Heart of Silver

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Heart of Silver

Chapter 1

"Alright class," Cheerilee called out as she clapped her hooves, "please quiet down so we can begin." The hubbub in the classroom soon quieted down as the foals turned their attention back to the front of the room. "Today is going to be an extra special day. We're going on a field trip to Sweet Apple Acres to learn about where some of our favorite foods come from. As you already know, the Apple family provides nearly all of the apples and apple products we enjoy everyday in Ponyville. Now, can anypony tell us what the best part of this trip is going to be?"

A voice from the back of the room called out, "Yeah, no homework!"

She waited patiently for the ensuing round of giggling to die down before replying "Careful, Archer. You just might give me inspiration for some." The room became silent abruptly and the blue filly's cheeks went red at the possibility that little joke had just cost them. Looking around the room, she asked "Anypony else?"

"Oh, oh!" said a filly with curly red hair as she waved her forehoof high.

"Yes Twist?"

"We're gonna be having a picnic in the orchard!"

"Exactly! There's nothing like getting out and having a little fresh air in your lungs! Did everypony remember to pack a picnic lunch?" Waves of nods answered, with the exception of Sun Glimmer, who was looking embarrassed.

Perhaps noticing this, Apple Bloom excitedly added "And mah big sister Applejack said that there'll be free samples and baked treats for everypony too!" Most of the class cheered at that; after all, the Apple family's baking was pretty famous in Ponyville. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon however exchanged a quick glance and rolled their eyes.

"Well then," Cheerilee began, "the sooner we leave, the sooner we can have fun under the trees! Let's get going!"

* * *

A hail of apples fell as Applejack stood back from her work. Turning to the foals, she continued with their tour of the farm. "And that's how we harvest 'em here at Sweet Apple Acres. One good buck and down they come." Gesturing to the fallen apples, she continued "Come on! Try a few!"

The class descended on the fallen apples excitedly, rushing to get the choicest ones before somepony else beat them to it.

Seeing that two fillies hadn't approached the tree, Applejack motioned for them to come over. "Come on girls, don't be shy. There's plenty of apples for everypony."

"You want us to eat something that's been like, on the ground?" Diamond Tiara winced.

"Like, GAH-ROHSS." Silver Spoon agreed, hanging her tongue out in disgust. "It should, you know, be washed first or something."

"Seriously."

Insulted, Applejack was about to give the pair a quick lecture on hospitality when Cheerilee came over and drew her attention away. "Miss Applejack, is there more to the tour of your farm?"

Applejack paused and scratched her head. "Ah, let's see here. Ah've shown y'all the barns, the cellar and now the orchard." Shrugging she added, "Ah reckon that's about it actually."

"Well then," Cheerilee began, turning to face her class, "Okay everypony! I hope those apples got your appetites warmed up. It's time for the class picnic!"

The foals cheered, and then hurried about setting up their things. Friends formed little rings around blankets, food was set out from saddlebags, and the sound of talking soon filled the area.

As everypony was finding a flat spot for their meal, Diamond Tiara nudged her gray friend. "Come on. Let's, like, go somewhere away from these losers." Nodding, Silver Spoon followed her friend behind a nearby bush and out of sight of the rest of the class. As she set down a brand-new pink and purple picnic blanket, she continued, "Mom, like, got me this. It totally matches my coat and mane don't you think?"

Getting out her own lunch, Silver Spoon agreed. "Like totally! So, what did you pack for your lunch?"

The pink earth pony pulled out two containers from her saddlebags and held them open for her friend to see. "Chestnut and wild mushroom risotto, and some chocolate truffle with raspberry sauce for desert."

"Like, that's so much better than those stupid apples."

"Totally."

Their conversation soon drifted into gossip about their classmates, plans for later, and other things of interest only to them.

* * *

As the day wore on, the foals had moved from lunch to playing games amid the apple trees. Applejack had brought out a cart loaded with various apple-themed treats for everypony, and now that it had been picked clean, she had joined Cheerilee in a comfortable spot in the shade. They were quietly enjoying the last of some apple fritters when the orange mare spotted a dozen streaks in the sky overhead.

One of them suddenly turned and headed for the duo, leaving a familiar multicolored trail behind it. As her colorful friend landed, Applejack noticed she seemed unusually concerned. "Afternoon Rainbow; what's up?"

Lightly brushing some dust off her neon-yellow weather patrol vest, she replied, "I don't have time for much of a chat. There's some rogue weather coming this way from the Everfree Forest, and you're going to have to take everypony inside somewhere while we deal with this."

"Oh dear." Cheerilee said with a frown, "How bad do you think it'll be?"

"It doesn't look like it'll be more than a big thunderstorm, but there's still a chance of flash floods or the river swelling. No worries though, after all, I'm on it. Just keep everypony safe and indoors kay?"

"Alright Rainbow." Applejack nodded, "We'll take this party inside ASAP."

"Stay safe yourself miss Dash."

With a quick salute, Rainbow was airborne again and quickly catching up to the rest of the weather team as they headed for the edge of Everfree.

Turning to Applejack, Cheerilee sighed. "We'll need to come up with a way to explain this without alarming the children. Any ideas?"

The farmer rubbed her chin for a minute, thinking over possible options before speaking. They'd pretty much covered the farm already, so anything new would have to be improvised. "How about having y'all come down to the farm house and learn how to make some caramel apples? Just treat it like part of the tour."

"That's a great idea! It will keep them busy with something indoors while the storm passes over. You go and start setting up, and I'll go round the class up."

* * *

"Are you, like, sure this is the way back to the rest of the class?"

"I thought it was."

Diamond Tiara slumped against a nearby tree. While their picnic had been fun, they weren't having much at the moment. She had tried to retrace her steps to return to the clearing they had left their classmates in, but nopony was there. Now the sky was growing dark, and neither of them had much of an idea of where they were.

"This is so not fun." remarked Silver Spoon as she kicked a pebble. "I wanna go back home."

"Like, totally."

* * *

In the Apple family kitchen, the children had taken to the idea of making their own caramel apples with gusto. Some were being very competitive about it, trying to put more nuts or a thicker layer of caramel on theirs than their peers were using. Others were just having fun experimenting with different combinations of toppings or making silly designs. As usual, Apple Bloom had overdone herself in an attempt to earn a caramel apple making cutie mark. She'd managed to spill a fair amount of caramel and was busily trying to detach herself from the counter.

Applejack merely stood back with a smile. "Would ya look at 'em all? Not a care in the world."

"They certainly are enjoying themselves," Cheerilee agreed, "and none of them seem to have any idea that outside the weather is turning ugly."

"Yeah, now that ya mention it, even those two rich fillies didn't raise a fuss."

As Cheerilee heard that, something clicked. "What do you mean, they didn't raise a fuss? Those two are always complaining about something, even when they are getting their way."

"Well, they didn't this time."

Cheerilee walked around the room, quickly looking over everypony before returning to her friend with a worried look on her face. "Applejack, they aren't in here."

"What do ya mean they aren't in here? 'course they are! Ah saw everypony in that clearing follow you in." Taking a moment to look around, Applejack swore under her breath. "Great. Ah don't see 'em either. We can't risk leaving 'em out there when the storm hits."

As she started to head for the door Cheerilee called back to Applejack over her shoulder, "Come on, we have to go looking for them."

"No we won't." Shocked, the purple mare stopped in her tracks and looked back at the farmer. "You stay here and keep an eye on your class. Ah'll go get Big Macintosh and the two of us'll find yer missing students."

Without another word, Cheerilee stood aside and Applejack hurried off to the barn where her brother was working.

* * *

Wandering about Sweet Apple Acres in silence, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had run out of ideas and things to complain about. They had decided to continue walking and hoped they would run across either a landmark or somepony. While they had both spent many weekends in the Filly Scouts, neither had really paid much attention to the scout leader; they had only really attended at their parent's insistence. After all, why in Equestria would civilized and special ponies like themselves ever need wilderness survival skills?

Presently, Diamond Tiara spotted something in the distance and quickened her pace. Noticing this, Silver Spoon hurried to keep up. A few moments later, they were standing in front of a small building, seemingly left alone in the orchard.

Looking over the pink walls and heart shape decorations, Diamond Tiara started thinking aloud. "Does somepony, like, live here?"

Walking up the short ramp to the building's only door, Silver Spoon shook her head. "I don't think so. I mean, it's like, too quiet." She started to knock on the door and both of them let out a gasp as it swung open slightly. "It's not even like, locked?"

"Whatever. Let's get inside. The sky looks totally mean."

What the two fillies saw inside the small building surprised them. The only furniture in the single room was a nondescript chest next to the far wall. Save for the curtains, the only other decor in the room was a map of Ponyville, drawn using crayon, taped to the wall opposite the window.

Walking over to the map, Diamond Tiara chuckled. "Who drew this? It's like, seriously obvious that drawing wasn't their special talent." After taking a moment to look the map over, she added "and why is like, just about everything crossed out? Were they using this as a checklist or something?"

"Check this out." Silver Spoon called over. She'd opened the chest to discover it was full of random toys, board games and crafting supplies. "There's a lot of things in here."

"So this is like, somepony's play house? Who in Ponyville could afford a place like this? I mean, since when could working-class ponies like the Apple family have a spare house for their foals?"

A loud crack of thunder interrupted Silver Spoon's reply, startling and panicking both fillies.

* * *

Flying fast above the storm, Rainbow Dash was getting worried. This storm cloud was larger than expected, and was threatening to turn more violent. One of the weather team's members had already been grounded by an unexpected burst of lightning, and her replacement was taking too long to arrive.

Looking down at the clouds below, she spotted a solitary orange mare running randomly in the trees despite the weather. Concerned for her friend, she changed course and flew down to intercept her. "Applejack! What are you doing out here?"

Shouting over the wind, Applejack called back "We've got a major problem here Rainbow!"

The multicolored pegasus swooped down and landed in front of her friend. "I'll say! You shouldn't be out in this!"

"Rainbow, two of the foals are missing. We need to find 'em 'fore this gets much worse!"

"Great. Just great. You go back where it's safe AJ. I'll have the rest of the weather patrol watch for them while we deal with this from up there."

"It's my farm Dash. Ah'll handle this."

"No can do Applejack. It's too dangerous, besides we can cover more ground faster than you can. Go back inside."

Applejack started to speak again, but then had second thoughts and held her tongue. Turning to head back to the farmhouse, she called back "We're countin' on ya Dash. Don't let us down okay?"

"What's that?" Rainbow smirked as she started to take off again, "You doubt the best flyer in Equestria can save the day? I'll have 'em safe and sound before you know it."

* * *

Diamond Tiara pressed her nose against the windowpane. "Wow, look at it come down! It's like, a waterfall or something!"

"More importantly," Silver Spoon pointed, "look at that!"

The two fillies looked closer at the ground. They quickly noticed with horror that what were mere puddles moments ago had swelled into a solid layer of muddy water. Perhaps more disturbing was the fact that it was starting to flow on its own.

"It's flooding!"

Shying back from the window, the gray filly tried to find some courage. "We - we should be safe in here." After swallowing quickly, she continued, "I mean, this house is built on like, stilts or something. The water shouldn't reach us."

Shaken, Diamond Tiara backed away from the window. "I hope you're right."

"Maybe," Silver Spoon began as she walked back to the toy chest, "maybe we'd feel better if we could like, get our minds off the storm outside."

"How do you expect us to do that?" As if intending to drive her point home, the storm released another loud thunder crack.

"Let's see if there's something worth our time in this chest." As she rummaged through the contents, she pulled out various pieces of sports equipment, several hoof puppets, a ball of string, the remains of a kite and a cube covered in stickers of various colors. "Hey look, it's one of those stupid cubes that everypony was passing around a while ago."

"Ugh, how boring. I mean, who even cared about them?"

"Agreed." she replied as she continued to root about. "Here's something." Holding up a box, they read its cover together. "It's some kind of board game called chess."

"You mean 'bored' game. I remember seeing that egghead Twilight play that. She took forever between turns."

Silver Spoon set the box aside. "Pass on that. I've never understood what she sees in this stuff." A few moments later she resurfaced with another, larger box.

Diamond Tiara sighed. "Another board game? Seriously, how much fun can those be?"

"Actually this one sounds like, interesting." she said as set the box closer to her friend and began reading from the cover. "Graduate, raise a family and retire with the most money in Ponyville's Game of Life."

"Wait, the goal is to like, make more money than anypony else? That's it? Oh I'll win that game easily."

Silver Spoon grinned. "I don't think so. I mean, after all my special talent is being born rich."

"Alright, you're on."

Opening the box, they went about setting up the game. After a brief argument over who got to use the pink carriage and who would be the banker, they quickly lost themselves in the game.

* * *

From a hill safely out of the range of the rogue storm, the weather team surveyed their situation. Every member of Ponyville's weather team had been called in to deal with this storm now, but things weren't going very well for them. Since several members of the team had been grounded already as a result of either being blown into something or shocked by errant lighting, the entire team had retreated to a safe distance.

"We're not going to be able to handle this on our own." Cloud Kicker said as she helped patch up one of the unlucky weather patrol members. "This thing is huge."

Honeysuckle winced as Cloud Kicker continued to bandage her injured wing. "We need a new strategy." Wincing again, she turned to her friend and whispered "Careful! That stings!"

"It's bad enough that we can't seem to make a big enough hole to dent this thing," Firefly began as she fluttered her wings to knock damaged feathers loose, "but we're getting grazed by lightning too often."

Not being one to admit when she was defeated, Rainbow Dash paced constantly. "We can't just give up. Those foals could be in some real danger. And what if this storm starts moving into Ponyville?"

Plucking a few burnt feathers from her wings, Firefly disagreed. "The storm seems to be fairly content to stay where it is actually. We probably don't have to worry about that just yet."

Looking up from her work on Honeysuckle's wings, Cloud Kicker asked, "So, any ideas girls?"

Rainbow nodded. "I've got one. Firefly, you go to Cloudsdale and have their weather team come back us up. Cloud Kicker, you keep tending to our wounded. I'll scout the farm for the missing fillies."

Firefly started to take off, but then turned around. "Wait, that means nopony is dealing with the storm cloud itself."

"I know. Since three of us aren't doing any good, one of us will fare even worse. We'll have to ignore it for now."

* * *

Hearing the door to the farmhouse click open, Cheerilee looked up from her conversation with Sun Glimmer. Shouting, "Applejack! You're back!", she quickly bounded over to her muddy friend. "Did you find them?"

"No;" she replied, "Turns out this here storm is getting right nasty. The weather patrol is looking for them now, but they wanted me to head back inside somewhere."

"Oh dear; this isn't going well." Taking her hoof off her chin, she looked at the floor solemnly. "How bad is it out there?"

"Well, some areas have started flooding. It's not terribly deep yet, but that will change if the rain keeps up." Seeing Cheerilee's countenance fall further, Applejack walked over and put a reassuring forehoof on her shoulder. "Don't go makin' yerself sick with worry now. Rainbow and the others will find them. I promise."

Chapter 2

Heart of Silver

Chapter 2

Since they were stuck waiting for Firefly to return with assistance, the Weather Patrol had established a field base on a nearby hill. The rogue storm from Everfree had now grown to cover a large portion of Sweet Apple Acres, and the constant rain had flooded the more low-lying areas.

Rainbow Dash sighed at the sight of the monstrosity, and then turned to survey the team's conditions. Most of their weaker flyers had been grounded by the strong winds alone, but many had been injured in their attempts to tackle the beast of a storm behind her. As Cloud Kicker finished setting up a small tent, Rainbow walked over. "So, just how bad off are we?"

"Well, if the wind picks up too much I don't think these tents will stay put long." the gray pegasus answered.

"No no. I mean how badly are our teammates injured?"

"Mostly bruises, small cuts and sprains. Nothing they won't recover from, but some of them might not be ready to try again when the Cloudsdale team arrives." Pausing a moment to adjust her saddlebags, she continued "Honeysuckle got the worst of it; blown into a tree at high speed. Broke her wing."

Looking back at the thunderhead, Rainbow prepared for another run. "I'm going to try spotting those foals again. Be back in a jiffy." Once they saluted each other, she was off for the northern edge of the orchard.

* * *

Archer was slowly growing rather bored. Being a habitual clock watcher, she glanced up at the clock in the Apple family kitchen and did a double take. According to it, class should've been dismissed fifteen minutes ago. Waving over her teacher, she asked "Miss Cheerilee, is class over yet?"

"Excuse me?" Glancing over at the clock the earth pony was pointing to, Cheerilee gulped. This was it; she and Applejack had been careful to prevent the class from realizing that anything was wrong, but now they wouldn't be able to hide it behind the appearance of a class project.

"Miss?"

"One moment." Biting her lip, she walked over to the only other adult in the room. "Applejack, we're going to have to tell them."

Several of the foals had already stopped what they were doing when they heard Archer's question, but now the entire room was staring silently at the two mares.

Sun Glimmer spoke for all of the foals as she asked "Tell us? Tell us what?"

"Ah'm sorry ta have ta tell ya'll this," Applejack began, "but that there storm outside? It's not the work of the Weather Patrol."

"But if the Weather Patrol didn't make it..." Twist said, shifting on her hooves, "... then that means it came from... from..."

"Yep. This'n here storm came from the Everfree Forest."

The foals swarmed to windows, trying to get the best view of the clouds overhead. After a moment, Twist turned back to the mares, looking worried. "The Weather Patrol can clear this up right?"

"Ah hope so sugarcube. Ah really hope so."

* * *

"ANOTHER foal?"

Diamond Tiara snickered as her friend placed a sixth peg into her carriage. "My my, Silver Spoon. I didn't know you had it in you."

Grinning, Silver Spoon replied, "At least some ponies don't need like, a second carriage to hold them all."

Looking at her two carriages full of pegs, the pink earth filly scratched her head. "Just what are foals like, doing in this game anyway? Some sort of penalty at the end or whatever?"

"Honestly, I have like, no idea. I mean, this game is about making more bits than anypony else." Silver Spoon leaned over, picked up the lid to the game's box and started skimming the rules.

While she did so, Diamond Tiara quietly reached over and helped herself to a bill worth 20,000 bits from the bank. Acting as if nothing had happened, she asked, "Find anything?"

"Well," the gray filly began with a frown, "It says that every time someone has a foal, everyone else has to like, give them 500 bits."

"Seriously? Then what are you like, waiting for! Pass me the 5,000 bits you owe!"

Looking at the bills in front of her, Silver selected a 10,000 bit bill and started making change for it. Stopping mid-count, she looked up. "Wait, did you like, just hear something?"

"Just the sound of you not giving me my bits."

After pausing a moment, she resumed getting the change for her bill and gave her friend the play money she owed.

"Thanks!" Diamond Tiara cackled as she added the money to her growing loot. "Hey, wait a second. This is only 3,000 bits. I mean, where's the other half?"

"I thought I'd like, speed things up a little." Silver Spoon replied, "I owed you 5,000 bits, but you also totally owed me 2,000. I just kept it."

"Hmph."

As her friend reached to for the dial to take her turn, Silver's ears perked up. "There it was again!"

"What was it again?"

"That sound! I'm totally sure I heard it that time."

"Pfft, Whatever."

* * *

Honeysuckle looked up as she heard the familiar flutter of wings outside the tent. A moment later, a soaked and clearly exasperated Dash let herself in. "Any luck finding them?"

"No."

The yellow mare offered her teammate a fresh towel. "Things just don't seem to be on our side today."

Rainbow took the towel and sighed. "Any luck coming up with a way to deal with this mess?"

Cloud Kicker nodded, and pointed to a chalkboard that had been set up near the back of the tent. "We've been working on a plan, and we think we have an idea of what to do."

Dash frowned. "I hear a 'but' coming."

"Yeah. We don't have enough pegasi to pull it off ourselves anymore."

"How many more do we need?"

"Only about six. The team from Cloudsdale will give us more than enough help."

Finding a comfortable spot on one of the cots, Rainbow tried to relax. "Great. Then all we have to do is wait for Firefly to return with the cavalry and we're good to go."

"Um, excuse me." All eyes in the tent turned to the door flap, in which a very worried and thoroughly drenched pegasus was standing. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but I really could use your help."

"Come inside Fluttershy." Rainbow waved, "It won't do you any good to just stand there in the rain. So, what can we help you with?"

With a gentle "Thank you," Fluttershy took the blanket offered to her by Cloud Kicker and walked over to the cot occupied by her friend. She was followed closely by Angel, who had the foresight to be wearing a yellow raincoat and galoshes. "Um, it's like this. This storm has flooded most of the area, and the river near my home has flooded too."

"This storm turned out to be more than we were ready for. Sorry about getting you caught up in it."

"No no, that's not the problem." she apologized, "Everyone made it to higher ground safely. Well, almost everyone."

Looking over at Cloud Kicker, Rainbow muttered "This doesn't sound good."

"My kitty friend Percy didn't get all of her kittens out before the water washed away her home."

"Great, so now we have two lost foals and a litter of kittens lost in this thing."

Fluttershy balked at this news. "Oh no! Two foals are lost in this somewhere? We have to find them quickly!"

"We've been trying." Cloud Kicker replied, "No luck yet. It's too dark and too difficult to stay in the air and search the ground at the same time."

Getting up, Rainbow Dash walked over and put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I know you're worried Fluttershy, but the best thing to do now is to wait for backup to arrive and then take out this storm. We'll find everypony once the sky is cleared up."

* * *

"Right, now that's how ya do it!" Applejack cheered as Sun Glimmer reached the end of the obstacle course without dropping the spoonful of nuts balanced on her nose.

Cheerilee smiled and called out for her team's runner to try their luck. "Come on Archer! You can do it!" As the blue earth pony took up her spoon and started slowly across, the purple mare turned to her friend. "Suggesting we play party games was a great idea Applejack. It's simple, fun and it's keeping everypony from going stir crazy."

"Well, ya can't say I didn't try. If ya want to be cooped up with a herd o' anxious an' bored foals, ya can do that in yer own house!"

The group cheered as Archer reached the end of the course and Bonnie moved to take her turn. Watching from the sidelines, Apple Bloom walked over to her sister. "Say Applejack, ah was wonderin' somethin."

Keeping her eyes fixed on the wavering pony moving towards her, Applejack replied, "Wonderin what?"

"When's Diamond Tiara gonna take a turn? Archer's gone three times now!"

With a shudder, Applejack sighed. "Cheerilee, they got us again." Leaning down to look her little sister in the face, she began, "Sis, I gotta be level with ya. When ya'll came inside, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon didn't follow. We don't right know where they are; just that they're in that mess out yonder. Sorry."

"Well," the filly said with a huff, "Good riddance!"

"APPLE BLOOM!"

Suddenly, the entire room went silent and turned to look at the pair of Apples. Bonnie stopped abruptly, spilling her spoonful of nuts everywhere.

"What?" Apple Bloom asked.

Speaking in a tone that made it very clear she was less than pleased, Applejack answered "That's no way to talk about yer friends - or anypony for that matter!"

"Well ah was just bein' honest. It's not like they ever treated us nicely," the filly began, shifting on her hooves and avoiding eye contact with anypony, "and they ain't ma friends neither."

"That doesn't mean it's alright to go wishing ill on anypony. Now say yer sorry Apple Bloom."

"I'm sorry." came the reply as she backed away from the angry mare. Heading back to a spot in line she added quietly "But ah still don't like em."

"Didn't say ya had to sugarcube." Turning back to the slack-jawed crowd, Applejack raised her voice. "Sorry 'bout that ya'll. Let's start that round over."

* * *

With a few light taps, the blue carriage moved further down the track. Looking over her options, Silver Spoon picked up a Stock Market ticket. "I'll try my luck with the stock market."

Handing over the number strip, Diamond Tiara grinned. "Good luck, you'll like totally need it."

As she placed the ticket over her chosen numbers, Silver's ears pricked up again. "Where IS that noise coming from? I just like, heard it again!"

Her friend rolled her eyes. "'That noise'. 'That noise'. Seriously, that's all you've been talking about."

Looking out the window, the gray pony couldn't see anything. "It's like, too dark out there now. I totally can't see anything." Stepping back, she walked over to the toy chest and started rummaging about in it.

"Is it too much trouble for you to like, take your turn? Whatever this thing your hearing is, it's obviously not like, interested in bothering us."

Finding a flashlight (albeit a goofy one shaped shaped like a large red fish), Silver Spoon walked back over to the window and shined it outside. After looking around, her light settled on a branch that had lodged itself against the house's stilt-like supports. It floated just above the water line, and a wreck of what appeared to be a wet cardboard box and linens was crumpled in the twigs and sticks gathered around it. "What is that thing? Hey Di. There's like, something out there! Come over here and see for yourself!"

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Diamond Tiara went over to the window. "What could be so like, interesting out there?" Looking the box and branch over, she looked over at her friend like she'd grown a third eyeball. "It's a box. So what?"

"I think there's something in it."

"Like, whatever." Stepping down, Diamond Tiara returned to her spot next to the game board. "Come on Silver Spoon. You're like, holding up the game."

Silver Spoon watched the box for a few moments, then headed back over and started to spin the dial as Diamond Tiara watched closely.

Chapter 3

Heart of Silver

Chapter 3

So far the Weather Patrol's field base had withstood the wind beating against it. The storm cloud itself hadn't grown much, but the wind was starting to reach even the distant hill where the base had been set up. Since Firefly was expected to return with the Cloudsdale team any moment, Rainbow and the rest of the pegasi present had come out of the makeshift field hospital to stretch their wings and ready themselves.

"Um, Rainbow?"

The blue pegasus paused from her stretches to face her friend. "Yeah Fluttershy?"

"I was just wondering..." she began, pawing the ground gently, "if it wouldn't be a problem, could I maybe fly with the team?"

"Wait, you're seriously asking to go up against that?" Rainbow pointed the ominous thunderhead over Sweet Apple Acres. "No way. This thing's grounded enough pegasi already." she finished, shaking her head.

"I won't get in the way, I promise."

Sighing, Rainbow tried not to let her frustration show too much. "Honestly Fluttershy? How about helping Cloud Kicker and Honeysuckle deal with the medical supplies? You'd be more useful to us as a medic than a flyer."

"Right. I can do that." she replied, her countenance lifting slightly.

As she started to resume her pre-flight stretches, Rainbow thought of something. "By the way, what's with the sudden desire to fly into danger?"

"It's, it's nothing." Finding herself starting to blush, the yellow pony looked away. As it happened, she ended up looking at Angel. The little rabbit had switched from his yellow rain slicker to a uniform befitting an air traffic official (complete with glowing red wands), and was giving her a glare. With a gulp she turned back to Dash. "I I mean, yes, there is something. I'm really worried about everypony lost in this."

"So that's it." Moving to a more relaxed position, Rainbow Dash grinned. "As soon as this storm gets taken out, I'll find them all. I'm not the greatest flyer in Equestria for nothing you know."

* * *

The Day of Reckoning was just around the bend for Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon. Their game of Life nearly over, it was clear that the pink filly was going to win. As the game drew nearer to a close, their attention was starting to wander.

"Hey," Silver Spoon began, her ears perking, "there's that sound again."

"I thought we'd like, agreed about it already. I mean, you're just hearing that box thing rub against the branch it's caught on. Ignore it."

"I guess."

As she watched Silver move her carriage, Diamond Tiara changed the subject. "So who do you think like, owns this place? I'm thinking it's owned by somepony daddy knows from work or someplace."

"I dunno; I think we're still totally on the Apple family property. It probably belongs to them." Silver Spoon replied, adjusting her glasses.

"Pfft, yeah right. Everything they do is apples. Apples on their carts, apples on their clothes, apples on seriously everything. Do you like, see any apples around here?"

"Well no." Shortly after Diamond Tiara had spun the wheel, Silver thought of something more and added, "But isn't this house built against an apple tree?"

"I don't think so. I mean, I don't remember seeing apples on it." After moving her carriage a few spaces, Diamond Tiara stopped. "Now I totally can't think of anything else. I hate not knowing something stupid like this." Glaring at the darkness out the window, she muttered "It's totally too dark out there to see if anything is like, actually on the tree."

"There's that silly flashlight you know."

"Great idea!" Bolting up and over to the window, the little filly took up the flashlight and shown it upwards. "I seriously can't make anything out." After fiddling with the flashlight further, she sighed and set it back down. "Great. I'm going to be totally bothered by not knowing this for the rest of the day."

* * *

"What'cha looking at Cloud Kicker?" Dash asked as she walked over to her teammate.

"The stress of the day must be getting to me," the gray mare began as she continued staring at a spot in the trees a distance away, "but for a moment there I could've sworn I saw a flicker near ground level."

"Um, a flicker?" Fluttershy asked, walking over and looking more timid than usual. "You mean like, a fire?"

Cloud Kicker shook her head. "No no, not like that at all. It was a white light, like a flashlight or something." After a pause she added, "I guess I was just seeing things."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin, looking over the orchard. "Tell ya what. Once we get the sky under control, that's the first area we'll check."

* * *

"Can you like, give me a hoof here?"

Silver Spoon walked over to the window where her friend was struggling to aim the toy flashlight. Looking through the glass, she couldn't make anything out. "I think the problem is the glass is totally smeared from all of the rain." Moving to the side of the window, she reached up and undid the latch. "Ready Di?"

Diamond Tiara moved to a better spot (namely, one that would likely remain dry once the window was open). "Totally ready."

As her friend shined the light at the window, Silver Spoon shoved it open. She quickly recoiled from the initial burst of wind and rain, but climbed up to get a better look a moment later. Looking skyward, she tried to make out what was in the tree above them. "Can you like, shine the light up more? There's totally something in the branches."

Wincing a little at the errant rain drop that reached her, the pink filly moved slightly closer to the window and held the light high. With a snort of disgust, she set the flashlight on the windowsill. "Apples."

"So I was totally right!"

"Yeah," Diamond Tiara said as she looked away. "Whatever." She was already headed back to the board game when she heard a muffled noise and paused. "What was..."

"Di! Come quick!"

Racing back to the window, Diamond Tiara looked where her friend was pointing the flashlight. She'd aimed it back at the box they'd seen earlier, but now there was something white on top of it. Squinting to see clearer, she soon realized there were two of whatever it was. "What are those?"

"Whatever it is, I think it like, heard you." Silver Spoon said as both of the creatures on the box turned to face the ponies in the window, their blue eyes shining in the flashlight's beam. As they began crying louder, she realized what they were. "Oh my goodness! Di, those are kittens!"

"What in Equestria are kittens doing out here?"

"I don't know. Maybe that box was their home and it got washed down here?"

Diamond Tiara shrugged and turned away from the window, heading back to her position at the game. "Well, now that we know what that noise was and what kind of tree this is, maybe we can totally get back to the game."

"But what about the kittens?" Silver Spoon asked, pointing out the window, "Shouldn't we like, do something?"

Rolling her eyes, the pink pony replied, "Why bother? I mean, they've been out there this whole time and they're already wet. A little more rain isn't going to make that much of a difference."

"You really think so?" Silver asked as she looked back at the kittens. They were still crying, and climbing over each other and the wreckage of the box.

"Seriously. Come on. It's your turn you know."

Closing the window, she started to rejoin the game. Glancing back out the window one last time, she winced as one of the kittens lost its footing momentarily and slipped down the cardboard, stopping an inch or so from the water.

* * *

The crowd gathered on the hilltop watched the skies, anxiously waiting. In the distance, a cluster of objects could be seen rushing towards them. As they drew closer, the Ponyville Weather Patrol began cheering. In front of the pack was Firefly, and behind her flew in the entire Cloudsdale Weather Team and several additional ponies that had volunteered to assist with dispersing the storm.

Shortly after they landed, everypony hurried to gather around them. Firefly, tired from her round-trip flight, walked over and saluted Rainbow Dash. "I'm back and ready to give this thunderstorm what for!" Gesturing to a large brown stallion next to her, she continued, "Meet Al. He's in charge of the Cloudsdale Weather Team."

With a nod, the unshaven pegasus stepped forwards. "You can count on us, Miss Dash." Pausing to scratch his chin he added, "Say, you look familiar. Aren't you the filly that won the last annual Best Flyer competition?"

"Yep, that would indeed be me!" Rainbow said, beaming with pride.

"Well, if you handle this like you did that mishap at the contest, things should go pretty quickly. What's the plan?"

* * *

Diamond Tiara's carriage sat contentedly on its spot on the number strip, having successfully made the journey through the Game of Life and become a Millionaire. Now she just waited for Silver Spoon's carriage to reach the Day of Reckoning. "So, are you going to like, take your turn or just sit there fidgeting?"

"Sorry." Silver began as she turned back to the game again. "I just don't feel like playing this anymore."

"What? Afraid of losing?" Diamond Tiara replied as she eyed the promissory notes Silver Spoon had collected during the game.

"It's not that." Getting up, the gray filly walked back over to the window and pointed beyond it. "It's just that I keep like, thinking about those poor kittens out there."

With an aggravated sigh, Diamond Tiara stood up. "Let me get this straight," she began as she started walking over to her friend, "You're not going to be happy until we go outside where it's like, dark and storming, then work our way through the muddy water to prevent two totally soaking wet cats from getting a little more wet?"

"Yeah, kinda." Silver replied, "But wouldn't getting them inside and dry be a good thing?"

"Well..."

"Maybe we'd even be called heroes!"

"Heroes...?" The prospect of getting lavish amounts of praise and attention wasn't completely lost on the pink filly. After a few moments of thinking it over, she nodded. "Okay. Let's get those kittens inside. But I'm still not going to do anything that will get me totally covered in ick."

"First things first though; Let's like, put the game away. There's not much room in here, and that will totally clear up some floor space." A few moments later, with the game was safely back in the toy chest the pair was ready to begin their task. Turning for the door, Silver Spoon started taking off her pearls. "Di, if you just aim the flashlight and light the way, I think I can get the kittens back here on my own. I mean, this way you'll stay out of the mud."

Nodding, Diamond Tiara walked over to the window. As she set down her infamous tiara, she paused. Picking up the flashlight, she asked "What about your glasses?"

"What about them?"

"What happens if they get dirty or lost in the water?"

"I hadn't thought of that..." Silver Spoon paused. "I guess I'll have to leave them here too." Setting them aside, she looked over at the pink blur in front of her. "Don't worry, I'm not totally blind without them. They just correct my astigma... ashtingma... er, whatever's wrong."

The two fillies headed over to the house's only door, and braced themselves for the inevitable blast of cold rain and wind. Wincing at the first splash of rain, they walked out onto the ramp and walkway around the cabin. The darkness was nearly complete; though there was light coming from the house itself, the only visible areas were those caught in the flashlight's beam. As Diamond Tiara lit the way, Silver Spoon walked slowly to down the ramp, stopping at the edge of the muddy water.

Testing the water by dipping in a single foreleg, she shivered as the chill liquid ate away the warmth in her. Biting her lip, she quickly skipped down the ramp, submerging herself. Thrusting her head above the water, she started paddling vigorously. The water was deeper than it looked; it was easily a good deal higher than she stood. Once she'd stabilized herself, she called over to her friend and the journey towards the wrecked box began.

Concentrating on keeping her rhythm, Silver Spoon swam through the water towards the stuck branch. As she passed a tree one of her back legs clipped it, causing her to temporarily flounder. After getting herself stabilized again and spitting out some water, she continued towards her goal.

As she drew nearer, the two kittens became more excited and animated. They danced about their ruined home, crying and pleading for attention. Once she was close enough, Silver Spoon reached out and leaned on the branch as she stopped for a quick breather. Looking things over, the filly called over to her friend on the edge of the walkway. "Small problem here Di!"

Diamond carefully set down the flashlight, freeing her mouth for replying. "What is it?"

"I don't think I can get them both!" the gray filly called back.

"Then don't try! Just bring over the first one and go back again!"

Silver Spoon turned back to the crying kittens and moved quickly to grab the nearest one by the neck. Holding it up out of the drink, she pushed off the branch and started her journey back. Even with the speed she gained by pushing off the branch, she moved much slower. Paddling faster and tapping her resources, she held her head high enough to keep the kitten out of the water.

After what seemed like an eternity of swimming, she reached the ramp and set the soaked kitten down. Weary but still determined, she immediately pushed off again and started working her way back to the branch. This time around she was more careful to avoid the nearby trees, aiming strictly for the white blur in the distance.

As the gray filly swam, Diamond Tiara slowly moved around the house's walkway, carefully keeping the area in front of her friend lit. Focusing solely on her friend's progress, she was oblivious to the kitten walking up beside her. When its cold nose touched her flank, she shrieked and dropped the flashlight.

"Oh Celestia! I'm so sorry Silver! I-it was an accident!" As she watched the flashlight bounce off the walkway and disappear below the murky water, she panicked and started crying.

Silver Spoon looked about in the dim light. Without her glasses to clear her vision and now without a light to guide her, she was left floating somewhere between the house and the branch where the kitten was left stranded. As Diamond Tiara continued to cry and shout from the walkway, Silver had an idea and started swimming away from her friend's voice. After a few minutes, she heard the crying of the other kitten and began swimming towards the sound.

Finally, her forelegs hit a familiar piece of wood. Turning her head, she yelled back at the pink blur in the distance. "Diamond Tiara! Keep talking! I'll head for your voice!"

Wasting little time, Silver Spoon felt around for the second kitten. Upon finding it, she picked it up and started swimming towards her friend's constant calling. Once they drew near to the cabin, Diamond started guiding her friend around to the ramp.

At last, the gray filly came ashore with her passenger. Exhausted from the effort and numb from the cold water, she shook off as much of the mud and debris as she could. Once free of the gunk, she walked inside and collapsed.

Diamond Tiara followed quickly, ushering in the kittens and shutting the door behind her. Hurrying over to the gray filly, she hugged her tight. "Never leave me alone like that again! You had me so scared!"

Looking up at her friend, Silver Spoon asked "Is there like, anything around here for us to dry off with?"

"I don't know..." Diamond Tiara looked around the sparse cabin, but came up empty. "I don't see anything."

"What about the picnic blanket?" Pointing to the saddlebags by the wall she asked, "Isn't it still in your saddlebags?"

Recoiling from the idea of having her new blanket get dirty, Diamond quickly searched for an excuse to keep it clean. "But, that's my blanket. Mom just bought it for me." Pausing to look over the wet group, she sighed. "Okay fine, but don't tell anyone about this okay?"

* * *

With an authoritative boom, Al called out "Gauntlet One! Take off!" Obediently, a group of pegasi took off and flew towards the back of the thunderhead.

As they began to take their positions, Rainbow Dash followed up. "Gauntlet Two, take your positions!"

With the second group zooming into position in front of the cloud, Fluttershy walked over to her friend. "Um, Rainbow? If I'm not interrupting,"

"DITZY DOO! More to your left! No, your other left!"

"EEP!"

Rainbow sighed. "Sorry Fluttershy. You wanted something?"

"I was just wondering, um, what exactly are they doing up there?"

"Gauntlet Three! Go!" Al suddenly boomed, and another group took off.

"It's actually pretty simple Fluttershy," Rainbow began, "Normally we take out a thundercloud with a swift buck to the top, but that didn't work this time. Hang on a sec; Gauntlet Four! Get your flanks up there!" As she watched the next group fly up and take their positions she continued, "So we've come up with a little round about plan. Four groups of pegasi are going to form gauntlets, two in front and two in back." Looking over, Dash asked, "You know what a gauntlet is right?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, not really. Sorry."

"I'll make it quick. A gauntlet is when two rows of ponies form a hallway, and then somepony tries to make it through this hallway while the ponies pelt them."

Fluttershy shuddered. "That sounds terrible! Why would anypony do such an awful thing?"

"Well, it used to be done to prisoners by the military, but these days it's just a hazing ritual."

"Oh my..."

"Anyway, this time around, groups of flyers are going to skim the thundercloud. If timed right, small amounts of the cloud should get caught in their wake and pulled along through the gauntlets where the ponies will buck it to bits."

Al's voice boomed again. "Flyers, take your positions!"

"Sorry," Rainbow said as she moved to take off, "That's my cue. I gotta go kick some thundercloud flank!"

* * *

Cheerilee smiled as she handed out another blanket. "You've just been full of good ideas today Applejack."

The orange mare set another piece of furniture against the wall. "Yeah, ah reckoned this would be a good way ta handle things." As she looked over the foals finding comfortable spots around the room she continued, "When me an' Rarity got trapped out in a storm like this we ended up havin' a slumber party at Twilight's. Ah just thought maybe it'd work again."

"With any luck, the skies should clear soon."

"Really? What's makin' ya think that's the case? Didja see somethin' out there yonder?" Walking over to the windows, Applejack tried to see into the sky. As she watched, several streaks became visible darting across the clouds. "Ah see. The weather team's upta somethin'."

With a yawn Cheerilee walked over to her friend. "Come on, we'd better see about getting some rest while they work. It's been a long day for us too."

* * *

Having split the leftovers from their lunches, the two foals watched the kittens fussing at them. As one started batting at Silver Spoon's braids, Diamond Tiara sighed. "Do these things ever like, sleep?"

"Maybe they're just as totally board as we are." Heading over to the toy chest, Silver Spoon rummaged through its contents again. As she pushed aside a figure of a white unicorn clad in red armor, she sighed. "Sorry Di, but I'm like, not seeing anything in here than the kittens would play with."

Diamond Tiara turned and frowned at the kitten attempting to tangle itself in her tail. "Any other bright ideas?"

Closing the chest, Silver rolled onto her side. "Honestly, it's like, late. Maybe if we stop moving around and fussing the kittens will too."

"I guess." she replied as she turned out the light and tried to find a comfortable position.

* * *

"Is everyone back already?" Fluttershy asked the two team leaders. Group by group, the pegasi had started returning to the hilltop.

Rainbow looked over the remaining clouds. "Not quite yet. A few are still going after what's left of the storm clouds."

"Um, I was wondering, what are we going to do about the flood itself?" Gesturing to the mess beyond the hill, she continued, "I mean, the sky's all clear, but the ground is still under water."

"I was wondering about that myself," Al said as he walked over. "I don't suppose you have some trick up your sleeve?"

Chuckling, Rainbow grinned and shifted her goggles over her eyes. "Oh be serious you two! Of course I have a plan for this." Taking off, she flew low between the trees. "Just watch as I whip out the ol' patented Rainblow Dry!"

Speeding up, she started circling around rapidly, causing her multicolor trail to turn into a sizable funnel. The whirling air started sucking in water vapor from the flood and as the spinning continued, the flood water itself began to be drawn up into the vortex. As the group on the hilltop watched in amazement, the water trapped in the pegasus' wake began to vaporize, drying the land below it.

Moving her miniature tornado outwards and deeper into the forest, Rainbow kept a watchful eye out for the missing children and animals. As she approached the area where Cloud Kicker had glimpsed a light she discovered a small building nestled in the trees. Breaking off, she allowed the vortex to dissipate before she got too close to this oddity.

Hovering quietly next to her find, she peeked in the only window she could see. After seeing both foals and the two kittens inside the building, she let out a satisfied sigh returned to the task of drying up the flood waters. With her famous speed, she managed to dry off the entire orchard in just under half an hour.

When Rainbow Dash arrived back at the hilltop, she found several ponies had been waiting for her. Fluttershy hurried over, eager to help. "Now that the water's dried up, we can look for the foals and kittens!"

"Sorry Fluttershy," Rainbow laughed, "but I spotted where they are while I dried up the place."

"Are they...?"

"They're fine. Turns out there's some kind of tree house over there. Come on, let's go get the others and I'll show you where it is."

"Well, " Al began as he walked past his small counterpart, "I guess our part in this is over. We'd better be heading home."

"What?" Rainbow asked as she poked him in the ribs, "and let us be the heroes?"

"Nah, you gals go on ahead with that." Motioning for his team to start gathering up to leave, he continued, "We're needed back in Cloudsdale; while our weather isn't this exciting, it won't tend to itself."

When Al gave the signal, the Cloudsdale Weather Patrol lifted off and started flying back home amid the cheers and cries from the Ponyvillians. As she watched from a distance, Rainbow Dash quietly muttered, "We owe you one pal."

* * *

"So where is this tree house?" Cheerilee asked as she followed behind the little group.

Calling back over her shoulder, Rainbow replied, "It's just over here."

"Ah know these parts of the farm." Applejack muttered as she walked along. "We're all headin' ta our old club house. Ah knew it was a great place to hold up fer a spell, but ah never thought it would end up bein' a storm shelter!"

"And you said the kittens are here too?"

"Yeah, they're here too Fluttershy." Dash said as she came to a stop a few steps from the stairs leading up to the club house. Turning around, she motioned for everyone to be quiet. The door to the house in the orchard opened silently as the four mares let themselves inside.

"See?" Rainbow grinned, "I told you I'd find them all safe and sound."

"Land sakes," Applejack quietly muttered as she took in the scene. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were fast asleep on the floor, with the kittens curled up against them. "Ah never thought ah'd ever see those two lookin' all angelic like."

Fluttershy nodded, "They look so sweet."

Smiling herself, Cheerilee walked over and gently nudged the foals. "Wake up my little ponies; it's time for you to go home."

Chapter 4

Heart of Silver

Chapter 4

"Come on, we're going to be late!"

The little pink filly was beside herself. She'd been anticipating today's award ceremony all night, and was growing increasingly anxious with each delay. As she started to rap on the door to Silver Spoon's home yet again, there was a light shuffling sound from the other side. Hoping it was her friend getting ready to finally open the door, she hopped back and tried to calm herself down.

Sure enough, as she smoothed out the last wrinkle from her new dress, the door opened and out stepped Silver Spoon, wearing a new outfit of her own. "Sorry about taking like forever," she said, fussing with her sleeve, "but I had trouble with this dress."

"You had trouble with it?" Diamond Tiara asked, walking around her friend while giving her a quick look over. Not seeing anything obviously amiss, she asked, "What's the problem with it? I mean, it totally looks fine to me."

"It's just like, really tight in a few places."

"Oh. Um, well, it could be much worse. Could you imagine having all of Ponyville watch you meet the mayor while like, wearing an old dress? or even worse: no dress at all?"

"Talk about embarrassing!" As she moved to shut the door, the shoulder pulled uncomfortably again, making her wince slightly. "Could we maybe like, make a stop at the Carousel Boutique on the way to get it fixed?"

"The ceremony begins at noon; I think it's already half past eleven now, so we don't have time for that." Seeing Silver's mood drop, she quickly added, "But it's not like we want to keep our audience waiting. We're the stars remember! We can endure being a little bit uncomfortable for our fans!"

Silver thought this over for a moment. Smiling, she agreed. "You're right. For our fans!"

Taking care not to pull too hard on the dress' seams, she hurried to follow Diamond Tiara toward the celebration being set up in the town's square.

***

Ponies of all types were wandering about the town square already. While a few were finishing the last minute preparations for an elaborate ceremony and celebration, the majority was just milling about, waiting for things to begin.

A makeshift stage had been erected on the steps of the town hall, complete with a podium and microphone off to one side. Ribbons and banners of all colors were hung from just about any surface that they could be attached to, while tables had been set up throughout the general area. With the exception of the two tables nearest the stage, all of the tables were stacked high with apple themed treats and drinks.

It was these last two tables that held the interest of the majority of the ponies gathered around. Their contents had been hidden from view by long white sheets, and whatever was covered was creating unusually square and artificial-looking bumps.

One mare however, had something else on her mind. Running around the square in a frantic search, Applejack was starting to let her worry give way to panic. There were a number of things that needed taken care of to get the ceremony started, and one of the more important elements, namely one of the guests of honor, was missing. Coming across a pair of ponies, Applejack slowed down long enough to address them. "Pardon me fer interrupting, but have y'all seen Rainbow Dash around here this morn'?"

"Sorry miss," one of them replied, "But I haven't seen her in a few days."

"Ah see," Applejack began as she turned to head off in another direction, "Thanks anyhow."

As she continued her search for the missing pegasus, she thought over everything she'd already checked. None of the Weather Patrol members knew where Dash was currently, nor had any of the ponies she'd met so far. The fastest flyer in Equestria had effectively disappeared shortly after saving the orchard from the wayward storm. Looking around for another possible lead, Applejack spotted Fluttershy and her ever-present companion Angel in the distance hanging up more ribbons.

Hurrying over, she slowed down well before she actually came close. In an attempt to keep from scaring her friend, Applejack called over her greeting just loud enough for Fluttershy to hear. It didn't work; when Fluttershy heard the voice come from behind her she let out a squeak and froze in place. After a moment it registered who had spoken to her, and as her body unstiffened her ability to speak returned. "Um, good morning to you too, Applejack."

"Ah hate to ask," Applejack said, sounding a little defeated, "but ah need a little favor."

"What is it? I'm not in any hurry or anything."

"The problem is, nopony's seen Dash fer a few days now." Nodding in the general direction of the pegasus' cloud home, she continued, "Could ya go over an' see what's up? She's supposed ta be here."

"Oh sure. I need to go back home and pick up a few things anyway, so I'll stop over on the way." Looking down at her assistant, she asked, "Angel, can you finish hanging the ribbons without me?"

Angel seemed to be expecting that request, as he'd already picked up a spool of the ribbons they had been using. With a quick salute, he hopped away toward the next place the ribbons were to go. As he bounded past, Applejack noted the determined look on his face and silently wondered if any of the trees in the square would still have bark visible by the time he'd finished hanging ribbons on them.

Mentally reviewing her list of what else needed to be done to prepare for the ceremony, Applejack's eyes wandered over the many tables. Spotting something that made her frown, she sighed. "Well, thank ya kindly fer checking on Rainbow, Fluttershy. I'd better go check on Berry Punch; I'm afraid that mare's already had enough 'refreshments' for one morn' if ya know what I mean."

As she watched Applejack head off toward a swaying pony, Fluttershy muttered, "Um, no, I don't think I do know what you mean. You're welcome anyway."

***

Diamond Tiara's eyes were as wide as saucers. Beaming all the while, she just drank the scene in. "Before those letters arrived, I'd seriously thought that they weren't going to actually do anything to honor us for our heroics!"

"Totally!" Silver Spoon responded, hurrying up a little to keep up with her friend, "I guess it just took a few days for them to get everything ready."

Stopping to look over the suspicious lumps on the tables near the stage, Diamond Tiara thought about this. There was certainly a lot of work involved in setting everything up, and all of the food that was laid out on the tables couldn't have been scrounged up in a few hours. "Whatever. Anyway, this is going to be so totally awesome!"

"Yeah, it's going to be so much better than that crummy cute-ceanera ever was!"

Angry memories coming to the forefront of her mind, Diamond Tiara gave her friend a glare that threatened to crack her glasses. "I thought I said never to mention that again, Silver!"

Realizing she'd just stepped on a nerve, Silver Spoon began looking around frantically for some other target for Diamond Tiara's anger. As she stumbled to find words to apologize, she spotted a trio of foals a little ways away. Pointing over at them, she hurriedly changed the subject. "Um, say, why don't we go pay a visit to our favorite classmates?"

The abrupt question caught Diamond Tiara off guard, momentarily confusing her. But the confusion wore off just as quickly once she'd looked over at the ponies being pointed at. Grinning widely at the prospect of playing with the choicest of prey, she started over. Now that she wasn't in the crosshairs anymore, Silver Spoon sighed with relief before following after Diamond Tiara.

A short distance away three foals were busily talking with each other, unaware that anypony was walking up to them. Diamond Tiara noticed this and opted to have a bit of extra fun with it, calling over before she drew close. "Good morning, Apple Bloom."

Recognizing the voice, the foal froze. The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders looked over at the approaching duo with a visible amount of contempt. While they didn't have to deal with the two of them often, they were well aware of how Diamond and Silver treated other ponies -- especially blank flanks like themselves.

Casually walking around Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara continued, "So, you three like, came to bask in the glory of the town's heroines hmmm?"

Confused for a moment, Scootaloo paused, attempting to follow Diamond Tiara's train of thought. Coming to her own idea of a logical conclusion, she said, "Well yeah! I wouldn't miss a chance to see the most awesome pony in Ponyville be honored by everyone!"

Diamond Tiara started to blush, surprised by the compliment. "I admit, it is quite a burden being like, so awesome."

"It must be! Just think of it; everpony looking up to you, idolizing you, trying to be you..."

The more she heard, the more Diamond Tiara's ego swelled. Grinning, she joked, "Oh stop, it's too much!"

"Well, maybe," Scootaloo said as she started to drift into daydreams of her own, "but I think Rainbow Dash can take all the praise she deserves!"

Crashing back to reality, Diamond Tiara asked, "Rainbow Dash? What does she like, have to do with anything?"

"Who else is awesome enough to have a ceremony like this set up for them?"

"What are you talking about?"

Apple Bloom sighed with frustration. "She saved ma family's farm from the flood! What, ya thought all of this was set up fer tha two o' you or somethin'?"

"Well, yes."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders just looked on in stunned silence for a moment, as if the other two ponies had sprouted additional heads. Finally, neither Apple Bloom nor Scootaloo could contain it anymore, and both burst out laughing. While they fell to their sides laughing themselves silly, Sweetie Belle looked on bewildered.

Growing irritated, Diamond Tiara stomped her hoof to get their attention. "Hey! What's so funny?"

Rolling off her back, Apple Bloom wiped a tear from her eye. "That was a funny joke ya just made. All this for you?"

"Of course it's for us!"

"Seriously," Silver Spoon huffed, "why else would the Mayor like, invite the two of us personally?"

Realizing that they were actually serious, the Crusaders slowly stopped laughing and looked at each other dumbfounded. Rolling back to her feet, Scootaloo asked, "The Mayor had you come here? Really?"

"Oh yes," Diamond Tiara scoffed, "She totally made us guests of honor."

"Apple Bloom, do you know anything about this?"

"'fraid not."

Now as confused as Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo asked, "What did you two do that was so important?"

"Well, while your precious Rainbow Dash was busy playing in the clouds," Diamond Tiara began, delicately putting a hoof to her chest, "I totally saved the lives of two helpless creatures caught in the storm."

"Psst," Silver whispered, "don't you mean 'we' saved the lives of those kittens?"

"Whatever." As she started to strut around again, she continued, "Point is, we're like, heroines to be honored and admired by all."

After hearing no reply from the trio, she glanced back at them. Seeing them trying to keep from having another laughing fit, Diamond Tiara huffed. "Come on Silver Spoon, let's ditch these losers."

With a hmph, Silver turned her nose up and followed her friend.

***

Rainbow Dash was having a blast practicing her stunts in the skies over Ponyville with the Wonderbolts. Ascending high over the town, they prepared to perform the daring new trick she'd been planning. With Soarin' on her left and Spitfire on her right, they paused momentarily at the peak of their climb. Once Rainbow gave her team the signal, they dived sharply, attempting to build up the speed needed to perform a Triple Sonic Rainboom.

Or she that's what she believed she was doing, as a soft rapping sound caused her to stir and return to the real world. Initially believing it to just be the wind, she rolled over and sank further into her bed. Although she was rumored to be tougher than iron, dealing with the flood, surviving a few uncomfortably close calls during the thunderstorm and then using her Rain-blow dry over the entire Sweet Apple Acres property had left her sore and worn out. As a result, she had taken a few of her unused vacation days and called off, leaving the rest of the Weather Patrol to deal with the day to day weather while she recuperated.

When the rapping continued a few minutes later, she realized that somepony was at her front door and dragged herself out of bed.

As she approached the door, she ran a hoof through her mane to straighten out some of the bedhead she'd managed to accumulate. Expecting another bothersome salesmare, she opened the door in a half-asleep huff, her eyes barely open. "Go away! I don't want whatever it is you're selling." Hearing a familiar squeak, she blinked and looked up. "Oh hey Fluttershy. 'sup?"

Fluttershy peeked out from behind her bangs, quickly checking that it was safe. "Um, sorry if I'm interrupting, but we were wondering why you hadn't arrived at the town square yet. It's almost noon."

Stifling a yawn, Rainbow asked, "An why am I supposed to be in the square? I don't remember there being any weather management scheduled there this morning."

"Well, you're a guest of honor at the ceremony that's being held there."

Dash shook her head as if she was trying to knock some fluff out of her brain. "Guest of honor? Ceremony? What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you get the letter from the mayor? I mean, everypony on the Weather Patrol was sent an invitation."

Seeing her friend turn her head towards a corner of her home, Fluttershy leaned in a little to see what she was looking at. In a corner of the room sat what passed for Dash's desk. On top of it was a large heap of letters, postcards, fliers and other postal droppings. Since she mostly received boring things like bills or ads, Dash had developed a tendency to just toss incoming mail over there and actually look through it when she got around to it.

Still somewhat groggy, she headed over and started sifting through the mess in search of this mystery letter. Although it was languishing under a few bills and an ad for mane dye, it was fairly easy for her to find.

Noticing it had been postmarked two days prior, Rainbow quickly flicked it open and skimmed the contents, growing more excited as she read. Dropping the letter, she began darting about her home, scrambling to get her mane under control and locate her Weather Patrol vest.

Watching the growing commotion going on inside, Fluttershy backed away from the door. "So um, you're coming to the ceremony right?"

She barely had time to duck as a multicolor blur shot out the door and sped off towards the town square. Watching the rainbow trail go into the distance, she muttered to herself, "Always in such a rush."

***

In the square itself, Mayor Mare walked out on the makeshift stage. Looking out over her audience, she saw that only a small number of the ponies in the square had even noticed her presence. Instead, most were busily talking with each other or ogling the treats on the tables. Giving the podium's microphone a few light taps to check it, she managed to send a sudden burst of shrieking feedback over the speakers. This did a wonderful job of setting everypony's teeth on edge, and thus turning their attention to the stage.

Seeing the crowd was ready (if frazzled), she cleared her throat and began the speech she'd prepared. "Thank you all for coming everypony. Now you have probably heard of the tragedy that befell our neighbors over in Sweet Apple Acres last week, but for those of you that have yet to hear the tale, allow me to elaborate a moment.

During what was otherwise a perfectly normal day, a terrible storm blew in from the Everfree Forest, flooding their orchards and threatened both the livelihood of our friends and the lives of a class of Ponyville students that had the misfortune of being on a field trip to their orchard. During this crisis, several brave ponies risked their own safety to aid those in need, and today we have gathered here to publicly honor and commend their incredible acts."

***

A short distance away, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were anxiously waiting for the speech to end. Checking her tiara, Diamond Tiara whispered, "Is this balanced right? Any wrinkles in my dress?"

"I don't like, see any." Silver replied, glancing over her own clothing. "How's mine?"

"Totally perfect." Diamond Tiara paused after replying, checking the stage quickly. Nearly bursting from the excitement, she squeaked, "This is it!"

"...and so fillies and gentlecolts," the mayor was saying, "we must extend our thanks to our heroes." With a wave towards the covered tables, Applejack and Big Macintosh walked over and gripped the table covers. "Now you all have probably been wondering what is hidden under these sheets. On these two tables are the awards we will be handing out today."

On cue, the sheets were tossed aside, uncovering rows of glittering metals and a few trophies. Most of the ponies in the audience oohed and ahhed at the prizes on the tables, but a certain pair had a rather different reaction. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were alternating between looking at the table and each other, utterly confused. Their enthusiasm faded quickly as they came to the realization that their limelight was being shared with quite a few other ponies.

Hearing the mayor call for the Ponyville Weather Patrol to gather on stage, Diamond Tiara started getting upset. This was supposed be about her and Silver Spoon, not some lowly weather janitors that couldn't manage to keep the sky clear for an evening! As her temper started to getting the better of her, she tensed up and her eyes began watering with rage. Just as she was about to tell the world exactly what she thought of this turn of events she discovered a hoof plugging her mouth. Looking over at the hoof's owner, she found herself looking into a pair of unusually stern eyes.

Silver Spoon shook her head slowly, retracting her hoof. "I totally know what you want to say, but it's like, not worth the effort. Trust me."

Diamond Tiara just stared at her friend for a moment. As she calmed down, she looked at the ground and pawed at it lightly. "It's not fair." she whined, "We were totally supposed to be the ones begin honored by everypony." As she watched Honeysuckle receive a special award for continuing to assist the team despite her broken wing, she continued, "Now they're getting all the praise."

The members of the Weather Patrol received their awards one by one, leaving the stage afterwards. As the last pegasus returned to the audience, the mayor returned to the podium and readied the microphone again. "Before we continue, there is something else we need to address. Our Weather Patrol, while valiant and determined, was not able to deal with a storm of this magnitude on their own. Because of this, they called out to the Cloudsdale Weather Patrol for urgent assistance. For their timely response and aid in our darkest hour, we wish to honor them with a special award."

Applejack hefted a large trophy off the table. As she held it high enough for everypony present to get a good look at it, the mayor continued, "Because they are needed to tend to their own skies, this award will be accepted by their team captain, Al."

The mayor gestured to the sky overhead, and seconds later the brown pegasus stallion zoomed past. After doing a few simple acrobatic loops to the crowd's applause, he flew in to land on the stage. However, since he was inexperienced with such elaborate stunts, he misjudged his speed and landed with a fair amount of force, creating a resounding thud that shaking the stage. Embarrassed, he mumbled an apology before starting to give his acceptance speech.

"Great," Diamond Tiara mumbled, "now even people from like, other towns are more important than we are."

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. "Totally. When are we going to be called up on stage? Like, ever?"

"At least there's still a stage. I mean, that last guy almost broke it."

Hearing the mayor clear her throat for another long speech about something, the girls sighed and got ready for another long wait. "Ladies and gentlecolts, thank you for your patience. There is yet one more side to this drama that we wish to tell. Shortly before the storm hit, our dear Cheerilee and her class were visiting Sweet Apple Acres. Upon being warned of the storm's approach, she lead her class away from the orchard and into the safety of the Apple family's farmhouse. Unfortunately, on the way two of her students became separated, and had to face the storm on their own."

At this, the sounds of gasps and murmurs rose from the audience. Looking over, Silver Spoon noticed that Diamond Tiara was still moping at being left out of the spotlight. Nudging her in the ribs, Silver whispered, "They're talking about us!"

Diamond Tiara startled. Realizing they weren't forgotten after all, she turned back to the stage as the mayor continued, "Not only did these two foals manage to ride out the storm safely, but they also discovered two other lives in danger and rose to their rescue." As the mayor was starting to ask for them to come up on stage, she trailed off in mid-sentience. Both foals had already zipped onto the stage and were smiling broadly. Trying to act like her rhythm hadn't been thrown off, she turned back to the audience. "Ladies and gentlecolts, may I present our young heroines, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon!"

As the crowd applauded, the foals curtsied, clearly relishing the attention. As the crowd continued to cheer, the older Apple siblings walked over carrying the medals the girls were to be given. Applejack smiled as she gingerly draped the medal over Diamond Tiara's head. With a wink she whispered, "Y'all did great out there in the woods over yonder. Keep up the good work ya hear me?"

Looking up, Diamond Tiara grinned. "Of course we will. We're like, heroines after all!"

***

After the awards had all been handed out, everypony present remained in the square to enjoy the food and each other's company. Most of the conversations that had begun before the ceremony had simply resumed where they left off, but a few ponies were more interested in the stories behind the awards.

Since the event had largely been sponsored by the Apple family, Applejack was playing hostess; a task that basically involved wandering around and checking that everypony was enjoying themselves. As she started to pass a group of Weather Patrol members, she heard Cheerilee call over to her.

"I was wondering," Cheerilee asked as she nibbled on a tart, "I haven't seen either of the girls since they were on stage. Where do you suppose they are?"

Pausing for a moment, Applejack looked around quickly. "Ah saw 'em in the middle of a bunch o' foals just a moment ago. Probably telling tales about their little adventure."

"That wouldn't surprise me a bit." With a brief pause to swallow the rest of her snack, she added, "They do tend to over dramatize things."

"That they do." Applejack looked around for another few moments, and then pointed. "Okay, ah see 'em; they're over there."

Turning to look, Cheerilee tried not to laugh at the display. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were surrounded by other foals, obviously telling the story of their daring rescue. After watching their theatrics for a moment, Cheerilee nodded in the girl's direction. "Let's go have a listen shall we?"

Applejack snickered. "This ought to be interestin'. I never did hear just what all happened out there."

***

Diamond Tiara swept her hoof through the air, as if she was pointing out the entire sky. "It was like, completely black outside the cabin."

"Totally! It was so dark you couldn't even see your own nose." Silver Spoon added, waving a hoof in front of her face.

"We were in the middle of a board game when we heard this strange sound coming from outside."

"Meow, like, me-ow!"

"We just had to go and see what was going on."

"It took a little searching, but we found a flashlight. Once we had that, we were able to see that those poor kittens had been washed away by the flash flood!"

Diamond Tiara nodded. "They were so pitiful looking, all wet and alone in the rain and stuff. I just had to bring them inside where it was warm and safe!"

"We hurried outside -- wait, what did you just say?"

Ignoring the look she was getting from Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara continued on with her tale. "I bravely headed into the cold water while Silver here guided me with the flashlight. When I got close I found I would only be able to bring back like one of the kittens at a time." As she continued her friend's expression shifted from confusion to accusation, but Diamond Tiara didn't seem to notice or care. She was on a roll. "I managed to carry the first kitten back safely, but when I was headed to the second kitten Silver Spoon accidentally dropped the flashlight! I had to risk making the journey in the dark!"

Silver Spoon looked away from her friend and the other foals as she quietly ground her teeth. She'd already risked a fight with Diamond Tiara by bringing up the cute-ceanera, and as much as she wanted to tell the story the way it really happened, it wasn't a fight she was willing to start.

A short distance away, Applejack leaned over towards Cheerilee. "Is it just me, or is there somethin' a might fishy about the way Diamond Tiara's telling the story?"

"It's not just you Applejack," Cheerilee said nodding. "Did you see the look Silver Spoon was giving her?"

"Yeah, ah sure'nough did. Somethin' was definitely not right with the way Diamond Tiara was tellin' the story."

***

As the day drew to a close, the square was largely empty. The only ponies that had remained in the square were the Apples and those interested in the last of the goodies. As Applejack removed one of the last tablecloths, the sound of a pegasus landing nearby caught her attention. Tossing the soiled cloth onto a growing pile, she turned to see who had just arrived.

"Oh my." Fluttershy squeaked, looking over the empty tables. "It took me much longer than I'd expected to get everything ready." Starting to blush, she crossed her forelegs. "and um, I took too long and missed everything, didn't I Applejack?"

"Yeah; sorry 'bout that. We're just cleanin' things up now." Walking over, Applejack tapped her friend's shoulder. "But don'tcha worry none; there's still some cider, fritters and other good eats left. And I'm sure Big Macintosh won't mind if I stop workin to keep y'all company fer a spell. Right Mac?"

Her brother was busy stacking the some of the tables on a cart. Setting down the ones he was carrying, he looked over and nodded. "Eeyup."

"Thanks Applejack." Gesturing at the saddlebag on her side, she continued, "but actually I wanted to catch Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon before they went home."

"Well, you're in luck then." With a smile, Applejack pointed in the other direction. "They're over yonder, gettin' themselves a last minute snack."

***

"Wow, these things are good!" Diamond Tiara said as she helped herself to another plateful of apple crumbles.

"Totally!" Gulping down the last of her own plate, Silver Spoon brushed some crumbs off her blouse. "I mean, who knew the Apples could actually make something worth eating?"

Diamond Tiara was about to answer when a soft voice cut her off. "Um, excuse me?"

Looking up at the new arrival, Diamond Tiara set her next piece of crumble back down. "What do you want... miss flutter... Flutterpie was it?"

If Fluttershy noticed Diamond Tiara's gaff with her name, she didn't show it. "My friends wanted to thank you again for saving their lives during that awful flood."

Reaching down, she gently undid the strap to her saddlebag and set it on the ground. Flipping the lid open, she said, "It's okay; you can come out now."

Two familiar white heads popped out of the bag and looked around. Seeing the ponies that had rescued them, the kittens hopped out and began scurrying over to their rescuers.

Diamond Tiara braced herself, expecting the pair to run into her at full speed. Instead, the two kittens ran past her, heading straight for Silver Spoon. Once they reached the gray filly they started brushing against her and purring loudly. As Diamond Tiara looked on surprised, Silver Spoon knelt down to cuddle them back.

Quietly walking up beside Fluttershy, Applejack grinned at the sight. "Well, don't that beat all."

***

Later that night, after they'd finished cleaning everything up in the square, the Apple family was preparing to settle in for the night. Aside from the enormous task of dealing with the food and furnishings, the past few days had been spent clearing out the flood debris from their orchard. They still had a fair amount of broken leaves, mud and other refuse to collect and drag away, but it was enough for the time being.

However, despite how tired she was, one of the ponies in the family wasn't quite ready to go to bed just yet. Apple Bloom's bond with her sister had always been a strong one, and she was keenly aware that something had been on Applejack's mind this evening. Being as quiet as she could to avoid waking anypony, Apple Bloom let herself into her older sister's bedroom. As she'd suspected, while Applejack was in bed, she was still awake, lying on her side staring idly at the nearby wall.

Walking over, Apple Bloom asked, "Sis? Everythin' alright?"

Applejack let out a long sigh before she looked down at her little sister. "Yeah, there's jus' some things on ma mind is all."

"Good things or bad things?"

"Well, kinda a mix really." Rolling onto her stomach, Applejack continued, "It's just that ah saw somethin' earlier that reminded me of somethings ah'd rather not think about."

Finding a comfortable position, Apple Bloom sat down and looked up at her sister's weary face. "What happened?"

"Well, didja hear Diamond Tiara's version of how they saved those kittens?"

Rolling her eyes, Apple Bloom groaned. "Ugh, how could ah have missed it? She was telling everypony, even if they didn't wanna listen!"

"Well, let yer big sis let ya in on a little secret." Leaning in close to her sister, Applejack whispered, "Fluttershy brought over the kittens, and that pink filly didn't want anything to do with 'em!"

Apple Bloom blinked. "Really?"

"Yep, the kittens ran to Silver Spoon and ignored her friend completely! Ah'll bet that she's really the one that saved 'em."

"So it's this secret that has ya all worked up?" Hopping back, Apple Bloom smiled. "Well that's easy! Jus call her out on it tommara! Then it's not a secret any more!"

Chuckling, Applejack shock her head. "Nah, that's not what ah've been mullin over. That's jus what started me thinkin' about it. Listen, remember when I told ya and yer friends that story about how I got my cutie mark?"

"Um, yeah, ah think so. Ya went to live with Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehatten."

"Right. And to fit in there ah had to hide away part o' who ah am. Ah had to act just so or risk losing the acceptance of the ponies ah was around." Turning her gaze out the window, she continued, "Ah'm just sitting here wonderin' if Silver Spoon is doing something like that. She never did stop Diamond Tiara from tellin' her tall tale."

***

Meanwhile, in a house on the far side of Ponyville, Diamond Tiara was grimacing. "I still can't believe you actually adopted those fur balls."

Silver Spoon just giggled a little as the 'fur ball' she was brushing tried to bat at her braids.

"I mean seriously, they'll shed everywhere. You'll get their fur all over your nice dress!"

Putting down the brush, Silver Spoon tossed her head so that the braids swung about. As she watched the kitten at her feet jump after them, she said, "Oh, don't worry about it Di. I was only going to wear it for a day anyway."