That one town no one knows about.

Sweetie shook her head and frowned lightly.

"B-beyond help? What do you mean?" She asked. The mare opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly froze still as her ears stood at attention.

"Are you-" Sweetie asked, but was cut off by the now very concentrated pony.

"Shh!...Get in, quickly!"

She rushed the younger one inside before closing the door. Without another word to the filly, the older pony rushed to the window and quietly peeked outside. Sweetie followed her, wanting to know what was going on, but she was too short to reach the window... she backed up from it, enabling her to partially see the outside, and what she saw made her tremble.

"Those are-"

"I said shh!"

The mare silenced her before looking out the window again. The sky was darkening, but not because the sun was setting, no, it was getting filled... filled by creatures, the shadows that had attacked Sweetie Belle and brought her here.

"Oh no..." The mare bit her lower lip and pulled the curtain over the window.

"Young one, quickly, under the bed!" She rushed Sweetie.

"But I-"

"We'll talk later, now hurry!"

The mare hurried under the bed and Sweetie followed after her. Just seconds after both of them hid, the ground started rumbling and loud, very loud buzzing was heard outside. It circled the house for a few moments before passing on to another house. Several moments of this rumbling and buzzing passed until it got broken by a loud scream. A second one followed shortly.

"NOO! No, please! I'll get it! I promise! I know I can!"

"J-just give us one more day! Honest! We can do it, please!"

The ponies screamed for their lives, but it seemed they were not listened to, as the terrified shrieks faded away, so did the buzzing and rumbling. For a few moments everything stayed silent and still, neither of the ponies daring to move a muscle. Finally, the mare let out a relieved sigh and crawled out from under her bed.

"It's over, we're safe..." She told Sweetie, who was still cowering under the furniture. The mare walked over to an oil lamp and lit it, revealing the dim and bare little house she lived in. There were no paintings on the walls, no carpet on the floor, no actual lamps on the ceiling and not even a pillow on the bed. It did have a table and a door leading to a rather small and simple bathroom, but there was no kitchen, just a basket of some old, but still edible, fruit next to the table.

"What... what was-"

"Who are you and how did you get here?"

The mare frowned at Sweetie, but the little filly has had enough of getting cut off!

"Will you just let me finish?!" She pouted as she crawled out from under the bed. "Who are you and what is this town? What were those things and what happened to those other ponies? I want to know and I want to know now!"

Sweetie had raised her voice but more out of panic than anger. This was frightening, no, beyond frightening to her! Like a nightmare come true this was, and she was all alone in an unknown place... the more she thought about it, the more Sweetie's eyes got wet. Pretty soon she hiced and sniffled, making the older mare's scowl soften and then fade away.

"Listen... I'm sorry... I've been gone away from my home for such a long time.. I forgot how to be nice to little fillies like you..."

The mare slowly walked up to Sweetie Belle and lightly nuzzled her laid back ear.

"Listen, I'll tell you what's going on, ok? But not now... you're scared and tired and most likely hungry... what I will tell you is a bit hard to deal with, so it's better if you're rested and calmer before I do..."

"But I can't rest, I need to get home! My friends are waiting and my sister is probably worrying about me..."

The mare's face saddened as she walked over to the fruit basket and gently slid it over towards the filly.

"My name is Love Lock, but you can just call me Lock... here... these aren't much, but eat up."

"It's a very nice name, Lock, but I really need to get home! I'll be in big trouble, I probably am, it's already so late!"

Lock just sighed a bit and walked over to her bed, climbing on it.

"I am sorry, young filly, but you cannot leave this place."

"Why not?! I can just walk out the way I-"

"You can't."

"But what if I just-"

"You can't."

"Even if I-"

"You can't, young one." Lock sighed.

"Listen, this is a long story, but no matter what you try, you'll end up here in this town. It's best that you eat and rest for now. I am tired as well, so we should both get the best sleep we can tonight... come, you can sleep on the other side of the bed. I don't think I kick in my sleep, so you should be safe." Lock smiled faintly at the little saddened filly.

Sweetie Belle looked towards the door then back at her and then towards the window. The curtains were covering most of it, but at the very corner she could still see some of the outside. The sky was already very dark and it seemed like clouds were gathering... it might even rain tonight... It was strange seeing the clouds move by themselves with no pony in the sky to guide them. She must still be somewhere in the Everfree Forest! But even if Sweetie went out now, she'd get lost no matter what in THAT darkness! And what's to stop the shadows from before from attacking her again and this time maybe even hurting her? With a heavy heart Sweetie walked over to the bed and climbed on to it. It wasn't a very comfortable bed, but you could sleep on it.

Lock got out of the bed and tucked Sweetie in.

"You sure you don't want an apple before bed?"

"I...I'm not hungry..." The little filly mumbled.

"I can't blame you..." Lock commented silently and walked over to the oil lamp, putting it out. She headed back to the bed and curled up on the other side of it, carefully covering herself with the blanket, making sure not to tug it off of Sweetie.

"Good.... night..." Lock whispered, knowing full well that this night will be anything but good for the filly.

"M-mhmm..." Sweetie Belle could only reply with a trembling little hum as she curled up in to a little ball, trying her best not to cry. It was silent for the following minutes, just enough for Lock to start dozing off.

"S-Sweetie..." The filly mumbled.

"Hhmmmhh?" Lock cracked an eye open. "Did you say something?"

"I said... my name is Sweetie Belle... I never told you it..." Lock smiled briefly before closing her eye and sighing. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sweetie Belle... that's a very nice name you have. Be proud." She mumbled before things went quiet again.

The night was dead silent for the following hours until some faint thunder was heard in the distance. As the second thunder echoed, the clouds lurking over the town burst open, unleashing a very strong shower of rain. The sound of water hitting the glass was rather calming, so it didn't wake Lock, but Sweetie had never fallen asleep. Her thoughts were filled with so many questions and so many sad thoughts that she ended up crying to herself, but when the rain broke out she started concentrating on the sound it made. The never breaking lull of the water calmed the now exhausted filly and pretty soon Sweetie fell asleep as well, only to be plagued by the same thoughts in her dreams.