Previously on The Second Destiny, adventures of the CMC:
Apple Bloom makes a deal with two (dodgy) strangers: the next friend she makes will belong to them. She later escapes from the clutches of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon through a mysterious pony who may or may not be Cinderainbow.
Sweetie Belle makes things right by returning to the mansion and saving Button Mash from himself.
• Chapter Forty-two: Golden Locks •
…
Darkness... darkness... darkness... then...
The sound of a rooster's morning yodel ricocheted through the room, and almost instantly did the floral curtains sweep open.
Five pairs of eyes shot open, not blinking once, and all locked on the window. Behind the glass, the massive sun glowed majestically, sending its powerful rays throughout the entire room.
And standing right on the ledge of the window, stood a pony, silhouetted against the sun so that his figure was only a shadow.
"It's morning!" Button Mash cried, leaping down from the ledge and landing perfectly onto the floor with all four dark brown hooves.
"It's morning!" Sweetie Belle squealed back.
"It's morning!" Babs Seed cried, squinting in the blinding light.
"It's morning!" Apple Bloom shrilled, throwing her pillow up into the air and bucking it like a cannonball into the door all the way across the room, making it swing open.
"It's morning!" Rumble piped, his voice slightly cracking.
Finally, they all turned to Scootaloo, who was sitting in her bed, the blankets enclaving her like a burrito. She self-consciously peered at the pleading eyes of the others. They all knew that she was the least confident when it came to singing. After a few moments, used solely for blinking and non-verbal begging, Scootaloo rolled her eyes and tossed the blankets into the air. Spreading out her fiery-orange wings, delighted to be free from her cocoon of warmth, she projected her voice into the formerly silent air.
"Two months of living here,
with my best friends to stay!"
Babs Seed sprung down from her bed, joining the pack of ponies gathered on the floor, singing her part.
"Through time we've gotten closer now,
are friends through to today!"
Friendlily bumping his wing with Scootaloo's in a 'welcome to the morning,' gesture, Rumble cleared his throat and vocalised his line.
"And though our old home was great without doubt,
I know this one's our truest, see."
Sweetie Belle's grin stretched from ear to ear. She turned to her acquaintances, who nodded affectionately, before her outstanding voice rang through the sky.
"Despite the events in the past,
This place's my destiny!"
Button Mash nodded in appreciation before cartwheeling towards the door, and skipping out into the hall. His verse met the ears of the others.
"I understand all of your former hate,
I mean remember my old state!
And, the things I've done, I amn't impressed,
Leading to this great fate!
What did I do, to deserve this?
Ponies who are like you?
You are my friends, now am I your's?
Is what my heart says ever true?"
The others followed him, prancing happily in a single file line and belting out the chorus.
"Each morning with, my family!
From dawn 'til, dusk, between!
Living cheerful, with harmony!
Cause all of my friends are here!
Because all my friends are here!"
Scootaloo bounced particularly highly up into the air, ecstatically buzzing her wings and gently floating back down to the ground, whilst she recited.
"Our old house had some memories...
This home we'll make new ones!
We'll excel all our hopes and dreams!
Anything's possible.
We have freedom,
We have trust, and friendship.
And the sun comes up,
The darkness it will strip."
Everypony joined in and chanted the chorus for the second time.
"Each morning with, my family!
From dawn 'til, dusk, between!
Living cheerful, with harmony!
Because all my friends are here!
Days when we are pure happy!
Because my friends are family-
Cause my friend are family!"
Apple Bloom ambled along, her golden eyes joyously shining, with an extra bound to her step as she chirped.
"Weather cannot break our bonds-
It can't, it's meaningless.
With sunlight departs frost and ice,
Inside our beating hearts.
Must never stereotype,
The bad over the good.
For one mistake can do a lot...
If friendship knots are loose!"
As they continued to march along, Babs Seed carried the tune of the chorus with her voice.
"Each morning with, my family!
From dawn 'til, dusk, between!
Living cheerful, with harmony!
Because all my friends are here!
Days when we are pure happy!
Because my friends are family-
Cause my friend are family!"
Rumble paused, all eyes on him, before he opened his mouth and sung his solo.
"Each day all of those bumps and bends,
Fade more and more, see.
It's only time that can foretell,
What friendships are to be.
Loyalty, Laugher, Honesty,
Generosity too.
Forgiveness, it is Magic,
There's just so much virtues!"
The ponies neared the end of the hall, whilst Sweetie Belle soloed the chorus, heads turned to her as though she were a celebrity.
"Each morning with, my family!
From dawn 'til, dusk, between!
Living cheerful, with harmony!
Because all my friends are here!
Days when we are pure happy!
Because my friends are family-
Cause my friend are family!"
The melody suddenly turned minor, as the others woefully hummed, and Button Mash closed his eyes, not walking anymore and singing the final verse.
"Now that I know our friendship's truth,
I know I've found my place.
Found a place in my cold heart,
The ponies, that I face.
And the curse I have may be tragic,
My house I may not leave,
And my brain may be mucked up.
But I still have those
I love, among me!"
And with that, the melody went major again, the final chorus echoing through the room with six individual voices.
"Each morning with, my family!
From dawn 'til, dusk, between!
Living cheerful, with harmony!
Because all my friends are here!
Days when we are pure happy!"
And four voices silenced, allowing the last two to end the song. Button Mash and Sweetie Belle.
"Cause my friends are family-
Cause my friends are family-
Cause my friends are family!"
Silence, besides the voices echoing through the halls, ringing out of the windows and causing the trees to sway, despite there being absolutely no wind outside on this particular day. No, it was a sunny day, bright outside, and that perfect combination of hot and cold.
It had been no more two weeks since Button Mash and Sweetie Belle had reunited and forgiven, and there had been no suicide. It didn't seem like Button Mash would ever give up on life now, because he had Sweetie Belle again- plus four new friends.
Apple Bloom, Babs Seed, Scootaloo and Rumble had been a bit dubious towards the colt at first, but eventually, with the help and encouragement of Sweetie Belle, they had all set aside their differences, and were now inseparable friends. A stranger would never guess that they had once been enemies.
If anyone was more delighted than Button Mash, then it was Sweetie Belle. She was absolutely overjoyed to be with all the ponies she loved again, all living under the same roof- they had come to a conclusion to all mark their prime destination in Button Mash's mansion of a home. The first few days had been a matter of transporting their belongings from their old, cosy house to the new one.
Button Mash had been desperate to help, but since of his disability to leave the outskirts of home, he had just had to sit and wait for the ponies to return with their possessions, and then help them transport the luggage into their rooms.
Speaking of rooms, their official bedroom was now the room with all the single beds spread across- the original room the CMC had gone in, in the first place. Of course, the beds had now been customised to suit the owners' liking, giving a homely feeling to the place.
As of now, they were all in the kitchen, getting breakfast prepared.
"Okay, next ingredient..." Babs Seed squinted at the writing, swatting at her mane as it danced before her eyes. "Two eggs."
"Ah'll get them!" Apple Bloom trilled, opening the fridge, and balancing the egg on the tip of her nose.
"How do you do that?" Button Mash gaped as the earth pony brought the egg to the kitchen bench.
Apple Bloom shrugged. "Skill."
After two eggs were cracked and tossed in the bowl, Babs Seed continued reading. "20 grams of sugar and 5 grams of salt."
"This sounds nutritious," Rumble retorted as he flew up to the fridge and fetched the ingredients.
"Anything else we'll need?" Sweetie Belle questioned, haunching over Babs Seed's shoulder.
"Just 250 grams of flour."
"Is that it?" Scootaloo peered uncertainly into the bowl.
"I think so?" Babs Seed tilted the book as though there were some secret encryption which could only be read at a certain angle.
"I think I know what we should do!" Scootaloo sprinted into the pantry, returning with a jar of sweets.
"Great, another 500 grams of sugar should do just the trick," Rumble remarked with a sarcastic tongue.
"It's not about what's healthy. It's about what tastes good!"
Scootaloo threw all the jar's contents into the mixing bowl and began stirring. "And I'm gonna make sure we bake the best waffles existing."
Apple Bloom's eyes sparkled. "That's the kind of enthusiasm we need! Here's a job fer' ya'll! Sweetie Belle, get the waffle-makers, don't fer'get t' use that heat spell this time t' ensure it works!"
Sweetie Belle nodded obediently, already searching through the cupboards.
"Button Mash, Rumble, go into the garden and fetch some berries."
"What types of berries?" Rumble queried, already trotting towards the back doors.
Apple Bloom gave a devious smirk. "Evereh'thing."
"Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, mulberries..." Button Mash listed.
"Bananas?" Rumble offered.
Button Mash glared at the pony, and squawked, "bananas aren't berries!"
"Neither are strawberries!"
"Babs Seed," Apple Bloom turned to the orange-brown filly who studiously peered up and saluted. "Prepare some maple syrup, cream, lemon juice, sugar, ice-cream, and chocolate."
"What about me?" Scootaloo piped.
"Keep stirrin', get rid of all of 'em lumps." Apple Bloom searched through the cutlery drawer. "Ah'll set the dinin' table."
…
"Here. Now!" A changeling guard menaced forward, it's spleenful eyes locked upon a dusty mare before him.
She shook her head, tumbling backwards and maternally shoving a foal behind her.
"Fine then!" The changeling roared, his jagged horn igniting with exuberant green magic. It blanketed around the mare, and dragged her forwards. He wasn't surprised to find her attempting to thrash free of the aura's grip.
"Details," the changeling turned to another standing beside him.
"Em... it's a pony..."
"Thank you captain obvious now give me some necessary information!"
"Female... pegasus..."
"Do you want me to tell Queen Chrysalis about your irrelevant existence?" The original changeling shot his fellow a chilling glare.
The mare who was forcefully standing before him had her eyes squeezed shut, and her lips curled. She flapped her wings, struggling to writhe free of the magical hold.
"No sir! Of course not sir! Let me just get my notes, sir... her Cutie Mark..."
"Hold it, you meaningless rookie." The first changeling glared at the pony before him. Her eyes were still shut, though if they were open, they'd've been glaring daggers. "Why aren't you looking at us? Incapable of being polite?"
"Let me go, you beast!" She shrieked. Her voice was funny, but nevertheless, strong.
The first changeling gave an unpleasant smirk. "Open your eyes, filly! Show some manners to your superior race!"
"Um sir..." The second changeling stuttered.
"Grr, well not everyone of our race is superior. Leave it, your opinion is too lowly to reach my ears." The changeling flung a mere look at his companion before turning to the mare again. "Well? Don't make me consider magicking your eyelids!"
"Leave my Ma' alone!" The voice reverberated several times, an odd voice, just like the mare's, but just as threatening and a few octaves higher.
"What did you just say?" The changeling snarled, turning to the little foal who cowered before him.
"L-leave her... a-alone..." The foal lowered her head, just like her voice which had become so quiet that the 'lone' in 'alone' was practically inaudible. She was a small pony, small enough to fit into the changeling's hoof, and she could be no more than four years of age.
"Ha!" The changeling spat, his repulsive smirk returning. "Does w'ittle baby pony-wony want to save her mummy-wummy?" His attempt of a baby voice sounded foolish at the same time as blood-chilling.
"Yes, um... please..."
"Stay back!" The mare shouted, shooting the filly her most pleading look. "Go! Hide!"
"Will you come too?" The foal looked up at her mother who's eyes remained clamped shut.
The mare was flabbergasted for just a moment, blubbering for words, before ferociously nodding. "Yes! Now go!" With a violent kick, she pounced out of the changeling's magic, and before he could react, she lunged at him, throwing him to the ground, giving her foal time to scamper away. She was baring her teeth. "Don't you ever speak to my daughter that way again!"
She turned to the changeling's assistant, who backed away submissively and was faltering for words. "D-don't hurt me! I'm... just doing my job!"
"Then get sacked," she seethed, swooping out her wings and bouncing from the ground. Just as it looked like she'd be free, one of her hooves got caught on a rock, and she plunged to the ground with a thud, one of her wings in a clumsy angle, and her tongue lolling out, dazed.
The original changeling cackled, as he surrounded the pony with his bedazzling magic yet again. "I've never seen such a failure!" He peered down and glimpsed into her eyes, before bursting out into hysterics. "Oh my!" He wiped away a tear with a hoof. "I now know why you wanted to hide them! Look at her eyes, rookie! Ha!"
The other changeling bumbled forwards giving her eyes a quick examination before he shied away, swallowing back the urge to barf. "That fall must have really caused some damage..."
"It wasn't the fall, you simpleton! It's just how she looks! What a disappointment! I wonder if her offspring inherited this- I never got a good look! Well all I can say is, this thing is too ridiculous to feed to Chryslis." He leered forwards, spitting a glob of saliva in her golden mane. "Y'know, you should have listened up before you crossed our path- we're looking for youthful ponies. One's with actual beauty!"
"Every living creature has its own beauty except for you!" The mare's hiss was feeble, but there was no denying the hatred which dripped from her words.
"So should we... go?" The other changeling suggested with an air of insecurity. "Find something else since we... wasted our... time?"
"And leave this one?"
"Yeah..?"
"No," the first changeling sneered. "It is an insult to our Queen having vermin like this roaming around Equestria. It's her land after all. I think we should send it to jail!"
And as the changelings strolled away, forcing the pony to trail after them, they didn't notice the two wide eyes peering through a bush, filled with horror, as she squeaked her mother's name into the sunset.
…
The two golden eyes snapped open, complimented by the heavy breathes which gushed from her windpipe. She stared around herself, edgy like a gazelle surrounded by lions before massaging her temple, a routine of calming down. Finding her way to her hooves, she wobbled, before regaining balance.
"Just a dream," she muttered, almost in agitation. "It's in the past now. Live in the presence. Don't let the past drown you."
She started around, this time searching for what was reality other than the neglect of her imagination.
She'd sought refuge in the dome-like cave. Again.
Locks of golden mane trailed down her face as she arched her back and staggered towards the exit.
The nightmare was common, a nightmare she was never going to forget, never for all eternity. It was how her mother had fallen, leaving her homeless, fending for herself.
…
Knock... knock... knock...
Sweetie Belle fidgeted on her hooves, peering restlessly at the Everfree Forest which surrounded her. She wore a walnut-brown cloak, which covered her entire body and shadowed her face to the tip of a white snout. A few moments passed before the door heaved open and a pair of turquoise eyes blazed down at her.
They softened.
"Sweetie Belle! What a surprise! What have you come to compromise?" Zecora courteously stepped aside, allowing Sweetie Belle to enter.
Once she were inside, Sweetie Belle pulled away the hood and scrunched her brow. "How'd you know it was me?"
"I've been awaiting your visit for quite a while. How I know? It's just my style." Zecora gave a wink as she sat down upon a chair, calmly sipping some form of remedy from a petite, wooden cup.
Sweetie Belle shuffled down upon her own seat, rapping a hoof as she did when she were anxious. "I've come for a cure... you see, my friend was cursed into the confinements of a property... is there any way you can fix him?"
Zecora lost herself to the realm of thoughts. Her elaborately coloured eyes glazed over for just a moment. "Your friend's situation sounds awfully tragic. To take a guess, is it changeling magic?"
"Chrysalis's herself," Sweetie Belle mumbled, resting her chin on the table with a slouch. "She cursed him into the castle since he were four. Not only can't he leave, but she gave him a strange obsession over video games. Don't ask me how or why. I've been marvelling over this myself for as long as I can remember I've known."
Zecora again, seemed to think, as still as silence before she jolted. Trotting up to a cabinet of vials, her grey and white mane bounced behind her as she selected a certain tube at the top.
The filly curiously eyed the green liquid which sloshed around beneath the glass's hold. "Is that it?"
Zecora popped the cog off of the capsule's opening and poured the concoction into her spectacular caldron. "No, this'd be too immediate. What we need, is a few more ingredients."
"Do you have them?"
"No, not for this particular stunt. You'll need to go on a scavenger hunt." Zecora trekked across the room, revealing an antiquated piece of paper.
Sweetie Belle snatched the list with her magic, already skimming over the random additives. "A phoenix's feather... the sap from a maple tree... a speck of snow from Yakyakistan..."
"You can cross off seawater, on number one. That ingredient is found, it's already done." Zecora went back to her brew, stirring the fluid with a long rod like the paddle to a kayak. Smoke to billowed into the air, despite only seawater churning in the caldron's circumscription.
"Thanks so much, Zecora. You don't know how much this means to me."
"No problem, now move along. Time is the key which we mustn't get wrong."
"Thanks!" Sweetie Belle shrilled again, already scampering from the hut, the list a wagging flag behind her.
…
"Ya' did what?" Apple Bloom shrieked, glowering with her golden eyes. They penetrated through unicorn's flesh and bone, just like radiation. "Ya' know how dangerous it is t' go into the forest alone!"
"Yeah, but I needed to see Zecora!" Sweetie Belle dipped her head. The sweet aroma of breakfast wafted through the air, watering her mouth. "I'd already done my task of setting up the waffle maker. I had free time to pay her a quick visit."
"Ya'd better have had a good reason for visitin' Zecora," Apple Bloom grumbled, her eyes still narrowed and her ears unnaturally erect.
Sweetie Belle finally gazed up, unable to hide the smile which twitched its way to her lips. "I found a cure for Button Mash!"
"You found a what?" Scootaloo screeched, advancing so close that her nose was barely inches from Sweetie Belle's. "Zecora has a cure? For his... for his curse?"
Sweetie Belle snuck a glimpse at Button Mash as everypony milled around her. He was the definition of surprise, blinking sporadically with a jaw unconsciously hanging. "Yes... but Zecora doesn't have every ingredient to make it. We need to find them ourselves."
Babs Seed ripped the recipe from Sweetie Belle's magic, her eyes zigzagging over the text. "There's seven ingredients, excluding the seawater which has been crossed out. Do we have a time limit?"
Sweetie Belle racked her brain and for the first time, her smile wavered. "I... Zecora said that time was the key we can't get wrong, so I'd imagine..."
"Then we have no time t' spare!" Apple Bloom peeped over Babs Seed's shoulder, reading through the paper and calculating a formula in her mind. "In order to get these ingredients as quick as possible, we should split up. Scootaloo, ah' want ya' t' fetch the web of a spider. Rumble, yer' t' retrieve a phoenix's feather and Sweetie Belle, can ya' get a breezie's pollen? Babs Seed, would ya' mind goin' t' Yakyakistan to fetch a speck of snow?"
"Sure thing, boss!"
Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes, closer inhaling the list. "Ah'll find a wad of Poison Joke..."
"What about me?"
Apple Bloom turned, her gaze resting on Button Mash's who shifted his weight from hoof to hoof in hopefulness.
"Button Mash... err... are there aneh' maple trees in yer' garden?"
"You betcha'!"
"Then 'ah want ya' gettin' some of its sap." Apple Bloom looked at everypony in turn. "Whether or not ya' have found yer' ingredient, ah' want ya' all t' meet here by sundown. Is that clear?"
"Clear!"
Scootaloo's stomach growled, and she longingly motioned at the dining table, perfectly set. "What about the waffles? They're ready to eat and I'm so... hungry!"
Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo the same way she'd look at a pony rolling upon the floor, barking like a dog. "Breakfast can wait. Now does evereh'poneh' remember what they are t' retrieve?"
After a series of nods did Apple Bloom give her approval. "Then we have no time t' spare! Crusaders, go!"
…
"Hmmm, mmmm..." Humming the melody of her childhood lullaby, the purply ash-coloured filly with the golden mane picked her way along the garden trail- well, technically it was a forest, but the forest was a home to her. There was nopony who knew the forest like she did.
Taking a long whiff of the fresh air, she caught the rubbery scent which brightened her eyes. Giving a few strides, she located a bush hidden amongst the compacted flora.
Nudging through the prickly vines, she spotted a cluster of mushrooms sprouting from the rich, moist soil.
She plucked a few of the fungi, storing them in an efficient saddlebag which hung over her back. She'd be eating those later.
Just as she was going to depart to her cave, another scent wormed its way into her nostrils.
The scent was sugery, but soured by the tang of fresh berries. It was a meal finely cooked and still toasty.
Her stomach desirously moaned.
And it was coming from the abandoned manor which sat in the densest section of the Everfree Forest.
Picking up her pace, the unicorn galloped amongst the flora, her energy boundless as she cleared the way through the understory layers of vegetation.
She finally broke free from a jungle of ferns and found herself facing the castle. The abandoned castle- or was it not?
The scent of food was stronger than ever, cooked to perfection, just like how her mother used to bake her muffins.
She knew stealing was wrong, but it smelt so good!
She cast a hesitant gaze back to the forest, her hooves trembling with apprehension before she trotted up, nearing the palace's doors.
…
"Here spider, spider, spider!" Scootaloo called in a singsong voice, trotting down the forest path and scanning between branches, amongst leaves, upon bushes- everywhere.
"Come out come out wherever you are!"
Spiderwebs were common in the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo's memory spanned back to countless times where she'd been unfortunate enough to stumble upon a spiderweb. Back then she hadn't needed it. This time, she did, and naturally, the one time she needed spiderweb, there was absolutely no spiderweb in sight.
Typical Everfree Forest.
"What sound do spiders make?" Scootaloo mumbled, now searching her brain for a time where a spider had spoken. Nothing. So instead, she screeched like a bird.
Sighing, she kicked a rock, shying away as a family of worms wriggled around, searching for the savage who'd taken their home away.
She was relieved that worms didn't have eyes, otherwise, she would have never forgiven herself.
"Focus Scootaloo! If you were a spider, then what would you be doing?" She thought. "Murdering my nonexistent husband? Sounds fun!"
She took a matter of five steps before something braceleted around her hind hoof.
She turned to identify what this new asset was, but with that very insignificant movement, was she catapulted into the air at alarming speed.
She was a screaming mess for an approximate ten seconds before she finally ran out of breathe.
That was when she realised that she was dangling upside down like a marionette from strings. Except it was a rope, not a string and it was tied to her back hoof. Her stomach lurched against her ribs as the rope boinged to match her weight, a replica of a bungee.
Too shocked to speak, she listened as there was a rustling in some nearby bushes. The rustling became louder before a pony leapt from the undergrowth like a whale peircing the sky as it lurches from the sea.
"Finally I've got one!" he cried in effervescence, flapping his pegasus wings and ascending into the sky. "Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr Phoenix, but I just need one of your feathers."
It was then that recognition dawned upon Scootaloo. "Rumble?"
He stopped flapping, just for a second before he regained flight, soaring closer to get a better view. "Scootaloo? What are you doing here?"
"Just hanging around, y'know?" Scootaloo gave the biggest, most goofiest grin, stretched form one ear to the other. "Geddit'? Just hanging around! Haha, I'm so punny."
As Rumble didn't laugh, shellshocked from speech, she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I'll admit, that was bad. Want another sarcastic comment as to what I'm doing here?"
She took his silence as a 'yes.'
"Well I was lumbering along, minding my own business when I came upon this boobytrap, and I thought, oh who gives a hay, and walked straight into it. Now can you explain why you first want to pluck me of my feathers and now you've seemed to have lost your capabilities of speech?"
Rumble returned to reality as his eyes focused on Scootaloo's and his cheeks reddened. "Gosh this is awkward. Sorry about that, Scoots. You look like a phoenix with the orange feathers and all."
The blood began to rush to Scootaloo's head, and she found herself dizzying. "Rumble..."
"Hmm?"
"Can you please get me down from here? I think I'm going to faint."
"Course! Right on it!" Revealing a serrated blade from his saddlebag, Rumble dug it into the rope, just above her hoof.
"Rumble," she began again.
"Yes Scootaloo?"
"This is pretty high up."
He briefly gazed down, continuing to saw into the rope. "It is."
"I'm just saying, you might want to help me down to the ground since I can't fl-"
She screeched as the rope gave way, allowing gravity to take over and send her into a hectic dive.
It was a very long drop, as the rope had connected to one of the tallest trees in the Everfree Forest. Even after five seconds was she still falling, not even halfway to the ground.
Gazing to the side, she saw Rumble, zooming alongside her as they fell, deviously smirking. "Right ahead of you, Scoots."
He flew closer, grasping ahold of her hooves and hauling her from her drop. The rest of the fall was fairly relaxed, and as she landed delicately on the ground, she could only give a sigh of relief. "Thanks." Then she punched him. "And don't scare me like that anymore! Gosh Rumble you have no clue what it's like!"
Even as she tried to act annoyed was she laughing. The laughter turned into a fit and she had no choice but to collapse to the ground, clutching at her stomach as more giggles escaped her mouth.
Rumble chuckled, watching the filly rolling upon the grass. "And now you know what it is like to be tickled."
"It's pain!" she breathed.
"Undeniably."
Scootaloo finally recovered, finding her way up and sitting beside Rumble, gazing up at the sky. There was a new atmosphere of solemnity. "Do you think it will all get better? Do you think there'll ever be a time when we can just relax?"
He paused. "Only the future knows. But even if things get better amongst us, the rest of our world will be suffering. The changelings will still be in rule and your sisters - Cinderainbow and the others - they'll still be missing."
Scootaloo yawned, resting her head upon his shoulder. At first he flinched, but it was from surprise rather than discomfort. "You might want to pick different types of traps for catching a phoenix. I'd use a net."
"Thank you. And for a spiderweb you might want to go to a location with more insects, like Froggy Bottom Bogg."
"Thanks." She gave a deep sigh before recoiling from her friend and getting up to her hooves. "Good luck?"
"Good luck." Rumble leaned forwards, giving her cheek a peck.
She froze all over and he gave his trademark smirk, spreading out his wings and zooming into the air, momentarily a speck on the sky.
She was still frozen, seconds later, and could only raise a hoof and touch her cheek.
It had gone warm.
…
The filly found herself outside of the abandoned castle, gazing wistfully upon the intimidating door.
The smell of food was overwhelming, and she knew that the longer she waited, the worse they'd become.
She needed to act now.
Using her magic, she enrapt it around the front door's knobs and twisted them so that the doors could swing open.
Feeling a swell of satisfaction, she darted into the house, still reminding herself to keep aware of any strangers who might not want her intruding upon their home.
…
Sweetie Bell checked the time again. 3:03.
"What's taking them so long?" she grumbled, scanning the sky for the thousandth time.
The breezies were supposed to have migrated past this area at 2:30 and they were more than half an hour late!
But she didn't care if she had to wait for a year. She needed this ingredient, for without it, Button Mash wouldn't be able to return to normal, and the recovery of his normality was downright critical.
She just wished they'd hurry up. She was getting particularly antsy.
"Hello young filly, may I help you?"
Sweetie Belle jumped, whirling around and facing an older mare with a mane of pastel silver.
Other ponies trotted on by, this being a popular town. She'd gone being unnoticed by them, as they all bumbled on, living their own complex lives. Until now.
"Err, I was just waiting for the... breezy migration..."
"The breezies?" The mare cuffed her chin with her hoof in a thoughtful motion. "Ah, they haven't come here in quite a while."
Sweetie Belle stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"One year they flew through here with their pollen, the next they didn't. They've been absent since."
The filly's hope dwindled like a deflating balloon. "What happened to them?"
"They migrated to a different area. Over the Celestial Sea, I believe, quite nearby to Griffinstone."
"Griffinstone?" Sweetie Belle gasped, in her mind, picturing the lion-avian hybrids with their fearsome talons and beaks, capable of slicing a pony in half. She shook away the fear, knowing that Button Mash's sake was more important than her silly phobia. "Is there any way I'd be able to get there by sundown?"
"Gosh no," the pony chuckled. To her, Sweetie Belle was just an overexcited filly searching for entertainment. Her eyes lifted to Sweetie Belle's horn. "Unless you teleported, that is. But for a filly of your age, that's highly unlikely."
"Actually, I can teleport," Sweetie Belle cut in, her decaying hope giving a small bounce. "But it's a little unpredictable. Let me try now."
Enclaving her horn with an aura of green magic, she allowed it to intensify as she closed her eyes and put all her concentration into this one spell.
"Take... me... to..." It built up to its maximum, and Sweetie Belle allowed the last gushes of magic to blossom. "Griffinstone!"
There was a pop before she found herself in a whirlwind of writhing limbs and turmoil.
And tumbling. So much tumbling, worse than any roly-poly down a grassy hillside.
It finally subsided and Sweetie Belle swallowed down the waves of nausea. Her eyes flashed open, hopeful as she examined her surroundings.
She'd definitely gone to a different place, but there was lots of... ponies.
"Guess it's not Griffinstone," Sweetie Belle mumbled, her ears drooping and the aura of melancholy returning.
A pony dressed in construction-like clothing lifted up a megaphone, announcing with a distorted voice, "next ship for Griffinstone leaves in ten minutes. May the final ponies leaving please make their way to the dock."
And just like that was Sweetie Belle's hope renewed. "Well that could work!"
…
After following her nose down a long, broad corridor, she found herself in the dining room, and it was here where the rich scent of food was most overpowering.
Mouth watering in pining hunger, and she raced up to the table, leaping onto the first seat. She stuffed her face into the plate, devouring the waffles and licking away any stray morsels.
It was perhaps the most scrumptious meal she had ever tasted, but that wasn't saying much anyway, having had to survive on the wilderness's assets and before that living by poor income.
The final remnants of syrup found their way into her mouth.
Her stomach groaned in half-satisfaction.
Sheepishly sighing, she leapt to the next chair, this time levitating the fork and knife with her magic rather than scoffing down the meal like a pig.
After tying the napkin over her chest like a bandana, she went on to enjoy her next dish.
…
"Woooooooo!" Babs Seed was airborne, gliding through the air for a matter of seconds before her sled slammed upon the snow and whizzed down the slope like a pebble rolling down a mountainside.
Her stomach was somewhere further down in her ribs, she was going so fast. She was like a bird, soaring, soaring, soaring through a sky ever so blue.
No, not blue. Azure... cerulean... sapphire!
The snow was so white that it was as though she were walking across a humongous sheet of paper. Alongside being blinding, it was so cold that all her hooves were numb.
Finally, after a final skid did she halt her sled in a professional manner and slump down on the ground in exhaustion.
It was cold.
Worth the effort?
Undoubtedly.
"Well I can cross that off my bucket list," she puffed, groping around a heavy saddlebag and retrieving a glass and a shovel. There, she scooped up the enchanting flecks of snow and donated them to her jar.
"Specks of snow from Yakyakistan? Check!"
"Little pony!"
Babs Seed started, alertly scanning her surroundings. She was currently at the bottom of a steep dune of snow, and standing atop the hummock was half a dozen enormous animals.
They appeared pony-like in the sense that they had four hooves, however, their hooves were barely visible beneath the dreadlocks upon dreadlocks of mane. Even their eyes were invisible beneath the thick hairs coloured earthily.
The yak who'd spoken boomed yet again. "What does little pony do in yak territory?"
"Oh. Sup guys," Babs Seed gave a sheepish grin, hiding the precious jar behind her back. "It's not what it looks like..."
"Little pony does not belong in yak territory!"
"I know, I know, but I'm sure we can come to a peaceful solu-"
"-pony don't belong here! Anything not of yak-ness don't belong here! Yaks, destroy!"
Bellowing their war cry, the giant animals charged down the hill, the stomping of their hooves like thunderbolts.
"Silly friends," Babs Seed sighed, shaking her head in sullenness. There, she rolled up the sleeves to a sweater she'd been wearing, and shoved back her belongings. Tearing free a scarf, she narrowed her eyes into slits. "I didn't want it to come to this, but I'm afraid you leave me no choice."
Shrieking her own cry of war, she lunged into battle head-on.
…
The filly with the mane of gold finally finished her meals, and with a belly plump and rounded, she sleepily staggered down the hallway.
She always felt exhausted after a large meal, and although her instincts told her to retreat, everything else told her to find shelter and reboot her energy.
Her hooves seemed to know where they were going, and as she entered the bedchamber, she gave not a second thought before curling up upon the first bed she found and surrendering to a deep slumber.
…
Button Mash cowered beneath the tall, tall tree with splaying branches blossomed with their spectacular leaves. The sun shone behind it, splashing shards of sunlight upon the lawn where the colt stood.
"Oh, wise maple tree. A worthy opponent towards a mere pony as myself." He bowed his head so low that the grass brushed at his chin. "I beg mercy, however if you do not bless me with your gift of true holiness, I will have no choice but to resort to the most extreme of measures."
The magnificent tree only swished as a gust of wind barrelled into it.
He irritably twitched his nose, taking this 'reaction' as an insult. "I see. Well, do not say that I didn't warn you. I desire my freedom too much to make exceptions towards ones as noble as yourself."
He found an axe nearby, and gave a moment's wobble before swinging it hard upon the tree. The wood split beneath the weapon, and already, the gooey sap was leaking out.
"Thanks!" he chimed, finding a jar in his saddlebag and collecting a reasonable amount of the tree's blood. "You see, my best friend who's name is Sweetie Belle found this hermit that lives in the Everfree Forest. The hermit mare, who they said's also a zebra might have a cure to my curse! I'm trapped inside this castle and I'm oddly obsessed with video games..."
He trailed off as his heart gave a rhythm of pulses, all unnaturally synchronised, and his sanity began to twist like water being wrung from a damp cloth. "Oh no, not again!"
The pull of just hiding away with his consoles came as seizures. He never knew when they'd arrive, but when they did, they were bad. Very bad.
He desperately shook his head as though the motion would chase back his sanity. "I don't have much time! Thanks for your offering! Bye!" Leaving the axe lodged in the tree's chest, he cantered away with the jar and heavy breathes.
…
"I'm sorry Button Mash, but it's for your own protection," Sweetie Belle mumbled, reluctantly tightening the rope which kept him glued to the chair.
"But Sweetie Belle!" He wailed, his pupils so contracted that they could be just dots of amber in a sea of whiteness. "Aren't we friends? Aren't we buds? Pals? Mates? Let me go, go, go, go, go..!"
Apple Bloom gave Sweetie Belle a grave nod, filled with deep respect. "Ah know ya' don't like seein' 'im like this, but it's for the good of all of us. It will all be better soon."
Sweetie Belle just nodded with an air of dolefulness, levitating Button Mash's jar into the air.
Alongside the tree sap which Button Mash had retrieved, Sweetie Belle had succeeded in finding her own ingredient. After a diplomatic meeting with the breezies, Sweetie Belle had earned a handsome amount of their precious pollen.
Apple Bloom had found the Poison Joke, fortunately with no casualties, and both Scootaloo and Rumble had returned with their ingredients, however, both were uncharacteristically quiet.
"Just waitin' on Babs Seed, now," Apple Bloom commented, just as the doors swung open and the filly raced into the room, juggling a jar of snow with her. Well... it wasn't exactly snow anymore, having thawed.
"I'm here! Sorry for being late, got into a little skirmish with the yaks. They may be bigger and stronger than me, but I have it where they don't." She skidded to a halt, piling her jar with the five others and knocking her head with a hoof. "Brainpower."
"Great job!" Apple Bloom found the recipe, ignoring Button Mash as he wailed like he were in agony. "Now we need to go to Zecora, as quick as possible!"
"Wait, wasn't there another ingredient?" Rumble spoke for the first time in a while, careening his head forwards to catch a view of the paper.
Apple Bloom furrowed her brow as she located the uncrossed line. "A lock of... golden mane?"
They all stopped talking and moving and breathing. Even Button Mash had gone silent, gazing around in bemusement.
"Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle squeaked, her voice quieter than a pin's drop, but easily audible with the haunting silence.
"It's magenta, not gold, thanks."
"AB?"
The earth pony frowned. "My fur's yellow, but it's hair the list wants, not fur... and my mane's a red. What about Button Mash?"
"His mane's an auburn! Not gold! Does anypony have a gold mane? Anypony?" Sweetie Belle looked from one pony to the next. They all avoided her scathing glare.
She finally wilted, her eyes already pooling with tears. "It's useless. We're never going to find a cure. Let's just give up."
"No, Sweetie Belle..." Babs Seed bought a hoof to comfort her friend, but the unicorn flinched away.
With a hurt expression, Babs Seed withdrew.
A sudden scream bounced through the air, causing everypony to jump. "Hey! Where's all the waffles gone?"
"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom shrieked in utter mortification. "How could ya' even say somethin' like that in this crisis?"
"But I'm being serious!" The pegasus appeared in the doorway. Surprisingly, there was not a hint of humour on her face. "I thought some food might cheer Sweetie Belle up, since it cheers me up, but all the waffles are gone! Gone! Not a crum remaining, nada!"
"What?" Rumble zoomed over, through the doorway and into the room. He examined the tables with an evident frown. "She's telling the truth, and the table was completely set this morning."
Apple Bloom stomped a hoof in infuriation. "Guys, this is not the time to be messing around! Button Mash could have eaten it!"
"I didn't," he muttered, wriggling from the rope's hold with minimal success. "But I'll remember to next time if you don't let me go!"
Apple Bloom gawked. There was a flash of wonder on her face before it disappeared behind a filthy scowl. "This is foals play! Guys, stop it!"
Babs Seed, with her line-straight lips and a serious expression trotted into the dining room, inquisitively sniffing at the emptied bowls. After a final inspection, she looked up. "Somepony's eaten them, and this somepony's not familiar. We have an intruder, and I have a feeling that this intruder is still here."
"What? That's baloney! Guys!"
But nopony was listening to Apple Bloom anymore.
Instead, they were trekking through the hallways, determined like explorers, searching for anything that may hint a stranger's presence.
Even Sweetie Belle was looking, her former dismay morphed into curiosity, leaving Apple Bloom with Button Mash.
He thrashed again, but the rope refused to buckle. It was like a boa constrictor, only tightening as he panicked. He shot Apple Bloom his puppy-dog eyes. "We're friends, right?"
"I'm not letting you go!" she thundered, stomping from the room like a hormonic teenager.
Scanning the different doors, all leading to different and unique rooms, she opened one at random; the door to the bedroom.
It was her turn to scream.
"Apple Bloom?" Babs Seed raced over, scanning her awestruck cousin who was frozen from shock.
She glimpsed over Apple Bloom's shoulder and gasped herself.
Nestled on one of the beds, Apple Bloom's bed, was a little filly, appearing around their age with fur of a pastel purple and a mane of true gold.
Babs Seed clapped her hooves in a one-pony applause. "Great job Apple Bloom! You've found the culprit!" She increased the volume to her voice. "Fellow Crusaders, I believe we have found the intruder!"
"There's someone sleeping on my bed," Apple Bloom complained, though it was more of a whimper.
Sweetie Belle, Rumble and Scootaloo were over in seconds, all gaping in shock.
"Her mane's golden," Sweetie Belle breathed, her euphoria rebuilding itself, block by block. "This must be an omen! A sign! Destiny! Somepony fetch me the scissors!"
"Right ahead of you."
Taking the scissors from Scootaloo's hold with a shimmer of magic, Sweetie Belle tiptoed forwards, creeping up onto the bed and leaning over the sleeping filly. There, she poked out her tongue in concentration as she levitated the scissors down over the filly's matted fringe, about to snip...
The filly's eyes fluttered open, two orbs of yellow, resting upon Sweetie Belle; this stranger, leaning over her while she'd been sleeping and levitating a pair of scissors, scissors with blades, capable of drawing blood, weapons.
Naturally, she screamed, bolting back, only to hit her head upon the bed frame. She cursed, before her eyes welled with tears and in seconds were they cascading from her eyes, more dense than waterfalls. "Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm just a homeless little filly and I was really hungry and the waffles smelt so good... please don't hurt me! I won't tell anypony! I swear!" She let out a bloodcurdling shriek, halfway between a cry and a wail. "Please don't hurt me! Please!"
"Calm your farm!" Sweetie Belle stepped forward, only causing the filly to recoil even further. "I'm not going to hurt you!"
Still crying, the filly searched around. Her ears drooped as she realised that she was surrounded and painfully outnumbered. "Liar. You're all just liars. Why, I wouldn't believe you if you didn't have the scissors."
"Look, I have no intentions of hurting you!" Sweetie Belle motioned to the filly's mane. She was beginning to grow edgy. "I just need a lock of your hair!"
The filly continued to snivel, her fur dampened by bathtubs of tears. "Liar... please..."
Frustration nagged at Sweetie Belle, as when she tried levitating the scissors closer, the filly squirmed away. Finally, pulling her last straw, she blanketed the filly with her magic, forcing her to stiffen.
The filly sobbed in trauma and trembled like a leaf. Sweetie Belle felt awful using magic in such an abusive and manipulative way, but she had no other choice. The filly wasn't going to cooperate, and Sweetie Belle was getting angsty with the time ticking by.
There, she snipped a single lock of the filly's golden mane, and allowed her magic to drop. Then, she galloped away with the hair, already grasping ahold of the other ingredients. "Bye! Can yous'all guard Button Mash and the stranger? Thanks!"
The song at the beginning is a parody on Winter Wrap Up.
Okay, I am so sorry for the long break. Here's all my reasons as to why:
1. Loss of inspiration.
2. Procrastination.
3. Books and TV (probably fit under procrastination).
4. School, homework, revision, ect.
5. Afterschool activities such as netball and piano.
6. Practice to afterschool activities.
7. Been busy working on an original writing project. I've now written my own novel! Yay! I just need to get it edited and hopefully published now. The writing itself is a lot better than the writing in this FanFiction.
I'll try updating more consistently now, however, I cannot promise anything. Only the future knows.