Apple Bloom couldn't for the life of her figure out where she was. All she knew was that she was falling. She finally hit the ground and felt a sharp pain all across her body. Getting up, she realized that she was at Ponyville Elementary. Turning around, she was stopped in her tracks by what could only be described as a monster. Twice the size of a fully grown pony, it had glowing red eyes, a jagged horn, pale, milky fur, and a deep, evil-sounding voice with which it used to address the terrified filly in front of it. "GOING SOMEWHERE?"
Apple Bloom tried to run, but was cut off by another monster. This one had devil wings and an orange coat. "WHY DID YOU LET ME DIE, HUH, COWARD?"
Apple Bloom squealed in fear. "B... Biggs? But... you didn't die! You survived!" The Biggs monster began chasing her. She tried to run again, but was cut off by the first monster, which she realized was a monsterified Rarity. As much as she attempted to flee, it was no use. To make matters worse, she was then surrounded by monster versions of all of her classmates and Cheerilee.
"YOU'RE NO HERO!" "YOU'RE JUST A SCARED LITTLE FILLY!" "YOU LET US DIE!" "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Apple Bloom began to cry.
"...No... make it stop... ah didn't mean to... HELP!" She was pinned down to the ground by the monsters. As they attempted to carve her to pieces, a sudden flash of light came out of nowhere, and the Biggs monster exploded. The Rarity monster turned around to find the source of the interruption.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
The being gave a cocky smile in response. "Me? I am Luna, Princess of the Night, co-ruler of Equestria and watchpony of the dreamscape. KNEEL." The monsters attempted to swarm Luna, but her horn glowed and everything that wasn't her or Apple Bloom was promptly blown to dust. Once they were gone, she approached the terrified Apple Bloom and helped her to a standing position.
"P... Princess Luna..." Apple Bloom quickly bowed.
Luna gestured for Apple Bloom to follow. "Let's take a walk, shall we?" The two of them suddenly found themselves in a museum. Looking around, Apple Bloom realized that the exhibits were all made from her memories. They approached the first exhibit, which showed Apple Bloom getting her cutie mark. The real Apple Bloom flinched.
"...Why are you showin' me this? I tried to be a superhero, and all it did was get ponies hurt..."
Luna gave a warm smile, and they began walking to the next exhibit. "Oh, really? I think Miss Heartstrings and Miss Silver Spoon would beg to differ." The next exhibit showed the Cutie Mark Crusaders rescuing Lyra and Silver Spoon. "Had it not been for your interference, Lyra would have been robbed blind of all of her valuables, including the engagement ring she was planning to propose to her marefriend Bon Bon with. And as for Silver Spoon, well... it seems to me that at best, she would have made a hefty ransom price. At worst..." She trailed off thoughtfully.
Apple Bloom realized something. "Wait a minute... if you can read mah mind and know all about Silver Spoon's kidnappin', then why can't you just go in and fix everythin'?"
Luna sighed. The next exhibit was not one of Apple Bloom's memories; rather, it was a villain from one of those dumb video games that Big Macintosh liked to play. As the filly and the alicorn approached, the villain spoke. "Are we to allow dreams into evidence now? How am I to defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"
Luna turned to Apple Bloom. "Whatever proof you have of the kidnapping attempt lies inside your own head. And believe me when I say that not very many ponies will take the word of three troublemaking foals seriously."
"We don't make that much trouble..." The next exhibit had a newspaper with the words Gabby Gums on it. "OK, movin' right along!"
Luna laughed before continuing. "In all seriousness, do you truly believe that Sterling Silver would be capable of hiring mercenaries to kidnap his own daughter?"
"...No. No, ah don't."
"Then we come to our next problem - how Chief Cufflink doesn't seem to know anything about the kidnap attempt." They reached the next exhibit, one of Cufflink arguing with Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and Apple Bloom. "Assuming that you are correct and that Sterling Silver is a victim in all of this, it's safe to say that as soon as he had secured his daughter's safety, that he would contact the police. If so, then in order for Cufflink to deny any such allegations, somepony in the police department would have to have buried the report."
Apple Bloom blanched. "Are... are you sayin' that the police are the bad guys?"
Luna mused, "I'm saying that at least somepony in the police department is. Cufflink can't be the only dirty cop, or else one of his subordinates would have stepped up to defend Sterling as soon as the accusation against him was made. That means that either Hot Fuzz or Gumhoof has betrayed him and Ponyville, or that yes, the entire department is corrupt. Either way, that brings us to our final problem - the police are not going to be reliable allies if we are to find out what really happened."
Apple Bloom asked, "If we can't trust the police, who can we trust?"
Luna smiled. "I think you already know the answer to that question." Apple Bloom blinked, and suddenly she was clothed in the iconic costume of Mare Do Well. "As you are the only one who has the first pieces of this puzzle and is definitely not in cahoots with the enemy, that means it's up to you to stop them."
Apple Bloom whimpered in fear. "But... what if I get somepony else hurt?"
"Do you really think what happened at the school was your fault? If not for you, the enemy would be able to harm good ponies like Biggs and Rarity without any sort of comeuppance. I may not be as good as Celestia at the whole 'chessmaster' thing, but I am pretty confident you'll be able to find and stop this menace." Apple Bloom nodded. "Oh, and one more thing..." They reached the final exhibit. This was a far more distant memory - Apple Bloom realized it was the first time she met Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "You will need the help of your friends. I know what you're thinking - I have to do this alone and not put my friends in harm's way and all that. Well, it won't work. The magic of friendship is a powerful tool. Use it, and I know you'll come out on top." Apple Bloom suddenly found herself floating away. She opened her eyes and found herself in her bedroom, and realized that she had woken up. As she got out of bed, Applejack entered her room.
Apple Bloom said, "Hi, Sis."
"Hi, Apple Bloom. Sleep well?"
"Yeah. I had a lot to think about."
Applejack nodded. "Well, come on. We're headin' to the hospital. Gonna visit Rarity and Biggs." She tactfully avoided mentioning the fact that she intended to reveal the Cutie Mark Crusaders' secret to them. As Apple Bloom began putting her lucky bow on, she started thinking to herself again.
How am I gonna convince Applejack we gotta do this?