“Hey Big Mac. Sleep well?” Sweetie Belle asked the red colt with the yellow mane.

“Eeyup. Mighty soft bed with all that new hay we put in.” That was what Sweetie always loved about Big Macintosh: he was always positive and simple. He appreciated the small things in life, and whenever Sweetie did something, he always provided the best compliments. He was that nice to everypony, but Sweetie didn’t care, as far as she was concerned, it was only her.

“Well kids, I’ve loved this visit, but I gotta fly.” Scootaloo chuckled. It was a horrible attempt at a pun, but Applebuck and Golden Delicious loved it. “See you all at the show?

“You know it!” the kids yelled in unison as always.

“Definitely” answered Sweetie Belle

“Eeyup”

“Darn right!”

“Ok good…well, by.”As she soared out of Sweet Apple Acres, a streak of purple and orange was spread across the sky.

“I’ma cook us somin tuh eat.” called Apple Bloom as she walked into the kitchen. “Whatcha want? Buck, Goldie, I know what you want. Big Mac, the usual?”

“Eeyup.”

“Sweetie?”

“Umm…I’ll have what he’s having.” Sweetie pointed to Big Mac and shifted her eyes to his. Big Mac noticed this glare and realized he was staring back, so he quickly turned away before she noticed his stare.

Buck and Goldie were in the kitchen with Apple Bloom helping her cook everyone’s food. Sweetie realized that it could take some time and took advantage of the situation to sit down beside Big Mac, getting as close to him as possible without being too awkward.

Big Mac however, still felt the awkwardness of the situation. This was Sweetie Belle, and even though she was older now, he still saw her as the young, naïve, Cutie Mark Crusader; the small filly that always talked about her sister as if she was Celestia herself.

“So…” she began the conversation “always feels soft with fresh new hay doesn’t it?”

“Eeyup.” Even though that’s almost all he ever said, he seemed distance as if he was only speaking to her out of courtesy, which he was.

She was serious though, and wanted to talk to him. She loved the sound of his voice, and to watch him as he spoke. She had always loved his voice, and as they aged, his voice became more and more soothing to her.

“Ok then Big Mac, your turn.” She would do anything to start a conversation so she could hear him. But, he just looked out the window across the room and stared blankly at nothing, as if he was either thinking of something, or trying to ignore Sweetie. Or both.

“Why?” Big Macintosh asked simply in his deep, masculine voice. Though Sweetie ‘spoke Big Mac’ as she and Apple Bloom called it, this one word sentence confused her.

“Why?” She repeated, thought, then replied, “Well, I tried, and failed, to start a conversation, so…I thought I’d give you a chance to.”

“No…why are you acting like this?” He questioned, seeming slightly angry. “You keep staring at me, and you’re so close to me that you’re just about layin on me, you keep trying to get me to talk. Why?” He was louder now. Loud enough to get his anger across to her, but quiet enough that it was only audible to him and Sweetie.

Sweetie was afraid now. She had seen him angry before, but that was at Applejack, and this was different. It wasn’t all anger. There was something more as well. Something he was trying to cover up. It was as if he was begging her for an answer. She thought, and decided it was time to admit her biggest secret.

“Well Big Macintosh…I love you.”

Rainbow Dash slowly walked out of the room, afraid to look back at the now insane Twilight Sparkle. She was confused. “What did I miss? Did I really cause this? What about Gummy?” So many questions unanswered and more keep coming. Dash was scared and wanted to cry. Not from sadness or fear anymore, but from absolute confusion.

As she walked down the stairs to the dining area, and saw that the entire bakery was empty except the loco pony upstairs. Dash looked around and called for the Cakes, but no one answered. Perfect. She sat at a random table, coincidently the same table Rarity had sat at, and sobbed. Between gasps of air she repeated the one million bit question: “Why?” Eventually she screamed as loud as possible out of frustration and fear, spreading her wings as far as they could. Knocking over tables and chairs and making a mess.

Then, she snapped. Without thinking, she ran upstairs and knocked the door open, causing Twilight to turn and face Rainbow Dash. As soon as she did so, however, Dash turned around, jumped on her front hooves, and kicked her rear legs out as fast and forceful as possible, catching Twilight right in the chin, and knocking her out cold. She didn’t want to do it, but it was necessary. With Twilight knocked out and laying flat on the floor, Dash could easily carry her to the library where she belonged. She lifted Twilight onto her back and started toward the exit. “While I’m at it, I might burn that damned doll too. I’ll be back…”

As she walked out the door she remembered about Gummy. She walked over to the bed and looked under it, to see that the bloody corpse was still there. As much as she dreaded it, she knew that she had to get him. She slowly and carefully pulled him out with the blanket from under the bed, folded him up in the blanket, and picked it up. She began to gag as she walked out the door, but didn’t miss a beat, as she continued down the stairs and out the door into the street. She continuously shifted her sight left and right. The last thing Dash needed was a stray pony walking by and asking what was in the bag or what was wrong with Twilight. However, as luck would have it, that’s just what happened.

“Why, hello there, Rainbow Dash!” A male pony called from down the street. It was a dreary day, so it was hard to make out who it was exactly. “I say, what is that on your back?” The pony walked closer, revealing his brown coat, and darker brown mane.

“Oh this, nothing much, just some stuff to take to the library.” She kept walking. “I’m in a bit of a hurry, so…” she began to jog; making sure that Twilight didn’t fall.

“Oh, perhaps I may be of some assistance? I would be happy to carry that bag in your mouth or the stuff on your back.” He came closer, revealing it was the Doctor. Darn his helpful outlook on life.

“Nah, its personal stuff. I gotta go, like now.” She began running slowly, faster than he was walking by far, but Twilight was slipping and she couldn’t fix it. She ran as fast as she could toward the library, unaware of her speed. She ran so fast time seemed to slow, and she was able to open the library door and sling her flank over and upwards as to send Twilight’s unconscious body onto Spikes enormous body. “Whew…glad I got her here, now to go to Nurse Redheart. She’ll know what happened to Gummy.”

---

Skylite the pegasis colt and his earth pony father Caramel had finally finished a hard day’s work at Sweet Apple Acres. Skylite loved working with his dad at the farm, and in that way he took after his father’s teachings. Even though he took after Twilight, his mother, in the way that he’d rather read books than be a social flutter pony, he was like his father in the way that he would much rather work on the farm than look at books all day. Because of this wide difference in interests, Caramel basically got to be with him on the farm during the weekends, and Twilight got him during school nights so he could study.

“That’s it. All the apples put in the barn. Anything else Dad?

“Yep. Think that’s all fer tuhday. I think ya mom wanted ya home when we finished, so hurry home. Don’t wanna hear her yell when I get there.” He chuckled, and rubbed his hoof on the top of Skylite’s mane. “Now get. I’ll be home soon.”

“K Dad! See ya at home! Love ya!” Skylite yelled as he flew off to home. His dark brown coat and slightly lighter mane, about the color of Caramel’s, left a chocolate streak on the sky as he sped home. Skylite often wondered how two earth ponies ended up having a pegasis son, but he decided he would know when the time came. Being the Rainbow Dash fan that he, along with nearly every other pegasis, was, he loved to pretend he was a Wonderbolt; Flying and dancing through the sky without a care in the world, he painted the sky a dark shade of brown. Then, said paint would quickly dry up and the canvas clean, ready to be painted again.

As he flew home quickly and dare-devilishly he noticed a lot of sad, emotional ponies walking the street. He was a focused flyer, usually not taking time to look around at all of the ponies along the street, but this was so severe that it was impossible to ignore, especially when he noticed a certain white pony sitting on the sidewalk sobbing.

“Miss Rarity?” Skylite quietly asked as he walked slowly up to her. “Why are you crying?”

“Oh…hello Skylite. It’s nothing dear.” She looked away from him, aware that he knew her lie.

“Well then, could you tell me why the whole town is so depressed?” Skylite was the curious type, and that assisted in his reading personality, but this was something you couldn’t look up in books. This was something from the heart, and Rarity was perfect for an answer, as she was almost as much of a mother to him as Twilight was.

“Just a gloomy day I suppose. Sad weather, sad ponies.” She refused to look at him, as she was afraid to. She tried to wretch out a smile, and that led to more tears. Her tears had left a small wet patch on the sidewalk, showing that she had been there for a while. Skylite was in fear rat the fact that his practical mother was in so much emotional pain. But he was also infuriated, she always did that. She would beg for attention, then she won’t reveal why. She also convinced herself that Skylite was still a little foal, not a teenage colt now.

“Rarity,” this grabbed her attention, as it was the first time he had ever called her by her real name and not ‘Miss Rarity’, “I’m not a tiny little foal anymore, and I can tell when something is wrong, especially when half of Ponyville is in tears. You are a drama queen, but you’re ladylike enough that you go to wallow in your own tears somewhere private, not sit here in the middle of town where everypony can see you this way! Now, I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me what the hay is going on!” This language, the frank nature of the speech, the subtle insults, it all added up to making Rarity want to cry more, but not being able to.

However, it also left her speechless. She didn’t know what to say. True he was a teenage colt now, not a foal, but it was too much for him to handle. And it would be better to let Twilight explain than Rarity. Rarity couldn’t handle it; Twilight was the down to Earth one. And right now this colt was being more adult and mature in the situation than Rarity was.

“Skylite dear, I don’t want to tell you this, but Pinkie Pie may be dead.” She looked back down at the ground. This action was accompanied by a gasp from Skylite. “She’s been having some troubles, and when we went to check on her, she was gone. We can’t find any hints as to where she could be, but we know it’s not in town. Se either left town or is on the outskirts.”

“Rarity. Please. Do you know anything else?” He was almost on the edge of tears, and had still forgotten about ‘Miss Rarity’

“No darling, that’s all I know.” She wasn’t lying this time, and he knew it. He walked down the sidewalk, hunched his back, got a running start, and jumped outwards, spreading his wings and shooting off towards the library to go check on Twilight. As he approached the giant, hollowed out tree, he heard a door slam and acquired the feeling that something horrible was inside. He halted about 10 feet from the door, and slowly crept up to it. As he slung the door open, he saw his mother knocked out and laying on Spike’s enormous stomach, and a confused Spike alternating dazed looks between Twilight and her son. Skylite gasped as he noticed the gigantic, swelling, pulsing black eye his mother had somehow acquired.

“What tha hay?” Skylite screamed at Spike. He wasn't quite sure why, but he wanted to blame Spike for this. Perhaps it was because he was the only one around.

“I don’t know! I was sleepin’ here on my back, then Dash came bursting through the door and tossed your mom onto me! When I looked, she was out cold, and I guess Dash gave her the shiner. Really nasty.” He made a disgusted face at the swelling bruise. Skylite was ready to burst, and the knowledge that his supposed hero had done this made him want to scream. “She had a sack in her mouth too. It was full of something, but I couldn’t tell what.”

Skylite flew out of the library, his back draft causing the door to close behind him. “Mmk, I’ll be here then.” Spike mumbled to himself, and with a thud he crashed his enormous head onto the floor.

“DASH!” Skylite was furious at Rainbow Dash, and if she found her, it wouldn’t be pretty. “DASH WHEN I FIND YOU I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” It didn’t take much longer until her sights were locked on the sky blue pony with rainbow mane. She flew as fast as her wings as fast as was possible. “DASH!!!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, causing Rainbow Dash to turn around so she could be tackled cleanly and most painfully.

“Your dead, do you hear me?” As he looked to his side to investigate the contents of the spilled sack, he noticed the blood on the blanket, and then he noticed what was inside; the bloody, rotting corpse of a certain alligator. “YOU’RE SICK!” He began to cry as she got off from on top of Dash. He turned her back as Dash gained her common sense stood up, and then, as soon as Dash stood all the way up, he bucked her as hard as he could in the chin. All of his time down on the farm had paid off, as he had learned how to use his wings to add more momentum to his kick. This had knocked the mighty oak known as Rainbow Dash off her hooves, and he hopped back on top of her and held her down. “You are so…ugh, I don’t even know the word! I looked up to you! I loved you! My mom loved you! You were my hero! And you go and do this?! You kick my mom in the face, and kill Gummy! You probably killed Pinkie Pie too!”

“Sky, I know you won’t understand, but I HAD to buck your mom, trust me. And I did not kill Gummy!”

“Then what did?” He loosened his grip.

“We don’t know how he died. I was on my way to find out, and Pinkie just disappeared and that’s what’s wrong with the town! Now, get the hay off of me!

“I’m still mad at you. And I don’t trust you. So…I’m going with you.” She got off of Rainbow Dash, allowing her to get up.

“Fine, but stay out of my way and if you tackle me one more time, or you’ll be being checked out by Nurse Redheart instead of Gummy.” She pushed Gummy’s body into the blanket and folded the blanket back up. “Ok…let’s go…”

Next Chapter: The Secret/The Hospital Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 14 Minutes