place it back on the shelf.

She reached out with a hoof, mere seconds before touching it, Pinkie Sense went wild. Pinkie Pie pulled back, her instincts were practically screaming at her. ‘Do not touch that book’. Pinkie Pie’s entire body began to shake. This book had a malevolent magical aura around it.

It was starting to make sense to her now; Twilight hadn’t parted with it for much longer than a few minutes at the time during the past day. This book had to be the cause of Twilight’s violent outbursts. Pinkie Pie knew instantly. It had to go.

The problem was getting it out of here without touching it. Twilight was sure to not part with it willingly. Pinkie Pie looked around the room for anything she could use to safely pick up the book, finding nothing, she went into Twilight’s washroom and pulled out as many towels as she could and tossed them over the book, doing her best to wrap it up without actually touching it. She took the bundle in her teeth and walked with it over to the window, pushing the window open with a hoof and dropping the book out into the bushes. It may not have been the most permanent solution to the problem, but it would have to do for now. Pinkie Pie took the towels back into the washroom, folding them up and returning them to the place that she got them; she crawled back onto Twilight’s bed. Now all she had to do was make sure that Twilight kept away from that book.

...

Swan City, Western South Island, Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but grin madly as she looked out into the ocean, watching the waves roll in and out from her spot on the sandy beach, and watching as Surprise splashed water around just along the shoreline.

‘Can you even swim Surprise?’ Vinyl asked.

‘I dunno’, Surprise said with a shrug. Without warning a giant wave came from nowhere, knocking the Pegasus down and causing her to flop around struggling to get up. Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but snicker, and trotted over to help her friend to her hooves.

‘You’re the light of my life, Surprise’, Vinyl Scratch said as she pulled the Pegasus mare up. ‘Where were you all my life?’ she asked with a grin.

‘Lying awake on a bed in EPMB for years upon years plotting to murder everypony in Equestria’, Surprise said nonchalantly.

Surprise and Vinyl Scratch looked at each other for a moment, and then began to chuckle.

‘Heh heh... ohh... it’s too bad that statement is true’, Vinyl Scratch said.

‘Yeah, just kind of’, Surprise said with a shrug.

Vinyl grinned at her friend and motioned for her to follow. ‘Come on squirt; let’s get you dried off so we can get some food’.

‘I like food’, Surprise said.

‘I do too!’ Vinyl said brightly. ‘Food is my second favourite thing in the universe!’

Surprise gave Vinyl Scratch a sidelong look, not believing it for a second.

‘All right! All right! Fine, it’s my third favourite thing in the universe, you happy?’ Vinyl asked.

Surprise grinned madly and nodded her head in affirmation. Vinyl Scratch levitated a towel with her magic and dried Surprise off with it, or at least tried to, Vinyl didn’t get very far before Surprise began to shake herself dry like a dog would.

Vinyl couldn’t help but smile. Surprise’s silliness had a way of brightening even the darkest of days. She had never appreciated the Pegasus mare more.

Surprise had gone through many changes lately, her eyes were no longer blood red, but rather purple, which Surprise said had been the colour that they had been when she was born.

Vinyl Scratch looked up as a new comer, a grey Pegasus pony with ruby red eyes walked up to them. ‘Are you having fun, Vinyl Scratch?’ he said to them.

‘I always have fun!’ Vinyl Scratch said. ‘Glad you could join us Whirlwind’.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Pinkie Pie was asleep, dreaming a wonderful dream of her and Twilight spending time together in the library. In her dream, the two of them were huddled next to each other under a blanket during a cold, rainy spring night reading a book on chemistry together. The two of them were researching for a way to make better and better fireworks for the Summer Sun Celebration.

This dream was a common one for the pink party pony, and with everything that had happened, it seemed like it was becoming more and more likely to become reality with every passing second.

At least it did until Pinkie Pie was shaken awake; she looked up to discover that Twilight Sparkle was on top of her, looking down upon her angrily.

‘Where is it Pinkie Pie?’ Twilight asked.

‘What?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘I said... WHERE IS IT?!’ Twilight screamed at her.

‘I... Twilight... what are you...’ Pinkie Pie began to ask in confusion, but Twilight was quick to interrupt.

‘Don’t play games with me Pinkie Pie!’ Twilight said, clutching Pinkie Pie and yanking her forward. ‘Where is the book!?’

‘Twilight... please... I...’ Pinkie Pie began but did not have the chance to finish. Twilight raised a hoof and smacked Pinkie Pie across her face. Pinkie Pie looked up in horror at what Twilight had just done to her. ‘Twilight... you hit me’, Pinkie Pie said, almost as if she was trying to convince herself it had actually happened.

‘And it’s not all I’m going to do if you don’t tell me where the FUCKING BOOK IS!’ Twilight screamed at her, raising her hoof to strike Pinkie Pie again.

‘Twilight no!’ Pinkie Pie cried out doing her best to cover her face.

Twilight blinked, and blinked, and blinked a few more times. ‘Pinkie Pie...? What... what’s going on?’ Pinkie Pie said nothing, just continuing to cover her face. Twilight looked up and discovered her hoof in the air and set it down. ‘Pinkie Pie? What’s going on?’

‘You... Twilight... you hit me’, Pinkie Pie said sadly.

‘I... what!? No! Pinkie! I would never do that!’ Twilight cried out, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was Pinkie Pie. She got off of Pinkie Pie and rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. ‘I... remember... I remember going closing my eyes... I must have gone to sleep, the next thing I know, I’m on top of you with my hoof in the air... Pinkie... I... I don’t know what happened’.

‘You hit me Twilight’, Pinkie Pie said adamantly as she pulled the covers off her and climbed out of the bed. Her mane and tail had gone straight. ‘I’m sorry Twilight... but I have to leave’.

Twilight’s head shot up in panic. ‘What?! Pinkie! Wait no!’ she cried out, pleading for Pinkie Pie not to leave, but Pinkie merely shook her head.

‘I’m sorry Twilight, you’re my friend, and I want to help you... I really really do’, Pinkie Pie said as she walked to the door. ‘You’re still my friend, and I do care about you, but I’m not going to be abused’, Pinkie added as she opened the door and closed it behind her, and hoping to both princesses that she was making the right choice.

Princesses.

That was it; Pinkie Pie knew what needed to be done next. Pinkie Pie’s suspicions about that book had all but been confirmed with Twilight’s last outbursts. Pinkie Pie knew that they were all out of their league on this one. They were going to need help. Pinkie Pie quietly walked down the hallway to the other room and pushed the door open, Spike had moved the basket that he slept in into this room after Twilight and Rainbow Dash had gotten together so that the two of them could have some degree of privacy. ‘Spike?’ Pinkie Pie called out to him quietly.

‘Huh? Wha...?’ Spike said quietly as he sat up and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. He turned around and looked at Pinkie Pie, barely recognising her with her straight mane and tail. ‘Pinkie? Is that you?’

Pinkie Pie nodded and trotted into the room and closed the door behind you. ‘Spike? Can you send letters to anypony besides Princess Celestia?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Uh... yeah, sure, I guess. I mean, in theory. They would have to know how to accept the transfer... why?’ Spike asked.

‘Would you be able to send a letter to Princess Luna?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Princess Luna? I guess, sure. She would probably have the knowhow to get it... I think, why?’ Spike asked.

‘That book that Twilight hasn’t been able to let go?’ Pinkie Pie said. Spike nodded that he knew what she was talking about. ‘That book is evil’, Pinkie Pie said quietly. ‘I think its hurting Twilight and I think we’re going to need Princess Luna’s help to save her’.

Thunder cracked out, and they looked at the windows, rain drops began to splash against the windows, right on schedule. Pinkie Pie had tossed the book out the window hoping that tonight’s scheduled rainstorm would ruin it, but something else told her that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

‘All right... I’ll try’, Spike said, he went over and grabbed an empty scroll and scribbled a quick note to Princess Luna asking her to come to Ponyville, and that it was urgent. He rolled it up and concentrated hard on who he wanted to send it to. Ordinarily, sending letters to Princess Celestia was all that he did, and as such, was an easy task, but sending it to someone else would require a bit more concentration, he breathed his magical fire onto it and the letter turned into a wisp of smoke and headed for the window, which Pinkie Pie pushed open and then pulled shut again to let it out.

Now they would have to wait.

It ended up not being very long, a few minutes later, Spike opened his mouth and belched loudly, a scroll appeared in magical fire and plopped on the floor. Spike opened it up and read it out loud. ‘Coming. -L’, Spike read. ‘I told her to meet you at Sugarcube Corner, you go on ahead, and I’ll stay here and make sure Twilight stays safe’.

Pinkie Pie nodded, thanking Spike for the help and went outside, not even minding the fact that it was raining on her. She went over to the bushes and looked at the book that was still lying there, with a single towel wrapped over it. Princess Luna was probably going to want to see it, and keeping it away from Twilight was going to be her number one priority. She picked up the towel in her teeth, noticing that the book seemed to be repelling the water as she looked at it, so much for her brilliant plan of dumping it out the window. Pinkie Pie pushed open the door to Sugarcube Corner and set the towel covered book on the table. It wasn’t long before a dark figure appeared in the doorway.

Pinkie Pie looked up, it had to be Princess Luna. Lightning cracked, partially illuminating the figure. It was not Princess Luna. It was Twilight.

Twilight said nothing; she leapt at Pinkie Pie tackling her to the ground, causing the earth pony to hit her head. Pinkie Pie watched as Twilight grabbed the book from off the table holding it close to her. Twilight’s horn began to glow, and in a flash of light, Twilight teleported away.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes became heavy and she drew to a close, she quickly lost consciousness.

...

Pinkie Pie awoke to find Princess Luna standing over her, shaking her awake. Pinkie Pie sat up. The rain had stopped, and the sun was beginning to rise, she had to have been out for a few hours. Princess Luna helped Pinkie Pie to her hooves, the pink party pony struggling to keep her balance.

‘What happened?’ Luna asked her.

‘Twilight... she attacked me, she stole the book and teleported away...’ Pinkie Pie said.

‘This book... describe it for me’, Luna said.

Pinkie Pie wracked her brain for a moment. ‘Uh... big, it had to weigh at least a kilogram, black leather cover, there wasn’t any writing on it though, and I didn’t look inside, I could feel that the book was evil’.

‘The Tome of Alhazred’, the princess of the night said in a matter of fact tone.

‘You know it?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Yes, come’, Princess Luna said. ‘I will explain along the way’.

Pinkie Pie followed Princess Luna out the door, where they ran into Rarity.

‘Pinkie Pie! You look terrible! What happened?’ Rarity asked.

‘Twilight attacked me’, Pinkie Pie said, causing Rarity’s jaw to drop.

‘Allow me to explain’, Princess Luna said, as the two of them began to walk. ‘That book that came into Twilight’s possession is the Tome of Alhazred, an ancient magical artefact penned by the twin brother of the unicorn that would become known as Star Swirl the Bearded. Alhazred was a unicorn that lived long ago, and was insane. Long story short, the tome is the extension of his mad will. The Tome was in the possession of the royal family... until recently, when it went missing’.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity’s jaws both fell open. ‘How did it escape?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘I am not sure, my best guess is that the Tome influenced a weak minded guard into smuggling it out of the castle. The Tome is kept under close supervision at all times, its guards are chosen very carefully, one may have slipped through the cracks’, Princess Luna said. ‘Let’s focus on Twilight; however, did she have any major events in her life recently with a negative impact?’

‘Rainbow Dash cheated on her, and they broke up’, Pinkie Pie said.

‘And who did Rainbow Dash cheat with?’ Princess Luna asked.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked at each other, and discovered that neither of them knew the answer to that question. All Twilight had told them was that Rainbow Dash had cheated, but with who, she had not said.

‘If you all want to know the answer to that question, all you have to do is ask’, said a voice from ahead of them. The group looked up to see Rainbow Dash carrying bags of supplies walking towards them, looking down at the ground guiltily. ‘It was with Whirlwind’.

‘Whirlwind?’ Rarity and Pinkie Pie asked at the same time.

‘Rainbow Dash... Whirlwind is in South Island with Vinyl and Surprise!’ Pinkie Pie cried out.

‘He said he came back’, Rainbow Dash said. ‘Haven’t you seen him?’

Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked at each other, and shook their heads in the negative.

‘Wait... then...’ Rainbow Dash asked. ‘Then what happened?!’

‘Likely nothing’, Princess Luna said. ‘If I were to guess, the Whirlwind that you encountered was nothing more than an illusion. The Tome feeds on negative emotions, it needed to create something for it to gain strength’.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. ‘So... so... are you saying I didn’t cheat on Twilight?’ she asked.

‘More likely than not’, Princess Luna said. ‘South Island is too far for a Pegasus pony to make the trip in any small amount of time, and there is one way that we can know for sure. Does anypony have a telephone in their homes?’

Everypony looked at each other, telephones were not necessarily a new invention in Equestria, but they were not common in the rural town. Neither Pinkie Pie, nor Rarity, nor Rainbow Dash owned one.

‘No, but there is one at the post office!’ Pinkie Pie said.

‘Then we shall go to the post office’, Luna said, as the group made their way across the town to the Ponyville post office, Luna pushed open the door, and the large, brown coated beared Pegasus stallion, Pete the post office boss, at the counter looked up in surprise.

‘Your Highness!’ Pete exclaimed in surprise.

‘Good morning’, Princess Luna said. ‘May we use your telephone?’

‘Of course!’ Pete said, and pointed to the corner in which it resided with a hoof.

‘Thank you’, Luna said as she used her magic to pick up the receiver and prodded the rotary dial with a hoof, pulling the zero all the way back and allow it to return.

‘Operator’, said the voice on the other end.

‘Yes, please connect me to an international operator’, Luna said.

‘Putting you through...’

...

Vinyl Scratch was fast asleep on her bed in her cushy Swan City hotel room when the phone began to ring. Vinyl Scratch rolled over and looked at the rotary dial telephone as it continued to ring. Somepony had better have a good reason for calling her while she was taking a nap!

She picked up the receiver with her magic and held it up to here ear. ‘Hello?’ she asked.

‘I have a collect call from a... Luna, for a... Vinyl Scratch, would you like to accept the charges.’ said a voice that clearly belonged to a female schäferhund.

‘Yeah sure... I’ll accept them, but them through’.

There was a click on the line and Vinyl Scratch continued to talk. ‘Luna! I was napping!’

‘Oh no, whatever shall you do?’ Luna asked sarcastically. ‘Vinyl this is important, is Whirlwind in South Island with you? Did he leave at all?’

‘No! He’s been here the whole time’, Vinyl said. ‘Is that it? I was napping!’

‘Yes, it is, thank you Vinyl’.

‘You’re welcome’, Vinyl said, hanging up the phone and rolling over and going back to sleep.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Twilight Sparkle appeared in a bright flash of light and a loud pop!. Though where she was, she hadn’t the faintest idea. Pinkie Pie had lied to her! She had taken the Tome of Alhazred, she wanted it for herself! If Twilight had let her, Pinkie Pie would have kept the book and its secrets all to herself.

Now it was Twilight’s book. All hers, her own, and she would never be apart from it again. This presented a problem, however, because she had no saddlebags to put the book into, and she was going to draw undue attention to herself if she walked around levitating the giant book. Worst of all, she hadn’t the faintest idea where she was. When she had stolen the book back from Pinkie Pie, she had given no destination other than, ‘not here’, random teleporting was a highly dangerous activity because you could very easily accidentally materialise inside an object. Death pretty much instantly followed in that case. Other than that, long distance teleporting and short range teleportation were both about the same. Most unicorns preferred not to teleport long distances because it’s perceived as harder. While it really isn’t, what usually makes long distance teleportation hard is most unicorns that are teleporting long distances generally try to do it to places in which they have never been. Since teleportation spells require you to concentrate on where you want to go, never having been to a place that you’re trying to go to can make that more than a little bit difficult.

If Twilight wanted to, she could probably make a jump from here to the Trotterdam city centre with relative ease... actually, that didn’t sound like that bad of an idea. Her ‘friends’ were going to come for her. They were going to try to take the Tome of Alhazred for themselves. Twilight knew that for sure. She also knew that she would be much harder to find were she in the Low Countries than if she were in Equestria. She pulled the book close to her, and concentrated hard. The Tome of Alhazred had taught her a new way to channel magic that was much more efficient. Otherwise this jump was going to be exhausting. Twilight closed her eyes and thought hard, and once again, winked out of existence.

...

Princess Luna hung up the telephone in the post office and turned and looked back at her friends with a frown. ‘My suspicions are confirmed’, Luna said.

Rainbow Dash’s head shot up in excitement. ‘So... I didn’t cheat on Twilight!?’

‘No, the Tome used your own knowledge to its advantage, and created an illusion to suit its purpose’, Luna said simply.

Rainbow Dash frowned, the book was able to look into her mind, she had known that Whirlwind had a thing for her; the book also knew that Whirlwind was a friend. It had been able to play her strengths and weaknesses against her. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. ‘We need to destroy that thing’.

Luna nodded her head in agreement. ‘Yes, yes we do. The Tome should have been destroyed ages ago, but we, the royal family felt that we could safely contain it. It will not be easy, the Tome is a powerful magical artefact. It will require just as much power to destroy it... dragon fire should be able to do it...’

‘Well that’s easy!’ Pinkie Pie cried out. ‘Spike’s a dragon!’

Luna nodded. ‘Indeed he is, that is why the Tome will have taken itself out of Equestria, though it will have influenced Twilight into believing that the idea was her own. It will not stay in one place for very long, we shall have to scour the world for her’, Princess Luna looked out the window at the rising sun, knowing that around the world it had just set. ‘And I think I know just where to start’.

Stop! You are reading the first story in the Ashes to Ashes series which in turn is a sequel series to the All Good Things and Bonds of Eternity Series. PLEASE look at the table of contents and read the series in order.

FAILURE TO READ THE PREVIOUS STORIES WITH RESULT IN YOU BEING EXTREMELY CONFUSED, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

REPEATEDLY.