Welcome everybody (or everypony, whichever you prefer) to my first little fanfic. Hopefully you all don't take my pathetic excuse for a pen name as any indication of my writing skills (heh heh, I'm nervous as hell in case you didn't notice). Just want to get a few things out of the way before we get started:

This is a story that was just floating around in my noggin for so that after a while I just had to get it out there for others to see. It's a story that may be a little on the crazy side (then again, there's a lot of crazy MLP fanfiction out there, mine's probably mild by comparison), but it's something I really wanted to see happen, so i decided I might as well throw it out there and see how it fares with the fanfic reading public. That's sort of my thing as a fanfic writer, I think: I want to write about the kinds of things I'd like to see, and hopefully there will be other's out there who will share that interest.

I may alter a few small details of the MLP universe for the sake of the story (AU fic, nothing too major), hopefully that's okay with ya's all. That said, let's get this thing going. I hope you all enjoy...

This fanfic is rated M for strong violence and language. Not Cupcakes style violence, it's more action style violence, Sopranos style violence. (Sopranos style violence in an MLP fic? If that doesn't spark your interest, I don't know what will)

Disclaimer: I don't own MLP: FIM. It's property of The Hub and Hasbro.

Chapter One:

The Troubles Begin

Everypony has a breaking point. Everypony has that proverbial line in the sand that once crossed, can lead one to do things that nopony else could've ever expected of that pony. When the line as been crossed, when life becomes too much, when the whole world seems to be crashing down around them and nopony else seems to care, when everything seems set against them, there is no limit to just how they will go to try and set things right. No matter what one may know about a certain pony, could be the nicest, sweetest pony in existence, the darkest of circumstances can push them to do the darkest of deeds.

Everypony... everypony has a breaking point.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony are no exception to that rule. Six simple ponies, who led simple lives, who had greatness thrust upon them when they least expected it, who came to represent everything good and pure about the world of Equestria, who had endured trials and hardships that lesser ponies would've easily faltered in the face of... are not infallible, as most would probably believe. They too, have that proverbial line in the sand, and once it has been crossed, even they can turn to the darkest recesses of their minds, that small area in the backs of their heads where they store all those bad, negative thoughts, those thoughts that they don't even dare to bring up, and being to consider them. They contemplate methods that they never would've dreamed of attempting in a more proper state of mind, all in the name of making things right again.

Everypony has a breaking point, a proverbial line in the sand; and for the six Elements of Harmony, those lines were about to be crossed...

Twilight Sparkle stood rooted to the spot, staring at the cataclysm of destruction that lay before her. Next to her stood her good friend and number one assistant, Spike the baby dragon. He was holding onto her, shaking slightly, staring wide-eyed at what his best friend and guardian was staring at.

Twilight was devastated. Not confused or scared, she had already experienced those feelings. She was sure anger would come eventually. But for now, she was simply devastated. Before her laid the ruins of the Ponyville Library, which was also her home and sanctuary.

It had all happened so fast, so suddenly. No pony could've predicted it. No pony could've prevented it.

It had been a typical scenario for the young unicorn. She had assumed the usual position of having her face buried deep into one of her many favorite books: a rather interesting tome on Equestria's fascinating history. Behind her, Spike had been reclining on a comfortable piece of furniture set up against the back wall of the library. He was bored. He had no tasks set before him at the moment. Twilight had not given him anything to do for a long while. He had been so desperate for some sort of antidote to his boredom that he found himself drumming his long-clawed fingers against the wooden arm-rests on the sides of the couch he was on. It created a sound that he found rather amusing, and he stepped it up a little bit, eventually making up his own little musical number. He had eventually gotten so into it that he was completely oblivious to the lavender unicorn growing steadily more annoyed behind him.

"Spike, will knock that off? It's really distracting!" Twilight had snapped at him, not knowing just how close that statement had been to being the last thing she would ever say to him.

Spike just rolled his eyes in annoyance and returned to his sulking position on the couch. He respected Twilight tremendously, but sometimes she could be a real -for lack of a better term- beyotch. Of course Spike would never call her that to her face, but it was nice to be able to keep that word for her in his head. Hopefully she wasn't studying up on any mind-reading spells at that moment, or he'd be in some real hot water with her.

Twilight turned back to her book and scanned for her place. She had been at the start of a particularly interesting chapter on the construction of Canterlot. She resumed reading, now enjoying the complete and total silence that surrounded her. It was only a minute later when that silence was shattered...

CRRRRRAAAAAASH!

Twilight spun around to see what appeared to be some large wooden object smashing through the wall of her beloved library. She watched in horror as bookshelves were toppling left and right, their contents being flung all over the room. A particularly large chunk of wood came flying directly at her. Thinking quickly, she hit the object with a blast of magic from her horn, sending it careening past her. She was too worried about trying to defend herself and Spike to be in shock at that moment. More and more shelves toppled over. The floor above them began to give way in certain areas, and came crashing down.

Twilight scanned the collapsing scenery for her dragon friend, hoping to Celestia that he was alright. It was when she finally noticed the over-turned couch that he had been occupying just moments ago, and saw the purple and green tip of his tail sticking out from under it that the most horrifying thought of all passed through her mind:

He's gone.

"Spike!" She had cried out, receiving no answer.

Using her magic, she levitated the couch off of her friend, tears streaming down her face. When she saw his lifeless form laying face down on the wooden floor, she felt that her horrible thought just moments ago had been confirmed. Or... at least she did until she heard a small moan come from him and saw a small twitch. She quickly trotted over to her friend and nudged him up. Spike slowly rose to his feet and and gave and dazed shake of his head. He showed no real physical injuries aside from a few small bruises.

"Wh- what happened?" He moaned.

Twilight, too overflowed with relief to answer, simply threw her forelegs around him and held him tight.

Extra thick scales! She thought to herself. He has extra thick scales!

Now, the two stood outside, staring at the carnage before them. The library still collapsing bit by bit, no longer safe to be inside of. A large gaping hole in the side revealed what was left of the interior, with the large overturned cart laying in the center of it all. Twilight wrapped a foreleg around her young assistant and held him tightly against her. The feeling of his heart beating through his chest helped her to relax a bit. He was alive. He was definitely alive.

But her home, her beautiful library, was simply no more. She was no expert in architecture, but she knew extensive damage when she saw it, and the damage that she saw before her was, beyond any shadow of a doubt... extensive; and extensive always meant one thing for sure: costly. There wasn't a spell Twilight knew that could repair destruction this devastating. This place would have to be repaired the earth pony way.

By this point, a crowd of ponies had gathered around the destruction, all murmuring to themselves and each other. One of them noticed the two occupants of the destroyed building and trotted over to them.

"Are you both okay?" She asked exasperated.

"Y-yeah." Twilight answered, being snapped back into reality. "Wh-what happened?"

"I saw the whole thing!" Another pony exclaimed as she approached the two. "This idiot stallion came speeding down the road here pulling a cart full of junk behind him. I suppose he could've been drunk, or maybe just crazy; whatever the case, he was speeding like a maniac down the road and heading right for you. When he realized was about to crash, he tried to turn and managed to avoid your home himself. But he wasn't able to keep the cart from crashing into you! I thought for sure there would be casualties! I'm glad to see that I was wrong!"

Twilight needed a moment to take that all in. So it was some crazy, idiot stallion who had severely damaged her home and nearly taken the life of one of her best friends. Now the devastation she had been feeling was fading away, replaced by that feeling of anger that she had known was on its way. If what this pony had told her was true, then this stallion should be the one paying for the repairs, not her.

"Where is he?" Twilight asked, trying to hide the rage in her voice.

"The stallion?" The other pony responded. "H-he ran for it. He headed off in the direction of the Everfree forest. We tried to keep track of him, but he was too quick. I remember fairly well what he looked like. I'll be sure to tell the police ponies every detail, and I'm sure they'll catch him before too long."

Twilight said nothing. She had just had the disgusting feeling that the world had just dumped all over her right then and there. She had just lost her home, her place of business, it was damaged almost beyond repair, and the one responsible for it all was probably long gone. Sure, the police could try to find him, but it all felt like in the end it would be a waste of time. This stallion was probably long gone by now. The Everfree forest was huge, and extremely dangerous. He could be dead by now for all she knew, and with him would die any chance of getting her home repaired anytime soon.

A librarians salary wasn't anything to brag about. Twilight made enough bits to keep Spike and herself well provided for, but only just. Accidents like this were certainly not factored into her daily budget. If indeed this stallion was never found, then it was going to be a long time indeed before Twilight Sparkle would see her home -which had always provided her with her beloved books, her only tools of escaping from the dullness of day to day life- repaired.

She looked down at her dragon friend, who was now sobbing lightly into her side. His warm tears leaking onto her hide provided a little bit of comfort for her, but not much. Nothing was going to giver her much comfort for a long time. As if to further punctuate that point, the library shifted to the side a bit, then collapsed completely with a deafening crash; and that was that.

Twilight Sparkle didn't know it at the time, but her line in the sand had been crossed.

Fluttershy sat quietly in the waiting room of Ponyville's animal clinic. She stared intently at the door that separated her from her beloved pet rabbit, Angel. Though she was as quiet as ever on the outside, she was screaming loudly on the inside. Her mind was spinning with horrible thoughts of just what it was that had caused her pet to become so sick.

Fluttershy was good with animals. It was, after all, her specialty. She took care of many of them, and always knew how to keep them all safe and happy. She had dealt with sickness before; mostly stomach aches or colds. She alway knew just what to do in situations like those. But this new development with Angel... this was something she had never seen before. He wasn't eating; he was much less active; and there were times where he just downright seemed to be in a lot of pain. Fluttershy had at first assumed this was some kind of flu. She didn't worry too much at first. She gave him the usual medication and hoped that his condition would quickly be brought under control. But Angel didn't improve. In fact, he got worse. Much worse.

Now fearing greatly for the well-being of her pet, Fluttershy had decided to take him to the Ponyville animal clinic, hoping that ponies who were better educated than she was in matters such as these could pinpoint just what it was that was ailing her precious rabbit.

She sat there in that cold, empty waiting room, her mind racing through a million possible illnesses that could possibly have taken hold of Angel. One in particular terrified her above all else.

The 'C' word. She thought to herself. Can rabbits even get that? I hope not. Oh, please let it not be that.

The door suddenly swung open, and a veterinarian pony stepped out and gazed at Fluttershy. Her expression was grim. Very grim.

"Miss Fluttershy?" She addressed the yellow pegasus. "Will you come back here with me please? There's something we need to discuss about your rabbit."

"Um, okay," Fluttershy squeaked nervously.

She slid out of her chair and followed the nurse through the door. It somehow felt even colder on the other side. The vet led Fluttershy through the long, narrow hallway. They passed several rooms that contained whimpering young dogs, cats and various other animals being worked on by other animal doctors. It torture for Fluttershy to see so many animals in this kind of pain. She felt tears coming quickly. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

Eventually they came to a small white room with a small padded table up against one of the walls. On it was a very disheveled looking Angel. He was laying on his side, breathing slowly yet steadily, his long ears twitching once in a while. The vet pony turned to face Fluttershy, who looked like she was about to pass out. The vet tried to find the proper words to explain the situation, but it was Fluttershy who spoke up first.

"Is- is he okay? What's wrong with my Angel?"

The vet exhaled slowly, then began.

"I'm afraid your rabbit is suffering from a very serious medical condition known as Bloat. Have you heard of it?" Fluttershy went pale, and the vet took that as a sign that she had heard of this particular condition. "It's fairly common with any domesticated animals, mostly dogs, but any common house pet can get it. What it basically involves is the stomach becoming overstretched and twisted by excessive gas content. As I said earlier, it is fairly common, but it's also always very fatal."

That word sent just about sent Fluttershy into a fit of panic. Her mouth went dry as her breathing intensified and she began to shiver uncontrollably. She had so many questions on her mind at that moment. The first one that managed to make it past her lips was this:

"W-was it something I did?" Her voice was breaking.

"Well, that's hard to say," the vet answered. "It can be caused by a number of things: a dysfunction between the esophagus and the stomach; an obstruction of outflow through the pylorus. Those kinds of things can be caused by overfeeding, a heavy consumption of water in a small period of time, feeding him certain foods that cause the stomach to expand; among various other things."

Fluttershy was speechless. As far as she knew she had never fed or watered him more than she thought was necessary. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that this was all somehow her fault. The vet continued.

"Now, I have some good news and bad news for you. I'll start with the good news: There is a fairly standard operation that can be performed that can fix this problem." The vet noticed the sudden spark of light in Fluttershy's face when she said this. She cringed a bit knowing what she would have to say next. "The bad news is that this procedure is by no means cheap. Average cost for something like this could be roughly around thirty to forty thousand bits."

Fluttershy felt the fear and despair return to her instantly. There was no way, absolutely no way she could afford that at this time. With the pitiful salary she made from her animal control business, it would be at least a year, possibly two before she could even come close to being able to shell out that amount of bits. She felt helpless, utterly helpless to save her little Angel now.

"I- I don't think I can afford that at this time," She said in a sad whisper.

The vet nodded grimly.

"Well, if that's the case, then there is a significantly cheaper option." She explained. "I imagine you don't want him to suffer like this, so we could always... consider... putting him out of his misery. Quickly and humanely."

Upon hearing that, Fluttershy lost it. She completely abandoned her typical shy demeanor and all but flipped out at the vet.

"NO!" She screamed. "NOT MY ANGEL! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE MY ANGEL! PLEASE JUST LET ME THINK OF SOMETHING! I'LL DO WHAT I CAN TO AFFORD THE OPERATION! JUST PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY ANGEL!"

The vet was not at all shocked by Fluttershy's outburst. That was a common reaction by ponies who didn't want to give up on their beloved pets, and this vet had experienced it many many times. Though she had to admit, this particular pegasus had not seemed much like the violent outburst type.

"Alright then, I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll write you a script for Famotidine. You can pick it up at any local pharmacy. Give him two tablets every night for the next couple of weeks. It should keep the bloating under control for a decent period of time, though it won't stop it completely. You can use that time to think about what you want to do with Angel. I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do for you right now."

Fluttershy, still breathing heavily from her outburst, began to relax a bit. At least now she had a little more time. That thought managed to be a small comfort to her. A small small comfort.

"Okay." was all she managed to get out.

The vet nodded and hung her head a bit.

"I am truly sorry, Miss Fluttershy," she said sincerely. "These things just happen sometimes."

...

Fluttershy walked slowly towards her home, carrying her dear pet rabbit on her back. She wanted to get him home before she went to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription. She could feel the soft, steady beating of Angles heart against her back, and with each beat, she felt it would be the last one she would feel. As she slowly trotted along the dusty dirt path towards her home, her head hanging low, she began to feel a new emotion surging through her. An emotion she didn't feel too often at all: anger. Anger directed at the clueless morons back at the animal clinic.

These things just happen sometimes. Was that all they could say about situations like these? When innocent lives were on the line? And then they demand a ridiculously large sum of bits from you to make things right again? Fluttershy was infuriated, absolutely infuriated. It couldn't end like this. She wasn't going to allow it to end like this. She had been through too much with this rabbit for him to just fade away like this while she could do nothing about it simply because she couldn't afford it. She would not accept defeat as easily as those pathetic animal doctors would. She was an Element of Harmony, and they never gave up without a fight.

"I won't lose you, Angel," she said to him as confidently as she could muster. "I'll do anything to save you. Anything."

Her delicately drawn line in the sand had just been crossed.

Rarity gaped in abject horror at the devastating bombshell that had just been dropped on her. She was standing in the middle of Carousel Boutique, her home and place of business. In front of her stood an agent pony of the well know fashionista Photo Finish, who had alway been a loyal client of the fashion unicorn. Rarity had always been more than happy and willing to provide her with some of her fresh new clothing designs.

This particular job she had recently been issued was by far the most exciting she had received in a long time. It was also the most important. Rarity had been challenged with creating a series of her boldest new designs for Miss Finish's fall lineup. It was a job most fashion ponies would give their left hooves to get a chance at attempting, and as fate would have it, it was bestowed most graciously upon Rarity. She had slaved away for weeks on sketching out her newest ideas, which she honestly felt were the boldest, most creative and most design-wise spectacular ideas she had ever had. It was with these designs that she felt she could possibly step up into the higher ranks of fashionistas.

So you can imagine her horror at what she had just been told.

"I- I don't believe it," she stammered. "She didn't like any of my designs? Not a single one?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Rarity," the agent pony replied. Normally, Rarity would've been told this in a letter, but since this agent happened to be in Ponyville at the time, she figured it was better to tell her in person rather than burden Miss Finish with having to write the letter herself. "This market is becoming more and more competitive these days, and none of your designs had that certain 'edge' that we were looking for. The kind of edge that our competitors are succeeding in capturing."

Edge? It was edge they were looking for? Because Rarity hadn't exactly been shooting for that when she began work on her designs. They hadn't really been specific with what they wanted, but Rarity didn't mind that. It gave her an excuse to use her imagination; and Rarity did feel strongly that these designs were among some of her most imaginative. They were, in her honest opinion, bold, and weren't bold and edgy basically in the same category?

Now, Rarity had dealt with rejection before. Not often, but enough that she knew the feeling and wasn't too put-off by it. But this particular failure, really struck her at her core. Hard times had hit Carousel Boutique. She simply wasn't doing the amount of business she had hoped to be doing. The situation was becoming quite dire now. She hadn't made a decent transaction in months, and it was getting to the point where being able to provide for herself and her sister Sweetie Belle was becoming harder and harder to do.

When she had been given the task of providing her design ideas for Photo Finish's fall line up, she hed been utterly relentless in creating what she believed to be her most creative designs to date. She worked non-stop, day and night, leaving herself virtually no time to be with her friends, or take part in any of the other leisure activities she enjoyed so much. She had basically isolated herself from the world around her. She obsessed over her designs, spent hours crafting out even the smallest details. She had truly believed that these designs would be her greatest accomplishment, and that they would finally put her back on track.

It had been like torture after she had mailed her designs out for approval, waiting to hear what Photo Finish would have to say, and now, after almost a week of unbearable suspense, she had been rejected. Everything she had worked so hard over, had absolutely slaved over, had been rejected, and it took every fiber of Rarity's being to keep from breaking down right then and there in front of that agent pony.

"Well, I- I just... I've been..." Rarity stammered, her voice close to breaking. "I- I'm going through a bit of a difficult period right now. I- I was hoping this would be the end of it, but- but... quite frankly, darling, you've simply blown my mind! I- I don't know what to say!"

The agent let out a labored sigh and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rarity, I really am, but Photo Finish knows what she likes and dislikes, and I'm afraid she just didn't like what you had to offer," she told the devastated unicorn.

Rarity began to feel herself lose it. Her breathing became more rapid, and she could feel her eyes begin to sting with tears. She couldn't let this be the end of it. She couldn't just accept rejection of this magnitude.

"Well, p-perhaps if you give me more time! Another week or so maybe!" She said hysterically. "I- I can come up with more designs! Better designs! I swear I can! If you just give me another chance, please! I swear I can do better!"

The agent shook her head again.

"I'm sorry, but we can't risk it," She said grimly. "We have a deadline, after all, and I don't think that giving you another week to come up with more designs that... I don't believe would show any real improvement would be a wise move on our part. I'm afraid we'll have to take our business elsewhere."

Now, Rarity snapped. She abandoned all proper ladylike mannerism and burst out crying.

"NO! NO, PLEASE! YOU MUST GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE! I BEG YOU! PLEASE, I'M DESPERATE! I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER I NEED TO PROVIDE FOR! PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER-"

"Miss Rarity, PLEASE!" The agent cried out suddenly, silencing the now whimpering unicorn. "I'm sorry that things have been difficult for you, I really am, but Miss Finish has her own problems to worry about right now. We just can't afford to add your own problems to our list. Now, I really must be going. I need to get back to Manehatten to find out what Miss Finish wants to do next." The agent slowly turned from Rarity and made for the exit. When she reached it, she gave a glance back at the now teary-eyed fashionista, her mouth stammering silently. "Good day, Miss Rarity. I hope things for you take a turn for the better in the near future." And with that, she left.

Rarity slowly collapsed onto the floor. She buried her face into her forehooves and began to weep bitterly. It was a good thing Sweetie Belle wasn't here to see this, because she didn't think her little sister would be able to handle it.

So this was it. After years of generously providing her fellow ponies with the most beautiful dresses she could create, this was where she had ended up: low on bits, low on customers, and worst of all, low on confidence. Yes, if there was one thing that bothered her more than the fact that she was close to going broke, it was the fact that her skills and designing were fading, that she was losing her touch.

How was she going to explain this to her sister? How would she break the news that they were dangerously close to living in the streets? That she wouldn't be able to pay for her education? That... there was a good chance that she would be taken from her? That she would most likely be sent to a foster home? She couldn't allow that. She wouldn't allow that. She wouldn't allow her precious Sweetie to be taken from her. There was nopony in all of Equestria who she would've been better off with, and Rarity truly believed that.

"What am I going to do?" Rarity whimpered to herself.

She laid there on the cold hard floor of Carousel Boutique, sobbing endlessly, completely unaware of the fact that her elegant and beautifully drawn line in the sand had been crossed.

Applejack slowly trotted through the charcoal and ashen remains of her apple orchard in Sweet Apple Acres. Her brother Big Macintosh trotted alongside her, and together they took in the horrible sight before them. It was gone. All gone. Sweet Apple Acres was now nothing more than a pile of smoldering ruins. It had been reduced completely to burnt trees and piles of ash, smoke still wafting from the charcoal twigs, and faintly glowing cinders floating carelessly through the air.

It had to be an accident, right? Maybe a discarded piece of glass that had captured one of the suns rays at just the right angle to set off a spark? Or maybe there had been a lighting storm the night before and one of the apple trees had been struck? There was no reason to doubt that it had been an accident. At least, there wasn't until they had discovered the empty overturned gas can and burnt matches lying at the edge of the orchard.

It had been a cruel joke. A sick prank most likely enacted by some out of town colt punks. Someponies took a look at an entire apple orchard, knew that it was somepony's entire livelihood, and to just decided to burn it all down for their own amusement.

Applejack's eyes began to well up with tears as she saw just how much she and her family had truly lost. Not a single tree had gone untouched by the flames. The soft ash was still warm under her hooves. A single tear slid down her cheek and fell to the ground, turning the ash into a small dab of mud. Big Mac stepped away from his sister. He shuffled of hoof around in the embers beneath him, and exhaled through is nostrils.

"Eeyup, they torched it good," he said in his usual drawl, though there was a much more pronounced element of sadness. He turned back to his sister, his expression showing utter defeat. "Ain't goin' be no apple harvest this year, AJ. Prob'ly not fer a few years."

Applejack let that brutal statement sink in. No harvest meant no possible way of making an income. One year alone of no income would definitely be problematic. But a few years of no income? How long would it take exactly to fix everything? Clearing out all the debris, replanting all the apple trees, waiting for them to grow again? That could all take several years! There was no other way of putting it that this: The Apple family was sca-rewed.

Behind her, Applejack her the approaching hoofsteps of more of her family members. She turned and saw her sister Apple Bloom trotting up to her through the ruins, the piles of ash nearly reaching up to her belly. Next to her was Granny Smith, hobbling along in her walker. Her already ancient face looked even older than ever. She took in the sad sight and exhaled slowly. To see the farm that had been in her family for generations reduced to this... was almost to much for her delicate old heart. Apple Bloom, on the other hand, looked much more confused and scared rather than filled with grief. Applejack noticed that instantly, and turned to her brother.

"Ya oughta take Apple Bloom back on inside the house," she told him. "She don't need ta see this."

Big Mac just nodded and started for the scared little filly.

"C'mon, lil' lady, let's go back on home," he said to her gently.

Applejack watched the two head back for their home, which had mercifully been spared of the flames, due in no small part to the barking of the Apple family's pet dog Winona. If it hadn't been for here nonstop yapping at a window overlooking the orchard during the late hours of night, the fire surely would've spread to the house, possibly taking the whole family with it. AJ would thank that dog every day for the rest of her life.

Still, it was only a small comfort to know that they still had a house. After all, with no means to sustain themselves, how long would it be before they would have to give their house up? How long would it be before they were forced into homelessness, something which Granny Smith, in her old age, wouldn't last a week in?

AJ continued to gaze across the vast expanse of Sweet Apple Acres. Nothing had survived... nothing. Well, almost nothing. A few red lumps protruding through the ash marked the locations of a few lucky apples. Still, there were nowhere near enough to keep the family going for too long. Applejack's eyes then fell upon something that made her heart sink even lower than it already was: the remains of the very first apple tree she ever bucked on Sweet Apple Acres.

She remembered that day so well. She had miscalculated exactly where it was she was supposed to position herself and had been a little to close to the tree. When she reared forward and bucked, it felt as though her rear legs had ended up in her neck. But she wasn't too badly hurt, and she had produced a hard enough buck that several apples had tumbled from the tree. Overall, it had been a pretty successful first apple bucking, and Applejack looked back on it fondly.

Now, though, that tree was nothing more than blackened, leafless mess. It looked as though the slightest touch would cause it to burst into dusty ash. AJ lowered herself to the charred ground and began to cry harder than ever. She laid there alone for a while until she was once again joined by her brother, who gently placed a hoof on her back and rubbed it soothingly.

"Don't fret now, sis," he said to her calmly. "We'll think of somethin'. Ah know we will."

Applejack hadn't heard a word he said. Her mind was spinning around two thoughts at that time: Who were the punks responsible for this? And what would she do to them if she ever got her hooves on them?

Her line in the sand, which had been drawn through years of honest hard work, had just been crossed.

Rainbow Dash roared in frustration as she burst through the front door of her cloud castle. She barreled through the white fluffy hallway all the way to her room. She gave another dragon-like roar and went to work destroying everything in sight, namely anything that happened to bear a Wonderbolts logo on it. Posters, autographed pictures action figures, you name it, it got trashed. Posters were torn in two, pictures smashed out of their frames and shredded to bits, action figures having their heads bit off and thrown against the soft cloud wall. It was chaos, and Dash didn't care if anyone saw. She didn't care if all of Equestria knew how pissed off she was.

Another year had come, and with it, another chance for Dash to tryout for her beloved Wonderbolts. Another tryout... had ended in disappointment. But this one really hit the young pegasus where it hurt.

Now failing to become a member of the Wonderbolts was something Dash had dealt with numerous times in the past. Even though it had happened so often, she never really did get used to the pain of rejection. It was something that just really ripped her apart and usually kept her from racing or pranking or doing any of the things she normally enjoyed doing for a few weeks. But, as mentioned earlier, this one really got to her. Not only had she failed again, but this time she had nothing to fall back on.

So confident had Rainbow Dash been that this year would be her year, that she had quit her job on the weather team the day before, and it hadn't exactly been on good terms either. She hated that job; hated it with a passion. She hated how slow it was, how dull it was, and most of all, she hated mindless, dickless boss, who had done nothing but scream and yell at her during her whole work days, and it was always over the fact that she was simply so independent and cocky. He seemed to hate her for being who she was.

So, when Dash became absolutely positive that she would nail her tryout this year, and be set for life as a highly paid member of the Wonderbolts, she decided she had had enough of her pathetic job of moving clouds around. She approached her boss, used language more colorful than her mane to describe what she thought of him, then wished him good luck in finding another Pegasus who would be willing to put up with his crap, and quit, thinking very highly of herself and wishing she had done that sooner.

Then the tryouts came, and same thing happened to her that happened every year: she choked. Now, here she was, standing in the middle of her room, screaming like a maniac, standing amongst a pile of destroyed Wonderbolts memorabilia, nowhere closer to joining the ranks of her heroes, and now without a job.

Why? Why hadn't she just waited until after tryouts to find out if she made it or not and then tell her boss off? Well,once again her ego had gotten the better of her, and now she was really paying for it. Still, in spite of the fact that she really had nopony to blame but herself for this current situation, she still found herself unable to do that. Instead her rage was directed at the ponies she had once idolized.

"WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" She roared so loudly that the clouds in front of her swirled a bit.

She felt it was a fair question. Exactly what more did she have to prove to them? They had seen how skilled she was in the past. She had performed the Sonic Rainboom, and even managed to save their million bit asses in the process. What the hay else did they want from her?

As far as Dash was concerned at that moment, the Wonderbolts were dead to her. Her life had hit an all time low. Nothing was going to bring her up from this slump. She had dug herself into a deep hole, and was going to have one hay of time pulling herself out of it. Nopony seemed to care either. Nopony was going to extend a hoof to help her out. Not even her friends. Why did Dash feel that way? That not even her friends could help her? She couldn't shake this strange feeling that they were all having problems of their own. She couldn't explain why she felt that way. She just did. Why else wouldn't they have come to cheer her on for this years tryouts?

As far as Dash was concerned, her line in the sand had not only been crossed... it had been yelled at, cussed at, spat on, shat on, raped, and then crossed.

Pinkie Pie, the happiest pony in Ponyville, possibly in all of Equestria, wiped the tears from her eyes as she watched Mr. Cake write down the agonizingly large amount of bits on a check, then slowly headed for the post office to mail it. Before he stepped out, he turned to Pinkie and tried to give her a comforting smile. But it did nothing for her, so he turned away and made off.

Pinkie looked terrible. Her normally poofy mane was now hanging low to the floor of Sugarcube Corner. Her eyes were puffy and red with the all the crying she had done in the past few days.

At least today it was finally over. The deed had finally been done. The check for seven hundred thousand bits was finally being sent to the meanies who couldn't just learn to forgive and forget. Still, it was going to be a long time before the always smiling party pony would smile again. She looked over to Mrs. Cake, who had been watching her with a worried expression. Pinkie couldn't bear to look her in the eye.

"It's all my fault," she sobbed.

"Oh no, deary," Mrs Cake said kindly in an effort to ease Pinkie's sweet little heart. "It wasn't your fault. It was just a little accident. It could've happened to anypony. Oh, please don't cry, sweetheart!" Mrs. Cake moved towards Pinkie Pie so she could comfort her.

But Pinkie ran past her and made her way upstairs to her room, where she locked herself in, leapt into her bed, buried her face in her pillow and cried harder than she ever had before in her life. Mrs. Cake decided it was best to just leave her alone for a while. She prayed to Celestia that Pinkie would be okay.

But Pinkie was far from okay, she was downright devastated (an emotion that unbeknownst to her, a lot of her friends were going through as well). She couldn't believe what she had done. How could it have happened? She had always been so careful. She never in a million years would've thought that a simple mistake on her part would lead to something as horrible as what was just brought upon Sugarcube Corner.

It hadn't been anything too difficult she had been asked to do. An order had been placed for a wedding cake for some bigshot pony's son. What fun! Pinkie loved doing wedding cakes! They were her second most favorite thing to bake next to cupcakes. They didn't ask for anything too crazy, though. Just a standard three layer vanilla frosting cake. Pinkie was a bit disappointed by that since she loved a challenge. But still, it was no biggie. nothing could keep this crazy party pony down... or at least that was what she always believed.

Now, Pinkie Pie was known for having a bit of an 'overactive mind' to put it lightly. Her head was always buzzing with a million thoughts at once, most notably ideas for parties and such. But no matter how crazy her thoughts could be, she always always kept her mind on what she was doing when she was baking. She knew just how delicate her job was. After all, it took a special kind of pony to craft the kinds of delicacies that she was so well known for.

So you can imagine her shock when a week later a letter came in the mail stating that Sugarcube Corner was facing a massive lawsuit filed by the bigshot pony when every guest who had cake at his sons wedding suffered from a rather nasty case of food poisoning.

Not wanting to get sucked into a massive courtroom battle, Mr. and Mrs. Cake had simply agreed to settle and just pay up the seven hundred thousand bits that had been demanded of them.

It was an event that absolutely crushed Pinkie for a couple of reasons. First, it shattered reputation as a good baker. After the lawsuit had been filed, Pinkie went over the routine she had undertaken when baking the cake over and over in her head, trying to pinpoint exactly where it was she could've messed up. Had she not left it in the oven long enough? Had her overactive mind gotten the better of her and caused her to accidentally mix up a couple ingredients? She couldn't figure it out. Maybe she just wasn't as good as she thought she was.

But reason for why she was so crushed was even worse. She felt that she had just betrayed Mr. and Mrs. Cake in some way. Two of the nicest pony's she had ever met, who not only given her a job doing what she loved, but had also given her a home, a new sanctuary away from that dreaded rock farm she grew up on. But now her stupidity had just cost them a fortune in bits. Sugarcube Corner wasn't some multi-million bit industry, it was just a humble little bakery in the humble little town of Ponyville. There was no other place like it in all of Equestria; and now there was a good chance that it was finished. It would be a long time before they could make back all that they had lost.

As Pinkie's crying began to fade, and she began to let herself drift into sleep as this horrid day came to an end, she wished with all her might that she could do something to make things better for her kindly benefactors. She just wanted to do something. Anything. Anything.

Her line in the sand, which had been so lightly drawn that it was almost non-existent, had been crossed.

Everypony has a breaking point, and when that point is reached, there's no limit to what evil that pony can be capable of.

Wow, my first chapter and I'm already wiped out! Seriously though, tell me what you all think of this so far. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also really interested to hear what you have to say. Please be gentle, I'm new at this after all. Constructive criticism is fine, being an asshole isn't. Just wanted to get that out of the way. Anyway, thank you all for expressing your interest in this little story of mine. I'll try not to disappoint. I can't promise perfection, but I can promise quality. I'll see you all in the next chapter.