The sun was beginning to descend when Scootaloo and Apple Bloom started their trek into the jungle. “Be careful,” Apple Bloom warned as she moved a few branches out of her path. “There’s a lot of swamp around here.”

Scootaloo didn’t need to be told again after a misstep sent her hoof splashing into a murky puddle. “How far is it?” she asked.

“It’s a ways,” Apple Bloom replied, brushing a few bugs off her brown vest. “Far enough to make a safe hidin’ place.”

“Why is she hiding?” Scootaloo asked, swatting a few mosquitos away from her face. “Wouldn’t she be safer in New Appleloosa?”

It took Apple Bloom a moment to answer. “Not for her. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great pony, but…”

“But what?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

Scootaloo frowned. “Why not?”

“It’s not my place,” Apple Bloom answered, pausing to leap over a watery section of her path. “To be honest, Scoots, both of us got lucky compared to her. You lost your mentor, and I lost my whole family, but Sweetie Belle lost so much more.”

Scootaloo felt a chill run down her spine as she glided over the water in her way. “What do you mean?”

“I hope you don’t have to find out,” was the only reply.

The two continued on in silence for a while as the sun drew closer to the horizon. They eventually reached a relatively dry clearing. “Here we are,” Apple Bloom said softly as she came to a stop in the middle of the clearing, her eyes scanning the jungle around them. “Now we just wait for her to show her face.”

Scootaloo looked around for any sign of the black-hooded mare. “How long does it usually take?” she asked.

“Depends,” Apple Bloom answered.

After a few more minutes, Scootaloo spied a dark shape moving amidst the trees and vines. “Is that her?” she whispered. The figure walked closer and stepped into the clearing. Scootaloo held her breath. It sure looked like Sweetie Belle, but with the hood up, she couldn’t be sure.

“Is the griffon here?” the mare asked.

“Nope,” Apple Bloom answered. “She stayed at Zecora’s hut.”

The mare lifted one white hoof to her hood and threw it back, revealing her face. Her pink-and-purple mane was less curly than Scootaloo remembered it, but there was no mistaking her face. “Sweetie Belle!” the pegasus cried, bounding towards her old friend. Sweetie’s eyes widened as she backed up several paces, but Scootaloo tackled her before the unicorn could get too far. “I can’t believe it’s you.”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Sweetie Belle said with a shaky laugh. “How’re you, Scoots?”

“I’m great!” Scootaloo replied. Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, as great as you can expect, anyway. Where have you been all this time? I thought you died in the fire!”

“I wish,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Huh?” Scootaloo frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Sweetie Belle said quickly, putting on a smile. “So, I guess you’ve joined the griffons?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo answered, though her thoughts were still on Sweetie’s strange comment. “I’ve been at the Griffon’s Nest ever since Rainbow Dash died.”

“Apple Bloom told me about that,” Sweetie Belle said. “It’s too bad her potion didn’t work.”

“Didn’t work?” Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom. “I thought you said it was stolen.”

“It was,” Apple Bloom answered. “That’s why it didn’t work.”

Scootaloo thought that sounded a little odd, but she let it go. “So, Sweetie, did you learn how to do magic?” she asked.

“A little,” Sweetie Belle replied. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

Sweetie Belle looked at the ground before asking her question. “Do you know where I can find Twilight Sparkle?”

“Huh?”

“She’s Princess Celestia’s protégé,” Sweetie explained. “I heard she’s the best magician alive. I was hoping she could help me with my magic.”

Apple Bloom let out an uncomfortable cough. “Uh, Sweetie Belle, there’s somethin’ I’ve been meanin’ to tell you.”

Sweetie Belle frowned. “What is it?”

“Well, you see,” Apple Bloom said slowly, “Twilight… well, she’s dead.”

“Dead?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle repeated.

“For about a year,” Apple Bloom added, hiding her face behind her hat.

The unicorn and pegasus stared at the earth pony for a long moment. “You mean to tell me she’s been dead for a year and you never said anything?” Sweetie demanded.

“Look, I’ve been meanin’ to tell you, but I’ve just been so busy—”

“Did you kill her?” Sweetie shouted. “Did stupid Nightmare Moon—”

“I had nothin’ to do with it, and you know it!” Apple Bloom yelled back.

“Girls!” Scootaloo cried, putting her hooves in her friends’ mouths. “Come on,” she continued with a shaky laugh. “We haven’t been together in ten years. This is supposed to be a happy meeting.”

Sweetie Belle jerked away from Scootaloo’s hoof and glared at Apple Bloom, who pointedly avoided her gaze. “You know how much that meant to me,” the unicorn hissed.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked. Neither of her friends answered. “What’s gotten into you?”

“You really want to know?” Sweetie Belle asked, turning her fierce glare on the pegasus. “You really want to know what happened after you and Apple Bloom ran away?” Scootaloo could only nod. “Nightmare Moon,” the unicorn said. “That’s what happened. She captured me and Rarity and took us to Canterlot with some of the other ponies from Ponyville. Most of them she just killed, but not us. She tortured her for trying to help Twilight beat her. Then she tortured me.”

“Sweetie—”

The unicorn ignored Apple Bloom’s soft interruption and walked slowly toward Scootaloo. “She killed Rarity right in front of my eyes,” she said. “But she didn’t kill me. No. She made me her student. She tried to teach me everything she knew about magic and make be just like her.”

“Sweetie Belle—”

“That’s where she made her mistake,” Sweetie continued, ignoring Apple Bloom and the fact that Scootaloo was slowly backing away even as she advanced. “See, I was never very good at magic in Ponyville, but it turned out I could do some pretty powerful stuff, stuff she wasn’t expecting.”

“S-Stuff like what?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle stopped and stared straight into Scootaloo’s eyes. “Stuff nopony should ever be able to do,” she answered. “That’s why I need Twilight. I need to know how to get rid of this curse.”

“Sweetie Belle!” The unicorn blinked a couple times and turned to face Apple Bloom. “I’m sorry about Twilight, but there’s nothin’ we can do about it now. We’ll just have to come up with somethin’ else.”

“What else is there, Apple Bloom?” Sweetie demanded. “How can anypony help me get rid of this?” Sweetie Belle threw off her cloak to reveal her cutie mark. Scootaloo recoiled when she realized her friend bore the image of a skull on her flank.

Apple Bloom’s mouth moved noiselessly for a moment. “I-I don’t know,” she said at last, “but I’m sure Zecora and I can come up with something.”

“There’s no potion in the world that can get rid of this… this… thing!” Sweetie Belle yelled, her voice cracking. “My only hope was that Twilight knew some kind of spell that would help me, and now she’s dead!”

“Sweetie Belle, calm down,” Scootaloo said. “So you have a creepy cutie mark. It’s not the end of the world.”

The pegasus wished she’d kept her mouth shut when Sweetie Belle’s furious gaze rested on her again. “Do you even know what this is?” she hissed. “Do you have any idea what my special talent is?”

“N-No,” Scootaloo stammered as Sweetie Belle’s horn began to glow with a black aura.

“The skull is a symbol of death,” Sweetie said softly, her eyes narrowing. “Who wants a special talent like that?”

Before Scootaloo could find an answer, a brown-and-white blur shot out of the sky and knocked Sweetie Belle across the clearing. “Get back!” Gilda screamed, taking a defensive stance in front of Scootaloo.

“Gilda! Get out of here!” Apple Bloom yelled with more fear in her voice than anger.

“Stay out of this,” Gilda snapped. “You’re the one who brought her to this murderer.”

“I’m not a murderer,” Sweetie Belle growled. The aura around her horn glowed brighter as she got to her hooves.

“Oh yeah?” Gilda began creeping around the unicorn in a wide circle, her tail flicking back and forth. “What about the griffons you killed in Canterlot? What about Rainbow Dash and the rebellion?”

“I’m not a murderer!” Sweetie Belle screamed, stomping her hoof on the ground and sending a tremor rippling through the clearing.

“Gilda, stop!” Apple Bloom tried to push Gilda away, but the griffon brushed her aside with one swipe of her talon.

“I’m not letting you get away this time,” Gilda said. “I’m going to make you pay!”

Gilda lunged forward, talons outstretched, ready to sink her claws into Sweetie Belle’s flesh. The unicorn’s horn glowed brighter still, and a paralyzing aura surrounded the griffon, stopping her in her tracks. Gilda struggled and writhed, but the spell held her fast. Sweetie Belle smirked. “Rainbow Dash, you say? I think I can help with that.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened as a crack appeared in the ground between Gilda and Sweetie Belle, a toxic green glow emanating from within. A cyan hoof reached out of the crack and planted itself on the ground beside it, followed shortly by a second hoof and a rainbow-maned head.

“W-What is this?” Gilda cried as a cyan pegasus slowly clawed her way out of the crack. “What are you doing?”

“I thought you wanted Rainbow Dash,” Sweetie Belle said. The cyan pegasus stared at Gilda with vacant eyes, her teeth bared. Her wings were tattered and shredded, and her skin was stretched tightly over her bones.

“T-This is insane!” Gilda screamed, redoubling her thrashing. “You’re insane!”

“You tried to kill me,” Sweetie Belle replied as the ghostly pegasus crept closer to the griffon. “Looks like you’re the one who’s going to pay.”

There was a soft swish followed by a startled cry. Sweetie Belle jumped sideways as a hoof shot to her forehead to remove a small dart that had struck her just below the horn. “What is… what?” The aura around her horn began to dim, and the ghostly pegasus sank into the ground as the glowing crack sealed itself. “No!” Sweetie cried, swaying on her hooves. “You don’t… I can’t…” She stumbled and hit the ground hard, breathing quickly. “Somepony… help… me…”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes closed as her breathing slowed to normal. Scootaloo and Gilda stared at the unconscious mare for a moment before turning their gaze to Apple Bloom, who still held a blowpipe to her lips.

“Sorry about that, Scoots,” Apple Bloom said quietly as she stowed her blowpipe inside her vest. “She doesn’t really control her powers that well.”

“Wh… what was that?” Scootaloo gasped.

“Her special talent,” Apple Bloom replied, putting a hoof to Sweetie Belle’s neck to check her pulse.

“That’s her talent?”

“Now you know why she wanted to see Twilight,” Apple Bloom said. “Come on, let’s get her back to Zecora’s.”