Sweetie Belle looked around, she had been listening to Cheerilee for quite some time, however she looked over when she noticed Scootaloo asleep. She had glanced over nearly an hour ago, her face was flat and unreadable, now however it had morphed into a smile, obviously whatever this dream was about she was enjoying it. It appears Cheerilee had been hoping the filly would wake up at some point, she never liked sleepers, however this did not happen.

The class had been pretty mellow, Sweetie and Scoots were in no mood to be there following their recent discoveries, and Scootaloo frankly didn't see a point in any of it so off the dream-land she went.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle whispered, nudging her friend with a pencil,  “Scootaloo! Pssssst!”

The pegasus slowly opened her eyes at first, then they shot open like a deer in headlights.  Her eyes darted around scanning for two ponies in particular. She could see Diamond Tiara in normal condition, not a scratch on her....yet.  Sweetie Belle was of course fine and well and had a worried look on her face.

“You okay Scoots?” Sweetie asked.

“Yeah....” Scootaloo began slowly, “I think we should stay inside for recess today.”

“Oh my, Twilight this is awful!” Fluttershy had said this several times by now. Twilight was now wrapping up her explanation of the interesting findings she had the last few days, as well as updating her friend on all the mishaps of the week.

“That's pretty much all of it.” Twilight ended dryly, “Kinda wish I was you...or anypony else at the moment.”  

Fluttershy quickly pulled Twilight into a hug.  “Don't you say those things Twilight, even without your magic you're still my friend. And I think that can be said for the rest of us.”

“Aw, thanks Fluttershy—really, it means a lot.” Twilight smiled, that sincere comment warmed her heart which had been cold for some time. She always knew she could count on the gentle animal-lover for nothing short of uplifting and lofty complements.

“I do have....uhm, one question though.” Fluttershy began, “If the princess did all these nasty, awful things, what are we supposed to do about it? I mean, no offense but I don't really think we stand a chance against Celestia...or her guards.”

“Very true, though I think the crusaders made a good point.” She chuckled some as she remembered their quick rush to leave it all behind and 'liberate equestria' under the banner of 'freedom fighters'. That trio was always thinking of absurdly adorable, occasionally destructive yet whimsical things.

“We can't just sit here and wait for what happened to the Discordian ponies to happen again.”  Twilight had come to label the inhabitants of the pre-Celestia society, 'Discordian Ponies' for the mere fact that they lives in the alleged 'Age Of Discord'.

“Though you are right Fluttershy, without my magic, we really don't have much of a hoof up on this whole thing—But I think it would be better to address this when everypony else comes by tonight.”

“Hey Twi?” Applebloom piped up; she had been reading the book that Twilight had been studying, upon promising multiple times that she'd be super-extra-ultra-very-careful with it. Though now she was a bit hungry.  “Can we have a snack? Ahm kinda hungry.”

“Oh yes, sure thing Applebloom!” Twilight answered as she made her way to the kitchen, Fluttershy behind her.

“Who's all coming tonight?” Fluttershy was curious.

“Well...” Twilight remembered as she assembled some sandwiches, “Rainbow and Rarity for sure, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo too, That's it though I'm afraid, really those are the only ones I've been comfortable taking about this with, Pinkie is just—Pinkie will tell ponies she's not supposed to, we don't need that.”  Fluttershy nodded in agreement and took one of the completed sandwiches to Applebloom.

Rarity looked at her progress thus far and was pleased. Her orders from Canterlot had gone very well, so well in fact that they already commissioned a season-long fashion line, with her name on it! Slightly overwhelmed but all in all very pleased. The day had gone pretty well for her. No customers to force her away from her project, no chaos from the two fillies she had to care for, despite everything on her mind things had gone very well today.

She glanced at the clock and noticed it was time to meet the fillies at school. Normally they would come home on their own, but today Twilight wanted to see them. Rarity figured it was about her recent findings. The snow-colored unicorn was still airing on the side of caution when it came to fully embracing these things, she certainly didn't deny them but with where she was business wise it made no sense to “go primal” as she put it. She did some modest tidying of her workroom and headed for Ponyville's schoolhouse.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo managed to get through the day, dodging Cheeriliee's questions about their quietness, Scootaloo's sleepiness, and every other out of place thing they did. The mare wasn't aware of any of the recent incidents, which likely was good for them, if it had been otherwise, they would've never gotten away from her curiosity.

Scootaloo let out a sign of relief. “I am so glad this boring day is over with!” She waved a hoof for emphasis, “If Cheerilee asked any more questions I would've lost it for sure.”

“Aw she's just concerned Scoots.” Sweetie smiled. It had been a pretty normal day, or at least as normal and uneventful as it could possibly be. She was taking this with a glass-half-full mindset.

“Didn't Rarity say to wait for her?” The orange pegasus asked, straining her eyes to see if Rarity made her way over the obtuse hill that arched in front of the school on the way to Ponyville.

“She seemed busy too Scoots.” Sweetie Belle added, “Maybe we should meet her halfway, you know, to be nice.”

Scootaloo nodded and they made their way up the hill and down. They trotted into Ponyville, slowing some as they when. Rarity finally came into view, she seemed in a good mood herself, much to the filly's relief.

“Ah, hello girls! My apologies for running a little late—well, you know how it is, I got pretty busy—a good kind of busy today.”

“Great news sis!” Sweetie grinned. Scootaloo smiled but not much else.

“We're going to drop your bags off at home and then we're headed straight for Twilight's, she wants us there as soon as possible.”

Scootaloo's ears perked up a bit. Finally, something exciting.

Sweetie Belle then remembered something she failed to ask until now, “Hey Scoots, what was that dream about?”

Scootaloo stopped, forgetting for a moment. “What dream?”

“I dunno.” Sweetie shrugged, “You seemed pretty happy about it whatever it was.”

Scootaloo's faced burned red, “Oh...that. Heh, uh, well, let's just say that it wasn't really that great—until the end.”

Scootaloo was being evasive again, Rarity never liked this.  “Do tell Scootaloo, what was it about?”

“Well—Diamond Tiara was picking on us about stupid stuff and you--” she started laughing as she looked at Sweetie Belle, “You of all ponies tried to pin her down and make her shit her trap.”

Sweetie Belle laughed as well. She wasn't one to do something like that. If Scootaloo taught her anything, never mess with a fuming filly.

“She beat you pretty bad, you didn't really do anything either—so I jumped in and took care of her.”  Scootaloo let off a wicked grin, the memory of letting that brat have it was still just a vibrant and just as satisfying as it was hours ago.

“Well that sound quite unpleasant Scootaloo.” Rarity dead-panned.

“Yeah, good thing it was all a dream huh?” Sweetie added.

The trio shared a laugh as they made their way now to Twilight's tree-house.

Rainbow Dash had already arrived and was finishing off the uneaten food Twilight had made, much to her chagrin. She hoped Rarity and the girls weren't hungry. Making food without magic proved to be pretty laborious.  

“Let's save one for Rarity and the girls Dash.” Twilight said, “It took me way too long to get these simple sandwiches done. How do you Earth Ponies do it?”

Applebloom was happy to be apart of the conversation at the big ponies table, all day she was pretty much left to her own devices, which she spent reading and drawing.

“Well, there's a few things Granny taught me when we made zap-apple jam and pie. It's pretty easy once ya figure it out. “

“Well then it looks like I'll have to have you teach me one of these days.” Twilight laughed.

“Yeah me too, I can't cook to save my life.” Rainbow added, now plopped on the bottom step of the main staircase.

Rarity and the other fillies entered, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle instantly ran to Applebloom for a hug. It had only been a little over a day but felt like it was forever since they were last together.

“Good evening Twilight,” Rarity began without invitation, “Work was simply marvelous, how are you today?--and hello Ms Fluttershy! It has been some time since we last saw each other hasn't it been?” She went to hug her feathered friend.

“Fair enough, there is some food--” she glanced to make sure it was still there. “I made some sandwiches, you and the girls can divvy up that one and help yourselves, heh, It looks like Applebloom is going to have to re-teach me how to make food. It's funny how you take things for granted.”

“Oh you poor thing, I forgot all about that! I would've prepared something along the way if I would've known.”

“No biggie Rarity, we already ate.” Rainbow interjected.

“You can certainly say that can't you?” Twilight scolded softly.

“Hey! I had a crazy day today, I had to eat something.” Rainbow pouted.

The three fillies were marveling at Applebloom's rather elaborate drawings, she had more than enough time on her hands to produce some refined renditions of Ponyville, apples, and the crusader clubhouse.

“Man I miss that place.” Scootaloo recalled, “How long has it been since we hung out there?”

“Awhile..” Sweetie Belle remembered,

“Even longer for me, shoot ah can't even recall the last time we were there together.” Applebloom looked at the picture longingly.

This exchange reminded Rarity of something, she motioned Twilight for a quick word in a far corner of the room so the fillies wouldn't hear.

“Speaking of Sweet Apple Acres,” Rarity's voice was but a whisper, “has anyone set hoof there since the whole incident? Has anyone heard from Apple Jack at all?”

Twilight hadn't thought of this for a long time, or at least it felt that way. “I'm afraid not now that you mention it. Despite what she did I hope they're okay. Why do you ask?”

“I don't know Twilight, as I saw Scootaloo make up with Sweetie after that ghastly brawl they had, I saw a far away look in Applebloom's eyes—somethings telling me she wants to know if her sister is sorry. I think we'd all like an explanation at the very least.”

“Huh...” Twilight pondered the idea, it has been about a week since it all went down, though neither AJ or Big Mac had emerged from the farm since Granny's funeral in Apple Loosa.

“I figured a little diplomatic mission is not too much to ask, though should we really bring Applebloom until we know what we're getting into?”

“Too true.” Rarity looked back at the fillies who were laughing and play-fighting. “I suppose we should head down ourselves and see.”

“I think maybe--” Twilight thought, “Rainbow and I will head down there, you and Fluttershy can look after the girls.”

“Now?” Rarity slightly whined, though Twilight didn't seem to notice.

“Might as well. We'll both forget otherwise.” Rarity nodded in agreement.

They brought Rainbow to their corner and explained their plan, the cyan pegasus was all for it. A little adventure in a pretty dull day was fine by her.

“Yeah, I suppose you are going to need some muscle huh?” Rainbow boasted.

“Mmhm sure.” Twilight panned, unimpressed. “Let's go now before it gets too late.”

The two made it out of Twilight's house, and decided to take a detoured route so as to appear to the fillies in case they were watching, to be headed into town for business.

It was an odd feeling approaching the farm. Usually they wouldn't think twice but both mares found themselves somewhat intimidated by the sight of it. Regardless they pushed on. Making their way under the sign and down the dirt road to the homestead. They looked around to see if the mare and stallion were out in the orchards but didn't see them. What they did see what as rather neglected orchard. Rotten apples were submitting to the forces of nature, fungus had made a campaign to reclaim the trees, and the weeds were beginning to dominate the grass below and protrude into the road itself.

“You can tell they haven't been out much—if at all.” Twilight whispered.

“Or they aren't even here.” Rainbow mused.

They approached the porch of the home. Unsure as to who was going to take that massive initiative to knock on the door, Twilight took charge and weakly wrapped on the wooden door. At first they heard nothing. The windows were curtained so there was no way of seeing inside. Then, the door opened.

Apple Jack was in a horrid state. Bags under her eyes, her mane was knappy and dirty, one could tell by her slight weight gain and limp that they had been making good use of the heavy cider lately.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Rainbow lowered to her hooves, and they looked blankly at one another.

“Come on girls.”  Apple Jack croaked. Her voice was raspy, almost on par with Scootaloo.

The inside of the house was about as objectionable as the orchards. The windows, all of them on the main floor anyway were shut tight, small paths of light flooded in but seemed to only serve as a reminder of how much dust and micro-sized debris was swimming through the air. Dishes were stained, caked in mush that was likely food at one point. The whole of the home was coated in at least an inch of dust, dirt, and grime. A single candle that was on its last centimeter of usable wax sat dimly lit at the center of the kitchen table.  Apple Jack motioned them to sit on a couch in the foyer.

Silence reigned again for some time as each collected their thoughts and prepared for whatever was to come. To the relief of Twilight and Rainbow both, Apple Jack spoke first.

“So ah suppose yer hear about mah sister.” She said dryly, no emotion indicated on her face.

“Well....” Twilight began.

“How is she?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, she's...she's fine. She's staying with me at the moment.”

“Hm.” The orange mare answered, almost a grunt. Silence persisted once again. The ticking and swinging of a rusty pendulum from a nearby grandfather clock was the only conductor of sound.

Apple Jack sniffled some, from likely a cold of some kind as opposed to emotion, the same dry expression shown.

“Ahm a terrible sister Twi. Here ah went teachin' the filly about values and family--” A crease could be seen forming along her mouth as she spoke, it appeared as if this was the first she'd spoken in a while.

“An' ah go drinkin' like a fool and damn near end her. Damn it the fuck was I thinkin'.”

“Apple Jack--” Twilight started, only to be interrupted.

“Twi, ah can't bare seeing her again, after what we did to her she deserves better. We ain't got a clue what ta do now that Granny's pushin' up daisies. Shoot, me an' Big Mac were thinkin' a puttin' up this place and headin' down to the family in Apple Loosa-- an' we most likely will. But ah want her to stay here.” She shed a tear now.  “I want to know ain't nopony's gonna do her like we did.”

“She missed you Applejack.” Twilight pushed, “She at least deserves an apology...” Her voice trailed as an angry look took form on the farm mare's face.

“Dammit Twi I said no!” Apple Jack yelled, she then ran into a fit of coughing, once again indicating she had yet to do much aside from sanitation and sleep in this dilapidated home.

“Big Mac ain't much of a speakin' man--” Applejack continued, “We both agreed it'd be best, honestly Twi, the filly was born at a bad time, we was jealous when she came and we hate her now.”

“H-how could you say such a thing! She's your sister!” Twilight was taken aback by this stark and cold statement that seemed to shove a dagger to the heart of her very idea of who Applejack was.

“Twi-- mah father was an alcoholic, he beat ma more than ah few times. We hated him, we grew close to Ma—it's hard ta explain really. He treated us all like dirt. Granny even says he wasn't out real father so Applebloom ain't even our kin—point is when she was born, Ma was at death's door, and bringin' that foal into the world pushed her the final stretch.” She paused some, sniffling and wiping some fresh tears, “The piece a shit done did her in”

Twilight and Rainbow figured at this point she was talking about Applebloom. They both remained silent, completely unsure as to how to approach this.

“We tried Twi, Rainbow, we did. Granny never liked her, only when she had to. Me an; Big Mac tried to play the part of a big brother an' sister who ave two shits, damn filly made it hard though, always bitchin' 'boout her damn cutie mark.” A undertow of anger began to take form in her voice and posture.

“Ah tried to get her outta our mane with that stupid tree-house, Celestia knows that's the only way we didn't do her in ourselves.”

There was a sudden drop in pressure, at least in their minds, silence again.

“I—If she wouldn't have done anythin' Twi—Ima be honest with you, ah would've fuckin' killed her, we woulda dumped her with Granny and wouldn't a care d dime a difference.  Ah know, its awful but—Ah could never truly love the filly, none of us could.”

Twilight made a sound as if she were to speak bu hastily retreated into silence. Rainbow was sitting now, looking down at her hooves. It was all so much, so messed up, so...unexpected. So wrong.

“All ahm askin' Twi is that ya'll leave us alone. We're gonna git soon an' we don't need nopony seein' us like this. And we sure as hell don't need ta see her.” She hissed on the last word. This hate was genuine, clear, it was deep seeded and wasn't going anywhere.  Apple Jack got up from her seat and the other two mares followed. The directed them out the door.

“Ah had some swell times Twi, Rainbow too—it's a shame—really, but that's just the way things are ahm afraid.” She turned to close the door behind her.  “Goodbye”

The two mares outside were silent. Twilight merely nodded. The door shut and the sound of hooves retreated from hearing.  Twilight and Rainbow stood on the porch, staring down at the splintered planks below.  Did that just happen? Was this one sick, twisted, dream? No.

“Holy fucking shit.” Rainbow said under her breath.

They made their way out, much slower now than even before. The pertinent question in their mids was what morbid secrets their other friends held, they looked at each other, mentally concluded this was an exception and continued without another word.

Upon returning to Twilight's house,  it was almost a relief to be in the company of their rational, genuine, friends. Thought the felt a cold tinge of guilt inexplicable apathy for a red-maned filly with a bow who seemed very happy, they made their way to the center of the room without much suspicion as to their sudden shift in mood. The looks they gave Rarity and Fluttershy were more than enough to affirm things had not gone well at all.

Rainbow had had about enough this evening and decided to head out.

The remaining mares made their way to the upstairs balcony to discuss things in private. Twilight unraveled the still unbelievable story she had to endure. Rarity and Fluttershy were speechless throughout.

“Well...” Rarity said once Twilight had finished, mouth agape,  “I suppose this is all for the best then.”

“What pisses me off the most is that—they didn't say anything until it was too late!” Twilight was mad now, the rage and disgust she subdued back at the farm was now making its presence known.  “This poor filly—how are we going to tell her?”

“Not anytime soon that's for sure.” Rarity declared, “We have enough on our hooves right now, we don't need another basket case, Scootaloo is enough at the moment.”

She sighed some, that filly had been evading her again. Now that Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle seemed even closer following the fight, the pegasus filly seemed to be going back to her sister, Rarity's place as “mother”, at least in figure and practice was slipping.

“So...when are Apple Jack and Big Mac moving?” Fluttershy asked.

“She said soon,” Twilight recalled, “and frankly I could care less anymore.”

“I think you speak for us all dear.” Rarity assured her, her own look of distaste appeared.

They were silent for a moment as they looked up at the sky, they figured the girls would get curious and so they chose to change the subject.

“On to more....tangible affairs.” Rarity began, “Fluttershy and I have been talking, and if we're actually going to do something about—this whole Celestia mess than we might as well do it now. Rainbow said this fall was going to be short lived and winter was going to be a long one. I sure don't want to be facing the forces of Equestria in a foot of snow.”

Twilight's mind took some time to transcend from the troubles of a filly to the subject at hand, silence proclaiming this more than anything.

“You make a good point. But...do we even have a plan? To charge in their blind would certainly be suicide. And besides, I doubt any subsequent visits to Canterlot will be pleasant for me, that's even if it's permitted.”

“We could ask around Ponyville to see who could help.” Fluttershy suggested.

“We could...but then we'd run the risk of raising some alarm bells, we'd be reported for sure.” Twilight said, “But I guess that's really our only hope isn't it?”

Rarity let out a very large, very unladylike yawn, it was very late. Especially for when she wasn't working.

“I'm so sorry Twilight but, I am much to tired, the girls need some sleep anyway, judging by today they aren't quite used to going back to school. I'm afraid we'll have to finish this tomorrow.”

“I-i have to go too, I'm sure Angel Bunny is very unhappy, why, he hasn't had dinner.” Fluttershy panicked some as she simply flew off the balcony towards her cottage. Rarity and Twilight watched her trail off and then they made their way inside.

The crusaders were still busying themselves on the main floor, play-fighting again.

“Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!” Rarity called out tiredly, “I'm afraid we are heading home now.”

“Awww!” The three fillies groaned.

“Just a few more minutes?” Sweetie Belle pleaded.

“No Sweetie Belle, it is much too late, you looked far too tired today for you to stay up any later than you already have, come now. I'm not in the mood for negotiation.”

The two girls gave Applebloom a hug and trailed Rarity out the door and back to the Boutique. Twilight sat in the middle of the room. Applebloom came up to her and sat with her. Just when she was in hooves reach, Twilight pulled her into a tight hug, chin resting on the filly's head.

“Applebloom,” she began with a shaky voice, “I-I want you to know no matter what happens, I'm here for you, okay?”

Applebloom was a little startled and weirded out by the while thing but smiled at the reassurance. “Okay Twi, thanks—uhm, ah appreciate it.”

Without thought, Twilight kissed the filly on the head. The moment she realized what she did she feared violent squirming and retaliation, instead she felt two hooves around her and Applebloom's head buried in her chest. A look of happiness and love on her face.

“Thank ya Twi, It...Thank you.”

With the filly cradled in her hooves, the sat there for some time, embracing one another in a spur-the-moment familial love that it seemed both had been wanting for some time now. Applebloom felt pretty happy at this moment, blissfully unaware that Twilight's tears of joy that were matting her mane were in fact, tears of sympathy for a filly whom, until now was regarded as a burden, murderer, no good whining waste of space. She looked down at the cream colored filly who was now pursuing sleep. Applebloom was curled up into a little ball of fur with a bow on top. Twilight wished this moment could last a lifetime.

Meanwhile at the boutique, a similar event was unfolding, Sweetie Belle had opted to sleep with Scootaloo this evening, the darkness she wasn't all that used to frightened her. Thought she still cradled Scootaloo, subconsciously playing the role of a surrogate mother, she clung to the pegasus for safety, she could comfort the filly but only Scootaloo could protect her. She had a bad feeling in her stomach, be it from the food or roughhousing she wasn't too sure but it didn't feel good at all, save the warm orange fur that made the sickly feeling retreat only a moment. Next Chapter: Eviction Notice Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 57 Minutes