Note: I DO NOT own any of the ponies except for Lightning Bug, Thunderbird, Storm Cloud, and Torchlight.

Chapter 2: The Search for Firefly Intensifies

Around the same time, Moondancer, Glory, Majesty, Sunbeam, Twilight, Lickety-Split, and Lemon Drop happened to be walking toward that very same lake, talking happily amongst themselves. Moondancer was telling them a story about a dispute between Gusty and Wind Whistler.

"...and then Gusty said, 'Will you shut that big yappy hole under your nose?! I don't wanna have to go through life listening to a stupid dictionary yap all day!'" Moondancer said, which sent all the ponies bursting into laughter except for Glory and Majesty, who looked at each other with disappointed faces. Their faces didn't show disappointment for Gusty, but for Moondancer.

"Gusty just doesn't loosen up, does she?" Lemon Drop laughed. "I do kinda wish she'd stop being such a sourpuss all the time."

"Yeah! Being a sourpuss all the time makes you lose your ability to appreciate life and all the good things it offers us!" Sunbeam piped in proudly, her wide, emerald green eyes beaming.

Moondancer suddenly stopped in her tracks, surprised by Sunbeam's proclamation. "Whoa...I never knew you were a life lover, Sunbeam."

"Why shouldn't I be? I love everything! I love bunnies, butterflies, the sky, the flowers, the rocks, the river, the wind, the sunshine, everything!" Sunbeam edicted with a big smile on her bright, blue face.

"High hoof!" Moondancer edicted, raising a hoof for Sunbeam to hit, which she did. "I totally agree with you. To me, life is something you really shouldn't take for granted. You need to enjoy it! Live it like it's your last! Don't go through life being all grouchy all the time! I mean, seriously, Gusty's so grouchy all the time, I'm beginning to think she feels bogged down by her own grouchiness!"

"I really don't think it's nice to poke fun at someone's flaws, Moondancer," Glory said a little sternly. "I'm sure Gusty isn't grouchy all the time. We really shouldn't define her by one trait she has. Who knows? Maybe she has a kind side to her."

"I've seen it!" Lickety-Split edicted suddenly. "I've seen Gusty be kind!"

"Gusty? Kind? I can't imagine it," Twilight said.

"This one time, I saw her taking care of a little colt who was being bullied by some other colts, and she told them off. It was so cool! I'd never seen her be so brave before. I do kind of wish I was as brave as her," Lickety-Split explained.

"She's definitely one who loves standing up for what she believes in," Majesty said.

"Me too!" Moondancer piped in, raising her hoof again.

"Hey! This is the perfect place to practice our routine! Come on! Let's get down with it!" Sunbeam said.

"Hold on," Lemon Drop said, looking into the distance and becoming curious.

"What's up, Lemon Drop?" Moondancer asked.

"Is something wrong?" Majesty asked.

"I hear somepony crying," Lemon Drop whispered. "It's coming from the lake."

"Let's go and see," Lickety-Split suggested. Everypony nodded and decided to go to the lake to see who's crying.

It didn't take them very long to get there, and the closer they got to the source of the sound, the louder it got, and once the ponies got there, they would be quite surprised. The ponies finally made it to the lake, but the pony they least expected to be alone and wailing like a baby pony was there, as it turned out to be none other than...

"Medley?!" All the ponies yelped in surprise. Medley continued to cry and was so engrossed with crying that she didn't even bother to look up at them, let alone respond. The ponies looked at each other with confused faces for a minute, but it was Twilight who krept up to Medley and gently rubbed her pert little plum-colored nose against her green face, which stimulated the tear-faced Medley into looking at her with very abject and dejected eyes. It made Twilight's heart sag a little, but she spoke to her.

"It's okay, Medley. We're here. What's wrong? It's rare to see you cry," Twilight asked in a gentle, dulcet voice, hoping she wouldn't scare Medley. Thankfully, Medley sat up and wiped some tears away while the other ponies sat down to offer some solace, though the tears continued to flow. She cried so much she had trouble talking at first, but after calming down a bit, she decided to talk about it.

"I...I've had such a dreadful morning. I've been deprived of sleep, I broke one of my cups, I had to go to four different pet stores because I ran out of bird feed and the other stores were sold out, and the bags turned out to be heavier than I could handle! Firefly and I tried to practice our routine, but I wound up taking my anger out on her by criticizing her performance. I...I should have been able to calm down and stop myself before everything got worse, but I succumbed to my anger and exacerbated the situation instead! I wound up calling her horrible names, pointed out her flaws, and told her to get lost! I never...should have let the situation get as bad as it did! I should have calmed down and mollified it before it got bad! But NOOOOO! I had to yell at her instead and act exactly like Gusty!" Medley cried as she told them about what happened. By the end, she wound up succumbing to more fits of crying again. This time, Moondancer nudged her gently.

"Don't cry, Meds. Stuff like that happens all the time. We all take our anger out on somepony at some point in our life, and considering what you went through this morning, I think it would have happened anyway, no matter how else you tried to handle it," Moondancer told her reassuringly, but it didn't seem to help.

"Maybe Firefly's right. I am a control freak," Medley whimpered.

"How in the world are you, of all ponies, a control freak? Buttons is the biggest control freak in all the world! I've seen control freaks, and you're definitely not one of them!" Lemon Drop exclaimed.

"Our parents are control freaks as well," Glory piped in. "You wonder why they put all their hopes on Majesty instead of me and Moondancer."

"But our fight mostly started when I kept criticizing Firefly for getting parts of the routine wrong," Medley said.

Moondancer looked down at the grass for a bit, then looked at Medley with a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Forgive me for sounding rude, but I think I know why Firefly zipped out on you like that. From what I've seen, she likes doing things at her own pace and without any limits, kinda like I do. She doesn't like being bogged down by expectations and stuff like that, and from what I've seen recently, I think you have been trying a bit too hard to make Firefly listen to you."

"Moondancer!" Glory exclaimed, appalled by Moondancer's claim just now. "How can you be so bold as to say such a thing?!"

"I'm not trying to be rude!" Moondancer snapped at her sister, then turned back to Medley with her sympathetic look. "I'm not trying to accuse you of anything, Meds. Really, I'm not. But since you say that you and Firefly have often stuck together like glue, I think maybe Firefly wants some time away from you for a while. Now don't get me wrong, I know she likes you a lot, and she knows that you care for her very much and wouldn't let anything bad happen to her...but sometimes, you can only tolerate so much of somepony at a time, and if you're stuck with them for too long, you'll just go buggy. Have you ever felt like that?" Moondancer explained.

Medley looked up at the blue sky and ruminated for a bit. She had to admit, Moondancer had a good point. There were times when Medley wanted some time away from Firefly even though they're best friends. But the only times Medley ever wanted time away from Firefly, or any other pony for that matter, were when she was working on some very grueling work, having a really rough day which caused her to not be in the mood to talk to anypony (which were the rarest of times), or when Firefly was proving to be too tough to handle sometimes. Not only that, Firefly did accuse Medley of treating her like a child, which she hated. Medley looked down sadly and nodded.

"Yes," Medley whispered sadly. Moondancer put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

"Firefly told me she hates being treated like a little filly who can't fly. Maybe that's why she left, because maybe she thought you were trying too hard to protect her or be her mother figure or something. Again, don't get me wrong, I can see why you got all grumpy. You were having a bad morning. We all have them sometimes, and I sure don't blame you. But maybe you should give Firefly time to cool off and calm down for a while. The same goes for you, too," Moondancer told her.

Medley nodded grimly.

"I'm sorry for making you all listen to me whine like this," Medley whimpered.

"Not at all, my dear. Don't ever say such a thing. You're just upset, and it's good to talk about it. It's much better than keeping it all bottled up inside," Majesty told her.

"Yeah! We all have days where we just wanna go 'RAAAAAHHHH!' at the whole world even though we know that there are better ways to handle it," Lickety-Split edicted.

"Besides, I have way worse anger issues than you do," Moondancer told her.

"It's true. Moondancer can never go a whole week without putting somepony under a hibernation spell if they so much as eat her flowers," Glory piped in unsympathetically, causing Moondancer to glare at her.

"I don't do it all the time! And do you know how hard I work to grow those flowers?!" Moondancer said.

"Is it true that you have caffeine in your veins instead of blood?" Sunbeam asked out of the blue.

"No! I don't even like coffee!" Moondancer snapped back.

"Me neither. I tried it once, and it tasted horrible! When I get older, I'm never drinking coffee," Lemon Drop said.

Upon seeing her pony friends squabble amongst each other, Medley suddenly found herself laughing a little. Twilight saw this and smiled.

"Are you feeling better now?" Twilight asked once Medley stopped laughing. But as soon as she stopped, her smile faded again. She looked down at the green grass and smoothed it with her front hoof.

"I don't know. I've been kept up all night because of the construction work," Medley whispered a little sadly.

"Anypony who's deprived of sleep can get grumpy and grouchy. It's only natural," Twilight said.

"Unless you're Gusty," Lickety-Split piped in.

"But..." Medley said, letting the sentence fade at first. She then looked at the other ponies again. "I...I really do appreciate you all comforting me like this, and I really do thank you. I realize now that I have been treating Firefly like a child, and I shouldn't have. But...I...since Firefly's gone, I would like to look for her. I want to at least know where she is so I can feel safe and know that she's alright. I won't talk to her or pressure her into practicing again. That won't do me or her or anypony any good. I'll just look at her from a distance, then leave her alone."

All of the ponies looked at each other, then back at Medley, and smiled at her.

"If you want, we can look for her for you. You should probably get some rest since you say you've been sleep deprived," Twilight said as she smoothed Medley's forest green hair a bit with her hoof.

"You'd really do that for a whiner like me?" Medley asked.

"Yeah! You're our friend!" Sunbeam piped in. "And you're not a whiner. Shady whines way more than you do!"

"Sunbeam, you should know better than to say things like that about other ponies," Majesty said.

"How about this! Maybe I can put you under a temporary spell that'll keep you asleep for about a few hours unless I personally undo it while the rest of us go and look for Firefly. How's that?" Moondancer said.

"A spell to keep me asleep?" Medley asked.

"Yes. I've often had to put Moondancer to sleep with my magic when she was little, and she just managed to get the spell just right, so I think it'll really help you," Glory said.

Medley crossed her hooves and ruminated for about a minute, then turned to the others with a smile. "Alright. I'll take you up on your offer. Thanks so much for offering to help me like this, even though I don't deserve it."

"Don't say it like that, Meds!" Twilight piped in. "We all have our little trials and tribulations here and there, so it's no problem!"

"How about you sleep under that tree over there?" Sunbeam pointed to one of the big, leafy trees by the lake. A little grove of colorful wildflowers sat under it. "The leaves are so big, it'll protect you from the sun's extra heat, and the flowers are nice, so it's perfect!"

"I agree," Medley said.

The group of ponies ambled over to the big tree with the patch of flowers under it. Medley gently descended into the flower patch and positioned herself in a good position. Since Moondancer is the one who suggested putting Medley under a temporary sleeping spell, she decided to take the liberty and do it herself. Once Medley was in position, Moondancer closed her eyes and concentrated deeply. After about a few seconds, a red light came out from her white horn. Then, a slew of red musical notes floated aimlessly out of her horn, floating right toward Medley. Once they reached her green ears, Medley found herself becoming drowsy. The spell is working. Once she found herself unable to keep her eyes open, she fell into the flower grove, fast asleep. The spell worked! Moondancer stopped her magic, opened her blue eyes, and smiled brightly.

"Hey! It worked!" Moondancer said.

"That was pretty cool," Lemon Drop said.

"Let's leave her be while we look for Firefly," Glory told them.

"I agree," Twilight said as she flew away.

"If you ponies don't mind, I'll stay with Medley in case anything happens," Sunbeam told them.

"That's fine," Majesty said.

The group of ponies decided to scatter so they can try and find Firefly in different areas of town. Twilight decided to search from above since she can fly. Moondancer and Lemon Drop decided to look around town. Glory decided to remain in the rural areas in case Firefly is still practicing her routine, and Lickety-Split decided to ask around. Unfortunately, Majesty had to be summoned back home for some business, so she had to drop out of the search. Yes, Majesty was quite disappointed by this. Oddly enough, finding Firefly is proving to be a much more difficult task than anticipated. About an hour and a half passed, but no sign of Firefly anywhere.

"Jeez! You'd think finding a pink pegasus with blue hair and two lightning bolts for a cutie mark would be the easiest thing in the world!" Lemon Drop complained a little as she sipped a glass of lemonade with a straw.

"How can anyone miss a pony like Firefly? She's so hard to miss, you'd have to be blind to NOT see her!" Moondancer said.

"I wonder how the others are faring?" Lemon Drop asked as she drank more fresh lemonade.

"Man! If I mastered that pony finding spell right now, this would be a great time to use it," Moondancer whimpered as she looked up at the sky. A pony finding spell is where a unicorn uses magic to find a pony's location and track them down. But it's a hard spell to master, even by the best unicorns. Glory and Majesty haven't mastered it, even though they've been practicing really hard, and Moondancer fared no better. But as it would turn out, they wouldn't need such a complicated spell.

"Moondancer! Lemon Drop!"

Moondancer was the first to recognize the voice.

"Bow Tie?"

Yes, running up to them in a frenzy are Bow Tie and another unicorn! This unicorn has pale blue fur, much lighter than Bow Tie's sea blue fur, and a curly dark purple mane and tail both styled in the same way as Glory's, only they both have a pink streak in them. She also has indigo eyes, long, thick eye lashes, and three royal blue diamonds on both sides of her flank. Both Bow Tie and the unicorn are looking quite perturbed and frantic.

"Hey Sparkler! Haven't seen you in a while!" Lemon Drop said.

"We-We-We must tell you! We saw Firefly!" The unicorn, Sparkler, said in a voice like Glory's, but slightly higher pitched. Moondancer and Lemon Drop looked at each other, then back at them.

"You saw Firefly?!" Moondancer yelped.

"Yes. We would have told you earlier, but other affairs prevented us from doing so. We're terribly sorry," Sparkler said, looking a little glum.

"Me too. I had to help my sister around the house," Bow Tie said.

"So where's Firefly?" Lemon Drop asked.

"That's just it," Bow Tie said. "You're not gonna believe this! We both saw Firefly zip into...into...the Forsaken Wood!" Bow Tie blurted out finally, looking quite timorous as she uttered the name of the place Firefly zipped into.

Moondancer and Lemon Drop were stunned.

"The F-F-F-Forsaken Wood?" Moondancer asked, her voice quivering.

"Yes. We both called out to her, but she didn't hear us," Sparkler said.

"This is big! We've gotta tell everypony about this!" Lemon Drop hoofed Moondancer on the back, snapping her out of her fear.

"Alright. I'll use a telepathy spell to contact them!" Moondancer exclaimed.

"Mind if I help you out? My magic is good for things of this caliber," Sparkler said as she gently tapped Moondancer's horn with her own.

Moondancer's horn glowed in a faint red light while Sparkler's did so in a pale purple light. Both unicorns closed their eyes solemnly and were rendered silent as the magic began to take effect. Bow Tie and Lemon Drop watched.

"Unicorns are so cool, aren't they?" Lemon Drop asked.

"I wish I was a unicorn like my father and sister," Bow Tie whispered.

Moondancer knew what she wanted to say, and she was determined to get the message out. Once she managed to reach the minds of the ponies she wanted to contact, she made the connection.

"Everypony! It's Moondancer! Bow Tie and Sparkler said that Firefly went into the Forsaken Wood! Let's meet at the lake so we can decide what to do!"

After a short while, the connection was severed, and the magic faded away. Moondancer and Sparkler opened their eyes again.

"Don't telepathy spells take a lot of energy out of unicorns?" Bow Tie asked curiously.

"Only if you try to give them a message that's more than one sentence and if you use too much magic. Sparkler helped me out so I'm not tired at all," Moondancer said. "Thanks Sparkler!"

"You're very welcome. I'm also sad to say that I'm afraid I can't help you with the search. My magic isn't used for fighting, and I have some jewels I have to import by tonight," Sparkler told them.

"That's okay! You were a great help! Bye!" Moondancer, Lemon Drop, and Bow Tie told her as they all left for the lake. Sparkler, feeling accomplished, left as well.

Lots of questions were running through the ponies' minds: Why did Firefly go to Forsaken Wood of all places?

She went there to do nothing but...sulk.

Forsaken Wood is...well, forsaken. It's trees are covered with huge, dark, ruddy leaves in all dark colors, even black. The branches are covered with long, sharp, prickly thorns that could render a pegasus flightless if they weren't careful. The leaves are so thick, they can block out the entire sky and there wouldn't be a single trace of light. It would be complete darkness in here. Poison ivy is basically an abundance here in this dark, dreary, scary place. Large, sharp, white rocks protruded out from the ground, some as tall as the trees themselves. Strange creatures live in this creepy place, some so scary that ponies have fled just from the sight of their glowing eyes. The soil isn't exactly fertile, and it's definitely not the most pleasant thing to fall in when it rains, as the brown coating can get all over ponies and make them feel sticky if it rains especially hard. But Firefly had been in this strange forest lots of times before, so she knew it from the back of her hoof. Right now, all she's doing is sitting on the very top of a very tall tree, with her hooves crossed and her face contorted with frustration.

She thought about Medley and how critical she had become. Firefly knew that Medley had the tendency to be overbearing and a bit of a control freak sometimes, often rarely, but never had she seen Medley act the way she did earlier. She practically treated Firefly like a child! If there's anything Firefly hates, it's being treated like a helpless, flightless little pegasus filly who has to be protected on a regular basis. She had to deal with this quite a lot when she was a filly herself, and she just hated it. Just the memories of those times made her whinny and growl angrily. She's so frustrated right now that she didn't even realize where she was. She continued to sulk and stare at the sky above. She heard some black crows cawing in the distance and the howls of wolves, but she failed to pay much attention to them as she continued to be long in her own angst.

"Who does Medley think she is anyway? My mom? Jeez! Is she EVER going to stop treating me like a foal?! I'm so sick and tired of it! Who cares if she means well?! I'm doing the trick just fine no thanks to her!" Firefly bellowed as she continued to sulk. After about a few minutes, her pink ears caught the sound of something familiar.

"Heeeeey! Firefly!" A mature voice called out to her.

Turning around so she could face the direction of the voice, she saw a white pegasus flying toward her. A rather spindly-legged pegasus like Skydancer, only slightly plumper in stature and complexion. The white pegasus's mane and tail are short and arranged in a strange style, both in all the colors of the rainbow. She has stunning blue eyes like Glory and has a gold, eight-pointed star surrounded by spots on both sides of her flank. Firefly, upon seeing the white, rainbow-haired pegasus fly before her, immediately popped out of her grumpy mood and her eyes widened in delight.

"Hey! Starshine!" Firefly exclaimed as she flew into the air and high hoofed the white pegasus pony, Starshine, happily.

"Firefly! It's been such a long time! How's my prized pupil doing today?" Starshine cried out in a nice voice, though sounding a little tomboyish. She looked around, then looked back at Firefly with a confused look. "What are you doing all the way out here in Forsaken Wood?"

"Huh?! The Forsaken Wood?" Firefly looked around herself just like Starshine did and noticed the very dreary scenery. She was shocked. "Whoa! You're right! I AM in the Forsaken Wood! I can't believe I never realized I was here!" Firefly then turned back to Starshine. "So...what exactly are YOU doing here?"

"I was just on my way back from a press conference in Las Pegasus," Starshine said. She then looked at Firefly's face more closely. "You look like you haven't had the best of days."

Firefly immediately slumped back onto the tree with her hooves crossed. "Tell me about it!"

Starshine sat next to her. "What happened?"

"Medley's been getting on my nerves. See, we're going to partake in the talent competition this week, and Medley's just been on my case about it all morning! She keeps criticizing parts of my tricks, but I'm doing it just fine! Worse than that, she keeps on treating me like a flightless filly and WOULD NOT shut up about it!" Firefly explained angrily. "I'm so sick and tired of her acting like my mom!"

After a short pause, Starshine spoke. "That's not like her, is it?"

"No," Firefly said.

After another pause, Starshine looked up at the sky and ruminated, then turned back to Firefly. "Did you notice any circles under her eyes?" Starshine asked.

"Huh? Circles?" Firefly asked, a little confused by Starshine's question, then ruminated again. "Hmmm. Yeah! I did notice some. Why?"

Starshine crossed her spindly forelegs and smiled a bit. "So my suspicions are correct after all. Usually, the only times when Medley would be in a fussy, grumpy mood like that is when she's having a REALLY bad morning, especially when deprived of sleep."

"Ugh. You're right. She DOES get fussy when she's deprived of sleep. Don't get me started on the last time she didn't get any sleep," Firefly complained.

"Sleep is important for anypony's health," Starshine said with a smile at first, then turned solemn. "Firefly...I know you're upset, but Medley really does care for you, and she just wants you to be happy. I mean, you're the best thing that ever happened to her!"

Firefly suddenly found herself leaving her sulky spell and began thinking of what Starshine just said. Medley had often told Firefly that she was the best thing that ever happened to her, and Firefly knew this very well. Unlike Firefly, who's a natural daredevil and social butterfly, Medley was downright timid, constantly afraid of things, and anti-social to the point that she'd hide in a closet whenever anypony came into the same house with her. But whenever the two were together, they practically blossomed. Medley became more open and willing to take more risks despite the danger, and Firefly learned to think before she acted, even though she still tends to forget sometimes.

"You're right about that. I even remember the day we first met," Firefly said.

"Actually, I think I should confess something about the day you two met. But I'll let you go first," Starshine told her.

All of a sudden, the two pegasi were flying down the cloudy path that was memory lane.

(flashback)

A group of small pegasi foals were gathered on one big fluffy cloud with some older pegasi, both parents and teachers. Firefly was one of them, being a bright pink, blue-haired filly with shining purple eyes and no lightning bolts on her flank. She stood in front of two pegasi. One has the exact same color scheme as her, only her hair is much curlier and is more purple in shade. The older pegasus mare has blue eyes and a purple lightning bolt on both sides of her flank. The other pegasus is white and very bulky, with short but spiky lightning blue hair and tail, purple eyes, and a yellow bird with a pale blue lightning bolt on both sides of his flank. Little Firefly zipped around the place happily, surprising a few foals in the process.

"Wow! I'm here! Flight camp is finally here! Thank you, Mama and Papa!" Firefly exclaimed happily as she went to hug her mother and father.

"We're so happy you got accepted here. Now you be a good girl, okay?" The pink pegasus, Firefly's mother, told her gently. Firefly nodded. But her father didn't seem to buy it.

"She means it, Firefly. You better behave yourself and don't break anything and don't get in trouble!" The white pegasus, Firefly's father, told her strictly. Firefly's mother smacked him on the back with her hoof.

"Oh, don't be so uptight, Thunderbird! This is a great opportunity for Firefly to make new friends and finally be one step closer to her dream. Let's be proud of her for once, dear," The pink pegasus told her husband, Thunderbird.

"But Lightning Bug! I don't want our filly to get in any more trouble than she already has! I don't want her to be expelled like last time," Thunderbird told his relaxed wife, Lightning Bug.

"I don't think that'll be a problem. The teachers here are great, and I'm sure Firefly can learn a lot," Lightning Bug told her worried husband. Firefly didn't seem to notice. Lightning Bug then approached her happy daughter.

"We'll be leaving now, Firefly. We'll be sure to visit when we can. Tell us all about your new friends and new flying tricks, and be sure to be good for us. Okay, dearie?" Lightning Bug told her.

"Yes, Mama! I can't wait to show you the new stuff I can do!" Firefly chirped happily.

Her parents said goodbye to their daughter and flew away. Firefly did feel a little sad seeing them leave, but she couldn't wait to begin her new adventures in flight camp. She could make friends, fly around whenever she wanted, and even perform death-defying tricks no other pegasus would be able to do! She couldn't wait to begin flight camp! But something else caught her ears.

"Nooooo!"

A high, young voice caught Firefly's attention. When she turned around, she saw a very small, green pegasus filly clinging to what appears to be her father's leg, crying and begging tearfully. Like Firefly, she doesn't have a cutie mark yet, and the male pegasus looked quite worried as he tried to pry his crying daughter off of his leg. Another pegasus, possibly her mother, Firefly couldn't tell, watched. The father has green fur, and darker green hair, green eyes, and a violin on both sides of his flank. The other pegasus has yellow fur, green hair, green eyes, and a torch with a brightly lit flame on her flank.

"Noooo! I don't wanna be here! Don't leave me!" The little green filly cried and bawled passionately. Finally, her father managed to pry her off of her leg and kneeled before her.

"Medley, dear. You shouldn't be afraid. This'll be a great opportunity for you. You'll get to make friends and finally learn how to fly," Her father told his daughter, but she just wouldn't listen.

"But they'll hate me, and I can't fly! I can't fly, and I never will! I'm afraid of flying!" The little green pegasus, Medley, howled passionately. Her mother sighed in what Firefly could see was a disapproving and disappointed manner.

"Medley. Please don't be so down on yourself. Have some faith! I'm sure you'll make lots of friends and be able to fly. Just give it a try. You never know. We'll come back when we can," The father told her kindly.

"But Papa-" Medley tried to cry again, but this time her mother interrupted her.

"Just SHUT UP, WILL YOU?!" The yellow pegasus screamed angrily, frightening the already scared Medley even further. This made her father angry.

"Torchlight! That's no way to talk to your baby sister!" The green pegasus yelled. So this Torchlight isn't Medley's mother, but her sister. The older sister, Torchlight, obviously didn't look happy.

"But Dad! She screams about every little thing every single day! She can never shut up for even a second! Just face it! She's a lost cause! She'll never fly, and she'll always be a stupid little crybaby!" Torchlight argued.

"Torchlight! I don't ever want to hear that come out of your mouth ever again! When we get home, we're going to have a talk, and I don't want you giving me any attitude, either!" The father argued, scaring Medley. He saw this and went to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, dear. We have to leave now. We'll definitely come back soon, I promise," The green pegasus said.

"No, Papa! I wanna go home with you!" Medley cried. It broke his heart to see his youngest daughter so sad, with huge globs of tears literally pouring out of her big blue eyes, but he knew this would be good for her, and he had to leave.

"Goodbye, my sweet," The green pegaus said as he and Torchlight left. Although Medley stopped crying, Firefly watched from a distance, and could tell that she was obviously very dejected and heartbroken inside. Worse than that, that mean pegasus Torchlight called her stupid! There was no way Firefly was going to forgive that! Firefly was about to talk to her, but the bell rang and they had to go to their first day of lessons.

About a day after that, Firefly was practicing doing backflips and loops in the sky when she saw the timorous green pegasus filly, Medley, trying to fly into a cloud circle, but once she got out, she suddenly fell despite flapping her wings desperately. Firefly was about to save her, but she saw that she fell on top of a colt with dark brown fur and red hair. While Firefly was happy that he broke her fall, what happened afterward made her blood boil. Once Medley got off of the colt, she tried to apologize to him.

"I-I-I'm...sorry-"

"Watch where you're flying, you klutzy brainless crybaby!" The brown colt yelled. Suddenly, without mercy and with great force, he kicked the poor, defenseless green filly with his back hooves, throwing her against a cloud.

"YEEEK!" Medley fell on the clouds, feeling battered as the brown colt, along with his two friends, suddenly surrounding her.

Firefly was just appalled. 'Whoa! How can that colt be so cruel?! It was an accident! I've gotta tell someone about this!' Firefly thought, but then she saw them picking on her and throwing insults at her.

"Why don't you just go back to where you came from already?! You're the biggest scaredy-cat crybaby filly we've ever seen! You're making us look bad! You can't even fly! Isn't that stupid!"

"Yeah! You're a little weakling!"

"My baby sister can fly better than you!"

'You know what?! That tears it! I'm going in!' Firefly thought. There was no way she was going to tolerate these bullies picking on poor Medley like that! Courage blazed in her heart like a tree being caught on fire after it had been struck by lightning. Firefly, not wanting to see poor Medley suffer anymore, decided to take matters into her own hooves. She zipped between Medley and the three colts and stared daggers at them with her purple eyes.

"Leave her alone, you big bullies!" Firefly screamed for the entire camp to hear. Some heads turned towards the quintet, but nopony really did anything. Medley opened her eyes to see Firefly right in front of her.

"What's your problem?" The blue-furred colt asked.

"You shouldn't be mean to someone just because they happened to fall on your back! It was an accident! You shouldn't make such a big deal out of it!" Firefly yelled angrily.

"What's it to you, pinky?!" The red-furred colt asked.

"Yeah! Besides, why stick up for this crybaby here? She's the stupidest pegasus we've ever met! She can't even fly even though she's old enough to do so! Don't waste your time on this disgrace!" The brown-furred colt told her, but Firefly wasn't going to be put down.

"Just because she can't fly yet doesn't make her stupid! We all start off flightless, and I'm sure a whole lot of your couldn't fly until later in life, too! I'm sure Medley can fly someday, so lay off!" Firefly yelled.

"Quit talkin' big, pinky!" The brown-furred colt said until someone stepped into the fray.

"What's going on here?"

A tall, white adult pegasus with rainbow-colored hair, spindly legs, and blue eyes appeared on the scene. Firefly wasted absolutely no time in telling her everything.

"These big bullies are picking on Medley and calling her stupid because she can't fly and because she fell on him by accident!" Firefly exclaimed.

"Why you snitchin' on me?!" The brown colt yelled.

"Is this true?" The white adult pegasus asked sternly.

"YES!" Firefly piped in.

"Come on! That green filly's the biggest disgrace in the world! She can't fly and is afraid of everything! Don't you think that's stupid?" The blue colt asked.

"We don't bully other pegasi here in this place! I want all three of you to come with me to the principal's office!" The white pegasus told them.

"But-"

"No buts! March!"

Seeing that it was futile to contradict her, the three male colts walked away with the rainbow-haired pegasus following them...but not before turning to Firefly, smiling at her a little, and winking at her. Firefly wondered what this meant, but she then looked down at Medley, who, oddly enough, managed to stand up fully and even manage eye contact with Firefly. The pink pegasus was surprised to find that the green pegasus here turned out to be quite cute, with a plump face, a plump body, plump curls in her forest green hair, big, wide, sky blue eyes that seem to be full of expression, and her cute little wings.

"Th-Thank you..." Medley whimpered in one of the cutest voices Firefly had ever heard. Her voice was high and soft, like fur on a newborn kitten, and it sounded like a little bell.

"Don't worry about it. You're Medley, right?" Firefly asked. The shy, green pegasus nodded.

"Hi! I'm Firefly! Wanna play?" Firefly asked as she hopped in front of her, which made Medley stumble away from her out of surprise. All of a sudden, the two fillies started chasing each other around, with Firefly often chasing after a continuously timorous Medley, who always kept running away from her.

It wasn't until a few days later that things really started to get set in motion.

Because of an internship program, Firefly's class got a new student teacher named Starshine. Yes, the same pony who took the bullies to the principal's office. She proved to be quite popular among the little pegasi foals, with her upbeat, cheerful nature, her advanced flying skills, her wild and wacky hair and tail, and her knack for making mundane tasks seem quite fun. Even the timorously shy and timid Medley warmed up to her, but not enough to fully trust her completely. But one one fateful day, Starshine announced that the class will be thrown into groups for a project.

"I'll be putting you all into groups of two for the lesson, and don't you dare ask me for a change, because once you're paired with your partner, you're sticking with him or her for the entire season!" Starshine announced. Some foals groaned with the possibility of not being able to be with their friends. Starshine read through some names and paired the pegasi foals up one by one.

"Pair number six, Firefly and Medley!" Starshine edicted.

"WHAT?!" Both Firefly and Medley yelped in perfect unison, shocked that they're going to be paired up.

But oddly enough, it proved to be the best thing that ever happened to them. Firefly and Medley turned out to complement each other very well. Medley kept Firefly on the ground when she felt it was needed, and Firefly helped Medley take some risks and fly. Medley became much better at flying because of her, Starshine, and another pegasus filly named Twilight. Then, on a special outside class presentation day, Firefly and Medley performed quite the feat in front of everyone. While Medley played instruments like the violin and the flute, and very well at that, Firefly managed to perform her signature move, the Thundersprint, where she flew so fast that she made blue lightning bolts appear from her body. Sparks literally flew that day, and Firefly made it happen. Firefly and Medley managed to get an A, and they rejoiced. But it wasn't the only thing they rejoiced about.

"Look! You both got cutie marks!" The filly named Twilight exclaimed.

Firefly and Medley both looked at their flanks and were surprised and joyful at the same time! They managed to earn their cutie marks! Firefly has two blue lightning bolts while Medley has dark green musical notes. Firefly and Medley hugged each other happily and rejoiced.

(end flashback)

"...I still can't believe we both got our cutie marks at the exact same time!" Firefly said, finishing her tale.

"You certainly surprised me! I'm still kind of surprised I managed to help you get to where you are today by pairing you up!" Starshine piped in.

Firefly stopped talking and became confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Starshine flipped some of her mane out of her face. "I guess it's time to confess."

(flashback)

Starshine and another older male pegasus happened to be in a room full of books, talking amongst each other in not exactly the most friendly manner. The older pegasus has dark grey fur, lighter grey hair, brilliant rosy red eyes, large hooves, large, bulky wings, glasses, and a lighter grey cloud with a yellow lightning bolt on both sides of his flank. Starshine didn't look too happy talking with him.

"Principal Storm Cloud, I think Firefly and Medley should be together for the lesson," Starshine told the older male pegasus, Storm Cloud, who didn't look too happy.

"Firefly and Medley? Together? Poppycock! Do you know how much trouble would happen if they were together? Firefly's already broken two statues in her first week alone and can never seem to sit still, and Medley's much too weak-willed to even fly a foot above the ground and is always hiding!" Storm Cloud told her strictly. "And who are you to tell me how to do my job? You're merely a student teacher."

"That may be, sir, but please reconsider your decision. I saw Firefly stick up for Medley yesterday and they got along great. I think those two would complement each other well. Medley can keep Firefly on the ground when she feels it's needed, and Firefly can help her face her fears. I think great things can happen if they work together for this lesson," Starshine explained. "I can even take responsibility for them if anything goes wrong."

"You will?" Storm Cloud asked as he adjusted his glasses sternly.

Starshine nodded solemnly. "I think those two hold great potential, and I believe that being together can bring it out!"

Storm Cloud looked at a clip board while Starshine waited impatiently while trying to keep her mouth shut. Storm Cloud adjusted his glasses a bit and looked at her.

"Skydancer was right about you. Once you have an idea in your head, you won't stop until you see it through. Now I can see why she trusts you so much," Storm Cloud said. "Alright. I'll have you pair Firefly and Medley together and record their progress. But you'll be the only one taking responsibility for them if any trouble happens."

Starshine beamed happily. "Oh, thank you, Principal Storm Cloud! I'll do my very best!"

"But don't give them any special treatment either. I don't want anypony thinking somepony else has it better than the rest of them."

"Oh, don't worry. I don't know the meaning of the word preferential treatment! To me, all ponies are equal!" Starshine said with a bright smile as she darted off and away from Storm Cloud's office.

(end flashback)

"...so you made me and Medley become friends on purpose? You set us up?!" Firefly asked, sounding as though she's interrogating her mentor, surprised by this new revelation.

"YES!" Starshine edicted impishly, feeling proud of her confession. "Pretty sweet, huh?"

"I can't believe you, Starshine! You're gonna get it now!" Firefly leaped onto Starshine and immediately began playfully torturing her. Both pegasi exploded into paroxysms of laughter.

But searching for Firefly was no laughing manner.

Once the ponies received Moondancer's telepathic message, they all gathered back to the lake. Moondancer, Twilight, Glory, Sunbeam, Lickety-Split, Bow Tie, Bubbles, and Lemon Drop all met at the lake. Once Moondancer found Medley, still sleeping under the tree, she undid the spell and woke Medley up. Thankfully, Medley didn't feel groggy this time.

"What's up? Did you find Firefly?" Medley asked.

"Well, no, but Sparkler and I saw her flying away after your fight. It's terrible! She went into Forsaken Wood!" Bow Tie explained a little fearfully.

"Forsaken Wood?!" Medley yelped in shock. "Wha-Wha-What in the world?! Why would she fly there of all places?!"

"Dunno," Moondancer said. "But that's why I called you all here! I thought maybe we could all decide on whether to go in there or not. If you don't want to, that's fine, but the Forsaken Wood is a pretty dangerous place, and Firefly might have a hard time being stuck in there," Moondancer explained.

Bubbles began trembling. "Forsaken Wood is scary..." Lemon Drop, seeing her fear, gently rubbed her blue hair with her hoof.

"I have to agree with Bubbles. It's not like other forests. The leaves are so thick, they block out all light, and it's pitch black in there unless you have a flashlight or can create light with your horn," Glory said.

"I can create light with my horn! I've practiced!" Sunbeam exclaimed happily.

"Me too. In my personal opinion, I think we should go in and find Firefly. Who knows what's happening to her at this moment," Moondancer said.

"Go in? But it's too dangerous!" Medley exclaimed.

"I know. That's exactly my point. But Firefly might need us," Moondancer told her.

"I say we go," Lickety-Split piped in suddenly. "A good friend of ours might be in danger, and we shouldn't abandon her."

"Lickety-Split!" Glory exclaimed, shocked by Lickety-Split's bold statement. "You actually want to go into a dirty and dark place like that?!"

"It's better than leaving her there, isn't it?" Lickety-Split asked. Glory had to admit she had a good point.

"Well, if somepony as hyper as Lickety-Split has the guts to go into the Forsaken Wood, then count me in too," Lemon Drop said.

"Allow me to join in as well. I'm good at fighting, so maybe I can hold off some monsters in there when the time is needed," Bow Tie said.

"Maybe we should grab other ponies for the search, too? Y'know, like Wind Whistler or Lofty or Fizzy or Powder or Starflower or Magic Star or North Star or-" Bubbles suggested, but Lemon Drop cut her off.

"I don't think we should involve them. We shouldn't attract any unwanted attention," Lemon Drop told her.

"I agree. I don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble," Glory said.

"But the more ponies we take with us, the better the search will be, right?" Bow Tie asked.

"Yeah! And North Star's navigational skills and sense of direction are great! She's been in the Forsaken Wood before, hasn't she?" Lickety-Split asked.

"That may be, but even she doesn't like going in there," Twilight said. "But since Firefly could be in danger, I'll go too."

As the ponies talked amongst themselves, Medley ruminated. Firefly went into the Forsaken Wood! Medley knew that Firefly had gone in there lots of times before, and there were times when she had trouble, but she managed to come out safe and sound. But Medley had her doubts in regards to Firefly's safety. She didn't want her to be running around in a dangerous place like that. But then she remembered Firefly accusing her of treating her like a child. Medley didn't want to go in there and create more conflict between them. For her, this most recent one is bad enough, and Medley wanted more than anything to refrain from exacerbating it any more than she already has. But Forsaken Wood is a dangerous and dark place that not even the bravest of ponies (sans Firefly, North Star, and other ponies) would enter without proper preparation. Medley didn't want to abandon Firefly.

"I'll go."

Once they heard Medley's soft voice, all of the ponies turned to look at her.

"What was that, Medley?" Bubbles asked shyly.

"I'll go to the Forsaken Wood," Medley told them in a solemn whisper.

"WHAAAAT?!" Literally all of the ponies yelped with surprise. Medley is actually wanting to take a huge and dangerous risk.

"Medley! I never expected you to actually say something like that!" Glory exclaimed.

"You wanna go into that scary place?" Bubbles asked, sounding a little frightened.

"You usually never want to do anything dangerous," Moondancer said.

"Exactly," Medley said. "Firefly's often told me that I need to take more risks...and considering that her life may be in danger, I'll be more than willing to take this risk and go into the Forsaken Wood and at least check on her. I want to know she's safe, and I don't want to exacerbate our conflict more than I already have. Firefly's my friend, and I don't want to abandon her."

"Spoken like a true friend, Meds!" Twilight exclaimed happily while doing a loop.

Glory flipped her mane out of her face. "If you'll go, Medley, then I'll go too. I wish Majesty could come too so we could have more help, but she has affairs she needs to attend to."

"Alright! All in favor of going into Forsaken Wood, say I!" Moondancer edicted and raised her hoof.

"I!" Everypony raised their hoof high in the air.

But that became something that surprised them. Everypony raised their hoof.

"Bubbles?!" Lemon Drop exclaimed, seeing that Bubbles has her hoof raised as well.

"You actually want to come too?" Moondancer asked.

"I-I-I'll go," Bubbles stammered.

"But you're afraid of the Forsaken Wood, aren't you? You don't have to come if you don't want to," Medley told her in her soothing voice.

"Yeah. We're not forcing you in any way," Twilight told her.

"I know, but...Firefly's my friend too. I want...to be brave and strong. Just like her, so...I'll go with you!" Bubbles explained while stammering a little.

"Alrighty! Then it's settled! Let's meet back here in an hour! Everyone, go back home and prepare for his trip well, as it'll be pretty dangerous!" Moondancer edicted.

Everypony nodded in agreement and proceeded to go back home and prepare for a dangerous and terrifying trip into the Forsaken Wood. Nopony knew what would be in there or what trouble they'd be in, but they knew they had to take the risk for Firefly's sake, and Medley didn't want to leave their conflict unresolved, so she decided to prepare as well.

They had no idea that the Forsaken Wood would be more dangerous than they expected it to be, even with their preparation.