Chapter 1

Many thanks for Author Laurence Brown for pre-reading. Seriously, go read his stuff.

Also, I don't own My Little Pony nor do I have any real rights to its characters... this being fan-fiction and all.

To you new readers, please be advised that the majority of this story (Chapters 1-5 and about 80% of chapter 6) was written prior to the advent of Season 2.

Brilliant.

Though there were many words that could be used to describe such a scene, that was the one that most often came to mind. After all, the sun was nothing if not brilliant, and when dawning it seemed all the more so to the tired eyes pierced by its dazzling rays. Yet this was a dawn like any other. Steady, expected, and exactly on time. Whether that was the right time or not depended entirely upon who you asked—and when.

For example, at this moment, Twilight Sparkle was of the opinion that it was entirely the wrong time.

With a low groan she shifted in her bed, rolling around so as to face away from the radiant sun so that it would not assault her tired eyes. Under normal circumstances she would have been up an hour and half ago, but a long night of studying had prevented her from keeping her daily timetable, and she was several hours past due on her sleepy time.

The sun, however, was insistent that the day be started, and continued to fill her room in the upper story of the library with its luster and warmth. Twilight ignored the intrusive light. It was bearable as long as she wasn't facing it, and she was just as insistent that she recover those lost hours of sleep. It would have worked too, had the sun not found a very reflective surface on the other side of her room and managed to redirect itself.

Twilight groaned again and briefly contemplated closing the window curtain, but that would require getting out of bed, or at the very least concentrating enough to will her magic into play. She killed the thought, opting instead for the less involved action of pulling the covers over her head. In an instant the brightness was cut off, and she gained several more minutes of respite.

Light flooded into the room freely now, but Twilight was secure in her blanket fortress, confident that no amount of photons beating against her bedcovers would breach her crafty defenses; but the day had other weapons in its arsenal. As Twilight lay there, recovering from the momentary invasion, she realized that it was beginning to feel warm. Too warm. Uncomfortably warm. In desperation she stuck her muzzle out the side of her sheets, attempting to vent her hot, recycled breath without exposing her sensitive eyes, but the damage was done. There was no sense fighting it now, she had lost this battle. It was time to get up.

Curse the summer sun.

With one final groan she rose out of bed, tossing the covers off to one side as she rolled off the other. Landing on all fours she yawned once, stretched twice, and then slowly began to move. The first item on the list was making the bed, followed by a quick brushing of her mane to rid herself of her bed-hair. Next on her list was a drink of water, her mouth having become exceptionally dry over the course of the night, but as she tried to sort out the best course of action needed to obtain one, her groggy thoughts were viciously interrupted.

"TWILIGHT!"

She only had enough time to turn around before Spike burst through the door to her room. Wasting no time he slammed the door shut behind him and braced himself against it, breathing heavily. Twilight was taken aback at the sudden entrance, but at least she was no longer tired.

"Spike? What's wrong?" she asked her assistant, whose wide eyes didn't seem capable of focusing on anything in particular.

"It's too early for me to be dealing with this, Twilight!" Spike said, his words coming out as fast as he could work them through his lips. "This isn't what I signed up for when I agreed to stay with you in Ponyville! She's crazy!"

"Whoa, Spike, calm down," Twilight said, slowly making her way towards the normally unflappable baby dragon. "Who's crazy? What's going on?"

"It's Pi—" was all he managed to get out before the door seemed to fling itself open violently, sending the hapless dragon into a bookshelf across the room.

From the other side of the door, a voice was clearly heard. "Spiiiiiike! Come back! I haven't finished telling you about the—" a bright pink visage poked through the doorway, only to visibly shift gears as it saw and recognized the other purple occupant of the room. "Hi Twilight!"

"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked, trying to make sense of it all.

"The one and only!" the bright pink pony confirmed for her cheerfully.

"Thank Celestia for that," a talking pile of books across the room commented with a muffled voice. The pile shifted for a moment as a small purple hand managed to find its way to the surface, but it couldn't find the leverage to do much else. "Uh… a little help here?"

"Spike!" Twilight started, moving quickly to assist her assistant. Her horn began to glow and several of the books were hauled off the small form beneath them, "Are you ok?"

The small purple and green dragon slowly crawled out from underneath his temporary educational penitentiary and unsteadily got back to his feet. "I'm ok," he assured his friend, even as the room swam before his eyes.

Twilight was less than convinced, "You don't look so good."

"Well, the room's spinning," he confirmed for her, "and I'm gonna have a lump on my head the size of Celestia's Castle, but I'll survive... I think."

Back in the doorway, Pinkie Pie giggled. "Silly Spike, you shouldn't play under the bookshelves. Some of those look really heavy!"

"Yeah, thanks, I noticed," Spike said, not even trying to hide his sarcasm.

As usual, it had no effect, "You're welcome!"

Upon confirming Spike more or less intact, Twilight turned her attention to their unexpected guest. "So, Pinkie Pie, what brings you here so early in the morning?"

"Oh, well it's Mr. and Mrs. Cake's day off!" Pinkie said enthusiastically, referring to the caretakers of the local confectionery at which she worked and lived, "so I'm not allowed in the bakery today!"

Twilight was a little puzzled, "Wait… what?"

"Makes perfect sense to me," Spike said, rubbing the back of his head as he stepped gruffly past Pinkie Pie and out of the room. He could feel the aforementioned lump beginning to form, and it was just about as big as he'd thought. He gave a low growl. "Twilight, you deal with this. I'm going outside."

"Wait, Spike!" Twilight called as he walked out the door to her room. She followed him down the stairs, still trying to piece together what, exactly, was going on. "What about breakfast?"

"Breakfast was ready five minutes ago!" Spike shot over his shoulder just before exiting the library with an angry slam. Twilight was perplexed at his behavior, but then again, she'd been one perplexed pony from the moment she'd gotten out of bed today.

"Yeah, and it was good too!"

"What?"

"Breakfast!" Pinkie Pie said without hesitation, hopping down the last few stairs. "It was good! Spike makes some mean daisy and vanilla waffles!"

Twilight shot a glance at the kitchen area. It was in complete disarray, as if a tornado had gone through it during the night. With a sigh she began to piece together what had happened; her first conclusion being that she was going to be going hungry this morning, and it was unlikely that Spike had been able to get anything to eat either. She made a mental note to take him out to lunch. Maybe she'd be able to buy a few small gems off Rarity as further compensation.

"Oh! Hey Twilight!" Pinkie Pie cut into her thoughts, "Maybe you can help me!"

Twilight turned to her bright pink earth pony friend. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have minded the company of the overtly excited partygoer, but Spike had been right about one thing: It was too early for this.

Nevertheless, she couldn't turn down a cry for help, no matter how insane it was likely to be.

"What do you need help with, Pinkie?"

"I'm looking for a book about parties!"

Oh, well, that didn't sound so bad, except…

"But— but you're Pinkie Pie! Equestria's self proclaimed authority on parties! What could you possibly learn from some book?"

Pinkie's expression became uncharacteristically stern for a moment, something that worried Twilight a little. "Well, after the Grand Galloping Gala," she began, "I realized that there was a type of party that I didn't know about! So I thought, 'maybe there are even more types of parties that I don't know about!'" Her stern expression disappeared quickly and her face brightened to her standard exaggerated glee, "So then I thought, 'I know, I'll ask my bestest best friend Twilight Sparkle! She such a super-smart-smarty-smart pants that she knows about everything!'" Now she alternated between the two as she spoke, switching rapidly between stern and excited with each new notion, "And then I thought, 'But wait, Twilight doesn't like to party all the time! Maybe she won't be able to help me!' but then I thought, 'But Twilight reads all the time! She has to know something I don't!' and then I thought, 'But she reads about boring things like science and magic!' and then I thought, 'But maybe she learned a few neat tricks!' and then I thought, 'but she doesn't like to show off, even if she can!' and then I thought 'but she's from Canterlot, she has to know something about the parties they have up there!' and then I thought—"

"Okay, okay…" Twilight interrupted before the other pony passed out on the floor for lack of inhalation, "I think I understand what you're searching for, Pinkie."

"Oh goodie!" Pinkie said, stamping her forehooves with joy. "I was worried I was going to have to explain the whole thing!"

"Come on," Twilight motioned for Pinkie to follow her as she walked over to the shelves of books that lined the library's walls, "I'll admit that everything I know about parties comes from you, but I'm sure we can find something in here, this is a library, after all."

"Okey-Dokey-Lokey!" Pinkie said as she followed her friend gleefully, excited at the idea of learning something new. Especially if it was about parties!

***

Spike stormed down the dusty main street of Ponyville, headed for the Town Square. From there… who knew? Spike certainly didn't, he just needed to blow off some steam. As if to prove the point, two small jets of steam shot out of his nostrils, along with a frustrated grunt. Today was the first time in a long while he had actually managed to get up before Twilight. Once he realized she was still asleep, he'd fully intended to surprise her by getting all the morning chores done before she woke, something he had actually managed to do for the most part. He was even putting the finishing touches on a special breakfast when that blasted pink pony had shown up and ruined everything!

The thought made him stop in his tracks and he tensed, letting all his frustration vent out a second time in the form of hot smoke shooting from every orifice he could manage. Several ponies paused to witness the spectacle, but quickly moved on.

Once he finished smoldering, he took another deep breath. This one he let out much more slowly in the form of a defeated sigh. He didn't like being angry, but after the disaster that Pinkie Pie had made of his plans he'd needed to get out of the library.

Not that he didn't like Pinkie either, he reminded himself. In fact, on most occasions he was more than willing to play party to her wild pony antics, and even he had to admit that she always threw one hay of a party. Just… why did she have to show up this morning, of all times?

A carriage rolled past and snapped him out of his musing, bringing to light the fact that he was still standing in the middle of the road. Looking around he spotted a nearby bench beneath a shady tree. With nothing better to do he walked over and plopped himself down on top of it in a huff.

He hadn't wanted to abandon Twilight like that. He absolutely hated it when either of them parted ways in anger, even if he hadn't been angry at her. He promised himself that he'd make it up to her, starting with cleaning the mess left in the kitchen… assuming she didn't get it done before he got back. He should probably apologize to Pinkie Pie too, though knowing her she probably hadn't even noticed his temper. That was one of the perks of having Pinkie Pie for a friend; she couldn't pass judgment if she wanted to.

Spike chuckled as a thought crossed his mind, Well, ok… maybe in extreme cases…

As he sat there sorting his thoughts and working up the courage to return to the library and face the consequences of his actions, a figure caught the edge of his peripheral vision. He didn't even have to look twice. In an instant all other thoughts were forcibly ejected from his head as the white unicorn crossing the street became the center of his attention.

It was Rarity, looking dazzling as ever as she pranced down the street at a quick pace, her mane and tail flowing wistfully with the slight breeze of the morning air. Every step with purpose, every hair in place, there was nothing that unicorn did that was not done to the utmost detail.

As she passed by she caught sight of Spike, and in a surprise twist for the small dragon, she instantly changed course and made a beeline towards him. Spike had a momentary panic attack. He gave himself a once over, making sure he looked as presentable as possible before she got close enough to notice any details.

Everything was a go as the unicorn made her final approach.

"Hello, Spike dear," she said in her usual singsong voice that sent Spike's heart racing, "How are you this morning?"

"Hi Rarity! I'm, uh…" Spike paused for just a moment as the morning's events coursed through his brain, "I'm great! Just… uh… running errands! Yeah! For… for Twilight!"

Rarity softly clicked her tongue as she slowly shook her head, making her velvet mane bounce lightly with the motion, "At such an early hour? That Twilight… I'm going to have to talk to her about overworking her assistants."

"Oh, it's not so bad," Spike said quickly. If Rarity talked to Twilight she'd learn about everything! That wouldn't be good. "I was up early this morning anyway, so I volunteered!"

Rarity offered the eager dragon a small smile, "And you are just such a sweetie for doing so."

Spike looked at the ground, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. "Aw, shucks..."

"Anyway, Spike, dear," Rarity continued, the look on her face turning a bit more serious, "You haven't happened to see Fluttershy lately, have you?"

Spike brought a finger up to his chin in thought, "Fluttershy?" He tried to remember anything over the last few days… any sign he might have seen of their pegasus friend. "No…" he said finally, "come to think of it, I haven't seen her since the night at the Gala last week."

Rarity's expression fell another notch, "Oh dear, that's what I was afraid of," she mused, almost to herself. "I haven't seen her since then either, and she didn't meet me at the spa yesterday. I was on my way to the meadow now to see if I could find her. I'm terribly worried."

Seeing Rarity upset sent Spike into instant 'comfort mode'. He didn't like to see so much worry on such a beautiful face.

"I'm sure she's ok," he tried to assure her. "She seemed fine at the donut shop. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time Fluttershy disappeared for a few days."

Rarity cast a sidelong glance, though it wasn't quite so downtrodden, "Yes, that is true," she agreed. "But still, she wasn't quite herself that night. I believe I will stop by her home regardless… just in case."

Spike eagerly hopped off the bench he was sitting on. "Do you want someone to come with you?"

Rarity hesitated for just a moment, "Er—no, thank you, Spike. I wouldn't want to interfere with your errands. Twilight might get worried."

Spike's eager expression quickly died as he recalled his initial deception, "Oh… yeah, my errands… right."

"Yes, now you'd best get on them," Rarity said, giving him a nudge. "Thank you so much for your help."

"You're welcome."

Without another word the unicorn moved off into the crowd, headed west towards Fluttershy's meadow. Spike watched her go until he was confident she was out of earshot.

"Stupid Spike," he berated himself, "that could have been your chance." He gave himself a light knock on the back of his head, only to release a startled yelp as he made contact with his earlier injury, which he then nursed gingerly. "Owwww…"

The bump reminded him once again why he was where he was. His anger having dissipated at the sight of his heart's desire, he decided it was a good a time as any to return to the library and apologize to Twilight.

Oh… and Pinkie too, if she was still there.

***

Pinkie Pie had her face buried in a book, and for once it wasn't because of Rainbow Dash crashing through a window.

"Letsee!" she said as eager as ever, "After-parties, anniversaries, baby showers, bachelorette parties… ooh! That sounds fun! Page thirty-tw—Hey!" She yelped when the book suddenly snapped shut, nearly catching her nose in the process.

"Here we are!" Twilight said quickly, handing Pinkie a volume she had picked up off a nearby shelf and levitating the book Pinkie had been looking at far across the room. "The Life and Times of the Ballroom Dance, I believe this is what you were looking for?"

"Ooh, ooh, lemme see! Lemme see!" Pinkie said, bouncing several times in her excitement. She quickly grabbed the book and nosed through it, seeming to absorb the information on each page through sheer osmosis.

As Pinkie Pie did her thing, Twilight turned back to the book she had found during her search, A Comprehensive History of the Grand Galloping Gala. In retrospect, she thought to herself, I should have looked this up a month ago. They were both too occupied in their reading to hear the main doors open softly, that is until Twilight heard a quiet whisper behind her.

"Psst, Twilight!"

Twilight turned to see Spike, speaking softly as Twilight always instructed him to whenever anyone else was reading in the library. He waved sheepishly at her, obviously upset with himself.

Twilight gave him a reassuring smile, "Hi Spike, feeling better?"

"A little, yeah. I just wanted to… you know, apologize for earlier."

Twilight moved to give him an affectionate nuzzle, "Don't worry about it." She cast a sidelong glance at their guest, "I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened."

Spike still looked a little upset, "You… want me to go get the kitchen cleaned?" he asked somewhat timidly.

Twilight was a little surprised. Spike absolutely hated cleaning the kitchen, so to hear him actually make such an offer was no small thing. She glanced over at their simple kitchen, only to wince at the state that it was in. "You know what, Spike? No… we'll tackle that one together later. Why don't you go pick up the books that fell off the shelves upstairs and once Pinkie leaves we'll go get something to eat, ok?"

Spike perked up visibly at this, equal parts glad that he wouldn't be knee deep in the mire on his own and the fact that the morning wasn't about to be a total loss. With an eager, "You got it!" he started towards the staircase, only to be intercepted by a large flying tome that quickly carried him into the nearest wall with a loud thud.

"Spike!" Twilight cried in alarm.

"Fooey," Pinkie Pie said, not even having looked at where the book had landed. "There's nothing in that book but fancy footsteps and ridiculous rules." She stuck out her tongue and blew a loud raspberry. "How can anyone call that a party!"

For the second time that morning, Twilight rushed to the aid of her beleaguered assistant. "Spike! Are you ok!"

Across the room, Pinkie suddenly became very tense as her tail began to twitch involuntarily. "Uh oh…"

"I'm ok, Twilight," Spike said, pushing over the book that had him pinned to the wall, but before he could get away a shelf overhead managed to dislodge itself, dumping a rather bulky looking chest towards the hapless dragon below. With a startled cry Spike cringed and covered his head, but was pleasantly surprised when the chest didn't make a lasting impression on his face. Looking up he saw that Twilight had managed to grab the large crate before impact using her magic, and had gently set it down beside the baby dragon.

"Whew, thanks Twilight," Spike said, wiping his forehead, only to get conked on the noggin by a glass snowglobe that had sat beside the chest on the shelf.

"Oops, sorry Spike," the purple unicorn apologized.

"My tail's twitching! My tail is twitching!" Pinkie exclaimed, rushing to her friend's side. "Oh, wait… it stopped."

Spike sat on the floor, rubbing his head at multiple points. "Pinkie," he said with a wince, "I think being around you is becoming hazardous to my health."

Twilight gave a sigh, not liking to be too stern with the energetic and innocent minded pony, but she had to put her hoof down at some point.

"Pinkie," she said firmly, "I'm going to have to ask you not to throw the books around like that. They're not exactly indestructible."

Pinkie's eyes went wide as she lowered her head and took a few steps back, "Oh, I'm so very sorry Twilight! I won't do it again."

"Pinkie Promise?" Twilight asked, wanting to settle this once and for all.

The earth pony had to think for a moment before vigorously shaking her head. "No. Pinkie Promises are only meant for the most important things."

Twilight sighed, "A regular promise then?"

"Okay!"

With a look of frustrated amusement on her face, the purple unicorn turned back to the newest mess that had appeared on the library floor. As she reset the shelf and picked up the chest, Pinkie Pie shot to her side.

"Ooh, ooh, what's that!" the earth pony asked, gesturing wildly to the bulky box.

"That…" Twilight said, hoisting the box back onto the shelf, "is my treasure chest."

Chapter 2

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With a series of soft 'clops' the end of a white hoof knocked repeatedly against the wooden doorway. When no answer was immediately forthcoming, the motion was repeated, this time with a little more force.

Rarity stood in front of the small cottage at the edge of the Everfree Forest that her friend called home, hoping desperately for an answer from within.

"Fluttershy!" the unicorn called, rapping on the door a third time. "Fluttershy, please come out!" From inside she heard something shift and emit a soft squeak, but no one came to answer the door.

"Fluttershy!" she called again, banging on the door even more forcefully. "Fluttershy, I know you're in there! Answer this door right away!"

Her efforts were rewarded with another scuffling sound and a brief bout of movement visible in the small window to her right. She moved in closer, hoping to get a look at what was transpiring within, but was instead met by a small white visage which suddenly appeared behind the glass. Rarity recognized the face of Fluttershy's constant companion, which was a good sign at least. If he was home, the chances were good that Fluttershy was home as well.

"Ah, Angel," she said, throwing on the charm as much as she could for the often temperamental bunny, "Would you kindly be a dear and go tell Fluttershy that Rarity is here to see her?"

Angel appeared less than happy, and he indicated as much by vigorously shaking his head.

Not expecting the proffered reaction, Rarity was momentarily taken aback. "She is home, is she not?" she asked.

The bunny cast a quick glance over his shoulder before offering a single curt nod.

The unicorn was now a bit miffed. She had never been refused entry into Fluttershy's home before. "Angel, I am not here to play games," she explained to the small rabbit, her tone taking on a bit of an edge. "I want to speak to Fluttershy immediately. Don't force me to go collect Opal and bring her back here."

Angel began to gesture wildly, making it clear in no uncertain terms that the unicorn's presence was, for the moment, less than welcome.

At this point Rarity began to lose her composure. "Now listen here you long-eared mouse, I will not tolerate being treated like this!" She turned away from the window and stamped her hooves on the mat in front of the door. "You tell Fluttershy that I am not moving from this spot—until she comes out to speak with me! And furthermore—"

Her tirade was interrupted as a bright orange carrot stub sailed through the air to lightly impact into the back of her head. She turned angrily on the perpetrator, but as she approached the window a second time it was promptly slammed shut, and Angel made a point to celebrate his endeavor from the safety of the cottage interior.

Rarity was approaching her limit. "Why you little rodent!" she exclaimed, glaring daggers at the miniscule critter. "How dare you treat a lady this way! I will not stand for this! You bring Fluttershy here right this very instant!"

For a moment it appeared that Angel was going to persist in his attempts to dissuade the stubborn unicorn, but a soft voice from within caught his attention.

"That's enough, Angel."

At this the minuscule bunny turned from where he sat on the windowsill, and began to gesture again, apparently attempting to prevent the occupant inside from following through with her predetermined course of action.

The voice within was stern, yet kind in tone, "Now Angel, you know we don't treat our friends that way. Won't you let Rarity in?"

The rabbit seemed to pout and took a moment to look back through the window, shooting a surprisingly potent glare at the unicorn outside before disappearing from the windowsill. A moment later the latch clicked and the door opened an inch or two. Rarity wasted no time, but promptly entered the establishment, only to fire a glare of her own as she passed by the very angry looking bunny that stood off to the side.

Breaking the brief eye contact with her momentary antagonist, Rarity spared a glance for the cottage interior. It was, as usual, very well organized, and everything was in its proper place. Yet there was something strangely odd about the home that Rarity could not put her hoof on. Deciding to worry about that later, she glanced about for her friend. It didn't take long to find her.

Fluttershy sat on the couch in the center of the main room, the yellow pegasus curled up in as comfortable position as was possible on the small piece of furniture. Much unlike the house itself, however, Rarity could instantly tell something was wrong. The unicorn was well aware of the fact that of all her friends (apart from herself, of course) Fluttershy was the one who spent the most time on physical appearance; yet the pony before her was in a state that Rarity would never have imagined possible. Her coat was ragged and dirty, and spotted in several places, and her mane and tail were an absolute mess: Matted, disheveled, and snarled. Several painful looking welts covered her forelegs, and she had some nasty scratch marks on her back. She was almost unrecognizable.

"Good heavens, dear!" Rarity exclaimed in utter horror. "What happened to you!"

***

Back at the Ponyville library, Pinkie Pie was convinced that she had made the biggest discovery of the decade.

"Your treasure chest!" she asked excitedly. "Ooooh, I wonder what's inside?"

Spike looked up from where he sat on the ground, "I didn't know you kept treasure, Twilight. Have you been holding out on me this whole time?"

Twilight giggled at the idea. "Oh Spike," she said, shifting the box comfortably back in position on the shelf, "it's not that kind of treasure." Confident that her handiwork was stable, she turned away from the wall, only to have her personal space disappear as the color pink filled her view.

"Well, what's inside? What's inside!" Pinkie asked with an eager bounce.

Twilight took a surprised step backwards. "R—really Pinkie," she stammered, "it's nothing that special."

"I wanna see! I wanna see!"

For a moment, Twilight didn't quite know how to react, though she was more uncomfortable with the other pony's demanding presence than any real reluctance to show the contents of the box.

"Come to think of it," Spike added, moving to stand beside Pinkie, "I don't think I've ever seen what's in that box either. Whaddya say, Twilight? Show us?"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!" Pinkie added, her eyes suddenly becoming very moist and dilating spontaneously.

Faced with the combined pleas of her two friends, Twilight caved in with a small smile. "Oh, alright," she said, turning back towards the shelf and once again grabbing the box with her magic, "but I promise it's not nearly as special as you two are making it out to be."

Slowly Twilight lowered the crate until it was sitting comfortably on the floor. Spike eagerly moved to flip it open, but stopped short when he realized that he would need a numeric combination to do so.

"Ah, ah, aah," Twilight said in chastisement. "Not so fast."

"Not important, huh?" the dragon said with a huff. "Why keep it all locked up then?"

"Just because it's not worth much doesn't mean that it isn't important to me," the unicorn explained before spinning the keypad away from the observant group and inputting the proper combination. The box sprung open and she turned it to face her friends once again, eliciting an excited 'oooh' from the pink earth pony. Spike rushed forward, eager to see the interior contents. It was obvious that his imagination was on overdrive, as he immediately looked disappointed.

"What's with all the papers and trinkets?" he moaned. "I thought you said it was treasure."

"I said it was my treasure, Spike," the unicorn clarified, "and these 'papers and trinkets' are very important to me. For example," with a nod of her head a single sheet of paper with a very elegant seal stamped on the bottom lifted from the chest, "this is my acceptance letter into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns as Princess Celestia's personal student, and this," with another gesture a ribbon with a shiny medal attached to the end floated out as well, "is the fifth place medal I won at the Running of the Leaves last year."

"Ah, big deal," Spike said dismissively. "That's all ancient history."

"Ancient history or not, these are my memoirs," she said defensively. As she spoke, a sudden thought crossed her mind and she looked at the dragon with a sly expression, "Besides, it's not like you don't have a few keepsakes... like a certain photograph and a bow-tie you keep in a box under your bed? Or how about that jewel that remains mysteriously uneaten?"

Spike sputtered, having been caught off guard. "Th—that's different!" he insisted. "Those were gifts!"

The unicorn nodded, "And I keep those too, like this party blower from the second party anypony has ever thrown for me." She pulled out a small pink party blower that was fastened to a wooden base.

Pinkie stood transfixed at the sight of the party blower. "Wow, Twilight! I didn't know it meant that much to you!"

The unicorn gave her pony friend a hangdog look, "Well, I wasn't very appreciative of the first one..." she admitted sheepishly.

Pinkie seemed too occupied to care, lost in her own thoughts. She stared at the party blower for a moment until something seemed to click behind her bright pink visage. "That's. So. Cool! I think I'll keep something from every party I throw! As a reminder! I never want to forget another party again!"

Twilight's expression became uncertain, "Yes... well..." She silently prayed that Mr. and Mrs. Cake would forgive her.

"Bah!" Spike interrupted, sticking his tongue out as he stepped away from the box. "I was looking for something interesting, not a bunch of mushy reminders and knickknacks."

"Oh, is that all this is?" Twilight responded, grinning down at her assistant. "Then you certainly wouldn't be interested in this." Another item floated out of the chest, a crystal ball about the size of an orange. Spike was interested despite himself; after all, it was very shiny. He looked at it with curiosity, not noticing anything out of the ordinary at first. Upon closer inspection he realized that there was something encased inside the crystal— something that was a light shade of purple.

He squinted at the ball, trying to determine its contents. "What is that?" he asked.

"This." Twilight said proudly, "Is a reminder of my first true test in magic." Though her initial expression was one of haughtiness and pride, it slowly softened into a much warmer expression as she continued." It reminds me of the day that I got my cutie mark, and is also a reminder of my first real friend."

At that Spike perked up, "The day you got your cutie mark? But that... that's..."

Twilight guided the ball over to him for a better look. "This is a fragment of your egg-shell, Spike," she explained.

Spike was transfixed as he grasped the crystal ball out of the air for a closer look. "Wow..." he said distractedly, but then something came to his attention. "Wait... but this fragment is purple with dark purple spots. I thought my egg was purple and green."

Twilight shook her head, "Nope. It was two shades of purple."

"It was?"

"Yup."

"Oh..." Spike seemed confused, "and all this time I thought..." he turned his gaze back towards the crystal, "but still... wow! I didn't know you had this, Twilight."

"I have two, actually," the unicorn said with a broad smile, hoisting another, similar object from the chest. "I was going to give you one when you were old enough. I guess now's as good a time as any. Just don't eat it accidentally, ok?"

"Of course not!" Spike said indignantly, but he was unable to keep his attention from the bauble for long. "Thanks Twilight! You're the best!"

"Anything for my number one assistant," she told him, giving him a friendly nuzzle.

Throughout the exchange, Pinkie Pie sat strangely quiet, and if either of the other two occupants of the room were to pay attention, they would have been able to see the gears working from within her head, and as she watched the exchange between Twilight and Spike those gears seemed to finally settle into place with a noticeable click.

The suddenly very loud and audible gasp startled both Twilight and Spike out of their musings, and they looked over at Pinkie only to see a cloud of dust where the pony had just been standing not a second before. They heard the door to the library slam shut immediately afterwards and sat together for a long moment, neither quite knowing what to make of the sudden departure.

"What do you think that was all about?" Twilight finally asked.

"I have absolutely no idea," Spike answered, "but the last time I saw her do that..."

"Yup, somepony's probably due for a party soon." They stared a bit longer, watching as the trail of dust left behind in the speedy pony's wake dissipated into the air. Finally Twilight broke the silence again. "So, you hungry?"

"Starving,"

"Me too. How about we head on over to the Sugarcube Corner? At least we know we won't run into Pinkie Pie there today."

"Right behind you, sister." Spike said with gusto.

***

"Hello, Rarity," Fluttershy said, seemingly ignoring the unicorn's initial outburst, "I'm so sorry about that… I must have fallen asleep."

As she spoke, Rarity noticed that she did not raise her head—or even open her eyes—but remained at rest on the small sofa. Her voice seemed to match her appearance, worn and strained, but mostly tired—she sounded extremely tired.

"Fallen asleep?" Rarity repeated, "Goodness, darling, are you alright? You look positively dreadful."

At this Fluttershy finally perked up a bit, lifting her eyelids and raising her head slightly. "Do I?" she asked, giving herself a brief once over. "I'm sorry, I've just been…" she yawned, weakly trying to cover it with a hoof, "…I've been so busy."

Busy? Rarity thought, but this house looks like it has not been used in days! In fact— that was it! Everything inside the home was coated in a thin layer of dust! That's what she had noticed earlier!

If the unicorn was worried before, she was absolutely paranoid now. Fluttershy would never allow her home to fall into disrepair.

"Fluttershy, look at me," Rarity commanded her friend. Sensing the tone, the pegasus managed to give her unicorn friend a lethargic gaze. Rarity took in the details of her face, noting that her eyes were slightly bloodshot and saggy. She looked like she hadn't slept in a long while—much longer than was healthy, apparently.

Rarity moved to kneel beside the pegasus. "Fluttershy," she started, her voice going soft, almost pleading, "please tell me you are not still angry with yourself over what happened at the Gala."

Fluttershy gave a slight start at the question, her ears twitching a bit in response. "Uh… th—the Gala?" she repeated, "N—no, of course not."

Rarity stood up again, far from convinced. "Now Fluttershy, we promised each other there would be no more secrets between us."

Fluttershy's head dropped back to the sofa cushion. "Well…" she said with a hint of hesitation, "…maybe... just a little. I… I wasn't really myself that night."

"Darling, please," Rarity pleaded, "none of us were quite ourselves that night. We were all desperate ponies, but you cannot let that change who you are."

"I know that," Fluttershy admitted quietly, "but still…"

Rarity took a few steps back to look over the house again. "There will be no buts about it," she said matter-of-factly. "You need to get out of this house."

The pegasus' eyes closed wistfully, "Oh please, Rarity…" she whispered, "not—not right now, I can't."

"You can't afford not to, darling."

"But I'm just… so tired…"

"Goodness, dear, when was the last time you had a full night's rest?" she asked, hoping to get to the bottom of it all, but she did not receive an answer. "Fluttershy?" She returned her gaze to her friend. Fluttershy sat silently on the sofa, breathing steadily; she had fallen asleep again.

"Oh, Fluttershy." With a sigh the unicorn moved to rouse the pegasus from her slumber, but before she could do so she was intercepted by an irritated rabbit, who quickly moved to stand between them defensively.

Rarity glowered at the critter, still angry over their earlier quarrel. "Oh, what is it now?"

Angel placed his forepaws together, then tilted them horizontal and set his head atop them. He then began to shoo at Rarity, obviously indicating that she should let her sleeping friend lie.

"Angel, look at her!" Rarity demanded. "She is a mess, and I'm almost certain nothing in this cottage has been touched for over a week! I'm not going to let her sit here and waste herself away like this!"

The bunny remained stalwart, crossing his arms in finality. They stood there in stalemate, one doing his utmost despite his diminutive physique, the other not truly wanting to initiate a physical altercation.

Finally, as a desperate measure, Angel softened his expression from an angry glare to that of gentle pleading. It caught the unicorn completely off guard, but it was enough. Feeling her will beginning to falter, Rarity cast another glimpse at her friend on the couch. She once again took note of Fluttershy's physical state, which was absolutely dreadful; and yet, the expression on her face was one of perfect peace—almost… happy.

Rarity looked askance from the bunny with a grimace and grumbled in resignation. "Oh, very well. I'll let her be for now. But don't think this is the end of it!"

She cast a final glance around the cottage, now able to see what she couldn't before. There were distinct signs of under-use, and it begged all manner of questions. At the same time, however, it offered her an excuse.

"I suppose at the very least I can clean up a bit," she mused to herself. With a second thought, she turned again to the bunny on the ground, and roughly hoisted him up with her magic, "…and I don't suppose you would mind helping me… would you dear?"

Angel struggled viciously, but soon realized there was no other way out. With a heavy sigh he nodded assent, and was promptly dropped.

"Good, now would you kindly show me where Fluttershy keeps her cleaning supplies?"

With a glower that could kill a lesser being, Angel slowly led the way. Rarity followed, unperturbed.

They spent the next two hours in silence, dusting, wiping, and just straightening up whatever needed it. There wasn't much out of place, to be sure, but everywhere she went Rarity found signs of general disuse. Even the bedroom looked like it hadn't been used in a few days, and that only caused her to worry more. Perhaps the most alarming was the distinct lack of critters that usually filled the small cottage. It cast an eerie atmosphere over the hovel that was usually brimming with life, and put Rarity even more on edge—but at least it had made the cleaning easier.

Finally she cleaned out the last corner behind the last piece of furniture and shifted it back into place. "Well, I suppose that about does it," she said, more to herself than to anypony else.

She spared another glance at her friend. Fluttershy still hadn't woken, and though Rarity did not want to leave her, she had other responsibilities to take care of. The Carousel Boutique hadn't been open all morning, and she still had that hefty order to complete by next week. It was best to work on such things before Sweetie Belle returned from school in the afternoon.

Still, she didn't want to leave without some form of closure. Finding a quill and a blank piece of paper, she wrote a note for her slumbering friend, indicating a desire that Fluttershy come see her the moment she woke up.

Replacing the quill in its holder, she carefully set the note down next to the pegasus on the couch. She noticed Angel looking at her from the sidelines, an annoyed expression on his face. She turned once more to the rabbit.

"I want this to be the first thing that she sees when she wakes up," Rarity explained, her tone leaving no room for argument as she fixed the critter with a stern look. "And so help me, Angel, if I discover that Fluttershy never sees this note, I will fabricate an excuse to ensure that Opalescence will be here twice a week for the next three months!"

She received a gesture of reluctant assent, and satisfied with that, moved towards the door. Rarity paused only once, glancing back at her friend just before leaving the home. She took a final note of comfort in seeing the expression of complete contentment painted onto the pegasus' face, and silently prayed that her worst nightmares were not true. She then stepped outside and gently closed the door behind her.

Chapter 3

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She raced back and forth moving almost faster than the eye could see, overturning drawers and emptying out cupboards with reckless abandon. If its job was to hold, conceal, or contain something it became a priority target.

"Quill! Quill! I need a quill!"

She continued to phase from point to point, looking desperately for any sort of writing instrument. One of her jaunty ventures sped her towards the nearest entryway—the barn's back door—but as she got close her body tensed, and she instantly ceased all unessential activity, giving full attention to what she knew was coming.

Ear Flop.

Eye Flutter.

Knee Twitch.

Heeding the call she promptly took several steps back from the doorway, which true to form, abruptly slammed open.

"WHAT in tar-nation's goin' on in h—Pinkie Pah?"

"Hi Applejack!"

Applejack took one look at the interior of the kitchen. She was quite dismayed at the sight that met her eyes. "What've ya done did to my barn, filly!" she cried.

"I'm so sorry, Applejack," Pinkie exclaimed, not sounding particularly sorry at all, "but I had such a super awesome amazing idea that I just had to write it down! And since I can't go back to the Sugarcube Corner until closing time, and since Rarity wasn't home and Twilight disappeared and Rainbow Dash is too hard to visit I thought I'd come here! I need a quill! Do you have one?"

Applejack just stared at her friend with a slack-jawed expression, sorting out the best way to react to the given situation.

Pinkie didn't have the patience to wait. "It's ok if you don't have one," she said, bouncing back to the task at hand. "I'm sure I'll find one around here some—whoa!" her movement was brought to a jarring halt as she was none-too-gently yanked back towards the door.

"Lemme git this straight," Applejack said, finally finding her voice as she spat the pink tail in her mouth onto the floor. "Yer tearin' my barn apart like a madpony lookin' for a quill?"

Pinkie nodded vigorously, "Uh-huh! Or a pencil! Do you have one?"

"And yer just sittin' there, lettin'er do this?" Applejack asked, turning towards a nearby table where a bright red stallion with an orange mane sat, munching quietly on a bean-sprout and tomato sandwich.

"Ee-yup," Big Macintosh said between bites. He'd long since learned not to interfere where the reputable party pony was concerned. It was almost always easier to let his sister Applejack deal with it.

"An' ya couldn't be bothered tah show 'er where we keep th' pens 'n pencils?"

"Ee-yup."

Applejack released the strongest sigh of frustrated resignation known to ponydom. "Ah step outside fer five minutes—"she paused to grab Pinkie by the tail, preventing her from escaping a second time, "—an' this is what ah come back to?"

"Ee—"

"Don't say it, big brother," she interrupted, shooting him a glare. The stallion promptly complied.

With another sigh the orange pony finally addressed the bubbling mass of pink. "Pinkie Pah, we don't keep th' writin' instruments in th' kitchen." Applejack raised a single hoof, indicating a door on the other side of the room, "They're in th' study. Now if'n ya follow me real calm-like, ah 'cn git'cha one."

"Oh, thank you soooo much, Applejack!"

The orange pony rolled her eyes, "I'd 'preciate it nex' time if'n ya'll came to get me first. I don' necessarily like scrubbin' kitchen floors."

"An' you," she pointed at Big Macintosh, "Clean this mess up!" Applejack then led her overeager friend into the other room, who was unable to prevent herself from bouncing in excitement, but as they passed through the doorway the pink pony recalled another reason she had come to visit her friend.

"Hey Applejack, do you have any treasure?"

"Treasure?" Applejack asked in return, not knowing where the question was coming from. "Y'mean, like bits n' stuff? Well sure," she confirmed with a shrug. "We're a bus'ness after all, but like all good bus'ness folk, we do our bankin' at the bank."

Pinkie shook her head wildly, "No, not that kind of treasure, silly. I mean treasure treasure!"

"Treasure treasure?" Applejack asked, slightly confused. "You mean, like diamonds?" She took a moment, trying to remember if she kept any jewelry. "Well, ah s'pose we've got a few up in granny's jewel case, but they don' get used much. Why d'yuh ask?"

The pink pony continued to shake her head even more forcefully. "No, no, no! I mean treasure treasure treasure!"

Applejack stopped at this, turning back to look at her friend, "Okay, y'done lost me now."

Pinkie's head dropped nearly to the ground and she gave a frustrated groan. "You know! Special treasure! Treasure that nopony else might think is treasure but has a special deep significance or meaning that exclusively applies to only you!"

Understanding finally crossed through Applejack's eyes, "Oh, y'mean like mah hat!"

"Your hat?" Pinkie asked, slightly flabbergasted. "What kind of treasure is that?"

The workhorse gave her head a forceful reverse nod. Her Stetson hat flipped off her head into a backwards somersault before falling back into place. "Why, this 'ere hat's been in th' Apple Family fer generations," she explained to her friend. "Pa' gave it to Big Macintosh first, but he gave it to me t' keep shortly after Apple Bloom was born." She paused in thought, "He kept th' harness, though."

"Ooh, yes!" Pinkie exclaimed gleefully, "Things like that! Do you have any other treasure like that?"

Having reached the only desk in the room, Applejack popped open the top drawer and pulled out a quill and inkwell, placing them on the desktop. "Ah s'pose ah got a few keepsakes here and there; mostly stuff's been passed down by th' family. Granny Smith's got that jar that's got the seeds from the first apple ever picked from our orchard, an' Apple Bloom's ribbon was a gift t' my ma' from Auntie Orange—"

"Eh, A.J.?" Turing back to the doorway they had just come through, both ponies saw the frame of Big Macintosh poking his head into the study. "You got 'nother guest waitin' on ya," he announced with his trademark drawl.

Applejack rolled her eyes, "'Course it always gets busy a'fore lunch." She made her way over to her brother, "Ah'll be right back, Pinkie Pah." She followed the stallion as he turned around and re-entered the other room. The door closed gently behind them.

Suddenly finding herself alone and entirely unsupervised, Pinkie made a dash for the desktop whereupon sat the quill and ink Applejack had pulled out. She wasted no time, but instantly began to write.

It had come to her as she had watched the exchange between Spike and Twilight at the library. A new type of party! A themed party! A specific party, catered to the things which the recipient treasured most! If she could discover what that was, she would have the proper ammunition to spontaneously throw a relevant party for any pony at any time!

Not that lack of an excuse had ever stopped her before, but now she would have a focus!

But who to use as the first subject? It was too soon for Twilight, who might become suspicious. Applejack hadn't given her much to use, and Spike's would just be awkward, given what she knew about his particular interest (plus she'd Pinkie Promised she wouldn't tell). There were her other friends of course, but she knew even less about their treasures (and getting the Wonderbolts to cooperate could be difficult). What could she do? Who would be best?

Who to choose... who to choose… who to choose!

As if in direct answer to her question, a muffled name seemed to float through the kitchen door and settle itself gently within her eardrum.

Fluttershy.

Pinkie was a little bewildered. Fluttershy? Pinkie couldn't even remember the last time she had thrown a party for Fluttershy. She hadn't even considered the pegasus as an option for such an experiment, and yet…

Fluttershy!

Pinkie's eyes slowly grew very wide. It was perfect! Under normal circumstances, the party pony was reluctant to host a party that centered on her timid friend. Sure the shy pony had no problem attending parties, but making her the focus of one was always destined to end in disaster. She hated being the center of attention.

But that problem could be solved! If Pinkie held a themed party that focused on what Fluttershy held most dear, she could personally throw her a party and she wouldn't even know it! She could make her the guest-of-honor-without-a-clue! Without any awkwardness or shame; no regret whatsoever! The idea was slick, it was subtle, it was almost so good that Pinkie felt evil just thinking about it.

She'd have to first figure out what keepsakes Fluttershy had, but she would worry about that later. Right now she was too busy. This new party idea had opened up all sorts of additional party options. What about other themed parties? Why had she not thought to do this before? There was no need to look for an excuse to throw a party when she could just make one up whenever she wanted!

More and more thoughts flashed through her mind, and she struggled to get them all written down. They came to her faster, and with more detail. She was in the zone, and there was no stopping her. May Celestia help all the ponies of Ponyville from that day forward, for there would be no rest from the marathon parties of Pinkie Diane Pie!

Then, suddenly, she stopped. She hadn't meant to—she didn't want to—but the fact of the matter was that she had run out of places to write. Yet though her pen may have ceased its erratic behavior, her mind was still in full stride, and she could feel the ideas continuously flowing forward—blocked in her head by the inability to be converted into written form. It created a traffic jam of thought as more and more ideas were brought to light yet found themselves unable to escape the confines of her brain. It was overwhelming. It was overpowering. She had to get them out!

Desperately she looked around for a blank space; a corner or an edge, even a small indentation! But there were none. She expanded her search outwards, seeking another surface upon which to write, but no such surface could be found. Her behavior became more frantic, her search pattern more violent; but the required resources remained elusive. Throughout it all the ideas continued to build up—begging, crying for an outlet! They plead for her to release them, to record them, to save them from the fate of forgotten obscurity! As her mind became supersaturated and her neural path throughput began to falter, some of them even began to die.

She felt them die. She heard them die.

It was too much for the poor pony.

***

As the door closed behind them Big Macintosh turned to his sister with a cocked eyebrow. "Yew sure it's a good idea t' leave her in there alone?"

"She's got what she wanted," Applejack said, waving him off, "She'll be fine. Now who'd you say was here t' see me?"

"I didn't," the red stallion countered, "but it's yer unicorn friend."

"Twilight?"

"Naw, th' white one."

Applejack gave a start at this news. "Rarity? Well what brings her out here?"

"Donno," Big Macintosh said with a shrug, moving back to the table to resume eating.

Realizing she wasn't about to get any more answers from her soft-spoken kin, Applejack cantered over to the front entrance. She found Rarity sitting within the entryway, eyeing the room with an apprehensive gaze. Applejack knew that look, but she wasn't about to say anything as long as Rarity didn't.

"Well howdy there, friend," She said instead as she approached the white unicorn mare.

Rarity started at the sound of her voice, her attention having been elsewhere. "Oh! Hello Applejack, how are you today?"

"Fine an' dandy, thank y' kindly. To what do ah owe th' pleasure?"

"Oh, I won't be long," Rarity assured her friend. "There was just something I wanted to talk to you about, and I was in the area, so I thought I'd stop by."

Applejack cocked an eyebrow. Rarity was rarely, if ever, 'in the area', so it struck the earth pony as a bit strange, but she'd let her tell the tale. "Well, since yer here, can I getcha anything?"

"Well…" Rarity hesitated for just a second. "I supposed I could do with a glass of water, if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all. C'mon in." With a gesture, Applejack indicated for Rarity to follow and strode back to the kitchen, grateful that Big Macintosh had already somehow gotten it cleaned up. The last thing she needed was to hear any complaints the unicorn might have about the mess. Rarity, for her part, followed silently, waiting patiently until Applejack procured the requested drink. Rarity took the glass and sipped at it delicately. Her eyes began to wander about the room, and Applejack tensed, knowing what was coming before it was even said.

"Ah unnerstand that my choice of internal decoratin' might not be up to par to yer trained eye," she said, deciding to nip the issue in the bud.

"Actually, I was going to say that I found it rather endearing, after a manner," Rarity countered. "A very old-fashioned style, but it suits the home. I just felt kitchen needed a bit more red—to match the exterior."

Applejack's rebuttal caught in her throat, her retort interrupted with a thought. "Y'know… Apple Bloom said th' same thing not three weeks ago."

"Well then, she's a filly with a good eye," Rarity concluded, taking another sip from her drink, "but you're right of course, I did not come here to comment on your choice of decor." She placed her glass on the countertop and gave Applejack her full attention before continuing.

"I'm worried about Fluttershy," she said bluntly.

"Fluttershy?" Applejack repeated. "What's wrong with 'er?"

"I just stopped by to visit her and I found her in an absolutely dreary state," Rarity explained. "I could not get a full explanation from her, and as you are her closest neighbor, I thought I would ask. Have you noticed anything strange about her cottage recently?"

Applejack shook her head, "Not more'n usual. Though I have noticed an increase in critters hangin' out in th' orchards." She paused as her mind recalled an item she had recently added to that morning's to-do list. "Come to think of it, I was jus' 'bout to go see her myself an' see if she could do anythin' 'bout that. They're startin' to git a bit bothersome."

Rarity softly shook her head, "I might actually be able to explain that," she said, "and I don't know if Fluttershy would be much help at the moment. Her cottage was barren of her pets."

"Barren? As in, empty?"

"It was absolutely deserted!" Rarity affirmed. "It was almost unnatural to behold." She gave an involuntary shudder as she recalled the sullen atmosphere of the home.

"Well, I s'pose that'd certainly 'splain the critter count in th' orchards, then," Applejack said making the connection. "She tell ya why?"

"I could hardly get a full conversation out of her," the unicorn said in exasperation, "she was completely exhausted."

"Y'think she just needed a break?"

Rarity shook her head again, "I sincerely doubt it. I've never heard of her needing such a thing in the past, and she looked just awful. I've never seen her let herself go like that."

As she listened to Rarity's tale, Applejack's concern mounted. "Well, if'n there's one thing I can count on with you, it's yer attention to detail," she said, almost as if a reminder to herself. "Ah'll keep my eyes open, and if I see anything, ah'll letcha know."

"I would appreciate it if you did," Rarity said, offering her friend a grateful expression, "I'm rather beside myself in frustration right now, and I'm terribly worried."

"No worries, I'm sure we can sort this out."

Rarily listed her head to one side in frustration. "I do hope so," she said with a sigh before deciding it was time for a more lighthearted topic of conversation. "In the meanwhile, how is business treating you lately?"

Applejack's eyes lit up. There wasn't a whole lot she could relate to with Rarity; their respective personalities were simply too different to find much mutual ground, but business was certainly one topic that breached that particular barrier. As both ponies owned and operated their own enterprises it was often the go-to topic of discussion when they spent any amount of time together. "We're doin' ok fer ourselves," she explained. "It's a slow time of th' year, so there ain't much to do but tend to th' trees until Applebuck Season starts up. How's about yerself?"

Rarity gave an exaggerated sigh, "Ugh, ever since I caught the eyes of Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores business has been picking up quite a bit," she said. Realizing that she had not sounded particularly grateful, she promptly shifted emotional gears, "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's just that demand has increased tremendously, and I've been rather hard pressed to keep up. I don't know how much longer I can continue before I'll be forced to hire some help."

"Well, I'm sure when th' time comes you'll find plenty o' ponies qualified fer the job," Applejack assured her. "Why, with th' reputation of the Carousel Boutique, they'll be lined up fer miles."

Rarity allowed a small smile to adorn her lips, "I do appreciate the vote of confidence."

"Think nothin' of it, sugarcube," Applejack said. "You've got th' right mindset, and yer good at what you d—DAGGUM!"

Both ponies nearly jumped off their hooves when the door behind them slammed open with such force that it shook the entire barn. Turning sharply towards the sound, they were met with a very startling sight.

Behind the door, now framed by the open doorway, stood a black and pink pony shaped figure. Its chest heaved with ragged, heavy breaths, and it held a look of wild desperation in its eyes. Behind her, Applejack heard Rarity scream in abject horror as something heavy and soft hit the floor. It took a moment longer for the farmer to recognize Pinkie Pie. She was covered head to toe in various notes and scribbles of black ink, even her mane and tail—something that Applejack would later wonder about—and she had an aura of intense distress about her. All in all it appeared as if she'd just taken a wild ride through the typewriter of horrors.

"Paper!" Pinkie shrieked frantically, "Paper! I need PAPER!"

Big Macintosh glanced over at all the commotion, then calmly took another bite of his sandwich.

Chapter 4

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Focus.

She struggled to remain motionless, her eyes closed in intense concentration.

Focus… you can do this!

She tried not to think about the empty air before her, tried not to think about what the history books said. After all, she'd already made history… twice.

She felt a grin begin to form on her face and attempted to suppress it, but failed. She'd made those ponies eat their words, she wasn't about to let what they said stop her anymore. She knew this was possible, and she knew if anyone could pull it off, it would be her.

Alright, let's do this!

With a final breath she let herself go, allowing gravity to take hold and pull her earthward. Her free fall lasted only a moment before she quickly regained control. Diving into the troposphere, her wings began to beat, slowly, almost leisurely at first, then faster and faster as she added her own power to gravity's pull. It wasn't long before the broke through the cloud cover and saw the lake stretch out below her.

But speed wasn't her ultimate goal here, though it certainly helped. Still, she concentrated on collecting the wind, using her wings to grip the very air around her and pull it down as she dropped. She would need it in a moment, need the current that would come with it.

Still she descended. Closer—closer to the smooth surface of the water below—as close as she could possibly manage. To some it might have already appeared too late, but she was not some. She was better than some. She was better than all!

She was the best.

She waited until she felt she could wait no more then promptly shifted her wings, angling them so that her rapid descent suddenly became a flight parallel to the lake's surface. She fanned her wings out, trying desperately to maintain her speed even with the increased drag and the weight of the current following in her wake.

Skimming the lake's surface she shifted her wings again, causing her long, straight flight path to become a circular course. Once she had the pattern down, she began to close that circle. This was the easy part. She'd had plenty of practice doing this and that practice was paying off. The circle became tighter and tighter, until a vortex began to form.

Once she felt the winds gain strength she urged them onward, closing up her wings just a bit so she could help push them along. The vortex grew until, with her help, it became a miniature tornado, which eagerly began to suck up water from the lake's surface. She let it; encouraging it to flow into the air until it became saturated with moisture.

She had to be careful here. If she didn't collect enough moisture she wouldn't be able to finish what she'd started. On the other hoof, if she gathered too much it would prove very dangerous. She tried not to think about what would happen then—willing herself through the process despite her fears.

As soon as she was satisfied that she had what she needed she launched herself skyward in a dizzying spiral, bringing her controlled typhoon with her. Now was the hard part. It was time to put her training to the test. A look of stalwart determination crossed her face.

This time… This time she would succeed!

***

Fluttershy's frustration was starting to mount… just a teeny bit. She had been standing here for nearly fifteen minutes now, without even a hint of an answer, and she was beginning to wonder if she should be more upset or worried. She decided to worry—she didn't like being upset. She'd try once more… or maybe twice. No, better make it three times at least, in case no one heard the first two.

Gingerly she tapped on the door of Ponyville's fashion center, the Carousel Boutique. "Um… Rarity?" she called softly. "It's me. Fluttershy. You… you wanted to see me?"

"Hi Fluttershy!"

With a startled squeal the pegasus whirled around, only to come face to face with one of the most precious ponies in Ponyville.

"Oh! Sweetie Belle!" she said, releasing a sigh of relief. "Please don't sneak up on me like that."

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," the unicorn filly apologized quickly, "I was just coming over to visit my sister, but when I saw you I thought I'd say 'hi'."

Fluttershy smiled at the filly, even when embarrassed she was the cutest thing. "It's ok, Sweetie Belle," she assured the small pony, "You just surprised me, that's all." With a glance she indicated the establishment behind her, "And anyway, I don't know if your sister is home. I've been knocking on the door for fifteen minutes now, but she hasn't answered."

Sweetie Belle furrowed her brow in thought, "But… Rarity never leaves her store. Not unless it's really important."

"I know," Fluttershy agreed. "She came by to visit me this morning, but I don't think she stayed very long. I wonder if—"

"LOOK OUT BELOW!"

The call from the sky was the only warning they would receive. Both ponies looked up to see a large white object rapidly approaching their location. There was no time to do much else. A terrified squeak was all Fluttershy could utter before the object landed atop her with a heavy 'pomph'.

Sweetie Belle, who had only narrowly escaped a similar fate, released a startled yelp.

"Oh, hey there, squirt." From the sky descended a very familiar sky blue pegasus pony with a very unnatural rainbow colored mane and tail. Sweetie Belle, however, didn't seem to notice, but could only gape at the large pile of… white… that had enveloped her sister's friend.

Rainbow Dash stared at the filly, a puzzled look on her face. "Uh… you ok there, squeaker?"

The terrified cry of, "Fluttershy!" was her only response as Sweetie Belle made a mad dash for the pile and instantly began digging.

"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked quizzically, "What does she have to do with—"

"Fluttershy!" the unicorn filly cried again, sounding a bit more frantic.

"Oh!" The pegasus finally made the connection and promptly shoved Sweetie Belle aside, "Stand back, squeaker." She took a small leap to get airborne then began to beat her wings furiously. The pile of white slowly shifted and started to fall apart, sending whole chunks flying away with powerful gusts. Several startled cries filled the air as the substance found new homes amongst Ponyville's populace.

"Hey!" one voice rose above the others, demanding to be heard. Rainbow Dash stopped her vigorous wing beats and saw a pedestrian who had managed to get himself caught in the fiasco. "You mind knocking that off?" he said gruffly. "Winter ended three months ago!"

The pegasus could only offer him a cheeky grin with a nervous chuckle. "Oops, hehe… sorry about that."

The soaked earth pony walked off, grumbling under his breath as he did so, "Blasted pegasus… can't even get the seasons straight anymore…"

Once he had moved on, Rainbow Dash finally turned her attention back to her initial goal, only to discover a very wet Fluttershy had been hidden beneath the pile.

"Fluttershy!" Sweetie Belle cried again, rushing to her side. "Are you ok?"

Fluttershy was shivering, and the young filly couldn't help but notice that her normal yellow coat was beginning to look a little blue.

"S-s-sn-snow!" was all she could say between her chattering teeth.

Rainbow Dash looked a little crestfallen at the reminder. "I know, darn it," she said in frustration. "It keeps freezing too fast. I just can't seem to get it right!"

"Get what right?" Sweetie Belle asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Oh, just a little something I've been working on, squeaker," Rainbow Dash said with a small smile. "I'm trying to make some clouds!"

"B-but we've b-been making c-clouds for c-centuries," Fluttershy chimed in as she desperately prayed for the sun to increase its warmth.

"Oh sure," her friend scoffed, "with those lousy evaporators." She rolled her eyes in disgust before bending low in a makeshift action stance, "But back before they had those things, we pegasi had to make the clouds ourselves!"

"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked with growing intrigue.

"Yup, and it was really hard too!" Rainbow Dash replied, intent on milking her captive audience for all it was worth. "That's why they switched to those machines! Most pegasus ponies couldn't do it, and even the ones who could didn't like doing it. They thought it was too dangerous!"

The mention of the word 'danger' was enough. The unicorn filly was completely enchanted now, "Do you think it's dangerous?" she asked.

"Of course it is!" the pegasus said, puffing out her chest, "But that's not gonna stop the best flier in Equestria! I love a good challenge!"

"B-but no one re-remembers how to d-do it," Fluttershy pointed out.

Rainbow Dash scoffed again, "Like I'm gonna let a little detail like that stop me?" She took to the air a second time, spinning a few shallow loops in a dizzying display, "I'm Rainbow Dash! I live for this stuff!" Finishing her spectacle she dropped to the ground once more. "Besides, I proved the Sonic Rainboom was possible, didn't I? And I can't rely on that forever. If I'm going to get the Wonderbolts' attention, I'm gonna need something else to show them! I'm not going to be just another one-trick pony!"

"Wow, Rainbow Dash! That's so cool!"

"Yeah, well, it's what I do."

"A-are you sh-sure you should be p-practicing this over the middle of P-Ponyville?"

Rainbow Dash released all her bluster with a frustrated sigh, "I wasn't over the town," she said in exasperation. "I was over the lake, but when the water froze it became too heavy and just got launched."

"O-oh. I s-see."

Rainbow Dash finally seemed to recognize the miserable state that her friend was in, "Oh, right… sorry about that, Fluttershy." In a wink she darted towards her friend, spinning several dizzying circles to create another vortex that forcibly removed all moisture in the area.

Finally dry again, Fluttershy felt the sun begin to warm her numb extremities and her shivering ceased. "Oh, thank you Rainbow Dash."

"No problem." The blue pegasus took a moment to look around, "So… what are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well, I was here to see Rarity," Fluttershy explained. "She left me a note saying she wanted to talk to me." A look of worry crossed her face as she remembered the contents of that note. "It sounded awfully urgent. I hope she's okay."

"Well, what are you standing around out here for, then?"

"I tried knocking, but she hasn't answered."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Fluttershy, it's a store," she said in irritation as she moved towards the door. "You don't have to knock firs—" her attempt to push the door open failed when it refused to budge, which caused her a small amount of surprise. She looked at the door in annoyance and pushed again. When it remained stalwart in its stand she tried several more times before admitting that it was, indeed, locked. "Huh… that's weird."

"I thought it was strange as well," Fluttershy agreed. "And she was just so insistent that I come speak to her, too. What if something happened to her?"

Dash waved at her friend in dismissal. "Nah, we would have heard about something like that by now. I'm sure she's fine. She probably just got called off to make a dress or something." Despite her better judgment, however, Rainbow Dash was unable to eliminate a quiet nagging doubt. Maybe a little investigation wouldn't hurt after all.

"What did she want to talk to you about, anyway?" she asked.

Fluttershy gave a meek shrug, "I'm not sure. I remember her saying something about the Gala, but I was very tired at the time, and the entire conversation felt like a dream. I wasn't even sure it had been real until Angel showed me the note she left." A gasp escaped her lips as a terrible thought occurred to her. "You don't think she's still upset over what happened that night, do you?"

Rainbow Dash just laughed, "What? Rarity? Nah," she said with a wave of her hoof. "She was over that Blueblood jerk the moment the cake landed. She wouldn't let something like that bother her…" her argument seemed to lose steam even to herself as she recalled how their friend had reacted to the events of that night, "…would she?"

"Jerk?" a soft voice piped up. Sweetie Belle, who had remained silent while the other two spoke, finally broke that silence upon hearing Dash's most recent opinion. "But Rarity said that she had the best night ever at the Gala."

Both pegasi glanced down at the small unicorn who was beginning to look a little upset herself. Sharing a quick apprehensive glance, they came to a silent agreement that it was time to change the subject.

"It was the best night ever!" Rainbow Dash said quickly, believing some closure was necessary first. She didn't know what Rarity had told her little sister about that evening, but she was sure there was a reason for it. "We just had a bit of a rough start, that's all."

The young unicorn still seemed confused, "But… why would you call Prince Blueblood a jer—"

"By the way, Sweetie Belle," Fluttershy interrupted, "How are you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders holding up?"

At the mention of her little clique, Sweetie Belle's eyes simply lit up. "We're doing well!" she assured the older pony. "We've been meeting every day!" Her eager expression faded as she remembered something else, "In fact, I was supposed to meet them at the clubhouse after my visit with Rarity, so I should probably get over there."

Fluttershy nodded with a smile, "Yes, you shouldn't keep them waiting. You be safe now, and let me know if you need anything."

"Of course! Thanks Fluttershy!" without another word the filly took off towards the southwest and Sweet Apple acres. As soon as she was far enough away, both pegasi gave a sigh of relief.

"Whew, that was a close one," Rainbow Dash said. "What do you think Rarity told her?"

"I don't know, but it wasn't the truth," Fluttershy replied worriedly. "Are you sure she's not still bothered by it?"

The shrug Rainbow Dash offered the other pegasus matched her facial expression of complete bewilderment. "I wouldn't think so, but I guess you can never tell sometimes."

"What should we do?" Fluttershy asked, feeling on the verge of hysterics. "I want to go find her, but I don't know where to start looking," she looked over her shoulder, a concerned expression on her face, "and I just don't have any more time today."

"Tell ya what," Rainbow Dash offered, "I've finished my chores for today. I'll go look for Rarity, and let you know what I find out."

Fluttershy looked at her fellow pegasus hopefully, "Would you? I would feel so much better." Her eagerness gave way to sudden apprehension, "But… I can't ask you to do that. I don't want to interfere with your practice."

The blue pegasus waved her off, "Ah, don't worry about it. The lake will still be there tomorrow, and frankly, I kinda wanna know what's going on myself."

"Oh, thank you, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said gratefully. "Please tell Rarity that I'm so very sorry I missed her, and that I'll come by to see her later, but right now, I really have to go." Fluttershy didn't give Rainbow Dash the opportunity to respond, but trotted away without hesitation, satisfied now that she had the other pegasus's reassurance.

Rainbow Dash was a bit surprised at her sudden departure, it wasn't like Fluttershy to be so readily put at ease when worried for a friend. With a shrug she decided to let it go. If Fluttershy was learning to be less of a worrywart and basket case, who was Rainbow Dash to argue?

Instead she turned her thoughts to Rarity, and where she would begin to look for her. If the unicorn was not here, nor with Fluttershy, where else could she possibly be? At her parents? But then Sweetie Belle would have run into her. And she wasn't known to frequent the Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie. What about Sweet Apple Acres?

Rainbow Dash scoffed. Yeah, that'll be the day. Twilight's it is, then.

***

With a final flourish of the pen assaulting the page Pinkie Pie struck a dramatic pose. "Aaaaaaaand done!" she exclaimed. "Whew, I don't think I've ever written that much before!"

Applejack was inclined to agree as she stared in dismay at the hundreds of sheets of paper strewn about the room. "'Bout time," she said with a sigh. "Ah don' know why you do what y'do, Pinkie, but sometimes…"

Pinkie wasn't paying attention, already eagerly gathering up each of the individual pages and placing them within the saddlebags on her back. "So—" she asked, her speech constantly interrupted with each page she picked up, "Is Rarity—" shff, "awake—" shff, "yet?"

Applejack glanced over at the only piece of padded furniture in the room, where Rarity had been laying all afternoon. "Nope," she answered simply.

"I hope she didn't—" shff, "bump her head—" shff, "when she fainted."

"Ah don' think so," Applejack said, only marginally convinced she was telling the truth, "Y'done gave us quite the start there, though."

"I'm sorry—" shff, "I wasn't trying to—" shff, "start anything."

Applejack sighed again—she'd been doing that a lot today. "Look, y'sure I can't help you clean up here?"

"That's ok!" shff, "You've already—" shff, "helped me enough—" shff, "by letting me borrow—" shff, "these saddlebags!"

Applejack shrugged. "Suit yerself."

As she watched her pink friend collect the remainder of the pages she silently prayed this would be the end of it. She had just as much fun with Pinkie Pie as the next mare, but she had other things to do today besides keeping an eye on the energetic party pony to prevent any further disasters.

Just at that moment, the door to the study opened, and in walked a yellow earth pony filly with a red mane and a large red ribbon in her hair.

"Applejack, I'm home!" she called out.

"Hey Apple Bloom!"

The reply caught the filly by surprise, for it hadn't been Applejack who'd responded. She took another look around the room before realizing her sister was not its only occupant. "Oh, hey Pinkie Pah! What're you doin' here?"

"Oh, I was just—" shff, "writing down—" shff, "some ideas."

Apple Bloom was still a little confused, "Uh... okay. An' what's goin' on with Rarity?"

"It's a long story, little sister," Applejack said, not wanting to go into details at the moment. "How was yer day at school?"

Apple Bloom made a disgusted face, "Ugh, I can't wait 'til school's out fer the summer," she said. "Maybe I can go a whole day without hearin' 'Blank Flank' shouted 'cross the playground."

Applejack sighed, "They still botherin' you 'bout that?"

The young filly gave a little sniffle, a bitter look beginning to blossom on her face, "Uh-huh."

Applejack moved to stand beside her sister, "Now you listen to me, little filly," she said firmly, "Them other fillies ain't nothin' but bullies, an' you don't hafta let them walk over you if you don't wanna."

Apple Bloom sniffed again, "But, how'm ah s'posed ta make 'em stop? Teach' says to just ignore 'em but sometimes that don't always work, an' ah don't wanna git in trouble."

"Now listen here," Applejack said, "Your sister Applejack ain't gonna condone gettin' physical, but if you ever feel like you can't hold it in any longer," she locked eyes with her younger sibling, "then don't! Teach them girls a lesson if ya hafta, but don' let them think for one moment they can git away with teasin' you without consequence. Y'ain't wrong fer standin' up fer yerself, and if that ever happens, then you just let me worry 'bout Miss Cheerilee."

Little Apple Bloom was still far from comforted and she sniffled again, "Ohkay, big sis..."

Applejack bent low and rested her head across her sister's neck in comfort, "Now don't you fret none," she reassured the younger filly, "when the time comes fer you t' get yer cutie mark, it's gonna be so beautiful, and them other fillies is gonna be so jealous, they won't be able t' speak at'cha again."

Apple Bloom looked up hopefully, "Y'really think so?" she asked.

"Ah knows so," Applejack said, pressing her nose against her little sister's in a tender nuzzle.

Apple Bloom giggled at the gesture, then immediately perked up. "Oh hey, that reminds me. I was s'posed to meet up with th' other Crusaders after school today."

Applejack's gaze was stern, "How much homework've ya got fer t'morrah?"

"It's not much, I promise!"Apple Bloom said, willing her most innocent expression to appear on her face. "I can git it done real quick t'nite! Can I go out? Pleeeeeease?"

"Oh, alright." Applejack acquiesced. "But I wan' it done a'fore seven, y'hear?"

The young filly hadn't even waited to hear Applejack finish, but was already rushing to the barn's rearward exit, "Ah will, ah promise!" she called over her shoulder as she galloped out.

The slamming of the back door caused a shudder throughout the barn, and on a chair in the study, a white unicorn pony finally began to stir.

"Oooh, Applejack!" Pinkie said, noticing the soft groans emanating from the chair, "I think she's waking up!"

Both ponies moved to stand beside their friend, who was slowly opening her eyes. She tried to focus, but it took several moments. Eventually she was able to make out the rough outline of Applejack standing beside her with a worried look on her face.

"Applejack...?"

"You ohkay there, Sugarcube?" the earth pony asked.

"I... I believe so. What happ—" sudden remembrance flooded through her as the memories of her final vestiges of sensory input were pieced together, "—Aaah!" she cried, nearly falling off the couch in a mad scramble, "Where is it? Where is it! Don't let it get meeeeeee!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Applejack called, motioning for calm, "Calm down there, girl, ain't nothin' gonna getcha."

"But I saw it!" Rarity exclaimed, on the verge of hyperventillating, "It was staring into the very reaches of my soul! It wanted to devour me like a precious pony morsel!"

On her other side, Pinkie Pie giggled. "Oh, Rarity, you're such a drama queen!"

Hearing another voice seemed to snap the unicorn out of her crazed state, "What?" She turned, as if noticing Pinkie Pie for the first time. "Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?"

"Just doing some writing!" the other pony said, moving back to finish picking up her remaining pages.

"It was her that ya seen," Applejack explained. "She got a mite overzealous with th' ink for a bit, is all."

"You mean, that monstrosity was merely Pinkie Pie, covered in ink?"

"Mmm-hmm," Applejack nodded.

"Oh good heavens," Rarity sank back onto the sofa in relief, "but you gave me such a fright, dear." She sat still, attempting to calm her frayed nerves when a second synapse made a connection.

"Wait!" Rarity jumped back off the sofa to face Applejack. "What time is it?"

Applejack had to think for a bit. "Uh... ah donno," Apple Bloom had just gotten home, so that would put it at about... "say maybe three... thirty?"

"Three-thirty!" Rarity cried, "Good gracious I've been here all afternoon!" She started pacing around the room frenetically, "I've got to get home, I've so much to do! And Fluttershy! Oh dear me I told her to come see me! What if I missed her? I hope I didn't miss her! I must know what's going on!" Seeming to realize she was panicking, she stopped and turned to Applejack, "I apologize Applejack, but I must leave at once!" She couldn't wait for a response, and immediately dashed from the room, leaving the two earth ponies alone again.

"Uh... ohkay, there... Rarity," Applejack said by means of a delayed response.

"Wow! She sure was upset!" Pinkie Pie observed. "What was all that about Fluttershy?"

"Aw, Rarity's a bit worried, seems to think she's still havin' issues with that Gala fiasco last week. That she's still upset 'bout the whole thing."

"Rrrreeeally?" Pinkie asked. So Fluttershy was having a problem, huh? Well this little pony knew just the cure, and a sly expression began to blossom on her face.

It did not escape Applejack's notice. "Ah don' like that look in yer eye there, sugah."

Just like that, it was gone, replaced by the pink pony's typical bubbly expression. "What look?"

Applejack just shook her head, "Nothin', never mind."

"Anyway, I'm all done now, Applejack!" the orange pony took a moment to look around and see that, indeed, all the pages has been collected, "and I've got something else to do, so I'll be going now, but thank you soooooooo much for your help today! I'll be back to return the saddlebags later!"

"No worries, take yer time," Applejack said with a chuckle. "I've a few things ah need to git done a'fore ah hit the hay t'nite as well."

"I didn't know there were any recipes that called for tenderized hay."

The look she shot her pink pony friend was of pure disbelief. "Pinkie Pah, one'a these days I'ma hafta sitcha down and have a very thorough discussion 'bout the figures'a speech."

"Oh don't be silly, Applejack!" Pinkie said, trotting past her friend towards the door, "I already know all about the alphabet! I memorized the whole thing years ago!" For the third time that day Applejack found herself unable to get the last word in as Pinkie left her standing in the study.

Pinkie, however, wasn't headed home, but turned northward. She still had a plan in mind, and that plan required some research.

...And there was no better time to do research like the present.

Chapter 5

View Online

Angel sat stretched across the loveseat, enjoying the momentary silence of the absence of his caretaker and the myriad other animals that usually inhabited the house on a regular basis. Complete privacy in Fluttershy's cottage was a rather rare experience, and in many ways it was quite relaxing. He could get used to this. He could get used to this very easily indeed.

It wasn't that he held no love for the pegasus pony. On the contrary he loved her very much. It had been no surprise to him when she had come home that night after the appearance of Nightmare Moon with the claim that she was the aspect of kindness in something called the Elements of Harmony. He hadn't been able to make much sense of it all, but one thing had seemed perfectly natural to him: That throughout all of the ponies in Equestria, it would be Fluttershy who turned out to be the embodiment of kindness. She was kind. She was exceptionally kind. In many ways she was too kind.

The rabbit smirked to himself. When he had first met the pegasus who had fallen from the sky, he had been your average run-of-the-mill bunny rabbit. She, however, had been far from the average pegasus, and as Angel had spent time with her he discovered something more underneath that kind exterior.

After her initial elation at having discovered the creatures of the earth—and her cutie mark—had worn off, Angel was able to meet the true Fluttershy, and learn the tale of a pegasus from the city of clouds who did not fit the mold; who, as kind as she was, had been mercilessly mocked for her inability to perform even the most basic of skills. Who had been tormented into a state of social awkwardness because of a meek demeanor and an overzealous consideration for others—which more often than not had been mistaken for weakness.

She had hidden it well. She hadn't wanted to cause anyone to worry, certainly not amongst the woodland creatures she called her friends. Even now it amazed him how she had managed to bury it all with her service to others. Still, one day he caught her in a vulnerable moment, and it revealed to him the pain that she bore inside, the pain that she covered with a soft smile and an eager disposition. It had torn his little heart asunder, and he vowed from that moment on that he would do everything in his power to take care of her just as she took care of everyone around her.

It wasn't easy. Fluttershy thought nothing for herself. Everything she did, she did for somepony else, and it often ran the poor rabbit ragged just to remind her that she also had needs and wants that needed to be met. As a result he had become much more aggressive, having to deliberately push the personal desires of the shy pegasus onto others because she could never bring herself to impose on another in the same way. What he could not do for her directly, he made sure someone else could.

He often gave her a hard time as well, if only to remind her that life was not the perfect picture she often imagined it to be, but he always took care not to push her very far. Most of the time...

Luckily things had been picking up for poor pegasus. She had found a circle of friends that had been more than accommodating, and he was finding his job becoming less and less necessary as they stepped in to help her belong and encouraged her to come out of the defensive wall she had built around herself.

Of course… that was before last week… and the Gala.

Fluttershy had come home happy enough, but even she could not hide the disappointment she had felt for very long, and he could tell that it was eating at her. What bothered him most however was that it was partially his fault, and he had been powerless to help. He didn't know what would have become of her if it hadn't been for—

His ears snapped upright long before he noticed anything, but it didn't surprise him. They seemed to have a mind of their own at times and he had long since learned to pay attention. They had caught something that he had not, and so he listened more intently. It didn't take long to pinpoint the source.

Something was outside, moving around the exterior of the cottage. They were obviously trying to be sneaky, but weren't having much success of it; not to him anyway. He sat upright on the couch, briefly debating whether or not he should go out and check. He wasn't really that worried; despite living so close to the Everfree Forest, it was a truly rare occurrence that anything dangerous would make its way out of the woods.

He decided to observe for now, moving to the windows to try and get a glimpse of whatever it was, but it remained hidden from his sight. He could still hear it though, moving from one point to another around the perimeter of the cottage. Finally, it seemed to grow bored and left, and the rabbit made his way to the door— just to make sure there hadn't been anything damaged or taken.

Initial inspections showed that nothing seemed to have been tampered with; nothing immediately noticeable, anyway. He moved around towards the back of the cottage, and as he rounded the corner the most peculiar sight caught his eye. A piece of cake lay off to one side, hidden from the cottage interior by a low bush, but it wasn't just the cake that gave him pause. It was the fact that the cake lie neatly underneath a large cardboard box that was lying open at an angle over it.

An obvious trap.

Angel moved closer to inspect the device. It seemed basic enough. The cake was a rather blatant piece of bait, with the trigger set to spring the trap the moment it was disturbed. A bell lie atop the box—probably meant to sound the alert when the trap had been sprung.

Angel smirked. He didn't know who was going around setting traps for small critters near Fluttershy's cottage but they couldn't be that bright if they thought cake was a suitable bait, and they would be sorely mistaken indeed if they thought such an obvious device would catch him anytime soon. But sure, he'd play along.

Looking around he spotted a long stick lying several feet away, and moved to retrieve it. He'd spring the trap and then lie in wait to see who—or what—it was that had placed it. Such were his thoughts when he picked up the branch only to have his life suddenly flipped and turned upside down.

He took a moment to sit right there, quite disappointed with himself. He was held suspended in midair by a metal cord around his ankle, his ears hanging losely underneath him. After a period of fierce personal berating he tried to reach the snare that bound him so he could untangle it, but found it quite secure. Realizing there was no way he was going to escape this on his own, he folded his arms over his chest and waited, a very cross look on his face. Fluttershy would be home soon. He hoped.

***

Perfect!

Pinkie Pie smiled a wry grin of satisfaction upon witnessing the bunny hanging helplessly in her snare and slowly lowered her spyglass. They never saw it coming. After all, no one ever suspected that a stick would be the true bait.

Of course, that's why it always worked.

Pinkie sought out a nearby string and gave it a good solid yank. Instantly a second sapling sprang up, sending the cake and cardboard box flying towards the nearby forest. The box shredded itself in midair, descending to the ground like a bushel of brown confetti that would be nearly indecipherable from the surrounding landscape. The cake made it safely past the tree line, forever concealed by the growth of the Everfree Forest.

Just as planned.

She took a moment of silence for the lost piece that would never please a hungry tongue, but she couldn't mourn for long, she was on the clock. With all incriminating evidence destroyed and Angel Bunny secured, Pinkie was now free to proceed with her designs. Fluttershy obviously wasn't home, and she hadn't seen another soul within thirty yards of the cottage, pony or otherwise. Taking care so as not to appear within Angel's line of sight, she moved around to the front door of the hovel and entered. Slowly and methodologically she began searching the cottage interior. It wasn't her usual inclination to be so careful, but she couldn't leave a trace. If Fluttershy had any keepsakes lying around she was going to find them, but she had to be discreet. She couldn't let anyone know… not yet. The first party had to be something special, and entirely unexpected.

She couldn't give Fluttershy the chance to see it coming.

***

"Do you really believe that Rarity is still letting it bother her?" Twilight asked the perplexed pegasus that drifted lightly in the air next to her.

"Well, honestly, no." Rainbow Dash responded. "I mean, not at first, but Fluttershy looked so worried—not to mention the fact that she had to have straight up lied to her sister." The pegasus paused, trying to figure it all out in her own mind. "I just… don't want to take any chances," she finished curtly.

"So where's Fluttershy now?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow shrugged, "Donno. Guess she had some other stuff to do, so I told her I'd look into it." The unicorn stalled mid-step, causing Rainbow Dash to fly several feet ahead before she could match the gesture.

"Wait, Fluttershy ran off? In spite of her worry for Rarity?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"I know, right?" Dash said, "It kinda threw me off too."

A very quizzical expression crossed the purple pony's face. "Huh," she mused, "That seems so… unusual." Her puzzlement vanished with a shrug, "Well, I guess we can ask her about it later. Meanwhile, I suppose there's no harm in checking up on Rarity. You said she wasn't home though, right?"

"Not when we were there," the pegasus confirmed. "Any idea where she might be?"

"Well, if she's not at home, and she's not with Fluttershy, and Sweetie Belle had no idea where she was—" Twilight paused in thought when she caught sight of a familiar figure. A figure who was running at a full gallop towards, alongside, and ultimately right past the two poinies, "…I'd say right there," the unicorn finished, following the interloper's movements.

"R—Rarity!" Rainbow Dash yelled after her, "Wait!"

"I'm sorry girls," Rarity called over her shoulder, not slowing in the slightest, "I've simply no time at the moment!" Twilight and Rainbow Dash could only stare after her.

"What in Equestria is going on?" Twilight asked nopony in particular.

"I donno," Dash said, a determined look crossing over her features, "But I'm gonna find out!"

In a rainbow flash she was gone, darting after the departing Rarity with all haste. She quickly overtook the galloping unicorn and moved ahead several meters before planting her hooves firmly on the ground directly in Rarity's path, forcing the unicorn to stop short or risk crashing unceremoniously into the other pony.

Rarity barely managed to avoid the collision, cutting her momentum just shy of the pegasus. Quickly recovering from the sudden stop she began pawing at the ground impatiently. "Oh what is it, Rainbow Dash?" she demanded, a note of irritation creeping into her voice. "I'm in a hurry!"

Hearing Rarity's tone, Dash felt her temper begin to rise. "What's with me?" she countered, "What's with you‽"

Rarity stopped pawing and fixed her friend with a hard stare. "And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?" the unicorn asked in challenge.

"What do you mean, 'what's that supposed to mean'?" Dash shot back. "You get Fluttershy all worried about you, then go galloping around Ponyville like there's nothing wrong—"

"Fluttershy?" Rarity interrupted, her disposition moving from irritation to attentive at the mention of their mutual friend, "Did you see her? Is she here?"

Rainbow Dash was completely taken aback, quite puzzled at Rarity's sudden change of temperament. "Uhh… yeah…" she stammered, "I mean… she was…"

"Well where is she now?" the unicorn pressed, leaning invasively towards the other pony.

"She… she ran off," Rainbow said, taking a step back and trying to collect herself.

Rarity's face fell at the news. "Oh, drat!" she exclaimed. "Then I did miss her."

"Yeah, you di-" Rainbow Dash gave her head a brief shake, and quickly switched her tone from informative to accusatory, "I mean, yeah you did!" she finished deliberately, her earlier anger beginning to resurface as Rarity's own presence faded. "And now she's in a panic! Where were you anyway?"

"I was over— I was running some errands!" Rarity said defensively. "I… just didn't expect them to take this long."

It was Rainbow Dash's turn to get indignant. "Well they did!" she said, moving in to emphasize her point and causing Rarity to take a step back. "And Fluttershy couldn't find you, so now she's worried sick about you!"

Rarity blinked her eyes in confusion, "Worried about me? Why, whatever for?"

Dash pressed the attack, taking an offensive position. "Because you couldn't deal with the fact that your 'Prince Charming' wasn't so princely, that's why!"

At the mention of the foalish prince that had once been the object of her dreams, Rarity felt her blood begin to boil, "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Rainbow Dash. Blueblood was a coward and a foal, and I have no desire to spend my life with such a character."

"Girls?"

"Oh yeah? Then why did you lie to your sister about what happened that night, huh?" Rainbow Dash continued, far from deterred.

The mention of her younger sibling added fuel the fire of Rarity's temper. "How did you-? Hmph! It doesn't matter! What I share with my sister has nothing to do with you!" she declared to the other pony, pushing back against Rainbow's presence. "I'm not going to ruin a filly's dream of romance just because mine wasn't as picture perfect as I'd imagined it!"

"Girls!"

Rarity's fire, in turn, only served to bolster Rainbow Dash's own. "Well maybe if you didn't have such 'high-and-mighty' expectations you wouldn't have been so affected by the disappointment when it all went south!"

"And mayhap if you weren't so pretentious with the belief that the Wonderbolts should welcome you with open arms, you might actually be a decent pony to be around at times!"

And with that, the argument had become personal. Rainbow Dash inhaled sharply through her nose, her rage easily visible on her face. "And maybe if you weren't such a—!"

"GIRLS!" Twilight shouted, forcing herself between them. She was determined to stop the tirade before it spiraled entirely out of control. "Knock it off, both of you!" The other two ponies turned to regard their friend, having momentarily forgotten about her during their mutual tantrum.

Rainbow Dash, however, wasn't quite finished. "But Twilight, she totally called me a—"

"Dash!" Twilight almost shouted, cutting her off, and giving them both a reprimanding look. "You're both letting your tempers get the better of you, we just wanted to know what's going on, remember? And shouting at each other like this isn't going to get us any answers!"

Rarity and Dash exchanged an angry glare, but remained silent. Twilight on the other hoof, took several deep breaths to calm her nerves before she continued, determined not to be dragged into the whole ordeal.

"Now," she continued once she believed that all tempers involved had subsided some, "What I believe we have here is a failure to communicate, so I'm going to moderate from this point on." She turned to her fellow unicorn first. "Rarity, Rainbow Dash says she ran into Fluttershy trying to find you at the Carousel Boutique, and became upset when you weren't there because you had left her a note saying to come see you."

Rarity nodded, "This is true," she affirmed. "I stopped by to speak with her this morning because I haven't seen her in several days, and I was worried. She wasn't in much of a state to talk, so I left a note telling her to stop by the boutique when she had the time."

"Yeah, well you could have been a little more clear about that." Dash piped in. "She was worried sick about you!"

"Quiet, Dash." Twilight demanded before turning back to Rarity. "Now, Rarity, I'm a little confused—"

"Worried about me?" Rarity interrupted Twilight in favor of hearing more from the pegasus. "You said that earlier, but why on earth was she worried about me?"

Rarity's genuine interest managed to have a calming affect on Rainbow Dash, who was becoming more confused than angry. "Well, your store was closed, and she couldn't find you. She remembered you had mentioned something about that Gala, and there was that note you left..." Dash shrugged. Now that she was looking Rarity in the eye, the whole theory was starting to sound more and more ridiculous. "I guess she jumped to conclusions that you were still worried about what happened that night."

Rarity shook her head wildly, "No, no no no no... That's not it at all. When I saw her this morning she looked absolutely horrid!"

"Horrid?" Twilight asked, having given up on her moderating now that the conversation seemed to be adopting a more civil tone.

"Why, she looked positively ragged dear! It was awful to behold! I asked her about the Gala because I was worried for her!"

Rainbow Dash was now deep in thought. "You know, she did seem a little out of it that night..." a moment of silence followed as she attempted to connect a few more pieces of the grand puzzle before her, "...but she didn't look all that bad when I saw her earlier."

"Well, she might have just gotten cleaned up a bit before going to see Rarity." Twilight offered.

Another thought suddenly occurred to the pegasus, "Or... I might have accidentally given her a snow shower before I saw her..." she said sheepishly.

"A snow shower? In June?"

"It's a long story, Twilight." Dash cut her off, preferring to stick to the topic on hand. "Anyway, I didn't notice anything really out of place about Fluttershy."

Rarity glanced to the side, sorting her own thoughts. "Well, I suppose that should be a good sign, but I would still rather speak to her. Do you happen to know where she is now?"

"No," Twilight said, shaking her head, "Apparently she had some other things to do and ran off."

"Oh confound that pony!" Rarity said, now entirely exasperated, "How she drives me to worry."

"Look," Twilight tried to reassure the other unicorn, "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for all this. We just need to find Fluttershy and figure out what's going on."

"You think she could've gone back home?" Rainbow Dash asked, casting a glance in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage.

"I suppose that's probably the best place to start looking," Twilight agreed. "We might as well check."

"Her cottage?" Rarity said in disbelief, "but I just came from... Oh never mind." Her posture sagged noticeably as she came to an unavoidable conclusion. "I'm obviously not going to be getting anything else done today. I'll come with you."

***

Pinkie Pie swept the room once again, searching desperately for any hint that any one object in the vicinity would hold a higher consideration to the homeowner than the rest. There was nothing to be found. Not a clue, not a hint, not a seam in the wall. She had gone over the entire cottage three times, and had been unable to find any sort of evidence that such a object—let alone a cache—even existed.

What she had found was an abundance of stored animal feeds, some basic woodworking and yard tools, a plethora of sewing materials, outdoor and camping gear, and enough medical supplies to stock the local Ponyville Emergency Ward. Outside of a few photographs and some decorative figurines, there was simply no fuel to power the party that Pinkie had in mind, and it was remarkably discouraging. Either the pegasus had hidden it away too well, or it simply just didn't exist.

"Oh Fluttershy," the earth pony said with a frustrated sigh, "Can you take anything personally?" Two brief images passed through Pinkie's head; one of a gryphon that had visited Ponyville several months back, the other of a pegasus pony dressed in a flowery green dress bursting through a set of double doors in Canterlot.

"…When it's not a bad thing." she added as an amendment of her statement.

Having run into this metaphorical brick wall, Pinkie weighed her options. She could choose another pony, but the idea that she could finally throw a party for Fluttershy specifically had made her so excited that she was loathe to give up the chance. She could go ahead with what she'd found, but even Pinkie would be hard pressed to throw a party based on birdseed, a needle, and a shovel. A sewing party? Perhaps that would work, but given the various talents of her friends, it was likely that only Rarity and Fluttershy would respond favorably to the idea, and Pinkie hated to limit her parties like that.

Several other ideas sprang to mind but were similarly dismissed. There just had to be a way to make this work. Perhaps if she—

"Angel Bunny!"

The horrified shout served its purpose perfectly, and the earth pony was instantly alerted to the fact that the homeowner of the cottage had finally returned. Any second now both her and the trussed up rabbit outside would be charging through the front door, and the earth pony inside would be stuck explaining what, exactly, she had been up to. Pinkie's time had run out.

Chapter 6

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As Fluttershy’s call announced her immediate presence, Pinkie Pie’s eyes began to dart back and forth in near panic. She couldn’t escape, not just yet. She had to wait for the right moment, when the pegasus’ attention was fully focused on the entangled rabbit.

“Ohmygoodness ohmygoodness! What happened?” she heard, listening as her friend’s voice began moving quickly from some point across the front yard to where the rabbit sat not so patiently at the side of the house.

The earth pony quickly made her way to the door, intent on using the opportunity to escape around the other side of the house and back towards Ponyville before Angel could be loosed from the snare. She was just about to slip out when one last desperate thought sprang to mind. If Fluttershy had any precious belongings, she might be the only one to know where they were, and if she became aware that someone had been in her house it was more than likely that she would check such belongings first. This might be the last chance Pinkie had to discover Fluttershy’s treasure.

The earth pony briefly debated whether the risk was worth it. If she failed, she would likely be found out, and everything would be revealed. Success might be even worse, as she would probably instill a sense of paranoia within the meek pegasus that would haunt her until such time as Pinkie could explain what had happened... which she could not do until after the party.

But oh, what a party it could be!

With that last thought, Pinkie knew: The risk was well worth the possible reward.

“A—Angel, hold still please! I can’t—I can’t untangle it if you’re thrashing like that.”

Fluttershy would have the bunny free in moments. Pinkie left the doorway, dashing further inside. With so little time she had to be fast. What was the best way to ensure that Fluttershy would know someone else had been in the house?

“Just hold on Angel… just a little more… There! Wait! Angel, where are you going?”

Time was up, there was only one option left. In a burst of movement, Pinkie went to work.

Five seconds later, the bottom half of the front door was kicked inward to reveal an extremely angry rabbit standing on the porch steps. Angel dashed into the front room, followed closely by his caretaker; a little too closely.

“Angel, slow down, what’s going o—“

Whump!

As Fluttershy had tried to follow the speedy bunny into the home she had failed to react in time when the top half of the door failed to open.

“Owwwwww…” the pegasus moaned, rubbing her head with her forehoof and crawling through the lower opening after the rabbit. “Angel, why are you acting like th—“

Again she was unable to finish her inquiry as she finally caught sight of her living room. Immediately she could tell that something seemed off, but she was unable to determine just exactly what it was. She looked around blankly, not quite making the connection. Angel, for his part, was darting from place to place, as if he was searching for something.

Fluttershy set her saddlebags down and slowly made her way to the loveseat across the room, continuing to look about her home in a daze. Reaching her destination, she flopped down on top of it, only to land heavily upon the hardwood floor with a dull thud.

“Huh?” More surprised than hurt by her unexpected drop, Fluttershy looked again at where her couch sat—or rather, where it was supposed to be sitting. It was another moment before she realized that it had somehow moved itself against another wall. In fact, now that she thought about it, everything seemed to have been moved. Her home had been completely rearranged!

“A-Angel?” she said, her voice wavering as she did so. The combination of so many strange occurrences was wearing away at the pony’s fragile nerves. A deep feeling of dread began to creep into her heart, and her only reaction was to curl into herself with a terrified squeak.

Normally, the temperamental bunny was never one to respond eagerly when called, but there were certain things that he did listen for as far as Fluttershy was concerned, and her tone at this moment caught the rabbit’s attention instantly. He poked his head back into the main room and saw his caretaker lying on the floor, eyes darting everywhere and looking as if she were on the verge of complete panic. He slowly hopped over to her and rested a comforting forepaw on her leg.

The contact seemed to create an escape from her deteriorating state of mind, and she pushed all her focus onto the figure before her, trying her hardest not to let her attention turn to the circumstances surrounding her.

“Angel,” she whispered, and even he had to strain to hear it, “please tell me what’s going on?”

The rabbit looked up at her, a look of uncertainty on his face as he slowly shook his head. He didn’t really know either.

“Wa—was there someone in our home?” she breathed again, trying her hardest not to break down completely.

Angel’s expression became almost apologetic as he nodded in affirmation..

Fluttershy managed to swallow loudly and emit a soft squeak all at the same time. She was truly frightened now. A stranger had invaded her home; it was no longer safe here. Angel knew he had to act quickly before that thought sank in and she broke down completely. If it did, she would never be able to sleep here again.

Elsewhere in the home, another pony was also nearing a panicked state. Pinkie Pie strained against a terrible thing: The simple thought that she was causing undue distress to her friend was wreaking havoc with her inner nature. It was all she could do to prevent herself from flying out of her hideaway and performing a comedy routine that would have every pony within two hundred kilometers laughing their flanks off whether they were able to see it or not!

In a last desperate attempt to achieve her goals she gave a few final instructions to her body before closing her mind completely to any and all external stimulus, allowing only a single word to flash through her head.

PARTY!

Partypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartypartyparty…

Angel’s ear gave an involuntary twitch.

The rabbit, however, was thinking too hard to notice it; his mind working furiously to solve the problem that was growing before him. Striking a possible idea, he leapt atop Fluttershy’s head and began to thump her noggin with his large rabbit foot.

Goal number one was achieved as Fluttershy momentarily forgot her larger problems to address the small one that was more immediate.

“H—Hey! Angel! Wh- what?”

Having gotten her attention more fully, the bunny jumped down and grasped a fore hoof in his paws, tugging at it. She subconsciously took his cue, and climbed back to her hooves; her body obeying his command from muscle memory before her mind could even think about it.

“What is it?”

Without bothering to give a response the rabbit ran into the next room, causing Fluttershy to temporarily forget her own situation and chase after him.

“Angel, wait!”

As they left the room Pinkie’s head poked out from the chimney, her body relaying only enough information to her cognitive sense to let her know that Fluttershy was on the move, and her plan just might be working.

Partypartypartypartypartyparty—Yes!—partypartypartypartypartypartyparty…

Angel, however, could not afford to ‘wait’ as Fluttershy had requested. He had to keep her focused on something else, and if that something else happened to be him, then so be it. Personally, he was well aware that whoever had done this was no real threat, and the combination cake, cardboard box confetti, and rearranging of the furniture gave him a fairly good idea of who, exactly, that pony was, but first things first.

Angel hadn’t given Fluttershy much time to give him a once over after she had freed him. He had rushed into the house immediately, knowing that someone had been there, and though everything was quite out of place, he’d been unable to find anything outright missing. That was just further proof of his suspicions.

Still, as he walked, he was becoming increasingly aware that the snare he had been caught in had not been entirely harmless, and his ankle was starting to cause him a bit of trouble. He growled as much as a bunny could. This was the last thing he needed right now. If Fluttershy caught wind of his wound he’d never be able to—

Wait… That was it!

Fluttershy was distraught. She needed a distraction, something else to focus her attention on, and there was no better way to get Fluttershy’s attention than to be a small critter bearing an injury, but he had to play his cards just right. As the pegasus followed him into the room he rushed to and fro, inspecting every corner of every nook. Fluttershy could only stare at him in confusion before it began to dawn on her that each mad dash was just a tad slower than the previous one. Once he slowed down enough to display a visible limp, she made the connection. The pegasus wasted no time, but intercepted the darting ball of fur, plucking him off the ground with her mouth and carrying him over to a nearby bench, where she gently set him down.

Fluttershy offered no explanation, but tenderly held the bunny still as she inspected his feet, giving a small gasp upon recognizing the mark that had been left by the snare.

“Angel, you’re hurt! Why didn’t you say something sooner?” she chided him.

Angel moved as if he was about to shake it off and jump back to his feet, but a hard look from Fluttershy prevented him from completing the maneuver.

“You stay right there, mister.” the mare commanded. The rabbit willingly obliged. Fluttershy’s bouts of true presence were not something that could be controlled and directed reliably, but after all these years he had learned a thing or two about bringing it out of her. He didn’t like doing it. It seemed so... uncharacteristic for the normally shy, meek pegasus; but in situations such as this it was a means of giving her a sense of confidence that she desperately needed, and when she calmed down again she wouldn’t be quite so frightened as before.

Angel watched as Fluttershy walked away. Once she was no longer visible he began to glance around the room some more. With his attention diverted, he only caught a glimpse, but he nevertheless gave a start when he saw a flash of pink that slipped past the archway in his peripheral vision, and into the room Fluttershy had just entered. It was only visible for an instant, but it was enough.

Fluttershy’s command was all but forgotten as Angel made a break from his bench to the next room, intent on catching the culprit before they could disappear, but as he was about to pass under the connecting doorway he ran straight into a hoof coming the opposite direction. The rabbit bounced off the hoof, coming to rest on his back. Scrambling to his feet he made to continue his search, but was stopped once more as a yellow hoof slammed into the floor right in front of him. Angel slowly looked up to meet the eyes of a now rather upset Fluttershy.

“And what do you think you are doing?” she said, her earlier fear gone and her voice not wavering in the slightest. “You get off that foot right now!”

Angel felt fear of his own, and simply dropped to his seat, unable to move under the penetrating gaze. He usually never let it go this far, but that flash of color he’d seen that resembled his possible suspect had caused him to momentarily forget himself, as well as her orders. Fluttershy’s stare, however, immediately convinced him that he had imagined the whole thing, and it was forgotten. Fluttershy truly could be intimidating when she wanted to be.

“That’s better,” the pegasus said, her stern glare disappearing instantly, to be replaced with an easy smile. She quickly got to work constructing a small bandage for his wounded leg.

It didn’t take long before Angel found himself perched on her back, his leg neatly wrapped in a healing poultice as Fluttershy moved about the house, checking random stores and supply closets to make sure nothing was missing. True to form, she was no longer quite as afraid as she had been, and Angel breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, I don’t see anything missing, and it looks like whoever it was never got past the main room,” she was saying, mostly to herself, “the rest of the house looks fine.” She turned to regard the bunny on her back, “Do you know who did this Angel?”

The bunny pondered his next move. He’d already had a fairly clear idea of the culprit... and knowing the Earth Pony, he was certain she had meant no harm in whatever excuse she had for invading their home. So he debated. Did he tell Fluttershy who he thought it was, thus possibly driving a wedge between them? Or did he feign ignorance, in hopes that this would all be swept under the rug and never mentioned again? It only took a moment to decide. Pinkie Pie usually knew enough not to prank the shy pegasus... so what was she up to now? He tried to reason with himself, but in the end, he knew he could not keep his suspicions from Fluttershy.

Angel pointed over to a nearby shelf, indicating his desire to be carried over to it. Fluttershy did so, and Angel quickly scanned the shelves before grabbing a book and pulling it from its perch. The pegasus only had an instant to catch the cover of Desserts and Delicacies for Everypony and Friends before he flipped the book open, rapidly scanning through the pages. Finding what he was looking for, he showed the book to Fluttershy and indicated a picture.

“Pie? A pie did this?”

Angel nodded vigorously.

“Oh Angel, that’s just silly.”

Angel’s fervent nods slowly lost their enthusiasm as what Fluttershy had just pointed out sank in. Realizing she was misinterpreting him yet again he began to shake his head instead, and started to point out various things on the page that resembled a certain color, particularly in the pastry department.

“Wait… do you want a pie? A strawberry pie? No? A grapefruit pie? Oh! A rhubarb pie? …Raspberry lemonade?”

Angel threw his arms out wide in frustration before smacking a single paw into his large forehead. He then proceeded to slam the book shut, it was time to try something else. Desperate, he grabbed at a tuft of Fluttershy’s mane.

“Hair? A hare did this? Another rabbit?”

Angel shook his head again.

“Not a hare?” Fluttershy concluded, trying to determine another use the bunny could have for her mane. Hair, mane, locks…

“…Pink?”

The rabbit nodded fiercely and threw open the book again, pointing first at her hair, and then at the picture he had shown her earlier.

“Pink. Pie? A pink pie? Pinkie Pie?”

Angel indicated a very enthusiastic affirmative.

***

As Fluttershy’s heart had slowly returned to her, Pinkie found her body was relaying more and more information to its inner self as it kept close tabs on the activities of the home’s primary occupants. Thus far very little had been revealed as to the pegasus’ true valuables and treasures. Fluttershy had first made her way through her medical supplies and attended to her friend. Once that had been taken care of, she checked her stores, tools, and supplies, making sure everything else was in place. Unfortunately it was nothing that Pinkie had not already discovered and her hopes were beginning to wilt, which was likewise having some adverse affects upon her focus.

Party—darnit—party—darnit—party…

With no other course of action open to it, her body decided to sit and listen as Fluttershy began to speak with Angel, and caught the moment the pegasus finally discovered the rabbit’s conclusion.

“Pinkie Pie?”

A warning signal flashed through her consciousness. This was a key phrase, an indication that her cover might possibly be blown. If Fluttershy was calling her... either she needed help, knew she was there... or maybe she just wanted to party! Pinkie had to come back now.

The pink earth pony barely managed to keep from revealing herself entirely as full sensory input was instantly restored. She gave a brief spasm and inhaled sharply, then held her breath, hoping the motion hadn’t been discovered. Fortunately, the building’s other inhabitants were too distracted to notice, and Pinkie quickly readjusted herself to pick up on the conversation that was being carried on across the room.

“Oh Angel, don’t be silly. Pinkie Pie would never do something like this.”

An almost imperceptible scuffling sound followed

“Did you see her?”

There was a long pause, and Pinkie couldn’t quite make out what was going on. She shifted slowly, attempting to get a better vantage so she could actually see something, but wasn’t able to succeed. She looked up at her curls and silently cursed them. Maybe if her hair wasn’t so poofy she’d be able to peek around a corner without being so obvious about it.

“Well if you didn’t actually see her, than I don’t know why you would think it was her,” Fluttershy was saying. Pinkie’s expression became very relieved; she didn’t dare sigh though. Another scuffling sound was heard, this one quite vigorous.

“Now Angel, we have no proof that it was Pinkie Pie. I’m not going to run over to the Sugarcube Corner and start throwing accusations around, just think of what that would do to Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Or Pinkie Pie herself!”

Pinkie felt a twinge of guilt as she listened to Fluttershy defend her against the vengeful bunny, despite the fact that he was quite correct. However, her ears perked a bit as the conversation soon turned in another direction.

“Besides, we don’t have any time for that, remember?” Fluttershy continued. “It’s almost time to leave.”

Leave? Where was she going so late in the day?

“Yes, I know you don’t like it, Angel, but you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I would never force you to—… Yes, of course I appreciate your company… Angel— Angel please slow down. I can’t understand you when you’re upset!”

Pinkie was curious now. What in Equestria were they talking about?

“No, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I have to go… Yes, I spoke to her earlier, they’ll be fine… Tell my friends? Oh I couldn’t do that. They wouldn’t understand, and might even try to stop me. Oh now stop it, Angel, they probably won’t even miss me. Yes, I know you’re worried, but I can’t stay here. Not after what happened. I can’t ignore this, It’s something I have to do.”

“Yes, I am glad you’re coming with me. I’ve always enjoyed your company, Angel, and I appreciate your willingness to help me. Now go and get your things. We have a long night ahead of us, and we need to prepare.”

As Angel scurried off, Pinkie could hear Fluttershy moving about the cottage, gathering up several items and packing them away into the Saddlebags she had left beside the door. Bags that had already been nearly full to the brim when she had entered.

Pinkie puzzled over the one sided conversation she had just witnessed, momentarily ignoring the bustle that had commenced around the home. There were pieces here, and as she worked to put them together they were slowly revealing a picture that settled like a rock within her gut. She didn’t like rocks; they were hard and tasteless, and reminded her too much of her farming days. Yet, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that something was drastically, dreadfully wrong. It didn’t take long for her mind to filter out anything but the worst-case scenarios.

She... she’s leaving! She’s going away! And she’s going to be gone for a long time!! I... I need to stop her! I need help! She can’t leave us! We’re her friends! I need her friends! They need to be here!

As her brain flew through one awful situation after another—throwing reasons and excuses into the brainstorm while slowly settling upon its foregone conclusion— Pinkie slowly began to tremble. He tail twitched, her sides shook, her eyes darted; she became so focused in her thoughts that she didn’t even realize when Fluttershy picked up the saddlebags from beside the door, and stepped outside to leave.

***

“Well, I still thought it was hilarious when you threw that cake in his face! I’ve never seen a stallion recoil like that from a pastry!”

Twilight chuckled as the other two other mares accompanying her recounted the events of that fateful night, grateful that the reminiscing had taken a decidedly different tone than it had initially.

“Yes, well, it was obvious he hadn’t gotten a good taste of it. It was really quite delicious!” Rarity replied to Rainbow Dash with a distinctly ladylike giggle. “Though I must say washing the sugar out of my mane was quite the chore, let me tell you.” Both ponies shared a good chuckle, but Rarity soon sobered up again as they neared their destination. “You know... we look back at this and laugh- and in reality it was all quite humorous to be certain, but... I’ve never been able to get Fluttershy to tell me what really happened that night.

“Huh?” Dash asked her, puzzled at the sudden change of tone, “Whaddya mean?”

Rarity gave a light scoff, “Oh come now, Rainbow Dash, you’ve known her longer than any of us. Sure she can be forceful in extreme situations, but have you ever known her to be in anything but the utmost control?”

The pegasus seemed to be at a momentary loss of words, “Well... no, I guess not. But c’mon... it’s not like we’re by her side all the time. Who knows what happens when she’s taking care of all those animals?”

The lady pursed her lips, “I suppose that’s possible,” she said, drawing out the second word for emphasis, “but I’m still concerned. When we find her—and I do hope we find her this time—I won’t be satisfied until I receive a full explanation of what happened that night, and why.”

“Well, brace yourselves, girls,” Twilight chimed in as they finally approached the cottage on the outskirts of town, “because now’s our chance... I hope.” Twilight’s face fell a little as she looked at the home. Even here, in the early evening, the home looked abandoned. Rarity had been right. There wasn’t a critter around. It was eerie. Still, Twilight was as determined as the rest of them to get to the bottom of this, once and for all. With a breath she approached the lifeless, quiet cottage, and raised her hoof, knocking curtly but forcefully upon the door.

Only to be greeted by more silence.

“Well... drat!” Rarity cursed her luck, “She’s not home after all, and I have simply wasted this day!”

Twilight, however, had moved to press her ear up against the door, “Now hold on girls... I think I can hear something inside.”

Rainbow Dash had flown over to a window. Her muzzle pressed against the glass as she raised a hoof, trying to shield her vision from outside glare. “What does it sound like? I can’t see anything.”

“It’s... it sounds like...” Twilight pulled away from the door in puzzlement, then pressed her ear against it again to listen some more. She did this a few times. “It sounds like something’s... shaking. Or... or vibrating in there. It seems pretty powerful, but I don’t hear any voices.

“Oh dear... do you think she can’t hear us?” Rarity offered in suggestion.

“It’s possible,” Twilight said as she stepped back and shoved at the door, which refused to budge, “but it’s locked. If she’s in there, she doesn’t want anypony else coming in.”

Rainbow Dash had re-joined the other two, and upon Twilight’s declaration, she rolled her eyes. “Pffft!” she scoffed. “Forget that! I didn’t go through all this trouble just so I could be ignored now.” With a flurry of wings, she pulled away from the door a fair distance; enough for her to pick up a decent speed. “Stand back, Twilight!” she called out, “Cause I’m going through that door whether she wants me to or not!”

Twilight and Rarity exchanged an uncertain glance, but knowing that Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to be convinced otherwise both mares beat a hasty retreat from what was soon-to-be ground zero. Waiting just long enough for her friends to get clear, Rainbow Dash sucked in a deep breath of air, and with a moment of hesitation, took off towards the cottage’s main door. Forelegs outstretched before her, squinting her eyes as she approached, wings beating faster helping her pick up speed. Nearing unsafe velocity, she screamed towards the beleaguered doorway. Of course, with her primary goal simply being ‘get through the door’, she wasn’t really thinking about how she was going to stop once she was actually through the door.

In the end, it didn’t matter.

“APPLE-”

Dash was inches from the door when the cry was heard from within. Her eyes went wide in surprise, but there simply wasn’t time to react as the door suddenly sprang open, catching her full in the face and carrying her with it as it slammed into the opposing wall. Luckily, the pain didn’t register... immediately.

From inside the cottage, a pink blur zoomed through the doorway, headed on a direct course towards Sweet Apple Acres at a speed that most ponies wouldn’t think was possible. A loud scream washed over them, heard almost throughout the entire town.

“-JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!”

Chapter 7

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“Do you… think she’ll be okay?”

Twilight leaned over the still form of Rainbow Dash, peering down at her friend in concern. It had taken her a few moments to carefully pry the pegasus’ form from off the wall. The imprint she’d left there was rather impressive in and of itself, but she had more important things to worry about than makeshift modern art.

“I’m… sure she’ll be fine,” Rarity assured the other unicorn. “She has survived worse… I think.” Despite the brave face, she was just as concerned. Rainbow, for her part, had been still and mostly unresponsive since her unfortunate impact with the door, though her limbs and extremities would twitch occasionally. At least she was still breathing.

“You stay here, Rarity, I’ll go get some help. If she wakes up, keep her still and steady until I get back.”

Rarity nodded in acknowledgement, but before Twilight could start moving back towards the town, the prone form of Rainbow Dash suddenly sat bolt upright, surprising Rarity, who gave out a small cry.

“Wha-!? Who!? Where!?” the pegasus’ eyes flew over the scene wildly for a moment, then slowly crossed as she brought a hoof up to press it against her temple firmly. “Ow, my head.”

“Take it easy, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, turning back around to lend the injured pony a hoof. “You took a pretty hard hit. Try not to move around too much.”

Dash was hardly one to listen to instructions. She shook her head, attempting to clear the fog from her mind, then slowly stretched and moved her limbs, bending each joint experimentally to check for injury, “What… happened?” she asked slowly.

Seeing that Dash seemed to be more or less intact and sound, Rarity took a moment to peer into the home, the door of which now lay wide open. “Well, if I were to wager a guess, I’d say it was Pinkie Pie.”

“Pinkie Pie?”

“Well, I can’t be certain. I didn’t get a very good look at her, but I do believe that I recognized her unique method of panic.”

“It was her,” Twilight confirmed, still gazing to the horizon where the pink earth pony had disappeared. “But I think the real question is: What was she doing here? And why is she so hysterical?”

Dash groaned a little as she finally stood up, having found that no part of her body hurt particularly more than any other part. It was more of a general soreness. “She’d better have a good excuse, or I’m gonna give her a reason to be hysterical.”

“You okay?” Twilight asked, helping the other pony up.

“I… I think so.” Dash replied, giving herself a final once over as she stood up, just to be sure. Her head was still ringing. “I’m sore. Everywhere. But I think I’ll be okay.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” the unicorn said with a small sigh before looking past the pegasus towards the cottage into which Rarity had disappeared from view. “Is Fluttershy home, Rarity?” she called out.

“I don’t think so, unless she’s upstairs in her room,” came the answering call, “but I don’t see that pest of a rabbit either.” A very frustrated sigh filtered out of the front doorway, immediately succeeded by a white horned visage, “It’s too quiet. There’s not an animal to be found. Oh this is so frustrating.”

Twilight knew she had to get control of this situation before things spiraled out of hoof again. She didn’t need any more hysterics. “I’m sure everything’s fine. We’re just having a stroke of bad luck, that’s all. First things first, let’s go track down Pinkie Pie and ask her what that was all about. Maybe she knows something the rest of us don’t.”

“Good luck tryin’ ta git it outta her, cause so far she hasn’t made a lick of sense to me.”

All three ponies turned to regard the source of this new voice, which turned out to be Applejack. She, in turn, was closely followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie. Twilight took note however that Pinkie’s current state was anything but happy. In fact, she looked downright panicked! Her mouth was moving so fast she might as well have been buzzing for all they could understand her.

Applejack strode up to the other three, her eyes passing over them momentarily, and doing a double take upon spotting the Rainbow Dash shaped imprint on the side of Fluttershy’s cottage. She chuckled once, but decided not to point it out. The pegasus, however, had already caught the motion, and glanced away, pouting a bit. Applejack turned instead to Twilight and Rarity, gesturing behind her to Pinkie Pie, “All I’ve been able to git outta her is somethin’ ‘bout Fluttershy an’ packing. If you cn’ calm ‘er down, we might be able to git the rest of it.”

Pinkie, for her part, had detached herself from Applejack once she had caught sight of her other friends, and rushed towards them, spending a few seconds buzzing around each one, forelegs flailing wildly and mouth moving so quickly Twilight swore she saw smoke.

The purple unicorn took a deep breath, “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Stand back everypony.” Of course, the way Pinkie was buzzing around them like a mosquito, she realized it was easier said than done. “-If you can.” Twilight concentrated, furrowing her brow as her horn took on the makeshift glow that was her trademark. With a flare of violet light Pinkie disappeared from where she was bouncing off Rainbow Dash’s head and re-appeared floating in front of Twilight.

The motion seemed to surprise her momentarily, as well as all the other present. They were all aware of Twilight’s ability to teleport, but they’d never seen her actively teleport anything besides herself. I didn’t know she could do that! Rainbow Dash mused.

Twilight knew that Pinkie’s surprise wouldn’t last long, though. Her horn flared a second time, a beam lancing out towards the other pony. Pinkie’s limbs snapped into a neutral standing position, and her jaw forced itself closed. With a steady glow of her horn, Twilight set the other pony on the ground gently and stood before her, “Now Pinkie, we need you to calm down,” she explained sternly, “None of us can understand what you’re saying! Slow down and explain what’s going on. If you understand me, twitch your ear.”

Pinkie’s ears began to flap like the wings of a hummingbird, momentarily pulling her into the air before Twilight yanked her back down.

“Calmer!” The unicorn demanded.

The ears stopped, then began to beat with a more controlled rhythm.

Twilight sighed, “That’s a little better. I’m going to let you go now. Try to explain what’s going on in a way that we can understand, ok-”

“TwilightyougottacomequickIwasatFluttershy’shouseandshewasalllikeIgottapackbecauseI’mgonnaleavePonyvilleforeverandIdon’twanthertogobutIdidn’tknowwhattodosoIwenttogetApplejacktohelpandthenwefoundherandthenyougothereandI’mscaredbecauseIdon’tknowifshe’sgoingtocomebackandIdon’tknowwhereshewentandwe’vegotta-”

“PINKIE!”

“FLUTTERSHY’S LEAVING PONYVILLE FOREVER!”

With that last screeching shout the remaining four rocked back onto their heels, staring at their mutual friend in stunned silence. Pinkie seemed to have shocked even herself with the outburst, and went quiet as well, except for the sound of Pinkie’s heavy breathing.

Rarity was the first to eventually recover. “Wh-What!?”

With the silence broken, Pinkie continued. “I was here at Fluttershy’s! And Fluttershy was here at Fluttershy’s! And I heard her talking to her little bunny rabbit, and she was all, ‘We need to leave Angel!’ and he was all-” Pinkie tried to mime Angel’s movements, despite the fact that she hadn’t even seen them. It essentially translated into random, wild flailing of the limbs. “And then she was all, ‘No I can’t tell my friends!’ and then he was all-” More miming. “And then she was all-”

“Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash finally couldn’t stand it anymore. She rushed forward, getting right into the earth pony’s face. “What do you mean she’s leaving? She wouldn’t leave without telling us, you had to have heard wrong!”

“Ah donno girls,” Applejack spoke up, stepping towards the rest, “I ain’t ever seen ‘er quite so riled up like this. And Pinkie Pah wouldn’t lie. It ain’t no prank or joke,” he nodded towards her beleaguered companion earth pony, “at least, she don’t think so.”

“But come on Applejack!” Dash continued. “Fluttershy wouldn’t just leave us like this! She wouldn’t! We’re her best friends!”

“Ah wouldn’t think so either, Sugarcube, but… well,” she nodded towards Rarity, “Y’all came over earlier worryin’ yerself silly over ‘er… you think this might have somethin’ t’ do with it?”

The white unicorn seemed absolutely dumbstruck. “I… I… I don’t know!” she admitted woefully. “She… she seemed out of sorts… but… but abandoning Ponyville out of sorts!? I just… I cannot believe it! I refuse to believe it! But… but what if Pinkie is right!? What if she really is gone!? I was the last to see her! I should have done something more! I should have made her speak to me! Oh dear this… this is just the. Worst. Possible. THING!”

Twilight had been studying Pinkie Pie, who was all but running in place, but she quickly raised her hooves to get everypony’s attention, “Now hold on, everyone! We don’t know the whole story yet. Pinkie,” the unicorn turned towards her friend, “If she left, did you find out where she was going?”

“You mean she’s not here!?”

“What? No, she’s not! We got here and the only person in the house was you!”

“You mean I missed her!? Aaaah!” She began to run around excitedly in small circles, “We’ve gotta go find her! She could be anywhere! What if she disappears forever?”

Rainbow Dash promptly applied hoof to forehead, “You mean you sat here and listened to her and didn’t find out where she was going!?”

“I’m sorry! I panicked! I ran to get Applejack because she was the closest pony I could think of and I’m just no good with these kinds of situations when I get upset!”

Twilight stepped forward again, “Alright. All right! Calm down everypony! We’re going to figure. this. out!” She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, trying to keep herself calm as well. “Rainbow Dash, get up high and do a sweep. See if she’s not in the air nearby, or if you can, try to spot her on the ground. She couldn’t have gone all that far.” As Dash took off Twilight glanced at the others for a moment before turning towards Pinkie once more, who had since ceased running in circles and was now dancing anxiously in place. “Pinkie, you need to tell us everything you know.”

“Yes, please.” Rarity chimed in, stepping forward. Of all the ponies, the fashionista seemed the most upset about the news. She and Fluttershy shared a special bond with one another, and the fact that she was potentially never going to see her again pained the unicorn greatly. She promised! Rarity screamed desperately in her head. She promised there were to be no more secrets between us! How could she?

She wanted to cry. She wanted to wail in sorrow and frustration, but she grit her teeth. Rarity was not going to break down while her friends searched desperately for one of their own. She was going to help however she could! Lifting a hoof, the seamstress prodded at Pinkie Pie, “Did she at least give you a reason as to why she might just up and leave like that? There has to be some sort of clue!”

Twilight nodded, “Yes, that’s a great idea, Rarity! Pinkie, you need to tell us everything that she said that you can remember, okay? Did she actually say she was going to leave Ponyville?”

“I… I think so. But I was just so upset when I realized what was going on and I just started thinking so much and… and…” Pinkie’s ears lowered, the pony’s head coming down a bit, “I can’t remember everything she said. I’m sorry. I should have tried to stop her myself.”

Applejack placed a gentle foreleg over her fellow earth pony’s shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze, “It’s alright Pinkie Pah. Ya went fer help. We all know ya wouldn’t ‘a let her go if ya thought ya could. Don’t you fret none, we’ll find her.”

Pinkie sniffed, still staring at the ground. A tear or two dropped from her eyes to leave damp spots in the dirt. “I… I should have said something. I shouldn’t have left her alone. I was selfish… thinking that I… I could…” Her voice trailed off, and she buried her face in Applejack’s mane, weeping openly. The sight nearly tore Rarity’s own aching heart in two.

Even Twilight was struggling to keep her emotions in check. “Come on girls!” she said forcefully, pushing the pain away with fixed determination. “Now’s not the time for this! The longer we wait, the further she’s going to get! We need to keep our heads and think about places she might be going!” She looked at the others, suddenly realizing something. She had absolutely no idea what those places might be!

The purple unicorn turned to the others, “Uh… and I don’t have a clue. Does she have any family nearby or in other towns? Any connection to another village or city at all?”

Pinkie and Applejack shook their heads. “As far as ah know,” Applejack spoke up, “She’s only lived two places, here in Ponyville, and before that, up in Cloudsdale.”

Rarity shook her head, “No, she wouldn’t return to Cloudsdale. Of that I’m fairly certain. Not without a good reason.”

“But Rarity, it’s the only lead we have!”

The white unicorn was insistent, “And I’m telling you we would be wasting our time searching there. Why, she’d sooner enter the Everfree Forest unaccompanied before going back there.”

“As much as I hate to say it,” All four ponies looked up as Rainbow Dash fell from the sky landing in the midst of them with a dull thud as she spoke, “Rarity’s right. Fluttershy isn’t the biggest fan of Cloudsdale. I can’t see her going there if she wanted to get away from everypony. At any rate, I didn’t see her in the sky, or on the ground. I even did a wide sweep around town, I didn’t see her on any of the roads leading out of the village either.”

Twilight shook her head, “But if she wasn’t in the sky, or on any of the roads, where could she have gone? That would leave somewhere in town, which still gives us time… or…” Her head slowly turned, facing out towards the very infamous forest that shared the border of Ponyville with Fluttershy’s cottage. The other four followed her gaze, until each of them were staring at the darkened woods that had proven to be the fire through which their friendship had initially been forged.

“She wouldn’t.” Twilight tried to convince herself.

“Of course not!”

“That’s a totally silly idea!”

“There’s no way she’d go in there!”

“Ah’d sooner see a rooster tweetin’ like a jaybird.”

There was a moment of silence, a hesitant pause as the ponies shared an apprehensive glance. Then in unison the five friends turned and winced at each other, coming to the same conclusion at almost the exact same time. A testament to the friendship they shared. Twilight groaned audibly, and all five sighed.

“She did.”

“I believe it’s true.”

“Like, she totally did.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…”

“Right as rain, she did. Well, let’s go in an’ git ‘er afore she gets too far.”

Twilight had already stepped forward, inspecting the path between the forest and the house, “Mmm-hmm.” She said with certainty. “There are hoofprints alright. Fresh ones too. C’mon girls! If we hurry, we might still be able to catch her!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second here.” The four grounded ponies looked up towards Rainbow Dash, who had taken wing in the interim and was peering into the forest. “Are we sure she went in there to get away from Ponyville? Maybe she’s just going to pay Zecora a visit?”

Rarity surprised them all by pushing forward, past the others towards the woods, “Well, that sounds like as good a place to start as any. Let’s go. At the very least we might use her help if it turns out she hasn’t seen-“

The unicorn was cut off as a high-pitched and very recognizable scream echoed from within the dense foliage of the forest. Five pairs of ears twitched as five heads turned wide-eyed towards the trees. Immediately following the scream, a tremendous roar filled their ears, sending several roosting birds into the sky in fright. The ponies didn’t notice the birds though. All they had heard was the desperate cry of their friend, followed closely by the fierce roar of a beast of the Everfree Forest. As one they bolted, each crying out the name of their missing companion in perfect unison.

“Fluttershy!”

***

The forest quickly shrouded them in darkness, but they’d expected this. Twilight led the way, her horn glowing fiercely, a determined look on her face as she carved a path of light before them. They galloped forward at full speed, intent on overtaking the source of the cries as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, only silence had followed.

Twilight grunted in apprehension, “She could be anywhere in here!” she cried back at the others. Turning forward, she called out, “Fluttershy! Can you hear me?”

The others joined up the call, and soon their voices filled the forest with cries of her name, hoping for any sort of response. None came, not that they could hear anyway. Twilight was still galloping at full speed through the foliage when something caught her eye, a flash of blue at the outer edge of her magical glow. She screeched to a halt with a shout of surprise, barely giving the others enough time to follow suit as they came up behind her.

“Whoa! Hey! What in tarnati- …oh.” Applejack had brought up the rear, not wanting anything to catch her friends off guard from behind, and thus was the last to see the enormous field of familiar blue flowers that spread out before them. She winced in sudden recollection, “Ooh… good call there, Twi.”

“Indeed,” Rarity affirmed, “I would hate to experience something like that again.”

Twilight crossed her eyes slightly, looking up at her horn as she remembered that rather bizarre incident in their past. “As would I,” she said in agreement. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we’ll need to get across this somehow.”

“Twilight! Twilight! Come here!” Pinkie had separated herself from the others, and was bouncing ecstatically in place. “I found something! Look! Look!”

Twilight and the others picked their way carefully towards the pink pony, peering down at the ground and what she was pointing at.

“It’s a hoofprint!” Applejack said for them all. “She was here! She cain’t be much further. It looks like she went in this direction, followin’ th’ edge ‘a the field!”

Rainbow Dash, who had taken flight and over the patch of poison joke in an effort to reconnoiter a bit, landed besides her friends. “Girls?” she said tentatively, “I had to say this, but… those aren’t the only set of prints in the area, look!” Gesturing towards another portion of ground, all five pony faces fell as they slowly approached a very large, very unsettling print in the soft, wet earth.

“That… is a big footprint,” Applejack again spoke first, vocalizing the thoughts in their heads.

Rarity sat around the print with the others, but something caught the corner of her eye, and she moved to investigate. “That’s not the half of it, girls. Look!” Gesturing towards the others, what she pointed out struck fear into their hearts. Everypony could see the two sets of prints converge together, but only one set—the large set—split off. It went straight through the field of Poison Joke; they could see where the plants had been blatantly trodden down, matted into the earth from the creature’s weight.

“You… don’t suppose she took to the air and fled… do you?” Rarity asked, her voice wavering in uncertainty.

Rainbow Dash snarled, “I’m not going to take that chance. We all know what happens when Fluttershy gets scared! Her wings lock up like a... like a...” She shook her head, unable to find the phrase she was looking for. “Well, anyway, we’ve gotta find this thing, whatever it is, and get her back before it’s too late! C’mon! I’ll fly you each over myself if I have to!”

“Hold on, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight spoke up. “That shouldn’t be necessary. Take me to the other side of the field, following those tracks. I might be able to get us all across without so many trips.”

“Huh? You sure, Twilight?”

Twilight nodded, a small nervous smile on her lips, “I, uh… I’ve kinda been working on something lately. I guess now’s a good a time as any to try it.”

Rainbow Dash wasted no time, but promptly scooped Twilight up into her hooves, zooming the mare across the field until they both disappeared. The three remaining friends stood back-to-back as they waited, keeping a wary eye out for any trouble. Rarity, in particular, tossed her head about, eyes darting towards any wayward sounds she heard, real or imagined. Eventually though, the two returned, the pegasus dropping her unicorn friend into the middle of them all before setting down on the ground herself.

“Alright,” Twilight started, looking around at them all. “Now before I do this, I need to know whether or not you girls trust me.” She gave them each a serious, level gaze, “Do you trust me?”

The four friends looked at each other, their faces a little nervous as a silence settled between them, eventually broken once more by Applejack.

“Twilight, what’s this all about?” she asked, turning towards her unicorn friend.

Twilight took a deep breath. “I’ve been practicing my teleportation, trying to develop it. Expand what I can do with it. You girls saw me teleport Pinkie, right?”

“Yeah… I was wondering about that.” Dash said.

“Well, it’s not the only thing I’ve learned.” Twilight hesitated a bit, digging into the ground with a fore-hoof, “Theoretically, I should be able to get us all to the other side of the field, now that I’ve been there.”

“Theorechimacallit? Ain’t that mean you’re not sure?”

“Oh I’m sure!” the unicorn said hastily, “I’ve run all the numbers and I’m fairly confident that I have the figures right. I know how my magic works. I just… haven’t tested it yet.”

Another pause, another apprehensive glance between the friends, and another silence broken by the stubborn, stalwart farmpony.

“Well shoot, we didn’t come all the way out ‘ere ta let no measly flower stop us. An’ yer magic’s done helped us out more times’n I can count! I’m in.”

Pinkie bounced forward as well, “Ooh! I get to be part of an experiment! Sounds like fun! Are we the control group?”

Rarity was a little more hesitant, but she slowly stepped forward as well. “I put myself in your hooves once, Twilight, and though I abused the gift you gave me, you did your part flawlessly after only having just learned the spell. I would be a hypocrite not to let you at least try.”

Twilight gave them all a grateful smile, “Don’t worry. I would never endanger you on purpose! I wouldn’t even be trying this if I wasn’t absolutely certain.”

Rainbow Dash, however, took wing, floating up over them, “Uh… you four go on ahead, I’ll just fly myself over, thanks.”

Instead of feeling insulted, Twilight nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’s probably for the better. The fewer I have to take with me, the easier it is. Now if I can just… remember the calculations…”

The three ponies stood close to their friend, watching as she mumbled to herself.

“No… no that’s not it… no… ah! Yes! There it is!” Twilight’s horn began to glow vibrantly, and she lifted her head high, only to have the glow suddenly fizz out. “What? No, no no… that’s… oh… letsee… right, let’s just err on the side of caution and increase each pony’s weight to…”

As Twilight rattled off her numbers, Rarity gasped beside her, “What!? I most certainly do not weigh-”

“Quiet, fussbudget.” Applejack admonished her, bopping her lightly on the back of her head. “Let Twilight work, she knows what she’s doin’.”

Twilight lifted her head again with a triumphant cry, “Ah-HA!” With a brilliant flash that illuminated the immediate area around them, the four friends disappeared before Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The pegasus sucked in her breath, but wasted no more time. She took off over the field on her own.

***

When Rainbow Dash landed, she found the others much as she hoped to find them, staring at the large cave that she and Twilight had been led to by the massive footprints. A cave entirely surrounded by the field of Poison Joke.

“Y-You don’t suppose they… perhaps went elsewhere?” Rarity asked hopefully.

“Not likely,” Twilight responded. “The tracks led us straight here. Don’t worry, I’ll provide the light.”

“Yes, but… I’m not terribly fond of caves, or anything underground for that matter… ever since…”

“Oh posh.” Applejack scoffed, “You had everythin’ under control that whole time. We was more scared than yew were. Being in a cave shouldn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Well… this is true.” Rarity admitted sheepishly.

Twilight Sparkle stepped forward once more. “Come on. Fluttershy’s in there! We need to go help her. I’m going in whether you come with me or no-” She cut herself off as she turned away from the others and towards the cave, and leaped back in fright. For there, in the darkness of the cavern’s entrance, two gleaming yellow orbs stared back at her.

“Aah!” Rarity cried. “Wh-What’s that!?”

They all heard a low growl, emanating from deep within the creature’s throat as the soft sound of scuffling could be heard from within. Slowly, the beast stepped into the light of Twilight’s horn, the glow casting eerie shadows across its deep set face. Fangs bared fiercely, it’s teeth gleamed an eerie purple in the velvet light as its gaze settled upon the five intruders. The ponies stepped back as a shaggy mane was revealed, each of them gasping in turn.

They sat there for a few moments, staring at one another: The ponies not wanting to approach, the beast seemingly daring them to. Finally Pinkie’s voice rang out through the forest, a high pitched squeal of fright.

“MANTICORE!”

The signal given, the silence broken, the stalemate ended. Claws bared, the beast lunged.

Treasure Trove

by HeatWave

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7