//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 - accidents will happen 
// Story: rebuilding a crusade 
// by LavendarRegards 
//------------------------------//

Rarity took a moment out of her busy day to walk the crusaders over to Twilight's castle, although it was more a matter of curiosity than necessity. Rarity couldn’t help but wonder what the big project Sweetie Belle and her friends had been working on so intently. It had been, surprisingly, a pleasant and uneventful day, one where she hadn’t had all that many interruptions by the crusaders at all. It was a relief that the only interruptions they had dropped on her were requests for art supplies, and food. She had fully expected to be bothered by them breaking something, or that they’d decided to play indoor ice hockey, or some such thing.
Rarity had to laugh to herself. It seemed the crusaders were actually wrapped up in their homework, or whatever that large and unimpressive book was that they were carrying. Rarity had to admit she was a bit skeptical at first, but after she had found herself checking on them a couple of times, for fear they were lulling her into a false sense of security, she now knew that something miraculous had happened -- something she wished she could bottle and sell.
She gave a delicate and ladylike knock on the door, while she waited for Twilight Sparkle to answer. When Twilight finally answered the door, she gave Rarity a large smile. “Good afternoon Rarity,” she said, greeting her friend, warmly. “It's good to see you, and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo!” she said, turning her head to the fillies. “Are you three ready for Twilight Time?” She asked, stooping her head down to their level.
Rarity smiled back, a graceful smile for a close friend. “Why yes, do you mind if I sit in on Twilight Time today? I have to admit I'm curious about what you have been teaching them. And I thought maybe I might learn something as well. After all, I’ll admit that I really wanted to know what they’ve been learning from that book you gave them!” she said with a friendly chuckle.  And I need to see how Sweetie Belle is advancing... she added, silently.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, but it didn’t stay rissen long. “I can’t see why not! Come on in everypony.” Twilight said, with a smile, motioning the four other ponies into her crystal tree castle.
“So did you fillies do your homework?” Twilight asked with a friendly voice and welcoming smile, as the three fillies blew past her.
“Yes we did, Twilight!” Sweetie responded eagerly. “But we also learned a new spell  that we were hoping to show you.” Sweetie Belle continued, presenting a very proud smile.
“Oh?” Twilight asked, in surprise, eager to encourage her student’s independent studies. “What does it do?” Twilight asked with a bit of curiosity.
“It's a secret. But I think you are going to love it!” Scootaloo intoned next.
“Well... ok..." Twilight responded hesitantly. “You're sure it's safe, right?” She asked, her  face turning a bit skeptical. “Because I don’t want you to cast something dangerous..” Twilight reminded her.
“Of course!” came the answer from the three fillies, in unison.
“Ok!” Twilight responded, trotting over to a nearby chair, and carefully watching as the three crusaders got chalk out of their saddle bags and began to draw some kind of weird spell circle in the middle of the room.
Maybe I worried for nothing, Twilight thought to herself with relief. A spell circle of that shape and size can't generate much power. Perhaps the spell is low level? Twilight asked herself as she secretly began to power up her horn with the spell dissipation spell, a useful spell that would be able to cancel any spell that the crusaders could attempt to cast… just in case.
After the circle had been drawn, the three crusaders stepped into it and began to chant some form of spell. At once an unimaginable amount of magical energy began to emanate from the three fillies. Where is this power coming from? Twilight asked herself, in dismay. There is no way that  a spell circle of that size can generate this much energy... Unless... Twilight's face turned pale as she started to recall a worrying concept she’d discarded earlier. She quickly launched her spell on the circle, which evaporated into nothingness, but the power continued to flow.
“Girls, you need to cancel this spell now!” Twilight became very stern, very fast.
“We can't... The spell says it can't be stopped once it starts.” Sweetie Belle shouted , the power in the spell still building.
“Where did you get this spell? I need to stop it, now!” Twilight began to sound urgent, a bit of fear leaking through her voice.
“What is going on Twilight?” Rarity hesitantly asked, her eyes becoming more focused, as fear began to fill her.
“It’s in the book in my saddle bag. I think it was written by some pony named Celeris The Massive Winged.” Apple Bloom said her face starting to look pained.
“The missing book by Equuleus the Mad!” Twilight started to look pale, as a panic started to show on her face.
Without any further provocation, Twilight’s horn lit up brightly. A purple aura quickly surrounded the bag, and sent it rocketing towards Twilight’s feet. From there the aura began to violently shake the bag’s contents out, until a rather large and unimpressive looking book fell to the floor, and was immediately surrounded by the same purple aura as the bag.  It rocketed towards the alicorn. She began to feverishly scan the pages until she found  a very specific page.
“Ok... Girls whatever you do, don't tell me what you are seeing. If you don't tell me your destiny, the spell can't finish.” Twilight yelled at the fillies.
Twilight's horn lit up a bright purple and the three fillies became covered in the purple aura.
She then turned to Rarity. “We need to hurry, the spell will inevitably force them to finish it...” Twilight said, shaking her head slightly. “I'm going to try to slow the spell's progress.” She said, her head turning to face Rarity. “Rarity, I need you to remove one of the fillies from that maelstrom of magic, before the spell completes...” Twilight insisted, her voice filling with urgency.
Rarity didn’t need to be asked twice to cause her to run towards Sweetie Belle, her voice growing ever more desperate as she went. “Twilight what is going on? Why can't we let the spell to finish?” she asked, her voice filled with both confusion and fear.
“I don't know all the details of this spell,” Twilight shouted, her rational side hiding the waves of panic that threatened to overtake her. “but this is definitely a spell that is powered on life force. And if this spell finishes... the girls will die!” Twilight shouted back.
“Well then, I best hurry!” Rarity replied bravely, pointing her horn at Sweetie Belle, and attempting to lift the filly with her magic. However, the aura around Rarity’s horn didn’t seem to translate into any lift on Sweetie Belle.
“That won't work,” Twilight exclaimed, turning to the white unicorn. “The spell will disrupt other magic fields!” she pointed out.
“Well isn't that peachy.” Rarity growled, as she reached her fore-hooves into the maelstrom of magic, only to yank them back with a large gasp. Some of her pristine white fur had been burned completely off where she had stuck her forelegs into the swirling maelstrom of mana, where the spell circle had been drawn.
“It's hot as a furnace!” Rarity whined.
“I was afraid of that...” Twilight admitted grimly between deep breaths, as she struggled to slow the maelstrom in the middle of the room. “It’s not actually generating heat, it’s the pure amount of magic in the maelstrom.” she said. Her horn began to kick into overdrive, her teeth grinding together as she poured as much magic as she could into slowing the crusaders’ spell.
“I wish the other girls were here. Even just two more could turn this around.” Twilight managed to get out between pants of exhaustion.
As if to answer a prayer, there was a crash at the door. “Hey Twilight, what's with the light show!?” A familiar voice protested. “I can't nap with you lighting up the whole city.” came the irritated voice of Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash, I couldn’t be happier to see you!” Twilight shouted, a large smile growing on her face. “Your timing couldn’t be better, we’re in the middle of an emergency here.” she finished, her face contorting as she struggled to continue her spell.
“What’s going on? How can I help?” Rainbow Dash asked quickly, her body snapping to attention. “Is there some bad guy we need to clobber?”
“It’s more --” Twilight started, only to be interrupted by another voice.
“Hey Twilight, ah don’t mean to interrupt this big… whatever you’re doing. But, ah wanted to apologize to Apple Bloom right quick.” Applejack called out, as she trotted in from the door that Rainbow Dash had flung open moments earlier. “Ah kind’a rushed my pie delivery, when ah realized ah wasn’t fair to Apple Bloom.” she pointed out, a look of shame crossing her face.
“Applejack, perfect!” Twilight said, a relieved look crossing her face. ”All three of you can help me stop this spell.” Twilight shouted, earning a look of confusion on Applejack’s face. However, Twilight didn’t wait for her to ask what was going on, instead she continued to talk. “We're almost out of time,” Twilight explained urgently. “I need all of you to hold hooves, and reach into the magic maelstrom over there. We need to pull one of the crusaders out of the maelstrom before it’s too late. Or all three of the girls there will die!” Twilight yelled.
She could see the three fillies struggling to not talk. Their mouths opening and closing on their own.
Now all three mares found themselves running between the three fillies, trying to all converge on a single one of them that they could pull out easily.
Rainbow Dash finally give a huff of frustration, as she vocalized a complaint. “Why are we holding hooves? Why can't I just yank one of them out?” she asked, her voice sounding arrogant.
“Because you will get burned!” Rarity pointed out, her skin deep red and her fur still missing where she had tried to reach into the maelstrom.
“Holding hooves will help with that?” Rainbow Dash looked back skeptical.
“Yes, it helps spread the magic out.” Twilight explained in her lecturing tone, between deep labored breaths.
”I don’t mean to interrupt this lecture.” Rarity said with a subtle agitation in her voice. ”But, aren’t we out of time for questions? We need to get one of them out, now! Every pony get Sweetie Belle out of the maelstrom, as she is closest to the outside of the field.” Rarity added sternly, her eyes shining, sharp and focussed.
The three mares grabbed each other's hooves in a hurry, and with that Applejack and Rainbow Dash reached their free hooves into the maelstrom to try to yank Sweetie Belle out. And true to Twilight’s claim, the maelstrom wasn't burning them anymore, instead it was simply uncomfortably hot. Still, they muscled forward, the air inside the circle felt thick, like they were reaching into gelatin.
Just as it seemed like they would reach Sweetie Belle in time, her expression glazed over and she began to speak. “Rarity, I see my cutie mark!” Sweetie said, looking, sounding like she was half asleep.
“No no, Sweetie, I don't wish to know. Just don't say anything.” Rarity pleaded, wishing she had free hooves to cover her ears.
“It's beautiful, it’s a pink heart over a pink ribbon. And I see it is surrounded by tiny purple stars. It’s so beautiful.” With that there was a large flash, and Sweetie Belle was simply gone.
“Sweetie Belle! No! Please come back.” Rarity wept, bitterly.
“Hey, we can still save two of them,” the Rainbow Dash announced, her confidence not visibly shaken. “Let’s go for Scootaloo next, she's the next closest!” Rainbow Dash pointed out. The three mares made a dash for the orange pegasus.
“Rainbow Dash! I see my Cutie Mark… I see it...” Scootaloo mumbled, her eyes completely glazed over.
“Hey, stay with me squirt. I don't believe in quitting.” Rainbow Dash said, as she tried to pep talk the filly into holding on a bit longer.
“My cutie mark is... It’s... It’s... A Large fuchsia and brown heart shaped butterfly, and two tiny orange butterflies!” Scootaloo said, her face contorting into a massive frown, and a look of utter and complete disappointment. And with that, she was gone in a flash of light.
“Scootaloo, I'm sorry!” Rainbow Dash managed to stop herself from crying, only leaving a faint trembling.
Twilight frowned on the inside, one would think that with two less fillies the spell would be easier to control… But… If anything, it grew ever more difficult to regulate...
“Apple Bloom! Just hold on a bit longer. We'll get you out.” Applejack said tears streaming down her face as she could already see where this was going.
“Ah'm tryin’...” Apple Bloom struggled, her teeth gritting and her eyes crying.
Applejack rushed over to the side of the room, quickly grabbing her other friends’ hooves, only to hear those words she had hoped not to hear.
“My cutie mark, it's a heart shaped red apple,” the filly announced, as Applejack’s heart sank. “It’s only got one leaf on the stem... Ah knew my talent would have to do with apples, ah just knew it.” Apple Bloom admitted in monotone, her eyes staring ahead unfocused and unfeeling. And with that, the filly vanished and the spell fizzled out.
Rarity was the first to break down, the tears streaming down her face, as she trembled, completely unresponsive to the world. Applejack followed closely behind, as she somberly pulled her hat over her eyes, and trembled silently, faint tears could be seen rolling around the rim of her stetson. Finally, Rainbow Dash simply locked up, and seemed to shudder, her body struggling to not cry at all.
Twilight looked on in shock. “It’s all my fault…” Twilight said, her voice completely in shock. “I’ve never lost a friend before...” she added as her body shuddered. “No, there’s got to be a way to fix this!” she said stubbornly, as she yanked the book closer to herself. 
Applejack snapped back, her voice filled with vitriol. “Don’t ya’ have somethin’ better to do then look at that piece of trash?” She asked, sounding like she’d just trot over and burn the book in Twilight’s hooves.
Twilight remained undeterred as she kept frantically searching. After a few moments, her face became manic. “It can't be over yet! Some vaporization spells are not immediate. Maybe there’s a counterspell… or a way to re-constitute them in here! Surely he contemplated an eventuality like this and wrote a solution in here!” Twilight began to hurriedly shuffle through the spell book, the very same book that contained the spell that had vaporized the crusaders. Eventually she let out a loud “ah ha!”
“We can do it. Here's the spell we need.” Twilight waved the book in front of her friends’ faces. 
“We can?” Rarity looked back hopefully. Applejack showed agreement, by raising her stetson a little, and peaking out of the new opening. Her freckled face sporting a small grin. Rainbow Dash simply stopped trembling, and her face exploded into a massive smile.
“Let me see….” Twilight said, clearing her voice slightly for the words to come. “To reconstitute a victim of vaporization, you must donate life force... Have each donor hold an item that ties the victim to this world. Note, this spell works with its most power if the donor is a mare and is close to the victim. The closer the better. Also, one donor cannot safely donate to two or more victims. You only have thirty two minutes to make this spell work, and you must get it right the first time; retrying is not possible…” she read in a monotone voice.
“Well, that's unusual. We have very little time, so we won't have the opportunity to get their parents. Instead, grab your sister's cutie mark crusader cape, and return here in a hurry. Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry, but you are going to have to act as Scootaloo's family for now.” Twilight said, a bit of anxiety in her voice. They didn't have much time to solve this.
“As if I wouldn’t do it.” Rainbow Dash said with a hint of confidence as she raced the other two mares towards the castle’s front door. Her sprint proved to be a little bit slower than Applejack’s, who managed to rocket past her.
Within a few minutes the three mares were back with time to spare. Each was holding one of the cutie mark crusader capes. “Great,” Twilight said, taking a peek at the page she’d been studying for the last twenty minutes. “Stand still, and hold up the cape for your sister, or honorary sister, in Rainbow Dash’s case. All you need to do is keep a vision in your mind of your sister reappearing, holding onto or wearing their cape.” Twilight explained as she walked towards an already drawn up spell circle. Inside the circle sat three smaller circles. “Girls, stand inside one of the smaller circles. I’ll cast the spell from here.” Twilight instructed. And with that all three mares took their positions and began to hold up their capes. Without any further warning, Twilight began to cast a spell, her horn glowing a strong purple.
Twilight could feel it work almost immediately. She could feel the room begin to fill with the magic signatures of the crusaders, however, something wasn't quite right, as all three of her friends started to look uncomfortable, and Twilight could see all three of them crossing their hind legs, as they squirmed like a filly having to go to the bathroom. 
Before Twilight could ask what was wrong, Rarity broke the silence. “Twilight Dear, are you sure you are performing the spell right?” She asked, uncomfortably. “I wouldn't think it would cause tickling in my… ” Rarity gulped, as she searched for the most ladylike way to put it, finally managing to choke something out, “Special Filly Place...” She said with a huge blush across her face… at which point, she gently bit down on her lower lip with her upper teeth, an uncomfortable look plainly on her face.
Twilight quickly re-read the section in question, even while she continued her spell -- a skill learned at Celestia’s knee. She looked back at her friends with a bit of sympathy. “I'm sorry girls, but it says here that the spell may cause an uncomfortable, or even painful sensation. But that the spell finishes quickly, so we just need to keep focused until the spell finishes in about 90 seconds.” Twilight said, her voice filled with as much confidence as she could provide to her friends -- after all, she didn’t wish to panic them, lest they lose the necessary concentration.
All three mares continued to hold the capes high, though it became obvious to Twilight that something had gotten worse, as all three mares now seemed to be clenching their teeth, or sweating. “20 seconds. We're almost there girls.” Twilight cheered. She could feel the presence of the crusaders growing stronger by the second. They were practically in the same room now. Twilight couldn't say why she couldn't see them yet, though. Her best guess is that they would appear out of thin air once the spell finished.
“I'm sorry to whine Twilight, but the tickling is not only moving up towards my lower barrel, but it seems to be slowly growing more painful.” Rarity whined. The other two mares seemed to share the sentiment, but they managed to hold in any complaints.
“Ten seconds, we are almost done.” Twilight cheered.
“The … Pain … Is... Excruciating. It’s in my lower barrel... Twilight, can we speed this up somehow...” Rarity struggled. Her face showering tears, now. Even rainbow Dash and Applejack, mares who always stood toughly, seemed to be crying.
“Almost... Five … Four … Three... Two....” Twilight's count was interrupted as Rarity let out a scream of pure anguish, followed by her collapsing onto the floor, her face completely pale. With that the spell matrix suddenly blew apart, causing all four mares to be thrown across the room in an explosion.
Twilight was the first to awaken, her whole body hurt, but that pain was really more of a dull throb, compared to her true pain. She had just failed to save three ponies, not once but twice. And to make matters worse, she knew how hard it would hurt her friends. She let out a long sigh. She couldn't break down now, she had to be strong. There was much that had to be done.
Ok, priorities Twilight. She reminded herself.
“First, I need to make sure that Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash get sufficient comfort, they will most likely be distraught. Second, I need to notify the rest of the crusader's immediate kin. It would not be fair to expect Rarity, or Applejack to have to explain to their families what happened when it was my failure. The same applies to Rainbow Dash, except that she isn't actually related to Scootaloo in anyway. Third, I will have to prepare a funeral, all of my books suggest that a proper funeral aids in the healing process because it brings closure.” Twilight said out loud, mostly to allow herself to focus on the task ahead, and not become distracted.
Carefully Twilight guided her friends back to the center of the room. From there, she simply sat and allowed them a chance to grieve. While Rarity’s hysterical crying was expected, and the usually strong Applejack’s tears were understandable, Twilight couldn’t help but be surprised by how bitterly Rainbow Dash was weeping. It just went against the image she always worked so hard to cultivate… Then again, Rainbow Dash was a pony too, and even she needed to cry once in awhile.
They simply sat there for a while. Twilight couldn’t really say for how long, but long enough for Spike to come down the stairs and join them. Eventually her friends had time to calm down, and that left Twilight with the opportunity to deal with her next priority: notifying the next of kin. “Spike, could you wait here with our friends, while I inform Applejack, Rarity, and Scootaloo’s families?” Twilight said with a sad sigh.
Spike spoke no words, instead he gave a solemn nod and went back to patting Rarity on the back. Twilight hesitantly walked over towards the door, shooting one final somber look over her withers at her friends, before she opened the doors and left the castle to perform her unpleasant task.

***

The door to the Sweet Apple Acres barn closed slowly. That was not a good experience. Twilight thought with remorse. Big Mac and Granny Smith had taken the news of Apple Bloom’s passing pretty hard. Then again, it had gone about as well as Twilight had expected. However, this didn’t make it any easier to do.
It actually hurt Twilight to see another pony in that much pain. Now, it wasn’t that death was a new thing in Equestria, nor was it new for a princess to have to inform the next of kin of a death. It’s just that this was Twilight’s first time.
How does Celestia keep herself so calm? Twilight pondered. She’d watched the solar princess deal with the death of a member of the guard on more than one occasion. But Twilight wasn’t sure she could keep nearly as calm as her mentor did, when dealing with such matters.
And this pain was on top of the frustration she felt with herself. She wasn’t able to save the crusaders. And she wasn’t even able to reach Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s parents. The stallion and mare really were, as Rarity had told her they would be, unreachable. This meant that Twilight would need to figure out another way to reach them. Maybe she could ask Princess Celestia or her sister Luna for advice?
I suppose that just leaves one more set of ponies to contact. Twilight decided as she moved down her mental list to the last family. In many respects Scootaloo’s family was the wildcard. It was well known that the couple was one of the most powerful and influential families in Equestria. Other than that, though, nopony knew much about their personalities, or personal lives.
And with this lack of information, Twilight didn’t know how they would react… Other than being grieved that they’d lost their only child. Then again, was there any family in Ponyville that wouldn’t grieve over a lost family member. Still, she needed to get this done, so Twilight carefully took a mental note of where she’d heard Scootaloo’s family lived.
And just like that, Twilight was back on the trail, opting  now to trot instead of gallop, as It would seem that the next two meetings didn't need to be rushed. And it was quite a walk to Scootaloo's house, as the couple lived on the outskirts of town where there were only a few houses near them. Once Twilight had finally arrived at the house, she noticed that her heart was pounding and her hooves was shaking, as she tapped on the door with trepidation. It took a fair amount of time before a white unicorn mare with a fuchsia mane answered the door.
The mare noticed the princess, and gave a hasty bow. Her face seemed to go a bit pale, however she quickly recovered and then began to speak, even while she still faced the ground in an uncomfortably formal gesture. “Well good evening Princess Twilight Sparkle, what brings you here this fine afternoon.” The mare gave the princess a large smile.
“Just call me Twilight Sparkle, please. I have some bad news Mrs. Sunbird: there has been an accident.” Twilight said, her heart beating harder. She didn't want to have to see the mare's despair. She was also afraid of the accusations the mare might send her way.
“An accident, your highness? Is Scootaloo okay?” the mare asked, her face barely leaving a neutral expression, although quite a bit of color returned to her cheeks. Only a small amount of concern seemed to be written on her face, and in her voice at all. If Twilight didn’t know any better, it seemed like the mare was sizing her up.
“I'm sorry. But, Scootaloo and her friends were vaporized by a spell they were attempting to cast, and I was unable to rescue them.” Twilight's resolve to not become to emotional barely holding. Her eyes filled with tears instead. “I’m sorry…”
Tears now graced the white mare's face, as she looked back at the princess, with as strong of a face as she could muster. “I understand Princess. At least you did the best you could..." she said, turning away. “I just need some time,” she said, with a sullen expression, closing the door behind her. With that, Twilight turned around and contemplated a means to get in contact with Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents.
Twilight couldn't see it, but once the door was closed, Regal Sunbird's tears had suddenly dried and a small smirk had replaced them as she went upstairs to tell her husband what had happened.

***

Dream walking was such a different experience from anything that Twilight experienced in the waking world, and walking through dreams was a whole different thing from being in one. It felt more like walking through pudding, as though the dreamscape seemed to warble and bubble.
Twilight had been wandering aimlessly since she had first arrived on this strange new alien plane.
“Twilight Sparkle? How is it that we see thee here?” came the voice of Luna, her voice filled with a hint of confusion, despite her best attempts to remain regal and unconcerned.
“I don't know.” Twilight admitted, her face looking a bit concerned.  Twilight swallowed a little. “I was trying to see if I could use some harmony magic to reach Rarity's parents and I woke up here. I guess the magic doesn't work correctly, without all six of us.” Twilight said, scraping her hoof with a bit of embarrassment along the “ground”. In truth, it was very obvious in hindsight. But Twilight had been a bit panicked, seeing as reaching the couple had been proving surprisingly difficult.
“Hark it is dangerous to wander the dreamscape. ‘Tis best if thou followest us. Finding specific ponies in the Dreamscape ‘tis difficult. But, mayhaps we can help thee find them.” Luna pointed out.
They had been wandering for what seemed like hours before Twilight finally worked up enough courage to ask the question that had been churning within her mind. “How did you find me and my friends so easily, but these ponies are so hard to find?”
Luna nodded calmly, “Tis easier to find the bearers. Thy magic stands out like a beacon in the night. Tis not impossible to find other ponies, however. Ahh here, Rarity's mother is over there.” Luna pointed, having centuries of experience to guide her. The two walked a bit longer, the pudding like dreamscape seemed to grow softer and more realistic, until the two ponies crossed over into a dream.
Immediately Twilight could see it, a pink mare playing with two white fillies. Immediately she could perceive Rarity, though the mare appeared to be quite a bit smaller and younger, but she was still easily recognizable. Twilight gave a gulp, before she approached the pink mare.
“Mrs. Crumbles, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I have been trying to reach you. There has been an accident, and...” Twilight began, only to be interrupted by the mare.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you princess. What brings you here this fine afternoon?” She asked with a large smile, the two fillies coming into view, and stood by their mother, giving Twilight a polite bow.
“Actually you are asleep, and It has been difficult for me to reach you during the waking hours, so I had hoped to reach you here by another means.” Twilight pointed out, her face becoming dour.
“Oh how nice. Please tell me what you needed to tell me.” Cookie Crumbles replied, giving the princess another smile, followed by a  look right into Twilight's eyes. The two dream fillies next to the mother, also looked on in fascination, their eyes twinkling.
Twilight gulped, if she didn't yet have an inkling as to what she was about to hear this would be very difficult. “Mrs. Crumbles, I was just saying there was an accident. Your daughter Sweetie Belle was vaporized, and is … gone...” Twilight started, her voice hitching a little.
“Did you hear that Sweetie Belle, they think you were vaporized. Isn't that silly?” The mother said to the smaller of the two white fillies, with a chuckle.
“It's true, though!” Twilight protested. “I tried to save her, but I failed, and then, I failed to reconstitute them with magic.” Twilight choked on the words. Part of her was tempted to let the mother wallow in her delusions.
“This is definitely the weirdest thing I've ever heard from a princess. What do you think Rarity?” the mare asked the other white filly, who shrugged her withers cutely.
“This tis a dream. What we say tis the truth.” Luna said, her voice filled with seriousness.
“Well, this is a funny prank princess. But, I really must be going. Come along Rarity! Come along Sweetie Belle!” The pink mare said, to her ‘foal’s’, her voice filled with joviality.
“But, this is a dream! You need to know that the truth is...” Twilight tried to plead, only to find herself being tossed into the air by some unknown force, and found herself finally regaining focus. But, she was no longer in Cookie Crumbles dream, instead she found herself in her castle. She must have woken up. she thought to herself. This was a reversal that she didn't want to have, but for now, she would have Spike send Luna a letter, and hopefully, the princess could spare a guard or two to find Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks, and tell them in person.

***

It hadn't been more than a week since Princess Twilight Sparkle had appeared at her doorstep, but Regal Sunbird had been quick to take full advantage of the old expression ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’. And it had been a wonderfully full week of fake tears and condolences.
So today, Regal Sunbird and her husband, Southern Cross, trotted down the road, surrounded by a few members of their entourage. Their destination was the Apple family farm, or more specifically outside some stupid old clubhouse, where the memorial service was scheduled to be held. It was not surprising that Regal Sunbird had been secretly very disappointed when the service had been declared to be held at the farm. It wasn't a very glamorous location and it certainly wouldn't flatter her very important guests, but the bearers had been absolutely adamant that the crusaders had several of their most important moments there.
So, as Regal walked along the road, she could be seen laughing and talking to her political advisor -- quietly of course. The old stallion knew quite a bit about how to handle public opinion. “So, we've gotten five thousand letters so far from concerned citizens from Cloudsdale alone. Can you imagine? One week ago, they wouldn't have touched us with a nine foot pole because our little girl couldn't fly. And now, our poll numbers have increased by 20%” She gave a quiet chuckle.
As Regal walked along, she noticed that ponies were entering eye shot and quickly sagged her head, starting to cry on cue. No pony could tell she was acting, her acting  was simply that perfect. And they walked like that, till they had a chance to break from the group and enter the bathroom inside the old farm house. Once inside, she began to fix her makeup using the mirror on the wall, so as to look ‘presentable’ for the ponyrazzi.
“So what was so funny?” Came a male voice, causing Regal Sunbird to give off a loud scream of terror as she wheeled around to face the voice.
“Oh relax,” the voice said, calmly. “I'm not going to hurt you! In fact, if I wanted to hurt you, they couldn't stop me, because ‘in the bathroom nopony can hear you scream’. No wait... that was space, silly me...” the voice continued. She could recognize that voice! She had heard that stupid laugh last year.
“Discord,” she hissed, in frustration.
The chimera himself appeared out of thin air, strangely in some kind of plaid spacepony suit.
“Now, I was wondering what you found so funny,” the chimera hissed. “You see Fluttershy and her friends have been beside themselves with grief, and you seem to be having the time of your life.” He said, frowning at her, like she was a naughty filly.
“I am sad!” she said, her eyes crying a little. When she noticed the Draconequus' skeptical look, she continued “And you of all ponies, shouldn't be chastising me!” she warned. “I seem to recall your little deal with Tirek. And, you didn't seem to care how many ponies could have died!” she yelled back, her face turning red.
“Well, since you enjoy a good joke, let me tell my own.” Discord said, his face turning more happy-go-lucky.
Regal Sunbird looked back in frustration. What is that idiot going on about now. She thought to herself in a moment of fury… Mostly because of the strange divergence from the conversation.
“The spell Twilight cast has a twist ending. Can you guess the punchline?” Discord said, his face turning a bit more sinister.
“Did you mess with Twilight's spell, did you murder those fillies?” She said, not so much with anger, and more with a careful eye, the type of eye she used when she looked for dirt on a rival.
“Oh no, I didn't need to do anything to the spell. It was funny enough on its own..." he replied nonchalantly. “Oh, and I think you should grow a heart.... Ta Ta.” Discord continued as he vanished in a flash of light.
“Grow a heart?” She replied, with incredulity. “I do have a heart, I care lots about my supporters!” She yelled to no pony in particular. Maybe I should talk to Celestia about reigning in that monster, she thought to herself with a huff.

***

The farm was surprisingly packed, with several ponies sitting in some form of black suit, or dress, although some ponies came in simple formal attire. The field was full with all six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Cheerilee, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, Scootaloo's parents, their entourage of about eight additional ponies, several members of Ponyville, the most noteworthy being Diamond Tiara and her family (especially Filthy Rich), Silver Spoon and her family, several other students from Cheerilee's class such as Dinky Doo and her sister Amethyst Star and their mother Ditzy Doo. There were several other ponies who happened to know the crusaders or their families personally, and as many Apple family members that could make it, including Babs Seed and aunt and uncle Orange. Disappointingly, Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents hadn’t made it. As Twilight understood it, the two parents were in shock and had refused to even believe that Sweetie Belle was deceased, even when Luna's guards came in person. Twilight hoped that they would come around soon.
It hadn't been too tough for Twilight to pick the speakers for the memorial service. She had chosen Cheerilee, Fluttershy, Granny Smith, Regal Sunbird, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, in that order.
Cheerilee's speech had been mostly about their behavior at school, and had been fairly short -- ending with the lament that she would never see them bloom into the ponies they could be, like her other students.
Fluttershy had been put there for an outsiders perspective on the fillies. She had shared what she knew of their crusading, and had also mentioned what they were like to babysit. This was the first time she had admitted to Rarity just how hard the crusaders really were for her to babysit.
Granny Smith had gone on about Apple Bloom's home life, mentioning as much as she knew about the filly. Which was, not surprisingly, quite a bit. Her final closing had been about how Apple Bloom had been an Apple family member to the end.
Regal Sunbird had focused mainly on Scootaloo's tomboyish attitude and had pointed out that the filly hated mushy things, like crying. And how the filly would want them to be strong and move on.
Rainbow Dash was next to take the stage. Her eyes were completely dry, but Twilight noticed how weak and wobbly her legs looked. She also noticed that the dare devil's eyes seemed to be more red than usual. It would appear Rainbow Dash had been crying where nopony could see her do it. She cleared her throat, looking as neutral as she could. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke, but she was able to stay strong. “Scootaloo was a tough filly and a daredevil at heart. And I have to admit,” the cyan mare said, with a slight pause ‘for emphasis’. “She pulled off some stunts on her scooter that I think were almost as awesome as my best flight stunts. She was the head of my fan club, and she wanted desperately to be like me. And, I think she came very close.” Rainbow Dash cracked a weak smile. “Some of you thought the filly was an orphan. But, she did have a family. Her parents spoke not too long ago... But, she also had me, and I promised to be her one and only sister. Hey, I promised to be her big sister and to take her under my wings and teach her to fly!” she exclaimed, starting to look down with a sense of shame, her face even seemed to leak a faint tear or two, but mostly Rainbow Dash kept it looking dry.  “If I had even one regret, it would be that I never fulfilled my promise to be like a big sister to her.” Rainbow Dash explained, her face looking more dower than before. ”Because I was always too busy to spend time with her, and as a result, I never got a chance to train her. She would have made a great flier once her wings grew in. I don't care what the doctors said, she was going to grow those in eventually,” Rainbow Dash finished saying as she stepped down from the podium, a tear finally trickling down her cheek, despite her best efforts. She gave a quick hiccup, before she whispered to her friends, “I'm … not crying … it’s the onions... Somepony needs to stop cooking those...”
Applejack took her speech in stride.  She knew full well there weren’t any onions nearby, but she just gave the cyan pegasus a nod before she took the stage, not looking much better than Rainbow Dash. Her face showed obvious signs of crying. Furthermore, she looked tired. Twilight had heard complaints from Granny Smith that she’d had to force Applejack to stop working. It seemed the farm mare was on the verge of working herself to death in an attempt not to think about her sister's untimely passing.
The apple farmer took her stetson down and pressed it against her chest to allow herself to show some reverence for all three of the deceased. She took a hard swallow to clear her throat, and then allowed herself to speak loud and strong. “Ah know y'all heard granny tell ya’ll about how Apple Bloom was an Apple. But she didn't tell y'all that she never knew her ma or her pa -- our parents died shortly after Apple Bloom was born. It's a big part of why ah went to Manehatten to live with the Oranges, but, when ah came back, ah stepped up to the plate. Ah wasn't just running the farm, ah was looking after Apple Bloom. Ah suppose sometimes ah tended to treat her more like a daughter than a sister. And that ultimately  led to her death. My final regret is that my last words with her were angry ones, an’ ah wish we could have had more time to patch things up, because Apple Bloom might'a had the Apple temper, but she also had the Apple forgiveness, too.” Applejack finished, putting her stetson over her face to cover tears that had begun to form there.
Once Applejack had calmed down a little, she put the stetson back on her head, and simply tipped it down to cover her eyes a little. She walked slowly back to her seat and sat down. Rarity then stood up, and walked over to the podium. Rarity didn't hide her mourning at all. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her makeup had run. The poor mare sometimes wasn't great at hiding her emotions, and it seemed she simply couldn't at the moment.
The white mare cleared her throat, and began to speak with a definite sadness. “Sweetie Belle, like all her little friends, was energetic. She liked to do all kinds of dirty and messy things. But, she also spent a lot of time at my boutique. With mom and dad always so busy just trying to make enough money to keep Sweetie Belle properly cared for, I had to help raise her. And while I raised her I started to see her take on some of my interests as well. She took on art projects, one of which I’ll forever regret yelling at her over. And she began to take an interest in fashion. Such as those... interesting... costumes she made for the talent show, or for her most recent play. Yes, I will miss her dearly. My biggest regret was not being more generous to her. I could have spent so much more time with her.” Rarity finally stepped down and she sat next to her friends.
With that Twilight gave a few closing words, and the memorial service was over. It was time for every pony to now move on.