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Chapter One - Just An Average Day6,065 words
Chapter Two - Burden of Thoughts8,573 words
Chapter Three - Falling Apart4,003 words
Chapter Four - Worries Abound5,764 words
Chapter Five - Misunderstood...5,112 words
Chapter Six - The Calm; In the Care of Kindness3,734 words

Chapter Three - Falling Apart

Beg.
est. May 20, 2014

Chapter Three - Falling Apart

A pale, light grayish gold pegasus, flanked by her bunny pet, sat on her green cot by the fireplace, looking through the window at the whispering, nocturnal Everfree Forest with sad, concerned moderate cyan eyes. Fluttershy sighed, nodding her head sleepily; her ragged, pale, light grayish rose mane slightly getting in her face.
Angel nuzzled her, comforting her, but he knew it wouldn't work; she'd been stuck in a rut whenever she'd have the chance to rest.
The kind pegasus looked at the bunny, tired eyes carrying that one thought since that pink puffball crash-landed here those few days ago.

"Um... Angel... how do you think he's doing?" Fluttershy began softly, curling up within herself to gather warmth. The bunny tilted a bit, tutting that he had no idea, and Fluttershy groaned to herself.
The pegasus snorted in annoyance at this unchanging fact; it's been that way with Rainbow Dash as well, when the athletic pegasus stopped by to deliver that one piece of intel. She'd asked then,―"how is he? Did you find him?"―only to receive a disappointed―

"No... " Rainbow Dash had said with a frown, backing up from the yellow pegasus's cottage while Fluttershy, close to tears, followed her out, almost angry at this.

How can there be no intel? you've been at this for a day and a half! she'd thought and wanted to say, but the pegasus had swallowed her anger and kept up her kindness, smiling even when a frown would have been appropriate.
She remembered, however, just before Rainbow flew off, that "golden star" was mentioned and that her friend Twilight Sparkle was examining it, and the pegasus frowned at this and receded into her house after she'd watched the multicolored trail make lines throughout Equestria's darkening sky.
Fluttershy still attended to her duties as an animal caretaker, either going into the Everfree Forest or staying within its cusp, trying her best not to let the fact that the pink puffball had yet to be found bother her. As a matter of fact, she'd even pretended some of the animals she cared for were that pink puffball, and she kept up a warm smile even while on the inside she was being ripped to shreds.
This "being ripped to shreds" part of her ordeal was now starkly shown as her hollow, sad eyes stared out the window into the Everfree Forest, as her overly long mane and tail were raggedy and like an out-of-control mop on her head and down her neck, as her body shivered as she brought her forelegs closer to herself so the coldness within her soul, resultant from the void she felt, wouldn't swallow her up, as the kind smile, having moved, was stilted and in its place settled a frown that would be enough to scare Pinkie Pie.
Yep, she was "being ripped to shreds"—as her heart, mind and soul could attest.
All she wanted was to find Kirby...
...to care for him...
...to know if he was okay.
How could she? when he was M.I.A., somewhere deep in the Everfree into which she would be too scared to enter at this time, and possibly hurt to the point of—?!
Angel nuzzled her again, this time rubbing her muzzle, and Fluttershy reset her countenance, which she then realized had been twisting into a scowl. The bunny chittered a piece of advice to the fallen pegasus, and her smile returned, albeit a bit empty, and her once hollow cyan eyes gained some light again.
The advice, Fluttershy realized, was to get some sleep, which she needed severely right about now; plus, there would always be tomorrow, yeah?
The pegasus opened her wings, standing up on her cot and a determined look settling upon her face; Angel Bunny crawled onto her back after he smiled at her newly gained confidence.
Fluttershy then attempted to fly to her bedroom, but then her sleepiness got to her; her wings locked up and she was snoring before she hit the floor. A familiar draconequus then manifested as the very cot the sweet pegasus had been sulking on, saying, "Oh! Fluttershy! isn't this wonderful!?"
What he was referring to was a lamp in Fluttershy's liking that had appeared in his lion paw / arm of the chair; but, of course, he made it himself!

"Fluttershy?" Discord lowered his voice, growing concerned for his friend as he melted off the cot and popped himself into his proper form. His mismatched red eyes then saw poor Fluttershy (and perhaps poor Angel, as well... he scoffed) on the floor, snoring, with her usually well-combed mane in her face and her extra long tail—which he found "cute", he noted—curled around her matted, yellow fur.

"Oh," he began in a whisper, "I see..." and smirked as he brought up his eagle talon and snapped his fingers. In a flash, Discord was in Fluttershy's bedroom, sitting with a fez on a red throne, with Fluttershy snug in bed and Angel Bunny sleeping on top of her covers.
The draconequus smiled, tossing away the paper that came with the disguise and poofing off his throne, which turned into a mini-sun now positioned at a safe distance from the kind pegasus's bed, radiating heat for her, and poofing into existence hovering beside her, the grin on his face growing as he took away her nightmares and left her in a meadow full of happy animals which needed her care.
And with another snap of his talon, he then added a happy tune with a haunting melody, and Discord smirked once more as he hovered into the floor and slithered to the stool beside the bed, his draconic tail softly whipping the stool and adorning it with the lamp he'd made for her.
And, as a final condiment, as Discord yawned and stretched into a three dimensional figure once more, he snapped his talon, and a magical sun brooch appeared in Fluttershy's hair.
"There," smiled Discord, "you're all better, eh?" slithering quietly up to her bed, "I tell you, there's no use worrying. This pink puffball—he'll soon appear," and a doll resembling Kirby appeared in his lion's paw just then. Discord looked at it and frowned, trying to think whether or not Fluttershy should have this, but eventually smiled and zapped it away from him and onto her bed stand.
"You see, there's always a tomorrow, my dear," he good-naturedly smirked. "Good night, Fluttershy mere," and then, one-by-one, body part by body part, he vanished, and soon the only traces of him being in that room were the lamp, the dream, the sun brooch, the Kirby doll, and Fluttershy herself, who now smiled genuinely as she cared for her pets within her mind, heart and soul…

It had been a few days since he'd had those apples to eat. Kirby still felt bad for running away, but with the way some of those ponies were staring at him...
He couldn't take the risk.
He was in a forest of some kind, but it didn't seem natural to him, compared to what he'd seen of this new land. The puffball eventually shrugged, As long as I'm away from those ponies, I'll be fine...
His stomach growled, and he rubbed it with a stubby hand. He needed to find some food...
Kirby walked along, his hunting instincts slightly guiding him. Since no one had taken care of him or even bothered with him, he had had to learn to take care of himself to survive—
The puffball heard a rustling in the bush, and, startled, readied himself for anything. He took a quiet step closer, and then another step toward the bush. He came close enough to see through it, and saw a rabbit—an unusual-looking one, but a rabbit nonetheless—on the other side.
His mouth watered involuntarily, a small, predatory part of his mind believing that rabbit to be his meal in the near future. Kirby brought out his switchblade discreetly, licking his lips as his stomach growled quietly and briefly.
But the larger part, but no more or less in demand, of his mind said to him that something wasn't right, and that it was wrong. Could he just kill and eat that rabbit? just like that?
He looked at his blade, seeing the bits of dried blood from battles and from remorse-filled meals of the distant past; the very same battles for which he was persecuted, despite his good intentions...
Kirby snapped out of his unpleasant reverie, instead focusing on that rabbit; trapped in a dilemma of moral beliefs and of corporeal instincts. His stomach growled again, reminding him of his hunger, and his usually dull red eyes briefly glowed and gained dark, animalistic slits, and he, licking his lips once again, narrowing his eyes, prepared for the kill...
...But was yet another stain on his blade worth the merely momentary fill?
After a brief fight of equally loud yeas and nays, his eyes lost the dangerous glow and slits, and he widened them, quietly gasping at the realization of what he was about to do...

No... no, it's not... and, with one last look at the bunny, he retracted the blade and re-sheathed it inside his cloak, almost trembling due to his deep, nearly raging river of hunger. Kirby couldn't stay there any longer, lest he wanted to test his hungry instincts, so he turned to leave, but the soft humming of a sweet melody stopped him in his tracks.
The puffball chanced a look behind him through the bush, and saw the same kind, yellow pegasus in his memory from those days ago. She looked a bit concerned when she saw the bunny, asking in a soft voice if there was anything wrong. Before the bunny could reply, though, his stomach growled again, much louder this time, and he grimaced when their ears perked up and toward the bush behind which he was hiding.
They each looked at the bush and exchanged equally perplexedly surprised glances, and decided to investigate.
Kirby panicked on the inside, the fear of being found again rising to a near high but only leaking through to his body language; he didn't care that the one about to find him was the one who calmed him with her presence alone all those days ago.
He just wanted to be left alone!
So he ran to his left betwixt a mess of trees, dodging them left and right with superior jumping skills and reflexes. Fluttershy had only seen a pink and round blur, but instantly knew who he was. The puffball who had crash-landed here all but a few days before, but it never seemed that long ago.
...And she just missed him by a hair!!
She plopped down and covered her face with her forehooves and wailed into them, so deeply worried about him. The bunny beside her nuzzled into her, trying his best to comfort her and kept trying even though he could tell it wouldn't be any use.
Kirby had stopped running, stepping out of the almost tightly woven trees onto a dirt path, and was startled and immediately ashamed by the haunting wails of the winged pony from whom he'd just run away...
Again.
He solemnly sighed, but kept going.
He wouldn't let himself be found.

It was late at night on the Sweet Apple Acres.
The Apple folks tilling the field for next week's harvest were gearing up to hit the hay. Those who stayed inside to make piece-meals for the family and food for profit—that which is sold in the Ponyville marketplace—cleaned up and talked heartily about their day. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had happily volunteered to sell the apple pies, curry, and apples to the residents in Ponyville, and Applejack, no more excited about this prospect, volunteered to supervise them.
Needless to say, despite being stationed in the busiest section of the marketplace, despite getting their products sold at a rate rivaling Pinkie Pie buying a batch of their cider come that day, and despite Apple Bloom's, Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's excitement to sell products grown and made by the folks at Sweet Apple Acres, the light brilliant gamboge pony was nothing short of bemused as she leaned on the produce stand, waving away with an empty smile the successful customers and snarking lightly at those who failed to buy or didn't want to buy anything, sharing only a little excitement with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Apple Bloom, her younger sister, was the first to notice, and her reddish amber eyes narrowed at her mentor in concern, "Applejack..."—moderate sap green eyes snapped open in firm attention as the farmpony responded awkwardly as if waking up from a dream and turned her attention to her volatile prodigy, "Yes...?"—and then the country filly asked, "What's wrong?" after selling a pie for four bits to an eager customer.
Applejack had to think on this, shaking herself out of her stupor. Sweetie Belle, the younger unicorn sister of Rarity, noticed next, as she balanced the big bowl of apple curry on her head, having ventured out into the crowd to get customers to buy a bowl, and she placed the giant bowl of curry lithely on the produce stand as her sparkling pale, light grayish harlequin eyes beheld her good friend's older sister's not-so-gungho attitude. The light gray unicorn filly then settled for bringing out the bowls and ladle, using them to dole out what paying customers requested, still watching Applejack trudge her way through advertisements and showing what their produce stand had to offer, which Scootaloo had happily undertaken, using her trusty scooter and helmet and her voice to lure a crowd.
Apple Bloom's older sister sighed drearily, her moderate sap green eyes rolling off to one side for a bit; her left hoof remained as a prop for her head and her blond forelocks covered her tired, pensive eyes.
She really wanted to say she was okay...
She really did...
...but she wasn't...
She wasn't okay...
Applejack often found herself thinking about the pink puffball and his stomach, even throughout her chores.
And...if'n he's as hungry as I suspect, those apples sho ain't gon' be nuff to hold him...
An apple bonked her on the head, reminding her of reality.
Yes...
Yes, she did just relapse into that burden of thoughts, and the Earth pony wanted to facehoof herself so bad—
"Applejack!" cried the frail yet strong pegasus filly, and the farmpony jerked herself out of her thoughts and groaned to herself.
"Yes, Ah'm fine," she stubbornly attested, bringing down her right hoof onto the table, and immediately felt bad, and rolled her eyes to sigh loudly yet no more dramatically than Rarity.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at Applejack, stopping her scooter tricks as her grayish purple eyes scanned the older pony.
"You sure don't look fine to me..." the light brilliant gamboge filly frowned, even as their money bowl filled up to the point of overflowing, and the sky darkened to make way for the moon.
The elder farmpony sighed again, "Nope... Ah sure don't..." and a bit of a smile appeared when she looked near the heart of the table and saw how much money they gathered and how many products they sold.

"Why can't you be happy, AJ?" the pale, light grayish olive pony asked, as she replaced the full money bowl with an empty one, her sparkly reddish amber eyes widening with concern; she intended, and she hoped her two cutie mark-less friends also intend, to press and figure out this issue with Applejack.
No matter what it may take.
And it sure don't matter how... seriously mused Apple Bloom, her hoof acting as a prop for her head and her elbow stretched up on the produce stand. She thought it over again, decided, rather frantically in her mind, that this current thought was nearing a Despair Event Horizon, and, much to her satisfaction, added, Or maybe it does matter how... within reason!, as her worried, bemused eyes still watched Applejack stumble over counting the amount of bits they'd earned.

"We're doin' a pretty good job here, y'all!" the gamboge pony smiled a bit, after she'd cut through about half of the bits they'd obtained. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, however, saw right through the usually diligent farmpony's efforts to put up a cheery face and tone. Scootaloo was too busy drawing the crowd to help Applejack through her rut; though she was concerned, she couldn't stop her tasked job.
Applejack's smile slid off her face, her moderate sap green eyes glazing over again, her thoughts now and again centered around the pink puffball. Earlier, she was okay and working hard on the farm, the thoughts only bothering her a little bit; there were times, however, when the mare would mess up a task because those same thoughts got too big for her to push away. This time, she wondered about the "golden star" Rainbow Dash told her she'd found earlier today. She remembered frowning in deep thought for a moment and then giving Rainbow a deadpan stare when the sky blue pegasus told her the star was with her friend Twilight Sparkle for experimental purposes.

"What?" Applejack remembered her saying to that look, "it's Twilight Sparkle's orders!"

"But Ah can't just leave the farm right now! Me an' the Apple family have been pretty busy as of late," she remembered returning as she loaded a box of apples onto a cart filled with several other boxes of apples.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't help that!" the pegasus shot back, stretching her wings, "but you could always visit later."
Applejack outwardly scoffed, but, feeling bad, she sighed and said, "An' what if'n Ah wanted to see this 'golden star' right now? Yer reckon Ah go see her?"

"Yep."
Another apple bonked her on the head, and she awoke from the past once more, her tired look twisting into a scowl at the one she knew would do that. Scootaloo simply shrugged, a smirk on her face, and the new money bowl filled up even more—perhaps at its halfway point; perhaps even more than that... came Applejack's fatigued estimate. Applejack scoffed and mumbled incoherently to herself, shaking her head.

"Applejack..." began Sweetie Belle, gaining AJ's attention and hoofing over a bowl of apple curry to yet another customer who paid her due, "we're worried about you."

"Yeah," Apple Bloom supplemented, collecting the pay of two bits and putting it neatly into the bowl; her elder sister watched her with tired eyes, which were then met with those sparkly reddish ambers, narrowed with worry, and the leader of the CMC added, "what's wrong, sis?"
The diligent, honest farmpony hunched over, sighing and snorting,—almost sending her sister into a worried frenzy—before she set her forelegs on the edge of the table, "It's... kinda a long story, ya'll... but... Ah reckon Ah should'a told ya'll sooner..." and thus she delved into the story where she and her friends had to run from their picnic site or else a mysterious star cruiser would've fallen on them—the Cutie Mark Crusaders gasped at that and other distasteful bits, shooing away curious onlookers. And then she got to the part where they investigated, describing what it turned out to be.

"It was a cute critter... yes, indeed," the light brilliant gamboge pony chortled a bit, rubbing at her mane with anxiety. The three fillies, though keeping at their lessening duties, listened intently to what she had to say, deeming this as important. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shot a glance at their products, noting six pies and three scoopfuls of curry left, smiling a bit with the knowledge that they could soon rest.

"That is, until it opened its eyes..." Applejack recounted, a dry look in her eye, and the CMC tensed, "a dull, dark red... an' ya know what that oft' means, doncha?"
The Crusaders nodded firmly, exchanging scared glances, though Scootaloo tried her best to hide hers, riding in on her scooter as a finish since their customers were dwindling as the night drew on. Applejack then shook her head to show that stereotype wasn't to be, "We were still scared... but Ah felt bad and gave 'im mah picnic basket..."
The CMC were all equally surprised that Fluttershy stood in like that, but decided they shouldn't be—that Cockatrice incident, for one...
She recounted some more of the story, a tear coming to her eye when... "An' then, he took th' basket, an' ran away from all a' us..."
Applejack wiped away the tear swiftly, though Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle still noticed.
Ah, so that's why mah big sis isn't bright as a bushel... the sibling filly bit her lip, asking, "So... you're worried 'bout 'im?"

"Boy, am Ah!" she exclaimed, bowing her head and touching her stetson hat, narrowing her moderate sap green eyes with an indescribable emotion; she sighed, noting that it was time to make a move toward home with their earnings and grabbing the money bowls and empty apple baskets to put in her saddlebags, "With all these thoughts scuttlin' 'bout, Ah hadn't been up to par... it's jus'... a great big mess! Ah worry 'bout his safety," she doubtfully paused, biting her lip tentatively, but then went along and finished her thought, "but also 'bout ours as well..."
Apple Bloom pursed her lips as she packed up the pie holders, her mouth open to ask a question, but, unknowingly, Applejack answered it, "The critter's loose, y'know? An' we have no iota of what he can do..." shaking her head with both doubt and pity.
Reddish amber eyes widened in fear, and their owner whispered a quiet, "Oh..." as she drooped.
Sweetie Belle, though just as fearful of the situation, comforted her as she gathered the big, empty curry bowl and the ladle to carry in her saddlebags, offering, "Perhaps the creature's not so bad, Apple Bloom... he didn't attack our elder friends," with a warm smile. Scootaloo was too busy hooking the cart to her scooter to care, zooming off on the road back home. Apple Bloom looked at the unicorn filly, registering pensively what she had to say and looking anxiously up at the moon, before she smiled back, attempting to match the amount of warmth present in Belle's smile to show appreciation, but it fell flat; the smile was fake and the twinkle in her eyes suggested worried uncertainty.
...But what if he is a bad guy...? the filly fearfully wondered, her eyes sad and troubled and her legs tense as they worked to carry her load home, an apprehensive Applejack and a worried Sweetie Belle at her flank...

Fin
June 17, 2014
1:46a

Author's Note:

This scene is particularly dark...
Showcasing Kirby's hunger, and the timeskip too (a few days)...
Perhaps it will pass the rating, but if not, I'm afraid I'll have to bump it up to a T-.

But this scene isn't the only one that's part of my notes. There are gonna be things that happen before and after this scene; not just this one in particular.
I'll just need to write around this scene, since this was written on a spur of the moment on my phone and such that.
But you guys get to see it because you have "priority".

Enjoy reading.

EDIT May 21, 2014: I hope you realized that I made up some words... and from the looks of it none of you noticed the video game references/memes and "puns" I put in Chapter One and possibly in Chapter Two, so no rewards..
There's still a chance though! if you hurry back!

Here's the first and second scene of Chapter Three! I hope you enjoyed (even though it /is/ kinda dark for Fluttershy, just imagine how you'd feel if someone you tried to help ran away from you...; and there we go...) Besides, it /is/ canon!
I also hope you enjoyed Discord! I tried my best to write him and his crazy antics!
I also hope, nope, I also wish that you enjoyed Kirby. He is the "star" of the story after all, so yeah.
Credits
1st Video and 1st Link: DJ Sonicfreak, uploader: MrMasterJD
2nd Link: Brandon Strader
2nd Video: TrueNightMusic
3rd Video: RebornBeatz
(You have the option of listening either to the first link or to the second link...
or you could combine 'em!
Either way, the music is awesome! )