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“I can’t wait for this party! Pinkie usually goes all-out, but this one is supposed to be really special!” Twilight beamed at her small, purple-scaled companion. Spike smiled right back and asked if he was invited.

“Of course, Spike!” Twilight crooned, “Everyone in all of Equestria is invited! The party is going to be so big, Pinkie must’ve wanted everyone to make tons of new friends!”

It was true. This party was meant to be the most extravagant and populated party Pinkie Pie had ever thrown. There were going to be so many ponies that instead of throwing the party at her own place, Pinkie was going to have it at Blanc’s Showroom – and it was set to be absolutely packed. Anypony Twilight asked about the party was already going.

So, Twilight Sparkle and Spike prepared. They made triangle hay sandwiches with toothpicks and miniature banana-nut muffins to bring in a woven picnic basket, and they both accessorized with gifts from Rarity. For Twi, this was an intricate silver hair brooch that had a moonstone center-piece carved into the shape of a crescent moon surrounded with dots of small twinkling rhinestones. For Spike, it was a silk tie with intricate swirling patterns in various shades of green to compliment his, well, spikes! They felt great and headed out to be on their way.

As they trotted gleefully down the trail to their destination, they crossed paths with Rarity. When she saw them adorned in her gifts, she lit up and stood taller.

“Twilight, Spike! You look completely magnificent!” She gasped although next to Rarity, their outfits hardly seemed like anything at all. She had her hair piled up in tight, lavender curls with a gleaming tiara to keep them in place, a glitter-filled and frilly pale blue mini-dress, and glass heels with etches of lilacs down the side. “I decided to wear my new design for the party tonight and see what ponies think. What about you two?”

“You are the most beautiful pony I’ve ever seen in my life!” Spike offered without hesitation.

“It’s just perfect, Rarity,” Twilight smiled softly, and she meant it.

Rarity grinned her pearly teeth into view and they set out again. Along the way, Fluttershy and Applejack joined in their journey because they were walking there together from Applejack’s orchard where Fluttershy was teaching the birds to help spread the seeds over the land. Of course, they were all going the same way! Eventually, they all got so excited and rowdy that they started galloping, a race all the way to the party. Rainbow Dash saw them racing from far away in the sky where she was calmly floating to the party, and obviously decided to join. This got them to the showroom in no time! Rainbow Dash won, and everypony expected that, but this time Fluttershy got second place and they all celebrated her victory – including Dashie. It was just such a sweet time for all of them.

There it was… Blanc’s Showroom, liberally covered with streamers and hundreds (if not thousands) of balloons in all shades of the rainbow. Upbeat pop music blared from inside, and ponies already stood around the entrance excitedly greeting one another.

“I wonder where Pinkie Pie is!” Applejack exclaimed, but she knew that Pinkie had to be inside somewhere. It was her party after all.

“Why wait? Let’s go inside, everypony!” Twilight trilled happily as she hopped in and the other ponies followed suit.

The music was so loud, but so good, and everypony was dancing. There were bright colorful lights spinning over the crowd and a feast of snacks and desserts on every table. Applejack brought a sparkling apple cider punch and Fluttershy brought along some delicious red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and red sprinkles. Everyone was delighted and jovially talking about the party and their lives at home, how long it’s been and how much fun they were having.

Twilight noticed that A.J. and Dashie were already in the middle of the crowd on the dance floor and swishing their tails to the beat. Fluttershy shyly made conversation with a group of other quiet ponies who came from Manehattan to see the function. Twilight noticed Spike in a distant corner shoveling jewels into his mouth – Twilight thought it was cute because she figured that Pinkie left them there specifically for him. There weren’t any other dragons at the party, after all!

It wasn’t long after they arrived that the party really started to go. Twilight found herself having more fun than she’d had in such a long time, and that was saying something because she appreciated the fun she had every day. She hopped and spun all around to the jumping beat and ate so much delicious food she had never even tried before! She met ponies that came from every part of Equestria. This was very important to her, because her whole mission was friendship and she felt like she was really contributing to her cause here.

Then, that’s when she spotted him – it was Shining Armor! And he was here with Princess Cadance! Oh, this really couldn’t get better.

“B.B.B.F.F.!!! I didn’t know you were here!” Twilight trotted up to them both.

“We just got here!” Shining armor reassured Twilight.

“You weren’t busy over in Canterlot?”

“Things have been much quieter lately, and we wouldn’t miss this bash for anything. We knew how much work Pinkie was going to be putting into this, and we can see it with our very own eyes here in front of us now. This is a truly special occasion.”

Princess Cadance smiled warmly, first directing it at Twilight and then turning to shine at her husband. “We have been wanting to get out and come see you, anyway, Twi! We’ve missed you terribly. We knew you would be here and saw it as the perfect opportunity to catch up, relax, and have some real fun.”

This meant so much to Twilight that it took her a moment to think of a good response. She just stared over them with such appreciation and then finally, she thought of the perfect thing to say.

Just then, as she opened her mouth to express her admiration and gratitude for her big brother and step-sister, over all the noise and music… it was the loudest sound Twilight had ever heard in her life. Then another. Everything moved in slow-motion and complete silence until she was hit by the stampede, and suddenly everything was going too fast to think, it was too loud, she was being trampled. It felt like the sky was coming down, but it wasn’t because it was all around her. It was hundreds of hooves in a cacophony of sheer panic. Then she heard the sound again. Loud synth still thumped and echoed throughout the place and the lights continued to swirl, and this suffocated Twilight’s senses as she was overcome by the crowd. She felt heavy hooves breaking into her purple hide.

She called out desperately for her brother, “Shining Armor!” but there was no response except for a chorus terrified whinnies and the sharp clops of hundreds of hooves running for their lives. What was that sound? Where were her friends?

Without warning, she was upheaved by the scarf of her neck and she started to feel herself being dragged roughly through the panicked crowd. She herself neighed and whinnied, horrified at the abrupt change and completely shocked. She couldn’t make sense of anything. She kicked her hooves and resisted the stranger that dragged her through the showroom to no avail. The world felt so far away and everything was so normal, so perfect only a minute ago.

There was a break, and then immediate relief. She made it outside by the force of whoever had her by the scruff. The sky was open and the air was clean, the stampede broke out into different directions, and she was dropped gently onto the lush grass that surrounded the showroom. She felt an immediate sensation of relief and slouched into the cool foliage. Before she even got a chance to identify her captor, she was distracted by the volume around her and caught sight of the horses rushing out, screaming and crying. These ponies weren’t just scared of a noise… What just happened?

“Twilight, are you okay!?” Fluttershy. Was it Fluttershy that dragged her out of there? Why, she had probably just saved Twilight’s life! “You look hurt, Twilight. Please don’t squirm anymore. Can you move your left hind leg?”

Twilight scrambled to her hooves and embraced Fluttershy in tears. “Oh my gosh, Fluttershy, what happened? Is everything okay? What’s going on? I’m fine and it’s because of you! Are you hurt?”

Fluttershy gently nudged her nose into Twilight’s shoulder partially for Twilight’s comfort and partially for her own. “I don’t… know the answer to any of those questions…” Fluttershy herself began to cry silently and Twilight could only tell for the tears dripping wetly onto her fur. They were sensitive ponies and they were in shock, neither of them even knew where any of their other best friends were.

The showroom was completely evacuated in no time, and Fluttershy rose herself over the crowd outside of it with her wings to see if she could spot any of their friends. Surely enough, there were Rainbow Dash and Applejack in a tight embrace. They were in the leaves of a tree that Dashie had apparently taken them both to for their safety. Fluttershy flew both herself and Twilight up there to see them and make sure they were okay.

“Twilight! What happened!” Rainbow Dash said with agony in her voice. “I saw… I don’t know what I saw. Please tell me you know what just happened in there,” Dashie pleaded with Twi.

“I- I’m sorry, I don’t. I don’t have any idea. We have to find Rarity and Spike.” She said with a calm and terrified authority that the ponies had only rarely heard before.

“And Pinkie Pie…” Applejack almost inaudibly whispered. It was the first time she had spoken. She was right, Twilight realized she hadn’t seen Pinkie all night.

“Did any of you see her?” Twilight asked the group, but they all shook their heads no. This was alarming for Twilight because it was Pinkie’s party and they were her best friends. “Well, I’m going back then.”

“No!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack protested in unison.

“And just why not?” Twilight felt like whatever the threat was, they had definitely handled worse. If the other ponies didn’t want to back her up, she figured she’d even dealt with worse on her very own. But Dashie and Applejack both looked genuinely stupefied. They were pleading with their eyes. “Seriously guys, why not? She’s one of our best friends. We’ve overcome everything we’ve ever approached together as a team! We need to save our friend.”

Rainbow Dash looked almost guilty. “Twilight, I really don’t think it’s safe to go back in there. We have no idea what that sound was, and if so many of our friends are gone, who’s to say that attack wasn’t targeted? We might be in real trouble. We should get more info before throwing ourselves muzzle-first into certain death…”

Twilight steadied her eyes onto Dashie’s and considered this. “I don’t think we should just give up before we even try, though.”

Now, Rainbow Dash looked offended and the other ponies just looked scared and awkward. Fluttershy was looking down at her hooves with her eyes wide and Applejack had her eyes sternly set on the distance, seemingly there but truly far away. “It’s not that I don’t want to try, Twilight! I want to know more about the situation before we just sacrifice ourselves! Sure, we’ve gotten through rough times together, but one wrong move and we all would’ve been killed. I’m already terrified that I just lost half my friends and I don’t want to lose more. I don’t want to lose you. We have no clue what just went on in there. You have no clue!” Rainbow Dash was huffing but sounded apologetic in her angry rant.

Twilight’s face fell into an expression the others had hardly ever seen from her, and they couldn’t even really tell what it was. Intimidating if only for her stern sincerity. “Do I have to go in by myself, then?” She was met with silence from the other ponies. They knew she wouldn’t acquiesce. “Fine, I will. Because I’m going either way. I have never run away from my problems and I won’t start when my best friends are in danger.”

“Run away from your problems? Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash pleaded, but this offended Twilight and she already had her tail turned to Rainbow Dash; already on her way back inside.

She walked slowly but decidedly and thought somberly of the events that just unfolded. They hadn’t seen Pinkie Pie all night. She had never heard a noise like that before, and it happened over and over again.Spike was gone, Rarity was gone, and even Pinkie Pie was gone from her own party.

“Wait!” A soft voice begged from behind Twilight.

Twilight softly turned her head to see Fluttershy rushing up behind her. She said nothing else and kept her head down, but she was coming with Twilight to see what was going on. Twilight looked back and saw that Applejack was comforting Rainbow Dash as Rainbow Dash nestled into her shoulder. A pitiful embrace. It was then that Twilight understood what Rainbow Dash was really trying to say, and she realized she should’ve listened to her and validated her fear instead of calling her a coward. She would apologize for that as soon as she could, she thought. She forgave herself on the basis of this being a situation filled with shock and confusion.

They both began to walk slower as they approached the entrance to Blanc’s Showroom. The atmosphere got thicker and cooler as they entered and Twilight heard Fluttershy gulp beside her. Twi shot her a reassuring glance before creeping over the frame of the doors. Fluttershy timidly trailed behind.

Inside, it was a chaotic mess. Decorations and trampled food littered the floor. It was hard to make out anything over all of the bright colors and jumbled debris everywhere. The glint of the jewels caught Twilight’s eye and she rushed over to them in hopes of finding Spike.

He was not there.

“Spike!” Futtershy’s voice was barely audible over the music that continued but it sounded tense and strained. Twi jolted and swung her head to the direction of Fluttershy’s voice. There she was staring in horror, somewhere in the direction of the floor but when Twilight followed her line of vision, she couldn’t make out anything out of the ordinary and she didn’t see Spike.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy whined, she was looking straight at Twi and her muzzle was scrunched sideways, eyes contorted with pain. Twilight just wanted to freeze time and exist in the moment where she didn’t have to know what Fluttershy was so afraid of, but she trudged forward despite being consumed by dread.

It only took a few steps forward to see what Fluttershy saw. A trail of jewels sprawled over the floor and eventually surrounded him. Him. Spike. Twilight’s initial reaction was actually relief. It felt good to see him after picturing him so vividly in her mind and panicking over his whereabouts. There he was, adorable Spike just as she remembered him. Except… not. Spike was unconscious, gleaming purple scales piled limply on the ground. Twilight approached the poor little guy and bowed her head to get a better look at him. Then, she saw his face.

Oh.