Positioned at a table in Sugarcube Corner, two young ponies were enjoying a pair of hearty milkshakes. One of them, a white unicorn filly, was sipping on strawberry. While the other, an orange pegasus filly, was drinking chocolate.
“So you haven’t seen Apple Bloom either?” Scootaloo asked after taking a sip of her drink.
“Nope,” Sweetie Belle answered, as she stared into her glass. “We’d always meet up at the clubhouse, but she never showed up.”
“That’s not like her,” Scootaloo said with narrowed eyes. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders always show up to crusade for cutie marks! And besides, she usually comes up with our best ideas.”
“But Scootaloo, don’t our plans always fail?”
“Well, yeah…” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin in thought, pondering the meaning of Sweetie’s statement.
“Either way, it wouldn’t be fair if we went crusading, and this time, we actually did get our cutie marks, but Apple Bloom wasn’t there to get hers,” Sweetie stated.
Scootaloo nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right… but still, you think we should go and find her anyway?”
“Why don’t we ask Pinkie Pie if she saw Apple Bloom?” Sweetie suggested, pointing toward the counter where the hyperactive pink mare was talking with Mrs. Cake.
“I guess we could… it wouldn’t hurt, I suppose.”
Just as Scootaloo was about to step out of her seat, the door of the bakery opened, and four mares walked in. Both fillies looked toward their direction and saw them come in.
“I don’t know what it is that Twilight wants,” Sweetie Belle’s older sister Rarity said as she walked in, followed by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Rainbow looked quite confused herself, and Fluttershy remained with a neutral expression.
“Pinkie did say Twilight wanted to tell us something, right?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“That’s what she told me earlier,” Rarity answered, as she directed them to a table where they all sat, directly behind Sweetie Belle’s seat.
“I’m sure whatever she has to tell us, it’s very important,” Fluttershy spoke with a sincere smile.
“Oh, it is important indeed,” responded a smiling Pinkie, who was trotting toward the three mares. “She told me that after she was done talking to Applejack, she wanted to tell us all something. That’s why I told Rarity to invite Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie is not so sure what this is all about, but she’s curious!”
“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “could you spill it, maybe without the third person talk?”
“Oh, sure!” Pinkie chirped. “Well, before I saw Twilight, I came across Applejack, and she had a really long face, almost like she was depressed or something. A few minutes later, I met with Twilight, who not only said she wanted to talk to Applejack, but she had a long face too! I swear, if I find another long face-”
“Pinkie, darling, I think we get the point,” Rarity interrupted, before Pinkie could go on a long tangent about something unrelated to the current subject.
The fillies were just as curious as Pinkie. Though they wanted to find Apple Bloom, they couldn’t help but want to listen in on the conversation.
“Applejack?” Sweetie Belle questioned in a hushed tone. “Something’s wrong with Applejack?”
“That probably explains Apple Bloom’s disappearance,” Scootaloo said, guessing the reason for the missing filly’s whereabouts. “Maybe if we listen in on what they say, we’ll know where she is. You know, just to be sure.”
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t she be at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack?” Sweetie asked, before taking another sip of her milkshake.
“Well, it can’t hurt to listen in a bit. Besides, what if she’s not really there? She could be somewhere else, and maybe Twilight knows where, right?”
Sweetie gulped down a sip of her drink before speaking. “I guess you have a point… let’s try not to be seen, then. It looks like they didn’t notice us here when they walked in.”
“Alright.”
They lowered themselves in their seats while carrying their milkshakes in their hooves. At about the same time, the door opened to a familiar purple mare.
“Hey Twilight, over here!” Pinkie called, and Twilight responded by walking over to the group.
“Thank Celestia you’re all here. I have drastic news to share… and I feel you all should be the first to hear about this.”
“I can only guess that it has to do with Applejack. At least, that’s what we could gather from what Pinkie told us,” Fluttershy explained, and everypony else at the table nodded their heads in agreement.
“Well, part of what I have to tell you has to do with Applejack, but the news concerns somepony else even more.”
“Who is this other pony?” Rarity asked.
“Well… let me talk about Applejack first,” Twilight responded.
“Twilight, before I saw you, Applejack had a really long face,” Pinkie recalled, her expression downtrodden. “Minutes later, you came by with the same face. Something happened between you two, and I’m getting a really bad feeling that it isn’t good.”
“Well, you’re right, and not right,” Twilight answered as she lowered her head. “You’re about half right.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Rainbow huffed with narrowed eyes. “If you have something to say, just say it already.”
“Now now, Rainbow Dash, don’t just put down Twilight like that,” Fluttershy scolded. “Whatever it is she has to say, it’s probably hard for her to get out. Maybe it’s worse than we think.”
“Fine… I just don’t like waiting,” Rainbow responded with crossed arms.
“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Twilight expressed kindly before rubbing her eyes. The others could see see she had a rough night, what with the noticeable bags under her eyes, along with her slightly ruffled mane and tail.
“Well, about Applejack, you see, she’s upset because…” Twilight gulped before collecting the strength to speak. “Apple Bloom’s gone.”
Everypony at the table gasped in surprise. “You mean she’s missing?” asked a deeply concerned Rarity.
“Well, yes and no. She’s not exactly missing. She’s… no longer with us.”
“Twilight, dear,” Rarity said, “you don’t mean…”
Twilight nodded despondently. “Last night, Apple Bloom accompanied me to the Everfree Forest to deliver some herbs to Zecora, and when we were walking back, trees blocked our path. She disappeared soon after that, and I went looking for her. And when I found her…”
Twilight’s ears drooped, and tears formed in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t help shedding tears while recalling the memories of that night. Just imagining the scene she saw made her heart chest heavy with guilt, thinking what happened to Apple Bloom was her fault.
Pinkie couldn’t help wrapping her front legs around Twilight, embracing her in an attempt to calm her a bit. Twilight noticed what she was trying to do and looked in her direction, then back at the others.
“I’m kinda afraid to ask,” Rainbow Dash admitted, “but you’re telling us her life is over? Some sort of monster got to her and she’s dead?”
That last word got a high-pitched peep out of Fluttershy, who was very sensitive to such subjects. Rarity held one of her hooves to keep her relaxed, though it wasn’t easy to do so. Rainbow Dash, too, focused on the news of Apple Bloom’s death, forgetting about Fluttershy’s sensitivity, and she could feel her heart rate slow down upon seeing the timid mare’s soft crying.
At that point, Twilight closed her eyes and slowly dug her muzzle in Pinkie’s shoulder, letting her tears flow out of her eyes. Pinkie held on to her tight, rubbing her back with a free hoof. “Oh, Twilight… and Applejack…”
Nopony at the table could think of what Applejack was going through, with Apple Bloom being the farmer pony’s younger sibling. Family meant everything to each member of the Apple Family. They knew they had to give her time by herself, but for now, all they could do is silently sit there as they took in the news.
In the other table, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were staring into their milkshakes, unable to process everything they just heard. Neither of them could say anything. All they could think about was the scene played out for them by Twilight’s words. They didn’t want to believe her, but the story wasn’t too unbelieveable either, considering how dangerous the Everfree Forest was.
It hit them just as hard as it did the mare that told the story. Apple Bloom was their best friend, one of the three Cutie Mark Crusaders. Without the earth pony third of the group, they didn’t feel right anymore. They didn’t feel complete.
Mrs. Cake could see everypony from behind the counter, and it was disheartening for her to watch the scene before her unfold. She didn’t know what it was about, and she wanted to find out, but she didn’t want to bother them. She opted instead to walk into the kitchen, so she could check up on her babies.
Minutes of silence passed, and the four mares sat silently the whole time, the two fillies being the same way. Many tears were shed during that time, but it was enough to calm down after a while.
“Twilight…” Pinkie asked, breaking the eternal silence, “a-are you ok now?”
The purple mare lifted her head and looked at Pinkie, with dried tears covering her cheeks. “I’m fine now… it’s just that this is just too much to bear. And I can’t imagine how hard Applejack is taking this too.”
Twilight turned toward the other mares sitting at the table. “So far, us five and Applejack’s family are the only ones to know about this. Pretty soon, everypony in Ponyville will wonder what happened to Apple Bloom, when they notice she hasn’t been seen in a while. They’ll have to know soon.”
“I agree,” Rarity stated with a head nod, as she held Fluttershy close. “I mean, what about the school? Apple Bloom attends that, so what will they think when she suddenly stops showing up?”
Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof to get everypony’s attention, and Twilight was the first to notice. “Yes, Rainbow?”
“That reminds me, Apple Bloom is one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. How will Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle take the news?”
“I do admit, I never thought of that,” admitted Rarity. “They are Apple Bloom’s two closest friends…”
“Maybe I should break the news to them,” Rainbow Dash said, before she rose from her seat and hovered a few feet above the floor. “Fluttershy, Rarity, you guys wanna come?”
Both of them looked at each other and nodded before they rose up themselves. Fluttershy in particular rubbed away the remaining tears in her eyes, before she followed Rarity and Rainbow Dash out the door.
“I might as well let Spike know as well,” Twilight said as she rose up from her own seat, pulling herself away from Pinkie Pie. “Good bye, for now anyway.”
Pinkie’s ears drooped as she saw yet another one of her friends leave. Her heart felt heavy, as did the air around the table. She had to admit that this was one of the saddest days of her life in Ponyville, to hear that the younger sister of one of her closest friends had died. Her hair even deflated a bit to match her current emotions.
However, Pinkie could tell she still wasn’t alone. Her ear twitched when she heard a faint sobbing sound coming from the other table nearby. She turned her head and slowly walked toward the sound, and when she saw what was there, she made a quiet gasp.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were huddled up on the floor under the table, and noticeable tears were seen staining their cheeks from their dismayed eyes. From seeing this, Pinkie could conclude that they heard everything the mares said, including what exactly happened to Apple Bloom. She couldn’t bear seeing two fillies cry, but she could resist crying herself.
The only thing she thought to do was sit by them and stretch their hooves out to them and pull them closer to herself. “Y-You heard everything, didn’t you…?”
Both fillies looked up to her and gave her slow nods, before rubbing their eyes with their hooves. Pinkie just pulled them both into a comforting hug, and they responded by wrapping their hooves around the pink mare.
“It’s ok… you can cry if you feel it. It’s ok to cry… nopony will look down at you for it.”
They laid their heads against each other, and Pinkie rubbed their backs with her hooves, attempting to comfort them as best as she could.