//------------------------------// // My Little Pony: Friendship Didn't Mean Anything... // Story: Loyalty Betrayed By Honesty // by Zanem-Ji //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash stormed down the street. Angry, dark cerise eyes glared straight ahead. She knew exactly where she was going. With every step, there was pain in her chest, in her heart. She could hear some inner beast snarling in the back of her mind. Savage thoughts trapped her mind in a violent storm. She reached the park dry eyed and expressionless. But on the inside, she felt like she was on fire. Vengeance. Wrath. Murder. Pinkie Pie bounded up to her, oblivious to the Pegasus’ fury. “Hey, Dashie! We were waiting for you.” Rainbow was about to shove the young pony aside, but stopped. She wanted to save her energy. She was going to unleash her fury on two ponies only, and Pinkie was not one of them. It took every fiber of her being to crack a smile and keep a level tone. “Sorry I was late. I was running some errands, and lost track of time.” She said through clenched teeth. She didn’t hear her pink friend reply. She wasn’t listening. Violent orbs searched the park for her targets. Her ears twitched, searching for the sounds of their wretched voices. Got it. In the distance, she could see the duo of Applejack and Rarity. The rainbow maned pony ducked around Pinkie and strode towards them. Rage flared up with each intake of air. Discoveries played over and over in her head like a movie reel. Applejack’s clothing in the laundry. Love letters in between piles of fashion blueprints and romance novels. Hickeys that she knew damn well she didn’t put there. How could she not see this coming? She bit down hard on her lower lip, causing warm blood to cascade down the sides of her mouth. Rainbow broke into a furious gallop. Muscle stretched taunt under her blue fur. Veins stood out on the sides of her neck like thick cords. A red mist clouded the narrowed eyes. The two chatted gaily on. They never knew what was coming. Twilight and Fluttershy cried out. Letting out a furious scream, Rainbow launched herself at Applejack. The blonde maned pony suddenly looked up, and tried to get away. She was fast. Rainbow was faster. Catching the pony’s hoof with hers, she sent her slamming into the ground. Rainbow pounced before Applejack could scramble away. Pinning her forelegs to her sides and straddling her, Rainbow pressed two powerful hooves on Applejack’s throat. Rainbow leaned down until their snouts were nearly touching. The horror and guilt in her victim’s eyes only added fuel to the flames. She knew. She knew why Rainbow was here. “I bet you like having mares on top of you don’t you?” Rainbow whispered, ignoring her ex-friend’s struggling and desperate gasps for air. “Well why the hell did it have to be my WIFE?! Why couldn’t you just fuck around with some random mare?!” Her lightning bolt cutie mark burned white hot on her thigh. Rainbow kept one hoof on the other pony’s neck while she raised the other one high into the air. With a low, menacing growl, the once gentle Pegasus alternated between squeezing the life out from Applejack’s body, and punching her in the face. Rarity watched the whole thing. She was too horrified to move, to think. “How dare you?! You’re my best friend! I should be able to trust you! You had no right, you bitch! You slut! You whore! You bimbo! HOW DARE YOU?!?!” Applejack’s head flopped weakly to one side, then the other. Her chest rose and fell. She could only breathe because Rainbow was using both hooves now. Blows were landing with each accusation. Bruises in a plethora of colors were blooming over Applejack’s emerald eyes. The orangish pony was crying. Rainbow was crying too, but her pain was internal. Hot salty tears rolled down her cheeks and mingled with the splattered scarlet fluid left drying on her coat. Applejack managed to get a hoof free and rose it to the sky, then dropped it. It landed beside her battered face. The punches kept coming. Screaming. Somepony was screaming. Who was it? It took a moment to realize who it was. It was her. “I loved her, you traitor!” -MLP- Applejack’s POV Applejack’s mind swam. Everything was blurry, like she was looking at the world through water. Her vision was jerked sharply to one side as something collided with her head. It was a hoof. Rainbow’s hoof. She was on top of her, pounding away at her face. She was yelling something. Something so full of wrath, of hate. Rainbow hated her, despised her. Both of them knew why. “I loved her you traitor!!!” Traitor. TRAITOR. The words stung. They hurt far more than the blows did, only because they were true. Applejack knew she was a traitor. A dirty back stabber. She was selfish, not fit to bear the Element Of Honesty. She deserved to die in some dark little hole without ever seeing the sun again. It was all her fault. ‘Rainbow, leave Rarity out of this. Please. Ah started it.’ Applejack thought about this and more. Coughing, she used the last reserves of her strength to speak. “Rainbow…Dash…” The slightly older pony noticed her quarry trying to talk. As much as she wanted to kill the mare beneath her, her enraged heart listened. Let Applejack try to talk her way out of this. Rainbow grabbed Applejack’s shoulders to pin her down. Applejack focused on Rainbow’s face. Behind her eyes, a deadly storm of emotions roared. Applejack was in too much pain to be afraid. “D-don’t…hurt…Rarity…” Tears fell from her eyes as Rainbow hit her in the face. She split the skin above her horse shoe wide open. Blood trickled down from her hoof as she gripped the farmer pony’s mane. Horror and shock kick started in Rarity’s eyes as she watched blood dribble from the huge gash that Rainbow put right below Applejack’s eye. She wanted to intervene, but she knew better. If Rainbow had managed to get her hooves on her, she would be slaughtered. That blow should’ve been enough, but it didn’t quench Rainbow’s thirst for revenge. It simply didn’t. Instead, words black and hateful spilled from the suffering and enraged pony’s mouth in a great rush. Everypony cringed at the near hysterical level of her voice. “You go behind my back, steal the one I love, ruin my decade long relationship, and then have the AUDACITY to make demands of ME?!?! Well I don’t think so, bitch!! I hope you die, you double-crosser! I WANT YOU TO DIE!! LAY DOWN AND DIE, APPLEJACK!!!” Brawny body shaking all over, face turning red with ignited fury, ignoring the correspondingly horrified gasps of onlookers, Rainbow once again pressed her hooves on Applejack’s throat in a death throttle. She was the predator, moving in for the kill. Her rant had switched from English to a language only other Pegasi could understand. She got louder and louder, dissolving into raging screams. The Earth Pony lay limp in the grass. Blackness at the corners of her eyes. Air. She needed air. Oh, dear Gods, she couldn’t breathe. Somepony was tugging at Rainbow’s tail. She whirled around, preparing to belt whoever it was. Her demonic glare settled on Twilight, then Pinkie. The pony let go of Applejack in surprise. With a mighty heave, the pink Earth Pony sent her sprawling on her back. Twilight attended to Applejack. She had passed out. Her face was a mess of blood and bruises. Was her cheek fractured? Could be. Rainbow scrambled to get back on all fours. Fire blazed in her eyes. It was weakened when Pinkie’s back hoof connected with the side of her head. She stumbled over, but quickly regained her footing. With an animalistic roar, she charged at the pink pony. Hot, bright red streaked through her eyes. She was about to kill. The others screamed. Fluttershy jumped in between them. Her hoof connected with her fellow Pegasus’ jaw. The fire was extinguished. She hit the dirt, unconscious. The once powerful pony now looked like a weak filly. Fluttershy rubbed the side of her head, then nodded to Twilight and Pinkie. They knelt beside their friend and lifted her up. The cream-yellow Pegasus moved to pick up Rainbow, but she stopped and looked at Rarity with such an expression, that it took the Unicorn a minute to figure out what it was, Disgust. It was pure disgust. “I’m going to help take Applejack and Rainbow to the hospital.” Fluttershy stated in a soft tone. “But when, those two wake up, you and Applejack will have much to answer for. May the gods help the both of you when that time comes.” -MLP- She was in a hospital room. Rainbow had woken up angry. Where the hell was she? What happened? Her chest hurt. Her head and jaw were engulfed in wave after wave of searing inferno. The memories returned, and made her even angrier. She tried to get up, but realized she was chained to the hospital bed. She looked up. Pinkie was standing in front of the door, forelegs crossed. If she hadn’t been chained to the bed, and the Earth Pony wasn’t there, she would’ve stormed out of her room and murdered her that apple-loving slut in hers. She would’ve done it with glee, a smile on her face. Hooves on her throat. Squeeze. Choke. Kill. Destroy. Rarity was sitting next to her. How dare she. She had no right either. Two-timer. Cheater. As bad as Applejack. No, worse than Applejack. Fraud. Swindler. Coward. Rarity reached out to touch her. “Get the hell away from me. Don’t you dare touch me.” Rainbow snarled. Rarity drew back, shocked. The ferocity in those almost blood red eyes took her breath in one fell swoop. Rainbow had never been this angry before. Her voice was cold. Flat. Empty. Pinkie stepped in front of the Unicorn. Rainbow glared at her too, and their eyes locked. Pinkie could see some inner demon roaring at her. Something that was more terrifying than any enemy they had faced. Pinkie couldn’t handle it, and looked away. There would be no laughing at that thing… “Dash, I’m not saying that either Rarity or Applejack were right,” She paused to shoot Rarity a glare. Rarity cringed and hung her head. She was admitting the fault, accepting the blame. “But this can’t go on. We’re friends, damn near family, and we can’t treat each other like this. You almost killed her. We begged the doctors not to tell Celestia what happened. You’re lucky they promised.” “Why the hell should I care?!” Rainbow snapped. She didn’t give a shit about Applejack. The fury was too fresh. Burning in her skull, corrosive in her veins. She wouldn’t care for a very long time. She directed her next words not to her, but to Rarity. Short, clipped, seething words. “Did you two do it in our bed, Rarity? Did you? If you did, I will burn that mattress, those sheets and the pillows. I’ll take the ashes, and rub them into your filthy, scheming eyes. Until you feel a quarter of the pain I feel!!” Rarity’s eyes shone with tears, but not guilt. She shook her head. Whatever the dirty circumstances of her and Applejack, they had not gone that far. They crossed the line, but they didn’t spit on it. Something in Rainbow seemed to relax, but it barely showed. The Wonderbolt ground her teeth together, “I don’t know why I believe you, but I do. I shouldn’t though. I shouldn’t even be looking at you. Do you know what the fuck you did to me, Rarity? No, you probably don’t. Let me break it down for you. You pretty much said ‘Fuck Rainbow Dash, fuck the decade long friendship we had, and the 5 year long relationship we had'. Just FUCK IT.” There was a silence as Rainbow turned her head and glared at the wall. Her hooves clawed at the bed sporadically, crumpling the bed sheets into wadded balls of cloth. She refused to look at them, “Get. Out.” Pinkie motioned for Rarity to leave. The Unicorn did so, beaten, battered, and defeated. She didn’t cry. She wanted to, but couldn’t. There were no more tears left to give. Rejected. Regret. Resentment. All of them started with an ‘R’, just like Rarity. It was also the way Rainbow was feeling. Loyalty and Honesty are supposed to go hoof-in-hoof in relationships. It was not so in this case… Honesty. The bearer of the element was Applejack. How ironic… Their fault. It was all their damn fault. Life was a game in which nopony was innocent. But, Rainbow would be damned for all of eternity before she called herself the lowliest player. Gods, how she wished Applejack was dead. Pinkie unlocked Rainbow’s foreleg shackles, “Please, try to calm down, Dash...” Pinkie suggested. “I wonder what you would do if you saw somepony in bed with Fluttershy. Especially if it was one of us fucking her. Would you be all giddy and fucking excited about it? Throw a fucking party over it?” Rainbow rubbed her wrists, “Hell no. you’d break their fucking neck. Probably cut them up and turn them into a fucking cupcake or some shit like that.” It was low. It was dirty. It wasn’t fair. But, Rainbow had said it, and she wasn’t taking it back. Pinkie narrowed her eyes, but didn’t move. Instead, the pony looked down at the floor. She seemed to be thinking. About what? The storm. The whirlwind. The fire. Rarity’s horrible infidelity. Applejack’s despicable treachery. Rainbow Dash's unspeakable rage. They weren’t thinking. None of them were. And yet, they were all doing the same thing. Rarity and Applejack put so much effort into white washing. Rainbow spent so much time piecing it all together. Furtive kisses masking guilt. Wrathful vengeance concealing hurt and anguish. This all came from the seed of a lie. It’s like they always say: You will reap what you sow. “You’re right. I would. But in some ways, you’re better than me. Even though you’re hot headed, you’ve managed to do the right thing in nearly any situation. I hope you’ll be the bigger pony in this one too.” Pinkie stated softly before leaving the room. An eye for an eye. A heart for a heart. Rainbow stared out of the window. It was a beautiful fall evening, one of the last few ones before winter would sweep over the world in a breath taking cloak of white. She sighed and looked over at her bedside table. On it, sat a lonely scrap of paper. She reached for it and read it. Applejack and Rarity’s numbers were on it. “Why did you do this to me?” whispered. “Why did you hurt me?” she crumpled up the paper. “I hate that I love you…” Tomorrow was another day. Rainbow shed a few tears, and quickly wiped them away. Her eyes became flints of dull ruby in the fading autumn light. It would take many, many tomorrows before she could even begin to think of forgiving either of them.