Guilt. That's what plagued Olivia's mind as she slowly wandered the orchard back to the barn. Long gone was the hopeful optimism that things were finally starting to go well for once. She had heard Sadie's words loud and clear. Olivia was making Sadie's life absolutely miserable.

She should have seen it coming, of course. But Sadie had been there as long as she could remember, she never considered that Sadie would've wanted to do anything else with her time. Like a child's mother takes care of them, Sadie had always, ALWAYS been there. Olivia couldn't imagine her life without Sadie. How was she supposed to know that this wasn't what Sadie wanted to be doing with her time?

Plus, Sadie was a much better actress than Olivia had ever thought. Sadie, in her mind, had always been happy to help, happy to be with Olivia, just happy in general. Olivia had no idea that Sadie's life had become so miserable. She felt awful. It was all her fault.

And with as guilty as she felt, all the heartache and confusion and fatigue from the past month and a half, Olivia couldn't even begin to prepare herself for what she would face next.

Applejack paced. That's all she could do in this situation. She attempted to go do her chores in the orchard, but she just couldn't find the motivation to get up and out those barn doors. She tried to conversate with Big Mac, but she couldn't find anything to talk about that didn't remind her of the situation at hand. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't function. So she paced.

Olivia was buying drugs. This was perfectly clear, and there was no way around it. But why? Her daughter would never resort to using drugs. Never. The cowpony had raised her much better than that. What kind of drugs was Olivia buying? She knew that the fillies found Marijuana, but what else was there that they didn't know about? Even more dangerous drugs? She couldn't bare to imagine what effect they would have on the sweet girl she found in the forest. It made the pony's stomach churn just considering it.

Did Olivia have reason to use drugs? She hesitated; things had gotten pretty rough lately. What with whatever was going on in the human world, feeling like she wasn't fitting in… Olivia's life had gotten pretty low over the last month. Was Olivia depressed? Was she using drugs as a way out?

No, no it couldn't be.

Just as Applejack's mind raced with thought after thought after thought, she heard the barn door squeak and begin to open, startling her. And, to her shock and despair, a familiar human figure stepped in the doorway.

"Hi, Mom," Olivia greeted flatly, eyes drooped to the floor.

Applejack examined her daughter, and a surge of fear ran up her spine. Olivia looked nothing like her old self. She looked sad, she looked warn. This wasn't the Olivia she knew and loved. The pony began to feel panic setting in, and she approached Olivia slowly.

"We need to talk," Applejack said, voice shaking with anxiety.

This caught Olivia's attention, something she'd really never heard from her new mother before, "We talked yesterday, didn't we? What do you-"

"Stop," Applejack commanded before Olivia could get any further, "Just… stop."

Shocked, Olivia stood frozen. She didn't understand what it was about Applejack that was scaring her; the pony had never talked to her this way before. Not since they day they first found each other. Olivia took a deep breath, this was Applejack. Applejack would never hurt her.

"Girl, I need you to be honest with me," Applejack started slowly and sternly.

Olivia felt her heart jump again. Never in all her years in Equestria had Applejack referred to her as 'girl'. She felt herself starting to panic; Applejack was beginning to sound like her father. No, another deep breath. Applejack would never hurt her. Everything was going to be okay, this is just a misunderstanding.

"Have you been taking drugs?" Applejack asked flatly, not looking Olivia in the eyes.

Olivia was dumbfounded. What made Applejack ask that? What was making Applejack act like this? What's going on? Another deep breath, visibly this time. This is a misunderstanding. Applejack would never hurt her.

"Mom… I don't-" Olivia started.

"No, stop!" Applejack countered, raising her voice just slightly, "The fillies SAW you buy them, Olivia. Everypony knows that now. I just need you to tell me honestly if you're usin' em."

Olivia had to stop to think for a minute. The fillies saw her buy them? But how? Had they followed her to the human world? Olivia shuddered at the thought. Still though, Applejack wasn't wrong, she did buy drugs, as she had been doing for the past year. But using them? No, never.

"Mom, it's not what you-" Olivia started again.

"Stop! Stop tryin' to make excuses!" Applejack was losing it. All the stress put on her over the last couple months was getting to her. She couldn't hold herself back, "Is that all you know how to do? Make excuses?"

Olivia felt tears coming to her eyes, "No, Mom, just let me-"

"I'm not gonna stand for your excuses any more! I'm your mother, and you're going to be honest with me, Olivia!" Applejack stepped toward the girl.

"I'm trying to-" Olivia squeaked. Deep breaths. Applejack would never hurt her. She didn't know what was going on, Olivia just had to explain. Everything would be okay. Applejack would never hurt her.

Without being able to stop herself, Applejack raised herself up to but both hooves on her daughter's shoulders. She wanted to shake the girl. She wanted to tell her how worried she was and how much she just wanted things to go back to normal. But she couldn't do that, not of Olivia was going to keep hiding everything and bottling everything up. She needed to reach her daughter before it was too late.

But as her hooves raised, and she looked at Olivia's face, ready to confront it, she witnessed a color change. What shone before her was something she hadn't seen in years; bright neon blue. Scared. Terrified.

In what seemed like slow motion, Olivia fell backward, hitting the wall with a loud smack and a startled yelp. Applejack's angry expression softened into one of shock and regret as she was met with a pathetic . She saw a tear run down the girl's cheek, and her hands raise to shield her face, and very slowly, the pony brought her hooves back down to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" Olivia shielded her face, almost completely forgetting what was going on around her. She began to hyperventilate, memories of her childhood rushing back to her like a flash flood. She attempted to calm herself down, but to no avail as her father's wicked smirk planted itself in her imagination.

"Olivia…" Applejack was speechless, unable to process what had just occurred. She moved forward to hug the child, who only flinched at the second of contact. Applejack's heart broke. She had lost her temper. In her blind panic, she had forgotten that whatever Olivia was going through wasn't easy. It did put her in the hospital. Sure, she wanted to protect Olivia, but she had forgotten for a moment that this was really Olivia's problem

"Sugarcube… it's me…" Applejack choked out.

But Olivia didn't respond. She simply brought her head to her knees, attempting to calm herself down, but only able to let out a soft sob.

"I'm… I'm so sorry," Applejack fell down next to the girl, only barely able to figure out what to do.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and it slowly started to open.

"Hello? Is Olivia here?" Sadie's voice echoed through the kitchen, "The Crusaders said she came back home, I really need to talk… to…"

And when Sadie noticed both mother and daughter on the floor in tears, she didn't exactly know how to take it. What happened? Then Olivia looked up at her in tears, her eyes shining bright blue, something Sadie saw as very familiar, but shocking all the same.

"Squirt?" Sadie got on her knees, "What's the matter? What happened?"

However, Olivia's mind was hit with more stress than ever before. Sadie had just given a whole speech about how protecting Olivia was putting too much pressure on her. Now Olivia's fears were accompanied by extreme guilt, and the girl could only manage to sob louder.

With that response, Sadie turned her attention to Applejack, who looked pale as a ghost and completely flat. What in Equestria had happened?

Suddenly, Olivia stood up. She couldn't deal with this. She didn't want Sadie having to try to calm her down again, not after all she had just said. She had to deal with this all on her own. So she stepped away from her two concerned parental figures, and walked out the door.

"Olivia!" Scootaloo wandered the Everfree forest alone. She knew that she wasn't supposed to do this, but she also knew it would be where Olivia ran off to.

Ever since they had adopted Olivia, she would always take her alone time out in the forest. Once, when Olivia was about nine, Scootaloo had convinced her to cut her hair. She managed to do it, but Applejack had caught her mid cut. Now, Applejack didn't get mad. She really didn't even know what was going on. But Olivia was convinced that Applejack would be angry with her if she found out. So when Applejack caught them, Olivia took of toward the Everfree.

And here she was now, huddled in a tight ball in the exact place that Fluttershy had found her that fateful day.

"Olivia?" Scootaloo asked as she approached the girl.

"Go away, Scoot," Olivia sniffed. She had managed to calm herself down to an extent, but she still couldn't get her father's image out of her head.

"Olivia, you know that Applejack would never hurt you…" Scootaloo tried to talk to her, walking to her side.

"I know that," the girl countered, "But her eyes were so… and…" She couldn't finish. No matter what she did, that angry expression only made her think of the past. A sob escaped her throat, and she took a minute to compose herself.

"Wait, what?" Scootaloo really had no idea what had actually happened. All she knew was Olivia took off toward the Everfree Forest, meaning something bad had happened, and Applejack was unapproachable for whatever reason.

Olivia simply shook her head. Scootaloo couldn't help her right now.

Applejack held back tears, replaying what had happened over and over in her head. She had seen those eyes before, but never as a direct result of her own actions. And that voice…

"I'm sorry, Daddy!"

Applejack could feel a pain in her chest. What had she done?

"What in the hay happened?" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle came in the room, only to find both Applejack and Sadie sullen and lost in their thoughts, "Olivia just took off, Scootaloo ran after her. What happened in here?

"I… don't know," Sadie pondered, "Olivia wouldn't even talk to me…"

"Well, what did you say to Tara?" Applebloom suggested, to which Sweetie Belle immediately covered her friends mouth.

"What?" Sadie looked up at the two.

"Well… uh…" Sweetie Belle tried to make up some sort of excuse, to which Applebloom just shook her head.

"They were gonna find out eventually," the yellow filly sighed, "Olivia stayed behind when we left you guys in the clubhouse. She was listenin' the whole time."

Sadie brought her hands to her mouth,"No… Olivia…. Olivia!"

With that, the teen quickly rose and burst out the door, heading straight for the Everfree forest. She ran as fast as her legs could take her. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen this coming.

Olivia heard everything she had said. Knowing Olivia, she would blame herself, thinking it was all her fault Sadie was feeling so much pressure. But that just wasn't the case. Sadie was stressed, of course, but not because of Olivia. She was stuck in some situation she couldn't help. Sadie knew Olivia, and if she could do anything about whatever was going on, she would have told Sadie.

Sadie was frustrated with Tara. Because she knew Tara did not likely find out from Olivia, she probably saw something happen and forced herself in on the situation. So Tara had the full ability to tell Sadie, and make sure Olivia stayed safe.

While it was true that Sadie's childhood had been hard, it was not at all Olivia's fault. What was a five year old going to do at the time? One abused by her father, no less?

This wasn't Olivia's fault. She needed to know that.

And when Sadie approached a familiar spot in the forest, that's exactly what she would tell her. The second she spotted Olivia, she dropped to her knees and pulled Olivia close.

"I'm so sorry," Sadie sobbed, "Please don't blame yourself for any of this. It's not your fault. Nothing's your fault, Squirt."

Olivia was caught off guard. Sadie had come out of completely no where, but she softly found the courage to return the teen's hug, "But I'm ruining you. Think of how much better your life would be if you had never found me." Tears came to Olivia's eyes.

"Squirt, my life would be miserable," she looked into the younger girl's eyes, "Protecting you is hard, sure, but seeing your smile is worth it. You're my best friend. I'd do anything for you, no matter what the cost. I'd never give you up for anything in the world."

Olivia cried into Sadie's shoulder. She'd never had a better person to consider her sister.

Applejack slowly walked through the orchard. Her intention was to check up on it and do her chores that she missed earlier, but she couldn't find the strength.

What had she done? She lost her temper, that's what. She'd made Olivia think that she would hurt her. How could she? She knew Olivia would never do drugs. All she had to do was stop and listen to what Olivia had to say. Sure, it could all be a big excuse, but not this time. Applejack remembered the look in Olivia's eyes. There was nothing shifty about them, no consideration, no gentle approach… Applejack knew what it looked like when Olivia lied, and that back there was not it.

Applejack gently hit a tree, she couldn't be faulted for being panicked. The thought of Olivia buying drugs still overwhelmed her. But she trusted Olivia, whether she deserved that trust or not. Besides, Olivia would never lie with malicious intent. It was always to get out of talking. Always to hide something that was overwhelming her. If Olivia was going to lie, it would be about something she felt she had no choice but to lie about.

And drugs was just not one of those things.

Before Applejack could think any further, she heard footsteps in the distance. She squinted to see Scootaloo leading Sadie and Olivia back toward home. Olivia looked much calmer, and was holding tightly onto Sadie's hand.

Applejack took a sharp breath and ran straight for the group, tears flooding her vision. She only had one goal in mind; make Olivia okay again.

But when she stepped in front of the group, she froze. She looked at Olivia's shocked face. Reminisce of hurt and fear that were left behind from her earlier crying. The pony couldn't take it, and let her head fall.

"Sugarcube…" she choked out, "I'm… I'm so sorry."

Without a word in reply, Olivia let go of Sadie's hand and slowly approached the orange pony. Applejack glanced up at the girl; she could tell that Olivia was putting on a brave face. A few more tears escaped the pony's eyes, and she reached out a hoof, very slowly.

Olivia hesitated for a long time, but eventually, she let herself begin to cry again, and grabbed Applejack's hoof.

"Oh sugarcube," Applejack sobbed. She pulled the little girl into her, trapping her in a tight hug, "I am so sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. I'll never hurt you as long as I live, I swear it. I'm so, so sorry."

Olivia could only cry into Applejack's fur. The pony took a breath and softly started hushing the girl, "It's alright, it's okay. You're Mama's here. Everythin's okay. Nothin' can lay a hoof on you. You're safe."

Olivia nestled herself closer to Applejack, the figure of her father slowly beginning to retreat back into her memories. She was safe, and Applejack would never hurt you.

"I love you, Mom," Olivia said softly, buried in Applejack's embrace.

Applejack sported a weak smile, letting tears fall into the child's hair, "I love you too."