Fluttershy gasped awake, spitting up some strange liquid from her mouth. She was disoriented and confused, one moment she was just sitting on the diving board, now she was laying in a strange place she had never seen before. She slowly sat up and glanced around. There were these weird growths all around her, like vines, and she was in a concrete hole, like an empty swimming pool. When she saw the ladder, she knew it had to be a swimming pool, but there was no water in it, and she knew she was somewhere else, she was horrified. "Hello?" she called out, "Rarity?" she called out several times, but no answer. "Hello?!" she shouted glancing back around the empty pool. She then turned and saw the creature, it was skinny and looked like a reptile in a way, it was also tall, and it's entire head was a mouth. Fluttershy screamed and ran for the ladder...
Rarity was still in Thunderlane's bedroom, but by now they were on the bed making out. Rarity felt perfect, like she and Thunder were the only 2 ponies in the world. She deepened the kiss...
Fluttershy tried in vain to find the rungs through the thick vines growing all around the empty pool, eventually she found it and began to ascend as fast as she could...
Thunder took off his shirt and continued kissing Rarity, the two looked in each other's eyes...
Fluttershy felt the creature grab her back leg, she tried with all her might to climb up the ladder. "Rarity!" she screamed...
Rarity stopped and looked towards the window, she felt like something wasn't right, not with Thunder, but outside. "What's the matter?" Thunder whispered. Rarity looked back up at the stallion, "Nothing." she whispered back, before she kissed him again...
Fluttershy was almost up the ladder, she felt the creatures claw around her back leg, but she used all her strength to pull herself up, she finally reached the top of the ladder and saw the house, it too was covered in vines. "Rarity!" Fluttershy screamed again...
"You're so beautiful." Thunder said in between the kissing and the moans, Rarity lost herself in him, she felt perfect at that moment...
Fluttershy gripped the ladder but began to slip, she screamed and yelled, but to no avail, "Rarity!" she screamed one last time, before being pulled back into the empty pool behind her. All that could be heard now was the creature's growling.
...
A while later, Rarity sat on the edge of Thunder's bed and stared back at him, he was already asleep. She then slipped on the dry sweatshirt he gave her and stood up. "Thunder?" she said, checking to see if he was still awake. "Hey, Thunder." She said again shaking him a little, he responded with a groan. "I'll, see you tomorrow, okay?" Rarity said. "Mmm-hmm." Thunder responded from his slumber. Rarity left out the back door and passed by the pool on her way back home.
She entered silently through the front door of her home, suddenly the light turned on and she was confronted by her mother. "oh, celestia, you scared me." Rarity said, "Oh, I scared you?" Shiny Bell said in an angry voice, "I know I should have called." Rarity said, realizing that she was in a lot of trouble. "Where have you been?" her mother shouted. "We agreed on 10." she said, this time a little quieter. "After the assembly, some people wanted to get something to eat, I didn't think it'd be a big deal." Rarity lied. "You didn't think to call me first?" Shiny said, raising her voice again. "With everything that's been going on?" Shiny asked, "I didn't realize how late it was, okay?" Rarity explained. "I'm sorry mom, what more do you want?" Rarity said as she started up the stairs. "Hey wait." Her mother said, stopping her on the stairs, "Who's sweatshirt is that?" Shiny asked about the dry sweatshirt Thunder had given Rarity. "Thunder's" Rarity responded honestly, "Thunder's." her mother repeated, "So is Thunder your coltfriend now?" Shiny asked, "What? No!" Rarity protested, "It was just cold, so I borrowed his sweatshirt." Rarity lied again, "It's not a big deal." Rarity said as she started up the stairs again. "Rarity?" Shiny asked again, making Rarity stop again and look back. "What?" Rarity said, now annoyed, "You can talk to me." Shiny said, "You can talk to me, whatever happened." She said again. "Nothing Happened." Rarity said sternly, looking directly into her mother's eyes. "Rarity." Shiny said with pleading eyes, "Nothing Happened." Rarity repeated, "Can I please go now?" she asked. Shiny remained silent, Rarity took that as an answer and went upstairs to her room, leaving her mother at the bottom of the stairs, with tears in her eyes.
...
Big Mac laid in his bed, deeply asleep, when he heard muffled voices coming from across the hall, he slowly woke up and got up to see what was going on. Big Mac opened the door to his little sister's room and saw his mom sitting on the edge of the bed, she was surrounded by lamps and she was rocking back and forth. "It's me, just talk to me, talk to me." Buttercup said in a quiet voice. "Mom?" Big Mac asked as he walked in, confused and worried. "Big Mac, come here, come here." Buttercup said, motioning for her son to join her. "Mom, what is this?" Big Mac asked as he slowly walked over. "What's going on?" Big Mac asked as he sat down next to his mother, he noticed she had dark bags under her eyes and her orange curly hair was a mess, she hadn't slept last night. "It's Applebloom, it's her, she's trying to talk to me." Buttercup explained, motioning to the lamps. "She's trying to talk to you?" Big Mac repeated her words skeptically, "Yes, through the lights." Buttercup said. "Mom-" Big Mac began to say, "I know, i know." She said to her son, seeing the disbelief on his face. "Just, just watch." she said motioning again to the lights. "Applebloom, your brother's here." She said, "Can you show him what you showed me baby?" She asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. One lamp flickered very faintly for less than a second, Buttercup nearly jumped up 10 feet, "There, did you see that?" she asked pointing at the lamp. "It's the electricity mom." Big Mac tried to explain, "it's acting up, it's the same thing that fried the phone." Big Mac said, "No, it is not the electricity Big Mac!" she yelled to her son, "Something is going on here, yesterday the wall-" Buttercup tried to explain, but Big Mac interrupted, "What? What about the wall? Mom, first the lights, now the wall?" Big Mac yelled. "I just know that Applebloom is here." She said, Big Mac began tearing up. "No mom." Big Mac said, "Maybe if I get more lamps." Buttercup began, "No Mom!" Big Mac said, blocking her. "You don't need more lamps. You need to stop this, okay?" Big Mac said, holding his mother in a hug. "She is just lost." Big Mac said, "People are looking for her, and they're going to find her." Big Mac explained. "Okay." Buttercup stammered as she sit back down. "This isn't helping." Big Mac said. "Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Buttercup said, beginning to sob. "Can you do me a favor mom, can you please just try to get some sleep?" Big Mac said in a concerned voice. "Yeah." Buttercup said nodding. "I promise I will." Buttercup said. "I just need to sit here for a minute." Buttercup said, wiping her eyes. "All right, I'll go make breakfast." Big Mac said, patting his mother on the back before standing up. "Okay." Buttercup responded. Big Mac left the room, leaving Buttercup surrounded by the lamps. "Applebloom?" She whispered.
...
Button was laying on the couch in Sweetie Bell's basement, still fiddling with Sweetie's supercomm as the girls were coming up with a plan. "Just tell your parents you have AV club after school, That'll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood." Sweetie explained to the others around the table. "Do you seriously think the weirdo knows where Applebloom is?" Scootaloo asked, still skeptical. "Just trust me on this, okay?" Sweetie asked, "okay." Scootaloo replied, "Do you have the supplies?" Sweetie asked. "Yeah." Scootaloo said, reaching into her saddlebag. "Binoculars, from Yakistan, Army Knife, also from Yakistan, Hammer, Camouflage bandanna, and the wrist rocket." Scootaloo said as she took out all the tools she brought and placed them on the table. "You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?" Dinky questioned, "First of all, it's a wrist rocket, second of all, the Demogorgon isn't real, it's made up." Scootaloo explained, "But if there is something out there, I'm gonna shoot it in the eye, and blind it." Scootaloo said, pulling back the slingshot and letting go, making a snapping noise. "Dinky, what did you get?" Sweetie asked. Dinky then dumped the contents of her bag onto the table, "Well alrighty, I got Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, Apple, Banana, and trail mix." Dinky counted. "seriously?" Scootaloo asked, raising an eyebrow. "We need energy for our travels, for stamina." Dinky explained, " And besides, why do we even need weapons, we have him." Dinky said pointing to Button Mash on the couch. "He shut one door!" Scootaloo shouted, "With his mind, and he isn't even a unicorn!" Dinky argued back. "Are you kidding me, that's insane, imagine all the other cool stuff he could do?" Dinky said before running over to a box and taking out a spaceship toy. "I bet, he could make this fly." She said before moving in front of Button. "Hey, okay concentrate." Dinky said before letting go of the toy. It just dropped to the floor. "Okay, one more time." Dinky said picking it back up. "okay, use your powers, okay?" Dinky said before dropping the toy again, hitting the floor with a clatter. "Idiot." Scootaloo said to herself. "He's not a dog!" Sweetie Bell said to Dinky as she picked up the toy. "Girls!" they heard Sweetie's mother call from upstairs, "Time for school." Scootaloo and Dinky grabbed their bags and jackets and went up the stairs, while Sweetie stayed behind for a moment to explain the plan to Button. "Just stay down here, don't make any noise, and don't leave, If you get hungry, eat Dinky's snacks, okay?" Sweetie explained. "Sweetie!" Shiny Bell shouted again. "Coming!" Sweetie shouted back. She turned back to Button, "You know those power lines?" Sweetie asked, "Power Lines?" Button questioned. "Yeah, the ones behind my house?" Sweetie explained, "Yes." Button replied. "Meet us there, after school." Sweetie said. "After School?" Button asked again. "Yeah 3:15." Sweetie said. Button looked more and more confused with each passing word from Sweetie. Sweetie then gave Button her watch, and slipped it onto his wrist. "When the numbers read 3 1 5, meet us there." Sweetie explained, "Three-one-five." Button repeated. "Three-one-five." Sweetie repeated back. A smile crept on to Button's face before Sweetie turned and left.
...
Rarity walked through the halls of the school, something felt off, not right, and not normal, but she couldn't figure out why. She felt like everyone was judging her, or knew about what she did last night. She finally got to her locker and started unlocking it. Thunderlane then suddenly slammed the locker next to hers, "Hey." he said, taking off his sunglasses. "Hey." Rarity said nervously. Thunder noticed her concern. "Is everything okay?" he asked. "Yeah." Rarity answered immediately, "yeah, totally, I just, feel like everyone's staring at me." She said looking around. "oh, I didn't, I didn't tell anyone." Thunderlane said, trying to make her feel better. "I know, I know, of course not." Rarity said reassuringly. "But what about like, Soarin, and Rainbow?" Rarity asked, "You're being paranoid." Thunder answered. "I'm sorry." Rarity said looking down, "No, no, it's cute." Thunder said, getting a smile. "Hey, I had a good time." Thunder said trying to reassure her, "yeah, yeah, me too." Rarity said before leaning into a kiss. Thunder chuckled at Rarity's butterfly stickers she had on the inside of her locker door before walking away. Rarity felt embarrassed and giddy all at once.
Rarity walked into her first class and sat down, but she finally noticed what was wrong. Fluttershy wasn't there at her desk. Rarity tapped on the shoulder of Bon Bon, the girl who sat in front of her. "Hey Bon, have you seen Flutters?" Rarity asked, "Um, shouldn't you know?" Bon Bon responded before turning back around. "You haven't seen her anywhere? At all?" Rarity asked again. "No." Bon Bon said again. Rarity was starting to get worried now.
...
Shining Armor and his Deputies were now pulling up to the large gate that led to Ponyville National Laboratory. "There she is, The Crystal Empire." One of the deputies said sarcastically as the pulled up to the security booth. "I heard they make space weapons in there." the other deputy said. "space weapons?" the first deputy asked, "Yeah, you know, like, Luna's star wars." The other deputy said. "I guess we're gonna blow the changelings to smithereens." "Hey, can I help you." the gate guard asked Shining Armor from the booth. "Uh yeah, were here for a tour." Shining Armor said sarcastically. "We don't give tours." The guard responded in a dead pan tone. "Okay, a quick look around." Shining replied. "You have to get clearance for that, you can contact Mr. Schauffer at the department of energy." the guard explained. "Maybe you've seen on TV, we got a local kid who's missing, we have reason to believe she might've snuck in here." Shining explained. "Like I said, you have to speak to Mr. Schauffer." the guard said. Shining removed his hat, "What's your name?" He asked the guard. "Patrick." replied the stallion. "Patrick, I got a panicked mayor, and I got reporters breathing down my neck, and I got a very upset mother." Shining explained, "Now I know the kid's not in there, but I gotta check off this box. Patrick, would you do me a favor, would you speak to your boss, and see what you can swing for us?" Shining asked. "I'd really appreciate it." Shining said. "I'm talking ten minutes tops." Patrick sighed and picked up his radio with a nod.
...
Back at the Bell's house, Button had eaten most of Dinky's snacks and was levitating the spaceship. He then dropped it to the floor with a clatter, and grabbed the supercomm again. He then felt bored and looked around for something to do. He then went upstairs and started looking around the house. He lounged back in the La-Z-Boy, having gotten the hang of using the lever. He picked up the phone on the table next to the chair and held it to his ear, hearing the constant droning dial tone, he began mimicking the dial tone. He then got up and walked over to the TV, he switched it on, and began switching through channels, past news, and cartoons, and infomercials, before landing on a channel with an advertisement for Cola, a drink that came in a red can. This commercial made him remember a time back with papa...
flashback
Button sat at a table in an empty room, in front of him was a window where he could see Papa and other scientists watching him. On the table was a can of cola. On his head was a thing of wires that they put on his head for some reason. He saw papa nod and he focused on the can, until the can crunched up. He looked back at papa, he had a small smile. Button the wiped his nose and saw blood on his hoof. He looked up and papa smiled again.
Button came back just as the ad finished, he then turned off the TV.
...
Buttercup dragged a box across the floor and into the front room, the box was labeled "Heaths Warming Lights" and she opened it and began pulling the strands of lights from it. She began stringing them up all over the house, from the living room, to the kitchen, to the dining, room, the hallway, she hung them up everywhere in the house, hoping that this could help Applebloom communicate with her better, eventually, she ran out of stands, and still had much to cover.
She slammed the several boxes of lights onto the counter at the store in from of Flim, who had a look of confusion and bewilderment on his face from how many boxes there were. "Buttercup..." Flim began. "Just ring me up Flim!" Buttercup replied in a voice that was having none of it.
...
Shining aimed his flashlight through the pipe, the same pipe that had the piece of fabric on the other end of it beyond the fence, a stallion in a suit was with them. "You think this missing girl may have crawled through there?" The suit asked. "Well that was the idea." Shining explained, "Yeah, I just don't see how that's possible." The suit explained, "We've got over a hundred cameras, Every square inch covered, plus all my guys, no one breaks in here." the suit said as Shining looked up at the security cameras on a nearby pole. "Certainly not some kid." the suit finished. "Those cameras, you keep tapes?" Shining asked.
The suit led the chief and his 2 deputies through the halls of the lab, eventually passing by the quarantine area. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you guys do in here?" Shining asked. "You're asking the wrong guy." the suit replied. "Staying one step ahead of the changelings?" Shining asked, "I expect something like that." the suit answered. "Who's in charge here?" Shining asked, "That'd be Dr. Turner." the suit said. "And he builds the space lazers?" One of the desputies asked. "Space lazers?" the suits asked, "Ignore him." the other deputy said.
They were huddled in a dark room, watching the security tape of the drainage pipe as if fast forwarded through the supposed night that Applebloom went missing. "This the night of the 6th and 7th we're seeing here?" Shining asked, "that's correct." the suit responded. They watched for another minute before the tape stopped, Shining was not amused. "Is that it?" he asked. "Like I said, we would have seen him." the suit replied.
Out in the parking lot, the 3 cops were heading back to the cruiser. "On the night of the 7th we had a search party out for Applebloom, you remember anything about that night?" Shining asked his deputies. "Hmm, not much to remember, called it off." one of them replied. "Cause the storm." the other deputy finished. "yeah, a lot of rain that night." Shining said. "You see any rain on that tape?" Shining asked, remembering not seeing any rain on the tape that showed the night of the 7th. "What are you thinking." the other deputy asked. "I don't know, but they're lying." Shining said before they all got in the car and drove away.
Meanwhile, deep in the sub-labs of the laboratory, a group of ponies wearing hazmat suits were inspecting the mass of growth on the wall of the chamber. It made a low growling sound. Dr. Turner was there, helping 2 others place down a pulley device and drill it to the floor.
...
Back at the Bell's house, Button Mash crept carefully up the stairs and entered Rarity's room, he glanced around, looking at the bed, the dresser the vanity, and opened up a music box on the dresser. The music made Button feel sad, so he closed it. He then looked at a large bulletin board, on it was several picture depicting Rarity and her family and friends. Button then looked at photos of Rarity and Fluttershy on the bulletin board. He saw Fluttershy and recognized her, he heard her the night before, saw her, she was screaming, she was afraid, and he was powerless to help her.
...
Rarity entered the lunchroom at school, she grabbed her food and walked over to the table. Thunder was sitting there with Soarin and Rainbow. "I swear look at this, it's frostbite." Rainbow said, showing the boys a weird looking color on her rear leg. "But it's a heated pool." Soarin said. "Well if it's not frostbite, what is it?" Rainbow asked. "Ugh, I don't care what it is, it's disgusting! Get it off the table!" Thunderlane shouted. "Hey, Soarin, when you left, did you see Fluttershy?" Rarity asked. "What?" Soarin asked. "Fluttershy." Rarity repeated, "She's not here today." "I seriously have no idea who you're talking about." Soarin jokingly responded, trying to hide a smile. "Come on, don't be an ass man, did you see her last night or not." Thunderlane said in a serious tone. "No, she was gone when we left." Soarin answered, "Probably couldn't stand listening to all that moaning." Rainbow said mockingly before mocking further. "Oh, Thunder, oh thunder." Rainbow said in a moaning, mocking way. Soarin got into it to, slamming the table. Rarity hid her face in embarrassment. "Okay chill, listen, I'm sure she's just fine, she's probably just, skipping." Thunder said reassuringly. "Yeah, yeah, probably." Rarity said doubtingly. She looked over and saw Big Mac stop and look into the lunchroom from the hallway. The two met eyes for a moment, before Big Mac kept walking.
...
At the middle school, during lunch, the 3 girls were out looking for rock they could use for the wrist rocket. "How about this one?" Sweetie asked, showing one to Dinky, "Too big for the sling." Dinky responded. "So do you think Button was born with his powers, like the X-Ponies, or do you think he acquired them, like Green Lantern." Dinky asked. "He's not a superhero, he's a weirdo." Scootaloo said dismissively. "Why does that matter? The X-Ponies are weirdos." Sweetie Bell said. "If you love him so much, why don't you marry him?" Scootaloo said mockingly at Sweetie. "What are you talking about?" Sweetie asked. "Sweetie, seriously." Scootaloo asked, "What?" Sweetie said back. "You look at him all like, Hi Button, Button, Button, oh Button I love you so much!" Scootaloo said mockingly in an imitation of Sweetie Bell's high pitched voice. "Shut up Scootaloo." Sweetie shouted. "Yeah, shut up Scootaloo." Diamond Tiara said as she and Silver Spoon walked over to them. "What are you losers doing back here?" Silver Spoon asked. "Probably looking for their missing friend." Diamond Tiara said mockingly. "That's not funny, It's serious, she's in real danger." Dinky said. "I'd hate to break it toy you Derp Junior, but she's not in danger, She's dead, that's what my dad says." Diamond Tiara said very matter-of-factly. "He said she was probably killed by some other slut." Diamond Tiara said as she and Silver Spoon laughed. "Come on, just ignore them." Sweetie Bell said before walking to get by them. But as she walked by them, Diamond Tiara tripped her and Sweetie fell, slamming her chin into a stone. Sweetie groaned in pain. "Watch where you're going Marshmallow." Diamond Tiara mocked as the other 2 helped her up. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon clapped their hooves before walking away. "You all right?" Scootaloo asked. "Yeah." Sweetie said, feeling the scrape on her chin. Dinky looked down and picked up the stone that Sweetie bumped her chin on. "How about this one?" she asked. "Yeah." Sweetie responded. "Yeah, this is the monster killer." Scootaloo said.
...
Big Mac was in the photography room at school, developing the film he had shot the previous night. The red light being the only illumination in the room, so the photos weren't overexposed. Big Mac slid a picture into the liquid and the photo developed. He hung is next to all his voyeuristic photos that in all honesty, he regretted taking. Suddenly, Spitfire, another photography student, came into the room. "Hey." she said, setting her things down. "Oh, hey." Big Mac replied, quickly taking the drying photos down, and storing them in his bag. But it was too late, Spitfire had seen them, and she felt weirded out. Big Mac Left.
...
Back at the Apple house, Buttercup was finished, she glanced up and around at all the lights she had strung up, they all were lit up and she felt astonished by the way they looked. She studied them carefully, waiting for one of them to flicker. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, when Buttercup answered it was Shiny Bell. "Hey." Shiny said. "Hey Shiny, come on in." Buttercup said, inviting her inside. "I brought you a casserole." Shiny said, she was also with Jewel, her infant daughter. "Oh, thank you." Buttercup said, walking the mother and daughter over to the kitchen.
...
The Chief and his Deputy Powell, the Pegasus, pulled up at the library so they could get some more info on the Lab and Dr. Turner. They walked in and Shining recognized the Librarian. "Hey, Marissa. How you doing?" Shining asked as he walked up to the front desk. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here." The librarian responded, "What?" Shining replied, slightly confused. "You could have at least called and said, Marissa! Hey, it's not gonna work out. Sorry I wasted your time. I'm a dick!" She said in a mocking and annoyed tone. "Yep." Shining Armor simply replied. "Uh, I'm sorry, uh, Maybe we could go out again next weekend?" Shining asked. Marissa rolled her eyes. "Newspapers? You guys got newspapers around here?" Shining quickly asked, changing the subject.
"We have the Manehattan tribune, the Post, all the big ones." Marissa said as she showed the cops the microfilm that the newspapers were in. "organized by year and topic, You can find the corresponding microfiche in the reading room." Marissa finished. "Okay, were looking for anything on the Ponyville National Laboratory." Shining explained, "Shouldn't you be looking for that missing kid?" Marissa asked. "Yeah, we are." Shining responded. Marissa just nodded, "so, why don't you start with the tribune, and we'll check out the post." Shining said to Marissa. She just scoffed, and walked away. "The Librarian?" Deputy Powell questioned. Shining shrugged and shook his head.
The 2 cops began looking through several articles of microfilm they could find in the library that they could find on the Lab. Articles about Alleged abuse in experiments, to the MKUltra, a classified program of experimentation on the Pony Mind, and in the picture for that particular article was Dr. Time Turner. Shining also found an article about Dr. Turner facing a lawsuit against a mare named Milano Mash, who claimed that "they took my son." according to an article.
...
Buttercup and Shiny Bell were sitting at the table of the Apple's home, admiring the lights. "Applebloom always loved Hearth's Warming, you know." Buttercup explained to Shiny. "So I thought if I put up the lights, I don't know, It'd feel like she was home, somehow, it's silly I know." Buttercup stammered, "No, it's not silly," Shiny Bell reassured her. "How is Big Mac holding up?" Shiny asked. "You know, he's good at taking care of himself, he always has been, you know?" Buttercup said to Shiny, "He thinks I'm losing my mind, but," Buttercup said before going quiet ans staring at one of the lights. "Is something the matter?" Shiny asked. "uh, no, I just, we're having electrical problems." Buttercup answered. "Buttercup, I want you to know something, if you need anything, anything at all, Liberty and I are here for you." Shiny Bell said reassuringly. "Thank you." Buttercup said. Neither of them noticed when Jewel got up from the chair she was sitting in and followed a trail of glowing Hearth's Warming lights down the hallway to Applebloom's room. The infant pushed the door open and was awestruck by the flickering lights inside the room, all the lamps were flickering wildly. Jewel tried to follow the light, but suddenly the lights all went out, and she heard a sound coming from the wall.
The timer dinged. "Let me throw in that casserole, okay?" Shiny said before getting up to put the tray in the oven. "Oh, where's Jewel?" Shiny asked, noticing that her daughter was absent. Buttercup looked down the hall.
Jewel stared at the yellow wall, hearing the strange noise. She backed away as a hand began to emerge from the wall. "Hey." Buttercup said as she grabbed the infant and took her out of the room. "She shouldn't be in here." Buttercup said, giving her to Shiny. "Oh, I'm sorry, she's quite the explorer these days." Shiny said picking her daughter up. "Wait, did you see something?" Buttercup asked the infant. "Yeah." Jewel squeaked out. "What did you see, tell me." Buttercup asked. "Buttercup." Shiny said, trying to get her to stop. "Listen, Shiny, thank you for the casserole, but I need you to leave." Buttercup said, before escorting the confused mother out.
...
"Come on, come on, come on..." Rarity repeated as she held the payphone to her ear, waiting for the other line to pick up. "Hello?" the female voice on the other end spoke. "Hi, Mrs. Shy, it's Rarity." Rarity answered. "Oh Rarity, how are you?" Mrs. Shy asked. "Good, I'm good, I was just wondering, is Flutters there?" Rarity asked. "Uh, no she hasn't come home yet." Mrs. Shy responded. "But she did come home, right? After the Vigil?" Rarity asked, now getting worried. "No, she said she was staying with you last night." Mrs. Shy stated. "Right, yes she did, sorry, I meant, did she come home this morning?" Rarity asked, "I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up." Rarity said. "Oh, um, no, I haven't seen her." Mrs. Shy responded. "Do you know what? I just remembered,she's at the library." Rarity lied. "Rarity, will you please have her call me as soon as you find her." Mrs. Shy asked. "Yeah, I will, sorry to bother you." Rarity said before hanging up the phone. Rarity sighed.
...
The school bell rang and all the students were heading home. Big Mac was walking to his car, when he was confronted by Thunderlane, Spitfire, Soarin, and Rainbow Dash. "Hey man." Thunderlane said. "What's going on?" Big Mac asked, worried. "Spitfire here was telling us about your work." Thunderlane said, Big Mac felt his heart skip a beat, he was busted. "We've heard great things." Rainbow said sarcastically, "Yeah, it sounds cool." Soarin said, also with sarcasm. "And we'd just love to take a look. You know, a connoisseurs of art." Thunder said sarcastically before snatching Big Mac's bag. "Please, give me my bag." Big Mac demanded. "Oh Man, he is totally trembling, he must really have something to hide." Thunder said as he opened up the bag and looked through it. "Here we go." Thunder said, finding the pictures. Thunder flipped through the pictures, seeing his house, the pool, his bedroom window. "Oh man." Thunder said, "Let me see." Soarin said, getting a look. "Dude." Soarin said angrily at Big Mac. "Yeah, this sin't creepy at all." Rainbow scoffed as she flipped through the pictures. "I was looking for my sister." Big Mac tried to explain, "No," Thunder cut him off, "No this is called stalking. " Thunder said as Rarity walked up. "What's going on?" Rarity asked, seeing Big Mac. "Here's the starring lady." Soarin said, "What?" Rarity asked. "This creep was spying on us last night." Rainbow said, "He was probably going to save this one for later." Rainbow said as she handed a picture to Rarity. Rarity took the picture and looked, it was a picture of her taking off her shirt in front of Thunder's bedroom window. "See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but, man that's the thing about perverts, It's hardwired into them, you know, they just can't help themselves." Thunder said as he walked over and pat Big Mac on the shoulder. Thunder then ripped up the picture he was holding. "So, we'll just have to take away his toy." Thunder said, throwing the shreds of the photo on the ground before turning around and grabbing the camera from the bag. "Thunder." Rarity tried to speak up. "No please, not the camera." Big Mac protested, Soarin stopping him from getting closer. "No, no wait, Soarin." Thunder said, motioning for his friend to stand down. "It's okay, here you go man." Thunder said holding out the camera, but when Big Mac reached out to grab it, Thunder dropped it, and the camera broke. "Come on let's go the game's about to start." Thunder said to his friends before walking back towards the school. Rarity stood there, unable to know how to feel, she felt bad for Big Mac, and angry at Thunder, but also Angry at Big Mac for doing something so perverted. She glanced down and saw a shred fro one of the photos, she saw Fluttershy, sitting on the diving board. She then picked up the shreds and put them into her bag. "Hey Rarity! Come on!" Thunder called out, Rarity then turned and ran back towards the school, leaving Big Mac picking up his broken camera as a gust of wind carried the rest of the shreds away.
...
It was getting close the 3:15 and Button was out by the power line, staring at the watch, waiting until 3:15. "Three-One-Five." Button kept repeating to himself, until a noise got his attention. He looked and saw an orange cat hissing at him, this brought back more memories of the lab.
flashback
He was back in the room with the window and the table. On the table this time was a cage, and in the cage was a hissing white cat. Button looked up at papa, who nodded for him to proceed, he wanted Button to kill the cat. Button looked at the creature and cried, he didn't want to hurt it, he didn't want to kill it, he grabbed the wire cap they told him to wear and tore it off his head. Papa then frowned and Button shook his head no in response. The next thing Button knew, he was being dragged off to the enclosed room again, he didn't want to go back. "Papa!." Button screamed out, seeing him once again watching the 2 stallions drag him away. When they reached the room, they tossed Button in, but then Button became enraged, they weren't going to lock him up again, he had enough, he stood back up and narrowed his eyes at the closing door. Suddenly the door flung open with such force that The orderly closing it left an impression in the tiled wall. The other orderly took the zapping baton from his belt and turned it on, but the Button made a jerking motion with his neck, and a large crack was heard just before the orderly fell over dead. Button then felt dizzy and slumped back against the wall of the cell, blood oozed out of his nose and ears. He saw Papa appear in the doorway. Papa entered the cell and looked down at Button, and smiled, "incredible." he said. Papa then picked Button up and carried him out of the cell and back down the hall.
When button came to, he was back outside, at the power lines. "Button." he heard from behind him, he turned and saw Sweetie and her friends with their bikes. "You okay?" Sweetie asked, Button nodded, "Hop on, we only have a few hours." Sweetie explained, motioning for Button to get on the back of the bike. Button then got on the back of the bike, and the 4 of them pedaled away to find Applebloom.
...
Back at the high school, Rarity and the others were lounging around, waiting for the game to start. "So, I told Mr. Mundy, the solution of ten plus Y equals, blow me." Rainbow Dash said as she cuddled up to Soarin, who laughed. "Bull, if you did that you'd be in detention right now." Thunder said, "Saturday." Rainbow replied. "I bet Mr. Mundy's still a virgin." Soarin said, "Oh he's so a virgin." Rainbow added. "Maybe you should blow him Rainbow, it'd help your grades a bit." Soarin said jokingly. Rarity was glancing down the hallway, she wanted to inspect the picture Big Mac had taken, she wanted to find Fluttershy, so she started walking away. "Whoa, Rarity, where you going?" Thunder called out after her. "I totally forgot," Rarity stammered. "I told my mom I would, um, do something with her today." Rarity lied. "Well what do you mean? The games about to start." Thunder said getting up and going after her. "I'm sorry." Rarity said before turning and leaving. "What in Tartarus is wrong with her?" Thunder questioned, looking back at the other 2. "Maybe she freaked out when you went all psycho on the psycho." Soarin suggested. "Oh give me a break." Thunder said. "What did you expect? Dating miss perfect?" Rainbow Dash asked mockingly.
...
Sweetie Bell and Button Mash were walking through the woods side by side, with Scootaloo and Dinky a few feet behind. Button noticed the scrape of Sweetie's chin and became concerned. "Why did they hurt you?" Button asked. "What?" Sweetie asked confused. Button raised a hoof and pointed to her chin. "Oh, that, uh, I just fell at Lunch." Sweetie said. "Sweetie.." Button said, "Yeah?" Sweetie asked, "Friends don't lie." Button said, using Sweetie's words against her. Sweetie sighed, "I was tripped by this mouth breather Diamond Tiara." Sweetie explained. "Mouth Breather?" Button asked in a confused tone. "Yeah, you know, a dumb person, a knucklehead." Sweetie explained. "Knucklehead?" Button asked, finding that word amusing. "I don't know why I just didn't tell you, everyone at school knows." Sweetie said sadly. "I just didn't want you to think I was a wastoid, you know?" Sweetie said. "Sweetie." Button said, "Yeah?" Sweetie asked, "I understand." Button said softly. "Oh, okay, cool." Sweetie replied. "Cool." Button repeated.
...
Rarity was walking down the street and she saw it, it was still there. Fluttershy's car was still in the same spot she had left it when they had parked to go to the party the night before. Rarity peered inside and saw no evidence that it was even touched between last night and then. Rarity was now very worried, she glanced around. "Fluttershy?" She called out.
She went over to Thunder's house and entered the backyard, she looked around. "Fluttershy?" She called out again. She heard rustling coming from the trees over by the backyard and walked over to investigate. "Fluttershy?" She called out again. She stood still, listening, she then turned and saw a figure move, it was big and dark. She fell over in fright and quickly got up and ran away, worrying it could have been a bear or some creep.
...
Buttercup was smoking a cigarette back at her house, she felt overwhelmed with what had happened that day. Suddenly, Winona started barking at something. Buttercup looked over and saw the Hearth's Warming lights flickering on. She followed them over to the far wall of the living room. She moved a shelf and removed a panel which led into a small crawlspace. She grabbed a strand of lights and took them into the crawlspace with her. "Applebloom, are you there?" she asked clutching the strand close to her. Suddenly, the light began to glow bright, and Buttercup's face lit up with happiness. "Okay, good, good, good." Buttercup said. "uh, blink once for yes, twice for no, do you understand?" Buttercup asked. She got her answer when the lights blinked once. "good girl, good girl." Buttercup said softly. "Baby I need to know, are you alive?" Buttercup asked, tearing up, and fearful of the answer. She smiled when the lights blinked once. Applebloom was alive, Buttercup felt the first bit of relief she had not felt in what felt like ages. "Are you safe?" Buttercup asked, then the lights blinked twice. No, Applebloom was not safe. Buttercup started to cry again. "I need to know where to find you, honey, where, where are you, can you tell me where you are?" Buttercup stammered before she got an idea. She got a can of black paint and opened it, and using the wall behind the couch, she began to paint the letters of the alphabet on the wall below a light, so she could asked more than just yes or no questions.
...
Rarity walked in to the Bell house and was greeted by her mother. "Hey, your home early! How was the Game?" Her mother asked as she cooked dinner. She looked over at Rarity who looked like she was about to start crying. "Rarity? What's the matter?" Shiny asked. "It's Fluttershy." Rarity said, starting to cry. "I think, something happened, something terrible." Rarity said as she looked at her mom with sadness in her eyes.
...
Shining Armor and Deputy Powell were still looking through the articles at the library. "I dunno chief." Powell said, "What don't you know?" Shining asked. "This lady Milano Mash sounds like a real nut to me." Powell explained as he pointed to the article he was reading. "Her kid was taken for LSD mind control experiments?" Powell asked. "She's been discredited, claims was thrown out.." Powell continued. "Okay, forget about her." Shining said, handing Powell another article. "Take a look at this, Dr. Time Turner." Shining said, pointing out the brown stallion in the picture. "Who?" Powell asked. "Turner, He runs Ponyville Lab." Shining explained, "Okay." Powell said, trying to follow. Shining leaned back, annoyed. "You don't find that interesting?" Shining asked. "Not really." Powell responded. "He was involved with some hippy crap back in the day, so what?" Powell asked. "No this isn't hippie crap, this is CIA-sanctioned research." Shining said. "Doesn't mean he had anything to do with our kid." Powell said. "Come on, look at that, hospital gowns. All of 'em." Shining Armor pointed to the picture, "Now that piece of fabric the teacher found at the pipe, that sure looked like a hospital gown to me huh?" Shining asked. "Uh, I don't know chief." Powell replied, "Come on man." Shining sighed. "Work with me here, I'm not saying that there's this grand conspiracy, I'm just, I'm saying maybe something happened, Maybe Applebloom was in the wrong place, at the wrong time." Shining explained, "And she saw something she shouldn't have." Powell looked skeptical, "It's a reach." Powell said, "It's a start." Shining said. Suddenly, Powell's radio crackled to life, and the voice of his other deputy Callahan came through the radio. "Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?" he asked, Shining grabbed the Radio from Powell. "Shining here, what do you got?" Shining asked.
The 2 cops burst from the library and rushed down the steps to the cruiser. They got in and turned on the siren and sped off down the road.
...
Sweetie and the others were heading down a path in the woods, following Button Mash, who had led the way. Button stopped and turned around to face them, they realized that they were in front of The Apple family house. "Here." Button said. "Yeah, this is where Applebloom lives." Sweetie explained. "Hiding." Button said. "No, this is where she lives, she's missing from here." Sweetie explained. The other 2 caught up and dropped their bikes in frustration. "What are we doing here?" Scootaloo asked, annoyed. "He said she's hiding here." Sweetie said. "Um, no." Scootaloo said. "I swear, if we walked all the way here for nothing.." Dinky began, "That's exactly what we did!" Scootaloo angrily exclaimed. "I told you he didn't know what in tartarus she was talking about!" Scootaloo continued. "Why did you bring us here?" Sweetie asked. Button stammered in response, unable to explain why they were there. "Sweetie, don'y waste your time with him." Scootaloo suggested, "What do you want to do then?" Sweetie Bell asked. "Call the cops like we should've done yesterday." Scootaloo said. "We are not calling the cops." Sweetie said sternly at Scootaloo. "What other choice do we have?" Scootaloo asked. "Guys!" Dinky shouted, getting their attention. They then heard sirens approaching, and saw a few cop cars and an ambulance drive past on the road. "Applebloom." Sweetie muttered before they all scrambled to get on their bikes to follow the emergency vehicles.
...
Buttercup finally finished the last row of letters with z. She stood back to admire her work. "Okay, Okay baby talk to me. Talk to me, where are you?" Buttercup asked, and the lights answered, glowing, R, I, G, H, T, H, E, R, E. "Right here? I don't know what that means, I need you to tell me what to do, what should I do?" Buttercup stammered. Then the lights answered again, R, U, N. After that, all the lights in the house began to flicker like crazy, and behind her, the wall began to move and this time, something broke through, a monster. It was tall and was absolutely horrifying. Buttercup screamed as she ran out the front door, not even looking back like last time.
...
The kids followed the sirens all the way, to the quarry. Chief and Powell pulled their car down to the water, where several firemen, cops, and state troopers already were, and Callahan was waiting as well. Shining got out of his truck and rushed to get a closer look. A few State troopers were getting something out of the water. "Oh celestia, please tell me it's not the kid. The 4 kids pulled their bikes over and peeked from behind a fires truck at the state troopers in the water. They watched as the troopers pulled the limp, yellow body of a filly and put it onto a stretcher. Shining saw it and knew immediately, he hung his head in shame, before leaving. "It's not Applebloom, it can't be." Sweetie said, unable to believe it. "That's Applebloom, that's really Applebloom." Scootaloo said as tears formed in her eyes at the sight of her friends body. Sweetie stumbled back, away from Button, who looked confused and sad, "Sweetie?" Button asked reaching out, only to be hit away by Sweetie Bell. "Sweetie? Sweetie what? You're supposed to help us find her alive, you said she was alive, why did you lie to us? What's wrong with you?" Sweetie blurted out, sobs forming, tears streaming from her eyes. Button stared back at Sweetie, unable to say anything. Sweetie turned around and got her bike. "Sweetie, come on don't do this." Scootaloo pleaded through tears. "Sweetie? Where are you going? Sweetie!" Dinky cried out after her, but to no avail, Sweetie rode away, crying her eyes out.
...
Buttercup ran for her life down the dirt path, not looking back in fear that it would be there. Suddenly, 2 headlights appeared in front of her. And she stopped. Out of the car stepped Big Mac. "Mom?" Big Mac said in a concerned voice. "Mom what happened?" Big Mac asked as he ran to embrace his mom, who was crying.
...
Sweetie burst through the door and went straight for her room, but stopped when she heard her mother call out. Sweetie looked and her mother got up from the couch, where Rarity sat along with Fluttershy's parents. "What's wrong?" Shiny Bell asked, looking at her daughter, seeing her tear stained face. Sweetie whimpered and reached out, Shiny returned the reach and hugged her daughter, who wept into her shoulder. Shiny did her best to comfort her, but Sweetie kept crying. She had seen what she never wanted to ever see, her best friend, dead...
Author's note: Woah, chapter 3 already?, yeah I said it wouldn't be ready until Sunday, but I had the day today, and chapter 3 was easier to adapt than chapter 2, probably because I was more eager to adapt it. Anyway, please review and send feedback, I'd love to hear it! :)