//------------------------------// // Ch. 8: "Falling Apart." // Story: Forest of Lost Foals // by Dusk-Spark //------------------------------// “One. Two. Three, push!” The three ponies pushed their whole weight against the large ornate door. It made a loud creaking sound as it clicked shut. Pipsqueak and Scootaloo breathed a heavy sigh from the physical exertion, meanwhile Saphira used her magic to lock the door. “Took you long enough.” Diamond Tiara commented with a pompous attitude. “You could’ve helped, instead of sitting there!” Scootaloo responded, she was in no mood for Diamond Tiara’s attitude right now. Diamond Tiara stood up and faced Scootaloo, “You got something to say?” “A lot actually.” This was just getting worse. “Alright break it up you two.” Coronet stood between them, always the mediator wasn’t she. “Look, you’re upsetting Lemon Daze.” She pointed her tail to the crying filly being hugged by Noi. Diamond Tiara glared at Scootaloo and Noi, she looked like she wanted to say something but decided against it, “…Hmph.” Diamond Tiara turned around and sat back down next to Silver Spoon. Pipsqueak and Scootaloo sat down around the 4 lanterns that remained in the center of the ponies. A quick headcount would reveal: Pipsqueak. Saphira. Scootaloo. Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon. Coronet. Noi. Lemon Daze. Of the 18 ponies, there were only 8 who made it this far. For some reason, that scared Pipsqueak more than anything. Not knowing was the worst part. And judging by the state Lemon was in (a pony who was always smiling, even part of Scootaloo’s Rainbow Dash fan club along with Noi), it must’ve been really bad out there. ‘This was a mistake.’ Pipsqueak realized it now, they never should’ve come in here. Whose bright idea was it to bring them all here? And then it hit him. Whose idea WAS it? He assumed it was Diamond Tiara because she was the one who took charge at the beginning, but something about this whole setup didn’t feel like Diamond Tiara’s hoofwork. Why couldn’t he remember the pony who came up with this idea? It was like, there was a noise in his head. Blocking certain memories. . . . . . . . . . Whatever, couldn't have been important if he couldn't remember it. He shook his head, trying not to think of it anymore. It was Scootaloo who broke the uncomfortable silence, “Where’s everyone else? Has anyone tried using their Runes?” “All night, Scoots.” Noi spoke up, showing her own Rune stone. “I haven’t heard anything from anyone else. They might be lost-” “How did you all get separated?” Saphira suddenly interjected forcefully. It was a good question, Pipsqueak’s group were the only ones who arrived in full. Everyone else either arrived alone or was missing somepony, “Lemon?” Saphira advanced but Coronet stood in the way. “Can’t you see she’s hysterical right now? I found her hiding in a bush, sobbing uncontrollably and muttering to herself. I don’t think it’s a good idea to make her relive it.” “But Coronet,” Noi suddenly spoke up, “If Lemon knows where her brothers are then-” “No!” She suddenly spoke up, “I-I-I don’t want to remember. D-D-Don’t want to. No. No. No. No.” She started frantically chanting. Coronet was at her side in an instant, “Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay girl. Ain’t nothing gonna hurt you out here.” She gently soothed, “Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head…” “Okay. Okay…safe. Safe here. No monsters. No bad things. No darkness. No...green...” She softly sobbed as the two fillies went to work on comforting her. Saphira sighed, realizing there was no point in pressing the issue, “Where’s Twist?” She asked Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Who tensed up just a bit. “How should I know?” Diamond Tiara retorted, completely dismissing the question with a wave of her hoof. She averted her gaze. Odd, Diamond Tiara preferred to look ponies in the eye. Pipsqueak remembered Featherweight calling it a dominance thing. Silver Spoon on the other hoof, was shaking nervously. Saphira must've picked up on Silver Spoon's closed body language: The shivering, the aversion of the eyes...Pipsqueak wasn't too good at reading ponies, but even he could tell something HAD happened, “She was in your group. You were supposed to stay together.” Saphira’s tone became much lower, more…angry? “Why would you come here without her? Where is she?” “I said I don’t know! She probably just went home, are you accusing me of something?!” Diamond Tiara suddenly shouted, standing muzzle to muzzle with Saphira now, the two ponies looked like they would come to blows any minute now. The pompous, spoiled I'm-better-than-you pony vs the pony who lived in a place where nearly everything in the forest had been bred to KILL every other living thing in the forest. Take your pick on who would win... “Diamond…” Silver Spoon spoke up timidly, “I-I think we should tell them.” Silver Spoon was…going against Diamond Tiara. On Pipsqueak’s list of top 10 things he thought would never happen, that was #4. “Tell us what?” This time, it was Noi who spoke up. All the ponies looked to Diamond Tiara. “Diamond Tiara, where is Twist?” Coronet stood up from Lemon’s side and rounded on Diamond Tiara. “Diamond Tiara…” Saphira’s voice was low and dangerous. “Tell us where Twist is!” Now it was Scootaloo’s turn. Pipsqueak wasn’t sure if he should join in or come to Diamond Tiara’s aid. He could see her shaking with rage, everyone was against her now. “WILL EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!” Diamond Tiara suddenly screeched, her voice echoing throughout the building. “TWIST WENT HOME, ALRIGHT, END OF STORY!” “That’s a lie! Twist didn‘t go home.” Silver Spoon looked visibly shaken, she then stood up slowly. “Silver Spoon, SHUT UP!” Diamond Tiara said dangerously, rounding on Silver Spoon now. “NO!” Silver Spoon shouted just as loudly, “WE BOTH KNOW THAT TWIST DIDN’T GO HOME!” Her whole body shook in anger, anger directed at Diamond Tiara of all ponies, “Twist is gone.” Silver Spoon choked out between sobs, “We saw her get swallowed up by SOMETHING in the forest.” She reached into her saddle bag and tossed out a pair of large, purple glasses between the ponies, it made a clank sound as it hit the ground. They were unmistakably Twist’s glasses, mangled and broken, but definitely Twists. “And…IT WAS YOU, WHO’S RESPONSIBLE!” Silver Spoon stood over Diamond Tiara, who started to look very small. “IF YOU HADN’T BEEN TEASING TWIST, SHE WOULDN’T HAVE RUN OFF LIKE SHE DID! SHE WOULDN’T HAVE FALLEN OFF THE LEDGE! SHE WOULDN’T HAVE JUST LAID THERE WHILE IT…” She trailed off, her screaming voice echoing throughout the hall. “Silver Spoon,” Diamond Tiara said, drawing herself back up to her full height, “if you don’t stop right now, I’m gonna-” “You’ll what?!” This was getting bad, “All my life, I’ve been KICKED AND PUSHED around by YOU! I just wanted to be your friend because NOPONY ELSE WANTED TO, but no! I‘m just a servant to you! I‘m just someone you take your stress out on! Well NO! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THIS! I‘M NOT ONE OF YOUR DOLLS! I‘M NOT YOUR LITTLE WHIPPING HORSE! I‘M SILVER SPOON! YOU CAN‘T JUST TORTURE ME FOR YOUR OWN AMUSEMENT!” Before anyone even realized what was going on, Silver Spoon was already upon Diamond Tiara. The two ponies violently fighting, Silver Spoon had the upper hand because she had struck first. Knocking her to the ground and beating on her with her hooves. It took everyone several seconds before they realized that Silver Spoon was going berserk, she might actually KILL Diamond Tiara. Noi and Coronet were the first to try to pull them apart, bellowing for help from everyone else. But it was hard to hear her due to the terrified shrieks of Lemon overpowering the commotion. Pipsqueak saw Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara still trying to viciously beat the other, even after they were being pulled away from each other by everyone else. Pipsqueak saw one of Diamond Tiara’s hooves connect with Saphira’s face with a loud CRACK as she tumbled to the ground. For several seconds she lay there, breathing heavily. Dangerously. The air was getting heavier. She slowly stood up to her full height, there was a light rumble beneath her. “ENOUGH!” She bellowed at the top of her lung, everypony stood by silently as Saphira’s magic lifted the two struggling ponies several feet in the air. “YOU TWO! CORNERS! NOW!” She very violently tossed them both into opposite corners of the room. “STAY!” She said, keeping the two fillies from running at each other again with her telekinetic magic. She turned her head to Scootaloo, who looked dumbfounded (they’d all known that Saphira was good with telekinesis, but they didn’t think she was that good). “GET THE ROPE IN YOUR SADDLEBAG! TIE THEM UP! NOW!” She demanded at the top of her lung. “YOU TOO! ROPE! NOW!” She bellowed at Noi. “R-R-Right!” Scootaloo and Noi said in unison, they tripped as they dashed to their saddlebags by the lanterns. It was a good thing Noi also had a length of rope, because Scootaloo had the only one they brought with them. Pipsqueak just stood there while all that had gone on. He watched in stunned silence as the whole scene played, urging his legs to move but they just refused. “Some hero you are.” The little voice in his head berated him once again.