"What would Pinkie be doing in the Everfree Forest?" Spike asked as he and Fluttershy exited Sugar Cube Corner. "I thought you said she was revealing some 'big secret.'"
"I thought she was," Fluttershy mumbled, hovering just above the ground. "Now I'm not sure what she's doing."
"Why are we trying to track her down anyway?" Spike asked.
"Well, who better to gather everypony in one place?" Fluttershy reasoned, Spike nodding his agreement.
"Right. We'd better go look for her then," Spike said in response.
The two began for the Everfree, but Spike halted suddenly, glancing to and fro.
"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked, puzzled.
"Where'd Scootaloo go?" Spike asked, sounding worried.
"Oh my!" Fluttershy shouted, putting her hooves to her mouth, sounding panicked as she said, "I didn't even notice she was gone!"
Chomping loudly on a cupcake as he lazily caught up to Fluttershy and Spike, Snips announced, "I saw her leave."
"You did?" Spike asked, turning to him with a dire expression. "Did you see where she went?"
Snips rolled his eyes, munching on his cupcake for a moment before gulping it down and answering, "A couple blocks back, I saw her freeze, stare at something, then run off towards it."
"What was she staring at?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't really know," Snips answered with a shrug, his eyes becoming serious as he said, "but she looked kinda scared by it; when she froze, she looked real serious."
"Before we find Pinkie," began Spike, "we need to go back for Scootaloo." He looked to Snips, asking, "If we revisit the place where you saw Scootaloo take off, will you recognize it?"
Snips nodded, answering, "Yeah, sure."
"Then we have no time to waste!" Spike declared, charging past Snips.
Fluttershy was quickly by his side, but Snips kept his relaxed, nonchalant pace as he followed behind.
Rejoining his friend, Snails asked, "Hey, Snips. Why are we going back?"
"We lost Scootaloo, and now we've got to go back for her," Snips answered, glancing to his friend with a small grin.
"Oh," Snails said, returning the glance and looking troubled. "What's with the smile?"
"You've got a little frosting on your cheek," Snips said, chuckling.
Snails blinked, facing forward with a dumbfounded expression, then took on a look of concentration as he stretched his tongue to where the frosting was. Snips laughed again, speeding up as his friend struggled to lick off the frosting, which was just out of his tongue's reach.
"Almost got it..." Snails mumbled, his eyes now watching his tongue rather than where he was going.
Breathing raggedly and stumbling to keep up with her object of pursuit, Diamond Tiara sputtered, "Give me... my... tiara..."
She jumped for it again, Twilight jerking it away once more. Diamond Tiara groaned as she landed, collapsing and panting quietly. Twilight nodded, satisfied, then gently set the filly's tiara back on her head.
"Now to wait for your friend to get here," Twilight said, squinting into the dark of night. Diamond Tiara made a noise that was somewhere between annoyed and pained in response.
"Ah! Here she comes," Twilight said, nodding to the approaching fillies.
Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon trotted into sight, the latter eyeing her friend inquisitively.
"What happened to her?" asked Silver Spoon.
Twilight rolled her eyes, casually answering, "She wore herself out on the way here." Diamond Tiara growled at this, her face concealed by her hooves.
"Have ya seen Applejack anywhere?" Apple Bloom asked, worriedly scanning their surroundings for any sign of her sister.
Twilight frowned, asking, "You mean she wasn't at the library?"
"No," Apple Bloom whimpered, dropping to her haunches. "Where could she be?"
"Fret not, Apple Bloom," Rarity said as she caught up with the two, "for once we've gathered together the ponies of Ponyville and revealed to them the truth, Applejack will be safe from harm."
"Not to burst your bubble," Silver Spoon began, glancing to Rarity, "but almost everypony in Ponyville is in mob mode. Just how do you plan to get them all here?"
Rarity put a hoof to her chin in thought, mulling over what to say, then answered, "Suppose we lured them here with a little fib regarding Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They'd be none the wiser, and Diamond Tiara would be exposed once they arrived."
"What do we tell them, though?" Twilight asked. "It's no secret that we're all friends or family of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Would they really believe us if we told them we saw one or the other here, in town square?"
Rarity frowned, her brow furrowed as she considered this.
"You make a good point," she said. "How else could we gather the townsponies?"
Rarity and Twilight bounced ideas off one another for a while, then a ferocious roar in the distance seized their attention. Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon turned their gazes in the direction it had come from.
"What was that?" Twilight asked, her ears perked.
"It sounded like..." Silver Spoon trailed off, removing her glasses as she squinted into the dark.
"Was that Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked, standing abruptly and staring into the distance.
The four of them listened intently, the faintest sounds of combat echoing their way.
"Sounds like she's in trouble!" Apple Bloom shouted, darting into the night, headed in the direction of the conflict.
"That's odd," commented Rarity. "Now why would Scootaloo be in danger?"
Silver Spoon replaced her glasses, nervously rubbing her leg as she said, "Apple Bloom and I might have forgotten to mention that the mobs are after Scootaloo as well."
"They are?!" Twilight and Rarity shouted.
Silver Spoon nodded guiltily, her gaze turned to the ground.
"That means Apple Bloom is putting herself in danger!" Twilight exclaimed, glancing to Rarity. "Rarity, you stay here and make sure Diamond Tiara doesn't leave. I need to go protect Scootaloo and Apple Bloom."
"Be careful, Twilight," implored Rarity. "There is no low to which those monsters will not stoop!"
"Right," Twilight nodded, then took off after Apple Bloom.
Silver Spoon watched the unicorn disappear into the night, then turned to Diamond Tiara, hissing in a quiet voice, "Are you happy now, Diamond Tiara? Have you crossed enough lines yet?"
Diamond Tiara lifted her head to glare at her friend for a short moment, then dropped it without a word.
"That's what I thought," Silver Spoon said coldly, turning away from the downed filly.
"You're persistent, little one," mused Scootaloo's unicorn adversary, seizing a nearby rock with his magic. "I can admire that."
He lobbed the rock at Scootaloo, who nimbly vaulted it and hit the ground running.
"Shut up!" Scootaloo screamed as she charged the stallion, who wasn't phased in the least.
He lowered his head, the glow of his horn intensifying for a moment. Then he cast a shock wave spell, the ground rippling with energy as the wave traveled its course. Scootaloo, unable to react quickly enough, skidded to a halt, her hooves knocked out from under her by the magical wave. She landed hard, receiving a mouthful of dirt and the collision of her head with the packed ground. She spit and shook her head as she scrambled to her hooves, the impact taking its toll on her senses.
"To shrug off such a concussive impact," said Scootaloo's opponent, "as if it were a mere glancing blow is no small feat. Surrender now, and I promise you that further harm shall not befall you."
Straining to not see past her double vision and to piece together what the stallion had said, his voice seeming so faint in her daze, Scootaloo said, "I don't give up that easily..." She groaned, squeezing shut her eyes and stumbling about, but quickly regained her focus and her outraged expression as she added, "I won't stop until you let Rainbow Dash and Applejack go!"
Scootaloo's opponent nodded, grinning an amused grin.
"Very well."
He pointed his horn at the pegasus, a beam of magical energy shooting at Scootaloo. She rolled to the side, then ran at him. Scootaloo successfully dodged every shot he took at her, and she was near enough to go in for a take down. With a mighty yell, Scootaloo jumped at her opponent.
Thunk.
"Nice try, but you weren't quite fast enough," taunted the stallion, allowing the shield he'd conjured to stop Scootaloo's attack to disappear.
Scootaloo fell to the ground in a heap, groaning quietly. The stallion looked her over for a moment, then seized her tail with his magic, dangling the pegasus high enough to meet his eyes as she looked up at him.
"So, do you have any fight left in you now?" he asked.
Scootaloo's wings beat frantically as she pulled at the hold on her tail, but they quickly gave out, Scootaloo sighing as she dropped her head.
"Hmph. I guess not."
Scootaloo glanced up at him, then looked to his left.
She grinned, smugly saying, "Don't look now, but something tells me those ropes aren't working."
The stallion blinked, looking to where she was looking, then gasped, dropping Scootaloo.
"How did they escape?" he asked, looking back to Scootaloo.
Only to find Twilight Sparkle standing beside her.
"Sorry, but Scootaloo is needed elsewhere," Twilight said with a nod, she and Scootaloo disappearing in a magical burst of light.
The stallion glared at the spot where Twilight had stood only a moment ago, then said as if Scootaloo was still there, "Well played, young witch. Well played."
As Snips and Snails lazily made their way to where Twilight and Apple Bloom had disappeared off to, the two suddenly reappeared, dashing by, along with Fluttershy, Spike, Scootaloo, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
"Crud. We walked all this way for nothin'," Snips complained, spinning around to follow the five of them.
Thunk.
"Ow!" Snails shouted as he stumbled away from the collision. "Wak where you're going!"
He placed a tentative hoof on his tongue, flinching as he touched the bite marks.
Snips giggled, shaking his head as he asked, "Did you bite your tongue or something?"
"Yes, ah bit mah tongue!" Snails chided, pointing at Snips. "Because of ou!"
Snips laughed out loud, stepping past his angry friend and saying, "I'm sorry, I just can't take you seriously."
Snails trailed behind him, mumbling quietly to himself as his tongue hung limp from the corner of his mouth.
"Thanks for getting us out of there and all," Rainbow Dash said, landing and trotting in place, "but it's not like we didn't have it under control."
"Not the time," Applejack scolded, taking a deep breath after galloping the distance she had in such a short time. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but said nothing. After catching her breath, Applejack said, "Alright, it's do 'r die time. What's the plan?"
"Simple," began Twilight, pausing to catch her breath as well. "We've determined that the instigator in your dilemma is Diamond Tiara. We've brought her here to reveal that she's been lying about everything. As reinforcement, we've also brought along Silver Spoon, who can attest to the falsity of Diamond Tiara's claims."
"And if that isn't enough," Spike added, "we also have Snips and Snails. They faked being victims of witchcraft, and they're willing to tell the truth about that as well."
"Alright!" shouted Rainbow Dash, pumping a hoof. "This whole thing will be over, and we can get on with our lives."
"Well, that's all fine 'n dandy," Apple Bloom began, looking worried as she scanned the area, "but we ain't got nothin' without Diamond Tiara bein' here. Where'd she go?"
"She got away?" Twilight asked, the rest of the group looking stunned by the news. "Wasn't Rarity supposed to watch her?"
"She ain't here neither," Apple Bloom said, scratching behind her ear. "Neither is Silver Spoon."
"Diamond Tiara isn't going to weasel her way out of this!" Scootaloo declared, stepping past Applebloom. "I'm going after her!"
With this, she shot off into the night, not a pony among them (or Spike) trying to stop her.
"Well, that's just great!" Rainbow Dash stomped, glaring in the direction Scootaloo had run off in. "Now what? She could be anywhere by now!"
"Hey everypony!" greeted Pinkie Pie, startling a yelp from everyone in the group.
She smiled sheepishly as they each directed a scowl at her. Turning her head, she snatched a small blue box tied with a flimsy string off her back, then set it down, asking, "What's with all the hullabaloo?"
"We're trying to prove that Applejack and Rainbow Dash aren't witches," Fluttershy answered, casting a suspicious gaze on Pinkie Pie's box.
"Witches?!" Pinkie shouted, aghast, as she blinked rapidly. "That's terrible!" She glanced to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, seeming less shocked and more puzzled as she studied them, saying, "Wait a second. They don't even look like witches; no pointy nose, no silly hats, and no warts. Plus, their laughs aren't even witchy! A pony needs to have a really scary laugh to be a witch. Not just an earnest chuckle or a smug giggle, either. It needs to be like an evil cackle!"
"Pinkie!" interrupted all other ponies present (and Spike).
"Yes?" she asked, grinning broadly and blinking twice in quick succession.
"I certainly hope whatever is in that box helps Applejack and Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, nodding to the box, "because our plan has hit a snag."
"Oh! Of course!" Pinkie put a hoof on the box, smiling smugly. "After everypony in Ponyville sees this, they'll forget all about Applejack and Rainbow Dash!"
"No way!" Rainbow Dash shouted, studying the box with interest. "What's inside? Let me take a peak!"
She pulled at the string with her teeth, but Pinkie frantically shoved her away.
"Hey! Can't I see it?"
"Of course you can see it!" Pinkie said with a nod, sliding away the box while keeping a smile directed at Rainbow Dash. "It's just dangerous to be so close when you open it."
"Huh?" asked the group in unison. "What do you mean?"
"Instead of explaining it, which would be so boring," Pinkie said, sliding forward her box, "I'll show you what I mean!" She plucked the box off the ground, turning and trotting away from them. "Wait right there!"
"Pinkie, just what are ya doin'?" Applejack asked, looking and sounding doubtful.
"Just stand well away!" shouted back Pinkie, setting the box on the ground. "You also might want to cover your ears and eyes!" she held the box to the ground with her hoof as she ripped the string, then darted back over to the group.
"Pinkie," Twilight watched with puzzlement as the box rattled and shook, "what's in that box?"
"You're gonna love it!" she exclaimed. "Everypony is gonna love it!"
"Pinkie..." Twilight now sounded nervous as the box began bouncing about, glowing ever so slightly. "What is in that box?"
"Oh, fine. I'll tell you, "Pinkie said, annoyed. "You see, inside the box is—"
"Outta my way!" shouted Diamond Tiara as she barreled past Pinkie and Twilight, headed full steam towards the mysterious glowing box.
"Wait!" Pinkie implored, taking a hesitant step toward the box that Diamond Tiara was charging at. "Stop! Any second, it's gonna—"
From the center of Ponyville erupted a sound likening to a Sonic Rainboom and a white light as bright as day. It could probably blind or deafen anypony unlucky enough to be near it. Flocks of panicked birds evacuated the trees of the Everfree Forest. The quake sent several ponies to the ground.
"What in Celestia's name was that?" Fearfully asked a pony in Sleek's group.
"Works of the witches, no doubt," Sleek said coldly, already beginning for town square. "For justice!"
"Ow! My eyes..." Carrot Top rubbed at her eyes, straining to see past the dots that danced across her vision. "This has to be their doing!"
"It sounded like a bomb..." breathed a cowering mare, huddling against the others. "If they've learned to summon hell fire... even the wrath of Discord himself..."
"Nonsense! They'd have destroyed themselves before mastering such arts!" Carrot Top chided, glaring at the huddled pack of quivering ponies. "That could only have been an illusion! Nothing more!"
"Are you sure?" asked the pack as a whole.
"Of course I'm sure!" Carrot Top stomped angrily. "We must face them now!" She turned and charged for town square, the pack hesitantly shuffling along behind her.
Arriving at the town square before any of his followers, the leader of the mob examined the aftermath of the explosion. With a laugh of admiration, he said to himself, "Nothing less than astounding..."