//------------------------------//
// Comet 
// Story: The Word is Fear 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

Rolling Thunder was resting on his bed, his head laying against a pillow. An empty water glass rested on the bedside table behind him, which he had used to take two headache pills. They had only partially done the job, and there was a dull throbbing in his temples. He rubbed them to try to get it to go away, but it wasn't working. 

The door to his room opened and Lilly walked in. Her ears were dropped and her shoulders were slumped as if a great weight rested upon them. She glanced up at her husband and joined him on the bed. She snuggled up close to him and he put a foreleg over her shoulder. "What have you told Comet?" he asked quietly. 

"She doesn't know anything." Lilly deeply exhaled and closed her eyes. "As far as she knows Blossom is still in prison. She's been begging me to take her there in the hopes that Blossom will rescind her choice to not see anypony who visits. I'd rather not, though. You know how upset she was when Blossom turned us away the last time."

"And now Blossom is out." Rolling Thunder began stroking his wife's mane. "When do we tell Comet and how? She's going to find out somehow, and it needs to be from us."

"Do we tell her the whole truth?" Lilly questioned. "Again, she's going to find out anyway." 

"How do we tell an eight year old that her big sister that she just met is a serial killer?" Rolling Thunder groaned and began rubbing his temples again. "I... I don't know if I can do it. You know how much she loves Blossom, the two formed an instant bond."

Lilly looked fearfully up at her husband. "Do you think that Blossom would hurt her?" 

Rolling Thunder shook his head. "No. I think that you, me, and Comet are all safe. She wouldn't kill us anymore than she would kill her mother or her adoptive family." 

"She might kill me," Lilly whispered. "You know how much we disliked each other in the beginning, what if she focuses on that?"

"She won't," Rolling Thunder insisted. "You're going to be fine, I promise you!" 

Before Lilly could respond, the pair heard a trio of sharp knocks on their door. Curious, the pair hopped off of their bed and went downstairs to answer it. Lilly used her magic to open the door. Both of them gasped and took a step backwards when they saw not only a large detachment of royal guards, but Princess Luna herself. Both of them fell to their knees at the sight of the princess of the night, but she raised a hoof to dissuade them from doing so. "Thou need not partake in such formalities with us. There are far more important matters at hoof."

The two got to their hooves. "Oh, of course, your majesty," said Rolling Thunder. "I... I take it this is about Blossom?"

"Indeed. May we come in? There are important matters to attend to."

Rolling Thunder inclined his head and motioned for the group to come in. Princess Luna motioned for half of the force to stay outside to watch the house and led the rest inside the house. The duo looked uneasily between the guards and Luna. "Okay, I understand that Blossom is dangerous, but what is going on here exactly?" Lilly asked. "Are any of us in danger?"

Luna closed her eyes sadly and tilted her head in a brief nod. "We believe so. Last night Blossom went to Ponyville. She murdered no less than nine ponies including..." Luna took a deep breath. "Including her mother."

Lilly gasped and Rolling Thunder's jaw dropped. "What did you say?" he whispered. 

"As horrid as the event undoubtedly was, what was left of Blossom made it quick. Her normal preferred choice of weapon is a knife, but for Sweetie Belle it was a simple injection." Luna opened her eyes and grimaced. "Based on what we know of that mare, twas a mercy killing, not a malicious one. We believe that she did it to spare her the torment of what will come to pass shortly."

"And you think that she's coming after us next, is that it?" Rolling Thunder guessed.

Luna's gaze turned upwards. "Particularly Comet."

Lilly gasped and put a hoof over her mouth while Rolling Thunder took a step towards the door. "Do you really think that she would stoop to that?!" 

"We do." Luna scanned the ceiling as if hoping her gaze could see through it. "She murdered her mother. Nopony is safe now." her eyes shot downwards until they locked onto Rolling Thunder. "Not even you or your child."

"Well then we have to go get her right now!" Lilly cried. 

Luna's eyes widened and she took a step towards the pair. "Where is your daughter?!"

Rolling Thunder pointed out the window. "At school!" 


*  *  *  *


Comet grinned to herself as her teacher dismissed them for recess. She shut her notebook and placed her pencil on top of it before bouncing out the door. She spotted her friend Dashing Wind and trotted up to her. "Hey, Wind. Do you want to play on the swings?"

To Comet's surprise, Dashing Wind didn't make eye contact with her. Indeed, she flattened her ears and stared at the ground. "I dunno, Comet," she muttered. 

Comet cocked her head. "What's wrong? You always want to play on the swings!"

"Yeah..." Wind began kicking at the ground. "Uh... my mommy said that I can't be friends with you anymore. She told me it isn't very safe."

Comet's eyes widened and the first traces of tears appeared in them. "W...Why? I'm not gonna hurt you! You're my best friend!" 

"I know," Wind Mumbled. "It's not you. My mommy says that your sister might hurt me."

A scowl crossed Comet's face and she jumped in front of her friend, flaring out her tiny wings. "No! My sister is not a bad mare! She's just sick! They're trying to help her get better!"

For the first time, Wind's eyes trailed up and she looked at Comet with fear in her eyes. "You mean you don't know?"

Comet's wings folded back to her sides and she took an uneasy step backwards. "Know what?"

"My mommy said that your sister got out of prison and she hurt a lot of ponies when she did. Most of them died!"

Comet quietly gasped, but her scowl returned as did her flared out wings. "No, my sister would never do anything bad like that! She's a good mare, she's just sick!" 

"But my mommy read it in the newspaper today!" Wind insisted. "She got out two days ago and hurt a lot of ponies, some in Ponyville even!" 

"Y-You're lying!" Comet retorted. "M-My big sister isn't a bad mare! Sh-she wouldn't hurt anypony ever!"

Comet began sobbing and turned around, running away from her friend. At the orders of her mother, Wind did not try to follow her. Comet ran up to the only adult that she could find at the moment: her teacher. Adults never lied about that kind of thing. Her teacher saw her run up and smiled warmly at her until she saw that Comet was crying. She sunk to Comet's level. "Comet, what's the matter?"

Comet sat on the ground and did her best to calm down. "I... I w-was talking to W-Wind a-and she said that my s-sister left jail and hurt a lot of ponies when sh-she did! Some so bad that they died! Sh-She said that it was in the newspapers too!" Comet looked up at her teacher with wide, watery eyes. "She was lying, right?" 

Comet's teacher's jaw dropped slightly and she straightened up. "You... you weren't told?" She put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh Celestia."

Comet whimpered and curled up into a ball on the ground. "N-No! M-My sister isn't a bad mare, sh-she's just sick! Th-they were gonna make her better!"

"I'm so sorry, Comet," her teacher whispered. "I don't know what to say. I didn't know that you weren't told." 

Comet let out a wail of sorrow and her tears dripped down her face, staining the ground below her. Her teacher reached down and wrapped the distraught filly in a tight hug. "Comet, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you're going through right now. Just know that I'm here for you if you ever want to talk."

"Blossom isn't a bad pony!" Comet sobbed. "She's just sick!"

"I know," her teacher assured her. "And I know that she loves you very much and would never hurt you." Comet leaned into her teacher's shoulder and cried into it, wetting her fur. Her teacher gently patted her on the back and nuzzled her. "I know this is hard for you. If you want to, you can go home for the day. I know your parents will want to talk to you about this."

Comet weakly nodded and pulled herself out of her teacher's grasp. She quickly went inside the school and got her saddlebag before trudging towards home. Her teacher would have normally requested that she it until her parents came to get her, but the filly was a mere three minute walk away from home, even with her short legs. She would be okay.

Comet's tears fell fast and hard as she walked towards her house. Her head and ears were drooped and she dragged her hooves. Blossom wasn't a bad pony, she couldn't be a bad pony! Yes, she was very sick, that much was certain, but she wasn't so sick that she would hurt a lot of ponies so bad that they died on purpose! She wasn't like that. She was a good mare. 

"Comet."

Comet's head shot up and her ears perked at the sound of her name being called. She looked around wildly for the source of the voice. After a second or two, she figured that she had just imagined it until she heard it again. 

"Comet. Over here."

Comet gasped. She knew that voice! She wheeled around to face an alleyway next to her. Down at the very end was a familiar white mare. "Blossom!" Comet squeed. She bolted down the alleyway and into her sister's eager forelegs. She wrapped her forelegs around her sister's waist and buried her head in her chest. "They said bad things about you at school!"

Blossom gave a half chuckle/half sob and nuzzled her sister's mane. "I know," she whispered. "You're going to hear a lot of bad things about me soon."

"But it's not true!" Comet insisted. "You're not a bad pony!" 

Blossom hugged her sister tighter. "I don't want to be. I want to be a good pony, and a good big sister for you." Tears began streaming down Blossom's face. "But I'm not either one of those things."

"Yes you are!" Comet insisted. "You're the best big sister ever!"

"I wish I was," Blossom whispered. "I wish that I could be that big sister for you. I've done terrible things, Comet. I'm gonna keep doing bad things because I can't help myself. I only came to tell you that Big Sister will never, ever hurt you and that I love you very much. I'm not gonna hurt you or your daddy and that's a promise that I will never break."

"You're not gonna hurt anypony!" Comet wiped her eyes. "You're not a bad pony."

Blossom bit her lip to prevent further tears, but she gently pried her little sister away from her. "Comet, I... I am a bad pony. I don't know if you know about my Aunt Rarity, but I'm like her. Like I said before, you're going to hear a lot of bad things about me soon. I just want you to know that I don't want to do them and that I love you very much." Blossom sighed and wiped her eyes as well. "Comet, I need you to go back to your mommy and daddy right now, okay? You're going to be safe with them, I promise."

"But I don't want you to go!" Comet whimpered. "Can't you go back to that place where they're going to make you get better and I can see you?"

Blossom dropped her ears and shook her head. "No, Comet. They won't let me back there. I'm going to die if anypony sees me." Blossom sat down on her haunches again and gave Comet one last hug. "Big Sister will miss you." With that, Blossom stood back up and changed her appearance to a grey mare. She wordlessly trotted out of the alley. 


*  *  *  *


Rolling Thunder paced back and forth in the entryway of his house while Princess Luna and his wife watched him. "I'm sorry, your majesty, I cannot believe that Blossom would hurt Comet, it just doesn't add up."

"She would not bring her harm out of malicious intent. From Blossom’s perspective she would be euthanizing your daughter," Luna explained. "Such was the case with her mother. She wished to spare her the emotional pain of seeing what is to come."

Rolling Thunder opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off when the door to his house opened and two guards walked in flanking...

"Comet!" Lilly cried, rushing over to her daughter. She swept her into a hug and held her tightly. "You're home!"

"My teacher let me go home for the day." Comet nuzzled her mother's shoulder. "I found out bad things about Blossom." 

Lilly sighed and rubbed her daughter's back. "It'll be okay. She's not going to hurt you."

"I know," Comet whispered. "She said that she's a bad pony, but that she's not going to hurt me."

Instantly the air of the room changed from one of unease to complete shock. All of the ponies were as still as statues until Princess Luna broke the silence. "When did thou see Joyous Blossom?"

"When I was walking home from school."

Luna turned her head to her guards. "Sound the alarm. Joyous Blossom is in Baltimare and she is close."

The guard saluted and left the house with his fellows. When he had left, Comet looked up at Luna with wide eyes. "If you find her, don't hurt her. Just take her back to that place and make her better. She's not a bad pony!"

Luna stared wordlessly down at the filly for a moment before sighing and walking out the door.