//------------------------------// // I'm Out // Story: Where the Clouds Move By Their Own Accord // by Church //------------------------------// Tick... tick... tick... Boom. And my world exploded, engulfing me in a sea of vicious red flames. My mind was incinerated, just a ball of fire that burned with remorse, and eventually burned down to a pile of smoldering ash. The world was flipped on its axis. A cup of tea to drink went down like molten lava. There was absolutely nowhere to go now. Forgive me, perhaps I should start from the beginning. I was learning at a startling rate. I picked up on my reading skills and basic lettering in a matter of weeks, and for the first time in my life, I couldn’t be more proud of myself. I was able to keep up with my family’s youngest, and the ability of their second wasn’t too far away. All was well in the household. The same could be said for the community. The other lower class citizens banded together in order to support each and every one of us. We were essentially a fully functioning machine of ponies. And they said communism was bad... The family was coming along nicely. Slysweep, the head of the family, would bring home some eats and something to do every night, keeping myself and the rest entertained. Slysweep’s spouse, Joy, would stay home and teach the kids (plus me). Every day, we would learn, be read to, read to her; it appeared to be smooth sailing, as far as living in Canterlot went. We may as well have been the upper class compared to the other villages scattered around Equestria. But were we high and mighty? No. Of course, as with every damn story I’ve ever read, there are always dark clouds on the horizon and a colossal tidal wave ready to swallow you whole. I can only describe it as the Canterlot purge. Mainly because it has no name, no one felt it necessary to record the event in the history books. Essentially, the task was to weed out undesirables, unemploy ponies at various positions that were deemed harmful in the pursuit of a perfectly regal Canterlot. The plan was simple: the ponies that the Royals wanted gone were given slips of paper in the mail, entailing that said pony pack up their things and leave the city, no relocation given. So, one day, at random, hundreds of families, lovers, and workers were given small slips of paper in the mail that essentially read “Just Leave”. The cruel thing was, most of the mailponies that served them in turn handed themselves their own demise. The plan was simple, and it was effective. A rebellion would be quelled immediately. A plea for mercy would go unnoticed. A full on uprising and many innocent lives would be lost. We all knew this. We knew what we had in store for us. We knew that we had lost. In all, only five hundred of the lower class were kept to do the things that the royals would not lay their pampered hooves on. The rest were given ninety days to leave. Those positions expelled included craftsponies, quilt makers, foalsitters, royal helpers, hoofshiners, artists... and writers. When Slysweep held the slip of paper in his hooves the evening of, the look in his eyes was unforgettable. It was easy to see that he was completely broken, utterly and absolutely incapacitated by the news. He didn’t move from the chair he sat down in for days. He didn’t speak or eat or drink, only stared. I didn’t know how hard the news would hit the family. I figured that it would only halt our learning process, and that we would flee Canterlot as a family and find shelter elsewhere. I was wrong. Slysweep got up one day, much to the shock of everyone else, and proceeded to screech at the top of his lungs. Everypony in the house covered their ears at the deafening noise, I could see the fear in the foal’s faces. He proceeded to bash his hooves into the floorboards, striking them so hard he made holes in the wood. Joy raced over to calm him. He would have none of it. This was the beginning of the end for those two, and I never thought I’d see the day. They were inseparable. They were a perfect pair. They were made for each other... much like the one I had lost long ago. I wanted them to be happy... but what would happen next would lead down a long road to disaster. Slysweep hit Joy, smacked her across the face with an aggressive amount of force. Joy collapsed on the ground, immediately bawling, the foals empathizing with their mother. I was in awe. I should have stepped in to stop it... but I didn’t. I watched, completely expressionless, and utterly devoid of feeling. I felt like a ghost in the room at that point, like an onlooker that could do nothing to help. Ghosts and ghouls don’t exist. I was merely a weakling that was too afraid to speak up. The next eighty-six days proved to be a heart-wrenching race to the point of no return. Joy and Slysweep grew to hate each other. They were at each others throats for seemingly no reason at all ninety percent of the time. Fights would break out in the household with any sort of sudden motion or subtle cough. All the foals could do was look on as their mother and father played a rowdy game of tug-of-war, one which nopony ever won. They looked to me, the foals. They looked to me to end the trivial quarrel, and to reunite the family by peaceful means. Their eyes were pleading and pink and weary. They were grief-stricken. I needed to do something for those eyes. I did nothing. The family was going to part ways, and I was about to be a passerby on the outside looking in. o----o “Somepony! Anypony! Please! Help us!” Twilight Sparkle shouted, darting in through the Appleoosa hospital double doors. Everypony in the hospital emergency room glanced up to find a distraught purple unicorn, tears streaming down her cheeks, rush in and drop to her knees in the middle of the hospital floor. The nurses on duty leaped from their posts in order to assist the fallen unicorn. Radios crackled from their hips, every one of them sending a page that ordered help to the emergency room. “Where ya hurt, dear? Please, calm down so we kin help ya,” one of the nurses said, attempting to console Twilight by running a hoof through her mane. Twilight was sucking in deep breaths of anguish, “N-not-n-not me! It’s-” Suddenly, Rainbow Dash burst in through the double doors. The doors smacked the wall with a clack as all attention was then focused to her. There were gasps of shock and horror as they saw the mess of a package that Dash carried in her grasp. Rainbow Dash cradled Braeburn in her forelegs, his blood caked on her coat. There was so much of it, it was hard to believe that some of it was not her own. The pony she gingerly carried through was broken so badly that it was hard to discern whether or not it was actually a pony. The nurses even grimaced as he came through the door. Dash fluttered in in slow-motion. Everything was surreal. The emergency room habitant’s eyes glared at her. The radios of the nurses cackled and blared to life, but she could hear none of it. The four nurses that were hovered around Twilight left her instantly, maneuvering their way around her to fetch the dying pony in Dashie’s legs. Twilight could be seen sobbing on the ground. Dash could almost taste her bittersweet tears, and it made her want to throw up. “We need a stretcher n’ the ‘mergency room stat. We gotta colt, major blood loss, beaten ta a pulp by the looksa it. Faint heart beat. Get the prep team ready,” one of the nurses called into her radio as the others relieved Dash of the weight she carried in her legs. They only relieved her of the physical weight. Dash watched as two colts hurled themselves into the room, pushing a stretcher along. They pulled it up next to Braeburn’s bleeding body, readying themselves to pluck him from the floor and rush him to surgery. In no time at all, Braeburn was taken from the room to who knows where in the hospital. It was a blur. It was so fast that Rainbow didn’t believe that it even happened in the first place. But Twilight’s cries placed those doubts in a world that was all too real. “We need to go with him! I can help! I can help!” Twilight whelped, trying to barge through a wall of nurses holding her back. “Sh, sh, sh, no, no. We’re gonna handle it. He’s n’ good care, trust us. Thar’s nothin’ ya kin do, sweetie,” one of the mares said. Her soothing voice only felt like nails biting into Twilight’s back. “Juss settle down. Y’all gonna need somewher ta stay fer the night, it’s gonna take awhile. Ya kin visit ‘im soon, ya understand?” Twilight didn’t understand. Nopony understood. The entire infirmary was filled with ponies gawking with their mouths half open. How could anypony understand? Rainbow Dash backed herself into a corner. The situation still made little sense to her, and she continued to be completely lost in the events unfolding before her. The only thing that floated through Rainbow’s head was Braeburn’s name, and she wasn’t even entirely sure that she recognized it. “You! You! Hey, rainbow one?” One of the nurses was pointing at Rainbow Dash. Dash stared back awkwardly, “What happened ‘ere? How’d this happen?” Dash trembled in her horseshoes, “I... I... uh...” She trailed off. A single tear formed in her eye as she began to fully grasp hold of the situation. “Rattlers!” Twilight proclaimed from the floor. She instantly went back to sobbing. “They, they... ooooh!” Suddenly the hospital room was eerily quiet. There were murmurs and whispers that tried to drift out into the room, but died as they hit the air. The nurses only looked at each other. One of them rushed off behind the desk in the room and picked up a phone. The others sat with Twilight Sparkle and kept her company. It was the loneliest company Twilight had ever felt in her life. Smarty Pants would have far exceeded this. Twilight sat on the floor and sobbed some more. Dash stared in disbelief. Hours passed. They heard no word on Braeburn’s status. On top of that, the sheriff was called in, along with several of his partners. They had walked through those double doors, and immediately trained their eyes on an emotionally compromised Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. Dash knew that that was trouble straightaway. Certainly the sheriff wasn’t just going to let them slide away without questions, and what made it worse was that Twilight was in no condition to handle the circumstances. Dash would have to answer, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle it either. After talking to the hospital staff for some time, the sheriff walked over to Twilight and Rainbow, who had reluctantly settled in a waiting room chair. “Ladies, how ‘er we doin’ tonight?” the sheriff asked. He got two blank stares back. Stupid question. “Right, uh, lissen. I know this may be a hard time fer y’all, but we need ta ask a few queshtons ‘bout how this ‘ere happened. Kin ya do that fer us?” Twilight turned away and sniffed. Rainbow Dash nodded her head slowly. “Mmk. So, tell me what happened.” Dash turned to Twilight, who would not return her gaze. Dash sighed. She toughened herself up a bit, and faced the sheriff head on. “We, uh, found him like that sheriff... in his house,” Dash explained. The sheriff’s stare felt insincere and provoking. Dash averted her eyes. “And?” The sheriff bent down and got uncomfortably close to Dash. Dash backed away, trying to make it appear natural, “Um... we had a run-in with a group of... uh... other ponies.” “Rattlers,” the sheriff stated. Dash lowered her head. Twilight still focused her eyes on the doors to the hallway. “Yeah. Those guys.” “Hm. I see. Gotta better excuse than that?” the sheriff asked coolly. He scribbled something down in his notebook that he was carrying. “What?” Dash inquired, puzzled. “I said, gotta better excuse?” the sheriff said. He looked up from his notebook, “Rattlers is so old. Been hearin’ it all the time now. Rattlers did this, Rattlers did that. Sick of it. Not sure if they even exist ta tell ya the truth. Cud be one big ‘ol lie.” Dash was dumbstruck, “You’re kidding right?” This was even catching Twilight’s attention now. The sheriff stuck a hoof up in the air, “Now, I ain’t sayin’ anypony did it. Nothin’ like that. Alls I’m sayin’ is, we don’t know who did, and we need ta ask queshtons. Rattlers not workin’ fer me.” Dash saw through that lie instantly, “That’s totally what you think! You think that we did it? Are you insane!? Braeburn is like family to us! He IS family to one of us!” Dash almost rose right out of her chair. She would not hesitate to go berserk, especially if somepony insinuated her of doing something as horrendous as this. “Now now, settle. We don’t know who did it.” Note: regarding who did it- They most definitely knew who did it. They were getting paid to “not know”. “No! I won’t settle!” Dash hollered, “We have a friend in there, and you think that we almost killed him, then brought him to a hospital?” Dash paused and tried to force the sheriff back a bit, “Listen here, bub! We have a friend back in Ponyville, and-” Dash stopped herself as her mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of a pony back home. AJ. Applejack, Applejack, Applejack. This was going to be not only a big blow to her, but to the entire Apple family. The situation worsened. Twilight seemed to catch on, and she stifled a few more tears. “Y’all from Ponyville?” the sheriff asked. Dash nodded. “Hm. Well, I’m gonna hafta ask ya ta stay fer a few nights, if that’s all right with you ladies.” the sheriff said. The question was not optional, they were being detained. Dashie’s face grew beet red with anger, “No! That’s not ‘all right’! We have to get back to Ponyville! We could be getting chased!” Dashie was about to lose control of herself, “Why don’t you believe us!? Do you want us to end up like him!?” she screamed. She pointed off down the hall. Everypony in the room was now intently focused in on the situation. “I’m not sayin’ that. We need ya here fer further investigashun,” the sheriff said. He was lying through his teeth. Dash noticed there was a twinkle in his eye whenever he did. She decided to see what was really going on. “You know what? Fine. We’ll stay. Just long enough to prove we didn’t do it, got it?” Dash crossed her hooves over her chest. Twilight stared at Dash as if she must have lost her mind. Perhaps she had. “Rainbow, are you crazy?” Twilight said, breaking her silence. Dash only put a hoof to her face. “I’m sorry, this pack is killing me, I need to take it off.” Dash shuffled around in her chair, reaching around behind her to take off the blood soaked pack that she still carried. Dash lifted the pack and brought it around her body, settling it down in the chair next to her. The sheriff eyed the pack with interest, “Whoa nelly! That’s a mighty bulky pack yer carryin’ thar ma’am. Whatcha carryin’?” Dash stared the sheriff down, “Whatsit to you?” The sheriff smiled and glanced down to the pack. He shrugged his shoulders, “Nothin’ much missy. None a my business. Why? Ya hidin’ somethin’?” There was the twinkle in his eye. Everything slowed down for Dash again. The look in Twilight Sparkle’s grieving eyes. The bright lights gleaming and bouncing off the white walls. Dash looked to one of the officers talking to the nurses, and she thought that she recognized him. That was more than enough for her. In one deft motion, Dash grabbed both Twilight and her pack and shot straight up into the air. The sheriff grabbed for her, but he missed, and Dash darted straight for the double doors. “STOP THEM! STOP THEM NOW!” the sheriff screamed, gesturing to a couple of bystanders that watched as Dash bulleted away with Twilight in tow. The two "officers” that came with the sheriff immediately took action, barreling off through the double doors that the runaways had just exited through. They got out into the chilled night air, but Dash and Twilight were nowhere to be seen, plus the officers didn’t have the wings to give chase. They had lost them. Back inside, the sheriff had raced across the counter to reach a phone. he picked it up angrily and punched in a few numbers, uncaring of whether or not he had to shove the nurses out of the way to get there. The line rang a couple of times, before the party on the other side eagerly picked up and gave their greetings. The sheriff looked crazed and frenzied, and his voice was raspy, “Am I reachin’ the master? Lissen, juss lost the two mares, they up n’ left the-” Suddenly, the line went dead. “Rainbow! Put me down! We can’t just leave Braeburn in there!” Twilight exclaimed, fighting in Dash’s legs. They were flying very high in the air, high enough to travel undetected. Dash grimaced, “Twilight, we aren’t going to live to see Braeburn again if we don’t get out of Appleoosa now.” Twilight sucked in a deep breath and tried to erase the dried tear-stains on her cheek by rubbing her head against her foreleg, “What are you talking about? What were the Rattlers going to do in a public hospital?” Dash sighed, “Well I don’t know. You could have asked them, they were right there.” Dash was growing complicated. Twilight was growing tired, “What are you talking about? You think that the police are Rattlers too? Rainbow, your imagination is starting to get the best of you, and I’m very concerned for you.” Dash rolled her eyes to the heavens, “Twilight, I know that I haven’t been making the best of decisions, but you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.” Twilight looked down. Normally, she would be frightened to be carried so high through the air like this. She didn’t have the tightest of holds on Dashie’s forelegs. She was so wrecked and cold that it didn’t really matter. “Fine,” Twilight sniffed, “take me home then. I’m going to tell the others what’s going on, and then we’re coming right back.” “Twilight, those guys aren’t just gonna let us walk back into Appleoosa. We can’t just-” “I don’t care!” Twi cut in, “We did this! I can’t believe that I thought that this ridiculous trek would end up anywhere to our benefit! We almost k-killed Braeburn!” Twilight shivered, Dash could feel Twi’s tremors clambering up her own forelegs. Twilight could feel the tears welling in her eyes again. She felt entirely guilty for all that had occurred. “I’m sorry, Rainbow... I’m out,” Twi said through sobs. And that was it. It was over. Twilight was out. Dash didn’t say anything back. She let her brain curl itself into a ball and tuck itself into the corner of her head. The box that contained the scrolls and the fire ruby jostled around inside her pack, seemingly displeased with the news. They were never going to find out who this pony was, and they were never going to be able to tell her story. Dash was heartbroken to watch the dream wilt away before her eyes, but again... Who else could they end up hurting along the way? “I’m really sorry...” Dash said, her forelegs beginning to feel heavy. She couldn’t find the nerve to say anything else. There really wasn’t anything else to say, no matter how hollow the apology was. Twilight said nothing. Everything that had occurred was, yes, inadvertent. But she and Dash still had to be held accountable in some sense. Braeburn wouldn’t be dying in a hospital without their help. Not only that. Braeburn wouldn’t be dying in a hospital and then abandoned by the mares who assisted him in getting there. It was an endless spiral of despair. After a long silence, Dash decided to change their mindset. “Twilight... how are we going to get home?” There was a complicated question. Obviously there was some truth to Dashie’s Rattler theory. Twilight didn’t know whether or not the town police had been corrupted, but that didn’t matter. The real Rattlers were not going to let she and Dash skip out of Appleoosa. A train ride was out of the question. Walking back would take days- oh-oh. This was Rarity exacting her revenge on Dashie, and she hadn’t even intended it. Dash sighed, “You, uh... know those cars that you have to kinda push along down the railroad tracks...” “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Twilight interjected. Dash stuttered, “I, uh... that’s really... hm.” What she was trying to say was, it was the only way to get out of Appleoosa. “Yes, yes, get on with it. We need to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible. There’s no more hiding, the others have to know now,” Twi said. She paused, seemingly deep in thought. How would the others take the news that they were about to give? Twilight closed her eyes, “And I need to write a letter to the princess... if it even goes through.” Twilight and Dashie found a hoofcar not a mile away from Appleoosa’s main railroad station. It was off of the main tracks, but it still led into Ponyville as an extra track. Dashie set Twilight down on it, her forelegs burning from carrying her for so long. Dash collapsed next to the purple unicorn, catching her breath. “Okay! Wheew! Can we rest just a bit? I’m pooped,” Dash stammered. Her tongue rolled out of her mouth and hung itself over the corner of her lips. “That’s fine. You’re going to need all of your strength to pull the thing anyway,” Twilight said. Dash chuckled, and not because she found something funny, “Heh, you’re not gonna push the thing... are you?” Dash watched as Twilight curled up on the creaky wooden boards and closed her eyes. She saw one tear glisten in the moonlight on her cheek, and it seemed to freeze in the chilled night air. She appeared calm, but Dash knew that that was far from the truth. “Nope,” Twilight said irrefutably. Dash could see her trembling in the icy night air. Excellent. Dashie was a lone gun. Somehow, somewhere inside... she thought she deserved it. “Right. I’m on it.” Dash got up and slouched over the bar on the cart. She wished that she had something to cover Twilight with, as she was visibly freezing over. As if any positive gesture would resurrect the camaraderie between them at this point. Dash pushed down on the car. “Oof.” She pulled it back up. “Hnnng.” This was going to be a very long night. Twilight woke up the following morning from a startling dream. She had been in a forest full of vicious wolves, and they had circled her, not unlike the Rattlers. Only difference was, these creatures were natural killers, and they weren’t looking for rubies, they were looking for a meal. Twilight was backed up against a tree. All hope was lost. She lost herself in the menacing red eyes of the wolves as they lunged for her, and then- “Wah!” Twilight woke up, drenched in sweat. She felt filthy. The sun’s rays bled through an unusual overcast sky, spotlighting their car slowly drifting through the landscape. A constant squeaking sound could be heard emanating from the center of the cart. It never seemed to falter in its simple rhythmic pattern. squeak... squeak... squeak... Twilight wiped away the sleep in her eyes, and she wished that she hadn’t. Her eyes focused in on a pegasus with a rainbow colored mane. The sight was atrocious. Rainbow Dash looked awful. Dashie’s eyes were glazed over, completely bloodshot, and thoroughly unnerving. Her mane was tangled, frayed, and frizzed out. She was mindless. The stare in her eyes shot out straight ahead, circled the world once, then buried itself in the back of her brain upon returning. She was huffing and heaving as she single-hoofedly pulled the car down the tracks. Had she been doing this all night? “Uh... Rainbow? Are you okay?” Twilight asked half-heartedly. She winced at the sight of Rainbow Dash. Dash didn’t respond. She let out a low growling noise, one that reminded Twilight of the wolves from her dream. Dashie’s eyes were almost just as red, so that was sort of an easy connection to make. She continued to pull the car along the tracks. Twilight noticed that they had certainly made headway. The scenery was beginning to sprout plant-life in random spots in the dirt. Celestia’s sun was trying to poke its way through the clouds to highlight their faces, and they in turn reached out to gather in the rays. How’d they get here? Twilight was shocked at Dash’s persistence and focus (or trance) she had to make it home. “Dash, I think that you need a break,” Twilight said, sitting upright and facing the zombie that was Rainbow Dash. Dash only kept going. “Riiiigghht...” Twilight paused and watched Rainbow overwork herself. She eyed the bar going up and down, “I suppose that I can help you at least.” Twilight got up and steadied herself over the moving bar. She timed it correctly, and she began to push down on it while Rainbow brought it back up from the other side. Rainbow kept up her normal motion and still pulled the thing as if she were the only one running it. “How the hoof have you been doing this all night?” Twilight said to herself as she struggled with the bar. She groaned at the physical effort exerted for the early morning hours. Life wasn’t fair anymore. Life wasn’t as simple as books and pastel colored ponies. “Braeburn...” Dash whispered out from under her breath. Twilight only barely heard it, and suddenly emotions flooded back to her. “Yeah... that.” Twilight muttered. They carried on through the landscape. Ponyville looked as if it had a dark cloud hanging over it from a distance. That was only fitting, the news they were about to give it almost made it seem necessary. It was like they had already prepared themselves for something terrible to happen. It might have been terrible-proof, strange things happened all the time in that town. Dash and Twilight rambled into Ponyville Station. The station manager gave them a very strange look as Twilight hopped off the cart, telekinetically lifting Rainbow Dash, who was still going through the motions of the past thirteen hours. She gave the manager a similar look as she passed through the doors. “Nice to see you too,” Twilight said with no emotion whatsoever. Dash followed that up with a groan. They stumbled into Ponyville, weary, tired, and their senses strung out. They walked through the streets like two battle-worn renegades who had encountered one doozy of a monster. All eyes turned to two of the six element bearers as they limped up the street, Twilight now supporting Rainbow with a hoof over her shoulder. Onlookers scrunched up their noses curiously as they wondered where those two must have been. Nopony impeded their path to ask. Nopony stopped them to offer a helping hoof. Twilight stumbled up to her front door, noticing that she once again had one. Spike must have hired someone to fix it. She fumbled around with the doorknob before finally opening the door and sealing themselves inside. They both immediately slumped to the floor upon closing the door behind them. The two bodies smacked against each other as they fell. “Rainbow... they could find us here,” Twilight said through exasperated breaths. “They could find us-” “Darn right they could,” said a voice from above them. It was Applejack. (Did I have you going? Did I? No? Screw you.) Twilight was the only one who looked up. Dash had passed out on the floor. Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy had gathered in Twilight’s home, evidently awaiting their return. Applejack looked to be the only stern one there. The others just eyed Twilight and Dashie inquisitively. “Where the hoof have you two been?” AJ asked, seemingly towering over both of the exhausted ponies lying on the floor. The rest appeared to be frightened of Applejack for some reason, they backed away and let her talk. Twilight’s emotions flooded back to her. She felt the waterworks start in her eyes upon the sight of Applejack. How do you put this gently? How do you break such awful news to one of your closest friends? There was no simple solution. “Ap-Applejack, B-Braeburn’s in the hospital,” Twilight whimpered. Well, I suppose that’s one way to go about it. “What?” Applejack replied. She wasn’t really one for jokes. Not cruel ones, at least. “We were in Appleoosa, and, and... and Rattlers...” Twilight buried her head in her hooves. Applejack wouldn’t hurt her, would she? No, AJ didn’t have that kind of temperament. Still, it might have been more reassuring if Twilight had been speaking to the element of kindness. “Ya were n’ Appleoosa? What n’ tarnation were y’all doin’ out there?” AJ asked. When the two had come through the door, AJ looked pissed. Now she looked confused, “N’ what do ya mean Braeburn’s in the hospital?” Twilight glanced over at Rainbow Dash, “Fluttershy, could you help Rainbow? I... I need to tell you guys something.” Fluttershy looked shocked, “Ohmigosh! Is she hurt? Oh, I thought she was just tired.” Fluttershy trotted over and tended to Rainbow Dash, picking her up and carrying her upstairs for the time being. Twilight still lay sprawled out on the floor, and she turned to look back at her friends. “Here goes,” Twilight said, a tear spilling from her eye. Twilight told her friends everything. From the first letter to the next. From Rarity’s strange find to the discovery that the letters were not from the Princess. The fact that, they had only kept it from their friends because they thought that the letter was meant only for them. Then their continuation with the random journey. The Appleoosa stay, the Rattlers, the next box. She told them about Braeburn. She told him that he was still in the hospital, and they had no idea how he was doing. Twilight was in a fit of sobs and whimpers by the end of it. All of them stared at Twilight. Even Applejack, who had just received word that her cousin was in the hospital. “So, wait...” Pinkie Pie muttered, “We aren’t throwing a surprise party?” Rarity nudged Pinkie in the side. Pinkie Pie only looked puzzled. “I’m so sorry, you guys... I’m so sorry,” Twilight sobbed. Like Dashie’s, the apology seemed hollow, but there just wasn’t anything else to say. Suddenly, Applejack darted out the front door. She leaped over Twilight and just ran. She ran and ran and ran. She wanted to be furious with the two for keeping them out of the loop like that, but she couldn’t find the nerve to stay. Her cousin was in the hospital, and it was due in part to her two best friends. “I hope that you realize... I think... I...” Rarity’s words got choked up in her throat. She had been backstabbed somehow, yet she couldn’t force herself to be angry. “Girls... I think that we should go find Applejack.” Rarity walked around Twilight first, heading out the door. Pinkie followed, still unsure of what had just taken place. Fluttershy was the last to head out. She walked over to Twilight and leaned her head in close to Twi’s ear. “Twilight, listen,” Fluttershy cooed, “we are still your very best friends, um... I think. I mean, yes! Yes, we are!” Fluttershy thought that she was losing Twilight. “Look. You just made a bad mistake is all. Everypony makes those. We still love you.” Twilight looked up and gazed into Fluttershy’s forgiving blue eyes. They were the eyes of a guardian angel. “F-Fluttershy? I know this is a bad time to ask for a favor.” Twilight paused and sniffled, “But could you take Rainbow Dash? I’m afraid I might end up killing her too if she stays here.” “Anything for a friend,” Fluttershy responded, smiling. She began to trot back up the steps to fetch the sleeping pegasus. “Oh, and Fluttershy?” Twilight added. “Yes?” “Take the box out of Dash’s saddlebag.” It grew to be late into the evening. Twilight had heard from Spike that Applejack and the rest of the Apple family had boarded a train for Appleoosa upon hearing the news on Braeburn. Twilight prayed they didn’t have a run-in with any marauders or crooks. The house seemed empty, though Spike had been there for the majority of the time, unwilling to leave Twilight’s side. Rainbow Dash was gone. The rest of her friends were gone. The night was cold inside of Twilight Sparkle’s treehouse. Twilight had been trying to write a letter to the Princess for the entire day. This time, the problem wasn’t that they were mysteriously vanishing somewhere between here and Canterlot, it was that Twilight had nothing to write. Spike had watched Twilight sit in front of her desk the entire day, staring at a blank sheet of paper with a tear in her eye. Twilight was in no mood to write or do anything. Her bed began to sound like a safe haven. She needed a long rest... a very, very long rest. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Who could that be at this hour? Twilight only had one guess. “I’ll get it!” Spike said, hopping off of his post and proceeding down the hall to the front door. Twilight heard Spike open the door downstairs, and she heard the faintest of voices coming up from down the hall. “Oh, gosh, is this a bad time? I’m really sorry, it’s an emergency,” came the muffled voice from down the hall. It wasn’t the voice Twilight was expecting to hear. Fluttershy came trotting up the hall, Spike tailing her. She gracefully waltzed into the room where Twilight was writing, or really lacking to write, a letter. “Oh, Twilight! Is this a bad time? It’s an emergency...” Fluttershy repeated. She stopped in front of Twilight’s hooves. “No, no.” Twilight wiped away a tear, “What’s going on? Any word on Braeburn?” “Oh, no... I don’t know. Um, maybe I shouldn’t tell...” “Fluttershy, what’s going on?” Twilight asked again. Fluttershy looked to the floorboards. She saw Twilight’s purple hooves standing there before her. “I uh, I saw Rainbow Dash...” “Yes, and?” “Well, um, I...” “Fluttershy, what’s wrong!?” Fluttershy backed away, “I w-woke up and I saw Rainbow Dash go into the Everfree forest again. I keep telling her not to, but she never listens.” Twilight blinked a couple of times. She looked at Fluttershy, then Spike, then Fluttershy again. Then she looked at the box that Fluttershy had sat on her table. Twilight trotted over to the box. She had a sinking feeling in her gut. The tantalizing hunk of intricately carved wood called her name, mocking her. Twilight flipped the lid up. She studied the contents inside. “By Celestia, how did she even...”