Chapter 1

Fluttershy was humming to herself when a loud rapping on her door startled her and caused her to spill the birdseed she was carrying. “Coming,” she said softly.

Birds squawked. Through her open windows, she saw them fly off. The small furry animals that normally gathered around her cottage scampered away. They did not say nice things.

Fluttershy creaked the door open and poked her head out. “Um, hello there...?”

A pony wearing a black cloak stood before her. The cloaked figure pulled her hood down, revealing a light blue earth pony mare with curly gray hair and magenta eyes. Fluttershy blinked. It took a moment before she recognized her visitor.

“Oh, it's you, Shoeshine. Can I help you with something, Miss Backgroundmare?”

Shoeshine muttered something unintelligible.

“Um, I'm sorry. I didn't hear that. Can you speak louder please?”

“Don't call me that anymore.” The cloaked pony scrunched up her muzzle in distaste.

“So... what should I call you?” Fluttershy asked. She stepped back nervously and glanced around. Something about this pony was putting her on edge.

The pony formally known as Shoeshine held her head up and grinned. “You can call me Linky, and I'm going to be a legend!”

Fluttershy backed away from the looming figure. “That's nice... Linky. Do, you, um, need something from me?”

Linky blinked. A frown pulled the corners of her mouth down. “Sorry. I didn't mean to spook you.” She glanced over her shoulder and a brief look of panic crept into her eyes. It passed quickly and the blue earth pony resumed her poker face. “As a matter of fact, there is something you can help me with. I've heard that you can talk to animals; is that right?”

“Well, anypony can talk to animals. I can understand them better, that's all.” Fluttershy looked around but didn't spot any animals in the room. The birdcages hung on her walls were empty and there was no scampering to be heard under her couch or in her walls. “That's odd. I wonder where they all went?”

Linky glanced over her shoulder again. An eye twitched. “I don't mean to impose, but would you terribly mind if I stepped inside?”

“Um, that's fine, I guess. Eep.” Fluttershy hopped back to avoid Linky as she ran past. Out her doorway, there was nothing down the open path. “Is something following you?”

Linky paused in the middle of the room. She looked around with wide eyes at all the furniture, bookshelves and birdcages. “No, nothing's following me. Not that I know of. Not yet, anyway.”

“What? You expect to be followed?” Fluttershy gently shut the door.

Linky made a weak laugh. “Well, let's just say that I've become a lot more paranoid ever side I took up adventuring and leave it at that.” She pointed at one of the bird cages. “What do you have to offer?”

“Offer?” Fluttershy asked. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, well, I've been thinking that it would be a great boon if I secured an animal companion for my travels.” Linky's grin was too wide to be wholly genuine, but Fluttershy didn't care.

She grinned and her eyes sparkled. “You want a pet?”

“That's... another way of putting it, yes.” Linky examined the room again with her magenta eyes. “I don't see any, though.”

“They're shy around ponies they don't know. I'm sure they'll come out of hiding when I tell them why you're here. Why don't you take your cloak off and sit down while I ask around?” Fluttershy pointed at her coat rack.

Linky bit her lip and frowned. She stared at the coat rack as if it were made of deadly poison. “Actually, I'd like to accompany you if that's okay.”

“I don't mind but since the animals are afraid of you, I'll have an easier time talking to them if you're not there.”

“Oh.” Linky cast her eyes down.

“Don't worry. I'm sure they'll warm up to you once you've been properly introduced.” Fluttershy pointed a wing toward her couch. “Wait here and I'll be right back.”

“Wait—you'll still talk to them once they're here, right?” An eye twitched nervously.

Fluttershy stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Linky blinked. “Nevermind. Go ahead and gather some and I'll wait here.”

Fluttershy spread her wings and tapped her front hooves together. “You won't be disappointed! I've got so many wonderful critters for you to see~”

Linky groaned as Fluttershy left through the back entrance singing to herself. Left alone, Linky took her cloak off, but she draped it on the back of couch. There, she could easily grab it if she had to leave in a hurry. She didn't trust the evil, conniving coat rack.

Without her cloak, her cutie mark of two horseshoes was visible. One was copper, and the other silver. Much like the nickname she chose for herself, they were linked together like two loops in a chain. She scowled at it.

“~with muskrats and wallabies here for you to see. Any one of them will fill you with glee. Um.” Fluttershy stopped singing when her animals stopped following her. They got as far as the door but wouldn't come in. “What's wrong?”

Fluttershy didn't get an answer to that question because they spooked and ran off when Linky stood up.

“Wait! It's okay. She's not here to hurt you. You can come back. It's safe, I promise.”

Linky stared intently at Fluttershy while she talked out the door to her animals. “What about that one?” Linky asked.

From the kitchen, a white rabbit entered shoving his empty food bowl with his head. Fluttershy turned around and bent down to pat him on the head.

“This is Angel Bunny. I'm sorry, but he's very near and dear to me. I could never part with him.”

Angel stuck his head up and looked looked around. When he spotted Linky, he ducked behind Fluttershy's legs.

“Not you too, Angel. What's gotten into you all today?” Fluttershy nuzzled Angel Bunny. Her expression changed as she read his body movements. “Huh? Afraid? What's there to be afraid of?”

Angel thumped his foot and pointed at Linky.

“Oh.” Fluttershy looked up at her guest. “He says you're afraid.”

“What? Me!?” Linky jumped back and caught herself reaching for her cloak. She took a deep breath and steadily placed her hoof back on the floor. “The great adventurer Linky is not afraid.”

Fluttershy frowned. “That's not what Angel said.”

Linky gritted her teeth and darted her eyes around. “Your bunny, he's very insightful, isn't he?”

“Most animals can sense fear, and some ponies can too, I guess.”

“He's also braver than the others. Are you really sure you don't want to part with him? That's exactly the kind of animal I'm looking for.”

Fluttershy vehemently shook her head. “Oh, no no no. He's very special to me. He's my very special widdle bunny. Isn't that right, Angel?”

Angel Bunny hugged Fluttershy's leg and stuck his tongue out at Linky.

“He's also got an attitude, I see,” Linky said. She fidgeted with the rug that was bunching up under her legs from her mistreatment of it. “Do you have any other brave animals?”

Fluttershy tapped on her chin. “Well, I do have some dogs...”

Linky frowned. “I can't say that I'm a 'dog' pony, but if that's the best you've got, I'd like to see them.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I'd rather not. They're related to wolves and the scent of fear drives them wild.”

“Oh.” Linky lifted a leg as if to take a step forward but stopped when her hoof trembled. She froze. “Traitorous leg,” she muttered, and took another deep breath.

“Perhaps you'd like to stay for a while? I can brew up some nice, relaxing tea. Once you calm down, I can bring the animals back.”

“No! I can't stay!” Linky shouted louder than she'd intended and flattened her ears and flinched when the echo of her voice came back to her.

“Is this about the thing that's not chasing you?” Fluttershy asked.

“No! I mean...” Linky clenched her eyes tight. Beads of sweat were beginning to glisten on her hide. “I'll be freeing her. It's not that bad. They're overrated anyway.”

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked. “If you need to pee, there's a bathroom down the hall.”

“That's not what I—nevermind.” Linky shook her head. Fluttershy's brow wrinkled and she opened her mouth to speak again. Before she did so, Linky hastily pointed at an oversized jar. “What's this?” she asked.

“That's an empty container of grape jelly. I, um, buy food in bulk because I have a lot of mouths to feed.”

“It looks big enough to hold an entire rabbit,” Linky said as she picked it up and unscrewed the lid. She glanced down at Angel Bunny who was still hiding amongst Fluttershy's legs. “There's a thought. Maybe I should get a bug for a pet. A butterfly or three would be nice to have.”

“You really shouldn't keep butterflies in jars,” Fluttershy frowned. “Or any other bug, really, well, except lightning beetles, but they're trained for that.”

“Eh, it was a silly thought anyway. I'd rather own a dog than a bug and that's saying a lot.” Linky shuddered. “I don't really like dogs.”

“So... um...”

“Would you mind turning around?” Linky asked.

“What!?”

“To get the tea! To get the tea, I mean. I think I will stay for a while, after all.” Linky grinned sheepishly.

Fluttershy deadpanned. “Are you planning something? Because if you are–”

“Of course I'm planning something! I'm about to head off on a grand adventure and my nerves are shot and I could really use some tea to help me calm down right about now,” Linky huffed. “That's all.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy looked down. “I think your nervousness is affecting me. I could use some tea too, and I just know that Angel Bunny wants his lunch.” Fluttershy nuzzled the white bunny again. “Sorry for making you wait so long. You've been such a good sport. For that you get an extra cherry on top.”

Angel Bunny hopped with glee as Fluttershy walked away. Unfortunately, he was left facing the wrong way and out in the open. That's when Linky made her move.

Acting swiftly, she darted forward and... tripped on the rug.

“Aaah!” Linky screamed as she lost control.

“Wha?” Fluttershy turned her head just in time to see the imminent collision. She flinched.

“Uurpmhf.” The two of them made incoherent noises. They skidded up against the wall in a heap.

“Sorry, sorry!” Linky frantically peeled herself off the floor and grabbed the jar. She screwed the lid on and snatched her cloak off the couch as she made a mad dash to the exit. “I'm so sorry about all of this, but there's no other way. Perhaps you'll even thank me someday.”

“What? Linky, wait! What's going on?” Fluttershy got up to chase after her, but Linky slammed the door in her face. “Ow!”

Fluttershy stopped to rub her very sore and now-bleeding muzzle as Linky's hoofsteps faded in the distance. She went to the kitchen to get an ice pack for it.

“That was awfully mean of her. I wonder what that was all about? What do you think, Angel?”

Silence.

Fluttershy glanced around. Her heart started to race when she didn't see him. “Angel!?”

A traumatized white bunny stuck his head out from behind the couch.

“Oh there you are.” Fluttershy scooped him up for a hug. “I'm so glad you're safe. I don't know what I'd have done if you'd been bunnynapped.”

Angel made some strange gestures.

“What? You're not making any sense, Angel. You'll have to speak more clearly if you want me to understand you.” Fluttershy rubbed her temple. For some reason, a headache was coming on.

Angel facepawed. He squirmed out of her grip and kicked one of her hind legs.

“Ow. What was that for?”

Angel pointed up at her thigh. She followed his paw to look at it. She opened her mouth to say something but frowned instead. Something wasn't quite right. It wasn't hurt. Her leg wasn't sore. Her fur was smooth and unblemished and yellow the whole–

She jumped six feet. “My cutie mark! It's gone!” Angel waved at the door but she didn't need his help to figure out what happened. “She stole my cutie mark!”

She kicked the door off her own cottage. “Wait! Stop, thief! Give it back!” Her eyes watered when she saw no sign of her visitor down the trail. She spread her wings and took flight in pursuit of a target with far too great a lead on her. “G-give it b-ba-ack.” Her words broke up as she flew above the trees and saw no sign of Linky in any direction.

Author's Notes:

This story takes place prior to the start of season three. The last canon event that took place was 'A Canterlot Wedding.' If you want a quick reminder of who Linky is, she's this pony.

Chapter 2

Fluttershy scanned the horizon. Her heart raced. She sniffled and blinked to clear the tears from her eyes. She felt helpless, but it was too soon to give up. Unexpected vertigo made her head spin. She shook herself and flapped her wings to straighten out. The world spun and she flew low for safety's sake.

With a harsh whistle, Fluttershy paused near an old oak tree. She smiled when several birds flew up to greet her. “Okay, everybirdie, I'm looking for a light blue earth pony with gray hair who's probably wearing a cloak and left in a hurry. Have any of you seen, um...”

“Cheep. Cheep. Cheep,” a birdie said.

“Tweet,” a robin commented.

“Caw,” a crow cawed.

“No, no no!” Fluttershy's eyes darted around. The birds flew around her making bird noises. A horrible realization gnawed at her from the pit of her stomach. She couldn't understand any of them.

Her head throbbed and she latched onto a nearby tree branch to steady herself. She almost let go. A wave of despondence washed over her and she wanted to succumb to gravity. Still, she held on.

“No.” She shook her head. Tears flowed again but she raised her head in determination. The birds milled around her in confusion. “I'm sorry, but I can't understand you right now. I'm going to have to ask my pony friends for help instead.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath and jumped back into the air. The world tilted gradually to the left, but she remained airborne and didn't crash. Her rising panic drowned out her growing headache as she willfully fought against the vertigo.

Ponyville wasn't exactly bursting with activity, but even on a normal day dozens of ponies would be out wandering the streets. Fluttershy's vision was watery from tearing up but her newly found resolve stifled her tears. She blinked to clear her vision and scanned the crowd for any signs of Linky. There weren't any.

Looking up, she did see Rainbow Dash, though. The lazy pegasus was asleep on a cloud.

“Dash, Dash! Wake up. Something terrible has happened to me.” Fluttershy flew up and shook her friend. She nearly had a panic attack when Dash made horse noises.

“Neigh?” Dash whinnied and snorted as she shook off the fog of sleep. Her eyes cracked, then popped open when she saw Fluttershy. “What? Fluttershy!?”

“Oh, thank goodness you can talk. For a moment I thought I couldn't understand you either.” Fluttershy swooped in to grab Rainbow Dash for a hug.

“What?” Rainbow Dash contorted her face. She looked incredulous for a moment, but her worry won out. She grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders and gently pushed her away, holding her at hoofs-length. “What's going on? Did somepony hit you? Is that why your nose is bloody? Is that why you've been crying? Who do I need to clobber?”

Fluttershy reflexively reached up to check on her nose. She flecked dried blood off her muzzle when she did so. It still sore, but the bleeding had stopped. If only the bleeding in her heart could stop as well. “Dash, please, you've got to help me. Linky stole my cutie mark and–”

“What?”

“–she can't have gotten that far yet and–”

“Hold up a sec. She stole your what?”

Fluttershy rather sadly twisted herself and raised a wing to show off her side. “My cutie mark, it's gone.”

“They can come off?” Dash's jaw dropped in disbelief. “How is that even possible?”

“I don't know! But it did, and if we don't hurry she'll get away and I'll never get it back!”

“Well you can count on me!” Rainbow Dash tossed Fluttershy a salute and broke into a dive. She flew back up a moment later. “Uh, who's Linky?”

“Her real name's Shoeshine. You know her, right?”

“Miss Backgroundmare?” Dash asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “She was also wearing a black cloak and ran off carrying a large jar that probably has my cutie mark in it.”

“How does–” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nevermind. I'm sure we'll get our answers when we catch her.” Dash dove again, but came back a moment later. “Do you know which way she went?”

“Uh, no.”

“No?”

“No, I don't!” Fluttershy yelled. She glanced down at the ponies who looked up at her and eeped. She lowered her voice. “It hasn't been that long; she can't have gotten very far.”

Rainbow Dash twisted her moth to one side in a half-grimace. “Okay, I'm going to do some quick scouting along the main roads. Try searching in town and gather the others while you're at it. If she's out there, wham! I'll knock some sense into her and get your cutie mark back.”

Fluttershy nodded and grabbed the cloud after Dash dove away for the last time. She didn't like the thought of violence, but trusted Dash to restrain herself. Her cutie mark was far more important than a bloody nose.

The world felt like it was spinning again, although this time it turned out to be just the cloud. At least, she thought it was. The ground rotated even faster than the cloud did.

“Ooh.” She felt faint. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing until she felt better. “I can't feel sick now. I have to–” the world spun again “–I have to get more help.”

Fluttershy looked at the ponies in the streets. None of them resembled Linky. She didn't expect to see her here, but her heart still sank all the same.

It'd probably be best if she saw Twilight next. Her unicorn friend might not be the fastest, but she was smart. She'd know what to do.

Aiming for the library, Fluttershy spread her wings and swooped into a nice, steady—

Spots blurred her vision as she moaned and struggled to stand up. A sharp pain dug at her side and she rolled off the broken remains of Twilight's mailbox. She flexed a few muscles to check her limbs. Although sore, nothing felt broken or terribly sprained.

“Are you alright, miss? I heard a crash,” a tan stallion asked.

Fluttershy looked behind her and struggled to stand up, much to the protest of her aching temple. She twisted her tail to conceal her blank flank. “I'm fine, Caramel. Thanks for asking.”

“Okay.” He lifted a a leg, but hesitated. He looked her up and down at at her again. “Are you sure you're okay? You're a bit rough. I can call a nurse to check you over. The hospital's not far.”

“No no, I'm... fine. I'll be okay on my own.”

“Well, if you're certain...” He shrugged and walked off.

Fluttershy felt bad for lying to him. Why had she done that? Didn't she need as much help as she could get? Why couldn't she remember passing out while flying and why didn't her crash landing awaken her?

As steadily as she could manage, Fluttershy walked the rest of the way to the library. She tapped on the oak tree's door.

“Come in.”

It was good to hear Twilight's voice. Fluttershy pulled open the door and took a few steps inside. The library was in a state of reorganization where most of the shelves were empty and innumerable books were piled up on the floor. A stack of them glowed magenta as they moved from one corner to another.

Spike grabbed one from the pile. “Wait! Twilight, these are cookbooks. They should go on that shelf over there.” He pointed across the room.

“Thanks, Spike. I don't know how I'd ever keep this place organized without you.” She started to move the books back, but dropped them all on the rug when her eyes caught Fluttershy in the door. “Fluttershy, what happened to you?”

“Oh, Twilight, it was awful. I–”

“Wait. Hold up a second.” Twilight walked up close and frowned. “Your eyes are gray. Are you feeling well?”

“G-gray? They're supposed to be blue.”

“Please answer the question.”

“Oh, um, no. I've been feeling dizzy, faint, and I've got a headache. I, um, may have passed out once, too.”

Twilight nodded as Fluttershy listed off her symptoms. “Spike, do you know where the book on magical maladies is?”

“I think it's in that pile.” Spike pointed at a snow-capped mountain of books. “Uh, somewhere.”

“Nevermind. I think I know what might be wrong, but I'll have to do a quick check first. Hold still please.” Twilight flared her horn and enveloped Fluttershy in a magical glow.

Fluttershy suddenly perked up. “Wow, thanks, Twilight. I feel so much better now.”

“What?” Twilight's magic fizzled and she looked wide-eyed at Fluttershy whose eye color had returned. “But I didn't even do anything.”

For a brief moment, Fluttershy looked happy. Then she inspected her flank. Her frown dropped so far that it nearly fell off her face. “It's still gone.”

“Gone? ... What?” Twilight's mouth hung open. She was at a loss for words.

“What happened to your cutie mark?” Spike asked.

“It was stolen!” Fluttershy felt the sting of tears and clenched her eyes shut.

“Huh?” Twilight scrunched her face up in confusion.

“Those things can come off?” Spike asked.

“No they can't!” Twilight blurted out. Fluttershy glared at her. “I mean, they're not supposed to.”

“Well it did, and you've got to help me get it back!” Fluttershy shook herself and stood tall. She narrowed her eyes and stomped a hoof on the floor. “Shoeshine stole it, though she's calling herself Linky now. She's probably wearing a black cape and has a jar with my cutie mark in it. I don't know which way she went, so we've got to hurry and spread out so we can find her.”

Twilight and Spike were taken aback by Fluttershy's unusual assertiveness. Well, that and the absurdity of cutie mark theft. They glanced at each other and back at Fluttershy, who stood impatiently huffing.

“Of course we'll help you, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Do you have any idea of the general direction she went? How long ago was this?”

“Probably about half an hour by now, and all I know is that she ran down the walkway from my house. Past that, I have no idea.”

Twilight rubbed her chin. “That's not very helpful, and that's a long lead time. Any idea why she went after your cutie mark in the first place?”

“Wha? I... um, actually, she did say that she wanted to be an adventurer and, um–” Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut and squeaked the next part “–she was very interested in speaking to animals.”

Twilight frowned at the fresh tears on Fluttershy's cheeks. “Actually, that's quite helpful. It sounds like she's planning on exploring a wild, forested region.”

“You mean like the Everfree?” Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No, the Everfree is behind Fluttershy's cottage. If she was going there, she would have started off running the other way. Aside from that, the next closest jungle region is the Snakefog Forest to the south.”

Fluttershy cringed. That region was largely considered impassible due to the thick tendrils of mist that wound themselves throughout the trees. If Linky went there, they'd never find her. “What about the other directions?”

“Well, The Everfree's to the west, and Froggy Bottom Bogs past that. To the north's Canterlot and past that's the Frozen North. There's absolutely nothing up there. To the east's Ghastly Gorge and past that you get to Manehatten on the coast. There are other forest regions, like ones in the far northwest, but it would take days of travel to go there. Our best hope would be to check south along the road that leads past the Snakefog region. Hmm.” Twilight paused and tapped her chin. “Find Rainbow Dash and tell her to fly that way. I'll look for–”

“I already talked to her. She said she was going to check the main roads.”

“Did she fly south?” Twilight asked.

“Um, I think she went north, actually, but she did say she was going to check them all.”

Twilight facehoofed. “Gah, that's way too much ground to cover, even for her. Fluttershy, you'll have to fly south on your own, if you're feeling up to it that is. If you feel faint again, just stop. It's not worth the risk of collapsing out there. And be careful if you do see Linky; we don't know what else she's capable of. I'll take over searching the town.”

Fluttershy nodded and turned around to leave. “Twilight, I am feeling much better now. I can do this. Thanks for that spell again, but I've got to get going.”

“You're welcome. Good luck!” Twilight waved at Fluttershy who flew off. She turned to face Spike. “I still don't even know what I did.”

“Shouldn't we start looking?” Spike asked.

“You're right. How about you–” If anything, the mountain of unsorted books grew since the last time she'd looked at it. Twilight shook her head. “There'll be time for research later. Spike, find Rarity and get her to question the ponies at the train station. I'm going to talk to Pinkie Pie. She knows all the hiding places in town and should be able to locate Linky if she's still here. After that, I'll stop by the farm to let Applejack know.”

“You got it.” Spike saluted and ran out the door. Twilight followed him briefly and split off to head for Sugarcube Corner.

Fluttershy soared as fast as she could. She whimpered as the wind whipped and beat her face. She could never go as fast as a pony like Rainbow Dash, but she could really move when motivated. The packed dirt road raced beneath her in a blur. Fluttershy squeaked. The ground was moving so fast that it made her nervous just looking at it. She decelerated to a more comfortable pace. She was sore from overexertion anyway and didn't want to wear herself out completely.

Her slower pace allowed her to examine the path. A row of daisies grew along the road. They would have looked nice if somepony hadn't trampled them. Off the path, the trees and undergowth were getting thicker and seemed to merge together into a looming wall of foliage.

Fluttershy really hoped she wasn't too late. She didn't know what she'd do if she couldn't get her cutie mark back. It was best not to think about that, but the lack of travelers on this road had her worried.

On the next bend, Fluttershy flew higher to get a better view. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw looming tendrils of fog arcing above the treetops. That was part of the Snakefog Forest. If she was going to catch up to Linky, she'd have to do it soon.

Down the road, a cloud of dirt marked the location of something moving in a hurry. Staying high in the air, she flew over it to see a covered wagon. It was being pulled by a cloaked figure.

“That has to be her! It has to be.” The black cloak was too concealing to make out any other details, but Fluttershy wasn't going to take any chances. She folded her wings and dove straight down. “I've got you now!”

The other pony barely had time to react before they collided. The force of the impact snapped the harness and the two of them tumbled along the road, kicking up dust as they went. Fluttershy recovered first and tore the cloak off, revealing a light blue pony with gray hair. “Ha! You're mine!”

“What is the meaning of zis outrage?” The other pony tuned to look at Fluttershy. Her mouth opened in shock but she clenched it shut quickly.

When the dust had settled, Fluttershy could pick out more details. This pony had a short, flat mane instead of long, curly hair. She also wore (now cracked) wide, magenta-hued sunglasses and had a camera cutie mark. “Photo Finish!?”

“It is I. And who is it who so very rudely assaulted me?” Photo Finish got up and dusted herself off. When she did, so Fluttershy caught a glimpse of a silver horseshoe on her left foreleg. Well, if she was going to wear them, why not go for expensive ones?

“Um, nopony,” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Hrm?” Photo Finish raised an eyebrow, then her face lit up in recognition. “Oh, it's you, Fluttershy. I'd recognize such gracefulness anywhere. Such beauty, such charm! Have you come to resume your modeling career? It was such a shame that you cut it short, though there are better ways to get back into the business than a flying tackle.”

“No. Sorry, sorry.” Fluttershy backed off and hovered just out of reach. She looked at Photo Finish and past her at the wagon. “Um, what–”

“What is zis!?” Photo Finish moved in close and pressed a hoof capped with cold metal against Fluttershy's flank. “Why are you so bare?”

Fluttershy shivered from the touch and reflexively pulled away. “My cutie mark was stolen. I uh, mistook you for the thief. That's why I ran into you. I don't suppose you've seen–”

“Such tragedy! Who could do such a thing?”

“Her name's Shoeshine, but she calls herself Linky now.”

“This is an atrocity!” Photo Finish gasped. “The whole world must know of this.”

“What?” Fluttershy stiffened. She did not like the sound of that.

“Even in adversity, you are still the most graceful thing ever, but this is not about your image. Oh, no no no. Your story, it must be told.”

“No!” Fluttershy covered her mouth and glanced around.

“Oh yes, We must make with ze magics and show that bare flank to every stallion, every mare, and every foal in all of Equestria! Wait here while I get ze camera.”

“Ack!” Fluttershy flew away when Photo Finish turned her back. She didn't fly far; she found the nearest tree and hid behind it. She was close to hyperventilating and suffered nervous twitching. Nightmarish visions of thousands of disapproving, piercing eyeballs staring at her clouded her mind. The pale apparitions closed in, accompanied by hollow voices of mocking laughter. Fluttershy trembled and flattened herself on the ground.

Her vision broke when she heard the creaking and clattering of the wagon lurching off. She waited for the sound to fade before she dared to move. But as soon as she took a step, her mind went elsewhere.

A flock of birds flew overhead, chattering amongst themselves. Fluttershy looked at them as if she'd never seen a bird before in her life. In a way, she hadn't. Her headache started to come back, but it was only a dull ache and not the piercing, throbbing pain she'd felt before.

Fluttershy knew birds. She'd known birds all her life. Granted, they only visited Cloudsdale twice a year during their annual migrations, but even as a small filly she always loved to come out and listen to them chatter about their lives. She didn't know what berries were, or even what trees were, but from the way they gossiped she knew they were important. They were proud of how fast their chicks had grown and taken flight. Somepony had made nests out of pine twigs one year; they smelled nice, but the sap made them sticky and prone to pulling out tail feathers.

Regardless of what they chattered about, Fluttershy loved to sit and listen in on the random tidbits of avian life. Now, she looked up at the birds that alighted on a branch nearby. They chirped and cooed. It was... noise. That was it. She couldn't make out any sort of meaning to it. She'd been cut off. It stung inside. Her eyes started to water. She clenched them shut and tried to think. I should talk to them. I need to know if they can understand me or if that part's gone too.

She took a deep breath and flew up next to the birds. “Um, excuse me, robins, but please don't fly off. This might sound odd but–”

They flew off.

“No!” Fluttershy landed on the tree branch. She wrapped her forelegs around the trunk and pressed her face against the bark. She couldn't hold it back any longer. She choked up and started sobbing. She once knew birds, but not anymore. She never felt so alone in her whole life.

Chapter 3

“Fluttershy, Fluttershy, where are you?” The voice was faint and distant.

The despondent pegasus peeled her face off the tree and looked around in a daze. She knew she'd been crying there for a long time but it was jarring to see the sun so low. She felt weak and generally miserable.

“Fluttershy–”

Rainbow Dash's tail skirted past an opening in the tree's canopy. “Dash, I'm here,” she said, or at least, tried to. Her voice was faint and weak. She shook her head and cleared her throat to try again. “Dash, I'm here!”

Twigs snapped and leaves fluttered down as Rainbow Dash tore through the canopy and landed next to Fluttershy. “There you are. I've been looking all over for you.”

Fluttershy looked up. She dreaded the answer, but she had to ask, “Did you find Linky? Did you get my cutie mark back?”

Rainbow Dash looked aside and frowned. “No. We never found her.”

Though she expected it, it still pained her to hear that answer. Fluttershy clenched her teeth and tried not to cry again. Dash put her hoof under Fluttershy's chin and forced her head up to look into her eyes.

“Are you okay? You look terrible.”

Fluttershy rubbed her cheek and knocked loose a piece of bark that was stuck to it. “No, I'm not okay. My cutie mark is gone and the thief got away. Why would you think I'd be okay?”

Fluttershy scowled and Dash winced as if she'd been hit. “I should have been faster.”

“What?” Fluttershy raised her eyebrows. “You're the fastest pony I know.”

“Yeah, but it's because of this, isn't it?” Dash pointed at her cutie mark.

“Huh?”

“Look, I had some time to think while I was flying along the roadways. I can't really help it. I always think when I fly.” Rainbow Dash broke eye contact.

“What are you saying?”

“What I'm saying is that I may not have been flying as fast as I could have. I meant to, but–” Dash frowned and rubbed her cutie mark “–quite frankly, the thought of loosing this was terrifying.”

“Dash!” Fluttershy jerked back. She wobbled and flapped her to wings. Rainbow Dash grabbed her but let go once she was steady again.

“It's not like me. I never stop to think. I always rush in headfirst and hope for the best. But this time I just couldn't do that, I... I–”

“I understand, really. I'm sorry. You startled me. That's all.”

“You don't have to apologize. I'm the one who messed up.” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and turned away when her eyes stared to mist up.

“Dash, the only pony who messed up was Linky when she stole my cutie mark.” Fluttershy sniffled.

“That's right!” Dash hopped off the branch and flipped on the air. She smacked her forelegs together and gnashed her teeth in front of Fluttershy, who leaned against the tree while the branch wobbled. “And boy did she pick the wrong pony to mess with! When I catch her, I'm really going to lay into her for hurting you.”

“Oh no, please don't hurt her.” Fluttershy turned to look away, but Dash grabbed her chin again to stop her. The conversation lulled while they looked each other in the eyes.

“Fluttershy, I know kindness is like your thing and all, but that seems a bit much even for you. You'd whollop her yourself if it'd get your cutie mark back.”

“No! I'd, um, well...” Fluttershy held her hooves in front of her mouth and flushed a bit. “You're right. I would. I'd, um, ask first, though.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “That'd be a sight. Rawr! I'm going to beat you up, you big meanie for stealing my cutie mark! That is, um, if that's okay with you.”

Fluttershy laughed as well. It was short-lived, though, and she frowned when the birds started chirping again. It was evening and they were settling down in their nests for bed. She could tell that much, even if she couldn't understand them like she used to. She sniffled.

“Aw, cheer up, Fluttershy. We'll fix this and get your cutie mark back.” The two of them squinted as the sun sank lower near the horizon and shined in their eyes through the trees. “Just... not today.” Dash sighed. “Are you okay to fly back on your own?”

“Huh? Yes. I'm okay. Why do you ask?” Fluttershy looked ruffled. Her mane was frayed, her eyes were bloodshot, and her cheeks were still wet.

Dash frowned, but didn't comment on Fluttershy's appearance. “That's great, because I thought I saw some wreckage a bit further down the road that I'd like to check out. Head back home and I'll meet up with you later.”

“O-okay.” Fluttershy took off and flew north back to town. Rainbow Dash watched her for a while before flying in the opposite direction.

The trip back was uneventful, but Twilight was waiting for her when she got home.

Twilight's eyes lit up when Fluttershy landed in front of her. “Fluttershy, I'm glad you're safe. Where's Rainbow Dash? She was supposed to be with you.”

“Thanks, Twilight. Dash stayed behind to investigate some wreckage. Somepony must have had an accident further down the road.” Fluttershy frowned.

“That's terrible! Well, if other ponies need help, I can't really blame her for leaving you on your own.” Twilight sighed. “Though I wish she didn't have to. I wish I knew what gray eyes meant and how raw magic could mysteriously cure them. Frankly, that whole business had me really worried. Did your headaches come back? Is that was took you so long? Did you see anypony out there? What happened?”

“Oh, well, my headaches didn't come back. Er...” Fluttershy rubbed her temple. “Not like before, anyway–”

“Fluttershy!”

“It's okay, Twilight. It's been getting better, anyway. It's almost gone now.” Fluttershy put her hoof back down and both ponies turned to face the sky when the sun set and the moon rose.

“We should go inside.”

Fluttershy nodded but hesitated when she reached for the door. Somepony had fixed it. “I...”

“What is it, Fluttershy?” Twilight looked between Fluttershy and the door. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I don't know if I can do this,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Do what? Open the door?”

“My animal friends are in there and–” Fluttershy teared up “–I can't talk to them without my cutie mark!”

Twilight ran up and hugged her. Fluttershy sobbed on her shoulder. “It's okay, Fluttershy. I'm here for you.” With her magic, Twilight opened Fluttershy's door. “We're all here for you.”

Inside, some ponies were waiting to greet her. Fluttershy jerked, but relaxed when she saw that it was her friends. “You all waited here for me?”

“Of course we did, sugarcube,” Applejack said.

“What happened to you is just dreadful. We'll do everything we can to support you in your time of need,” Rarity said.

“I'm sorry we couldn't catch the meanie who did this to you, but don't worry. We'll find a way to make everything better.” Pinkie Pie's smile was too wide to be natural, but at least she tried.

Fluttershy sniffled and made a weak smile. “Thank you all so much for being here. It means a lot to me.”

They nodded and stepped back so that Fluttershy and Twilight could come inside. Fluttershy immediately noticed that they'd straightened the rug. It was an odd thing to focus on, but seeing it flat on the ground again made her feel more at home.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy frowned and absentmindedly scuffed the rug. It bunched up. “Honestly? No.”

The silence that followed was as awkward as a kazoo in a classical orchestra. Nopony really wanted to be the one to speak up about it either, lest she break the misplaced instrumentalist’s heart.

Fluttershy hung her head and clenched her eyes shut. She fought back against the sting of tears that was threatening to overtake them again. “–but I will.” Her voice was so soft that the others could barely hear it.

“You don't have to force yourself if you don't want to, dear. We'll understand.” Rarity levitated a teacup over to Fluttershy. “Some tea? You must be awfully thirsty after all that time outdoors.”

“Oh, thank you.” Fluttershy grabbed the teacup with her mouth and poured its contents down her throat. She hadn't realized just how thirsty she was until she'd emptied it and found herself wanting more. She gently set the teacup down and bit the pitcher instead. After emptying that too (albeit messily, a fair bit dribbled down her face and neck and puddled on the floor), she wiped her mouth and gave a content sigh.

“Well, everypony–” Fluttershy looked up at them “–I guess there's not much to say. You know what happened, and when I went looking for Linky I ran into Photo Finish instead.”

The door creaked open again and Rainbow Dash stepped in. “Sorry I'm late, but there was a pony trapped in that wreckage and I had to take him to the hospital.”

“Oh, dear.” Fluttershy frowned.

“Who was it?” Rarity asked.

“I don't know. I didn't recognize him.” Rainbow Dash scrunched her face as she recalled his details. “Gray earth pony, bluish-violet hair, brown beret, camera cutie mark–”

“That sounds like Snappy Scoop,” Pinkie said.

“Camera cutie mark?” Fluttershy asked, “Like Photo Finish?”

“Photo Finish doesn't have a camera cutie mark,” Rairity said. “Her cutie mark is a starburst, much like Twilight's. Her talent is ‘The Magic’ as she puts it, after all.”

Twilight blushed a little at the mention of her cutie mark. Fluttershy looked horrified.

“But I just saw her! And she had a camera cutie mark. A-and she said ‘Ze Magic,’ not ‘The Magic.’ ”

“Her accent's not that strong.” Rarity scrunched up her nose in distaste. “That sounds more like somepony trying too hard to sound like her than her actual speaking voice. I'm surprised you didn't notice that. You worked with her, after all.”

“Wait a minute!” Pinkie Pie put on her detective hat and blew bubbles from a pipe. “Photo Finish is also a blue earth pony mare with gray hair and magenta eyes. Just like the pony we were trying to catch.”

“That's true, Pinkie,” Twilight said, “But Linky doesn't have a camera cutie mark either. It still doesn't add up.”

“No, but Snappy Scoop does. And do you remember this?

“Look out for Linky,
so says Pinkie.
She's a meanie mare,
who will steal your hair,
and leave your flank bare,
and won't even care.

“Look out for Linky,
so says Pinkie.
Fluttershy's been robbed.
It's so sad she sobbed.
Her talent's been nulled,
and her eyes dulled.

“Look out for Linky,
so says Pinkie.
Do your part now.
You can help, here's how:
Look everywhere
for that mare.

“Look out for Linky,
so says Pinkie.
If you see her face,
put her in her place:
the county jail.”

“How could I forget?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “You had the whole town singing that.”

“You what?” Fluttershy squeaked. She buried her face under her wings.

“Aw, it wasn't that bad,” Applejack said.

“I thought it was pretty decent for an impromptu musical number,” Rarity said. “Mostly.”

“I don't think the uneven cadence is what's bothering Fluttershy. You're more worried about the fact that the whole town already knows what happened to you, is that it?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy nodded.

Twilight sighed. “Don't worry about it. They'd find out eventually and this way they can focus their attention on the thief, not the victim.”

“If you say so.” Fluttershy folded her wings and looked down at her reflection in the puddle of spilled tea.

“Well, as I was saying–” Pinkie blew more bubbles “–She obviously stole Snappy Scoop's cutie mark and replaced her own with it to fool Fluttershy into thinking she was really Photo Finish.”

“But that still doesn't add up,” Applejack said. “Snappy still has his cutie mark.”

“No, no, it does,” Twilight said. “Linky gave it back when she was done with it.”

Fluttershy whimpered and watched her tears drip into the amber puddle beneath her. She turned her head. She didn't want to cry over spilled tea. “I-I had her, a-and I let her get a-away,” she sobbed.

Her friends frowned and avoided directly looking at her.

Pinkie tapped on her chin. “Wait a minute—this is good news.”

“Good news?” Rarity turned her head. “What makes you say that?”

“ 'Cause we know where she is now. We can go after her.” Pinkie slapped her hooves together and scowled.

“That's right!” Rainbow Dash hopped up and hovered in the air. “Let's go get her!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold your harnesses, everypony.” Twilight moved to block the door. “We can't just go traipsing about in the woods in the middle of the night and expect to get anywhere. The Snakefog Forest is huge. We'll need more specific details if we're going to be able to catch her.”

“Aww.” Pinkie and Dash's ears drooped. Fluttershy sniffled.

“Ya think Snappy might know something?” Applejack asked.

“Probably” –Dash frowned– “but he was unconscious the whole time I carried him back to the hospital. I couldn't wake him up.”

Twilight's head perked up. “Did he have gray eyes?”

Dash shrugged. “Dunno, I didn't force them open to take a look.”

“Well, if his condition was similar to Fluttershy's...” Twilight tapped on her chin and her eyes lit up. “Come on, eveypony, I've got an idea. I think I know how to wake him up. Let's go to the hospital and see what we can learn about Linky!”

Twilight stepped outside. Fluttershy's friends hopped off the couch, chairs, and stools and walked by her their way out. Fluttershy sniffled and weakly and shut the door after them. She bolted it.

Leaning against the door, her ears perked up and she turned her head to watch her bird friends return to their homes around her living room. Their chirping and scratching noises were no longer familiar to her. They felt completely alien.

Fluttershy buried her head in her forelegs and moaned. “I feel tired. So, so tired.”

A thumping caught her attention. She looked up. A certain white rabbit stood in the kitchen doorway next to his empty food bowl, frowning.

“Angel Bunny!” Her face lit up and a smile spread across her face. She ran over to greet him and nearly tripped over her rug. She flapped her wings to steady herself, and scowled at the the offending bump. With unusual force, she kicked the rug and it slid halfway across the room. Path cleared, she turned back towards the rabbit.

“Angel Bunny!” Her face lit up and a smile spread across her face again. Unimpeded, she raced across the room and scooped him up for an embrace. Angel deadpanned, but didn't struggle. She caught the flat look to his eyes and transferred her hug from her forelegs to cradling him with her wings. She stooped down to pick up his bowl and hopped into the kitchen.

There, she placed him on the wooden counter and dropped his bowl next to him. She looked him in the eyes. “I'm so sorry I ran out on you like that. You've been such a good boy and I feel like I should do something extra-special to make up for that. Do you want the carrot-ringed onion leaf salad with rose petals or the cucumber and dandelion salad with tomatoes and cherry on top?”

Fluttershy frowned when he didn't answer.

“Oh, right.” She cast her eyes at the floor. It was a plain wood floor with no rugs. She perked up again. “I know; I'll make both and you can eat whichever one you prefer.”

She hummed a tune to herself and set to work chopping up plants and arranging them in neat, symmetrical patterns. When she was finished, she had two heaping bowls filled to the top with the most delectable salads that Angel Bunny had ever seen. He looked at them with wide eyes and drooled.

“Okay, Angel Bunny, you can have whichever one you–”

He ate both.

“Oh–” Fluttershy giggled “–I guess you weren't picky after all.”

Angel flopped on his back with his rotund tummy looming above him. He patted it and let out a content sigh.

Fluttershy smiled. She leaned down and nuzzled him. He yawned so she gently scooped him up and placed him in his basket and tucked him for the night. Fluttershy yawned too and smacked her lips sleepily.

“You know, Angel, when I see the other animals they just make me feel sad and hollow inside. They remind me of what I'm missing, but not you. I mean, we still can't talk to each other, but it's different, somehow. It's almost like we were always meant to be together.” Fluttershy watched his tiny chest rise and fall as he drifted off into sleep. She yawned. “It's late. I guess I should get some sleep too.”

She left Angel be, and walked over to the lightning beetle lantern that was illuminating her room. “Flint, Stone, lights out please.”

They ignored her. She teared up.

Sniffling, she reached up and tapped on their jar like a common pony. The light went out. Sobbing, she crawled into bed.

Chapter 4

Fluttershy did not sleep well. Nightmares plagued her sleep where she felt like she was trapped in a glass jar and slowly suffocating. Eventually, she did get some rest, maybe, possibly; she wasn't really sure. All she knew is that she awoke to one of the most unpleasant sensations she'd ever felt. It felt like somepony had pinched her, hard. It wasn't just in one spot. Her whole flank was on fire.

“Aaaaaaaaa!” She shot up screaming and flapped her covers off. Yellow feathers fluttered to the floor. Her pain subsided as quickly as it had come. She panted in short breaths, then hopped out of bed and pulled open the blinds. The sun was already up. She'd missed the rooster's crow.

“Oh, no. I'm going to be late for breakfast.” Fluttershy turned to leave. Her mind was filled with the unhappy faces of the animals who'd be waiting for her.

Something caught her eye.

Fluttershy twisted her neck and lifted her wings to inspect her flank. It was smooth, like glass. It was shiny in an odd way. She touched a hoof against it, and it rippled briefly before the illusion vanished. Her fur was just fur. It wasn't shiny at all.

“That was weird. I must be seeing things, but... why would I see something like that?”

She shook her head and put her hoof back down. She didn't have time to worry about that. Her gut twisted with apprehension as she walked towards the living room. Each step filled her with dread. Her animals would be so upset and disappointed in her, and she had no idea how to placate them. With a heavy heart, she pushed open the door. The sight that awaited her wasn't what she expected.

“Oh, hey, there, Flutterhshy. I'm glad to see that you're finally up. Check it out: I made pancakes.” Spike pointed at a steaming pile of flapjacks on the table. Their aroma wafted into the air and filled the room. It was divine. Her tummy gurgled. She was very hungry.

“Thank you, Spike. Those smell delicious.” Before she sat down, though, Fluttershy looked around the room. There were animals around, but they weren't looking for food. Spike must have fed them already. Some, she noticed, had too much food, while a few others frowned at the tiny rations they'd gotten. Overall, Spike had done a pretty good job, but she did spot two squirrels arguing with some chickadees over a pile of spilled birdseed. She picked one of the squirrels up by his tail and dropped him on a nearby pile of acorns. The other she tossed to a rattlesnake.

Smiling to herself, she sat down and enjoyed her pancakes. Perhaps life wasn't so bad after all. Spike had even straightened out her rug again.

“You're welcome, m'lady. I always aim to please.” Spike bowed.

Fluttershy giggled. He usually only said such things to Rarity. Spike must really be in a good mood today or–

That's when she noticed the front door. The deadbolt had been sheared off and the door hung loose, swaying on its one remaining hinge. It broke and fell on the floor while she watched it.

Spike blushed and rubbed at the spines on the back of his head. “Er, sorry about your door. It was stuck and I may have pushed it just a teensy bit too hard.”

Fluttershy felt a tic under her left eye. “It's okay, Spike. I'm not mad.” –Spike gave her an odd look– “I'll stop by the hardware store and ask somepony to fix it while I'm out today. Um, I assume that Twilight will want to see me at the library, right?”

Spike nodded.

“Well, then, I'd best be off. Thanks for the pancakes again. Those were amazing.” Fluttershy hopped off her chair and walked towards the exit. Unfortunately, the rug bunched up again when she landed on it and it caught on her left hind leg. She fell over.

“Why, you!” Fluttershy's eyes narrowed and she snarled. The rage she felt surprised her. Without further warning, she grabbed the bunched-up rug in her teeth. It tasted like feet.

About an hour later, Fluttershy knocked on Twilight's door.

“Come in!”

She pushed the door open and stopped to rub her eyes. The room was dimly-lit and she had to pause to let her eyes adjust after she shut door behind her. All of the windows and blinds were closed. The only illumination came from a single lantern hung high in the room and a few dribbling candles around Twilight's reading bench. Speaking of which, she had her back turned and her nose was firmly planted in the book she was reading. A quill hung in the air next to her, ready to spring into action whenever she decided to take notes, which was often.

Fluttershy carefully stepped into the room. While most of the books had managed to find their way back onto the shelves, there were still a few loose piles lying around.

“Hoo,” said Owlowiscious.

“It's me, Fluttershy.” She looked up at the owl who was sitting on his perch. He rustled his wings and shut his eyes, going back to sleep.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing up so late?” Twilight asked. Twilight turned around to face Fluttershy, but the lighting was too dim to see her face very well, especially with the candles behind her.

Fluttershy stepped over to a window and pulled the blinds open, flooding the room with daylight.

“Ack.” Twilight threw a foreleg in front of her face and winced. When the light didn't go away, she gradually lowered her hoof. She looked terrible. Her mane was unkempt, and she had bags under her eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly. The wheels in her mind turned, but they were dulled from lack of sleep and had trouble finding traction. “Oh! I guess I stayed up all night. Heh-heh.” Twilight blew out the candles and opened the rest of the blinds with her magic. “So did Spike make those pancakes like I asked him to?”

Fluttershy opted not to comment on Twilight's appearance. In truth, she was pretty frazzled herself. “Yes, Spike did make pancakes. They were very good. He also fed the animals this morning so I didn't have to.”

“What, really?” Twilight rubber her eyes, she blinked, and broke into a smile. “Bravo, Spike! You get an extra gold star on your ice cream tonight!”

'Gold star' was the name of a gemstone, right? Fluttershy watched with mild curiosity as Twilight rummaged in a drawer. She pulled out a sheet of stickers and hopped off towards the freezer humming and grinning like a hyena.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, too softly.

The freezer door opened and shut and Twilight walked back into the room sans stickers. “He'll be so surprised!”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Yes, he will be. So, Twilight–”

“Oh! You want to hear what I've learned, right?” Fluttershy probably would have nodded if Twilight had given her the chance to. Twilight levitated a stack of books and flipped the top one open. “Check it out: these thirty-seven volumes of medical literature have an entire paragraph on gray eyes! As it turns out, they're caused by magic depletion. Other symptoms include nausea, drowsiness, headaches, vertigo, lethargy, fainting spells, swelling, itchiness, widespread rash, and death. Pretty neat, huh?”

“Death!?”

“Huh?” Twilight looked at the book again. “Oh, whoops, I had the bookmark in the wrong spot. I was reading off the symptoms for grave rot. Heh-heh. Gray eyes does have a similar list, but without the physical symptoms, and, uh, without the death too.”

Fluttershy relaxed, but she raised a hoof in concern. “Please tell me you didn't stay up all night just for that.”

“What? Oh no, not at all.” Twilight dropped those books on the floor and walked back to her reading stand. She pulled her saddlebags off the wall and dropped the book she'd been perusing into them. “That was the only reference guide I could find on the Snakefog Forest. We'll need to be as prepared as possible if we're going in there after Linky.”

“What? Right now? Don't you want to sleep first?”

Twilight shook her head. “No time. Tell Spike to ask the others to prepare for a long trip. We might be gone for days.”

“D-days? Um, I'm actually quite tired myself and–”

“Fluttershy, even without your cutie mark you're still the best animal expert around. The book's aggravatingly loose on details, but it is very clear that a wide variety of powerful beasts live there. I doubt we'd get very far without you.”

“A-are there any dragons?” Fluttershy trembled.

“Er, no, actually. It says they don't like the humidity from all the fog.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy put her hoof back down and frowned. “I'm still not sure I can do it. Animals just don't respond to me like they used to. I-I...” Fluttershy started to tear up again.

“Easy there, Fluttershy.” Twilight put her forelegs on Fluttershy's shoulders. “I know this will be difficult for you, but this is still our best chance at getting your cutie mark back.”

“My cutie mark...!” Fluttershy stomped her hoof on the ground and snorted. “You can count on me!”

Back at her cottage, Fluttershy sent Spike off on his errands before rummaging through her room to gather her camping supplies. She packed her tent, a lantern, and enough dried food for a week. If they stayed longer, she'd have to forage (she'd probably forage anyway). Looking over the items in her saddlebags, she felt certain that she was forgetting something. She always felt that way about camping trips.

An angry thumping brought her out of her daze. Angel Bunny pointed at his food bowl containing a plain lettuce salad and tuned up his nose.

“Oh, good morning Angel, I see you're finally up.” Fluttershy fastened the clasps on her saddlebags and patted him on the head.

Angel deadpanned and kicked his salad all over the bare, rugless floor.

“Hmm? Is something wrong?” Fluttershy frowned.

Angel waved his paws at the spilled salad, and Fluttershy looked past that at the open door.

“You want to go with me? I'm sorry, Angel, but it's much too dangerous out there for a little bunny like you.” She reached down to scoop him up for a hug. His eyes popped open, but he didn't protest. “There, there, Angel. I know you'll miss me, but I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” She sniffled. “S-so be a good boy and behave for Spike and Apple Bloom while I'm gone, okay?”

Angel Bunny squirmed and she let him go. He stomped up and down on the spilled salad.

“Oh dear, I guess it was a little wilted from sitting out all morning. Let me fix you a fresh salad.”

Humming softly, the yellow pegasus picked up Angel's bowl and carried it to the kitchen. He watched from the floor and drooled in anticipation as she diced up vegetables on the hardwood counter.

“You know, Angel, even though we can't talk to each other, it still feels like we have a special connection.” Fluttershy paused in her task to lean down and bump noses with him. He flopped over backwards and scratched his head. “I guess we don't really need to talk, do we? We've been living together so long I can guess what you want without being told.”

Fluttershy resumed dicing veggies, and scooped the pieces into the bowl. Angel sat back up and awaited its delivery with wide eyes and a string of drool dangling from his mouth.

Fluttershy twisted around with the bowl in her hooves. She held it above him, just out of reach and sighed. She looked down into his eyes. Angel was poised to hop up and grab the bowl, but he saw something shocking in her eyes. For a brief moment, she had a predatory glare. He froze.

“It'd be nice if there was some way to carry you around with me wherever I went, but I guess that's a little silly, isn't it?”

Fluttershy set the bowl next to him and rubbed her eyes. He sat there in a daze while she walked off. He shook himself and happily opened his mouth to devour–

It was another plain salad.

Three slices of cucumber were the only decorations. Scowling, he kicked the bowl over and hopped around on the furniture until he found a way onto the counter. With much effort, he dragged out a cookbook and kicked the cover open. He kept kicking the pages until he spotted something he liked. He slapped his paws on the image of an eggplant and cantaloupe fruit salad with strawberries and watermelon wedges. His efforts were wasted on thin air. Fluttershy was already outside, spreading her wings.

Angel yanked on his ears and thew a hissy-fit when she flew off.

The others were already waiting at the library when Fluttershy arrived.

“Oh good, we're all here. Come on, everypony! Let's head out and get that cutie mark back!” Twilight took the lead and marched off. Everypony else stood there and didn't move.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash flew over and tapped on her shoulder. Twilight stopped and looked up. “You're going north. The Snakefog Forest is in the other direction.”

“Oh? Oh!” Twilight bowed her head and blushed sheepishly as she walked back to the group.

“Yer silly, Twilight.” Pinkie giggled.

“Are you sure you're up for this?” Applejack asked. “Ya look awfully tired, Twilight.”

“What? No. I-I mean, yes. I mean, of course.” Twilight shook her head. “Look, I'll be okay after we've been walking for a while. Once the blood is flowing, I'll have no trouble staying alert.”

“If you say so.” Applejack frowned, but made no further comment.

After that less-than-encouraging false start, Twilight pointed herself in the right direction and they walked off as a group.

Their trip along the road went smoothly once Twilight stopped trying to walk and read at the same time, that is. Fluttershy felt really bad for her, but at the same time, she felt glad too. She didn't like to see her friend suffer; that wasn't it. She was just touched that her friend was willing to go to such lengths for her, even though said lengths weren't really sensible.

Despite hiking instead of flying, their trip down the road seemed to go by faster than her solo trip yesterday. Nopony was really in the mood to talk much; the only subjects they breached were her cutie mark and the forest, and the first upset Fluttershy, while the second encouraged Twilight to try reading and walking again. Mostly, they stayed silent.

Fluttershy's ears perked up. Something large was rummaging in the woods up ahead. She flew above the trees to get a better look and spotted the remains of a wagon around the bend. Rainbow Dash wasn't kidding when she said it was wrecked. It was rolled over and wrapped around a tree. How Linky had managed to do that, Fluttershy had no idea. Torn strips of fabric and broken boards led up to the crash site. One of the wheels was snapped in half and another was missing completely. The large animal she'd heard was Snappy Scoop, who was salvaging his possessions.

Rainbow Dash joined Fluttershy in the air and flew down to greet him. “Snappy! You're looking much better today.”

Snappy backed out of the wreckage and waved at her. His saddlebags were already bulging and he had his signature camera around his neck. The camera itself looked fine, but the extendable frame holding it was broken on one side. “Oh, hi there, Rainbow Dash. Thanks again for the lift yesterday. I don't know how long Id've been out if it weren't for you.”

“Yeah, that was pretty awesome of me.”

The rest of her friends caught up to them on the ground. Rarity stepped in front of Rainbow Dash. “What she means is, it was nothing. Any pony would do the same to help out.”

Dash shorted. “Well, I guess” –she smiled again– “but you have to admit I did it super fast.”

Rarity rolled her eyes.

Snappy shrugged. “I'll take your word for it, but I was unconscious at the time.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “You look awfully chipper for somepony who's stuff just got destroyed.”

His smile faded. His mane was actually disheveled and there were signs of wetness on his cheeks. Fluttershy felt bad; he'd just been putting on a happy face for them and she'd called him out on it.

“Well, I guess if you live in Ponyville long enough, you get used to such things, right?” Snappy glanced at his flank. “And besides, a lot of ponies are really interested in hearing about this cutie mark snatcher. It's not often that I get to be part of the story that I'm reporting on. Say—could one of you help me with something? I need to take a picture of my cutie mark and my tripod's broken.”

“Sure!” Pinkie Pie borrowed his camera and hopped back to frame the photo against the split and battered frame of his wagon.

“Um, if you don't mind my asking, your cutie mark was returned. Why do you want a picture of it?” Fluttershy asked.

“It's proof of my involvement. When she returned it, she didn't put it back as it was. It's facing the wrong way.” He pointed at it after Pinkie finished taking the photos and gave his camera back. “Thanks, Pinkie.”

“No problem!”

“As you can see, my cutie mark is a camera; it's facing forwards, towards my head, but it used face back.”

Fluttershy's jaw hung low. “She can change them too? D-does it even work like it used to? Is it broken?”

“I'm pretty sure it's the same.” Snappy frowned and held his camera in front of him. He looked through the view finder and took a picture of a cloud. “It behaves like it did before, I guess. It's certainly a far cry better than when it was missing. I never should have followed that anonymous tip, but I guess, in a way, it paid off.”

“What was that like? When it was missing?” Fluttershy knew exactly what that was like, but wanted to hear it from somepony else too.

“Terrible.” Snappy snorted. “Every time I went to take a picture, I'd get a splitting headache and there'd be something wrong with the photo: out of focus, tilted, too much to one side, you name it; if a picture could go wrong, it did. I never even knew my cutie mark was gone until Linky, disguised as Photo Finish, mentioned something about gray eyes. I went to look in a mirror and that's when I noticed it was missing. To my horror, that's when I also realized that the camera Linky was holding looked exactly like my cutie mark.”

“And that's when you tried to get it back?” Fluttershy asked.

“That's when I fainted.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy pawed at the ground. She scooped up a piece of torn fabric from the canopy of the wagon.

“No offense, but what are we waiting on?” Applejack pointed at the dense underbrush. “Ah thought we were going in there after her.”

“Hold your harness, Applejack.” Twilight walked around the crash site, examining it as she went. “I don't like the looks of this; I don't like them at all.”

“Ya think some big monster did that?” Applejack asked.

“No. I think Linky did this by herself.” Twilight narrowed her eyes and frowned. “The more I hear about it, the more I'm convinced she'd had this whole thing planned out well in advance. The disguise, the way she lured in Snappy, and now this fake crash scene must have taken a lot of planning and effort.”

“Wait a minute, how do ya know it's fake?” Applejack also walked around the debris and inspected it. “It looks awfully real to me.”

“Well, I don't, really, not for certain, but there are a few things that seem off. First of all, the debris trail makes it look like the wagon was dragged, not tossed or thrown. A monster dragging the wagon wouldn't stop to wrap it around a tree. Secondly, if Snappy Scoop had been inside the wagon when it crashed, he'd be covered in cuts and bruises. He doesn't have a mark on him.”

“But he was inside the wagon when I found him,” Rainbow Dash said.

Snappy Scoop made notes on Twilight's observations and took pictures of the crash scene to record the evidence. His camera flashed in the background while Twilight spoke.

“That settles it, then.” Twilight nodded to herself. “This was a lot of effort and planning to throw ponies off her trail, but I'm not sure any of it was needed. If she hadn't stopped to do any of these things and just galloped away, nopony would have even caught up to her in the first place.”

“I would have caught up with her.” Rainbow Dash snorted. Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, if I'd gotten lucky and flown the right way, that is.”

“So are you saying that Linky didn't know what she was doing?” Rarity asked.

“In a way. All of this subterfuge did help to throw us off in the heat of the moment, but it also left a trail for us to follow once we put things together. Plus, every added complication was just one more thing that could have gone wrong for her. It's too amateurish for professional work, and it reeks of lacking experience.”

Twilight yawned, then shook her head. “Ugh, tired. Anyway, we'll have to be very careful when we catch up to her. I've read that amateur criminals tend to over-think things and can get very desperate when their plans fall apart. We already know that she can remove cutie marks; we don't know what else she might be capable of.”

At the mention of cutie mark removal, every other pony except Fluttershy shuddered. She frowned and lifted a wing to inspect her blank flank. It was as bare as it was yesterday, and it wouldn't get fixed just by standing around and chatting. “Um, if we're done talking, let's go. I'd like to get my cutie mark back.”

Snappy Scoop turned his camera on her. Fluttershy winced at the flashes of light. “Wait a minute, you're the pony whose cutie mark was stolen? I have so many questions about that. What was it like? Why did she do it? How does it make you feel not to have it back yet? What will you do if you never get it back?”

“Um, well, I—eep.” Fluttershy curled up into a ball and whimpered.

“I... see.” Snappy scribbled in his notebook.

Twigs snapped as Twilight stepped into the forest. She parted the dense underbrush with her magic. Her other friends filed into the opening, but Fluttershy and Snappy remained behind. Fluttershy sucked on her hoof like a foal while Snappy barraged her with questions. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Come on, you two. We don't have all day.”

Fluttershy got up and darted into the forest. Snappy hesitated. “Wait, you're actually going in there? Isn't that place full of monsters?”

“Yes, and one of those monsters has Fluttershy's cutie mark.”

“Er... I'm more a celebrity journalist than an adventuring type, so... good luck! And thanks for your help again. I really appreciate it.” He waved.

Twilight smiled. “You're welcome, and take care.” With that, she followed her friends into the forest and let the underbrush close behind her.

Chapter 5

Within the forest, they made slow progress through the dense foliage in the hot and oppressive tropical air. Their sweat clung to them and rolled down their hides only to be brushed off by contact with innumerable, irritating plants.

“Do we even know where we're going?” Rainbow Dash nearly had to shout to be heard over the incessant drone of insects and chirping birds.

“We have to head towards the center.” Twilight scrunched up her face as she shifted leaves and branches and vines out the way with her magic. “There's supposed to be something there.”

“Something? You don't know what?” Rarity asked.

Twilight paused to wipe the sweat off her brow and pulled a vine-wrapped tome out of her saddlebags. She passed it to Rarity who caught it in her magic. “No, I don't. The Snakefog Compendium has very little real detail in it. You can see for yourself.”

Rarity opened it and flipped through some of the pages. “What is all this gibberish?”

“Eponia's notes. She was an adventurer who explored this place some time ago. Unfortunately, she was paranoid and didn't trust anypony so most of her notes were written in code. If we had a lot more time, I'd take a shot at decoding them, but we don't. All we have to go on are the parts that were written in common Equestrian along with the folklore of ponies who've lived in nearby areas.”

Rarity frowned and passed the book back.

They continued trailblazing in silence, and Fluttershy inspected the local fauna. Most creatures were driven away by the noise they made, but she did see numerous birds and several snakes up in the trees. There was even a combination of the two: a rare diamondback jadefeatherd quetzalcoatl wrapped its serpentine body around a tree branch far above them and spread its wings as a warning against encroaching on its territory. At least, that's what she thought it meant. Fluttershy couldn't know for certain unless she asked and, well, her heart hurt just thinking about it.

She felt so empty inside. Any one of those little creatures should have sent her heart pattering with curiosity, but... she didn't really feel anything. Without her special talent to bring her closer to the animals, they ignored her, and she was ignoring them in turn.

It should have been a real treat to watch the gliding squirrels roam. She should have been fascinated by the songs of the macaws. The boundless industry of the leaf-cutter ants should have left her mystified. Watching Rainbow Dash swish her tail to ward flies off her sweaty flanks was more interesting. Even the great hunstsman, a giant crab-like spider the size of a cat, was little more than an idle curiosity for her (though, to be fair, everypony else freaked out).

Fluttershy hoped she could pull through when she really needed to. Linky had targeted her talent specifically for the purpose of coming through these woods. But would her stolen magic be more useful than the real Fluttershy? She hoped not. No no, she knew it wouldn't be. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth. She resolved to prove to the world that the symbol of her flank was not better than the real thing.

“Hold up, everypony.” Twilight's words were unnecessary. The air chilled several degrees and all of them stared up at a wall of white.

“What is that?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy felt a tingling under her fur. It reminded her of how she felt high in the sky while walking on clouds. Perhaps since her special talent was gone, she'd become more attuned to her racial pegasus magic? Regardless, she knew exactly what that was. “It's a fog bank.”

Twilight sighed. “Well, we were bound to run into one of these eventually. This is the Snakefog Forest, after all.”

“Should we walk through it?” Applejack asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No. I don't think that's a good idea. It's too thick to see past your own muzzle and we don't want to get separated or fall down a hole or something.”

“Can we go around it?” Fluttershy asked. There was something odd about this cloud. She had an uneasy feeling about it.

“I don't think that's a good idea either. The fog is supposed to shift continuously. There's no telling where we'd wind up if we tried that.”

“Perhaps we should wait for it to go away?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Hmm...” Twilight tapped her chin. “That could work.”

“Or the fog could shift on top of us and we'd be in big trouble.” Rainbow Dash flew up and pointed a hoof at the fog. “Look, it's just a cloud, right? You don't have to worry about such things when I'm around. Watch me clear it out in ten seconds flat.”

Rainbow Dash dove down and walloped the fog bank like a cyan missile. Wind howled and the fog rose off the ground. “Heh. Six seconds flat. That's a new record.”

The hot, muggy air returned and the forest went eerily silent. “I don't like the sound of that,” Fluttershy said.

Shuffling in the trees drew their attention. The sound came from everywhere at once, and was accompanied by clicking and clacking. Numerous narrow eyes lined the canopy. The creatures remained hidden behind fronds and leaves but the tips of spears poking out divulged their hostile intent. The mares huddled together in fear.

One of the beasts flew out and landed before them. At first glance, it looked like a giant praying mantis, almost twice their size, but it had several equine traits as well. His head (it seemed masculine) was almost completely pony-like, but he had antennae instead of ears and there were short finger-like mandibles at the corners of his mouth. His wings were feathered, and he had a short, wind-streaked brown and tan speckled mane. He had a total of six limbs. Four were insectoid legs, but rather than having feet at the ends he had hooves that were split apart like partially-cut firewood. Two arms came out of his thorax, an additional body segment that replaced the neck. The arms ended in giant, serrated claws with sharp bladed edges. One claw held a spear. His dark green carapace in general had many sharp serrated edges and he was wearing crude armor made from bark and wood. Around his thorax he had a necklace of sticks that had been carved into points to resemble giant thorns.

“What is that thing?” Dash asked. She was shushed by Twilight.

The creature's eyes narrowed dangerously. He seemed to be spitting with rage. He thumped the hilt of his spear on the ground. “Tr'ath k'ness ik cluu og'pot!”

“Pony mantis!” Fluttershy ran up and hugged him.

His eyes widened in surprise and his expression softened. With his free claw, he reached down and spread one of Fluttershy's wings.

“Don't you dare hurt her!” Rainbow Dash flew up. Applejack bit her tail and pulled her back to the ground.

“Let her handle this,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy, this is your chance. Try to let them know why we're here and that we're sorry for whatever it is we did that upset them.”

“O-okay.” Fluttershy gulped. She had to resist twitching her wing while it was being examined. “Look, Mr. Mantis, we're terribly sorry that we upset you and we promise that we won't ever do it again.”

The mantid dropped Fluttershy's wing, who folded it back against her side, and gently pushed her away so he could address her properly. “Pok ik chith q'tan to'pit ik pod?”

Fluttershy had no idea what he'd said. His language sounded like pure gibberish to her. She took a guess and replied, “Um, no, we don't know exactly what it was that we did wrong, but we'll try really, really, hard not to do it again!”

The mantid clawed at his chin. “Utis ik jaunt tok?”

“Um, well, we're here because we're chasing after another pony who goes by the name of Linky...” Fluttershy tried her best to explain the situation. She pantomimed as much as possible, and hoped that even if he couldn't understand her that he'd at least be swayed by her pleading tone and wide non-threatening eyes. When she finished with her tirade, she looked up at him hopefully.

He flew off and barked some orders at the others in the canopy. They lowered their spears.

“I think you did it, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. She smiled.

Four mantid guards landed around them. They were smaller than the first one and wore no armor, but still carried spears and had wary looks in their eyes. They motioned for the ponies to follow them.

“Um, I think we should do what they want,” Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded in agreement.

The mantid guards led them through the underbrush onto a trail. It was much easier walking, but it twisted and turned so many times that they lost all sense of direction.

“Where do you think they're taking us?” Pinkie asked.

“No idea.” Twilight shook her head. “But I doubt its to a party.”

“Aww.”

Eventually, they came to a clearing and the mantid guards stepped aside to let the ponies past.

“What is this place?” Twilight asked. She looked around in confusion when she didn't see any obvious landmarks. Taking another step, she looked down in shock when she felt hard-packed dirt under her hoof. It was the road. They were right back where they started. “They led us out of the forest!”

Fluttershy's heart lurched. “No!” she wailed. She stared at the mantid guards.

They each raised a claw to wave it in front of their neck-joint in a smooth, cutting motion. “K-k-k-k-k-k,” they said. With that, they went back in the forest and pulled the underbrush shut behind them.

“I don't think we're welcome in there anymore,” Rainbow Dash said.

“No, no, no!” Fluttershy ran back towards the opening.

“Wait, stop!” Twilight yelled and ran after her.

Applejack caught up first and grabbed Fluttershy's tail. The others piled on top of her. Well, except for Rainbow Dash.

“Actually, I'm kind of with Fluttershy on this one.” Dash narrowed her eyes and ground her hooves together. “I really want to go back in there and kick some heads.”

Twilight shook her head. “You saw how many of them there were. We can't take them all.”

Fluttershy ceased struggling and broke down sobbing. Twilight and the others got off of her.

Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth. “And what if we don't have to? What if they surrender after we've beaten half of them? Huh? Did you think of that!?”

Twilight magically grabbed Dash's bangs and pulled her down to look her square in the eyes. “Look, I'll try to make this as plain as I can, but going back in there right now is not a good idea. Those mantids were well armed and armored and I got the impression that they're not very friendly. Canterlot was just attacked by one group of bug-like creatures and do you really want to stir these guys up to do the same? There's no telling what might set them off. Do you really want to start a war, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash deflated and settled down on the ground. “Uh, well... no.” Twilight canceled her magic, and Dash walked over to place a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. “Look, Fluttershy, I'm sorry–”

“This is all my fault!” Fluttershy wailed. “I couldn't understand them at all. I-if I just tried harder–”

“What? No. This isn't your fault,” Twilight said. “If–”

“Y-yes i-it is! I—I wanted to prove that I was better than my magic, b-but I couldn't d-do i-it.” Fluttershy's voice cracked and she started sobbing again.

“What is she talking about?” Applejack asked. Rarity shrugged.

“If anypony messed up here, it was me,” Twilight said. “I didn't do enough research. I led us all here without a plan. It's my fault that we didn't get anywhere. And because of me, Fluttershy i-is...”

“Twilight, it's not your fault either.” Rainbow Dash dragged a hoof on the ground. “Not all the answers are going to be in books and I'd hate to be stuck indoors looking at dusty tomes forever while Linky roams free. Maybe I'm the one who messed up.”

“Are we really going to do this? Taking turns were everypony blames herself?” Rarity pulled out a tissue so that Fluttershy could have something nice and soft to cry on. “There there, dear. Everything will be alright.”

“What? No, everything won't be alright.” Pinkie Pie walked over. “Fluttershy doesn't have her cutie mark; Linky's running free in the forest; we blew our last chance at getting it back, and she's going to be stuck as a blank-flank for-ever.”

Fluttershy's wailing increased dramatically. She practically spouted fountains of tears from her eyes.

“Pinkie, what was that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I thought you were supposed to be more sensitive.”

“I don't like it either, Dashie, but sometimes you just have to face the truth. If you hide from it, it'll eat away at you and you can never be happy again.”

“The truth!?” Applejack snorted. “Ah refuse to believe that we've lost all hope of recovering Fluttershy's cutie mark! We may have blown our chance at getting it back quickly, and, uh, we don't know where Linky will go once she's left the forest... if she's even going to come back to Ponyville... if we'll ever be able to catch her...” The longer Applejack spoke the less certain she sounded. Her voice trailed off and her head hung low.

“It burns me up that we got kicked out of the forest while she's still in there,” Rainbow Dash said. She flexed her wings in annoyance.

“Wait a minute, that's it!” Twilight perked up. “We may have come up against a hopeless roadblock, but that doesn't mean we have to give up hope.”

“I... don't think you said quite what you meant to. Could you rephrase that, dear?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, what I mean is that while it might be the end of the trail for us, other ponies aren't banned from the forest. We've done as much as we can. I'll explain the situation in a letter and I'm sure that Celestia will be willing to lend some guard ponies to pick up the chase.”

“Well, that's better than nothing, I guess.” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fluttershy, what do you think?”

Fluttershy was still lying flat on the ground sobbing. She barely lifted her head from the grass to speak. “Why does life have to be s-so hard? A-all I want is my cutie mark back. I-is that too much to ask?” She flopped back down in tears.

The others frowned in silence. Fluttershy's wailing ate at their hearts. They slowly gathered around her and gave her a group hug to show their support.

Chapter 6

It was evening by the time they'd returned to Ponyville. They were all exhausted and weary, but it was still too early to call it quits and head for bed. Twilight tracked down Spike to send her letter off. He was supposed to be at Fluttershy's cottage watching the animals, but she found him back at the library in the kitchen indulging in star-sticker flavored ice cream. He claimed he was just taking a break and Twilight was too tired to argue with him. He sent the letter and she sent him off to finish the job he'd been assigned.

“Girls, we can do more than just wait for a response. There are a lot of questions that I'd like an answer to and for that we'll need investigation and research. Like, what is Linky really after? She's got to have a bigger goal in mind than just one cutie mark and a stroll in a forest. How did she even remove Fluttershy's cutie mark in the first place? Hmm, if we can answer that, we might be able to reverse the process on our own.”

“Are you thinking that we should search her place for clues?” Pinkie asked.

“That would be a good place to start, yes.” Twilight rummaged through her reading desk and pulled out a magnifying glass.

“Twilight, isn't it a bit late to get a search warrant?” Rarity asked. “Town Hall is closed for the day.”

“We could break in,” Pinkie suggested.

Twilight frowned and put her magnifying glass back. “No, Pinkie. Getting ourselves in trouble won't help. Linky's already gone. Any evidence she left behind isn't going to go anywhere.”

“What about ways to replace a lost cutie mark? Is there some way to get her a new one?” Applejack asked.

“Um, Applejack, I know you're trying to help, but I don't want a new cutie mark. I want my old one back.”

“Hmm.” Twilight tapped on her chin. “We'll chalk that up as plan 'c', or 'd'. For now, we should try to learn all we can about Linky and her plans.”

“Do you think she's stolen any other cutie marks?” Applejack asked.

“I doubt it.” Twilight shook her head. “News like that would travel fast.”

“What about something that's not a cutie mark?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, we could ask around–”

Pinkie threw open a window and yelled outside, “Hey! Has anypony had anything stolen recently!?”

Twilight facehoofed. “Pinkie, that's not going to work.”

There was a knock on the door.

Twilight dropped her hoof. Pinkie shrugged. “Come in.”

The door opened, and they were greeted by a lilac unicorn with wide magenta eyes and a trim two-toned blue streaked mane.

“Um, hello there Miss...” Twilight smiled.

“Sea Swirl. I'm so sorry about what happened to Fluttershy, but when I heard Pinkie yell just now that reminded me of something that happened a few weeks ago. I was out vacationing along the beach and went swimming like I usually do. Amongst the manegroves, I discovered an odd piece of driftwood. It was actually a wooden sword, surprisingly well balanced, and it didn't look weathered at all. It was about this big–” Sea Swirl measured out its size with her hooves. The distance she measured was far too long to be practical. “–and it had an inscription on it that called it the 'Master Sword.' I was going to donate it to the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum, but–”

“Wait a minute,” Twilight interrupted, “Star Swirl the Bearded had many talents, but he wasn't into swordplay. What makes you think that would be connected to him?”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot to mention that the inscription also said it belonged to him. Anyway, Shoeshine took an interest in it and asked to borrow it. That was a few weeks ago and she hasn't given it back yet and after what just happened...”

“We get the idea. Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” Twilight said.

“No problem, and good luck.” Sea Swirl stepped out and magically shut the door behind her.

“Ya think that's worth looking into?” Applejack asked. “Sea Swirl's known for her fish tales, and that does sound rather farfetched.”

Twilight shrugged. “I guess if we run out of other things to do we can investigate that. I'd look into it sooner, but all of the books about Star Swirl the Bearded that I haven't read yet are locked away in the restricted area of the Canterlot archives.”

The door creaked open again. Spike walked in trailing loose feathers behind him. He stopped to brush himself off.

“Um, Spike, why are you covered in feathers?” Fluttershy asked. Her question was more from idle curiosity than actual concern. Spike wasn't the best animal caretaker, but he wouldn't do anything to hurt them.

“This just came.” Spike held up a scroll in his claws that Twilight grabbed with her magic. “I was busy feeding the chickens when it arrived and that really spooked them, sorry.”

“It's okay, Spike. A few singed feathers won't hurt them.” Fluttershy peaked over Twilight's shoulder. “What does the letter say?”

Twilight stopped scanning the parchment and looked up at them. “It's from my brother. This is more serious than I'd thought.”

“Your brother? But isn't he still on his honeymoon?” Rarity asked.

“Not anymore. Listen to this:

Dear Twily,

I am terribly sorry to hear about the loss that your friend has suffered. Fluttershy was such a nice pony at our wedding. Her bird choir was very lovely.

Cadance and I just got back from our honeymoon when we heard the news; I guess it was fate that your letter arrived the same time we did. I'd tell you more about our trip, but that will have to wait for another time.

Celestia tasked us with the job of hunting down 'Linky' and bringing her to justice. Magic theft is a very serious offense, especially when cutie marks are involved. Those are not meant to be tampered with. Please keep a close eye on your friend to ensure her continued health. We will do our best to recover her stolen cutie mark as quickly as possible.

If you happen across any further information regarding Linky's motives, skills, or whereabouts in your investigations (I can't imagine that you'd sit idle on this), please sent your report to Celestia and she will ensure that it reaches us. Rest assured that we will do everything we can to ensure that this wrong becomes righted.

Hoof-bump and head-rub,
Prince Shining Armor

Twilight, this is Cadance. My husband wasn't kidding when he said to keep a close eye on your friend, Fluttershy. I wish I had more to go on than just an uneasy feeling, but her destiny's been severed. Time might be running out for her. I'm sorry that sounds so gloomy, but the ways of the heart can be fickle.

Your assignment is just as important as ours: please keep your friend safe. I hope to see you again soon with much better news.

I still can't thank you enough for saving us on our wedding day.

Wish us luck,
Princess Cadance.

PS. Tell Spike that we appreciated his gift. We got a really big kick out of his 'bachelor party'. We had no idea you could put something like that in a box.”

“M-my time i-is running out?” Fluttershy choked. She looked pale.

Hackles rose around the room as ponies started to panic.

“Oh, no! Fluttershy!” Rarity dragged in a fancy, ornate couch from nowhere. It had soft, red velvet cushions trimmed with gold thread. “Please, sit down. You want to be as comfortable as possible in your last moments, don't you?”

Fluttershy didn't have a choice. The couch floated over with Rarity's magic and scooped her off her feet. She flopped over on it, stunned. “L-last moments?” she squeaked.

“Heh, I knew they'd love my exploding bachelor box,” Spike said, oblivious. “Uh, well, I wasn't sure what a 'bachelor' was so I just used a lot of confetti and made sure it made a lot of nose. I wrote the word 'bachelor' on everything. That's close enough, right?”

Nopony paid Spike any attention. Pinkie Pie ran over and gasped. “Are you cold? Oh no! We wouldn't want you to be cold.” Pinkie tossed a blanket over Fluttershy.

“Um, Pinkie, I'm not–”

“What? You're not cold?” Rainbow Dash said. “Oh no! You must be stifling in here. I'd better whip up a breeze, and fast!” Rainbow Dash flew around the room. Pages rustled in her wake and some books fell off the shelves when she got too close and bumped them.

“Uh, Dash, I'm not–”

“Oh no! Now you're too cold!” Twilight stuffed a thermometer if Fluttershy's mouth, who drooped her ears. “We'd better take your temperature to make sure you don't catch a cold.”

Applejack gasped as she saw the thermometer climb (it was still adjusting to Fluttershy's normal body temperature.) “Oh no, it looks like yer coming down with something. Ah better mix up some chicken soup to help ya feel better.” Everypony gave Applejack strange looks. “It's made from chicken feed, not actual chickens.”

“Ooh. That makes much more sense,” Pinkie said.

Spike was annoyed about being ignored, but mostly he was confused. “What's all the fuss about?”

Twilight slapped the letter Spike's face. “Didn't you hear? Fluttershy's running out of time!”

Spike grumbled and tore it off. “Running out of time for what?”

Pinkie Pie reared up on her tail. “Running out of time to live. She could drop dead at any moment!” She threw a foreleg up over her head and dramatically fell over backwards. She landed with a thud and more books fell down.

Fluttershy whimpered and buried herself under the blanket so completely that she was little more than a quavering blob of tea and comfort.

Spike picked up a fallen book and stuffed it on a nearby shelf so it wouldn't get trampled. This was going to be one of those days. “Are you sure that's what she meant?”

“Does it matter? This is Fluttershy we're talking about. She could be wasting away as we speak.” Rartiy gave the quavering blob a great big hug, which meeped.

Despite the forelegs wrapped around it, Spike grabbed the blanket and yanked it off. Fluttershy squeaked and grabbed Rarity to return her embrace. They huddled together on the fancy couch. Spike pointed at Fluttershy. “She looks fine to me.”

Applejack pushed in a steaming bowl of broth on a rolling cart. It smelled like corn and sesame. “Here ya are, sugarcube. Be careful, it's still a bit hot.”

“But we already know she's not fine. Her cutie mark's missing.” Rainbow Dash walked over and sniffed at the soup. “Wow, that really does smell good.”

“Not having a cutie mark isn't going to kill you,” Spike said. “None of you are even born with them.”

Fluttershy released Rarity, who reluctantly let go as well. “That's different. Our talents exist even before we discover them. But now I don't have one.” Fluttershy frowned. Her nostrils couldn't resist the scent in the air. She picked up the bowl, blew off the steam and took a sip. “This really is good. Thanks, Applejack.”

Spike scratched at his spines. “But you have plenty of talents. What is all this cutie mark business about, anyway? I don't get it.”

“Spike, didn't they teach you about that in magic kindergarten?” Twilight asked.

“Er, maybe? I kinda-sorta tuned it all out when I learned I wasn't going to get one. It was more fun to flick pencils and get them stuck in the ceiling.”

“What? I thought you kept eating them.” Spike blushed from embarrassment and turned away to reshelve a book. Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, who carefully sipped her soup, and looked back to face Spike. “Anyway, cutie marks are one of the three major types of magic that ponies have. Ponies are meant to be in control of our world and, to that end, each of us is born with a talent capable of influencing it in some way. Once that talent is discovered, the mark of our destiny, known as a cutie mark, appears.”

“But if you're already born with your talent, then why do you have to wait until it's discovered to get your cutie mark? That seems unnecessary. Isn't your destiny predetermined?”

“No, it's not quite like that. I summarized too much. While it's true that we have our talents at birth, the way in which we use them is up to us. Rarity, for example, has a talent for finding gems. She's decided to use that talent to be a fashion designer. She could easily have been a miner, or a jeweler, or something else instead. So it's not until we discover our special talent and decide on how we want to use it, that our cutie mark appears.”

“Since yer giving a lecture and all, what are the other two types of magic?” Applejack asked.

Twilight raised an eyebrow but didn't make any comment about Applejack's education. She'd have to remember to have tea with Cheerilee at some point and discuss the subjects typically covered under Ponyville's curriculum. What Twilight considered common knowledge might be limited to advanced studies in the earth pony school. “Well, there's also racial magic, such as earth pony strength and pegasus flight, and the last category is known as eminence. It's a bit of a catch-all for outside influences. It covers everything from dark magic to the magics of love and friendship. Our connection to the elements of harmony fall under that category.”

“That's fascinating and all, but I don't see how any of it is vital,” Spike said. “Even without a cutie mark, you still have plenty of other magic, so what's the big deal?”

Twilight tapped on her chin and watched Fluttershy place her empty bowl on the tray. She didn't look like she was dying. “You're right, Spike. Cutie marks, while important to us, aren't necessary to live. That's not to say that removing one won't have other consequences, though. It's up to us to make sure that Fluttershy stays healthy. We should give her a thorough examination to ensure that nothing else is wrong with her.”

Fluttershy frowned, but nodded. Despite what Spike said, she had more faith in Cadance than him. If she was going to drop dead soon, she'd at least want to know why.

Twilight rummaged through the stacks of fallen books, looking for the pile of medical literature she'd pulled out earlier. “Aha!” She levitated a blue book with the image of two snakes interwoven around a winged stick on the cover. She opened it. “Okay, let's see here. Breathing? Check. Pulse? Check. Temperature? What was your temperature when you took the thermometer out?”

“Um, around one hundred, I think,” Fluttershy said.

“That's normal, check. Say, does anypony know to take a blood pressure reading?” Twilight looked up from her book at numerous concerned faces.

“Uh, Twilight dear, don't you think that an actual medical professional should be doing this?” Rarity asked.

“Er, well, the hospital won't take walk-ins at this hour, but anypony can check vitals, right?”

“I think you've got first aid for professionals and first aid for layponies confused. None of us can read blood pressure.” Rainbow Dash tapped on her chin. “And I don't think blood pressure's something that's even helpful for first aid.”

Twilight flipped through a few pages. “Well, it says that it can help determine the extent of blood loss...”

“That's silly, Twilight. She's not bleeding,” Pinkie said.

Twilight snapped the book shut. “You're right, this is silly. Just because there's a book on it, doesn't make me an expert. I'll book an appointment for you tomorrow, okay?”

“Oh, okay.” Fluttershy sounded disappointed.

“Wait. There is one test I can do. If you're low on anything, it'd be magic. Come on, let's go down to the basement.” Twilight grabbed a doorknob in her mouth and twisted her head to pull the door open. The basement was dark.

“The... basement?” Fluttershy asked. She couldn't see anything past the bottom of the stairs.

“Ooh, that's where you keep all the blinky things with the straps and the wires and the knobs, and the levers, and the shiny, shiny buttons!”

“Pinkie, please don't touch anything.” Twilight magically turned on the lights and led them downstairs. She blew dust off her laboratory equipment and the buttons were, indeed, shiny. “It's been a while since I've used this. Fluttershy, please lie on the table there and spread your legs out. I'll get you strapped in.”

“Um, o-okay.” She reluctantly did as instructed. She winced as Twilight clamped on the cold metal restraints and secured a large metal helmet to her head with numerous wires and rows of lights on it. “Um, do I need to stretch out my wings too?”

“Only if you want to. It's usually not a good idea to restrain those. Give me a few minutes to get this machine warmed up and I'll let you know when I'm ready to start.”

Fluttershy nodded. Well, she would have nodded if her head wasn't stuck in that helmet. “Okay.”

“Ooh, ooh! Look at me.” Pinkie Pie held a hoof a hair's width away from a big, red button. “I'm not touching this. I'm so not touching this thing.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and went back to adjusting knobs and flicking switches. “You're right, Pinkie, you're not.”

“Uh, Twilight–” Applejack leaned over to whisper in Twilight's ear “–are you sure it's a good idea to let Pinkie do that? What if she slips?”

“It's fine, Applejack. That device isn't even turned on. And besides, it's not like it's a self-destruct mechanism anyway.”

“A... what?” Applejack frowned as Pinkie played her no-touching game with other buttons and levers around the room. “Now Ah'm even more worried.”

Twilight flipped on one last switch and the machine sprung to life. It whirred and hummed. Twilight frowned as she watched a needle swing back and forth erratically. “Aw, shoot. This gauge is broken. We'll have to take a manual reading. Fluttershy, you'll notice when the magic level of the machine starts to exceed your own. It's usually described as a tingling sensation, sort of like goosebumps. Can you let us know when that happens?”

“Okay, uh, I mean, not yet. I'll let you know when I feel something.”

“Right. I'm slowly increasing the power now.” Twilight adjusted knobs and shifted levers. The machine's humming steadily grew louder. “Feel anything yet?”

“No, not yet.”

Twilight continued adjusting the machine; she turned the knobs all the way and the shifted the levers into their full upright positions. “Anything yet?”

“No, sorry.”

“This is unexpected. The machine's already at maximum power. Spike, can you watch the light's on Fluttershy's helmet? I'm going to have to supplement the machine's power with my own.”

“Sure thing!” Spike nodded and fixed his stare at Fluttershy's helmet.

“I'm not touch—oops.” Pinkie pressed a button. Nothing happened. Applejack nearly fainted.

Twilight affixed a helmet to her head much like the one Fluttershy wore, except that it had a hole for her horn. With it strapped on, Twilight channeled magic and her magenta glow snaked through the wires into the machine, and back through the wires again to envelop Fluttershy.

Fluttershy's eyes darted around at this development. “Still nothing.”

Twilight's horn started to spark, and the machine whirred to the point where it sounded like screeching.

“Nothing ye—wait, I do feel something. It kind of feels like I'm covered in bugs.”

Twilight canceled her magic and hit the shutoff switch. The machine whirred down to a stop. “Spike, which lights were on?”

“Seven on the top row, none on the bottom.”

“Seven point zero!? That's absurd! That reading makes no sense.”

“Why doesn't it make sense?” Rarity asked.

“Why doesn't it make sense? I'll tell you why! The normal reading is only a four, that's why.”

“That's only a three point difference. Is that really a big deal?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It is on a logarithmic scale. Three points is three orders of magnitude. That's a thousand times more magic than she should have. If anything, Fluttershy should be below normal since she's missing her cutie mark, not leaps and bounds above.”

“Ya think the machine's broken?” Applejack asked.

“Uh, well, maybe, but you saw how much magic I put into it. Even if the calibration's off, it still had to be at least a six.” Twilight unclasped Fluttershy's bonds and she hopped down from the uncomfortable table.

“Too much magic—is that... bad?” Fluttershy asked.

“Um, now that you mention it, I don't think so,” Twilight said. “If it was, then I'd be in a lot of trouble.”

“That still sounds off, though. Where is all that magic coming from?” Rarity asked.

“It can't be from her special talent; that's gone. No offense, but Fluttershy's never been a strong flier, so that rules out her racial magic. That just leaves outside influences, but...?”

“Is the Element of Kindness really that strong?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“What? Heh-heh, of course, I'm sure that's what it is. There's nothing to worry about, after all. Congratulations, Fluttershy, you're as healthy as a horse.” Twilight smiled.

“Um, okay, if you say so.” Fluttershy frowned and rubbed her back.

“Shouldn't you be happier to hear that?” Rarity asked.

“Well, it's just... for a moment I felt like I was covered in bugs. They were crawling under my skin.”

“That is an unusual reaction, yes, but it's probably just stress. I'd recommend getting a good night's sleep and you'll feel better tomorrow.” Twilight started yawning and couldn't seem to stop. She yawned for a long time. “Yikes, in all this excitement, I'd forgotten just how tired I really was. Let's try to get a good night's sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow, after all.” Twilight ushered them out of the basement and turned the lights off behind her. She then walked up to her own room and fell over on her bed, comatose. Spike had to tuck her in because she was already asleep.

The others dispersed as well, but Fluttershy stopped Applejack on her way out. “Applejack? I know the numbers came out fine, but, I'm still very worried. I know you don't put much faith in all this magic business, so...”

“Aw, sugarcube, you can trust Twilight. Ah don't much care for the pampered unicorn lifestyle but that don't mean she's off about other stuff. She's got a good head on her shoulders and ya can trust her to do her best. Heck, I'd even be the one twistin' the knobs and pullin' the levers if she asked me to.”

“Thank you, that does make me feel better, but there is one other thing–” Fluttershy walked out the door and pointed her hoof at the southern sky “–I can't help but wonder how Linky's doing out there. I don't like her very much at all, but at the same time, I still hope that she's doing okay. Is that wrong?”

“Well, she does have yer cutie mark. If something terrible happens to her ya might never get it back.”

“So you think I'm selfish? Is that it?” Fluttershy's eyes narrowed and Applejack recoiled at the sight of them.

“What? No. Ah don't mean it like that. Don't, er, yer animals depend on your cutie mark too?”

Fluttershy burst into tears and ran off crying.

“What? No, don't cry! Ah'm sorry. Wait, Fluttershy. Please don't cry.” Applejack couldn't keep up with her as she flew off into the night. “Sorry, sugarcube.”

Interlude: From the Legends of Linky

Earlier, that same day...

“Linky is the greatest mare to ever walk this land.
She cannot be stopped, oh no! Her plans are quite grand.
Everypony loves that mare; she simply is the best.
A monster in her way? Hack, slash! She'll pass any test.
To the depths of the seas and the peaks of the mountains–
No treasure can hide, lock pick! She has plaques in fountains.

"Her humble journey starts in the Forest of Snakefog.
The fog temple there? Her goal!, as noted in her log.
The viscous pony mantids do bow to her skills.
She did show them up, she did! She's the best in those hills.
Not even the manticore can stymie her passage.
The wicked beast begs, it does! for her, er–

“What rhymes with passage?” Linky asked. Dangling by her gray tail wrapped around a tree branch halfway down the side of a cliff, the blue earth pony looked at the manticore pacing beneath her.

“Me eats you.” The manticore was a mostly lion-like beast with bat wings and a large red scorpion tail. He sat on his haunches and stared up at her smacking his lips.

“You keep saying that, and it's never going to happen!” Linky sighed and looked down at her fallen saddlebags. The beast had already rummaged through them, ruining her tent, scattering her rations, and generally trashing her carefully and meticulously packed supplies. She'd lost almost everything, except her life, and he sat patiently waiting to take that too. “So I was thinking, 'massage', maybe? But who gives massages to monsters?”

Even as she said that, she knew the answer. Linky's eyes were drawn towards the cutie mark she wore. It was a large glass jar containing three pink butterflies. She had to suppress the sudden urge to let go of the tree and fall down to give the manticore a hug. That would last all of two seconds before it ate her.

What a strange urge. Linky shook her head to clear her mind. Bah. 'Massage' doesn't even rhyme with 'passage', anyway. Either the blood rushing to her brain was making her crazy, or she'd been wearing Fluttershy's cutie mark far too long and was starting to think like her. “You know, for all the trouble I want through to get this, it certainly hasn't been very useful. The pony mantids don't care what I do as long I don't bother the sacred fog serpents. Um, hello? I'm an earth pony. I can't even bother them if I tried. It's not like they can stop me either, since I can, you know, walk right through them.” Linky looked up at the top of the cliff which was still obscured by a thick white cloud. “Of course, it would have been nice if I could have seen where I was going.

“And you–” Linky pointed down at the manticore “–what good does talking to animals do if they won't do what I tell them to? Hey! Get lost! Go home!”

“No. Food first. Then home.” He didn't budge.

“If you really want me that bad, then why don't you flap those wings and come up here and get me?” Linky asked. That was probably a stupid question to ask, but she was thinking stupid things recently.

“Wings for show. Adults can't fly.”

Huh. At least he answered her question. So their kids can fly but they can't? That must make raising children difficult. Linky had no idea what she'd do with that obscure piece of manticore trivia. Perhaps she could try to empathize with him so he'd be less inclined to treat her like food? “You know, I could have flying children too, if I married a pegasus, that is. They probably get into everything but you still have to love them, right?”

“No like kittens. Taste bad.” The manticore stuck out his tongue.

Yikes. So much for that idea. Talk about extreme parenting. Well, it was back to the waiting game.

Linky looked up at the tree she was clinging to. It bowed down from her weight, but it had held her up thus far. It hadn't shown any signs of breaking yet, but she wasn't going to shift her weight around and test its limits. As far as her grip on it, well, she wasn't going to let go anytime soon either. The prehensile tail was an earth pony trait, much like unicorn magic and pegasai flight. Her tail was just as strong as any of her other limbs and she could even tie it in a knot if she really wanted to. “You're wasting your time. I'm never going to let go.”

“Me wait. No hurry.”

“No, I'm serious. I'll die up here before I let go.”

“You die. You fall. Me eats.”

Linky groaned; this was getting her nowhere. Why did she have to run across the world's most patient monster? She'd been dangling above him almost all day. “You know, you can use more than two or three words per sentence. That makes you sound stupid.”

“No care. You food.”

“You should care! Intelligence is what separates the enlightened races from the monsters and the beasts. Do you want to be a mindless eating machine your whole life?”

“Yes.”

Despite the truthfulness of that statement, it angered Linky more than it should. She gnashed her teeth and growled. “This is all so stupid! Stupid forest, stupid fog serpents, stupid mantids, stupid worthless cutie mark! I hate you, I hate you all! And you too, you stupid freaking manticore!”

“Stupid thing,” the manticore added. He got up and started pacing again. “Food silly.”

“Me silly? Me!? You're the one who—wait, did you say 'thing?' You don't even know what I am?”

“No matter. You's food.”

Of course he wouldn't know what she was. Ponies never ventured this far into the Snakefog Forest. Linky hung there thinking. There had to be some way she could exploit that, but she didn't know how.

The wind howled and the fog bank above her lifted away as if in pain. Linky swayed there beneath the tree with wide eyes. She'd heard the term 'fog serpent,' but it wasn't until now that she realized just how huge those things were. The forest went eerily silent in its absence. Even the manticore stopped pacing and sat down.

The tree creaked ominously.

Linky's heart raced and she drew short breaths. Perhaps she had less time left than she'd thought. For a brief moment, her mind entertained some wild notions. Using her body as a projectile weapon to knock out the manticore wouldn't work; he'd easily see her coming and move out of the way, plus, she'd break all her legs. A broken glass jar would make a terrible weapon when up against something with huge teeth, sharp claws, and a scorpion stinger.

Linky tried to hide her panic as best she could, but the beast could probably smell her fear. It was just like visiting Fluttershy's cottage all over again. Why had she given up her safe lifestyle to take up adventuring? Sure, she had a special talent for making horseshoes, which turned out to be a dying trend and nopony wore them anymore...

To Tartarus with that! Linky winced at her predetermined fate. Even if she was doomed to be this monster's next meal, she could at least go down knowing that she'd tried to change her destiny. What a cruel world this was.

Linky looked up, er, down and the manticore was clearly salivating. He eagerly awaited her impending doom. The tree creaked again and Linky swallowed. How long until it started making snapping noises? She wasn't a tree expert, but that had to be a bad sign.

Then, of all things, her stomach gurgled. She was hungry—starved, actually. Being eaten would definitely end her hunger pains, but it'd be nice if she didn't have to die on an empty stomach. Looking down, she briefly entertained the notion of asking him to toss up her soiled rations, but a nearby bush sporting some lovely purple bell flowers caught her eye. She might as well ask. It couldn't hurt, right? “Say, would you mind tossing me up some of those purple bell flowers? I'm hungry.”

The manticore's eyes went wide and he jerked his head back when he saw the plants she was pointing at. “You no want that. That poison.”

Poison…!

Linky grinned. She finally had something she could work with. “Don't be silly. I eat that stuff all the time. It's like, practically all I eat.”

The manticore frowned. He looked uncertain. “You lie. That poison.”

“Not to me it isn't. You know, come to think of it, I'm probably poisonous to you too.”

“But–”

“But I don't look poisonous? Oh, but I think I do. See my vibrant blue coat? See my bright red eyes? Didn't your mother even tell you that brightly colored animals were poisonous?”

“Um.” His frown deepened.

“It's not just me, either. All of my kind are this way. We have reds, yellows, oranges, greens, purples, heh, every color of the rainbow and sometimes all at once! That's why they call us poison-onies or 'ponies' for short.”

The manticore growled and spat in disgust. He turned tail. “Fine. I leave.” He walked off and it was shocking how quickly the dense undergrowth obscured his large form. A nearby tree shook as the clumsy creature egressed past it.

Linky could hardly believe her eyes. She'd done it. “Yes!” She pumped a hoof into the air.

Her sudden motion caused the branch to start cracking. “No!” Linky watched in horror as cracks appeared and the wood split. She felt herself falling, but swung towards the tree before the branch gave way completely. That brought her close enough to grab the trunk and she released the branch in time to watch it tumble down below. It was a good thing she hadn't tied her tail in a knot or she would have been pulled down with it.

Now that she was closer to the cliff face, Linky looked for a less painful way down. There was a shallow outcropping below her, and she dropped down to that. Another outcropping nearby provided another stepping stone. It was jarring and painful to jump down like that, but she managed to make it all the way to the bottom without breaking any limbs.

She frowned at the sorry state of her torn-up supplies. She really was quite hungry, and all of her alfalfa bricks had been trampled into the dirt. She entertained the notion of digging them out, but her eyes caught that plant with the purple bell flowers on it again. Out of curiosity, she stepped over to take a closer look at one.

They were arranged in loose bunches of four or five. They faced upwards, and had a black, mottled, spotty interior. They didn't look like deadly poison, and they actually smelled quite sweet. Come to think of it, she thought she recognized them, but she'd have to chew on one to be certain. Well, with most of her food soiled she'd have to start foraging sometime, so why not start now?

Tentatively, she plucked a flower and nibbled on one of its petals. It had an oily texture and tasted quite spicy. She knew it! This was pepper bell flower, also known as serpent's tear. She stuffed the whole thing in her mouth and nommed on it. Her eyes watered from the massive burst of flavor that included the sweet nectar center. She swallowed and had to take a few deep breaths before she stuffed the next one in her mouth. Sure, the plant had a very strong flavor, but it wasn't killing her. It never would; it was often used as a milder alternative for rainbow-flavored spicy foods.

Crunch.

Linky jumped when the manticore landed just inches away from her. His hot breath stank like rotten meat. He hadn't really left; he'd climbed a tree. Linky panicked and scampered away with her back to the cliff-face where she huddled helplessly.

He made no move to attack her. “You no lie. You poison.” He scrunched up his face in disgust and walked off, for real this time.

Linky's heart thudded in her chest. She was so petrified that it took several minutes for her to even be able to move again. She shook so badly that she had a terrible time salvaging her supplies. That manticore had been playing with her; he'd been playing with her all along. All he had to do was hide in a tree and she'd come down, and he knew it.

Linky clenched her eyes shut and trembled. Was she really cut out to be an adventurer? She'd only survived because of dumb luck. She took a few more deep breaths to calm herself down. That didn't work very well. All of the large fronds, thick bushes, hanging vines, and low-hanging branches around her made her feel nervous. She felt that at any moment something large could jump out from any one of those things and attack her.

In the bottom of her torn saddlebags she extracted a small wooden sword. It was beaten and weathered and was terribly balanced. It had an inscription at one point, but the only word that was still legible was 'master.' She gripped the hilt in her mouth and instantly felt better. It was a terrible weapon, but at least she was armed. Besides, the salty hilt tasted better than the strong bitter aftertaste of her almost-last-meal.

With the 'Master Sword' secured in her lips, she finally had the courage to pack up her surviving supplies. Her research notes remained unharmed, thankfully. Her tent, while torn, would still be usable. Her rations were a complete loss so she stocked up on those potent flowers instead. It probably wasn't a good idea to live off of those but if they kept the manticores away she'd put up with them. Her saddlebags had to be tied shut since the straps were torn apart and gashes in the sides threatened to spill their contents. She had trouble finding her compass, but eventually found it under that fallen branch from the tree on the cliff. She also recovered her collapsible telescope. Well, she was as prepared to journey again as she could be at this point.

Now what?

Linky practically deflated. Was it really worth the risk to keep going? She'd planned long and hard for this, but it wasn't really turning out the way she'd hoped. Perhaps she should give up and call it quits. It wasn't too late to turn back. She could always apologize to Fluttershy and return her cutie mark. The poor mare had looked so distraught when she'd caught up on the road. Linky's disguise had worked, but now she wished it hadn't. With a heavy sigh she turned around and—

Oh right, the cliff. It was at least thrice the height of the tallest trees in this forest. It was very intimidating. She did not trust her meager climbing gear to get her back up safely. She couldn't back out now. She really did have no choice but to keep going.

Linky futility whacked at the underbrush with her wooden sword. She got leaves, twigs, thorns, spiderwebs, and (somehow) even an ant's nest in her face. She brushed that off as quickly as she could. In the future, she made note to carry a proper weapon. She hoped the noise she made would spook away any predators, though she tried to keep an eye out for places to hide if she had to. Her encounter with the manticore was still fresh on her mind.

She felt sorry for the way that she had to turn him away without food even after he had been waiting—

Whoa, whoa, whoa—hold it.

Linky paused and glared at Fluttershy's cutie mark. When she started feeling sorry for the horrible flesh-eating monsters, she knew she'd been wearing it too long. All she wanted was to borrow Fluttershy's talent—not her actual destiny. Linky sat down on a log and dropped her sword. She twisted her head back and sank her teeth into her own flank. Carefully, she pulled out the glass jar containing the three butterflies. Removing the cutie mark was painless, but it was unnerving to see. Linky wasn't sure that she could ever get used to that.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at the jar she'd extracted. Something was wrong. The butterflies barely moved. They'd been fluttering around like crazy yesterday. Was that a bad sign? It could be. She didn't want to hurt them, but what could be wrong? Hmm... perhaps she should punch air-holes in the lid.

She reached down for her sword and peeled back the fabric wrapped around the hilt. She'd done this a few times already so it came off quickly. She popped out a pin, shifted a panel, and slid the handle apart in two even halves. Concealed within the hilt was a miniature sword. She knew from experience just how sharp that thing was. The scars on her legs were still fresh from the ritual she'd performed. Carefully, slowly, she used it to poke holes in the lid. Great, she was using to secret of the Master Sword to poke holes in a lid.

Frowning, she concealed the dagger and put the Master Sword back together. The butterflies didn't seem to notice what she'd done. They still clung there lethargically. What else was she supposed to do? Feed them? What did they eat, anyway? Flowers? She did have flowers with her but...

Linky shuddered and shook her head to clear her mind. Great, she wasn't even wearing the cutie mark and was still thinking like Fluttershy. Sure, the pink butterflies looked just like real butterflies, even down to the tiniest details, but they weren't actually real. They couldn't be. They were just manifestations of magic. Besides, it was already painful enough to put the cutie mark on with the extra glass around it. She didn't want to clutter it up even further by adding flowers too. Without further ado, she stuffed the jar in her saddlebags.

She briefly debated putting her own cutie mark back on, but decided to keep her horseshoes nailed to her hooves for now. Leaving her flank blank would make it easier to put Fluttershy's cutie mark back on if she had to do so in a hurry.

The shadows in the forest grew long and tall. It would be dark soon, and she should find a place to make camp. Unfortunately, the ground was so vibrant with life that there wasn't even a clear spot for her to curl up on, let alone pitch a tent. She didn't want to roam at night, so she picked up her pace in search of a clearing. She lucked out and didn't have to go very far at all.

She found herself on the edge of another cliff. Well, this one wasn't nearly as steep but it did have rock protrusions that were nearly vertical. On a whim, she hopped on one and walked up to the edge. She had a good view and the fog serpents were kind enough not to obscure it. She fumbled in her saddlebags and removed her telescope. She had a good feeling about this.

With a flick of her fetlocks, she unfurled the telescope and held it in her non-cloud-walking earth pony hooves. She squeed with excitement when she spotted the fog temple. It was actually made from actual fog! This was such a good day. Er, well, it was a terrible day, but her goal was finally in sight! She couldn't wait to get down there and explore it.

It was such cruel fate that she'd have to wait. Grumbling, she found a spot to pitch her tent under the shelter of a boulder. Looking up at the sky she—weird. The sky had a strange glossy pinkish hue. The sky wasn't like that just moments ago. That reminded her of the royal wedding in Canterlot, but why would anypony want to put a shield around a forest? It made no sense. It had to be some sort of strange weather effect.

Regardless, tomorrow, she'd reach the fog temple. Tomorrow, she'd make history, for her name was Linky, and she was going to be a legend.

Chapter 8

Fluttershy returned home to her cottage shortly after dark. Her front door swung open without a sound. Whichever pony had repaired it had done a splendid job. If only her life could be fixed as easily as her door. The bald spot on her floor from her lack-of-rug stuck out like a sprained wing. She'd have to remember to buy a new one, though putting in the effort felt like a waste of time.

Applejack was right, without her cutie mark she really couldn't tend to the animals, not as they deserved, anyway. They didn't depend on her; they depended on her talent, which she no longer had. She felt so useless. Perhaps it would be best if she gave up and moved away until all of this was over. Would it ever end, though? Perhaps she could end herself early...

Fluttershy shuddered and went straight to her bathroom mirror. She wasn't sure she recognized the mare looking back at her. Her crying made her eyes look redder than normal; her cheeks were still damp; her mane was in disarray. Was she really dying? She didn't feel unhealthy. She didn't look unhealthy. Her numbers had checked out thus far, but at the same time she didn't feel relieved. It was almost like she didn't want to keep living.

Fluttershy shook her head to banish that terrible thought. She left her bathroom and went to check up on the few animals that were still hanging around. The birds in their houses had already settled in for a good night's sleep. The chickens outside had settled down and retreated to their coop. And... those were the only ones she saw. Just the animals that lived here were still around. That was disappointing, but not a huge surprise considering how Spike was. She didn't blame them for not sticking around after he'd started belching fire.

There was still one more she hadn't seen yet, though, and she expected, no, depended on him to be around. “Angel Bunny? Where are you?”

An excited thumping noise drew her attention. She poked her head in the kitchen and saw him sitting on the counter-top.

“Oh there you are. What are you doing all the way up there?” Fluttershy walked in and watched him hop over and tap his paw on a cookbook that was lying open. “What's this? I wonder how that fell down.” Fluttershy closed the book and put it back on the shelf. “Thanks, Angel. Um... Angel?”

He froze. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. He looked like he was in shock.

“What's wrong, Angel?” She leaned down to nudge him with her nose and he responded by kicking her in the face and hopping off in anger.

His blow was as soft as a pillow but as painful as a tax audit. Fluttershy choked back her tears and ran sobbing onto her bed. “N-not even Angel Bunny likes me anymore...” With her head buried under her pillows, she cried herself to sleep.

Sleep, elusive sleep, wonderful sleep... even in sleep she couldn't find solace. Her night terrors returned and she felt restricted and confined. She was no longer suffocating, but felt starved and thirsty. Her phantom hunger pains were so intense that she woke up in the middle of the night and gnawed off half a head of lettuce. It did no good. As soon as she crawled back into bed her night terrors returned with a vengeance. When the rooster crowed, she was already awake, staring at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes.

I should get up now. She closed her eyes.

A horrendous crashing awakened Fluttershy with a start. She threw off the covers and ran to the kitchen. “Harry, is that you?” It wasn't the bear; it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were buried under a heap of pots and pans. “Girls? What are you doing here?”

“Good morning, Fluttershy. We're going to be Cutie Mark Crusader Animal Caretakers!” Apple Bloom noisily dug into the pile of kitchenware and pulled on an orange hoof. Scootaloo popped out with a pot still on her head and the two went tumbling backwards.

Scootaloo straightened herself out and wore the pot like a soldier. “Yeah, even though you came back early, Applejack said that we could still do this. You're totally okay with that, right?”

Sweetie Belle dug herself out and struggled with a strainer that got wrapped in her tail. They were making so much noise that they were rapidly ensuring that there wouldn't be any animals around for them to care for. “Yeah, isn't this exciting!? I wonder what our cutie marks will be? Do you think we'll all get butterflies like yours?”

Fluttershy shrunk back and hid behind the door frame. Only her head was poking out. So nopony had told them the news yet. Fluttershy frowned. “Um, girls, I...”

“Yes, Fluttershy?” Sweetie Belle looked up at her with big, wide, innocent eyes.

“I, um, you keep doing whatever you're doing. I'll be right back.” Fluttershy closed the door behind her.

“Keep doing what we're doing?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I thought we were making a mess,” Scootaloo said.

The door creaked open and Fluttershy came out wearing a blue dress. It was the long, flowing kind that reached down to the ground and, most importantly, completely covered her flanks. “Now, girls, I appreciate your being here; I'm sure you all mean well but–” The frowns of the fillies' faces tugged at Fluttershy's heart. “–um... just what are you doing in the kitchen?”

They glanced at each other. At least they weren't getting kicked out yet. “Um.” Sweetie Belle stepped forward. “We were going to make toast.”

“Toast? For the animals?” Fluttershy looked at the pile of pots and pans on the floor. Why did they drag that stuff out if they were only going to make toast?

“Er, no, for us,” Scootaloo admitted.

“Have you already fed the animals?” Fluttershy asked.

“We were going to finish, honest! But all that feeding made us realize just how hungry we were and we decided to take a break,” Apple Bloom said.

“Er, right.” Fluttershy surveyed the kitchen. At least they hadn't done any other damage. There was a pitcher full of greenish liquid with white things floating in it, though. “What is that?”

“It's cabbage juice!”

“With marshmallows!”

“Do you like it? We made it ourselves.”

The three of them looked up at her, grinning.

Fluttershy sniffed at the juice. It smelt burnt, somehow. “I... see. Say, why don't you three finish up setting out food for the animals and let me fix the snacks, okay?”

“Aw, okay,” the three of them said. Fluttershy made shooing motions and waited for all of them to leave before spilling the contents of that pitcher down the drain. She'd make some proper juice and they'd probably never know the difference.

Those three needed supervision, but Fluttershy didn't have time to foalsit today. Applejack was fine with them being on their own, though? That didn't seem quite right. At least all the excitement was distracting her from her own problems.

While putting the pots and pans away, she frowned at her strainer. The poor thing was fully tangled with hair. Had Sweetie Belle ever brushed her tail? She set it aside for a thorough cleaning. Shrieks pierced through the wall and Fluttershy dropped what she was doing to run over there.

The three fillies cowered on the couch in fear of a large centipede. Fluttershy rolled her eyes and returned with a broom in her mouth which she used to sweep it out the door. Normally, she'd be more gentle, but she wanted to discourage it from returning and couldn't ask it not to.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Apple Bloom said.

“That was scary,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Pfft. I wasn't scared,” Scootaloo said, shaking.

“Really, girls? It was just a centipede.” Fluttershy set the broom up against the wall. She wasn't one to admonish another pony for being scared but that was just ridiculous.

“But it was so big and icky.”

“And creepy and crawly.”

“And—and, totally not scary at all!”

“Now girls, if you want to get cutie marks in animal care, you can't just pick the soft, fluffy ones. You have to care for the 'creepy, crawly' ones too.” Fluttershy stared at them while their enthusiasm deflated and they morosely checked their flanks. She frowned. They really couldn't be left unsupervised yet, and Applejack, of all ponies, should know that. So why–?

A rapping on her door caught her attention. “Come in.”

The door swung open and a yellow earth pony with curly orange hair stepped in. It was Carrot Top. Fluttershy often saw her in the market selling carrots and other vegetables. She had a weak grin on her face and looked apologetic when she spotted the Crusaders huddled up on the couch. “Sorry I'm late, but I ran into Bon Bon on my way over and you wouldn't believe what she had to say about Blossomforth.”

“Oh?” Fluttershy asked. She wasn't really curious, but Carrot Top was going to tell her anyway. That mare really loved her gossip.

“Oh, indeed! You know how she loves to do all those fancy stretches and twists? Well, Bon Bon saw her pigging out on the food yesterday. She ordered twice as many rice balls a she normally does.” Carrot Top leaned forward and put a hoof on the side of her mouth as if to whisper, but everypony in the room could hear her anyway. “She's obviously fattening herself up to be a professional su-mare wrestler.”

“Woah.” Sweetie Belle's eyes went wide.

“So cool,” Scootaloo said.

“Uh, What's a su-mare?” Apple Bloom asked.

Carrot Top giggled. “It's a monstrous pony the size of a house that can wrest entire mountains from the ground.”

Fluttershy frowned. “Um, I don't think that's–”

“Wow! Ah wanna su-mare cutie mark!” Apple Bloom yelled.

“Can you show us how to get one?” Scootaloo asked.

The fillies crowded around Carrot Top and Fluttershy backed off.

“Um, I'll just–” Fluttershy pointed at the front door.

Carrot Top nodded. “That's fine, dear. I'll watch them from here. Good luck on getting your cutie mark back.”

Fluttershy winced and froze in place. Wide eyes stared at her in horror.

“ 'Get yer cutie mark back!?' ” Apple Bloom reared her head back.

“What happened to your cutie mark?” Sweetie Belle looked up at Fluttershy and pressed her hooves together, begging for an answer.

“You haven't heard yet?” Carrot Top pressed her hooves on her cheeks and squeed.

Fluttershy frowned. “Um, I don't think you should–”

Carrot Top stood on her hind legs and wrapped a pink floral tablecloth around herself as a makeshift cloak. She was sort-of-imposing. “They say that a demon escaped from Tarturus and gobbled it up in the middle of the night!”

The girls screeched and cowered behind the couch.

“That's not what happened!” Fluttershy's frown deepened.

Scootaloo straightened out her pot-helmet. She frowned at Carrot Top. “Yeah! Don't make things up.”

“Don't scare us like that,” Apple Bloom said.

“Fluttershy, you, still have your cutie mark, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Fluttershy kept her wings firmly clamped against her sides. She was glad she had that dress on. “Er, no demons whatsoever. You won't have to worry about the likes of them. Cerberus is safely guarding the gates of Tartarus for us.” Fluttershy inched towards the exit.

“You still have it, though, right?” Sweetie Belle asked again.

“Um, well, it's just...” Fluttershy paused to think. She could lie and leave them happy and ignorant or horrify them with the truth. She was apprehensive either way. As much as she wanted to see them happy, she had a certain obligation to tell the truth, didn't she? Perhaps she needed to hear herself tell the truth too, as much as it hurt her to talk about it. Lying would only make her empty inside, and she had far too much of that feeling already. Besides, this way she could give them her version of the story instead of letting Carrot Top fill their minds with baseless rumors. “You remember Shoeshine, right? Blue earth pony, white hair?–” they nodded “–Well, she's calling herself 'Linky' now, and she was the one who stole my cutie mark, not some demon. I don't know how she did it but–” Fluttershy pulled up her dress to expose her flank. “–it really is gone.”

Stunned silence filled the room. It swept their breath away like a riptide pulling them out to sea.

Fluttershy let her dress fall back to the floor. “I'm sorry you had to see that. I really am.”

“You're–” Scootaloo started.

“–a blank flank!?” Apple Bloom finished.

Fluttershy felt tears well up in her eyes. “I didn't want to be. I-it's horrible. I'm sorry.” She averted her eyes and curled up on the ground facing away from so they wouldn't have to see her cry. They, however, had other plans. She heard their little hoofsteps as they walked around her. They crowded in front of her.

“Aw, cheer up, Fluttershy. Being a blank flank isn't so bad,” Scootaloo said. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow.

“It's... not?” Fluttershy sniffled.

“Sure. It means you're full of potential!” Sweetie Belle said. She grinned.

“This isn't the same as not having earned a cutie mark yet.” Fluttershy stood up and stared blankly into space. “I don't feel full of potential.”

“Don't be silly, I bet you have all sorts of other talents to discover,” Apple Bloom said.

“Like, you could get a cutie mark for that scary 'stare' of yours,” Scootaloo said.

“Um...”

“Or how about a cutie mark in singing?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

In spite of herself, Fluttershy smiled. “Thanks for the suggestions, girls, but I'm not going to try for a different cutie mark. I want my old one back.”

“Why not earn your cutie mark back the same way ya earned it in the first place?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Somehow, I don't think it's going to be that easy,” Fluttershy said. Her face cast itself in shadow.

“Have you tried that?” Carrot Top asked.

“Uh, well, not as such, no... but I already know that talent is gone.”

“Still, it'd be worth trying.” Carrot Top shrugged.

“Hey, if ya want yer old cutie mark back so bad, maybe heart's desire would work for you?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Isn't that the stuff that gave you cutie pox and forced you to perform all the talents that appeared?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom frowned. “Maybe Zecora could fix it up the right way?”

“Zecora...” Fluttershy looked distant again. Her attention snapped back to reality when somepony else knocked on her door. “Come in.”

Rarity opened the door. Her eyes lit up. “Fluttershy, darling, you look so elegant today. That dress really brings out your eyes. Is there a special occasion?”

“Thanks, Rarity, but, um, no.” Fluttershy drooped her head. “I guess I just don't want ponies to stare at my blank flank. That's all.”

Rarity pursed her lips. “Darling, that's nothing to be ashamed of, but if you want to stay covered up that's fine too.” Rarity looked around the room and nodded at the other ponies. “Good morning, Carrot Top. Hello kids. Sorry to take Fluttershy away from you all, but we've made an appointment to get her, erm, 'condition' examined and that simply cannot wait.”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. She looked down at the Crusaders. “Thanks, girls, you've given me a lot to think about.” She scooped them up for a group hug, which Scootaloo wasn't too fond of but the others enjoyed it. Before stepping out, she nodded at Carrot Top. “And thank you too for watching over them.”

Chapter 9

Fluttershy felt as though her trip to the hospital was a waste of time, and from the report she got back from them the feelings was mutual. All of her vitals turned out okay. She was showing signs of stress, but nothing required intervention yet. As for her missing cutie mark, well, they couldn't even classify her condition, let alone do anything helpful about it.

She also brought up the matters of her nightmares and relayed Twilight's findings on her magic level. Nurse Redhat wasn't interested in being a psychologist and Dr. Stable was more concerned about the abuse Twilight put the magic measurement machine through than he was about the fact that Fluttershy's value was so high. In the end, they gave her a clean bill of health and the standard generic, ignorable advice.

Fluttershy pushed through the double glass doors and walked back into the waiting room.

“Well, how'd it go?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy passed her the slip of paper and let Rarity read it for herself. Rarity's eyebrows furrowed, but her eyes lit up once she got past the medical jargon to the part she could understand.

“Oh, so everything does check out. Your numbers look good. That's a huge relief. I guess Cadance was wrong and there really is nothing to worry about after all.” Rarity looked up at Fluttershy who wasn't smiling.

“I don't know, Rarity. It's not always about the numbers, is it?” Fluttershy turned away from her to look at a poster depicting a healthy circulatory system. She pointed a hoof at it. “This, all of this–” she made a sweeping motion to include the other posters in the room “–might be what I am, and it might be working right, but it's not who I am. I-I just don't know. I still feel like I'm at the end of my rope. I-if I can't get my cutie mark back soon...” She choked up.

“Oh come now, dear. I know you're worried, but aren't you exaggerating a bit too much? We are flesh and blood. We can't help it. It is who we are. As much as I'd like that to be otherwise, it's just the way the world works.”

“But–”

“You're right, of course. We're not mere beasts; we are more than just the sum of our parts. We've transcended our existence to a certain point, but even if the tip of the pyramid is crumbling, you've still got a huge foundation to stand on. You're not going anywhere, Fluttershy. I know things are bad, but they're not that bad.”

Fluttershy turned and grabbed her bill of health. “I guess you're right. Perhaps I am worrying too much.” She looked at the document again. “So, should I start on that eight glasses of water now or...?”

Rarity giggled. “Nopony drinks that much water. Not when we can drink tea instead. Come on, let's see if Twilight's gotten permission to search Linky's house yet.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy rolled up her document and stuffed it under a wing. Her dress had no pockets. “I would like a second opinion, though. After this investigation, I'm going to visit Zecora.”

Twilight Sparkle was losing a staring contest with the mayor. The elder tan earth pony furrowed her brows and slammed her hooves on her giant mahogany desk. The piles of papers stacked on either side and the mayor glaring down from the middle was too imposing a sight for the young unicorn, who shrunk down and wilted under her gaze.

“Twilight, I know how much you've helped this town, and that you come with good recommendations, but there's a procedure that has to be followed. I can't just bend the rules every time some pony has a hunch or there'd be complete anarchy. I'm sorry to say that no matter how nicely you phrase your request or how many times you ask, the answer is still going to be 'no.' ”

“But–”

“Please, Twilight–” Mayor Mare sighed and leaned back in her oversized swiveling chair. “–don't make this harder than it has to be. I've already given you as much leniency as I can. So unless you can–” The mayor stopped talking when there was a knock on the door. “You might as well come in. We were just finishing up in here.”

“Um, did I come at a bad time?” Fluttershy poked her head in the door.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight ran over and dragged her forcefully into the room. “Please, Mayor, we're doing this for her. Can't you see how weak and helpless she is?”

“Um, what?” Fluttershy was totally confused.

Mayor Mare leaned forward in anger. “Twilight, I've had just about enough of–”

“Wait. What's going on?” Fluttershy asked. She pulled free from Twilight and locked eyes with the mayor, who sighed.

“Twilight keeps begging for a search warrant for Linky's house and I can't give it to her. She's not on the police force and such approval would have to come from a higher authority than I have. No matter how many times I explain that, she just doesn't get it.”

“Why would you ignore orders from Shining Armor and Cadance?” Fluttershy asked.

Mayor Mare's eyes opened wide. She raised an eyebrow and scrunched up her muzzle. “What.”

“What do my brother and his wife have to do with this?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow of her own. “Captain of the royal guard? Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”

“Oh? Oh!” Twilight stood up in realization. “Spike, do you still have that letter they sent me?”

After the first hour in the mayor's office, Spike had gotten bored and curled up in a corner to read comic books. He jumped to attention when his name was called. “Yep. I've got it right–” He took a deep breath and let let out a gout of flame. It materialized into a scroll. He reached for it, but Twilight whisked it away with her magic before he could grab it. He flopped his arms to his sides and frowned. “–here.”

“Twilight, I can't believe you were holding out on me.” Mayor Mare skimmed over the letter and frowned. She pushed it aside and signed off on a document waiting on her desk. She passed both papers to Twilight. “Well, everything checks out. Here's the search warrant and your letter back. Please make a copy of your report for our record books.”

“Thank you, Mayor. I won't let you down!” Twilight collected the documents and turned to leave.

“Oh, and one other thing–” they paused and turned to face the mayor who was giving them a serious look with narrow eyes and flat eyebrows. “–good luck. From the look of things, you're going to need it.”

“Um, thank you,” Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded before stepping out.

The Mayor Mare waved them off and let out a heavy sigh after they were gone. She rubbed at her forehead, then swiveled her chair around and peeked out the blinds. “It's not even noon yet and I already have a headache. I'm going to need so much ice cream when I get home.”

“Weak and helpless, am I?” Fluttershy asked with a smile.

Twilight made a weak laugh. “Well, you usually are.”

“Did you say 104, Pony Lane?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight nodded. “Huh, this must be her place, then.”

The house in question was a small house with tan siding and a wooden frame. Unlike its neighbors, its roof was made from clay shingles instead of thatch. Most houses belonging to earth ponies had some kind of garden in their yards and Linky's house was no exception. She'd lined the walkway with rows of heart's desire and marigolds. The grass was a little high, but there were no signs of obvious neglect.

Twilight knocked on the door but got no response. She'd expected that and lit up her horn to unbolt the door. She frowned. It wasn't actually locked. “Alright, everypony, spread out and look for the obvious clues. We'll tear this place down if we have to, but for now we should respect the fact that this is still her home. Try not to make a mess and we'll decide what to do after a cursory inspection.”

They nodded and Twilight opened the door. The first thing that greeted them was a twisted tangle of metal lying on the floor. It had dent marks on it from where somepony had beaten it with a sledgehammer.

“What the hay is that thing?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Rarity levitated it with her magic and spun it around in front of her. “I... think it used to be a coat rack?”

“Why would anypony beat up a coat rack?” Applejack asked.

“Is that a clue?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight shrugged. “It's certainly something. Well, let's not dwell on that and see what else we can find.”

They set the poor, abused coat rack aside and filed in to search the place. Twilight and Pinkie explored the living room and kitchen, Rarity and Applejack looked in the work room, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went upstairs to check the bedrooms and closets. Spike stayed outside to search the yard.

Linky's workshop was connected, but it was different from the rest of the house. The addition was made from brick and had a cold, stone floor. Metalworking tools were piled up in a heap next to an anvil and a furnace. There were several bins lining the walls and all of them were piled to the top with horseshoes. Everything was covered in a layer of dust.

“What is all of this stuff?” Applejack asked. She poked her nose in one of the bins.

Rarity joined her and looked in the other bins. “Horseshoes, they're all horseshoes.”

“There must be hundreds of them,” Applejack said. “Why would anypony ever want so many horseshoes?”

Rarity left the bins and walked over to look at the tools. There were tongs and hammers and several things Rarity couldn't identify. “I think... she made them?” Rarity blew off a layer of dust from the anvil. “Everything is so dusty, though. Nothing here's been used in a long time.”

“What's this?” Applejack pulled out a sign that was wedged behind one of the bins. It was made for the market and had the word 'Horseshoes' printed on it in big, black letters. Beneath it was the price, 'four bits', which was crossed out and replaced with 'three', then 'two', then 'one', then 'free'. “Free? What the hay? Why would anypony want to give their stuff away for free?”

“That is pretty generous of her, but she still has so many...”

“What do ya suppose that means?”

Rarity shook her head. “I don't know, but do I get the feeling that this is part of her past that she'd rather leave forgotten.” She dusted off a metal work bench and promptly sneezed. “Ick, the old grime in here is starting to get to me. As interesting as this place is, I doubt that we'll find any relevant clues here. I do hope the others are having better luck.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy opened one of upstairs doors and walked into a bedroom. It wasn't well furnished; there was only a bed and a nightstand. The bed was disheveled and unmade and there was a pile of books on the floor.

“So, uh, what are we looking for?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It feels really awkward walking in on somepony's private life like this.”

Fluttershy glanced around the room. There weren't even pictures on the walls. “Well, um, I don't know. Anything, really. I guess we'll know when we see it.”

Rainbow Dash stepped in and picked up a book. “Hey, Daring Do and the Temple of Time. That's one of my favorites.”

“She has all kinds of Daring Do books. She must really be a fan.” Fluttershy picked up a thicker tome. “An encyclopedia on cutie marks? I didn't even know they made those.” There was a strip of cloth dangling out. Out of curiosity, Fluttershy opened it to the bookmarked page. She frowned. “Hey, that one's mine.”

“Ouch. She really did single you out, didn't she?” Rainbow Dash looked around for a place to put the Daring Do book and grumbled. “Why does she not have a bookshelf? Daring Do is too awesome to just sit on the floor like that.”

Fluttershy was too engrossed in reading about her cutie mark to respond. The book didn't mention her specifically but it was eerie just how accurate the entry was. The only part that didn't match was the bit about enjoying tulips. She preferred poppies.

Reluctantly, Fluttershy closed the book and left the pile of literature to peek in the closet. Linky had a grand total of three dresses, all of which were moth-eaten. Fluttershy frowned. When she got her cutie mark back she'd have to remember to scold those moths. Also in the closet were stacks of posters, paintings and family photos. Strange, why were they piled up in the closet instead of hanging on the walls?

“Well, there's nothing useful in here... I think.” Fluttershy closed the closet. “Any other interesting books?”

Rainbow Dash set the Temple of Time book on the nightstand and rummaged through the pile again. “Well, aside from the Daring Do books, there's some self help books on improving one's destiny, a collection of poetry by somepony named Maud, a rhyming dictionary, what the hay is Feng Shui?...” Dash's voice trailed off as she sorted through titles that didn't look relevant. “Wait, what's this? The Terracanium: Magic for Earth Ponies? I've never heard of anything like that before.”

“But earth ponies already have magic. Why would—?” Fluttershy stopped talking when she saw the cover. It was bound in a plain, tan fabric but it had some reddish-brown splotches on it. “Is that... blood?”

Rainbow Dash rubbed at one of the splotches. She cringed when dried flakes came off. “Sure looks like it. Think this is what we're looking for?”

Fluttershy nodded. “That has to be it. Let's check the other rooms up here before heading downstairs, though—just in case.”

Back downstairs, Twilight and Pinkie Pie looked through the living room. Twilight was immediately drawn to a writing desk that was fully stocked with quills and ink. She shifted through the stacks of paper, but all of them were blank. She frowned.

Also in the room, the dining table was bare except for a dirty plate and a recent copy of the newspaper. There was a bookshelf that was mostly empty, a cabinet full of fancy dinnerware for entertaining guests, and a large grandfather clock. The pendulum was unmoving, though. It was broken. There was also a trash can that had swallowed a certain pink pony up to her waist.

“Pinkie, get out of there.”

The trash can fell over and Pinkie managed to pop herself out. Wads of discarded paper rolled all over the clean floor. Her eyes popped open and she shook her mane, flinging bits of dirt around the room.

“Ack, Pinkie. Why don't you go search in the kitchen?”

Pinkie grinned and hopped off. “Okie, dokey, loki.”

Twilight frowned at the mess. “Great, now I need to clean this up.” She started to sweep up the refuse with her magic, but curiosity got the better of her and she uncrumpled one of the papers. At first glance, it looked like it was full of gibberish, but it was a familiar gibberish. Twilight narrowed her eyes. On the margins of the paper were notes that had been crossed out. “Those are Eponia's notes! It looks like Linky's been trying to decode them.”

Twilight sat down at the table and gathered up all of the papers that had been thrown away. None of them held the secret to decoding that old adventurer's notes, but they could still be useful in that regard as examples of what not to do. If Linky had managed to decode that journal, it would be more important than ever for Twilight to decode it as well. She took advantage of the writing desk to make notes of her own.

Pinkie Pie wiped crumbs off her cheeks. Her 'interrogation' of a carrot cake proved unfruitful, but tasty.

Twilight was still at work when the others returned. She gathered up all of the notes and set them aside to take with her. Rarity and Applejack mostly shrugged and shook their heads at their findings, but Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash produced a book that made Twilight's eyes bug out.

“The Terracanium!? That book's been missing from the restricted archives at the Canterlot library since my junior year at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. They made such a big fuss over it when it went missing that I thought the world was going to end.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Sure, it's unusual and all, and a little creepy—what's with the blood? But, uh, isn't it just a book that teaches earth ponies how to use magic? Isn't restricting something like that a bit racist?”

“Dash, you don't understand. It's hard enough for unicorns to manipulate magic and we're born with the ability to do so. Whenever something like this pops up, it either doesn't work at all, or it does work but has horrible side effects. If this is the type of magic Linky used to steal Fluttershy's cutie mark, then she could be in some serious trouble.”

“Who's in trouble? Linky or Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, I don't know. Linky, probably. I'd have to read the book and find the spell she'd used to know for sure.” Twilight flipped the book over and frowned. “It would have been nice if she'd used a bookmark.”

“How do you even know she used it?” Dash asked.

“The book has blood on it. It's no guarantee, but bloodletting's typically a requirement for ritual magic like this.”

“Ah.”

Twilight winced and gently pushed the book away. She stuck out her tongue. “Eww, it has actual dried blood on it.”

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes?”

“If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Zecora. Um, that is, unless you need me here.” Fluttershy scratched a hoof on the hardwood floor.

“Huh? Oh!” Twilight's eyes popped open. “That's a good idea, but you might want to wait until I've had a chance to look in this book. If we know what was done, we'll have a better chance at finding a remedy.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Okay... I'll wait until after lunch to talk to her. I'd like to check on my cottage. Even with Carrot Top there, I'm still a little worried about the kids.”

“That's not much time. Did anypony happen to notice where the ritual might have taken place? If I can match the props with the diagrams it would help a lot.” Twilight hesitated to touch the book and magically levitated it with a pinch of her magic on the book's spike. She flipped through the pages looking for signs of dried blood or anything stuck between them. She didn't see anything.

“Try the guest bedroom,” Rainbow Dash said. “We saw several candle nubs around the room. The floor was cleaned recently but there were some stains on the carpet.”

“Ah. That will help, thanks. If anypony wants to stay here, you're welcome to keep searching for clues. Otherwise, you can do as you wish. I'll meet up with Fluttershy at her cottage after lunch.”

Fluttershy nodded.

Applejack glanced at the door. “Uh, if it's just the same, Ah'd like to bow out and get back to work on the farm. I'm running behind on my chores recently and with Apple Bloom at Fluttershy's place it's a bit much for Big Mac to handle everything.”

“Of course, dear. We understand. Why myself, this dust has really messed up my coiffure.” Rarity pawed at her mane and stirred up some dust that had collected on it. “I'm going a for a relaxing trip to the spa, myself.”

“Wait, aren't we forgetting somepony?” Pinkie asked. They all looked at each other and raised eyebrows at her. “Somepony short?” Pinkie added.

“Oh!” Twilight ran over to a window and forced it open. “Spike, did you discover anything interesting outside?”

Spike had discovered that Zapp was crushing on Saddle Ranger, but blamed her attraction on being exposed to Mane-iac's pharomorphic perfume. He quickly stashed his comic book in a bush. “Uh, no, sorry. There isn't anything interesting out here.”

After that, the group split apart and they went their separate ways.

Chapter 10

Fluttershy walked into her cottage to find Carrot Top and the Cutie Mark Crusaders cowering behind the couch, for some reason. She didn't bother asking and walked straight into the kitchen. They waved their legs trying to get her attention but she ignored them.

Rummaging in her pantry was a large grizzly bear easily twice her size. “Oh, hi, Harry.”

The large beast turned to look at her and his large nose scrunched up as he sniffed her over. Fluttershy felt like she should know what Harry was doing; they had tea almost every week. His actions were on the cusp of her understanding, but all she could draw was a blank.

“I'm sorry. I guess we'll have to cancel tea time this week.”

Harry, if anything, seemed equally confused. He made a low grunting noise and stared at her.

Fluttershy flew up and opened her top panrty. She pulled out various fruits and placed them in a large picnic basket sitting out on her counter. Harry had already partially filled it himself. She added extra food but neglected to include a blanket, plates, silverware, or her tea set. With the basket full, she lowered her head and nudged it towards him. “I think you should go; you're making the others uneasy.”

Harry grabbed the handle of the basket with his mouth and lumbered out. He left via the back entrance and Fluttershy sighed. She was frustrated with herself. She felt she could have tried harder to understand him, and she really could have used a tea party right about now.

“That was so cool!” Scootaloo's voice came from behind Fluttershy. “You didn't even flinch when that huge bear walked right up to you.”

Fluttershy twisted around to address the wide-eyed filly. “Um, that's Harry. He stops by all the time. We usually have tea together with the other animals.”

“You usually have bears wander in your house?” Carrot Top asked. Her orange curls rose as she peeked her green eyes over the top of the sofa. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were caught in her firm grip. Neither of them were happy about that.

“Just Harry—he's the only bear I know that doesn't live in the Everfree. He won't be back again until next week.” Fluttershy frowned and added quietly to herself, “I hope I'm better by next week.”

Sweetie Belle squirmed free. “Tea? What kind of tea does he like?”

“Herbal honey rose peppermint tea with added honey is his favorite, but, um, he likes most other varieties too, as long as you add honey.”

Apple Bloom morosely held onto Carrot Top's foreleg that was wrapped tightly around her. She'd given up on trying to break free. “I want some honey. Can Ah have some, please?”

Carrot Top felt silly cowering behind Fluttershy's couch and crawled out from behind it. She still held onto Apple Bloom tightly, much to Apple Bloom's annoyance. “Dear, too many sweets are bad for your teeth, but it is lunch time, isn't it? What do you say, Fluttershy? Do you want to have a picnic? We could have a tea party of our own if you'd like.”

Fluttershy looked at Carrot Top and the excitable fillies. She really would like to have a tea party. It'd take her mind off her troubles. “Um, no thanks.” She surprised herself with that response. “I, um, I'd like to be alone, please. I-I'll be out back i-if you see any other bears or scary centipedes. S-sorry.”

She didn't give them time to protest and darted in her room to remove her dress. They didn't follow her, but she could hear them talking through the open door.

“Scary centipedes?” Carrot Top asked.

“It was huge!” Apple Bloom said.

“It was icky and gross,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Aw, it wasn't that bad,” Scootaloo said.

“Now girls, remember what I told you. Nopony's going to be interested unless you exaggerate. Now try again and let me know just how impressive this centipede really was, okay?”

Fluttershy raised her eyebrows. What, exactly, was Carrot Top teaching them?

“Uh, it was so big that it wrapped around the whole room,” Apple Bloom said.

“And, it, uh, smelled like rotten garbage and breathed fire,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Yeah! And it actually was on fire, because it's from the Burning Bayou. And Fluttershy had to squirt it with the garden hose to get it leave us alone,” Scootaloo said.

“See girls? That's much better. Ponies will be much more interested in hearing about the monster centipede from the Burning Bayou than the would be to hear about an unusually large but otherwise normal bug.”

Fluttershy groaned. She made a mental note not to let Carrot Top to foalsit again. She stepped forward to intervene. Well, she dragged her hooves forward. She didn't want to have to explain how that kind of thing was bad. Carrot Top would be so annoyed. Actually, Fluttershy should put her dress away first. She didn't want it to get wrinkled from lying on her bed.

“I don't know...” Apple Bloom said. “Isn't this kind of... lying?”

“It's not really lying since the centipede really did exist. You're just stretching the truth. That's not so bad,” Carrot Top said.

“The last time we stretched the truth was when we wrote all those articles for the Foal Free Press as Gabby Gums. We got in a lot of trouble and almost lost all our friends when we did that,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Really? That's right. I'd forgotten about that. Gabby Gums was my favorite columnist. I remember reading your apology, but I guess I never heard the full story.”

“Do you want the real story, or the exaggerated version?” Scootaloo asked.

“...real story,” Carrot Top said.

...or they could handle the matter themselves. Fluttershy finished hanging her dress up and snuck out the back while they were talking. Perhaps they weren't quite as immature as they looked. Well, okay, they were, but she was still proud of them for taking the lesson they'd learned to heart. That reminded her of all the lessons she'd learned ever since Twilight first came to town. It was wonderful to have such good friends.

Fluttershy poked her nose in the chicken coop. It was vacant; her hens were out roaming the yard. Elizabeak was dustbathing while the others foraged. Fluttershy would have enjoyed chatting with them, but that was pointless now. With a sigh, she left her chickens be and went to sit alone on a stump near the woods.

Seeing Harry the Bear again reminded Fluttershy of what she was missing. Sure, she was painfully aware of her missing talent at most times, but with Harry she'd almost been able to make that connection again anyway, yet...

Fluttershy bent down and plucked a dandelion. The yellow flower had far too many petals to pull off individually. She frowned and stuffed the whole thing in her mouth. Where were the buttercups when she needed one?

Perhaps she should try harder to talk to the animals like she used to. She'd thought talent was gone completely, but perhaps there was some trace of it left? If she could make that connection again she'd earn her cutie mark back? It was certainly something to chew—

Oh, yuck. Fluttershy had forgotten just how bitter dandelions were. She almost spat it out, but forced herself to eat it anyway. No wonder ponies preferred to eat the greens and not the flower. She looked around for something to wash the taste out with and noted a patch of poppies. They were budding, though. She didn't want to eat any before they'd had a chance to bloom, which, from the looks of them, could be as early as tomorrow. Instead, she went back to the chicken coop and used the garden hose to wash her mouth out with water.

“Fluttershy, are you ready to go to Zecora's yet?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy wiped the water from her muzzle. “Um, you're here earlier than I'd expected.”

“Am I too early? I can come back later.”

“No, no. We can go now. I kind of lost my appetite anyway.” Fluttershy retrieved her saddlebags and put them on. “Did you find what you were looking for in that spellbook?”

Twilight frowned. “Well, yes and no—mostly no. I don't really want to repeat myself so I'll explain when we get there.”

Fluttershy nodded and the two of them set out into the Everfree. This forest was a stark contrast to the one they'd just visited. While the Snakefog had been vibrant and full of life, the Everfree was dark and vacant by comparison. She used to be afraid of this place, well, she still was, but it wasn't the big deal that it used to be.

“How well do you think that Shining Armor and Cadance are doing?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No idea. I haven't heard from them yet, but I've yet to send my report. This will be my last stop before I do so.”

“Do you think it will help?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight gave her a blank look. “Your report, I mean?”

“Honestly? No, not yet. It's a start, but it raises more questions than answers. We've found nothing yet that can definitively show what Linky is after or where she's going in any greater detail than we already knew.” Twilight sighed. “And unless Zecora can help, we won't know anything more about how Linky stole your cutie mark either.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy looked up at the forest canopy. Rays of sunlight broke through and created dancing lights on the forest floor. They moved in sync with a light breeze. Vines hung down from a few of the larger trees, complete with thorns and small purple flowers. Those plants looked a lot like thistle except they were a vines instead of weeds. Fluttershy wondered why Zecora ever needed to come to town. Every time she ventured in this forest she always ran across something new.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy ran to catch up with the unicorn who'd pulled ahead while Fluttershy admired the scenery.

“Yes?” Twilight stopped walking.

“What will we do if Zecora can't help?”

Twilight shrugged. “Ask for advice. She's always good for that.”

“Hmm, I guess.” Fluttershy frowned. Talking about fixing things wasn't nearly as helpful as actually fixing them. Still, if it was that or nothing...

“Ssh, I think I hear something.” Twilight's ears perked up and she hopped atop a fallen log. Fluttershy strained her ears and swiveled them around but didn't pick up anything. “Wait, I guess it was nothing. Sorry if I seem a little jumpy, but this is the part of the trail where I ran into that cockatrice.”

“I guess that would leave an impression. But why go this way if it bothers you?”

“I'd rather not roam through the fields of poison joke again.”

“Ah.”

Twilight hopped down from the log and they resumed walking. It was quiet in the forest, but not unusually so. The Everfree was a wild place, and sometimes that meant they could roam for hours without encountering anything. That suited Fluttershy just fine. She'd rather not try to tame beasts she couldn't communicate with.

The trail soon came to an end. Zecora's hut looked as it always did. It was built into the base of a large tree with a wooden mask and fern fronds decorating her door. Various bottles hung from ropes tied to the tree's branches. Twilight walked up and knocked on the door. “Zecora, it's me, Twilight. I have my friend Fluttershy with me and we were wondering if you could help us. Somepony stole her cutie mark and we'd like to know if there's any way to bring it back.”

Zecora opened the door and stuck her head out. “Twilight, it is good to see you again. Won't you both please step inside my den?”

They did so, and Twilight took a seat on a stump at Zecora's table. She pulled Linky's spellbook out of her saddlebag and flipped to the bookmark she'd placed. Fluttershy lingered near the door as she looked around the room. She'd seen it before, but the shelves full of bottles, the walls lined with ritual masks, and the large cauldron bubbling with some kind of brew drew her attention.

“So your flank really is blank,” Zecora said. Fluttershy frowned. “That is most strange. What could cause such a change?”

“Um, it was stolen, as Twilight said. I don't know how she managed it, but a pony who goes by the name of 'Linky' took it. She tackled me and ran off. The next think I knew my cutie mark was gone.” Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut and frowned. “We tried to catch her, but she got away. I... It hurts so much not having my cutie mark. I'm losing touch with all of my animal friends.” Fluttershy threw herself prone at Zecora's feet. “Please, can you help me get it back? I-I don't even care if it's a new one anymore. I just want something, anything. I'll do anything, anything you ask of me. I-I just want my cutie mark back.”

Zecora's eyes went wide and she looked between Fluttershy, who was crying, and Twilight, who frowned. “Is this tale of your distraught friend true? Is there a pony who can steal cutie marks out of the blue?”

Twilight nodded. “Well, she is a blue pony, but yes, she can do that. How? I don't know. As an earth pony, I would never have expected Linky to be able to use magic like that, but she's done so at least twice, though the second time she returned the cutie mark. I thought we'd made a breakthrough when we discovered that she was in possession of this book, the Terracanium, but it doesn't actually have a spell for stealing magic. Instead, she'd performed a bonding ritual that tied her directly to some sort of artifact.” Twilight wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow. “I've never heard of any tool for removing cutie marks. Do you know of anything that can do that?”

Zecora shook her head. “Such a tool for ill-gotten power would not last in our eyes. Destroying it at once would be an action most wise.”

“Ah.” Twilight nodded slowly. “I suspected as much, but in this particular case I'd advise against destruction if we ever got a hold of it. The bonding ritual... complicates things. Linky's the only one who can use it now. If anything happened to it the backlash would devastate her.”

“Um, I don't really care about her,” Fluttershy said. “Can you please do something to fix my blank flank? Apple Bloom mentioned 'heart's desire'. Would that work?”

“Heart's desire is the cause of cutie pox. Such a treatment would lead to a paradox. The very thing that you want the most would pepper your hide in a severe overdose. It's not an action that I'd recommend. Surely that's something you can comprehend.”

“Well, it doesn't have to be heart's desire. Don't you have anything else? Anything at all?”

Zecora narrowed her eyes in thought. “Perhaps if I might be so bold, you could have your fortune told?”

“Huh, how would that help?” Fluttershy asked.

“A glimpse of the future can give one hope. You seem to be at the end of your rope.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Twilight asked. “What if we see something bad?”

“The risk for that is low, you'll see. I'll look for when she's happy with glee.”

“Well, okay. If you think it will help...” Twilight sounded uncertain, but Fluttershy nodded.

Zecora gently pushed Fluttershy away. She turned to rummage through her potions and picked up a vial filled with pink fluid, which she added a few drops of to her cauldron. The surface swirled and turned black. Zecora frowned and poked at it. The mixture rippled at her touch, but the only thing she saw was Fluttershy's reflection, who blinked at herself. “It looks like your future is dark. I cannot see you with a cutie mark.”

“I... I'm going to be a blank flank forever!?” Fluttershy stared in horror at the black liquid. Watching the surface ripple reminded her of something, but she couldn't place it. Regardless, her future clearly held no happiness for her and she curled up into a sobbing mass.

Twilight ran over and looked into the cauldron. Her ears flopped down. “Wha-what? Nothing? How can your future hold nothing?”

Fluttershy buried her head under her forelegs. “Oh no, I really am doing to die.”

Zecora frowned. She never knew what to expect when she delved into fortune telling but she never would have expected something like that. “I know that life isn't fair, but you don't have to despair. Nothing you see is set into stone. Even with magic the future's unknown.”

Fluttershy lifted her head up. He cheeks were wet with tears. “But, it's not just you Zecora, Cadance also predicts my doom. I-I...”

“Cadance too? What fate did she predict for you?” Zecora asked.

Twilight dug in her saddlebags. “She said that time could be running out for Fluttershy. I have the letter around here somewhere if you want to read it all.”

Zecora shook her head. “There's no need—perhaps we have erred. You have every right to be scared. But there's no need to acquiesce. You don't have to be a damsel in distress. Your future's really in your hooves. It's up to you to make your moves. Can you possibly say otherwise? Is this enough to galvanize?”

“Are you saying that your prediction doesn't have to come true? Has that ever happened before?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. There's tale from our lands. It's about a warrior who roamed the desert sands. His dream, his goal was to be the very best. He trained quite hard like a thing possessed. A tournament within one weeks time would crown a winner in his prime. The land, the princess could belong to him, but he felt his prospects to win were grim.

“Any stallion worth his hair would have doubled his training right then and there, but he had to know if he would win so he opted for a lazy sin. He begged a shaman to read his fate, who showed him his future on that date. The prediction was for him to win the crown, but the shaman clearly did frown.

“ ‘You mustn’t think the outcome's set in stone. By reading the future this can be thrown.’

“But the warrior didn't listen anymore. He celebrated victory a bit premature. Instead of training like he should, he imbibed in stuff that's good. So when the day came for him to fight, his first opponent beat him outright. He was shocked at his turn of fate. He should have heeded the warning, but he learned too late.”

“Oh, my.” Fluttershy stood up. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and tried to put on a strong face. “I... I'd like to try but I still don't know what to do.”

Zecora shrugged. “I do not desire to sound sappy, but I sought a vision of you happy. So if death could end your pain, all you need do is refrain.”

“I-I...” Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. She snorted, snarled and locked eyes with Zecora. “You think that I'd have reason to kill myself!? How dare you!” Fluttershy kicked over the cauldron and stormed out the door.

Twilight's jaw dropped, but Zecora seemed unperturbed. “You should keep a close eye on her. A terrible fate could still occur.”

Twilight scowled at Zecora and ran out the door after her friend. “Wait, Fluttershy! She didn't mean it. At least, I think she didn't. Please wait up; you don't want to run into something nasty.”

Chapter 11

Fluttershy did not wait up; she flew through the forest recklessly. She ducked under branches and flew over bushes lined with thorns. She twisted to slide between forked tree trunks. Any small mistake and she could crash and break her neck. It was almost like she was trying to–

She pulled up and came to a stop. Her heart thudded in her chest. She didn't recognize where she was. The trees here were spooky with dark hollows that looked like screaming faces. They glowed with an eerie reddish light that pierced her soul. Their gaze was cold, like death. Join us... Gnarly limbs reached out for her.

Fluttershy dove down but failed to land before her wings locked up from fear. She flopped heavily on the dry, cracked soil and kicked up a cloud of dust as she skidded to a halt. The barren, leafless trees creaked and groaned. No escape... The voice invaded her head and clung to her mind like cobwebs.

Terrified and unable to see in the dust, Fluttershy buried her head under her forelegs and trembled. Roots reached up from the ground. They grew towards her, and she was too petrified to move. Become of us...

A light flashed next to her. Fluttershy peeked open an eye to see Twilight appear next to her.

“Fluttershy, are you—eeeeeek!”

The entire world flashed magenta and lurched out from under her. Fluttershy blinked and rubbed her eyes. The evil trees were gone and they were both back at her cottage. Twilight panted heavily.

“Um, thanks. Are you okay?” Fluttershy stood up awkwardly. Her breathing was shallow and she shook her head to clear the cobwebs.

“A moment.” Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Twilight contorted her face in anger. “Fluttershy, you–!”

Fluttershy winced. Twilight was going to yell at her, of course. She deserved it. But Twilight's voice trailed off and the expected tirade never came. Instead, she felt a hoof wrap around her neck. Fluttershy opened her eyes and stood there blankly while Twilight hugged her.

“Fluttershy, you had me really worried there.” Twilight's voice nearly cracked from emotion. Now Fluttershy felt really bad.

“I, um, sorry.”

“Look, I don't blame you for running out, but please, stick to the path. It's there for a reason.” Twilight let Fluttershy go, who nodded in response.

“Twilight, I-I...” Fluttershy looked away. She leaned against the wire mesh around her chicken coop. The birds had gathered back in inside. She could hear them bedding down for the night. Fluttershy often came here to listen to them gossip and sing sweet nothings to each other. It just sounded like random clucking to her now. She strained her ears, but that was all she could hear.

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“Am I really going to be this way forever? Am I really never going to get my cutie mark back?”

“What? You can't give up hope now! I know things look bleak but we are making progress.” Twilight looked Fluttershy in the eyes, whose frown was constant and she didn't blink. Dejected, Twilight looked away and scuffed her hoof in the dirt. “It, just doesn't look that way... yet.”

“Can you hear the chickens, Twilight? Do you know what they're saying?” Fluttershy waved a hoof at the coop.

“They're, um, I know they cluck a lot, but... no, I don't understand them.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

“I am feeling very blue; these are birds that I once knew.
I taught them songs of joy and cheer.
My love for them was quite sincere.
They rambled in their cutesy way.
I used to hear what they did say.

“But now I hear just empty noise; there's nothing there—no more joys.
Their songs are lost to my deaf ears.
My love for them just disappears.
They squabble and it hurts to hear.
There's nothing for me to endear.

“My loss is now absolute; those birds don't even look cute.
I still know them from before.
My love I want to restore.
But I feel empty like a void.
All I know has been destroyed.

“Now I cry and now I shake. My old love? Flat and fake.
‘That's not true,’ you'd think to say,
but my feelings aren't astray.
Want to know how I feel now?
I'm hollow from my tail to brow.

“Nothing passes that divide. I'm empty on my inside.
When I try to reach across,
all I reach is my great loss.
I'm falling down into despair.
I'm an empty, broken mare.”

Silence hung between them. Twilight stared at Fluttershy with wide eyes. Fluttershy's eyes drooped and her frown deepened. Twilight raised a hoof, then lowered it. She glanced down then raised her head high.

“I know that you're in a bind,
but there's more to life you'll find.
How to begin? Let's review:
You bring joy by being you.
You are healthy as a horse.
Your friends still love you, of course.

“Your whole life might seem astray,
But there's no need to feel that way.
Don't dwell on that which you've lost.
You've still joy you can't exhaust.
Others love you as you are.
Just be you and you're a star.

“You feel down and you feel blue?
Here's a thought that's just for you:
You see the sky up above?
Use your wings; fly like a dove.
Fly around and be outside.
Movement keeps you occupied.

“That's no cure I will admit,
but don't give up; do not quit.
Walk in life along with us.
You're quite healthy; that's a plus.
Breathe in and feel your heart beat.
You're not empty; you're complete.

“Most of all, you have us too.
We'll do anything for you.
We'll help you cope with the pain;
You're not alone in your strain.
While the world might be cruel,
amongst us, you are a jewel.”

Fluttershy's eyes became misty and she pulled Twilight into a hug. “Twilight, I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“Nothing drastic, I'd hope.” They remained together while the sunlight filtered through the trees and cast long shadows on the ground. Somepony's tummy rumbled; it could have been either of them, or both. “Do you want to get supper?” Twilight asked. “I mostly skipped lunch to do my research.”

“Yes, I'd like that. I haven't had much food today either.” Fluttershy let Twilight go and the two of them walked inside.

Her cottage was empty since the Crusaders and their foalsitter had left, but signs of their efforts to care for the animals were visible around the room. Every critter had been given at least one carrot, whether they could eat them or not. Fluttershy shook her head. At least they'd been given real food too, even if the portions were wrong and some items were mixed up. For some reason, there was no squabbling over the misplaced food. A lumpy rattlesnake slept contentedly in the corner.

Fluttershy let them be and went into her kitchen.

A little sorting in the refrigerator showed her that she'd run out of pickles and the marshmallows had been plundered. Her half-eaten head of lettuce from last night was still in there, but she'd rather fix something more presentable to share with Twilight. Her stock of leafy vegetables was nearly depleted, but she did have some raw hay that she could fry up into burgers.

She heated up her frying pan and dropped a cube of butter in it to melt while she diced up the hay and mixed in the eggs. The aroma of her cooking was enough to attract attention and she felt a little paw tap on her hind leg. “Hmm?”

She flipped over the burger in the pan so it wouldn't get burnt and twisted around to see who was there. A white rabbit looked up at her. “Angel Bunny!” She abandoned her cooking and bent down to nuzzle him. Her ears perked up when she heard his tummy grumble. “What? Did they forget to feed you?” Angel hopped over and kicked at the closed refrigerator door.

Fluttershy yelled, “Twilight, can you take over for me cooking the hay burgers? I need to take care of Angel.”

Twilight's hooves clopped as she walked in. “Wow, Flutterhy, I didn't know that you were fond of fast food.”

“I'm not usually.” Fluttershy frowned as she pulled open the refrigerator again and scanned her meager supplies. “But with so many ponies around I've been pretty much cleaned out.”

Fluttershy picked out the remaining half of a tomato that she'd previously sliced up for the burgers. Angel eagerly watched from below as she diced the remaining portion to use for the start of a salad. Next, she pulled out her gnawed-on head of lettuce. She held it in the air and frowned. Angel was drooling on the floor. “I can't really give Angel my leftovers,” she said and put it back. Angel frantically waved his arms in the air.

“Is there a problem, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. Sizzling and popping filled the air as Twilight dropped a fresh patty on the frying pan.

“Well, it seems that I've run out of leafy greens to make salad with.”

Twilight briefly looked over her shoulder before returning to the stove. “What about that cucumber in the back?”

Fluttershy pulled it out and her ears drooped. Apparently, it had been in her refrigerator a bit too long; it was slimy. To Angel Bunny's horror, she tossed it in the trash can. Angel Bunny hopped over and tried climbing the waste receptacle, but alas, it was animal-proof.

Twilight turned off the stove and assembled the greasy hay-burgers with her magic. “Mmm, these smell really good. If you don't mind, I'm going to take them in the other room and get started.”

“That's fine, um...” Fluttershy rested her chin on the kitchen counter and stared at the nearly-empty salad bowl with only a bit of tomato in it. “I'll join you soon, I guess.” She picked up the bowl and held it over Angel, who reached his arms out expectantly. Frowning, she twisted her head and put the bowl in the refrigerator, shutting the door after she'd done so. Angel freaked out and pounded on the closed door. “Sorry,but there wasn't enough food there to make a salad worthy of my Angel Bunny.”

Angel burst into tears and pounded on the door again.

“I know, Angel, but where am I going to get proper rabbit food at this time of night?”

“What the heck!? Why is everything covered in carrots?” That was Twilight's voice from the other room.

Fluttershy giggled. “Of course, how silly of me.” She picked Angel up, who didn't protest, and carried him into her living room. Twilight was clearing some carrots off the table to make room for her stack of hay-burgers. Fluttershy set Angel down and nudged a carrot towards him.

The white rabbit had probably hopped past those carrots several times, but didn't think of them as food until Fluttershy rolled one towards him. He sniffed at it and took a small bite. His eyes popped open and he gnashed at the carrot as he stuffed it in his mouth, spraying the floor with little orange bits.

“Whoa! Don't eat so fast. You don't want to get a tummy ache.”

“Mrmpth?” said Twilight, as she stuffed her second burger in her mouth.

Fluttershy gave Twilight a half-lidded stare as she took a seat and picked up a burger for herself. With knife and fork, she cut it into pieces and took a dainty little bites like a proper lady.

Twilight gulped down her entire second burger and took a huge bite out of a third. She watched Fluttershy stab a burger chunk with her fork and pop it into her mouth. Talking with her mouth full, Twilight said, “Wow, I've never seen anypony eat hay burgers like that before.”

“Neither have I, Twilight. Neither have I.”

A small rude burp pulled Fluttershy's attention away from Twilight's even ruder see-food. Angel Bunny flopped on his back and rubbed his bulging tummy in satisfaction. Fluttershy smiled. “You look so perfect, Angel Bunny. I wish I could capture that look of satisfaction on you forever.” She felt something swell up inside of her when she looked at him—pride, perhaps?

“Heh, you really do love that bunny—” Twilight jerked and stared straight at Fluttershy. She dropped her remaining hay burger. “—Fluttershy! Your eyes!”

“Huh? What about them?” Startled, Fluttershy forgot about Angel Bunny and met Twilight's gaze.

“It's... well...” The unicorn blinked, then squinted. She remained locked in her friend's gaze, but eventually gave up trying to pinpoint what was bothering her. “It's probably nothing.”

“What? What's nothing?” Fluttershy asked.

“It's just, well, for a moment I thought I saw something in your eyes.”

“What? What did you see?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and went back to finishing off her burger. “It was probably just the reflection of the sunset off your eyes. I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably gone now.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy frowned and turned to look over her shoulder. The open window was behind her, along with the sun. Had she turned to face that way when she looked at Angel? She wasn't sure. “Wait, 'probably gone?' Is something still there?”

Twilight shrugged. “I thought there was at first, but the more I look, the more I think it was just a trick of the light. You already have enough to worry about. Just relax and enjoy your supper. You have to keep your health up, after all.”

“Oh, right, of course.”

Despite the grossness of Twilight's eating habits, Fluttershy really was quite hungry and remained silent while she finished off her hay burger. Twilight leaned back in her chair, tossed her hooves on the table, and let out a huge belch. Fluttershy winced and flattened her ears. “You've been hanging around Spike too much,” she mumbled.

“Oh, heh-heh.” Twilight blushed and wiped the crumbs from her mouth. “Sorry, I'm not usually this way. I just turn into an eating monster around fast food; that's all.”

“That's for sure.” Fluttershy stood up to collect the dirty dishes. “Well, thank you for staying for supper, but it's time for me to think about heading to bed. You still have that report to send off, right?”

“My report!?” Twilight jerked and her eyes popped open. She stuck her head out the window and watched the sun sink below the horizon. “Gah! I was supposed to send that an hour ago! It's late! It's late! It's late!”

“Twilight, I don't think that's such a big—”

“I got so caught up with cooking the burgers that I forgot all about it!” Twilight’s mane started to spring out of place. Fluttershy held her tongue. The panicking unicorn hopped off her chair and paused briefly at the door before running off into the night. “Thanks-for-supper.-It-was-great.-Take-care-and-see-you-tomorrow.-Goodbye.”

“Bye.” Fluttershy waved a hoof at the dust cloud friend kicked up behind her.

She set her dirty dishes back down and walked over to close the door. Along the way, she smiled at Angel Bunny napping on the floor. The rabbit had fallen asleep directly in the center of the non-discolored portion of her floor left exposed by her lack-of-rug. It was almost as if he'd been framed in a picture. Fluttershy picked him up and carried him over to his basket where he could sleep off his food coma more comfortably. Watching his little chest rise and fall made her yawn.

She smacked her lips and shook her head. With bleary eyes, she looked at the dirty dishes piled on her table. “I can always clean that up tomorrow...”

Yawning again, she walked over to the bathroom to prepare herself for bed. The reflection of a weary pegasus was there to greet her. Fluttershy frowned. There was something about it that seemed off. She examined herself more closely.

“Huh, that is odd.” Fluttershy forced her eyelids open to get a better look at her eyes. She saw herself everyday and spotted the difference that Twilight couldn't quite identify. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, but there was more to them than that. A faint red ring wrapped around the outside of her iris. It was barely perceptible. “What in the world could that be?”

Fluttershy wondered, perhaps, if she should chase after Twilight to ask about it, but the mere thought of yet more strenuous activity made her legs feel like lead. Besides, the longer she looked at her eyes the fainter the ring became. Perhaps it really was nothing, after all.

Yawning again, Fluttershy brushed her teeth and pulled on a pair of pajamas. Crawling into bed, she tapped on the lampshade to turn it off. A thought occurred to her just before she drifted off to sleep. She stared at the butterfly patterns on her blanket. I wonder if my cutie mark's okay?

Chapter 12

Asleep, Fluttershy dreamed.

Linky the Terrible's enormous head blocked her entire field of view. The blue pony's red eyes were wide open and her jaw hung low. The air had a glassy sheen to it and everything else was obscured by a white mist; they were surrounded by fog. Wait, no, the air wasn't glassy; Fluttershy was in a glass jar.

Linky's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Fluttershy heard nothing. Linky's ears drooped and her eyes twitched. She clenched her teeth and shook the jar. Fluttershy should have felt jostled, but she felt nothing, nothing at all...

For the first time in three days, Fluttershy's night-terrors ceased. She slept peacefully and more soundly than she ever had before. She slept like death.

The rooster crowed to herald a new day. What was the point? Fluttershy's eyes opened and she stared blankly at the ceiling. She may have slept well, but she still felt dead. Moving wasn't something she had to bother with anymore. Slowly, gradually, her mind kicked into gear and she came to the sad realization that she probably wasn't dead after all. Her heart still beat; her breath was regular; her body desired food. She had all of the symptoms of being alive, but she sure didn't feel that way.

Fluttershy groaned and forced herself out of bed. She heard somepony say once that her body was like a chariot. She'd long since forgotten what the point of that metaphor was, but if her body was a chariot, she was no longer guiding it through life; it was simply dragging her along for the ride.

Fluttershy bent around and rubbed at her flank. It was still just as blank as it was before. There wasn't any cutie mark hiding under her fur, waiting for an opportunity to grow out. She frowned and put her hoof back on the floor.

Breakfast. She should get breakfast.

Slowly, sluggishly, she got breakfast.

Her ears perked up and there was a knock on the door. Fluttershy dropped her spoon back in her bowl of Oaty-O's that was sitting next to the dirty plates she still hadn't cleaned yet. “Come in.”

A freckled orange earth pony with green eyes, and blonde hair wearing a stetson walked in. It was Applejack, of course, but Fluttershy didn't feel up to the arduous task of facial recognition.

“Mornin', Fluttershy. Ah brought you some fresh supplies from the farm.” Applejack pointed to her bulging saddlebags. They were packed with ears of corn, heads of lettuce, bushels of wheat, and, of course, apples.

Fluttershy grunted.

Applejack blinked. “Oh, uh, y'all don't have to pay for nothin'. Rarity took care of that.”

Fluttershy grunted again.

“Uh, of course I gave her a (somewhat small) discount. It was for you, after all.”

“Uh, well, thanks for bringing it over, I guess.” Fluttershy didn't feel like lifting a hoof and pointed at the corner of the room with a wing. “Just leave it there. I'll get around to putting it away... eventually.”

Applejack pulled off her cargo and frowned at the dusty, unswept floor. It was littered with discarded shells from eaten nuts, numerous crumbs, and there were still plenty of carrots lying around. “Are you feeling alright, sugarcube?”

Fluttershy grunted and didn't dignify that with a response.

Applejack frowned and looked around the room again. “Do ya want me to help clean up the place while Ah'm here?”

“Don't bother. It's just going to get dirty again.” Fluttershy scooped up another bite of her cereal and let it dribble back into her bowl. She pushed it aside to fester amongst the other dirty dishes.

“Well, Ah guess we should wait until after breakfast to do the cleaning.” Applejack pulled a scroll out of a side pocket from her saddlebags. She rolled it out on the floor. “Yeesh, Twilight and her lists.” Applejack poked her hoof at the top of the scroll. “It says here, 'armadillo.' ” She scratched at her mane. “What the hay do armadillos eat?”

“Applejack, what are you doing?” Fluttershy was annoyed enough to lift her head and frown at the farm pony's antics.

“It's my turn to help ya feed the animals.” Applejack rummaged in her bags. “They eat apples, right?”

“Armadillos are insectivores. They eat grubs. They won't be interested in your apples unless they're full of worms. And what do you mean it's 'your turn' to help feed the animals?”

Applejack blinked. She shut her saddlebags and turned to face Fluttershy, who was glaring at her. “Well, Spike did it the first day, we let the kids do it yesterday, and it's my turn today...”

“Why are you helping me feed the animals!?” Fluttershy stomped her hoof and snorted.

Applejack scratched at her mane. “Aw, shucks, Fluttershy. We never meant to upset you. It's just that back when this whole thing started we all agreed to take turns doing it.”

“Wait, when was this? Why didn't I hear of it?”

Applejack shrugged. “Ya never followed us to the hospital when we went to check on Snappy Scoop.”

“Oh, right.” Fluttershy's glare faded and she looked at the floor. It really was dirty.

Applejack took a deep breath. “Back then, we didn't know what exactly what losing yer cutie mark would do to ya. Ah guess we still don't... Anyway, Twilight didn't want ya to relapse and suffer from depletion again, so we all agreed to take over the tasks that most heavily involved yer special talent.”

“Huh. Well that does make sense, but my magic levels are off the charts now. I won't have to worry about depletion again anytime soon. Wait—all of you were going to help with this?”

Applejack snickered. “Well, almost all of us. Rainbow Dash can't even identify what kind of animal her pet is and you know Rarity is with Opal...”

Despite herself, Fluttershy had to smile. It would be pure chaos if either of those two ever had to fill in for her. She frowned again when Applejack went back to reading the list and sorting out food supplies. “Um, what are you doing?”

“Since I'm here, Ah'm going to go ahead and get started. You can finish yer breakfast if you'd like.”

“But I just said—” Applejack made the motions of doing work, but her eyes kept darting over to look at the pegasus watching over her. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. “Why are you really here?”

Applejack jerked as if caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. “Uh, well, ya see...”

Fluttershy sighed. “You don't have to be embarrassed about it, whatever it is. I know you're not trying to upset me.”

Applejack slowly nodded. “We're worried about ya, sugarcube. We always want somepony around to watch over you.”

“I'm not a foal, Applejack. I can take care of myself.”

“Of course you aren't, but with everything that's happened and all of this talk about yer potentially dying...”

Fluttershy reached over to place her hoof on Applejack's shoulder. The two of them were very close together. “Applejack, Twilight went far out of her way yesterday to assure me that those fears were unfounded. I believed her.”

“Oh. Okay, then. Um... you wouldn't mind if I stayed around anyway? Ya don't mind spending time with yer friends, right?”

So she was playing that card, was she? Fluttershy stepped back and waved a hoof to encompass the whole room. “No, but, as a friend, you'd leave me be if I asked you to, right?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Applejack, yesterday the Cutie Mark Crusaders asked me an important question. 'Why have I not tried to earn my cutie mark back in the same way that I earned it in the first place?' ”

“This isn't entirely about yer cutie mark.”

“Yes it is!” Fluttershy hopped up on table and almost plopped a hoof in her leftover soggy breakfast. She held that foreleg up instead. “Don't you see, Applejack? Our cutie marks aren't just about magic and talents; they also represent our destinies, and our destinies are what drive us forward each day.” Fluttershy's face darkened, as if in shadow. “And without a destiny, I don't even have a reason to live.”

Applejack reared back. “Don't say such things!”

Fluttershy sighed and folded her wings back up. Somehow, they'd gotten spread out in the excitement. “And that's why it's more important than ever that I do everything I can to get my cutie mark back.”

Applejack pointed at the door. “So ya want me to...?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I'm sorry, Applejack, but my connection with the animals was very personal. Having another pony around could interfere with that. Animals can spook easily, even if you don't mean to startle them.”

Applejack tipped her hat. “Well, alright, then. Ah do have a lot of chores to catch up on back at the farm. Ah'm going to come back at lunchtime to check up on ya, though. If y'all need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to come and ask me for it.”

“I won't, Applejack—hesitate, that is.” Fluttershy waved her hoof at her departing friend. “When you see me again I hope to have a new cutie mark.”

The door shut.

“I'll have a new cutie mark—” Fluttershy closed her eyes and lowered her head. She spoke in a soft whisper. “—or die trying.”

Great, now that Applejack was gone, she was actually going to have to feed the animals, wasn't she?

“No, no. I can't give up before I even start! I'm going to do this and I'm going to give it all I can!” Why bother, I already know it's not going to work... Fluttershy tried her best to banish the dark thoughts invading her mind. This was no time to argue with herself. She had a task to do, and she needed to focus.

Applejack's supplies were quite thorough. She'd brought a complete inventory of everything Fluttershy could possibly need for a week. That would certainly make things easier. Twilight's list, however, could use some work. It was better to feed the animals in groups based on their common diets rather than trying to run through them all individually in alphabetical order. When Twilight got her turn, Fluttershy would be sure to point that out to her.

No—that wasn't right. Twilight wouldn't ever need to take a turn because Fluttershy would earn her cutie mark back. Fat chance...

Grr, why was she being so negative? Because it's the truth.

Fluttershy shook her head. “Okay, no more thinking. Time to do this.”

Opening her door, she reached up to rattle her wind chime. The resulting noise echoed across her yard. “Okay, everycritter, it's breakfast time!”

Fluttershy waited for the animals to respond. It didn't take them long to start piling in, but she waited a few moments longer for the stragglers to show up. Her poppies were in full bloom and covered the lawn in a lovely sea of red. She had to frown, though. There were plenty of bees, and some wasps, but there were no butterflies. Where did they go? Perhaps they died...

Scampering around her legs pulled her attention back to her animal friends. “Okay, squirrels and chipmunks on the left, bunnies on the right, please.” Their little, beady eyes looked up at her, but they remained unsorted. “Well, I knew this wasn't going to be easy...”

With a touch of inspiration, Fluttershy beckoned them in and offered up two different piles of food. The rabbits congregated to the lettuce while the others went for the nuts. That was easy, but it would take a lot more effort than just herding them to earn her cutie mark.

Fluttershy focused on one of the squirrels. This one had gray mottled fur with a soft white underbelly. She remembered digging out a nest for him in the hollow trunk of a nearby oak tree. He'd complained, because it had a tendency to leak in the rain, but she'd called on a colony of carpenter ants to fix the place up for him. She knew who he was, but could she reach him in that special way like she used to? “Hi there, Scamper. Are the repairs holding up?”

Scamper scampered away.

Fluttershy's heart lurched. He'd shown no signs of recognition at all and, in truth, Fluttershy felt the same way too. This failure stung, but she wasn't going to give up. She was going to try harder. Why am I torturing myself?

Amongst the rabbits was a brown jackelope by the name of Snarglethumper. He was a mean one, and enjoyed butting heads with and bullying the weaker-skulled rabbits. Fluttershy never liked resorting to threats, but the only thing that kept him in line was her ultimatum that if he was going to act like a predator, then he was going to have to live with them (briefly). Snargle was up to his usual tricks and hogging the food, so Fluttershy had to do something. A verbal scolding wouldn't work, so she leaned down to glare at him.

He smacked her in the eyeball with his antlers.

“Ow! Ow, ow, ow.” Fluttershy hopped up and down and clutched at her swelling eye with her hooves. That offered no comfort, so she left to get ice from the freezer and held the cold pack against her injury. The pain in her face slowly subsided, but the pain in her heart only grew. By the time she returned, all of the rabbits and squirrels and chipmunks were gone.

Fluttershy groaned and banged on a wooden drum. It was time to call in the rats and mice.

Dozens of them poured in, but that was far from the total population. Fluttershy frowned. She hoped this wasn't because another rat king had formed. Of all the strange and fantastical creatures that she'd run into, the rat king was one of the worst. By itself, it was just an ugly mass of rodent, consisting of about half a dozen individuals whose tails had gotten knotted together.

Despite the appearance, rat kings were insidious. They thrived on mischief, grew clever beyond all reason, all rodents and most other small animals bowed down to their whims, and they were always, always insane. Fluttershy shuddered at the thought of the last one. It had all of the beavers building dams in the streets and demanded pony rides for the chickens, of all things, or every mailbox in town would be gnawed off at the base and replaced with piles of black rocks.

Fortunately, all she had to do was untangle the knotted tails and separate the rats and the king reverted back to being ordinary rodents. That was easier said than done, though, as she has to fight past scores of rodents who would do anything to protect their king. She still had scars from that battle buried underneath her fur. Fluttershy shuddered. It was more likely that the rodents were absent because they'd been overfed recently, but if another rat king had formed then she needed to know about it. All she had to do was ask. And how, exactly, do I do that?

For once, Fluttershy agreed with the pessimistic voice in the back of her mind. She scattered seeds and grains for the rodents to collect and watched them stuff their mouths. How did her old method of talking to the animals work, anyway? Nopony else could do anything quite like it, could they? The magic was hers and hers alone. If she was going to get it back, she'd have to find it within herself.

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy thought back to how things were several days ago.

All she had to do was hum sweet nothings. A single peanut, a touch of the nose, a wink of the eye—that was all it took to delve into the mind of her guests. She could feel the life within them; she shared their love, their happiness, and could even read their minds and pick out their desires. The key, though, was feeling the life. That's it... I'm dead...

Fluttershy focused on a gray rat before her. His little hands held up half a kernel of dried corn that he'd been gnawing on. She watched him intently. She could see his breathing. With further effort, she deluded herself into believing she could see his heartbeat too. Her own breath became shallow, and she felt ill. A bland queasiness rose up inside her and she had to lie down. Her head spun and she felt faint. I can't do this.

What she'd felt were symptoms of depletion. That seemed odd considering her magic level. Perhaps the measurement was off? On the one hoof, if she continued this route, she could faint and there'd be nopony around to revive her. On the other hoof, this meant she was on the right track. Cutie marks did take a lot of magic. All she had to do was keep trying and trying harder until something gave out. It was a bad, stupid plan, but she hated living like this and was willing to try anything, anything at all, to fix it.

The rodents had cleared out while Flutterhy nursed her fledgling headache. She took a break and stepped inside to apply a poultice to her black eye. It was a mixture she'd learned in her travels while seeking out exotic animals that impressed even Zecora with its potency. Fluttershy dabbed a few drops on her swollen spots. It felt cool, like ice, and immediately the swelling started to subside. She had to be careful, though, because too much of it could make her whole face go numb for hours. When she was done, she opted to feed the birds and the remaining critters normally before trying to make a connection again. After all, she didn't want them to go hungry if anything happened to her. That also gave her medicine time to work and she felt mostly normal again, if a bit numb, but not excessively so.

When she felt ready, she went out back to her chicken coop. “Elizabeak, would you mind coming over here for a moment?” The chicken ignored her, of course.

Fluttershy didn't let that bother her and hopped the fence to get inside. The chickens scattered, but they had no place to run. Fluttershy picked one up.

“Squawk!” The chicken wasn't very happy. Her head bobbed around and she struggled in Fluttershy's grip.

If I can't connect to happiness, perhaps I can connect to fear. Fluttershy glared at the bird and let the avian's struggles fill her mind. She wasn't going to hurt the bird; she'd never do that, but simply holding her in her hooves was an act that brought them closer together. “Calm down, please. There's nothing to worry about. Everything will be just fine.” It didn't work. The chicken kept struggling and squawking.

Fluttershy had half a heart to just give up right then and there, but kept at it anyway. She just needed to connect with the bird, then she'd be able to let her go. Not that I can do that, though. Even as her darker thoughts surfaced, Fluttershy felt her focus snap into place. Yes, yes, this is definitely working!

Her chicken, Persephonegg, was a life. It was faint and distant, but it existed like a spark across the horizon of souls. Fluttershy's head pounded with pain, but she grit her teeth. She had a goal. She could see it. Now all she had to do was reach it. It's out of reach... Fluttershy wracked her brain and thought back to how her magic used to work. She always took it for granted, but needed every scrap of memory she had to pick apart the details for putting her life back together. Her life! That was it!

She'd used her own life force as a stepping stone to reach across. She was young and healthy. This should be a snap.

Fluttershy stepped on herself, and everything broke.

There was a horrible soul-crunching. Persephonegg was gone. Whether she dropped the chicken in real life, she didn't know. Fluttershy was gone too. She fell through the cracked shell that was her soul and saw for the first time the damage that Linky had done to her. Her life, her passion, her cutie mark, had been gouged away and she was left with an empty, brittle, hollow void. The ground in this place was littered with the corpses of butterflies. She didn't know exactly what that meant, but she didn't need to. Fluttershy had thought she was alive, but she was wrong. She was dead inside, and she'd never be able to live again.

Wetness poured down her cheeks. Fluttershy's eyes slowly opened as the real world came back to her. She was lying in the dirt and the chicken was gone. She had no idea if she'd fainted or slipped into a dream but the sheer vividness of her vision was so real that it had to be true. She'd cried before, but now she let the tears fly free. She was in mourning of herself. She'd couldn't earn her cutie mark back; that part of her was dead. She was incapable of ever earning a cutie mark ever again.

“I can't go on living like this.” Fluttershy broke her wailing to look up at the vast blue sky. Her voice cracked and she choked up. There was one way to end the pain: the easy way. “I-I can't go on living.”

Chapter 13

“Applejack, I need a rope.” Fluttershy looked up at the apple tree which shook from the weight of the farm pony who'd climbed up in the branches to do some pruning.

“Oh, hey, Fluttershy. Did you get yer cutie mark back?”

Fluttershy frowned. She hung her head and clenched her teeth. Her eyes started to water. “No...”

“Sorry, Ah guess you'd say if ya had.” The tree started cracking and the upper branches rustled. “Crabapples! It's rotten inside!” Applejack yelled something else, but her warning was lost amidst horrendous crunching as a huge section of the tree broke free. Fluttershy should probably move.

A sickly crunch shook the ground and she frowned at the limb which had landed next to her. It missed me. The branch was splayed and twisted and the rotten core was exposed for all to see. Oh well.

“Fluttershy, are you okay!?” Her friend jumped down and ran over. Applejack let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Fluttershy safe and unharmed. She wouldn't look so relieved, tough, if she could see inside Fluttershy's rotten and hollow soul.

“I'm fine, Applejack,” Fluttershy lied. She didn't even feel bad about lying. She really was dead inside.

Applejack didn't question her; she turned her attention back to the damaged tree. At least a third of the tree's canopy was missing. She frowned. “Now this whole tree will have to come down. It's such a shame. It looked so healthy too.”

Fluttershy halfheartedly thumped the fallen log. Flecks of bark broke off where she kicked it. Should she explain how she was feeling? Applejack did deserve the truth, right? “Um, Applejack...”

“Just a sec, Ah got some rope under my hat.” She always had rope under her hat. Applejack tossed a coil that landed at Fluttershy's feet. “What do you need the rope for? If ya don't mind my asking?”

Fluttershy picked up the bundle and draped the coils around her neck. That's where they were going to go anyway. What could she say? How could she possibly tell Applejack what she really wanted to use it for?

When Fluttershy didn't offer an explanation, Applejack made one up for her. “Is one of yer big animals misbehaving?”

“Something like that.” Fluttershy pawed at the ground. She avoided making eye contact.

Applejack raised a hoof to walk away but paused. “Do you need any help with that?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I think I can handle this one myself.”

“Well, okay. If you'll excuse me, Ah've got to get Big Mac to help me pull down this tree or it will be a danger to everypony. Don't do anything stupid, okay?”

Applejack walked off before Fluttershy could respond. She had nothing to say, anyway.

Fluttershy touched the coils. The weight of the rope hung from her neck. Soon, that would be reversed. Well, it's time to do something stupid.

On the way back to her cottage, she stopped to gather a bouquet of fresh poppies. They'd look lovely on her coffin.

Inside her home, she stared blankly at the coil of rope on her table. I don't know how to tie a noose...

Should she go to the library and get a book on knots? Fluttershy frowned. It was hard enough getting the rope from Applejack. Twilight would stop her for sure. That was a bad thing, right?

Well, even if she didn't know how to make a proper noose, she could still tie a knot. Did it matter if the rope meant to strangle the life from herself was uncomfortable? She'd also have to restrain her wings, but she had plenty of rope for that too.

A ray of sunlight danced along the floor. Fluttershy felt a knot in her stomach. It's too sunny. This isn't something that should be seen by the light of day.

Fluttershy got up to gather her tools. Working with a paranoia borne from the fear that Celestia could see all that the sun touched, Fluttershy shuttered and boarded her windows. Any cracks left she covered with tape. By the time she was finished, it was as dark inside her house as the blackest of nights, lit only by a single candle. That didn't make her feel any better but at least the atmosphere was appropriate.

She drummed her hoof on the table and stared at the rope. It remained stationary and she remained, as of yet, unstrangled. I should leave a note.

Fluttershy frowned. If she kept procrastinating, she'd never get around to killing herself. No no, she didn't want to think of it that way. She was already dead. This would only make it official. She reached for the rope, but hesitated again. The suicide note's the most important part. I can't skip that.

She did have a stack of paper and ink nearby. Instead of looking for a quill, she simply plucked a pinion from her wings. The pain was nothing compared to what she was going to subject herself to later.

Dear friends,

Her friends... She was sure going to miss them when she was dead. Her eyes watered.

I'm sorry.

Tears rolled off her cheeks and stained the paper. She folded up her forelegs and buried her head in them to cry. Her friends meant so much to her. They'd be so sad and disappointed with her—especially Twilight. Twilight trusted her the most. Twilight was the one who always put faith in her even when the others would not. Twilight was the one who'd insisted on dragging her up the mountain to face her biggest, scaliest, fear—and she pulled through from them when they needed it the most.

Now, though? Fluttershy watched the rope as the candlelight flickered. Would it hurt? Of course it would, but then it'd be gone for good. Wait, no... The hurt wouldn't really end with her. She'd just be passing it on to her friends...

“No.” Fluttershy crumpled up her suicide note and pushed the coils of rope away. “This is wrong. I'm not going to do this.” If she'd expected sympathy, the universe had none to offer. She still felt empty and rotten inside. Words alone could not quell her pain, but they were all she had to keep going.

I'm useless. I've no talent... Fluttershy clenched her teeth. That wasn't true. She may have lost her primary purpose, but there were plenty of things she'd accomplished even without her talent. Just by showing kindness instead of fear, she'd stopped the pony mantids from attacking. At the time, she'd wanted a lot more from that encounter, but it was still a victory, albeit a small one. Mayor Mare had been about ready to kick Twilight out of her office by force, until Fluttershy stepped in with some common sense. Again, it wasn't much, but it was still a victory for her. And whether she was shooing off centipedes or bemoaning tea time with bears, it was still perfectly clear that even without her talent, she was still the best animal caretaker in Ponyville.

“So I'm not useless... but I don't have my heart in it anymore.” She had no answer for that.

Her cutie mark was gone. She'd seen the damage to her soul first-hoof. She now longer had a destiny. She had almost no reason to live. The only thing holding her back was her friends.

“If I could make a wish, I'd wish for a new cutie mark.” Be careful what you wish for...

Fluttershy blinked. The candle sputtered and almost left her in darkness. That was an odd piece of advice to remember—odd, and irrelevant. Fluttershy took a deep breath. The coil of rope was still there. It wouldn't take long to kill herself if she changed her mind.

“I—” Fluttershy's mouth hung open. Hadn't she just told herself that she didn't want to die?

She could always go outside and fly up. All she'd have to do is fold her wings. It'd only hurt once.

“I—” Why am I still thinking of ways to kill myself? What is wrong with me?

She remembered the anatomical drawings she'd studied in her medical career. To be a practicing veterinarian, she'd needed to take a qualifying exam. There was a knife in her kitchen long enough to reach her heart on the first try.

“I need help!” Fluttershy sat there quavering. The rope on her table looked more and more appealing.

“These are just thoughts. I don't have to act on them.” But I want to. That thought, perhaps, scared her the most. She needed something anything to take her mind off killing herself until her friends arrived. They would come for her, right? But could she last that long?

A small thumping noise caught her attention. Of course! Why didn't she think of it before? She could spend the time with Angel Bunny. He might not be a pony, but she loved him more than anything else in the whole world.

Angel Bunny...

After spending so long in depression, it was a breath of fresh air to feel the simple unconditional love she held for him.

Angel Bunny...

His name triggered a response for stronger than anything she'd felt before. Her emotions spilled over. Something was wrong. A rush of something poured into her. Her love twisted into a primal desire. It wasn't the good kind of desire, either. It was the longing, torment, and anticipation of an addiction that yearned to be filled.

Angel Bunny...

The emptiness in her soul ached for him. She wanted nothing more than to grab him, pull him close, and—

“What is happening to me!?” Fluttershy panicked and looked for a mirror. The candle in the room had gone out, and she hadn't didn't even noticed. Even in blackness, she could see. She found no mirror, but the glass pane over a picture of her friends provided a reflective surface. Her breath caught in her throat.

The whites of her eyes glowed green; purple haze rose from their corners. A bright red ring had formed around her iris, and it was expanding, constricting away her normal sea-blue. “Dark magic!” No, no, no! This can't be happening!

With heavy trepidation, she raised her wings and looked at her flank. Her hide was smooth, like glass, and she could see her own reflection on its surface. It rippled like water when she touched it. Her ears drooped and flattened against her skull even as her breath caught in her throat. “Zecora's vision!”

Now she remembered. She'd seen her hide look like that once before, briefly, after her first round of night-terrors.

Giddiness overtook her.

Angel Bunny...

Even as she struggled against herself, she couldn't help but feel excited. The darkness urged her forward; it was winning.

No, no, no! She couldn't control herself and lurched forward. How could this have happened? She knew...

All along, from the very beginning, from the moment that Linky had touched her with her dirty hooves, Fluttershy had been infected with dark magic. There'd been some signs: strange dreams, unexpectedly strong magic, odd eye coloration, but they'd all been ignored. It was too late to do anything now; she was too weak to fight against it. Why was she fighting it? It felt great.

The thumping ceased. Angel Bunny stood in the doorway. His ears drooped low and his mouth opened wide.

Fluttershy felt a surge of pure hunger. She haltingly took another step forward, but her hesitation was evaporating. With the last ounce of her sanity, it was all she could do to utter a warning, “A-Angel, Bunny... run.”

He darted out of the room as fast as his little legs could take him. Adrenaline shot through her. The chase was on.

It sounded like a beast crashed through her kitchen. Dirty pots and pans clattered to the floor. A prized tea set tipped and shattered. Cabinet doors banged against their frames as a yellow monster dug through them. The beast was her.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Flutterbeast giggled as she pretended to be flummoxed by Angel's actions. The pet door swung on its hinges. She knew.

With a primal growl, Flutterbeast pushed open her back door. “Ah!” She winced and recoiled at the bright sun. She preferred the darkness, but she'd follow wherever Angel led her. He belonged to her, and she was going to make him hers forever.

“You can run, but you can't hide!”

Outside, by definition, was expansive. Her chicken coops were on stilts. The lattice work around their bases was in need of repair and a few broken holes would permit a rabbit to hide there. Angel did not like the smell of chickens. A maple tree had a hollow by its base. That hollow belonged to skunks. There was, of course, the Everfree, but Angel would not venture there.

Flutterbeast walked past the chicken coops and trampled through the field of poppies. The red flowers matched her eyes. Beyond the poppies, lay a patch of thorns. She cared not for how they scratched her. Her hooves parted the brush revealing the terrified rabbit trying to hide there. “Boo.”

Angel jumped away from her and raced into the open field. He might not be able to outrun her in a straight race, but his small mass was easy to turn and he could zig-zag to stymie ground pursuit. Too bad for him, she could fly.

“Whoops. Looks like you can't run, either.”

Flutterbeast dove down like a hawk and neatly plucked him from the ground. The wind from her passage whipped the seeds from a dandelion.

“Gotcha!”

In truth, he never stood a chance. They'd lived together so long that she knew everything about him. His hiding spots, his tendency to jump left, his love of thorns were all known to her. She held him before her red, glowing eyes and smiled with a huge wicked grin. His struggles only further fueled her burning passion. Flutterbeast was giddy with anticipation. He was the perfect size to fill the emptiness in her soul, but for a single moment, she hesitated.

Fluttershy knew everything about Angel Bunny. The way his whiskers twitched when he was happy, the sound his feet made as they thumped the floor when she rubbed his tummy, the softness of his fur coat pressed against her cheek when she was upset and he wanted to comfort her were all things that were known to her. If she continued, they were going to become mere memories.

Fluttershy could no more stop herself any more than Angel Bunny could escape from her grip. Her eyes might be glowing with the power of dark magic, but amidst her bright red irises small rings of sea blue still surrounded her pupils. Even as she drew him ever closer, even as her maniacal grin spread, and her body felt ready to climax from the intense euphoria of her actions, she cried.

“A-Angel Bunny?” Her voice was weak and held no malice. There was no gloating. She was frightened and scared. This was the Fluttershy that Angel had known all of his life. Some small part of her held on, and in that last moment before everything went dark, she connected with him for one final request: “C-can you smile for me? One last time?”

Twilight ran wild through Sweet Apple Acres. “Fluttershy, Applejack! Where are you!?”

“Ah'm here, Twilight.” Applejack looked up and passed off the rope she was holding to Big Mac, who tried to dig his hooves in the ground but he was slowly dragged away by the tension in the lines.

“Where's Fluttershy!?” Twilight teleported right in front of Applejack's face.

“She's back at her place, feeding the animals.”

“What!? But I was just there. The whole place was boarded up!”

“Huh?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“And why aren't you with her, feeding the animals!? That was your job.”

“Because... she asked me to leave?”

Twilight grabbed Applejack by her shoulders and shook her. “Applejack! You can't just leave ponies alone when they ask for it!”

Applejack retaliated by grabbing Twilight and holding her at hoofs-length. “Twilight. Snap out of it! Did ya even hear what you just said?”

Twilight crumpled in her hooves. She looked about ready to cry. Applejack set her down. “What is this about?”

“I got a response from Cadance this morning. Listen to this... Uh, let me skip to the relevant part.” Twilight unrolled a scroll with her magic. “ ‘...while it's good to hear that Fluttershy's in good health, that's not what I meant when I said that her time was running out. I'm sorry, that was written in haste and I could have worded it better. What I meant was that it was only a matter of time before she realized that without a destiny, she no longer had any reason to live.’ ”

Applejack bolted.

Twilight left her letter in the dust and galloped hard to catch up to the strong farm pony. “Applejack?”

“Twilight, it's already too late. She said the exact same thing to me this morning.”

“And you left her alone!?”

The sound of their hooves thundered through the streets.

“It's worse than that. She came back later, asking for rope.”

“And you gave it to her!?”

Applejack had no answer for that. She could only run.

Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie stood scratching their manes outside Fluttershy's boarded-up cottage. They were all wearing party hats and carrying gifts. The thunderous sound of galloping and the associated dust cloud drew their attention.

Twilight was the first to arrive. She appeared in a flash of magenta light and threw her whole body weight into kicking Fluttershy's door. It held. The resounding 'thud' was loud enough to make everypony flinch and Twilight bounced off, screaming in pain.

“Ow! Ow, ow, ow!” Twilight rolled over and sucked on her throbbing hooves.

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in the air. “That was a wicked kick there, Twilight, but, uh, we already knocked.”

“Ow. Rainbow, I was trying to kick down the door. Ow, ow. Even Spike broke down that door. Ow. Why couldn't I break down that door?”

“Uh, Twilight, darling?” Rarity looked at the door and back at Twilight. “That's just it. Fluttershy was having such a hard time keeping her door intact that Bolt Down really fixed it up well this time. Nopony's going to knock it off its hinges again anytime soon.”

Pinkie Pie stuck her face if front of Twilight's. “Hey, since you're here, do you want to sign my get well card?” Pinkie held up a large greeting card. The inscription read, ‘Hang in there.’

“No!”

Pinkie's ears drooped.

Galloping came to an end as Applejack stood before Fluttershy's door. Sweat glistened on her hide. “My turn.” Breathing heavily, Applejack turned around to line up her attack. She threw her weight on her forelegs and pushed back at the same time she kicked. There was a horrendous 'crunch' and the entire door frame broke free from the wall and landed in Fluttershy's living room. Everypony was shocked at its darkness.

Rarity cast some light from her horn into the room but there was no sign of Fluttershy, or anypony else. “Fluttershy, darling, are you okay?”

“There's the rope!” Applejack ran in and pointed at the coil still sitting on the table.

“What's this?” Rainbow Dash flew in and picked up a crumpled piece of paper. She unfolded it. “It says, ‘Sorry.’ ” The others piled inside next to her. “I don't get it. Why is it wet, and what does she have to be sorry about?”

“D-don't look at that!” All eyes turned to the yellow pegasus standing just outside the gaping hole in the wall.

“Fluttershy! You're okay! Thank goodness, I was so worried about you.” Twilight ran out to hug Fluttershy, but the pegasus kept her distance, strangely avoiding Twilight's touch.

Fluttershy's sea blue eyes stared ahead, unfocused. Wet streaks trailed down her cheeks. Her mouth hung open slightly, but she closed it into a wan smile. “I'm better than okay, I have a new cutie mark!” She turned to her side and lifted a wing for them to see.

Rainbow Dash flew over and stuck her face close to it. “Oh wow, it looks just like Angel Bunny.”

“Oh, but it is Angel Bunny.” She held that pose for a while longer, while the others oohed and aahed.

Suddenly, Fruttershy wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash and buried her face in her friend's multicolored mane. Rainbow was shocked, but returned Fluttershy's embrace.

“I-I—” Fluttershy wept softly, tears streaming down her cheeks again “—I think I killed him.”

He would always be with her forever. He was part of her now, but at the same time, he was gone. She'd never to be able to hold him or love him ever again. She'd also never be able to forget that look on his face in his final moments. It was plastered on her hide, for the whole world to see.