“SAYAKA!” Kyoko, battered and bleeding, screamed as the azure, Mermaid-like Witch, Oktavia Von Seckendorf, squeezed the consciousness out of the pink pig-tailed girl, Madoka, in her giant, armored fist. With the demented symphony of the Witch’s Labyrinth trying to drown out her thoughts, the crimson Magical Girl instantaneously gripped her long spear, lunged upward and severed the hand at the wrist, causing cobalt ‘blood’ to flood and drench the girl.
“Come on!” Kyoko shouted through the deluge, “You told me you were believed in your power! You said you were only gonna use it to help people, remember?!”
The Witch merely growled monstrously as it brought down a colossally heavy blade, striking the floor of the labyrinth with enough force to completely shatter it. With the combined weight of the girls and the Witch, the ground of the corrupt concert hall collapsed beneath them.
Now, with everyone plummeting head first to the next floor below them, time seemed to slow as images from Kyoko’s life flashed before her eyes.
…This is it, she thought, Magical Girls really can’t go back after becoming Witches… It’s over…
With tears escaping her eyes and flying upward as gravity forced her downward, she mumbled aloud, “Hey God, if you’re there, my life sucked… so, for once, please?” She choked, “Let me have a happy dream…”
After the deranged orchestra played its final notes, Kyoko’s body convulsed in pain as she hit the floor with a resounding thud, followed by the clanging of her spear. Breathing heavily, she pulled herself into a sitting position and looked to see where Madoka had landed.
She sighed in relief to see that she had been caught by the mysterious, black-haired Magical Girl, Homura Akemi. She laughed a little. She didn’t exactly trust Akemi, but the girl did have a good sense of when to show up from out of nowhere.
“Kyoko...!” Homura spoke worriedly as Kyoko’s spear disintegrated into purple flames.
With deep cuts and mortal scars marring her body and her scarlet dress torn and tattered, the crimson Magical Girl painfully struggled to stand up. She breathed, “Yo… How’s it hangin’…?”
“Are you…?” The raven-haired girl inquired.
Kyoko chuckled again, “Me and my stupid ideas… She shouldn’t have come… Take care of her, alright?”
Homura gasped and tried to retort, but Kyoko quickly turned and cut her off, “Ya can’t fight and carry her! You’ll get us both killed…” She gave a small smile, “Nah, it’s okay… you were right after all.”
Kyoko felt magic her diminishing. There wasn’t much left. What she did have, she was gonna give it all for a last-ditch effort to end this. As warm blood dripped form her now-limp right arm and her legs began to shake, she courageously turned to face Oktavia, using a portion of her remaining power to cast magical barrier to protect Homura and Madoka.
She grimaced in pain as she choked, “You gotta focus on the one thing that matters most, ya hear? You gotta focus on the one thing that matters most and protect it to the end.” She chuckled as she ripped the bow from her hair and flung her cross-shaped barrette into the air, releasing her long ponytail, “Heh… That’s kinda funny… This whole time, that’s exactly what I thought I was doing…”
Catching the barrette, she fell to a praying position. As she tapped into the last of her magic, she erupted into a blaze of indigo flames as her spear had done. She commanded, “Get outta here. I’ll take care of Sayaka.”
As giant, pillar-like spears broke through and shot up through the ground, Homura nodded and fled with Madoka in her arms.
As one spear emerged from under Kyoko and brought her up to eye level with the incarnation of sorrow, the girl consoled, “Sayaka, it sucks to be alone… believe me, I know…” She gave a small grin, “But it’s okay now… ‘cause I’m here with you…”
Attaching her magic-drained Soul Gem to her barrette, she kissed it and chucked it at Oktavia. Her spear appeared in her hands once again. Charging up for one last attack, her purple flames burned more intensely. A contented smirk stretched across her face and her vision went to black as an explosion started erupting right between the two.
“Hey, Twilight! This is crazy! You gotta check this out!” Spike the dragon leapt from his cozy bed and clambered down the wooden steps from the loft of Golden Oaks library, carrying a book he found particularly intriguing.
Twilight turned from reorganizing the library books and giggled, “Oh, what is it, Spike?”
With a beaming grin, he showed her a page from ‘A Certain Magical Index: An Intermediate’s Guide to All Things Magic’ by Starswirl the Bearded and exclaimed, “Did you know that all magic is interwoven and can be felt by everyone if it’s strong enough?”
The Alicorn giggled again, remembering how intensely she’s studied that particular book at least a hundred times, “Yes, it’s called the ‘Magic Equilibrium’. But that’s just a theory, Spike. Starswirl could only hypothesize that only the most gifted of unicorns and alicorns were able to feel it and there’s never ACTUALLY been a strong enough magic to test it. The closest we’ve come to seeing anything similar would be Pinkie Pie’s ‘Pinkie Sense’, and I hardly think that that could be considered actual magic.” She paused, then raised a confused eyebrow, “…Why you even reading that book anyways, Spike? I thought you were more into the comics and stuff.”
The dragon let his claws go limp as he squinted and deadpanned, “Don’t underestimate the power of boredom, Twilight. It’s very dangerous.”
Twilight shook her head and chuckled, “Well, if you’re THAT bored, I’m sure I’ve got some chores-“
“NOPE!” Spike gasped and interrupted, “No, I’m good! Got me a nice book, a cozy bed to read said book, and I’m set!”
At least happy that Spike had taken a liking to reading—despite the cause—, Twilight rubbed his head with her wing and smiled, “Well, okay Spike. If you find anything else interesting, just let me know!”
He grinned, “Will do!” Then, he furrowed his brow, “Hey, Twi, why are ya casting a spell now of all times?”
“What?” Twilight asked, crossing her eyes to look up at her horn, “I’m not—“
Her jaw dropped as her horn emanated a purple aura.
A purple aura she was not in command of.
Just then, a small tingle tickled in her chest. As seconds passed, tingle grew painful, eventually causing her to double over and topple to the wooden floor in agony.
“What’s wrong?!” Spike called worriedly.
“I… don’t… know!” Twilight painfully replied, trying to hold back her tears.
As the pain became unbearable, the Alicorn screamed and her vision went white.
Immediately, the wooden floor under her changed to what felt like cold steel. With the pain in her chest gone and her vision returned, she noted that she wasn’t in Golden Oaks Library, but rather, what appeared to be a pillar in some form of crazy looking auditorium of sorts.
Placed her hoof over her mouth and mumbled, “That was some crazy magical energy… Where did it come from? Did I use a teleportation spell to put it at ease?” She looked to her hooves and gasped, “Am I… standing on a giant spear?!”
After looking around some more, she immediately got her answer. Her ears dropped to her head and her pupils shrank in fear as she discovered what seemed to be a giant mermaid creature facing a smaller creature burning in indigo flames at the tip of the spearhead. She recognized the smaller being as a human from her time in Cantorlot High. She could tell that the human and the mermaid were fighting. And the human was losing.
Trembling in fear, the Alicorn stuttered, “W-What’s g-going on?”
Then, the rumbling of an imminent explosion caused her to jump and panic, “OHNOHONOOHNO! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD!”
As the explosion started, she gasped, “The human won’t survive that!”
Without further thought, she dashed over to the spearhead and placed her hoof through the flames onto the human’s back. To her surprise, the flames weren’t hot, but instead were made of magic! The flames themselves did something that surprised her even more. They oscillated from the human and into Twilight’s horn. With immense power now flowing in her, Twilight’s eyes went white as she powered up another teleportation spell, casting it just as the blast nearly devoured over them.
When her vision returned once again, she sighed in relief to see the wooden floor of Golden Oaks library, now with human girl in a crimson, tattered dress collapsed and unconscious in the middle of it.
“…What did you just do?!” Spike stared in disbelief.
Twilight blinked and chuckled, “Apparently, I just proved Starswirl the Bearded’s theory as truth while rescuing a human girl from certain death.”
Spike calmed down a bit and deadpanned again, “So, basically, the usual.”
Twilight nodded and grinned, “Pretty much.”
“So,” Spike scratched his chin and stared at the beaten and battered human, “What up with him?”
“It’s a ‘her’, Spike,” Twilight frowned and corrected, “I know it’s one of those human creatures from when I went to Cantorlot High about a year ago, but this one’s different, and I don’t know why…” She levitated the girl onto her back and grunted, “Help me get her into a good resting place. She’s badly wounded.”
Spike nodded, ran to her side and lifted up the girl’s scarlet boots so her feet wouldn’t drag on the ground, “What happened to her?”
Laying the girl on a nearby couch, Twilight then levitated a blanket and wrapped up the crippled human, “I don’t know. I think she was fighting a monster, and giving a last-ditch effort... I think she was about to die.”
“It’s a good thing you saved her then, huh?” Spike stared at the crimson-haired girl’s gashed and torn face, “She doesn’t look too good…” Then something glimmering caught his eye back to where the girl was collapsed. He gasped as his mouth watered, “Oh man! It’s a Ruby! I loved Rubies!”
He jogged over and reached down for the cracked, scarlet gem that seemed to be on the verge of breaking. After picking it up, it burned his claw and he dropped it instantly, shooting his pained appendage into his mouth to salve it, “OWOWOWOW! HOT! HOT! HOT! That burns…”
Twilight gasped, feeling intense magic radiating from the gem, “That must have been the epicenter for the explosion!” she cast a protective stasis shield bubble around the Ruby and levitated towards her, “I must have teleported it with me by mistake…” she grimaced as she stared into the shield at the gem, glowing blazingly hot, “I think it’s still trying to explode too… and I only slowed it down…”
“The epi-whatty for the whosenow?” Spike asked, mouthful of claw.
She glared at him and ordered, “Spike, don’t touch this gem anymore. It’s very dangerous, and I don’t want to risk having the stasis shield drop.”
He shrugged, “Alright, Ms. Brainy Pants. I’m just gonna go back to reading my book. Tell me if that girl wakes up. I wanna meet her.” As he stepped up the stairs, he muttered quietly, “Jeez… I just wanted to eat a Ruby… Didn’t have to get so huffy…”
Twilight rolled her eyes and called, “I heard that,” she sighed as she shifted her gaze to the girl sleeping on the couch, “I do hope you’re okay, though…”
As Kyoko’s eyes groggily fluttered open, she grabbed her head and grimaced at the searing headache that followed, “Jeez… We must’ve gone at it hard last night…” Rubbing her head, she realized her hair was inexplicably not held up in a ponytail by her favorite black bow. She frowned, “Oh, son of a—Where’s my bow?!” She growled and grimaced at her torn and tattered crimson dress and her body marred by cuts and scars beneath, “Typical.”
She blinked and sat up on her couch, “Although, what did I even DO last night?” With a shake of her head, she mumbled, “Must’ve been somethin’ … To give ME a headache this bad… Haven’t had a migraine like this since that one time when Mami and I-”
“Oh, good! You’re awake,” a soft voice spoke, “I was starting to get a little worried for a moment.”
Kyoko gasped, threw off her blanket, leaped to her feet on top of the couch, and summoned her spear. She growled and pointed her weapon towards the voice, “Why do ya idiots always think that just because I’m an orphan who lives in a run-down church, ya can just snatch me up while I’m sleepin’ and-“
The Magical Girl’s rant was cut short in shock when she saw just exactly who—or what, rather—her captor was. Scowling at the small, lavender, horselike creature standing in front of her, she extended her spear to precariously poke at the creature’s trachea, “Alright. You’re gonna tell me what you are, right now.”
Eyes now wide in fear, the creature stuttered, “W-W-What?”
Kyoko continued, pushing her spearhead slightly further into the creature’s neck, nearly drawing blood, “Ya ain’t human, and ya got some crazy magical power, but it ain’t strong enough to be a Magical Girl or Witch. What are you?” She glared, “Some kind of real powerful Familiar?”
Kyoko could see the lavender creature visibly gulp as fear and nervousness prevailed in its equine face, “W-What? N-No! I-I’m…” she stuttered as she tried to explain, “M-My name i-is T-Twilight S-Sparkle, A-Alicorn P-Princ-cess of F-Friendsh-ship from P-Ponyville.”
Kyoko blinked again, disbelieving the words she just heard. Retracting her spear, she doubled over, crossed her arms over her stomach and laughed hysterically, “Oh, that is RICH!”
The horned equine furrowed her brow, “I don’t get it-“ was all she could mutter before the Magical Girl extended her spear back to her throat, resuming her glare.
“What you ya want from me?” Kyoko glowered.
Twilight hastily replied, “To talk!” She gulped as nervous sweat began forming around her forehead, “I just had some questions. I mean you no harm, I promise!”
Without removing her icy gaze, Kyoko’s spear disappeared into purple flames as she scowled, “Talk’s cheap, you know that right?” Then, her glare broke and she smirked, plopping comfortably back down onto her couch, “Your magic ain’t nothing compared to mine anyway. Got some questions myself actually, but I’m a nice gal. I’ll let you go first. What’cha wanna ask?”
Twilight stopped and stared for a moment in disbelief. She didn’t like to brag, but she knew her magic was extremely potent, more so then most ponies in existence.
As the pony shook her head to shoo away those braggart thoughts, she asked kindly, “So, what’s your name?”
“Kyoko,” The girl continued to smirk, “Kyoko Sakura.”
“Like the cherry blossom?” Twilight asked, intrigue intertwined within her voice.
“Yeah,” the human nodded as she noted a little purple aura glow around a small protruding from Twilight’s head. She watched curiously as a quaint, wooden chair engulfed in the same purple aura floated through the air towards them. She chuckled sarcastically, “Riveting.”
“Isn’t just just?” Twilight beamed as she set the chair in front of her and sat down, “While Telekinesis may be one of the most basic of spells, the intricacies of its base design and individual components are an absolute marvel!”
Kyoko rolled her eyes, “I was bein’ sarcastic; I really don’t care.”
“O-Oh…” Twilight’s expression drooped.
The Magical Girl sighed, “Hey, we’re doin’ questions, right? In that case, where am I?” She gave a nonchalant examination of her surroundings, making note of the very medieval looking library with book-filled shelves built into the wooden walls all around the room. She stated, “This ain’t any building in Mitakihara, I know that much.”
“O-Oh, um, yes!” The horse smiled and cleared her throat, “Welcome to Equestria, land of ponies, dragons and other mystical creatures! More specifically,” she gave a sweeping motion with her hooves to show off library, “Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville, also my personal abode.”
“...Ponyville?” Kyoko deadpanned in disbelief.
“Mm-hm!” Twilight nodded with a smile.
“...Ponyville?” Kyoko repeated.
The equine nodded again, “Yes.”
Kyoko’s eye twitched, “…Ponyville.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Is something the matter?”
The human sat in shock for moment, before throwing her hands up and crawling back under her blanket, “Yeah, nope. Not happening.”
“Wha-“ Twilight furrowed her brow, “Wait, what do you mean, ‘Not Happening’?!”
The girl closed her eyes and replied, “I’ve seen a lotta crap in my day, but a froufrou land full magical horses ruled by a friendship princess? Please. You’d have to be pretty stupid to buy into somethin’ like that.”
“Ponies,” Twilight scowled.
“…What?” Kyoko asked.
The mare irritably huffed, “We’re called ponies.”
“Whatever!” The Magical Girl growled, “Either way, I’m pretty sure this ain’t real. I’m probably sleepin’ on a rooftop or somethin’ and this is just some whacked-out dream.”
Just then, she shot her hands to cradle her head, grimacing as her migraine brought on a new round of pain.
“I can assure you, this isn’t a dream,” Twilight softened her scowl, “I’m sure that headache of yours can attest to that. You were in quite a dangerous situation when I found you…”
Kyoko’s eyes shot open and she leapt once again to her feet on her couch, glaring as she threatened the winged mare with her spear once more, “What do ya mean, ‘Dangerous Situation’? You sayin’ that there’s something I can’t handle?”
Unphased after being threatened for a third time, Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed as she gently placed her hoof on the tip of the spear and lowered it away from her trachea, “Clearly. You were fighting some big mermaid creature, and you were losing pretty badly. I’m surprised that you don’t remember this…”
Kyoko let her spearhead rest on the ground and scratched her chin, “Had to have been a Witch… a powerful one, too…” She chuckled and smirked at Twilight as she sat back down, tapping her temple with her index finger, “Probably just gave me a good concussion and made me forget some things.”
Twilight chuckled, “Considering your wounds when I found you, you’ve recovered remarkably quickly! Just having a little concussion is incredible, comparatively! Which, by the way, I gave you some medicine for while you were out. The headaches should soon start subsiding,” she smiled as she continued, “Now, when you say ‘witch’, is that like, ugly mares riding broomsticks and wearing pointy hats or…?”
Kyoko smirk faded as she glared, “Don’t you dare do something like that again.”
Confused, Twilight’s smile faded and she raised an eyebrow, “…Wait, what?”
The magical girl indignantly stood up and crossed her arms, “People like you make me sick.”
Even more confused, the Alicorn stood up as well, “What are you talking about? I was being courteous to a guest!”
“Tseh!” Kyoko spat, “That’s a load of crap! Ain’t no one out there who’s doing anything outta the goodness of their hearts.” Kyoko leaned forward and glared as her shadow towered over Twilight’s face, “Anyone who believes there are, is just lyin’ to themselves. So, what’s your angle?”
As the girl stood impatiently awaiting an answer, Twilight gasped and shook her head vigorously, “N-No! It’s not like—”
Kyoko interrupted her, “Listen, I understand you wanna get something outta me. I get that. The weak gotta give out to the strong. But it takes a real lowlife to do that and pretend their tryin’ to help.”
Twilight tried to explained, “But you were in trouble! That ‘witch’ or whatever had you cornered! I swear, I really was just trying to he-“
“Screw you! I’m not buying that load of bull,” Kyoko growled as she turned and walked towards the exit, “I’m outta here.”
As the girl swung open the door, Twilight called, “You can’t just leave! You’re an alien in a strange country!”
Without even facing her, Kyoko hissed venomously as she stepped out onto the cobble porch of the library, “I don’t take orders from you, ‘princess’.”
Twilight stood dumbfounded as she watched the human crouch down and leap away to a rooftop across from Golden Oaks.
“So, it’s probably a good idea that you didn’t tell her about the part where she was all on fire and suicidal, huh?” Spike commented as he descended down from the loft.
With an eye still twitching, Twilight mumbled irritably as she continued to stare at the exit, “It’s not like I had the chance…” She turned and furrowed her brow at her assistant, “And where were you the entire time? I thought you wanted to meet her.”
He placed his hands on his hips and replied, “Well, excuuusee me, Princess! Forgive me for not wanting to become a dragon shish-kebab!”
The Alicorn deadpanned, “Spike, that meme’s dead, you shouldn’t use it,” she shook her head and gazed once more out the door, “It’s not like it matters anymore anyway,” she shook her head and sighed as she turned away from the entrance, “I still had so many more questions…”
Placing her hoof on her mouth, she stole one last gaze at the door and muttered perplexedly, “Kyoko… What ARE you?”
* * * * *
Kyoko tossed the devoured apple core away from her spot on a high branch of a tree in an apple orchard she had found a good mile away from Twilight’s library home. Wiping her hands on her sloppy green jacket, she stretched her arms and placed them behind her head as she contentedly leaned against the tree.
Closing her eyes, she smirked and muttered to herself, “That hit the spot. Perfect pre-snack just before a long nap. Ain’t sensin’ no witches around here, so I don’t see why I can’t take it easy a while. I’ll worry about getting back to Mitakihara later. Can’t imagine that rookie’s gonna get much outta that city while I’m gone anyways.”
The redhead soon slipped into a slumber. She didn’t know how long she was out cold, just that she was awoken by something poking her cheek. Kyoko stirred and mumbled, then irritably opened her eyes. Staring quizzically back her were two large magenta irises attached to a flying cyan horse creature with a rainbow mane and tail.
“What… are you?” The female voice of the creature asked.
Kyoko squinted and grumbled, “…Hell, they fly too?”
“First of all, language,” The pony furrowed her brow and chastised in an aggravating voice, “Secondly, this is MY spot.”
The human rolled her eyes and settled back down on the branch. She chuckled as she closed her eyes, “Tough. It’s mine now, so screw off.”
The cyan mare brought her hooves to her snout, sighed deeply and explained, “No, I don’t think you understand; this is MY prime napping spot. I science’d the stuffing outta each and every one of these apple trees to find the perfect ratio of comfort-to-applesnacking-to-sunshade,” she flew around to the human’s side and grunted as she began to push, “It was a TON of work, so if you don’t mind…”
Kyoko immediately materialized her spear and simultaneously threatened the pegasus harshly while shoving her away with the weapon, “Touch me again and I’ll gut you like a pig.”
The mare quickly backed off with her hooves up and gasped, “O-Okay, okay! I can tell when negotiations aren’t going my way,” she crossed her forelegs and mumbled with a mild tinge of bitterness, “I guess I’ll just settle for my second most prime napping spot…”
Without even looking, Kyoko shoo’d her away with her hand, “Yeah, sure, whatever. Do that.”
The mare stared at her once more, as if trying to move the human with her mind, but then sighed as she gave up the ghost. She turned to fly away, before stopping and stating, “I guess it’s only fair to warn about—”
She didn’t even get to finish her warning before the prime napping shook violently at what seemed to be the sound of a loud drum below. Kyoko’s eyes shot open and gripped what she could of her tree branch.
“What the—” was all Kyoko could manage before another shaking tossed her clean out of the tree.
“…her,” the rainbow horse muttered as she watched the human plummet to the ground below.
Bouncing slightly as she hit the ground, Kyoko writhed in pain as she cursed, “SON OF A BI—”
“Rainbow! Now, how many times have ah asked ya to stop eating mah produce!” a voice with unfamiliar accent echoed in Kyoko’s ears (along with some awful ringing). The voice, belonging to and orange pony with a cowboy hat, turned and continued, “If ya don’t stop, I’m gonna hafta start chargin’—“
The mare’s voice trailed as she got a good look at the human who now pulled herself to a sitting position and rubbed her head. Shocked, the orange pony managed to mutter, “What… in Tarnation? What are you?”
Grimacing as she continued to rub her own head pitifully, Kyoko answered shortly, “Human. Now, if you could hold onto that Q&A for a bit, I’m just gonna sleep for…” she slowly curled up into a fetal and fell to her side, facing away from the new mare, “…ever.”
The hat-pony harrumphed, “Serves you right for trespassing on private property.”
Kyoko glanced back confusedly, “Private?” she weakly pointed upward, “The way Blue one was talkin’… thought this was a public place…”
Furrowing her brow, the pony looked to where the girl pointed, “Blue one…?” then her expression grew irritated when she saw the flying Pegasus who didn’t seem to have the sense to leave unnoticed when she had the chance, “…Consarnit, Rainbow Dash! I knew y’all were muchin’ on my apples again! Git down ‘ere!”
“Uh-oh!” The flying pony gasped and glanced around for an escape. She shouted just before jetting away, “I, uh, just remembered that I got some weatherwork to finish up! Bye!”
“Rainbow?! Come back! Rainbow!” The orange one shouted. She sighed exasperatedly and shook her head, “What am I gonna do about her…?”
She then walked towards the human in a fetal position and commented sternly, “I guess I should worry about my little trespasser first, huh?”
Kyoko moaned, “Oh, not so loud please. This pain is pretty much pure agony…”
The horse’s expression softened as she had compassion on the rather pitiful pile of human curled up against the tree stump. She trotted over and knelt low to the ground, “Here, grab on.”
Without fighting (though with great effort), Kyoko grimaced as she rolled and swung her arms over the pony, and the latter slowly rose and helped the former to her feet. They slowly staggered away as the equine continued, “I reckon my home is a bit more comfy than that patch of dirt.”
“Why are you…” The girl painfully muttered, “…What’s your angle?
“Not a very trusting creature, ain’t ya?” The pony chuckled, “Well, Ah’m an honest mare, and Ah don’t like doin’ wrong by nopony. I bucked ya out of the tree for trespassing, but I figure ya didn’t really know no better. Ya didn’t really deserve that, so I wanted to pay ya back for that wrong.”
Kyoko relaxed and shrugged, “…Good enough for me.”
The two struggled along for a bit until the magical girl gasped, then patted herself down slowly but panickedly.
“Somethin’ that matter?” The mare raised her eyebrow.
“My Soul Gem…” Kyoko mumbled.
“Yer what?” The cow-pony raised her eyebrow.
“My Soul Gem…!” The girl frisked herself even more worriedly, “If I don’t have it, I could—”
Then, she suddenly stopped stumbling and collapsed atop the orange horse.
The mare staggered as she balanced the new dead weight, “Woah now Partner, hold up!”
She gently lowered the girl’s body to the ground to see what seemed to be the matter, “Hey, uh, human? Ya alright—”
The horse gasped when she noticed Kyoko’s mouth hung open and her eyes held no glimmer of life. She quickly lowered her ear to her chest (at least, where she assumed the chest was).
She muttered worriedly, “Nuthin’ like a heartbeat in there…”
She brought her ear up to the Kyoko’s mouth and nose, “And she ain’t breathing…”
“…Did you kill her, AJ?!” The voice of a familiar Pegasus shouted in the cow-pony’s ear, resulting in a startled scream from the latter.
AJ turned and lashed at the Pegasus, “Rainbow Dash! Ah dun told ya a million times not to do that!”
“Sorry,” Rainbow shrugged. The prismatic pony craned her neck to see Kyoko’s corpse, “Soooo… Did you kill her?”
“NO!” Aj fired back, then reconsidered as she glanced back herself, “Well… maybe…” She looked back at Rainbow, and stated sternly, “She mentioned some kinda Gem Soul or whatnot just before keelin’ over. Ah think we to take her to Twilight.”
The cyan mare scowled, “She threatened to shank me! What if I don’t wanna?!”
The farm horse simply shrugged, “Then Ah guess Ah’ll just charge ya for all them apples that Ah know y’all have been snackin’ on whenever you sneak onto my farm.”
Rainbow’s expression drooped, “…Really, blackmail?”
AJ fired back, “Yer the one who stole my produce without askin’.”
The Pegasus took a breath to retort, but let it go with a defeated sigh. Shaking it off, she stared at the body, “Alright, so how are we doin’ this?”
