The sound of ponies and foals quietly murmuring and talking filled Melon Cake’s ears as she rested herself on the large white pillow under her. Her chin rested on her forelegs while her right back leg was folded on the right side of her barrel, her tail curled around it. Her left front leg on the other hoof, was fully splayed out to her left side, still wrapped up in bandages and held straight out. Nurse Redheart had advised her to keep it like that so it the ointment she put on it allowed to heal faster, especially after Captain Shining Armor had accidentally stepped on it. Despite the force put in it, it didn’t leave any unneeded damage on her leg, much to the filly’s relief. It just a really painful ache jolting through her leg that took some time to go away. After she had given it another, very thorough check over, Redheart allowed the filly to go back to her friends. Though giving her another firm, yet gentle scolding about wandering off on her own without adult supervision. Before she did though, she gave the filly a pillow to rest on, not wanting her to have to sit on the uncomfortable hard surface of the Town Square’s floor. Melon Cake sweetly thanked her, before happily bounding to the far back of the Town Square, where some of the other foals were.

The soft green filly let out a soft sigh as she rolled over on the pillow, taking care not to put too much strain on her bandaged leg. She stared up silently at the ceiling, her thick spikey dark green mane resting on her face and the pillow around her. A soft humming left her mouth as her mind wandered back to the all that had happened earlier that day. Melon Cake had experienced a lot of crazy and unimaginable things, but never in her young life did she ever think that anything like this would happen. Going from playing and talking with her friends one moment, and then being trapped with her leg nearly broken the next. It was certainly not how she was expecting her day to go, especially one that was supposed to be marked as the longest day of the year, and her entire life. Melon Cake was even more shocked at just how it had gone down, and just who was the cause of it happening, somepony she never ever expected to see.

A shiver when down her spine as the memory of seeing how Queen Celestia struck down flashed through her mind, causing her to put a hoof to her chest. She gingerly rubbed at it, as if she was stabbed there as well by Nightmare Moon’s horn and left to bleed to death at her hooves. Melon Cake had no idea how much pain that Nightmare Moon had put the Queen in, and she didn’t really want to know either. She wanted to see if the Queen was okay, but was unable to thanks to the wood pile she was trapped in. Some hope and dread filled her when she saw the that the Queen and Nightmare Moon were both gone after she was rescued, which caused her to have mixed feelings. On one hoof, she hoped that Queen Celestia had recovered from the attack, and was off battling Nightmare Moon, preventing her from hurting anypony else. On the other hoof, she feared that Nightmare Moon had taken Celestia and whisked her away to whatever dark and creepy lair she had hidden somewhere the wasn’t from here. Melon Cake really hoped that it was the former, not wanting the dark Alicorn to come back and hurt her or her friends. If that happened, the soft green filly didn’t know what she’d do.

‘Come on Melon Cake, don’t think like that!’ Melon mentally scolded herself. ‘The Queen wouldn’t just go down and not get back up again! She’d take and face off against the meanie that tried to attack us and make them pay for it! She’s an Alicorn, and she’s an immortal one at that! She’s faced so many evil ponies in the past that she’ll know just what to do about them, like that other scary Alicorn! There is no wayshe’s gonna go down without a fight, especially if that villain tries to hurt us! That’s the Queen Celestia that I know!’

Melon Cake lightly slapped both of her cheeks in an effort to make the doubts and dark thoughts in her mind and heart go away. She repeated the words to herself over and over in her mind, until the more unpleasant thoughts left them for good. A few moments later, Melon Cake let out another more pleasant sigh, a smile of satisfaction coming to her face. As she let herself relax, one of her ears flicked when she heard the sound of hooves quietly clopping. She didn’t lift her head up or react to it, thinking that there was somepony coming to check up on them. That is, until she heard the pony suddenly speak up.

“M-M-Melon Cake?” A timid and innocent voice stuttered out, right into Melon Cake’s ear. “A-are you awake?”

The soft green slowly opened her multi-colored eyes, looking up to see another foal looking down at her through her mess of a mane. She pushed it back to get a much better look at the other foal, and felt a smile come to her face at who it was. It was an Earth Pony filly, like her, with pale light grayish raspberry coat, and a moderate orchid mane and tail. She had a pair of arctic blue eyes that reminded Melon of staring into beautiful glaciers of ice that lay in the Frozen North. The filly’s mane and tail were tied together with blue hairbands, with her mane in twin ponytails, and her Cutie Mark was of a little white porcupine with brown spines.

“Oh, hi Lily!” Melon Cake chirped, rolling over to face the other filly. “I didn’t even notice you there! Whatcha doin’ over here?”

Lily, fully named Lily Longsocks, pawed at the ground shyly, avoiding eye contact with the soft green filly. “W-well, I came out one of the rooms where the other foals were, a-after I noticed that you weren’t here with us. So, I came out to look for you and found you here, and, um…how you weren’t really moving. S-so I came to check up on you a-and see how you were doing. You, um…y-you’re doing okay, right?”

“Of course I am silly! Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Melon Cake giggled. “The only thing I have is a broken leg, and it’s not even hurting all that much! Well, not anymore anyway, but you get what I mean!”

“A-are you sure?” Lily asked, her worried expression not fading. “Y-you had some big one piled on top of you. And it looked p-p-pretty bad when M-Miss Midnight lifted it off of you.”

Melon Cake looked back at her splayed-out left leg, staring at the bandages coating it with thick layers of bandages and gauze. She gave it a little shift, and it sent an unpleasant ache through her limb, causing her to wince.

“Okay…so it aches a little bit every time I try to move it.” Melon Cake admitted. “It’s not that bad really. I don’t really feel any pain anymore, so it’s fine.”

“O-okay then, if you say so.” Lily said, nodding slightly. “I’m glad that y-you’re starting to feel better. I-I really thought that you were going be w-w-worse off than you were.”

“Oh, don’t worry Lily!” Melon Cake said, reaching out and patting the grayish violet filly on her head. “It’s gonna take a lot more than a little broken leg to keep Melon Cake Smoothie down! Besides, if I let that happen, how else would I be able to turn you and the other foals’ frowns upside down? Like the one you’re wearing right now?”

Lily stayed quiet for a moment, a small smile coming to her face. “You wouldn’t be able to, because you’d be sad yourself.”

“You bet your sweet little porcupine loving flank I wouldn’t! That’s why I need to make sure I have something to smile about!” Melon Cake replied, giving a wink. “I am Ponyville Elementary’s resident ‘Fun Filly’ after all!”

“Yeah, you are.” Lily replied, her smile growing slightly wider as she blushed.

“See? That little frown of yours is turning upside down already!” Melon Cake said, booping Lily on the nose. “Just goes to show that even at times like this, I can brighten up any foal’s day!”

“Yeah, you really can.” Lily giggled, giving a soft nod. “It’s one of the many reasons why me and everypony else love having you as a friend. We can always count on you to brighten up our day, besides Miss Pinkie Pie of course.”

“Yep! You sure can!” Melon Cake nodded back, giving another wink. “So, is there any other reason why you came here to see me? Instead of seeing if I was okay?”

Lily paused, her eyes widening slightly at the question. She soon composed herself and looked away, her timid expression coming back.

“W-well, um…I had wanted to see if you wanted to come back with me to the other foals.” Lily replied, rubbing at her foreleg. “You looked pretty lonely back there, so I though you needed some company.”

“Awww, is little Lily Longsocks worried that Melon Cake’s gonna get all boredy woredy?” Melon Cake cooed, leaning slightly closer to the other filly. “That’s so sweet; you trying to make me happy!”

“W-well…you always go out of your way to make us happy.” Lily said bashfully, her blush growing slightly deeper. “So, I thought it’d return the favor…if only a little.”

Melon Cake giggled, brushing some of her mane out of her face. “Well, I appreciate your offer Lily! You really didn’t need to do that for me…but, if you insist, I won’t resist! There’s just one teeny tiny problem.” Her smile turned sheepish. “I can’t walk right now.”

Lily paused, blinking a few times. “Oh…you can’t?” She asked, her tone carrying just the slightest bit of surprise.

“No, I still need to let my leg heal before I even trying walking. That’s why I’m keeping it like this.” Melon Cake replied, nodding slightly. “I can stand on all four of my legs though, so that’s at least somewhat reassuring. I just have to try to not put any pressure on it.”

“Oh…I see.” Lily said softly, looking at the ground for a moment, and then back at Melon Cake. “I-I could um…help you if you want.”

“Help me?” The soft green filly asked perplexedly. “What do you mean?”

“I-I mean…I-I-I could um…” Lily specified hesitantly, looking off to the side. “I could carry you there, if you want.”

“R…really?!” Melon Cake gasped, her eyes widening slightly. “You’d do that for me?”

“Mhm…I’m a pretty strong filly, stronger than most other foals.” Lily nodded, smiling. “I’m sure I’d have no trouble lifting you up, you and your large pillow.”

“Oh thank you Lily, that’s the second nicest thing that anypony’s done for me all day!” Melon Cake said happily, giving the pale grayish violet filly a thankful smile. “You’re a life saver!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say I’m anything like that.” Lily protested, her blush growing deeper. “I-I’m just helping out a friend who looks like who needs it, that’s all.”

“Which is exactly why you’re a live saver!” Melon Cake retorted cheerfully. “And why you’re one of the best friends a pony could ask for!”

“Thank you…” Lily said quietly before she fell silent. Without another word, she walked around the soft green filly and stopped behind her. In one swift motion, she ducked her head under the large pillow and hoisted both it and Melon Cake onto her back. The soft green filly squeaked in surprise at the sudden action, but gigged as Lily carried her off.

“You’re pretty eager, aren’t you?” She asked grinning down at the other. “Never seen you this optimistic before.”

Lily looked back up at Melon with an apologetic look on her face. “O-oh, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to startle you like that.” She said quietly. “I guess I just got a little excited back there.”

“Oh, you don’t need to apologize! There’s nothing wrong with a little excitement, a lot of ponies need it sometimes! Even ponies like you!” Melon Cake replied kindly. “Just give me a little warning next time, okay? For a second there I thought you were gonna knock me right off the pillow, hmhm!”

“S-sure, I’ll keep that in mind.” Lily replied, smiling up at the filly one last time before making her way over to where the other foals were. They were all formed in various groups ranging from a few to a whole mini herd, ranging from various colors, all having at least one or two adults with them. Each of them were all situated in various activities, ranging from eating, playing, and doing various games, be it with other foals or an adult. Melon Cake silently stared, wondering how in the world things had gotten so lively so quickly, especially since it was so close by.

The soft green filly was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when she and Lily were approached by another filly, who was also an Earth Pony Like them. She had a light amberish grey coat with a light brilliant scarlet mane and tail that were poofy and frizzy, and eyes that were a light fuchsia. The filly had a rather chubby physic, more so than all the other foals in the room, and on her snout was a pair of bluish violet glasses.

“Melon Cake, you finally here!” She said excitedly, a bright smile stretched across her face. “I wath wondering where you had run off too! We were beginning to think you weren’t going to thow up!”

“Sorry Twist, I was a little caught up in making sure that I didn’t get myself too excitable.” Melon Cake said, gesturing to her leg, which was dangling off to the side of the pillow. “As you can currently see…”

“Oh, that’s okay, your leg wath looking pretty bad anyway, and you needed to get it looked at by the Nurse.” Twist said, her tone sincere. “But now you’re here, and we all get to have fun together with the others! I’m sure the others will be really happy to see you!”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it!” Melon Cake giggled. “I wonder what kind of games that the others have in store!”

Twist giggled, skipping with a spring in her step. “You’ll just have to wait and see, heehee!”

Fortunately for the soft green filly, she didn’t have to wait long. She, Lily and Twist found themselves in front of a group of over ten foals. A few of them colts, while most of them were fillies, with Button Mash being among them, to Melon Cake’s slight surprise, which made the count up to eleven. All of them were formed in a tight circle, with plates of food and games laid out all around them all over their section of the floor. They were all talking, giggling and laughing, with a few of them roughhousing a bit, those being the colts, while the fillies were much quieter and more subdued.

The first foal was a Pegasus colt with a light bluish gray colt and a long dark grayish sapphire blue mane and tail, with his mane somewhat combed back, and grayish purple eyes. The second foal was also a Pegasus colt, thinner and slenderer looking in appearance. His coat was a light shade of light yellowish gray, with a brownish orange moderate mane and tail, both of them having lighter streaks, with his eyes being a light gamboge color. The third foal was a Unicorn filly with a pale light grayish rose coat, a moderate rose mane and tail, and moderate lime green eyes. The fourth young foal was an Earth Pony filly with a light grayish olive coat, a brilliant gamboge and light amber mane and tail, and moderate purple eyes. The fifth foal was an Earth Pony colt, looking to be the smallest of the bunch. He had a white grayish coat with dark brown spots, a dark tangelo mane and tail, and deep reddish-brown eyes.

The sixth foal was a Pegasus filly with a light cyanish gray coat, with a mane and tail that had pale light grayish heliotrope, crimson, brilliant gold, and moderate spring bud colors. They were both tied together by cyan hair bands and her eyes were a brilliant amber yellow. The seventh foal was a Unicorn filly with a light ceriseish gray coat, a mane and tail with light opal, rose, amber, brilliant scarlet, and amber, with light opal eyes. The eighth foal was an Earth Pony filly with a somewhat poofy dark pink coat having light grayish pink streaks in them, greenish blue eyes, and a deep yellowish orange coat. The ninth foal was also an Earth Pony filly with a light pale grayish opal coat, a grayish azure cornflower blue mane and tail, and light persian blue eyes. The tenth and final foal was a Pegasus filly with a pinkish gray coat, with a pale light grayish arctic blue mane and tail, and moderate scarlet eyes.

“Hey everypony, Lily ith back!” Twist exclaimed, gaining the other foals’ attention. “And she brought Melon Cake with her too!”

At these words, all the other foals stopped whatever they were doing and looked over to where the three fillies were. The instant their eyes landed on Melon Cake, they all smiled and rushed over to the soft green filly, crowding around her and bombarding her with greetings and questions.

“Melon Cake, you’re finally back!”

“It’s about time you got here!”

“What took you so long?!”

“Is your leg okay?”

“Was Nurse Redheart able to make it better?”

“You’re still going to be able to walk again, aren’t you?”

“Are those bandages making your leg itch?”

“Will your leg be able to heal?”

“How bad does it hurt?”

“Do you have any video games with you?”

Melon Cake laughed heartily, feeling her smile widen at the words and concerned faces that her friends were giving her. Reaching out with a hoof, she tapped Lily on the shoulder, silently gesturing her to set her down. The pale grayish filly wordlessly complied, getting down on her stomach and letting the others pull both the filly and her pillow out onto the floor.

“Guys, guys, there’s no need to get all anxious! I’m okay, honest! I just had an unfortunate scenario happen to me that’s all.” Melon Cake said, giving the foals her best reassuring smile. “As for my leg…it’s still healing, but it’s a lot better than how it felt a while ago.”

“So, Nurse Redheart was able to make it better?” An Earth Pony filly, going by the name of Kettle Korn, asked gently.

“Uh-huh, she made it a lot better, thanks to her medical equipment!” The soft green filly nodded. “Just need to keep myself from moving it too much and I’ll be back on all four hooves in no time!”

“That’s good to hear.” A Pegasus colt named Featherweight sighed in relief. “Your leg looked pretty back when that wood was lifted off of you. We really thought that you were going to be a lot far off.”

“T-that’s what I said.” Lily said with a slight giggle. “I was just saying that to M-Melon Cake j-just a minute ago. I was worried that she wasn’t gonna get better.”

“Something that Nurse Redheart made sure wouldn’t happen!” Melon Cake chirped. “Don’t you worry guys! This broken leg isn’t gonna keep Melon Cake Smoothie Ryūko down! It’s gonna take waaaaaaaay more than that to get me down for the count!”

“Only you wouldn’t let anything take you down Melon.” Another Pegasus colt, Rumble, said knowingly with a grin. “You’re way too tough of a filly to let something like that get to you!”

“Heehee, you got that right Rumble!” Melon Cake giggled, reaching out and pumping hooves with the light bluish grey colt. “So, what’re you guys doing here? You guys playing some type of game or something?”

“Oh, yeah!” A Unicorn filly, Toola Roola said, her expression brightening. “We’re playing this game called ‘Journey Through the Dragon Badlands’! It’s where each of us has to hurdle trek through the perils of dragon territory without getting caught by the dragons, trapped in molten lava, trapped in crevasses or crushed by large boulders! Me and Coconut Cream are already halfway there, and we just have two more courses to get through and we’ll win the treasure!”

“You wanna play it with us?” Coconut Cream, the Pegasus filly beside her, asked kindly. “I know we just started it, but you can still join in if you want. We haven’t really gotten that far in the game, and we can have more players in it.”

“Uh-huh!” Another filly, Ruby Pinch, said excitedly with a nod of her head. “It’d be more fun if we had you in it.”

Melon Cake thought for a moment, putting a hoof to her chin as a thoughtful expression came to her face. She glanced at Lily and at the other foals, then back at Rumble, Twist, Coconut Cream, and Toola Roola, who were waiting for her response. After a few more seconds, she smiled and nodded, setting her hoof back down onto her pillow.

“Sure, I’ll join the game!” She finally said, before gesturing to the other foals. “If you let Twist and the others play in the game too! I don’t like it if I get to participate in something and the rest of my friends won’t be able to.”

“That’s okay, we were going to include them in the game anyway.” Button Mash, who was also in the group, said with a smile. “There’s really not enough pieces for everypony, but we can all take turns once everypony else has theirs.”

“Great!” Melon Cake chirped happily. “So, is there one other figure that I can use to squeeze in there?”

“Uh, no…sorry Melon Cake.” Rumble said sheepishly. “This game only allows three to six players at a time, and me, Twist, Cream, Toola, and Button are already in it. You’ll have to wait for a little bit until one of us reaches the end.”

“That’s okay, I can wait.” The soft green filly nodded understandingly. “You guys look like you’re really having fun anyway, and I don’t wanna ruin that.”

“Thanks Melon Cake, I’m glad that you’re not upset with us or anything. Don’t worry, we’re be done in a little while.” An Earth Pony filly, called Noi, said sweetly, before turning back to the others. “So, where were we?”

“Huh?” Twist asked, looking at the bright yellow filly perplexedly for a moment. A split second later, recognition clicked in her bright fuchsia eyes. “Oh! We are at the part where Coconut Cream trieth to make her way pathed the crevatheths!”

“Oh, t-that’s nice…” Lily said softy, smiling at the amberish grey filly. “S-so, um…whose going next?”

“I am!” Another Pegasus filly, Cozy Glow, replied eagerly, holding a hoof up as she ruffled her wings. “I’m just behind Cream and Toola, and I only have a few spots left before I’m in the lead with them! Speaking of which, does anypony have the dice?”

“I do.” Button Mash replied, handing Cozy Glow the dice. “Sorry I held onto them for so long, I was just waiting for you guys to get back to the game.”

“That’s okay, thanks for waiting.” The grayish pink filly replied, winking at the chocolate brown colt.

“You can do it Cozy!” Another Earth Pony filly, Petunia cheered happily.

After Button Mash hoofed her the dice, she shook her hoof a couple of times before throwing them across the board. They rolled around a couple of times, before stopping on two individual numbers. Petunia and everypony else leaned in to take a closer look and see what Cozy had gotten.

“Twelve.” Rumble said, glancing up at Cozy Glow. “You get to go up twelve spaces.”

“Yay, that’s more than twice the number I was aiming for!” The grayish pink filly cheered, taking her figure and going up the twelve. “Heehee, lucky me!”

“You’re turn Twist.” Cream said, glancing at the amberish gray filly.

Twist eagerly took the dice and rolled them, and a few moments later, they stopped a new number. This time, instead of a two, it was a seven, more than twice as big as the one Cozy Glow had.

“Oh yes, a theven!” Twist said excitedly, moving her figure up the seven spaces. As soon as she dropped herself on the last space however, it began to shake a little. Then, before she knew it the space suddenly gave out and her figure was gone.

“Uh-oh, you just entered into a crevasse!” Toola cried her eyes widening as she flailed her hooves. “Twist has been eliminated!”

“Oh no!” Melon Cake exclaimed, putting both hooves to her cheeks as Twist’s figure came out from the side of the game board. “Poor Twist, she was so close to her goal! Now she’ll have to start all over from square one!”

“Oh, candy caneth!” Twist snorted, giving a light stamp of her hoof. “I was tho cloth to Cream and Toola too! I thould’ve known that wath going to happen!”

“That’s okay Twist, you’ll still get another try.” Noi said comfortingly, putting a hoof on the chubby filly’s back. “You won’t be taken completely out of the game unless you fall for the traps two more times. Don’t worry, you’re still in the game along with everypony else.”

“Yeah…except that I have to thtart all the way from the beginning.” Twist said solemnly, lightly kicking at the floor beneath her hooves. Thtupid crevath trap…”

Melon Cake bit her tongue, keeping herself from giggling at Twist’s adorable pouty expression as she looked at the other fillies. “Who’s turn is it now?”

“Mine!” Noi said, grabbing the dice before and throwing them back down almost immediately after. They soon laid out too very big and very round numbers in front of her. One that none of them that had the dice wanted to see.

“Oooooh…” Rumble murmured, drawing in a breath through clenched teeth. “Sorry Noi, you got two zeros.”

“Awwww, that’s too bad.” Melon Cake pouted, plopping her chin onto her pillow. “Noi was really aiming for that one too.”

“Darn it!” The light grayish olive filly shouted, slamming both hooves on the board game. “I was really aiming for a ten, not a dumb zero!”

“Hey, watch it Noi!” Toola said, using her magic to hold into place. “You almost toppled over all of our figures and nearly messed up the whole game!”

“Oh, sorry Toola.”

“My turn.” Rumble said, reaching out with a gesturing hoof.

Ruby ignited her horn and levitated the dice over to the bluish gray colt without speaking a word. Rumble wasted no time in shaking them before rolling them onto another section of the game. when he saw the number, his eyes widened and most of the other foals gasped in surprise.

“A…a ten.” He mumbled dumbly. “I got a ten!”

“Oh, come on! I was aiming for that!” Noi exclaimed in disbelief. “How in the heck did Rumble manage to get it when I didn’t?!”

“Oh, sorry to see that happen to you mate.” Pipsqueak winced, looking up at the larger filly sympathetically. “Looks like this game decided to choose somepony better to take control of its sails.”

Noi groaned, lashing her tail out as she plopped down on her rump, crossing her forehooves indignantly. “Phooey…”

“I-I guess it’s my turn next…” Lily mumbled softly, taking a few steps forward. “C-could um…could one of you hoof me the dice?”

“Here you go.” Cream said, grabbing the two appendages and giving them to the pale grayish violet filly.

“Thank you.” Lily said politely as the cyanish gray filly hovered back to her spot. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves, if slightly. “A-alright, here I go.”

Using as much gentleness as her body would allow, Lily lightly threw the dice down, watching as they bounced around. When they settled upon a number, everypony leaned in for a closer look, and once again gasped at the result.

“An eighteen…” Ruby murmured softly, sounding as if she didn’t believe it. “Lily got an eighteen?!”

“Oh wow, Lily! You are on a roll today!” Petunia said sweetly, looking at the Earth filly with an impressed smile. A moment later, she realized what she had said and blushed, looking off to the side, smiling sheepishly. “Uh…no pun intended.”

“That’s okay, a-and thank you.” Lily smiled gently. “I honestly didn’t expect my number to get that high in the game yet. I guess I must be better at it than I thought…”

“Better than you thought?!” Noi asked incredulously. “That’s the fourthtime in a row that you got a number bigger than any one of us! How are you able to just keep climbing up?!”

Lily blushed, looking off to the side as she poked her forehooves. “I-I…I don’t really know how. I-I guess I’m just really good at it…a-and I really enjoy it anyway.”

“Yeah, I’m not buying that.” Noi stated flatly, staring suspiciously at the filly. “I know that you have some sort of secret tactic that’s helping you win this game! I can see it in your eyes and the way you’re acting!”

“That’s ridiculous.” Ruby murmured with a deadpan. “I don’t see how Lily can have anything that’s helping her cheat at the game. She’s just going about it how we are.”

“That’s what she wants you and the others to think!” Noi said, pressing her nose against the grayish rose filly as she pointed at Lily. “I can see why Scootaloo would be so good at games, since she’s never really played most of them before since she moved to Ponyville! But Lily has been here since, like, forever! Each and every time we play games like this, it’s either Scootaloo or Lily that’s managed to always come out on top! There’s got to be something that Lily knows about this game that we don’t, and is keeping it from us so we can’t win! I just know there is!”

“Uh-huh…right.” Rumble said slowly. “Cozy, it’s your turn again.”

Cozy nodded, taking the dice and rolling them down. “Oh sweet, I got a sixteen!”

“Really?!” Noi shouted, watching as the pale grayish pink filly moved her figure up. “That’s a number just below Lily’s!”

“Well, looks like she’s not the only one who the game chose as the better player.” Cozy Glow giggled, smiling sweetly at the greyish olive Earth Pony. She placed her piece just a couple spaces away from the crevasse “You’re turn now Twist!”

“Uh-oh, I can sense the end coming~!” Melon Cake said excitedly, a small grin on her face as her tail wagged back and forth.

“My turn!” Rumble said, throwing the dice. “Eleven!”

“Way to go there, Rumble!” Twist smiled, watching as the colt went up the exact number of spaces. After he went, Toola took he turn, taking the dice in her magic and threw them herself.

“Seventeen!” She chirped, moving her figure father up. “Yay, I made it passed the flowing molten lava!”

Ruby clapped her hooves together. “Yes, good for you Toola!”

“It’s getting closer!” Melon Cake continued. “I can feel it!”

“My turn!” Cream shouted, taking her turn and throwing the dice. “Oh yeah, I got a twenty!”

Noi’s jaw dropped to the floor. “A Twenty?! Are you kidding me?!”

“W-wait a minute.” Lily said as she watched Cream move her figure. “I-If Coconut Cream is already halfway through the game, and she got a twenty, then that means-”

“YAY, I WIN!” The cyanish gray filly cheered, cutting Lily off as she shot up into the air. “I did it I did it I did it! I made it to the end of the Dragon Badlands and reached the treasure!”

“Way to go Coconut Cream!” Twist cheered, bouncing up and down. “You won the game!”

“Oh yes, I knew you could do it Cream!” Toola smiled, squeezing the Pegasus filly tightly. “You were in the lead with Lily form the very start, and you still managed to every time! I just knew you were gonna come out on top!”

“C-congratulations Coconut Cream.” Lily said softly, clapping her hooves together. “L-looks like you finally managed to beat me. You were really great back there…”

The pale grayish raspberry filly suddenly squeaked as she felt herself encased in a magical aura. Before found herself pulled across the air and brought into the embrace of Toola and Cream.

“Awww thank you Lily, but don’t give me all the credit. Me and Toola weren’t the only one who played great.” Cream said sweetly as she nuzzled Lily. “You and the others were great back there too, even if you guys didn’t really get to where we were!”

“Yep, the important thing is that we all had fun!” Toola nodded, turning to the others. “Right guys?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Noi muttered, sighing as she looked solemnly at Lily. “Sorry I got a little frustrated there, Lily.”

Lily smiled gently. “That’s okay Noi…I-I can see how upsetting it can be to not always be able to win. S-still, it’s just like Toola said, we all at least had fun, and that’s all that matters.”

“Uh-huh!” Rumble nodded. “And Melon here knows all about fun!”

“I sure do!” The soft green filly giggled, reaching over and tussling the bluish gray colt’s mane. “Speaking of which, do you think you guys could squeeze me in for the next round? I’d love to make this game even more fun for you!”

“Oh sure, the celery coated filly with the creepy red eye would want to make a lame game likethis fun.” A new voice spoke out. “Then again, she’d try to make any game like this seem fun to anypony, especially all of you losers.”

Melon Cake, Rumble, and the other colts and fillies froze upon hearing the voice making its way towards them. The atmosphere in the group changed drastically as its snooty, arrogant and sassy tone made its way into their ears and filled them with an irrefutable amount of dread.

“Oh no…” Cozy moaned, taking a couple steps back. “Don’t tell me....”

“Ugh, not her again!” Button groaned as he faced hooved. “Please tell me it’s not her!”

“I-It looks like it is.” Petunia mumbled, hiding behind Button Mash. “I’m scared-!”

Twist frowned dejectedly, upset that her and her friends’ fun was ruined. “Oooooh, what do they want thith time?”

“I don’t know, but I get the feeling that it’s nothing pleasant.” Melon Cake replied, a frown on her own face as she turned to see who was behind her. ‘Then again, when has it ever been a pleasant meeting with those two?’

Walking up to the group of colts and fillies a with strut in her steps, head held high and smiling cockily, was young Earth Pony filly, looking to be quite the looker. She had a pale magenta pink coat, with a light grayish violet mane and tail that were both curled into gentle waves, with pure white streaks in the center. Her eyes were a brilliant cornflower blue, and her Cutie Mark was of a tiara, with a matching one shining atop her head. This filly went by the name of Diamond Dazzle Tiara Rich, the daughter of the business tycoon Filthy Rich, and future heiress to the Rich Mansion.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the demon eyed filly Felon Cake herself.” Diamond Tiara said mockingly. “Taking a little rest in that big soft pillow of yours from all the stupid hyper stuff you always do?”

“Hello to you too, Diamond Tiara.” Melon Cake replied flatly; her brows furrowed with disdain as she frowned down at the other filly. The sweet and cheerful demeanor that she had just minutes ago seemed to evaporate upon the arrival of her most disliked bully. “What do you want now? I thought you were with your parents and Silver Spoon.”

“Oh, I was, but unfortunately, Silver Spoon ended up getting taken out of here by her mom, Silver Slow, along with that weird wacky twin brother of her’s.” Diamond replied casually. “As for my parents…well, they’re having some quality time with the other adults here. I would’ve stayed with them, buy my mom encouraged that I needed to…ugh, ‘socialize’.” She added, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

“So then, you chose to be with us for the occasion?” Button asked, suspiciously. “I seriously doubt that you would want to be anywhere around us.”

“Yeah!” Ruby nodded, glaring daggers at Diamond. “Why can’t you go hang around with some other rich prissy and pompous ponies like the jerk you are?!”

“I would, but there aren’t many foals my age that suit my quota or my standards, other than Silvey of course.” Diamond replied, smiling slightly at the grayish rose red filly. “And for your information Nuby Pinch, I am not anywhere near as pompous or prissy as those other ponies back in Canterlot. What makes you think I’m anywhere near level?”

“You seriously want us to spell it out for you?” Noi asked incredulously, looking at the other Earth filly like she was crazy. “You are a total jerk to me and the others, you constantly harass us every single day that we’re at school, and you go out of your way to make every single our lives miserable! Why do you think we believe you’re just like them?!”

Diamond Tiara laughed, the mockery and cruelty behind it making Noi, Ruby, and the other foals cringe upon hearing it. “Oh Noi, you wound me so with those words! I don’t any of that cruel and nasty stuff to you guys! I just want to show how appreciative I am to have such wonderful, kind, and friendly, ponies going to the same school as me…doing my bidding!”

“That’s your definition of showing your appreciation?!” Rumble snorted. “By constantly bullying us each and every time that you get, and making us do whatever you want to?! That’s not how a real friend works Diamond Tiara, no real friend treats another pony like that! Especially the way that you treat us!”

“Rumble’s right!” Toola nodded. “A realfriend wouldn’t go out of their way to make us do what she wants, get us in trouble for something we didn’t do, and try to tear us down every chance she gets! If that’s how you treat your friends, however many you may have, then we’d rather be outcasts than befriend anypony like you!”

“Uh, excuse me Fumble, where do you go talking about how friends should and shouldn’t treat each other?” Diamond Tiara asked, smirking at the grayish blue Pegasus colt. “As far as I’m concerned, you don’t have any friends yourself! You don’t know a single thing about me, so you don’t have any right to make that stupid dumb statement! I know way more about being friends than you ever will! Along that lame big brother of yours who does nothing but sit around on the clouds with random mares, leaving you alone all by your little itty-bitty self.”

Rumble’s eyes flashed, his fur bristling at these words. “Don’t you dare bring Thunderlane into this!”

“Or what?” Diamond Tiara asked, smiled coldly. “What’re you gonna do? Are you gonna go tell on your big brother Thunderlame like the weak little crybaby little brother you are? Are you gonna go up to him and say, ‘Thunderlame, Diamond’s calling me names and being mean to me again! Please make her stop being mean to me!’ Huh? Is that what you’re gonna do?”

“I just might do that if you don’t leave me and my friends alone.” Rumble hissed; teeth bared in a snarl. His formed into cat-like slits, and it looked like his teeth were beginning to elongate and sharpen. “And for the record, I am notweak, nor am I a crybaby! I’m a strong colt, way stronger than you or Silver Spoon combined!”

“Oh, I highly doubt that Fumble.” Diamond Tiara snorted, rolling her eyes. “You’re a Pegasus,your kind aren’t mean to have the amazing awesome and lovely strength that we Earth Ponies have. We could easily wipe the floor with you and those other bird winged and bull horned ponies that live with us. Heck, I could easily take you down right here if I wanted to, and I wouldn’t even break a sweat!”

“Maybe not me, but there are plenty of other ponies here who could easily throw your prissy spoiled little flank across the ground!” Rumble retorted, pressing his nose against Diamond’s and pushing her back. “As a matter of a fact, I can name on pony here that can easily take you down with just one move!”

“Oh? And who might that be?” The pale magenta filly asked, pressing her forehead against Rumble’s. Before the grayish blue colt could reply, Diamond put a hoof to his mouth to silence him. “Oh, wait no, let me guess…it’s Little Longsnot, isn’t it?!”

“What did you just say?!” Melon Cake shouted, glaring down at Diamond. “I know that you did not just call Lily that!”

“You hear me Felon Cake! I was referring to little miss Little Longsnot over here!” Diamond repeated, smirking over at the soft green filly. Shoving Rumble out of the way, she made her way over to the aforementioned filly. “So, I take it that you want to ‘take me out in one fell swoop’ as Fumble so kindly stated?”

“N-n-no thank you!” Lily squeaked fearfully, hiding behind Coconut Cream. “I-I don’t wanna fight you! I really don’t! Please, just leave me alone!”

“Oh really? That anticipative shaking you’re doing is telling me otherwise.” Diamond said mockingly, taking notice of the filly’s shivering. “What’s the matter? Having trouble containing that creepy super strength that you wanna let out on me so badly?!”

“As if Diamond Tiara!” Coconut Cream said, standing protectively in front of the pale grayish violet filly. “She’s shaking because she scared! Not only of you, but what you might make her do is you keeping scaring her like that! Also, Lily’s super strength is not creepy, I for one, thing that really amazing!”

“Y-yeah, you tell her Creamy!” Featherweight suddenly exclaimed, “Tell her h-how cool Lily’s strength is!”

“Amazing! That little crybaby’s over the top freaky strength is amazing?! Give me a break!” Diamond laughed, putting a hoof to her forehead. “The only thing ‘amazing’ about Little Longsnot’s strength is that it somepony sent to the hospital more often than not because she either hugged them to tightly and broke their backs, or hit them to hard and sent them into buildings or something! Pretty much like a couple of another dumb pony with over the top freaky strength!” She added, smirking cruelly at Featherweight.

The yellowish grey Pegasus colt gasped, his pupils contracting as his ears went limp against his head. “You…” He whispered, his eyes growing misty as a white coated, yellow maned, and red eyed Pegasus popped into his mind. Hanging his head, he squeezed his eyes shut as he attempted not to cry, leaning into Petunia, who immediately brought him into a hug.

“Oi, you take that back!” Pipsqeak exclaimed, getting up in Diamond Tiara’s face as much as he could. “Lily is not the kind of pony to get violent with anypony, whether she means it or not! And even if she did, she’d only do it if she was trying to defend herself against somepony who was trying to harm her, or if somepony was trying to hurt us!”

“Like this?” With a swift swing of her hoof, Diamond knocked the tiny colt off his feet. She laughed carelessly as he landed on his back with a hard thud. “I don’t see Little Longsnot coming to defend you now.” She chuckled coldly, glancing at a still cowering Lily.

“Pip!” Petunia cried rushing over to the tiny colt. “Are you okay?”

“Hey!” Button Mash shouted, running over and standing in front of Pipsqueak. “Not cool!”

“Oh, is Glutton Crash gonna save day instead of Little Longsnot?” Diamond Tiara cooed, her voice dripping with sickening sweetness. “How cute, the freak of video games and vampires defending the freak of creepy super strength. Oh, you two perfectly for each other in the terms of freaks!”

“Why you…” Button breathed menacingly, his ears pinned back and his eyes glowing. If there was one thing that Button hated, it was being called a freak. He hated even more when somepony else, especially one of his friends, was called a freak too, and that was something that he would not stand for. No matter who it was that was saying it, even if it was one of his own friends. Diamond was lucky that she was a filly instead of a colt, or else he would’ve given her a nice good knuckle sandwich.

“That’s enough Diamond Tiara!” Melon Cake yelled, jumping from her pillow and landing right in front of Diamond. Nearly all of them cowered upon seeing the anger in her multi-colored gaze, despite the fact that it was directed it one foal in particular. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you better leave my friends alone! We didn’t come here so you could find us and just be a big meanie pants to them in any way you please! We’re not gonna let you ruin our-”

“Your what? Your Night? Day? Evening? Morning? Afternoon? Something along the lines of those? What makes you think I’m here to ruin whatever ‘fun’ you guys are having?” Diamond asked, raising a grayish violet eyebrow. “I come here and dazzle you all with my magnificence and show you all how generous I am to even come here and hang out with you all, and this is how you repay me? By belittling me and treating me as if I’m the very plague of existence? How terrible of you all…”

“The only terrible one here is you, Diamond.” Pipsqueak retorted. “Then again, I don’t think I can think of anypony that’s as terrible as you are.”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, giving a snort at the dark brown colt. “Me, Diamond Dazzle Tiara, the richest prettiest and nicest pony in Ponyville Elementary a terrible pony? Please, the only ponies that are terrible are those stupid little blank flanks you like to hang out with!”

At this Melon Cake paused, mulling over the words that Diamond had said as they danced around in her mind. She then gasped, before looking back down at the Earth filly, her multicolored eyes narrowed and flashing. “Are you referring to who I think you’re referring to?”

“What do you think Felon Cake?” Diamond Tiara spat back, scrunching her nose up. “I’m talking about those Cutie Mark Catastrophes of ponies that go to our school all the time!”

A collective chorus of gasps left the colts and fillies mouths as they stared wide-eyed at Diamond Tiara, aghast at what she said. A moment later, Twist took a step towards Diamond, her ears pinned back.

“What did you juth thay?” Twist asked, her voice dangerously soft.

“You heard me you little lisp talking candy loving fat walking freak!” The pale magenta filly shouted, smiling lewdly at amberish gray filly. “I said that your little friends were called Cutie Mark Catastrophes, because that’s exactly what they are!”

“First of all, they’re called the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Coconut Cream shouted, stomping her hoof. “Second of all, how dare you go and say that those fillies are horrible ponies?! Especially when they’ve done absolutely nothing to you!”

“Nothing to me? Nothing to me?!” Diamond Tiara repeated, looking at the cyanish gray filly as if she was crazy. “They have done everything to me since the day they came to my school! Form the day they’ve been there, they’ve done nothing but still the fame, respect and recognition that I’ve worked so hard to gain from everypony! They’ve stolen all of my most cherished friends, stolen my title as the smartest and best foal in the class, taken away the all the adoration that the teachers have given me, and turned them all against me! Those blank flanks have done nothing but make me go from the perfect student at Ponyville Elementary, to the walking plague of the entire school!”

“By showing everypony there how much of a bully you are to the entire school?” Petunia asked, frowning at the pale magenta filly. “Because as far as I’m concerned, that’s the only thing that they’re guilty of!

“This coming from the filly who likes to spend her days digging up the remains of dead animals instead of leaving them to rot.” Diamond Tiara said flatly, earning a pained gasp from the grayish opal coated filly. “I mean seriously, keeping a collection of bones with you? That’s just disgusting, not to mention sick! Only something that crazy and sick pony who needs professional help would do!”

In the blink of an eye, Melon Cake was right in Diamond Tiara’s face. “Hey! That was uncalled for Diamond!" She shouted, her tail whipping back and forth behind her. "You better take that back right now and apologize to Petunia, or I’m gonna-”

“You’ll what? Go tattle on the Cutie Mark Catastrophes and tell them how ‘mean’ I’m being to you and your friends when I’m giving you nothing but the truth?” Diamond taunted, cutting Melon Cake off. “How typical of you Felon Cake; always relying on them to help you with whatever problems you have instead of me.”

“That’s only because I can never see any other way to get you to leave me and by friends alone.” The soft green filly hissed, her multicolored eyes flashing. “If it was anything else that I knew I for sure I could do without their help, I wouldn’t have to keep going to them and burdening them with it! One of those things being dealing with somepony like you!”

“Says the filly who couldn’t even stop herself from getting her leg broken, and had to rely on some stupid commoner nurse to fix it.” Diamond shot back, earning a feral growl from Melon Cake. “Keep on telling yourself all you will about those wannabe no good blank flank losers. You’re only gonna make yourselves more like them the more you hang out with them instead of somepony who can actually help you get to where you want to go in life. Just like that other blank flank loser they were hanging out with.”

Rumble paused, looking at Diamond Tiara with a raised eyebrow. “What’re you talking about?”

“Oh, you didn’t notice?” Diamond asked, smirking at Rumble. “While I was still with Silvey, I saw Scrapple Bloom, Squeaky Belle, Motorloo, Tire Trash, Crooked Shield and that dragon hybrid freak of a colt talking with another blank flank. I don’t know what they were doing, but it looked like they were having a real good time making those him suck up to them with whatever they were doing or saying. And judging from the look on his faces, that colt was hanging onto their every word and loving every second of it! I would’ve gone over and showed him what a real friend is, but thanks to that dumb cave of the roof by that big scary pony, I didn’t get my chance.” She smirked as she gave a toss of her mane. “Oh well, that’s fine. I’ll get to meet them eventually, and once I do; I’ll be able to show them how a real friend does things, and show them how much trouble the Cutie Mark Catastrophes, and that freaky lizard colt really is to him.”

“Not on my watch you’re not!” Melon shouted angrily, leaping off of her pillow. Using only three legs, she raced over to the pale magenta filly and pressing her muzzle against her’s. “I don’t know who those foals were that Apple Bloom and the others were with earlier today, but I’m gonna tell you something and I’m gonna tell you something right here, right now! For as long as I have known them, the Cutie Mark Crusaders have done nothing but be the bestest of friends to me and everypony else! I know that they’re are nothing like how you’re portraying them to be! They’re kind, sweet, honest, trustworthy, loyal, generous, and hardworking fillies who brighten everypony’s day wherever they go! Anypony who thinks otherwise is either just plain mean or doesn’t have any real friends like them themselves!”

Diamond Tiara snorted, pushing the other filly back watching as she reeled and topped hard onto her back. “That’s a lie in itself, and you know it, Felon Cake!” She shouted, watching as Melon Cake clutched her bandaged leg tightly. “Those blank flanks have all been wrapping you around their little hooves and leading you way from the true potential that you could all reach with me! Why can’t you see that what they’re doing is going to lead you into lives of commoner misery?!”

“Because they keep showing us how much more miserable our lives will be if we side with somepony like you!” Pipsqueak shouted, getting up from under Button Mash. “I’ve seen how the Cutie Mark Crusaders are both inside and outside of school, and everything they do together is an adventure in itself! More adventurous and thrilling than anything you try to make us do, which isn’t a whole lot!”

“T-that’s right! The Cutie Mark Crusaders are the best ponies to be around, even if you don’t seem to think so yourself Tiara! Anypony that does will see that it was the best] thing that ever happened to them!” Petunia added with a slight crack in her voice as she wiped her tears away. “And I’m sure that whoever that they met tonight, they'll take them on adventures that you yourself will NEVER be able to experience!”

“Oh, really now?” Diamond Tiara asked, tilting her head. “Then I feel sorry for the poor pony that does end up befriending them. With how those blank flanks are, they only thing their new ‘friend’ will accomplish with them, is going back to their mommies and daddies with a bunch of bruises and sticky tree sap.”

“It’s better than them having to be pushed around by somepony of your caliber!” Rumble retorted as he rounded on her once more. “And if you think that you’re going to try to force another pony to do your bidding, you’ve got another thing coming! Like Petunia said, whoever met Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Fire Flash have got to be the luckiest ponies in the world, and we’re not gonna let you ruin whatever good times they may have for them!”

“Even if it gets us all in trouble,” Noi said firmly, staring down hard at Diamond. “We’ll make absolute certain that those ponies that met the Crusaders don’t have to face your cruelty or tyranny! Even if we can’t be there for them all the time, we’ll definitely be there whenever we have the opportunity!”

“And I’ll be right there whenever you do try to prey on them!” Melon Cake shouted, stalking closer to Diamond despite her bandaged leg. “Whenever you try to sour their day with your stupid banter, I’ll be there to stop it. Whenever you try to tear them down like you always try to tear down Scootaloo and Lily, I’ll be there to wipe their tears away. Whenever I see any of them, or their new friends crying and down in the dumps with the blues, I’ll be there to pick them back up on their feet and put a big smile on their faces! Because that’s what Melon Cake Smoothie Byakko Konton does; put smiles on faces, and brighten up a ponies day! I haven’t stopped doing it then and I am so not gonna start now! I’m Ponyville Elementary’s Fun Filly for a reason, and as long as I still go there, nothing will stop me from turning any foals’ bad day, into something even better! Including those foals who you were planning to put under your control!”

Diamond Tiara laughed throwing her head back as it came out in loud sharp guffaws. A second later, she calmed down, and looked right back into Melon Cake’s multicolored glare. “Oh, so that’s how you wanna play it huh? Getting between me and my business with the Cutie Mark Catastrophes whenever you see the chance?”

“You better believe your snooty jewel loving flank I do!” The soft green filly replied, snorting indignantly. “Anything to keep you away from the CMC and any new friends that they happen to make!”

“If that’s how you want to do it, be by guest.” Diamond said nonchalantly. “Though you do realize if you do that, you’ll be facing my wrath, right?”

“As if we haven’t faced it before.” Ruby snorted. "Not that you can really do anything."

“We’ll do whatever it takes to protect them from the likes of you.” Melon Cake said, pressing her face closer to Diamonds as her eyes continued to glow. “Even if it means I have to watch you like a tiger watching a deer.”

“Ha! You’re going to watch me like one of those dumb birds that beast loving Pegasus keeps with her at that stinky cottage of hers?!” Diamond chortled, ignoring the frown from Lily and the glare from Petunia. “Please, as if you can do something like that! There’s no way when you can predict if I’m having my way with those dumb blank flanks or if they’re not worth my time!”

At these words, Melon smirked, hovering back a bit back so Diamond could see it. “Oh, trust me Diamond…I have my ways of knowing exactly when you’re up to no good.”

“Oh?” The pale magenta filly smirked back. “And just how, pray tell, do you have the powers to tell whether or not I’m showing those blank flanks who’s boss?”

“Oh, she does, Diamond.” Rumble replied crossing his forehooves, “Believe me, she really, really does.”

“You may not understand it, and you probably never will even if I do explain it, but believe me when I say this.” Melon Cake began softly, little too softly for Diamond’s liking. “I’m able to know when something bad is going to happen, especially if it’s something that you do. And when it does happen, I’ll see to it that you pay for it. I may not be there all the time to ensure that happens, and I may not even be able to prove it all the time, but whenever I see the opportunity, I’m going to take it. I am an opportunist after all, and when I see the opportunity to make sure you pay in full for what do to me, the CMC, anypony else that’re friend with them…I will take it. So you better watch your back Diamond, because you may never know just when my chance to make you pay for your cruelty will come.”

“Big talk coming from a filly who acts like she’s on a continuous sugar rush all the time and can’t even stand on all four legs, like a real Earth Pony.” Diamond Tiara said, kicking one of her own hindlegs out for emphasis. “Still, I accept you and your friends little challenge Felon Cake. Let’s see just how much ‘trouble’ you can catch me doing to the Cutie Mark Catastrophes new little ‘friend’ before I finally expose all of them for the true ponies they are. Not that you’ll really able to accomplish something like that.”

“Oh well see about that Diamond!” Melon Cake growled, stomping her hoof as Diamond began to walk off. “Just you wait, one day you’re gonna get exposed for who you really are! And when that day comes everypony will see just what you really are inside! A big mean, snooty, snobbish foal who gets away with everything, doesn’t know the meaning of true friendship!”

“Right back at you Felon Cake!” Diamond Tiara called back flicking her tail behind her. “See you when that day comes, blank flanks!”

With those words, the pale magenta filly vanished into crowds of other ponies, walking with the same strut she had when she first arrived. Melon Cake, and the rest of the foals stayed where they were, watching the filly leave with frowns on their lips and glares in their eyes. Not a single word was spoken between them as they all silently recovered from Diamond Tiara’s onslaught, the filly’s mocking laughter still ringing in their ears.

“Melon Cake?” Coconut Cream asked softly, breaking the silence. “Are you okay?”

Melon closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply as she calmed herself down. “Yeah…I am Creamy. I’m sorry that you and the others had to see me like that.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Rumble said, draping a wing over the filly. “You weren’t the only one who wanted to give that filly a piece of her mind. I’m sure that the others wanted to show her what she was doing wasn’t cool.”

“Yeah!” Noi nodded. “You should’ve seen the look on Button Mash over here! He looked like he was going to rip her head off!”

“Your darn right I would’ve!” The chocolate brown colt snorted, dragging a hoof across the ground. “Stupid Diamond…she’s lucky that she’s a girl. Or else I would’ve shown her why I’m the master of all fighting games!”

“For some reason, I knew you were going to say something like that.” Cozy Glow said dryly, smiling at the colt in amusement. “You really do love your video games, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” Button replied, raising an eyebrow at the grayish pink filly. “You got a problem with that?”

Cozy Glow giggled, smiling cutely. “No problem at all!” She cooed, reaching up and patting him on the head.

“Jeez, I cannot stand that her.” Ruby groaned, giving an angry lash of her tail. “Why does she always have to come in and ruin everything good that we do?!”

“I don’t know, but I’m getting really thick of it.” Twist replied with a huff. “I don’t know how Apple Bloom and her friends can even thtand her! They must have the patienth of thaints!”

“I’m pretty sure that even a saint will eventually get tired of having to stand them before very long.” Featherweight murmured, sniffling. “And I’m pretty sure that the Crusaders will get tired of it themselves…it’s only a matter of time.”

Lily cringed, her ears flattening. “Oh, t-that won’t be pretty I imagine.”

“Maybe not, but it’ll totally be worth seeing that no good rotten filly in her place.” Rumble said enthusiastically. “Maybe then she’ll stop messing with us.”

“What about the other foal she was talking about?” Ruby asked, making the others turn to her. “She mentioned how she was going to target whoever it was…how’re they going to take it?”

“Well, if this colt’s anything like the Crusaders, he definitely won’t take anything she says or done lying down.” Toola replied firmly as Coconut Cream hovered back over to her. “If they can’t do it immediately them, that’s okay. We’ll be there to back them up and help them stand up for themselves whenever we can’t!”

“Uh-huh!” Cream nodded, bumping hooves with the ceriseish gray filly.

“Speaking of…are you okay Melon?” Petunia asked worriedly. “You took quite a fall when Diamond pushed you. Especially with that leg injury of yours…that had to hurt.”

Melon Cake winced, looking back at her left leg, which was fully stretched out behind her. She could still feel the jolt of pain from when Diamond had pushed her and caused her to bend it, but it was gradually fading away. “Y-yeah…I am now. My leg does still hurt a little bit, but it’s getting better. Nurse Redheart isn’t gonna be happy that I moved it around so much.”

“Don’t worry, Nurth Redheart won’t get too upthet.” Twist said comfortingly. “We juth have to explain to her what happened between you and Diamond, and she’ll thort it out with her dad.”

“I hope Mr. Rich does gets her to stop…” Featherweight sighed. “Or else we’ll have to dealing with her continuously.”

Featherweight frowned. “I highly doubt that.”

“Yeah, me too…” Melon Cake said, letting out another sigh. “Oh well, I’m not gonna what she said ruin our fun! Whaddya say we get back to the game?”

The colts and fillies all smiled back at her and nodded turning their attention back to the game that they were playing before Diamond stopped them. Melon Cake went back over to her pillow, climbing on top of it with the help of Lily. Once she was comfortable, she sighed and let her chin plop down on the pillow, with Lily standing right beside her.

“A-are you going to be okay M-Melon?” The pale grayish violet filly asked softly. “You looked a little tuckered out there.”

“I’ll be okay Lily…I’m just really upset at having to deal with Diamond again.” The soft green filly replied without lifting her head up. “I don’t know what we’re going to do! Every day she keeps bullying us, and it only gets worse every time! I feel like if something isn’t done soon, I’m gonna go nuts! And not the good kind of nuts I go into whenever something good’s happening! I’m talking about the, ‘I’m gonna slice somepony like a giant watermelon’ kind of nuts!”

Lily climbed up onto the pillow that Melon was laying on, snuggling up close to her. “I know Melon, I know…everything’s gonna be alright.” She cooed, rubbing the soft green filly’s back with a hoof. “We’re not alone…we have the Cutie Mark Crusaders to help deal with Diamond whenever she confronts us. That makes it somewhat better doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does.” Melon nodded, looking over at Lily with a small smile. “I’m just glad that Silver Spoon wasn’t here though. Not that I really have anything against her, but…if both of them were here…” She moaned softly and buried her face in the pillow. “I really hope we don’t have to deal with them again when the Summer Sun Celebration doesget back in order. Or else we’ll have more of our fun sucked out of today than it already was.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to go someplace where we know she and Silver Spoon won’t bother us.” Lily said softly, leaning against Melon. “That way, we’ll all get to have fun at the Summer Sun Celebration, including the Crusaders.”

“Yeah, I would love for that to happen.” Melon said, giggling as she nuzzled Lily. “It’s gonna be a little hammered though…with me having this broken leg and all.”

“Oh, it won’t be so bad…y-you may not get to run around with us, b-but you’ll still have some fun with us.” Lily said optimistically, smiling gently at Melon. “P-p-plus, I’ll be there to catch you if you fall again…u-unless Nurse Redheart gives you some crutches o-or something.”

“Nah, crutches do nothing but make me be not able to have as much fun as I want to, even with the injured leg.” Melon Cake pouted, pressing herself closer against Lily. “I’d rather it you or the others be there to catch me whenever I fall.”

“W-well then…I-I’ll be right there when you do fall.” Lily said gently, resting her head on Melon’s forelegs. “Like a real friend would do.”

Melon Cake giggled, resting her chin on top of Lily’s head. “Yeah, like a real true friend.”

All of a sudden, Melon Cake began to shake rather violently, causing Lily to jerk her head away in surprise. This went on for a few moments, going completely unnoticed by Rumble, Coconut Cream, and the other foals, who were busy setting the game back up. Just as quickly as it started, Melon’s shaking stopped, she just sat there, staring off into space.

“M-M-Melon Cake? A-are you okay?” Lily asked after a long stretch of silence, putting a tentative hoof one of Melon’s own. “W-what was that?”

“That...was my Melon Sense Lily.” The soft green filly replied softly. “My Melon Sense just went off…and it’s just told me something big.”

Lily gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth as her eyes widened. Taking them away, she stared at Melon, giving the other filly her undivided attention. “W…w-w-what did it say?”

Slowly Melon Cake turned to the filly’s direction, looking out the window where the Moon was shining through. Lily followed her gaze, staring at the Moon silently, until she heard Melon Cake speak again.

“It told me…that the whole town is gonna get attacked again.” She replied quietly as she to look back at Lily. The two fillies made eye contact, and the latter shrunk back a bit at seeing the look of sheer terror in the former’s eyes. “And this time, it’s not going to be those monsters…but something a lot scarier!”

Author's Notes:

Okay, I'm just gonna come out and say it right now, this chapter is one of the many chapters that I had took from the last revision of the story and put back, because I didn't see anything that needed any revision. After some thoughts and contemplation, I had decided to put it there for the main reason of fluff and to show what had happened to the foals that Midnight had rescued, even though they're not the main focus of this story. This isn't the first chapter that I'm planning to put back into place due to not having to edit anything...just trying to see how I can get it back in as the story goes on. So if you see another chapter that comes out as fast as this one despite how long it is...well, you'll know the reason after seeing this chapter.

There's another thing that I wanna get out there, and this involves a certain chubby filly with a pari of glasses and poofy mane. Twist does not deserve any of the hate that is being given to her by those just for her appearance and I personally think that she's pretty cute, regardless of her chubbiness and lips, like I put in this chapter. Just because she has a bad lisp and doesn't look as cute as all of the other foals doesn't mean that she should get repeatedly backlashed by everyone who hates her for those specific reasons. So what if Twist is chubby and has a lisp? That's no reason to hate on her so much, regardless of how annoying it can be, she still deserves some measure of respect and kindness, and I'm pretty sure not everyone's lips lasts forever, which I can assure won't last in this series. Trust me, at some point in this, Twist is gonna go through a change, one that I know will get her what she so desperately deserves and needs.

Also, yes you guys saw right, I had the CMC get formed before they actually did, but in this first book, they've only given each other the name; they haven't actually formed the organization itself yet, mainly because they don't yet have the tools needed to and because of...well, the whole Nightmare Moon problem as well. So while they're calling themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they don't yet have their organization formed, but it bill be formed later on in the sequel to the one I'm planning to bring back for this, for when we really get down to business. I will say one thing, the crusaders, Spike, Crescent and Sheton included will again play a part in the finale battle of this first book like I did the last time, only this time I'll try to make it go more...efficiently.

Well that's all for this chapter; stay tuned for a another little reunion back in the Everfree, the encounter with another fighter, and some more fluff after. Only it's going to be on the more...exotic and wild side.