Scootaloo rolled up to the clubhouse early the next morning. Her home was too boring to spend more time than necessary in so she usually wasted the early hours of the day planning crusades or practicing tricks in Sweet Apple Acres.
But, while this part of the farm was usually empty before noon, today there were the telltale sounds of someone rustling around in the clubhouse.
“Where is it? Oh, come on, where could it have gone?” Came the unmistakable voice of one of her best friends.
Curious, Scootaloo took off her helmet and trotted up the ramp. She had to duck a book flying over her head, the fluttering pages barely grazing her mane as it soared through the open door.
Apple Bloom was frantically combing through every nook and cranny, opening drawers and throwing random knick-knacks over her shoulder in her search. She hadn’t noticed Scootaloo’s presence and seemed to be growing more frantic by the moment.
“Argh! Where the hay could it be?”
“Hey, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo spoke up before her friend accidentally decapitated her, “What’s wrong? What are you looking for?”
Apple Bloom quickly whipped around, startled, but relaxed when she saw who it was. “Oh, Scoots. Sorry, I didn’t see ya there.”
“Yeah, obviously,” Scootaloo snickered, entering the clubhouse now that the threat of flying objects had been removed, “What’s got you in such a frenzy, anyway?”
Apple Bloom’s ears dropped as she gazed around the trashed clubhouse. “Ah, well it’s just that I can’t find that game Spike left here last night.”
Scootaloo scratched her head idly. “You mean that really boring one he was trying to get us to play?”
Apple Bloom shot her a scolding look.
“What?” Scootaloo huffed with indignation, “It was! You were doing homework during it.”
Apple Bloom’s ears quickly flattened onto her head as her cheeks turned pink. “Uh, well, anyway. I thought I’d get it back ta him early today, just cause he seemed real upset last night. But now I can’t find it anywhere!” She bit her lip and shook her head. “I know I left it right here. He’s gonna be so mad if I lost it.”
Scootaloo waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry so much. I bet your sister just came in to clean and took it to the house. Or Sweetie stopped by and got it in advance.” She shrugged. “Either way, it’ll turn up.”
Apple Bloom’s panic slowly faded away as Scootaloo’s words sunk in. She let out an embarrassed chuckle and scuffed the floorboard with her hoof. “I suppose yer right. Guess ah’m just real worried about him. I don’t want to upset him any further.”
“I didn’t think he seemed that down. He’ll bounce back by tonight.”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Still, I want to make it up to him somehow. Let’s go ask Applejack if she’s seen the game. I don’t want ta get to Sweetie’s house and have it be missin’.”
***
“Sorry, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said as she stirred a pot of soup, “Ah haven’t been ta the clubhouse recently and ah sure ain’t seen no game.”
Apple Bloom’s ears dropped at the news. She had really hoped it would be that simple.
“Aw that’s, okay,” Scootaloo said, draping a hoof over Apple Bloom’s withers, “That just means it’s almost definitely at Rarity’s place.”
Apple Bloom gave her friend a small smile. “I suppose so. We should head over there and double-check.”
Applejack looked up from her cooking, giving the foals her full attention. “Wait… you all goin’ ta Rarity’s?”
“Yeah.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes as she detected the faintest of blushes on her sister’s face. “That’s where the movie night is, remember?”
“Ah, right. Well, could you give her somethin’ for me?” Applejack moved to a cupboard and extracted a shiny bottle of zap apple jam, an elegant purple and white bow, complete with a swirling design of laces, perched on top. “We had some extra jam from this zap apple season and ah thought she might need it for her fancy toast and the like.”
Apple Bloom reluctantly took the jar and placed it in her saddlebags. “Sure, Applejack, we’ll make sure she gets it.”
“Thanks for the help, anyway,” Scootaloo added as the two headed to the door.
Applejack waved them off with a quick wish of luck and turned back to her cooking.
Once the door had shut and the two fillies were certain they were out of earshot Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom with an incredulous expression. “Could your sister be any less subtle?”
Apple Bloom sighed and shook her head. “I’m pretty sure she’s in denial. Doesn’t even realize she’s doin’ anything weird most the time.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I guess I can see why. Almost everyone’s got a crush on Rarity. Doesn’t anypony realize she’s dating Rainbow Dash exclusively?”
Apple Bloom shrugged. “I know Applejack’s oblivious at least. Come on, let’s get ta Sweetie Belle’s. We gotta deliver this and find that game.”
***
“I didn’t take the game.”
“What?!?” Apple Bloom cried in dismay, sinking to the ground as Sweetie Belle watched on in confusion. “What am I gonna do now? Spike’s gonna hate me forever!”
“Maybe Spike came back and picked it up?” Sweetie Belle suggested, “I mean, he might have changed his mind after we went inside.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the filly on the ground. “Yeah, Apple Bloom, you’re getting way too worked up over this. Spike’s probably had it this whole time.”
“And I’m sure he won’t be angry if it turns out you did lose it,” Sweetie added, much to Apple Bloom’s terror and Scootaloo’s annoyance.
“Who won’t be angry?” Another voice called from further in Carousel Boutique. Rarity peeked her head around the corner and her eyes widened at the sight of the three fillies. “Oh, girls. I thought you three weren’t going to be here until later tonight.”
“The kids are here?” A second voice added and Rainbow Dash’s head soon appeared next to Rarity’s. She waved lazily when she saw who it was. “Hey, Squirt.”
Scootaloo’s irritation instantly vanished as she gushed, “Hi, Rainbow Dash!”
“Apple Bloom lost Spike’s game that he left in the clubhouse last night,” Sweetie Belle answered Rarity’s question, causing Apple Bloom to groan in dismay and cover her face with her hooves.
“Who’s Spike?” Rainbow asked with a head tilt, following Rarity fully into the room.
“Oh, you know him, dear.” Rarity nuzzled Dash’s cheek affectionately as she explained. “He’s that adorable little dragon that plays with the girls and offers to do me favors.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Whoa really?” She turned to the Crusaders. “You girls are friends with a dragon? How come I’ve never met him?”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes with a huff. “You have, Rainbow Dash. He comes over all the time. He heated your cocoa once.”
“Huh, weird,” Dash said, scratching the back of her mane, “I feel like I’d remember meeting a dragon.”
Rarity pecked her on the cheek, drawing her marefriend’s attention back to her. “You were probably just distracted at the moment, darling. You’ll meet him again tonight when we set up their little movie party.”
Rainbow’s eyelid’s lowered as a grin spread across her muzzle. She wrapped Rarity in her wings and hugged her close. “I remember that at least. After Fluttershy comes to take care of the squirts, you and me are gonna have some alone time.”
“Dashie,” Rarity giggled, playfully pushing Rainbow off her, “Not in front of the fillies.”
“Ah, come on babe,” Rainbow nibbled her neck, “they’re big ponies. They can handle a little PDA.”
The fillies in question rolled their eyes so hard they were sure to get stuck. But they didn’t have to suffer the display for long as the door to Rarity’s boutique flung open and a very angry purple Unicorn stomped in.
“Rarity! Have you-” Twilight Sparkle, town librarian and Spike’s older sister, stopped short when she saw the Crusaders in the hallway. She snorted loudly and glared daggers at them. “You three! Very funny prank. Now tell me where he is!”
The Crusaders all glanced between each other and even at Rarity and Rainbow. Every pony seemed equally confused.
“Twilight, darling, what are you going on about?” Rarity asked the other Unicorn politely.
“Oh they know what I’m talking about,” Twilight sneered, pointing an accusatory hoof at the baffled fillies, “I thought it was weird when Spike didn’t come home yesterday; he usually doesn’t stay the night no matter how late it gets; but then I wake up and not only has no one seen him all day, but half of Ponyville hasn’t even heard of him? Really elaborate prank fillies. I bet you even got Rainbow Dash here to help with this prank of the century. But it needs to end now.”
“Wait…” Sweetie spoke up as the others tried to understand just what Twilight was ranting about, “Spike didn’t come home last night? But we saw him leave!”
Twilight glared at her. “Save it. I figured out that he stayed overnight at Apple Bloom’s and then you all somehow convinced the town to go along with your silly prank. Everypony’s acting like I’m crazy for saying a dragon lives in town.”
“She’s tellin’ the truth Miss Twilight!” Apple Bloom spoke up in her friend’s defense, “Spike went home last night. He didn’t stay with us, you can even ask Applejack.”
Twilight’s glare flattered as she looked into the three worried children’s eyes. “He didn’t? But then…”
“And why do you think I had anything to do with this?” Rainbow interrupted, giving Twilight an annoyed glare. “I’ve never even met this Spike guy.”
“Wait what?” Twilight cried, whirling to face the Pegasus. “Never… Yes you have!”
Dash crossed her hooves and shook her head. “That’s what everyone keeps saying but they’re wrong. I don’t remember any of it!”
Twilight groaned loudly and buried her head in her hooves. “Not you too! Why is everypony doing this?”
“Regardless of who has met who,” Rarity spoke up, putting herself between her marefriend and Twilight, “I would say the biggest issue is that poor Spikey Wikey seems to have gone missing.”
Twilight’s face melted from frustration to horror. “You’re right. If he’s not with you girls or hiding somewhere then… then where is he?”
Rarity moved to put a comforting hoof on the other Unicorn’s shoulder. “Think, darling, is there any place he could have stayed the night?”
Twilight shook her head slowly. “No… no, I already asked around town. Nopony has seen him all day.”
“Maybe he’s not in town?” Scootaloo piped up, causing the adults to turn to her, “I know when I wanna get away I go visit my Aunts in the next town over. Does he know anyone like that?”
Twilight bit her lip. “Anypony he could go to out of town? The only pony I could think of would be my brother. But he lives all the way in Canterlot!”
Rarity nodded. “Even so, I think it would be a good idea to check with him. In the meantime, Rainbow and I will do our own search around town. We, no offense darling, have larger social circles than you and will be even more likely to find any information on his whereabouts.”
“Wait. We’re doing what?” Rainbow gawked, “But… but what about date night?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Dash, there are more important things at stake. Now come! Our search awaits!”
Rainbow huffed but obediently followed Rarity out the door at a low hover. “How am I gonna help search? I don’t even know what he looks like.”
“He’s a dragon, darling. I’m sure you’ll know it when you see him.”
“I… thank you!” Twilight quickly called as Rarity’s front door slammed shut behind the couple. The purple Unicorn turned back to the three fillies and gave them an apologetic look. “Hey, I’m sorry for blaming you girls. I know your Spike’s friends and wouldn’t do anything to get him in trouble. I’m just… really worried about him.”
Apple Bloom gave her a comforting smile and patted the older pony’s leg. “It’s okay, Twilight. Knowing he’s missin’... we all are.”
“We can ask some of the other fillies and colts if they’ve seen him!” Sweetie Belle added.
Twilight smiled at them. “Thanks girls. Hopefully there’s nothing to worry about.”
***
The bakery was on the edge of town.
Carrot Cake had never wanted it to be there. There was a nice looking building in the center he’d had his eyes on for years now, but just hadn’t managed to save enough money for the down payment. With just the two of them, he and his wife could barely keep up with their workflow as it was. Working harder to expand was simply out of the question.
So they lived and worked at the edge of town, selling bread and scones to the Ponyvillians who didn’t mind going out of their way for a cup of coffee.
His wife was out of town at the moment. She had gone to Canterlot to try and negotiate a new deal with their sugar supplier and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. Tonight, he was alone in closing up the shop and was humming in content as he swept the floor.
It was later than he usually would have gone to sleep. He was just about to call it a night, floor only half swept, when a sound caught his attention.
A distinct rattling outside.
Mr. Cake paused and glanced to his back door. He was relatively close to the Everfree so any number of nasty critters could be rooting around in his trashcans and causing a mess.
But even still, he couldn’t risk damage to the store if the creature managed to find a way in during the night.
Brandishing his broom like a club, Carrot slowly moved to the back door. Closer, he could make out the clanging of metal and shifting of papers that gave weight to his theory of some animal going through the trash.
Steeling himself to potentially fight off sharp little teeth and claws, Mr. Cake flung the door open and waved the broom in front of himself widely. “Out! Get out of here you little beasts!”
What greeted him was a very un-animalistic scream and one of the trash cans falling over with a sharp bang.
Carrot stared in shock at what had just tripped over his garbage.
A pony, not long past Marking Age, gazed up at him with large, terrified, blue eyes that pierced into his soul. She was small for an Earth Pony her age and unnaturally skinny. Her pink coat was matted and covered in mud while her straight, waterfall-like mane was full of sticks and twigs and trash.
“Oh, sweet Celestia…” Carrot muttered, throwing his broom behind him and racing over to crouch next to the filly.
She squeaked, startled, and tried to scramble to her hooves.
“Hey hey hey,” Carrot said quickly, trying to keep his voice as soft as possible, “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”
It seemed enough to make her hesitate, at least, though her eyes flickered from his face to the yawning forest behind her.
“What are you doing here? Are you lost?” Mr. Cake asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
The filly flinched away, ducking her head so her face was hidden behind her mane.
Carrot licked his lips and glanced back towards the inviting light coming from his home. There was no way he could just leave this filly out here to go through someone else's trash. “Are you hungry?” He asked, backing away from her and towards Sugarcube Corner, “Do you want to come in and eat something? I have lots of fresh baked goods. Much better than the stuff in the garbage.”
One bright blue eye peeked through the curtain of a mane and Mr. Cake made sure to smile as reassuringly as possible. He then turned away to trot back inside and over to the counter. Fishing a few slices of cold apple pie from where it was still resting, unsold, he set up one of the empty tables with the treat and a glass of water.
When was finished he turned to find the filly standing in the doorway, gazing around the room with a mix of trepidation and awe.
“Have a seat,” Carrot offered, “You can have as much as you want, free of charge.”
The filly eyed the pie wearily but trotted over and took a hesitant nibble none-the-less.
Her face immediately lit upon tasting it. She quickly took a seat and started scarfing down the dessert as if her life depended on it.
Mr. Cake chuckled softly to himself. “Don’t eat it so fast, you’ll give yourself a stomach ache.” He glanced over his shoulder to the back of the shop before giving the filly a calming look. “I’ll be right back, okay? You just enjoy your pie and I’ll come back in a moment.”
The filly’s eyes flickered to him briefly before going back to devouring the dessert.
So Mr. Cake left, for only a few minutes to make a phone call, and when he returned the filly was already done with the whole pie and staring longingly at the rest of the cakes on display.
“Do you want more?” He asked, a bit redundantly as he was already grabbing a hoof-full of pastries.
The filly didn’t answer besides nodding rapidly, and as soon as Mr. Cake sat down with the food, she took it from him with gusto.
Mr. Cake watched in silence for a moment, honestly worried she would choke if he distracted her, before finally speaking up. “So where did you come from? It’s not every day I find a little filly raiding my trash cans.”
The filly swallowed heavily before pointing out the door, her eyes never leaving his for a moment. “The trees! The forest. I was in the middle and then ran ran ran away. One’s distracted but the other will never be. Should be. There’s a monster on the loose but I won’t kill anyone.” She pouted, as if annoyed by what she just said. Or maybe she had a stomach ache.
“Um…” Mr. Cake answered, completely baffled by that rapid-fire assault of words. With how jumpy she had been he honestly had expected her not to answer. Not that what she gave him was really an answer, anyway. It was… concerning, but if she had survived a monster attack then he didn’t want to pry into what was sure to be traumatizing memories. “Oookay… uh... Hey, who are you, anyway? I’ve never seen you in town before.”
She took another bite of cake and gestured to her body like she was presenting a sign he should have already read. “Pink.”
Carrot cocked his head. “You’re name is ‘Pink’?”
She shook her’s rapidly. “Not a name. Called. Others have names.” She thrusted a bright pink hoof into his face, as if he hadn’t noticed it before. “I am pink so I’m called Pink.”
Mr. Cake’s face twisted for just a moment before he forced it back to a pleasant, if not uncomfortable, smile. “Well, I think you should have a proper name. Everypony needs one, what do you think?”
She blinked at him, eyes wide with shock, before she smiled widely and nodded so quickly her head blurred.
Mr. Cake chuckled. “Okay, then wha-”
He was interrupted by Pink jumping. Her ears perked upright and back straightened as if she had just been shocked. She pulled one her legs close to her chest and whimpered, rubbing it gently.
“What’s wrong?” Mr. Cake asked, leaning forward to try and see the filly better, “Did you hurt your leg?”
Pink didn’t get to answer before a knock rang loudly at the front door. Mr. Cake breathed a sigh of relief even as Pink’s eyes shrunk to terrified pinpricks.
“It’s okay,” He tried to soothe her, “Those are just some friends from town hall I called. They’re going to help you.”
It didn’t work. Pink shook her head rapidly and made a choked sound of distress as Mr. Cake got up from the table.
“Everything’s alright,” Mr. Cake said once more before focusing fully on the door. He opened it to find two ponies he didn’t know standing at his doorstep. Both were Unicorns clad in official-looking suits with some sort of seal stitched into the pocket.
“Mr. Carrot Cake?” The mare of the duo asked, looking him up and down, “You called about a lost filly?”
Mr. Cake nodded and turned to lead them inside. “Yes, thank you for coming so quickly. Some of the things she’s been saying have really started to worry m-HRK!”
He was cut off by strong hooves grabbing his neck and yanking him back. He didn’t even have time to scream before a dark magical aura surrounded his head and a spell activating made his vision start to fade.
The last thing he saw before blacking out was a pair of large, terrified, blue eyes that pierced into his soul.