One More Day

Chapter Three
It'll Be Okay

{Rainbow}

When we finish with the annoying task of getting that stubborn rabbit to accept food, Fluttershy and I start heading over to Sugarcube Corner to look for Pinkie Pie. I have to admit, nothing looks that out of the ordinary. Ponies are heading off to work, fillies and colts are heading to school. There's really nothing wrong with this picture. So why do I feel like something horrible's just happened?

Well, if there is something wrong, maybe Pinkie's heard of it. She may seem like she's oblivious to things going on half the time but she knows every single mare, stallion and foal in Ponyville. If there's something wrong with any one of them, she'd be the first to find out. I'm not even sure how. She just does.

I glance over at Fluttershy and I know she's getting scared. She's walking very slowly with her head down and eyes on the ground. I sigh, then extend a wing and rest it on her back. She looks up at my touch. “Look, I know I scared you,” I begin, “but it might be nothing. We could just be getting all worked up for no good reason.”

Fluttershy bites her lower lip nervously but nods anyway. “Y-yeah, I g-guess so.”

I turn my attention back to the path ahead. “Still, I'd rather find out for sure. I've got this weird feeling and I really just want it cleared up.”

When we reach the bakery, we notice a 'Sorry, We're Closed' sign on the door. Fluttershy starts to walk away but I know better. That stupid sign doesn't mean anything. I know Pinkie's inside.

I pound at the door. “Hey!” I call, “it's me, Rainbow. Get out here, Pinkie, we need to talk!”

Fluttershy keeps backing away. She looks really nervous. “I-I don't think we should be bothering—"

Then the door flies open.

“Oh thank goodness you're here! I've been worried sick!” Pinkie exclaims as she darts out and shoves us inside. She slams the door shut behind her, locking it multiple times. “I thought about going to look for you but that would mean leaving and I can't leave because something's really wrong and I don't know what to do and I don't feel right and, and—”

I put my hoof to her mouth, stopping her. “Pinkie! Slow down. What's wrong?” I look around. “Where are the Cakes?”

I take my hoof away from Pinkie's mouth and she takes a deep breath. “They went out with the foals for a while. I told them they could count on me to watch the shop but I didn't know anything this super-really-bad would happen while they were gone!”

“W-what's wrong?” Fluttershy asks quietly, taking a few cautious steps closer to Pinkie.

“I don't know!” she exclaims, throwing her hooves up in the air. “I woke up this morning and I had this funny feeling but I thought it was just some weird leftover feeling I had from a dream and since I can't remember the dream there's no use worrying but then it wouldn't go away and it just got stronger and stronger and then the Cakes left and I was all alone in here and everything is wrong and it's way worse than this morning and-”

“Pinkie!” I cry, “take a breath!”

She breathes in deep but doesn't stop long. “Something's so very-very-very wrong and I can't stop thinking about it! I've messed up every cake I tried to bake this morning and customers kept coming but I was all distracted and worried and... and stuff—” she gasps suddenly, “oh no! And now I'm running out of words! I never-ever run out of words!” She grabs me and shakes me by the shoulders. “What's going on, Dashie? Why do I feel so... not-me? I'm losing my Pinkie-ness!”

I try to calm her down. I wish Fluttershy would help but she looks pretty scared and confused right now so I figure I'm on my own. “You're not losing your Pinkie-ness. Me and Fluttershy both had that weird feeling this morning. We were hoping you'd know what's up.”

Pinkie shakes her head rapidly. “I have no idea! I just know that something's really-very wrong and somepony needs to fix it or I'll never get un-distracted and I'll burn all the cakes in the shop and the shop will set on fire and-”

“Calm down!” I yell. “Why don't we go look for Applejack and Rarity? Maybe they feel the same. If they do, then we'll know for sure that something really is wrong. What're the odds of all of us getting a feeling like this at the same time? It's got to mean something, right?”

Suddenly, Pinkie's smile is back and she hops up and down. “Ooh! It's like a mystery! I'll get my detective hat!” She starts to run off somewhere but I grab her.

“This is serious, Pinkie. No hats.”

She sighs. “Aww, but that's no fun. Fine, I'll leave it here but you’ll regret it later. Hats help me think!”

“How can a hat-” I decide it's better not to finish that sentence. “Okay, let's get going.”

We start to head out the door when Fluttershy stops. “D-Dashie?”

I spin around. “What is it? Something wrong?”

She looks uncertain. “W-what if something really bad did happen but nopony will ever know? W-what if we can't fix it?”

I hesitate. I don't know how to answer that. “Um, well, we'll just,” I pause. “It doesn't matter. We'll figure it out. We've had worse things happen.”

She's still not convinced. “But how d-do you know this isn't the w-worst thing yet?”

“I don't,” I sigh, looking down. Then I narrow my eyes, turning my gaze upward, determined. “But I have to believe it.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Pinkie pipes in, bounding between us and smiling as always. “Lets go find the others!”

I nod but take one more glance back at Fluttershy. She's still afraid but I know she's alright. We'll figure this out. Everything will be okay. I know it.

* * *

{Twilight}

The figure enters the room, ushering the mares aside as he does so. I can see it's a pony, though a very large one, and he appears to be male. As he steps aside, three more like him enter, though unlike him they're all wearing dark grey hoods and cloaks.

“Alright, everypony, on your hooves!” calls the stallion without a cloak. I can see his bright gold eyes blazing in the shadows. He's not close enough to the light for me to make out any distinct features but I can see he's pale blue in colour with a deep, almost navy mane. His tail is short and cut to a severe point at the end like a royal guard. His mane is short and severe as well, not a single hair out of place. His eyes are so bright and bold I feel like they're staring right into me. Like he's searching my soul.

“You heard him!” calls one of the cloaked ponies. “Get up!”

They begin to prod us to our feet, physically dragging some of the earth ponies to all fours and forcing them to stay that way, despite the pain in their back legs. I try to help Nova and let her lean against me but she shakes her head. “No, I can do it on my own,” she whispers and steps to the side, her back legs straining and wobbling. She grimaces but pushes me away when I try to steady her. I understand why she doesn't want the help. She doesn't want me to get in trouble. Her reasoning is valid. I don't think these ponies would like us to help each other. Seeing on how right now one of them is pulling apart one of the younger fillies from a mare who was trying to comfort her.

Nova's really straining as one of the cloaked ponies passes us by. I can see the pain in her face. I want to reach out but I force myself to stand still. If I help I could end up making things worse.

“Alright!” calls the stallion again. “Move it, everypony. Out the door! Come on! Let's go!”

The cloaked ponies begin ushering us out the single, wide door at the end of the room. When some of the mares begin to stumble, the cloaked figures shove them back to their feet, forcing everypony out faster than many are able to go.

Nova picks up her hooves carefully, only to be pushed roughly forward by one of the grey-cloaks. She stumbles but is thrown back to her hooves and forced to move forward. I follow, wanting to help but unable to do anything. I don't know what they're going to do to us and I don't want to know. I just want to go home.

I feel like crying but I take a deep breath. No time for that now. There's no use in it anyway. I need to stay strong. I need to figure out what's going on. My friends must know I'm gone by now. Maybe they're already looking for me. Maybe they've already got a rescue plan. I can hope, can't I? They're coming. They have to. Maybe they've already informed Celestia. Surely she knows I'm gone. Somepony's got to be coming. There's a rescue plan. There has to be.

I have to believe. I have to hope. I have to be strong.

When we reach the door, I see a bright light reminiscent of the one from my dream. I shield my eyes, instinctively turning my face away. They keep pushing us forward, not stopping for a second. Just keep going, keep moving. I think about Nova and how painful this must be with her back legs all broken and twisted. I don't know how she can do it.

After a short while, my eyes start to adjust and I see we're in a hallway, lit with what seem to be strange, spherical floating lights. The hall is bright white and the walls are bare. The lights hover without containers or any magic I can see to keep them there. Something tells me this isn't the strangest thing I'll see today.

At the end of the hall, I can make out two more doors. One is on the right wall, steal, bolted and locked multiple times like the one from the room we were just in. The other door is at the very end of the hall. Just a simple wooden door with a latch and handle, painted white. The uncloaked pony heads to the door and stares at it. I start to think maybe he wants to use magic but he doesn't have a horn. Now that I can see him closer up, I can tell he must be an earth pony, though a little thinner than most.

Some of the mares are glancing at each other, their confusion rising again. Nova looks over to me and I shake my head. I don't know what's going on either.

Then suddenly, the door bursts open. A silver-white blare of what seems to be a very strange kind of magic engulfs it momentarily, then disappears. The stallion smiles, trotting outside, then glances back to nod at the cloaked ponies. They grin from under their hoods and prod us once again, ushering us out the door and into darkness once again.

As we keep moving, I strain to look ahead, watching the stallion who seems to be in charge. There's another thing about him that's a little off but I can't quite tell what it is.

I look closer, studying him.

He doesn't have a cutie mark.

Panicking, I look around frantically, searching the others and myself to make sure. Yes, we've all still got our cutie marks. So why doesn't he have one?

I shake my head. It doesn't matter. I'll be out of here soon. My friends are on their way. They'll help me. They'll get Celestia and Luna's help and we'll all go free. It's only a matter of time.

Nova casts a worried glance at me and I attempt to smile, trying to reassure her. “It'll be okay,” I whisper, “somepony must have noticed we're missing by now. With so many mares gone, I'm sure there's already a rescue plan underway.”

She sighs, then winces from pain again. She can barely stand now and I see she's got all her weight on her haunches and forelegs. I want to help but there's a cloaked pony to our right giving us angry glances.

“I hope you're right,” she whispers, her words riddled with pain and distress. “I just want this to end.”

“It's okay,” I repeat. “They're coming for us. They'll be here before anything worse happens. I know they will.”

Nova doesn't look convinced. And, admittedly, I'm not either. I have to hope, though. It's all I have right now.