//------------------------------//
// 8 - The Mark of the Loyal 
// Story: Dawn of a New World 
// by KingBrony 
//------------------------------//

These mountains were the highest Fluttershy had ever seen before...higher than anypony had ever seen. Except Rainbow Dash, of course. She led the ponies all the way to the top of a mountain and what they saw was both beautiful and terrifying.

The Griffon Kingdom, intuitively called Griffonia, was located high in the mountains, carved right into the sides of the rock. There were dozens of mountains, all carved with countless homes, shops, and other structures. They surrounded an even bigger mountain; this was where the castle was located. As majestic as it all looked, there was definitely damage done. The meteor shower destroyed many parts of the mountains. Other peaks collapsed. The castle spires were destroyed and the building itself looked like it would crumble at any moment.

Rainbow Dash was shocked at what she saw. "This place used to look much more awesome..." A hint of disappointment was in her voice. Fluttershy calmed her.

"It's ok." The pegasus said. "I'm sure the griffons survived. They can fly, after all."

Rainbow thought for a moment. "Gilda!" She said as she darted off towards one of the peaks. The others followed closely behind.

Fluttershy approached a peak that was severely damaged by the meteor shower. Being closer to the peak increased its beauty. There was so much detail put into the design of the buildings and the overall layout of the peak. Even though it was destroyed, it still looked marvelous. Rainbow Dash was located near the top of the peak, in a moderate-sized house. As the group traveled up the mountain, they found the griffons - both dead and alive. Some were scavenging for any goods, while others tried to fish their loved ones out of the rubble. Even though the shower happened days ago, there were still a few trapped under the ruins.

Fluttershy entered the house Rainbow had pinpointed. It was fairly unharmed, although an entire wall was knocked down. The interior was well decorated. Pictures of Gilda and her family hung on the walls. It didn't seem as if anyone were inside. Rainbow Dash looked sad as Fluttershy comforted her.

"I'm sure Gilda is still alive." the yellow pegasus said. Rainbow nodded.

"Besides, she might be in the castle-"

Before Fluttershy could finish her sentence, Rainbow Dash flew right out the door and towards the castle. "Don't wait up for me!" She yelled back as she zoomed to the large mountain.

"Not like Ah can follow you..." Applejack muttered to herself as she jumped out of Durango's clutch. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang decided to explore the rest of the peak. It was silent except for the short breaths of everyone in the room.

The cutie mark crusaders decided to break away from the rest of the group. "Now, girls," Apple Bloom started. "Maybe we can get our cutie marks in mountain climbing!"

"I'm not too sure about that..." Sweetie Belle responded. 

"Aww, what are you scared of?" Scootaloo chirped in. The three proceeded to leave Gilda's house. Fluttershy noticed this and quietly made her way to the fillies.

"Now, girls," Fluttershy started as they wandered off. "It's much too dangerous to be going off on your own."

"...Come with us, then!" Apple Bloom exclaimed happily. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

Fluttershy turned back to Applejack, who also noticed what the fillies were up to. "Ah guess it's okay..." Applejack said calmly. "Just don't get int'a any trouble, you hear me?"

"Ah hear ya..." Apple Bloom said with a sigh, but quickly turned to her friends. "Let's get goin'!"

There really wasn't much to see on this particular peak; it was a collection of small houses separated by small paths carved into the mountain. The rock was grey with a small hint of blue, and the sun shone brightly in the sky. Fluttershy looked across the way to a neighboring peak. It was much more ruined than the one she was on now. The four ponies passed a few griffons before reaching the bottom of the path. They gave weird looks to the ponies. They don't want us here, Fluttershy decided. She just wanted to go home and hide under her bed, but she wasn't able to do that now. Not anymore.

Fluttershy felt like she was right on the edge of the world. A straight path cut across the face of the mountain, acting as a ledge for the entire side. Below was the natural forming mountain, which disappeared into the clouds below. After taking a small look over the edge, Fluttershy peeped and retreated to the other side of the path. The fillies looked down in amazement.

"Hey, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom chuckled. "Think ya can fly down there?"

Scootaloo blushed. "Hey, that's not funny!" All three fillies laughed. As they did, part of the path began to collapse, causing Apple Bloom to slip right off the edge of the mountain. In a panic, she grabbed Scootaloo's hoof as she fell, bringing her orange friend down with her. 

Both Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle gasped as the two fillies crashed down into the clouds. Fluttershy wanted to find Twilight or Durango, but she didn't want to waste any time. The griffons weren't around either, leaving her to be the one to swoop down and save them. The yellow pegasus did her best to fly down as fast as she could.

Fluttershy managed to fly very fast as she began to catch up with the girls. Both were crying and flailing their hooves wildly as they dropped like flies.

"I'm coming, girls!!!" Fluttershy yelled as she picked up her speed. What she saw next was even more of a shock than seeing the two fillies fall right off the mountainside.

Scootaloo, in a desperate attempt to save both herself and Apple Bloom, made her way to her yellow friend and held Apple Bloom in her hooves. Scootaloo fluttered her wings as fast as she could...and their descent began to slow down! Fluttershy actually managed to fly right past the two fillies as Scootaloo slowly flew upwards, carrying her friend in tow. Apple Bloom stopped crying at this point and was speechless. She looked up to her friend with big eyes and a bigger smile. Scootaloo smiled back. There was a small alcove on the side of the mountain that Scootaloo approached; she was getting rather tired of carrying a filly the same size as herself. They both dropped as Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo a big hug. Both were crying once again.

Fluttershy made her way back up to the alcove and found the fillies. "Oh, I'm so glad you're both okay!" Fluttershy said as she held the fillies in her wings.

"Thank you, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom said with tears. "You saved our lives!"

Scootaloo could only say one thing back behind her tears. "I guess I could fly down here, couldn't I?"

With that, a great light appeared before the three ponies. However, this one was not the same as the light from the Elements...this one came right from Scootaloo! Her flank was bathed in a bright light as a marking appeared - her cutie mark! 

When the light faded, Fluttershy and Apple Bloom could see the mark clearly. It looked very similar to Rainbow Dash's, except the cloud was replaced with a large, orange wing, and the lightning bolt was as purple as Scootaloo's mane. The fillies stared in awe as Fluttershy had a smile on her face.



Scootaloo couldn't help but jump in the air. "I got my cutie mark! Wait till Rainbow Dash sees!" Scootaloo yelled excitedly. She began to hover in the air a little before attempting to fly right off the alcove. She did.

"And I can fly too! How awesome is this!?"

"Oh, very much so...but, let's get back to the others first, okay?" Fluttershy said as she picked Apple Bloom up and proceeded to fly up. Scootaloo happily followed.

Sweetie Belle, in the meantime, ran back to find Twilight and the others to tell what had happened. Applejack was the first one down to the edge. By the time she got there, the three ponies had returned - safe and sound. Applejack gave her sister a great hug. After a moment, she turned to Fluttershy.

"Thank you so much, Fluttershy!"

"It wasn't me..." Fluttershy said with a smile before turning to Scootaloo. The others noticed Scootaloo's new cutie mark.

"I really like your cutie mark!!" Sweetie Belle squeaked as Scootaloo landed right in the center of the ponies. Durango looked on, not knowing much about the cutie marks. Having decided that there were enough antics for one day, both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom collapsed and went right to sleep.

Rainbow Dash returned as night crept over the peaks. Twilight was up when the pegasus returned.

"How did it go?" The princess asked. "Did you find Gilda?"

"Yeah! Gilda's fine...most of the griffons are taking refuge in the castle. However, there might be a small problem..." Rainbow dash trailed off as Twilight had a puzzled look on her face.

"Problem?"

"The griffons, as a result of this incident, are basically keeping to themselves from now on. They won't allow any outsiders...well, except me since I've been here when I was younger. I told them about you all, and they want you to leave now."

"We can't just leave!" Twilight shouted, however quieted down so to not wake the girls. "We need to find the element of harmony here! I know it has to be here somewhere."

Rainbow Dash frowned. "They said...if you aren't gone by tomorrow morning, they will come here and...kill you all."

"Kill!? Don't you think that's a little extreme?"

"They don't want to take any chances with the outside. In fact, they see this as the perfect time to take over Equestria..."

"Oh, we can't have this now! Discord brought his chaos back, and now the griffons want to attack Equestria? ...You...You're not going to side with them, are you?"

It was silent for a few minutes, which was broken by the sound of a groggy Scootaloo.

"..Wha...Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo immediately perked up and began to jump to her mentor. "Look what I have!" She said as she pointed her flank right to the pegasus.

The mood changed immediately as Rainbow Dash picked up Scootaloo. "I knew you could do it! It looks cool! How did you get it?"

Scootaloo flew right out of Rainbow Dash's clutches and began to circle the blue pegasus. She told the story of what had happened earlier before landing on the ground. Rainbow listened intently. Soon after, the little filly grew tired and wandered off back to bed. The group decided to use Gilda's house as a place of respite. Once Scootaloo left, Rainbow turned back to Twilight.

"So...what's going to happen now?" Twilight asked her friend, unsure where Rainbow's loyalties lied. The blue pegasus stared at the ground beneath her hooves.

Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash spoke. "I think I'm going to stay with the griffons." Twilight couldn't help but scoff.

"That's it? You're going to stay with the griffons instead of help out Equestria? No, no...you're going to help the griffons invade Equestria??"

Rainbow Dash didn't respond for a moment. "...Well, if I refuse, then they'll make me an enemy too...I can't be loyal to both Equestria and the griffons. Trust me, if I could, I definitely would..."

Twilight grew angry at the apparent betrayal of her friend. "That's it, I'm going to talk to these griffons first thing in the morning!"

"They'll kill you right on the spot!" Rainbow Dash retorted.

"Then, you're coming with me."

That night was a very awkward night for the ponies. They had decided to sleep in Gilda's house. It was a small two-bedroom house carved into a mountain, but the featherbeds were decent enough. Seeing as there weren't enough for everypony, some had to share, while the rest slept on the floor. Fluttershy decided to sleep on the roof, near Durango. Even though the ponies protested (Rarity even offered the bed she claimed in order to share with Fluttershy), the yellow pegasus was adamant about it. 

Upon reaching the roof, she slowly crept up to Durango. He had saved her life, but Fluttershy was still a little wary about her new friend.

"What makes you want to be up here?" Durango asked, his eyes still closed.

That made Fluttershy jump. "I just want to see the moonlight, is all." She said with a weak smile. Durango didn't see it. After the pegasus got into a comfortable position, she tried to sleep. However, thoughts just sped through her mind. The griffons, Equestria, Discord, the dragon sleeping right next to her.

"I won't bite, you know. I've been with you long enough to tell how you're feeling." He said with a cold hiss.

"I'm sorry..." Fluttershy squeaked. Maybe this wasn't a good idea, after all.

"Don't be. Never be." Durango said. "In this world, you have to take charge. Break out of your shell and take matters into your own...um, hooves."

"What if I can't?"

"Then, you die." The bluntness of it made Fluttershy whimper, but she knew it was true.

*********

The following morning, Twilight and Rainbow Dash woke up and proceeded to fly to the griffon castle. They accidentally woke Fluttershy up and immediately decided to take her with them. Durango woke up as well, but Twilight didn't want to risk a dragon/griffon conflict.

"If things look like they'll get bad, take the girls and fly away." Twilight said to the green dragon. He nodded and went back to sleep.

The three winged ponies flew to the great mountain in the center of the griffon's homeland. Upon getting closer, Fluttershy could see how beautiful it really was. The castle was carved into the mountain like the rest of the buildings, but it was much more ornate. Even among the ruined towers and walls, it managed to glow with a regal essence about it. The entrance was located right on the edge of the carved out portion of the mountain; those who wanted to visit had to be able to fly right in. The entryway was blocked by a great wooden door, which was currently closed. Twilight was the first of the three to approach the door.

The princess began pounding on the wooden gate as she yelled. "Open this door! I want to speak to your leader!"

It was silent. Twilight continued pounding as Rainbow Dash pried her friend off the door.

"Let me handle this...It's me, Rainbow Dash! I'm back!"

The gate immediately flew open as two griffon guards stood on the other side. They were both decorated in heavy armor and had serious countenances. Immediately after seeing Twilight and Fluttershy, they primed their claws and looked ready to pounce.

"Relax!" Rainbow quickly shouted. "They're with me! They want to work out a deal with the griffons!" The guards did not let up, but a voice behind them quickly calmed them down.

"Hey, it's okay! Relax!"

The guards retreated to either side of the entrance as the ponies landed. They were greeted by a familiar face - Gilda. Rainbow approached the griffon and gave her a hoof bump. As the ponies walked into the castle, the guards shot them nasty looks.

The castle was extremely large and as ornate as Canterlot was. The damage done was apparent as Fluttershy walked past a torn wall. The main stairwell was large and extended up multiple floors. The stairs were made of gold and paintings hung on the walls. The room was cluttered with guards, all staring at the ponies walking through. Even Gilda had a look on her face that seemed as if she didn't want the other ponies there either.

The griffon throne room was very interesting. The throne looked more like a nest, and it sat on top of a stone griffon statue. Even more guards were perched in the room, their talons all out in anticipation. Fluttershy looked uneasily at them as Rainbow approached the griffon king.

One griffon stood underneath the griffon king. He was clad in golden, jeweled armor. As the ponies approached, the griffon spoke.

"You are approaching king Griff XXVI, king of Griffonia, commander of -"

"Oh, Peyton, Skip the formalities!" The king said in a harsh tone. "Why are your pony friends in my castle?" He looked as if he were ready to devour his guests.

Twilight flew up to the king. "We're here to save Equestria! There is an element of harmony here, and we're NOT leaving until we find it!"

The griffon laughed. "The only saving your Equestria needs is from your joke of a princess...Celestia...and her sister. We will save you the trouble, my dear pony."


And an ancient race will cleanse these lands.

The princess glared at the king. He simply laughed again.

"For far too long your princess has ruled over that land. Now that this catastrophe has befallen us, Equestria is ripe for the picking! We shall finally claim it for the griffons!"

Twilight landed as the griffon flew into the air. He circled quickly around the ponies before landing right in Twilight Sparkle's face.

"And if you think you can stop me...why don't you use your magic to do so?"

Twilight glared even harder at the griffon king. Rainbow Dash stayed silent. Everypony, even the griffon king, knew that the magic field was disrupted, making Twilight's magical knowledge practically useless. Every second, another griffon would begin snickering as the Princess stared on.

Twilight merely smirked. "How can you take over an entire land when your own is destroyed! That's not very smart...is it?"

In one swift swing, the griffon king slashed at the purple princess. Before it could connect, however, Rainbow Dash zoomed in to catch the claw. Twilight flinched as the griffon king backed up.

"I won't let you hurt my friend!" Rainbow Dash said in a strong tone. She let go of the king as he laughed.

"It's cute to see you protecting your friend...Rainbow Dash, since we know you well around here, I will give you a choice. Stay with us and help claim Equestria for the griffons...or leave and die. We will not hesitate to kill you if, and when, we catch you. Now...what say you?"

Both the king and Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash, who felt very torn at this point. She wanted to stay with her pony friends and help save equestria, but it was true that the magic of Equestria was weak. She was friends with Gilda and her griffons, and knew of how much of a threat they could be if she were opposing them.

Rainbow bowed her head, and turned towards the king. He gave a hearty laugh as he spoke. "You made the right choice, Rainbow Dash-"

"Hold on a minute, bub!" Rainbow blurted out before raising her head. She had a furious look in her eyes.

"What makes you think I'd ever abandon my friends? My princesses? No chance! I'll stick by them and get this job done! After we take care of the problem in Equestria, we'll be waiting for you to show up on our doorstep...and don't think we'll go easy on you!"

Before the king had time to retaliate, a bright light emerged from the griffon statue. It was a red light, which bathed everypony in it in a warm sensation. Out from it came another Element of Harmony. It was the Element of Loyalty. Rainbow Dash happily accepted it as she rejoined Twilight and Fluttershy.

The king did not know, nor did he care, about that light. He merely raised his talons. "Dinner's ready." He said coldly.

With that, the girls all flew out of the room. The griffons were in close pursuit as the ponies flew through the corridors, looking for the way out. Twilight and Fluttershy were behind Rainbow Dash, who knew the layout of the castle. They dodged griffons who lunged from the sides until they reached the gate. The guards had closed the gate in anticipation of the ponies. Rainbow flew ahead of her friends in an attempt to bust the gate open using a sonic rainboom. She did.

The shockwave from the rainboom caused the guards to hit the side walls as Twilight and Fluttershy flew through. Fluttershy was having trouble keeping up, but Twilight was able to get her going.

The first place the three flew to was Gilda's house. By the time they got there, the others were already waiting to go. Rainbow nodded to Durango, who immediately grabbed Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and the fillies. Scootaloo did her best to fly as Twilight grabbed Spike with a small amount of magic. It hurt her, but she quickly recovered as it was a simple levitation spell.
"Head west! We need to get away from these griffons!"

Behind them, the griffons all charged. They were no match for Durango, who quickly zoomed away. The others didn't have as much luck. As fast as Scootaloo was, she quickly fell behind. Rainbow looked back and saw her about to be grabbed by a griffon. In a quick turnaround, Rainbow Dash zoomed in and grabbed the orange filly. 

The sky soon changed as an unnatural darkness appeared. Thick, gray clouds formed above all. This, however, didn't faze neither the ponies nor the griffons as the pursuit kept on. The darkness made it very hard for Fluttershy to see, but they were in an open sky, which meant that there would be nothing for her to run into except her friends.

An unnatural roar suddenly pierced the sky as it began to rain. It was acid rain, no doubt, but it wasn't as strong as what the girls had experienced before in Equestria - it hurt, but it wasn't damaging. The greenish rain actually made it much harder for Fluttershy to see where she was going. Thunder and lightning boomed throughout the clouds as Twilight yelled for them all to go lower. The griffons did not let up their pursuit; one actually managed to slash at Twilight's back hoof. She screamed and fell slightly, but she kept her pace up.

The roars grew louder. The rain fell faster. The darkness engulfed them all.

Roars...

Rain...

Darkness...

Fluttershy had fallen behind the others at this point; she flew right in between her friends and the griffons. The clouds above began to swirl as something that looked like a vortex opened up in the thick clouds. Gilda had caught up to the yellow pegasus at this point and grabbed her hind hoof tightly. Fluttershy squealed as the talons sunk in deep.

Roars...

The roars grew their loudest at this point as a dark figure emerged from the cloud. Fluttershy saw it and immediately panicked. It was heading right towards her! Whatever it was, it was very enormous as it flew straight down. She did her best to try to see straight in front of her...to try to beat the figure. Gilda, meanwhile, managed to sink her other talon on the hind hoof. Fluttershy ignored the urge to scream this time as she focused on flying as fast as she could.

Darkness...

It flew down. Fluttershy flew across. The two would no doubt meet. The figure began to open it's mouth - or, what Fluttershy imagined would be its mouth - and continued falling. The pegasus passed right underneath the figure and looked up. Time seemed to stop as she saw giant teeth and a great, black abyss.

This is it... She thought to herself.

I'm done now...I never knew my death would be like this...

Just then, Durango's voice popped in her head:

You are a very courageous pony, and if you were more confident in yourself...there would be nothing you can't do!

With that, Fluttershy immediately changed her expression, and boomed right out from under the figure.

It barely missed Fluttershy, instead grabing Gilda within its grasp. The griffon let out a blood curdling scream as she was engulfed by the figure. Because her talons were connected to the pegasus, Fluttershy was dragged down as well. They were a good distance up, leaving Fluttershy enough time to break free, right?

*********

Fluttershy was crying and panicking even more at this point. She was falling quickly as the talons simply thrashed about inside her. It was dark, and the rain and the thunder made it impossible for the others to notice that Fluttershy had fallen behind. She turned to see if she could catch a better glimpse of the figure that ate Gilda. She gasped and immediately changed gears.

The yellow pony pounded on the arms of her griffon enemy. One talon came free, but the other wouldn't budge. She did her best to keep pounding as the figure made a move. It simply tightened its grip on the griffon, cutting the arm right off. With that, Fluttershy flew upward as the figure immediately turned around and began to chase the other griffons, who, at this point, were scrambled and divided between chasing the ponies and running away. Fluttershy hovered for a moment before looking down at her hoof. Covered in blood, Gilda's arm hung from the bloody hoof. Fluttershy did her best to remove the thing and toss it away. She was in great pain, but she managed to turn around and fly towards her friends.

The figure came up and ate a good dozen of the griffons, who at this point were all fleeing the scene. Fluttershy and the ponies didn't care; they kept flying.

The rain did not clear up, but the cloud soon began to go away as Fluttershy kept flying. The acid rain didn't harm her much, but when it made contact with the open wounds she suffered, the pain was excruciating. Tears mixed with the rain as she simply couldn't handle the pain anymore. She saw a small cave etched into a nearby mountain and crashed right into it. She landed right next to a moderately-sized rock.

The rain continued pouring.

Fluttershy looked into her drenched saddlebag to see if there was anything left. A lot of the material had flown out while she was grabbed by the figure. She found a white cloth that could be used as a bandage. The pegasus applied it quickly. Blood stained the cloth, but the pain was eased a little. 

The only sound in the cave was of Fluttershy's cries. It was a small cave, with the room she was in being the only room in the cave. She hobbled over to the entrance of the cave in an attempt to see her friends, or anypony for that matter. The vortex cloud was gone at this point, and the darkness let up as well...leaving only the rain.

Rain...

It was cold; Fluttershy shivered as she tried her best to look in the distance.

Cold...

Another roar came from the cave behind her. It wasn't the same as the figure's, but it made Fluttershy jump all the same. Turning, she found a manticore.

Immediately, Fluttershy began talking to it. "It's okay...I'm a friend!" The manticore approached the pegasus and came to a halt. It had a blank expression in its eyes.

Fluttershy continued comforting the manticore. "Don't be afraid..." She was actually talking to herself at that point, but it seemed to sooth the beast, which let out a paw for Fluttershy to grab. Its fur was warm, which made the pegasus feel much better.

Warm...

However, the manticore grabbed the pegasus and brought her right to its face. It proceeded to give out a deadly roar as it tried to eat the suddenly frightened pony. In an act of retaliation, Fluttershy swatted her hoof right at the manticore. It dropped her right on her bad hoof, leaving the pegasus to scream in pain.

The manticore dropped on all fours and began to bite at the pegasus again. It got one good bite on Fluttershy's front hoof. The combined pain left Fluttershy to act through pure instinct.

She punched the manticore right in the face, catching its right eye at the center of the blow. It let go of the other hoof and backed up. Fluttershy, in a pure act of rage, picked up the rock and hit the manticore right across the face with it before the manticore could respond. The manticore went down immediately, dead on impact. That didn't stop Fluttershy at all. She continued pounding the rock right into the Manticore before dropping it. The face of the manticore was no longer recognizable as a pool of blood and other things took its place. In her act of rage, she killed it! The pegasus had a grim smile on her face before she proceeded to the next part of her instinctual plan.

She bit into the manticore and pulled its fur right off of the skin. It tore off easily. Fluttershy wrapped it around herself and felt extremely warm at that point. The blood from her hoof was mixed with the blood from the manticore, all of which covered her body and face at this point. Without any energy left, she fell right asleep.

Warm...

*********

Fluttershy!

The pegasus's ears pricked up.

Fluttershy!!

She stirred around as she heard her name called. It sounded like Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy!!!

Fluttershy's eyes popped open. She stared right into the hide of the manticore she had slain....then she remembered that she had slain a manticore.

The pegasus popped her head out of the makeshift blanket and stared at the entrance of the cave. Rainbow Dash had flown by, but doubled back as she saw something move in the cave. She landed on the edge and looked on in horror.

Fluttershy had a look in her eyes; one that Rainbow Dash had never seen from the calm pegasus before. The yellow pony slowly emerged from the fur, covered in blood still.

"Fluttershy! We've been looking for you!...Are you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked. Fluttershy didn't respond. Behind her, the manticore lay still, slowly decomposing.

Rainbow Dash approached the pegasus slowly as Fluttershy backed away. Her expression turned from grim to scared as she realized what she had done. Soon, the pegasus broke down in tears.

"I...I killed him!" Fluttershy cried as Rainbow Dash comforted her. "He tried to kill me...and I had to! I had to, Rainbow Dash! I didn't mean it!"

"It's okay...you were just scared. So much has happened to you since this all happened." Rainbow Dash said to the crying pony.

"It's not okay...I'm a murderer!"

"We have to do what we can to stay alive sometimes...especially now." Rainbow said back. "As long as we stay loyal to each other, we can get through this...That dark figure last night was definitely out for blood. You could have been killed. But, you're okay now. You really are!"

Fluttershy stopped crying to wipe blood and tears away from her face.

"I don't want to die..."

"...Me neither, Fluttershy. Me neither..."