"Please run, just forget about me alright? I'm really not worth it in the end so just turn back." She smiles towards you gently, a squelching sound slowly rising in the background that you easily ignore. Your focus entirely spent on her. You've been working too hard to lose her now. Limping slowly, you drag your hind hoof along the ground as you move closer, unable to get her out of your mind.
She cries softly, smiling to you as she shakes her head. "You have to turn back, before they notice. Please, please turn back." You won't give up that easily, it's taken you weeks of effort to get to this point. Months of dedicated research, following in her trail even as her own friends had long given up. Still, they had hope and weren't too reluctant to give what help they could. Except for one of them of course.
You almost laugh at the memory, no matter how many times you asked she just slammed the door into your muzzle. At one point you even suspected her. Over time though the pieces finally came together, and the one who fought so hard against the truth the entire time finally gave in and told you the final piece of the puzzle. Which brought you to where you were now. You stumbled slightly on a rock and bit your lip as the large chunk of wood sticking from your leg shifted slightly.
"Please stop! You're only hurting yourself, please run away!" Her tears began to flow freely, her smile faltering as her obvious care for you broke through her own rationality. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't you she cared for, it was everything with so much as the smallest heartbeat. You growled slightly as you moved faster, the squelching growing louder as you drew closer to her. Embers danced around you both as you pushed on.
Only a few hoof-steps away. You could see the sadness paved on her muzzle, not for own pain, but for yours. And still you pushed forward. Over time the mission had become almost personal, this was the first time you'd even seen her in the flesh and yet you knew almost everything about her. You knew about her fear of heights, you knew her average wing-speed, you knew every member of her family within three generations. She knew nothing about you though, and she still cared for you as if you were a foalhood friend.
You fell, much harder than earlier. Your breath is knocked out of you and you barely take a second to start crawling forward. You've worked too hard for this, this is your one and only chance and you will not let it slip out from between your hooves. She froze up before she began coughing. The squelching had grown to the sounds of crunching as she screamed, her eyes went wide as she reached out to you.
For barely a second the two of you connected, only the smallest of moments and yet you almost felt like it was over. You'd finally accomplished the mission that had taken over your life these past few years. Then she screamed again. Her body twisted as she pushed you away, perhaps her last hope that you might flee.
She was forcibly rolled onto her back and you could see the hole slowly closing itself over on her barrel. She began to cough blood as her eyes rolled back into her head and you yelled out your frustration as her body twisted and writhed. There was no way you would let it end like this! You looked around quickly, not spying anything but wreckage surrounding you both.
You'd almost given up hope as pain crawled up your body from your hind leg. Maniacally, you smiled and crawled beside her, trying to ignore as her body shuddered and her eyes darkened over. Her front-right hoof dug into the ground as her screams grew in volume and you yelled alongside her as if in an effort to comfort her while you took the chunk of wood between your hooves and pulled as hard as you could.
You tried pushing your own leg down while you pulled the wood out, the lower half so obviously unresponsive as you grunted and growled. Your leg grew numb as you felt the splinters dig into your skin and muscle before you finally yanked it free. You ignored the blood now able to flow out unobstructed while you returned your focus to her. This would be it. You muttered a quiet "Sorry" as her screams became distorted, her mouth clearly unhinging as new rows of teeth pushed out through her jaws.
You took careful aim, an explosion in the distance merely fading into the background as you focused on her. You'd already muttered a sorry, and felt no need to repeat yourself. So as you lifted the splintered wood covered in your own blood you merely whispered a quiet "Goodbye" before bringing the wood down onto her head, her newly fragile skull easily giving way to the bloodied stake.
In her final moments you pushed the wood in deeper, not wanting to risk anything as you held back your own tears. This was what it came up to in the end. You panted, looking down at her corpse, still twitching as the final few signals made their way through her dying nervous system before she stopped cold. Time went on around you, the flames dying down as you laid beside her, cursing every god you could think of while your vision slowly faded.
You woke up in a cold sweat, the untidy mess you called a bedroom greeting you at first light. You didn't pay the dream any mind as you got out of bed, repetition only dulls awareness after all. The dull clunk of your leg accompanied the creaking floorboards as you went into your kitchen. Two plates had been set up, one empty while the other had the remnants of last nights dinner.
She just sat at her seat, smiling gently to you. A smile you returned in earnest as you threw her untouched food out and went about making breakfast. Hay-cakes were something you'd grown fond of. Their simplicity and finesse remained barely marred by the filthy plates you set them out on.
Once more you set out two plates. As you ate she merely smiled to you and you always smiled back. You'd only just gotten to your last hay-cake as a knock rang through the house. You grumbled before making your way to the living room and unlocked the door hidden cleverly as another section of old wall. You carefully slid it open and made your way inside.
You kicked off your hind leg, now used to moving without it as you limped towards the case at the back of the small room. She stood next to it as always, a worried expression on her muzzle as you took out your custom leg. You went about putting on your various piece of equipment, your gaze briefly passing over a stake kept safe under a glass case.
As you left, closing the door behind you, you could see her standing at the main entrance to your home, the same worried expression as earlier. You chuckled and pat her mane before giving her a reassuring smile. She smiled back as you opened the door and left, whispering a quiet goodbye to your home as you left.
"I'll be right back, Fluttershy."