"Wha? What? Where am I..."
Blinkamena blinked, trying to get the world around her less blurry. She didn't remember much, so she didn't exactly know what was going on.
"Oh, silly!" Blinkie saw a super-hyper pony, a blur of pink. She tried to rub her eyes, but she couldn't. Looking down, she could see some blurs and knew that she was tied together...with rope.
Rope? When did she black out?
There was giggling from the pony. Her eyes widened as her vision cleared.
She was on one of the Canterlot trains, and Pinkie Pie was in front of her...
Had she tied her up?
"Smile! Always remember to smile!" Pinkie's hooves extended to push the ends of her mouth so she was 'smiling'.
Blinkie scowled anyway.
"What? Pinkie! Let me go!" Blinkie yelled, almost pleaded, "Pinkie, I don't like being tied up! You know that!"
Pinkie giggled, almost evilly. But it wasn't evil. It was more like...good.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a yellow pegasus pony. Had it been...Fluttershy?
"Oh...um...hello," Fluttershy waved shyly.
"FLUTTERSHY! Guys!" Blinkie tried to get out of the ropes, but suddenly an aurora of magic got hold of her and she stayed in position, whether she liked it or not.
A strict looking purple unicorn glared at her. "Watch your tone, Blinkamena."
"Blinkamena? How do you guys know my..."
Suddenly, she saw the visions. She recalled the memories. She had blacked out...
"I see you have awoken, Blinkie," A white unicorn with curled purple hair noted, peeking from the chair to see their 'prisoner', "Now, you're probably wondering why you...blacked out."
Blinkie was about to say something rude, or yell at them, but she hesitated and quickly remembered that they weren't there to hurt her. No, they were the good guys. They would not hurt her unless they needed to hurt her.
"Of...of course," she said, glancing awkwardly at the pale unicorn. She looked so familiar to her...but she was a pony Blinkamena couldn't quite put her hoof on...
"Do..do I know you? What's your name again?"
Rarity frowned. "Rarity, of course."
"Rarity? That sounds familiar."
Rarity ignored her. "Anyway, you were wondering how you blacked out, right?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
Blinkamena nodded hesitantly. "Um, sure. Yeah."
Fluttershy blushed. "Um...when you moved your hoof...I was nervous, so I just kicked the back of your head. I'm so sorry."
She was about to yell and scream that she 'should be', but she didn't. This shy pony was just protecting her friend. Like she should have done with Pinkie...
"D...don't be. I deserved that. Either way I wasn't going to be loyal, to my sister or to my mother. I hate Sue, anyway," Blinkamena admitted, "Just, I want to go to Ponyville. I want to feel real joy, like you did. I should have went with you when you ran away; I could have met all of you, as you did, Pinkie. I want to have real friends."
Pinkie Pie looked at her. She just smiled.
"You never felt true friendship, did you?"
Blinkamena shook her head in reply. "Not in the slightest."
Twilight smiled at the awkward moment between the two sisters. "Well, why don't you come with us to fight Nightmare Moon when we get there? I'm sure your skills would be at good use."
She hesitated, then shook her head again. "No way. I've been weakened, and it takes vamponies longer time to heal. Pinkie's better than I am, really, though she has less experience she has the element of laughter in her soul. I...I'm just her sister. I can't be to any help."
Twilight nodded hesitantly. "If you insist..." she replied, "But if you change your mind, just...come after us. The castle isn't very big...at least to me, since I had lived there since my early fillyhood."
The grayish-blue earth pony smiled. "Well, I can't come after you if I'm still tied up."
Pinkie nodded, smiling. Her hooves went to the rope to untie Blinkamena.
"Hey, where's...um..." Blinkamena hesitated, forgetting the cyan pegasus and the orange earth pony's names.
"AJ and RD? They're taking naps, of course," Pinkie answered quickly, her usual hyper self, as she finished untying the last knots in the rope that held Blinkamena down.
Blinkamena could move, finally. The rope knots were undone and Pinkie took away the ropes anyway, so she could move at last...
"Hey, what's with the flailing?"
Blinkamena looked up to see the cyan pegasus awake, above her. She blushed, realizing that she was moving way too much.
Suddenly, the train stopped. The familiar brown earth pony came by, informing them that they had reached Canterlot Castle, their destination.
Twilight Sparkle nodded. "Thank you, good sir."
The earth pony scowled. "Don't call me that."
He left quickly, into another part of the train. Rainbow Dash frowned at him as he left.
"Touche."
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we better get going. Blinkamena, if you're hungry, here's some snacks and some drinks," she tossed her sister Cheetos and a Diet Cola.
Blinkamena's eyes brightened at the sight of the food. "Cheetos!" she squealed, taking hold of the orange bag of cheddar snacks and ripping the top open.
Pinkie smiled. "Remember, use it for emergencies. If you run out..." she gave her a pack of gummy bears.
"If...I run out..."
"If you run out," Pinkie Pie confirmed.
"Gummy Bears!"
Pinkie giggled. "Yeah, well, anyway, I guess we better leave. Nightmare Moon...she's waiting for us. And we have to be quick, or else Nightmare Moon will take over. So, yeah, you know what else."
Blinkamena nodded, chewing a Cheeto. "Of course. If I change my mind, go in after you. If I get hungry, eat the Cheetos. If I run out of Cheetos, eat the gummy bears. If I get thirsty, drink this giant bottle of Diet Cola." She pointed her hoof to the large bottle, just to show her point.
Twilight nodded. "I guess you've got yourself covered," she said, "Bathroom's in the back, if you want to--"
"Don't talk about that," Blinkamena interrupted.
Pinkie nodded at Twilight, and they gathered everypony else. Pinkie took her saddlebag and hung it over her shoulder, as did the others. She nodded at Blinkamena, who nodded back. She just...didn't want to make a mistake.
"Ready?" Twilight asked the other five.
"Ready," they responded in unison. They marched out of the train and onto the grounds of Canterlot.
But they weren't alone at the station.
A familiar tall white pony towered over them all. Her evil grin grew bigger as they realized who they had approached. Her shadow covered over the six like a dark blanket.
Twilight managed only to say one word.
"C--celestia?"
~~~
Author's Note:
-I think this is good, for a short chapter. Yes, a short chapter. And yes, I did it on purpose. Because I thought I could just make it quick and go to the good part already; heh, I'm impatient. Anyway, you can always soak up the glory of Chapter Eight. Just saying.