Chapter 7: Everypony's Truth
It was about forty five or so minutes later when Twilight Sparkle magically opened the door to the library. It had been a weary day, and the unicorn silently wanted to take a nap and forget anything ever happened. Unfortunately, that little wish of hers was not about to be granted any time soon. “Hello? Is anypony here?” She idly waited a moment to hear a pre-pubescent voice shout from somewhere else in the library. It didn’t.
Twilight wandered inside with a jaded Fluttershy at her tail. “I-Is anypony here?” Deep inside, Fluttershy was having a small panic attack, hoping that she wouldn’t have to confront Applejack any time soon. Unbeknownst to anypony else, Fluttershy could hear everything that was said while she was sobbing on the ground earlier, after Applejack had said those mean things to her. It was difficult sharing the story once, but if she had to share it a second time just so her friends can forgive her, then so be it. She just wouldn’t be too thrilled about it.
Twilight held off on answering Fluttershy’s question. “Spike? Spike!” Fluttershy closed the large library door behind her quietly, and did her best to hide her shivering. Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the absence of a certain baby dragon. “Where did he go…?”
Fluttershy glanced at the clock that hung on the other side of the library, nearest the many bookshelves. “It’s 5 o'clock, Twilight. Perhaps he took a nap?”
“Possibly.” Twilight replied quickly. She had never really thought about what time it was in a while. It was still foggy, and blurred the sky. It was nearly impossible to tell, and would be until night fell, which Twilight dreaded. Everypony’s secrets would shine excessively bright after the sunset. Even with the fog, there would be nothing that they could do to cover their secrets up then, should they say anything against the truth. However, Twilight knew that something was up. There was more to this than it seemed, and she believed that she was onto something great. It was a simple theory, but she purposefully waited until everypony was there to say anything. But then again, she could always be wrong. She put that thought back into the dark recesses of her mind.
She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, that was for sure. The tension between Fluttershy and Applejack was massive, and Twilight wondered if there was anything that could be done to repair the damage that had been done on both of their parts. Applejack was not about to forgive the buttery pegasus anytime soon, and Twilight knew that this was only to calm before the storm.
Twilight trotted over to a nearby closet, and magically hauled out six small lawn chairs that matched her coat, as well as a tape measure. Not saying a word, she set them in the middle of the library in a fashion similar to that of a discussion circle. “Twilight, what are you doing?” Fluttershy asked, standing as far back as she could.
The chairs were spread out so that each chair was no more or less than five feet away from the next one, and Twilight made sure of this, perfectly measuring every chair and the spaces between them. She wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. Twilight also took into account how far the chairs would have to be in order for the nearest pony to avoid being touched by the one on the other side, in another effort to contain something that may occur sometime within the next hour or so. Luckily, the library was big enough for such a set up. “We are all going to talk.” Twilight muttered, spreading out the tape measure just to double check her work. There was no room for errors. “When everypony gets here, we’re going to be calm and act like adults. We’re going to put our heads together, and try to figure out just what’s going on.”
Fluttershy wasn’t all too excited about this. “But… what about Applejack?”
“I’m sure Rarity did a decent job with calming her down.” Twilight droned, monotonously. “I understand how Applejack feels, and you two are going to have to find time to settle this. If she gets here sooner than everypony else, then there you go. Then you’ll have time. Until you two talk, we’re going to try and get Ponyville out of this mess.”
Fluttershy frowned, and looked towards the door. Twilight stood up from her crouched position, and snapped the tape measure. “We are the Elements of Harmony, Fluttershy. It is our job to keep the peace throughout all of Equestria, to minor things, to changeling invasions. Whomever did this, knows that. They’re doing their best to pull us apart, and they appear to be doing too good of a job at it.”
“Twilight, I know.” Fluttershy replied. “I wish things to go back to the way they were. I don’t want to fight with Applejack in the slightest! I just wish that we didn’t have to. Though I guess it’s kind of… inevitable.” Twilight heard the restlessness in Fluttershy’s voice, and let out a sigh.
Twilight didn’t know what was wrong with her. Her sympathetic thoughts seemed to have disappeared upon hearing Fluttershy’s story earlier. She was tired, stressed, and sick of herself and her best friends crying. She wanted it all to end, and that was her new mission. Frankly, Fluttershy and Applejack solving their problem was not, though it was a close second. She did care, and did not want their friendship to be ruined over what Fluttershy felt she caused, but there were more important things at hoof.
Twilight, for once in her life, had lost her empathy. Because of this, she felt absolutely sick to her stomach.
“Don’t worry,” Twilight looked at the chair in front of her, rather than the nerve-wracked Fluttershy. She just couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Everything is going to be alright. We can get through this, I know we can.” It was the only thing Twilight could say at this point. Until the rest of their friends showed themselves, only fate could decide what would happen then.
Fluttershy sadly nodded, and took a seat in the chair farthest away from the door. She really hoped that she didn’t have to sit next to Applejack, but with her luck, that is most likely how it would turn out.
After figuring out the rest of the calculations silently in her head, Twilight plopped down on the seat next to Fluttershy, much to the pegasus’ undying, yet unknown, happiness. They had no idea how long they were going to have to wait. There was no telling how long it would take for Rarity to calm Applejack down, and convince her to come to the library. There’s also no telling if Pinkie Pie is having any sort of luck in locating Rainbow Dash. Twilight had to admit, she had no idea where she would even start looking had she been in charge of looking for the speed-demon.
Rainbow Dash could literally be anywhere with those wings of hers. Twilight tried to pass the time with a few calculations. If Rainbow Dash woke up at the same time that she did, and her immediate action was to fly as far as she could, she’d most likely be somewhere around Canterlot. But then again, Rainbow Dash was never the mare to run from her problems, anyways. However, she didn’t completely rule out the thought.
Twilight turned to look back at Fluttershy, who was sitting in her chair with wide eyes and a shaking body. She looked absolutely petrified of what was the come, and Twilight could not bring herself to say anything that she had not already explained. She was tired of the lying, the secrets, and the tears. So she resisted saying anything she knew would be false, such as her and Applejack’s relationship will stay the same when this was all said and done.
Applejack was a mare of honesty, and Fluttershy threw it right back into her face. There was nothing more that could be done in that department.
It was nearing around six o’clock when the familiar jingle of the bells above the library doors. Twilight and Fluttershy jerked their heads, the latter more hesitantly than the former.
It was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie bore a grin like no other. It was quiet, yet it spoke a million words to Twilight and Fluttershy. Her eyes were soft and kindhearted, and it made Twilight just a tad more nervous. She didn’t know what was to come from the pink mare’s mouth, whether it would be angry and spiteful, or caring and concerned. Pinkie Pie was a mystery and a bomb. Pinkie, smartly, took a seat on the other side of Fluttershy. “Hey girls.” she said. Fluttershy and Twilight stayed silent.
Rainbow Dash was a new story entirely. Her eyes were bloodshot and red, and her cheeks seemed to bleed from the constant eye wiping. Twilight knew what that was from. She wasn’t an idiot. Rainbow stared at the ground and took a seat next to Pinkie. She didn’t say or do anything that wasn’t necessary at the moment. She looked like a downtrodden zombie. Twilight held back her aching questions, as she pondered where exactly Rainbow Dash was the whole day.
Rainbow Dash already knew of the situation, and refused to make eye contact with Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie had explained that there was a strong tension between her and Applejack, though she didn’t explain much. For now, she decided to do something that she never would have thought that she would see herself doing: she kept quiet.
There was a deafening silence, and Twilight couldn’t bear it any longer. “Rainbow, are you okay?” Immediately after the words left her mouth had Twilight realized just how stupid that question was.
“I’m fine.” Rainbow uttered, staring at the ground. Her voice was monotonous and dead inside. Rainbow Dash could feel something inside of her begin to slip away, though she had no idea what it was.
Twilight didn’t believe her one bit. “Are you sure? You seem a little upset?”
Rainbow Dash didn’t reply. She just continued to stare at the floor. Twilight turned to the multicolored mare’s companion, and cocked an eyebrow. Pinkie Pie smiled, warmly. “She’s fine. Trust me.” she spoke. Twilight shrugged. She had to admit, the temptation to ask Rainbow Dash about her secret was staggering, but she managed to avoid conflict by holding it back. In retrospect, it really didn’t matter.
They sat in another stunning silence. They all wanted to speak, however nobody was willing to ask the right questions. They were all afraid, to say the least, of what the next words out of somepony’s mouth was going to be. Each one of them expected another to yell, scream, or fight, even though they knew the possibility for such was very low. Pinkie had silently whispered Rainbow Dash's situation to Twilight, her secret. Not because she wished to gossip, but she truly believed that Twilight could help.
They knew that this was only the calm.
And the storm arrived when that door opened for the last time.
The lungs of everypony stopped at that one abrupt moment. That single point in time where everypony believed that the world had simply stopped spinning, and came to a horrendous halt. Fluttershy buried her head in her hooves in a terrible attempt to avoid the conflict, even though it was inescapable anyways.
Twilight could only stare helplessly as Rarity and Applejack trudged through the door. Rarity bore a large frown, while Applejack wore a mask of content on her face. She appeared indifferent, unconcerned, as if she was a different mare. She didn’t look angry, or resentful, and it made Twilight just a little bit nervous. It was the lack of emotion from everypony’s favorite farmer that did the trick.
Pinkie gave the duo a kind smile as she saw them wander through the door. Her eyes were still soft and gentle, and she raised up a hoof that didn’t even manage to find it’s way above her head. Pinkie turned towards Rainbow Dash, but pursed her lips when she realized that Rainbow was still looking towards the ground.
Rarity and Applejack stood as the door slammed shut behind them. Rarity stared at the near-semicircle, while Applejack’s eyes were full of unworry. Rarity turned to look at Applejack, who refused to return her gaze. The cowpony had her wearisome eyes set on Fluttershy. Twilight pounced on the fated moment of silence.
“Please, sit.” She said, quietly. The two did not move. “We have some things to discuss,". Rarity sighed, and took a seat next to Pinkie Pie with a small sense of urgency. Applejack shifted gazes between all of her friends, slowly, as if she was lost in a deep thought. It was as if only a certain part of her was with them and the other was somewhere much farther gone than any of them could ever realize. Steadily, very steadily, Applejack mosied her way through the library, and took a seat between Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
At first, no pony said anything. The only sound being the ticking of the clock, and the occasional sounds of Spike’s snoring from upstairs. Twilight was getting anxious, although most of her other friends were not very eager to begin anyways. Pinkie seemed genuinely excited, but not in her usual way. Although, she didn’t wish to be the first pony to speak anyways.
“So, we have a lot of things going on in our lives right now.” Twilight said. Pinkie was the only one to give Twilight the eye contact that she deserved, and she nodded furiously. “As well as a decent amount of tension between us.”
Rarity couldn’t help but stare at the only shivering pony in the group, and felt queasy.
“In order to properly discuss the solution to this plague amongst the town, we must first confront ourselves as well as our issues.” she said, choosing her words carefully. In the moment of silence earlier, Twilight had figured out just what she had wanted to say to everypony. Surprisingly, Applejack was the first to speak up. Her forelegs were crossed, and she stared at the books that were behind Twilight’s back.
“Ain’t nothin’ to discuss.” she said slowly.
“What do you mean?” said Twilight. Rarity finally turned her attention to the others, snapping out of her inner self.
“Just what ah said.” Applejack replied. “Ah just wanna find out who it was who wrote these blasted words on our homes.” Pinkie’s smile flipped. She would have rested a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder, had she not been out of hoof’s reach. Pinkie was by no means a psychiatrist, but she knew each and every one of her friends like the back of her hoof, despite the irony of her secret. She knew that Applejack was holding everything in, bottling up her emotions like a mare in quicksand. Pinkie knew that Applejack was going down a horrible path, but she found herself unable to do anything about it.
“Applejack, what are you talking about? What we need to do first is to sort out our own problems. We can’t go and search for answers with all this anger and sadness.” Twilight responded, rationally. However, Applejack didn’t want to hear it.
“Anger? Sadness? I don’t know what your talkin’ ‘bout.” she said. Fluttershy poked her head up from it’s comfortable spot in her hooves. “Ahm here to get answers.”
“S-So you’re not mad at Fluttershy anymore?” Twilight stammered, after she had momentarily dropped her jaw. She was awestruck, dumbstruck, and most of all entirely confused. She held back a small, disbelieving scoff when she saw Applejack slowly nod. But that was when she realized that she didn’t see Applejack’s tick.
“I’m upset, that’s for sure.” she said. Fluttershy let out a small whimper. “But it doesn’t matter right now. I wanna figure out just what’s goin’ on here.” Rarity sighed again, and shook her head, putting her hoof to it.
“Me too.” Rainbow Dash said, finally taking a brief moment to look up from the ground. Her eyes were wet, so she wiped her face again, only making it becoming a darker shade of red. “This is stupid. Why don’t we just try and figure out who caused all this first, and deal with our own problems later? There are other’s suffering out there besides us, you know!” Rainbow Dash’s inner rage was rising, and she threw an angry hoof towards the door for emphasis.
“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight barely kept back her innate urge to yell. “How are we supposed to solve all of this when we’re all like… this?” she asked. Rainbow stood up, out of her seat.
“And what is that supposed to mean? What is ‘this’?” she asked, she stamped her hoof. Rarity shushed her.
“That’s a good question.” she huffed. “This is the point! To answer all of our questions ourselves before we try and use our brains which aren’t even in the best state of mind.”
“But what about those ponies out there?” Rainbow Dash hollered, she snorted noisily. “They’re suffering out there! We need to help them!” she sighed. “Not like I care about what happens to me anymore.”
“I-I agree…” Fluttershy added. Twilight could not believe what she was hearing. Pinkie sunk deeper into her chair, fearing the worst.
“How are we supposed to help them when we can’t even help ourselves? Look at you, Rainbow Dash, acting like some kind of brute.” she said, the final parts accidentally slipping out of her mouth.
“Brute? You think I’m a brute, just for caring for the well-being of others. And who are you, Mrs. Generosity, so quick to help yourself and completely ignore those poor ponies suffering outside!” Rarity grew an apple red.
“Excuse me?” she growled. “If you think that I don’t care a bit about those outside, then you are sadly mistaken! I care deeply, unlike some ponies. We need to solve our own problem! How can we possibly help others when we are yelling at each other like barbarians?” The bickering continued, and Twilight felt her own blood boil. Applejack groaned loudly at what she had started, and considered leaving altogether.
“Nopony is leaving until we sort some things out!” Twilight shouted over the other two. Her voice boomed and echoed throughout the library, causing Rarity and Rainbow Dash to stop in their tracks and turn to look at the mare. “We are going to sit down and talk! It is the only way we are going to make any headway in anything!”
Rarity and Rainbow Dash scowled at each other, before taking their seats once again. Twilight cleared her voice. “Obviously, Fluttershy,” the mare in question snapped to attention. “Applejack has forgiven you. Is there anything of which you’d like to say?”
Fluttershy took one look at Applejack and shuddered. The cowpony was staring at her with dead eyes that reeked of sorrow. Her forelegs were still crossed in a bemused manner, as she opened up her ears to listen to just what the pegasus had to say. Fluttershy opened her mouth, however the words didn’t come out until ten seconds later. “I-I am so sorry, Applejack.”
Applejack cleared her throat, as if she was expecting more.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen! I really mean it! I’m so sorry that I didn’t say anything about it sooner, and I know that I should have. We’ve been friends for so long, and I didn’t want to tear us apart, and…” a few tears ran down Fluttershy’s cheeks. Applejack closed her eyes and held up a hoof.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s in the past.” Applejack said. Twilight squinted at her, unsure. “Ah just want to get to figuring this entire thing out. Fluttershy and ah can talk about it when this is all done and over with.” Twilight wanted to get angry. She wanted to scream and shout. The secrets were tearing them all apart. This was what they wanted, whoever it was that did this. They want them to fight and shove each other around, destroy their friendship from the inside.
They were falling apart.
Twilight’s gaze shifted from Rainbow, to Rarity, to Pinkie, to Fluttershy, and then to Applejack. She stared at them long and hard. She almost immediately calmed herself down and a small, pinprick of an idea popped inside of her head, one that she hadn’t thought about prior. Her friends.
Her and Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie Pie and Rarity.
Fluttershy and Applejack.
And that was when everything made perfect sense.
“Wait.” Twilight muttered. Unfortunately, nopony in the room seemed to hear her. While Twilight was momentarily lost in her head, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had gone back to arguing. Twilight didn’t waste another second. “Hold on!”
“What!?” Rainbow Dash hollered. Her nostrils were flared, as if she had just been interrupted giving(or more or less screaming) an extravagant point. Rarity didn’t scream, but she did have an extremely peeved look on her face.
“I understand.” Twilight said, simply. She didn’t know any other way to put it. Something clicked. Something called out to her, and she managed to grasp the missing piece that she had been looking for all day. Pinkie Pie knitted her brows. Applejack only gave Twilight a quizzical glance. Her face remained the same, though, but Twilight could just tell.
“Huh?” Pinkie asked. Her mane flowed with every turn of her head.
“I think I know what’s going on. What the words mean, well the dimming and brightening portion of it, at least.” she said. No one in the room spoke. In fact, a few of them seemed to be slightly skeptical.
“Pfft, right.” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. “All of a sudden, you just happen to figure everything out?” she asked. Twilight didn’t feel like recognizing Dash’s tone. She knew her fairly well, and how she’ll put up a superior front in a desperate effort to hide her emotions. She was doing too good a job at it, in Twilight’s eyes. Maybe this would explain some of her past behaviors. Just how long had Dash been keeping her secret?
Rarity pursed her lips, and glared at Rainbow Dash. Her ears flattened against her head. Rainbow Dash easily ignored it. But, yet again, she refused to open her mouth.
“What do you think’s going on, Twilight?” Pinkie asked. Fluttershy finally lifted up her head. Sometime during the yelling, the pegasus had resorted to curling up into a ball on the floor.
“Everyone, come with me. We’re going to watch the sky lights.”
***
A few reluctantly, a few more willingly, and one more confidently, Twilight and her friends strode up to her room on the second floor, which was completely filled with Spike’s snoring. Nearest Twilight’s bed, the little dragon had wrapped himself up in a blanket cocoon and slept like a hushed baby. His chest rising and falling slowly. Upon entering the room, Twilight enveloped him in her magic, and carried him downstairs in the library. As much help as he was, the dragon was exhausted from all of his worrying earlier. It was best to let him sleep.
Twilight, after taking Spike downstairs, cantered back upstairs to her awaiting five friends. Rainbow Dash was tapping a hoof, agitatedly. “Come on, I don’t have all day.” she snorted when Twilight had finally reappeared. Twilight ignored her.
“So, what do you think’s going on? Why do we have to be up here to talk about this?” Fluttershy asked. Once again, she remained on the south end of the room, farthest away from Applejack. She was slightly paranoid that the mare was going to snap and start pummeling her out of nowhere, even though she was sure that that would never happen. Applejack was a good mare. That didn’t stop Fluttershy from shivering, however.
“I know, now. I figured something out. Somepony is targeting us. Something with our secrets differentiate us from the other ponies in town. This hasn’t happened to their secrets. Only ours.” Twilight explained. Pinkie tilted her head, causing her mane to slide against the floor. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Wrong!” Rainbow’s sudden yell made almost everypony in the room jump, save for Applejack, who was still in her same mysterious stupor. “Everypony’s secret in town gets brighter and gets dimmer. I would know, I figured that part out myself.” Rarity found the perfect time to speak.
“That reminds me, what were you doing this entire time?”
“Uh… nothing. Just, roaming around.”
“You were looking at other ponies secrets, weren’t you?”
“Not entirely.”
“Anyways,” Twilight cut into their irrelevant conversation. “that’s not what I was getting at. While looking for you five, and talking about our secrets, I learned two things: when a pony tells the truth about a secret, it gets dimmer. When they lie or be vague about it, it shines.” she explained. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to yell and inevitable “duh!”, but she was interrupted when Twilight kept going.
“Obvious. Correct?” She didn’t wait for a response. “But, there’s one other thing I noticed. When a pony tells you their secret, the pony you told’s secrets shone instead. This happened on numerous occasions, such as outside Rarity’s house, and Pinkie’s house with my secret. But why?”
Once again, Twilight didn’t wait for a wrong answer from her friends. Instead, she turned tail and headed out towards the balcony. “When you’re not sure about something, do an experiment!”
Awkwardly, Twilight’s friends followed her out into the wooden balcony. Twilight moved the telescope that usually resided there so there would be more room, so her friends would see her point entirely. The night air stung the friends’ noses at the same time. It was riddled with smoke, desperation and revelations. The stars in the sky did little to change their moods. In fact, it made Applejack frown a bit. The library’s balcony looked over practically all of Ponyville, and all of the surrounding area. Rainbow Dash flinched when she realized that the secret on her house was clearly visible, although blurred through the clouds. Pinkie’s secret and Applejack’s were also shining, proudly.
Neither of them were happy about it.
“Our secrets. Our friendship. They are all connected, like a fly in a spider web. Our community of six is stronger, and somepony figured that out. That’s why I have a good feeling.” Twilight motioned to her now dim secret right underneath them. One couldn’t see the words from the position, but the lack of light let them know. “Watch Rainbow’s secret, as well as mine.” Twilight tried not to read Rainbow’s secret from their position, but that was seconds after the fact.
Rainbow Dash did a double take.
“I did nothing, at all, with my brother when I was younger.” Twilight said. For some reason, a triumphant smile was on her face, like she had just conquered her own realm inside of her head. The six watched in awe as Twilight’s secret visibly grew brighter, shining much more than what she had originally expected, billowing light over the rest of the downtrodden town.
And Rainbow Dash’s secret dimmed.
“Rainbow, now you.” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash’s face grew pink, fuming.
“If you think that I’m going to acknowledge anything-”
A loud ding was heard from a mile away. Rainbow’s secret grew, while Twilight’s did the opposite. Twilight grinned, her hypothesis being more correct than she had originally thought.
“I… I don’t understand.” Fluttershy quivered. Twilight gave her a brief nod. Twilight had figured that some sort of explanation would need to be involved. Fortunately, she had it all sorted out inside that gigantic brain of hers.
“Our secrets are connected. Perhaps through the Elements of Harmony, or our friendship, or whatever. Whoever did this was targeting us, specifically, seeing as our secrets are the only ones to do this. My secret is connected to Rainbow-”
“But how? And why are they connected? Huh, Miss Egghead?” Rainbow butted in. Twilight tried not to acknowledge Rainbow’s attitude, yet again.
“Because of a similar theme we all share.” Twilight said, bluntly. “We’re connected because of our past, Rainbow. What I did to my brother, when I was younger, and how you treated your parents. We have remorse, regret, in common. The nagging feeling that tugs on our shoulders, telling us that’s it’s impossible to change the past.” Twilight silently debated if she could continue, but did anyway.
“You know what holds others back, Rainbow Dash? Keeps ponies from reaching their true potential? Two things, and only one is applicable to us directly. The first is sloth, or not living up to what one could be. The second is the past. It’s unchangeable, and it’s a horrible thing. Being unable to take back what you say, or to quit doing something that hurts. That’s why we are connected. My quest for knowledge, and your desire for fame is linked by our pasts. Do you understand?”
Rainbow’s eyes fell.
“Then there’s Applejack and Fluttershy-” Twilight noticed Fluttershy crouch closer to the floor when Applejack turned back to look at her. Unconcerned. “Your’s is, well… obvious, yet not really.”
“It’s sadness, isn’t it?” Fluttershy squeaked. Twilight cocked her head. Somehow, someway, Fluttershy had mustered the nerve to stand back up. “Applejack’s secret outright said it, how she was sad.”
Twilight continued her sentence for her. “Yes, Fluttershy.” she said, trying not to let her eyes dip. “Applejack’s secret was straight to the point, just like her.” Applejack held back an emotionless scoff, and looked off the balcony. Twilight locked eyes with Fluttershy. “Your secret is strange. At first, sadness is not the underlying threat. It’s death. But when we look a little deeper, into Fluttershy, we can all tell what the real lasting impression is: her fear and sorrow.”
“Twilight, I don’t mean to be rude.” Applejack cut in. “But I really don’t care. I forgave Fluttershy. Enough is enough.” Twilight could tell that Applejack’s blood was beginning to boil, but she wasn’t concerned.
“No you didn’t.” Twilight shot back, slightly peeved after being interrupted. She was on a role. “You simply said that to appease the rest of us. You’re hurt, dying on the inside like your parents did the outside-”
“Hey-”
“But that’s the problem, Applejack. Your dejection is in the same category as Fluttershy. She spends every day thinking about her mistake. She lives with it on her mind every day. You’re stuck with it physically, without your parents. You deal with the fact in life, while she deals with it mentally.” Applejack, instead of arguing, sat on her haunches and crossed her hooves, fuming.
Fluttershy nodded at Twilight, as if to say “thank you”.
“So…” Pinkie spoke up. For the first time in a while, Twilight had almost forgotten that Pinkie was even among them. “That leaves Rarity and I… but I don’t see anything in common with us, save for the fact that she…” Rarity blushed, while Pinkie tried to find the right words that wouldn’t put Rarity on the spot, even though it was too late. “uhm, pilfered my things?”
“You two seriously don’t see it?” Twilight asked. Twilight didn’t feel like explaining their connection for two reasons. One, she opened her fat mouth and now three of her other friends were either grumpy or upset, and two, her throat was starting to hurt, surprisingly.
“Not really. Besides for the medicine, we don’t have much in common besides the pills.” Rarity admitted. However, a split second later Twilight noticed that Rarity appeared to have a lightbulb go off in her head.
Pinkie was absolutely clueless, so Rarity tried to explain it to her. “Dear… think about it. My addiction, your facade…” Twilight looked over at the rest of her friends. Applejack was still seething on the floor next to her and staring up at the night sky, Rainbow Dash was sniffling wildly, like she was forming a cold, and Fluttershy was still trying to piece everything together.
Pinkie brought a hoof to her chin, before she let a single word slip from her tongue, filling the night air with the cool sense of depression:
“Obsession…”
“Yes, Pinkie.” Twilight added. “Rarity’s obsession with drugs, and rest. Pinkie’s obsession with fitting in, acceptance. It falls into place perfectly. I know now. I know, whoever did this did this it purpose. They want to hurt us, and they want us ourself to do it. Like I said, this was aimed at us.” A few things in Twilight’s head didn’t make sense, such as the fact that Rarity and Twilight’s secrets weren’t like, but Twilight’s secret still shined the first time. Perhaps it was because Rainbow’s wasn’t even discovered at the moment in time by her friends. She didn’t know, but that little snippet of detail wasn’t all too important.
“If they wanted us to hurt ourselves… to break our own friendship…” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked with almost every word she spoke. She didn’t let a single tear that formed in her eyes fall. “What… what a coward. They want to pick fights, they do it directly! So I can sock them in their stupid mouth!” Rainbow Dash’s chest puffed up, and Twilight wanted to grin.
“Yeah. And then to get the whole town involved? Ruining the lives of everypony in town? Their innocent lives?” asked Rarity.
“Not exactly ‘innocent’.” Applejack grumbled. Fluttershy pretended not to hear, and folded her ears.
“Whoever did this is going to pay.” Rainbow Dash muttered. Twilight’s wish to grin quickly disappeared.
“Whoever did this has some sort of vendetta, by the looks of it.” said Pinkie Pie, her surprisingly eloquent tone of voice never failed to catch Twilight off guard. She pondered how much time Pinkie had actually spent in the library over the years that they’d been friends.
“Yes. That much is true.” Twilight said. “And you know what? I think I know a way to track them down.”
At the sound of that, everypony’s head perked up. Even Applejack. “Girls? We’re going monster hunting.”
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I love you for this.
They are doing our best?
How are they doing the best of Twilight and Fluttershy?
omg IT UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!
fireworks display.
interesting. so it was targeted at them in an attempt to break them up, and everyone else is getting splash damage. but who, or what, did it? i would want ot think discord but then agian for what purpose? he is reformed enough not to raise hell with the elements back in place. so what was it?
and did applejack really forgive fluttershy? and will she be able to keep herself from hurting her firned in her anger and hurt?
Aw yeah.
I also.
Even though this chapter was obviously unedited, I cannot thank you enough for the update
Dis gon b gud
Ah nice to see an update. I hope you didn't feel the need to rush yourself. Quality shows when one takes their time and it shines brightly here. (No pun intended.)
STILL HAVEN'T SEEN WHAT APPLEJACK DID
My money is on her killing Angel.
I really hope applejack didn't murder angel
That would be horrible.
Monster hunting? I have no idea where this is going...but it's gonna be awesome.
CANNOT WAIT TILL THE END!!!! I want to say Discord, but he's probably reformed...
UPDATE!!!
Whoever did this . . .
rottenecards.com/ecards/rottenecard_31641563_dkjsfxpphm.png
It is not often at all that I comment on stories, but I love this masterpiece you have created. All the suspense, all the openings for the readers to try and figure it out themselves, plus the characters are written FANTASTICALLY. I'm glad I started reading this, because this story never disappoints me when it's updated.
I'm betting that Spike is behind all this. No reason.
ummmm
UPDATES! And now I want the next one.
4218426 I doubt anything even close will happen to whoever is responsible.
Let me guess... Cappuccino's the culprit (those who've read "Miss Sparkle, Psychopath" will understand)
Yes! Time for some hunting.
1.bp.blogspot.com/-YbudKjd0auI/UYNC7YZE1uI/AAAAAAAAVRc/GQvuBR4qg34/s1600/Reloading.gif
In any case, it's great to see this updated, and I'm anticipating an epic finish in the future. Bring it.
Great chapter, I like how the despair and drama of their ordeal is wearing on them. Each character becoming progressively more aggressive and tired. I think you sorta overdfid rainbows tough guy facade. Yes, it did fit the story and the character, but it was over-used, interrupting every paragraph or two with a snappy remark.
img1.livegen.fr/00/00/35/55/0000355560.jpg
No time to play games girls!
I need next chapter,
I love this chapter. It made me
4218557 haha nice. Cappuccino will forever be a fallguy now.
MOAR!
You are using "whomever" incorrectly.
"Who" is a subject.
"Whom" is not a subject.
And... why would Rainbow Dash ever use the word "Whom"?
I'm still incredibly concerned by Applejack's attitude from the previous chapter, and the fact that whatever she did or may yet plan to do to hurt Fluttershy has me incredibly agitated. If she did something truly horrible like hurt Angel or one of Fluttershy's other animals in some twisted retaliation, I honestly don't know how it could ever be resolved peacefully. And I'm willing to bet that whatever Fluttershy did to "indirectly cause the death" of AJ's parents, is her own guilt at being unable to actually help in that situation skewing her words to her own detriment. But I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Update again soon please.
I still don't understand Rainbow's Secret.
But anyway, nice to see an update 
Can i come? can i? can i? I wanna go monster hunting too!
Oh wow. This story.
It's amazing. Can't wait for the next chapter!!!
UPDATE FINALLY!! Please don't make us wait this long for the next chapter.
4218859. Rainbow's secret is that she told parents that she was a lesbian, even though she wasn't.
Just to spite her parents.
I really love this story, but I have a major problem with Twilight't secret and the narrative you are portraying.
Twilight didn't do anything to her brother. Her older, more mature sibling took advantage of her/didn't enforce a basic a societal boundary. I don't care if this is a fantasy world with a different species. You make it sound like the victim in this situation is some how at fault. Twilight didn't wrong her brother, her brother wronged her.
This story is so goddamn good, its a unique concept that i don't think i have ever seen explored before, i truly love this story!
4219003 She offered the....service. She didn't understand what it was and Shining was a young, very hormonal teen. Once things started on Shining's end, it would be near impossible to stop (by near impossible, I mean somepony would have to walk in or there be an earthquake or something. There's no way a stressed, hormone driven teen could try to fight against it no matter how wrong it is). As for Twilight, she thought she was helping and didn't understand sex. She probably read something saying or showing a stallion feeling relief and relaxation after a blowjob. They did it to each other. Shining didn't stop her and Twilight gave it
Wow
just wow. so much.....emotion. Twilight is worried about all of them 
, Rainbow is worried for everyone but them 
, AJ is lying to herself 
, Fluttershy is hating herself 
, Rarity wants to redeem herself 
, and Pinkie Pie is never herself 
Side note: I think Discord's would be I intentionally bother ponies because no one would see me if I didn't
Related to Celestia's saying The smile I give my subjects is agonizing
[one gets no attention doing nothing and one gets too much attention doing nothing]
Who is it that said that? It seems like Rarity, but I can't tell.
It's so...Convaluted, I love it!!
4218787 I have no idea. But she'd be the one to use it incorrectly.
Okay, did no one else pick up on hint that applejack went and killed Angle Bunny for revenge last chapter. Thats why Rarity was so shaken up.
not a single mention from Aj or Rarity about who or what AJ went and killed of Fluttershys'.
4219750
Because no one liked Angle that much anyway.
You don't ask a lady her weight, thieves do not steal from churches, and nobody goes digging around in other people's closets. Twilight is right, this was a well executed plan with some good results, but whoever did this had better not get caught because self-restraint tends to fly out the window along with common courtesy.
4219808 I actually dressed up as Angel Bunny for the Toronto Brony con last year
Welp. They caught me. Now I have to prepare for six angry mares.
4219121
I don't mind the "service" or sexual assault occurring. It is the way the situation in the story is being handled that bothers me. If sexual relation occurs between two individuals who are under age, but one should no better, it is sexual assault. The younger one does not do it to the older one.. It's disturbing that a child is considered "at fault" in the story.
Monster hunting but, can't be Discord, this isn't his kind of Chaos, and... Chrysalis, no, feeds on love, but...monster hunting... Sombra? Gah! What the heck man! I've can think of literally no way to connect this to any Villian or antagonist in the series... so... godd job!
4218557
4219899
You don't really understand the difference between legal consent and actual consent. A minor can rape an adult, and the adult will still be charged with statutory rape. Your bullshit ideas don't help this issue.