Babs awoke and looked into the ceiling of the old Granny Smith’s room. She thanked Luna for a good sleep. All she dreamed about was Diamond Tiara sitting in some dark, empty hall, but after her usual set of nightmares it was a very welcomed change.
She got out of bed quickly. She’d seen lots of deaths – last time a year ago, when a filly from a neighbouring room in the camp hanged herself – but something about staying in Granny Smith’s room for too long seemed wrong. She shuddered and left the room, not looking behind her.
She trotted downstairs and saw Applejack, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom sitting at the kitchen table.
“Hello Babs,” Applejack said. “How are ya?”
“Good,” Babs replied. “I’m much better since I’m here with ya… Thank ya…”
“After everythin’ y’all suffered…” Applejack shook her head. “Well, Ah don’t praise ya for what ya did, but…”
Babs felt a pang of pain in her heart. Unneeded. Black sheep of the family. She looked at the floor beneath her hooves.
“Ya’re a wise filly, Babs,” Applejack said. “Ah think ya’ll never do that again, won’t ya?”
“Yeah, sure…” Babs muttered, blowing her mane from her eyes and sitting at the table with the rest of her family. She thought of her plans and sighed.
“So, what are your plans?” Apple Bloom asked. “Maybe ya’ll stay here and help us with the harvest?”
Babs froze. “M-maybe,” she said, pretending to be very interested in the casserole in front of her. “But first I have to go to Manehattan for a while. See the parents… Finish somethin’…”
“Stay with us for at least one more day,” Apple Bloom said. “Scootaloo just came back from Canterlot; we’re gonna meet her in the evening…”
Babs thought about her last meeting with Scootaloo. What happened later almost wiped that memory, but she could still recall some details which didn’t sound pleasant. “How’s Scootaloo? She’s still with that racer, what was his name?”
“Rumble,” Apple Bloom said. “Yes, they’re together, but they hardly see each other. She’s in the Royal Guard Academy in Canterlot.”
Babs sighed. So, Scootaloo fulfilled her dream. She hoped their ways would never cross.
“Sweetie Belle will soon go on tour,” Apple Bloom said. “It seems that it’ll be some time before we meet each other again…”
Diamond Tiara sighed and looked at the food in front of her. When she came back home she learned that old Randolph decided to retire. She wished he could go back. The new butler couldn’t get anything right.
“So, what are you planning to do now, Diamond?” Filthy Rich asked, looking at her. “Of course, you can stay here as long as you want, but the doctors say that you should…”
“…reintegrate with the society,” Diamond Tiara finished. “It’s a bit hard when the society doesn’t want to reintegrate with me.”
“Don’t worry, Diamond,” Filthy Rich said. “Soon, they’ll all forgive you…”
“He’s lying,” Silver Spoon said. She was sitting on the table, just next to Filthy Rich, waving her hooves in the air. Diamond Tiara sent her a nasty glare.
“What are you looking at?” Filthy Rich asked, also looking at Silver Spoon, or rather through her.
“Nothing,” Diamond Tiara replied quickly. “This new butler is really terrible…”
“He’s learning,” Filthy Rich said. “By the way, did you hear that Babs Seed is in town? You two were friends once, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen her,” Diamond Tiara replied, trying not to look at Silver Spoon, who was now blowing her mane from her eyes, in a way similar to Babs.
“I’ve heard lots of things about her… Jet Set…” Filthy Rich paused. “I’ve heard she killed someone but they couldn’t prove it…” He shook his head.
Diamond Tiara froze. “She didn’t,” she said quickly. “You know dad, I can recognise a murderer…”
“Are you suggesting that I can’t?” Suddenly Filthy Rich shuddered but quickly regained his composure. “Oh… I see your point.”
“Yeah…” Diamond Tiara sighed. “I wonder what would the doctor say about the fact that I’m joking about that…”
“That wasn’t funny,” Silver Spoon said. She was now standing next to the butler who stood by the door.
“I know,” Diamond Tiara muttered through gritted teeth.
“What do you know?” Filthy Rich asked, looking at her unsurely.
“I know what would ponies in town say if they heard me,” Diamond Tiara explained. She spoke in a low, raspy voice, imitating Cherry Berry, “She’s a psycho! We need to burn her!”
The butler chuckled, but Filthy Rich didn’t laugh. “It’s a small town,” he said. “Most of the ponies lost a friend or a relative. I, myself, lost you for ten years. Silverspeed…”
Diamond Tiara could see Silver Spoon’s ears perking up when she heard her mother’s name. “What happened to her?” she asked.
“Well…” Filthy Rich threw nervous glances around. “It was when you were… umm… in Trottingham… You’re an adult, you need to know… We somehow… got together…”
“What?!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, trying to ignore Silver Spoon speaking something quickly. “H-how long?”
“Almost till now,” Filthy Rich said. “In fact, we had a little argument about you… Like I said, she never really came to terms with what happened. She’s now in Vanhoover… She said that she needed time…”
“I… I don’t know what to think about it…” Diamond Tiara looked at her breakfast and sighed. “I’ll be in the garden, dad…” She stood up and left the room.
“So,” Silver Spoon said, sitting on a tree branch. “We’re, like, sisters now?”
“No,” Diamond Tiara replied, lost in her thoughts. She was resting herself against a tree trunk, her face hidden in her hooves.
“Admit it,” Silver Spoon jumped off the tree, landing next to Diamond. “We’re already like conjoined twins… And now your dad and my mom…”
“Shut up!” Diamond Tiara shouted, glaring at Silver angrily. “You know how you sound now? Like Curtain Call!”
Silver Spoon shuddered. “Don’t say that name!” she exclaimed. “Stay with me… Bad things happen when she’s here…”
“Bad things will definitely happen if you keep doing that,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “I lost ten years of my life… Everything here is wrong… And you just had to appear and make that even worse!”
“Hey, I can go away if you don’t wanna see me…” She heard Babs’ voice behind the fence. “But first I’d wanna know why…”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Diamond Tiara said. She saw Babs climbing on the fence and soon she landed on the grass next to her.
“Then to who? Silver Spoon?” Babs chuckled. “I must say, for a moment I felt flattered. I thought the sight of my flank gave ya a wet dreams…”
“Never gonna happen,” Diamond Tiara muttered. “I was talking to Silver… It seems that while I was away, our parents, as my father said…” She sighed. “… ’got together’…”
“Well, life goes on…” Babs said, sitting next to Diamond. “I was out for not even three years and everypony looks at me as if I infected my beloved cousin with syphilis. Guess ya have it even worse…”
“You don’t even know…” Diamond muttered. Babs tried to wrap her hoof around her, but she shook it off.
“Anyway, I came here to tell ya that we’re gonna have a small party today,” Babs said. “Scootaloo with her coltfriend, Mr. Quick Finish, Sweetie Belle with Mr. Dorky Loser, Apple Bloom with… Well, Apple Bloom, and me with ya.”
“What?” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, looking at Babs unsurely.
“You know… A party,” Babs spoke slowly and clearly. “Pub, cider, colts…”
“B-but I…”
“Oh, ya don’t like colts? Don’t worry, I’m open-minded. But in case we’re not lucky, I call dibs on Apple Bloom…”
“No, it’s not that!” Diamond Tiara was looking at Babs, her eyes wide in horror. “I mean that I… I…”
“Oh, I get it. It’s ‘I’m a murderer, everypony will get torches and pitchforks to lynch me’ all over again?” Babs sighed. “Listen, ya’ll never get better if ya don’t start to talk to ponies… Show ‘em that ya’re okay…”
“I… I’m not sure if I can…” Diamond Tiara lowered her gaze and sat on the grass.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help ya,” Babs said, offering her hoof to Diamond. “If somepony tries to hurt ya…”
“Okay…” Diamond Tiara muttered. “But, Babs…”
“Yeah?”
“No colts… I… I don’t think I…” Diamond Tiara gulped.
“You prefer fillies after all?” Babs asked. “Ya don’t have to answer if ya don’t want.”
“No… I don’t think I like any…” Diamond said. “Maybe I was always like that, or maybe it’s because of the meds…”
Babs nodded. “Nevermind,” she said. “In fact… I’m not gonna look for a date either. Last three guys who…” Now she shuddered and lowered her head, hiding her eyes behind her mane. Diamond Tiara stood before her, unsure if she should ask, when Babs raised her head, blowing her mane from her eyes. “So… I’ll come to ya at six, okay?” she said.
“Ya invited who?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Diamond Tiara,” Babs replied calmly. “Yeah, I know, ‘she wanted to kill me,’ blah, blah, blah. Listen, AB…” She trotted closer to Apple Bloom. “Ya… claim that you forgave me, even though I did lots of bad things… Why didn’t ya forgive her?”
“Ah did!” Apple Bloom replied. “Ah just… Ah don’t wanna see her around…”
“Like most of the town,” Babs said. “Even if she wasn’t crazy, she’d get crazy because of how ya treat her…”
Apple Bloom sighed. “Fine,” she said. “But if y’all make trouble…”
Babs looked at the brown colt standing next to Sweetie Belle and thought that he was probably the luckiest pony on earth. She’d faintly remember him from one of her visits in Ponyville. Over the last couple of years he got rid of his propeller beanie, but his mane, ridiculous outfit, and a 20-sided dice he had for a cutie mark were saying exactly what kind of nerd he was. “Button Mash,” he introduced himself to Babs.
Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, looked absolutely fantastic in a silk dress with a saddle. A pair of sunglasses was resting on her horn. Babs wasn’t into pop music, but she heard that Sweetie’s first album got quite popular, bringing her lots of money. She caught herself trying to guess where Sweetie kept her wallet.
When Babs turned her eyes on Rumble, her heart fluttered in her chest. He didn’t change much over the last three years; he’d gotten a bit more muscular, but overall looked pretty much the same. Scootaloo was standing next to him; her mane was short, as usual, and she was wearing a flying suit, similar to the one sported by Rumble.
Babs knew almost nothing about fashion, but she felt that their appearance clashed with Sweetie Belle’s more formal attire. Then she thought about her own outfit – when she was released from the boot camp, she was given back her piercings and a leather jacket. However, they didn’t gave her back her balisong knife. Babs thought that she had to buy a new one as soon as possible – without a familiar item in her pocket she felt slightly off.
Diamond’s arrival caused mixed reactions. Rumble said nothing, but it could be seen that he didn’t feel comfortable. Sweetie Belle looked at Babs and at Apple Bloom who shrugged. Button hid behind Sweetie; from what Babs heard, he and Twist were having the biggest collections of comic books in Ponyville. After Twist’s death, Bon Bon gave her comic books to Button who, however, never truly recovered from his friend’s loss.
Scootaloo surprised Babs. “Hello, Diamond,” she said. “It’s nice to see you…”
“It’s… It’s nice to see you too, Scootaloo…” Diamond Tiara said, avoiding Scootaloo’s gaze. “I’m sorry that I wanted to kill you…”
“Don’t worry about that,” Scootaloo said. “You weren’t yourself…”
“So… Where are we gonna go?” Apple Bloom asked. “Are we headin’ to the pub?”
“Sure,” Scootaloo replied. “Do you know that they don’t let us drink in Canterlot? It’s a torture…”
“I don’t drink anyway,” Rumble said. “The team–”
“Yeah, we know, Mr. Sportspony,” Babs muttered. “How’s that chick, Tornado Bolt?”
“She got better,” Rumble replied. “She has now third best track time in the team…”
“Interesting,” Babs deadpanned. They trotted down the street. It was a cold evening and Babs thought that taking her jacket with her was a good idea. “And how about ya, Sweetie?”
“Great!” Sweetie said. “I’ve recently talked to Neon Lights. He’s going to produce my next single…”
“Is he still alive?” Babs asked. “With the amount of drugs he was takin’…”
“He stopped taking drugs and prays to Luna five times a day. He says that he’s clean…” Sweetie said.
“Artists…” Babs muttered. “I still think Vinyl Scratch was better…”
“I think that’s just nostalgia,” Button said. “Neon has a better equipment and, actually, his style is much more pleasant. Well, maybe Vinyl’s brother…”
“Equipment!” Babs exclaimed. “Vinyl would make better music than Neon even if she used a phonograph with wax cylinders instead of records!” She looked around and saw that Diamond Tiara was lagging behind. “Diamond! Come on! What d’ya think about our battle of the DJs? Who was better?”
“I don’t know,” Diamond Tiara replied. “I’ve never listened too much Neon Lights…”
“Good for ya,” Babs said, giving Button a nasty glare. “I’m tellin’ ya, if it wasn’t for that crazy cunt with a lead pipe, no one would even hear of Neon today…”
“Maybe…” Button shrugged. “By the way, do you believe in the revelations of that doctor? The one who said that there’s a monster under Canterlot who uses ponies to feed him?”
“I call bullshit,” Babs muttered. “He made it up to spread a message about tolerance… With rather poor effects.”
“But Twilight really doesn’t want to talk about what happened there,” Sweetie Belle said. “Even when Rarity asked her…”
“Maybe she ran away first and is ashamed of that…” Rumble turned to Babs. “She doesn’t look very brave if you ask me.”
Apple Bloom glared at Rumble angrily. “She’s not like that,” she said. “She’s faced worse things… Ah believe Dr. Stable.”
“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Diamond Tiara asked quietly.
“Ah can show ya Dr. Stable’s article later,” Apple Bloom said, trotting closer to Diamond. “It seems that we’re here…”
The pub wasn’t very crowded. Lyra was sitting in her favourite chair, watching the patrons with a bored expression. Minuette levitated her cider and took a sip.
“So,” she said. “You wanted to talk, didn’t you?”
“Yeah…” Lyra muttered absentmindedly. “I’m kinda worried about Bon Bon. Since Diamond Tiara came back…”
“Oh no, not this again…” Minuette put her cider on the table and rolled her eyes. “I’m done solving your problems. Well, not yours specifically; I speak about the town in general. Live and let live, Lyra. You want to adopt her or lynch her, I don’t care. I won’t give you a hoof with either.” She waved her hoof. Lyra winced when she saw an ugly scar on it.
Minuette looked at Lyra, then at the scar and chuckled. “Too bad Octavia moved out,” she said. “She was the only pony here who appreciated my crappy puns.”
“I’m not asking you for help,” Lyra said. “I also think that we should leave Diamond alone. I’m just afraid that Cherry Berry…”
“Can we not talk about her?” Minuette sighed. “Since that accident with Berry we prefer to ignore each other.”
“I’m afraid that she may try to hurt Diamond.” Lyra leaned closer to Minuette. “How it goes with ‘live and let live?’”
“There are guards for that,” Minuette said dryly. “Two of them, not counting Riot Control who, as I heard is quite bored since he’d retired, and Scootaloo who’s still learning, but I guess she knows some of the tricks.”
Lyra sighed. “Why do I even talk to you?”
“I don’t know,” Minuette replied, taking a sip of her cider. “It was you who invited me here…”
Lyra looked at the door of the pub and froze. “Minuette, do you think Cherry Berry will come here today?”
“Of course,” Minuette said. “She proudly trots the path set by her cousin. Why are you asking?”
“Well,” Lyra said, watching the group of young ponies walking through the pub and sitting at a large table in the opposite corner of the room. “It seems that we may have a problem…”
Diamond Tiara sat at the table between Babs and Scootaloo. She looked at the others unsurely and leaned to the former. “You know, I’ve never drank alcohol in my life…” she whispered.
“Oh…” Babs scratched her head. “Don’t drink too much then. Ya’re showing the ponies that ya’re normal, remember about that.”
“Okay,” Diamond replied. “I’ll take a small cider, I guess…”
“Diet coke,” Rumble said. Babs looked at him with disdain.
“Small cider?” Silver Spoon whispered into Diamond Tiara’s ear, completely ignoring the fact that the space between Diamond’s and Scootaloo’s chairs was too small for her to fit. “What about me?”
“You’re nine, my lady,” Diamond deadpanned.
Silver Spoon made an expression indicating that she was about to throw a tantrum. “I’m as old as you! Remember that I’m a part of your mind!”
“So you’ll get drunk with me…”
Scootaloo turned to her and looked at her unsurely. “Sorry, Diamond, but I’d rather not get drunk with you… I guess you’d be an interesting drinking buddy and all, but…”
“Also, you’re not gettin’ drunk, remember,” Babs said. “Besides, a small cider is not that much. I could drink one when I was thirteen and nopony would notice…”
“Yeah, right…” Sweetie Belle muttered. “You vomited all over the floor in our clubhouse. Not to mention my hooves…”
“So it was ya?” Apple Bloom asked, glaring daggers at Babs. “Applejack made me clean it…”
“You know that I’d rather not know that?” Button asked, looking nervously at Sweetie Belle’s hooves. “It’s just… eww…”
“Button, don’t be a pussy,” Sweetie Belle said, earning surprised glares from everypony at the table. “What? My father is a hoofball coach, I know how to, umm… Motivate the others…”
“Nevermind…” Apple Bloom facehoofed.
“B-but still…” Button looked at Sweetie Belle’s hooves.
“You spend too much time with my sister,” Sweetie Belle said.
“I agree. She asked me when we’re getting married…” Button shuddered.
“They are a great couple,” Silver Spoon said to Diamond Tiara. “Though I think the colt should be the head of the family, not the, umm… other side of it…”
“Just like your father was?” Diamond Tiara whispered.
“That was low…” Silver Spoon furrowed her eyebrows. Diamond also thought so, but at least it was enough to make her shut up.
Sweetie Belle, being the only unicorn in the group, went to the bar to get the drinks and soon came back, levitating the cider, cola for Rumble, and some fancy cocktail for herself. Diamond Tiara took a sip. She shrugged – there wasn’t anything special about the taste. Just a sparkling drink with a faint apple flavour.
“Yeah, I know what ya think…” Apple Bloom said, looking at her. “Just wait till the cider season…”
“See?” Babs turned to Diamond Tiara. “We’re here for, like, five minutes and Apple Bloom already invites ya to taste her cider… I wonder where it’ll end…”
Rumble smirked. “I hope it won’t end with her tasting her, umm… cider…”
“Pervert…” Scootaloo muttered, poking his wing.
“That’s not what you said last night…” Rumble deadpanned. Scootaloo blushed and poked him once more, this time much stronger.
Diamond Tiara took a sip of her cider. For the first time in her life she understood why alcohol was invented – the company of some ponies would be unbearable while sober.
“So, how’s Canterlot, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked. “And Ah swear, if ya say that it’s a silly place, I’m gonna throw that cider at ya…”
“What can I do?” Scootaloo asked. “It is… Though I really liked when they sent me to patrol the cave where bat ponies live. It’s a nice change after dealing with all those…” She waved her hoof and spoke in a mock accent, “’Ms. Guard, that’s impossible that this hoofband ended up in my son’s saddlebags…’” She sighed. “Bat ponies are completely different.”
“What d’ya mean?” Babs asked. “They don’t let their kids steal from the shops?”
“No. They simply tell me to fu– I mean, to go away.” Scootaloo replied. Everypony laughed.
“I’d feel like at home there,” Babs said, wiping her eyes. “Back in my days…” She paused, seeing that everypony looked at her. “What? Do I sound old when I’m sayin’ this, or what?”
Button was the first to break the awkward silence. “I guess it’s not the place to recall your past, umm… sins,” he said, avoiding Babs gaze and making a move as if he wanted to hide behind Sweetie Belle.
“Oh, come on…” Babs muttered, downing her cider. “At least I was doin’ somethin’ instead of wankin’ in my room like ya…”
“Babs!” Sweetie Belle furrowed her eyebrows.
“Ah think Button is right,” Apple Bloom said. “Your ‘something’ hurt a lot of ponies…”
“So what?” Babs exclaimed. “I paid for that… And don’t forget that I… I got hurt too…” She lowered her head. “I think I’ll get another cider…”
Diamond Tiara watched Babs walking to the counter. Then she turned to the rest of her companions. Rumble was whispering something into Scootaloo’s ear, Button was focused on his cider, and Apple Bloom was exchanging worried looks with Sweetie Belle.
Babs had just come back, when suddenly a lanky colt appeared seemingly out of nowhere, took a camera, took a photo of Sweetie Belle and disappeared as quickly as he’d appeared.
“What the fuck was that?” Babs asked, putting her cider on the table. “Can I get him and beat the crap outta him or are ya gonna whine that I hurt somepony?”
“It was Featherweight, I think,” Sweetie Belle said, running her hoof down her mane. “I’m not surprised actually…”
Babs opened her mouth to say something, but Diamond Tiara was faster. “Well, I’m not surprised either. A famous singer, a famous racer, and…” She sighed. “…a famous serial killer walk into a bar…”
“Sounds like a beginning of a crappy joke,” Babs muttered. “Though if it ends with that guy gettin’ strangled with a film from his camera, I may even laugh at it…”
“He was always an asshole,” Rumble muttered. “He could at least say hello… I don’t get why you let those guys take photos of you, Sweetie…”
“My manager says that it’s important to show up in the papers from time to time…” Sweetie said.
“He was an asshole…” Babs muttered philosophically and laughed. “Now he’d be the butt of the joke…”
“Rarity always says that it’s a shame that Octavia moved out,” Sweetie Belle said and sipped the remains of her drink with a straw. “She could appreciate a bad pun… By the way, maybe I could convince her to play on my second album…”
“Ask her what’s the best method to play with a G-string…” Scootaloo chuckled. “I doubt I’d have an occasion to meet her, unless she likes to play with A-minor…”
“Scootaloo, please…” Apple Bloom shook her head.
Suddenly, Diamond Tiara felt something weird. She’d just finished her cider when she noticed that everything around her was moving in slow motion. She could see Scootaloo laughing, but she couldn’t hear her – her voice disappeared in a stream of incomprehensible whispers.
“Ya okay?” Babs’ voice sounded as if they were underwater.
“Yeah…” Diamond Tiara replied. “I… I need to go to the little filly’s room…” She stood up and trotted to the toilet.
She stood in a dark corridor, resting her hooves against the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The whispers died down. She noticed that her eyes were bloodshot and started to wonder if it was some side effect of the cider. Then she blinked and saw that her reflection was replaced by the image of Silver Spoon. She was staggering slightly; her mane was in a mess. Her glasses were slightly askew and she was blushing.
“H-hello…” Silver Spoon said, giggling. “You were right, DT… I’m so…” She hiccupped. “W-wasted…”
“Oh, come on…” Diamond Tiara sighed. “I got my own hallucination drunk… I wonder what’d the doctor say about that…”
“Nothing wise, probably…” The voice changed. It was sharp and cold; each word pierced Diamond Tiara like dagger. “They never say anything wise. Look at yourself, Diamond Tiara. They held you in the nuthouse for ten years and you can still see us. Not to mention me… I’ll get old and never see the world outside…”
Diamond Tiara looked into the mirror. Her vision was blurring around the edges, but she could see that her reflection changed. A pale coat, a braided, orange mane, and piercing green eyes – Curtain Call was looking back at her, smiling menacingly.
“I’m bored…” she said in a melodic voice. “Let’s go out and play…”
“No!” Diamond Tiara shouted and threw her hoof in the air. “I don’t want to do that again!”
The sound of breaking glass woke her up. She realised that she was lying on the floor. Her hoof was aching. She looked up and saw Babs and Rumble staring at her unsurely.
“Are ya okay?” Babs asked. “Ya were here for so long…”
“Y-yes…” Diamond muttered, trying to get up. “I… I think it was the cider…”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have drank it… With your meds…” Rumble said.
“M-maybe…” Diamond Tiara shuddered. “Rumble, it’s a girl’s bathroom…”
Rumble blushed. “Oh come on…” he said. “I’m here only to help you…”
Babs looked into Diamond Tiara’s eyes and blinked. Then she turned to Rumble. “I think I’ll manage to carry her just fine,” she said. “Ya can go…”
“I’ll help you,” Rumble insisted. “I’m stronger…”
“Wanna check that?” Babs growled. “Maybe she wants to…” She looked at the stalls.
“Oh, yes…” Diamond Tiara said quickly. “You’d better go, Rumble…”
“Okay…” Rumble shook his head and left the bathroom.
Babs helped Diamond Tiara up and looked at her hoof. “We’ll have to get ya to the doctor…” she said. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Did I kill somepony?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“Well, I haven’t seen any bloodied corpse around…” Babs replied. “And ya weren’t alone long enough to get outta there… Let’s go to the hospital… Did ya really have to punch through the friggin’ mirror?”
Diamond Tiara lowered her head. She didn’t want to tell about what she’d seen. Even to Babs.
The party was over – Sweetie and Button decided to go to his house, and Scootaloo wanted to go for a walk with Rumble. Apple Bloom joined Babs. They went to the counter so Diamond Tiara could pay the barmare for the mirror and quickly left the pub, almost hitting somepony with the door.
Cherry Berry dodged the door and went into a pub, looking back unsurely. Then she turned around and saw Lyra and Minuette sitting at their favourite table. “Was it that little killer with Apple Bloom and her cousin there?” she asked.
Minuette only sighed.