"Beautiful! It's perfect!" exclaimed Rarity full of joy, as happy as if she had discovered an immense pink diamond.
Isolated inside a latex suit, the unicorn was not in a cave of precious gems nor at an exhibition of invaluable sapphires. Rather, she was in the basement food storage of Twilight's false tree house, holding up what, at first glance, appeared to be an ordinary jar of condiments.
Still, for Rarity the object was an exceptional find.
"A bit of cornstarch and a touch of licorice will make the meal I prepare for my friends an authentic banquet worthy of Canterlot," she pronounced with triumphant firmness, giving an elegant leap from the small stool she had been standing on and magically closing the pantry doors behind her.
She was alone, talking to herself in the basement, but that didn't matter to her; she would have said the same thing if she had been accompanied.
That detail, however, made her stop to think.
"On the other hand... Applejack didn't mention anything about cornstarch in the pantry... How curious? Uhmm... it's not possible."
Rarity could think many things about her friends, but in certain aspects she had no doubts. Applejack worked hard and rarely failed in her commitments. If the list was her responsibility, it was to be expected that it would be correct.
But it wasn't.
The unicorn stopped her walking, examining the supply scroll with attention. A deep reflection about the past days enveloped her.
At the beginning of that almost-week, Applejack had assumed leadership of the group. And the farmer pony's first order had been to check the available food and any trace that Twilight and Badwhiz might have left in the tree house.
Rarity wasn't against that decision, it was reasonable; however, in her opinion her friend should have also made group hygiene an immediate priority.
"Rainbow smelled terrible..." she murmured, remembering with displeasure how her sense of smell—and that of the others—had awakened in the worst way upon perceiving the stench of their own companions. Worse yet, perceiving her own...
"But at that moment Applejack only thought about the supplies. And Pinkie... did she help with that?"
Her memory of those days was hazy due to episodes of fever, caused more by the shock of the new environment than by a real illness. Still, she had retained enough lucidity to be sure that Pinkie Pie had helped Applejack create that list. Plus both ponies had reviewed it several times to make sure it was correct.
"There was no sugar!" Had Pinkie Pie repeated?
Remembering that didn't matter... what did matter was understanding why so many things were missing and, instead, others were left over?
"Clack!" was suddenly heard in the silent room.
A sudden chill ran down the unicorn's spine. Alert, she magically raised a plastic frying pan, sweeping the air around her while nervously observing every corner.
Nothing. Just the empty pantry.
After an indeterminate time, she lowered the frying pan in silence, looking with distrust at the ordinary shadows of the plastic furniture.
Even with her senses limited by the suit that isolated her from the outside, Rarity could perceive it clearly.
That liminal world, that toy box in which they were trapped, was not empty.
Something was stalking them... inside the toy world.
Toy world? the pony thought cleverly. That definitely sounded better. She noted it with diamonds in her mental diary.
"We all need to have a new meeting... today," she announced aloud without taking her eyes off the motionless air in the middle of the room. "But first... Pinkie."
With these words she opened the door and, without looking back, left the place.
Behind her, in the closed pantry, a new jar of cornstarch had appeared.
[---]
A faint candlelight lit up under the table hidden by the tablecloth, revealing among shadows a bizarre scene.
"Beautiful! Yes, my precious! They're finally mine!" said between gasps an unrecognizable Pinkie Pie, drenched in sweat. Her mane was disheveled among splinters and a smile so sharp it already seemed painful. Her gaze, as twisted as the rest of her countenance, was an undeniable seal of the frenzy that consumed her.
And the cause of such disturbing state was not far from her person.
A pile of multicolored candies was visible between her hooves, like precious gems from which she was unable to take her eyes away and which she seemed to treasure with caresses.
If her pony friends had been present, they would not have hesitated to take more than one step back. However, there were others present, for whom this behavior was not unknown, nor uncomfortable, in the slightest.
"Very well done!"
"Yes! Hurray!"
"Congratulations!"
Visible among the darkness that danced with the light of a small candle, was an unexpected and eloquent group of characters: Mr. Turnip, Mr. Fuzzy, and Rocky the rock (in their respective buckets), friends too close to Pinkie Pie who now acclaimed with uproar their friend's recent achievement.
"Thank you, thank you. I wouldn't have achieved it without the support of all of you," responded the pink pony between intense breaths, gradually suffocating her excited spirit.
"What are friends for then? Always count on us," said Mr. Turnip confidently.
"You always succeed, friend!" added Rocky the rock.
"From the very beginning I knew you would succeed," added Mr. Fuzzy.
The atmosphere, though strange, seemed cordial. Without giving any sign of also being unpredictable.
"Oh, really? Well that's not what you said a while ago, friend," Rocky the rock challenged Mr. Fuzzy.
"What I said was that finding candies inside the leg of a table would be a rather particular event," replied Mr. Fuzzy in a didactic tone casting a glance at a piece of wood thrown on the floor. "I never stated it was impossible."
"Well it seemed like something else to me," Rocky responded defiantly.
"Of course not! What are you insinuating?" exclaimed Mr. Fuzzy indignantly. "Do you think I'm an insensitive heart of stone like you?" he finished saying, pushing his companion.
"You're done for, little fuzzy," Rocky responded, now visibly upset.
"Wait, stop!" shouted a surprised Pinkie Pie, ignored by both. The pair of inanimate friends approached each other, bumping the buckets they were in and looking at each other defiantly.
The air tensed, as if the candle flame had shrunk in a sigh.
Before things could escalate, Mr. Turnip decided to intervene.
"Stop you two. What do you think you're doing in front of our friend?" he reprimanded in a severe tone.
Immediately, the looks turned toward Pinkie Pie, who remained sitting on the floor, barely illuminated by the candle. Her expression had turned saddened, and her mane, suddenly deflated, fell languidly to one side.
There was no longer any trace of the joy that minutes before had overflowed from her.
"We're sorry, we're so sorry!" exclaimed Rocky and Mr. Fuzzy almost in unison. They clearly realized their mistake.
"Please, forgive us, Pinkie," both begged.
But there was no response. The pony had her gaze fixed on the flame, lost in thoughts she didn't share.
"This isn't working..." she murmured.
Confused, the three friends looked at each other.
"P-Pinkie?" they asked at the same time, observing the pink pony attentively.
It was then when, as if awakening from a trance, Pinkie's mane shook and began to inflate slightly. With a weak smile, she raised her gaze and spoke to them:
"Yes, yes, excuse me. I forgive you, but promise me you won't do it again."
"We promise! Yes! Pinkie Promise!" they all swore at once. "Word of rock," Rocky added.
The atmosphere, which moments before seemed to break, softened again with those words.
"I'm glad to hear that, although a Pinkie Promise wasn't necessary... Everyone fights, even friends. It's just that I couldn't bear to see you fight too... not now..." said Pinkie with a disguised smile, lowering her head again.
Then, feeling something similar to a pat on the back, she heard a voice beside her.
"We're not like her other friends, Miss Pinkie. You are very special to us," said Mr. Fuzzy with a smile that could only be imagined in his tone.
"We'll always be with you," added Mr. Turnip.
"Rocks united, unbreakable stone," Rocky concluded solemnly.
The three came together at the same time and hugged their friend tightly.
"Thank you... thank you so much..." said Pinkie Pie moved, sketching a genuine smile, although her mane still hadn't recovered its usual volume.
The emotional moment seemed to have no end, but little by little the atmosphere began to tense again. The voice of reason, in her mind, returned to cut short that moment of calm.
"Very well... I think we've taken enough of our esteemed friend's time," said Mr. Fuzzy, placing his gaze on the candy loot that Pinkie Pie still held. "It's time to continue with the plan. Don't you think so, Miss Pinkie Pie?"
Everyone nodded. Pinkie, who had been distracted, immediately became serious upon remembering what she was doing before.
Without more words, only with complicit looks, she took one of the candies and brought it close to the candle flame, then ate all the rest in one gulp.
In a matter of seconds, the lit candy began to burn, crackling and spreading a citric aroma through the air.
Almost at the same time, Pinkie Pie had entered a strange state of meditation.
Erect on her own tail, with her limbs in a position similar to someone concentrating their chakra, she was making a considerable mental effort.
She projected her will beyond common thought, beyond the limits of the toy prison in which she and her friends were trapped, beyond even the void that enveloped that world of sensibility...
Then, hopping through that astral space between dimensions, in the middle of a whirlwind of integrals and derivatives, she found the person she had been looking for.
With one bite she trapped her and, pulling hard, dragged her to where her real body was.
As if she had suddenly received an unexpected weight, Pinkie Pie fell backwards, breaking her previous posture and being immediately helped by her other inanimate friends.
But before responding to the questions about her state, which were beginning to rain on her, she raised a hoof still from the floor and exclaimed loudly:
"I found her!"
Near the lit candle, a package of flour that until then had remained motionless began to move.
"Owww... ouch... by all the starch in the world, what happened?" exclaimed Madame Flour getting up as if awakening from a long sleep.
"Yesssss! Good! You're finally back! Hurray!" many voices mixed around Madame Flour, who, confused, still didn't understand what was happening. "Seriously... what did I miss?"
Pinkie Pie, who had jumped up to stand, was the first to respond:
"Well, summarizing in a simple way, let's say we had a train accident and were stranded in a very, very strange place..."
"Ahh, a train?"
"Yes! That and also that we're now in a very strange place, maybe... another universe," said the pink pony with unusual seriousness, then covered her nose and held her breath for a few seconds. Then, as if it were a balloon, her mane immediately fluffed up again.
"Another universe... really?" murmured Madame Flour perplexed.
"Yeppy-yep, but don't worry. We found you! And now that we're all together again, we'll be able to solve it. Besides, Mr. Turnip already has a plan to get out of here... Ehmm! Exactly where was here?" Pinkie asked, a bit confused by her own logic.
"Ahem, about that, Madame. After several observations we've reached the conclusion that this plastic world or toy world as we prefer to call it, most likely, is a pocket dimension artificially created from residual information from our original universe," added Mr. Turnip adjusting his leaves.
"Wow... that's..." stammered Madame Flour, with her thoughts piling up on top of each other.
"A lot of information, huh?" Pinkie intervened, giving her inanimate friend some complicit nudges. "Don't think about it so much, friend. We'll give you an explanation with slides later. But first... the most important thing."
Without warning, with one blow, the pink pony extinguished the small candle that illuminated the space, plunging everyone into darkness. But this darkness didn't last. Almost instantly a new multicolored light burst over those present, among sparks and flashes that scattered everywhere.
"Welcome Partyyy!" shouted Pinkie at the top of her lungs, overflowing with joy, wrapped in confetti. She raised an enormous milk cake adorned with sparkling sprinkles.
Before Madame Flour could say anything else, her friends lifted her up on their shoulders in the midst of an uproar of voices.
"Hurraaaa, hurraaaa!" they chanted.
Dragged by emotion, the celebrated inanimate exclaimed senselessly: "Oui, oui! Quelle félicité!"
More confetti explosions burst. For her part, Madame Flour still didn't have the slightest idea what the heck was happening. But there was something she did know: if Pinkie Pie was happy with all that, then, without a doubt, she could be too.
[---]
The kitchen of Twilight's false tree house didn't have the appearance the ponies expected to find on their first exploration. To begin with, the space occupied a disproportionate area and gave the impression of having been forcibly embedded into the tree's main structure. Furthermore, the decoration seemed like a generic collection of kitchen artifacts—all useless for being plastic—combined with elegant upholstery and distribution that reminded more of Rarity's refined house than Twilight's humble one.
Perhaps that strange coincidence had given Rarity the necessary comfort to continue with the lunch preparation... without distractions.
"Délicieux et bon goût," exclaimed the unicorn upon finishing decorating a potato garnish that would accompany the splendid banquet arranged on the table.
After taking a few steps back to better contemplate her creation, she nodded even more pleased.
Finding herself inside a latex suit, but feeling like in her own home, the unicorn had concluded her work in the expected time and without needing help from any extra hoof.
It had been perfect work, as she liked. However...
In front of her magnificent finished work, she couldn't help thinking about the obvious absence of the friend who should have been there, helping her or, at least, praising her effort.
"And now..." with a furrowed brow, Rarity lowered her gaze toward under the table. She didn't have to search too much to find that 'pony'.
"Pinkie Pie!" she exclaimed at the same time as she lifted the tablecloth with her magic and pulled out a pair of pink and white lumps.
"Hi, Rarity!" responded a smiling Pinkie Pie, hugging a flour sack. In a relaxed posture that gave the impression of lying on a beach. "Did you finish lunch?"
"Yes!" answered the unicorn with a smile that masked her animosity. "And it seems you've also finished with what you were doing down there, right?"
"That's right! Yippee, yippee, yippee!"
"I see... Very good! And tell me, dear friend, can you tell me what task has had you so busy?" asked Rarity, with a look that seemed about to burn in embers.
"Ah, that... Well..." The words seemed to stumble in Pinkie Pie's throat. "I was looking for... something... To help you in the kitchen! Look, this is the flour sack you needed!" she said as she handed over the sack she had been hugging all along.
"Ah, yes... thank you very much," responded Rarity, taking it with her magic and leaving it aside without taking her eyes off her friend. "And... besides this, is there anything else you want to tell me? Perhaps about your extraordinary search under the table?"
"Ehhmm... nope," responded Pinkie Pie, with an even more intense and innocent smile.
"No?"
"Nope," repeated the pink pony.
Rarity's gaze sharpened even more. It was obvious her friend was hiding something...
But... was it worth getting to the bottom of this?
Rarity knew Pinkie well enough to know that insisting could lead her to an answer more confusing than she already had and, most likely, nowhere.
Therefore, letting it go would be the best decision. At least for the moment.
"Very well, Pinkie," said Rarity with a smile that didn't seem to reflect her true intention. "If that's how it is, so be it. But... I'm sure the other girls will want to hear about this when they return. Will you also tell them 'no'?"
"Ehhmmm..." Pinkie scratched the back of her neck with a nervous air. "No... not at lunch. I think it would be more fun to tell at tonight. Would that be okay?"
"That would be perfect," Rarity concluded, closing the subject. "Now, could you help me with the silverware, please?"
Pinkie Pie nodded her head and, with a hop, got up from her relaxed position, only to almost fall backwards upon seeing the magnificent banquet served on the table.
"Oh, by all the salt and pepper! This looks delicious!" Pinkie Pie exploded with a smile she couldn't contain.
"Indeed, dear," responded Rarity with a complicit smile, watching with satisfaction as Pinkie Pie licked her lips, unable to maintain attention on a single dish of those in front of her.
It was no wonder.
On the table, giving off a fragrance that would awaken anyone's appetite, extended an entire buffet of varied and delicious dishes: from a large serving of white rice bathed in carrot and spinach cream, to a garnish of cooked potatoes with pecans. The food was the living image of the culinary dream Rarity had had that morning.
And it was also the nightmare that Applejack had feared at the beginning of the same.
But Applejack wasn't present. Instead, Pinkie Pie embodied at that moment all the contrary emotions the farmer would have had.
"Would you allow me a little taste... a very tiny one?" asked Pinkie Pie, drooling like a greyhound, while dangerously bringing her nose close to one of the nearest dishes.
"No!" exclaimed the unicorn, who in a single movement of her horn moved the food and Pinkie herself away from their inevitable encounter. "Excuse me, Pinkie, there will be no samples until we're all seated at the table," she concluded firmly.
"But... but... Ohuuuu..." responded the pink pony, curling up on the floor with an expression similar to a puppy after a reprimand.
Seeing her friend's disappointed face, Rarity came up with an idea to relieve her discontent.
"On the other hand, since you'll help me arrange the silverware and plates we'll need, I also wouldn't mind if you collaborated with cleaning the other services that are dirty..." added Rarity, directing her gaze to the pots and pans that still contained remains of food that hadn't reached the unicorn's high standards.
Just one glance was enough for Pinkie to understand the opportunity her friend was offering her. And, as if she were a soldier, she stood up firmly from the floor.
"Yes, sir! Yes, ma'am!" Without saying more, in marching step, Pinkie retreated to the adjoining room where the sink was, taking with her all the dirty utensils on her back.
Rarity didn't have to turn around to imagine Pinkie's smiling face with her loot on her back.
Moments later, the pony's silhouette had disappeared through the door leading to the sink.
And so, Rarity, finally, was alone.
"...Alone..."
Rarity's long muffled sigh was heard intensely in the kitchen.
With no one to see her anymore, she slowly removed the helmet of her latex suit, letting her soft mane fall to the sides.
The unicorn was slightly disheveled and with noticeable dark circles on her face.
She couldn't fool herself: she was tired.
"A bit of fresh air wouldn't be bad," she suddenly said, thinking aloud. Without hesitation, she opened the kitchen windows, hopeful to feel some of the sedating harmony of nature.
However, nothing moved. Outside, everything remained inert, giving off only that intoxicating plastic smell that invaded everything.
It was then that she remembered she wasn't in her own house, nor in her normal world.
She was far away, lost with her friends...
A sudden feeling of unease invaded her.
Immediately, denying that depressing emotion, Rarity closed the window and put the helmet of her suit back on.
No one was going to ruin the lunch she had prepared for her friends with a bad mood, much less herself.
Putting her emotions in order, Rarity let out an exhalation. And then...
"And now what do I do... me?"
Taking a seat in front of the banquet, Rarity had no idea what to do next.
Or, better said, with the rest of the day.
Having lunch with her friends was a fact. After that... continue being sick? No. She'd had enough of that. What she wanted was to take a delicious flower bath to calm her stress or, simply, rest for six hours among candles.
Even better! She should do all that together! Of course... as soon as she found a bath big enough for her, in addition to the candles and flowers to her liking.
All those things that, in this strange world, were not within her reach.
"Ughh..." groaned Rarity inside her suit, with thoughts falling into a nosedive at the same rate as her head.
At that moment, a strange sensation ran down her back, bringing her out of her self-absorption.
It was as if someone was watching her.
Turning her sight to one side, her gaze met Pinkie's flour sack lying on the floor. Which, now that she was observing it up close, had milk cream stains on one of its sides, giving the impression of being a living being that had just eaten a cake.
Puzzled, Rarity tilted her head. But almost immediately, she lost interest again and sighed.
"I wish you knew how lost I feel," Rarity whispered to herself. Or perhaps, to the flour sack beside her. She no longer cared.
"Oui, of course I understand, madame," responded a voice that came out of nowhere.
Rarity, startled, raised her head looking around nervously.
In the adjoining room, Pinkie Pie, between whistles and laughs, washed pots and pans with a smile on her face.
[---]
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Faint creaks resonated in the middle of the somber cardboard forest.
An enormous wild figure took its first steps on that toy world. Its silhouette, difficult to distinguish among the immense artificial trees, advanced slowly, watching each step and hiding its tracks. That behavior betrayed not only its intelligence, but also its imperious need to go unnoticed.
It had to be careful. This time, the beast was determined not to give its prey the slightest chance to escape.
Stopping for an instant on the trunk of a fallen tree, the beast studied the environment with meticulous attention.
"Grrr..." it growled upon tasting a fruit fallen from one of the trees.
It was plastic.
Disgusted, the beast threw the fruit aside. But as soon as the fake fruit touched the ground, a sudden pain pierced through it as if an invisible blow had fallen on its stomach.
Bent over, almost convulsing, the beast whispered between its teeth. "It hurts, it hurts..."
An intense burning exploded inside it, paralyzing its body, clouding its mind. Its claws were gripped to its belly in an instinctive reflex, while it clenched its jaw tightly.
It didn't moan or shed a tear, but the tension on its face seemed to leave marks on its skin.
It remained that way for several minutes, until finally the pain subsided enough to allow it to catch its breath and think clearly.
"I must hurry, I must hurry..." it thought repeatedly. It was clear that keeping 'that' inside was becoming impossible.
Still feeling 'that' in its entrails, the beast fixed its attention on the nearest elevation of terrain.
Hidden among the thickness of the trees, it looked like a hill.
Confirming its suspicion, it found a sign thrown on the ground that said: "AutumnBreeze Hill," accompanied by the drawing of a windmill on one side.
That direction was all it needed. Despite the pains that tormented it, the beast resumed its march, this time with renewed urgency.
Its silhouette vanished into the artificial undergrowth, leaving behind the faint echo of its steps dissipating in the air.
[---]
In the middle of a forest clearing, Applejack wiggled her ears, trying to better catch the sound floating in the air.
"Do you hear something...?" whispered Fluttershy beside her.
"No... I'm not sure," responded Applejack, turning her head from side to side to better focus her ears.
After several turns, she gave up and looked at her friend.
"I don't think it was anything..."
Both had stopped in their tracks, surprised by a strange noise that interrupted their path toward the meeting with Rainbow Dash. Neither was sure what it had been; too brief and distant to identify it. However, it was enough to put them on alert.
Absolute silence had been the ponies' faithful companion during the entire journey, but now, in its absence, another had made itself present in the air.
Uncertainty.
"Emmm... do you think there are timberwolves in this cardboard forest...?" asked Fluttershy, her voice trembling while her eyes scanned the trees surrounding them.
"No... I don't think so..." responded Applejack, although she didn't sound very convinced. "We haven't seen any so far... and if there were any, they would be more like Paperwolves."
"Paperwolves?!" exclaimed Fluttershy, even more alarmed.
"It's just a guess!" Applejack hurried to clarify, noticing her mistake. "There's no reason to be alarmed. Paperwolves don't exist... I've never seen one. At least... not in our world."
Still, she cast a suspicious glance at the forest.
"Can I put the suit back on, Applejack?" asked Fluttershy in a thread of voice, feeling increasingly defenseless.
"Yep... it'll be for the best," confirmed her friend.
After adjusting Fluttershy's suit and checking the map once more, the two ponies resumed their march, entering again into the disturbing cardboard forest.
[---]
To the north of the toy world, at the opposite end of where Applejack and Fluttershy had found Rainbow Dash's refuge, extended a wide and dense forest, made of cardboard trees.
Unlike the groves the ponies had crossed before, this forest stood out for the height of its trunks and the thickness of its artificial undergrowth. It was much darker, with an oppressive air. A distorted copy of the Everfree forest, with a geography that moved far away from that of their original world.
Among new locations and others that were vaguely familiar to them, Applejack and Fluttershy had faced more than one obstacle on their way. It was an area that was still pending thorough exploration and, had it not been for their pegasus friend's map, they probably would have ended up lost before reaching their destination.
A destination that, now, was only a few steps from being reached.
"Phew... what a detour," sighed Applejack as she stopped to wipe off the sweat. She wasn't carrying luggage, but the rushed journey had cost her more than she thought. "We finally arrived."
Behind her, wrapped in her latex suit, Fluttershy caught up without taking her eyes off the map.
"Yes... this must be the cardboard house Rainbow mentioned," said the pegasus, pointing to a mysterious construction that seemed to sprout from the ground. Just a few steps from where they were, a cardboard house—of recognizable size and shape, but without any type of decoration—seemed embedded in the middle of the thicket. "And that over there must be the tree with blue balls..."
"And the pink slides..." Applejack completed, with her gaze lost among the strange constructions that defied common sense by being in the middle of nowhere. "Then Rainbow Dash must be in..."
"That direction!" exclaimed Fluttershy, pointing to a sector of the forest where the light seemed to fade and the vegetation—a mixture of plastic and cardboard—increased until forming a natural wall.
The timid pegasus swallowed nervously. Applejack, for her part, raised her gaze, as if she wanted to complain about something to the sky.
"What a place Rainbow Dash chose to get into trouble," murmured the farmer pony. "Let's get this over with..."
Without desire to delay even more, both set off. Making an additional effort, they advanced slowly among the obstacles that stood in their new path.
Little by little, the already scarce luminosity around them began to diminish even more.
Completely wrapped in a mantle of darkness, Fluttershy had no choice but to turn on the flashlight incorporated in her suit. With the path illuminated and Applejack by her side, both friends continued until finally reaching an open and clearly different space.
"This is new..." said Applejack, surprised by what the light revealed.
The forest, which until that moment had been monotonous with its repetitive branches and bushes, now transformed into something more realistic and varied. But, above all... gloomy.
Twisted tree sprouts emerged from the ground like claws. The artificial grass had given way to solid rock covered with dry leaves and sharp undergrowth. The trunks around were wider than they had ever seen and, upon raising their gaze, the ponies could notice enormous superimposed meshes covering the sky like black spider webs, completely blocking the exterior light.
The place—which transmitted the disturbing sensation of having been possessed by something dark—seemed to be, without a doubt, the heart of the false Everfree forest.
Advancing cautiously, with the flashlight's light moving from side to side, they began to discover more surprises around them.
"What is all this?" exclaimed Applejack, being the first to notice it.
Incongruous with the environment, enormous toy carts—similar to fairground bumper cars—lay scattered around the site. They were metallic, of sophisticated design, and resembled space capsules. They seemed freshly manufactured and, however, someone had abandoned them there without apparent reason.
The ponies almost stopped their advance, fascinated by the place.
"Look!" Fluttershy suddenly exclaimed, pointing to one of the capsules.
Applejack turned her gaze toward the vehicle and understood immediately; both ran toward it.
It was similar to the others, although with more colorful tonalities and a striking design. It didn't seem especially relevant... except for the enormous hole in the glass of the front part.
"What happened here?" exclaimed Applejack, shocked, circling the damaged vehicle and trying to deduce what had happened with it and, above all, with its possible occupant.
For Fluttershy, the answer was on the ground.
With a trembling movement—enough to stop Applejack in her tracks—the pegasus picked something up.
"Paperwolves?" she exclaimed terrified, showing long strips of thin paper, mixed with pulverized glass fragments and some light blue feathers.
A chill ran down Applejack's back, who felt her heart stop. Her mind, which until then had refused to imagine the worst, suddenly filled with dark images of violent paper wolves attacking a cornered Rainbow Dash.
"No!" she shouted inside, although from her lips only a whisper of denial escaped.
"No... it can't be..."
For an instant, with her heart pounding in her chest, both ponies looked at each other, shocked.
But before they could react, an intense noise, similar to a detonation, shook the air, followed by a deep and constant whistle.
Both looked, frightened, in the direction of the sound's origin.
Not far away, a tiny red booth stood in the middle of the darkness.
From its interior came the noise, repeating in a chilling echo.
Paralyzed, they didn't know how to react to that sound so clear.
Then, a new rumble took them out of their trance. This time it was softer, similar to water swirling in a reservoir before falling in a waterfall.
The sound was too familiar to confuse. Reality returned to their minds, calming their initial alert.
And, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, the booth door opened, letting escape a light cloud of steam and a penetrating smell, before revealing a renewed and free Rainbow Dash.
"Ahhh... finally..." exclaimed the pegasus in a satisfied tone, stretching her wings at the same time as she dried her face with a towel.
Applejack and Fluttershy, motionless, observed her in silence for a long instant, until finally the pegasus noticed their presence.
"Well... so you finally arrive, turtles! What took you so long?"
The pair of friends looked at each other. What should they respond after all that?
"Emmmhh..." Fluttershy was the first to speak. "The road was somewhat difficult... emmh... here's your toolbox... uhmm... I think you won't need it anymore."
"No, not anymore. And thanks," said Rainbow Dash dryly, taking the box and taking a quick look inside, full of toilet paper and other utensils.
"So..." said Applejack suddenly, as if recovering her breath all at once. "Hmmm... is that all?"
"Yes, that's all," responded her friend shrugging. "But if you want to see the face of absolute evil, you can go in there..." she finished saying, pointing with her wings to the red booth.
Applejack didn't respond.
"So..." asked Fluttershy, doubtfully. "Do you feel better?"
"Like new!" responded Rainbow Dash, totally carefree, setting off with a smile just as the rumbling of her belly began to be heard. "...And hungry! Let's go with the others. It was Rarity's turn to cook today, right?"
"Yes, that's right... Pinkie is with her helping," responded Fluttershy while following the pegasus.
"Really?! Wait... Pinkie? That reminds me of something..." thoughtful, Rainbow Dash tilted her head, making her neck crack. Just with that movement, she turned back and noticed the absence of her other friend.
"Applejack! What are you doing there? Aren't you coming?"
Applejack, who had stayed behind with her gaze fixed on the red booth—the same one that had a small bright sign that said "bathroom" on one of its sides—gently turned her head to look at her companion.
"Yes... I'm coming," she responded suddenly, as if awakening from her thoughts.
Moments after catching up with them, the trio of friends left that mysterious place, leaving it once again plunged into darkness and silence.
[---]
The group of friends' return journey was as pleasant as it could be. Rainbow Dash went in front, followed by Applejack and Fluttershy. Questions toward the pegasus came and went with each step.
"So... in short... you got trapped in one of those capsules when you were exploring that place?" asked Applejack.
"Yes, it was very stupid of me... I didn't feel very well at that moment. Fortunately I had the communicator to call you, although in the end that didn't end up being much use either."
"And the broken glass of the capsule?" asked Fluttershy.
"I broke it. You took so long I got desperate... I'm really surprised by my own strength. Hahaha!" the pegasus responded cheerfully.
"And also your digestion..." Applejack murmured under her breath.
"Look, finally a clearing!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, moving ahead with a flap until reaching the open space that opened in the middle of the cardboard forest.
With the bright light from outside illuminating their faces, the ponies advanced with squinted eyes until they stopped. Having spent so much time in the dark had made their eyes somewhat unaccustomed.
When their vision cleared, they could appreciate the small landscape that stretched before them.
It was a clearing of artificial grass, covered with flowers of varied colors and different sizes. Everything was plastic, but the appearance was much more alive and pleasant than the place where they had been before.
[["How pretty!"]] said Fluttershy, with a suddenly distorted voice.
"Wow! What was that?" exclaimed Rainbow from above, surprised by her companion's voice change.
"Oops... sorry. The suit returns to its original state every time I put on the helmet," responded Fluttershy, adjusting her latex equipment. She had taken it off shortly after finding Rainbow Dash, but due to the change in light she had put it back on.
"Ok... I understand," said Rainbow, descending a bit and carefully examining her friend's cover. "Maybe I should have asked this before, but... why are you wearing that suit?"
"Ahhh... it's because of something that happened in the morning. It's a long story..."
"Oh, really? Now we're two."
"Well, we can leave that for another time," Applejack cut in. "It's getting late, Rarity and Pinkie must be worried about us."
"You're right," responded Rainbow Dash, touching her empty belly. "Wait! There's something I need before going back."
With a flap, the pegasus headed to one of the clearing's extremes, where there was a kind of elevated pink mailbox, with a lever on one side. She immediately pulled the lever hard, then began to kick it as if expecting the device to react.
"Come on! Come on!" she shouted while continuing to kick the mailbox, without getting a response.
Puzzled by their companion's behavior, Applejack and Fluttershy approached.
"Rainbow? What are you doing?" asked Applejack.
"Huh? Nothing... here, waiting for this contraption to work," responded Rainbow Dash with frustration.
"You mean that mailbox?" asked Fluttershy.
"Yes... well, no, it's a candy machine... or something like that. Come on!" said Rainbow Dash without stopping. "I discovered it yesterday. If you pull the lever and kick it enough, it starts creating candies from its interior."
The other two looked at each other.
"It creates them? Just like that?" asked Applejack, incredulous.
"Yes. I don't understand it, but it does," responded Rainbow Dash, who continued kicking the mailbox at a different angle.
Applejack scratched her head. Rainbow's discovery was something new and interesting to investigate thoroughly, but it wasn't the moment.
"Rainbow... it's fine that you want something sweet, but you'd better leave it. We have plenty of sweet things in the tree house..."
"In the false tree house!" Rainbow Dash corrected without stopping her concentration on the mailbox.
"Fine, in Twilight's false tree house..." said Applejack, rolling her eyes. "But it's getting late, seriously..."
"I know, Applejack... but I really need them. I mean, Pinkie will need them."
"Pinkie?" asked Fluttershy.
"Yes. Haven't you noticed? She's been acting weird lately. I've seen her several times talking with her inanimate friends in secret."
"Oh, no..." exclaimed Fluttershy, surprised.
"I didn't know that," added Applejack, also shocked by the revelation.
"Yes... I think it's because she's not consuming sugar. That makes her like that."
"Sugar? Wait, we have plenty of honey in the reserves."
"Honey isn't the same as sugar, Applejack. It has other more artificial components... and less digestible," responded Rainbow with an embarrassed look, avoiding remembering what happened in the morning. Then she kicked the mailbox harder. "Fluttershy, can you help me? I think if you hold it from below it should work."
"Uhmm... okay," responded the timid pegasus, holding the mailbox from below.
Observing in silence her two friends busy with that unexpected challenge, Applejack began to reflect.
How many things had she been missing? Her friends had been acting like this behind her back, even when they met to talk every day. She understood that everyone had a right to their privacy—they weren't fillies anymore—but, given the situation they were in and the closeness of their friendship, shouldn't they be more transparent?
Applejack shook her head, trying to adjust the hat she wasn't wearing.
"Twilight..." she imagined the silhouette of her absent friend. "I'm starting to understand you better now..." she said to herself, remembering a heated conversation they had had some time ago, where a similar topic had been touched upon.
"Leading a nation isn't the same as leading a farm," Applejack remembered. Obviously she wasn't in such a case, but the feeling of similarity she felt was palpable.
Lost in these thoughts, without realizing it, her gaze drifted toward the cardboard forest. It wandered through the environment until landing on a striking orange windmill at the top of the nearest hill.
"Ah... is that AutumnBreeze hill?" she murmured.
Of all the constructions in that toy world, the AutumnBreeze windmill was the most recognizable. Not because of its size or shape, but because of how identical it was to its counterpart in Ponyville. For Applejack it was the perfect reference point to locate herself in that land.
After a sigh, her gaze descended down the hill, until reaching its base, completely shadowy, full of cardboard trees, numerous bushes, fog and random constructions.
The lethargy inside Applejack was suddenly cut short.
"Fog?" her eyes opened wide, fixing her sight on a particular point among the trees.
No, her sight wasn't deceiving her. At a considerable distance, inside the forest, a thin white strip was ascending toward the sky.
It wasn't fog... it was smoke.
"PAFFF!"
About to exclaim what she had discovered, a dry sound, similar to the strike of a bell, surprised her from behind, followed by a high-pitched whistle.
When she turned around, Applejack saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy backing away surprised at what seemed to be the excessive success of the rainbow pegasus's plan.
Forgetting the smoke completely, the earth pony also jumped backwards.
A torrent of candies shot out of the pink mailbox, as if a broken pipe had suddenly burst. The candies, of all imaginable colors and sizes, fell in a constant flow toward the center of the clearing.
Her friends caught what they could in flight, hiding them in their pockets quickly.
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly, taking flight and taking one to her mouth without thinking.
"There are even blackberry ones..." added Fluttershy with a soft voice, carefully savoring the candy through her helmet.
"Wow..." murmured Applejack, still astonished. She took a few steps back, observing in silence how the growing pile of candies accumulated on the ground.
One rolled to her front hooves. She took it almost without thinking and brought it to her mouth.
Sweet. Truly sweet. With a crunchy coating and a soft-textured interior that melted in her mouth. But more important than all this, was the flavor it had...
"It tastes like apple!" she exclaimed with an excited smile. Applejack could never forget that flavor; she hadn't tasted it all this time in the toy world, and now, finally, it had returned to her lips.
Her eyes fixed on the ground, eagerly following each candy that rolled toward her.
"This is sugar, right, Applejack?" said Rainbow Dash in a mocking tone, watching how her friend (who had thrown herself to the ground) enjoyed the candies with desperation. She almost looked like a thirsty animal drinking from a lake, ignoring everything around her.
Fluttershy began to laugh at the scene, and Rainbow Dash didn't stay behind.
The trio of friends was having a truly joyful moment.
Perhaps that's why, being so distracted, none of them saw what happened next...
[---]
Faster than a truck without brakes, a shadow crossed the clearing from end to end in little more than a blink.
When it disappeared, the flower field—now flooded with candies—was empty.
There was no trace of the ponies who a moment before had been there.
[---]
"Ahhh... my head..." murmured Applejack, regaining consciousness.
Her body felt like a mess, and an uncomfortable sensation of being tied ran through her skin.
Her senses gradually cleared, making her aware of her situation.
She was hanging upside down inside an enormous mesh bag, suspended in the air in a spacious and barely illuminated room.
Her position was the same as a fruit hanging to ripen in a store.
"What... what happened?" she murmured desperately, trying to free herself.
"Applejack... we have a problem." The voice, instantly recognizable, came from her side.
Turning her head, Applejack found Rainbow Dash, also trapped in another mesh bag. The pegasus had a furrowed brow and tense wings, visibly upset.
"What—?!" exclaimed Applejack, turning to the other side to find Fluttershy, still with her suit on, equally trapped.
"She's still unconscious," murmured Rainbow Dash in a grave tone.
"What... what happened?!" repeated Applejack, increasingly anguished.
"Ask him." Rainbow Dash pointed downward with her head.
Applejack lowered her gaze.
Below them, a dark mass stirred slowly, as if awakening from a heavy lethargy. Suddenly, it began to rise, taking shape until standing up completely.
Its height was such that its head reached the same height at which the three ponies hung.
The creature's eyes opened, shining with unnatural brilliance, meeting Applejack's. Its enormous mouth opened, showing sharp teeth covered with chewed candies, dripping to the floor. And finally, the voice that emerged was so deep it rumbled on the room's walls and extended beyond, throughout the entire top of AutumnBreeze hill.
"Where is Princess Twilight?" asked the relentless beast.