//------------------------------//
// Chapter Nine: Fear 
// Story: The Bonds of Love 
// by Summer Script 
//------------------------------//

An uncomfortable dread tainted the air of the school’s library as the students sat and silently waited for Silverstream to explain what had happened.

She didn’t. In fact, Silver had been borderline catatonic for the past ten minutes, staring into nothingness and barely responding to anything or anyone, even Gallus.

Eventually, Scoop sighed morosely. “C’mon, guys,” she mumbled. “I don’t think she’s going to talk to us…”

“Well, she has to say something at some point!” Vellum argued despite not appearing to believe his own words. “She has to if we’re going to figure out what occurred between her and Smolder.”

At the mention of Smolder’s name, Silver winced, tearing up again.

“Vellum, I don’t think this is something we should be involved with,” Scoop muttered, pointing at herself, him, and Shimmy Shake.

“And just what do you mean by that?” he asked, scowling.

“I mean that Smolder isn’t our friend. She’s theirs! If anyone knows how to fix things, it’s them! We’d just be getting in the way, so come on!” she beckoned, already turning to leave the library.

“No, Scoop! Something is clearly wrong! And even if we don’t know Smolder as well as they do, we’re still their friends!” Vellum reminded her. “Besides, I want to help.”

“And that’s awfully sweet of you, Vel, but we can’t help! This isn’t any of our business, and I…” Scoop cringed ashamedly and added, “And the last time I messed with something I shouldn’t have, I got us banned from that art gallery.”

“This has nothing to do with you disobeying some stupid rule about paintings, Scoop!” he chided sternly. “This is about a very real and very serious friendship problem!”

“Yeah? Well, do you see our cutie marks glowing and hovering over some ancient map table!?” she asked, pointing at her flank. “No, you don’t. Which means we can’t solve it!”

“Perhaps you’re right, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help them solve it!”

“I agree with Vellum,” Shimmy Shake stated solemnly.

Scoop looked between her fellow clubmates and hung her head, admitting, “Yeah. Yeah, I know you’re right. But I don’t know what to do, and I don’t want to screw anything up again! S-So… Any ideas?”

While Vellum contemplated an answer, Shimmy addressed the others, “Alright, everycreature, look… Smolder and I may not be ‘best friends’ like you guys, but we are friends.”

She then stepped up to Gallus and continued, “I don’t know why, but Smolder’s been acting weird for weeks now. Hoarding books, skipping practice; ditching Science Club… I tried asking her about it, but she just kept telling me she was fine. Part of me believed her, so I never talked to anyone about it,” Shimmy confessed, her voice dripping with regret.

“But that was a mistake,” she resumed. “So while I may not have helped her then, I will help her now! So, Gallus? How can we help?” she asked, standing at the ready.

Gallus stood up and stared at each of them in turn. “You guys really want to help?”

“Yes!” Shimmy answered immediately.

“I wouldn’t do anything less,” Vellum vowed.

“Neither would I,” Scoop assured, still somewhat uneasy but determined nonetheless. “Just tell us what you want us to do.”

Gallus turned to his other friends who each gave him their own looks of uncertainty. He then closed his eyes as his mind raced to come up with a plan, and once he did, he looked back at the ponies.

“Alright, listen up!” he began in a commanding voice. “We’ll figure out what we’re going to do about Smolder, but we can’t fix anything if we can’t talk to her. So, I want you three to find her. Find her, but don’t talk to her!” he emphasized. “Leave that to us.”

“Shall we fetch Patty and November?” Vellum inquired. “They’d likely wish to help as well.”

“So would Lighthoof,” Shimmy added. “And End Zone too.”

“No,” Gallus ordered calmly. “Don’t tell anypony else about this.”

“Uh, Gallus?”

“Hold on, Sandbar,” he said, not even bothering to look back at him. “For Smolder’s sake, keep this between us. Can you guys do that?”

“Don’t worry, Gallus. Not even I would gossip about this,” Scoop swore, performing the motions of the Pinkie Promise.

Gallus smiled gratefully, saying, “Thank you. Now, please. Hurry! I don’t want Smolder out there all alone after what happened.”

“Understood,” Vellum said, turning to Shimmy Shake. “You know her the best of us, Shimmy. Do you have any idea where she might be?”

“Hmm…? I caught her sleeping behind the sports field bleachers once. And we’ve hung out at Sofas and Quills from time-to-time,” she suggested shyly.

“She might have also gone to the Treehouse,” Gallus warned, praying that wasn’t the case.

“The one in the Everfree!?” Scoop squeaked, terrified. “No way! Smolder’s brave, but she wouldn’t be stupid enough to go through that place this late at night, right? With all the— The cockatrices, Timberwolves, a-and weird, Princess-attacking vine things…” she ended, suppressing a shiver.

“Somehow, I doubt she’s thinking very clearly right now,” Shimmy murmured.

“There’s also the possibility she came back to the school while we’ve been here,” Vellum acknowledged, frowning thoughtfully. “Hmm. We’ll just have to split up then,” he decided. “Shimmy? You know the layout of the Nightmare Night party going on, so you explore the school grounds.”

“O-Okay! Understood.”

“And Scoop? You stay here and search inside the school, leave no room or closet unchecked.”

“Got it! What about you, Vel?”

“I’ll head to Ponyville and search around the town. Once we finish, we regroup. And? Should we not have found her anywhere…” he trailed off, giving her a sympathetic look.

“Y-You mean…?”

“The Treehouse is the only other place she would be.”

Scoop looked positively terrified at the prospect of trotting through the Everfree Forest in the dead of night—on Nightmare Night, no less—but she soon gulped and nodded bravely. “Alright.”

“Don’t worry, Scoop, I’m sure that’s a worst case scenario,” Vellum assuaged, trotting toward the door. Before he left, he gave Gallus a small nod and beckoned, “C’mon, girls, we need to hurry!”

“We’re coming!” Scoop replied as he disappeared down the hallway. “Are you guys going to be okay?” she quietly asked before following after Vellum.

“Don’t worry about us, just find Smolder!”

“…Okay. We will,” she swore, leaving the library herself. “Let’s go, Shimmy!”

Shimmy Shake didn’t budge and instead gave one last pleading look to Gallus. “Are you sure you can figure out what’s wrong with my friend?” she whimpered.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, refusing to give her false hope. “But I do know that regardless of whatever it is she’s going through, I am not going to let her deal with it alone anymore,” he promised.

She held his stare for a moment longer before smiling weakly. “Thank you. Good luck, Gallus,” she wished, chasing after Scoop and Vellum to begin their hunt for the lost dragon.

…

…

…

I can help save Equestria twice without blinking, but I can’t even be certain I can solve one friendship problem? Gallus pondered, looking down at his talon. When he saw it was shaking, he frowned angrily and clenched it, resolving, No, I’m not going to think like that! Not when my friends need me!

Besides, he continued, trotting toward the others. If I can help save Equestria twice without blinking, then I can totally solve one little friendship problem, Gallus ended confidently. “Okay, Ocellus. What did your spell pick up?” he asked, ignoring Yona and Sandbar’s questioning looks.

“H-Huh!?” Ocellus exclaimed, jumping in surprise. “Uh, what do mean, Gallus?” she asked, smiling awkwardly and giving the pair a fleeting glance. “What, spell are you—”

“Ocellus, now is not the time!”

She flinched at his tone but immediately gave in and answered, “She flew out of range before I could even begin performing it.”

“Huh? What friends talking about?” Yona asked, sharing a glance with an equally stupefied Sandbar. “What spell?”

“Explanations later, problem solving now,” Gallus deflected, covering for Ocellus. “Come on, Ocellus, you must know something!”

“I never used it around anyone other than you and Silverstream! The only time I did was on the first day back after Friends and Family Day,” she clarified, hiding her face in her hooves. “And when I did, everything was muddled together, so I couldn’t tell anycreature’s feelings apart! Not to mention it made me violently ill…”

“Seriously, guys, what are you talking about?” Sandbar asked, tilting his head in confusion. “Because it’s starting to sound like you’re saying Ocellus really can sense—”

“Not the time, Sandbar!” Gallus rebuked harshly, silencing him instantly. He then returned his attention to Ocellus, asking, “You seriously have no idea what she’s been feeling lately? None at all?”

“I didn’t use it around Smolder since I didn’t think I needed to. She was obviously upset; I just assumed she was upset about what happened that day,” Ocellus mumbled, resting her head against the desk she sat at. “So, no. I don’t know anything. …I’m sorry, Gallus.”

“Ughhh,” he groaned, flicking his tail angrily. “Okay, but what about what Shimmy said? How Smolder was apparently ditching Science Club? How long has that been going on?” he asked, vaguely recalling November having said something similar the day of the Fair.

“Sh-She wasn’t showing up for a few weeks. But when we asked about it, Vice Headstallion Sunburst told us she was just working on her project alone,” she explained timidly.

“Professor Dash say same thing when Yona ask why Smolder not show up to cheer-leading,” Yona confided, joining the conversation. “That— That Smolder too busy working on project to practice.”

“So Smolder was skipping out on all of her clubs to work on her project?” Gallus summarized as he started pacing. “Okay, that makes sense. Except for the fact that she didn’t finish the thing!”

Ocellus raised her head back up and murmured, “Even with all that extra time she spent working on her project, all she had to show for it was…”

“A measly cup of dirt,” Gallus finished for her.

“B-But that doesn’t make any sense!” she yelped, sneering at the remembered image. “What was she doing with all that time if she wasn’t working on her project?”

“Exactly,” he grumbled. Was she maybe working on a second project? Gallus considered, massaging a building headache. No, that doesn’t seem right… Sure, we had a few friendship reports, but they weren’t that time-consuming! So? What was she doing?

“O-Okay! Hold on a moment, please!” Sandbar requested, trying and failing to hide how scared he looked. “Can we just… Take a second to calm down?”

“Every second we spend ‘calming down’ is another second Smolder is out there alone and upset!” Gallus snapped. “Right now, we need to figure out why she is so upset so we can help her!”

“I get that, dude!” he swore, holding up his hooves placatingly. “But, uh, why does it matter that Smolder didn’t finish her project? She just ran out of time, didn’t she?”

“Smolder had as much time as we did to complete her project, Sandbar,” Ocellus deadpanned.

“And hers was about stars and stuff, right? Well, that’s a pretty complicated subject, isn’t it?”

“Not that complicated a subject.”

“Yeah, but unlike you, Ocellus, Smolder didn’t have Gallus helping her out.”

“Fair point,” Gallus conceded begrudgingly. “But that doesn’t explain why she couldn’t finish her project when she was skipping activities so she could have more time.”

Sandbar stared at both of them before shaking his head clear. “I-I-I’m sorry, but…” he stuttered. “A-Am I out of the loop on something again? What— What does Smolder’s science project have to do with what happened between her and Silver?”

Now hold on, Gallus, that’s actually a fair question, he recognized, reigning in his frustration. “To be honest, Sandy? Probably nothing,” Gallus reluctantly avowed.

“Then why are you and Ocellus acting like it does?” he inquired, sharing a glance with Yona. “W-We can’t be paranoid about something like that right now; we need to help Smolder!”

There was something about Sandbar’s word choice that struck Gallus as odd, but he elected to brush it off, affirming, “I know we need to help Smolder! But we have no idea what’s wrong with her, and this is our only lead!”

“But why would Smolder want to skip out on cheer-leading of all things just to not work on her project!? She loves cheer-leading!”

“Exactly our point, Sandbar,” Ocellus said quietly. “Why would Smolder forgo something she loves so much if not for the reasons she gave us?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, rubbing his shoulder anxiously. “I-I… I don’t know.”

Yona reached out and took his hoof into hers, giving him a comforting smile. She then focused her gaze on Gallus, giving him a small nod.

Gallus took a deep breath to calm himself, accepting, Sandbar isn’t exactly wrong. Whatever is going on with Smolder might not have anything to do with why she didn’t complete her project on time.

But what else do we have to go on then? he wondered, staring at the despondent Silverstream. Gallus then recalled what else Shimmy had mentioned and began, “Alright, let’s back up a bit. Shimmy also mentioned that Smolder was hoarding books? Was she talking about all those psychology books she returned the other day?” he asked Ocellus.

“It has to be,” she confirmed, rubbing her eyes. “And what they returned was barely a tenth of what else Smolder evidently checked out.”

What the peck would Smolder even want with a bunch of psychology books anyway? Gallus questioned, unconsciously tapping the floor. That wasn’t what her project was on.

“Oh yeah, I am definitely not aware of this,” Sandbar muttered. “What happened?”

“For over a month, the library’s Psychology section has been practically barren,” Ocellus elaborated, unable to hide her bitterness. “Over two hundred books had been taken from it.”

“Okay, that is weird. But, uh, you don’t seriously think Smolder has something to do with that, do you? Psychology doesn’t seem like something she’d be interested in,” he pointed out.

“Hence why I never suspected it was her,” she said, nodding in agreement. “But then, Smolder and Shimmy returned some of them while we were in the library earlier this week.”

“But why would she take so many books?” Sandbar asked, even more confused. “Especially if she had her science project to complete?”

All but Yona perked up, coming to the same realization.

“Unless reading all those psychology books…?” Gallus started slowly.

“Was what she was doing instead of her project,” Ocellus concluded. “But that makes even less sense! Smolder asked me about her project a long time ago, and she was going to talk about star compositions, not psychology! And I seriously doubt she was thinking of changing it!”

“Ugh! None of this makes any sense,” Sandbar moaned, slumping into his cushion and staring at the ceiling. “And if it does, I’m not getting it.”

“I don’t think any of us are,” Ocellus lamented, staring anywhere but at Gallus. “We don’t even know why Smolder freaked out in the first place, let alone what she and Silver fought about!”

Silver suddenly sniffled, drawing all of their gazes onto her. When she remained taciturn, Sandbar blinked and suddenly inquired, “Hey, Yona? This…doesn’t have anything to do with what you and Silver were talking about at the Fair, does it?”

After a brief, ominous silence, Yona trotted over to Silver and sat beside her. “Silverstream?” she began softly. “Yona think friends should know about other fight.”

“‘Other fight’?” Gallus glanced at Sandbar only to see the stallion looked just as shocked by the revelation as he was. “Yona, what other fight!?”

For the first time since the incident, Silver spoke. “I-It was a few weeks ago…”

Gallus was at her side in a heartbeat, rubbing Silver’s back soothingly and giving Yona an intense glare that silently demanded an explanation.

Yona met his glare and looked back at Silver. Seeing she still didn’t look ready to continue, Yona divulged, “Silver talked to Smolder long time ago. About… About friend’s ‘silent treatment.’”

Oh peck. “W-What? Why?”

“I didn’t like h-how she was avoiding you! It— It wasn’t right!” Silver blurted out as she began crying again. “It wasn’t right th-that she wasn’t t-talking to you anymore, Gallus!”

Gallus wrapped his wings around her and pulled her closer. “Hey, hey, hey! It’s okay, Silver; it’s okay…” he comforted as Yona swiftly gave them space.

“N-No! No, it’s not! It’s not okay, Gallus!” she yelled, breathing raggedly. “She was so pa-paranoid! Smolder thought that— That you w-were still hurting!” Silver rambled on, seemingly unable to stop now that she had begun. “I-I-I tried telling her that you were okay, but she just kept a-asking how I could know for certain, and— A-And— And then she asked m-me to leave, a-and—”

Silver buried her head into his shoulder and whimpered, “G-Gallus… She— Sh-She was so scared, a-and I— I left!” she wailed, shivering violently.

“It’s okay, Silver; it’s okay,” Gallus repeated. “Everything will be fine, I promise.”

“No! It will not be fine!” she screamed into his plumage, gripping him like a lifeline. “I left her, Gallus! Sh-She wanted me to leave l-like you did, b-but I did leave! It’s all my fault!”

“Silver, it’s not—”

“N-No! I sh-should have been there for her, but I wasn’t! I wasn’t, Gallus! I-I’m her friend, and she was scared! But I-I was just so tired of being paranoid, th-that I— That I believed her when she said she’d be okay!”

“But I should have stayed!” she screeched furiously. “I sh-should have stayed with her, b-but I didn’t! And now she’s even more scared! S-Scared that you’ll j-join the Guard! That you’ll go to w-war! That you’ll… That you’ll…!” Silver choked, unable to say the last word. “It’s all my fault!”

“Silver, it’s not your fault,” Gallus assured as she continued weeping into his feathers. “It is not your fault.”

While Gallus consoled Silverstream as best as he could, Sandbar and Ocellus watched on in abject horror. And although Yona said nothing, she too was quivering where she stood.

They had all seen Silver upset at some point or another, but this…? This wasn’t right.

After several painstakingly long minutes, Silver’s sobs abated. “I’m a terrible friend,” she mumbled, not noticing Ocellus gasp in shock at her words.

“No, you’re not!” Gallus protested, pulling back so as to meet her gaze. “You are not a terrible friend, Silverstream! You are perfect.”

“No, I’m not…”

“Yes. Yes, you are,” he argued, leaving no room for objection.

“B-But I left Smolder… She was s-scared, and I—”

“You trusted her, Silver. You trusted she would be okay, and that’s not something you should ever feel ashamed about,” Gallus said warmly. “None of this is your fault.”

“But— But, I—” Silver froze, and after a second her eyes widened in panic. “Y-You don’t mean…!?”

Okay, I know where this is going. “No. Don’t worry, Silver, I know none of this is my fault either.”

“…You do?”

“Yeah, I do. Look,” Gallus declared openly. “Whatever is going on with Smolder? It’s no one’s fault. Not mine. Not yours!” he said pointedly to Silver. “Not even Smolder’s. It’s a thing that happened, and it’s a problem we need to solve. … So, Silverstream?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Please don’t think any of this is your fault,” he begged softly. “You are kind, and wonderful, and just so, so amazing! … So, please. For your sake, don’t blame yourself, Silver.”

After one final sniffle, she nodded fervently and leaned back into his embrace. “It’s— It’s not my fault,” she whispered, letting out a shuddering sigh. “It’s not my fault.”

“No, it’s not,” he promised, nuzzling her comfortingly.

…

…

…

“Are you okay?” Gallus asked after some time.

“I-I… I will be. I think? I don’t know,” Silverstream mumbled, fighting off another shiver. “I just want her to be okay. I just want e-everything to be okay.”

“And it will be, Silver. I promise everything will be okay.”

“I… I believe you.”

“Thank you,” he said, giving her a quick, encouraging kiss. “Now, are you sure you’re alright?”

Silver nodded shakily.

“Alright. But the moment you need anything, you let me know.”

“I-I will,” she said, wiping her eyes one last time.

“Good.” He turned his sights to the others and said, “Alright, guys, tell me one of you has some kind of a plan? Please?” Because I don’t have one, Gallus was too afraid to confess.

Ocellus shook her head, still reeling from just how distraught Silverstream had been. Yona, meanwhile, just seemed relieved that Gallus had helped Silver snap out of it.

Sandbar, on the other hoof, hesitantly proposed, “I think we should get our professors, Gallus. I-I don’t think we know how to fix this.”

“S-Sandbar has a point,” Ocellus agreed tentatively. “This doesn’t seem like a problem we’ve been taught how to solve.”

They’re right, Gallus admitted to himself. Smolder is Grover-knows-where, Silverstream is a wreck; and none of us have a clue what the peck to do! The only problem is…

“Smolder doesn’t blame you either, Gallus,” he remembered Starlight saying so very long ago. “I won’t deny she’s angry, but it’s not because she thinks you’re at fault for something.”

“Then why is she mad at me?”

“That’s something we both need to talk to her about…”

And with everything going on right now…? Gallus thought, frowning. Either she didn’t, and Headmare Starlight is the biggest hypocrite in Equestria… Or she did, and Smolder still isn’t okay.

“I wanna agree with you, Sandy, I really do. But I’m not sure if they could help either.”

“They’re our professors, dude!”

“Exactly. And if we ‘snitch’ on Smolder, who knows what kind of trouble she’ll get into for disappearing on everycreature in the middle of the night,” Gallus acknowledged, grimacing at the possibility. “And if that happens, I don’t think she’ll ever forgive us.”

“Yona not like it, but Yona think Gallus also has point,” she conceded slowly. “Smolder need friends right now, not teachers.”

“But what else can we do? Seriously, Gallus, what do we do!?”

They’re all expecting me to know how to fix this, Gallus realized fearfully. But I don’t! I don’t know how to fix this! Grover, help me! What am I supposed to do!? he bemoaned, feeling his stomach churn.

…You’re a clever griffon, Gallus, he reminded himself. This is just a problem. A problem is just a type of puzzle. And puzzles always have solutions, he understood, letting out a calm sigh. Emotional issues or no, there is always a solution!

We just have to find it.

“For now? We’re going to figure out everything we can about what’s going on with her,” Gallus decided, standing up and helping Silver do the same. “And then? We’re going to figure out what to say to Smolder to fix all of this. I am not losing her as a friend.”

“And our professors?”

“If we can’t solve the problem, we’ll go to them. But not until we’re absolutely positive that we can’t,” he added, glaring both Sandbar and Ocellus down. “Understand?”

“Perfectly,” he promised, wincing under the griffon’s gaze.

“If you’re sure, Gallus? Then yes. I understand,” she said neutrally.

“Yona understand too; just tell Yona and friends what Gallus think we should do.”

“I want to know what Smolder was so scared about and what she was doing with all those psychology books. So, the first place I think we should start is her room,” he ended determinedly.

Though Sandbar and Ocellus still seemed uncertain, they nodded nonetheless. “Alright. We’re with you, Gallus,” the latter swore quietly.

“We all are,” Silver agreed, giving him a weak-yet-hopeful smile.

I love them all so much, he thought, feeling his confidence rise. “Thanks, guys,” Gallus said, smiling weakly. “Now, let’s go! The others are going to find her soon, so we need to hurry!”

“Right!” they all replied, following him out of the library.


***


A few minutes passed as the group trotted down the hallways of the Friendship School, ignoring the echoing sounds of the ongoing Nightmare Night party outside. Eventually, they rounded the corner and spotted the dormitories…

“—But you always told us it didn’t work like that!” Sandbar exclaimed, continuing the conversation he had begun on their walk.

“That’s because it isn’t supposed to work like that,” Ocellus mumbled, rolling her eyes.

“Well, why didn’t you ever tell us when you did figure it out?”

“Because King Thorax told me not to! Now, please drop it!” she pleaded tiredly.

“Fine. It’s still totally awesome that you can do it though.”

“It would have been better if it actually helped solve any friendship problems…”

“Are you guys done?” Gallus deadpanned once the group reached Smolder’s bedroom.

They nodded.

“Good. Maybe now we can focus on the issue at talon,” he quipped, trying the door only to discover it was locked. “Oh, you’ve got to be…! Hey, Yona? You got a bobby pin?”

“Umm,” she hummed, searching her person for the requested item.

“Ahem!” Once Ocellus had their attention, she lit her horn up, and the lock clicked open from the other side. “Have I ever mentioned how much I love telekinesis?”

“You don’t do that to every locked door you come across, do you?” Sandbar jokingly asked as they entered into Smolder’s domain. “Because if you did, Professor Rarity would be—Whoooaaa!”

Smolder’s entire room was littered with books. Most were arranged in towers scattered across the floor randomly; others simply lied in a pile stacked around the bed. Besides this, the room looked relatively normal. And yet…? Gallus still felt a shiver run down his spine.

Geez, Smolder… What happened to you? he wondered, striding further into the room.

“You guys were not lying about the book thing,” Sandbar hummed, following after Gallus and accidentally knocking one of the towers down.

“Did you think we were?” Ocellus sneered, levitating several books around her.

“No,” he said, recreating the fallen tower. “I did think you were exaggerating a little, but…”

“Are Smolder’s books all from Psychology section!?” Yona questioned, gaping in shock.

Ocellus flitted through her cloud of tomes and confirmed, “Looks like it.”

While everyone else slowly took in Smolder’s mess, Silverstream finally entered the room herself and gulped. She then felt a reassuring talon on her back and gave Gallus a thankful smile.

He smiled back and proceeded to ask aloud, “Okay, so why does she have so many books? I can understand a passing interest in some of them, but this isn’t normal.”

“I don’t know. But I’m beginning to wonder if Smolder’s hoarding instincts kicked in,” Ocellus theorized, casting another glance over the room. “It would certainly explain why she grabbed so many copies of the same books,” she ended, holding seven identical tomes.

“You think she was just grabbing books randomly then?”

“Possibly. Remember that one story about Spike? And how when his greed got out of control, he started stealing things without rhyme or reason?”

“So, wait. Is that what this is all about?” Sandbar asked, pawing the floor nervously. “Smolder’s acting weird because of some dragon thing?”

“Considering that Smolder hasn’t become the size of a mountain? No,” she answered, much to his disappointment. “It’s most likely why she took so many books in the first place, but…”

“It doesn’t explain the sudden interest in psychology?” Gallus guessed.

“Exactly. And what’s worse? I’ve read some of these, and not all of them are enjoyable.”

“What do you mean?”

Ocellus was silent for a moment, but inevitably, she sighed and passed Gallus one of the books she had been investigating, refusing to meet his gaze. “This one is guaranteed to terrify anyone reading it.”

He took hold of the item and read the title, “The Many Signs of Sorrow? Sounds…weird. What kind of book is this?” Gallus inquired, turning and reading the description on the back.

“A book about mental health,” Ocellus stated concisely. “…Specifically, a book on how to recognize when somecreature doesn’t have the ‘best’ mental health,” she forced herself to clarify.

Feeling slightly nauseated, Gallus carefully placed the book on a nearby pile and murmured, “Why would Smolder want to read a book like that?”

“Well, I read it because it seemed rather informative, and it mostly was. As for why Smolder wanted to read it? I’ve no clue.” After examining some of the other books, Ocellus commented, “Huh. Seems like a lot of the books she took have to do with mental health.”

“Enough to be considered a pattern?” he asked, examining another tower of tomes.

“‘A pattern’? Hmm? I’m not sure. Princess Twilight made sure the entire library was filled with other, similar self-help books,” she disclosed plainly. “So if she were just hoarding books without really paying attention to what she was taking…?”

“Chances are she would have grabbed a few of them without meaning to. Great.” Back to square one, Gallus lamented, unsure if he was happy about that or not.

“There’s also the fact that we have absolutely no idea what books she did or didn’t read,” Ocellus groaned. “So if there is a pattern to Smolder’s book hoarding we probably won’t even realize if we find it.”

“Well, Yona know Smolder not read these,” Yona claimed, gesturing to a random, noticeably smaller pile. Everyone stared at her, so she elaborated, “Smolder not really careful with claws, so pages sometimes get scratched. See?” she said, showing them a book that was indeed filled with scratched pages.

Light-bulb! “If that’s the case, maybe we can see which of these stupid things Smolder read,” Gallus decreed, re-inspecting the one Ocellus had passed to him. “Maybe then we can get another clue,” he supposed, relieved to find no marks along the book’s pages.

“I don’t know, dude. Lots of these books were probably already dinged up, so I doubt all of the scuffs are from Smolder,” Sandbar reasonably argued. “Plus, she might have read some of these without ripping the pages too…” he mumbled, shooting Yona an apologetic glance.

“Do you have any better ideas for figuring out what books Smolder did or didn’t read?”

Sandbar turned to Ocellus expectantly.

“M-Magic can’t do everything, Sandbar!”

“You can make a spell that reads our minds, but not one that checks if someone’s read a book?”

“Okay! First of all, it’s not mind-reading! And secondly—”

“It’s not the point?” Gallus interrupted reproachfully. Once both of them were cowed, he continued, “Look, I know this is all one huge long-shot, but we don’t have any other options. So, please! Let’s just try to find something—Anything!—that could tell us what’s going on with her?”

Sandbar and Ocellus both nodded and proceeded to do exactly that while Gallus bent down and rummaged through the book pile by Smolder’s bed.

Silver and Yona shared a mutually scared expression, but the latter quickly put up an optimistic smile. Silver warily grinned back, joining Gallus in his search while Yona went about her own.

Less than five minutes had passed before Silver suddenly tensed up and uttered, “Guys? W-What was the name of that book you were talking about?”

Oh no. “The Many Signs of Sorrow,” Gallus answered apprehensively. “Why?”

“Because I found a copy of it. And it does have claw-marks…”

Peck. “Okay,” he began, gently taking the book from Silver’s trembling talons. “So, we know she likely did read that one. That’s okay; it’s no big deal,” he assured calmly. “It’s just one book.”

“M-Maybe. But why would Smolder read a book like t-that at all!?”

“Or this one!?” Ocellus yelped, flipping through a random textbook. “Wait! Oh, phew! No claw-marks!” she celebrated, putting the book down and shooting it sickened glare. “Thank goodness!”

Silver and Gallus exchanged a glance, and the latter muttered, “Uh, Ocellus?”

“You don’t want to know!”

“Um!” Sandbar squealed in a cracked voice. “I-I think we do want know why she had this one!” he declared, holding up a seemingly ordinary book.

The others all stared at him, and Gallus slowly read, “How to Help the Struggling: A Guide to Preventing—” His voiced hitched when they all saw the last word on the cover.

They all sat in silence, trying to find some reasonable explanation for the book they had found.

“A-Are… Are there…?”

Sandbar quickly recollected himself enough to open the book and flit through the pages, but to everycreature’s utter horror, he found exactly what they dreaded he would find.

The pages were covered in claw marks.

As if on reflex, Sandbar threw the book as far away from himself as possible and hastily backed away from the pile it had landed in. That action was what broke the stunned stupor plaguing the others.

“Gallus…?” Silver whispered, sounding beyond terrified.

Why the peck would she read that book!? Gallus panicked. It doesn’t— Why did she— What did I— He immediately stopped that train of thought, commanding. Don’t, Gallus. Do not go there.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” he said for both their benefit and for his. “All we know is that she had a book on…that! And she might have read it. That— That doesn’t mean anything.”

Ocellus picked the book back up in her magic and performed a spell. Immediately, four other copies were lifted into the air and pulled toward her.

And they were all littered with identical scratches.

“O-O-Okay,” she whispered in a cracked voice. “Th-That’s not good!”

“Did… Did Smolder r-really…” Yona hushed, unable to voice that thought.

“I really, really hope not!” Ocellus shrieked, checking through all of them. “This one is not a nice read! At! All!” she yelled, quickly scanning the other piles for similar titles.

“Wh-Why would Smolder want to read it then!?” Sandbar shouted, grimacing in horror.

Barely keeping himself together, Gallus said, “Okay! Guys? Stop it. L-Let’s just keep looking; maybe there’s another clue or—”

“Or another book just like it?” Ocellus interrupted, finding another set of tomes and drawing them closer. “Coping With the Loss of a Loved One,” she read, terrified. “Toxic Positivity: What to and What Not to Say!? The View From Halfway Down: A Psychological Study…!?”

“Ocellus, stop it!” Gallus ordered after noticing Silverstream had started shivering again.

“But, Gallus! They’re covered in the same scratches!” she acknowledged, tearing up. “Why would Smolder want anything to do with books like these!? What the hay is going on!?”

“I don’t know!” he bellowed, panting heavily in the silence that followed. “I… I don’t know!”

…

“Holy horseapples!” Sandbar swore, covering his mouth his hooves. “Y-You guys don’t think th-that… That she…?”

“Don’t you pecking dare, Sandbar! Don’t you pecking dare suggest that!”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!” he clarified adamantly. “I meant… You guys don’t think she knows someone who— Who was considering that. Do you?”

Ocellus gasped and whispered, “You mean l-like a friend back in the Dragon Lands? O-Or somepony at the school?” she asked, biting her lip anxiously.

“Oh Grover…!” Gallus mewled, feeling sick.

“No! No, Yona can’t believe that what friend’s problem is!” Yona protested, crying openly. “Yona know Smolder would say something to friends or teachers if that were true!”

“U-Unless… Unless she thought going to our teachers would make everything worse,” Sandbar countered, directing a look at Gallus.

Gallus took a deep breath and exclaimed, “Guys! We can’t jump to conclusions. … But if that really is the case—And I’m not saying that it is! Then who does she know that was going through that?” I-It can’t be Shimmy Shake or Lighthoof, and it definitely can’t be one of us! Is… Is it her brother? One of his friends? Dragon Lord Ember maybe!? “Seriously, guys, who the peck does Smolder know that might be going through something like this!?” he asked desperately.

“You.”

Everyone stared at Silverstream.

“It’s— It’s you, Gallus,” she said, looking at him as if he were a ghost.

Time seemed to freeze for Gallus as he stood there, blinking in shock. N-No. No-no-no! No, that’s not— That can’t— That doesn’t— Gallus thought in a blind panic, feeling the horrified gazes of his friends lock onto him. “Silver, th-that doesn’t make any sense!” he finally blurted out.

“Actually,” Ocellus spoke up in a scarily calm voice. “It makes perfect sense.”

“How the peck do you figure that, Ocellus!?”

“She had books on how to help creatures going through troubles like that,” she began neutrally. “We know she did read some of them, and Silver said she was paranoid you still weren’t okay…”

“Well, clearly we now know why she was paranoid! But it can’t have had anything to do with me!” Gallus proclaimed, forcing a shaky grin. It can’t have had anything to do with me! he told himself.

“Except she was avoiding you,” Ocellus bluntly reminded him. “If— If she was afraid you were going through something like this and was worried she might make it worse…?”

“‘Assuming I’d know how,’” Silver murmured to herself. “That— That’s what she meant!?” She blinked and realized, “And that’s why she was so scared of you joining the Guard! Why she was so scared that you were… You would…” She sniffled, falling silent.

“G-Guys…” Yona mumbled, shifting her gaze between each of them. “Y-Yona think friends—”

“What are all of you talking about!?” Gallus demanded hotly. “She was avoiding me because she was angry I lied to you guys about what happened on Friends and Family Day, not because she thought I was—”

“Gallus…”

“No, Sandbar! Smolder is not afraid I would do something like that! She just can’t be!” he cried out, refusing to accept the possibility. “For all we know, Smolder really is going through some weird dragon thing, and we’re just overreacting!”

“Dude, come on! You were upset and didn’t tell any of us about it!” Sandbar reprimanded, whipping his tail angrily. “Silver had to practically force the truth out of you!”

“And that was really, really stupid of me!” Gallus angrily squawked. “But Smolder can’t seriously think I would do something like that! She has no reason to ever—”

“But logically speaking—”

“I don’t give a peck about logic, Ocellus!” he interrupted. It can’t be true; it can’t be true; it can’t be true! Gallus repeated, declaring, “We are all just paranoid! Nothing more! It’s just a few stupid books that she just so happened to grab!”

“And read! Extensively!” Ocellus countered, levitating the scratch-covered books closer.

Gallus slapped them away and continued, “Okay, so what!? She read a bunch of dumb books, but that doesn’t prove anything! They probably did spook the peck out of her, but that’s the worst case scenario!” he stressed, trying not to hyperventilate.

“This is the worst case scenario!” Sandbar countered as his face paled. “Smolder thought you were going to do…that! And now she’s Celestia-knows-where, dwelling on it! We need to go to our professors and talk to them about—”

“Shut up, Sandbar! We are not getting our professors! Smolder is our friend, and we need to help her!”

“Please! Friends need to stop fight—”

“Don’t you get it, Gallus!?” Sandbar groaned, having not heard Yona speak up. “Smolder is scared that you were going to kill your—”

“You don’t know that!” Gallus hollered over him. “I don’t know that! None of us know that!”

“Gallus, please!” Ocellus beseeched, quietly sobbing. “If Smolder thought you would—”

“No, Ocellus! She wasn’t— She couldn’t— Th-This is crazy!” Gallus screeched, flaring his wings in outrage. “This whole ‘idea’ is crazy!”

“You know what, Gallus!? It is crazy!” Sandbar agreed. “This isn’t a friendship problem! This isn’t some boring class assignment! This isn’t some lame bad guy we can zap to the moon! This! Is! Crazy!” he cried, taking a second to catch his breath. “And we need to get our professors! NOW!”

“Not if it means destroying our friendship with Smolder!” he growled, scratching his talons against the floor. “Or do you really think she would ever forgive us for going to them and accusing her of being scared that I was considering pecking suicide!”

Everyone flinched at the word, but Sandbar still argued, “This isn’t something we know how to deal with, Gallus!”

“We’re her friends, Sandbar! We have to help her!”

“Friends need to stop! Please!” Yona begged.

“We are kids, Gallus! We’re just kids…!”

“Yeah, a bunch of kids who helped save Equestria! Twice!”

“That doesn’t matter! I don’t care if we helped save Equestria, or if the Tree of Harmony thinks we’re cool, or whatever else! We do not know how to fix anything like this!”

“S-Sandbar’s right, Gallus!” Ocellus whimpered. “None of our lessons have ever gone over how to help someone struggling with this!”

“No, Sandbar is not right!” he frantically insisted. “None of this is right! This can’t be what Smolder was worried about this entire time! I— I refuse to believe it!” Gallus roared, feeling his eyes glisten. “I refuse!”

“Gallus, you can’t just ignore the facts—”

“What facts, Ocellus!? All we know is that Smolder was upset and reading a bunch of stupid, crazy books that just made her even more upset! That are making us upset!”

“Gallus,” Silver sobbed, reaching out with a talon. “Gallus, please—”

“No!” he shrieked, flinching away from Silver and the others. “No, this— This is crazy! All of this is crazy! I have never thought of doing that! Never!” he promised, feeling his heart thunder against his chest. “Smolder could never have been afraid of that!”

“She was, Gallus!”

“And how do you know, Sandbar!? What!? Were you afraid I’d do something like that too!?”

“What!? No! I-I would never—”

“You said you believed that I would never lie about something like this! That’s what you said, Sandbar!” Gallus snarled. “So don’t tell me all that was a lie!”

“I wasn’t lying, Gallus!” Sandbar proclaimed, crying almost as badly as Silverstream. “But for Celestia’s sake! You said you were hearing Cozy Glow in your head! Do you really think that’s a good sign!? Do you think Smolder took that as a good sign!?”

“Okay, fine! I was screwed up for a while; I won’t deny that! But I’m better now! You all believe that, don’t you!? Smolder has to believe that too!”

“She clearly doesn’t!”

“Guys, please—”

“So does that mean you don’t believe me either!?”

“Gallus, that’s not the—”

“Answer the question, Sandbar!”

“I believed you, Gallus!”

“Then why aren’t you acting like it!?”

“STOP! FIGHTING!” Yona screamed, slamming her hooves down with enough force to shake the entire room, toppling every last book pile assembled by Smolder.

Yona’s outburst was followed by the watery stares of everycreature else and the sounds of their labored breathing. After a moment, Gallus and Sandbar met each other’s gaze, only for both of them to immediately look away in regret.

After wiping away her own tears, Yona firmly exclaimed, “Friends need to stop fighting! Smolder is afraid and alone, and friends need to help!”

“But—”

“Quiet!” she barked. Once Gallus clamped his beak shut, she continued, “Friends think situation crazy!? Well, Yona think whole thing crazy too! Yona not know what to do or what to think! All Yona know is that friends have been afraid! And worried! And paranoid! And Yona! Is! Sick of it!” Yona shouted, punctuating each word with another stomp of her hooves.

Nocreature said a word.

Yona swallowed and resumed, “And do friends think Yona not feel these things too!? Well, Yona does! Yona does… Yona wishes everything would go back to normal, just like friends do! But friends still afraid. Friends still worried. And friends still paranoid!”

With every word Yona uttered, the others grew even more ashamed. And none more so than Silverstream. Perhaps Yona noticed this because her next words were spoken far more gently.

“Yona know there a reason why friends still so upset, but Yona not care. What Yona care about is helping friends not be upset. And right now, Smolder need friends’ help most of all.”

After having said that, Yona reached out to Gallus and placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder, asserting, “Yona and friends believe Gallus.” She let her words sit for a moment before adding, “But Smolder believe otherwise.”

Almost every instinct in his body screamed for him to jerk away, but Yona’s calm gaze kept him rooted to the spot. In the end, all Gallus could do was weakly mutter, “I-I don’t want to believe it.”

“Yona understand.”

Her words had been simple, but they did the trick. Sadly, that meant Gallus could no longer deny the truth any longer, either to them or to himself.

Gallus collapsed onto his haunches and hid his face in his talons. No, no, no, no, no! he fretted as tears forced their way out of his eyes. Smolder, did you really think I would…!? Oh Grover! Why would you ever think that!?

Yona didn’t have to so much as glance at Silverstream for she had already placed her wings tenderly around Gallus, bringing him into her gentle embrace. “It’s okay, Gallus…” she soothed.

He didn’t say anything; instead, he wrapped his talons and wings around her, pulling her closer and quietly crying into her shoulder. She did much the same.

While they continued to hold each other, Yona stared at Sandbar, betraying not a hint of her thoughts nor emotions. And although he held firm at first, he inevitably hung his head in shame.

“I’m sorry, Gallus.”

After one last sniffle, Gallus turned toward him and said, “Don’t be, Sandy. We’re all upset; it’s not your fault.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“I don’t care. I’m sorry too.”

Sandbar simply smiled and nodded in understanding. Gallus nodded back.

Yona let out a massive sigh of relief and smiled wearily at the sight.

“Um, I know I’m disrupting the moment and all,” Ocellus spoke up after drying her own eyes. “And for as glad as I am that we’re not fighting anymore… What are we going to do!?”

Yona and Sandbar shared a glance before looking to Gallus expectantly. He gazed back for a moment until he turned to Silverstream and gave her questioning look.

“…I don’t want to be paranoid anymore, Gallus,” she said quietly. Silverstream then grinned feebly and optimistically reaffirmed, “I trust you.”

Gallus smiled as best as he could and gave her one last, quick nuzzle. Afterward, he returned his attention to the others and answered, “We’re going to do exactly what we need to do, Ocellus. We’re going to help Smolder as best as we can.”

“Even if it means going to our professors?”

“…Even if it means going to our professors,” he concurred, sighing sadly. “I hate it, but you’re right, Sandy. We need help.”

Almost as if in response to his words, somepony’s voice echoed from down the hall, calling out, “Guys! Guys!? C’mon, where are you!?”

“W-Was that…?” Silver stammered, as Gallus bolted through the door, crying out, “Vellum!?”

Gallus raced down the hall and soon found the stallion coated head-to-hoof in mud, twigs, and spiderwebs. Ignoring that for now, he announced, “Hey! Vellum! We’re over here!”

“Gallus!?” Vellum turned, saw him, and ran toward him with a plum-colored cockatrice flying closely behind. “There you are!” he rebuked between pants. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Before Gallus could apologize, the others caught up. Silverstream then noticed Vellum’s animal companion and squealed, “Edith!? Is that you!?”

The cockatrice cawed happily and flew over to Silver who offered her talon as a perch. “Hey, Edith! It’s so good to see you,” she rejoiced, giving the snake-bird a friendly scratch.

Edith chirped, wagging her tail.

“Uh, Vellum?” Sandbar began once he caught sight of him. “Are you okay?”

“I will be after a hot bath and a weekend spa treatment,” Vellum boasted, trying fruitlessly to brush the dirt out of his mane. “But the important thing is we found her.”

“You did?” Ocellus asked hopefully.

“Yes, I just said we did. The only problem is that she’s exactly where you think she is…” he groaned, gesturing to the aforementioned mud, twigs, and spiderwebs he was covered in.

“The Treehouse!” Gallus groused, receiving a solemn nod from Vellum. “Is she safe?”

“Yes. Er, relatively speaking,” Vellum answered, coughing into his hoof.

Oh thank Grover! he sighed in both relief and resignation. Now to figure out a plan…

While Gallus contemplated his next course of action, Vellum directed his gaze to Silver and Edith, saying, “Oh, and Silverstream? Thank you so much for befriending her.”

“You mean Edith?” Silver asked, giving the cockatrice a befuddled glance. “Well, I’m happy I befriended her too, but why are thanking me for doing it?”

“She may have swooped in and saved our lives from an angry manticore or two. … Or six,” he muttered, shuddering in fear. “We, uh, got a little lost in case you couldn’t tell,” Vellum explained, chuckling awkwardly. “Luckily, Ms. Edith found us and led us to the Treehouse.”

“Wait, if Vellum here… Where are Scoop and Shimmy?” Yona asked worriedly.

“They stayed behind. Partly because they didn’t want to go back through the Everfree again. But mostly because none of us wanted to leave Smolder alone.”

“…Thank you, Vellum,” Gallus said appreciatively.

“No problem. We didn’t talk to her though,” he reassured. “Once we confirmed she was there, I started heading back with Ms. Edith kindly serving as a guide.”

“Thank you so much, Edith,” Silver said, gently stroking the cockatrice. “I’m sorry about the whole suddenness of everything, but we’re really glad for your help. We owe you one.”

She clucked politely.

“Heh-heh. I can totally get you some marshmallows,” she promised, looking back at Gallus and slowly frowning. “Gallus? What are we going to do now?”

I can’t just leave Smolder out there by herself, but I don’t know what to do to help her, Gallus lamented. Headmare Starlight would know, but if that were true then why didn’t she fix this!?

Not to mention that even though I don’t know how to help, I know I should! She’s my friend, and it’s because of me that all of this craziness happened at all! It should be my job to fix it, but—

Gallus paused, closed his eyes, and searched his memories.

“…Don’t hold yourself responsible for the feelings of your friends. Your emotions are your emotions, and theirs are theirs…” he recalled, steadying his breathing.

Smolder is upset. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s my fault or not, Gallus accepted, coming to a decision. This is just a problem. And if I can help fix it, I will. And if I can’t…

Then it’s a good thing I’m not alone.

“Sandbar, Yona, and Vellum? I want you three to get our professors and tell them what’s going on,” Gallus adjured calmly. “Tell them everything,” he stressed to Sandbar specifically.

“Are you sure?” Sandbar asked, searching his gaze for any trace of indecision.

“Yes.”

“Alright,” he said, gulping nervously. “What about you? What are you going to do?”

“Maybe you were right, Sandbar; maybe I can’t solve this problem. … But there is no pecking way I’m going to let Smolder sit out there all alone, without even trying to help!” Gallus declared, unwavering. “So, while you guys get our professors… Ocellus?”

“Y-Yes, Gallus?”

“You are going to teleport us straight to the Treehouse so I can talk to her while we wait for the others to arrive. Can you do that?”

“If you’re absolutely sure? Then yes.” Ocellus confirmed. “I don’t want to leave her alone either.”

Gallus then turned to Silverstream who said nothing, merely regarding him through reddened eyes. “Silverstream? What do you want to do?”

“I’m coming with you,” she stated resolutely.

Gallus simply nodded. “Alright then!” he concluded, addressing all of them. “We’ve got a friend to help. Let’s do this!”


***


The moon and its starry brethren loomed above the peaceful world, bathing the Everfree Forest in its opal light. The sound of creatures celebrating Nightmare Night still echoed through the air, but they were barely whispers this far into the woods.

In the depths of the forest and surrounded by ruins, a shining structure towered. And within these ruins, a turquoise whirlwind dispelled, leaving three friends to behold the sight before them.

“Alright,” Gallus began, shivering in the chilly, night air. “I’m going to talk to her first. If I think I need help, I’ll give you girls a signal, but otherwise…?”

“Stay out of sight?” Ocellus suspected.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure you want to talk to her alone, Gallus?” Silverstream inquired, placing a gentle claw on his shoulder. “You don’t have to…”

Gallus placed his talon over hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I know. But I need to talk to Smolder once and for all.”

There was not a hint of hesitation in his voice, but neither was there confidence. Still, Silver took his words as a source of encouragement, replying, “Okay. I believe in you, Gallus.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s go,” he beckoned, trotting forward and into the Treehouse. “Smolder’s waiting for us.”

The crystalline interior shimmered in welcome as the trio entered its domain, and Gallus grinned gratefully upon discovering the front hall had been widened considerably.

The group then came across two half-asleep, haggard mares sitting on the steps leading to the second floor. Upon noticing them, Scoop shot to her hooves and shook Shimmy back to her sense. “Hey, Shimmy! Wake up, girl; they’re here!”

“H-Huh!? They are!? Oh thank Celestia!” Shimmy Shake gasped, rising to her hooves and rushing toward them. “Oh, please tell me you guys figured out what to say to Smolder!”

“Uh—”

“Hold on, Shimmy,” Scoop interjected. “First things first: Did Vellum make it back okay?”

“Yeah, that’s how we got your message,” Gallus explained. “Are you girls alright?”

“Well, my Nightmare Night has been thoroughly wrecked, I’m covered in five different kinds of bug bites; and I’ll be dreaming of rampaging manticores tonight. Other than that? Peachy.”

“We’re fine,” Shimmy confirmed, giving Scoop an annoyed glare. “But Smolder is… Sh-She’s upstairs. On the balcony. Y-You know how to help her, right?”

“Headmare Starlight and our professors are on their way,” he assuaged. “In the meantime, I’m going to try to talk to her. Can you girls wait here and let us know when they all show up?”

“Sure thing.” Scoop then shuffled nervously, adding, “And, guys? I don’t know what you plan to say or do…? But good luck,” she wished, stepping aside.

“Thanks, Scoop. Are you going to be okay, Shim—”

Shimmy threw her hooves around Gallus, cutting him off. After a brief second of awkwardness, he hugged her back, patting her reassuringly.

“Please help my friend!”

“I will.”

After Shimmy relinquished her hold on him, Scoop took her hoof, urging, “C’mon.”

“O-Okay,” she replied, allowing Scoop to lead them both back to the front entrance.

Wordlessly, the trio began their slow, decidedly quiet ascent to the balcony. Less than a minute later, they reached their destination.

Smolder was leaning against the guard railing, turned away from them and still dressed up in the black princess gown she had worn to the party.

Gallus, Silver, and Ocellus immediately ducked behind a nearby wall, but it didn’t seem that Smolder had noticed their arrival.

“Should I use my spell?” Ocellus whispered.

“No. We don’t need it,” Gallus said solemnly. “Are you girls ready?”

“Are you ready?” Silverstream asked quietly.

“No.”

…

…

…

Gallus stepped forward.

Everything will be fine, he resolved, approaching his friend. I don’t blame myself, or hate myself, or whatever else Smolder is afraid of.

Gallus stopped a respectable distance from Smolder and took one last breath, letting it out silently. All I want to do is help my friend, he thought, gently knocking on the crystal floor to announce his presence.

Smolder immediately tensed up, but she slowly turned around to lock eyes with Gallus, practically petrifying upon doing so.

“Hey,” he greeted peacefully.

“H-Hey,” she said, twitching her wings nervously.

An awkward silence permeated the air until Gallus took another step toward her, casually mentioning, “I figured I’d find you here. How’re you doing?”

“…Good,” she lied, tearing her eyes away from him and returning them to the forest beyond.

Gallus cautiously trotted up to her side and joined her in leaning against the balcony rail, but even though she remained where she was, Smolder still shifted uncomfortably.

“Nice night,” he commented, staring at the stars above.

After balking for a second, she agreed, “Y-Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

…

…

…

“Sorry I ditched the party,” Smolder apologized. “I, uh, just wasn’t feeling up to it. Shimmy’s not too angry at me, is she?”

“Nah, Shimmy’s not mad at you,” Gallus tranquilly confirmed.

“That’s a relief,” she chuckled weakly.

“I bet.” Gallus waited a moment and tentatively added, “Silver’s not mad at you either.”

Smolder flinched, and while that wasn’t really a good sign, Gallus found some comfort in the fact that she didn’t run away again.

“O-Okay,” she stammered, scratching at the banister. “Um? Thanks for telling me.”

“Yeah. … None of us are mad at you, Smolder. You know that, right?”

She scoffed, groaning, “Yeah, I know. I-I mean why would anyone be mad at me? I didn’t mess anything up! D-Did I?”

“Not really, no.”

Smolder blinked and finally looked back at him, taking in his calm smile. The corners of her maw twitched slightly, but she ultimately cast her gaze back out toward the Everfree once again.

“Are you okay?” Gallus asked, deciding to finally get to the point.

“W-What!?” she yelped, forcing a wide smile. “Of course I’m fine! Wh-Why wouldn’t I be fine!? I mean, you’re fine, r-right!?”

“Yes. I am,” he assured. “I just want to make sure you’re okay too.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry, Gallus!” Smolder protested, tightening her grip on the railing. “Please don’t worry about me, I’m fine! I swear!”

“…Okay. I believe you.”

“Y-Yeah! In fact, why don’t you, er, go back to the party; I just want to sit here a-and watch the stars, heh-heh,” she laughed miserably. “You should j-just go, and—”

“Fat chance.”

“What!?” Smolder squeaked, beginning to panic. “B-But I told you I’m fine!”

“And I believe you. There’s just no way I’m going to leave you out here by yourself. Stargazing is a lot more fun with a friend, after all,” Gallus proclaimed, winking.

“Uh, I, uh… Okay,” she whined, frowning again. Smolder then cleared her throat, speculating, “So, uh? You must stargaze a lot with Silverstream, huh?”

“You’d think so, but Silver tends to paint the stars more often than she gazes at them,” he confided, casting a sly grin toward the balcony entrance. “Her paintings are fantastic though.”

“They always are. … You know? Not many creatures like to look at the stars,” Smolder mumbled, releasing the banister and glaring at the cracks her claws had left in it. “At least, not as much as I do.”

“It’s a shame too,” Gallus agreed, sighing wistfully. “The stars are really beautiful. Princess Luna does a great job with ‘em.”

“She sure does.”

Both of them stared at the twinkling sky, allowing a peacefully somber silence to fall upon them yet again. Soon, Smolder closed her eyes and took a shaky breath.

“Gallus?” she began, meeting his gaze properly. “Can I… Can I ask you something?”

“Go right ahead, I’m listening.”

“Are you and Silver…happy? Together?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed with a nod. “We are. Although, she really wishes I’d finally take her on our second date.”

“Right. You haven’t done that yet… S-So, what was the hold-up with that anyway?” She blinked and quickly clarified, “I-I don’t mean to judge you or anything! I was just curious…”

Gallus paused, hesitant to answer with Silver listening just around the corner. In the end, he smirked ruefully and said, “Honestly? Bits.”

“Wait, really?”

“Mhmm.”

“Oh. Uh, I could give you some i-if you—”

“You don’t need to do that, Smolder,” he interrupted. “I’ve got enough for the second date; I’ve just been trying to save up for our next few dates too.”

“Ohhh!” Smolder groaned, seemingly relieved. “So that’s it. Okay.”

“Well? That, and… And I really want to it be as perfect as possible,” he timidly admitted.

“But you know it doesn’t need to be perfect, right? You’re, uh, you’re perfect just the way you are!” she stated, wearing that same strained smile from before.

“I know.”

Smolder was completely blindsided by his response. Once she regained her voice, she inquired, “If— If you know, then why are you so worried about making it perfect?”

Gallus just shrugged. “I just want to give her the best time I can,” he said serenely. “She deserves it.”

After a moment, Smolder held a claw to her forehead and laughed. “You really love her, don’t you?” she questioned in an eerily calm voice.

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Even if she’s perfectly fine with you—” Smolder stopped herself, inhaling sharply. She then turned away and exhaled a small jet of flames.

“Even if she’s perfectly fine with what?”

“Nothing,” she murmured, refusing to look at him. “Just— Just ignore what I said.”

Keeping his tone placid, Gallus cautiously continued, “Smolder…? Why are you upset that I’m considering joining the Royal Guard?”

“Tch! Should have known she would squeal…” Smolder growled, lashing her tail in agitation.

“I’m glad she did. ‘Cause you’re clearly upset about it, and—”

“Well, why wouldn’t I be upset about it!?” she snapped, rounding on him. “Why wouldn’t I be upset with you joining those idiots, going to war, and getting yourself—” Whatever bravery Smolder had garnered died out, leaving the dragon to cover her mouth in shock.

“Getting myself…what?” he asked despite already knowing the answer.

“N-Nothing! Forget I said anything,” she pleaded, hurriedly taking a step toward the doorway. “I’m sorry; I should just—”

Gallus reached out and gently held Smolder’s claw, freezing her mid-step. “Don’t.”

One word. Gallus had said only one word, devoid of anything resembling malice or anger. Similarly, his expression also lacked such feelings, retaining a determined neutrality.

And yet, Smolder still found herself quivering under his gaze.

“Don’t,” Gallus repeated, still holding onto her claw. “Smolder? Don’t go.”

“I-I don’t— I don’t want to hurt— I don’t want to make everything worse!” she whimpered warily.

“You won’t be making anything worse by talking to me.”

Smolder ripped her claw away from him and shouted, “If that’s the case, why is Silverstream so afraid of talking to you!?”

“About what?”

“About— About your crazy future ideas!” she blurted out wildly. “About you! But no! Of course she doesn’t talk to you about any of that! Because she’s too afraid to! Because she’s still paranoid!” Smolder deflected as smoke began billowing from her nostrils again.

Measuring his next words carefully, Gallus said, “Maybe a little. But she doesn’t want to be, nor does she deserve to be. Nocreature deserves to be paranoid all the time… Especially about our friends.”

Smolder clenched her claws but thankfully didn’t retreat any further. “S-So… You know about it? About her being…?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… Why has Silver been so paranoid!? I mean, Silverstream is Silverstream! She— She’s never paranoid!” she professed vehemently. “S-So, what could be so bad that even she…?”

“It’s a lot of little things. But mostly? It’s because she’s been so worried about me. … And you,” Gallus elaborated.

“B-But I’m fine; I told her I’m fine!”

He blinked owlishly, swearing, “And I’m fine too.”

Smolder fell silent, twiddling her claws unconsciously. “I-If that were true, then…”

“It is true. I am okay, Smolder.”

“Then why doesn’t Silver believe you are!”

“She does,” he revealed.

“But she’s still worried about you!”

“Yes, she is. I wish she weren’t, but…” Gallus shot an apologetic glance toward where Silver was currently hiding. “But she is. She just wants everything to go back to normal. Not gonna lie, I do too.”

“…I think we all want that,” Smolder recognized, rubbing her shoulder. “After all, if everything could just go back to normal, then— Then maybe…” She squeezed her eyes shut and wondered, “We were all happy, weren’t we? When everything was normal?”

“Yeah…? We were.”

“Yes! Yes, we were!” she agreed. “Everything was fine until— Until it all started…changing!” Smolder snarled, hugging herself. “We were all happy before everything changed! Before— Before—”

“…Before Friends and Family Day?” he finished, betraying not a hint of his current emotions.

Smolder’s eyes flew opened and locked onto his. “No-no-no! Gallus, this isn’t your fault! This isn’t your fault!” she screamed desperately. “I promise this isn’t your fault!”

“I know.”

Smolder stuttered in confusion, trying to process his reply. “You… You know?” she asked, feeling a shred of her terror drain away.

“Yeah. Everything might be different because of what happened that day, but I do not blame myself for any of it,” Gallus promised, fully honest. “I’m fine, Smolder. Really.”

She held his gaze for a full minute, but Smolder soon smiled and let out a weak scoff, stepping around him and back toward the banister. “You’re okay?” she whispered in a cracked voice.

“I’m okay.”

She slowly slid onto her rump, sitting against the railing. She then watched morosely as Gallus swiftly sat down beside her.

“It’s… It’s not your fault, Gallus. None of it is your fault!” she repeated adamantly.

“It’s not my fault,” he agreed, placing a comforting wing around her.

Smolder accepted the gesture and proceeded to rub away the wetness in her eyes.

Gallus simply sat back and waited until she was ready to continue. He then noticed Silver peak her head out from around the doorway, giving him an uneasy glance that wordlessly asked, Do you need help?

Gallus shook his head and smiled, communicating, Not yet. I think I’ve got it.

She grinned weakly and nodded, quickly retreating behind the corner.

He looked back at Smolder, relieved to see she seemed at least somewhat calmer. Be honest, he could practically hear Starlight advising him.

I shouldn’t… he thought to himself. I really shouldn’t push her any further than I already have. But I can’t just leave it like this, Gallus decided, taking a deep breath. Not when I haven’t solved the real problem. “I do have to apologize for one thing though.”

“Y-Yeah? For— For what?”

“We went into your room,” Gallus confessed, not meeting her eyes. “And we… We saw the books. All the books.”

Smolder went limp, staring off into space. She soon hid her face in her claws, laughing quietly. “Heh-heh-heh. I… I knew I shouldn’t have put it off. I knew I should have returned them all when I had the chance,” she lamented hollowly. “But nooo! ‘No, Smolder, what if he gets upset again!’ I kept telling myself. Heh-heh… Isn’t that funny?”

“Not really,” he refuted in a subdued tone. “In fact, I’m glad you didn’t put any of them back. If you did, we would never have figured out what was wrong.”

“Yeah, well? Looks like nothing was wrong after all!” she chuckled, throwing her claws up in frustration. “You were fine this entire time, and I was the one who was paranoid!”

“I wasn’t fine the entire time,” Gallus admitted gently. “I had a lot of junk to sort through… But I am better now. And I’m really grateful for your concern, Smolder.”

Smolder shook her head and growled, “Fat lot of good ‘concern’ did me! Silver was right all along; my fear really did overshadow my…” She fell silent, rubbing her eyes again.

“You cared about me, Smolder. I can’t ask you for anything more than that.”

“…”

“But…? There is one thing I don’t really understand,” Gallus resumed, preparing himself for the question he was about to ask.

Her claws fell away from her eyes and into her lap, and she slowly nodded.

“I… I understand why you were afraid, Smolder,” he said comfortingly. “I could never blame you for that. What I don’t understand is why you thought I would—” Gallus paused, gulping. Unable to say the exact phrase, he instead settled for asking, “Smolder, why were you afraid I’d die?”

Much to his surprise, Smolder snorted and turned her gaze skyward. After about a minute of silence, she quietly began, “Did you know Sandbar was still here? When it happened?”

“When what happened?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Sombra.” Smolder stared back at Gallus and said, “Sandbar was here when Sombra returned. Did you know that?”

“Well…yeah? I mean, where else would he have been?”

“Exactly! Sandbar was here. We weren’t, but he was! … And so was his sister. And his parents! And Shimmy and Lighthoof! And our Professors, the Crusaders, and our friends!” Smolder rapidly rambled off as her eyes glistened again. “All of them were here when that psychopath came back and mind-controlled them! And terrified them! And hurt them!” she roared, huffing out a burst of smoke. “All of them were here, and all of them could have… C-Could have…!”

Gallus gently placed a talon on her shoulder which she took as a signal to continue.

“But no! We saved the day, right!?” Smolder shrieked, forcing a smile. “We saved the day, and put Sombra back in the ground! That means everything is okay again! Everyone is okay! No one was hurt that day, so nothing bad happened! Right!?”

“…No,” Gallus muttered grimly. “Something bad did happen that day.”

“You’re damn right something bad happened that day!” she screamed, not bothering to wipe away the tears falling down her cheeks. “The Tree of Harmony died! A-And I don’t c-care if— If this is the Tree now!” she said, gesturing to the radiant walls surrounding them. “I don’t care if it’s still alive and just reincarnated or whatever! The Tree was our friend, Gallus! And— And it died…”

“Smolder—”

“Oh, but it’s fine!” she sang, cutting him off. “It’s fine! It’s always fine! I can never be anything but fine! After all! Princess Twilight and her friends saved Equestria, and that means everything is okay! As long as the day is saved, it doesn’t matter how close we all came to dying!” Smolder hollered, burying her face into her dress.

“It doesn’t matter if Cozy almost threw us into a glorified black hole!” she continued, slightly muffled. “It doesn’t matter if she and those other two freaks almost killed us all! It doesn’t matter if the wendigos nearly froze over the world again! It doesn’t matter if we had to save the world even though we’re not even seniors yet!” Smolder shouted, raising her head back up.

“A-And I fell for that, you know!” she admitted in a cracked voice. “I thought, ‘Oh! We saved the day, so everything is fine now! We totally didn’t almost die in half a dozen different ways because Discord’s an idiot and Cozy’s a psychopath!’ I always thought that! But— B-But then you— You w-were—” Her maw quivered, refusing to give voice to that last thought.

“It’s okay, Smolder,” Gallus whispered, pulling her into a soft hug.

“No, it’s not okay!” she screeched, hugging him back nonetheless. “Y-You were upset, and you hid it from us! That’s not you, Gallus! You don’t hide things like that from us! You never hide things like that from us! B-But you did! You did!”

“And that was wrong of me,” he conceded. “I should never have hidden my feelings from you guys; that wasn’t right.”

“It wasn’t just that, Gallus! You hid from us! You avoided us! Th-That’s not— That’s not okay! Friends don’t hide from their friends like that unless…! Unless something serious is…!”

“You don’t have to say anything, Smolder,” Gallus soothed. “I know. And I promise I never considered anything like that! I never would!”

“But you could have!” she argued, leaning away and staring into his eyes. “Y-You could have…! We didn’t know! A-And if Silver hadn’t— If s-she hadn’t…! No one would have saved you!”

After fighting back the urge to vomit, he whimpered, “What?”

“No one was there to save the Tree of Harmony…” she mumbled, sniffling. “And if the Tree hadn’t been there when Cozy tried to kill us…! A-And if Equestria hadn’t been there when they tried to kill us all again…! If— If Silver hadn’t been there t-to save you…!”

“Smolder, I’m still here! I didn’t go anywhere!”

“I don’t care if you didn’t; I care that you could have!” she said, holding her face in her claws. “I don’t want to live in a world without my friends!” Smolder wailed, no longer able to control her sobs.

“You won’t, Smolder!” Gallus swore, wrapping both of his wings around her as he struggled not to cry himself. “You will never have to live without us!”

“Yes, I will!”

“What? Why would you ever think that!?” he asked, completely taken aback by her declaration.

“I’m— I’m a dragon, Gallus!” Smolder puled, hyperventilating. “I’m already going to outlive all of you, don’t you get that!? Just because I’m a stupid dragon, I’m— I’m g-going to b-be alone!”

“You are not going to be alone, Smolder!” Gallus protested, shoving his horror aside for the moment. “I promise you are not going to be alone!”

“Yes, I will! You’re all going to die, and I won’t have anyone left! And I don’t care what Starlight says!” she snarled balefully. “I don’t want new friends! I want my friends!”

“I want you!” she continued, trying and failing to catch her breath. “I want you! And Silver! And Ocellus! And Sandbar! And Yona! And Shimmy, Lighthoof and November! And Spike and Garble! And Mom and Dad! And everycreature else! I don’t want to lose any of you! I don’t want to forget any of you! I-I…I don’t want you to go away!” Smolder wept, shivering violently.

“You’re not going to lose us!” he insisted. “We’re not going to go away, Smolder!”

“Yes, you will!”

“Well, we’re not going to go away now!” Gallus bellowed, giving her a determined glare. “I don’t care what might happen in the future; right now, we are not going to go away! I am not going to go away! … You are not alone, Smolder,” he promised as his own tears finally broke free.

Smolder didn’t say a word; she just whimpered weakly, holding him as close as she possibly could while the night continued on.

Behind the balcony doorway, Ocellus sat as still as a statue, horrified by all that she had heard. Silverstream, meanwhile, slowly curled up against the wall, covering her beak with her talons.

After several minutes, Gallus and Smolder broke apart, silently waiting for the other to make the first move. In the end, Gallus was the one to speak.

“Smolder, look. I’m, uh…” He paused to regain his breath. “Smolder, I promise I am okay. The others are okay. Everything is okay,” he assured her.

“I… I know. I’m so sorry, Gallus!”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he assuaged, swallowing a lump in his throat. “You were right, Smolder. I— I hid everything from you guys, and that wasn’t okay! That wasn’t like me, and I’m sorry. I-I was scared, a-and confused, and worried! And— And I didn’t want any of you to be! B-But I was wrong, and I’m sorry, Smolder. I’m sorry.”

“N-No!” Smolder groaned, starting to panic again. “Don’t be sorry, Gallus, it’s not your fault! It’s mine! I shouldn’t have been afraid; I-I should have trusted you; I should have—”

“No! Don’t do that, Smolder!” he interjected bluntly. “It’s okay that you were afraid!”

“But… But I should have trusted you!”

“And I should have trusted you!”

“I don’t blame you, Gallus!”

“And I can’t thank you enough for that,” he said, holding her claw reassuringly. “But right now? None of that matters.”

“W-What?”

“Smolder, I don’t blame you for being afraid. … But please! Please never hide something like this from us!” Gallus pleaded desperately. “Because you were right, Smolder; friends don’t hide things like this from each other! That doesn’t help; that just makes everything worse!”

“I-I’m sorry…” she repeated, hanging her head.

“Don’t apologize,” Gallus requested, pushing her chin back up. “I don’t hold anything against you; I never would. Same goes for our friends.”

“I-I just— I just d-didn’t want to m-make things worse! I didn’t want to— I didn’t want—” She fell silent and wiped her eyes on her dress again. “I didn’t want t-to hurt you!”

“And you didn’t, Smolder,” he affirmed. “You had every right to be afraid. What— What wasn’t right was that you were dealing with those feelings all alone. We’re friends, Smolder!” Gallus declared fervently. “We’re friends. We help each other… Through both the bad times and the good.”

Smolder said nothing, merely drying her eyes one more time.

“Smolder?” he resumed after some time. “I promise I will never hide my problems again. From you, from Silver, or from anyone else! Can… Can you promise me that too?”

She didn’t even hesitate to answer, “Yes! Y-Yes, I promise!”

“Thank you! Thank you…!” he said, giving her one final hug.

…

…

…

“I’m sorry, Gallus,” Smolder cried once they broke apart. “I should have talked to you, and the others, and—” She hushed when she felt Gallus place a talon on her shoulder.

“I already told you. You don’t have to apologize, Smolder,” he guaranteed soothingly.

“It really feels like I do,” she scoffed, reclining against the banister again.

“Yeah. Yeah… I get it.”

Neither said a word, both simply taking the time to control their breathing and wipe away the last of their tears.

“I… I believe you, you know,” Smolder eventually whispered.

Gallus gave her warm smile, saying, “I’m glad.”

He then offered her his talon which she immediately grabbed and squeezed viciously, suppressing another sob.

“Do you remember…” he began. “At the Fair, when I asked you to tell me about the stars?”

“I do.”

“Did— Did you still want to talk about them?” Gallus asked, smiling encouragingly.

“Yeah,” Smolder confirmed, a smile tugging at the corners of her maw. “Did you?”

“Yeah.”

Before Smolder could do so, however, they both recoiled as a prismatic explosion thundered through the night. After recovering from the sound, they looked across the horizon and spotted a rainbow-colored streak flying straight for them.

Less than a second later, Rainbow Dash skidded to halt across the crystal balcony.

“Oh thank Celestia, you’re both still here!” the mare shouted, pulling them both into a rib-crushing hug. “Are either of you hurt!? Are you okay!? What do you need!?”

“Air!” Gallus squeaked out. “We need air!”

“Oh geez! Sorry!” Rainbow apologized, swiftly releasing them. “Now, what the hay were two thinking, coming out here this late at night!?”

There hadn’t been any reprimand in her voice—only worry—but Smolder still flinched.

“Would you believe stargazing?” Gallus tried, keeping a comforting wing held around Smolder.

Rainbow deadpanned, but before she could say something in response, Fluttershy landed on the balcony, panting in exertion.

“Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed harshly. “You know I can’t fly as fast as you!”

“Sorry, Flutters. You okay?”

“Yes, but more importantly, are you two okay?” Fluttershy inquired tenderly, trotting closer and checking them both for any hint of injury.

“Uh…” Gallus shared an awkward glance with Smolder and settled for saying, “We’ll get back to you on that.”

Fluttershy immediately wrapped both of them in her own soft hug. She then shot a knowing look toward Rainbow who nodded and flew off back toward the forest. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered comfortingly. “Everypony else is on their way.”

Oh thank Grover! Gallus rejoiced as Fluttershy let go. “Thanks, Ms. Fluttershy.”

She shook her head, saying, “Thank you for telling us what happened. Now, c’mon,” Fluttershy urged, gently nudging them toward the door. “Let’s get both of you home.”

Neither of them had the energy to resist. And as they walked, Smolder shot him a meek glance, silently asking, You told them?

Gallus gave her a small nod and offered her his talon again. She tentatively took it and allowed him to lead her down the stairs and outside of the Treehouse.

The moment they stepped outside they were tackled into yet another hug. This time, the culprit was a tearful Silverstream who wasted no time apologizing, “Smolder, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Although stunned at first, Smolder soon started crying again and wrapped her claws around Silverstream, muttering, “I’m sorry too…”

Gallus ran his talons across Silver’s back comfortingly, glancing to the side where the others were explaining the situation to the newly arrived Starlight, Applejack, and Rarity. His vision was then obscured by the mass of brown fur barreling over to them.

With a yelp, the group fell onto the ground, trapped in Yona’s crushing embrace.

“Smolder and friends okay!” Yona cried out in relief. “Smolder and friends all okay!”

“Yeah, we’re okay, Yona; we’re okay,” Gallus confirmed, wheezing. “Can you let us up now?”

Yona acquiesced his request and immediately locked gazes with Smolder, declaring, “Yona and friends will help Smolder any way Yona and friends can! Yona promise!” she ended tearfully.

Before Smolder could reply, Sandbar and Ocellus ran up to them and immediately joined the hug pile with the latter agreeing, “We all promise that!”

“Yeah! Yeah, we do,” Sandbar agreed kindly. “So, uh… Hey, Smolder. H-How’re you doing?”

Smolder laughed weakly. “I’m… I’m horrible, Sandy. You?”

“Eh, could be better…”

“Same.”

“Good ta see ya’ll ain’t hurt,” Applejack celebrated once she and the others approached them. “…Smolder,” she said, tipping her hat to the dragon.

“Professor…”

“Oh, darling, you look positively dreadful!” Rarity whined, patting at Smolder’s dampened cheeks with a hoofkerchief. “No need to worry, darling, we’re going to get you home, and we’re going to help you get all freshened up! No matter how many spa visits are required, okay!? Would you like that, darling?” she quietly asked, holding back her own worried tears.

Smolder just nodded, sniffling.

Rarity nodded back, stepping aside for Starlight.

“Hey, Smolder,” she greeted warmly. “Are you okay?”

…

“No, I’m not,” Smolder finally confessed. “I’m not okay… I’m not okay!” she repeated, feeling the others hug her even tighter.

Starlight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. It’s going to be okay, Smolder. We’re gonna bring you home, alright?”

“…Okay,” she replied, trembling. “Okay.”

“Right. C’mon, girls, let’s go,” she said, motioning for the others to help her guide the students home. “Let’s go…”

As the party proceeded through the Everfree Forest and back toward Ponyville, a shimmering spirit formed at the edge of Treehouse, watching them progress.

Once they departed out of its sight, it smiled warmly.

“Worry not, my friends… Serenity will soon be bestowed unto you. I promise.”