//------------------------------//
// Red Rainbow 
// Story: Don't Leave Me Now 
// by Harmony_Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	As soon as Rainbow Dash got to the top of the table, a blur of creamy yellow collided with the blue pegasus, ruffling her multicolored mane.

"You don't have to do this, Rainbow!" Fluttershy sobbed. "There must be another way. Don't throw your life away!" Rainbow carefully pulled away from her shy friend. Looked into her rose eyes, and whispered to her friend.

"Fluttershy. If I don't do this, Princess Celestia will die, the sun will go out, and we will all die anyways." Fluttershy squealed and backed away. "I have to do this. One life for millions." Rainbow Dash smiled, turned and settled in to the wooden table. She eyed the sharp knife and stake beside her, and shivered as the cool metal of the blade slid under her pelt.

Zecora trotted up the stairs, and stood at one of the torches, and faced Twilight.

"I have six jobs for you and your friends. Each important for Dash's end. One for me, and five for you, so that her flesh can complete the stew."

"Can you not talk like that in front of me? I may be on my death bed, but I would still like some respect." Rainbow Dash scowled, her pink eyes still looking at the sharp objects. "So, what's the plan?"

Twilight walked over, "Everyone will be at a torch. Except for me. I am the one who has to kill you." Rainbow widened her eyes as Twilight continued. "Zecora told me that the one who feeds the potion, must be the one to kill the victim. And since I am the one who will be giving the potion to Celestia," she choked back a sob, "I have to rip off your wings. I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash." Twilight collapsed and hugged her friend, sobbing loudly, tears streaming down her face. Rainbow stroked her back comfortingly, and stared blankly at her friends, wo had all taken their posts at each torch.

Twilight stood up, and turned her back, mumbling goodbye, when a voice rang out through the forest.

"TWILIGHT! RAINBOW DASH?" Spike stumbled into the clearing, guided by the dim light of the torches. "I didn't... I... say..." He gasped, hunched over from running through Everfree Forest. All the ponies just stared at him in shock. "I... didn't... get to... say... goodbye..." He managed. Rainbow Dash suddenly flew straight at the little dragon, and held him close to her chest, while Spike sobbed into her coat.

Rainbow Dash and Spike stayed like that for a while, until Rainbow Dash pushed away, and flew up to her spot on the table, her front was soaked from her tears mixed with Spike's. Spike turned, and hid behind the tree.

Twilight Sparkle then steeled herself, and forced herself to think about all of the memories that she'd had with Dash. The times when Rainbow had been so daring. She barely even registered her magic picking up the stake, holding it high above Rainbow Dash's cowering head, and bringing it down on her skull. She couldn't of lived through an impact like that. Rainbow Dash had died instantly. Her skull cracked, her skin peeling away from the bone, revealing the thin cracks. The sharp stick pushed harder, past Rainbow's thick skull, and into the grey matter, mushing it around like stew. Blood splattered onto Twilight's violet coat, staining it red. She could barely feel her tears, dripping onto the wood, swirling around with the red liquid.

All Twilight could see was Rainbow Dash soaring through the sky, her face lighting up when she had done her trick successfully. In a daze, Twilight staggered over to Rainbow's side, almost slipping in the blood and brain that leaked out of Rainbow Dash's head. She dropped the stake, and picked up the knife. With her hooves, she grabbed one wing, pulling it out at full max, the joints popping and straining. The knife, with it's jagged edge, ground against the feathers on the muscular wing. A thin stream of blood started dribbling from the base of the powerful limbs, and soon turned into a steady flow. The knife started shaking as it hit muscle, tearing past the well built tissue. Blood now came out in spurts, squirting Twilight in the face. She only registered it as water when she and Rainbow Dash were lounging in the spa, the spa ponies massaging their backs.

The knife reached bone, blood now dripped from the knife's handle, and quivered as it still cut through. Bone splinters popped out, scattering across the forest floor. One wing shot off of the body. And Twilight began to work on the other one. She dropped the knife, and just began pulling on the delicate limb. The skin on the base pulled, until small lines ripped open, blood shooting out. Blood covered a torch, and the cream pony beside it began screeching and crying. The muscles resisted, each little fiber giving way one at a time. As soon as the last little string ripped away, the bone gave an ear shattering shriek before being torn away from Rainbow Dash's body.

The deed was done, blood pouring out of Rainbow's open wounds, when Twilight came back from her daze. She saw Rainbow Dash's head crushed, blood and brain matter caked everywhere, and the ripped flesh on her torso, bone joints jutting out at odd angles. Blood covered everything. The table, the body, Twilight, and all of her friends. They had abandoned their stations, and were all cowering behind Zecora, who had tears in her eyes, dripping silently to the ground. Twilight realized what she had done, and fell to the ground and sobbed as her vision went black.

Rainbow Dash was gone...