//------------------------------//
// Shards Of Parenthood 
// Story: Of Laurels & Lace 
// by WritingSpirit 
//------------------------------//

	"It's quite a surprise that you're here."

Fluttershy just smiled, doubt clearly crossing through her mind as she slumped back in the satin couch.
She and Applejack were in Freewings's home. It was humble, with the normal couch, tables and all, yet looked too simple, from Applejack's point of view, for the district attorney of Cloudsdale.
"We had to come here." the orange pony said, still glancing at the stallion with suspicion.

"To search for answers, I'm aware of that."
Charter Freewings settled his empty cup down, trotting towards a mahogany study table.
"You came at a bad time."

"Bad time, eh?" Applejack questioned.
"What is it? District attorney failing at his job?"

The pony in question laughed, seemingly unfazed by her rude comment. Fluttershy nudged her friend, making the orange pony roll her eyes.
"You got that half right," he replied, letting out a disgruntled sigh as he refilled his cup of tea.
"Cloudsdale had been experiencing... 'accidents' lately."

"Accidents? Is it... bad?"

"No deaths so far, fortunately."
Charter sipped on his cup of tea, his face darkening as he continued:
"Somepony's been intentionally causing these accidents. The city council demands that the police force and I find the culprit immediately."

Applejack leaned back onto her seat, tilting her hat down.
"Ah'm not surprised though."

"What do you mean?"

"Ponyville... um..."
Fluttershy placed her cup down, clearing her throat.

"Well, you see... some of my friends in Ponyville. They've been hurt too. Like Applejack here..."

Applejack tensed, about to hush her friend before Charter turned to the orange pony.
"Injured eh? When?"

"It was... back when Ah was in Manehatten."
The orange pony shuddered, remembering the screeching of brakes, the shattering of glass.
"There was... a car-"

"That's all I need to know."
Charter sighed, stretching his hind hooves on the seat.
"No point bringing up a painful past."

"Ah didn't say it was pain-.... Ah mean, thank you."

"Trust me, Miss Applejack."
The pegasus stretched his hooves, filling the orange pony's cup.
"I've seen many ponies like you, always bold in front of others, but deep inside it's a completely different story. Miss Dash, for example."

"Rainbow Dash?"
The orange pony blinked in surprise, noticing her yellow friend starting to cringe in her seat.
"She was the one that reported it, didn't she?"

"The nine year old filly with the rainbow mane." he said with a chuckle.
"Now the Element of Loyalty. They were best of friends ever since Rainbow helped her in Summer Flight Camp."

Charter's voice turned to a slight whisper, the stallion edging his seat closer towards them.
"Just like me and Ravenshy..."

Fluttershy looked out of the window with worry, trying to ignore the mention of her mother's name. The sky outside was grey with clouds, a slight gale already picking up outside.
"We'll be here... for a while I guess..."

"Rain..."
The stallion looked out of the window, his face turning a little grim.
"Either the weather pegasi are not doing their jobs again, or..."

He sipped from his cup of tea, before continuing.

"... somepony wanted to keep us in."

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Mirror Mare.

Octavia never liked the pony's intentions, whatever they are, much less the pony's name itself. It seemed mystifying to her in the beginning, but now she understood why the residents fear it so much.
Nailed to the bed... she would die of fright seeing something like that in her room.

It was early in the morning. Unbeknownst to most ponies, she would use this time to have a stroll, think through her life. Today, though, her coltfriend was the one troubling her.

"Crimson Lux de Cavalle... what the heck were you thinking, Octavia...?"

The red stallion had been on her mind for the past few days. Today was no different.
Perhaps it was his smooth talk, or the energy that he emanated. Whatever it was, she liked his personality.

The grey mare sighed, remembering their first encounter. Eight months ago.


* * * * * * *


She was the leading performer, as usual, in the Fase di Armonia, a renowned theater for actors, musicians, any performers of the like. On stage, with her usual pink bow and her cherished cello.
Octavia thought it was just one normal night. The bright spotlight, the entrancing melody she polished with perfection; not to forget about the pretentious yet dismal claps of the audience.

One bow to the crowd, wearing the same moderate, docile smile.
She eyed through every face in the crowd, always expecting the same audience. Not to say the same ponies, but the same, sullen looks they're giving. It always bores her and sometimes irritates her to the core.
Worst audience ever.

Then, he was there.


* * * * * * *


Octavia smiled, feeling the breeze flowing between her mane as she stood on the terrace of Palgiot Palace.
"Crimson, Crimson..."


* * * * * * *


The red stallion looked like an alien in the usual black, grey and white coated crowd. Octavia's interest piqued immediately, gazing over at him.
He was finely dressed; nothing different about him. Usual suit, usual tie, usual everything a high-class social pony should have. His family was around him, primarily his mother, being the most benevolent mare on their row of seats.
Then she glanced at his face. Combed mane, which was expected. Face was gleaming, the usual...

His smile...

Octavia stopped, blinking in surprise. He was smiling.
Crimson seemed to have noticed this, raising his hoof in greeting before being stopped by his mother.

The grey mare blushed. For the first time....
Without hesitation, she grabbed her cello as she hurriedly strode backstage, her reddened cheeks distinctive on her face. Sitting on the stool, she breathed in deeply, trying to repress the influx of the red stallion in her mind.
"Just relax, Octavia." she said to herself, although the sudden, dreamy haziness of her mind proved otherwise.

With her snout held high, she walked out, into the alley. The grey mare wrinkled her nose immediately. Even in Canterlot, the alleys are like every other town: disgusting, germ-infested hives for swarms of a thousand rodents.
The clearer air of the street instantly drew her in. She sighed, feeling the night atmosphere rushing into her lungs. Finally. Some time alone.

"Miss?"

Octavia turned around, just to see a red stallion stumbling out from the doors.
She gasped quietly in surprise. Crimson Lux de Cavalle...
"I'm sorry to have startled you, ma'am, but I believe you're the one they called Miss Philharmonica?

She nodded without hesitation.
"Why did you ask?"

"That was some brilliant cello-playing, or whatever you call it."
He clopped his hooves in a small applause of admiration, making the grey mare smile.
"I'm sure you'll have great recognition for that."

"Recognition?"
Octavia couldn't believe her ears. Recognition? From the pompous, air-headed ponies of Canterlot?
Never.

"Since when recognition matters?" she scoffed, swinging her instrument case into the air.
"Playing the cello is just what I like to do. Nopony would actually appreciate the music I make, not like your sort of crowd, I suppose."

Crimson chuckled slightly at the mare's comment
"That's because you're playing to the wrong crowd!" he exclaimed.
"I mean, I like your music. It has that feel to it. Something that a pop singer like me could never get a grasp on."

He brushed his suit a little, letting out a sigh.
"To be honest, I really admire you. You're the only mare that can make me feel this... envious."

Envious?
Octavia's eyed widened with surprise. Crimson Lux, famed pop superstar, rotten rich to the core... Envious?

"Heck, if I had your talent," he said, glancing at the mare's cello case.
"I would play that thing all day."

Crimson's voice echoed in her head. Octavia couldn't help but giggle.
"If I had your talent..."

"My talent, huh?"
She grinned slyly, a small blush rising from her cheeks as she gave him a sultry look.
"Well... want to take a walk? Maybe... talk about it?"


* * * * * * *


Best. Decision. Ever.

Now here they were. Stuck in some old, dangerous palace with a killer on the loose. Octavia chuckled at herself; how they can get themselves in these situations was beyond her.

"Oh well," she sighed, looking in the horizon beyond from the terrace.

"At least he's here with me."

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"Pinkie..."	

Pinkie's eyes fluttered open. She immediately sat up from her bed, looking around the room in bewilderment.

Instead of the hospital's white walls, there stood a dreary, wooden wall, filled with potholes. The atmosphere was cold and bleak, yet still clean without a trace of dust. Or a trace of anypony for that matter.

"Pinkie..? Come on..."

"Hello?" she called out into the room, rising from the bed. "Anypony there?"
She wandered towards the open door, peering out into the hallway.

The whole building looked abandoned, crumbled, yet there was something familiar about it that Pinkie could not put a hoof on. The harrowing corridor was dark at one end; something the pink pony assumed was the wrong way, and at the other, a pair of doors with a flickering, sparking exit sign.

"She must not know about this."

Pinkie turned around, the distorted voices echoing down the corridor.
They lingered in her head. It sounded so...

"She deserves the right to know! Everypony must know that-!"

"You know what she would do to us! We all do!"

"That doesn't mean we have to sweep everything under the rug!"

"Prim?"
She took another glance back down the dark corridor. The unnatural presence just made her back away, her mind frantically telling her to get out.
"Prim?" she tried again, "is that you?"

"Pinkamena~"

She whirled around instantly, stopping in her tracks at the sound of the singsong voice.
"Who's there?"

"Pinkamena Diane Pie. Forgotten shadow of the past."

The voice... it was sinister, morbid.
"Who are you?" she shouted, squinting her eyes into the darkness.

"Nopony of your grandest concerns. However..."

Pinkie gasped alarmingly as a pony stepped out from the darkness.
Mirror Mare...
"I'm sure, Miss Pie, that you clearly know of dire situations; ponies that I feel so eager to have a small chat with. Such as that of Rainbow Dash..."

"Don't. You, DARE. Touch her!"

"Touch her? I wasn't even planning to touch her..."
The masked pony gave her an atrocious smile, laughing as it continued:
"...just slitting her throat would do the trick..."

Pinkie's rage flared at Mirror Mare. The mask glinted sharply as its owner chuckled at the pink pony, who was now buckling her hooves.
"I want to see you try!"

"Oh? But I already did..."

"Wha... what do you mean..."
The floor around her suddenly shattered, with Mirror Mare cackling at her shock. Pinkie felt her gut sink, her body floating freely in the void. Something seemed to grab her in her shock from the darkness, sucking her into an invisible vortex as she closed her watering eyes.


* * * * *


"Dashie!"

Pinkie gripped onto her sheets fearfully, wrapping it around her hoof firmly from panic. Sweat dripped from her head, the pink pony frantically looking around.
Rainbow Dash was sleeping right next to her. The pink pony immediately rushed to her side despite her aching hooves, checking to see if she was alright.

The pegasus was still breathing. Pinkie sighed with relief.

"Just a dream, it was only just a dream..."
She tried to calm herself down, yet the horrendous mask of the pony only deprived her of it, not to mention the pain from her injuries.
"Glass... it's always glass."
First, a window. Now, an aquarium. She chuckled; it's like somepony jinxed her fate with it.

Without a second thought, Pinkie draped the sheets over her as she settled onto the bed. The voices still rang clearly in her head, taunting her curiosity at every moment.
Her mane had deflated, losing it's natural, puffy touch. She grimaced at the sight of it, brushing it away with a sigh.
"You'll get over it, Pinkie. Soon enough."

"Soon enou..." she started yawning as she laid her head against the white pillow.
Her eyes soon closed, as she finally fell into a deep, painless sleep.

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"Well?"

The rain had since stopped in Cloudsdale, the sky now a clear orange with stars. The sun was now setting fast; the town was up in the sky after all.
Fluttershy gulped as she looked fearfully at the abandoned house before her. She never wanted to go inside, much less take a look at it.

"I... I don't really... um..."

"It's okay, Shy."
Applejack walked to her side, giving her a small grin.
"Ah'll join you, just in case anything happens."

"I won't stop the both of you."
Charter trotted towards them, turning to Applejack as he continued:
"Just be careful in there. The building's very old."

Holding their breath, Applejack and Fluttershy stepped towards the door. The orange pony could see her friend already trembling with fear, although deep down she knew she was doing the same.
"You ready, Shy?" she asked with a smile, trying to brighten the mood.

"I don't know..."

"Ah've seen worse things in life."
Applejack glanced up at the house, feeling a grim, hollow aura from its shattered windows.
"This ain't any different."

Fluttershy smiled through her doubts, admiring her friend's attempt to cheer her up.
"Good luck!" Charter shouted from behind, giving them a hooves up.

With a gentle push, the door creaked open slowly as light simmered into the room for the first time in years. Both ponies stepped in warily, looking around in the musty room before them.
Fluttershy remembered it like it was yesterday. The chairs and couch were all flipped over, the dining table broken on the floor and the kitchen door hanging off its hinges.

She shuddered with a whimper, making Applejack huddle closer to her.
"She isn't here anymore, Shy," the orange pony muttered to her, "remember that."

They strode across the living room, avoiding all the broken pits made into the wooden floor.
Applejack turned to the yellow pegasus, who was looking on the verge of collapsing.
"Where did she... do it?" she asked reluctantly.

Fluttershy closed her eyes, wishing everything wasn't happening. She could hear every swish of dust and every groan of wood, reminding her of the hollow, devoid place she used to call home.
She hesitantly pointed her hoof towards a cracked, wooden door. It looked foreboding despite its age, yet it was tempting Applejack to open.

"The basement, of course," Applejack thought to herself, "It was always the basement."

Both ponies stepped into the darkness of the stairs, feeling the cold draught of musty air, finally free from containment.
Applejack pushed away a few cobwebs in disgust, trying to see down the stairs. She could hear Fluttershy's shallow breathing intensify with each careful step down, more out of fear than anticipation.

Her orange hoof finally touched stone. The orange pony wondered how basements even exist in Cloudsdale, but she shrugged it off. Now's not a good time.
Her hoof reached around the stone walls, before finally touching a switch, flicking it up.

In an instant, a small, hanging bulb in the center brightened the whole room. Applejack let out a small gasp as Fluttershy cringed, frozen in place.

A large, metal table stood in the center of the room, integrated with metallic shackles on the side, just perfect for the proportions of a small filly. From the ceiling, whips, chains, flogs and ropes hung from the ceiling in a gruesome display, with some still stained with blood; the haven of a torture fanatic.
A pulley system was at the top, the ropes severed from age. From the corner, there were buckets, some still filled with ice cold water. The walls were filled with a lot of muck that reeked throughout the den, no doubt the regurgitation of any unfortunate victim here.

But Applejack knew, with a shudder: there was only one.

Fluttershy had already collapsed to the floor, sobbing quietly out of the tormenting sight. Applejack knelt down to her, trying to help her up.
"It's okay, Fluttershy. We can go now."

The voice did nothing in Fluttershy's head, which was now whipping up a torrential hail of the past. The yellow pegasus looked at the table through her tears, her vision slightly hazy with fear.

"What did Mommy said about making friends...?"

She whimpered, unable to speak. The slash of the whip made her scream in pain, only managing to force out a small mutter:
"D-Don't... don't...make any... friends... None at all...."

"That's right, Flutters."
The purple pegasus twirled around with glee, swinging her whip in a profound yet unsettling dance like it was a form of art. She giggled at her daughter's frightened stare as she gave her a kiss on the scarred forehead.
"Good girl."

"We can go now, Fluttershy."

She snapped, blinking as she looked around the basement. Applejack's concerned gaze reassured her, the orange pony lifting her up from the stone floor.
"You 'kay?"

Fluttershy bit her lip, wiping her tears away as she replied:

"I... hope so...."

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Twilight wasn't used to dining alone. Sure, at home she'd usually have dinner with Spike, but when the dragon was away with Rarity in Pendant Lakes, she might have dinner with her friends, or maybe with the other ponies like Cheerilee, Lyra, Vinyl and Carrot Top.
She had never felt more awkward in her life. There she was, sitting in the grand dining room, waiting patiently (more like dying out of boredom) for her food.

The waiters scurried around the majestic rooms, repaired instantly through the afternoon. Twilight helped out, after all, with her magic and sorts.
Sometimes, though, magic can't solve the most prominent of problems. She found out about that yesterday.

"YOU! Don't know me AT ALL!"
Pinkie's voice screeched in her head. Twilight quivered at her rough, violent tone. That wasn't the usual Pinkie Pie at all.
Was Pinkie right? she questioned in her head.
Is there something more to her...?

"Miss Sparkle?"

She turned back, letting out a relieved smile as an amber pegasus approached her, returning a warm smile of his own.
"Tourist Trap..."
Beside her was a mare she never seen before. She had a pale, lime green coat, with her mane chartreuse-like in color. She was a unicorn, like Twilight herself, although something at the back of her head told her that she had not used magic in a long time.

"Penny and I thought we should join you for dinner, since you helped out with the renovating."
The mare reached out her hoof, shaking Twilight's with a warm welcome.
"It's been a pleasure meeting you."

"Same to you, Miss." the unicorn replied with a smile.

"Please. Just call me Penny. Penny Royal."

Twilight smiled beatifically. Finally, somepony to talk to.

"So, Tourist," she asked the stallion, "did anypony else get hurt instead of Rainbow and Pinkie?"

"Not that I know of."
Tourist Trap raised his hoof, whispering for his wife to order.
"Pinkie's injury was the most serious of them all."

"Pinkie..."
Twilight tried not to think about the pink pony's shouts. Without hesitation, she asked:
"You both seem to know Pinkie for a long time now, right?"

"Last visit was five years ago, to be exact."
The waiter arrived, serving them a few cups of tea as he continued:
"She was a brave pony, much like your friend Rainbow Dash, but cheerful as always."

Twilight chuckled, remembering the pink pony's enthusiasm.
"Pinkie was always like that, I guess."

"Speaking of her, shouldn't you visit Pinkie?"
The stallion sipped on his tea, letting the mixture warm his mouth. Penny draped a shawl over her neck, the air becoming noticeably colder by the second.
"I haven't seen you step into the hospital since this morning."

"It's just... Pinkie and I," Twilight began, slowly sipping into her cup of hot tea.
"We had an argument. She was... just so fierce! Like there was nothing we could do to stop her!"

"I see. Well, I'm not surprised though."
Tourist stirred his tea finely with a sprinkle of sugar on his teaspoon. His wife just waited silently beside him, passing him a napkin.
"It isn't the first time she acts this way."

"So, you're saying you've seen her this angry before?"

Penny was the one who replied.
"It was a horrid time for her. She's facing her dark and tragic past."
She wrapped her shawl one more round, slightly shivering as she continued:
"She faced something that many of the bravest would crumble upon. A secret that can destroy Equestria as we know it."

"What secret?" Twilight asked, teetering off the edge of her seat.

"Truth is, it was only a conspiracy theory, applied to anypony that had been scarred wide open."
Tourist finished the sentence, rolling his eyes at his wife.
"I told you, we can't just simply make things up like that. You know the Princesses."

"Well, it isn't my fault these theories were started."
The mare started shivering, despite wearing another shawl over her first one.
"And what's wrong with the conditioning? It's freezing right here!"

Twilight just chuckled, sipping on her already cold tea.
Something seemed to drip onto the surface, making her drink ripple. She gasped at the sight of it, looking at it with awe.
"Im... Impossible..."

A red snowflake floated on the tea, skimming across the surface of it. The unicorn gazed up, before her eyes widened in amazement.

Across the room, snow fell from the ceiling, coating over the tables, carpet and the food. Everypony in the room stood up slowly, their mouths agape at the anomalous, graceful scarlet rain of ice.
Twilight turned to Tourist Trap, who was now entranced yet bewildered by the foreign weather.
"I... I never built a snow machine into it... much less ask for red snowflakes..."

"Then what is it?" his wife asked, her face turning slightly dark with worry.
"What made the snow?"

Twilight pondered for a moment, before snapping her hooves.
In an instant, she galloped across the room, straight into the kitchen, with the two ponies following her.

The doors flapped as some of the staff stumbled outside, gasping in wonder as snow fell across the dining room.
The unicorn pushed through the crowd, finally stumbling into a large, metal panel.
"Heat ventilation system." she explained, placing her ears to the door.

The usual hum was now replaced by steady thuds and whirring of the conveyor belt. Twilight detected a reeking smell seeping from the cracks, her gut sinking with dread.
Opening the double doors, she gasped at the sight before her, tumbling backwards with horror.

The body of a pony was bloodied, crushed between the belt, now bloodstained. One of the hooves dangled outside, jerking and twitching as the belt tried to rotate around it.
The fan behind was still spinning, slicing off what was supposed to be the head. Tourist paled while Penny looked away, scampering from them to get some fresh air.

A loud, piercing scream erupted from the dining hall. Tourist galloped outside, watching a mare cringing in her lover's arms while the red snow continued its graceful yet disturbing fall.
As he grew closer, his stomach gurgled at the sight of an eyeball floating in a cup of champagne. The red snow... the body in the shaft... everything started to piece together amidst his shock.

"Get the police!" he shouted to some of the staff, the mangled state of the dead pony still lingering in his head.

"NOW!"