> Flesh and Blood
>  by PajamaHam
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Just Beneath the Skin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia's shining sun bathed Equestria in its glorious light. The birds chirped their magical melody as the warm summer breeze washed over the citizens of Ponyville. The ponies in the market went about buying and trading for things ranging from fresh produce to beautiful jewelry. Other ponies played and had picnics in the rolling hills just outside of town. It seemed like an average summer day for everypony. All except for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. For them, no two days were the same, there was no average day. Every day was different and filled with new adventures in their quests to find their special talents and gain their Cutie Marks! This led the trio to their next adventure, at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Applebloom carefully looked over a piece of paper covered in writing and other scribbles. The red-maned earth pony looked up from the parchment and turned to her pegasus friend, Scootaloo.

"Ya sure this'll work?" asked Applebloom.

Scootaloo looked up from the book she was scanning over. "Of course, it says right here all we've gotta do is get the orthrus to argue with itself. While he's occupied we can throw the net over him. It's fool proof!" She said proudly, grinning ear to ear.

"But... what if both heads turn out to agree with each other on everything you've listed?" asked Sweetie Belle with a very worried look on her face.

Scootaloo turned to the pessimistic unicorn as she spoke, "Oh come on. There's gotta be something they'll disagree on! And if not... we'll improvise," she explained in an attempt to reassure her friend.

"You sure?" asked a not yet satisfied Sweetie Belle.

"Positive!"

Sweetie Belle continued to look at the orange-feathered filly skeptically. Then, smiled softly as she said, "Ok Scoots, I trust your judgment."

Scootaloo smiled back and turned her attention back to Applebloom who was carefully putting their battle plan back into her saddlebags. Applebloom turned to Scootaloo smiling. "Ah trust ya too, Scootaloo," she spoke happily.

Scootaloo returned the gesture before dramatically marching towards the edge of the vast forest, then, spun around, "Alright then!" Scootaloo said loudly with a look of determination on her face. "Are you fillies ready?!" She asked in a serious manner.

Applebloom's face mirrored Scootaloo's, "Ah'm ready!" she declared, dropping low, preparing herself to sprint off into the unknown.

"Me too!" Sweetie Belle announced as she looked over at Applebloom and awkwardly mimicked her stance and facial expression.

The three exchanged glances one last time before turning to their heads back to the woodland. Taking in deep breaths, they simultaneously shouted "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MONSTER HUNTERS!!!" at the top of their lungs while charging into the Everfree Forest. The three fillies blindly ran through leaves, vines, various plants, and anything else in their way. Birds and other animals fled in all directions to avoid the intruders, stirring up quite the commotion.

Light from the midday sun shone through the tree canopy of the forest. It beamed harmonistically off of the water droplets that still lingered from yesterday's storm, illuminating the forest just enough to reveal the array of colorful plants that rested within the backwoods. The whole moment made the normally dark and scary forest look quite tranquil, aside from the disturbance the three little fillies had brought upon the timberland.

After a few minutes of exploring, Scootaloo called out to her friends, "Either of you find anything yet?!" she shouted.

"Nope!" replied Applebloom.

"I still don't see it yet, sorry," dismally responded Sweetie Belle.  

The Cutie Mark Crusaders stopped at a clearing in the trees to catch their breath and get a look at their surroundings, no orthrus to be found. The forest was still filled with the sounds of animals panicking from the recent invasion of their homes. But what really stood out was the distinct noise of a chicken clucking, it seemed out of place. Sure enough, a chicken popped out from behind the bushes running around and fluttering its wings. It stopped for a moment and stared at the Crusaders in confusion, the girls stared back, just as perplexed. As they looked over the fowl, they spotted a collar around the chicken's neck. Letters in the collar read 'Elizabeak', followed by an address. It was one of Fluttershy's chickens! The girls silently exchanged glances before their eyes fell back on the feathered creature again. The ponies then huddled together to discuss what to do.

"What do y'all think girls?" whispered Applebloom, "Should we get this chicken back ta Fluttershy's first?"

"Um..." thought Scootaloo, "W-What do you think Sweetie Belle?" she quickly uttered, putting the spotlight on the unicorn filly.

Sweetie Belle silently tapped her chin. Then, she looked up as she declared "The orthrus can wait, let's get the chicken back to Fluttershy first." The other two looked a little disinterested. "Maybe we can try and get 'Chicken Catching Cutie Marks' again," she coaxed, catching their attention. "I mean, we have the chicken right here! But we still haven't found an orthrus." Scootaloo and Applebloom nodded their heads in agreement. "Ok, here's the plan; Scootaloo, you distract the chicken by making chicken sounds or something," Sweetie Belle began, "Applebloom and I will-"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Why me?!" interrupted a rather peeved Scootaloo.

"Cuz' yer best at it, bein' related an' all," cracked Applebloom with a smirk.

Scootaloo responded with a menacing look "You just won't ever let me live that down, will you?" she hissed. 

"Nope," Applebloom giggled.

"Ok, you know what?" Sweetie Belle sighed, "New plan! How about we ALL surround the chicken and ALL make chicken noises, maybe it'll throw her off, confuse her a little," she suggested with silly hoof motions. "Then when we're close enough we can grab her," she concluded.

"Sounds good," Applebloom concurred while Scootaloo silently nodded her head in agreement, still sore with Applebloom about the chicken remark.

The group dispersed and slowly surrounded Elizabeak. Once they were all in position, they each began calling out to the chicken, imitating clucks as they advanced towards it.

"Here chick chick chick chicken!"

"bwak bwak bwak!"

Elizabeak was on edge, frantically turning to each Crusader, frightened by the whole situation.

"Almost..." Scootaloo began to annunciate as she closed in.

"…GOTCHA!" The three shouted as they lunged at Elizabeak all at once. The chicken jumped up just in time for the Crusaders to crash into each other. In a panic, it darted back into the bushes as the girls recovered from their collision.

"She's gettin' away!" shouted the distraught Applebloom.

"Really?" Scootaloo asked in an extremely sarcastic manner.

Applebloom gave the winged filly an annoyed look, "Just move yer flank!" she hollered.

The fillies gave chase! They charged through the thick foliage of the now much denser forest, tripping over and bumping into nearly every branch, vine, hole, and root, while the fleeing feathered fowl easily ducked under and hopped over each obstacle. The distance between the girls and Elizabeak grew immensely every second! The chicken eventually leaped through another wall of leaves and out of sight. Finally, the girls reached the hedge in question, but stopped dead in their tracks from the thunder of a blood curling roar and the squawk of chicken being silenced. The sound emitted from just the other side of the bush, and continued to echo for a few seconds. The forest was dead silent now, not even a single bird chirped. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, pale as ghosts, stared into the leaves as if they were in a trance. Then, the sound of a very, very hungry animal gorging promptly filled the air.

Hundreds of thoughts filled the Cutie Mark Crusaders' minds as they stood silently before the hedge. What could have made such a horrible sound? Could it be an orthrus? Was there any chance that Elizabeak was okay? The curiosity proved too much for the girls to handle, Scootaloo gulped hard as she cautiously made her way to the shrubbery, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle followed closely behind. With a shaky hoof, Scootaloo slowly parted some of the leaves away to peer through the hedge at the scene beyond it; the other two did the same. What they saw froze them all in fear. There, the pale yellow back of a large beast could be seen as it sat, hunched over, eating what was left of Elizabeak. Its large, dragon like wings shrouded the front of it, using them as a shield while a scorpion tail was at the ready to protect the savages' food from any other animal that may want it. There was no mistaking it, the large monstrosity was a manticore, a fully grown one at that. The grass around the behemoth was splattered with crimson and littered with feathers and entrail chunks, soon to be eaten as well. The gore around this feasting was sickening enough, the sound of the beast devouring the chicken just made it worse. 

The three horrified fillies stood peering through the hedge wide eyed in absolute silence. All of this was way too much for the young unicorn to handle. With Sweetie Belle's posh and easygoing lifestyle, and her limited access to media, made this unbearable. The most violence she would ever see was when she was Crusading with her friends, and even then they only received a few cuts or bruises. The gruesome scene before her began to sink in as she became light headed and her stomach began to ache. She started to shake uncontrollably as she breathed heavily, causing her heart rate increase.

Scootaloo slowly turned towards the straining filly, "Are you okay, Sweetie Belle?" she carefully whispered. Applebloom took her eyes off of the manticore and glanced at Sweetie Belle to see what all the commotion was about.

Sweetie Belle's face was contorted in anxiety while her ears dropped down to the sides of her head as she began to sweat. "I-I-" She choked out as her mouth began to fill with saliva. Sweetie Belle's eyes shot open, "Oh no," she squeaked in dismay. The frantic unicorn quickly spun around and spotted a nearby shrub. She clamped her mouth shut as she swiftly galloped over to it. Scootaloo and Applebloom covered their mouths to contain their gasps. Sweetie Belle leaned into the plant and loudly expelled the contents of her stomach into it. She did her best to try to quiet her gagging and coughing, but it was no use. With their hooves still on their mouths, the other two fillies stared in shock at their queasy friend. After a few seconds that seemed too long, Sweetie's vomiting ceased and she stumbled back to the ground with a groan of anguish.

The Everfree Foreset was silent again, not even the manticore made a noise. Realizing this, Applebloom quickly turned back towards the hedge. She slowly parted away some leaves and peered through again just to find a pair of eyes, hungry and filled with bloodlust, staring back. Applebloom jolted back with a yelp. Scootaloo whirled around and looked at the red-maned earth pony in confusion, which soon turned to panic when she saw the fear on Applebloom's face.

"Get away from there Scootaloo!" Applebloom screamed as she pointed at the hedge.

Scootaloo twisted around just in time to see a gargantuan, blood soaked claw rushing out from the leaves towards her. With a gasp and a leap Scootaloo took to the air, dodging the claw by an inch. The razor sharp nails impaled themselves into the ground right where the orange-pegasus had just been standing, trees shaking from the impact. Scootaloo's tiny wings were only able to keep her airborne for a few seconds as she almost immediately dropped to the ground. She quickly made her way to Applebloom, never taking her eyes off the claw. With shaky legs, Sweetie Belle started to stand up slowly, finally beginning to catch her breath. 

The manticore's face began to emerge from the bushes, snarling and growling viciously. Its teeth were stained a pale pink and the fur around its muzzle and chin was matted down with blood. Its face also carried many scars, from past clashes no doubt. The rest of its body shortly appeared from the leaves, telling a much similar story. The manticore's wings were pressed against its body while its scorpion tail swayed back and forth. Its red eyes slowly skimmed over each Crusader; there was no way the manticore was planning to pass up an opportunity for a meal like this.

The manticore was now between the ponies, Scootaloo and Applebloom on one side and Sweetie Belle alone on the other. The brute menacingly rotated around to face Sweetie Belle, singling her out as the weakest part of the group. The unicorn filly could only stare in despair as the creature's eyes focused on her. Seeing this, Applebloom frantically looked around her surroundings and spotted some decent sized stones scattered about the turf. The manticore let out a wicked roar as it prepared to charge at the paralyzed Sweetie Belle. Applebloom scrambled and snatched one of the rocks and with all her might hurled it at the unsuspecting manticore. The projectile, moving at a speed that would make the School's Softball Team's pitcher jealous, nailed the beast square in its right eye. The manticore howled in pain as it faltered away from the attacker. In the moment of confusion, Applebloom kicked off her saddle bags and unbuttoned one of the pouches. She pulled out the net she was carrying and threw it over the monster, draping it in the material.

"RUN!" Applebloom hollered as she and the other two ponies darted back into the trees.

The manticore shook itself from the strike and caught a glimpse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders racing back into the timber. The frustrated monstrosity let out a roar in rage as it sliced the net to shreds, then, took off after the fleeing fillies. The girls had no idea where they were going, but they didn't care, the further away from the carnivorous chimera the better. The Everfree Forest was now much sparser, light shining through the leaves overhead again. 

Sweetie Belle, running at the back of the pack, looked over her shoulder to check on their pursuer, it was nowhere to be seen. With a small sigh of relief, she turned back to her friends and continued running through the forest. Applebloom, leading the fillies, gawked at a break in the trees, an almost blinding glow beaming through it.

"Hey! Ah see an' openin'!" she announced as she sped towards the phosphorescent space, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle not far behind.

The young equines ran into the breach and were temporarily blinded by the full exposure to the midday sun. They sightlessly ran, hoping to soon see the sight of Ponyville in the distance. They couldn't wait to get home and tell of their exploits in the forest today. But all these thoughts suddenly came to an end as the Crusaders collided into a large, obscure object. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle staggered back after their bump with the unyielding mass while their vision began to return. Before the dazed ponies was a marble cliff side of one of the many mountains in the Everfree Forest. 

"What the hay?" spoke the perplexed Applebloom.

Silence fell upon the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they all studied the large ridge. Realizing how awfully quiet it now was, Sweetie Belle hastily spun around to check on their atrocious pursuer. The unicorn filly gazed into the dark timber for a few seconds; nothing could be seen or heard. "I don't see…" she paused, catching her breath, "I don't see him anymore."

A wave of relief washed over the fillies at those words, but their troubles weren't over yet. "How did we get all the way out here?" asked the dumbfounded Scootaloo, turning to Sweetie Belle.

"Don't look at me, I was following you," stated Sweetie Belle.

"W-well I was following Applebloom," declared Scootaloo.

"Are ya sayin' this is all mah fault?" said the annoyed Applebloom.

"N-no...!" stammered Scootaloo

"Then what are ya sayin'?"

"What I'm saying is... you know what, yes! Yes that is what I'm saying!"

"An' why's that?" 

"Well, if you knew where you were going and didn't run off like that, we wouldn't be completely lost!"

"Well excuse me for saving yer feathered flank from that manticore!"

"We wouldn't even need to have worried about the manticore if you hadn't taken your eyes off of him!"

"Ah don't think a two ton monster would be intimidated by a filly lookin' at em' through some bushes."

"That's not what I meant! You could have let us know when he started to move or something."

"Sorry, didn't know it was mah job!" 

"I never said it was!"

"Ya sure act like ya did."

"It's common sense."

"No it aint. Common sense is not tryin' ta get everypony killed!"

"Well it was stupid! I guess this is what I need to learn to expect from a hillbilly farm girl."

"Are ya suggestin' that Ah'm dumb?"

"Maybe if you learned to speak properly, then it wouldn't be so obvious!"

"We're in the same class ya moron, an' the only thin' stupid here is yer idea to catch an orthrus! That's what got us here in the first place! Who in the hay has ever even spotted an orthrus out here?"

"Well, if that's true, then that makes you stupid for thinking it would work!"

"Ah did it so ya wouldn't get yer little feelins' hurt!"

"Stop talking to me like I'm a baby! You're not that much older than me!"

"You're right. If you were a baby, ya wouldn't whine as much and probably could have flown us out of here by now."

Scootaloo furrowed her brow in enmity as she glared at the smirking Applebloom. "Take it back," she demanded.

"No!" Appleblom responded, puffing out her chest and standing tall.

"I said take it BACK!!" Scootaloo screamed, pouncing Applebloom.

"Girls!" Sweetie Belle broken heartedly shouted. "This never solved anything before, and it won't solve anything now. We need to work together if we want to get out of here," she elucidated, but to no avail. Her words fell on deaf ears. Becoming aware that they weren't listening, her heart began to sink, "Girls, this is just going to make everything worse, like it always does." Applebloom and Scootaloo continued to ignore her, "Please, stop fighting..." the saddened unicorn filly whimpered, moisture starting to form in her eyes "...please."

The fighting fillies flailed their hooves at one another as they struggled to gain control of the tussle, letting out screams of fury with every strike. Scootaloo used her upper body strength to overpower Applebloom, knocking her onto her back and pinning her forearms.

"Take it back right now!" Scootaloo screeched, getting in the red-maned filly's face.

"No!" Applebloom barked as she got a clear shot at Scootaloo's abdomen with her powerful back legs. Scootaloo, winded, propelled a few feet into the air from the sudden strike. The orange-pegasus hit the ground hard with a thud, kicking up some dirt. Sweetie Belle could only watch helplessly as her two best friends battered each other left and right.

Applebloom, back on her hooves, charged at the paralyzed pony. Scootaloo stayed put, secretively regaining her breath and planning her attack as she observed Applebloom out of the corner of her eye. The unwary farm girl approached with a cocksure smirk on her face, Scootaloo saw her chance. The feathered pony sprung up, startling the pink-bowed pony, as she delivered a powerful right hook to the unsuspecting pony's left eye. Applebloom's world spun as she wobbled back, nearly collapsing. Scootaloo began to advance towards the dazed pony to follow up her attack but was blindsided by an abrupt force.

Scootaloo, once again, came crashing down into the dirt. The flustered feathered filly looked up to see what could have knocked her over. Sweetie Belle stood over the winged pony, tears in her eyes, staring down with a look of anger and sorrow. Applebloom shook herself back to normal; the first thing she noticed was the down Scootaloo, charging right at her, not even noticing the whole situation. Sweetie Belle quickly jumped in the way and stopped the irate farm pony, shoving her away. Sweetie Belle now stood between Scootaloo and Applebloom. 

"What is wrong with you two?!" the frustrated unicorn filly yelled, looking between Scootaloo and Applebloom. "At what point did you think that fighting would get us out of here?! What? Did you think it would summon some sort of magical sprite to magically fly us out of here?!" Sweetie Belle raved; the other two fillies hung their heads low.

Scootaloo continued looking at the ground as she spoke, "I'm sorry Sweetie Belle. I didn't think-"

"Darn right you didn't think!" Sweetie Belle interrupted, silence fell upon the trio yet again. Sweetie Belle looked over the faces of her friends as she made up her mind. "I'm done with this, I'm going home," she uttered, purposely knocking against Scootaloo's shoulder with her own as she passed by. Scootaloo stared at the dirt below her, aghast at this new side of Sweetie Belle.

Applebloom looked up to see Sweetie Belle aimlessly walk back towards the forest. "Sweetie Belle, what do ya think yer doin'? Ya don't know the way out!" Applebloom called out.

Sweetie Belle swung around to face the puzzled Applebloom. "Well it's a lot better than staying here and pointlessly beating each other to a pulp," the spiritless unicorn retorted.

Applebloom sighed, "Look, Sweetie Belle, Ah'm sorry..." she paused, glancing towards Scootaloo, "we're sorry. Ah know we can get on each other's nerves a ton, an' Ah know how upset ya get when ya see us do this..." she apologized.

"Yeah, it'll never happen again," piped up Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle lowered her head, her facial features casted in shadows. "Eight..." she muttered.

"Wha-huh?" Scootaloo muddled with a quizzical look on her face.

"What do ya mean by 'eight'? " Applebloom asked, baffled.

"Eight times!" Sweetie Belle snapped, looking up with fire in her eyes. "You've given your 'I'm sorry' speeches 8 times already! All of them were lies!" she screamed, angrily slamming her hooves into the ground.

Applebloom and Scootaloo gawked at the fuming Sweetie Belle, mouths agape. The silence continued, Sweetie Belle's eyes bore into Applebloom and Scootaloo, almost as if she was expecting them to say something. Scootaloo took it as just that as she began, "Sweetie, we-"  

"You've lied to Applejack!" Sweetie Belle interrupted, "You've lied to Rarity! You've lied to Big Mac! You've lied to Miss Cheerilee! You've lied to Rainbow…! You've lied to yourselves… and you've lied to me…" she said irefully, speaking between small sobs. Applebloom and Scootaloo gawked at Sweetie Belle as it all began to sink in, tears beginning to form in their eyes as well. For the first time, they truly understood what their actions were doing to each other and the ponies around them. Their once playful habits had escalated into the very thing tearing their friendships apart by the seams.

Applebloom, with a mournful look, adjusted herself so she was facing towards Scootaloo. Scootaloo turned her head towards Applebloom, and did the same. With lament in their eyes, they slowly walked closer to each other, stopping a foot apart. Their faces both displayed the same message, but Applebloom felt it needed to be said.

"What have we been doin'?" Applebloom began, "We're best friends… an' we're treatin' each other like enemies. It doesn't matter how or why the fights began, it was stupid for us ta be even arguin' like we did. Ah said some really stupid things, an' Ah regret it all. Ah wish Ah could take it all back! But, Ah know I can't. So, Ah am just gonna say it plain an' simple." she sighed. "Scootaloo," Applebloom started, looking into the filly's violet eyes, "Ah'm sor-" but was unable to finish as Scootaloo lunged at her, wrapping her hooves around her. 

"I'm sorry too!" Scootaloo sniveled, trying her best not to cry, "For everything! All the names I've called you! All the times I've hurt you! Everything…!"

Applebloom stood shocked for a moment as she processed what was happening. Smiling, she placed her hooves on Scootaloo's back and tightly returned the hug. All of the pent-up anger and spite seemed to melt away at that moment. It was almost as if balance was finally restored and the fillies could now see the world clearly again. Sweetie Belle, smiling, wiped the tears away from her face as she saw her friends finally bury the hatchet. As they hugged it out, Sweetie Belle began to spot some shadows crawling over the landscape as a drop of liquid landed on her head. She looked up to the sky to notice some rain clouds rolling in from the east, more than likely due to Fillydelphia's lazy weather team not taking care of all of their clouds. Sweetie Belle shook her head at that thought before looking back at Applebloom and Scootaloo. She couldn't help but think about the incoming precipitation and remember how much fun they all had the last time there had been a storm. Her older sister, Rarity, had let them stay the night at her home and shop, Carousel Boutique. They all had such a great time staying up late, telling stories, playing games, all the while sipping hot cocoa. It sounded like the perfect way to end this insane day.

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to call out to her friends, but the liquid that landed on her head had worked its way to her muzzle and landed on her tongue, it was revolting. She immediately started to spit out the nasty fluid to try and get the taste off of her tongue. She brought her left hoof to where she could still feel the trail on her face and wiped it off. Upon inspecting her hoof, she gasped, the liquid was a crimson red.  Applebloom pulled out of the hug to see why Sweetie Belle was making such a fracas, her eyes widened as she froze when she looked at Sweetie Belle, jaw dropped in fear. Scootaloo opened her eyes as she realized Applebloom wasn't hugging back anymore. Looking at the pink-bowed earth pony, she followed the filly's eyes that eventually led to Sweetie Belle. Instantly, Scootaloo's facial features matched Applebloom's, quaking in horror.

Sweetie Belle, eyes full of worry, looked away from her hoof as she saw the looks of alarm on her friend's faces. At first she thought they were looking at her, but they were in fact looking a foot above her. Sweetie Belle, terrified, slowly started to move her hooves one-by-one to turn herself around. Her heart raced as she came face to face to a pale yellow, scarred body, accompanied by two massive front legs. Her eyes followed up the body to its blood red mane, and finally to its hideous, blood soaked, fanged, bleeding face. The manticore had found them again! The beast loomed over the frightened unicorn, snarling and gnashing its teeth. Some drool began to leak out of the manticore's mouth, landing between Sweetie Belle's eyes, it too was crimson red. The paralyzed filly looked up at the fiend, eyes wide, and trembled. The monster stared back at her, its left eye never broke away from the pony, while the right was too swelled and bloody to make out. The manticore's mangled face pierced Sweetie Belle's soul, so much that she didn't even see the brute begin to raise its right paw and twist its body along with it. However, Applebloom and Scootaloo did. They frantically started to run and call out to the stunned unicorn in an attempt to save her.

"Sweetie Belle move!"

"Get out of there!"

"On your left!"

"Look out!" 

"Get away!"

Their alerts scrambled together and became unintelligible, but still hit Sweetie Belle like a ton of bricks, snapping her back to reality. It almost seemed like time slowed down as she turned her head to her left, spotting the razor sharp claws heading right towards her. Sweetie Belle leaped back away from the manticore, turning her body to the right to try to eliminate any injury. But it was no use; the doomed filly was just in the monstrosity's reach. Its lower nails dug deep into Sweetie Belle's barrel and shredded up to her shoulder, while its top nails jabbed and tore right into the side of her face. The manticore continued its swing, its lower nails hooking into Sweetie's humerus and effortlessly dragging her into the air. The fiend's swing began to end as the mutilated pony was launched off of the creature's claws at a blinding speed. She flew straight through one of the larger trees in the area, reducing nearly its entire middle to splinters.

"SWEETIE BELLE!!!" Applebloom and Scootaloo bellowed as Sweetie Belle's mauled body viciously fell through the trees and came smashing back down to the ground, motionless. The manticore stopped its momentum and regained its foundation. It almost appeared to be standing proudly as it looked upon its handiwork, snorting in satisfaction. The horrified fillies stared in shock and terror at the wreckage, tears streaming out of their eyes. It happened so fast, Sweetie Belle wasn't even able to scream. Applebloom grit her teeth, glaring at the haughty, bloodthirsty behemoth. Her whole body shook in rage and woe as memories of the unicorn filly flashed before her eyes. The agitated pony squinted her eyes tightly shut when she thought about Sweetie Belle's future; how she would never be able to earn her cutie mark and follow whatever dreams she desired. The reason why they set hoof into the grim forest is the reason why she lay, butchered, on the cold, unforgiving ground. 

Applebloom, seeking vengeance for her fallen friend, charged at the unaware manticore with reckless abandon.  Abruptly, the enraged filly was forcibly brought to a halt by something with a grip on her red tail… somepony, rather. Swinging her head around, Applebloom discovered that Scootaloo had her tail clenched in her teeth. The pink-bowed pony settled down as she stood, meeting the concerned, sobbing pegasus eye to eye. Scootaloo spat out Applebloom's tail, her face unreadable. Scootaloo simply shook her head, tears rushing down her cheeks. 

"I don't want you to die too…" Scootaloo whimpered, her voice not even a whisper. She shook as she tried to keep her sorrow quiet, but just the thought of Sweetie Belle's smiling face struck her hard in the heart.

Applebloom quickly grabbed the feathered filly and pulled her into a warm embrace to try and calm her down, and maybe herself, too. The grieving earth pony tried to clear her thoughts of anything relating to Sweetie Belle long enough so she could find an escape route. She shot glances around the area; there were walls of marble to her left, right, and rear, far too steep to climb. The only other place to go was straight ahead, back into the dark forest, but the massive manticore stood in front of the only clearing. Applebloom's face went grim at the realization, there was no way out. Scootaloo wouldn't be able to fly them out of there, she can barely carry herself. Applebloom looked above the trees and prayed to Celestia that a pegasus would soar over the horizon of leaves and rescue them, but only if she was that lucky. Their fate was sealed, they were trapped. The red-maned filly slowly brought her attention back to Scootaloo, who was still leaning over the earth pony's shoulder, sobbing. Feeling all hope leaving her body, Applebloom buried her face in the orange-pegasus' purple mane and wept quietly. 

The storm clouds shrouded the light of day and darkened the land of Equestria. Lightning lit the sky over the Everfree Forest while thunder shook the world beneath it, startling the remaining Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applebloom and Scootaloo jumped out of each other's hold and looked to the sky; they had never even noticed the storm clouds approaching. Suddenly, the sound of movement hit the girls' ears. They followed the sound with their eyes and met with the manticore's, it was staring right at them. The terrified fillies rushed backwards until their backs were pressed up against the marble cliff side. The beast began to slowly and menacingly advance towards them. There was nothing they could do to escape this nightmare, all they could do was watch the savage winged animal slowly approach them and wait for their brutal demise.

"HELP!!!" Scootaloo screamed as loud as she could through the thunder and lightning, causing Applebloom to jump. The frantic feathered pony looked at Applebloom with pleading eyes. The bowed pony got the message as she too began to yell out into the darkened skies.

"HEELLP!!"

"Somepony?! Anypony?!"

"HELP US!!!"

If the manticore had vocal cords, it would be laughing at their feeble attempts to call for a rescue. Thunder and lightning disrupted reality more and more often as the pony-eater closed in, almost acting like a timer till their lives come to an end. Applebloom and Scootaloo wrapped their hooves around each other and held tightly, squinting their eyes shut while they waited for their impending doom. A bolt of lightning struck near Sweetie Belle's disfigured corpse, skimming the side of the tree that she had flown through. The manticore was now only 5 yards away, striking as much fear as possible into the fillies before slicing them to ribbons. There was a prolong sound of creaking that emanated from behind the brute while it continued its approach. Suddenly, there was a loud snap! The manticore hissed, turning around towards the source of the sound, the girls continuing to keep their eyes shut. Forthwith, the ground beneath the fillies shook once and hard. Then, there was nothing but silence.

Scootaloo and Applebloom slowly began to open their eyes back up to the dark world. They gasped in shock at the scene before them; the top half of the tree that Sweetie Belle crashed through had fallen, the lightning had weakened the last pieces of bark holding it up. Crushed underneath the fallen timber was the manticore, blood puddling from its body. Dust and other particles that had been kicked up by the tree filled the already dark air, making visibility very limited. The cruel monstrosity was dead, the fillies were safe. They should feel happy, or at least relieved. But how could they? Their best friend was dead because of this stupid adventure, and they nearly suffered horrible deaths as well.

Their minds began to wonder while they sat there in the dark. How could their lives ever be the same without Sweetie Belle? Would they be to blame for this? How would they tell Rarity and her parents? All these thoughts filled their heads to the brim. Applebloom started to think about whether Sweetie Belle's body could be collected and cleaned up for a funeral before more carnivores got to it; she deserved that much at the least. The pink-bowed pony knew there wouldn't be enough time to make it back to town and find somepony to carry Sweetie; she'll just have to do it herself. Applebloom stood up and walked towards the mess before them, Scootaloo following close behind her. Careful not to step in any blood, the earth pony climbed over the collapsed tree and headed in the direction where Sweetie Belle's body lay. Scootaloo scaled the bark and looked back at the manticore's broken figure. Her body shook with anger and hate as she viewed it, every fiber screaming for her to tear what was left of the monster apart. With all her might, she stopped herself from assailing what was left sticking out from under the tree. She turned away from it, and caught up with Applebloom who was waiting just a few feet away.

The two ponies followed a trail of branches and shrapnel to where Sweetie Belle's body was, or where it should be. Applebloom and Scootaloo's eyes grew wide; they looked upon the spot where they swore she would be just to find an impression of her body in the grass. Could another creature have gotten to her already? Quickly, they began to search the immediate area for her body, but couldn't find a thing. The strangest part was, there were no trails of blood to follow. There was no way in Tartarus that those claws didn't puncture her skin. They franticly continued to rummage through any and every conceivable spot, but still no luck.

"Where is she?!" Applebloom said to herself in a panic.

"I don't know!" responded Scootaloo, heart racing.

"Maybe I can help." an all too familiar, squeaky voice jokingly said.

Applebloom and Scootaloo froze, not believing their ears. They turned to the source of the voice when they stood. They were able make out a pony shaped silhouette in the murky atmosphere.

"S-Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo nervously asked.

"That's me…" Sweetie Belle said, fighting back tears. "I'm okay." she choked out

The amount of emotion that washed over them brought tears to their eyes again, but these were tears of joy, no longer ones of sadness. The pegasus and earth pony started to walk towards her; Sweetie Belle did the same to meet them half way, smiles of relief and joy spread across all their faces. Soon enough, their slow walks turned into brisk trots, then breaking out into full gallops. As they got closer, Sweetie Belle became more visible, and so did her injuries. This worried Scootaloo and Applebloom, plus, something did seem different from what they expected to see, but they figured it was just the light playing tricks on them. However, as they drew closer still, it became evident that Sweetie Belle's condition was amiss. Suddenly, lightning struck, illuminating Sweetie Belle's body entirely, revealing her status completely. This surprised the approaching fillies, causing them to slam their front hooves into the dirt, screeching them to a halt, eyes filled with confusion, shock, and terror. The unicorn filly ceased her movement as well when she noticed her friend's expressions.

"What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked in fear, quickly looking over her shoulder and then back to her friends. The dust began to settle back to the ground, making everything much more visible. "Is there something on my face?" She asked frantically, bringing her right hoof to her face, gliding it across the right side of her face, it seemed perfectly normal. "I don't feel anything there" she stated as she started to move her hoof across to the left side of her face. She froze; she did not feel the softness of her coat she was used to. Instead, she felt a cold, hard, overall smooth surface. Sweetie Belle wasn't able to feel her hoof touching her face, but she got all she needed to know from the nerves in her appendage.  She continued to move across the left side of her face, sliding her hoof over many grooves that led to even more cold pieces. When she explored where her eye should be, she felt something rounded and glass. Sweetie Belle removed her hoof from her face, examining it momentarily before looking back up at her fearful friends.

"What is that?!" Sweetie Belle screamed in panic. She took a step forward towards her friends, just to have them back away as she did so. The distressed unicorn quickly shot glances over the area, spotting something sparkle through the trees. She immediately ran towards it, Scootaloo and Applebloom stood in silence, watching the unicorn run off. With every step she took, Sweetie Belle heard the sound of motors. She recognized the noise from a remote control carriage she had gotten for Hearth's Warming Eve, except these ones were louder and sounded much more powerful. Eventually, she reached the opening and leaped through it, running up to a small, peaceful lake. She stopped at the edge of the lake and peered into the water, looking at her reflection. Sweetie Belle gasped as her eyes widened; the pony staring back was something of nightmares.

The skin around the left side of her face, neck, and body had been torn apart like fabric. Instead of seeing veins, bones, and muscles, like she learned from her pony anatomy class, she saw nothing but metal and other strange parts. Beyond the skin of her face, many pistons, wires, bolts, and other mechanical pieces could be seen from exposed parts of her steel plated skull. Where her eye originally was, a device that looked like a green, unlit, glass bulb occupied the spot. It was surrounded by five dark, metal plates, each closing in around the bulb in unison with her good eye contracting. Many gears, wires, and other unrecognizable parts ran behind the eye, allowing it to move and be used. On the far left side of the assembly of parts, a small section of the cranium had been split open, two exposed wires severed. More wires, gears, pivots, and pistons cocooned some tubes at her neck. The exposed side of her body didn't look much different from her face and neck. Applebloom and Scootaloo popped out of the trees, spotting Sweetie Belle leaning over the water, staring into it.

She must have looked over her awful injuries ten times before her mind finally broke under how overwhelming this all was, moisture beginning to form in Sweetie Belle's one intact eye. A tear slid down her cheek and drifted to her chin, ultimately, falling through the air and into the water, rippling her image. Soon, more droplets of water began to rapidly hit the reflective surface, few of which were Sweetie's. These drops of water had fallen from the black clouds overhead, it had begun to rain. The distraught unicorn's tears mixed with the downpour, all the while she shook her head, trying to deny everything. She repeatedly struck herself in the head with her right hoof, convincing herself this was all a dream and trying to wake up from it. She eventually gave up; accepting what had happened today was reality. Sweetie Belle collapsed to the ground, covering her face and sobbing, terrified of what she was.
> The Ticking Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dark storm clouds choked the sky above Equestria and smothered Celestia's shining sun, no longer allowing it to spread its warmth throughout the region. The birds hid away from the rain while a cold, stormy breeze washed over the panicked citizens of Ponyville. The ponies in the market place impetuously ran for cover from the unpredicted storm, bumping into one another and dropping their recently purchased groceries to the muddy roads. Other ponies in the rolling hills just outside of town frantically gathered their belongings, their fun picnics ruined. 

The rain soaked everything in sight while thunder shook the world and lightning assaulted the Earth, reducing anything in its wake to fiery rubble while restoring the land to light for a fraction of a second. The Ponyville weather team bravely battled the terrible storm, risking life and limb to keep their town and the ponies that lived there safe. It was no average summer day for anypony, especially for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The three perturbed ponies sat in the middle of the Everfree Forest, cold, distraught, and alone.

Sweetie Belle laid by the lake despite the storm, her face remaining covered with her front legs, quietly sobbing into the moist grass. Her neatly groomed coat and mane were drenched while her complex, exposed metal body clanged every time a rain droplet struck it; a constant reminder of this nightmare that had become her reality. Applebloom and Scootaloo stood under a thick tree canopy, using it as a shield against the downpour. They could only watch their mechanical, miserable, unicorn friend feebly sit prone by the reservoir. Both of them were reminiscing the entire day up to this horrible, unexpected point. 

The day started out filled with such opportunity; the sun was shining, there was no school on Sunday, it wasn’t too cold, nor was it too hot, and they had another awesome plan to earn themselves their cutie marks. Their spirits were held high and they were ready to jump head first into this fantastic new day, it was absolutely perfect, but that all seems so distant now. It was almost as if the weather cruelly mocked how their adventure had played out, from the bright and optimistic beginning to the dark and depressing end. 

Applebloom sympathetically watched her broken friend piteously allow the cold flood from the heavens to run its course. The pink-bowed filly tried to imagine what kind of emotional afflictions Sweetie Belle must be going through right now, but it was unfathomable. So, she decided that whatever it was, nopony should have to face it on their own, especially a good friend. With her mind made up and determination in her heart, Applebloom stepped out from under her organic umbrella and into the grim downpour. Suddenly, the red-maned earth pony was forcibly brought to a halt by a strong yank from her tail. With a short yelp, she jolted around. Applebloom came face to face with an alarmed looking Scootaloo, her brow slightly furrowed.

“What is it?” asked Applebloom with great concern.

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s something extremely wrong with Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo whispered sarcastically, part of it sounding serious.

Applebloom gave the feathered filly a blank stare momentarily before responding, “Yeah, Ah noticed. Ah’m goin’ over there ta help her.”

“Look, what I’m trying to say is; I don’t think she’s the real Sweetie Belle.”

“What? Of course she is!”

“I don’t know, Applebloom. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Well, neither have Ah. An’ judgin’ by the way Sweetie’s acting, I don’t think she has either! She needs help… our help, an’ Ah’m goin’ over there whether ya like it or not!”

“Ok, humor me here. What if you go over there and she turns out to be some sort of super ninja spy assassin sent to kill you? What are you going to do then?”

“Yer bein’ ridiculous! She’s no super ninja- whatever ya said. She needs our support now more than ever. Are ya just gonna sit there an’ accuse her of bein’ somethin’ she ain’t?! Don’t be that kind of pony, Scootaloo!”

“Look, I’m just a little worried about all this. Ok?”

“An’ everypony else was worried about Zecora. Ah went with mah gut an’ Ah was right, she turned out ta be just fine.”

“It’s just… this is completely different!”

“How different?”

“W-well… we didn’t know a thing about Zecora, but we already know all about Sweetie Belle.”

“It’s pretty much the same, Scoots. Zecora was new and different an’ so is this…” Applebloom paused, trying to think of an appropriate expression, “new side of Sweetie. We’ll just have ta figure it all out as we go along.”

The two silently stared at each other, waiting for the other to say something. Their lack of focus on their conversation allowed the sounds of the world around them to reach their ears. They were immediately immersed into the hypnotic rhythm of the rain splashing down to the dim Earth below, the occasional thunder and lightning kept their senses on edge. The low sound of Sweetie Belle’s whimpering was hardly audible, but still was able to remind the ponies of their previous debate, snapping them back to the delicate situation they were in.  

“Anyways,” Applebloom said, breaking the silence, “Ah’m goin’ over there ta help her. Ya comin’ or what?”

Scootaloo grumbled as she spoke, “Fine! But if this all goes pear shaped, I’m blaming it all on you.”

“Sure thing, Scootaloo,” the irritated earth pony responded, rolling her eyes.

Applebloom stepped further out into the rain, motioning Scootaloo to follow her. The purple-maned pegasus peered from under the trees and looked up at the dark sky. Reluctantly, she leaped out into the cloudburst. Unfortunately, she landed awkwardly and slipped, causing her to fall face first to the muddy ground. The orange pony, soaked and covered in mud, let out a groan of frustration as she stood, Applebloom couldn’t help but let out a giggle at the sight. A cross Scootaloo quickly shot the crude pony a menacing glare, causing the earth pony to sober up and regain her composure. The dreggy pegasus sluggishly moved her hooves and made her way towards Applebloom. The duo ever so slowly approached the tormented Sweetie Belle, not wanting to startle her in any way that could make this complication even worse. Applebloom stood at the unicorn’s left, while Scootaloo stood off to the right. 

The red-maned pony gently sat down on the moist grass right next to Sweetie Belle, although Scootaloo decided to stand while peeking at the unicorn out of the corner of her eye, still a little cautious. Applebloom was taken aback for a moment on closer examination of Sweetie Belle’s mechanical interior, almost astonished by such a concept. Gradually, she raised her right hoof and hesitatingly set it on the distressed pony’s back, attempting to comfort her. Unexpectedly, Sweetie Belle quickly pulled away from the worried pink-bowed pony.

“Get away from me,” Sweetie Belle said sternly, “I’m a monster.”

Applebloom blinked a few times, stunned by Sweetie’s abruptly cold and grim attitude. “Sweetie, yer not a monster,” the farm filly spoke softly, trying to sympathize with the unicorn, “yer just-“ 

Suddenly, Sweetie Belle sprung up from her lying position and spun towards Applebloom, leaning up close into the yellow-coated pony’s face.

“Then what am I, Applebloom?”  Sweetie Belle interrupted harshly, tears still welling from her good eye. The unicorn’s robotic eye bore into the earth pony’s soul, making her feel very uncomfortable. However, Applebloom was able to ignore these feelings and remember what was really important. With a serious look spread across her face, she boldly stood up straight and met Sweetie Belle’s eyes with her own.

“Ah… Ah don’t know what ya are, Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom said with full honesty. “Ya might not be like everypony else, but Ah know one thing for sure,” she continued, “you are our friend, an’ definitely no monster.”

Sweetie Belle backed off. How could she ever of convinced herself so hastily that her friends wouldn’t accept her? To add to that, she also had just snapped at Applebloom for no good reason. She lowered her head, silently castigating herself for even doing such a thing. Upon dropping her eyes to the ground, she spotted her hooves. Her right hoof was completely intact, while her left appendage was much like the rest of her body; nothing but pistons, gears, wires, and other mechanical contraptions. Sweetie Belle couldn’t even be angry about it at this point; she just wanted to return to normal.

Suddenly, white hot sparks flew from the exposed wires in the left side of Sweetie Belle’s steel skull. She faltered away from the sudden jolt as her vision became fuzzy and distorted. She tripped over her own hooves and stumbled towards the edge of the lake. 

With quick reflexes, Applebloom reached out with both front hooves and grabbed the unicorn’s robotic limb, saving her just in the nick of time. However, her grip quickly started to slip from all the mud and water that lingered on the smooth, slick surface. To make matters worse, Applebloom didn’t have a good enough of a foundation with her back hooves in the muddy ground. She cautiously began to move her rear hooves back in order to try to stabilize herself and pull Sweetie Belle away from the reservoir. But in one false move, her hooves shifted too quickly in the mud and she slipped backwards, losing her hold.

Without thinking, Scootaloo jumped into action and dashed to the tilting unicorn. She tightly wrapped her hooves around Sweetie Belle’s middle and endeavored with all her might to yank her away from the lake. Unexpectedly, the orange pegasus’ rear hooves were lifted off the ground and she started to tip along with the mechanical pony. With all of her other options exhausted, Scootaloo intensely beat her wings to try to stop them both from falling into the water. Sweetie Belle’s momentum began to slow; however, the winged pony was already starting to lose it. She strained to keep the rhythm of her feathery appendages as her muscles started to burn, making it unbearable.

“Any… day… now!” Scootaloo spoke through rigid breathing and clenched teeth, craning her neck around to eye the aghast, muddy farm pony.

Applebloom quickly scrambled to her hooves and made a beeline towards the struggling pegasus. Acting on her wits alone, she clenched Scootaloo’s tail in her teeth and started to haul them both back, digging her hooves deeply into the mud with every step. Despite feeling like her wings were about to break off, Scootaloo fought through the pain and tears as she strived to sustain herself long enough to pull Sweetie Belle away from the water. Even though they managed to combine their efforts and get themselves where they were now, it still wasn’t enough; they needed just one more push. Applebloom, determined not to ever give up, clamped her jaw even tighter shut around Scootaloo’s tail and yanked back as hard as she could. Sweetie Belle began to tilt back towards the shore and things started to look better.

Scootaloo bit her lip when she began to feel a very painful sensation at the dock of her tail as Applebloom continued to pull backwards. Like a spark lighting a fire, a loud pop emanated from the orange pegasus and she let out a prolong shrill cry in pain. Sweetie Belle’s weight finally shifted towards the land and was safe from the lake. Taking note of that, Applebloom released her grip on Scootaloo’s tail and rushed to her aid.

“Scootaloo are ya ok?” the panicked Applebloom spoke quickly in alarm, “Ah’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Scootaloo winced through clenched teeth, elevating her tail slightly with one hoof. “Just get Sweetie Belle out of the rain before something worse happens,” she adjured while motioning her free hoof towards the filly in question.

Applebloom nodded her head once before rushing to the front of the mechanical pony. “C’mon Sweetie Belle, ya’ve gotta get under the trees,” the red-maned earth pony said, gesturing towards the vast forest in front of them. However, the unicorn didn’t so much as twitch. Noticing this, Applebloom carefully walked over to the paralyzed pony. She quickly waved her hoof in front of the white filly’s face trying to get some sort of response, but she didn’t even blink. “Sweetie, are ya ok?” she cautiously asked out.

All of a sudden, Sweetie Belle started to sputter and shake violently. Fearing the worst, Applebloom backed away from her without haste, all the while on her guard. It ended almost as soon as it started. Sweetie Belle stood silently and blinked a few times before turning her head towards the farm filly.

“W-what just happened?” Sweetie Belle gradually asked with a perplexed look spread across her ravaged face.

“Ah’ll tell ya in a minute, just get yerself under the trees an’ out of the rain,” Applebloom directed calmly, pointing back towards the forest. 

Sweetie Belle nodded in acknowledgment before briskly trotting over to the canopy. Applebloom looked back towards Scootaloo who was already hobbling over to, ironically enough, the safety of the forest. The pink-bowed pony ran up to the side of the crippled pegasus who was walking on only three hooves, her last one kept her tail from dropping.

“That pop sounded really bad, Scoots,” Applebloom stated, walking alongside the pegasus, “Maybe Ah could take a look at it for-“

“I said I’m fine!” Scootaloo barked as the two walked under the green foliage and were finally safe from the downpour. Unfortunately, they were met with another few splashes of water as Sweetie Belle shook herself dry.

“Woops, sorry,” Sweetie Belle apologized, scratching the back of her head bashfully.

“It’s alright Sweetie Belle, ya need to stay as dry as possible after that little fiasco we had out there,” Applebloom reassured. 

“Oh, um, Applebloom? I’m also really sorry for snapping at you like that. I was just so scared,” Sweetie Belle said, “I didn’t mean it.”

“Think nothin’ of it, Sweetie Belle. It happens ta everypony now an’ again.”

“I’m not buying it,” Scootaloo heedlessly said, giving the mechanical pony a suspicious look.

“Not buying what?” Sweetie Belle asked a completely confused.

“This… act. How do we know you’re the real Sweetie Belle and not some fake?” Scootaloo heartlessly said. Applebloom smacked a hoof to her own forehead.

Sweetie Belle was crushed by such a question, her facial features clearly displaying how hurt she was. Applebloom scolded Scootaloo for saying it so coldly and direct, the unicorn looked like she was on the verge of tears again. However, her somber look unexpectedly faded away and was replaced by a mischievous grin. “I’ll tell you how,” the robotic equine said in a sneaky manner as she slowly approached the pegasus.

Scootaloo gulped as Sweetie Belle leaned up to the side of her purple-maned head and positioned her muzzle right next to the pegasus’ ear. The unicorn carefully began to whisper something to the wary pony, making sure Applebloom was just out of hearing distance. The farm filly started to ponder if she could get close enough to eavesdrop on this little session. But before she could act, she saw Scootaloo’s eyes go wide in alarm as a furious blush spread across her face. Sweetie Belle backed away from the stunned pegasus with a cocksure grin, her job done.

“I told you to NEVER talk about that again!” Scootaloo yelled at Sweetie Belle with a furrowed brow, her face as red as an apple from both embarrassment and rage.

“That’s right, YOU told ME,” Sweetie Belle recapitulated. The anger on Scootaloo’s face quickly faded and was soon plastered with complete realization. “I’m as real as a Sweetie Belle can be,” she concluded.

“S-Sweetie Belle…oh geez…” Scootaloo tried to muster her words, feeling like complete trash, “I… I’m so sorry for suspecting you. It’s just… I’ve never seen anything like this before, none of it makes sense.”

“It’s ok Scoots, I don’t blame you. I didn’t want to believe it either, I still don’t want to believe it,” Sweetie Belle sympathized.

“So,” Applebloom bumped in with a big, stupid grin, “what got yer feathers all ruffled, Scooty?” 

“Just drop it… like, forever,” Scootaloo ordered, she was blatantly not in the mood.

“Fine,” Applebloom sighed.

Silence fell upon the trio again; the sound of the rain striking the leaves above graced their ears. Light squeezed through the small gaps in the tees every time lightning struck, displaying a strange yet beautiful pattern upon the Crusaders.

“Oh!” Applebloom suddenly remembered, “Scootaloo, about yer tail.”

The pegasus simply turned away from the farm pony, not wanting to talk any further about it.

“Listen,” Applebloom reasoned, “Ah know yer probably a little sore at me for yankin’ too hard, but a dislocated cockaga- cokagable… coccyg- tail bone can get much worse if it’s not treated right away. It’s a common injury on the farm, so Applejack taught me how ta fix it. If ya could just let me help…” she offered with an extended hoof.

Scootaloo simply mumbled angrily in response while she slowly attempted to let her tail down. She cringed in pain almost instantly before lifting it back up again. “Fine!” she groaned in defeat, “Do what you need to do.”

“Don’t worry, Scoots, it won’t take long,” Applebloom explained as she approached the pegasus’ right flank and took the tail from her hooves, “Besides, it won’t hurt… much.”

“Much?!” Scootaloo squeaked, spinning her head to the earth pony with wide eyes. 

“Ok…” Applebloom confessed, “it’s gonna hurt a lot more than when it first got dislocated.”

Scootaloo’s lower lip slightly quivered at the words. She gulped hard before giving Applebloom her finale decision, “O-Ok, j-just do it fast, like ripping off a b-band aid.”

Applebloom nodded before she turned her attention back to the purple tail and started examining it. Scootaloo looked away from the red-maned pony, not wanting to watch her work, and her eyes fell back on Sweetie Belle. The metal filly sat against a tree as she fiddled with her exposed appendage. She studied all of the gears, pistons, and motors working together when she moved it. Sweetie Belle was astonished by it, Scootaloo as well. The unicorn brought up her right hoof, still sealed in skin, and pressed it against her steel skull. She was able to feel the cold metal on her hoof, but she was not able to feel her hoof touching it, yet she knew it was there, though. It was the strangest feeling.

Meanwhile, Applebloom began to have difficulties finding the dislocation. She ran her hoof up and down Scootaloo’s lower spine a number of times, feeling every bump in it. Alas, she was not able to distinguish the dislocation from the rest. She began move higher up on the spine, stopping at a point that could be the dislocation. Cautiously, she pressed the tip of her hoof down on it to see if Scootaloo would react to it painfully. Instead, an odd sensation rode up the pegasus’ spine, causing her wings to flare out. Scootaloo let out a squeak the instant it happened, a blush of embarrassment slowly growing on her face.     

Sweetie Belle looked up to see what had happened. It took her a second to figure it out before she was rolling around on her back, kicking and laughing her mane off.  

Scootaloo spun her head around to face the pink-bowed filly. “C-could you quit fooling around back there?” she stammered in a panic. 

“Yer wings say otherwise,” Applebloom chuckled. 

“Shut up,” Scootaloo demanded, giving the pony an unamused look.

“Well excuse me for tryin’ ta fix yer dislocation. If yer havin’ a problem with how Ah’m doin’ it, then ya could maybe, ah don’t know, help out?” 

“How?” the aggravated Scootaloo growled, Sweetie Belle’s high pitched guffaw piercing her ears.

“Just show me where it hurts,” Applebloom plainly explained.

“Oh. Right here,” Scootaloo responded, pointing her hoof directly at the point just above where her tail and coat met. Before she was able to get Applebloom’s acknowledgment, Sweetie Belle’s giggling assaulted her ears again. Fuming, Scootaloo twisted her neck back around and gave the pony a wicked glare to shut her up. Immediately, Sweetie Belle’s laughter began to die down as she got up from off the ground, dusting herself off and regaining her composure. Feeling slightly less embarrassed and aggravated, Scootaloo began to continue her instructions to Applebloom, “Ok, before you start could you let me know? I want a minute to-“

But before she could finish, a few loud cracks and an insane amount of pain shot up the filly’s spine. Scootaloo let out a throat shredding cry causing Applebloom to go deaf for a few seconds, Sweetie Belle wincing at the scene before her. The pegasus bounded away from the earth pony and cradled her now relocated tail.

“Applebloom, you jerk! I told you to let me know before you started!” Scootaloo blared at the farm filly, speaking as she cringed from the slowly dissipating, stinging pain.

The pink-bowed pony rubbed her temples as she retorted, “Ya were distracted, it would have been a lot worse if Ah let ya build up yer fear. Like you said, Scoots; ‘rippin’ off a band aid’.” Scootaloo groaned as she was beaten with her own words yet again.

“So,” Sweetie Belle piped up, “what do we do now? Can we turn to anyone?”

Applebloom tapped her chin, “Maybe Twilight knows something; she’s got all kinds of knowledge under her belt,” she suggested.

“Yeah, she’s got a bunch of gadgets and gizmos in her lab, too,” Scootaloo concurred. “Plus, I’ve gotta get this book back to her,” she said, suggesting at the ‘Mythical Creature Encyclopedia’ in her saddlebag.

“Speaking of saddlebags,” Sweetie Belle brought up, “weren’t you wearing one when we came in here, Applebloom?”

“Oh shoot,” Applebloom recalled, “Applejack’ll kill me if Ah loose that. Ah’ve gotta go back an’ get it.”

“We’re coming with you,” Scootaloo announced, “The last thing we want is for one of us to get separated.”

“After that we can get back to Ponyville,” Sweetie Belle added, “Wait, which way is it?”

“If we walk away from the mountain, Ah’m sure we’ll find it,” Applebloom assured.

“So, it’s settled then?” asked Scootaloo, looking between her friends.

“Yup,” said Applebloom.

“Mhmm,” Sweetie Belle responded. 

“Let’s get moving then,” Scootaloo motivated as she took the first step towards the thicker part of the forest. “Um…” she paused, turning around to face Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, “where do we start?”

“Like Applebloom was saying; let’s try going back to the mountain,” Sweetie Belle suggested as she pointed at an opening in the tress where it was visible, “maybe we can retrace our steps from there.” The other two nodded their heads, prompting Sweetie Belle to lead on.

In less than a minute, the girls had covered the short distance and were now about to cross the opening that led back to the death trap they were in moments ago. 

“Yuk,” Sweetie Belle suddenly said in an extremely disgusted manner.

Applebloom and Scootaloo peered out from behind the unicorn, expecting to see the manticore splattered under the tree again. Alas, this was not the case anymore. The two let out gasps of pure terror at the scene in front of them. The tree that had crushed the monster was now flat against the ground, a long and vivid red trail led away from it. At the end of the trail was the mangled, broken, bloody corpse of the manticore.

Applebloom felt like she was about to have a heart attack. “It… it was still alive?!” the farm filly uttered, disturbed and horrified on many levels.

“If we had stayed there any longer… it would have killed us!” Scootaloo said in a full panic. 

“Wait,” Sweetie Belle began, not fully understanding the situation, “are you two saying-”

“That thing was smashed under that tree!” Applebloom affirmed, tears of pure fear welling in her eyes, “Ah saw it take its last breath, it didn’t even twitch! It was DEAD!”

“But, it’s dead now at least,” Sweetie Belle stated as she forced a smile.

Fate, however, wasn’t done proving these ponies wrong. Almost as if on cue, the Cutie Mark Crusaders each perked their ears up one by one to a low, horrible, gurgling noise. The girls turned their heads to the source of the sound and found that the manticore was now closer. The trio backed away swiftly as the creature began to spit up pints of blood while it continued to make such a hideous noise. Slowly, the behemoth proceeded to drag its claws across the muddy ground, hook deeper into the soil, and pull itself closer to the ponies.

“Dear sweet Celestia,” Applebloom murmured at the nightmarish sight.

“We’ve gotta get out, now!” Scootaloo shouted, trying to keep her wits.

Sweetie Belle ignored the mess in front of her and looked beyond the manticore at the mountain. She promptly positioned herself so that that the ridge looked as symmetrical as possible. Turning exactly one hundred and eighty degrees, she found what looked like the correct direction. “This way! Follow me,” Sweetie Belle called out to her friends.

Without any second thoughts, the trio darted away from the manticore and back into the dark, lush forest. Sweetie Belle led the ponies onward for about a minute until their environment began to look familiar. Soon, they made it to where they had first encountered the monster. 

“Hold up a second girls, gotta get mah saddlebag,” Applebloom announced, coming to a halt. The other two did the same. With a fast sweep of the area, she easily spotted her bright green and red saddlebag lying on the grass of the forest floor. Quickly, Applebloom snatched the satchels and rested them on her flanks. She popped one of the flaps open and began to take an inventory check.

“Got everything you need?” asked Sweetie Belle, urging to get out of the Everfree Forest.

“Just about,” the pink-bowed pony responded, “Ah’m just missing mah net. Ah threw it at the manticore before we all high tailed it outta here.”

“Um… is this it?” Scootaloo asked, holding up the shredded remains of the net.

“Consarnit!” Applebloom shouted in frustration, “Ah spent all last week making that net an’ that stupid cat with wings had to go an’ rip it up.”

“Actually, Applebloom, it may have provided just enough of a distraction we needed to get away. I think it saved our lives,” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Yeah, Ah guess it did,” agreed the farm pony. She giggled at the silly thought of the net being a noble hero who had sacrificed their life for the greater good.

As the ponies sat around and began to think their own thoughts, they opened their ears for the sound of the rain to disrupt the canopy overhead. However, they did not hear the melody they had become so familiar with, not even the boom of thunder could be detected anymore. The powerful lightning no longer lit the sky, instead, a different light with a recognizable hue did. The girls stared at the gaps between the leaves before putting the pieces together.

“Hey, did it stop raining?” Sweetie Belle asked her friends.

“Ah think so. Maybe the weather team was able ta clear up the sky,” speculated Applebloom.

“Well of course they did! Rainbow Dash is their chief after all!” Scootaloo said seriously as she basked in the greatness of her idol.

“Uh huh… anyways, if’n it’s truly stopped rainin’, then that means it’ll be a lot easier ta get ya back ta town, Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom pointed out.

“Then let’s get out of here before something else happens,” Sweetie Belle highly suggested, walking towards where they had first entered the Everfree Forest, Applebloom and Scootaloo by her side. “Hey Applebloom, I never got an answer from you,” the mechanical filly brought up.

“’Bout what?” asked Applebloom.

“What happened by the lake? All I can remember is a bright flash, then everything went all fuzzy. The next thing I knew, you were standing in front of me staring blankly and Scootaloo was limping away,” Sweetie Belle described.

“Well, a bunch of sparks flew from that there gash in yer head an’ ya sorta froze up. After that, ya started ta tilt towards the water. Ah tried to stop ya from fallin’, but mah grip slipped from all the mud n’ stuff. Then, Scootaloo grabbed a hold of ya an’ tried ta pull ya back ta shore, but she wasn’t able ta do it on her own.  So Ah grabbed ahold of her tail ta try ta help. Thankfully, our teamwork gotcha back to safety. But Ah ended up yanking too hard on Scoot’s tail, an’ ya know what happened after that.”

“Geez, I’m really sorry girls. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”

“What are ya sorry for, it ain’t yer fault that happened, right?”

“Besides, we’re your friends, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo added, “Nothing’s gonna happen to you as long as we can help it!”

“Thanks girls. It means a lot to me, considering,” Sweetie Belle said gratefully.

The fillies cut through the final bit of shrubs and were back at the edge of the forest. 

“There’s town!” Scootaloo hollered out, pointing to Ponyville in the distance.

“Ah don’t think Ah’v ever been so glad ta see home in all mah life,” Applebloom said, sighing in relief.

The girls exchanged smiles before galloping towards town in glee, feeling the horrors of the Everfree Forest fade away. They started to cross the large field that covered the land all the way to town, the same field where many ponies had their picnics set up earlier that day. Some of the same ponies could be seen in the distance, running back with all their supplies, ready to continue their activities now that the terrible storm was gone. Happiness was in the air. Sweetie Belle, however, felt like she was forgetting something important. She looked upon the faces of her friends as she ran with them. There was something different about her and them, not just that she was a unicorn.

Her metaphorical and literal gears turned as she racked her mind for the answers. Suddenly, it clicked, she remembered everything. Her brain, whether it was real or not, must not have wanted to accept the events that happened today as true. Slamming her hooves into the soaked landscape, Sweetie Belle slid to a halt. Applebloom and Scootaloo stopped just ahead of her, confused looks spread across their faces.

“What’s wrong?” Applebloom asked fearfully.

“I can’t go to town like this,” Sweetie Belle announced, gesturing at her robotic body, “I’ll probably send the whole town into panic!” Before Applebloom or Scootaloo could protest, Sweetie Belle reared up and sprinted back towards the forest. 

“Sweetie Belle, wait!” Scootaloo called out as she and Applebloom pursued after the unnerved unicorn. With a flick of her elbows, Sweetie Belle easily cleared the top of a small shrub and was now back in the dark forest.

“Sweetie Belle!” Applebloom shouted, attempting to gain the mechanical pony’s attention, but to no avail. Quickly, they made it to the forest’s edge and were ready to barge through the low plant. Unexpectedly, Sweetie Belle popped out from the leaves, unintentionally surprising her friends. Scootaloo and Applebloom attempted to stop, but the ground was too wet and slick for them to gain enough traction. They slid into the bush and crashed right into Sweetie belle. Applebloom groggily opened her eyes, her head pounding from the collision. Sweetie Belle stood in front of her with great concern in her eyes.

“Are you ok?” Sweetie Belle asked, reaching out a hoof to help Applebloom up.

“Yeah, Ah’m good,” Applebloom responded, taking Sweetie Belle’s hoof. Eyeing to her right, she spotted Scootaloo rubbing her forehead. “Yer not hurt, are ya Scoots?” Applebloom asked the pegasus.

“I’m fine,” Scootaloo stated.

“What about you Sweetie Belle?” Applebloom questioned, “We both knocked inta ya at once, Ah think ya had it worse than us.”

“Actually,” Sweetie Belle retorted, “I didn’t really feel anything.”

“Huh? But how couldn’t ya?”

“I dunno, I felt you guys bumping into me, but I just couldn’t feel it… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“It probably has something to do with this,” Scootaloo spoke up, poking Sweetie Belle’s metal cranium.

“Yeah, probably,” Sweetie Belle agreed.

“Maybe you’re like one of those things we hear about in campfire stories,” Scootaloo began to speculate, “Oh, what are they called…”

“Ah think we’re gettin’ a bit off topic here,” Applebloom said, derailing Scootaloo’s train of thought. “So, Sweetie Belle, if ya think that the towns ponies are gonna start a fuss n’ all, how are we ta get ya back ta town?”

“Maybe a disguise or something,” Sweetie Belle suggested, “Maybe a cloak will do it.”

“Oh! Applebloom, don’t you still have those cloaks we used for the school talent show last year?” Scootaloo recalled.

“Yeah, Ah think Ah’ve still got those,” Applebloom acknowledged, “ya think it’ll do the trick?”

“I think if we could yank the hoodie down just a bit more, we could cover up my face well enough. I might have some difficulty seeing where I’m going, though,” Sweetie Belle confessed.

“That’s what we’re for then,” Scootaloo said.

“Alright then! The two of ya stay here; y’all will be safe as long as ya don’t go deeper inta the Everfree Forest or run out into the fields. Ah’ll go home and getcha a cloak Sweetie Belle.”

“Roger that!” Scootaloo understood, giving Applebloom a military salute.

“I don’t mean to sound rude, but, please hurry. I really want this over with,” Sweetie Belle requested.

“Dontcha worry a bit, Ah’ll be back faster than you can say…” Applebloom paused, thinking of a proper word to say, “erm… just think of something Applejack would say, Ah need to go before the whole town is back outside from the storm. See y’all soon” She concluded as she galloped off to Sweet Apple Acres.

Thankfully, the further Applebloom got from the forest, the more stable the ground became. With each passing second, she was able to slightly increase in speed without risking slipping and breaking something. By the time she reached town square, she was already running at top speeds. Plus, the lack of ponies wandering the streets allowed her more freedom and room, making it easier still. However, just as she had suspected, ponies started to unbolt their doors and windows. The trip back will not be as easy.

In no time at all, Applebloom was already able to see the lush apple orchards that covered over a mile of her family’s farm. She barreled down the dirt path and passed rows upon rows of apple trees. After a minute, she was able to see the hot pink and purple building that she called home. She sped under the archway that welcomed ponies to Sweet Apple Acres and quickly bounded onto the front porch of her house. She tried the door handle, and to her surprise, it was unlocked. Normally the whole farm would be under lockdown in the event of a storm. But now that she looked around, it didn’t seem that any part of the farm was actually touched by it.

Opening the door, Applebloom was immediately met with the delectable, mouthwatering aroma of a freshly baked apple pie. She was also greeted with two familiar voices from the kitchen, they seemed to be in their own conversation and hadn’t notice that she had entered the house yet. There was no mistaking it; the voices belonged to none other than her sister, Applejack, and Cloudsdale’s daredevil herself, Rainbow Dash.

“I can’t thank you enough for this apple pie, AJ,” Rainbow Dash’s said with a mouthful.

“It’s the least Ah could do, Rainbow,” returned Applejack, “After all, ya did save Sweet Apple Acres.”

“It was no biggie.”

“Course it was a biggie, Rainbow. If you an’ yer weather team didn’t get up there, why, the whole farm could have been torn apart.”

“Meh, just another day being chief of the weather team,” Dash bragged. Applebloom was so busy eavesdropping that she had forgotten to close the door. A strong gust of wind blew into the house, catching the door and slamming it shut against the wooden frame.

“Applebloom?” Applejack suddenly called out from the kitchen, “Is that you?”

“Yeah sis, it’s me,” answered Applebloom.

“Oh thank Celestia yer allright, Ah was a bit worried that ya got stuck out in the middle of that nasty storm. Where were ya anyways?” asked Applejack.

“Ah was hanging out with Scootaloo an’ Sweetie Belle, kinda gotta hurry back ta them” Applebloom explained as she ascend the stairs.

“Alright then, Ah gues-“

“Want some pie?” Rainbow Dash blurted out with another mouthful. Applebloom’s stomach growled angrily and the smell of the pasty teased her taste buds. Dash’s offer sounded pretty darn good right now.

“Oh alright, Ah guess Ah can stay for just one slice,” Applebloom gave in, climbing back down the stairs and into the living room.

“Ah’ll fix ya up a plate, sugarcube,” Applejack alerted.

“Thanks,” Applebloom acknowledged before she crossed into the kitchen. Rounding the corner, she spotted Rainbow Dash, who had her side to the pink-bowed pony as she swallowed another bite of pie. Applejack was across the room and faced away from the table, searching in the cupboards for a plate. Rainbow Dash was just about to take another bite before her eyes wondered over to Applebloom. Her expression completely changed however. She closed her mouth, set down her fork, and gave the filly a half serious look, an eyebrow cocked.

“Geez Applebloom, did you get into a fight with an ox or something?” Rainbow Dash joked with a smirk.

“Huh?” Applebloom asked, slack jawed.

Applejack turned around, finally finding a proper sized plate. “What are ya on about Rainbo-” she began to ask, but stopped at the sight before her. “Applebloom!” Applejack shouted as she rushed over to the filly, tossing the plate onto the table as she passed it, “What happened ta you?!”

“N-nothing,” Applebloom said in a panic, however, she wasn’t even sure how true that was.

“This ain’t nothing, Applebloom,” Applejack said sternly, looking the filly in the eye, “Rainbow Dash, get me the mirror from the livin’ room.”

“On it,” Rainbow Dash announced before she leaped across the room from her chair. She returned a mere second later, wheeling the reflective glass surface into the kitchen. Applejack hustled over to the sink and snatched a washcloth. She flicked the tap to hot and began to soak the small towel. Rainbow Dash pushed the mirror in front of Applebloom so she may understand what the mares were talking about.

Surprised, Applebloom shot her eyes wide open with a gasp. She was covered with scrapes, cuts, and bruises from her head to her hooves while her coat, mane, and tail were caked with a small layer of mud. But what really stood out was her left eye; the skin around it was a sickening, dark purple. 

Applejack walked across the wooden floor and back into Applebloom’s line of sight. She shoved the washcloth into the filly’s face, causing her to jolt back from the sudden rise in temperature. It took a second for Applebloom to regain her bearings. Applejack held out the rag with her hoof, an angrily worried look on her face. The pink-bowed pony took the washcloth from her older sister and began to scrub off the mud. Once Applebloom was done cleaning up most of the mud, Applejack kneeled down so she was now eye level with the filly.

“Applebloom, what happened ta you?” Applejack asked, placing her beloved Stetson to the side.

“Well,” Applebloom gulped, “Scootaloo an’ Ah got into a little fight, Ah know we-“

“Again?” Applejack interrupted disappointment in her voice, “You told me that it would never happen again after Ah had ta pull you girls apart.”

“Yeah, well…” Applebloom started.

“Wait a minute,” Rainbow Dash bumped in, “You had to stop them from fighting too, Applejack?”

“Yeah, why? Did something similar happen with you?” asked Applejack with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah. About two weeks ago, I was cleaning up all the clouds that were accidently released from Cloudsdale early. When I was circling Ponyville’s perimeter, I saw Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle standing at the outskirts of town. I got closer after I heard them shouting. The next thing I know; Scoots and AB were trying to take each other’s heads off.”

Applejack turned towards her little sister, a hurt expression on her face. “Applebloom, is that true?” she asked.

Applebloom hung her head low. “Yes, it’s true,” she said dejectedly.

“Consarnit, Applebloom! Ya promised me, ya gave me yer word!” Applejack spoke with a raised voice, her brow furrowed.

“Ah’m sorry, Applejack. We didn’t try keeping those promises good enough. But, we finally buried that hatchet this time, Ah can just feel it!” Applebloom concluded with a hopeful smile.

“That makes me wonder,” Rainbow Dash spoke, “You never got this messed up before, where were the adults?”

“Well, nopony was around,” Applebloom explained.

“An’ why’s that?” questioned Applejack.

“Twilight lent a book ta Scootaloo, it was an encyclopedia for monsters or somethin’,” Applebloom started, “We found this page about this thing called an orthrus; it’s like a two headed dog. We figured we’d be able ta catch one of ‘em in the Everfree Forest. So after some planni-”

“The forest?! Applebloom! Ah told you ta NEVER go in there again!” Applejack spoke angrily. “Yer lucky this is the worst that happened to you. Ya could of run into a manticore or somethin’!”

“Applejack, ah-”

“The three of you could have died out there and nopony would have known for sure for a long time, Applebloom! We would be searching all of Equestria for months an’ we would have never have known you were dead!”

“Ah’m sorry, Applejack! Ah wasn-”

“Ah don’t wanna hear it,” Applejack said earnestly, dragging Applebloom to the stairs. “Ah want you in yer room for the rest of the day an’ yer comin’ straight home from school tomorrow. Ah’ll be bringin’ supper ta ya when it’s ready.”

“But Applejack, Ah need ta get back to Sweetie Belle and Scoot-”

“Go!” Applejack shouted pointing up the stairs. Applebloom didn’t say another word; she just made her way up the steps. Applejack had never yelled at her like that before. But her big sister was right, they should have never of gone back into the forest. 

Once she heard the sound of Applebloom’s door click shut, Applejack turned around and faced Rainbow Dash, tears in her eyes. Seeing her friend’s distress, the rainbow-maned pegasus opened her arms, offering a comforting hug. Applejack quickly accepted it and threw herself into Rainbow Dash, tightly wrapping her hooves around her.

“Ah didn’t wanna do that!” Applejack sobbed, “Ah just love her too much, Ah don’t want ta lose her.”

“It’s ok, AJ,” Rainbow Dash comforted, stroking her friend’s mane, “I would have done the same if I was in your place,”

Applebloom sat down on her beige bed comforters, taking in their softness when her hooves pressed down on them. She sighed, feeling terrible for worrying her big sister like that. Applejack may have a strong exterior, but Applebloom can always tell when she’s hiding her pain. She didn’t know what to do; she felt that disobeying by leaving her room would only make things worse with Applejack. But she had to leave if she wanted to help Sweetie Belle. Applebloom’s heart was torn, no matter what decision she made, it would come with massive repercussions. She laid down on her bed and stared up at the canopy hanging over her bed. She weighed her options intensely, unable to come with a conclusion.

A few minutes passed and Applebloom was in a full on war with herself. Suddenly, there was a knock at her door, breaking her concentration. Before she could get off the bed, the door slowly creaked open. Applejack stood in the opening with a woven basket filled with various things clenched in her teeth. She walked out from the hallway and across the room to Applebloom’s dresser, the wooden panels creaking below her with every step. She set the basket down in front of the large mirror that was attached to the blue painted dresser. Reaching into the straw container, Applejack pulled out a bottle of disinfectant, one bowl of clean water, two fresh wash cloths, a pint of apple juice, a box of pain killers, a roll of gauze, a small case of bandages, and a wrapped up bag of ice.

“Applebloom, Ah want ya ta clean out any open wounds, put some disinfectant on then some bandages,” Applejack instructed, turning to her little sister sitting on her bed, “Take some pain killers with the apple juice if yer still hurtin’. After yer all done with that, ah want ya ta put that ice on that eye. But for fifteen minutes only, an’ don’t push on yer eye, don’t want ta make things worse. An’ if yer gonna take a nap, lay down on two pillows ta keep yer head elevated, just in case ya’ve got somethin’ more than a black eye. Ah’ll bring up dinner in a few hours.”

With that, Applejack walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Applebloom watched the door silently, waiting to see if her big sister had anything more to say. But she didn’t, she could hear Applejack’s hoofsteps going downstairs. The red-maned earth pony shuffled to the edge of her bed, sliding off the side and landing hooves down. She grit her teeth, the pain of her injuries finally starting to sink in. Applebloom walked over to her dresser and hopped up onto a stool. She peered into the mirror and sighed, disappointed in herself for fighting with Scootaloo again, but glad it wouldn’t happen again.

Noticing that her pink hair bow was awfully dirty, she undid it and tossed the material into her dirty cloths hamper. Turning her attention back to the top of her dresser, she looked over the supplies spread out in front of her. Grabbing the box of pain killers, she read the instructions to check to see how many pills she should take. She found the proper dosage and shook two capsules out of the box. She popped the tablets into her mouth and took a swig of apple juice, washing them down. Reaching across the dresser, Applebloom slid the bowl of water closer and snatched a washcloth. She dipped the fabric into the liquid and looked over her cuts in the mirror. She wiped the small towel across all of her open wounds, cleaning out any dirt. 

Applebloom prepared the second washcloth with the disinfectant. She quickly started to wipe her wounds, wincing as the disinfectant stung each time she reached a cut. She set the washcloth aside before grabbing hold of the case of bandages. She pried the lid off and began the tedious process of peeling off the paper coverings and applying them to her wounds. These little things made Applebloom sometimes wish she was a unicorn. After two dozen bandages and what felt like an eternity, she managed to cover all open cuts on her body. Finally, she leaned across the dresser and grabbed the bag of ice in her teeth. Hopping down from her chair, she trotted over to her bed, tossing the cold pack onto the sheets. Leaping up, she grabbed both of her pillows and stacked them atop of one another.

Applebloom crawled under the covers to keep warm while she had the ice on her eye. She grabbed the bag and her bedside clock. She checked the time; it was 3:40pm. She’ll remove the bag in fifteen minutes when the time reaches 3:55pm. Setting the clock on the bed next to her, she laid her head down on the soft pillows behind her. Closing her left eye, Applebloom slowly brought the wrapped up ice down onto it. When the cold touched the organ, it drove a weird feeling right into the filly’s brain. She sure as hay didn’t like it, but she decided to just bear with it, it was only fifteen minutes after all. She stared back up to her bed’s canopy, trying to think of a solution to her predicament.

She could try telling Applejack the truth about Sweetie Belle, but she might not believe her. But if she did, she could freak out. Applebloom dismissed that plan and tried to think of another. She could try to sneak out. But what if she’s caught? Even if she does get Sweetie Belle to Twilight’s, the brainy librarian might bring it up in conversation with Applejack. As her mind swam with ideas, her eyelids became heavy. Staying up so late to work on that net was really taking its toll. Applebloom thought that resting might help clear her head. Maybe she’ll have an answer if she rests her eyes for only five minutes.





“Where is she?” Scootaloo groaned while she stared at the setting sun.

“Maybe she got held up,” Sweetie Belle speculated.

“Maybe,” Scootaloo responded, turning towards her mechanical friend. 

A group of pegasi chased each other above the hilled field; Scootaloo looked up at them in envy. Suddenly, the lead pegasus dive bombed very close to the forest's edge. She pulled up right before hitting the ground, every other pegasi did the same. This caused a strong gust of wind to blow into the forest. The leaves of the trees shook and Sweetie Belle’s shredded skin flew in all directions as it clung to the side of her face. Scootaloo scrunched up her face as she looked at the unicorn, swearing she saw something.

Sweetie Belle frightfully glanced over her shoulder before looking back at Scootaloo. “Oh great, what now?” She asked, a little annoyed by all these mishaps they’ve been having throughout the day.

Scootaloo slowly approached Sweetie Belle, keeping her eyes fixed on a single point of her face. “I think I saw something on your face,” she spoke.

“What?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, “Is it a spider?! GET IT OFF!” 

“Shh,” Scootaloo hushed, “No, it’s not a spider, or a bug, or any creepy crawly.” The pegasus reached up with a hoof, shuddering when she moved aside some of Sweetie Belle’s skin. She saw a letter followed by three numbers printed onto the white filly’s steel skull. “B, dash, nine, zero, six,” Scootaloo read, “What does that mean?”

“Heck if I know.”

Again, the flying pegasi started to pull off another dive bomb run. However, the last pegasus was flying too fast to pull up in time. He crashed right into the bushes in front of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The fillies quickly scrambled to get behind the trees, attempting to hide from the colt. The wobbly pony stood up and dusted himself off. Sweetie Belle slowly peered out from behind the trees to see if he was gone, he wasn’t, but he was looking the other way. She recognized the pegasus, he was one of her classmates, Rumble. 

Scootaloo flailed her arms in the air, trying to signal Sweetie Belle to get back behind cover. The unicorn began to slowly back up into the trees again, whether it was from Scootaloo’s warning signs or not. Unfortunately, before the metal filly was completely back into the shadows, she stepped on a twig when she was readjusting her position. Rumble didn’t miss a beat, he spun his head right towards her. He just barely caught a glimpse of Sweetie Belle's mane as she reared back into the forest.

“H-Hello?” Rumble asked out nervously.

Scootaloo motioned Sweetie Belle to keep going back as Rumble kept walking forward. He had never been this far into the forest. He was always told of how terrifying and dangerous it was, but it didn’t seem so bad. A this rate, the curious Rumble would follow Sweetie Belle to the other side of the forest before anything happened.

“Hey there, Rumble!” Scootaloo spoke loudly as she leaped out from her hiding spot, distracting the colt.

“S-Scootaloo? Hi, w-what are you doing here?” Rumble asked, startled by the filly popping out like that.

“Hey, I should be asking you the same question,” Scootaloo said light heartedly, walking closer to the boy.

“I… I thought I saw something over there,” Rumble responded as he backed away. He wasn’t used to a filly getting this close to him.

“Oh I wouldn’t bother with it. It’s probably something really boring,” Scootaloo said, keeping up the cheerful attitude while they exited the forest, “Hey, look. Your friends are doing something mega cool, though. Maybe you should join them. It looks like lots of fun.”

“Are you sure, I thought I saw-”

“Believe me, it’s nothing interesting.”

“O-Okay,” Rumble reluctantly gave in, fluttering his wings a few times before flying back to his friends in the air.

Scootaloo wiped away the sweat from her brow with a sigh of relief. She motioned to Sweetie Belle as she made her way back to the forest. All of a sudden, Rumble quickly flew by Scootaloo, spinning her around.

“Rumble, stop!” Scootaloo called out in vain.

Rumble flew blindly into the shadows and right into something adamant. Dazed, the young colt’s vision slowly came back to him as he stood up. Looking up, he came eye to eye with Sweetie Belle. Her metal body shone in the setting sunlight as her mechanical eye glistened. Rumble reeled back in horror, his face contorted in fear. Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to try to say something to calm the pegasus down, but nothing came out. Rumble screamed bloody murder while flying as fast as he could back to town. The rest of the pegasi looked down at Scootaloo with confused and terrified looks.

Scootaloo froze up for a moment as she tried to fabricate something to say. “WOLVES!!” she yelled out.

A panic slowly started to spread among the pegasi before they were all flying back to town screaming, scaring away any lingering earth ponies and unicorns in the field. Quickly, Scootaloo ran back to Sweetie Belle.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here before they come back with half of Celestia’s royal guard,” Scootaloo joked in a serious tone.

“But where to, Scootaloo? I can’t just parade into Ponyville like this, that’s the whole reason Applebloom ran off,” Sweetie Belle said.

“I know, which is why we’ll move along the side of the forest and get closer to Sweet Apple Acres.” Scootaloo explained, “Then I can make a run to the house and find out just what the hay happened.”

“Oh, okay. Sounds good,” Sweetie Belle agreed before the two set off.





Applebloom’s eyes shot open. “Ah don’t have time to sleep!” she shouted to herself, reaching up to take the bag of ice off her face. However, it was not there. 

She sat up and looked around; maybe it had fallen off during that short nap. As she searched, she noticed it was considerably darker in her room. Quickly, Applebloom looked out the window; the sun was just barely visible over the horizon. In a panic, Applebloom fumbled for her alarm clock, it wasn’t where she had left it. She spotted it sitting back on her bedside table. She reached over and turned on the lamp that was next to the time telling device. Grabbing the clock, she held it in the light to see the time. She nearly dropped it out of shock; it now read 6:23pm.

“Oh… ponyfeathers,” Applebloom mumbled. She threw her hooves over her mouth, she had never swore like that before. It came so naturally, though. Maybe she was spending too much time with Granny Smith. The old mare would sometimes forget she was talking to a filly. 

Applebloom looked over her shoulder at her blue painted closet; she had to make a decision now. She through her covers off and briskly walked across the room. Opening the doors, she yanked one of the dark cloaks from its rack. She held it in her hooves, her heart racing, still unsure of her decision. She heavily weighed her options, letting each choices conciseness run through her head one last time. Making her final choice, she looked up with determination on her face.

“Ah’m sorry, Applejack, but this is just too important,” she thought aloud.

Quietly, she made her way to her bedroom window. Pulling up on the wooden frame, Applebloom easily opened it up and was greeted by the coolness of night. She reached inside her toy chest that sat against the wall just to the right of the window. She pulled out a rope and tied it to one of her bed posts before tossing it outside. She walked up to the edge, ready to descend. But before she could, the rope straightened out. Applebloom gawked at it in confusion for a second. She loomed over the side of the windowsill. To her surprise, she saw Scootaloo dangling halfway up to her bedroom. The pegasus had the rope wrapped around her hooves and was climbing the house like a mountain.

“Scootaloo?” Applebloom whispered, puzzled. She leaned over the side and grabbed her friend’s hooves, pulling her into the bedroom. “What are ya doin’ here?” 

“I should be asking you the same question,” Scootaloo whispered angrily, “You said you’d be back in no time.”

“Things happened… Look, it’s a long story.”

Scootaloo looked over Applebloom’s shoulder, seeing the bed in its current state. “Were… were you napping?” Scootaloo whispered loudly.

“Ah’ll tell ya tomorrow at school, just get Sweetie Belle ta Twilight,” Applebloom instructed, shoving the cloak into Scootaloo’s face.

Suddenly, the sound of hoofsteps moving up the stairs reached Applebloom’s ears.

“Go, go,” Applebloom said while pushing Scootaloo along.

Scootaloo gripped onto the rope and quickly scaled back down to the ground, immediately hauling tail into the apple orchards. Realizing there was no time to pull the rope back up into the room; Applebloom untied its knot and threw it out of the house. Before she was able to close up the window, her bedroom door creaked open. Applebloom looked to the doorway and saw her big sister holding a tray of food in her jaw. Applejack walked into the room and set the platter on the bed.

“Good ta see yer awake,” Applejack greeted her little sister, “Whatcha doin’ by the window, Applebloom?”

“Oh, just gettin’ some fresh air,” Applebloom responded, leaning her face closer to the open window.

Applejack saw right through the lie, but decided to disregard it.

“Well, food’s hot n’ ready,” Applejack informed before heading to the door. “Give me a holler when yer done,” she instructed, closing the door as she exited into the hallway.

Applebloom looked back outside; she could vaguely see Scootaloo running through the apple orchard.

“Good luck, girls,” Applebloom prayed.  





Twilight Sparkle flipped the page of the book she was enjoying before taking a sip of tea.  It wasn't every day that the library was this peaceful. She had the whole house to herself; Spike was off helping Rarity with some gem collecting and the place was closed on Sundays. This was absolute bliss for Twilight. Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door.

“Come in,” Twilight called out, readjusting her glasses with her magic.

The doorknob turned and the fashionista, Rarity, entered. Spike was fast asleep on her back, his snoring filling the room.

“Good evening, Twilight,” Rarity greeted in her typical, elegant manor.

“Hello, Rarity. How’d the gem farming go?” Twilight asked.

“Oh it went swimmingly, darling. But poor dear Spike fell asleep when we made it back to the boutique,” Rarity explained, nuzzling the snoring baby dragon, "I came here to bring him home." 

Twilight couldn't help but slightly frown at those last words. The thought of her quiet night being altered by Spike's snoring upset her. However, she didn't want to feel like she was burdening Rarity. Instead, Twilight let out a small chuckle, “Oh Spike. He was up all last night helping me reorganize the books.”

Rarity easily saw through Twilight's facade, “Speaking of books, I can see you are in the middle of one right now. If you want I can take little Spike off your hooves for tonight.”

“Oh Rarity, you don’t have to do that.”

“No, I insist, Twilight Sparkle. It’s always nice to have a night just to yourself every once in a while.”

“Well, if you insist… Ok Rarity, thanks.” 

“It is no problem, Twilight. Goodnight, enjoy your book,” Rarity concluded as she made her way to the door.

“Goodnight.”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Rarity remembered, stopping in he tracks, “You wouldn’t have happened to come across Sweetie Belle recently?”

“No, I haven’t seen her all day. Why?”

“Mother and Father are preparing dinner and they wanted me to remind her to be home by seven o’clock. If you happen to see her tonight, would you mind letting her know?”

“Sure thing, Rarity. I’ll let her know if I see her.”

“Thank you, Twilight. Well, goodnight… again,” Rarity giggled as she walked out the door.

“Goodnight,” Twilight responded, waving goodbye.

Rarity closed the door behind her and all was quiet again. Twilight sighed gratefully as she looked back down at her book. But before she started reading again, she decided to a look up and check the clock. The time read 6:46pm. Satisfied, she turned her attention back to her book, excited to dive back into it. She had almost finished four pages before there was another knock at the door. She looked up at the time; it hadn’t even been five minutes since Rarity was here. Sighing, Twilight sat up straight and regained her composure.

“Come-” Twilight started but was interrupted by the door flying open and slamming against the wall. “-in.”

There in the doorway stood Scootaloo and a pony about the same size, shrouded in a cloak.

“Hello, Scootaloo and…” Twilight paused, trying to determine who the hooded pony was.

“It’s me,” Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“Oh. Why are you wearing a cloak, Sweetie Belle?” Twilight questioned.

“Is anypony else here?” Scootaloo asked, dismissing Twilight’s question.

“No, why?”

Scootaloo did not respond. She simply shut the front door.

“Sweetie, why are you wearing a cloak?” Twilight reiterated.

“It'll be easier I just show you. Do you promise not to tell?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I promise,” Twilight assured.

“Pinkie Promise!” Scootaloo demanded.

Sighing, Twilight went through the motions, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“Ok. Sweetie Belle, are you ready?” Scootaloo asked, turning towards her caped friend.

“Yes, do it,” Sweetie Belle instructed.

The decision was made; Scootaloo gripped the top of the hood. Twilight prepared herself for whatever she was about to see. With one swift tug, the cloak flew off Sweetie Belle’s body and landed on the cold wooden floor. There was no turning back now.



 


 

> A Piece of the Puzzle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle expected to see a lot of things under that cloak. She expected to see the effects of poison joke, an embarrassing pimple, or a wicked wasp sting. Maybe even leeches, a rash, or baldness. But not one single scenario she could come up with would ever amount to this. What was there in the library went against nearly everything Twilight had ever learned, it didn’t make any sense, it was impossible. Yet, there it was, standing before her very eyes. However, it’s not like the amount of knowledge and facts she possessed haven’t let her down before. But it only made it feel all that more surreal. 

The purple unicorn’s hooves instinctively dug into the pillow she was sitting upon, her mind was screaming at her. She could feel her brain throbbing against her skull as hundreds of reasons for this horrific situation swam inside her head, but none could make her believe, without a doubt, it was actually possible. All she could do was silently stare at the little filly as she fought a war within herself, the ticking of the clock constantly breaking the tension of silence. All of these factors created an unbearable tension in the air that made Twilight want to gouge her eyes out.  

Sweetie Belle, hope spread across her features, looked deep into the unicorn’s pair of wide amethyst eyes. She waited for the mare to suddenly stand up and give a long and detailed explanation for her condition, but no such thing happened. The prolonged silence crushed what was left of the mechanical pony’s spirit. If Twilight, the smartest pony in town, didn’t know, then who would? Her gaze slowly left the librarian and dropped to the floor, all of her optimism replaced by pessimism. Sweetie Belle could feel tears beginning to well in her good eye again as her vision blurred. She was angry because she wouldn’t be able to find out what she was. She was sad because she felt alone, being so different from everypony else. But above all, she was scared.  

Was her family actually hers? Was Rarity really her sister? Did they know? If they didn’t, would they accept her? Would she ever return to normal? Was she even the real Sweetie Belle? If not, where is the real one and why is she in her place? These questions began to resurface to the mechanical pony’s mind, having been pushed away ever since the incident in the Everfree Forest. She didn’t want to think about those possibilities, it only scared her more then she already was. But she couldn’t help it, she wanted answers, none of which Twilight, her only hope, could give.

Sweetie Belle silently sank back on to her haunches, leaning her horn against the wooden floor as she failed to fight off tears. Scootaloo rushed to her friend’s side and placed a comforting hoof on her back. The orange pegasus looked up towards the aghast purple unicorn with pleading eyes. Twilight stared back as she tried to grasp the situation that was unfolding before her. But she could not muster up the words to explain herself, every sentence she attempted to form died in her mouth. She could only sit there, motionless.

“Don’t give up hope, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo encouraged, patting her friend on the back “Twilight’s gotta know something, she’s just-”

“No she doesn’t, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she stood up and glared at the pegasus eye to eye.

“B-but, Twilight knows everything.”

“Well that’s obviously not true! Look at her!” Sweetie Belle barked, pointing at the unmoving pony, “She has no idea what I am! It would have been better if I never found out!” Sweetie Belle continued, “Then I could have lived the rest of my life without knowing I’m some sort of freak. Nopony else would know either. I wouldn’t have to fear myself or others for what they would do to me. There are too many questions without answers. Answers I feel I’m never going to get and it’s tearing me apart!” Sweetie Belle continued with a woeful look, her tears threatening to overwhelm her. “Like you said before, Scootaloo; ‘How am I supposed to know if I’m the real Sweetie Belle or not?’ The real Sweetie Belle could be on the other side of the planet. For all I know, she could be dead. Why am I in her place? Is my family even mine to love? W-Why am I… I…” she said before she could not speak through her sorrow any longer.

“Hey,” Scootaloo began, placing a hoof on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder, “you’re going through a lot, Sweetie Belle. But you won’t have to face it on your own,” she paused, lifting the mechanical unicorn’s head till their eyes met. “We’re here for you, me and Applebloom. We won’t abandon you. It’ll be hard work, but we’ll find those answers, together. I promise you on my life.”

Sweetie Belle took in her friend’s words gratefully, allowing a small, comforted smile to spread across her face. However, it wasn’t long till the tender expression faded away. “I just want things to go back to the way they were,” she spoke longingly.

Suddenly, before anypony could act, white sparks flew from the gash in the side of Sweetie Belle’s steel skull. Scootaloo automatically backed away, shielding her eyes from the unforeseen light. When her vision came back, her knees locked up and she froze. 

Scootaloo stared in disbelief, not wanting to accept that something more could go wrong today. “S-Sweetie Belle…” Scootaloo stammered, “Y-Your head’s on FIRE!!”

“W-what?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked, swinging her neck towards a nearby mirror. There she could see a blaze quickly growing in size and ferocity on her mane. Without the rain to extinguish the originally small flames the wires caused, there was nothing stopping the broken machinery from catching her inflammable mane on fire. The unicorn filly let out a scream of terror as she thrashed about, trying to put out the flames. Scootaloo sprinted into the kitchen to get something to put out the fire.

The panicked situation that was playing out in the library snapped Twilight out of her bewildered state. Her instincts kicking in, the mare jumped out of her seat and her horn lit up in its signature magenta aura. Orbs of magic quickly swallowed up the flames and smothered them out. The magic faded almost as quickly as it appeared, revealing the damage that had been done. A good amount of Sweetie Belle’s mane was burned away in the blaze. The parts that remained were scorched heavily.

Sweetie Belle felt like she was going to throw a tantrum from all the events that had happened today. The mechanical filly shrunk to the floor and crawled under the discarded cloak. Standing up, she flipped the hood over her head and tied the string holding it together, not wanting to look at herself anymore. 

Scootaloo came galloping out from the kitchen with a medium sized glass of water clenched in her teeth. Seeing that the problem was solved, the pegasus slowed down to a walk before coming to a full halt. With a sigh of relief, she gently set the glass down on the floor before looking up at Sweetie Belle with a calm expression. The cloaked crusader turned towards the orange pony with a solemn look on her face. Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow as the glass of water caught her attention.

Scootaloo laughed nervously before explaining. “Sorry, Sweetie Belle, it’s all I could find. Um… ya thirsty?” she joked with a quickly dying chuckle, her attempts to lighten the mood having failed.

Sweetie Belle dismally looked back at Twilight with sadness clearly displayed on her face. To her surprise, the lavender mare no longer sat staring blankly. Instead, the unicorn wore a truly concerned expression now that her mind was no longer at war with itself. Twilight breathed in deeply to keep her mind calm and any logical thoughts at bay, for now. Slowly, she made her way across the room till she was just a foot away from the mechanical filly. With her magic, Twilight pulled back the hood that hid Sweetie Belle’s injuries, she was ready to speak.

“Sweetie Belle…” Twilight began, “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know what this is. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Sweetie Belle began to lower her head, those words struck her hard. However, before she could be consumed by her emotions again, Twilight lifted the filly’s chin. “But perhaps we can find out, together. Can you please tell me exactly what happened?” the mare asked.

Sweetie Belle sighed, not wanting to relive her experiences today; however, she knew she had to. “It’s a long story,” Sweetie Belle started, “It all started with another crusade. You know that Mythical Creature Encyclopedia you let Scootaloo borrow? Well, we thought it would be another good chance for us to earn our cutie marks. So we read about a few of the monsters in there and decided to try to catch this thing call an orthrus.”

Scootaloo pulled said book out of her saddlebag while she made her way to Sweetie Belle and Twilight. Flipping to the proper page, she dropped the book on to the ground. “See?” she said as she pointed at the illustration of the twin headed beast. 

“After a week of preparing, we decided to go looking for one in the Everfree Forest,” Sweetie Belle continued, “But, as you can see, things didn’t turn out so well.”





Applebloom impulsively pushed a couple of peas around her dinner plate with a fork, her mind wondering vastly. She had barely touched the meal; she didn’t even want to think about eating after everything that had happened today, despite her protesting stomach. Sighing, Applebloom stood up and pushed herself off of her bed. Planting her hooves on the wooden floor, she roamed over to the window and lifted up on its wooden frame, opening it up again. Immediately, the crisp coolness of night brushed against her coat, driving a tingling sensation through her body. Leaning against the sill, the farm filly gazed out at the lights of Ponyville that glowed in the dark sky.

Even though Applebloom was able to get the cloak to Scootaloo, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t do all she could. Not to mention, she couldn’t stand not knowing what the situation was with Sweetie Belle right now. She could still need her help for all she knew. Should she have gone along with them anyway? “Did Ah make the right choice?” Applebloom thought aloud.

“’Bout what, young’un?” an old voice sounded from behind the filly.

Applebloom nearly jumped out of her skin from the unexpected question. Quickly jolting around, her eyes fell upon a familiar, wrinkly figure standing in the doorway.  

“G-Granny, h-how long have ya been standin’ there?” Applebloom asked, worried.

“Long enough,” Granny Smith responded as she walked into the room, glancing at the nearly untouched dinner plate on the bed. Applebloom sighed, knowing she’d have to spill the beans again. There was no way she could slip something like this by the old mare. “What’s the matter, Applebloom?” the old mare asked.

“W-Well… Scootaloo an’ I got inta another fight, in the Everfree Forest of all places. We were…”

“Applejack already told me everythin’ ya told her,” Granny smith interrupted, “Ah know it’s the truth, but Ah don’t think it’s the whole truth. Ah know you’ve gotten inta little scuffles with her before an’ goin inta the forest ain’t nothin’ new to ya, either. So what’s causin’ ya so much grief, Applebloom?”

“Y-You wouldn’t believe me if Ah told ya.”

“Ah’ve been around for a very long time, Applebloom. Ah’ve seen the unbelievable many times.”

“Ah... don’t think Ah have the right ta so what it is, anyways.”

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s very personal to her an’ Ah don’t think she’d want everypony to know about it.”

“Who? Scootaloo?” Granny Smith speculated before moving the tray of food onto Applebloom’s dresser.

Feeling that keeping any questions regarding Sweetie Belle out of the conversation would be the best course of action, Applebloom decided that she needed to do just that, even if it meant lying to her grandmother. “Y-Yeah, Scootaloo,” Applebloom answered nervously.

“Ah see. Is this ‘secret’ of hers the reason why the two of ya fight?” Granny Smith asked as she took a seat on the edge of Applebloom’s bed.

“Ah…” Applebloom paused, processing the old mare’s question thoroughly. “Actually, Granny, A-Ah don’t really know why we’ve been fightin’ so often,” she confessed.

“Are ya sure ya can’t thank of anything?”

“Well, Ah start ta get a little upset when she starts sayin’ things that aren’t true.”

“Are they about you, Applebloom?”

“Not all the time, Granny. But… Ah think most of the time Ah’m the one who starts trouble,” Applebloom admitted as a worried expression crept onto her features.

“Oh?”

“Ah would look for little things in the stuff she says ta get mad at her for, an’ for no good reason, too. Granny, what does that mean?” Applebloom asked, moisture forming in her eyes. “D-Did Ah almost lose her friendship?”

“Oh come here, sugarplum,” Granny Smith said, seeing her granddaughter’s distress. Applebloom trotted across the room and received a gentle hug from the elder pony. “There, there. No need ta get yerself all worked up. How did it all end this time?”

“W-Well, we apologized to each other after our fight,” Applebloom sniveled, climbing onto the bed and sitting next to her grandmother. “We really meant it this time, too. We hugged it out an’ let all our aggression go.”

“Why are ya gettin’ so upset then, Applebloom?”

“It’s just… it scares me ta think how close Ah came to losing her. Ah don’t wanna lose her. Is it normal for friends to fight like this, Granny?”

Granny Smith let out a small chuckle, Applebloom looked up at her, confused. “Ah guess ya can call it an Apple Family Tradition,” she explained, “Your mother did the exact same thing when she was your age.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she sure did. She met a pegasus named Cloud Bumpkin in school. They connected real nicely; however, they still argued and pushed each other around here an’ there. But even with their hiccups, they still turned out the best of friends. Yer sister was also the same way with Rainbow Dash, too.”

“Ah never woulda thought that. Did you ever have a friend like that, Granny?”

“No, Ah didn’t. Yer great grandpappy never really liked me ta hang around with different pony folk that often. After a lot of convincin’, he finally gave in an’ let me visit with a pony that’d you’d know as yer Grandfather. Did ah ever tell ya the story about how we first met? Why, it was our first year celebrating Winter Wrap Up…” Granny Smith began. Applebloom slightly cringed. She knew it was too late, there was no way she could stop her granny now. She was in for a long story. “But, that’s a story for another time, Applebloom.”

Applebloom looked at the elderly mare, surprised that she hadn’t continued. A silence fell upon the two, allowing each to think their own thoughts and prepare for what was going to happen next. Applebloom knew that Granny Smith wouldn’t stop one of her stories for just anything. Whatever made her stop had to be of the utmost importance. Applebloom’s mind began to wonder at the possibilities of what it could be, even though she felt she knew what it was already.

“Applebloom,” Granny Smith spoke, gaining the fillies attention, “Is Scootaloo the real reason why you’ve been so upset?” Applebloom froze. She knew her grandmother would see through her lie, but she had nothing to say in return. The red-maned filly lowered her head dejectedly, slowly shaking it left to right to confess her wrong doing. “So, is it Sweetie Belle?” Granny Smith asked. Applebloom nodded in response. “So, what happened with her?”

“Ah… Ah… Ah can’t say, Granny,” Applebloom said, turning away from her grandmother, “It’s somethin’ Ah don’t think everypony should know...”

“Ah understand, Applebloom. Ah’ll leave ya ta yer thoughts if ya wish.”

“Yeah… Ah think that’d be best…”

With that, Granny Smith gently brought herself off of the bed. Before heading to the door, she glanced over at Applebloom with a concerned look. 

“Ah hope ya find a way ta ease yer troubles, young’un,” the old mare uttered.

“Me too, Granny. Me too,” Applebloom concurred before her grandmother made her way across the room, taking hold of the now cold tray of food as she passed it. Setting the meal on her back, she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

With a heavy sigh, Applebloom turned her attention back out the window. She watched the populated part of Ponyville as her imagination ran wild, thinking of the worst possible outcomes coming to life. She couldn't help but think of such horrible scenarios, not knowing was pure torture.





“…After that, we made our way here,” Sweetie Belle concluded.

Twilight had been listening carefully throughout Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s story, looking for anything that seemed to stand out, aside from the fact that Sweetie Belle was a machine. The purple unicorn tapped her chin as she dug through every amount of knowledge stored in her brain. Yet, she still was unable to make heads or tails of this whole dilemma. None of it made any sense; it was all fiction to her. Suddenly, something clicked in her head. It was small spark of light in a void of darkness, but she knew there was something there. All this was clearly displayed on her features, catching the fillies’ attention.

“What is it Twilight? Did you figure it out?” Sweetie Belle asked with excitement in her voice.

Twilight racked her brain, there was something she was leaving out and she knew it. But what was it? None of her memories based on facts and science offered any answers, so instead she searched through her memories of fiction, something she rarely does. There was a small connection there, a story, no doubt. A tale passed down from generation to generation originating from rumors around a group of foreign ponies visiting Equestria. Then, it hit her. ‘Fiction’, that’s what she needed to look for all along. Quickly, Twilight bolted across the room to the books organized under the ‘Fiction’ category.

Scanning over the books titled in alphabetic order, she easily found the novel she was searching for. Pulling the book from its shelf with her magic, she levitated it over to the center table. Setting the navy blue hardcover down on the wooden table, she beckoned the fillies to come closer. The book was titled ‘The Living Metal’ while the author’s named remained anonymous. 

“’The Living Metal’,” Sweetie Belle read, “Is this going to help us figure out what this is all about?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight responded, “but it’s all I could think of.”

“Then I guess it’s worth a shot then.” Scootaloo added in before noticing the thickness of the book, her determined look being replaced by a grimace one. “Um, this book is way too big for us to read in one night. Maybe we should just read the preview thingy,” she suggested, flipping the book open.

“You mean ‘the synopsis?” Twilight corrected.

“Yeah, that thing.”

“Unfortunately, there is no synopsis in this book. Thankfully, I’ve already read it before. I’m sure I can give you a brief description.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s hear it.” Sweetie Belle urged.

“Okay, so the story starts out with a university accidently receiving a large crate from an unnamed country. Curiosity getting the best of some of the older students, they sneak the crate to the institution’s science lab after everypony else had gone home. When they open the crate, they find a large, pony shaped, metal figure in it. It gave them the chills just to look at it. Nailing the box back up, the students made their way home until the next day. When returning in the morning, they were horrified to see-”

All of a sudden, Twilight was interrupted by the front door of the library flying open and slamming against the wall. Spinning around to face the intruder, Twilight’s face was nailed by a carmine red hardcover book.  The unicorn staggered backwards from the sudden collision, her vision a mess. Sweetie Belle galloped to the other side of the room, hoping not to catch the infiltrator’s attention. Twilight managed to sustain herself after a few seconds of wobbling around, her nose hurt like crazy. Looking down at her hooves, she was able to see what book was hurled at her.

“’Daring Doo and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, are you freakin’ kidding me!” shouted a scratchy voice. Twilight raised her head to see the speaker. There in the doorway stood a pegasus with a cyan coat and a rainbow streaked mane and tail. It was none other then Rainbow Dash, a very displeased expression on her face. 

“R-Rainbow, what are you-”

“After a whole series of totally awesome books, it all had to end on THAT?!” Rainbow Dash spat, walking across the room. Scootaloo rushed over to the wide open door, quickly closing it to avoid drawing any more attention to the library.

“While I agree it wasn’t the best of the books, it still has its fair share of g-”

“No, Twilight. This is just unbelievable how bad this one is. They should have called it ‘Daring Doo and the Nuclear Snorefest’!”

“Now, I don’t know how nuclear bombs work, but that seemed like a very reasonable way to-” 

“Nukes don’t work like that!”

“Rainbow, as much as I’d love to hear you rant about griffon weapons of war, now isn’t a good time. I’ll gladly continue this conversation tomorrow. It’s late.”

“Late? It’s not even seven-thirty.”

“Erm… early to bed, early to rise.”

“Ok… that was really lame, even for you, Twilight. Alright, what’s the deal?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving the unicorn an unamused look.

“W-What’s the deal with what?”

“You’re totally hiding something, and I’m gonna find out what,” Rainbow Dash explained before looking around the room. Easily, she spotted the hooded Sweetie Belle standing in the corner. “What’s with the cloak, kid?”

“U-Um… I-It’s a little chilly outside,” Sweetie Belle responded, keeping herself casted in shadows.

“Well, I don’t know how you can see with that thing in your face,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at the hood shrouding the filly’s head. 

“Oh, I can see just fine,” Sweetie Belle fibbed with a nervous chuckle. The silence that followed was filled with a strong sense of doubtfulness that flowed from the multicolor-maned mare. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were like knives ready to jab at the filly at any moment, only if there wasn’t a hood blocking her view. The pegasus shot glances at each of the other ponies occupying the room before quickly growing bored.

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash snorted as she made her way back to the entrance of the library, “You all are acting weird, I’m just gonna go home.” 

Once she heard hoofsteps heading away from her, Sweetie Belle lifted up her hood enough to see. She watched as the pegasus reached for the handles on the burgundy red door. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash froze, not sure if she was seeing things right. She had spotted something out of the corner of her eye; the mirror’s reflection. Slowly, her red-violet eyes began to focus on the hooded filly in the glass surface. Her cyan legs began to quake and her breathing quickened, she was absolutely terrified.

Quickly realizing she had made a terrible mistake, Sweetie Belle yanked her hood back over her face, hoping the daredevil hadn’t gotten a good look at her. Unfortunately, in her haste, she pulled the fabric right into her horn, ripping the hood in half, rendering it unusable. With her disguise ruined, Sweetie Belle’s robotic face was completely visible to everypony in the library. The filly looked at Rainbow Dash nervously, scared and unsure of what will happen next. The mare slowly turned around to face the mechanical pony, her expression that of a scared filly. Without a word, Rainbow Dash swung back towards the door, gripping its handles.

“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight called out in an attempt to stop the pegasus from doing anything hasty. Rainbow Dash relaxed her muscles, leaving only her right hoof gripping one of the handles.

“J-Just fix all the wires b-but the brown one,” Rainbow Dash said through erratic breathing. Without giving anypony time to question her, she flung the front door open and ran off into the night, leaving the ponies in the library with even more questions. Scootaloo, worried, watched as her idol flew out of sight in a matter of seconds. Closing the door again, locking it up this time, the young pegasus walked back to the center of the room.  

“W-What just happened?” Scootaloo asked, “I’ve never seen Rainbow Dash so freaked out before.”

“I… I can’t say for sure, but her fear may have come from some sort of childhood trauma,” Twilight speculated, concerned, “But the wires…Sweetie Belle, will you please come here into the light?” 

Complying, the mechanical filly walked closer to Twilight so her mechanical features could be viewed in proper lighting. Moving the shredded hood out of the way, the brainy unicorn took a close look inside the gash in Sweetie Belle’s metal skull. There, multiple wires could be seen, three of which were severed. The three wires were each differently colored green, purple, and brown.

“H-How did she know?” Twilight questioned to herself.

“There’s a brown wire?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yes, it’s also split. So Rainbow also somehow knew it would need repairing.”

“But she said not to fix it,” Scootaloo reminded.

“I know, I know. But it just makes me wonder how she knows all this. Whether she likes it or not, I’m going to have to find out what she knows about this.”

“What do we do then?” Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“What Rainbow said is the only thing we have to go off of. Do you want me to fix the other wires, Sweetie Belle?”

“I say we should give it a try, Twilight. I’m ready whenever you are,” Sweetie Belle responded. 

With that, Twilight nodded her head in acknowledgement, ready to begin the procedure. Her horn quickly lit up with magic as the green and purple wires were surrounded in a magenta aura, the tips of each strand matching up to their corresponding color. With one flash of light, the wires fused back together, looking as if they were never damaged in the first place. The ponies all stayed silent as they watched and waited for something to happen.

“How do you feel, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked out. 

The pegasus patiently waited for an answer from her friend, but it never came. Instead, her ears were greeted by the cruel silence that had plagued her throughout the day. Sweetie Belle wasn’t showing any signs of life, her legs were locked in place, while a blank, emotionless stare was stuck on her face. She didn’t blink, nor appear to be breathing; it was almost as if she had become a statue. It wasn’t long before anxiety crept up on Scootaloo again; the feeling made her sick to her stomach. 

“Sweetie Belle?” Twilight called out as the filly’s paralyzed state persisted. 

The librarian received the same response of silence. Just before the mare was about to check the wiring again, a low hum began to emanate from Sweetie Belle’s body. Then, a dim light began to flicker to life from the bulb of the filly’s left eye. The light gradually started to grow till the entire bulb was illuminated, displaying a color that matched that of her right eye to a T. Soon enough, the humming faded away and the mechanical unicorn began to blink again.

Sweetie Belle was completely distorted, everything felt odd to her. Taking a moment to compose herself, she slowly turned her head around the room, adapting to these new feelings. As her eyes skimmed over the various books that sat on the shelves, the titles seemed to jump out at her now. Normally, the titles of the books would be very difficult to read from this distance and lighting, but when she focused on them, they appeared crystal clear. The names sprawled on the each book’s spine even lit up in a lovely green glow.

“Whoa!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, slightly startled by the sudden change. But all that quickly turned to curiosity as she gawked at all the things she was able to see.

“What is it?” Scootaloo asked. The pegasus’ voice sounded extremely clear in Sweetie Belle’s ears, far better than ever before. She quickly turned to her feathered friend, eager to answer her question. But before she spoke, she spotted a green box over Scootaloo’s head with ‘SCOOTALOO’ spelled out inside it.

“D-Do you see that?” Sweetie Belle asked pointing at the box. Scootaloo, with a quizzical expression, looked up to where her friend was pointing. However, nothing appeared any different from before.

“See what?”

“Your name; it’s spelled out above your head. Yours too, Twilight.”

“Hmm, and you’ve never been able to see this before?” Twilight questioned.

“Mm-mm” Sweetie Belle responded, shaking her head.

“Hmm, I wonder what the brown wire could do.”

“Should we fix that one too, then?”

“No, I don’t think we should do that till we know exactly what it does.”

“Alright,” Sweetie Belle concurred before looking around the room again, reading every word that popped out at her. Inadvertently, her eyes crossed over the open copy of ‘The Living Metal’. Within a millisecond, Sweetie Belle had read the entire first page of the book. She shook herself, caught off guard by this new information she found in her memory. Curious, the filly walked closer to the table. Flipping to the next page, she immediately absorbed all the words that the collaborated papers held.

“Sweetie Belle, I don’t think that’s going to hold the answers you’re looking for, it’s just fiction,” Twilight spoke up, “I think our most reliable source will be Rainbow Dash.” Ignoring what the studious pony said, Sweetie Belle quickly flipped to the next pages and learned everything on them before the paper had even settled. Suddenly, an idea sparked in her mind.

“Hey, Twilight. Could you flip through all of the pages to the end of the book, please?” Sweetie Belle requested.

“Uh… sure. But I really don’t think there’s anything back there,” she responded as she began to do just what the filly had asked. 

Thousands upon thousands of words flew by Sweetie Belle’s eyes as the pages turned rapidly in front of her, bringing her deeper and deeper into the story with every passing second. Finally, she reached the book’s endpaper, many different emotions flowing through her body. A saddened expression enveloped her face, her mind understanding what she had just read.

“See? There’s nothing there,” Twilight pointed out, staring at the blank endpaper. Noticing the filly’s silence, the mare looked over at her, quickly seeing her sad look. “S-Sweetie Belle, I’m sorry it wasn’t what you were looking for.”

“No, it was exactly what I was looking for,” Sweetie Belle corrected.

“What do you mean?”

“I… I read the whole thing.”

“Wh…? How is that possible? I thought you hadn’t learned any magic yet.”

“I didn’t use a spell, Twilight. My new ‘features’ let me do it.”

“Oh… I see. Sweetie Belle, I want you to know that all of that stuff in that book isn’t true. Okay? It’s all make-believe.”

“I-I know, Twilight. It just scares me to think that I could hurt other ponies like that.”

“Like what?” Scootaloo asked.

“Sweetie Belle, you are nothing like that,” Twilight assured.

“Like what?” Scootaloo reiterated.

“I hope so, Twilight,” Sweetie Belle prayed.

“Like what?!” shouted Scootaloo, feeling left out of the conversation.

“It’s… grim, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle explained, “I don’t want to talk about it.”   

“Ok, I get it, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo understood, slightly disappointed.

After that, the ponies grew quiet and the library was silent yet again. This allowed Twilight some time to contemplate what connections Rainbow Dash could have to this. However, she was snapped out of her focus by the itching feeling that she was forgetting something. It was something important, but yet it didn’t necessarily have any effect on her. It was a request from someone else, a friend. Then, it clicked. She was supposed to tell Sweetie Belle to be home by 7:00pm. But how could she? After everything that happened to the filly today, there was no way Twilight could put any more pressure on her. Not to mention, Sweetie Belle was in no condition to see her family.

“Oh no, I was supposed to be home by seven,” Sweetie Belle suddenly said, looking up at the clock. Twilight sighed, feeling like she put herself under more mental strain for nothing.

“Hold up. There is no way you want your parents to see you like that, Sweetie Belle,” voiced Scootaloo, pointing at the unicorn filly’s exposed robotic body.

“I know, Scootaloo. But I don’t want to worry them any longer. Besides, maybe by the time I walk home it’ll have fixed itself,” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Well… then I’ll just have to lay it on them lightly. I can’t keep this from them forever.”

“But what about your cloak, I don’t think parading around Ponyville like that is a good idea.”

“If you’re really sure about this, I could try to fix it for you, Sweetie Belle,” Twilight offered, “I have a basic sewing set upstairs.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Sweetie Belle replied, removing the torn cloak from her back.

“Ok then,” Twilight acknowledged, levitating the fabric away from the filly’s hooves. The librarian made her way up to the stairs to her bedroom where she kept her sewing equipment. Grabbing a needle and black thread, she quickly pulled the split fabric back together. It wasn’t a Rarity quality fix, but it was enough to get Sweetie Belle home. Quickly trotting back down the stairs, she put the hood and cape back on the filly, readying her for her trip across town.

“I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, Twilight,” Sweetie Belle remarked to the mare before turning towards the door, “We should probably go.”

“Good luck, Sweetie Belle,” wished Twilight.

“Thanks, I’ll need it,” Sweetie Belle replied as she carefully pulled the hood over her face. Scootaloo unlocked and pulled open the front door, leading her friend outside after giving Twilight one last thankful look. The mare nodded her head understandingly as she watched the door slowly close back up, leaving herself alone in the library again.

“I really hope this fixes itself, I just want this to be over,” Sweetie Belle confessed with a sigh.

“Yeah, I hope so, too,” Scootaloo concurred before checking which direction they needed to go. “C’mon, this way,” she instructed as she grabbed her blinded friend’s hoof, directing her down the proper streets of town. The girls walked quietly through the dark Ponyville, the light from homes illuminating their path.

“Hey Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“Yeah?” Scootaloo responded.

“I just wanted to say, thanks. You and Applebloom have done so much for me, even after everything that’s happened. Neither of you gave up hope.”

“We’re here for you, don’t you ever forget it.”

“I know… I know.”

“Oh, Sweetie Belle! There you are!” came an elegant, familiar voice. Sweetie Belle gulped the moment she heard it, easily recognizing who its owner was. 

“H-Hi, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle stuttered, not ready to run into her sister. The beautiful unicorn trotted over to the fillies, happy to hear her younger sibling’s voice.

“I have been galloping all over town looking for you. Where have you been? Father and Mother were growing oh so worried. So was I.” 

“Sorry, we ran into some obstacles,” Sweetie Belle explained as her older sister drew closer.

“Well, you’re here now, so it’s time to…to… Dear Celestia!!” Rarity shrieked, stopping Sweetie Belle’s metaphorical heart, “Why are you wearing something so dreadful?!”

“Oh… I…um…” Sweetie Belle stammered, not sure what to say.

“No, no, no. This just will not do,” Rarity announced. Her horn lit up in an azure blue, forming an aura of magic covering the cloak. By the time Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo realized what was happening, it was too late. With a small burst of magic, Rarity untied the cape and lifted it off the mechanical filly’s body, levitating it into the air. Sweetie Belle faltered back and squinted her eyes shut in anticipation for the storm she was about to receive. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a poor sewing job, no pony should have to wear something so hideous,” uttered the fashionista, “I’ll turn this old thrashed thing into a masterpiece, just for you, Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie Belle slowly opened one of her eyes, unsure she heard right. Looking at her older sister’s face, she saw no signs of disgust or fear within her majestic blue eyes. Confused, the filly stood up straight and gave Rarity a quizzical look.

“What’s wrong, Sweetie Belle? Don’t you want a new cloak?” Rarity asked. 

Quickly, the unicorn filly looked down at her hooves. Her front legs stood side by side, appearing completely identical to one another, not even a single scratch on them. They looked exactly how she remembered them from this morning. Slowly, she brought a hoof to the left side of her faces, immediately feeling the softness of her coat she had been missing from that spot. A warm smile began to spread across the filly’s lips as tears of joy formed in both of her eyes, blurring her vision slightly. Swiftly wiping her eyes, Sweetie Belle looked back up at her older sister with a happy grin on her face, an ocean of grief and fear draining away.

“Yeah, that would be nice, Rarity. Thank you,” Sweetie Belle responded.

“Glad to hear, Sweetie Belle. Now then, we shouldn’t keep Father and Mother waiting any longer. I’ll escort you home to make sure you don’t run into anymore ‘obstacles’ along the way.”

“Okay, sis.”

“Hey, Sweetie Belle, now that things are in order, I think I’m gonna split from here,” Scootaloo spoke up, “It’ll be easier for me to get home this way.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Yeah, see ya tomorrow, bye,” Scootaloo responded.

“Bye,” Sweetie Belle reciprocated with a farewell wave. Scootaloo gave one last nod before turning towards her destination and running off. The feathered filly felt bad for leaving before she brought Sweetie Belle home, none-the-less she was relieved that her friend at least looked herself again. With the departure of the pegasus, the unicorn siblings were left alone in the empty street.

“So, shall we go?” Rarity asked, slinging the poorly sewn cloak over her shoulders.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Sweetie Belle agreed. With that, the sisters began their gait through the still town, side by side.

“So, Sweetie Belle, did you do any crusading today?” Rarity asked, hoping to have a nice chat with her little sister.

“Yeah, we did. But none of it went as planned.” 

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Nah, it was really dumb.”

“Oh, okay Sweetie.”

Shortly after, the sisters fell into a silence as they continued their walk to their parents’ home. Sweetie Belle let her eyes wander; scanning over each house she passed by. Looking through the windows, she saw ponies of all ages and races sitting together, enjoying dinner and telling stories about their days. Friends and family members were all gathered to bask in each other’s love and company, it was so joyful. Sweetie Belle envied them, it had been a long time since her entire family had had dinner together, despite living so close. 

“Hey, Rarity?” Sweetie Belle spoke up as their destination came into view.

“Yes, Sweetie Belle?” Rarity responded.

“Are you going to be staying for dinner tonight?”

“I’m afraid not. I have far too many dresses to complete. Not to mention, I have a certain baby dragon on my hooves.”  

“Oh…” Sweetie Belle replied, dropping her heading. 

“I am very sorry, Sweetie. I know how much you love it when we’re all together, but it has gotten very difficult for me to find time with my busy fashion career. I will have much more time after I deliver those dresses to Manehattan next week. I’m sure we can schedule a day after that.”

“O-Okay.”

“But… if you can’t wait that long, I suppose I could take you to Manehattan with me.”

“Ohmygosh, I’ve always wanted to go there! Do you really mean it?”

“Of course I mean it, Sweetie Belle. The two of us haven’t been spending much time together as of late.”

“Oooh, I can’t wait! Thank you, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle squealed as she wrapped her hooves around her older sister in a cheerful hug.

“Oh my stars, Sweetie Belle, you’re freezing! We must get you home immediately,” Rarity exclaimed, taking the filly by the hoof and pulling her along. Quickly, the ponies reached the front door of their parents’ home, Rarity eager to get her sister into the warm building. “Now, you should hurry and get yourself bundled up before you catch a cold. I’d love to stay and chat, but I simply do not have the time. Please, give Mother and Father my regards.”

“Ok, Rarity. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity responded with another hug. 

Leaving her sister’s embrace; Sweetie Belle walked up to the house’s entrance and reached up for the handle on the brown wooden door. Turning the knob, the door slowly creaked open and the smell of an extravagant meal filled her nostrils. But it didn’t smell appetizing to her, even with an empty stomach. Stranger still, she didn’t even feel hungry at all; the concept of eating didn’t interest her. Sighing, the filly calmly stepped into the house, wanting to do nothing but lay in her bed. Peering over her shoulder, she looked at Rarity one last time before gently closing the door. Oddly, the house was dead quiet.

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Sweetie Belle called out.

“We’re in the dining room, honey!” her mother responded cheerfully. 

Sweetie Belle slowly walked across the plush living room carpet until she reached the dining room doorway. Her Father and Mother sat next to one another at the center table; the furniture’s exquisite design was always a pleasure to see. Three untouched plates of food sat on the wooden surface, each prepared in an elegant manner. Her mother’s cooking always looked like a work of art, she sometimes felt bad for eating it.  

“Hi, sorry I’m late,” Sweetie Belle apologized.

“It’s alright, no need to be sorry, the food’s still hot.”

“Actually, Mom, I’m not really in the mood to eat.”

“But it’s potato rajas and avocado tacos, your favorite.” 

“I know, but I’ve had a real crazy day. I just want to go to bed. Is that ok?”

“Oh… okay, Sweetie Belle. Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it’ll make you feel better.”

“No Mom, I really don’t. I’m just going to go to my room now,” Sweetie Belle said before making her way to the stairs, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Sweetie Belle’s parents responded with worry in their voices, troubled by their daughter’s odd behavior. 

Sweetie Belle slowly ascended the stairs, each step causing the boards to creak beneath her hooves. Reaching the second floor, she immediately saw her parents’ bedroom to her left. She remembered spending some nights in there when she was really little after having a bad dream. To her right was another set of stairs that led to the third floor, which would bring her to her destination. Rounding the safety railing, she began to climb the second set of steps. Making it to the top, she was met with a purple door. Turning the golden knob, she pushed open the door that led to her room. 

Immediately, Sweetie Belle was welcomed with the comforting atmosphere of her dark bedroom. Entering the tranquil area she promptly turned to her right where a bed with pink comforters waited. Softly closing the door, she trotted up to the luxurious bedding and slipped under them, covering herself in the material. Laying her head back on the heart patterned pillows; she stared up at the design on her ceiling, allowing her mind to settle down. She slowly closed her eyes and waited for the blissfulness of sleep to take hold of her.

However, the events that took place today continuously replayed in Sweetie Belle’s mind, no matter how much she tried to ignore them. The fear she felt when being chased by the manticore, the sensation of her skin being torn away from her body, the horror she experienced when viewing her reflection, everything she had read in that book, it all had begun to break her down. She was able to keep up her strength with her friends and family at her side, but without them the miserable unicorn was helpless against the cruel wrath of reality. 

Tears of agony streamed from Sweetie Belle’s eyes as she relived every moment of the day over and over again, it threatened to drive her insane. She pressed her hooves against her chest, feeling for the beat of her heart to try to fool herself into believing she was like everypony else, just long enough to bring her into the realm of sleep. But she never felt a pulse, not a single drop of blood was flowing through her body, leaving her colder than stone. She curled up into a ball, slowly rocking herself, as she sobbed into the pillows she rested her head upon.

“Hush n-now… q-q-quiet now, it’s t-time to lay your s-sleepy head,” the filly quietly sung, “Hush now, q-quiet n-now… it’s time t-to go to bed…”