She flicked the lighter once more, her light green aura of magic sputtering and stuttering like an old machine starting back up after a lifetime-long silence. The sparks simply refused to ignite. She grumbled, adjusting her position on the dining chair with a white hoof on the table before her and a slip of her pink tongue onto her lip. Narrowing her eyes, she gritted her teeth so hard she believed she'd crack them, nudged her head forward, and swiveled the sparker once more.

This time, she was rewarded with a small orange flame that grew in size and illuminance until she could finally see comfortable around her. Though she was incredibly distressed about the whole "Ponyville being on lockdown" thing and all, she had to at least admit that it helped when it came time to sleep. The bright glow touched upon the filly sitting across from her, her purple mane as shaggy and unkempt as could be. If her sister was anywhere near here, she definitely would've vomited and began seizing on the carpet at the sight. Luckily for Sweetie Belle, Rarity was down at Sweet Apple Acres. Unluckily for Sweetie Belle, that was because of what had happened a month or two back.

That led to the reasoning behind Apple Bloom's absence for tonight's event, Sweetie Belle realized as she noticed the empty chair still pushed in next to her friend. She looked up at her with a pair of incredibly fatigued looking purple eyes, though the smile on her lips told different stories of happiness and thankfulness. Belle wasn't really sure how she could do it; being so okay through this whole ordeal. Sure, she maintained that she needed some time alone occasionally, but everypony needed some quiet time sometimes, right? That's what Rarity always said, though that was usually when she and her friends were bustling about like the Manehattan rush hour around the Boutique. Said Boutique had seen better days, but then again, so had Ponyville. They turned off the electricity weeks ago, and without an outlet to rely on and no TV to catch up on, its citizens had also seen better days. All because of what had happened a month or two ago. She couldn't really tell how long ago it was, they all just kind of... blended in together.

Somepony caught her attention from the other side of the dining table. Sweetie Belle widened her eyes and straightened the frown she had let grow on her face, then turned to her left and stared.

"Yeah, Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo was quiet for a little while, mostly hidden behind the large white pastry lying before her on the picnic sheet. They'd found it in one of Rarity's cupboards, and even though it looked a bit old-fashioned and had a few surprisingly unnoticed holes marring its surface, it sure beat eating on the dusty oak underneath their food. Sweetie Belle looked away, still levitating the lighter next to her face. The flame sprouting from its top continued to flare and sputter, reminiscent of the light green aura surrounding its figure.

"We might wanna light them now."

Belle stopped. The lighter almost clattered onto the floor beneath her.

"Whaddyou mean?" She really had no idea. Twisting about in her chair, she propped a foreleg on its back and added, "Nopony else is here yet." She swiveled back around, the squeaking in the old steel grating in her ears and almost bleeding them dry. She cleared her throat with a hoof to her trachea and continued, "Rarity should be coming back in a bit; we could wait for her before we–"

"Rainbow Dash won't be here."

Rainbow Dash had left just two weeks ago, if Sweetie Belle recalled correctly. Not even a wave of goodbye or a farewell hug. She had just put on her gear and flew off in a rainbow blaze with that other stallion. Sweetie Belle swallowed a lump down her throat. She wouldn't dare speak it out loud, but for once, Scootaloo had a point, and a heck of a good one at that. She had to marvel on the fact that Scootaloo had said it without any hint of emotion whatsoever. It was almost like she was a Pegasus robot, built for mass destruction and... killing and...

...

She swallowed another lump down her throat. It probably wasn't for the best to think about that kind of stuff again. Her mind wandered aimlessly and prompted her to idle. Looking around from her seat, she caught notice of the accessory draped around her neck and slid it around so its long end faced her. Placing a hoof underneath one of its corners, Sweetie Belle silently bounced her red Crusader's cape. Scootaloo's lay forgotten on the floor by her chair's legs. Hopefully, Apple Bloom was wearing hers while working out in the apple fields. Without her brother and sister to help her, she needed all she could to not collapse and die. Belle considered her cape to be a good luck charm, mostly due to the fact that she had made hers last—as Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom's were her first real attempts at clothesmaking—and hence was the one that looked the most attractive. She counted the threads of stitching that she had made along a border near the cape's edge. One two three four five six seven eight, all the way up to twenty-six. The lighter still burned in her magic.

Sweetie Belle sat like this, mumbling numbers to herself and lightly bobbing the flaming lighter by her head as Scootaloo simply stared straight ahead. The shadows around the duo danced a particularly chunky Salsa out of the corners of Sweetie Belle's eyes, swaying side to side and up and down along the Carousel Boutique's dust and cobweb-covered walls. If the stores were still open, she'd go out and buy new wallpaper herself; the current ones were looking a bit shredded and saggy as it was. She reminded herself that she was looking at the threads on her cape, and so she about snapped her neck to look back down at the article of clothing. She would have started humming if she didn't know or didn't care that it would startle Scootaloo across from her.

The filly was leaning over on her chair. Sweetie Belle looked up. Scootaloo let out a short laugh, an eyebrow raising into the sky.

"What, you only got me one? Was the comic book store closed or something?"

It was. Scootaloo knew that, and so did Sweetie Belle. What a weird joke to make. They'd walked around the town past its curfew a lot of times already, she had to have known it was ransacked. Belle frowned. It wasn't even a comic book.

"Sweetie Belle?"

The filly waggled her brow. Whoops. "Yeah, Scootaloo?"

The Pegasus waved her hoof in front of her like she was beckoning for somepony to come in. That would be dangerous. Hopefully she wouldn't actually do that.

"Can I have the lighter, since you're apparently not gonna do it?"

"Oh," Sweetie Belle said, suddenly looking at the appliance. It continued to burn. Funny how that worked. You keep your hoof pressed on the big swivel thing on the back and it just stays lit up. Let go and it just—skrrt—stops.

"Why'd you turn it off?"

"Do we really need to do this?"

Scootaloo looked hurt. She sank a bit in her chair, replying in a slightly more somber tone, "Do you... not wanna be here?"

Belle perked up, smiling. "No, it's not that!" Scootaloo nodded and grew a small grin. "It's just... not really the same with just two people, you know?"

Scootaloo's face suddenly lit up, a wide-open grin plastered on her orange face. "Oh, I know! Why don't we go ask if Twilight wants to come too! Maybe she knows where Rainbow Dash went!"

Sweetie Belle flicked the lighter. No fire. "I think Twilight's up in Canterlot, talking to the Princesses."

Scootaloo's ears flattened against the sides of her head as she deflated, a sad frown once again falling upon her lips.

"Oh..."

Sweetie Belle scratched the back of her head. "Hey..." Scootaloo perked up, waiting for Sweetie Belle to continue. "Did Apple Bloom tell you about Big M–"

The look on the Pegasus' face made her halt in her tracks. She looked about ready to cry.

Sweetie Belle stuttered in her throat somewhere. She looked up. "Is he all ri–"

The same look. The same results. The room fell quiet once more.

She guessed not.

"Where's Spike?"

Now that was something Sweetie Belle didn't know.

"I think he's with Twilight." Scootaloo gave a short ah of recognition as Belle continued, "So, Canterlot." She tried to flick on the lighter again. Still nothing.

The table was quiet once more. Scootaloo sat forward in her seat, placing her chin in her crossed forelegs lying on the sheets. The large pastry in front of her lay uneaten, and unseen. Belle adjusted her posture and elicited another long, hellish creak from her chair.

Flick.

Flick.

Flick.

Flick.

Flick.

"I just hope that Delirious is okay."

Sweetie Belle bugged her eyes out as if she had just heard her foal sputter a curse word. Slowly turning about in her chair—and raising yet another chorus of creaks—she tilted her head. The pointy hat atop her curly mane slid around her neck and hung suspended in the air.

Scootaloo looked up at her, eyes shrunk and baggy.

Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Happy birthday, Scootaloo."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The two went crashing into the dusty old clothes drawer, sending it and its contents—both in and above—down to the ground to shatter and bury in the sand. The Unicorn mare, standing on the sidelines, continued to scream at them to stop. The blue Pegasus, his mask slightly twisted and slid off his face, threw his opponent against the rock wall, screaming as he had other ideas and brought him down with him. Now wrestling on the ground, they began throwing punches and landing hits, though none were strong enough to knock the other off or out. Rolling around and kicking up sprays of sand, the two stallions yelled at one another with animalistic growls and hisses.

Delirious tumbled around, his hooves clutching Bucking Bronco's windpipe in a crushing pincer. Straddled atop the opposing Pegasus, Delirious roared from somewhere down in his throat and started pressing as hard as he could. Bronco took the time to strike a hoof into Delirious' stomach, effectively ending his breathtaking crusade. Pushing him away, Bronco leapt up and tackled Delirious once more, throwing a hoof back and getting ready to launch it. Delirious saw through this and brought in a hindleg, stuffing it into Bronco's gut to try pushing him off. His forelegs went to Bronco's face, tilting his brown head and causing him to glare at him and bare his teeth out of the corners of his eyes. Bronco suddenly dipped his head forward, the light tan Stetson previously on his head falling onto Delirious' face and effectively blinding him.

He heard the sound of a gun clattering and instinctively ducked. A flurry of sand dusted his black mane above where his head had previously been. Using the hat as a protective cover, he rose up and headbutted Bronco in the side, knocking the Pegasus over onto the ground. As he looked around in a daze, he could only watch as Delirious sprinted toward him, grabbing hold of his foreleg that was holding the Heavy Pistol tightly. Grabbing it with his teeth, Delirious bit down on Bronco's skin. Hard. A few flakes of blood sprayed freely, and Bronco held enough intelligence to simply fling the firearm across the room.

Now on top of Bronco once more, Delirious threw a punch into his brown face and brought his forelegs up, shoving them into Bronco's mouth. Beginning to pull his closed mouth apart, Delirious gritted his teeth, furrowed his brow, and shouted.

"Give me my fucking teddy bear back!"