Author's Note

I think I'll be taking a week off for this and my other Endingverse story. I've been writing practically nonstop for weeks and I have a third project I'm working on, so a week off might be what the doctor ordered.

23: Admissions

Friday, January 7, 1008 A.L., Equestria

“What do ya reckon this meetin’ is about, Big Mac?” Applejack asked as she and the rest of her family approached the former Castle of Friendship, now known simply as the Shelter. She hadn’t stepped into the castle ever since Twilight had revealed to Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Princess Luna about how they had failed to uphold their established tenets and had abused a human for three years. It had mostly been her avoiding Twilight, but being summoned to the old castle had come completely out of the blue. If Twilight had been the one to call this meeting, she would likely have declined, but the message had come from Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody of all ponies. The note, however, was written on stationary belonging to Mayor Mare, so it had her implicit approval.

“Dunno,” Big Mac replied with a shrug of his own.

“Well, whatever it is,” Applejack said, “it’d better be quick. Ah’ve got plenty tah do back home.”

“Eenope,” Big Mac said. “I did all yer chores for you.”

Applejack looked at her brother in shock. “Ya did?” she asked incredulously.

“Woke up early,” he said. “Had a nightmare.”

Applejack immediately understood. She had been suffering from nightmares as well, and while Big Mac may not have done as much to Jason as Applejack did, but even he had been a part in the abuse. It had hurt him deeply, as he had prided himself on being a calm and thoughtful pony, but even he had to face his demons, it seemed. “Ah’ll make it up to ya tomorrow,” she promised.

“No need. It was good exercise,” he replied. “Thanks fer offerin’, though.”

Applejack nodded as they all stepped into the massive foyer of the castle. She looked around, taking in the familiar scenery, but with the unfamiliar sight of a crowd of ponies walking down the hallway opposite them towards the massive auditorium which the note said would be the meeting place. No matter how many times she came in here, Applejack still couldn’t comprehend just how this place was bigger on the inside. It was like that alien time traveling pony comic Apple Bloom had begun talking about, Doctor Whooves or something like that.

And speaking of her, Apple Bloom, who was walking behind Applejack and Big Mac, suddenly rushed forward. “Spike!” she shouted excitedly.

Applejack winced but looked up to see the young dragon walking down the hall. He looked taller than she remembered him, and he now had a pair of wings. He turned and caught the teenaged filly as she tackled him in a hug worthy of a bear. “A.B., good to see you!” he exclaimed as he spun around, absorbing the earth pony’s tackle.

“How’ve ya been?” she asked happily as Spike put her down.

“I’ve been alright,” he said.

“How’s tutoring goin’ with Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom asked as Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith walked up to the two.

Spike blushed a bit. “She takes her role very seriously,” he said with a smile that Applejack noted he’d once reserved for Rarity.

“She dressin’ up fer you?” Apple Bloom asked in a teasing manner, bumping him playfully with her rump.

Spike’s blush grew deeper. “N-No comment,” he stammered. He then looked past the filly and saw the other three members of the Apple family. His smile faded. “Oh. Hello.” His tone was a bit strained, but with an attempt to be polite.

“Howdy, young’un,” Granny said, stepping forward. “How’ve ya been doin’?”

Spike relaxed a bit. “I’m doing alright,” he said with a bit more genuine politeness. “What about you? Apple Bloom says you’re all preparing apple seedlings for after Winter Wrap-up.”

“Darn tootin’,” Granny said with a small smile. “We even have plenty of zap apple seeds.”

The young dragon smiled slightly. “Zap apple jam is definitely one of my favorite things to come out of your farm.” Applejack didn’t fail to notice the small glance he gave to her. One of disapproval and resentment. The message there was clear enough, even for a country bumpkin like her.

“So, any idea what this meeting’s all about?” Apple Bloom asked as she fell into step beside him behind the crowd of ponies heading to the auditorium.

“Not a clue,” Spike said, “but Twilight won’t be here for it.”

That caught Applejack by surprise and she had to speak up. “Where is she?”

“Up in Canterlot,” Spike replied without turning around. “She flew off in a hurry, at least that’s what Mayor Mare said when I asked.”

“Ah see,” Applejack said.

“Hey, did you get the latest Doctor Whooves comic yet??” Apple Bloom eagerlyasked a few seconds later to fill the awkward silence. “I wanna know if those weeping angels get defeated or not!”

“It’s supposed to be delivered day after tomorrow,” Spike said.

“I can’t wait!”

Applejack chuckled internally. It was nice to see Spike and her sister forming such a close friendship. However, she was distracted when from behind her, she heard somepony galloping up. Turning, she saw Fluttershy rushing up towards them, Angel perched on her back. When she saw Applejack, she stopped in her tracks, eyes wide in surprise. “A-Applejack…?”

“Howdy, Fluttershy,” the earth pony greeted her with a smile.

“I didn’t know you’d be coming,” the butter colored pegasus said. “I thought…that…”

“The message said it was urgent, and that everypony needed ta be here,” Applejack said.

“Right,” Fluttershy said.

“Fluttershy? Applejack?” another familiar voice asked. The two turned and saw Rainbow Dash and Rarity walking up towards them. Rainbow, to Applejack’s eye, looked exhausted, which when she thought about it, it made sense. Rainbow was a night guardspony who patrolled the halls. It was early for her. Rarity, on the other hoof, had a haggard appearance, and her normally coiffed mane was filled with split ends. Her mane was tied back in a ponytail and was damp, probably a hastened attempt to hide it. And Applejack could smell the distinct scent of alcohol. Not on her breath, but on the jacket she was wearing.

“Rainbow. Rarity.” Applejack nodded at them in polite greetings.

“How…how are you all doing?” Fluttershy asked as the four began walking down the hallway.

“Eh, hanging in there,” Rainbow said, then she winced when she saw Applejack giving her a glare. “Sorry. Poor choice of words. I’m doing okay, I guess.” She yawned. “It’s way too early…”

“Rainbow, it’s just past six in the afternoon,” Rarity said, and Applejack was startled by the voice she heard. Her voice sounded a bit hoarse and heavy with sadness.

Rainbow turned to look at Rarity with a bit of a scowl. “I work nights, you idiot,” she snapped. “My ‘day’ starts when I get up at eight in the evening and ends at six in the morning.”

“Whoa now, no need tah start anythin’ now,” Applejack said.

Rainbow gave Rarity a glare, one which the purple maned unicorn gave right back before they continued walking down the hallway. There was an uncomfortable silence before Fluttershy spoke. “Has…anypony heard from Pinkie, yet?”

“Afraid not,” Rarity said.

“Nada,” Rainbow said.

“Ah got a small letter from her a few days ago,” Applejack said. “She said she’s doin’ fine and she may be droppin’ by fer Winter Wrap-Up.”

“Well…that’s good,” Fluttershy said with a small nod.

The group continued walking down the hallway, falling once more into silence. After all, what could they really say? Their friendships had been broken…right?

“Vinyl, are you sure we should be doing this now?” Mayor Mare asked in a whisper as the DJ pony began setting up her equipment on the stage. Beside her, Octavia was watching the blue maned unicorn work her magic like it was second nature to her. In front of them, Octavia could hear the murmured voices of all of Ponyville’s residents as they filed into the auditorium. Almost all of the seats were occupied as far as she could see.

“I know what I’m doing,” Vinyl said. At the moment, her shades were on her forehead being held in place by her horn. She had a fiercely determined look on her face as she placed a large speaker in the center of the stage. “I’m sick and tired of the obstinance of the ponies in town.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Obstinance, Vinyl? When did you become so articulate?” she asked in a teasing tone.

The unicorn DJ rolled her eyes and smirked. “We’re roommates, Tavi. I pick up a lot from you. More than you know.”

“Bitchin,” Octavia replied with a grin and a wink.

Vinyl chuckled. “Touché,” she said as she finally plugged the last cord in. “And that’s the last of them.” She stood in front of the microphone and performed a few tests. “Check, check, one two three, one two three.” She adjusted a few dials on a mixer panel until she was satisfied. “Okay, we’re good to go when everypony gets here.”

Mayor Mare and Octavia stepped forward and nodded, the latter looking out at the back doors. To her surprise, she saw four of the six former Elements walking in silently, finding spots in the very back and sitting down. A minute later, when nopony else had arrived, Octavia looked over at her roommate and best friend. “I think we’re ready.”

“Good.” She turned to Mayor Mare. “Mind if I go first?”

“This meeting was your idea,” Mayor Mare said, “so go for it.”

Vinyl turned back to face crowd, a stern expression forming swiftly on her face. Octavia saw her eyes flashing with a dangerous blood red glow before returning to their purple hue. She looked around the crowd as she approached the mic. “Good afternoon, Ponyville,” she began, and Octavia was surprised again by how articulate the mare was in that moment. “Thank you all for coming o such short notice. My name is Vinyl Scratch. You may know me as DJ Pon-3. I’m a resident of Ponyville and once lived in a house with my best friend here, Octavia Melody.” Vinyl gestured to Octavia, who raised her hoof in greeting. Vinyl smiled, then turned back to the crowd. “I just called this impromptu meeting to say basically one thing: it’s time we all grew up.”

Shocked silence filled the room as the many pairs of eyes stared up at the two. Finally, somepony spoke up. “What’s this all about?!”

“About the attitudes of ponies in town regarding one Jason Wright,” Octavia said, stepping forward and facing the crowd.

At the mention of his name, the silence became deafening, only for the room to erupt into shouts of anger from a disturbingly large portion of ponies. A minority were looking down in guilt, but weren’t saying anything else. Vinyl, her eyes flashing a blood red once more, used her magic to adjust her equipment. A piercing screech rang through the auditorium, and everypony held their ears and winced as feedback ran through the massive room. When the room was silent again, Vinyl stepped back to the microphone. “We really need to get our act together here. We can’t really claim to stand for harmony if we can easily chase out somecreature for just being different, can we?”

Nopony else might have noticed it, but Octavia could see Vinyl’s legs trembling a little bit. She might have been a DJ, but Vinyl didn’t particularly like using her voice if she could help it. She preferred to express herself by her music. Octavia gained a whole new respect for Vinyl at that moment.

Vinyl took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and straightened herself. “Citizens of Ponyville!” she shouted into the mic, causing the crowd to flinch in alarm at the loud noise. “You all know me. I don’t do a whole lot of talking. But I asked you here because I have a few things to say that a lot of you really have got to hear. First, I’ve heard a lot of you talking about what happened to the town and throwing shade at the Princess of Friendship and her friends and especially Jason Wright! Their part in what happened is none of our business! But OUR part is!”

“What are you talking about?” a familiar voice shouted out. Octavia scanned the crowd only to see the former owner of Sugarcube Corner, Carrot Cake, looking up at Vinyl.

Vinyl shook her head. “That right there!” she pointed at him with her hoof, “that’s what I mean! We keep on blaming everypony else! Their guilt isn’t our business! Do I really need to remind you what happened during those three years, Mr. Cake?? I’ve heard stories about what you did to Jason that would piss anybody off!” The crowd shrank back from her language. Mr. Cake looked around, his bottom lip trembling. Vinyl turned to the crowd again. “Who was it that would hurl abuse and garbage at Jason whenever he came into town to try and get help or food or raid our garbages just for a morsel we could have easily given him?! Do I really need to remind everypony what happened!? Do we really have memory loss!? We’re equally as responsible for this! We destroyed our town just as much as Jason and the changelings did! We let petty judgements rule our actions! Who here remembers Zecora? Didn’t we learn from this? Did you know that she left the Everfree after some ponies attacked her and beat her nearly to death not once, not twice, but three times?!”

The crowd all gasped at that. Octavia still couldn’t believe that anypony could be so cruel. Then again, she had to remind herself of all the times she’d been equally cruel to Jason Wright. She and Vinyl had heard about the attack on Zecora after the zebra mare had left the Everfree. “Is that why her house is empty now?” a random pony asked.

“Who’d stick around after that?!” Vinyl shouted. Octavia felt concern for her friend. She hadn’t seen Vinyl this angry in years, and it frightened her. “Would you?!” She stepped back, took a deep breath, exhaled, and continued in a calmer tone. “Lots of ponies here are looking for somepony to blame, and I can’t blame you. It’s easier to hate outwards than inwards for many ponies.”

“Are you saying what that Jason freak did was right?!” a very familiar mare’s voice shouted from the crowd. Octavia groaned inwardly. Spoiled Rich, one of the cruelest ponies in town, stepped forward. She pointed up at Vinyl and grit her teeth. “Freak defending freak! We all know you have a soft spot for them! Especially since your ancestor was a bigger freak!”

Vinyl looked at Spoiled with narrowed eyes. “Choose your next words very, very carefully,” she said darkly.

“Why, because you won’t like what I have to say?” Spoiled said with a victorious grin.

“Because you might not know of what you speak,” Vinyl replied.

Spoiled grinned wider and turned to the crowd. Pointing up at the unicorn, she shouted, “She’s got vampire blood in her!”

Octavia frowned. Vinyl had shared this with her once a few years ago. Apparently, about eight hundred years ago she had a distant ancestor of hers named Countess Scarlet Fury. She governed over a portion of land near Foal Mountain. She was known throughout her own domain as a harsh ruler, raising taxes and using the profits to make her castle, now supposedly a haunted a ruin, a castle of opulence and riches while the common ponies suffered. One of the darker rumors was that she had made a pact with some demons to gain eternal life, but only if a sacrifice was made. During the latter ten years of her reign twenty young mares would vanish in the middle of the night every six months and eventually rumors spread that the countess was taking them as her sacrifices.

In the end, the common peasants revolted and stormed the castle, dragging the countess out and in an act of brutal revenge beheaded her. It was discovered that she had a number of foals hidden away, all looking similar to her. Many of the common ponies, still high off of revenge, almost executed the young foals but at that moment Princess Celestia and her royal guards arrived. They rescued the young foals and took them away, giving them to loving families. Vinyl was one of her descendants. As the years passed, Scarlet became known as a vampire.

Vinyl glared down at Spoiled Rich. “Yes, my ancestor was known as a vampire pony,” she said, “but if you’re judging anypony by their past and their blood, why stop there? Why don’t we judge Princess Luna for her past actions? Or perhaps you want to blame Princess Celestia for her neglect against her sister! Or perhaps we should look at your past, too? Wasn’t your great grandfather responsible for one of the worst mistreatment of cows on his milk farm, huh?! Didn’t he treat them like less than slaves and do unspeakable things to the cows? Things I’ll gladly share with everypony else here!”

Spoiled clamped her mouth shut, face red with barely repressed rage as Vinyl faced the crowd. “We are all responsible for the destruction of our town! We turned our backs on harmony! We let our fears and xenophobic behavior dictate our behavior towards Jason! Like I said before, it’s time we grew up!”

Octavia then felt something flashing over her. Quickly, she turned to the crowd and a large majority of them looked unsure of themselves now. One after another, their eyes seemed to flash with something that the cello playing mare couldn’t really explain. She’d seen it a couple of times, the first time during the broadcasted trial when the same type of eye flash had appeared in Roseluck’s eyes, and subsequently a few other times afterwards in town during arguments she’d been unfortunate enough to witness. She’d seen it most notably in Cheerilee when the teacher had a breakdown two months back and she’d finally come to realize that she had not been the pony she’d hoped to be. Feeling emboldened, Octavia stood and walked over to the microphone. Vinyl saw her approaching and stepped aside. The gray mare took the mic in her hoof and took a deep breath. “She’d right,” Octavia said. “I, for one, am growing tired of all of the arguments sprouting up. It’s time we actually did something about it.”

“What can we do?” a younger teenage filly asked. Octavia looked down and saw that it was Diamond Tiara looking up with a pleading expression.

Beside her, Filthy Rich also looked contrite. He had been particularly cruel when it came to the abuse thrown against Jason. He’d used his money to hire bodyguards to protect his home during a period when Jason had been more commonly spotted earlier on. Said bodyguards had done a great deal of bodily harm to Jason during those early days. Now, the guilt on his face was telling. “My daughter raises a good point. What do we do?”

“Learn from this tragedy,” Octavia said. “We can’t keep on wallowing in self pity. Yes, we lost our homes and our belongings, but we’re lucky that’s ALL we lost! We can rebuild the town, but we should also rebuild ourselves. We may have once been against each other before the founding of Equestria, but all we’ve learned to do instead is fear and hate anything other than ponykind.”

“Who here remembers Cranky Doodle?” Vinyl asked. Everyone nodded and raised their hooves at that. “His wife almost died because of our treatment of other races here. Thankfully, an anonymous pony donated the funds necessary for her to buy her medication to help. Still, she and Cranky left after Ponyville was destroyed. The two lived on the edge of town near the Everfree. It’s still there if you want to see how ruined it is.” Vinyl took a breath before continuing. “If we want to change, that change has to come from within. I’m surprised the windigos haven’t come here yet after what happened.” She reached up and touched her chest. “Equestria shouldn’t just be a haven for ponies, but for all creatures. Let’s rebuild our town and ourselves along with it!”

The crowd all began cheering and applauding. For the first time in three months, Octavia felt like things would get better for the ponies in town. She looked at her roommate proudly, only to once again catch her eyes appearing to be dark blood red for a brief moment before returning to their natural hue. Despite everything, the earth pony mare wondered if there was indeed any truth to the rumors of Vinyl’s ancestor really being a vampire.

It doesn’t really matter if they are or not, Octavia thought. No matter what, Vinyl’s my best friend. That won’t ever change.

She was so caught up in the moment that she missed the four former Element bearers leaving the room quietly.

Fluttershy watched as three of her former friends walked silently down the halls of the former Castle of Friendship, no words being exchanged. She could feel the immense tension in the air, especially when Applejack asked them to follow her out of the auditorium. She wondered just where she was taking the other three, but when Applejack turned down a familiar corridor towards a set of double doors, she stopped in her tracks. “What…what are we doing here?” she stammered out.

Applejack paused, turning to look at Fluttershy with a serious expression on her face. “We need ta talk. It’s been months since we have, and this is as any.” She turned back, grabbed the handle with her hoof, and opened the door.

The room was dark, and Fluttershy was immediately hit with the smell of dust. When Applejack reached over to flip the switch, the lights came on, and the source of the smell became evident. The entire room was covered in a layer of dust, not too thick, but it was still evident. The root chandelier also came to life, showing all of the memories that they had gathered for Twilight to help her feel at home here. Seeing it made the reentry into this room hurt even more.

What was even worse was that the cutie map was gone, having vanished a day after they left the castle that last time according to Twilight during a conversation the past month during the Harvest Festival. She remembered that talk and the Harvest Festival feast, a vain attempt by Twilight to cheer everypony up that fourth Thursday of November. Twilight had looked so exhausted, bags under her eyes and a nearly vacant look on her face. Fluttershy had done her best to cheer her friend up, but nothing had helped.

Everypony took their seats, leaving three others empty. Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike weren’t there. Fluttershy looked at their seats, feeling a pang of guilt when she looked at Spike’s smaller chair. It wouldn’t fit him at the moment since he had grown a lot since she’d last seen him. She, along with the others, looked at Applejack. There was silence until Rainbow Dash spoke up. “So…we’re all here. What is it?”

Applejack looked at everypony, then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Ah asked ya ta come here fer a couple reasons,” she said. “One: ah just wanted ta see mah friends again. At least, as many as ah could see.” She glanced over at Pinkie’s throne forlornly. “Ah’m glad tah here she’s doin’ alright, at least.” She then turned to look at Twilight’s throne. “Ah wonder why she had ta go ta Canterlot…but this couldn’t wait.” She turned to the other three. “DJ Pon-3 is right, ya know. We can’t just go mopin’ around anymore. We all screwed up somethin’ fierce.”

“And just how do you intend to fix the issue?” Rarity asked with a frown, which to Rarity looked more like a scowl. “Go and find Jason and beg for his forgiveness?! He destroyed our town!”

“Ah ain’t gonna say he didn’t do wrong,” Applejack said, “and yes, he did burn down our town, but he did save that young foal who ran into a burnin’ buildin’.”

“And that makes what he did better?!” Rarity shouted angrily.

“He went out of his way to make sure nopony was hurt,” Applejack said with a frown. “We can’t say the same about him, can we?”

Rarity deflated at the accusation and sat back in her throne. She reached into her purse and pulled out a flask, of all things. “No…” she grudgingly admitted as she took a swig.

“Rarity…are you drinking…?” Fluttershy asked with concern.

“It helps,” Rarity said as she closed the flask and put it back in her purse.

“What are you suggesting we do, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We can’t go apologize for what we did because we don’t know where he is.”

“And do you think he’d accept our apologies?” Rarity asked bitterly.

“Maybe not,” Applejack said, “and yer right, Rainbow, we can’t find him. But we can become better ponies because of it. Mah ma always had a sayin’: ‘Life is a lifelong lesson wrapped up in a pretty little bow’. Ah didn’t quite understand it at first. Still kinda don’t. Ma explained that ya never stop learnin’ in life. Well, we’ve learned a lesson, haven’t we?”

“Yeah…I’ll say,” Rainbow said as she looked down at the ground in shame.

“But how do we become better ponies?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean, I want to be better, but what can we do?”

“What we’re doin’ now is a good start,” Applejack said. “We’re talkin’, aren’t we?”

“A lot of good talking will do us,” Rarity muttered under her breath.

Applejack ignored it and continued. “Ah think a good place we can start is with any non-ponies in town. Especially with Spike.”

Everypony looked at Spike’s miniature throne briefly before Fluttershy spoke. “I’ve seen him spending time with some fillies. They seem to like him, especially Sweetie Belle.”

“Scootaloo likes him, too,” Rainbow said. “Hay, the two have even become flying buddies since he got his wings.”

“That’s sweet,” Fluttershy said with a genuine smile.

“Spikey probably hates us,” Rarity said before taking out her flask again.

Applejack stared at her with a sudden fire in her eyes. While Rarity was taking a swig of her alcohol, the orange earth pony stood, walked over, then snatched the flask away and began pouring the bottle directly onto the mane of aa now stunned Rarity. “What the hay is yer problem, Rarity!?” Applejack asked, glaring at the unicorn after the alcohol had drenched her completely. “Y’all have been nothin’ but negative ever since we were let out of Canterlot dungeons! Ah’ve got a feelin’ ya ain’t sorry fer nothin’!” She dropped the flask and crushed it with her earth pony strength.

Rarity stared at the now flattened piece of metal with a stunned expression, jaw dropped. She then turned to Applejack, a look of pure fury forming on her face. “Why…you…little…RAAH!” She fired a blast of magic directly at Applejack.

Applejack dove out of the way, but the magic hit the wall, dissipating the moment it touched the wall. The earth pony stared in horror at Rarity. “Ya tried tah kill me…” she said, eyes wide.

Rarity, seeming to come down from her anger, looked just as horrified. “Applejack…I…I didn’t mean-”

“TAKE THIS!” Applejack galloped towards her, hoof raised as if to strike her former friend.

Rainbow moved faster, however. She flew towards Applejack and tackled her, trying to hold her down. Rarity had jumped up from her throne, watching the earth pony and pegasus struggling. Fluttershy had gotten up too, frozen in fear. Frozen in the same kind of fear that had kept her from helping Jason, she realized. Taking a deep breath, she shouted, “WHAT THE TARTARUS IS WRONG WITH YOU PONIES?!”

Everypony paused, putting their hooves to their ears at Fluttershy’s exclamation. Rarity was the first to speak. “Fluttershy…what-?”

“YOU DON’T GET TO TALK!” Fluttershy interrupted her, glaring at the purple maned unicorn, who was now trembling. “You just tried to hurt another pony! NOW WE KNOW WHO THE REAL MONSTER IS!”

“I-I didn’t mean to,” Rarity said, backing up. “It was just…just an accident, and-”

“Oh, is that what it was when you casually tossed Jason out of your shop when he could have used a little bit of your SO-CALLED GENEROSITY!?” Fluttershy railed at Rarity, causing the unicorn to flinch in terror.

“Hey, um, Flutters, calm down, huh?” Rainbow said in a placating tone. “Nopony got hurt.”

“Is that your excuse when you SHOT LIGHTNING AT JASON! Yeah, nopony got hurt! NoPONY!” Fluttershy was letting months of building anger, resentment, frustration, and self-loathing out all at once. She flew up to her friend, pressing her muzzle against Rainbow’s. “Keep on telling yourself that! You’re only LOYAL TO YOUR IMAGE!”

Rainbow held her head down in sadness and shame as Applejack stood. When Fluttershy whirled on her, to her credit, the earth pony stood straight and tall. “Give it tah me,” Applejack said. “Ah’m a grown mare. Ah can take it.”

“Where the tartarus do I even begin?!” Fluttershy screeched. “YOU BROKE THE RIBCAGE OF AN INNOCENT CREATURE AND HAD WINONA ATTACK HIM! HE COULD HAVE DIED FROM HIS WOUNDS BEING INFECTED!”

Applejack, unlike the others, didn’t back down. Instead, she nodded in understanding. “Ah know that. Ah’ve been givin’ her obedience lessons-”

“YOU SERIOUSLY THINK THAT’S ENOUGH?!” Fluttershy bellowed. She glared at the now wide eyed Applejack. “We messed up big time!” she continued. “I just ignored an innocent creature because I was afraid! Who here remembers Zecora? WE’VE LEARNED NOTHING!”

She was panting when she finished her rant. Despite everything, and even though she was now sweating thanks to the extra exertion, she felt better. Her head was a lot clearer now. There was silence for a full minute. Then, somepony began to silently cry. Fluttershy looked around, only to notice that Rarity was the one crying. And unlike her normal overdramatic waterworks, these tears felt more genuine. She was curled up, tears streaming down her face. Then, Rainbow joined in. Applejack pulled her Stetson over her face, but Fluttershy could hear a third pony crying. She looked around, only to realize that it was her that was sobbing. She stumbled back to her throne, sitting down as she lowered her head and covered her head with her wings. She had cried plenty since August, but this felt different. This cry felt more freeing.

Ten minutes later, she lifted her wings and looked around. Applejack was sitting in her throne again, head still covered with her Stetson, but Fluttershy could see her trembling and heard her sniffing. Rainbow was sitting on the floor, also crying, and Rarity was lying on her back in an undignified sprawl, looking up at the ceiling as tears ran down her face. She was muttering something, and it took Fluttershy a few seconds to realize she was saying “I’m sorry” over and over again.

She cleared her throat and the other three looked at her. “I won’t apologize for what I just said,” Fluttershy said, “but I do think it’s a good idea we start to make ourselves better ponies. We should start with Spike. Especially you, Rarity.” She gave the marshmallow colored pony a glare of disapproval.

Rarity slowly stood, running a hoof through her disheveled mane. She took it out of a ponytail, and it fell down her side, completely straight. “You’re…you’re right…” she sniffed, taking out a hoofkerchief from her purse and blowing her nose. She then looked at a dusty mirror next to the door. “Maker above, I’m a mess.”

“Not important right now,” Fluttershy said. “Come on, let’s find Spike.”

Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack all stood and nodded, then they headed out.

“Hail to the king, baby!” Spike exclaimed, standing up from the game of Sinister Fallen, a zombie apocalypse board game where the goal was to get to the safehouse, a cabin in the woods, before anyone else and before you got bitten ten times by the evil Fallen, zombie ponies who had been cursed by the evil unnamed Sinister Necromancer. If someone was bitten ten times, their goal was to bite others by either landing on the same spot as the others or passing the uninfected. Once either all of the uninfected reached the cabin or once everypony was infected, the game ended.

“No fair,” Scootaloo said as she picked up the dice and shook them in her hoof. “You had Ash Wells. He always wins!”

“Not true,” Sweetie Belle said as Scootaloo rolled her dice. “Sweetie won last round, and she played Ruby.”

“Yeah, but she’s the author of the Oculus Malus grimoire,” Diamond Tiara said as Scootaloo moved her piece forward. “She gets just as much protection as Ash does.”

“Damn it, I landed on a bite!” Scootaloo groaned as she picked up a small plastic piece that she stuck onto her game piece before giving the dice to Silver Spoon. “One more, and I become a Fallen!”

“Scootaloo! Such language!” Sweetie said in a passable imitation of Rarity’s accent.

“Oh please, it’s not like anypony cares here,” Scootaloo said. She then grinned and continued. “Shit! Fuck! Cocksucker! Bitch!”

“My word,” Diamond Tiara said, looking at the orange pegasus in mock horror. “If my mother heard such language, she’d hit me with a switch for spending time with ‘…such filth.’”

Everyone laughed at that, then Silver rolled her dice. “Okay, three,” she said as she moved her piece forward. “Phew, a blank spot. Apple Bloom, your turn.”

Apple Bloom picked up the dice and began shaking it in her hooves. “So…that was a pretty interesting meeting earlier.”

“Definitely,” Silver Spoon said. “I didn’t think DJ Pon-3 of all ponies would call a meeting like this. And did you see those gray clouds in the room?”

“Those weren’t gray clouds,” Spike said as he leaned against the side of his bed while he watched the game. “That was Discord’s spell being lifted off of a bunch of ponies.”

Everypony looked at him in shock. “You mean…the spell wasn’t lifted off of some of them?” Diamond asked.

“Guess not,” Spike said with a noncommittal shrug.

“That…that’s insane,” Scootaloo said. “Who knew some ponies weren’t facing their sins.” Her eyes widened in realization. “Does that mean that we-?”

“Twilight tested me, and I wasn’t affected,” Spike said. “Discord may have been an irresponsible monster, but I don’t think even he would have affected foals. At least, I don’t think so.”

“I didn’t hear anythin’ crackin’ when I heard about Jason,” Apple Bloom said. “I never even met ‘im.”

“Same here,” Diamond said.

Everypony else confirmed that none of them had even met Jason. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Sweetie frowned then looked at the door, then back at Spike. “Did you invite somepony else and not tell us?”

“Nope,” Spike said with just as much confusion as he stood. “I’ll go see who it is.” He walked over and opened the door. His face hardened when he saw who it was. “Oh. It’s you.”

Four of the six former Elements of Harmony stood in his doorway. They all looked terrible, like they’d been crying. Not that Spike cared. They had all treated him terribly. Not as badly as Jason, of course, but bad enough. He remembered when Applejack had called him up to her farm only to use him like a lighter. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had used him for their Iron Pony competition like he was nothing. They had mocked him for not being tough like a dragon, mocked him during their trip to Appleloosa, calling him Spike the Magic Dragon or something like that. And then there was Rarity. He had pined after her for years, only for her to take advantage of that love by using him as a pincushion, manual labor, and more. What was the worst thing of all, however, was being constantly left out. Sure, he was a baby dragon back then, but he thought of them as friends. He realized now that they didn’t think the same of him.

He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms, giving them stern, disapproving looks. “What do you want?” he asked as he stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind him, not wanting anypony inside to hear this.

They looked hurt by his angry tone, but it was Applejack who spoke first. “Listen, sugarcube, we just-”

“Stop right there,” Spike said, showing his teeth in a menacing manner, which caught the four ponies off guard. “You do not have the right to call me sugarcube, darling, or any sort of pet name right now. That’s reserved for friends, and you never thought of me as a friend.”

“Th-That’s not true, Spikey-”

“ESPECIALLY THAT NAME!” Spike shouted angrily, causing Rarity to flatten her ears in alarm. “I am Spike the Dragon! Teenage dragon, now!” He spread his wings for emphasis.

Applejack put a hoof on Rarity’s back and pulled her away. “Rares, ah’ll handle this.” She turned back to Spike and nodded. “Yer right. We’ve treated you awfully since ya came tah our town. We’ve neglected yah, treated yah like less than anycreature should be treated, and more. For mahself, ah wanted tah come and start by sayin’ that ah’m deeply sorry fer that. Ah wanna make it up tah ya somehow.”

Fluttershy came up next. “Spike,” she began softly, but with tears in her eyes, “I’m so very sorry for neglecting you. I was not a good friend to you even though I called you a friend. If there’s any way I can make it up to you, please let me know.”

Rainbow came up next, looking uncomfortable but regretful as well. “Spike, I know I’ve been a real heel to you in the past, and I should have done this a while ago, but I’m really sorry for everything I’ve done.” She then did something that surprised Spike. She leaned forward and lifted her chin. “I want you to hit me. I deserve-”

Before the others could even speak, Spike socked a fist into Rainbow’s face, sending her flying towards the other wall. She slammed into the wall with a large thud. Spike stood up and adjusted himself, cracking his knuckles and neck. “Boy, did that feel good,” he said in a satisfied tone before he turned to Rarity. “You have something to say?”

Rarity approached, a look of guilt and a hint of fear in her face. However, she slowly stood up taller. “I have acted horribly against you, Spikey-pardon, Spike. I have taken advantage of you, treated you less like a friend and more like a servant. I even…took that gem that you treasured by manipulating your feelings for me. Feelings that…that I knew about…” Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. “I don’t deserve to even speak to you, I know that now, but I wanted to apologize for all that I’ve done to you. You never deserved it and I wish I could take it all back. I also understand if you never forgive me or speak to me again.”

Spike looked at the four ponies. Rainbow was being helped up by Fluttershy and was already beginning to spout a black eye. Applejack stood by, a tense look in her eyes, and Rarity had a contrite look on her own face. He took a breath and sighed. “I can’t forgive any of you right now. You haven’t earned it. You can say you’re sorry all you want, but if you want to earn any forgiveness, show it. And I don’t mean bribery, Rarity Belle.” He gave her a knowing glare which she flinched away from.

“We understand, Spike,” Applejack said with a nod. “We’ll make sure tah make things up for ya. Ah know how we as the Apple family can make things up. You and yer friends can have sleepovers at our house whenever yah want. Ah’m sure Granny won’t mind.”

He considered. It would be nice to have sleepovers somewhere other than his room, not that he minded having them there, of course. “I’ll consider it,” he said. He looked at the others. “Was that all you came to see me for?”

“You’ve grown,” Rarity said softly, almost proudly.

“That tends to happen to dragons when we molt and actually have access to meat,” Spike said.

“I see,” Rarity said.

“We’ll leave ya tah have fun with yer friends,” Applejack said with a small smile and nod.

Spike watched them go, then turned to head back into his room. He paused as he had his claw on his door handle. Despite everything, he still missed them. He wasn’t sure why, but he did. Straightening, he opened his door and headed back inside.

Twilight, exhausted from her frantic flight to Canterlot, landed heavily at the edge of the city closest to Ponyville. She took in great gulps of air as she recovered. She had flown faster than she’d ever flown before. Nowhere near as fast as Rainbow Dash, of course, but it had been fast enough to break the sound barrier. She grabbed the water bottle slung over her shoulder and downed a few precious gulps of liquid, a precaution she’d taken since she knew she’d be this thirsty when she arrived.

When her thirst was quenched, she looked up towards the northwest. The magnificent Canterlot Castle, with its marble stones, golden and purple turrets, and flowing flags, stood strong, having been repaired from the damage it had incurred from the invasion. The rest of the city was still being rebuilt, but for the most part every part of the city had been restored. There were a few places where the buildings needed to be touched up, but it was still back to as normal as things could be, what with the winter snows.

She straightened, shook snow off of her jacket and her fur coat, and spread her tired wings again, only for them to fall to the side. She was exhausted, and she had to get to the castle as fast as she could. She had not gotten enough exercise in the months since Jason’s invasion of Canterlot and destruction of Ponyville, and it was showing here. She should have kept up with some sort of exercise, but by the time her day as an administrator was over, most days she was too exhausted to do anything but collapse into bed.

Even now, all she wanted to do was lie down onto one of the snow covered benches, but she had to push herself forward…she needed to…go…

“Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

The voice made her perk up. She realized that she was about to hit a lamppost. She backed away then turned back. She saw two Royal Guards standing in the road, eyes wide with astonishment. She hated being called by that title, but at the moment, she was here in her capacity as an Equestrian princess. “Please escort me to the castle,” she said.

“At once, your highness,” one of the guards said as they fell into step on either side of her.

Twilight walked with them, then looked up at the castle. Whatever the outcome of this summons, she knew, or rather feared, that Equestria wouldn’t be the same again.