Raisin Quest 4
Day 7

>Tell Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to watch over Twilight at the Ponyville Hospital
>Rush back to Clubhouse to discover that it is in flames
>**Fetch Weather Pegasi team to extinguish the fire**
>Horrifying red crested avian screeches from atop a fencepost, stopping you in your tracks
>xXx Continue straight into the Everfree Forest, completely alone without a light source xXx
>Immediately, Raisin’s mere presence summons a set of midnight wings; she dashes into the forest to try and escape
>Lost in the Everfree Forest; tries to look around, but cannot see anything
>**Do a perfect 180 turn and backtrack, approaching a cacophonous murder of crows**
>?? Hear some plinking; the crows suddenly fly off ??
>Make it back to the main path
>**Sing as you continue into the Everfree Forest, warding off any other winged pests that might try to get the drop on you**
>Hear a bird call, rush to the front door. Zecora lets you in.
>—Sit down to breakfast with Applebloom, making sure she gets some food in her—
>**Discover the Red Cobra’s Amulet could potentially be a True Soul Amulet, a nearly mythological talisman that has the ability to potentially restore the true form of any cursed creature**
>xXx Try to wake up Harry; the jumpy thief’s muscle reflexes send a claw flying into Zecora’s hoof xXx
>—Head on out with Applebloom; attempt to walk through the forest without light—
>**Intuition tells you to stop and light your lamp; avoid a strange looking frog plant thing**
>Head back to town looking for Derpy; hear Mayor Mare shouting something over a bullhorn by the school
>—Bypass Derpy, seek Mayor—
>**Run into guard barricade; use equipped Royal Medallion to convince guards to let you through**
>—Decide to make direct approach; see if Mayor Mare will let you talk to Rover, the Diamond Dog up in the school’s bell tower—
>Discover from Rover that the kidnapped construction ponies are alright.
>**Discover that the Diamond Dogs have taken over what you believe to be the Red Cobra’s snake tunnels**
>—Ask Rover about what made the tunnels—
>xXx Press that Rover’s new ‘sandbag gun’ probably won’t stop the creatures that dug the tunnels, considering they couldn’t even stop you and it only managed to injure a dragon and a pony xXx

The trigger happy Diamond Dog inside the fortified, sunken Schoolhouse bell tower takes Raisin up on her challenge. He initially fires a volley of sandbags as Raisin expects. A small group of unicorns stops the projectiles in midair, preventing them from doing any harm. Disappointed, Rover flips the ammunition chamber over and fires another volley from the gun. The ground, as well as the small golem pony, are immediately littered with a collection of dazzling, razor sharp crystals.

The Mayor orders a full retreat. Sustaining some pretty severe injuries on her craggy body, Raisin flees from the schoolhouse in order to recuperate. With a hoof-ful of leads… the mysterious romantic ‘LS’ from the mountains, the Diamond Dogs’ newly acquired Schoolhouse fortress that leads into the Snake Tunnels, and a strange little Pegasus stalker, Raisin has quite a mess to sort out. Thankfully, she has some help.

>9:45AM

Inventory check:

• Raisin: Hayseed, Sneezing Powder, Lamp (Shattered), Royal Medallion (Equipped), Grappling Hook + Cut Rope (Equipped)
• Saddlebag has been torn: 1 pocket unavailable for storage

Feeling slightly defeated by the boisterous Diamond Dogs, you hobble slightly as you pass the guard barricade set up on the road. The guards immediately take notice of the shiny gemstone stripes embedded into your back.

"Whoa there… that's new…" The one guard that so willingly let you on by inspects the injuries closer. "…it is new, right?"

"Yes… I was shot by those darned dogs."

The guard looks into your eyes with an overwhelming sense of guilt. "Oh my… Sweet Celestia, I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have let you…" He looks genuinely disappointed in himself. "…it doesn't hurt, does it?"

"Not really… but its rather unsettling."

Both of the guards watch as you hobble slightly back down the path. You can hear the one muttering that he's failed in his duties as the other tries to talk to him.

As you venture back towards town, you see the Mayor and her small group of guards. The two that were shot earlier are missing… you assume they must have been carted off to the hospital by now.

Standing in the town square, the Mayor is on your right by the Town Hall. Straight ahead, you see Derpy starting to head out towards Sweet Apple Acres, her bags that were previously full now nearly empty. Applebloom is near where the snake statue was standing; it seems that she was whisked away with the guards during their tactical withdrawal.

The bubbly gray pegasus happily bobs up and down as she starts to head out of the town square. As she trots over to the road leading out of town, you shoot your hooves up into the air and slam them down. A thunderous boom startles some of the other residents as they exchange some early morning conversation.

"Derpy! Hey, Derpy! Over here!"

It takes a couple of seconds, but she turns her head your way. She stops in her tracks when she realizes who you are. "Raisin!" With a smile, she meets you halfway between the road and Town Hall. You notice that you're not able to walk quite as fast as you remember.

"Hello Raisin! Isn't it a beautiful day today?" Derpy seems cheery to have bumped into her latest friend once again.

"Well, yeah… it is pretty nice out…"

"Your back is so pretty!" She immediately notices the gleaming gemstones embedded into your stony flesh.

"…thanks." You glower a little bit, trying to remember what you wanted to ask her. Nearby, Applebloom rushes over to greet you.

"Hey, I hate to bother you about your… you know, secret friend…"

"LS?" Derpy asks.

"…yes. Did he send out any mail recently?"

Applebloom hops up to your side. "Raisin! Ah was so worried! Are ya'll oka—" She notices the sparkling gems sticking out of your back. "…ouch…"

"It doesn't hurt." You assure your friend that you're in no physical pain. She still looks at the new crystals with some concern.

Derpy tilts her head. "Uh… well… um… that's kind of a secret…" She dips her head down close. "…but since we're friends… um… well, I think he might send another one probably. He really likes Applejack!"

Applebloom looks slightly disgusted. "Ah really wanna sock this creep when we meet 'im… sending all those weird letters. What a freak!"

Derpy shakes her head. "He's not a freak! He's just really shy."

Considering she hasn't gotten his mail yet, you decide to see if she has any formal letter for you or Applebloom.

"Oh! I do! Here you go!" The mail mare shakes a pair of identical letters out of her mane. Peering at the address, you see that they were sent from Cheerilee's house.

You let Applebloom open them up, revealing a set of report cards alongside a letter addressing the recent Schoolhouse situation. She simply remarks that the Mayor needs to investigate the school before classes can resume.

While Derpy's head is still craned low, you approach the subject with caution.

"Derpy… I think that you're a fantastic, incredible friend for keeping so many secrets for your friend… but we've been doing some research…" You pause to gauge her reaction. She seems oblivious as to the direction you're taking the conversation. "…we have reason to suspect that this 'LS' guy is up to no good."

She looks offended. "No way! 'LS' is a really super nice guy! He would never be up to no good!"

Applebloom chimes in. "No, really! Why's he bein' all secretive an' whatnot if he's got nothin' ta hide?"

Derpy looks a little confused, so she doesn't answer. "He's a really nice guy. He is not bad at all!" Looking slightly distressed, she shakes her bags. "I have lots of mail to send. Excuse me!"

The pegasus prepares to set out on her typical route.

With a bit of quick wit, you halt the mare in her tracks with a request. "Stop! Hold on… Derpy, I didn't mean to make you mad. I just wanted to see if you'd let us send 'LS' a letter is all…"

Applebloom looks surprised, but nods her head in agreement. "We just wanted to send him a quick letter is all…"

Derpy turns around. "…but… you said he was a bad guy…"

You backpedal. "No, no, no… we were thinking that… well, you see… we just wanted to ask him some questions quick."

Derpy tilts her head back and forth. "…weeeeeelll…. since you're my new friend… maybe I could give him a letter…" She looks unsure of herself. "I don't know if he'll write back."

Though your back in impaled with an array of shiny gemstones, you can't help but wiggle in place. "Finally! Alright…"

You realize that you do not have a Quill, Ink, or any Paper to write a letter with. Derpy looks like she's ready to continue on down the road.

Inventory check:

• Applebloom: CMC Cape, Hammer, Box of Quarter Sticks (x3), Stompstarter

>10:30AM

Without any means to quickly throw a letter together, you sigh to yourself. "Uh.. on second thought… I was meaning to ask you one last thing before you go on your way…"

Derpy looks a bit uneasy, probably about being late to her next delivery.

"…could you tell us why 'LS' is a good guy? We just don't know why he's so… good."

The question strikes Derpy as an odd one. She plops down onto the road and thinks for a few moments. "Well, he is really super nice. He said that I had a pretty mane and he liked my eyes!" She's nearly blushing.

"…oh, I see… so he's quite the charmer then, I take it?"

Derpy nods her head. "Yep! And he said that we could be best friends if I was good at keeping secrets…" She puffs up her chest. "Which I am."

Applebloom looks at you. "So… he was nice to her ah guess… he doesn't SOUND so evil…" She shakes her little red bow. "…but come on! Ya saw the letters he wrote! That's just gross!"

"Hey, thanks for sharing. Now, I was kind of wo-"

Derpy looks straight up at the sun, then jumps to attention. The startled mare whines a little bit. "Sorry Raisin! I really gotta go now! I'm late!"

"Bu- wait, hold on; I was wondering if you cou-"

You watch as the mare speeds off into the distance, clearly late for her next delivery. She gallops down the road to Sweet Apple Acres.

"What were ya gonna ask her?" Applebloom inquires.

"…I was going to ask if she could take a letter to LS later… guess we can try to catch her on her way back or something."

As the dust settles again, you travel a bit further down the road and head up to the front door of your house. You see Mary out front watering some of the decorative plants. She's humming a lovely little melody to herself. As she waters, she slowly turns her head around to greet you. She almost drops her watering can.

"Master Raisin! Vat iz…" She stares at your back, noticing the crystals protruding from its surface.

"Some decorations. Don't worry about it, Mary…" You try to sound cool so she doesn't panic too much. She can't take her eyes off you as she overwaters a few of the hanging potted plants over the doorway.

You check by the rug again. Besides being slightly wet from the storm last night, you don't immediately see a letter sticking out from under it.

"Oh man, seriously? Nothing?" Your back crunches and grinds a little bit as you lean down to check about the doormat. Upon lifting it up off the ground, you see a dry letter placed perfectly center underneath.

"Good job, Raisin! Final'y, another lead!" Applebloom seems excited to have discovered some new evidence.

You take it out of it's protective sleeve. It seems as though it was written very haphazardly… the outside looks a little damp, so it was probably there during the storm.

"Dear Raisin,

It's alright. Mistakes can happen. I'm so-" The letter seems to have a lot of corrections made to the wording right off the bat. The convoluted scribble is impossible to decipher. "…I don't think we should meet. I can answer questions. I'm always nearby." The last bit is jammed onto the only remaining part of the paper that hasn't been smothered in ink.

As was the case last time, the letter doesn't have a signature.

"…that's… creepy." Applebloom comments.

"Iz zat a secret letter?" Mary inquires.

"Hey, Mary… I kind of ripped my saddlebags… think you could patch up a pocket quick?"

The maid gets down from her stepstool, then takes a closer look at your bags. She sees that the Rope going to the Grappling hook has been frayed. "Sweet Celestia… how did zis happen?" She pushes the rope aside, careful to avoid the dangerous looking crystals on your back. She looks at the hole, astonished. "I don't even know how you did zis… my verd…"

Mary pulls out a Thread and Needle and immediately goes to work repairing the little pocket. In just a few moments, she stops. "Zere! Iz not a permanent fix, mind you… I vould need to put it on ze zowing machine for zat."

"Thanks for at least patching it up for me, Mary."

SADDLEBAG REPAIRED

You carefully move passed Mary and push open the strong, thick, sturdy front doors of your house. As you enter, you swear that you can hear your mom in the other room. She's probably doing her aerobics exercises again. You can hear the cheesy exercise music of her record player echoing about the other room.

Applebloom follows you close as you head down the hallway and to your room. You know that you've got a very large supply of Ink, Paper, and Quills at the ready. These should help you write a few letters, you figure.

You unfurl a pair of papers from your stack of new paper. With certain dexterity, you slide an Ink Well to Applebloom and uncork one for yourself. Readying a quill, you raise a brow to Applebloom.

"I write to our Mysterious Friend, you write to 'LS'".

Applebloom scoffs. "Ewww, no."

"C'mon, you know your sister better than I do. We've got to make it sound like she's interested in meeting him."

"But… oh, wait a minute! We're gonna get him to meet up with us!" Applebloom nods in approval. "Alright… okay, ah think ah got somethin' good in mind…" She immediately starts scrawling out some rather unexpectedly beautiful calligraphic text. You mind your own letter as you pick your words carefully…

After rereading it a few times, you carefully place it inside of a protective envelope and seal it, ready to place under the doormat.

"Applebloom, you almost done?"

"Yyyyyyyyyep!" Applebloom finishes drawing the last little heart on the letter before placing it inside of an envelope as well. "This is sure to get 'im down here!"

You place your letter inside of you extra Saddlebag space. Applebloom places her letter inside of her own Saddlebag space.

"…not that I doubt your writing abilities, but… can I see your letter before we send it out?"

Applebloom looks a bit offended, but she withdraws the letter from her saddlebag. "Ah'm sure it's gonna be a real knockout…" You carefully pull the letter out of the envelope.

"Uh… Applebloom… that's not the right kind of 'your' in the beginning…"

"Pfff, it's fine. He'll understand. Mah big sister's supposed to be head-over-hooves about him anyhow, right? He won't mind a mistake or two." She justifies her letter.

You sit Applebloom down and hoof her over a quill. She pouts a bit.

"Hey, we've got to do this perfectly. Every little word counts. Besides, judging by his letters, he's probably expecting something a little sappier… here, I got an idea…"

You speak the following:

"Dear Secret Admirer,

Your words make my heart sing. You make me feel like a filly again. I want to wrap my hooves around you and whisper sweet little things in your ear. I'd love to meet. How about in my barn at 3PM? Of course, if you have something else in mind, I wouldn't care either way. I just want to have a face to match those sweet words"

-Love, Applejack"

Applebloom finishes up the letter, slightly dumbfounded. "…ya'll came up with that jus now?"

You nod. "I think it'll work."

"No kidding! That's gonna work guaranteed! There's no way he can say no!" Applebloom gives you a hoofbump.

She carefully tucks the letter into the envelope. "Well, we got both letters. Time to send 'em off, right?"

>11:00AM

Inventory check:

• Raisin: Hayseed, Sneezing Powder, Lamp (Shattered), Letter to Mysterious Friend (Repaired Pocket), Royal Medallion (Equipped), Grappling Hook + Cut Rope (Equipped)
• Applebloom: CMC Cape, Hammer, Box of Quarter Sticks (x3), Stompstarter, ‘Love’ Letter to LS

Wary that a confrontation may be imminent, you make sure to check on the general health of your friend. "Applebloom… you wanna get some lunch before we head out?"

The little Apple filly puts a hoof on her belly. "Well… now that ya mention it…"

"Let's get you something from the kitchen."

As you exit your room and head into the Merlot Residence Foyer, you open up the front door really quick. Mary seems to have moved; she's down by the flower boxes on the other end of the house by now, you figure.

Checking both directions, you slide the letter under the doormat quick, leaving just a little corner exposed.

"There we go… that's settled…"

"Hope he gets it soon…" Applebloom comments as she heads towards the dining room. You follow close behind her, showing her into the kitchen. There's quite an assortment laid out already… judging by the setup, you'd say your dad is responsible for this. Alongside all of the various salads and veggies, a single book with a marked page lays by the spread. You just smile to yourself; your mom and dad have always been so thoughtful of you since you lost the ability to eat.

Applebloom helps herself to an extra bowl of salad set off to the side. She carries it over to the table and begins devouring the leafy greens, carrots, and grapes.

You sit patiently in your little 'throne' at the table, watching as Applebloom munches through a variety of very delicious looking garden veggies. Listening to the fresh crunch they make leaves you feeling empty inside… you've completely forgotten what the sensation of taste was like. It's odd when you think about it; not even your imagination allows the sensation in. She crunches into some carrots, then takes notice to your longing stare.

"…uh, Raisin?" She gulps down the mash of veggies. "Ya'll okay?"

You snap out of your daze. "Yes, quite. I'm good."

The filly burps and pushes the bowl aside. "Okay, so now we've gotta deliver this letter to 'LS'. Ya think Derpy is home by now?"

"She could be. She covers the morning route… and it's almost 12:00PM, I think.. she should be home by now. Shall we be off?"

You and Applebloom team up and head out of the dining room. You can still hear your mother in the other room blaring her record and, no doubt, working up a sweat with some of her ridiculous toning exercises. Not wanting to think on it any further, you open the front door.

As soon as you crack it open just the slightest, you hear a gentle stirring of the sand at the ground, then silence. Looking down, you see that your letter has been partially withdrawn from the doormat.

"What the…?" You are overwhelmed by the odd sensation that someone is watching you.

"We goin' or what?" Applebloom stands behind you as you remain frozen in the doorway.

Not wanting to give any cause for alarm, you ignore your gut feeling and continue out the door. "Well, yeah. Let's get going. I'll lead the way."

As you take to the dusty, dirt road, you notice that your hobble walk is slowing the two of you down significantly. You actually don't mind it too much; charging from one place to the other doesn't allow you to appreciate the beauty of your home. You look over the wide expanses of verdant green and colorful flowers on either side of the road. Lakes, streams, and distant mountains fill the landscape with the vibrant thrill of life. You realize that you've saved this place twice already… without you, it could've all been gone… You think to yourself as you travel through town, Applebloom close by your side. Every once in a while she breaks your train of thoughts, talking about the Boulder Snakes and asking you about your current battle wounds.

After a long walk, you finally start coming upon the windmills and plains out towards Derpy's house. "Well, here we are. Hopefully she's home by now…"

You approach the front door of the house, ready to give it a solid knock. Just before you do, you let Applebloom do the honors for you. Within a few seconds, you hear something crash from inside. "Cooooooooooomiingg~~!"

"Whew, she's home." Applebloom breathes a sigh of relief.

The door swings open, bonking the little filly on the nose. She winces and holds her schnoz in pain.

"Ooop. My bad…" Derpy looks at her with concern before cracking a big smile your way. "Raisin!" She leans down to give you a hug.

>11:40AM

As Derpy wraps her hooves around you for a hug, she suddenly pulls back. "YeeeoOOWW!"

You blink a few times, realizing that you forgot to tell her about the razor sharp crystals growing out of your back. "Oh my sweet Celestia… Derpy, I'm so sorry! I forgot to warn you about those!" You reach a hoof out, but she pulls back.

She's sitting back on her rear, holding her forelegs close to her. She quivers slightly. "Ohhh… darn it… I should've seen those…" You're pretty sure she just scraped herself.

Applebloom blinks the tears out of her eyes, finally recovered from the door bonk she received. "Wh… oh, shoot…"

"…Derpy, this is like, the worst possible way to say hello, but… um… do you think you could drop off this letter from Applejack quick?"

Loyal to her duty, she reaches out and takes the letter in her trembling hooves. She holds it up close to her eyes, checking the hoofwriting closely. You can see two red cuts on her legs… they don't look too bad, but they're probably painful.

"Um… okay. I'll deliver it, sure… I need to get some bandages first, though… c-could you wait?" Derpy sounds like she's about to start tearing up.

"I'm really, REALLY sorry about that. It completely slipped my mind…"

Derpy's eyes are a little watery. "I just need some bandages. Hold on…" Quickly, she shuts the door. You can hear her sniffling for a minute on the other side.

Applebloom is covering her eyes. Her cheeks are as blazing red as her mane. "Oh man… oh man… we messed up…"

"Relax… I think she's still going to help us… I just feel awful about that… she goes to give us a hug and slices herself on these stupid things…" You reach a hoof back, dragging your stony appendage across the crystal formations. Though they were already pretty low profile, you try to ground off the ridges as best as possible before the door swings back open.

Derpy's forehooves are wrapped together. She looks like she's doing a little better. "All better now." She doesn't crack a smile this time. "Do you still have Applejack's letter?"

You hoof it over to her. "Here you go… she was too shy to give it to you herself…" Derpy puts it in her mouth and starts flapping her wings. She moves a bit slower as she takes off, but shes starting to fly back toward town… at a pace that you can keep up with.

"Hmmm…"

"Should we follow 'er?" Applebloom starts following her shadow automatically, sniffling and scrunching her nose up occasionally.

You hobble after Derpy and Applebloom, telling your crimson maned friend to keep her distance. Derpy bobs up and down in the air, flying straight towards town.

As you near town, you see that the square is full of ponies all gathered around and trying to find some lunch. Derpy is just over the town square as the sun reaches its apex in the sky…

>12:00PM

As you're following Derpy, trying to maintain your casual stride, you hear an absolutely massive explosion echo out from the distant mountains behind Sweet Apple Acres. A couple ponies jump and scream. Overhead, several pegasi start flying out towards the boom; a rainbow streak zips ahead of all of the others.

"What the hay was that?!" Applebloom asks. "Oh my… no… there's no way… that's not the eruption is it!?"

Panicking, the two of you try to run to the dirt path by the edge of town. You feel odd as the crystals in your back are being pulverized and crushed into dust with your run. A large crowd of ponies have already blocked up the path. Overhead, Derpy seems to have just stopped, hovering in one spot above you with the other pegasi. You and Applebloom walk around the group and try to get a good view of the mountains.

One single mountain top appears to be smoking. To your amazement, there isn't any lava pouring out of it or anything else indicative of an eruption…

"What just happened?" You ask yourself.

You notice that Derpy is no longer heading in any specific direction. You call up to her.

"Derpy! Is that where LS lives?"

She doesn't respond at first. It takes about a minute, but she lands down on the ground. She drops your letter down, looking depressed.

"Yeah…" She sounds shaky.

"So he was out there on that mountaintop?"

"Yeah…"

"…do you know what happened?"

Derpy shakes her head and plops down, unsure of what to do with your letter. "I delivered a package to him just a little bit ago…" She swallows. "He said I looked pretty today…"

A bunch of pegasi rush out towards the mountains. You see a small platoon of armed guards rushing up the road from the Schoolhouse, obviously shaken by the explosion.

"Do you know what was in the package, by any chance?"

Derpy sniffles. "…no… but they said it had to be there by 11… that's why I had to rush earlier…"

"They? Who's they?"

She swallows hard. "LS's mom and dad… oh my goodness, what are they going to think?" The little pegasus starts to sob.

"Derpy… you should get on home… or somewhere safe." You pause. "I-I'm sorry."

The crying pegasus tries to gallop away, but falls flat on her face because her forelegs are bandaged together. With a couple flaps, she picks up into the air and takes off back towards her house, leaving your letter undelivered.

"…what do you think, Raisin?" Applebloom picks up the letter, storing it inside of her saddlebags.

"I'm actually not sure. Looks like someone blew up LS… but why?"

You squeeze on through to the road before the guards start racing down it on either side of you and Applebloom, telling the two of you to get indoors. You keep your walking pace until you get to the front door of your house.

The doormat doesn't seem to hold your letter anymore. Knowing better, you look under it again to find a freshly sealed letter.

“Dear Raisin,

I believ-“ Immediately, the hasty author has scratched out another sentence. “-LS can help. He’s mean, though. Do-“ Again, you’re not sure if he wanted to keep the “n’t” contraction on the end or not. There’s more scribbles, then some words. “-alone. Also, his door is elect-“ you think you see ‘booby-trapped’ among the scribbles. “Helpful spots, maybe, except the ru-“ Some more ink is blotched all over the place. “Sorry for my writing. Nervous. Serpents turn to stone in t-“ Another annoying scrawl of indecipherable characters… “Don’t know about the eruption. Sorry I didn’t respond faster. XOXO”

He fails to sign it again, using the very last bit of the paper to put in the ‘XOXO’.

“Well…” Applebloom starts. “…at least he’s friendly, I guess…”

The two of you look up towards the mountains again, wondering if the mysterious LS guy could have possibly survived.

"Applebloom, stay here for a second. I'm going to answer this letter."

The little Apple filly nods, keeping her eyes fixed on the distant pegasi and the plume of gray, black smoke.

You walk inside the house. Both of your parents are huddled up by the window. Your mother hasn't even changed out of her exercise gear. They're both looking out of the living room window; it's a brilliant view of the smoking mountain. They seem a bit distracted as you pass on by.

"I'd love to catch up with my parents… but I think they'd get jittered up if they saw the crystals…"

You hear your mom's voice. "…you don't think… Raisin didn't… she wasn't up there, was she? She was at the farm, wasn't she?"

Your dad doesn't reply; he stares out the window, unwavering. You pass on by to your room, feeling slightly guilty. "…I'll catch up with them on my way out…"

Quickly, you jot down a letter:

Your letter complete, you stuff it into an envelope and put it into the empty pouch of your Saddlebag.

As you silently make your way back out of your room, you trot on passed the living room once more. Your parents are still fixated on the smoke. Your mother is leaning up against your dad… she looks like she may have fainted. They're both incredibly still. You resist an overwhelming urge to run over and hug them.

"…I can't… not right yet…" You think to yourself. Silently, you slip through the front door, undetected.

Applebloom looks you up and down. "That was quick. Yer parents not around?"

"Nah." You swallow hard, then slide the letter underneath the doormat.

"Are we gonna go an' get Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom asks. "This seems like a good time to get the Crusaders altogether 'gain."