"Now Angel Bunny. What's gotten into you lately?" The rabbit sat on the windowsill, looking outside with a scowl etched upon his face. "Would you like a carrot? Fresh from Golden Harvest's garden. She assured me that these are the most delicious carrots she's ever grown." The rabbit continued to ignore the shy pegasus and she eventually gave up and left him alone to sulk.

Angel glared out the window. 5 o'clock had come and gone with no sign of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Being the generous lapine that he was, and knowing the fillies' tendency to get into trouble, he excused their absence for an additional three days in case they were currently grounded or incarcerated. The arranged meeting place was under constant surveillance and so far there was no sign of any activity. Somehow the Crusaders had managed to shake his rodent spies, much to Angel's annoyance. They had suffered the consequences for failure: mice were an easily disposed of resource, after all. Conveniently many of his gang members were predisposed to eating small mammals. And while he now had well-fed predators, he had no information on the whereabouts of his rivals. There was only one thing to do: he'd just have to take matters into his own paws.

He hopped towards the front door of the cottage and thumped a foot, impatiently.

"Oh, um, are you sure you want to go outside, Angel? I mean, that might not be the best idea. You've been in a bad mood for a few days and..." Angel glared at Fluttershy. "...Okay, I guess you know what you're doing. Have fun and be careful."

The delay had been good for one thing, however. It had been plenty of time to scheme the demise of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Starting with the Apple brats. Their barn had recently been rebuilt during a family reunion, and it would cause the Apple's insurance company to become suspicious of them should it be destroyed yet again. While a fun and ironic target, destroying the barn wouldn't convey the right message at all. But it did contain some goodies worth raiding, not the least of which was a small stockpile of kerosene for lamps. And Angel always had use for flammable liquids...

As he poked around the barn, he found much more than he bargained for. First there was an entire 55 gallon drum of kerosene. While Harry was hauling that back to his cave for safekeeping, Angel found the mother load: several pounds of explosives. He grinned as the wheels in his mind started spinning with possible uses. Satisfied that he'd salvaged everything of value from the barn, he hopped towards the farmhouse. Once he verified that the whole family was inside, he clapped his paws together. A Doberman bounded up with a gas can clenched in his jaws and Angel directed him to pour the contents around the foundation of the farmhouse.

Inside the farmhouse, Wynona's nose twitched. Her eyes flew open as her brain registered what she was smelling. "Woof! Woof! Woof!" She raced up the stairs, barking for all she was worth.

Outside, Angel tossed a match onto the accelerant. He turned, put on a pair of sunglasses, and slowly hopped away as the flames leapt to consume the building. It was a satisfying moment and he wanted to savor it as long as possible.

Wynona's barking roused Applejack from her slumber. She groaned as she cracked an eye open and looked at the alarm clock. It was barely past midnight. It was way too early to be getting up and with all the extra work she'd been putting into the farm lately she needed as much rest as she could get. She rolled out of bed intent on shutting her canine companion up. Cheerilee opened her eyes as Applejack walked past her bed. "Don't you fret now, I'll go see what the problem is. Try and get some shuteye, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Big Macintosh was also awoken by Wynona's yapping. He grunted as he stepped out of his bed. Muscles weary from a hard day's work begged for mercy as he opened the door to the hallway. He sincerely hoped that Wynona had a good reason for waking them all up. "It better not be another squirrel..." Two steps into the hallway is when he smelled the smoke.

In Apple Bloom's room, she and Babs were still sound asleep. Wynona scratched at their door but there was no answer. Unable to get their attention she bounded into Granny Smith's room. She always left the door open in case nature called in the middle of the night. Her bladder wasn't what it used to be, and she'd be the first to admit it. Usually as part of a long story about the good old days... Wynona didn't know what half of what Granny Smith talked about meant, but she always enjoyed listening to the Apple matriarch's words regardless. Her hearing wasn't what it used to be either, and Wynona barked right in her ear and still got no response. Desperate, she pulled out the surefire way to wake a pony up. She placed her cold, wet nose right in the small of the sleeping pony's back. Granny Smith awoke with a start, exclaiming, "Land o' Goshen! It's the griffins, they're attacking!"

"Fire!" thundered Big Macintosh's voice through the hallway.

"I'll get Granny Smith. Y'all get Apple Bloom and Babs!"

"Ee-yup." Big Mac nodded and galloped towards the fillies' room. When he reached the door he found it locked, so he turned around and bucked it for all he was worth. The wood splintered and he crashed through the remains of the door and bellowed, "We need t' get outta here now!"

Apple Bloom and Babs both stumbled out of their beds, Apple Bloom getting tangled up in her blankets as she fell. Big Mac knelt down and motioned for the fillies to climb on his back. "Keep your heads as low as possible and hold on tight." Without another word he turned and headed back down the hallway towards the stairs. As he reached them, he found the ground floor of the farmhouse completely engulfed in flames. He turned back around and headed back towards the fillies' room. He reared and smashed the window, ignoring the shards of glass that stuck in his hooves. Once out on the roof, he surveyed the situation. The pile of hay off to the side of the house, what would normally be a good place to leap to for a cushioned landing, was already ablaze. There were no trees within leaping distance. "Ee-yup, this is going to hurt." He backed up to get a running start and jumped into the cool night air. He landed twenty feet away from the burning building, stumbling to the ground upon impact.

*************************************************************

A few miles down the road, Fluttershy jumped out of her bed and fluttered mid-air. "Earthquake!" As she calmed down she checked for damages, and finding none relaxed. Until she realized that a number of her pets weren't present and accounted for. "Angel?" Getting no response, she made up her mind to go out looking for him.

She didn't go far before she ran into Angel heading straight towards the house. The rabbit froze in his tracks; he was caught red-pawed.

"Oh Angel! I was so worried!"

Angel smiled as Fluttershy hugged him tight. Saved by her naivety. Again. Still, if she was awake, it would be impossible for the rest of his cohorts to slip in unnoticed. He needed a distraction, and there was a very obvious one he could point her towards. He gestured wildly in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Fluttershy looked in the direction he was pointing but couldn't see anything. "What is it?" Angel took his time pantomiming the answer to her question. It wouldn't do him any good if she rushed in and got herself killed trying to be a hero. Good help was hard to find, after all. Normally he wouldn't have to worry as the timid mare would hide under her bed at the first sign of trouble, but if one of her friends or an animal was in distress, she went into mama bear mode and nothing would get in her way of coming to the rescue, come Tartarus or high water.

With Fluttershy not grasping the pantomiming, Angel drew an apple in the dirt. "Apple. Applejack? Sweet Apple Acres?" Angel nodded. He then drew a few licks of flame. "Is on fire?" Angel nodded and pointed. "Oh my goodness gracious! That's terrible! We've got to help!" She picked Angel up and took off flying in the direction of the farm.

It was a short flight. She spotted Applejack and Granny Smith from the air and landed next to them. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. But Big Mac's been better." At the sound of his name, the red stallion tried to rise to his hooves, only to be restrained by the orange mare. "Oh no you don't. You need medical attention."

"It's just a sprain."

"Just a sprain, my flank. All four of your ankles are broken."

"I'll walk it off."

"I can, um, set them. If that's all right with you?"

Big Mac sighed. "I reckon that would be right neighborly of you, Miss Fluttershy."

"That's what friends are for." The shy pegasus took a quick head count. "Um, where's Wynona?"

The Apples all looked to one another. "For that matter, where's Miss Cheerilee?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Oh horseapples. I told her to try and go back t' sleep. She's probably still in there..." They all turned to look at the burning home. The second floor was now engulfed in flames. If Cheerilee and Wynona were still in there then there wasn't much that could be done for either of them.

Fluttershy whistled. "Here Wynona. Here girl." There was no answer. "I'm...I'm going in." She set Angel on the ground and kissed him on the forehead. "If mama doesn't make it, take good care of everyone, okay Angel? I'm counting on you." Angel grabbed hold of Fluttershy's leg and refused to let go. "I'm sorry, I have to do this. They could be hurt."

She leaped into the air and Angel was left sitting on the grass watching her go. It would be... inconvenient... if something happened to her. She was well-trained. She would be hard to replace. But he wouldn't miss her. Nope. Not at all. Tears rolled down Angel's face as he resigned himself to the sad reality that he had probably seen Fluttershy for the last time.

Applejack watched her friend fly through the window Big Mac had bucked out. "Girls?"

"Yes, Applejack?" they answered in unison.

"Run t' town and get everypony out here on th' double. We need Dr. Stable or Nurse Redheart, Rainbow Dash or some other weather pegasus to round up some rain clouds t' put out th' blaze, and it wouldn't hurt none t' get Twilight Sparkle too."

The fillies nodded and ran towards Ponyville.

*************************************************************

"Wynona?" Fluttershy dodged burning debris as she flew through the house. "Here girl." She made a beeline for Applejack's room, holding a hoof over her muzzle to limit her smoke inhalation the best she could.

Wynona was a good dog. Well, she tried her hardest to be a good dog, but sometimes the commands the Apples gave her didn't always make sense. Like when they'd tell her to stop barking at strangers, or not to drink out of the big white water bowl on the second floor. While her survival instincts were urging her to flee, staying with the family guest seemed like the right thing to do. She had tried to lead her out of the house but the pony had initially refused to move from the bedroom, and when she did finally get up to move she had collapsed only a few feet from the bed. So Winona had decided to stay here and protect her as best she could.

"Wynona?" Fluttershy gasped as she entered Applejack's bedroom. Cheerilee was lying prone on the floor, Wynona curled against her. Neither one of them was breathing. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." Fluttershy had to force herself to stop hyperventilating. She grabbed Wynona and positioned her between her wings. Then she rolled the teacher onto her stomach and scooped her up under her forelegs. With no time to lose she flew back down the hallway the way she had came, only to find the passage was blocked by burning debris. She detoured into Big Macintosh's room which had surprisingly been spared the flames thus far.

Able to breathe for the first time since she'd entered the house, she gasped in some relatively smoke-free air as she raced towards the window. Not wasting time opening it, she crashed through it. Glass shards cut into her and her wings locked up as one of the shards hit a vein. She lost her grip on her passengers as they all tumbled to the ground below.

*************************************************************

"You get Rainbow Dash, I'll get Twilight and a doctor." Babs nodded in acknowledgement and the two fillies split up as they reached town.

"Twilight!" Apple Bloom pounded on the library's door. "Wake up!"

The library's door levitated open and Apple Bloom walked in. "I wasn't asleep. I was actually in the middle of some fascinating research on the..." Twilight trailed off as she saw the frantic filly.

"Sweet Apple Acres. Fire. Injuries. Help." Apple Bloom managed to spit out between gasps for breath.

Wasting no time Twilight teleported herself and Apple Bloom straight to the hospital. Nurse Redheart blinked in surprise but before she could ask what was going on Twilight blurted out. "I need the doctor on duty, now." Redheart nodded and paged Dr. Stable, who immediately came running.

With another flash of light Twilight Sparkle and Dr. Stable teleported to Sweet Apple Acres, while Nurse Redheart stayed behind and examined Apple Bloom for injuries over her protests that she was fine.

Back on the farm, Twilight and Dr. Stable gasped at the sight before them. Fluttershy was favoring her right legs and bleeding profusely from her left wing but was valiantly trying to resuscitate Cheerilee despite her own injuries. Big Macintosh was laying on his side, his latest attempt to get up had left him sprawled on the ground. Granny Smith and Applejack were attending to Wynona. Miraculously, the canine had started breathing again once Fluttershy got her outside. Unfortunately the fall from the second story hadn't done her any favors. Dr. Stable rested a hoof on Fluttershy's withers. "I'll take it from here. You need to get that wing bandaged up and then lay down. I'll get you patched up when I'm done here."

"Not until I make sure Wynona's okay." Dr. Stable let her go. He knew he had a better chance of convincing Pinkie Pie to give up sweets than he had of convincing Fluttershy to ignore an injured animal. Both were statistically zero.

Meanwhile, Twilight was attending to Big Macintosh's ankles. "This is going to hurt a bit at first..." She gingerly set his ankles and they glowed purple as the unicorn performed a healing spell upon them. "They'll be good as new in three weeks but you'll have to take it easy until they fully knit. You'll be able to walk relatively pain-free but absolutely no trotting, galloping, or apple-bucking. You could do permanent damage to your legs if you strain them before the spell finishes healing them."

"Eeyup."

High above them, Rainbow Dash zipped to and fro, pushing rain clouds to the farm as fast as Cloudchaser, Flitter, and Thunderlane could empty them on the burning farmhouse. Half an hour later the flames had been doused, but the wooden home was nothing more than smouldering ruins. The four pegasi landed and Dr. Stable asked for their help transporting his patients to the hospital. Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash hooked themselves up to one of the Apple family's wagons and trotted back to town, Cheerilee, Fluttershy, and a protesting Big Macintosh in the cart behind them.

*************************************************************

Babs sat on Scootaloo's bed. Rainbow Dash had zipped off to get her weather crew over to the farm as quickly as possible. She had wanted to go back to Sweet Apple Acres too but Rainbow Dash had forbidden it. And for some strange reason Sweetie Belle's sister happened to be living with them now too, so they couldn't just sneak out after she was gone.

"Cocoa?" Rarity asked as she brought in a tray with three piping hot mugs of hot chocolate loaded with marshmallows and whipped cream. She sat between the two fillies as she passed them their mugs. She took the remaining mug for herself. "Now I know your first instinct is to run back to the farm and try to help, but there are ponies who are trained to handle these sorts of things. It's the same reason I'm waiting here with you instead of running on over there myself. I'd only get in the way. And you've already done a lot just by coming here to get help. Why, I dare say you may even have saved lives tonight. I know you're concerned and want to know what's going on, but we're all just going to have to be patient. But if you'd like to talk about it, I'm here for you."

"That's nice, and I appreciate it, Rarity. But right now I'd rather just talk to Scootaloo if it's all right with you."

"Of course it is. I understand you'd probably feel better opening up to a friend more than a mere acquaintance, albeit one with more life experience. I'll give you two some privacy, but be ready to leave here in fifteen minutes."

"Leave?" asked the fillies in unison.

"Why of course. We'd be in the way over at Sweet Apple Acres, but you do realize they have to take the injured to Ponyville Hospital. And we'll be right there in the waiting room when they arrive!"

"We'll be ready to go." Babs said, as Rairty closed the door behind her. She turned to Scootaloo. "How have you kept her from finding you know what?"

"It hasn't been easy." Scootaloo sighed. "We need to get them out of here."

"And take them where? The clubhouse is gone and..." Babs trailed off not wanting to talk about what was happening at Sweet Apple Acres as they talked.

"How about Sweetie Belle's house?"

"Her parents are suitably oblivious but Rarity has access there too. She's even more likely to snoop into her little sister's business than yours. And as odd is this sounds, I really don't trust their cat."

"Opal?"

"Yeah. With all the problems we're having with that rabbit, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's using Opal to spy on us."

"Speaking of Angel, I bet he's responsible for that fire tonight."

"He probably is. I didn't mention it to anypony but I smelled gas once I got outside. With as strong as the smell was, I'm sure they're going to figure out pretty quickly this was arson."

"Right, and they're probably going to blame Filthy Rich for it."

"He's probably up to something too."

"Whatever it is, it can't be worse than Angel Bunny."

"Now you're just tempting fate, Scoots."

"I'm serious. Filthy Rich has to be sneaky or he'll get caught. But Angel has the perfect alibi so he doesn't have to worry about that. He can walk among the ponies in town without drawing even the slightest bit of suspicion. He can do anything to anypony he wants and nopony's going to stop him. Who's going to believe a cute little bunny rabbit is a criminal mastermind? Come on, let's get ready before Rarity comes back in here."

*************************************************************

"Mr. Rich?"

Filthy Rich jolted awake. "Yes?"

"Paradise is here to see you."

"Send her in, Miss Redheart."

"Actually, she requested you come to her. She's in our office. I'll escort you." Filthy Rich followed Nurse Redheart up the stairs to the hospital's main office.

"Mr. Rich, please be seated. Thank you, Miss Redheart. That will be all." Filthy Rich took a seat across from the police chief while Nurse Redheart closed the door behind her on her way out.

"I'm assuming this must be important if you're taking me away from my daughter's bedside at quarter after two in the morning."

"I'm afraid it's very serious, Mr. Rich. There's been a fire at Sweet Apple Acres. At the moment I don't have any details, but rest assured my department and I will be investigating this. In the event the fire turns out to be suspicious, you have a known grudge against the Apple family. I'm here to advise you not to leave town."

"And leave my daughter? Never. And I couldn't possibly have set that fire. I've been at the hospital all night."

"A fact which Nurse Redheart confirmed. However, she also mentioned you've left the hospital other nights at random hours of the morning."

"I do have a business to run."

"And you have meetings in the wee hours of the morning?"

"I have meetings whenever it's convenient for me to have meetings. At the moment with spending so much time at the hospital, yes, I have meetings at odd hours of the night. I'm trying to spend as much time with my daughter as I can when she's awake. I don't want to get interrupted in the middle of her therapy by mere business. I've let my relationship with Diamond Tiara be sullied by enough meetings and business trips over the years. I refuse to let it happen again. My business partners know I'm here, and they know the best time to reach me is when she's resting."

"I hope that's true for your sake. But if any of those 'business partners' just happen to be proficient in starting fires, we'll be talking again soon." Paradise stood up. "We're done here."

*************************************************************

"They're here!" Scootaloo pressed the button to hold the automatic doors open.

Rainbow Dash burst through the open doors a few seconds later. "Make way, coming through... Squirt? What are you and Babs doing here?"

"Why shouldn't they be here, darling? Why, the little dears have both been worried sick for their friends and family."

"She has school tomorrow, er, I guess it's today now."

Twilight Sparkle emerged behind Rainbow and Rarity, levitating Cheerilee, Fluttershy, and a reluctant Big Mac. "Rainbow! I thought you were going to get Nurse Redheart."

"Sorry! On it!"

"That won't be necessary. I'm right here. Follow me, we're going to rush Cheerilee and Fluttershy to emergency. Big Macintosh, if you'd be so kind as to wait here we'll get you set up in a room shortly."

"Eeyup."

"Don't worry, nurse. We won't let my brother sneak on out of here before y'all have a chance to examine him. And how's Apple Bloom doing?"

"Wearing a groove in the floor of her room pacing back and forth, worrying. I told her to get some rest but I really can't blame her for not following that advice."

"If'n y'all could point out her room I'd be right obliged." Nurse Redheart gave her directions and continued leading Twilight Sparkle while Applejack went to check on her little sister.

Dr. Stable stood outside the operating room. "Whoa there, that's far enough. If you could just place the patients onto these gurneys I'll handle it from here."

Nurse Redheart and Twilight returned to the waiting room. "Big Macintosh, I'll escort you to your room now." He groaned as she motioned for him to get into a wheelchair.

*************************************************************

Angel Bunny hopped down from his hiding place under the Apple family's cart. As always, the insignificant ponies had forgotten him. Of course, being an afterthought is what made him so ruthlessly effective. Well, usually. Tonight his work had inadvertently injured Fluttershy. That was... inconvenient. Yes, mere inconvenience. Still, he had no intention of leaving her all alone in a hospital. He would supervise the doctors to ensure that they healed her. And if they failed, well then, he would personally see to it that they never lost another patient ever again.

He couldn't help but check out his handiwork as he entered the hospital. The Red Giant was injured. Albeit only minor injuries, but any injury to the massive stallion was an accomplishment. And it would take him out of commission while he healed. He could effectively double activities in the apple orchard for the next three weeks. Unfortunately, the fillies who were the target of his ire had both escaped unscathed. That made him angry, but there was nothing he could do about that at this very second. He wouldn't miss again, that was for sure.

He continued hopping down the hallway towards the operating room. He slipped through the door unnoticed and found a hiding place under Fluttershy's gurney. From his position he could hear everything, even if his view consisted of nothing but the legs of the doctors and nurses in the operating room.

"She's lost a lot of blood. We're going to need a transfusion."

"Go check to see if any of her friends know her blood type. Maybe one of them's a match."

"Breathing's stabilized. High probability of a concussion from the fall."

"I don't like the looks of this wing. She may never fly again."

"You're saying she was trying to resuscitate the other patient and then she went and helped a dog too? With these injuries? Incredible."

"You don't know her, do you? When there's an injury to one of her friends or an animal, there's absolutely nothing that can stop her. She's a hero, pure and simple."

"Explains why she's an Element of Harmony, all right."

Angel sat and listened. His pegasus was severely damaged. Somepony needed to pay for this. Of course, Fluttershy had volunteered to rush into the burning building so there was no one to blame there. And he himself had set the fire, so he couldn't place the blame there, either. Nope, this was all the fault of the Apples. If they hadn't left the teacher and the dog in there, Fluttershy never would have put herself in harm's way. Of course he would've let that goody two-shoes mutt burn too given the opportunity. But Fluttershy was a bleeding heart. It was one of her better qualities. A yang to his yin. As much as it pained him to admit it, he needed her as badly as she needed him. Almost. He turned his attention to the other patient in the room.

"She's stable. A lot of smoke inhalation. Other than that, she has mostly minor injuries from the fall and some lacerations from the glass. Nothing overly serious. Looks like Fluttershy protected her as best she could on the way down."

"Technically she was clinically dead for all intents and purposes at the time. That means she was limp when she hit the ground, while Fluttershy tensed up. That didn't do Fluttershy's head, neck, or her legs any favors."

"You wouldn't believe how we got her heart beating again. I didn't have a defibrillator so I had Rainbow Dash manipulate some lightning and Twilight Sparkle use her magic to direct it and filter it so it wouldn't completely fry her. I'm amazed it worked. I want to get some unicorns and pegasi trained on this new procedure. It has the potential to be a real lifesaver when we don't have equipment to work with out in the field."

*************************************************************

"Do any of you know Fluttershy's blood type? Or better yet, if any of you is a match for her..."

"I'm a match for her. She donated blood for me when I got injured in a hoofball game back in school. I'd be happy to help her."

"Follow me, Miss Dash."

"Rarity, take the fillies home. And Granny Smith and AJ too. They're going to need someplace to stay until the house gets rebuilt." She turned and followed the doctor to the operating room.

"That's a lot of ponies under one roof. I can squeeze one in at the library."

"I think right now it would be best if the Apples stayed together," Rarity said.

"I could take you in, temporarily, if you'd like?"

"While I appreciate the thought, darling, I'm settled in at Rainbow's place. We'll make do. In the meantime, why don't you write some letters to Applejack's relatives. Perhaps we can get a new farmhouse built before Big Macintosh is released from the hospital."

"I'll get on that as soon as I get back to the library."

"You going to stay here a while?"

"Yeah. If anything goes wrong, I want to be here in case I can help."

"Noble thought, darling. Well, good night. I'm off to find the Apples."

*************************************************************

The next day dawned bright and cheery. There were no clouds for the weather team to break up. Truly, it was a day made for enjoying. Sadly very few citizens in Ponyville were enjoying it. Even Angel Bunny felt disheartened as he hopped down the trail towards town. Following him was almost every animal residing at Fluttershy's cottage. All of them wanted to see the pegasus mare in the hospital. A humming noise made the rabbit pause in his tracks. He knew that sound. He motioned for the rest of the animals to disperse into the woods and then he took cover in one of the bushes on the side of the trail.

Scootaloo's wings buzzed as she rode towards Fluttershy's cabin. There was no doubt in her mind who had caused the fire at Sweet Apple Acres. That pesky rabbit needed to be stopped, and with the possible exception of Babs, she knew none of the other Crusaders had the guts to do what needed to be done. A crowbar 'borrowed' from Rainbow Dash's workbench was nestled in her saddlebag.

While she wasn't exactly fond of school, she did like Miss Cheerilee. For a teacher, she was pretty cool. Not as cool as Rainbow Dash of course, but then again, who could ever possibly hope to achieve that level of sheer awesome? Seeing her in the hospital angered her. And Apple Bloom's big brother was always super nice. And he had gotten hurt saving Apple Bloom and Babs. It just wasn't fair. Even Fluttershy was injured, Angel's very own caretaker and quite possibly the nicest pony in town. The only thing she could do to make sure Angel never harmed another pony was settle the score with the rabbit once and for all.

As she steered her scooter around a curve in the path, a stick shot out from the bushes alongside her. With no time to react, she watched in slow motion as the front wheel caught the branch and tipped the scooter forward. Scootaloo flipped over the handlebars and her trusty vehicle landed on top of her. "Owww..." The filly rubbed her head as the shrubs started shaking.

Angel stepped out of the shrubbery, grinning maliciously. He picked up the prybar that had tumbled from Scootaloo's bag when she tumbled and started tapping it against his outstretched paw.

"Uh... That's not what it looks like. Really..."

Angel just shook his head and whistled. Harry stepped out from behind a tree and grabbed the scooter off of the prone pegasus. With a grunt he smashed it to pieces. Scootaloo took advantage of his momentary distraction to flee in the opposite direction. Unfortunately she found her way blocked by a pair of beavers. Before she could turn around Harry had her in his clutches. He grabbed her by the wings, unfolding them and holding her by them.

"Hey! Wings are the most sensitive part of a pegasus!"

Angel nodded, grinning. He was well aware of that fact as he'd spent most of his life living with a pegasus, after all. He ran his paws through her feathers. So soft. So colorful. So attached to her body. But not for long. He yanked the largest primary feather out of her right wing. Scootaloo howled in pain while Angel stuck the orange feather into a hat, which he placed upon his head.

Scootaloo clenched her mouth shut mid-wail. She was just as tough as Rainbow Dash, surely she could handle a little pain. No way was she going to let the enemy see signs of weakness. Meanwhile, Angel hopped atop a ferret so he could see eye to eye with Scootaloo. He smacked her cheek and shoved his foot in front of her lips.

"No way am I kissing your stinky foot, you stupid rabbit!"

Angel shook his head. That was the wrong answer. He stuck his right paw out to the side and a fox handed him the crowbar.

"What are you going to do? Hit me with it?"

Once her mind caught up with her mouth Scootaloo realized that was exactly what he aimed to do. The prybar smashed into her wings, over and over again. She yelped in pain, unable to control her outburst this time. Tears streamed down her face as she choked back the sobs as best she could. A minute later the assault was over. Her wings lay limp against her sides, broken and bleeding. Harry shoved her into the dirt so she could clearly see the pictures Angel was drawing with the crowbar.

"I know..." she trailed off, coughing. "You want the paintings." Unable to lift her head, she watched as the leaves under her started turning crimson as they soaked up the blood oozing from her broken wings. "They burned..." She hacked yet again. "They were in Sweet Apple Acres."

Angel shook his head, pointed to her, and then sketched a house in the dirt.

"How'd you know they're at my house?"

Angel shrugged his shoulders and grinned that same smug grin. He clapped his paws together and the various members of his gang melted back into the woods like they'd never even been there, leaving Scootaloo alone with her broken scooter. She struggled to her hooves, thankful that she could still walk. Amazingly, Angel had focused all his energy on her wings. She could still walk, which was good because the hospital was nearly a mile away and she hadn't told anypony where she was going.

Scootaloo had barely trudged a hundred feet before she stopped in her tracks. Hospitals asked a lot of questions. She could blame it on a scooter crash, and her scooter was definitely broken enough for that to be believable, but her injuries were rather centralized. No, if anypony was going to believe her, she'd have to look a lot worse than she already did. "Today just isn't my day." She bit her tongue to keep from crying out as she ran through a briar patch. Several dozen lacerations and a few bruises later she arrived at Ponyville General Hospital.

"I had an accident."

Nurse Redheart looked up from the desk and gasped at the battered filly before her. "I'd say that's an understatement." She paged Doctor Stable to surgery as orderlies assisted Scootaloo to the operating room.

*************************************************************

Minty looked up at the giant department store and gulped. This was it. The last place in town she hadn't tried working for. After what Rainbow Dash and Rarity had said about Filthy Rich being a big meanie, she really didn't want to work for him but she was officially out of options. She sighed and pushed the door open. "Welcome to RichMart!"

"Hi, I'm here about the job."

"Please go to the Customer Service Desk."

After waiting in line to be helped, it was finally her turn. "Hi! I'm here about the job."

"Please go to the back of the store by the Layaway department. Our Pony Resources Director will be right with you."

Two hours later a bored pink pony approached her. "Follow me."

"So tell me about yourself."

Brightbow looked up at Minty. "Uh, miss, I'm interviewing you. That means I'm the one who's supposed to ask the questions."

"Well I have questions of my own! How long have you worked here? What made you choose working here?"

"I've been here twelve years. Ever since I was seventeen." She paused. "I don't exactly know why. This was just supposed to be a summer job. You know, to get some spending money so I could go to the movies with my friends or hang out at the ice cream shop where the hunky stallions worked. Maybe earn enough to spend a week at the beach. You know, nothing serious. It was never supposed to be a career. It just happened that way." She sighed. "I shouldn't have dropped out of college after only one semester." She buried her head in her hooves and whispered, "I hate my life."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Did I say that out loud?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Look, I'll make this quick. Are you desperate?"

"Very."

"Then you'll fit in perfectly around here. Welcome to RichMart, where all your hopes and dreams come to die a slow and agonizingly painful death. Grab a vest from that closet over there. You're hired." She stood up and motioned for Minty to follow her. "This is the break room. If you're lucky you'll get two fifteen minute breaks and a half hour lunch. Wild Flower, are you on lunch right now?"

"That's why I'm eating."

"Great. Pack it away and show our new hire around the store for me."

"No."

"Well, if that's how you feel, who am I to stop you? The head of Pony Resoures, that's who. Which means that by failing to obey my direct order, 'insubordination' will go on your permanent record..."

"Can I at least finish eating first?"

"If you can cram a full tour of the store into whatever remains of your lunch after you finish cramming that food into your mouth, sure. If not, then no." Brightbow slammed the door behind her and cantered back to her office. Breaking the spirits of her coworkers was one of the the last joys she had left in life.

"I hate her."

"If it's any consolation, she hates herself, too. My name's Minty, by the way. Nice to meet you, Wild Flower!"

"Enthusiasm. I had forgotten what that sounds like. We'll start the tour off with the back stockroom. This is where we unload wagons filled with the merchandise we sell in the store."

"Who's in charge of doing that?"

"We all do it after the store closes. We come in at 8AM for opening, work until the store closes at 9PM and then we all come back here and work together to get the wagons unloaded. It rarely takes more than two hours or so..."

"That sounds like slavery."

"Nah, we get paid for working."

"How well?"

"Minimum wage."

"Plus overtime, right?"

Wild Flower gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Yeah, overtime. Ha...ha...ha..."

"They can't legally not pay you for time worked. I used to be a cop. That's illegal. We could all complain to the..."

"Hold your horses there, Minty. You're new around here so I guess it falls to me to explain how things work since Brightbow's useless at doing her job. This is a last chance job. You only work here because you have no other options available. And Filthy Rich knows it, too. He takes advantage of every loophole he can find."

"Then why are you here, Wild Flower?"

"Call me Wildy. I'm here because I was an idiot. I lived up to my name back in high school. From the time I was thirteen until the day before I turned eighteen I was wild thing. I spent more time in juvey than I did at home."

"Wait, come to think of it didn't I arrest you for vandalism?"

Wildy waved a hoof. "Eh, probably. You probably nailed me for underage drinking and public intoxication, too. I honestly don't remember and I think it's best if I don't. If it matters to you I don't hold it against you, you were just doing your job."

"So why the change of heart?"

"Because I realized that starting on my eighteenth birthday everything started counting against my permanent record. I was being given a clean slate, and I admit the party lifestyle had burned me out. I was spent and to make matters worse my parents were tired of putting up with me. They didn't believe I was serious about turning over a new leaf and kicked me out of the house on my birthday."

"That's awful."

"No, it isn't. It was exactly what I needed, and I'll be the first to admit I deserved it after everything I put them through. It made me determined to prove them wrong and well, I ended up here. Crashed with friends until I saved up enough to afford a little apartment. Now I'm planning to go get my GED. Then maybe I can get out of here. But until then, RichMart owns my sorry flank. Enough about me, we have about two minutes for me to show you the rest of the store."

They trotted out the swinging doors to the sales floor and almost bumped into another pony. "Oh hey, Pina Colada. I was just looking for you. Instead of taking lunch you're supposed to show Minty here around the store."

The hot pink mare glared at the pale pink earth pony. "You're just dumping your job off on me."

"I ran out of time. I've got less than a minute to get back to work. I didn't get my lunch either."

Pina Colada gave her a sad nod of understanding. "Fine, get back to the Garden Center. I'll take over from here." She motioned for the green mare to follow her. "I work the cash register up front. So I'll start the tour there. We have thirty state of the art check-out aisles."

"Why is only one of them open?"

"Because I'm on lunch right now. And then when I get back Bright Eyes there will go take her lunch. And then we'll have two lines open for a little bit until I go to break." She trotted to the right. "By the door is our Pony Greeter, Butterscotch. You probably talked to her on your way in." She indicated an ancient mare with a vaguely orange coloration. Whatever color her hair once was it had long since turned completely to gray. "Over this way is our Garden Center. You've already met Wildy. This is where she works." She continued trotting through the store. "Pet supplies, sporting goods, toys."

"Who works these departments?"

"Right now, just Yo-Yo. They hired her for toys but she kind of absorbed the rest of this side of the store as other ponies quit and were never replaced. She's got electronics, hardware, and stationary too. And oh, crafts too now that Sew-and-So quit."

"That's a lot of store for one pony."

"Oh, it's not like she's ever around to do anything on the floor anyway. Most of the time she's too busy helping us run register. Or out pushing shopping carts back to the store after ponies take them home and don't bring them back. Then we all help straighten out the store after our shifts. You know, stock new product, face everything forward to fill holes on the shelves, clean up any messes that may have been made like colts leaving chewed gum on the floor."

"When do we do that?"

"Whenever we get done unloading the wagons. That doesn't usually take more than a couple of hours. The faster we unload them, the faster we can get to cleaning the store. The faster we do that, the faster we can stock the shelves. And then we can go home and sleep for a few hours before we come in and do it all over again tomorrow."

"Just how long do you usually spend here in a given day?"

"Let's see, I get here a few minutes before 8AM and I usually leave at about half past one in the morning. Sometimes 1:15 if it's a slow night. The latest I've ever stayed until was quarter to four. That sucked getting up the next morning. I got like two hours sleep, tops."

"Why do you put up with it?"

"Because I've got two foals at home. I've got to keep food in their mouths. My grandsire keeps an eye on them during the day while I'm here at work."

"What about their father?"

"I don't know where their fathers are. Nor do I care."

"Oh, sorry."

"Nothing to apologize about, I'm honestly not even sure who their fathers are..." She changed the subject. "Over there's Fabrics & Crafts. Let's watch Yo-Yo cut some fabric so you can learn how to do that."

The purple pegasus with pink hair was struggling to manipulate a cutter with her wings. Finally in frustration she brought one of her forelegs down on it and it slammed down, cutting the fabric neatly. "There you are, ma'am."

"Thank you, dearie," replied an ancient spinster. "I just need thirty-one more colors." The crowd of ponies behind her groaned as they waited impatiently for Yo-Yo to help them.

"We should probably check out Softlines. Quickly." Pina Colada all but shoved Minty towards the middle of the store, deftly avoiding irate customers with a skill only those who'd been in customer service for far too long could ever hope to achieve. The two ponies stood in the middle of an immense clothing section. "It didn't always used to be this big, but Filthy Rich personally insisted we expand it to try and run that fancy boutique on the other side of town out of business. So now we have upscale clothing and lingerie in addition to our usual selection of work duds, casual wear, and undergarments. And this is Satin 'n Lace, who's in charge of everything you see here." She motioned to an orchid earth pony mare with a pair of silver bells on her flank. "Satin, this is Minty. She's new."

Satin 'n Lace briefly looked up from the garments she was sewing and said, "Charmed." She went back to sewing and paid her visitors no further mind.

"She's a little behind in making clothes at the moment. Until Filthy Rich finds some new manufacturers she's sort of in charge of making everything." Pina Colada led the way over to the grocery side of the store. "And here's our deli. Nice 'n' Spicy, this is Minty. She just started today."

"La petite mademoiselle! You look like you haven't eaten in weeks!" The purple mare shoved a bag of potato wedges over the counter. "Eat!"

"Merci!"

Nice n' Spicy paused. She hadn't heard anyone pronounce 'merci' correct in a long time. "You know Prench?"

"Oui." I learned a little in school. You know there's a Prench restaurant in town that's still looking for a chef. They should be reopen for business by now."

"Merci! I shall go check in on that on my lunch!"

"Good luck! Where did you learn Prench?"

"I come originally from Neigh Orleans, down on the bayou! I moved here a month ago from Fillydelphia after my Cajun restaurant went out of business. I have not yet had the opportunity to explore your town. They keep us very busy here with the work."

Minty gave her directions to Port-o-bella's restaurant and Nice n' Spicy slipped her vest off and galloped towards the door and sweet, sweet freedom. She never came back. Port-o-bella hired her on the spot.

Pina Colada facehoofed. "Congratulations, Minty. You're now in charge of the deli and by extension, the entire grocery department including dairy and produce. Good luck."

*************************************************************

Rainbow Dash was napping in one of the trees on the Apple farm. Technically she was on the clock, but her job was to keep the skies clear. That hadn't been necessary this morning, which was a welcome relief to the exhausted pegasus. It had been a long night at the hospital. Once Fluttershy was out of surgery, she hadn't left her friend's side until it was time to go to work. Now she was catching up on that lost sleep.

"Rainbow Dash!"

The rainbow-maned pegasus cracked an eye open. "Pinkie Pie? What is it?"

"Like, I was totally delivering balloons and flowers to the hospital for Fluttershy and Big Macintosh and Cheerilee, and then Scootaloo walked in all beat up and said she had an accident. I figured you might want to know. I'm going to go make her up a care package, too. At this rate, I'm going to just have to move into the hospital just to keep up with everypony."

No amount of sleep could've prepared her for this. First her best and oldest friend was injured and now her adopted sister. She zipped off her cloud and rocketed towards the hospital. She walked up to Nurse Redheart's desk and demanded, "Where is she?"

"Follow me."

Rainbow took one look at Scootaloo's broken wings and her heart sank. They were mutilated beyond recognition. Most of the feathers were gone and there were multiple places where the bones were sticking out right through her skin. Muscles just dangled from the mess, no longer attached to anything by more than mere threads. "What the hay happened?"

"I wrecked my scooter and tumbled down an embankment."

Rainbow took another look at her sister's wings. "Uh-huh."

"Dr. Stable would like to see you in his office."

"Yeah, I'd kinda like to see him myself." She followed the nurse to the doctor's office, though by this point she had been here enough times recently to know the entire layout of the hospital.

"Miss Dash, I suppose you've seen your sister's injuries."

"Yeah. What can you do for her?"

"With what's left of her wings, not a whole lot. Usually in cases like this we recommend amputation."

"That seems a bit... extreme. And not in the good way. What other options are there?"

"There's an experimental new treatment that we could try. Basically we would rebuild her wings and fuse prosthetics in to fill in the pieces we can't fix. At least 90% of her wing bones would have to be replaced. The pieces that are left of her bones are absolutely shattered. Most of the skin and muscles are there, though."

"Would they be stronger than her natural bones?"

"Absolutely. There's even a slight chance she'd be able to fly. Not a very good chance, maybe 25% or so."

"That's better than the 0% chance she has currently."

"Very true."

"Do it."

"Before you agree to it, I need to advise you that this is still an experimental treatment. Because of that it isn't covered under your medical insurance."

"I don't care, just do it."

*************************************************************

The charred remnants of the farmhouse gave testimony to the intensity of the blaze. A lone pegasus from the fire brigade stood watch over the property in case of any flare-ups. Paradise and Sweet Stuff were slowly taping off what was obviously a crime scene. The smell of gasoline had so overpowered them upon approach that there was no rational explanation for the fire other than arson.

"This place smells like a refinery, chief."

"Which means whoever did this wanted this place to go up in flames quickly. Either we're dealing with an inexperienced arsonist or somepony who just doesn't care if the world knows this fire was deliberate or not." Paradise flared her nostrils. "So what do you think? Filthy Rich?"

"He's got the motive, but I have my doubts. He seems more like a 'revenge is a dish best served cold' kind of stallion. And he knows we're watching his every move right now. Besides, this is sloppy work. If he was going to have someone do the job, he'd make sure he hired someone who knew what they were doing."

"Who else has a motive. The Apples?"

"It makes more sense. The farm's on the line so they could use the cash infusion the insurance payout would give them. And everypony knows Filthy Rich is angry with them, so if their farmhouse goes up in flames then there's a handy scapegoat."

"I sense a 'but' coming on. What's your gut telling you, Sweet Stuff?"

"But Applejack admitted telling Cheerilee to go back to bed. And she's beating herself up over it pretty badly, too. So either the Element of Honesty is the world's best liar or the most cold-blooded pony I've ever met. And Fluttershy's a friend of hers. Granted, AJ doesn't know how she even knew there was a fire. Per her testimony she just kind of showed up."

"It will be nice when she wakes up and we can finally get her statement. I don't know about you, but I've got a lot of questions for her."

"I'm sure I'll come up with a few. Of course, it's quite possible the fire was designed to kill Cheerilee and Fluttershy just got caught up in it. But it just doesn't add up. The insurance payout will only cover rebuilding the house. Sure, they could live in temporary housing or even the barn, but this is a farm. You ever farm, chief?"

"Can't say I have."

Sweet Stuff started pacing back and forth as she continued, "I grew up on a farm. We lived on the farm because there's never any shortage of chores that need to be done. Commuting to work an apple orchard? Not really a great business strategy. Most farms are low profit. Paying for housing is going to suck their finances dry. How about the barn? Well, barns exist for a reason. Living space isn't that reason. On top of that, their single best worker is out of commission for the next three weeks."

"So then who?"

"Unless the Apples have some more enemies I don't know about, I think we've got a psychopath on our hooves. With all the other unsolved crimes we've got on our plate right now, I think we've got a very disturbed pony taking advantage of current events to stir up as much trouble as he can. What's your gut telling you, chief?"

"That pretty much every unsolved crime we have right now revolves around the Cutie Mark Crusaders in one way or another."

"Except the paintings."

"Except the paintings," Paradise echoed. "Of course, there's always the possibility the Cutie Mark Crusaders were trying to get cutie marks in art theft that day."

"That's a good one, chief. Cutie Mark Crusader mobsters, yay!"

"But that happened well outside of Ponyville and may be completely unrelated to everything else going on. With all their antics, I'm thinking the Crusaders ran afoul of somepony powerful. And I bet they know who, but aren't talking."

"Because they're scared of retaliation? Or because whatever they did in the first place was wrong and they're afraid to implicate themselves in their own crime."

"Bingo."