Silent Ponyville Side Stories

Chapters

More than Two Sisters
A Party for Two Sisters
I Met a God Today
Visit From the Pink Mare
Silent Ponyville 3 - Intermission 1
Silent Ponyville 3 - Intermission 2
Silent Ponyville 2 Ending: Was it Inevitable?+

More than Two Sisters

More Than Two Sisters

Summary: Just as Pinkie must come to term with Bellamina's passing, so must Octavia. The show mare decides to give her youngest sibling a proper send off when she gets an unexpected visitor.

The balmy summer night settled around the old house. A gentle breeze blew through the rocky field and into the open window, playing with her mane gently. She stared out at the quiet surroundings of the farm house, then up to the clear star filled sky. The moon was out in its full glory once more, washing over everything with its soft night light.

Octavia let out a soft sigh as she moved from the window and back into her old room. The three beds lined up to give each enough space from the next, a small desk next to each of them, and dressers along the wall. It was a comfy abode for three foals and a home she hadn't rested in for a long while.

She could see the form of her pink younger sister sleeping soundly in her bed, tuckered out from an energetic day spent with her family. It really had been too long since they'd last spent such a fun time as a family. She'd missed the feeling; it was nice seeing her parents and getting to spend time with her hyper active younger sister. There was only one family member that was truly missing from this scene.

Octavia walked over to where her cello lay waiting inside its case. She brushed a hoof against the case, smiling softly. Tomorrow she would be leaving the farm if she wanted to make it in time for her concert in Hoofington. After all, she couldn't leave her band mates stranded without her. So, before she would say goodbye to the rest of her family, but tomorrow there was one family member she had to give a special goodbye to. A goodbye she had been neglecting to give for a long time now.

She quietly slipped the cello case around her body and moved to exit the bedroom. The door creaked open with age and she looked over her shoulder to see if she had woken her sleeping sister. The pink mare shifted quietly in her sleep, but remained asleep. Octavia smiled thankfully and slowly closed the door behind her.

The house creaked softly with each footstep, but they all served as reminders to the age of the house.

It didn't take long to navigate the familiar home and be outside in the night air once more. She could easily see her destination from the front door of the farm house. The silo where so many parties used to be held when she was young.

"How come you don't join in 'Tavi?" A young Pinkie Pie asked looking up at the dark coated mare simply watching the two of them play.

"Yea, it's a lot of fun!" Bellamina chimed in with a beanbag in her mouth. She then tossed it forward, just barely missing getting the bag into the barrel.

"No, no. You two keep playing." A young Octavia waved her hoof smiling, "The parents told me to chaperone you two and that's what I plan to do. Besides, I wouldn't be a very good judge of who wins if I played too."

"Oh, that's not fun 'Tavi!" Pinkie bounced over to her older sister and held out a beanbag for her, "I betcha don't wanna play cause you're scared of losing!"

"Excuse me!? As the oldest I would be able to out-score BOTH of you." Octavia said, taken aback at her sister's words.

"Come on and prove it then!" Bellamina grinned, "Pinkie's the best at this game!"

"Oh she is huh?" Octavia raised an eyebrow curiously, "Then I guess I'll just have to show you who the REAL master of this game is." She grinned taking the beanbag from Pinkie, quickly joining them in their fun.

"Yea! You can do it 'Tavi!" Pinkie cheered happily.

"Do your best sis!" Bellamina cheered as well.

"Nothing to it." Octavia grinned happily as she tossed the beanbag towards the barrel.

Octavia pushed open the silo door and looked inside it with a soft smile. The silo was mostly empty; the only items left inside were the tools that were used to help take care of the rock farm. Octavia could still remember all the different decorations that had been set up for various parties Pinkie had thrown.

All those memories dwelled deep in her past however, as the silo seemed as lifeless as any tool shed. But she was where she wanted to be. She gently placed her cello case against the wall before opening it to meet her old friend. She carefully pulled the instrument out of its case and stood on her hind hooves. The instrument rested gently against her body as she placed her hooves against the strings.

She carefully took the bow in her other hoof and rested it against the strings. She took a slow, deep breath. Then she began to play.

"Hey sis, where's the glue?" Bellamina asked curiously.

"Top drawer." Octavia quickly pointed with her hoof.

"Thanks!" Bellamina said rushing off to get the item. Octavia shook her head softly as she went back to focusing. Her parents had assigned her to a rather difficult test to ensure she had learned everything they had taught her for the last year well. She had retained most of it, but the essay portion was proving difficult. She knew what they wanted to see and she didn't want to disappoint. She wondered if non-homeschooled foals had it this tough.

"Hey sis, where's the glitter?" Bellamina poked her head back by, causing Octavia to softly grit her teeth in frustration.

"In the decorations drawer, where else?" Octavia said trying to hide her irritation.

"Thanks!" Bellamina smiled happily before rushing off once more. Octavia let out a soft sigh before returning to her paper. She felt her ideas beginning to flow, writing down the next two sentences with ease.

"Hey, where's the streamers?" Bellamina popped back in and asked.

"Argh!" Octavia gripped the sides of her head in frustration before looking at her youngest sister, rather annoyed, "What do you need all this stuff for anyway!?"

"I'm making Pinkie a gift." Bellamina explained with a smile, "She's given me so many I felt I should return the favor."

Octavia sighed rubbing her eyes.

"Why wouldn't the streamers be in the decorations drawer?" She asked still annoyed at wanting to ace this test for her parents. After all, ONE of them had to be the responsible child of this family.

"I don't know, I think Pinkie used up the streamers there for her last party. I was wondering where the replacements were kept." Bellamina smiled almost obliviously. Octavia wondered if she truly was oblivious or she was ignoring the circumstances on purpose.

"They keep the spare in the attic." Octavia finally said, hoping it'd be the last she saw of her sister.

"Thanks!" Bellamina quickly trotted out of the room going to get the supplies.

"Finally, I can get back to my test!" Octavia grumbled turning back to her paper. She cleared her thoughts from her sister's activities and began to work once more. Scribbling on the paper she could finally got some progress done. She wasn't near finished, but she could already tell the quality of the work was impro-

"HEY! OCTAVIA! You gotta come with me!" A hyperactive pink filly suddenly jumped onto her desk spilling her papers everywhere. Octavia felt her face hit the desk hard. "There's going to be a SUPER WONDERFUL PARTY! And I'm inviting everyone to go! Though mom and dad already turned me down, so I'm inviting you next!" Pinkie bounced happily up and down on the desk.

"Pinkie… can't this party wait till tomorrow or something?" Octavia groaned not lifting her head up.

"I don't think so. It's a wonderful once in a lifetime opportunity!" Pinkie grinned happily. Octavia rolled her eyes, to Pinkie EVERY party was a once in a lifetime event.

"Sorry Pinkie, I can't. I have to finish this test mom and dad gave me. Go ask Bellamina though; I'm pretty sure she's got plenty of free time." Octavia stood up from her chair and started picking up the scattered papers.

"Well… okie dokie. I'll bring you back a piece of cake or something. Oooh, or a cupcake! There are going to be cupcakes!" Pinkie said thinking back to earlier as she licked her lips.

"Yeah, bring me back a cupcake." Octavia said sorting the scattered papers now.

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie nodded her head before bouncing off back into the house.

"Okay, now I should finally have some peace and quiet." Octavia sighed putting her papers back down so she could work once more.

Octavia, with her eyes closed in remembrance lowered her hoof and bow as the last note of the song echoed in the silo. She sighed softly as she held herself back. There was so much left to say, so much left to do, so much that needed to be accomplished but never would be.

She knew she was a rotten sister. Not only had she wished to not see Bellamina again, she had gotten her wish. She had let Pinkie be traumatized. She bore the weight of letting them go.

All over a silly test that in the end didn't even matter. She was the most responsible one of them and she let them go without a word. She may as well have been the killer.

But she still had to be strong with her head held high. After all, she was the oldest, it was her job to be strong. She had to be strong for Pinkie, she had to be strong for her parents and she had to be strong for herself.

She remembered so many nights that she lay awake with Pinkie crying into her coat, hugging the filly close to her chest and comforting her, letting her know that she would be alright. After all, she still had her big sister to protect her.

Pinkie's big sister, who had yet to shed a single tear over the passing for their youngest sibling.

"Can you play another? I really liked that." Came a sudden soft voice Octavia hadn't heard in years. Octavia's eyes shot open at the sound of the intruder. Her mouth fell open as she stared at the sight before her.

There sitting before her was a young filly, with a soft blue coat and gray hair staring at her. There was no mistaking who the filly was. After all these years she hadn't aged a day.

"Hm? What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Bellamina chuckled softly, smiling at her sister.

"H-How… No… you're not really here right now are you? I'm… I'm just hallucinating." Octavia turned her head away, closing her eyes, trying to dispel the illusion.

"I'm no illusion. I'm really here right now." Octavia turned her head to look, Bellamina was still there smiling at her.

"But… But how? You're… you're…" Octavia felt a lump form in her throat, preventing her from saying more.

"It's… complicated. But… I was given some time to spend with you." Bellamina smiled brightly, "So please, I want to hear another song if that's okay."

Octavia was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. She felt herself freezing up. Of all the things that could have happened tonight, this was one she never thought would be a reality. Her sister was there to see her, but was that really alright? There was so many things Octavia needed to get out, but her mind and body refused to say any of it. All she could do was comply for now.

"Alright." Octavia said moving her bow back up to her instrument. She then began to play another of her ballads, moving the bow back and forth as the cello created its soft sound. Bellamina sat raptured by the sound for a moment or two before getting up from her sitting position and walking closer to the instrument. Octavia looked at her curiously as the little filly then sat just a foot or so away from the cello.

"Hey sis…how come your music is so sad?" Bellamina asked curiously. Octavia's slipped causing a sour note before she looked at her sister with a strange look.

"Sad? That… that wasn't a sad song…" Octavia looked down at her instrument wondering what her sister meant.

"But… it is…" Bellamina tapped a hoof to her chin in though, "Here, I'll prove it sis. Start playing again." Bellamina instructed. Octavia wasn't sure what Bellamina meant, but if its what her sister wanted she would comply. She pressed the bow against the cello once more as music began to fill the silo.

Bellamina slowly nodded her head to the gentle beat of Octavia;s playing, giving a moment to let he momentum build up. Then, to Octavia's surprise, Bellamina began to sing.

Last call calling out but you're not coming still
All the tears being shed
Over the lost that does not return
Overwhelmed, exhausted,
Heart is cold and frosted
At least that is what they say

The mask descends, breaking
The face is drenched
The eyes are red and aching
The facade is now flaking

The light, it doesn't smile on the selfish foal of yesterday
But eyes are shut to tomorrow
It's just easier that way
It's just easier to say
Buried in these things meant to pacify
No one alive suspects
Failure, fall, reset

Octavia had wanted to stop playing. As Bellamina sung it felt like old wounds opened inside of her, letting out demons she had long been holding onto. Every word of Bellamina's song felt like a stab at her heart.

But, she couldn't have stopped playing.

Even if every word hurt, if every second of playing felt like it tore her body apart, if every note of her melody dug into her soul she couldn't have stopped playing. The words Bellamina sang rang true to her very soul and moved her in a way she never thought that she could be moved.

The song came to an end and the last note of Bellamina's song lingered in the air. Octavia lowered the bow slowly, staring at her sister with wide eyes, mouth agape. Bellamina just seemed to smile at the sight.

"That's what your music is telling me sis." Bellamina explained to the confused pony.

In that instance, Bellamina found herself being hugged desperately by the older mare. The cello fell to the ground with a dull thud, Bellamina gasped for air as her older practically crushed her within the embrace. As Bellamina found her air, she could feel something wet hit her body. As she carefully turned her head she could see that it was Octavia.

Octavia was crying.

"B-Bellamina…" Octavia hiccupped through her sobs, letting out so many emotions she had been bottling up for years. All the pain, the suffering, the sorrow, the regret, the loneliness, Octavia let it all out in her tears now. Bellamina wrapped her hooves around Octavia and hugged her back, letting the eldest sister cry deeply.

"I'm… I'm so… I'm so sorry…" Octavia blubbered some more, trying to speak despite her lungs gasping for air, "I've been a horrible, horrible rotten sister." Octavia shook her head, "I never deserved a sister as sweet and fun as you. I hurt you, I wished you gone, I ignored you… what kind of older sister doesn't protect their siblings…"

"Oh 'Tavi…" Bellamina sighed smiling happily.

"I should've gone with you! I should've known better than to let you go without me! I'm the worst sister in the whole world." Octavia continued to sob as she let out every bit of guilt she'd been holding onto.

"Okay, that's enough sis." Bellamina said pushing against her sister. Octavia opened her eyes wide as Bellamina pushed them apart. She stared at her younger sister, unable to stop crying.

"Let's get some things straight here." Bellamina turned her head looking at her sister from a slant, "There's no way you could have known what was going to happen was going to. You're just a pony, not some psychic. You did what was natural and you can't have expected anything more."

"B-But I-" Octavia tried to speak but Bellamina only interrupted her again.

"And of course," Bellamina grinned happily, "There's no way you're the worst sister in the world. You're crying your heart out because you miss me, because you've been holding back those tears for too long now." Octavia rubbed her face, looking at her sister even more confused, "You never had to be the strongest amongst us 'Tavi. You didn't have to hold all this inside of you. No pony would've blamed you for crying, but you were strong for your family. You did what you thought was best for making them happy. How could you be a horrible sister for wanting that?"

Octavia stared dumbfounded at her sister as the words hit deeply once more. Octavia closed her eyes as she felt more tears burning at her eyes.

"Oh Bellamina!" Octavia gripped her sister in a hug once more. "I'm so sorry!"

"Sis," Bellamina sighed, "You don't have to apologize-"

"No, no I do have to apologize Bellamina." Octavia squeezed tightly, "Even if I wasn't a rotten sister, even if it wasn't my fault this happened to you, I still have to apologize." Octavia took a deep breath as she nuzzled her head against her sister's, "I never properly said goodbye to you. I never properly mourned your passing. I never let these emotions out. I have to apologize for this. I was running away from what happened to you just as much as Pinkie has been."

"Well… then I'll forgive you Octavia… under one condition." Bellamina smiled, closing her eyes as they hugged.

"Anything sis." Octavia smiled happily.

"I want to hear you play a happy song, one not weighed down by your guilt." Bellamina grinned happily.

"Of course. Anything." Octavia nodded her head quickly, letting go of her sister and walking over to the cello. Bellamina smiled happily as Octavia picked up the cello and the bow, quickly dusting it off and getting the proper pose. Octavia cleared her throat as she smiled, placing the bow against the instrument.

Then she began to play.

Bellamina smiled happily as the new song echoed through the silo, a much different beat. Bellamina couldn't help but smile, the music was so full of life, so joyous, so different from the songs Octavia had been playing before. The music was infectious, it filled Bellamina to her core. She got up on her hooves as she felt her body begin to sway to the music.

Then, she began to dance.

Bellamina swung and twirled, she skipped and hopped happily to the beat. Octavia's music was filled with such pleasure and joy, she couldn't help but feel so joyous with the music.

The song filled the air, Bellamina danced, and it was as if the two of them were in their own little world, a world where only the two of them existed. They could've spent the whole night in that moment, Octavia playing her music, Bellamina dancing to the melody. A world where just the two of them existed.

But as all moments did it came to an end. The last of the notes echoed through the silo as Bellamina came to a stop before her sister, bowing gracefully to her sister. Octavia bowed gracefully back, the two of them looking up at each other.

They began to snicker before softly chuckling at each other. The chuckling turned into giggles and the giggles turned into fits of laughter. The two of them lay on the silo floor, laughing away at nothing, as if an invisible joke had been shared between them.

The two shared in the moment before it too began to calm and the two ponies lay on their backs next to each other looking up at the roof of the silo.

"Oh Bellamina…" Octavia rolled over and threw her hooves around her sister, hugging her once more.

"This is weird." Bellamina laughed hugging Octavia back, "Getting hugged so much by my serious older sister…"

"Hey, I don't know when I'm going to see you again you silly filly, so I have to get in as many hugs as I can now." Octavia smiled, hugging Bellamina a little tighter.

"Thank you sis," Bellamina hugged back as tightly, "But I can't stay much longer." She spoken, Octavia able to hear the sadness in her voice.

"Then even more reason for me to hug you." Octavia spoke without hesitation, snuggling up close with her sister.

"Can you do me a favor sis?" Bellamina asked quietly, snuggling back.

"Anything for you Bellamina."

"Could you not tell Pinkie about this? I'm going to spend time with her soon and… I'd like it to be a surprise."

"Of course. I can promise you that."

The two of them sat in their embrace for a long time, not saying a word. Octavia never wanted to let her sister go, but the more the minutes passed the lighter she could feel Bellamina getting. Her hooves were starting to slip from her sister's fading body and she just desperately tried to cling harder. But, the time finally came, and softly from Bellamina's lips slipped her last words to her sister Octavia.

"Goodbye Sis…I love you."

"I love you too Bellamina." Octavia clung to her litte sister until the last moment, as Bellamina faded from her hold. She was gone, just as she had been before. But this time, she'd left something behind.

A smile on Octavia.

"Alright, well, I've got to head off. My show in Hoofington won't wait for me so I better leave now." Octavia sighed softly, loading her cello into the taxi carriage they'd sent for.

"Awww, I wish we could've spent some more time together." Pinkie pouted as her sister loaded up. This made Octavia chuckle.

"It's alright sis, we've got plenty of time in the future to hang out. And once I'm done with my tour we should." This made Pinkie smile.

"You have a safe trip, alright dear?" Her father walked up and gave his daughter a hug, kissing her on the forehead.

"I will dad, geeze." Octavia laughed happily at the affection.

"You know we worry. You could send a few more letters to your parents once in a while." Her mother hugged her next, Octavia nuzzled up against her.

"I know… I promise I'll keep better in touch." Octavia smiled happily.

"Hey, are we leaving or what?" One of the taxi ponies asked a little annoyed at how long they'd been standing around.

"Oh, sorry, of course." Octavia chuckled before stepping onto the taxi. She turned to her family and waved as the coach began to head off, her family waving back as the farm slowly escaped her vision into the distance. Octavia let out a soft sigh as she sat back into her sit and looked out the window into the sky.

"So… my next performance is for a Wonderbolt's opening huh… this'll be an interesting concert." Octavia mused happily, thinking about her musical prospects for the future.

-The End-

Lyrics Done By: http://enigmaticfrustration.deviantart.com/

A Party for Two Sisters

[Author's Note: This story was written by http://streek471.deviantart.com/ and was uploaded with their permission. They originally wrote this as a fan epilogue, but I liked it enough to make it a canon epilogue. So please enjoy the story and thank Streek for giving us this wonderful addition to my fic!]

A party for two sisters
by ~Streek471

Summary: Pinkie Pie must reflect over the passing of her sister on her last days visiting her old home. She remembers an old memento of her sister that she desires and goes to find it. However, she is greeted to an unexpected event as she searches.

Pinkie Pie lay in the bed of her old room, staring at the ceiling. Tonight was the last night she would be staying in her old home, tomorrow she would be going back to Ponyville. It had been a refreshing visit, and one she desperately needed after her suppressed memories came to the surface. She had originally come to the old farm with her sister Octavia, but she had left 3 days prior due to a concert she had to perform over in Hoofington, and though the visit was originally intended to honor her sister Bellamina, she was relieved to see her mother and father again after so long.

'I wonder...can she see me now?' thought Pinkie Pie as her thoughts drifted back to her younger sister. Though she had forgiven herself for Bellamina's passing, her thoughts often turned to the nastier side of things when she lay alone in her bed, it also didn't help that the room had largely been untouched in the many years that passed, and her eyes often drifted to Bellamina's old bed...

"Come on you silly little filly, you can do it!" Cried a smiling Pinkie Pie to her younger sister, who was currently blind folded with a fake tail in her mouth, stumbling a bit towards the poster of the pony on the wall.

Bellamina carefully stuck her head forward, pinning the tail to the wall.

"Did I get it sis?" Bellamina said excitedly, she then took the blind fold off to see...that she had pinned the tail to the chest area of the pony. "Aw..." she said, slightly disappointed, but Pinkie Pie would have none of that.

"Wow, that was amazing Bellamina, way better than when I first tried to pin the tail on the pony!" Said Pinkie Pie smiling from ear to ear. "Now come on, let's go have some cupcakes!" Said Pinkie Pie.

The two fillies had been throwing a party in the family barn, it had been only a few weeks after Pinkie Pie had earned her cutie mark, and her infectious happiness had been rubbing off more and more on her family, but of all the family members, the one it had rubbed off on the most was Bellamina, she wore a big smile on her face as she started to eat the cupcake her older sister had made for her.

"Oh, and Bellamina, I have something for you, but I need you to close your eyes!" Said the playful pink pony as her younger sister obliged.

Bellamina felt something be placed on top of her head.

She opened her eyes to see a mirror in front of her, and a big blue party hat on her head, with confetti glued to it and the words 'party partner' in glittery pink letters on it...

Pinkie Pie blinked back some tears that were starting to form as the old memory played itself for her in her head. That hat, she was surprised she had forgotten about that.

'I'm surprised I didn't find that in that...' Pinkie shook her head, wanting nothing more than to forget about that hell. But it was there that she had finally come to terms with what happened.

Getting up from the bed, she decided maybe she should look for that old party hat. She doubted it'd be in the room, but she wanted to see that hat. She searched under all 3 of the beds in the room, in the drawers, the boxes full of stuff that lay around carelessly put in the room over the years, but nothing.

'Hmm...maybe the attic?' she thought as she carefully left the room, being sure to be quiet for her parents that were sleeping in the next room. She went to the kitchen to grab the broom that was there, then went back to where the ladder for the attic was, looking up, even in the darkness she was sure she could see the rope.

Carefully and quietly she positioned the broom in her mouth and reached up to pull the rope down with it. She heard a creaking as the attic ladder came down, Pinkie Pie looked towards her parents room to see if she had woken them. When she was satisfied that she hadn't she quietly walked back to the kitchen and put the broom back, then proceeded to climb up into the attic.

She pulled the ladder shut, and turned on the light bulb in the attic to look around. There were dozens of old boxes and knick knacks all over the floor.

'It's gotta be here somewhere...' she thought. She didn't know why she was so compelled to find that hat, but something inside of her told her it was vital. 'Why do I need to find it?' She wracked her brain for an answer...

"Hey Bellamina, what'cha doing?" Asked Pinkie Pie to her sister who was working on something at the family table.

"N-nothing." Said Bellamina trying to hide what she was doing.

"Oh come on, tell me!" Said Pinkie Pie playfully as she tried looking around her sister to see what she was doing, but Bellamina was using her whole body to block what she had been working on.

"I-it's a secret, sorry, I promise to show you later." Bellamina said.

"Aw...you're no fun, oh hey, speaking of fun, there's a super fun party that I'm going to, wanna come?" Said Pinkie Pie, her energy not even phased.

"I'd love to, but I'm a bit busy, maybe I'll meet you in the barn later." Said Bellamina, just wanting Pinkie Pie to not see what she was doing.

"Oh, it isn't in the barn this time, it's a super special party in the forest! Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase come with me?" Said Pinkie Pie.

"The forest...I dunno sis, are you sure that's a good idea?" Bellamina wasn't so sure this was a good idea.

"Of course! When have any of my parties ever gone wrong?"

"Well...okay, I guess I can finish this later, but please, no peeking while I put it away..."

Pinkie shook her head, fighting back tears again.

'Why that memory?' she thought, she never did find out what Bellamina had been working on...

'I need to find that hat, I know I do' it was a similar feeling to what she had in the nightmare world when her gut told her something was vital. Opening the first box, she saw a bunch of hats, her heart swelled as she searched through them, but there was no sign of the party hat. Looking through a second box, her search once again proved fruitless.

And so it continued, into the wee hours of the morning until she had searched through all the boxes, and there was no hat.

'No...it's gotta be here, I can feel it...' said Pinkie Pie, exhausted at this point from a lack of sleep. 'No, you've gotta stay up and find that hat, come on Pinkie, you managed to stay up through parties that lasted more than a day...' she thought, but her body wouldn't have it, and soon she found her surroundings going black.

Pinkie Pie woke up to find herself in the family barn, as it was when she used to throw parties in it.

"Huh...why am I here?" She thought as she stood up, looking at all the decorations, ones far more simple than the ones she'd use in a party now, but something about it was nostalgic...

"It's been a long time, Pinkamena..." A voice called out behind the pink pony. Turning around, she saw an impossible sight. It was a little filly, with a blue coat and silver mane. She seemed a bit shy, but wore a smile none-the-less, and sitting on her head was a blue party hat with the words 'party partner' on it in pink glitter, and bits of confetti glued to the hat. Pinkie Pie couldn't believe her eyes.

There before her stood Bellamina, the same as she was right before she died.

"B-Bellamina..." Said Pinkie Pie, she felt tears start to form, but Bellamina would have none of that.

"Hey, weren't you always the one that told me to stay happy, no matter what?" Said Bellamina, trying to calm Pinkie Pie, but soon she found herself on the ground as the much bigger pony tackled her into a hug.

"Oh Bellamina! I've missed you so much!" Cried Pinkie Pie as she nuzzled her little sister's neck.

"I've missed you too Pinkamena, so much..." Bellamina hugged her back with all her strength and they just stayed that way for a long while, until eventually Bellamina broke the silence.

"So...are we gonna party or what?" She asked as Pinkie looked at her.

"Is that why we're here?" Pinkie asked.

"Well yeah, that's kinda why the barn is decorated, it's been so many years since we've seen each other, and I want nothing more in the world than to party with you." Said Bellamina.

"I...figured you'd hate my parties. It was because of my careless partying nature as a kid that you-"

"Don't sis, I don't blame you. You know in your heart now that it wasn't your fault, as I've known all along, now come on, are we gonna play pin the tail on the pony or what?" Said Bellamina, as she broke the hug and gestured a hoof at the table where a blind fold and fake tail were.

"Of course sis!" Said Pinkie Pie, back to her usual bubbly self.

She blind folded Bellamina and spun her around until she was dizzy. "Alright Bellamina, you show that pony who's boss!" Cheered Pinkie as Bellamina walked forward toward the wall that had the fake pony, very carefully, she placed the tail on the fake pony.

"Did I get it?" She asked as she took the blind fold off. She had placed the tail perfectly on the pony. "I did it sis, I finally did it!" She said as she laughed. Pinkie Pie laughed as well and the two just continued like that, cherishing the moment.

The two ponies let their cares fade away as the party continued. It wasn't as fancy or extravagant as what a current Pinkie Pie party would be, but it was the best party Pinkie Pie had gone to in years.

Eventually Bellamina was starting to become less and less energetic as the party wore on, when she stopped eating the piece of cake she had barely touched, she looked at Pinkie, her big, now much bigger sister.

"Pinkamena...I have to go soon..." Bellamina said.

Pinkie's happy mood shifted as she looked at her sister. "But...why?"

"I had a lot of fun, the most fun I've had in years, and someday, far off from now, I hope we can do this again...but being here, it isn't something that's easy, and I can feel myself starting to fade again." Said Bellamina as she got up from the table they were sitting at.

Pinkie did the same as they both walked towards each other to embrace. Pinkie didn't want to see her sister go, as she squeezed tightly around her little sister, but she could already feel her sister weakening.

"Someday we will do this again, I promise, and it will be the most super fantabulous party you've ever had." Said Pinkie, her voice full of energy, even though tears were freely falling.

"I-I'd like that, just...promise me one thing Pinkamena...don't forget me again...please" Said Bellamina, her voice wavering as she herself started to sob into Pinkie's mane.

"Never again Bellamina, never again, I love you sis...and I always will..." Said Pinkie Pie, she then leaned down and gently kissed her sister's forehead. Eventually Bellamina broke the hug as she started to fade away more and more, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Pinkamena...there's one more thing I need to do before I say goodbye, close your eyes, I have a surprise for you...and thank you."

Pinkie slowly opened her eyes to see she was in her own bed.

"But didn't I..." She started, but she felt something on her head.

Reaching up, she took it in her hooves to see what it was. She looked at the cheaply made pink hat, glued to it were bits of confetti, and in the center, with blue glitter, the words 'party partner' were right there.

Pinkie smiled as she looked at the hat, gently hugging it to her chest, she got up from her bed after a bit and looked out the window of her room, towards Bellamina's grave.

In Ponyville, just a few days after Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had started dating, Pinkie Pie was throwing yet another party.

Ever since she had come back, she had been throwing them more often than usual to make up for lost time, she wore in her mane a red ribbon so she'd never forget her friends, and whenever she threw a party now, she wore the hat she had received from Bellamina. All her friends were having the time of their life, and soon it was that time to pack it up, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had also stayed behind to help.

"Hey Pinkie Pie, I've been meaning to ask, why do you wear that cheap party hat?" Asked Rainbow Dash, coming up to Pinkie Pie as she put away the last of the decorations.

"Because...it's the best party hat I'll ever own."

I Met a God Today

Summary: Ever wonder what became of The Colt from Silent Ponyville? A short look into the mind of a Sociopath in his jail cell and why he's still alive.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The clock beats to a rhythm but it holds no time. The precious beats tell me the time is still flowing though. There's no need to know how much of it has passed.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The clock is an old friend; though I don't always know he's there he is always waiting for me. It's comforting to know he has the patience to wait for me to need him. He'll be waiting for me when I need him again. But I'll be leaving him again soon, I'm sure he understands. He can't help but understand.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

I rise. It's time for me to wander. My friend will wait once more as I begin my walk. I wander away, not too far, but my desire has me moving. I walk to the forest I've known all my life. The familiar trees welcome me back to their depths. They've always felt like a second home to me. Not that my home ever felt homely. The woods were always my get away.

These woods are empty now. They used to be filled with so many friends. They all left a long time ago, but I still visit in memory of those friends. I reach the old picnic table, wearing away with age it's starting to rot away. No one has taken care of it in my absence, but I don't mind. This table played host to my parties before anyone knew I liked to throw parties.

Balloons lay scattered around, long since deflated. Old streamers line the trees, confetti is scattered amongst the leaves and grass. So many parties were thrown here, so many of my friends would I invite. They loved my parties, every moment of them. This table would often become covered in the remains of a good partying day. It's been so long since I saw it re-painted that wonderfully glossy deep-red color. All that remains are the old stains of parties long since gone.

The memories of our games are strong though. My favorite game was always surgeon, a game that always required a high level of skill and precision. My friends loved to make it harder on me too, by squirming and trying to escape my hold, but it was all in good fun. I would take them apart and see what made them tick inside. Then we'd have the ingredients to make the most wonderful snacks for all our friends; my mouth still waters at the deliciously salty, though slightly bitter, taste.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Time is slipping by now. I can see the clouds starting to form and they'll be blocking Celestia's sun soon. I can tell from the formation that they're preparing for a rain storm tonight. I still have business to deal with elsewhere, so I should continue moving before it gets too late. I don't want to get caught in the downpour.

I begin to leave the forest. I don't know how much time has passed, but my body seems to be moving as if on instinct. This particular path is one that has become ingrained into me over time. While I try not to do the same thing twice over the course of a few days, this is the one thing that does not change.

Leave the forest I soon enter a realm of empty of darkness. It's been devoid of anything for as long as I remember it. I don't know why it was made so desolate, but it seems nothing can be built here. Everything is darkness, from the floors to walls and the sky.

I reach the edge of the dark realm and I sit down. Before me sit the gates of the gods, separating me from them. I wait here every day, I've gotten the timing down; if I wait here I'll see a god.

As if on cue, the brilliant light flares up. The light that tells me a god has made itself known. Its figure appears in the light, it silhouette a shadow of its true self. It comes forth and stands before, standing behind the gate of the gods.

I smile at the god. I can't see too well into the bright light so I squint my eyes just to see what I can.

Metal crashes to the ground. I hear the god give a loud angry huff before I see the figure raise its front leg and kick something, followed by the loud cry of metal scrapping along the ground. The god then turns and walks away, taking his light with him as the world returns to the darkness.

My vision clears, once more able to see everything that resides in the darkness. At my feet I see the food that has appeared before me, a bowl of brown mushy gruel, a gift from the gods. I give my thanks to the god as I then began to eat the food I have been given. It's not the most delicious food I've ever eaten. No, that particular dish will always have a special place in my heart. But for what it is, it's a good meal. I finish every last speck of what's in the bowl.

Once I finish, I give my thanks to the god. I've always enjoyed getting gifts, this one, even as simple as it is, is no exception.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

I finally leave the darkness. Another god won't show up for a long time now so I can go back to finishing what I need to. The road appears before me from the darkness as the world returns. The road splits before me, but I know which way I'm going. One will take me to the forest I've already been to, so now I must head for the city.

It doesn't take long to reach; the cityscape is always a magnificent sight. The buildings tower over me as I walk its streets. Shops of all types litter every corner and fill the world with bright colors and signs.

I walk past the memories of ponies once gone by, going into a store I remember well. Up and down the aisles, past the memories of items I saw long ago. I know what I'm looking for today. I stop before a little red book, one I know quite well and enjoy very much. I pick it up and walk out of the aisle to the register. I give my memory of the cashier the memory of my money and they accept it happily.

I carry the book out of the store, opening it to read the contents. It's a cook book, one filled with many types of recipes. My favorite section is the desserts. I've memorized every recipe in the book and I love just to refresh my memory.

Stir the eggs and the flour, add in the sugar, add milk, add flavor. Cook in the over till the centers are dry. The book never mentions my favorite extra ingredient, but that must be because it's such a secret for something to taste that good. I found it out myself, but I won't share unless someone asks. It's my personal favorite recipe.

I stop in front of the city's largest building, a tower that rises about the city to view the surroundings. It's a favorite tourist spot and it's magnificently built. I enter the building and begin my climb to the top. It's a long walk to the top but the trip is always worth it every time I visit the city. It takes me a time that I don't know before I finally step foot on its observation deck.

The entire city can be seen from this view; the forest, the clouds being built up for the storm and even the river just before my house, a glorious view of my whole world. The memories of ponies enjoy the view as well, gazing out in awe. It's certainly wonderful just to spend this bit of time seeing everything.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

As I leave the tower, the clouds have grown dark and begin to cover the sky. I can longer see the sun. The rain begins to pour slowly. I make haste to try and escape the rain so that I won't be caught in the downpour. I reach the city's edge soon enough, but it's too late. The rain is coming down as a torrent now.

Lightning streaks across the sky illuminating the world for brief periods of time; many a pony have gotten lost and gone missing in storms like this. I do my best to head in the direction of home, fighting the wind and rain with every step. I remember the way home though; my hooves have walked it so many times before that they don't know any other way.

It's a battle to walk, but I'm determined to make it. Home is just within reach and I can overcome the challenge before me. The wind howls in my ear overpowering almost all other sounds. It's good for the land but I need to make my way out of this storm.

Once I get out of the storm I'll be in a warm house. There will be a nice warm fire waiting for me, a shelf filled with all the things I've purchased over the days, mementos of days gone by that I remember fondly. This storm is just an obstacle that is wasting my time. I will defeat it and be with my belongings soon.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

I stumble past the river as the storm begins to calm down, slowly passing by overhead. The last few trickles hit my nose before it's gone. I'm before my wooden shack that I call home. Alone by itself in this plain, but it's where I stay. I look up into the now cloudless clear sky, looking into the night that has fallen. The moon has risen and is in full view today.

The stars shine so brightly and the moon looks beautiful. I can see the mare in the moon again tonight. Her beauty resonates within me. I remember her tale so well, that after a thousand years she will return to bring nighttime eternal.

I would like to live in a world where the night lasts forever. The sun is bright and hot, where the nights are cool and gentle. The night has always given me a sense of comfort. Parties are the best at night, especially my kind of parties. Other ponies may like the day, but the night is where I feel the most comfortable.

I sit outside a little longer, enjoying the moonlight.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Inside my home I put the memory of the little red cookbook on the shelf, next to the memories of the others books I've memorized. It brings a smile to my face to see my collection. I turn and greet the friend I left behind that day; he welcomes me back home with the rhythmic beat.

I sit by the warm fire that burns in my house, enjoying the crispy warm flames. Tomorrow is another day, but I don't feel like sleeping. I just want to enjoy the comfort before me.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The clock beats to a rhythm, but it holds no time…

"…And you're telling me this prisoner never leaves his cell?" Celestia asked the guard that had handed her a note from the prison that held this prisoner. It was their yearly mental evaluation of him.

"Yes your highness. He's also never been given any items or time outside of his cell. The guards believe that everything described in his evaluation are from the pictures he has painted on his walls in his own blood." The guard explained.

"…I see…" Celestia said, not sure what to make of the letter as she rolled it back up.

"Your Highness…I know how this is going to sound…but the Prison has asked for special permission…to allow them to execute this prisoner." The guard hesitated to explain it.

"W-What!?" Celestia said in shock, "They know I've strictly forbidden executions of anypony! Why would they ask me to make such an exception!?" The idea of accepting an execution request made her angry. She hadn't allowed an execution in over 400 years, seeing any of her subjects killed made her stomach twist.

"Well…your highness, it's not just for his heinous crimes. He's convicted of foalnapping, imprisonment, cruel and unusual torture, murder, cannibalism…but not only that, he is unknown to anyone. In all his times of being imprisoned he's never once had a visitor. Not only that, he's never revealed his name. He's only known as 'The Colt' amongst the staff and guards." The guard turned his head as he spoke of The Colt, holding back his anger at the very thought of what he's done, "He would not be missed if he was executed."

Celestia stared in silence at her guard. She gritted her teeth. She knew if there was any pony that deserved death, it was that one. His crimes were the most severe that any pony born this century had ever seen. She had personally seen worse in her one thousand years of life, but she could never convey that to her subjects.

"…I'm sorry, but I can't accept this request." Celestia turned her head away, closing her eyes to hold back her anger, "Even if he's committed murder, even if he is the most deserving of death…to kill him would make somepony else a murderer. Forgive me for allowing him to live, but I can't allow murder of any kind."

"…As you command, your highness." The guard bowed to Celestia, before walking off to give the prison their answer. He left the throne room, closing the door behind him, leaving Celestia alone for the moment. Celestia let out a soft sigh as she looked up at the ceiling.

"…There have been no wars or atrocities for several centuries now. I want to keep this peace for as long as I can. Even if that means leaving some alive that would be better dead." Celestia closed her eyes in thought.

"I only pray that the families that have lost their loved ones can forgive me…"

Visit From the Pink Mare

Visit from the Pink Mare

Summary: A 'What If' scenario where Pinkie Pie goes and confronts The Colt who haunted her mind for so many years.

Pinkie took a gulp as she stared at the door that led to a separate chamber from the rest of the prison. The cells were officially classified as 'Solitary Confinement', however the only thing that made them 'solitary' was that they were separated from the other cells and most criminals only stayed in them for a few days for misbehaving. But from what she'd been told the criminals kept themselves in good terms to avoid coming here because of the one prisoner that was kept inside at all times. None of them wanted to be in the same area as him.

"You seem nervous…and I can understand why. There's still time to back out, if you don't want to do this." Came the reassuring yet regal voice of Princess Celestia, who turned to look at the smaller pink mare standing next to her before the door.

"No…No this is…I have to at least see him." Pinkie shook her head softly.

"…Very well then, but I will be with you at all times, so don't be afraid to say what you need to." Celestia gave her head a slow nod to the guards, who gave her a quick salute before moving to opening the door.

"…Thank you Princess." Pinkie smiled softly, though it didn't last as she heard the door open creakily. The well-lit hallway seeped its light into the dark hallway the door presented, as if there had been no light prior. With a quick survey of the dark hallway she realized that that was exactly true, the solitary confinement chamber had no torches or means of lighting.

Celestia began to walk forward, snapping Pinkie from her thoughts and quickly following after the Princess.

There weren't many rooms in the hallway, Pinkie counted six at best before the hallway ended. However, Celestia came to a stop in the middle, turning to face one particular cell on the right. Pinkie felt a lump form in her throat as she could hear her hooves echo against the ground with each step. Her whole body was telling her to turn around and leave right now, a familiar presence was telling her that not only did she need to leave, but she should right now.

However she pushed forward and stopped, turning to look into the cell as well.

Instantly a cold chill ran down her entire spine as there sat, smiling through squinted eyes at them was a gray coated earth pony with a messy, unkempt brown mane. Pinkie bit down on her bottom lip as she stared at the colt that sat so calmly behind the bars in his cell. He slowly blinked as it seemed he was having his eyes get adjusted to having light in the hallway once more.

As his eyes opened more, she felt another chill run down her spine. His eyes were still a soulless red that seemed to pierce right through her. She couldn't stop herself from putting a hoof over her mouth, half to stop her from screaming, half to stop an onslaught of questions that might haphazardly start spewing if she didn't control herself.

The colt blinked his eyes slowly in a bit of confusion, before tilting his head, his eyes now open as he began to examine the two figures before him. He seemed to be thinking about something very deeply as his eyes wandered up to the tall mare that stood next to Pinkie. You could almost see the gears turning in his head as his thoughts moved.

Then suddenly, he seemed to understand. He stood up from his sitting position in the cell, now standing before them. Pinkie thought for a moment he was going to try and tackle them through the bars, try and attack them for approaching him the way they did. But instead, his next action shocked her even more than that.

He began to bow before Celestia. He was showing courtesy to the Princess of the Sun.

"It is an honor to be visited by the Princess, God of the Gods; though I do not think a simple pony like me is worthy." Came the calm voice of the colt, a voice that still reminded Pinkie of everything he had done. His voice had changed some; it was now softer, as if unused for a long time. It croaked a little as he tried to use it properly as if he hadn't been properly hydrated for a long time.

"You may rise Colt, I am not the one who is here to visit you today." Celestia simply closed her eyes, not caring about the formalities from someone such as him.

The Colt simply acknowledged by rising up from the bow before sitting back down. He looked tired. Bags hung under his eyes and his body seemed to speak of exhaustion from a lack of movement to maintain itself, but never the less he sat there calmly. His eyes adjusted from the royal presence of Celestia down to the smaller mare standing beside her, who had yet to remove the hoof from her mouth.

"Oh, how wonderful. I haven't had a visit from anything but Gods and Memories in such a long time. I thank you for coming to see me." The Colt smiled, though it did not seem to change the dark look on his face.

Celestia turned her head to slowly look at Pinkie, who had finally carefully removed the hoof from her mouth and swallowed down the lump in her throat. She had to say something or…no she wanted to say something. None of this was necessary.

She could've just stayed in Ponyville, she could've just ignored this opportunity to meet him again, she could've just continued having Bellamina's memory remind her of how fortunate her life was, content with throwing parties for her friends and just being the simple party mare of Ponyville. No, she had chosen to come here and chose to face him. She had to make sure she did it right, she had to make sure that there was a purpose to why she had come here.

"H-Hello…" She finally managed to say, though her throat had tried to choke it, "D-Do you…remember who I am?" She asked carefully.

The Colt's smile faded a little as he tried to examine Pinkie through the bars.

"Forgive me…my sights gone a little bad since being in here and it's hard to make out clear details." He said concentrating, "Celestia is easy to discern, but another Pony is much harder, but it's likely I do, I remember all my friends." He said placing a hoof against his chin as he thought; the way he had said 'friends' put another cold chill down her back, reminding her of how he referred to his 'playmates' so long ago.

"…Is your name Bliss Star?" The Colt asked almost quietly, as if hiding something.

"N-No…my names-"

"No no, don't ruin the game." The Colt shook his hoof a little smiling. "I should get at least three guesses before the game is over." Pinkie grimaced a little.

"Well…then…are you Crystal Mane?" He asked rubbing his chin in thought.

"No…" Pinkie replied quietly.

The Colt deepened his thought as he closed his eyes, contorting his face a little as if to emphasize deep thought. He sat there that way for a moment, before his eyes slowly opened again and he simply smiled.

"Pinkamena?" Pinkie gulped once more as she slowly nodded to his words, which elicited a bigger smile from the Colt, "See, I told you I don't forget my friends." He nodded slowly, "But it's been such a long time since I last saw you, what've you been up to since we last met?"

He asked the question so casually, as if they had always been such deep and dear friends. She couldn't see what was going on through his head in his eyes, but she couldn't help but feel that his question was genuine; the soft smile on his face told her that he just wanted to know how she'd been since he last saw her.

"…I've…I've been…good…" Pinkie began to speak slowly, "I've…moved out of the house I used to live in…and I've made a lot of great friends where I live now. I'm known as the party mare there," she said giving a soft smile as she looked away from him, "I always do my best to ensure everypony is happy and smiling…"

"That sounds wonderful." The colt smiled back, "I wish I could attend a party you threw. I'm sure you have some of the best games."

She felt the hair at the back of her neck begin to stand on end.

"I'm just about to play one of the most wonderful games with your sister."

"I…don't play any games you'd enjoy." Pinkie closed her eyes, not looking at the Colt as she spit the words out, like they were vile in her mouth.

"Really? That's a shame; a party should always have good games. I thought you'd know that better than anyone." He said tilting his head in thought, "After all, don't we have the same cutie mark?"

"MY CUTIE MARK IS NOTHING LIKE YOURS." Pinkie yelled pressing her face against the bars as she glared at the Colt. She could feel herself breathing heavily as she was filled with anger, "My parties bring laughter and joy to those who attend them! They're not vile, twisted things that are meant to torture and KILL innocent ponies!"

The Colt didn't seem to even flinch at this, but only frowned a little at the apparent attitude he was getting.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I really thought you'd understand me better than the rest of them." He said closing his eyes, "You remind me a lot of her."

Pinkie's eye twitched, "Remind you of who!?"

The Colt didn't reply as he only seemed to sit quietly in contemplation to himself. He finally opened his eyes as his smile had returned.

"You were the last pony I partied with, so it's still the freshest memory I have. It was a wonderful party wasn't it?" Pinkie felt the hair on her neck began to stand up again. She had promised herself she wasn't going to confront him like this, that she'd be calm and hear what he had to say then go from there, but his words…his words felt like they had uncaring venom to them that coursed through her, as if attacking everything she cared about.

"You were there; it was a wonderful party wasn't it? I don't think it was the best I ever had, but certainly up there. Usually I don't get more than one guest at a time either, so having two was certainly a special occasion. I had to make sure it was special, so I made sure you stayed, that way I could truly show you how wonderful a party it would be." He smiled happily. "And your sister, Bellamina, was a wonderful partner for my favorite game."

Pinkie could feel the rage boiling inside of her.

"And I must admit that she helped me make some of the most delicious treats that day."

"…Shut up…"

"It wasn't the tastiest, sadly someone else still has that pleasure, but hers were especially tasty. But you know that don't you? You tasted it."

"…Shut up."

"Oh, she does have one honor though. She held out the longest out of any of my other playmates. Oh I think she loved the game…or perhaps she wanted to see you play it too, she kept calling out your name as we played."

"Shut. Up."

"Still though, I held reservations about playing the game with you. After all it's not every day you meet somepony with the same special talent as you. I was actually thinking you might make a great party partner-"

"I SAID SHUT UP." Pinkie had reached her limit, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ABOUT HER LIKE THIS. My sister was the sweetest little pony I've ever met and you TOOK HER FROM THIS WORLD! And you have the nerve, THE NERVE to speak of her this way!?" Pinkie's whole body shook as she screamed, "I would NEVER be your party partner! I already have one and she can NEVER BE REPLACED." Pinkie raised her hooves up as she flailed, "HOW DARE YOU. HOW DARE YOU, RAAAAUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH."

Pinkie let out a horrible scream of pure rage as she wanted to lunge straight for the cell, to break down the bars and grab his throat, to strangle him, to just end his life. Every part of her being was screaming at her to take him down right then and there for what he had done.

But her body didn't move from its place. Her legs flailed as the ground escaped her and she looked down, realizing that she was being levitated off of it. She flailed harder and yelled at the air as she desperately wanted to just vent everything that had been pent up for so long.

"Pinkie…" Came Celestia's calm but reassuring voice. Pinkie had completely forgotten she was still there. She slowly turned her head, glaring at the regal Princess for having stopped her. "Pinkie…do you know what you look like right now?" Pinkie looked confused at the Princess's question but couldn't bring herself to answer, her fury was still boiling.

The Princess let out a soft sigh as she conjured up a mirror before holding it up so Pinkie could see herself. Pinkie froze her squirming almost instantly, barely recognizing the mare she saw in the mirror.

The coat was a dark red, a noticeable contrast to the normal bright pink. Her mane was now scarlet, as if the same color as blood and it was flowing as if it were in water trying to rise into the air. But what shocked her most was that her cutie mark had started to turn a shade of red.

"You must calm yourself Pinkie. You don't want to be like him do you?" Celestia asked calmly.

Pinkie let her hooves fall as she stared, her mouth agape. Every ounce of rage began to slip out of her as she stared at herself. Her lower lip began to quiver as she stared, an image of Bellamina coming to her mind, looking sad and disappointed at her sister for having let such rage overcome her.

The red slowly seeped out of her coat as her hair fell, falling straight around her face. Her colors didn't return to their normal bright versions, but instead switched to the darker shade, she saw herself as she did back when she was still on the farm. Her tears flowed freely from her eyes as she cried, looking at herself.

Celestia gently lowered Pinkie to the ground, letting her go with the magic as Pinkie curled up onto the ground, sobbing into her hooves. She shook from crying, letting the tears of her pain and frustration out. She thought she had gotten them all out of her body, that she had left this all behind her after twice being in that other Ponyville…but the Colt drug them all to the surface.

But more than that…he made her afraid; not of him, but of herself. If Celestia hadn't been there, she would've tried to kill him. She would've ended his life. And even if he deserved it, even if he was the only pony in the whole world who deserved to die…if she felt justified killing him, who was to say she would stop with just him if she thought somepony else deserved it too?

She had just come close to staining her hooves with blood, and that scared her more than anything.

"Pinkamena…" Pinkie almost froze as she heard his voice return. She didn't know if she wanted to hear him speak anymore…but then…what would've been the point of coming here? Would it have been to realize she could be driven to be a murderer? No…she didn't want that. She slowly lifted her head, looking up at the Colt who had walked closer to the bars now, looking down at her.

"Why are you crying? You're not playing a game with anyone…so why are you crying?" He asked a little confused.

Pinkie's eyes widened a little as he said those words. It was then that it hit her…

He didn't understand.

He played the games that caused so much pain and horror, that killed innocent ponies just so he could eat and enjoy their flesh…

But he didn't understand the pain that caused other ponies. He only ever saw screams and crying when he was having fun, when everything was going his way and he was enjoying himself. He seemed to have this notion that everypony enjoyed the fun he spread and that he wanted to spread that fun with as many ponies as he could.

His eyes still reflected no emotions, no sadness or happiness, no remorse or enjoyment out of what he saw with the state she was in, they were just blank. He had fun…that's all he understood.

He would never understand suffering or sadness. He wouldn't understand guilt or torment. He wouldn't understand life and death.

All he knew was how to be happy, to have fun, in everything that he did. He knew nothing else.

Pinkie slowly sat up as the realization dawned on her, looking into the Colt's eyes as he looked back at her. She blinked as the last few tears in her eyes escaped, but no fresh ones came. Her mouth hung open as she stared into those blank, red eyes.

Then…a small smile formed on her face. Her eyes still reflected sadness, but she smiled softly. She carefully reached up and gently placed her hoof through one of the bars and placed it against his face. He looked at the hoof strangely, but accepted its touch. He turned his head and looked at Pinkie.

"…Do you have a name?" Pinkie asked carefully. The Colt blinked a little, but didn't seem to think too hard.

"If I had one…I lost it long ago." He said simply, "Of all the things I remember, I can't remember my name."

"I see…" Pinkie said closing her eyes as she could feel his presence now without fear. "I'm sorry to hear that." She carefully pulled her hoof back. "I'm…glad I was able to meet you though."

"I'm glad to have had the company. All this has seemed much like a party, though without the games. The Gods certainly don't speak with me anymore." The Colt let out a soft chuckle, one she knew she would've found haunting before.

"I understand." Pinkie softly chuckled in return, "I'm not going to stay around much longer, but I just wanted to say that…I forgive you." The Colt tilted his head a little confused. "I know. You don't get what's needed to be forgiven right?" The colt didn't acknowledge the question; he just listened intently to Pinkie. "Well…you did a terrible thing. You took someone who was very important to me from this world and it's…been a hard life living with the memory. But…I've come to terms with what happened and…Bellamina would want me to be happy."

"She was a wonderful filly." The Colt smiled.

"She was. Which is why I decided to come see you…to see if I could find closure in a way I hadn't found yet. I guess I just proved to myself that I did need it too. So…this is going to be the last time we ever see each other, but I just needed to let you know…that I do forgive you. In memory of my sister." Pinkie closed her eyes smiling.

"That's a shame, I don't get visitors anymore and I need visitors to host parties. But very well. Then I hope you continue to throw wonderful parties Pinkamena." The Colt smiled.

"Goodbye Mr. Colt." Pinkie said standing up.

"Goodbye Pinkamena." The Colt returned.

Pinkie turned and walked out of the hallway, Princess Celestia following closely behind. As they exited the dark hallway, the door to the rooms swung close, returning the hallway to the darkness that had once ruled it.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you Princess." Pinkie spoke first, apologizing for her behavior.

"It was understandable." Celestia said understandingly, "I'm just glad you were able to calm down. I didn't want to have to explain to Twilight why one of her friends was in prison." Pinkie just laughed a little awkwardly.

"Sorry." She said again smiling, "But…I do feel better now. I'm glad I did this…"

"I'm glad you did too." Celestia said simply.

"Why are you happy Princess?" Pinkie asked curiously, not sure what the Princess had gained from this trip.

"He revealed more to you then he has anyone else. Bliss Star and Crystal Mane…this is the first time he's spoken any name while imprisoned, or revealed while going under his psychological evaluations." Celestia closed her eyes, "And he understands that the dead don't come back to visit…which means those two names have to be ponies that are still alive that he knew."

"…I…I hadn't thought about that." Pinkie said bewildered at how easily Celestia was able to pick up on something at the beginning of their conversation.

"But, that is another matter. Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Celestia asked, genuinely concerned.

Pinkie smiled brightly and nodded her head, "Yes, I'll be fine Princess. I need a little while to gather myself, but I'll be throwing parties again in no time."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Celestia smiled genuinely, "Come, as long as you are here why not enjoy dinner with me tonight?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Pinkie said, her hair poofing back out as she bounced alongside the Princess.

-The End-

Silent Ponyville 3 - Intermission 1

The room sat a broken, discarded mess. Dust had settled on top of the broken furniture, the torn apart carpet, the fallen pieces of the ceiling and walls and even what remained of torn pictures that hung from the wall. Dulled white envelopes appeared to be scattered across the floor, some burnt, some shredded, some just yellowed with age. However, the most unusual thing in the room was a device that wasn’t known to Equestria. On top of a small table sat a square box, with glass on the front that showed darkness behind it and on the very front it had a small button.

The approaching hooves walked towards the device, the steps echoing loudly in the broken room. Each step also elicited a loud creak from the floor, a sign of the wear it had suffered.

The hooves carefully stepped over debris that scattered the room before finally coming upon the lonesome box.

The owner of the hooves seemed to examine the box, looking it over with a curious eye. Though they knew not what the contraption was, they knew enough that it meant something. A device this odd wouldn’t be here if it didn’t serve a purpose.

The hoof came up from the ground, covered in the thin layer of dust from the floor and brought it up to the button. It carefully pushed against the button.

The box suddenly came to life, glowing with a soft light that permeated the room. The window that once showed black now showed a snow filled screen, letting off a quiet hissing buzz. The pony stared at the show, the screen buzzing through its grey snow that seemed to move back and forth across its screen.

The hooves seemed to watch for what felt like a minute, before something changed.

“-Mom, Dad, what’re you waiting for?” Through the fuzz faint images began to come forth. A white filly with a blue-gray mane could be seen hopping around what looked like a beach.

“We’re coming honey.” A light female voice chuckled from somewhere off screen.

“We’ve got to carry the supplies, why don’t you go have fun first and we’ll catch up.” A deeper male voice said.

“Okay!” The happy little mare nodded, bouncing down towards the water of the beach.

The images faded back into the snow of the fuzzy screen. It stayed fuzzy for a moment before new images appeared back once more.

“-ppy birthday dear Winter, happy birthday to you.” A chorus of voices sang slowly as the white filly could be seen sitting at the head of the table just before a large cake covered in lit candles. The moment the song ended the filly took a deep breath and blew as hard as she could, all the lights on the cake coming to an end. The room around her gave congratulatory cheers at the accomplishment as she beamed brightly.

“So what’d you wish for?” The older male voice asked curiously, clearly holding back his own chuckles.

“But won’t that mean it won’t come true?” The little filly asked looking up at the voice with bright, wide eyes.

“Oh I’m sure it’ll come true if you tell me.” The male voice chuckled now.

“Well… I wished that I could be happy every day!” She grinned a big silly grin.

“Every day?” The male voice laughed. “That’s a big order! I hope it comes true.”

“I know it will!” The filly grinned confidently. “It will because I will believe in it.”

The image grew fuzzy once more, before falling victim to the screens snow. The snow seemed to grow more violent now, as if fighting with itself over what was the right thing to show next. The next set of images fought its way through the screen, the image cutting in and out before finally growing stable enough to be seen through the fuzz.

“-with this weather!?” It was the drowned out cry of an earth pony as he stood in the midst of a blizzard.

“There must’ve been an accident at the weather factory!” It was the cry of another pony though they were also muffled by the raging snow. “It was only supposed to be a few feet of snow!”

“We’re all going to die!” A hysterical pony cried out already accepting their fate.

“No we’re not!” It was the lone cry of a young pony. All the ponies turned and saw the white coated filly walking up to them, yelling over the loud wind. “I know how we’ll get out of this alive but you need to listen to me!” The filly sounded confident and sure of herself. All of the ponies nodded their agreement with her.

The young filly began to bark out orders on what to do. Every pony listened, nodding their heads and quickly getting to work on what the filly commanded. So busy were they with following orders that they didn’t notice her flanks flash up, a mark showing a black thundercloud with a bolt of lightning underneath it.

The picture faded once more. The hissing of the screen grew louder this time, as if the device itself was struggling, being forced against its will to show what was happening to it. The picture came back again. The familiar filly was no longer a filly, but a beautiful young mare.

“Are you sure you want to go?” The voice of the stallion before asked, though now clearly aged, time had caught up with him. The strikingly beautiful young mare nodded her head.

“The city’s just… it’s become a big hassle now.” The white mare laughed, tossing a lock of hair out of her face, “I’d just like to settle down somewhere quiet for a while. Clear my head and taste the fresh country air.”

“You know we’ll miss you a lot. We’ll send you letters every day.” An aged female voice said off screen.

“Every day might be a little much.” The white mare laughed, smiling brightly, “Though of course I’d still love getting letters.” The white mare gave a short bow to the two ponies that couldn’t be seen, “I’ll be seeing you mom and dad. I’ll write once I’m settled in.”

The screen faded back to the fuzzy snow. It swirled and buckled under itself, crashing and fighting itself in waves. It hated showing this, it wanted nothing more than to stop and be finished. But it had one more thing left to show, the most important part of all. The snow parted to the side once more, revealing a close up shot of the white mare’s face.

This time was different. The mare wasn’t happy, she wasn’t encouraging or helping, she was scared. She was panicked. She was breathing heavily.

“Hello?” She asked into the screen, before stepping a back a few steps. She stared wide eyed into the screen, the room around her almost pitch black. “Hello, I don’t know if anypony can hear me through this. I was… I was just told by a hooded pony that spoke in rhyme that I could record a message here and that I should as… as if it was my last.” The white mare swallowed, looking around the room cautiously.

“M-My name is Winter Withers. I don’t know what’s going on here… I-I’m terrified. I’m hearing noises all around me, I hear wailing and crying and its… its…” The mare’s hooves wrapped around her as she tried to stop her shaking, tears welling up in her eyes. “I just moved to Ponyville two months ago. I-I’m the reporter for the weather in the paper.” She shook her head hard.

“If you’re watching this you have to help me!” She cried out desperately, tears flowing down her cheeks as she shook. “There’s monsters out there! I know they’re there! I can hear them! They’re wailing! They’re roaring! They can smell me! That hooded pony!” She put her hooves on her head she sobbed. “They want to hurt me! I know they do! But I haven’t done anything! I’m innocent! I just wanted to live a quiet life in Ponyville!”

The white mare broke out into a fit of sobs. The screen showed every moment of her breakdown. She desperately wiped her tears as they continued come, hiccupping between her sobs as she tried to draw in her breath.

“I don’t want to die.” She cried out, looking straight into the camera, “Please! If anyone sees this they have to help me!” She drew closer to the screen, crying out more. “Mom! Dad! I want to go home! If you’re seeing this I love you! Please!” The sobbing grew loudly as the mare grabbed hold of whatever it was that was recording her.

The picture began to fade, returning to the hissing fuzz that it was before. But one final line of dialogue made it through the strange device.

“I don’t want to die.”

The sobbing pleas of a desperate mare were silenced by the fuzz, as the box finally won its fight with the snow. The snow on the screen grew vicious and threw itself across the screen. Then, in its final fit, it was silenced. The screen blinked and it was black once more. It had served its purpose and faded away.

The hooves stood there, watching the box for just a moment or two longer. Then, they slowly turned their back to the box and began to walk out of the room.

The room sat a broken, discarded mess.

Silent Ponyville 3 - Intermission 2

“Nnnnngh!” The magenta unicorn grunted, struggling with her magic to lift the object. Her head was aching from how much magic she was forcing out, her horn pulsing rhythmically in pain as she continued to stress it. Her teeth were grinding, her eyes were forced shut, the room began to spin and her body was crying out for air.

With a loud cry of exhaustion her concentration broke, her body collapsing to the ground. She took in several heavy inhales, before loudly coughing at the dust cloud she had caused to rise. She sat up and rubbed her forehead with a groan, looking at the fallen dresser in front of the door. All attempts at moving it out of the way had failed. No amount of physical or magical force seemed to be budging the wooden item.

“Well, that was our last plan. It seems we really are stuck in this room now.” The earth pony behind her let out a defeated sigh. She raised her hooves to her face and groaned into them, pulling on it in frustration. “How did we even end up in this mess?”

“I don’t know… I… I get the feeling we’re not the only ones in this mess though…” The unicorn bit her lip anxiously, turning to look at the earth pony, “Before we got stuck in here I managed to look out a window… the whole town’s been covered in some kind of fog. I think everyone’s in a similar situation.”

“If everyone is… then I guess it’s just a matter of time till we get rescued then huh?” The earth pony forced a smile to her face, one that was anything but genuine as she let out a nervous laugh. “No doubt somepony is going to be looking for us. Yeah, that’s it. We’ll get the help we need soon and we’ll be out of this room before you know it.”

The unicorn turned to look at the fallen dresser once more. It seemed unbelievable that a piece of large wooden furniture would be blocking them from leaving that room, but there it was before her eyes. The dresser didn’t even match with anything else in the room. Her eyes wandered around the rest of the room, trying to spy any other details that might help them out. Several shelves lined the walls, each one carrying a different type of object on them. She could spot a tool chest that was open but appeared to be empty of any kind of tools, a few cans filled with various kinds of paints and liquids, several cleaning agents lined up in a row, a few mops and brooms in the far back corner of the room, and on the wall opposite the shelves was a large poster that depicted Princess Celestia standing proudly before several royal guards that said ‘The Equestrian Royal Guard’.

“Oh, do forgive me, we haven’t been properly introduced.” The earth pony spoke up suddenly, breaking the unicorn’s concentration. The unicorn quickly looked towards the earth pony, getting her first good look at her since they’d been trapped in that room. She had an immaculate white coat topped with a silver mane. She extended her hoof, “My name is Winter Withers, you might know me as the local weather reporter for the Ponyville Express.”

“Oh, I’m Sparkler.” The unicorn took Winter’s hoof and gently shook it. “I just graduated from Ponyville High, so I don’t have a job just yet.” Sparkler let go of Winter’s hoof, before looking around the closet, “So… how’d you end up in here anyway?”

“Oh… well I was looking for a key actually, or at least something that could unlock a door. When I woke up I found myself in this strange building instead of my home. I tried to leave, but the door at the end of the hallway was locked and I wasn’t strong enough to break it down. No one else was around so I came in here looking for SOMETHING that might unlock the door… when you showed up from somewhere and that dresser came crashing down, locking us both in here.” Winter’s sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Out of one locked in area and into another.”

Sparkler’s ears flattened, “Sorry… I probably knocked it over without realizing when I came in.” she looked away from Winter in apology.

“No, no… I don’t exactly blame you.” Winter let out a soft groan that seemed to contradict her words, “What I’d honestly like to know is what is going ON right now! There was most certainly no scheduled fog in the forecast. If I could get outside I could get my bearings and head to the weather station to figure out what’s going on.” Winter stood up from her spot, walking over to the wall with the Celestia poster on it. “If relocating ponies and covering the town in fog is somepony’s idea of a practical joke, then I’m not laughing. Somepony is going to get an earful from me.” She huffed lightly, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes. “And you can certainly bet Rainbow Dash is going to get an earful from me too. As weather captain, letting this whole mess happen is her responsibility! Why isn’t she cleaning up all of the fog right now?”

“Rainbow Dash? Didn’t she just get married yesterday?” Sparkler asked, remembering the joyous festivities that almost the whole town had participated in the day before.

“Ah… oh that’s right…” Winter said putting a hoof to her lips and going over her thoughts with a frustrated look. “Guess it’s not fair to blame her for this then… whoever she left in charge would most certainly get the blame. Probably Thunderlane then… that slacker, I could see this happening under his watch.” Winter grumbled to herself.

The room grew quiet then, Sparkler shifting a little uncomfortably in place. She wasn’t very good at starting conversations, or even participating in them. She looked around the room once more and got to her hooves. Her mind was telling her that she needed to find some way to escape, that she needed to go find her family again. Her whole morning routine had been thrown off by her waking up in this strange place.

The morning ritual was repeating itself in Sparkler’s mind: wake up and prepare breakfast for herself and Dinky. Make sure Dinky headed off to school, then do the chores around the house. After that she’d need to head out into town and look for a job, perhaps do some grocery shopping if they needed it. She remembered that they were running low on milk the other day and it’d be nice to have something tasty for dinner.

She shifted her hooves, walking over to the shelves carrying the various items on it. Winter lifted her head up, looking curiously at the unicorn investigating the items. Sparkler went over to the seemingly empty toolbox first. Nothing was sticking out of it, but it was hard to see inside from the angle it was at on the shelf. She raised her hoof and tilted the metal box, which proceeded to creak loudly from the rusted hinges before a metallic clinking could be heard inside.

“Find something?” Winter asked curiously, not really wanting to get up from her leaning position against the wall.

“Well…” Sparkler said, her horn lighting up to levitate the object out of the box to show Winter, “I think I found your key.”

“Lovely. So if we can ever get our way out of here, we can get out of the following room.” Winter rolled her eyes a little, glaring down at the floor. She was trying to direct her anger towards anything but the other pony in the room.

“Sorry…” Sparkler murmured, putting the key down next to Winter. Winter looked it over, before raising her gaze back up to Sparkler and letting out another sigh.

“No… I’m sorry if I’m coming off as rude. I’m not normally so crass, but this whole situation has put me in a foul mood.” Winter grumbled, running a hoof over her face again before rolling her eyes. “I’m pretty much angry at the world right now, not you. Really I’m glad to have some company.”

“I-It’s alright.” Sparkler gave a small smile, “I’m not really very good at being company, but I’m kind of glad I’m not alone either. I probably would’ve ended up panicking eventually if I hadn’t met you…” The unicorn carefully trotted around the closet taking a look at the various cleaning chemicals next. “My whole day has been thrown off too… I mean, I’m supposed to be helping my little sister get ready for school right now…”

“Oh?” Winter perked up a little, looking over at Sparkler, “Wouldn’t that sort of thing normally be what your parents should do?”

“Well, I suppose in a normal family… but our family hasn’t really ever been ‘normal’.” Sparkler chuckled softly, levitating various bottles around to check their labels to see what was inside. “We don’t have a Dad you see, and Mom has to wake up really early every morning, well before either me or my sister wake up, so that she can get an early start on her delivery route. She’s one of the local mail mares after all.”

“So she leaves you with all the chores?” Winter raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Well… sort of, I guess… she helps out when she gets home, but her job has her gone most of the day. She does what she can when she gets home, but she’s always tired.” Sparkler gently placed the bottles down, not seeing anything helpful. “She also works six days a week so that she can pay for the both of us. I’ve been looking really hard for a job just so that she doesn’t have to work so hard for us.”

“A job hm?” Winter rubbed her chin in thought. “What’s your special talent? I see three diamonds there.” She pointed to Sparkler’s flank that showcased the trio of fine cut diamonds.

“Oh, that?” Sparkler looked at her cutie mark before looking at Winter with a smile, “It represents my attention to details, the ability to see beauty and blemishes even in the most pristine of things.” The unicorn gave Winter a quick smile before walking over to the cans of paint to examine them next.

“Certainly explains you looking at everything in here.” Winter remarked, causing Sparkler to lightly blush as she inspected the contents of the various paint cans. “Still though… a talent like that could certainly be useful. When this whole mess is over why don’t you come down to the weather station? I can probably find some temp work for you that fits your talent.”

Sparkler nearly dropped the paint can in surprise, looking at Winter bewildered. Winter just returned the look with a mischievous smile, liking the look she was being given.

“I… I’d really appreciate that!” Sparkler could barely contain her excitement, putting the paint can back down gently. “I promise I’ll be the best temp you’ve ever hired.” Sparkler saluted Winter. This just caused the earth pony to chuckle.

“I like the enthusiasm. You’re going to need it, you’ll likely end up doing a whole bunch of boring paper work. We’ll see how long you’ll want the job when you’re pushing papers all day.” Winter chuckled, resting her head against the wall to stare up at the ceiling.

“I-I don’t mind that!” Sparkler said, wanting to defend herself and not lose a possible job before she’d even started. “Anything to help my mother and sister, they need all the help they can get.” Winter looked at her curiously at this, the statement having caused Sparkler to gently bite her lip in worry and look away from the white pony.

“I see… why don’t you tell me more about them?” Winter asked, stretching her front legs till she heard a small pop.

“Huh?” Sparkler blinked in confusion.

“As long as we’re stuck here we should do something to pass the time. Why don’t you tell me more about your family?” Winter waved her hoof a little dismissively, “Let’s hear the interesting tale of why you wish to work so hard for your family.”

“…Oh…” Sparkler scuffed her hoof against the ground. Having checked everything of interest on the shelves she walked over to Winter, quickly sitting down next to her. She took a deep breath before looking up at the ceiling. “You’ve probably heard about our family, my mom’s name is Derpy Hooves. She’s one of the local mailmares who happens to be… accident prone.”

“Derpy? …Oh, I know who you’re talking about, that ditzy mail pony? Huh. Surprised a mare like her has a kid your age.” Winter said sizing Sparkler up. Even though Winter had only been in town for two months she had made it a good habit to try and get to know as many ponies as she could. Though she hadn’t met Derpy personally she had seen the mail mare crash into a few things around town. “You know… Derpy didn’t look all that old to me. Did she have you when she was very young?”

Sparkler visibly twitched, tilting her head and giving a bit of a sorrowful look. She thought over her words carefully, before putting on a small smile and shaking her head gently.

“No… I’m not… Derpy isn’t my real mom… she adopted me about a year ago. Before then I was living at an orphanage in Canterlot, the oldest child there. Derpy visited about once a week to deliver mail from Ponyville to Canterlot and one of the places she’d often stop by was the Orphanage. She saw that every visit I was still there and… well… she decided to adopt me…” A smile appeared on the unicorn’s face as she closed her eyes, remembering the day Derpy had come into the orphanage, a smile shining on the gray pegasus’s face. How Derpy had come up and gave her the biggest hug she could remember and told her that she was finally coming home…

“I see…” Was all Winter could say in response to that, running a hoof through her mane. “I suppose you must really love her then, if you’re so desperate for work to help her.”

“Of course I do.” Sparkler chuckled, “She changed my life… I don’t know what I would’ve done without her… the very least I can do is help her out now.”

“That’s certainly noble. Speaks wonders about your character.” Winter cricked her neck till she heard a pop, rubbing the back of it with her hoof. “As I said, I only moved here two months ago myself, all the way from Manehatten. I was living with my parents up until then, working at the weather station there as well. I managed to score a transfer here to Ponyville because I wanted to live somewhere quiet, somewhere more… rustic. Honestly, the whole city life was getting to me. Completely surrounded by ponies at all times, working endless hours for a pay that just barely affords you a place to live, harassed by coworkers and random street urchins…” Winter shook her head, pressing a hoof between her eyes again. “Ponyville has been such a welcome relief in comparison. It could’ve been any small town really, just Ponyville was the first one to accept my transfer request.” Winter smacked her lips, “I could really go for some cider right about now.”

The room grew quiet for a bit after that. Winter ran a hoof through her mane as Sparkler fidgeted quietly in her spot. The world seemed eerily empty, as if the atmosphere itself was thick with the silence. Sparkler’s ears fidgeted at the sound of the building settling, a very low echo of wood groaning as it bore the burden of the heavy structure. She closed her eyes and listened more intently, the sound of a water droplet hitting her senses.

“So what do you think this is? Some overly elaborate joke? Some unicorn spell gone horribly wrong? Or maybe it’s some kind of horrible flying creature that is shrouding the town in mist so it can attack the civilians.” Winter remarked offhandedly as a joke, turning to look at her unicorn companion who seemed to be deep in thought. “Uh… hey is something wrong?”

“Just a moment Winter, I think I hear something.” Sparkler said standing up to try and get a better grasp of the sound.

“You hear something?” Winter quietly remarked, before tilting her head up and trying to listen as well. The two ponies stood stone still, their ears open and trying to listen for whatever it was Sparkler had heard. The silence seemed to stretch around them, as if the sound wasn’t going to come again. Winter opened her mouth to say something, to break the silence, when she was interrupted by the sound of water dripping.

“That, did you hear that?” Sparkler whispered, looking at Winter seriously.

“Uh… it was water…” Winter let out an exhausted breath, rubbing her mane again, “So what? What’s the big deal about water?”

“Well… think about it for a moment. We’re in a closet filled with a… fairly random assortment of items from cleaning material to paint… where would a source of water be dripping from?” Sparkler quizzed Winter.

“…I uh…” Winter blinked, looking around the room quickly. “…You know, that’s a good point. Where would the water be dripping from?”

Sparkler looked around calmly, taking a look once more at the items on the shelves. None of the bottles of cleaning supplies were open, so it wasn’t possible for the drip to be coming from them. Likewise, none of the paint cans were leaking either. Her ears flicked as she heard the droplet again, coming from the opposite direction of the shelves. She turned her head to look directly at the poster of Princess Celestia, gloriously depicted above several royal guards standing at attention. She carefully walked closer to the poster, before lifting up her front legs and pressing them against the poster.

“Waaaah!” Sparkler cried out as she tumbled forward, tearing through the poster. She tried to land on her hooves, but her footing slipped and her chest smacked straight into the rough broken texture of the open wall.

“Whoa, you alright?” Winter said quickly moving over to Sparkler and helping her to stand up. Sparkler nearly hit her head on the ceiling of where she’d fallen into, before pulling her head back and shaking it.

“Yeah… I’m fine, thanks.” Sparkler nodded quickly before looking at the large hole she had torn into the poster. She quickly grabbed part of the broken edge of the poster and tore at it, quickly revealing what was hidden behind it. A large round hole had been dug into the wall, one that seemed to stretch deeper into the building.

“What, really?” Winter scoffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face, “What’s that hole doing behind the poster? And how come I can’t see where it ends?”

“Wait, there’s something in there…” Sparkler said, quickly grabbing the objects she saw with her magic. Levitating out of the hole were two things, a bowling ball and a slip of paper. Sparkler stared at the bowling ball confused, as Winter grabbed the paper, reading what was written on it out loud.

“In case of Bowling emergencies… signed Pinkie…”

“Well… seems like something Pinkie would do.” Sparkler chuckled a little, putting the heavy ball down onto the ground before looking back into the hole in the wall, “But how far back does this thing go? I can’t see the end of it.”

“Well, right now it appears to be our only way out of this room.” Winter said looking down the hole as well, before looking at Sparkler, “And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be proactive then wait for rescue.”

“I suppose… we can always turn back if need be.” Sparkler nodded, before closing her eyes and concentrating on her horn. The end lit up with a brilliant light, causing Winter to have to cover her eyes for a moment. “I’ll go in first and you can follow behind me.”

“Lead the way then.” Winter smiled, waving her hoof for the unicorn to take the lead.

Sparkler nodded her head and looked into the hole. Taking a quick gulp for courage, she carefully made her way into the hole. It was a bit of a tight fit, she’d probably be crawling most of the way through, but she could fit.

Winter looked at the key that Sparkler had placed down earlier. She made sure to grab it in her teeth, before slipping into the hole behind Sparkler.

The two ponies made their way down the dark, lengthy hole in the wall, unsure of their destination…

Silent Ponyville 2 Ending: Was it Inevitable?+

[Author's Note: This story was written by http://ace2401.deviantart.com/ and was uploaded with their permission. They originally wrote this as a fan extension to the very sad ending of Silent Ponyville 2 to make them feel better. I enjoyed the emotion and effort put into the story and while it is sort-maybe canon, that is up to the reader to decide if it is or is not. After all, future Silent Ponyville stories don't follow this ending! So if you want to think this is how 'Was it Inevitable?' truly ended, you are more than free to! Please give all credit and pleasant comments for this directed to them ^_^]

Silent Ponyville 2 Ending: Was it Inevitable?+
by ~Ace2401

Summary: A fan extension of this particular ending to Silent Ponyville 2. Dash must confront Fluttershy on the hasty choice she made in her life.

Fluttershy stepped into the small tub, feeling the water wash over her entire body. Then, without taking a breath, she lowered herself to be completely submerged into the water. She curled up into a small ball at the bottom of the tub as the last of her air escaped from her lungs.

An image of her father appeared before her, as she smiled. No matter how much her body or mind screamed, she wouldn't give it the air it needed.

Fluttershy slowly slipped away, disappearing into a quiet, dark, watery world.

After Angel could no longer hear Fluttershy, he knew he had to act quickly. Unfortunately, he knew there was no way for him to get past the locked door, into the bathroom, and even if he could, he had no way of lifting Fluttershy out of the tub. Not knowing what else he could do, he dashed outside, Fluttershy's suicide note in his paw, looking for somepony, anypony, to help him.

Rainbow Dash had had a rather unsettling day thus far. She knew Fluttershy had been having some unusually bad nightmares the past couple of weeks, and so this morning they visited Twilight, Pinkie tagging along with them after she heard about Fluttershy's nightmares. Twilight used some crazy spell that let them do a "mind delve" (or whatever it was) into Fluttershy, and that was supposed to get rid of Fluttershy's nightmares. However, after Twilight cast the spell, the three of them found themselves in some bizzaro nightmare version of Ponyville.

All Rainbow Dash could really remember about that experience was escorting Fluttershy to her cottage in the foggy nightmare world only for Fluttershy to be separated from herself and Pinkie Pie. After that everything was just a blur until all of the sudden she was back in Twilight's library with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. The three of them looked no worse for wear, but Fluttershy seemed... different, as if she had resigned herself to some fate unknown to Rainbow Dash. Then afterwards, Fluttershy wanted to talk to her in private, where Fluttershy told her that she thought they should stop seeing each other as marefriends, and that she needed some time to think on what she saw in that otherworld. After that, Rainbow Dash flew off, having nothing she felt she could say to help her friend, other than a simple, "Feel better, alright?"

As Rainbow Dash was flying back home, and away from Fluttershy's cottage, she felt a deep sense of unease in the pit of her stomach. She was quite taken aback that Fluttershy wanted to stop dating her, after all, Fluttershy was the one who held romantic feelings towards her, not the other way around. Rainbow Dash had never felt romantic feelings toward anypony, mare or stallion, but she didn't want to hurt Fluttershy when Fluttershy made how she felt about her known, and Rainbow Dash honestly really did love Fluttershy in her own way. She just wondered if she just wasn't a pony that could really feel romantically towards another pony.

However, as Rainbow Dash reflected on the month she and Fluttershy had spent together as marefriends, she realized that during that time she felt happier and more complete than she had ever felt before in her life. Rainbow Dash needed her, and needed to know that Fluttershy really was okay. She also wanted to do something she had failed to do just minutes before: tell Fluttershy how she really felt. So, she made a decision, and flew back to Fluttershy's cottage as fast as she could in her tired state.

After five minutes of flying Rainbow Dash arrived back at the cottage's front door just in time to see a panicked rabbit holding a piece of paper racing across the bridge just outside of Fluttershy's home. Rainbow Dash shouted out to him, "Hey, what's the matter little guy?"

Angel Bunny rushed back to Rainbow Dash at a speed that even impressed her, leading her to wonder what the little bunny could be so worked up about. That question was quickly answered as the bunny handed over the note in his paws. "Please forgive me my friends," the note began, and it was all Rainbow Dash needed to see. She tucked the note under her wing as she began to panic.

"Where is she? Where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash made no effort to hide the distress in her voice. Angel Bunny wasted no time and ran straight to the locked bathroom door, Rainbow Dash right on his tail.

Little paws again began to furiously pound on the locked bathroom door, as if to say, "We need to get this door open right now!" Adrenaline began to surge through Rainbow Dash as she prepared to bash herself against the door. Fortunately, the bathroom in Fluttershy's cottage was connected directly to the main room, giving Rainbow Dash plenty of space to gain the momentum she needed to break down the door.

"Here goes everything!"Rainbow Dash flew headlong at the door. A loud crash reverberated through the cottage as the hinges to the bathroom door instantly broke away from the monumental impact generated by the desperate pegasus, leaving the door to slam down onto the wooden floor. Ignoring the pain from the crash, Rainbow Dash picked herself up and ran over to the tub, where she found Fluttershy laying almost peacefully at the bottom, but yet fully submerged underwater.

"No no no no NO!" came the anguished cry that resulted from the sight of seeing a dear friend lay unmoving under the water's surface. Rainbow Dash quickly searched around the room desperately for anything that could give her leverage she needed to help lift Fluttershy from the tub, but the search proved fruitless.

"Oh, what do I do? I can't just lift her out of the water! I don't know if I have the strength."Rainbow Dash began to weep, for she feared there was nothing she could do for Fluttershy in her exhausted state. Angel Bunny wasn't having any of that. He jumped up onto Rainbow Dash's head and gave it a good stomp before jumping into the tub himself, swimming down to try and lift Fluttershy up, despite the futility of the gesture.

That gesture did, however, get through to Rainbow Dash, who put aside her fears and summoned strength from deep within. She hovered over the tub and gently let herself down so she could lock her legs around Fluttershy's. With a mighty pull, the exhausted pegasus lifted Fluttershy out of the water, with Angel holding onto her leg. Rainbow Dash managed to gently lay them down on the floor, and began to check the now unconscious Fluttershy's vital signs.

With no small amount of anguish, Rainbow Dash saw that Fluttershy was no longer breathing, but she experienced a glimmer of hope as Fluttershy's heart was still beating, however faintly. "Angel, go get somepony to help take Fluttershy to the hospital and I'll stay behind to do what I can for her. Hurry, now!" The sound of paws scraping the ground began to fade as Angel dashed off.

Rainbow Dash's lips met Fluttershy's as she began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, with some CPR thrown in for good measure. Rainbow Dash was trained in CPR during summer flight camp as a required precaution for all members of the camp, and Rainbow Dash thanked her lucky stars that she paid close attention that day, as that skill may very well be what she needed to save Fluttershy's life. Rainbow Dash kept at it, until her body finally began to succumb to its need for rest. Just before she passed out, she whispered in Fluttershy's ear, "Fluttershy, don't leave me. I love you." A tear formed in Rainbow's eye as with her last bit of energy, she gently kissed Fluttershy on the lips. She heard the sound of hooves clopping against the floor, but she was too tired to get a look at who was there.

"Help... Fluttershy..." she managed to groan, just before finally slumping over, asleep.

Rainbow Dash awoke to find herself in bed at Ponyville Health Clinic, and instantly sat up so she could look around for Fluttershy. "Fluttershy? Fluttershy, are you in here? Please, answer me!" she yelled.

"Ah, you're awake." Nurse Red Heart stepped into view. "We found you unconscious next to your friend, and we brought you here with her. Thank goodness that bunny came straight to the clinic, your friend was in dire condition when we reached you two, and if it wasn't for your help, she probably would have already died before we were able to get there. Feel free to get up, there's nothing wrong with you, you were just passed out from exhaustion, but that's no reason to keep you from seeing your friend. Let me take you to her."

The nurse led Rainbow Dash into another room, where Fluttershy lay wearing an oxygen mask, still unconscious. Nurse Red Heart spoke up again, "Feel free to wait in here for your friend to come to. And is there anypony you would like us to notify for you?"

Rainbow Dash thought it over, but then responded, "No, I want to be the only one here when she wakes up. Maybe later, though."

"Oh, and one more thing. After she wakes up, would you like a counselor to come visit her? We, ahh... found this note, and saw the last few words were a good-bye." Nurse Red Heart presented a familiar piece of paper to Rainbow Dash.

"No thanks. It would be best if I were the only one she talked to for a while. But could I have that note back? ...I never had a chance to read it."

"Of course." The nurse set the note down on a nearby table. "I'll leave you two alone."

With nothing else to do, Rainbow Dash took the note off the table and took a nearby seat. Rainbow Dash slowly unfolded the note, as if she was unsure she really wanted to know its contents, but she knew that if she wanted to help Fluttershy, she needed to know what was hurting her, and this note was the all she had to work with at the moment. Rainbow Dash was devastated that such a note, a suicide note, even existed, however. She thought aloud, "Oh Fluttershy, what could make you do such a thing? Everypony loves you." With a sigh, Rainbow Dash finally bean to read the note.

Please forgive me my friends, but this is all I can do to make amends for what I've done. I have blood on my hooves that I can never be forgiven for. I loved all of you, you were the closest ponies to ever be in my life, and while I'm sad to be leaving you I can do nothing else. This is my only option left now.

Dash, I'm sorry I lied to you. I won't be coming back, but know that I did love you. You allowed me to live this long with the pain that filled me. Please be happy knowing that the pain is gone now. You meant so much to me.

And please take care of the animals for me while I'm away. Mr. Mouse will need his cast changed on Thursday, he should be able to have it off by the end of next month if he's stayed off of it. Margret's wing should be healed by Wednesday, she can be flying at full strength before she knows it. Daisy will need her medicine, she has a terrible cold and I've left the medicine on the cabinet. And finally Catalina should have a full bill of health by the time you find this, so you can send her on her way.

With that…Goodbye my friends. Thank you…

For everything…

As Rainbow Dash finished reading, the tears were flowing like rivers down her cheeks. Tears shed because Fluttershy made an attempt on her own life, tears shed because Fluttershy had locked her out and not let her help, tears shed at seeing Fluttershy express her love for what Fluttershy thought was going to be the final time, but most of all, tears shed at seeing Fluttershy hurting so much. In a fit of anger and sadness, Rainbow Dash tore the note to shreds.

Rainbow Dash remembered Fluttershy saying that what she saw in that otherworld was meant to punish her for something that happened in her past, and her suicide note said she had blood on her hooves, but Rainbow Dash refused to believe that the sweetest, kindest pony she had ever known could have ever done anything so wrong. Whatever was causing Fluttershy such distress, Rainbow Dash was going to get to the bottom of it. For now, however, she could only wait and hope Fluttershy would be okay. And while she waited and hoped, she only wished to cry for her friend.

The sound of tumblers turning rang out through the outside hallway, the door locking so Rainbow Dash could express her grief in peace.

Fluttershy saw that she was enveloped in what seemed to be a brilliant white light, and there was also a whisper quite noise, as if it was coming from miles away. Her mind slowly began to reach a state of consciousness, and she was able to start thinking about her situation.

"Where am I? Am I dead? I'm supposed to be dead... Oh, I hope all of my animal friends will be okay. But I'm sure my friends will take good care of them. ...My friends... I just did a terrible thing to my friends, didn't I?" Fluttershy thought she heard herself start to cry. "But this is what I deserve... How could I be forgiven for what I did?"

As Fluttershy's senses slowly came into focus, she noticed she was lying down. She still heard crying, but she found it wasn't her tears, as she felt tired and unable to cry or do much of anything else.

However, she was able to croak out a feeble, "Hello?" The crying stopped. "Where am I?"

Fluttershy's vision was the last of her senses to return to her in full focus. She could see past the glare now, and she noticed she was wearing an oxygen mask, but before she could put the pieces together in her head, she heard a familiar voice.

"Fluttershy! You're awake!"

Suddenly, a blue head topped with a rainbow mane popped into view directly above her face. "Rainbow Dash... what are you doing here? Wait... what am I doing here?"

"Well, me and Angel kinda saved your life. I broke into your bathroom to get you out of your tub, and then I had Angel go get the ponies from Ponyville Health Clinic to bring you here, the clinic, if you're still wondering, while I stayed behind to keep you alive. I'm glad you're okay, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy could only whimper in response, "But... but... I deserve to die, Dash. You weren't supposed to come back."

"No, Fluttershy, you don't deserve to die, and I don't ever want to hear you say that again."

"But... I did a terrible thing..."

"I don't care what you think you did, I won't let you leave me. I came back because I felt I needed to say something, something I failed to say before. I love you Fluttershy. I don't know if I mean that as a marefriend or as a regular friend, it's hard for me to tell with you now. I guess I mean it both ways. I love you and I need you to stay with me, Fluttershy."

Tears of joy streamed down Fluttershy's face after hearing Rainbow Dash bear her soul to her. "I love you too, Rainbow Dash, and it means the world to me to hear you say that." However, Fluttershy's smile remained sad, and eventually became a frown. "But what I saw in there and what I learned about myself... I just don't think I can forgive myself... I don't think I deserve forgiveness for what I did... I don't deserve your love." Fluttershy's tears were now of sadness and defeat.

"Fluttershy... I can't bear to see you like this. I know you couldn't have done anything so terrible, you couldn't hurt a fly. So tell me, what did you see in there? I need to know what's hurting you so I can help make it better."

"But I'm afraid if I tell you, you'll hate me. How could you not hate me? I've already tried to leave you... Oh, he was right. I really am a monster. I don't even know why you would want me as a friend anymore..."The sound of sobbing filled the room as Fluttershy could no longer keep her pain under the surface, her guilt for her past compounded by a new guilt, guilt for what she had almost done to her friends. She buried her head in her hooves and just wished for the pain to go away.

"Fluttershy! Stop it, now!" The room became quiet for a moment, and the emotionally tattered Fluttershy looked up to see Rainbow Dash's eyes were filled to the brim with tears. "I'll never hate you, no matter what. I forgive you for what you tried to do tonight. I'm just happy I was able to save you. And Fluttershy, I could never lose you as a friend." At that point, Rainbow Dash leaned down over her friend, and lifted the oxygen mask still covering Fluttershy's face off for a moment to give Fluttershy a loving kiss. "I need you to be strong right now, alright?" came the caring whisper into Fluttershy's ear.

"A-... Alright. Thank you Rainbow Dash. If you promise you won't hate me... I guess I can tell you what I saw, what that place made me remember about myself.

"Back to when I was just a little filly, my mother was very sick, and even though my father was a doctor, he couldn't cure her. For a long time, my mother stayed at the hospital in Cloudsdale, but eventually they let her come home so my father and I could could take care of her. However, my mother was always in terrible pain from her condition."

Fluttershy's eyes began to water like a faucet at what she knew came next. "Then, one day when I went to check on my mother and to see if she wanted anything to eat, she said she knew how to cure herself, and that I needed to help her do it for it to work."

Fluttershy began to sob uncontrollably, and she could only tell what happened next in small gasps. "Then... she got out a knife... and said that I needed... to strike her with it... to cure her."

Rainbow Dash's face was covered with a look of sheer horror and sorrow for her friend.

Fluttershy continued, 'She yelled at me.. and said that... if I loved her... I would do it. I was confused... I loved her but... doing that... didn't seem right. Still, I decided to... believe her... it was the only thing... I could do... and I did it. Rainbow Dash... I killed my own mother..." A wail sounded throughout the room as the pain of the memory stung Fluttershy to her core.

But then, Fluttershy felt a comforting caress on her cheek, and looked up to see two magenta eyes filled not with disgust as she expected, but love.

"Shh... Fluttershy, it's okay, I'm here for you."

"But Rainbow Dash, I-"

Rainbow Dash gently put a hoof to Fluttershy's mouth to silence her. "You don't have to say another word. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Your mother did a terrible thing to you, and you have to realize that her blood is on her own hooves, not yours Fluttershy. Please, forgive yourself, because nopony with any heart at all could hold that against you".

Fluttershy pushed Rainbow Dash's hoof away from her mouth, and with sadness in her heart, quietly whispered, "My father did..."

Before Rainbow Dash could respond, Fluttershy began to explain, "That was what else I saw... After I... After my mother was dead, my father came in wondering why I hadn't come back down yet to tell him what my mother wanted to eat. He saw me holding the knife, covered in my mother's blood, and he struck me. After he was finished crying over my mother's dead body, he took me into the bathroom, to clean me off... and while we were in there, he called me a monster. He... he almost drowned me in the bathtub right there. I guess that's why I thought it would be a fitting way for me to end it all...

"But my father said that would be to easy. He said that I needed to feel the misery I caused, so he abused me throughout my foalhood as a punishment, and it was a punishment I must've deserved..."

Rainbow Dash stood motionless at the side of Fluttershy's bed, shocked at the depravity of Fluttershy's mother and the cruelty of her father. Rainbow Dash turned her head away from Fluttershy for a moment to hide the pain etched into her face, and to hide the tears raining from her eyes. "No Fluttershy, you didn't deserve that. You are the sweetest, kindest pony in Equestria, and you never deserved any of what your parents brought on you. It was your parents who didn't deserve to have your sweet spirit in their lives. I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

A deep sigh escaped Rainbow Dash's lips, and Fluttershy took the opportunity to sit up and put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "It's okay. If I hadn't gone through that, I may not have been such a weak flier." Fluttershy let out a small chuckle. "And then I wouldn't have met you. Even if you can't forgive my parents, I thank them for what they did. Without them, I wouldn't have met you or any of our other friends, and I love you all so dearly. You made my life worth living."

Rainbow Dash turned around, showing the tears in her eyes. She begged, "Then stay with us. Stay with me. Just because you learned an awful truth about your life doesn't mean it's not worth living anymore! You deserve to live, and be happy. Please, Fluttershy, promise me put your past behind you where it belongs and promise me you won't let yourself hurt any more. Promise me you won't scare me like that ever again. Promise me you'll stay with me." Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy and squeezed her close.

Fluttershy sighed, and looked back at what she had learned in that otherworld, but she looked on it with a new light. She had friends that loved her and cared for her, and she had had the best marefriend in the world. She returned Rainbow Dash's embrace and said, "I promise, Rainbow Dash. I'm sorry I put you through so much...

"Rainbow Dash... will you take me back? What I said before... I really do want to be with you Dash."

"Of course I will, Fluttershy. Nopony else is as important to me as you are." A grin overtook Rainbow Dash's face as she removed Fluttershy's oxygen mask all the way, and took her in a deep, passionate kiss, leaving them both breathless. For a time afterwards, they did nothing more but enjoy quietly looking into one another's loving eyes.

"Oh Rainbow Dash, you're the best marefriend a pony could ever have."

That night, the night they spent together at the hospital, was a secret between the two mares. Fluttershy had made Rainbow Dash agree not to let their friends know about her hasty attempt at suicide, and they both agreed it was best they never were to discuss Fluttershy's painful past with anypony. However, that night would forever be a special night for the both of them, for it was the night they truly realized the extent of their love for one another.

After that fateful day, the two marefriends officially moved in together. Pinkie Pie even threw them a big party to celebrate, making up for the one she had missed to on the day the three mares visited Silent Ponyville, as they had decided to call it. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash formed a loving couple, supportive of one another and both happier than they had ever been before in their lives.

When the time came around for Rainbow Dash to decide whether or not she was to leave Ponyville and tryout for the Wonderbolts, she decided Fluttershy needed her, despite Fluttershy's protests that Rainbow Dash should follow her dreams. However, Rainbow Dash felt it was more important to stay with Fluttershy to keep her happy, and to be Fluttershy's emotional anchor. As much as Fluttershy hated to admit it, she still needed Rainbow Dash's support, and so Rainbow Dash put off her dream of joining the Wonderbolts indefinitely.

Still, life went on, and all was well with Ponyville once more.