In This Town

by iLikeMuffins

Chapter 6

Yes, I'm back! Happy to see me? No? Well, too bad. Just seeing you here clearly tells me that you are!

How was my business trip? ...tiring. I had to deal with loads of paperwork on the first day, meeting on the second, and rushed through the projects they've given me on the third day as I have to jumble up my time to pack my belongings.

What business was I dealing with? Hm... I won't tell. Yes, I do know you hate me for keeping a lot of secrets from you, but I don't really have any reason to tell you what you want to know, now do I? At least, not now... Yes, I do agree I'm a living example of mystery, thank you for your compliment! I'm flattered, really.

But let's just get on with the story. Tea or coffee? ...water, huh. That's fine with me, are you sure you're fine with that? Okay then, water it is.

“Applejack had disappeared too?” Sweetie Belle, the younger sister of Rarity asked with a worried expression on her face. “Rarity disappeared just the same day your sister did!”

“What if it's some sort of sign?” Scootaloo questioned.

“If so, then what sign will it be?!” Sweetie Belle panicked, running around in circles. “First Pinkie and Twilight, now Applejack and Rarity? Where could they disappeared to?”

“Don't forget about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy,” Scootaloo added.

“Yes, and them too!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “What if they were kidnapped? What if they were murdered under someone's house? What if... What if?”

“Hush it,” Applebloom growled. “Ah bet they're just fine. My sister's a grown up, Ah bet she knows what she's doing.”

“They're all just... I don't know, fifteen or sixteen?” Scootaloo shrugged. “That's technically not an adult age.”

“Shush it!”

“Come on, kids, it's time to go back in now,” Ms. Cheerilee said as all the other children ran back into the classroom.

“Well, time for class,” Applebloom said, heading back first, and was followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Ms. Cheerilee eyed them and had a sad expression on her face. She knew what happened to both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom's older sister, and about Scootaloo's distant cousin's disappearances. She didn't know what she could do to cheer them up, but she did pity them for having their loved ones disappearing on them without a trace.

“We could be the next ones in line for suddenly disappearing from this town for all I know!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“We could...” Applebloom trailed off.

The three girls heard laughing coming from behind them. It was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, the two richest girl in the town. The both of them are childhood friends and came from a rich family, they could even be considered the ‘princesses’ of this small town.

“Well, wouldn't that be nice if they suddenly disappeared?” Diamond Tiara said in her snobbish, high-pitched, annoying voice. “Wouldn't that be... Awesome?”

“I agree with you. That would indeed be nice!” Silver Spoon nodded her head in agreement.

“What's the name of your little group again...? ‘Crusaders’ was it?” Diamond Tiara asked, leaning against Applebloom's shoulder.

Applebloom inched away from her and glared at her, “Mind yer own business,” she said.

“I am,” Diamond Tiara backed away.

The three crusaders hated both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They hadn't done anything to them, but the both of them had caused them miseries throughout their own school year.

“What's this?” Silver Spoon looked at Sweetie Belle's dress. “Did you buy that from the dump or what?”

Sweetie Belle said nothing but glared at Silver Spoon. “Just so you know, my sister is an amazing designer! You'll probably be the most ugliest person alive if it wasn't for her dresses!” That was what Sweetie Belle was thinking.

Scootaloo just rolled her eyes at them and crossed her arms. She didn't cared for their insults. It kinda numbed her. “Yeah, I bet all you've ever done was polishing tiaras and shining spoons,” she said, scoffing at them.

Diamond Tiara gasped, she was clearly insulted. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Scootaloo said.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both had smiles on their faces. The both of them covered their mouths with their hand and tried their best to suppress their laughter.

“Why! I...!” Diamond Tiara was out of words. She couldn't think of a comeback. “Ugh!” She stomped her feet on the ground and marched out of the classroom, “Come on, Silver Spoon, we've got nothing with these... Lousy no-talents.”

“Wait for me!” Silver Spoon exclaimed as she chased after Diamond Tiara.

After they've left, the three crusaders broke into a laugh. “You should've seen the looks on their faces!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “They were lost for words!”

“Ah couldn't believe ya did that, Scoots. Ah'm surprised!”

“So was I,” Sweetie Belle nodded.

The crusaders went silent for a while. “Let's get out of here,” Scootaloo suggested, as the others nodded their heads in agreement before packing their bags and walking out of the school building. “So... How are your family coping with things? About one of their family member disappearing and all?”

“Big Mac said that Applejack should be fine,” Applebloom said, a little unsure. “But we ain't sure if she really is or not. Haven't heard any reports from nobody.”

“This should really be on the front newspaper cover. 6 missing teenagers,” Scootaloo let out a sigh.

Sweetie Belle looked away, “Mom and dad is... Well... More protective over me now that Rarity had disappeared. They feared that one day, without their knowing, I may disappear from this world without a trace, just like my sister...”

“That happens when one of your family member suddenly disappeared,” Applebloom said, patting her friend on the back to try and comfort her.

“They wouldn't even let me visit you guys anymore!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“Then we'll just visit you, at your place,” Scootaloo said, trying to stay positive.

“That's a great idea,” Applebloom nodded her head.

Sweetie Belle looked over at Scootaloo, “How about you?”

Scootaloo looked confused. “What about me?”

“How are you coping with things?” Sweetie Belle questioned.

Scootaloo let out a sigh, “Grandma isn't taking it all that well, but I'm fine,” she forced a smile.

“Are yer sure? Ah mean, Rainbow Dash is like a sister to ya,” Applebloom said.

“Yes, I'm worried for her, at the same time, I wonder if she's alive...” Scootaloo's voice faded off. “But I'm fine, really. I'm sure Rainbow will come back home safe and sound, same with your sisters!”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other before looking back at Scootaloo. “You're right, they'll come back home as if nothing ever happened! And life would go back to the way it was,” Sweetie Belle said, her voice squeaked at the end.

Applebloom nodded her head in agreement, “Then maybe we could meet at the Sugarcube Corner and celebrate their return.”

“Sugarcube Corner... Sounds nice,” Scootaloo smiled, nodding her head.

Applejack had been forced to work overnight without sleep until she'd gathered enough food for the gnomes. As she was washing her face in a nearby lake, she could see dark circles underneath her eyes from her reflection. “Ah look awful,” she let out a sigh as she got back to work, with Steve following behind her, of course.

“You'll never be able to find enough food,” Steve kept saying.

Applejack was too tired to care. “Yeah, whatever ya say,” she said.

Steve, on the other hand, was getting bored. Applejack didn't react to every single insult or discouragement he threw at her. “You're no fun,” he mumbled.

“Ah ain't suppose to be,” Applejack yawned.

Her steps were getting sloppier, and whenever she picked up any food she found, she would take her time and pick it up. Sure, she heard Steve complaining and whining, but she didn't cared. All she wanted was to get this over with and get some day's worth of sleep.

“How does your home look like?” Steve questioned.

“Filled with nature as far as the eye can see,” Applejack was spouting nonsense. The town was indeed surrounded by nature, but was not filled with nature. She was too tired to think straight. “Home's pink and made out of nuts, dang critters always tried to eat them.”

“That's interesting.”

“Nah, it's not. They showed this stupid TV show called ‘Gnomeville’ where all the gnomes were literally just garden gnomes, and the guy who owns the gnomes just narrates his life with gnomes throughout the whole series,” she didn't even know what she was talking about anymore.

“Gnome... What?”

“He got a child name Rocky, and he's a jerk. He goes 'round town murdering every sign poles he sees and eats glass shards for dinner,” Applejack let out another yawn before continuing. “And let me tell ya, his wife ain't all that sweet. She terrorized about seventeen gnome gardens.”

Steve flinched. “That's... Savage!”

“Ah know. But that's how life is for the Crabble family,” Applejack shrugged. She spotted a fruit hanging from a tree and pointed at it, “Look! A fruit.”

“Go get it,” Steve said.

Applejack leaned against the tree and sat on the ground, “Too tired. Wake me up in... Tomorrow.”

Steve ran towards her and shook her shoulders, “Wake up, human! You've got a job to do!” He shouted.

Applejack shut her eyes, “Ah've got a name, ya know?”

“I don't care about your stupid name!”

“It's Applejackalope...”

“What the heck?! That's a stupid name! Better call you human than that!” Steve yelled.

“That's an amazing name,” Applejack mumbled before she fell asleep.

Steve crossed his arms, “Dang it! Wake up!” She screamed at the top of his lungs, “I'll annoy the heck of you till you open your eyes!”

“Did you hear that?” Pinkie stopped in her tracks, she could've sworn she'd heard tiny screaming coming from the forest.

“Hear what?” Twilight questioned.

“Tiny screaming,” Pinkie answered.

Twilight went silent for a while, “Nope,” she said with a shrug. “Maybe you've imagined it,” she added.

“Maybe,” Pinkie said as the both of them continued on their trail.

Honestly speaking, none of them knew where their heading, but ever since they've found a dirt path, they've been following it ever since. “Where do you think it'll lead us to?” Pinkie asked curiously.

“Maybe something terrible? Horrible? Something that would be engraved into our minds?” Twilight listed a few of them. “You know, I'm quite surprised we haven't ran into anything dangerous... Other than the Timberwolves from last time.”

Pinkie laughed, “I'm quite surprised myself too!” But she stopped laughing after a while. “Don't jinx us, Twilight. Just... Don't.”

“I'm not, I'm not,” Twilight said, raising her arms in defense. “I'm just saying.”

“Don't do that too,” Pinkie said seriously. “I've done that one, and it jinxed me after a few minutes or hours.”

“That's just a coincidence,” Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes.

Pinkie saw something ran pass them, and she quickly grabbed Twilight's shoulder to stop her. “What's wrong?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie placed a finger in front of her mouth, “Shh...”

The same ‘something’ ran pass them once more. It was too fast for their eyes to catch up.

“What's that?” Twilight questioned.

Pinkie shrugged. “I'm not sure, but it had this pointy thing on its head,” she whispered as she pointed to her forehead.

“The diary must have something about it, right?” Twilight questioned.

Pinkie quickly took the diary out of her bag and flipped through all the pages to find what seems relevant to the creature they saw. “A unicorn,” Pinkie said under her breath. Her eyes sparkled and a smile was spread wide across her face. She pulled a Twilight by her shoulder and shoved the book into her face, “A unicorn, Twilight! A unicorn!” She exclaimed silently.

Twilight pushed the book away from her face, “It's harmless, right?”

“It says here that it's more or less harmless, but will attack anyone and anything if it ever harms it in any way,” Pinkie read the book our loud.

“Let's not go near them,” Twilight suggested.

“But, Twilight... They're unicorns! Plus, it says here that they're magical!”

The last word caught Twilight's attention. “With the help of the unicorn's magic, we may be able to get out of this place and fully break the barrier around the forest... How hard is it to convince a unicorn to help us though? Most importantly, do they even have enough magic to break the barrier?” Twilight's thoughts was all over the place.

Pinkie waved her hand in front of Twilight, “Earth to Twilight?”

Twilight snapped her fingers, “We'll meet the unicorn,” she said.

Pinkie threw her arms in the air and begun singing and spinning. “We're going to meet a unicorn, so beautiful and fair. Much prettier than a maiden in distress, and far powerful than a wizard. A combination of both, a unicorn!” She sing-sang.

Twilight wasn't even sure how Pinkie came up with all these weird songs right on the spot, but she wasn't going to question it. “Where did the unicorn head to?” Twilight questioned.

“There's two of them, one of them went over there, while the other went there,” Pinkie said, pointing to two different directions. “Take your pick.”

“Right,” Twilight answered without much hesitation.

“Right it is! For right is always right!” Pinkie said as she strolled towards the right path.

Twilight followed her from behind, reading through the grimoire as she did. She was impressed by how many different types of magic circles there are, and how many magical artifacts can be found in the forest if you've searched the right places.

“Over there,” Pinkie dragged Twilight towards her and hid behind a tree as she pointed to the unicorn resting on the grass. “Isn't it beautiful?”

“Yeah, sure,” Twilight said. Honestly, the unicorn looked like a horse with a horn stuck onto its head, so to her, it looked more or less similar to a horse. “Well, I got some questions to ask that unicorn.”

“Don't you know unicorns are cautious around humans?” Pinkie held tightly onto Twilight, not letting her go. “You have to gain their trust before they even speak to you.”

“How can I do that?” Twilight questioned.

“Leave it to dear old Pinkie!” Pinkie pointed at herself proudly. “If making friends was a skill, I would be number one!”

“Just keep telling yourself that, Pinkie,” Twilight chuckled. “Just keep telling yourself...”

“It's true! I'm the most lovable and kindest person in town!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. She pointed to Twilight, “I'll show you... I'll prove it to you that I'll gain the trust of this unicorn in mere seconds.”

“Okay then,” Twilight smirked with her arms crossed. “Prove it.”

Pinkie's eyes were locked at Twilight, “I will.” She turned away from her and walked quietly and slowly towards the unicorn that was standing before them. The unicorn noticed Pinkie and stood up immediately, ready to run. “Please don't go,” Pinkie whispered, loud enough for the unicorn to hear, “I'm not going to harm you, I promise. See?” She raised her hands up in the air, showing the unicorn that she got no weapon on her.

The unicorn let out a breath and glared at the bag Pinkie was wearing.

Pinkie took notice and stopped at her tracks and placed her bag on the ground. She opened the bag to show what was in the bag, “See? No weapon, no nothing. Just a book and some other stuff,” she said.

The unicorn's gaze fell onto Pinkie, the unicorn doesn't seem to fully trust her just yet.

Pinkie slowly took a step forward, “If you want me to stop, just take a step back,” she said in a hushed voice.

The unicorn glared at Pinkie, but then allowed her to walk towards it. Pinkie smiled and petted the unicorn on the head. She felt the touch of the unicorn's silky mane, “Wow, you have such beautiful soft hair!” She giggled.

If the unicorn could speak, I bet it would say a thank you.

“I know you don't fully trust me yet, but is it fine if a friend of mine come to meet you?” Pinkie questioned politely.

The unicorn stared at her suspiciously.

“Don't worry, she's like me. Lost in the forest with nothing more than harmless items,” Pinkie reassured.

The unicorn thought for a long while before nodding its head.

Pinkie looked back at Twilight, who was still hiding behind the bush, “You can come out,” she called out.

Twilight walked towards Pinkie and stopped beside of her.

Pinkie glanced over at her friend with a proud smile on her face, “Told you so,” she said.

Twilight rolled her eyes, “Sure, whatever,” she said in defeat.

“If you don't mind us, can my friend ask you a question?” Pinkie asked the unicorn.

The unicorn nodded its head, while Twilight flipped through the grimoire, which she now claimed it as hers. She stopped at the page where she'd previously bookmarked and stared at it for a good while before closing it back. She looked at the unicorn, “Hello,” she said, waving her hand at it.

“Well, my name is Twilight Sparkle, a pleasure to meet you,” she continued. “The question of mine is that... If you could, do you mind breaking the barrier that's surrounding this forest?”

The unicorn's horn began to glow a warm blue. “A barrier?” The voice was coming from the unicorn. “I don't remember a barrier being placed on this forest.” The unicorn's horn glowed as the unicorn spoke.

Pinkie's mouth was wide open, and Twilight could tell that she was screaming happily on the inside.

“Neither do any of us,” Twilight said, referring to Pinkie and herself. “We've just been into this forest twice. This being our second time. The first time, there weren't any barrier, but it seems like there's now a barrier placed around the forest, making us unable to return back to where we came from.”

The unicorn looked away for a moment. “The barrier can be broken,” it said. “But what's in it for me?”

“Right... Everything has its own price,” Twilight grumbled silently to herself.

“Anything!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Pinkie!” Twilight glared at her.

Pinkie covered her mouth, “No, I mean... What would you want?”

“I want...” The unicorn trailed off and went silent for a while. “A rainbow crystal.”

“A rainbow crystal?” Pinkie tilted her head to the side.

Twilight remembered where she'd last been to one part of the forest where everything was crystallized. “Pinkie, I think I may know where to find one,” she said with a smile.

“Where?” Pinkie questioned.

“If memory serves me right, once we return back to where we camp last night, we have to take a turn to the left, and find a rock that's been covered in moss from top to bottom...” Twilight begun telling the directions and explained to Pinkie how she found the place.

“Okay!” Pinkie exclaimed, looking at the unicorn. “You got yourself a deal.”

“Hold up,” Twilight stopped. “How will we be able to find you after we obtained the rainbow crystal, as you've requested?”

“Don't worry, I will be there,” the unicorn said before the glow on its horn faded away, and the unicorn ran back into the forest.

“Well then, let's continue on our little adventure!” Pinkie said, taking the lead this time. She pointed back to the direction from where'd she came, “Onwards!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “This is going to be another long adventure... I can feel it,” she mumbled silently to herself.

“We're still young, not many people get to experience what we're experiencing right now, you know? Most of them don't even know these creatures exists!” Pinkie said.

“You can hear me?” Twilight questioned. “From this distance?”

“I have great hearing skills,” Pinkie said.

Twilight clapped her hands, “Good for you,” she said. “Does that mean she heard everything I've said under my breath up until now?”

“Onwards to another adventure, off to find a rainbow crystal,” Pinkie begun to sing. “For a unicorn whose horn glows blue, and suddenly disappearing without a clue.”

“Seriously. How does she make up all these songs right on the spot?!”

Lucky for you, it just so happens that I have a free day tomorrow! Aren't you happy? You get to hear me go on and on about this story for an hour or so. You better be glad, kid. I can stop this whenever I want, you know?

Now, you might think since I've got a free day tomorrow means I'm going to spend my whole time telling this story, right? Too bad for you, I'm not! I you should keep this in mind whenever you're around me, kid... Never get your hopes up. I'll break and crush them easily. But I got to say... I'm surprised. You visited me for six times straight now, without missing a day, and always on time. What are you? A magician? Well then, I'll walk you out of the house.

When will your next visit be? Hm... Four days. Anyways, farewell! Hope to see you in four days time, kid!