In the middle of the night along the train tracks outside Ponyville, all was dark and quiet.
"Hey! Watch it!" A voice shouted angrily.
Okay, it was dark, anyway.
"Sorry Scootaloo, I tripped," a second voice said. "I'm just so tired."
"Why'd we have to walk so far, anyway?" A third voice spoke up.
"I told you already," Scootaloo said with an exasperated tone. "We had to get off the train before it made it to Ponyville so we wouldn't get caught."
"Get caught? Ah don't get it. We paid for tickets," the third voice said.
"Yeah, but..." Scootaloo said.
"But what?"
"Forget it," Scootaloo said. She walked ahead a few feet, muttering. The other two thought they heard the words 'hobo' and 'cutie mark.'
"What's wrong, Scoots?"
She sighed heavily and didn't answer.
"C'mon, tell us!"
"I just thought for sure we'd get our cutie marks this time."
"I think to get cutie marks in arctic exploration, we'd have to actually explore the arctic."
Scootaloo smiled at this.
"I guess you're right, Sweetie Belle, I just didn't realize it would be so cold!"
"Me either," Sweetie Belle said sheepishly.
"Oh no!"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo jumped at the sudden yell.
"What is it, Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo asked quickly, pretending not to have been startled a second earlier.
Apple Bloom had frozen in place, her eyes wide and her mouth open as if she was gasping. She didn't answer.
"Apple Bloom! What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle's words may not have snapped her out of her stupor, but it was hard to ignore being shaken insistently.
"Ah didn't tell Applejack or Big Mac where Ah was goin' and Ah thought we were just crusadin' like normal 'cause Ah didn't know what we were gonna do and Ah didn't tell anypony how long we'd be gone and we've been gone for days and my folks must be worried sick and-"
"Apple Bloom! Breathe!" Scootaloo yelled.
Apple Bloom slumped to the ground and hid her face under her hooves.
"Ah'm gonna be in so much trouble when Ah get home."
"Rarity's gonna be so mad at me!" Sweetie Belle said with a gasp, her voice breaking a little.
"Gimme a break," Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. "That's what you're so worried about?"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo like she was crazy.
"Yes!"
Scootaloo sighed heavily.
"Look, it's the middle of the night. Just sneak back into your rooms without anypony seeing you, and everything will be fine. Maybe they won't even notice you were gone."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle continued to look at Scootaloo like she was crazy.
"Do either of you have a better idea?" Scootaloo asked sharply.
"No," Sweetie Belle admitted.
"Ah guess not," Apple Bloom said.
"Then go on," Scootaloo gestured toward the farm. "See you tomorrow for more crusading!"
"If Ah'm allowed to leave the farm," Apple Bloom said doubtfully, but she waved to her friends and walked the rest of the way home alone.
When she got to the farm, everything was quiet and there wasn't any light in the house. She briefly considered trying to climb directly into her window from outside, but realized it would be quieter to sneak up the stairs inside. She crept over to the front door and silently opened it. Gingerly stepping inside, she slowly pushed the door closed. She flinched when it clicked shut behind her. She held her breath, waiting for a voice to ask her where she'd been, but there was nothing. When she finally breathed again, it felt like the loudest thing she had ever heard. She tiphoofed to the stairs and started the agonizingly slow ascent.
One step at a time.
One hoof at a time.
Slowly...
Carefully...
A board creaked under her weight. Apple Bloom froze, looking at the door at the top of the stairs, waiting for her sister to investigate the noise. An eternity seemed to pass before she moved again, but when the door ahead of her remained closed, she felt it was safe. She kept climbing. As she went, she found herself wondering just how late it really was. Her brother and sister always got up early, what if they woke up and she was still trying to sneak to her room?
She crept just a little bit faster up the stairs.
Three more steps to go. Two more steps. One more. Okay, now just turn down the hall and through my door, then I'm home free, she thought. What was that?
Apple Bloom swallowed hard, listening intently for whatever noise she'd just heard from Applejack's room. Whatever it was, it didn't happen again. Maybe her sister had just rolled over in her sleep.
Just a few more steps to her room...
Inside...
Close the door...
Climb into bed...
Safe! She almost cheered at successfully sneaking into her own room, but remembered just in time that she was trying to be quiet. She quickly checked to see if her sneaking had earned her a cutie mark, then, frowning, tried to sleep.
She didn't have to try hard.
Apple Bloom opened her eyes and sat up. She yawned and stretched. She sighed and smiled, looking out her window. It was a beautiful, quiet day. Quiet. Nopony had come in to wake her up early, demanding to know where she'd been. Could it be that Scootaloo's crazy plan had actually worked? Her smile widened at the thought.
No, calm down, she told herself. Act natural.
She walked out of her room, relieved to not be sneaking anymore. She made her way down the stairs, oddly enjoying the sound of her hooves striking the wood steps. Granny's chair was empty.
She must be in the kitchen, Apple Bloom thought.
She went into the kitchen to find... Nothing. She was the only one in there.
Maybe Granny was outside helping Applejack or Big McIntosh with something? Yeah, that must be it. She went outside, looking- She casually walked outside in a way that would not be suspicious at all to anypony who was outside. The problem was that there wasn't anypony outside.
"Applejack? Big Mac? Granny? Where are y'all?" She waited for what felt like hours, but there was no answer. She wandered through the apple trees, looking and sometimes calling for her family, but she heard nothing but the rustle of leaves in the occasional breeze.
While she was searching the farm, she came across the treehouse where she spent so much of her time.
"Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle?" She called out, climbing the steps to the door. "Are you gals in here?" She poked her head inside to find it looking nothing like it did before they left to become arctic explorers; the entire room had been trashed. Everything had been moved, like somepony was looking for something.
Or someone. She slumped, resting her chin the floor. They weren't here because they were out looking for her. The corners of her mouth started to tremble and her vision was blurring more every time she blinked. If her family was out looking for her, how was she going to find them to let them know she was okay? If only she hadn't left without telling anypony where she was going. Of course, if she had told them, Applejack would have forbidden her from going.
"Ah wish Ah'd just stayed home," she mumbled, wiping away a tear.
She lay there for several minutes, the only sound an occasional sniffle. Suddenly she jumped to her feet.
"Fluttershy! She's right next door, Ah bet they told her where they were gonna look today! She can help me find 'em!" A bright smile on her face, Apple Bloom wiped away her tears and ran to find Fluttershy.
It didn't take long to leave the farm, and as she got closer to Fluttershy's cottage, Apple Bloom started to feel like something was wrong, she just wasn't sure what.
She ran past empty birdhouses and up to the door. Raising a hoof, she knocked politely. That is to say, she struck the door repeatedly while yelling Fluttershy's name. After calling out twice and hitting the door several times, Apple Bloom noticed that the door was opening a tiny bit farther with every impact. The door seemed to be stuck on something, but she pushed it open far enough she could get inside.
"Fluttershy? Are you home? Hello?"
Silence.
She walked farther into the house, belatedly wondering if she shouldn't be inside.
No, she reasoned, the door was already open, I just opened it a little more. And if the door's open, that means you can go inside. Everypony knows that.
She went into the living room, every step echoing in the empty house. She was careful to watch where she stepped, making sure not to injure any of the little animals who lived here.
Where were the animals? Apple Bloom started breathing hard. She realized what was wrong. She hadn't seen or heard any living creature. Not even a bird or a bunny.
"Fluttershy? Angel?" She wasn't surprised when there was no answer. "M-maybe they're all out looking for me too?" She nervously shifted her weight back and forth for a few minutes before turning around to leave. She saw what had been holding the door closed and her blood ran cold, freezing her in place. Applejack's hat. Something was very, very wrong. The cottage didn't seem like such a friendly place anymore. She ran outside and took the path leading to Ponyville, desperate to find someone, anyone.
Along the path to Ponyville, Apple Bloom found where a rope had been dragged recently.
Somepony's been here, she thought, following the trail, which led all the way to the school.
"Hello? Miss Cheerilee?" School was out, but it wouldn't be the first time her teacher had been there preparing for a class that wouldn't take place for weeks. It looked like the rope had been dragged inside. She followed the trail.
"Miss Cheerilee? Are you in here?" There was no answer, but she found the rope on the floor. It looked like one of her sister's lassos. The loop at the end was cut. No, not cut. Something had chewed through it.
She heard a sound outside. She jumped, spinning around to face the open door.
"Hello? Is- is anypony there?"
Everything was quiet. Apple Bloom could feel herself starting to panic.
They're fine, she told herself. They're just looking for me. I'll just go into town and find somepony who knows where they are, and everything will be fine.
She couldn't quite convince herself. She ran outside to keep looking.
It was almost like Zecora was coming for a visit before they'd learned not to be afraid of her. This time, though, doors weren't all closed, and some shutters clattered in the breeze. A couple times she heard the strange sound, but she didn't see what was making it. Before long, she stopped checking the houses. They were all the same: empty. Usually as though everypony inside just dropped what they were doing and left in so much of a hurry that they didn't even bother to close their doors behind them.
She heard the sound and took off running. A different sound was following her. It took her a moment to realize it was the sound of her own heart pounding. She took a second to breathe and try to calm down. There was at least one more building she absolutely had to check, so she cut through an alley to get there sooner. A sudden gust of wind smacked something into her face. She yelled in surprise and grabbed the object, pulling it away from her face so she could see what it was.
A feather. Not just any feather; this was a very familiar, small, orange feather. Her eyes watered. She told herself that it was just from getting smacked in the eye with a feather. She couldn't, she wouldn't, believe that anything had happened to her friend.
"Scootaloo! Scootaloo!" There was no answer.
A few seconds later, she heard the strange sound again. She screamed and galloped as fast as she could to Carousel Boutique.
The door was open. She ran inside and slammed the door shut behind her. She got a look at the room. It was just as much of a mess as the other places she had checked, and while this was hardly unusual for Rarity's workplace, there was one thing that drew her attention.
Sweetie Belle's saddlebags lay torn and open on the floor, their contents scattered.
"No," Apple Bloom whimpered. "Sweetie Belle?" Her voice was barely louder than Fluttershy's. She tried again. "SWEETIE BELLE!"
If Sweetie Belle was anywhere in the Boutique, she would have heard that. When there was no answer, Apple Bloom sniffled, wiping a tear off her cheek. She felt more alone than she ever had before.
She heard the noise again. It was in the boutique. Whatever it was, it was getting closer to her. Her legs both locked in place and wouldn't stop shaking. She was going to give up when one last hope entered her mind like a ray of sunshine through stormclouds.
"Twilight can fix it," she said, blinking away her tears as she galloped to the library. "If anypony can fix it, Twilight can."
Her hope faded when she saw the library door standing open. She ran inside and closed the door. The mess she saw inside was worse than any other messes she'd seen in Ponyville. There were books and scrolls everywhere. Scorchmarks from dragon fire and unicorn magic were on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and even on some of the books. A checklist on the table in the middle of the room caught her eye. The top of the list had been burned too badly to read, but she started reading what she could.
-to search the Everfree forest for the girls.
Get Zecora's help with- another burn mark prevented her from reading the rest of this entry, but it was left unchecked.
Research the Elements to see if- this one was marked out with a note written next to it. Can't use Elements without Pinkie Pie.
An open letter was laying on top of the list.
Dear Princess Celestia,
HELP! Pinkie Pie- the rest of the letter was burned too badly to read. She moved it to the side to continue reading the list.
Ask the Princess for help. Unchecked.
If there was any more written on the list, it had been covered when the ink pot had fallen over, emptying its contents across the paper. Twilight couldn't fix whatever it was. Twilight couldn't even get the Princess' help.
She heard the sound again and ran. She couldn't think of anywhere else to go, she just had to run. She left the library, unable to stop her tears from flowing. Her vision was so blurry she barely stopped before running into the side of Sugar Cube Corner.
She heard the sound again, just behind her. She shrieked in terror and spun around, tears streaming down her face.
"Gummy! Where is everypony? Where's Pinkie Pie?"
He seemed to smile at her.
"Gummy?"
His teeth were the last things she saw.