Day 1: Back from the Grave

The time was running out.

Twilight galloped down the dark hallway, with Apple Bloom close behind her. Undead ponies snatched at them from both sides and they had problems to avoid getting bitten in the narrow hallway.

There was almost no time anymore. If Twilight couldn't fix the mess she created, Ponyville, no, the whole of Equestria would never be the same.

After completing Starswirl's spell she took a fancy in creating spells on her own. But Starswirl's spell was at least half completed. She wanted to make an own spell, from scratch. A spell to communicate with dead ponies, that's what it should have been.

It worked. Somewhat.

That the dead ponies were not resting in their graves on the Ponyville Cemetery anymore made it definitely easier to talk to them face to face. Except that these zombies were not very talkative. They had to be stopped.

And now they had almost no time anymore.

They were in the library when it happened. Twilight cast the spell, with Apple Bloom eagerly standing in front of her. She had to test the spell somehow and she knew that Apple Bloom was missing her parents, so she invited her for the evening to be her test subject.

The plan was to use the spell and to open up a connection between this world and wherever the souls of ponies went after they died, so that Apple Bloom could talk with her mom and dad.

But it didn't work. They waited a few minutes, but nothing happened. Apple Bloom was disappointed, but Twilight managed it to cheer her up and then she began to adjust the spell in hope to fix what was wrong with it.

About an hour later, the sun had already sunk under the horizon and it was getting dark, they heard screams from outside. Twilight couldn't believe it as Apple Bloom told her that zombies were on the streets, killing other ponies and eating them. Only a look out of the window convinced her of how serious the situation was. She had to realize that her spell did work, although not in the way she hoped it would. Instead of making her able to speak to dead ponies, it let them rise from their graves; brought back to a new artificial life!

Apple Bloom and the mistaken wizard barricaded the library from the inside so that she could work on a counterspell. She managed to write one, but as she was almost finished, the zombies managed it to break through the barricades at the door and windows. Twilight immediately stopped writing and rolled in the scroll on which she was writing the spell, ignoring the head of the zombie in front of her, who broke through the window her desk was standing at. She called Apple Bloom at her side and made herself ready to teleport her and the filly out of the library to a safe place, but then the zombie bit in her hoof before she could perform the spell. It ripped out a big piece of flesh, making the bone visible, and worst of all, not only a part of her hoof was swallowed by the undead pony, but also the scroll that she was still holding with it. In shock, she teleported herself and Apple Bloom out of the library and they fled from the place.

They got to the town hall and locked themselves up in a storage room at the back of the building. Together, they created a plan to get the scroll back there and now they were out of the room again, on their way back to the library, but they ran out of time. There was barely half an hour for them to stop the zombie invasion. At midnight, everything could be over.

From past researches, Twilight knew about a similar accident. A pony using a spell to bring back the dead; in ancient times, long before she was born. The only difference was that this pony was evil and had planned to conquer Equestria with an army of undead ponies; believing this would make it easier, because zombies couldn't be killed in battle anymore. But the plan backfired as the evil conqueror found out that ponies who got bitten by members of his army turned into zombies too. He knew he couldn't sacrifice the population of Equestria, otherwise there would be nopony to rule over anymore, and so he wrote a counterspell, as Twilight did today, but it didn't work and the zombies remained zombies. He rewrote the spell a few times and tried it again and again, but it was useless.

It then turned out that the spell could only be reversed three hours after casting it and that he didn't got it ready soon enough. The ponies in the town he lived in managed it to bring the situation under control after he confessed his evil plans to Celestia and asked for her help. They stopped the zombies and he was imprisoned for a long time for his evil plans.

And now the situation was the same. Twilight didn't knew for sure if the spell she used was the exact same spell that the evil conqueror created back then. During the whole time until they came into the storage room, she never saw a pony getting turned after being bitten. The victims stayed dead. This could mean that the spell was of a slightly different nature and the reversal not time limited, but the possibility was still there and she couldn't take the risk.

They hadn't much time to make a plan for getting the scroll back out of the zombies' stomach and to finish it and Twilight knew that it wouldn't be easy. Since she was bitten by the zombie, she felt weak. And her condition just became worse over time. She was sweating, her breath was going heavy, her hoof hurt stronger the more time passed and she had problems to channel her magic. Twilight wasn't sure if she could perform the counterspell once she completed it, but even if, she would need all her energy and concentration for this spell. She could not afford to cast another spell. She would definitely need Apple Bloom's help to distract the other zombies, while she was busy with the one who swallowed the scroll. Fighting against more than one zombie was impossible with her condition.

Twilight and Apple Bloom had almost reached the door at the end of the hallway that led to the lobby of the town hall as Twilight suddenly heard a thump behind her and then a loud scream. She stopped and turned around quickly. Apple Bloom lied on the floor, a zombie firmly holding her leg and slowly approaching her, ready to bite.

Twilight rushed at the side of the whimpering filly and, unable to use magic, used her horn to attack the zombie. She rammed it into his throat and a fountain of blood shot out of the wound, covering both her and Apple Bloom, who whimpered even more as the blood hit her.

Twilight knew it wouldn't kill him, but the force of the impact she created with her horn was enough to make him stumble back a few inches and he let go of Apple Bloom's leg. Twilight lifted the sobbing filly up and placed her on her back and then proceeded towards the door. She quickened her pace as she had broke through the door and entered the lobby and after a few seconds they were already outside again.

Twilight stood still for a moment, her mouth wide open. The Ponyville Plaza was almost not recognizeable anymore. Several houses were on fire and the light of it was enough to lit up the whole plaza; showing Twilight and Apple Bloom countless bodies of ponies, cluttered with bite marks and terrible wounds, that were scattered around the place. The air smelled rotten.

Just a few hours were enough to throw the whole town in chaos. Apple Bloom let out a loud cry when she saw what happened to her hometown and buried her muzzle into Twilight's neck.

“Do ya think Applejack is alright?”, she asked in a muffled voice.

“I don't know, Apple Bloom.” Twilight clenched her teeth. “I hope she is.”

“But what if not? We must go lookin' for her!” Apple Bloom jumped off of Twilight's back, facing her friend.

“We can't”, Twilight answered. “We must reverse the spell first and we have not even half an hour left!”

“But what if she..... she.....” Apple Bloom couldn't end her sentence. She sat down and began to cry, the worry over the safety of her big sister becoming too much for her.

“Listen, Apple Bloom.” Twilight leaned down to her, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “We don't know what happened to Applejack and it's too early to jump to assumptions.”

Apple Bloom opened her eyes and looked up to Twilight, her face wet from the tears that streamed out of her eyes.

“For all we know she was at Sweet Apple Acres when everything started and that's far away from Ponyville. I'm sure she is safe.”

Apple Bloom sobbed a little. “But.....”

“And I need your help now!” Twilight interrupted her. “I can't use my magic to fight against the zombies and to get the scroll back, so I need you to distract them. I won't make it without you and if we don't stop this madness now, then we can't save Applejack!”

That stroke a chord in Apple Bloom. She dried her tears with one hoof and then jumped on all fours. “Then let's go! Ah can't let mah big sister die! And the rest of mah family.....”
Twilight nodded. “Let's hurry now, we don't have much time left.”

She turned in the direction of the library and began to run, moving through the alleys and streets as fast as her condition allowed, with Apple Bloom at her side. They came across even more bodies of dead ponies on their way. None of them were moving and Twilight's hope that the spell she created wasn't the same like the one she read about grew bigger. Luckily, also none of the dead ponies looked like their friends. When they reached the square in front of the library they stopped.

Apple Bloom and Twilight cowered themselves into the entrance of one of the houses around them and observed the zombies lurking around there. It took Twilight a few seconds to find the zombie who had eaten the scroll, because she could only see it's head when it attacked her, but then she saw it. The undead pony was a little bit left from the entrance of the library and almost didn't move. Maybe he was still satisfied with his little snack.

Twilight grinned nervously. She looked down at her hoof, seeing the white of her bone where once was flesh, skin and fur. It probably wouldn't heal by itself and stay like this, but maybe she could fix it with some advanced healing spell.

But this had to wait until later. If she didn't get the scroll with the spell back, it wouldn't matter if she could heal that terrible wound or not. Twilight turned round and looked up to the clocktower that surmounted over the buildings. It was only a few minutes until midnight. It was time to act.

“Do you still know what to do, Apple Bloom?”, she asked her little companion.

Apple Bloom nodded. “Mhm. Ah run up to the other zombies to distract them and then ah lure them through the street over there.” Apple Bloom pointed with her hoof at one of the streets that ended at the square.

“Right. And don't forget to jump on the roof of the well once you reached it! You're not strong enough to fight against them.”

“Don't worry, Twilight, ah know what to do!”

“Good, then let's start. We have only three minutes left!”

Apple Bloom gave Twilight a quick nod and then approached the zombies in fast gallop. After she had their attention she ran into the street she just pointed at. The horde of zombies followed her slowly. Twilight waited a few seconds to make sure the other zombies were far away enough before she approached the zombie who had what she needed. As soon as he saw Twilight, he snapped out of his trance and moved towards her.

“Are you still hungry?”, Twilight asked him, a snarky tone in her voice.

The time was almost over but luckily Twilight already made a plan how she could bring him down to reach his stomach and get the scroll out. She waited until the zombie almost reached her and then jumped on his back. Before he could react, she stabbed her horn through his head. His body collapsed to the ground and Twilight let herself roll of his back. She didn't even check if he was really dead and rolled him on the side.

Now came the hardest part. Letting out a deep breath, she used her horn again and sliced open his stomach. A lot of blood flowed out of the wound and a foul stench emerged from it. Twilight pressed back a retch and stuck her hoof into the stomach of the zombie. Everything felt wet and sticky inside of it. While searching for the scroll, she had to continue with holding back the urge to vomit all over the zombies' undead body. Suddenly, she could feel parchment under her hoof. She grabbed it and pulled out the scroll quickly.

“Only one minute left”, she thought frantic while unrolling the scroll. It was already a bit pitted on the outside by the gastric acid, but the inside was still fine and Twilight recognized her hoof-writing in perfect condition. She took out the quill that stuck behind her right ear the whole time since she and Apple Bloom left the library and wrote down the last words to finish the spell.

The body of the pony in front of her suddenly began to move again.

As she was finished she let the quill fall, lit up her horn and began to concentrate her magic.

The zombie in front of her slowly rose to his feet and moved around to bite her.

Twilight read the incantation out loud and a bright light emerged from her horn, engulfing the zombie in front of her.

She could hear a thud and then the light vanished. The undead pony was lying in front of her, all four hooves stretched away, his eyes closed.

It was over. The counterspell had worked.

Twilight let the scroll sink and sat down on her haunches. She sighed relieved.

That was in the last nick of time. One moment more and Equestria probably would have had to face to become overrun by undead ponies.

Her hoof was hurting much more now. She was able to switch out the pain most of the time, because she was concentrated on her mission. But now that everything was over and Equestria saved she could fell all the pain and realized how strong it really was. She took a look at it to examine the wound properly for the first time since she was bitten and noticed that it seemed bigger. She was sure that more flesh was missing now than at the moment she was bitten. The flesh also had taken on a black shade of color where it was bitten off. Probably some more bits of it fell off because the bite loosened them and from what she could see, the wound became inflamed. She had to take care of it quickly.

But currently, she was more worried about Apple Bloom. Was she safe?

She ignored the pain again, stood up and slowly moved into the direction Apple Bloom went. She had to limp while heading into the street, so strong had the pain become.....

Apple Bloom turned around to the zombies behind her, making sure that they still followed her. Suddenly, they were surrounded by a bright light. When it was gone, they all lied on the floor, motionless and quiet. Apple Bloom knew what this meant. It was over. Twilight was successful.

She stopped and turned around. The filly was about to gallop back to Twilight as she could hear a voice behind her.

“Apple Bloom!”

She turned around again and looked into Applejack's eyes. “Applejack!” She smiled and jumped at her big sister's neck, clutching her hooves tightly around her. “Ahm so glad you're safe! Ah was worried ya could already be.....”

“Like one of them?” Applejack completed her sentence.

“Yeah”, Apple Bloom answered.

“Don't worry, Sugarcube. An Apple doesn't let itself become eaten by some crazy undead monsters so easily!”

“Were ya the whole time on the farm?”, Apple Bloom asked her.

“Yup! But ah came lookin' for ya as ya still weren't at home again and then ah saw all of this! How could this happen?”

“Twilight was using that spell ah told ya about, but somethin' went wrong and everywhere were zombies suddenly!” She buried her face into the neck of her big sister, happy that she was alright.

“You don't say.” Applejack chuckled a little. She knew Twilight all too well and wasn't surprised that she caused the desaster. “But ah guess ah can ask her about the details by myself. Look.” She pointed forward with one hoof.

Apple Bloom turned around and saw Twilight slowly limping down the street towards them. She jumped down of Applejack's neck and went to meet her at the side of her big sister.

“Seems like ya caused some mighty ol' trouble again with a spell”, Applejack said as they reached her.

Twilight didn't answer. She replied her look and her face showed a strange expression. Her eyes looked swollen and were red and wet, occasionally dropping a tear out of them. She stumbled up to Applejack, reached out to her and placed her hooves around her, head resting on her neck. Applejack could feel that her body was trembling.

“Now, now Sugarcube! It's fine. Ah ain't mad at you. We all make mistakes sometimes. And you fixed the situation and everything is fine again. There's no need to cry!” Applejack asserted her words by putting her hooves around her too and pulled her friend closer to her. “It's all okay now“, she said to her.

Twilight was tightening the clutch around her.

Then she rammed her teeth into Applejack's neck. Realizing what happened, Applejack tried to pull away, but it was too late. Twilight's grip was too strong.

Ripping out a big piece of Applejack's arteria and the surrounding flesh, she enjoyed her first meal as the undead creature she was now.

Day 2: Tears and Apologies

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It was early evening and Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat around a table in Sugarcube Corner. They just finished cleaning up the library together with Twilight after the incident with the big apple that Apple Bloom created and were now exhausted, so they retreated into their favourite bakery to relax with some milkshakes.

Sweetie Belle sank hooves first down onto the table, resting her head on them. She yawned.

“I'm so tired!”, she exclaimed.

“Me too!”, Apple Bloom replied.

“No surprise after it took us two hours to clean up the library. That apple sauce was everywhere! It was even in some of the books, have you seen that? I'm glad Twilight hasn't recognized that after she was so mad at us”, Scootaloo added.

The three Crusaders nodded in unison. They knew how Twilight reacted when something happened to one of her books.

“But it was nice from her to forgive us”, Sweetie Belle said.

“Yeah, I thought she would never invite us again after we abused her like that.....” Scootaloo leaned back in her seat.

“We somehow have to thank her for it that she's still teaching us!”, Apple Bloom declared.

“We just have to learn harder and show her that we appreciate what she's doing for us. You know how much she likes it to educate other ponies, that's for sure the best thank you we can give her!”, Scootaloo explained.

Another group nod followed.

Sweetie Belle rose from her sleep-like position and put a hoof in the middle of the table. “Let's swear that we will never disappoint Twilight again and that we will learn even harder now!”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom followed her example and put their hooves in the middle of the table too, right next to hers. “We swear!”, they called out in chorus. Then they threw their hooves into the air simultaneously to seal the pact. They looked at each other and shared a hearty laugh; feeling how the stress of the day slowly wore off and made room for relaxation. Only their tiredness still remained to it's full extent.

They sank back into their chairs and some minutes of silence followed. The three fillies were quietly finishing their milkshakes, barely able to keep their eyes open.

As Apple Bloom has drunk up the content of her glass, she yawned again. Then she left her seat and got up. “Ahm goin' home now. Ahm too tired to stay awake”, she said in a low voice.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle just nodded. They took a last sip from their milkshakes and then got up too. “Yeah, it's the best when we go to sleep early today”, Scootaloo gave her a late reply.

Apple Bloom stretched herself a little to avoid sleeping in at the spot and then they walked up to the counter. Each of them placed some bits on the top of it to pay for the milkshakes. They said goodbye to Mrs. Cake and then headed for the door and went outside. The sun was already deep down, almost touching the horizon. Apple Bloom slowly turned round to face Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Good night y'all!”, she said taut and then immediately went away, heading into the direction of Sweet Apple Acres while already dreaming of her warm, comfy bed. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle answered the good night wish and waved after her. They shared a quick “Good Night!” too and then separated. Sweetie Belle was heading to her house, while Scootaloo stayed alone at Sugarcube Corner. She looked after Sweetie Belle for some seconds and then turned around; gazing at the entrance. She couldn't leave.

Scootaloo approached the entrance, sat down on the stairs and propped her head on her hooves. Something was nagging at her mind. But what?

Was it because of Twilight? They already said sorry for what they did and Twilight forgave them. Everything was fine between them again. This couldn't be it. But what then?

Scootaloo pondered about the reason but no matter how much she taxed her brain she couldn't come up with an answer. After a few minutes, she gave up. Getting up again, she decided to just get her scooter and to drive home. Maybe it was just because she was so tired. A good night's rest and everything would be fine again tomorrow, she thought. Her scooter was parked in a back alley at the right side of the building. Yawning, she trotted over to the place where she left it.

It was hard to see something in the dark alley, now that the sun had almost set, and so she needed a few seconds to spot the scooter in the dim light. She pulled it away from the wall and climbed on it. As she pulled her helmet from the steering rod to put it on, she heard a sobbing sound coming from behind her. She paused surprised. Was that just the imagination of her tired brain or did she really hear that? Scootaloo waited some seconds and as the sound didn't return she proceeded again to put the helmet on her head. There it was again! Scootaloo stopped in her movement and listened. It was louder this time. “Is this really just my imagination? It sounds so real.” The pegasus got down from her scooter and turned towards the other side of the alley, into the direction where the noise came from. She listened carefully. As she was about to get on her scooter again, because the sound didn't return after some seconds waiting, she heard it again. It was loud and clear. Somepony was crying there. The sound came from behind a big box that was carelessly left behind there in the alley.

The filly motioned towards the box and moved around it to the other side, while the sobbing became more frequent.

“Who is crying there?”, she asked into the darkness behind the box. It was so dark behind the box that her eyes needed a few moments to get accustomed to the lesser amount of light. The only thing she could see right now was that it was definitely a pony that was behind it.

It sat there in an upright position, back pressed against the stone wall behind it, and the hind legs stretched out towards the middle of the narrow alley. The arms were loosely placed on the hind legs. As her eyes got used to the black around her she felt able to identify the pony in front of her. “Pipsqueak? Is that you?” Scootaloo wasn't sure and so she moved closer to the sobbing pony in front of her to see it better.

It was Pipsqueak.

“What is wrong? Why are you crying?”, she asked.

Pipsqueak didn't answer.

“Have you hurt yourself?”

Pipsqueak still didn't say anything. The only answer was his continued sobbing.

Scootaloo examined his body with her eyes. It was still a little too dark in the alley for her eyes and she couldn't see any injury. “Has Diamond Tiara picked on you? Or Silver Spoon?”

Pip still didn't answer.

Scootaloo motioned towards him to put a hoof on his shoulder in hope she could calm him down as something unexpected happened:

Pipsqueak lashed out on her.

Almost having reached his shoulder, he suddenly lifted his arms; shoving her hoof away from him with one arm and hitting her on the chest with the other one. Scootaloo stumbled back quite a bit from the unexpected blow. It wasn't a very hard blow, but the surprise caught her unprepared and so it hit her harder than it should.

“Hey, why have you done this?”, she asked angrily as she had found her balance again. “I just want to help you!”

“I don't need any help!”, he spoke up for the first time since Scootaloo found him.

“Sure you need help! You're crying all the time, I can see that something is wrong!” Scootaloo motioned towards him again, more careful this time, just to having to dodge another harsh blow at her. “Hey!”, she called out again. “Why you're not letting me help you?”

“I don't need help!”, the upset colt said again.

“What? Bu–“

“I don't need help! Not from you!”, he interrupted her.

Scootaloo was fully confused. Pipsqueak was obviously angry at her, but she didn't have a clue why. What was wrong? Pipsqueak proceeded with crying after he had made clear that he didn't want help from her. Scootaloo wanted to find out why he was so angry at her, so she sat down in front of him; in proper distance to avoid getting hit again. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Scootaloo thought back a few hours.

The last time she saw Pipsqueak was after the apple that Apple Bloom let grow exploded. He left the library together with the other foals after Twilight called them out for only wanting to meet her because she was a princess, instead of getting to learn something from her. They all left the library very quickly and Pipsqueak didn't even take his scooter wi–“

Scootaloo looked up. His scooter! She used it to proof Twilight that she had learned how to built a scooter! Pipsqueak complained about it, but she took it apart anyway; angry at him because he blabbered out everything about how she and her friends got favors by the other foals for knowing Twilight so good. This had to be the reason why he was so upset and why he was angry at her! But was this really a reason to get so churned up? Scootaloo couldn't believe it.

She looked at Pipsqueak who was still crying and observed his behavior for a moment.

His eyes were shut, thick streams of tears emerged from them, flowing down his face, he was constantly sobbing, only interrupted by a sniff here and there, and his whole body was shaking. The tears dropped down his chin as they reached it, soaking the fur of his chest. It was completely drenched by his tears. He must have been crying there for a long time already before she had found him. But why? Scootaloo still didn't get it. Sure, she took apart his scooter and did that against his will and she could understood that he was a bit angry at her for doing this, but a reaction as extreme as this? She didn't destroy his scooter, after all. That she took it apart didn't mean that it couldn't be put back together again! In fact, she already did.

After their first demonstration had failed, they had such a strong desire to show Twilight how grateful they were for her lessons, that they could somehow perform the things they learned and this was when Scootaloo managed to put Pip's scooter back together again. But, she had to admit, he didn't knew about it that his scooter was already in good condition again, because she hadn't told him. She still didn't understand completely why he was distressed so much, but she felt responsible for telling him that his scooter was all fine. She was sure this information would be enough to stop his crying and make him happy again.

“Hey”, she began.

Pipsqueak opened his eyes for a moment, giving her a scornful look.

“It's because of your scooter, right? That's because you're crying. But you don't need to. It's okay! I haven't destroyed your scooter, I just took it apart. And I put it back together again! It's as good as new and if you like we can go to Twilight and get it. It's late, but I'm sure she won't mind!”

Scootaloo smiled kindly at him, waiting for the reaction she hoped for. But it failed to appear.

Pipsqueak just continued to cry instead. Scootaloo felt helpless. His scooter was apparently not the reason why he cried, or at least not the only one. It was obvious that he felt hurt by her in some way, but she just couldn't think of any other reason besides what she did to his scooter.

“Hey.....”, she began again. “I don't want that you cry. Can you please tell me what's wrong?”, she asked him carefully. “We can talk about it.” Scootaloo didn't really reckon with an answer anymore, but to her surprise, Pipsqueak finally gave her one.

“You were mean to me. You yelled at me”, he said quietly between two sobs.

“Yelled at you?” Scootaloo gave him a puzzled look. When was she yelling at him?

Sure, she told him that he was the one that got them into this mess and that he should comply to what she wanted, but this could hardly be called yelling. She didn't even raise her voice when she said that. But this was the only thing she said to him that at least came close to yelling, so she decided to ask him about it.

“Was it when I said that you got us into this mess and that you should roll with us?”

Instead of saying something, he just nodded slowly, while the tears continued to flow down his face in thick streams.

So she was right. Scootaloo couldn't understand how saying something like this could be considered yelling and also not how somepony could get hurt so much over such a statement, but apparently this was the case for Pipsqueak.

Scootaloo started to feel guilty. She looked sad to the ground, almost tearing up by herself now. It was the first time she saw a pony reacting so sensitive. Well, except herself. But that was different, Diamond Tiara picked on her for being flightless and attacked her weak spot. And Sweetie Belle, of course. But that was different too, they were bullied by Babs and it became too much for Sweetie. She never saw a pony crying so much over such a simple and small statement. She had never thought it would be possible that a pony could be that sensitive. She looked up to Pip, the same sad expression still adorning her face.

“Hey, I..... I'm sorry. I-I haven't thought that you would take it so hard”, she slowly began an attempt to make up for making him so distressed.

Scootaloo stood up and slowly moved towards Pipsqueak again, very carefully.

“Please don't hit me again, ok?” Scootaloo was ready to receive another blow, but nothing happened this time. She sat down beside the crying colt and put an arm around his shoulders. Surprisingly, he let her do as she wished. As another angry reaction didn't happen, she put the other arm around his chest, embracing him from both sides. She slid a little closer to him and rested her chin on his head. It was not hard, because he was quite a bit smaller than her. Scootaloo didn't have an idea what else she could say to comfort him and to calm him down, so she settled with saying “Sssssh” in small intervals and just letting him cry, in hope that would be enough in combination with the comforting hug.

While holding him she could feel the tears, who were still endlessly flowing out of his eyes, dropping on her arm and drenching the fur on it, in the same way as they drenched his chest before she covered it with her arm.

For some minutes, nothing did happen and Pipsqueak just continued the crying she was familiar with by now. The more she thought about the situation while holding him in her arms, listening to his crying, the more it dawned on her how terrible he must feel right now. She knew that Pipsqueak was a few years younger than her. The way she was talking with him and what she did with his scooter after that probably felt to him like she was bullying him. She knew this feeling, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were at least at the same age as her. Getting bullied by somepony who was years older must feel even more terrible.

This was of course never her intention and she was aware of it that it wasn't her fault that Pipsqueak was a very sensitive foal, but she still felt bad for giving another pony the feeling of getting bullied. She just wanted to make up for that and making him happy again.

While pondering about what else she could do to put him at ease, his sobs became quieter and happened in bigger intervals. The shaking of his body became less intense and suddenly he stopped with his sobbing. He sniffed a few times and then he spoke up to Scootaloo again.

“Promise me that you'll never do this again. I like you, but not if you treat me like that.”

Scootaloo nodded slowly. “I promise!”, she said. “It's a Pinkie Promise!” She released her hug, knowing that he wouldn't need it anymore now, and slowly moved away from him. She looked at him and gave him a smile and finally, she received a smile back from him. “Are you sure you're okay now?”, she asked him.

“Yeah!”, he answered. “I'm fine again. Can we go and get my scooter now?”

“Mhm.” Scootaloo nodded eagerly. There was nothing she wanted to do more now. She never ever wanted to see him so sad again after she caused all this to him.

Scootaloo and Pipsqueak got up and walked up to Scootaloo's scooter. Scootaloo took her helmet and put it on her head and then climbed onto it. She waved at Pipsqueak. “Come up here! We're faster like this. I give you a free ride until we have your own scooter back!” She giggled.

“Thanks!” Pipsqueak exclaimed enthusiastically. He jumped behind Scootaloo and put his hooves around her.

“Hold on tight, I'm fast!”, she advised him.

Pipsqueak clutched his hooves tighter around her body. Scootaloo flapped her wings and before Pip knew what was happening, they already raced out of the alley, towards Twilight's library where his scooter was waiting for him.

Day 3: Haunting for Two -Part 1-

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It was midnight and the moon shone bright. Everything was bathed in his silver light, except..... the old building in the suburbs of Fillydelphia. The windows were pitch-black; no light of the bright, celestial body could shine through the thick stone walls. If a pony would stand in front of the structure that towered over the surrounding landscape it would find nothing special about the windows. Except that the glass in them disappeared a long time ago. But from the distance, the glass-less holes in the walls seemed like big, open mouths, ready to swallow an unsuspecting pony coming to near to them or to spit out gruesome monstrosities from another world that lied beyond spiritual borders.

This view was it that greeted the two ponies that were on their way to this scary, old place. One of them was barely distinguishable from the night around, it while the other one would have sticked out of the environment with his rainbow-colored mane and tail and a light blue coat if it wouldn't have been too dark to see those colors properly. They trotted one after another to the monumental building in front of them, the rainbow pony behind the one that resembled the night. His eyes were fixated on the countless black windows.

“Are you ready to enter, Rainbow Dash?” The pony that was leading the way stopped.

Rainbow Dash twitched and then turned round, facing the Princess of the Night with a slight glimmer of fear in her eyes, that she tried to hide from her companion.

“We're there already?”, she asked.

“We are”, Luna answered. “I was telling you it wouldn't take long, Rainbow Dash.”

Luna let her eyes wander across the building, from the big, ironclad entrance door over the mouth-like windows up to the flat roof.

Rainbow Dash set up a brave face and moved forward, standing closer at the building than Luna now. “So, that's the asylum you talked about? It doesn't look that scary”, she pretended.

“Wait until you are inside, Rainbow. This place has scared ponies long before you were born.”

Rainbow Dash gulped. “Well, then what are we waiting for? I want some action!” She motioned towards the entrance.

“Wait, Rainbow Dash, not so fast. I will go ahead. I know this place better than you and getting lost in it is something you wouldn't want, trust me. And besides, I am the only one that is able to bring some light into this dark place.” With this words, she lit up her horn and a bright, blue light illuminated their surroundings. Then she moved forward, ready to open the door and to begin her creepy tour through the haunted asylum.

What she told Rainbow Dash wasn't completely the truth; it was a big building, but it was well organized and there were many signs and plans, showing you the way to the different floors and staircases, and all of them were still very readable, despite the traces that the time had left on them. But it was her turn to lead Rainbow Dash nonetheless. She wanted to show her that she knew how to give a pony a good scare in a night like this and that they had something in common. She wanted to impress her and this was a chance that she didn't wanted to let slip between her hooves.

“It's time to enter now. I assure you that you will like this place, my dear Rainbow Dash!” Luna concentrated herself on a different spell, levitation this time, and proceeded to open the door with it. The door was very rusty and the ravages of time had taken their toll on it. It was harder to open than the last time Luna was here. Maybe the signs and plans in the buildings weren't that readable anymore then. One more reason for her to go ahead. Luna grunted while working the door open with her magic, but last but not least, it worked. The door swung open with a long-stretched creak that echoed through the building.

Rainbow Dash and Luna entered the open entrance and then stood still for a moment, listening to the echo that was reflected by the walls. It slowly wore off and when it was gone, they heard a scraping from farther inside of the building, like something was answering the echoing sound of the door.

“W-What was this?”, Rainbow Dash stuttered.

“It's the asylum's way to greet us. It welcomes us and says that we should feel free to enter”, Luna explained, making her voice sound as dark as possible.

“B-But it's just a building! Nothing more than dead stones. It can't greet anypony!”

“This building can”, Luna answered. “That it is dead does not change that. In fact, death is the reason why it can. You will soon see what I mean.”

Rainbow Dash hesitated. She didn't feel welcome at this place. The only reason why she agreed on this trip was because she didn't want to come across as a scaredy-pony in front of Luna. She watched her surroundings, checking if there wasn't something that could touch her. Or worse.

The pegasus let her eyes fly over the walls. Rainbow Dash assumed that they were white once, but now they were just gray, with brown dirt, that formed strange shapes and patterns at some points, speckled on them. They obviously weren't cleaned for a long time. “How long?”, she wondered. “Hundred years? Two-hundred?” Pondering about it how long this building was already abandoned eased her a little. It was distracting from the scary environment around her to think about that question.

The light around her faded suddenly, making it harder to see the brown dirt on the walls, and this brought Rainbow back into reality. She released her fixation on the walls, looking into the hallway before her. Luna was already making her way through it. “Hey, wait!”, the scared pegasus shouted and ran up to her. “We're exploring this place together, have you forgot?”

“I haven't. But you shouldn't forget to stay close to me. To stay alone at this place is not recommended.”

“Yes, why? What should happen? It's just an old building.” Rainbow Dash was determined to not show Luna how much she feared this place.

“You will see soon enough, impatient pegasus!” Luna smiled. Rainbow Dash didn't seemed to be impressed very much by the scaryness of the old asylum yet, but her questions already showed some interest in it. She was sure that she was able to impress the pegasus she was attracted too.

They reached the end of the hallway and stood in a big room now. “This was the lobby”, Luna said taut. The room was as dirty as the hallway and the walls were lined with small, uncomfortable looking seats. Four hallways led away from the lobby, the one where they just came from and three that led deeper into the spooky building. “There's not much of interest here. Let's go into this direction.” Luna pointed to the hallway that was directly in front of them. “There is a room far more interesting than this one that I want to show you.”

Without further hesitation, she headed into the hallway, closely followed by Dash. While walking throug the hallway, Rainbow looked at the doors at their sides. Some of them had small holes in them, like there were once signs on them that told a pony who wanted to enter which room it was.

“What were these rooms for?”, she asked the princess.

“Nothing exciting”, she said. “On this floor there were only lounges, restrooms, offices and the rooms of the staff who worked in this asylum. The examination rooms and the rooms for the patients are on the upper floors.”

“You mean the staff slept here?”

“Yes. The patients who were treated here needed constant supervision. Even at night. They were dangerous, either for themselves or for other ponies.”

“All of them?”

“Most of them. Some were just here because it was the only institution who was prepared for cases like them and that had doctors with the necessary medical knowledge to treat their psychological ailments. And some of them were not e–“ *BAM*

Luna stopped mid-sentence.

“W-Where did that come from?” Rainbow Dash looked around nervously.

“Most likely from upstairs”, Luna replied. “Let's go ahead and take a look.” She went ahead, but Rainbow Dash was frozen at the spot. As she didn't follow, Luna stopped and turned around. “Do I have to remind you to not stay behind?”, she asked.

Rainbow Dash didn't move. “I hope you are not scared yet.” She snickered. “This is just the beginning, there are many things to see here.”

This brought back Dash's spirit. “Scared? I'm not scared! Nothing scares me! Let's check this out! I want to see what it was!” She passed her guide.

Luna saw her quickening her pace until she was out of sight, swallowed by the darkness of the hallway. Luna smiled. Everything went according to plan. She went after Rainbow Dash to catch up and to lighten her way again. Suddenly, she heard a thump from ahead. Then a scream from Rainbow Dash.

Luna gasped. “Rainbow Dash!” She ran into the direction Dash went until the light of her horn was falling on her body. “Rainbow Dash! Are you alright?” Luna bent down to her, lifting her up with her hooves.

“Uuuuh.....”, Rainbow Dash groaned. “Yeah, I'm okay. Just my head hurts. What happened?”

Luna looked up. “You ran into the hoofrail of the staircase. You were too fast, my dear Rainbow Dash.”

“The staircase?” Rainbow Dash turned round to check in what she was running into.

“Oh, yeah. I didn't see it coming.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Better be careful, my boisterous pegasus. You don't want that we have to cancel our exploration because you have hurt yourself”, Luna advised her.

“My?” Rainbow Dash looked puzzled. “You call me that a lot. What's about this 'my'?”

Luna's face turned deep red for a moment. She hoped that Rainbow Dash couldn't see it in the dim light of her horn. “I..... I.....” She shook her head. She had to keep herself together now. It was too early to tell it to her. “This is part of the old, archaic way of speaking Celestia and I used back in the days. In these times, ponies referred to each other with 'my' often, even when they were just friends. I try to change my way of talking, but sometimes that old way of talking still comes through.” Luna wasn't sure if that explanation worked, but Rainbow Dash seemed to buy it.

“Okay, then let's go upstairs. You said that sound came from there? I still want to know what that was.” Rainbow Dash's knees began to shake after she said that. She was not very fond of finding it out, of course, but she had to stick to her role of the fearless pegasus now. “Can you lead the way again?”

Luna nodded and her horn began to glow brighter. Then she aimed for the stairs and went up. Rainbow Dash followed her closely, occasionally rubbing her head. The stairs were of metal and their hooves made a clucking sound on them. Halfway up, they heard the bang again and Rainbow Dash jumped a little. When they reached the top of the stairs, she was slightly cowering behind Luna, but quickly jumped back into her upright position as Luna turned her head to her.

She put a hoof to her mouth and was pointing to a door a few meters away. The door stood open, but Rainbow Dash couldn't see what was in the dark room behind it. Luna waved at Rainbow and then moved up to the door, slowly and careful. Rainbow Dash followed her. Something in her was curious, but she also feared what would wait in the room. As they had almost reached the door, they heard the sound again; louder now, of course. And Rainbow Dash could swear she could see a quick shadowy movement inside of the room.

Luna entered the room first. Rainbow Dash stopped for a moment and gulped. But she was following the moon princess. The room was not very big. And it was almost empty. The only remarkable thing was in the middle of the room. It was a small toy ball, not unlike the ones the foals on the Ponyville school's playground used to play with. And it was bouncing.

Up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

Rainbow Dash looked at it; awe-struck and not able to move, her eyes following the movement of the ball. She watched the ball bouncing until it stopped. Luna did the same. After the ball stopped, she walked up to it and gave it a small nudge with her hoof.

It rolled away a few inches and then stopped. She turned away from the ball, ready to leave the room, as the ball suddenly set itself into motion again. It rolled in a fast speed up to the wall at the end of the room. The sound when it hit the wall sounded similar to the one they heard on the way here, although much quieter this time. Rainbow Dash could swear that she heard the giggling of a filly for a moment. She looked at Luna, a scared expression emblazoning her face.

“Have you heard that?”, she asked her. Her voice was shaking.

“What do you mean?”, Luna was clueless.

“I heard somepony laughing”, Rainbow Dash said, explaining her what she just heard.

“I did not hear anything”, Luna answered. “It was probably just your imagination, my dear–“ She stopped and hemmed. “I mean, it was just your imagination, Rainbow Dash”, she corrected herself. “Though, the movement of the ball was real and I saw it too. You now know that it was true what I told you about this asylum.” She trotted out of the room. “Come, Rainbow Dash. This was not the room I wanted to show you.”

“Not?” Rainbow Dash's heart did a jump while she followed her out of the room.

“No. This room was just a storage room. We are on the way to one of the surgeries. It is not far away from here.”

Rainbow Dash followed Luna only very slowly, her tail lightly pressed between her hind legs, her head kept low. As Luna noticed her slow tempo, she reduced her own too, to avoid losing Rainbow Dash again in the dark asylum. A grin appeared on her face. Rainbow Dash was very much scared now. She did not even try to hide it anymore, as she did when they entered the asylum. She was even more confident now that this place would impress Rainbow Dash, of who she still thought that she enjoyed exploring creepy places like this at night. She had not yet noticed how wrong she was with that conclusion.

The minutes they needed to get to the surgery Luna was talking about passed rather uneventful. Here and there, they heard something scratching on the floor or on the walls and Rainbow Dash could see shadows scurrying in the corner of her eyes. But she attributed that to her agitated imagination, more out of fear, than of actually believing that there was nothing. What she saw in the storage room was more than enough for her to believe everything what Luna said about this asylum and it was too much to shrug off the shadows and the sounds around them. But she didn't allow herself to think about it, otherwise, so she feared, she would snap and running outside of the asylum screaming; making a fool of herself in front of Luna. So she suppressed this thought as best as she could.

“We are there”, Luna suddenly said. Rainbow Dash twitched a little as she heard her words.

They stood in front of a broad, closed door. The sign on the door was still there and Rainbow Dash could barely decipher the words “Examination Room 1” on it.

Luna didn't waste much time. She used her magic and swung the door open. A gust of warm air blew into their faces. Rainbow Dash inched a little closer to Luna and then they entered the examination room. Here, Luna lit up her horn more again, to make them able to see the room's interior better.

Several boards were on one side of the room, a small table and, in front of it, an examination bench. Rainbow Dash noticed that the whole interior was black. She took a look at the walls and found them in the same condition. They were burned. It looked a big fire happened here.

“This room is completely burnt down”, she said reverently.

Luna just nodded and then moved on to the other side of the room.

On the wall was a big machine. It was as black as the other interior in the room and the walls, except that the burning was even stronger here. “This is what is important here and why we came into this room”, Luna said.

They walked up to the machine. Rainbow Dash inspected it. A big screen adorned the machine and an input console was underneath it. Some of the buttons were molten; partially revealing the components under them. Several wires stuck out of the machine and there were also ankles attached to it, four in total.

“What is with this machine?”, she asked Luna.

“There is a story that is connected to this machine that I will tell you now”, Luna answered. “One of the patients here, a unicorn, was literally living in her own world”, she began. “She was always telling other ponies that nothing was real. That Equestria was just an illusion, born from her mind, and that she was imprisoned in the 'real world', her mind captured in this illusion to control her.”

Rainbow Dash choked.

“Her hallucinations were so strong that she even thought that she weren't a pony. And in the same way she was denying her ability to use magic. She believed that in this real world, she was speaking about all the time, magic didn't exist. And so she told everypony that she couldn't use magic.”

Luna lifted up the ankles with her magic and continued. “She was brought into this asylum and the medical personal here believed that the best way to heal her mental condition was to proof her that she was able to use magic. This mare had very rich parents and they funded the development of this machine here. A machine that could control the magic of a pony.”

She motioned the ankles over to Rainbow Dash. “She was tied to the machine with these ankles.”

Rainbow Dash shivered as she took a closer look at them. They were stained with blood on the inside. Apparently, the medical personal here did not care about being gentle to their patients and strapped the ankles to tight around the mares' hooves.

Luna let the ankles fall and lifted up the wires. “And these wires”, she said, “were attached to her head and horn. As they switched on the machine while she was connected to it, the machine made her using all sorts of different spells. The current spell was displayed on the big screen”, she explained. “It was never of any use for the mare. She still denied her magical ability and yet the doctors still believed it would help one day and so they continued; giving her a treatment with his machine every single day.” She let the wires fall to the ground again.

“But one day, something has gone terribly wrong. The machine was forcing her to use a teleportation spell. Her connection to the machine was interrupted suddenly as she teleported to the middle of the room and this caused a strong magical outburst.”

She went back to the middle of the room and pointed to the floor. Rainbow motioned closer slowly and followed Luna's hoof. What she saw there was a big scorch mark.

“When she appeared in the middle of the room after the teleportation happened, her body was already completely in flames.”

Rainbow Dash screwed her face, both disgusted and shocked.

“She was screaming for help, screaming for her parents, but nopony could help her anymore. Her parents had to helplessly watch how she burned alive. The machine was destroyed in the fire and my sister forbad per royal decree to build a machine like that ever again.”

Rainbow was shocked and wished that she never heard what Luna just told her.

“A- A- And that's really true? You're not making this up?”

“It is true”, Luna answered calmly. “It happened during my absence, but Celestia told me about it. You can ask her when we're back if you like.”

“No, it's okay”, Rainbow answered. “I believe you.”

“But this is not the end of the story”, Luna continued. “This room here was never used again and there was a reason for that.”

Luna paused a little to increase the suspense.

“A few days later, as the cleaning staff was still busy with cleaning up the room, strange events started to happen. The temperature in this room suddenly increased and they could hear the screams of the poor mare sounding through the room. They fled and when they got out of the room, they had small burns on their body. The cleaning staff told other staff members what happened and it quickly made rounds in the asylum. Even the patients heard about it. Everypony was convinced that her soul couldn't find rest and was seeking revenge on the ones who were responsible for her death. Nopony wanted to enter this room anymore.

The administration of the asylum did not believe in ghosts and insisted on it to use the room again. But the protest was too big. Even the patients refused to enter the room for treatment and had to be moved to other examination rooms. The administration gave in at the end and since then, the room was abandoned. Nopony entered it anymore, but some who had to pass through the corridor past the door sweared that they heard screams and the sound of a burning fire behind the door.”

Rainbow Dash's body shaked and her teeth clattered while she listened to Luna's story.

“And you?”, she asked her. “Have you ever seen or heard something here?”

“No”, the princess replied. “I can only assume that her spirit finally found rest somewhen in this long period of time since it happened.”

Rainbow Dash sighed relieved.

“But we can't be sure”, Luna said to her disfavor. “You felt the warm breeze in your face after I opened the door. Something of the energy is still here.”

This was too much for Rainbow Dash. “Okay, that's it. Let's get out of here. There are sure other rooms you want to show me, right?” She didn't wanted to stay one minute longer in this room and quickly trotted towards the door.

Luna just nodded and followed her then. Rainbow Dash was right. There were indeed other rooms she wanted to show her. Other rooms to show and other stories to tell. As Luna wanted to go through the door, Rainbow Dash was blocking her way.

“What is it?”, she asked. “Didn't you want to leave?”

No answer came from Rainbow Dash. Her mouth stood open and her face was frozen in terror. Something outside of the room truly terrified her, yet Luna couldn't see what it was. She shoved Rainbow Dash aside a little and managed it to squeeze herself through the door. She followed Rainbow Dash's shocked eyes and then she saw it.

The ball they saw in the storage room was bouncing along the floor, slowly approaching them.

Now Luna was shocked a little too. She did not froze like Rainbow Dash, because she was more familiar with situations like this, but this was something she had not expected nonetheless. She had visited the asylum quite a few times already, sometimes even with members of her night guard or other ponies, but the activities were never so strong as they were today. It seemed that they catched one of the more active days of the asylum, which just came in useful to Luna and her plan.

Luna and Rainbow Dash were following the movements of the ball. Rainbow Dash was just afraid, but Luna was excited for what would happen now.

As the ball had almost reached them it stopped it's bouncing and slowly rolled the last couple of inches over to them. Now that the ball was nearer, Luna could see that it was precisely aiming at Rainbow Dash.

A cheerful, happy giggling, akin to the giggling of a little filly, and the same that Rainbow Dash thought to have heard in the storage room, sounded through the corridor in front of the examination room suddenly. But this time Luna heard it too. “Rainbow Dash was right”, she thought.

The ball had covered the last distance between itself and Rainbow Dash and it stopped directly in front of her. Rainbow Dash's eyes were still fixated on the ball and when it stopped, all the color vanished from her face. She could see that something was written on the ball, in small, clumsy hoof-writing:

You're cool, Rainbow Dash! Come play with me!

Day 4: Haunting for Two -Part 2-

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Rainbow Dash looked around. Her surroundings were dark. Where was she? This place was not the asylum anymore. She could barely see her own hooves in front of her and the ground under them felt squashy. And there was nothing that could help her to identify the place she was at now. Everything was just a big, black mass.

“Hello!”, she asked in the darkness. “Is anypony else here?”

Suddenly, she heard a voice calling her name in the distance. “Rainbow Dash!” It sounded dull and far away, so she couldn't identify who was calling her.

“Who is there?”, she asked. Nopony answered her. Suddenly, she heard a quiet giggling. Rainbow Dash shrank down at the sound. “Not again”, she thought.

The giggling became slowly louder. It was approaching her. Then she heard a voice again. “Rainbow Dash! Come, Rainbow Dash! Play with me!”

Rainbow Dash felt like she was shrinking to half of her size. This couldn't be true. It must be a nightmare.

“Playing! Playing! Come now! I want to play with you, Rainbow Dash!”

The voice of the filly just didn't stop and the worst thing was, Rainbow Dash couldn't locate where the filly, or rather the ghost of a filly, was. It seemed like the voice came from everywhere; one time it was behind her, then in front of her, then above her. Rainbow Dash twitched as the voice sounded again.

“Rainbow Dash! I want to play with you!” The ghost of the filly giggled, then a short pause followed before the voice continued.

Rainbow Dash pressed her hooves on her ears. She didn't wanted to hear anymore.

“Rainbow Dash, can you hear me? Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Wake up, Rainbow Dash!”

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash rose up from her lying position, a shriek escaping her mouth.

“Finally you're awake!”, a familiar voice said beside her. “I started to become bored!”

Rainbow Dash turned her head around carefully and then looked in Luna's face. “Luna? Where..... where am I?”, she asked the night princess.

“You are still where you were when you fainted”, she said with a grin on her lips.

“I fainted? Why?”, she asked confused. Then her memory returned. She jumped up. “Where is it? Is it still there? Please tell me it's gone!” Rainbow Dash panicked.

“It is”, Luna answered calmly. “You were asleep for nearly one hour and it seems that I was not the only one who was getting bored. The filly ghost you were so much afraid of was calling you a few times in hope to wake you up, but as you didn't react it disappeared, together with the ball.”

Rainbow Dash searched the area around her carefully. Luna was right. The ball was not there anymore. She sighed relieved.

Luna giggled. “It seems you really left a great impression on little pegasus fillies, no matter if they're alive or dead, dear Rainbow Dash.”

“A pegasus filly? How do you want to know that?”, Rainbow Dash asked.

Luna gasped and covered her mouth with one hoof; realizing that she had talked too much. She hoped that she hadn't said too much to spoil her tour and set up a pokerface. “Not now, Rainbow Dash. You will find everything out in due time.” She trotted past Rainbow Dash, deeper into the corridor, her horn still shining brightly. “Follow me now, your unexpected sleep has cost us time and the night won't last forever.”

Rainbow Dash hesitated again. What she witnessed before fainting was too much for her. She wasn't in the mood to explore this building any further. The usually so brave pegasus hated it to admit it, but she was dead scared. All she wanted was to leave the asylum and to get to a less frightening place.

“Luna..... I..... I do–“ A bang behind her made her jump, interrupting her sentence, and she turned around in fear. The door to the examination room behind her was closed suddenly! It slammed shut, without her or Luna doing anything. “Luna, wait!”, she called out to the princess and galloped up to her. “You can't just let me alone here!”, she protested as she had catched up with her.

“I'm very sorry, but we are in a bit of a hurry, Rainbow Dash.”

“So, this was still not all that you wanted to show me?”, she asked unbelievingly.

“Not quite”, Luna answered. “We have a couple more destinations before we can call it a night.” Luna chuckled.

“Very funny.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. If this was an attempt from Luna to cheer her up with a good laugh after her horrific experience it failed. Rainbow Dash's heart was still racing so fast that she wouldn't have been surprised if it would have created a Sonic Rainboom on it's own. “A-And where is the next destination? How far is it away?”, she asked, hoping to get a little rest before her mind was exposed to new nightmares.

“We're already there actually.” Luna stopped in front of another door.

It was smaller than the door of the examination roon and if there was ever a sign on it, it was gone now. The asylum looked different here, Rainbow Dash recognized surprised. She was so scared that she hadn't noticed that she and Luna had reached a completely different part of the asylum.

“Where are we?”, she asked.

“We are now in the wing with the rooms of the patients”, she explained. “We won't be here for long, but there's something important you should see.”

After her explanation, she entered the room. Rainbow Dash followed her slowly. It was a single room, only one bed was there. And except the bed, the room was empty.
Completely empty. Rainbow Dash walked up to one of the windows and looked outside. The lights of Fillydelphia glimmered in the distance. She wished she could be there right now. Suddenly, she felt the urge for some fresh air and proceeded to open one of the windows. It didn't work. The windows were locked.

Luna appeared behind her. “This is useless, I fear. The windows in this room were never opened and always kept locked.”

“And why this? What happened in this room?”

“Later”, Luna answered. “All you have to know for now is that this was the room of an earth pony. Now look to the bed.”

Rainbow Dash approached the bed and did as she said. First, she couldn't see anything special, but then she saw the chains that were hanging down from it.
They were already rusty and at some spots, it even looked they were sullied with blood. Rainbow Dash couldn't fathom if it was really blood or just the rust that appeared on the metal over time. She let her look slide over the bed and up to the headboard, as she noticed something else on the wall. There were words written down on it.

“I can fly! I can fly! I can fly!”, Rainbow Dash read out aloud. The words were scattered over the whole wall.

As Rainbow Dash had read the words, Luna left the room again, with the pegasus quickly pursuing her. Rainbow Dash was about to ask again what was special about the room, but Luna began to talk before she had the chance.

“We must go up to the third floor now. Our next destination is there. This corridor leads up to a different set of stairs”, she explained the route ahead of them.

“And now listen closely, Rainbow Dash.” Her voice became stern. “As soon as we have set hoof on the first stair tread, you must not turn around until we have left the staircase on the third floor. No matter what you hear behind you and no matter how much it scares you, don't turn around.”

“W-Why?” Rainbow Dash's voice and her body shaked. She already didn't like the direction this conversation was heading.

“Some parts of the building happen to be more haunted than others. I don't know what it is, but if you turn around, you are lost.”

Rainbow Dash had reached a point now where her fear was so big that she started to doubt Luna's words. “But now you're making it up! This whole place is already haunted! How can it be more haunted? That's not possible! And why are you telling me that just after I heard that creepy filly ghost? I'm sure that's no coincidence! You just want to scare me on purpose!”

“It is very true”, Luna said, a slight anger in her voice. “It happened to one of my night guards as I was here for the first time. He heard steps behind him and turned around and when I had reached the third floor he was not there anymore.”

Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth.

“I searched the whole asylum for him, but he was nowhere to be found. He remains disappeared until this very day.”

Rainbow Dash stayed quiet now. She couldn't imagine that Luna would go so far to invent even that.

As the stairs Luna was talking about lied in front of them, she was repeating what she earlier said. As Rainbow Dash nodded to show that she had understood, Luna went ahead and began to trot up the stairs. Rainbow Dash gulped. Then she sat carefully a hoof on the stairs. A loud, devilish laughter emerged behind her. Her hackles raised and she jumped up the next few stairs instead, almost bumping into Luna. She took a deep breath and then proceeded. She slowly walked up the stairs behind Luna, carefully cautious to not turn around. New loud sounds started behind her. It were the strangest sounds Rainbow Dash ever heard. It was like an animal trapped in a metal cage, that desperately jumped against the walls to get out. Only that it seemed like this animal had a big hammer in it's paws that it slammed against the walls.

Rainbow Dash did not turn around.

The first sound was replaced by a different one, a loud humming, that was occasionally interrupted by the sound of quiet knocks.

Rainbow Dash did not turn around.

Another sound came. It sounded like the mooing of a cow, although distorted in a strange way.

Rainbow Dash began to sweat. She was surprised over herself that she managed it to not turn around so far. Of course, she did not wanted to disappear forever, but fear made ponies doing stupid things and Rainbow Dash's fear was not measurable anymore.

Luna and Rainbow Dash were halfway up the stairs. The princess spoke to her. “It's not far anymore. You must resist a little longer. Remember, don't turn around or you won't leave this asylum again”, Luna motivated her.

“I-I wont', Rainbow Dash assured her, although she wasn't exactly sure if she could bear with these sounds any longer.

If there was an intelligent force behind these sounds, it became desperated now, because suddenly, Rainbow Dash's name was called.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!”, it shouted behind her. Rainbow Dash froze as she recognized the voice and stopped.

“W-What? S-Scootaloo? What are you doing here? This is no place for you, it's too dangerous!” Rainbow Dash began to turn around.

“RAINBOW DASH, NO!”, Luna yelled down to her. “This is not Scootaloo you're hearing. She is not here. It just tries to confuse you.”

Rainbow Dash twitched and stopped in her movement. “B-But what if it's her and something is getting her while we just trot up this stairs? How can you be sure? I have to check on her.”

“No, Rainbow Dash, you must resist. Trust me, this isn't Scootaloo who is talking to you. The force that is behind all this just tries to catch you with all means necessary. Don't turn around.”

“That's not true!”, the voice behind Rainbow Dash spoke up again. “It IS me, Luna! I saw how you and Rainbow Dash left Ponyville and followed you. Then you entered this building. I just wanted to explore it with you and so I entered it too. But I lost your track in the lobby and so I headed in the wrong direction. I'm so glad I finally found you!”
Rainbow Dash's nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Her little sister was behind her and what if something happened to her while she didn't dare to turn around? She had to do something.

“Do not listen to her, Rainbow Dash!”, Luna warned her again.

“But I have to!”, Rainbow Dash said.

“NO!”, Luna shouted.

“Listen, Scootaloo! Just follow me and Luna upstairs! And don't turn around! It will get you if you do! Just look at me while trotting, okay?”

“Mhm. I won't look behind me!”

Luna sighed relieved. Rainbow Dash still believed that it was Scootaloo, but at least she wasn't looking behind her. She continued to move upstairs. As Rainbow continued her movement too, she could hear little hoofsteps behind her. She hoped that Luna was right with what she said and that it wasn't Scootaloo behind her. But if so, she decided, she would cancel the exploration. Luna would be disappointed, but she had to bring Scootaloo home. This was no place for a little filly. Pondering on these thoughts, she heard a few cracks behind her. And then Scootaloo crying.

“Scoots? What is wrong?”, she asked worried without looking behind. “What happened?” Rainbow Dash stopped.

“Ouch”, she answered. “I stumbled down the stairs. Now I'm bleeding.”

“Can you still walk?” Rainbow Dash prayed that the answer was yes. If it was right what Luna said, she couldn't turn around to help the little filly to get up the stairs. Not without disappearing mysteriously.

“No”, Scootaloo sobbed. “I can't.”

Rainbow Dash sweared. What should she do now?

“You must come and carry me, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash hesitated.

Luna had stopped too now. “Remember what I told you, Rainbow Dash. Don't give in! It would be the last thing that you do.”

“Rainbow Dash, please! I can't move! Please, help me!”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. Some tears flowed down her face. “I- I'm sorry..... I can't! You must make it up the stairs alone somehow”, she said in a tearful voice.

“But I can't, Rainbow Dash! It hurts too much. A-And my bone is sticking out of one of my hooves. It's broken!”, she said in a desperated voice.

“You have to try it, champ! I know you can do it! And remember, don't look behind!” Rainbow Dash began to move up the stairs again.

“Rainbow Dash, no! Don't leave me alone!”, Scootaloo was begging.

Scootaloo's surrogate sister hesitated. She shut her eyes for a moment and then looked to the side. But she continued to move upstairs. There was nothing she could do right now. Luna heard Rainbow Dash moving again and continued her way too. Even she was not completely convinced anymore that this was not Scootaloo. It was possible. A thought hit her. Maybe if she..... A sudden scream from Scootaloo slit the air.

“Rainbow Dash! There's something behind me! It's holding me! I can feel it's breath! I'm scared! Please, come and help me!”

That was enough for the winged pony.

Luna closed her eyes and turned around, getting ready to fly down the stairs blindly to save Scootaloo. She hoped that closing the eyes was the key to turn around without disappearing.

“Scootaloo!”, Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly. Luna stopped in her movement, her eyes still closed. “How did you get here?”, Rainbow Dash asked her. “Fillydelphia is far away from Ponyille, how did you manage it to come so far?”

“Why are you asking me?”, the filly answered. “I have no time for that! I'm in danger, do you not understand?”

“Please answer, Scoots!”, Rainbow Dash replied. “I can't come down and help you if you don't.”

“I was flying, of course! I was flying behind you and Luna all the time, you just haven't seen me. How else should I have come here? I'm a pegasus!”

Rainbow Dash felt goose bumps appear on her whole body, but then she sighed relieved.

“Now come and save me finally!”

“Luna”, Rainbow Dash spoke up to the princess. “Turn upstairs again. This isn't Scootaloo. She can't fly.” Rainbow Dash dried her tears and then began again to trot upstairs.

The thing that imitated Scootaloo's voice began to sob again. “No, Rainbow Dash, please! It's me, I swear! How can I proof it? Ask me another question! Something only I can know!”

Rainbow Dash could swear that there was a shaking in the voice suddenly. It sounded almost nervous. She ignored the voice behind her and quickened her pace; surpassing Luna who still stood there with closed eyes. Rainbow Dash gave her a pat and then she finally turned around. Facing the stairs in front of her again, she opened her eyes and followed Rainbow Dash. After a few steps more, they reached the corridor of the third floor. Unhurt and unscathed.

In the corridor, Rainbow Dash collapsed on the floor. “What place is this?”, she asked between two pants.

Luna sat down beside her. “We should take a little break, Rainbow Dash. We continue when you feel better.”

“How could you choose this staircase to get up here? Isn't there another one?”

“There is”, Luna admitted. “But taking this staircase was the fastest way to reach this floor and since we are running out of time I chose this way anyway.”

“You're crazy!”, Rainbow Dash said. “Can you imagine what would have happened if I had turned around when this voice imitated Scootaloo's?”

“Actually, I can't.”, she replied.

“Huh? But you told me what will happen!”

“Yes, dear Rainbow Dash, but I only read about it myself. I can't tell if a pony that turns around on these stairs really disappears or if the entity is only messing with it's victims.” She took a breath. “What I told you about the disappearing member of my night guard was a lie.”

Rainbow Dash gasped. “What? You tricked me?”

“I had no choice. It was the only way to make you believe me what I said about the staircase and I could not take the risk to let you find out what happens if you turn around.” Luna sighed. “You were accusing me of lying, so I really had to use a lie to convince you." "Ironic”, she added.

Rainbow Dash's anger vanished. “Point taken”, she said. “But let's stick to the truth now, okay?”

Luna nodded.

“Okay, then let's continue.” Rainbow Dash stood up. She looked to the left and then to the right. “What direction now?”

The princess stood up too and pointed to the right. “It's not far away anymore. You will even get the fresh air you craved so much down in the room of the earth pony.”

Rainbow Dash didn't understand what Luna meant, but was really eager for some fresh air, no matter where it came from and especially after that last experience and so she followed her down the corridor without a question. After some minutes of trotting through the corridor, that were rather uneventful again, except the occasional lurking shadows and some sounds Rainbow Dash better not paid too much attention to, they reached a big gate. As Luna opened it Rainbow Dash could feel the chill breeze of the night air swooshing in her face.

Behind the gate was a big room. On the left and right side were counters, with some desks and locker boxes behind them. There were also a bunch of paper boxes, some of which looked unopened. On the outer wall of the room was a small opening. Rainbow Dash could see a pier and behind it, just the starry night sky.

Luna walked ahead. “This room here was the post office of the asylum. Boxes and letters for the patients and staff from relatives and friends arrived here, as well as new medical equipment for the asylum. The opening at the wall over there is where the mail ponies who brought them landed.”

Rainbow Dash thought on the writing over the earth ponies' bed. “And for what are we here now?”, she asked, although not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

“Let's go outside to the pier. I will tell you everything when we're there”, Luna answered and made her way through the room.

Rainbow Dash followed her quickly this time, getting the chance to be outside of the asylum for some moments was something she gladly accepted. As she was outside, she stepped up to the end of the pier and inhaled the nightly air greedily.

“This pier is important for the next story I will tell you”, Luna began behind her.

Rainbow Dash turned around and faced her, new terror already adorning her face.

But Luna was merciless. “You remember what the writing over the earth ponies' bed said?”, she asked her. Rainbow Dash nodded silently.

“The earth pony who accomodated this room imagined that it was able to fly. He came from a family of pegasi and his family always saw him as a disgrace, for not being born as a member of their own race. They locked him up in the basement and always told him how much of a shame he was to them.”

A sad expression appeared on Luna's face and she let her eyes wander across the landscape in front of them.

“He never got any love or even the slightest caring attention from his family. Some even say his family punished and beat him for being an earth pony. One day, he couldn't cope with his situation anymore. He started to believe that he can fly and every time he could go outside, he tried to fly by jumping down high places. He was eventually brought in this asylum and the doctors had no choice then to confine him to his bed. He was very strong, so they had to use chains to do that.”

“A-And what happened then?” Rainbow Dash's voice shaked.

“One night, a nurse came into his room and found his chains open and his bed empty. Nopony knew how he was able to free himself, but they searched the whole asylum for him, from the basement to the attic. But it was too late. He managed it to reach the post office here and went outside through the opening.”

Luna trotted up to Rainbow Dash, who still stood at the edge of the pier.

“It was exactly here, at this spot, where the last moments of his life happened. He spread out his arms as if they were wings and jumped. He tried again to fly, but since he couldn't, he was just falling and when he hit the ground, he broke his neck and died.”

Rainbow Dash gulped.

“Since this happened, several staff members reported about it that the words 'Now I can really fly!' appeared on various walls and doors in the building, just to disappear again after some seconds. They said that his soul couldn't find rest and that it neither wanted to do. Being a ghost, he was finally able to fly now and he enjoyed flying around in the asylum, making his presence known with the words I mentioned. Rumors told about that he wanted to impress his cruel family and that his soul would only went into the afterlife, if it came here and told him some nice words for his newfound ability to fly. Of course, this did never happen and so his soul is flying around restlessly until this very day and will continue to do so for all times.”

As Luna retreated from the edge of the pier and proceeded to enter the post office again, Rainbow Dash was paralysed by fear. Luna was almost willing to end their exploration, clearly her reactions showed that she was impressed enough, but since only one destination was left and she did not wanted to stop before the last story was told, she decided to continue. Nonetheless, her plan was a success and Rainbow Dash impressed by her creepy knowledge, she was sure about that.

Rainbow Dash originally intended to stay outside for some minutes longer, but standing there where the earth pony died and that even alone was nothing she desired, so she shook of her paralysis and followed Luna back through the opening. They trotted silently at each others' side until they had left the post office and Luna had closed the door behind them again.

“I fear our exploration is almost over now. There is one more room I want to show you. We must down to the second floor again.”

“And how do we get there? You want to get down this staircase again?”

“No, this time we will take a shortcut.” She was drawing Rainbow Dash's attention to the continuing corridor right from the gate.

They headed into the direction they came from and as they passed the haunted staircase, Rainbow Dash quickened her pace, even so much that she was going ahead of Luna for a moment. She could hear Scootaloo's voice in her head again while passing it and wanted to leave it behind as quickly as possible. Some additional meters along the corridor, they had to stop.

A huge hole was gaping in the floor, making it impossible to reach the other side, at least for earth ponies.

“We fly down here. It will bring us directly to the last room”, Luna said and then folded out her wings and flew down into the darkness. Rainbow Dash followed her example and they landed directly in front of a door. “Here we are”, Luna said. Her voice began to swell in pride. “This room is the highlight of our tour!”

“The highlight?” Rainbow Dash was worried. “Does this mean what happened in this room is even scarier?”

“Yes, it is much scarier. And also more sad than what you heard so far.” Luna got ready to open the door. “And you already know the ghost who began his undead existence in this room.” With these words, she swung open the door.

She entered it, but Rainbow Dash stayed behind. “No”, she said. She knew which ghost Luna was talking about and her earlier experience, after they left the examination room, was too much for her and nothing she wanted to experience again. But Luna was determined to let her hear this story. This last story had to be told to make their visit and Luna's attempt to impress the pegasus she felt in love with perfect. She activated her levitation magic and dragged Rainbow Dash behind.

“No! Let me go!” Rainbow Dash wiggled around, but the magical grip was too strong.

“Just one more story. We are almost at the end.”

She dragged Rainbow Dash into the room and released her in front of the bed, then closed the door.

Rainbow Dash began to become furious. “Can't you listen, I don't want to hear another story by you!”

“You are mistaken, Rainbow Dash”, Luna answered, unimpressed by the outburst of the pegasus. “I am not going to tell you another story.”

“What? But you said there is–“

“I'm going to tell the story.” A high, clear voice interrupted Rainbow Dash.

Confused, she turned around. And looked into the light green eyes of a filly. It stood directly behind her, not more than a meter away. Her coat and her wings were of a silver color, her mane and her tail fire red, with a pink streak in her tail. In her mane were tiny, pink braids, separating it into two pigtails, that fell loosely over her shoulders. Her flank was bare, no cutie mark was adorning it.
“Hi, I'm Shapy Cloud!”, the little filly said to Rainbow Dash.
“A filly?”, Rainbow Dash asked. “What are you doing here? And since when are you here?”
“I was always here”, she answered. “Well, at least since I was five years old.”
“Always, what–“ Suddenly, the realization hit Rainbow Dash.

She let out a scream and collapsed.Then she crawled backwards until she bumped into the bed. Fearfully, she cowered against it, her body shivering.

“I wanted to play with you”, Shapy Cloud continued, “but then you fainted and you didn't wake up anymore.” Her eyes reflected regret. “I didn't wanted to scare you”, she said a little quieter.

Rainbow Dash almost couldn't believe that the filly in front of her was a ghost; the soul of a restless filly that died a long time ago. She always imagined ghosts as nebulous creatures, only barely resembling their former body, but this filly stood so compact in front of her that she thought for a moment it's alive. But even though she hard a time imagining this, the fact that it was a ghost was enough for her to become completely paralyzed and for the color in her face to completely vanish again.

“L-L-L-Luna”, was the only word she could produce.

“There is no reason for fear, Rainbow Dash. This filly is no vengeful ghost, it just wants you to listen to her story.”

Rainbow Dash was not convinced and Luna's words couldn't calm her, so she really didn't wanted to hear this story. But she was so frozen that she had no choice than listening to the little ghost. Her fear was so big that she couldn't move a single inch away. Her mouth and eyes wide open in shock she listened to Shapy Cloud who just began to tell her story.

“I came into this asylum when I was five years old. I'm a pegasus, but for some reason, I was able to use magic. No one understood how, not even my parents. They always said that I'm special and that I should be happy about it. But that was not enough for me.”

She sat down on her haunches, her big, bushy tail wrapping around her legs.

“I tried to find the reason for it that I could use magic as a pegasus. Under my mane, there was always a strange bump, almost like I had a horn once, but I never had!”

She moved up one of her hooves and slid her mane to the side, giving sight to her bare forehead. And indeed, a little bump could be seen under it; barely a few inches long. She let her hooves sink again, her mane returning to it's usual position, and continued.

“I started to think that I'm an Alicorn and that my horn just didn't grow properly when I was inside of my mommy.” She sniffled. “But mommy and daddy didn't believe me. They always said that can't be and that I just imagine that. But I was sure about it and so I didn't stop saying it.

One day, mommy and daddy said that they wanted to go on a vacation with me. They packed my suitcase, but they didn't tell me where we're going. They said it's a surprise. And then we came here. They said the doctors could help me and to make me stop saying that I'm an Alicorn and that it's only for a few days. I didn't wanted to stay here. But they left me alone with the doctors here.”

Tears started to appear in the little filly's eyes.

“The doctors here were awful. They also didn't believe me that I'm an Alicorn and they even said that I can't use magic and that I was just imagining all of this. I proved it to them, by letting things levitate, but it didn't help. One of the doctors was more nice than the others. He explained me that many unicorns worked here and that there is so much magical energy left in the air, that sometimes things moved by itself. He called it a phe- phe- phenomenon!”

Shapy stopped for a moment and Luna nodded. “An old belief back in these days.”

The silver pegasus filly sniffled and wiped with one hoof over her nose. “But I knew that this wasn't true! I knew what I could do! But nopony here believed me.

One day, I stopped to say that I'm an Alicorn, because I hoped that I could return home again. But..... when my parents came to visit me the doctors said to them that they needed to keep me there longer. They said something was wrong with my mind and that they needed to make more tests. When my parents told me that the doctors wanted to keep me here longer, I just told the doctors that I can't use magic and that I just made that up. I became so angry that I jumped up in my bed and began to scream at them. They sent my parents away and two nurses were holding me down. I felt a sting at my arm and then I got tired. I think I was falling asleep. When I woke up the next day, I was telling them again that I can't use magic. I knew this was it what they wanted to hear, but they just shook their heads. They told me that I'm just saying this now, because I wanted to go home and that my mind is still not okay.”

Now the tears streamed down her face freely.

“I asked them how long they wanted to keep me here. They said it could be months or even years, depending on it how soon I would recover. Or never.” She sobbed. “But I didn't wanted to stay here for my whole life. I could never play with other foals and I almost never saw mommy or daddy. And there were scary sounds at night. And then..... And then.....”

She collapsed to the ground, breaking out in a long series of heart-breaking sobs.

“I can't remember anymore! I don't know what happened!”, she cried out between two of them.

“What is the last thing you can remember?”, Luna asked her calmly.

“I could see the sun shining through the window. And my bed was red. My hooves hurt so much. And then everything was black around me. The next thing I can remember was that I wasn't in my bed anymore. I tried to talk to the doctors and nurses, but that they didn't answer, they just ignored me. One day, one of the nurses finally reacted when I talked to her. But the only thing she did was running away and screaming. And so did everypony I talked too from that moment on.”

Her sobbing became quieter. She stood up again and dried her tears.

“And one day I was suddenly alone. Nopony was here anymore. I didn't knew what happened to me and why everypony suddenly left the asylum. Until I met Princess Luna. She told me that I'm..... that I'm dead. She also told me how much time had passed since I d-died. But she couldn't tell me why I'm still here.” Shapy sniffled again and another little sob came out of her mouth. “And she was telling me what I did.”

Luna nodded again. “This is true. I read about this little filly in one of the patient records. The prospect of staying her whole life here, in this dreadful place, with doctors and nurses that did not care for her feelings, was too much for her and so she decided to end it one day. I met her when I came for the first time into this asylum. I was the first pony she saw after hundreds of years.”

Shapy Cloud walked up to Luna, past Rainbow Dash, and clinged to her side. For a ghost, her movements seemed very compact. She was not flying a few inches over the ground, like one could believe. There even rose small dust clouds from the ground where she was trotting and her hooves made quiet, clopping sounds, although not such loud ones like a living filly would produce.

Rainbow Dash calmed down a little when Shapy told her story, because it touched her what the little, dead filly had to tell, but her heart still raced and her fear was still present. Dealing with a ghost, a real ghost, was just too much scaryness for Rainbow Dash, unlike with ghosts in stories. And as Shapy spoke to her again, Rainbow Dash was immediately in panic again.

“Can we play now, Rainbow Dash? I don't get many visitors here and it's so boring alone.” Sadness was ringing in her voice.

Rainbow Dash was spinning around, facing Luna and the filly ghost. Her fear had complete control of her now.

“No! I know what ghosts like you are up to! You just want to kill me too so that you will never be alone again!”

“THAT'S NOT TRUE!”, Shapy Clouds answered with a shrill voice, her face showing unrestrained anger.

“Sure”, Rainbow Dash answered sarcastically. Then she spread her wings and flew out of one of the glassless windows.

Shapy Cloud began to sob again, big tears flowing down her face. “Why is everypony just so afraid of me?”, she whimpered.

Luna embraced her with one of her wings. “I am not afraid of you, little Shapy. And maybe Rainbow Dash will get used to you one day.”

The crying of the filly moved her and Luna wished she could dry her tears, but for this, her ghostly body was not compact enough and her hoof would have just gone through her if she would have tried.

Luna retreated her wing and bent down to Shapy, facing her. “Cry no more. I have to go and look for Rainbow Dash now. The night is almost over. But I will return in the next night to play with you!” Luna smiled at her.

Shapy dried her tears again and returned the smile. “Okay”, she said in a low voice.

Luna trotted up to the window and then turned around to Shapy a last time. “Farewell, Shapy, until I come back!” Then she spread her wings and followed Rainbow Dash out of the window.

Shapy Cloud looked behind her, still occasionally sobbing, and then she disappeared suddenly, like she was never there.

Luna catched up with Rainbow Dash as she was already flying over the big skyscrapers of Fillydelphia. She landed on the flat roof of one of them, as she saw Luna coming.

“You were not very gentle to this little filly”, Luna said as she landed besides Rainbow Dash.

“I don't care!”, Rainbow Dash snapped back at the princess. “I don't care for a ghost who just wants to consume my soul!”

Luna saw how hysterical Rainbow Dash was right now and so she decided to drop this topic for now.

“I can see that our trip impressed you, Rainbow Dash”, she said satisfied.

“That's a way to describe it!” Rainbow Dash sighed.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “You mean you did not like it? You were not scared?”, she asked with a doubting tone in her voice.

“Of course I was scared!”, she snapped at her again. “But that's not enjoyment! I almost died from fear in there, Luna!” Her body was still shaking, despite being out of the asylum again. “How could you bring me there?”

Luna looked puzzled. “I know from Scootaloo that you like scary stories, Rainbow Dash, and I remember you telling some some during the last Nightmare Night.”

“But these are just stories! I like scary stories, but not real ghosts and real haunted places! I don't want to see or hear anything about that asylum ever again!”

Realizing her misinterpretation, Luna felt embarrassed now. She looked to the ground. “I am very sorry, Rainbow Dash. I wanted to..... spend some time with you and because of your addiction to ghost stories I thought this place would be exactly what you desire and impress you.” Luna hung her head. “Looks like I stand corrected.”

Revelling in her regrets, a thought hit her suddenly. She looked up to Rainbow Dash again. “But why did you not tell me that you don't like haunted houses when I invited you to this exploration?”, she asked her surprised.

This question hit the nail on the head for Rainbow Dash. “Well.....” She laughed embarrassed. “You were asking me if I'm scared and I..... I just did not want to make a fool of myself in front of you!” Her face turned red.

Luna laughed.

“I don't think that's funny!” Rainbow Dash looked angry at her.

“But I certainly do”, Luna answered, with tears of laughter in her eyes. “I can assure you, Rainbow Dash, if you would have told me that you don't like places like this, I would have never come here with you.”

“Let's just forget that”, Rainbow Dash answered quickly. “And don't tell anypony.”

“Don't worry Rainbow Dash. Your secret is safe with me.” She chuckled again.

Noticing that the sun was already on the rise, she asked Rainbow Dash: “How about I invite you to a little breakfast to calm your nerves again, before I have to return to Canterlot? I know a place with good coffee.”

Rainbow Dash nodded gladly. A hot, strong coffee was something she could need right now.

And maybe.....”, Luna asked hesitantly, “we could try another meeting next week? In a less scary place?”

Rainbow Dash nodded again. “As long as we don't meet any ghosts, I am fine with everything!”, she said.

Luna smiled, happy that Rainbow Dash wasn't rejecting her because of the mistake she made. Maybe she could come a little closer to Rainbow Dash at her next attempt.
Luna and Rainbow Dash enfolded their wings and then took off, down into the city, to get the breakfast Luna talked about.

While flying, a question came up in Rainbow Dash. “There's one thing I don't understand. Why was this asylum abandoned? You never told me while we were in there.”

“There are good reasons for this, Rainbow Dash. I didn't tell you about it on purpose. All the ponies who asked me this question regretted it to hear my answer on their question. Are you sure you want to know?”

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment and then shook her head “No, better not. I think you're right.”

She looked at Luna and both shared a laugh, before they landed down in the city.

Author's Notes:

2018 Update: In the unlikely case that you would like to write own fics about Shapy Cloud, please refrain from doing so. This story is old, but I have plans to write much more for Shapy Cloud and to tell about her life and past.

Sorry for the delay with Part 2 of "Haunting for Two".
I was getting too tired to continue it last night and so I decided to better go to sleep to not ruin it in my sleep depraved state.

Shapy Cloud is the first OC pony that I created for a story, as well as the first OC pony with a real backstory that I created.
I created her in the Pony Creator of "Legends of Equestria":

http://imgur.com/tsSpVNs

If you want to hear how the noises on the haunted staircase sound, click on the links below.

Animal trapped in a metal cage: http://youtu.be/Gua2z0PdfHo?t=31m

Loud humming (the quiet knocks were added by me): http://youtu.be/Gua2z0PdfHo?t=32m30s

Distorted cow mooing: http://youtu.be/Gua2z0PdfHo?t=34m7s

Day 5: Cuddly Cloudwatching

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After another failed attempt to get their cutie marks, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were on the way to their clubhouse. Their heads hanging low out of disappointment, they trotted all very slowly. Not only that they didn't get their cutie marks again, they also had to hope that Applejack wouldn't find out that it was them who caused the explosion of the barn. They sighed in unison.

“And another fail”, Apple Bloom complained. “That makes how many now?”

“I don't know”, Sweetie Belle answered, “I stopped counting at #3165.”

“This would not have happened if Apple Bloom would have read the book that Twilight gave her properly”, Scootaloo joined in on the complaining.

“Ah did read it properly! But ahm not perfect yet, ya know? Ah still need practice in mixing potions!”

Sweetie Belle sighed. “Stop fighting, girls! We're there!”

As they reached the clubhouse, they fled to after the barn blew up, they didn't go inside and let themselves slump into the gras behind it instead.

“What are we going to do now?”, Scootaloo asked. “If Applejack finds out that we let the barn explode, we can try to get our cutie marks in doing her chores on the farm. For one year, probably.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Who says she will find out? It's not the first time this happened. Let's just relax and see what happens.”

“Relaxing, how?”, Apple Bloom asked.

“I don't know. Maybe we could try cloudwatching?”

“That's a good idea!”, Scootaloo bursted out. “Rainbow Dash says that always relaxes her after a long working day for the weather team or after her training for the Wonderbolts!”

Scootaloo pointed with her hoof into the air. “I'll be the first one! This cloud over there looks like Apple Bloom's failed experiment!”

Apple Bloom reached over to her and hit her against the shoulder. They looked at each other and then chuckled.

“Okay, this time for real! Umm.....” Scootaloo let her eyes searching across the sky over Sweet Apple Acres. “Oh, that's a good one!”, she exclaimed suddenly, pointing up with her hoof again. “Can you see that cloud on the left? It looks like Chrysalis!”

“Wow, really!”, Apple Bloom shouted out impressed.

“I don't like it to remember her. Being captured by her was not a good experience. She almost killed us, after all.” Sweetie Belle fearfully inched closer to Apple Bloom.

“Yeah. Luckily she can't do that again. I'm sure she starved in this room Twilight locked her in”, Scootaloo tried to calm her down. “What do you see in the clouds, Sweetie Belle?”, she asked her.

“Hmm.....” Sweetie Belle looked at a big cloud left from Scootaloo's and tried to interpret it. “It kinda looks like the Headless Horse.” she said after a while.

“Hey, now that's a cloud that I don't like!”, Scootaloo said to her.

“Ah can see a cloud that you will like!”, Apple Bloom suddenly said.

“Yeah, which one?”

“That one over there!” Apple Bloom pointed up.

Scootaloo followed her hoof. “This looks like..... Rainbow Dash!”, she chimed out happily.

“Exactly!” Apple Bloom said.

“Rainbow Dash was right! Cloudwatching is really relaxing!”, Scootaloo realized.

“No surprise”, Apple Bloom answered. “Everything is relaxing for you if you can connect it to Rainbow Dash.”

“Sure!”, Scootaloo replied. “She's my big sister after all!”

“But she's not really your big sister”, Apple Bloom corrected her. “You are not related or are you?”

“No, we're not. But we don't have too. We still feel like we're sisters!”

Sweetie Belle was now pointing upwards again. “This cloud here looks kinda like Babs.”

“You're right!”, Scootaloo recognized. “I wonder what she is doing right now? It was so long ago since she visited us the last time.”

“In her last letter she said that one of the Manehattan Crusaders got her cutie mark recently. Babs said she is good in repairing carts.”

“Aww, really?”, Sweetie Belle said, a slight tone of disappointment in her voice. “I wish I would get my cutie mark finally.”

“What do you think your cutie mark will look like?”, Scootaloo asked her.

“I don't know and how should I?”, she replied. “I don't even know my special talent, so I can't tell how it will look. But Rarity says it will have a green color. She explained me that a cutie mark has always the same color as the eyes of a pony.”

“Maybe ya will get ya cutie mark for singing?”, Apple Bloom suggested.

“For singing?”, Sweetie Belle answered unbelievingly. “No way! I like to sing alone sometimes, but I can't sing on a stage in front of a lot of ponies. I'm too afraid of doing that, so this can't be my special talent!” Suddenly, Sweetie Belle giggled. “This cloud here! It looks like Rarity after we tried to style her mane!”

“Oh yeah!”, Scootaloo remembered. That was when we tried to get our cutie marks as mane stylists. How long did she ground you for ruining her mane, Sweetie?”

“Three weeks”, she answered. “If there's one thing you can make Rarity mad with, then it's with messing with her mane.”

“That's similar like with Applejack. Only that she gets angry if ya mess with the barn.”

An awkward silence stretched itself out.

“That cloud there kinda looks like Applejack when she's really angry.” Apple Bloom showed the cloud to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

“You're right”, Sweetie said. “What should we do if she finds out that we destroyed the barn?”

Scootaloo sratched her chin. “Maybe we can pretend that we were here all the time? We left some things in the barn, but they burned anyway as it exploded, so there's no proof that we were there.”

“Good idea, but what should we do if she doesn't believe us that we were here all the time?”, Apple Bloom asked worried.

“We just have to do something that makes it look like we were here busy all the time!”, Scootaloo explained.

“Or,”, Sweetie Belle came up with another idea, “we just do something that lets her forget how angry she is as soon as she sees us!”

“And what should that be?”, Scootaloo asked her. She didn't sound convinced.

“We could go up in the clubhouse, lie down there and pretend to sleep while we're snuggled against each other. This would look so cute that she would probably stop being mad.”

“That's a good idea!”, Apple Bloom replied to Sweetie's suggestion. “Ahm tired anyway.”

“Me too”, Scootaloo agreed.

“You're right, I begin to feel tired too”, Sweetie Belle realized.

The three Crusaders yawned in unison.

“Then let's do this!”, Apple Bloom said. They got up and trotted the ramp up to their clubhouse.

Inside of it, Apple Bloom took a bunch of pillows out of a corner and arranged them in the middle of the clubhouse to build an improvised bed. Then she laid down in the middle of it. Scootaloo joined her on the left side and Sweetie Belle right from her. After all of them had lied down on the pillows, they inched closer until their bodies touched each other and moved themselves into a snuggling position. Scootaloo rested her head on Apple Bloom's chest, while Apple Bloom embraced her with her hooves. Sweetie Belle turned to the side, facing Apple Bloom, and buried her head into her neck. And she was laying one arm across Apple Bloom's chest. In this position, they stayed.

In hope that they will look cute enough to let Applejack forget her anger that way, they slowly drifted away into sleep.....

Day 6: How to Polish an Opal

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“Okay, Opal, just breathe in now”, Fluttershy gave an instruction.

Opal did as she wished, while Fluttershy counted to three. “1, 2, 3. Now breathe out again.” The cat opened her mouth and let out the breath she just hold.

It was one of these days again. Rarity had asked Fluttershy to take care of Opal for the day because she was busy. A big festivity in Canterlot came up and some influential customers had ordered a couple of custom dresses and Rarity was already behind her schedule.

However, this was not the only reason. What most ponies didn't know, there was a second reason why Rarity left Opal in the caring hooves of Fluttershy sometimes:

Opal had a problem with aggressions.

Sometimes, it was just a hiss at Rarity when she came near to her, but sometimes it was also a furious attack that left Rarity with scratches all over her body. When Opal lost control, she was hard to stop, and no matter what Rarity tried, nothing could calm down Opal. She was desperated and asked Fluttershy for help one day, hoping that her ability to talk with animals and her caring nature would be enough to cure Opal's aggressiveness. And now, Opal was in Fluttershy's cottage again and it was time for another therapy session.

And there was a desperate need for one. So far, the target of Opal's fits was only Rarity and she was used to it and had the magic to prevent her from attacking her more. But today, Opal was attacking Sweetie Belle, leaving her with some terrible, bloody scratches in her face and the only reason why the incident didn't end up with a fatal injury, was because Sweetie closed her eyes on instinct after Opal had left the first scratch on her cheek.

Opal was so anxious and furious today that Fluttershy decided to begin with a breathing exercise. After Opal had breathed out, Fluttershy continued the exercise with her.
“And now breath in again, Opal, and hold it until I have counted to three.” Opal did it again and breathed out after Fluttershy had counted. Then Fluttershy repeated the exercise for a second time.

“Okay, and let's talk about what happened today”, Fluttershy said in her calm, kind voice after the exercise was over. She lifted Opal up, something she could do without ending up with scratches too now that Opal had calmed down a little, and sat down on her sofa, placing Opal at the other end of it, facing her. “Now,” Fluttershy began, “I'm sure you understand that it was not okay what you did to Sweetie Belle today.”

Opal turned her head defiantly to the side, a harsh “Meow” leaving her mouth. She showed Fluttershy very clearly that she didn't care, yet, she could see that Opal did understand.

“She could have ended up hurt badly and you know it.” Fluttershy's voice became stern.

Opal turned her head to Fluttershy again. She looked in her strict eyes for a moment and then began to tell her why she attacked Sweetie.

Fluttershy listened carefully to her report, nodding occasionally to show Opal that she did pay attention. After Opal had ended, a frown appeared on her face. “So, Rarity forgot to give you something to eat yesterday and she also forgot about the daily brushing of your fur and this made you so angry today that you lashed out on Sweetie Belle when she came for a visit and when she asked you why you're so grumpy, did I got that right?”

Opal just nodded, still a defiant expression on her face.

A sigh left Fluttershy's mouth. She had already feared that this was the reason for Opal's attack on the filly. When Rarity got really obsessed with work, she tended to just forget Opal or, even worse, to include her in her obsession in a way that Opal did not desire. Either Rarity forgot to give her something Opal needed like food, as it happened yesterday, or she misinterpreted Opal's complaints about her annoying, obsessed behavior as offer to help her, which left Opal more than once completely worn out. It was no surprise that this was stressing out the cat. It wasn't really Opal's fault that she acted that way. Fluttershy had thought on it to talk with Rarity about the reason for Opal's behavior, but so far she could not find the right words to make Rarity realize that she was responsible for Opal's aggressions.

The only thing she could do right now was to make damage control by teaching Opal how to deal with the stress and anger that Rarity caused in her. And now the most important thing was to teach her that she shouldn't vent her anger over Rarity on other ponies who are not at fault for her misery. And that was exactly what she told her.

“I can understand that you got angry after Rarity forgot about you. I would also get angry if somepony would not pay attention to me and act like I'm not here”, she began. “But you can't attack other ponies and hurt them because of that. It's not the fault of other ponies that Rarity treated you wrong and you can't just punish them for something they haven't done.”

Opal was listening to what Fluttershy said and she knew that the yellow pegasus was right, but she still didn't wanted to admit that she made a mistake and so she pretended to not having paid attention, demonstratively licking her paws.

Fluttershy interpreted her ignorant reaction as still being a symptom of her anger. She got up from the sofa and trotted over to a phonograph. She switched it on and put on some soothing music in hope this would finally put Opal fully at ease. Then she walked back to the sofa and took seat opposite of her again. The white cat began to purr and laid down, bringing herself in a more comfortable position. Fluttershy smiled satisfied. Now her session would have more success!

“Now, I'm sure you still remember what I said to you the last time after you attacked Rarity, about what to do when you're really angry, right?”, Fluttershy returned to the topic at hoof.

Being calm now, Opal answered and explained her Fluttershy's suggestion from last week.

“Right. When Rarity gets obsessed again and you get angry you just leave the boutique and take a walk”, Fluttershy confirmed. “But you have not done this yesterday. You just gave in to your anger and stayed there until it erupted. And Sweetie Belle was the victim who got hit when you couldn't contain your anger anymore.”

It was just now that the realization what she had done hit Opal completely. Her anger and her anxious state suppressed it so far, but now she felt guilty for attacking Rarity's little sister.

Opal never hold any grudges against Sweetie Belle, especially not for things she hasn't even done. In fact, she really liked Sweetie Belle. Sweetie often cheered her up when she was sad or when Rarity didn't have time for her, just by playing with her when she came over to the boutique to see her sister and to spend some time with her. And now an attack on her for something she wasn't even at fault for was how she had thanked her that care.

Opal hung her head. She buried it between her paws and closed her eyes.

Fluttershy knew that it was wrong what Opal did, but the unfortunate event also made her realizing something.

Telling Opal that she should just go outside for a walk when Rarity was in her obsessive state was a good advice, but what if this wasn't possible for Opal for some reason?

“It was not right from you that you didn't follow my advice”, Fluttershy began to talk again to the guilt-ridden cat, “but I can also understand that you have to work off your anger sometimes. And there is a way to do that.”

She reached behind the sofa and pulled out a model that was shaped like a pony, similar to the clothes horses Rarity used in her boutique to measure how good the dresses she made would fit a pony. Taken a closer look it could be seen that the clothes horse was exactly shaped like Rarity. Only the size differed, as it was smaller than her. Fluttershy placed it on the sofa between her and Opal.

Opal opened her eyes again and began to inspect the Rarity doll. She sniffed on it and then extended her claws. She rammed them into the clothes horse to test it out and ripped something off of the fabric it was made of. A wooden surface turned up underneath it.

“When you're angry the next time and you can't do anything else to let go of it, you can use this to vent your anger”, Fluttershy explained.

Opal looked unbelievingly at Fluttershy. Such a violent solution to deal with her anger was something that she had not expected from the kind and timid pegasus.

“You can destroy it was much as you want, I let it made especially for you. This is better than attacking Rarity and if you have destroyed it completely I have another one here.”

Opal was still not sure, but Fluttershy looked serious and a try couldn't hurt. So she decided to use it as Fluttershy suggested.

The bell from the Ponyville clocktower rang suddenly. Fluttershy looked up. “It's almost time for you to go back to Rarity, but before our session is over, there is one more thing that I want you to do.”

After getting asked by Opal what it was, she just smiled mysteriously. “Just wait a little longer, you will see soon. There's a pony you should talk to and I await it any moment.”

Some moments later, it knocked on the door. Fluttershy left her seat and trotted up to it. She opened it and let the pony that was waiting outside into her cottage.

“Hi Opal!”, a familiar voice chimed into Opal's ears before she could take a look at Fluttershy's visitor. It was Sweetie Belle. Her face was full of patches that made it hard to recognize her, one of them even closely above her right eye, but her characteristic smile was still adorning her face.

Opal was flabbergasted to see her here now and froze.

Sweetie Belle walked up to her, Fluttershy at her side. “Fluttershy said you want to talk with me”, Sweetie Belle explained the reason for her visit.

“That's right”, Fluttershy endorsed it to her. “After what you did you should really apologize to Sweetie Belle”, she said with a slightly stern voice.

That was something Fluttershy didn't need to tell Opal twice. The white cat got up, approached Sweetie and buried her face into Sweetie's while purring loudly. A silent “Meow” followed, which meant “I'm sorry.”, but that only Fluttershy could understand of course. Then she licked, carefully to not detach them, over the patches in Sweetie Belle's face.

Sweetie responded by just giving her a tight hug, wordlessly expressing that she forgave her.

Fluttershy smiled. Now that this was settled, she could come to the last part. She had arranged something that could make Opal's life with the obsessed fashionista a bit easier, until she had figured out how to talk to Rarity or until Opal had learned to cope with Rarity's behavior without having raging fits, whatever came first.

Sweetie released Opal from her hug. “Fluttershy has good news for you!”, she said to her.

Fluttershy gave Opal, who looked surprised at her, a nod. “That's true. I talked with Sweetie Belle before you came here and explained her everything. She will from now on check if Rarity takes good care of you when she comes over and if Rarity should forget about you again, Sweetie will give you what you need instead.”

Sweetie nodded. “Mhm! I know how it feels when Rarity has no time for you, but I will have time for you!”, she assured her.

Opal's eyes sparkled from gratitude and now it was her turn to give Sweetie a hug. Sweetie responded the hug and then put Opal on her back.

“But now we have to go”, she said. “I'm sure Rarity is already waiting for us!”

The thought to go back to Rarity made Opal not happy, but now that Sweetie Belle would assist her big sister in taking care of her, Opal was sure that it will be easier from now on.

Sweetie Belle turned around and galloped up to the door. “Bye Fluttershy!”, she shouted and then she stormed out of the door, back to Rarity's boutique.

Day 7: The Pond Fairy and the Golden Helmet

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Today was one of the worst days in Scootaloo's life.

Just thinking on all what has happened today, or what did not happen, made her so angry that she felt like she could rip something into pieces. She kicked a stone in front of her and watched how it hit a tree.

First, Rainbow Dash told her that she had to cancel her plans to spend the day with her. They wanted to snatch the newest Daring Do book at the Ponyville book store and then read it together in Rainbow Dash's cloud house. It should have been a nice evening together with her idol and big sister, but then Rainbow Dash got the message that the Ponyville weather team had surprisingly scheduled a big storm for today. Her help was needed for preparing everything and for checking if the citizens of Ponyville had made their houses storm-proof, as well as for the necessary clean-up after the storm. She promised that she will still go to the bookshop and buy the book today and that they will make up for the lost time a few days later, but Scootaloo was sad about it nonetheless. She didn't get much time to spend with Rainbow Dash anyway between her work for the weather team and her training for the Wonderbolts.

This would have already been enough to ruin Scootaloo's day, but when she arrived at school it got worse.

Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle did not come to school today and as Cheerilee entered the classroom and she asked for them she was informed by her that both of them were sick with the flu and couldn't visit school for some time. Which also meant that they couldn't do anything together for a while, neither crusading nor playing any games with each other. It also made her an easier target for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who took great advantage of it that she was alone today and there was no reason to think that this would become any better in the next days. No, knowing those two fillies, it would only become worse over time.

And if that wouldn't be already bad enough, her helmet was broken, so she couldn't drove around with her scooter.

She was doing a little stunt after leaving school, one that she did very often already and that she knew inside out, but it went wrong anyway. Scootaloo guessed that she was just too anxious today to concentrate enough to perform the stunt properly. She was falling so hard on her head after she was thrown from her scooter that a big hole gaped in the material. She wasn't hurt, but she suffered from headaches now and it would not have taken much more for her to end up in hospital with a life-threatening injury. And now her helm was completely ruined and she couldn't afford a new one. All the bits she had saved were spent by her on some necessary repairings of her scooter.

She kicked another stone, harder this time.

Now she was in the Whitetail Woods. After her stunt had gone wrong and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, as well as some other foals, laughed about her, she just wanted to be alone. So she retreated in these woods to sort her thoughts and to hopefully calm down a little. She hoped that the beauty of the nature around would soothe her and make her feel better and besides, she didn't have to do anything better than that anyway, with her friends sick and Rainbow Dash unavailable. But it didn't help so far. For one hour she was already in these woods now and she still did not feel any better. Her thoughts circled around the events of this day over and over again and made her even more angry. If at least Rainbow Dash would be here. Then she could talk with her and this would help. It always cheered her up when Rainbow Dash was there and simply by talking to her she could let go of all of her problems. But Rainbow Dash wasn't here, because of some stupid last-minute decision by the local weather team!

Scootaloo furiously snatched off the broken helmet from the steering rod of her scooter and threw it behind some nearby bushes. “Take that you dumb, old thing!”, she shouted out frustrated.

She leaned against her scooter, panting and gasping for breath after her raged outburst. Then she trotted over to the bushes to look where her helmet landed, leaving her scooter where it was. It was not between the branches, so she worked her way through the bushes.

What she found behind them was a big pond. His water looked dirty and his surface was generously covered with thick algae. Wafts of mist that wavered in the air above and around the pond gave it a mysterious aura. The pond looked beautiful and looking at it eased Scootaloo's distressed mind a little. But her helmet was nowhere to be seen. She searched the pond's shore at her side rigorously, even checked every spot twice, but she couldn't find it. There was only one reason for it why; she threw it so hard that it was falling into the pond.

Scootaloo sweared.

As if she hadn't already enough problems today, her helmet was lost completely now! She could have tried to fix it by herself, but now this chance was gone!

Scootaloo lifted up a stone and threw it angrily in the pond. Big ripples appeared around the spot where the stone hit the surface.

Scootaloo was so desperated that she decided to dive into the pond and search for her helmet. It was risky and the water was murky, so her chances of success weren't high, but Scootaloo wasn't keen about the imagination that this day would get any more worse than it already was and getting dirty was something she was familiar with anyway.

She set a hoof in the water as suddenly a green, eerie light emerged from the pond. It was blinding Scootaloo and she stumbled back, covering her eyes with one hoof. “What happens now?”, she asked, both surprised and agitated. As the light was gone, Scootaloo put her hoof back down on the ground and looked carefully up.

A fairy was floating gracefully above the pond.

She had a beige-colored coat and a long, blonde mane that fell elegant over her shoulders. Two light pink flowers adorned her beautiful mane and she wore a pearly-white dress. It was graced with a red ribbon, that clasped around her waist. What Scootaloo astounded the most, though, was that she was holding her helmet in one of her hooves and a golden helmet in the other one. Scootaloo looked at her in awe, her mouth wide open. Was this real?

An enchanting melody was ringing through the air as the fairy began to speak to her.

“What was it that you dropped? Was it this precious gold helmet?”

Scootaloo shook her head, speechless from the manifestation in front of her.

“Perhaps it was only this broken plastic helmet that you dropped then?”

“Uh-huh.” Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah.”

“Ah, I have finally found a truly honest pony!”, the fairy replied cheerfully.

“In return I will give you the golden helmet to keep.”

Scootaloo's helmet and the golden one left the hooves of the fairy and floated over to her. Hesitantly, Scootaloo reached out for them and picked them out of the air.

“Thanks”, she said, still awe-struck.

The fairy gave her a warm smile and then she disappeared in the same, green light.

After the light was gone, Scootaloo continued to stare for some seconds at the spot where the fairy was. She still could not believe what just happened. A fairy was something she only read about in books and she had never thought that fairies could really exist. But the proof was in her hooves. She looked down. The golden helmet was still there, right next to the one she threw away so furiously. It was no dream and neither an imagination. What she just saw really happened.

With slowly realizing that the fairy and her gift were real, she also realized that her day had took a turn for the better now, at least slightly. Now she had a new helmet! Scootaloo didn't care for it that it was a helmet made of gold, but now she didn't have to worry about buying a new one or fixing her old helmet anymore. She put the golden helmet on and smiled. Finally something good happened today!

She turned around and made her way through the bushes, back to her scooter. Now that she had a new helmet, she was really in the mood for racing around with it. She hung her old helmet on the steering rod and then she jumped on it, pulled it around, flapped her wings and raced through the woods, back to Ponyville, and that all in one, fluid movement.

The trees became a blur around her and Scootaloo was filled with joy. “Wooooooooohoooooooooooooooo!”, she shouted. She was happy and everyone should hear it! Due to her fast speed, it did not take her long to arrive in Ponyville again. She reduced her speed a little, but not too much, and then looked up to the sky. It began to become dark, despite that it was still afternoon. Black clouds were gathered around by the Ponyville pegasi and the sky was covered with them. Having reduced her speed, she could also feel that the wind had picked up pace. It tugged at her and her scooter and she had problems to steer the scooter in the direction she wanted to. The storm would start soon and she better hurried home before it became too dangerous.

As she rode over the Ponyville Plaza and past the townhall, she saw a familiar pony in some distance in front of her: Diamond Tiara.

Scootaloo clenched her teeth.

Having her noticed, Diamond Tiara was pointing at her flank and then in the direction of Scootaloo. Then she laughed. Scootaloo could not hear what she said over the loud, howling wind, but she knew it anyway. Why did she have to meet Diamond Tiara now? She was in such a good mood since she met the fairy in the woods, she did not want that it became destroyed again by that cruel bully! She tried at her best to ignore Diamond Tiara and raced past her. Out of her sight, she breathed out in relief. She wouldn't have to deal with her anymore today! Scootaloo was not far away from her house anymore, so she lowered her speed and brought the scooter to a halt in front of it.

She removed her new, golden helmet from her head and hung it on the steering rod too. She was about to roll her scooter inside, as she noticed a movement in the corner of her eye. When looking in the direction where it came from, she froze. It was Diamond Tiara again. Scootaloo couldn't believe it. The bully was following her! Today, Diamond Tiara was more active than ever before. So far, she had never followed her home. She really took advantage of it that she couldn't stand up against her bullying together with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle!

Scootaloo looked away from Diamond Tiara, who had a smug grin on her face while slowly approaching her, and rolled her scooter inside She hoped that she wouldn't go so far to come into her house and to invade her privacy. The last thing she would need today was her nemesis breaking into her house and bully her there.

“I wished she would loose her cutie mark! Maybe she would stop to make my life miserable then!”

Suddenly, it began to rain. Scootaloo opened the door and hurried inside. She didn't wanted to get wet now after it was just spared from her to having to dive into a dirty, unknown pond. After she closed the door behind her, a white spark glimmered on the roof of her house.

Discord appeared. He looked at the door Scootaloo just disappeared in and then across the square to Diamond Tiara, who was hurrying home too now. Satisfied, he put his fingers together.

“This is going to be interesting”, he said.

~*~

As Scootaloo awoke the next day, she felt much better. Yesterday was a bad day mostly, but somehow she had the feeling that today would be better. How much she was right with that, was something she didn't knew. She rolled to the side and stretched out her limbs to get fully awake. The sun was shining through her window. She got up and took a look outside.

The sky was clear, not a single cloud was floating across it. Some of the houses she could see were a little damaged from the storm, but it could be worse.
Scootaloo turned round and galloped down the stairs. She went to sleep soon yesterday and now she felt that she was full of energy. And she still had the feeling that today will be a very good day. She jumped down the last few stairs and headed into the kitchen for a quick breakfast. She knew that it would be time for school soon, but her stomach was grumbling.

Scootaloo opened the fridge and pulled out a small plate with a cupcake and some apple pie that was left from dinner yesterday. She quickly put it on the table and then opened one of the cupboards and took a out a glass. She filled it with some milk from the fridge and then carried it to the table and sat down. While she hastily gobbled up the cupcake and the apple pie, occasionally taking a sip from the milk, she thought about the upcoming day.

She could visit Apple Bloom and Scootaloo after school to see how they felt and then, maybe she could see Rainbow Dash. Who knows, maybe she did have time for her today? The storm was over, after all, and cleaning up the town wouldn't need much time!

After she had finished up the pie and the cupcake, she quickly drank the rest of her milk, put the glass and the plate in the sink, washing them up could wait until the evening, and then quickly proceeded to get ready for school. Heading up to the front door, she realized that she had forgot her saddle bags. She turned around at the spot, rushed upstairs, put her saddle bags on her back and rushed down again. She did not need more than ten seconds for it.

“Done in ten seconds flat, just like Rainbow Dash!”, she chimed out and then took her scooter, opened the door and rushed outside. She closed the door and waited a moment to put on her helmet and strap it to her head. Then she jumped on her scooter, her wings flapped and she was away. She was especially fast today and so it took her not more than a few minutes to reach the school house.

As she brought her scooter to a halt, she heard the bell ringing. She quickly parked her scooter right from the entrance and headed inside. As she entered the class room, she recognized that the fillies and colts around her were all very excited. The foals seemed to talk about something interesting. On the way to her desk, she could catch some scraps of the conversations.

“Can you imagine that?” “Is that really possible?” “My mom said something like this never happened to a pony before!” “Maybe she just never had one!”

Scootaloo took seat at her desk. There, she noticed that she still had the golden helmet on her head. In her rush, she forgot to remove it and to leave it out at her scooter. She shrugged. It was too late to go outside again before the first lesson began now and so she just placed it at the edge of her desk. Scootaloo wanted to ask her classmates what they were talking about, but before she could, Cheerilee entered the room.

She walked up to her own desk in front of the blackboard. Scootaloo noticed that she had not closed the door of the classroom. Cheerilee cleared her throat. The chatting stopped and the fillies and colts paid attention to her.

“Before we begin with our lesson today, there's something I need to tell you”, she began. Cheerilee pointed to Diamond Tiara's desk.

It was just now that Scootaloo realized that she was missing. What happened? Was she sick too? Scootaloo remembered how she met Diamond Tiara in front of her house yesterday, just minutes before it began to rain. Maybe she got a cold because she had to walk home in the rain?

“I'm sure you noticed that Diamond Tiara has not come to school yet”, Cheerilee continued. “She is here, but she asked me for it to explain something to you before she enters the classroom.” Cheerilee paused a little to make sure that everypony was listening to her. Then she continued. “As Diamond Tiara woke up today, her cutie mark was gone.”

The whole class started to whisper excitedly. Scootaloo's mouth went open suddenly. How was that possible? Had she done this? She immediately had to think on it what she wished for yesterday, before she entered her house. These were just some hastily spoken out words and she did not even mean it really serious. Could it be? Had she really caused it that Diamond Tiara's cutie mark disappeared? Or maybe.....

“Diamond Tiara was at a doctor this morning, but he could not find out what let her cutie mark disappear”, Cheerilee interrupted her thoughts. “Until she has gotten her cutie mark back, I want that all of you are especially nice to her!” Her voice became a little stern as she spoke out that last sentence.

Cheerilee knew that Diamond Tiara had the habit to pick on other classmates who haven't gotten their cutie marks yet and she feared that some could do the same to her out of revenge, so she wanted to make sure that no fighting amongst the foals started.

“One last thing”, she began again. “If anyone of you does not feel good or looses his or her cutie mark please tell it to me immediately. It's possible that we have to deal with a disease and we need to know if it's contagious”, she said.

“Wrong. This was no disease!”, Scootaloo thought. Unlike her class members, she knew the real reason.

A worried whispering rose up in the class.

After Cheerilee had made sure that everypony understood what she said, she looked aside to the still open door. “You can come in now, Tiara!”, she said.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, a visibly timid Diamond Tiara entered the classroom, slowly and hesitantly, looking rapidly from side to side. She wore a dress to hide her blank flank from the other foals. Many eyes were directed at her, including Scootaloo's, some of them trying to get a peek under her dress to see if it was true. But nopony dared to say anything, even though some would have liked, still remembering what Cheerilee just said. As Diamond Tiara had reached her desk, she climbed on the chair, carefully, to make sure her dress did not get pulled up so that her flank would have become revealed. After Diamond Tiara sat down, Cheerilee began with her lesson as usual.

Scootaloo only listened with one ear. Her thoughts circled around what happened. There was only one way to explain all of this. The golden helmet that she got from the fairy was responsible for this. Cutie marks appear through magic and if they disappear suddenly, there can only be a magical reason behind that. And Scootaloo couldn't use magic. The golden helmet was the only explanation for what happened. She wished yesterday that Diamond Tiara's cutie mark would disappear and the helmet read her thoughts and fulfilled that wish for her! Did that mean that she could do everything with it? She decided to try it out. But what should she do?

Scootaloo looked around. Just something simple. She did not want to cause any havoc for other ponies, after all. At least not unwarranted. She looked at Diamond Tiara and a smile flashed over her face. Then she had an idea. She noticed that the door of the classroom was still open. Both Diamond Tiara and Cheerilee forgot to close it.

Scootaloo concentrated herself on the golden helmet and imagined how the door closed. A bang sounded and the door was shut. It worked!

Cheerilee and the rest of the class looked at the door, unbelievingly. Their teacher trotted up to the door and looked outside and as nopony was there, she closed it again and proceeded with her lesson.

The experiment proofed it. The golden helmet made Scootaloo able to do everything she wanted. Looking at Diamond Tiara again, a thought hit her. She would bring back Diamond Tiara's cutie mark eventually, but there was no reason why she couldn't have some fun first. Diamond Tiara tormented her since a long time, but she never got any real comeuppance for her behavior. It was time to change that.

The first thing Scootaloo wanted to do was to let the whole class see her blank flank. She could not just let Diamond Tiara's dress disappear, that would draw too much attention and she did not want that a unicorn classmate got accused of having done that. But letting her dress disappear was not needed anyway.

Cheerilee was currently facing the class, explaining a complicated, mathematic formula, so Scootaloo waited. When she turned to the blackboard again, the pegasus took her chance. She concentrated and envisioned in her head how the lower part of Diamond Tiara's dress moved upwards and stayed there. She looked over to Diamond Tiara again and saw how her dress moved, revealing her blank flank. Scootaloo grinned. It was good that Diamond Tiara could feel for a while how it was to be a blank flank. Before Diamond Tiara could notice what had happened to her dress, a filly behind her already pointed at her flank and brought to the attention of the whole class what she just saw.

“There, look everypony! Her flank is really blank!”

Immediately, every pair of eyes in the classroom was looking at Diamond Tiara's flank. Some ponies from the backmost row, who could not see well from there, even stood up and trotted to her side, to take a look at her flank. And the ponies, who didn't have their cutie marks yet, like Scootaloo and her fellow Crusaders, immediately set up a well-known chant.

“Blank Flank! Blank Flank! Blank Flank!”

Cheerilee was right. The other ponies who were bullied by Diamond Tiara were up for revenge and they did not wait long. After a moment, even the ponies who already had their cutie marks tuned in, motivated by their classmates. Only Scootaloo did not participate. She was more than content with pulling the strings from the background with the help of her magical artifact. But she couldn't resist to laugh and she didn't saw a need for holding herself back in that regards, so she at least joined in on the laughter that surrounded Diamond Tiara. Diamond Tiara couldn't move since the first “Blank Flank!” was ringing into her ear. She was frozen from shame. The whole class was in an uproar now. Everything just happened over the course of a few seconds, but to Diamond Tiara, it seemed like hours. Cheerilee had turned around in the meanwhile.

“Class! Class!”, she said, without success. The foals had way too much fun to laugh about Diamond Tiara and to call her a blank flank, like she used to do so often.

Scootaloo smiled. The only thing that was sad about it was that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle couldn't witness this. But then again, if they wouldn't have become sick with the flu, she probably wouldn't have been in such a bad mood yesterday and thus, never entered the Whitetail Woods, never met the fairy and never got the golden helmet, that was so useful for her now. She definitely had to tell them about it when she visited them today. Telling them about these events were sure enough entertainment to distract them from their sickness and to cheer them up. And who said it had to end soon? Scootaloo could let reappear Diamond Tiara's cutie mark whenever she wanted and so she decided to wait with that until Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were at school again.

Cheerilee continued to try to calm the class down as the school bell took this job over for her. It rang and suddenly everypony stopped to chant and laugh. Giving Diamond Tiara something back for her mean treatment and the bullying was fun, but nopony wanted to relinquish their break for that. So, they let go of Diamond Tiara and got outside to get some fresh air. Only some of them stayed in the classroom and sat together at one of the desks at the back end of the classroom to talk. Now that the teasing was over, Diamond Tiara finally found the strength to pull down her dress and to cover her bare flank again. She sniffled while she did that.

Normally, Scootaloo would have been touched when seeing one of her classmates like this, but not now. Diamond Tiara had never shown any regrets for treating her, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle so miserably and not even after she picked on her for her disabled wings. It was just fair when Diamond Tiara got a taste of her own medicine. And who knows? Maybe she would even learn something from this experience and become a better pony. But this was something Scootaloo dared not to hope for.

Scootaloo was joining the majority of her classmates and went outside of the school. The helmet was something she took with her, just in case. She doubted that somepony could find out about it's powers, but she did not wanted to take the risk and so she lifted it up from her desk before heading outside. There she thought about what she could to next to embarrass Diamond Tiara in front of the class.

Scootaloo leaned against a wall a bit aside from the school house. Technically, she could do anything. She could let her grow different body parts that weren't there before, she could replace parts of her body with other ones, she could change her coat color or the style of her mane into something ridiculous or, even better, let cutie marks on her flank appear that stand for an embarrassing talent! She especially liked the last idea. Scootaloo giggled. The next hours will be even more fun, that was sure.

It was only a short recess and so Scootaloo headed back inside. Most of her classmates already sat at their desks again, but Cheerilee wasn't there yet. She was probably still getting some material for the next lesson and so Scootaloo decided to have some fun now. She concentrated her thoughts on the golden helmet, she had put at the edge of her desk again when returning, and suddenly, Diamond Tiara's ears disappeared. A second later, they were replaced with the ears of pigs. The whole class began to giggle behind Diamond Tiara. The troublesome bully could hear it. As she couldn't bear it anymore, she moved round, facing her giggling classmates. “What is so funny?”, she asked.

“Just..... look at your ears!”, a filly pressed out between it's giggles.

Unsure, Diamond Tiara turned to her desk again and pulled out a little hoof mirror. She looked into it and was shocked. “What in Equestria is wrong with me?”, she asked out aloud. This made the whole class bursting out in laughter.

“What have I told you about not making fun about Diamond Tiara today?” Cheerilee entered the classroom suddenly.

Scootaloo hastily imagined Diamond Tiara's ears reappearing and before Cheerilee could see anything, they had returned to their normal look.

Cheerilee began her second lesson. She was facing the class for a long time, but as soon as she finally turned around, Scootaloo prepared her next trick. Scootaloo knew that the bully was proud of her tiara, so this was her next target. She concentrated again and seconds later her silver tiara was replaced with a few rotten apples. This time, Diamond Tiara did not have to wait until the other foals behind her began to giggle. The stench of the apples could not be missed. She sniffled. Then she reached up with her hoof and as she put it down again, she had a rotten apple in it. The whole class broke out in laughter suddenly. They did not know how this was possible, but they also didn't care. Nopony, except Silver Spoon, really liked Diamond Tiara and so they just enjoyed the mysterious events involving her.

Cheerilee turned round as she heard the laughter. This time, Scootaloo didn't reverse what she had done to her. In the worst case, Cheerilee could think that somepony threw those apples on her head from behind, but since nopony did it, nopony would admit it and so Cheerilee couldn't punish anypony. Instead, she just let her tiara reappear on her desk quickly, before Cheerilee could notice that it was missing. That way, it looked like it was fallen from her head when she was hit with the apples.

Cheerilee asked the class who had done it and it happened exactly as Scootaloo expected, nopony admitted it, of course, because nopony had done anything. When Cheerilee's eyes became a stern expression after some seconds, one of the more angsty foals, a colt, in the last row answered her question.

“Nopony did it, the apples just appeared on her head!”

“Then I guess one of your unicorn classmates did it”, Cheerilee answered.

“No”, he answered, “there was no magical aura!”

Cheerilee sighed. It was clear to her that the colt was lying to conceal that he has thrown the apples on Diamond Tiara's head. Though, she could not proof it and so she spoke out the threat to give the whole class an hour of detention if something like that should happen again and left it at that.

Scootaloo regretted her decision to let the apples on her head as Cheerilee faced the class again, after it almost ended in detention for the whole class. She would not make this mistake again.

Cheerilee sent Diamond Tiara to the school's toilet, so that she could clean her mane. When Diamond Tiara returned, the lesson was almost over. Only three minutes left until the school's bell rang and the main recess started. Not enough time to play another trick on Diamond Tiara, so Scootaloo gave her a break for now. Though, she was sure the long recess would give her another opportunity for that. She had twenty long minutes, after all.

The bell rang. Cheerilee packed her things together and headed outside of the classroom, eager to get a break herself. It was an exhaustive day today, more than usual. This time, all the fillies and colts headed outside, only Diamond Tiara stayed. The long recess was perfect to hang out and chill on the school's playground, so nopony wanted to miss that chance. But Diamond Tiara did not dare to go out. “She's probably too embarrassed and knows that she will get picked on if she's heading outside”, Scootaloo thought. But she was not worried. There would be plenty of new opportunities in the remaining two lessons of the day. And until then, she would have some other fun with the golden helmet the fairy gave her. She removed it from the desk again and followed the other foals outside.

Arrived at the playground, she sat down on a bench and thought about what else she could do with it. She noticed that she was already hungry again. Usually, she didn't eat something during school on a short like this, with only four lessons, but today her breakfast was not so opulent as on the other days, because she did not have so much time as usual. Letting appear something delicious to eat would be the right thing now! And she knew what. Scootaloo looked around to check if her classmates did not watch her and then she concentrated on her new helmet and her desired food appeared beside her.

It was a hayburger, with some horseshoe fries and a cup of haysoda. The portion of food was so big that she wasn't even sure if she could eat all that until recess was over, but she was so hungry that she found herself eating faster than usual and so she made good progress with her large meal. As she had almost finished, about half of recess was over, she saw Diamond Tiara coming out of the school building, directly heading to the playground.

Scootaloo was surprised. She had not reckoned with it that Diamond Tiara would be brave enough to do that and to face all the inevitable picking that awaited her here. Diamond Tiara was moving towards the swings and Scootaloo immediately had an idea what to do. She imagined that Diamond Tiara would fall of the swing every time she sat down on it. While trotting up to the swings, many hooves were pointed at Diamond Tiara and many laughs were aimed at her. As Diamond Tiara sat down on the swing and fell down from it again immediately, the quiet laughs turned into an uproar. Everypony on the playground laughed loudly over her misfortune and Diamond Tiara felt like she was about to sink into the ground from shame. Her face turned red from anger and shame alike. The bench Scootaloo was sitting on was not far away from the swings and so Diamond Tiara could hear Scootaloo's own laughing the best. For Diamond Tiara, this was the last straw, seeing the blank flank she used to make fun of, now making fun of her.

She got angry and walked up to Scootaloo. First, she just posed menacingly in front of her and then, as Scootaloo didn't stop laughing, she slapped the cup with hay soda, whose last remains Scootaloo just wanted to drink, out of her hooves. “Why are YOU laughing, blank flank?”

Scootaloo stopped to laugh. She couldn't believe it.

There she was, without a cutie mark on her own, and she still insulted her with calling her a blank flank? Scootaloo decided that another lesson would be good for her after that insult. She concentrated, and suddenly, Diamond Tiara's dress, that she used to cover her blank flank, disappeared. The rest of the class hadn't noticed yet. Scootaloo gave her a smug grin, the same kind of grin Diamond Tiara gave her yesterday in front of her house.

“Hey, Diamond Tiara, where is your dress suddenly? I thought you were wearing it to hide your blank flank from us?” she asked her loud enough for the whole playground to hear.

She immediately was the center of attention again. Mere seconds later, every filly and every colt in the playground was chanting “Blank Flank” again. This time, Scootaloo joined in. Tiara looked behind her, desperately trying to cover her flank, while the chant rang into her ears. But it was useless. Her bare flank was exposed to everypony in her class and since she could not explain how her dress disappeared or where it went, she had to stay like this for two full lessons! Some tears appeared in Diamond's eyes, more from anger and embarrassment than from actually feeling hurt, and she turned around, furiously stomping back into the schoolhouse, without saying another word.

After she had entered the building, the bell rang, indicating the end of recess and the start of the next lesson. Scootaloo let the rest of the food disappear and returned back into the classroom and to her desk. One or two minutes later, Cheerilee showed up and the lesson really started. In this lesson, Scootaloo spared Diamond Tiara from the magical artifact's power. She had another surprise for her in mind in this lesson, but exposing her by letting her dress disappear seemed to be already enough for this lesson.

Occasionally one of the foals in the class was quietly whispering “blank flank” into her direction and some of the unicorns let small pieces of paper with the same phrase written on them appear on her desk, every time Cheerilee didn't look. The class was already doing a good job in embarrassing Diamond Tiara in this lesson, so Scootaloo just leaned back and enjoyed it. The thing she had in mind could wait until the last lesson and it would be the grand finale.

Since Scootaloo was concentrating on Cheerilee's lesson mostly this time, because she did not play tricks on Diamond Tiara, the lesson was passing faster than she expected. Suddenly, the school bell pulled her out of her concentration and she realized that the lesson was over. For this last recess, Scootaloo stayed in the class. Instead of heading outside again, she was busy with thinking over the trick she wanted to play on Diamond Tiara in the last lesson for today. For the big finale, she wanted to give Diamond Tiara several silly cutie marks. And now she was thinking about which cutie marks she could give her. She had just decided on some cutie marks, as the bell rang again and Cheerilee returned.

At the first opportunity, when Cheerilee turned her head to the blackboard for the first time, Scootaloo concentrated and then the words “I'm the boss!” appeared on Diamond Tiara's flank.

“Hey, your cutie mark is back!”, one of the foals whispered over to Diamond Tiara.

Her grumpy face suddenly lightened up and she looked happily at her flank, thinking that the horror was finally over now and that nopony could call her a blank flank anymore. As she saw what kind of cutie mark it was, it immediately returned back to the old expression. The other foals were wisecracking about it how much this cutie mark fit to Diamond Tiara and told her that she should keep it, because she acts like she's the boss all the time.

As Cheerilee proceeded to turn around, Scootaloo let the cutie mark quickly disappear, making her flank blank again.

The next picture she let appear on her flank was the picture of a clown, who had two “X” instead of eyes. Her intention behind that was to symbolize that Diamond Tiara was the class clown today and to her delight, that was exactly the way the rest of the class interpreted it. Some of the foals even called her “Ponyacci”, referring to the famous circus clown. Scootaloo giggled. She was sure that this nickname would be associated with her for a long time now.

Before the last lesson, and with that, today's school day, was over, Scootaloo let exactly one more fake cutie mark appear on her flank. This last time, it was a picture of Diamond Tiara herself. After the fillies and colts saw that, a lot of nasty questions followed like “What's your special talent, Diamond? Are you good in swooning over your own face?” One colt even asked her if she had a crush on herself. It was perfect!

Diamond Tiara pretented that she didn't hear anything in this last lesson, but Scootaloo saw how the teasing was nagging at her, as she was constantly clenching her teeth and sweating.

Then, the school bell rang. Scootaloo let the cutie mark disappear, before Cheerilee turned round. Cheerilee wished her students goodbye and then everypony was leaving class. Scootaloo stood up and pulled out her saddle bag from under the desk. She quickly packed her stuff for school into it and hung it over her back. Then she grabbed her helmet and proceeded to leave the class with the other foals. Almost outside, she stopped and looked behind. Diamond Tiara was still sitting on her desk, packing her things only very slowly. She clearly was playing for time in hope she would not meet any other foals on her way home when she left the school as the last one.

Somehow, Scootaloo felt not completely satisfied yet. It was a great day and she managed it to let Diamond really feel how it was to be bullied, but she felt the need to do one last thing. At least for today. And she had a brilliant idea. She would personally bring Diamond Tiara home today, although not in the way she would expect.Scootaloo smirked. This would really be the perfect finale for today.

Having done these thoughts, Scootaloo went outside. She positioned herself at the side of the entrance and waited for Diamond Tiara. While waiting, she put the golden helmet on her head, knowing that she would soon need both of her hooves. Then she concentrated on the helmet and suddenly, she disappeared. She had made herself invisible. Scootaloo giggled. Diamond Tiara would not even see what will grab her. Then she concentrated on something more specific. She imagined that she was able to float through the air, similar to the way the fairy who gave her the golden helmet was floating. She did try it out a little and noticed happily that it worked when she did a quick flight around the school building. She returned back to her spot just in time. Diamond Tiara went out of the school.

Scootaloo waited a few seconds, then she trotted after her. As she had reached the other filly she began with her plan.

“Hey, Diamond!”, she whispered in her ear. Diamond Tiara stopped and looked behind her.

As she couldn't see anypony, she froze in fear. Scootaloo took this opportunity, grabbed Diamond Tiara and pressed her tightly against her with a firm grip. Then she concentrated on floating through the air again and took off into the sky with the bully. Her plan was to fly with her over the town, showing her bare flank to everypony on the streets, no matter if foal or adult pony. She wanted that everypony in Ponyville could see her like that. Diamond Tiara was well-known in the little town for her disgusting bullying behavior and so Scootaloo was sure that she would get many laughs at her expense. That and the fear from floating through the air against her will by an unknown, mysterious force would be the ultimate lesson for the vile filly, Scootaloo thought.

And she was not wrong with her prediction. As she flew Diamond Tiara across the town, the ponies pointed up at her and laughed heartily. Many parents of foals she had bullied were among them. Diamond Tiara was screaming at first because she feared the height, but as she saw how literally the whole town laughed about her, she stopped to not drawing even more attention to her. The embarrassment of being exposed like that felt unbearable to her, but she could do nothing against it. She had to go through all of this until Scootaloo was satisfied. Scootaloo flew her all over the place for half an hour and then she deemed it enough. She changed the direction and aimed for Diamond Tiara's giant house at the edge of the town.

Having arrived there, she safely landed Diamond Tiara. Then, she trotted away and hid herself behind a bush, where she turned off her invisibility. She appeared compactly again and watched Diamond Tiara standing in front of her house from between the branches.

Scootaloo had decided something. She would give her back her cutie mark for today, but letting it disappear again on the next morning. She knew that this would be an even better lesson for her, because it would hit her twice as hard to be happy about having her cutie mark again and then having to see that it was gone again unexpectedly, than getting just used to it that it was not there anymore.

Having made that resolution, Scootaloo concentrated on the helmet that was still on her head. Diamond Tiara was still standing outside, being dumbstruck over what just happened and not moving one inch. Scootaloo would be able to see how her cutie mark returned. She thought on the familiar symbol of a silver tiara on her flank, but nothing happened. She tried it again. No result.

Scootaloo took off the helmet and held it in her hooves. Was it broken? She inspected it closely, but she couldn't find any damage. Was the maybe not able to concentrate enough on what she wanted anymore after she did that so often in the last hours? Suddenly, the helmet began to glow brightly in Scootaloo's hooves. A message was projected into the air. Scootaloo could not believe what she read there.

“The date of expiry has been reached. This magical helmet is not working anymore.”

Scootaloo's eyes became tiny. That meant she could not use the helmet anymore to do what she wanted and also that she could not let Diamond Tiara's cutie mark reappear. The filly who bullied her was doomed to be a blank flank forever now. Scootaloo did not really feel sorry for this, but nonetheless, robbing her off of her cutie mark forever was something that seemed too cruel to her and this was not what she had intended for the bully.

While Scootaloo was hit by this realization, she could feel a vibration in the air behind her. Before she could turn round to check what it was, she heard a familiar voice.

“I hope you liked my little present, dear Scootaloo!”

Scootaloo looked over her shoulder and saw Discord. “What? Your present? Wait, you were this fairy who gave me that helmet?”

Discord nodded approvingly. “Indeed I was.”

Suddenly, everything made sense for Scootaloo. A magical artifact that could literally do everything. Who else could have created something like that if not Discord?

“Why have you gave me that helmet?”, she asked him.

“Well, I was, you know.....” Discord hemmed and hawed for a moment. Then he shook his head, remembering himself on it to keep his composure. “It came to my attention that you were very sad yesterday, so I made you this present to lighten up your day!”

“But why have you pretended to be a fairy?”, Scootaloo asked him baffled.

A big question mark appeared in the air beside Scootaloo. “This is a very good question, but I'm afraid the answer is simple.” The question disappeared with a loud “Pop” again. “It was just more fun this way!”, Discord answered her question.

Discord was right. It was indeed funny to mess with Diamond Tiara today and she was happy about it that Discord also had his fun with it. Scootaloo gave him a hug to thank him for his present. She already thanked him of course, yesterday, at the pond, but there she did not know that it was him and so she thought she should thank him again.

“But what should we do with Diamond Tiara now?”, she asked after releasing her hug. “The helmet you gave me isn't working anymore.”

“Oh, don't worry about that”, the draconequus answered. “I created this artifact and so it had the same powers as me.”

Scootaloo smiled.

Discord ruffled her mane. “But now I have to go”, he said. “There is a lot of business in the life of a reformed draconequus and I can't allow myself to waste time while these important issues are waiting for me.”

The way how he pronounced “important” indicated for Scootaloo that these issues weren't that important and probably included some sort of chaos or other nonsense, but she wasn't saying anything.

“But don't worry, I will give that little brat that makes you problems her cutie mark back soon!”

He ruffled her mane again. “Maybe”, he added then, which was answered by Scootaloo with a big smile. Then he disappeared in a white flash, heading off for other shenanigans elsewhere.....

Day 8: Celestia sits drunk in a bar

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It was late at night. Luna had raised the moon several hours ago and actually, it were only a few hours until Celestia had to raise the sun. Though, this was something that could turn out complicated.

In this night, several stallions sat in a bar. Usually, they were just sitting there, drinking Canterlot's finest booze and playing a card game. But not this time.

This time, they just sat there, drank Canterlot's finest booze and curiously watched the bar counter.

Not that it would have made that much difference to what they were usually doing. The card game was just a convenient excuse to sit together and drink, while they were hiding from their rabid wives at home, anyway and they barely played out a card.

But I digress.

However, at what, or rather, at who, they were staring at there at the counter, sitting on one of the barstools, was somepony special who could not be seen often there, in one of the filthier places of the big mountain city. A celebrity, if you like.

It was one of the few nights in the year where the famous Princess of the Sun came into their bar to knock back some drinks. Or a lot of them. Yes, Princess Celestia herself was sitting at the counter there. Unexpected, huh? But it was true.

Even a graceful ruler like her needed some drinks here and there to drown her sorrow (and her liver) in booze, wine, champagne, beer. And apple cider.

She was not picky about what to drink. She liked all sorts of alcohol and could take on everything. More than a thousand years of drinking experience made Celestia hardened. This was something that came in useful to the owner of the bar. Every time he invented a new and very hard drink, Celestia was willing to test it out. She was the best subject to find out how good or bad his drink was. Not many ponies could take so much. At least not before they were so drunk that they couldn't realize anymore what they were drinking. Celestia did him a big favor with that and in exchange, he listened to her when she poured out her heart at his counter.

And sometimes, she was also spilling her guts there, but he didn't mind.

He always had an ear for the princess when she came into his bar to drink and to talk about her problems.

And today was one of these nights.

Celestia just emptied her drink and ordered another one. “A-Another b-beer. Please.....” Celestia slurred. Since it was late at night, she was already completely drunk and talking began to become an obstacle. The owner of the bar filled another glas with the yellow, foamy liquid and hoofed it over to Celestia. “Thank you”, she said. Then she took a sip.

She liked the color of beer. Especially when some light from behind the counter shone through it. It reminded her on the sun. But it also reminded her on her problems, because the sun was always her problem when she came here. Or rather how ponies treated the sun.

Usually, Celestia needed quite some amount of alcohol to loosen her tongue and to make her talk about her problems. And this night was no exception. Ironically, this always just happened then when talking was already hard because the alcohol had made her tongue heavy. Of course this did not stop Celestia. And now the moment had come. The moment when Celestia started to talk away her problems. The bar's owner knew that it was time for it, her eyes had already that special expression which they always get when the drinks got her in the mood for talking.

Then she began. “Do you know what the problem of Equestria, no..... the WHOLE WORLD, is?”, she asked him with a heavy tongue.

He slowly shook his head, giving Celestia the chance to explain.

“It's ungra..... gra..... gratefulness!”

She took another sip from her beer, then put it down rapidly, a loud thump sounding through the bar and some of the beer spilling over the counter. “The ponies are all ungrateful! Do you know what I do every morning, for every pony?” She eyed him with her bloodshot eyes. The stallion could see the tiny, swollen blood vessels in her eyes.

He just nodded quietly. Of course. Everypony knew it. But in her condition, it was better to not correct her on that.

“It's the sun!”, she exclaimed. “I raise the sun! Every morning! Can you imagine that? I'm able to raise the sun! Isn't that something special?” She laughed out loud and then took another sip from her beer.

“But nopony appreciates it!”, she continued after having put her beer down again. “They see how I raise the sun, but they pay no attention..... This not would have happened a thousand years ago. B-Back then, the ponies looked into the sky and said: 'Oh, thank you, dear Celestia, our princess! Our mother of the sun! Our holy, generous ruler!' They said that every morning! They even had wrote a prayer for the sun!”

Celestia's patient listener nodded again, while Celestia took another sip, a bigger one this time, almost emptying the glass.

“And what is today? Today, they only do this silly, little celebration once in a year! They call it the 'Summer Sun Celebration'! Only one time in a year, they pay attention to the sun! In the rest of the year, they just take it for granted.” Her eyes would take on a glazed look now, if they already hadn't this look. Then she emptied her glass before continuing.

“They think it's just natural that the sun rises every morning! Nopony thinks about it anymore that their beloved ruler is responsible for it that they can profit from the sun's life-spending power! And when I have overslept one day, they immediately complain and ask me what is taking so long..... It's never possible for me to sleep a few hours longer, not even on a quiet day *hick* without many duties..... And it takes so much concentration to raise the sun every day! But is anypony thinking about that? No. They are all just ungrateful. They have no respect for their ruler anymore!”

Celestia burped and then she activated her magic, lifting up a bottle of booze beside her to fill the now empty glass with it.

Usually, small glasses were used for booze. But the times were Celestia was content with small portions like that lied far, far in the past. She needed more now and so she filled the booze in the big beer glass that she just emptied. Or at least she tried. The control of her magic didn't work so well anymore and her grip on the bottle was shaky. She moved it over to the glass, almost dropping it, and needed three attempts to aim at the glass properly. A few drops of the precious booze were wasted while she was trying. After she had finally managed to fill the glass, she put the bottle down, motioned the glass over to her mouth and gulped down the liquid sensation in one go.

Yes, Celestia was well-trained in the art of drinking. But even for her, there were borders and limitations. And she had almost reached her personal limit now.

After having gulped down the booze and put the glass down again, she chuckled. “Iiiiiisn't it ironiiiiiiic?”, she asked the barkeeper in front of her. Her voice sounded even more abused by the alcoholic liquids, that she was gulping down for the whole night, than before.

“Myyyy s-sister. I remember my sissssster complaining one dayyyyyy about nopony appreciating her night! Her precious, wonderful, dark night! And noooooow, I'm sitting here, complaining about it that noooopony apprecates the sun! Ha Ha Ha!” A loud, slurred laughter emerged from her throat.

The stallions at the back end of the bar joined in on the laughter, amused by what the princess told.

She turned around, wonky and unsure if she would fall of the bar stool in the next moment. “Funny, isn't it?”, she asked them in her from alcohol throbbing voice.

She tried to turn around to the barkeeper again and fell really from her stool now. And needed five whole minutes to get up and take seat on it again, so drunk was she by now.

“I guess the tables are tur..... tur.... tur.....” She gave up. “Everything is different nowwwwww.”

She looked up to the barkeeper with her from alcohol worn-out face. “You know what? They will apprecate my sun! I wiiiiil took care of thaaaaat!”

The barkeeper raised an eyebrow. He knew that it began to become dangerous when Celestia couldn't use proper grammar anymore.

“They will! They will! They will!”, she said. Then she turned around to the windows. She had free sight on the moon from her position.

“Tiiiiiiiiime to raise..... the SUN!” She knew that it was still a few hours too early to let it become day, but in her state, she didn't care. In fact, that's what she wanted, raising the sun a few hours earlier than usual.

“They will get more hours of sun today, ifffffff they lik ittttt or not! And if they still don't apprecate IIIII will raise it even earlier tomorrow! And iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif thaaaaaaaaaaaat doesn't help, I will create E-E-Eternal Day!” She laughed maniacally. “Mwahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
The Princess of the Sun pointed with her hooves at the window and the moon outside and waved them around mysteriously.

“Simsalabim! Abracadabra!” Then her horn lit up and the moon began to shake. It circled around the night sky for some moments, before it abruptly fell behind the horizon, making the night darker than it usually was.

“Clonk!”, Celestia commented her action.

Then the sun rose wonky up into the sky, did some loops and then finally reached her usual position.

Satisfied, Celestia sat up a crooked smile. “There! It's day! No go out and wo-wo-wo-worship it!”

Celestia faced the barkeeper again. “What is with you? Doooooo youuuuuu like the sun?”, she asked him provocative, a expression in her eyes that would have been called a stern one, if her eyes weren't so distorted by the alcohol in her royal body that nopony could tell anymore what expression they showed.

The barkeeper began to sweat a little, but stayed calm. He knew this reactions from Celestia already.

“Yes”, he said short and crisp and confirmed his statement with a nod.

“That's good! The suuuuun is important! Wiiiiiiithout it, you would staaaaarve!” She looked at her empty glass for a moment. “And there would be no beer without it!”, she added. Then she laughed again.

“And now give me another glass!”, she demanded.

Now, the barkeeper began to become nervous. He knew that Celestia had enough and that she shouldn't drink anymore for tonight, errrr...... today, but telling her that was another page of the book.

“Eh.....”, he began carefully. “I think your royal highness of the sun had e-enough for tonight. You should try something lighter. How about a glass of apple juice?”

“Apple juice!?” Celestia became furious. How could that little peasant say that! She could drink much more than what she consumed in the past night!

Her voice became threatening. “Give me more beer immediaaaaaately, or I will put this glass where the sun neveeeeeeer–“

The door of the bar opened with a bang.

Interrupted, Celestia turned around to see who dared to do that.

It was Luna.

She trotted up to Celestia. “You do have enough, sister.”

“Don't tell me how much I can drink!” Celestia proceeded to lash out on her younger sister, but before she could, Luna hold her with her magic.

Usually, this wasn't so easy, but now that Celestia was drunk, she was easier to tame.

“Actually, I can.”, she answered shortly. She looked at the barkeeper. “I hope my sister had not caused any trouble this time.”

“No, she didn't”, the barkeeper assured her. “You just came before she could!”

Luna nodded. Then she looked to Celestia again. “It's time to go home, my sister. You need sleep. I will take on your day duties for you today.”

She put the magical grip more firmly around her and dragged her out of the bar, curiously eyed by the stallions who still sat at their table. Seeing two princesses was an even bigger attraction than one.

“Farewell, Princess Sunbutt!”, the stallions joked about her. They wouldn't dare to say something like that usually, but they knew that Celestia would have forgotten that anyway after she had became sober again and so they dropped their respect for her for a moment.

“The day..... will last..... FOREVER!”, Celestia answered to them and then she and Luna left the bar, the door shutting close behind them with a loud bang.

Day 9: Just a Sunny Day

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Pinkie Pie looked out of her window. It was a sunny, quiet day in Ponyville.

The foals were in school, many ponies at work at this time of day and Pinkie Pie had the day free. Unfortunately, also her friends were at work and did not have time for her, so she decided to just go for a little walk on this beautiful day. She retreated from the window and walked down the stairs, cheerfully whistling a song. Down in Sugarcube Corner, she met Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They were busy with a lot of customers right now and didn't pay attention to her.

The pink pony walked past the counter. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!”, she greeted them.

They looked up for a moment and replied the greeting. Then they brought their attention back to their customers.

Pinkie Pie opened the door of the shop and walked outside. It was a really warm day. Pinkie stood there for a moment, soaking in the fresh air around her. She smiled. She had plenty of time today to walk around and enjoy the warm weather and the golden rays of the sun and this made her happy.

She set herself into motion again and began her walk through the town. There were not many ponies on the streets, but Pinkie Pie didn't mind. She just enjoyed the warm air and the occasional cold breezes around her. It was the perfect day for a walk.

Pinkie walked past the townhall. She looked up into the sky and admired the clouds up there while making her way around the circular building. Some of the clouds looked like cupcakes and this reminded her on it that she could fetch some later and invite her friends to a little picnic party after their work for the day was done. In her mind already at this party, she thought about which cupcakes she could choose. Strawberry, maybe? Or pineapples? It definitely had to be apple cupcakes for Applejack. They were her favorite ones. And some jewel cupcakes for Spike.

While Pinkie was already planning the party in her head, she bumped into another pony.

“Ouch!” Getting hit by the bigger pony in front of her, the filly was falling to the ground. She rubbed over her blonde mane and then looked around confused. As she saw that it was a pony she just ran into, she became frightened.

“Hi!”, Pinkie Pie said. “Sorry for bumping into you! I was just planning my next party and so I didn't see where I was walking!” Pinkie gave her a grin and squeed. Then her happy, upbeat expression turned into a surprised one. “But what are you doing here?”, she asked the filly. “Shouldn't you be in school, Dinky?”

The filly with the blonde mane and the purple-grey coat gasped. She was caught! “Well, I was just.....” Dinky hemmed and hawed, not knowing what to say.

“Just what?”, Pinkie asked her and her voice became a bit more strident. She narrowed her eyes at Dinky.

“I..... I'm not going to school today!”, the little filly answered under the pressure.

Pinkie Pie's expression returned back to her usual happy one. “Well, d'uh! I know that! I mean, why else would you be here while every other foal is in school at this time of day? Except you become sick, then you wouldn't be in school, but you're running around here on the streets, so you're not sick, and this means that you're cutting school today! The only thing I don't understand is why you're cutting school today, but I'm sure you're going to explain that!”

Dinky blinked at her and just stood there for a moment, with an open mouth. She was both amazed and terrified by how fast and how much Pinkie Pie could talk without having to gasp for air.

Dinky shook her head. “Well, there's no special reason for it”, she said to the pink party pony. “It's just such a beautiful day and we're writing a hard test today, so I wasn't really in the mood to go to school. I wanted to spend the day outside.”

“Oh, I see! You're right, it's really a beautiful day today! But learning is important and I'm sure the test you're missing is an important one too!”

The filly shrugged. “I can write the test tomorrow. And the weather was so bad the last few days and so I didn't wanted to miss out on the good weather today! If I would have gone to school today, I would sit around half of the day in the school house and at afternoon I would have to do my homework. And when I would be finished with that, the day would be almost over!”

That made sense to Pinkie Pie. She could understand the little filly. She was easy to distract by herself, especially on such a sunny day, and she also cut school sometimes when she was a filly.

“Okie, dokie, lokie!” Pinkie Pie answered cheerfully. “I guess it isn't too bad if you can write the test on another day.”

Dinky was surprised that Pinkie wasn't betraying her. “You're not going to tell Mrs. Cheerilee or my mom?”, she asked her.

“No, don't worry, I keep it as our secret!”

Dinky smiled. She made some steps forward and put her hooves around Pinkie's neck. “Thank you!” Dinky buried her head into Pinkie's chest.

“Aww, don't mention it!”, she said happily.

Dinky released the hug again and gave Pinkie a big grin.

“But you should not run around here while you're cutting school! Somepony else could see you and not everypony will keep it a secret!”

“I know!”, Dinky answered promptly. “That's why I was on my way into the Whitetail Woods when I bumped into you. I hoped that I wouldn't meet anypony this early! Hey, how about you come with me? We could play together and there's nopony else I could ask to come with me without getting into trouble.”

Pinkie didn't have to think long about the offer. She hasn't planned anything special for most of the day and playing with a filly in the woods was as good as taking a walk through the town. “I'm in!”, she answered.

Dinky smiled again. “YAY!”, she chimed out.

Pinkie joined Dinky's side and they headed to their destination together. They were going through some secret ways that only Pinkie Pie knew and managed it so to avoid meeting any other pony, even though there were some on the streets. They were also faster this way and so they reached the Whitetail Woods very soon.

Having arrived there, they just stood still for a moment, taking in the beauty of the nature around them. It was spring and at this time of year, the woods were the most beautiful.

The trees just returned from their long winter sleep and were adorned with beautiful pink, blue and yellow blossoms.

The grass was fresh and green and Pinkie and Dinky could smell it's strong scent, still being a little wet from the rain last night. They soaked in the delicious scent greedily.

Some dragonflies were buzzing around the area.

The water of the creek was crystal clear and they could see the lake in some distance.

Pinkie Pie was taking in everything of the beautiful scenery as she suddenly felt a light slap at her flank. “It's your turn!”, Dinky cried out happily and then she was dashing through the woods, a cheerful laughter on her lips.

Pinkie loved it to play tag and so she did not hesitate to follow the little unicorn through the trees and branches that surrounded them; a happy smile on her face on her own.

Despite eating so many cupcakes and other sweets Pinkie had no problems with it to catch up with Dinky. She reached her and gave her also a little slap on her flank. “Tag! Your turn!” And before Dinky could turn around, Pinkie was already away, galloping through the woods to avoid getting caught by her little playmate.

But Dinky was fast too and she had not shown her full tempo yet as Pinkie chased after her. After some minutes of dashing around the trees she had almost catched up with Pinkie Pie. She reached for her flank to give it a slap, but Pinkie was moving to the side in the last moment. The pink earth pony jumped behind a tree with a thick trunk and then turned around to Dinky.

They were facing each other and Dinky was narrowing her eyes ambitiously. She ran up to Pinkie Pie to catch her, but Pinkie was moving to the other side of the tree, bringing it between them. Dinky tried it a few more times, but Pinkie was always faster. She used the tree as cover and was clearly having an advantage.

Dinky stopped and thought for a moment what to do. Then she dashed to the side, and ran a few meters away from the tree.

Pinkie thought she had given up on catching her and neglected her defense for a moment.

But this was not the case. Dinky suddenly changed direction and galloped in her full speed towards the tree.

Pinkie Pie could not react fast enough and so Dinky jumped at her. “Tag!”, she shouted confidently, happy about having beaten Pinkie. The little filly jumped with so much speed onto her that Pinkie was thrown of her hooves.

They rolled down a little slope together and as they came to a halt at the bottom of it, they were both cluttered with grass and dirt.

Pinkie lied on the back, her hooves stretched into the air, and Dinky was lying on top of her, her tiny hooves still clasped around her neck, in the same position after she had jumped on her.

“You're all dirty!”, Dinky said to her and giggled.

“Yes, but I'm not the only one!”, Pinkie answered and like she wanted to confirm it, she playfully smeared some dirt over Dinky's cheek.

Dinky giggled again and then they broke out in a hearty laughter together. They didn't know how long they had to laugh about both of them looking silly, but it also didn't matter.

Only the moment counted now.

After their laughing fit had stopped finally, they gave each other a little nuzzle and then they decided to just stay there for a few more minutes. The two ponies felt a little exhausted now from their unexpected roll down the slope and had to gain their breath back before they could continue playing.

Pinkie Pie stretched out her hindlegs to bring them into a more comfortable position and placed her hooves on Dinky's back, pressing her a little against her body this way. Dinky rested her head on Pinkie Pie's chest and in this position, they relaxed for a while.

After some minutes had passed, Dinky looked to the side and noticed something. They were not far away from the lake they had seen anymore.

Dinky looked up to Pinkie. “Look, there's the lake!” She pointed into the direction where she saw it. “Do we wanna play in the water?”, she asked the mare.

“Sure, I like to play water games and swimming!”

Dinky happily jumped off of her body and ran up to the lake, with Pinkie Pie closely following her.

Dinky's eyes sparkled as she looked at the lake. His water was even more clear than the water of the creek. She could almost look down to the ground. The sun that was shining through the branches of the trees was reflected by it's surface and let the lake shimmer like it was adorned with little golden flakes.

“Awww, I wish we had a ball to play with it in the water!”, Dinky said a little sad.

“No problem!”, Pinkie cheered. “I have hidden balls everywhere around Ponyville in case there is a ball emergency. And I would call this a ball emergency!” She reached between some bushes and pulled out a pink ball with her cutie mark on it. “There we go!”, she said.

The sadness vanished from Dinky's face and was replaced by a broad smile. “You're the best, Pinkie Pie!” Dinky cuddled against her thankfully and then jumped with a splash into the water.

Pinkie Pie did the same and soon, they were engaged in an exciting ball game. They played around for half an hour and then left the water again. When they got out of the water, Pinkie Pie hid her ball again between the bushes and then they lied down at a nearby tree. They didn't have any towels to dry them clean, but they also didn't need any. It was still warm and the sun dried their coats.

Dinky was snuggling up to Pinkie Pie and found herself embraced by Pinkie's hooves. The unicorn filly yawned.

“Huh, you're tired?”, Pinkie asked her.

Dinky nodded sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

“Then it's time for a nap, I guess!”, Pinkie answered. She gently lifted her up and lied her down on her stomach and chest.

Dinky buried her face in Pinkie's chest and curled up a little. Soon, her eyes fell closed and she began to breathe more calmly. Here and there, quiet little snores escaped her lips. Dinky was fallen asleep.

Having nothing else to do until the little filly on top of her was awake again, Pinkie decided to join in on the nap. She gently placed her hooves around Dinky again like she did earlier at the bottom of the slope and closed her eyes too.

She was not very tired yet, but having the cute little filly sleeping on her made her feel so comfortable that she could feel the warm blanket of sleep washing over her too and some minutes later, Pinkie Pie was asleep as well.

Day 10: The Dragon of the Whitetail Woods -Part 1-

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“Pinkie Pie, wake up!”
Pinkie rolled to the side and slowly opened her eyes. She smiled. Dinky was in front of her, excitedly bouncing up and down. “Let's play more!”, she exclaimed happily.

Pinkie yawned and stretched out her limbs. She groaned softly. Then she rose to her feet. She looked up to the sun and saw that it has barely moved. She guessed that she and Dinky only slept for about two hours. It was still before noon. Pinkie looked at the little, energetic filly in front of her again and ruffled her mane. “So, what do we want to play now?”, she asked Dinky.

Instead of answering her question, Dinky just jumped on Pinkie's back. She sat down on her and pulled on invisible reins. “Giddyup, my loyal war horse!”, she shouted out proudly. “We must defeat the evil dragon who wants to destroy this forest!” An ambitious expression appeared on her face.

Pinkie Pie understood immediately. She let out a loud whinny, turned around and ran in full gallop deeper into the woods. When she underpassed a low hanging branch, Dinky reached up and broke up one of them. “Faster, my loyal Pinkie!”, Dinky shouted again. “The evil dragon waits to taste my sword!”

She commanded Pinkie in different directions through the woods and suddenly, Pinkie saw that they were approaching a cave. Dinky commanded Pinkie to stop and jumped off of her back.

“What's in this cave?”, Pinkie asked her curiously.

“That's where the dragon lives”, Dinky whispered. “We must enter his lair and free the citizens of the forest.”

She put the sword in her mouth and slowly entered the cave. They walked a few meters and then it became completely dark around them. They were too deep into it for the sun to lighten their way now. Dinky lit up her horn and a warm, yellow light, but different than the one from the sun, spread out around them. As they continued through the cave, they heard crackling sounds coming from all sides.

“What is this?”, Pinkie whispered.

“That's the minions of the dragon! They are everywhere in this cave! Look, there are some!” Dinky pointed ahead of them.

There were deep, black holes in the walls and big, hairy spiders crawled out of them. Everyone of them was as big as Dinky and they had sharp fangs that were constantly dropping the deadliest poison that existed in Equestria.

“Take care of it that they don't bite you!”, Dinky advised the pink mare at her side. “One bite and you're dead!”

Pinkie shivered.

Then the spiders began to attack. Dinky began to stab them with her sharp sword, while Pinkie Pie threw her hooves around to keep them at distance. It was a long and hard fight, but eventually, the spiders gave up. After they had taken enough hits they retreated back into their holes. As Dinky was sure that all of the spiders were gone, she slowly moved on through the deep, dark cave, keeping her sword ready in case of any additional dangers.

Pinkie trotted after her, carefully cautious to not stomping on one of the last small arachnids around her who were still on their way back into their holes. After the path through the cave had taken some turns, they heard a massive-sounding growl in front of them. The dragon was not far away from them anymore. They came to another turn and Dinky suddenly stopped. She turned around to Pinkie and pointed over to a big boulder. The mare and the filly sneaked behind it to take cover.
Pinkie carefully looked around the boulder, taking a peak into the big room of the cave that lied in front of them.

In the middle of it, she saw a small construct of branches and stones, that closely resembled a dragon. Behind it stood some cages, made from the same branches and in them, small stick figures. She noticed some deers and several other animals before Dinky pulled her back. “Be careful, he will see you!”, the little unicorn warned her.

“How we're gonna defeat the dragon?”, Pinkie asked her. “He's huge!”

“Don't worry, I've got a plan!”, she whispered back. “Have you seen the shiny spot between the scales on his back?”, Dinky asked her.

Pinkie nodded.

“It's his weakpoint! If we stab him there, he is defeated!”, Dinky explained. “We just need to distract him a little!”

Dinky slowly peaked over the boulder. Luckily, the dragon did pay more attention to his whimpering prisoners in the cages than on his guard, so he didn't see the filly. Dinky concentrated on her horn and fired off a spark of magic into the outer wall of the cavern. The dragon moved around. Dinky quickly hid behind the boulder again. “Who dares to sneak into my cave?” Dinky could hear his loud, intimidating voice. The whole cave shaked. Dinky could hear the dragon stomping over to the wall she just shot the spark at.

She gave Pinkie a sign and then they left their hideout and approached the dragon in full gallop for a quick surprise attack. But the dragon heard them and turned around a bit too early. He put his head back for a moment and then attacked them with his fiery breath. Dinky could jump aside in the last moment before it hit her. She could feel the hot flames around her, greedily reaching out for her coat. As the dragon tried to attack her again, some stones hit him in the face. He turned angrily around and looked at the attacker.

This was Dinky's chance! She jumped on his back and without hesitation, she rammed her sword into the glowy spot she just told Pinkie about. The dragon cried out in pain and dealed out blows right and left, but it was too late. The glow between his scales vanished and he felt dead to the ground.

“Victory!”, Dinky shouted. She looked down to Pinkie, who let the stones in her hooves fall and answered the shout with a proud grin. Then she jumped off of the dead dragon's body and moved over to the cages. She opened the doors and let out all the animals he had captivated there. They thanked her and then stormed out of the cave, back into their beloved forest. Dinky looked after them. “Our work is done!”, she said heroically. Then she and Pinkie followed the animals out of the cave.

Pinkie looked back for a moment, to the now collapsed dragon model, and then she left the cave with Dinky. Outside, Dinky took her sword and rammed it into the ground in front of the cave's entrance. She activated her horn again and murmured some mysterious words. Then she nodded satisfied.

“What have you done?”, Pinkie asked her.

“I've sealed the cave with my magic!”, Dinky answered. “The dangerous spiders are trapped in there forever now!”

Pinkie Pie walked up to the entrance of the cave again, passing by the branch that stuck in the ground, and moved her hooves around in the air, like touching over an invisible barrier. “Wow, it's really closed!”, she answered, with a pretended surprise.

“Sure!”, Dinky answered. “I'm Dinky the Dragon Slayer, doing that is just a cinch!”

Then she and Dinky looked at each other and laughed.

“So, how about we celebrate the defeat of the evil dragon with some cupcakes?”, Pinkie asked her. “It's already time for lunch anyway! We could make a picnic at the lake!” Dinky nodded excitedly. “Ooookay, then I go back to Sugarcube Corner to get some and you wait in the meanwhile at the lake, okay?”

They headed back to the lake together and when they arrived there, they separated. Dinky sat down at the shore of the lake and flipped some stones over the water while she waited for Pinkie.

To cut school today was really a good idea. If she wouldn't have done this, she would coming out of the schoolhouse at this moment, having to face a lot of homework. But now she was free from all of this and thanks to Pinkie, she had lots of fun. If she would have not met her and went alone into the woods, her day would be very boring. There aren't many things a filly like her can play alone and sooner or later, so she thought, she would probably have ended up with going back to Ponyville out of boredom and getting caught eventually. Which would only lead to it that she would get grounded and then she would have to spend even more time inside the house, while the weather was so beautiful.

She flipped a last stone over the water and watched it creating small waves on the lake's surface and then she lied down on her back, crossing her hooves behind her head and resting it on them. She closed her eyes. Yeah, it was really good that she ran into Pinkie today. A light breeze came up and gently flowed over her face. Dinky smiled. The day was beautiful.

Suddenly, she heard a shrill, happy voice. “Hey, wake up, sleepy head! I got cupcakes!”

Dinky abruptly opened her eyes. Pinkie was standing beside her, grinning into her face. Dinky wondered. How did she made it so fast? And why did she not hear her coming? The little filly sat up.

Pinkie Pie sat down beside her and opened the box she brought. Dinky could see the familiar logo of Sugarcube Corner on it. “I don't know which cupcakes you like, so I brought one of every flavor!”, she said.

Dinky looked into the box. A mishmash of colors answered her look. There were red strawberry cupcakes, purple grape cupcakes, even white coconut cupcakes! And a lot of other flavors as well. Dinky saw never so many cupcakes at one spot, except behind the vitrine of Sugarcube Corner. She picked out the coconut one and bit greedily into it. From all the fun games she played with Pinkie Pie, she hadn't noticed how hungry she already was. Pinkie grabbed the strawberry cupcake and before she could bite into it, Dinky was already picking out the next one, grape flavor this time. As she had almost eaten it, a thought hit her. She let the remnants of the cupcake sink.

Pinkie looked surprised at her. “Is something wrong?”, she asked.

“You paid for all this cupcakes out of your own pocket, aren't you?”

Pinkie nodded.

Dinky felt slightly guilty over hearing that. She just wanted to have Pinkie as her playmate for today, but she did not want that Pinkie spent so much money to buy her something for lunch. “I'm sorry”, she said. “I can't repay you for the cupcakes I eat. I don't get much pocket money.....” She looked with hanging shoulders to the ground and her eyes trembled a little.

Pinkie looked even more surprised now. “Repaying me? You don't need to repay me, silly!” She gave her a chummy pat on the back.

Dinky looked up to her, a shy expression on her face.

“I have enough money saved up and if some cupcakes are left, I just take them with me to the picnic with my friends later today! I would have bought some for the picnic anyway!”

“Are you sure?”, Dinky answered. She didn't wanted to put Pinkie Pie out.

“Sure!”, Pinkie answered happily. “You don't have to feel bad for it, it's okay! Here, eat another one!” She pulled out a pink one with orange sprinkles and placed it in Dinky's hooves.

Dinky's eyes gleamed from joy. She took a bite from the cupcake and then leaned her head against Pinkie's side. “Thanks”, she said. “If I wouldn't have met you it would be a boring day and I would just sit around here! I wouldn't know what I should do without you!”

“Oh, but I know!”, Pinkie bursted out, earning a surprised look from Dinky. “You could have gone to the mirror pool and creating a Dinky clone! Then you could play with yourself!”

“The mirror pool?” Dinky got interested.

“Yeah, it's in the Everfree Forest! My granny told me about it and when I needed a lot of Pinkies one day to have fun with all of my friends at the same time I went to it and created two Pinkie clones. But they got out of control and created even more clones! I thought that would be fine first, but they were so crazy, even crazier than I am, and they created so much chaos that even Discord would be jealous!”

“And what happened then?”, Dinky asked, eagerly to hear the rest of the story.

“Twilight found a spell to sent them back into the mirror pool! But we had a lot of trouble and my friends needed to find out first who the real Pinkie is! But luckily, they did, and when all of the Pinkie clones were gone, she sealed the entrance to the mirror pool to avoid that this happens again!”

Dinky was fascinated. She did not know that Pinkie knew such exciting stories! “Can you tell me more stories like that?”, she asked her.

“Of course!”, Pinkie answered. “But I know something even better. I'm not only telling you a story, I also show you something!” Pinkie pointed towards the lake in front of them. “My granny told me that a secret underwater cave is in this lake. She said that an evil unicorn imprisoned a sea dragon there a few hundred years ago and that he grants everypony who frees him a wish!”

Dinky looked uncertain at her, not sure if this was just another game or if Pinkie was serious. “You mean, a real dragon? Not just one from my imagination?”

“Yeah! My granny knew a lot of things, because she traveled around the whole world as a filly!”

Dinky jumped up in suspense. “Can we dive down and search for the dragon?”

“Well, d'uh! That's why I told you about it!”

Dinky gave her a hug of pure joy. A pony could have even more fun with Pinkie than she thought!

Pinkie ruffled her mane. “But let's eat more first! Granny said the cave is very deep and we don't want to get hungry down there!”

Dinky nodded and sat down on the ground again, where she continued to eat her cupcake.

In her thoughts, she was already down in the underwater cave, excitedly thinking about what adventures would await her and Pinkie down there.....

Day 11: Some Chances Never Come Back

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Rrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing

Rainbow Dash heard the sound of her alarm clock and slowly opened her eyes. Reaching out with one hoof to it, she switched it off. She stretched herself a little and then got out of her bed. It was time to get up.

She was awake the whole night to discuss some interesting details on the cover of the newest Daring Do book that would get released in a month with some other fans of the famous adventurer and so she slept very long today. The pegasus was still a little tired after the long speculations, that got a bit heated near the end, but there were things she had to get done today, so she forced herself to finally get up.

Rainbow Dash slowly trotted down the stairs and opened the door of her cloud house. The newspaper was already there, which was no surprise, because it was already afternoon. She lifted it up from the ground and carried it inside. She felt hungry, but before she would make breakfast, she wanted to take a first look into the newspaper.
Every time she slept so long she felt guilty for being so inactive, no matter what was the reason for it, and so she wanted to at least check the newspaper before making breakfast.

She carried the newspaper back up the stairs and into her bedroom, where she sat down, the newspaper on her lap. She opened it up and browsed through the pages to see if something interesting was going on. It were mostly the usual things and nothing was particularly exciting. She turned another page and looked at the big headline in the middle of the page:

Charity Auction of original Daring Do manuscript a huge success!
1,000 bits raised for the Cloudsdale orphanage!

Rainbow Dash froze. Terror and disbelief were reflected all over her face. “NO!”, she thought. “That can't be! I forgot about the auction of the original manuscript of 'Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds'!” Rainbow Dash could not believe it. No, she did not want to believe it! And yet it was true.

“How could this happen?”, she thought. “How could I be so stupid?”

Her mind raced as she was recaping the last night.

“Okay, I wanted to go home yesterday. But then one of the others showed us the cover of the newest Daring Do book. We began to talk about it because there were so many interesting details on it and then it got late. The discussion got a little heated at the end and after it ended, I was a bit angry because of some stupid arguments.
And because the cover and being so angry distracted me I forgot to think on it that I have to get up early enough today to be at the auction and so I slept in for too long!” Rainbow Dash was quietly murmuring all of this during her recap of the last night's events.

Unbelievingly, she got up, sat down at her desk and took out the flyer that was announcing the auction and got confirmed what she already knew. The auction ended a few hours ago! Rainbow Dash looked at the newspaper article again and, frozen from shock and disbelief, she could not look away from it.

Rainbow Dash began to stutter. “I..... I..... what..... what..... no..... this..... this can't be..... Why had this to happen? Why? WHY? How could I be so stupid to miss this?” Rainbow Dash sank resigned down in her chair. “That manuscript was one of a kind.....”, she thought. “And because that I can never get it again..... This chance will never come back.....”

All the sorrow she felt now was washing over her. Soon, her sorrow turned into anger. She clashed her right hoof on her desk. “BUCK IT!”, she exclaimed loudly. And then again. And then three more times. “BUCK IT! BUCK IT! BUCK IT!”

Having lost control completely for a moment, she joggled furiously at the tabletop of her desk. She breathed heavily and then she got up, down the stairs and into the kitchen to make herself breakfast.

After having prepared it, which happened a lot louder than usual since Rainbow Dash was smashing the doors of the cupboards shut and putting things down very loudly out of anger and frustration, she brought her breakfast to the kitchen table. It was more than usual cause Rainbow Dash suddenly felt the need for comfort eating. After she had finished her breakfast, she left her house and flew down to Ponyville. She needed to talk to somepony now.

Arrived in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash went into Sugarcube Corner. The other Daring Do fans, who did not knew about the auction, were there, as usually at this hour of the day. She ordered a milkshake and then sat down on the table between them, her shoulders hanging.

“Guys, I'm an idiot”, was the first thing she said. “I'm a complete, 100% bucking idiot.”

One of the Daring Do fans at the table looked awkwardly at her. “Ok”, was the only thing he said.

“Why?”, asked another one.

“I got so distracted over this cover yesterday and the conflict we had in our discussion made me so upset that I forgot something when going to sleep and so I slept too long. And then I missed this.” Rainbow Dash pulled out the newspaper with the page that shocked her so much open and pushed it in the middle of the table for everypony to see. “Why? WHY AM I SO STUPID??????”, she began again. “I planned to get up early enough to bid on this and then this whole thing made me forgetting it!” She looked down on the table, sorrow adorning her face.

“Jeez”, said the pony who just answered her outbreak with a short “ok”, an earth pony stallion with a grey coat.

The other pony who asked her why she said that she's an idiot, another earth pony stallion with a pink coat similar to Pinkie, just laughed.

Rainbow Dash exploded over it that this pony did not only not understand, but also laughed about her misery. “IT'S NOT FUNNY!”, she snapped at him.

The grey earth pony spoke again. “1,000 Bits for that manuscript”, he said unbelievably.

“Yes, but I could have afforded it! And now this chance has died and there were original notes by the author in it!!!!!!”, Rainbow Dash replied desperately.

“I wonder how much the manuscripts of the other books would sell for”, the grey earth pony wondered.

“I don't care”, Rainbow answered resigned. “I only care about what I missed.”

Nopony answered Rainbow Dash. She was disappointed. She had hoped that a bunch of Daring Do fans like her would understand and try to cheer her up, but that was not the case. They all talked about different things and ignored her. But Rainbow Dash continued anyway.

“All those notes by A.K. Yearling. All the notes she made while writing this Daring Do book. I could have gotten it! And then I oversleep! Why?”, she cried out again.

But nopony was answering.

“WHY? I hate myself right now.....”, was the last thing Rainbow Dash said, before falling in silence.

After having sat there without saying anything and just listening to the conversation of the other ponies, who still ignored her, for several minutes, Rainbow Dash couldn't hold it anymore, and began with her desperated mumbling again.

“I hate myself, I hate myself so much.....”

Finally, one of the other Daring Do fans, the earth pony with the grey coat, paid attention to her. “Dwelling on it isn't going to help. And neither is voicing it”, he said.

Rainbow Dash looked up. She saw that the earth pony stallion was the only pony at the table, besides her. The others had left without her noticing it. She looked at him. “Then what do you suggest?”, she asked, a little provocatively.

“Get over it. If I may put it so bluntly”, he answered.

“You can't get over things like that”, Rainbow Dash answered quietly. “You can get over a lot of things, but not over something like that.”

“Correction”, he said. “You can't get over it.”

“No, nopony can”, Rainbow Dash answered.

“Just bid on the next manuscript that gets auctioned”, the grey stallion suggested.

But Rainbow Dash had already continued as he started his sentence. “This is one of the things that scar you for life. The manuscript I would have bought was one of a kind and because it was one of a kind I can never get something that makes up for it that I missed this page and the chance will never come back.
You can only get over something if you will be compensated for the loss, but there's no compensation for this loss. So you can't get over it. You can only learn to deal with the feeling that will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

Then she answered on his suggestion. “And I will”, she said. “If there is any other manuscript for sale in the future I will definitely buy it, but even that could not get me over it that I missed this one.”

“I have a lot of my own feelings to deal with”, the stallion began again. “But the idea is to block them out and forget what caused them.”

“You can only suppress it”, Rainbow Dash replied to his words. “But even if you do that, sometimes, you will think on it and the feeling will return. Somehow, it will always be there from now on.” Rainbow Dash sighed deeply. “The only way it couldn't would be that I will get this manuscript, because the buyer sells it one day by himself. But this chance is slim”, she continued.

Now the earth pony stallion sighed too. “I'm not feeling very social today and this definitely isn't helping. I leave you to your own havoc.” Then he got up, paid for his drink and left Sugarcube Corner.

“It doesn't matter to me. There's nothing that can help me. Except time that lets the wound this has ripped open inside of me heal to a scar so that it won't hurt constantly anymore.....”, she said before he left, so that he could only just hear it before he went out.

Rainbow Dash was a little disappointed over it that he just left without talking more with her, but she felt a little better after this conversation. But she was far from feeling fine again. She decided to leave Sugarcube Corner too, without anypony left to talk to. Her milkshake had not been brought yet, because many ponies were in Sugarcube Corner today, and so she cancelled her order. Then she left the bakery.

Outside, she was lifting herself off into the air and flew into the direction of the Whitetail Woods. There, she landed on a small cloud and lied down on it in a position that allowed her to look over the edge of the cloud, down into the woods beneath her.

For the rest of the day, she did nothing else than watching the animals down there following their life. Usually, she was not interested in that. Watching animals was boring for her. But when she was really depressed and talking with her friends or other ponies did not help, it helped her to recover and to get over what ailed her soul. So she stayed there until Celestia set the sun.

As it became dark and she couldn't see the animals anymore, she left the cloud and returned home. There was still something that she wanted to get done today, but now she was tired and so she decided to go to sleep and to delay those duties on the next day. With her last strength, she hauled herself up the stairs and into her bedroom.

Falling into her bed and almost immediately asleep, she hoped for it that the next day would be better for her.....

Day 12: The Dragon of the Whitetail Woods -Part 2-

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As Dinky and Pinkie couldn't eat any more cupcakes, Pinkie closed the box, that was still half full, and placed it carefully under a tree. Then she trotted back to the shore where Dinky was waiting for her. “Are you ready?”, she asked her.

“Yes!”, Dinky answered. “Let's go!” She turned around to the lake, took a run and jumped into the clear water.

Pinkie smiled and then she followed after her, hitting the water besides the filly.

“I don't know where the entrance to the cave is, so we have to dive down and search for it!”, Pinkie said as she came up again.

Pinkie dived down and Dinky eagerly followed her.

One could think that the cave should be easily recognizeable from the surface, with the lake's clear water, but this was not the case. The lake was much deeper than Dinky and Pinkie thought. They could not see it's ground and every time after they dived down without finding the entrance to the cave, they had to swim up again to get fresh air.

After some attempts without any results, Dinky saw something and pointed forward to make Pinkie aware of it. Pinkie nodded and they swam closer. A big opening gaped there, so big that it stretched over the wall of the lake and the ground alike. They could not fathom how far deep it went. Pinkie and Dinky shared a quick nod and then they returned to the surface. Dinky and Pinkie looked happily at each other. “Found it!” They gave each other a high-hoof.

“We don't know how long we will have to hold our breaths, so we must breathe in as deep as we can!”, Pinkie explained.

Dinky nodded reverently, understanding the importance of what Pinkie said.

Pinkie Pie counted to three, then they took a deep breath and dived down to the entrance again. They passed the gaping hole and were now under the earth. Everything became dark around them immediately. Dinky lit up her horn again. The bright, yellow light filled the water around them and reached down to the bottom of the water tunnel.
Orienting on the ground underneath them Pinkie and Dinky made their way through the tunnel.

It led them deeper and deeper down into the earth. After a few meters, the downwards grade turned into an even, horizontal path that led straight into one direction. Pinkie could see a light in the far distance, but she was not sure if the exit of the water tunnel was there or if it was just the water reflecting the light from Dinky's horn. She hoped that it was the exit, though, because she could already feel that she wouldn't be able to hold her breath much longer. And a little filly like Dinky, she knew, could hold her breath only a shorter period of time than a grown-up mare like her.

Like on cue, Dinky grimaced after they followed the tunnel over a few more meters and pressed a hoof against her mouth. She looked at Pinkie, a worried expression on her face. Dinky and Pinkie quickened their pace, steadily swimming to the light Pinkie noticed in the distance and of which she still not knew if it meant that the exit of the water tunnel was there. As the tunnel pointed upwards suddenly, Dinky couldn't hold it anymore. Running out of breath, she opened her mouth and could feel water streaming into it. She threw her hooves around in panic and her magic vanished from her horn. She couldn't keep the concentration on it anymore. Pinkie grabbed one of her hooves and swam up fast into the new direction. She could see a light above her head and it came closer with every inch they left behind them. Dinky's swimming movements stopped suddenly and she only got dragged by Pinkie up to the light now. As her eyes began to shut close and she had almost passed out, they finally broke through the surface of the water into a wide and extensive cavern.

Dinky spilled out some water. Pinkie dragged her across the surface of the water as she suddenly reached firm ground. She lifted Dinky out of the water and put her on the ground in front of her. Then she climbed out of the water. Dinky lied on her back. She coughed and splurted out water every few seconds, but aside from that she seemed to be fine, Pinkie noticed.

“Hey, are you okay?”, she asked the little filly. Dinky nodded, then splurted out some more water. “I'm okay”, she said then.

Pinkie helped her getting up. The filly turned around, still a bit wonky on her legs, and looked fascinated at the light shining through the cave. Most of the rocks of which the walls, the ceiling and the ground under their hooves consisted of were the usual, grey rocks a pony would expect in a cave, but between them were some stones that radiated a blue, pulsating light. Those stones were it where the light in the cave came from. They also reached further into the cave, away from the water that Pinkie and Dinky just left. “So it's really existing!”, Dinky said in awe, with bright, sparkling eyes over the beauty around her.

The light of the stones was bright enough to shine their way and so Dinky refrained from lighting up her horn again. Instead, she immediately trotted into the corridor that led them deeper into the cave. Pinkie was surprised about the energy Dinky had. She just almost drowned and yet she was already fit enough to explore this cave again.

As Dinky noticed that Pinkie wasn't following her, she turned around. “Hey, what are you waiting for?”, she answered impatiently. “Let's go and search for the dragon!” She hopped up a little from all her excitement.

Pinkie Pie smiled and then she followed her. As she had catched up with the little filly, Dinky began to move again and they began with their exploration of the deep cave. Even if Pinkie trusted her granny completely, she was surprised about it that the cave actually really existed. Unlike with the mirror pool, her granny was never here and only heard about this cave from other ponies she met on her travels. Would they really meet an imprisoned sea dragon here? Was the story Granny told her true or was that just a cave, with nothing in it than rocks? The answer on these questions came earlier for Pinkie than she expected.

“We must stop!” The voice of Dinky suddenly interrupted her thoughts and pulled her back into the reality of the cave again.

Pinkie stopped and looked forward. In front of her, just a few inches away, a cluster of red light rays was floating between the ceiling, the ground and the walls of the cave. They were arranged in a confusing way, every single ray pointing into a different direction and having a different angle or shape. The only things that all of them had in common were that they filled the complete space between the walls of the corridor and that they stretched themselves out over several meters down the cave's corridor. They were completely blocking the way. Some of them reached even up to the ceiling of the cave!

Pinkie was an earth pony, but she knew what these rays were. Somepony had created a magical trap to prevent ponies who came into this cave from going further! Pinkie trotted up close to the trap and held one of her hooves at the magical rays, just near enough that she was not touching it. She could feel the heat emerging from them. If she would touch them, she would probably burn her hoof. Or worse.

Dinky stepped at her side. “What happens if we touch them?”, she asked the pink mare.

“I don't know”, Pinkie answered. “But these rays are hot, we should not try it out!”

Dinky lifted up a small pebble. She made a few steps back, bringing some distance between her and the magical trap, and then threw the stone at the rays.

A little cloud of steam rose up as the pebble hit one of the rays and when it landed at the other side, Dinky and Pinkie could see that it was split in half. They shuddered. Now they knew what would happen to them, if they should accidentally touch one of the magical rays. The filly and the mare gulped. If the story of the evil unicorn was true then it was clear that it did take it seriously to prevent other ponies from exploring the cave.

“Is it even possible to get behind these rays?”, Dinky asked intimidated.

Pinkie began to examine the rays. They were obviously arranged so confusingly to keep others away, but Pinkie noticed that the different arrangement of the rays also left gaps between them that a pony could use to make it's way through to the other side. It was like a big, floating labyrinth consisting of magical rays that could cut a pony into pieces if it would make a wrong move. It was risky, but if they were careful and worked their way through the rays slowly, they could try it. Pinkie looked around and searched for a spot to enter the dangerous trap. To the right of her, one of the rays was floating high enough to crawl behind it. And at the other side, there was enough space to stand.

“I think we can try it here!” Pinkie trotted to the right and showed Dinky the spot she found. “I will lead the way”, Pinkie said. “Stay close behind me and don't try other directions than the ones I choose!”

Dinky assured her to listen to her and then Pinkie crawled under the deadly ray. As she had reached the other side, she checked the rays around her. The rays in front of her were too close together and made it impossible to get behind them without getting hurt. It was the same with the rays to her right. The rays to her left were floating very close to the floor and the space behind them was free. Pinkie looked up. There were no rays floating above them either. If she aimed precisely she could jump over them to the other side.

Pinkie turned to the left and trotted back as far as she could without touching the rays behind her. Then she jumped. She was almost sure that the distance was too long, but she made it safely to the other side. After she jumped, Dinky crawled under the ray to the spot were Pinkie just stood. There she turned left and watched Pinkie how she examined the next set of rays in front of her.

Four rays built a square that was floating slightly above the ground. The opening between the rays was not very big, so Pinkie had no other choice then to move beyond the rays slowly. She set the first hoof over the ray that marked the bottom of the square. Then she lowered her head and set the second hoof over the ray and to the other side. Keeping her head low, she slowly inched forward with her front hooves, until her back hooves had almost reached the ray. She carefully pulled one of them over the ray and set it down on the other side. Then she did the same with the other one. As she stood completely on the other side, she made a step forward and sighed relieved.
Then she turned around and looked back to Dinky, who hesitated to jump over the rays in front of her, a fearful expression gracing her face. “Don't worry, it's not very far!”, she motivated her.

Dinky trotted back as she watched Pinkie doing it before and gulped. Then she lowered her body a little and jumped. As she had almost reached the other side, she noticed that her jump was not far enough. Her front hooves and the most of her body were aimed at the safe ground on the other side, but her back hooves were still above the rays!

Pinkie let out a scream and Dinky closed her eyes while preparing for the inevitable pain, not wanting to see how the rays would cut into her hooves any second. Pinkie covered her eyes with her hooves. But the pain did not come. Shaking from fear, Dinky slowely opened her eyes and looked down at her. Her back hooves were positioned in the tiny gap between the middle and the last one of the rays. Unlike Pinkie's hooves, her's were tiny enough to fit into this gap. Pinkie removed her hooves from her eyes and looked over to Dinky. She could not see Dinky's hooves from her position and terror and anxiety were adorning her usually so cheerful face. Before she could say anything, Dinky told her that she was fine. Then she stepped over the last ray.

As Pinkie had crossed the next rays, to her left this time, Dinky trotted through the square of rays. It was a lot easier for her, since she was smaller than Pinkie, and so she just stepped over the bottom ray without having to duck her head to avoid to touch the upper one.

In this way, Dinky and Pinkie made their way through the labyrinth of rays. Sometimes they turned left, then right and sometimes they even had to go back a little into the direction they came from to be able to go ahead later on. Dinky stayed always close behind Pinkie and proceeded to move beyond a set of rays as soon as Pinkie had left the empty spot in front of them. After about twenty minutes, they had both managed it to reach the other side of the barrier of magical rays.

They collapsed to the ground, breaving heavily, and stayed there, all limbs stretched out, while the tension slowly left them and their bodies relaxed again. After a few minutes of recovering, they slowly rose to their feet, ready to continue their path.

They could see that the corridor became wider in front of them and after a few steps, they stood in a big room. Big holes gaped in the outer side of the room, seven in total, everyone of them giving way to a different corridor. They could see that, after some meters, all of them led into a different direction, making it unclear which way they should take. And the entrance of all of them looked the same.

Having no indication which way was the right one, Dinky and Pinkie just headed through the entrance in the middle. They trotted along the new corridor and after making a turn, they suddenly saw the magical barrier they just passed through in front of them again. The corridor brought them back to where they were before entering it! They quickly realized that this was another spell by the evil unicorn that should stop them from going further. Dinky and Pinkie turned around, facing the entrances again. Apparently, only one of them was the right one that led to the other side.

Having a sudden idea, Pinkie Pie lifted up a little stone and threw it against the entrance they just entered. Instead of falling into the corridor behind it, the stone hit a solid rock surface. The entrance flickered a little and almost disappeared, showing that there was really nothing more than a wall. Pinkie walked up alone to the entrance this time. Them something strange happened. Dinky saw how Pinkie stopped as she couldn't go further. Then she turned around, a sudden, glazed expression in her eyes. She made a few steps forward and then the expression disappeared.

“The entrance is just an illusion”, Pinkie said. “We never walked through it and if we try, we get hypnotized somehow to make us think we walked through it.”

“Then it's easy!”, Dinky answered, earning a nod from Pinkie who knew what she meant.

They lifted up more stones and threw them against the other six entrances, one after another, to find out which one was real. As Dinky threw the last one against the entrance on the far left, it did not hit a wall and flew into the corridor that the entrance showed instead. Grinning satisfiedly, they made their way into the new corridor. This trap was an easy one.

As they were trotting through this corridor, Pinkie Pie began to think about it what she should wish from the dragon if the story was true and they should really find him there. She had everything she wanted actually. She had her friends, she had a job that was fun and everypony in Ponyville loved her for her cheerful attitude and her talent for making others happy again. There was really nothing she could wish for. She had everything she needed. Instead of continuing to ponder about it, she asked Dinky what wish she had.

The filly put a hoof to her chin and thought about this question. Similar to Pinkie, she had a quite happy life. Sure, school was annoying sometimes, but she had many friends, she lived a happy life with her mom and there were no real problems in her life she wanted to get rid of. The only thing that came to her mind right now was that she did not get much pocket money, like she told Pinkie earlier this day, but this was nothing that bothered the little filly too much. She did not buy many things anyway. Maybe she should just wish for something simple, like a bucket of ice cream or getting a new toy?

Dinky shrugged. “I don't know, there is not really anything I need”, she answered Pinkie's question. “I'm just in for the adventure!”, she added.

As Pinkie wanted to answer something, she and Dinky suddenly hit their heads on something. “Ow!”, they simultaneously cried out in pain and stumbled back.
As the pain on their foreheads subsided, they looked what caused the impact. But there was nothing. The corridor was leading further into the direction they headed and in front of them was nothing more than air. They trotted a few steps forward again, slower this time, and ran again into something. It felt like there was a wall of solid rock in front of them. They touched around the invisible wall with their hooves to find a spot where they could slip through but there was nothing.

“It's a magical barrier. And there's nothing we can do to surpass it”, Dinky said. She turned around and hung her head. “I guess that's the end of our adventure then. We won't find the dragon.” Dinky sniffled and wiped over her eyes with one hoof.

“Hey come on, we have a dragon to find!”, Pinkie's voice sounded behind her suddenly.

Thinking of a joke, Dinky turned around and stared unbelievingly at what she saw. Pinkie stood at the other side of the barrier, bouncing up and down happily.

“What? How did you.....”, Dinky began to ask her completely baffled. Then she noticed a hole in the ground right from her. It led directly to the other side. But that was impossible! The ground consisted of rocks! Pinkie could not just have digged a hole through it! Dinky shook her head. It was probably really right what the ponies in Ponyville said, you should not question Pinkie Pie too much. She shook her head again and then climbed through the hole to the other side, still awe-struck. Arrived there, Pinkie started to bouncing ahead, further down the cave. Dinky followed her closely.

After another few turns, they heard a painful outcry sounding in front of them. It came from right around the corner. They took the next turn and then they saw where the outcry came from. In front of them, in the middle of another big room, sat a beautiful, blue dragon.

His body was long and thin, akin to the body of a snake, and countless green scales adorned his body. At the end of his tail were two big fins, one at each side. Pinkie and Dinky just stood there for a moment, with open eyes, upon realizing that the legend was true.

Having noticed them, the dragon cried out in despair.

Pinkie and Dinky rushed up to him. “There's no reason to cry anymore!”, Pinkie announced happily. “We are here to free you!” But the reaction Pinkie had reckoned with did not happen. Instead, the dragon cried out even more.

“You are not the first ones who try this! There were so many ponies over the hundreds of years who tried to free me, but nopony can!”, he wailed.

Confusion appeared on the faces of Pinkie and Dinky. “Why not?”, Dinky asked him.

The dragon sighed and dried his tears. “It's because of the curse”, he answered, a bit more calmly now.

“Curse?”, Dinky and Pinkie answered both.

“Yes, the curse. The unicorn that imprisoned me here was casting a curse on me that prevents me from leaving this cave. Even if a mighty unicorn would come and destroy the magical traps that were built here, it could not get me out of this cave.” He sighed again and then continued. “But it makes me still happy about it that you tried it. I don't get much company anymore since I was imprisoned here and I want to thank you for this by fulfilling you a wish, no matter what it is, like I did with everypony that came here to free me from this prison.”

“So, it's true that you grant ponies a wish. But why can't you just wish yourself out of this cave?”, Dinky asked him perplexed. “When your magic is strong enough to grant others a wish, shouldn't it also be strong enough to wish yourself out?”

“It's not so easy. This is not the way how it works”, the sea dragon answered her sadly. “I can only fulfill the wishes of others, but not my own.”

Dinky looked helplessly to the ground. Then her face lit up. Now she knew what she could wish for! Looking at Pinkie, she saw at the grin in her face that she had the same idea. “I wish that the curse of the unicorn will get broken!”, she said.

“And I wish that the traps in the cave disappear!”, Pinkie added.

The dragon looked up, disbelief in his face. “Are you sure? You really want to use your wishes for me?”

Pinkie and Dinky nodded. “Sure. There is not really anything we need anyway. We're happy with our lifes as they are. But you're not happy with yours so we wish you free!”, Pinkie explained.

The eyes of the dragon became watery. This was the first time that this happened. All the other ponies that came to him did not even consider this possibility for a second. He nodded thankfully at them and then he concentrated on their desires. His body began to glow in a bright, blinding blue. As the light vanished, the dragon looked at them with a smile on his face, his first real smile after hundreds of years.

“Our wishes have been fulfilled!”, he said. “Thanks to you I will be able to leave this cave now!”

Not wasting anymore time, he lifted up his massive body and walked past the ponies. Dinky and Pinkie followed him. As they had arrived at the magical barrier, they got confimed that their wishes really worked. Instead of having to use Pinkie's hole, that she digged so mysteriously, again, they could just walk through. The trap of magic rays was gone too and so they reached the water tunnel, that marked the entrance of the cave, soon.

As the sea dragon touched the water with his body, he began to cry tears from joy. “I was imprisoned here for 500 years and now I can finally swim in the water again!”, he shouted out happily.

With one swoop, he lifted Pinkie and Dinky on his back and then he dived into the water and made his way through the tunnel. His speed was enormous, Pinkie and Dinky noticed, and so they barely needed a minute to leave the tunnel and to dive out of the lake. Having arrived there, the dragon brought them to the shore.

“Where are you going now?”, Pinkie asked the dragon. “Nowhere” the dragon answered. “This lake was always my home and now it will be my home again!”

Dinky looked up into the sky and noticed that the sun stood already deep, having taken on an orange glow. She jumped. “Oh no! It's already evening. I'm sure mommy is already waiting for me!”, she said worried. “I'm sorry, I must go now!”, she said to the dragon.

He wordlessly bowed down before Dinky and Pinkie to express his gratitude again and then Dinky dashed off.

Pinkie looked behind her. “We will visit you sometimes and we will tell the other ponies in Ponyville about you! I'm sure you can need a lot of visitors now!”, Pinkie told him.

The dragon nodded. “Thank you!”, he said.

Then Pinkie ran up to the tree where she left the box with the cupcakes. She lifted it up and put it on her back. She waved a last time at the dragon. He waved back at her and then Pinkie followed Dinky out of the woods.

Day 13: Spike's Hearts and Hooves Day Surprise

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It was Hearts and Hooves Day in Equestria. The holiday for all lovestruck ponies. The day on which everypony spent some especially romantic time with it's colt- or marefriend. At least those who actually had such a relationship.

Spike didn't. He loved Rarity, but so far, it was unsure if Rarity would respond to his love for her in the way he wished. And he was not a pony. But neither of these things could change the fact that he was lovestruck as well. And no matter what Rarity may or may not felt for him, Spike loved her, and on this special day, he wanted to give the mare of his heart a big present.

He had planned this day for a very long time. Months ago he decided which present it should be and he saved up every bit he got for this present. He even took on some jobs in the town where ever an opportunity popped up to earn some money and getting enough bits together. It was a very expensive present and it was hard and strenous to collect the boatload of money he would need to pay for it, but for Rarity, it was all worth it.

Now he was on the way to the flower shop, because flowers should be what he wanted to present Rarity with. Now, flowers are not a very original or creative present, and a quite cheap one, but the flowers Spike was aiming for were rare. Rare and thus very expensive.

They were diamond tulips. They've gotten this name because, when they were discovered, ponies found small diamonds in their heads. The tulips itself were, in fact, regular tulips a pony could find everywhere in Equestria. But sometimes, the seed of a tulip began to sprout under a diamond in the ground and during the growing of the flower, the diamond became encapsulated in it. They became a very popular present among ponies, especially for Hearts and Hooves Day, and so flower shops who could get ahold of them, could earn a lot of money. The flower tulips were harvested, after being discovered by unicorns using gem finding spells, before their heads could open, so that they would serve as a natural packaging for the gem inside. If they were put into water after buying them, they slowly opened their heads and a few days later, the diamond was visible in all it's sparkling glory.

And this was it why Spike headed to the flower shop this morning; to buy a diamond tulip for Rarity. And it was not just one he wanted to buy, he wanted to buy a whole bouquet of them. Every year on Hearts and Hooves Day, the Ponyville flower shop got a small delivery of diamond tulips, ten to twenty tulips in total, and Spike wanted to buy all of them. He knew how much Rarity loved diamond tulips and that they were her favourite sorts of flowers and he had enough to buy this expensive present for her. He knew that she would be immeasurably happy about it and maybe, it would also open her heart for him.

Spike whistled a cheerful tune as he walked around a corner and the flower shop came in sight in some meters distance. Today, he would make Rarity the happiest mare in Ponyville!

After he had crossed the remaining distance to the shop he swung open the door and entered it. The doorbell rang and Lily, Daisy and Rose looked over to him. “Hey Spike!”, they greeted him. “Are you buying flowers for Rarity?” They snickered a little. Everypony in town knew about this crush on Rarity and so the three flower sisters were not surprised to see him here today.

Spike walked up to the counter at the back end of the shop. “Yep!”, he answered. “But this time I'm going to buy special flowers for Rarity! I will buy her a bouquet of diamond tulips!”, he exclaimed proudly.

With these words, the smiles vanished from the faces of the sisters and were replaced by compassion. “I'm sorry, Spike”, Rose began, “but they are sold out. A stallion just came here a few minutes before you and bought all of them for his wife as a Hearts and Hooves Day present.”

Spike's world shattered into pieces. “What?!”, he asked, completely shocked. “But I was going to buy them for Rarity! I saved so much money for them! I need those flowers!”

“I'm very sorry, Spike”, Daisy expressed her regrets. “Maybe you could just buy other flowers for her? If you have enough bits to buy her a whole bouquet of diamond tulips, you can buy her even more flowers of another sort!”, she tried to cheer him up.

“How about some–“, Lily began, but Spike interrupted her.

“No!”, he said. “It must be diamond tulips! I have planned to buy Rarity something special this year and I'm not going to give this up! No other flower is good enough for Rarity!”

The three mares looked at him with concern.

“I must know who has bought the diamond tulips! I will go to him and try to make a deal to get them for Rarity! Maybe I can at least get some of the tulips! Tell me his name!”, he demanded.

Daisy, Lily and Rose hesitated. They knew how much Spike could get carried away when it had to do something with Rarity and they did not want that he bothered a pony in his infatuation. But Spike was nagging them and complaining about the situation, until they gave in annoyed.

“Thanks!”, he said to them after they told him the identity of the stallion and then he rushed out of the flower shop.

The stallion who had bought the diamond tulips was Noteworthy. Spike remembered. His wedding was just a few months ago. Noteworthy lived in the outskirts of Ponyville, so Spike had to walk quite a while before coming to the house where he and his wife lived in, but since it was for Rarity, he accepted this long walk gladly.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the house. He knocked on the door and hoped that Noteworthy was at home and that he hadn't presented his wife with the flowers already. As much as Spike loved Rarity, but he could not insist on getting the flowers if they were already in the possession of Noteworthy's wife. He was a dragon with manners, after all, and he did not wanted to ruin Hearts and Hooves Day for a happy couple like them.

Suddenly, Spike heard hoofsteps coming up to the door. Then it opened and Noteworthy stood in front of Spike.

“Hey Noteworthy!”, Spike began. “I heard you bought the whole range of diamond tulips from the flower shop.”

Noteworthy nodded. “Yeah”, he answered.

“Has your wife already seen them?”, the small dragon asked him.

“No, not yet.” A confused expression appeared in Noteworthy's face. “Why do you asking for them?”

“Because I need them!”, Spike bursted out. “I wanted to buy them first to give them to Rarity, but then you came and bought them before me! I wanted to give Rarity something special for Hearts and Hooves Day and that's why I need them from you. I can repay you for them! I have saved up money for months to buy Rarity these flowers!”

But Noteworty shook his head. “I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I needed a last-minute present, because the ruby necklace I wanted to buy was gone before I could get it and if I give you the tulips now, I don't have anything that I can use as a present anymore.”

Spike let his shoulders hang. Noteworthy was not willing to give him the tulips, not even for money, and Spike could hear at his voice that nothing could convince him. Except..... Spike had an idea. He looked up to Noteworthy again. “Then I will get you this necklace back! I will get it back and you give me the tulips for it!”

“Actually, I don't think you can–“, Noteworthy began to express his disbelief that Spike could manage this, but Spike interrupted him.

“I can!”, he exclaimed. “Please let me try it, Noteworthy!” The dragon looked at him with the most adorable puppy-eyed look.

Noteworthy thought over the offer for a moment. Actually, there was no disadvantage for him in this deal. If Spike didn't made it, he could just keep the flowers as present for his wife and if he should succeed against all expectations, he could get the present he wanted to have originally.

“Ok”, he agreed. “But you have only time until Celestia starts to set the sun. If I don't have the necklace at 07:00 PM I will give the flowers to my wife. The pony who bought the necklace is the mare who runs the kindergarten.”

“Oh, thank you!” Spike jumped up at him and gave him a quick hug out of thankfulness. Then he turned round at the spot and hurried away, to the house where he would get what he needed. “I will get you the necklace, you'll see!”, he shouted back to him while he was running to his destination.

The teacher of the local kindergarten did not live far away. Right now, Spike was really happy about it that Ponyville was such a small town that everypony knew everypony. He could reach the house of the kindergartner quick and with all the money he had, it would be child's play to get the ruby necklace!

As he had come to the house, he ringed the doorbell and waited. It took a while until the door was opened and Spike already thought that nopony was at home, as he heard scuffing hoofsteps behind the door, who approached it only very slowly. The mare who opened the door was a pathetic sight.

Her mane was ruffled into all possible directions, her tongue hang out of her mouth and she had a runny nose. The mare coughed. “What do you want?”, she asked with a scratchy voice.

The mare was obviously sick. But Spike did not care for this right now. He had his own fair share of problems and at best, the condition of the mare would make the negotiations easier. “You bought a ruby necklace recently, right?” His voice fluttered in excitement.

“Yes”, she answered taut, sparing herself from saying too much as her throat hurted.

“I came to make a deal with you. I need this necklace and I want to buy it from you. I have lots of money, the price won't be a problem!”

Of course it wouldn't be so easy. The mare shook her head slowly. “I already bought it and it's mine”, she said stern.

“Oh, please!”, Spike ignored the rejection of his offer. “I need the necklace to bring it to Noteworthy, who wanted to buy it as present for his wife, so that I can get the diamond tulips that he bought before me and that I wanted to give Rarity as a present and if I don't get them then I won't have a present for Rarity this year!” Spike was fidgeting around in agitation.

But this made the mare only annoyed at him. “I said no! I won't give it to you and I'm not interested in your money!”, she answered in a harsh tone. “Buy another present for your beloved mare.”

But Spike did not give up so easily. “Then let me do something for you! If you don't want my money, then just let me do you a favor in exchange for the necklace! Please, it's so important that I get this present for Rarity and I would do everything to get it!”

The sick mare almost snapped back at him, but then she thought of something and paused. “Everything?”, she asked him. “You would really do everything?”

“Uh-huh!”, Spike nodded rapidly.

Suddenly, the mood of the mare brightened. Partially responsible for her bad mood right now, aside from her sickness, was a problem that loomed over her head all the time, but that she couldn't solve, no matter how long she pondered over a solution for it.

Since she was sick, she could not take care of the kindergarten foals today. There was also nopony that could jump in for her; as it was only a small kindergarten, she was the owner and only teacher of it at the same time. And all her friends were either too busy with something or currently not in town. They could not help her out. And she knew that the foals would already be waiting for her by now and this made her worried. She smiled at Spike. “There is one thing you could do. But it's not going to be easy”, she said.

“Okay, what is it? I don't care how hard it is, I will do it if you give me the necklace for it!”

His confidence impressed the mare. “Okay, then”, she said. “As you can see, I am sick today. This means I can't take care of the foals in the kindergarten today. And there is nopony else that can do it. If you can take care of them for today and watch over it that they don't create a mess or hurt themselves I will give you the necklace.”

Spike nodded. “Okay, I'm in! I do that as long as you want!”

“It's only for today”, she said. “My friend returns to Ponyville tomorrow and then he watches over them every day until I got well again. And you don't have to do much. Just be there and take care of it that they don't demolish something or set the kindergarten on fire or something like that.”

Spike nodded again. “I will take care of them just fine!” He said goodbye to the mare and then he dashed off into the direction of the kindergarten.

Spike was on fire. Finally he found a way to get the diamond tulips for Rarity anyway! He never took care of little foals and when he was animal-sitting for his friends, it ended almost in a disaster. But these were no animals. These were young foals. How hard could it be? He would just read them a few stories, that always worked with such young foals to prevent them from creating a mess. Spike was sure that he would get along with them just fine.

As Spike arrived at the kindergarten, he could already hear the foals playing inside. They were very loud with the sounds of their play, but Spike shrugged. This was normal, that's just how young foals are. What Spike saw when he entered the kindergarten was everything else but normal, though.

It was pure chaos.

The interior of the kindergarten was a mess; chairs lying around, tables scribbled with crude drawings, some broken flower pots. And foals everywhere. Some of them were galloping around, trying to catch each other while screaming in delight and not even paying the slightest attention to Spike. Some fillies were busy with scribbling on one of the tables and some others tried to built forts out of a bunch of chairs and some blankets.

Spike just stood there, watching the scene, his eyes shrunk small, his mouth gaping wide open and sweat streaming over his face. A feeling told him that this wouldn't be so easy as he thought it would. Spike shook his head. He turned to some of the fillies that were galloping around. “Hey, could you–“ But the fillies were already away again. Another couple of foals, this time fillies and colts alike, approached him and then galloped in circles around the small dragon. He tried to talk to them, but their changing position did not make it easy. “Hey, I am–“ “Can you stand still for a moment?” “I was coming here because–“ Spike turned around and around, trying to keep track of the foals' positions, while attempting to talk with them, but everything was useless. The foals were so absorbed of their game that it seemed that they even didn't see Spike.

After a few more trys, Spike's patience was over. “Finally listen to me!”, he screamed out, then he breathed a huge amount of fire into the air.

The fillies and colts in the big room, especially the ones who were encircling him the whole time, stopped and gasped from fear as they saw the flaming inferno. Then they just stood there; frozen, with their eyes and mouths wide open, staring at him.

“Finally!”, Spike exclaimed. He began to talk to them in a stern voice. “I'm Spike. Your teacher is sick today and she sent me to watch over you for today.”

The fillies and colts still did not move. Spike thought for a moment what he should do now. Then he continued with his stern talk. “And now gather around at the blackboard at the end of the room and build a line!”, he shouted at them. “Now!”

It was like the foals were strucked by a sudden thunder. On Spike's command, they did as he had told them and hurried to the blackboard and took position there, one after another, in a clean line.

Spike nodded satisfied. His fire breath seemed to have him gained their respect. He walked across the room over to the young foals who were still staring at him in awe, some of them even shivering a little. Spike counted the foals. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.” He had to deal with twenty of foals on this day, fourteen of them fillies. It would not be an easy job, but for Rarity, he was willing to take it on and to succeed.

“Okay, now that we have all calmed down”, he was adressing the foals again, “tell me your names!” He pointed to the filly at the far left. It was an earth pony and had a purple coat and a green mane and tail. His eyes were of a bright yellow. “You begin!”, he said.

“My name is Golden Grape!”, the filly said quickly, her eyes reflecting pure respect for the dragon.

Spike pointed to the filly at the right of Golden Grape. “And now you!”, he commanded.

The filly had a white coat, her mane and tail were a dark blue and the eyes of a green color. It was a pegasus. “I-I'm Snowy Breeze”, the filly answered slowly and in a quiet voice.

“Good. And now everyone of you tells me his name like Golden Grape and Snowy Breeze did, one after another!”, Spike commanded after he thought that the foals had understood what to do to answer without a call.

The next foal in the row was a colt. His coat was of a beige color, tail and mane a reddish brown. His eyes were grey and he was an earth pony. As opposed to the two fillies to his right, who felt respect for Spike or even feared him a little after his outburst, he just gave him a spiteful look. “Nasty Hooves”, he answered brash.

“Lily Spring”, said the filly to his right, a unicorn with a yellow coat, a green mane and a green tail.

And like this, it was going on. Every young filly and colt told him her or his name, until Spike knew all of them. If he would remember all these names was a different problem altogether, but for now, this should do the trick. He knew how to call them and managed it to discipline them.

He sighed relieved and his voice became more friendly. “Okay, now that we know each other, let's be a bit more chill, okay? I don't want to scream all the time.”

The foals relaxed and nodded, but still looked reverently at him.

“Does anypony of you have any questions?”, he asked them.

“Yes, what happened to Miss Honey Mood?”, Golden Grape asked him without hesitation.

“Oh, she's alright, it's nothing bad!”, Spike answered her question. “She is just a little sick and will be back in a few days!”

“And until then you will be here?”, a snotty question came from her right. It was asked by Nasty Hooves.

“No, I'm only here for today! A friend of your teacher will take care of you from tomorrow on until she is well again.”

“How was your name again? I forgot it.”, a pink-maned filly in the middle of the row said.

“My name is Spike! I'm a dragon and the assistant of Twilight Sparkle!”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle?”, Snowy Breeze asked with big eyes.

“Yes! I'm the most faithful assistant of Princess Twilight Sparkle!” His chest swelled in pride.

This answer created a storm. The foals who stood so disciplined in a row were suddenly giving up their organisation and gathered around Spike. From all sides, he was bombarded with questions.

“How is it to live with a princess?”

“How does her castle look from the inside?”

“Is it true that Princess Celestia made her an Alicorn?”

“Hey, I can't answer all of your questions at the same time. Please answer one question after another!”, he exclaimed helplessly.

But the foals were already not to tame anymore. More and more questions were directed at him. And the foals also had a problem with it to decide who gets an answer first. “I'm going to ask him first! I want to know if it's true that she is such a nerd!”, Nasty Hooves demanded.

“But I have a question too!”, Snowy Breeze complained.

“You don't even deserve to ask, you stupid brat!” His voice became aggressive.

Snowy Breeze twitched and ducked her head.

“Hey, don't call her that! She's not a brat!”, Golden Grape defended her.

Nasty Hooves just shrugged and threw more insults at Snowy Breeze. He and Golden Grape began to fight over it who deserved to answer the first question.

“And what is with my question?”, Lily Spring called out. “I want to ask him something about the princess too!”

Over the course of a few seconds, everything was a big tumult again. Spike could already feel that his patience neared it's end again. “Ok, everypony quiet!”, he shouted. “You don't want me to use my fire again!” The mentioning of his fire made the foals froze again. It was still well in their memory what inferno Spike created earlier. “I'm going to choose who can ask first”, he said then. He let his eyes wander over the ponies. Then he pointed at Golden Grape. “Ok, you can ask first.”

“I wanted to know how her castle looks from the inside”, she said.

“The castle has a lot of rooms”, he began. “When you enter it you are in a big hall. Two stairs lead up to the other rooms. There are a kitchen, two bedrooms, a big library and even a throne room! All of Twilight's friends have a throne there and even I got one!”

The filly's eyes sparkled. An epic throne room, that was exactly what she liked! “And are the walls of crystals in the inside of the castle too?”, she continued.

“Yeah”, Spike answered. “I liked the walls in our old home more, but it looks like I have to get used to it.”

Spike chose Lily Spring next. “Did Princess Celestia made Twilight an Alicorn?”

“Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't know that. I wasn't there when she got turned into an Alicorn and even Twilight herself did not understand completely how it happened and she never asked Celestia about it.”

“Awww”, the filly answered disappointed.

Snowy Breeze was the next one. “How is the life with a princess?” was her question.

“Well, I would say that it's not much different to the life with a mare that is not a princess”, he replied. “I lived with Twilight for years before she became a princess and her title did not really change her. She always read a lot and sometimes she freaked out when she couldn't stick to her schedule and she's still doing this all of this.”

“Read a lot!”, Nasty Hooves laughed out loud. “I knew she's a nerd!”

“Yeah, I guess you can say that.” Spike rubbed the back of his head.

He answered a couple more questions from the foals, that ranged from Twilight's favourite book to visits in her castle by them. After Spike had answered all the questions, he looked around. The room was still a mess and he couldn't leave it like that, of course. It was his responsibility to manage the things here today and so he had to clean it up.

“Okay, now I have to get rid of this mess you created. But I'm not doing it alone. Since you're responsible for it, you will help me!”, he said to the foals.

Spike was handing out duties to them and then they began to clean the room. They wiped the drawings from the tables, collected the chairs that were scattered across the big room and put them back on their positions, threw the broken flower pots away and put the flowers in new ones and they sweeped the floor. One hour later, the room looked as good as new.

Spike decided that it would be a good moment to check out the other rooms of the kindergarten. The foals started to play with different toys, to talk with each other or to sit down on the tables and draw, on paper this time, so he felt he could leave them alone for a few minutes. Spike left the room, that was apparently the main room for the foals to stay in as long as they were here, and walked out into the narrow hallway that he had entered as he came into the building.

There were a few more entrances in the hallway. One was to his left, near the entrance door of the kindergarten, the other ones were right from him. He decided to check out the left one first. It was on the opposite wall of the hallway. As he had opened the door, he found himself in a small office. It was were all the paperwork for the kindergarten was done. Knowing this room was not important for Spike as he was just sent here to watch over the foals so he did not waste much time there. He shrugged and closed the door again, aiming for the others.

The next door led to a kitchen. It was not very big. There was no oven in it, just a kitchen sink, a small table, some cupboards and drawers and a fridge. Some drawings, apparently from the foals as far as Spike could see, were hung up on the door. He opened it. A fair number of cupcakes, some pies, bottles with milk and packages with apple juice were in it. “Looks like the foals also get a meal here”, he said, a little surprised. He reckoned with it that they would bring their own food for lunch, but he did not care either way. Serving some fillies and colts lunch would be easy. As he had closed the door of the fridge, he heard a thump from the play room, followed by a scream and then a loud, heart-wrenching crying.

He hurried back into the playroom and found the foals all gathered together at the same spot. The crying came from behind them. Snowy Breeze was lying there on her side, cowered against the ground, her face buried into her forelegs. A big bruise was visible on her forehead. It was bleeding slightly. Golden Grape was at her side, holding her with two hooves. She looked desperately up to Spike as he came to the scenery.

“What happened here?”, he asked agitatedly.

“It was Nasty! He did this!”, Golden Grape told him.

“Yeah, he hit her on the head!”, some other foals confirmed what Golden Grape said.

Spike looked around. Nasty Hooves was standing a little aside, but he watched the scenery. A cruel grin was on his face. “Is that true?”, Spike asked him. “Have you hit her?”

He answered Spike's look. “Pah! Me? No! I have not done anything! Things like that always happen when that little priss is playing! She's just so clumsy!” He looked down at the sobbing filly and laughed spiteful.

“Have you seen that he did it?”, Spike asked Golden Grape.

“No”, she replied. “But he did that to her before and to other fillies too!” Her mates nodded in agreement.

Spike looked to Nasty again, who was still denying it that he hurt the little filly. “Just don't believe her, she's insane! She always makes up stories like that and tries to blame me for things I never did. And the whole class believes her!”

Spike could not tell who was saying the truth and if Nasty Hooves just made that up to take advantage of it that Spike did not know him yet or if he really didn't do it. Instead of investigating further, he decided that it was more important to take care of Snowy's injury first. He was sure he had seen a first aid box on the wall in the kitchen. Spike bent down to the filly who was crying bitterly. “Uh, Snowy? We must go into the kitchen to take care of your bruise”, he said. But the filly didn't move and just continued to cry.

Golden Grape moved her head forward a little and whispered in her ear to assist Spike. “It's ok”, she said. “Just come with me and Spike! He will patch you up and then it won't hurt anymore!”

The words of her friend seemed to work as she was moving suddenly. She rose unsteady to her feet. While still covering her eyes with one hoof and crying into it, she slowly walked out of the room, assisted by Spike and Golden Grape.

In the kitchen, they helped Snowy Breeze to sit down on the table and then Spike walked to the outer wall to get the first aid box. It was too high up for him to get it down, but Golden Grape assisted him again and let him climb on her back to reach it. Having gotten down the box, Spike climbed on the table with the help of a chair and opened the box. It was well-stocked.

There were bandages, band-aids, a pair of scissors to cut them into the needed size, swabs, medical tape, antiseptics and some headache pills.

Spike pulled out one of the swabs and the bottle with the antiseptics first. He opened it and poured some of the disinfectant liquid over the swab, then he put the bottle aside and moved over to Snowy Breeze.

Golden Grape was sitting at her side, having put a hoof on her shoulder comfortingly. “It's going to hurt a little more now, but only for a moment”, Spike tried to prepare the filly for the upcoming increase in pain.

He put the swab on her bruise. Snowy Breeze cried out in pain and tried to push Spike's claw away to get rid of the thing that caused her so much pain. But Golden Grape intervened and hold her hooves down. Spike dabbed the wound a few times, feeling under his claws how the filly was writhing in pain, then he put the swab down and laid it aside. Some small blood stains were on it now.

Spike leaned over Snowy again after he had put the swab aside and examined the wound. Some more blood poured out of it now due to the pressure he had put on it with the swab, drenching the beautiful white fur around it. The wound seemed to pulsate a little and Spike was sure that she would have a nice bump on her head for some days. And they would definitely need some ice to cool it. But first, he had to tape it up.

Spike reached into the box again and pulled out the roll of bandages, the scissors and another swab. He put the swab on the bruise, causing another painful whimper by Snowy. He wanted to ask Golden Grape to hold her hoof on the swab while he would put the bandages around her head, but before he could say anything, she already had put her hoof there, almost as if she was reading his mind.

Spike began to patch up Snowy's injury. “You know what you're doing”, he said to Golden Grape.

The filly nodded. “It's not the first time I'm doing this. I helped Miss Honey Mood often to patch one of the fillies up. Especially Snowy Breeze. I told you he's doing that often.”

“He? You mean Nasty Hooves?”, Spike asked.

“Yes. He's lying when he says that I try to bring up the others against him. Snowy Breeze is my best friend, I would never make it up that he hurt her!”

Spike's brows furrowed.

The filly noticed it. “You can ask Miss Honey Mood when you see her the next time if you don't believe me.”

“No, I believe you!”, Spike exclaimed quickly. “Nasty does not look innocent”, he added in a lowered voice.

Her face lit up. Spike did not know her very well yet and Nasty's story was believable to someone new as a teacher here. She was glad that Spike had the right instinct to look behind Nasty's facade.

“That's it!”, Spike said as he was finished. He cut off the bandages as he had put enough of them around Snowy Breeze's head to be sure that the swab was not falling off. Golden Grape was holding the end of the bandage for him while he cut off something of the medical tape. He fixated the end of the bandage on the filly's head with the tape and then his work here was done. Golden Grape removed her hoof from Snowy's head.

“Could you take a look into the fridge and see if there's some ice in it?”, Spike asked.

Golden Grape nodded enthusiastically. “There's always ice in it! We need it a lot.” She jumped down from the table and opened the fridge. She placed a chair in front of it to reach the freezer and was whipping out a huge bag full of ice cubes. She opened one of the kitchen's drawers and pulled out a smaller bag. Having it filled with the ice cubes and knotted the opening, she laid the big bag back into the freezer and closed it. She jumped back on the table and hoofed Spike the bag.

“Thanks!”, he said. “You're a big help, Golden Grape!”

The filly grinned all over her face, proud of it that she could do something to help her friend. “Just call me Grapy!”, she said then. “Everypony is calling me that because 'Golden Grape' is soooo long!”

Spike held the bag with the ice cubes against Snowy's head, who was still sobbing a little, and as she felt the numbing effect of the cold ice that was reducing her pain, she sighed relieved and her face showed a smile for the first time since Nasty hurt her. She directed her smile at Spike. “Thank You”, she said quietly.

“Don't mention it!”, Spike answered. “That's what I'm here for!”

Grapy took over for Spike with holding the ice bag against Snowy's bruise and then he put the bandages, the scissors and the tape back into the box. He put the cap back on the bottle with the antiseptics and closed it, then lied it carefully to the other things. Grapy was busy with holding the bag with the ice cubes and Spike was lacking somepony who could help to put the first aid box back on the wall again. He shrugged. It was not a big issue, so he left the box just there on the table.

Grapy and he helped Snowy Breeze getting off of the table again and left the kitchen.

“I have to check some other rooms first before I can return into the playroom”, Spike said after closing the kitchen door. “It's best when Snowy stays with me until I return. You can return to the playroom in the meanwhile”, he said to Grapy.

But the filly shook her head. “No, I'm staying with Snowy until we're back!” She was still holding the bag on Snowy's head and obviously didn't wanted to leave her best friend in this moment of need.

“Ok”, Spike said. “Then let's see what's in the other rooms!”

They walked up to the next door that was on the opposite wall and right next to the door that led to the playroom. Spike opened it slowly. It was dark inside. He searched a while for the light switch and as he had switched it on, he started to inspect the room. At the wall opposite of them was a cabinet. Right from it, Spike could see a bunch of mattresses and sleeping bags. He walked up to the cabinet and opened it. It was full of blankets, cushions, bed sheets and covers.

“What is this room for?”, he asked.

“It's our sleeping room”, Grapy answered. “Some of us take a nap after lunch.”

“I see.” He closed the cabinet again. “When do you eat lunch?”, he asked the filly.

“At 01:00 PM!”, she said.

“Good. Then we won't need this room for a while. There are still some hours until lunch.”

They left the room again and Spike shut the door behind them. Only two other unchecked doors were left now, both of them not very exciting. The door to the left of the sleeping room contained the toilets, the door opposite of it led to a small storage room. It was filled with some boxes, cleaning materials and some tools in case something needed to be repaired. Spike was sure that he wouldn't need all of this stuff for this one day, so he decided against a closer inspection and left the room together with Snowy and Grapy quickly again.

“Has Nasty hurt you too?”, Spike asked Grapy on the way back to the play room.

“No!”, she said confident. “He tried it once, but I punched him when he began to attack me!”

“I see.” Spike laughed nervously. He hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with a fight between the filly and the colt.

Grapy's face took on a sad expression and she looked to the ground. “But since that, he started to attack Snowy Breeze.....”, she said quietly.

“Do you think that he only attacks her to get revenge for it that you defended yourself?”, Spike asked her.

Grapy just nodded. Spike could see that she felt guilty. She seemed to give herself the fault for it that Snowy was so often the target of Nasty's attacks.

They had reached the playroom again in the meanwhile. After entering it, they saw Nasty standing in front of them, in some distance. He looked at Snowy, giving her a diabolic grin. Snowy began to shiver as she saw him. Spike put a hoof around her shoulder and could feel how much she trembled. Her fear of that colt was enormous.

“Don't worry, Snowy!”, he said. “As long as we're here Nasty can't do anything to you!” Noticing that the trembling did not stop, he tried something different. “Do you know how they call me in the Crystal Empire?”, he asked the distraught filly. “They call me 'Spike, the Brave and Glorious'! I saved the Empire from his evil ruler King Sombra once and so they gave me this title! Dealing with a little, mean colt is a cinch for me!”

Hearing this story eased Snowy a little. Her trembling became weaker and she stuck out her tongue at Nasty. Then they continued their way through the playroom and sat down at a table, as far away from Nasty as possible.

Arrived there, Spike and Grapy did their best to cheer Snowy up after this horrific event. And since Grapy had already experience with moments like this, she knew exactly what to do. “I get her favourite board game!”, she exclaimed happily. She passed the ice bag over to Spike and then chased away to a shelf behind them. Spike wanted to put the ice bag on Snowy's head, but she stopped him.

“Thanks, but I can hold it by myself now”, she said, smiling at him.

He handed her the ice bag and as she had pressed it against her bruise, Grapy returned with the game on her back. She tossed it up on the table and took seat again. The game was called “Winter Wrap Up”.

They unpacked the game and built it up. There were three tokens in the game, one was an earth pony, one a unicorn and the third one a pegasus. Snowy chose the pegasus, of course, and Goldy snatched the unicorn, much to Spike's surprise, who had reckoned with it that she would choose the earth pony.

The three players put their tokens on the start field. The playboard was adorned with drawings of ponies who were busy with cleaning up the traces of winter; some earth ponies carried away the snow from the fields, pegasi in the sky moved away the snow clouds and unicorns gave orders. A long row of quadratic fields was creating a path across the playboard and between the drawings of the hard working ponies. Most of the fields were just white, but some of them were painted in a different color. Spike noticed that they had the same colors like the tokens they used; blue for the pegasus, green for the earth pony and purple for the unicorn. On some other fields, a text was printed on. “Choose a card”, Spike read out loud.

Like confirming it, Grapy pulled a staple of cards out of the box. She shuffled them carefully and put them on their place on the playboard. The game seemed to be simple, but the cards sure added some spice to it.

Grapy hoofed a dice to Snowy and let her begin. She rolled it. Three. Snowy took her pegasus token with her free hoof and moved it three fields forward.

Then it was Grapy's turn. She got a six and cheered about the good result of her first try.

After having moved her token across the field, she hoofed the dice to Spike. Spike rolled and got a three too. He moved his token and placed it beside Snowy's pegasus.

Then it was Snowy's turn again. Her next roll got her a five and she landed on a blue field. She smiled.

“What's the meaning of this field?”, Spike asked after noticing her happy reaction.

“If you reach the color of your pony you can roll the dice again”, Grapy explained.

Snowy did that and got a two. This time, she landed on a field that told her to choose a card. She placed her hoof on the staple and lifted off the first card. She read out loud the text that was printed on it. “You try yourself in ice-skating. After a few unsuccessful attempts, you crash against a tree and end up in hospital. Go one field back.” Snowy let her ears drop and sighed. Then she moved her token back to the field before.

It was Grapy's turn. She rolled a one. She moved her pony and then gave Spike the dice.

A five was his result and he moved his earth pony. The blue field it reached now was useless for him though.

With Snowy's next try, a four this time, she reached another card field. She shivered, nervously pulling down a card. The word “Pegasus” was printed in bold letters at the top of it.

“That's a character card”, Grapy explained again. “It can only be used if you have the pony mentioned on it.”

Snowy began to read. “The pegasi have cleared all clouds in this area and the snow is melting away quickly. This has saved a lot of time. Move three fields forward.” Snowy jumped on her chair, letting out a happy squeal. She had to go through a lot of heartache today, but at least in her favourite board game it was her lucky day! She moved the three fields forward happily and then hoofed the dice to Grapy.

A three was it what she got with her roll. Having reached the first card field too now, she lifted off one of the cards and smiled. “You successfully woke up a family of bunnies before their home got flooded. This made you so happy that you dashed forward to the next animals. Roll again.”, she read out loud. Grapy grinned and let her dice roll again. She got a five and almost catched up with Snowy.

Then Spike was the next in line and he surpassed Grapy with a six.

The next rolls of Snowy and Grapy resulted in a one and a two, bringing them only a few fields forward.

The next roll of Spike let him go four fields and surpassing Snowy with that. Best of all, it was another card field. Spike felt lucky and pulled down a card with ease, but let his head hang as he read the card and realized that his luck was over already. “The animals you woke up turned out as snakes. Unfortunately, you're afraid of snakes and so you run away. You loose two turns.” Spike growled, then handed the dice over to Snowy.

With her next roll, Snowy got a six and she claimed back her lead.

Grapy's roll got her a six too and she landed on the card field that just brought Spike so much bad luck. She drew a card off of the staple and began to read. “Winter Wrap Up. You sing a happy, motivating song with your pony friends and this increases your work ethic. Move six fields forward.” This was something Grapy needn't to be told twice and so she quickly moved forward the required amount of fields.

With Spike having to wait, Snowy rolled her dice again, but just got a two this time.

Grapy was not much luckier and got a three with her next roll.

It was the second round Spike had to pass, and so the dice went immediately to Snowy again. She rolled a three and moved to the next card field. It was a unicorn card, though, and so she couldn't use it. She lifted up the staple and laid the card underneath it, like the rules demanded.

Grapy's next turn let her move five fields forward and her token landed on a purple field. Happily rolling her dice again, she got a two, moved forward over the next two fields and landed on the card field Snowy's pegasus still stood on. After having drawn the card, she saw that it was another unicorn card. “You have broken the tradition and used your magic to clear the acre of the snow faster. Because your spell went wrong, there is even more snow on the field now. You lose one turn while you're wailing over your misery in a bush.” Grapy pouted.

Finally it was Spike's turn again. Snowy and Grapy were only twelve fields away from the last field and close to win. He had to catch up now! He wished for a good result and rolled the dice. It rolled a five. Not too bad. He moved forward and gave Snowy the dice.

Her result let her pegasus move three fields forward.

Since Grapy had to leave out this round, Spike rolled again. He got a two.

As it was Snowy's turn once again, she let her eyes wander over the last fields before rolling her dice. On the eight fields between her current one and the last one, was one more pegasus field and the last card field. And the card field was only two fields away from her position. Landing on it could either turn out very good for her and cementing her victory or turn out very bad and letting her fall behind. She took on a determined expression, gave the dice a kiss and rolled it. A three appeared, letting her miss the card field just by one number.

Grapy could roll again and landed on the card field that Snowy just missed. It was a regular one. “You have lost your team vest on the way. You go back one field to search for it.” Reluctantly, Grapy did as the card told her to.

Spike had more luck with his next turn. He got a six and almost catched up with Grapy.

Snowy took the dice and rolled. She missed the card field, which was a good thing for her as it turned out, but there was still the pegasus field. She got a two and cheered. It brought her directly on the field she desired! Excitedly, she rolled the dice again and only got a one this time. But the small result did not disappoint her. She was only three fields away from winning and could extend her lead at least a little.

Grapy was in line again. The suspense and the excitement between the three players had grown so big now that all three of them could almost feel it on their bodies. The earth pony filly rolled. One. She reached the next card field. With a shaking hoof, she took the card at the top. She shut her eyes for a moment, before looking at it, and then slowly opened one of them, risking a small peek. “You finished planting new seeds on a cleared acre in record time! Go six fields ahead!”, Grapy read. She clapped her tiny hooves together satisfied. This could bring her the victory!

Snowy began to become nervous and started sweating. She was already sure of her victory, but now it has gotten harder to win. Spike was no danger anymore, but her best friend could beat her in the last moment now.

Spike rolled and got a three. With the two fillies so close at the last field he was sure that he would not win anymore, but he didn't mind that one of the two fillies would win the game. As soon as he brought this day behind him, he would be the big winner anyway.

Snowy's turn was next. She got a four and so, she had to stay where she was.

It was the same for Grapy. She did not hit the one she needed and got a two instead.

Spike's next roll brought him a two.

Another unsuccessful round passed for Snowy and Grapy, making it impossible for them to win and so Spike could roll again very soon.

This time, he was rewarded with a three and he landed next to Grapy.

Snowy's hoof was shaking now as she took the dice into it. She rolled it and the dice seemed to move in slow-motion for her. Another miss. But she got a two as it stopped, moving up onto the same spot Spike and Grapy were right now.

The game could not get anymore exciting. Grapy's and Spike's next moves were without success again, resulting in a six and a two.

A feeling told Snowy that she didn't have much time to win anymore and this turn could be her last one. She took the dice with a shaking hoof again, her forehead sweating, her tongue slightly sticked out. She licked her lips and rolled. Again, the dice seemed to move in slow-motion. It rolled and rolled and it seemed like forever to Snowy. Then he became slower. Snowy hold her breath while she watched his last movements. Then he stopped. One!

Snowy jumped and squealed, even letting the ice bag falling down in the process. She raised her hooves into the air and let out a loud, strong cheer. Then she let herself fall back into the chair, laughing happily. The victory really felt good after what had happened to her today.

Grapy and Spike shared a grin. No one minded Snowy's victory, especially not Grapy, and even if they would have minded it, seeing the pegasus finally so happy again would have let these feelings become vanished.

Grapy bent over to Snowy and patted her shoulder. “Great job!”, she said. Being so happy about it that the day had taken such a better turn for her, she bent forward too and gave Grapy a hug, which the earth pony filly gladly answered.

As Snowy stopped laughing after some minutes, she wanted to play again. Spike looked up to the clock on the wall. They had played for fourty-five minutes. The round took longer than it felt to him, he realized. But there was still plenty of time until lunch, so he agreed on another round. They put their pony tokens back at the first field again, Grapy shuffled the cards and then they began anew with Snowy's beloved game.

This time, Spike was the winner. Still having a little more time after this second round, they played again

The third round was won by Grapy, bringing all of them on the same level with their number of victories.

Snowy was already demanding another round, she really could not get enough of this game, as another filly was pulling at Spike's arm. “I'm hungry”, the little filly with a blue coat said. “Isn't it time for lunch already?”

Spike looked to the clock like he did it two rounds earlier. It was already 1:15 PM! “Oh no!”, he jumped up. The exciting game distracted him so much that he had almost forgot about it that it was lunch time already.

Snowy and Grapy did not fare better, but now, they also realized how hungry they were. “I could eat a whole manticore now!” Grapy hold her stomach and rested her head on the table, a worn-out expression on her face. Then she and Snowy put the playboard, the tokens and the dice back into the box and brought it back back to the shelf, while Spike hurried into the kitchen to get the lunch for the hungry foals.

When he arrived in the kitchen, he hastily aimed for the fridge and opened it. Luckily, Honey Mood seemed to have prepared the meal a little yesterday. Both the cupcakes and apple pies were already nicely arranged on two big plates. He lifted them out of the fridge and placed them on the table. Then he pulled out the bottles with the milk and the packages with the apple juice and brought them to the table. He climbed on a chair and opened one of the upper cupboards in search for something to fill the milk and juice into it. He found two big jars and placed them besides the milk bottles and juice packages. As he wanted to begin to fill the jars, Snowy Breeze and Golden Grape appeared in the door.

“We want to help you a little!”, Snowy chimed out.

This offer came in the right moment. “Great! I could need some help right now!”

Grapy and Snowy grabbed two chairs on their own and climbed up to Spike.

Spike put the two big jars in the middle of the table and pushed some of the packages and bottles over to them. “You can help to fill the milk and the juice in these two jars!”

The fillies nodded and the team was getting down to work. With the help of the two fillies, Spike was done in a few minutes. They threw the packages and bottles into the bin in the corner and then proceeded to carry everything into the playroom. Grapy and Snowy each put one of the plates on their back and Spike carried the two jars with the milk and the apple juice. They were harder than he thought and more than once, he almost dropped them. But eventually, he made it safely to the table in the playroom, where the other foals had already gathered around, hungrily waiting for something to eat. He put the jars on the table and then the plates from the backs of Grapy and Snowy Breeze. As he looked on the table, he saw that he forgot to bring glasses to fill in the juice and milk.

“I get them!”, Grapy shouted and hurried out of the playroom, back into the kitchen. Snowy did already take seat in the meanwhile.

A few minutes later, she was back with a tablet full of glasses on her back. Spike lifted it up and then handed out the glasses to the fillies and colts of which some had already begun to eat. Then he went around and filled the glasses with either milk or apple juice, depending on it what they wanted.

As the foals had everything they needed, he finally sat down himself between Snowy Breeze and Golden Grape, who had a kept a seat free for him. He took a glass on his own and filled it with some apple juice. He was thirsty and gulped it down in one go, just to fill the glass immediately again. Taking care of so many foals was exhaustive. Then he organized himself a piece of apple pie and a cupcake and began to munch on it satisfied. He watched the foals happily eating their meals and felt relieved. So far, everything, aside from the unfortunate event in the midmorning, went fine. It was not easy, but he was able to handle everything.

As Spike and the foals had finished their meals, Grapy and Snowy helped him to bring the plates, the glasses and the jars back into the kitchen. They put them in the kitchen sink and returned to the playroom. Spike remembered again what Grapy told him earlier today and saw it confirmed now:

Some of the foals began to yawn and rubbed their eyes tiredly.

It was time for the nap that Grapy had mentioned. Spike walked up to the table the foals sat on, Grapy and Snowy at his side.

“Okay, uhm, who of you wants to take a nap now?”, he asked the foals.

A couple of hooves were raised into the air. Spike counted them. Seven of the foals wanted to sleep now. Nasty Hooves was among them.

“Great, then just follow me to the sleeping room!”, he commanded. Then he looked down at Snowy Breeze. “You should sleep a little too”, he advised her.

“But I'm not tired!”, the snow-white filly objected.

“But you got hurt today and it would be better for you to get some rest”, Spike insisted.

“But.....” The filly became silent and looked shyly over to Nasty Hooves.

He looked back at her, with the same diabolic grin on his face that he had when they entered the playroom again after taking care of her bruise.

Snowy inched a little closer to Spike. “I don't want to sleep with Nasty in the same room”, she whispered in his ear.

Grapy could not hear what she said to Spike, but she knew it anyway. Snowy only decided to take a nap when Nasty stayed awake after lunch, no matter how tired she was. Too big was the fear that Nasty could do something to her while fallen asleep. But this time would be different. Spike was right, she could need some rest and she, her best friend, would defend her. “Don't worry!” Grapy walked up to her and put a hoof reassuringly on her shoulder. “I come with you and stay awake. I will defend you from Nasty while you sleep if he should try something!”

Snowy turned around to her and her eyes sparkled, some tears glistening in them. She couldn't feel more glad to have Grapy as her friend than right now in this very moment. “Okay”, she said, “then I'll go!”

Spike, Grapy and Snowy made their way out of the room, followed by Nasty Hooves and the other foals. They turned to the right and went into the sleeping room, the tired foals immediately aiming for the mattresses and the sleeping bags, together with Grapy and Snowy. Three of the foals preferred to sleep in the sleeping bags, the others chose a mattress. Snowy decided for a mattress too. Usually she preferred a sleeping bag, but the place that was the furthest away from Nasty Hooves was a mattress, so she ignored her habit for this one time.

Spike went up to the cabinet and opened it. He took out four blankets, four sheets, seven cushions and the amount of covers he needed. He carried everything in the middle of the room. There he put the covers on the blankets, for the foals that chose the mattresses, and on the cushions. Snowy Breeze and Golden Grape assisted him again. They handed out the blankets and cushions to the tired foals and then spanned the sheets on the mattresses. As all of them had lied down, Snowy was the last one who moved over to her mattress of choice. She placed the pillow on one end, the one that was at the wall of the room, and then lied down too, resting her head on the pillow and pulling the blanket over her, until everything except her head had disappeared under it.

Spike looked around. All the other foals were already fallen asleep. Even Nasty Hooves had closed his eyes and breathed calmly, although, Spike was not too sure if he was really asleep or just pretended to be. He couldn't stay in this room to guard the sleeping foals, since he still had to take care of the other foals in the playroom who preferred to stay awake and without him here to watch over them, Nasty could take this as an opportunity to attack the foals.

Grapy was aware of this too. She took position at the side of Snowy's mattress and sat down, looking into the direction of Nasty's sleeping bag and guarding her friend as attentive as a watchdog.

“I can't stay here to look after you, I have to watch over the other foals”, Spike said to her. “I count on you!”

“Don't worry, you can!”, she answered, with a serious and determined expression on her face.

“Thanks, you're a big help!” After having directed these last words at her, Spike left the room and closed the door quietly. The light he left on for Grapy, so that she could react soon enough in case Nasty should try out something. Then he returned into the playroom. It was a little after 02:00 PM. Then it hit Spike that he forgot to ask how long he had to watch over the foals. But he realized that he will find it out anyway once their parents came to the kindergarten to pick them up and bring them home. More important was the question: What should he do now?

He played with the thought to go into the kitchen and to wash the dishes, but he gave up this plans immediately. Nasty was not here right now and hopefully asleep, but considering the chaos the foals created this morning, as they were unwatched, it was better to not take the risk.

Eleven foals were still in the room, busy with different things. He walked around a little to see what they did. A group of fillies returned to drawing after their meal, two fillies and one colt were playing the same game that he played with Snowy Breeze and Golden Grape before lunch and the rest of the fillies and colts were all playing with different toys. All was peaceful now and the foals were occupied enough.

He thought for a moment on joining one of them, but he abandoned this thought quickly. Drawing was not his forte, he was already too old for the toys and the only game that was slightly exciting already had it's max players count reached. And aside from that, he already had played it enough today anyway. There was nothing he could do right now, so he just took position on the chair in front of the desk on which their teacher usually sat and watched the foals who were completely absorbed by their games and drawings.

The hours passed rather uneventful and Spike was quite surprised about it that these foals could sit so still for such a long time. Was this because almost half of them were in the other room? Or has his fire breath given him more authority than he thought? Spike yawned. He was not quite tired, like the foals in the sleeping room, but watching the foals here playing innocently and peacefully had something relaxing to it.

After about two hours had passed, Spike could hear some sounds coming from the other room. A bit worried, he got up. He left the playroom, walked out into the hallway and opened the door of the sleeping room. He prepared himself for another incident involving Nasty Hooves, but everything was fine. The aggressive colt was sitting on top of his sleeping bag, rubbing the last sleep out of his eyes and yawning. The other foals were awoken too. Spike walked over to the mattress of Snowy Breeze, who slowly stretched her limbs and then worked herself out under the blanket. Golden Grape was still sitting in front of her and had guarded her very carefully, apparently.

“Did something happen?”, Spike asked the loyal filly.

She shook her head. “No, everything was fine. Nasty was really sleeping the whole time!”

Spike sighed relieved. “That's good. What he did in the midmorning was enough for one day.”

Snowy Breeze had walked up to his side. For her, it was enough for all time, but she nodded in agreement and rubbed her eyes, still a little sleepy.

As all the foals had peeled themselves out of their blankets and sleeping bags and rubbed their sleep out of their eyes, they returned into the playroom alltogether. Everything was still peaceful here as Spike noticed relieved. The foals spread out over the playroom to occupy themselves with the countless opportunities here, only Snowy Breeze and Golden Grape stayed at this side.

“When do your parents come to pick you all up?”, Spike asked them. He was slowly getting nervous and asked himself if he would make it back early enough to get the flowers for Rarity. Noteworthy said he had time until 07:00 PM and if he was here for a few additional hours, it would become tight.

“They usually come around 05:00 PM”, Grapy answered his urgent question.

That calmed down Spike. If that was the case, he would made it back just in time.

The last hour of his time before the foals' parents came passed by as peaceful as the two before, with the only difference that it was a little louder than before, with all the foals together in this room again. As “Winter Wrap Up” was still occupied by the three other foals, much to Snowy's dismay, Spike took seat with Snowy Breeze and Golden Grape on a sofa in one of the corners of the room and read from a book for them. As the clock showed 05:00 PM the parents of the foals came to pick them up, exactly as Grapy told him. The parents of them, however, were not among them.

“Where are your parents?”, he asked them surprised.

“Sometimes they pick me up later. They have much work to do”, Snowy said.

Grapy nodded in agreement. It was the same with her parents.

Spike decided to use the opportunity to clean up the kindergarten before leaving. That he had to wait longer made him nervous again, but panic wouldn't be of use for him and as long as he had to stay here, he had nothing better to do anyway. “We could do a little clean-up until your parents come. What do you think?”, Spike asked the two young fillies.

They nodded excitedly. Both of them knew Spike only since today, but they really liked the dragon and so they enjoyed it to help him.

Together, Spike and the fillies returned the toys that the foals just left were they played with them back to their respective places and put the chairs back to their positions at the tables. Then, they went into the kitchen and washed the glasses, the jars and the plates and put them back into the cupboards.

They returned to the playroom after having their work done and a little while later, Grapy's and Snowy's parents finally arrived to bring them home. They were fine with Spike as their caretaker for one day, especially because Snowy and Grapy had to tell only good things about him. The only thing Spike had to explain was the bruise on Snowy's head, but lucky for him, her parents already knew about the problems Nasty Hooves caused her, so they did not put him on fault for it. They even praised him for patching her up so professionally.

Before Snowy and Grapy went with their parents, they gave Spike a strong goodbye hug, that almost threw him off his feet, together. “Visit us sometimes, Spike!”, they said, their voices a little sad over the fact that they had to say goodbye to their new friend now.

He promised it to them and then they released their hug and went away with their parents. After some meters, they turned around and waved at him. Spike responded the waving and then he closed the door of the kindergarten behind him and went back to Honey Mood to report to her how everything went. He could not lose any time, as Rarity's present was still waiting for him, and the outsight of surprising the mare of his dreams let him quicken his pace.....

Author's Notes:

The ending is probably a little confusing as it does seem like I will write a sequel for this fic in which Spike gets the present for Rarity and gives it to her, which I don't plan to do.
I originally wanted to end the fic after Spike had given Rarity his present, but the fic took on such a different direction and was focusing on so much more than Spike's present for Rarity that I felt it would destroy the dynamic of the fic, when I suddenly emphasize on that again and so I decided to let the focus on what Spike experienced in the kindergarten and to end it after he left it.
I also have a strong interest to continue what I began here and to let Spike meeting the foals, and especially Grapy and Snowy, again (after the NaPoWriMo as a new submission), since the dynamic between Spike and them turned out really great and I would like it to build upon that and this was another reason for the decision to end it there.

Everything else that happened regarding Spike's present for Rarity just happened like it's to expect; he gets the flowers in the end, surprises Rarity, gets a little kiss as thank you maybe and everything is a Happy End.
Just in case you wonder how the end was originally planned.

Day 14: Chasing Away The Nightmares

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It was late at night. Princess Celestia had set the sun hours ago and everypony in Ponyville was fast asleep.

And so were Rarity and Sweetie Belle. It was one of these days on which Sweetie Belle stayed with Rarity. One of the few days her sister was not occupied with lots of work and on which Sweetie Belle rather spent time with Rarity instead of going to crusade through the town with her friends.

And it was a quite eventful day. They got up early and took the first train to Manehattan to spend the day there. It was a trip Sweetie Belle was interested in for a long time already and Rarity promised to visit the metropolis with her one day. But her work was always getting in the way and so she had to delay the trip again and again. But today, the day had finally come.

They visited the Statue of Harmony, watched a movie in cinema and ate carrot dogs and ice cream while doing a walk through Manehattan's famous park. Rarity introduced Sweetie even to her friend Coco, an aspiring fashion designer as Sweetie found out. Together they made a shopping trip through Manehattan's finest boutiques, where Sweetie Belle tried on a lots of dresses, which was the highlight of the day for her, even though the dresses were all far too expensive to buy even just one of them. At the end of the day, they ate in a fine restaurant and went into a musical afterwards. It was already dark as they arrived back in Ponyville with the last train from Manehattan.

Both dead tired, they immediately went to sleep after they had returned to Rarity's boutique. They didn't even unpack the souvenirs they had bought and went straight up into their respective bedrooms, where they fell into their beds and slipped under the covers to fall asleep just after a few seconds. It was only one hour ago that they had returned and Rarity slept so deep like she hadn't anymore for a long time. But just seconds later, this changed.

Rarity heard a sound and woke up. She was not sure if the sound was just in a dream she had and that she forgot when waking up or if it was real. It sounded familiar and yet strange and she could not guess what it was. And since she was tired, she decided to not ponder about it anymore and to just continue to sleep. It was probably just something from a dream anyway.

Rarity shrugged and turned around, closing her eyes and snuggling down in her pillow again. As she could feel the warm blanket of sleep embracing her for the second time in this night, she heard the sound again. Her eyes shot open. She wasn't asleep yet again and so she knew that it wasn't a dream this time. But she could still not sort in the sound and neither could she hear where it came from.

Rarity was completely awoken suddenly, her sense for danger tingling. Had somepony broken into her boutique; taking advantage of her and Sweetie Belle's deep sleep? Rarity rolled on her back and listened attentively. A few seconds of silence followed, then she heard the sound again. It was loud and high-pitched. She sat up in her bed. This time she could locate it and it seemed to come from Sweetie Belle's room.

Rarity put the blanket on her body aside and worked her way out of it. She climbed out of her bed and left her bedroom through the open door. In the corridor she went left, trotting up to Sweetie Belle's room, whose door was open as well. “Sweetie Belle.....?” Rarity frowned as she stepped into the little filly's room.

Sweetie was sitting upright in her bed, her blanket partially removed. She breathed heavily. “I..... I had a bad dream!”, Sweetie Belle moaned, wiping some tears out of her eyes.

“Again?” Rarity sighed, then she gave her sister a sympathetic look. Sweetie Belle had often nightmares lately, but so far, they could not find out what was the reason for it. Rarity brought a comforting smile to her muzzle, walked over and climbed up onto her little sister's bed. “It's alright, Sweetie, there's nothing to worry about, Rarity's here.” Being closer now, Rarity could see in the sparse light how bad Sweetie's nightmare must have been.

Sweetie Belle was sweating on her whole body, her coat wet from it, her mane was ruffled, one of her curls even completely loosened, and her ears pointed downwards. Her face was an even more pityful sight. It was full of wrinkles, her mouth was wide open, still letting out heavy breaths and occasional squeals of fear, and her eyes were wide open in shock; tears streaming out of them over Sweetie's cheeks. They were red and looked swollen.

Sweetie Belle's older sister wriggled herself under the covers beside her and wrapped her with her arms into a warm hug. She nuzzled the top of her head. Then she lit her horn. It began to glow softly like a nightlight, dispelling the shadows around and the imaginary monsters that lurked within them.

Sweetie Belle cuddled close to her big sister, the tears on her cheek glinting in the light. Feeling a little at ease, now that her big sister was here, her heavy breathing became more lightly and finally, she closed her mouth. “I'm sorry I woke you up.....”, she said quietly.

“Don't be silly”, Rarity replied, stroking the scared filly's mane. She could feel under her hooves that Sweetie Belle was still trembling in her fear.

For a moment, Sweetie Belle saw those scary green eyes flashing in front of her again. She could feel the fear coming up inside of her again, like a cold block of ice in her chest. Sweetie touched Rarity's hoof. “Please don't go away”, she said, fresh tears flowing out of her eyes. Her breath became heavier again.

Rarity pulled her closer. “Don't worry, sister, I'm not going anywhere. I stay here until you are asleep again”, she said gently. Rarity held her little sister – who was constantly whimpering, crying and squealing at her chest – in her arms, slightly cradling her. A concerned expression appeared on her face.

It began a few weeks ago and it was always the same. Sweetie Belle woke up at night, completely distraught and in panic, and was crying for either her or their mom, depending on it where she spent the night. And the nightmare was always the same.

She dreamt to wake up, but she was not in her bed anymore. She was in a deep, dark forest suddenly. A forest with trees in the shapes of monsters and full of fog. And there were strange sounds in the forest; clittering sounds, growling sounds, clicking sounds, clattering sounds. All sort of creepy sounds a pony could think of and even some Rarity could not even imagine, despite Sweetie Belle describing them in detail. Most strange of all, the sky was always completely dark. No stars, no moon. Nothing. And yet, it was still not completely dark in the forest. Sweetie Belle reported that a crimson red light was permeating the forest, a light that had no source.

She tried to flee out of the forest, but it was always useless. Once she had reached the borders of it, she always found herself in front of a huge, black mass. This mass was everywhere. No matter where Sweetie looked at, she could see nothing outside of the forest. No houses, no lights, no fresh, green gras and no animals. And especially no other ponies. All she could see was this black mass. Staring in it felt like she was blind. Sweetie Belle was screaming desperately into the black; calling for her mom, her dad, her friends, her sister. But nopony ever answered. Everything she could hear were the surreal sounds around her. She was alone.

But not for long. At this point of her dream, she always got company. Although not one she desired. The sounds around her became silent suddenly and were replaced by a ceremonial chant. And then the monsters came.

Dark, shadowy monsters that looked like they were born right ouf of the mass that was surrounding the forest. They could change their shape and if they touched a tree, it disappeared, leaving only darkness were the tree once stood. At the beginning, they had always the shape of creatures Sweetie never saw before. They walked on two legs, similar to minotaurs, but they were less muscular than minotaurs and their movements were sluggish, yet very fast. They had two green, evil-looking eyes on their heads. And these monsters began to chase Sweetie.

She galloped away from them, through the forest, trying to find a way out. But they always catched her in the middle of it. There, they changed their shape and took on the form of ponies; the only consistent thing being their green eyes. They encircled Sweetie Belle, leaving her no way to flee from them anymore. They came closer, one step at a time. They paused for a moment, then they did the next step. Every time they stepped forward, the sound of loud drums echoed through the forest. Sweetie Belle was cowering on the ground, unable to flee and not knowing what to do. She could only wait for the unavoidable. Then they reached her.

They bent down over her, opening their mouths and revealing razor-sharp teeth. Like at an invisible signal, they lashed into Sweetie Belle, covering her with their black bodies. This was the moment when the dream ended and Sweetie Belle woke up crying.

Sweetie Belle did not understand where those dreams came from and neither did Rarity or her parents. They only knew that they were there and that they haunted the little filly, scaring her almost to death in many nights since they began. And without knowing what caused these nightmares, they could not help her. But it couldn't go on like this. Rarity knew she had to end these nightmares for Sweetie Belle somehow. And luckily, she had the connections to take care of that.

Rarity made a decision. Outright tomorrow, she would go to Twilight and ask her to write a letter to Princess Luna. They could not find out what was causing Sweetie's terrible nightmares, but maybe the Princess of the Night could by entering her dreams and examining them.

“Don't worry anymore, Sweetie Belle, we will do something against your nightmares. I will contact Princess Luna so that she can take a look into your dreams and find out how they can be stopped”, she said to her still whimpering little sister.

Sweetie responded by nuzzling against her chest.

Quietly, Rarity began to whisper a lullaby, the same one their mother used to sing when Sweetie was still just a baby. Sweetie Belle buried her face in Rarity's chest, listening to her sister's rhythmic heartbeat. She smiled weakly as Rarity chased the nightmares away for tonight.

“Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head.....”

Sweetie listened to the soothing sound of Rarity's voice singing the old lullaby for her and began to calm down slowly. The singing put her at ease and she could feel how her eyelids began to become heavy. She yawned and closed her eyes, the lullaby softly carrying her into sleep.

As Rarity saw that Sweetie Belle was sleeping again, she inched aside a little and put Sweetie's head carefully on the pillow. She quietly stood up and pulled the blanket over her little sister. Rarity bent over her and gave her a little kiss on the forehead. “Tomorrow, we will chase away these nightmares forever”, she whispered in her ear.

Then she turned off the light of her horn and trotted out of the room. Looking a last time at Sweetie Belle, who was peacefully sleeping again now, she silenty closed the door and walked back into her bedroom.

Day 15: Fluttershy's First Day in Ponyville

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A loud rumble sounded across the sky.

The yellow pegasus filly who cowered on the ground looked up. Dark clouds had covered the sky that was sunny and blue just a few minutes ago. A thunderstorm came up and it began to rain. Big, heavy raindrops hit the filly that was there on the ground. She sobbed and pressed her nose against the head of the bunny that was sitting between her hooves and nuzzled it.

Everything was over. She could not continue her way through the forest to get back home and now it even began to rain, most likely causing her to become a cold. And nopony was here to save her. Except for the bunny, she was completely alone. The sensitive little filly sniffled.

The day, her first day in the quiet, little town of Ponyville, had begun so good and now everything ended so terribly.
“What went wrong?”, she asked herself desperately. “How could it even come so far?”

~*~

Fluttershy pulled her head out of one of the cartons around here. Finally she had found what she was looking for! She lifted the cuckoo clock out of the carton and walked up to the wall. A big nail protruded out of it, waiting for it that something got hung up on it. Fluttershy flew up the wall and placed the clock on the nail. She landed and smiled satisfied. Then she looked around in the room. A lot of the cartons were still unopened and it would be much work to unpack everything and to arrange the rooms in a way she felt comfortable with. Luckily, at least the furniture was already there.

When she was in Ponyville for the first time, she was asking around to find a house that was free and the mayor told her about a little cottage outside of Ponyville, near the Everfree Forest and not far away from Sweet Apples Acres. It was abandoned since the pony that lived here died a few years ago and so she suggested her to move in there. Fluttershy followed her tip and inspected the cottage. She found the building itself and the interior in good condition and so she decided to move in here. Since the pony that lived here had no relatives, nopony was claiming ownership of the cottage after it died and so, Fluttershy could live here without having to pay for it, which came in handy for her.

She just moved from Cloudsdale to Ponyville today and she still had to find a job here to take care of her needs. Of her's and of the needs of many animals that hopefully lived here soon. Since she got her cutie mark, taking care of animals became her big passion. She loved all woodland creatures, no matter if big or small, and here, she wanted to create a sanctuary for them where they could live without having to be worried about finding food every day.

If that would be okay for them, that is.

The last thing she had in mind was to force animals to live here. Every animal could stay as long as it wanted and come and go at it's leisure. She also wanted to take care of animals that got hurt or were sick and nursing them until they were fit again. Thinking on taking care of injured animals remembered her on something.

She looked down at her left hoof. It was covered in bandages and still hurt a little. This injury was bad timing. Exactly on the day before she accidentally cut herself as she was chopping some carrots. She was thinking about delaying her move to the town until the injury had healed, but she had already packed almost everything and could not wait to reach her new home and so she decided to stick to her plan.

Fluttershy went to the window that was aside from the entrance door and looked outside. The cottage stood on a little hill, with a little creek in front of it and lots and lots of space. She clapped her hooves together excitedly. Soon, she would build a lot of vivariums and houses for all sorts of animals here. Doing that would be even more work than to arrange everything here in the cottage, but for the animals she loved so much, it was worth it. Fluttershy would do everything for animals.

In the distance, she could see the dark Everfree Forest. It was a place that scared her. It was a haunted, cursed place the ponies in Ponyville said. The mayor told her about it and the dangers inside. She heard about strange creatures that were completely different from animals living there. One of them were creatures called “timberwolves”. Fluttershy loved wolves too, like every animal, but these were no normal wolves, as the mayor told her. Their bodies consisted of dead wood and according to her, every time a pony managed it to destroy a timberwolf's body, it was put together again by a mysterious, unknown force. Fluttershy shuddered at the thought of it.

Living near a place with demonic creatures like this was nothing the timid, little pegasus desired. Every time she thought on the Everfree Forest and the creatures that lurked inside of it she wished to be back in Cloudsdale again. Up there in the clouds it was safe. No scary creatures and no haunted forests existed there. But there she could also meet only a few animals, big birds who could fly up so high, and living without animals was something she just couldn't anymore. And this cottage was a cheap place to live in, exactly what she needed, and so she swallowed the bitter pill.

She was sure that she would get used to the dangerous forest soon. And technically, there was no risk for her as long as she stayed outside of the forest. According to the mayor, it was never witnessed that a timberwolf or another creature left the Everfree. Every encounter with ponies and timberwolves happened when ponies were foolish enough to enter the forest. For an unknown reason, the timberwolves stayed there. And entering this scary forest was something that would never come to her mind. And since she couldn't think of any animal that would dare to enter it and that had to be rescued from there due to this, there was really no risk that she would find herself there one day. Thinking on animals again, she realized that she almost forgot something.

While it still had to happen that many animals came to her sanctuary, one animal was already there, in fact. It was a little bunny. Fluttershy was not sure if it would stay, but when she came here today, it was sitting outside in the garden and for some reason, it did not leave. So she decided to take the opportunity and to take care of this bunny. Maybe, if it should left one day, it would tell other animals about her sanctuary. Having that bunny here was a good start. Fluttershy smiled.

Then she went into the kitchen. It was already stocked with all of Fluttershy's kitchen tools and the fridge was full already as well. It was the first room she had equipped today, a few hours ago, after her arrival at the cottage.

Fluttershy opened the fridge and pulled out some carrots. She placed them on her back and then she trotted outside to give her first animal friend here something to eat. When she saw the bunny the last time, it was sitting down at the creek, drinking some water, so Fluttershy went there first. But the bunny was not there anymore. Fluttershy searched around in the garden, but she couldn't find it. Suddenly, she noticed something. In front of her was a sharp-edged stone and on it's edge were a few drops of blood. And this was not the only trace of blood she found. In small intervals, more drops of blood led away from the sharp stone. Fluttershy became frightened. This could only mean that the little bunny had hurt itself. She had to find it quickly!

Fluttershy bent down and sniffed at the blood. It was still fresh. The bunny had not come far yet. The carrots still on her back, she followed the trace the bunny had left with it's injury. It led out of her garden and directly into the direction. Fluttershy began to shiver. “Oh, please, don't lead into the Everfree Forest!”, she thought angsty. To her luck, it didn't. After some meters, it changed the direction. Following it for a while, Fluttershy found herself in a forest. The grass was fresh and green and the trees around her were full of green leaves. It was the complete opposite to how she imagined the inside of the Everfree Forest. This must be the Whitetail Woods she heard about.

The blood led deeper into the woods. Following it, Fluttershy wished internally that the bunny was okay. Suddenly, the trace vanished. Fluttershy looked around everywhere, but she could not find any more blood on the ground. The wound must have stopped bleeding as the bunny reached this place. Fluttershy galloped around frantically, calling the bunny and looking everywhere for it. In her worried state, she overlooked a big stone and tripped over it.

She was rolling down a slope that was immediately behind it and at the bottom of it, she landed on her injured hoof. A loud scream of pain escaped the little pegasus' mouth. Her own wound was hurting more now, fresh blood dripping out of it. She wasn't sure if she could still trot now, but then, she saw the bunny she had searched for in some distance in front of her and this revived her spirit. Limping, she slowly trotted over to the bunny. As it saw her, it folded one of it's ears to wave at Fluttershy.

As Fluttershy had reached the bunny, she immediately looked at it's wound. It was only very small and it turned out that Fluttershy's injury was far worse. But she only thought on the bunny now. “You poor little thing! We must get you back to the cottage and take care of your injury.” She thought for a moment and then she lifted up the bunny with her bandaged hoof. Carrying a bunny was sure easier than trotting with an injured hoof.

Fluttershy aimed for the slope to climb it up again, but after only a few steps, she collapsed. Apparently, it wasn't as easy as she thought. Her hoof hurt even more now and more blood was flowing out of it. She could not go on. Fluttershy looked down to the bunny in her hoof. It's injury was not of much concern, but she would got into trouble if she wasn't found here. Fluttershy began to cry.

~*~

And now she was here. Helpless in the rain, without a pony at her side. It wasn't noticeable in the strong rain, but Fluttershy was still crying without hesitation. She laid her head on the ground and cried into the wet grass. Suddenly, the rain stopped.

Fluttershy opened one eye and peeked a little at the ground in front of her. There were still new raindrops hitting the ground some inches away. Confused, she looked up and saw a huge leaf hanging over her head.

“Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!”, a muffled voice sounded near her.

She followed the source of it. A pink earth pony filly stood on a rock in front of her, completely soaked with the rainwater that was still pouring down from the sky. She was holding the stalk of the leaf in her mouth.

“P-Pinkie Pie?”, Fluttershy asked surprised.

“Yep, that's my name!”, the pink filly answered cheerfully. “I saw that you were in trouble so I came to help you!”, she said like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Fluttershy smiled up to the little filly in front of her, still some tears in her eyes.

It took about an hour until the rain stopped, but Pinkie Pie just stood there, patiently covering Fluttershy and the bunny with the leaf. She got even more wet while standing there, but Fluttershy could see that she did not care. Instead of going away to bring herself into a dry place, she stood there until the rain was over and in the meanwhile, she even tried to entertain Fluttershy with telling her all sorts of things, like that she came from a rockfarm and how she got her cutie mark. Fluttershy was amazed. Up in Cloudsdale, she never met a pony that was so kind.

As the rain was finally over, Pinkie Pie put down the leaf and jumped down to Fluttershy. “I saw that your hoof is injured. Can you still trot?”, she asked for her condition.

Fluttershy rose up and tried to do a few steps, but her hoof was still hurting very much. She grimaced in pain. Pinkie Pie went at her side. She lifted the bunny on her back and then supported her while they walked out of the woods.

As Pinkie Pie had accompanied Fluttershy back to her cottage, Fluttershy lied down on the sofa, exhausted from the little adventure she just experienced. The pink filly was leaving her side for a moment and when she returned, she had a roll of bandages in her mouth.

“Where did you get them from?”, Fluttershy asked surprised. “Even I don't know anymore in which carton I have packed what.”

“That was easy!”, Pinkie Pie answered. “I just looked into the one that has written “First Aid Equipment” on it!” Then she proceeded to remove the old bandages on Fluttershy's hoof and patched it up with new ones.

Fluttershy blushed. In all the stress of the day, she completely forgot that she wrote on the cartons what was inside! If she would have remembered that, she would have been much faster in unpacking her things, maybe even finished already. Pinkie Pie just solved this problem for her.

As Pinkie Pie was finished with patching her hoof up, she placed the bandages beside Fluttershy on the sofa. “Is there anything else I can do?”, she asked her happily.

Fluttershy looked around. She could need help some help to pack out her things, but she did not wanted to demand too much from the filly that just helped her so generously. She shook her head. “No, I think I can take care of the rest by myself. Thanks, Pinkie Pie!”, she said.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!”, she answered. “But if you need me, you can always count on me! I live in Sugarcube Corner, that's the big bakery in the middle of the town! Just come if you need something!” Then she turned around and hopped out of the door.

Fluttershy was happy. Just a short time ago, in the woods, she felt desperated, but now the tides had turned again, thanks to Pinkie Pie. Having found a friend and that despite her shyness, that made it hard for her to get to know to other ponies, was more than Fluttershy ever expected from her first day in Ponyville. She looked after the happily bouncing earth pony and smiled.

Day 16: Fillies 'n the Hood

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Scootaloo looked on the screen and narrowed her eyes. She had only one life left anymore, and she was not going to waste it. She let the Wonderbolts she controlled flying around the enormous dragon on the top of the skyscraper, preparing her next, and hopefully last, attack.

“Be cool, Scootaloo..... But be in the game, not of the game.”

With one hoof, she aimed for the red button beside the joystick, as the dragon suddenly lashed out, taking out all her Wonderbolts in one swoop. She saw how her Wonderbolts fell down the skyscraper, followed by a “Game Over” message in big, red letters. Scootaloo dropped her head, disappointed.

“Ya were so close to win! Try it again, Scootaloo!”, Apple Bloom begged her to continue.

But Scootaloo walked away from the machine instead. “I can't, I don't have money anymore. I just used up my last bits”, the pegasus filly said mournful. “Do you guys have any bits left?” She looked at them, hope glistening in her eyes.

“No, ahm broke”, Apple Bloom replied sad.

“And me too”, Sweetie Belle added.

“Ah guess that's it for getting our videogame arcade cutie marks then.” Apple Bloom hung her head.

Together, they trotted out of the Ponyville Video Game Arcade, their heads low. Outside of it, they sat down, a little aside from the building.

“How are we going to kill the rest of the afternoon now?”, Scootaloo complained.

“Don't kill the afternoon, girls, cherish it!” A familiar voice sounded aside from them. They followed it and saw Cheerilee. “You should value the time you have together.”

The friends sighed. “How should we value the time if we have nothing to do?”, Sweetie Belle asked her. “It's so boring!”

Cheerilee was going to reply something as the wind blew something into Sweetie Belle's face. She took it down to see what it was. A brand spanking new 20 bits bill was in her hooves. Her face lit up. She closed her eyes and smiled.

“See girls? Life always offers interesting opportunities, you just have to take them!” She gave them a smile, then she continued her way.

“Where did that come from?” Scootaloo looked unbelievingly at the bill in her hooves.

“Maybe Derpy let explode something again?”, Apple Bloom suggested.

“You know what we can do with that”, Scootaloo said mysteriously.

There was something the three Crusaders planned to do a long time ago to get their cutie marks, but so far, they never had enough money for it. This had changed now.

“We're finally going to get our cutie marks in ice cream eating!”, Apple Bloom explained determined.

The fillies grinned broadly at each other and then they chased away to the Ponyville grocery. They stormed through the door and rushed up to the counter. “Hi Fluttershy!”, they said to the pegasus behind it.

“Oh, hello girls!”, she said. “What can I do for you?”

“We want to buy ice cream!”, Sweetie Belle answered happily.

“Sure, just a moment.” Fluttershy turned around to the fridge and pulled out three small cups of ice cream. But Scootaloo stopped her. Fluttershy turned back at her. “What ice cream do you want then?”, she asked surprised.

“We only want the deal real!”, Scootaloo said. “Give us one of the 4 lb buckets!”

Fluttershy's eyes shrunk small and she began to stutter. “T-The 4 lb bucket? B-But a filly has never been eaten so much ice cream before!”

“Just make it happen”, Scootaloo said with a cool expression on her face and put the 20 bits bill on the counter, while leaning herself smooth against it.

“Oh, dear”, Fluttershy answered nervously.

Hesitantly, she turned around again and opened the bigger fridge this time. She lifted out one of the big buckets and placed it strenuously on the table. An intense wheeze left her mouth. She took three spoons out of under the counter and placed them aside from the box. Fluttershy took the twenty bits and gave them their change. “Thank you girls. Come again!”, she said.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle lifted the gigantic bucket, that was almost bigger than each of them, from the counter and carried it outside. Fluttershy looked after them, wrinkles appearing on her face. “If you survive”, she added to her last sentence.

The three fillies sat down in front of the shop and positioned the bucket before them. “King Size Oatmeal Ice Cream” said the text that was printed on the bucket. Sweetie Belle hoofed one spoon each to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and then opened the bucket devoutly. The three Crusaders bent over it and looked into the bucket reverently, their mouths wide open. Then Sweetie Belle stuck her spoon into the cold mass and whipped out a big piece of it. She put the spoon into her mouth and smiled immediately, satisfyingly rubbing her cheeks. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo followed her example. “Wow, that's good ice cream!”, they bursted out together. The fillies were happy. The ice cream was definitely worth the money they paid for it.

Now, all three of them positioned themselves at one side of the bucket, forming a triangle around it. Then they began to chow down the ice cream. Spoon after spoon of the delicious, cold oatmeal ice cream found it's way into their mouths, making them squeal in delight with every bite. After about ten spoons, Apple Bloom put her spoon down and held a hoof against her forehead. “Ouch.....”, she groaned. The brain freeze was already kicking in. But this couldn't stop Apple Bloom. After rubbing her head for some seconds until the pain subsided she continued to shovel the ice cream into her mouth.

A few minutes later, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were befallen from the same fate. They grimaced as the pain began and hold their heads with both hooves. Loud groaning escaped their mouths in short intervals and they were writhing in pain in front of Apple Bloom, who still continued to swallow down as much ice-cream as she could. Sweetie Belle was hit the hardest by the ice cream headache. As Scootaloo's pain had vanished and she was choking the ice cream again already, Sweetie Belle still sat there, rubbing her temples and hoping for it that the pain would disappear soon, before all of the rest of the ice cream was eaten up by her friends. It happened eventually and Sweetie continued, still determined to get her cutie mark, no matter how much pain she had to endure.

After a few additional minutes, half of the bucket was empty now, the fillies gave up and let their spoons stuck in the cold cream. They hold their hurting stomachs and moaned. They could not eat anymore of the cold treat. Worst of all, the headache was back again. They ignored it over the last minutes and so it was stronger this time. Their heads hurt and they all felt dizzy, almost as if they had just drunk a whole barrel of apple cider instead of eaten 2 lb of oatmeal ice cream.

Apple Bloom stared intensely at Scootaloo. Everything was circling around her and three Scootaloos were in front of her suddenly. The brain freeze caused her to have hallucinations. Scootaloo, however, interpreted her look wrong. “What is it?”, she asked. “Can you already see something?” She looked excitedly at her flank, but let her ears drop as it was as blank as ever.

“No, but there are suddenly three of you!”, she answered quickly.

The pain they had to deal with now was not the only effect, somehow, their condition also made them hyperactive. They all felt adventurous suddenly and they knew that their afternoon wouldn't be boring anymore now. Scootaloo jumped up. “Okay, we're young, we're rich and we're full of ice cream! What do we do?”

“Let's go crazy, Bridleway Style!” Sweetie Belle threw her hooves into the air.
The three fillies began to sing and to dance around in the street.

We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders and we live, in a helluva town:
The schoolyard's up and the bakery's down!
The animals go to Fluttershy's pound,
We're the Crusaders!
You are Blank Flanks!
See how we care!
We live in a hell of a..... toooooooooown!

Having finished their singing, the three young fillies went on a crusade through the town like they had never experienced it before.

Their first stop was the Ponyville scooter shop. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were distracting the shop's owner with asking him a lot of questions about scooters, especially very technical ones that needed a lot of explanation, while Scootaloo snatched one of the newest scooter models, carried it outside and tried it out to her heart's content. Next they returned to the gaming arcade.

With the amount of money they had now, they were trying out all of the games this time, while ordering lots of drinks there, and they owed it to their ice cream induced hyperactivity that they could beat all the games at this visit. Going to a theater performance in Ponyville was the next thing they did.

Loaded with lots of popcorn and drinks that contained more sugar than what was good for them they watched the performance, even though they were barely able to comprehend the plot with their from brain freeze damaged mind. As they were chased out of the theater, because Apple Bloom used her straw to shoot spit wads at the actors, they went to a sweet shop and bought a big amount of chewing gum. For half an hour they did nothing else than creating bubbles and letting them pop until they were all completely covered in the chewy mass.

When they walked out of a Rub-On Cutie Mark shop, fake cutie marks adorning their flanks, Berry Punch was behind them suddenly. She was as drunk as she was in most nights, heavy rings under her eyes ruining her appearance and a strong stench of alcohol coming out of her month. Having seen Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle she lifted up the bucket of ice cream, that they were still carrying, from Sweetie Belle's back, hold it to her lips and gulped down a good amount of the leftover ice cream that had become liquid in the meanwhile. “I don't know where you breezies came from, but I like your breezie drink”, she slurred with her alcohol heavy voice while the fillies went down the street in front of her jumpily.

The longer Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were outside this night, the more their hyperactiveness got out of control. They went to more funny places in the town, but under the influence of the massive amounts of ice cream in them, everything around them became more and more a blur; their surroundings reduced to a rapid sequence of shop signs, lights and different ponies, all while they saw the face of Fluttershy in front of them who told them over and over again that it was not a good idea what they were doing.

At the next morning, Apple Bloom woke up in her bed with the most terrible headache she ever had in her entire young life. The ice cream bucket, empty now, was still in her hooves as she slowly crawled out of her blanket. “Ooooh, mah head”, she groaned in pain.

Applejack was at her side. “That's the remorse of an ice cream junkie”, she said teasingly.

“Ah don't remember anything”, Apple Bloom replied weakly.

“Really? Not even this?” Applejack pulled the covers aside.

Apple Bloom jumped up frantically and inched back to the headboard of her bed, pressing her back against the wall.

Berry Punch lied there under the covers. She slowly woke up too now. Holding her hurting head, she opened her eyes and looked at Apple Bloom beside her. Her eyes grew big from shock as she realized that she woke up in the bed of a filly. “Oh, not again!”, she exclaimed.

In the next moment, Apple Bloom rose up from her lying position, screaming out in panic. She panted heavily and needed a few moments to realize that waking up with that unwanted fellow in her bed was just a nightmare; caused by the massive amounts of ice cream in her blood and the painful freeze in her brain. The sun was shining through her window, but not very high up in the sky yet. Apple Bloom guessed that it was early in the morning.

She slowly let herself sink down on her pillow again and pulled her blanket up under her chin. Her head still hurt and she felt ill. And she could not remember anything of what happened after they had stopped to eat ice cream outside of the shop. Although it was not caused by alcohol, Apple Bloom understood now what adult ponies meant when they spoke about a hangover.

Apple Bloom wondered if Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were in the same terrible condition now. Eating this big amount of ice cream was the biggest mistake they ever made. The filly had realized that now.

She swore herself to never eat so much ice cream again and then closed her eyes, getting another snatch of sleep after this eventful and exhaustive night.

Day 17: Justice and Revenge

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The schoolbell rang. It was the end of recess and the fillies and colts stopped their chatting and playing and hurried inside.

Dinky got off of the swing and joined her classmates. Having entered the classroom, she walked past the desks of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, turned left and then right again, directly aiming at her desk. While on the way to it, she looked down at the pendant hanging down her neck. She lifted it up and opened it with one hoof. A small photo was inside. It showed her together with her mom Derpy, her big sister Sparkler and The Doctor. She smiled.

This day was one of the best days in her life. It was her birthday and they visited the famous amusement park in Baltimare on this day, a place Dinky really wished to visit back then. They were in a funhouse, let them become thrilled in a rollercoaster and getting scared in a ghost train that resembled a famous haunted building. And Dinky ate more ice cream than on any day before in her life. It was one of the few days all four of them could spend together and thus, very important to Dinky. Even an unexpected attack of some scary creatures the Doctor referred to as “Angels” could not change that. No, in fact, this exciting adventure made the day even better!

As she walked past Diamond Tiara's desk, the bully could catch a look of the photo in her hooves. Derpy's eyes were crossed like most of the time when the photo was made and as Diamond Tiara saw that, she grimaced, followed by a dismissive glance appearing in her eyes.

Dinky arrived at her desk and sat down. She reached into it and pulled out the materials for the next lesson, carefully arranging them on the table. Miss Cheerilee was not here yet as she was done with it, so she took out the pendant for a second time and looked at it again. Dwelling on the memories of that great day, another smile adorned her face. Suddenly, a shadow fell over the pendant. Dinky looked up surprised and saw Diamond Tiara standing in front of her desk.

“What's that pendant you're looking at the whole time?” Diamond Tiara snatched it out of her hooves.

“Hey, give it back!”, Dinky protested. “That's not yours!”

Diamond ignored her objection and carefully inspected the picture. Looking closely at the background of the picture, she could see that the picture was taken at an amusement park. “So that's what you're staring at”, Diamond Tiara began again. “Looks like you made a trip to an amusement park with your retarded mother”, Diamond Tiara said loud enough for the whole class to hear.

The other foals turned around to her, a shocked expression on their faces. They knew Diamond Tiara, so it was not a surprise for them that she would say something like this, but she had just reached a new level in her spitefulness.

Dinky's face, however, expressed deep anguish. How could she say this about her beloved mom? A second later, her anguish turned into anger. She would not allow her to talk about her mom like this! “My mom is always there for me and takes good care of me. She is not retarded!” Dinky reached out and yanked the precious pendant out of Diamond Tiara's hooves again.

Diamond Tiara grinned at her outburst. “Not retarded? Oh, please. Just look at her eyes. That dumb expression she has. That's always a sign of somepony being retarded. How can she even take care of you? It's a surprise that nopony takes care of her, in a home for the mentally disabled!”

This comment let explode something in Dinky. The usually so friendly and lovely filly lashed out and gave the vile classmate in front of her a resounding slap in the face. Diamond Tiara's head jerked to the side, a red imprint of Dinky's hoof displayed on her cheek. She put a hoof on the hurting spot and turned back at Dinky, a hateful expression in her eyes.

The fillies and colts staring at the scenery broke out in cheer after seeing this. It was not often that Diamond Tiara got a real comeuppance for what she did and even though it did not help to stop her bullying, it was delightful to see when it happened. And never before anypony in their class dared to give her a slap in the face. It was a sensation for the foals. “You're our hero, Dinky!”, a filly with a turquoise mane in the first row shouted out.

This one hit was not enough for Dinky to vent her anger about the insult of her mom. She was used to get bullied by Diamond Tiara here and there, being a blank flank like Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, but this time she was going too far!

Dinky stood up and began to climb up her desk in her fury. She already had one hoof set on it, ready to jump at Diamond Tiara, as a voice interrupted her.

“Dinky, stop it and sit down!”, the voice said sternly.

Dinky stopped in her movement and looked to the entrance of the classroom, following the sound of the familiar voice, together with her other classmates. Only Diamond Tiara did not turn around.

Miss Cheerilee stood there. She just had entered the classroom soon enough to hear what Diamond Tiara said about Derpy and to witness Dinky's angry reaction on the insult of her mom. The stern voice of her teacher pulled Dinky out of her anger and she got down from the table, slowly taking seat again. Her eyes were shrunk small and a scared expression graced her face now. She feared that she would get a punishment now for reacting so aggressive.

A smug grin appeared on Diamond Tiara's face. She was insulting Dinky's mother and now Dinky was the one who got in trouble for it! Diamond Tiara felt good. But her moment of triumph did not last long and she was devastated by what Miss Cheerilee said next.

“Diamond Tiara, I expect you to stay here after your classmates have left. I want to talk to you after school.”

Dinky let out the breath she was holding. Her fear was unnecessary as apparently, her teacher made the right decision and saw who the real troublemaker here was.

The bully, though, couldn't believe it and turned round. Despite the cruel insult she just made, she felt completely in the right. She was going to protest, but the stern expression in her teacher's face showed that she was adamant and dead set in her decision. Diamond Tiara renounced of an answer. She gave Dinky a last, hateful look, that was replied by the blonde filly with a smug smile, and then returned to her desk and took seat unwillingly.

As she saw that Diamond Tiara sat at her place, Cheerilee began with her lesson.

When the rest of the lessons had passed by and the schoolbell rang for the last time on this day, the students took down their pencils and began to pack their things.

Diamond Tiara did so as well. Still feeling in the right, she was not willing to realize that she had done something wrong. As she had packed everything, she slowly trotted forward. Taking a look at the blackboard, she saw that Miss Cheerilee was still busy with cleaning it. She took that chance and quickly proceeded to the classroom door. Miss Cheerilee was not even paying attention, so who should stop her from leaving? She would just trot out of the classroom. She hasn't done anything bad, after all, and was just saying the truth.

The answer on her question came quickly. As she neared the exit, Dinky stepped in front of her and blocked her way. A determined expression was on her face. After what she said about her mom, she would not let her leave like that. Diamond Tiara wiggled herself around Dinky, but the one moment she lost was already enough to prevent her escape.

“Diamond Tiara, haven't you forgot something?”, Miss Cheerilee asked her firmly.

Diamond Tiara clenched her teeth in anger. A happy expression on her face, Dinky stuck out her tongue at her, then she went her way. The bully just stood there for a moment, thinking on it if she should just leave anyway. But her confidence was depleted now. She hesitantly turned around and walked over to Miss Cheerilee's desk, her nose arrogantly raised upwards.

Miss Cheerilee had taken seat behind her desk in the meanwhile. “Is there anything you want to explain about what happened today, Diamond Tiara?” Miss Cheerilee quickly came down to business.

Diamond Tiara pondered about her possibilities. She was used to just get away with the things she did to others, but now she had to get her head out of the rope somehow. Maybe she should just lying? Miss Cheerilee most likely heard everything she said about Derpy, but she did not see what happened before. She could make it look like Dinky insulted her dad first. Her confidence returned. She looked up to her teacher. “Yes, I have”, she began. “I was just answering to what Dinky said about my dad in the same way.”

Miss Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. “So, this means Dinky insulted your dad first and you snapped back at her?”

“Yes, that's all that happened.”

Miss Cheerilee sighed. “Diamond Tiara, I already talked with Dinky about what happened. She said you just came to her and began with the insults. Without a reason.”

“Then she's lying! I was just defending my dad, nothing more!”

But Miss Cheerilee was unimpressed. “Diamond Tiara, it's not the first time that you insult others without a reason. Your classmates told me about it. I trust their words and Dinky's words more than your own.”

Seeing that her excuse was useless, Diamond Tiara began to become angry. “They're just lying too! I never did anything of what those little–“

“Diamond Tiara”, her teacher interrupted her firmly. “I will talk to your dad about this. And tomorrow, you will apology to Dinky. I watched what you did long enough now.”

Diamond Tiara realized that she had no chance. For once, she had to face consequences and this was already bugging her.

“Go home now”, Miss Cheerilee resumed. “We continue this tomorrow.” Diamond Tiara frowned but did not say anything anymore. She trotted out of the classroom and left the school.

Cheerilee's talk with her dad, that happened on the same day, went not well for her. As her dad heard about what happened, he understood, and he agreed with Miss Cheerilee in every aspect. It resulted in it that she was grounded for two weeks and, worst of all, he cut her weekly pocket money for one long month! Diamond Tiara protested, of course, but it was useless. Her father's decision was set. And Diamond Tiara's anger was unbelievingly big. How could Miss Cheerilee and her dad doing this to her, for just saying the truth about such a useless member of their society? Despite the harsh punishment, Diamond Tiara did not understand.

At the next day in school, Miss Cheerilee forced her to apologize to Dinky. She protested, trying again to make a point in her favor, but as Miss Cheerilee threatened her with detention if she shouldn't do it, she gave in. She pressed out a careless “I'm sorry” and shook Dinky's hoof. Of course she only did it to avoid getting even more punishment, but it didn't matter to her. Miss Cheerilee did not realize this anyway.

These thoughts rushed through her head as she went back to her seat and sat down. And the next time she would be more careful. Miss Cheerilee could not punish her for something that did not happen on the schoolground. Nopony could, in fact, as long as there wasn't any proof for what she did. She looked over to Dinky. A devilish grin appeared on her face. Not even for the revenge she had planned.....

As school was over on this day, Dinky quickly packed her things. She did it faster than usually because Sparkler and she wanted to watch a movie in cinema this afternoon and she had some homework to get done before this. As she rushed out of the classroom she noticed that Diamond Tiara's desk was already empty, despite that all other students were still there. Apparently, Diamond Tiara felt so embarrassed that Miss Cheerilee called her out in front of everypony in the class today that she quickly left. At least that's what Dinky thought.

As she was galloping through the streets, her thoughts were already on her planned visit of the cinema today. It was the premiere of the very first Daring Do movie! Everypony wanted to see it and all tickets were sold out by now. She and Sparkler literally got tickets in the last minute. The only sad thing about it was that her mom couldn't come with them, because of her work. But spending some time with her big sister again made her happy enough already. She only needed to get her homework done before they headed to the cinema, so that she could enjoy the movie without having to think about it to finish her homework afterwards and then–

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted, because something grabbed her at her mane and dragged her into a bush she was just galloping past. It happened so fast that Dinky couldn't even react. With a loud thump she landed on the ground behind the bush, as the grip around her mane was loosened. “Ouch.....”, she said, as she was slowly rising up and rubbing her hurting head. “What was this?”, she asked a little dizzy as she opened her eyes.

“What you deserve”, somepony in front of her answered her question. It was Diamond Tiara.

“Diamond Tiara?!”, Dinky exclaimed. “Do you still not have enough?”, she asked her.

“I have enough”, the cruel filly answered. “I have enough of it that I get in trouble because of your fault!”

Dinky couldn't believe it. Diamond Tiara was really blaming her for what happened! “This isn't my fault! If you wouldn't have said all those things about my mommy you would have never got any punishment!”, Dinky replied furiously.

“Those things?”, Diamond Tiara asked. “Like that your mom is so clumsy and retarded that she can't get the easiest things done without destroying anything?”

Dinky saw red again. “I told you to stop saying this!” She proceeded towards Diamond Tiara to finish what she began yesterday before Miss Cheerilee stopped her, but suddenly, somepony grabbed her from behind.

The tight clutch around her neck of the hooves of the pony behind her made it impossible for Dinky to move forward.

“Good, Silver Spoon”, Diamond Tiara said. “Just hold her like this. I'm doing the rest.”

Dinky tried to break free, but Silver Spoon's grasp was too strong. She was surprised about it that a filly her age could have such strength.

A menacingly, and somewhat satisfied, look on her face, Diamond Tiara walked up to the helpless filly. With one fast movement, she ripped off the necklace with the pendant that was hanging around Dinky's neck. “Let's take another look at that pathetic photo!” Diamond Tiara snickered viciously. She opened the pendant and saw the photo again. “It does not look any less pathetic than yesterday. Or what do you say, Silver Spoon?” She hold the open pendant in her direction and showed her the photo.

“Can't get anymore pathetic!”, she agreed with her bully friend.

Now she hold the photo in front of Dinky's face. “And what do you say about it?”, she asked her.

“It's not pathetic!”, Dinky answered obviously, snapping at Diamond Tiara.

“Well, that's sad”, she answered cynically. “Silver and I think it's pathetic, so you're outvoted.” The expression in her face turned from spiteful to outright cruel suddenly.

Dinky noticed it and knew it couldn't mean something good. “What are you going to do?”

“I will just help you to get rid of unnecessary ballast. Nopony needs a pathetic photo. It just takes up space that could be filled with things that are not pathetic.” With these words, she ripped out the photo of the pendant and without hesitation, she ripped it apart in tiny pieces.

“NO! STOP!”, Dinky cried into her face, but it was too late. The photo was nothing more than tiny fragments now.

Dinky's heart sank. Tears appeared in her eyes. “Why have you done this? It was the only one! And it was the only souvenir I had from our trip.....” The little unicorn began to sob.

“This is what happens when you mess with me”, the bully replied mercilessly. She held a hoof in front of her eyes and blew the pieces of the former beautiful photo into her face. Some pieces of it got stuck in the tears that were flowing down Dinky's face now.

“I guess that makes up for what you did and we're even”, Diamond Tiara said and began to trot past her. But then, she stopped suddenly and faced Dinky again. “No, just almost”, she said. She reached back with her hoof and gave Dinky the same sort of resounding slap that she gave her yesterday. A loud whimper of pain escaped Dinky's face as Diamond Tiara's hoof hit her. “So, now we're even.”

She trotted up to Silver Spoon and gave her a sign, then she made her way out of the bush that had to serve to hide her cruel act. Silver Spoon released the grasp around Dinky. She gave her a strong push from behind and the crying filly landed face forward in the dirt, besides the rest of her beloved family photo.

Dinky tried to get up, but she couldn't. Seeing how the photo she loved so much became destroyed had robbed her off of every strength. And so she just lied there, crying without hesitation into the dirty ground.

Taking a last look at Dinky through the branches of the bush Diamond Tiara said: “Better don't come into my way anymore. You will regret it, because I will destroy more things that you love.” Then she finally trotted away, satisfiedly leaving the desperated, little filly crying behind the bush.....

Day 18: The Future She Was Not Supposed To Know

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It was a sunny day in Ponyville. The birds flew through the air, gliding on the wind and enjoying it's lift, the animals on the ground played with each other or just enjoyed a sunbath and Discord and Fluttershy enjoyed it each other. Not in the way the gentle reader could think now in regards to the choice of words in this description, no, they were just having their weekly teatime today.

They sat opposite of each other, at a small table, a cup of tea in front of them. Aside from that, the table was laid with a beautiful green tea cloth, a small bowl with sugar, a big teapot with steaming hot tea in it in case they desired to drink another cup of it and several plates, mounted with cookies, pies, muffins and.....

Cucumber sandwiches.

After stirring some sugar into it, Discord lifted the small cup to his mouth. He took in the scent for a moment and then took a little sip. His head was adorned by a green top hat, a piece of paper with “10/6” written on it stucking out of the black hatband.

“Oh, my dear Fluttershy, your tea is delicious as always!”, he praised her for the hot liquid he enjoyed.

“Why, thank you, it's so kind of you to say this”, Fluttershy replied in her timid voice.

Discord grabbed one of the cucumber sandwiches and took a bite out of it. “You're welcome!”, he said with a full mouth, spilling some small pieces of the sandwich on the table while talking.

Fluttershy noticed it with disapproval in her eyes.

Their weekly teatime was always the time were they talked about the events of the past week. Mostly it was Discord who talked, since the quiet life of the yellow pegasus went exactly the same in almost every week, if her help wasn't needed to defend Equestria from an evil ruler of the past or a magic-sucking centaur, while Discord's life was full of amazing things every day.

And since that was just a few days ago, they happened to talk about a certain time travel today. It was one of the more exciting things you could experience with the draconequus, even for his standards.

“I can't believe that I could really meet a butterdragon!”, Fluttershy began with gleaming eyes. “I envy you so much for being friends with one in the past! Having a butterdragon as friend must be wonderful!”

“It is okay”, Discord answered, having swallowed the sandwich and already aiming for the next one. “But they also have some terrible manners and attitudes and it's not always easy to have one as your friend.”
“Oh, which manners and attitudes do you mean?”, Fluttershy asked him interested.

But Discord was denying her an answer on this question. “Oh, you wouldn't want to know that, trust me. Explaining this would need to go into some icky details and this is no topic for a teatime with so much delicious food like this one.” He threw another cucumber sandwich into his mouth and began to chew on it satisfiedly, a few more crumbles landing on the table. “The only thing I can tell is that these attitudes were the reason why they exctincted”, he continued after he had swallowed the sandwich. Then he took another sip of the tea.

Fluttershy was disappointed, but then, a different thing came into her mind. “Oh, but there is another thing I would like to know!”, she chimed. “Before you brought us to Coltlantis, we landed in a different time, but you just closed the door of the time machine before we could take a look at it. What have you seen there?”

Discord began to cough and spilled out the tea in his mouth, all over Angel who coincidentally walked by. He gave Discord a disapproving and mad look so intense that he would have dropped dead in this moment if looks could kill. “Oh that”, he said, after his coughing fit had died down instead, “that was nothing special. It was a boring future, there was nothing exciting to see at all. So I decided to make it short and to bring us to the next destination immediately.”

This explanation raised doubts in the pegasus. “But you seemed so distressed when you looked out of the time machine. You said we've gone too far and when I asked you, you just said that spoilers were out there. What did you mean with that? I never heard of a 'spoiler' before.”

Discord became nervous. Big streams of sweat were flowing down his face. He was struggling to find an excuse. “Oh, Fluttershy, you should not ask so many things about the future. My offer to travel with you and the girls through time was only meant to visit the past. Knowing things about your future is not good.”

“Why that?”, Fluttershy asked surprised.

“Well, knowing too many things about your own future can cause problems. It can make you doing decisions to avoid creating a future for yourself that you don't like and make everything even worse with that.”

Now it was Fluttershy who began to break out in sweat. “Does this mean my own future is so terrible? What happens to me in the future? Please, Discord you have to let me know!”

But Discord shook his head and declined Fluttershy this explanation. “No, Fluttershy, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. It's important to let the future happen as it was intended. If you don't, you could create a time paradox that makes the whole universe implode. Even I, the Lord of Chaos, can't do anything against that.”

But the words of the draconequus were not enough to stop Fluttershy's concerns. She jumped up and began fidgeting around nervously. “But if something terrible happens to me I have to try to prevent it! What if I can't speak with animals anymore? Or if my Stare doesn't work anymore? Or maybe I become a crazy cat lady? Or Princess Celestia makes me an Alicorn too! Or.....”

Discord was only listening with one ear and did not really hear what Fluttershy said. Instead, he just nodded satisfied. He successfully distracted her from finding out about the real terrible future, something that would make her afraid even more, since it was affecting the whole of Equestria, maybe even the world, not only her. He knew Fluttershy very well by now and so it was easy for him to fan some fear inside of her to let her do what he wanted. Of course he only did that in an emergency like this. And it was better for Fluttershy not to know the truth. As sensitive as she was it would probably cause a breakdown of her to know that the Equestria of the future consisted of futuristic buildings, cyber ponies and squidward-pony hybrids.

Ok, maybe she would like the squidward ponies, but everything else would utterly terrify her. Especially considered that this future did not look like there was any notable piece of nature left and thus, no free living animals anymore.

The last thing made Discord wonder. There may be a complicated evolutionary reason for the origin of squidward ponies; evolution was, as Discord learned over the course of his life, something that was as chaotic as his powers, but how could cyber ponies and big futuristic cities happen? The society of Equestria relied to a big part on magic. And magic could do everything ponies needed. There was really no need for technology in Equestria, or any nation on this planet, and especially not reason for ponies to implant their minds in articifial cyber bodies. Cyber ponies could not even use magic! It didn't make any sense. No matter how much Discord was taxing his brain, he could not come up with a reason why ponies should do this.

“Why should the ponies of the future desire to replace their organic bodies with cyber bodies?”, he muttered aloud.

All these thoughs kept him busy, while Fluttershy continued to go through all the possible horror future scenarios for her her nervous mind could come up with, and Discord did not even notice it anymore. There was one thing that Discord did notice, though:

When Fluttershy suddenly stopped her distressed mumbling and asked him something again.

“Ponies replacing their bodies? What are you talking about?” Fluttershy looked with big eyes at him.

Discord twitched. “Uh-oh”, he just said. All those thoughts he taxed his brain with made him forgot for a moment what he tried to hide from Fluttershy and so he spoke out one of his thoughts, as he had to realize now. “Uhm..... I..... I was just..... I was just..... I was just talking about a novel I want to write!”, Discord hastingly put an excuse together.

Fluttershy stared at him with a blank expression. “I don't believe you”, she said taut. Discord's stuttering revealed him. He could not trick Fluttershy this time.

The draconequus sighed. Now he could do nothing to hide it from his friend anymore. “I'm very sorry, Fluttershy, I was not telling you the truth about the future”, he began.

“You lied to me?”, Fluttershy stemmed her hooves in her her sides.

“Yes”, he admitted. “But I only did that to not making you worried. I was not lying when I said that you shouldn't know about it.”

Fluttershy seemed still unconvinced. “What can be so bad about the future that you have to lie me about it?”

Discord hesitated to tell her the complete truth, but her stern glance at him let him realize that he had no choice. “The future I saw is not concerning you, but it's concerning the whole of Equestria, maybe even the entire planet. What I saw when I looked out of the time machine were giant cities built of steel. There was no flying pegasus in the air anymore and all ponies flew in big airships. But not the airships we know, those airships were made of steel too and while they were flying through the air, they produced a disgusting smelling smoke that was polluting the air. There was also no nature anymore, everywhere were just those buildings. And the ponies.....” He hesitated again.

“The ponies did not look like the ponies you know anymore, Fluttershy. They looked like a crossbreed between ponies and squids. And some of them even.....” He took a deep breath.

“Some of them even did not have organic bodies anymore. They replaced their bodies with bodies of steel.”

While Fluttershy was listening to his report about what he had seen in the future, her eyes grew bigger with every detail he mentioned. Discord noticed it. “I'm very sorry, Fluttershy. I wanted to prevent you from finding out all of these things about Equestria's future.”

“And this is everything you saw?”, Fluttershy, whose eyes had grown to the size of watermelons by now, asked him in a quiet voice.

Discord nodded quietly. “Yes, I promise that I told you everything!”, he added then.

“Oh, okay.” Her eyes returned to their normal size and Fluttershy sat down again. She nipped calmly at her tea.

“I'm so very sorry, Fluttershy, for lying at you, I promise I won't ever do that again, please don't be–“ Discord stopped his sentence suddenly. “Wait, what do you mean with 'ok'? I thought a future like that would trouble you.” Discord stared at her, dumbstruck and unable to believe her calm reaction.

“Oh, not at all!”, she answered happily. “I'm a huge fan of science-fiction stories. I have read all of the novels by famous science-fiction authors like Michael Neighton or Arthur C. Colt!”

“B-But this wasn't a story what I was telling you. This will be Equestria's future!”

“Oh, but not according to the rules of time travel!” Fluttershy looked at him with a comforting smile. “Everything you see in the future is just a possible future. Now that we know what could happen, we can do something against it. We just need to find out what will cause this future.”

The draconequus let himself fall back into his chair. He was happy about it that Fluttershy took it so lightly and yet baffled over the fact that she just outdid him when it's about time travel knowledge.

With shaking hands, he reached out to the cup of tea in front of him and took another sip.

Day 19: Something is following you

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Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash were staring on the screen, excitedly following the final scene of the movie. A white bed was visible on the screen. Suddenly, a clawed hoof shot out of it, cutting the bed sheets. Sweetie Belle threw her hooves up and covered her eyes with them. A zebra with black and red stripes clawed it's way out of it and slowly approached a young mare that was standing with the back to it. But the mare noticed the zebra.

“I know your secret. This is just a dream. You are not real”, she said. Then she turned around and faced the zebra. “Give me back my mom and my friends, Night Mare. I will take away your power.” She turned to the door again and ignored the zebra. The undead zebra mare walked up to her and lifted the hoof with her clawed horseshoe to kill the pony in front of her.

Everypony, except Sweetie Belle who still covered her eyes, hold it's breath.

Suddenly, the zebra mare began to dematerialize. She started to scream and dissolved into light. The mare opened the door of her bedroom and found herself outside of the house all of a sudden. A carriage drove up to her house and she saw that all her friends were inside. She said goodbye to her mom who stood behind her and then went into the carriage. After she entered it, the door suddenly closed shut by itself. She and her friends tried to open it, but the door stayed shut. The pony who was pulling the carriage suddenly turned into the red and black-striped zebra the mare met in her bedroom. The zebra mare laughed devilish and then galloped down the road, taking her victims with her. The mare's mom looked after the carriage and, in the next second, something pulled her through the small window of the door back into the house. Then the credits rolled.

The ponies in the cinema, who were completely frozen for the last minutes of the movie, moved again. Some of them sighed relieved, others cheered about the great horror movie. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Rainbow Dash were among them.

“This was the best horror movie I ever saw!”, Scootaloo shouted from fascination.

Apple Bloom agreed with her.

“See? I told you it would be a good movie!”, Rainbow Dash replied.

Only Sweetie Belle could not share the excitement. “Is the movie really over?”, she asked, her hooves still on her eyes.

“Yeah, ya can look again, don't worry!”, Apple Bloom answered her agitated question.

Sweetie Belle slowly removed the hooves from her eyes and sighed relieved as she could only see the absolutely not scary credits.

“Ya missed the best scene, though”, Apple Bloom remarked.

But Sweetie Belle did not mind. “I don't think that I have missed something that I wanted to see. It became too scary at the end.”

The other ponies in the cinema proceeded towards the exit, uninterested in the credits, and the first members of the cleaning staff already entered the hall. With nothing interesting to see on the big screen anymore, the four ponies left the hall too. After visiting the toilets for a last time to get rid off the big amount of apple juice they had drunk during the movie, they left the Ponyville Cinema. While trotting outside, they passed a movie poster. “The Night Mare on Hay Street, Premiere Today!”, the poster said. Sweetie Belle shuddered and quickened her pace to left the poster behind her. She had seen enough of this movie

Outside of the cinema, they stretched their limbs after having to seat in the cinema for so long. It was already late at night and thus, dark around them. Most ponies, except the ones who went into the late-night performance of “The Night Mare on Hay Street” today, were already asleep at this time.

Rainbow Dash looked up to the illuminated clock tower. It was ten minutes before midnight. “It's time for you to go home now! I promised Applejack and your parents that you not stay outside any longer after we saw the movie.”

That was just what Sweetie Belle wanted. After the scary movie, she just wanted to come home as quickly as possible. And she was glad that Rainbow Dash was here to accompany them. If she would have to trot home alone tonight, she would probably die from fear.

Rainbow Dash thought about who of the fillies to bring home first. Sweetie Belle's home was directly on the way to Scootaloo's house, but bringing home Apple Bloom would mean to go a long way round, since she lived on Sweet Apples Acres. It would also mean that it would take Apple Bloom longer than Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to come home tonight, because Rainbow Dash would bring them home first, to avoid it for them to having to trot to the farm and back, which that Apple Bloom had to stay with them for the whole time if she wanted that Rainbow Dash accompanied her home too. “Hey, Apple Bloom, can you go home alone or should I bring you home too?”, Rainbow Dash asked her.

Apple Bloom understood why Rainbow Dash asked her and she wasn't very scared of the movie, so she shook her head. “No, it's fine, ah'll just went back to Sweet Apples Acres alone. Ah'm a big pony!” Apple Bloom grinned confident.
Luckily, Rainbow Dash wasn't as overprotective as her big sister, so she agreed on it. “Just pretend that I dropped you in front of the door and left before you entered, okay?”, Rainbow Dash told her. She knew that Applejack would be anything but happy about it that she did not accompany Apple Bloom home as well and she wanted to avoid having to explain that.

“Don't worry, ah won't tell her that ah came alone!”, Apple Bloom assured her.

“Thanks!”, Rainbow Dash replied.

Apple Bloom wished her friends and Rainbow Dash goodbye and a good night and then they separated and headed off into different directions. Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle deeper into the town and Apple Bloom to Sweet Apple Acres. Her way home would be the longer one, as she had not only walk through Ponyville, which was not much distance, since the cinema was in the outskirts of the little town, but also along the long path that led from Ponyville to the apple farm outside of it. But she did not mind, the movie did not frighten her nearly as much as Sweetie Belle or even just Scootaloo and neither did she feel very tired. And she knew the way back home inside out. It would be a cinch. Apple Bloom looked after her friends and Rainbow Dash a last time and then set herself into motion in the direction of the farm.

The moon was shining bright this night and not many clouds were in the sky, so Apple Bloom could see the path ahead of her very good.

She wasn't under way for long as she could hear hoofsteps sounding behind her. Apparently, she wasn't the only pony that had to walk home from the cinema into this direction. She could hear that the clopping sound of the hooves became faster and that they were approaching her. Did Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle or Rainbow Dash return for some reason? Apple Bloom wanted to turn around to see who the pony was that was approaching her, but suddenly, she could hear a voice.

“Something is following you”, it whispered into her ear.

Apple Bloom jumped and turned around. The street behind her was empty. No matter where Apple Bloom looked at, there was no follower anywhere. And who should even whisper in her ear? She was alone, nopony else was here. Apple Bloom attributed it to her imagination. She shrugged, turned around and continued her way. Some seconds passed and then the hoofsteps returned. The little filly tried to ignore them, but they also began to make her nervous now and she broke out in sweat.

What if somepony was following her? She did not see anypony as she had inspected the street behind her, but it was dark and despite the moon in the sky, there were a lots of shadowy corners a pony following her could use to hide itself. Her heart began to race at this thought. “Quit it, Apple Bloom! That's no time to think on something like this!”, she reminded herself.

She tried to suppress the thought of a creepy follower, but as the hoofsteps became faster again and approached her, she had no choice then to pick up these thoughts again. And then she heard the voice whispering in her ear again.

“Something is following you.”

Apple Bloom turned around at the spot again, but like last time, the street was empty. “Okay, that ain't funny anymore! Who is there?”, she asked into the darkness in front of her.

No answer. All Apple Bloom could hear was the howling of the wind and some quiet hoofsteps from further away, apparently really from a pony at the way home this time. The filly gulped. “S-Scootaloo? Is that ya? Are ya trying to play a trick on me?” Apple Bloom could hear a giggling behind her, high-pitched and not unlike the voice of the pegasus filly. “Ya can stop now!”, Apple Bloom said. “Ah found out. It's not funny anymore now!”

The giggling sounded at her ears again. Then, a dark figure emerged out of the shadows. Too big for Scootaloo. Even too big for Rainbow Dash.

The filly began to ran. Behind her, she could hear that the shadowy pony began to chase her. The hoofsteps clangored on the ground, their echo resounding through the streets. Apple Bloom quickened her pace as she heard the pony coming closer. She was almost out of town. She reckoned with it that the mysterious pony would catch up with her before she reached the farm, but if she managed it to leave the town and to get on the path leading up to her home before she was catched by it, she could rescue herself on one of the higher apple trees. Apple Bloom passed by the last houses of Ponyville and entered the path. She stopped for a moment, at the top of the small hill on which the path led downwards to Sweet Apple Acres. The farm house was visible in the distance. The lights were still on. A glimmer of hope came up in Apple Bloom. But galloping to the farm house would be a mistake now. The pony behind her had almost catched reached her. So she ran down the hill and into the orchards.

Passing by a few small trees, she aimed for one of the higher ones in front of her and jumped at it, grabbing one of the thick branches and pulling herself higher up. She was lucky. The tree had a thick foliage and so she climbed up one branch higher and hid herself between the leaves.

She looked at the peak of the hill, her body shuddering. But there was nothing. The shadowy pony that was chasing her did not appear. Was it gone? Or was it maybe just a figment of her imagination all the time? Apple Bloom dared to hope. But then, her hopes got crushed as the mysterious chaser appeared on the top of the hill suddenly, without a sound. But Apple Bloom was more calm now. The pony could not see her and it came too late to see in which tree she jumped. She was safe. She just had to wait here until the pony was gone and then, to gallop home as fast as she could.

Apple Bloom could see that the pony was searching the path for her. Then it slowly trotted down the path. It's movements were of a patient nature, slow and calm, as it was confident to get it's victim anyway. It entered the orchards and trotted around between the trees. Apple Bloom could not see who it was, as a big cloud had covered the moon now, but she could see that the silhouette, that was just a few meters away from her, inspected the trees. It was clearly searching for her.

Apple Bloom hold her breath. She was cautious to not create any sounds that could reveal her and so she sat completely still. Suddenly, the pony stopped it's inspection. Apparently, the trees were too many for it. Was it going to give up?

No. In the next moment, a light emerged from the pony's head. “Oh, no!” Apple Bloom's eyes grew wide in terror. The pony was a unicorn!

Apple Bloom saw her chances reduced to zero. A unicorn using magic had ways to find her anyway, despite her good hideout.

The unicorn was turning round and round, aiming it's horn at different trees, the light of the horn glimmering stronger every time it pointed to a tree. Apple Bloom pondered what to do now. Should she try to silently climb down the tree on the other side? But what if she stepped on a branch or accidentally kicked a stone while sneaking through the orchards to the farmhouse? But before she could make a decision, Apple Bloom was interrupted in her thoughts as the horn pointed directly at her hideout. It shone stronger for a moment. Apple Bloom could see that the pony nodded.

It had found her! Now there was nothing that could hold the filly anymore. She jumped down the tree and set herself into motion into the direction of her home. But after she did just a few steps, she found herself frozen on the spot, a magical aura firmly holding her. Now it was over. Apple Bloom closed her eyes.

She whimpered in fear as she could feel that the unicorn levitated her over. It released Apple Bloom as it had brought her down right in front of it. Apple Bloom opened her eyes hesitantly, facing her demise. The moon was still covered and the black figure of the pony towered in front of her. Apple Bloom screamed, in a volume loud enough that she hoped Applejack would hear it at the farmhouse so that she could come and save her. Then she began to punch the pony in panic. Tears streamed down her face as the pony grabbed her, with a hoof this time, pressed her against itself and raised the other hoof over her head, making her realize that her time had come.

The hoof came down on her head and Apple Bloom could feel that it was ruffling through her mane.

“It's just me, Apple Bloom, calm down!”, the pony said while trying to tame the filly that was still writhing in panic. Then it lit up it's horn again, so that Apple Bloom could see it's face.

Through her tears, Apple Bloom could see a blurred, familiar face. She wiped her tears and looked at the pony again. “Twilight?”, she asked.

“Yeah, it's just me. Who do you think it would be? Why were you in panic so much?”

Apple Bloom wrapped her hooves around Twilight and breathed relieved in her chest. “Ah heard a pony following me on mah way home. And then ah saw it! It was chasing me through the town and then ah hid in a tree here. Was that ya all the time?”

“I don't know”, the Alicorn answered. “I just saw you in the town and as you were running away from me when I wanted to talk to you I followed you here. But I couldn't see another pony behind you.”

Apple Bloom sighed relieved. It was not her imagination, but it was no scary shadow pony either. It was just Twilight who was confused why she was running away from her.

“Anyway, I will bring you to Applejack now. That's more safe.”

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. After that experience, she was glad to have some company for the rest of the way home. Together, the mare and the filly left the orchards and returned to the path, where they proceeded quickly to the farmhouse.

“How could ya find me in the tree?”, Apple Bloom asked on their way.

“Life-detection spell!”, Twilight answered proudly. “It's really useful to find a pony who's hiding!”

“That's impressive”, Apple Bloom said. “Just remember me on it that ah never play hide and seek with ya!” The filly laughed heartily and Twilight joined in.

As they had reached the door of the farmhouse, Apple Bloom put her hooves around Twilight's neck in thankfulness again. “Thanks for coming with me, Twilight!”

“Don't mention it”, the mare answered modestly and returned the hug. Apple Bloom released her and opened the door of the farmhouse.

“Is that ya, Apple Bloom?”, she could hear the voice of her big sister from the inside.

“Yeah!”, she replied.

She turned around to Twilight for a last time and waved at her, then she entered the farmhouse and closed the door behind her.

Twilight left the farm and made her way back to Ponyville. As she went along the path, past the orchard to her right, three pairs of eyes appeared in the darkness between the trees, without her noticing them.

They looked after her, watching and waiting, just for the right moment.....

Day 20: Woodpecker Day

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Applejack woke up in the morning. Her head was hurting. It was one of these days. She sighed. Ever since she was a filly, her head began to hurt on this very day.

It was the fault of the woodpeckers. Ever since she could think, a swarm of woodpeckers came into the orchards once a year and started to peck against the trees. Except that it didn't sound like pecking. The big swarm caused it that the pecking sounded more like ponies were flailing against the apple trees with giant hammers. The sounds of all these woodpeckers just added up.

Sometimes, Applejack wondered why she had so much bad luck with animals. Beavers were building their dams and flooding the orchards, vampire fruit bats ate up all her apples and threatened the harvest and woodpeckers tormented the ears of her and her family once in a year.

Not to mention a big moth that had somehow latched onto her and could not let her live in peace. It was stealing her hat or just sitting on her face, blocking her sight. At least that nuisance wasn't here today.

In some way, Applejack was the complete opposite of Fluttershy. Fluttershy was loved by all animals, but Applejack? Applejack seemed to be hated by them. By all of them. All animals living in Equestria seemed to have formed an alliance against Applejack. She did not understand why. But it was the case. It was her personal curse.

While the collective sound of the woodpecker swarm continued to let her eardrums vibrate so strong that she feared they could rip, she proceeded towards the mirror and tried to sort her mane. It was completely ruffled. Applejack was throwing herself around in bed last night quite often. The woodpeckers arrived exactly at midnight, as every year, and this was disturbing her peaceful sleep.

As she was somewhat satisfied with the look of her mane, she walked outside of her room and downstairs. There were still streaks of hair stucking out in all directions, but that didn't matter today. Today, she would tear her mane very often anyway. As she came into the kitchen, her family was already sitting at the table, busy with breakfast.

“Good Morning, Y'all!”, Applejack greeted them.

Her family members just nodded tiredly. At their own ruffled manes and the dark circles under their eyes Applejack could see that they haven't slept well either. At least Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were better off than her and Big McIntosh. Apple Bloom had school today and could at least spend half of the day in town, far away enough to not hear the annoying and headache-inducing sounds, and Granny Smith was too old to work on the farm anyway, so she could also just went to town for the day to avoid them. But she and Big McIntosh had to stay here. The harvest was waiting and they needed to get it done.

She looked over to Big McIntosh and with the way he responded her glance, Applejack could see that he was thinking the same. Both of them sighed together.

Applejack reached over to the table for a piece of bread and spread some butter on it. Then she reached for the teapot and poured some tea into a cup in front of her.
Her hooves shaked while she was doing that. A good amount of the tea was spilled by her on the table cloth, but she didn't care. Today, things like that were just to expect. She gave some sugar into her cup and then began to drink her tea. Alternating between drinking from her cup and biting off of her bread, she pondered about the reason why those birds always came here once a year.

It began when she was a little filly, back then as Apple Bloom wasn't born yet. They just came one day and stayed. And on the next day they were gone again. And they did nothing else than pecking away on the trees. It did not hurt the trees, but it created a massive clamor. They never found out what these birds wanted here. Even Fluttershy couldn't help her. The pegasus with the huge animal knowledge did not understand it either. She named her several possible reasons for it, like that they maybe just stopped by on their way back from the south or that their other food ressources were destroyed in some way. But not a single one of these theories could explain the events.

If they just stopped by when coming back from the south after the long and harsh winter, then why did they stop in her orchards? Why not in the surrounding woods?

And if their usual food sources were destroyed, why did they only come once a year and only for a day? Why did they not stay permanently, if their natural habitat was destroyed? Not that Applejack would want that. One day was already painful enough. But it didn't make sense. And aside from that, Applejack never saw them eating something. They always just pecked against the trees, the whole day long, without a break. This was another question that Fluttershy couldn't answer. Why were they pecking at the trees? Usually, woodpeckers peck the worms out of the trees to eat them, which would have made them at least a little useful, but this was no the case with those woodpeckers. After they left at the end of the day, the holes they had picked into the trees were not deep enough to get through to the first worm. They did not do it to eat, that was sure. It was a complete mystery.

The theory that she was under a curse that made all animals hate her became more likely for her. Maybe she should talk to Twilight about that some day. If the curse was detectable, she could maybe do something against it. But for now, she had to live with it. Doing the harvest today did not leave her time to talk to the magically skilled Alicorn and the harvest couldn't wait.

Applejack asked Granny Smith and Apple Bloom what they wanted to do today to avoid the hammering sounds. Granny Smith had indeed planned to head into the town. She was going to spend the day at the market, to buy some things the farm needed anyway, and wanted to kill the evening with some of her friends in a restaurant. Apple Bloom wanted to head to Sweetie Belle's place after school. Like every year on Woodpecker Day since she got to know them, they made a slumber party so that Apple Bloom could spend the end of the day at a place where her sleep would not get interrupted by annoying birds. It was also useful for her to catch up on some sleep that she already didn't get last night because of the woodpeckers. Applejack and Big McIntosh wished that they could also afford to do that, but their work made it impossible.

The Apples finished their breakfast and then Apple Bloom and Granny Smith made their way into town and Applejack and Big McIntosh went to work. It was a rather uneventful day. Except the constant eardrum-ripping sounds, of course. The two siblings did their chores like every day and at evening, they tried to distract themselves from the horrific sounds with music. A few hours later, at midnight as usual, the sounds subsided and the woodpeckers flew away, finally leaving the farm after 24 hours. Relieved that the horror was over, they fell into their beds, dead-tired and with a throbbing headache. With their last thoughts they decided to sleep in tomorrow.

At the next day, the first thing Applejack did after breakfast, was what she thought on yesterday:

She went to Twilight for help.

The situation couldn't go on like this. She did not wanted to endure this for another year and so she had to find a solution. It was early afternoon as she knocked at her door. Spike was opening her and she went in. Twilight was busy with some studying as always and Applejack had to call her a few times, before she snapped out of her studies and listened to her. She carefully listened to Applejack's explanation of her problem, occasionally nodding to confirm that she listened. As Applejack had ended, she put a hoof to her chin.

“I never heard of something like this before, but curses can do a lot of things”, she said.

“Can ya use your magic to find out if I'm actually cursed with getting annoyed by animals for mah whole life?”

Twilight nodded. “I can, I have a spell to detect evil curses. But first, I need to find out what curse it is exactly to know what I must focus on.” She used her magic and lifted a thick book out of one of the shelves. From the short look Applejack could take at it before Twilight opened it she could see that it was an encyclopedia of all sorts of evil magic.

Their research took them a long time. They read in the book the whole afternoon long and even the following night to find the right curse. Fifteen hours and lots of coffee later, the sun was already raised again, they finally found it. It was indeed a curse that led to it that animals were attracted by a pony that was cursed by it, although not in a positive way. Once a pony was cursed with it, every animal in a radius of fifty miles started to develop a hate against that pony. She put the book back into the shelf and then activated her magic.

Twilight concentrated on the magical traces of the spell that were described in the book and searched for their presence in Applejack's body. After half an hour of intense searching she was successful and made a find. The traces matched exactly. Applejack was really enchanted with that curse!

Applejack could not explain herself who could have cursed her that way and how she should deserve that, but it didn't matter anyway. Twilight assured her that she could do something against it and that was the only thing that was important. Using her magic again to lift out another book of one of the library's shelves, she prepared herself for the spell that was necessary to break Applejack's curse. She scrolled through the book and got herself ready as she found the right spell. It was an easy to cast one and just some minutes later, she had used it on Applejack.

And apparently, it was successful. After having used the spell, a green stream of magical energy left Applejack's body and vanished into thin air. Twilight smiled satisfied and put the book back into the shelf.

“Are ya sure that it is over now? Is the curse really gone?”, Applejack asked her warily.

It was something Twilight could assure her; according to her, the spell was really gone. Applejack, though, decided to make sure. She returned to Sweet Apple Acres and paid a visit to the beavers who already caused her a lot of problems in the past. They were much more friendly to her than usual and what was the most surprising thing was, that they have relocated their dams to ensure that Sweet Apple Acres would never be flooded again.

At the evening of this day, as they all sat together at dinner for the first time since Woodpecker Day, Applejack reported excitedly about it.

“So this means we're never have to deal with flooded orchards and rampaging birds?”, Apple Bloom asked her.

“Nope!”, Applejack answered happily. “These times are over. The curse is gone, so we will never get harassed by any darn critters ever again!”

As she had ended her sentence and reached out for an apple, her sight was suddenly blocked before she could bite into it. Something was covering her eyes. It was the moth that she knew so long by now and yet still annoyed her. Applejack groaned.

Day 21: Ya Packed The Bug Spray? or How Applejack Met A Moth

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Bug spray was important. Especiallly when you went on a camping trip. On a camping trip, a pony could meet a lot of nasty midges and moths and this was something that could ruin the fun ponies had together quite a bit. But equipped with bug spray, all those insects could be kept away. It was a vital tool for every camping pony.

And it was particularly important for Applejack, because she didn't like moths. No, she even feared them. She remembered Apple Bloom on packing the bug spray when they packed their things for the camping trip to Winsome Falls and she had not forgot about it. But now the bug spray was empty. Their first three nights of their sister camping trip were already so filled with insects that they had to use the whole bottle. And of course, they only had one bottle with them. Worst of all, they would still need to spend one night out in the woods on their way back, before they would arrive in Ponyville again.

Applejack looked at the empty bottle in her hooves and sighed. Then she put it back into her camping saddle bags. At least they haven't met any moths on their first three nights. Midges were something Applejack could deal with. But not moths. Since she was a little filly, she was afraid of moths. But since there weren't any moths in the first three nights, it was most likely that no moths lived in this area anyway, so Applejack stopped worrying and catched up with her fellow campers. They were already far ahead, so she had to quicken her pace quite a bit to join them again.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were deepened into a discussion about the Wonderbolts and talked about it who of them was the best, as Applejack found out through the snippets of their conversation that she could hear as she had joined her group. As she had reached Apple Bloom again, who just gave her a knowing grin, Rarity looked confused at her. On her expression, Applejack could already guess what she was going to say now. She had to think of an excuse quickly. She was afraid of moths, but she did not want that other ponies knew it. Except in front of her family, she kept it a secret.

“What where you doing back there, Applejack? Why did you stay behind?”, the inevitable question came.

“Uhm, Ah..... Ah was just watchin' some birds there and then ah forgot the time”, Applejack lied.

It was not a good lie of course. But Rarity was leaving it at that. It was not important anyway and she was sure that Applejack would have her reasons.

Applejack looked down at Apple Bloom and ruffled through her little sister's mane. “Now, how did ya like ya first camping trip to Winsome Falls?”, she asked her.

“It was great!”, the little filly burst out in excitement. “Ah knew that the falls are big, because ya told me about it, but ah had never reckoned with it that they are that huge!”

Applejack smiled.

“And with all those scary stories Rainbow Dash told us at night it was even better!”, she continued excitedly, which caused her a disapproving look by Scootaloo, who had catched up with the other two sister pairs after she and Rainbow Dash were finished with their discussion.

Scootaloo was driving her scooter since they departured from the cave, where they spent their third night again after returning from the Winsome Falls. Rainbow Dash had told her that it was okay to be scared in their second night, but she still wanted to impress her new big sister and so she tried out every opportunity to do a stunt and to show her how cool she was, even without being able to fly.

Looking ahead, she saw another one of those opportunities. A tree in some meters distance was fallen. The trunk was broken quite a bit above the ground and the broken end was lying on top of the rest of the trunk, that was still anchored with it's roots in the ground. It builded a perfect, natural ramp. Scootaloo flapped her wings faster and raced up the tree trunk. At the end, she jumped off of it elegantly and landed on the other side. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who was still assigned with carrying Rarity's task, cheered and gave her an applaud with their hooves. Rainbow Dash was following her and gave her a gentle noogie after her successful stunt. “Cool stunt, squirt!”, she said. Scootaloo smiled over the compliment of her big sister. Then both her and Scootaloo noticed something.

Rainbow Dash turned around to the rest of the group and waved them over. “There's another cool thing here!”, she said as they reached her. They positioned themselves around Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash and followed Rainbow's hoof that was pointing at something between the trees. There, in some distance, some moths sat on the trees. Rainbow Dash guessed that they were about 20 inches big. They were not moving and just sat there completely still, but they were an impressive sight nonetheless. They watched the moths with fascination and especially Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle thought that they were really cool.

The only pony who could not admire them was Applejack. She already had a problem with small moths, but those big ones? They were an absolute no-go for her.
Now that she knew that moths did live in these woods, she was not so eager anymore to spend another night here. As the other campers had watched the moths long enough and continued their path, she decided to try to convince them to quicken their pace, so that they would arrive in Ponyville faster.

“Ah think we should hurry up a bit”, she began. “It's not that far anymore and if we're a little faster, then ahm sure we could reach Ponyville before it's gettin' dark!” Everypony except Apple Bloom turned round to her and gave her surprised glances.

And Scootaloo protested. “But our camping trip was not supposed to end today! We have planned to arrive in Ponyville tomorrow. I want to spend more time with Rainbow Dash!”

Scootaloo had a point here. They really hadn't planned to end their camping trip that early. And Applejack could not think of anything to give a proper reason for it why she wanted to end their trip earlier. So she tried it in a different way. “Uh, you're right, Scootaloo. But what about a night hike? That's somethin' that can be very excitin'!” She would be alright with everything as long as she didn't have to spend another night of sleep in the woods. That one of those moths was sitting down on her face while she was asleep was the worst thing she could imagine right now.

But Scootaloo did find little enthusiasm for that idea as well. She cowered herself behind the steering rod of her scooter a little, her eyes pointing to the ground. “I don't want to walk the whole night through these woods..... I'd rather stay in a tent together with Rainbow Dash. If we stay outside at night, what if the Headless Horse catches us?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes a little. “Squirt, I already explained you that there is no such thing as a headless horse. It's just a story. There are no creepy ghost ponies in these woods!” She ruffled her mane comfortingly.

“Yeah, but still.....” Scootaloo shuddered. The story and her dream about the Headless Horse were still all too well in her memory to let her having a desire to walk through a forest at night.

And Rainbow Dash did understand the filly. “I agree with Scootaloo. Even when the Headless Horse isn't here, we should not walk with her around in these woods in the dark after she just had these nightmares. I thought you would understand that.”

Applejack was out of ideas. The arguments against her suggestion were too good. If she continued to insist on it that they didn't sleep this night in the woods, she was at risk to reveal her fear of moths. She gave in. “Well, ah guess you're right, Rainbow Dash. It was just a suggestion anyway.”

As Rainbow Dash gave her a weird glance because she suddenly changed her opinion again so quickly, she increased her pace and proceeded forward, pretending that she couldn't wait for it to reach the first campsite. But this made Rainbow Dash even more suspicious. She went at Apple Bloom's side. “What's gotten into her?”, she asked Applejack's little sister.

Apple Bloom looked at her and lifted her hooves. “Ah don't know”, she lied, pretending to be clueless. Of course she knew everything why Applejack was suddenly so nervous and angsty, but Applejack asked to not tell any of the other ponies about her deepest fear and Dash seemed to buy it.

Two hours later, in which nothing particularly exciting happened except the occasional stunts by Scootaloo, they reached the campsite.

Everything was still as they left it almost three days before. The tree trunks they used to sit, the fireplace, even the holes in the ground where the tent pegs stuck were still visible. Scootaloo looked up and saw that it was already getting dark. Applejack noticed the same.

“Let's better build up the tents fast before it gets dark!”, she and Applejack were saying at the same time, everyone of them for different reasons. Scootaloo because she wanted to have something she could retreat into if something scary should happen and Applejack because she wanted to have something to retreat into in case one of those giant moths came to them, attracted by their fireplace. Scootaloo noticed Applejack's same reaction. She looked at her, then at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash gave her a smirk and then snickered.

It had just become clear for Scootaloo what was wrong with Applejack. She knew fear all too well and she realized that Applejack's strange behavior had begun after they saw the moths on the trees and so she was drawing the right conclusions. Rainbow Dash seemed to have figured it out as well.

They built up their tents at the same spots where they had built them the last time. As the tents stood, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash went between the trees to collect some firewood. It was almost dark already and the sun was sending her last rays over the landscape before it sunk under the horizon as they had gathered enough. They returned to the fireplace and placed the branches there. Applejack proceeded to ignite the branches, while the other ponies sat down on the trunks. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo took seat together on the same one. As Applejack had finished her work the fire blazed up, almost as high as a darting flame.

“Woah, that's a big fire!”, Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Let's hope it does not attract any of the big moths we saw. We're low on bug spray, after all”, she added teasingly and snickered again. Scootaloo put a hoof to her mouth, suppressing a loud laughter.

Applejack shot around at Rainbow Dash and gave her an angry look, but quickly regained her composure as she realized that this made just obvious what she feared. She trotted to her backpack and pulled out a bag of marshmallows. “So, who wants to roast some marshmallows?”, she said in a tempting voice. She hoped that this would distract everypony enough from what just happened so that they wouldn't find out about it how much afraid she was that what Rainbow Dash said could really happen. And to her luck, it worked.

She hoofed out the marshmallows and minutes later, they all sat in front of the fire, each of them holding a thin branch in their hooves, with a marshmallow sticked on top, that they slowly roasted over the bright shining fire. As they had eaten all the marshmallows, it was Rainbow Dash's time again. She was about to tell another scary story. Last night, she told them the second part of the story about the Headless Horse, using the advantage of the deep, dark cave once more, and today, it would be a new story. Applejack began to wonder how Rainbow Dash knew so many scary stories. She really was a stock of horror stories.

Rainbow Dash looked around in the faces of her fellow ponies, who all looked at her in excitement and with slight fear in their eyes. She reached out with her left hoof and pulled Scootaloo against her side, then she began with the story.

This time, Scootaloo was not as nearly as scared as in the first two nights. Not only was Rainbow Dash at her side now, she also went through the story with her earlier today, as it was still bright outside, and they discussed every detail of it. Scootaloo knew the story Rainbow Dash was telling now already and this took away a good amount of her fear. Another good amount vanished because Rainbow Dash was holding her now. Her fear was shrunken to a small glimmer, like the glow of the remnants of a campfire.

Rainbow Dash had now reached the horrific climax of the story. “And as they entered the cabin again, they saw it. There, in the middle of the room–“ Suddenly, Rainbow Dash was interrupted as a loud clicking sounded through the forest.

She stopped and looked around, angry about it that she had to stop at the best part. “What's that?”, she asked. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle began to clatter with their teeth and inched closer to their sisters. Scootaloo also began to shudder now. The clicking became louder and louder, at a rapid speed. They could hear that it came from the other side of the campfire. But they couldn't see anything. It was too dark in the forest.

Suddenly, a big moth emerged from the darkness between the trees. It looked exactly like the ones they saw in the afternoon between the trees after Scootaloo did her stunt. As Applejack saw it, she jumped up from her seat. Rainbow Dash snickered again over seeing that her unintended prediction became true.
But strangely, the moth was not aiming for the fire. Instead of fluttering around the fire in fascination, she directly aimed for Applejack, sat down on her face, where she folded in her wings, and stayed there. And this drove Applejack over the edge. She did not care about her facade anymore now.

“Get it OFF!”, she screamed and stumbled back, almost tripping over the trunk behind her.

Now Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash couldn't hold it anymore. Both of them broke out in wild laughter.

“That ain't funny! Get this thing off of me! Ah hate moths!” Applejack flailed around in panic, yanking her head and trying to shake the moth off.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood up from their trunks and trotted over to Applejack. They reached up with their hooves and touched her wings carefully. “Wow, she's really soft!”, Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Yeah, it's almost as fuzzy as a cat!”, Apple Bloom exclaimed surprised.

“Ah don't care how fuzzy it is! Just take it off mah face finally!”, Applejack demanded again.

“Don't worry, sis, ahm sure it just wants to play!”, Apple Bloom tried to calm her down.

“But ah don't wanna play with it! Ya know how much those things scare me, Apple Bloom!” She wriggled around nervously.

Apple Bloom put a hoof to her mouth and giggled. Then she reached up again and carefully removed the moth from Applejack's face. “Ahm sorry, but Applejack doesn't really like moths. Ya can sit with me instead!”, she said to the fuzzy insect.

Apple Bloom sat down besides Applejack again, placing the moth in her lap, where she gently stroke her wings. The moth clicked quietly. It gave Apple Bloom the impression of a purring cat.

Her big sister grimaced. “Ah rather sit elsewhere now.” She got up and switched their seats with Sweetie Belle, which was something the little filly was alright with. She sat down on Applejack's former place and began to pet the moth again.

“I can understand you, Applejack”, Rarity said affirmative as Applejack took seat at her side. “These moths are just icky!” She shook her head in disgust.

“That ain't the same”, Applejack answered taut while raising an eyebrow. “Ya think of all insects as 'icky'.”

The moth looked over to Applejack, with a happy and curious expression on her face. At least as far as one could tell that with a moth. A cold shudder went down Applejack's back. “Make sure it stays where it is, Apple Bloom!”

“I would have never thought that you would be afraid of moths, Applejack!”, Rainbow Dash said with a grin on her face, as she finally got out of her laughing fit.

Applejack gave her a disapproving, angry glance. “Ya better hope that ah never find out what makes ya afraid, Rainbow Dash!”, she said to Rainbow Dash, threat in her voice.

“Hah, I'm afraid of nothing!”, the boastful pegasus replied, causing a giggle from Scootaloo.

In this night, the moth stayed with them. Because Apple Bloom insisted on it to take it in their tent for the night, Applejack switched places with Sweetie Belle again. She rather slept in the palace-like tent of the sometimes annoying fashionista, then sharing a tent with a moth. Sweetie Belle did not protest, of course, as this meant she could spent even more time with the soft-haired bug. She and Apple Bloom put their sleeping bags close to each other, with the moth in between them. They cuddled up to it and in this position, they fell asleep, enjoying the warm hair of the winged insect in this night.

At the next morning, however, they were disappointed. The moth was gone suddenly.

First they thought that it had left them at night to search for Applejack, but when they looked into Rarity's tent, it wasn't there, much to Applejack's relief. The little fillies hung their head and were sad, but Applejack was just happy about it that it was gone. The experience from last night was already more than her nerves could handle in regards to moths.

The ponies had a short breakfast and then they took down their tents, packed their things and broke up. On the rest of their way back to Ponyville, Applejack was glancing nervously over her shoulder all the time, afraid the moth would return. But it didn't.

As they had finally reached Sweet Apple Acres again, Applejack silently sweared that she would never go on a trip like that with just one bottle of bug spray. She never wanted to see that moth again, but if she did, she wanted to be at least prepared for it.

Little did she know that her encounter with the fluffy creature should only be one of many.....

Day 22: Berry Punch Origins

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It was a usual afternoon for the fillies and colts in Ponyville. They were sitting in school right now, listening to their teacher, who was currently telling them about Ponyville's history. The only thing that was different to most days was the length of the school day. It was the longest one in the week and they were already here for more than six hours. Especially for one filly this was a problem.

Berry Punch hold her stomach as it made a loud rumbling. It was a long school day and she was hungry. Her stomach hurt and felt like somepony had given her a punch into it. Berry looked up to the clock on the wall. Only a few minutes left. She breathed out relieved. If she wouldn't get something to eat soon she would snap. The past few hours made her realize that eating her breaktime snack after the first lesson already was, despite it's tasty look which she couldn't resist, a big mistake. She was glad that school would soon be over for today.

Since Berry Punch knew that she would be in a hurry to get home once the schoolbell rang, she already packed her things. Her teacher probably did not like that, but she did not care. Her nagging hunger was the only thing that controlled her actions right now and the lesson was over in less than five minutes anyway. She doubt her teacher would say something important that she had to write down in this short amount of time. Berry Punch closed her history book and her notebook and placed them both inside of her desk. She lifted up her saddle bag, took her pencil out of her mouth and put it into it, then added a few books she needed for her homework today.

As she was done with that, she looked up to the clock again. Still two more minutes left. These last two minutes, she spent with staring at the clock. Her eyes attentively observed every movement of the clockhand. The short amount of time she had to wait stretched itself out immensely and it seemed like an eternity to Berry Punch.

Finally the school bell rang.

Berry Punch snapped out of her trance and jumped down from her seat. She threw the saddle bags on her back and rushed out of the classroom. She was the first one that left.

Outside of the school building, she quickened her pace and galloped home as fast as never before. She was hungry and her stomach still hurt, but the desire to get something to eat also gave her energy. She did not recognize the ponies and buildings she raced past. Everything was just a blur for her. And the only things she could hear were her grumbling stomach and the loud clopping of her hooves that sounded like thunder on the ground in her fast tempo.

As she had arrived at her home in the midst of Ponyville in record time, she practically jumped at the door and opened it without loosing a second. Her parents did not like it when she rushed in like this, but in this moment, this concern was only present in a very distinct corner of her mind. Getting something to eat was the prevalent thought her mind was occupied with now. She smashed the door shut with one of her backhooves, creating a loud bang that sounded through the whole house, and proceeded towards the kitchen. The door of the kitchen creaked as she opened it, which reminded her on the grumbling of her stomach and this made her even faster. In a second, she was at the fridge, opened it and looked at a plate full of delicious cupcakes. Six in number, all in different colors and smelling like heaven. Drool was dripping out of Berry's mouth as she saw them.

She reached in the fridge, lifted them out and sat down at the table with them. Her saddle bag, which she had totally forgot to take off, slid from her back and fell with a thump to the ground, but Berry's mind only recognized it tangentially. Only the cupcakes mattered now.

She pulled down the first one from the plate and shoved it into her mouth as a whole. It tasted strange, a taste she did not know, but she didn't pay attention. Figuring out which flavor it was was the least of her worries now. She munched satisfiedly on the first thing she got into her mouth for hours. As she had swallowed the cupcake, she reached for the next one. This time, she took out a big bite of it. It was quiet in the kitchen, so her munching was the only sound that could be heard around her. She could also hear some birds chirping outside, but these were the only sounds.

This was the moment when Berry Punch realized that her parents weren't even at home right now. Good. She nodded satisfied. That meant she wouldn't get into any trouble for creating such a ruckus minutes earlier. She had finished the cupcake while doing those thoughts and already grabbed the next one.

As she had finished the third cupcake, she felt better. The hurting in her stomach subsided and the grumbling had stopped. But she also felt dizzy suddenly. As she looked around in the kitchen, everything seemed to shake. Berry Punch shuddered. Was she so exhausted from hunger that her mind started to imagine things now? The situation was apparently more serious than she thought. Luckily, she had something in her stomach now, so these effects should be gone soon. But she also didn't wanted to take any risks and decided to eat the rest of the cupcakes as well. One after another wandered into her mouth and landed in her stomach, after chewing it.

As the sixth and last cupcake was gone, Berry Punch burped. Frightened, the filly put a hoof to her mouth. “Uh-oh”, she thought. “If mom has heard this I'll get trouble!”

Berry Punch stared blankly into the air in front of her. What did she just say? Her parents weren't even here. She just found that out minutes ago! How could she forgot it? Worse then the short amnesia was that everything was moving around her again, stronger this time. The cupboards, the fridge, the table, everything seemed to rotate. And she felt more dizzy than before. Berry Punch shook her head, but it did not stop. Shaking her head made it only worse, actually. Now, everything was like she was in a rollercoaster. She sat completely still for some minutes and slowly, the room around her slowed down again and returned to a slight rotating.

Berry put her forehooves on the table and slid off of the chair carefully. But before she could set her hindlegs properly on the floor, she collapsed and fell to the ground. The chair was shoved backwards, creating a jarring sound on the floor.

Berry Punch lied on the back, facing upwards. The ceiling in front of her eyes was shaking so much that she feared she would tumbling down every moment. But nothing happened. Nothing was shaking, actually, Berry Punch realized again that it just looked like that for her. She turned herself round onto her side and then on her belly. Limbs stretched out, she lied there for a moment. Then she tried to get up. Her legs felt wonky and trembled, but somehow she managed it. She stood unsure on her hooves and did not know what to do for a moment. But there was something she just wanted to do. What was it? Berry rubbed her head and taxed her brain. Suddenly, it came to her. Right. She wanted to put the plate into the kitchen sink.

Unbelievingly slow, she turned around. She was careful, since she did not want to collapse on the floor again. The filly pulled herself up the table and grabbed the plate with her mouth. Holding it was easier said than done, as her whole body was trembling now, but somehow she made it over to the kitchen sink with her wonky legs and let the plate sink into it.

Standing on her four hooves again and her surroundings still moving, giving her the feeling that an earthquake happened, she noticed that her saddle bags lied on the ground. “How did they come here?”, she wondered. Shrugging her shoulders she trotted up to it and grabbed it. That is, she tried it.

At the first try, her hoof grasped at nothing. She looked confused down at it. How could that happen? She saw that she was aiming at the saddle bags! She tried it again, more slowly now. Once more she saw that she was reaching out to the saddle bags, but then she was suddenly holding one of the legs of the chair. Berry Punch didn't understand anything. Something was not right with her anymore, but what? It couldn't be her hunger from earlier, she had already stilled it! The little filly shook her head.

Berry Punch got angry and clenched her teeth. Lashing out with her hoof at the saddle bags, she finally managed it to grab them and to put them on her back. This fast movement turned out as a mistake, however. Suddenly, she felt a sting in her head and the pain was so strong that it forced her down on the kitchen floor. She groaned and writhed around in pain. It felt like somepony was stabbing thousands of small needles into her head at once. After writhing herself around on the floor for some minutes, the pain began to fade away and another minute later, it was gone. Berry Punch panted heavily and stuck out her tongue. She didn't understand how this was possible, but there was no other explanation for her condition:

She had gotten sick somehow.

All was similar to it when she had gotten the flu the last time. The dizzy feeling, the headache, the rotating world around her. But she did not feel cold, her nose wasn't running and she had no scratching in her throat that made her coughing. Will these symptoms start later? She got up again and made her way out of the kitchen. She really felt sick now.

As she passed the kitchen table, she noticed something. A small piece of paper lied there. From all the hunger, she hadn't seen it before. She swooped it off the table with her tail and it landed in front of her. Narrowing her eyes, she could recognize the hoof-writing of her mom. It was a message from her. Still too wonky on her legs to stand long at the same spot, she decided to read it in her room. She picked it up with her mouth and holding it between her teeth, she finally left the kitchen.

Getting up the stairs to her room would be a challenge. Every single tread of the stairs was rotating on it's own. She carefully put her left hoof on the first tread in front of her and then dragged along the second one. She managed it without falling down and continued in the same way until she had reached the first stairhead safely. It was not easy, though, and more than once she was almost falling down the stairs again. It was better not to tempt fate. Falling down the stairs that lied behind her wouldn't have been very dangerous, but the next set of stairs was longer and reached up much higher and this would end fatal for such a little filly like her.

Instead of trotting up the stairs, she was trying another tactic. She trotted in front of the stairs and lied down, her forelegs stretched out over the stairs, her belly and her backlegs stretched out in front of them. She grabbed the stairs with her hooves and pulled herself up. Crawling up the stairs like a snake looked silly, but it was safer than the other method. And it was no other pony here that could see her, so she wasn't bothered by it. Tread after tread, she brought behind her this way. It took her longer than usual to get up the stairs, but finally she made it. She crawled a few inches forward on the top stairhead until her backhooves were lying on even ground too and then she rose to her hooves again and made the way to her room. Everything was still swirling around her and so she was glad that the door to her room was the first one in the upper corridor. Luckily, it was also slighty opened, so she just nudged it with her nose to open it completely.

She entered her room, leaving the door simply open, and trotted up to her bed where she pulled the saddle bag from her back and placed it on the hoofboard. Then she pulled herself up into her bed. She could feel the silky covers under her hooves as she did so and sighed gleefully.

She lied down on her back and rested her head on her pillow. The small crannies in the ceiling of her room looked funny to her. With all the rotating that happened in front of her eyes, they merged with each other and took on different shapes and patterns, creating silly forms and pictures. The filly began to giggle very loud suddenly. It was a strange sound, very high-pitched, but somehow also very heavy. It was a sort of giggling that she never heard coming out of her mouth before. It sounded weird, almost insane. And her brain was telling her that what seemed to go on on her ceiling wasn't that funny, but nonetheless, she had to giggle like somepony just told her the best joke she ever heard. Soon, the giggling turned into a massive laughter. And she could not stop anymore. Minutes were spent by her by just watching the crannies in the ceiling moving around and laughing maniacally.

Then she suddenly stopped from one second to another as she noticed something lying on her chest. It was a white piece of paper with something written on it. Oh, yes. The message from her mom. She had completely forgot about it. Berry Punch did not understand how she could forget so many things suddenly. Usually her memory was a very good one. But it didn't matter to her anymore.

While she felt sick earlier, she just felt incredibly good now and her worries that she became ill with the flu again disappeared. Her body felt like it was filled with cotton candy and her heart was overflowing with joy. She was as happy as on the first day of the summer holidays. Having the flu didn't feel so good.

She picked up the piece of paper and hold it closely to her eyes to read it. This turned out hard and it took her quite a few moments to deciper the text. As she had finished reading it, her face became chalky-white. That couldn't be..... Was it true what she read there or was she just imagining this because of her strange condition? She read it again, loud this time, and noticed that her voice sounded a little distorted suddenly.

“Dear Berry Punch, me and your dad will come home later today. We prepared something for you for lunch. But eat only the daisy sandwiches on the top compartment of the fridge, not the cupcakes in the middle! They are left from the birthday party of your uncle and filled with alcohol. We come back in the evening. I love you! Mommy”

She wasn't mistaken. What she read was right. The cupcakes were filled with alcohol and now she was drunk! This would get her into trouble for sure once her parents returned. She felt bad for not having read the letter of her mom earlier. But there was nothing she could do about it anymore now. The damage was done.

She put the letter aside from her. Then she placed her hooves on her chest and starred at the ceiling again. At least she didn't feel sick anymore. Every time she had asked, her parents had always told her that being drunk was not funny and felt terrible, but actually, it didn't feel so bad to her. Sure, at the beginning it was terrible. Seeing how everything shaked and rotated around her was terrifying and the headache was almost not to bear. But since she had lied down in her bed, she felt really good! Seeing the crannies in the ceiling moving so strange was funny and now she felt like she was flying despite that she lied motionless in her bed. Berry Punch concluded that her parents meant that being drunk only felt terrible at the beginning. Once you got over that, she realized, it was awesome! Being drunk was really fun!

As she had watched the changing arrangements of the crannies in the ceiling a while longer, her eyelids became heavy suddenly. She felt sleepy and desired a good nap now. Berry Punch rolled on her belly and buried her head deep into the pillow. In this position, the little filly just lied there and enjoyed the good feeling the alcohol caused inside her.

With her last thoughts before she drifted away to sleep, she realized that she managed being drunk quite well. When she saw adult ponies that were drunk, they had always hurt themselves in some way or dropped things. But Berry Punch didn't. She was not falling down the stairs and she had not dropped the plate as she had put it back into the fridge. The little filly felt proud. She was very good at being drunk!

In the last few seconds before she fell asleep, Berry Punch noticed a white light glowing in the corner of her eyes and then disappearing again, but she didn't pay attention. What should glow white in her room? She was sure it was just the alcohol playing tricks on her mind. Berry yawned and in the next moment, she was asleep.

Something she did not realize was that the white light was indeed there. After having praised herself for being so good in drunkenness, her cutie mark appeared. It was a bunch of grapes and a strawberry.

Day 23: For The Queen

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Ya too stupid to understand! Ya never will!

The last words she spoke to her friends sounded through her head, like an echo from her deeply injured soul. The treacherous letters still in her hooves, her legs collapsed and she sat down on her haunches. She leaned her back against the door and sobbed. Apple Bloom could fell the vibrations of the door as her friends on the other side knocked against it. The letters slid out of her hooves and she pulled up her hindlegs, wrapped her hooves around them and buried her head deeply into them.

The voices of her friends sounded into her ear. “Open the door, Apple Bloom! Whatever it is, I'm sure we can talk about it!”

“Please don't hide yourself from us!”

Apple Bloom gave them no answer. The tears streamed down her face now. Now that her friends had seen what she was capable of, everything was over. And sooner or later she had to talk to them about it. Except.....

Apple Bloom looked up, her view blurred from her tears. Except she would never come out. Ever again. She could spend the rest of her life in her room. At first this thought seemed silly to Apple Bloom. But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed right to her. What point was there in going out again? If she would, she had to explain. But what? What should she explain? Apple Bloom didn't know and in fact, she couldn't explain it. Even she didn't understand what was wrong with her. How should her friends understand it then?

Sometimes, Apple Bloom felt like there was a second Apple Bloom in her. She could hear a voice inside of her, a voice that sounded like her own, and yet so different. And sometimes, she lost consciousness without a reason. When she awoke again, she always found herself in a different situation. At different places, at different times, together with different ponies. Often it seemed that she just said something moments ago, but she never remembered what. Or ponies were looking at her with eager faces, like they had just asked a question and expected an answer now. In some of these moments, the ponies that she found surrounding her when waking up were also yelling at her, obviously being angry with her, like she had just done or said something bad.

At one day, she woke up beside a broken and completely demolished cart. Irritated, she wanted to run away, but the owner was grabbing her arm and dragged her to Sweet Apple Acres. He told Applejack that she was destroying his cart and demanded to get money back for it. But Apple Bloom couldn't remember anything. She protested, said she didn't do anything, that it was a misunderstanding and somepony else did it. But the owner didn't believe it and called her a liar. And it caused a hoof into her face from Applejack. Her cheek hurt for weeks after that.

At another day, she found herself in front of a broken window, a thick branch in her hooves. The pony who lived there wasn't at home and so she ran away as fast as she could.

And things like that were just the beginning. With every state of unconsciousness, the moments she awoke in became worse.

Two months after the incident with the cart, she woke up at Ponyville Plaza, with a little filly – younger than her – sitting in front of her. It was crying and it's body was cluttered with bruises, scratches and cuts. One of the legs was distorted and pointed in the wrong direction and the filly's forehead was blemished with a laceration. Blood poured out of it in a big stream, flowing over the hoof she covered one of her eyes with and dripping to the ground from there. Yet again, Apple Bloom had no memory how she got there and what happened before. All she knew was that she wanted to help the filly, who's crying touched her. She reached out to the filly with her hooves, but it lashed out and pushed her away. As it had taken down the hooves from it's eyes, Apple Bloom could see that one of them was black and swollen shut. And just moments later, other ponies ran up to them, all agitated and upset and, again, blaming her. Angry and irritated voices reached her ears.

“She beat this filly!”

“Are you sure she did it?”

“Yes, I've seen it!”

“What a monster!”

“But she was always such a nice filly!”

“Get away from my daughter!”

“She should be locked away somewhere!”

Apple Bloom realized that she was put at fault again and tried to flee from the crowd. But before she could, an angry unicorn hold her frozen at the spot already with it's magic. The mayor was informed about what happened and she was brought to the townhall. She was asked why she did that, what has gotten into her to beat a little filly almost to death, but she couldn't answer these questions. Under tears, she explained that she couldn't remember anything and that she would never hurt somepony. But of course, nopony believed her. After a while, the ponies who witnessed the accident gave up and called Applejack to bring her home.

On their way back to Sweet Apple Acres she tried to convince Applejack that she hadn't done anything, but the overwhelming number of ponies who stated to have seen everything were more convincing to her big sister.

As they arrived at the farm, Applejack punished her. And on this day, it did not stay with a strong slap in the face. Applejack beat her up. She would get the same what she had done to this poor, little filly, she said to her. To experience how it feels to get beaten up like that. Her big sister threw her to the floor and began to punch and kick her. And she told her what a shame and disgrace she was for the Apple family and the Element of Honesty. As Applejack had finished her punishment, Apple Bloom was in a similar state as the other filly. Only the broken leg was something Applejack had spared her from.

After Apple Bloom had recovered from her injuries, she was brought to a psychiatrist. He did all sorts of different tests with her, but could not find anything. According to him, Apple Bloom's mental state was completely fine. He could not explain what caused her blackouts and the violence. The doctor put her on medication and sent her away. It was a simple medication that should sedate her.

Since the accident with the filly, everypony except her friends and her family avoided her. And even her family was cautious around her. They did not talk about what happened, but she could feel that they had began to treat her differently, coldly. And Apple Bloom realized that she really did all those things, during her unconsciousness. She could still not explain why, but she knew now that she had to be careful. Apple Bloom hoped that the medication worked to stop her from doing such things and that the ponies in Ponyville would forgive her one day. But neither of those things should happen. The rest of the townsponies did not talk with her, they changed sides when they met her on the streets and in some shops, the owners refused to sell her something. She even got a ban at Sugarcube Corner.

And some days ago, Apple Bloom found herself inside of her room, in front of her closed and locked door and her hooves covered in blood. She couldn't tell if it was the blood of a pony or an animal and she did not have any memories on what happened again, but it made her afraid. Afraid of herself, even more so than she already was.

Had she beaten up another pony? Or even killed one? Did she become insane? She didn't knew it. All she knew was that her life changed dramatically three months ago, when everything began with nothing more than a demolished cart. And now those letters happened.

Apple Bloom rubbed the tears out of her eyes and lifted them on her lap to read them. Behind the door it was quiet now. Her friends had given up and left her alone.

The letters were full of death threats. Apple Bloom gasped in shock as she read through them. How could she write something like that? What force drove her to do that? The filly was shocked and scared over her own choice of words. The creepiest thing was, that she didn't even knew some of those insults and swear words that were written on the paper. It was like somepony else wrote that, an evil, violent and aggressive pony. And yet it was clearly her own hoof-writing.

Apple Bloom began to cry again. A loud whimper escaped her mouth and she ripped the letters to pieces agitatedly. Then she jumped on her bed and cried in her pillow without hesitation.

Why did something like this happen? Destroying things, hurting little fillies, sending other ponies death threats, all without her being conscious about it and without a single memory on her evil deeds. Outcasted by the whole town, even by her own family. And now even her best friends would not stick to her anymore. For what did she deserve all this? She was always a good filly, she never did anything bad!

Apple Bloom realized that her life was destroyed. There was nothing worth living anymore. “Ahm goin' to kill myself”, she mumbled in her pillow, her voice tearful. “There is no reason for me to live anymore.....”

“There is always reason to live, little filly”, a gentle voice echoed in her head suddenly.

Apple Bloom jerked her head up. “Who is talkin' there?”, she asked, her voice trembling from fear.

“Someone who understands you”, the voice said.

“Pah! No one understands me! Ahm just a monster! Even mah friends hate me now!”

“Far be it from me to hate you”, the voice answered. “I'm someone who loves everypony, no matter what it did.”

Apple Bloom let herself fall back on her pillow. “Just go away”, she said weakly. “Ah had enough strange voices in mah head.....”

But the voice continued. “If something is troubling you, you can talk to me.”

“AH SAID YA SHOULD LEAVE!” Apple Bloom jerked up again and took a book from her nightstand. She threw it across her room and against a wall, where it hit with a loud bang before it fell to the ground. “Leave me alone finally!”

Some seconds of silence passed. “As you wish”, the voice said and then it was gone.

Her outburst let Apple Bloom feel weak. It had used up all her energy. She slipped under her covers and buried her head once more into the soft pillow. Seconds later she was asleep.

At the next morning, Apple Bloom didn't even bother to get up. She would not leave her room. Taking the risk to get exposed to the cruel world she lived in again, was something that was out of question. She also did not have the desire to do anything in particular. And it was not like anypony cared anyway, so she decided to just stay in bed. Hours and hours passed as Apple Bloom just lied there, staring up at the ceiling, with a glazed look in her from crying red eyes. Her stomach grumbled but she did not care about it. Maybe she could just lie here and waiting until she had starved.

At afternoon, Applejack came at her door. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle returned, trying to talk to her once more, and they had asked Applejack for help to get her out of the room. “Open up the door, ya little varmint!”, the strong, angry-sounding voice of her big sister sounded through the wooden door.

But Apple Bloom did not listen. Even if her life wouldn't be destroyed the way it was now, she wouldn't react when Applejack knocked on her locked door. Applejack always hated her. She blamed her for the death of their mom, because she died when she gave birth to her and this made life with her a living hell. She never loved her. Apple Bloom ignored the knocks on the door and the calls for her on the other side until they stopped.

Love. Love was something Apple Bloom needed. But nopony gave her love anymore. She thought again on killing herself. Then she suddenly remembered on the voice in her head from yesterday. She knew that the voice was just in her head. Because she was insane. And yet she missed her. The voice told her that she loved everypony, no matter what it did, and this meant the voice loved her too. Apple Bloom did not care that the voice wasn't real and just a figment of her imagination. She should have welcomed her, she realized now, as this voice was the only one who still loved her. The filly began to cry again, thick streams of tears flowing down her cheeks. She shouldn't have sent the voice away! It was there for her and now the only one who still gave her love was gone! She held her hooves to her eyes and a series of sobs, accompanied by heavy breathing, escaped her mouth.

“Don't cry, my dear.”

Apple Bloom's eyes shot open. The gentle voice had returned!

She jumped up in her bed. “Ahm so sorry!”, she cried out. “Ah didn't want to send ya away! Ah was just so angry yesterday!”

“I forgive you, my dear”, the voice answered.

“Ya won't go away again?”, the distraught filly asked.

“No, I will stay at your side no matter what happens if this is what you want.”

“Yes! Ah want it! Please stay with me!”

“I will. When you need me I'll be here”, the voice assured her. “I can feel that you need someone to talk to.”

The filly nodded her head weakly. Then she lied down again. “Ah can”, she said. “Nopony loves me anymore. Everypony hates me, because I have done so many bad things.....”

The voice became more soothing now. “What did happen?”, she asked. “Please tell me and I will let your sorrow disappear.”

The yellow filly began to tell her story. Beginning with the day she woke up in front of the demolished cart, she told her about every event and described it in detail. It seemed weird to her, because she was aware of it that she was just telling all of this to herself, as the voice was just born from her mind. But the need of having someone who listened to her, who gave her love and attention, was too strong to pass this chance. As Apple Bloom had ended, she became afraid. She knew that the voice said that she loved everypony, but what if she never listened to a pony that had done so many cruel things?

“Do ya hate me too now?”, Apple Bloom asked the voice as she didn't say anything to her story.

“No, little filly”, the voice answered. “I still love you and I will always love you. And I praise you for your honesty.”

Apple Bloom smiled. But then her happiness turned into sorrow. Now what she had the chance to tell someone else what was hurting her so much, she started to realize that talking to herself wasn't helpful to get some comfort.

“Ya aren't real, aren't ya?”, she asked. “Ya'll just in mah head, nothin' more, right?”

To her surprise, the voice said no.

“Then who are ya?”, she asked.

“This is something I can't tell you yet”, the voice answered mysteriously.

“Why not?” Apple Bloom frowned.

“Don't worry, my dear. I will reveal you who I am when the time has come. You are not ready yet.” The voice paused a moment, then she continued. “But I know everything. I also know your name.”

“Yeah? Then how is mah name?”

“Your name is Apple Bloom. I also know your big sister Applejack and your friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. I can see everything that happens in Equestria.”

“Really? Everything?” Apple Bloom couldn't believe it.

“Yes. I also know that you haven't eaten something since yesterday. You should leave your room and get something in the kitchen. Your family is not here right now and neither are your friends. You can go outside without anypony seeing you.”

Apple Bloom was not sure about that, but she decided to trust the voice. She got up and slowly approached her door, careful to not make any sounds. She listened a while at the door, then she unlocked it and opened it. Apple Bloom did a step outside and looked to the right and to the left. She listened for another few seconds, but couldn't hear any sounds. What the voice said was true. Nopony was here. Apple Bloom went into the kitchen to eat. She finished her meal and went back into her room before anypony returned. And even if one member of her family would have returned or Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle would have come again, the voice would have warned her. Apple Bloom knew that now.

The voice had turned out as more than she had ever expected. It was no imagination, it was there, and it knew everything that happened. It was her guide and her contact. Better yet, the voice had become her friend. She would never send it away. The voice was her only friend now.

From this moment on, the voice visited Apple Bloom daily. Hours and hours were spent with talking by them. Since the voice knew everything that happened in Equestria, she had lots of stories to tell. Some ponies in Equestria really had interesting lifes and Apple Bloom listened with fascination to what the voice had to tell. The voice also continued to help her sneak out of her room and get back into it unseen. She comforted Apple Bloom when she was crying again over her fate and she even sang her to sleep. With every day, Apple Bloom's bond to the invisible friend became stronger and her trust in the voice grew.

For three weeks, Apple Bloom's daily schedule was always the same:

Waking up, being greeted by the voice, sneaking out of her room after her family left, eating something, returning to her room, listening to the voice's interesting stories and falling asleep at night.

After this time, something did change. The voice still told her what happened to different citizens of Equestria, but her stories began to become darker. Where she was at the beginning only telling stories about good friends, happy families, true love and loyalty, to cheer Apple Bloom up, she now also told her stories about all the negative things that happened in Equestria occasionally:

Ponies who were lonely and had no friends, ponies who where bullied by other ponies, ponies who were betrayed by the ponies they loved.

And with every day, her stories became darker and darker.

There was the story about three filly friends in Manehattan who lived on the streets, without a home, and who died from starvation one after another, because nopony did care about them and gave them a good home or at least regular meals.

There was the story about the stallion who was left by his marefriend for another stallion and who was so heartbroken about losing her that he hanged himself one day.

She heard the story of a little filly that was raped by her daddy every day and the story of the rich family in Fillydelphia that got murdered by unknown burglars.

Day after day, the voice told her about the dark sides of Equestria; murderers, rapists, thieves.

Cruel and egoistic ponies who only cared about themselves, ponies who let others suffer for their own enjoyment, ponies who hurt other ponies to gain advantage.

One day, Apple Bloom asked the voice why it told her about these things.

“To show you that you are not the only pony in Equestria that has a hard life, my sweet”, was her answer. “There are many ponies like you. Not all of them have the same problems, but all of them suffer as much as you do.”

Apple Bloom thought about what the voice told her. Before her own problems started, she always thought that Equestria was a happy place to live. Sure, she grieved about it that Applejack did not love her, but she had a good life aside from this. And she thought it was the same for everypony in Equestria. But now she had to realize that Equestria was a harsh place for a lot of ponies.

“Why do these things happen?”, she asked the voice. “Are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna not doing anything against it?”

“I'm afraid they don't do enough”, it answered.

It seemed to Apple Bloom that the voice became incisive a little.

“The two princesses want the best for Equestria and they care about all of their citizens. But they are also weak. The old divide between them is still existing and this prevents them from helping the ponies who need their help. What Equestria lacks is love, enough love to prevent things like the ones I told you about from happen. But the royal sisters can't bring up this love, because they are too busy with the grudges they hold against each other. Their dispute doesn't let them see Equestria's true problems.”

Apple Bloom had listened attentively to what the voice explained. “Ah don't want that so many ponies in Equestria suffer..... Ah wish we could do something to make Equestria better.....” Apple Bloom hung her head and stared sadly at the ground. Then her face lit up. “Can't ya do something to make Equestria better? Ya said ya can see everything that happens in Equestria. Shouldn't ya be able to change something here with all your power?”

The voice took on a softer tone again. “Not alone”, she said. “My power is strong, but I can only change something in Equestria for the better if I have a pony who helps me. Do you want to help me, Apple Bloom?”

“Me?” Apple Bloom was surprised. “Ah can't even handle mah own, miserable life. What can ah do to make the lifes of other ponies better?”

“A lot, my sweet, a lot”, the voice said reassuringly. “Both of us can't do anything alone, but if we combine my power and your strong wish for a better Equestria, then we can create a paradise. A paradise where nopony has to suffer anymore!”

Apple Bloom smiled at this thought. A paradise for all ponies..... But was this really possible? “If we create this paradise, do all the terrible things ya told me about not happen anymore?”, the filly asked the voice.

“Indeed. All these things will disappear and Equestria will be filled with eternal love and happiness.”

“Will mah sister finally love me too then?”

“Yes. Even your sister will feel nothing but love, my sweet.”

Apple Bloom let that thought settle for a moment. Then she made her decision. She did not want that anypony in Equestria ever had to suffer as much as she did in the past months. If she could bring an end to this, she had to do it! “Ah want to help ya!”, she said curageous. “Tell me what ah should do!”

“I will. But first I will show you who I am!” A blinding white light flashed in front of Apple Bloom's eyes and suddenly, her room was gone. She was elsewhere now.

Everything around her was bathed in a soft light, the sky above her shining in the most beautiful, purple shades. And it was full of stars. They were everywhere around Apple Bloom, no matter where she looked at. “What is this place? Where are we?”, she asked.

“This is a place that only exists in your subconsciousness. Your body is still in your room, but your mind has entered a different dimension”, the voice sounded behind her.

Apple Bloom turned around and then she saw for the first time whose voice it was that had accompanied her for so many weeks now. And it was someone she knew, even though she only met her briefly.

“Princess Cadence?”, Apple Bloom asked surprised. “Is this really ya?”

The pink Alicorn princess walked up to her. “Yes, my sweet. I am the one pony that you only knew as 'The Voice' so far.”

Apple Bloom trotted up to Cadence and rubbed her head gently against her chest. “Thank Ya!”, she said. “If ya wouldn't have talked to me, then ah would be dead now. And ah couldn't help to make Equestria better!”

“There is no need to thank me. All I want is to make everypony happy and to spread love everywhere.”

“Are ya going to tell me now what ah must do to change Equestria?” Apple Bloom was eager to find it out.

“I will. But first, there is something you have to realize about yourself”, Cadence explained.

“What do ya mean?” The filly looked curiously at her.

“Do you remember? You told me that you think there is a second Apple Bloom inside of you.”

Apple Bloom nodded.

“And you were right. There is another Apple Bloom inside of you and she did all the horrific things you told me about.”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth widely from surprise as she heard that. “This means ah haven't done anything. Ahm still a good filly! Right?”, she asked the princess.

“Yes. You always were a good filly. You are not responsible for what your evil side did when she took over and controlled your body.”

This was the best news Apple Bloom got in the past months of her life. It was the first time since the horror began for her that she could cheer about something. Apple Bloom started to bounce around Cadence happily, expressing all her sudden joy at once.

But Cadence reminded her to stop. She sat herself down and Apple Bloom joined her.

“There is a hard decision you must made if you want to help me to save this kingdom”, she said.

“What decision?”, the filly asked.

“In order to make everything better for everypony, we need the help of your evil side. You must give in to the second Apple Bloom inside of you and allow her to take over your body until our mission was successful. It's her strength that we need.”

Apple Bloom's eyes grew wide in shock. “But..... ya know what she did! She was hurting other ponies and destroying things! She maybe even killed another pony..... She has done all the things we want to get rid off!”

“I know, my sweet”, Cadence replied calmly. “But creating a paradise for everypony requires to make hard decisions. And don't worry, I am very strong and I will take care of it that your evil side will only do what is necessary to create what we want!”

Apple Bloom looked to the ground. “Ahm not sure..... If ah give in to her, then ah will disappear. But ah don't want to disappear!” She squeezed her eyes shut.

Cadence laughed bell-like. “There is no reason to worry. I will bring you back once our mission is over and the Equestria we want is created. You will disappear now but you will come back in the new Equestria. If you join me, you will never see the cruelty that exists in Equestria now ever again!”

Apple Bloom gave no answer. She did not like it how Equestria was and not having to endure this suffering and pain anymore was exactly what she wanted. But even if Cadence and she succeeded, her evil side would still be there, letting her suffer more and becoming a threat for their new and perfect Equestria.

“But..... what about mah evil side?”, she asked the alicorn. “Even if we turn Equestria into a paradise, mah evil side will still be there and ah will suffer again.....”

Cadence pulled her closer. “If you join my side I will free you of your evil side once we have accomplished our goal.”

Apple Bloom looked up to her. “Ya really can do that?”, she asked.

“Yes. Once we have created our paradise, the Equestria we wish for, were nopony has to suffer anymore, then I can use all the love we have created to clean you off the evil spirit inside you”, Cadence tempted her.

Apple Bloom still hesitated a little. “Do ya promise it?”, she asked the princess.

“I promise you to free you of your evil spirit once our work is done.” Cadence looked in her eyes, smiling, her face expressing confidence and benevolence.

“Okay. Ah do it”, Apple Bloom agreed finally. “But how do ah get mah evil side to come out?”

“You only have to do what I say”, Cadence replied. “I know that you can feel the darkness your other you represents inside of you. Just concentrate on it with all your strength and you will be able to set her free!”

Apple Bloom nodded. She looked down at the ground between her hooves and did as Cadence had told her. And it was as she said. She could feel the darkness. Concentrating all her thoughts on it, she felt that the darkness grew bigger inside of her. The feeling made her afraid. She began to shudder.

Cadence wrapped one of her wings around her. “Have no fear, my sweet. If you manage it to call your evil side, we will succeed!”

Apple Bloom concentrated herself stronger on the evil, dark energy. She heard a voice inside of her, the voice that sounded like her own, but yet somehow different. It was like it was answering on her concentrated thoughts. Then, everything became black for Apple Bloom all of a sudden.

Cadence felt it. She looked down to the young filly and her face had changed. It showed a moody, gloomy expression and her eyes rayed out the evil she had hoped to see.

The filly yanked her head around at her. “Who are ya?”, she asked. “Why have ya called me?”

Now that Apple Bloom was gone, replaced by her evil other self, Cadence's voice turned from gentle and kind to cold. “I have called you because I need your help for a goal I'm striving for. This kingdom we live in is ruled by the wrong princesses. I should have their power and you will help me to claim my place on the throne and to become the legitimate ruler of Equestria.”

“Ah work with no one!”, the evil presence beside her made clear.

But Cadence just gave her an evil smile, confidence in her eyes. “I know that you will. I know who you are and what you desire. If you help me to get what I deserve, you will have enough opportunities to be yourself. I will be the queen and you my princess and since I will rule over Equestria nopony will stop you from what you want to do. As the new ruler I need somepony who will help me to eliminate my enemies. If you help me, you can kill as much ponies as you want.”

The evil presence thought for a moment over what the Alicorn just said. Then a malicious grin adorned her face. “We have a deal”, she said taut.

On this day, Apple Bloom finally left her room. Two months had passed since she locked herself inside of it. She opened the door of her room and slowly trotted into the corridor. It was time to get outside into the world again. Time to perform her first task on the path to a new Equestria.

For the queen.

Day 24: A Good Cold

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Apple Bloom woke up and opened her eyes sluggishly. The light of the sun that was shining through her window blinded her. She quinted and hold a hoof over her eyes. “Why is it so bright?”, she asked annoyed.

Groaning, she turned on her back and faced the ceiling. She felt weak. Her face was hot and strong pains throbbed through her head.The filly sniffled and noticed that her nose was completely shut. She opened her mouth and breathed heavily. “Ahm sick”, she thought. Dull-witted, she remembered back on yesterday.

The first snow was falling and so Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and her met at the clubhouse after school to enjoy the first winter day. It snowed heavily in the morning, so the ground was covered thickly with snow after their school day was over. They were so happy and eager that it was snowing that they just dumped their school stuff at home and then immediately hurried to the clubhouse, without putting on their warm winter clothes. They spent the afternoon with building snowponies and with snowball fights.

At one point, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle teamed up against Apple Bloom and defeated her with their combined power. Evil grins on their faces, they playfully approached her and rubbed in her whole body with the cold substance until Apple Bloom begged for mercy under laughter. After they had let go of her, she shook the snow out of her coat and they continued their play in the snowy orchards. Apple Bloom felt cold after this treatment by her friends, but she stayed outside anyway. She was too happy to quit playing with her friends to warm up inside. And because they frolicked around in the snow so much, she felt warm again soon, so she did not waste any thoughts on her condition. She hadn't reckoned with it that this would get her sick so easily, but now she was.

Apple Bloom sniffled again and moaned. At least it was warm where she was now.

A few seconds later, she heard hoofsteps in front of her door. Apple Bloom turned her head to the side. The door opened slowly and Applejack entered the room. “Now look who's still in bed! Ya got school soon. Better hurry up!”, she said upbeat.

Apple Bloom smiled weakly, happy to see her big sister. “Ah can't get up today.”

Applejack noticed her low voice and the worn out expression on her face. She frowned and trotted up to her. “What is wrong? Are ya feelin' sick?”

Apple Bloom nodded confirmingly.

Applejack gently put a hoof on her forehead. She could feel it getting hot very quickly. “Well, looks like somepony got herself a good ol' cold! Y'all just stay home today.” Applejack stroke her mane gently. “Ah'll go and get ya some extra blankets and a hot, steamin' cup of tea now! Do ya also want somethin' to eat?”

Apple Bloom thought about that offer for a moment, but then she shook her head. She felt ill and had lost all her appetite.

“Alright, then ah'll be back in a minute!” Applejack patted her head and then turned around and left her sick little sister to prepare everything.

Apple Bloom looked after her and turned her head back again. She felt happy about it that she had a sister that took such good care of her. Apple Bloom coughed. Her throat felt sore and hurted. The little filly felt dizzy and she closed her eyes for a moment. Suddenly, she felt something soft falling down on her legs. She opened her eyes again and saw Applejack who was busy with stretching out a few extra blankets over her. Confused, she turned to the side and saw a cup of tea on her nightstand. Small clouds of steam rose into the air from it. Apple Bloom turned her head at Applejack again. “Applejack? How did ya come here so fast?”, she asked low-pitched, surprise in her voice.

“Y'all just slept in for a moment”, she said softly. Then she gave her another gentle stroke across her mane and Apple Bloom gave her another smile.

Applejack reached out for the cup of tea. She blew a while on the tea and then hold the cup at Apple Bloom's lips. Carefully, she put her other hoof under Apple Bloom's head and lifted it slightly off the pillow to assist her. Apple Bloom opened her mouth a little and let Applejack pour in something from the hot liquid. She could feel the tea flowing down her throat and how it quenched the pain for a moment. Apple Bloom groaned comfortingly. Applejack poured the rest of it down her throat and put the cup back on the nightstand.

She retracted her hoof from behind Apple Bloom and placed the head of her little sister gently on the pillow again. Then she reached for the four blankets and pulled them up until they were closely under her chin. Applejack made sure that her body was completely covered in the warm blankets. “Now ya just sleep for a while, little sis”, she said to Apple Bloom as she was sure that she had it warm enough. “We must raise the new barn today, so ah got to go outside for some hours. But ah'll check back on ya later!”

“Thanks, Applejack.” Apple Bloom gave her a thankful smile.

Applejack bent forward and gave her little sister a kiss on the forehead. Then she turned around and left Apple Bloom alone so that she could sleep, carefully closing the door behind her.

Apple Bloom looked after her again and then looked back at the ceiling. She put her hooves on her stomach. It felt warm inside now and she enjoyed this feeling. Apple Bloom felt better now, at least a bit. “Ah should really sleep a little now. Maybe ahm already well again when ah wake up?”, she thought. The filly closed her eyes and turned her head to the right, nestling it into the pillow. She appreciated the warm fabric and while she enjoyed the cozy feeling, she started to feel dizzy again and the warm blanket of sleep enveloped her. Just a few seconds later, she was asleep.

Six hours later, after a deep and dreamless sleep, Apple Bloom woke up again. It was afternoon now.
She could hear sounds outside of her room and opened the eyes. She recognized hoofsteps coming up the staircase, trotting through the corridor and then make halt in front of her door.

Applejack's voice sounded in her ears. “But not for too long, girls! She still doesn't feel well and needs rest.”

“Girls?” Apple Bloom's face lit up. She sat herself up in her bed, her blankets sliding down on her stomach, and looked at the door in anticipation. The door swung open. Apple Bloom saw her friends standing in the doorframe. “Hi, Apple Bloom!”, they chimed out together and then rushed up to her.

“Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle!”, Apple Bloom responded, in a lower voice, but not any less happy. She smiled at them. It was somewhat to expect that her friends would visit her after finding out about her illness, but Apple Bloom was pleasantly surprised about it that they were here now nonetheless.

“Don't stay for too long!”, Applejack reminded the two fillies again, then closed the door.

Sweetie Belle trotted closer to Apple Bloom's bed, reached up with her hooves and gave Apple Bloom carefully a warm hug. Then Scootaloo did the same. “We so wanted to come here and visit you after we heard that you can't come to school because you're sick”, Scootaloo said then.

“Yeah, we wanted to see you so much!”, Sweetie Belle confirmed what her friend just said.

“I guess me and Sweetie Belle are at fault for it that you are sick now. We shouldn't have rubbed you in with so much snow”, Scootaloo continued, regret in her voice.

“That ain't your fault”, Apple Bloom replied reassuringly. “It's just mah fault because ah didn't went in to warm up after it.”

“So, you're not mad at us?”, Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head and the faces of her friends lit up. Then she noticed something on Scootaloo's back. “Hey, what's on ya back, Scootaloo?”, she asked her curiously.

Scootaloo reached back. “I thought you could need something to read while you have to stay in bed, so I brought you this.” She held it in front of her. “It's one of my Daring Do books.”
Apple Bloom looked at the book for some seconds, then read the title out loud. “Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore”, she read.

“It's one of the newest books!”, Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly. “Daring Do has to save three towns from the eruption of a volcano with some magical artifacts and it has a super epic villain!”

“Thanks”, Apple Bloom said. “Ahm sure goin' to read it when ah feel a little better. Ah just can't concentrate on reading right now.”

“Don't worry, just take your time! I've already read it anyway, you can keep the book as long as you want!” Scootaloo placed the book on her nightstand.

“I brought you something too!”, Sweetie Belle said then. She opened the saddle bags on her back and pulled out a long, fuzzy-looking scarf.

Apple Bloom eyed it carefully. It was very long, too long to be practical, and it consisted of countless patches that were stitched together awkwardly. At some spots, the seams already became loosened again and the words “Get well soon!” were stitched on it in skewed letters. “Uhm, thanks”, Apple Bloom said baffled.

“I've made it myself. I stitched it together before we came to you! It should keep you warm so that you get better quickly!” Sweetie Belle grinned, then she hung the long scarf around Apple Bloom's neck and wrapped it around it until her neck was thickly covered with it. The rest of it hung down Apple Bloom's chest. Sweetie Belle smiled satisfiedly.

Apple Bloom looked down touched at the ends of the much too long accessoire and sniffled a little, this time from emotion. She bent a little forward and gave Sweetie Belle a hug on her own now. “Thanks”, she said again. Sweetie Belle smiled and responded her hug.

Suddenly, a big coughing erupted Apple Bloom's body. She released Sweetie Belle and retreated into her bed. Letting her arms hang exhaustedly, her body trembled.

“Oh, I think we better let you alone now”, the white filly said with a concerned expression. “You need more rest.”

Apple Bloom would have liked it if her friends would kept her company a little longer, but she could feel that Sweetie Belle was right. Just leaning out of her bed to hug Sweetie was too much for her in this condition. Apple Bloom nodded weakly and lied down again. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle grabbed the blankets and spread them over their friend carefully.

“Is there anything else we can do for you before we go?”, Scootaloo asked her helpfully.

“Mhm.” Apple Bloom gave her a nod. “Please tell Applejack that ah could need another cup of tea” the filly said with a weak voice.

“We tell her!”, Scootaloo assured her. Then she and Sweetie Belle each placed one of their hooves on the blanket over Apple Bloom's body.

“We come back tomorrow.”, Sweetie Belle said and Scootaloo nodded confirmingly, with a smile on her face.

Apple Bloom smiled back. “Thanks. Bye girls.”, she said then.

“Bye, Apple Bloom!”, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle answered in chorus and then made their way to the door. They opened it and looked back to Apple Bloom a last time, waving at her.

Apple Bloom would have liked to wave bag at them, but her hooves were under the blankets and she felt too weak to pull out one of them and so she just gave her friends another smile. Then they proceeded through the door and closed it quietly behind them.

As the two other fillies were gone, Apple Bloom began to feel lonely. She wanted to spend more time with her friends, but her condition made it impossible. And she also wanted to play outside in the snow. “Becoming sick during the first days of winter sucks!”, Apple Bloom thought angry.

She looked out of the window. Big snowflakes danced outside. How much she would like it to be there now. Apple Bloom cursed herself. But she knew that it wasn't to change. The only thing she could do now was to get well again as soon as possible.

She turned round and nestled her head in the warm, soft pillow again. Wishing for a fast recovery, she welcomed the warm blanket of sleep spreading over her once again and drifted away into another nap.....

Day 25: In a Distant Land

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The time machine flew, steered by Discord, through the space-time continuum back to Ponyville.

Scootaloo was again sandwiched between her friends, Discord and Fluttershy, though, much more comfortable with it now than before. They had seen amazing things during their travel with Discord; ancient civilizations, exotic creatures and even dinosaurs! All these things made it worth to be squashed in a time machine that was smaller at the inside.

Scootaloo could feel the rumbling of the time machine in the mysterious realm between space and time. It was also producing a quiet, humming sound, that had something soothing to it. Scootaloo let herself getting carried away by the relaxing sound and almost slept in as she suddenly felt a strong eruption. The time machine had stopped.

“And here we are!”, Discord said proudly. “Back in good old Ponyville!” He proceeded to open the door of the time machine to get them all out of the narrow chamber. “As promised I brought all of you back, safely and in one piece!” The door swung open and Discord looked outside, a grin on his face. And then he froze.

In front of him, between yellow sandstone houses, gryphons walked around, pursuing their daily business, some of them curiously looking at the unexpected appearance of the big, brown box.

“That doesn't look like Ponyville.” Fluttershy looked outside of the time machine too now, an unpleased expression on her face.

“I agree with you, my dearest Fluttershy”, the draconequus said. “Looks like I took the wrong turn, but this is not going to be a problem. I will adjust our route and then we will reach our–“ Suddenly, the humming of the time machine turned into an elongated, distorted sound and slowly died away until it had completely stopped. Discord pulled at the levers and hit the buttons, but nothing helped. The time machine had stopped to work.

“Discord? What is wrong?”, Fluttershy asked him worried.

“I don't know”, he answered. “But I'm sure I can solve this problem somehow, don't worry about it!”, he said confidently then, as Fluttershy's face took on a concerned expression. He continued to examine the panel in front of him to find a solution.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle decided to get out of the time machine to look around a little in the meanwhile. They squeezed themselves past Discord and Fluttershy and set hoof on the unfamiliar land. Their eyes big as plates, they fascinatedly looked around on the big plaza – apparently a marketplace – of the town in which they were now stranded. Especially Scootaloo liked the sight in front of her eyes, with all the majestic, winged creatures she had only seen in books so far.

“Where are we? Is this the Gryphon Kingdom?”, she asked excitedly.

“It does look like it”, Fluttershy answered her question, a hearable tremble in her voice. She still remembered her encounter with a certain gryphon in Ponyville two and a half years ago and so she decided to stay in the time machine instead of walking around with the girls. “Don't go too far away. We don't know how quick Discord will get the time machine to work again and we don't to stay here longer than necessary”, she told them.

“Oh, I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I think this is going to take a while. The problem seems to be more complicated than I thought it would”, he added to Fluttershy's advice, causing a frown to appear on the forehead of the pegasus. Discord continued with pulling at the numerous levers, sweat on his face. The time machine he “borrowed” was much more complex than he expected it to be and he had no clue about it what to do in a situation like this.

The three Crusaders didn't mind it. In fact, they hoped it would take Discord some hours to get everything to work again. It would add another exciting destination to their travel. And even though they weren't in the past, it would definitely be interesting to explore this desert town.

A market stand in some distance caught their interest and they happily trotted up to it to check out which goods were sold there. Maybe they could buy some souvenirs as mementos for their adventure today? They had not taken any money with them as they headed to Fluttershy today since they wouldn't need it for watching animals anyway and because they had no idea what was awaiting them, but maybe Fluttershy had some with her? They had reached the stall and looked eagerly and with gaping mouths at the assortment of things there, as they suddenly heard the humming of the time machine again.

“Oh, I guess now it's working again!”, Discord said. “Come girls, I think it's time to leave. I can understand that you would like to stay a little while longer, but it looks like Fluttershy won't agree on it.” The pegasus was cowering in fear in the corner now, her teeth clattering and her body shaking.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hung their heads disappointed and proceeded back to the time machine, unwilling and slowly.

All of a sudden, a white light emerged from the time machine. “What is wrong now?”, Discord asked surprised. “It's too early to start, you impatient little thing!” He pulled at the levers again, but it did not stop and the light became brighter. He turned towards the three fillies and waved them over. “Girls, I think you have to hurry. I don't know why but it seems this machine wants to leave without you three.....”

Hearing this, they yanked up their heads again and dashed for the entrance of the time machine. They liked this place, but staying behind was not the way they wanted to get an opportunity to spend more time here. Ten meters distance were between them and the entrance. They had almost reached it as Sweetie tripped over a stone and fell flat on her face. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom stopped in their tracks and lifted up their friend. They pulled her with them and proceeded to jump into the entrance. A white light engulfed them and then they landed in the dirt. They groaned over the hard impact with the ground and then slowly rose to their feet, their faces covered in yellow sand. They brushed the sand off of their coats and then looked around. The time machine was nowhere to be seen and neither were Discord or Fluttershy. They were alone. Truly stranded in this unknown place now.

Scootaloo was the first who expressed her worries. “The time machine has left without us. What are we going to do now?”

“Nothing”, Sweetie Belle answered her question quickly. “We just wait here. The time machine works again, I'm sure they will return soon to pick us up.” That was just logical. Now that the machine worked again, they would be back soon. They just had to wait.

The three fillies just noticed now how hot it was here. They began to break out in sweat and soon, their coats were completely drenched. They saw a wall that threw a shadow at the ground before it at the opposite side of the market place and trotted over to it. There they took seat. Carefully eyeing the spot where the time machine had disappeared they began to wait for it to come back.

Five minutes passed and Fluttershy and Discord did not return.

Ten minutes. No return.

Fifteen minutes. The fillies pulled up their legs to their chest and rested their heads on their hooves, staring boredly at the middle of the marketplace.

Thirty minutes. Some young gryphons ran over the marketplace, but no time machine.

Fourty-five minutes. A white light shone into their eyes and they jumped up in anticipation, but then they saw that it was just the reflection of the sun in a mirror and disappointed, they dropped back at their haunches again.

Sixty minutes. Now the fillies became nervous.

“Does not look like they'll return.....”, Apple Bloom began.

“Yeah, we're sitting here for too long already.....”, Scootaloo confirmed her worries. “Do you think the time machine broke again?”

“Ah don't know. Maybe Discord also just took the wrong turn again.”

Scootaloo looked around the marketplace. It was crowded with gryphons. There were female ones who bought food, maybe for their children or husbands, male gryphons who sat on barrels in front of one of the stalls and talked with each other while drinking a brown, strange looking drink from big mugs and children who roamed the several stands, excitedly looking at the goods there, similar to how she and her friends did it a little more than an hour ago. Especially one stand with exotic looking food was drawing their attention. The marketplace was busy, but no one paid them any mind. The little pegasus sighed. “And what are we going to do now? We don't even know where we are exactly. And who knows how far it is from here to Equestria..... How should we get there?”

“Let's think about that later”, Sweetie Belle answered.

“Huh?!” Scootaloo gave her an awkward and surprised look, followed by Apple Bloom who did the same.

“Let's just look around in this town first. If Discord and Fluttershy haven't returned in a few hours, we can still worry about it how we can return to Equestria. And maybe we even find something that can help us get back in case they shouldn't return while we look around!”

That made sense again. The three fillies nodded in agreement and rose from their sitting position. Aside from stranded at this place they didn't know, they had to face another problem that seemed awfully mundane in their situation, but was of importance nonetheless:

They were hungry and thirsty.

They had a good breakfast today, but since they left Fluttershy's cottage a few hours ago in the early morning, they hadn't eaten anything. And the unrelenting heat in this town let them become completely dried out. Their tongues were stucked to their palates and with their sweating they lost more fluids. Luckily, they were at a marketplace, so it didn't seem that much of a problem to them to get something to eat and drink.
They moved across the marketplace, aiming for the stall the gryphon children were clustered around. On their way there, the gryphons around them began to notice them more. They turned round curiously at them, their faces full of surprise, some others narrowed their eyes or even browbeat them and a few gave them even hostile looks. Ponies were a rare sight in these lands and the three Crusaders got the impression that they weren't welcome here. They looked around nervously, as they proceeded to the stall with the food.

As they had reached it, they forgot again about the glances they got and forged them ahead between the little gryphons to get a look at the stall with the tasty food. Anticipation filled their faces as they had made it forward and they looked eagerly at the table. But as their sight fall on it, they dropped their ears, their faces showing strong disappointment.The table was really full of food, but it was clearly not meant for them.

Arranged on plates and dishes, there were slices of meat in all imagineable sizes, forms and variations. They could even see some roasted animals, who still looked like they did when they were alive, only their skin and fur was missing of course. There were rats, lizards, small birds and other animals the three fillies never saw before. Their stomachs turned at the sight and disgustedly, they turned their back at the arrangement and left the stall quickly.

“We should have thought on it that gryphons prefer to eat animals”, Scootaloo said regretfully. “Do gryphons even eat flowers and fruits?”

“Ah don't know, but ah hope so. Don't know what to eat if they don't”, Apple Bloom said worriedly.

“We just have to look around more. There are a lot more stalls here. I don't think that's the only one with food”, Sweetie Belle tried to motivate them.

The two other fillies nodded weakly. Then they began to search the other stalls for something they could eat. They came to a lot of other stalls with meat dishes and stalls that were packed with all sorts of interesting things; they could see jewels, leather bags, knives with lavish decorations, clocks, rings and amulets..... But they had no eyes for these beautiful things. The desire to buy a souvenir that could serve them as memento for this exciting day had become replaced by the urge to eat and drink. Finally, as they had almost given up, they found a food stall that seemed to have the food they needed.

The dishes on it were garnished with long turnovers and an inquiry by them resulted that they were filled with fruits and not meat. It was a fruit they never heard of, but a fruit nonetheless and in their condition, they were not picky. The turnovers glistened and a delicious smell of baked pastry reached their nostrils. They took in the scent and drooled while eyeing the food in front of them. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo reached out for the food and wanted to stuff their mouths with it already as Sweetie Belle interrupted them.

“Uhm, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo..... Haven't we forgot something?”

The two other fillies looked at her cluelessly for a moment and then the realization struck. They had forgotten that they didn't have any money with them. They hung their head, a sad expression adorning their faces.

“And what are we going to do now? I'm almost dying from hunger.....”, Scootaloo said. Her stomach grumbled like it wanted to confirm her condition.

Sweetie Belle looked at her. “Maybe we could ask if we can put the food on the cuff? Fluttershy can pay for it later when she returns with Discord.”

“It's worth a try, I guess”, the pegasus filly answered. She looked up to the owner of the stall, a big, muscular gryphon with a grim expression. “Can we eat now and pay later? We don't have money with us, but our friend will come later to pick us up and then she can pay for it.”

The gryphon looked down at her, his face showing a stern expression. “Not a chance!”, he answered. “You will just eat and then run away and never come back! You pay first and then you can eat!” The fillies' ears dropped in disappointment.

Sweetie Belle came to Scootaloo's assistance. “Can't you make an exception? We haven't eaten something for hours and we don't know how long we have to wait before we can return home.”

“Yes and we say the truth. In a few hours our friend Fluttershy will come and pay for everything we eat!”, Apple Bloom added.

The stall owner raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any proof that your friend will come and pay for you?”

The fillies shared worried glances. “Not really, but–“

“Then stop wasting my time!”, the owner interrupted Sweetie Belle. “You can get something when you come back with money, but not before. And now go away, you block the way for my customers!”, he shouted harshly and pointed with his claw behind them.

They turned around and saw two other gryphons behind them, angrily looking down at them. The three young fillies lowered their heads intimidated and then proceeded past them and away from the stand, scaredly looking at them. As they had brought some distance between them and the angry bird creatures, they dropped down at the spot and cowered at the ground.

It was the last stall of the market and so they were run out of ideas where to get something to eat from now. They rested their heads on their hooves and sighed sobby, tears appearing in the corners of their eyes. Even if they had an idea what to do now, they were too weak to put it into practice and so they just lied there and stared at the ground, ignored by the masses around them. Their tongues felt as dry as the sandy ground underneath them and their stomach grumbled louder with every minute. The hungry and thirsty fillies panted heavily. They closed their eyes and could feel how their exhaustion let them slowly drift away into sleep as they suddenly heard sounds in front of them. Opening their eyes weakly, they saw three of the turnovers lying before them, spread out on a white packaging paper.

The three friends couldn't believe their eyes first. Did they just dream? Had they dozed off to sleep by now or let them their hungry state imagining food?

But the food was real. The delicious smell of it reached their nostrils once again. It lifted their spirits and they reached out for the turnovers and gulped them down hungrily. They even didn't take the time to chew them properly. Satisfied groans left their mouths as they were finished with eating. Feeling a little stronger, they got up, still a bit wonky on their hooves. It was just now that they noticed that they weren't alone anymore.

A tall, black and white-feathered gryphon stood in front of them, a pair of glasses adorning his nose. His eyes looked as cold as the eyes of the other gryphons, but a benevolent smile played around his beak. “Do you three fillies feel better now?”, he asked them. His voice was as friendly as the expression in his face.

The friends nodded awe-struck, their mouths gaping widely open from surprise.

“Thanks for helping us!”, Scootaloo said. “Who are you?”

“My name is Henry”, he answered. “How did you fillies come here? We don't see ponies often here.”

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle taxed their brain for an answer. They couldn't exactly tell him the truth. He wouldn't believe them anyway, or would he?
But they couldn't think of anything else in their weakened state, so they just went with it.

“We were on a time travel with a friend of us, but something got wrong and we stranded here. Then the time machine left without us and now we wait for his return”, Scootaloo explained him the situation, accompanied by approving nods of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

“Time machine?” An unbelieving expression graced his face suddenly. The fillies could see that he didn't believe them and prepared themselves innerly for distrustful questions.

But then he just shrugged his shoulders. “You should come to my house with me”, he said then. “All of you look exhausted. I heard what you said at the stall, so I guess you're still hungry. And I bet you girls are thirsty too.”

This was an invitation the three little fillies accepted without thinking twice about it. Usually, they didn't just went with strangers, but the griffon seemed friendly and as hungry and thirsty as they were, they weren't in the mood to ask too many questions. “Thanks, we'd like to come with you!”, they said.

“Okay, then just follow me! It's not far away from here.” He sat himself into motion and the fillies followed him.

They went into a side alley at the left side of the plaza. He led them through the dusty streets between the white houses of the town. They met barely any other gryphons on the way. It seemed to them that Henry's house lied in the outskirts of it. Or the town was just smaller than they thought.

“Oh, by the way, how are your names?”, he asked them underway.

Scootaloo took the word again. “I'm Scootaloo!”, she introduced herself. “And these are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle!” She pointed out at her friends that walked right and left from her.

“Nice to meet you, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle!”, he answered with a smile.

After not more than ten minutes, he stopped in front of a small house. “Here we are”, he said. “That's where I live!” He swung open the door and they entered it together.
The room they were in now was only furnished spartanic.

There was a round wooden table in the middle of it, left from it a desk, filled with books, papers and quills that were arranged in a messy way, and on the right side of the room a fairly big bed and a wardrobe. At the outer wall, they could see an open fire pit, with a black cauldron hanging over it. At the side of it, on the wall, were two cupboards. The room seemed to be the only one of the house. The only door they could see was a hatch in the ground. Henry closed the door behind them. Noticing the looks on their faces, he said:

“It's not much, but all that I need to live.” The fillies could swear that a touch of sorrow swung in his voice, but they weren't too sure in their condition and so they didn't waste thoughts on that. “Just sit down at the table. I'll get you something to eat”, Henry continued.

He didn't have to tell them that twice and the three friends gathered around the table and took seat on the small wooden chairs. Henry went to the desk and took off the bags he was carrying and then he proceeded to the hatch. He pulled at it and it opened with a loud creak. As it was open, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle could smell the stench of more food coming from below. Under the hatch was his cellar storeroom.

He climbed down a ladder and brought up food and drinks from it, spreading them all over the table until it was nicely decked with a variety of treats. On the table were bread, butter, small pies they've never seen before, several fruits and more of the turnovers they unsuccessfully tried to get at the market. In the middle was a huge mug full of yellow juice, apparently from one of the strange fruits on the tables. Their mouths became watery while they stared at the table.

Henry handed them three glasses and put another one in front of himself and then they began to eat. They filled their glasses with the juice and gulped them down and then the three starved fillies darted at the food. It was a quiet meal they shared with Henry since all they could think of was filling their empty stomachs. They eagerly stuffed themselves with the tasty food and bread, fruits and pies entered their hungry mouths in quick succession. As they had enough, they gulped down another glass of juice to satisfy their newly developed thirst and then they leaned back happily. Now they felt good again. Getting this food really happened in the last second. The three fillies satisfiedly stroke their stomachs and sighed relieved. They felt like in heaven now.

The black and white gryphon at the other side of the table chuckled. In just a few minutes, they had eaten a big amount of the food he served them. He never saw someone eating so much, especially not children. Restocking his supplies would cost him quite an amount of money, but he was not concerned. Feeding these fillies would pay off for him very soon and then he would have enough money to buy new food. Not to mention the price he would get for each of them, he thought. A grin flashed over his face.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle began to yawn and to rub their eyes. Now that their hunger was appeased, they felt tired. Sweetie Belle already wanted to ask him if it's okay if they stay a while longer to get some sleep, but Henry pointed to the big bed behind him, having guessed her thought already. The tired fillies got slowly up from their chairs and trotted towards the bed. It was not a very large bed for gryphon standards, but since griffons were quite a bit bigger than ponies, they had no problems to fit in the bed together.

It was still hot and getting close to noon, they knew that it would be even hotter soon, so they refrained from slipping under the covers and just lied down on top of them.
Each of them curled herself up. They yawned again and after a few seconds they were all fast asleep. As Henry noticed their snoring he walked up to their bed and just watched them sleeping for some minutes.

These fillies were like a godsend present. A smile appeared on his face; now that they couldn't see him anymore, his expression looked dark and sinister. The young ponies in front of him were the key. With their help, he would soon get his well-deserved reward.....

~*~

Scootaloo opened her eyes and was without orientation for a moment. She saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle lying besides her, but she did not know the place she was in now. Had Fluttershy and Discord returned and picked them up by now while they were asleep? Did the time machine screw up something up again and now they were in another place they didn't know? Scootaloo yawned and for a moment, she expected Fluttershy and Discord coming through the door. But then her memory returned. She remembered how they almost fell asleep from weakness on the marketplace, how Henry came and how he took them with him to his home where he invited them for lunch. How long did she sleep? She couldn't guess the amount of time. But she felt refreshed and completely awake so it must have been quite a few hours. She stretched herself and yawned again. In this moment, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle awoke too. After doing some stretching and yawning on their own they got out of the bed. They saw that the table was empty again now. Henry was sitting on his desk behind it. He seemed to work on something.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle trotted over to him. They wanted to thank him again and to say goodbye to him. It was time for them to return to the marketplace to see if Fluttershy and Discord are back.

“Henry?”, Apple Bloom said. The gryphon turned around. “Oh, good morning you sleepy heads!”, he said friendly. “How was your nap?”

“It was fine!”, the filly answered with a smile. “Yeah, for me too! I haven't slept that good for a long time. Your bed is really soft!”, Scootaloo added.

“Me three!”, Sweetie Belle chimed in.

Henry laughed. “I'm happy that your sleep was so good!”, he said.

“But now we have to go”, Sweetie Belle continued. “We have to see if our friends Fluttershy and Discord are back!”

“Oh, yes, your friends!”, he answered. “I have seen them.”

“You have?”, Sweetie Belle looked surprised at him.

“Yes. I had to went to the marketplace again while you were asleep, because I forgot something to buy when I was there the first time. There I met them. I remembered what you said, Scootaloo, and so I went over to them and told them where you are. They were really worried, but relieved when they heard that you're in my house!
They also said that the time machine has stopped to work again and that they need to fix it. I described them the way to my house and to the old ruin outside of the town and they said they will come and pick you up when the machine is ready.”

“Old ruin outside of the town?”, Sweetie Belle asked surprised. “What are you talking about?”

“It's where I work”, the gryphon answered her surprised question. “I'm an archeologist. I'm doing some research in a ruin not far away from here currently and I told your friends how to get there, because I need to check something there and I better take you with me. I can't lock the door of my house and I rather not want you to spend a few hours here alone.”

“I see”, Sweetie Belle answered.

“Wait, why do you not want us to stay alone here? And why can't you lock your door?”, Scootaloo asked sceptically.

“I lost the key for my door a while ago and I can't afford a new one right now”, the gryphon explained. “And why I don't want to leave you alone here.....” Henry thought for a moment and seemed to search for an answer. “Not all gryphons here in the town are as nice as me”, he said after a few seconds. “And gryphons don't have the best relationship with the pony race unfortunately. We don't get often pony visitors from Equestria and some of them.....”

He paused for a moment, letting his eyes wander over the faces of the three fillies that eyed him curiously.

“Some of them disappeared suddenly during their visit. Because ponies are such a rare sight here, they reach a high price on the black market. Some ponies who come here get captured and sold there as slaves and sometimes even to–“

He stopped mid-sentence. He couldn't tell those little fillies everything. Realizing from which creatures some of the meat that they saw at the marketplace were could be too much for them. “It's just too dangerous”, he continued. “My neighbours have seen you entering my house and so they know that you are here. And some of them are shady characters. It's better you come with me to the ruins while I work there.”

What he told them left the three fillies shuddering in fear. Now they understood and he was right, it was really better to stay at his side, considering this circumstances and so they agreed with him.

“Good, then let's go!”, he said. He reached for his bag, hung it around his neck and then they left the house. Henry closed the door behind him and then led them down the street, just in the other direction this time. He told them that this street led directly out of town and to the ruin he mentioned.

While on their way, the three friends noticed here and there gryphons standing in front of the door of their houses or the roofs that not just looked curious at them, but also eager. These gryphons eyed them like a predator his prey, shortly before he jumped and killed it with one precise attack. Looking into the expression of their eyes, one could already guess that they imagined how tender the meat of fillies must taste. Henry didn't tell them the whole truth and so they could not know that was going on in their heads right now, but the way they looked at them frightened them nonetheless.

Henry noticed how they looked around scaredly. “Don't worry”, he said in a calm voice. “Just stay at my side. They won't do anything to you as long a you're with me.” He gave Sweetie Belle, who shuddered the most, a little noogie and smiled.

A few minutes later, they had left the town and the gryphons were out of sight. All three of them sighed relieved. They were in a desert now. And as Henry had told them, there was a ruin in the distance. While they trotted closer, they could see that it was built of grey brickstones. The ruin was partially covered by a big dune, but the entrance was free.

As they entered the ruins, Sweetie Belle noticed drawings of ponies that were carved into the bricks above the entrance. “Did ponies built this ruin?”, she asked Henry. “Yes. You know, it weren't always gryphons that lived in these lands. A long time ago, this whole continent was populated by ponies. But they disappeared one day and the gryphon race took their place. No gryphon knows why. I try to find out what was the reason for it, but so far I have no conclusion on this question.”

While they talked, they walked down a narrow tunnel that led downwards from a small room that was behind the entrance. Torches were on the walls to banish the shadows and lighten the way. The tunnel seemed to lead deep into the earth. The walls were full of glyphes. Apple Bloom looked around interested. “What was this ruin for in the past? Have you found it out?”

Henry shook his head. “I don't know yet. The archeologists here are discordant about it's purpose. Some say it served to bury their decedents, because we found a few sarcophagi down here, but some others say it was built to store their treasures. I have not found an explanation for the sarcophagi, but I share the view that it's a treasure chamber. You will soon see why.”

They had reached the end of the tunnel now and stood in a big hall. It was a long-stretched room. In the middle of it, at the wall to their right was a gigantic door, one could almost call it a gate, that led into another room. It was open and the door's valves were adorned with jewels and gems, that were arranged in a way that they formed a beautiful pattern. The walls around them were thickly covered with yellow glyphes. The three Crusaders looked around in awe and with widely opened mouths. An adventure like this was exactly the right thing. They were really glad now that Discord had such big problems with the time machine.

As Scootaloo did a closer look at the glyphs in the walls, she noticed that they were not only yellow, but made of pure gold! Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had seen it too. The fillies were fascinated over this discovery and looked at the walls with gleaming eyes. Now they understood why Henry thought that it's a treasure chamber.

Henry called for them suddenly and pulled them out of their fascinated trance. He stood in front of the gate and waved them over. Eager to make another exciting discovery, they trotted over to him, their eyes still reflecting pure amazement. Having reached the open gate, they looked into it with anticipation. Another long-stretched room was behind it, covered with the same, golden glyphes. Or at least they thought that it was a long-stretched room as well. They couldn't tell for sure, because it soon ended on a wall that reached almost up to the very high ceiling of the room. There was a small gap between the wall and the ceiling, barely enough room for a pony to stand on top of it. It was just no normal wall and so they doubted that the room already ended here.

In small gaps were sharp-looking spikes embedded in the wall. And before the wall, there was no stone floor, but soil instead. Some small plants grew there. Apple Bloom looked up. It was weird. There was no hole in the ceiling through which the sunlight could shine through. “How can these plants grow down here?”, she wondered.

Slowly they entered the room. Apple Bloom noticed something on the left wall. The drawing of a pony was there. It seemed to bury with it's hoof in the ground and in front of it, long and slim vines rose up. The drawing was made from the same gold as the glyphes.

“This is the mystery I try to solve here” Henry said, discontent in his voice.

“I'm sure behind this wall is something.” Scootaloo pointed at the wall with the spikes.

Henry smiled and nodded. “Right”, he said approvingly. “You are a tough little filly.” He walked up closer to the wall. “The glyphes in the other room say that there are three trials in this room that have to be overcome to find the secret treasure of these ruins. What we see here is the first one.”

“And you couldn't figure out how to do that yet?”, Scootaloo asked.

The bird-like archeologist shook his head. “I could figure out how to surpass the trials, but it's not so easy as you think, young pegasus.” He walked over to the picture of the pony on the wall. “That's the picture of an earth pony”, he said quietly.

Apple Bloom looked at him. “An earth pony?”, she asked interested.

“Yes, an earth pony”, he repeated.

Apple Bloom began to fell uneasy all of a sudden. Was it because they were so deep under the ground?

“The glyphes in the other room also say that the trials can only be mastered by ponies. It's the magic of the three pony races that is needed to surpass the trials.”
Now all three fillies looked at him, curious expressions on their faces.

Henry let his claw glide over the picture of the pony, deep in thought. “The first trial can only be mastered by an earth pony and it's plant growing magic. The second trial needs the magic of a unicorn. And the third trial can only be surpassed by a pegasus.” He slowly turned around to them. “I haven't told you the whole truth. There is another reason why you had to come with me in this ruin. I need your help to surpass these trials and to get the hidden treasure. I can't do this as a gryphon. I need a pony from each race and it's magic and you fulfill the criteria.”

Now everything dawned upon the fillies. They frowned and their faces took on an angry expression.

“So this means you only saved us because we are of use for you!”, Scootaloo bursted out. “Why should we help you then?”

“This is true”, Henry said. “I've tried to figure out for a while now how I could get past these trials without ponies, but nothing worked. As I saw you on the marketplace today, I knew that this was my chance. It was my only chance to get access to this treasure and I had to take it!”

“And what if we wouldn't have been of use to you? Had you still saved us? Had you still gave us something to eat and invited us into your house so that we can rest there?”

Henry looked into Scootaloo's eyes. He thought for a moment to cook up an excuse to make them believe that he would have saved them anyway, but on their angry expressions and Scootaloo's angry talk, he could figure that it was useless. These fillies had looked behind his facade and figured it out. He really wouldn't have helped them and just ignored them like the other gryphons on the marketplace if they weren't useful for his plan and they knew that now. They would never believe a made up excuse, no matter how good it would be. So he just stood there and said nothing.

Scootaloo looked at him for a few seconds, expecting an answer. As nothing came, she turned away from him and proceeded towards the gate. “Come, let's go!”, she said to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, anger and disappointment in her voice. “Let's better go back to Fluttershy and Discord. I'm sure they're already waiting for us.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed her suit. As the fillies trotted out through the gate, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo heard Sweetie Belle screaming in fright. They stopped and turned round and their eyes grew wide in shock.

“Sweetie Belle!”, they shouted fearfully.

Henry suddenly had a knife in his right claw. He had Sweetie Belle lifted off the ground and pressed her against him with his other claw. The knife he held closely at her throat. “I won't let you go now”, he said, his voice having changed, from the friendly one they knew, to a threatening, evil one. “If you want to help your friend, then you will help me to get through to the treasure. If you don't do what I want, you will never see her again.”

Sweetie Belle whimpered in fear. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo taxed their brain desperately to find a way to stop him and to free Sweetie, but the circumstances were completely against them. The knife was just inches away from Sweetie's throat and if they would try to attack him now, it would be over. They had no choice than to surrender for now.

Scootaloo gulped, the worry for her friend written over her face. “Okay, we do what you want!”, she said agitatedly. “Just don't hurt her!” Her body trembled and desperation and fear swung in her voice.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo carefully trotted over to the wall, eyed by the cruel archeologist. “That's fine”, he said satisfied. “Just don't make a wrong movement and nothing will happen to your friend.” Then he looked at Apple Bloom. “It's your turn first, earth pony. Use your magic and let these vines grow. Then you climb up the wall on them and press the button that is up there to let this wall sink into the ground.”

Apple Bloom approached one of the vines and stepped with her hooves on the soil. She was unsure what to do. She had seen a few times how Applejack let grow apple seedlings faster using her earth pony magic, but she never did it by herself and she never asked Applejack how to do it. She thought back at the last time when she watched Applejack doing it. There was no magical glow when Applejack used her magic. She just placed her hoof at the spot where a seedling was buried in the ground and seconds later, a little plant broke through the soil and began to grow bigger. Apple Bloom had no other explanation than that Applejack just concentrated on the plant to let it grow, so she touched the little vine, closed her eyes and imagined that it gets bigger. She was not sure if she could do it, but for Sweetie Belle she had to.

The earth pony filly concentrated all her thoughts just on that one imagination and hoped it worked. Minutes seemed to pass without anything happening. The more Apple Bloom concentrated herself, the more she broke out in sweat. Her head began to hurt.

“That's it, continue to concentrate”, she heard the eager voice of Henry suddenly.

Apple Bloom opened the eyes and saw that the vine had began to grow and to make her way up the wall. It had also become thicker. She closed her eyes again and continued to concentrate. Stronger and stronger became her imagination of how the vines grew up the wall until it seemed to her that she could feel how they grew.

“You did it!”, Scootaloo exclaimed a few minutes later.

Apple Bloom stopped and opened her eyes again. The vine in front of her was a lot thicker now and coiled up the wall. And not only that, all the vines at the wall had grown now. Was that really her achievement? Was her concentration that strong? The little filly couldn't believe it.

“Now climb up!”, the gryphon at her side threw her out of her thoughts.

Apple Bloom's hooves trembled as she set them at the wispy ramifications of the vine. The spikes pointed menacingly at her, ready to impale her if she should lost the grip of the vines, and there was only a very small room to climb up the wall between them. Apple Bloom pulled herself carefully up and set her backhooves on the wall too now. She exhaled sharply. The first step was done. Hearing Sweetie Belle's whimpering behind her, she pulled herself up higher and higher, heavy concentrated on it to avoid the spikes. As she was halfway up, she could feel that her hooves had become sweaty. It was harder to grasp the vines now. Apple Bloom clenched her teeth and began to climb faster.

A few times, she almost lost her grip and was dangerously close to hit one of the deadly spikes, but eventually, she made it. She pulled herself up a last time and then stood on top of the wall. Apple Bloom looked around and searched for the button Henry had mentioned. It was right from her. She trotted over to it and pushed it.

An eruption went through the room and the wall as an ancient mechanism was activated. The spikes got retracted in the wall, leaving only round holes in it, and the wall sank slowly into the ground, exactly as the gryphon had explained. As the wall had brought Apple Bloom almost back to the ground again, she jumped down the remaining height and landed at Scootaloo's side.

As the wall had sunk completely into the ground, they could see an arrangement of mirrors on the other side. The mirrors reflected magical beams that came out of three holes at the left wall. The holes were at different heights and every mirror was positioned in a way so that it reflected the beams in a different direction and to another mirror. The reflections of the mirrors created a complicated network of the magical beams that made it impossible to walk to the other side.

Henry pushed Apple Bloom and Scootaloo forward. As they approached the mirrors, they could feel that it became hotter. The temperature around them had increased and the beams seemed to be the reason for it, because the metallic frames of the mirrors were glowing red, obviously heated up by the hot beams. At the left side of the construction was another golden drawing on the wall. This time, it showed a unicorn. In front of it was a drawing of a mirror. Wavy lines around the unicorn's horn and the mirror suggested that some sort of magic had to be used here.

Henry was no unicorn, but he figured it out immediately. “Now you will use your magic, unicorn”, he said sharply to Sweetie Belle. “Use your levitation magic and turn around these mirrors to reflect the beams in a direction that makes it possible to go through here.” He tightened his grip around her chest to enforce his words.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked with concern at their friend.

Sweetie looked at the mirrors. If she would move one mirror, this would just reflect the beams onto another mirror. She had to move only certain mirrors to not make it worse or even impossible to walk to the other side at all. It was a riddle. The little unicorn examined the mirrors carefully. She imagined for several mirrors how she turned them around and which effect this caused for the beams to figure out how she had to do it.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could see how Henry slowly became impatient with Sweetie Belle. He tightened his grip around her once more. “Don't try to buy yourself time. I won't let you go, no matter how long you delay it, and if you don't do it soon I will lose my patience with you.” Enforcing on his words again, he brought the knife a little closer to her throat, putting pressure on it with the dull-edged side.

In fear, Sweetie began to cry and activated her horn. She hadn't figured out the solution yet, but she had to start now. Trying to put all her concentration into using her magic, she turned around one of the mirrors that was near the middle one of the beams. It changed it's direction and the beam was reflected to a mirror under it, which reflected it across the network to a mirror at the other wall.

With sweat on her face, Sweetie moved mirror after mirror. Sometimes she made progress and the beams started to point into a direction in her favor, at other times she made it worse and the arrangement became more complicated again.

The little filly tried out many different combinations and strategies, some of them thanks to tips from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo who helped her figuring it out.

Eventually she found the right one. With every moved mirror, the network of beams started to look less complicated and more predictable. But with every mirror she turned around, Sweetie also felt weaker. The riddle was almost solved and as she turned around the last mirrors, her head began to hurt suddenly. It became a lot harder for her to concentrate and every time she ignored the pain and used her magic once again, her head felt strangely dull for a moment, before the pain returned. She knew what this meant. It was magical over-exertion and Twilight had warned her from it.

The unicorn filly remembered her words well. “No matter what you use your magic for, when you get a headache, you must stop immediately. This state is called 'magical over-exertion' and it happens when your brain is overburdened from keeping the concentration on your magic up. If you continue to use your magic anyway, you will become unconscious or worse. Always stop when your head starts to hurt, otherwise, you bring yourself in danger.” She could hear Twilight saying this to her in her head, but she had no choice than to continue. There were only a few mirrors left now.

She quickened her pace in turning them. As she was about to turn the last mirror, one that was near at the ground, her horn stopped to glow and the magical grip around the mirror vanished. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo who noticed it looked at her friend and saw her collapsing in the arm of the gryphon suddenly. Her legs became limp and were hanging down now and her head fell over.

“Sweetie Belle!”, they exclaimed in shock and ran over to her.

“Stop! Not another step!” Henry pressed the knife with it's dull-edged side against Sweetie's throat again. The other two fillies stopped in their tracks, tears forming in their eyes.

Then Henry turned his attention to Sweetie Belle. She was not dead. He could feel how her chest was rising up and down. She was still breathing, although only very flat.
And of course, he did not care about her condition. He was just one step away from getting through the second trial and thus one step closer at the treasure and he would not give up now!

“Wake up, you brat!”, he yelled in her ears.

Sweetie Belle did not react. He put the knife in his beak for a moment and gave her a strong slap in the face with his now free claw. Sweetie's head yanked around, but the filly still didn't wake up. He reached back for another slap, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo interrupted him.

“Stop! Don't hit her anymore!”, they cried out with desperated expressions, tears streaming down their faces now. “We're going to turn the last mirror around, you don't need her anymore!”

Henry looked surprised at them for a moment, then he put his claw down, took the knife out of his beak and hold it at Sweetie's throat again.

The mirror was exactly in the middle of the room, between the walls. It was in a horizontal position currently, under the last beam and unable to reflect it. This last beam reached to the other wall over the whole width of the room and blocked their way completely, but if they brought the mirror in a vertical position, it would be stopped and reflected back at the wall it came out from.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo trotted up to the mirror. Despite that it was not touched by the beam for a few minutes now, it was still glowing fire-red. They swiped the tears out of their eyes and then the two fillies grabbed the mirror and screamed out in pain immediately as the hot metal buried itself into their hooves. But the worry for their friend drove them and so they clenched their teeth, trying to resist the pain, and pulled at the mirror together, using all their strength, and managed it to turn it around with their combined effort. The beam hit the mirror and was reflected back. Their way was free.

The little earth pony and the little pegasus removed their hooves from the mirror and held them in front of their face. They could clearly see where their hooves had touched the mirror. Their fur was burnt black there and the skin under it showed a white burn wound. Around it, the skin was deep red. And it hurt more than everything they ever felt. They blew on it, but it didn't help.

“Good”, the vile griffon behind them said, still a surprised expression on his face. “It seems your friend means much more to you than I thought. Keep up that attitude and do what I want and you will get her back soon.” He pushed them forward, not paying any attention to the condition of their hooves.

Every step they did felt like torture to them and they were a lot slower than usual, but Henry just ignored their from pain grimaced faces and the tears in their eyes and continued to push them forward mercilessly. With their from tears blurred view, they could see another wall in front of them. No spikes where in it. It was just a flat wall.

As they had stopped in front of it, Scootaloo looked up. The wall did not reach up to the ceiling completely and there was enough room for a pony to stand on. But one thing was different this time. In the gap between the ceiling and the top of the wall were five black clouds. It were storm clouds and occasionally, small bolts flashed out of it.

Henry, still grasping the unconscious Sweetie Belle, walked over to the left wall as he did before. The third drawing showed a pegasus manipulating clouds. It was the last of the trials and it was Scootaloo's turn. Henry pointed at her. “And now you! Fly up there and change these storm clouds into normal clouds and then shove them out of the way!”

Scootaloo twitched. “I-I can't fly”, she said quietly. She looked nervously at him, her eyes now red from the crying earlier.

“Nice try”, Henry answered unimpressed. “But I know that you're lying. You are old enough to fly. Get up there now!”

“But it's true!”, Scootaloo bursted out. “I'm not lying, I really can't fly.....”, she added more quietly again.

“Don't test my patience. I know you can and you will fly up there now and do what I want. Or else.....”

He turned around the knife, the sharp side facing Sweetie's throat now, and pressed it slightly against it, while Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at him in terror. A thin trace of blood ran down her neck, clearly visible in her white coat.

Breaking out in tears once more, Scootaloo did a quick step forward, her face scarred by fear. “But I'm not lying! Really! I'm sorry, but I really can't fly! I never could!”, she bursted out in a tearful voice. Then she collapsed to the floor, her legs giving in, and she buried her face in her hooves, crying unrestrained.

Apple Bloom trotted at her side, bent down to her and put a hoof around her neck, holding her distraught friend. Her eyes were full of tears too, but she tried to maintain her composure. “It's true. Scootaloo was never able to fly. Ah know it. She told me that her wings are weaker than the wings of other pegasi”, she said as calmly as she could.

“It's..... it's a disability”, she said hesitantly after a short pause. Apple Bloom eyed the griffon, looking sternly at him.

He answered her glance with a ice-cold expression. “Fine”, he said coldly. “It's not good for such little fillies like you to be so stubborn. Maybe you'll learn to listen when I make you a duo.”

Scootaloo yanked her head up. “NO!”, she screamed. “Please don't do it! I do everything else you want! But please don't kill our friend!” Her last words were almost swallowed by her sobs.

Henry didn't listen. He held the knife at Sweetie's neck, pressed and moved it towards her throat. Another thin trace of blood was soaking her coat.

“NO! Please let her live!”, Scootaloo cried out desperately, while Apple Bloom watched the scenery, her eyes shrunk from fear and unable to speak from the terror she saw.

Suddenly, Henry stopped. The knife was just a few millimeters away from Sweetie's throat. His face lit up, like he just had a sudden afflatus. A thought had just hit him. “What if it's true? What if she can't fly?, he asked himself.

The greedy archeologist became unsure. If it was true that she couldn't fly and he would kill her friend now, then everything was useless. He could still fly her up if that was the case, but if he killed her friend despite that she said the truth, she probably would be completely unwilling to help him through the last trial then. No. He had to handle this situation differently.

Henry put the knife away from Sweetie's throat and turned it around, so that the dull side pointed at it again now. “Today is your lucky day”, he said. He turned his side to the crying little pegasus. “You climb on my back and I fly you up. And then you will finally do what I demand!”

Scootaloo sobbed and Apple Bloom helped her on her hooves. Assisted by her friend, Scootaloo trotted over to the griffon slowly and climbed on his back.

Henry spread his wings and flew the still crying filly up the wall. As they reached the top, Scootaloo left his back and stepped on the wall. Henry flew down again after having brought her up.

The storm clouds were directly in front of her. Now she needed a happy thought if she wanted to turn them into normal, harmless white clouds. But in her condition, this was easier said than done. She just had to witness one of her two best friends and her very first one, that she knew since she was a much younger filly, getting killed almost. And before Henry flew her up, she saw that more blood was pouring out of Sweetie's neck with the new wound he had brought her and she wasn't sure how dangerous this injury was, which didn't help. But now she had to keep herself together. She had to it for Sweetie Belle. If something should went wrong, Henry would really kill her then.

Scootaloo wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to bring the sobs under control. Just one happy thought. One happy thought would be enough to turn the clouds into normal ones. Scootaloo concentrated herself and thought back to the moment on Winsome Falls, when Rainbow Dash accepted her as her little sister.

At first, she was in fear of dying herself. She was falling down a huge waterfall, without anypony there to help her, but then Rainbow Dash came, catched her in the fall and flew her back on safe ground. Scootaloo already saw her short life flashing in front of her in this moment and brimmed over with joy as her idol and the pony she wished to have not only as a friend, but also her big sister, saved her life. And then it got even better. With Luna's help, she managed it to tell Rainbow Dash her deepest fear and everything she felt for her. And unexpectedly, Rainbow Dash did take her under her wing then. She became her big sister in this moment and her life had become much better since then.

The little pegasus reached out with her hoof slowly, aiming for the cloud.

Feeling a little better, she continued to think on everything she had experienced with Rainbow Dash since then; getting cheered up by her in a moment of need, after Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon picked on her for her disability and her friends abandoned her for a while, how they helped decorating the town for the animal fundraiser together and at the time they spent together at the Equestria Games.

Scootaloo touched the cloud and hold her breath. If it didn't work, not only Sweetie Belle was in danger again, she would probably also die, shocked by a bolt from the storm cloud in front of her.

For a moment, nothing happened, only tiny bolts flashed around her hoof. Then the cloud changed and became white. Scootaloo smiled for the first time since Apple Bloom managed it to let the vines grow. She quickly trotted from cloud to cloud and turned it as long as she could held up the happier mood she brought herself in with thinking on Rainbow Dash. As all the clouds where white, she proceeded to shove them out of the way. Under one of them, a small button appeared. Scootaloo knew what to do and hit it and as earlier with the first wall, the wall she stood on sank down and disappeared in the ground. As it was gone and Scootaloo saw Sweetie Belle again, she held a hoof to her mouth and began to cry again.

Her unicorn friend was an awful sight. Not only that her head was still hanging motionlessly down and that her legs were still limp, as they were the whole time since she lost her consciousness, there was also more blood pouring out of the deeper wound in her neck now. It flowed down her neck and her chest in a thicker stream than before, drenching the beautiful white fur. At some spots, it was even already dried and had took on a brownish color. Apple Bloom had noticed it too and walked at Scootaloo's side, putting a hoof around her shoulders comfortingly again.

The only one who paid no attention to her condition was Henry. Instead, he stared at the end of the room that had appeared in front of him as the wall sank into the ground. His eyes glistened and a greedy expression was in them.

There on a pedestal stood the thing he waited to get so long. A big statue of an Alicorn, wings majestically stretched, standing in a noble pose, one hoof slightly lifted up, her head raised into the air with a proud look in the face. It was almost as big as his head. And the whole body was covered with jewels. They glistened, but even the glistening of all these jewels was no competition for the greedy glimmer in his eyes.

“There you have it. Now you can let Sweetie Belle go”, Scootaloo said with a cracked voice. She would sob again, seeing the terrible condition her friend was in, but she felt weak and couldn't. She had used up all her energy in the breakdown that she had a few minutes ago. The young pegasus just hadn't the strength to sob anymore. Her tears were flowing down her face silently.

“Yes, give us back our friend now!”, Apple Bloom demanded, her voice sounding similar weak.

Henry gave them no answer, his eyes still fixated on the treasure in front of him. But he put down the knife. With his left claw, he carelessly pushed Sweetie Belle aside and then walked up to the pedestal with the treasure.

Scootaloo reached out with her hooves and catched Sweetie before she could fall to the ground. With sorrowful expressions, the two fillies looked at their friend. Scootaloo pressed Sweetie Belle against her, giving her a tight hug. She knew that she couldn't feel it, but it was something she had the urge to do after the terrible things that happened. Her own coat became drenched with Sweetie's blood now.

“Is she..... is she still alive?”, Apple Bloom asked Scootaloo, fear in her voice.

Feeling Sweetie Belle's heartbeart and her flat breathing at her chest, Scootaloo nodded. Then she released her friend. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shared another nod and then Scootaloo lifted Sweetie carefully on Apple Bloom's back. Finally being united with their friend again, the fillies proceeded to leave the ruin.

Making sure that Sweetie Belle wasn't falling from Apple Bloom's back and pressing her hoof on the still bleeding wound in her neck, Scootaloo trotted alongside Apple Bloom as they headed for the exit of the long room and passed the places with the former trials. As they were almost at the gate, Scootaloo saw a shadow flying over them. Henry landed in front of them.

“Not so fast!”, he said threateningly. “I only said I will give you your friend back. Not that I let you three go.”

Scootaloo could feel the fear rising up in her again a little. But what just happened had also made her braver. They had so much to fear in the past minutes and they got out of everything. She would not present Henry with any more fear.

Scootaloo looked at him with a defiant expression. “Just give it a rest, Henry”, she said in a confident voice. “You abused us for your own interests, you hurt one of my friends and you even got the treasure you looked for. What else do you want?”

Scootaloo did not await an answer and neither did Apple Bloom. They just walked past him, without paying him any more attention.

But Henry blocked their way again. He flung his knife in front of them. “If I let you go now, you will went to the police station in town and tell the officers everything that happened. I can't allow this. So I better keep you for a while and as soon as the wound of your unicorn friend has healed I will sell you on the black market, together with the treasure back there. You will bring in a nice, additional amount of money for me.”

But Scootaloo was not impressed. She rolled her eyes. “I don't even care what happens with you. I don't care if you get arrested or not for what you did. I just want to get out of here and bring my friend back home. She needs rest”, she said tiresome.

But Henry did not believe her. “You will come with me”, he just said. “But first, I will take care of it that you won't tell anyone what happened, just in case you should manage to escape.”

He grasped his knife more firmly and grabbed Scootaloo's mouth. The filly began to yank her head around, trying to get free, but his grip was too strong.

“It only hurts once”, he said and proceeded to shove the knife into Scootaloo's mouth. “Don't worry, slaves don't need to talk!”, he said cynically as he had sticked one of his fingers into her mouth and hold her tongue down.

Scootaloo looked into his face, a fearful expression and tears in her eyes once again now.

All of a sudden, his eyes broke and he stopped. A glazed expression was in his eyes and his mouth was wide open.

“Oh, Henry, you loser, you never going to learn it, aren't you?”, a strong, female voice said behind him.

Scootaloo shoved Henry's finger out of her mouth and shook herself free from his grasp.

“G-Gilda?”, Henry muttered.

“I told you that you should stay away from the things that belong to me!”

Another punch followed and then Henry was going down. He collapsed in front of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, his knife sliding out of his claw, and was unconscious.

Gilda picked up his knife and then looked at the three fillies, a smug expression on her face.

“And what do you want from us now?” Scootaloo bared her teeth and looked grim at her.

“From you?”, the female gryphon asked surprised. “I don't want anything from you dweebs. I'm only here for the treasure.” With these words, she packed the knife into one of her bags and walked past them to get the treasure, paying them no more attention.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked cluelessly at each other. Then they shrugged and trotted out of the gate, heading for the tunnel and the exit. They were safe now and all they cared for was that it was over finally.

Now they had to bring Sweetie Belle to a doctor. As they had left the ruins, the sudden sunlight blinded them. They headed back into the town and to the marketplace – accompanied by curious eyes of gryphons who wondered where they came from so suddenly and why one of them was hurt – and as they had arrived there, they asked their way to the town's hospital.

Of all gryphons they asked, it was surprisingly the rude owner of the food stall, who denied them to get something to eat from him as they were so hungry, who explained them the way to the hospital and even led them to it as he saw the state in which Sweetie Belle was.

As they had arrived there, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom bursted through the door. “Our friend needs help!”, they shouted over to the reception counter together.

~*~

An hour later, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat in front of a bed in one of the patient rooms. Sweetie Belle was lying in it. Her eyes were closed and a thick bandage was around her neck. Her filly scout uniform lied on a chair beside the bed.

Luckily, her injuries weren't as bad as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom feared. The wound in her neck was just bleeding as strong as it was to expect from a wound as deep as that and not life-threatening. The biggest concern of the doctor was raised as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom told him how Sweetie Belle used her magic before she fell unconscious. The doctor was a gryphon, of course, but he was familiar with magical over-exertion. He explained the two fillies how dangerous it was and this made them fear for their friend. But thankfully, it turned out that Sweetie Belle passed out before the worst could happen as the doctor examined her. Her brain had not taken any damage. A few days rest, he told them, and she would be fit again.

The doctor also took care of their burns. He rubbed a cooling gel on their wounds and wrapped them in bandages. Since they had to wait so long before they could treat the wound, scars would remain, but aside from that the wounds should heal fine, he said to them. Their coat at these spots would also grow back.

Now they sat here, in front of Sweetie Belle's bed, with the bandages on their hooves and waited for her to wake up.

As she finally opened her eyes, she looked around confusedly. “Where am I?”, she asked.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo jumped up from their chairs happily, as she was finally awake again.

“Apple Bloom? Scootaloo?”, she asked even more surprised as she saw them. And seeing her bandage contributed even more to her surprise.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo reached into her bed and hugged their friend. Relieved that she was really okay, tears of joy streamed down their faces.

Then they began to explain. They told her everything that happened; her fainting, how they passed the second trial without her, how she got the wound on her neck, how they passed the last trial, how Henry attacked them again after he had access to the treasure and how they were saved in the last moment. As Sweetie heard how much she was bleeding out of her neck she felt even glad that she passed out during the second trial.

Later on, some officers from the police station in the town came into the hospital, called by the doctor. The fillies told him everything that happened and gave him a description of Henry. But the police couldn't find him, as they should find out the next day. They broke open the door of his house and where in the ruin, but couldn't find a trace, neither of him, nor of Gilda. And the archeological faculty never heard of an archeologist with the name Henry. His whereabouts remained a mystery.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo spent the night in the hospital with Sweetie Belle and on the next day, Fluttershy and Discord came to pick them up. It turned out that the time machine did indeed broke again and Discord needed a whole day to fix it. Fluttershy told them how much worried he was about them, even more so than her, and that he stayed up the whole night to fix it. He even returned remorsefully to the real owner of the time machine to get help for repairing it, which brought him into a lot of trouble with this pony. The Crusaders were amazed by it how much Discord cared about them.

And of course, what Henry told them wasn't the truth. Fluttershy and Discord weren't here on the day before and Henry had never spoke to them. It was all just a lie to lure them into security and to make them following him into the ruin.

What was true, however, was what he told them about the black market, as they found out by the police. There was indeed a black market for ponies in the Gryphon Kingdom and disappearing ponies was a huge problem the police and the monarchy tried to get under control unsuccessfully so far, because the ones behind the black market were organized too well and understood it perfectly to cover their tracks.

After the doctor had checked a last time on Sweetie Belle, he agreed to let her go and return to Ponyville, under the condition that she would take care of herself and staying in bed for at least three days longer and that she would not use magic for two weeks.

Then they returned together to the marketplace where everything began, Fluttershy carrying Sweetie Belle on her back. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo entered the time machine first, eagerly to finally leave this ghastly country that got them into so much problems, closely followed by Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle and Discord.

As they could catch a last peek out of the time machine before Discord closed the door behind them, they could see the owner of the food stall that brought them to the hospital. Smilingly, they waved at him. The gryphon waved back and then Discord closed the door.

He started the time machine and a few seconds later, it disappeared from the market place in the white light and they returned to Ponyville together.

Day 26: Derpy's Day: The Morning

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06:00 AM.

Like on every day at this time, Derpy's alarm was abruptly ending her sleep. The grey pegasus mare opened her eyes and reached out to the alarm clock to switch it off.
She stretched out her hooves and groaned comfortably. Her sleep was good and relaxing and she felt well-rested.

Suddenly, she could hear tiny hoofsteps galloping over the floor out in the corridor in front of her bedroom. She looked over to the door. Dinky appeared on the doorstep. The little filly ran up to her and made a dive into her bed. She climbed on top of her mom and, lying on her chest, she gave her a gentle nuzzle. “Good morning, mommy!”, she said. “How did you sleep?”

Derpy returned the nuzzle. “I slept very good, thank you, Dinky!”, she answered in her slightly clunky voice. She ruffled the unicorn filly's mane and Dinky beamed at her. “Now let's get up and eat breakfast!”, she said then.

Dinky nodded and with a dart, she jumped off of her and galloped outside and down the stairs.

Derpy smiled. Then she wriggled herself out of the blue covers and followed her energetic daughter. As she trotted out in the corridor, Sparkler went out of her room. Her mane was ruffled and Derpy could see on her face that she was still tired. Sparkler yawned like she wanted to confirm her thought.

“Good Morning, Sparkler!”, Derpy greeted her.

“Morning.....”, Sparkler answered tiredly. Then she disappeared in the bathroom.

Despite her tired look, Derpy did not ask her if she hadn't slept well. She was her daughter and she knew how much Sparkler hated it to get up so early to get to school. But she needed to catch her train to Canterlot at seven and so she had no other choice. Derpy smiled as she walked downstairs. The young mom was proud of it that her oldest daughter visited the School for Gifted Unicorns of Princess Celestia in Canterlot.

The stairs creaked slightly as she leisurely went down. At the bottom, she turned right and went through the door into the kitchen.

Dinky sat at the table already, cheerfully humming a song and kicking her legs around. Derpy trotted past the table and up to the oven at the wall opposite of the door. She lifted off the tea kettle from the hotplate and filled it with fresh water in the kitchen sink, then she put it back on the hotplate and turned it on to boil water for tea.
As she reached up to the cupboards, Dinky slid down from her chair and trotted over at her side. “Can I help you with something, mommy?”, the filly asked.

“Sure! Can you get the muffins out of the fridge and bring them to the table?”

“Consider it done!”, Dinky answered happily and enforced her words with a playful salute and a determined expression. Then she dashed away for the fridge.

Derpy reached up to the cupboard over the kitchen sink again and pulled out three tea cups. Dinky trotted past her, balancing a plate of freshly-baked hazelnut muffins in her mouth. After she had taken out all the cups, she opened the drawer and took out three spoons, then Derpy placed everything on her back to carry it to the kitchen table.
As she put the last cup onto her back, she accidentally released it too early and dropped it. It shattered with a clank on the floor. Derpy groaned and rolled her eyes, which looked funny because due to her crossed eyes, one of them moved up and the other one moved down.

Shattered cups were a thing that often happened in their household due to Derpy's clumsyness. She should have been used to it by now, but buying so many new cups every new month also hurt Derpy's wallet quite a bit and the income as mailmare was not exactly generous. Especially with two daughters to care of.

Dinky had put the plate with the muffins on the table in the meanwhile and returned back to Derpy, as she heard how the cup shattered on the floor. She giggled a little, as she saw the reaction of Derpy's eyes. While Derpy carried the remaining two cups over to the table, Dinky activated her magic and levitated the pieces of the cup in the bin in the corner. Then she climbed on the kitchen unit, opened the upper cupboard and lifted out another cup to replace the broken one. She jumped down the unit again and carried the cup to the table where she placed it at the only seat that hadn't a cup in front of it yet.

As Derpy noticed it, she gave her another ruffle through her mane. “Thank you, Dinky”, she said.

The two heard a groan aside from them suddenly and looked at the door.

Sparkler was entering the kitchen. Her mane looked better now, improved by her visit in the bathroom. It was tidy now and not sticking out in all directions anymore.
But Sparkler still looked tired. She put a hoof to her mouth again and let out a long-stretched yawn, before she sat down at the table, opposite from Dinky, who had taken seat as well again in the meanwhile. As she noticed Dinky at the table, she smiled. “Morning, little sis”, she said.

“Good Morning, Sparkler!” Dinky answered her smile.

“I hope you have slept well”, Sparkler added, an ironic tone in her voice.

Dinky just nodded and smiled even brighter. And Sparkler was not surprised. It was always like this, every morning. Dinky had not the slightest problem to get up so early, despite that she wasn't going to bed any sooner than her. How Dinky got together all this energy to be so active in the morning was a mystery to her. She yawned again and Dinky giggled.

In the meanwhile, Derpy had returned to the kitchen unit and continued to prepare their breakfast. As the teakettle hissed, indicating that the water was ready, she filled it into a teapot, that already had some teabags hanging in it. Now she was almost done. She pulled out a sugar bowl and filled some of the sweet, white mass into it, then she carried the teapot with the hot steaming tea and the sugar bowl to the table, without dropping anything this time. Carefully, she placed everything in the middle of the table and took seat on her own at Dinky's side. Then the small family began to eat.

One after another filled their cup with the delicious fruit tea and added some sugar into it. They took a sip and then reached for the muffins on the plate. Derpy was the first one, of course, then Dinky and Sparkler grabbed one muffin each. She had baked the muffins just yesterday and they turned out as tasty as always. If there was one thing Derpy was really good at, then it was baking muffins. Despite her clumsyness, she had never ruined a single muffin as far as Sparkler and Dinky knew.

While eating, they talked about their plans for the day.

As they had finished their breakfast and ate all the muffins, of which Derpy ate the most, they put the dishes into the sink and prepared to leave. Dinky and Sparkler hurried back into their rooms to pack their things for school and Derpy went into her room to put on her mailmare uniform and to get her saddlebag for the many letters and packages she would have to deliver today.

As she had to leave earlier than Dinky, Sparkler was finished before Dinky. Her school bag on her back, she went out in the corridor and entered Dinky's room. The little unicorn was still busy with getting the things she needed for school from her desk and to pack them in her own school bag.

“I have to go now, little sister.” Sparkler approached her. She gave her sister a hug and then proceeded into Derpy's room. Another warm hug later, she went downstairs, opened the entrance door and was on her way to the train station.

Having put on her uniform and snatched her saddle bag, Derpy left her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Then she trotted into the direction of Dinky's room. “Are you ready, Dinky? We need to go now!”, she called her little daughter.

“Just a moment!”, it came as answer.

Derpy heard hasty rummaging from her room for some seconds and then Dinky trotted out of her room, carefully closing the door behind her as Derpy just did. She went over to her mom.

“Let's go!”, she said and before Derpy could reply, she was already galloping downstairs. Derpy followed her slowly.

“Mom, what's taking you so long? Come one!”, the active, little filly asked impatiently after she had reached the entrance door of their house. It was like she wanted to make up for it that she needed so long in her room.

As opposed to Dinky, Derpy trotted down the stairs calmly. “Don't worry, we have still enough time”, she said as she had catched up with her.

Dinky turned round at the spot and opened the door. She happily jumped outside and down the few stairs in front of the door. Derpy followed her slowly and shut the door behind her, then they made their way.

It was six fifty-five now and school was starting for Dinky exactly at seven fifteen and so they had plenty of time to get there.

Their first stop was the post office. As usual, Derpy used the opportunity to get the letters and packages with their delivery she was assigned. Since the town was Derpy's workplace, in the most literal sense, she accompanied her little daughter to school every day and on the way there, she already began with her work to save a little time. She was not the only mailpony in Ponyville. Even though it was just a little town compared to cities like Canterlot or Manehattan, it was too big for one pony to handle it alone.
The local post office had segmented the town in several districts and depending on the routing, the district she had to deliver was a different one every day.

Today she was lucky. The district she got assigned today reached partially into their daily way to the Ponyville school house. It were just a few houses of the district that lied on the way, but that was enough to shorten her work time a little on this day.

Not that Derpy was slow in delivering the mail. That she was a pegasus made the job a lot easier than for her colleagues who were earth ponies or unicorns. Unicorns had the advantage to be able to levitate the letters into the mailboxes, but being able to fly was still the faster way to get the job done, as Derpy could just fly over the houses, fences and other obstacles, instead of having to take the long route through the streets. But sometimes, Derpy lost the mail on the way and had to go back to search for it to not lose her job. She was skilled in doing this, as she was used to it that these things happened, but it was still taking more time and so it was useful for her that she could save some time this way.

After they had picked up the letters and packages, they continued their way to the school. They stopped by at a few houses where Derpy put the letters into the mailboxes, assisted by Dinky, who opened and closed them for her with her magic.

Finally, they arrived at the school. The bell had not rung yet, but a lot of fillies and colts were already moving into the building, while laughing and chattering with their friends. Dinky turned around to Derpy and they shared a hug before they had to split up. “Bye, mommy!”

“Goodbye Dinky, see you later!”, Derpy answered and then they released each other and Dinky galloped up to the entrance of the school. She turned around a last time and waved at her mom and then she disappeared in the building.

Having waved back at Dinky, Derpy trotted away from the schoolhouse. Now her work day really began.

After a few steps, she took off into the sky. Some letters fell out of her saddle bags already and she darted back to the ground, put them back into her bag, an embarrassed smile flashing over her face as she noticed that some fillies had seen it, and launched again.

Day 27: The Path of Food

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Rarity was in her room and busy with sewing. As most of the time, she was creating dresses. It was her passion and there was nothing else that brought her so much fun like this. And it was not just her hobby, she relied on it, because she also did it for a living. Designing clothes and dresses was vital and essential for her life. It was important. And the dresses she created right now were even more important.

It was a whole new collection she designed for the upcoming gala in Canterlot. No, not the Grand Galloping Gala. This gala was different.

Canterlot was a very festive city. Galas were a trademark of the mountain city. Almost every month, two or three different galas were held. There were galas for carpenters, architects, artists; for every sort of craft guild, profession or business that existed in Equestria. There were even galas for animals! Many ponies from all of Equestria came to this galas, which made it possible for the organizers of them to earn a lot of money. Galas were a business on his own. The gala Rarity prepared dresses for now was a gala for cooks and chefs.

Since she had made herself a name as fashion designer in the last few years, many cooks who planned to attend this gala approached her and ordered dresses for them to wear there. And since they were cooks and chefs, they wanted to have dresses that looked like things to eat: Cupcakes, pies, hayburgers, daisy sandwiches..... Even dresses that looked like horseshoe fries or noodles! And a lot more. It was a strange order and dresses that looked like food were awfully impractical to wear. It was something Rarity would never do at will. But an order was an order and she got a lot of money for this one. And so she was sitting there, creating designs and sewing dresses for everyone of the thirty costumers that ordered at her, week after week. It was a strenous job, but it needed to get done. And she had almost finished everything.

Right now she stitched down the seams for the last dress. It looked like a giant donut and it was a mystery for Rarity how it should be comfortable to wear it for the mare that ordered it. She did her best to make it practical, while sticking to the design wishes, but she wasn't successful completely. It won't be easy to wear it a whole evening long.

Rarity hummed a tune while she pulled the dress through her sewing machine and carefully stitched the seams. In her thoughts, she was already at another place. With the money she would get for the dresses, she planned to make a trip to Horseshoe Bay. Just lying on the beach, enjoying the sun and a good Pony Colada. She would need such a trip to relax after finishing the giant, and unusual, order. Rarity grinned in anticipation. And then she was done. The last dress was finished!

With a relieved sigh, she took it out of the machine and trotted down the stairs to her boutique. The small room was brim-full with clothes horses. All of them except one were adorned with the strange dresses she made over the last weeks. Rarity went to the last clothes horse that was without a dress. Carefully, she put the dress on the horse with her magic and made sure that it couldn't slide down. Then she made a few steps back and looked a last time at the dress. It looked good. Not great or marvelous, and especially not fabulous, but she fulfilled the wish of the customer who ordered it and created a perfect looking donut from fabric. It was not one of her favourite works, but she was happy about the result nonetheless. Properly fulfilling a costumers' request was her job, after all, and she handled that job greatly. Now she only needed to wait until tomorrow when the costumers came to pick up their dresses. She could finally rest.

The exhausted fashionista got back up the stairs and into her room. She shut the door behind her and retreated into her bed. A little reading and then a nap was the exact right thing now. Grabbing her favourite book, “50 Shades of Hay”, from her nightstand, she snuggled back into the soft pillow and, a satisfied grin on her face, she began to read. And Rarity was not the only one who was satisfied.

Far, far away, on a planet called “Gaia” in a different universe, a universe whose existence Rarity was not aware of, a member of a race called “Qu” with the name “Quina Quen” was satisfied too because he had just gobbled up a monster he was fighting against with his comrades. It was a red amphibian creature, not unlike the frogs he loved so much, just bigger and with spikes on the back.

It was his way to learn new techniques. His comrades weakened a monster and when it was almost killed and too weak enough to defend itself from his attempt to eat it, he swallowed it and gulped it down in one go and then he learned a new spell for his blue magic. Though, as useful as that was, Quina did not really care about that aspect. He only cared about eating and how the monsters tasted, because perfecting what her master called “The Art of Eating” was his only goal and the only reason why he joined these travelers.

But this time it was different anyway. Instead of learning a new technique after eating the monster, the air flickered and a blue portal appeared where the monster just stood. A tempting flavor came through the portal and rose up into his nostrils. Quina sniffed. There was definitely food behind this portal and he had to find out what it was.

Quina trudged over to the portal, his steps letting the ground shake under him, and sniffed again. “Quina? You don't wanna go through there for real, right? We don't know what's behind it”, one of her comrades warned her.

Quina turned round and nodded eagerly. “Of course, Zidane! Tasty food behind portal. Must eat it to master art of eating!”

“But we're in a hurry. Burmecia can't wait”, he continued to try to dissuade Quina.

But the Qu had already went through the portal and it was closing behind him. Zidane hung his head.

After Quina had stepped through the portal, he found himself at a completely different place. The colors around him were brighter and he was surrounded by creatures he had never seen. They were walking on four legs and long hair was flowing down their necks. They even had a long and hairy tail. Some of them had wings or a horn attached to their head. And their bodies were all colorful.

Quina looked around. There were white ones, blue ones, yellow ones, purple ones; four-legged creatures in all colors Quina could imagine. And with the food-oriented mindset he had, the colors reminded him of course on food. “Are creatures edible?”, he thought.

Quina began to walk around in the place he was now, which seemed to be a little town, and curiously observed the creatures around him, trying to figure out how they tasted. The glances he got by the creatures were not any less curious and many eyed him sceptical, but Quina only paid attention to their colours.

A small, yellow one of the four-legged creatures, with red hair, rushed past him, an orange one with wings and a white one with a horn following it, both of them as small as the creature at the top. “Yellow one maybe tastes like pineapples. And hair like ketchup. Orange one like apricots. And white one marshmallows”, he said, saliva dropping from his giant tongue and landing on his blue napkin that was tied around his fat neck. But before he could grab them to try out how they taste, they were already past him and with all his weight, he wouldn't have been fast enough to follow them, so he decided against it. Which was not bad for him, because another one of these creatures had already piqued his interest. It was purple and unlike most of the creatures it had wings and a horn.

Hungrily and eager to try out how this creature tasted, he trudged over to it. The expression in the face of the creature was disbelief, but the creature seemed to be friendly. “Hello. Who are you? Or..... WHAT are you?” it said.

Quina was surprised as he heard the creature talking. He thought of these creatures as simple animals, but now it was clear that they were more than that. In this case, he probably couldn't eat them. But his appetite got the best of him and he just couldn't hold himself back. He grabbed the creature and encompassed it's back with his hands. The creature protested as he lifted it up to her mouth, but it's words became muffled as he put it in his mouth and swallowed it down as a whole, accompanied by shocked glances of the other creatures.

He rubbed his stomach. “Does not taste like grapes. But delicious anyway”, he said. Then he bent forward, sniffing and deciding which of the creatures he should taste next. But all of a sudden, his stomach began to glow purple. A purple flash appeared in front of him and suddenly, the creature he had just swallowed stood in front of him again. Quina was surprised and did not understand how the creature could leave his stomach again, in a different way than the usual one and still in one piece and perfectly in shape, but he was not angry. “Could taste anyway.” He shrugged.

“What was that all about? Why were you trying to eat me?!”, the purple creature asked agitatedly.

“Art of eating”, Quina answered taut. “Must eat everything.” Then he proceeded in his task and lifted up one of the other creatures around him, a blue one this time. It flailed around in panic, screaming for help. The purple creature's horn glowed suddenly and a moment later, the blue creature was warped out Quina's hands in a purple flash. It ran away in panic, still screaming.

Then the horned and winged creature in front of Quina aimed it's horn at him and a purple ray shot out of it and hit his massive body. But it was just reflected by the giant mass his stomach was and almost hit the creature in front of him. It tried it a few times more, but it was useless. “Ok, everypony, run!”, the creature shouted across the place. “There's an enemy here who tries to eat ponies. Get into your houses and lock yourselves there and don't come out before I have found a way to defeat it!” Then it chased away. And the other creatures followed it's example. In a matter of seconds, all of them run away screaming. They entered the houses around and soon, it was completely empty around Quina.

Disappointedly, the Qu hung his head. “Now all tasty creatures gone”, he said sadly. But his appetite was strong enough to not let him give up. He became determined again quickly. He just had to enter the houses to get his prey then. And he had already decided which house he would enter first. It lied directly in front of him, just a few meters away. It caught his attention, because it looked different than the houses around it. It was round and very colorful. Over the entrance door a picture of the creatures he saw was painted on and higher up, the building transitioned into a narrow tower. Here he would start. He plodded up to it eagerly.

As Rarity was at the most exciting part of her book, a loud crash sounded at her ears. It came from downstairs, from her boutique. Worried, she put her book aside and got out of her bed and down the stairs. What she saw there was desaster. The door of her boutique was smashed in and lied, broken into two pieces, aside from the entrance. Even the wall around it was damaged, so big was the impact. “W-What could have done this?”, the mare exclaimed terrified. And that was just the beginning of the horror for her. Right from her, she could hear a loud nom-nom-nom.

As she looked aside to find the source of the sound, she saw a big, blue-skinned, obese creature, whose sight let Rarity grimace in disgust. It walked on two legs, his body was covered by a wide cloth and it had a chef's hat on it's head. The worst thing was that the strange creature was busy with eating her dresses she worked hard on creating so many weeks! “Y-You!”, Rarity cried out hysterically. “Get away from my dresses! They aren't to eat! I need them for my costumers!”

The obese figure turned around to her. “But must eat! Doesn't taste like food, but looks like food. Must be important for master art of eating.” Then it turned around again and continued it's nefarious deed. Three of the dresses were already gobbled up by it and it proceeded to the fourth now.

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “Only over my dead body! I won't allow anyone to eat dresses, no matter if they look like food or not!”

The unicorn mare galloped up to the hungry creature. “Get away from my creations, you overweight monster, or you are going to regret it!” With these words she turned around and started to buck the back of the chowhound, that was destroying her work, with her hindlegs. But it was unsuccessful. Bucking after bucking she threw at the creature, but it did not budge. It didn't even seem to feel the bucks. Another three dresses had disappeared in the mouth of the greedy creature by now. “Stop it finally!” Rarity bucked harder and harder. “Stay away from my dresses and eat something else!”

Surprisingly, this did work. It turned around to Rarity and nodded. “Right. Must try out you. Must know if you taste like marshmallows! That's why came here.”

“W-What?”, the fashionista mare asked flabbergasted.

It grabbed Rarity and hold it to it's mouth. Rarity began to struggle in fear. “No! Let me go immediately! Don't dare to put me into your filthy mouth!” The creature did not listen. Instead, she lifted the long tongue that was hanging out of it's mouth and slid it over Rarity's coat. “Ewwww!” Rarity grimaced and shuddered, almost fainting from what the creature did.

“Not taste like marshmallows! But still delicious! Going to eat you!”

“No!”, Rarity cried out again. She bucked at the stomach of the obese thing behind her, but it was useless again.

The creature had almost put Rarity into it's mouth, as Twilight appeared in the door suddenly. “Hold still!”, she called over to the fashionista who was wriggling around in the fat hands to get free. Her horn ignited, the creature became engulfed by the purple glow and then it disappeared. Rarity fell hard to the ground.

Before the Qu realized what happened, he found himself back where he came from again, his comrades sitting on the ground in front of him, apparently having waited for his return. Quina hung his head in disappointment. “Could not eat everything. Many missed chances”, he said.

Zidane rose up from his sitting position. “Good, now that lunchtime is over, we can finally go on!”

The comrades decamped and continued their way to the endangered kingdom, with Quina walking sadly at the end of the group.

And once again, this feeling was shared by someone else in another universe. Except that Rarity was not just sad, but desperated. After Twilight had helped her on her hooves, she looked for her dresses and found them destroyed. All of them. The creature had not only swallowed six of them, it also had taken out bites of all the others! Now she would have to make them all anew, but she had only time until the next day! This was too much for the hard-working fashionista.

She fainted and fell unconscious.

Day 28: The Art Of Making Ponies Smile (A Tribute to Pinkie Pie's Smile Song)

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It was morning in Ponyville. The sun had just risen and Pinkie Pie was about to make her daily morning walk. As she wanted to head out of the door of Sugarcube Corner, she saw a cow that was heading towards the entrance.

Pinkie stuck her head out of the door to greet her, which startled the cow a little, because she hadn't seen the hyperactive mare coming. “Morning, Daisy Jo! You here to pick up some cookies to go with your milk?”, she welcomed her.

“Oh ya, Pinkie, don't cha know?”, Daisy Jo answered, happy to see the cheerful mare.

Pinkie jumped on her, slid over her back and her tail and landed behind her. “Well, Mrs. Cake just baked a fresh batch of your favorite oatmeal”, she said before she trotted away jolly.

Daisy Jo looked after her. “Mooo, sounds delightful!”, she joyfully exclaimed then.

Smiling, Pinkie began her way through the town. She came across a flower stall that was built up by Rose and full of lilies. As Pinkie noticed the stall, she looked admiringly at the flowers. “Oh, Rose, your Calla lilies look even better than last year! I bet you'll take first prize at the flower show again.”

“Thanks, Pinkie!”, Rose answered flattered, a broad grin on her face. “Would you like one?”

“Absolutely!”, Pinkie answered energetically. Rose lifted up one of the flowers with her mouth and threw it in Pinkie's direction, where it got caught by the pink mare, with her mouth as well.

Pinkie continued her way and chomped on the flower, then she did a happy jump in the air and threw her backhooves together with a loud clonk. It was a beautiful day and Pinkie Pie felt like the happiest mare in Ponyville, which was a feeling that she wanted to share with everypony she would meet today.

An old stallion from the Ponyville retirement home came into her direction. “Looking fit as a fiddle, Mr. Waddle, and you're wearing my favorite tie!”, she said charmingly and winked at him with her right eye.

“Aw, shucks, Miss Pinkie, you flatterer you”, he answered, his cheeks turning red.

A satisfying smile on her face, she bounced past him on her hooves. She looked back at him and then she saw Cheerilee who was on her way to the schoolhouse. Pinkie stopped for a moment. “Well, happy birthday, Cheerilee”, she congratulated her.

“Thank you, Pinkie.” Cheerilee emphasized on “you” as she answered. Pinkie Pie remembered her birthday every time, she had not forgotten it once since she came to Ponyville, and this made her happy every year anew.

As Pinkie had continued her way and was barely past Cheerilee, Zecora came her way. “Happy day-after-your-birthday, Zecora!”, the pink mare said while she continued to bounce happily.

“What a lovely hi, Miss Pinkie Pie!” As always, Zecora's answer was a perfect rhyme.

After Zecora had went past her, she looked to the left because Mathilda stood there. “And Miss Matilda, happy birthday to you.....”, she congratulated her as she did with Cheerilee seconds earlier. But unlike the teacher, the female donkey just gave her a confused and weird glance. “.....in one hundred and thirty two days!”, Pinkie finished her sentence, slightly embarrassed as she realized that she ended her sentence too late.

“Pinkie Pie! How do you remember everything about everypony?”, Mathilda asked her astounded.

“'Cause everypony's my friend and I love to see my friends smile!”, she answered cheerfully while bouncing ahead and finished her sentence with a wide grin.

Then she made her way further through the street. Twinkleshine went past her and Pinkie waved at her. “Hello!” Twinkleshine smiled back at her. A few steps ahead, she saw Bon Bon heading in the same direction she just came from. She gave her a wave too. “How ya doin'?”, she asked for her mood, earning a happy smile by the mare as she went past her.

After another few steps Pinkie Pie stopped her happy bouncing because she had noticed something in front of her.

Apple Cobbler lied on a beach chair in the front yard of her house. She held a sun reflector with her hooves and was apparently trying to catch the rays of the early morning sun for a quick sun bath. But she did not look happy. The mare moved around her sun reflector and desperately tried to find the right angle to catch the sunlight, but it was useless. A tree was behind her that blocked the light of the sun. It was only a very small tree, his trunk was thin and his crown not nearly as big as the crown of other trees, but it was enough to rob her off of the sunlight she needed. Pinkie could see that Apple Cobbler slowly lost her patience. On her face were already signs to be seen that she would get angry soon. Which was of course something that Pinkie wouldn't let happen.

She trotted ahead and quickened her speed to a fast gallop and then she jumped on the tree as she was only a meters away. His thin and flexible trunk bent down under her weight, so wide that his crown almost touched the ground, and he gave way for the sunlight.

A confused look appeared on Apple Cobbler's face as the shadow on her body suddenly vanished and she turned around. Noticing Pinkie on the tree, she smiled and then they shared a grin. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie!”, she said relieved. “Without you, I couldn't have a sunbath today!”

“Oh, that's nothing!”, Pinkie Pie answered modestly. “I just saw that you will get angry soon and I don't want anypony to be angry, especially not on such a beautiful day!”

And Pinkie's good deed for the sun-hungry mare did not end here. She had nothing to fixate the tree on the ground and so she just stayed until Apple Cobbler had finished her sunbath half an hour later. An overwhelming thank-you by Apple Cobbler, who almost couldn't believe it that Pinkie really waited the whole thirty minutes, later, Pinkie Pie continued her walk through Ponyville.

Her next destination was the schoolhouse. It was part of her daily routine to went there before Cheerilee began with her first lesson. She just loved it to play with the fillies and colts there, on the school's playground, before the bell rung! And since she waited so long to assist Apple Cobbler in her sunbath, it was already time to go there if she wanted to be there soon enough to get some playtime with the foals. She trotted on and after some meters, she turned into the street that led to the schoolhouse.

In some distance, a yellow filly, with a slightly darker yellow mane and tail, and a blue filly, whose mane and tail where a mix of a lighter blue and white, sat in front of a building. Both of them seemed to be gloomy because of something. As Pinkie came closer to them she could see that the blue one had turned her back at the yellow fillly, a disappointed and cold expression on her face. The yellow filly looked over to her sadly, her glance clearly full of regret over something. The two of them looked like they just had a serious dispute going on between them.

“Hi, Noi and Bloo!”, Pinkie cheered happily over to the two fillies as she had reached them. “What's up?”, she asked then. But the fillies gave her no answer. She sneaked past them and suddenly appeared between them, motivated to cheer them up. “Howdy!”, she bursted out. But the fillies still didn't answer. They just looked sceptically and sad at her. The usual thing did not seem to work this time. There was something big that troubled the fillies. But Pinkie did never give up so easily.

“Doesn't matter”, the happy pink mare said confidently. “I will cheer you up my friends, 'cause that's why I'm here!” She grabbed the two fillies and dragged them behind her as she went for an archway in a wall some meters ahead. A long staircase with a stone balustrade, that had a very smooth surface, was leading down behind it and so Pinkie knew exactly what she had to do. One ofter another, first Bloo, then Noi, she threw the sad foals through the archway, causing shocked reactions of them. Then she darted out of the archway behind them and catched them with her back before they could fall down on the hard stairs. She jumped on the balustrade, turned round and slid down on it backwards. And that was the right thing to make Bloo and Noi a little happier. They threw their hooves into the air and cheered like the happy little fillies they usually were. A naughty expression in her eyes, she looked back at them and watched how they cheered. She felt happy that her tactic to make ponies happy had success once again.

Briefly before they reached the end of the balustrade, she jumped off of it with the fillies on her back and landed on a cart that was filled with hay. It was harnessed to Big Mac. The stallion turned around surprised as he felt the sudden eruption in his cart and looked confused at Pinkie and the two fillies who just landed on it. But after seeing Pinkie with them, he quickly realized what was going on and his face changed to a determined expression. It was not the first time that something like this happened and so he knew what this was all about. It was just Pinkie cheering up some sad foals again. Wanting to contribute something to cheer up the fillies on his own now, he threw his hooves into the air in a spectacular way and then he dashed ahead in full speed.

On their way through the town in the cart, they were seen by Cherry Berry, Berry Pinch and Cotton Cloudy. Berry Pinch, who had just come to Cotton Cloudy's house to catch her up and to went with her friend to school, looked happy and a little jealously after them. Getting transported to school in this way was something they would have liked too. And Cherry Berry was not any less fascinated. Inspired by Pinkie's cheerfulness, her face turned into a big grin as she looked after the cart.

Noticing that Noi and Bloo still smiled happily, Pinkie turned round to use the opportunity to talk with them and to solve the problem they had with each other. Otherwise, they would just getting sad again soon, Pinkie knew.

“So, why were you so sad earlier? What happened?”, she asked the two little fillies.

As they heard this question, their ears dropped immediately again. And Bloo gave no answer. Instead, she crossed her hooves and turned away from Noi again.

Noi sighed sadly. “It was all just because of that discussion we had on the way to school. Miss Cheerilee gave us a difficult homework yesterday. I couldn't solve it. But Bloo said she had found the solution and explained it to me after we met to go to school together. We talked a while about it, because I couldn't believe that her solution was the right one. And then.....” The yellow filly stopped.

“And then?”, Pinkie repeated her words.

“Then..... I got angry suddenly and called her an..... an..... an idiotic girl.....” Noi's voice became quieter with every word, the last two words of her sentence nothing more than a silent whisper. “And now she doesn't want to talk to me anymore.....” The yellow filly closed her eyes. Some tears rolled over her cheeks.

“She's right, that wasn't very nice from you. But why don't you apologize to her? She is your best friend, I'm sure she forgives you!”

The eyes of the filly shot open again. “But I already did!”, she bursted out. “First, I just went on after I said that to her. She wasn't following me and I wondered about that, so I turned around. I saw that she had stopped and then that she cried a little. She sat down then and was too sad to continue our way to school. I was so sorry as I saw that. I apologized for saying this, but Bloo didn't answer. I tried it a few times more, but she just ignored me. Then I sat down at her side, because I didn't wanted to go without her. And that was shortly before you found us.” Noi lowered her eyes and looked sad down on the hay. “She doesn't forgive me”, she said, her voice full of sadness.

“Hmm, I guess you hurt her feelings very much then.....”, Pinkie said thoughtfully, a hoof on her chin. “But she can't always be mad with you. You're best friends”, she pointed out after having put her hoof down again.

“Not anymore!”, it came from Bloo suddenly.

Noi looked at her, her eyes full of tears now. “But Bloo..... We are best friends.....”, she said in her tear-filled voice and put a hoof on the shoulder of her friend, who was still turning her back at her.

But Bloo was shaking it off. “Don't touch me, I am not your friend anymore!”

After getting rejected like this, Noi broke out in tears completely.

Pinkie looked at the scenery and realized that there must be more behind the conflict that was between them. “Why have you even said that?”, she asked the crying little filly. “You don't wanted to insult here, right?”

Noi shook her head slowly. “No, I'm not.” The filly sniffled. “But I felt so stupid after I heard that Bloo had found the right answer.”

The ears of Bloo pricked up suddenly.

“Why stupid?”, Pinkie Pie asked. Noi rubbed with a hoof over her nose and sniffled again.

“Bloo always solves the hard tasks. But I never do..... And as she told me today that she had again found a solution for something, I just couldn't hear it anymore, so I doubted it and started to argue against her. And as she defended her solution and explained it over and over again, I got so angry that I just snapped at her..... But I didn't wanted to. I just feel always so useless when Bloo solves something that I can't.....” The filly continued to cry silently, as she had stopped explaining her reaction.

Pinkie wanted to talk to Bloo about it, but then she noticed that she don't needed to anymore.

Now it was Bloo who hung her head sadly. Slowly, she turned around to face Noi again. She looked down for a moment, but then she reached out to her and gently stroke with a hoof over the mane of her crying friend. “Noi.....”, she began. “Please don't cry anymore. I forgive you.”

Noi looked up at her, her eyes red from crying. “You do?”, she asked her unbelievingly.

“Mhm. I didn't know that you always felt like this. I'm sorry. I don't wanted to make you feel stupid.....” Bloo felt guilty too now.

Noi looked for a moment at her friend, without saying something. Then she approached her all of a sudden and hugged her. “I'm sorry”, she said under tears. “I don't wanted to hurt you.”

Bloo put her hooves on the back of her friend comfortingly. “I know. And I don't wanted to make you feel so bad about it that you couldn't solve our homework.” Even Bloo broke out in tears now.

The fillies just sat there in this position, crying for a minute, then they released each other and dried their tears.

“Are we friends again?”, Noi asked, a shy smile on her face.

“We were always friends!”, Bloo assured her.

The fillies looked at each other with adorable smiles and then shared a happy laugh.

Pinkie Pie, who watched the whole scene silently, smiled too. Bringing two friends together again was really the best way to spread happiness.

Big McIntosh stopped the cart suddenly. The mare and the two fillies looked down and saw that they were at the schoolhouse. Having listened to their conversation, Big Mac had decided to bring them directly to school. Happy about being reunited as friends, the blue and the yellow filly jumped down the cart and headed towards the other fillies who already occupied the playground of the school.

A lot of fillies and colts were there already, including Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. It was still half an hour before the first lesson began and so enough time for Pinkie to play with the foals a little before school began. She jumped off the cart too and Big Mac left, finally heading back to the farm now.

As Pinkie approached the playing foals, she saw that Berry Pinch and Cotton Cloudy, who were so fascinated about them getting transported on the cart a short time earlier, were there too. The eyes of the foals lit up brightly as they saw their familiar playmate. Every time Pinkie Pie was there to play with them, it was even more fun as when they just played with each other, so she was always welcome amidst them.

Two fillies approached Pinkie as soon as they saw here. “Hi, Piña Colada and Tornado Bolt!”, she greeted the two fillies.

“Good Morning, Pinkie!”, they chimed out together.

“Do you want to play rope skipping with us?”, Piña Colada asked her.

“Well, d'uh! You know that I love this game!”, Pinkie stated the obvious. “How could I say no?”

The fillies grinned and excitedly, they enrolled the rope and hold it at the ends. As Pinkie Pie was in position, they began to swing the rope. Only slightly first, but they swung it stronger slowly. That was no problem for Pinkie Pie. She played rope skipping since she was just a little filly and always unbeaten in it. The fillies around her watched her fascinatedly as she jumped over the rope that Piña Colada and Tornado Bolt swung for her.

“I want to jump with you too!”, Scootaloo bursted out suddenly. Carefully she approached the swinging rope and began to jump together with Pinkie.

“Awesome!”, Pinkie commented on it that Scootaloo joined her.

A moment later, Dinky followed Scootaloo's example.

“Rock on!”, Pinkie said enthusiastically to the little unicorn.

After the two fillies had joined her, Pinkie stretched out her hooves and pulled Tornado Bolt and Piña Colada closer to them, making them join in into the fun. The five of them were jumping together now and laughed happily over the fun they had. The rope just moved by itself to make that possible, which was strange, but the fillies did not think about it. They knew Pinkie and were used to it that things like that happened when she was around. Pinkie had so much fun that she would have loved it to gather around even more foals to jump over the rope, but unfortunately, their rope only allowed for five ponies to jump together.

After jumping a while with the fillies, Pinkie Pie noticed that Apple Bloom was leaving the group of fillies who were watching them. She left the four fillies and looked after her surprised.

In some distance, Apple Bloom sat down on the ground, a rope in her hoof, and looked sadly back to the rope skipping fillies. Pinkie Pie followed her to see what was wrong. Depressed, Apple Bloom threw the end of the rope that she was holding away after she saw Pinkie hurrying over to her.

“Hey, what is it? Don't you want to play with us too?”, Pinkie asked her concerned.

“Ah would like to play rope skipping with you”, the filly said in a resignated voice. “But ah can't. Ah was never good at it. Ah always trip over the rope at the first try.....” She hung her head and closed her eyes sadly. All of a sudden, she felt lifted up into the air. A small scream escaped her mouth. She looked down surprised and found herself sitting on Pinkie's head suddenly. The rope was in Pinkie's hooves now and she jumped over it while she let Apple Bloom sit on her head, giving her the feeling how it was to do successful rope jumps. “Wow, ya'll a stunner, Pinkie!”, she burst out happily now. Then she closed her eyes and enjoyed what Pinkie did for her, a satisfied and happy smile on her face, while the other fillies watched them fascinatedly again.

In that way, Pinkie Pie continued to play with the foals until the ringing of the school bell marked the beginning of the first lesson for them today. Before she left, Apple Bloom thanked her for cheering her up with a crushing hug. “Thanks!”, she said. “Ya really know how to make ponies happy!”

“Aww, shucks,” the pink earth pony answered. “I just want to see my friends happy, that's nothing special!”

They released their hug. “There is a pony that could really need it right now”, Apple Bloom said then.

“Oh, yeah? Who is it?”, Pinkie answered curiously.

“It's mah sister. She has to paint a wall of the barn today, because the old paint has already crumbled away. But she really hates doing that. She's in a bad mood since she got up today, because she has to do that.”

“That really doesn't sound good, but I'll take care of this!”, Pinkie exclaimed happily. She stroked the mane of Applejack's little sister and said goodbye to her and the other foals, then she bounced away into the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

And she arrived there exactly at the right moment. Applejack had just begun with painting the wall, as Pinkie came to her. “Hi, Applejack!”, she greeted her friend.

“Mornin', Pinkie”, Applejack replied moody, while she brushed the red paint on the wall. With a sigh, Applejack looked up the wall at all the surface she had to brush the paint on before she was finished.

Pinkie Pie followed her glance and since she came to make Applejack happy again, she took the paintbrush out of the bucket with the yellow paint and set herself to work. And if she was already at it to help Applejack painting the barn wall, why not drawing something cheerful instead of just boring red color? These were her thoughts and she put them into operation.

In a tempo that only Pinkie Pie could reach she painted the wall for Applejack and even drew a picture of herself and a laughing sun on it to cheer her up even more.

And it worked. She looked down at Applejack, the paintbrush still in her mouth, and Applejack answered her glance with a happy and thankful smile. Having finished her work, Pinkie jumped down the ladder and put the paintbrush she had used last back into the bucket.

“Thanks, Pinkie! Sometimes ah wouldn't know what to do without ya!”, she exclaimed, enthusiastically over Pinkie's masterly performance. Pinkie wasn't replying anything and just grinned broadly at the farm mare. “How about ah invite ya to breakfast in town for helpin' me?”, Applejack asked her then.

“Oh, no, that's not necessary!”, Pinkie chimed gleefully. “I just wanted to make you happy 'cause Apple Bloom told me about it how unhappy you were about having to paint the barn when I was at the schoolhouse earlier. That you're happy again is enough thanks for me!”

“Ah see”, Applejack answered. “But what if inviting ya would make me even more happy?”

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin and thought about the question for a moment. “Well, I guess saying no, even when it would make you happy so much, would make you unhappy again probably, so.....” She put down her hoof again. “.....let's go!”, she finished her sentence. Not waiting for an answer, Pinkie bounced ahead, back to Ponyville.

Applejack chuckled and then she followed her back to the town.

NaPoWriMo 2014: A Compilation of Pony Tales

by Fluttercheer

Day 1: Back from the Grave

Day 2: Tears and Apologies

Day 3: Haunting for Two -Part 1-

Day 4: Haunting for Two -Part 2-

Day 5: Cuddly Cloudwatching

Day 6: How to Polish an Opal

Day 7: The Pond Fairy and the Golden Helmet

Day 8: Celestia sits drunk in a bar

Day 9: Just a Sunny Day

Day 10: The Dragon of the Whitetail Woods -Part 1-

Day 11: Some Chances Never Come Back

Day 12: The Dragon of the Whitetail Woods -Part 2-

Day 13: Spike's Hearts and Hooves Day Surprise

Day 14: Chasing Away The Nightmares

Day 15: Fluttershy's First Day in Ponyville

Day 16: Fillies 'n the Hood

Day 17: Justice and Revenge

Day 18: The Future She Was Not Supposed To Know

Day 19: Something is following you

Day 20: Woodpecker Day

Day 21: Ya Packed The Bug Spray? or How Applejack Met A Moth

Day 22: Berry Punch Origins

Day 23: For The Queen

Day 24: A Good Cold

Day 25: In a Distant Land

Day 26: Derpy's Day: The Morning

Day 27: The Path of Food

Day 28: The Art Of Making Ponies Smile (A Tribute to Pinkie Pie's Smile Song)