//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Origins // Story: On the road to Justice. // by SugarHoneyIceTea123 //------------------------------// “Well, look who it is Silver.” Diamond Tiara said as she spotted her three favorite playthings. Silver Spoon turned to face who Diamond Tiara was referring to and smiled when she saw them Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were once again in the middle of a scheme to earn their cutie marks, the lack of which was a favored topic of ridicule for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “...Scoots, yall in charge of getting the water hose and the chicken from Fluttershy’s cottage. Sweetie, yall…” Applebloom started. “Get a samurai sword, I know.” Sweetie Belle finished. “Remember, it has to be authentic.” Scootaloo warned. “Oh don’t worry it will be. I… know a guy who knows a guy.” Their planning was interrupted by a pair of giggles as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked up to them. “Listen to them Silver. Isn’t it pathetic?” Diamond Tiara said, shaking her head. “How many scatterbrained ideas have you three had trying to get your cutie marks? How many of them failed miserably.” While Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did their best to ignore them, Applebloom’s eyes narrowed in anger as she walked up to Diamond until their faces were inches apart from each other. “Well excuse us for wantin’ our cutie marks to be something good. What’s your cutie mark mean again? That yall like wearin’ fancy jewelry?” Applebloom said as a smirk crept across her face. “Yeah, I can see how you’d be mighty proud of a useless mark like that.” Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened in rage. “How dare you!” She screamed as she pushed Applebloom to the ground. Scootaloo immediately shoved herself between them as Sweetie helped Applebloom up to her hooves. “Hey! You have no right to go around pushing ponies like that Diamond!” Scootaloo said. “She shouldn’t have called her cutie mark useless!” Silver Spoon said, defending her friend. Scootaloo scoffed. “She started it in the first place. You two are always anta… antaga…” “Antagonizing us?” Sweetie Belle offered. “Giving us crap!” Scootaloo finished. “Why don’t the two of you just leave us alone?” But before Diamond Tiara could respond, Applebloom was on her with a yell. “See how you like it!” Applebloom said as she pushed Diamond Tiara… a good eight feet away. All five fillies eyes widened as Diamond cautiously got back up on her hooves. Applebloom stared at her own hooves in confusion. “Ah… Ah didn’t mean to push that hard.” Diamond Tiara scoffed. “And you call me a bully.” She turned to leave. “Come on Silver. We shouldn’t have to deal with these barbarians.” Silver Spoon gave another look towards Applebloom, who was still staring at her own hooves, before running towards her friend leaving the Crusaders by themselves. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I can’t believe the nerve of that farm-pony.” Silver Spoon said. “She’s just jealous of your cutie mark, you know that right?” Diamond Tiara nodded. “Of course, stupid blank-flank her age would probably make fun of Celestia’s cutie mark. Classic case of inferiority complex.” “Are we gonna tell anyone she pushed you?” Silver Spoon asked. Diamond Tiara shook her head. “Why bother? Those three crybabies would just turn on the waterworks and make us look like the bad guys… again.” Diamond Tiara tilted her head back as she rubbed her neck with her hoof. “That and…” “And?” Silver Spoon said, waiting for her friend to continue. Diamond Tiara sighed. “And I was the one who let it get physical in the first place.” Silver Spoon smiled. “You know my dad’s a cop right? I could make a good witness if you wanted to… fudge the story a bit.” Diamond Tiara laughed. “Silver Spoon! For shame! Manipulating our fair justice system like that.” The two girls giggled as they continued walking. “Speaking of which, I should get home.” Diamond Tiara said. “My mom and dad are taking me to Canterlot to see the new movie.” “Ugh, that movie about the masked pony beating ponies up?” Silver Spoon said is disdain. “He doesn’t just ‘beat ponies up’!” Diamond Tiara said defensively. “He’s a hero! He fights criminals and law breakers! I figured as a police officer’s daughter, you could get into that.” Silver Spoon shrugged. “It just seems a little too violent is all.” Diamond Tiara scoffed. “You and my mother, I swear.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Hey Applebloom, you okay?” Scootaloo asked as she noticed how quiet her friend was. Sweetie Belle also looked towards their friend with concern. “Hmm… yeah girls, I’m fine.” She replied. “It’s jus’... that push I gave Diamond Tiara.” Scootaloo waved her hoof. “Don’t worry about, she had it coming.” “Oh believe me, I ain’t debatin’ that.” Applebloom said. “Its jus’ I really didn’t mean to push her that hard.” Sweetie Belle shrugged her shoulders. “Applebloom, you work on a farm. Of course you’re a lot stronger than most kids our age.” Applebloom scoffed. “D’yall really think ah don’t know my own strength? Girls, she flew! I don’t care how strong ah am, I’m still jus’ a little filly. And… well…” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both stopped in their tracks as they gave their full attention to their friend. They could tell that more than just the push was bothering her. “What is it?” Sweetie asked. “Aw it’s silly, yall think I was crazy.” Applebloom said dismissively. Scootaloo scoffed. “Applebloom, did you forget about your plan with the chicken and the water hose?” “And the samurai sword!” Sweetie Belle reminded her.” “Exactly. Applebloom, we already know you’re crazy so just spill it.” Scootaloo said. Applebloom rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Yall are true friends ya know that?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle merely smiled. Applebloom sighed and then continued. “Alright well… that push wasn’t the first weird thing to happen to me recently.” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “So? What other ‘weird things’ have been happening?” Applebloom started to blush as she realized how hard it was going to be to explain. “Well… I’ve been… hearin’ things. Things ah’m not really supposed to hear.” Sweetie Belle tilted her head. “Like… eavesdropping?” Applebloom’s blush widened as she flustered with her words. “No! Well… yes but not on purpose and not really what ah meant.” Applebloom’s voice started to lower. “Ah meant I’m hearin’ things from… I don’t know… far away ah guess.” “Like, what, on a radio?” Scootaloo said. “No. Like on mah ears, and that’s the weird part. Ah’ll hear a conversation a couple a’ ponies are having all the way down the road clear as day! As if ah was standin’ right next to them.” Applebloom explained. “And just yesterday, I looked into Big Mac’s room and saw him playing with Ms. Smartypants.” Applebloom continued. Scootaloo shrugged. “Okay, that’s weird for Big Mac…” “Really weird.” Sweetie Belle interjected. “...But how is that weird for you?” Scootaloo asked. “Because I was looking at him through the wall!” Applebloom stated. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle became dead silent at this. “I’m sorry Applebloom but could you repeat that?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Yall heard me. Ah was lookin’ through a wall in mah house, as if it weren’t there.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other before staring at their farmer friend as if she sprouted an extra head. “Applebloom, your right.” Scootaloo said. Applebloom raised an eyebrow. “Ah am?” Scootaloo nodded. “Yes. You are totally crazy.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Diamond yelled out as she entered her home. Wiping her hoofs of on the welcome mat, she saw her father, Filthy Rich, walk towards her. “There’s my little sweetheart!” He said, lifting his daughter into a great big hug. Diamond Tiara squealed with laughter as she hugged her father back. Diamond Tiara’s mother, Pearl Necklace, smiled at the two’s shenanigans as she adjusted her namesake. The two parents were just finishing up getting ready for their family trip to the movies when Diamond Tiara came home. “I still don’t understand why we have to go all the way to Canterlot when there’s a perfectly good theater right here in Ponyville.” Pearl Necklace said, giving a quick kiss to Diamond Tiara’s head. Filthy Rich merely laughed. “For my daughter’s favorite movie hero? She deserves nothing but the biggest screen in Canterlot.” Pearl Necklace scoffed. “Oh goody, I get to watch all that violence in high definition.” But she smiled all the same as she patted down her daughter’s coat, making her more presentable. Simply content to be with her loving parents, Diamond Tiara smiled as she looked forward to what would no doubt be a wonderful night. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Okay, are we ready?!” Applebloom said as she put the final touches on the obstacle course. “Ready!” Scootaloo yelled from atop the hill, readying her scooter. Scootaloo gave a quick glance down the hill to admire their handy work. When the three brainstormed the idea to form the ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Animal Rescue Service’, they knew they couldn’t just go out and rescue animals willy-nilly without first going through a few ‘training drills’. Thus the three suspended a (surprisingly easygoing) chicken above a ‘bottomless lake’, which in reality was a small puddle made from a garden hose. The plan was to have Scootaloo race down the hill on her scooter before jumping off a carefully placed ramp and slicing through the rope suspending the ‘poor helpless bird’ with the authentic samurai sword. Scootaloo would then grab the chicken in midair before landing back down on the ground on the other side of the ‘bottomless lake’ with the chicken safe in her hooves. Needless to say, the three girls had a very askew view as to how an ‘Animal Rescue Service’ worked. Giving one last look at her setup, Applebloom gave her friend a hoof’s up. “Whenever you’re ready Scoots!” Scootaloo buzzed her tiny wings in order to give her an extra bit of thrust as she raced down the hillside. As she neared the ramp, she grasped at the handle of her sword. But as she was launched into the air, a small problem came up. Unfortunately, none of the Crusader’s considered the problems that would come from the length of the sword. Scootaloo’s relatively small foreleg sadly couldn’t get the sword entirely out of its sheath by the time she whizzed past the now thoroughly confused chicken. With her concentration still focused on her sword, Scootaloo failed to pay attention to the ground coming to meet her. She completely lost her balance on her scooter as she was launched violently of her prized vehicle when it slammed into the ground. With both sword and scooter on the ground and their previous user sailing through the air to what was sure to be a painful landing, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle watched helplessly from below. “SCOOTALOO!” Applebloom shrieked. Without a proper plan in mind, Applebloom merely reached out in an attempt to grab Scootaloo before she hit the ground. And to her surprise, she did. Scootaloo landed safely in Applebloom’s forelegs as the farmer filly held her up, not realizing how light her pegasus friend felt. “Whoo! Now that was a close call!” Applebloom said, smiling now that her friend was safe. “Yeah… thanks for the save.” Scootaloo said as she blushed. “Aw shoot, twern’t nothin’.” Applebloom said. “HOLY CELESTIA!” The two heard Sweetie Belle shout. Applebloom looked down to see Sweetie Belle staring at the two of them with eyes as wide as dinner plates. That’s when it hit her. She looked down. Scootaloo began to notice the cause of Sweetie Belle’s outburst herself. Applebloom’s hind hooves were nowhere near the ground. She was completely suspended in the air, a good five feet off the ground. Sweetie Belle rubbed her eyes but the sight remained the same. “Applebloom… YOU’RE FLYING!” Applebloom looked down at the ground before turning her head to a just as surprised Scootaloo. “Wha… What’s happenin’ to me?” She said with just a little bit of fear. Scootaloo’s eyes were just as wide as Sweetie Belle’s as she tried to open her mouth the answer Applebloom’s question. “I… I don’t know.” “But this so unfair.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night was starting to fall as the Crusader’s made their way to Sweet Apple Acres. Applebloom, with a little effort, managed to get both herself and Scootaloo back on the ground after a few minutes. The three decided to tell Applebloom’s family about this. Surely they would know what to do. After returning the chicken to Fluttershy’s cottage, the three immediately turned for Applebloom’s home. “Applejack! Big Mac! Granny Smith! Everypony!” Applebloom yelled out as the three barged into the farmhouse. Granny Smith, who was enjoying a nap in her favorite rocking chair, woke up with a start as her granddaughter started screaming bloody murder. Applejack and Big Mac galloped down the stairs as they heard the fear in their little sister’s voice. Glad to see she wasn’t in any physical harm, but still clearly able to see she was distraught over something, Applebloom’s family started to surround her as they asked her what was wrong. What the family received was three fillies yelling over each other, each trying to relay what had happened mere moments ago. Applejack was able to hear certain words be repeated like ‘danger’ and ‘flying’ and ‘chicken’. After a few seconds of the cacophony, Applejack raised a hoof to quiet the three fillies. “Applebloom, take a deep breath and tell us what happened.” Applejack made shushing gesture to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Just Applebloom.” Applebloom did as her sister said before recounting the events that brought her here in a more even tone. “The girls and I were doing another one of our ideas to get our cutie marks. Something went wrong and Scootaloo went flying through the air.” Applebloom paused as she tried to find the right words. Granny Smith put a gentle hoof on the filly’s shoulder as she spoke with a soft voice. “It’s okay dearie. Jus’ tell us what happened.” Applebloom took another deep breath before she continued. “Well, I managed to catch Scootaloo before she hit the ground and hurt herself but…” The apple family collectively raised an eyebrow, waiting for their youngest member to continue her story. “But she was still in the air when ah caught her. Which means… Ah was in the air when ah caught her. Guys… Ah was flying!” Applebloom finished. Applejack scoffed as an annoyed look crept across her face. “Applebloom, that is the most ridiculous thing ah ever heard.” “Eeyup.” Big Mac agreed as he shook his head. “Applejack, we swear to you that your sister isn’t lying. We were there! We saw it!” Scootaloo said. Applejack was starting to get testy now. “Girls, yall ever hear the story of the filly who cried wolf?” “But ah’m not lying! Why won’t you believe me?” Applebloom said. “Because Applebloom, it’s impossible.” Applejack stated. “Everypony knows earth ponies, like us, do not fly. Flying is for pegasi. Always has been, always will be.” “Applejack, hush.” Granny Smith said curtly. Needless to say, everypony in the room became speechless at this. Granny Smith was always a jovial old pony but the way she spoke was… cold. The old pony stared right into Applebloom’s eyes. “Applebloom dearie. I need you to say that again. I need you to look me in the eyes and say that again.” Applebloom gulped as she suddenly felt full of fear. She had never seen this side of her Granny before. But she stood her ground and did as she asked. “Ah… ah flew Granny. Ah swear ah did.” Granny Smith closed her eyes in contemplation for a few moments before she opened them again. “Dearie. Has anythin’ like this happen before? Anythin’... strange?” Applejack shifted her gaze between her grandmother and her little sister. “Granny you can’t honestly tell me you believe…” “I said hush!” Applejack, needless to say, hushed. Granny Smith turned her attention back towards Applebloom. “Applebloom, yall answer my question now. Has anything like this happen before? Have you ever done anythin’ that… other ponies can’t do?” For whatever reason, Applebloom told them everything. How she could hear things from far away. How she could see through solid wall. She even told them what happened with Diamond Tiara today and how she pushed her eight feet through the air. Applejack was understandably upset her sister resorted to violence but she kept quiet out of fear of her Granny reprimanding once more. She even told them things she didn’t tell her friends. Namely the dreams. “Dreams?” Granny inquired. “What kinda dreams?” Applebloom shifted her hooves. “Ah… Ah sometimes dream ah’m… somewhere else. Somewhere that don’t look nothin’ like Equestria or anythin’ from those geography books. But… but at the same time it feels… familiar. Like… like ah’ve been there before.” Despite herself, Applejack was starting to become more and more invested in every single word that came out of her sister’s mouth. She long since abandoned the notion that Applebloom was lying. She believed every word she was saying. But it was still so hard for Applejack to understand. “What’s this place look like?” She asked her sister. “Red. Red skies, red earth… a red sun.” Applebloom said. “But at the same time, beautiful. Big glass buildings and trees and plants ah never seen before. Ponies walkin’ around wearin’ the strangest outfits.” Applebloom’s friends had relegated themselves to the couch as they listened to Applebloom with rapt attention. “But at the end of mah dreams. Somethin’ always happens.” Applebloom. “What do you mean ‘somethin’’?” Applejack asked. “...Ponies start screaming and I can see the sun get bigger and bigger until… until ah wake up.” Applebloom said. “Ah’ve been having that dream off and on for ‘bout a month now.” Throughout Applebloom exposition, Granny Smith kept unnaturally quiet. After a few seconds passed, she spoke up again. “There’s… There’s somethin’ I have to tell yall. Somethin’ that should have been said a long time ago.” She looked over to her granddaughter’s friends who were still on the couch. “This should be the kinda thing kept within a family, but ah suppose you two know too much now to be left outta the loop.” Granny Smith leaned closer to the other two fillies. “But what ah’m about to say does not leave this house. Understood?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded their heads as everypony in the room gave their full attention to the eldest pony in their company. “This is back from when your parents, Jonah Gold and Honeycrisp, were still alive. Before little Applebloom here… joined our family.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond Tiara left the theater with the biggest smile on her face. Once again, her favorite movie hero did not fail to deliver her everything she wanted to see. Gallantry, heroics, good besting evil and the hero riding towards the sunset. “I have a surprise for you dear.” Filthy Rich said as he put a hoof on Diamond Tiara’s shoulder. “Since it’s late, and you don’t have school tomorrow, Pearl and I decided to have the three of us spend the night in your Uncle Fancy Pants house.” Diamond Tiara’s smile widened even more, if that was even possible. She loved her Uncle Fancy Pants and her Aunt Fleur de Lis. This day could not get any better. “What are we waiting for?! Let’s go!” Diamond Tiara said as she grabbed hold of her father’s hoof. “Diamond! Behave yourself!” Her mother said. Filthy Rich however gave a hearty laugh. “I guess she’s excited?” As the family walked through the empty moonlit streets of Canterlot, Filthy Rich spied an alleyway just across from them. “I think we can take a shortcut through here.” He said, directing his family to follow him. Pearl Necklace stopped at the entrance as she looked into the dark alley. “I don’t know dear, it doesn’t exactly look friendly.” Filthy Rich merely shrugged. “Come now dear, we’re in Canterlot. We’re right next to the royal palace. Where could we be safer?” Pearl Necklace still wasn’t convinced. Diamond Tiara, her confidence bolstered both by her father’s words and the movie they just saw, tried to comfort her mother by pacing her hoof on top of her mother’s. “Don’t worry mom, Dad will take of us. Right Daddy?” Filthy Rich smiled down at his daughter. “Oh great.” Pearl Necklace said sarcastically. “Do you see what that movie did to her?” Still she knew she was not going to win this fight so she merely sighed and walked into the alleyway with her husband and child. The family managed to make it through half of the alleyway before fate decided to rear its ugly head. Filthy Rich heard a fourth set of hoof steps suddenly add themselves to his family’s. Turning around, he saw that a stallion wearing a long trench coat and cap was following them. Filthy Rich instinctively pushed his daughter behind his hoof as he turned to address the stranger. “Hello sir, may we help you?” The stallion gave a cold look to Filthy Rich before his eyes landed on Pearl Necklace’s namesake. “Yeah, you can give me those nice shiny pearls on your lady-friend’s neck.” Pearl Necklace wrapped her hooves around her husband’s foreleg as Filthy Rich stared stranger down. “I think we’ll hold on to these pearls, thank you very much.” The stranger scowled. “I wasn’t asking.” he said before pulling a metal object from his trench coat. Diamond Tiara gasped in fear as she recognized the object in the stranger’s hoof. She had heard of a weapon that was able to instantly kill anypony it was used against. A weapon that only the cruelest of ponies would ever use. The stranger had a gun in his hoof. He pointed the gun right at Filthy Rich’s head as Pearl Necklace gripped his foreleg tighter. “Now I’m not gonna say it again. Give. Me. The. Pearls.” Filthy Rich stared at the stranger with nothing but pure rage. However, one look at his terrified wife and child calmed him and he allowed himself to come to a sensible choice. “Dear.” He said to his wife. “Give him your pearls.” Pearl Necklace already had her necklace off in a heartbeat, deciding her family was worth far more that some jewelry. The stranger snatched the pearls from her hoof, keeping the gun trained at the family at all times. “Thank you. Course…” He said as he raised the gun. “I can’t let you tell anypony about this.” And as the night sky filled with the sound of two loud bangs, Diamond Tiara’s entire life crumbled before her eyes. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten years ago… “Jonah Gold Apple! You get your flank over here right now mister!” Honeycrisp screamed, standing in the middle of her family’s farm. The orange stallion came bounding towards his wife, brown stetson bobbing up and down on his head. “What ah do?” he asked. “Don’t ‘What ah do?” me.” Honeycrisp said narrowing her eyes. “Ah told yall to replace the chicken feed in the coop.” “Aw shoot Honey, ah forgot.” Jonah Gold said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well you better hope ah ‘forget’ to knock yall’s keister into next…” Honeycrisp sentence died in her mouth as her gaze started to rise above her husband’s head. “Uh… Honey?” Jonah Gold said trying to get his wife’s attention. “Jonah, turn around now.” Honeycrisp said, refusing to avert her gaze. Jonah Gold did as she asked just in time to see a bright light shine across the night sky. “Oh look hun, a shootin’ star!” Jonah Gold said with excitement. “Jonah…” Honeycrisp said slowly. “Is it me or… Is it gettin’ bigger?” Jonah Gold squinted his eyes. “Well… now that yall mention it… oh boy…” Jonah Gold and Honeycrisp watched intently as the ‘shooting star’ did in fact get bigger and bigger. It didn’t take long for the two farmers to realize the ‘shooting star’ was in fact coming straight for their farm. With a loud ‘boom’, whatever was flying through the sky crashed a good few acres away from Jonah Gold and Honeycrisp. As the two felt the earth itself shake from the impact, they gave one look to each other before immediately running straight towards whatever had impacted their farm. After a good five minutes, the two found the crash site in the middle of a grove of apple trees. The trees that were unfortunate enough to be caught right in the path of the object were completely destroyed. But the two farmers cared little for that right now as they were much too enthralled with the object itself. “Great Grandpappy’s ghost!” Jonah Gold said. “It’s a SPACESHIP!” True enough, the object was metallic and clearly designed and crafted by… something. Something not of this earth. Honeycrisp took a few tentative steps towards the craft before spying something of interest. “Jonah, you always read them fancy books about space. What’s the part of the ship the alien rides around in?” Jonah Gold almost didn’t hear the question given how he was still trying to decide if what he was seeing was real or not. “Uh… The uh… The cockpit.” “Well…” Honeycrisp said. “Ah think ah found the cockpit.” That snapped Jonah Gold out of his stupor. “What! Honey, get away from that thing! We don’t know what made it or what’s in it or…” But Jonah Gold’s word’s fell on deaf ears as Honeycrisp placed an experimental hoof on a discolored panel on the shuttle’s hull. With a beep and a hiss, the cockpit opened to reveal the passenger of the shuttle to the farmers. “Oh my Celestia.” Honeycrisp said. “It’s not an alien… It’s a baby.” Honeycrisp grabbed the tiny yellow filly from the inside of the cockpit. The filly had a cherry red mane and was wrapped in a bright red blanket. The sudden movement woke the filly from hey slumber as she started to cry. Honeycrisp immediately attempted to sooth the filly. “Shhh… It’s okay little one. Yall safe now.” “Little bud, little bud. You can’t wait till you bloom. Sprouting up from the mud. Give it time, you will bloom. Sow the earth, plant the seed. You can’t wait till you bloom. A strong apple you will be. Give it time, you will bloom.” As the soft lullaby calmed the filly, Honeycrisp felt the biggest smile creep across her face. “Honey…” Jonah Gold said. “What are yall thinkin’?” “Oh Jonah…” Honeycrisp started but she didn’t know what to say. Jonah Gold knew exactly what was going through his wife’s head, and he’d be lying if he said the thought didn’t cross his mind too. But at the same time… “Honey… this baby…” Jonah said. “This baby came from space! We have no idea where it came from or why it’s here or…” “Do you know what ah see Jonah?” Honeycrisp asked her husband. “Ah see a little filly who’s all alone. Look how she’s reaching out to you.” Jonah Gold, despite himself, risked a look at the little filly. He tried his hardest to see the otherworldly alien that invaded their farm. But all he could see was a tiny baby pony. “She… She needs a name.” Jonah Gold said. Honeycrisp smiled warmly at her husband as she held the tiny filly close to her chest. “How about…” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Applebloom?” Granny Smith said. “Applebloom, dearie, are you okay?” But Granny Smith’s words could not reach the filly’s ears. As Granny Smith told everyone her tale, Applebloom became lost in her own world. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo kept switching between looking at each other and looking at their friend, wondering what they could say or do to help her. Big Mac was as silent as ever, but one could tell by looking at him he had a million things to say. Applejack, however, was furious. “All these years.” She said as tears fell down her face. “All these years and you never told us? They never told us?!” Granny Smith looked down in shame. “Jonah and Honey wanted you and Mac to see her as part of this family. They didn’t want anythin’ to stop you from seeing her as your sister.” “You lied to us! YOU LIED TO HER!” Applejack screamed as she pointed to the very object of their discussion. At that moment, Applebloom snapped out of her stupor as hot tears began to cascade down her face. “I… it’s… it’s n-not… true… it’s not…” Granny Smith looked at her granddaughter in shame. “Applebloom, darlin’ come here.” She said as she reached out a hoof. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” Applebloom shrieked as she backed away from her. She suddenly felt afraid. She wasn’t sure what she felt afraid of. Of her family? Of herself? She didn’t care; she needed to get out of there now. She ran for the door, faster than she ever ran before. She vaguely heard her friends calling her name but she didn’t care. She had to get away. She had to get away from this horrible, horrible lie. It had to be a lie. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had to be a lie. It had to be some kind of cruel sick joke they were playing on her. In just a moment, her parents would pop back up and yell ‘Gotcha!” She would hate them for it of course. She would be angry at them for playing such a mean joke. But it would be better than this. Diamond Tiara would take anything but this. She stood over her parent’s motionless bodies, her own body shaking with fear and disgust. She looked up, she had to look away or else she would go insane looking at her own reflection in the pool of her parent’s blood. But as she looked up, she was reminded of the very monster that did this to her. The monster that took them away. “Nothing personal, kid.” The monster said, lowering his gun down to Diamond Tiara’s level. “It’s just business.” Diamond Tiara closed her eyes; the constant stream of tears had effectively blinded her. She waited for the monster to pull the trigger. If nothing else, she’d be back with them soon. She heard a clicking sound and then she heard the monster cursing. She heard sirens and from inside her eyelids, she saw flashes of red and blue. Diamond Tiara risked opening her eyes, hoping in vain she would wake up and this horrible nightmare would be over. Her parents were still there. Still dead. The monster was gone though. In his place were a couple of ponies dressed in blue uniforms. Diamond Tiara recognized one of them. Rusty Spoon, her friend Silver Spoon’s father. He looked at her parent’s bodies before speaking to the other officer with him. Diamond Tiara didn’t hear what he said. She didn’t hear anything. All she could hear were those two loud gunshots. Rusty Spoon turned back towards her. He said something to her, again she couldn’t hear him. He wrapped her up in a smelly, scratchy blanket and tried to pull her away. Diamond Tiara slapped his hoof away, threw the blanket off and held on to her father with all her might. Rusty Spoon tried his best to be gentle but he was eventually forced to pry the little filly from her dead father. Crying and wailing as Rusty Spoon carried her to the police cart, Diamond Tiara saw her parent’s bodies one last time before Rusty Spoon shut the door. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applebloom didn’t know how long she ran. She didn’t know how far she ran. Nothing around her felt familiar so she assumed she ran a good distance away from Ponyville but, at the same time, she didn’t feel the least bit tired. ‘Maybe that also has somethin’ to do with me bein’ an alien.’ Applebloom thought those words and couldn’t help but realize how ridiculous they sounded. An alien? How in Celestia’s name could she possibly be an alien? Aliens have eyes on stalks and tentacles and carried laser guns. Applebloom looked just like a pony. Ponies didn’t have eyes on stalks or tentacles or carried laser guns. Ponies also couldn’t hear things from far away, see through walls or make other ponies go flying through the air with barely a push. Some ponies could fly but as Applejack so ‘eloquently’ pointed out, earth ponies like her didn’t. Except she wasn’t an earth pony, was she? She was an alien. “They should have put me back in that spaceship and fly me back to space.” Applebloom said to nopony in particular. Which is why she was surprised when somepony did answer her. “Well that would have sucked. Space is boring.” She heard a familiar voice said. Turning around, Applebloom saw her friend Scootaloo smiling at her. “Where’s Sweetie Belle?” Applebloom asked. Scootaloo shrugged. “Out there with your family searching for you. I just happened to find you first.” Without asking for her permission, Scootaloo walked over to her friend and sat down next to her. “Were supposed to meet back at the barn in about a half-hour so we can give each other a progress report.” Scootaloo smiled at Applebloom. “So you got a half-hour to talk about… whatever you wanna talk about before I drag you back.” Applebloom turned away from her friends, burying her head into her forelegs. “How do yall know ah’m not gonna eat you?” “Is this that stupid ‘I’m a chicken’ joke again?” Scootaloo asked as she smirked. “No… It’s that stupid ‘Ah’m an alien’ joke.” Applebloom said as fresh tears started to form in her eyes. “Because that’s exactly what it is. A joke.” “Applebloom…” “No! Ah don’t wanna hear it Scoots!” Applebloom said, jumping up to her hooves. “Ah don’t wanna hear how ‘this changes nothing’ or that ‘this don’t mean anything’ because it does!” Scootaloo was quiet for a while before she decided on what to say. “What exactly does it change?” Applebloom stared at her friend incredulously. “Are yall serious!? Scootaloo, Ah’m an alien! A Celestia-forsaken extra-terrestrial!” Scootaloo nodded. “Okay, what else does that change?” Applebloom opened her mouth but found the words dying out before they could be said. “Exactly. Absolutely nothing. You’re still a pony who has lives and worked on a farm her entire life. You’re still a pony who is utterly obsessed with getting her cutie mark. You’re still the kind and loving sister to two of luckiest older siblings in the world and, most importantly, you’re still my best friend.” Scootaloo said as she got up to own hooves. “And you always will be… unless you eat me.” Applebloom still cried all throughout Scootaloo’s speech, but the tears were… different now. She was still sad but she didn’t feel quite so… hopeless anymore. Scootaloo walked up to her and wrapped her forelegs around her neck in a tight hug. Applebloom did the same. It was strange. Applebloom knew if she hugged Scootaloo too tightly, she could very easily hurt her. But she somehow knew just how tight she needed to squeeze to keep herself from harming her best friend. “Can yall take me home? I’m a little lost.” “Sure.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Diamond? Diamond, please.” Rusty Spoon said, trying to get the filly’s attention. Ever since the officer brought the little filly into the Canterlot Police Station, she became completely unresponsive to the world around her. She did nothing but sit in the chair Rusty Spoon put her in and stare at the floor. “Diamond, I’m so sorry for what happened to you.” Rusty Spoon said, doing his best to comfort her. “Nopony should ever have to go through what you have. But I need your help. I need you to tell me who did this. What he looked like, if he said his name, anything like that.” Just as before, Diamond Tiara merely stared at the floor. Rusty Spoon sighed as he turned to the cop behind the desk. “Any luck reaching my wife?” The cop nodded. “Yes sir, she says she’s bringing your daughter up here now. They should be here any moment.” Rusty Spoon grunted in affirmation. He hated exposing his daughter to this side of his job, but if anypony could get through to Diamond Tiara it would be her. A few minutes passed before Rusty Spoon’s wife, Silver Stone, walked into the building. Silver Spoon followed her mother inside. The gray filly scanned the main office of the building before her eyes landed on the traumatized filly sitting in a chair in the corner. “Oh… Diamond…” Silver Spoon said as tears ran down her eyes. Without another word, Silver Spoon ran towards her friend and wrapped her up in the biggest, tightest hug she could. “Diamond… I’m so… I’m so sorry!” Silver Spoon said between sobs. Ten whole minutes passed as Silver Spoon sobbingly held an unresponsive Diamond Tiara. Finally, with a twitch, Diamond Tiara spoke. “S-Silver…” Diamond Tiara said, slowly wrapping her own hooves around her friend. “I’m here Diamond. I’m here.” Silver Spoon said, the tears returning to full force. “Silver… their gone… their gone…” Diamond Tiara said as tears started to fall from her eyes once more. She was sure she was all out of tears to shed. It continued like this for about an hour. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Captain Rusty?” Diamond Tiara called out, still held in Silver Spoon’s vice-like hug. “I’m ready to tell you about… him.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The moment Applebloom walked through the door, she was surrounded on all sides by her family lifting her up into the biggest group hug she ever had in her life. “Ah was so worried about you…” Applejack said. Applebloom merely felt content to be in their embrace. When the hug finally ended and all tears were wiped away, Applebloom asked to one question she knew she would have to ask upon returning with Scootaloo. “Granny Smith?” She said, getting her grandmother’s attention. “Ah need to see it.” Granny Smith cocked an eyebrow at this. “See what darlin’?” Applebloom sighed but stood firm. “Ah need to see where ah came from. Ah need to see my spaceship.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “...His eyes were blue. Like a light ice-y blue. He was wearing a wool trench coat and cap.” Diamond Tiara said, giving the sketch artist as much detail as she could. “He had a really round face but gaunt, like he hasn’t eaten in a few days.” “Mmhmm” The sketch artist mumbled. “Did he look anything like this?” He said, showing the picture to the filly. Diamond Tiara looked closely at the picture and saw the face of the monster. The horrible, evil monster. The blight on this world that didn’t deserve to exist. Diamond Tiara wanted to grab that picture and rip into a thousand pieces, screaming every single obscenity she ever heard. She wanted to go out there and find the low-life scumbag who ruined her life and beat him to within an inch of his… “Yes, that’s him.” She said. The sketch artist handed the picture to Rusty Spoon. “You say he stole your mother’s pearl necklace?” He asked. “Yes.” Diamond Tiara said curtly. “Should be easy to track. He’ll no doubt try to fence it soon, get the heat off himself as fast as possible. Always the first mistake.” He said as he sat down across from Diamond Tiara. “Well put feelers out on the black market who’ll keep an ear on the ground for your mother’s necklace. Once they find it, we can… press on whoever bought it to point us towards the guy who sold it.” He put a reassuring hoof on Diamond Tiara’s shoulder. “I promise you, kid. We’re gonna get this dirtbag.” Diamond Tiara gave a sad, tired smile to the officer. “Thank you.” Rusty Spoon cleared his throat. “Now that just leaves you. Until the reading of your parent’s will, Equestrian law states you are to stay with your next of kin. Do you know who that is?” Diamond Tiara nodded. “My Uncle Fancy Pants and my Aunt Fleur de Lis. They live here in Canterlot.” Diamond Tiara eyes drooped ever so slightly. “We were actually on our way to visit them.” Rusty Spoon nodded. “I’ll give them a call; tell them to come pick you up. It will take a few hours to set everything up so why don’t you get some sleep on that couch over there.” He said, gesturing to an old, uncomfortable looking couch at the end of the room. With that, he got up a left to call Diamond Tiara’s next of kin, leaving the little filly all by lonesome. Diamond Tiara walked over to the couch, laid herself down, and closed her eyes. But she didn’t sleep. She pretended to, if only not to worry Silver Spoon’s father, but she was wide awake. She didn’t have time to sleep. Not when there was so much to plan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applebloom wasn’t entirely sure what she was expecting when Granny Smith brought her downstairs to the basement. She knew she was never allowed down here because ‘it was too dangerous’. Another lie. Applebloom tried not to think about that as Granny Smith walked over to an object covered in a large green tarp. As Granny Smith pulled the tarp away, revealing the incredibly high-tech alien device underneath, Applebloom felt… a little underwhelmed. It was just so… small. She could definitely see herself as baby in the cockpit, but at her current size she would just barely be able to squeeze in by herself. That did tell Applebloom one thing: This thing was clearly meant to transport her and only her. “Is there… anythin’ in there?” She asked her grandmother. “Ah mean… whoever put me in there. Did they… put anything else in there?” Granny Smith shrugged. “A couple of things.” She reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a white crystal. “Wha’s that?” Applebloom asked. “Ah have no clue.” Granny Smith said. “Could be your lunch for all ah know.” She said with a small smile. Applebloom, despite everything, allowed herself a small smile as well. “Is that it?” Granny Smith shook her head. “There was one other thing.” The old mare reached back into the cockpit and pulled out a bundle of red cloth. “This here was the blanket your parents found you wrapped up in.” Applebloom looked at the red cloth in awe. “My… blanket? But then that means… Somepony wrapped me up all nice and snug before sending me away. Somepony, probably my momma, cared enough to keep me warm.” Granny Smith raised an eyebrow. “Applebloom?” Applebloom looked down on the floor in sadness. “If somepony… ya know… up there cared about me than why…” She looked back up, meeting her Grandmother’s eyes. “Why would they send me away?” Granny Smith sighed. “Darlin’, ah wish ah could tell you. Ah wish ah could give you all the yall needed. But ah’m just as much in the dark as you are.” Applebloom gave a sad sigh, feeling as though she’ll never find out what any of this means. “However…” Granny Smith started, getting Applebloom’s attention back. “Ah did notice this… Ah guess yall can call it a ‘symbol’ if yall want.” Granny Smith unfurled the bundle of red cloth before showing the aforementioned symbol to the little filly. It was at that moment Applebloom saw the image that would define the rest of her life… ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Miss Tiara. Wake up.” Fancy Pants said as he gave Diamond Tiara a gentle shake. Of course, Diamond Tiara was never asleep but she made a show of giving a deep yawn and wiping the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes. She looked up to see the sad, smiling face of her uncle. “Come now Miss Tiara. It’s time to go.” Miss Tiara. That was one of the reasons Diamond Tiara loved her uncle. He was always so polite and cordial around her. But simply calling her ‘Miss’ wasn’t going to make everything all right. Nothing would ever be right again. Still, she played her part. She smiled as she gave her uncle a tight hug then hopped down from the couch. Silver Spoon had already gone back to Ponyville at the behest of her parents, though she outright refused to leave Diamond Tiara’s side until she said it was okay. She gave a wave goodbye to Rusty Spoon and wished him luck finding the killer. He promised once again that he would avenge her parent’s deaths. She thanked him. And with that, she walked out of the Station with her uncle to live under a new roof with new guardians. It was still late at night when they left, meaning that many creatures of the night roamed the near empty streets of Canterlot. One such creature apparently decided to stretch its wings and fly from its belfry, perching itself on a lamppost right above Diamond Tiara’s head. Diamond Tiara heard a shrill screech that, earlier tonight, would have probably scared her. Before she learned what real fear was. Instead she merely looked up to spot the source of the screeching noise. It was at that moment Diamond Tiara saw the image that would define the rest of her life… ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the red cloth was a golden hexagonal shield with a red stylized ‘S’ emblazoned upon it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perched atop the lamppost was a fanged, leathery-winged, black bat.