Ah... sorry, my friend, I'm afraid I can't stay long today...
...Today's your funeral, of course. I've spent all week arranging everything to be perfect...
...What do I mean? You died, silly... Snapped your neck into itty bitty pieces. Horrible way to go, really...
...The doctor did say it was instant, at least...
At any rate... I don't have to pretend you're alive and well anymore... As far as everypony's concerned now...
you are very much dead and gone.
*one year later*
Though not quite yet adults, Scootaloo and her friends had grown into fine young mares.
The orange Pegasus kept her adoptive sister close to her heart. She had become more bold and brash, showing off new tricks on her scooter whenever she could. Though her wings remained small and stunted, through vigorous practice and determination she had managed to learn to glide downwards rather than simply plummet from heights. Her fuchsia mane had been allowed to grow out, and she had meticulously trimmed and brushed it to resemble Rainbow's old manestyle.
Sweetie Belle had become a beauty rivaling that of her older sister. Though Rarity still forbade her from helping her create her dresses, she did allow her to model them from time to time, and through a couple successful fashion shows she garnered the attention of many a pony. Coupled with her melodious voice, she found herself launched into a cushy part-time job that allowed herself and her Crusader friends to travel Equestria with ease. Also, with Rarity's help her own magical abilities had greatly improved. She could even finely manipulate multiple objects at a time, just like her sister... though she was still not to be trusted with pins, needles or scissors.
Applebloom had grown strong... very strong. She could very nearly plow and sow fields and buck apples from the trees as quickly as her own elder siblings without any sign of fatigue. Her alchemy hobby had finally proven rewarding; among her other successful potions she created a special fertilizer that nourished the Apple Family's orchards and made the fruits grow even bigger, sweeter and healthier than before. Zecora herself even said she had nothing left to teach her.
Together, they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Accepting letters from all over Equestria and beyond, they traveled around the countryside helping those in need of figuring out their true talents, or better understanding their Cutie Marks. It was a duty they took great pride in, and they were often gone for a month or two at a time.
And today they had finally returned from an extended trip to Sire's Hollow. Applebloom threw open the doors of their clubhouse - which she had long ago renovated into a modest dwelling that could house the three of them together - and threw herself onto the couch as Sweetie Belle levitated some suitcases into their living room.
"Whew! Ah'm beat," she sighed as she reclined on the couch. Sweetie and Scootaloo mumbled in agreement, the former taking a seat on a plush chair beside the couch while the latter headed straight for her hammock in the corner. She flopped into it with the grace of a headless chicken and let out a loud, contented sigh.
She stretched her limbs as she sighed. Her hoof bumped into something on her nightstand between the hammock and the wall. Scootaloo made a confused noise; she distinctly remembered leaving nothing there before they had left.
Her friends were lost in relaxed conversation as she sat up and quietly grabbed the strange object. It was a brand new, sky blue-colored book, the only marking on it being a winged grouping of three buildings atop a lightning cloud. Curious, she opened it.
The first page simply read "For my Hero". Past that, the words were cryptic, enigmatic, esoteric... unsettling. Scootaloo's face scrunched. Deciding it was too much work to figure it out at the moment, she set the book back down on the nightstand, crawled out of her hammock and joined her friends in their conversation.
It wasn't until later that night that she picked the book up again. Though the three were always more than welcome in their own homes, it wasn't uncommon for them to spend the night in the clubhouse. While Scootaloo had her hammock, Sweetie Belle had a small camping cot nearby with an air mattress and blankets to sleep on, while Applebloom was more than happy with just the couch.
Sweetie's snoring jolted Scootaloo's eyes open, which clamped shut as their gaze met the moonlight shining brightly through the nearby window. She rubbed her face and grunted at the realization she was wide awake now. After a few moments contemplating how to go back to sleep, her memory returned her attention to that weird book. Sighing, she reached over and grabbed it, then flipped to the first page.
The prose was thick and perplexing, but the meaning became more clear as she read on. It detailed in an almost code-like fashion the story of two mares, one described as a dark dusk while the other seemed to be referred to by a different color each time. They were searching for a lost filly in a strange land only mentioned as "a place where the dead are given new life" that became progressively more terrifying and horrific the further they went. Creatures of all kinds wandered the land, tortured and mutilated, the gratuitous details of which were so graphic, so haunting, so realistic it made Scootaloo's stomach quiver. It ended with the dusk mare betraying the other, her fate left uncertain but pessimistic. Throughout the macabre, mysterious story the entire premise felt familiar, but she couldn't quite put a hoof on why.
It took only an hour and a half to finish reading the grim tale. A shivering Scootaloo gulped as she turned the final page. The last paragraphs had set the book up for a sequel, but that wasn't quite what made her pause. Rather, it was the final sentence that seemed to tie everything together with one ragged, rotting ribbon.
"Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Indigo, Violet - she was a Rainbow."
She was a Rainbow... She was a rainbow...?
On the opposite page was a hoof-drawn map of a mountain range covered in storm clouds, with a skull and crossbones imposed over the tallest peak. Above and below the map was a pair of hoof-drawn messages:
She is still alive.
Do not come for her, lest you meet her fate, or worse.
Scootaloo blinked. Somepony had clearly added in this last map and these messages. But why? And this wasn't even her book to begin with, somepony must have left it here for her to find. Were these messages specifically intended for her?
A chill ran down her spine, her wings fluttering nervously by themselves.
Wait a minute...
Red, orange, yellow, green... cyan... rainbow... Rainbow?
...Rainbow?!
It finally came to her: Rainbow Dash and Twilight had gone on a long and apparently perilous journey to a distant mountain range to save a lost filly over five years ago. Ultimately they were unsuccessful, and while Twilight remained entirely tight-lipped about the whole trip, Rainbow never liked to talk much about the details, if she didn't just change the subject immediately. It was like she had decided to completely purge all memories of the journey from her mind.
What if... oh, Celestia... what if Rainbow had died back then and was given new life at that place? Was that what this strange book was getting at? The world was full of magic, but was such a thing... such a place even possible?
She absentmindedly mulled over the possibilities until a particularly loud snore from Sweetie startled her out of her trance. Scootaloo shook her head and sighed in relief. This was a puzzle the Cutie Mark Crusaders could figure out tomorrow. She rolled over in her hammock and shut her eyes until sleep finally clouded her mind.
But her dreams were already tainted by what she had read.
~
Once her friends had awoken, Scootaloo gathered her thoughts, then brought up the topic of the book and its contents while they were eating breakfast. She described everything she could that wouldn't cause her friends to lose their appetites, finishing with the final sentence, the added map and the messages. Applebloom and Sweetie were silent for a while as they listened, then pondered.
"Well... it sounds like some kind of horror story written especially for you," Sweetie finally said. "I guess you could interpret the two main characters to be Twilight and Rainbow... but honestly, it sounds like this was written in really poor taste."
"Ah don't like how you said the gory parts were super detailed," Applebloom added. "Just how does somepony know so much about that kinda thing? If they hadn't 'ave turned a new leaf a couple years back Ah'd be suspectin' Diamond 'n Silver bein' behind it."
"Why was it given to you?" Sweetie asked. "And the map and messages at the end, they must mean something... oh! I bet it's like a super-secret Cutie Mark problem that nopony else can know about!"
"Eh, I dunno about that," Scootaloo mumbled, unconvinced. "I feel like it is meant to be some kind of secret or something. The things it talks about are pretty horrible... too detailed to be just imagination." They were silent for a few moments, puzzled as to what to make of it.
"Oh, I know!" Applebloom suddenly lifted her hoof. "Why don'cha ask Twilight about it? She's good at mysteries and things like this. Plus she likes books a whole lot, maybe she'll know who wrote it."
"Hmm..." Something caused the tiniest twinge deep within Scootaloo's heart as she considered this option, but it was almost entirely overshadowed by excitement. "Yea, you're right. Great idea, Applebloom! I'll go see her right away, then."
~
Scootaloo had dropped the book off with Spike in the morning, asking him to have Twilight read it and then tell her when she'd finished. It was now afternoon, and Spike had come to her and the others in the clubhouse, saying that she was ready to give her opinion. With the little dragon hovering beside them, the three ponies walked gingerly inside Twilight's crystal castle, their muted reflections reminding them of their raucous ways in the past.
They found her in her private library, sitting on a rug on the floor, squinting at the mysterious book as if lost in thought. She jumped a little at the sound of their approaching hoofsteps, sighed and smiled.
"Ah, hello girls," Twilight greeted, friendly as ever. "How was your trip to Sire's Hollow?"
"Great!" Sweetie grinned. "We helped every little colt and filly in town!"
"So, you read the book? What do you think?" Scootaloo cut in. Twilight's mouth pursed uncomfortably.
"Yes... this..." she leered down at the closed tome. The Cutie Mark Crusaders leaned in. "Well... it seems to insinuate that Rainbow Dash is still alive."
Something between fathomless grief and impossible elation tugged at Scootaloo's heartstrings. "Wh... What?" she coughed.
"Whoever the author is, they went through great lengths to make the message as abstruse as possible... but once you cut through all the flowery words and purple prose, it implies that Rainbow and another mare went searching for a lost filly in a dangerous place. The other mare turned on her... possibly out of madness. But the ending, especially... it greatly suggests that she's still alive and... trapped there."
"'The place where the dead are given new life', right?" Scootaloo's eyes widened. "Didn't you and Rainbow go on a similar journey a few years back?"
"I..." Twilight blinked. "...Yes. We went to the Shrouded Mountain to look for... oh, what was her name... But it was very dangerous. We didn't find her... and we barely escaped alive ourselves."
"I see," Applebloom picked up the book and flipped to the last page, where the map and messages sat. "So is this evil-lookin' mountain here the Shrouded Mountain?"
Twilight was silent for a few moments before she answered. "...That's it," she nodded.
"But..." Sweetie chimed in, "in that book... if it's really about Rainbow, then the other mare, that means-"
"I would never do anything to Rainbow!" Twilight snarled as she suddenly lunged at Sweetie Belle, stopping only as her face came within inches of her own. "She's my best friend! I-" She seemed to stumble over her own words for a moment, ending with a sigh as she withdrew from Sweetie's personal space. "I... I saved her flank from many dangerous traps and monsters there... look, just... just heed the book's advice and please never go there. Neither of us were ever really the same after we returned."
The Crusaders were silent. They stared blankly at the Princess of Friendship, not sure of what to make of her words or actions.
"Well... if you three will excuse me... I need to prepare for an upcoming international summit. I'd be happy to continue this discussion later," Twilight smiled thinly. It was obvious in her eyes that she never wanted this discussion to ever be discussed again. The Crusaders nodded and meekly said their goodbyes as they headed towards the door.
But Scootaloo hesitated. "Um, Twilight?"
"Hm?" Her voice sounded unusually curt.
"Um... when Rainbow... when Rainbow died... she really did die... right?" It sounded so silly her voice lowered to a near whisper when she said it. Twilight sighed and walked calmly over to Scootaloo, wrapping a foreleg and a wing around her. But this embrace lacked its usual warmth, as did her eyes as she gazed up into them.
"I'm afraid so, Scoots. She's not here anymore... but she'll always be with you."
Scootaloo shivered. Maybe it was all in her mind, but that statement sounded less-than-genuine. She nodded quickly and squirmed out of the hug, breaking out into a run to catch up to her friends.
Behind her, Twilight's smile became a frown.