Winter Fare Springs Scare
Ponyville, Equestria...so quaint, so bold, so desirable, so...so...misunderstood. Not everyone knows of the gruesome story that constantly goes on in this sweet, little, innocent looking town. The adults may look sweet and innocent, but they all play significant roles in this horror show. Little colts and fillies? Well, they play victim here. Something has been going on here in Ponyville for a long, long time now and nothing can be done about it. Just like how the Pegasus ponies get away with sheer mass murder, the ponies in Ponyville get away with a gist of the same loaf of bread - meaning that they get away with the exact same thing, more or less.
This peculiar story starts inside the Ponyville Elementary School. Here, we see Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all paying close attention to what Miss Cheerilee has to say to the class.
"Don't forget, my little ponies," Miss Cheerilee says, "tomorrow is the annual Winter Wrap Up. If you want extra credit, please stop by and help out and I'll give you one extra point. Remember, you get one point per hour and can only get a maximum of five points added to your grades."
"Winter Wrap Up is tomorrah already?" Applebloom quietly asks Sweetie Belle. "Feels like win'er jus' started."
"I know," Sweetie Belle replies, "I can't believe how fast winter passed either."
"Another winter gone," Scootaloo sighed, "another cutie mark-less season..."
"Ah'm sure we'll git our cutie marks by nex' win'er, Scootaloo," Applebloom smiles, "we can't go our entire lives without no cutie mark."
"Maybe we can," Sweetie Belle glumly spoke.
"We won't," Applebloom encourages, "this'll be our year to get our cutie marks!"
Applebloom then held out her hoof in front of both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, the trademark that says that the Cutie Mark Crusaders will try their best to obtain their cutie marks, whatever they may be. After giving each other interesting glimpses, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both bumped Applebloom's held out hoof, agreeing that this will be their year to finally realize their destinies.
"Come on, y'all," Applebloom continues, "this'll be our year to finally get our cutie marks."
"You're right, Applebloom," Scootaloo says.
"This time, next year," adds Sweetie Belle, "we'll no longer be blank flanks."
"That's more like it!" Applebloom smiles.
Shortly thereafter, the school bell rings, thus terminating the school day in entirety for today. Miss Cheerilee dismissed the little colts and fillies for the day, all of which rushed out of the door to the school, happy that the weekend was finally here. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were some of the last of the fillies to leave the classroom, closely followed by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. These two fillies had heard everything the Crusaders had discussed not even five minutes ago and were teasing them about the idea.
"You three think that you'll get your cutie marks this year?" Diamond Tiara asks in a bratty way.
"Puh-lease!" Silver Spoon adds. "You'll be lucky if you ever get them!"
Applebloom grew furious. The Crusaders were always picked on by the two fillies and it always hurt them internally. Being put-down like that on a consistent basis surely isn't a hoot. In the heat of the moment, Applebloom defended her actions, as well as her friends, against Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
"We'll get 'em," she shouts.
"Yeah," Scootaloo adds, "nopony ever goes through their life with no cutie mark."
"Everypony gets one at some point in their life." Sweetie Belle inserts.
"Everypony but you three." Diamond Tiara snickers, turning to her gray-colored friend, whom was chuckling away. "Bump, bump, sugar lump, rump!"
Not wanting to argue, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all left for their clubhouse, wanting to derive a plan to help try to obtain their cutie marks for tomorrow. They had tried nearly everything, from zip-lining to potion making and from carpentry to chicken retrieval, failing in each one of the attempts. They have come close a few times – the Gabby Gums column in the Foal Free Press – but still have flanks that are blank.
"Those two really bug me..." Scootaloo says.
"Don't let it get to ya, Scootaloo," Applebloom replies.
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle adds, "they're just blowing some hot steam."
"But it does get annoying after a while, right?" Scootaloo reimburses.
"It does," Applebloom replies, "but it'll all become rotten apples eventually."
"Rotten apples?" Sweetie Belle squeaks.
"I think she means that it'll all lose its meaning in the long run." Scootaloo suggests.
"Exactly!" Applebloom smiles.
The other two Crusaders smile as well as they rapidly approach their clubhouse, which housed the Cutie Mark Crusaders as well as the Rainbow Dash Fan Club. The three little fillies entered into the unique clubhouse and turned on the light. It's been in better shape and has been home to plenty of ideas in these last few years ever since the ownership was transferred from Applejack to Applebloom. Now, the clubhouse gets all the action with these three fillies.
"So what are we gonna try for in cutie marks tomorrow?" Sweetie Belle asks.
The three fillies look around at each other for quite some time. After some tense silence, Scootaloo starts to offer a suggestion. It seems to be a tad farfetched in her mind, but still, it seems like a very valid point.
"How about cutie marks in soccer?" Scootaloo sheepishly asks.
This idea got Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to raise some eyebrows. The two thought about it for a while, wondering what the cutie mark of somepony would be like for soccer. A soccer ball? Or perhaps a net. Maybe both? Who knows?
"That...sounds...well, interesting," Sweetie Belle slowly speaks, "but...umm..."
"It sounds fun, really," Applebloom adds, "but how would we do that?"
"Easy," Scootaloo answers, "we get a ball, and-"
"I mean," Applebloom interrupts, "what would we have to do?"
"If you'd let me finish," Scootaloo replies, "I'd tell you. We get a ball, set up two goals and try to do something from there."
"Sounds easy..." Sweetie Belle comments.
"Sounds awesome!" Scootaloo shouts.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders soccer..." Applebloom says quietly out loud.
"Can you imagine the cutie marks we'll receive?" Sweetie Belle fantasizes.
"I can see them now..." Scootaloo smiles, closing her eyes and joining Sweetie Belle in her fantasy.
Applebloom rubs her neck with her hoof and wants to join in the fantasy, but can't see herself having a cutie mark in soccer. Not wanting to disappoint her friends though, she decides to go through with the idea. She looks out the window and notices the sun that is setting over the mountainside. The day has simply gone by all too quickly. None of the three fillies had taken note as to how late it was getting.
When Sweetie Belle saw the moon begin to rise, she excused herself from her friends and then politely started to leave the clubhouse and head back to the home she shared with her older sister, Rarity, the Carousel Boutique. Scootaloo and Applebloom both did the same as the two little friends also left the clubhouse for the night and traveled back home.
"Night, y'all," Applebloom yawns.
"Goodnight, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle replies, "Goodnight, Scootaloo."
"Night, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo says, "night, Applebloom."
"Hopefully we'll have our cutie marks this time tomorrow." Sweetie Belle jokes.
"One thing's for sure," Applebloom chuckles, "win'er is over tomorrow..."
"Yeah," adds Scootaloo, "so much for winter."
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both smile before parting ways for the night. The three each went their separate ways for the night, ready for a long, long day ahead of them tomorrow.
Since the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse was on Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom arrived home in literally no time at all. She noticed that the hose wasn't properly put away, so before entering her home, Applebloom put the hose away entirely, then looked up at the bright full moon that was up in the sky tonight. Tonight was the third Friday in the month of March and the date was March 19. There was inches upon inches of snow that lay all around on the ground and on the roofs. By tomorrow, the area around Sweet Apple Acres and the roofs of nearly all the buildings in Ponyville would be cleared of the snow.
"Applebloom?" Applejack, the middle child in this family, asked. "Whaddya doin' out here?"
"Lookin' at the moon, Applejack," Applebloom replied.
Applejack looked up and also gazed at the large, bright white circle in the sky. She had never really gotten to do this while she was Applebloom's age or, really, at all. The moon was hypnotic, beautiful, amazing, awe inspiring, and simply gorgeous, and both Applejack and Applebloom knew it. Applejack neared her younger sister and wrapped a hoof around her.
"Ain't it beautiful, Applejack?" Applebloom asked.
"Sure is, Applebloom." Applejack replied. "How was your day? How was school?"
"School was fine, Applejack," answered Applebloom, "Miss Cheerilee told us if we want extra credit, to come by the school tomorrow and help out in the Winter Wrap Up of the school."
"Y'all are passin' wit' flyin' colors, right?" Applejack added.
"Ah'm passin' jus' like apples getting bucked from a tree." Applebloom smiled.
"There ya go." "Applejack chuckled. She looked back at the house and saw Granny Smith motion for them to come on in. She then turned back towards Applebloom. "C'mon now, sugar cube. We gotta long day tomorrah. Let's get some sleep."
Applejack then started for the door, slowly being followed by Applebloom as well. The two sisters entered the home, them shut the door. Moments later, the lights flickered off and everyone in the home soon went to bed for the night. Tomorrow, they would have to put in their all as they shoveled and plowed mounds of snow away from the pathways and fields of Ponyville.
The wind blew, some final snowflakes fell from the sky, and all seemed okay as the citizens of Ponyville fell asleep on this, the second-to-last day of winter this year.
The next morning, Applebloom got up earlier than usual and snuck out of the house. Today was the big day – the Winter Wrap Up – but she wanted to see her friends first before the wrap up officially began. The crusading was supposed to be after the Winter Wrap Up officially ended, but Applebloom just wanted to make sure that they were still going to perform the soccer tidbit afterwards.
Applebloom made her way to Sweetie Belle's home – the Carousel Boutique – along the main street within Ponyville. Ponies of all kind were lining up the street with their shovels, readying themselves for the long wrap up that was mere hours away.
"Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up~" Applebloom heard ponies singing.
Smiles were all across the faces of each and every pony Applebloom passed by in the street, herself included, as she finally approached the Carousel Boutique. Knocking on the door, she saw Sweetie Belle answer it moments after, delighted to see Applebloom early in the morning.
"Mornin', Sweetie Belle," Applebloom happily obliged.
"Good morning, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle delightfully replied, "what bring you here so early in the morning?"
"Ah wanted ta see if you still wanted to do the soccer thing later..." Applebloom meekly spoke.
"We might as well try it," Sweetie Belle advised, "I mean, it may be a little odd, especially for us, but it's better to at least try, right?"
"Ah know," Applebloom replied, "but Ah can't see myself havin' a soccer-type cutie mark. Can you?"
Sweetie Belle thought about that for a while. "Honestly, no." She finally answered. "I want to follow in Rarity's hoofsteps and become a fashion designer, but I can't even see that. I'll never be as good a fashion designer as Rarity is."
"Nonsense, Sweetie Belle," Rarity called from inside the Boutique, trotting up to the front door, "if you keep practicing, you will most certainly get better."
"You really think so, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle smiled.
"But of course," Rarity replied, "but you have such a lovely singing voice. Why don't you try for a cutie mark in singing, darling?"
"I...you know I don't like singing to other ponies in public, Rarity." Sweetie Belle blushed. "I can't get over my stage fright."
"You just need to take baby steps, Sweetie Belle," Rarity comforted.
"Yeah," Applebloom added, "just look at how Fluttershy did it."
"Exactly," Rarity continued, "she had trouble with stage fright, but she is learning to get over it. All it takes is little baby steps. You will certainly get over it if you keep confronting your fear of fright."
"Maybe so," Sweetie Belle squeaked, "but I'll do that when I know I'll be ready. For now, I want to continue having fun guessing my destiny."
"To each their own, Sweetie Belle," Rarity smiled, giving her little sister a hug before disappearing back into the Boutique to prepare for the Winter Wrap Up.
"So," Applebloom continued, "Ah'll see ya later, Sweetie Belle."
"See you later, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle replied, "have fun wrapping up winter with Applejack."
"Same with ya an' Rarity," Applebloom answered as she started to head on back home.
Sweetie Belle smiled as she watched her Earth pony friend walk away for the time being. She turned back inside and shut the door, preparing herself for the long day ahead of her today. Applebloom, on the other hand, trotted along the streets of Ponyville, taking the long way back home. On the way, she heard so many ponies singing and whistling, all sharing smiles and happy to finally wrap up the last cold three months.
In the midst of the singing and whistling, there was one pony who was running a muck, trying to get some help and, by the looks of it, get it that very moment. Applebloom couldn't recognize this pony from afar, so she began to approach them cautiously. Mere moments later, Applebloom recognized the pony. This pony was Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara's father. He was going around town, frantically trying to get someone's help in trying to locate his missing daughter.
"Applebloom," he noticed, rushing up to her.
"Y-yes?" Applebloom replied.
"You must tell me," he continued, "have you seen Diamond Tiara anywhere? She's gone and I don't know where she is!"
"Uh...n-no," Applebloom answered, "Ah haven't seen her anywhere."
"Oh, how terrible," Filthy Rich sighed, "thanks anyway, Applebloom."
"Ah'm sorry," Applebloom awkwardly said.
"Diamond Tiara?" Filthy Rich called as he left Applebloom. "Diamond Tiara!?"
"She just got up an' left?" Applebloom told herself. "That's odd."
Applebloom thought nothing more of the situation as she continued her way home, unknown actions being replaced by cheerfully singing ponies. She tried to smile while returning home, but couldn't come up to the task. Minutes later, Applebloom found herself walking along the fence to Sweet Apple Acres and could see Applejack, her older brother Big Macintosh, her grandmother Granny Smith, and a few other ponies lining up outside of the barn, getting ready to plow and shovel snow out of the way.
Applebloom could see Applejack waving at her in the distance and started to rush over to them. Applebloom had been late coming home, thanks to Filthy Rich running into her, looking for Diamond Tiara. That action still clouded Applebloom's mind, namely, why on earth would Diamond Tiara simply disappear from her own home? She's spoiled rotten (right down to the core) and it would make barely any sense for her to simply disappear or, worse case scenario, run away from home...would it?
Applebloom tried to place the thought of Diamond Tiara's disappearance in the back of her mind, but wasn't able to do so fully. She was even too distracted to perform her duties in the wrap up, lucky enough to have some other pony cover for her. Applebloom, thankful that someone else finished her work for her, decided to talk to Applejack about the sudden disappearance of Diamond Tiara.
"Applejack?" Applebloom sheepishly asked.
"Applebloom," Applejack replied, showing signs of surprise in her voice, "aren' you s'pose to be workin' in the fields right now? Wha's the matter, sugar cube?"
"Well," Applebloom sighed, "it's just that, this morning, Ah ran into Filthy Rich an' he told me that Diamond Tiara is gone."
"Gone?" Applejack questioned. "Ya sure ya di'n't hear him say somethin' else?"
"He told me that Diamond Tiara is gone, Applejack," Applebloom defended herself, "honest!"
"That don't make no sense, Applebloom," Applejack continued, "Filthy Rich is one of the richest ponies in Equestria. Why would Diamon' Tiara disappear an' run off somewhere?"
"Ah don't know, Applejack," Applebloom said, "but it di'n't make sense to me neither!"
"Don't let it get to ya, sugar cube," Applejack comforted, wrapping a hoof around her petrified younger sister, "Ah'm sure she'll turn up somewhere."
"Ah sure hope so..." Applebloom replied, overlooking the other ponies finishing up the wrap up.
Hours have since passed since the Winter Wrap Up had officially ended. All around Ponyville, each and every pony was finishing up, making things neat and tidy for the first day of spring. Applebloom has gone out and met up with both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in a field located on the far end of Sweet Apple Acres so that they could try out the soccer idea Scootaloo had previously brought up. Each of the three friends were setting up for their attempts, but Applebloom seemed to be too distracted to establish and maintain a type of focus, making Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle wonder what the matter was.
"What's wrong, Applebloom?" Scootaloo asked.
"You seem down." Sweetie Belle added.
Applebloom looked with heavy eyes at her two friends – her two very, very different friends, all sharing only one common bond, which was being a blank flank. She sighed, then turned around to face the peculiar landscape design that was behind the farm.
"Ah'm jus' worried, Ah guess," she replied.
"Worried?" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "About what?"
Applebloom decided to explain what happened earlier this morning to her two best friends. "Ah saw Diamon' Tiara's father earlier today-"
"Filthy Rich?" Scootaloo interrupted.
"Yeah," continued Applebloom. She gathered her chain of thought for a quick second before continuing, "and he told me that Diamond Tiara is gone."
"Gone?" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both questioned at precisely the same time.
"Yeah," Applebloom confirmed, "but what Ah don't get is that Filthy Rich is a rich pony. Why would Diamond Tiara disappear out of nowhere?"
"Beats me," Scootaloo scoffed, "but why is that really bothering you?"
"If at all," Sweetie Belle added, " shouldn't you be fine. I mean, this is Diamond Tiara we're talking about here, you know."
"Ah guess Ah can't stand to know that somepony is gone and might've had somethin' bad happen to them," Applebloom explained, "even if that pony is Diamond Tiara."
"What do you think happened?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Honestly," Applebloom said, turning around to face her friends, "Ah don't know. Ah don't know, but Ah want to find out, and Ah want to find out with you – my friends, my fellow Crusaders. Whaddya say? Cutie Mark Crusader detectives?"
"Detectives, eh?" Sweetie Belle thought.
"Sounds like it could be fun," Scootaloo added. "Let's do it!"
Sweetie Belle smiled at Scootaloo's response, as did Applebloom. The three friends bumped hooves with each other before running off down to the edge of Ponyville. Applebloom figured that, had Diamond Tiara actually run away, she would have probably run off somewhere out of town.
Stranger things have happened in this quaint, little town, but for some reason, the crusaders opted to search for Diamond Tiara in the Everfree Forest. If at all, this would be the last place to search for Diamond Tiara, but, you know what they say, "That which you look for is most likely in the place you least expect it to be." So, what are the odds that Diamond Tiara would be somewhere inside the Everfree Forest? To Applebloom, highly probable; to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, not so much.
"I still don't get why we're searching the Everfree Forest for Diamond Tiara first," Scootaloo commented.
"Yeah," added Sweetie Belle, "it just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, Applebloom..."
"Ah jus' got a certain...feelin' about this, y'all," Applebloom defended against her decision to search the Everfree Forest first, "jus' trust me on it."
"Uh...we trust you, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo responded.
"Y'all don't sound too thrilled." Applebloom noticed. "Are y'all alright?"
"Fine, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle squeaked.
"Same here." Scootaloo added. "It's just that...y'know..."
"...we are going into the Everfree Forest." completed Sweetie Belle.
"Ah know this seems dangerous and hard," Applebloom encouraged, "but Ah know that we can do it. After all, we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the three of us will fight till the end."
"I guess you're right, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle spoke, still showing signs of fear in her voice.
"So let's go already." Applebloom pressed, eager to start the detective work.
Applebloom was the first to enter into the Everfree Forest, closely being followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The three fillies carefully proceeded further into the forest, making sure that they would not get lost in the process. The further the three crusaders progressed into the damp, mysterious forest, the darker, more scarier the surrounding area became. The only thing that kept the three fillies from fully going insane was the light that had emanated from Zecora's peculiar tree home. Once the light became too dim to see anything, however, Sweetie Belle took over and provided some light, using her magic that Twilight helped develop.
The lovely, luminescent yellow-green light coming from Sweetie Belle's horn had lit up the area just enough for the three crusaders to continue their pursuits into the forest.
"That light is sure provin' to be helpful, Sweetie Belle," Applebloom praised.
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle replied, "I'm thankful to Twilight for showing me how to do this. Who would have thought that this would prove to be so useful."
"Very," Scootaloo added, "I just wish I could fly on my own for once." She flapped her tiny wings rapidly, trying her hardest to take off from the ground, but not managing to do so.
"It'll come, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle replied, "you just have to be patient."
"Said the unicorn that just learned to perform magic..." Scootaloo heaved under her own breath, fortunate enough to know that neither Applebloom now Sweetie Belle had picked it up.
"Wait, y'all," Applebloom called, noticing something just up ahead from where they were, "wha's that?"
The three crusaders rushed up ahead to whatever was in their path. As they got closer, each filly's speed significantly slowed and slowed until it reached a halting point. What was ahead on the road below them was truly disturbing.
"Oh, sweet Celestia!" Sweetie Belle shrieked.
"O-I think I'm gonna be sick..." Scootaloo added.
Applebloom stood silent as she gazed upon the object in front of her. On the ground was a body, covered in blood stains and missing several limbs, appearing as if they were all cut off and tossed away. The body was roughly the same size as each of the crusaders' bodies and was tickled pink. Through the red stains of blood, Sweetie Belle noticed that this "pony" had a cutie mark.
"I-It's..." she began.
"It's a..." Scootaloo shuffled, unable to finish her sentence.
"A diamond tiara..." Applebloom finished. "It's Diamond Tiara!"
Diamond Tiara, who had lacked the legitimate item that she is named after, was left mauled, beaten, and cut up on the side of the path deep within the Everfree Forest. The three crusader friends were deeply disturbed seeing Diamond Tiara's mauled body simply laying here. Suddenly, they began to hear some faint speaking going on in the distance. Applebloom was the first to shake off her trance and alerted her other two friends that they needed to hide quickly. They all jumped into the nearest bush and had not said a single peep while hiding. Sweetie Belle dimmed her horn and all was dark. The faint speaking slowly got louder and louder as the seconds passed. Seconds...seemed like minutes, hours, years, even decades to these shocked friends.
"Dere's da body." One voice said. This voice was a deep, masculine type of voice.
A second set of hooves hitting the ground sounded while the crusaders were trying their best to not be noticed in the bush the ponies were mere inches from.
"How'd ya manage ta drop it?" a feminine voice spoke. "Ah mean, it ain't like she weighed uh ton, y'know."
"Shuddup!" The first voice barked. "Y'know, ya coulda helped wid da body! All you did wuz hold dem hooves!"
"And how'd ya expect me to help ya with the body?" the female voice questioned. "Ah ain't a darned unicorn, ya know!"
"But you is a strong Earthy." The male voice claimed.
"So are ya!" The female voice replied. "Now hush up...ya never know what ya can find way out here."
"You hush up!" The male voice shouted.
"Jus'...jus' pick up the body and let's get the hay outta here!" The female voice ordered, sounds of annoyance showing up in her voice.
The stallion heaved Diamond Tiara's mauled body over his back as the two suspicious ponies hustled away, further into the forest. The crusaders had watched and heard everything that just occurred and the only thing they could really pull from this was that Diamond Tiara had been brutally murdered and one of the ponies that was just presently here was a "strong Earthy," according to the stallion, and had a deep southern accent. The crusaders waited for just a little while longer before deciding on their next move.
"I-I'm scared, you guys," Sweetie Belle squeaked.
"I say we go back home and forget all of this!" Scootaloo added.
"Right there with y'all!" Applebloom shouted, rushing back to the sanity of Ponyville, closely followed by her two friends.
The three little blank flanks ran all the way to Ponyville and did not stop there. They ran into town and ran to the safety of their clubhouse and immediately slammed and locked the door behind them. They all tried comforting each other as best as they could, but to no avail seeing how what was seen could not be unseen. Nobody deserved to be killed in that way, no even someone as mean and cold-hearted as Diamond Tiara, even if she – along with Silver Spoon - did make fun of the crusaders for being blank flanks.
Not a single word was spoken by any of the fillies for the remainder of the day. Even when day turned to night, they refused to leave the safety of their clubhouse, which caused Applejack to come and intrude, trying to see what the problem was.
"Applebloom?" She knocked on the door. "You in there? It's me, Applejack."
"A-A-Applejack?" Applebloom squeamishly asked.
Applejack couldn't hear Applebloom's quiet response. Instead, she tried her best to comfort the filly that obviously would not come out.
"Is everythin' alright, Applebloom?" Applejack knocked. "Why don't ya open up the door and tell me what's wrong?"
"N-Not on o-our l-lives..." Scootaloo spoke faintly.
"C'mon Applebloom," Applejack knocked yet again, "Granny Smith says it's time ta c'mon back to the house."
The three fillies remained ever so silent, petrified for their lives, worried about their safety, worried for their sanity. Applejack eventually caved in and left the three fillies alone, at least for the time being. The fillies shook heavily and crowded into a corner, trying their best to unsee what they saw earlier today. Not even fifteen minutes later, Applejack had come back, along with Rarity and Big Macintosh. The three ponies had tried their attempts yet again to try and convince the three crusaders to come on out for the night and get some shut eye in the comfort and safety of their homes.
"Sweetie Belle, darling," Rarity called, "open the door, please."
Sweetie Belle was too scared to even offer a slight peep to her older sister, whom was peering her head through one of the windows of the clubhouse.
"Please let us help you fillies." Rarity offered.
The three fillies shakily responded with silence, deafening silence. They were too petrified to do anything and since the door was locked shut, the three ponies that stood outside the clubhouse couldn't get in at all unless they broke in, which was the last thing they all wanted to do, seeing how this clubhouse meant an awful lot to the three fillies.
"Applebloom," Applejack called, peering her head into another window along with Big Macintosh, "c'mon out and come home."
"Eeyup." added Big Macintosh.
Applebloom finally got some courage to at least shake her head instead of shivering in fear. She shook her head no at Applejack and reverted back to her original quivering in the corner.
"C'mon, Applebloom," Applejack muttered, "we can't help ya out if ya don't let us."
"Eeyup."
"Applejack has a valid point, you three," Rarity added, "if you would simply open the door, we could help you as best as we can with whatever it is that has you feeling so blue."
Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo found extremely little strength to finally get up and finally open themselves up to the three ponies that were outside of the clubhouse. They approached the door fairly slowly – taking only about a hoofstep every two seconds – but finally reached the door. Applebloom unlocked the door, then slowly proceeded to open it up, revealing Applejack, Rarity, and Big Macintosh in the limelight. The three older ponies looked at the three crusaders with empathetic looks.
"Thank you ever so much for opening that door, you three," Rarity quietly said.
"Wha's the matter, y'all?" Applejack asked. "Y'all look like you've seen a ghost!"
Applebloom shuddered, as did Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, as she slowly answered Applejack's notification.
"W-W-We saw..." Applebloom started.
"Saw what?" Applejack wondered.
"A dead body!" shrieked Sweetie Belle.
"A dead body?" Rarity scoffed.
"Y'all must be seein' things." Applejack assumed.
"But, it's true!" Scootaloo defended.
"We saw a dead body!" Applebloom added.
"And it was cut up." Sweetie Belle inserted.
"Sweetie Belle," Rarity comforted, "you didn't see anything. Your minds were just playing tricks on you three. You all have very overactive imaginations and you simply thought you saw what you think you saw. Let us assure you that you did not see a dead body of any kind."
"Over...overactive imaginations?" Scootaloo thought.
"But it looked so real." Applebloom claimed.
"Because you have active imaginations." Rarity repeated. "You three didn't see or hear anything."
The three crusaders didn't buy that remark for one second, but did opt to go back to their respective homes to try and get some sleep for the night. Something didn't seem to add up to Applebloom however, something that Rarity had said just before everyone split up and had gone their separate ways for the night.
None of us ever said somethin' 'bout hearin' anything, she thought to herself, thinking nothing more of it.
The next morning, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all had met up in their clubhouse and had decided to play it safe and attempt to find their cutie marks indoors today. After the horrifying events of yesterday, it'll be some time before these three sweet, little fillies could roam around town to themselves once more.
"Ah don't know y'all," Applebloom spoke, adding something to what Sweetie Belle had said earlier, "somethin' 'bout what we saw sure as hay didn't seem like it was all in our minds."
"Tell me about it," Scootaloo said, "and was it just me, or did what Rarity say strike something as odd to either of you?"
"I thought the same thing!" Sweetie Belle claimed. "I didn't think that what Rarity had said made any sort of sense...I mean, it did, but how she finished it struck me as odd."
"Yeah," Applebloom continued, "we never told her we heard anythin'. Do ya think that they know somethin' about this that we don't?"
"I wouldn't go that far, Applebloom," Scootaloo suggested, "maybe she said that by force of habit."
"Yeah," Applebloom lowly replied, "that could be a possibility, Ah guess..."
That being said, the crusaders tended to their usual gameplan of attempting to obtain their cutie marks by sundown for today.
Monday morning in Ponyville after a crazy, busy, and peculiar weekend, filled with the Winter Wrap Up as well as the "disappearance" of Diamond Tiara. Monday morning only means one thing for the little colts and fillies across the town, school. To Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, going to the schoolyard today felt like a job, but at least there they knew that they were with safe hooves in Miss Cheerilee.
"Let's try to put this strange weekend behind us, guys," Sweetie Belle suggested.
"I second that." agreed Scootaloo.
"We say nothin' to nopony," Applebloom spoke, "best that whoever doesn't know still don't know jus' yet."
The three entered into the classroom and noticed three empty seats, minus their own. One of the seats used to belong to Diamond Tiara, another one belonged to Silver Spoon, and the last one belonged to Pipsqueak, who had been absent the last week due to flu-like symptoms. Applebloom noticed that several of the classmates were down and some of them were even sobbing a bit. As she took her seat, Miss Cheerilee grabbed everyone's attention.
"Now, class," she began, "I know some of you already know, but to those who don't, over the weekend, two fillies – Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon – were pony-napped and killed later on in the Everfree Forest."
Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all shocked at the news Miss Cheerilee had just shared with them. They held their own against shedding some tears – considering the fact that both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were both pests to the crusaders – but couldn't help but shed a few.
"I know this is tough to take in," continued Miss Cheerilee, "but we must be strong and help out their families as best as we can. So today, instead of our usual classwork, we'll be attending the funerals of both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with their families, offering our condolences to them."
"Silver Spoon too?" Applebloom whispered to Scootaloo.
"That can't be a coincidence," Scootaloo replied.
"Girls," Miss Cheerilee scolded, "do you have something that you want to share with the class?"
"N-Not at all, Miss Cheerilee," the two fillies spoke out of fear.
"Then come along," Miss Cheerilee huffed.
Applebloom and Scootaloo, along with Sweetie Belle trotted along with Miss Cheerilee as the class walked out of the room to head on over to the funeral of both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
"What an unusual weekend..." Sweetie Belle commented as the three crusaders trotted along the road to their clubhouse.
"What an unusual funeral." Scootaloo insisted.
"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well," continued Scootaloo, "don't you think that it was weird how nopony really felt sad in the funeral, not even Diamond Tiara's or Silver Spoon's parents?"
"Ah thought that too..." Applebloom commented. "It felt...weird. Almost like they weren't sad at all."
"That's crazy, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle scoffed slightly, "I'm more than sure that their parents were deeply depressed. I mean, they just lost their own kids. I'm sure that...never mind."
"Ah ain't sayin' that Ah don't agree wit ya, Sweetie Belle," Applebloom replied, "Ah jus' sayin' that it di'n't really feel right."
"I'm with Applebloom on this one, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo added, "it simply didn't feel right."
"Whatever you two say," Sweetie Belle said, "but I'm just saying that they would be sad that there children had just died."
The remainder of the day was filled with the usual tidbit of crusading for the three friends, filled with the repetitive failure. The next day, the three friends had went to school and noticed the same two empty seats – one for Diamond Tiara and the other for Silver Spoon – and they also noticed that Pipsqueak had finally returned to class, feeling very much better. The day seemed to progress as any normal day would, with nothing being out of the ordinary. The rest of the week fared even better for the fillies and colts as nothing else was out of the ordinary. The fillies and colts tried their best to move on about the deaths of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and were even in for a surprise, seeing how a new Pegasus filly had joined the class. Her name was Golden Rod and she was a blank flank, just like the three crusaders, something that made the crusaders instantly befriend her.
Golden Rod, as her name suggests, is a golden colored Pegasus filly who, as mentioned earlier, has yet to discover her cutie mark and destiny in life. She is a bit on the bashful side, slightly resembling a younger version of Fluttershy, but when it comes down to being strong willed and confident, she will resemble Rainbow Dash perfectly. She is just a bit taller than Scootaloo is and has the capability of flying, but short-lived flights, not long ones like the older Pegasi can do. She originated from Cloudsdale and moved here after being constantly picked on in her old school for being a blank flank. When she noticed the crusaders and their kindness, at first, she was skeptical about it but, after the crusaders explained themselves, Golden Rod quickly learned to befriend them all.
"Why are you being nice to me?" She asked as the crusaders started walking to their clubhouse on this uniquely warm Friday afternoon.
The three fillies smiled, then turned around to answer Golden Rod's question.
"Cause you're a blank flank like we are." Scootaloo said.
"So?" Golden Rod wondered. "What does that have to do with any of this?"
"Us blank flanks have to stick together, y'know." Applebloom replied.
"And you're our friend," Sweetie Belle inserted, "we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, you know."
Golden Rod teared up a bit. "You three consider me your f-f-friend?"
"Course we do!" Applebloom answered brightly.
"Why wouldn't we?" Scootaloo said.
Golden Rod looked down out of shame. "Back home, I...I never really had friends..." She used her tail to cover up her blank flank. "I always got picked on for being a blank flank."
"We do too, Golden Rod," Sweetie Belle replied, "but they don't get to us because we have each other, and nopony can take that from us!"
"Really?" Golden Rod smiled.
The three crusaders simply nodded their heads as they entered into their clubhouse. Sweetie Belle took to a podium that was located on the far end of the room, while Applebloom and Scootaloo stood across from each other. Golden Rod continued walking down the center of the room, looking from top to bottom at the peculiar looking clubhouse. Her eyes grew wide with admiration as Sweetie Belle climbed to the top of the podium. Applebloom and Scootaloo both positioned themselves behind Golden Rod and a special ceremony – a ceremony that has taken place only one other time here – was about to start.
"We, The Cutie Mark Crusaders," began Sweetie Belle, "elect Golden Rod to join us..."
Meanwhile, Scootaloo quickly turned to Applebloom and pulled her over for a quick comment.
"So glad I revised that." she whispered to Applebloom, who replied with some slight chuckling.
"...fellow Cutie Mark Crusader." finished Sweetie Belle. "Do you, Golden Rod, accept to these terms?"
"Oh, most certainly!" Golden Rod replied.
With that said, Sweetie Belle revealed a Cutie Mark Crusader cape to Golden Rod and levitated it over towards Golden Rod with her magic. The cape matched that of the other three Cutie Mark Crusaders (and yes, even Babs Seed's) capes, right down to the last detail.
"Then welcome, fellow Cutie Mark Crusader." Sweetie Belle smiled.
Saturday morning. This could only mean one thing for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and that was to figure out their destinies. The only problem was that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were both away tending to some important family affairs. Well, at least Sweetie Belle was; Scootaloo simply tagged along while Applebloom stood behind with Golden Rod.
"So what should we do today, Applebloom?" Golden Rod asked cheerfully.
"Ah don't know..." Applebloom replied. "Hmm...how's about Ah show ya aroun' Ponyville, seein' how you're still new to town an' all?"
"That sounds good, Applebloom," smiled Golden Rod.
"Then let's git to it," Applebloom said, trotting off down the road.
Golden Rod smiled brightly as she flew after Applebloom and into Ponyville. Golden Rod looked up and down, left and right, and was deeply fascinated by the ponies, shopkeepers, and buildings that lined up and filled the streets. The first place Applebloom showed Golden Rod was Sugar Cube Corner, where they bumped into Pinkie Pie.
"Hey, Pinkie Pie," Applebloom smiled.
"Hey, Applebloom," Pinkie Pie replied, bouncing up in front of Golden Rod, "who's your new friend?"
Golden Rod cringed. "Uh...I-I'm Golden Rod."
"Hi, Golden Rod!" Pinkie Pie shouted, embracing the Pegasus filly in a warm, backbreaking hug. "I like that name because you're gold, and your name has gold, and gold is one of my favorite colors next to pink and you must also like pink because it is such a fun color to look at and makes ponies sooooo happy to look at and makes me smile *squee*!"
Applebloom chuckled and giggled. "Don't mind Pinkie, Golden Rod. She is just bein' her goofy self."
"What's that supposed to mean, Applebloom," Pinkie Pie smirked, playfully nudging at her bow.
"Y'all okay, Golden Rod?" Applebloom asked.
Golden Rod smiled and chuckled as she watched Pinkie Pie and Applebloom playfully nudge each other. "I'm fine," she finally said.
"Y'all don't have ta worry 'bout Pinkie, Golden Rod," Applebloom smiled in response, "she's a really fun and amazin' pony."
"Aww, thanks, Applebloom!" Pinkie Pie replied, hugging Applebloom tightly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way."
And, without any sort of warning, Pinkie Pie disappeared instantaneously, almost like how Twilight teleports to a different area with her magic. This sudden action startled Golden Rod and made her wonder where Pinkie disappeared to. Applebloom noticed this and filled her in about Pinkie's defying physics.
"It's somethin' we don't know," she started, "and really don't question. It's jus' Pinkie bein' Pinkie, really."
"Sounds...intriguing." Golden Rod replied.
"C'mon," Applebloom continued, "lemme show ya what else Ponyville has ta offer."
"After you, Applebloom," Golden Rod smiled.
Nightfall soon was upon the two newly found friends as they finished the tour of Ponyville at long last. The two went their separate ways for the night and tried getting some sleep after a long, fun-filled day, filled with meeting new ponies and seeing new places for Golden Rod.
Applebloom arrived home in roughly five minutes after telling Golden Rod good night and was greeted to Applejack the second she opened up the door. Something seemed off about Applejack; she seemed like she was in a bad mood or something.
"Applebloom," she spoke out, "where in the hay were you!?"
"Ah was jus' showin' my new friend 'round Ponyville, Applejack," Applebloom replied.
"Y'all know you're not s'posed to be out this time of night!" Applejack scolded.
"Ah was out later last week," Applebloom protested, "an' so were you!"
"That does it, lil filly," Applejack brutishly replied, striking Applebloom down with a hit from her hoof.
Applebloom looked back up at Applejack and was terrified. She kicked Appljack to the ground, then ran straight for her room, closing and locking the door behind her in the process. She collapsed on her bed and began crying. Something clearly wasn't right with Applejack; she would never strike Applebloom like that.
"Applebloom!" Applejack shouted. "You open this door right this minute!"
Applebloom was terrified, but not as terrified as she was last weekend when she saw Diamond Tiara's dead body. She looked over to the window behind her bed and a thought came whizzing by in her head. That thought, however, was placed on hold when Applebloom heard Applejack trying to kick down her door.
"Open this door right now, Applebloom!" Applejack shouted. "Ah mean it!"
The door was taking a beating from Applejack and her strong back hooves. Any second now, it would surely break off its hinges and break open. Applebloom shut her eyes, forcing more tears out of her eyes, then broke out of her bedroom window, crashing hard against the ground below her. Just in time too, seeing how the door to her room broke open and Applejack was hot on her tail.
"Get back here, ya lil vermin!" Applejack shouted.
Applebloom fared no attention as she brushed her pain away and started running away, straight into the Everfree Forest that was located nearby.
"Applebloom!" Applejack yelled, catching up to the slow running filly.
Applebloom really had nowhere else to go and so reverted to her last plan, which was to hide inside one of the bushes that were hidden in the pure black darkness of the Everfree Forest. She made sure as to not make a single peep or move a single muscle as Applejack slowly walked on by, trying her best to locate her prey, Applebloom.
Why're you actin' like this, sis? Applebloom thought to herself.
Silence fell for a long while afterwards. Applebloom peered her head over the bush she was hiding in and slowly and quietly left it and started going back to town. The only problem was that it was so dark in the forest, Applebloom didn't know which way led to town.
Which way do Ah go? She thought.
Rather than standing there and chancing herself with being caught by Applejack, Applebloom started walking to her left, down a new path that she didn't see Applejack travel down earlier.
Oh, Ah sure hope I'm goin' the right way...
Being an Earth pony, trying to navigate through a dark and mysterious Everfree Forest is a terrible thing. Poor little Applebloom here is too poor sighted to see where exactly she's headed, if she is even headed in the right direction for that matter!
Well, the good thing is is that Ah lost Applejack...
A few moments later pass and Applebloom stubs one of her hooves into something. It isn't a tree or a stump or anything like that, since it felt completely different than those items, but it did feel unusual. She looked down and saw a faint orange color on the ground. The orange appeared to have stains of maroon and also appeared to have strokes of white in them as well.
Lifting a hoof, Applebloom brushed a feather in the process, lifting that into the air as well. The feather closely flew by Applebloom and landed on her muzzle. She took it off and examined it closely. This feather was an orange color and appeared to belong to a Pegasus. Applebloom looked back down in a heartbeat when she found out that this feather was that of a Pegasus pony and began to closely examine what was on the ground in front of her.
"Sc-Scootaloo?" Applebloom stammered. "Th-that you?"
Applebloom raised a hoof shakily into the air and touched Scootaloo's body. The maroon stains felt like blood and Applebloom could feel wide holes along the side of Scootaloo's body, meaning that someone had cut her open and made her bleed to death. Applebloom broke down in tears when she concluded that Scootaloo had been killed, then remembered seeing a white color somewhere along her body. Applebloom focused her attention to the white color, then noticed a horn on the ground. She began to cry and sob uncontrollably when she concluded that this was Sweetie Belle that had been killed along with Scootaloo.
"N-Not you too, Swee*sob*tie Belle," Applebloom cried. She then heard some hoofsteps coming from behind her.
"Looks like ya found out!" The female voice from last week said.
Applebloom turned around and noticed that the female voice belonged to her older sister Applejack. Applebloom backed up and tripped over both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle as Applejack began to approach her, slowly pulling out a knife.
"Y'all weren't s'posed to find out!" Applejack shouted.
"Why, Applejack?" Applebloom cried. "Why?"
"Ah wasn't the only one, Applebloom," Applejack continued, "we were all in on it."
"We?"
"All the older ponies in Ponyville were in on it," Applejack continued, nearing Applebloom with the knife, "we knew you found out 'bout Diamon' Tiara an' Silver Spoon and tried coverin' it up. Ah even saw ya in the bush that first time. Rare here did this to Scootaloo an' Sweetie Belle. Now it's my turn!"
Applejack closed in on Applebloom and began to swing the knife through the air. Applebloom braced herself to get cut up by Applejack and shut her eyes tightly, quivering in the process. Odd thing was that the slicing never came, though Applejack did make a sort of grunting noise. Applebloom opened her eyes and noticed that Applejack had just gotten an arrow shot through her heart. Applejack looked down, then at Applebloom, then collapsed on the ground, dead from a pierced heart.
Applebloom looked beyond the location Applejack once occupied, but couldn't see anything but a little white light. Finally, the pony who shot Applejack revealed themselves to Applebloom. It was Golden Rod, who reached out and helped Applebloom up onto her hooves.
"How'd ya know?" Applebloom wondered.
"I heard you and Applejack and needed to help." Golden Rod stated.
"Y-you save my life..." Applebloom replied.
"It's what friends do for each other." Golden Rod responded.
"Ya got your cutie mark too..." Applebloom noticed. The cutie mark Golden Rod just obtained was that of a bow and arrow.
"No time for that," Golden Rod alerted, "we need to get out of here and get you to safety!"
Golden Rod then grabbed Applebloom's hoof as the two remaining crusaders ran off deeper into the Everfree Forest. They would continue running until they knew they were in a safe place, though they didn't know that when Applejack told Applebloom that all the older ponies were in on "it," she meant every single pony in Equestria. No matter where these two ran to, they would face the same thing they faced now, but they didn't know that...not yet, at least.
(A/N: I'd like to thank you for getting through this grimdark fic I've written. Truth be told, I actually wanted it to be a lot darker than it is but this will do for now. Anyway, the real reason for this note is that this was originally supposed to be a collaborative story but that idea never really fulfilled itself. I am just going to say that this story is mine and mine alone, but the idea originally came from my good friend Akumokagetsu, a really talented grimdark fic writer. You should check him out if you liked this story.
Another note, they're coming for you next! Better watch your back and not fall asleep at night if you want to stay alive!)