Just the Beginning part 1

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Earth Ponies
Where do I start with Earth ponies? They’re my kin, my race, and what I know most about, well compared to Pegasi and Unicorns at least. Earth pony magic is kind of like a series of complicated living/evolving enchants that’s etched in our body’s. It’s similar to Pegasi but where their magic only affects non-biological things around them, Earth pony magic only affects themselves and other living things. How shall I go about describing the more prevalent Earth pony ‘magics?’ I guess I will go in order from my brief description from the previous page.
Strength
Earth pony ‘magic’ doesn’t merely give the appearance of strength that Pegasi magic does. Our magic passively strengthens our entire body. When we train our muscles, we become stronger than any other race I know of, well… except full grown dragons. Included in strength is endurance, which is being able to run for a long time and not get tired, and heightened senses which should be pretty self explanatory. Earth ponies were once very capable of surviving pretty much any environment, with few extreme exceptions. That changed when we ‘lost’ most of our life force. We’re only slightly stronger than Pegasi and Unicorns now.
Healing
Our ability to heal ourselves and others is perhaps one the most notable things we lost. Several perished to diseases as we were now susceptible to them. Luckily the Unicorns and Pegasi had cures for them already, and that saved many lives. Our ability to heal is not an automatic process. It requires an honest vision. I can’t think of any other way to describe it, but without it any attempts to heal oneself or others will be pointless. We weren’t able to grow limbs back but we could accomplish some great feats. It’s a shame we ‘lost’ this, so many lives could be saved.
Plant Growth
Although healing others and ourselves is pretty up there in importance so was our ability to grow plants. Sure we didn’t lose it completely like we lost our healing, but we did lose a significant amount of that ability. We only grow food somewhat better and faster than the Pegasi and Unicorns. What once took one day to grow a large field of wheat with ten earth ponies now takes about two weeks. This is the closest we came to anything resembling Unicorn magic. That’s the ability to grow plants at will, and to the mind's eye. Life was ours to command. Now we can only do it passively. Our culture, housing, and tactics changed dramatically with the reduction of this one ability.
General
Earth ponies used to live in pony made ‘forest’ for a lack of a better word. The trees were large enough to fit a family and then some. We had an effective defence with flowers that would constantly pollute the air with an disorientating pollen. We were immune to its effects. We also had flowers that would illuminate the night, I miss those flowers. We had to abandon our world tree during The Great Migration, as even it couldn’t save us from what we now know as a magically induced winter ‘more like ice age’ fueled by several strong negative emotions perpetrated by Windigos.
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The Ponyville library was closed today, even though by all rights it should be open. Anypony coming by to browse the selections of books would surely be disappointed to see a sign on the door stating, ‘Sorry we are Closed! Important Princess business!’ Below that sign was another one that read ‘Contact Spike if you need anything, he’ll be around.’ Inside, Twilight Sparkle sat next to a podium scribbling down the last of her notes. This is after rechecking her translation for the third time. Her hair was rough and ragged. “Finally,” she tiredly said.

It wasn’t long ago her unofficial student Sweetie Belle was sent to the hospital from a manticore attack. She felt so hopeless. She didn’t even want to know what Rarity felt like. All she could do was wait and act strong for everypony else. She felt relieved and grateful that Sweetie made a miraculous recovery thanks to Applebloom, her other unofficial student. Growing up and learning everything she could about magic, she knew that shouldn’t have been possible. Healing magic was a pipe dream researchers fruitlessly tried to accomplish for hundreds of years, it was simply too complicated a matter. Yet, Applebloom who’s not even a unicorn managed to do it. She knew where to get answers, and that’s what she'd just did. Translating that journal was anything but fun. Puddinghead, the creator of said journal, didn’t use proper Old Equestrian. Proper Old Equestrian was confusing enough, but Puddinghead ignored some rules and that just made it a headache and a half for somepony like Twilight to deal with.

So Twilight sat there, satisfied with her accomplishment. She almost wanted to go to sleep but couldn’t. She had sent Spike out to retrieve Applebloom for her, and they should be here any minute. She needed to inform Applebloom about what she discovered. It’s important. She just got done making notes and copies to send to Celestia while waiting on them. She still couldn’t get over the fact that Applebloom and her friends literally fell into what she is now convinced is one of pony kinds biggest cover-ups. She regretted her decision to not continue translating the blue journal that lay before her. Applebloom could have used the information within to heal Sweetie sooner; then again, maybe not, as ‘honest vision’ is a little too vague and cryptic for her liking. Instead she chose to begin the process of making the CMC into her official students. The idea of teaching her own students like Celestia taught her gave her a nice nostalgic feeling. She wasn’t looking forward to translating more of the journal tomorrow, but this is something she knew she had to get done.

With a click, the door opened with Spike and Applebloom walking in, “I’m back!” yelled Spike.

“Spike good timing, I just got done making a copy for Prin…” Twilight froze mid sentence, most of her lifetime spent calling her mentor Princess was a hard habit to kick, “for Celestia,” her horn lit up along with a scroll that began to float towards Spike, “could you send this to her?”

“I wouldn’t be your number one assistant if I didn’t,” Spike answered taking the scroll. He let loose some fire from his mouth and the scroll seemingly burnt up and the ashes were whisked away together in an nonexistent wind.

“Thanks,” Twilight said.

“It’s what I do,” he said happily, “speaking of that, I’m gonna get a snack either of you want anything?” Both Applebloom and Twilight answered with a no, “Suit yourselves,” he said as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Twilight brought her attention to her guest. She noticed Appleblooms bow tie still had splotches of darker color making it look kind of off, she got up close to get a better look at it, “Applebloom I’m glad you came by. I have something important I need to share with you. Regarding the journal you and your friends found in the cave.”

Applebloom was looking at her slightly concerned for some reason, even leaning away, “Um okay, so what’s this about?” Twilight didn’t realize her unkempt hair might have reminded Applebloom of a certain incident.

Twilight blinked, after noticing Appleblooms odd behavior, and backed up opting to say nothing about the stained bow tie, “I translated what Puddinghead wrote about Earth ponies. One second…” Twilight quickly levitated her notes to her, “Alright. So if my theory still holds true then you can do some pretty amazing things now,” she said excitedly, “So according to Puddinghead the ability known as ‘Strength’ encompassed everything from well strength, to your visual, olfactory, auditory, gustatory, and tactile perceptions, also to your endurance…” Applebloom looked at Twilight slightly puzzled, “um right, your eyesight, smelling, hearing, tasting, and how you feel things,” Applebloom made the ‘oh’ face of understanding, “Basically meaning you’re Applebloom 2.0 if you’ll forgive the science fiction comparison.”

Applebloom hopped in place, “Endurance, huh? Well, now that Ah think about it, Ah haven’t felt exhausted in while,” Applebloom placed a hoof on her chin, “Well not since Ah blacked out thanks to that big ball of magic, and when you had me carry that boulder for a while. Ah guess Ah have noticed some things like that with my senses but Ah never thought about it.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right if my theory is correct,” Twilight paused and looked Applebloom in the eye and changed her tone to a more serious one, “Applebloom I have a question I want to ask you, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but I think it’s important,” as she walked closer to Applebloom. Puddinghead’s description of how healing magic worked for earth ponies wasn’t one Twilight would leave alone. The best way she could think to get a clear answer from Applebloom is by not giving her a chance to think about possibilities. The sooner the better.

Applebloom now more relaxed didn’t think much of it, “Alright shoot.”

“Applebloom what were…” Twilight sighed, she didn’t like this but it had to be done. She looked Applebloom softly in the eyes, “Sorry, but what were you thinking about when you healed Sweetie?”

Applebloom closed her eyes and brought a hoof to her stained bow tie. Twilight made a note of the action. Applebloom brought her hoof back down and opened her eyes, “Ah-Ah was thinking about how Ah was about to lose one of my best friends, and how Ah acted like nothing that serious was happening. Twilight when Ah felt her hoof, Ah knew…” she blinked a couple times, “Ah knew she was going to no longer be with us,” Twilight quickly embraced Applebloom with one of her wings, “it was so cold, Ah’ve never felt so scared in my life.”

“Why’s that?” Twilight asked. She knew Applebloom had been through many scary dangerous situations before.

“That, that’s something Ah need to talk to Applejack about,” Applebloom hugged Twilight back “Thanks Twilight,” and they separated.

Twilight was curious about what Applebloom meant, but didn’t think it her place to do so, “No, thank you. I know it’s a tough subject, and I didn’t tell you why it was important. So let me tell you now. According to Puddinghead healing is something that requires ‘honest vision’ so whatever you felt or realization you came to while holding Sweeties hoof allowed you to…” Twilight felt shock, she had no reason to doubt Appleblooms senses yet, not to mention what the doctor practically told her at the time. Saying it outloud was like a blunt blow to the head, “t-to save her.”

“but Ah don’t know how Ah did it,” Applebloom looked down, “Ah wasn’t even trying. Ah was too distraught to think about it. Ah just… Ah just don’t know.”

“It’s okay Applebloom, we can always figure it out later,” Twilight said softly trying ignore the numbness of what she has no reason to doubt.

“Yeah, later,” Applebloom said harshly.

This brought Twilight back to the moment, she didn’t want to dwell on what could have been,

“Anyways,” Twilight exclaimed, “That leaves us with one more thing to discuss.”

Applebloom perked up, “What’s that?”

“Plant growth, or at least that’s what it translates to. According to Puddingheads journal your ability to grow plants is similar to Unicorn magic,” Twilight stated.

“how so?” Applebloom questioned.

“Well it requires you to actively think about what you want it to do. Take levitation for example,” Twilight levitated a quill in front of them.

“What about it?” Applebloom said pointing at the quill.

“It requires me to be calm and focused. I’m sure you’ve seen me levitate several objects at once right?” Applebloom nodded and Twilight continued, “well there’s no way I can possibly keep track of all those things,” Twilight smirked, “for example when some fillies piled up a bunch of books and I had to reorganize the entire library,” Applebloom pouted, “well all I’d have to do is look around and remember the basics of my surroundings and it kind of just follows what I vision in my mind's eye. Depending on what I’m levitating or… You know what? I got a better idea, Applebloom how’d you make that impressive Appletree yesterday? That was really nice by the way”

“Thanks,” Applebloom put a hoof to her chin, “Well... Ah first thought about a full grown apple tree which isn’t too hard when surrounded by apple trees, then just hit the ground next to it with my hooves while yelling at it to grow in my thoughts and it just pops up like that.”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, “have you ever tried to make a tree or flower look odd or unique?”

“No, Ah don’t think ah have. Just tried to make it what it should be like, or simple thought it to grow if Ah had no clue what it was…” she trailed off, “now that Ah think about it when we visited Zecora, before the incident... Ah showed off my ability to her. Ah mean Ah asked her for a seed to grow and Ah had no clue what it was but I grew it just fine anyways,” Applebloom responded.

Twilight levitated a pot and sunflower seed over to them. She planned on growing it at the libraries entrance to make it more welcoming. Even though she closed the library down to get these translations done, it was at most for a couple days. She made sure Applebloom didn’t see the seed and buried it in the soil of the pot, then placed it on the floor. She knew Applebloom would recognize what kind of seed it was and that would ruin her experiment, “hmm that’s interesting, Oh Well,” said nonchalantly, “Anyways, I think you got that part down. Speaking of which I was planning on growing a cactus for the entrance of the library in this pot to make it more welcoming,” Applebloom looked at her oddly, “you think you could grow it for me?”

“Certainly!...” Applebloom beamed, then looked at the rather small pot questionly, “Umm, isn’t that a little small for a cactus?”

“Oh, not at all,” Twilight waved her hoof in a dispelling manner, “this is one of those small cacti that’re round and have nice pink flowers on them,”

“Ohhh,” Applebloom said in understanding, “one of those. Yeah Ah can see that looking good at the entrance. So where’s the seed?” Applebloom questioned.

“I already planted it, I was hoping you could speed along the process,” Twilight smiled sheepishly.

“Alright then, here goes nothing.” Applebloom brought down her on the edge of the dirt within, with a ‘thud’ as the pot hit the floor it was already resting on. Almost instantly, a small plant sprouted up and bloated into a small round shape well within the confines of the pot. White spikes popped up around it like fine hair, and some leaves that clearly didn’t belong sprouted out on the sides, while a rather large yellow flower sporting a brown center bloomed on top almost covering the whole thing. “Wha… Ah’m sorry Twilight, Ah don’t know-” Applebloom began to say but Twilight interrupted by holding up her hoof.

“Applebloom it’s okay, I actually lied to you,” she said with an apologetic smile, “Sorry. It’s true I planned on using that plant for the entrance of the library, but I told you it was a cactus seed when actually it was a sunflower seed, and now it’s whatever that is,” Twilight said pointing to it.

Applebloom looked back down at the odd sunflower cactus hybrid, “Oh, Ah get it, that was clever,” she said smiling.

“Thanks,” Twilight slowly brought her hoof to one of the plants ‘spikes.’ She felt a little pain and retracted her hoof to find several little hairs piercing her hoof. She levitated them out intrigued that Appleblooms change wasn’t purely as superficial as looks, “well whatever you did to it, affected it quite a bit. Well I guess that’s all I got for now. We will try and figure out that healing ability of yours, I promise you that, but I still got to translate what Puddinghead said about Pegasi and Unicorns so we know what might have changed with your friends.”

Applebloom sighed, “Alright Twilight Ah’ll see ya’ll later then, thank you for helping us out,” and left for the door waving goodbye before leaving. Twilight now left alone noticed the absence of a certain assistant of hers. She walked to the kitchen door and opened it to a mess with Spike at the epicenter, distracted with a runaway mixer. Spike yelling at it as he gave chase. She quickly yet quietly closed the door and walked away like she saw nothing, and went back to work with the translation. One headache was more important than the other and she wasn’t about to deal with both.

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Applebloom
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As Applebloom made her way home from Twilights she couldn’t help but think. So many things had happened recently, life changing things. First, the reason why she visited Twilight. She fell down a cave and in the process gained magic and ‘life force,’ as Puddinghead called it in his journal, which gave her some neat abilities. She was beginning to think Scootaloo might have been on to something when she said they gained ‘super powers,’ now that she looks back on everything. She can grow an apple tree almost instantly, no normal pony can do that. Unless they used alchemy, which she still wants learn about. Next, she brings her friends with her to visit Zecora when they asked. Nothing life changing about that right? Well, not until Applebloom got a first row seat to watch Sweetie get mortally wounded by a manticore on the way back. She felt guilty about that, even though she knew no pony was to blame, she couldn’t help but think she could’ve said no to them, and it wouldn’t have happened. Then, while at the hospital she discovered she’s been deluding herself in a false belief, even though she had plenty of reasons to believe it. She believed that life was always going to turn out good. That karma or something traded her parents for a guarantee that things would always work out. Now she knew the truth. She didn’t feel safe, she felt anything but safe. She couldn’t help but worry. So many things happened that could have ended horribly to say the least, she use to foolishly assume that was an impossibility. Then she learned Scootaloo’s an orphan and has been living in their clubhouse. That shattered any tethers she had to her belief, because she tried to argue with herself that things did turn out alright. That Sweetie is healthy and alive, and they all gained superpowers. She so badly wanted to keep believing that lie, even after she decided to keep Sweeties blood stains on the bow tie her parents gave her before they passed away as her ultimate rejection of that belief. She was happy to learn Scootaloo had help from Pinkie Pie of all ponies, but if there ever was such a trade Scootaloo wouldn’t have that problem. She’s been trying to keep it together and stay positive, but it was hard. She needed to talk to Applejack, her meeting with Twilight made that clear. She just couldn’t find the courage to do it.

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In a vast desert like landscape where the sun beared-down relentlessly during the day and the night brought only limited comfort from the heat before it got too cold to enjoy. The land was mostly flat but had enough canyons, gullies, ravines, buttes, mesas, and hoodoos that it could be considered otherwise. The layers of color from the outcroppings varied from a red like dried blood, a white like ashen bone, a rough yellow like sandpaper, and a sunburned orange. The ground itself is a flaky tan as if it was made of dying skin festering in the heat of the sun. This is the badlands. There aren't many creatures that inhabit the Badlands, and the ones that do give the creatures of the Everfree Forest a run for their money, like the tree sized, venomous battle snake, the rabid diamond prairie dogs, and so much more. Ponies, griffons, and even minotaurs gave up trying to settle there long ago, but there was however a race that could settle there, and did. The changelings had lived there for nearly twelve thousand years, always on the brink of extinction via starvation. They tried to be forthcoming and explain their situation when they first came to be, but there were complications with some unhinged changelings and they got hunted down as a result. Queen Chrysalis the current ruler of the changelings lived during those days when they were hunted down like monsters, she was too young to remember much; only that she was hungry and her mother did her best. They escaped their way to the badlands and settled in a vast natural cave system, fending off wildlife best they could. Their only source of food was from the surrounding nations. Their survival hinged on their anonymity, for they fed off emotions. They expanded it as time went on but their population never got too big.

Nearly one year ago the changelings took a heavy blow that only got worse as time went on. Queen Chrysalis had a plan to take down Canterlot and with it the rest of Equestria would have fallen, guaranteeing a rich food source. She failed and lost a decent amount of her changelings that participated in the attack. They didn’t die during the invasion nor from the harsh landing when they were flung out of Canterlot at high speeds by a shield spell, but by the weakened state the spell left them in and the inhospitable place they were unfortunate to land in. The resulting backlash from Equestria and neighboring nations made it very difficult to collect their food source, as they were no longer anonymous. Chrysalis did have food stored up for just such an event but she never thought it would come and didn’t have enough. Several young changelings were made orphans from the failed conquest. One of the orphans was from Chrysalis’s second in command Sword Mimic and his mate Glass Reflection. Outside of what other species may think, changelings in fact could feel the full range of emotions and Chrysalis was no exception. She took her failure to secure a permanent food source for her kind to heart. She took full responsibility and her first action when she made it back and confirmed who all was lost was to adopt her second in commands daughter Mirror Edge. Fortunately, there were some small towns that word about her kind had not spread to. They were able keep a steady stream of food coming their way. It wasn’t nearly enough however and a huge number of them really were going to starve to death in the next four to six months unless something changed. Chrysalis herself was still recovering from her landing. She spared the love she gained from Shining Armor to those who needed a boost after the landing, it was a sacrifice she would gladly make again. It was a sacrifice because she easily could have used that love to heal herself, a unique changeling trait, but that would have undermined everything she has tried to accomplish for her kind.

Mirror Edge was not a fan of Chrysalis. Not by a long shot. The same could be said for most of the hive. The only reason she wasn’t immediately dethroned and exiled was because they all believed in the invasion as well. Everyling knew it was a fluke that sent things into the horrible spiral that they’re currently living. Now Mirror sat next Chrysalis as she did her best to manage the aftermath.

“I don’t care if your son doesn’t have energy to run. Be glad he can still walk. NEXT!” Chrysalis shouted from her throne. There was a long line of Changelings lined up to complain about the lack of food all day everyday for the last year. In a way, it was her ultimate punishment to be reminded of her failure on a daily bases and watch her kind slowly wither away.

Mirror at this point was use to Chrysalis handing out rejection after rejection. It was still hard for Mirror to watch them all get turned away, "Why?" Mirror asked after the last petitioner left and they were alone. Her voice was a little harsh but mostly mellow and sweet.

"Why, what?" Chrysalis responded in an irritated growl. Mirror grew use to Chrysalis's barbed responses over the last year. This was pretty tame compared to when she first came under her care.

"Why can't you go out and get food for the hive yourself?" Mirror had been wondering this for a while. She found it odd that Chrysalis would personally see to the invasion last year, but let her subjects try to deal with the aftermath.

"I can't," Chrysalis responded sharply.

"Why not?" Mirror asked again ignoring Chrysalis's hostile sounding voice.

Chysalis sighed, she has been doing this a lot lately, "I need to keep things coordinated, and orderly at times like these and I can't do that if I'm also gathering food. Is there anything else you want to know?"

Mirror considered if she wanted to know more. She was left with a devastating reality for someling her age last time she pushed Chrysalis for answers. At the time, she wanted Chrysalis to accept at least one of the petitions made to her; after having had enough and witnessing a particularly emotional petition. Chrysalis kicked everyling out and explained in all the nasty details about how screwed they are. Even so, she still felt Chrysalis should have accepted one or two request a month. Instead Chrysalis only accepted those of dire need. There were not many of those, as everyling knew to go to their equivalent of a hospital if things truly got bad. "No," Mirror responded almost instantly and left for her room, so she could prepare.

Mirror never truly got over the death of her parents and wanted to blame Chrysalis but she knew full well they completely supported the invasion. She couldn’t bring herself to blame the Equestrians for defending themselves regardless of how badly she hated them. She became a princess when she got adopted but that was more a title than anything. The only reason she attended court now was because she wanted to be one of the first to hear good news that would solve their situation. It never came in the capacity that they needed, A small town here or there was good but not nearly enough. They lost their ability to harvest from major cities thanks to heightened security.

Tonight Mirror has plans to run away and harvest some love for herself to share to her fellow changelings. If she were to have informed nearly any adult changeling about this they could have asked questions that she would have not thought of. She didn’t however, and continued with her plans. First she would get saddle bags and supplies she thought she would need for the trip and then leave during the night. She knew being princess was only a title because of technicality, Chrysalis made that plenty clear, but she might have let it get to her head a little that she was given a responsibility that she needed to live up to. She was well aware that if she told anyling about her plans, they would've made sure she didn’t go anywhere, because she’s too young or some other such nonsense. So with a little creative distraction to the guards outside the entrance she made her way out into the night, headed towards the one direction she knew would have food.

Just the Beginning part 2

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Pegasi
Pegasi like my dear friend and ally Commander Hurricane ‘lost’ more than half their abilities. As I briefly mentioned in the earth ponies section, Pegasi magic only affects the non living things around them. What I left out about Pegasi until this point however is their ability to create. It was their equivalent to unicorn magic, like plant growth was to earth ponies. I’ll go more on that later, first I do believe I mentioned some other things.
Ground Magic
I’ve asked several Pegasi to describe ground magic to me, because all I knew it did, was make them look really strong when it’s just their ground magic. Anyways, they told me a couple things about it. First is that it’s both passive and temperamental in the same way air magic is. Second is that they can control it like wings except it’s one giant wing of surprises.

...

Thirdly they didn’t like how it helped create the watermelon I was unkind enough to live through.

...

What I’m referring to there is how special unicorns used their magic to make it as though pegasi seeded off the unicorn branch of The Celestial Counsel by making several of their signature dart attacks, in which two pegasi send a spit from below right into their opponent, and leaving them as ‘evidence.’ That’s enough about that for now.

“...What am I reading? This can’t be right,” Twilight muttered to herself, as she looked at her translation so far. She knows Puddinghead to be eccentric in some capacity, but that just doesn’t sound right. This would be so much easier if he just used the proper Old Equestrian. Now she has to hunt down what a word could mean in all context, which isn’t easy because the author of ‘Old Equestrian Translation Guide’ failed to make a proper word translation index and instead focused on a proper grammar index, which scattered the words all over the freaking place. For example, the word for ‘book’ is also the word for ‘pick,’ and some others. The word's actual meaning depends on some words, symbols, or sometimes both before or after it. Well the ‘clever’ author of ‘Old Equestrian Translation Guide’ put all those words/symbols in index and then paired them with the words as opposed to the words then the related symbols, which really made the book much larger than it has any right being. At least, Twilight is slowly but surely becoming more familiar with what a word could mean in all context, as she had no choice but to do so. She sighed, got up and went for a cup of coffee, this was gonna be anything but fun.

She opened the kitchen door to Spike, looking at her sheepishly wearing a dirty apron, standing next to a fresh bucket of soapy water with a wet sponge in hand. She completely forgot about that, fortunately, the clean half of the kitchen included the stove. She gave Spike a reassuring smile and nod, well she hopes it was reassuring. With her telekinesis she filled up her teakettle, placed it on the stovetop, turned it on, got out a teacup, some ground coffee and filters then swiftly left the kitchen. If she didn’t hear the high whistle of the teakettle when it was done, then she was sure Spike would be kind enough to get it for her.

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“Not my cumulus,” Scootaloo said, as she took out a piece of plastic shaped like a cloud from a board and replaced it with two red dots. She only had one pegasus on the board and there were plenty of red dots revealing to her that her chances of survival were slim. Directly in front of her on a wheelchair sat her sister Rainbow Dash, who’s currently recovering from magic depletion.

“B5,” Rainbow said, unknowingly missing Scootaloos last piece by one number.

After two years of lying, Scootaloo was able to keep calm and not reveal in any capacity how relieved she was, “Miss,” now it was her turn to strike back. Rainbow still had a pegasus and cumulus on the field, and she’s had her eye on a clear spot surrounded by red dots, “D4.”

Rainbow raised up her hooves in fake frustration, smiling, “ahh, you got my pegasus.” Rainbow hasn’t had this much fun with this game in a while.

Scootaloo smiled, victory is hers if she can just guess which of the few remaining clear spots had that cumulus, “I’m about to win this,” she said confidently, “A3.”

“Miss,” Rainbow responded back, a sadistically playful smile on her lips, “Well, well, well it seems that the tables have turned! B,” Rainbow said stopping briefly, Scootaloo might be good at lying, but panic made her forget about that, and gave Rainbow an important signal that she was at least on the right track, “3,” she finished.

“Miss,” Scootaloo said calmly, quickly recovering. Deciding to forgo any banter until she actually won, she noticed a line of three empty spots all by their lonesome, “D2,” she said shooting at the middle.

Rainbows smile disappeared, “you got one hit on my cumulus.”

Scootaloo pumped her hoof in the air, “you’re going down.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow smiled wickedly, “Well is it C2 or E2? You better choose carefully.”

Scootaloo knew that smile, she had to get this right, “C… no, E… ehh.”

“It’s okay take all the time you need. You have a chance to win this for once ahahaha,” Rainbow mocked.

“C2?” Scootaloo questioned, after having been unable to decide.

“Aww, so close but no dice. Not that I’m complaining though. I get to remain the champ! B4,” Rainbow said, confident in her gut instincts.

“You got my pegasus,” Scootaloo said defeatedly and sighed, “and I was so close that time to.”

Rainbow got up from her wheelchair and walked around to Scootaloo and gently embraced her with a wing, “Hey sis, you’re getting better at it. Heck, that was the closest I ever came to losing, and I’ve had some close games,” she finished, roughing Scootaloos already shaggy hair.

Scootaloo giggled, “I already won, because I have the coolest big sister in the whole world,” Scootaloo said leaning into a proud Rainbow. Scootaloo has been through an emotional rollercoaster for the last week. The perfect foalhood she spent two years building began crumbling to pieces before her eyes. It wasn’t long ago, Scootaloo couldn’t and wouldn’t call Rainbow her sister, though she still felt it and badly wanted to believe it. So badly in fact, that when Rainbow confronted her about it, saying they were basically just good friends, she cried. Once alone of course. Then she tried to fly. She still doesn’t know what happened, but she’s terrified of her wings now, which didn’t help her out when she thought about Rainbow, which was hard to not do. She felt like if she wasn’t wanted by Rainbow before, then why would Rainbow want to be her sister now that she’s scared of her own wings? She felt her lowest when she thought she was gonna lose Sweetie. She’s been lying to her friends, and to not be able to tell them the truth, it was just too much. Then everything changed in a few days. Rainbow became her sister, though she had some reservations until she knew it to be true. Applebloom saved Sweetie, and then they both forgave her for lying to them since she knew them. She’s never been more happy in her young life.

Rainbow used to think she’d have to wait until she found a special somepony before she could have anything resembling an actual family. Scootaloo proved her wrong though, and revealed just how much pain Rainbow had bottled up when it came to that issue. Instead of opening that bottle, Scootaloo took it and threw it in a deep chasm, never to be seen again. Scootaloo is her little sister, and she now has a family. She was an orphan growing up, and only got adopted once. It wasn’t the best experience, suddenly having ‘parents’ push her to accomplish another sonic rainboom to the point beyond exhaustion. She’s actually recovering from that state right now, but for far better reasons. It was only days ago that Scootaloo cried her heart out to her, because one of Scootaloos best friends Sweetie was injured severely. She couldn’t stand to see Scootaloo like that, after all the support she’s received and time they spent together, it just broke her heart. She helped out the only way she could, and that was to get blood from Trottingham for Sweetie as fast as possible. She did two sonic rainbooms to accomplish this. It completely wiped her out and turned out to be unnecessary, but she’d do it again for Scootaloo. She loves her friends like they’re family, it’s probably why she became the element of loyalty, but she never could truly consider them family even if she’d treat them as such.

Playing board games with Scootaloo while recovering has been fun. It brought back nostalgic memories of her former best friend Gilda. It was actually making her miss the griffon. They use to play Cloud Siege in flight camp. ‘She lost every game,’ Rainbow smirked at her own wandering thoughts, ‘hah, and that tantrum was legendary.’ She laughed so much during Gildas rant that she thought she’d die laughing, and Gilda not even once tried to stop her. Now that she thinks about it Gilda might have kept getting more creative with her words because of that. This made Rainbow feel even worse about the way things fell apart between them. It was something she should've handled differently, but she was just so angry at the time. Gilda was never that bad, and now that she looks back on it, she has regrets.

Her legs were feeling weak so she detached from Scootaloo and went back to her wheelchair. Fortunately, just in time for there to be a knock on the door, they both don’t want to look uncool and sappy. They were currently residing in the Cakes guest room. Rainbow is currently unable to even fly to her cloud home. She lied for Scootaloo and said they were planning a sleepover before she went and got herself wiped out. They believed her with some help from Scootaloo, and were gracious enough to let Scootaloo stay as well. She did this the same day she learned Scootaloo had no true home to go home to. There was no way Rainbow was gonna let her little sister sleep another night alone in that clubhouse if she could help it. “It’s open,” she said while resetting her side of the game.

The door swung open and Pinkie walked in, “So how’s it going?” Not even pausing for their answer, “Good, good. I have a noble guest for our honorable guest, let me present to you Sir Spike,” she said bowing and gesturing to her side for the baby dragon to walk in.

Spike walked in dignantly, as opposed to indignantly, then ruined his act, “Hey Rainbow, hey Scootaloo,” waving a scaly hand, “Um, Twilight needs to tell you what that journal said about pegasi,” he said to Scootaloo.

This actually reminded Rainbow of something she wanted to talk to Scootaloo about. She’s been putting it off for too long now, “Alright Spike we’ll be there, you can go on ahead we gotta clean this mess up first,” she answered before Scootaloo could get a word.

“Aww that’s okay,” said Pinkie, “I can clean this up for you two.”

“No no, it’s okay Pinkie. We got it,” Rainbow responded to Pinkie.

“Okay, Dokey, Lokey,” Pinkie said happily and left them with Spike.

Rainbow then brought her attention back to Spike, “We’ll be at the library soon enough Spike,” if it didn’t take so much out of her right now she would have been ushering Spike out and closing the door on him. Fortunately for her, Spike had no problems returning to Twilight with their word of showing up, and left. After waiting a little bit Rainbow brought her attention back to Scootaloo who was looking at her questioningly, “Sis,” Rainbow hoped that’d ease any concern Scootaloo might have, “we need to talk on the way to Twilights and I can’t have Spike listening in.”

Scootaloo was a little worried, but they’re sisters now, “Okay.”

They, or rather mostly Scootaloo, cleaned up the mess, while they waited, which wasn’t that hard. Once Rainbow felt Spike was back to the library they took their leave. Getting down the stairs of Sugarcube Corner was a hassle, but not one they haven't conquered before. Soon they were outside, Scootaloo wheeling Rainbow to their destination. A quick glance in every direction revealed to Rainbow that the streets and skies were pretty empty right now, perfect, “Alright squirt, so we’re going to have to tell Twilight about your situation…” Rainbow thought a little, “I’m asking you to let me handle it for now though, I won’t tell her anything, I just need to ask her about ugh, laws. I won’t let anypony take you away, it’s obvious to me you’ve made a home here, and great friends...,” Rainbow sucked in her breath for what she was about to say next, “and a family with me,” she said finally, and the wheelchair stopped briefly. Before they began moving again. If Rainbow had looked back she would have seen Scootaloo rubbing her eyes while wearing a giant smile.

“It’s okay big sis, I trust you. Just, I want to be the one to tell her, she’s helped me out more than she knows,” Scootaloo answered.

“Hey,” Rainbow said faking offence, “she won’t suspect a thing. I got a plan.”.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One peaceful walk, or ride in the case of Rainbow, later and they were entering the library. Twilight was pacing back and forth with nothing else to do until she can inform Scootaloo of her discoveries. She was at the door the second it started opening, and subsequently got out of their way so they had room to move in. “Hey Twilight,” Rainbow said as Scootaloo pushed her further inside.

“How’s it going Rainbow?” Twilight asked referring to Rainbow current inability to do pretty much anything.

“I miss the sky,” Rainbow answered spying Scootaloo walking to her side, “but it’s not all bad,” she said, giving Scootaloo a pat on the head.

“So what did the journal say about my wings?” Scootaloo asked which unintentionally brought up her fear, “I-I mean pegasi?” Scootaloo stuttered. Rainbow noticing the change in Scootaloos tone placed a hoof on her withers, calming her down.

“Well it wasn’t easy finding the right words in translation. As some of them are interchangeable, and are plausible but I…” Twilight paused as she noticed the bored, and ‘just get on with expressions’ they were giving her, “Right, ahem, anyways Scootaloo I’m going to start with what Puddinghead referred to as ‘ground magic,’ or Geomancy as it’s actually called. According to him it basically gives you the ability to control the earth around you. For example, that spike that impal…” Twilight sighed, why does she need to keep bringing up that to them, “The spike that impaled the manticores paw during the incident was probable your doing, even if you don’t remember it,” She watched as Scootaloo looked down at her forelegs then shrugged, “anyways,” she continued, “he also mentioned you can probable burrow under the earth like a diamond dog. We’ve already seen you pick up heavy objects for a filly like they weighed nothing. Another thing pegasi could apparently do is enchant things. Apparently these enchants had various useful effects on objects. From enhancing one's own ability, to strengthening an object beyond its natural strength-”

Twilight would have kept going but Rainbow interrupted, “Wait, slow down there. Are you saying pegasi use to be able to enchant things like unicorns can?”

“Yes and no…” Twilight paused to gather her thoughts and look at some notes, “If what Puddinghead describes is accurate, then Pegasi enchants were much more infused and affected the actual object of enchantment. Unicorn enchants are more like magic surrounding an object giving it the appearance of certain qualities, when it’s just the enchantment doing the work. For example, if I have dull scissors and I enchanted them to cut cardboard it would be the enchantment that cut the cardboard and the scissors were just the catalyst,”

“Wait, so you mean I could tape to sticks together to look like scissors, have you enchant them and-”

“Let me stop you right there,” Twilight said, before Rainbow could finish her thought, “No, that wouldn’t work. Well, I guess it technically could, but that’s not the point. Unicorn enchants follow a certain kind of logic, this has been well documented throughout centuries of research. The object that’s being enchanted needs to already possess a similar quality that the enchant is trying to affect or else it gets complicated and usually requires several unicorns to accomplish.”

“Yesh, Twilight you could have stopped at ‘wouldn’t work,’ and I’d be okay with that,” Rainbow said making Twilight fluster briefly.

“Right… where was I? Oh yeah, Pegasi enchants, according to Puddinghead, are different in that they actually change the qualities of the object. The example he gave is iron cutting gold like butter. Hah, that was was a fun translation… Did you know the word for gold in old equestrian is also the word for butter? Because I sure wish I didn’t, Ahahaha…” Twilight stopped and muttered something to herself, “Sorry about that, I need another trip the spa once I’m done with the unicorn section of this, this...” Twilight breathed in heavily, closing her eyes, “Moving on,” she said more so to herself, “Anyways, Unfortunately, they had symbols for those enchants and he didn’t provide any that we could test out.”

“Did it say anything else about my wings?” Scootaloo asked, desperate to learn anything about what she considered her near death experience. She grew up living with the knowledge that she’d never be able to fly. She for the most part accepted this fact. Last week, soon after Rainbow confronted her, she felt the need to try and fly. She had to prove those ponies wrong, prove to herself that she wasn’t a burden. She was expecting to fail spectacularly. She was just giving herself another reason to cry, if she was being honest. Instead of failing, the opposite happened to the extreme, and she became absolutely terrified of her own wings. She made Twilight pinkie promise her that she would keep her fears a secret, before she even confided them to her. Thinking of which, she noticed Twilight looking at Rainbow nervously, “It’s okay Twilight. I already told Rainbow about it.”

“It’s true. Once I’m recovered we’ll kick that fear to the curve,” Rainbow said with confidence, which made Scootaloo smile a little.

Twilight calmed down, “Actually it did, though not much was different from what is already known about Pegasi. He did mention that they had much greater control of the air around them beyond mere clouds,” with that statement Twilight remembered how they described the manticore's incapacitation. It got blown away, “say Scootaloo, I want to test something real quick, I want you to try and blow me away with your hoof by using air.”

“What? You mean like pretend?” Scootaloo questioned.

“Yes, but I want you to actually try and do it, like you mean it,” Twilight answered.

Scootaloo brought up a hoof cocked it back, “Woah, woah, woah,” Rainbow said, stopping Scootaloo in her tracks, “If you’re gonna do that then you have to do it right sis, use both hooves,” Rainbow demonstrated by bringing both her forehooves to her chest then thrusting them out, “Oww, that hurt,” she smiled sheepishly bringing her forehooves back to a resting position on the wheelchair.

“You alright Rainbow?” Twilight asked concern in her voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Now do just as I shown you,” Rainbow answered.

“Well do,” Scootaloo answered smiling, at her sister's antics. She just knew she was gonna look silly, and uncool. She hasn’t played pretend in so long, but Rainbow seemed to have no problem with it, and she did have a point, if you’re gonna do it you might aswell do it right. Scootaloo reared up, brought her hooves to her chest, then imagined blowing Twilight away with a strong gust of wind that’d somehow come out of her hooves, then thrusted them out, while trying to actually make it happen.

Air around her suddenly became alive, violently, books in the library where thrown about as a wild wind manifested. Twilight was indeed thrown into the wall behind her, making a loud bang noise while Rainbow was blown backwards unable to stop the wheels while the wind was at it’s strongest. Rainbow slowed to a stopped soon after. Scootaloo was stunned into stillness not moving, as the wind died down, staring at Twilight who was now on the ground rubbing her head, as she recovered from her sudden appointment with the wall behind her.

Spike who heard a loud thumping noise quickly ran out of the kitchen, where he was preparing meals for Twilight, Scootaloo, Rainbow, and himself. His eyes met books littering the place, and was instantly filled with dread, before he saw Twilight on the ground rubbing her head, now he’s worried. He ran over to her and helped her up, “Twilight are you alright?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine Spike, that was quite the surprise,” Twilight answered, as she got up.

“How many claws am I holding up,” Spike asked as he holded out two claws, to him this seemed like a good question, considering the impact in the wall behind Twilight.

“Two,” Twilight answered as she looked to Scootaloo who’s still stunned, and Rainbow who just wheeled back to Scootaloo's side.

“That was so awesome!” Rainbow squealed, bringing her hooves to her face before patting Scootaloo on the back.

That got Scootaloo back to reality blinking a few times, “Twilight! Please tell me you’re okay,”

“I’m fine,” Twilight answered, “heh, I guess, I did ask for that didn’t I?” Twilight joked, to a relieved Scootaloo, unamused Spike who muttered something, and a amused Rainbow.

“Yeah, you kinda did,” Rainbow answered.

“So I guess we just confirmed what Puddinghead…” Twilight paused, before excitedly saying “I think I now know what happened to cause you to fly so high in the air,” looking at Scootaloo whose wicked smile was quickly replaced with a frown, “It seems you’re much like Sweetie, in that you have much more power than you can control without proper training,” she said much more calmer, “Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until Rainbow recovers until we can begin flying lessons as I don’t trust anypony else for the job, given your situation,” Twilight was avoiding bringing up Scootaloo's fear as Spike was there now, “Anyways, that’s all he had to say about pegasi pertaining to their abilities at least. Spike is the food almost done?”

“Yeah, I was actually putting on the finishing touches before whatever just happened,” Spike answered, looking around the library now a mess.

Noticing Spike distress at the state of the library, “It’s okay Spike I’ll clean the library. I could use a break from the journal anyways, and this is a good enough excuse for me… Rainbow and Scootaloo I hope you don’t mind but Spike offered to make us all food-”

“Hey it’s no problem, we haven't eaten in awhile, Thanks Spike,” Rainbow said.

Spike responded by leaving to retrieve the food, “No problem, when I get back I want to know what just happened.” When he came back they had a nice meal. Soon Rainbow and Scootaloo left back for the Sugar Cube Corner. Scootaloo’s mind raced with possibilities, she might just take a page out of Appleblooms book.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Manehatten a large city bustling with activity from tourist, to business ponies, to cart vendors, street performers, to artist, and the occasional doom sayers. Towering buildings that’d make anypony feel small by comparison blocked out the sky, unless one were to look straight up. Taxi carriages clogged the streets during rush hour, Pegasi filled the skies in their own well regulated chaos for those below to watch, and be envious of, as they reach their destination four times faster than the crowded streets of the carriages would allow.

One such tall building is a hotel with a spectacular view the city itself and the Mare of Liberty, it’s The Grand Piano Inn. Its overpriced rooms were justified by the view they provide, while the service and and in-house chefs were pretty good, the rooms themselves were kind of outdated. The lobby area was large and inviting, with a well payed pianist providing an ambient almost elevator like music for guest to enjoy. As stated before, their rooms were overpriced and the suite at the very top is where they made most their income. As it provided a three sixty view of everything around while also maintaining privacy with specialized windows. Large companies or nobles would often rent out the suite as a business trip or for vacation respectively.

The receptionist in the hotel were just about to have a shift change, “Alright, Station I’m here you can head on home now,” said a mare wearing a hotel suit with a keyboard tie, to a stallion equipped with the same get-up.

The stallion looked at her suspiciously, “Yeah,” resentment clearly in his voice, “I’m sure you’d like that. You’re a little early… I’m gonna go tell our manager, I have something I need to do today anyways,” he said before heading off.

She was a little confused about the way he acted just then, he’s usually happy when she shows up early. After a little bit, a slightly dulled bright yellow mare with a dulled off bright orange mane walked in the front door. She’s not sure why but she was drawn to her and the sapphire eyes that watched her determinedly. The mare seemed so focused on her that she failed to notice the tons of luggage being pushed by the receptionist co-worker. She barely got out of the way, avoiding a mess of suitcases, but she instead bumped into two guest that were having a happy conversation. The mare ignored them and scolded her co-worker who apologized profusely, looked around, then continued her march to the lobby desk.

“How may I help you,” the receptionist asked as the mare finally made it to the counter, peaceful piano music playing all the while.

“You certainly can, I’m Charity Well and I’m here for my suite reservation,” the mare said with a slightly irritated voice. The receptionist quickly retrieved the lone paper placed in a locked drawer for special guest that rent out the suite, though not quick enough, “If you could move it along. It’s been a rough day and your first impressions don’t leave me wanting.”

The receptionist laughed nervously, “Sorry for the inconvenience,” the paper described her as unicorn with different coat and mane colors than what she sees before her. “Um, I think I might have misheard you. Did you say suite reservation, or sweet reservation?”

“Are you deaf my dear? I said suite, as in the best room you’ve got. Let me guess,” the mare's eyes changed briefly, and suddenly the receptionist trusted this mare with her life, “that paper you’re holding says I’m a earth pony other such nonsense,” the receptionist nodded, “but my name is right, right?” the receptionist nodded again, the name on the paper was in fact Charity Well, “Well it wasn’t too long ago I had to fire a servant as he could never get things right, I forgotten that I had him make the reservations so I never sended any corrections that clearly were needed, now if you could show me to my room.”

The receptionist knew she should go get the manager or even the boss to handle a situation like this, but Charity’s story made sense to her, she didn’t need to bother them with this discrepancy. She trusted this mares word, “Alright then, if you’ll follow me we’ll get you settled in.”

‘Charity Well’ smirked in victory. It would have been impossible to do what she just did if it wasn’t for the power of her new bracelet. It would have taken much more time, and effort to get a suite room in a hotel like this, well unless one was a stuck-up noble or over valued business pony. All she had to do was get the name of the pony that had the room reserved from the previous receptionist before shift change. The power, it was addictive, she felt like she could do so many things. She just knew she was gonna go far with the ‘The Believers Bracelet.’ The doors to the elevator closed, leaving her in the dark about what was just about to transpire in the lobby with the two ponies she had bumped into previously.

Two suited stallions were looking at each other suspiciously in The Grand Piano Inn’s lobby. They knew each other since elementary school, and would know if the other has done something regretful or suspects the other of doing something regretful. This was the case as the both looked at each other in suspicion, arguments past but more importantly the emotions they rought came to the forefront of their mind, even though they were having a great conversation mere moments ago. “What’s wrong?” one asked.

‘How dare he assume something is wrong,’ the other thought as strong negative emotions surged through him, “Nothing!” the other hissed angrily, and turned his head “it’s not like I have butter hooves,” the other said under his breath, just loud enough for the other to hear on purpose, as he wore a wicked smirk.

‘Butter Hooves’ heard this ofcourse and replied in kind, though there was nothing kind about it, “Real creative there Peanut Pony,” he spat, referring to an of incident that lead to pretty much a whole class to call the other pony that mercilessly.

‘Peanut Pony’ felt even more betrayed; that was something he had to get counseling for, and having his best friend call him that, it cut deep, and enraged him. He attacked ‘Butter Hooves,’ in blind anger, and soon they were on the ground in a tussle, as they rolled around trying to tear each other apart. The music in the lobby changed as the talented pianist began to play a more hostile and suspenseful music to fit the lobbies mood. Two hotel guards were quick to separate and remove them from the hotel and ordered them to walk in separate directions. Before they did they yelled ‘You hit like a filly,” and “Oh yeah? Well you are a filly,” respectively before the guards told them to shut up and start walking again. They wandered aimlessly. Both avoided and scowled at anypony they passed, as they muttered under their breath.

Just the Beginning part 3

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*Knock* *Knock*

Twilight got up from her resting spot, which happened to be on the ground in the middle of the library. Twilight had been waiting for Spike to return with Sweetie as she finally finished translating the unicorn section of the journal. Twilight walked to the door giddy with the fact that she can translate that journal at her leisure now, as opposed to the mind numbing grind it had been. She opened the door to find only Sweetie Belle as she waited outside, “Hello Sweetie, come on in,” Sweetie stepped in, “where’s Spike by the way?”

“He’s helping Rarity. She got really behind on work after I umm, you know,” Sweetie said lowering her head, “I hope you don’t mind.” Sweetie felt selfish, she spent the whole day with Rarity after she got out of the hospital and not once had Rarity spent it doing any work. Now Rarity has tons of things to do, and she can’t help. She’d just mess things up like always. Like when she failed to notice one of her best friends was an orphan and homeless, after two years no less, and how she complained about her own family like they were a nuisance to said friend. She couldn’t get the image of her friends crying at what they believed to be her deathbed out of her head. It haunted her. She never considered how they’d feel if something happened to her. It moved her, made her feel horrible about herself, but also want to be better.

“That’s okay, Spike has helped Rarity out before,” Twilight noticed Sweeties depressed look, “Hey, what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing,” Sweetie said still looking down.

“Alright. What’s wrong, you’re not fooling anypony Sweetie,” Twilight said in concern.

Sweetie looked around to find nopony else in the library, “but it’s just me and you in here,” Twilight face hoofed, “besides who said I was trying to fool anypony?”

“So, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked in concern with a hint of aggravation, not that Sweetie noticed.

“It’s just, do I seem selfish and or self absorbed to you?” Sweetie asked. This had been bugging her since she got back to Raritys after she learned about Scootaloos situation. Scootaloo said it was okay, but Sweetie just couldn’t help but feel inadequate, that she let her best friend be homeless for two years, because she wasn’t smart enough to realize something wasn’t right.

“No,” Twilight responded, ‘maybe a little oblivious at times’ she added in her head, “What makes you ask that?”

“I spent the whole day with Rarity when she had to work to do, and that’s after she spent her time with me at the hospital, and now she has a ton of work to do and I want to help her out but I’m n-no good at sewing, I know that,” Sweetie hated to admit this, and she barely kept it together, “I’m not good at it,” she said weakly, “but I want to help her. That should be me back there helping her, n-not Spike,” she breathed heavily, her emotions were getting the better of her, “and that’s not even mentioning the whole ordeal with Scootal-” Sweetie quickly covered her mouth with one of her hooves, as her state of mind changed from regretful self loathing to alert nervousness, she felt like she just got caught eating out of Raritys sweet mixed nuts jar. Rarity doesn’t mind if Sweetie has them, but Sweetie can’t resist their sweet goodness and ends up devouring the whole thing if Rarity isn’t there to stop her.

Twilight knew something was up, that Sweetie was about to say ‘Scootaloo,’ but she decided to tackle things one at a time, “Sweetie, you know Rarity would shut down her shop for good if she had to for you,” Sweetie removed her hoof with a relieved look, then looked down ashamed.

“I know, I just wish I could make it up to her,” Sweetie responded.

“Sweetie, you already are, Rarity is very worried about you and your magic,” Twilight responded.

“She is?” Sweetie questioned, ears perked up.

Twilight nodded in confirmation, “She doesn’t want you to live in fear that you might do something accidentally, neither do I for that matter,” Twilight stated as a matter of fact, “she’s actually very proud of how much progress you were making before you fell down that hole, now she’s afraid you won’t be able to use your magic again, and that’s why we’re here so you can keep improving, so she can have peace of mind knowing that casting spells is something you can do without fear.”

“I-I guess,” Sweetie stuttered.

“So what’s this about Scootaloo?” Twilight asked, she had a suspicion she knew what it was for, that being Scootaloo's fear of her wings, but the way Sweetie phrased it made it seem much more than a simple fear. She hoped they weren’t fighting.

Sweeties face got sweaty, and her eyes shifted about, “Scootaloo?” she squeaked out, “Hahaha, who said anything about Scootaloo?”

Twilight thought that maybe she’s just over thinking it, Scootaloo might have forgot to tell Sweetie that she also told her about her fear, “Ahh, nevermind,” Twilight dismissed much to Sweeties relief, “So before we begin practice I want to go over what Puddinghead had to say about unicorns in the unicorns section of his journal.”

“Okay!” Sweetie squeaked, all too happy about the subject change.

Twilight levitated her notes to her, just incase, “Well, according to Puddinghead it use to only take two unicorns to raise and lower the sun and moon, but those spells were lost and their replacements weren’t as good-”

“But wasn’t The Gathering fifteen unicorns?” Sweetie interrupted.

“Yes, but I’m talking about before The Gathering. Unicorns were much more powerful back then if Puddinghead’s journal is to be believed, and so far it has been pretty accurate, regardless of how frustrating it is to translate,” Twilight blinked twice, it’s over with for now and she can finally take a break from that, “sorry. Anyways, the replacement spell wasn’t that good and it took three to four unicorns to cast, which, by the way, is the same spell members of The Gathering used, and that should give you an indication on how much magical potential unicorns lost, at least according to Puddinghead,” Sweetie just looked at her interested, and Twilight realized she could talk all day about the revolutions Puddingheads journal provided and not get to the crux of the issue, “My point is, that I’m almost one hundred percent certain you’re now the most powerful unicorn in the world.”

“W-what?” Sweetie yelled high pitched, in surprise, “but I’m just a filly, w-who hasn’t even got her cutie mark,” Sweetie actually thought Twilight was over-exaggerating the first time Twilight told her she may be more powerful than Luna and Celestia combined. She definitely remembers Twilights cutie mark story, and after she learned more about magic during ‘Twilight Time,’ well she hoped she didn’t get a cutie mark the way Twilight got hers.

“Both are true, but magic has little to do with age and cutie marks. Magic is a force that bends reality, even though we don’t know the whys or hows, we do know that it can be controlled,” Twilight brought a quill between them with her magic, Sweetie caught onto Twilights example and smiled, “monitored with various machines,” Twilight said as she gestured to her basement door which goes down to various scientific equipment, “and maintained with the aid of gems and what I’m beginning to suspect is life-force as there’s no way you should be able to contain as much magic as you currently do. Not without some form of magical surges, and all I’ve seen you do is lack control over your spells, which isn’t the same as a surge, and completely understandable. The method Celestia taught me didn’t always work out… It helped me plenty but sometimes my magic just acted out, even when Celestia was teaching me it, and I didn’t see that happen with you, not yet at least,” Twilight lectured, as Sweetie listened intently, “Anyways, I know this may come as a shock but I actually tried the spell you used to stop time, before you got here, and let me just say if I was still a unicorn I think that it would have wiped me out, it required way more magic than I thought it would. You said you had it going for more than five minutes, well I think I used it for all of ten seconds before it began to be too much, I could have probable lasted almost half a minute if I really tried,” Twilight finished, while Sweetie understood what had been said, she just didn’t get the gravity of it.

“But how? Even I don’t know how I casted that spell,” Sweetie questioned.

“I got my cutie mark for being well adept at magic, and I had you explain it to me remember?” Twilight questioned back.

“But all we talked about about was how I felt and… Oh, emotions right,” Sweetie said as she now understood. She had briefly forgotten that unicorn spells start out with emotions, now she knew why Twilight questioned her so heavily about how she felt the moment just before and after she froze time. It made sense to her now, she hadn’t bothered asking at the time, as so much was going on in her mind.

“That’s right Sweetie,” Twilight started, “new spells are generally casted with the aid of emotions, and that’s how I was able to replicate your spell. All that’s needed to copy a spell is enough magic, the emotional blueprints, and knowledge of what the spell is supposed to do so it can be directed properly,” Twilight thought on that for a second, “well I make it sound simple, but the real complexity comes in magic theory, that tries to explain why and how magic works, and I could go on and on about how many different yet well thought out theories there are. Like why do unicorns have different colors as their default magical signature? One theory would suggest it’s genetics, while another would suggest it’s purely a subconscious decision and so many more, some of which fit into well thought out theories that try to explain magic as a whole. For example Tanners theory of Magic Granted, that states...” Twilight continued talking about various theories of magic.

Sweetie stopped listening to Twilight’s lecturing rant soon after Twilight asked her where unicorns got their unique color signature as something Twilight said earlier popped up, and Sweetie couldn’t help but think about it and make her own theory, “life-force,” Sweetie mumbled.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, almost losing her train of thought as she was now talking about one of Starswirl's abandoned theories.

“I said life-force. You said earlier that I should be suffering from magical surges. Yet I’m not, and that the only reason you can think that is because of life-force,” Sweetie said smiling smugly.

“Um, yeah I did, but I don’t know what that has to do with Starswirl’s theory of-” Twilight began.

“No, umm,” Sweetie interrupted, “I mean the question you asked me.”

“The question?” Twilight asked not recalling exactly what question Sweetie was referring to, as she had brought up a decent amount, while she lectured about various theories. ‘Whoops,’ Twilight thought, she was supposed to help Sweetie get better at using her magic, not lecturing about theories.

“Yeah, you asked about a unicorn's magical signature, what if life-force not only prevented me from having magical surges but is also responsible for a unicorn's magical signature?” Sweetie asked in a proposing manner.

Twilight mumbled something to herself as she thought about that possibility, before a spark of an idea came to her. She remembered what the summary had said, she quickly retrieved her translation of Puddingheads summary of his journal to confirm her suspicions. Once confirmed she got Puddingheads journal and skipped to the section just after the unicorns section. It hadn’t changed, her eyes dilated in shock, she needed to translate this as soon as possible. She noticed Sweetie looking at her waiting for an answer, “You might be onto something Sweetie, I suppose that’s as good a reason as any other it’s almost in line with the genetics theory if it’s name is any indication, but if life-force can also maintain magic like I suspect it can then what’s stopping it from also being the reason for unique magic signatures,” Twilight said upbeatly, “among other things,” she whispered darkly, “Anyways I think we’ve talked enough let’s get to some practise.”

With that said, they went to practise. Sweetie was showing slight progress, but clearly had major problems regulating how much magic she put into a spell. Twilight couldn’t stop thinking about about what she fears the next section of Puddinghead’s journal will say, as the pictures paint a clear, well, picture to her, and she doesn’t like it, not one bit. She likes to think herself a scientist, so she’s not going to jump to conclusions just yet. After some more practise it was time for Sweetie to go home, “Can you tell Spike to get back here before it gets dark?” With an ‘Okay’ from Sweetie, Twilight closed the door with a heavy sigh. After a second, Twilight groaned and lightly bumped her head on the door when she realized she’s not done translating the journal.

As Sweetie walked home she thought about her progress a little more positively than previously. She knew she had a long way to go but with Twilight's help she was sure she could make Rarity proud. Things, for once, where looking up.

“Hey Blank Flank!”

...

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Applejack
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Applejack was surrounded by apple trees for as far as the eye can see as she trudged past several. She’s on her way to retrieve her little sister Applebloom for supper. As she walked she couldn’t help but think about the vacation she had planned to go on with Applebloom within the next couple weeks. She was nervous about it, there are things she’s never told her little sister that she plans to share during that vacation. She’s chickened out of telling her sister so many times, but soon after Appleblooms run in with a chimera, she knew she had to tell her, and planned that vacation for that very reason.

It was eating her up inside, even though she knows her feelings at the time were that of a broken filly, she still felt a pang of guilt anytime she looked at Applebloom. She’s done everything she could to make that guilt go away, she even made the Sisterhooves Social, but it persisted. Applejack had planned on it being just her and Applebloom, so Applebloom would be forced to talk to her about it after she learned the whole truth. She was glad she caved-in to her friends and let them come along though; Applebloom might need the support. Applebloom has been on the farm a lot recently, and when asked why she wasn’t out crusading, she said that Scootaloo was spending quality time with her sister, and Sweetie had a practise session with Twilight, and finally she wanted to try some things out. Applejack had noticed her sister behaving slightly off, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out the reason why. She wanted to believe it was merely the post traumatic effects of what happened to Sweetie, but Applebloom had made a pretty big statement about that with her bow tie. It left Applejack in the dark.

As Applejack kept walking she became aware of some rather odd looking plants from a daisy whose leaves formed the distinct shape of a pine tree, to a tree that appeared to be growing red raspberries, and things just got stranger from there. She could only think of one being capable and willing to make such strange things. ‘Discord’ she thought bitterly. She didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. The more she moved the stranger the plants became, she was glad Discord kept her apple trees unchanged, but she didn’t like the idea of Discord picking on her little sister. She moved a little faster.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mirror made quite a bit of ground her first night out of the cave system she called home. Sure it was cold outside but that was nothing new to her living inside a cave all her life. She was very tired but she knew she had to get as far as she could before the sun came up.

She eventually came across a variable forest of hoodoos, as sky slowly lit up. She decided to stay there for the day, as it would provide some shade and she didn’t have much night time left. She snacked on some generic emotions, mainly irritation and contentedness, they’re the changeling equivalent of sugary, starchy foods; filling, but no real nutritional value. She took a decent amount of water with her, as she needed that to survive. It usually rained in the Badlands once a year. When it did rain it rained hard, anything unlucky enough to be in a ravine at that time would find itself drowning and banging into walls. No pegasi was able to change when/how it rained and the ponies and other species needed it to rain more than once a year for their crops to grow. Changelings didn’t need crops, but they did need water. Luckily for them when it did rain their cave system had some natural ponds that they managed to and continue to fight the locale wildlife for. All they needed to do was collect ambient or direct emotions from other races and they’d have food. Mirror dozed off from lack of sleep in the night time in what she thought would have been a safe spot.

She woke up to the loud cracking sound and a huge shadowy figure lunging towards her. It jerked to the side, just missing her. She stared at the figure in shock, as she tried to comprehend what had almost crushed her. She then looked ahead of her and up a little and saw two giant scorpion figures in front of her with soulless black eyes. She knew what they were. Exhilaration, as opposed to adrenaline, shot through her system and she began to run for her life away from them. She didn’t know it but she was lucky, because that cracking sound came from one of the giant scorpions body slamming the one bearing its claw on her, that’s how the claw missed her. She weaved her way through hoodoos and heard as they skittered yet thundered towards her, the occasional strike that was immediately behind her and at one point to the side and in front of her. She ran till the hoodoos got thick enough that they couldn’t pass and continued to run. She finally stopped simply because she couldn’t run anymore, luckily she heard no sign of those huge scorpions in a while.

Fortunately, she was soo tired that she hadn’t thought to take off her saddlebags before she had went to sleep, and was still wearing them during her terrifying awakening. The blinding sun was up and it was unbearable hot outside. She ended up gulping down a quarter of her water supply, while resisting the urge to drink the rest, as she recovered from her unexpected marathon. She began to have doubts about her plan to help the hive. She remembered her parents telling her about the dangerous creatures that live outside the cave. Those had to have been elephant scorpions. Regardless of their name they have a brown tan color all around them, two large beady black eyes with a stinger and legs larger than herself. Her doubt went away as she remembered this lesson her parents gave her. It made her miss them, but it strengthened her resolve to help the hive. If they can die trying to help the hive then she can risk her own life as well. She checked her surroundings and found an unoccupied hidey hole in a hoodoo and got some much needed sleep.

Just a Conversation (Optional?)

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Rainbow Dash
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Rainbow walked her way to the library, ignoring the slight aches that pinged her muscles. She had recovered enough to walk around on her own and no longer needed to use that totally uncool wheelchair. Her sister seemed very excited this morning, and left with a tight hug which she gladly returned. Rainbow had a suspicion why, and yelled at her to be careful just before she was gone. Rainbow needed to collect information from Twilight who she’s certain would know. The only real problem was keeping Twilight in the dark about why she needed this information, which she had a flawless plan for. As she reached the door she noticed that the sign that stated the library was closed was no longer up, before she barged in with some effort, she wasn’t fully recovered after all.

“Oh hey Rainbow,” welcomed Spike as soon as he noticed her, “here to check out another Daring Doo book?”

Rainbow had become friends with Daring Doo herself, and as such would get the newest copy slightly sooner before anypony else, “No, I’m here to see Twilight. Is she here?”

“Yeah, but she’s really busy, she decided to continue translating that journal for some reason, she seemed so happy yesterday to be over with it, but now she’s back at it like she’s possessed…” Spike’s face twisted with panic, “n-not that she’s actually possessed like Rarity was, that one time…” Spike finished open ended. Rainbow knew what Spike was referring to, she wasn’t directly a part of it, but she did get to listen to Twilight vent about it.

“Right…” Rainbow said cautiously, “Well, where is she I need to talk to her, it’s important.”

“She’s upstairs in her room, though I wouldn’t…” Spike began to say before he noticed Rainbow was already half way up the stairs, “I’ll just be down here watching the library,” *sigh,* “like I do.”

Rainbow ignored her aches as she raced to Twilights room. She didn’t even bother knocking once she reached it and just barged in. She found Twilight at her desk looking intently at books, papers, and other such egghead stuff. “Twilight,” Rainbow said as she approached.

Twilight panicked and her wings unfurled briefly in fright, while she levitated a piece of paper under a stack of papers in distress, “Rainbow!? What are you doing here?” she half-yelled as she turned to face Rainbow, “Don’t sneak up on me like that, you scared me.”

“Alright jeez, sorry,” she ignored whatever had Twilight so shaken, “Listen we need to talk about Scootaloo,” and got to the point.

Twilight breathed in to calm herself down before she looked rather interested in what this was about, “Okay shoot, what’s going on with Scootaloo and Sweetie?”

Rainbow was confused by this question and it showed as much in her face, “Umm, nothing that I’m aware of.”

Twilight looked down, “Oh, I just thought that… ahh it’s nothing I’m just over thinking things. So what about Scootaloo do you want to talk about?”

“Her flying lessons,” Rainbow answered, she just needs to steer the conversation towards her condition and she has this in the bag.

“Oh, well don’t worry I’ve read several books on the subject shortly after I got my own wings, with you teaching her, I’m positive we can get her flying with an appropriate amount of fear and respect for the open air in no time. Well at least until you recover fully, how’s that going by the way?” Twilight asked.

‘Perfect,’ thought Rainbow, that was easier than she hoped, now the hard part, “Well I can walk now and everything still aches, but I’m tough. This is nothing, heh, you know I’ve had this same condition once before when I was a filly.”

“Realy? What did you do to have it happen to you the first time, if you don’t mind me asking?” Twilight questioned.

Anger spiked through her, “It isn’t so much what I did,” Rainbow spat, ‘where did that come from?’ she thought.

“What do you mean by that?”

Rainbow breathed in to calm down her nerves, “What I mean is when I was a filly I got adopted by some ponies after I did the sonic rainboom and,” Rainbow blinked a couple times, “they had me try to do another sonic rainboom and of course I didn’t, but they urged me to continue until well I couldn’t move,” she breathed out slowly. Rainbow was getting mad, this was something she only talked about with Gilda and that was pretty much right after it happened, even then they stopped talking about it within a couple months. She hadn’t brought it up to anypony else since. Apparently the pain and loneliness that her sister got rid of was replaced with anger.

“You were an orphan!?” Twilight yelled.

“Yeah, well you’re not the only who doesn’t bring up their family or lack thereof to her friends Twilight Sparkle. Shining Armor ring any bells?” Rainbow jabbed at Twilight for not mentioning her brother until she got a wedding invitation, and this was after they saved Equestria twice by then.

Twilight frowned, “Well… you got me there, but this is a little different don’t you think?” Twilight argued.

“Look, I don’t normally like talking about this stuff. Okay, let’s m-” Rainbow stopped herself, she needs to talk about this or else her questions might be suspicious, she groaned, “I mean, Yes I was an orphan and I still kind of am,” Twilight merely looked at her sadly, “after those ponies,” Rainbow said with a hint of anger, “adopted me they basically bribed me to my physical and magical limit with the promise of- I don’t even know why I did it. I just wanted to impress them…” Rainbow breathed in and out, “I-I decided to leave that mockery of a family, and I didn’t accept anypony else's attempts to adopt me after that. I was sure they’d be no different than those ponies…” she hissed. She was feeling so many mixed emotions but mostly anger, now that she has an idea on what she had missed out on. She owes that to Scootaloo.

“Oh Rainbow,” Twilight said softly, and went for a hug.

Rainbow accepted the hug but made it short, it wasn’t as good as a hug from her sister but it was still welcome, though she might be a little biased, “You know it’s funny, even though I’m an orphan, I never really knew the laws around it, I’m almost certain they should’ve been punished for what they had me do,” Rainbow said, in genuine interest as that’s why she brought up her past in the first place, so she knows what to expect for her sister.

“Well, it’s funny you mention that as I already read all the general laws pertaining to adoption since the book I’m reading on Equestria’s laws goes in alphabetical order from location…” Twilight stared blankly before frowning for some reason, “Anyways,” she perked up, “you grew up in Cloudsdale right?” Rainbow nodded, “Well I read those laws, if I remember correctly Cloudsdale mostly follows Equestria Common Law when it comes to adoption,” Rainbow looked at her questioningly, “which means that the foal is free to accept an adoption if they so choose, or redact their adoption like you did, if what you’re saying is true then you might have had legal grounds to sue them, heck you still might if they were directly abusive to you in anyway…” Twilight said open endedly.

“No they weren’t. They were just fake, insincere jerks who ‘encouraged’ me to that point,” Rainbow scowled, “You know I did consider running away from the orphanage a couple times, what do the laws say about that?” Twilight looked at her oddly which caused her to shrug, “What I’m curious now,” truth be told this is exactly what she’s been wanting to know.

“Well if you go by Equestria Common Law the orphanage would be forced to retrieve you, and or ensure your safety and well being if you refused to return. Which basically means that if you were happy of free will, in good health, attended school, and had good support that they couldn’t force you back to the orphanage, but that’s just Equestria Common Law, various cities and towns have much stricter adoption laws, but they can’t override Equestria Common Law,” Twilight said informatively.

Rainbow smiled, she liked what she heard, but quickly put her face back to neutral, “Huh, well that’s good to know I guess, so what were you doing before I got here?”

Twilight's eyes dilated and she looked around, “I’m translating the journal that’s all.”

“Twilight you’re as bad a liar as Applejack, you can’t fool me,” Rainbow said confidently.

“But I’m not lying, it’s just I’m not sure what to make of it right now, I haven’t completed the translation just yet,” Twilight said sweating slightly.

“What do you got so far?” Rainbow questioned.

“I’d rather not say until I know for sure, sorry,” Twilight smiled awkwardly.

“Okay... well I’m sure you want to get done with your egghead stuff so I’ll leave you to it,” Rainbow said before she walked to the door and left. She could hear Twilight start to ask her something as the door closed, “What was that,” she asked popping her head in.

“I said what did you want to talk about with Scootaloo? You know the reason you came here?”

Rainbow smiled sheepishly, “I was just making sure you were going to be prepared for when we start practise, after you had her smash you into that wall, she’s been pretty excited.”

“Really? I don’t see why,” Twilight stated.

“Are you kidding me?” She really didn’t understand Twilight sometimes, “She just learned she can move the air around her, there’s no way she’d not be thrilled. I bet she’s at the park right now trying to figure out what she can do with something as awesome as that,” she gushed, and walked back in the room.

Twilight frowned, “you should go check on her then, I don’t know if you remember but I seem to recall everything around her being blown all over the place, what if something hits her or somepony passing by? She could really hurt herself.”

Rainbow envisioned Scootaloo getting gored by some tree branch after she tried to do something awesome like be the center of a tornado, Rainbow freaked out, “Well I gotta go. Bye!” She was out of Twilight's room so fast, she almost tripped down the stairs, thankful that her years of perfecting flight didn’t let her fall, though it did make her wings burn.

“Everything alright Rainbow?” Spike asked as she rushed past him to the exit, ignoring all the protests of her body. She didn’t have time to answer that, and kept going.

Once outside she slowed to a canter, and eventually got slower until she had to stop to catch her breath. She had a little bit to go before she could make it to the park. “Rainbow,” Twilight said behind her, shocking her slightly, “You need to think before you run off like that, what if she was doing something very dangerous and you just ran in and got yourself hurt? I don’t think she’d forgive herself,” Rainbows mind went over that possibility only a little darker, it almost made her cry like a foal, “Besides I don’t want her getting hurt anymore than you do.”

She wiped away what tears that thought produced and faced Twilight, “you’re right, thanks,” she never thought she’d freak out like Applejack and Rarity. She always thought they were just losing their cool and she knew that never helped any situation. She had more respect for that part of them now that she’s done it herself and understands why.

“Don’t mention it,” Twilight said as she went to Rainbows side and provided support so they could continue moving.

A Training Montage part 1

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Sweetie
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“Hey Blank Flank!” Sweetie heard as she walked home, after a rather uplifting practise session with Twilight. She had felt like a burden to her sister and a failure of a friend to Scootaloo, Twilight effectively dealt with what concerned her on the former.

Surrounded by houses, with various ponies that moved about, Sweetie turned her head to what she was sure would be Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She recognized the ponies voice who mocked her as Diamond. They’re bullies who picked on her and her friends for not having cutie marks. She never understood why they’re so mean. She could understand why Diamond might have a grudge against them specifically after what happened at Diamonds cute-ceañera, and even more so after they played a part in getting Diamond kicked out of her editor position for the Foal Free Press. Sweetie almost wanted to apologize to her at times, but she made that nearly impossible with their relentless teasing, not to mention Diamond basically threw those situations on herself. She could think up a few reasons as to why Diamond was so mean, but couldn’t wrap her head around Silver Spoon. Silver seemed unsure when she wasn’t with Diamond. “What do-” She responded but was surprised, ”where’s Silver Spoon?” she wondered out loud.

Diamond frowned, “Not that it’s any of your concern Blank Flank, but her parents sent her to summer camp.”

“Stop calling me that,” Sweetie complained weakly, and Diamond gave an annoying smirk, “and how come you didn’t go with her?” She only knew Diamond to hang out with Silver Spoon and visa versa. The one exception is when Applebloom's cousin Babs Seed visited from Manehatten last summer. Babs was worse than those two ever were. Babs destroyed a float they made for the Summer Harvest Parade and then mocked the fact it was destroyed and also threatened them so they wouldn’t tell anypony. Sweetie knew things already went too far, but Applebloom and Scootaloo wanted to deal with it themselves and she couldn’t say no to them. Things only got worse from there. She felt a pang of guilt when she remembered Scootaloo’s reaction when they took the clubhouse. They eventually turned Babs aggressive bullying against her in an elaborate plan, only for them to learn the reason why Babs was so mean before their plan could be concluded. They chased her down before it was too late, they apologized to her and became friends. If somepony like Babs could do a complete one-eighty then she was sure Diamond and Silver could as well. That was her hope at least.

Diamond frowned looked around worriedly, not that Sweetie noticed, “Psh, I don’t do camping, I’d rather be at the spa,” Diamond said confidently. Sweetie was rather surprised Diamond didn’t immediately mock her, as they’ed been much harsher after the whole ‘Twilight Time’ fiasco, “besides it’s not like I’m a blank flank unicorn who can barely hold up a broom with her own magic,” Sweetie thought too soon.

“That’s not true! Princess Twilight said I’m the most powerful Unicorn in the world!” Sweetie blurted out in defence. Her face turned red in embarrassment, shame of her outburst, and slight annoyance of Diamonds immediate laughter.

“Ahahah y-you, the most powe-ahahaha-powerful unicorn in the world?” Diamond flicked a tear of laughter from one of her eyes, whether that tear actually existed or not Sweetie didn’t know, “That’s a good one, how stupid can you be? You know what I think? I think,” Diamond proposed with a raised voice, “Princess Twilight might need to get her head checked if she thinks that.”

Face still red Sweetie argued back, “but it’s true!” she squeaked, “you can ask her yourself if you don’t believe me!”

“If that’s true then how about you show me how powerful you are and levitate that house,” Diamond said with a wicked smirk, pointing to a random house beside her, “Surely the world's most powerful unicorn could accomplish something as trivial as that.”

Sweetie cringed, “I can’t,” Diamond’s smile widened, “Twilight would be upset with me if I used my magic without her, and things I try to levitate have a bad habit of disappearing. I won’t be responsible for somepony missing a house, and I don’t even want to think about what’d happen if somepony was inside.”

“Ha! What a convenient excuse Blank Flank, you almost sound convincing, I guess decent liar is one of your few skills, along with cry baby, and,” Diamond brought a hoof to her chin, “nope I guess those are the only two skills you possess.”

Sweetie felt that, tears began to form in her eyes, “th-that’s not true,” she yelled and then ran towards Rarity's boutique.

“Cya later Blank Flank,” she heard Diamond say as she got farther away. Tears rolled down her cheeks, as she sniffled. She wasn’t upset that Diamond called her a liar and cry baby. It was because what Diamond said rang true to her. Sweetie knew she wasn’t good at so many things, like sewing, cooking, and several other things she’s done to try and get her cutie mark in the past. She wasn’t a good friend, and she always messed things up. She felt useless and weak, she couldn’t help but review her memories of the manticore attack and beat herself up for the one thing she should have done differently. All she had to do was run, instead she froze and endangered everypony. It taunted her to no end. When she made it to the boutique she sighed, wiped away any stray tears, and walked inside. She’d prove Diamond wrong.

The next week and a half Sweetie spent as much time as she could get with Twilight, since Scootaloo and Applebloom were also in need of Twilight's magical expertise and scientific mind. She noticed Twilight had been rather high strung, like something had been bothering her. Whenever she asked Twilight about it, she’d say there’s a vacation coming up and she’d rather not ruin it for anypony, and changed the subject.

Sweetie shown a lot of progress within that time, as Twilight's refined methods helped her control how much magic she put into a spell. Twilight had Sweetie meditate daily to clear her head of any stray thoughts, she said Zecora taught her this method. It was nice putting her worries behind her when she meditated; it also seemed to help out a lot with her magic. Once she perfected levitation with a clear mind, Twilight moved on to slightly more advanced spells, that required different emotional blueprints, like the night light spell. Sweetie momentarily blinded Twilight on her first attempt, but she got the hang of it and they moved on.

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Applejack
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Applejack galloped through strange plants at a cautious speed. She feared for her sister in whatever weird scheme Discord had. Her vision in front of her wasn’t completely impaired by the varied strange plants, and running head first into a trap wasn’t something she felt like doing so she slowed down some more.

“Over here,” Applejack heard in the distance, any caution she had previously went out the window as she galloped full charge towards her sister's voice. She wasn’t about to let Discord pick on her little sister.

After running through a rather tall bush that seemed to be sporting mint leaves, if the smell and look was any indication, she came into a more open area with her sister smiling up at her, though she ignored that, “Alright ya no good rusty screw!” Applejack said looking around everywhere for Discord as she approached Applebloom, “show ya’self. Ah know ya’ll here. Ah won’t let yall-”

“Applejack who’re are you talking to?” Applebloom questioned.

Applejack looked around some more then directly behind Applebloom only to notice a rather huge tree directly behind her sister, her neck craned up as it towered above the surrounding apple trees and whose trunk was slightly smaller than the libraries, “What in tarnation,” she couldn’t help but utter.

“Do you like it?” Applebloom questioned, which startled Applejack out of her stupor.

Applejack looked down towards her sister, noticing her blood stained bowtie instantly, it bothered her but she was sure Applebloom had a good reason for keeping it that way, “Where’s Discord?”

Appleblooms face scrunched up in confusion, “Discord? He ain’t here as far as Ah’m aware.”

“Like tartarus he ain’t! Ah just walked through so many strange plants, and-” Applejack froze, and wondered how Applebloom even knew she was on her way there’s no reason Applebloom should have called out to her when she did, could her sister possible had made friends with Discord, “Now Applebloom, Ah won’t punish you for making friends,” she looked around and said with a raised voice, “even if it’s somepony like Discord,” she knew he’d be listening in, “but Ah want ya to be cautious, because not everypony believes he’s changed,” she ended with a raised voice as she looked around, “now come along Sugarcube we got supper waiting for us,” Applejack noticed Appleblooms confused face persisted.

“What are yo-” Applebloom paused and moved her head to look behind Applejack, smiled and laughed uncontrollably.

Applejack knew something was up, she looked behind her but didn’t see Discord mocking her in some way like she thought she’d find, “Alright Discord ya can show yourself!” Applebloom laughed even harder, “What’s so darn funny anywho?”

Applejack waited patiently while Appleblooms laughter died down, “You think Discord is the cause of those strange plants?” Applebloom chuckled, “Ah couldn’t help myself, because Ah can completely see how you’d think that, but this is all my doin’,” she said gesturing to the strange plants in front of her and the large tree behind her.

Applejack wasn’t convinced though, “Then how come yall called out to me when yall did, it’s not like Ah was bucking apple trees on my way here, and Ah know you couldn’t see me through that,” Applejack gestured to the mint bushes and other strange plants behind her.

“Ah heard you coming actually,” Applejack opened her mouth to retort but Applebloom interrupted, “you know because Ah got better hearing, like a lot better actually. But Ah have to concentrate on it which is what Ah was doing when you were on your way. It was just so quiet and peaceful Ah figured Ah’d just close my eyes and listen to things you know?” Applebloom smiled up at her, “And as it turns out there’s plenty of small sounds that’re actually kind of fun to listen to, though Ah’m kind of glad Ah’m not hearing them right now.”

“Wha, why would ya go an make all these strange plants? Ah think Ah a saw a banana bush on my way here.” She knew when her sister was lying, and this wasn’t one of those times.

Applebloom smiled sheepishly, “because Ah can? And Ah also wanted to see what all Ah can do, it’s just so much fun!”

Applejack sighed, “and what even gave ya the idea to do all this?”

“Twilight did,” Appleblooms bow tie swayed slightly in a nice summertime breeze.

“Twilight!?” Applejack questioned in surprise, she failed to see how Twilight could be involved.

“Yeah,” Appleblooms face went flush in embarrassment, “oh whoops, my bad. It completely slipped my mind, Ah was just so excited about learning more about my healing powers that Ah completely forgot to mention when Twilight had me grow a sunflower seed into a small cactus like thing, and Since Twilight’s helping Sweetie today Ah figured Ah’d see what else Ah could do, Ah guess Ah got a little carried away,” Applebloom finished looking down and ashamed.

Applejack looked behind herself then at the giant tree in front and determined that ‘a little carried away’ was putting it lightly, but opted to remain silent on that fact, instead she moved in for a hug, “Aww, that’s okay sugarcube, t’ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed of. Now let’s get going before Granny Smith and Big Mac hog all the food.” As they walked back for supper Applejack thought of something, “So just out of curiosity where’d ya get the seeds for all of these things?”

“About that…”

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Applebloom
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Applebloom was excited about today. She’d finally get to experiment with her healing abilities with Twilight at the hospital, but not till after supper. Time seemed to be taking its sweet sweet time getting to that point in time. It was being obnoxiously slow for her today. She could have went to play with her friends, or even experimented more with her plant growing abilities but she just was too hyped with the idea of healing ponies, saving them, that she didn’t want to risk being late by losing track of time while having fun.

So she milled about the house impatiently, after she did her chores. Granny Smith questioned her about the plants she made yesterday and so to help pass the time she lead her out to the various weird plants, to show them off and hopefully make time move faster. It worked, as a good hour and a half went by showing her grandma all the weird plants she could think of. It was nearing lunch and she still had a good chunk of time to go. Applejack came back for lunch and to restock her apples to sell at the market and Big Mac came back from apple bucking for lunch and to help restock. They had a nice little family meal, nothing grand like supper usually is but it was nice all the same. Applebloom complained about how slow time was going for her, like it was taunting her. They suggested she go do something, and she explained why she didn’t want to. Granny suggested she take a nice nap, and that she’d wake her up for dinner and then it’d be time for her to head on over to Twilights. Applebloom decided she’d give it a try.

Applebloom had a little problem trying to get some rest, since her mind was restless, but eventually boredom overcame her after a tortuous hour or so.

Applebloom suddenly found herself in Sugarcube Corner with a milkshake before her. She had been having a milkshakes with Scootaloo and her sister Rainbow Dash. She didn’t find any of that odd at all. She looked across the table to see Scootaloo and Rainbow enjoying their milkshakes so she went for her own before Rainbow looked at her oddly and pointed to her bowtie in a questionable manner. Concern over what could be wrong with her late parents gift made her raise her hoof grab at it, and grab at it, but it wasn’t there. She brought her hoof down to inspect it only to see it was bloody, and a quick glance at her other hoof revealed the same state. She didn’t understand what was happening as her heart began racing. She looked up from her hooves and saw a angry Scootaloo standing in front of her, but they were in the clubhouse now and Rainbow was gone. The change in scenery didn’t even click as odd to her. She tried to ask Scootaloo why her hooves were all bloody as she began to freak out about it, and got slapped.

When she opened her eyes Scootaloo was gone and she found herself in the Everfree. Tall trees and bushes surrounded her. She wandered around as she looked for her bowtie. A manticore suddenly jumped out from somewhere and she turned and ran. She didn’t run long before she hit a dead end, entrapped by earth. She turned to face the manticore but only saw trees, bushes, and, “Sweetie?” She bolted to her friends side, the closer she got the more blood began to spill into the ground from her friend. She nudged at her unconscious friend worriedly, hooves no longer bloody, while she eyed the large gash on her friend's side. She panicked and got up to get help, only to bump into Zecora, “Zecora you gotta help!” she urged, Zecora nodded and helped put Sweetie on her back so she could run them to the hospital. She put pressure on Sweeties wound but it didn’t seem to help, why wasn’t it helping? She looked up and they were at the hospital. Sweetie was quickly whisked away from her, as she felt dread wash over her.

After what seemed like hours of waiting anxiously, Twilight oddly enough came and escorted her to Sweeties room. She entered to find herself outside and alone again, surrounded by gravestones. She looked at the two immediately in front of her, she knew those two gravestones. Her blood stained bowtie was lying on the ground between them, she gently grabbed it and put it back on her mane where it belonged. That wasn’t why she was here though, she looked to her side to a third gravestone that was engraved with, ‘Here lies Sweetie Belle.’ Applebloom could only stare at it in shock, confusion, and denial. Before she could break down she felt somepony was watching her. She looked up and behind her. She saw none other Sweetie, some distance away watching her sadly, “Sweetie?” Sweeties eyes widened in shock and she ran away from her. Applebloom was confused, but quickly got up and gave chase, “Sweetie!” she screamed. She couldn’t seem to catch up to her, Sweetie seemed to just get further away anytime she left her sight, she thought it must have been teleportation. Before she knew it she was chasing Sweetie through the middle of the town. She turned a corner to the see Sweetie just enter Sugarcube Corner. She gave a burst of speed and entered.

It was packed full of ponies, Sweetie was in here somewhere and she’d find her, she wouldn’t rest until she did, “SWEETIE!” she yelled, yet nopony seemed to acknowledge her. She pushed her way through ponies.

“Applebloom,” Pinkie Pie said as she suddenly appeared in front of her.

“Pinkie have you seen Sweetie!?” Applebloom asked urgently still hyped up from the chase, she wouldn’t allow Sweetie to escape without an explanation.

“Applebloom, it’s time to get up,” Pinkie Pie said as she put her forehoof on her shoulder and shaked her a little.

“Pinkie what are you even talking about? You know what? Ah don’t care, Ah need to find Sweetie right now!” she smacked away Pinkie's hoof in agitation, any second wasted was a second Sweetie could use to get away.

“APPLE,”

"BLOOM!” Applebloom shot up, and found herself lying on her bed, heart racing, whether it was from Granny Smith yelling loudly, or the dream that was now fading from her memories, she didn’t know, “Eheh, sorry,” Granny apologised.

She blinked, and scratched at her slightly itchy eyes as she tried to remember what was going on. Then it came to her, “Is it supper time already?” She asked excitedly.

Granny smiled, “yep.”

Applebloom hugged Granny, “Thanks,” then she got her bowtie that she took off before attempting her nap, “Ah’m gonna go now,” she stated, while heading out her room.

“Not til’ after you eat first!” Granny yelled.

“Okay!” Applebloom agreed, as she headed down the stairs. All she could remember of her dream now was having milkshakes with Rainbow and Scootaloo, and chasing down Sweetie for an important reason that she completely forgot.

Applebloom scarfed down her food and almost choked on it. She was out the door with a strangled goodbye, thanks to the food still in her mouth, before they could ask her to slow down and chew her food with at least some decency. She booked it to the library at a full sprint the whole way. She didn’t get winded. An adult pony with a racing cutie mark at their prime couldn’t hope to sprint that far without it taking in some labored breathing, yet she breathed as though she merely walked there.

She opened the door, walked through, and found Spike cleaning some shelves. “Hey Spike, are yall ready to go?”

Spike looked down to her from his position on a ladder at her, “Oh hey, Applebloom. Yeah just let me go get her real quick,” he got down the ladder and went up the stairs. A moment later, Spike came down the stairs, “Alright she’ll be on her way, it shouldn’t be too long,” Spike said as he went back up the ladder to continue cleaning.

“Aren't you coming with us?” Applebloom asked, since Spike didn’t look like he was going to come.

“Ahh no, I’ll pass on that. I’m not a big fan of hospitals, besides somepony needs to keep the library open, especially after we closed it for three days. Mayor Mare wasn’t too happy about that-” Spike got interrupted.

“Applebloom, I’m glad you could make it, sorry about the wait!” Twilight interrupted as she moved down the stairs, “So you ready to get started?”

“You betcha! Ah’ve been so excited to get started on this, you don’t even know,” Applebloom shaked in and hopped slightly.

“Oh, I may have an idea,” Twilight said with a knowing smile, “so let's go already, Spike I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

“Cya Spike,” Applebloom called out. Spike gave his goodbye as the door closed. Applebloom hopped around Twilight like a filly going to Sugarcube Corner on her birthday. She was going to save lives, and make ponies better. She doesn’t know what she’d do if she wasn’t able to heal Sweetie like she did, the thought of losing one of her best friends was just too much to bare. She didn’t like that other ponies could be going through the same situation she did. If she could help them, save them from that kind of loss, she would. She would become a beacon of hope in this harsh unforgiving world that claimed her parents, and threatened to claim her sister more times than she wanted to admit. All she needed to do was prove that it was her who saved Sweetie, and then to learn how she can use it. She would become the light of some ponies darkest hour and save them from whatever fatal injury was inflicted upon them. After all life doesn’t acknowledge mercy, she’d have to be there to give it. She needs to be able to do this, she can’t be helpless, she just won’t allow it.

The hospital was in sight, and soon enough they walked inside, “Princess Twilight! Glad you could make it,” said a nurse that occupied the lobby desk, “I’ll be one moment, while I retrieve Doctor Dish.”

Twilight nodded and they waited, “So I heard you went and grew a bunch of weird plants yesterday? Something about a bush of bananas, a tomato the size of a pumpkin, and you also made a huge tree almost the size of my library?”

Applebloom smiled at that, “Yep, Ah did all those things, Ah even made a red raspberry tree, and-” she stopped herself, and hopped excitedly, “That reminds me! Did Applejack tell you about my super hearing?”

“Ahh, she did briefly mention it yes, but why don’t you tell me about it?” Twilight asked with peaked interest.

“Well if I close my eyes and just listen to things Ah can hear all these things around me that I never could before, like insects crawling about and leaves lightly brushing against each other in a weak breeze, it’s actually quite relaxing, as odd as that sounds,” Applebloom described. It was a rather nice experience that she wouldn’t mind repeating sometime, “but Ah have to really just focus on the sounds around me.”

“Eh hem,” a light green stallion wearing a white jacket and a stethoscope around his neck interrupted, he bowed to Twilight, “Your highness,” and raised soon after, “Thank you for stopping by our humble establishment.”

Applebloom saw Twilight's smile falter for an instant before it was back like it never happened, if she blinked she would have missed it, “Doctor Dish that’s not necessary you can just call me Twilight,” she gestured to her, “and this here is my- ahem my umm, friends little sister Applebloom,” Twilight said with a strained smile. Applebloom couldn’t figure what had Twilight in such a twist, she was sure it wasn’t the good doctor if Twilights micro-aggression was anything to go by. No, it definitely had something to do with her specifically, she could just feel it.

“As you wish your Twilightness,” he said with a bow, “and you can just call me Petri or Dish if you prefer,” then he brought his attention to Applebloom, “Ahh, and you must be the miracle filly, I’ve heard a lot about you, bringing somepony back from such dire straights is very impressive, giving somepony a fighting chance!” He said looking up and making gestures with his hooves that almost made sense.

Applebloom thought he was a little cooky and smiled, “Thanks.”

Twilight jumped in, “Well Dish I think it’s time we get started,”

“I couldn’t agree more now that introductions are out of the way, let us go!” He gestured to stairs that go up. As they moved he talked about the patients he planned on introducing them to starting with physical injuries. He explained the varying degrees of physical trauma the patients had, including one unlucky mare who’d be lucky to walk ever again, and a stallion who got a nasty burn on the right side of his face blinding his right eye and significantly blinding his left. Applebloom didn’t like what she was hearing, but she saved Sweetie, she was sure she’d heal these ponies no problem. She was going to be the world's mercy, she was sure of it, and that hyped her up. She always loved helping ponies and knowing the unforgiving truth of the world only made her want to do it more. Soon they entered a rather large room lined with patients of varying injuries, some significantly more severe than others, “and here we are,” Dish said as he gestured them to come inside, “now I think we should start out small so we could maybe get an idea on how this works,” he said walking up to a light yellow mare with a half pink and half blue mane sporting a rather large bruise on her shoulder, Applebloom knew this pony, “this here is-”

“Bon Bon, what’re you doing here?” Applebloom asked. She knew Bon Bon from her candy shop, pretty much the best one in town for fillies and colts, Sugarcube Corner might be the best bakery in town, but they haven't perfected candy the way she has.

Bon Bon looked down at Applebloom, and smiled in recognition, “Oh you know me, just chasing after Lyra, because she forgot her lyra for the umpteinth time and then tripping and almost dislocating my shoulder on some giant boulder but not really. I instead ended up with this here bruise…” she smirked, “Got any more apples by the way? We all know I could use some more of those,” she teased.

“Ah try to be an overly aggressive seller once and Ah never hear the end of it,” Applebloom complained with a smile. She might not know Bon Bon too well, but she and her friends had been to her store more than a few times for the great candy and they ended up sharing some conversations. Not to mention she let them try and get their cutie marks there. “Anywho, Ah’m here to get rid of that there nasty bruise and heal everypony else here!” Applebloom beamed with confidence. She was originally doubtful about her ability to heal other ponies, but after all the weird plants she made yesterday and the fact she saved Sweetie, she had no doubts this was something she could do.

Bon Bon smiled, “Aww, how sweet of you, but just, don’t put your hopes up.”

Twilight stepped in the conversation, “She’s right Applebloom, this is completely new territory, so just don’t expect to be saving everypony by yourself, that’s too much to ask any one pony. Everypony in this hospital works as a team to help the sick and injured, no one pony can do it all by themselves.” Bon Bon nodded approvingly at Twilight.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way can we get started?” Dish asked.

“Alright,” Bon Bon agreed. Applebloom got lifted up via Twilight's magic to Bon Bons bed. She placed her forelegs on Bon Bons bruise gently. Bon Bon hissed in pain, and Applebloom froze but for a different reason. She didn’t know how to heal, only that she can. She focused on trying to heal like she had previously, but stopped soon after knowing that wouldn’t work.

“A-Ah don’t know how Ah did it,” Applebloom whispered.

“Remember what Puddingheads journal said about honest vision?” Twilight asked, apparently she heard Appleblooms plight.

“Oh yeah, honest vision…” Applebloom said, putting slightly more pressure on Bon Bon than intended.

“Ow, hey be more careful that hurts,” Bon Bon rightly complained.

“Oops, sorry Bon Bon, Ah didn’t mean to honest,” Applebloom apologised. Bon Bon merely looked at her intently, supposedly it was supposed to be intimidating but it just made her smile, and Bon Bon chuckled soon after. Applebloom thought about what honest vision meant, her eyes were filled with tears at the time, so she doubted Puddinghead meant it in the literal sense, but then again maybe he did. So she looked around and thought about the situation at hand logically, she’s here to help heal ponies and the one she’s partially leaning on is Bon Bon. Bon Bon has a badly bruised shoulder, after tripping into a boulder, unless Bon Bon was lying for some reason; that was what was honestly happening right now. All she has to do is keep adding more facts to that and Bon Bon should be healed right up. After about two minutes of no visible changes, she thought to maybe ask some questions, “Where did you get hurt?”

“In the park earlier today, strangest thing, there was some huge boulder there even though I know for a fact that thing hasn’t been there in the past,” Bon Bon said, Applebloom for whatever reason felt the need to look in Twilight’s direction and saw her cringe.

“Yeah…” Twilight said, everypony else brought their attention to the princess, who then looked back and forth nervously, “that sure is strange, because boulders don’t suddenly pop out of the ground right? That would just be ridiculous,” she chuckled and smiled fakely.

Applebloom ignored it and added mysterious boulder to her list of growing facts around this situation while keeping her hooves in contact with Bon Bon. Still no new changes, “it’s not working,” Applebloom complained, a seed of doubt planted in her mind, “maybe it only works on serious injuries,” she suggested.

“I don’t see why that would be the case, I mean you said you healed from some minor scratches from a trip you took yourself,” Twilight pointed out.

“Well what if self healing is different then healing other ponies or what if Ah need to heal worse injuries before Ah can heal lesser ones? You said it yourself that we’re in new territory,” Applebloom countered.

“Well that’s fair enough I guess,” Twilight responded, then faced Bon Bon, “sorry Bon Bon but Applebloom has a point she might not be able to heal your bruise, but we will try again if we make any progress, right?” She finished looking to Applebloom.

“You know Ah will,” Applebloom answered, then paused and jumped from the bed, “now come on show me your worst.”

“Alright if you’ll come with me I’ll lead you to Miss Tornado,” Dish said, as he lead them down the room past several other injured ponies to a pegasus covered in bandages, “she got struck by lightning, and then fell on a fence, it was quite the horrendous incident, she’s lucky to be alive. She’s actually scheduled to be moved to Canterlot for spinal surgery so that she can hopefully retain some movement in her forehooves, but unfortunately too much damage has been done for us to repair her wings and back hooves, but if you pull a miracle here today, well you’d at least have two ponies you can count on to go out of their way to help you,” Dish then brought a hoof to his chin, “Well that’s unfair, I can’t speak for her, and I won’t but you’d at least have one pony who’d go out of their way to help you, and I’m of course speaking about me,” he ended high pitched while making a grand gesture to himself.

Applebloom found it kind of funny, and smiled, he was goofy, “Ah can do this Ah know I can, I just have to figure out how, don’t worry Miss Tornado Ah’ll fix you good as new,” Applebloom said loudly, the patient next to hers brought his attention toward her and she saw his face bandaged heavily. She noted that he must be the burn victim Dish mentioned, it unnerved her as she looked at his distant squinting eye, as he tried to see anything but blurs. She somehow knew he could hardly make out anything but colored blurs. She brought her attention away from him and back to Miss Tornado. She brought her hoof down on Miss Tornado ever so gently and tried.

She tried for about six minutes of nothing happening, Twilight would make suggestions that didn’t work and it was starting to chip away at her confidence in making these ponies better, “Well we always knew this might not work Applebloom,” Twilight said placing a hoof on her withers comfortingly, “I think we should take a short break and try again later,” Twilight said softly.

Applebloom didn’t want to take a break, “No! Ah’m not moving till Ah make her better,” she protested.

Twilight’s hoof removed from her withers and she spoke, “alright we’ll give you a couple more minutes…” Applebloom went back to trying everything thing she could think of to achieve that future she saw for Miss Tornado. Nothing seemed to be working, she was getting frustrated with this. Why won’t it just work she wondered. Before she knew it Twilight spoke up again, “Alright Applebloom it's been a couple minutes let's take a break.”

Applebloom won’t accept this, she can’t accept this, it should be easy, “no!” she hissed, “If Ah can’t help her then maybe,” she looked around, “maybe Ah can help him,” she pointed to the stallion that looked in her direction earlier and quickly jumped from Miss Tornados bed to his and began trying to heal him. Applebloom felt something begin to form around her and lift her away from him, no doubt Twilight using levitation. What neither of them knew though was that Applebloom could cancel that spell with a mere thought, “Let me go!” she yelled and the spell was canceled instantly leaving her to make a surprisingly graceful landing on the bed. She quickly went back to trying to heal the stallion, “come on, work, Ah made a freaking huge tree with ease why is this any different?” she said quietly. Twilight apparently too stunned to do anything else.

“Alright th,” *cough,* “that’s quite enough little miss,” said a unfamiliar raspy weak voice right next to her, which shocked her out of her desperation. She looked to the stallion and his one bad eye as it squinted at her as if it’d ever help him see better, “I know you want to help me and all th,” *cough cough* “these other ponies out and I appreciate it, but sometimes life just isn’t fair, I loved, ahem, reading books, but now I’m going to have to learn braille to keep,” *cough* “that hobby. We all knew this was a off chance, no offence but we never put any real faith in this actually working, so pl,” *cough* “please don’t feel bad if you don’t succeed,” he finished.

Applebloom couldn’t accept his words and tried harder, and harder. She demanded him to be healed in her desperation. Nothing was working. Nothing worked. She snapped back to reality, it didn’t happen, she got up and looked around in a moment of silence. She saw Twilight and Dish watching her patiently, then she scanned the room to all the other patients with bad injuries some she knew they’d never fully recover from, as she realized that they’d have to live with those disabilities for the rest of their lives. The thought creeped into her mind taking hold of her. She brought her attention back to the stallion who loved to read but might as well now be blind, and her eyes got misty. She couldn’t help them. She put her hoof on his shoulder to show she cared and to apologize for not being good enough.

Twilight spoke up, “We’re not gi-” but was interrupted by the stallion as he gave a strangled cry of pain, that soon turned into a scream of agony. Applebloom helplessly watched as the stallion brought his hooves to his face and howled in what seemed like extreme pain. She wanted it to stop, why was this happening?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Grand Piano Inn’s best room was everything the bright yellow mare could hope it would be. The view was spectacular, the decor was both fancy, functional, and overall just great. It had a sauna, and hot tub, mini bar, world class kitchen, any kind of bed she wanted, and even a dance floor. Since the suite took the pretty much the whole top floor there was plenty of room. She loved the room and the service, but she was getting bored after a couple days. Living a stagnant life of security was dull to her, since her life up till now has been mostly chaotic and thrilling mentally at least. There’s only so many times she can sit in a sauna relaxing before it loses its charm, same could be said for the hot tub. She’s been in this situation once before but that time was anything but relaxing, regardless of her attempts to make them so. She didn’t possess ‘The Believers Bracelet’ then like she does now. She had to build on her lie and make it more believable. She didn’t get caught that time. She had already made that mistake two times prior and the second time was with some truly dark characters that she wished she never met. Though now that she had the bracelet she could probable get them off her back for good, that was a nice thought.

Another nice feature to the suite was the fact that the roof was one flight of stairs away. That’s rather convenient for a pegasus, maybe not as great as a balcony or large window that can open both of which this suite was sorely lacking in her opinion. Out of boredom, she figured she’d go for a fly, and browse some shops, not that she had any bits to buy anything with but she did have a wonderful bracelet that would help her out. She had to use it when the real Charity Well showed up for her suite room. She was glad she had the receptionist contact her when Charity arrived, as she didn’t want the guard involved. She claimed to be named Charity Well from a company that requested the suite and that it must have been some freak mix up that led to the current situation. Everypony seemed to believe her rather hastily made story, but the real Charity wanted to be compensated with interest for the mix up, as she had already prepaid for the room. The hotel owner took that as an insult and they verbally fought each other, both seeming to try and win her favor in their arguments. She found it odd, but she didn’t want to deal with them so she suggested court and went back to her suite.

After flying around a bit, she found a street that seemed to have an interesting set of shops, so she landed, and window shopped. As she walked she noticed a reoccurring poster on some of the businesses windows. She inspected one briefly, and noted it was for some Martial Arts Festival, that if the date was anything to go by was going to happen in about two weeks. Uninterested in that kind of thing, she ignored it and moved on. She entered the first shop that caught her eye, which happened to be a jewelry store.

The proud owner and proprietor of ‘Obsidians Fine Jewelry’ watched as a potential customer browsed his wares, ready and eager to offer assistance should he need it. A bright yellow pegasus mare sporting a brown cloth bracelet with a beautiful black shard walked in drawing his attention. She browsed around his vast collection of fine jewelry for a little bit. The stallion who had already been browsing waved him over, about time he thought. He had been in a his shop for a good five minutes and was only now deciding to ask for assistance? Sure he’s seen others do it longer and more suspiciously, but he felt something off about that stallion, he could feel it in his gut. The mare still looked around and he felt he could trust her not to pull a fast one so he moved to the stallion, “How may I help you sir?” He said neutrally.

“How much is this?” the stallion questioned as he pointed to one of his more prized pieces of jewelry a gold necklace beautifully crafted, sporting a lovely design equipped with diamonds. There was a sign right below it that clearly stated its price.

He felt more than as little annoyed at this stallions stupidity, but he’s dealt with this situation several times before, “That’s the price right there,” he said with clear annoyance in his voice, while he pointed to the price tag.

“You expect me to believe that’s the real price of something like that? I’ve been to several jewelry shops and none of them had their prices that low…” the stallion said, with a distrustful frown, clearly displaying the true meaning of his words.

The shop owner knew exactly what the ‘customer’ was implying and he’s dealt with that several times in the past as well, “I’ve been in business here for twenty five years sir,” his voice barely containing his anger, “If I were to sell anything that wasn’t legitimate, then I’d have been run out of Manehattan long ago.”

“Hey, you’re being mighty defensive there, maybe I should have somepony check it before I buy it,” the stallion stated clearly still interested in the item, but seemed to completely ignore his defence.

Normally he would have been ecstatic at such an offer to prove yet again he’s a legit trustworthy business pony, but something about this stallion seemed more sinister to him for some reason, “Maybe not. Get out. Before I call the guard on you,” he whispered angrily.

“You know what I’m not interested in your overpriced cheap imitation wares anyways,” the stallion yelled as he stormed out.

The shop owner felt better now that that thief was out of his establishment, he couldn’t trust anypony to be an upstanding citizen these days, well accept that mare over there, she seemed alright. She waved him over, “How may I help you miss?”

“I was just wondering how much those were,” she asked as she pointed at a set of earrings that he completely forgot to put a pricetag on.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry about that miss…” he said fishing for her name.

“Oh, I’m Light Wind, but you can just call me Light, and you are?” she answered and questioned politely.

He smirked, happy to even be talking to her for some reason, she seemed like and outstanding pony, “I’m the owner of this fine establishment,” he bowed.

“Umm, the price?” She asked shyly, yet rudely.

“Oh, my where are my manners? I’m sure you got more important things to do, those are sixty bits,” he answered. He watched as she brought out her purse opened it and looked at it blankly.

“Umm, I don’t have any bits on me right, now,” she said sadly.

He felt sorry for her, but fortunately he had a remedy, “Well that’s okay, we can always put you down for a payment plan, I won’t even add interest to it, you seem like a honorable mare!” he quickly went and got some papers that he can file out, “Alright, so name is Light Wind, a bright yellow pegasus mare with a happy face mask cutie mark.” At the mention of her cutie mark the mare stiffened up and her mouth opened slightly in shock. He ignored her completely suspicious behavior as if it was normal, “Do you have a address I can use to contact you with?”

The mare snapped out of her stupor, “umm, right,” she handed him a card.

He looked it over, “Huh, never heard of that place before, no matter I’ll have you pay me back in payments of five bits a month, unless you want to change this arrangement?” he questioned. She nodded no, “Well I’ll be just a moment,” he said as he retrieved the topaz earrings for her. He returned to her shortly with the earrings in tow, “Here you go Miss Light I think they’ll look lovely on you.”

“Oh, th-thank you,” she smiled sweetly, “well I really must be going now,” she said as she swiftly made her way towards the exit, “bye,” she waved goodbye and left.

He sighed, and waited for his next ‘customer.’ He felt mighty protective of his things. He almost even considered closing up shop so the thieves would have to break in, and then he’d give them something alright. He felt odd after a little while, like he was lighter. He figuratively kicked himself for sending that stallion away like he did, a third party confirming what he already knows only made him look good. He felt so sure that stallion was a thief, at the time though, no not just him but anypony that would come in his establishment. Everypony accept that shy mare. Thinking about that mare he completely forgot to file away the paper he filled out with all her information. So he went to retrieve it from ontop the display case where he left it last, only to discover it was no longer there. He groaned and tapped his head against the display case.

Author's Notes:

Next time A Training Montage part 2

“She couldn’t seem to catch up to her, Sweetie seemed to just get further away anytime she left her sight, she thought it must have been teleportation. Before she knew it she was chasing Sweetie through the middle of the town. She turned a corner to the see Sweetie just enter Sugarcube Corner. She gave a burst of speed and entered.” So that dream sequence of Applebloom’s, there’s several possible meanings that it could have, and that things could represent, for instance Sweetie could represent innocence, or she could represent moments in time.

Aurthor's notes:

1.“The one exception is when Applebloom's cousin Babs Seed visited from Manehatten last summer.” This is a reference to S3E4 of MLP “One Bad Apple”
2.“She could understand why Diamond might have a grudge against them specifically after what happened at Diamonds cute-ceañera, and even more so after they played a part in getting Diamond kicked out of her editor position for the Foal Free Press.” This is a reference to S1E12 “Call of the Cutie” and S2E23 “Ponyville Confidential” respectively.
3.“ “besides it’s not like I’m a blank flank unicorn who can barely hold up a broom with her own magic,” Sweetie thought too soon.” This is a reference to S4E15 “Twilight Time”
4.“Applejack waited patiently while Appleblooms laughter died down, “You think Discord is the cause of those strange plants?” Applebloom chuckled, “Ah couldn’t help myself, because Ah can completely see how you’d think that, but this is all my doin’,” she said gesturing to the strange plants in front of her and the large tree behind her.” This is a reference to S2E’s 1-2 of MLP “The Return of Harmony”
5. “she smirked, “Got any more apples by the way? We all know I could use some more of those,” she teased.” This is also a reference to S1E12 of MLP “Call of the Cutie”

A Training Montage part 2

View Online

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Applebloom
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Screams of agony filled the second floor hallway of Ponyville’s hospital, originating from a room filled with ponies who had suffered some form of physical/chemical injury. Applebloom watched helplessly as the stallion before her wailed in what seemed like unbridled pain. She wondered why this was happening, “h-hey what’s wrong?” She shaked him with her hoof already present on his shoulder.

He didn’t seem to acknowledge her presence as he kept his hooves at the bandaged side of his face. Tears ran down his none bandaged eye as he tightly held it closed, screaming the whole time.

Applebloom didn’t know what was happening. She freaked out and turned her head, tears freely fell from her eyes, “HELP!” she screamed at doctor behind her. She blinked to clear her vision to see Twilight holding the panicked Doctor Dish back as she prevented him from helping. “Twilight?” she asked confused and alarmed that Twilight would stop a doctor from doing his work.

A sudden eerie silence filled the room. She feared the worse. To her relief, the stallion started coughing hard. She brought her attention back to him and watched as he coughed up black stuff along with a little blood. She froze, blood. The last time she saw blood instantly filled her thoughts. She zoned out as he coughed away.

Suddenly there was a deep inhale in front of her like somepony just came out of the water for some much needed air. She blinked away her tears to see a rather confused stallion looking at her. Black stuff and a some blood on the sheet he had been using for warmth earlier ignored as he blinked, again, and again. He smiled brightly as he brought his hoofs to the bandaged side of his face and began unwrapping it.

She watched intensly each time another layer of bandage was unwrapped. Instead of the ugly burned face she thought she’d see, she was surprised to see it looked perfectly healthy. Tears rolled down his eyes as he smiled like an idiot who was fantasizing about something stupid, then he glanced in her direction. Almost in slow motion he brought his hooves to her in a hug, “Thank you,” he said with much more clearer voice, than his earlier scraggly and shredded voice. Tears rained on her back, as he hugged her.

She pushed out of his grasp a little and he released her, “Umm, yeah… what just happened?” she asked, as she looked at him and then turned to a pleased Twilight whose horn was lit and Dish who seemed to have a manic grin. She felt something beside her move and saw the sheet be taken away by Twilight’s spell to be cleaned, she assumed.

“Applebloom,” she brought her attention back to Twilight, “you just healed that pony,” she said proudly.

Applebloom blinked. Did she? All she saw was a stallion who suffered some kind of extreme pain and coughed up horrible looking stuff. Sweetie hadn’t suffered like that when she healed her, but Sweetie was unconscious at the time. What if, “I feel great,” the stallion said, which brought her out of her thoughts, “you really did it, I didn’t think you could, but you did,” he grinned, “I can see. Thank you.”

Applebloom didn’t know what to make of it, “Ah, you’re welcome? But weren’t you in extreme pain just now?”

“Oh it burned. I felt like my face was dipped in lava and that I’d pass out from the pain, but something kept me conscious, like I had no choice in the matter,” he brought a hoof to his chin, “then it faded away, and I had a strong urge to cough, I couldn’t stop, that also felt like I had no choice in the matter, by then my face felt fine though, and now I feel great,” he breathed in and exhaled, then looked her in the eyes, “thank you.”

Applebloom grinned, as excitement and hope filled her, she can heal ponies. “That was horrifying and then amazing Applebloom,” Dish gushed like a school filly, “I can’t believe you actually did it. You even got rid of all that nasty stuff trapped in his lungs,” he closed in on the stallion then pulled out a tool from one of his coat’s pockets and shined a light in the stallion's previously bandaged eye, “Remarkable!” Dish said, then began to ask the stallion a bunch of questions while performing test.

Applebloom was lifted off the bed and onto the ground next to Twilight via levitation, “You knew didn’t you?” Applebloom asked. She could think of only one reason why Twilight would hold the doctor back from providing assistance.

“No, I didn’t know for sure,” Twilight said sadly, “it was a gut instint. I guess, I always had a suspicion something like that might happen. Sweetie said she remembered feeling pain when she first came to consciousness,” Applebloom felt odd with the fact, why had she not told her about it? “But it quickly faded. So I thought what if Sweetie wasn’t unconscious? When the healing started. I’m glad my hunch paid off, because that was hard to watch,” she said a matter of factly, “So, are you ready for that break?”

Applebloom snapped out of her conflicted thoughts, “Are you kidding me?” she jumped ontop of Miss Tornados bed, “Ah’m not leaving till Ah sav- Ah mean heal everypony here, an Ah mean everypony,” she gently brought her hoof to Miss Tornado and accepted the fact that she may well never fly again, let alone walk. She didn’t get the immediate response she hoped for. She thought about Scootaloo when the subject of not being able to fly popped up, as long as she knew her she’s never seen her fly.

Now that she thought about it Scootaloo seemed pretty defensive anytime they suggested she try flying to get something that was just out of their reach. She began to imagine what it would be like to live with the expectation of being able to fly, but to never accomplish it. She couldn’t even begin to think how that’d feel, then she thought what if it was her cutie mark? What if she never got her cutie mark after being told her whole life that it’d come eventually. That felt awful, then she thought about Sweetie and how that almost happened to her.

Tornado gave a loud yet short muffled gasp, which knocked Applebloom out of her dissenting thoughts. Tornados eyes watered and she hissed, and even though it was bandaged she could tell her face was scrunched up. Applebloom watched intensly as Tornado struggled against whatever pain befell her. She wished they didn’t have to feel pain, it was just another harsh pill of reality she’d have to swallow. Tornado seemed to relax. She no longer twitched or hissed in pain. She set her eyes on Applebloom, “mmmaaa oooouu,” she said in an extremely muffled voice. Her lightning blue eyes widened in shock, as she began to move her previously immobile forelegs to the unwrap the bandages that cover her head, rather unsuccessfully.

“A little help here, Twilight,” Applebloom asked, and watched as a purplish pink the aurora of Twilight's magic freed Tornados head from the shackling wraps. Revealing a light grey coat, a rough dark grey mane, and a kind smile.

Tornado brought her attention to Twilight, “could you please remove all the bandages, P-Princess?” she asked in a rough aged voice yet feminine voice, similar to Rainbows. Twilight visible glanced at Dish, who was distracted with the other patient, and hesitated, “I’m okay, honest,” she smiled gratefully at Applebloom.

“Well if you’re sure…” Twilight responded, and started to remove the rest of the bandages, “and just Twilight is fine.”

Soon the bandages were removed. Applebloom watched as Tornado stretched her freed legs and wings. Tornado froze and brought her attention Applebloom, and again in slow motion Applebloom watched as another pony reached out for a hug. She accepted her fate and let it happen. It felt nice, like she actually accomplished something. Tornado’s hug was gentler than the stallions, whose name now that she thinks about it she hasn’t gotten. The hug almost reminded her of Big Mac, accept she was older than Big Mac, but she clearly wasn’t near Granny Smith’s age. She closed her eyes and hugged back tightly, she continued even after Tornado stopped hugging, though she did pat her head, it felt nice.

Her eyes were slightly moist when she stopped hugging the mare, whether it be in happiness that she just allowed Tornado to get her life back or sadness of the ponies she’s been deprived of she didn’t know, “you know the good doctor over there,” Tornado said and pointed to Dish, which brought Applebloom out of her unorganized thoughts, “was right. I would and will go out of my way to help you out. They told me that I could have recovered from the lightning bolt just fine, but when I got…” she looked at Applebloom briefly, then looked back into what seemed nothingness “I mean, when I crashed into the fence, it hit my spine just above my wings, stopping whatever natural healing process Pegasi have against lightning, from my wings down, it also halted the progress in my forelegs and head, I was basically a vegetable, with the slight hope of maybe regaining full use of my forelegs and head…” She brought her attention back to Applebloom, as her eyes watered, “I-I don’t know how I can even begin to repay you.”

Applebloom didn’t know how to respond to so much gratitude, “y-your welcome?” she questioned, “Ah’m glad to help,” she grinned confidently. She felt alive and ecstatic. That’s three times now she healed ponies, four if she included herself. She could actually do it, and she had a rough idea on how to. She began fantasizing about all the ponies she’d help, whose lives were unjustly altered or put at risk by cruel chance. The thought was thrilling and just made her feel giddy.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Tornado asked which brought Applebloom out of her fantasies, “Applebloom right?” she brought a hoof to her chin, “now wher-” Tornado froze, eyes dilated. She frowned slightly and brought Applebloom into another gentle hug, not saying a word. Applebloom was confused by this, but hugged back anyways. It was odd, she felt safe and loved even though she hardly knew Miss Tornado. “...Applebloom you’re a great filly, and I’m sure your whole family is very proud of you,” she said, and Applebloom felt pride with that, not understanding the true meaning of her words. She stopped hugging again, “seriously though don’t be afraid to ask me for help. Now I think you’ve said you wanted to heal everypony here?”

“You’re right!” Applebloom said excitedly. She quickly got off the bed, “Thanks Miss Tornado,” and onto somepony else's who needed healed, She’s not going to let anypony suffer. If all the patients and guest in the hospital weren’t made aware of Appleblooms abilities then somepony could have rightfully thought they ended up in a nightmare hospital that tortures its patients, with all the screaming and hollering from the patients who suffered more painful injuries. She never felt more alive, she was sparing these ponies the kind of absolute hopelessness she felt when she understood Sweetie’s situation.

She didn’t like that they felt pain while she healed them, but she would personally inflict worse pain on them before she’d allow a pony to be defeated by this cruel world. Then she’d heal them whether they wanted it or not. Not that no pony didn’t want her help, in fact everypony in the hospital wanted her help. She had to ignore several attempts ponies made to draw her attention to them, she seeked out those who were clearly worse off. Doctor Dish got some nurses in the rather large room to help him test and question those who she healed, as she was going faster than he could rightfully check them out. That’s not to say that she healed them right away, just that Dish was being thorough in his tests. Twilight shadowed her silently with a large proud smile.

Applebloom eventually made it back to Bon Bon who had a look of pure amazement on her face, “Applebloom, you know what?” Applebloom looked at her questioningly as she rested a foreleg Bon Bons shoulder, “I think you just earned yourself and two friends some free candy.” Applebloom didn’t let that tantalizing offer sway her thoughts on the fact that Bon Bon is gonna have to live with a mobile impairing bruise that stings like tartarus for the next two weeks at least. Bon Bon gritted her teeth and they all watched the swelling and purple blotch around Bon Bons shoulder reseeded.

“Ah might just take you up on that offer…” Applebloom grinned, “cause you know, I could always use some more candy.”

Bon Bon was quick to catch on to her meaning and deviously grinned back, “Yeah, I suppose you could,” she said seriously.

Applebloom froze unsure what just happened, did Bon Bon just cancel the banter? Could she have done that all along? “Wha-” Applebloom said mouth hung open. Bon Bon has gone so far as to make a pretty sign with glitter stating her need for apples and hanging it up while Applebloom browsed her candy shop. It might not have ever hurt her feelings, but there were times when she was annoyed. Mostly when Bon Bon first started doing it, but every once in awhile she’d spare Applebloom and her friends some free candies. She didn’t know why Bon Bon would do that, but she appreciated the free candy. All she knew was that Bon Bons teasing was more playful than malicious.

Bon Bon chuckled, “It just doesn’t work that way,” she patted Appleblooms head, “Anyways thanks Applebloom, you’re a great filly,”

Regardless of how many times she’s heard that today alone, it still made her blush and feel shy, “thanks, Ah do my best,” she said as she looked down at the bed. Her thoughts on the matter were far different. She unleashed Discord unto to the world. She went on a suicide mission to delivery some pies, making her sister worry. She endangered her best friends lives. She had been so reckless in the past, so sure everything would always turn out right. Now that she can and has healed ponies, she still felt terrified of the future. She can’t be everywhere at once, what if somepony got critically injured and she wasn’t there to heal them, knowing how cruel the world can be she wouldn’t be surprised if that happened. She felt like she was merely putting a bandaid on a small cut of a pony who’s terminally ill from some horrible disease. That what she had just done solved nothing, and merely prevented things from getting worse than they already were. She couldn’t shake that feeling of dread, that she was one incident away from losing more loved ones, “Ah do my best,” she said looking down, as she frowned.

Twilight squealed in delight and embraced Applebloom in a tight hug, “Applebloom you have no idea how so so so proud of you I am right now!” She exclaimed in excitement, she released the hug, “I wish Applejack was here to see this, it’s too bad she has all that extra work to do so we can go on that vacation in Manehattan, but we got about two hours before the sun sets so I think we should call it a day,” Twilight suggested. Just as Twilight said that, a nurse wheeled in a unicorn filly with a mangled and disfigured back leg, eyes held shut as tears rained down. A grey pegasus mare with unfocused golden eyes was at her side stroking the filly’s mane, cooing at her to remain calm, she recognised the mare as Derpy Hooves, the mailmare, “What happened?” Twilight asked in concern.

Applebloom knew that pale purple filly, she was in the younger classes that Cherilee taught, the name escaped her, ‘Muffin’ came to mind but she knew that was a nickname Derpy gave her. She was alarmed to see her leg in such bad shape, even ponies so young weren’t safe. That creeping dread ever building. “Prin- I mean Twilight,” Derpy said with relief washing over her face, “can you help my muffin?” Applebloom was quick to jump on the gurney to help, Derpy eyed her curiously but otherwise ignored her, “We were at the park taking a walk when Dinky,” Applebloom smiled in recognition of the fillies name, “saw a huge boulder in the park that I've never seen before and she wanted to climb it, so I let her. Just before she reached the top some loose soil made her slip and she fell, I tried to catch her...” she said sadly, “I-I just, please help her,” she pleaded.

If Applebloom had been watching she would’ve seen one of Twilights eyes twitch, before she laughed manically, “...A boulder in the park you say? One that you haven't seen before? Applebloom I trust you know what to do. Derpy, Applebloom here well help out Dinky. I’m sorry, but there’s something urgent that must be dealt with immediately,” with that there was a brief charge up of magic followed by loud pop and brief flash of light that could only be Twilight as she teleported for some reason. Applebloom went to work and soon after that Dinky gave restrained cries of pain as her leg began to unmangle, it wasn’t a pretty sight.

She brought her attention away from Dinkys leg to Derpy who hugged her daughter and continued stroking her mane lovingly. Applebloom felt a little jealous at the sight, she wished that was her. She also felt small sense of accomplishment and pride but that was overshadowed by thought of how many more ponies were suffering even worse fates and she wasn’t there to help them. She felt like she was fighting a just war, and she was on the losing side. She wondered what was to stop something from happening to Dinky again? It felt like no matter what she did the world would continue to be cruel and unforgiving. A never ending fear of what could go wrong.

Before Applebloom knew it Dinky was on her hooves and jumping excitedly on the gurney like it was her bed, previous pain forgotten. Again in slow motion, she watched as a pony this time an excited filly ambushed Applebloom in a hug. All this positivity was making her anxious, knowing ponies suffered elsewhere. She felt like the weight of the world was on her back and she couldn’t hold it all together as pieces fell, that it was in a constant state of decay yet never weighed less. She wouldn’t allow herself to accept defeat, she refused. Soon after the hug ended, Derpy gave her thanks then talked to the nurse briefly before they left since it was getting late for Dinky.

Applebloom could have sworn she heard Twilight yelling in the distance outside very agitated about something. Suddenly there was a pop and flash of light behind her on the floor, and she assumed it was Twilight returning, “Don’t hurt me, please,” was all the yellow earth pony mare sporting some blue joggers sweat bracelets and a blue sweat band could say. She also had some nasty scrapes on her forelegs, as she hid behind them, cowering, much to Appleblooms perplextion.

“Howdy,” Applebloom waved, gaining the mares attention and confusion, “Looks like you could use some help.” Applebloom was glad she appeared, she needed to stop thinking about things.

The mare looked at the scrapes on her forelegs, “where am I?” she asked.

“You’re at Ponyville Hospital,” Bon Bon answered, which brought the mares attention away from Applebloom while the mare made the ‘oh’ face of understanding.

“here let me help you out,” Applebloom said, as she jumped down from the gurney that the nurse apparently forgot to remove after she started her conversation with Derpy, “So what happened to you?”

“Well I was jogging outside when-” the mare began but hissed and Applebloom watched as the scrapes quickly disappeared from her forelegs, “What?” she asked looking at her now spotless forelegs, well besides some dirt, she looked at Applebloom questioningly.

Applebloom smiled, “you’re welcome.”

the mare blinked at her, “...um, I-” she was interrupted by a loud pop and flash of light right beside her, which caused her to jump like a scared cat.

Twilight appeared where light and sound was emitted, after briefly looking around Twilight brought her attention to the mare who was staring at her princess in fear, “I see you’re all better now, just try to be more careful in the future,” Twilight suggested and the mare nodded barely, with that Twilight charged up her horn and the mare was teleported out of the room with yet another flash of light and loud pop, “Well,” Twilight rubbed her forehead like she had a headache, “that took a lot out of me, but I’m glad that’s over with,” she looked around, “Where’s Derpy and Dinky?”

“Oh it was getting late so they went home after Ah healed Dinky,” Applebloom answered, “and what’s over with?” she asked.

“Nothing nothing, it’s over with and that’s all anypony needs to know about it,” Twilight said with finality.

“Okay then, Ah was just wondering is all,” Applebloom defended.

Twilight suggested they call it a day but Applebloom refused. When she said she wasn’t going until everypony was healed she meant it. So they moved to the untested sick ponies, who suffered everything from the magical disease known as the trotts which suddenly forces a pony to well trott at unexpected times, to more mundane yet deadly things like the flu. She was able to heal them to, some cases made her almost puke at how gross they were. She still didn’t understand how or why she could heal, but she wasn’t going to waste this ability. She intended to help as many ponies as she could. She never wanted to feel that again, and she’d go to Tartarus before she’d let somepony else feel it.

The sun was down and the moon was up by the time she got to everypony in hospital. Applebloom never felt a hint of fatigue, she found that kind of odd as when she grew plants she could feel energy leave her it was faint, but there. When she healed it was almost like she was doing nothing to help them, even though there was no denying it was her. Doctor Dish lead them downstairs, “Well Applebloom, I appreciate everything you’ve done here today, but I’m afraid you’ve effectively put me out of the job,” he said with displeasure, Applebloom looked at him questioningly, as he smiled back, and kneeled in close, “this is the best reason to be out of the job by the way,” and Applebloom giggled at his continued attempts at being funny.

Once they made it to the lobby Applebloom was happily shocked when most of the ponies she’d healed and the hospital staff yelled, ‘surprise,’ as they walked into the now decorated hospital lobby. Applebloom was quick to get a snack and meet some of the ponies she helped, she was so focused with healing them all, that she was surprised at how many of their names she didn’t even know. She got the name of the stallion who she first healed and talked a little more to Tornado. At one point she wondered if she got her cutiemark for healing ponies but was disappointed to find her flank bare. Twilight who had been happy throughout the celebration became noticeable nervous and worried after that, well at least to Applebloom she did. Overall it was a great experience. It just made her want to go to another hospital full of more ponies and do it all again. She almost felt guilty that she enjoyed the surprise party, what with ponies undoubtedly suffering elsewhere, but since it was full of reminders why it was happening in the first place she just felt a little guilty.

Twilight escorted her home, once the party was over. Applebloom found it hard to get to sleep that night. Her mind just wouldn’t rest, so many thoughts and concerns. So many worries.

The following week she learned more about alchemy, and for some reason Applejack hired somepony to help out around the farm, and reduced the amount of chores she had to do, though she did say she’d explain why she did that once on vacation in Manehattan. She spent most of her free time perfecting new alchemy creations Twilight and Zecora taught her, since she could literally make all the supplies she needed, well except the beakers, burners, and other tools. Zecora had her grow several different plants on several occasions for Zecora's own potions. Applebloom was learning so much more about alchemy than she ever had in the past. Though it didn’t hurt that Twilight and Zecora collaborated in teaching her, while supplies were not an issue at all. Twilight also tested her ‘strength’ in terms of how Puddinghead put it. It was informative, to say the least. Applebloom was excited and nervous to go on vacation. Excited to meet up with Babs Seed and the crusaders she recruited but nervous to tell her sister who’s the element of honesty, who helped save Equestria several times, that she lied to her, about something important to them no less.

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Scootaloo
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Scene One

The sun was shining, and the air was warming up from the unusually crisp night as the day took hold. Ponyville Park was not well populated during the mornings, only a few trotters and once in awhile walkers. Scootaloo knew this all too well after two years of watching her idol, now sister, practise and work out to become a Wonderbolt. Rainbow Dash wasn’t why she was here now. Rainbow was still recovering from magic depletion in Sugarcube Corner. No, Scootaloo was here because she recently learned she had the supernatural ability to control the air around her, and being the kind of pony to find superpowers awesome; she naturally wanted to learn how to control them and master them. If controlling the air around herself wasn’t a superpower then she was crazy. She found a nice clear spot in the park, free of debris, that would allow her to see if anypony was approaching. She wasn’t stupid, if she choose just anyplace, she could put herself or somepony else in danger. After what she accidently did to Twilight, she wouldn’t take any chances with putting somepony else at risk.

She took a quick glance all around and above her and saw no pony in sight, or if they were, they were too far away, or at least she hoped they were. A wicked smile crossed her lips, she was about to have some fun, but she froze when a thought came to her. Twilight had mentioned that she should be able to dig like a diamond dog, and she’s heard stories of them from Rainbow. If she could do half of what Rainbow described she’d be pretty excited about that. So she dug, and dug, and dug.

It was pitch black, before she knew it. The sun seemed to have disappeared, and she felt surrounded. She was disorientated. It was cold, and she was looking down at darkness. Regardless of this sudden change in scenery or lack thereof rather, she knew she had just somehow dug through the ground as easily as one would swim, in fact she’s sure this was easier than that. She felt thrilled by this discovery, but a little scared, she had no intention on going deep enough to reach lava, though she was sure she was far from that. She decided to keep digging around, see if there was any caves under the park for some reason, but first she resurfaced to get her bearings. turns out she didn’t stray too far from her original spot, and she quickly went back down. Air came to mind after a little searching, she realized she wasn’t running out of it even though she didn’t seem to leave a tunnel behind her when she traveled. She was slightly freaked out by this, and decided to resurface just in case, not that she had any real idea where she was in the park, a rough estimate at best.

When she popped out of the ground she was assaulted with the blinding sun, and the air was much warmer. She didn’t pay much attention to the park trail and light littering of trees that now surrounded her. She used her forelegs to easily pull herself out of the ground, but the ground itself seemed to raise herself out of it. She looked back to find a whole in the grass full of loose soil and a oddly solid surface. It was weird, it looked like a dirty elevator floor got stuck just below the grass. Now she was conflicted; she wasn’t sure if she wanted to learn more about her ability to control the air around her, or her ability to manipulate the earth around her. Both options sounded very appealing to her, but with her fear of her wings, it was no contest that she decided to learn about the latter.

She dived back into the earth and swiftly returned with a armful of rocks. She began fiddling with the rocks. She would crush them into dust, like they were a loose ball of sand. She watched in amazement as they seemed to bend to her will, almost like they were liquid, but they retained their unique grey look. She wondered how she had never done this before now.

This was amazing, it was like she was watching a lava lamp, except she had control over it, and it was stuck on the ground. Any attempt to remove it from the ground without her directly touching it would lead to it stretching upwards before leaving the ground and promptly falling back to the ground like a non-existent magnet was turned off, before she could move it again. She didn’t register that the grass got burned when she lost control of it. It was almost hypnotizing to her the grey rocks as they moved on the ground to her will, this was a sight she didn’t think she could ever get tired of. She suddenly got the idea to try and mold them into animal figurines. They all jutted out in what looked like attempts to follow her directions, she was making no progress. She smiled, as a better idea struck her about what to make the figurine into. So she focused on one of the larger rocks and found she was making some rough progress in the figurine she was going for, but it was still very unstable. She thought maybe combining them would make it easier, and she was right but it was extremely hard getting the shapes she wanted. It was almost like she had no control over them yet she could see it was something she’d have to work on, like writing or drawing.

Scootaloo was so lost in her experimentation that she was completely shocked when Rainbow ‘Ahem’ed’ behind her. She jumped and shrieked into the air like a scared cat, wings involuntarily spread out, and turned to face her sister. She was a little surprised to see Twilight there as well, “Oh,” she breathed in, “Hey sis,” she got goosebumps as she said that and smiled which Rainbow returned, “hey Twilight. What brings you here?” She asked trying to preemptively change the subject about what she was just doing.

“Oh you know,” Rainbow said nonchalantly and threw out her a hoof, followed by a slight cringe, “I decided to take a walk and Twilight here decided to join me,” she smiled sheepishly, “it’s not at all because we thought maybe you were gonna try and make a tornado and hurt yourself or somepony else,” she chuckled, “that’s just silly.”

“Ahh,” Twilight said as she looked and gestured below Scootaloo.

Scootaloo didn’t know what Twilight meant so she asked, “Yeah Twilight?”

Rainbow didn’t seem to notice what Twilight was looking at either, Scootaloo began to look where Twilight was, “So what were you doing all this time?” Rainbow asked bringing Scootaloo’s attention away from whatever Twilight was looking at.

“Wha- Nothing, nothing, I mean just you know umm-” Scootaloo stopped, “Do you smell something burning or is it just me?” she asked looking around.

“Scootaloo!” Rainbow screamed as she quickly plucked her from the ground, “are you okay? Did you get burned anywhere?” Rainbow asked while looking for signs of burns, much to her confusion.

“I’m fine Rainbow,” Scootaloo answered, but was put down, after Rainbow did a quick last inspection, facing burnt grass and a small fire along with a large glowing red rock at the center. The same rock she had just been molding, she didn’t recall it being hot or red. She was a little freaked out by this, but that was outshone by excitement of the possibilities.

A translucent light purple-ish pink shield suddenly appeared over the rock and smoke quickly smogged the view, “Well Scootaloo it seems I’ve been underestimating the capabilities of our ancestors, yet again. Care to explain what that is?” she gestured to the dome filled with smoke, and the cooling rock.

Scootaloo had planned to make a figurine of herself and her sister as a gift, to show how much she loved and appreciated Rainbow, but wanted that to be a surprise, “Well I planned on learning more about how to control air, but then I remembered you mentioning something about digging so I figured I’d give it a try,” Scootaloo jumped head first into the ground before either Rainbow or Twilight could stop her. Everything was pitch black for her so she blindly dug to the dome Twilight had made and outstretched her forelegs and cautiously searched for the still hot rock, not even sure if she was in the right spot, she bumped against something warm and pulled it down to her then she awkwardly dug back a little and resurfaced outside the bubble, with rock in tow.

“Wow you really can dig like a diamond dog,” Rainbow said excitedly.

“I’m not so sure that was digging it was more like swimming. She didn’t leave behind piles of dirt,” Twilight observed.

“I wish I knew I could do this stuff earlier, this is AWESOME!” Scootaloo yelled, almost buzzing her wings in her excitement, but fear keeping them firmly at her sides. “Look,” she exclaimed, as she brought her attention back to the dirty black rock, probable from the burnt grass and smoke, and its very vague beginnings of a shape that could be a figurine. She placed it on the ground and began shaping it again. Soon it was grey again and she moved it around on the ground with her forelegs and will; eventually, letting it rest on her forehoof as it wobbled continuously, like it could explode or leak at any moment. Rainbow and Twilight watched silently, the former with trepidation, fear, and awe, the latter with wonder, and concern, “So yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing,” she smiled up at them, before shoving the unstable liquid stone deep in the ground, where it couldn’t burn the grass.

“That’s interesting, you and the grass it was on wasn’t burned when you were in control… I can think of a few possibilities,” Twilight said, as her forehoof rubbed her chin.

“Egghead stuff later Twilight,” Rainbow responded, as she roughed up Scootaloo's already rough mane, “I want to see what else my sister can do.”

“Okay but what?” Scootaloo questioned, as she looked around, “Oh I know,” she exclaimed excitedly. It was something she had done once before but didn’t really remember doing it. She asked them to step back behind her she didn’t want to accidently gorge somepony least of all her sister and Twilight. Both who she owed a lot to. When they were clear, or at least she hoped they were, she did what came to mind for something like this to be possible. She reared up on her hind legs and struck down hard on the ground with her forelegs, which gave her a completely different but more awesome idea for later. As she struck the ground she imagined a spike shooting out of the ground a good distance away from herself and anypony else, and actually tried to make it happen like she did when she controlled the air. A large boulder suddenly and loudly popped out of the ground vaguely shaped like a partially submerged rough egg with the narrowest part up top, loose soil and grass tumbled down.

Rainbow was quick to return to Scootaloo and give her an excited hug, “that’s so cool.” Scootaloo leaned into the hug best she could. That wasn’t at all what she was going for. She was going for a sharp spike, like the one Applebloom described, that impaled the manticores paw. She felt no need to tell Rainbow this, but she’d work on it just to be control. She shuddered to think of the damage she could accidentally do, given everything she now knows.

“Scootaloo, that’s umm nice,” Twilight said hesitantly, as Rainbow got out of the hug, “and I know you’re excited to continue but maybe we should call it a day for now, I got to meet Applebloom, so we can test her healing abilities and I need to go over what Puddenhead said about pegasi ground magic again, because you were toying with what had to be molten rock or some pegasi ground magic version of it, and just shot a boulder up from the ground both of which are very dangerous and could be even deadly,” Twilight pointed out.

Scootaloo sighed, “You’re right Twilight, but I’ve tried to be careful. That’s why I picked a clear spot that didn’t have much stuff on the ground,” she said as she gestured around her. Then she actually looked around her. She saw some trees and she was closer to a trail that ran through the park, “I-I mean not here, I was originally gonna practise,” she looked around, “over there,” she pointed, “but then I kinda got lost when I was digging, and ended up here, and then I decided to see what I could do to rocks an-and,” she blushed looking down ashamed. She was so sure was being as safe as she could be.

“It’s alright Scootaloo,” Twilight said calmly, “I completely understand getting lost in something new and exciting, but for now could you please not do anything like that,” she pointed the large boulder towering ahead of them, “at least until tomorrow?”

“I promise, I won’t do anything like that until tomorrow,” Scootaloo said, as she clearly pointed to the boulder but she didn’t promise she would stop trying to mold a figurine of rocks turned lava.

“And also if you make anymore molten rocks you better be away from anything flammable and get away from it if you feel it might get you burned, I feel it’s safe for you to do since even the grass wasn’t burned when you were in control of it, so just please be careful,” Twilight requested, to which Scootaloo simply nodded, “Alright well I got some things to do before Applebloom shows up, you’re welcome to join us if you want.”

Scootaloo would love to go and support Applebloom, but she just couldn’t stand the hospital. she’s heard one too many horrible stories that happened in them, not too mention she almost lived one. She was about to answer with a definite ‘no’ but Rainbow covered for her, “sorry Twilight but it’s about time me and my little sister got something to eat, but we’ll see yeah tomorrow.”

“Alright then, you gonna be okay with the walk back?” Twilight asked Rainbow who nodded, “I’ll cya later then,” Twilight’s horn began to glow as Rainbow began walking towards town.

Scootaloo looked behind her at the boulder, “Wait!” which halted Rainbow and stopped Twilight, “shouldn’t I put that boulder back?” she gestured to said giant rock.

“Well there’s no laws against having it there, and it is kind of in the open, I don’t see the harm in letting it stay there, in fact it kind makes it more interesting,” Twilight said, “It’s something to look at as you walk through the path as it kind of makes a turn there,” Twilight said, as she pointed, “and it’s just far enough away from the trail that I don’t see how it could cause any problems.”

Scootaloo was skeptical, “well if you’re sure Twilight, I’ll leave it there.”

They said their goodbyes and Twilight teleported out. Scootaloo went and had lunch with her sister. She spent the rest of her day trying to mold the figurine of herself and her sister, or more accurately she spent it trying to control whatever magical force allowed her liquify and shape rocks. She tried to get it to look like them standing up and looking ahead. It wasn’t going so well, like it was her first time trying to carry a glass of water and her hooves couldn’t seem to get it steady, and it just keep spilling. She did this practise in secret and free from anything that could catch fire as Twilight requested. She had so much to learn, it was daunting and exciting at the same time, and that’s not even factoring in the flight lessons. She’s nervous about those but they won’t happen until after her sister is fully recovered. She might not have succeeded in making a figurine for her sister today, but she promised herself that she’d have one to give to her by the time they go on vacation.

Scene Two

Dead silence filled the room of the mayor's office as Mayor Mare walked back and forth impatiently behind her desk. Scootaloo, Rainbow, and Twilight all looked down in shame, as they sat on chairs at the opposite side. Scootaloo was glad it wasn’t too bad, but it certainly would have been worse if they were at the park like they were yesterday. The mayor sternly looked at them, “Don’t go anywhere,” she demanded, “I’m going to see what the holdup is,” she said, agitation clear in her voice as she firmly shut the door behind her.

“I’ve never seen her so mad,” Rainbow said, with giddy mirth.

“Rainbow this is serious, that could have really done a lot of damage. I’m just glad I decided to move to the rock quarry in whitetail woods, though I’m not so sure the diamond dogs are. You know I don’t like being called Princess and being treated better than anypony, but this is the kind of situation I should be handling,” Twilight raised her hooves in complaint.

“Twilight take it easy, nopony got hurt and the property damage was minimal, Mayor Mare will deal with the diamond dogs, she has before, kind of,” Rainbow frowned, “well I’m sure they can work something out this time, I mean now we’re kind of even right?”

“The last time she negotiated with the diamond dogs nothing was accomplished. If you consider the destruction of most their tunnel network a good trade for ponynapping and forced labor,” Twilight snapped back, “well when I put it that way, given that nopony was hurt…” Twilight trailed off, “but I highly doubt they’d see it that way.” No pony responded, outside of nods of agreement.

Silence continued after their exchange. Scootaloo felt horrible, she was really glad the diamond dogs were as good at digging as Rainbow had boasted and were able to dig themselves out of the collapsed tunnels. She didn’t think something like this would happen. It seemed like such an innocent and awesome idea at the time. She was surprised at the power she had, how has this slipped everypony's notice for so long? She thought that she’d noticed things like this. She searched her memories since she woke up from that cave. A fantastic view and elation of being high in sky, seeing everything around for miles, came to mind. She shuddered as she recalled waking up while speeding to the ground. Her wings tightly gripped her sides at the memory, she leaned against Rainbow who in turn place a wing around her.

The door opened and Mayor Mare walked in, “Well it seems everything is settled,” she said slightly giddy much to their confusion, “you are free to go, the damages have been paid for.”

“Paid for? By who?” Rainbow demanded.

Mayor Mare grinned, and directed her attention to Rainbow who still had her wing wrapped around Scootaloo, “The diamond dogs, th-”

“What!? Why would they ever do that after their tunnel systems were destroyed?” Rainbow interrupted.

“AHEM, As I was saying,” Mayor Mare rolled her eyes, “they found a couple huge stashes of rare gems because of umm what happened.”

“But most of their tunnel system collapsed, I don’t see why they would pay for any damages when they were the ones who incurred the most,” Twilight sighed, “property damage, huge stashes of gems or not. It would be in their right to sue. Also did you get that information I requested?” Twilight asked.

“Yes I did, but the reason they haven't even considered pursuing a lawsuit is because they wanted to thank you for resetting their tunnel network, something about getting lost often, and they ended up digging new tunnels to reach their destination, or so that sounds like what the case may be, anyways,” Mayor Mare directed her attention to Twilight, “the seismogram recorded a five point four on the Richter scale, now if you would ever so kindly get out of my office, I got a lot of paperwork to do,” she gestured to the door.

They got up and left and were soon in a hallway, “Well that went far better than expected. Though I don’t think that seismogram reading was right, I think all the diamond dog tunnels negated most of the power,” Twilight said as they walked.

Scootaloo felt a little better since everything seemed okay, “Well I’m glad I didn’t get my cutie mark for that.”

“Ahaha, yeah…,” Twilight said, “Your cutie mark,” she sounded very sad. Scootaloo glanced at Twilight to see her slumped down and looking down as she walked, before noticing her and plastering on a fake smile, “Well everything turned out fine at least, right? So what if there’s a gorge in Whitetail Woods now?” Scootaloo decided to remain silent and not ask about whatever’s bothering her.

Once they made it outside they were approached by three diamond dogs. They offered Scootaloo a variety of gems as repayment for fixing their tunnel situation. As she looked at the selection a brilliant idea came to her she got a large light blue gem, smaller light orange gem, and some other colored gems, most of them pink. This was going to be perfect if it worked out the way she wanted it to. Again Scootaloo retreated to the place she practised yesterday, after dropping off her gems at the Cakes guest room. She managed to get the grey liquid stone to be less shaky while holding it, but it still shimmered and rippled. When she tried to shape it, it shaked but it seemed a little more in line with her attempts.

Scene Three

It has been a week since Scootaloo received her ‘payment’ from the diamond dogs and in that time her sister recovered, with help from Applebloom, and started flight practise with Twilight and herself. It was rough going at the start, there were more than a few scary moments for her. Still with Rainbow by her side she felt safe, and broke herself free of her fear of flying, for the most part. She was uncomfortable flying alone, but shrugged it off best she could. She began practising her control on the air around her, and may have accidently created a giant tornado in the process, but luckily they weren’t near Ponyville at the time. She’s been so occupied with learning to control her new abilities and learning to fly that she hasn’t seen much of her friends, even during ‘Twilight Time’ they all had separate things to do. She was excited about showing them all the things she could do like Applebloom once had to them. She could tell they were excited about it to. They digged for details any chance they got, but she wouldn’t budge.

She still had a bit to go in learning to control her new abilities, but if she focused hard enough and spent enough time she could get the liquid stone, at least, to sit perfectly still. When she moved it, it was much more stable than it previously had been, but clearly showed room for improvement. She finally got the figurine looking good. It was smooth since it was molded from a liquid state, she didn’t chisel it even though she certainly easily could have done that. She made some final adjustments and even strayed from her original design idea in favor of a better one. Now all she had to do was make it again, wrap it up, and gift it to her sister sometime during the vacation, she hoped her sister would at least appreciate it, knowing full well that figurines aren't her kind of thing, having lived in her cloud home since she recovered.

-------------------
Twilight
-------------------

The last week or so leading up to the vacation have been nerve wracking, stressful, amazing, prideful, guilt filled, and busy for Twilight. She needed a vacation after all the hard work and effort she put into helping her unofficial students grow and learn more. She was so proud of Sweeties progress, and the spells she can safely cast while in a calm state of mind. She was blown away by what Applebloom accomplished in the hospital, and intrigued by Scootaloo's impressive abilities. Needless to say she was proud of them. Of all the things that happened there’s only one that annoyed her to no end, and it only annoyed her because thankfully Applebloom was there to fix it. She’d feel pretty horrible otherwise. Just the unlikeliness of what happened urked her, and she couldn’t help but go over her memories of it one last time before forcing herself to try and forget it ever happened, because it never should have happened, it was just so ugh.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Some days ago

Scootaloo had just shot a boulder out of the ground, it was very reminiscent of what Applebloom and Zecora described happening to the Manticore. Twilight didn’t like this one bit, she knew this as a attack pegasi had used during war, and seeing Scootaloo do it didn’t sit right with her. She called off practise of that kind for the day so she could learn more about such things and train Scootaloo more appropriately. She also had something to do with Applebloom later that day. Before she could leave Scootaloo asked if she should get rid of the boulder she had made, and she said no, mainly because she didn’t want Scootaloo doing anything like that right now, though she did think it was a nice addition to the park. She teleported back to her room and resumed translating the last bit of the journal that she needed to, unfortunately it seemed like her fears on the subject could very well be true, and it almost broke her heart. She searched the library for books on war training and safety procedures so she had a better idea on how to go about safely training Scootaloo. She located them and began reading them.

Soon enough it was time for her and Applebloom to go to the hospital where she learned of the first incident. Bon Bon had ran into a boulder in the park that, as Bon Bon had put it, ‘hasn’t been there in the past.’ She instantly knew which boulder Bon Bon was referring to. She figured it was some stupid mistake, she thought well it’s a huge boulder if they run into it it’s their own fault. She doubted anything to bad could happen again. After being completely blown away by Appleblooms healing capabilities, incident two happened with that boulder, but this time it involved a filly and a horribly bent leg. It was unbearable to see the state of Dinkys leg. She was impressed by how well Dinky was taking it. Seeing the love and concern in Derpy's eyes was tough. She felt so angry, and ashamed at herself. Scootaloo was right to ask about the boulder, but she just couldn’t see something this horrible happening. She laughed at the situation, not that she found it funny, in fact she was quite distressed about it. She just couldn’t help herself.

She quickly excused herself from them and teleported to the boulder. She was beside the trail as it moved up towards the boulder and turned. She calmed her nerves, “Alright you,” she hissed, at the boulder, “I’ve had enough of your nonsense,” she said deadly serious, the scene of Dinkys broken disfigured leg still fresh in her memory, “You were suppose to be a nice scenic addition to the park not some abomination that injures mares and fillies as they pass by,” Twilight groaned as she realised she was talking to a boulder like Pinkie’s sister, not that there’s anything wrong with that, “what has my life become?” She charged up her horn and unceremoniously blasted it with a spell that made it into a bunch of small rocks that would be easy for her to levitate to a more appropriate area. Like a rock garden, or Ghastly Gorge. Just before she could start a mare trotted by and noticed her Princess, she gave a smile and wave to her with a fore hoof as she continued. Twilight waved and smiled back, then watched as she kept going outside the trail and into the many rocks that now littered the ground. She tripped and fell, at the speed she was going it earned some nasty scrapes.

The scene of a mother cooing at her brave daughter with a mangled leg as they did their best to remain calm, came back to her with vengeance, “WHAT!?... WHY!? OH, WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU, YOU’ll WISH YOU NEVER POPPED OUT OF THE EARTH!” Twilight screamed in rage. Three times ponies got hurt because of it, ghastly gorge it was. Then she noticed the mare still there but now cowering and shaking in fear like she was about to hit her or something, wordlessly she teleported the mare to the hospital and went to work on making sure those rocks were gone for good. When she teleported back to the hospital she asked the mare to be more careful and teleported her back to the park.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking back Twilight realised she could have handled the mare a little better. She should have let Scootaloo just get rid of the boulder in the first place. She’s glad no pony pressed her on why she left when Dinky and Derpy were still in need of assistance.

That was in the past, and she’ll do her best to learn from it, but for now she wanted to think about the future. She planned on making this vacation special for the Cutiemark Crusaders, she was going to ask them if they wanted to become her official students, she hoped they’d say yes. They already kind of are her students, just not officially, and she wanted it to be official, if only for their sakes. She’s had some good memories with Celestia and she wanted to share those kind of memories with them.

Now they were packed and ready to go to Manehatten. Scootaloo had been carrying a light orange present box, wrapped with a light purple bowtie, the colors of her coat and mane respectively. She holded it closely. Sweetie asked about it, “It’s a present,” Scootaloo answered proudly.

“Aw shoot, Ah should have thought to get Babs something to,” Applebloom said sadly, “so what did you get her?”

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide, “Um, this actually isn’t for Babs and before you ask who it’s for, it’s a secret, but I think I’ll make her one to. No, I got a better idea,” Scootaloo smiled broadly.

“One what?” Applebloom asked.

Scootaloo groaned, “I’m not saying,” she smirked, “but it is pretty neat at least if I do say so myself, I hope.”

Twilight continued to listen to their conversation, she just didn’t like what she’ll have to tell them after she asked them to be her official students. They were such good fillies, that they shouldn’t have to live with what Puddingheads journal suggested could happen or rather not happen. Applejack and Rainbow were having their own conversation. They boarded the train and off they went to Manehatten.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been around a week since Mirror left the dank gloomy cave she called home, out into the hot, dry, and unforgiving badlands. The forest of Hoodoos she had first sleep safely in during her first day was occupied during the night time, by what she didn’t know, nor did she want to. The strange sounds freaked her out and she was glad to be out of there. She traveled during the nighttime to preserve water, otherwise she’d be dead by now, since changelings needed it to survive. Food wasn’t a problem for now at least, since changeling food was compact. She brought enough to last about three weeks, if she was smart about it.

At the end of second night traveling as the sun began to peak she saw a couple buttes slightly off her course. They reached for the sky each like its own private island surrounded by a sea of sweltering hot air during the day or frigid cold air during the night. They displayed layers of pastel colors like some pastries she’s seen in ‘cook’ books. As she neared them, in hopes of getting some shade so she could sleep or at least rest during the day, she noticed something wrong about the closest one, but couldn’t tell what, the one she approached seemed to bulge out at the bottom. The closer she got the more it seemed off. It almost seemed to shine when everything else was dull. The bulge was large too, almost the size of a tunnel that could fit three full grown changelings. A little closer still and she noticed some small indentations that suspiciously looked like scales. She slowed down her approach and eventually stopped. She knew something about that bulge seemed really off.

Terror struck her the second she realized what it was. She had been approaching a battle snake. Every changeling learns about them, since battle snakes have on occasion attacked their cave system in a desperate attempt to acquire water. They’ve never fended off one without losing some lives. She’s glad it didn’t notice her as she quickly retreated.

She had to make her own shade that day in the middle of nowhere. Luckily she was prepared for that, it wasn’t quite as nice as the hoodoo forest but it was far better than being anywhere near a battle snake. Over the course of the next few days she learned to stay away from other landmarks in a similar fashion. She’d just have to go on with what she brought to provide shade. Luckily for her, the monsters of the badlands didn’t seem to venture too far from their own shady spots, and she was left to rest peacefully.

She was running dangerously low on water and she had no way to refill it. She was considering flying to her destination at this point. Flying ultimately would have been the safest and fastest way to her destination, but she’d have to eat much more food than she would walking or even running which took its own good deal of energy, leaving her with little energy to transform and accomplish her goal. She quite clearly remembers this lesson her father had given her. Her father was the second in command below Chrysalis herself in the changeling army, so he would often, when he had a chance, teach her many things about survival and combat. She stopped herself from thinking about him, the memories too painful still, but it renewed her vigor in what she wanted to accomplish.

The sun began to rise again but this time she could see the beginnings of a forest in the far distance, but far closer still she could see what she assumed was an abandoned town. Both sights she’s only seen in and read about in books. She galloped to the town before the sun made the idea unbearable. As she approached she noticed a bunch of small holes littering ground the closer she got, she was wary of them and stayed as far from them as she could.

By the time she made it the sun had risen quite high and the temperature was quickly following. The town was a true ghost town, like she’d read in books. The buildings were old and dilapidated. She couldn’t smell any residual emotions meaning that it has been abandoned for at least two years, but she could tell just by looking at it that it’s been far longer than two years. School for changelings is much more hooves on, which allowed her access to several materials that would otherwise be unavailable where she lived. The state of various woods and their rate of decay among them. They even had miniature structures in the cave system so they could prepare for what they’ll encounter in the future. Needless to say she was a little daunted at how much bigger the buildings were than the miniatures ones she grew use to. She figured if she was an adult it would be about the same. As she passed by buildings she would take a quick glance inside there doorless doorframes. They were generally empty and the floor was often disjointed, any stairs going up were mostly collapsed. As she walked she noticed a rather large building in the center of town, it had a sign hanging on the side of it, somehow surviving the passage of time and ravages of the yearly rain cycle. It was too faded to read what it once said, but it intrigued her so she went to investigate. The doors were gone like all the others.

She was greeted with a long counter directly on the other side of the large room, with half fallen racks behind that. Dilapidated Tables and chairs littered the space between herself and the counter, light shone in from cracks and missing panels from the roof, giving her a eerie and peaceful feeling. Relief from the sun, was all the encouragement she needed to enter and explore more of the building, even as the floorboards creaked and groaned as she walked around. She glanced around and she noticed a particularly large hole in the floor, large enough for a table. She didn’t approach it too close wary of the floor beneath her giving way. She noticed something in the hole a set of stairs going down, they seemed to originate behind the long counter. She cautiously went to investigate further, so far this place has been quiet and lifeless, outside of her own movements, but she knew better than to be reckless by this point. The stairs going down looked mostly intact, so she decided to go down the cooler air enticing her. Each step was intense, she feared there could be a monster down there sleeping and the last thing she wanted to do was wake it. Half way down, a stair failed on her and she almost screamed as she fell to the bottom, unable to stop herself.

Glad that her carapace saved her from any blisters, but it didn’t save her from any bruising caused by blunt force trauma, which was minimal and almost non-existent as the stairs naturally cushioned her fall as they caved in, barely staying intact. She rubbed her head, as she reoriented herself, opening her eyes to the darkness of the cellar, or basement. Her eyes were quick to adjust. Living in a dimly lit cave her whole life had some perks. The air was stale but much cooler than even the hoodoo forest but definitely still warm, glancing around she noticed two wooden barrels at the other side in a corner, but nothing much else was down here, well besides the broken remains of what she assumed was once a table and couple of chairs littered all over, that probable fell from the hole in the ceiling. No direct sunlight found its way down here, even threw that large hole. The lack of direct sunlight made it a pleasant place to be for her. With nothing else to do she decided to investigate the barrels.

One was half broken unevenly on top, but still tightly packed together with rusted iron bands, on the bottom and middle. The other one was far more intact but she could just tell it was missing the top lid to seal it off. Two thick iron link chains bolted to them to the ground, one for each barrel, lazily chaining the barrels, like prisoners that gave up their aspirations. The reason for this escaped her, but she suspected that’s why they were one of the few things in this town that hasn’t completely gone with age. She hit the half broken one to get it out of its misery, and was surprised that her hoof didn’t break right through it, but even more so that she heard reverberating of liquid. She tried but couldn’t quite reach the top of it, even though it was half broken and she got on her hindlegs. She needed water badly so she flew, unsteadily, to get a better view. Chrysalis had put a ban on flying soon after the failed invasion to conserve food, needless to say she was rusty on this skill. She had plenty of food for now, and she could tell she was nearing her target, so a little flying was no problem, infact she felt she could probably fly the rest of the way if she really needed to, though she knew that wouldn’t be the best thing to do. Steadying herself she lowered herself slowly to half broken barrel careful to avoid the jagged staves. With one of her canteens in hoof, she filled it and got a quick swig, or rather gulped the whole thing down. It tasted just like the air stale, warm, and dead. Still it was refreshing nonetheless. She quickly refilled it and her other canteens, she almost considered outright letting herself fall into the barrel but the bottom didn’t look pleasant with settled dirt and grime on the bottom.

She got a quick snack to eat and decided to get some sleep under the stairs. Before she could doze off, she heard something as it scampered above her, going every which way like it was looking for something and didn’t care what heard it. Her heart raced, and any sleepiness was dispelled. The sound stopped and she saw something rather small as it peaked over the hole. Its ragged light brown hair, sharp teeth, and crazed eyes were daunting even though it was small enough to be a squirrel, which she’s only seen thanks to changelings natural ability to change into various things, and their practical school system. It looked in her direction and she froze, it didn’t seem to notice her though and keep looking, but then it lifted up its nose and sniffed the air, it immediately brought it eyes to where she resided and growled, baring its razor teeth at her. It did a little hop revealing huge claws on its paws and brought itself to an attack dog position in the air. The floor broke as it landed and it ungracefully fell and crashed into the cellar with her. Taking the opportunity she bolted around and then up the stairs before it could recover from its fall. She almost falled back down as the stairs gave way behind her. She had to use her wings ultimately once she reached where she fell down them earlier.

She glanced behind herself and noted that unless the creature was really good at jumping that it couldn’t hope to reach her. A good portion of the stairs were now missing or caved in. She took a moment to rest, only for the creature to run up the side of the stairs, like a chipmunk up a tree, as it dug its large claws into it with ease. She bolted around the counter and out into screlchoring heat as fast as she could, blinding her for a good while, a downside with living a dimly lit cave her whole life. She kept running until her eyes finally adjusted.

She froze at what she saw, hundreds of them surrounded her, she knew them as diamond prairie dogs. Ravenous beast that'll swarm any living thing like ants. She turned around. The one that chased her out here leaped towards her, its eyes crazed showing intent to feast. She was paralyzed with fear, until another one tackled it in midair, and brutally bashed its head against the ground several times when they landed. The one that intervened turned its own crazed eyes at her and she knew its intent wasn’t to save her, it just wanted to eat her for itself. Thinking fast she took to the air, unknowingly barely avoiding several others that had lounged themselves at her. She flew as high as she could, and decided that maybe flying the rest of the way, at least to the forest was a good idea.

Author's Notes:

Sorry this took forever guys, and it’s a little underwhelming on the montage part, but there definitely is still the montage feel to it, I hope. The CMC are not getting ready for combat, so I couldn’t really do it the whole way. Don't worry though there will be combat.

Aurthor's notes:

1. "She unleashed Discord unto to the world. She went on a suicide mission to delivery some pies, making her sister worry." This is a reference to S2 E1 "The Return of Harmony," and S4 E17 "Some Pony to Watch Over Me" respectively.
2. Derpy eyed her curiously but otherwise ignored her, “We were at the park taking a walk when Dinky,” Applebloom smiled in recognition of the fillies name, “saw a huge boulder in the park that’s never been there before and she wanted to climb it, so I let her. Just before she reached the top some loose soil made her slip and she fell, I tried to catch her...” she said sadly, “I-I just,” don’t know what went wrong.
3. “Scene Two” If this made little sense to you. Then think about the Noodle incident that often gets mentioned in CMC stories, it’s kind of like that except I leave plenty of clues that you can piece together what might have happened, I will have characters mention it and bring up more details on it later though.
4. “Two thick iron link chains bolted to them to the ground, one for each barrel, lazily chaining the barrels, like prisoners that gave up their aspirations. The reason for this escaped her, but she suspected that’s why they were one of the few things in this town that hasn’t gone with age.” The chains held the barrels down when it rains once a year preventing them from floating around when it floods. The tables and chairs survived only because of the cellar, soaking up water and preventing them from being whisked away.

Manehattan

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Manehattan, Equestrias largest city. It houses metal skyscrapers that can be seen for miles. It’s settled near the World Ocean, a massive body of salty water whose mysteries, chaotic weather, and inhabitance make the Everfree Forest look like a walk in Canterlot Park. It separated ponies from the homeland they fled so long ago. How the ponies of old survived or even managed to get past that watery death trap was any ponies guess. Well that’s not entirely accurate to say, Twilight Sparkle had recently discovered how much more capable her ancestors could be, and was making her own speculations on the subject, silently.

“Wow! Ah never knew this place was that big!” Applebloom exclaimed in wonderment as she looked out the train window. The rhythmic undertone of the trains travel continued, ignored.

“Heh, yeah it shure is somethin’, Ah can’t wait to show you the Mare of Liberty,” Applejack replied to her little sister who was across from her. She watched as the yellow filly, with a stained bow tie atop her mane, enjoyed the sights of Manehattan in the distance with her two best friends and Rainbow Dash. She brought her attention to Twilight who was also looking out a window, “So Twi, ya and Sweetie are gonna be staying with Coco Pummel?” Sweeties ears perked up and she got down from her spot at the window and moved up beside Twilight.

“Wha-” Twilight said, leaving her speculative thoughts for later, “Oh, Yes we are staying with Coco. Apparently, Rarity mentioned to Coco that we’d be going on vacation to Manehattan in a note and she offered to chaperone Sweetie, one thing lead to another and now me and Sweetie will be staying at her apartment.”

”I can’t wait to see her, I want to thank her for sticking up for Rarity! That competition really meant a lot to her,” Sweetie squeaked. Sweetie has only heard good things about Coco Pummel. She was excited to finally get a chance to meet her.

Both Applejack and Twilight sighed in acceptance, while they simultaneously said, “we know,” indifferently. It brought back memories of the trip that they met Coco in. Rarity was a real Sweatshop enforcer that trip, the reason child labor laws were made. They’d find it funny if it wasn’t for the fact that their only options at the time was to really let Rarity down or put up with her temporary attitude, and the former wasn’t an option. Rarity had done plenty for them in the past and they didn’t much like the idea of letting her down even if she was horrible about it at the time. Their work paid off in the end and Rarity unknowingly won the competition. Ultimately, the events around the competition made it so Coco had to inform Rarity of her win but at the loss of her apprenticeship.

Sweeties face went blank before she got a curious gleam in her eyes, “Wait, so where are you all staying?” Apparently that thought had never came to her yet, even though she had tried to get all of them to stay at Coco Pommels. Which is to say a lot of, ‘one thing lead to another,’ happened.

“We’re gonna be stayin’ at the Oranges for a few days then we got a hotel room reserved from, uhh Best Eastern, it’s not a fancy smancy hotel but they do a good enough job. Ah think Rainbow and Scootaloo will be staying there as well,” Applejack detailed.

Rainbow brought her attention away from the window, but Applebloom and Scootaloo paid no mind, “Yeah, that’s right,” she said, “me and the squirt here,” she said roughing Scootaloo’s hair, who smiled and laughed, “will be staying at Best Eastern, as well,” she said before going back to watching outside. She brought Scootaloo into a hug with her foreleg. Sweetie looked on at the scene and it filled her with joy.

“Don’t you worry none, Sweetie,” which caused her to look back to Applejack who smirked, “we got plenty o’ time to fall for all the tourist traps if ya really wanted to.”

“We also have a meeting place and time set up so we can plan out our day, we won’t always be together but the first couple days we probably will be,” Twilight said, and Applejack nodded in agreement.

“Okay,” Sweetie said satisfied with their plans. She went back to the window with her best friends and Rainbow Dash. They watched the city get closer and bigger. It was both amazing and daunting to Sweetie. She’s never been on vacation without her family before and she’s certainly never been to such a huge city.

The train ride had taken up more than half a day when it finally arrived to Manehattan which is why they left in the afternoon instead of the morning, otherwise they’d arrived in the dead of night. They had to go through a security screening to check for changelings the second they left the train. That bothered Applejack, because she remembered not being escorted into a long line that usually got no results, and wasted everyponies time. She grumbled the whole way through the security check. Coco Pommel had been waiting for them so she could escort Twilight and Sweetie to her apartment. Sweetie was quick to thank Coco who merely stated that it was the right thing to do. They all ate out and made plans for tomorrow before they went their separate ways, since it was getting late. Applejack and Applebloom headed to the Oranges, while Scootaloo and Rainbow headed towards Best Eastern. Coco, Twilight, and Sweetie towards Cocos apartment.

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Applebloom had only heard stories about the Oranges from Applejack. They welcomed them in and seemed nice enough, but it was weird suddenly having maids and butlers. She didn’t like it. It just felt wrong to her, even Granny Smith in her old age still cooked regular meals. The inside was well kept, she hasn’t seen a place this spotless since she’s been to Canterlot Castle before the changeling invasion. They had a colt her age there, but he seemed completely unrelatable, and almost stuck up, either way he had no interest in her or her life. That’s not to say he was mean or didn’t acknowledge her, he just seemed more interested in other things and didn’t seem to care to share them. Something she found strange and alien, after having been through soo many Apple family Reunions, and having to suffer through all the cheek pinches and embarrassing attention of her great aunts. She thought maybe it was an Orange thing. The apartment building that the Oranges lived in were made from various shades of orange brick, in a neighborhood that looked more vintage than it did ghetto. The large metal behemoths were blocks away but still could be seen towering over the rather large brick buildings, if she was on the other side of the road. It made her feel small and insignificant, but she couldn’t help but wonder how ponies made so many of those things.

Applejack had plenty to talk about with the Oranges, but this visit wasn’t just to thank them for their generous support all those years ago, when she basically ran away from home. It was also to remind herself just why she needed to come to clean to Applebloom. She still felt those feelings whenever she got nostalgic, and it disgusted her that she could ever feel that way about her own sister. She wasn’t only doing this for herself, she honestly believed Applebloom has a right to know. She figured they would relax and explore the first few days with their friends. She wanted Applebloom to have a good time before she potentially ruined the rest of their vacation with her overdue confession.

“So how has the farm life been treating you Applejack?” asked Blood Orange as he sat down. Applebloom was in the dining room trying to talk to a servant, and partially succeeding.

“Well, we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, but at the moment it’s been going great and I have mah sister to thank for that. Ah see things haven’t changed much around here,” Applejack said to the yellow earth pony. He had sky blue eyes and a orange as a cutie mark. She sat on a couch while he sat on a chair beside said couch. She slumped her shoulders in shame, “sorry Ah haven't visited more often. Yall were a great help to me when Ah was a young’n, Yall took me in and treated me like one of your own and for that I’ll be forever grateful. Ah-Ah… well thank you for that, and for letting us stay here for a couple days.”

“You’re welcome, and it’s no trouble at all really you’re welcome here anytime,” he said seriously, before putting on a sly smile, “I’m also curious about how you became friends with a Princess? Your letter didn’t explain much…”

“Well that’s quite the story,” Applejack said speculatively, she smirked mischievously, “but it’ll have ta wait. Hows about Ah tell y’all about it tomorrow evening?”

Blood smiled, “I’ll look forward to it.”

They sat and talked about various things. Applebloom and Tangerine Orange were quick to join in and they talked some more about how things were going in more detail till it was bed time.

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Rainbow and Scootaloo flew to the Best Eastern, it was a short flight, since they both packed light. The only thing Scootaloo brought with her was her mystery gift and some bits. Rainbow really only brought bits and a suitcase that contained toothbrushes, toothpaste, and some towels. She had no plans on eating at any fancy restaurants, and if she did she was sure Twilight would be pass enough for her to wear even old dirty farmers cloths to such a haughty restaurant. She doubted any of them would have the nerve to reject a Princess of Equestria, in fact she was sure they’d try to capitalize on it. More important than any of that though was the fact that this was her first ever family vacation, as much as she wanted to count the trip to Rainbow Falls as one, she just couldn’t. She was hyped and nervous, she wanted their first family vacation to be a good one. She also wanted to know what Scootaloos gift was and who it was for. She hoped it wasn’t for her, she’d feel awful if her little sister got her something and she didn’t get her sister anything, “So now that it’s only you and me, want to tell me what’s in the gift box?” Rainbow questioned as she propped herself up on her bed to look across to Scootaloo's.

Scootaloo smirked, “If you beat me in a race, I will.”

Rainbow frowned, the first day of flight training was terrifying for her. Scootaloo had no control and almost collided into the ground more times than she’d like to admit. Luckily she was there to stop that. Rainbow was barely able to keep up to her and almost wanted to call off practise that first day, she feared for her sisters well being. She kept in those thoughts and feelings at the time, since she knew Scootaloo was also deathly scared of flying, or rather her wings. Luckily, Twilight came up with a solution that helped Scootaloo gain more control of her freakish ability to fly. It happened to be the same solution that she used to help Scootaloo gain control of her ground magic. In the end, they raced. Rainbow never thought she’d feel proud for losing, but she certainly did, “Yea-no, I’d rather not rain shards of glass down on Manehattan pedestrians.”

Scootaloos eyes bugged out, “Oh... I’m glad you said that, I might have considered showing that off…” It’s true, Scootaloo had considered doing just that, but only briefly. She had already decided against it. She was merely trying to change the subject away from her gift, in a clever way. Something she’s gotten exceedly good at after two years of living mostly on her own as a runaway orphan. She had help in the form of Pinkie Pie, but she was usually able to get others off her trial unknowingly with misdirection.

Rainbow looked at her sister slyly, “I can’t blame you, but seriously don’t do that anywhere near buildings with glass, I learned that during Cadences wedding…” Rainbow noticed they went completely off topic, not to mention the fact they had previously talked about that incident soon after they discovered her sisters capabilities, “What if I beat you at tic tac toe?” she proposed.

Scootaloo brought a hoof to her chin, “Hmm, no,” she smirked at Rainbow, “Sorry sis, but it’s a secret, and don’t worry I’ll tell everypony what it was and who it was for before we head b-ba b-back,” she stuttered as a sudden strong surge of happiness and gratitude over took her completely by surprise, she couldn’t help herself as she jumped off her bed across the floor and onto Rainbows bed. Tears rained down her eyes and she hugged Rainbow fearsly. The last week had been the best of her life like a dream come true. There had been a couple times that she actually thought she was dreaming but she was over that now. In her blind happiness she failed to realise something. Something that She just now realised that she had. Something that she’s wanted for a while. Something she once accepted as unattainable.

Rainbow didn’t know what happened. One moment they were talking just fine, the next her sister was crying and hugging her tightly, “h-hey what’s wrong?” She didn’t like seeing her sister like this, tears welled up in her eyes, whether it be because of the tight grip, her now moist breast, her sisters continued attempts at talking, or what. She didn’t know. She hugged back with one foreleg and stroked her rough hair with the other. She patiently waited till her sister calmed down enough to say whatever she was trying to say.

“Be-before w-we,” Scootaloo sniffed then rubbed her nose and eyes with a foreleg, “before we head ba-back home,” she finished, smiling wildly as tears continued to rain down her cheeks.

Rainbow didn’t see what the big deal was. She looked at Scootaloo questioningly, who merely continued her hug and smiled back up at her. Rainbow had grown use to her house, after all she had been living in it for a while now. She liked it far better than the orphanage she grew up in. There wasn’t anything special about it that she could think about, especially when compared to pretty much all houses in Cloudsdale. Well she did clear out a guest room and helped Scootaloo decorate it how she wanted it. That was a nice bonding experience she’d treasure, but she still failed to see what her little sister meant. As she thought about it Scootaloo’s smile waned a little, she didn’t like that. she put up a fake smirk, hoping to revive that smile, “Well…” she said, not really sure what to say, “yeah, that’s cool I can wait before we head back home, before y-you-” she stuttered, what she just said echoed in her mind and her eyes dilated in understanding. Home. She gasped and brought Scootaloo into a hug, now that she understood what had her sister so happy, “I love you sis,” she whispered. Rainbow felt like she was on top of the world. She was giving an awesome filly somethings that she never had growing up; a family and a home. Her eyes got misty but she didn't care.

Scootaloo renewed her hug, “I love you to big sis.” Rainbow gently laid her chin on top her head and loosened her hug a little but otherwise didn’t move. Neither of them wanted to stop the moment, because they both felt great and loved. It was also comfortable. Eventually, it had to end but they now felt a lot better about everything.

They decided to go to the indoor swimming pool. Unfortunately, it was closed for the night so they headed back and got some sleep.

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Coco lead Twilight and Sweetie to her apartment. Sweetie felt nervous, she hasn’t traveled much even though her parents do often, they haven't taken her with them, much to her chagrin. The city was huge. Buildings towered above her. She felt like an ant in a metallic forest. She stayed close to Twilight, as they trailed behind Coco. The streets were well kept, but there was so much hoof traffic that she didn’t dare leave Twilight's side.

The sun was setting by the time they were a couple blocks away from Cocos apartment. They decided to save bits and walk there which lengthened the trip significantly. As they got closer the streets became more ominous, less ponies were outside, and the lamps that would soon light up the street seemed a little older and ill kept. It wasn’t merely that it was getting darker, the alleyways seemed to carry a little more boxes and litter the more they walked. Soon trash was littering even the streets, and ponies seemed a little more apprehensive of anypony they passed. The doors were caged and windows barred like they were prisons. Sweetie pressed herself against Twilight, she didn’t like this place.

They passed by a beat up basket ball court surrounded by an old rusted fence. Ponies were playing a game. The players taunted each other as they played. They tried to ignore the players and hoped they wouldn’t pay them any mind. They did much to their relief. It was gonna be too dark for them to be playing soon enough but for now there was enough light. As they kept going a faint pungent smell began to make itself known, almost like it was several weeks old restaurant food. The streets seemed abandoned except for the occasional shady character. The worn down brick buildings displayed some unique artistic choices, for lack of a better word like vandalism.

Twilight felt a little worried for Cocos safety the closer they got to her apartment. This was definitely a ghetto if she ever saw one and she considers herself fortunate that she hasn’t until today. She wrapped a wing around Sweetie, instinctively. She chuckled nervously, “So Coco, are we close yet?”

“Yep,” Coco said in a almost forced cheery voice, “it’s just ahead,” she said pointing ahead of them.

They kept walking and things seemed to only get worse, she could see a rat on the other side of the street scurrying across the sidewalk and into a dark alleyway. She noticed that Sweetie saw it too, but they kept pace with Coco, who seemed to be going a little faster. They noticed a group of ponies ahead of them, across the street they were approaching. The group yelled and hollered. Twilight could see two ponies that were in the middle of the group, doing something. They weren’t fighting, that much was clear this far away. Whatever it was it sounded antagonistic, before the group yelled provocatively. As they approached the street Coco turned much to Twilights and Sweeties relief, and went to the guarded and gated entrance of the apartment building just across the street from those ponies. A burley earth pony guard with a sinister stare stopped them and asked for something which Coco produced. He got out some keys and opened the door for them. They entered a surprisingly well maintained indoor, though age was clearly showing its mark, it looked gaudy. Twilight wondered how Rarity would react to all this, something to do with a fainting couch, followed by decor solutions. They followed Coco up a flight of stairs to a hallway that also looked gaudy but well maintained. She unlocked her door and gestured them inside.

Twilight and Sweetie entered and were greeted to the sight of the same gaudy carpet, walls, and window drapes. The furniture, few contemporary artworks, work area, and other stuff that was clearly Coco’s; however, was a refreshing sight. Even though it didn’t blend too well together with the background. As they stared at the rather small apartment room, they heard at least four different locks lock behind them as Coco locked the door. Sweetie remained next to Twilight's side and visible relaxed the more locks they heard lock. Then silence filled the room, “So Coco,” Twilight began cautiously, “how have things been going?” Twilight already asked that when they ate out and she said great, but after everything she just seen, she felt the need to ask again.

“They’re going great, the theater has kept me busy,” Coco turned to look at Twilight who had concern written on her face, “Oh,” she said in understanding, “I know this isn’t the best block in Manehattan, but it’s not the worst.”

Twilight's eyes bugged out, “There’s worse?” This place was one of the more depressing and threatening places she’s ever been, she couldn’t imagine how it got worse, “I thought we were going to get mugged out there, how could it get any worse?” Sweeties presence became known to her as she pressed against her. She sighed, “no, don’t answer that,” Twilight smiled genuinely, “thanks for letting us stay here for a week, I appreciate it.”

It didn’t take them long to settle in. Coco offered them the bed and said she’d sleep on the couch. Twilight protested at first but Coco insisted. Like most pony beds it was far larger than it had any right being and finding their own space was no problem. They got some sleep, for they had a big day planned tomorrow.

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“So what’s the plan for today?” Rainbow asked as she leaned on Applejacks shoulder. She didn’t really pay attention when they made plans at the restaurant last evening. They all sat at their meeting place, a breakfast restaurant around a round table. They were currently waiting for their food.

Twilight face hoofed and groaned, “First we’re going to Time Square to shop around. Then we’ll be going to the Mare of Liberty, and then we’ll end the day with a walk in Central Park.”

“Aw, Ah was hoping we could maybe visit Babs and maybe have her come with us?” Applebloom pouted.

“Sorry no can do sugarcube,” Applejack said while politely brushing Rainbow off her shoulder, “ya know Babs is still grounded for the last crusade she and her friends went on,” Applejack reasoned.

“But how was she supposed to know one loose screw could cause a seven hour back up in cart traffic?” Applebloom questioned. Babs had sent a letter apologising for not being able to meet them at the train like the CMC had her a year ago. In the letter she described why she and the CMC members of the Manehattan branch got grounded. She said she’d be ungrounded on what will be tomorrow, and was looking forward to then.

“Look, Ah know it sucks, and most of the blame probable belongs to the mechanic who didn’t double check their work, or even more so to the impatient owner of the cart for rushing the mechanic in an unsavory manner…” Applejack sighed, “but don’t worry none. You’ll be spending all day with her tomorrow, and I think yall might be surprised,” Applejack said knowingly while looking at Coco, who had decided join them for breakfast. Applebloom grumbled but accepted that she wouldn’t get to see her favorite cousin and good friend today.

Twilight noticed Applejacks figurative nod towards Coco. She knew what it was about, after all she helped make it possible with Coco and one other. She didn’t want the CMC getting any clues on what they had planned for tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a secret, “Are you sure you can’t come with us today Coco?”

“Sorry,” Coco said bringing her attention to Twilight, “the theater needs me to readjust some dresses and fix some tears that happened during practise,” she said with a embarrassed smile.

Their food came and they ate and talked about what they were looking forward to most in today's joint trip. Coco gave them some tips on where to shop and things to do while at those locations. They headed towards Time Square when they got done, while Coco went to work.

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Giant metal buildings towered above them on all sides. Advertisements of various products and large companies proudly displayed themselves for passersby. Hundreds of ponies were walking every which way on the crowded the street. Street performers and doomsayers alike littered the area pining for bits and attention. The performers seemed on edge, like they expected anypony that passed by or watched their show to steal their hard earned bits and run. The street was spotless and the air somehow clean, despite the number of ponies sweating in the summer heat.

They shopped around and enjoyed some shows the street performers provided. Everypony they passed seemed much more guarded as soon as they got near Time Square. Like they all had a bad experience with somepony they trusted and expected strangers to be far worse. It was subtle, most the time. Shops were different, some shops had somepony shadow their movements like prison guards. They weren’t discreet about it at all. It was disheartening to be treated like a thief. Overall though they had a good time and got to see some good acts. One of the more interesting things that happened was Rainbow saw a sign that promoted Manehattans Martial Arts Festival. Apparently it was already underway. She talked them into going to watch some tournaments tomorrow. They didn’t really have anything planned much for tomorrow, outside of meeting up with Babs and her friends and going to the theater Coco works at in the evening, not that Applebloom, Sweetie, or Scootaloo knew anything about it. They just knew they were going to hang out with Babs and her recruits all day nothing more. They decided that if Babs didn’t have anything planned for them outside of going to the theater then they’d do that.

They dropped what they bought off at the Best Eastern, since that was the closest place. Twilight considered teleporting hers and Sweeties stuff directly to Coco’s but she honestly felt it was safer at the Best Eastern. They headed out to the Mare of Liberty after that little detour. Ferries to the island that held the Mare of Liberty wasn’t too far from Time Square. The buildings that had covered the World Ocean from view where now becoming less as they approached, “Woah,” Applebloom said in astonishment as she looked upon the vast blue of the World Ocean, and the sole island in the distance with a giant green statue of a mare holding a torch and book in what looked like a nightgown. She’s never seen so much water before.

Applejack smirked at her sister's amazement, “Oh, yall haven't seen anythin’ yet,” she commented, “Come on lets go,” she said while looking at her sister and friends then continued walking only to bump into somepony by accident, “oh, sorry ‘bout that,” she apologised to the stallion who had staggered back from the force of the accident, “yall alright?”.

The stallion brought a hoof to his head briefly and looked around confused, “Yeah, I’m...okay?” he even sounded confused.

“Are ya sure sugarcube? Cause you look a little lost right now,” Applejack offered. She might not know every place in Manehattan, but she might be able to help him find a landmark.

“Yeah I’m…” he brought a hoof to his chin, “just have you ever got a feeling that compulsed you do something, only to realize how silly it was later?” the stallion asked.

“I have!” Sweetie squeaked out, “It was when Twilight enchanted her doll!” she continued in excitement. Twilight blushed and looked away but her thoughts about Sweetie got tainted, she almost felt like she couldn’t trust Sweetie with anything. She felt like if she told Sweetie a secret everypony would know it by sundown. Applejack brought a hoof to her withers to show support and she suddenly felt guilty for her previous thoughts. She wasn’t sure why she felt so sure Sweetie would betray her trust just then, but looked back to Sweetie. Sweetie frowned slightly, “Her mane wasn’t pretty at all,” Twilight silently glared at her in resentment. That doll was one of her favorite things growing up and she didn’t like hearing ponies say negative things about it. Sweetie was oblivious to the glare she was receiving and continued, “it was okay I guess,” and Twilight sighed in defeat.

“Um, yeah,” the stallion said rubbing the top of his head with a forehoof shyly, “sorry bout that. Anyways, I’ll be on my way then,” he said and began to walk away.

“Alrighty then. Yall take care now, ya hear?” Applejack said then yelled as he walked away. He waved a forehoof in acknowledgement as he continued walking. They continued their walk to the docks so that they could buy a ride to the Mare of Liberty.

They got stopped by the guard as they approached an entrance to the harbor, to once again be checked if they were changelings. Applejack was annoyed by this, even Canterlot wasn’t this blunt with changeling defence, though they did have fancier ways of detection. After the magical pat down they searched for a ferry boat to take them to the Mare of Liberty. It looked like hundreds of boats were docked around the harbor, in various states of repair or disrepair. The faint smell of seaweed was present as they walked along the polished wooden planks. The summer sun shone down on them relentlessly, making them sweat.

It didn’t take long to find a ferry boat. It seems a ferry company that owned two ferry boats did most the ferrying and the signs didn’t hurt, “Well that’s a lot more expensive than it use ta be back in the day,” Applejack noted, to the pony who was selling tickets, and her friends.

“Yes, well times change and so do ponies,” the ticket sales pony said as her head shifted about like she expected somepony to gank her, “you’re free to find a different ferry boat lady,” she said gesturing around the harbor.

Twilight along with everypony else looked to the other side of the dock. They saw an old beat up and rusted medium sized boat. An old kooky looking stallion with a long white beard sat on an outdoor lounge chair on said boat, he wore a dull green overcoat that was patched various shades of dull blue in some places. He looked at any passersby with suspicion and malice. He noticed them staring at him and he stared them down before bringing a forehoof eye level and pointing at his eyes and then at them and repeated. Twilight looked above the old stallion to see a sign that advertised his ferry services, at a higher rate than the price that had just been given by the tickets sales pony, “um, no that’s fine we’ll pay,” she said as she brought her attention back to the ticket sales pony.

They bought their tickets. The mare graciously checked every bit for authenticity before handing them their tickets and letting them board the ferry. Luckily for them it was just about to set sail so they didn’t have to wait long. There were already some ponies on the ferry. They all looked a little on edge. One pony clung to a duffle bag like she expected some pony to come and snatch it from her. The ferry crew kept a hawk like watch of the ponies on deck and even each other, like they trusted no pony. At one point during the ride a crew member asked the mare holding to the duffle bag to show him, ‘what she was hiding,’ like he expected her to be up to know good. She was defensive about it but showed him the camera equipment inside, and he went back to his perch. They felt persecuted with how defensive everypony seemed.

One unsettling ride later and they arrived at the island and were up close to the giant copper statue turned rustic green thanks to oxidation. They waited at the entrance for a tour guide to walk them to the top at the crown. Several nervous ponies filtered out the entrance and the tour guide was last, “and that concludes your tour, GOODBYE!” she said in a fake cheery voice full of restraint, then she noticed the new group of mostly spaced out ponies and muttered something under her breath, “Welcome to the Mare of Liberty,” she said with a huge fake smile. She gestured the new group inside. Applejack and company were first to filter in followed by the other ponies as the tour guide lead from behind it was more spacious on the inside than it looked like it could be but still cramped with so many ponies, and lots of stairs. The tour guide pointed out some facts about the statue that most knew and some that were more obscure. They finally made it to the top at the crown and were surprised at how much space was available to look out. Though there was enough ponies there to fill it out, “Can any of you,” she said almost accusingly, “ponies tell me why the Mare of Liberty looks out towards World Ocean?” the tour guide asked in an almost hostile manner.

“Oh oh oh oh!,” Sweetie exclaimed excitedly with her hoof raised and wagged about, “Wasn’t it to ward off monsters that occasionally came from the World Ocean and to welcome ponies coming to Manehattan?” Twilight patted Sweetie on the head proud of her answer.

The tour guide face hoofed, “That’s incorrect.” Twilights jaw dropped in surprise, how could that be wrong? Sweeties answer is exactly what she’s read in several books, “you’d be surprised how often ponies get that wrong,” she said smugly, like she liked proving them wrong, “that was just a superstition created by a fiction book series that the non-fiction writer Tattered Truths had mistaken as fact, while several other non-fiction writers used his book as source material. So any other guesses?” the tour guide said with a twisted smirk. She appeared to have enjoyed that a little too much, and in a sadistic fashion.

Applejack raised her hoof, “it’s supposed to show ponies longing to head back to our homeland.” She had learned this when she last visited the Mare of Liberty years ago. It was bringing back bittersweet memories. She didn’t even appreciate the sites back then.

“That’s correct,” the tour guide affirmed with suspicion, she smiled a fake smile, “now if you have any questions feel free to ask me, otherwise enjoy,” she sounded like she hated saying that word, “your time here.”

They looked out at the vast ocean on one side and large city on the other side through the arches in the crown. Twilight wondered how ponies could accomplish so much, as she looked at the giant sprawling city ahead. It made her consider what kind of horrors awaited ponies who tried to cross that ocean. She couldn’t see it in the distance, but there’s a distinct line where the ocean suddenly gets much darker as it dips into unknown depths. The distinct laughter of three fillies she’s gotten to know over the last two years interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see them laughing at something Rainbow had said, and all she could think about was what she would have to tell them. It bugged her that she didn’t know the answer, but it was a devastating possibility that they had a right to know about. She put those thoughts out to the back of her mind for now and enjoyed sights.

After the tour guide ushered them out they headed back to the mainland, with another unsettling ferry ride, so they could cap off their day at Central Park, after going through another changeling security check.

Central Park a forest completely surrounded by giant metal buildings. In the air, it was a strange sight to see. It was fenced off but had gated entrances around it. They entered and were pleased to see that it was well kept. The walkway and benches were far different from that of Ponyville's and Canterlot's. The benches were all metal and the walkway dark grey. That along with the buildings towering the trees on either side gave them a unique feeling that only Manehattan could. Like they were in a little slice of nature that ponies caged. As they walked the buildings did kind of disappear as the trees got thicker around the trail. A few other ponies were using the few available trails, some sat on the benches they passed. Eventually, they came across a mare with an ice cream cart when the trees opened up to a grass field with tables, some ponies were already lined up buying some. Applejack suggested they get some to so they got in line, “sorry I’ve ran out of pistachio and small cones,” the mare announced as Applejack and company approached.

“Well shoot, that’s alright Ah’ll have a medium vanilla ice cream,” Applejack said, “also ice cream's on me so get whatever yall want,” she offered to her friends.

“Sweet thanks Applejack,” Rainbow thanked, then ordered her ice cream. The rest followed soon after. They thanked Applejack for buying them their ice cream and continued their walk. Applejack said not to worry about it.

Applebloom did worry a little. She knows the farm has had it fair share of monetary problems in the past, in fact that was one of the driving reasons why she desperately wanted to learn alchemy; so she could instantly grow trees and hopefully solve their problems. Ultimately, she decided that some ice cream even if a tad expensive wasn’t going to break the bank. She also figured that if it did somehow end up being a problem, she would grow whatever plant would sell best now that she could.

After their walk through Central Park they headed back to the Best Eastern to pick up their things then headed back their temporary residence for the night, except Rainbow and Scootaloo who said their goodbyes and headed to the indoor pool. Overall they had a great first day in Manehattan.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys sorry this chapter took so long to release. It was original going to be an even longer chapter but I decided to split it up since it was gaining a larger word count than I would’ve wanted to release. I know huge chapters can be daunting to start reading even if the writing is good, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, that’s your cue to agree… at least to some degree… please…?

Anyways, next chapter will be released much sooner, or at least it should be, and we get to meet the newest CMC members never before scene on the show! It should be a fun chapter if I right it write!

Aurthor’s notes:

1.“Both Applejack and Twilight sighed in acceptance, while they simultaneously said, “we know,” indifferently. It brought back memories of the trip that they met Coco in. Rarity was a real Sweatshop enforcer that trip, the reason child labor laws were made.” This is a reference to S4E8 of MLP “Rarity Takes ManeHattan” along with several others.
2.“ “We’re gonna be stayin’ at the Oranges for a few days then we got a hotel room reserved from, uhh Best Eastern, it’s not a fancy smancy hotel but they do a good enough job. Ah think Rainbow and Scootaloo will be staying there as well,” Applejack detailed.” This is a reference to both S1E23 of MLP “The Cutie Mark Chronicles” and several times I’ve stayed at a ‘Best Western’ growing up, along with several others.
3.“They had to go through a security screening to check for changelings the second they left the train. That bothered Applejack, because she remembered not being escorted into a long line that usually got no results, and wasted everyponies time. She grumbled the whole way through the security check.“ This is a reference to both S2E25&26 of MLP “A Canterlot Wedding” and TSA lines in airports, along with others.

The Manehattan Branch

View Online

Around one year ago

*click*

The sound of the of CMC’s clubhouse door opening alerted its two occupants to the entrance, “Did you get it?” Applebloom asked excitedly as she watched Sweetie close the door behind her wearing her saddle bags.

The other occupant Scootaloo had just put up a CMC banner and was currently on some stacked boxes. Sweetie glanced at the window briefly before rifling through her saddlebags, “yeah. It’s right here,” she said revealing it to her friends and fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Awesome, this is going to be great,” Scootaloo replied as she got down from the stacked boxes now that the banner was up, “now help me clear this stuff before she gets here,” she requested. They quickly put them in a cluttered corner and cleared the ground of any remaining debris.

“So, who’s gonna do the ceremony?” Applebloom asked, as she moved a hoof to her chin in thought, “Scootaloo wrote it. So I think you should probably do it since you, uh, wrote it,” Applebloom suggested. She sadly knew there had to be something off with whatever was written, since it was written by Scootaloo. She had edited some stories Scootaloo wrote while they tried for their reporters cutie marks.

“Uhh, I’d actually rather be the one banging the bongos. How about you do it?” Scootaloo replied.

“I’ll do it!” Sweetie said raising her hoof excitedly, before Applebloom could even respond.

“Well, that settles that,” Applebloom said relieved, “she should be here any minute now, and we still have a little more to do, so let’s get to it!” she urged.

They made any last minute preparations and dawned on their capes.

*Knock Knock*

-------------------
The CMC
-------------------

“Babs!” Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie yelled in unison as they dog piled the orangish brown earth pony filly with green eyes in a hug, her shiny red mane poking out of the pile. Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack watched them in amusement. The CMC first met Babs last year when she came to Ponyville to get away from the relentless teasing of some of her classmates for not having a cutie mark. She ended up doing to them what those ponies did to her so she wouldn’t be the target of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. In the end, she became the leader of the Manehattan branch for the CMC, and one of their good friends.

“Hah Hah,” Babs laughed thick in a bronx accent, “Hey, its been a while,” she said as she hugged them back.

“How’ve you been?” Applebloom asked, as they separated.

“Well now that youse guys are here and we’re no longer grounded,” she said referring to the members she recruited, “things are going great,” Babs said proudly, then blew her bangs out of the way, they seem to constantly slightly cover her right eye.

“Speaking of the CMC members you recruited. When will we get to meet them?” Scootaloo asked curious.

Babs smiled, and gestured them all inside the apartment building. They followed her up some stairs and into a hallway and finally a door. She got out a key and unlocked it, “My parents are at work right now and my sister went on a date, so we had the apartment to ourselves,”

“We?” Sweetie asked as they walked in. The apartment was bigger than Coco’s but far smaller than the Oranges. The furniture was sparse but it looked nice. Had some family photos hanging on the wall, and two display cases, holding various knick knacks.

“Yeah. me, Emollient Undertone, and Volt Fiber,” Babs explained as she closed the door behind them.

“Ugh, are your folks okay with that?” Applejack asked, “Leaving y’all alone like this, Ah mean,” she clarified.

“Yeah, they trust me enough to not let total strangers in, or to wreck the place, ” Babs answered, “I’ll go get my friends, one second,” She said as she quickly ran past them and into a different room whose door was closed, two fillies could be seen on the ground around a board game but the door closed too fast for everypony accept Applebloom to get more details.

The door busted open and a dark grey unicorn filly with two toned spikey lightning blue and straight golden yellow hair met them. Her eyes were light orange, “you must be Applebloom!” she exclaimed. She struck out her hoof for a shake, which Applebloom obliged.

“Yep, that’s me,” Applebloom said as they shaked, “and you must be Volt Fiber?” Applebloom had gotten a description of the newest members when she learned about them a little under a year ago.

“Uh huh,” Volt smiled broadly. She went and shaked Scootaloo’s and and Sweeties hooves as well. “So I finally get t-to” she stuttered briefly as her eyes finally fell on Twilight, “meet a Princess!” she squealed, as she squished her face with both her forehooves.

Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled at the cute act before her, “Hello. Volt, was it?” she nodded excitedly. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.” She offered her hoof for a shake. “You can call me Twilight.”

Volt grinned almost manically and giggled like the school filly she was and shook hooves with Twilight. Soon after that the door opened again and this time Babs held the door open for another filly, a light pink pegasus with a long flowing peach mane, light yellow eyes, and a gentle smile. “Sorry bout the wait, we hads to clean up a board game we were playing before youse showed up,” Babs said, as she swiftly yet gently kicked the shy filly out into the living room. Babs got up shoulder to shoulder and wrapped a hoof around the filly, “no doubt Volt,” gaining the excited fillies attention away from the Princess, “already introduced herself?”

“You know it!” Volt agreed energetically, her hair bouncing slightly with her motion.

Babs smiled, “well this here is Emollient Undertone she’s really shy around new ponies at first but she’ll get over it soon enough. Now we got an awesome day planned for youse guys, so let's get this show on the road!” She said as she headed towards the door. Everypony began to follow.

“WAIT!” Sweetie yelled, stopping everypony in their tracks, “before we go I want to do something.” She dug through her saddlebags and produced a official CMC cape and threw it at Volt and then did the same with Emollient, “We’re not at the clubhouse so we can’t do the official Cutie Mark Crusader ceremony, sorry,” Sweetie apologized seemingly embarrassed by that fact as they tried on their new capes, “but here’s your overdue official Cutie Mark Crusaders capes!”

“That makes you official Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Applebloom happily exclaimed.

“Wow! Thanks,” Volt said enthusiastically, while Emollient smiled and slightly nodded.

A thought came to Applebloom, “not that you weren’t before you got them…” she said almost questioningly as she looked down, “just you know becau-”

“Anyways!” Scootaloo interrupted slash saved Applebloom from her line of thought, “only use those for official meetings,” Scootaloo warned nicely, “we’ve learned not to bring them on crusades after a couple unfortunate incidents.” They were glad Sweeties sister was really good with cloth, otherwise their capes would look like they'd been through a war.

“Okay!” Volt said as she looked herself in a mirror that she happened to be next to.

“Alright youse guys, we need to get going. Here give me the capes. youse can take them home when today's over, but for now time is wasting,” Babs urged.

“You’re right. I don’t want a bad spot,” Volt said, she quickly took off her cape and Emollient’s and gave them to Babs who quickly rushed in her room and swiftly came back out. She then lead them back out the hallway, waited till they were all out and locked the door before leading the way with Volt and Emollient on either side of her.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They were quickly outside and headed down the sidewalk, “So what do you got planned for us today?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, cause I got a totally awesome idea, if you don’t got anything for us to do. Well outside of what you got planned in the evening,” Rainbow said.

“Why? What’s she got planned in the evening?” Applebloom asked.

Rainbow chuckled nervously, “did I say she had plans in the evening? I meant that um,” Rainbow looked to Twilight and Applejack pleadingly.

“What she means, is that we got plans for this evening. If Babs ran out of things for us to do,” Twilight said calmly.

“Yeah that,” Rainbow said.

Babs smiled at the attempt to recuperate from Rainbows mistake but noticed Scootaloo and Applebloom were suspicious, “Uh, actually we plan on going to the Martial Arts Festival today. Manehattan host it every five years for one whole week. Ponies, griffons, minotaurs, donkeys and so on from across the known world come here to show off their skills and win a huge amount of bits. Youse are really lucky to have chosen to go on vacation when this festival was happening, the food is amazing.” Babs explained as they continued to walk past giant towering buildings.

Eventually the style of buildings changed and the streets were completely crowded with ponies. Oriental decorations were above the street lights and strewn between buildings. A wonderful smell of street restaurants filled the air.

They were lead to a large building in width and length that was more like a very large warehouse. Several ring stands presented themselves inside so ponies could sit and watch one of the several sparring matches at their leisure. Babs, Volt, and Emollient seemed to know exactly where they were going as she lead them through the rows of stands and crowd traffic.

They finally came to a stand, entered, and found seats near the middle row. In front of them was a rather large hard matted ring, with plenty of space. In the center of the raised ring was an lean old donkey with a wrinkled face in an all black karate uniform with a red belt. A sparing referee Zebra in an all white karate uniform stood on one of the sides, his attention was on a minotaur outside the ring. The hulking minotaur in his prime browsed racks of various wooden weapons. He wore a white karate outfit that sported a black belt. The minotaur finally settled on two large axes, that would’ve been an two handed weapon for the donkey. He confidently and impressively jumped up to the fighting stage, axes in each hand. He glared at the donkey demeaningly and snorted out his nose at the donkey seemingly confident in his victory. The donkeys expression hadn’t changed, he didn’t even acknowledge the minotaurs aggressive gestures. They all walked towards the center of the rather big ring and the referee requested them to bow and they did. The referee brought his hoof up then swiftly chopped it down and backed off.

The minotaur wasted no time in going on the attack. He swung an axe down towards his opponent, who easily sidestepped the attack and backed up. He swiftly swung the axe in his other hand and the donkey dodged in the same manner again. He kept up the attack until the donkey had no space left to retreat on the ring and was cornered with no place to run. He took advantage of this fact and widened his arms as if he was going to hug someone, both axes in hand. Then he bent a little so his next attack was low enough to force the donkey to jump out of the ring. The donkey did jump but instead of out the ring; he leaped towards and above the minotaur in an incredible display of agility. He hit, well more like pushed the minotaur, as he passed by in the air, and with the minotaurs position and footing he couldn’t stop himself from stumbling out the raised ring with a rough landing. The referee gave the donkey a point.

“Woah,” was all Applebloom could say in amazement all her worries forgotten in a brief moment of awe. She saw everything, like it was happening in slow motion. She thought for sure the minotaur had the advantage since he was huge, had weapons, and was much younger. She became fully enthralled and needed to watch more.

“I know. This guy is amazing, I haven't seen him lose yet. This is the best ring in here until-” Babs said, until she was interrupted by the minotaur as he loudly pounded both his fist against the ground once. He grabbed his axes, got up, and joined the referee and donkey in the ring, anger written on his face. The referee had them bow again and started the next round.

The minotaur again was quick to begin his attack and the donkey seemed to have lost the speed and impressive coordination he displayed in the first round. The minotaur seemed to notice this soon enough and increased his onslaught, putting more speed and force into his attacks. Applebloom watched every motion and movement. She saw a slight smirk on the donkey for the briefest of moments, before he stumbled with his last dodge. The minotaur took advantage of this and swung both axes down upon him in what would have been a winning blow. If the donkey hadn’t suddenly used the force that made him stumble to spin out of the wooden axes path to barely dodge them. The axes shattered as they hit the ground, much to the minotaurs confusion. In the next instant the donkey grabbed the minotaurs closest muscled arm with both his hooves and used the force still in play from the two pronged attack to flip and then slam the minotaur onto the hard matted ground. That earned the donkey the win of the match. The minotaur released an audible sigh, got up and bowed in respect to the donkey who returned the bow. Then the minotaur left in shame.

Applebloom soaked every little detail in, like she was the one fighting the minotaur, “He’s amazin,” she confirmed to Babs.

“Yous haven’t seen anything yet,” Babs said, “wait till the finale tournament, you’ll get to see some real sparring matches there, or so I’ve been told.” The donkey walked off the stage. The referee began to clear the ring of debris from the wooden axes.

“Isn’t that a little dangerous?” Sweetie asked. “Somepony could get really hurt.” She was glad the donkey somehow dodged every attack from that hulking minotaur. He swung those huge wooden axes around like candy canes.

“You’d think so,” Babs nodded in agreement. “But all those wooden weapons were enchanted with some spell or another that makes it okay,” she explained.

“Was it a modified version Leotards slip spell?” Twilight asked clearly interested.

“It was the umm,” Babs blew her bangs out of her right eyes view in frustration. “I forgot, sorry,” she answered back. She didn’t really pay attention too much when she learned about it.

“That’s alright, not everypony is interested in magic,” Twilight consolidated. “Oh!” she perked up, “maybe it was-”

“Yeah, Yeah,” Rainbow interrupted, “figure it out later.” She pointed towards the arena, “It looks like another match is about to start.” Volt found it off pointing that the rainbow haired pony interrupted a princess. She then realised that in their rush to leave for the festival she never learned who the other young adult ponies were.

This time it was a pegasus with a wooden sword. Soon after another opponent joined the stage, and the fight began. The pegasus immediately took flight, “isn’t that cheating?” Scootaloo asked in confusion.

“Actually it isn’t, this is an anything goes type sparring match,” Rainbow answered, leaving most of them to look at her oddly, “what? This stuff is as awesome as Daring Doo.” They shrugged and continued to watch a couple more fights, impressed with the range of skills displayed. In between rounds they talked about their impressions on those who just fought. They also got some some proper introductions for Rainbow and Applejack.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Babs wanted to show her Ponyville friends and cousin more of the Martial Arts Festival, so she asked if she could show them around. Twilight, Applejack and even Rainbow were reluctant but made them Pinkie Promise to stay out of trouble. They were quick to take the offer, and Babs lead them away.

“You know, youse guys could join a sparring match if youse wanted to,” Babs suggested, as they walked through the crowd.

“Ah don’t know about that. Karate isn’t my special talent…” Applebloom said, almost shooting down the idea, “but it does look kind of fun,” she finished leaving it open as a possibility.

“and I really don’t like fighting,” Sweetie declined.

“That sounds awesome,” Scootaloo squealed, she’s been getting lessons from Rainbow Dash ever since she recovered. Scootaloo was very busy last week, but it had been one of the best weeks of her young life.

“Heh, yeah but youse would probably lose a bunch, even the fillies and colts I’ve seen fight here were all really good,” Babs egged.

“What? No way, if I really wanted to I could win even against that old donkey, though admi-” Scootaloo eyes widened as she was just about to reveal the secret, “I mean my sis~” she trailed, before she acted like she had a frog in her throat. “Uhum, I mean Rainbow Dash could beat that old donkey no problem, she’s just that awesome.”

“Umm,” Babs blew her bangs out of her eyes vision. She knew of Scootaloo's fanaticism of Rainbow Dash from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon of all ponies and knew it was pointless to try and disagree, “okay, well let's go see the competition.” She lead them down some aisles and the crowd became much more diverse with age. It trended more towards the younger crowd around their age.

They found a stage and sat down. They watched a couple matches before a contendent the Manehattan branch of the CMC knew walked on the mat, “oh no! What’s she doing here?” Volt asked in distress, her citrine eyes locked on to a yellow earth pony with a blond mane. She wore a white karate outfit with a black belt.

“Well, she does have a black belt for a cutie mark,” Emollient stated, while pointing a light pink hoof at the black belt design on the fillies uniform were her cutie mark would be.

“What? She doesn’t seem so bad,” Sweetie said naively and then waved at the filly who was now staring directly at them with a smug smirk.

Emollient was quick to force Sweeties hoof down, “she’s evil incarnate, don’t draw her attention,” she whispered harshly, her wings twitching slightly.

“Why? She can’t be that bad,” Scootaloo stated in the bliss of ignorance.

“Youse remember last year when I bullied youse all?” Babs asked. She sure did, it’s something she regrets to this day. They all nodded, “well she’s the reason I ever had to visit in the first place,” and the Ponyville CMC members frowned at the filly on stage before them, “and she’s the example I used to bully youse,” Babs said in shame, drawing their attention away from the filly, “and trust me when I say she’s a lot worse.”

“Oh,” all three ponyville CMC members said loudly, “O~oh” they said in understanding. They’ve never came across a worse bully than Babs. They didn’t know how somepony could be worse than that, but they trusted Babs. Scootaloo had once compared it to her time at the orphanage, and she’s never had somepony quite as bad as Babs. She thought about it a little bit, and figured out it was because Babs did effectively temporarily kick her out of the place she was living in. She just realised how awkward it was going to be when she told Babs about her living situation at the time, maybe she'll just leave that part out.

A colt joined the arena. They bowed and the referee started the round. The filly attacked first and the colt dodged but the filly was quick to force the colt to block. The colts guard was quick to go down as she used full force in her attacks, and he retreated with what little space he had. She slowed her attacks and offered him a chance to attack, which he took, she blocked the attacks like a brick wall charging forth, like she was attacking the swings coming her way. The colt was getting visibly worn out while the filly looked like she could continue for another five rounds without breaking a sweat. His attacks became sloppy and the blocks at times would swing his limb in the other direction, but since the filly never attacked no points were made and the match was still on. Finally, the filly blocked a swing with such force that the colts side was exposed, the filly did an impressive roundhouse kick to his shoulder and he fell down to the ground. The referee called the round won for the filly, and the colt rubbed his shoulder. He shakily got up and ready for the next round.

The next round the filly repeated the process but this time she seemed much more ruthless in her attacks and blocks. Again the colts same side got exposed and everypony could see she was about to hit it for all her worth, luckily the referee interfered and blocked the attack before it could land, even then his hoof block got hit into the colt with his precarious positioning and the force of the attack. He saved the colt from what would have been a very nasty attack. Regardless of this the referee gave the win to the filly. They bowed to each other and then the filly looked directly at the CMC Manehattan branch and Sweetie again, with a smug smirk before walking out of the arena and then out of view from the stages. Applebloom didn’t like that filly, she’d healed Bon Bon who not too long ago had a nasty shoulder bruise, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. They remained seated though. Scootaloo still wanted to see what kind of competition she’d have if she chose to actually try out sparing.

Scootaloo and Volt chatted a lot about the sparring matches and disagreed about some points but had fun doing so. Sweetie and Emollient hit it off well and talked about various things. Babs and Applebloom would usually interject in either conversation making it an overall nice bonding experience for all CMC members.

Soon enough, after a couple more matches it was getting time that they all met up with their charges and ate. They made their way to the entrance of the of large warehouse like building, sifting through the crowds and finally exiting the building, into the festive streets. The smell of delicious food hit them and taunted them. “I gots the best place for us to eat whe-” Babs started to say, but got interupted.

“Well, well, well if it isn’t cutie markless failures,” said an unfamiliar sweet voice with nasty undertones from somewhere behind them, to the Ponyville CMC members at least. The Manehattan CMC members knew that voice all too well.

They turned to see the yellow filly from before but now with two other fillies by her side giggling, both unicorns marching towards them, “let me handle this, youse guys stay out of it. I mean it,” Babs said almost harshly, before blowing her bangs looking serious. The unicorns stopped giggling as they got closer, one had light teal coat, with copper eyes, light green mane, and what could best be described as an arcane laser for a cutie mark. The other one had a dark red coat, with emerald eyes, dark brown mane, and what could best be described as three arcane bolts in a triangle formation as a cutie mark. “What do youse want Shodan?” Babs spat as they stopped their approach.

“Good one Bads,” Shodan insulted. “Like I’d ever want anything from a worthless blank flank like you,” She continued, and Babs grit her teeth but unconsciously covered her flank with her tail, while the two fillies giggled again like Shodan was the funniest pony alive. “What’s this?” She gestured to the Ponyville CMC. “You brought more worthless ponies into your worthless club?”

Applebloom began to speak out but Babs swiftly covered her mouth, “They’re no pony you need to worry about. Now leave us alone,” she replied and began walking away, the rest soon followed.

“I guess they are no ponies. After all anything that’d follow a coward waste of a body blank flank like you, would have to be a no pony,” she taunted and the two side unicorns giggled, as they continued to walk away, “Isn’t that right, Glitter Filly!?” Bab’s froze momentarily, as a memory washed over her.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A little over one year ago

“Hey, could you hold this for me for a moment?” asked the new kid who just transferred today, while holding out a box. She was a yellow earth pony with a blonde mane and a black belt cutie mark. Shoedan or something was her name. She really wasn’t paying much attention to her introduction earlier today.

“Sure thing, I’m Babs by the way,” Babs replied as she took a rather large container full of glitter for their art projects.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever…” the new kid looked at her oddly.

“What?” Babs asked.

“you’re holding it all wrong, put it above your head,” the new kid said.

“Why?” Babs asked, but did so anyways.

“Oh, you’ll see,” as the filly then quickly moved to her side and taped something over where her cutie mark would be.

“Hey, what’re you doing,” Babs asked trying to see what she just did, but couldn’t while holding the box of glitter over her head.

“Oh nothing, just trust me for a moment,” the filly said as she proceeded move around and taped something to her other flank where her cutie mark would be.

The filly finally came around a smirked at Babs, face to face. “So, what’s the point of all this?” Babs questioned.

Without words she punched the edge of box and it flipped in the air and sprayed glitter all over Babs. It happened too fast for her to hope to get out of the way as glitter consumed her and fell to the floor. All she had time to do was close her eyes. She shaked off the excess glitter all over her no doubt now shiny and colorful coat, mane and tail, and opened her eyes to the new kid smiling wildly at her, “why’d youse go and do that? Now we’ll both get in trouble when the teacher gets back.”

The filly didn’t answer but merely walked to her side and ripped off the things she taped earlier. Babs watched unsure of what the filly was up to, and didn’t know how to respond. She then noticed that it was eerily quiet. She quickly discovered that all eyes in the classroom where on her and the new kid, “Hey! Look everypony!” the new kid announced, “the Glitter Filly still has a blank flank. What a loser. BLANK FLANK!” the class erupted into laughter, and name calling.

It only got worse from there.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sweetie watched as a single tear escaped one of Babs eyes, she never thought she’d see Babs cry. She wondered what kind of torture that monster put Babs through to turn Babs into a bully herself. That was the last straw for her, she was sick of bullies beating up on her and her friends and she wouldn’t let things stand, “That’s a lot of talk coming from a-a,” Sweetie stuttered thinking up a comeback, “rotten filly like you!” She insulted, stopping her friends in their tracks to look at her. Leaving Scootaloo and Applebloom confused at her outburst. Shodan smirked smugly she re-approached them, her lackeys not far behind.

“What are you doing Sweetie,” Volt whispered in concern, as Shodan and entourage neared them, “we promised to stay out of trouble!” she silently exclaimed.

“Aww, isn’t that cute,” Shodan mocked and interrupted suddenly, “the chubby princess wants to stand up for her worthless companions,” she said as she closed in on Sweetie menacingly.

Sweetie felt intimidated by her approach and struck with her words. Living with her fashion designer sister while her parents were out on business or vacation has made her very subconscious about that kind of thing, “I-I’m not fat.”

“You know denial isn’t a great virtue for a princess,” Shodan mocked, “Well it’s a good thing you’re a chubby princess. I think it suits you just fine…” she smirked, while her two lackeys looked at her questioningly, “it’s funny. That denial actually does fit you…” they looked at her blankly now, “I guess you were simply too big to wear any true virtues of a princess,” their eyes dilated in understanding and they nodded, “Fatty.” They broke out into laughter.

Babs and her friends backed off, trying to stay true to their Pinkie Promise. Applebloom and Scootaloo looked on in concern for Sweetie as she took the insults.

“Why, I bet you still host tea parties with a bunch of dolls. Like a foal,” Shodan teased. Sweetie felt that as it had been almost two weeks ago that she actually played with her dolls, maybe not in the same way described but she felt it all the same. She lowered her head in shame, “Hah, looky here it’s written all over her face. She still host tea parties. What a worthless foal,” she mocked and the side unicorns laughed and even added their own two bits. Sweetie lowered her head in defeat, “hey fatty?” Shodan asked suddenly and almost apologetically. Sweetie raised her head questioningly, “So you admit to being an obscene, obese, ugly filly…” she felt stupid for falling for that trap, “let's not even factor in the fact you’re a worthless blank flank,” Shodan stated smugly, and her two lackeys laughed. Shodan then went on to mimic how she imagined Sweetie would play with dolls in the most humiliating way possible, all the while throwing insults her way. The fillies beside her continued their laughter making it all the more emotionally crippling for Sweetie, whose tears ran freely.

“Leave her alone! Ah won’t let you bully my friend anymore!” Applebloom yelled as she stepped up in front of Sweetie protectively, while the Manehattan CMC branch observed in shame. That left Scootaloo to the side and slightly behind the war of words. She knew how these things went but she didn’t know how to defuse the situation until what happened next.

“Well, if it isn’t worthless bumpkin blank flank foal number two,” she paused and visible glanced above Appleblooms head, “What?” She smirked sinisterly, “Your parents too poor to buy you a clean bowtie?” and the fillies on both sides of her laughed and stated how ugly it was, while Babs, and Scootaloo shuttered. It even snapped Sweetie out of her grieving, “they probably didn’t think you were worth the money, time, and effort to get you a new one. In fact, I bet they wish you were never born,” she finished smugly.

Appleblooms eyes widened in shock, no pony had ever said anything like that to her before, “t-take that back,” she stuttered still stunned, as emotions flooded her. She treasures that bowtie.

“Aww, I know the truth hurts but that’s the harsh reality of worthless blank flanks like you,” Shodan mocked ignoring Appleblooms request.

“L-like me!?” Applebloom asked, still floored with mixed emotions.

“Tha’s rioght. Liike y’all,” Shodan said in a country accent, while acting it out before going back to normal, “You sound like a hick farm pony whose only purpose is growing me my food, but you don’t even have your cutiemark so you’re even more worthless than most trash farmers, I’m sure your parents feel the same way,” she insulted.

Scootaloo wanted to slug her for that, but intended to keep her Pinkie Promise. She instead watched a frown and burning anger arise in Appleblooms eye as she soundlessly snarled. Scootaloo knew this kind of anger, it was something she felt for a while once before. The kind of anger that she would have acted on years ago, if she hadn’t ran away, and the kind she did act on when Sweetie got struck down. She had to stop this whole thing before it escalated even more, “y-you better shut up,” Applebloom seethed, “befo-”

“Before what?” Shodan interrupted, and even approached Applebloom face to face, “Why I bet your parents had you,” this was getting out control, Scootaloo knew she had to do something to stop this and fast, “by...” After she heard that last word she knew where this was going, having lived in an orphanage it was a common but effective insult. She wasn’t about to allow that sentence to finish, and let Applebloom break their Pinkie Promise. She raised a forehoof, “Acci-” and brought it down hard.

*CRACK*

A loud crackling boom echo’d from behind Applebloom and Sweetie, it made everypony in the immediate area instinctively lower their ears. It sounded like somepony took a sledgehammer and slammed it against the pavement as hard as possible, “THAT’S ENOUGH!” Scootaloo yelled, as she approached the argueing fillies. Each step loud like the last and leaving a filly hoof sized indent that sent cracks in the pavement. Shodan watched her rapid approach with caution, until she was side by side with Applebloom, “You’re going turn around and walk away, or I will beat you into a bloody pulp,” she said in a low deadly serious voice. Just to prove her point Scootaloo shot both hooves into the sidewalk and tore out a large chunk of concrete. Then she proceeded to loudly crumble it between her hooves, which quickly revealed her menacing and smug smile. She had no intention of getting in an actual fight. She knew the power of intimidation after having lived in Ponyville for two years with one pony ‘neighbor’ too scared to question her home situation. Now that she thought about it she actually felt pretty bad about it, but now wasn’t the time for that. She maintained her angry yet confident demeanor.

Shodan had never seen such a display of strength before it boggled her how the pegasus filly before her could be so strong, the chunk she ripped out must have been at least fifty pounds but she held and broke it like it was nothing. Shodan felt fear, not to mention way too much attention from the surrounding ponies for her liking, “O-oh yeah? Well, I was done with you worthless blank flanks anyways,” she said haughtily, “Come on, let's get away from these worthless losers,” she said as they made a swift retreat.

Everypony else remained with eyes on Scootaloo followed by an audible click and subsequent flash of some ponies camera. “Nothing to see here folks. Just some fillies enjoying the festival!” Scootaloo said loud enough for them all to hear, and fortunately none of them were the guard, so they all went about their business, likely to avoid whatever legal shenanigans part of a broken sidewalk could cause to an eyewitness.

“Woah, I’ve never seen somepony make her back off like that before,” Volt said in astonishment, as she watched them disappear into the crowd, “how’d you get so strong?” the dark grey filly asked, but was ignored.

Babs was quick to come to Appleblooms side and wrapped her in a hug, “ignore her, she’s a despicable pony,” she detached from the hug, “but wh-why is your bow tie stained like that?” she asked cautiously.

“A-Ah’ll tell you all about it later, let’s…” Applebloom paused, “let’s just forget this ever happened for now,” she said angrily.

Scootaloo reformed the sidewalk like she hadn’t just wrecked it to tartarus much to the Manehattan CMC’s utter confusion and awe, “How’re you doing that?” Volt asked.

Scootaloo snickered, “you haven't seen anything yet, but that’s a secret for later,” she winked at the dark grey filly who frowned unamused, but then grinned almost evilly. Volt let-on that they had something special planned for later today. The original CMC members asked what they had planned but the Manehattan branch didn’t give any clues on what they had planned, only that they’d find out after their late lunch. Rainbow, Twilight, and Applejack finally showed up, and Babs lead them to their favorite food street vendor.

The street vender had a long line, but Babs insisted it was worth the wait. All around where other food vendors with varying sizes of lines. Tables littered the large sidewalks, even encroaching on to the streets. That hardly mattered since it was currently a cart free zone and ponies almost filled the streets. While waiting Applebloom questioned how Babs knew so much about the Martial Arts Festival when she was supposed to be grounded for the last week. Turns out Babs parents, and her friends parents all agreed that having them miss out on the festival for something that wasn’t entirely their fault wouldn’t be right, since it happens once every five years. They all brought them to the festival and even gave them the freedom to explore it themselves, even though they were still technically grounded.

Finally, it was their turn to order, the menu however was full of words that they had no clue what they meant. Babs ended up ordering for most of them, as there was a long line behind them. Twilight and Rainbow Dash however, both knew what they wanted. They got their food and found some empty tables.

The CMC branches tried to goad the other into revealing the others secret as they ate. Neither budged. Once they got done eating and Babs lead them to the surprise. Only possible thanks in part to Sweetie Belle's attempt to get everypony to stay at Coco's. Babs was excited for this, she really hoped it turned out as good as she wanted it to.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They walked for a while. Passed several blocks until they were somewhat close to where the Oranges lived. They passed large vintage brick buildings as opposed to giant shiny metal and glass ones. Up ahead Coco Pommel was outside pacing back and forth impatiently. Babs was quick to pick up the pace and ran to her, “Sorry for the wait Miss Coco,” Babs said as they reached her.

Coco smiled, “Oh, there you are. You all had me so worried.”

“Coco? What’re you doing here?” Sweetie asked, “you know Babs?”

Coco looked giddy with happiness, “Sweetie, you once wrote, directed, and acted in a play before right?”

Sweetie frowned, “Don’t remind me. It was ho~rrible.” She wondered how Coco knew that. Her only conclusion was that Rarity told her, “did my sister tell you about it?”

“No. It was actually Twilight,” Coco responded, while Sweetie looked confused at Twilight who gave an abashed smile, “and she actually gave me the script for the play and I-”

“She did WHAT!?” Sweetie squeaked. She put so much effort into that play and it totally bombed. The only saving grace in it was her sister's dresses, as sad as she is to admit it. It wasn’t even her idea, she got it from a board game, “Twilight. Why would you do that?” She asked with an almost hurt expression directed to Twilight.

Twilight closed hers eyes and breathed in before opening them, “Sweetie, let me explain. I think you know your story wasn’t the best story ever made, but-”

“More like, the worst thing I’ve ever made!” Sweetie yelled in dismay.

“That’s debatable,” Scootaloo commented, and Sweetie sent her a glare, “What? It’s true,” Scootaloo defended.

“But!” Twilight cut in, “I’ve read the script, and you built a world Sweetie. Though the play itself was boring, uninspired, and I imagine it was as hard to listen to because the dialogue certainly wasn’t pleasant to read, because you had the characters describe their actions verbally almost constantly in an outdated speech, that only Luna might appreciate the attempt at and-” Sweetie blushed at that, and now wondered if Luna actually saw the play, “-my point is beneath all of that. I saw the potential for a great story, so today we’ll give you a chance to make that story great. With help from professionals.”

“Well, thank you for the thought Twilight?” Applebloom questioned.

“Oh no, no, don’t thank me.” Twilight shaked her head. “This wasn’t my idea,” she stated.

“But you just said-” Applebloom said, but got interupted.

Twilight smiled awkwardly but it was who Coco interrupted, “Actually, this was their idea,” she pointed to the Manehattan CMC members, “Twilight, basically made it happen. If I’m honest.”

“What?” Sweetie squeaked.

“SURPRISE!” the Manehattan branch yelled in unison.

“I-I don’t know how I feel about this,” Sweetie said.

Babs got to Sweeties side and brought a hoof around her shoulders, “Aww, come on Sweetie, youse got a theater full of ponies willing to help you make your story good. Besides this is a good chance to get our cutie marks…”

“...but I’ve already tried to get my cutie mark for directing, acting, and script writing,” Sweetie rebutted.

“Maybe youse tried too many things and your true talent didn’t have time to shine?” Babs reasoned.

“... I guess, can that really happen?” Sweetie asked with genuine interest.

“Sure,” Babs answered, then blew her bangs out of her view, “I mean, I don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t hurt to try,” she suggested.

“Babs is right. It doesn’t hurt to at least try,” Applebloom said as she gestured all the CMC members to come around her, “besides Ah think it’s amazing she got us a whole theater to ourselves with actually theater ponies to help us out, we usually try things on our own. Maybe all we needed was a little help?” she grinned, “So what do you say?” she put her hoof in the middle of the close nit group circle, in a literal sense, “Cutie mark crusader theater ponies?” they all one by one joined her in putting a hoof in the middle.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS THEATER PONIES!!!” they all yelled in unison almost deafening the four mares who watched as they raised their hoofs to the air in joy and unison.

“Gah, Ah’ll never get use to that,” Applejack complained as she rubbed her ears, while Rainbow smiled, no doubt at her sister's enthusiasm.

After a short moment, Coco got the cue as the fillies looked to her eagerly, “Right… If you’ll follow me,” she lead them inside past the lobby and into a large theatre. The place was huge and it looked modernised in all the right ways.

“Woah, this place is bigger than I remember it being, and it looks different,” commented Rainbow as she walked in. The stage was huge and the curtains were currently closed leaving only a little lip of the stage open for an announcer to introduce a show.

“They just got done with the expansion and renovations yesterday,” Coco explained, as they walked past rows of comfortable looking chairs towards the stage, “it’s why I couldn’t join you all yesterday, a lot of freak accidents with clothing happened…” she excused, “anyways, ever since word got out that Twilight got a private viewing here business has picked up significantly, or so I’ve been told,” Coco blushed as Twilight sighed in almost disappointment, “what I-I mean is all the extra business meant that they could finally afford the renovations,” Coco said in defensive shyness as they walked to a backstage entrance.

“And they agreed to let this whole thing happen so they could say I’ve visited here twice,” Twilight sighed, “I get it, everypony wants to meet a Princess,” she said almost bitterly.

Volt felt a little hurt with that comment because she did fanfilly over Twilight. Now she felt a little stupid and ashamed. Scootaloo noticed Volts downcast look and put a hoof around her shoulder, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Volt lied, as something very much was wrong. She wondered what could possible make Princess Twilight say something that in such a way. She would’ve thought Twilight would’ve been happy and positive twenty-four seven, because she’s a Princess.

Scootaloo knew something had her down, she suspected it had something to do with what Twilight just said and how she said it, but she couldn’t be sure. “If you’re sure…” she trailed off, but Volt didn’t respond to the opening, “right…” she trailed off again and detached from Volt, “so you guys got us a whole theatre with professionals to help us get our cutie marks? That’s a pretty awesome of you guys.”

“It was Emollients idea and I was the one who got Babs to write the letter that ultimately set things into motion to make this happen so yeah.” She smiled, “We are pretty awesome,” Volt said feeling a little better, with Scootaloo's encouragement. “So that only leaves whatever your secret surprise is gonna be,” she edged.

Scootaloo grinned at that, “well, we may have some demonstrations for you, this is a theatre after all.”

The backstage was full of ponies most likely there to meet the Princess. It was a large and spacious. They could see fitting/makeup rooms in the center with hints at large mirrors adorned with oversized light bulbs. Far on the other side was boxes and racks of clothes. Besides them them was tons of various props. Twilight, Coco, and Babs went up to the group of ponies. They chatted briefly with the owner before returning to the group, minus Coco who split off with other ponies, “Come with me Applebloom, wes got some stuff to do,” Babs said excitedly and lead her to the group Coco formed.

Twilight motioned to stop them but rolled her eyes and let them go. She spoke up, “Okay, Scootaloo and Volt you will be in charge of the lights, props, and the choreography with help from them over there,” Twilight pointed to a group of theater ponies, “and Sweetie and Emollient well be in charge of the story, and directing with them over there,” she pointed to a different group of ponies.

“What’re Babs and Applebloom going to be doing?” Scootaloo asked, curiously.

“I’m glad you asked,” Twilight replied, “they’ll be working on the background, makeup, and picking out customs. Something,” Twilight chuckled briefly, “sorry, but they can’t start until Sweetie and Emollient come up with the first scene to work off of. So let’s get started!” Twilight encouraged by gesturing to the group of ponies Sweetie and Emollient were assigned to.

They walked off towards the group leaving the rest behind. Applejack patted Rainbows shoulder, “Welp that’s our que to get on outta here. We can’t be a good audience if we see everythin’ before it arrives on stage,” she stated and they began to walk away. Twilight followed Sweetie and Emollient much to Volts displeasure. Even though the dark grey filly was off put with the Princesses earlier attitude, she still wanted to hang out with a Princess.

-------------------
Sweetie
-------------------

Sweetie was having a great vacation so far. She only wished her sister and parents could be here. That’s not to say Twilight and Coco haven’t been great, though she wasn’t looking forward to returning back to that run down suburb anytime soon. It made her uneasy.

She couldn’t help it, but when she saw Babs cry like that. It brought back unpleasant times. It reminded her of waking in a hospital bed and seeing her two best friends crying for the first time in her life. It also brought back everything she learned about Scootaloo soon after that. Finally, it reminded her of what Diamond Tiara does to her whenever their paths cross. She doesn’t care if she cries like a baby, but seeing one of her friends cry, she just couldn’t take it. She snapped and tried to bully the bullies. It didn’t work out at all the way she wanted it to. She was actually a little scared of Scootaloo when she made that threat; but she knew better than anypony how persuasive Scootaloo can be if she wants to be, also she’s never seen Scootaloo in a fight once. At any rate, she’s glad they were able to get their vacation back on track. She was a little skeptical with Babs idea, mainly because it involved her failure of a play, but had to agree with Applebloom. This was an amazing opportunity. So here she was.

Sweetie nervously walked up to the group with an even more nervous Emollient almost glued to her side. It consisted of one stallion and one mare. They finally got close enough, both pairs looked at each other awkwardly. The mare put out a hoof, “I’m Slim Notes, and one of you must be Sweetie?”

Sweetie observed the teal mare briefly before she stepped forward, “That’s me.” They shook hooves.

The stallion introduced himself, which only left Emollient, “I-I” she said quietly while slightly blushing.

Sweetie remembered Babs introduction of Emollient. She had gotten to know Emollient while they were at the Martial Arts Festival. She learned that Emollient's a huge fan of detective style books and enjoys arts and crafts. It became obvious, even to her, that Emollient was nervous around new ponies. That in mind, she realised Emollient needed help with an introduction, “That’s Emollient she’s very shy.” Emollient looked away at that. Her blush increased. “So, where do we start?”

“I’m glad you asked,” came Twilight's voice from behind. Slim and the stallion both bowed before their Princess who sighed verbally, “rise.” Sweetie and Emollient turned to face her, “That’s not necessary, I’m on vacation,” Twilight said, looking just behind the two fillies. She brought her attention to Sweetie and to a lesser extent Emollient, “Sweetie, I hope you don’t mind but we’re going to make some major changes to your story. We want it to still be yours so I want you to take our suggestions seriously, and remember we’re only trying to help.”

“Umm, Okay,” Sweetie said, unsure of why Twilight repeated this stuff.

Sweetie learned, rather quickly, that even if she could admit her story was bad; that it was hard to let go of some of the aspects that made it bad. She struggled with the idea that the characters didn’t have to announce their actions constantly. They could just act and the audience would see it. She knew it was a problem, but then she’d have to find something else for the characters to say. At the time she made it, she didn’t know what that would’ve been. She really didn’t like that they wanted to make their speech more modern. The book she read on plays said that’s how they’re supposed to talk, and she spent so much time trying to get it right. Twilight eventually got her to begrudgingly accept their help. She concluded that it could only get better from her original work.

It wasn’t all bad though. They made a suggestion that she actually liked, a lot. They suggested that they act out some of the stories told by the characters in some sort of flashback sequence and made the character telling it as a sort of announcer. Sweetie couldn’t do that with just her and her friends so she didn’t even think about it at the time. She was also a fan of Emollients suggestion to add a little humor into a flashback by using a slight disagreement in the telling of events between the characters.

They finally got done with the first scene, which was mostly dialogue changes. Twilight offered to take the first scene down to the other groups so they could start practising and get prepared for it.

-------------------
Scootaloo
-------------------

Scoolaloo has been having a great family vacation so far. Well, besides that little incident with Shodan, not that Rainbow knew anything about it. Today she conversed with Volt mostly, while they were at the Martial Arts Festival. She really liked how outdoorsy and smart Volt was. Volt wasn’t smart in a know it all way kind of way, but a practical way. Volt adored the Wonderbolts, though she asked way too many questions about Twilight, early on at least. They had fun picking sides in the many sparring matches they witnessed earlier. Scootaloo was glad they got teamed up for the crusade.

Scootaloo looked around the stage. High above her was a catwalk and several powerful lights that can be used to shine a spotlight on those below. Twilight had given her and Volt their first scene, it had no props they could use and they couldn’t start the physical aspect of acting until Applebloom and Babs got done choosing customs and putting makeup on the actors. That left Scootaloo and Volt with only one option and that was working on the lighting.

She asked the theatres mechanic technician to lead the way so they could figure out how best to make it appear as a nice sunny day. She lead them up a twisting flight of stairs and they found themselves on the catwalk. On either side at the bottom was rows of lights. In the center of the catwalk was a panel of switches and knobs no doubt for all the lights. Volt had a great idea on how to make it look sunny. A brief check at the first scene and they knew to rearrange six strong lights to the left corner of the stage from the audience's perspective. With help from the technician unicorn they got done just as three actors came on stage for practise. They tested out there improvised sun and tried to keep most of the overbearing light on stage, which wasn’t hard since the red curtains were still closed giving them an accurate show of how much light was going to bleed into the audience. A black wall on the other side also helped a little. Its only purpose so the audience can’t see all the work that happens backstage.

The dresses they wore were similar to the ones Scootaloo and her friends wore in the original play. Volt mentioned that the makeup they had on almost made them look like creepy dolls. Scootaloo laughed at that and commented they were one step away from being clowns. They went to work with placement of the characters and the rehearsing of lines.

Things were going smoothly and Scootaloo liked the new dialogue Sweetie, Emollient and their team of professionals came up with. Far better than the originals. She had a hard time with those lines.

-------------------
Applebloom
-------------------

Appleblooms little chat with Shodan had left her furious. She was having a nice mostly carefree vacation until that bully showed up. She’s glad Scootaloo stepped in when she did. She didn’t want to think about what might’ve happened if her friend didn’t. She knows Shodan knew nothing about her or the fact her parents were gone, but it still made her livid all the same. She had no reason to believe her parents would’ve ever regretted having her, but hearing they might’ve still hurt. She’d been recalling more moments with them lately, ever since she discovered the harshness of reality. It was strange. She recollected significantly more from her foal hood than she ever thought possible. She knew it had something to do with her newly gained abilities. She was unable to recall any of those memories before that point, and boy did she ever try. She wanted to tell Applejack about it. That she actually remembered them, even before she got these abilities. She felt guilty about lying to her sister in the first place, and it just got worse the more that came back to her. She misses them so much.

She’s frightened about the future. She use to believe it’d always be okay in the end. That nothing could go wrong. It’s why she followed Zecora. It’s why she delivered Applejack’s pies. It’s why she had no problem when Applejack and her friends rushed off to go against beings that threatened the entire world, but now she couldn’t bare the thought of something like that happening again. All it would take is one mistake and she’d lose her sister forever. That thought terrified her, because she was no longer shrouded in the false belief that it couldn’t happen.

She was actually pretty surprised and excited about what Babs and her friends did. It took her mind off all that worry, and gave her something to do. They recently got a new scene from Twilight, and were currently browsing through a selection of armor customs. They were in several boxes next to racks of dresses and various other outfits on the backstages left side. In the middle of the backstage was five fitting/makeup rooms that they used earlier. Coco was helping them pick out the outfits, and providing them with valuable historical knowledge, on each outfit. It was a little too quiet for her liking. “Ah’m glad they already had a castle background,” She said, as she browsed through a box of fake armor.

“Yeah,” Babs agreed. “That, would’ve been lotsa work,” she said, as she looked within a box in approval.

“Oh! That’d be a perfect match for Captain Jolly Rancher,” Coco said, after noticing the piece Babs was staring at, evidently.

Coco took it out of the box which gave Applebloom a good view of it, “it does look awesome,” she agreed. Coco put it in a pile of approved outfits. She didn’t want things to go back into silence, “You know,” she started, “the original play didn’t even have a battle sequence in it. It was just us sitting at a table and talking for most of it.” She still doesn’t know how she ever thought it was going to be a good play.

“Really?” Babs asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“Yeah…” Applebloom spotted an interesting armor piece and got it out. She examined it but continued, “Sweetie... She was just really into it.” She looked to Babs who was looking at the odd armor piece she had and she smiled sheepishly, “Ah’d be lying, if Ah said me and Scoots didn’t get wrapped up in her enthusiasm for it. Ah actually thought it was good at the time. She was really excited about it.”

Babs looked at her blankly for a second, “Huh, I know what youse mean. Volt, Emo, and I have been through a lot since they joined the CMC.”

“That reminds me, how did you recruit them?” Applebloom asked. She hasn’t really tried to recruit anypony for the CMC, well, besides Babs, and nopony really seemed too keen on becoming Diamonds targets.

Babs cracked an embarrassed smile, “Well. I made a large poster.” Her smile fell, “I Propped it up in my school's entrance early and asked every blank flank that passed by if they’d join.”

“So that’s how you met the-” Applebloom said.

“Let me stop youse there, “ Babs interrupted. “All that did was almost get me in trouble with the principal. Nopony would even dignify my attempts to recruit them with a response. It was brutally embarrassing. Anyways, later that day, during lunch, I was approached by Volt and… two jerks. Apparently, they wanted to pretend that they were interested in joining, and I fell for it. Hook line and sinker, I was just that desperate. So, I thought things were going great. I told them all about the Cutiemark Crusaders and what we stand for, and they seemed really into it. I thought I was about to recruit three new members, I thought things were finally working out for me, for once. That was when they turned on me. Volt for her part was originally in on it. She thought they were just going to politely decline, instead they went out of their way to make fun of me. Volt subtle tried to get them to stop and leave me alone but they wouldn’t; in the end, Volt defended me. She told me that I could recruit her, so I did.”

Applebloom never realized city schools could be so ruthless. She’s glad she only had Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to deal with, especially after her run in with Shodan. “Then how’d you meet Emollient?” She asked.

“Well that was the next week, youse see we basically became the laughing stock of the entire school when our attempt at street performer cutiemarks was a-” Babs said.

“Oh! You mean, the time you knocked down the flagpole right?” Applebloom interrupted. She remembered that letter, though she hadn’t heard from her again until she showed up during the family reunion, now that she thought about it. She forgot all about it when she heard that Babs recruited yet another member. She looked up to Babs who was clearly unamused, “Sorry,” she apologised.

Babs sighed, “Yes, that’s the one. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, so we were the entire schools laughing stock by then, and we couldn’t find any pony to sit next to at lunch for the life of us, not that we wanted to. they kept repeating the ‘joke’ the teachers told about the principal’s ‘missing carriage.’ I still don’t get it. She wasn’t missing her carriage. Well, I guess it was missing for a couple days while it got repaired, because it did get crushed by the flagpole but still…” Applebloom wondered how Babs didn’t get expelled for that; then again, she herself once poisoned her own teacher with a love potion. “Do you know what makes it so funny Miss Coco?” Babs asked after some silence, Coco cringed and shrugged. “Umm, anyways one day we noticed Emollient sitting in a corner by herself at lunch, and then the next day. So we decide to see what her deal was. It was difficult to get two words out of her, let alone her name. We decided we’d sit next to her during lunch since she didn’t make fun of us, and she seemed nice. After a couple days, she asked if she could join the Crusaders. She said she wanted to join when she read the poster I made, but was too shy to ask. So we let her join.”

“That was a, umm, pleasant story Babs, but maybe we should also pick out customs while we talk.” Coco suggested. They agreed and went back work picking customs a little more explicitly. Coco helped them out when they had a disagreement on two similar sets of armor one red and one blue.

The makeup ponies weren’t as helpful as Coco and let them do what they felt was right, only helping out when asked. Applebloom was okay with that, since they got to talk more. Babs told her about the time they tried for their waitresses cutiemarks, and how it ended with Emollient getting a free meal and Volt getting kicked out. Apparently, Emollient criticised their presentation on some dishes and proposed better ones. She was too shy to actually serve the food so she made sure it went to the right tables and was made to order. Volt on the other hoof, accidentally dropped some dishes once while serving food, and again while she cleaned the dishes. Babs said she had some communication problems and got tipped poorly as a result. Applebloom told a crusading story of her own, but the makeup suffered. In stead of battle battered and tired; the actors looked like moody clowns that hadn’t gotten a good night's sleep.

Before Applebloom knew it, it was time to choose a background. She checked the script to see what kind of background was needed. The scene was set in a forest. After some searching with Babs and gaining no results they decided to ask about it. “Hey,” Babs addressed the unattentive adult members of her group, “youse guys got a forest background somewhere around here?” Applebloom was beside her.

“Umm,” one adult raised a hoof to his chin and rubbed it. “No,” he said flatly, “sorry. Looks like we have a background to make!” He said happily. “Follow me,” He gestured them to follow, “this’ll take time to get right but the theatre could use a forest background.” They began to follow.

Applebloom liked the idea of making a forest background. She wondered what it’d look like as ideas ran through her head, a jungle, a pine forest, rainforest? She stopped suddenly as a brilliant idea struck her. “Wait!” she yelled, stopping Babs and the stallion in their place. “What if we did better than make a mere background?” she loved this idea, she’d get to really impress her cousin. She wondered how she was going to show off her new powers for a while, and this seemed like the perfect way to do so. She was super excited about it.

“What’re youse talking about Applebloom?” Babs asked confused.

Applebloom cracked a huge smile, “What if we brought the forest here instead?” She couldn’t wait to see her face, it’ll be priceless.

“What?” Babs asked, “like, take trees from a forest and bring them here?” Applebloom nodded in confirmation.

“Filly,” the stallion said, drawing Appleblooms attention away from Babs, “Umm, Applebloom right?” She nodded. “Listen. Sorry to break it to you kid, but we don’t have that kind of time. we barely got enough to do it as a regular background, and we don’t have enough prop trees for it if that’s what you were thinking.” the stallion explained.

Applebloom knew it very well that it was possible, they just didn’t know it yet. She smirked, “Let's make a deal,” she proposed, and the stallion shrugged. “You sounded pretty rude just now,” she stated, and raised her hoof to stop him from responding. “Let me finish. You give me some advice and then one minute, no thirty seconds. If Ah can’t get a forest on stage in that time then Ah’ll apologize for wasting your time. But, if I can do it then you apologise to me.”

“Applebloom…” she looked to Babs who was visible concerned, “why are youse even doing this? There’s no way youse can get a forest in here, in that amount of time,” Babs explained. Applebloom merely smiled at her confidently.

She was going to figuratively blow their minds and get an apology to boot. “Do we have a deal?” she asked the stallion seriously.

“Well, you do seem set on it. So, I guess so. Deal.” the stallion agreed. “What do you need my expert opinion on?”

She giggled with glee at Babs who possessed an utterly confused riddled face. “Okay, so when I get a forest in here where should I put the trees and how many?”

“Heh, adorable,” the stallion mocked playfully. He then went on to describe how and where he would arrange trees to make a proper forest background with actual trees. They had to stop the choreography of the fight that’d been taking place on stage.

Applebloom actually recognized some of the moves they were practising as some that she’d seen just earlier that day. She was impressed with what little of Scootaloo and Volts mock fight she’d saw so far. After double checking the places he pointed out, she pulled out some appleseeds from her mane. She had significantly more and a larger variety of seeds in her saddlebags, but she doesn’t have that with her right now. She needed to buy something to keep the seeds in, that wasn’t as burdensome as her saddlebags. Maybe a pouch like Zecora had. It’d be simpler then concealing some seeds in her mane. But that could wait. She honestly doesn’t know what she was thinking when she put them in her mane, near her bowtie to keep them in place. Pinkie Pie. With that mind boggling thought she moved on. “So. Babs remember when we said we had secrets?” she asked, while preparing herself.

“Yeah?” Babs answered perplexed.

Applebloom merely confidently smiled at her, and focused on what she was going to do next. She looked to the stallion, “You all might want to back off to the curtains,” she suggested, but Scootaloo took control and made it happen. She glanced around and was pleased to see no pony in her way, “you can start the timer now.” In one swift motion, she threw the seeds at the locations he indicated almost not having enough. She cleared her mind, closed her eyes, and waited. She listened the clicking and clanking of the seeds as they bounced against the polished hardwood stage. She heard them clearly, almost as if they were right next to her ears. It seemed so slow, when it was mere seconds.The seeds stopped moving. She opened her eyes and was pleased to see they all ended up where they should of. She reared up on her back legs and brought her forelegs down, willing the idle seeds to grow with all her might.

-------------------
Volt
-------------------

Volt had only heard Babs speak highly of the Ponyville CMC members, and after having met them; she’d have to agree that they lived up to that. Especially since they were on vacation with a Princess. A Princess of Equestria, to be exact. She didn’t know what to make of Princess Twilight. She was conflicted. On one hoof, she was a Princess and she’s always wanted to meet a Princess. On the other, she didn’t behave like she imagined a Princess would. Instead of in charge and generous she seemed meek at times and cynical at others. She ignored that however; she was waiting for a moment she could have with Princess Twilight alone.

She was glad to finally receive her very own official CMC cape. She thought they looked awesome, like they were heros. She understood why she couldn’t bring it on crusades, having been a part of a couple disasters herself, but she still felt like showing it off. Then again she imagined how Shodan would’ve mocked them for it. She was impressed, when the Ponyville members stood up against Shodan for them. She wished she could be that brave. Then again, they probably didn’t know what they were getting into. She just hoped Shodan didn’t ramp up her bullying because of it. In any event, Applebloom interrupted their choreography for some impossible bet. Well, at least she was pretty sure it was impossible, but after seeing Scootaloo tear apart a sidewalk and somehow mend it back, she kept her mind open. Even though she couldn’t think of anyway Applebloom could do that besides teleportation.

Volt was a little confused when Scootaloo had her and everypony else on stage move to the curtains, or why she seemed very excited. The only answer she got out of her was to just watch. So she did. She watched Applebloom throw something and then rear up and pound down. Then she watched as chaos broke loose.

Large trees sprouted out from nowhere, or at least that’s how it seemed to Volt. The roots upended the floor boards snapping and twisting them in a horrifically loud manner. Her ears instinctively went down, but she continued watching. One of the trees collided with the makeshift sun, which was still on, and sent two of the less secure light fixtures to the ground. Luckily, no pony was beneath them at the time; the metal loudly banged while the lightbulbs within shattered. Unluckily, a small portion of the wiring broke free, and what remained of the makeshift sun swung down like a wrecking ball on a short tether into the bottom of the catwalk. Glass shards fell, and lightning shot out from the damaged light bulbs as they swung back and forth wildly on their short leash. A tree branch got struck by a stray bolt and promptly caught fire. She watched as the fire slowly began to consume the tree that popped up from nowhere. Lightning continued to shoot out from Frankenneighs version of a disco ball. Scootaloo shook her entire body, snapping her out of her daze, shock, and awe, “Hey, hey, Volt. Come on!” she yelled, “We have to stop that fire before it gets worse.”

“Ah didn’t know that would happen!” Applebloom shouted uselessly as she stared at the destruction she just caused.

“But how?” Volt asked nopony in particular. She thought of how to stop the fire, while looking up at it. Lightning discharged from the makeshift sun again, and set another nearby tree a blaze. With that, she knew what she had to do; unfortunately, she had no clue where the circuit breaker was and the adults already fled. “Scootaloo, I know how to stop the fire, but I’ll need you to get a cloud or something,” she said, as a plan came to her.

Scootaloo looked at her blankly for a second, “oh yeah, duh!” she exclaimed, while she smacked her head like she just realized something. “I can totally do better than that,” she said.

Volt didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded positive, “good,” she said. She looked towards the stairs that led up to the controls for the lights. All she had to do was get to the control panel and turn off the power to them. That would stop the bolts of lightning from causing more fires, “but first I need to-” she began, but noticed Scootaloo was gone. After a quick scan, she found her hovering near the first fire. She glanced up at the light fixtures and was glad to see them a decent distance away from Scootaloo, it still made her uneasy, but she felt Scootaloo was mostly safe.

“Check this out!” Scootaloo yelled with a wicked grin. Volt watched as Scootaloo breathed in deeply and then blew out. A powerful gust of wind somehow came from her mouth. The flames went in a frenzy and engulfed two nearby trees. It only made things significantly worse, “Whoops, my bad!” She yelled, hoof behind her head, as she slowly flapped closer to the ground.

Volt ignored whatever Scootaloo just did and booked it for the stairs. She had to turn off the power before things got worse. She knew that this was an electrical fire and the best way to stop it was to turn off the power before dealing with the fire, or at least that’s what she’d always been told, and read about. As she climbed up the twisting stairs she could see more trees starting to catch fire, she had to hurry. She knew it’d be hot, but hadn’t realized just how hot it’d be until she made it on top the catwalk. Smoke billowed out from one particular tree, whose leaves were just beginning to burn, blocking and obscuring her view of the light terminal. Heat distorted her surroundings, but she was too panicked to notice. She was already sweating and she hadn’t even ran for the terminal yet. Her heart raced as she psyched herself up to make a run for it. Everything told her it was a bad idea, but she already made it this far.

She breathed in deeply, then galloped to the console as flames licked at her hooves. She closed her eyes as she passed through the billowing smoke. She tripped and threw her forelegs in front of herself. She barely stopped herself from face planting on the catwalk, exhaling as she did so. She gritted her teeth, the metal burned her skin as it bypassed what meager protection her fur provided. Swiftly, she got back on her hooves and made her way to the console. Sweat obscured her vision as she located the off switch, and promptly flicked it off. Heat assaulted her eyes as she checked to make sure the lights actually turned off, alarmingly they remained on. She feared that would happen. The smoke made it hard to think, all she knew was that she had to stop the flow of electricity and get back down to the stage floor. There was only one option she had left. She opened the panels underside and exposed all the wires to all the switches, with a convenient wire cutter on display.

She lit her horn, because the catwalk was too hot to stand on for even a short length of time, and using her hooves required that. She was never really any good at magic, and the spell she needed now, required a calm state of mind, which she was nowhere close to being in. She had to try anyways, with all her concentration she reached out towards the wire cutter, and was excited to see a light orange glow surround it and lift in the air. She barely heard somepony yell below her, and the aurora around the wire cutter flickered and dimmed. She ignored the yell, and resumed her concentration. She looked at the many wires before her; unfortunately, they were all the same size but not the same color. She read about this before, and subsequently knew what wire she needed to cut. The problem was, that she couldn’t remember what color she needed to cut. It’d been awhile since she’d read that book. She closed her eyes, and thought. Her mind felt so heavy, maybe if she thought about it a little longer. What had she been thinking about? A searing pain intruded on her senses and she snapped open her eyes, everything coming back to her instantly, fully alert. She snipped a wire and booked it for the stairs, confident in her choice. In that moment, She failed to notice as a bright white light flashed from her flanks. Her lungs burned, as she ran. She coughed, hacked, and felt disoriented as she went down those twisting stairs. She almost fell a couple times. Once down she felt exhausted and needed rest. A purple light filled her vision before she blacked out.

-------------------
Emollient
-------------------

Emollient had gotten a little more use to the ponies she was tasked to work with. She really liked Sweetie and she thought Princess Twilight was very nice, well most the time. It was obvious to her that Twilight didn’t like being treated differently from other ponies. They worked on a new scene but were interrupted with a loud commotion that originated from the stage. No pony yelled, and nothing happened after a little bit; so they ignored it. That was until Applebloom yelled from the stage and appeared by its entrance, “TWILIGHT! HELP!”

Twilight sprung to action, “What happened?” the princess asked as she rushed towards Applebloom. Emollient saw dancing lights on the wall behind Applebloom, and faintly heard the crackle wood. She concluded a fire somehow started.

“Fire!” Applebloom yelled a little more subdued now that Twilight was closer, confirming Emollients deductions. “Scootaloo tried to put it out, but that only made it worse! She said you knew how to put it out!” Emollient was conflicted on whether or not she wanted to check it out.

Twilight reached the corner and gasped, while lighting up her horn. Emollient felt a strong urge to sate her curiosity, so she approached cautiously. She watched as the alicorns concentration increased tenfold and her horn glowed brightly. She disregarded the Princess and peeked around the wall. She saw several trees covered in circular pinkish purple shields all in segments. It was ill-lighted, but the aurora emitted from the shields and dying flames within allowed her a good view of the havoc wreaked. The fire slowly died away, but Twilight kept her shields up for a while longer. Warm smoke slowly arose when the shields finally fell, it darkened the stage, making it hard to see anything outside of the few gaps from the curtains.

Twilight told everypony to get to the backstage, including Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Everypony listened to her, and soon there was a huge crowd of ponies backstage again. Emollient immediately noticed Volt wasn’t in the crowd but when she tried to say something it just didn’t work. There were too many ponies and it made her too nervous. Twilight spoke up before she could, “Alright, anypony care to explain to me why there’s burnt trees on-”

“MY STAGE!? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BEAUTIFUL STAGE!?” yelled undoubtedly the owner of the theatre. “PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” Emollient eyes went down in fear, he sounded angry.

“Oh joy,” Twilight said, sounding anything but happy, “Applebloom I’m pretty sure you played a big role in this, so you and Applejack should come with me. Before the owner gets a heart attack or something,” Applebloom followed behind like a wounded dog while Applejack walked beside Applebloom protectively. Babs eventually went after them.

The group dispersed a little leaving Emollient with Sweetie, Rainbow, and Scootaloo. She was worried, “have any of you seen Volt?” She finally managed to ask now that she was with more familiar ponies even if she met them all just today. Scootaloo and Sweetie were crusaders, and that meant something to her.

“Yeah, she-” Scootaloo began but then cut herself off. “Umm,” she squinted and her face scrunched up, “I lost track of her when I told Applebloom to get Twilight...”

“Oh,” Emollient said with a frown, “I hope she’s alright.” She was really concerned, that was a huge fire and she hadn’t seen Volt yet. She’d read enough detective books to know that a fire like that was a big enough distraction for a foal napping, though she couldn’t think of any monetary gains a pony could make by doing so, well besides from Princess Twilight. As far as she knew no pony had a personal grudge against her friend and she didn’t see that happening in the short time they’ve been apart. She mulled over even more likely scenarios.

“Hey,” Scootaloo said, patting her withers and taking her out of mind, “you know what. Me and Rainbow here-”

“Rainbow and I,” interrupted Sweetie, earning a glare and smile from Scootaloo. Emollient couldn’t tell if Scootaloo was happy or annoyed with her interruption it seemed like both.

“Whatever,” Scootaloo dismissed, “we’ll go look for Volt. How’s that sound?”

“That sounds nice,” Emollient agreed. She hoped that they found her soon, she couldn’t help but worry. She kept thinking about it. Every thought worse than the last. She didn’t even notice them leave to go find her friend, so lost in thought she had been.

“Hey,” Sweetie said softly, gaining her attention, “I’m sure she’s okay…” Emollient felt somewhat comforted by that. The white unicorn filly she’s hung out with all day suddenly hopped in place in an excited manner, “Let's find something to do while we wait!” Sweetie beamed at her. She actually thought that sounded pretty good about now.

“Alright, but what?” Emollient agreed. She didn’t much like the idea of standing around doing nothing for who knows how long. She began to wonder why she herself hadn’t thought to look around for Volt, but Sweetie interrupted that train of thought.

“Oh!” Sweetie exclaimed. “I know!” she squeaked, “My sister has always been really good with makeup. We should try that.” Sweetie lead her, well more like whisked her, to the actors. Their makeup was all kinds of messed up. She then somehow talked one of them into letting them try out their skills. Intentional or not, it did help her forget about her worries.

-------------------
Babs
-------------------

Babs was excited about today. It’d been great so far, with the exceptions of Shodan and the disaster on stage that likely just canceled their crusading for the day. She was glad to see that her best friends got along with her ponyville friends. She worried they wouldn’t, even though she had no reason to think so. She didn’t know how the stage got ruined. All she knew was a bunch of huge trees popped out of nowhere, caught fire, and it’d somehow been Appleblooms fault. She decided to follow after her cousins when they went to talk to the owner.

The curtains opened at some point since she’d last been on stage, which allowed light to shine from the auditorium. She listened in on the conversation, as she slid beside a downcast Applebloom. It disheartened her, when she heard how much it was likely going to cost them. Applebloom freaked out about it. Her cousin objected and argued that it was an accident and she didn’t know the roots would do that, but oddly enough her other cousin Applejack seemed okay with it. She didn’t know how Applejack could be so calm, that was a lot of bits they owed. They discussed payment terms, which ended with Applejack somehow paying it in full sometime this week. She didn’t know what Applejack was thinking, but that seemed like an impossible task to her. The theatre owner excused himself and retired for the day, so he could cool down his temper. “Applebloom!” Scootaloo yelled with urgency clear in her voice. She found Scootaloo kneeled down on the other side of the stage, next to some twisting stairs. Everypony made way to Scootaloo. She noticed figure lying beside her orange friend, but she was too far away and it was too dark to see any details.

“Volt?” Babs asked, as soon as she recognized the unicorn filly next to Scootaloo. Applebloom lept into action and asked what happened while placing a hoof on her wheezing form. “Is she going to be okay?” Babs asked, concerned about how nasally her friends breathing was. Scootaloo stared at her flank with a wild smile. Before she investigated whatever Scootaloo was looking at, Volt made some nasty coughs. “Volt are youse alright? What happened?” She asked in eager concern.

*cough* “Ahem, ugh.” Volt groaned, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, blinking her eyes. “I feel great actually,” she said, getting up. She squinted looking down at the ground as if there was something there, “odd,” she commented.

“Why were you passed out here?” Twilight asked, concern written on her face.

Volt beamed at Twilight, before she brought a hoof behind her head in shame or embarrassment, Babs couldn’t tell. “Oh um, I turned off the power to the lights, because it was an electrical fire,” she smiled faintly, “by the time I got on the catwalk it was already hot and smoky and…” She sighed, “well, it wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done now that I think about it. I blacked out apparently. I hardly remember getting down those stairs,” she said, gesturing to the stairs in question.

Scootaloo got beside an even more downtrodden Applebloom and threw a hoof across her shoulder, “cheer up Applebloom. This wasn’t all your fault, I know you saw me make the fire twice as worse…” She looked to Babs apologetically, “ which was an accident! Anyways, I think it’s time we stop being secretive and just tell them, don’t you?” Applebloom merely nodded pitifully, looking miles away. “Twilight come with us please. We might need your help explaining things.”

“So, you’re finally going to tell them?” Twilight asked, and Scootaloo nodded. Babs knew what they were talking about. Given the things she’d seen and the fact Princess Twilight was apparently in on it, well she looked forward to finally hearing their secret.

Babs idly wondered how Applejack could pay that much on such short notice, as they all followed Scootaloo backstage. Just as the got backstage Rainbow Dash rejoined the group and commented she was glad they found Volt; after that, they heard a squeal of delight from one of the makeup booths. Sweetie ran out of one of the booths and fell on her chin in the process. Babs almost laughed at that, only encouraged by Scootaloo's small snickers. Sweetie got up quickly though and spotted them instantly. She ran towards them and then hopped around them happily yelling, “she did it,” over and over again. Emollient exited the booth and approached them with a large smile.

“Who did what?” Twilight asked. Babs was curious herself.

“Emollient got her Cutiemark!” Sweetie squealed. Babs felt great. They finally got a cutiemark after about one year of being crusaders. She wondered what it was and what it was for. She could hardly wait. Though, apparently she wasn’t the only one.

Twilight was gone in a flash and pop, and reappeared right next to Emollient in another flash and pop. “YES!” Twilight exclaimed in what could only be delight. Babs watched as she picked up her light pink pegasus friend with her hooves and waved her around like a trophy. “Yes! Yes, Yes, Yes!”

“Woah there Princess, Ah think you need to cool yer jets.” Applejack stated, while Rainbow laughed at Twilights excitable behavior.

Twilight froze in place still holding Emollient high between her hooves. Her smile slowly faded, as it was replaced with embarrassment before she gently put the pegasus down, “Sorry,” she apologised.

“So what’s it for?” Babs asked her friend who was proudly showing off her cutiemark, hardly fazed by Twilight odd behavior. It was a slightly lighter pink blotch on both sides of her flank, it was actually almost hard to see, but it was definitely there.

She seemed too happy to let all the ponies staring at her affect her, “I think it’s for my ability to notice things that other ponies would usually miss, or that I’m good with makeup, since I technically got it while applying makeup…” she finished looking down in deep thought, eyes scrunched up. Babs was a little confused by this, shouldn’t she know what her cutiemark meant?

“Well!” Scootaloo yelled, drawing everypony's attention away from the awkward silence, “She’s not the only one who got her cutie mark today!” she exclaimed, then brought a hoof around Volt. Volt for her part looked excited.

“You got your cutiemark to?” The dark grey unicorn filly asked, as Scootaloo detached.

“I wish, but no. You did!” Scootaloo beamed. Volt was quick check her claims, but Babs could already see it. It was a broken clear light bulb with a brass screw thread contact and a giant lightning bolt bursting out of the top of the bulb.

“She got her cutiemark to?” Applebloom asked, apparently no longer lost in her mind. “That’s Amazing! How’d you get it?” Though Babs could tell something about her cousins smile and voice seemed awfully forced.

Volt froze, smiles and all, before her face scrunched up and she looked back at her cutiemark, “Umm… let me show you!” she chuckled unsurely, and suddenly and ran back to the stage.

“Does this mean they’re no longer crusaders?” Sweetie asked. Applebloom and Scootaloo didn’t seem to know. Scootaloo said she’d check the rules when they got back from vacation. They followed after Volt. Babs lingered behind briefly as the lack of an answer weighed heavy on her heart. Her mind raced with what it could mean. She caught up to them and listened to Volt explain when she was pretty sure she got her cutiemark.

Babs was thrilled for her friends but Sweeties question haunted her. Did this mean they were done crusading? What happens to a CMC member when they get their cutiemark? It didn’t help that while she thought about it, the conversation somehow turned into finding ponies for them to apprenticeship under. Everything was moving so fast. If they found ponies who would take up their apprenticeship, then they wouldn’t have time to crusade. If they didn’t have time to crusade then would she be on her own again? Would they leave her for ponies who already had cutiemarks? Volt had done it once before. She needed to get away, she’d seen what happened to ponies who get their cutiemarks. They lose touch with their markless friends or sometimes even turn on them. She felt like that was going to happen to her. She congratulated them both, then excused herself from the celebrating and chatter. She felt so detached.

She walked silently out of the backstage, then up a elevated ramp of the auditorium, “Babs!” Scootaloo said suddenly behind her.

Babs drew her attention to Scootaloo, “Oh, hey Scootaloo,” she said in a rather uninterested tone and kept walking.

“What’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked getting beside her.

Babs thought about how she wanted to answer that, “well, now what am I supposed to do?” she said bitterly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Scootaloo questioned back. Babs thought about it more, but kept walking. “Come on, tell me what’s bothering you. We just had our first successful crusade!” she exclaimed happily. Babs paused and looked at her questioningly. “Umm, well…” Scootaloo squinted her eyes, “besides the whole. Recking the stage, and setting it on fire thing, that is.”

Babs continued walking, “Sweetie asked the question herself, does that mean they’re no longer Cutiemark Crusaders? Even youse didn’t seem to have an answer to that,” she paused briefly waiting for a reply, when none came she went on, “they don’t need to crusade anymore because they have their cutiemarks,” she took a calming breath. In all honesty, she didn’t know why she felt so strongly about this. She was sure she was over-reacting, but she couldn’t help it though. Anytime she thought about the future now it was empty. Devoid of her best friends and all the little adventures they’ve gotten into over the last year. They will have moved on to bigger and greater things and left her behind. “So why would they still be Cutiemark Crusaders?” She ran as tears threatened to run down her face, but Scootaloo clamped down on her tail before she got out of reach. She stopped, not because of any pain or force, though there was little. She just lacked the will to care enough to fight free. She was a little surprised when she was brought into a hug. She was on the verge of bursting into tears and that wasn’t helping, but she held strong.

“Babs,” Scootaloo said softly, “I know what you’re afraid of,” she tightened her hug, “you think they’re gonna move on and forget about you…”

Babs breathed in, “Yeah… How did you-”

“Because I had the same fears,” Scootaloo interrupted, “I’ve only known Volt and Emollient for one day and that doesn’t sound like something they’d do, to me. Do you really think they’d do that to you?”

Babs choked a sob, and rubbed her eyes, “n-no,” she answered. That didn’t sound like them at all. They’d been through enough for her to know they wouldn’t do that to her, but a possibility did come to her, “N-not unless I turned into a bully.”

“Do you remember the day you joined the Cutiemark Crusaders?” Scootaloo asked. She stopped the hug but kept a foreleg across her withers like they were hoofball teammates.

She was almost caught off guard with that question. She remembered that day well. She was a huge bully to them all week. Just so she could avoid being called blank flank herself. She hated every moment of it, but she was too cowardly to stop. They did something she’d never forget. They invited her into their group. After all the horrible things she’d done to them. They found it in themselves to forgive her. It was a very fond memory to say the least, “I remember it like a was yesterday.”

“D-do,” Scootaloo stuttered, “you recall the first word I used to describe the bound we share, as Cutiemark Crusaders?” She asked, and then breathed in as if she was calming herself down.

Babs looked to her friend, “Umm, gal pals?” Scootaloo shook her head, “amigos?” Scootaloo smiled at that, but shook no. There was so many different words she used describe their bond, “possum buddies?” Scootaloo’s eyes scrunched up but nodded no, again. She blew her bangs out of her vision in frustration, then it came to her, “Sisters. I know it was sisters.”

Scootaloo cracked a small nervous smile, “an-and do you know why I u-used that particular word, before al-all the rest?”

“No,” Babs simply answered. She was beginning to get worried about Scootaloo's stuttering and how nervous her friend looked.

Scootaloo breathed in deeply, eyes closed, and released much of that breath. She opened her eyes and stared directly at Babs, “I’m an orphan,” she replied in a matter of fact way.

Babs eyes shot open and she stared at Scootaloo, “What?”

“I’m an orphan,” Scootaloo repeated.

Through all the things that could’ve come to Babs mind, a serious conversation with her parents came to the front of her thoughts. One that she had before she left for Sweet Apple Acres last year. Her parents told her not to bring up Applebloom's, Applejack's, and Big Mac’s parents while there since they were dead. She asked some questions about that, and ended up learning Ponyville didn’t have an orphanage, or at least that as far as her parents knew Ponyville didn’t have a orphanage. “I didn’t know Ponyville had an orphanage.” Babs stated, as if she just learned something new.

“It doesn’t,” Scootaloo corrected.

Babs froze, “Then where in Ponyville do youse live?”

Scootaloo smiled at that, “with the one and only Rainbow Dash! She’s my big sister now,” she boasted proudly. “But... before that, I lived in the Cutiemark Crusader clubhouse. It wasn’t all bad, I had Pinkie Pie to help me out,” Babs knew Pinkie Pie, somepony like that was hard to forget. Scootaloo sighed, “and before that, I lived in an abandoned house, and before that, I lived in an orphanage. I don’t really feel like talking about that right now.”

“Umm okay,” Babs replied, she was glad some ponies were watching out for Scootaloo now. Then it hit her, “Wait a minute, when did youse move in with Rainbow Dash?”

“Like a week or two ago,” Scootaloo answered with a smile, but then froze when she looked up to Babs.

Babs felt shocked and down right awful. She kicked Scootaloo out of the clubhouse. She had no doubt Scootaloo was living there when she did, even if it didn’t last during the night Diamond and Silver were talking about sleeping over in the clubhouse just to ‘rub it in their faces.’ She managed to talk them out of it, but that’s about all she could do. What she did was horrible. Regret hit her hard, “I’m sorry,” she apologised, as she brought Scootaloo into a tight hug.

Scootaloo patted her back, ”It’s okay, really,” Scootaloo said, struggling to get out of the bear grip hug but ultimately giving up, “and before you ask yes. Applebloom, Sweetie, and of course Rainbow know about my situation,” Babs detached from the hug, “but Applejack and Twilight don’t, and I want to be the one to tell them. So please-”

“Alright, I won’t tell them,” Babs interrupted. “So, youse consider us sisters?”

“Well…” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head a forehoof, “more like second sisters? It’s just, Rainbow and I are now a family. So extended family? At the time, I just really wanted a family and I thought I’d make the Cutiemark Crusaders be that family. You know what I mean?”

Babs didn’t know what she meant but at least thought she understood it. She could only imagine. “...I’m okay with that,” She finally managed to say. “So does this mean Volt and Emollient are still crusaders?”

“Yes,” Scootaloo answered, “once a Cutiemark Crusader, always a Cutiemark Crusader,” she stated. “Now! I’m sure they’re wondering where we ran off to, so let's get back there.”

They turned around and began walking back, “Thanks,” Babs said honestly.

“We’ve never really talked about it, Sweetie, Applebloom, and I that is. But I knew we were likely not going to get our cutiemarks on the same crusade, which is why I wrote in our rules in a way that a membership is permanent and that members…” Scootaloo went on to explain the guidelines she made for the Cutiemark Crusaders. Babs felt sure that full disclosure of what it meant to agree to become a Crusader should probable given before anypony joined from now on. It was nothing too taxing or outrageous, but she still felt that way nonetheless.

Things went better than Babs hoped when they met back up with the celebrating ponies. Volt and Emollient pledged to help her get her own cutiemark without any suggestions from Scootaloo or requests from herself. She felt silly for thinking they’d abandon her just because they got their cutiemarks, and proud to be one of their friends. Applebloom seemed off to her. She believed it had everything to do with how much Applejack owed the theatre. Their welcome at the theatre ended, so they all went out and had dinner. Babs and her friends finally learned what happened that gave Applebloom the ability to instantly grow trees. Applebloom seemed unusually quiet to her, but the day grew short and their plates were empty, so they said their goodbyes. She couldn’t wait to see them again, especially since it’ll be during the finale tournament, but that’s days away.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bored out of her mind with nothing to do, Mirror stared out at the dimly green lit cave ceiling above her. It was far out of her reach as she laid on a comfortable hammock unique to changelings. She’d finished school for the day and already completed her homework on food. She wanted to learn about outside already, even if the few looks she got when she visited the cave entrance seemed even more boring than the cave itself, well besides whatever provided the bright light outside. It had lingered in her eyes whenever she looked back inside the cave, obscuring her view with weird translucent blobs. She heard a tapping noise as she thought, right outside her little domain, down the passage that lead to a large cave network. She’d never heard anything like it before, it sounded hard yet hollow at the same time.

Fear crept up as it slowly continued to get closer, as far as she knew her parents were supposed to be busy today making preparations for a potentially dangerous scouting mission and then heading out. She wondered where her foaling sitter was. The noise stopped right outside her room and she tried to hide in her hammock best she could. Someling disguised as a young pegasus stallion flew in and spotted her almost immediately. “There you are,” he said in an unfamiliar angry voice, causing her to nestle into to her hammock even more. Yet, for some strange reason she wanted to run to that young pegasus and give her a hug. Wait her?

Someling disguised as an old unicorn mare hobbled in holding onto some long object that wasn’t a stalactite, yet she got a strong feeling she knew exactly what it was, as it made that weird noise each time it hit the ground, “Welp, I think that’s enough,” said the old mare, who promptly had a burst of green energy burn away the old mare transformation and revealed her father. Something wasn’t right, but she felt overjoyed to see him.

She squeaked in joy and yelled, “Daddy,” whilest she galloped to give him a hug. She thought for sure she wouldn’t get to see him till after the mission in a week or so, having said her goodbyes earlier that morning. Wait what? Something was off but she couldn’t put her hoof on it.

“You’re no fun,” said the familiar voice of her mother, as she lost her own disguise now on the ground, “awe, you’re both so cute. Come over here and give me a hug,” she pouted.

“Mamma!” she yelled and galloped to her mother's awaiting hug, “I thought you left, for your scoo-scout scoting mission.” Wait, why was she struggling with this word. Something was wrong, even as she felt the warm embrace of her mother. Then why did she feel chilly?

“Things got messy with supplies, so we couldn’t leave till now. We wanted to say goodbye to you one last time before we left,” her mother explained.

“and make sure you were doing your homework,” her father said jokingly.

“Daddy!” she complained. She felt confused, everything seemed just fine and familiar so what made her dread something. “All we learn about this last week is food. I ate it every day, what the big deal? I want to learn about outside.” Why did she sound so stupid? What’s going on?

“Outside you say?” Her father bemused. He raised the wooden cane he was carrying, “do you know what this is?” he asked.

“No,” she said, wait what? That wasn’t right, she knew what it was, before she could correct herself her father spoke up.

“This is a wooden cane, and do you know what wood is?” she said no again, for some reason. Something wasn't right “Wood comes from trees, which are living things that can grow to be larger than this entire room though they’re usually pretty thin much like this cane if it were much bigger. They sprout branches that reach for the sky that then grow thousands of green leaves. A forest is made up of many trees, and several animals and monsters claim it as their home,” he suddenly turned into a black and white striped pony with a weird mane, “Zebras have been known to live in trees and this is what they look like.”

“Forest can actually be very beautiful.” Her mother added.

“Really? Can you take me to see them one day?” she asked, feeling a pang of despair soon after. This was all wrong. Something pecked at her head and suddenly she couldn’t see anything.

*CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP*

Mirror groaned and sniffled. She smelt a very faint hint of anger, which smelled like burnt toast at the moment. She felt clean crisp air filter through her lungs. The pecking started again, and she lazily and blindly swiped at it with a forehoof only for it to come back with avengeance. She threw her forelegs in front of her and backed away opening her eyes to the sight of her forelegs, only to accidentally slip and fall hitting several things on her way down. Every sudden stop woke her up even more, until she finally hit the relatively soft bottom.

She felt bruised and battered. She groaned as she slowly got on shaky legs and looked around. She was surrounded by things. She wondered where she was, as she yawned. Then it came back to her. She was in a gloomy forest thanks to the morning light. She blinked a couple times as the ‘dream’ she was rudely woken up from came to mind. She hated how changelings relived their memories as ‘dreams.’ That was a nice moment with her parents and a promise they’d never be able to keep. Just another reason to hate ponies. They were defending themselves, she reminded herself. She wasn’t here for revenge, her race was starving and she needed to help the love collection effort.

She was glad to be rid of the hot unforgiving badlands. She had a little less food than she wanted, but felt confident that her flight to the forest was far better than being diamond prairie dog chow. She had been running low on water, and the water from those broken barrels in the abandoned town was stale; compared to the fresh river water she came across after some trekking in the forest. Trees, bushes, vines, and occasional flowers she’d only seen in books presented themselves to her and she was fascinated. She had heard so many new noises that she had a hard time going to sleep. Crickets, chirps, howls, and growls had kept her on edge; but the gentle rustling of leaves in a light breeze helped lawl her to sleep. She wasn’t a fan of her rude awakening and subsequent tumble mere moments ago. She glared above her looking for the thing that assaulted her, but only saw branches.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes clear and checked her saddlebags, glad to see they kept closed and secure during her fall. She looked for the sun that shined against a side of the canopy. She double checked her compass then cautiously continued her trek to her destination, not sure how much farther it was. She heard so many strange sounds, and they all sounded like they were bickering and arguing at one another. She suspected the faint hint of anger she smelled had something to with it. It was the only emotion she could smell, that wasn’t in her saddlebags, but it was far away or getting old she couldn’t tell. She couldn’t tell how far away it was or how old it was, but she could smell that it only got stronger in the direction that she was headed. She didn’t like anger because it tasted horrible. She’s glad she only had to taste it once during class. What she was doing was more important than her petty preferences so she moved forward. It’s all she could do, it’s all she had left.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the wait people. I know I said I’d get this done sooner, so sorry. Just look at how long it is. I wanted this to be only about 8k words where did the other 10.6k come from? I hope you’ve found some entertainment out of this. I promise future chapters will be shorter even if I have to split them up.

Aurthor’s Notes:

1.This whole chapter has tons of references to S3 E4 of MLP “One Bad Apple.” The opening is basically what happens right before Babs enters the clubhouse, at least in this fiction it is.
2.“Eventually the style of buildings changed and the streets were completely crowded with ponies. Oriental decorations were above the street lights and strewn between buildings. A wonderful smell of street restaurants filled the air.” This is a reference to stereotypical chinatowns. Within a city, that’s also celebrating something.
3.“In the center of the raised ring was an lean old donkey with a wrinkled face in an all black karate uniform with a red belt.” Believe it or not I once knew someone like this, though his face wasn’t that wrinkled.
4.“Was it a modified version Leotards slip spell?” Twilight asked clearly interested. This is a reference to Leonardo and his discoveries on friction.
5.“Coco looked giddy with happiness, “Sweetie, you once wrote, directed, and acted in a play before right?” “ This is the same play from S4 E19 of MLP “For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils”
6.“Coco got the cue as the fillies looked to her eagerly, “Right… If you’ll follow me,” she lead them inside past the lobby and into a large theatre.” Yes, it’s the same theatre that Rarity got Coco a job at in S4 E8 of MLP “Rarity Takes Manehattan.”
7.“Sweetie learned, rather quickly, that even if she could admit her story was bad; that it was hard to let go of some of the aspects that made it bad.” You make a fiction, and you’ll learn how true that is. For me it’d be the first two ‘optional’ chapters in Meanwhile… and some other things.
8.“It’s why she followed Zecora.” This is a reference to S1 E9 “Bridle Gossip”
9.“It’s why she delivered Applejack’s pies.” This is a refernce to S4 E17 “Somepony to Watch Over Me”
10.So after having read all that, here’s a reminder clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc__Htn5eus

A Simple Shopping Trip (Optional?)

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Babs checked her saddlebags one last time. Satisfied she had everything, she moved to the door, “I’ll see youse later mum!” she yelled opening the door and exiting.

“Are youse sure youse don’t want me to help youse fillies out?” her mom asked loudly before she could close the door.

She stopped and popped her head back inside their apartment, and blew a bang out of her view, “Yeah! I’m sure mum, thanks for the bits, by the way!” she yelled back and went to close the door again.

“No problem brown sugar! Youse got your list?” her mother asked before she could close the door again.

She stopped herself from closing the door again, “Yeah, I got it right here!” she said, pointlessly patting her saddlebag, “I’ll Cya later!”

“Lunch is at twelve thirty,” her mother said, before she could close the door yet again.

“Okay!” she yelled loudly before closing the door, locking it, and moving to the stairs. She didn’t want to keep her friends waiting longer than they already had been. She hurried down the stairs and outside. It was warm, and the buildings casted long shadows in the clear morning. She was greeted by an excited Emollient and impatient Volt, both wearing mostly empty saddlebags, “Alright, let's go,” she said. She knew why Volt was in a hurry, they were going to meet up with Princess Twilight. Even though they weren’t there for the Princess, she knew that’s who her friend was excited to see. They planned on asking their fellow cutie mark crusaders if they wanted to go shopping with them, and by extension Princess Twilight in Volts mind no doubt.

They knew where the vacationers met and ate in the mornings so they hurried there before they missed them. Fortunately, they made it to the restaurant just as her cousins and their friends walked out, “Hey Applebloom! Applejack!” she yelled and waved getting their attention.

Applebloom smiled and yelled, “Babs,” running up to her. they hugged briefly, “what’re you-" she stopped as soon as she looked to Babs side, "V-Volt,” she stuttered., while her smile suddenly seemed forced like yesterday, “and Emollient doing here?”

“We came to see if youse guys wanted to join us, to go shopping for cutesceneria party supplies,” She answered her cousin.

Applejack wasn’t far behind, “Are yer parents okay with y’all walking around unsupervised?” She asked sternly.

“Yeah,” she answered simply. She was a little surprised Volt hadn’t said anything yet, so she glanced to her side where a grey unicorn filly with two tuned spiky blue and straight yellow hair should’ve been, instead was nothing but empty space. She looked around and found her friend talking to Princess Twilight, just ahead of her and behind her cousins. She was no longer surprised.

“How’d you know we were here?” Applebloom asked, drawing her attention back to their conversation.

“Applejack gave us a copy of youse guys vacation list,” she answered. “So youse want to go with us?”

Applebloom sighed, “well, it sure sounds fun, but...” she glanced behind herself to Volt, “Ah just can’t. Sorry cus. Ah’m goin-”

“Hey, no pressure,” she interrupted, then blew a bang out of her view. She raised a forehoof to stop Applebloom from talking. “We know youse guys are on vacation, we just figured we’d ask. I know what youse’re gonna do today and I kind of wish I could be there to watch it,” She knew exactly what Applebloom was going to do. Considering what they had planned on the list and what she learned her cousin was capable of yesterday. She was able to put two and two together. She couldn’t and wouldn’t blame her cousin even if it was the cutesceneria party itself that she missed. “But,” she continued, “we need to buy this stuff if we’re gonna have the party before youse guys head back home.”

“Thanks for understanding cus,” Applebloom said, “how’d you know what Ah was gonna do?” Babs pulled out the copy of today’s plans she made of Applejacks list, and pointed to the subject at hoof, “Oh, well you know…” she said thoughtfully, “I’m glad Twilight actually planned that in the vacation, it’s something I was going to do on one of our unplanned days, but this is much better,” she sighed, “even if Ah’m gonna miss out on hanging out with you guys.”

“It’s okay. We’ll see youse at the party for sure then, and youse can tell us all about it,” Babs proposed.

“That sounds like a plan Ah can get behind, but we should really get going, Ah want to start as soon as possible,” Applebloom said.

“Alright then,” she looked behind her cousins to Volt who was talking to Scootaloo and Rainbow, while Emollient was to the side talking to Sweetie, “Hey Volt do either of them want to come?”

Volt hit herself on the head, apparently she completely forgot why they were there. No doubt to excited to talk with Princess Twilight again. “Oh yeah, so either of you want to come with us and help us go shopping for cutesceneria party supplies?” she asked them.

Sweetie said no; Apparently, she was looking forward to what Twilight wanted to do. Scootaloo also said no, as she was really looking forward to the activities she and her sister had planned for the day. Babs understood, even if they were all cutiemark crusaders they didn’t have to force the others to do stuff that wasn’t a legit crusade, even then it couldn't be done. She and her friends waved them goodbye and began heading for a specific party shop. They hashed out more details and thoughts about the cutesceneria party along the way.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It wasn’t long before they entered the party shop. They had discussed what to get and who’d get what along the way, along with some other things. There was nothing to special about this particular shop, only that they had coupons for certain items. It was a modest sized shop packed full of party supplies, making it a rather colorful place. It had three alis of party supplies. One entire ali section was set aside for various balloons, while the one across from it was another was set aside for party hats.

Each of their parents had given them a list of suggestions, some bits, and in Emollients case she’d also got some coupons, which is why they found themselves at this particular party shop. They split up and went about finding the supplies they agreed to get. Babs tasked herself with getting a blank banner. It wasn’t hard to find since there was a banner above them proudly displaying “PARTY BANNERS”, after picking out the size she needed she headed to the register.

“Will that be all youngin’,” asked the mare behind the counter, as Babs threw the folded banner on top the counter.

“No, do youse fellas do decorations?” she asked.

“Why yes we do,” the mare answered.

She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out an envelope, then threw it on the counter next to the folded banner, “do youse think you could make it look like this, but more professional like?”

The mare grabbed the envelope, opened it up, pulled out, and looked at its contents for a little bit. In that time her friends came up to them and began putting their stuff on the counter, much to Babs alarm. The mare looked back to her and smirked placing the envelope down, “I don’t think that’ll be a problem. You can pick it up anytime tomorrow,” she said sliding the banner and envelope under the counter.

“Thanks,” Babs said in relief that the mare at least tried to be subtle about it. The mare ringed in and bagged everything that her friends brought. They paid, took their bags of stuff, and left.

They headed back towards Babs apartment, to drop off their supplies so they could get the next set of things they needed for the party, “I can’t wait. This is going to be so much fun!” Volt said, then gasped “and and, Princess Twilight might be there!” She excitedly hopped ahead of them.

“Heh, we know. Youse been talking about it ever since this morning,” Babs said with increased volume as her friend moved further away. She didn’t really understand her friends fanaticism with Princesses. She’d asked about it once before and she got a long answer about honor, justice, grace, and truth. She found it rather reassuring that Volt held those things too high regard, even if Volt herself was a little bit on the mischievous side.

Volt didn’t hear her or she likely ignored her as she kept skipping ahead of them a little more before walking again. “It would be nice if Princess Twilight showed up at our cutescenera,” Emollient said.

Babs smiled at that, “well, I’m more excited that Applebloom and her friends are gonna be there, we are Cutiemark Crusaders after all,” a thought came to her, “speaking of them you seemed to get along with Sweetie just fine.”

“She’s really cool,” Emollient answered, giving Babs pause, she’d wouldn’t consider Sweetie cool. Nice, encouraging, cautious, and even sweet, but not cool. “She recommended a lot of books I haven't even heard of, but then again. I’m not much into action books like she is, so it would make sense that I wouldn’t have heard of them,” Emollient continued.

Babs herself wasn’t much of a reader, “Well, I’m glad youse all got along. I was a little worried youse all wouldn’t, and thanks for letting me host the cutescenera. It means a lot to me…” she said as the continued walking back to her apartment.

“There’s nopony else I’d want to host it, than one of my best friends,” Emollient said enthusiastically, as they walked side by side slowly catching up to Volt.

“Same here!” Volt interjected, as she ran up to her original position.

She smiled and they kept walking. She felt like the odd duck out since they got their cutie marks yesterday, yet they keep reminding her that nothing has changed between them. It felt nice knowing their cutie marks didn’t change them. They eventually made it back, and started making invitation cards and a list while they waited on lunch.

After they ate lunch they set out for their next task. This time they had several different places they could go, but already had a place in mind. It was actually one of their favorite hangouts, and it wasn’t too far away. A short walk later and they were at the “Rusty Bakery,” a family owned bakery that’s been open for nearly two hundred years. Not one of the longest family run businesses in Equestria by far, but impressive nonetheless. They kind of knew the owners after they tried for their baking cutie marks and then began hanging out there.

Outside the bakery sat several small round tables filled with customers finishing up or starting their lunch. They entered in a relative small place with a few tables inside, and a nice counter top. The smell the fresh dough and baked goods filled their nostrils, as a glass display case full of dwindling and missing delectables taunted them while at the end of the lunch rush. Luckily, they already ate and weren’t here for anything in that case so they got in line and waited.

It was finally there turn and no pony had come behind them since, “Well, well, if it isn't the cutie mark crusaders. I haven't seen you fillies in a while. Everything okay?” asked the mare they knew as Iron Baguette. She was a light golden brown earth pony with silver grey mane and lively grey eyes, with a sliced loaf of bread as a cutie mark.

“Hey miss Baguette!” they greeted in unison.

“Well, we got grounded again,” Babs started.

“I still can’t believe the insurance company and that guy somehow put the blame on us. That guy was a total jerk, threatening to sue Gear for his own impatience,” Volt vented.

“Sounds like an interesting story,” Baguette commented.

“That’s not all that happened,” Babs said, taking that as their cue Volt and Emollient turned to reveal their new cutie marks.

“Oh!” she smiled, “Congratulations! What are they for? How’d you get them? Also you just earned yourselves one free treat on the house,” she offered.

“Thanks for the offer,” Babs said, forcefully holding Volt back with a fake smile, “We’ll definitely take youse up on that next time, but we just ate,” she grunted pushing Volt back to her side.

“Bu-but dessee~rts!” Volt complained before pouting, causing Emollient and Baguette to chuckle at her friend's behavior.

“Anyways,” Babs continued, “before we get to that. We got to tell youse how we got to them. My cousin Applebloom and her friends went on vacation here in Manehattan fo-”

“Along with Princess Twilight!” Volt interrupted.

“Yes,” Babs agreed, “along with Princess Twilight, where was I? Oh, so they’re on vacation here for a week, so we figured we’d surprise them with a crusade since it’s not often all the us cutie mark crusaders would get a chance to do something like that. What with us living so far away from each other and what not. So with some help from Coco Pommel a dressmaker who works for the theater and-”

“Princess Twilight” Volt said before Babs could.

Babs sighed then smiled at her quirky friend. She continued to tell Baguette their story of mostly everything that happened yesterday, up till it was appropriate for Volt and Emollient to tell their cutie mark stories. “So, it was the crusaders that almost burned down the theater. I read about it in the news this morning,” Baguette said, then suddenly presented said newspaper before them, “Why am I not surprised?” She asked sarcastically, causing them all to blush, “Though, I never would’ve believed the story you just told me, if I didn't know any better, I would’ve thought you all were lying to me. No wonder why the article was so vague. So, if you already ate what can I do for you? Although, if you’re just here to talk that’s always nice. Well, as long as you’re not holding up a line or anything.” They glanced behind themselves to see no pony.

“Oh right,” Babs said, “we’re having a cutescenera and we wanted youse guys to carter for us, we already got a list and everything,” she said placing said list on the counter along with a bag of bits, and an invitation to said cutescenera.

“Oh, you’d want me to come to your cutesenera?” she asked a little surprised, picking up the invitation.

“Yeah, you’re really nice,” Emollient answered,

She smiled at the compliment, “I’d love to, but I’m not sure if I can…” she looked at the invitation card, “well, we are closed at that time, but catering always backs up our prep late into the night for the next day and going would just make it later… I’ll consider going” she said apologetically.

“Did we mention that Princess Twilight will almost definitely be there?” Volt added.

“Well, you really know how to buy my time, how can I possible refuse now?” Baguette said.

“I know right,” Volt grinned.

“Well, we better get going. We still have some more invitations to hoof out if we want this to be a good double cutiescenera,” Babs said.

“Alright, I’ll cya crusaders later,” Baguette replied.

They turned and walked away, “we’ll see youse later,” Babs waved.

“Hope to see you there,” Emollient added, before they walked out into the hot sun.

They went and delivered the rest of their invitations. Living in a city they grew use to passing by ponies they don’t know without a single thought given to them, of course they knew not to trust strangers that approached them and especially any that followed them. At any rate, they found themselves more suspicious of the ponies they passed the more invitations they handed out. They began to have doubts that ponies who they gave invitations to would even show up. They felt for sure that they were lying to their faces just to be polite. They didn’t talk about this weird sensation of being lied to directly, but they did comment on it. By the end of the day, they could barely walk by a stranger without feeling like they were a criminal of some kind. The feeling didn’t disappear once they made it back to Babs apartment. Volt and Emolient got Babs mom to escort them home, something that usually wasn’t needed since there was still a couple hours daylight outside, and so ended their simple shopping trip.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait, I almost got this next real chapter done. In fact, this could easily be apart of that chapter, but then it'd be way too long, and it's probable too long as is, I hope I'm not writing too much. I've read some fictions that have way to much writing and little substance, or too much substance but vary bland and uninteresting. ATM I'm basically only relying on one guys opinion of this story, and he's been very helpful, but I'd appreciate any comments you might have.

Author's Note:
1. I realized a little too late that Babs technically went to a new school soon after she became a crusader as mentioned in S3E8 of MLP "Apple Family Reunion" and therefore the backstory I made for how she met Volt and Emollient isn't really possible to be cannon, oops. Owell, my main focus is on preserving the character of the... well character. I might not be as successful as I want to be but it's hard to tell sometimes.

A Slice of...

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Several years ago

“Pa~! Can Ah open my eyes yet?” A young Applejack eagerly complained as she hitched a ride on her father's back, front hooves covering her eyes. He had been teasing her about a special gift for a while now, and she was finally going to see whatever it was.

“Nope, not till Ah say so,” her father requested. She pouted, but dutifully kept her eyes closed and covered. She listened as his hooves lightly thumped on the ground. A nice cool breeze rustled some tree leaves, telling her they were still in their large apple farm. Suddenly they stopped moving and he scooped her up with one hoof and set her on the ground, “Keep your eyes closed for just a little longer,” he requested, no doubt he saw her attempt to peek through her eyelids.

“Ohhh, can’t Ah open ‘em yet?” Applejack whined as she stood still with her eyelids threatening to open themselves in her excitement. She heard her father walk a couple steps away from her somewhere in front of her.

“Okay dumplin’, y’all can open them now!” Her father said cheerfully. Applejack opened her eyes to the sight of her father, a brown stallion, wearing his cowboy hat, like he always does, smiling at her and proudly gesturing to something behind him. She was a little confused at first, until she recognized it. She screamed in joy, ran up to him, and gave him a huge hug like any respectable filly would.

“Come on!” her father said with a proud smile, “let me show ya around ya’re new treehouse!” He walked up to a rope and pulled it down bringing down a ramp that led up to it. She was very impressed with that feature.

...
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I’ll have a Fruit Waffle Deluxe, with extra whipped cream.” Scootaloo ordered to the waiter, who proceeded to write down said order. She happily sipped her not so healthy choice of chocolate milkshake with extra whipped cream in front of everypony, as the waiter walked away. Applejack looked ready to say something but then shrugged.

The restaurant was packed and the occasional glances Twilight's way made her unnerved and annoyed. She just wanted to have a nice meal with her friends and hopefully future students.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Sweetie asked innocently.

“We’re totally going back to the Martial Arts Festival!”

“We’re going to the hospital”

“We’re going to the hospital and then to the Manehattan Museum of Magic and Art”

All three voices said at once. Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight who said such respectively looked at each other in confusion.

“We are not going to some boring museum or hospital.”

“Sorry no can do sugarcube, Ah’m afraid we’re gonna have to make a day out of going to the hospital.”

“We already have plans Rainbow, it’s on the list I gave you, didn’t you read it?”

They looked at each other briefly, and blinked after having all talked at the same time again. Rainbow recalled a long scroll she threw in a trashcan soon after she got to her hotel room. Applejack thought about the damage caused to the theatre yesterday by her sister. Twilight understood what Applejack meant.

“Oh, uh, I might have lost it. heh heh,” Rainbow chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of her head.

“That’s fine Rainbow,” Twilight said rolling her eyes, “Applejacks right. I clearly wasn’t thinking correctly when I made this ‘Vacation To Do’ list.” Twilight levitated said list into the open for all to see. She didn’t notice all the stares at the list from various occupants in the restaurant, as she was too engrossed in the conversation. Luckily, it was rolled up. She sighed and brought it back to her saddlebags. She brought her attention to her would be earth pony student, “Applebloom today we planned on taking you to the Manehattan hospital so you could heal some more ponies. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. We’re not forcing you to-”

“Of course, Ah will!” Applebloom agreed wholeheartedly. Applejack looked upon her sister proudly, yet she felt small pang of guilt and worry. She felt like she was almost pressing this on her sister, even after Twilight just tried to make it clear they weren’t. Applejack still had to confess to Applebloom about something.

“Well, I’m happy to hear that Applebloom,” Twilight smiled then brought a hoof to her chin, “Well, it sounds like it’d be a good idea to split up today, since everypony wants to do something different. So, let’s figure out who’s doing what...”

-------------------
Rainbow
-------------------

“I can’t wait to kick some ponies flank,” Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly to Rainbow, soon after they landed at the entrance to the martial arts festival. Everything seemed pretty much the same as yesterday, very lively.

Rainbow wished she knew about this festival sooner, “I don’t know why nopony wanted to come with us,” she said, “we’re awesome, and so is this festival…” she sighed, “Well, it makes since that Twilight would want to go to some museum since she’s a egghead and all, but…” she frowned as a thought came to her. “Well, I guess Applejack and Applebloom kind of needed to go to the hospital to pay for the mess from yesterday.” Rainbow’s glad Scootaloo didn’t want to go to the hospital, even if the idea of watching Applebloom heal somepony seemed awesome.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed. “and as much as I would like to help shop for cutesceneria supplies with Volt, Emollient, and Babs. I’d rather spend my vacation with my big sis,” Scootaloo beamed, as they walked through the crowd.

Rainbow felt pride but also like she was keeping her sister from doing something, and she didn’t like it, “we could go with them if you want to, sis.”

“No, no,” Scootaloo backpedaled urgently, “I’m good.” They approached a line filled with other fillies and colts Scootaloo's age. “Wait,” she said, halting their progress, “did you just say Applebloom is getting paid for helping those ponies?”

Rainbow forgot that Applejack wanted to keep that a secret and she let it slip. She sputtered as she recalled their conversation yesterday. They had nothing to do while waiting for the play in the theater, so they talked. Somewhere along the line, that conversation went into Appleblooms sizable paycheck from the Ponyville Hospital, and the one they’ll probably receive from Manehattans Hospital. She relaxed, when she remembered that Applejack planned on telling Applebloom about it today anyways. “Yeah, she is,” Rainbow confirmed, to a confused and shocked Scootaloo. She felt confident Applejack wouldn’t mind, hopefully.

“Then how come she never told me and Sweetie about it?” she said and sounded a little hurt.

Rainbow recognised her mistake almost instantly, “oh, hehe,” she chuckled. “That’s because Applebloom doesn’t even know about it yet. Applejack plans on telling her about it today. She wanted it to be a surprise for some reason,” she explained. She still doesn’t get why Applejack would keep that information away from Applebloom, but was sure she had her reasons.

“Oh,” Scootaloo nodded in relief, “So any idea how many bits she’s making?”

“Oh yeah.” Rainbow smirked, “Let’s just say it’s enough to pay for the theatre and then some,” Rainbow teased. Rainbow almost lost it when Applejack told her, in fact Applejack had to physically restrain her and shove a hoof in her mouth. She was actually almost a little jealous that a filly would make more in one day than she’d make in one year.

“Woah, that’s a lot,” Scootaloo said in awe, evidently she somehow heard how much it was going to cost, “and how much more are we talking?”

“I think I’ll let Applebloom tell you about it,” Rainbow grinned evilly. She didn’t feel right telling Scootaloo this information, and thought it’d be fun to watch her squirm. “Come on let's get in line already,” she said, then walked to the line.

“Aww, please,” Scootaloo complained as she followed close behind.

“No can do sis,” she said, and her sister pouted grumpily. She smirked, when she got an idea, “You know what? I’ll tell you,” Scootaloo’s ears perked up eagerly, “if you tell me what’s in that gift you brought and who it’s for.”

Scootaloo looked like she considered it for a moment. “Naa, Applebloom will tell me when I see her next,” her sister said confidently, ending their conversation. Rainbow was annoyed. That gift and the mystery around it had been bugging her. It couldn’t have been for Babs or else she’s pretty sure Scootaloo would’ve given it to her yesterday. She cursed herself for not getting her a sister a gift.

They remained silent while they waited in line. Rainbow looked around her as they waited and spotted some stallion looking at her or at least in her direction for a moment, either way it made her uneasy. He disappeared in the crowd soon after she spotted him. She couldn’t see him anywhere after that so she figured it was nothing, but she felt like she was being watched. She tried to shrug that feeling off, but couldn’t. She looked around some more, just to be sure.

“Here to sign up this filly Miss?” some mare asked, while Rainbow was distracted looking around one last time for the stallion.

“Huh?” she asked swiveling her head to the stand in front of her. She found Scootaloo signing some papers already. Her face scrunched up in confusion, she couldn’t have been looking for that long right? She noticed the mare looking at her oddly, “Oh yeah, totally she’s a white belt, but I have some questions…” The mare answered some of her basic questions about equipment and how to go about getting in sparring matches. Then she raised some of her concerns, “Okay,” she said, rubbing the back of her head with a forehoof, “Now, what if she wanted to use her natural pegasus magical abilities and what not?”

“Well clouds of any kind are not permitted inside, and flying is only allowed in certain rings, you’d be better off to ask the referee what’s allowed and not,” the mare answered.

“Uh, okay, but that’s not what I mean…” Rainbow said cautiously serious, “Scootaloo mind giving her a demonstration?” A thought came to Rainbow, “no ground magic, umm, just send a light breeze her way or something without your wings.”

“Ground magic? Without her wings?” The mare questioned, “I’ve never heard of a pegasus that could control the air without-” she paused as a rather rough wind blew her mane back. She looked towards Scootaloo inquisitively, “...Do that again,” and Scootaloo did.

“And trust me when I say it can be a lot stronger, like tornados and stuff,” Rainbow added. She was really proud of her sister, but she didn’t want this to disqualify her sister from sparing.

“Umm, and what’s this you said about ground magic?” the mare asked.

“That would be the ability to move through the ground like it’s water, lift up boulders like pebbles and then reduce them to dust and reform them again,” Rainbow answered. She couldn’t help but feel a little feel a little psyched up at the awesome things she’d seen her sister do. Last week was busy for them. She taught Scootaloo how to fly and the very basics of karate. They did a bunch of awesome yet egg-heady experiments with Twilight to learn more about Scootaloo's capabilities. They had her practice using them in fear she might accidently hurt somepony with them. She felt mostly confident Scootaloo wasn’t about to blow somepony into a wall like she did Twilight.

“Right…” the mare said almost skeptically, “well, just be sure to tell the referee about all this before the match and he or she will let you know, sorry but you’re holding up the line,” the mare gestured to a long line behind them.

Rainbow looked behind herself, “Oh, yeah sorry. Come on Scootaloo, let's get you into some sparring matches.” They left quickly to search for some rings her sister could spar in. Rainbow herself wanted to spar. The thrill of beating some ponies in a grand arena or small one on one ring was very agreeable to her, but for now she’d rather cheer on her sister.

The day progressed and they had a great time. She watched her sister get bested by several more experienced fighters, but she also watched Scootaloo improve significantly from when she started. The ponies in the stands seemed off to her. She kept an eye out for that stallion or any other suspicious characters. She couldn’t see anypony that was looking at her specifically but she did notice some other ponies were also looking around worriedly. She felt like somepony was scoping her out for a moment of weakness. She felt confident something was up, that somepony was out to get her. She eyed audience suspiciously. The more time that went on, the more she found herself searching for whoever was out to get her.

They finished the day by watching the last few sparring matches. Well, Scootaloo watched them. Rainbow leered at everypony around her. She felt like they all couldn’t be trusted. With the last match she ushered Scootaloo out with her, away from all those spies. They made their way back to their hotel rooms and Scootaloo asked what was wrong, evidently she wasn’t being discreet about her suspicions, a rookie mistake. They, whoever ‘they’ were, must have noticed she was on her guard as well. That’s probable why they didn’t make their move. She said it was nothing but kept up her guard as they flew back to the hotel.

It wasn’t long before they made it to the hotel, but it felt like she had ninjas following her in the shadows. There was something she wanted to ask the lobby host so she sent Scootaloo ahead confident she knew her way around. The thought of her little sister's safety didn’t even come to mind; as she approached the lobby desk glancing every which way. She felt like a tomahawk axe was gonna come flying towards her at any moment. “Hey, can you see if a Applejack checked in yet?” She asked the host, and quickly checked behind herself.

“And you might be?” The host asked almost rudely. She sat behind her lobby desk looking up at Rainbow indignantly.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the host. She didn’t like this host already, “I’m her friend.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you are…” the host mocked. Rainbow was confused for a second. “I’m sorry miss, but it’s company policy not to give out customer information. Whether you’re a friend or not.”

Rainbow couldn’t believe the nerve of this host, “Look, all I need to know is, if Applejack checked in already.”

“And I’m telling you that’s not gonna happen,” the host said aggravated.

Rainbow growled and stormed off. She almost told the host what she was going to do, but felt she couldn’t trust her to not call the guard or something. After a short wait in a elevator she made it to the hallway hers and Applejack's rooms resided. She went to Applejack's room and knocked. Nopony answered. She knocked again and still no answer, so she headed to her room. As she walked back she couldn’t help but feel that maybe Applejack lied to her about booking rooms in this hotel just to make her spend more bits than she needed. It seemed completely possible to her at the moment. Applejack thought she was being clever? Well she was unto her ‘friends’ game. Come to think of it, Applejack wasn’t that clever. Twilight must have helped her; After all, she did help Applejack’s little sister get paid more than she does in a year. They must of planned on mocking her for spending bits on a hotel room while they didn’t have to spend any bits for rooms and got Applebloom rich. Well, she wasn’t gonna stand for any of that, which is exactly what she found herself doing, so she resumed her trek to her room.

She unlocked her door, checked the empty hallway one last time and entered. She locked all the locks just to be safe, then went and made sure the curtains were closed and peeked outside for anypony suspicious. Satisfied but not fulfilled she jumped on her bed.

She looked across to the other bed and found Scootaloo reading a book. Where’d her sister get that book? She didn’t buy her any books and she knows Scootaloo didn’t bring any with her. All she brought was bits and that mysterious gift. Something about that gift bothered her. She didn’t know who it was for, it wasn’t for Babs, otherwise she would have gave it to her yesterday. That was the only pony she could think of that it’d be for. A weird idea came to her as she thought about it. Scootaloo said she came from an orphanage in a ‘big city.’ Rainbow just realized she doesn’t know which ‘big city’ she came from. What if she came from Manehattan? What if she got that present for somepony she knew in Manehattan? What if she wanted to live with this pony? What if she had a family all along and was just mocking her by pretending to want to be her family? The thought sent disgusting chills down her back. Scootaloo had lied to her before and nothing was stopping her from doing it again. She felt a bile sickening feeling rise at the thought. She felt for sure that Scootaloo was going to abandon her. She couldn’t do anything about it, not without coming off like a uncool jerk and jeopardizing their relationship as family. She couldn’t accuse Scootaloo of anything without proof. Scootaloo would just lie to her like she had many times before if she asked, but there was one thing that had all the evidence she dreaded. The present. It was all the proof she needed. She kept those thoughts to herself, but she couldn’t help but throw some angry heart broken glances Scootaloo’s way. Luckily, Scootaloo was very invested in whatever book she was reading to notice.

Rainbow waited till nighttime which wasn’t too long. She tried her best to appear normal and kept an eye out for Applejack. If her ‘sister’ noticed anything wrong her ‘sister’ didn’t say anything about it. Still no sign of that lying jerk Applejack, making her pay unnecessary bits. It just ticked her off. She waited till Scootaloo was asleep, and she might have dozed off a little herself. It was almost morning when she woke up dazed in a tired paranoia. Everypony was out to get her, and the one she feared most was across from her on a separate bed sleeping peacefully. She needed to see that gift before her ‘sister’ woke up. It was the only way to learn the truth. She wouldn’t trust Scootaloo’s lies. She quietly got out of bed and sneaked to the drawer her ‘sister’ kept the present in. Slowly she slid open the drawer as quietly as possible, and retrieved the wrapped box. She placed it on her back and creeped back to her bed. She flicked on a light and checked to make sure Scootaloo was still asleep. All that sparring most have really tuckered her out because her ‘sister’ made no reaction to the light source or click.

She drew her attention back the the light orange wrapped box with a neat light purple bowtie in her hooves. All she had to do now was open it, and the truth of her ‘sisters’ lies would be revealed. She went to open it but slowed down. Memories of moments they shared flooded her mind, but that was quickly overshadowed by all the lies her ‘sister’ had told her and the one that threatened to break her heart. Her hoof trembled briefly before it stilled. Slowly she reached for the seams of the wrapping.

*tsssh*

She froze. A rainbow light washed over her eyes. It didn’t affect her vision, but she felt something. It felt like a nice cool breeze blowing away a thick fog that somehow existed on a hot summer day. She felt like she just woke up from a weird horrible dream. Everypony in this dream was out to get her for some reason. Her friends got her to pay extra for a hotel room, and Scootaloo lied to her again, in the worst way possible. Then she noticed something. She reeled in shock at what was held in her hooves. None of that was a dream. She actually felt and thought those things? Something wasn’t right. Why had she thought her sister would do something that awful to her? No, something was seriously wrong. She didn’t know what, but for the moment it didn’t have its hold on her. Whatever it was. The little rip on the wrapping paper mocked her. It was hard to look at; so she set the gift down on the bed, behind herself, ashamed and nearly petrified of what she’d almost done. She was the Element of Loyalty; yet, here she was about to betray her own sisters trust, because of some baseless feelings? It felt bile and sickening to her.

She recalled how the day progressed. It all started when with the feeling of being followed and watched. She was already beginning to have that unnerving feeling of somepony watching her again, and now that she knew what it ultimately led to, it terrified her. Something was seriously wrong with her. She needed to get away and now, before she did something she’d regret. She didn’t trust herself to fight back these feelings, her crazy theories just seemed to make so much sense at the time. Without much thought she got up and went to the door, leaving the gift behind. She hurriedly unlocked it and left. Sleep addled and fear induced she failed to latch the door on her way out. Soon she found herself flying just outside Manehattan. The further she got the less she felt followed and watched much to her relief and confusion. She found a cloud to rest on then scrutinized the day to try and figure out what happened to her. Nothing jumped out or was glaringly suspect to her. She must have been at it for half an hour, before she yawned and her mind felt like ash. She decided to talk to Twilight about it in the morning, the egg head would surely know what was wrong. The sun wasn’t quite up yet, so she laid down to get more comfortable while her drowsy eyes flittered her to sleep.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Several years ago

“And up ‘ere,” Applejacks father said, gesturing to a ladder going up, “ya can have a look out at the rest of the farm, Ta make sure no pegisi are tryin’ ta sneak an apple for themselves,” he joked and she laughed at his funny voice. “Well go on, give it a try,” he said with a huge smile. She went to the ladder and was just about to start climbing when he stopped her, “Wait! Don’t forget this,” he said giving her a long eye glass telescope. She grabbed it with her muzzle without a thought and began climbing excitedly, “careful now,” her father said, as one of her hind legs slipped momentarily, so she went up at a more reasonable pace.

Soon enough she found herself at the top. The tops of their many apple trees presented themselves to her, a little further she could see the beginning of the everfree. She turned around and the barn could just barely be seen over the trees in the distance. She used the telescope to get a better view. This treehouse was the best gift ever.

“YaR!,” her father yelled, from down below, “Has ye, spotted land!” She stopped what she was doing and looked down to see her father suddenly wearing a pirate captains hat over his cowboy hat, a fake beard, and eye patch.

A grin spread across her face, “Land HOOO~!!”

…

-------------------
Sweetie
-------------------

Sweetie found herself on the street walking beside Twilight. They were headed to the Manehatten Museum of Magic and Art. She stayed close as they passed ponies and buildings. They were in the more vintage part of the city. She prefered it here, compared to where Coco lived anyday. She kind of felt bad for Coco. Coco was a nice pony who didn’t deserve to live in the slums, not that her apartment room was bad. Tacky sure, but not bad.

“So Sweetie,” Twilight said suddenly, “why’d you decide to go to the museum with me, instead of helping Babs shop for her friends cutescenaira parties? I’m a little surprised none of you wanted to help her with that.”

“We did! It’s just well, we had different things we’d rather be doing than shopping, we’re here for only one week. We wanted to do as much as possible, and we already went shopping,” speaking of things she wanted to do, “so how come we didn’t stay at the hospital to watch Applebloom for a little bit?”

Twilight sighed happily, “It’s something really amazing. What Applebloom can do, that is. I was afraid that if I started watching her, I would've forgotten about the museum altogether," she sighed, "I really didn’t think this day through when I made this list,” she said levitating said list in front of them, as they turned a corner.

Sweetie looked ahead of them, as the list levitated back into Twilight's saddle bags, to see a rather large building with columns holding up a rather impressive roof, and a large set of stairs leading to it, “Is that it?” she asked, pointing ahead past a street.

“Why yes it is,” Twilight answered. “You up for a teleport?”

Did Twilight just ask her to teleport them? “I, umm… don’t think I want to try that?”

Twilight giggled, “no, no I don’t think you’re ready for that spell yet.” she sighed, “What I meant was for me to teleport us.”

“Oh!” she yelled in understanding. “Heh, of course,” she smiled slightly in embarrassment, “I mean yeah, I’m okay with that.”

“Alright, here it goes,” Twilight closed her eyes and her horn lit up.

Sweetie felt an energy surge through her body, then was momentarily blinded by a bright white light. She blinked a couple times, then waited till the spots disappeared. It was like she’d just came inside from a sunny winter day. The spots faded and she found herself atop the stairs that lead to the museum. This was a spell she never had interest in, because she always assumed she had to be a talented pony to use it. She’d never been good at magic. She had struggled with levitation, something she’d seen every adult unicorn do with ease. All that changed when she practised and learned under Twilight, in the last week. She feared her magic now, but at least she knew ways to control it. “So, when do you think I’ll be able to learn that spell?” she asked excitedly.

“I can’t say, that’ll be up to you,” Twilight said as she gestured her to follow, “but, for now you really need to continue working on control. You’ve improved faster in a week than I did in several months,” she beamed as they walked inside, “but…” she frowned and looked down.

“But what?” she asked while looking at all the museum displays that surrounded the entrance. The entrance was impressive, with sunlight pouring in through ceiling windows and several displays along with two huge statues of Luna and Celestia by a large staircase in the center leading up to an open second floor. It had grand entrances with labels hanging below the top of the arcs, stating what was exhibited beyond. She was so immersed in this new buildings interior that she didn’t notice Twilight's tone.

“Well, I think it’s the life force you got, it seems to be significantly more important to ponies than I first thought,” she explained, “and if I’m right about something then…” she sighed, “well, I just hope I’m not right.” Sweetie looked to her in confusion, who was looking away. “What would you do if y-” she began, but then looked to Sweetie and stopped, “uh, nevermind. I got some things I want to talk you, Applebloom, and Scootaloo about, after this vacation is over.”

“Umm,” Sweetie had no clue what she was talking about, but she does remember Twilight saying she didn’t want to ruin their vacation with something she had to say. “Okay,” she agreed, and briefly wondered what she had to tell them. That was short lived, as a tour guide and the current curator herself came up and introduced herself to them.

Twilight asked for a basic tour of the museum. Paintings, sculptures, and objects of significant note were presented and described to them from the various wings of the rather expansive museum. “Can you take me to anything and I mean anything you have on before Discord's reign?”

“Yes, Yes, of course. If you’ll follow me!” the curator said.

“Sweetie do you want to look around for a little bit?” Twilight asked, stopping the curator in her place. “I have to see if they have anything from before Discord's reign. I need to get a clearer picture of things if I can.”

“Umm, okay,” she answered, “I wanted to look at more of the enchanted items, ever since Rarity got possessed by that book, I wanted to know more about those things.”

“Actually Sweetie, what happened to Rarity was a little more complicated than a book possessing her, it was a spell and enchant combined” Twilight began.

“Oh yeah,” Sweetie said, remembering the explanation Twilight tried giving her and her friends when they asked about it, “I still don’t get it.”

“Its-” Twilight began then stopped herself and sighed, “I’ll see you in a little bit Sweetie,” Twilight said with finality. Sweetie said her goodbyes as Twilight left with the curator who lead the way, leaving her and the tour guide there.

Sweetie looked to the tour guide who watched her patiently, “So, can we go to the enchanted items wing?”

“Absolutely,” the tour guide said with a smile, gestured her to follow, then led the way.

She was brought to the large room full of enchanted items as far as she knew. A good portion of them were just gems. There were several others however; an enchanted coffee mug that apparently was supposed to keep coffee hot, but instead made it a little too hot. A creepy painting of a filly whose eyes followed everywhere you went. A cookie jar that seemed full of fresh chocolate chip cookies, it would give a pony a chill down their spine if they tried to snatch one, and if the pony was brave enough to still take the cookie it would age, harden, and mold over as soon as it left the jar.

She continued to explore and ask about the many enchanted objects on display until she came to the clothing section. “What’s this?” she asked pointing to a small gold shiny piece of a earring with a shiny reddish black gem secured in it. It was encased much more heavily than most of the other items she’s seen so far.

“That’s The Scorched Earth Earring,” answered the tour guide, “This earring is said to make anypony wearing it extremely angry, along with anypony around it. That’s why it’s surrounded by a null metal cage, we don’t need ponies getting into pointless fights in here,” the tour guide joked.

Sweetie missed the joke, but understood not wanting ponies to be mad at each other for no reason. She continued looking at all the items on display, and couldn’t help but be drawn to the objects that were more heavily encased. They seemed more like the kind of things that corrupted her sister not too long ago.

After a little more looking around, Twilight came back and they moved to a different section of the large museum. They were there for about three hours and there was still a lot more to see. She couldn’t see Scootaloo or even Applebloom staying here that long without losing their minds in boredom. She smiled at the thought of what kind of mischief they’d get her into. She actually liked learning about the history of various things. She could show them some cool things if they come back.

After the museum they went out to eat and headed back to Coco’s before it got too dark. She kind of wanted to go to the hospital and watch Applebloom heal ponies, but she thought better of it as she recalled some gross stories her friend had to tell about the ponies that got healed in Ponyville, and she’d rather not be anywhere near that. She also didn’t fancy walking back to Coco’s apartment if it was getting or was dark out. In fact she’d rather just not be in that run-down, ill-kept, rat infested part of the city. The graffiti’ really made her nervous. She looked forward to telling her friends about the museum tomorrow morning though, and hearing about what they did.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Several years ago

“Soups up!!!” Granny Smith could be heard yelling in the far distance, as Applejack was about to lay waste to the enemy pirate ship with a cannon, while her father had been holding back that ships captain.

“Ye grool ‘s done!” her father said, “we ain’t got time for these mongrols,” he said thrusting his forehooves to the side then sweeping them towards the would be ocean, “we need ta get ta it before the sea hags and barbarian does,” he said referring to her ma, grandma, and brother. Applejack chuckled at his creative descriptions of them. He crouched down, “hop on ye!” he urged, “before the barbarian devours our share of thee feast!”

Applejack quickly jumped on her pa’s back and they were off to get their food.

...

-------------------
Applebloom
-------------------

Applebloom found herself in a large hospital with her sister following a doctor upon his request. The doctor hadn’t said much yet, after Twilight and Sweetie left them mere moments ago to head for the Manehattan Museum. Apparently, Twilight had to give the doctors the okay before she would be allowed near a patient. She didn’t understand why, but then again she wasn’t a doctor. She thought a little bit more about her friends as they followed the doctor. She understood why they didn’t particularly want to join her in her self imposed quest to heal everypony she could. They were on vacation or had cutescenarias to help plan. Hospitals admittedly weren’t a great place to be while on a vacation, and cutescenarias were a once in a lifetime thing; regardless, this was something she had to do. Honestly, she’s kind of glad Sweetie didn’t join her. The thought of Sweetie in a hospital poked at some raw memories that she’d rather not be reminded of.

Applebloom was rather fond of her time at Ponyville Hospital, after the incident that is. It felt good thinking about all the ponies she helped, and the surprise party they threw for her. She recalled miss Tornado, Bon Bon, and some others who went beyond just thanking her and offered her rewards/help for her deeds. The party went by so fast, she hardly remembered everypony she met. She felt a little better after thinking about it. She still couldn’t get the sight of one of her best friends lying on a bed, with some tubes and oxygen mask attached, out of her head. It haunted her. She felt guilty with how utterly carefree she initially was about the incident. Sweetie made it to the hospital, ‘nothing could possibly go wrong’ she thought at the time, only get better. It sickened her, how naive she was. She ignored those feelings the best she could, but it was hard while in a hospital. No matter how much she thought about the smiling faces of those she’d already helped, she couldn’t help but feel a deep dread and hopelessness in the pit of her stomach. All she could do was try and ignore it, so she did.

The doctor led them to a elevator. They entered as soon as the door opened, “So what’s the plan doc?” Applejack asked as the doctor hit a floor near the top of the large hospital.

“The first patient we’ll be seeing today is a pegasus who suffers from severe magic deficiency. Unfortunately, this led to an awful disease we’ve mostly seen in lab mice. There’s been one experimental treatment that has proven successful on the lab mice, albeit very limited success. Most ponies don’t suffer from this severe of a magic deficiency so there’s very few recorded cases of it. Disease isn’t even the right word to describe it. It’s like her own body is attacking itself,” The doctor explained. He paused briefly, “Now, I must warn you that this patient lost most of her feathers and fur, all of her mane, and all the hair on her tail in the treatment. She didn’t want to-”

“Hold up a second,” Applejack interrupted. “Did y’all just say the treatment made her lose her feathers and fur?”

*ding* the elevator door opened and they stepped out. “Yes, we’ve bombarded the patient's body with enough drugs that it can barely function,” he explained as he led them down a hallway, “and in doing so we also stop it from attacking itself, it has worked on some lab mice... It’s the only thing we’ve found that has worked so far. Anyways all the drugs led to mane, fur, and feather loss.”

Applebloom didn’t like what she was hearing. It sounded unpleasant, to say the least. She couldn’t help but imagine a bald pegasus with no coat and feathers. It gave her the willies just thinking about it. She shaked the thought away and peeked into some of the rooms they’ve been passing and found them to be fairly big. Some were empty but others were occupied. They stopped at a door, as the doctor rambled on about things and acronyms Applebloom hadn’t learned about yet, “Is this where the first patient is?” She interrupted.

The doctor stopped his incomprehensible rambling, at least to somepony that doesn’t know the lingo, which happened to be the two ponies he was talking to. “Why yes it is,” he answered, “Now before we-”

“Can Ah talk to ya all private like for a moment?” Applejack interrupted.

The doctor looked irritated for being interrupted for the second time but quickly collected himself, “Very well, if you’ll follow me.”

Applebloom wondered what that was about as she watched them leave. Applejack stopped and turned to her, “we’ll be right back,” she said gesturing her stay there. Then followed the doctor again.

Soon they were out of Appleblooms sight and she had nothing to do but wait. She was eager to get started and she was literally right next to the room. It was driving her crazy. Until a fact came to her. They technically never said she couldn’t get started. She grinned with her clever excuse and entered the room.

The moment she entered the room she felt a tightness in her chest, and her grin faltered. Ahead of her was a lengthwise hospital bed with two chairs beside it. Laying on the bed was a furless pony half covered in a white sheet, chest ever so slightly rising and falling. She slowly approached as the tightness in her chest got stronger. She noticed some board at the end of the bed that seemed to have pictures and artwork tacked on it. She was too low to see it, so she hopped up onto one of the chairs to get a better look.

She was immediately drawn a to piece of artwork that looked like something she would’ve made five years ago with crayon. It depicted a sunny day in a park with a tree, a happy light green pegasus wearing a gold necklace with ‘mommy’ crudely written above her, a happy dark brown earth pony with ‘daddy’ crudely written above him and a smiling light orange earth pony filly with ‘me’ crudely written above her. Next to that crude artwork was a picture of a family in a park. It showed a pegasus on a wheelchair with patched light green fur and no mane to speak of wearing a golden necklace smiling, a dark brown stallion beside the mare with a weak smile, and a young light orange filly who looked thrilled. There was several more pictures and crude artworks tagged onto the board, and some ‘get well soon’ cards. The tightness in her chest only got stronger the longer she looked.

It was getting hard to look at so she drew her attention away from the board and looked to the mare on the bed. As she did, she noticed the room had another occupant. On the other side of the bed on a chair was a light orange filly curled up and asleep. The filly must have been at least four years younger than herself. She felt a little shocked she hadn’t noticed her sooner. A glint revealed a gold necklace around the fillies neck, "haaa!" she breathed in bringing a hoof to her mouth. Her mind burned. She put her attention back to the mare who’s weak breathing was a major concern. The mare wasn’t hooked up to any tubes and stuff like Sweetie had been. Salty water welled up in her eyes at the image of her friend. She blinked them away and breathed in to calm herself.

It was a shock to see the mares ribcage against her sickly skin. The mare’s forelegs looked frail and brittle. Her face was a very odd and alien sight without fur even more so with how unhealthy it looked. Some small patches of her coat and a few feathers remained. She avoided looking at her wings the best she could, the sight was anything but pretty. The color of the mare's coat reminded her of Granny Smith. Her old grandma, who’s only getting older. Who taught her how to cook, spent time telling her great stories, and so so much more. She sniffled and tried to shake her head clear of those thoughts, but she couldn’t. Pressure builded up in her eyes.

*Yawn*

Applebloom was immediately drawn from her dissenting thoughts to the young light orange filly who lazily woke up from her nap. The filly took a little bit till she noticed her, who’d frozen in place, “Who’re ya?” she asked drowsily in a country accent.

Applebloom didn’t quite expect her to sound like that, and it really bothered her for some reason. It seemed so familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. She wiped her eyes, “Um, Ah’m Applebloom and Ah’m here to help your mother get better.”

“Really!?” The filly hopped in place, all semblance of tiredness gone, “y’all are gonna make my momma better?” She still couldn’t place the voice so she ignored it, or at least tried to.

“Yep, that’s the plan at least,” she answered. She needed to get started and out of this room, it was suffocating to be in here. She hopped onto the bed and placed a hoof on the mares closest forehoof, and tried to calm herself down. The mare looked like death and felt like death. She thought about it logically, best she could.

“Hey, be careful! Momma is very fra- fragg, momma is very fra-fragile” the filly demanded and explained.

“Sorry,” she apologised as she continued her efforts. Something about this whole situation seemed somehow recognizable, but it had nothing to do with Sweetie. Whenever she glanced at the filly her heart felt like it was gonna break and she didn’t know why. She couldn’t ponder these things now though, this mare needed healed yesterday. The problem with that however, was that she had to think about the tragedy before her, which kept bringing up that sense of familiarity that relentlessly hounded her. Unfortunately, it's the only way she found that her healing abilities worked. She forced herself to think about a mother who knew her time was at an end and allowed her daughter to be there for it. A mother who gave her daughter a necklace, probable a family heirloom of some kind, most likely while still physically able, as a way to show her love. She imagined the filly across the bed from her bawling over her mother's lifeless body and all the pain she might feel. That thought sparked an old memory. The scene of her brother and sister crying over two gravestones played out. Tears welled up in her eyes as she suddenly realised who that filly reminded her of. It was so obvious to her now. A young Applejack, or rather what her sister looked like when she was young in pictures, she wasn’t even born by then.

It hit home and she could barely keep herself from wailing like a foal. Her mind wandered back to Granny Smith and how one day this will be the future no matter what she did. That one day Granny Smith was going to be no more, and all the great times they had together would be no more. Then one day in the far future her brother would be no more. Then her sister would be no more, sooner if some monster got to her while trying to save the world. This had been a revelation she’d been fighting back since Sweeties incident. Something she’d willed herself to not think about. Sure, she admitted that bad things happen, the world was cruel, and that it frankly didn’t care about justice and karma. She stopped short of addressing the elephant in the room. She couldn’t do that anymore. Not with this fragile mother and her young daughter here like this. She could barely think right now as anguish drowned her thoughts.

-------------------
Applejack
-------------------

“Thank y’all kindly, Ah know it’s a larger initial amount than y’all wanted to pay off the bat, but mah hooves are kind of tied here, since mah bank is in Ponyville exclusively, and I’d rather not wait through another CSA line when possible,” Applejack said to ponies in a conference room just at the door. She really did hate the Changeling Security Agency's lines.

“If your little sister can do what the princess claims then it’s no problem at all, especially with the influx of fight related injuries, as of late. Anypony else find it odd that they’re not coming from the martial arts festival?” a pony responded.

With that Applejack shrugged and left with the doctor to head back to Applebloom, “if, your little sister can do what the princess claims,” the doctor said almost bitterly.

“What’s that supposed ta mean?” Applejack asked, catching a hint of it his attitude.

“I wouldn’t be a doctor, if I wasn’t even a little bit skeptical about this whole arrangement,” he answered as they continued walking past rooms.

“Well, Ah wasn’t there myself when she helped the ponies at Ponyville Hospital, but we’ve received plenty of thank you letters and payment because of it, and Twilight was there, so Ah’m inclined to believe my sister has crazy healing powers,” she explained.

The doctor remained silent at that. They turned the corner to the hallway that Applebloom should be waiting for them in, but the only thing Applejack saw was a nurse enter some random room, otherwise the hallway was devoid of her sister. They quickened their pace to the room they left Applebloom beside. “Woah, nelly,” and “hey!” They yelled at the same time, when they made it to the room as Applebloom darted past them and quickly into some other room. Applejack could’ve sworn she heard ragged breathing, “I’ll check on the patient. You go get your sister,” the doctor said before entering the room.

Left alone, Applejack turned around and headed for the room her sister ran in. Her first step was met with something wet, looking down she saw what could only be described as a thin trail of tears, so it wasn’t her imagination. Picking up the pace, she hurried to the room, only to hear her sisters muffled wails, like she was a foal again. She entered the room to find her sister on a bed, face smothered in a pillow crying uncontrollably. She did the only thing that seemed right at the moment. She got on the bed and threw a foreleg around her distraught sister and hugged tight. She pondered what made this happen, maybe she couldn’t heal the pony in the room? Maybe they were too late? Questions like these flew threw her head. Applebloom showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, but it wasn’t long before her sister hugged back with a crushing death grip.

“Pl-wwhaahah,” Applebloom said before blubbering into another fit gasp.

Her sister's grip actually hurt, with how much strength that was put into it. By this point, she thought that maybe the pony died right in front of her sister, right after she tried to save the pony. She still didn’t know what sent her positive strong willed sister into a crying fit, and that bothered her to no end. “I’m here, I’m here,” she said while patting her sister on the head, in hopes of calming her down. Much to her bewilderment, it had the opposite effect. Not knowing what else to do she remained silent and held her close.

Applebloom kept trying to say something, but after she made it to a certain point she would burst into another torrent of sobbing. Applejack waited patiently.

“Plea-ha-se,” Applebloom said again after she calmed down even more. She took some more calming breaths before closing her eyes then blinking them rapidly. After a little while longer she spoke up again, “Don’t,” *sniff,* “d-d, aaa Ah,” *sniff,* “Ah, can’t.” She rubbed her eyes.

“Ya can’t what?,” Applejack asked calmly, while inside Applejack was worried. Did Applebloom really just watch somepony she tried to heal, die right in front of her? This question plagued her thoughts.

“Pleasaa don’t d-d-d… Please don’t…” she threw her head into Applejack chest, “leave me,” she shrilled.

Her sisters rather strong forelegs gave her a tight squeeze that hurt quite a bit, but she remained silent about it. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere. She still didn’t know what was wrong, “Ah ain’t goin’ nowhere, sugarcube,” she comforted, patting her back.

“You’re lying.” *sniff* “That’s n-not true,” Applebloom accused and gave her a rather painful tight squeeze.

“Augh,” she grunted in pain, then quickly but gentle pushed her sister away who reluctantly released her and moved away, “that actually hurt,” she said rubbing her sore chest, “Ya’re a lot stronger than ya look.” She thinks she actually got bruised from that, but that wasn’t important right now. She ignored the tingling feeling of blood flow and looked down to her sister who looked back at her shamefully with bloodshot eyes but something else. Like she wanted her to contest the accusation she just made. Well she was going to do that regardless, she ain’t no liar, “what’s this about sugarcube?” She couldn’t bring herself to even pretend to be mad, it was breaking her heart seeing her little sister like that.

Applebloom blinked a couple times. Maybe she expected to be yelled at for accusing her sister of the one thing that the world by now should know she wouldn’t do. Maybe her eyes were itchy from all the crying. She took a calming breath, “it, what…” She breathed some more, “M-mom and Dad.”

“...What about them?” Applejack asked calmly and intrigued, as her sister's breathing hitched up slightly before calming down again. She wondered what ma and pa had to do with any of this. A surge of guilt went through her system as unpleasant memories came back to mind, she ignored them.

“...Ah-Ah don’t want you, gra-granny, and M-Mac to leave me,” *sniff,* “li-like th-they did,” Applebloom said finally, before looking down and away as tears began free falling again.

This struck Applejack deep. She quickly wrapped her sister in another hug. She understood what her sister meant. That was something she grappled with when she was younger. It wasn't pleasant. She learned to ignore the issue altogether, and eventually move on from the resulting anger and hatred. She thought about what to say. After a little while, her sister seemed settled down, so she spoke up, “Ah’m not gonna say it’ll all be okay or that it’ll ever be easy, or any of that hogwash, but what Ah will say is this. Ah love ya and so does Mac and granny, and Ah know for a fact that ma and pa would be mighty proud of ya.”

Applebloom hugged her back, much more gently this time but it stung, “Ah love you to.” She definitely got bruised from that last squeeze. “...A-Ah lied to you…” Applebloom said suddenly and stopped the hug. Applejack didn’t know how to respond so she remained silent and looked at her questioningly. “A-about mom and dad. When you asked me if Ah remembered them that one time…” Applejack instantly knew which time her sister was referring to. There’s been a couple times they’ve talked about them, but there’s only one time they talked about them at length and that was the first time. “Ah did remember them, but only in snippets. Mom played peekaboo with me and dad would carry me around…” Applejack listened closely recalling similar memories, but instead she was jealously watching as her parents played with her foal sister, “All of us smiling and happy at the dinner table, and then…” *sniff,* “A-Ah remember you and Mac a-at our parents grave and how sad everypony was after that…” she rubbed her teary eyes, “and Ah just didn’t want ya to be sad anymore, so Ah lied to you.”

“Uh...” Applejack was at a loss for words. She’s glad to be told the truth, and happy to know that her sister remembered somethings about their parents. Maybe Applebloom wanted to know more about their parents?

“Ah’m tellin’ you now, because Ah felt guilty about it, and Ah’ve been remembering more about them ever since what happened to Sweetie...” Well that answered some of her questions. She’d noticed her little sister was acting a little off after the incident with Sweetie. The most notable change was the stained bow tie atop her head. The one their mother gave her, at that thought she couldn’t help but glance up at her father's cowboy hat, resting atop her head. Applebloom would usually freak if anything happened to that bow tie, but for some reason she left it stained like that. Her sister gave a weak laugh drawing her out of her reminiscing, “Ah remember them making some funny faces when they changed my diapers, giving me a bath in the sink, rocking me to sleep, singin’ me lullabies,” she looked down, “feeding me with a baby bottle, and and a-and AH MISS THEM so much it hurts!”

Applejack hugged her sister again, “Ah miss ‘em to, Ah miss ‘em to...” An idea came to her. Since they were having a nice bonding moment, she might aswell get it out of the way now. She had planned on telling her sister tonight but now seemed more appropriate. After Applebloom calmed down one last time she spoke up, “Ah have a confession ta make myself…”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Several years ago

“Hey dumpling, how was your day?” asked Applejack's mother as Applejack entered the dining room while on top her father's back.

She quickly hopped off her father's back and ran to the light pink earth pony, “Ma! Did ya know what Pa made for me!?”

“Yes, I saw it just this morning, and he did a wonderful job if I do say so myself!” her ma answered.

“Aw shucks,” her pa said with a smile.

“Well, I got my own surprise for you,” her mother said with a smile, “how would you feel about having a little sister?”

“Best day EVER!”

A month or so later

Applejack and her pa had plenty of fun with her new tree house. She particularly liked the tireswing he added a couple days later. Her pa could get her really high in the air while pushing her; though, it did get a little scary at one point, so she refrained him from making her go that high again. Outside of that they played pirates, princess, board games, and card games. Her pa just had a way of making any game into something great.

Her ma on the other hoof was getting fat, because of her sister. Apparently they decided not to tell her about her sister sooner, for whatever reason. She didn’t mind to much though, it just makes the wait a lot less longer. She could hardly wait to have her own sister. Somepony new to play with, not that her pa, ma, brother, and granny weren’t great. It was just hard to have friends, since they lived so far away from town.

A couple months later

It had been a couple of weeks since Applejacks whiny little sister of a foal was born and she was already making her life miserable. She was very excited to have a sister at first, but that changed rather quickly. Her parents didn’t do anything but work and take care of her cry baby sister after she was born. They never let her take care of her sister. ‘She was too young,’ they’d say. Her mother was taking care of her sister right now, “let's play!” Applejack requested her father.

“Sorry, no can do Sugarcube. Ah got ta help your ma out with your little sis,” her father explained. She didn’t understand why, mother should be able to look after her sister by herself.

She hadn’t played with her father since her foal sister was born and even longer for her mother, and she’s been so bored lately, “Can’t granny help her?” She asked.

“Nope, she’s with Big Mac at the market,” her father rejected.

She didn’t like it, “pwease?” she asked with puppy dog eyes. Life was so dull without her dad to play with. This tactic pretty much always worked in the past, at least until her little sister was born. She tried playing in her amazing treehouse by herself but she just wasn’t as creative as her father.

“Sorry, Ah just can’t do it, but I promise we can soon sugarcube,” he said in finality. She pouted and stormed off to her room.

The next day

“Soups UP!” came a yell from below. Applejack didn’t really feel too hungry, but she could definitely eat so she made her way downstairs from her room.

“Who’s my little apple dumpling?” her ma said sweetly as she approached the kitchen. The giggling of her foal sister came soon after, as she neared the kitchen, “Yes you are, yes you are.” her ma said cutely. That’s what ma always called her.

She entered to the sight of her ma, a light pink earth pony, playing with her foal sister, and got to her seat, “Hey ma,” she greeted.

“How’s your day goin’ honey?” her ma asked genuinely with a smile.

It was nice to see her ma smile; then again, her sister wasn’t crying for once. It would’ve been good, but the lack of the use of the words ‘apple and/or dumpling’ bothered her, “Okay,” she answered.

Her ma smiled, “I’m glad to hear that,” she sighed, “also your father told me to apologize to you but we got an important order this morning so he and Mac will be gone for a couple days for the delivery.”

This surprised and angered her, “But he promised me we’d play today!” she complained.

“Aa , aa, aaa,” her ma chided, “he knew you’d say something like that, which is why he told me to tell you he said soon, which doesn’t necessarily mean today.”

“But a couple of days is like forever!” she complained getting her ma to chuckle.

“Well, I’m sorry, but there’s no helping it, we need all the bits we can get, now that your sister’s here,” her ma said, before drawing her attention back to Applebloom, “isn’t that right? Isn’t that right?” She said cutely.

So that’s how it was…

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“That’s about when it all started Ah think, before then ya were just ma cry baby sister who’d keep us up at night and wear out our parents,” Applejack explained, “Ah became jealous of ya and began ta resent ya for how ma and pa were always so stressed over ya,” she sighed and steeled her resolve to continue, “as time went on Ah only grew ta dislike ya even more until that day," hers eyes got watery.

“Ah don’t know if Granny or Mac ever told ya why Ma and Pa went to the market that horrible day…” she looked away from her sister and chuckled pitifully, “wouldn’t ya believe it. They went ta go buy baby formula and diapers for ya, because of a sale they couldn’t miss…” she blinked away some tears, refusing to look at her sister in shame, “and even though they saved some ponies from that awful beast, that was the one thing that ran through my mind like a fierce fire. A-Ah grew to hate ya so much. Ah was such a foalish filly. Ah thought ya were the reason ma and pa were miserable, ya were the reason they didn’t play with me anymore, and ya were the reason they were gone...” she sniffed.

“Ah couldn’t stand ta be around ya anymore, so Ah left…” she sniffed again, still not looking at her sister, ”Ah-Ah never wanted ta see ya again, Ah-” she breathed in deeply and calmed herself down, even now she lacked the courage say some of the awful thoughts that had ran through her head.

“Anywho, Ah moved in with the Oranges here in Manehattan as a result of all that. Ah left a lot out of ma cutie mark story. Ya see the Oranges had their own foal at the time yall met him already, and even with all the maids and butlers they had, they’d always be the one taking care of him, but because of all their butlers and maids they had time to set me straight. Ah began ta see things ma and pa did in a new light and how foalish Ah was. Ah really wasn’t a big fan of their stuffy lifestyle. Ah became confused and didn’t know what ta do anymore, until Ah saw that rainbow,” she looked down, “it reminded me of the weekend Ma, Pa, Granny, Mac, and Ah went ta Rainbow Falls, and Ah knew Ah wanted to come back home,” she said, and finally turned back to face her sister. “What’s wrong?” she asked in concern.

“So it’s true then. She was right after all, in a way...” Applebloom said defeatedly. Her eyes were shot and her ears were drooping.

She didn’t like the sound of that, “who’re yall talking about?” She rubbed her eyes clear and sniffed. Anytime she talks about her parents at length she can’t help but get at least misty eyed.

“Just a bully Ah met yesterday…” her sister frowned in anger, “She said that my parents wished Ah was never born…” Applejack was a little shocked to hear this and felt a little annoyed her sister didn’t say anything about it. Her sister smiled as single tear fell and continued, “Ah know that’s not true. Ah know they loved me and Ah know they would never do that. But-” she gasped, “but i-if A-Ah’m the re-reason they’re gone. Th-then Ah wish Ah was never born!” she exclaimed before slumping down defeatedly, like she’d just given up on everything.

It felt like an arrow to the heart to hear her sister say such a thing. Tears welled up in her eyes as her breathing became ragged at the sight of her sister who’s strong spirit and endless positivity was crushed into a husk of the filly before her. She reached over and hugged her again, but her sister hardly reacted, like she was indifferent to it. Applejacks forelegs trembled in despair. She didn’t even consider how her sister would take the news that they only went shopping for her that day. She was too focused on her own guilt and making sure her reasons for her feeling the way she did were justified. Even after her sister just told her how much she remembered about them and missed them. She felt like such an idiot. “S-sugarcube,” she sobbed, “i-it w-wasn’t y-your f-fault…” she hugged her dejected sister a little tighter, “it wasn’t your fault,” she gasped out all while she rained tears on her sister's back.

Slowly Applebloom raised her forelegs again for a hug, as tears began falling from her eyes. They remained like that for a while. Applejack was glad the doctors had the sense to not interrupt their moment. She breathed in and sniffed her runny snout, “Now… why’d ya go runnin’ out o’ that room like that…” She released her hug and backed up a little to look her sister in the face. “Wer-were ya not able ta heal ‘em or somethin’?”

“No, it’s not that… Ah just couldn’t be in that room any longer,” Applebloom looked down sadly. “It was one of the saddest things Ah’ve ever seen, and it reminded me of you, Granny and Mac…” she said before looking down and whispering, “mom and dad,”

“Oh, well are ya gonna be okay?” she asked.

Applebloom rubbed her eyes with a forehoof, “yeah, Ah think Ah’ll be okay… thanks,” she smiled slightly. Applejack felt relief to see a hint of that positive spirit.

“So Ah’ve been wonderin’ for awhile now. Why’d ya leave your bowtie stained like that?” she asked.

Her sister sighed, “Ah use to believe everything would always turn out alright,” she explained, “That karma or something,” she looked down, “traded mom and dad for a guarantee that things would always work out okay, if Ah always did the right thing…” Applejack wondered where her sister got such an idea. Her sister looked back up, “As time went on, Ah only got proven right by my belief. Disaster after disaster would occur, but things would always be back to normal like they never even happened, just fun adventures to experience and talk about. Then what happened to Sweetie. Ah was so worried at first, but the second we made it to the hospital. It was like all that weight was gone and Ah didn’t have a care in the world, because Ah believed everything was going to be okay, because we got her to the hospital…” she sighed, “While everypony around me was freaking out and sad Ah was, Ah was happy and a little annoyed with everypony…” Applejacks eyes widened, “Ah didn’t understand why everypony was soo upset, so Ah ignored them. So set in my belief Ah was... Thanks to Scootaloo. Ah realized the truth. Ah felt so helpless. Ah kept my bowtie stained, because Ah never wanted to be so blind to the truth again. Ah’ve tried to not think about the feelings that came with the truth since then, but Ah just couldn’t do it anymore. Not after what Ah saw in that room.”

That was a lot more of an explanation than she was expecting. She huddled close and they remained like that. After a little bit, Applebloom got antsy and wanted to get started on the task ahead of her. Applejack felt pride that her sister was still up for it. They got greeted by lots of ponies, the moment they left the room. Turns out Applebloom did heal that pony, much to Applejacks relief. Her sister never said if she healed the pony or not, just that she couldn’t stand being in that room anymore. It was a feeling she couldn’t dispel until just then. She watched as her amazing little sister helped ponies all throughout the day and even refusing to stop because it was getting late. It wasn’t till late in the night or early in the morning, depending how somepony looked at it, that they finally got done. There was no party like she heard about last time, but that was okay, Applejack was tired, yet elated at what her sister just accomplished. With all the discussion then excitement, she completely forgot to tell her sister that she was actually getting paid for it. They headed to the hotel and checked into a rather rude host and went to sleep.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Bring these to my room, and use the stairs again,” demanded the bright yellow mare with a wicked smirk, as she entered the Grand Piano Inn, to the mare behind her struggling to carry a bunch of bags full of stuff.

“Yes, of course Miss Charity!” the mare said too happily, as ‘Charity’ made way to the V.I.P. elevator, entered, and clicked it to the top floor. The door closed and ‘Charity’ frowned in boredom. The first week of ‘shopping’ around was fun to her. She now had more clothes, makeup, jewelry and things than she ever thought she’d get in her life, but by the second week even that became boring as she already had everything she could want/need. She only ‘shopped’ now to think about what to do next. Food became the one thing that she could still look forward to, and she’d just got back from a fancy restaurant. The door opened and she entered her suite. It was full of stuff that she was hardly finding time to use even though she had all the time in the world, thanks to the bracelet around her wrist. She stared at it for a little while, as she waited for that mare to get here with her stuff.

Up till now she’s just been using it to get things. She noticed how strange everypony acted around her, it was unnerving to her. They were too nice to her and annoyingly distrustful of others. She had to tell them that they could trust each other on several occasions, just so she wouldn’t have to deal with the fights they’d get into for the littlest of things. All that said, that wasn’t what really unnerved her. It was the fact that, outside of their zealous appraisal of her and blindly giving her things, they didn’t treat her much different than when she didn’t have the bracelet. The only difference then was that she had to work for it. This made her wonder about something.

After a while the mare who’d been carrying her bags finally knocked on the door, “Come in,” she yelled loud enough to be heard from the hot tub. The door opened and the mare walked in still holding all the bags and placed them on the floor, clearly relieved to finally put them down. “Leave them there, come here,” she requested.

The mare who was clearly wiped out after carrying several bags of stuff up untold numbers of stairs, smiled weakly and made her way, “Ho-How,” the mare breathed in some as she walked closer, “may I help you Miss,” she breathed in some more, “Ch-Charity?”

“Why do you like me” ‘Charity’ asked.

“Because you’re the best most outstanding pony I’ve ever met. A true model for everypony,” she said with a large smile.

“O Really? Then what do you feel about ponies who steal? Cheat? Lie? And Con other ponies?” ‘Charity’ asked.

“They’re the just worst,” the mare frowned, “they should be locked up for their crimes,” she snarled, “no, that’s too easy on them, they should be-”

“Okay!” ‘Chrarity’ interrupted, “so if you think they’re just the worst then why did you just help me steal all those things?” she asked pointing to the bags of stuff near the door.

“Because you’re the best-”

“Stop,” she interrupted, “I’m not Miss Charity, the real Miss Charity is currently suing your employer. There was no mix up and I conned, lied, and stole from you all. Does that make me ‘just the worst?’ and how does that make you feel?”

“No, not at all. I won’t tell anypony,” she grinned.

“But how does that make you feel?”

“I’d do anything for you, because you deserve it.” the mare answered.

“Then tell me the TRUTH!” she snapped.

The mare backpedaled, “I’m sorry, Miss Charity. I just feel like you’re such an amazing pony, that I can’t see you doing anything for the wrong reasons. Unlike some other ponies I know…”

‘Charitys’ eye twitched and mouth scowled “Leave me!” She yelled. The mare quickly made her way to the door, “Wait! Put that stuff away before you go!” she ordered again before settling down in the hot tub. She already knew the truth and now that she thought about it, maybe the original owner of The Believers Bracelet was onto something. It sounded like fun.

The Calm

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Sore muscles greeted Scootaloo as she awoke from her slumber. Her mind felt full of lead and she just wanted to go back to sleep. After unsuccessfully trying to resume her peaceful rest for what seemed like forever, thanks to her irritably dry mouth, she decided to at least get a drink.

She sluggishly made her way to the counter/faucet across from her bed that had complementary cups and a coffee machine. As she drank some water she couldn’t help but think about the great day she had yesterday, even if her sister was acting a little strange. She sparred against so many different ponies and had her flank hoofed to her more times than she would like to admit, but it was fun.

Her sister however seemed distracted most of the time, like she was very nervous or something. Asking about it but didn’t get a real answer, and she didn’t really feel like pressing on it. She was too tired to ponder these things so after drinking her second cup of water she jumped back on her bed intent on going back to sleep, only to find that her sister wasn’t in the other bed. Instead, in her sister's place was the gift she had made.

Alarmed and now awake she jumped over to the other bed and checked the gift. She found a tear in it but was relieved to find that it wasn’t big enough to take out the gift, and the tape still held strong.

Setting it down, she looked around. She noticed that the door to the hallway was ajar. Nothing else seemed out of place. Not sure what to do she put her gift back where it should’ve been. She knew Applejack and Applebloom were supposed to check in last night, even though they hadn’t by the time she went to sleep. She figured maybe that’s where her sister went off to. Now that she’s calmed down a little, she felt annoyed about whatever the deal was with the gift. She gets it already. She knows it’s driving her sister crazy to find out what’s in the gift but resorting to that? Maybe she should at least let her know it’s for her. Looking at the clock, she was alarmed to find they were likely going to be late for their breakfast meet up. She grabbed some things and left locking the door behind her.

Moving down the empty hall to a certain room number, she knocked on the door as soon as she made it. With no quick answer she knocked again this time harder, “A-Ah’m,” *yawn,* “up,” could barely be heard on the other side. Soon the door opened by a tired looking Applejack, “ho-aaaaa~” she yawned bringing a hoof to her mouth, “-wdy Scootaloo, don’tcha know wha’ time it is?”

“Is Rainbow there?” she asked ignoring the question. She wondered exactly how late they stayed up last night for Applejack, of all ponies, to not be the one knocking on her door.

“No, why would she be?” Applejack questioned drowsily, before yawning again. Scootaloo froze. How could Rainbow not be here? Why was her gift on her bed like that? Then some more thoughts came to her. Why was Rainbow acting so strange yesterday? Like she was being followed? What if she was being followed? “And ya’ll didn’t answer ma question.” Applejack continued.

“Where else could she be?” Scootaloo asked hurriedly, feeling even more awake.

“Wha? No, about the time. It’s,” she stepped inside leaving the door open, Scootaloo walked in. Applejack muttered something to herself after looking at a clock, “Up ‘n at ‘em Applebloom. It’s time to get up. We’re about to be late for our breakfast.”

Applebloom was quick to respond, throwing sheets aside and getting up, “Ah’m up, Ah’m up. What’s a filly got to do to sleep in for once? Ah mean, aren't we supposed to be on vacation?” then she looked in her direction, “Scootaloo!” she yelled with a bright smile, “How was it at the Martial Arts Festival?”

“Ah’ll tell ya what,” Applejack interjected, “Ah’ve never felt more proud of my sister than Ah had yesterday watching Applebloom help all those ponies. Just thinking about it now makes me feel like Ah just stopped Nightmare Moon with my friends again, but even better. Ya’ll should’ve been there Scootaloo, it’s like watching an angel,” the pride in her voice was all to evident. Applebloom blushed at the complement.

“It was fun,” Scootaloo answered, “but I’m really worried about Rainbow right now.”

“Somethin’ happen?” Applejack asked.

“No,” she answered, “but when I woke up she wasn’t there and the gift I made for her was on her bed.”

Applejack looked at her oddly, “What’s a gift got to do with ya being worried?”

“Well, she made a tear in the wrapping and left it on her bed.” Scootaloo answered, “she doesn’t even know it’s for her yet.”

“That doesn't sound like something Rainbow would do,” Applejack commented, “maybe she got impatient.”

“Oh,” Scootaloo said, remembering something regarding patience, “that reminds me. Applebloom you got to tell us how much you made!”

“Umm, okay?” Applebloom said clearly unsure about what Scootaloo meant.

“Rainbow tried to barter for info about the gift with how much you made,” She explained.

“Uhh,” Applebloom's face scrunched up.

“But,” she continued unhindered by Applebloom who looked at her completely confused, “I figured you’d tell me how much you made anyways, that way I’d get to-” she cut herself off. She didn’t feel the need to admit that it was fun teasing her sister about a mysterious gift, “ehhh, that’s not important right now...”

“Oookay?” Applebloom asked.

Scootaloo felt Applejack was right. Leaving a gift on her bed like that, really didn’t seem like something her sister would do. She couldn’t help but think back to how her sister behaved yesterday, “I don’t know where Rainbow is. I thought she’d be here, but she’s not! Not only that but she was acting strange pretty much all day yesterday, like she was being followed or something.”

“That ain’t sound good,” Applejack noted, “well, were ya’ll were being followed?”

“No,” Scootaloo answered, “I don’t think so at least. If we were, they were really good at hiding.”

“Huh, well mind showing me ya’lls room?” Scootaloo shook her head no, “Applebloom get yer things, Ah’m gonna investigate their room real quick see if anything’s amiss. Then we’re gonna head out for breakfast.”

Scootaloo lead Applejack to the room and they did a more thorough search of the room, but found nothing unusual. Applejack suggested that maybe Rainbow would show up or be at the restaurant they meet up at for breakfast. Applebloom was already waiting for them in the hallway with saddlebags and her stained bow. They were in a hurry, so they didn’t have time to talk, making only one stop to the empty lobby desk to see if the hotel knew anything about Rainbows whereabouts, the lack of their presence or any notes only made things more nerve wracking for Scootaloo.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The walk to the their meet up place was different. For Scootaloo, because she wasn’t flying and Rainbow was missing. For Applejack and Applebloom, because they moved to the hotel and something else. Ponies seemed nervous and defensive. As they walked to their meeting place a mare just ahead of them going the opposite direction slipped and fell dramatically, dropping her purse in the process. A stallion who was closer than they were cautiously approached her and picked up what looked like lipstick that fell out of it. He held it out for her to take, like a gentlecolt. “HELP THIEF!!!!” the mare yelled loudly getting the attention of everypony else around. The stallion dropped the lip stick and ran the other way dodging the few ponies that grabbed for him as he ran, while others got clear out of his way.

Applebloom didn’t like that one bit,“Hey!” she yelled, “he wasn’t a thief! He was only trying to help you. Didn’t you learn any manners growing up?” She approached, intent on finishing the kind action the stallion started, as the mare began digging through her purse frantically.

“Sta-stay back!” the mare said hysterically as she brought out a pepper spray can and pointed it at the filly.

“Woah ho, hold it there Sugarcube,” Applejack said restraining Applebloom before she could get any closer.

“Ah was just gonna give her, her lipstick back,” Applebloom explained in a hurt voice as she was escorted back on course to the restaurant. The mare kept her pepper spray can trained on them as they walked around and past her.

“Ah know, but we ain’t got time to deal with ponies like that,” Applejack responded looking around nervously as soon as they passed the mare. She knew something was amiss, and needed to get to Twilight.

“I knew ponies in Manehatten could be rude, but that was just ridiculous,” Scootaloo grumbled.

The rest of the walk to the restaurant was uneventful, well if you excluded how everypony avoided everypony else like they had the pony plague. Walking inside was much different than last morning. It was eerily quiet. Just last morning it had full tables, and sounded alive, now only had two at most at any table and it felt uninviting. They found Twilight and Sweetie at the table they’ve sat previously, waving them over.

“Howdy Twilight,” Applejack greeted, “ya notice anything strange this morning?” she asked in a low voice, as Applebloom smiled and waved at Sweetie who waved back with a smile of course.

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, “No, not that I can think of,” she answered then looked at them again, “Wait, where’s Rainbow?” she answered.

“She’s been foalnapped!” Scootaloo blurted out.

“What!?” Twilight and Sweetie yelled, shock clear on their faces.

“Now hold on Scootaloo, don’t go jumping to conclusions. We don’t know that yet, there wasn’t any ransom note, and she’d never go without a fight, and I saw no signs of that either” Applejack then went on to explain the situation to Twilight and Sweetie. Twilight asked some questions to Scootaloo who answered best she could, but they didn’t glean any new revelations from it.

“I see," Twilight said, “That is concerning. I know Rainbow can be irresponsible, but I don’t think she’d leave the door like that, maybe a year in a half ago, but I can’t see her doing that now. I also know she can be impatient but I don’t think she’d really try to open a gift before it was given to her. I think we should head to the local guard to get help finding her if she doesn’t show up.”

“That’s not all” Applejack started, “havn’t ya noticed ponies actin’ strange ‘round here this mornin’?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“Well like Ah said there was no pony at the front desk in the hotel lobby, and the whole walk here ponies avoided everypony else like they had the cutie pox,” Applejack said.

“Yeah, not to mention what happened on the way here,” Applebloom added.

“What happened?” Sweetie asked.

“Some ungrateful mare slipped and fell dropping her purse,” Applebloom started, “a stallion picked up some lipstick that fell out of it and held it out to her, and do you know what the mare did?” Sweetie shook her head no, “she called him a thief,” she snorted. “He was only trying to help her out!.”

“Then Applebloom called her out on it, and the crazy mare took out a pepper spray can and pointed it at us, acting like we were about to mug her.” Scootaloo concluded.

“Ringing any alarms, Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“Well, now that you mention it, I guess I’ve noticed some strange behaviors this morning… but nothing really that extreme, are you sure you’re not just overthinking things because Rainbow’s missing?” Twilight asked.

“Really Twilight?” Applejack asked, “Just look around ya and tell me what’s different from last morning.”

Twilight did so, and noticed everypony avoiding her gaze like they expected her banish them instantly. Last morning however, more than a few threw her fake smiles, some still avoided her but most were obviously looking for some kind of ‘favor.’ It’s one of the things she couldn’t stand about being a princess, but she digressed and sighed, “okay, you made your point. Ponies are acting strange for some reason, and Rainbow Dash is also missing. I wouldn’t be surprised if both were somehow connected, considering she apparently acted strange yesterday. Though we can’t be sure yet,” Twilight raised her hoof to get the waiter's attention.

Scootaloo saw Twilight try to get the waiter's attention, “Do we have to eat, I’d rather go find Rainbow now,” Scootaloo said, fidgeting in her seat, worry pretty much written on her face.

Twilight lowered her hoof slightly, “I’ll tell you what Scootaloo, if Rainbow doesn’t show up by the time we’re done we’ll go to the local guard to get help finding her and investigate why everyponies acting weird.”

“Sounds like a plan to me Twilight,” Applejack agreed, much to Scootaloo’s chargen, though she was hungry. Hopefully, she was worrying for no reason and it was just some bad prank her sister wanted to play. She doubted it though.

Twilight raised her forehoof again, “waiter we’re ready to order.” The waiter seemed significantly more nervous than usual as they ordered.

“I know you’re worried Scootaloo,” Twilight began as the waiter left, “I am too, but we can’t just assume the worst. Besides what if she comes here and we’re not here because we already left?”

Not wanting to acknowledge Twilight's reasoning, Scootaloo decided to change the subject. Looking around, she noticed Applebloom drinking milk and the fact Sweetie was present made it the perfect subject change, “So Applebloom,” she said, getting her attention as she continued drinking, “how much are you getting paid from the hospital? Ten thousand bits?”

Milk splattered the table the moment that number reached Appleblooms ears, “ten thousand? Scootaloo what are you talking about?” Suddenly, what Scootaloo said at the hotel made since to her, except, “Ah ain’t getting paid to help those ponies. Ah’m doing it because Ah care! Why would- Ah ain’t no money grubbin leech!”

“What?” Scootaloo said in confusion, “Rainbow told me yesterday you were getting paid,” Scootaloo defended, “I didn’t think she’d lie to me about that,” Scootaloo sighed, “but with how strange she acted yesterday. I guess I just don’t know anymore.”

“Umm,” Applejack said as she lifted her hat and rubbed her head, “about that...” getting their attention, “ya’ll are getting paid for helping out those ponies in the hospital…" she said much to Appleblooms shock, "Ah meant to tell ya about it yesterday, but after everything that happened. I just plum forgot. Ah told Rainbow about it while we were at the theater, by the way,”

“But Ah don’t care about the bits,” Applebloom responded, in the cute upset fashion that only said filly could accomplish.

“Ah know ya don’t Sugarcube, but believe me when Ah say ya earned it,” Applejack responded.

Applebloom looked ready to protest. “Not only that,” Twilight jumped in before she could, “but it’s the law. They have no choice but to pay you, and since just about all of Equestria's hospitals are sponsored by The Crown it’s not like you’re directly taking bits away from the ponies you’ve helped. If anything you’ve saved them bits.”

“Ahh,” Applebloom responded. She had to admit, she didn’t want those ponies she helped getting bills or anything because of her help. It was comforting to know they weren’t. She helped because it was right, no other reason.

“Also,” Twilight continued, “I seem to recall a certain filly ruining a newly renovated stage not to long ago,” Applebloom looked down in shame at that.

“Don’t worry about it Sugarcube,” Applejack consolidated placing a hoof on her shoulder, “we’re using some of those bits ya EARNED,” she emphasized, “to pay that off, whether ya like it or not.”

“Okay,” Applebloom said glumly.

“So, how many bits are we talking about?” Scootaloo asked. She was trying to keep herself distracted. The fact her sister was missing with no good explanation, and the weird circumstances around was making her worry.

Applejack looked around the room cautiously, “Ah’m gonna leave it up to Applebloom here,” patting said filly on the head, “to tell ya that or not, and Ah sure ain’t gonna tell her when we’re the only ones talkin’ in this whole danged restaurant.” she finished eyeing everypony around her, “what has gotten into everypony this mornin’?” They shied away from her gaze or took it head on with with a suspicious gleam.

“Sooo anyways, me and Sweetie had fun at the museum,” Twilight said, bumping the rather quiet filly.

“Yeah,” Sweetie squeaked in agreement, “It’s so hu~ge! And has so many cool things. You just gotta see it before we go back home,” Sweetie said excitedly.

They talked about what they did yesterday, but mostly ended up listening to Applejack proudly tell them about her amazing little sister and all the great deeds she accomplished. Today was planned as an unplanned day, so they could do whatever they wanted, even though yesterday ended up being one slightly. Twilight wanted to go back to the Martial Arts festival today, since it only happened once every five years. Applejack, Applebloom, and even Sweetie thought that sounded like fun with no other ideas other than a walk in the park. Scootaloo told them that the festival was down for today. Apparently, tomorrow was the big final tournament, where all the fighters who’ve proven themselves and signed up, get to fight for a large sum of bits and title of the best martial artist. They’re given a day of rest, which was today, so the event organizers can prepare and the travelers can enjoy Manehattan before the festival was over. Talking about it only reminded Scootaloo of how bummed Rainbow was about it, if only briefly before looking paranoid again.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At some point during all their conversation the food came and they ate it. Rainbow hadn’t shown up during that time so they made their way to the local guard, which was near Times Square.

Given the fact that the Martial Arts festival was off for the day, Twilight would’ve expected the streets near Times Square to be even more packed than normal. Instead, it seemed less packed. She felt a little unnerved at how strange everypony they passed acted. She hated to admit it but she kind of got use to ponies acting oddly around her. Ever since she became a Princess ponies treated her differently, but the way ponies behaved now was a different kind of strange. One she sadly wouldn’t have noticed without Applejack’s input.

It was a shock to realize that she started dismissing all the odd behaviors of strangers. She rounded all those behaviors into one reason, the fact she’s a Princess. She didn’t want to be a pony who’d fail to see the signs of somepony in distress. Even her friends at times had treated her differently after she became a Princess. She hated it. Even recalling her walk to the restaurant this morning she could tell ponies were acting off, even to her, but she just ignored them. She felt trapped. She never asked to be a Princess. It just sort of happened. She couldn’t think about that now though. More immediate events, like a missing friend, required her attention.

The closer they got to the police station the more ponies seemed suspicious of those around them, which in turn made her feel uncertain about the ponies around her. It was oddly quiet. It unnerved her how just a few days ago this part of the city was loud with cart traffic, yelling, and conversations to be heard almost constantly amongst the giant metal buildings. Whatever was going on really started to get to her, or was it actually starting to get to her like it seemed to have everypony else in this city? She stopped and calmed herself by breathing in and out. She couldn’t tell if she was becoming paranoid because of some unknown force or entity that seemed to make everypony else appear that way; or if she was becoming as such because so many ponies were acting that way. It was quite the conundrum.

As they walked they came across a large crowd of ponies. This wouldn’t be strange on just about any other given day in Manehatten near Times Square, but looking around she couldn’t see any other gatherings of ponies. Given how everypony was acting, she doubted ponies would crowd around anything. Even then this crowd was spaced out clearly nopony wanted to get near anypony else, even though they had their attention straight ahead. Another odd thing about this crowd was its location. It was in the middle a street. The sidewalk usually provided enough space for street performers. Nopony seemed to care they could be blocking cart traffic. Though, now that she thinks about it. She hasn’t seen any carts aside from maybe a few before she got to the restaurant. Past the crowd, on a stage stood a dull yellow pegasus mare with a dull orange mane giving a speech. Curious, she held out her front hoof stopping her friends and approached the crowd.

Some ponies in the crowd fidgeted, others seemed still, while others would send suspicious glares at those next to them, on this hot summer morning. The one thing they all had in common however was that they listened to the words of the pony on the stage as if Celestia herself was talking, but with far more reverence, “Ponies are selfish backstabbing creatures!” yelled the pegasus on stage her dull sapphire eyes, oddly lively. The echo’s of her words were quickly lost in the towering metal buildings around them, “they only pretend to care about you. They call you friend to trick you,” she said a lower volume, yet she could still be heard beyond the large crowd, “your so called friends wouldn’t hesitate to ditch you and throw you to the wolves, just so they can get ahead in life.”

Twilight was raptured by her words. They went against everything she’s learned in the last two years; yet, they were making since to her. So deep in thought she was, she didn’t notice Applejack and the CMC come up beside her.

“Ya okay there, Twi?” Applejack asked placing a hoof on her shoulder.

Twilight jumped a little, “Applejack wha-” she rubbed her head as she felt a slight ache, “Yeah, I’m fine, I just- I felt like she was right for a moment.”

“What do ya mean by that?” Applejack asked, forehoof still on her shoulder. The CMC were busy trying to get a view of the mare on stage.

“I don’t know,” she answered, “it just felt like she was telling the truth,” she explained as Applejack looked at her questioningly.

“Raise your hoof if you’ve ever been betrayed by a so called friend,” the mare on stage asked. Twilight was shocked to see everypony but her friends raise their hoof. “You there, tell us how your so called friend betrayed you.”

A happy whinny could be heard followed by somepony clearing their throat, “I once let my so called friend borrow five bits,” a stallion said through the crowd, “and it took him two months to get it back to me even though there was plenty of times he could’ve gotten it back to me.”

The mare on stage hoof palmed her face, “That’s not what I meant by betrayal at all, do you not have any other examples?”

The atmosphere around the crowd seemed to darken, almost as if they were ready to pounce that stallion for daring to provide a bad example, “Ummm, on several occ-”

“Something that’s not frivolous!” The mare yelled, “I’m talking life changing, trust destroying, betrayal!” the mare yelled. “Even if it hasn’t happened to you yet, I can guarantee that your so called friends won't hesitate to abandon you, and leave you for something they deemed better in their greedy little hearts. They’re just waiting for the right opportunity to betray you.”

Twilight heard enough of this, “That’s NOT TRUE!” She yelled taking flight. Applejack tried to hold her down, but she just couldn’t hear another moment that mares speech. Saying friends would betray each other. It went against everything she learned. “I would never dream of betraying my friends, and I know they'd never do the same.” The crowd looked at her in a mix of anger, fear, confusion, or awe as she flew past them to the stage. She kept her gaze on the mare onstage, who had a sudden look of recognition.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our newest Princess, Twilight Sparkle,” the mare mock bowed. Twilight ignored the sneering, trembling, and perplexed ponies below her best she could, “Why, I must be honored to be in the presence of royalty.”

Twilight felt strange as she landed on the stage looking out to the crowd, that now adorned a mostly smiles, “What she says is wrong!” Why’d she say that? “A true friend would never abandon you.” That seems right. Yeah, friends should never betray each other.

“Oh, really?” asked the mare on stage, drawing Twilight’s attention.

“Yes,” Twilight said turning to glare at the mare, “Of-of…” The mare’s blue eyes oozed a black magical aura momentarily as she held a wicked smirk. Twilight rubbed her head. Events from the past came rushing back to her, but in a new and horrible light. Last year during her brother’s wedding she knew something was wrong with Cadence, her sister in law. She tried to tell everypony something was wrong but nopony listened to her. Her so called friends took the side of the imposter and Celestia. Then, there was the time they left her behind to save Equestria without her. They just wanted all the credit for themselves. This wonderful mare was right about everything. She was such a model citizen compared to all those other disgusting selfish ponies, “Who are you?” She just had to know.

The mare looked at her questioningly, “You can call me Charity Well,” the pegasus answered cautiously studying her, “Why’re you smiling?”

“Oh,” she blushed, “you know. It’s not everyday I get to meet a truly great citizen of Equestria," Charity's jaw dropped, "You know how it is, everypony is always after a Princess for some selfish reason or another. It’s refreshing to finally meet a truly great citizen like yourself Charity Well,” she explained raising a hoof for a hoof shake. Charity grinned and shook her hoof.

“Mares and Gentlecolts,” Charity turned addressing the crowd, “I present to you our one and only Princess Twilight Sparkle, let's give a her a warm welcome.”

The crowd suddenly became alive and cheered as if they just watched the best performance in their lives. Some sat and clapped their hooves, while others stomped the ground, some even whistled. Twilight waved at the crowd, not really sure why that wonderful mare would want anything to do with any of them.

Applejack stood in confusion at the crowds sudden lively applause by that mares request. She couldn’t hear what they talked about, but Twilight's sudden change in stance and attitude didn’t seem right, “Okay, okay that’s enough!” the mare yelled, “I SAID STOP!” she screeched stopping all cheers and applause with spine crawling immediacy. It was dead silent, “I’m Charity Well, and you can trust those who believe in me.” Applejack found that to be a rather odd choice word, though Charity Well as she called herself seemed proud of it, “Princess Twilight Sparkle do you believe in me?” she asked suddenly.

Applejack could only watch on as Twilight squealed like a little filly about to go to Sugarcube Corner. There's no way Twilight knew that pony. Heck, moments ago it looked like she was about to clobber the poor mare. “YES!” Twilight yelled proudly.

“Well, there you have it,” the mare on stage said, “you can trust her! Let’s have some fun," she grinned mischievously, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, hop on both your left legs.”

Twilight smiled, “ooohhh, sounds challenging," then proceeded to try just that. The first jump was okay, so was the second one.

“Did I say you could use your wings?” the mare asked bitterly, Twilight’s happy demeanor did a complete one eighty.

“I-I’m sorr-sorry, I-I didn’t know I couldn’t,” Twilight apologized, then fell the ground with a thump when her wings went to her sides.

“Good girl,” the mare grinned, to which Twilight smiled, “now get back up and don’t stop until you do it five times in a row!” Twilight did just that, well she tried to. The amount of effort she was putting into it was all kinds of ridiculous and silly. Charity laughed as Twilight continued to squirm in spectacular ways, “I’M SET FOR LIFE!” She yelled in joy as her laughter reached its peak. “I-aha, I control a Princess of Equestria!” she laughed some more, “and, and nopony can stop me! Laugh! All of you laugh!” The crowd burst into laughter with her, though theirs was a variety of different cheesy villain type laughter. It sounded strange.

In the back of the crowd, "Twilight?” Applejack asked in quiet bewilderment as her friend continued to fail her task.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The trek through the forest had been relatively peaceful for Mirror. She noticed that the creatures of the forest didn’t seem to enjoy moving around much during the middle of the day. She didn’t either since it was very hot and humid, which was almost unbearable to her at times, considering she lived in a cool cave up till now. Still, she persisted and continued going through this seemingly never ending forest. She had no doubt this was the way to Equestria.

The faint hint of anger she smelled only got stronger the farther in the forest she went. She was certain by now that it had got the creatures to bicker at each other, which was annoying at times, particularly when she was trying to sleep. It was getting to the point that she was beginning to consider veering off course a little just to avoid it. She doubted love could be where whoever or whatever was causing that anger to basically infect the forest and its inhabitants with its bitter burnt smell. Regardless, she decided to stick to her original course for a little longer. The last thing she wanted to do was get lost in a forest. Sure, she could always fly up and hopefully spot some sign of civilization, but she really wanted to preserve the food she had. Flight took up more energy than she cared to spend, especially when it wasn’t needed.

After a quick snack break and rest from the unforgiving humidity she started working her way through the forest again. The forest was full of angry noises that she’d learned to tune out as white noise, after a couple days. She couldn’t help but think about how she was going to go about gathering love as she walked. She could impersonate some young filly or colt, or pretend to be a filly or colt who got lost, which was riskier than the former. She’s never done it before and it worried her that she’d mess up and get caught.

As she thought about ways of gathering love, her parents came to mind. It seemed no matter what she thought about, it always came back them. She couldn't escape it. They were gone. Dead. There was nothing she could do about it. They wanted her to live and be happy. They also wanted what was best for the hive, but how could she ever be happy without them? She missed them soo much. It felt like her heart was ripped out, leaving nothing but an empty void. Well, maybe she couldn’t ever be happy again, but at least she could try and help the hive. This feeling of duty. To fulfill at least one of her parents wishes drove her to where she was right now. Far away from home in some humid forest. Scared and alone. So alone. She just wanted her parents back, but the ponies took them away from her.

*SNAP*

Drawn out of her thoughts, her ears lifted and she stopped and looked around. She saw nothing but trees and bushes. However what she heard was more concerning, or rather what she didn’t hear. It was quiet. Even in the humidity the creatures of this forest didn’t shut up, but they seemed to have right now for some reason. Something was wrong. Alert, she cautiously moved forward.

When Things Get Interesting

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“Ahaha-ha okay, okay, that’s enough of that! …I said you can stop now!”

“Oh! Sorry miss Charity I thought you were talking to the crowd. Thank you for letting me stop. I was getting tired, but as long as it made a great pony like you happy, I would’ve kept trying. Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No. I was just thinking about what to have you do next. Oh! I know! Act like a dog about to get a treat...”

*...B-Bark, bark, whine.*

“Nice touch with your wagging tail. Who’s been a good girl?”

*Bark, bark, bark.*

“Okay, now chase your tail… and I’m already bored of this. Stop. How about you act like somepony with severe educational problems, and sound like this?”

“That sounds really rude, ponies with severe educa-educational proo-proooblems sh-shoould n-nooot be moooocked by a Princess such as myself, even if you’re the only good citizen we have.”

*Sigh.* “You’re right I guess they shouldn’t be. That doesn’t mean it’s not hilarious, well at least when it's done right. Unfortunately, you don’t have the kind of voice or attitude for it, and ruined it for me.”

*Gasp,* “oh no, I’m sorry, I can practise and get it right. I can use my magic and-”

“Stop! Power down your horn right now!”

“What? Why? ...Sorry, I-I Di-.”

“Calm down, Look just don't use your magic and wings. Now what to do with you next…”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been a good few moments since Twilight inexplicably started following the word of the dull yellow pegasus mare on stage. Applejack was completely at a loss at what happened. One moment Twilight looked ready for an argument against this ‘Charity Well’ and the next she’s happily ‘bawking’ like a chicken about to get feed. That wasn’t what really confused her though. The fact it was a pegasus that ordered her friend around was what left her stumped. She would’ve maybe understood if it was a unicorn onstage, but it wasn’t, and she refused to believe that the CSA failed it’s only job at stopping changeling infiltration. After the long lines she had to endure only for them to still manage to infiltrate the city? The very idea set her mind aflame with indignation that she refused to believe for a second.

Still, that left her in the dark at what in tartarus was going on. The day started out in a rush. They were late for their breakfast meet up, after sleeping in. On top of that Rainbow disappeared under some puzzling circumstances. They almost got pepper sprayed by some crazy mare in the street on their way to the restaurant, the ponies there were nerve-wrackingly silent, and now Twilight was on a stage in the middle of the street making a total foal of herself, literally. She couldn’t make heads or tails of what all that meant, outside of the fact it was nothing good.

She didn’t know what to do. Her friend was treated like some filly who’d lost a bet. She would’ve thought her friend acted like it to, if it weren’t for the fact Twilight seemed very enthusiastic about it all, which this Charity pony apparently found hilarious. Applejack didn’t find it funny. In fact, it really ticked her off, ”Applebloom, let's go get the guard, before AH lose my temper and put a stop this sick sideshow myself.”

“But…” Applebloom’s brow creased, “why is Twilight even listening to her? Ah’m glad Ah can’t see her like this, it sounds awful,” she said her ears perched high towards the stage.

“I can barely hear what’s going on,” Sweetie complained, “this crowd is too huge, what’s she doing now?” She asked while fruitlessly jumping from her spot for a glimpse of the stage. Scootaloo seemed to be scouting out the crowd itself, probable to hoping to spot Rainbow.

“It don’ matter what that mare has Twilight doing now,” Applejack insisted turning to address her three charges, “we’re going ta get help. Ah swear this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. One moment ya feel on top the world because ya got the best little sister ever and then the next thing ya know your friend went mi-”

“Applejack,” Applebloom interrupted.

“Right,” she said, “Ah was starting ta ramble. Now let’s get out of here,” she turned around and walked away.

“Applejack!” Applebloom said forcefully this time.

She turned back, “Wha-” only to see her sister pointing behind herself with an entire crowd of ponies watching her, parted revealing Twilight glaring and pointing at her from the stage. She frowned, “Alright, yall stay here,” she commanded gritting her teeth, “Ah’m puttin’ an end to this little charade, as apparently, Ah ain’t got no choice.” She said before walking past the CMC and through the crowd made lane. The suspicious and down near hostile looks were unnerving. She didn’t waver though. She merely picked up the pace a little. Glancing behind her revealed they didn’t bother closing her potential escape route, though at this point it’d be better to book it for the stage and run to the other end where there was nothing but empty street for whatever reason. She also could see the CMC did stay, like she asked, and nopony seemed to even acknowledge them, so that was nice.

Relief struck her by the time she made it on stage, which was immediately followed by confusion. Why was Twilight looking at her with such contempt? “Hey Twilight,” she started, “mind telling me what the hay is going on here?”

“So she’s Applejack?” Came the amused voice of Charity.

“What of it?” Applejack spat. She could hardly stand this mare, not after all the embarrassing things she had Twilight do.

“You’re going to do what Princess Twilight tells you to do,” Charity said lazily raising a hoof and spinning it, “after all she is your pwincess,” she mocked with a slight smirk, “Okay, Pwincess she’s all yours.”

Twilight squeed, “Oh, Thank you! Thank you Charity Well,” she said with a huge smile, “the possibilities are just endless. What to do, what to do,” she said bringing a hoof to her chin, “Applejack, you seemed to want to hog all the fame and glory for yourself. Little miss go back to Ponyville while we get all the notoriety that comes with saving the world," Applejack had an idea of what she referenced and it wasn't one of her best moments. "Oh!" Twilight's face lit up dawning a creepy grin, "I order you to oink like the fame pig you are.”

Applejack grit her teeth. She sure as tartarus wasn’t about to do that, “What did yall do to her?” she asked bitterly, glaring at Charity and ignoring Twilight altogether.

“I said, you’re going to do what Princess Twilight tells you to do…” Charity said confusedly. Her eyes widened when Applejack started approaching.

“And just why would Ah do that?” Applejack asked as she got closer.

“Because she’s the best citizen in all of Equestria and she deserves anything she wants! Now oink like a pig." Twilight answered loudly, "you stubborn mule!”

“Uhuh,” she barely acknowledged her clearly brainwashed friend as she came face to face with Charity. Green eyes glared down dull blue eyes.

“Listen to Princess Twilight already,” Charity demanded, “or, do I have to order you to oink like a pig myself!?” She asked glancing down at something perplexed.

“Ah don’t rightly know what kind a game yer playin’ bu-”

“Oink like a pig!” she demanded watching her expectantly with a broad smile.

“-but Ah’m gonn-”

“Oink like a pig,” She said cutting her off again with much less enthusiasm, smile faltering in of place confusion.

“-Ah’m gonna put an end to thi-”

“OINK YOU FILTHY MUD PONY!” she yelled glaring at Applejack who bristled at being interrupted for the umptenth time, the ringing in her ears, and being called a 'mud pony.'

Enraged, Applejack firmly brought a hoof to Charities chest in order to make a point, “Listen ta me-”

“AHHHHH~” Charity screamed tears formed in her eyes. It sounded like she thought her wings were being ripped off or something and the expression on her face told as much. The crowd and Twilight rubbed their heads, not that Applejack noticed. She was transfixed to the mare screaming in agony before her in shock. She removed her hoof afraid she might’ve actually hurt the mare somehow.

Charity quickly retreated from Applejack a hoof held to her chest, “Wha-” she breathed heavily, “What-ha did you-ha do to me!” she demanded all while gulping in air and blinking away the tears.

“Ah don’t reckon Ah put that much force into it,” Applejack said confusedly looking at her hoof alarmed, “Ah never meant ta hurt ya,” she explained as she re-approached calmly.

“N-No, sta-stay away-ha from me, You!” Charity pleaded backing up more and then shakily taking to the air, wings beating frantically. Her breath normalized. “You… I’ll pay you back ten fold for that!” she shouted from above.

“Listen here Miss, Ah dun rightly know what y'all are doing ta my friend or everypony else for that matter, but Ah’ve seen enough, and Ah’m putting an end to it!” Applejack yelled.

“Stay away from me! Princess help me!” Charity shouted as she flew higher, far out of Applejacks reach.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The CMC watched from their spot as the mare took to the skies. The crowds sudden migraine didn’t go unnoticed by, well, most of them. The crowd, for whatever reason, never closed the lane they made for Applejack which gave them a good view of everything that happened.

Now that Charity was in the air Sweetie Belle noticed she wore something on her foreleg. It was a bracelet. She couldn’t quite place it but something about it drew her attention to it. It nagged at her for some reason, but she was simply too far away to get a good look at it. She lost focus when the airborne mare yelled for Twilight's help.

It was dead silent, and now that ponies were no longer completely blocking the stage, even Sweetie could hear what they were saying. It doesn’t hurt that they were yelling at each other and the pony made lane seemed to heighten the sounds coming from the stage. “He-help you with what Charity?” Twilight asked rubbing her head.

“That mare!” she jabbed with her hoof, “Applejack you called her. Arrest her for assault!” Charity demanded.

“But that’s Applejack, w-we,” she looked down, “on stage, because I-I thought…” Twilight rubbed her head, “no, I felt you were worth it, but why?” She asked bringing a hoof to her chin. All the while Applejack was glaring up at Charity.

“Well? Arrest her already!” Charity demanded, but Twilight stood there like a zombie deep in thought. She sighed in annoyance, “can somepony else get rid of this mare for me!”

“Say! That sounds like our cue boys! See.” came a greasy low down voice that oozed mistrust and danger from somepony near the front of the crowd.

“Okay, boss!” came dim witted sounding responses. One was high pitched while the other was much lower and slower.

Soon enough three stallions joined the stage. All earth ponies wearing black suits. One was smaller than most stallions who also wore a black panama hat. He seemed very shady despite how well dressed he was. The next stallion was thinner than most stallions but walked very arrogantly with a twisted smirk. The last stallion was huge, although he wasn't rippling with muscles, it only took only one look to see he was a force to be reckoned with. Applejack ignored them and kept her gaze on the mare in the sky.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Get her already!” Charity demanded.

“You heard the pretty lady, boys, let’s take out the trash,” the small stallion said sinisterly, “Say, big fella under my employ hold ‘er down, See. So your compatriot can pummel ‘er to a pulp.” The huge stallion rather swiftly went to Applejacks side while the slim stallion approached her head on. She made an effort to get away from them, but she hadn’t expected the big guy to be so fast.

“Stop!” Twilight yelled before the huge stallion could wrap his forehooves around Applejack much to Applebloom’s relief.

“Why’d you stop them?” Charity demanded from above.

“That’s Applejack!” Twilight answered, “and I won’t let any of my citizens receive corporal punishment, regardless of how despicable they are. Even a selfish fame hog like Applejack”

“...Gee, Thanks for saving review Twi,” Applejack snarked, trying to get away from the two stallions, who stalked her.

“So, tell me if I got this straight Princess Twilight,” Charity spoke alarmingly calm, “You won’t let them beat her up because she’s a citizen of Equestria?”

“Yes, even after she assaulted you, unfortunately,” Twilight explained, “I can’t let ponies start beating her up regardless of how badly I may want them to. I’m a Princess after all and even though you’re the only good citizen we have. I have to do things by the book.”

“Come on Twi,” Applejack pleaded, “snap out of it and get these two outta my mane. They’re gettin’ on my nerves.” Twilight glared at her and opened her mouth.

“What if she wasn’t a citizen?” Charity asked interrupting whatever Twilight was about to say.

“Well, if she was a diplomat then she’d have some immunity,” Twilight explained, “if she was a foreign spy. Well then, I’d have no reason to stop anything that happened to her, but I know for a fact she’s neither of those. Just a criminal who assaulted you. You of all ponies. The best citizen we have. Don’t worry though, she’ll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Her horn began to glow.

“Wait…” Charity interrupted.

“Oh right, you told me not to use my magic, sorry,” Twilight grinned sheepishly.

“Uhh, yeah,” Charity said before wickedly rubbing her hooves together with a crooked smile, “what if I told you she was actually a changeling in disguise?”

“Wha- Ah ain’t no danged changeling!” Applejack barked.

“Just what a changeling would say,” Charity argued.

Twilight gasped as if she made great realization, “you’re right Charity. How’d I miss it!? I’m sorry for stopping them, please forgive me.” she begged.

“A changeling?” The short stallion asked his voice restrained and seething, “See, Those pests made business pretty hard for me after what they did in the Capital,” he sighed and looked happy, “ and this fine lady was kind enough to bring one right to me. See, Now that the Princess is looking the other way, go get ‘em boys!”

“Hey!,” Applejack yelled as the big stallion wrapped his hooves around her, firmly holding her in place, “get off m-” she began only for a strong hoof to the chin to interrupt her followed by more punches. She struggled to get free, before they knocked her out or worse, but he wouldn’t budge.

“MY HEAD,” the huge stallion yelled suddenly, releasing Applejack and bringing his fore hooves to his head diving to the ground, “IT HUUURTS!”

She didn’t know what hurt him, nor did she care, as she quickly turned and ran for the other side of the stage. “YOU DIMWIT!” the Short stallion yelled. She stopped near the edge almost falling off as pain and numbness both fought for dominance of her face.

“THAT’S IT!” Charity shouted, “THE FIRST PONY TO GET RID OF HER WILL EARN MY PRAISE!!!” she offered, which everypony readily accepted as one they would eagerly pursue. “Not you Princess! You stay right there!” The stage was soon swarmed by the crowd, all after the farm pony.

"I'll DESTROY her for you Charity!!!"

"Say, she'll be swimming with the fishes!"

"BACK OFF! her praise is MINE!!!"

“Woah nelly,” Applejack let out as she realized there was an angry mob after her. Panicked, she leapt off the stage. Unprepared for the fall, forelegs skidded across the pavement earning some nasty scratches. She got up drunkenly and booked it down the street, mind numb and vision impaired. On high alert, adrenaline completely overrode any pain.

-------------------
Applebloom
-------------------

“APPLEJACK! NO! ” Applebloom yelled amongst the crowd's threats. The angry mob chased her sister like one would expect a mob to chase Franken-Stallion or something. Time seemed to slow down as they crammed to get onto and past the stage like a bunch of her classmates making for the door on the last day of school at the start of summer break. She had to do something, and soon. An idea came to her, and time seemed to move regularly again. She didn't have time to tell her friends. She had to act now.

Without a word, she ran for the crowd then jumped on top the nearest member. She heard Sweetie call out for her, but ignored it and jumped to the next pony. This was something she'd done in the past with sheep for fun and as a chore. Needless to say, she had no problems jumping from pony to pony.

Her sister had a bloody nose, bruised eye, and beaten face thanks to two brainwashed stallions. She could only imagine what an angry mob would do. She can't let them near her sister.

All while the sun shined on, heating up the city enough to make just about any pony sweat after standing outside for a couple moments. The towering buildings stood tall above them, locking them in place, but otherwise ignored by all.

She made it to the stage in short order, jumping a little higher to get on her next moving platform. The next jump revealed her sister racing down the street a good distance away and some ponies who’d recently got off the stage. They seemed fast. She had to hurry.

Going on instinct she bent her knees and jumped, “Woo~aaahhh,” she half yelled in surprise. The pony she’d been on slammed onto the stages floor as she went flying past the rest of the stage and several ponies.

She landed just ahead of the leading crowd member sliding on her legs, swiftly turning to face the approaching crowd as if she was on ice, such was the speed the jump had left her going. All the while she hoped her idea would work. There was an angry mob after her sister. It had to work. She reached into her saddle bag and literally threw her rushed plan between herself and the oncoming mob.

She reared up and brought down her fore hooves, firmly closing her mouth in hard concentration.

From skyscraper on one side of the street all the way across the street to another skyscraper, trees instantaneously grew in a giant line. They blocked the crowd from her sister. Pavement crumbled under the might of their roots. It sounded like a mini-rockslide for a moment. The threats and arguments of the mob became muffled.

That took a bit out of her. She wiped away some sweat, then checked on her sister who still ran down the road. Her breathing normalized slowly 'that was close,' she thought.

She smiled at a job well done, 'noponies gonna hurt my sister,' she thought before her attention was brought back in front as she heard wings.

Above her a pegasus flew towards her sister, and fast. It was like watching Rainbow practice. She turned to follow only to hear some tree branches snapping. She spared a glance behind herself only to see a well built stallion had barrelled through her living barrier and more ponies were filtering through.

Another pony dressed in all black jumped down from a tree landing lightly on the ground. This pony had to be a ninja, if the outfit and impressive landing was anything to go by.

Some branches got cut clean through and fell to the ground. She gasped as she recognized the old donkey who was on the other side. He currently wore a tie dye t-shirt and straw hat, but she'd recognize him anywhere after she watched him take down a minotaur with ease. He walked past the newly cut opening, his eyes targeting the running pony in the distance.

First a ninja and now that donkey. Shouldn't they be at the Martial Arts Festival? 'Oh,' she thought when recalled Scootaloo telling them the Martial Arts Festival was on break for one day and that day happened to be today. How many other ponies from there are here?

Either way, she couldn't let that donkey near her sister at all cost, even if her sister was a good distance away. She had no doubt that pegasus racing forward could stall her sister at the least. Which would then allow the few ponies who continued to filter through the few holes in the barrier to catch up to her sister. Which ultimately would leave her sister surrounded by an angry mob. She shuddered at the thought.

She could not let them pass. She needed to stop the flow of ponies before their numbers became too great.

She concentrated, reared up and brought down her hooves again. "Errr," she grunted gritting her teeth as the trees natural magical defences protested her will while she forced them to renew their branches, and make more, effectively stopping anypony else from getting past.

She sucked in more air as more sweat formed on her forehead, and she felt almost woozy for a moment there. "If you have wings, USE THEM!" Charity could be heard and seen yelling above the trees.

Applebloom glared at Charity, only to be shocked as a flock the pegasi arose simultaneously above the trees.

She couldn't let a bunch of pegasi swarm her sister like fruit bats on apple trees. Thinking fast, she threw the rest of the seeds in her saddlebags all around herself and reared up. The pegasi all began to fly down the street. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she looked for her seeds and the pegasi that began to fly towards her sister.

She once again, she brought her hooves down. She's done it two times already in such a short time and on quite a large scale. She felt like a littler filly having a temper tantrum, and admittedly she was getting pretty ticked off with all these ponies following that mares word as if it was divine. Even Twilight was doing it.

This time large vines shot out of the ground randomly to an on-looker and tightly coiled around the pegasi. She targeted the ones that already passed her first before moving to the ones slacking behind.

She ignored the ache her whole body gave and checked on her sister, bypassing the vines that almost blocked her line of sight. That pegasus was hot on her sisters trail who finally was able to turn down another road. “You’re not getting away that easily!” a stallion said, drawing her attention back up front.

Frowning she faced the few that made it past her tree barrier, “If-ha," she breathed in heavily, "if any of yall want to get to my sister!" She yelled gesturing behind herself before breathing in again, "then you’ll have to get through ME!” She pounded a hoof to a ground with her declaration.

“Pht, ahaha,” the stallion laughed, as she glared, “Oh, You’re serious? Sorry, little filly but that’s not your sister, that’s a changeling,” he explained.

“No she ain’t!” she barked as the stallion walked up to her.

“Listen here little filly, I don’t got time to argue with you,” he sneered, “I have a bug to squash.”

She scowled at the threat as the stallion walked to her side and then began running past her, only to be stopped as she bit on his tail. She jumped into the air and with a flick of her head tossed him back in front of herself, hooves skidding on the smooth pavement. "Ah won't let any of you pass!" she pawed the ground threateningly.

The stallion grunted in disdain, “Okay little filly. You’ve wasted enough of my time,” the stallion spat, as Applebloom glared at him, “time for you to take a nap.”

He swiftly moved up, taking her by surprise briefly, and raised a hoof for a swift knockout. She moved her head out of the way in the last moment, at the same time she reared up and grabbed ahold of his extended foreleg with both of hers. She swung them around once, twice, and three times before letting go and sending him flying and screaming towards her trees.

She paused and looked at her hooves. She’d never done anything like that before. She saw it done a couple times at the Martial Arts Festival, but never thought herself capable of such a feat. She was so surprised she didn’t even see how/where the stallion landed.

She looked up and noticed some missing ponies. Her eyes widened as she heard frantic running from behind, “Oh no ya’ll don’t!” She did a one-eighty and double timed it, weaving through a couple vines, towards the few that thought they could by pass her while she dealt with the stallion.

"STOP!" she yelled at the first pony she reached, only to have to dodge a blind swat to the head. "She's not a changeling!" she yelled trying to reason with the mare, which only brought another swat but this one reached its mark.

Her face stung. She growled before delivering a swift kick to one of the mares forelegs. That was immediately followed by a sickening crack. The sound sent shivers down her spine as they escaped the scarce landscape of vines holding peeved pegasi. The mare screamed in agony and rolled to the ground clutching her now limp leg.

What had she just done? She stopped and looked at the mare. Shocked and reviled at her own strength. It was just last night she healed ponies from this kind of injury, and now she was inflicting it? Time once again came to a crawl. The mare slowly withered in pain on the ground. Her mind raced and suddenly it felt like she was somewhere else entirely, but not really.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

About one week ago

"So... what're yall planning on doin'?" Applejack asked from the stairs of Twilight's basement. Applebloom watched from her spot just past the bottom of the stairs, as her sister sat down. She could smell the oil and machinery that still lingered from Twilights and Scootaloo’s efforts to fix the machine Sweetie fried.

"After Applebloom achieved such a monumental breakthrough in medical magic last time we tested her abilities even if nothing of value was gained. Well, outside the fact it can be done," Twilight proudly explained, "I felt it was necessary to have you with us for all future tests. Applejack you don't know what you missed. Your sister helped soo many ponies. You just had to be there to know what I'm still feeling after witnessing it. You should've been there."

"Ah get it already Twi," Applejack groaned, "We've been getting lots of letters thanking her for her help. We've gotten enough visitors that we've had ta put up a sign saying ta only send letters, and it's only been a few days... Ah have a farm ta run, and my sister dun need to be swarmed by journalist everywhere she goes," she finished raising her hooves in the air.

"I don't think you'll get it till your there to see it yourself, and I'll try to get those journalist out of her mane," Twilight offered.

"Thanks," Applebloom said gaining their attention, like they forgot she was even there.

"Oh," Twilight blushed in embarrassment, "you're welcome. Anyways, today I want to test out your strength, in terms of how Puddinghead described it. First we'll test the max weight you can carry and I already got the averages for active earth pony fillies your age from the neck, legs, tail,” she explained before levitating a paper over to herself, “and so on... anyways let's begin."

Several test later, "Wow,” Twilight said clearly impressed, “that's more weight than even a body builder could carry in their prime, and it's pretty scary."

"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked from her spot on the stairs.

"Well, not to freak you out or anything," Twilight started, "but Applebloom, you could really hurt somepony if you ever tried to hit somepony, even playfully."

"But Ah've sparred with Scootaloo a couple times since Rainbow started teaching her karate, and Ah've never hurt her," Applebloom felt the need to point out.

"Really?" to which she nodded, "Earth pony magic is weird... If you were a pegasi like Scootaloo or unicorn like Sweetie you'd have problems controlling your power considering how much I've seen you all do. Regardless, I want you to be careful you could in theory toss somepony in the air with a simple hoof shake if you’re not careful."

"Ah'll be careful," she agreed, "besides, if Ah do hurt somepony, Ah can just heal them good as new."

"APPLEBLOOM," Applejack yelled, "why would ya go an say a thing like that?" She scolded

"A-Ah jus-j-" she sunk her head in shame.

"What I think what Applebloom is trying to say," Twilight jumped in, "is if she were to accidentally injure somepony she'd heal them back and try not to do it again, isn't that right?"

"Yeah, that's all Ah meant honest."

"Sorry, didn't mean ta come down on ya that harsh," Applejack apologized, then sighed, "So what's next?"

"We're gonna test her impact. Basically it's how hard she can hit things if she really tries, and considering how much weight she can carry, I think it will be a lot of force. Applebloom if you would please," Twilight gestured her over to a machine, but more specifically to a padded thick metal plate held out by said machine, "Okay, so all you need to do is punch it with a fore hoof as hard you can."

Her first punch left a dent in the thick metal plate, and a hole through the padding. A piece of paper spewed out the side of the machine and Twilight checked it, then quickly levitated it to a desk. Twilight used a spell to undo the dent and then removed the padding before asking her to do it again with her other fore hoof with much the same result.

After undoing the second dent, "Applejack before we continue and I likely lose another piece of equipment. I want you to buck it as hard as you can," she said re-adjusting the height of the metal plate to better accommodate her sister.

"Well, alright," Applejack said making her way down the stairs to the thick metal plate. She turned and bucked it as hard as she could, "Ohhh, that's gonna sting for bit."

"Oh, sorry Applejack. I should've put the padding back on," Twilight grinned sheepishly before lighting her horn and repositioning the thick plate for Applebloom once more, "Now Applebloom I want you to buck it as hard as you can.”

She did just that. The sound that followed was like a fraction of what she imagined it'd be like if the train were to collide with a mountain. Metal ripped and crunched with the force she put into her buck. "Applebloom, ya okay?"

Her back legs were sticking out the other side of the thick metal plate which now looked more like a piece of contemporary art than scientific equipment. The machine holding the destroyed metal plate was bellowing out black smoke, even though she couldn't think of a reason why it'd do that, "Yeah, Ah'm fine,” she said as she removed her back legs and checked the damage.

“Well, that was somewhat expected,” Twilight said in glum acceptance, looking forlornly at her smoking machine.

“Sorry Twilight, Ah didn’t mean to break it,” Applebloom apologised.

“It’s okay, but I hope you can see why I asked you to be careful now right?” Twilight asked pointing at the ruined thick metal plate. She nodded in agreement. She really did a number on that thing.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The image of the mangled metal plate lingered as she came back to reality, even though not a second had gone by since she relived that memory. She never thought she’d do something like that to a pony, yet she had. She took her eyes off the mare and addressed the others who ran in the direction of her sister. Should she stop?

No. She refused to take that risk. Promising to heal the mare and any others later, she gave chase. Quickly, one by one she took them down doing her best to ignore the pain she inflicted on her victims. She had tried telling them to stop, each and everyone, but they all left her no choice. If only she still had seeds.

Before she knew it, they were all taken down. She breathed heavily and blinked away tears she hadn’t realized were there.

Exhaustion washed over her after everything she'd done in such a short time. Taking a breather, she addressed the few who for whatever reason heeded her warning and didn’t try to book it for her sister. To her left the donkey was slowly walking towards her but now she could see a glint of his weapon as he cut down vines along his path. He didn’t bother freeing the pegasi still entrapped.

Far closer to her still was two fit unicorns, but in the back she could see the earth pony stallion she’d sent packing getting up. She felt she was missing something, but ignored it and sucked in some air one last time, “Ah’ll say it again!" she yelled, "Ah won’t let any of ya-” she began but stopped as she followed the sudden strong urge to jump to the side.

Sharp throwing stars landed where she had been mere moments ago, imbedding themselves in the cement road.

She looked at them alarmed. What was going on? Who?

...

Who would dare throw throwing stars at a filly? If it had been anypony else she had no doubt the throwing stars would’ve reached their mark. She barely dodged them as is. She didn’t want to think about what kind of damage that’d reek. She scowled at the thought gritting her teeth.

Where? Almost as if possessed, she looked directly where they came from.

Above her, on a lamppost to her right was the ninja. She knew she missed something. She glared at the ninja before an idea came to her. She smirked in realization of where the ninja was. Living on an apple farm her whole life gave her a unique perspective on how somepony should go about getting things down from high places. It’s one of the reasons nopony asked her sister for help to get a cat out of a tree, or a frisbee off a roof.

She ran to the post zig zagging as even more throwing stars rained down. A couple grazed her, but that was more her not listening to her instincts and instead to her building rage at the pony still flinging throwing stars at a filly. Once at the lamppost she turned, reared up on her forelegs, and kicked with all her might.

It ripped apart, forcing the ninja to jump off, as it slammed into the sidewalk and skidded before coming to a stop. The ninja lightly landed directly in front of her.

The ninja didn’t stop at landing and quickly sprung into action running towards her while pulling out a long needle and coating it with something. Applebloom’s eyes bulged out at the sight and she dived then rolled to the side. All while the ninja jabbed at her with the needle, recoating the needle every couple jabs.

Back on her hooves, she faced the ninja and gasped as the needle pierced one of her forelegs. Fear overcame her about whatever deadly poison she assumed coated the needle, was she going to die? She snarled at the thought.

She grabbed the ninjas extended hoof and with a strong tug pulled the ninja into an awaiting brutal head butt. She grit her teeth as the long needle pierced out from the other side of her foreleg. The ninja collapsed in a knockout, and Applebloom tried to take the needle out with her now free forehoof.

After the second attempt, she sluggishly raised her pierced forehoof and bit down on the needle, yanking it out in one fell swoop and spat it away. A few small dots of blood dripped to the ground, before the physical wound healed. Worry written on her face, over her numb foreleg.

She looked up only to see the donkey had left a trail of cut down vines in his wake and was much closer. The two unicorns had their horns glowing while the stallion charged towards her, anger etched in his face, a little too close for comfort.

She jumped out of the way but stumbled her landing thanks to her numb foreleg. The stallion skidded to a stop and faced her. Not wanting to turn her back to the two unicorns who were up to something, she backed away keeping them in the edge of her vision. The problem with that was the donkey was no longer in her sight, she’d just have to hope he didn’t try anything.

The stallion closed the distance between them and raised his hoof for a devastating blow.

Pained seared through her jaw as the hit connected, but she stood firm, only her numb leg quacking from the force. She blinked a couple times as tears filled her eyes from said pain, and she spat out some blood as a tooth fell out of her mouth. She really hoped that was a baby tooth.

Looking back up the stallion was delivering another blow but this time she head butted his incoming hoof.

She grunted as they made contact but kept up the force until they were in a hoof wrestle match of sorts. Bearing the pain from her jaw, she clenched her teeth and swiftly removed her head from the match as the stallion slipped and fell to the ground, such was the force he was putting into his foreleg. She didn’t hesitate to grab his exposed head and slam it into the ground twice for good measure, and maybe pay back for her tooth. He slumped to the ground, knocked out.

She faced the two unicorns, and took note that the donkey was standing to the side watching, “Aaaa,” she brought her good hoof to her jaw. It wasn't just her jaw that hurt but her whole body felt weak, like she just got over a very bad cold and needed a couple days rest before she fully recovered. “Ah won’t," she breathed, "let any of you near my sister!”

“Once I’m done with you, I’m going to tear that changeling apart!” one the unicorns said before firing some kind of spell at her.

She dived out of the way staggering on her numb leg and ultimately falling to the ground hitting her jaw. Groaning in pain she looked to where the spell landed and it seemed to do nothing. It didn’t even leave a mark on the pavement.

The other unicorn teleported right to her and pinned her down with a hoof, “That won’t be necessary, because that changeling is mine,” the unicorns horn began to glow, “and if I have to take you out of the picture then consider it done!”

Applebloom's whole body ached, growing all those plants and then fighting some of those same plants to grow more limbs really took a lot out of her. Not to mention whatever that ninja poisoned her with. So far it seemed to only affect her leg for some reason. She didn’t know why, and it freaked her out. Her jaw hurt, and she hoped Applejack gained enough distance to be safe. The unicorn's horn charged up and she closed her eyes.

*BOOM*

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mirror crept forward. The silence in the forest was deafening, especially considering it’s been constantly active since she’s entered. Whether it was bird's bickering, a cricket's spiteful call, or the many squirrels quarrels she’s encountered. Something was always happening and making noise.

Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. She was currently trudging through a large dense patch of bushes and going around trees she’d often run into. Every single move she made would rustle leaves. A good portion of the bushes had thorns that threatened her eyes so it was slow going. The thorns tickled against her exoskeleton, but all the leaves and branches did a good job of drowning that feeling out. That aside, the fact she was the only thing making sounds, for a while now, didn't seem right.

She carefully marched forward and kept on high alert. As she moved the density of the bushes got lighter and movement much easier. She passed a bush and entered a slight clearing of sorts.

Tall tree’s shot high above her, and few bushes were ahead. Far fewer than the seeming sea of them she just traversed. She wiped her brow of the sweat that hindered hear sight and walked into the open. The hot humidity of this forest was worse than the unyielding dry heat of the badlands by far. It made her feel like throwing up at times.

*Growl*

Her head shot up at the sudden sound, whatever it was it didn’t sound nice. Urgently, she looked around.

Behind herself off to the side something stepped out of the bushes. It’s green glowing eyes glaring at her hungrily. It looked like it was made out of the very forest she traversed. It slowly prowled towards her with its thorny paws. She backed away, with no place to hide. It was so much larger than herself. She doubted she could outrun it.

Terrified she kept backing away from it, unable to look away from it’s unholy glowing eyes. She had to get away.

*Howl*

Came another sound, from the other side of the bushes in the distance. The monster before her growled and slightly raised its head, before it continued stalking closer to her. She kept backing away.

Her legs trembled as it got closer and closer. The bushes rustled the direction the previous howl as something moved quickly moved through them, until another of the same type of wooden creature bursted out of them and charged right at her. The one directly in front of her became distracted by the new ones intrusion for a moment, and in the moment she turned and ran for her life.

She heard their heavy thumps as they gave chase. She didn’t dare look back as she escaped. It was short lived however as one of them swatted her with its paw, slamming her onto the dirt ground and causing her to roll to a tree with the leftover momentum of her run.

She groaned as she began to get up and brought a hoof to where she’d been hit, only to realize her saddlebag took a majority of the damage with the gash it now had.

Before she could get up, one of them ran towards her. She back peddled into the tree as it rapidly approached. Trembling as it lunged towards her. She dived to the side but it was quicker and bit her shoulder lightly piercing her shell before tossing her away from the tree.

She screamed as pain and her own green ichor greeted her shoulder. She got it up in an attempt to get away but it pounced her. It bared its weight on her back bringing her belly to the ground. It was too heavy. Her saddlebags padded its sharp thorns.

Tears streamed down her face as she uselessly struggled to get free of its weight, “anyling HELP! Mommy!? Daddy!?” She cried as she uselessly wiggled around. More weight was put on her and she just couldn’t get free. She could smell its putrid breath as it panted in victory. It exhaled alarming close to her neck, ‘I don’t want to die,’ was all she could think as she thought about her promise.

...

Author's Notes:

Welp, hope you enjoyed the action scenes so far. It's going to get more crazier next chapter. Feed back helps motivate me to write more sooner, just thought I'd put it out there.

Author’s notes:

“She would’ve maybe understood if it was a unicorn onstage, but it wasn’t, and she refused to believe that the CSA failed it’s only job at stopping changeling infiltration.” Once again this is a play in the TSA.
“she said bringing a hoof to her chin, “Applejack, you seemed to want to hog all the fame and glory for yourself. Little miss go back to Ponyville while we get all the notoriety that comes with saving the world," Applejack had an idea of what she referenced and it wasn't one of her best moments.” This is a reference to S4E2 of MLP FIM “Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2”
1: (“Say! That sounds like our cue boys! See.” came a greasy low down voice that oozed mistrust and danger from somepony near the front of the crowd.) 2: (She felt she was missing something, but ignored it and sucked in some air one last time, “Ah’ll say it again!" she yelled, "Ah won’t let any of ya-” she began but stopped as she followed the sudden strong urge to jump to the side. ) Stereotypes for mobs and ninjas, hope you enjoy.

The Manehatten Incident part 1

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A low growl met Mirror’s ears as she struggled to get free. She frantically pawed at the ground as the monster easily held her flat to the ground. Her heart raced and her nose recoiled at the smell of ripe burnt food from its breath.

“Get off me!” She screamed as she renewed her struggles. The pain from her bitten shoulder was paid no mind. She could just feel the thing opening its maw and chomping down on her neck any second now.

She yelped as she suddenly flew off the ground, hoisted up by the straps of her saddlebags, and was just as quickly flung back onto the ground on her side.

She tried to get up but something kept her in place. Struggling some more, she determined it was her saddlebags that kept her in place. A fearful glance behind herself revealed another one of the wooden creatures partially atop the one that had pinned her down, biting at each other. The one on the ground must’ve got one or more of its thorns stuck in her saddlebags.

With regret, she hurriedly undid the saddlebag straps while they were distracted with each other. The second her restraints were free she got up and ran. She could hear their scuffle get more violent with barks and growls. It faded as she ran. The foreboding forest was silent again, outside of her own hasty hoof falls.

Relief filled her as she began to hear the angry bickering of other animals, but she kept running. Her breath was harsh, body ached, and her shoulder sent a stabbing pain every time she put a front hoof down. She kept running.

In her haste, she dropped down a small bump which was part of a much larger incline. She tried to fly but a branch among the many trees swatted her out of the sky, thanks to her momentum, and sent to tumbling down the incline.

She tried to stop the fall, but she just couldn’t get a grip. She covered her head with her forelegs and tucked in her back legs. Everything came and went as she rolled down hitting things.

Finally, after what seemed like forever she came to a grinding painful stop. After a moment she removed her bruised and slightly cracked forelegs from her head. Pain seared her every movement. She felt dizzy and sick. Her eyelids felt so heavy, her mind burned, and her body hurt. She tried to get up and was rewarded with pain and a strong urge to rest her eyes. She fought to keep her eyelids open but her mind hurt the more she tried.

Slowly her vision faded.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Applebloom wait!” Sweetie yelled holding up a hoof as her friend impressively jumped onto a pony in a large crowd and quickly out of sight. She went to give chase only to be held back.

“Let her go,” Scootaloo said releasing her soon after.

Everything degraded so fast and badly. Applejack was gone. Twilight was gone. Rainbow was gone. Applebloom was also now gone. Sweetie was at a loss, “What do we do? What dowe do? Whatdowedo?” she panicked pacing back in forth. Scootaloo threw a front hoof around her back, and held her in place.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Scootaloo questioned releasing Sweetie who swiveled her head, “that mare up there,” she said pointing to the the dull yellow pegasus in the air, “obviously brainwashed everypony,” she looked at Sweetie expectantly, only to receive a look of ‘what’s your point?.’ She sighed, “...and we need to stop her.”

“Really?” Sweetie asked, eyes trained on the angry mob.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“But... how? She brainwashed Twilight, and she’s a Princess! We’re just fillie~s.” Just as Sweetie got near finishing her statement there was a loud cracking from the direction of the crowd that sounded like a rockslide. Trees popped up on the other side of the stage. Scootaloo merely pointed at new line of trees and looked smugly back. After moment Sweetie realized what Scootaloo was doing and she blushed in embarrassment for not realizing it sooner, “What? She still brainwashed Twilight.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed, “but she didn’t brainwash Applejack, and when Applejack touched her everypony suddenly acted like they had a headache.”

“They did?” Sweetie asked.

Scootaloo to smacked her head, “how could you miss it? There was literally a crowd of ponies doing it all at the same time,” Scootaloo sighed in exasperation, “look we need to do something, I know she’s why my-”

“If you have wings, USE THEM!” the mare yelled, prompting a decent portion of the crowd to suddenly fly into the sky.

“Oh… I don’t think Applebloom will be able to stop them,” Scootaloo said lightly flapping her wings as began to rise from the ground, “find a way to get Twilight away from that mare,” she yelled as she flew higher.

Scootaloo watched as they all began to race in the direction her friend headed, ‘“BUT HOW!?” Sweetie yelled, stopping her just as she was about to get going.

“I don’t know, didn’t you say you got better at magic!?” Scootaloo yelled back hurriedly, glancing at the racing pegasi briefly.

“Yeah, but it’s not like I know a unbrainwash spell!” Sweetie responded from her spot on the ground.

The situation was urgent and Sweetie kept stalling her. She had to move before they swarmed Applejack, “FIGURE IT OUT! I GOT T-” she yelled before facing the crowd again, only to see all the pegasi trapped in large vines behind the row of trees. She blinked her eyes in disbelief, “-uhhhhhh,” she finished dumbly. “...That’s so awesome!” she gushed when she realized what happened. She never would’ve thought of that.

“What is!?” Sweetie asked.

“Applebloom just stopped all those pegasi herself!” She answered excitedly.

“Really? How?” Sweetie asked from the ground where the trees blocked her view.

“Large vines! Kind of like the ones that came from the Everfree that one time now that I think about it. It’s so cool!” She noticed the self proclaimed Charity looking down intensely at the other side of the tree line. It only took her a moment to realize the mare was probable looking for whoever grew the row of trees and vines stopping her brainwashed horde from getting to Applejack, “Sweetie I’m gonna stop that mare before she does anything else, you try and help Twilight if you can!” She yelled as she flew towards the mare who’s at a much higher altitude than she currently was.

“Scootaloo DON’T!” Sweetie cried, her horn lighting up briefly before fizzling out. She grumbled something, noticed the mob of ponies between herself and Twilight grumbled some more pacing back and forth.

Scootaloo ignored her friend as she flew up towards the mare, “Hey you!” she yelled forcefully once she was just out of the mares reach, “What’s your problem!” either the dull yellow mare didn’t hear her or she just ignored her, either way the mare kept her eyes trained below. “HEY!” Scootaloo yelled annoyed. She tapped the mare's shoulder and flew back to safety.

With a frown Charity glanced at her, “go away, little filly. I don’t have time for autographs,” she said gesturing the filly away with her hooves then looked back to the ground.

“Are you deaf?” Scootaloo said circling around in front of her, “I said what’s your problem. What’d you do to everypony?”

“What!?” the mare looked shocked, “I said move it filly!” She demanded, before she held out her hoof as if you stop Scootaloo from moving, not that she was going to budge anyways, “or better yet, be useful and help me find whatever grew all those vines and trees, so I can destroy it!”

“I knew it!” Scootaloo exclaimed joyfully, before she blinked and frowned, “I’m not telling you who made those vines and trees, and I’m not going to let you look for her any longer.”

“Her, you say?” the mare inquired as she fruitlessly continued to try and bypass the filly blocking her view. Scootaloo smacked her head, “Good to know. Now buzz off, if you’re not gonna help,” she said gesturing the filly away, before confusion set on her face and she muttered something.

Scootaloo grit her teeth, “No! Not until you stop brainwashing everypony!” The mare stopped her babble and addressed her.

“MOVE IT!” the mare yelled as her eyes emitted an fiery black magic. Scootaloo was a little freaked out about it, but held firm. The mare frowned and addressed the bracelet around her wrist, “What’s wrong with this stupid thing!”

“Oh, so is that what you’re using to mind control everypony?” Scootaloo asked moreso to herself, “I feel like it should be a helmet of some kind, at least it always is in comic books.” She’s had four previous experiences with mind controlling/altering of some kind and none of them involved a helmet yet. She was disappointed, but glad to have experienced those previous incidents otherwise she would’ve never suspected a bracelet, which currently was the only thing the mare was wearing. It didn’t look like anything special, well besides the black light sucking gem.

“What?” the mare questioned face full of confusion, before it contorted, “it doesn’t matter. Get out of my way filly, that mare did something to me and she’s gonna pay for it, but not before I get rid of the pony who let her get away,” she said in a sinisterly calm way.

“Make me,” Scootaloo challenged.

“move it,” she said her eye twitching but Scootaloo remained, “move it, move it, move it,” she yelled giving chase. Eyes widened, Scootaloo flew back, and circled around before she got cornered by a building. “GAH,” the mare yelled, giving up on the chase, “what’s wrong with this piece of junk!”

“Hah, you can’t catch me,” Scootaloo boasted, “I’m not gonna move until you stop brainwashing everypony!”

“Brainwashing? Ha, mhaha, I’m not doing that. This,” she said gesturing to her bracelet with a frown, “makes people believe in me and feel as if I’m the only pony they can trust. Well it should, but obviously this worthless thing can’t even make a blank flank filly believe in me!” she yelled shaking her braceleted hoof angrily, “Work, you piece of-” she stopped and quickly looked behind herself, “who said that?”

“Who said what?” Scootaloo asked not seeing anypony else near them, nor hearing anypony else say anything. Glancing down she saw the angry mob fruitlessly trying to bypass the line of trees, and Sweetie watching intently at them pacing back and forth. Her friend either didn’t try to get to Twilight or gave up. She couldn’t blame her though, the crowd was pretty packed.

The mare stared into space, her wings sputtered about but somehow kept her in place.

“You say potato I say pototo, you’re still-” Scootaloo began only to notice the mares mental absence, “-brainwashing everypony,” she finished quietly. Cautiously, she flew closer to the mare whose eyes looked on distantly. “Hey, you in there?”

Sweetie watched from her spot on the ground, since she couldn’t really do much else. She had gotten better at magic but the thought of making somepony vanish because she lost concentration was something that paralyzed her from acting. She’d get trampled if she tried running through that mob. Even if she did manage to make to Twilight she wouldn’t know what to do. Possible talk her into leaving, even though that didn’t help Applejack one bit. So she watched uselessly as Scootaloo confronted the pony who seemed to be behind it all.

Her friend waved a hoof in front of the mare receiving no reaction; even though, she had just chased her friend down moments ago. She was biting her hoof nails during that.

Scootaloo flew above and to the mare's side and tapped the mare’s back. The mare yelped and swatted behind herself, striking Scootaloo who shot towards a building so fast Sweetie barely saw it happen. A loud bang rang out as said building exploded.

Shattered glass and molten debris fell to the street below. The angry mob was quick to get out of its way. Smoke came from the new gaping hole in the skyscraper. Her lower lip quivered, and tears came to bud as realization did.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Applebloom felt a cold chill go from her forehoof across her back rather swiftly after a loud bang. She heard a crackle along the path the chill went. She opened her eyes and saw smooth ice now covering her hoof that continued along the same path of the chill. It actually kind of felt nice, considering how hot it was outside. The mare however seemed distracted with something behind and above herself. A glance up showed a skyscraper had exploded or something, likely the source of the loud bang she heard.

She didn’t know what to expect from the unicorn but an ice type spell wasn’t it. She didn’t have it in her to fight anymore, looking at the path of destruction she made as she lay there, all the ponies whose legs she broke. Guilt ate away at her. Their initial screams echoed in her mind. The fact she could see most of them fruitlessly nursing their legs didn’t help her feel any better. She’d give up, not cripple anypony else and hope she could heal those she did hurt.

The cold ice really felt good. If anything it made her feel rejuvenated. With a thought she placed her tongue along her teeth, looking for the hole her missing tooth must’ve left. She double checked when she found no such hole. With another thought she felt for her numb leg and was relieved that she could feel something from it now, even if it was a significantly stronger feeling of weakness than her whole body felt, which was slowly ebbing from her. With that, she realized her jaw no longer hurt.

“SCOOTALOOO~!” came a heart wrenching yell in the distance, stopping her self assessment. Dread washed over her. It didn’t sound good. What caused Sweetie to yell like that? Was it the explosion? She had to know.

Closing her eyes she focused on her hearing. She heard so much. She doesn’t know what she was hoping to hear. Through the chaos a familiar sound came to her. She concentrated more to kick out the background noise and focus on what sounded like familiar crying. “WELL!!!” somepony screamed so loud it made Applebloom deaf for a nano-second, “that should hold you, time to take out that changeling!” the mare who casted the ice spell said gleefully.

Applebloom reeled then sighed when realized why her ears felt like a jackhammer was used on them, if only for a brief moment. “She ain’t a changeling,” she grumbled as the unicorn passed her. She didn’t bother to try and stop the mare as she ran towards the direction her sister went. Her mind was on her friends. She also felt confident her sister had enough time to get away. She glanced behind herself and spotted the mare was soon stopped by the other unicorn who proclaimed that she was going to do it. Soon, they were having a meager unicorn battle, with ice spells, shield spells, and that other spell that seemed to do nothing flying about.

Applebloom didn’t pay them any mind though. She had to find out what happened to Scootaloo. The way Sweetie sounded, she feared the worst. She quickly and easily broke out of her surprisingly thick ice entrapment, almost as if it was a light dusting of snow that was on her. She cringed at the sight of all the ponies whose legs she broke. She couldn’t leave them like that any longer right? Should she heal them or go see what’s making her friend cry?

She made up her mind, and walked. She continued until she made it to the first of her victims and with a sigh, she continued, only to immediately jump back as something sharp passed by where her face almost would’ve been.

Just ahead of her was the old donkey. With her mind on her friends she completely forgot about him. He wore a tie dye T-shirt, straw hat, and held his cane close, “For such a small filly, you sure seem to cause a lot of trouble,” he smirked, before in one swift movement, he picked up the pony on the ground with his cane and flung him behind himself. The pony slided on the pavement briefly on his good side.

“W-what of it, A-Ah can heal them back good as new!” She countered acting tough as her body shook involuntarily. She couldn’t help but think of how easily he defeated that minotaur back at the Martial Arts Festival. This was an individual who clearly spent his entire life perfecting the martial arts. She didn’t want to fight him.

He chuckled at that, “So you say... I think you’re lying,” he said as he advanced slowly, and she backed up, “after all, you claimed you wouldn’t let anypony pass. Yet, I see two ponies behind you right now. Your word is shaky at best. Maybe you should give me a demonstration, seeing is believing as they say.”

“N-now how am Ah supposed to do that when ya went and threw em behind yourse-” before she could finish her thought he extended his cane, which upon closer inspection she quickly learned it was actually a cleverly disguised scabbard for a sword, ‘oh.’ Then it hit her that he had a sword, without any further thought she jumped back again, just as he swiftly slashed diagonally for one of her legs. “What’s your problem!” She grit her teeth, “Why would you do that? I’m just a filly!” He hummed then took his straw hat and set it on the ground, which for some reason sent a jolt of fear up her spine. “F-fine, you can pass,” she said gesturing for him to go.

“Hmm~,” he brought a hoof to his chin a thoughtful manner, “why the sudden change in resolve. I wonder.”

She frowned, “it doesn’t matter to you. Also, If you hurt my sister, Ah’ll pay you back ten fold! Heal you, then do it again!” she said as she walked out of his path, with wide berth. She gestured for him to go, “...Well, get going!”

“Such a rattle, for such a little snake. It promises doom while it slithers away from its hunter,” he said as he got in front of her path again, “No. I will not let you go back on your word, well more so than you already have. So I propose a new challenge. If you want to proceed, then, you must pass me.”

“Y-you can’t be serious. You have a sword! And I don’t have time for this!” she exclaimed. The more time spent not knowing what happened to her friend the more her mind thought of horrendous things that could’ve happened.

“You don’t? Then you have three seconds to get prepared,” he said. “One.”

“Prepared for what?” Applebloom asked innocently.

“Two.” Appleblooms heart raced.

“We don’t have to-” She tried to argue.

“Three.” Without further warning he unsheathed his sword, which was more like a katana, and gracefully chucked the sheath at her.

Applebloom watched stupidly as the blunt end of the mock wooden cane flew towards her. It promptly hit her forehead in between her eyes. For a moment she was dazed and she closed her eyes instinctively for a moment. When she opened them again the scabbard/cane had hit the ground and the donkey was no longer in front of her. Panicked she looked around quickly, not seeing a sign of where he went, until she felt a slight wind against her back. Without further prompting she dived to the side, moments before he landed where she had been.

“Now hol-” she began as he in one swift motion tried to sweep her from off her hooves. She jumped back narrowly avoiding it, “Stop, we don’t-woah!” She yelled as he picked up his scabbard/cane and yet again gracefully chucked it at her. A little more prepared this time and not wanting a headache she covered her forehead with both her forelegs. She lowered them after it struck and found him missing again. She looked above herself expecting to find him, but saw nothing but skyscrapers and the blue sky above. A slight noise was heard from behind and that was all the encouragement she needed to dive for the ground directly in front of herself. She felt the hairs of her back legs get a close shave.

“Fine!” She yelled as she got up and faced him. He already closed the distance between them with his katana, about to go for a swing. Her eyes bulged at the sight. She dodged to the side as it swiftly came slicing down. He didn’t stop there and kept going, exactly like the minotaur had done with him she noted. Though he only had one weapon held in one hoof, and she was a filly, and his weapon could actually hurt her.

She kept backing up barely dodging his relentless attacks. After about the fifth dodge he seemed to be getting much slower and she began to burn.

Another swing, another dodge.

The next thing she knew his swift almost unseeable weapon was very much seeable and she felt like she was in the Cakes oven. Confusion set in as he continued to ever so slowly lower his katana even though she was clearly out of its way. She couldn’t hear much of anything and what she did hear was strange to say the least. She felt like she was on fire.

She reached out for the sword before it could finish its decent and clasped it between both her hooves as hard as she could. She felt the katana continue to try it’s decent but she held it in place. Suddenly, she began to cool down, if only a little and she was assaulted by all kinds of sounds. However all those sounds were drowned out by the loud clap almost bang of her hooves followed by a resonating pang of the katana.

She breathed heavily as she held the katana in place. The donkey tried to get it free but gave up when she hadn’t budged. She glared up at him then easily ripped the katana from his grip and slided it away from them. He didn’t seem bothered by that, if anything he let go of the katana.

Her body cooled down, but she felt even more weak all over. It somewhat hurt to breath as heavily as she was. She felt worse when she tried for a marathon cutiemark, but this time around she couldn’t flop on the ground and stay there till her sister came and got her.

He smiled at her in an honest and excited way. It was reminiscent of her friends smiles when they were about to go on a crusade. It only cemented her need to get past this donkey, who was definitely some kind of karate master. “Ha-” she breathed and grit her teeth, “out of-ha my way.”

“Or what? You’ll break my leg too?” he asked joyville with a smile, as he gestured the ponies now around them.

She cringed taken aback by how he could say something like that so happily, “No, Ah-” she began, only to stop as he closed the distance between them and punched for her head but a little too high. She ducked and felt a slight tug from her hair. Her muscles burned to get back up, “Wha-” she asked at the sight of him holding her bow tie, “HEY! Give that back to me!” She yelled, and made to grab for it, ignoring her aches, but he moved it out of her reach, “Give it back!”

“Hmmm,” he hummed looking it over all while keeping it away from her. She jumped for it and he easily side stepped, keeping her in front of himself, “No,” he answered. Appleblooms eye twitched, “I rather like it. I think, I’ll keep it,” he declared.

She shook in place, “It’s not yours,” she said through clenched teeth.

“It is now,” he said as if it was fact, “though I do need to get rid of these ugly stains, what is that ketchup?”

“Raahhhh,” she screamed getting low on all four hooves like a heavy industrial strength spring, and sprung towards the donkey, a forehoof held back. The next moment she shot her forehoof forward in a powerful punch. The donkey raised his free foreleg and misdirected the force of her otherwise devastating punch to harmlessly hit nothing but air.

He whistled, clearly impressed, “scary,” the donkey said as he shook his hoof that misdirected her punch before he took the bow tie and tucked it inside his tie dye T-shirt. The bows could be seen sticking out almost reaching his chin, “you should be more careful little filly, you could break some pony doing that,” he stated. The hoof that misdirected her hit was a little shaky.

She yelled and lunged at him again. He ducked as she flew past him. Again, he rolled out of the way. One more time and he jumped above her as she flew past.

“I should’ve brought my red cape,” he said cheerily as he side stepped her next lunge, “at least you’d hit something then.”

A wave of weakness that’d been slowly building up overcame Applebloom. She stumbled like a drunken sailor barely stopping herself from falling. She stood on shaky legs trying to catch her breath. The unnamed donkey watched her cautiously. She breathed in as if she’d tested how long she could keep her breath underwater and over did it. She felt woozy like she was on capsizing boat. Salty sweat matted some of her mane and dripped down her face.

The disorienting feeling quickly reoriented itself, and her legs regained some strength. ‘What am Ah doin’?’ she thought. She looked down regretfully, which quickly turned to anger when she faced the donkey or more specifically her bow tie. She breathed in and relaxed. She opened her mouth to say something, only for it to hang open at the sight behind and above the donkey. Relief washed over her, like a ship sighting while stranded on an island.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A series of random faint crackles could be heard through the darkness. Pain could be felt on her side as she tried to move. It hurt. What happened she wondered trying to remember. The crackling sounded familiar to her, it reminded her of camping, “Fire!” she yelled in alarm opening her eyes and trying to get on her hooves only for the pain to go up a couple notches stopping her in her tracks.

A look around revealed her laying on her back halfway submerged in liquid metal and stone of some kind. A large gaping hole was immediately in front of her. It was as if somepony shot a giant death ray at the skyscraper she now occupied. It billowed black smoke from its sides and the parts near the top she could see looked as if it had dripped molten glass and metal down below. Behind her a wooden desk and an office wall were on fire, and the source of all the crackling. If she had to guess she’d say the liquid floor she rested on was responsible for the fire. Previous experience had allowed her to deduce that much.

Slowly she got up favoring her side that hurt with her opposite forehoof. She glanced down at the liquid metal and stone she now stood on and wondered why it was just like a cloud. On a whim, she removed her hoof from her side and dipped it into the floor and drew the metal to it. Liquid metal quickly amassed around her hoof and slowly started creeping up it. She felt like she was onto something, as it continued to creep up her leg. It captivated her for a moment, until her wits came back to her.

Scootaloo frowned, looked up, and brought her hoof back to her hurt side. It was bruised for sure. Testing her wings and legs she was glad to find moving them didn’t disturb her side too much. She took to air and headed towards the giant hole. She looked back and wondered if she should do something about the fire she unintentionally started. She watched as it started to spread to other office walls and desks. The last time she tried to stop a fire she only made it worse. Now that she thinks about it Twilight handled the fire like it was nothing. If her ability is going to cause fires like this then she should figure out how to put them out.

Before she could decide what to do an alarm went off, water sprayed down from the ceiling, almost outrightly killing the fire. That made her choice easy. She headed past the hole into the outside world. A street full of ponies and a line of trees were far below her, soo much so they didn’t even register to her.

She found the mare, Charity was her name if she recalled, who turned her into a meteor frantically mumbling to herself, “HEY!” she yelled getting Charities attention, “I don’t know what your problem is, but hitting ponies into buildings isn’t a good way to deal with them, even though I think I startled you while you zoned out. Zoning out on people is uncool!”

All the while Charity pointed to giant hole and then the filly who flew out of it in disbelief, “How are you still alive?”

Scootaloo rubbed her side, and something felt off about it. She thought about that. How was she alive? She looked at the destruction. That was something she wouldn’t expect anypony to live through, cept maybe Celestia and Luna. Thinking on it some more she realized Charity hit her very hard and that was after she tried to avoid it. If it wasn’t for the fact she was in the air she’d definitely have more than a bruised side. Heck, if it wasn’t for her new abilities the crash into the skyscraper would’ve been much less destructive, but it probably would’ve done her in though. “...I honestly don’t think I would be if it wasn’t for-” she trailed off as she noticed her hoof holding her bruised side was still covered in liquid metal, “huh… ummm.”

“Actually, you know what? I don’t care. LEAVE NOW!” Charity demanded. Her fur seemed a little less colorful and vibrant, not that it was too colorful and vibrant to begin with. Scootaloo was preoccupied contemplating what to do with the liquid metal encasing her hoof. “I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE!” Charity raged.

That snapped Scootaloo out of her thoughts. Charity charged at the filly forehooves ahead. Shocked Scootaloo extended her free hoof bringing forth a strong gust of wind that sent Charity tumbling back. Charity made a surprisingly good recovery, and charged again. The shock was gone but now she was beginning to feel annoyed. All she wanted to do was have a vacation with Rainbow Dash as a new family. One that had been going great, all things considered, up until this morning. She could only think of one reason why things went downhill, “Take off that wristband! It’s driving you and everypony else crazy!” She yelled with another flick of the wrist.

“How’d you do that!?” Charity demanded, after being sent tumbling back again.

“I’ll tell you if you take off that wristband!,” Scootaloo answered.

“AUGH! You insufferable blankflank!” She insulted before flying down towards the crowded street, “Princess Twilight!” She yelled, “Get up here and take care of this annoying pest!” She said gesturing to Scootaloo.

“How? You told me not to use my wings and magic.” Twilight yelled back.

“THEN USE YOUR WINGS AND MAGIC! JUST GET RID OF HER!” Charity roared.

Twilight rose from the crowd, scattered yet focused eyes trained on Scootaloo. She charged in much the same manner Charity did. Scootaloo flew to the side avoiding Twilight who decently reoriented herself, “Twilight what are you doing?” Scootaloo asked alarmed.

She didn’t answer but instead charged again. Scootaloo raised her hoof but stopped herself. She didn’t want to hurt Twilight. She boosted herself up barely avoiding the tackle. She looked down and Twilight disappeared with a lightshow. She heard a familiar sound behind herself. She quickly flew forward and turned around. Twilight’s horn glowed. A purple spell shot from it and Scootaloo flew upwards barely avoiding it.

She kept her eyes on the brainwashed Princess for whatever insane thing she’d do next. This was crazy. She needed help. She thought about what to do.

Twilight charged again, horn alight. She fired another spell that came much faster this time.

She dived down barely dodging the spell, glad she put some distance between themselves after the first spell. She had a goal to get to the only pony she could think of that could help. Her target was currently covering her eyes with both forelegs, “Sweetie!” she yelled as she got closer, “Sweetie!” she yelled again getting her friends attention. Bloodshot eyes met her, which was quickly overshadowed by unrestrained happiness.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie raspily yelled and jumped all to happily, her ears went down, “I-I th-thought y-you-”

“Listen!” she interrupted, “I need you to stop Twilight from frying me, or whatever she’s trying to do.”

Sweetie’s face scrunched up, before she wiped her eyes one more time, “W-why would Twilight do that?” Sweetie asked as Scootaloo looked elsewhere. Upon closer inspection of her living friend, who’s alive, she noticed a forehoof was held close to the opposite side of her body and she seemed to be cringing a little bit.

“Because she’s-” Scootaloo stopped as she flew out of the path of more balls of magic that flew down towards her. None of which landed near Sweetie, “-brainwashed.”

“Scootaloo wait-” Sweetie tried to request as Scootaloo flew away and Twilight took her place giving chase. She watched her friend continue her limited acrobatics. Scootaloo was clearly trying not to move her body too much. Soon enough Charity joined. That’s when Scootaloo started to struggle.

Charity tried to swoop in, but Scootaloo would blow her away with a flick of the wrist. Twilight kept firing spells. Some of were completely off target, which actually made it a little harder on Scootaloo. Charity charged from behind Twilight forcing Scootaloo evade, “A little help Sweetie!” She yelled.

Sweetie could really only think of one spell she could use to help her friend but it seemed risky to her. It was the most basic spell a unicorn uses. She learned how to do it mostly safely, but that didn’t change the fact she could make something disappear, or rather some pony, if she wasn’t careful. That terrified her. Lost in thought, her eyes trailed away from the game of cat and mouse, to the smoking building left by her friend.

Scootaloo dodged another charge from Charity. Several bolts of purple magic flew towards the filly barely missing or completely missing as she flew around. She blew Charity away again but didn’t notice Twilight coming from below after another teleport.

“SCOOTALOO!” Sweetie yelled. Without thought her horn lit up and encased Twilight in a dense light green aurora, stopping Twilight in her tracks.

“Thanks Sweetie!” Scootaloo thanked, “Just keep Twilight there while I deal with this crazy mare,” she finished flying towards said mare who looked at Twilight clearly agitated.

Sweetie relaxed for a second before she realized something. She freaked out, ‘oh my Celestia!’ she thought, ‘What if I make make Twilight disappear,’ she blinked, ‘okay, not helping. Calm down she’s still there,’ she breathed in and out, ‘Twilight taught me how to deal with something like this. All I have to do is stay calm, relax, close my eyes, and…’ she frowned at her itchy eyes.

Scootaloo addressed Charity ignoring the trapped princess behind herself, “take off that brace. It's driving you loco!”

“Princess get her now!” Charity demanded. Scootaloo just focused on the mare “Why aren't you do-” Charity complained stopping mid sentence when she got a good look at Twilight, “wha- who is holding you!? WHO CAN HOLD AN ALICORN WITH THEIR MAGIC? I’M SICK OF THESE GAMES!” She exclaimed furiously looking around. “YOU!” She yelled pointing a hoof down towards Sweetie whose horn was basically a large light green glowing beacon. “She grew those trees and vines didn’t she?” She asked Scootaloo, “why am I asking you? Of course she did, only a unicorn could pull off weird magic like that! Well, that’s the last time she’ll EVER get in my way!”

Charity chuckled creepily and gave Scootaloo the creepiest smile she ever saw, before she flew straight for Sweetie. Alarmed, Scootaloo went to intercept whatever the crazed mare had planned. Sweetie had her eyes closed and seemed not to be paying attention. Scootaloo picked up the speed as Charity drew closer. Charity stopped and faced Scootaloo just as they were about to collide. She punched Scootaloo in the stomach.

Charity yelped and brought a throbbing sore hoof infront of her face for inspection, as Scootaloo was sent tumbling upwards from the blow.

Scootaloo stopped her upward accent by spreading her wings and straightening herself, the bruise on her side hurt with that. She inquisitively glanced at her hoof still covered in liquid metal. She thought she saw it some of it solid and dented in, but pain made her quickly move it back to its place on her bruised side. She had more important things on her mind. Angrily she flew back down. That mare threatened her friend, and that was all the encouragement she needed to move. She flew slightly below the mare still distracted by her hoof and sent a powerful gust of wind upwards.

She cringed as Charity rapidly ascended into a skyscraper way down the road, almost as if she was a ball hit by a baseball bat. She stared at the scene open mouthed. She watched as Charity crashed into a window, shattering it. She didn’t mean to do that. Maybe it didn’t horrible mangle Charity. She hoped. “Sweetie! Are you okay?”

Sweetie’s magic was significantly less of a beacon but it was still obvious she was casting a spell. Eyes closed in concentration, it was hard to tell if she heard or not, “Yeah,” she answered raspily, “I-I just,” she hacked a little bit, “need to stay calm.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sweeties opened her eyes and after a little searching, found Scootaloo and nodded. “Well, I might have done something unforgivable… I need to see for sure, I’ll be back.” Slowly she flew towards the building. She had to know how bad it was. It was an accident she told herself.

Before she could get near it the mare flew out. Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief. The mare flew towards her, leaving a black and yellow contrial in her wake. She kept coming, gaining some more speed. Scootaloo prepared herself, as Charity suddenly stopped, “That hurt you blank flank!”

Scootaloo was a little freaked out at the black fire around her eyes and wings. She was also annoyed, “Good, maybe you should stop brainwashing ponies!”

Charity roared and charged. Scootaloo tried to fling her back as she’s done before with a gust of wind, though not into a building this time. Charity fought her way through strong gust of wind but not fast enough for Scootaloo to realize something was wrong. She barely got out of the way. “Ha!” Charity exclaimed in manner that any mad scientist would approve of, “couldn’t stop me that time! So much power, it feels so... invegerating!”

“You need to stop,” Scootaloo said wide eyed at the mare facing her. More black fire slowly enveloped the mare, “that’s dark magic! Nothing good comes from it.”

“YEAH!” Charity yelled in a way that confused Scootaloo. It didn’t sound like Charity agreed, “and what do you know about anything Blank Flank!” She clearly didn’t want that answered, “to you life is just all lollipops and rainbows isn’t it? Well, I’ll show you the real world! That ponies will ALWAYS abandon you for something better!” She smiled, “and right now. Nothing is better than me!” With that she flew towards the crowds, “Hey everypony! ”she yelled getting the crowds undivided attention, “There’s a filly over there,” she yelled pointing at said filly, “that hurt me and Princess Twilight, she also stopped all you from getting that other mare who hurt me. I think you all know what to do.”

The crowd roared an unholy mish of anger and threats. Scootaloo watched in shock at the sudden turn of events. That mare has completely lost her mind. She looked around at all the destruction and damage that’s already been caused. To her friend who was just standing there calmly, seemingly unaware of the mob now rushing towards her. What does she do?

She was sick of this. She just wanted a nice vacation. There was really only one thing she could think to do. Flying down she heavily landed a couple steps away from the closest approaching crowd member, punching a hole through the cement. A moment later a thick section of road between herself and Sweetie rose into the air until it was about equal in height with the trees behind her. The closest pony barely had time to react to the sudden cliff and slammed into on his side, as the rest of the crowd stopped and piled ontop of each other.

With that done, Scootaloo scowled at the mare looking at yet another one of her attempts to have brainwashed ponies do her dirty work being stopped. With a flap of her wings she shot towards the mare, and flared out her wings stopping herself instantly just below said mare, who was being encased by significantly more black magic. With both hooves she sent Charity straight up far far above the sky scrapers. With the next flap of her wings she followed, blowing any ponies near them away.

She might’ve put a little too much power in her own accent and over shot Charity pretty quickly. It turned out to be a happy accident as Charity reached where Scootaloo ended up stopping, “You’re wrong about ponies!” Scootaloo yelled, “NOW STOP RUINING MY FIRST FAMILY VACATION!” With that she spreaded both her wings fully and flaped them. Within that moment a powerful slipstream had been made starting from Scootaloo and extending somewhere in the heart of Equestria. Charity could not escape it let alone fight it as she quickly vanished from Scootaloos sight. She sighed in relief. It was finally over. Before looking down.

The Manehatten Incident part 2

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With a yawn Rainbow woke up. The sun beared down on her sleepy form. The slightest peek burned her eyes. She stretched like a cat while her pupils adjusted to the blinding light. She blinked trying to remember what was going on.

She stood on a cloud, not in her hotel room. It didn’t take a moment longer for everything to come back to her. The city wasn’t immediately in sight. Looking around she found it. “Oh,” she frowned as she realized Scootaloo and her friends probable had no clue where she was. With that thought she took off, bursting the cloud she’d been on.

Reaching the hotel she quickly flew in and up the stairs, the elevator would take too long. Quickly reaching her floor she streaked through the empty hallway to her room. It didn’t open, she forgot to grab her key. Knocking gave no answer so she flew to Applejack's room for much the same result. She sighed. Of course they wouldn’t be at the hotel, but that also meant she had no clue where they’d be right now. She left the hotel in a hurry.

Her next stop was the restaurant they ate at every morning. Not finding them there, she flew high into the sky intent on sweeping the streets for them. After a quick glance at the city buildings around her, she noticed billowing smoke not too far from her. Curious she made her way towards it while keeping an eye out for them.

It didn’t take long to make it. The building that was smoking looked like it had exploded on one side. Down below she spotted Twilight and Sweetie and a bunch of ponies arguing behind a large column of road that was between them and Sweetie. Twilight was clearly being held in place by the filly for some reason. She quickly spotted Applebloom on the opposite side of the trapped ponies. A row of trees that trapped them from Applebloom's side. She couldn’t find Scootaloo.

Twilight was closest so she flew to her, “Where’s Scootaloo?” Twilight seemed frozen in place and out of it. No answer.

So she moved to Sweetie, “Where’s Scootaloo?”

“Wha-huh?” Sweetie asked opening her eyes, “Rainbow? Where’ve you been?”

“...ee,” Rainbow cringed. How’s she supposed to explain that she felt like everypony was lying to her and even felt Scootaloo was out to betray her. It didn’t matter right now, “Well, do you know where she is? I can’t find her.”

Sweetie gasped, “Rainbow you have to help her! She’s fighting that mare!”

“What mare!?” Rainbow asked looking around.

“That mare brainwashed all those ponies and Twilight,” Sweetie continued pointing in the direction of the road wall. “An-and for a moment I thought she died.”

“WHAT!?” Rainbowed screeched grabbing the fillies shoulders, “what happened?” she asked shaking Sweetie.

“Sc-Scootaloo was hit into that building up there,” Sweetie said tilting her head towards the building that attracted Rainbow to this area in the first place, “and I-I…” She stopped as tears began falling.

“But she’s okay right?” Rainbow asked urgently shaking Sweetie more. Sweetie shrugged off Rainbows hooves and gave her a look that clearly says ‘I don’t know.’ Eyes dilated Rainbow shot to the sky to investigate the ruined building more thoroughly. A foreleg covered direct sunlight as she escalated towards the embattled skyscraper. It was empty. She flew above the buildings and looked everywhere.

Sharp eyes soon spotted something in the blue sky. A small orange dot. One she’d gotten familiar with spotting over the last week of flight training. She bolted towards the dot. She flew up and up and the dot quickly became more and more of a figure. Slowing down as she approached and got a good look at her sister.

She embraced her sister who latched on tightly. She kept her eyes wide open for anypony who may approach them, as they descended.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Applebloom gave a sigh of relief at the sight of Scootaloo. Alive and moving. That left her with the matter of her stolen bow tie. She had really wanted to hurt that old donkey, badly, moments ago. She’s glad that he avoided her attacks like Fluttershy does nightmare night. The image of Twilights oblitorated machine flashed through her head. Regardless, she still wanted her bow tie back.

Weakness nagged at her body and the heat of the sun didn’t make it any better. She wiped away some sweat and addressed the thief, “That’s my bow tie,” she said pointing to her bow tie trapped under the old donkeys tie dye T-shirt, “Give. It. Back.” The old donkey smiled in a playful manner that annoyed her to no end.

She wasn’t in the mood to deal with this. She felt weak and she was starting to get a headache. Those blasted trees were so stubborn about growing some extra limbs. Now she was acting like her sister, treating trees like ponies or pets. With that thought she no longer felt annoyed, just worn down.

She reached for the bow tie ignoring her aches and he backed away. She advanced as he kept backing away. She took a swipe for it every chance she got. This went on for what seemed like forever to her.

He just kept finding new ways to evade her. It remained trapped under his tie dye T-shirt, so close yet somehow constantly out of reach. Every once in awhile he’d strategically knock her down or redirect her hoof.

He wasn’t relenting to her continued child like attempts. She had hoped he’d give pity to her clearly pathetic attempts. She should’ve expected the opposite from somepony, or donkey in this case, who was brainwashed, or at least partially brainwashed.

She needed to do something else. She stopped and looked around. They ended up closer to the line of trees, now surrounded by vines, some of which were cut down by this donkey’s katana. The katana he thankfully no longer had. An idea sprang to life in her and although it sounded draining, she acted on it.

The master martial artist watched questioningly as she stopped the chase and stood in place. She brought up one forehoof then firmly back to the ground. His eyes wided a moment later before he made to jump to the side only a little to late as a vine quickly ensnared him, restraining him.

Applebloom shaked and she let out a weak breath before stumbling to the ground with a smirk. She felt worse than when she tried out for her marathon cutie mark after that stunt. She gritted her teeth, struggling to stand.

Without any style she took back her bow tie from the trapped donkey and put it back where it belonged.

Exhausted, she walked away from the donkey and flopped to the ground. She was still worried about her friends, but she was fighting to stay awake.

…

“Plebloom, hey are you okay?” she heard as she got nudged on the shoulder, "huh?" She groaned as her answer.

“Release me, so I can arrest her!”

“That’s not happening Twilight, Sweetie don’t let her go unless I say so.”

“Okay.”

“GRRRR RELEASE MEEE~!”

“Twilight please stop struggling! I-I don’t want to do anything accidently!”

*gasp* she felt a fore hoof lifted up and fur moved aside along with several other areas of her body soon after.

“What is it sis? ...Is that blood?" Rainbow asked alarmed.

“Oh thank Celestia,” Scootaloo whispered. “Maybe, she doesn't have any cuts. I think, she’s going to be okay. Applebloom if you can hear me, I’ll find your sister. You get some rest,” her friend said patting her on the shoulder. She mumbled an answer before sleep took over.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Life had taken another one-eighty for Dream Catcher. Once he made it to Manehatten he went to work looking for work. It became quite obvious to him that ponies did in fact find his new suit as great as he did. All he had to do was mention who made it once to realize he could use it to get a good job. Rarity was apparently some kind of important fashion show winner and set a new trend that thankfully didn’t last, from the pictures he saw. Either way, it opened the doors to many different job opportunities.

He aimed big and got shot down if only for lack of experience.

He settled for a desk job that was all about paperwork at a privately owned paperclip sales company, aptly named Paperclips.

He swiftly and unexpectedly got promoted to assistant manager. Now he made more bits than he knew what to do with. Well, besides pay the ridiculous price for a small apartment room in Manehatten.

At any rate, he and his boss, Mister Clips, got back to Manehattan from a paper factory near Trottingham today. They had an important meeting with the corporate CEO of said factory. If everything went right they’d gain a huge partnership and earn some shared sales.

He was given the responsibility of making it happen. He was more than a little overwhelmed and honestly didn’t feel up to the task. Luckily, he had help from several employees who were glad to fill in several gaps in his knowledge of his new job. He also had time to prepare. The visit to the paper factory allowed him to finalize his ideas and get his bosses approval.

Unable to find a taxi-cart, they trekked through the oddly empty Manehatten streets towards their meeting, “You got everything?” Clips asked.

“Ya, right here.” Dream answered moving the briefcase encased in his magic forward slightly, before moving it back to his side.

“Okay good, get ready because that’s the pony we need to impress.” Clips said pointing to a well dressed earth pony ahead of them looking around impatiently, before spotting them. “Mr. Sheets sorry if we kept you waiting we couldn’t find a taxi-cart.”

“Who’s that?” Sheets asked rather suddenly.

“Oh, my apologies. This is Dream Catcher he’s my new assistant manager.” Mister Clips answered.

“Hello Mr. Sheets,” Dream offered his hoof for a shake only for Sheets look at it oddly, almost as if he was frightened by it. So he lowered his foreleg.

“You know, I was very tempted to just stay home today, thieves have been out and about you know?” Mr. Sheets explained.

“Is that why the city feels empty?” Mr. Clips asked.

“Lets go,” Mr. Sheets said ignoring his question, walking away rather swiftly. They quickly caught up to him but he managed to keep his distance. He was strangely insistent on keeping his distance so they made sure to respect that. This was too important a meeting to screw up. “So you visited our factory near Trottingham?”

“Yes, and I must say I was very impressed with the setup you have there, It sure was something. My own factory is different, so seeing another one was quite the experience.” Mr. Clips answered.

“I see,” Mr. Sheets answered as they continued their walk down the oddly empty streets. “Alright, we’re almost there. You know, I was only expecting you and Evasion your former assistant manager. What happened?” he asked in a rather forward almost hostile manner.

“Well, lets just say he was a bad egg, and leave it at that.” Mr. Clips answered.

“Really? I was under the impression that he’s been working for you for years. You had nothing but good things to say about him.” Mr. Sheets replied, “So, if you want this partnership to continue any further, then how about you retry that answer.”

“What? But both companies only stand to gain from this partnership! Why-” Dream protested, only to be cut off by his boss holding up his hoof.

“If you really must know,” Mr. Clips began, “Dream Catcher here found proof that leech had been siphoning money from my company for years.” Mr. Clips answered.

Mr. Sheets looked at Dream Catcher like he was about to bit off his head or something, “and how long has Dream Catcher been working for you?”

“About two to three weeks.” Mr. Clips answered.

Mr. Sheets eyes boggled then targeted Dream, as if he was a cheesy martial artist actor about take on an opponent, “and how do you know he didn’t frame Mr. Evasion?”

“WHAT?,” Mr. Clips yelled in shock of the outrageous suggestion, “if you really must know then it’s simply because that stallion kept all his deceiving papers at work in his personal safe, while he hid the real papers. Dream catcher here got done with the workload handed to him far sooner than the leech could’ve anticipated. So when he went to turn it in he saw the real numbers from the monthly sales on the desk. When next he saw that same months numbers he noticed they were off by a couple thousand bits. And then-”

“Okay, okay I get the picture,” Mr. Sheets exclaimed, “You trust he didn’t frame him because he’d have to know the safe’s combination and years of faked monthly reports, but then why did you make him the new assistant manager? Surely there’s other ponies who’ve worked for you that were far more deserving than this upstart.” He sounded upset.

“Are you calling into question my judgement!?” Mr. Clips yelled clearly offended.

“What if I am?” Mr. Sheets agued, “You clearly trusted somepony who stole from you for years! That doesn’t seem like sound judgement to me! Maybe a partnership isn’t the best idea with your company.”

“Now who’s the one lacking sound judgement? Both companies can only profit from this partnership. Don’t act like it’s not true.” Mr. Clips argued back.

“Fine. That’s true,” Mr. Sheets conceded, “but do you know anything about him?” he said pointing at Dream Catcher in a hostile manner. “Have you checked his history for any clashes against the law?”

“I uh, Evasion said he-” Mr. Clips began.

“So you’re going to believe the pony who STOLE from you to be a good source on that ponies background?” Mr. Sheets argued.

“I’m right here, you could just ask me!” Dream Catcher tried to intervene, but they just ignored him. He sighed, as they walked.

“Why’s it matter to you anyways?” Mr. Clips countered. “It’s not like he works for your corporation, but if it’ll get you to back off so we can get to business I’ll look into- ooof,” something colliding with him.

“Owww,” said a small raspy voice complained as he got up from the sudden impact to his side.

“Oh my, are you okay little filly?” he asked as he held out a hoof to the orange pegasus filly. The filly took his offered hoof and got up.

Dream recognized her from somewhere. She really looked like one of the fillies who destroyed his food cart back in Ponyville. No way it was her though. She was in Ponyville. “I’m okay, sorry,” the filly said. She looked at all of them embarrassed then noticed him and smiled, “Oh hey, I know you!” She said excitedly pointing at Dream, his jaw dropping slightly.

“You know him?” Mr. clips asked moving his head in Dreams direction.

“Yeah, that’s Dream Catcher. Me and my friends got covered in his white stuff! It tasted so good to, have you tried it?” She exclaimed all to happily, much to the confused looks of the business ponies.

“Uhhh,” Dream said in utter disbelief. That was one of the same fillies who wrecked his food cart along with his dreams of traveling across Equestria selling cinnamon rolls dipped in a large vat of icing.

“Anyways, we’re sorry if you felt chased out of town after what happened. We didn’t mean it. I- actually, I got to go, sorry again!” She yelled as she quickly ran away from them.

“Alright! I’ve heard more than I’ve ever wanted to. Mr. Clips I think you know what must be done.” Mr. Sheets exclaimed challenging Mr. Clips in a face off.

Mr. Clips stared briefly before relenting. He gave a sigh of defeat before his expression hardened.“Dream, give me the suitcase,” he commanded. The suitcase levitated to his outstretched forehoof. “I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with that filly, but after what my future business partner and I just witnessed, I can’t take any risk on my good name. You’re fired.”

Dream’s jaw dropped in shock. “Bu-wh huh? But why?” It made no sense.

“I’d rather not say. You were there, figure it out. Good bye,” Mr. Clips said before walking off with Mr. Sheets following. They walked to the building they’d been walking to and entered.

Dream watched, trying to figure out what went wrong. Was his boss mad that some filly he supposedly knew knocked him to the ground? That couldn’t be it Mr. Clips wouldn’t fire somepony for something that frivolous.

Then he thought about Mr. Sheets and his suggestion that he framed is brief manager Evasion. He dismissed that thought as Mr. Clips did defend him.

The conversation they were having just before the filly head-butted in came to mind. Mr. Sheets was asking about a background check. Like a light bulb, something the filly said suddenly made sense within the context of a background check. She suggested that he might’ve been ‘chased out of town,’ and if he was chased out of a town for any reason it couldn’t be a good one. One of his eyes twitched, before he slouched down defeated.

This is...

by WatchMeShadow

Just the Beginning part 1

Just the Beginning part 2

Just the Beginning part 3

Just a Conversation (Optional?)

A Training Montage part 1

A Training Montage part 2

Manehattan

The Manehattan Branch

A Simple Shopping Trip (Optional?)

A Slice of...

The Calm

When Things Get Interesting

The Manehatten Incident part 1

The Manehatten Incident part 2

Not a Happy Day