In the broad daylight - Chapter 2

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"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh." Rainbow used her head to hold up the dumpster lid before reaching in with both front legs and pulled the injured filly out. She carefully cradled the gray crying lump of a foal, making sure not to disturb her injury. The glasses were left behind in the dumpster.

"Girls, I'm taking her to the hospital. You go and alert her parents," the rainbow mane pony said spreading her wings for flight. Something seemed to frighten Silver Spoon and she began struggling in the pony's grasp. But the Pegasus figured it was just after effect from what had happened to her and took off into the air.

"But… but." Sweetie Belle was the first to find her voice but by then Rainbow Dash was gone in a multicolored flash. She looked at Scootaloo who was still slack jawed. "I don't know where Silver Spoon lives, do you?"

"No, let's go to Sugarcube Corner, maybe Twilight and Rarity are still there," the orange Pegasus suggested, finally waking up from her startled state.

"Yes right," the white Unicorn agreed and the two fillies quickly ran out of the alley, leaving all the pastry behind for anyone to find who cared.

The two Crusaders quickly found themselves again at the bakery having run like their lives depended on it. They barged in nearly toppling few pony customers that had arrived to taste Pinkie's new cupcakes.

Ignoring them the girls spotted where Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy, who had only recently arrived, sat by a table drinking tea and eating cupcakes. The two fillies immediately begin shouting and flailing their hooves as they tried to explain in rapid succession what they had just witnessed.

"Girls! GIRLS!" Twilight finally shouted. It had been impossible to follow them. "One at a time and in a lower volume."

"Sweetie Belle, you're shaking," Rarity rose up and walked over to her little sister. She calmly and gently caressed the filly's mane. "Now calm down dear and start from the beginning."

"Are you girls alright?" Fluttershy asked, slowly flying up and over to Scootaloo who did not shake as visibly but was clearly flustered. The yellow Pegasus sat down beside her, gently putting one hoof on the girl's back.

Finally once they calmed down enough, the two fillies began explaining what they had seen and who they had found in a dumpster. The three mares and other ponies around who listened with wide open eyes blinked and gasped. Fluttershy covered the mouth with her hooves.

"Oh no how horrible, poor Silver Spoon," she whispered horrified.

"What ruffians would attack a young defenseless foal like that?" Rarity was aghast, she grabbed her little sister in a tight hug. "Oh my little precious darling, I'm so sorry you had to witness something like this."

"We better do what Rainbow Dash wanted the girls to do. Pinkie!" Twilight said before calling for the pink pony, but she was already there having heard the commotion and came out of the kitchen to investigate.

"Pinkie, since you know everypony in Ponyville, I need you to go and tell Silver Spoon's parents that their daughter is in the hospital," the purple unicorn told the pink pony.

"Yes Twilight," Pinkie needn't hear more and she immediately zipped out of the bakery. Twilight rose up and began walking for the exit; she glanced back at her remaining friends.

"I'm going to the hospital to learn what I can there. Fluttershy, why don't you take Scootaloo home?" she suggested, the yellow Pegasus nodded with a small smile.

"Yes Twilight you go, I think I'll take my sister home," Rarity informed her friend when Twilight looked at her. The librarian nodded and hurried out of the bakery.

"I'll be right here if you need anything before you leave," Mrs. Cake informed the two remaining mares who nodded their thanks. The bakery owner returned to the counter but still sported the worried frown. Some of the other ponies in the shop began nervously fiddling with their hooves, before heading out mentioning something about checking on their siblings/children.

The white Unicorn returned her attention back to her little sister who clung to her with tears in the eyes. Reality had finally sunk fully into Sweetie Belle; she realized just how close she had been to share Silver Spoon's fate. She had seen her attacker, been close enough to see him clearly.

"There, there now my precious little gem, you are safe now," Rarity soothed and continued to gently caress her sister's mane.

While she comforted her sibling, Fluttershy was trying to coax Scootaloo. The orange filly had turned silent and gloomy.

"Come now Scootaloo, I will take you home," the yellow pony said gently, trying to nudge the school filly to move. But the younger Pegasus refused and sat on the floor with a glum look.

"What in tarnation is goin' on here?" a southern voice spoke. Rarity and Fluttershy looked up and saw Applejack standing in the exit. Towards them Apple Bloom came running, concerned expression on the filly at seeing her two friends distressed.

"Hey gals, what happened to ya'll?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Oh Applejack it's simply horrid," Rarity gestured to the farm pony to come closer.

"Silver Spoon was attacked," Fluttershy whispered but both Apple Bloom and Applejack heard her.

"What?" the orange Earth Pony and her sister shouted.

"Yes and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo saw the attackers leave the scene of this dreadful crime," the fashion designer continued.

"Oh my stars," Applejack gulped. "Is the filly a'right?"

"Twilight went to the hospital to check on things," Fluttershy responded, she had given up for now to try and get Scootaloo to move.

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When Twilight arrived at the hospital she immediately went to the ER waiting room. She saw Rainbow Dash flying impatiently back and forth in the air. When the blue Pegasus spotted her friend arrive she immediately flew over and landed.

"Hey Twi, you heard already?" she asked.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came to Sugarcube Corner to let know what happened, they didn't know how to contact Silver Spoon's parents. Speaking of, how is she?" the purple pony inquired.

"I don't know. They wheeled her in the moment I brought her, so I'm still waiting, didn't want to just leave. Damn Twilight, this was creepy as Tartarus. Somepony just dumped that kid in the dumpster after attacking her. Who can be so heartless," Rainbow Dash snapped stamping one hoof hard on the floor.

"I don't know, but the girls did see two suspicious ponies before they went into the alley. Well a suspicious pony and a Gryphon actually," Twilight told her.

"A Gryphon?" Dash frowned. Her friend nodded and gave the description of the two or at least what she had managed to gather from the fillies' explanation.

"Big dark brown Pegasus with an axe cutie mark? That sounds like Silver Axe," the rainbow mane pony scowled a bit.

"You know him?" the librarian wondered.

"Not really, but heard of him, injured his throat in a thunderstorm near Cloudsdale many years ago or so I've heard. Hasn't been able to speak since," Dash explained. "And come to think of it, a Gryphon with a glass eye is sounding familiar too."

"Oh?" Twilight tilted her head.

"Yeah, during Junior Speedster Flight camp. Gilda was sometimes visited by this Gryphon, I think she said he was her uncle or cousin can't remember. He had a glass eye," the blue Pegasus shrugged.

"Interesting and now both these two appear here in Ponyville." Twilight tapped her snout gently with a hoof. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the waiting room opened and Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara's father walked in.

"Oh hello Mr. Rich," she addressed the dark amber colored Earth pony with the money bags cutie mark.

"Hello Miss Sparkle. I understand that Silver Spoon was brought here," the stallion inquired.

"Yes, I brought her here," Rainbow Dash responded.

"Yes, thank you very much Miss Dash. You see, her parents are on a business trip and she was staying with me and Diamond Tiara for the weekend. Tiara wasn't with her was she? She hasn't come home at all. I was a startled to hear Miss Pie tell me that Silver Spoon was in the hospital but nothing about Tiara," Rich explained, it was audible in his voice that he was worried and slightly agitated.

"Oh no, the girls didn't mention seeing Diamond Tiar…" Twilight froze as a detail from the girl's description came up in her mind.

"Miss Sparkle?" Filthy Rich approached her and Rainbow Dash glanced at her friend curiously.

"The bag, the bag the two guys had, that the fillies saw." The unicorn's irises shrunk as the horrible implication came over her.

"The bag?" Dash asked confused.

"The bag was wriggling and they said a muffled voice came out of it," Twilight cried, she looked at Filthy Rich with a regretful look. "Oh Mr. Rich… I really don't want to say this… but I think your daughter has been foalnapped."

"W-what?" the stallion whispered, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

At that moment the doctor arrived in the waiting room. The light amber Unicorn cocked an eyebrow when seeing the three ponies. So far they hadn't noticed him coming. Twilight was still looking regretfully at Rich who was still taking in what he had been told. Dash watched looking just as surprised as the stallion.

"Excuse me," the doctor finally broke the silence and the three ponies looked at him. "I take it you are all here regarding Little Miss Spoon?"

"Y-yes… how is she?" Rich whispered.

"She will be fine, she suffered a minor concussion and has a nasty cut on her head but she'll recover. It was a good thing she was brought to the hospital so quickly, if she had been in that dumpster for too long that wound could have gotten infected," the doctor told them.

"Can I go see her? Her parents are away and she was staying at my house," Rich wondered.

"Yes, yes of course, but be careful this was obviously quite traumatic experience for the young filly," the unicorn instructed and gestured for them to follow him.

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The hospital room was not dark even if the lights weren't turned on. The Sun still hadn't gone down for the day and a ray of light landed on the bed the young gray filly lay in. Her head was covered in white bandages.

The tickle of the sun did not cheer her up. She barely even noticed it. Silver Spoon lay and stared down at her hooves. She could barely focus on them; they looked more like gray blobs without her glasses. Her head hurt and she had a big empty feeling in her stomach, not from hunger, just emptiness.

Things had happened so fast. She had heard Diamond Tiara shriek and then something picked her up. She could only see flashes of sharp talons, feathers and flapping wings. Those wings, the filly shuddered, flapping and something making an awful noise. Something hit her hard on the head. She tried to scream, cry for help but nothing came out. Then everything went black.

Barely able to move and unable to see, she tried to crawl somewhere. Someone must have heard her because the next thing she knew she was in the air and suddenly surrounded by vaguely pony shaped blobs, the color white so prominent on them.

The filly heard them talk to her, gently and calmly. But she couldn't take it in, was just too frightened and began to sob and cry. Someone gently cuddled her and tried to calm her down. After a while she did and fell silent once more. Now the young girl was just in her bed, staring down at her grayish blob like hooves.

Silver Spoon didn't look up until she heard the door to the room open. Vaguely pony shaped blobs began filing in. She squint her eyes in a vain hope to try and see clearer who they were.

"Hey Silver…" a voice began addressing her. She would have usually recognized that as the voice of her friend's father, but something had caught her attention. Wings, flapping wings.

"No… no get away. GET AWAY!" Silver Spoon screamed at the top of her lungs and began trashing in the bed.

Someone grabbed her and managed to hold her securely despite her struggling, she cried and begged, beating her little hooves against whoever it was. She just wanted to get away from those wings.

"Silver, Silver it's alright, you are safe. Nopony is going to hurt you." The soothing voice of Rich tried to calm her down.

"Flapping wings… wings… get them away. GET THEM AWAY!" Silver Spoon cried and tried again to escape but she was still held in a firm gentle grip.

"Oh Rainbow, your wings, she can't see us clearly. Silver Spoon is nearsighted," a female voice said. "Your wings must be reminding her of the attacker. Stop flying."

"What? Oh sorry."

"Sshh, Silver it's alright. See, no one here to harm you." Rich's voice continued to attempt to calm the filly down. She finally did stop struggling but the sobs escaped her lips and her cheeks where drenched with tears.

"I'm sorry, Silver Spoon. We didn't mean to scare you," the gentle female voice addressed her. Then there was silence for a moment.

"Maybe we should leave. Will you be all right, Mr. Rich?"

"I will be fine, Miss Sparkle. Thank you and thank you again, Miss Dash."

"I can have someone run after some glasses for her; she probably needs them desperately right now."

"That is probably a good idea, thank you again."

"You're welcome. Come, Rainbow. No, don't fly until outside, remember the wings!"

"Ack, sorry."

Silver Spoon didn't notice anything. She was finally calming down after her outburst and beginning to feel sleepy. She did whimper slightly and buried her face in the coat of the pony gently holding and reassuring her. She wanted to feel safe, but she wasn't sure if she could. Not while everything looked so blob like.

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"If I ever meet the bastard who did this!" Rainbow Dash growled as she and Twilight Sparkle left the hospital. The Pegasus stamped her hooves on the ground and took into the air now that there was no risk of her upsetting Silver Spoon. Although she didn't know the gray filly that much, it was angering her that someone attacked a pony in her town and got away with it.

"I'm going to alert the authorities to this, I can't believe we are having a case of foalnapping here in Ponyville." The purple unicorn shook her head in dismay.

"Why would they foalnap someone from here anyway? Wait, you don't think they are going to squeeze bits out of Mr. Rich do you?" Rainbow wondered.

"I… I don't know, Rainbow. It's possible, he and Silver Spoon's parents are with the richest families in Ponyville," Twilight said.

"Well…" Rainbow Dash scowled. "I'm going to go ask around."

"What? Where?" her friend asked confused.

"Let's just say I need to pay an old friend a visit," the light blue Pegasus grunted and increased her speed and was very shortly gone in a rainbow trail.

Good luck, Twilight thought. "Looks like I have a dozy to report to the Princess."

"A dozy indeed." Applejack appeared, she had been waiting near the hospital.

"Hey Applejack," the Unicorn greeted the orange Earth Pony with a half hearted smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Rarity and Fluttershy told me ya would be here. Ah just wanted to know how it's goin' for Silver Spoon," the farm pony stated.

"Oh Applejack, you should have seen the poor thing, she was traumatized so badly. She mistook Rainbow Dash's wings for the ones from her attacker and was scared out of her mind," Twilight told her. "But that's not the worst part; I think they took Diamond Tiara."

"Hold it right there, yer tellin' me that not only was Silver Spoon attacked, but Diamond Tiara is gone and foalnapped?" Applejack could hardly believe her ears. "What is Equestria comin' too if two young fillies can't walk safely in Ponyville in the broad daylight and all."

"I don't know, AJ. But since this was Diamond Tiara this is probably targeted at Mr. Rich, Silver Spoon was probably just unlucky to be in the way," the unicorn told her with a heavy sigh.

"Say, how are the other girls? If you saw them, I left Sugarcube Corner in a hurry," Twilight asked. The two ponies began walking towards Ponyville town center.

"They were a bit shaken up, realized just how dangerous things had been for 'em," Applejack said. "Poor Sweetie Belle was in tears. Ah left Apple Bloom with them, told her she could spend the night at Rarity's, ya know be a friend in need an all. Ah then helped Fluttershy git Scoot home, that Pegasus was really silent and gloomy."

"Well they are strong girls, no doubt will be up and Cutie Mark Crusading once again before the weekend is over." Twilight smiled and Applejack laughed.

"Ah don't doubt it," the farm pony agreed. "So what are ya up to now?"

"Well as I said, think I'm going to report this to the Princess and the local authorities. I don't think we have had a foalnapping case in Equestria in a long time, at least none that I've heard of," the unicorn explained before glancing skywards. "I think Rainbow Dash is up to something as well, she said she was going to ask around, then remarked about needing to pay an old friend a visit."

"Huh, wonder who she's meetin'?" AJ frowned before shrugging. "Ah well, if you need any help, just give a holler."

"I will Applejack, thanks." The librarian smiled gratefully before glancing towards the sun. It's sinking indicated that Celestia was pulling it down and Luna was raising the Moon and the rest of the night with it.

"Not exactly a good way to end the day is it?" she remarked sadly.

"You said it girlfriend." Her friend shook her head in dismay.

End chapter 2.