It wasn't until the next day that everypony else noticed Fluttershy was missing. The rest of the mane 6 had noticed her absence, but wasn't too concerned. None of them felt worried until they noticed she hadn't come to their picnic the next day. That's when they went to her cottage. Pinkie Pie was busy working at the bakery and Rarity had to finish a new dress. But Applejack and Rainbow Dash volunteered to search, and Twilight followed to make sure nothing went wrong. Twilight knew they wouldn't find anything, and she knew they nopony would barge in. Except for Rainbow Dash, but they would stop her before she broke down a door.
"Fluttershy! Are you there? Hello?" Twilight yelled to the door, knowing there wouldn't be an answer. At least, she hoped there wouldn't be one. She wasn't sure if the spell caused them to obey her voice or her thoughts. She continued banging on the door before giving up and trying to lead them elsewhere, hoping to get them to go home so she could continue with her plan. She was about to suggest it, when a blue blur with a rainbow trail flew past her and starting banging on the door rapidly.
"FLUTTERSHY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE FOR SO LONG?!?" Rainbow Dash yelled, continuing to bang her hoof on the door with no response. "Fine then, I'll just fly in through a window and pull her out!" She said, flying away from the door and searching for an open window. Twilight began to get worried, and prepared to use her magic to grab her tail in mid air to stop her. Before she could, however, a lasso lunged out and grabbed Rainbow Dash, wrapping itself around her wings and bringing her back down.
"Now hold on there, Sugarcube." Applejack said, stepping forward and loosening the lasso to let Rainbow Dash out of the rope. "Y'all can't just be breaking down windows or doors. Look, if Fluttershy doesn't come out by tomorrow, we'll break down a door to makes sure she's fine. But for now, I think we should all just split up and search around for her, or her animals." None of them had noticed until now, but it was oddly quiet for a cottage full of animals. Twilight knew why it was quiet, but she hadn't expected them to ignore their missing friend long enough to notice the deathly silence.
"Fine, but she better not be hiding somewhere." Rainbow Dash said, flying a little higher and slamming her hooves in a punching motion. "When should we start looking? Right now? Or should we get Rarity and Pinkie Pie first?" She asked.
"I reckon Twilight would be good at deciding that. She is the organized one and what not. How about it Twi? You think you could plan a search with 5 ponies?" Applejack asked, looking over towards Twilight, who had been relieved by the idea of searching different areas beside the cottage. But now she had to make a tough choice, besides whether or not to keep killing her friends, which she knew she had to keep doing. Should she get everypony else? If she did, they would most likely go in groups of two or three, which would make it hard to kill them. If she didn't, Applejack and Dash could be killed wherever they look. But how could she leave with one and explain their disappearance to the other? She could lead them to a cave and kill one, and then kill the other one by saying they were attacked by a-
"Hey, Egghead, wake up! What do you think we should do?" Rainbow Dash asked, seeming angry. Twilight knew this was just her way of trying to act tough by hiding her concern for Fluttershy, one of her oldest friends from her childhood. Twilight snapped out of her daze, knowing she needed to make the choice now. Finally, she made up her mind.
"We're going to get Pinkie Pie and Rarity. We can wait until they're done or we can tell them it's an emergency. Either way, we're going to split up into groups. We'll split up like this; Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and I'll go alone since I can use both my wings and magic. But we need each group to have magic or wings." Twilight said, beginning to walk back towards the town, Applejack and Rainbow Dash following her. When they finally arrived in town, they were able to pull Pinkie Pie and Rarity out of work, since it was getting late and everypony was getting more concerned the longer Fluttershy was missing.
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"Remind me again, darling. Where are Pinkie Pie and myself going?" Rarity asked, preparing her saddle, trying to look fashionable no matter what she was doing. Pinkie Pie was staring around, turning in different directions, as if looking for something. Everypony assumed she was looking for Fluttershy, but even Pinkie couldn't be foolish enough to look for her like that, especially since she was looking at everypony that passed by.
"Pinkie Pie, pay attention. I'm going to tell you and Rarity the plan I thought of one more time. You two are going to check the town for any clues, ask anypony if they've seen Fluttershy recently. If you have to split up, don't worry about it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are going to check the outskirts of the town and try to find anything." Twilight told them, knowing they wouldn't find anything. Still, she felt she couldn't trust Rainbow Dash to calmly search around. But this is why she had to go alone, in case Applejack wasn't able to stop her reckless actions.
"Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie Pie said, seeming to snap to attention. She stared at Twilight in a weird way for a few seconds, then went back to her usual hopping motion, although she didn't smile until she had gotten to Rarity and they began walking into town to look for clues. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were getting ready to leave too, discussing where to check.
"And I say we go check the cottage!" Rainbow Dash yelled, stomping her hoofs on the ground as she landed, shooting an angry look at Applejack and shoving her face into Applejack's.
"And I say we go check near the Everfree Forest!" Applejack said, pushing Rainbow Dash's face back further. The two of them stared at each other angrily before Rainbow Dash took off into the sky.
"Fine then! How about we split up?" Rainbow Dash said, getting ready to leave as soon as Applejack replied. No matter what she said.
"Fine by me! But if I find Fluttershy hurt in that forest, I'm blaming you! We can look a lot faster with someone who can fly!" Applejack yelled back. The words hit Rainbow Dash like a knife, stopping her mid flight and causing her to bolt down at an incredible speed and push her face into Applejack's again.
"Don't you dare say something like that! I knew Fluttershy before any of you! We bonded, and I can tell you right now, my gut is telling me she's at the cottage!" Rainbow Dash said, tears began filling her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and took off towards the cottage. Applejack tried calling out to her to wait, but she was already too far away.
"Darn it! I didn't meant anything like that. I'm just worried is all." Applejack said, not realizing how close Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy must have been since they grew up together. Twilight realized she could use this to her advantage. Stepping forward she tried to comfort Applejack.
"Don't worry, I'll follow here and try to calm her down. I'll tell her how you're just worried is all." She said, putting a wing around Applejack to pull her in for a small hug.
"Thanks Twi. I guess I'll go check near the Everfree. I really hope Fluttershy is fine. Who knows how Rainbow would act if something had happened to her. She'd probably go insane." Applejack said, returning the hug and giving a small smile. She began walking towards the direction of the forest, wiping away a few tears from her own eyes. Twilight began flying instead of walking. She was considering using magic, since she had to get there quickly. Part of her wanted to let Rainbow Dash find out first, to let her know before she died that Fluttershy was no longer in pain. She also realized that it would mean Dash would be harder to kill, and may try to kill Twilight herself. Her loyalty to Twilight as a friend may die along with any hopes of Fluttershy being alive, and that would mean she would show the bravery she showed against Nightmare Moon and countless other villains they've encountered.
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"FLUTTERSHY! FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow Dash yelled, flying around looking for an open window. Deciding to try a back door or a back window, she flew around the side of the house. Flying to the back, she noticed there were no animals, and all the vegetables growing in the garden seemed a little dry, as though they hadn't been watered for the past two days. She knew Fluttershy would never leave the garden or the animals unattended if she was leaving somewhere. She was going to check out the carrot patch, when she noticed a white ball of fur lying on the floor. Only, this fur ball had four legs, two ears, and a smiling face. It was Angel.
"Angel! Angel! Wake up! Where's Fluttershy?!?" Rainbow Dash yelled, picking him up. That's when she realized he was stone cold and hard. He also had an odor emitting from him, he was dead. She dropped his body and backed away quickly, letting out a small yell. She stepped backwards until she felt something light on her hooves. She looked down and saw pink hairs and yellow feathers, a trail of them leading to the door to the cellar of Fluttershy's cottage.
"But these are..." Rainbow Dash walked slowly towards the door, afraid to find her worst fears inside. She was in front of the door, about to open it, when a noise coming from inside the house caused her to stop. She knew that sound anywhere, especially since she flew more than anypony in Equestria; the sounds of flies. And if they flies were ignoring Angel outside, that meant that there was something bigger in the cottage, something pony sized. She quickly found a back door and this time, without Applejack or Twilight there to stop here, she kicked through it, flying inside to find a horrifying sight she never could have imagined.
"What in the name of Celestia is this?!?" Inside were several bodies from all of the animals that reside in Fluttershy's cottage. There were animals lying dead, animals cut in half, animals lying in pools of their own blood with large gashes on their bodies, animals that seemed to have bones sticking out of their bodies, animals with necks twisted backwards. She had seen it all, every method of torture and murder possible had been used in this massacre. She felt the urge to vomit, but fought it back, tears forming in her eyes again. Her last hope was that Fluttershy had snapped and done this, because whoever did this would have to kill her before killing her animals.
"Fluttershy! Where are you?!? Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY!" She began frantically yelling. Finally, she began flying over the dead bodies and made her way towards the stairs to go upstairs. When she got up there, she found nothing but more dead animals. Still no sign of Fluttershy. She searched everywhere, then she remembered the cellar. She knew she had to go down there, no matter how bad things seemed. She went outside, and walked towards the cellar door again. This time, she was sure of what was inside. She was just about to open the door, when a faint purple glow engulfed it and caused it to fly open, hitting Rainbow Dash in the face and knocking her backwards. Before she could get back up, it had closed and the glow had gone away.
"That looked like...No....it couldn't be." She said to herself, getting up and looking around the cottage. Seeing no sign of what she thought she'd find, she went back to the door and tried to open it. Again, the same thing happened. Finally, become frustrated, she flew high up and dived at the door, ready to shatter it with her own body. Before she could however, a voice called out and stopped her.
"Rainbow Dash! Stop!" Rainbow Dash stopped mid dive to find the source of the voice. Twilight teleported out of nowhere, a cold look in her eyes. Dash knew she saw a purple glow that matched Twilight's color perfectly. She angrily approached Twilight, fearing things had gotten worse. But that was nonsense. Twilight would never do something like this. Would she?
"Twilight! Did you slam my face with that cellar door a few seconds ago?" Rainbow Dash asked, seeming angrier by that cold look she still had in her eye.
"Yes, I did." Twilight calmly responded. "But it's because I have to tell you what happened. I think you have a right to know before this continues."
"Before what continues? What happened to the animals in there? What happened to Fluttershy?!?" Dash began to yell, realizing Twilight had something to do with all this.
"I'll tell you. Remember a few months ago when I became a princess? I realized a few things. The first was that we would never be able to do things the same way again. I'm no longer a student here to learn about the magic of friendship. That ended when we defeated Nightmare Moon. After that it was a quest to test my magic to make me a princess, like I was "destined" to be all along. I was enjoying it until I realized we wouldn't have as many adventures anymore. And I won't be a regular unicorn anymore, I'll be a princess with important duties to perform. And one day, soon, I'll have to leave you all and never see you again. And years from now, when you all die," Twilight stopped for a minute, fighting back tears herself, "When you all die, I'll be immortal. I'll never see you again, for the rest of eternity!" Twilight began to cry, showing her emotions, something she had hoped to avoid during this whole process. "How could Princess Celestia put such a horrible curse on me! I never asked for this! And I've done my research. There's no magic to reverse this kind of spell! I can't change it, and not anypony can become a princess! I can't even change you all to make us all immortal!" Twilight began crying harder. Rainbow Dash stared at her, realizing where this was going.
"Twilight...please...tell me what happened to Fluttershy. What are you talking about? Where is she?" Dash began to get nervous. Twilight looked up, seeming to ignore her words and continuing with her story.
"I want revenge on Princess Celestia, but I know I can't do it without my friends, This will be our one last adventure together. And I know none of you would want to help me, so I won't make you decide. If it fails, we're going to all die, and if it never happens, I'll still be alone once you all die. I figure I might as well take you all out on my own terms." Twilight said, getting the cold look in her eyes again. Rainbow Dash knew she was right, Twilight had something to do with all this, and now she knew exactly what. She had to warn the others.
"Twilight...why would you ever think of that? How could you kill Fluttershy? How could you kill any of us? I...I thought we were all friends forever. Even if we don't hang out forever." Rainbow Dash began backing up, preparing herself to fly away.
"Believe me, it was hard. The first kill was the hardest. But, it gets easier as you go along. I needed to experiment with these new spells too, so I tested them on Fluttershy's animals." Twilight now saw the horrified looks on Dash's face. "Don't worry, Fluttershy was killed by a spell that gives an instant painless death. I wouldn't want any of my friends to suffer pain before dying." She looked at Rainbow Dash, who was now staring at the ground, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she looked up, tears streaking her cheeks and falling to the dirt below her.
"Twilight, you've gone crazy!" She yelled. Twilight seemed shocked by this reaction, but she felt as though it was appropriate and expected. "I'm going to warn the others about this! I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'll tell the Princess about this if I have to!" Rainbow Dash began flying up, getting ready to leave. Suddenly, Twilight yelled out, stopping Rainbow Dash in her tracks.
"I can't let you do that." Twilight said, preparing her magic again. She thought about how she had almost no chance of hitting Rainbow Dash at her fast speed. She knew Fluttershy would be able to catch her by surprise or tricking her, but by the time she got to her Dash would be too far away to-Twilight's thoughts were cut off by the cellar door cracking open and a yellow blur speeding towards Rainbow Dash before knocking her out of the sky, both of them tumbling down on the ground. Rainbow Dash and Twilight both looked in shock, as what appeared to be Fluttershy got up from the ground and stood above Rainbow Dash. Except, she seemed paler and her hair was fading in color. Her eyes were a misty white hue of their former color, and she didn't seem to make any noises but groans.
"Fluttershy? But...how?" Twilight wondered, before realizing she had wanted Fluttershy to do that. That meant these reanimated ponies could act on command of her thoughts. She immediately made a thought for Fluttershy to step on Dash's wing to stop her from flying, which she did.
"Ouch! Fluttershy, what are you doing?!? Twilight said she killed you! Why are you even helping her!" Dash yelled out. But Fluttershy ignored her, only following Twilight's orders. Twilight stepped forward to explain.
"She's been reanimated, and she only follows my orders, even if I only think about them. Now then, are you going to try to run away again? Because I'll make sure you can't fly away this time." Twilight said, preparing her magic again, this time aiming it and Rainbow Dash's pinned wing. Her horn charged up to a vibrant red color, much faster than the other spells. All that practice with the animals really did enhance her speed. "OSSA FRANGERE!" She yelled out, the red moving towards Dash's wing and spreading a red glow around it, causing her bone to show like an x-ray. Suddenly, the bones began to shake, before finally shattering into pieces and bending in different directions, causing Rainbow Dash to yell out in agony.
"Twilight! Stop! Pleas! AHHHH!" Rainbow Dash yelled, her jagged ponies sticking out of her wings, her blood staining the dirt. The spell stopped after it spread to her whole wing, leaving her immobile. Twilight walked forward, putting her hoof under Dash's chin, and lifter her head up to look her in the eyes. This time, she had no tears of grief streaming down her face. They were tears of anger and pain, but not just pain for her wing, the pain that her friend would do this. Her friend, who she trusted and stayed loyal to no matter what.
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but this has to be done. I'll try to make it quick and painless like with Fluttershy." She began to charge her magic when Rainbow Dash spoke up. Her voice low, and the faint sound of muffled cries from the back of her throat.
"You can go rot...I don't know who you are, but the real Twilight wouldn't kill her friends over revenge. She'd somehow use the magic of friendship to try and get us to join her. I also know that the real Twilight wouldn't use evil magic...ever! So whoever or whatever you are, you can go buck yourself. And I'm glad you're going to have to spend eternity without us, grieving over the loss of your only true friends in life!" Twilight dropped her head. She turned around and looked away, taking in everything just said. She began crying again, realizing that the she was right, she wasn't acting like herself. But it was too late to go back now.
"You're right. But I can't stop now. But...the worst part is that you're not the only think dying today. I always thought that Loyalty was the strongest of all the elements besides Magic. But...it looks to me like Loyalty will die before the holder of the element itself. I only hope in the next life you can understand and forgive me." Twilight said, getting ready to end it quickly and painlessly. Her magic was interrupted again by Rainbow Dash flying forward, using only one wing and her hind legs, and tackling Twilight. They both tumbled down the hill, landing at the bottom with a thud. Rainbow Dash was the first to get up, fueled by anger and adrenaline.
"I'm not dying here! And if I do, I'm not going out without a fight! Even if you get all of us, the elements won't work! Celestia will destroy you with her magic! Not to mention with Luna by her side!" Dash yelled, flying forward again, only to be tackled by Fluttershy again. This time, she pinned her down with her whole body, effectively immobilizing her. Twilight walked forward, anger in her eyes.
"You think I need the elements? Where do you think I got these new spells? I found a book, and it has more power than the elements, Celestia, or Luna. And I have a plan to take care of them. Have a look for yourself." Twilight said, using a beam of magic to send her thoughts to Rainbow Dash, who saw everything she had planned out. Her face froze in horror as she looked up at Twilight.
"No...that's not possible! That can't happen! Even if you did manage it, what makes you think it won't backfire?" Dash said, realizing that she had all the pieces she needed to pull this off. Twilight walked forward, charging her magic again.
"It's all part of the spell that let's me control Fluttershy. And soon, I'll control you too. I was gonna make this quick, but after what you said, I realize you're right. I'm not the Twilight I used to be. I'm Princess Twilight now. And I guess I'll be the first princess to rule with power instead of love. And I can start with you, seeing as you no longer have Loyalty for me inside of you." She aimed her horn at Dash's body, a bright yellow aura formed around her horn this time. Twilight called out, "ABSCISSUS!". Then the yellow light shot out and hit Dash's body, cutting deep into her and leaving a huge gash. Rainbow Dash yelled out in pain. Louder than when her wing broke.
"This spell was made to cause pain and suffering. And that wasn't even the full power. How do you think I managed to slice the animals in there in half? And I have plenty of time to practice with you, seeing as you're trapped and hopeless now. Say hello to Fluttershy for me, and greet the others once they get there too." Twilight charged her magic again, preparing the same spell. Rainbow Dash looked at her, a pleading yet angry look in her eyes. She was ready to face death with honor, and she hoped that Celestia succeeded and stopped Twilight, because if Celestia fell, nopony would be able to stop her. A bright yellow light glowed, and Dash prepared herself for the intense pain that was coming.
"ABSCISSUS!"
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"There we go. Now for the reanimation spell." Twilight said, standing up and walking closer to the blue corpse on the ground. A pool of blood lie around it, running from the deep gashes in the flesh of her former friend, Rainbow Dash. She looked down at the body. This one pony had changed everything. They way she thought, the way she planned to kill the others. She looked at the eyes, how they were open with no tears in the eyes. She found it odd, but she figured she would find out later, and if not, it didn't matter since she was dead.
"Iterum animant." She said, the same spell that reanimated Flutershy now working its way on Rainbow Dash's body. Her body stood up quickly, much faster than Fluttershy's body. This also puzzled her, but she knew she had to rip these thoughts and feelings away from herself. She saw it was getting late, and the others would be back soon.
"Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy." They both came before her, Fluttershy just standing there, but Dash stood at full attention before her, awaiting her orders. Twilight had a feeling she knew what was going on now, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions, especially this one. "I order you both to hide in the cottage basement. You are you wait there until I need you again." They both obeyed her, going back into the cottage and into the basement. Twilight walked back towards the town, stopping to look at herself in the small stream's reflection first. She noticed she was covered in blotches of blood, Rainbow Dash's blood. It brought back her feelings and grief, but this hurt more than when she killed Fluttershy. She fell to her knees, and began crying again, harder than before.
After a few minutes, she stood up again and wiped away her tears. She took a few breathes, looked at the cottage's cellar door, and up to the skies. "I hope you can forgive me. I'm sorry about what I said. And I'm sorry we never got to practice flying together." She began flying, even though she wasn't as good at it because she never got to practice flying at a casual pace. She did remember how to fly quickly, but she wanted some time to fly, alone. Making her way back to town, she did not think of an excuse as to why Rainbow Dash was missing. She didn't think of plans to kill the others. All she thought about was how, in a way, Loyalty never dies, even if the wielder is killed by her own friend.