Chapter 1: A Nova Without A Sound

"What to do, what to do..."

The voice rang hollow within the endless black, tiny white lights providing points of guidance to the travelling voice. He'd walked this space many times in the past, and knew it like the back of his hand, but the trip was always so demanding of him. His eyes lost their point of focus and drifted, though his body always knew the path upon which to walk, so he may perceive the numerous things of interest as he walked.

Planets of beauty unparalleled, such that even the greatest artist could not replicate. Stars of such incredible size that they would sooner be called engines of terrible destruction, rather than the givers of life many respected them as. Black holes, consuming tyrants of the universe that would devour all in their path without care for the things they destroyed. Detonations of such ferocious force that everything within trillions of miles were decimated, even their dust reduced to nothing... not a remnant of history left to suggest they'd existed in the first place.

But he remembered these sights. Remembered what he felt when he saw them be born and be destroyed, for he walked this road constantly. Still, it was understandable that he found himself getting bored between the numerous systems, and even now, he found himself questioning what to do with his time.

Sometimes, it was hard to walk the career path he had, but he loved his job. Many sentient beings found solace in his appearance, ready to guide them on to a better life, and through that happiness and solace, he found his own peace. But, as with every good soul in the universe, there was bound to be a criminal, so he found enjoyment in the punishment of those who would seek to ruin the lives of others.

But, as he was walking by a certain planet, he felt a twinge, as if something were trying to pull his attention to it. Following its pull as an answer for his boredom, he stared down upon the blue planet, observing the small cloud systems, the storms over the Western oceans, the interesting circular placement of the continents, one continent in particular standing out from the rest.

He could hear... screaming. Not the screaming of living beings, no, they all seemed to laugh and cry in amusement... even lust. Lust. What a strange emotion... simply using others to satisfy a biological urge, isn't it? He thought to himself, Maybe Seris can wait for a while... I'm not gonna get there for another day or two anyway, and my schedule gives me a week or so.

And with a simple thought, he let the planet's gravity take him down through the atmosphere, clouds blasting past him as he quickly hit terminal velocity. The snow white of the clouds gave way to rolling green, red, blue and orange... a cornucopia of environments there... a startling number, in fact.

Ahhh, wait a moment. I recognize this place... I've been here before, but it was for a rather different reason... something about the Moon? He raised his eyebrow, holding his hood down as the winds blew his cloak to and fro. A town at the center of the continent was his draw, and he aimed his feet to land within the center of it, only a few clouds in his way...

One of which he promptly crashed into, as if hitting a brick wall.

"Oof!" With a few coughs, he tore himself off the cloud, staring at it, "What in Law's name is this cloud made of!? It's like that special rock from the Vesana Volcano!"

He rolled his shoulder, wincing a bit as it complained; as if he had time to worry about mind-numbing pain. He paid a last glare to the cloud under his feet before walking to the edge and looking down from it. The sight before him was rather interesting, to say the least.

"Ok, maybe I don't remember this place," he scratched his head in confusion as he looked from pair to pair of beings, all locked in an embrace with each other. This was where his boss was sealed away, wasn't it? It should be... couldn've sworn she got locked up in the Moon here. I'd visit her every two years when I came by... good times. Well, except when she'd divulge her plots to dethrone her sister and plunge the planet into eternal night.

"Well, I always did figure she was a bit... loopy," he placed his hands on his hips, flashbacks to his time spent on the surface of the Moon with the blue alicorn, constantly fighting for control with her alter ego.

Speaking of which, there she was in the crowd, sitting in an alleyway. With a hop, he flew down to one of the houses beside her, the annoying clank of his scythe catching her attention with his landing. The alicorn jumped at the sound, looking up, but breathed a sigh of relief after registering who it was.

"So it's you again, is it? Been quite a while since you last dropped by."

"I keep busy, Princess. So, erm... seems everyone here's keeping busy."

"Yes. A rather silly holiday if you ask me, involving some rather silly ponies... though one in particular has me worried," she turned her eyes back to the street beyond the alleyway, settling on one pony in particular. Her face cracked a disgusted grimace as the mare under him cried out in pleasure, the two locked in a furious display of mating.

"A holiday, huh?" The spectre responded, hopping off the roof. He landed with only the wind registering his impact, a gust moving out from his black cloak as he crouched beside the Princess, "Well, why aren't you participating, Luna?"

"It's below me, honestly. I can't think of a reason why 'Rutting Day' would exist... perhaps my Sister just had some aggression to vent?"

"Maybe. I did find it strange to hear you'd been locked up in the Moon... figured being the Goddess of the Night, you wouldn't have to worry about that kind of thing," the spectre chuckled; even Gods had to play by the rules.

"A rather bad moment in my life... though I had no trouble sharing with you, Reaper. I hope Nightmare didn't give you too much trouble?"

"It's fine. Couple fights on the moon is all the trouble she gave me... Nightmare was really interested in my scythe though. Kinda freaked me out..."

"You and that weapon are rather well connected, aren't you?"

"Are you kidding? Never leave home without it. She and I have been reaping since the dawn of Time," he smiled, standing up, "So, what's the problem?"

"That stallion over there... Sergeant Nova, supposedly."

"Nova... Nova... involved in a couple wars that broke out here, EEFOC, promoted within a year... his file even mentioned 'god-like powers'. Can you believe that?"

The two beings in the alleyway broke out into a fit of chuckles, laughing over the absurdity of it; as if anyone could match Luna or her servant. It was a foolish remark, if one could even be made.

The spectre calmed down from his laughs, looking over to the alicorn beside him with a grin on his face. "The guy's an aggressive idiot who got lucky with Law. So what's the issue?"

"Well... he nearly killed Celestia."

"Wait... what?" The spirit's aged face swiftly shifted to shock, his grin vanishing. "You are kidding me, right? Your sister was a Goddess. Immortal. By the Gods, she nearly killed me once! And she got trumped by a sad little stallion?"

"I know, it surprised me as well. I fear there may be other powers at hoof here, and I need you to do something." Luna looked over to Reaper, raising an eyebrow. "How much time until your next collection?"

Reaper stroked his beard and hummed in thought, closing his eyes. "A week. It's only a day or two away, so I could play errand boy for a while if it'd please you, Princess."

"I would very much appreciate that. You're always so good to me, Reaper," Luna smiled, confident in her servant. "I do apologize for requesting this, but this matter does require a bit of 'divine intervention', as it were." No matter how much she argued the point, the stallion did have incredible powers, so much so that he could be considered a mutant...

Electro Dubstep. DJ Chemicalz. Sergeant Nova. All three names given to a single stallion, an incredible threat to the country if left unchecked.

"I'm the Reaper, Princess, so I work for you. If I didn't try and impress my boss from time to time, I would never have gotten this job at the Turning."

"Well, this universe has plenty of years left in it, so you and that scythe will be working for a while longer."

"With all the reapings I have to do, I beg for work like this. So, how do you want it done, Princess? Decapitation? Accidental? 'Act of God'?"

"You can use your judgement, Reaper. I trust in your abilities... just make sure nopony finds out about this. The last thing I want befalling this country is widespread panic over a random death, when the stallion in question was perfectly healthy," Luna frowned, the 'festivities' moving about the town. A pony leaned in at the alleyway, looking around before entering. He spread his wings, stretching them out with a groan before folding them and kneeling before the Princess. "Lieutenant Bass."

"Your Highness... I do apologize for my conduct recently, it's necessary to keep up this cover."

"I understand. You may rise."

With a nod from Luna, the winged unicorn rose from his crouch, looking with remorse at her.

"Can he see me?"

The voice took the unicorn by surprise, and he quickly turned to face the source. The sight was near-impossible to see, but a black cloak faded in from seemingly nowhere, two arms crossed in front of its chest. The shadows of the raised hood covered the face, bearing only an ancient, white beard to the revealing light of the sun. "Who are you?!"

The figure grinned, chuckling a bit. "Don't worry about me, stallion. I'm a friend."

Bass twisted his hoof in the dirt slightly, wings flitting as he leered at the shadow in front of him. "That's not a name..."

"My name's not important, if I could remember it at all. I go by my title, Reaper."

"Reaper? As in-"

"Yes. I'm a friend of Luna's, rather high ranking in the Lunar Guard assassins corps."

A mock bow was given to the stallion, a rising eyebrow being given in return.

"Why is an assassin here?" He took a step away from the Princess, eyes still locked on her agent.

"He's come from assignment to oversee things here in Ponyville. Special request from me." Luna looked over at the Reaper, raising an eyebrow.

Reaper smirked and stood back up, holding his hands in front of him in the wide sleeves of his cloak. "Yep, asked for me to come by two days ago, see how things went for this year's holiday... uh... Rutting Day, right?"

"If you don't mind me saying, sir... you stand a bit strangely for a pony."

"Optimized form designed for combat. Don't worry, this stance suits me just fine," a white grin glinted in the darkness of the hood, "So, Lieutenant Bass, is it? How are things going so far?"

"The holiday? Well, if you couldn't tell with everything going on in town, just... what in blazes is that sound?"

Luna raised an eyebrow, turning her eyes back to the street.

Just at the entrance of the alley lay a collapsed filly, obviously choking on something as she gripped her neck, face strained in horrible agony, barely a whisper getting past her gasps.

Luna immediately grabbed the poor filly in her magic, yanking her into the alley. Pouring more focus into her magic, a new aura spawned within the sparkling blue, grabbing at whatever could be suffocating the little pony, "C'mon, c'mon... got it!" With a flick of her horn, a glob of white exited the filly's mouth, still trapped within the aura.

With renewed vigor, the yellow pony took in each breath like a newborn coming into the world, coughing after every few breaths. Tears streamed down from her eyes as she looked up at her savior, even her bow sagging from the terrible trauma.

"P-P-Princess?" She whispered, still grasping for each puff of air.

"Yes, it's alright. Just wha-" Luna stopped herself, staring at the white mess held within her magic, getting a whiff of that familiar scent, "Just what are you doing, my little pony?"

"W-Well, it's a holiday, a-and Ah wanted t' participate..."

"That's no reason! This isn't proper for a filly your age! You should be waiting until you're an adult, not for some silly holiday!" Luna grit her teeth and tossed the glob to the side and painted the nearby wall with it, using a bit more force than intended. The splatter flew out, stretching from ground to roof, with a few drops landing on her and the Reaper.

"Ohhh, that's real nice..." the cloaked figure grunted with a grimace, looking at the white staining his black cloak. I just had this thing washed in a recent supernova! He just looked away and wiped the stuff off with a few swift flicks of his hand, Bass too focused on the Princess and filly to notice, before slipping his hands back into his sleeves.

"What's your name, little filly?" Luna raised an eyebrow, ignoring the white stains on her immaculate coat and mane.

"A-Apple Bloom, Your Highness..." She grabbed her mane and pulled it around to cover her face, stroking the bow gently, obviously fearful of her rescuer's reaction. Please don't eat me.

Luna nodded as she recalled the filly and her older sister, looking away for a moment. "Apple Bloom... Applejack's little sister. Listen, you must understand that this sort of thing is reserved for your special somepony, somepony you want to share your life with... not some random colt you meet on the street. This... was with a colt, wasn't it?"

"Y-Yeah, he's still out there... Ah think Ah saw him talkin' with somepony," Apple Bloom sniffled, looking down.

"I'm not going to ask what you did... just keep it in mind for the future, alright?"

The filly nodded and looked over her bow, her creased brow and frown feeling just as shameful as she was. "Ok... Ruttin' Day sounded like so much fun, too..."

"It's not a holiday you should respect, my dear. Just stay here with us, alright? Things should be dying down soon... nopony can do this forever."

Luna and Reaper exchanged a look of worry before looking back at the little pony, and after being set gently back on the ground, she moved under Luna's chest, as if using the Princess as a warm roof to protect from a storm.

Reaper merely looked from the filly to the end of the alleyway, furrowing his brow. So, this is Rutting Day? Fillies choking on semen and everyone just doing each other 'till the sun goes down?

A small smirk appeared on his face, a grim look of enjoyment for the future. Ohhh, I know this is gonna be fun to end. Still, what happened to this country? Everyone seemed so much more... I dunno, self-controlled before.

Finally, a grimace replaced his smirk, thankfully ignored by the already-scared filly under his boss.

"Well, that was alarming..." Bass blinked himself out of his trance and shook his head, looking back out at the street, "Shall I continue with my work, Your Highness?"

"No, I think our troubles are about to end, Lieutenant. All we require is silence." Luna nodded, furrowing her brow slightly. The target of her anger had already moved on to another group of mares, his status as 'the most popular DJ in Equestria' attracting a lot of attention without much work on his part. And he took every single mare with not a look of affection or happiness... just indifference. As if the entire thing was irritating to him.

It was insulting. He'd openly defied the holiday for only a few minutes before just dropping into everything like it was some huge safety net, using mares just to kill the time. The silver body like an arrow fired straight through morality itself.

"You feeling alright, Your Highness?" Reaper looked over at her, seeing the growing look of frustration on the Goddess' face. It worried him, having only seen it during her fights against Nightmare on the Moon... and those always ended in him getting attacked by the angered manifestation of jealousy locked in her head.

Luna nodded, not wanting to look crazy in front of the filly. Or rather, above her.

And so the day carried on in silence, the 'festivities' thankfully calming down after only another hour or two. A little colt zoomed past the alley entrance a few times, crying out for Apple Bloom, but the group stayed quiet in the alley; out of sight, out of mind held true in that situation. As the sun began to fall and everypony started returning to their homes, it was time for the two Gods to make their move.

"Alright, seems everything is going back to... relative normalcy. Apple Bloom, do you want us to walk you home?" Luna looked down at the filly between her forelegs, Apple Bloom looking back up at her.

"A-Ah can walk home on my own... Ah wouldn't wanna be takin' yer time," She looked back down at the ground under her, slowly walking out from under her protective, warm roof.

"It's quite alright. Bass, do you think you could?"

"Of course, Your Highness," Bass nodded, walking beside Apple Bloom. "Hello, my name's Bass, I'm a Lieutenant in the Royal Guard... what's your name?"

"A-Apple Bloom, sir," Apple Bloom responded, and the two chatting voices faded as they got further and further away.

"Well... that's the baggage taken care of," Reaper sighed, putting his hands on his hips, "So, what's the plan of action, boss?"

"I'm going to leave that up to you. The only thing I wish for is his body quickly disposed of, and the scene cleaned and all evidence gotten rid of. This stallion is too powerful to let roam forever... and those rings aren't going to contain his power for the rest of his life."

"What do you mean? They're gonna break?" Reaper leaned on the wall, taking his scythe off and holding it in front of him.

"His power is tremendous for an earth pony. The current limiters placed on him by the Guard were developed using ancient techniques and aged minerals... they just don't match today's magic inhibitors," Luna sighed, shaking her head, "If only I was around ten years ago... he'd be under control."

"What's this stallion like then? Just so I know what to look out for."

"His power is... phenomenal. With what he displayed earlier with his tail alone, I could tell that the magic flooding through his body has conditioned his muscles to super-pony limits. And with how easily he shattered my Sister's bones, I fear his power may be affecting his aggression..."

"Red cloud blinding him, huh?" Reaper sighed, staring up the cum-covered wall. She chucked that spunk hard. I feel bad for the guy who gets on her bad side, and she decides to manually banish him to the Moon... and not with magic.

"Indeed. Shadow him for tonight and study what he does, then think of how to deal with him. I'm required at the castle... I will have to have a chat with Celestia about this whole thing."

In a burst of light, the Princess was gone, leaving the Reaper alone in the alley. He didn't have a lick of a plan at the time, most of his reapings just horrid mutilations of criminals. Equestria hadn't had a murder in over a thousand years, however, so he had to play his cards right.

Now... if I were a crazy powerful stallion who broke the bones of a Goddess with a thought, what would be my weakness...? Element of surprise, a quick blade to the spine... sever the brain stem... maybe overflow his power? Nah, all of those would end in a pretty gory way... especially that overflow one, Reaper shuddered at the thought of flooding a unicorn with raw magic, and then watching them explode like an over-inflated balloon, Yep! Definitely not going with that plan! C'mon, brain, think... I need something here!

He tapped his palm with a closed fist, scythe resting in his arm as he thought. There had to be something, some method of getting rid of the stallion without alerting anyone else...

"Well, I'll start with the shadowing. No one can see me, so that's a plus," he nodded to himself and exited the alley, looking about the street. He spotted a stallion wearing two rings around his forehooves, walking alongside a mare. They shared nearly the same body color, the stallion having a sharp silver in the evening light while the mare had a snow white coat. Their manes and tails looked about the same however, though the stallion had green instead of blue.

"Bingo... I think that's my man," Reaper smirked and headed down the street, following just behind them as he listened in on their conversation.

"Ohhh, you're so big, Electro... I could go all night with you," the mare swooned, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Good Lord, that's sick... Reaper grimaced, distancing himself a bit.

"I'm tired though, Vinyl. I wanna end this stupid day so I can move on... damn Tia and her want for me to make friends. I've got tons of fans, what do I need a friend for?" Electro grumbled, glaring at the road.

"Awww, c'mon. You're one of the most popular DJs in Equestria, and live in one of the wealthiest cities in the country, Canterlot. That's worth something, isn't it?" Vinyl raised an eyebrow, looking at him.

"Barely. I just wanna go home... all this fame has done nothing but bother me time and time again. Ponies are laughing at everything I say, and I know they do it just to spite me, and then this holiday rolls around so three hundred mares are trying to bang me all at once. It's... it's exhausting!"

"Yeah, and I've got the same number of stallions wanting to do the same to me. It's making a fantasy come true, right?"

"So? Ponies can keep fantasizing about me," the stallion just grimaced, keeping his eyes off the mare beside him.

Wow, you are a little jerk, aren't you? Reaper shook his head, looking at the mare beside him, C'mon man, she's trying to at least make you smile. And though I agree this holiday is stupid, the least you could do is smile a bit. Granted, any form of happiness right now would just make my killing tougher later on.

"Let's just get back to your house, I wanna go to bed."

"Alright, we can finish what we started there, then," Vinyl grinned, setting her eyes back on the street.

"Whatever..." Electro simply sighed, watching the path scroll by under his hooves. He thought about simply going to Tia and telling her to end this holiday for good, all it did was mess with him anyway. Heck, maybe it was just made so mares could have a shot at me... hmph.

The walk finished after a short minute or two with Electro and Vinyl walking into their house. The shield had dissipated a while ago, leaving the door unblocked. Reaper watched the two head up the stairs, supposedly towards the bedroom, and looked around the living room.

Quite a setup here, Miss Vinyl. Lots of electrical equipment... perfect for a fire, hehehehe, he grinned, plans already starting to cook in his mind. Equipment was spread all over the room; turntables, sound monitors, subwoofers, speakers. If a DJ could use it to make somepony's ears bleed, it was there in that disaster of a living area. His eyes continued searching for possible 'accidents' that could befall those two kind ponies, and simply walked around the house. He picked out fire hazards in the complex stove and bad wiring in the kitchen - it was like that mare hired a seven year old to do her electrical -, the obvious electrical fire and electrocution hazards in the living room, and even the classic 'trip down the stairs and break your neck' accident in the... well, stairs.

This place is a wonderful death trap. Shouldn't have too much difficulty silencing him, Reaper smirked, putting a hand on his trusty scythe. His first thought was to start cutting wires and plugging everything in, but that would have been far too obvious... Perhaps I should continue shadowing him. See what other ways to kill him there are. Shouting soon caught his attention, however, and his eyes turned back to the stairs, matted carpeting providing a perfect slipping surface.

"Oh, come on, Electro! Just a quickie?"

"No! Leave me alone and let me sleep!"

"But we're sleeping together, aren't we?"

"Fine, I'll sleep on the couch then."

Ohhh, not even gonna give me enough time to be creative? You're working me to the bone here, Electro! He grimaced, Guess I could just stop his heart in his sleep... died peacefully. Maybe 'rutted' way too hard today, eh Electro?

Soon, the silver stallion came into view, looking as agitated as the shouting upstairs had signaled. His stomps echoed loudly in the small house, his target being the couch as he tried to set it on fire with his glare.

Damn, man, cool off. I mean, you'll be plenty cold once you're asleep, but chill! Reaper moved out of the stallion's path, simply watching him. Electro didn't even register that his murderer was only a few feet away from him, and carried right on with passing out on the couch. Alright, shall we get to work then? Princess Luna wanted his death to be quiet, quick, and clean... maybe a goodbye note or something. Hmmm... wonder if that mare has any writing supplies?

He started hunting around the house, sticking his head through cupboard doors - good thing he was a ghost, or else that would've made a lot of noise. And, he assumed, would have hurt quite a lot -, searching through drawers, even shoving his hand into several subwoofers. Was he just not looking in the right places?

Come on, lady, at least have this stuff stored where it's easy to find!

After some more digging, he finally found what he was looking for; music sheets, and a quill and ink pot. Strangely enough, the ink was stored with the glasses, the quill was jammed into one of the turntables as a needle for the vinyls, and the parchment was piled under the table to support a short leg.

Hasn't this mare ever heard of poisoning, thumb tacks and books? Reaper shook his head at the silliness of it all, and set to writing Electro's message to Vinyl.

"Let's see...

Dear Vinyl,

I've grown sick and tired of this town, and I'm heading out to get some fresh air. If I come back to this town, instead of heading home, I'll be staying with someone else. Don't expect me to come back to your door, because I'm done hanging out with you.

Peace, Electro."

Reaper grinned at his work, careful not to burst into a 'woohoo'; can't be waking up ol' Electro now! Setting the message down on one of the turntables, he turned to Electro and reached out to pick him up...

"Oh, to Tartarus with it. I need this!"

"Oh crud." His eyes shifted back to the stairs, and more importantly, the encroaching hoofsteps of a certain mare. Shoot, gotta move!

With a quick snatch that, thank the Heavens, didn't wake up the stallion, Reaper charged out of the house, being sure to give the door a realistic SLAM of angry departure; if he was going to play the part, he may as well have played it all the way through.

Alright, boyo, you and me are going on a little trip...

With a display of strength that would drop most stallions on their flanks, and such speed that would depress even the quickest of pegasi with just how outclassed they were, Reaper jumped straight for the clouds, knowing just where he wanted to go...

With a yawn, Electro cricked his neck and smacked his lips, still feeling a bit drowsy. That was a nice nap... coulda sworn it was a bit warmer in Vinyl's living room though... he opened his eyes, thoughts still swimming in a blur as he looked around the room.

It certainly was warmer in Vinyl's living room, as this room was freezing his bones solid... but all the more alarming than the sudden temperature difference was the locale; beyond the severe lack of light, all he could see was that black stone surrounded him on all sides, except for the silver bars in front of him...

"Wh-what am I doing in a prison cell!? Who put me in here!?" He shouted, immediately moving forward to the bars. His legs were still a bit sleepy, but carried his sore frame to it.

"Ah, you're awake then!" A gravelly voice greeted him, and his eyes turned to the right, looking down the darkened hall. All he could see was what seemed to be a cloak, and a white, glittering smile in the shadows.

"Who are you? It was you who put me in here, wasn't it!?" Electro growled, moving a hoof to one of his rings, "Let me go, or I'll turn you inside out right here and now."

"Oh, I'd love to release you, believe me, but I'm afraid I've an agenda," the figure answered, smiling.

"Fine, have it your way. I'll break these bars, tear you in half, and leave," with a satisfied grin, Electro took off his rings. A sparkling aura surrounded him as a flood of power rocked his body, eyes shining with a chaotic white that seemed to leak out the edges like flame, "Die."

He willed for the figure's bones to break, an aura surrounding him... but nothing came. No crackle, no crunch, no screaming or moaning... nothing. All the aura did was cast light on the figure's cloak, and the bored look on his face as he checked the nails on his wrinkled hand.

"Is... that all you're going to do? Try and kill me by giving me the world's lightest tan?" He responded to the attempt of brutally murdering him, walking over to the cell door. Electro poured all the power he could into the telekinesis spell, but nothing came of it.

What's this guy made of!? I can't get a grip!!

"Why aren't you dying? Tia broke pretty easily when I grabbed her!" Electro shouted, growling as he forced himself to the limit.

"I'm not sure. You're certainly using a lot of power, if the wrinkles on your face are any indication. Keep trying, I'm sure you'll manage to break one of my nails," He raised his hands and stared at his nails, checking for damage with honest interest. This only served to anger Electro more, who started to feel heat in his head, smoke rising from his whipping mane.

"Die... die! Die!!"

"Mmmm... nope, still haven't broken a nail."

The heat continued to build in Electro's skull, the pain hitting him like racing through a track made of nails and spears, constantly tripping and impaling himself. It grew and grew until his mane burst into flames, the magic cutting out immediately as he started smashing out the fire dancing on his head like a group of ravers during one of his night club shifts.

"Ahhhhh!!!" He screamed, rolling on the ground as his hooves flailed to put out the fire.

"Wow. You tried so hard, you ended up lighting yourself on fire. That's pretty impressive!"

"Shut up and help me!! This hurts!!" Electro glared at him, the flames still growing on his head. He felt the wet heat reaching down to his back, threatening to send his entire body into a lethal inferno.

"Oh, very well. Let's see, do we have any... ah, here we go!" The figure raced off down the hall, soon returning with a bucket full of liquid. Without another thought, he flicked his arms and coated Electro with the stuff, putting out the fire.

"Hoo... thank y- wait, what is this?" He looked over himself, squinting as his eyes finally adjusted to the limited light.

He was covered in a white, salty substance.

"Sorry, couldn't find any other liquid, so I used what was at hand."

"YOU DUMPED SEMEN ON ME!?!?" He roared, now rolling around on the ground. Oh, this is so sick!! Get it off, get it off!!

"Well, I did say there wasn't any other liquid here... um, are you going to stop rolling around soon? I'm kind of on the clock here."

"You can shut the fuck up and clean me off! Do it or I'll kill you!" The stallion roared, earning a sigh in return from the figure.

"Honestly, what do you expect me to do? Conjure up a tidal wave and just rinse you off? Nah, you're not worth the effort," The figure simply crossed his arms and rolled his blue eyes, staring at one of the bars in disinterest. Can't cast magic anyway... who was the last prisoner here? This bar's got a lot of scratches in it. Break out, maybe?

"Then get your sorry ass out of here and get somepony who will! Oh, this is disgusting!" Electro roared as he started grinding his coat on one of the walls. Don't care if this crap gets into my coat... just gotta get rid of the smell!!

"So demanding... haven't you ever heard of the word 'please'? Honestly, you stallions are all the same."

"Who the fuck are you, anyway!? Whadya want from me!?"

"Ahhh, introductions! I do love introductions. Here, let me get really dramatic here... ahem!"

With a gust of freezing wind that made the room's sub-zero temperature feel like a tropical vacation, the light died completely as the figure's voice deepened to that of an earthquake.

"I am He who guides the fallen! He who decides right from wrong! He who has NO EQUAL! I! Am the God of Death! The Grim Reaper!!"

Electro immediately froze, staring at the imposing figure. Oh... h-holy Celestia...

"T-T-The R-R-Reaper...?"

"Yeeees, and He has come to claim YOU!"

"AHHHHH!!!!" Electro screamed, immediately rocketing into the back of the cell, nearly breaking his back in the process. He slinked up against it on his hind hooves, trying to put as much distance between him and the figure beyond his cell. It's him! It's Death! I-It's too soon, I'm too healthy! WHY DOES HE WANT TO CLAIM ME!?

The imposing atmosphere was immediately ruined by a raucous laugh from Reaper as the light finally came back into the room, "Ahhhhhahahahahaa!!! Look at you! I mean... seriously, look at your face! Ohhh, the reactions I get from doing that... it makes acting worth it!"

"W-Wait... you aren't the Reaper!? What the fuck!?"

"Oh, no, I wasn't kidding about that. I really am the Grim Reaper, and I really am here to kill you."

Electro immediately shut up, staring at his supposed assassin.

"Now then, let's see. I suppose I should start with the most obvious stuff... what's your name?"

"E-E-Electro Dubstep..."

"... Seriously? Who were your parents?"

"I... I don't remember. Th-They're dead..."

"Dead parents? Ok. Any siblings?"

"Well... one. M-My little brother, Twister."

"Uh huh... any extended family? Grandparents, cousins?" Reaper put his hands on his hips, listening with interest, and a raised brow.

"N-No..."

"Strange. Magic that couldn't affect me... and no extended family besides a brother. Alright. What's your relationship with the Princesses?"

"T-Tia's my boss... d-dumb bitch sent me to Ponyville to 'make friends'... even forced me with an escort."

"And do you have any friends?"

"No, of course not! I don't need them!" Electro shouted, keeping himself stuck to the wall.

"And what about your job?"

"Disk jockeying around the country... I'm DJ Chemicalz... know me?"

"No," Reaper quirked his mouth, staring blankly at the DJ in front of him, "But just so we're clear, does a disk jockey use all that stuff in Vinyl's living room?"

"What th- did you go in her house?!"

"Well, yeah, I did. Don't worry, I didn't steal anything, I actually left a note for her. Signed by you, too!" Reaper grinned.

"Signed by me? Wh-What was on the note?"

"Oh, well, nothing serious... just that you hate her, and you're never going back to her..."

Electro's eyes widened, staring at the monster, "Wh-What...?"

"Yep! Shattered her heart quite nicely, I must admit. Well, I think I did anyway, didn't have enough time to stick around..." Reaper scratched his chin, trying to think of her reaction, "Did she cry? No, maybe she flew into a rage? Or, um... maybe she was just happy? Heh, that'd be a laugh, just acting so she could get off."

"Shut up! She's not like that!"

"And how do you know that, buddy? You haven't got any friends, and you're supposedly famous. Must have a really blurry line between 'fan' and 'friend'," he shook his head, chuckling, "Ohh, you poor, misguided soul."

"She likes me! I know it!" Electro shouted, pulling himself off the wall. Mustering up as much courage as he could, he slowly walked up to the bars of the cell.

"I dunno. Couple ponies don't really like you..." Reaper watched his every step, hands hanging down at his sides.

"Who? Tell me," Electro glared at the Reaper, "Just who doesn't like me?"

"Oyyy... can I really say names here? I mean, you are gonna die pretty soon. Hmmm..."

"Tell me!!" Electro's magic fired back up, gripping the bars. They easily twisted and buckled under his grip, a few tearing off completely.

"No, I don't think I will," Reaper backed away from the cell, flexing his hands, "But it seems you want to beat the info out of me..."

"No, I'll do much more than that... I'll tear it from you... snap your neck, then go kill those who would dare talk behind my back!" With a roar and a wave of his hoof, the cell door came away completely, crashing into the wall with a mighty crash. Within moments, he was into a full speed charge at his assassin, rage blinding him. I'll smash his skull on the floor after he cries out their names!!

But as soon as he leaped at his killer, his back was on the ground. He moved fast, but he didn't even blink before his throat was snagged from the air, "GUK!"

"Wrong move," Reaper said flatly, staring into Electro's eyes. All manner of amusement was slaughtered as he spoke, going from semi-pleasant to...

Oh holy mother of Celestia...

"Halt, Reaper," a regal voice echoed from further down the hall, and the bone-shattering pressure on Electro's neck lightened up a bit. Reaper turned his head, looking off into the darkness.

"Now's really not the time, boss."

"Now is the time. Just keep him there, and we'll talk this through. I've a few thoughts about what he is..."

"What're- Luna! What the fuck is this!? Get him off me! Now!!" Electro shouted, flailing under the Reaper.

"Keep him down, and if he struggles anymore... silence him," the voice was suddenly deeper, colder...

Reaper grinned, looking back at Electro, "Hear that, boyo? Your death warrant just got signed by the Princess herself. Now, be a good little stallion and Stay. Quiet," the words growled out of his mouth, the grin turning into a scowl, "Unless you want me to tear out your vocal cords..."

Electro relented, blinking up at him before his eyes turned to the advancing figure. Sure enough, the figure was the same size as Luna... but something was different. Is that...?

The clank of armor rang true in his head, and his pupils shrank in terror. I-It's her... it's her! A blue necklace adorned with the full moon came into view, worn by a black neck and chest. His eyes moved up to the head, seeing only a dark blue helmet, a flowing mane of darkness and stars, and the two soul-searing eyes of a dragon...

"Welcome back... Nightmare," Reaper grimaced, staring up at the alicorn.

"I won't be here for long, Reaper. I simply borrowed Luna's body for a time... she's well aware of what's happening, and forwarded me to handle things."

"That so? Can I get a message from her?"

Nightmare nodded, closing her eyes. Soon, her mouth moved to the tune of the younger Princess, "She's right, my servant. I will be released after this task is done."

"... Alright, Nightmare. Welcome to the team."

"The welcome is appreciated, Reaper," Nightmare nodded to him, her green eyes looking down at Electro. She moved up and placed a hoof next to his head, well in his sight, "I've a task for you, criminal."

"I'm not a criminal..." Electro hissed, staring at the armored horseshoe.

"Break my leg," she ordered, hoof flicking towards him a bit.

"Break it? I'll gladly break it!" Electro's eyes snapped shut as he summoned up all the power he could. I'll do more than break it! I'll rip it off along with every limb you've got!!

He opened his searing, white eyes and focused on her, the lightning-blue aura quickly surrounding her. Yet, no matter how much he willed her leg to break, her skeleton to shatter, her head to come off... nothing happened.

"... Just as I thought."

"So he's one of them, huh?" Reaper raised his eyebrow, clicking his tongue, "Now ain't that a sorry state of affairs?"

"Wh-What are you talking about!? Why can't I break her!?" Electro struggled again, only to have the hand around his neck crush down with the force of a Hydra's jaw, silencing him with a sudden gasp for air.

"I thought she said shut it." Reaper let up on the pressure a bit, allowing the stallion a gasping respite.

"He's one of them. An Abomination."

"I thought the term was 'Artificial'?" Reaper raised his eyebrow at Nightmare.

"Abomination, Irregular, Artificial... whichever way you say it, he's the creation of a Scribe."

"Now that's just sad. Ah well, it makes our job easier, doesn't it?"

"Indeed, Reaper. Luna was worried he was a Natural, and would have left a scar on the world had he been taken from it... but it seems that's no longer the case," Nightmare pulled her hoof away and turned her nose up at Electro, looking down at him like some unworthy peasant in her royal presence, "You may kill him."

"What?! N-No! I don't wanna die!!" Electro struggled under the Reaper's grip, hearing the metal clank of his weapon being drawn. Every passing second only created more stress for him, and his flails became stronger and stronger, "Wh-What's gonna happen if I die!? Vinyl'll get angry! Ponies will notice! You two'll be found out!!"

"That's not the way it works, kid. Makes sense though, that you're an Artificial... just means that your story ends here," Reaper chuckled, holding his scythe at the ready, "Nightmare Moon, mind holding him down, please? It's kinda unwieldy to use my scythe at such a close distance."

"Of course, Reaper," She nodded, wrapping Electro in a black aura. He struggled and fought against it, but found his entire system paralyzed. W-Why can't I cancel this!? Every spell cast on me, I could overpower it! What's different now!?

"Alright, lemme just take my aim here..." Reaper grunted, bringing his scythe around behind him. The silver blade glinted in the limited light, a spark of light appearing at its tip before vanishing with the sheen.

"Stop! If I die, ponies will notice! I'm too popular to just go into the dark quietly! There'll be riots! Uprisings! Somepony will find you two and arrest you for this!" Electro found his only ability was speaking, mentally fighting his war against the magic around him.

"Oh, be quiet, stallion. You aren't the first he and I had to end," Nightmare just shook her head, freezing the stallion's jaw as well, "Just end him before I do..."

"Gladly. Well, Electro Dubstep, if you wanna know what'll happen after you die... well, the world'll move on. It'll move on properly, at that."

What the fuck does he mean!? The world's not gonna move on! It'll notice my death!!

"The world's gonna move on by the design set for it by the interactions of thousands of ponies over thousands of generations. Your creation was just an interruption by an overconfident Scribe, and now, me and Nightmare are gonna set things right."

Reaper's grip tightened on the scythe, a familiar twinge of absolute excitement racing through his body, You're excited too, huh Scarlet? Well, let's get a taste of his blood! Ohhh, so excited! He raised the scythe blade to give him a nice slice through Electro's neck, and as he began his swing, Electro heard the last word he'd ever hear shatter the silence of his life flashing before his eyes...

His short, short life... of only a few weeks.

"Sayonara," the cut was quick and clean, barely any blood splattering from the slash. A head rolled from its body as the world shifted, shuddering as everything that had changed returned to normal. Guards patrolled up and down the prison as one or two prisoners decorated the cells, banging their iron cups against the bars. And between Nightmare and Reaper... no corpse was to be found.

"Seems you were right, partner," Reaper nodded, looking up at the black alicorn.

"Of course I am. I always won our arguments, after all," She smirked, raising her brow slightly.

"Only because I let you win. C'mon, let's get the boss back to her throne... I'm pooped."

"Of course. Staying here long?"

"I think I will, honestly. I can get to my next appointment in a day, and I've got another six to waste..." he scratched the back of his head, letting the hood come down. White hair decorated his balding head, wrinkles present all over his face. Two blue eyes stood watch over a smile as the Grim Reaper placed his trusty scythe back on his back.

"Shall we go then?"

"Lead on."

With an exchanged nod, the two Gods passed, unnoticed, by the Guards, and headed back to the throne room. Maybe hanging out here will be more exciting than the occasional supernova... it's not like Law lets the universe go on its own without his eye watching absolutely everything. He can show me the cool explosions later on... for now, time for a break!

Chapter 2: A Factory of Nightmares

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The gentle winds of Canterlot played host to the sound of snoring, the sun just barely peeking at the green valley before it, as if still hiding from the ever-observant planet it gave light to. The streets were filled with the quiet wisps of snoring, ponies still curled up in their beds, tangled in their covers, some ponies lucky enough to be in the loving embrace of another as they dreamed their dreams.

But one in particular didn't fit this idyllic scene; a tall figure in a black cloak, standing watch over the city, his ever-perceptive blue eyes seeing beyond the realities that most ponies accepted as truth...

Or at least he would be, if he wasn't being the loudest snorer in Canterlot. Reaper had a bit of a problem when he slept, often repeated in legends across the world that when nightfall came, an earthquake would shatter the land and rend asunder lakes and mountains.

Really, the man just needed to sleep once in a while. It wasn't his fault that his snoring happened to be equal to a natural disaster.

"Mmngh... no, no... Misser Edyuk... no more food..." the Reaper grumbled, rolling onto his side. Miles upon miles of alien foods sprawled out in front of him, a myriad of eye candy. Seriously, I can't eat any of this! It's inedible!

He dropped onto his rear and held his stomach, something in his gut still bloody moving, Why is all this food alive!? I mean seriously, have you not heard the legends of the Ingus Vect, the worm that lives in your stomach and eats everything you eat!? Sick!!

Luckily, he snapped awake before the strange race forced him to eat more, though the queasy feeling of that damned worm moving in his gut stuck around, "Oh, I'm gonna hurl..." he kept his mouth clamped shut, forcing his stomach to get under control; even with all his experiences and crazy adventures, his sensitive stomach was a constant drawback.

"Oyyy... is it morning yet?" His eyes fluttered as they looked around, head following just behind their coordinated movements before settling on the horizon, "Just about. Right, what to do today? I'm a ghost that can't be seen by any other ponies except for Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and Nightmare Moon," his mouth quirked up at the side in deep thought, wondering what to do, "Haven't got any scheduled appointments here, the only one in danger of dying is about five years off..."

He sighed, "It's times like this that I hate! I'm so bored! Can't bother Luna because she's got work to do, Nightmare Moon is locked up in her head, and Celestia would probably try to kill me. Again," a grimace followed the statement, thinking back to when the Goddess of the Day tried to take him out of the world, "I mean, c'mon, it was one little mistake... I mean, sure, Starswirl died as a result, but it's not that bad! He's still walking! As a ghost."

He stretched out his arms and yawned, and with a grunt of excessive effort, got to his feet. With no clear path set for him, and no bleeding idea what to do with his eternity, he looked around at the city.

As the sun crept up behind him, the light shone on the polished ivory and white stone buildings, a glorious depiction of a blank canvas. Flags, streamers, and clotheslines stretched from building to building, as if it were some modern art piece with tiny dots of color on a primarily white background, speaking of the futility of the soul in a colorless world. The Reaper felt a tear run down his cheek at the beauty of such a message, finding it hard not to break down.

"Wow... such a wonderful painting..." he whispered, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, "The naivete of a pony's soul, trying to bring color to a white, blank, featureless world... yet only managing to bring a tiny stain to the perfect canvas... it's brilliant," he sniffed, lowering his arm, "Brilliant."

He forced himself to escape the ultimate sorrow of Canterlot at sunrise, turning back to the valley below. A massive expanse of green and brown revealed itself, the Sun its crown jewel over a mountain, "It's like everything in this country is some massive painting!" He gawked, the forests below gently swaying in the wind, a moving picture filled with life moving to its own tune. The trees moved like a marching band to the song of the wind, changing tempo and strength in time with the flowing force.

"Ok... enough appraising of Equestria, Reaper. You're gonna be here for the next twenty years if you keep staring," he shook his head and folded his arms, thinking, "Maybe... eh, maybe I'll go to the castle. Long as I stay out of sight, Princess Celestia shouldn't catch on," he smirked and turned to the ivory towers of the monarchy, and with a powerful jump, he launched himself through the air towards the castle. Other thoughts trickled into his mind on the way, however... Well, there are a lot of sleeping ponies around... shouldn't be that bad to have a little fun first, hehehe.

His boss had always chastised his childish behavior...

A pair of eyes fluttered open, finding themselves in the middle of a field, "Where...?" The head rose, looking around the field as the body hefted itself up onto its hooves, worry starting to trickle into the mind, "W-Where am I?"

She looked around the field, seeing nothing but rolling grass. Little hops let her body follow the frantically searching eyes, worry flaring into panic, "W-Where's Cloudsdale!? I'm- I was-!" Her eyes suddenly shot wide and looked up, staring into a massive cloud sitting in the sky. It only took a blink or two before the tears started flowing, a look of tremendous shock cemented on her face, "I was... n-no... no, no, no!"

Her muscles tensed as she stared at the white structure far up in the sky, her wings slowly stretching out. Her teeth clenched together with ever increasing force, a deep, red emotion welling up below her panic, forcing it further and further to the front of her mind, "Rainbow... Rainbow Dash..." the emotions rolled and boiled in her head, her brow slowly furrowing into a look of rage, sadness completely overtaken, "Rainbow Dash... s-she..."

With a roar and a sharp flap of her wings, the ground was pushed away from the furious pegasus, "Rainbow Dash!!"

Like an orange missile, she flew true to her target within seconds, breaking any form of speed barrier she'd ever experienced, wind tearing past her like a torrential wall cleaved asunder by an unstoppable force, every wing beat throwing her faster and faster at the cloud she fell from... with barely any fanfare, she hit the bottom of the cloud and rocketed through it, absolutely nothing capable of slowing her down. Through darkening cloud, thunderhead and solid cloud wall, her speed would not die, her body would not be stopped.

"Rainbow Daaaash!!!! I'm not letting this stop me!!" She screamed as she flew straight through the metal floor of the Weather Factory, tearing through the first floor and heading straight up to the second. Grinding gears and steam blowing from pipes greeted her as she appeared above the dreaded machine. The room still had a few guards around, unaware of her presence... though the sky blue devil was nowhere to be found.

Looking down, she saw only a few remains of what once belonged to her: Hairs from a purple mane, an orange wing... and enough blood to paint the massive grinder below her a deep crimson. The sight brought pain, enough to quell the red mist in her eyes and force the tears to run once more. Why...? Why'd all this happen? I tried, darn it... all those colts and fillies... Aurora... Orion... me.

Her violet eyes remained locked on the grinder, her wing beats slowing to a stop. Her body refused to drop out of the air, simply letting her view the demonic machine from a distance... her ears filled with screams, sounds of gears running, the feeling of a million knives digging into her, tearing her to shreds. Her final moments spent just looking into those magenta eyes, unfeeling, even as blood began to hit her muzzle... before everything fell into darkness. A shiver ran up the pegasus' spine as she thought back to what she said.

"You have beautiful eyes, Rainbow..." she'd said into the picture of rage her hero had become. The face seemed to relent in its fury, body trembling... but instinct ruled over ego as the chains pulled taught, the pegasus closing her eyes as she accepted her fate.

To be honest... it didn't even take that long. I got dropped into the grinder flank first... the pain knocked me out after a few seconds. Didn't even wake up until I hit the ground below. But what do I do now? She thought, looking up from the machine at the guards. Three of them were definitely looking in her direction, but they paid no attention to the floating pegasus, simply keeping watch on the catwalk behind her.

"I told her what I thought... and her answer..." she bit her lip as her eyes fell again.

"Coming from you... that's an insult," the filly had received as a response from her hero, before her lower torso was twisted right round, her skeleton shattering under the force. Her ribs tore out through her chest, her spine was split in two, and her mind was filled with red and blue. The red of pure agony as her body stopped communicating with her brain, and the blue of sadness linked to her coming fate... the gears began turning, the engines started rumbling... and those magenta eyes watched every second of her death.

"See ya, Scootaloo... you failure," were the last words she'd heard before passing on.

Didn't even have the sense to say an emotional goodbye, huh Dash? Scootaloo thought to herself, looking over her body. Her coat had died to a ghastly white, her mane a barely-tinged silver. Her wings had a ghostly quality to them, see-through with an ocean blue tint... wings she'd spent the last few years training to where she could fly. Flight that her hero taught her...

"As if I could really call her my hero now," she shook her head, looking down at the grinder. Every year, that evil machine would chew up hundreds of pegasi, providing rainbows for everypony... what a price to pay for a pretty picture in the sky, Looking at it now... the lives that pay for the rainbows Equestria takes for granted... makes me just want to tear down the whole system, destroy all this 'precious' Spectra... just stop more pegasi from dying. As if the Flock is worth dying for like this.

With a mere shake of her head, and the flow of tears starting again, her wings took her away from the factory, away from Cloudsdale... just carrying her on to the horizon, untiring, unwilling to stop from carrying their precious payload to wherever she was headed.

Her friends... her family... nothing held a chain to her anymore. Not when she was just a ghost...

Screams suddenly rocked a household in Canterlot, as a cloaked man walked out the front door, idly munching on some popcorn, "Well, that was fun..." he said to himself, calmly strolling up the street.

"The Reaper's come, everypony!! Run!! It's the promised time!! Everypony's going to die!!!" A stallion screamed, random things falling to the floor and breaking in the household, the Reaper smirking to himself at another prank well done.

"I've gotta use the undead pegasus disguise more. That was fun!" He grinned to himself, shoveling more popcorn into his mouth, "Man, this stuff's good! Should bring a tub along to Seris..."

With every crunch of the delicious foodstuff, he carried on on his path to the next house, eyes coasting around to find another deliciously-vulnerable target, "Ahhh, it's good to be a God sometimes... it's so cruel messing with the ponies like this, but it's so fun! Besides, no one's at risk of a heart attack, or stroke, or blood disease, or an alien race hitting the planet. Who else, who else...? Already pranked five houses." Reaper looked over his shoulder at the sound of two sprinting ponies running off down the street, screaming about the coming Apocalypse, "Ehhh... if I prank any more ponies, I'm gonna inspire some sacrificial cult trying to please the Gods. Heh, as if the Princesses need ponies killing themselves to please them."

With a shrug, his eyes turned back to the castle, "Guess I'll go bug the Boss, see what goes on at the castle. Been a while since I attended Day Court... wonder what the nobles'll think, having that familiar chill run down their spines?" He chuckled deviously as he walked on down the street, ready to prank somepony of a higher heritage... just to inspire that same base instinct that makes everypony similar.

Far off in the sky, a lonely pegasus drew a line through clouds and air without a single disturbance, her head hung low, heavy with her thoughts, "Where am I gonna go now...?" She stopped on her path, staring down at the fields below. She looked around, simply appraising the world for what it was now to her; a massive isolation cell... so much space, yet so little for her to stick around for. I'm still stuck here, though... well, maybe I could go check on Apple Bloom. It's been years since I saw her. She smiled a bit, changing course for her old home town, and a few flaps of her wings sent her on her way.

Being a ghost actually... isn't that bad, is it? Maybe I can still talk to them. And flying's easier than ever now! Besides... with Orion dead, it's not like I was gonna stick around in Cloudsdale for long anyway. Wonder if he's a ghost, like me? Wandering around the sky... maybe when somepony comes to take me away to the afterlife, I'll meet him. She sighed, eyes barely focused on the town closing in, wind whistling past her as she tore through the sky, That's for later, though. Right now, I just wanna check on Bloom... hope she's still living at the farm!

With a quick flap of her wings, she darted towards the familiar farm, feeling the gentle tug of an ethereal wind on her body as she moved through the air. A wondrous feeling, filled with the joy of flight... Even as a ghost, flying's still fun... c'mon, Scootaloo, be positive! There're worse fates after death than being a ghost! With a quick smirk, she watched her target close in. The barn roof quickly closed the gap with her, and another flap of her wings granted her a gentle landing on it. Her eyes moved over the empty field, raising an eyebrow, Weird... isn't Applejack usually out here with Big Macintosh, tending the farm? She poked her head down through the roof of the barn, looking around.

"Hehehe... wow, this is a weird way to see the world." She grinned, thankful to not have that sickening rush of blood to her head; being dead had its perks, however few. Though no adolescent mare revealed herself, despite her search. Scootaloo's brow fell as she pulled it from the roof of the barn, looking around at the orchard; was it really becoming Fall that quickly? "Heh... not quite as good as Whitetail Woods during the Running, but it's... very, very nice." She smiled at the sight of the oranges, yellows, and the tiny hints of green in the multitude of trees. The colors all ran together in a stream of evenly transitioning colors, from a deep orange on the West to a vibrant green on the East; a rainbow drawn to Fall's design.

"Been so long since I saw Ponyville... wish I'd just come back after that botched test." She shook her head and sighed. Her eyes drifted over to the house that kept her friend's family safe during the harsh seasons, one of the upper floor windows left open. "That's... Apple Bloom's bedroom. Wonder if..." Her wings opened and flapped, carrying her over to the window on instinct. As she drew closer, two voices become apparent to her.

"Y'all sure y' wanna do this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, Mac! Today's when she takes her exam, so Ah wanna make sure she has the best luck Ah can wish her!"

... Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom? My exam was hours ago... Scootaloo propped her chin on the window sill, simply floating there with her wings closed.

Apple Bloom, now a well-grown mare, sat down next to her bed, her considerably larger big brother taking a seat with her. They both placed their forelegs on the bed, putting their hooves together. "Alright, just repeat af'er me."

"Ok, Mac." She nodded, closing her eyes.

"Alright, lessee..." Big Mac mumbled, "Scootaloo, right?"

"Yeah." Apple Bloom fidgeted a bit, rubbing her hooves together.

"Alright. Oh Celestia, Princess of the Day..."

"Oh Celestia, Princess of th' Day," Apple Bloom took a breath, Feels kinda weird... c'mon, this is for Scootaloo.

"Please, take our friend Scootaloo..."

"Please, take our friend Scootaloo."

"Under your golden wing, an' protect her on her way."

"We pray for Scootaloo's good luck."

"We pray for Scootaloo's good luck..."

"With all our spirit, and from the bottom a' our hearts."

"With all our spirit, and from the bottom a' our hearts..."

Scootaloo blinked, simply staring at the display before her, Are they... praying for me?

"So please, guide our friend Scootaloo."

"So please, guide our friend Scootaloo." Apple Bloom adjusted herself again.

"As she walks the road all good ponies should."

"An' strives for her dreams."

"An' strives for her dreams..."

Big Mac let out a short sigh, smiling, "Ahh, now that's an ol' prayer Grann' Smith taught me when Ah was a colt."

"Did she teach Ma an' Pa, too?"

"Yep. Prayed whenever one o' our friends was off doin' something they really wanted to succeed at." Mac grinned, patting his little sister on the head, "You're pretty good."

"Thanks!" She grinned back, "So, when do ya think AJ's comin' back?"

"Big thing over in Manehatten, so yer sis is gon' be awhile longer. She'll be home soon though, jus' like Scootaloo."

"Ah hope so... Ah miss 'em both." Apple Bloom frowned slightly, turning back to her bed. She took her mane in a hoof, looking at the bow at the end, a sight Scootaloo widened her eyes at.

Th-That's her old cape...! But, we all got our Cutie Marks... Scootaloo looked down at her flank, seeing a faint image of her old Mark; a purple lightning bolt struck down two small wings, her ability to fly despite having smaller wings than most other pegasi. Heh... my talent is just flying... so normal compared to everypony else, like Sweetie Belle and her singing, or Apple Bloom and the magic she works with a hammer and nails... I've just got flying. She smiled softly before turning back to the bedroom, staring at her friend. "Princess Celestia, huh... well, it's worth a shot. Maybe she can help?"

With a nod, and a flap of her wings, she took off from the window, unknowing of the surprised look on her friend's face as she saw a flare of purple and orange take off on the wind...

"What do you mean 'the Guard has fallen off standards'!?" A white stallion wearing the crest of a Captain shouted across the circular table, sitting in one of the upper floors of the castle's main tower. A glorious view of the valley from the crystal vista window, but the offer seemed to fall on deaf ears as an argument rocked the ivory-stoned room.

"I mean exactly that, Captain Shining Armor. And I would prefer it if you didn't raise your voice at me." The white alicorn answered back, staring into the eyes of her now-completely-enraged commander, "The Royal Guard has been performing at a lesser and lesser quality over the years."

"All those mistakes were of no cause in my ranks! I've dealt with the Lieutenants handing my orders down already!" Armor grimaced, "I don't see why it comes back to my ground soldiers!"

"I'm not suggesting it's their fault, but somepony in the chain is passing off false intelligence. Your investigation in Cloudsdale has consistently turned up false alerts, despite the constant 'threats' that your officers keep finding. I want the investigation called off, and for the Solar Guard to be put under review."

"Princess, this is crazy! I trust my soldiers, and I know the intel is right! Something's going on in that city! We just need a few more days to-"

"You will cease this investigation, or I will, Captain. And I do not wish to raise a hoof against Equestria's finest." Celestia turned around to the vista window, staring outside to the massive conglomeration of clouds in the distance, the center of much controversy in the Guard. Two weeks have been spent on this silly investigation, and the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation has been very cooperative... there's nothing going on up there, so why do we keep getting notified every time a pony sneezes?

"Princess Luna, please, reconsider!" Armor pleaded, feeling his argument slipping.

Luna simply sighed, shaking her head, "We are sorry, Captain... the investigation will be called off, and Captain Night Splitter will carry out the review with you. I'm sure you will quickly find the crack in the chain..." she nodded to Armor as the aggression in his expression slipped away, "Good luck, sir."

"... Might I... be excused, Your Highness?" Armor looked down at the ground, brow furrowed slightly.

"You are dismissed, Captain. I want this review started within twenty four hours." With the cold words from Celestia, Armor bowed and walked out, the doors slamming shut behind him in a last exclamation of his anger. "That stallion is just getting more and more angry as the days go by... claims of colts and fillies disappearing in Cloudsdale..."

"Sister, he doesn't care for the 'Flock' and its practice of banishing those who fail their school system's exit exam. And we have tried to turn things around... but to no avail." Luna sighed, looking over to the cloaked figure leaning on the wall.

"I'm aware, little sister... but they gave us the banishment location, and adolescent pegasi have arrived to queue and quota at that location. They are under constant watch of the Guard, and constantly considered for the Thunder unit under Captain Bastion's watch." Celestia raised her brow slightly, eyes moving down from the massive cloud city to the valley below, as if perceiving something closer to the Drake Ocean... Earthbound Camp stood at the coast, containing the pegasi who failed that dreaded exam. Though they weren't allowed to serve in any weather-associated occupation, many found solace in serving the military as air force troopers, some even ascending to the Thunder division in the force, the elite flyers in the Guard.

"We know, Sister... but it still bothers us. If there is nothing to be done, however... we would like to return to our quarters."

"Of course, Luna. I wouldn't dare keep you up... have a pleasant rest."

"We wish you the same, Sister." Luna nodded to the Princess and walked to the door, the cloaked figure moving in time with her. The figure cast a last glance over his shoulder at the alicorn standing at the window, glaring just slightly as he made sure she didn't notice him.

As the two walked down the hall, soldiers parted and saluted the Princess of the Night as she made her way through the excessively plush and beautiful ivory halls of the castle, moving up the tower. Golden rays of the noon sun leaked in through the tall windows, stained glass murals of heroes and heroins who served with the Guard, in the scientific community, and even well-known civilians recognized for their incredible contributions to society, such as the discovery of precision industrial-cut cloud from Cloudsdale engineer Diamond Edge, or the excessive contributions to medicine and the regeneration of pony flesh from reknowned doctor and Canterlotian 'miracle worker', Shining Mind.

"Place just doesn't change, does it?" The figure mumbled, looking at the numerous murals and displays, lit in a number of colors by the Sun above.

"No... no it doesn't, Reaper. And this is a pleasant thing," Luna spoke as she looked over to him, "But that's not what we're here for, is it?"

"You think those murders are real, hm?" Reaper raised an eyebrow, taking his hood off to reveal his silver hair and beard, looking into his boss' eyes.

"I do."

"Hm... well, I'm not one to argue with you, but Scarlet hasn't noted any deaths recently. Did you get a feeling for one?"

"I didn't... but if we look, I'm sure we can find a wandering soul quite easily. I'm just worried we will actually find one... I pray these accusations are simply false, and that the review will reveal the liar..." Luna sighed, looking up the red velvet staircase leading to the top of the tower, her pace slow and labored.

"I've got a constant eye on Canterlot, but I haven't seen or felt any ghosts. How're we even gonna find one? I take the souls I find with me, and you don't have a Scythe." Reaper grimaced, folding his arms as he turned to his thoughts, Just how're we gonna find a lost soul...?

"Well, once a soul falls under your view, you can find it, can't you?"

"If I have a direct line of sight, or they're near me, sure. Just takes some focus." Reaper nodded, looking to the Princess.

"Then I want you to sit up on the balcony and look. It will give you the best view, and more importantly, a view of Cloudsdale. Just search and see if you can find some souls." Luna rose her voice a touch at the end, nodding as her eyes turned back to the stairs.

"Roger... though, if any deaths did occur... might have another pony on my hit list," Reaper grumbled, Scarlet twitching in respone. A smile hit his face for a moment, but quickly faded as Luna turned to him.

"Alright, we're here. Reaper, I don't want you to do anything rash."

"Death is my business, Your Highness. Has been for a long time, and I only take those who deserve it."

The two Gods reached the top of the stairs, and at the end of a short walk over royal purple carpeting, sat the two doors leading to either Princess' bedroom chambers. One was a stark white with a golden sun emblazoned on it, thick with steel to keep out all those with magic weaker than those who served in the Guard, while the other was a dark blue, a white moon etched into its surface. Luna walked on and pushed the doors open, entering her bed chambers while Reaper stayed outside, hands in his sleeves.

Luna looked over her shoulder, blinking at her servant, "Er... Reaper, what are you doing?"

"Being polite. A man shouldn't enter another's bedroom without permission, after all. That, or I've taken too many honored souls to the afterlife to really tell the difference in conducts..." Reaper grimaced a bit at his pose, reminded too much of a certain blue planet's overly honorable population.

"Ah... very well. You may enter the royal bed chambers of the Princess of the Night, Luna." Luna smiled, expression suggesting 'is that good enough for you?'

"Very much obliged, Princess." Reaper replied in equal mock appreciation, shaking his head with a smile as he walked in, "I'm gonna get to work then."

"Please do. I shall be sleeping, so I would prefer not to be disturbed."

"Don't worry. I'm the universe's sneakiest guy." Reaper shrugged as he walked through the doors leading to the balcony, Luna staring at his back with wide-eyed distress.

"He's... he's kidding, obviously." She blinked, trying to reassure herself before moving over to the plush bed and stepping onto it. She kneaded the surface with her hooves for a little bit before nodding, an appraising raise of the brow and quirk of the mouth decorating her face. She then immediately crashed onto the bed and fell asleep; not even the notion of a God of Death creeping about was going to keep her from Dreamland...

The trip was pleasantly short for the pegasus now screaming through the streets of Canterlot, flying low enough to charge through the passersby on the street, enjoying her new freedom. "Woo! Ok, being able to go through other ponies while flying!? That's awesome!" She grinned, elated at her freedom of movement, despite the ever-constant thought of her condition in the back of her mind. She felt a twinge of worry echo through her as the thought came up, but the sight of the quickly approaching castle quickly grappled the thought and put it down. "Alright, time to visit Princess Celestia!"

She gave her wings a hard flap and landed in front of the massive gates, a confused look on her face. There was something missing to her plan... Umm... found out I'm dead... visited Apple Bloom... heard that prayer, came here... what am I gonna ask her? She raised an eyebrow and tapped her chin, hoof occasionally passing through to her throat. She gulped every time she felt the edge of the hoof pass through to her spine, Woah, that's a weird feeling... kinda like clogging your windpipe! She quickly placed her hoof back on the ground, pondering on what she was going to say to the Princess.

Would she even know how to deal with a dead pony? Nah, she's really tough. Lived for a thousand years! I can depend on her... I know it. Scootaloo furrowed her brow, looking up at the massive gates... the gates that would lead to her freedom, and to getting her life back. Ok, Your Highness... I need you more than ever now... steeling her mind, she took a step forward... then another, each one a heavy, weighted labor towards the light at the end of her short, dark tunnel. Her eyes fixed on the elegant, massive doors to the main hall of the castle, soldiers walking on their typical patrols.

The gleam of gold only caught the corner of her eyes, the shine of steel a short glimmer on her singular road, mere stars ignored as she walked toward the Sun. She walked through the main doors, the massive ivory and metal incapable of slowing her down, as her eyes rose up the velvet staircase. Though the sight that met her was not of the holy Princess of the Day... nor the hallowed Princess of the Night... but a being she'd never even seen before.

His cloak drifted on an invisible wind, hood concealing his face. His stature easily towered over the adolescent mare's, and her eyes widened slightly at the chill running down her spine. Who... is this guy? And w-why do I feel so scared?

"... Hello, little pony," the cloaked figure said with a light tone, white smile glinting in the darkness that concealed his features.

"Hi... w-who are you?" Scootaloo took a step back to the door, eyes locked on the mysterious figure, Something's wrong here... I feel heavy...

"A friend... saw you flying into the city, thought I'd come greet you." He took a few steps down the velvet stairs, the light around him surrendering to the weight of the air around him. Scootaloo continued backing away, trying to keep a distance between her and the approaching ghost.

"H-How do I know that? The g-greeting's nice, but..."

"You've got nothing to worry about, kid." The smile widened into a grin as he took his hood off, "I had to play the mysterious guy, at least for a bit."

"That's... not reassuring." Her brow fell, examining the face of the mysterious figure. "You sure don't look like a pony..."

The grin fell to a mocking smirk, blue eyes burrowing into her own violet orbs, "Well! Look at the eyes on this pony! You're right, I'm not a pony."

"Well, then what are you?" Scootaloo's rump hit the door, and she lowered herself into a charge, wings spreading. The figure stopped his advance, smirk descending into a neutral scowl, eyebrow rising.

"Listen, kid, I'm not here to fight. We're supposed to introduce ourselves before a real discussion, right?" The figure gestured with his hands in an apologetic motion, bowing slightly.

"Yeah... a stallion's supposed to introduce himself before asking a mare. If you wanna do an intro right..."

"Then I gotta follow the rules. Haven't got a name to share though, little missy, but I've got a title that works as well." His mouth spread into that same grin as he bowed fully to her, hand behind his back, "Title's Grim Reaper, Lord of Souls and God of Death. You can call me Reaper, though... realize the title's a bit long."

Scootaloo's eyes shot wide at the mention, feeling her chest pound with a heart beat, despite the lack of her eternal engine, "R-R-Reaper!?" Her eyes quickly whipped around, seeing a multitude of guards marching around on their typical patrol, some walking right by the self-proclaimed Lord of Death. She gulped, a scream getting tied up in her throat as paralyzing fear overcame her... P-P-P-Princess...

Reaper stood back up, folding his arms as he appraised the now-trembling mare before him, her entire form seeming to shake itself to pieces in his presence. "Sheesh, you're a scared little filly, aren't ya?"

"I-I-I'm not s-scared! I-I c-can't be! I've... I've got too much to do with my life!" The mare forced her strength back up as much as she could, but couldn't fight back the shivering in her knees. The guards continued on, ignorant of the discussion happening right there in front of them... no help could be expected, or even prayed for. "I'm n-n-not ready t-to go yet!"

"That so...? But I've gotta take the dead with me to the afterlife. What've you got to do that's so special, kid?" Reaper raised his eyebrow, not moving from his place in the center of the hall.

"M-My name's not 'kid'! It's Scootaloo!" She took a deep breath, trying to quell the bombs going off in her chest, the piston that refused to quiet down as she focused on the strange ghost's face. Their eyes stared into each other, two with a simple look of neutrality, while the other two were filled with indignant rebellion, a fierce aggression towards the spirit of Death. "I'm not going yet..."

Reaper smirked, softening his gaze, "I don't plan to take you away that quick. But I can see you've got a story, kid..."

"Yeah, I do... but I'm not sharing it with you. Where's... w-where're the Princesses?"

"Celestia and Luna...?"

"Yeah. You... you better not've done anything to them!" Scootaloo bared her teeth, prepping her charge again... only to be answered by a hard laugh, Reaper putting a hand to his forehead as he guffawed.

"Do anything to them!? You have any idea what Princess Luna would do to me if I tried killing either of them? Trust me, Nightmare Moon's the tip of the iceberg in that situation!" He held his chest as he continued laughing, a heavy laugh that seemed to deafen the room.

"Ok, ok! Stop yelling! J-Just tell me where they are, creep!" She put a hoof to her ringing ear, grimacing.

"Right, right... sorry." Reaper smiled, folding his arms again, "Celestia's up in the board room right now... but you can't see her."

"Why not?"

"Because she can't see you, kiddo." Reaper sighed, "The Princess of the Day can't see ghosts like you or I can."

"W-Whadya mean?"

"I mean you're outta luck. Only one you'll be talking to is me." Reaper quirked his mouth, staring at her with an expression that seemed to suggest 'You seriously expected something else?', his raised eyebrow topping it all off.

A feeling of ice speeding through her veins dropped Scootaloo's rump to the floor, eyes wide in shock. Her lip quivered as her lungs froze solid, heart stopping as her ears drooped. The whole world fell silent to her at the finality of the phrase, as if sharing a moment of silence for her loss... a deafening moment that stretched to an eternity. There were perks to being dead...

But apparently, coming back to life wasn't one of them...

"But... b-b-but... h-how do I g-get my body back, then...? I-I..." Scootaloo barely managed a whimper, heart tearing itself apart as the reality came down on her. I t-thought the Princess... I t-thought she could help... darn i-it, Scootaloo! She sniffled, eyes falling to the floor, "I-I don't... w-wanna be dead..."

"... Don't wanna be dead, huh?" Reaper sighed, walking over to the crushed pony, and kneeled down in front of her. She didn't dare raise her head to him, forcing her tears back; she didn't shed a tear as she stared into that devil's eyes... didn't crack as her ribs shattered... didn't relent as she was devoured by that evil machine. She hadn't cried since she was a little filly...

I'm not... g-gonna break down... in front of this ghost...! Scootaloo clenched her teeth, eyes slammed shut, but the sheer weight of everything pulled harder and harder on her chest... E-Even if... I can't f-fly in Cloudsdale anymore. C-Can't see Orion anymore... or Apple Bloom, or Sweetie Belle... o-or even Babs. I'm not gonna... b-break down in front of him! She sniffled again, every instinct begging her to give into her emotions.

"Kid, look at me."

A hand gently cupped her chin, but her head stayed resolute in its position, despite its gentle presses against her chin. "N-No... just... i-if I'm... d-dead, th-then I don't wanna pass on. Just l-let me roam..." she whispered, barely able to get the words past her unsteady mouth.

"You didn't die the way you were supposed to."

"Wh... what?" Scootaloo blinked, eyes still locked on the floor. The surprise didn't last long as her eyes squinted, then closed again, "Well, so what if I didn't...? Doesn't change t-the fact that I'm dead." Her heart continued sinking into its black pit, the corners of her eyes starting to feel damp.

"I'm saying that the one responsible isn't going to be able to get away with this." Reaper pulled on her chin, Scootaloo finally surrendering to the movement, and the two pairs of eyes met. "Just gotta talk to me, kid. I may be the Grim Reaper, but that doesn't mean I have to be cold."

"But... w-what can you do?" Scootaloo nearly squeaked out the words, simply feeling the need to curl up into a ball, her emotions a torrential storm on the shore of her mind, tearing away the beach with wave after wave of crushing water.

Reaper smirked at the eyes searching his own, "I've dealt with cases like you. Just tell me your story, and I'll see what I can do about it."

"W-Why, though?"

"Well, call me a sucker for being the big hero. But honestly, seeing a soul pass on before their time? It feels like a waste of life and talent. I help out whenever I can, but I can't get all the killers out there. Doesn't mean I can't get yours." Reaper's brow fell, a serious look gracing his usually-jovial expression. When work calls, can't do much beyond answering it...

Scootaloo blinked, searching the blue eyes in front of her for any notion of a lie. The look never faltered in its cold stare, the oceans seeming to draw her into an icy sea, threatening to drown her... "If... y-you are telling the truth, right?"

"Kid, I haven't got any reason to lie. May be a Reaper, but I'm a man of my word."

"Well... c-can we at least see one of the Princesses...?"

"Princess Luna is asleep... but she'll wanna see this. C'mon." Reaper rose to his feet and walked towards the steps, Scarlet clanking on his back. The gleaming steel reflected Scootaloo's face, as if marking a target for an occasion down the road... but the mare followed, despite it.

The landscape stretched dark and barren under the pale moon, casting light down on the sand below. A sole figure walked the sands towards the horizon, unsure of what lied beyond it...

How long have I been walking in this desert? The figure pondered, a dust cloud kicked up in front of her by a mischievous wind, wanting to make her progress just a little more difficult; it was a trained skill that she didn't speak to herself there, lest she breathe in that suffocating sand. The wind gently played in her mane as her thoughts carried on...

Started dreaming of this place when I first became Princess... after Discord surrendered the throne to us. It was a difficult battle... surprised that Celestia actually survived it. There are drawbacks to not being born of Law. She sighed, a quick flick of her horn weaving a bandanna from the air, tying across her muzzle; even breathing was difficult without some kind of cover. Why though? Can't just be an interesting place my sub-conscious built, could it?

She whined, Fourteen hundred years, and I've had this dream, or some variation of it, every time I fell asleep! Wonder if somepony could enter my dreams, help me figure this out... though, maybe I'm just being overly cautious. At least it's easy to think here. A light smirk grew on her face, the deep blue bandanna hiding it behind the thin fabric. Her eyes squinted in the face of a hot wind, though only her muzzle felt the warmth. This is new... The wind blew again, following a pattern; each time the heat passed across her face, a chill would move back through her mane and behind her ears.

Wait... there's a sound to this... is-

Her eyes snapped open in the real world, staring into the familiar face of her cloaked servant. "Hi boss!"

"Wah!!!" She leapt out of her bed and slammed into the ceiling in shock, leaving a good dent from how hard she flapped her wings. "Reaper!? D-Don't do that! This is highly inappropriate!"

Reaper grinned, letting out a raspy laugh, "Sorry, but I had to have a little bit of fun! Look at your face, seriously!"

"Hehehe, yeah! Oh, um, s-sorry, Princess Luna... I tried to tell him not to!"

Luna rubbed her spine, brow furrowing at the new voice, "Wait, who is this with you, Reaper?"

"Someone who wants to see you, Your Highness." Reaper got up and moved away from the bed, preferring to let the wall hold him up in a lean. Luna groaned a bit and looked over, moving her hoof from her spine to rub her eyes; cursed drowsy haze! She blinked a few times to get the last of it out, staring at the mare sitting in the middle of the room.

"Reaper, don't ever do that again," Luna hissed, squinting her eyes slightly to focus on the new arrival.

"Sorry, sorry, boss... can't scare you any other way, though." Reaper quirked his mouth, "Seriously, you're impossible to scare."

"That doesn't mean you get to come in here and... wait." Luna tilted her head slightly, staring at the purple mane over the violet eyes, the orange coat and wings, memories welling up. "I saw you... Nightmare Night in Ponyville, quite a long time ago." Her eyes scanned the mare, seeing her elegant dresser through the orange coat, and her heart sank... "Oh dear..."

"If you mean the see-through thing... yeah. I... I came to ask for help." Scootaloo shifted her stance a bit, eyes on the ground. She lowered herself into a bow and cleared her throat, "I mean, um... I humbly request help from you, Your Highness."

"There's no need for such formality, my little pony. Those who have passed on are family to me, so please, call me Luna." The Princess adjusted herself on her bed, cricking her spine back into place, Hit the ceiling a bit harder than I thought... ouch.

"I-I couldn't, Your Highness."

"Please. The Flock made itself a sovereign state three years ago. You don't need to address me as Princess anymore... though it is a kind gesture."

"But..."

"I won't throw you in the dungeon or anything, so worry not." Luna offered a gentle smile, "You may raise your head."

"Thank you." Scootaloo sat down, looking over at her, "Are you able to help me though, Prin- er... Luna?"

Luna's smile faded, looking over at Reaper, simply returning her neutral look with a scowl. Scootaloo looked between them, the exchange of expressions pulling down on her as Luna turned back. The fallen look in her eye just pulled Scootaloo down further, view falling to the floor just in front of her hooves... the weight of the world sat heavy on her shoulders as she felt her eyes well up again.

"I'm... sorry, my little pony. The fact that you're wandering around like this means it is too late..." Luna shook her head, a morose expression befalling her face as she fought to keep her eyes on the mare.

"Wh-Whadya mean... too late?"

"I mean... well, even my necromancy couldn't bring you back. Look at yourself, little one."

Scootaloo scanned her body half-heartedly, already knowing there was no way out of the situation she was in. May as well... she thought to herself, and after a few seconds of searching, she looked back up at the Princess. "Was I supposed to... find anything?"

"Yes, you were. The remnants of chains."

"Chains?" Scootaloo raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Why would I be looking for chains?"

Reaper simply scoffed, smirking. Scootaloo turned her eyes to him at the sound, nearly glaring, "What's so funny, big man?"

"Ah, nothing. Don't these kids know anything, Princess?" Reaper smirked, the Princess merely holding her eyes on Scootaloo.

"Necromancy, and the associated practices, were banned six hundred years ago. Such a notion that she would know about the Chains is insane..."

"I suppose it's for the best."

"Wait, what're you talking about? Necromancy is about bringing dead ponies back to life, right? What's wrong with knowing that?" Scootaloo raised her eyebrow in honest curiosity, looking back and forth between the two beings with her, "Heh... i-it's not like you can kill me over it..."

"We wouldn't consider the option, little one. But it is privileged knowledge... something we can be certain you will not use. But the point here is that these chain remnants are not present on your body..." Luna tapped her chin in thought, turning her eyes to the deep blue, velvet sheets, "What happened to your body? Tell us."

Scootaloo blinked, at first in surprise, then slowly into disbelief. The fact that her death was irreversible threatened to break her, but sharing how she died? She quivered, shockwaves traveling through her like earthquakes, outwardly imperceptible, but every wave rattled her insides like a child's toy in the hooves of a giant. Her breaths reduced to raspy, shaking hisses as her mind locked. T-Talk... about my death...? B-But, what if they don't believe me? I'm- I'm blaming Rainbow Dash for this...

She bit her lip, trying to use the pain to cripple her sadness, but the bastions of her mind fell in the storm... she couldn't hold, feeling the familiar pressure of tears in her eyes as they turned to the ground, the shivers becoming shattering shakes. The shining blue floor below her offered nothing but the disgraceful reflection of herself, wracked with sorrow and apprehension. The sight made her feel sick... I look so sad... so hurt... s-s-she deserves it... she killed me... s-she killed me for the sake of putting more rainbows in the sky...!

The hoof placed on her shoulder took her by complete surprise, Is... t-that hoof real? It feels like I h-have a body again... she could barely comprehend the notion as she was pulled into a gentle hug, her reflection dying to a sea of soft, blue fur. The warmth passed through her, the previous cold of death vanishing as she felt her body warm up, degree by degree... simply surrendering to the embrace.

"It's alright, little one..." she heard the sea whisper, her own emotions going to war against each other. She felt anger swell like a volcano in her stomach, sadness drown everything around her, shock paralyze her mind... the Chaos within her simply burning her defenses to the ground as she felt tears fall from her eyes. "Let it out..."

The last of the walls crumbled, and the mare descended into a pained wail, quickly wrapping her forelegs around whatever they could in a tight hug. The sea tightened its grasp around her as she simply screamed into it, years of failure all crashing on the shore of her mind in one terrible tsunami. Her body shivered with each cry, sobs broken with wracked breaths as she tried to take in enough air, only to have it cut off by another crash of her emotion... not a word passed through her mind, simply wanting to let everything out of her heart. All the weight of her past failures, all the depression that Orion had helped her endure... the sheer, paralyzing sorrow of that sky blue demon, the last thing she saw before death took her away from the world...

Away from her friends, away from her love, away from all her hopes and dreams... they say the road of life is long and filled with potholes, but what kills a pony is the drop at the end. Everything came back to a single realization for the poor filly, gently floating in the blue, warm sea...

It was the end of the line... she would never achieve anything again.

The realization just brought more pain to her screams, the sea taking every agonizing scream she could give, every single chaotic thought, every last bit of her pain... she simply let it all go.

Reaper averted his eyes, deciding that the wall was more appropriate to look at while the poor mare broke down. No one should ever be like this after death... no one should ever have a reason to be. I already knew she was gone before her time, but this is just... he placed his hand over his heart, grimacing, Listening to her cry like that? Don't think I've felt pain like this in millenia...

Luna simply held the shuddering emotional wreck in her hug, chin in the purple forest of a mane. Her chest felt drenched from the rivers of tears, but she held strong against the tide. She will share her tale with us when she is ready... but for now, we must be her guard. She gently nuzzled the mane as the cries continued, simply trying to provide some comfort as her ears fell, trying to protect her own heart from the pained sobs. Her hooves gently stroked Scootaloo, trying to show as much motherly care as she could, praying that it would be enough to hold her together.

Finally, after what felt like hours of simply drowning in the warmth before her, Scootaloo's tears dried up. An anvil hung from her chest, forelegs still clamped around what she tried to hug, but her sobs fell into simple, quiet breaths. I feel like a filly again... just can't get more tears out...

"Are you alright, little one?" The ocean whispered to her ear, the dark helping to ease her tensions.

Mom... she thought, eyes barely open to just watch the fur before her, ear close enough to hear a gentle heartbeat. Her own tide slowed to a gentle ebb and flow, her breaths coming longer and more stable. "I'm... my name is Scootaloo."

"Scootaloo, my apologies... do you feel better?"

"Yeah... a bit. I still feel really heavy, but I've cried all I can..." her hooves wrapped just a little bit tighter around the warmth before her, resting her head on it. She didn't let the blue out of her sight, not wanting to come back to reality just yet.

"Do you need more time?"

"No. I can speak... just... can I ask a favor?"

"Of course, Scootaloo."

"D-Don't... don't l-let me go..."

"I will stay here as long as you need me..." The warmth filled her as the words fell into her mind on a breeze, surrounded her as if she were resting on a cloud under the summer sun... and as she thought back to one such day, the laughs of her friends around her, a smile grew on her face... strength leaked back into her as she took a deep breath, letting the safety of the space in front of her take away her worries.

"Thank you." She gulped, focusing, "The way I died... it's not the usual way. I didn't mess up my flying... or crash into anything... I..." she paused, mind starting to lock up again, I have to explain. I have to! I c-can't let Rainbow Dash get away with this... I can't let her get away with killing me! She... s-she... She felt her body starting to shiver again with the thoughts, cold spreading through her, No! She n-needs... s-she needs...

"H-Help..." the word tumbled out of her mouth on a path of gravel, raspy and weak, "S-She... n-needs help..."

"Who needs help?"

"R... R-R... Ra-ainbow..."

"Rainbow...?"

"D-Dash..." The tide began to swell again, threatening to drown the broken mare in her own sadness once more. She breathed slow and hard, forcing it back down.

"Rainbow Dash... is she in danger?"

"No... s-she... k..."

"She...? Did she do this?"

Scootaloo simply squeaked into the fur, eyes closing.

"She killed you?"

"Y-Yes!" Her voice rose as the tide immediately exploded, assaulting the shore of her mind, "S-She killed me! Broke my ribs!! Fed me to that machine!! She's evil! Evil! I hate her! I hate her so much!!"

"It's alright, Scootaloo, calm yourself!"

"No!! She was my hero, and just because I messed up one little exam, she murdered me! D-Didn't even say she was sorry, or cried, or said it wasn't her choice! Just killed me along with everypony else!" Somewhere deep inside her, a volcano simply let go of all the rage it had built up, vaporizing the sadness that had conquered her mind for so long, "She should die! P-Ponies didn't get to live out their lives because of her!"

Scootaloo shoved away from Luna, rolling backwards over her head and immediately opened her wings, aiming for the door to the balcony, "I'm gonna get her!!" With a flap, she blasted towards the glass, aiming straight for the tiny cloud city on the horizon...

Only to be grabbed by something hitting her chest. She frantically flailed her hooves, the only thing worthy of her red-misted sight being the city beyond the door. I have to get there! I can't let anypony stop me!! She deserves this! ALL OF IT!! I'M GONNA KILL HER!

"Calm down, kid. It's bad enough to see a soul cry like this." A cold voice reached to her from the side, the grip around her chest tightening as she continued her mad flails.

"Shut up! I need to do this! I need to bring her down for all those foals who died!"

"Oh yeah? And what're you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna grab her head, make her look me in the eyes, make her cry for ever doing this! I'm gonna... I'm gonna...!"

"You're not gonna do a thing."

"Why!?" Her eyes whipped around to the cloaked figure on the wall, filled with all the rage she'd kept buried since her death. The feeling of being sent off to the Factory, just because she didn't pass her exam... the anger of seeing Orion fail, just because he went to help Aurora... everything that had built up over her time at the Factory; Doctor Atmosphere, the foals being attacked, Rainbow Dash murdering a path to her!

"Because, the way you are now? All you'll be doing is screaming at a brick wall," Reaper spoke rather calmly, despite the wrath aimed at him, holding the mare steady in the air. "What can you do to a living thing, Scootaloo? Tell me."

"I can haunt her... I can go into her dreams, make her guilty..."

"Princess Luna can do that. But all I've seen are ghosts who have shifted things in a house, scaring the residents a little. Poltergeists aren't feared anymore, kiddo."

"Then what can I do!? This is something I have to do!"

"This isn't, kid. Now calm down."

"No!! Put me down right now! I want to do this! I need payback! I need answers!" Scootaloo continued thrashing, pumping her wings as she tried to tear Reaper's arm off, flailed her hooves to try and break down the wall between her and the target of her wrath, mind completely consumed with the need of an answer. "Those foals need vengeance!"

"Revenge isn't something you should degrade yourself with!"

"Why not!?"

"Because a foal like you? A pure soul who's just passed on!? You've got the best shot out of everyone there at a good afterlife, and I'm not gonna let you screw that up!"

"What's the point of an afterlife if the one responsible doesn't pay!?"

"Then let me do it!!"

She stopped. Her eyes remained locked on the man's face, staring into his eyes like she had only twenty minutes before... "Wh-What'd you say?"

"I said, let me get payback for you."

"Why? Why would you...?"

"Because... throughout my work, I've never seen a soul break down like that. I've dealt with murder cases, I've dealt with disease, and I've dealt with deaths that were merely Time taking its toll. And no one's ever shattered like that... not even when facing their final moments with me." Reaper grimaced, actually showing an amount of agony on his face, "It hurts, damn it. It hurts more than you can believe, because my job is supposed to give you ghosts a good afterlife, one without regrets... and taking you away like this? I'd rather not be called Reaper anymore."

"Reaper, what are you saying?" Luna stared at him, surprise on her face. He's... he's never acted like this before...

"I'm saying that I want to give this mare what she wants. From the sounds of it, coming back to life would be impossible... but her last wish is payback for her murderer," Reaper hissed as he gripped his scythe, "And by Law, I'm gonna make sure she regrets every second of watching Scootaloo die."

Scootaloo blinked at him, an expression of shock on her face. An image of when she first met Orion came to her as she stared into those eyes... Orion... h-he did the same for me... against those bullies. He fought them all when they wouldn't stop insulting my flying... it hurt so much, hearing those names. Her lip quivered, Wingless... pathetic... earth pony reject... Ch-Chicken...

"Let me fight for you, Scootaloo."

Her eyes shot wide at the sound of the voice... voices. Her eyes locked on a faint image of Orion next to Reaper, the sound of him coming as clear as the first time she'd heard him. "Orion...?"

"Let us fight for you..." the image spoke, clear as day. "Don't stain yourself with this."

"But-"

"No buts... I didn't get my chance to admit my feelings for you until the last moment. But, at least... allow this stallion to support his love in her time of need. Let us... let me do this."

Her body fell slack, pupils shrunk to pinpricks as she listened to him. Her ravaged breaths barely satisfied her lungs' need for oxygen, but her focus was completely stolen. "Orion... is... i-is that you...?"

"It is..."

"Why'd you h-have to die...?"

"Life's cruel like that, Scootaloo. But I'm not going to let this stop me. So please, calm down..."

The grip on her chest finally released, dropping the mare to the ground. Her body rose onto its hooves and walked over to Orion, eyes going over his image, just trying to accept that it was real. Her hoof ran slowly across his cheek, his own hoof rising to grip hers. Is... th-this real? she sniffled, pulling the image of him into a gentle hug; it felt real enough... "Orion... I miss you..."

"I miss you, too," he whispered back. "Scootaloo... please, I need your answer."

Scootaloo moved back, looking into his eyes. Orion stood stalwart, a look of determination aimed back at his love, one that wouldn't falter. No matter how much she stared into him, the look wouldn't change or diminish... certainty shone like a light in his eyes. "I... I d-don't want to lose you again..."

"I'm never lost, Scootaloo... but I'm more afraid of you losing yourself. Don't let your anger control you." he gently returned the hug, Scootaloo's hooves moving up to his neck, "I don't want to lose the mare I love because of all this..."

"Why, Orion...? Why won't you let me do this?"

"Revenge corrupts the soul, Scootaloo. You have a lot ahead of you, even like this... you have many dreams, all within your reach. You have an eternity to achieve everything you ever wanted... but this would simply drag you down." Orion shook his head, "Don't concern yourself with vengeance... and don't take this fight on alone. Not when you have friends to help you."

He smiled to her, looking back into her sorrowful gaze, "You're tough, Scootaloo, and I love that about you... but this is one fight you don't have to fight alone."

Scootaloo simply stared at him, considering her options. A fight I don't have to go to alone...?

"Listen to me, Scootaloo. Don't take this burden on your own... because nopony should ever march to a battle without a friend by their side. Let me prove I can love you... and let me prove I can support you, no matter what comes up."

"... Alright, Orion..." Scootaloo closed her eyes, trying to manage a smile, "I don't like the idea... but... at least let me stand by you..."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way." Orion leaned in towards her, placing his muzzle against hers. Her eyes opened to the feeling entirely alien to her, his hug tightening slightly.

Scootaloo's eyes widened at the embrace, frozen. Is he... k-kissing me? Her mind reeled, but instead of pulling away or struggling, she simply relaxed... a feeling ran through her mind, causing her heart to race, fluttering in tune with the grey chest against hers. Her legs wrapped tighter around his neck as the tide built again, pushing further into the kiss. Always thought t-this would happen... before I died...

Closing her eyes, she felt a warm trail draw down her cheeks... Why am I crying? She thought as she tried to relax, but the trembling just wouldn't cease. Her mind rumbled with blind emotion, the chaos combining into a single ebb and flow... a tide that rose and fell with greater strength in time with her heart; sadness, joy, safety, worry... love. She simply listened to the flow, felt her lover's heart beat in time with her's, and with him by her side, she watched the sun set over the violet tide... and she held him until the sun vanished from the horizon of her mind.

Scootaloo opened her eyes to stare at the wall across from her, lips still puckered and hooves still in the air... yet no contact to tell her something was there. No face to love, no eyes to lose herself in... no kiss to keep her from the cruel whips of reality. She let her hooves drop to the floor, eyes still staring into the space that her coltfriend once occupied... a stallion that she had mere moments to confess to, one that she was separated from as soon as she found out. But she didn't feel lonely... she had shared something special with him before he disappeared. Her heart calmed, but beat with strength, confidence, and a small smile grew across her face.

"Thank you, Orion," she whispered to the empty air, nopony around to hear the silent wind respond to her...

Hooves slammed down on the metal catwalk, belonging to a very angered mare. Her sky blue coat was covered in bandages and tape to close up her open wounds, though the loss of blood did little to slow her down. Rage still boiled deep within her stomach. "That stupid filly... looking back at me like I'd save her life. It was her mistake that put her here..." she growled, the raspy voice leaking out of her mouth like lava. Had to work so hard to get her back to that room! She was close to escaping, too... good thing she went down that chute.

"I'm gonna give Management a piece of my mind about security around here... lost a lot of pegasi in that fight. Had to kill six of them myself. Useless, the lot of them." She looked around at the pegasi flying about, few in number to tend to the wounded and deceased; records had to be written, news stories had to be thought up. Management fought hard to keep this floor of the factory a secret, and all the PR she had to do to please the Royal Guard only served to anger her further. "I need some of that anti-headache stuff... just been feeling really angry lately."

Her suit hung in tatters from her body, only the blood red part of her mane left on her head, as the rest had been torn off in her mad dash to catch her 'friend'. Been doing this for years, ever since that first Sonic Rainboom... was recruited two years after I ran from Cloudsdale. Funny how quickly I settled into all this. Seen foals get eaten by that machine, get turned into Spectra. At least this way, they've got a purpose they can perform without fail... and hey, we still send some of them off to the Camp on the coast.

She smirked to herself, "It's only the bad ones that get eaten, after all... poor lil' Scoots was unlucky enough to be on that list." Her eyes turned down a hall, three pegasi clearing a path for her as she walked down the other catwalk, industrial cut cloud standing tall around her. The white clouds tended to emit their own light from the electricity running inside them; the entire factory powered itself on a condensed thunder cloud in the core. Lightning strikes were collected and sent out, but it was really erratic. Bet there's gonna be another power outage in my office... She thought, scowling.

The hall was blank, undetailed, simply filled with lumpy clouds and catwalks stretching in every direction. The factory followed no code of connective pathways, since a pegasus' wings granted complete freedom in the air, so all they did was keep the clouds from closing rooms up. It was surprising just how difficult it could be to open those clouds up; their shape retention was stronger than steel. If the things weren't so heavy for pegasi to carry around, it'd make some very strong armor.

Good thing the Factory, and most of Cloudsdale, was made from it. Rainbow came up to her door after pondering on what could be considered a parade of worst-case scenarios rolling through her head, most of which having to do with the freaky power and her office. The lighting just never worked when she wanted it to... "Alright, here we go... where's my medication?" She stomped in onto the concrete-like cloud, her hooves making a loud 'clack, clack' that echoed off the equally-strong walls. "Sheesh... more paperwork, great."

She sat down on her chair, looking around at the dull, grey surfaces that comprised her prison cell of menial labor. Her desk was a mere four steel legs and table top affair, decorated with two pictures of the Wonderbolts - one signed by Captain Spitfire - and a monolith of papers that she might have neglected to do over the past week. Uuugh... where's Paper Tape when you need him? He's supposed to handle all this for the week... she wondered as her head leaned on her hoof, staring out the open doorway.

"Right, that's this year's quota made up... everypony should be getting back to usual operations in the next few days. Means I'll finally be able to go back to Ponyville, take a break on one of the clouds..." her voice trailed off, thinking back to the filly's face as the machine started to consume her... the compliment, spoken without fear... those eyes without an ounce of pain, merely... judgement. Her mouth curled into a scowl, placing her spare hoof on the desk. Why wasn't she scared? Every single pegasus I hit and bit into during that scuffle was scared of me... scared of my coworkers. Why not her? Her hoof started tapping on the desk as she thought, The Cloudsdale Weather Corp is a wing of the Flock... everypony's scared of the system, at least a little. Even us, but it's a job we have to do; clean the skies, make sure every pegasus up here is actually capable of doing their job.

So what if we found a way to use the bad ones? It's better than sending them all off to the camp. Pegasi are supposed to be the shining beacon in this country, a race to look up to... the unicorns have their monarchy, and the earth ponies have their control over the land. What've we got? Efficiency. Brutal efficiency in our work. We control the weather, so it falls on us to make sure Equestria's weather is good... can't have a rookie up there screwing everything up; it'd kill more ponies than what we're killing. She sighed, looking over at the picture of her idol, Spitfire... you're one of the few who got out of the Flock and made a name for yourself... heh. Look at me. Dead end job, terrible suit, and I'm managing Spectra creation... hmph. Wish I was like you, Captain... then I could get out of this bloody circle.

"So boring... well, only another few hours until the shift's done, Rainbow. Then you can get outta here..." she mumbled to herself, leaning back in the chair as she stared at the ceiling. She imagined rocketing through the clouds around Ponyville, her lightning-kicks demolishing the obstacles in her path... a little filly's laugh from behind her. Stop thinking about that... she screwed up and paid the price. She never would've made it in the Guard... The laughter vanished from her day dream, simply crashing through cloud after cloud.

She nodded at her work and flew down to the streets below, numerous ponies waving to her, complimenting her on her work, asking if she wanted to go to Sugarcube Corner with them... wondering where Scootaloo went... Stop it! The questions vanished, the streets falling silent. The ponies around simply smiled and waved, Rainbow happily returning the gesture as she went on towards her favorite treats shop.

As she pushed open the door, a familiar mare was waiting behind the counter for her, grinning her usual grin. She asked if Rainbow wanted anything, replied with an order for two Sprinkle Supreme Cupcakes, followed by an inward chuckle at how silly the name sounded... just how it was so like the mare when she made her treats, giving them crazy names... Pinkie Pie... haven't seen her in a while. Bet she's doing well. The thoughts tumbled through her mind as the mare came back, giving the brown bag to Rainbow. The mare asked where Rainbow's friend was, leaning over to try and see the orange pony who always followed her idol- Shut up! Stop thinking about her! She's dead, and there's nothing that can be done about it. Rainbow grimaced at the ceiling as the pink mare shot her a convicting look, asking if something happened.

Rainbow replied that there was nothing wrong, but the questions kept coming. Where is she? What's she doing? Why isn't she with you? Didn't she go flying with you? Shut up shut up shut up!! The final roar, the day dream fell apart, a look of shock on the pink mare as she faded from the day dream. "What's wrong with me...? M-Maybe it's just shock from the work... yeah. My daydreams would always ask me where those foals are... what happened to them... how their parents are. All part of the job, Rainbow." She shook her head, burying her face in her hooves as she tried to rub the exhaustion from her brow, "All part of the job..."

The day dream started again, this time walking to the Golden Oaks Library, the same place she first found out about Daring Do. Well, heh... the first place was the hospital. Couldn't put it down since then. She chuckled, shaking her head slightly as the door was pushed open. As usual, there was a lavender mare sitting behind one of the desks, reading away... Probably a dictionary this time... some crazy thick book that I'd take weeks to read... she smiled to the mare across the lobby, getting a smile back from her friend. Rainbow inquired about the next Daring Do book, her friend nodding to one of the shelves behind her in response; a fresh copy of the newest novel was sitting on its lonesome... all alone on the shelf.

As Rainbow walked over to it, she felt a questioning glance on the side of her head, but cast it aside as coincidence... she took the book in her hoof, grinning at the cover; her hero swinging valiantly over a large mine, carrying a golden statue under her foreleg... So brave... just like Spitfire. A pegasus, just like me... her smile faded slightly, but she quickly shook her head, the envy rolling away from the front of her mind. Hungry for another adventure into the Darirus Jungle, she opened the cover to look at the table of contents. Her head tilted in confusion at the titles of the chapters; none of them made sense...

A Valiant Sacrifice... Questioning Authority... "Already Made Up My Mind"... Why'd You Do It? The dream shattered on the last title, Rainbow's eyes widening as her desk came back into view. "Must... must be stress... it's making me think weird things." She lifted her head and gave it a shake, staring at the deep-red oak of her desk. "Yeah, s-stress... that's all. Nothing else."

Rainbow closed her eyes again, imagining the farm. Here to help out with the harvest... nothing weird about that. She smiled, enjoying the sweet smell of apples hanging on the trees, the orchard stretching out around her for seemingly miles... a familiar Stetson came into view, shielding the mare's head under it from the cooking sun. The two friends grinned at each other, the also-familiar lightning between their eyes already kicking up. The orange mare offered a bet to see who could buck the most trees in an hour, Rainbow all too happy to accept the bet... loser had to give up an important secret, one they'd never tell anypony otherwise.

The competition kicked off in a hurry, both mares running off across the orchard, and they just started kicking. No scary voices, no unbearable questions, no questioning glances... just good, honest work. Rainbow used her wings to catapult herself from tree to tree, kicking and kicking, apples falling into baskets that seemed to appear when she looked away. The sun drew a quick path across the sky, and before she knew it, the contest was over. Applejack was waiting for her by the barn, Rainbow quickly meeting her with the most smug grin she could manage. But when she heard that Applejack had bucked three quarters of the orchard in fifty minutes, deciding to spend the last ten taking a break by the barn, Rainbow could hardly believe it. Yet, with a quick scan from a high altitude, the only corner that still had apples in it was her's.

Well, a bet's a bet. Rainbow came back down to Applejack who had an interrogative smirk on her face, staring straight into her friend's eyes. The only words that came to her, the only damning words.

"So, Rainbow Dash. Kill anypony lately?"

"Gah!!" Rainbow leapt out of her chair, staring at the table as if it were some kind of monster. "Stop asking me those questions! Stop! J-Just stop!!" She screamed, steam flaring out of her nostrils. Without a single thought to the contrary, she spun around and bucked the table straight into the wall. "Just SHUT UP!!!!"

The table slammed into the wall with the sound of a bomb going off, papers scattering and fluttering to the ground like massive snow flakes. She covered her ears, begging for the noise to stop, her headache simply getting worse. "Somepony! Anypony! I-I need my meds!!"

The only voice that answered her was a gentle chuckle, one that seemed to bounce off the walls, coming from everywhere, bringing a deathly chill to her spine. "W-Who's there?" Her eyes hunted along the walls, trying to seek out the source of the voice, but every single one just turned out to be another part of the room. I'm-I'm going crazy! I gotta be!

I-I'll just tell Paper that I'm going home. Need to rest, get my mind off work. Yeah. With a quick nod to her plan, she turned to the door, just to freeze mid-step. Held within her door was a tall shadow, one that nearly took up all the light in the hall; the only thing she could see was a glinting white grin. "Wait. Who are you? What're you doing in here? You have ID?"

"Call me a privileged client of your... corporation here." The grin widened as the shadow leaned on the frame; nothing resembling a wing widened from his back to provide balance.

He's too tall to be a pony. Way too tall. Rainbow bared her teeth, moving up to the side of the chair as she leered at the shadow. "Privileged client, huh? They've all got names. What's yours?"

"Haven't got one to share." The shadow smirked, two eyes leveling with her own, "Though it's not like it's info I'd willingly give to you."

"What's with the condescending tone, jerk?" Dash sneered, adjusting her position; no way he'd be able to block a flying chair from that distance.

"Condescending? Oh, I don't mean offense, Miss Dash. I just need to have a simple chat with you, concerning a friend of ours," He whispered, the smirk widening into a smile, "One who's not very happy about your acts."

"Unless his name is Red Line, I don't have to listen to a word you say," Rainbow hissed back, gently raising her hind leg, "Now unless you're gonna stand there, fantasizing about me, I suggest you leave before I call Security."

"Call all you want. Doesn't mean our chat will get done any faster." The shadow's smile disappeared, brow falling slightly, "This talk is far too important to have someone stop it."

"Yeah? Well, horseapples to your talk. I'm going home." Rainbow lowered her leg and approached the shadow, "You've got five seconds to get out of the way before I take you to the cops myself."

"What happened to Security?"

"He's got enough on his plate, and besides... you aren't that tough. Earth ponies can't come up to Cloudsdale, and unicorns wouldn't dare tango with a pegasus hoof to hoof." She grinned, the sheer size of the shadow compared to her not shifting her stance.

The seconds ticked by without even a twitch in the shadow's expression. "Fine, be that way. Security! Get your flanks in here!!" She shouted past the shadow, earning a raised eyebrow in response as hoofsteps echoed down the hall.

"Heh. What happened to 'dragging me to the cops yourself'?" The shadow smirked, staring down at Rainbow.

"Eh, like I said. You aren't that tough, so I think I'll let the scary muscle take care of you." Rainbow sat down, grinning smugly back at him. After a few seconds, one of the guards popped up in the doorway.

"Guard Baton here, Manager! What seems to be the trouble?"

"Get this guy here out of my way."

"Erm. M-Ma'am, what guy?" The guard's violet eyes moved about the office in front of him, the lighting having mysteriously gone out. "I don't see anypony here but, well, us."

"What're you talking about? He's right here!" Rainbow tapped Reaper on the leg, deadpanning at Guard, "What, have you gone blind?"

"No, ma'am, just... there's nopony here besides us." Guard leaned in through the door, looking around the office. "Did they run off?"

"Wha?" Rainbow looked up at Reaper, then back at Guard, rolling her eyes and sighing, "Whatever. Just head to the mess hall and get my meds ready. Think I'm hallucinating, or something..."

"Right, of course, Manager! Your usual dose?"

"Yeah. Get going."

Baton quickly saluted and ran off, Rainbow watching his fluttering blonde tail whip about behind him; the thing was way too well kept for a proper security guard, almost looked feminine. "Hmph," she grunted and made her way to the door.

"What happened to our chat, Miss Dash?"

"I'd just be making myself more crazy by talking to a hallucination."

"Hallucination? Ohhh, right. Little friend there couldn't see me, so you think I'm just a construct of your imagination."

"Pretty smart for a freaky mental image." Rainbow walked out of the office and into the hall, quirking her mouth. Dunno why I stopped for him in the first place... not the first time I've seen ghosts. Always come up after the quota's been met, just means I need my meds.

"Hey now, hang on. Aren't you at least curious about who our mutual friend is?"

"Nope."

"Starts with an S~."

"Don't care." Rainbow walked on down the hall and rounded the corner, only to find the cloaked figure standing there again.

"You should."

"I don't. Now stop popping up," Rainbow sneered, walking past him in a huff.

"Oh come on, Miss Dash. Why do you have to be so mean?"

"Easy. It gets rid of you more quickly." Rainbow grit her teeth as she walked on down the catwalk, a few ponies running past to tend to the facilities near the office; hopefully one or two focused on her office's power issue. "Now leave me alone."

"Not getting rid of me that easily, but I suppose we can walk and talk before..."

"Before?"

"Nothing. Gotta be curious though." Reaper quirked his mouth, walking alongside Dash.

"No, I'm not. Now stop annoying me."

"Annoying? I couldn't be!"

"You are, now shut up!"

"Well, alright. Suppose you'll figure it out eventually... maybe you'll run into her?"

"Whadya mean?" Rainbow looked over at her hallucination, deciding to humor him for a bit.

"Oh, nothing. Just that... well, the skeletons in our closets tend to come back to haunt us."

"Alright, seriously. What are you? My ghosts are just ponies that died."

The shadow grinned, looking down on her, "How very perceptive." He stopped, looking back down the hall, "How very perceptive indeed..."

Rainbow blinked up at him, eyes widening slightly as she followed his gaze. His grin only widened while her heart nearly stopped, as her eyes locked with draconic eyes of emerald... a shimmering quality, swirling with fire that dared to swallow her whole. "N-N-N-N-Nightmare Moon!?" She screeched, flaring out her wings and jumping back. The visage of Nightmare didn't respond, Rainbow's shock trying to ebb itself. "Th-There's no way... no, no. Heh, j-just hallucinating again, h-hallucinating about r-really scary ghosts..." she reasoned, forcing her breathing back to a level pattern. Her knees still trembled, staring down her new opponent. It's gotta be a ghost... we beat Nightmare! We beat her eight years ago!

The shadow quietly approached Dash, the flaming eyes shaking her to her core. The mare simply tried to keep the distance gap wide as her mind threw itself back, back as far as it could go... and something echoed in her head. A small sound, but one that just felt nostalgic. Is-is that Pinkie? Wait... the sound grew stronger as she focused on it; a laugh, a high laugh that raised her spirits, the fear burning away. Her body shook as her mouth curled into a smile, simply focusing on that single laugh... "Heh... hehe... hehehehe..."

The laughs helped quell another sound in her mind... the sounds of firing engines. Screaming gears creaked and cranked in her head as she saw the jaws of something.

"Ahahaha!" The laugh covered up the sound of a scream crashing through her head, the image of a pony flaring in her mind, torso twisted a full one-eighty. The engines rumbled louder, going to war against the sound of her laughter, as if the laughs didn't deserve to exist next to the storm of machinery.

"Ha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Bones snapped and blood flew as the massive machine devoured the pony, Rainbow watching from above. The terrified eyes staring back at her, the screams of agony as the teeth tore through the mare's flesh...

"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Another pony was snatched by the chains, staring in absolute terror at the laughing mare, eyes locked in a horrific staring contest as their torso was twisted much too hard... blood flew as the body was torn in half, a very recognizable scream shredding through Rainbow's mind... a drawl that she'd heard too many times on a farm somewhere. The screaming mare was dropped into the machine, just like the rest, under the crazy gaze of the sky blue pony.

"HAHAHAHAAHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!" The next mare, lavender in color, begged for her to stop, but the pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears... ears filled too much with the sound of laughter, of the effort to destroy her own ghosts. The machine roared in defiance of the laughs, trying to drag Rainbow into its ripping jaws, and the chains pulled taut on her friend's limbs. The two stared into each other's eyes as the engines roared, and the chains twisted... she thrashed in pure agony as her ribs tore through her flesh, but the laughing just wouldn't stop. They became cold, emotionless, completely focused on the destruction of another; as if she loved the spray of blood and crack of bone...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!" The laughing grew with the engines as the lavender mare was dropped in, a muffled cry of Rainbow's name before her form was devoured by the blurring teeth. The blood didn't even have time to fly away from the machine before being devoured... the colors, forms, voices were all familiar, but it didn't matter to her. Not even as a meek, yellow pegasus was drawn up, her absolute shock present in every crease of her expression. Her tears started rolling as she looked into the magenta eyes of a pony she respected so much, the laughs tearing into her soul.

Rainbow wasn't able to raise her voice any louder, thrashing on the catwalks as the engines screamed even louder, the chains simply pulling on the pegasus from her limbs. She cried for mercy, shouted for some angel to save her, begged for Rainbow to snap out of her psychosis before the end... but she was shouting for something that would never come. Her body was torn, limb from limb, the machine not caring for proper procedure anymore; it simply wanted to feed. Chains whipped around as the machine tore the falling mare to pieces.

Her mind fell down into the torturous cocophony of metal as she watched pony after pony be eaten in more horrific ways, some even skipping on the flaring teeth before being torn apart. Blood hit her face as she simply watched, the grin on her face never disappearing...

Until the last mare was brought forward, and the roaring engines died... the gears continued their quiet cranking, as the room was treated to the sound of a laugh. A half-hearted, sad laugh, but one that overtook Rainbow's own. Dash simply sat there, frozen, a permanent grin carved into her face as those blue eyes stared into hers... the one mare that taught her how to destroy her ghosts and conquer her fears. Tears drew paths down from their eyes as Rainbow's body locked, her mind teetering on the edge.

And with a twist of the chain that killed her laugh, and that pink coat vanishing in a rain of red...

Rainbow was gone.

Chapter 3: A Thousand Skeletons in her Closet

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"S-Stop... stop. S-stop laughing." Rainbow giggled in her slumber, lying on one of the medical lab's beds. A cloaked figure was kneeled next to her, staring at her face from a few inches away.

"Must you get so close to her, Reaper?" Nightmare scoffed, staring down at him from the other side of the bed.

"I'm bored, so I'm trying to count the creases and wrinkles on her face. She's been laughing for the last hour or so since she got dragged in here." Reaper quirked his mouth up at the side, Scarlet resting on his back.

"And?"

"I'm up to twelve, but she keeps moving." Reaper grimaced, trying to keep his eyes on his newest target, but the crazed grin kept growing and shrinking on the mare's face as she rolled about, moaning about laughter.

"Not the creases, you imbecile."

"No, I don't know what we're gonna do with her. Scootaloo hasn't shown up yet, so we're kinda stuck. You wanna join in? It's a good way to kill time." Reaper pulled his eyes away from Rainbow's face, smirking up at his partner.

"No, I'm not going to stare at some mare's face while she sleeps," Nightmare scoffed, turning her eyes to the ceiling, "So disgraceful..."

"Ohh, my apologies, Your Highness."

"Silence yourself, 'partner'."

Reaper simply rolled his eyes, standing up. He looked about the sparsely laid hospital room, as well as its mishmash of equipment; A few machines monitoring Rainbow Dash's condition, a sink or two, curtains strewn about the place in a random order, beds placed even more randomly... all in a sickly white coloring. "I hate hospitals... but this doc really takes the cake." Reaper placed his hands on his hips, a look of disgust plaguing his expression.

"Indeed. Doesn't seem like the most well-cared for operating area." Nightmare looked around as well, sitting down on the tiled floor. "Still, hospitals are quite vital..." her hoof ran down the line of the IV drip, a light gold liquid streaming through it.

"Doesn't really change them from coffins with timers on them." Reaper shook his head and set himself down at the foot of the bed, looking over at the door. "Any idea about how these guys operate?"

"The Princess has no proprietary knowledge of the Corporation, so I don't... little troubling, that."

The giggling echoed through the room again, Rainbow tossing and turning in her bed. The blankets shifted freely under Reaper as he leaned down on his knees, listening to the mare descend into mental chaos. Her hooves flailed over her, grasping one thing while trying to strangle another, seemingly doing four or five things at once. Nightmare simply kept her eyes on the thrashing mare, like a hawk watching its prey. Just in case she tries to escape...

Reaper placed his chin on his hand, tapping his knee in boredom as his eyes turned back to Rainbow, starting to count again. "One, two, three, four... oh, stop moving, you stupid pony," he growled, feeling the urge to just grab the grinning face and hold it still so he could count. His hand twitched, eager to carry out the sub-conscious thought.

"It's a better challenge, Reaper, though I'm sure Luna doesn't approve of this behavior." Nightmare grimaced a bit, a very loud voice suddenly exploding in her mind, "In fact... she's giving me a headache about it right now." She rubbed her forehead, one of the prime battlegrounds of the voice as it threatened to tear her skull apart, ears drooping in pain.

"Right, right," Reaper grumbled, turning back to the door. "What's the plan then, partner?"

"I suspect that this 'pony' won't be missed if she were taken away right now. Only problem being how to get her out without causing a ruckus." Nightmare quirked her mouth in thought, looking at the back of Reaper's hood. The voice calmed a touch, but it still felt like bombs going off in her head.

"Nothing wrong with us cutting a path through... but something tells me you wouldn't be up to that." Reaper smirked, carrying on with his counting. One— no, one, two— oh, stop moving!

"Of course not. Even if we did get a sight of that... that dreadful machine, we aren't going to start carving a path through the factory for a way out. Silence is a virtue here." Nightmare's mouth quirked a bit as the memory of that crimson-painted behemoth silenced the voice crashing against her left temple. Then again, I can't say that machine would be very quiet in its work.

"Well, I'm waiting on a plan from ya. You, me and Luna can move quietly on our own pretty well." He looked over the walls of the hospital, frowning at the utter silence of the hall. "You'd think this place would have a lot more activity..."

"Given the operations here, they must not have a lot of staff. Makes sense that Rainbow here would go crazy."

"I think that was just from you popping up, partner." Reaper grinned as he looked over his shoulder, Nightmare's annoyed glare aimed back at him. "Oh come on, is it really so bad?"

"A bit, yes, when you're the embodiment of a Goddess' anger and jealousy."

"Hey, it makes you a great partner for Death. Better than residing over Life." A chuckle was added to his smug grin at the suggestion, pondering on it. Life is such a desk job... though seeing Nightmare Moon behind a desk, a pair of reading glasses on her? Pfff... that'd be a sight to see!

"The one thing I dread is being locked in one of Father's cells outside the universe, being forced to push pencils." Nightmare simply frowned at the prospect of such work; logistics for the universe could be left to Life and Order, she wanted absolutely no part in such nonsense. Besides, I work a scythe better than a pencil anyway.

Their eyes turned back to the door as hoofsteps echoed down the hall, the catwalks giving them proper fanfare with a loud 'clang, clang, clang'. "About time we had somepony come by. Time to hide, Reaper." Nightmare melted into the cloud below her, the last of her sentence flowing out in a hollow tone.

"Aye aye." Reaper nodded and grinned as he hopped off the bed and sank through the cloud floor, the top of Scarlet's handle passing through just as a pony walked in from the catwalk outside. A coat as red as new blood clashed against the white of his labcoat, a grey mane carrying a sense of aged wisdom, however matted and stained it was. The stale scent of formaldehyde and cleaning solution clung to him like a disease, but his expression held its cold, business-like scowl, experienced golden eyes turning to his patient.

"And so, we meet again, Miss Dash," he mumbled as his hooves quickly drew him to the thrashing mare, her blanket flailing about. His eyes moved over the needle stuck in her wrist, thankful that one of the helping hooves suggested three layers of medical tape; any less, and that needle would have been flung out faster than a cloud from one of the Factory's vents. His eyes remained locked on the numerous wires leading to different parts of Rainbow's head and chest as he reached out and grabbed a medical chart, looking it over. "Only twenty minutes, and your condition's degraded this much... perhaps Red Line is right in his decision." His eyes only grew more cold as they quested upward to the IV, filled with a potent painkiller that was supposed to keep her still and calm.

Another failure of the R&D department, it seemed. "Not sure why all our drugs have to be prepared in-house... it's an absurd notion. Our record is clean enough to still demand supplies from the civilian market, though demand would likely attract suspicion. I suppose it helps, however..." he mumbled, moving around to the other side of the crazy lady's bed, the golden spheres never leaving their target. "It is a sufficient amount. I should let her wake up first, however... hm."

His mouth quirked upward slightly as he looked back at the thrasher beside him, pondering on how to wake her up. Pull out her IV, the pain from the shock treatment comes back, she wakes up... but squeeze the bag, and she never has a chance to fight back... nice and clean. But it leaves a lot of questions. His hoof scratched at the light stubble of his chin, honestly considering whether or not to just follow through on his General Manager's orders immediately.

Two sets of eyes observed the doctor, careful not to disturb the clouds around them as their target reached out to the needle stuck in Rainbow's wrist, gently gripping it. He only had time to give it a light tug before the mare lurched up into a sitting position, grin vanishing into a horrified scowl, eyes snapped open to their widest, and a terrible screech tore through her throat, "Pinkie Pie!!! NOOOO!!!" She was immediately grabbed by the doctor and pressed back down onto the bed as her thrashing began anew, even getting a few hits in on her attacker's jaw.

"Calm down, Miss Dash! It's me, Dr. Atmosphere! Calm yourself!!" He shouted, trying to raise his voice over her mad screaming. She was lost in some delusion, eyes whipping about to invisible terrors as she fought to keep him, the room, everything away from her. Hyperventilation quickly took over as her imagination completely took over. "Oh, curses!" He grunted, taking another mighty punch to the jaw with a loud crack. His eyes quickly whipped to the IV, its golden liquid a greater savior than his own leg strength at the moment, and he quickly reached out with his teeth.

A squeeze of the bag brought the mare back under control as the rushing adrenaline brought the painkiller through her system, her breaths still coming short and ragged. The magenta orbs locked on her attacker, pinpricks perceiving him as barely a ghost. "W-W-Who-What-W-Where—"

"You're in the medical bay, Miss Dash. Now please, calm down." Atmosphere kept a tight grip on her as the flailing finally calmed down, Dash's breathing falling back under her control.

"D-Doc...?"

"Yes, Dr. Atmosphere. You're in a safe place now, so if you would mind not punching me in the face anymore...?"

"S-Sorry, ju-just, um... you l-looked like a m-monster," she stuttered, sweat pouring down her forehead, betraying the calm in her half-closed eyes. "Kinda... h-hard to breathe, though..."

"That would be the painkiller, Kastra." Atmosphere sighed, finally letting go and dropping his hooves to the floor.

"That... n-new stuff, right?" Rainbow groaned, bringing her forehooves up to her chest, the legs barely functioning. Atmosphere grimaced at the sight; pushed too much in, too quickly... this would create some problems.

"Yes. We had to test it on somepony, and you're always at the top of the subjects list. But that's not what I'm here to speak with you about," he spoke with a gruff tone, eyes turning back to Rainbow's face. She flopped her head onto its side, one eye managing to look back at him.

"What's up...?"

"Sir Red Line called me to his office about forty minutes ago to speak about your sudden outburst, and seeing Nightmare Moon. The drug used to keep you calm in this line of work is by no means experimental, so this outburst was attributed to mental instability." His brow fell slightly, "And mentally unstable employees must be handled properly."

"Wh- m-mentally unstable? I'm-I'm not crazy...!" Rainbow tried to raise her voice, but her lungs barely moved as she felt her body shutting down, part by part...

"You saw a ghost, Rainbow Dash. You've been reporting these sightings for the past two years now, and we've constantly related them to your quota gatherings, as the ghosts did match the descriptions of ponies that were killed. But this prospect is a new one, one that was brought on by sheer paranoia."

"S-So?"

"So? Rainbow, you're seeing things that have absolutely no relation to your work! You're going crazy!" Atmosphere's voice built in its assault, his expression degrading into one of anger, "You've always had problems working here, and it's a shocker to me that you've lasted this long."

"This l- no..."

"Rainbow Dash, Floor Manager of Spectra Production... heh." Atmosphere chuckled, a slight grin growing through his burning emotions at dismissing such a grandiose employee, "Never thought your career... would end like this, did you?"

"Y- H-He c-can't be firing..."

"He did. Rainbow Dash, by order of General Manager Red Line, with advisory from Head of Medical, Doctor Stratis Atmosphere... you are being let go."

"No! Y-You can't!"

"You've lead a stellar career here, my friend. It's a pain to see you go..."

Rainbow's eyes widened as her heart started to race, beating past the numbing effect of the Kastra dose. She watched the red hooves move up towards the pouch containing her calming liquid, threatening to cast the rest of it into her system... He's-he's gonna OD me! He's gonna kill me right here!!! She tried moving her legs, but the panicked dose by the doctor became her undoing; she could barely feel her chest expanding with each crazed breath, let alone her legs. "Please... d-don't do this... I-I don't wanna die..."

"Employees with your condition have only one way to be fired. Otherwise, it becomes a security and privacy risk for us... and our work is far too important to have close-minded individuals like the Royal Guard shutting our operations down." His eyes locked with hers, a spark of sympathy lit behind them, "I truly am sorry it had to end this way... but the death of your friend was obviously too much. And if you were released, you would break down and tell somepony the whole story... doesn't matter if they believe you or not. Those words will reach somepony who does believe it."

Rainbow's heart sank as the hooves made it to the IV bag, the reality of the few seconds left in her future hitting her like an angry pegasus to the chest. Her eyes shut hard as tears raced down to the bed under her, begging that these last few seconds become years... I don't wanna die... I don't wanna die... I-I wanna see them again... Pinkie, Twilight, AJ, F-Fluttershy, Rarity... somepony, help me...

As if answering her prayers, another sinking feeling hit her... the kind she usually felt when diving through the air. "Huh...?"

"What the!?" Atmosphere shouted, Rainbow's eyes opening to see his figure disappearing, replaced quickly by white clouds... they raced past her at ever-increasing speed, growing darker as lightning struck between them.

"Am I... dead? Does an overdose kill somepony that quick?" She whispered as the bed fell away from under her, crashing into an open room off to her left. But the noise registered as a light 'pop' in her mind, the question of whether she was falling to Tartarus or not taking up all the room in her head. I'm falling... definitely falling... can't move my wings. Maybe somepony decided to 'fire' me with the ground... who would ask about a pegasus killing herself by making a mistake in her flight? Heh. Smart thinking, 'boss'. She smiled lightly as she pulled her head back into a nosedive, looking down through the racing clouds at... the green fields below?

Making a hole like this isn't possible, though... and making a trap door sys— Her thought was cut off by a sudden shout, two pegasi breaking their close formation as she raced through a catwalk... cleanly cut in two. This isn't a trap door! Somepony dug out a tunnel leading straight to the ground!! Her eyes turned back from the quickly-speeding-away catwalk back to the ground above—, er, below her, feeling a chill race down her spine. Black mist crept along beside her, moving quite quickly despite the random breaks and cracks in the thunderclouds around her; the only way the mist could even be seen was by the stars lit inside it...

"Well, that was a close call, wasn't it?" A voice moved into her mind, a sickly-smug mare's voice... one that chimed with a myriad of bells.

"N-N-Nightmare Moon?" Rainbow mumbled, screaming it inside her head.

"Yes indeed, my little 'pony'... like the tunnel I made?"

"You did... this?"

"Mmhmm. Wasn't that difficult... just had to expand my magic all the way to the bottom foundation, then evaporate it. Nothing beyond the Princess of the Night, wouldn't you agree?" A light giggle followed, bouncing around in Rainbow's stalled body and mind.

"Why...? W-Why are you...? A-Are you g-gonna kill me?"

"Kill you? Oh please. A murderer like you isn't even worth the effort." The mist flew out of the hole alongside Rainbow as the blue sky greeted them, starting their four thousand foot descent to the fields of Equestria, the fields that would become the pegasus' grave... "I gave you a way out."

"Way... out?"

"Yes. I granted you a path of escape, but I wish for something in return."

"I'm a dead mare anyway... so if you want me to do something, then hope it's something I can do in twenty seconds."

A new voice came to Rainbow in a scoff, something that crushed down on her heart like a weight, "Humph. Never thought I'd see you give up so quick."

"S... S-Scootaloo...? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Or did you suddenly forget the name of your student?" Two violet eyes appeared in front of Rainbow, an orange head and purple mane coalescing out of thin air around them, glaring bloody murder into her own eyes.

"Wh-What is this...? You're dead... y-you can't talk to me..."

"I can... though I'm having a lot of difficulty not just strangling the life out of you." The head moved back, pulling the ghostly body of Scootaloo away from Rainbow. "There's something I want you to do."

"What...? W-Why would I do something for you, failure?" Rainbow growled, feeling her wings and legs starting to wake up again; the rush of her blood must be processing it quicker than the Doc thought it would... the cold air tore past her as the green landscape drew closer.

"If you don't..." Nightmare spoke up, "Then I get to deal with you. And I have a lot more time to do what I wish than you believe."

"I want you to save yourself, Rainbow." Scootaloo folded her forelegs, wings open in a small delta to control her descent.

"Save myself...? What, you don't want your hero to die?"

"Oh, trust me. You're nothing but a piece of trash to me now... but you dying here? It'd leave a lot more hearts hurt than just mine." Scootaloo intensified her glare, "All those friends of yours...? Just like you took me from mine, you'd be taking yourself from yours. Some 'loyal' friend you turned out to be."

"Hey! I'm loyal! And I'm not dead yet!" Rainbow shouted, her wings slowly folding outward. Her roar of effort came far easier than the wings' cooperation, the muscles seeming to riot against her control, demanding that the ground steal everything away from her before the painkiller wore off.

She's gonna make it. No way she'd let her friends down like this... just vanish off the face of the earth... Scootaloo bit her lip, feeling her guts boil as the two pegasi plummeted to the ground, simply watching Rainbow's crazed efforts. Every scream set her stomach on fire, every twitch of her wings brought more heat to her mind, but that same hope of survival was latched to her... the hope that Rainbow would do the right thing before she met her end as well. Her eyes lifted towards the sprawling green, only coming closer, her hope starting to lose its grip in the screaming wind around them.

"C'mon wings, work! Work!" Rainbow demanded, screamed at the top of her lungs, her wings only barely registering their master's command. They spread further and further, panic firing through her as her eyes rose to the ground, her grave speeding to greet her in a bloody farewell. The adrenaline forced her system to work faster and faster, her nervous system firing signal after signal, oxygen pumping into the muscles as they were forced open.

"It's not enough. Darn it, think...!" She hissed, still pressing on her shoulder blades to work the wings. How do I get my wings working!? I'm nose diving, so it's gonna put me in a glide, but if I flipped over— that's it! Her eyes snapped back open, and on a prayer, flicked her head back. The force set her body perpendicular with her descent, and the force of the wind pushed her wings open the rest of the way. Hope surged through her as her wings forced her descent slower and slower.

The ground met her seconds later with a massive impact, the shock crushing her legs, and her belly followed soon after her muscles surrendered to the impact. "Agh!!" The breath shot from her lungs as her belly landed, still not quite slow enough to beg a soft landing. C'mon, Rainbow, y-you've suffered harder crashes than this. Get up... she bared her teeth as her legs moved, the Kastra starting to fade as her joints lit up. Her wings complained as they creaked, falling slack at her sides, but her system functioned as it should. "There... your hero survived, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo touched down softly in front of Rainbow, a polar opposite to the mare's injured and torn body. Gauze hung off her body in ripped strands, exposing patches of missing fur and flesh, blood pouring from freshly opened wounds on her legs and head. The only thing that still remotely looked like Rainbow Dash were her two eyes, the same beautiful eyes burrowing back into the pegasus' before her.

"Not yet, you haven't," Scootaloo calmly spoke, her words riding on silk compared to the ravaged road of Rainbow's voice.

"Whadya mean? I survived this. I survived the Factory, your death, everything up to this point! I even survived Atmosphere trying to kill me!" Rainbow took a step toward Scootaloo before her view was cut off by a black mist, coalescing into the shape of a pony. "Oh, crud..."

"Ladies, if we might take this somewhere else?" The mist moved where a mouth might be, two draconic emerald eyes turning upward. "And you may want to back away."

"Why?" Rainbow looked up as well, seeing a falling figure, black cloak fluttering in the wind. She jumped back as Reaper came in and crashed onto the ground, wind flaring out under him.

"That." Nightmare calmly moved back, half her body still flowing on a breeze. "So, Reaper, what's the plan?"

"I was thinking about that on my way down. Seems little Miss Dash here has a couple suitors." Reaper grinned as he looked up, standing up. "So we've got a few minutes before they come down here to check the impact out."

"Must be coming to check if I'm really dead." Rainbow frowned, eyes on the massive city high above, locked on the tiny dot of the tunnel she fell from. "What a surprise they'll get when they arrive..."

"Really dead?" Scootaloo raised her eyebrow, staring at Rainbow. "Guess they don't want you around anymore, huh?"

"That ain't the half of it. Not like it matters much to me, anyway. You challenged me to survive, and I did, so I'm outta here." Rainbow grunted as she turned, limping a bit to the beat of the cricking from her left foreleg. Stupid leg's busted...

"You haven't survived just yet, Rainbow..." Scootaloo looked over at Nightmare, wincing a bit at the sight of the primal terror, "Um... t-that is you, isn't it, Princess Luna?"

"She's here, yes, but I'm in control right now, child. I bear you no ill will, however, so you've nothing to fear. Seems you have something in plan for our 'friend' here, however," Nightmare spoke as her eyes turned back to the last of the rainbow-colored hairs of Dash's tail.

"Yeah. I can't go back to my friends and tell them what happened... so Dash is gonna do that for me."

The sky blue pegasus stopped dead in her tracks, eyes locked on one of the few trees in the clearing. "What'd you say...?"

"I said, you're gonna tell them what happened, Rainbow. I wasn't talking about surviving this fall..." Scootaloo got to her hooves, moving toward the hero she once respected as the greatest pegasus in the world, "I wasn't talking about the Factory, or that red psychopath, or me." Dash felt every step as Scootaloo drew closer, her ears falling further and further, "I wasn't talking about injuries, or killing anypony..."

The orange pegasus smiled as she leaned in to Rainbow's ear, the frigid air of death creeping over the bare flesh of the one who survived their altercation, "I was talking..."

"About your friends."

A vision flared in Rainbow's vision, her friends staring back at her. Rarity in absolute disgust, Twilight in shock, Applejack in disbelief, Fluttershy praying that she was lying, and Pinkie... Pinkie with the saddest look on her face that Rainbow could imagine. Her pupils shrank as the terror of confessing to her friends ripped through her heart, her lip quivered as she listened to their retorts.

"H-How could you, Rainbow Dash...?" Rarity would say, recoiling in a sickened instinct to get away.

"You... k-killed them?" Twilight would whisper, her hind legs surrendering as the weight of the world came down on her shoulders.

"Rainbow... y-you're kiddin'... right?" Applejack would suggest, as if in prayer that what she heard wasn't true, that it couldn't be true.

"Oh please, Celestia, let this be a lie... please, please, please..." Fluttershy would sob, hooves together in prayer to whatever deity she could think of.

And Pinkie would simply sit there, mane still puffed up... the last bastion as her coat lost its lustre, and her tail lost its fluff. And she'd simply stare at Rainbow, the silence between them as loud as river rapids, every wave slamming into Rainbow harder than the last. The silence would last for an eternity, everypony's eyes on her, until she finally mustered up the strength to utter a few words, barely any louder than the sobbing pegasus beside her.

"Why, Rainbow...? They were just kids... th-they can't h-have fun... i-if t-they're dead..." Pinkie's tears would fall like bombshells as she finally broke down, all of them gathering in a group hug to support each other. Every eye would turn on Rainbow, judging her, questioning her, damning her to the deepest pits of Tartarus. The eyes burned with a fire she'd only ever felt when staring down an angry dragon, fire spreading across her body as they spoke.

"Murderer," Rarity spat out, trying to console her friend.

"Monster!" Twilight screeched, putting herself between Rainbow and the rest of the group.

"Don't even know why I wanted t' deny what you did as the truth." AJ simply glared at Rainbow, the force of it blowing away her wings.

Fluttershy simply cried onto Pinkie's shoulder, "Why!? They were all kids! T-They never even had a chance to live!"

The four mares would wail in their sorrow and prayers for the lost as Twilight's horn glowed, her eyes turning white from the power surging through her. Her teeth bared as the ground shattered under her, rage fueling her magic to the point of cracking her horn. "Demons like you have no place in Equestria!!"

And with a flash of light...

"AHHHHHHH!!!!" Rainbow screamed, falling to the ground with a loud thud. Her hooves flailed as she tried to put out the fire, her entire body being obliterated by the raw magic fired from Twilight. She fought and fought, thousands of judging eyes appearing above her, all calling her 'murderer', 'monster', 'abomination', 'evil'...

'Traitor.'

With the final word running through her heart like a dagger, she froze, gaze locked on the eyes that called her such a thing. The violet in them shone like two Suns in the sky, the typhoon of darkness swirling around Rainbow giving way to show an orange body and head, violet mane hanging just over one of the eyes...

"You've gotta survive that, Rainbow. That's my demand," the eyes said, the voice immediately familiar to Rainbow. She wanted to strike out against the eyes, the voice, she wanted to run, she wanted to just bury herself underground and die... but her body wouldn't respond. Nothing would pull her from that glare, the light of her mission. Nothing would stop the wailing screams of a thousand children in her ears, a horrific banshee's cry as each of them were committed to the superfluous need for rainbows. Nothing would stop her heart from burning under the glares of the seven giants above her, Scootaloo, the other Elements, and Luna, all assembled around her like monoliths.

"Confess to them... and bring the entire system down," Luna and Scootaloo spoke at the same time, their voices mixing into something warped.

"B-But... I can't betray t-the Flock..."

"What good is Loyalty, if it isn't devoted to something that seeks the good of the entire country, Rainbow Dash?" Luna asked, leering down into Dash's forehead.

"L-Loyalty... m-my L-Loyalty is t-to pegasi, to Cloudsdale!" Rainbow forced her lungs to work, having to take over for her seized body automation.

"Was it not once to Equestria?" The Princess raised her eyebrow, the towering ponies all digging into the tiny pony between them.

"It-it w-was... b-but—"

"Then did you not betray Equestria by beginning this?"

"I-I had no choice!" Rainbow's tears finally began to flow, the agony becoming far too much, "I couldn't choose between Equestria and my home city when they came to me! T-They wanted my Sonic Rainboom, but I couldn't do it!! I just c-couldn't do it!!"

"So... the mighty, Invincible Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, has been reduced to a mere weapon for use by a corrupt corporation?" Luna shook her head, her sigh a heavy hurricane that crushed Dash into the ground, "Pathetic."

"I... I-I c-can't..." Dash squeaked, curling up into a ball, "I can't confess to them... t-they'll hate me... n-nopony b-but them l-loves me..."

"I did..." Scootaloo whispered, her glare weakening to a simple, pitying stare, "I respected you as a hero, Rainbow. When you offered to help me learn flying for my entrance exam into school, I was ecstatic... our training was hard, and you were a rough coach, but I thought we connected."

"We... w-we did..." Dash whimpered, trying to look back to the filly that looked up to her.

"I still remember your face when I told you I was accepted. You had this massive, prideful grin on your face. Scruffed up my mane..."

"I... told you that you couldn't s-stop there... t-that you had to keep reaching..." Dash smirked a bit, looking back to the time she saw that gold-sealed letter. I w-was never h-happier...

"Or else I'd never achieve my dreams." Scootaloo smiled, the giants vanishing one by one as she shrank, coming closer to Rainbow's face, "You taught me to keep fighting for what I want... what I need in life, Rainbow Dash."

"Something you c-can't live life without..." Dash looked back up into the violet eyes just above her, reality leaking back in.

"But you can't keep living a lie, Dash... no matter how much it hurts."

"B-But... I've already done too much..." Dash looked away, the entire world still a bleak cloud of black to her.

"It's not too late. You can still save yourself, and bring down the other stallions and mares up there." Scootaloo whispered, pulling Rainbow up into a sitting position. The two were nearly the same height, Scootaloo having grown into a wonderful young mare. The two simply stared into each other's eyes, the magenta orbs filled with the pain of a decade of torture.

"Scootaloo... what've I done? H-How could I kill you?" Dash fought against herself, trying to maintain eye contact.

"I can't answer that. It's something you have to find yourself." Scootaloo reached out and scooped up one of Dash's forehooves, her leg surprisingly not hurting anymore. "I just hope the answer comes when you speak with your friends."

"I-I can't do that, Scootaloo. I've done this for ten years, ever since I performed my first Sonic Rainboom... I let my loyalty to Cloudsdale, to supporting their reputation against Canterlot and the Earth ponies blind me. I don't wanna drag anypony down with me..." Dash set her eyes on her cupped hoof, held between Scootaloo's own forehooves. "I can't betray them..."

"This isn't a betrayal anymore, Dash. This is justice." Scootaloo kept her eyes on Dash's, "Don't let those who died carry on in their sadness. Give them that one last spark of light..."

"Light for what, Scootaloo? What do you want me to show them?" Dash whispered, eyes set on the ground.

"Show them..." Scootaloo leaned up to Rainbow's ear, drawing her into a hug, "That there's still something good in the world... show them that they don't have to fear their home, in order to make it proud."

"Show them that everypony can redeem themselves."

Dash simply placed her chin on Scootaloo's shoulder, basking in the warmth of the hug. Even after everything I've done... didn't she want me dead? Doesn't she want revenge, or punishment for what happened to her? Her eyes closed with a sigh, her body refusing to return the hug. "Scootaloo..."

"Mm?" The two bodies didn't move, Scootaloo simply looking off into the darkness behind Dash.

"What do you want me to do?"

"... I want you to show me... that I still have a hero to look up to, Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo's eyes closed, a single tear running down her cheek, "Orion's already here with me... but I want my friends to know... I want everypony to know that this won't happen to anypony again."

"What can one pony do, though?"

"She can do as much as she can. Confess to your friends, Rainbow, and to the Princesses. Give them all a reason to look at Cloudsdale and see the evil within. Purify our home city," Scootaloo whispered, leaning back to look at Dash, "Be the hero I know you can be."

Dash blinked, simply staring into the ground before her, the swimming torrent of shadows bearing no answer for her. Can I be that hero, though? Just turn my back on Atmosphere, Red Line, Steady Wave, all of them? Just... take a dagger and put it in their backs? She squinted her eyes slightly. All this time, I've been killing pegasi because they didn't suit Cloudsdale's needs. Even though some of them were being sent to the Earthbound Camp, many were just being treated as garbage. But what about me? And Fluttershy? We never even took the exam, let alone pass it... Spitfire got out of the system, along with the rest of the Wonderbolts. Dad works with the Guard, even though he was sent off to the Camp... and Mom...

Dash took a shaky breath, smiling lightly, "Alright, Squirt. I've been killing ponies most of my life, so there's no way I'm getting out of being punished..." The smile grew into a strong grin, brow furrowing, "But I'll be Discorded before I let those other murderers get away scott-free."

"Heh. That's my Rainbow..." Scootaloo smiled, moving out of her hug and backing away into the dark. "You should wake up now, though..."

Rainbow blinked a few times, each one bringing more clarity to her surroundings...

Chapter 4: From The Ashes

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It was obviously near sunset, the red sky above Dash bringing a warm breeze across the field. "Must've passed out..." Her bare coat ruffled slightly in the wind as her eyes went over her body. Her suit and bandages were gone, though her coat seemed to have grown back...

"Finally awake, little one?"

Rainbow looked to her side, staring at Princess Luna. Scootaloo sat beside her, looking off to a treeline in the distance, watching the leaves sway in the breeze. "Yeah, I am. How's my body?"

"It will work. You were speaking a lot in your sleep..." Luna raised her eyebrow slightly, "Much of it about confessions."

"Confessions I'm gonna make." Rainbow rolled over onto her hooves and stood up, stretching. "Did you do this, Princess?"

"You were barely presentable in your previous state, so I regenerated your coat and restored your bone structure," Luna gestured to Rainbow's wings and legs as she spoke, "But it's not enough to suggest you'll be doing stunts as you usually do. It is, however, enough to allow freedom of movement."

"Thanks... wait, what about those ponies who were coming after me?" Rainbow looked around, eyes scanning the sky, "Just where are we?"

"In the shadow of Mount Unicornia, one of the fields South-East of Canterlot." Luna gestured behind Rainbow, "Ponyville is very far from here."

"Alright, but what about those ponies?"

"Reaper's taking care of them." Luna smiled, "Despite his gruff demeanor, he's quite quick with a plan."

"He seemed like the slick used sofa salespony type," Rainbow grumbled, looking off towards the town. "Guess I'd better get going towards home, then." Rising to her hooves, she took a tentative step towards the town. Something stalled her movement, a draw from the pair of ponies to her side. Her eyes slipped their vision over to Luna, and by extension, Scootaloo... the filly she'd so horribly wronged. She's grown up into a great mare, hasn't she? Even if she failed... she found a crush, found success in her studies. Even made me proud on occasion. The thoughts moved through her head unabated as she sat down, stare fixed on the swaying purple mane and orange coat, despite the field appearing through her translucent, ethereal form. Stubborn, headstrong, never one to go down without a fight. Just like me... it would be anyway, if I didn't become this.

"Something wrong, Rainbow Dash?" Luna raised her brow slightly, silver hoof scuffing the ground slightly, almost like an uncomfortable twitch.

"Yeah... there is." Rainbow's eyes fell to the ground for a moment, squinting as she gathered up the strength to address her... friend. "Scootaloo."

No response came for a few moments, but a light sigh soon bounced into Rainbow's ears. "What?"

"Scootaloo... since I'm going to be confessing to the others anyway, I may as well start with you. First, your death..." Something welled up in Rainbow's gut as she spoke, a twist in her stomach, butterflies, a blurring of the world. Something she'd been warned about time and time again ever since her ghosts had started emerging...

"You killed me. I know that much... but you didn't even give me a second glance. Just, dropped me into the gears, watched me get chewed up... I bet you even enjoyed it when my blood hit your face." Scootaloo merely blinked at the horrible memory; what point did it have, since she was already dead? Pain, agony, sadness. It all didn't exist anymore. The freedom came with a terrible price, but it was a payment she couldn't refund... and Life was certain to keep her away from the option.

"I did kill you. I watched your body get ripped apart, listened to your screaming, the light of your eyes disappear before it all became red." Rainbow blinked, feeling something hot trail down her cheek as the butterflies gathered and scattered, only growing in number. "I felt anger when I heard you screwed up your exam. I knew that you wouldn't have a place in the Guard, since a stubborn mare like you... like me, would never follow orders. And since life in a camp would be worse than death, I put you in the grinder. Figured you'd be more useful as a rainbow."

"More useful...? Is that it?" Scootaloo's voice shook as her eyes turned back to the target of her hatred, "Is that all I was to you? Somepony who was 'useful'? A tool? Some pathetic little object that could carry on your legacy?" She rose to her hooves and walked over to her 'hero', feeling a boiling in her stomach that she'd not felt since the torture of her days in Ponyville's lonely schoolhouse, at the hooves of those two fillies, "And when that tool stopped being a handy little thing... you binned it, just like all those other foals, right? Is that all we are?" Her eye twitched as Rainbow continued staring at the ground, the boiling turning into an eruption of fury, "Look at me, you useless mare!! Look at me when I speak to you!"

Rainbow's stomach was a storm of insects, innumerable in their creeping, crawling, fluttering, but she forced her eyes up into the violet orbs across from her. Her stern expression failed to break as the hot trails only widened.

"Answer me when I speak to you," Scootaloo's voice fell to a hiss, eyes squinting as she stared into the soul of Rainbow Dash. She punctuated the words with venom, "Am. I. Just. A. Tool?"

"How do I answer that...?" Dash whispered, expression softening slightly as she looked on, "How can I answer something like that? It's subjective. You've been useful. You were a way for my legacy to live on. You screwed up. But you aren't a tool, either... nor are you just some brick in the road I walk on. You're something bigger in my life." Her words fell from her mouth, punctuated by sniffles, but not a single shiver rocked her voice, "You were, are something more. But I can't even consider my best friends on your level... I don't know what I can call you. Ever since we first met, you've clung to me like some crazy fangirl..."

Scootaloo's own expression weakened as she sat down. She was getting an answer to why she died, and not even the soft wind blowing across the field would disturb the sound of her idol's voice.

"But, I eased up. We started talking. You shared your dreams and hopes constantly with me... and at first? I didn't care. You were just some filly out in the wide world, trying to make a name for yourself. But your dreams of making it big? Of being worth something? It reminded me of myself, and how I used to act before I got hired into the Weather Factory. How all my dreams were like the stars in the sky, out of reach... but I knew that I could reach them." A sniff came out as the trails only grew wider, Rainbow closing her eyes as she continued, "Always so far away, but I could see them. I could see a path to them... and I chased it like a mad mare. And when I got hired? When I got this cushy job as a manager, and all this pay, all this free time? The paths just... disappeared."

"... You were using me to achieve your own dreams," Scootaloo whispered, shocked by the revelation. It had all been mere theory to her, passing thoughts, impossibilities when she considered a pony that wholly represented Loyalty. Yet, she was merely placed as a brick in the path, so that Rainbow Dash might live her dream through somepony else. The shock quickly caved under the storm of fury, her teeth grinding together in a hellish tirade, "You... used me... like some slave. The Element of Loyalty... abused my love for her... and used me!"

"I'm not done yet, Squirt."

"What'd you call me?"

"Squirt. Your nickname from eight years back... I came up with it after I started to care. I called you that whenever you were around... but it wasn't something to merely make myself bigger than you. Scootaloo, when I try to put a word to you, I'm reminded of something I never had..." Rainbow's expression shook as her mouth twitched, the rivers of her eyes consuming her cheeks. "A little sister..."

A little sister? The thought ran rampant through Scootaloo's mind a loud, single-track road, running circles around her attention. Family was a thing Scootaloo had, once upon a time. She had a mom, a dad, a brother... but they all slipped out of her life when she moved to Ponyville. When she was only a child, her family was having a hard time supporting the household, living in Cloudsdale's industrial district. Pay was never good for her father, and her mother did odd jobs around the city for not much more. Her brother tried to raise her, but was constantly distracted by his studies. Through what time he could spare for his little sister, he taught her the importance of a stable lifestyle, one that could be supported, no matter what happened. That friends could be depended on, loved ones could support her, and that she had to find a way to support them in return. Work was one such way, but since she was a child, she had to help out other ways: doing chores, helping with homework, tutoring on what she could.

She and her brother supported each other, schooling each other, quizzing each other, and the filly learned. Her brother's knowledge became her knowledge, his intelligence applied to her own. They built on each other, and before long, Scootaloo was quite the sharp child. The lessons pounded into her head inspired her to achieve great things, always striving to do better than everyone else, always aiming higher than everyone else, always wanting to last longer than everyone else. She had to be the best, or she couldn't pay back all the support she received.

Schooling became secondary in her life, such a simple thing could be forgotten, but one thing she couldn't forget was her wings. Though her brain had been nurtured and grown, her muscles were unkempt, weak. Her wings hadn't grown fully due to disuse, and, though a filly her age could successfully do a loop-de-loop during flight, she could barely get off the ground. A disadvantage had grown into a disability, so great that she had to take a taxi down to the small village. She left in order to allow some financial freedom for her family, and she vowed to find friends, loved ones that she could support as they supported her.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rumble, Thunderlane, Fluttershy, Rarity... Rainbow Dash. They'd all become her supporting pillars, and she tried to support them. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in their hunt for their Cutie Marks, Twilight Sparkle in her work in the library, Applejack in minor finances, Rumble in his studies. Pinkie Pie in making everypony smile, Fluttershy in caring for the animals - something she wished she did better -, Rarity in her dressmaking - downright impossibility, but she tried -, Thunderlane in his cloud kicking when she finally learned to fly.

Rainbow Dash... in everything. Everything the mare tried to achieve, Scootaloo would be there to witness it, or support her to try and make it happen. In the shadows, or on the sidelines, those two violet eyes never once left the sky blue pegasus' form. She had to be there...

Her trance was broken by Rainbow Dash coming closer to her, shivering, "Scootaloo... I've never had family beyond my dad. He was the only one I ever looked up to... I came to Ponyville after my Sonic Rainboom to make him proud, to find work and everything. But, when I found you... it all stopped being important. My work at the Weather Factory stopped my dreams from ever coming true, but if you achieved yours, maybe that'd achieve mine as well? I-I never meant to use you..." she sniffed, breaking down as she tried to hug the ethereal form, trying several times to get a grip, each one driving her expression down further into sorrow, "W-When you died, when I killed you, I was blind! Blinded by your failure and the end of my own dreams, along with yours! I was so angry, I couldn't control myself! T-That stupid medication just blinded me more, all I could see was red! S-So, when I m-made you watch everypony die, when I chased you, when I put you in those chains... I couldn't stop myself." Rainbow jammed her hoof into the dirt, her sobs growing in volume. The storm had been the thing that she'd been warned about for so long. All those ghosts were merely a symptom of her terrible disease, brought on by her ten years of killing foal after foal. A sick spiral of blood that stained her soul for eternity, and now she couldn't escape it, no matter how many purifying tears she shed.

Guilt. The black knife run through her heart was guilt. And ten years of murder all caught up with her at that moment. "Scootaloo! I'm sorry I killed you! I'm sorry I lost my mind! I'm sorry I killed all those foals! Orion, Aurora, all the other classes from all those other schools!! I terrified you, I scared them, I scared myself! I... I know you can never forgive me, b-but I've always thought of you as family... y-you were the one thing I couldn't have in life... and success was so close. I was so blind... I lost everything when you died..."

Scootaloo followed her sister's gaze to the ground, watching the tears crash into the earth. Blind, huh... The sobs carried on, becoming full on wails of agony. Scootaloo looked back up at the flailing mane in front of her, the tears flying off Rainbow as she shook her head, trying to escape her ghosts, all the skeletons in her closet. All the dead bodies, all the screams, all the torture that she'd left behind. So... this is what she is. Not some hero, or an idol, or even an egomaniac. Just... a crazy mare who lost her chance at her dreams. The thoughts drew by so slowly, trudging through the mud of her cold mind. She thought of me as a little sister... and through her training of me, I thought of her as my own sister. An extension of my brother... wonder what he's doing now? Her eyes moved back to the sky. Why was she so calm, though? She could still feel, despite her ghostly state. She felt anger only a few moments before... so what was this? Calm... Rainbow Dash is crying right in front of me, probably dying... and I'm calm. Do I want her to die, though? What point would there be in it? Revenge... taking her from her friends, just like she took me from mine.

Revenge wasn't even appealing to the ghost. Though she could cause Rainbow Dash further agony by killing her - plan not withstanding -, it wouldn't fix anything. She'd simply double the pain of the ponies she called her own friends... her own family. Family... huh?

"Rainbow Dash..."

The pegasus, once stood on golden pillars of her ego and skill, looked to be in the middle of a crumbling kingdom, her whole world falling apart around her. A shattered, crazed look in her eye, temples trapped between her forehooves, as if she were about to crush her head with the force. No response came from the broken mare, though the look in her eye made the acknowledgement she needed.

"What do you consider your friends?"

"What do you mean...? T-They're my best friends... they've always been there for me, b-but they don't compare to you." Rainbow shook harder than an imbalanced engine, wings threatening to flare and flail with their own twitching.

"I consider them much closer than that, Rainbow... and I've been thinking about it since you told me what you thought of me. Can a friend be considered something more than just a friend?" Scootaloo looked into her sister's eyes, seeking the chaotic darkness for some little shard of light, a dot that contained something more than simple pain and guilt. "Can they be family? Just like you and me?"

Rainbow blinked, her shivering calming down as the ghosts quelled their screams in her head. Her jaw hang as breath raced into her lungs, mind stalling as she considered the avenue. "I... I don't know."

"You should. You're closer friends with them than I am... but Twilight? Fluttershy? Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity? Even you? Everypony else? They're all my family." Scootaloo placed a hoof over her heart, wishing she could feel it race, some notion that meant she could go back to that very family. "I hate to see them sad... I love to make them happy. I support them at every turn I can, and though I paid more attention to my own little sisters, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle... I fought to put everyone on the same level." A smile crossed her lips as she looked at Dash, "I can't be the only sister you have, Rainbow... because if I am, then you're back to only having your father."

"Where... where are you going with all this, Squirt?"

"Hunting for a few answers of my own, honestly..." she chuckled, shaking her head, "Funny how I only consider them all family after I'm dead. Suppose I'm just trying to extend that same thing to you. Rainbow Dash, I don't want to be held on a pedestal by you... your friends, your family, even your special somepony. We all stand on the same level... there's nopony more important than any other."

"I... guess that's true. B-But how does this help, Squirt? I did horrible things over my life... and some of them were in my control. I could've gotten stronger, I could've fought back... I could've saved lives, but I-I let them pass on. Somepony like me doesn't deserve family." Dash hung her head, eyes locked on the ground below her, staring into the damp craters made by her heavy tears, "Who would consider me a sister?"

"... I do."

Dash blinked, eyes widening slightly. Her head grew quiet as a pair of legs wrapped around her neck, pulling her chin up onto a shoulder. The fell chill of Death itself ran down her spine, but something definitely was there...

"Rainbow... you're the sister I've been looking for. You taught me so much... to be confident in myself, to always train and practice, to always strive to be better... get myself into the spotlight. Whenever I was having a hard time with a trick, you'd be there to hold me up, show me the ropes. When I had troubles with understanding myself, you acknowledged that you didn't quite have all the answers," Scootaloo giggled at the words, "And took us to Twilight. We both learned then, didn't we?"

"W-We did... we basically got a refresher course on what we learned in school. Birds and the bees, and all that..." Rainbow kept her eyes on the ground, but something started picking away at the black fortress she'd locked herself in, a little light trying to break down the dark.

"But we learned. About love, respect... the difference between a physical and emotional connection. It woke me up to what I felt about Orion." As the image of her love's face went through Scootaloo's mind, she felt her own voice crack as she continued, her eyes closing to give her some semblance of focus in the static dark. "But it also woke me up to what I felt about you... and now, after what you told me... I realize it was the same feeling I felt for everypony else."

Rainbow merely listened, not budging an inch, but the feeling of something cracking continued to build. Family... what I said, what I feel for everypony else... Squirt is a sister to me, but... is that the same thing? When I'm around Twi' and 'Shy, I definitely have fun with them. I love being around them... but what could I lay down for them? What could I put on the betting table when they're in danger? The question of her own Element even being right blinked in her mind as she fought to figure everything out.

"Rainbow... we have a lot more family than you think. And that family is always going to be there for you... and though you killed me..." a frigid tear fell to Rainbow's shoulder, passing through as it froze her muscle, "Y-You g-gave me something I-I could never have gotten w-when I was alive... I c-can be here with Orion... y-you gave me something th-that will help me through the afterlife." A sniff punctuated the sentence as a shivering sigh raced out of her little sister, "I h-have love now... I o-only wish I c-could share it w-with everypony..." The hug tightened around her neck as Scootaloo buried her face in her shoulder.

Love. The cracking sped up as Rainbow blinked, her thoughts shifting away from all the ghosts. Love...? Family, friends, lovers... all connections. But are they all really the same in emotional connection? And why is she... wait... Her eyes lifted from the ground, catching a blurry view of the Princess of the Night against an Autumn backdrop, a sea of orange, red and green, swaying in the wind behind an island of blue. "Squirt... are you... asking me something?"

A small giggle escaped Scootaloo between the shaky, quiet sobs, "I g-guess I'm trying to..."

"... Anything."

"What?"

"Ask me anything, and I swear on the blood running through my veins... for all the family I have on this earth, everypony I love... that I will carry it through." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "It's time I embraced Loyalty, and stopped all this... so before I go and confess my crimes..."

"Right. Rainbow Dash..." Scootaloo took a deep breath, clearing away the blood spattered on the image of one of her closest family members, "Big Sis... I want you to take everypony as your family... all your friends, your dad, your special somepony... put them all on the same level. All of my friends... and protect them, just like how you guard yourself and those close to you. Tell Apple Bloom and S-Sweetie B-Belle... t-t-that..." Rainbow raised her hooves and brought Scootaloo close, holding back her own tears as the flow increased from the mare in her grasp. "T-T-That I-I c-can't s-see them again... b-but t-t-to l-live on through w-what I learned... from you... and from Wheel... a-and everypony else."

"What you learned from Wheel?"

"M-My big brother... h-he's still in Cloudsdale, p-p-probably with a cushy job in management," Scootaloo let a laugh try and clear away her sadness of reality, "H-He taught me that supporting your friends... was the proper payback for everything they give you. And you, Belle and Bloom, Twilight, Fluttershy, everypony... y-you've all given me so much..."

"Sis..." Rainbow nuzzled Scootaloo's neck gently, the wall finally falling, "I'm sorry that I ever lost myself... that I ever lashed out at you. Lashed out at anypony... I turned my back on Loyalty to Cloudsdale and my country because of those sick freaks in the Weather Corporation. But today is where it ends... I'm going to work towards bringing them down. I know nopony will forgive me for this, but I want... I wish I could give you more, Squirt... see you soar in the skies as a Wonderbolt, or lead entire armies of weather pegasi in fighting the weather of Equestria and beyond. I'm so, so sorry for taking away your dreams, just because mine couldn't be fulfilled..." Her eyes turned back to Luna, "And with Luna as my witness... you will be the last life I ever take. I'm turning around... but I accept every death as my responsibility, and will fight for redemption."

Luna could barely hold down a chuckle, putting a hoof over her mouth to hide it, "Very, very admirable, Rainbow Dash. The souls of the lost will be watching your every step."

"And I'll make sure every step makes them proud. Heh... this is kind of the situation I was hoping for when I joined the Wonderbolts. So many eyes watching my every move... every perfect stunt... impressing and astounding everypony who came to see me. It's time I chased that dream again." Rainbow grinned, her goal firmly set in her mind. "Today... I quit being Rainbow Dash, Floor Manager of the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation... and become Rainbow Dash, dreamer, and Element of Loyalty. And future Wonderbolt, of course."

Both mares allowed themselves a big smile as the dark fortress crumbled, and for the first time in ten years, the light of the sun graced Rainbow... she looked up into the blinding heat in her mind, and let out a primal roar, setting herself on the road she would walk, and never stop walking on until she met her end. Whether that came tomorrow, or years down the road, today would be the day that Rainbow Dash changed her ways and became her own mare. Take no orders, make no second thoughts, and never step back from something you set yourself towards, Rainbow. Because today, you live your own life... not by the leash of some corporate pencil jockey, but by your own drive and by the light of your own star.

"Thank you, Scootaloo... I don't think I would've ever seen the light without you."

"I know you won't let me down, Big Sis... your family's waiting for you."

"Right."

The two broke their embrace after a few more quiet moments, and Rainbow set her eyes on the shadow of Ponyville. With a flap of her wings, she felt the familiar wind blowing through her mane, and, as if a gift from the Gods, a tailwind pushed her along the path to Ponyville. The town where she would begin her march... and no matter what happened, would set her on that path for the rest of her life.

"Spike, could you bring over those sapphires, please?"

"On it!"

Carousel Boutique, a place of class, pomp and circumstance. Across its polished marble floor, a dragon ran to retrieve numerous supplies for the mare sitting at her sewing machine, creating art as she had for so many years.

"Here you go." A chest slid over to her side, pushed along by a purple claw.

"Thank you, Spike." She nodded to her assistant and turned back to her work, wrapping the gems in her aura. Everything had to be perfect...

A knock echoed from the door. "Oh, who could it be? Spike, did you turn the sign to Open again?"

"No. That sign is definitely on closed... I'll go check." The tall dragon stretched out, cricking his spine back into place. It had already been a long day's work, and the flood of orders Rarity received the day before had tired them both out. Still, a hard day meant a lot of pay, which he was all too happy to receive. A few steps brought him to the front door, but it opened before he could even give his arm the signal to move. "Uh... hello?"

Spike blinked, and his brow quickly fell as he realized who was outside. Three cloaked figures stood at the doorstep, and two of them definitely had a pony shape. The third, however, had a strange, upright posture. Two ponies and a dragon, maybe? He shifted his stance into one of polite disinterest, "How can I help you three?"

"Spike." The voice rang familiar immediately for the dragon, and his eyes shot wide. "Let me in... I need to see Rarity."

"Sure." He stepped to the side as the white cloaked figure walked in, followed by the two in black. He put his arm up to stop them, grasping the door. "Only her."

"Calm down... they're with me."

"Huh?"

"Wait, is... is that you, Rainbow Dash?" The white mare at the sewing machine turned around, shifting her work glasses up her muzzle slightly. The voice was very clear, but the face was shrouded in darkness. "Oh my, dear, did you lose a bet? Full-body cloaks have been out of season for quite a while."

"It was a suggestion. Listen..." Rainbow lifted a hoof and pulled the white hood off her head, looking on at her friend. "I can't be seen around here."

"I hardly think walking around with two guardians is much for subtlety..."

"Not to worry. Nopony followed us."

Silence fell in the room as Spike's and Rarity's jaws dropped. "W-Wait... that voice. Rainbow Dash, one of your friends there... is she?"

"Princess Luna, yes." Luna nodded and pulled the black hood off her head, the second figure beside her deciding to lean on the wall. The door glowed with her magic and quietly shut, guided by her watchful eye. "We apologize for requesting this audience on such short notice."

"Oh, I wouldn't think of denying this... but, what audience do you require, Your Highness?" Rarity hopped off her stool and walked over to the regal alicorn, bowing. Spike followed suit, rushing a bit too quick to her side and nearly slipping on the polished floor.

"Ngyah! Woah!" He quickly set his feet back on the ground, breathing hard from his near-close encounter with the marble. He spun around and bowed before Luna, to which she sighed and shook her head.

"Rise, you two. We come as a friend, not as royalty." She watched the two get back up, raising her brow slightly as Spike stood at eye level with her. "It appears the good dragon of Princess Twilight's has grown well..."

"Hehe... I've had a lot of help, trust me." He grinned and scratched the back of his head, looking more embarrassed by the admission than proud, "It was mostly Rarity and AJ keeping me in line. So what can we do for you, Your Highness?"

"Luna will do, please. We are afraid we come as bearers of bad news... but it is better to allow the good Rainbow Dash an explanation." Luna gestured to the mare at her side before her horn lit up, cloaking the room in a deep blue.

"Er, what is this spell you're casting, Your Highness? If I might inquire," Rarity asked as her eyes ran along the glittering surfaces, slightly worried of her intentions.

"A soundproofing spell. As Rainbow Dash mentioned, she cannot be seen... so we are taking precautions." Luna's eyes opened as the light of her horn went out, the aura solidifying along the walls, ceiling and floor. Spike raised his brow at the quick casting of the complex spell; he'd heard talk of spells that could harden the atmosphere itself, but they were usually extremely complex and difficult to cast. Not only that, but they also required monstrous amounts of mana to use, more than most unicorns had in their entire lifetimes.

"Wow..." he whispered, "How'd you cast this so quickly, You— er... Luna?"

"We have had much practice, Spike. Reaper..."

"Watching the door, Princess. No one's come by since we arrived, and I don't feel any spells going off. Though, I'm sure if someone were to try something, the unicorn there'd feel it pretty quick." The figure on the wall folded his arms, hidden by the large sleeves of his cloak.

"'The unicorn'? I apologize, sir, but I do have a name. It is Rarity." She raised her eyebrow, looking over her work glasses with an indignant stare at the rude person.

"Apologies, Miss Rarity." He nodded back to her, turning his eyes to Rainbow Dash. "Alright, Rainbow. Floor's yours..."

"Right." Rainbow nodded, looking at Rarity. A gulp crawled down her throat as she thought of how to say it. Should I just come out with it? Or should I work up to it? What do I even say? No... no, you're turning around, Rainbow. And to do that, you have to confess. I can't worry about the reaction. No matter what they do, no matter what they say... I deserve it. She took a deep breath, shivering a bit as the chill of fear ran down her spine. "Rarity..."

"Yes dear, that is my name." Rarity smirked as she adjusted her glasses, that same chill known by her own back. "This confession then... is it why you're home early? I wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, it's about that." Rainbow set herself down into a sitting position, eyes squinting slightly as she stared at the ground.

"Oh dear..." Rarity's eyes widened as she considered the possibilities, but only one made sense to her. She immediately took her obviously distraught friend in a tight hug, putting her glasses up on her horn. "Oh, you poor girl! I can't believe this would happen to you!"

"W-What?" Rainbow looked over at Rarity, that slight shiver of fear turning into an icy javelin stuck into her back. D-Does she already know!?

"Look at you! You're positively a wreck, you're dressed in a cloak, and you're stalking about the village like a common homeless pony! I can't believe such a hard-working mare as yourself would suffer this!" She quickly left the hug and walked away, mumbling to herself. "Oh, this won't do at all! Oh, what should I do? Donations, new clothes? But my fabrics are running so low, and I need to finish this order... ah, I know! Oh, but the last time she went, things didn't really go to plan... perhaps Pinkie could help? Yes, that would do. But where would we hold it? And who would we invite? Oh, decisions, decisions!"

Her rambling carried right on over Rainbow's confusion, her expression changing from terrified to weirded out, to just plain relieved. Ok, she doesn't have any clue... but I've gotta burst her bubble sometime.

"Jeeze, Rarity," Spike sighed, scratching the back of his neck, other claw on his hip. That mare and conclusions... it's like a really bad romance story. He scoffed with a smirk, looking over at Rainbow Dash. "It is kinda weird that you're home early though, Rainbow. Did something happen?"

"Well... yeah. Something did happen." Dash rubbed her foreleg, letting her eyes settle back on the floor, a cracked reflection staring back at her. Wish I could be the one looking back at me... at least then, I wouldn't have to explain all this.

"Did they give you a vacation? I hope so. Scootaloo's gonna be real happy to hang out with you once she's home!" Spike grinned, wondering what chaos the Crusaders were going to get themselves caught up in when they were all back together. "No matter how old those fillies get, they never give up their antics." His grin wasn't shared with the mare across from him, as her eyes simply fell lower along with her expression. Spike's own grin faded at the sight, quickly replaced with a grimace. "Uh, d-did I say something wrong?"

"Oh please, Spike. As if she would look like that if given a paid vacation! No, it's quite apparent what happened here." A gem flew by Spike's head, carried along in its light blue vehicle, followed by another. Then another. Then one rocketing right over his head, forcing him to duck. "And as the good friend I am, I must help her feel better." Rarity ran by Spike on her way to the mannequins against the wall, already getting to work. "Now, I must be economic about this silk... it will take me hours to get another roll, but thankfully, this design shouldn't take long. Come over here if you would, Rainbow Dash, I must get your measurements!"

"... No need, Rarity."

"What? But, why not?"

"Because." Rainbow's eye turned to Rarity, body still as a statue. "You think I was fired, don't you?"

"W-Well, er... I-I'd find it very shocking if you were, yes! It was the only conclusion I could draw, as you're always so punctual, so loyal to your task!"

"... I'm not loyal." The magenta orbs turned back to the reflection of their master in the floor, trying to pick out the numerous black dots that stained the image, much like the blood that stained her soul. Counting the sins like so many black stars in the white sky. "And Spike, about... Scootaloo..."

"Oh no... s-she didn't fail, did she?" Spike's hands fell at his sides, gulping. "I've heard really bad things about the kids who fail the Flight School End Exam. R-Really bad things... banishment being one of the biggest rumors."

Rainbow simply bit her lip, turning to search for some form of support. All she received were two steeled pairs of blue eyes, the beings owning them simply waiting. Watching her. The simple neutrality turned her stomach, especially from the Princess. Even Luna's not gonna back me up here... A gulp raced down her throat, suddenly feeling parched. Can't let the stress get to me. Say it, Rainbow! Tell them what happened! To you, to Squirt, t-to all those... foals... Her breathing started to race as the screams came back to her, pupils shrinking. Control it... control it! You're stuck living with them for the rest of your life, so force them down and think!

"Rainbow? Hey, Rainbow!" Two claws gripped Rainbow's shoulders as she started to shiver, her breathing coming as jagged, raspy pulls and pushes. "Calm down! What's wrong!?"

"Guess she's losing it." The calm voice was followed by a chuckle, "Jeeze... and I thought this mare was tough."

"Where do you get off saying that?!" Spike growled, glaring at the ghost on the wall.

"I'm saying it because it should be true, right? Element of Loyalty. She's got all the makings of a soldier, so why's she breaking down? I think I've a privilege in saying something about it, Drako." Reaper shrugged, sighing. "She really should be stronger than this."

"Why I oughta..." Before Spike could rise, a blue hoof pulled him back down. "R-Rainbow?"

"He's right... I should be stronger. Especially after the promise I made..." She took a shaky breath, looking back up at Spike. Her eyes echoed the dark storm broiling in her mind, one she hoped she'd quelled back during her time with her sister. "Spike, Rarity. Y-You'll wanna be sitting down for this..."

The dragon simply blinked at her, eyes turning to his companion. She simply looked back at him, a raised eyebrow marking her confusion. "Well... if you insist, dear." Rarity pulled a pillow from her couch and set it down in front of Rainbow, grabbing two others for her friend and offering one to Spike.

"I'm good, thanks. Princess Luna would probably want it." Spike set himself down in a cross-legged position, leaning on his knees and elbows as he tried to read Rainbow's mind through her eyes. Something about the darkness in her pupils put him off. S-She... looks dead. There's usually a shine in her eyes, some light when she was happy, or doing something awesome, or even when she's down. What the heck happened?

"Well, if the offer is there... our legs are growing rather sore." Luna adjusted her position as Rarity quickly nodded, the pillow zipping over to her. It took a bit of adjusting with her own magic, but eventually she was sat on the soft cushion, cooing slightly as it billowed out to support her. "Well, that is a fine cushion..."

"Thank you, You— er, Luna. I pray you're comfortable?"

"Yes, very." Luna offered a curt nod in approval, moving slightly on the cushion. It was rather comfy indeed!

"Excellent. I wish I'd been expecting you all, I would have prepared tea." Rarity tapped her chin in thought, trying to distract herself from the near-impossible pull of Rainbow's eyes. She wasn't fired, and she's got something to say about Scootaloo. It's possible the poor filly failed her exam... but where would she end up after that? Those rumors of banishment couldn't be right, could they?"

"It's alright, this won't take long." Rainbow took a deep breath, looking between the two before her, "But I've gotta ask something from both of you. Pinkie Promise."

"No problem." Spike raised his brow, waiting for Rainbow's request.

"Of course, dear. Though a simple promise would work for me." Rarity offered a small smile for her friend, confident in her abilities to keep gossip to herself.

"You both swear to keep whatever's said in this shop secret, and not a word of it is spoken between either of you. Pinkie Promise." Rainbow's fallen brow added an almost fatal sense of seriousness to the childish promise, but after a few moments of considering the repercussions, her two friends carried out the motions in perfect sync.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." They both nodded, careful not to poke their eyes out, before returning to their relaxed positions of staring at the sky blue mare before them.

"Alright... first, I h-have something to say about Scoo... S-Squirt." Rainbow's heart pounded in her chest as she spoke, the thunderstorm in her mind sending down its first few bolts.

Squirt? Rainbow hasn't called Scootaloo that in years... Spike's brow fell slightly as he listened.

"She... attempted the exam t-today. And... s-s-she tried really hard..." Rainbow bit her lip, her eyes shaking as they fought to stay locked on their targets. "B-But... s-s-she... s-she failed..."

"What?!" Spike suddenly belted out, forcing himself to stay sitting down. "But I've never seen Scootaloo even make a mistake, let alone fail at something! Did somepony throw a rock or something!?"

"Spike, you assume foul play?" Rarity leaned away from the dragon, as if physically sickened of the notion. "The instructors would surely see such a thing occur!"

"No, n-nopony threw anything. It's r-really difficult to say this. Squirt, a-and her friend... a-along with a third filly, all failed the exam. I don't know how, I was at work, b-but..."

"Wait." Rarity's brow took its turn to descend, "You work full shifts at the Factory, with no allowance outside, even on a lunch break, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, then how did you know Scootaloo failed? Did somepony tell you? It could very well have been a lie."

Rainbow didn't even show a hint of hope at the notion that she'd been lied to, simply staring Rarity dead in the eye. "I know, Rarity... because I was one of the ones who took her away from the field."

"Well, then why is she not here with you? T-This doesn't make sense, Rainbow, unless—" Rarity suddenly gasped, eyes shooting wide as a hoof rose in front of her mouth, "U-Unless those rumors are true! S-She wasn't banished, was she!?"

Spike simply watched Rainbow's eyes shake. Banished...?

"I... I wish she was..."

"How could you say that, Rainbow?" The dragon stared at her, appalled. "S-She's your greatest fan, one of your friends!"

"I s-say it... b-because it'd be better... t-than... than..."

A tear fell from the magenta eyes.

"Than being dead."

The word fell like the hammer of the Gods, crushing Spike and Rarity completely. Dead. Scootaloo was dead. The word ran through Spike's head more times than he could count, each second ticking by like a thousand sunrises, still unable to comprehend the possibility. His lungs nearly stopped working from the shock, his eyes began to hurt from nearly popping out of his head, his mouth dried until he could swear he was breathing in sand.

Rarity suffered much the same, only it seemed the dryness was to accommodate the fresh streams of tears falling from her eyes. She felt sick, her stomach doing back flips, her mind stalling entirely. It just froze on that single, damning word. The word that should never be associated with such a sweet, innocent filly, still full of life and promise. All the potential, all the dreams, all the hopes and connections...

"What... w-what happened to her?" Spike managed to eke out, though his dry mouth provided a severe challenge.

Rainbow merely looked crestfallen, the one tear being all she could spend on something she created oceans over before. The silence in the room begged her to continue, and she prayed the moment would last enough so she might speak without interruption, by the pony, dragon, or even herself. And with a deep breath, she spoke, each word falling upon the trio like another weight on their shoulders.

"Squirt failed the exam, yeah. And, though I'm not allowed to talk about this... honestly? Screw the rules. I was sent down with six other employees from the Weather Factory, all of us dressed up in black. Masks, suits, horseshoes, everything. A trio of stallions we usually hire pick up the... ponies who don't pass from the field, and bring them to us, where we take over." The two remained trapped in her speech, though their expressions began to shift from sorrow, however slightly, "I was leading the team, and we took them to the Factory. One of the head scientists was waiting there for us, and he lead them to the processing room." Rainbow's ears fell as if they had pianos tied to them, but she kept her eyes set on her friends. Friends she hoped to keep after what she had to say, "I gave them the usual spiel... they were useless to the Flock, unable to do their jobs because of one stupid little test." A growl was added at the curse, "And that the rumors of banishment were just that... rumors. One of the foals—"

"Hold a moment, there were others there?" Rarity spoke through her tears, scared of the possible response."

"About fifty others... yeah." She merely sighed, feeling the need to cry, but no tears coming forth. "And every single one of them... all their parents... friends, cousins... lovers. None of them are going to be seen ever again..."

Spike's claw shook in his lap as he leered at the pegasus in front of him.

"They're all dead..."

"B-But you t-tried to stop it, yes?" Rarity's hoof fell to the floor, every prayer paid to a good answer. Rainbow was Loyalty, loyal to her country and all the ponies around her. Surely she would've saved at least some of them.

"No... I actually killed four of them..." The atmosphere only grew heavier, but the quiet hiss of hard breathing was apparent in the room's silence. "In my anger of a riot breaking out... I killed two kids, trying to make a path to Squirt... I went through that filly that came with her - Aurora was her name -, and... chucked her into the grinder, making more Spectra."

"S-S-S-S-Spectra...?" Rarity simply fell further and further into the darkness of terror, begging her body not to move behind a table, or Spike, for some kind of protection. She stared at Rainbow as if she were some kind of monster, rather than a pony. A pony would never kill another. Never!

"The same stuff used to make rainbows... even now... Squirt's being put to better use."

After her last word, Rainbow felt something catch around her neck, and she was picked up off the floor. A short instant later, the wall met her back with a mighty slam, the air blowing out of her lungs. "Gahk!" She choked, grasping for the thing strangling the life out of her. Her hooves found an arm, a rigid piece of steel ending in the powerful jaws around her neck... and the other leading back to a purple dragon, pure hatred in his eyes.

"You killed her...?" The hiss escaped him with more venom than a scorpion, glaring at the mare.

"Y-Yeah... I did..." The pressure around her neck only increased with the words, her air coming through a mercilessly small tunnel.

"You... you..." Green flames spewed from Spike's nose as he lifted his other claw, shining nails catching a glint in the light as a shadow crossed his face. "You murderer!"

"I... I..." Rainbow could barely manage the words, feeling like she was being pushed through a mountain by something unstoppable. Her eyes simply locked on one of the famed weapons of a dragon; their steel-shearing claws. Death rested on the shining bone, the claw they were attached to twitching as if in anticipation, in desire to draw her blood.

"You've got nothing left to say, monster. Killing kids? Throwing them in some grinder? 'More useful'!? I'm done listening to you." Spike's bones cricked in sick want, his claw flexing to get a good draw. "Why I oughta just..."

"Spike!!" The screech forced him to take pause, but his eyes never left the pony in his grip. "Unhand her this instant!"

"Why would I let a criminal go!?" Another burst of green fire exited Spike's nose, his claw balling up into a fist. "What would Twilight say, huh!? Fluttershy, Pinkie, AJ! They'd all do the same thing!"

"You know that's not true, you crazed dragon!" The pain was all too obvious in the mare's voice, but it fell on deaf ears... ears reserved for the voices belonging to Luna and that shadow with her. Why were they so quiet?

Rainbow coughed, gasping for air as her world began to vanish, her grip only tightening on the arm holding her against the wall. "Can't... breathe..."

"Air's too good for you," Spike hissed, pulling his hand back as he opened it, bringing his weapons to bear. "How long...? You told us you had this cushy job for ten years... so how long have you been killing kids?"

"E-Eight... e-eight y-years..." The grip on Rainbow's neck loosened slightly, if only as a show of mercy for her windpipe. The glorious air came back into her lungs in a rush, taking as many deep breaths as she could. Her hooves fell away from the arm as her eyes turned to Spike's face, perceiving his horrific expression as the one Scootaloo wore only fifteen minutes before. "Eight... years... I've been killing for the Corporation... to p-produce rainbows so everypony could be happy."

"They're only happy because they don't know the price! Every time I see a rainbow now, I'm gonna hear some foal screaming in my head!" Spike roared, his stomach boiling as the air in his lungs heated up like two furnaces. Near every exhale was some burst of torching flame, the heat felt far too well by Rainbow.

"I know... a-and it's taken me... until now, t-to see it's all wrong..." She sniffed, putting a hoof back on Spike's arm, "I... I killed Squirt... I killed so many kids, a-and I couldn't stop myself... I was drugged up, but even without that, I probably would've ended those lives anyway... pegasi only have their perfection, Spike."

"What?" Spike and Rarity said in unison, eyes set on the mare.

"Unicorns... have m-magic... lives are so easy..."

A blush lit up on Rarity's face as she moved behind the dragon, trying to escape her friend's gaze.

"E-Earth ponies... have that c-crazy aura about them... masters of growing food. W-Without them... Equestria would starve..." Rainbow took a sharp breath as she felt another tear run down her face, "What have pegasi got...? E-Equestria c-could go on without us... the w-weather may be random, b-but it's not hard for the earth ponies to adapt... u-unicorns have some of the sharpest minds, too, no less Twilight... kill all of us, and Equestria moves on."

The remark set Luna's gaze towards the floor, considering the thought. "Pegasi are far from useless... but it is as Rainbow Dash says. We do not need to control the weather in order to thrive... it is merely to make everypony happy while we and our Sister raise the sun and moon."

"Rainbow Dash..." Rarity's rump fell to the floor, "Oh my gosh, Rainbow... I-I had no idea..."

"Pegasi... have their perfection. And that's what Cloudsdale... fights to keep. B-By killing the foals... who fail the exam... they force success. P-Pegasi who come outta Cloudsdale are great flyers... b-but so few have avoided that system entirely... C-Captain... Spitfire being one of them..." Rainbow gagged slightly, pulling herself up with her hoof, "F-Fluttershy... being another..."

"Fluttershy? B-But how did she avoid all this?" Spike's eyes widened slightly, "Are they still looking for her?!"

"No... s-search was called off... years ago. Said s-she... died in her fall." Rainbow's eyes squinted slightly, "H-Hearing that... it's why I left."

"You left Flight School because of Fluttershy's 'death'? B-But what about your job? The Sonic Rainboom?" Spike merely wore a confused expression, "Why'd they stop looking?!"

"B-Because... the search... was to hunt her down, and 'banish' her..."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Spike turned to the Princess, nearly glaring at her, "Why wasn't any of this stopped?!"

"A lack of evidence, Spike." Luna simply shook her head, looking back up at him, staring unshaken into his enraged glare. "A lack of evidence prevented the Guard from doing anything. Prevented us from doing anything."

"Law's a whole lot more than just catching the bad guy, kid." Reaper moved off the wall, walking to Luna's side, "And it's a lot more difficult to catch a bad guy that's smart with the law."

"They covered themselves up this well...? W-What about all the parents!? What happened to them!?" The dragon's eyes whipped back and forth between the two cloaked figures and Rainbow.

"Cover stories, Spike... Cloudsdale is pretty sharp when it comes to publicity." Rainbow smirked at the comment, "S-Seems pegasi are good at one thing, definitely..."

"So what about you? Pegasi are good at lying, I get that. Who's to say you weren't hunting for her too?"

"If I was... i-if I was..." Her words caught in her mouth, unable to tumble out. Rainbow blinked in confusion, looking down to try and see if her tongue was still working. If I was... what would I do to her?

"You would've killed her. Right?"

The prospect stunned the pegasus, staring up at the ceiling. K-Kill her? But... she's one of my oldest friends... I could never lay a hoof on her, I actually cried when I heard she died! I nearly put her in the hospital when I found her! T-That was one of the tightest hugs I've ever given anypony...

"Well? Aren't you gonna say something?" Another blast came from his face as his grip tightened, "Are you gonna say you woulda killed her? Break her neck maybe...? Throw her off a cliff with her wings clipped!? Bury her alive!?"

"Shut up!!" The roar took Spike by surprise, silencing him, "I'd never do such a thing to Fluttershy! Never! I-I was blind when I killed my little sister!"

"W-What'd you say?"

"I said 'little sister'... S-Scootaloo was... family to me. I killed her in cold blood, a-and I regret it..." Rainbow's voice fell to a sorrowful, quiet tone. "I regret everything..."

"Spike..." Rarity placed a hoof on the dragon's arm, "Please, let her go. She's telling the truth..."

"Family, huh?" Spike's expression thankfully softened as his eyes fell away from the sorry sight, staring at the wall. "Ponies don't kill family..." The iron grip on Rainbow's neck released, dropping her onto the ground, and he moved to the door.

"Spike? W-Where are you going?" Rarity reached out for him, refusing to take a step toward her friend, fearing his wrath may turn to her.

"I'm leaving. Every second I spend here, I feel like breaking another bone in her body." He stopped by Luna and bowed to her, "If you'll excuse me, Luna?"

"Very well. You promised to keep this a secret, and I trust you to do so." Luna's eyes didn't move off the sputtering pegasus, air racing in and out of her lungs in a mad attempt to keep the body alive. With a flick of Luna's horn, her magic released the door, and Spike took it as his notice to leave.

He reached for the door handle and turned his eyes to the figure next to him, aimed at his hood.

"Got something to say, kid?" Reaper turned to Spike as the dragon took a pause.

"Nah. I think I've said enough." Spike shook his head and walked out of the shop, slamming the door behind him.

The next few minutes past with Rarity trying to calm Rainbow down, but even her efforts had little effect on the physical damage already done. Silence pervaded the room as the ponies - and Reaper - tried to settle into the oppressive atmosphere, only one of the mares feeling any form of panic or fear. Rarity's eyes would constantly dart over her shoulder to that murderer, even as she gathered some medicine, or prepared tea for her guests. Nopony denied any of her claims... it's unbelievable that it's all actually true. Rainbow killed children, many of them...

"Reaper, has anypony come by?" Luna sipped her tea, perfectly calm, despite the chance someone may have run into the enraged dragon. A shake of the head came as her response, Reaper simply staring into his own ornate cup.

"No one. Either that kid scared everyone off, we're dealing with one of 'them', or whoever's hiding is pretty good at what they do. And I doubt, in a town like this, it's anything but the first option." He took a sip of his tea, nodding his head gently, "Huh, not bad."

"Thank you, it's an over-the-seas brand... far off country that Zecora once called home. Erm..." Rarity set an uneasy glance on Rainbow as she shifted, thinking of what to say. "L-Luna, all those claims... this isn't a prank, is it?"

"We are afraid to say this, but no, it is not." She set a sympathetic look on Rainbow, the pegasus simply staring into her own quaking tea, her hoof visible shivering. "We were surprised to hear of such a thing, considering the absolute silence from Cloudsdale's own law enforcement. But, this is proof for the Royal Guard to strike out and apprehend whoever is behind this... we simply need more information."

"Or, someone beyond the system." Reaper grinned after another sip, enjoying the dual glee of the actually quite tasty tea, and the prospect of tearing down a whole weather facility. "Just say the word, Princess, and I'll have the place burning to the ground in minutes."

"You will do no such thing, Reaper. Remember your limitations," Luna glared at her servant as she spoke, "To even suggest the rampant murder of my little ponies..."

"They aren't yours anymore, Luna. Considering what they've done? What they could be doing right now?"

"They aren't doing anything."

The group looked over at Rainbow with varying degrees of confusion on their faces, Reaper tilting his head slightly. "We've collected the quota, so we won't be having another... well, 'that' happening for another year or so. If we really did do it sooner than that, I would've snapped a long time ago."

"Huh. Well, Miss Floor Manager, what are they doing right now?" Reaper raised an eyebrow, staring intently at the pegasus.

"Nothing but getting the Spectra prepped for deployment. Soon, Equestria's gonna have a new set of rainbows to admire. And I'm gonna have to lock myself in my house again." She sighed, staring into the ripples from her cup. She willed her hoof to stop shaking, but it just carried on, like she was about to spill over herself. She took a breath before setting her cup down on the floor.

"That's right... recently, you've been staying at home for days on end after your two-month shifts." Rarity took a sip of her own tea, preferring to stare at the light brown liquid over her friend. "I always found that strange."

Dash looked back at the door, her mission still needing to be completed. "Luna, can we move on? I need to talk with my other friends."

"Of course, Rainbow Dash. Rarity, thank you for being such a courteous host." Rarity rubbed the back of her neck as Luna bowed, setting her empty cup down on the table at the side of the room.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all, Luna. I'm honored to have you all as guests, even, er... Mister Reaper, over there." She gave a cautious smile to the man at the wall, responded to with his own smirk.

"I'll be sure to drop by again," The sinister tone sent a shiver down Rarity's spine. Reaper simply grinned and chuckled, "Don't worry, the visit would be purely conversational. Thanks for having us, Miss Rarity."

"Yes, of course," Rarity simply turned away as she spoke, losing confidence with every word. Clearing her throat, she looked over at Rainbow, taking the empty dishes in her magic. "So, Rainbow, um... who's next?" She turned away from the mare as the dishes flew away to the kitchen, carefully placed amongst their other dirty brethren, ready for cleaning.

"You were first because you were closest. The other place that's close to here is," The mare's voice trailed off as her eyes widened. "Oh no." The one place that was closest sprang to her mind: an ominous house prized for its treats.

"Sugarcube Corner, isn't it?" Rarity looked down at her hooves and shook her head. She took a breath to steel her confidence, "I should come along, dear. It wouldn't be right to let a friend take all this on by herself."

"No. This is my problem, and it's one of the few that only I should deal with. I know I'm gonna lose a friend over this, but it's something I've gotta do. Thanks though, Rarity... it's nice to hear somepony's got my back still." Rainbow allowed herself a gentle smile, but the whispers in the back of her mind were starting to return. "Er... mind if we stay here for a while?"

"Of course not, Rainbow Dash. Spend as much time here as you need... though the dishes have been put away. More tea, anypony?" Rarity looked about the room, searching for answers from her guests.

"Guess I'll have some." Reaper raised his hand, "Actually tastes pretty good." He caught a glare from Luna, aimed over her shoulder. "What?"

"Manners, Reaper! Honestly, we're guests!" Luna's expression changed from anger to pure surprise; how could anypony forget manners at an informal gathering? It was so wrong!

"Uh, right, sorry." Reaper cleared his throat, hoping the vibrations in his windpipe would somehow get the image of Luna's burning glare out of his mind, "More tea, please, Miss Rarity."

Rarity simply smiled, whether out of how Luna straightened out the man, or simply being shown a bit of respect, she couldn't tell. "Of course, Mister Reaper. Would you be having some more, Luna?"

"We believe we shall have to decline, Miss Rarity. Rainbow Dash still has her task to attend to, and we would not want to use more time than necessary." Her steely gaze turned to the sky-blue pegasus, watching her move over to the wall and lean on it.

"I'll pass, Rarity. I just... just need some time, you know?" Rainbow's eyes never left the ground, her tone feeling heavy with a mixture of guilt and sadness, perhaps even some unnameable emotion as an undertone.

"Of course."

Rarity set off to the kitchen to prepare more tea, and the visit simply carried on. Seconds to minutes, minutes to hours, the passage of time seemed warped to Rainbow as she stumbled through the darkness of her mind. What was once a bright field, lit by the sun provided by Scootaloo's words, was now a barren wasteland under a merciless fireball, the single guilty soul left to wander its breadth. Sounds from the outside world would come to her from time to time; idle chatter between Rarity and Luna, concerned phrases about her own well-being, questions about how things had come to be. She couldn't bring herself to answer, thankfully each question being tackled by Luna and Reaper. To what effectiveness, the pegasus wasn't sure.

It was merely more time to herself, after all, and time was what she needed. Time to think of a plan, time to think of the proper way to break all of... this to a very dear friend. Time to wonder what would happen. What's she gonna do when I tell her? How should I tell her? She loves kids, parties, fun... when she hears that I've done all this, and with how unstable she can be. Rainbow bit her lip as the mud and craters passed her walking form, Just what is she gonna do? Is she gonna run? Report me to the cops? Tell Twilight before I can say anything? Her head drooped as she felt tears welling in her eyes. Maybe I should've just run away. Never come home... this hurts. Spike already tried to kill me. Spike, of all ponies! I was lucky with Rarity!

Images of her 'friends' appeared in the wastes around her, bearing heated glares, eyes burning with hatred, some brandishing weapons while others merely scuffed the ground in preparation of a charge. What if they all turn on me? W-What if they try to kill me? Reaper and Luna didn't do a thing! W-What if— Two images joined the group surrounding Rainbow; one cloaked figure brandishing a scythe, the other a heavily armored alicorn, a wicked, toothed blade in her magical grip. All the ponies around her had murder in their eyes... or maybe it was simply justice? They're all gonna turn on me. I know it... Rainbow simply fell to her rump and turned her eyes to the sky, seeking some kind of light. All she could find was a whirling, high-altitude hurricane, the sun blazing a hole through its eye.

She wanted to stop, oh so badly. To just end the torture. The journey was too difficult, too long... her star at the end of the road was years and years away, years of pure agony. The story would spread to the whole country.

She'd never get to the Wonderbolts, never even have a job. Her life would be a constant string of insults, service to the country she once considered her home, exile, banishment, imprisonment... every single punishment, she would be worthy of. Every single one, aimed to give her as much pain as possible. Just like the ghosts that haunted her every waking moment, the wardens and prison guards of the Lunar Guard would torture her every day.

And like some visage of Tartarus, the hurricane gave way to hundreds of black dots, racing down towards her. Soldiers, cloaked in steel and weapons at the ready. The entire wasteland quaked with the charge of thousands of ponies, gryphons, zebras, dragons, every conceivable race.

Everyone would come down on her like the fury of the Gods...

Of course...

"I deserve all this, don't I?"

The whisper broke Rarity's and Luna's concentration, having spent the last hour going over numerous topics. They turned to listen to the pegasus, alarm bells ringing in Rarity's head.

"I deserve... everything. Torture, banishment, exile... my own private cell in Tartarus..." Rainbow sniffed, barely able to keep her voice above that quiet whisper that seemed to shake the room's very being. "Death. I shouldn't be here."

"R-Rainbow, what are you talking about?" The unicorn walked over to her friend's side, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "What do you mean you shouldn't be here?"

"I was almost assassinated, Rarity." Rainbow lost herself in the dark of the wasteland, feeling every sword carve into her very being. The pain brought freedom, the blood spraying away some tainted greenish-red, as if her very being had been plagued by all the evils of her past. She could hear the screams of a filly in the back of her head, wishing for her to live, but the will to go on just couldn't build itself.

Rarity's heart nearly stopped at the admission. "A-Assassinated? By who?"

"Dr. Atmosphere. Stratis Atmosphere. Head of the L2 Medical Division, and my boss." There's no point in hiding all this. Rainbow's body felt heavy as she lost her legs, kicked to the ground by a hefty blow to the side. Probably Applejack, given the strength. The mountains provided a backdrop to her sight as hooves tried to smash her skeleton to dust, righteous roars of ponies demanding justice, payback for all the dead fillies and colts who met their untimely end at her hooves, rang in her ears like bombs.

She found it funny how the sound was like a Sonic Rainboom, her one true achievement.

"Dr. Atmosphere... he works at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. But L2? We understood that he worked on the first floor as a scientist and doctor for the medical staff." Luna tilted her head in thought, brow furrowing.

"It's a lie. A lot of the employees who say they work on L1, Level 1, actually work on L2, Level 2. That's the sealed-off second floor... where I worked. It had a nice view of Cloudsdale Stadium if you could find a window."

Rarity's heartbeat quickened as she saw the light in Rainbow's eyes die, horrified at the sight of her friend's soul completely shattering. "Rainbow... oh, by Celestia, dear..." She could barely hold back the tears as she pulled the slack Rainbow into her forelegs, gripping her friend in a tight hug. "Rainbow Dash..."

"Always grey walls, metal catwalks. Barely any freedom from the bosses. Always working, always making sure Equestria had rainbows to look at... pretty, pretty rainbows..." Rainbow let out a childish giggle, feeling spear and sword jam into her heart, lungs, throat, her eyes and her abdomen. She was going to be left a bloody mess in the middle of nowhere, but she never complained, never cried out in pain or begged for mercy. Her want for death simply drove the aggressors on, stoking their rage. "Beautiful rainbows, rainbows I made..."

Reaper simply shook his head as he got off the table he was sitting on, walking over to Luna's side. "That's a right sad sight," he whispered to himself, feeling his stomach turn. This had happened in the past for him, obviously; one doesn't go through his lifetime without seeing millions of broken minds, but it was always watching the demise of one that sickened him most.

"Reaper..." Luna couldn't take her eyes off the scene before her, Rainbow's quiet babbling and Rarity's rising sobbing.

"Yeah. Dr. Atmosphere's on my list, don't worry." Reaper gritted his teeth and balled his hand into a fist, tightening his grip until his very bones quaked under the pressure, "Every single one of them is on it..." Rage shook his being, the demise of a soul in front of him not even being natural. All pressed on by individuals who saw this as the right thing to do, leaving their 'employees' - may as well call them slaves - broken, disheveled husks of their former selves. It made him want to go up to Cloudsdale and burn the entire city to the ground.

"Reaper." The sound of his name broke his train of thought, and he turned to Luna, focusing on her own dark expression. "There is something you can do about all this, and it doesn't have to end in rampant bloodshed."

Reaper let out a snarl, lowering his voice, "Why let any of them live, Luna? Look at what's been done here!"

"I don't want you going up to that city yet." Her voice remained stern, despite the cracking of her own heart over the scene in front of her. Vengeance would be taken, and those responsible would pay the price; the time simply hadn't arrived yet. "Rainbow comes first... and her task is to tell her friends of her past."

"She's already broken, Luna. I can barely stomach seeing this..."

"Neither can I, but this is our given task. We are her escorts and guardians, both ensuring her mission isn't interrupted, and guaranteeing her safety."

Reaper sighed, his hands loosening, "I know, I know. I just... whenever this happened, I knew I couldn't do anything to help them. Now that I've got a chance to, I wanna go up there and take it."

"As do I, but the time isn't right yet. We need to guide her still, and once her task is complete, we will begin planning." Luna looked down at the ground, staring into her reflection in the polished floor, "I only pray that we walk away from all this without more tragedy."

"Same here," the man whispered as he walked back to his spot on the wall. But I can only see all this ending in red.

Chapter 5: Pink And Lavender

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It took quite a while for Rainbow to regain some manner of thought, but as the group left the Carousel Boutique with the caring farewell of their host, something had been lost in the pegasus' eyes. Some manner of purpose, or simply will, and it disturbed her escorts as they weaved through the backstreets of Ponyville, avoiding as many eyes as they could. Before long, the cream-colored, sweet-smelling walls of the bakery came into view down the street, and the sight made Rainbow take pause, her escorts taking a step further before stopping as well.

"Does something trouble you, Rainbow Dash?" Luna turned her head to the mare, raising her eyebrow slightly.

Rainbow blinked a few times before registering that somepony was talking to her, looking up at Luna. "Huh? S-Sorry, was thinking of something..."

"Just asking if something troubles you." Luna's eyebrow fell back down, leaving a worrisome expression behind on her face.

"Oh, um... n-nothing! Nothing. D-Don't worry about me!" Rainbow stammered as she raised her forehoof, waving it back and forth. She quickly put on her most determined face, hoping to hide the telltale cracks in her conviction.

"Hmm... you are certain?" Luna's eyebrow began to rise again as Reaper scanned the street beyond, folding his arms.

"Y-Yeah, I'm sure, very sure. I can do this." Rainbow took a calming breath, though her nerves were still fried from the titanic task before her. "I can do this..."

"You can, huh?" Reaper looked back at the pegasus, scanning her expression for a moment before turning back to the street. "I've got some doubts about that."

"What're you talking about?" Rainbow looked back at the spirit, eyeing the back of his head. “You got something to say to me?”

“Your voice is doing all the speaking for me, kid.” Reaper sighed, shaking his head a little. “You’re shaking, your voice isn’t as strong as it used to be...”

“S-Shut up. I’m fine.” Rainbow grit her teeth and walked forward, heading towards the entrance of the alleyway. “I’m just... confessing to my friends. Pinkie’ll understand. I know she will...”

Understand a mass murderer? I’m having troubles doing that, and if I didn’t know her story, she’d be in a lot worse a situation... Reaper’s eyes followed the advancing pegasus before turning back to the bakery in front of them. “So... any idea what’s waiting for us, Boss?”

“Admittedly, I’ve not a hint, Reaper. I only pray that it goes better than our discussion with Miss Rarity and little Spike.” Luna shook her head before pulling her hood up and following Rainbow, Reaper following suit shortly after. The flow of ponies heading out of the bakery thankfully slowed to a stop, only one or two popping out every now and then, leaving the street in relative silence. Even at that late hour, Sugarcube Corner bustled with activity. Their walk met a few whispered words between passersby, but none attempted to stop the trio as they walked up the steps, Rainbow at the head.

“Hello! Welcome to Sug—” The mare behind the counter stopped as she saw Rainbow walk in, replacing her typical smile with a look of surprise. “Rainbow-dear?! Oh, it’s been too long!”

“H-Hi, Mrs. Cake... long time no see, yeah.” Rainbow took another breath, steeling herself for what was to come. “Um... i-is Pinkie here?”

The stuttering turned Mrs. Cake’s look from surprise to concern, brow furrowing a bit. “Rainbow Dash, are you feeling alright? You look rather pale...”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just, is Pinkie Pie in? I need to talk to her.” The last few words came out with a moderate squeak, the pegasus fighting to keep her voice stable. Calm down, for the love of Luna, Rainbow! It’s j-just a talk. That’s all!

Despite the request, Mrs. Cake marched over to Rainbow and put a hoof to her forehead, pushing some of her locks out of the way. “No fever...”

“I’m fine, seriously!” Rainbow swatted the hoof away from her forehead, only to see the mare zip around to her side and check her wings. “M-Mrs. Cake!”

“I have to make sure, Rainbow-dear! You never stutter unless something’s wrong!” A grumble from the pegasus responded the worried mare as she continued her checks, moving around Rainbow, lifting up her robe in places to check her legs, checking the lustrous quality of her tail for any changes in shine or color.

“The only thing that’s wrong is...” Rainbow stopped herself before saying something she'd regret - even if the word wanted out of her head -, and looked over at Mrs. Cake. “Stop.”

The command halted the mare’s search for something physically wrong, looking back at Rainbow. She remained silent, though her concerned expression ebbed slightly at the power in Rainbow’s voice.

“I’m here to see Pinkie Pie. Is she here?”

“In her room. Though I wouldn’t go up there so soon, I think she’s planning something...” Mrs. Cake leaned in and put a hoof beside her mouth, looking around the bakery. “You didn’t hear it from me, but I think she’s planning a party...”

Something normal... thank the stars. Rainbow sighed, a smile creeping up on her face as she nodded. “I’ll be ready for any kind of prank she’s got as a booby trap.”

“I won’t keep you then, dear. You two have fun.” Mrs. Cake offered a grin back and skipped over to the counter, sitting down behind it. She raised her eyebrow at the two robed figures at the wall, tilting her head slightly. “Er... might I help you two?”

“Apologies, Mrs. Cake, for the intrusion.” Luna lowered her hood and bowed slightly. “We’re merely here, seeing Rainbow along her way.”

“P-P-P-P-P—” The words died in her throat as her jaw hit the floor, staring at the Princess of the Night.

“Please, you needn’t be so formal. Address me as ‘Luna’, if you would.”

“Uh, a-are you sure, Pr— dh, er, L-Luna?” Mrs. Cake’s stuttering brought a wider smile to Rainbow’s face. Heh! And she said my stuttering was weird... The thought brought a chuckle, however short-lived, from her.

“Quite, fair Mrs. Cake. I again apologize for the intrusion.” With a bow and sweep of her hoof, Luna stood and made her way to the steps, quickly followed by Rainbow Dash. Reaper lagged behind to inspect the strange coloring and sickeningly sweet scent of the bakery, a light sneer hidden by the shadow of his hood.

“Shoot... I should come here sometime for a snack. Might make my travelling a bit quicker with just how much sugar’s in the air,” he whispered, taking a whiff. Sickeningly sweet or not, my sweet tooth’s going mad. Doesn’t help much that I haven’t eaten in... uh... well actually, probably a few days. Ate enough to feed an army last week. An image of his dream came back to him, threatening to flip his stomach end over end, a groan escaping him as he held it still. “Ohhh, don’t think about that...”

Luna looked back with a raised eyebrow. “Stomach trouble?”

“A bit... d-don’t worry about me.” With another groan, Reaper made his way up the steps, hunched over and clutching his stomach. Stupid stomach... my one weakness: overeating...

“I do have some antacids down here if you need them!” Mrs. Cake called out, finding yet another target for her worries.

“I-It’s alright! I’ll b-be— oh jeeze... I’ll be fine...! Th-Thanks though.” Reaper stammered, nearly tripping over his own feet as much as his words. After quite a battle - and several instances of Luna stopping him from just falling over and dying, much as he wished to drop dead -, they made it up the steps, entering the warmly lit hall. It lacked real overhead lighting, instead using skylights, the sun acting as a natural clock. Well, beyond th-the sickness... at least it’s warm.

A short walk lead them down the hall to a single door on the right, mumbling and the sound of scratching quills against parchment coming out like a constant buzz of activity. Rainbow set herself in front of the door, lifting a hoof to knock. She hesitated, hoof shaking a bit as her mind took another detour towards doubt.

“Would you like us to come with you, Rainbow?” Luna whispered, standing next to her.

After a moment of thought and a gulp, Rainbow nodded, and Reaper reluctantly moved out from the sunlight and over to Rainbow’s side. Time ticked by as the mare refused to move, shuddering again as she dove down as far as she could into her mind, seeking out some source of confidence. Pinkie... s-she’ll help me! I know it! Just... knock, darn it! If it doesn’t happen now, it’ll just happen later! A swift nod acted in her hoof’s place, forehead slamming itself against the door. “Ow!”

“Door’s open! Come in!” The cheerful voice cried out before going right back to its mumbling.

Ok... she doesn’t know I just tried to knock her door down with my face. That’s good. Rainbow rubbed her forehead, groaning a little before placing her hoof on the doorknob, taking a moment to gather her courage. The click of the door sounded more like a firecracker going off, the door creaking open slowly as she stepped in. Her eyes scanned the ceiling before slipping in through a crack in the door.

Reaper raised his eyebrow and pushed the door open fully, pretty quickly regretting it as something fell down on his head. A white cloud surrounded him, every breath forcing him into a coughing fit as he flailed his hands to get the dust away, before a sneeze blew him off his feet and onto his rear end. “Gah, what is this stuff!?”

“Ha, gotcha!” Pinkie grinned as she pointed at the fallen figure, white chalk dust all over him. She snorted a laugh, Rainbow quickly joining in the laughter. Even Luna contributed with a small chuckle of her own while Reaper lay there, defeated and staring at the ceiling. Luna shook her head and offered a hoof to him, pulling him back up onto his feet, and the two stepped into the room while he tried to brush the dust off his robes.

Ah, darn it... Reaper grumbled to himself as he tried to get the black of his robes to shine through again. C’mon, I’m the Grim Reaper! I’m supposed to look menacing, not like something pulled out of Celestia’s pantry! As Reaper fought with his robe, Pinkie’s laughter died down as she inspected the three new arrivals.

“Wow, those are some funny get-ups. What’s the occasion? Oh, is it a party!?” Pinkie sprang out of her seat at the idea of there being a party featuring robes. “Oh, oh, lemme get ready!”

Rainbow simply shook her head. “No, Pinkie. No party.”

“Awww! That’s too bad. Oh well, back to work!” With as much energy as she’d had springing out of her seat, she sprang back into it and immediately got back to her scribbling, numerous statistics, notes, diagrams and drawings all over the master schematic of... whatever she was designing, pencil going all over the place. Man, even I’m having trouble sorting out this chicken scratch! Note to self, ask Twilight for note-taking lessons... She giggled at the practical nonsense she was drawing out; it happened every week and something would come around, she just never had any idea what it would be.

Reaper and Luna stood by the door as Rainbow moved over to Pinkie’s side, sitting down and observing the lines drawn on the large parchment, tilting her head slightly. ...Guess I could shoot the breeze for a bit... my confidence just keeps getting shot here. C’mon Rainbow, she’ll be fine... she’ll understand. “So, what’re you working on, Pinks?”

“Just another invention of mine. Got bored, so I thought ‘Hey, what if I could make something that could float on water and fly through the air?’ And then I got some parchment out and started drawing! See? These are the pontoons and this is the propeller!”

“Um... why is the propeller down in the water?” Rainbow just stared at the confusing notes, seeing building instructions written three different ways over the master diagram, and a hugely technical conglomeration of bits and pieces that would probably fry her brain if she stared at it too long. Her eye twitched before she looked away, the headache getting worse than the growing lump on her forehead.

“That’s the engine, silly! Anyway, it’s still in the design stages. Have to get all the parts, tools, balloons and rubber bands first!” Pinkie stuck her tongue out as she added an inventory list to the side of the blueprint, the parchment struggling to hold all the scribbles, drawings, writings and other things done with a pencil on paper. “Anyway, what brings you by?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, n-nothing. Just wanted to check on you. Hehehe...” Rainbow grinned as a hint of worry came through her eyes, quickly cast away as she looked back at the drawing.

“What’s up with the escort then? Oh, did you finally get accepted into the Wonderbolts!? Captain Spitfire’s been holding that in front of you for years!” Pinkie bounced in her seat, again distracted by something more interesting than the ‘scritch scritch’ of her pencil.

“Um... w-well—”

“Oh, or you got into the Guard! They give escorts to new trainees, right? Maybe you’re already a Sergeant? Oh, that’d be cool! Sorry, plans, gotta make way for a party!”

“P-Pinkie, that’s not—”

“Or that robe, maybe you’re practicing for Nightmare Night? How far away is that? One, two, three, twenty, forty... four months, I think? Or two? Hm! Need to start sorting out my own costume, actually! Maybe I should go as a chicken, or— oh! We could go as master and disciple, like in one of those horror stories!” Pinkie giggled before slouching, squinting one eye and widening the other as she raised her hooves, rubbing them together. “Yeeees, Masterrrr... hehehe!”

“Sorry, Pinkie. They’re just coming along with me.” Rainbow smiled a bit as she looked over at Luna and Reaper. Luna had a jovial smile on, clearly enjoying the show going on, while Reaper more stared down at his clothing, still having a hard time with the chalk dust. At that point, he was flailing his arms just to get the sleeves clean.

“Huh. Too bad.” Pinkie shook her head in disappointment before turning back to the two robed beings at the door. “So, what brings you t—” Her eyes went wide as she gasped, finally registering the pony standing at her door. “Princess Luna!? I had no idea you were coming! Oh no oh no oh no! Hang on, wait right there!” A sudden blast of wind rocketed past Luna and Reaper as Pinkie raced out of the room, sprinting off down the hall. Most of the chalk dust decided to take up wind surfing, being pulled off Reaper's cloak and away through the wind tunnel of the door.

“...Well. She’s interesting.” Reaper mumbled, patting off the rest of the dust. Should learn how to clean clothing through a wind storm. Pretty effective!

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it, Reaper.” Luna chuckled to herself, shaking her head a bit. “She’s certainly a character.”

Reaper opened his mouth to answer, only to be cut off by a cupcake landing perfectly between his teeth, brow furrowing as his tongue hit the icing. “Mph?”

“Mphph!” Luna mumbled around her own cupcake, a tray of four more sitting in front of them as they looked at each other. Reaper took his turn to laugh as he pulled out the cupcake. Luna simply grumbled in response and pulled hers out of her mouth, holding it in an aura.

“Silence, Reaper!”

“Or what? C’mon, that was hilarious!” His laughter was cut off by the 'foonk' of another cupcake shoved into his mouth, a sinister smile on Luna’s face. Reaper simply folded his arms and leered at her in mock anger, finally pulling the second cake out of his mouth and digging in. “Jokesh ashide... that’sh pretty good!”

“Indeed.” Luna took a dainty bite out of her own cupcake, nodding at the taste. “Remarkably sweet... yet a sour tinge to balance it out. The cake remains bitter, while the icing offers most of the taste... interesting!”

“No kiddin’.” Reaper gulped down the delectable delight before taking another chunk out of the treat. “Sheesh, I gotta learn how t’ bake. Thish is aweshome!”

The two looked back over at Pinkie and Rainbow, the pink mare having set herself up in a rather simple dress, bowing before the Princess.

“Pinkie Pie, raise—" Luna interrupted herself, swallowing another bit of the cupcake, “Raise your head. You needn’t be formal.”

“Ok!” Pinkie jumped back to her hooves and grinned. “Enjoying the cupcakes?”

“Better ‘n any cake I’ve had in a while!” Reaper nodded as he threw the last of the first cake into his mouth, the moist delicacy melting on his tongue. “Oh, that is good!”

“I try!” Pinkie grinned as the two enjoyed her treats. “So, anything you need, Your Highness? Tall Guy?”

“Reaper works.” He turned the second cupcake in his hand, looking it over. The blue icing spiralled upward in a perfect corkscrew shape, sprinkles expertly placed on every curve. “Work of an artist, right here...”

“Indeed. Pinkie, meet Reaper.” Luna gestured to her servant as she grabbed another cupcake in her magic, twirling the two in their combined aura.

“Nice ta meet ya, Reaper! Freaky name, though.” Pinkie’s smile remained resolute, not a single hint of worry in her.

“I get that a lot.” He shifted his eyes back to Rainbow, eyebrow rising a bit. “So, I think our friend here has something she wants to talk about...”

Rainbow jumped a bit, looking over at him. “Huh?”

“What’s going on?” Pinkie looked back at Dash, raising an eyebrow of her own before walking over to her, purple dress happily hanging onto her. She watched Rainbow’s eyes dart to different areas of interest in the room, trying as hard as they could to avoid her own eyes.

“Um... nothing. Nothing’s going on, don’t worry... just came by to chat, you know?” Rainbow rubbed her foreleg, eyes turning back to Pinkie’s chest.

“Well, it has been a while since we last talked. How’s work?” Pinkie looked over her shoulder for a moment as she spoke, staring at Reaper and Luna.

“Don’t worry about us, Pinkie.” Luna offered a gentle smile before taking another bite out of her cake. “We will simply enjoy our treats here.”

“If you’re sure...”

Luna waved a hoof to Pinkie, nodding. “We are.”

With the reassuring words, Pinkie turned back to her friend. A flash of worry came through as she leaned down to look at Rainbow properly, her friend simply turning her eyes away. A few more attempts passed, which eventually resulted in Pinkie’s head hanging upside down to catch Rainbow’s stare at the floor, and her brow furrowed at the continuous failures. “Rainbow, is something wrong? You won’t look me in the eye!”

“N-Nothing’s wrong, Pinks. Just... it’s been a while, y’know? Haven’t talked to my friends in a while, so I’m getting used to everything again...” Rainbow mumbled, staring off at the blueprints again as Pinkie righted her neck, leaning her head to the side to get a bone cricked back into place. A satisfying ‘pop’ comes from her neck, followed by a smile.

“I know the feeling! Guess I could start, then... that blueprint there is actually something I came up with a while ago.” Pinkie walked back over to the blueprint, pulling it off her drafting board and laying it out on the floor. Rainbow kept her eyes off the designs, eye twitching a bit again.

Not gonna risk a headache again... A tiny one lit in her brain after she nicked a startlingly large number on the diagram.

“This is my solution to something else, actually. It can float on water and fly in the air, and it’s supposed to be for use by any earth pony! That’s why it’s powered by this bicycle gear system. Just push on the pedals and off you go! Really easy!” Pinkie grinned at her obvious genius. “I’m gonna try building one by next week, but the design’s a little cramped, so I need a pegasus pony to help me.”

“A pegasus, huh? G-Guess I could help out.” Rainbow turned back to stare at Pinkie’s mane, avoiding the complex math below her chin.

“Not you. You’re too big.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow grumbled, puffing out her cheeks.

“It means you’re too big, Rainbow. This is built for somepony like a filly! Even I’m too big for it, and I’m really flexible!” Pinkie looked back up at Rainbow with a raise of an eyebrow.

“I’m flexible, too... I could fit,” The pegasus grumbled and folded her forelegs, staring indignantly at Pinkie.

“Well, maybe after Scootaloo gets a shot in it.”

Rainbow’s frustration vanished into surprise, eyes going wide as her ears drooped a little bit. “Uh... w-why Squirt?”

“Because! She’s not fully grown yet, and I need a pegasus test pilot in case something goes wrong! If it sinks, or the rudder breaks, or one of the pontoons shatters on a landing, or the propeller breaks, or any other kind of problem, she can bail out and fly away!” Pinkie grinned. “She’s perfect, especially since you’ve been teaching her so much about flying!”

“Uh... I guess that m-makes sense. Why not anypony else, though?” Get the subject away from Squirt... get it away!

“Are you kidding? Scootaloo’s the go-to mare for this! Everypony else doesn’t wanna get into one of my whirly-thingies. Call ‘em ‘death traps’... sheesh, seriously? My contraptions are just as safe as any others!” Pinkie snorted and folded her forelegs, taking up an exaggerated mimicry of Rainbow’s pose. “Who cares if the rudder strings are ropes? Cords are expensive! Rumble didn’t want to, Archer didn’t want to, Featherweight didn’t want to, nopony wanted to! Scootaloo was my first choice, obviously, but she had— Oh my gosh, I completely forgot!”

Rainbow jumped at the sudden shout. “F-Forgot what!?”

“Her exam! I completely forgot it was yesterday! Oh, she’s going to be home any minute and I’m not ready! Shoot, um, uh...!” Pinkie quickly spun around and charged at Luna and Reaper, skidding to a halt in front of them. “Princess!”

“Er... yes?” Luna looked down at Pinkie, brow raised.

“Ok, I’ve got a party to set up in an hour! I need lots of things! Can you help me!?” Pinkie bounced in place in a state of pure panic, little squeaks coming out with every landing.

“W-Well, er... I don’t know how I’ll be able to help...”

“Oh, don’t worry, I just need you to do about fifty things for me in the space of half an hour! No problem, right!?”

“F-Fifty thi—”

“Ok, first, I need the auditorium! So I’d like you to go to Mayor Mare and request use of the auditorium for the full day! I need to figure out a theme, too, and all my supplies are locked up in the basement, and, and! Ohh, there’s not enough time!” Pinkie fell to her rump and furiously scratched at her mane. “C’mon, think!”

While Pinkie had a panic attack in front of the Princess and her servant, Rainbow was having one of her own, pupils shrinking as the darkness closed on her vision, focusing a tunnel aimed at the pink mare. A party...? In Scootaloo’s honor? But, when she doesn’t come... th-the whole town’s gonna be there! Her ears drooped completely as Luna and Pinkie talked back and forth to each other, the voices becoming muffled, drowned out in the growing storm of her mind. I’m... g-gonna admit this... t-to the entire town? I can’t... I can’t!

“Umm, maybe I should use a Wonderbolts theme? Yeah, she passed her exam, so I should ask Captain Spitfire to come by! Could you help me with that, Princess?” Pinkie put her forehooves together in prayer, using her best puppy dog eyes to convince Luna.

“I-I do not know, the Wonderbolts are very busy!” Luna’s ear flicked as she rubbed her temple. Please, somepony, make her stop!

“She’d come by, though! Really nice! Oh, I have to start sorting that stuff out! Hang on, I have to make a list!” Pinkie spun around quickly and got back to her hooves, sprinting for the end table by her bed. A hoof pressed up against her chest stopped her in her tracks, legs still sprinting. “Hey!”

“W-Wait, Pinkie!” Rainbow picked Pinkie up off the ground, legs flailing under her. “Hey, st— gfh!” Rainbow’s head recoiled as one of the hooves took a bit too long a stride, and introduced itself to her forehead. Right on the lump that was growing there. “Ouch!”

“Oh, sorry!” Pinkie immediately folded up her legs, staying surprisingly horizontal in Rainbow’s grasp. She quickly reached out with her forehoof and gave the bump a gentle rub before curling back up, wincing. “Oh, that was a bad hit...”

“D-Doesn’t matter... I’ll be fine.” Rainbow set the mare down on the ground before rubbing at the bump, groaning a bit. “Ohhh, headache...” A quick shake of the head cast away the dizziness, at least, though her headache simply got worse from the cranial beatdown. “A-Anyway, Pinkie...”

“Yeah? Oh, do you wanna help set up the party, too!?” Pinkie stayed curled up on the floor in fear of kicking Rainbow in the stomach. Naughty legs!

“I... um...” Rainbow stared at the ground, taking a deep breath as her hoof dropped back to the floor. Make myself sick being so dodgy... I know what I did. My friends are going to learn about this, and then I’ll have to tell Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle... She closed her eyes and remained still, gathering up her words. “Pinkie... we can’t do the party.”

“Well, why not? Oh, her parents already set one up, right? Of course they did! Silly me.” Pinkie smiled from her spot on the floor, giggling. “Of course they’d do the party planning for their daughter!”

“It’s... not that, either. Pinkie... s-she didn’t pass.”

A sharp gasp shattered the short-lived silence, Pinkie jumping back to her hooves. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! I know how much work you put into training her... where is she? She needs a hug right now!”

What followed was simply silence. Very sudden silence. The mare just stood knee deep in it for a while, looking around as sound made itself scarce. I did set up soundproof windows so I could concentrate... Her eyes went from Rainbow to Luna, to Reaper, then back to her friend, her worry increasing with each passing target. “Rainbow, where is she? She’s home, right?” Her voice lost a bit of its energy, her mane starting to deflate.

Rainbow winced, baring her teeth as she tried to gather up the words. “N-No...”

“Then... wh-where is she? She didn’t get hurt, did she? She’s not in the hospital, right!?” Pinkie’s eyes widened as her mane and tail straightened out, panic starting to erupt in her mind, taking the form of a very real volcanic eruption in her mind. “Oh, please tell me she’s not injured!”

The silence simply cast more molten rock and boulders from the volcano in Pinkie’s head, reaching for the town at the mountain’s foot. She shuddered, each passing second, a memory of her getting a rather terrible ‘doozie’ lighting up in her mind. Her hoof moved up to her mouth, a small gasp entering her. “She’s... in the hospital, isn’t she? D-Did she hurt her wing, or leg...?”

“No... i-it’s nothing like that...” Rainbow’s teeth began to hurt from just how clenched her jaw was, but she refused to look up at her friend. I heard her mane deflate... s-she’s probably...

“Then what is it? I g-got a doozie this morning, and I don’t know what it was for! Did something happen!?” Pinkie placed her hooves on her friend’s shoulders, forcing herself to not shake the sense out of the pegasus. “Tell me!”

“P-Pinkie Pie... s-she...” Two tears fell from Rainbow’s eyes as she slowly opened them, staring at the floor. “Won’t... be coming home.”

“Why not!? S-She’s trying the exam over again, right!? So she can pass! Th-Then she’ll come home, and we’ll all have a party to celebrate, right!?” Pinkie’s pupils shrank as an answer didn’t come, grip tightening slightly. “Right!?”

“...Wrong...”

“How am I wrong!? What could have happened that’d keep her in Cloudsdale!?” Pinkie screeched, leaning in further towards Rainbow’s face, hyperventilating. “What’s going on!?”

Rainbow shut her eyes as tightly as she could and roared out, not wanting her psyche to stop the words.

“She’s dead, Pinkie Pie!!”

And then, all was quiet, the only sound in the room being the breathing of only three beings. Pinkie just... sat there, staring in horror at Rainbow, a stuttered breath finally making its way into her as she stepped back, a hoof clutching her mouth in shock. “Oh holy C-Celestia...” She fell to her rump, hind legs surrendering to her weight, their strength sent to her tears as they began to fall. “I’m... s-so, so sorry, Rainbow...”

“D-Don’t b-be...” Rainbow looked back at her friend, her stomach doing backflips. I h-hate to do this to you Pinkie... b-but you have to know. A-All my friends have to know! She felt sick, felt like a monster for the coming words.

The sentence that came was synonymous with a tremendous explosion in Pinkie’s head. “S-She’s dead... b-because of me...”

A duo of blinks from Pinkie was the only response as her hoof fell back to the floor, stunned. “What...?”

“I...” Rainbow sniffed, unable to shed more than the two tears from before, “I... k-... k-k...”

No... n-no, that’s not what the doozie meant! She can’t be dead!! Pinkie’s mouth curled back as she took deeper breaths, the tears increasing in volume.

“I... killed... her...”

The words simply deafened her. All sound fell away from Pinkie’s mind as the words landed in the pit of her stomach like a cupcake made of concrete. Her mind was... quiet, though. Silent. Still. Her vision shifted, moving away from her room and to a town, a massive volcano standing behind it; the explosions she’d heard. The town’s streets ran thick with lava, ponies burning, melting in the volcano’s fury, screaming for help. All their screams and prayers fell on deaf ears, Nature's wrath carrying on its destructive will. She watched the town begin to burn, roofs catching fire, families dying in each other’s hooves, another silent detonation sending a quake through her very being.

And she simply sat there, doing nothing. What could she do? Lava was too hot to move for an earth pony. It was already at the edge of the town, not reaching an inch further towards her. I w-wanna help... but I can’t move lava. A twitch came from her eye as she saw Scootaloo running towards her, the lava barrelling down an alley to reach her. She tripped. She screamed. She felt her legs be consumed by the lava, and watched as Pinkie did nothing.

What could she do, after all? Nothing. The single thought rolled through her head as the town burned to the ground, leaving her alone amidst a blazing Tartarus, not a friend in sight.

The eruption had to have a cause, of course. Why would it go off on its own? Everything had a reason. It only made sense. Twilight always said that. Why would Pinkie try and believe otherwise? That eruption... th-that killed Scootaloo... The thought brought an image of Rainbow Dash rising from the inferno, her mane completely red from the searing magma dripping off her body. She walked to the edge of the town and sat down, staring back at Pinkie with just as empty a look in her eye as Pinkie. Another twitch of the eye came to her.

Scootaloo died... because Rainbow killed her.

“Pinkie...?” Rainbow stared at her friend’s blank expression, the whisper hopefully reaching her. “P-Pinkie?”

“...Th-This... is a joke... right?” Pinkie whispered, eye twitching a bit.

“I w-wish it was, Pinks...”

“Don’t... y-you’re lying...” Her voice grew a bit of strength, a shiver running down her back.

“...I’m not. I...” Rainbow’s eyes fell to the ground. “I k-killed her in a rage... I killed h-her, a-and others... I r-regret it... I regret it all...” Rainbow’s voice shook and broke in her throat, another sniffle coming out. “I r-regret everything...”

Pinkie’s expression returned to a neutral stance. A neutral frown, her pupils went back to their usual size, her ears drooped and her mane and tail remained deflated. She just stared at the pegasus in front of her, the light gone from her eyes.

“Pinkie... a-are... you alright?” Rainbow gulped, taking a step towards her friend. “Pinkie...?”

She didn’t even see her move.

Her jaw slammed shut as a pink hoof collided with her chin, throwing her head back before another landed in her chest. “Guh!” She stumbled backwards and opened her eyes, seeing Pinkie had stepped in towards her and turned, hindlegs curled like springs. She barely got a gasp out before an impact akin to an angry train crashed into her stomach, throwing her into the wall. She struggled to take a breath, clutching her stomach before Pinkie moved up and grabbed her head, pulling it up to stare into her eyes.

Barely a second passed with the enraged glare before a heavy punch met Rainbow’s cheek, followed by another to the other cheek, her head soon becoming a simple ball between Pinkie’s hooves, each punch crashing into her cheeks, jaw, temple, everywhere the angered mare could reach on Rainbow’s head.

A primal scream came from Pinkie as a final punch landed in Rainbow’s chest, winding her again, before she felt herself pressed up against the wall, hooves around her neck and crushing down with all the force of a Hydra. “You... y-you...”

“P-P... in... kie...!” Rainbow gasped, grabbing Pinkie’s legs. Panic settled in her mind as the very real threat of death moved in with each missed breath. All of Pinkie’s earth pony strength came out as she bore down harder and harder on Rainbow’s neck, rage flaring in her mind.

Murderer... murderer! Murderer! She screamed out in her mind, another voice lighting up alongside it.

Don’t do this, Pinkie! The other voice cried out, sounding more upbeat than the internal snarl of Pinkie.

Why not!? She killed Scootaloo!! Because of her, a friend isn’t going to come home! Her hooves pressed down harder on Rainbow’s neck

And you’re about to kill somepony, too! Stop!

I don’t care! She took one of my friend’s lives! Murderers aren’t friends!

And what do you think everypony else will say!? You’ll be just as bad as her!

...

The voice spoke some sense, certainly. Pinkie’s grip loosened, allowing Rainbow a glorious breath, but kept her hooves on Rainbow’s neck. The glare kept its strength, staring straight through Rainbow’s eyes. “...Why’d you kill her?”

“It... w-was... my job...”

“Your job... was to kill Scootaloo? That doesn’t make sense.” The boiling anger gave her voice a flat tone, as sharp as a razor.

“N-Not... n-no... m-my job is... t-to...” Rainbow struggled for air, taking as much in as she could, fighting against the iron grip of her friend turned assailant. “M-Make... Spectra...”

“Spectra?” Pinkie raised her eyebrow slightly.

“L-Liquid... rainbows... S-Squirt... is... g-gonna be... a rainbow... soon...”

“...Excuse me?” Pinkie’s eyes widened as her pupils shrank again, hairs springing up from her flattened mane, starting to look more and more like a field of spines. “Rainbows... are... dead ponies?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow felt herself be tugged forward, then slammed back into the wall, a hard punch slamming into her cheek.

“And you did nothing to stop it!?” Pinkie’s face burned with rage; her teeth grinded together so hard, fragments would be scraped off. Her mane stood on end as if she’d been electrocuted, and her pupils were pinpricks in a sea of white. She let loose another punch, drawing blood as one of Rainbow’s teeth broke.

“C-Couldn’t... s-stop...” Rainbow’s eyes spun as her lack of oxygen and the beating blurred her vision, her forelegs falling away as Pinkie dropped her back onto the floor. She slammed her hoof into the floor and roared, panting.

“You... killed... a little filly! A pony who was just starting their life! Why!?” Pinkie glared at her enemy, snorting.

“Because...” Rainbow simply slumped a bit. “She failed her test...”

“That’s it...? Th-That’s all it took for you to murder her!? I oughta knock all the teeth out of your skull and throw you out the window!” She fell onto her rump and grabbed her head, groaning. “Why, Rainbow!? Why didn’t you stop it!?”

“I... d-didn’t... have a choice, Pinks...” Rainbow tried to raise her head, but the throttling made many of her muscles cry out in agony, her head dropping back down. “I was... b-blind...”

“Shut up! I don’t care! You k-k... ngh!” With a final scream, Pinkie spun around and charged out between Reaper and Luna. “I hate you!” She raced down the hall to the bottom floor, her hoofsteps fading away as she ran further and further.

Silence moved back in afterwards, but only for a few moments before another set of hoofsteps came racing back to the room, Mrs. Cake arriving at the door. “Wh-What hap— Rainbow!” She quickly galloped in and checked over Rainbow, gently adjusting her head and legs to look for injuries. “Oh dear, oh dear, what happened!?”

“A... troubling encounter, Mrs. Cake. It was something we anticipated.” Luna sighed, shaking her head. “What we hadn’t anticipated was the following reaction...”

“Oh, that Pinkie Pie... I never thought she’d get like this. Depression, maybe, but... I’m going to talk with her later. This kind of attitude won’t be tolerated! Wait here, Rainbow-dear, I’ll get some first aid supplies!” With a slight nod from Rainbow, Mrs. Cake ran back out, a very troubled expression on her face. Reaper moved into the center of the room, looking over Rainbow with a grimace.

“That’s two of your friends now... not sure how long it’s gonna be before one of ‘em really does add another appointment to my list.” He shook his head and placed his hands on his hips, sighing. “They haven’t got a lotta love for a killer, do they?”

Rainbow simply stared at the ground between her hind legs, trying not to pass out from the throbbing in her jaw and skull, the storm in her head thankfully quelled by the pain. Taking her silence as an answer, Reaper took a seat at the end of the bed, looking over at Luna for some kind of guidance. “Now what, boss?”

“If Rainbow is willing, we simply continue... those that remain are Twilight, Applejack... and Fluttershy.”

Rainbow twitched at the mention of her closest friend, eyes widening. “N-No... I...”

“Rainbow?” Luna stepped into the center of the room, crouching down to look at the pegasus.

“I... c-can’t... t-tell her...” Rainbow groaned as another shot of pain raced through her, coughing. “I c-can’t... tell Fluttershy... I c-can’t do this.”

“So, the brave pegasus is running away, huh?” Reaper folded his arms, looking over at Rainbow. “It took two ponies to pull you this far down? Thought you ha—”

“Reaper!” The man quickly silenced himself as Luna glared at him, looking away from his boss. “How dare you say such things...”

“Sorry.” He turned his eyes back to the floor, staying silent. Piss off the boss, and I’m asking for eons of hurt...

Satisfied with the silence of her servant, Luna turned back to Rainbow, looking her over. A simple emptiness existed in Rainbow’s eyes, like her soul had left the body and run away to the stars. This poor mare... she’s crushed. With a sigh, she sat back up and awaited the baker’s return, closing her eyes. She isn’t long for this world... should I have her continue? Could she, even? The mere walk here was enough to knock her off balance, and this... what just happened was enough to steal the light from her entirely.

"I can't..." Rainbow whispered, shuddering as the world blurred below her. "Not Fluttershy... n-not Twilight... not AJ. I can't torture them with this... I just..." Her voice fell away as her eyes slowly closed, legs losing strength. "Want to... dis... appear..."

The last thing she heard was a loud 'thud', as a sharp pain ran up through her shoulder, before the darkness stole her away.

"What now?" Reaper folded his arms as he leaned on the wall, staring across the room at the pegasus in the bed. The pink and blue managed to bring out the look of Rainbow's injuries so much better than the wooden floor, but all it did was make him wince with a phantom pain of his own. "And would it kill this mare to get some darker colors? At least so that I didn't see the welts on her face?"

"If you don't want to see it, you needn't look at it, Reaper. And... I'm not sure. I'm just glad Mrs. Cake allowed us sanctuary for the time being." Luna shook her head as she sat next to the bed, looking over Rainbow's slumbering face. The first-aid work had gone quite well, most of her injuries being treated with ice packs or bandages, but the pressure on her neck had left a near-permanent bruise. Whispers reached out to the Princess, accusations, interrogations, terrible insults from very familiar voices; Rainbow's friends had become her torturers. "...She's shattered. Even now, her dreams are plagued with predictions."

"If she can't go on, we can't very well force her to." Reaper rubbed his brow with the back of his hand, sighing. "And here I thought we'd actually get to the end."

Luna placed a hoof on the bed, gently rubbing Rainbow’s concealed leg. “I’m impressed she even made it this far. It takes conviction to confess such a crime to one’s closest friends.” Softer words wouldn’t have been heard in the room, even with how quiet it already was.

“I don’t like the idea of her giving up now. She did promise the kid...”

“If she surrenders now, then...”

A small clink of metal stole Luna’s attention as she looked over to Reaper, raising her eyebrow. “What was that?”

The clink came again, Reaper reaching around behind him. He gripped empty air before pulling hard, a scythe coming into view with a whistle of air. The scythe shuddered, producing the same mysterious sound from before. “Scarlet?”

“But... she shouldn’t be hungry right now. You handled somepony yesterday.” Luna furrowed her brow before a lightbulb lit in her head, and her eyes shot wide. “Unless...”

“Ahhh, hell...” Reaper grit his teeth as he walked over to the window, checking outside. There’s only one reason Scarlet would act like this... someone’s about to get added to my list! A quick inspection of the street didn’t reveal much, though that only stacked onto the spirit’s worries. “You think she’s coming back?”

“She may have been enraged, but there’s not a chance she would come after her.” Despite the words, Luna looked back to the door, a hint of fear lighting up in her expression. “Though, Scarlet is rarely wrong in this sense...”

“Never a quiet day, is it?” A sigh came after his words as Reaper walked back over to the bed. “Doesn’t help that she doesn’t like being specific.”

“She doesn’t?” The Princess looked over at her servant, raising an eyebrow. She received a non-chalant shrug in return, along with a grumble.

“She likes to play games a lot. Guessing games tend to be her favorite. This just happens to be one of them... given my work, I get until I feel the passing of a soul to guess. Kind of entertaining, though it’s kinda morbid in this situation.” Reaper sneered at the scythe held at his side. If a scythe could chuckle, Scarlet would have. Instead, she just made a series of clinks which her partner understood all too well. “...Ha ha, Scarlet. You’re a riot.”

“Though... concerning Rainbow Dash. What should we do?”

“If she’s the one Scarlet’s referring to, then we’d better avoid the streets. Take her from place to place through teleportation.” He looked over at Luna, folding his arms with Scarlet leaned against his elbow. “Could you manage that, boss?”

“Please. You’re speaking to a Princess of Equestria.” Luna turned her nose up with a smirk, just letting her poise do all the speaking for her. “Just let me compose a note for Mrs. Cake.”

Reaper took on an exaggerated smile and a roll of the eyes, “Oh, by all means, take your time.” Reaper simply shook his head and sat down at the end of the bed while Luna went about her work, retrieving a piece of parchment and a quill. After a quick writing session, the note was prepared and nailed to the door. Her horn shined, and just before the spell was cast, only one question as asked.

“Did you really have to use such a big spike?” Reaper narrowed his eyes at the black knife-like object in the door, pinning the note to it, before the world was stolen from his sight. I think the great big magic knife is gonna say a lot more than the note for some reason...

“No... s-stop, don’t... come any c-clo— AH!”

The voices vanished from her mind as Rainbow sprang upright on the couch, panting as sweat rolled down her brow. Her eyes scanned the room, panic running laps through her mind. Wh-Where are they!? I know they’re here!

“Look who woke up.”

Rainbow froze up as the voice came to her, right next to her ear. She slowly looked to her side, whimpering a bit, before being greeted by the grinning face of pure evil.

“Hi.”

“AHHH!” The face then met Rainbow’s hoof as she punched him square in it, and wasted no time in getting behind the couch, curling up on the floor. “G-Get away from me!”

Reaper, meanwhile, was flat out on the floor, eyes spinning from the hard hoof crashing into his nose. “Anyone get... the license plate on that thing that hit me?”

Luna simply sighed as she sat on a nearby chair. The light of the sunset had died two hours ago, the spirit and two ponies awaiting Rainbow’s awakening. Those ponies being Luna, and a certain librarian who was now checking over Rainbow’s battered body, magic very carefully weaving through every inch of the sky-blue coat. “Y-You shouldn’t scare her like that!”

“An’ now I know why... she throws one heck of a straight.” The spirit groaned and rubbed his would-be shattered nose - a hit like that would destroy a barn -, content to just lie there and recover.

"Rainbow, are you alright? You're really hurt..." Twilight carefully lifted her friend back onto her hooves, using very gentle applications of her levitation. Her muzzle scrunched in concentration as she tried not to break the pegasus further, all the bandages and bruises noting something very horrifying in her mind. "Princess Luna never told me what happened... just that you needed a place to rest." Her words fell off as she scanned Rainbow's face, her eyes, the faded color in her coat, the dullness of her mane. She leaned a bit closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. "What happened to you, Rainbow?"

The only response was avoidance as the pegasus moved away from her and back around the couch, climbing onto it and pulling the blanket over her head. A gulp raced down Twilight's throat as worry started to grow into panic. "Uh... P-Princess?"

Luna shook her head and closed her eyes, remaining quiet. The only sound in the room besides the occasional rustling of the blanket was the groaning from Reaper, his eyes still enjoying their joyride in their sockets. Please, somepony speak up! Twilight bit her lip and moved back around in front of the couch, sitting down as close as she can to her friend's head. She leaned down and prodded lightly at the blanket with her nose, speaking in as gentle a tone she could manage. "Rainbow, please. Speak to me. I-I'm starting to panic."

No response.

"Rainbow, please! I just want to know what happened to you. Why're you so hurt? Did s-somepony assault you? Did you have an accident?" Twilight's eye twitched a little as the silence refused to break, the blanket slowly rising and falling with its guest's breathing. What happened here? Why isn't she talking to me? D-Did she really get that badly hurt!? Oh no, no no no no! S-Stop thinking, Twilight, you're gonna go to a really dark place and panic's gonna rocket straight up to your head and then comes the nausea and the dizziness and... a-and... oh no... She swayed a little, blinking hard as the world blurred. She shook her head hard to right her vision, focusing on her target. Don't assume! Whatever you do, don't assume.

Twilight sat still, watching the rise and fall of the blanket, every instinct screaming for her to throw the blanket away and pull her friend into a hug, every thought demanding that she leap straight to the bottom of the mystery and figure things out, even if it meant hurting Rainbow. She held herself back, sitting still, proper and calm like a noble in the presence of the Princesses. Which wasn't far from the situation she was in, feeling Luna's eyes join in her watch over Rainbow Dash.

Minutes passed by, the moon drawing a slow path across the sky as the stars twinkled around it, their light carefully letting itself into the quiet room, hoping its unannounced arrival wouldn't be met with anger. It slowly illuminated the couch, the blanket, and temptation once again swelled in Twilight's mind. More carefully than tucking Spike into bed, she gripped the blanket with her magic and slowly lifted it and pulled it back. A pair of magenta eyes looked back up at her, before turning away and closing.

The pegasus turned her head away, speaking so quietly, Twilight had to lean in to hear a single word. "...Just... wanna sleep..."

"Oh." Understanding clicked and spun in Twilight's head, and she quickly nodded. "R-Right, we can... w-we can talk in the morning." She threw a nervous grin on as she gently pulled the covers back, tucking her friend in. She leaned forward and planted a small kiss on Rainbow's forehead before she could think, though only snoring came as a reaction. "Sweet dreams." The whisper fell like a rock in her gut.

A hoof alighted on Twilight's shoulder, and her eyes turned back to see Luna. "Twilight Sparkle..." Her eyes turned from Twilight to Rainbow, a haunted look in them. "We've much to discuss."

"What do you mean?" Twilight blinked, keeping her voice as soft as she could, despite the trembling in her own chest and the racing of her heart. "What's wrong...?"

"...Reaper."

"Yeah." The spirit stayed on the ground, staring up at the ceiling as he sobered up.

"We..." A sigh escaped the Princess as she closed her eyes. "We can't let this continue."

"...Figured as much." Reaper sat up, using an arm to prop himself up as he looked over at the slumbering pegasus. "She's had it."

"Wh-What do you mean 'she's had it'? C-Can't let what continue?" Twilight's eyes darted from Luna to Reaper, then back again, mane starting to spring out of place. "P-Princess, I need to know. What's going on?"

"Twilight. Rainbow had come by to speak with you about something that occurred in the past. Something that has now begun to haunt her." Luna's hoof found its way from Twilight's shoulder down to the floor, sitting next to Twilight's. "She had come to... confess."

"Confess? Confess what? Y-Your Highness, not knowing any of this is really not doing much good for me." Twilight's hoof moved up and scratched at the back of her mane, hairs springing out more and more.

"Confess to you, what she'd confessed to her friends so far. It is a bit of a story, but you are aware of Scootaloo, yes?" Luna's eyes never left the slumbering pony, a flick of the ear catching her attention for a moment.

"Yeah. She'd left Ponyville a few years ago, and went back to Flight School in Cloudsdale. It was after Rainbow had helped her learn to fly." Twilight's brow furrowed as the gears started turning, situations building and falling in a flash as she tried numerous different trains of thought. "Something... something happened to her?"

"Yes. I wish I did not have to tell you this... but I'm afraid that Scootaloo will... not be coming home."

Twilight's eyes shot wide and her pupils shrank, ears dropping like weights as the words combined into a single conclusion in her mind. Her head turned slowly, looking over at Reaper. It's a lie... i-it's a lie, isn't it...? The spirit simply shook his head.

"'Fraid it's true, miss."

"Oh... h-holy Princesses..." Twilight shuddered as a hoof made its way to her mouth, trying to hide a whimper as tears sprang up from her eyes. "No..."

Luna pulled her into a soft hug with a leg, feeling each quiet sob against her coat as Twilight held onto her for dear life, fighting to just hold back the flood of emotion. The Princess stayed silent, lightly rubbing Twilight's back as the mare emptied her tears and sobs.

"No... i-it can't be true! S-She... f-failed her exam, didn't she?" A shiver raced down her spine as the horrible situation seemed unavoidable. She failed, and now she has to take the whole course over again! Another five years before she can try again! And she can't even come home!?

"She did." Luna's voice grew dark. "But something worse occurred as a result."

"What? But... b-but what's worse than being held back? A-All her work, thrown away like trash...! I-I can't bear the thought of that! What could be worse!?" Twilight's voice cracked on her final words, shuddering harder under the hoof of her friend.

"She's dead."

The shudders suddenly stopped as Twilight's mind froze, the words stabbed into her like a knife. ...Dead...? Her eyes widened as her lungs stopped working, heart skipping a beat as the implication made its way through the frozen hell of her thoughts. Dead... dead... d-dead...? No... s-she means something different. She has to! Th-There's no way this could be true!! Scootaloo... h-how could she possibly die!? She screwed her eyes shut and started ripping open every dictionary she could think of in her mind, seeking out some alternate definition of the damning word. Dead, there has to be another meaning! Something just as bad, but she's still alive! She has to be! She has to be! She has to be!!!

With every flip of the page and every definition scanned, every word only supporting the heaviest of meanings, her worries stacked up like a pile of books, reaching higher and higher into the sky. Eventually, another pile was started. Then another. Then another. She built a tower, a wobbling, crumbling tower of terrible fear and panic as she searched for that one key meaning, the meaning that would eliminate her worries altogether.

But it never came. The tower became too tall, and with the final page discarded, it collapsed. Her horn flashed for only a moment before she was gone, leaving Luna's hoof to rub at the air for a few moments before moving back down to the floor. Reaper sat up properly, rubbing his eyes as the temporary blindness assailed his senses. "Gah... stupid teleportation. Always so flashy." He grumbled, blinking a few times before he could see again. "...Weird way to cope with that."

"That isn't of our concern, though I wish I could say it was within our duties to comfort her. This is Rainbow's chosen mission... at least now, all that remains is Applejack and Fluttershy." Luna looked back at her servant, eyes devoid of their original purpose. "I wish we could just take her away from all this..."

"It is what it is, boss. She chose this, and now she has to go through with it. Who're Fluttershy and Applejack?" Reaper raised his eyebrow and folded his arms. Pretty silly names, though after hearing 'Plum Puck', nothing surprises me anymore.

"Two mares, one stubborn, the other shy. Both are the remaining Elements of Harmony." Luna shook her head and sighed. "And sharing this news with Fluttershy is going to be the most difficult part of this quest..."

"Why's that?" Reaper raised his eyebrow.

"Because, of everypony I've ever met... she has the most innocent heart."

"Which makes her...?"

The Princess turned back to the sleeping pegasus, and a dark flame lit in her eyes.

"The most unpredictable... and the most dangerous."

Chapter 6: Honesty Is A Sin

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Respectful quiet, besides a few murmurs and whispers, filled the room as gentle candles burned in lanterns, masterfully crafted pedastals holding them up on designs of draconequui and alicorns, hooves and claws against the platform as if holding the weight of the world. Only a few ponies in the room paid these details any mind, however, most of the others staring up at the central platform of the room.

An aged stallion made his way up to the platform, his flowing black cloak much too similar to something worn by a collector of souls, a white sash draped over his shoulders and holding the hood of the cloak back. Every clack of his hooves reverberated off the walls of the dimly lit courtroom, holding the attention of everypony there.

Upon reaching his seat, he turned to the crowd as he sat down, heavily sighing before speaking. “Court is now in session against the accused, Rainbow Prisma Dash. She has been convicted of over seven hundred counts of murder in the first degree, as well as claims of supporting fanatical claims of genocide in order to ‘preserve the pride of Cloudsdale’.” He gently placed his forehooves on the desk in front of him, shimmering spectacles sitting on his nose. “Is the prosecution ready?”

The prosecution, a sharply dressed grey stallion in a red suit, black tie tucked in under his jacket stood up behind his table, two ponies sitting beside him, mulling over papers. A team of professionals tackling yet another day of work, volumes spoken from the prosecution leader's disinterested look. “Yes, Your Honor.” A set of nods came from his equally dressed team, going over numerous pieces of evidence and reports that seemed to reach towards the ceiling. “We’ve been waiting for this.”

“Indeed. And is the defense ready?”

The solitary pegasus raised her head from the table and looked around. Finding nopony there standing up for her, nopony saying that they were ready to defend her innocence, she simply looked back at the judge and nodded, turning her eyes back to the table.

“Very well. May we have the opening statement from the prosecution?”

“Yes, Your Honor.” The suited stallion walked into the center of the courtroom, looking around at the ponies assembled there. “Thank you, ladies and gentlecolts, for attending this trial. We have come together to bring the accused, swiftly and absolutely, to justice. Her crimes sit on a stack of a height I’ve not seen in my entire career. Murder, assault, use of weapons, willingful genocide of colts and fillies just starting in their lives.”

Gasps echoed around the room, but they seemed hollow, almost expectant of the charges. Rainbow’s ears drooped as her expression became more sorrowful, heart sinking under the weight of his words.

“She may look regretful, truly sorry to have taken all those lives, but don’t believe that for a second! She is a heartless killer, and with your help, we will save many lives by seeing her put behind bars.” A murmur rose from the crowd as they all nodded and whispered their agreement in the statement, the prosecutor glancing over at Dash. He simply smirked before turning back to the judge, his expression becoming more serious. “Your Honor, we’ve a long line of witnesses who all have something to say against the defendant, as well as a stack of decisive evidence so high, it amazes me that this trial isn’t already over. If you’d allow me?”

The judge nodded. “Call your first witness.”

"The prosecution calls Scootaloo to the stand."

The words drove a dagger into Rainbow's heart, her eyes going wide as she kept her vision fixed on the table. Her breath shook as a mare stood from the crowd and moved up towards the stand. Despite her hooves hitting the ground, no sound came from the ethereal image, her coat a ghostly light-blue, mane a flowing white mist on her head. She spared a glance to Rainbow before proceeding up to the witness' stand, sitting down and facing the judge.

The prosecutor walked over to the stand, offering a sympathetic nod to the mare. "Name and occupation, witness. And do not be afraid to speak freely, you're among friends and protectors here."

"Thank you... m-my name is Scootaloo, and my occupation is— well, was, student." She gulped a little and sighed.

"Good. Thank you for testifying today, Miss Scootaloo. I am very sorry for your loss, but with your help today, we can put this criminal away and protect many more lives."

"I know. Thanks for bringing me."

"Mm. Please, tell the court of your ordeal, and don't leave out any details." The prosecutor took a seat and braced himself, taking a deep breath to steel his will.

"Alright... it's a pretty hard story to tell, though," Her voice fell off with the last few words. She tried to stay strong among the crowd, a shiver running down her spine as she raised her voice again. "It started during my final exam for school. I was r-really nervous during it, since the judges could be very harsh in their scoring..."

The prosecutor raised an eyebrow and levitated over a few documents from his team, giving them a quick lookover. "I understand that Cloudsdale has a near-perfect graduation rate, though."

"Yeah, so you can tell why I was nervous. All those eyes watching you while you fly? It could shake up the best of pegasi."

"Very understandable. Please, continue."

"Right. Um... should I start from when I got there, or...?"

The prosecutor gently shook his head. "From wherever you feel most comfortable."

"Um..." Scootaloo turned her head slightly, aiming a fearful glance at the table in front of the rainbow-maned demon. "I'll... m-mind if I start after my two friends went?"

"Your Honor?"

The judge gently shook his head, offering Scootaloo a caring smile. "Take your time, my dear. You are under oath, however. Do your friends have anything to do with this case?"

"I can answer that, Your Honor." The judge looked over at the prosecutor, the stallion fidgeting a bit with his tie. "The prosecution can confirm that beyond being victims of the defendant's crime, the exam attempts performed by Orion Starbelt and Aurora Borealis are not relevant to the case at hoof."

"Very well. You may continue, witness."

"Thank you." Scootaloo gulped, taking a deep breath. "Alright. My turn finally came up. I-I was nervous, but once I started flying, it was all pretty natural. Fly through the loops, break apart the clouds, then ascend and drop, right? Simple stuff." She looked down at the podium, her voice shaking a little. "But my focus isn't the greatest in the world... wh-what lead to me failing that exam was, well... seeing Aurora and Orion on their way back to the judge's platform. Aurora broke her wing during her attempt, and Orion failed the exam on purpose to help her. Seeing them like that... well, it broke my focus. Ran into one of the loops and fell to the clouds below."

"I'm sorry to hear that." The prosecutor looked on at the witness with sympathy, bracing himself for what was to come. Things only got worse after this, after all.

"'Sorry' doesn't begin to cut it when I felt that metal hit me. It was like a slap across the face... but yeah. After that, we got taken to the carriage, which was being pulled by these four stallions. Don't remember them too well, but they were on the weather factory's payroll to move us." A shiver ran down her back, tail flicking as it hit the base of her spine. "They brought us to a meet-up with another carriage with a couple of black-suited ponies. And one of them was..." Scootaloo grit her teeth and closed her eyes, before her leg moved. A shaking hoof pointed back at the defendant, and the filly opened her eyes, a hint of malice hidden in her sadness. "Her."

"The defendant was there to take you away?"

"Take me to the factory, yeah. After that, it... it was a nightmare. I'd never seen so much machinery in my life, and when we finally got the auditorium, and, and I saw that gigantic machine..." Her body quaked, wings flitting, as if wanting to fly out and throw her away from this madness. "And all the foals, and then... and then that speech with everypony watching us..." Her breathing sped up, pupils shrinking as her mind flew back to those memories, wings twitching, begging to be used to get her out of the courtroom.

A hoof landed on her shoulder, causing the pegasus to almost jump out of her skin. "Witne— Scootaloo, please, calm yourself. You're among friends here, protectors. You don't need to relive every detail."

"I'm-I'm sorry, just... th-this is difficult." Scootaloo shuddered, turning her eyes down to the railing of the witness' stand.

"I understand. Are you able to continue?" The prosecutor raised his eyebrow a little. The case was his from the beginning, but it was best to get all the facts he could out of his witnesses.

"Um..." She gulped, taking a few breaths. She tried to speak, but only a small squeak escaped her mouth as she thought back to the horrors that occurred. The beatings, the crying foals, the announcement that they were all going to die... her forehooves cupped her temples as her ears drooped, eyes widening as she heard Orion's final scream, felt his blood patter over her coat. The filly shuddered and shook her head, clenching her eyes shut and sobbing. "N-No... I'm sorry, I-I can't do this...!"

"It's alright. You've done more than what could be asked of you, Miss Scootaloo. Thank you for your time." The stallion gave her a sympathetic nod and looked over his shoulder. "Bailiff, guide her back to her seat, please. Your Honor, if it would please the court, we do have several more witnesses to call that can fill in the gaps."

"Very well. Miss Scootaloo, you may leave the stand, and the court thanks you for your time and bravery." The judge offered her a smile as Scootaloo looked up at him, still quivering slightly.

"Th-Thank you, Y-Your Honor... um... c-can I go home...?" She whispered, whimpering a little as she looked around.

"Of course, my dear. I wish you a pleasant day, and a good future. Again, thank you for your time."

Scootaloo simply nodded, a small smile appearing on her face. She looked back down at the floor and laid her forehooves on it, though the shivers never left her body. Tears fell from her eyes as the weight of her loss hung from a hook in her heart, threatening to rip the poor filly's very soul out. Orion...

Rainbow looked over at the filly, still shivering in her seat, but thankful that she didn't speak further. It's too much for her to go through... thank Celestia she wasn't forced to speak more... She allowed herself a sigh of relief, but it only made it halfway before getting caught in her throat as another pony entered the small witness area. A familiar butter-yellow coat, a pink mane hiding the mare's features as she went over to Scootaloo, taking her in a gentle hug. Words were exchanged between the two before they turned to head back to their seats.

Fluttershy? Rainbow's brow fell in confusion as she watched the two head back beyond the small fence separating the audience from the lawbringers, but she felt something deep inside harden as Fluttershy looked up to meet her eyes. Instead of a calm, collected look of sympathy that might've suited the shy pegasus, her eyes were filled with something much more painful.

Malice. Rainbow felt a shiver race up her spine and her heart turn to ice as her eyes locked with Fluttershy's glare, powerful enough to cripple anypony. She shivered, shrinking under her friend's hateful leer before Fluttershy found enough mercy in her heart to break eye contact, letting Dash catch a breath she had no idea she was holding. Rainbow looked down as she exhaled, seeing her breath as a frigid mist. Woah... she... wh-what was that?! It's like she was t-trying to rip my throat out with her eyes!

Once the small gate closed behind the two mares, the prosecutor stepped into the middle of the courtroom, looking over the ponies assembled. "Ladies and gentlecolts, just from this witness, you can see the damage the accused has done. We will now call our second witness to the stand, if it would please the court."

The judge nodded, stroking his beard with a hoof. "Go ahead, Mr. Gate."

Gate took a calming breath, a confident smirk appearing on his face for only a moment before vanishing under his professional guise. "The prosecution would like to call the Honorable Miss Twilight Sparkle to the stand."

"Twilight?" Rainbow whispered as she raised her head and looked over at the gate, seeing the librarian open the gate with a flick of her horn and walk through. Surrounding her lavender form was a regal robe suiting a noble, royal purple with a gold trim and sash. It didn't look far from the judge's own garb, the only difference being their colors, and a large, five-pointed star on her back. Four sparks could be seen at its points.

"Thank you for your time today, Miss Sparkle. We understand you have taken valuable time out of your day to do this." Gate bowed before the mare as a show of respect.

"It's alright, Mr. Gate. I will sacrifice anything to make sure justice is served." Twilight's voice was calm and commanding, power laced into every word. The court audience seemed to sit up a little bit straighter as she spoke, Rainbow raising her head and ceasing her slouch, eyes focused on the mare. "And you don't need to bow to me. I may be the Princess' student, but we are all equal in the court of law."

Gate stood back up and chuckled. "Well spoken, Miss Sparkle. Might you be able to fill in the gaps Miss Scootaloo was unable to in her trauma?"

"I'm afraid I don't have all the details, but I was a part of the investigation into these activities, and luckily, Miss Scootaloo was able to divulge information to me. I realize this may be seen as speculation by the court, but if you would allow me to speak, I can provide evidence that proves all this to be true." The words rolled off her tongue as easily as items off a checklist.

"Very well, Miss Sparkle. You may begin." With a nod from the judge, Twilight took a breath and began to speak.

"That day was a true shock for us all, I assure you. To begin, Scootaloo had left Ponyville about two years prior to her final exam, having to finish her schooling before attending this graduation ceremony. Rainbow Dash, her closest friend, was training her in flight, braking and air control, trying to get her up to speed on modern flight techniques and skills so she might pass her exam. I can prove this with about thirty six eye-witness testimonies, twelve of which are available to the prosecution at any time." Twilight looked over at Gate, receiving a nod from the stallion.

"It's true. Twelve of the audience members right now can testify to the truth of this matter, claiming to have all seen Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo training together several times a week. All their stories match up as well." Gate and Twilight looked up at the judge, who simply nodded.

"The record shows that these testimonies were accepted by police, and do check out. Efficient as expected, Miss Sparkle."

"Of course," Twilight said matter-of-factly, before continuing on after another breath. "These lessons involved many advanced techniques, and I'd witnessed many of the lessons myself. Come the day of the exam, I was confident that she would pass, and had calculated her day to the minute. She would go to her classes at seven forty-five AM, a ceremonial practice would occur at Cloudsdale Flare Trail High School as per tradition involving an assembly for all graduating students where they would receive a speech from their teachers at an outside colosseum. After which, the exam would commence, as foals were called up one by one to display their skills. At the latest, I'd calculated that Scootaloo would arrive back home by six PM that same day, and I'd set up the time table for a celebration to fit that time."

"Though Miss Scootaloo never arrived?" Gate raised his eyebrow, sitting by his desk as his team passed a few documents to him.

"She didn't. It wasn't until that night that I'd heard anything regarding her, and it was from Her Highness, Princess Luna, instead of the accused. I was told that Scootaloo had failed her exam and..." Twilight took pause, steeling herself before speaking. "Was killed for it."

"Would you fill us in on details regarding this, please?" Gate spoke as he looked over a document in his hoof, leaning slightly to the side.

Twilight's stance barely shifted as she spoke, eyes fixed on the prosecutor. "Right. Thus far, we'd believed that Cloudsdale had a tradition of upholding their pride in skill, and regarded those that failed the final school exam to be unable to carry out the tasks expected of them. As such, they were banished to Camp Earthbound, never allowed to serve in any weather-patrol or control related task or career, and were expected to either live out their lives in poverty, or join the Royal Guard." Her brow fell slightly. "Worst case scenario, I would have seen Scootaloo joining the Guard, along with an influx of mares and stallions."

"I'm sure she would have been a proud soldier." Gate placed the document back on the desk. "But that doesn't quite connect to the case, Miss Sparkle."

"Simply covering the facts, Mister Gate. Continuing, we'd expected that, after this exam, the students that failed it would be sent to that camp. If Scootaloo didn't return home, then I would have made the trip there to ensure she had a friend nearby. This didn't happen, as evidence would suggest. Everypony was anticipating her success, however, so at two PM on the dot, the party was ready to go." Twilight blinked, stance remaining as neutral as ever. "Four hours passed before ponies started to worry, me especially. At first, I put it down to calculation error, until around ten PM, when three ponies appeared at my door. One of them was the defendant, the other two, escorts of hers."

"Escorts, you say? Might we have their names, Miss Sparkle?" Gate looked over at her, his team now sitting at attention, no longer constantly mulling over reports. The entire court was focused on the mare at the center of the room, and it wasn't far off to say she liked the attention. Her happiness didn't show through her mask of professionalism, however.

"Their names are Luna, and Reaper." Twilight's ear perked as some of the ponies in the audience started whispering to each other. "I'm aware of the implications of a Princess visiting in the middle of the night, escorting the defendant from work, seemingly. A point to say about the defendant's work schedule is she works about seven or eight months a year in Cloudsdale, then returns to Ponyville for a vacation of sorts. During said vacations, she was as normal as anypony else, but I will speculate that there were breaks in that schedule where she returned either earlier or later than the pattern suggested. During these times, something definitely felt off about her, and she would spend most of her time at home."

"Hmm." Gate rubbed his chin a bit before looking up at the judge. "If I might implore the court, Your Honor, this name 'Reaper' intrigues me. The pony named that may have something to do with this case."

"You suspect he's not simply a bodyguard to Her Highness?"

Gate turned and nodded to the judge, looking pensive at his own claims. "I've my suspicions, Your Honor. It's just something I'd like to confirm." He turned back to Twilight and scanned the crowd behind her, searching for a pony possibly dangerous enough to suit the name 'Reaper'. "Miss Sparkle, if you could inform us as to this pony named 'Reaper'?"

Twilight nodded, responding as evenly as ever. "Not to worry, Mister Gate, Reaper doesn't have much to do with this case beyond being the defendant's escort alongside Princess Luna. Her Highness confirms this."

"I will seal the facts later, I suppose. Thank you." Gate and Twilight nodded to each other. "Apologies for the interruption, do you mind continuing?"

"Not at all. To continue, when the three ponies arrived at my library, I was obviously confused as to who would be arriving at my door so late at night. When Rainbow revealed herself, she brought to light quite a few things I hadn’t known before. She refrained from informing me of critical details to the investigation, but she did tell me one fact that supports what happened.”

“And what was that, Miss Sparkle?” The judge raised his eyebrow and leaned forward slightly, examining the noble’s expression with aged eyes. Despite the entire courtroom sitting at full attention and hanging on her every word, Balance wasn’t so easily shifted.

“She informed me of her crime.” Twilight’s expression faltered only slightly as she looked down at the pedestal the judge was seated at. After a short pause, her voice came smooth as the rising sun. “She confessed to killing Scootaloo.”

At that moment, the courtroom burst into a roar, ponies standing up and letting their rage be known to everypony else.

“She confessed?!”

“Why are we holding a trial!? This is absurd! Give her the life sentence!”

“Lock the criminal up! We have all the evidence we need!”

The racket carried on as pony after pony shouted their condemnations and threats to the defendant, Rainbow curling up more and more with the verbal beating getting more enraged.

“Order! I will have order!” The judge smashed his gavel on his desk, the cracks of wood against wood splitting the shouting. The noise died down to manageable whispers, then finally died out with a final crack from the gavel. “This is a trial to decide whether the defendant is guilty or not, not for everypony to make random accusations without all the facts being laid out.”

Twilight sighed a little and nodded. “Thank you, Your Honor. Continuing, she did confess to me, but I refused to believe it. Despite two weeks of investigating, we,” Twilight’s voice fell off, losing its strength. “Still haven’t found a body. Despite that, Rainbow’s confession, on top of numerous witness claims, provide more than enough evidence.”

Balance sighed a bit, leaning back to his proper sitting posture. “We will decide that in due time, Miss Sparkle.”

“Of course. That’s all I have to say, Your Honor.” Twilight ended her words with a nod.

Balance nodded back, keeping his professional expression unshakeable. “Thank you, Miss Sparkle. You may leave the stand.”

With that, Twilight turned about-face and walked out, bypassing the frightened pegasus without a glance. Even so, Rainbow’s eyes were set on Twilight’s face, trying to seek out some compassion, some fleeting sympathy for her case, even after it had been destroyed in front of her.

If there was a case to destroy in the first place.

The room remained silent with the soft ‘click clack’ of Twilight’s hooves, even spending a few moments more in a held breath as she took her seat. The atmosphere relaxed with the noble finally seated, and Gate adjusted his tie. The silence was thankfully let go with a cough into his hoof. “The prosecution has two more witnesses to call, Your Honor. If you’d allow me?”

Balance nodded, gesturing for the prosecutor to go ahead. “Very well, Mister Gate.”

“Right. The prosecution would like to call Miss Rarity, who was the first mare to meet with the defendant on the night of the crime.”

Rainbow’s ears perked at the mention, some little speck of hope reaching up from the dark. Rarity. She’ll help, won’t she? Her eyes turned back to the crowd to see her friend getting up from her seat and moving forward, only something was strange about the typically haughty, snooty mare.

Her nose was turned up slightly, sure, but her eyes seemed sorrowful, and covering her bright, alabaster coat was the black dress and smock of a funeral-goer. Her trot was slow and purposeful, finally coming to a stop at the witness’ stand. Gate’s mouth opened, only for him to be cut off by the mare.

“Your Honor, I’ve a request.” Rarity’s voice came through as strong as ever, a few ponies sitting up a bit straighter.

The judge raised his eyebrow, perplexed. “Very well. What’s your request?”

“I would like to defend Miss Dash.”

Gate blinked hard at the words, baffled by the request. “I’m, I’m sorry, Miss Rarity, what? You want to defend the defendant?”

Rarity remained unmoved, keeping her focus on the judge, as if the prosecutor wasn’t worth her glance. “This case is hardly fair as she doesn’t have a defense to speak of. It’s only right to give her a chance.”

Gate cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, furrowing his brow a bit. “That isn’t really how it works, Miss Rarity.”

Rarity’s eyes turned to the prosecutor, cold as ice as she spoke. “As I understand it, a trial is to have a judge, a prosecution, and a defense. This began without a critical part of the process, and I intend to fill the gap.” Gate could feel the venom dripping from Rarity’s voice, her pointed glare forcing him back. She turned back to the judge, regaining her modicum of decency and poise. “Your Honor, is there a problem with this?”

“Miss Dash entered this trial without a defense, Miss Rarity, and thanks to Miss Sparkle’s testimony, we see this was for a reason. I don’t see a point in allowing you to defend her, unless you have a strong case to support her innocence?”

"I do, Your Honor. Something about my meeting with the defendant, now my client, felt quite off."

Gate raised his eyebrow, looking from Rarity to Rainbow, then back again. "And what would that be, Miss Rarity? I believe the evidence we need has already been submitted—"

"My testimony is still valid, and I need to put this point forward." Rarity lowered her brow slightly and leered sidelong at Gate. "And if you would cease your interruptions, I could /get/ that point forward."

With a sigh and a nod from the prosecutor, as well as a slight roll of the eyes, Rarity took in a breath and levelled her voice.

"I will be honest in that Twilight's claims are... true. But one fact has been left out in the confession laid down by my client."

"And what would that be?" Balance placed his hooves together and raised an eyebrow slightly, intrigued by the point.

"Rainbow Prisma Dash was not in her right mind during the, er... crime. When she was speaking to me, she was clearly guiltful of her actions, and even under certain stresses, she never backed down from her confession. The point I'm putting forward is during her confession to me." Rarity shook her head a little and sighed. "It's dreadful that things came to this... but she was under the influence of a chemical substance given to her by her employers."

"A chemical...? What?" Gate blinked and went back to his table, quickly shuffling through a set of files. "But... wait, here it is. Blood tests, presence of... a psychosis-inducing substance? Yes, and this was present in many of the other arrests as well."

"Indeed. I put forward that Rainbow merely acted under the influence of this drug, and cannot be claimed willful and wanting in this crime. She wasn't in the right state of mind."

The court filled with murmurs and whispers between the ponies of the crowd, all rather concerned with the turn of events. Rainbow's own heart lifted, and she sat up a bit straighter, unable to hold down the growing smile on her face.

Until a certain voice rose above the crowd...

"Rarity! Are you crazy?!"

Rarity jumped at the outcry, spinning around and facing the crowd. "Huh? F-Fluttershy, what are you doing—"

At that moment, a butter-yellow pegasus rushed onto the floor, face to face with the unicorn and steaming with rage. "You come up here and try to support the innocence of a murderer, and you're asking ME what I'm doing!?"

"Fluttershy, dear, calm down!"

"No!" Fluttershy shrieked and stomped the floor, teeth grit hard enough to scrape fragments of bone off. "I'm not going to calm down when one of my best friends, one of the Elements of Harmony, sticks up for a killer!"

"She's not a killer, Fluttershy!"

"Then explain why Scootaloo's dead! Why all those other foals are dead!" Fluttershy's voice rose with every word, snorting hard. "Tell me who did it if it wasn't Rainbow!"

"She wasn't thinking correctly, Fluttershy!" Rarity responded, trying hard to match Fluttershy's sheer volume and power. The court rose up as well, getting into argument after argument about what was going on, but it all drowned out in Rainbow's mind, mixed with the bashing of a gavel... the only two voices that registered at all were of her two friends.

The one protecting her, and the other...

"I don't care! Because of her, because of that stupid pegasus, over three hundred foals are never going to see their families again! You could tell me that it was her evil half-sister, and I STILL wouldn't care! She killed them! She stood there and watched as they got grinded up in that massive metal abomination!" Fluttershy turned and glared daggers at Rainbow, the sheer malice sending the rainbow-maned pony tumbling from her chair. "You did it, Rainbow Dash! And there's no turning from it!"

Rainbow couldn't stop her trembling as Fluttershy approached, the air of a murderous predator all around her as her hooves grew in power with each stomp. "You did it. You killed them all. Nothing can take you away from that, and nothing will make you that innocent little pony we all thought you were!"

"F-F-Fluttershy, stop! You-You're scaring me!" Rainbow squealed as the wood literally broke under Fluttershy's final stomp, tucking her tail between her legs.

"YOU SHOULD BE, YOU MURDERER!" The courtroom fell into silence with the shriek, all eyes set on the furious pegasus. The flames on the candles seemed to go out, the temperature in the room dropping further and further under the frigid hate of the gentlest pony in Equestria, or, whatever malicious entity currently wore her form. "You should be scared of me! Of every single pony in this room! You know why!?"

"Wh... w-why...? F-Fluttershy, please, stop..."

"No. You should be scared of us, because every single pony here? They all lost somepony. They all lost their daughters, sons, brothers and sisters, all because of a stupid exam, led by stupid teachers, where the failed students are killed by stupid, prideful monsters." Fluttershy's glare intensified, almost strong enough to blow a hole in Rainbow's head. "And they want for you what they want for every single other pony who was a part of all this. The death sentence."

"Wh-What? W-Wait, Fluttershy, please, y-you don't need to kill me! I'll cooperate! I'll t-tell them everything, I'll confess to everything! Just, please, don't hate me!"

Fluttershy's face softened into a look of cold hate, frowning. "I'm way beyond that, Dash. I'm this close to strangling you in front of everypony, just so they can see your dead body and actually sleep at night." She took another step forward, a cruel grin appearing on her face. "In fact, I should. It'd let them all enjoy the peace of mind that the murderer of their children, of their families, is long gone from this world..."

"Fluttershy! Wait! STOP!"

Rainbow could only scream as her best friend lunged at her, as her hooves locked around her throat, and with the pressure of a hydra's jaw clamped around her windpipe...

Only to have the pressure leave her, Fluttershy yanked off and dragged away by the bailiff. "Stop! Let me go!! She needs to die, everypony needs to see it!"

"Shut it! There aren't gonna be any more murders on my watch!" The bailiff barked back, Fluttershy thrashing as she was pulled along by her tail. Eventually, a slam of two doors silenced the screams and fuming wails, leaving a stunned crowd, and a horrified Rainbow Dash, in bitter silence.

Judge Balance finally regained his balance with a heavy sigh, wiping his brow slightly. "Right... Miss Rarity, um, your defense?"

Balance blinked and scanned the platform, finding no white mare in sight. With a hum of thought, he leaned forward slightly, finding a hint of purple tail out from under the defendant's bench. He simply shook his head at the sight and, with a single half-hearted crack of his gavel against the pedastal, all focus was back on him. "Apologies, everypony. The mare will be dealt with by the police... as for this trial, I believe we have everything we need for a verdict, and I've all I need for a sentence." He turned and looked over at Rainbow, huddled up into a ball in the corner with a hoof over her neck, traumatized. "Erm... Miss Sparkle, if you're still present - apologies for this outburst, and subsequent request - might you help Miss Dash to the witness' stand?"

After a time, the noble stood up and walked towards the platform, a few glances paid along the way back to the double doors, as if a demon of a pony might break through them and try to kill everypony. "Right, of course. And don't apologize, Your Honor, happy to help." She walked over to Rainbow and held a hoof out. "Come along, Rainbow Dash."

Still breathing heavily, Rainbow looked down at the lavender hoof, then traced it back up to her friend, setting her eyes on the purple orbs of the noble. In those pupils, so full of knowledge and patience, there sadly wasn't a speck of sympathy to be found. Rainbow's ears drooped and she took Twilight's hoof, being hauled up and guided over to the stand, where she would hear her fate be spelled out to her.

"Rainbow Prisma Dash, this court finds you guilty on three hundred seventy nine counts of first degree murder, criminal negligence, traitorous acts towards your country and your Element, and gross misconduct in the company of minors. You are hereby sentenced to a quadruple life sentence in the maximum security area of Manehatten Holding, without parole or appeal. Court is adjourned."

With a final crack of the gavel, Rainbow's fate was sealed, and all she could do was fall onto her rump, hide her face behind hooves, and cry her heart out.

The dark of the library’s main lobby greeted Rainbow silently as she opened her eyes, still feeling a thin stream of tears running down her cheeks. A few blinks helped clear away the mist, but the misery in her heart clouded everything else. That’s how it’d end, huh? A life sentence, with my friends either hating me... or trying to hurt me. Not like I don’t deserve it.

After a minute or so of soaking in the warmth of the blanket over her, Rainbow lifted her head and scanned the room. It was early in the morning, rays of the sun starting to peek in through the windows, revealing a midnight-blue alicorn sleeping in a chair, and Reaper flopped on the floor, snoring for all he was worth.

Rainbow scoffed at the sight, mumbling about his laziness before hauling herself off the couch. Every hoofstep felt tied to a ball of lead as she dragged herself to the kitchen, the mother of all headaches pounding away in her head. "Need some water..." Her voice was barely louder than her leaden, soft hoofsteps, but she held enough strength to get a glass and fill it with water.

Her drinking was labored, like her stomach couldn't take anything into it, not even the life-giving substance passing her lips. Several times, a ghost would flash into her mind and flip her stomach upside down, forcing her to put the glass down and take a few dry gulps to calm down her upset gut. Still, with enough effort, the water ran down her throat and cooled her body, the headache thankfully ebbing to the point where she could think straight.

Leaving the glass next to the sink, she went over to the table and hopped up on one of the chairs, staring down at the plaid table cloth, slowly following the black paths strung together between red roads surrounding white blocks. Like the roadmap of a city, uniform and bland.

What am I gonna do? With how Fluttershy reacted, and Rarity, and Twilight... even Squ— Her mind stalled on the familiar nickname, almost causing her to gag by just how awful it felt to think it. Scootaloo. It's like Fluttershy said... I'm a murderer. A cold-blooded waste-of-space murderer. How could I possibly break all this to my closest friends, let alone everypony in town?

Her eyes lifted slowly to the window in the wall, the night sky still visible beyond the dark pink drawn by the morning sun. How can I tell anypony...? It'd just hurt them... it'd hurt me...)

"What're you doin' up?"

The voice caused Rainbow to jump and whip her head around to the doorway, seeing the black-cloaked spirit leaning against the doorframe, shining blue eyes locked on her own magenta orbs. She slowly calmed down and looked back at the table cloth, sighing as her ears splayed back.

"I can't do this, Reaper." Rainbow shook her head and closed her eyes, slouching. "I just... can't hurt them with this."

"So that's it? After a dragon strangles you and your friend beats you up, you quit?" Reaper groaned and rolled his eyes. "Spine of a skiyer, I swear."

His words lead into silence, Reaper looking at the other side of the doorframe. He furrowed his brow after a while, mouth tilting up at the side. What, no retort? No insult in return? Just... quiet? He looked back over at the table to find Rainbow simply staring at the table, a grim smile on her face.

"...Yeah. Yeah, Reaper... that is it. That's all I've got." She chuckled with all the enthusiasm of somepony having their throat slit. "I give... I can't do it. I just can't tell them..."

Reaper blinked, staring at the pegasus for the longest time. After a while, he simply shook his head and moved off the doorframe, walking over to her. "So, in that case..."

"Lock me up."

Reaper raised an eyebrow at the words, staring incredulously at Dash. "What?"

"You heard me, Reaper. Lock me up. Put me in a cell and throw away the key. Bury me in Canterlot's dungeon and never let me see Celestia's sun again." Rainbow's mane threw a shade over her eyes, the smile growing slightly. "I'm a killer, after all... I'm a danger to everypony around me. I belong in jail."

Reaper scoffed, smirking a bit himself. "This is kinda creepy coming from you, lady." He placed his hands on his hips, looking down on her with all the confidence of an executioner. "And why should I, when I could just take you out now?"

Rainbow's next words set Reaper's smirk into a faltering frown, as his brow furrowed hard.

"If you don't... then I'll just do it myself."

The room fell into silence again as Reaper's hands fell to his sides, honest surprise on his face. A scowl soon crossed it, before it faded into a simple frown, voice dripping with resentment. "So ready to throw yourself off a cliff, huh?"

"I killed over three hundred fifty kids, Reaper... and I remember every single one. All their faces... all their voices..." Rainbow's hooves rose up to her temples, pressing down as she curled up and placed her elbows on the table, trembling. "I remember them all... and their screams rip through my head like a drill... they're gonna drive me insane. I can't add my friends, my closest friends' voices to that pile... I'm... I'm too close to the edge as is, I can't do it...")

Reaper folded his arms and turned, leaning on the table with his hip. "So you're just gonna go quietly into the night, is that it? Leave all your friends behind?"

"It's all I can do, Reaper."

"And leave them without the truth?"

"Somepony'll tell them. It doesn't have to be me..."

"They'll wonder why you're gone."

"Who cares?"

"They do."

Rainbow's teeth grit, snorting a little. "So what? Why do I have to tell them? Just because I made a promise?"

Reaper shrugged, keeping his voice as level as ever. A smile even crossed his face, the kind of smile a used car dealer wore at the end of a sale. "I'd say that's pretty good reasoning, if friendship's anything to believe."

Rainbow's hooves fell to the table as she looked up at him, brow furrowed behind her mane. A glare so powerful, that it only put more force behind her words. "I. Don't. Care. I don't care about holding this promise anymore. I don't care about telling everypony! It's just... it's better they don't know."

"Hmph. From a brave pegasus to a little, whiny brat, huh?"

"You try killing so many kids and see how you like it."

Rainbow's eyes widened as a sick smile crossed Reaper's face, his eyes lighting up in good memory. "Oh, but Miss Dash... I have. In the employ of the Princess, I've killed a whole lot more ponies than you could ever hope." His smile faded into a frown as he looked away, exuding disinterest. "It's gotten to the point where I don't feel it anymore. But at one point, I did feel how you do, so I can understand where you're coming from."

Rainbow's body shook as her wings flitted, suddenly feeling the weight of being around a serial murderer. "You've killed... kids?"

"Kids. Adults. Grandparents. Families. Murdered, killed, slaughtered, genocided if you think it's a word. It's part of my work... something I've been doing for a long time." Reaper hefted himself up onto the table and sighed, placing his hands on the table. "Murder's a hefty crime, Rainbow. And you can't just let it get swept under the rug. Like any crime, you need a way to repent, especially for one this big. If you can't tell your friends, then come up with something else."

"What're you talking about?"

"I'm saying, if you can't fulfill this promise... try one you can achieve."

"Why's a killer telling me this, anyway? Wh-Why're you even with the Princess...?"

Reaper smirked, chuckling. "Live long enough, and you just might find out. But for now, start thinking on how to make it up to everyone you're abandoning. If you come up with something good... maybe Miss Scootaloo will back it up." With a smooth motion, he hopped off the table and headed back into the lobby, sitting down in one of the chairs. Within seconds, the droll of his snore filled the air once more, and he was out.

Rainbow's eyes followed him with every step, his words rolling in her head. She turned back to the table after the sound of his snoring hit her ears, and her eyes half-closed in thought. "Find another way, huh?" Her hoof brushed over the cloth of the table as she pondered, focusing on the patterns in front of her. “Another way... some way I could let them all know at once, without having to tell them.” She leaned over and placed her head on a raised hoof, her heartbeat gently thumping in her ears. But how can I manage that? What could I do? I can’t just write out a letter saying I’m sorry...

Her eyes lit up at the thought, passing the words through her mind a few more times. A letter? A letter... a written confession. She blinked and looked up towards the window, peering outside into the street beyond. “That’s it...” She whispered, sitting up straight and allowing a small smile on her face. “A written confession... with that, I could pass the news along to everypony. To Fluttershy, and Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, and everypony else. At least then, I wouldn’t have to be around...” Her smile faded at the thought, eyes turning back down to the table cloth. “Just... hoof them the letter, then run away with my tail between my legs.”

She sighed, ears drooping. “I’m such a coward... can’t even fess up to my own crimes.” Her eyes closed and she grit her teeth, crumpling the table cloth under her clenching hoof. “Maybe I should just go away... never see them again...”

“That wouldn’t be much better, would it?”

Rainbow gasped at the voice, spinning around to face the source as her eyes shot wide. Sitting there in the door frame was a sight all too familiar to her. “Scootaloo?”

“Yeah. I’ve been following you all since you started...” Scootaloo sat down and leaned against the door frame, brushing some purple locks out of her view. “You’re brave, Rainbow... you took responsibility and confessed to your friends.”

“It’s not enough, though. I promised I’d confess to everypony... to Twilight, Fluttershy, AJ, all of them. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, too.” Dash turned her eyes away from her little sister, staring down at the floor as she hung a foreleg over the back of her chair. “And even with that, I can’t work up the spine to do it...”

Scootaloo shook her head, looking on at Rainbow’s forlorn expression. “Murder’s a difficult crime to confess to. You’ve already done it for Spike, Rarity and Pinkie, right?”

“Yeah, and Spike and Pinkie threatened to kill me. Pinkie even tried to.” Rainbow furrowed her brow and shook her head, dejected. “What would AJ do? Twilight? And I couldn’t bear to confess to Fluttershy... she can barely handle one of Pinkie’s pranks. How would she react to me confessing a bunch of murders?”

“Probably the same way I would.”

Scootaloo jumped at the new presence while Rainbow just grit her teeth harder, eyes closing as she turned her head towards the window. She just let out a defeated sigh as the lavender mare walked into the kitchen, stopping a distance away from Dash.

Twilight simply looked over the beaten pegasus’ mane, trying to sound as neutral and level as possible as she spoke. “Princess Luna told me everything...”

“She did, huh?” Rainbow moved her foreleg off the back of the chair and placed it back on the table in front of the other, leaning on her legs as she looked outside. “Guess she did the job for me...”

“Why’d you do it, Rainbow?” Twilight furrowed her brow slightly, a frown growing on her face. “Why’d you kill them? Turn them into rainbows? Even agree to do all this in the first place?”

“...Couldn’t say. It was a long time ago when I was offered the job, and like a smart bunch of crooks, they started me off easy.” Rainbow brushed a hoof back through her mane, sighing. “Clean-up duty, managing doses... the grunt that ran around and did stuff.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“I’m trying to answer it, Twilight... though, while I do.” Dash raised her head, sitting up a little more straight. “I know this is crazy, and I know you’ll say no... but can you help me with writing something?”

Twilight’s eyes widened slightly at the request, jaw hanging for a moment before she shook her head and spoke. “What?”

“Writing something? Write what, Rainbow?” Scootaloo blinked in confusion, walking up beside Rainbow. The spectre sat down next to her idol, looking up at her.

Rainbow took a breath, and furrowed her brow as she put some proper authority into her voice, ears perking up as she spoke. “A letter. Five of them. And each one’s gonna be addressed to a different pony.”

Twilight sputtered, brow shooting down as she glared at her ‘friend’. “W-Why would I help you write letters? Why would I—”

“Because it’s the only way to do this, Twilight. You already know about my crimes... and this is how I’m gonna atone for them.”

Twilight snorted, raising her voice. “No! What’re these letters even going to accomplish!?” She blinked as Dash barely moved from the words, an eyebrow rising slightly as she heard the mare’s next words, Scootaloo watching on with rising interest, as well as worry.

“They’re going to accomplish everything I promised...” Dash turned back to Twilight, a firm fire in her eyes as her brow furrowed, a purpose finally having settled in her mind to bring everything to a close. “And they’re going to be addressed to five ponies specifically. You’re one of them.”

“Why me?” Twilight raised her eyebrow fully, relenting.

“Because you’re one of my friends, and one of the ponies I still need to confess to. And I am going to confess to you... and you’re going to write that confession down, and copy it.” Rainbow’s leer softened, her frown quivering slightly as she maintained her composure. “And the copies are gonna go to Fluttershy, AJ, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

Twilight’s own expression softened as her ears splayed back. “Fluttershy? And both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?”

Rainbow shook her head. “No. One for Fluttershy, and one for both of the Crusaders.”

“Then what about the last one?”

“That one’s gonna be addressed to your brother.” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as Rainbow mentioned her brother. “Shining Armor... I’m confessing to him, and turning myself in.”

“Confessing to him?” Twilight furrowed her brow slightly at Rainbow.

“Yeah. Confessing to you guys is because you all deserve to know what happened. Confessing to Armor is because the country deserves to know what happened...” Rainbow looked back to the window, staring up at the sky. “The world deserves to know what happened. I don’t want to take any more lives, and I don’t want them to be able to.”

“Rainbow...” Scootaloo looked on at the same spot in the sky as her idol, smiling lightly. She looked back at Dash, nodding. She placed a hoof on Rainbow’s and leaned up, the mare turning to face her. “This takes a lot of bravery, Rainbow Dash, and I’m glad to see that hasn’t gone anywhere.”

Rainbow’s ears drooped as she looked on at the ethereal little sister she used to have, a solemn look on her face. “It’s never gonna be enough... but I want to give back to you, and to everypony else. I know I’m taking the coward’s way out, but...”

“Rainbow, you’re doing what you need to. It’s not telling it to their faces, and I know that seems like running away in your eyes... but they need to know. They need to know, and you’re not leaving them out.” Scootaloo smiled brightly and squeezed Rainbow’s hoof gently, her gentle gaze set on the saddened eyes of her big sister. “You’re keeping your promise... and with your help, nopony will ever fear the exam again.”

Rainbow looked back up at her, and nodded gently. “Right. Thanks...”

“Um... you’re welcome?” Twilight tilted her head slightly and raised her eyebrow, confused as to why Rainbow was talking to thin air.

“Yeah.” Rainbow looked back to Twilight as an orange shimmer appeared in the air for just a moment, Twilight blinking in surprise at the spectre. “Twilight, I need your help with this. You know I’m not a good writer, and I wanna make sure this is read clearly from the first go. Five copies of the letter to be delivered to Armor, you, Fluttershy, AJ, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. That’s all I need... and then I’ll leave.”

Twilight blinked at her, ears drooping slightly as she looked into Rainbow’s eyes. Purpose shined brightly in them, her brow furrowed and a confident smile on her face. She’s really set in this... she’s murdered so many ponies, and she still looks like she can make everything right. She sighed slightly before nodding. Her horn flared up with a purple aura, and several pieces of parchment, as well as an ink pot and quill, popped into existence next to her. She set quill to ink and retrieved the first piece of parchment, laying the rest on the table as she walked over to it and sat down in her chair. “Alright, Rainbow. Start from the beginning.”

Rainbow nodded, and as she spoke, Twilight acted as her scribe, writing down every last thing she said.

“I, Rainbow Prisma Dash, confess to crimes committed in the employment of the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation's Cloudsdale-based weather factory, called the Rainbow Factory. During my employment there, by order of supervisors and upper management on the second floor, I've killed no less than three hundred twenty eight foals, and assisted in the murder of a hundred more. I have also aided in cover up operations, using my rank in Equestria's circles to better assist the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation in hiding the deaths of these foals by giving them a route into newspapers and prominent government figures' own social circles. I confess and plead guilty to every crime, and will fully accept my given punishment from the court."

Twilight finished up the letter, looking it over a few times. “This is... surprisingly well worded of you, Rainbow.”

“I can’t write, but ponies’ve always told me I’ve got a way with words.” Dash scoffed a little, smiling grimly. “Guess that’d be why I got brought on as one of their cover-up artists.”

“Mm. Alright, I’ll copy all this down and send you all on your way.” Twilight set to work writing everything down, making sure to copy each word exactly.

“I’ll deliver these myself, Twilight. Just keep one for yourself.” Rainbow looked on at her friend, getting a curt nod in return. “And... I’m sorry.”

Twilight didn’t even look up from her letter, eyes half-lidded in focus. “Sorry can’t make up for this, Rainbow. It never will... and you know that.”

Rainbow looked down at the table, nodding. “I do, yeah.”

“But...” Twilight stopped writing, looking up at Rainbow and placing her quill back in the ink pot. “I will say this. Confessing to your crimes, and helping Armor with catching the others... there’s a lot of criminals out there who would turn tail and run after doing even a fraction of what you did. Nopony’s ever going to forgive you... but they will be brought closure at the very least.”

“That’s all I can do, Twilight. And leave some room on the letters, there’s some notes I wanna send along with all these.”

“Sure thing. Just give me the notes after I’ve copied everything down.”

“Right...”

The two worked long and hard on the letters, Rainbow conveying special messages to the recipients of the letters, and with the copying completed, she set out with Reaper and Princess Luna to hoof-deliver the letters to their recipients. The first pony visited was Fluttershy, her letter left in the mailbox on the road and a swift leave made by Rainbow Dash to insure she was never seen.

The next was Applejack’s house at Sweet Apple Acres, two of the letters delivered to Apple Bloom with regret in Rainbow’s eyes. A promise was made to give one of the letters to Applejack, and for the other to only be read when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were together, before Rainbow made her leave. The look of horrendous regret in her eyes was all the news Apple Bloom needed to know the letter was dangerous, but she kept to her promise anyways, meeting with Sweetie Belle later that day.

Twilight sat on her couch, the sun hanging off to the side as the afternoon drew close to evening, and she looked out her window to see Rainbow, Reaper and Princess Luna walking down the street like a funeral march, ponies all around looking on at the strangely robed figures. Nopony stood in their way, but the murmurring and questions of their purpose rose up amongst the villagers. She merely looked back down at the letter in her hoof, unravelling it and beginning to read it aloud to herself, only pausing at the note which seemed all-too-new there.

“Wait a minute... I didn’t write this.” She furrowed her brow and looked down at the note, a little P.S written in striking font and with no concept of space management or cleanliness.

“Note for Twilight Sparkle: Twilight, I know there’s no way I could ever make this up to anypony. I know it’s impossible to bring back all the lives I took, and all the families I destroyed, whether I was in my right mind or not. Those crimes are what I’m going to confess to in court, and I’ll take any and every punishment they give me. I know I’m never going to see you again, so I just wanted to say this.

Before I met you, I was an egotistical, stubborn donkey’s butt of a pegasus. I was mean to ponies, I always gave my accomplishments the spotlight before anypony else, and I hurt more ponies than I even knew could be hurt. But when you came into my life, along with Rarity, and AJ and Pinkie Pie, you all changed me. You showed me what it meant to have a group of friends to depend on. Fluttershy’s always been good to me, but I never told her anything past little problems I was having. Boy trouble, or stress, or just being mad about something. She was always there, but having you guys around, I had a way to talk about my bigger problems. Whether I was good enough to be a friend, what my Element meant, and even learning about friendship itself.

I know I can’t say sorry. But I want to say thank you, for always being there for me, and for the rest of us. I know we never really got along, Twilight, but you’re one of the best friends I’ve had in my whole life, and even though I know you hate me now, know that I’ll always hold you close to my heart.

Have a good life, Twilight. And sorry for writing this behind your back... I didn’t want the goodbye to be longer than it was.

With a whole lot of love and pride, Rainbow Prisma Dash.”

Twilight leaned back in her couch, staring at the note in the letter. Rainbow... ohhh, darn it, Rainbow... She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, placing the letter on her lap as she stared into the darkness behind her eyelids. There in her sight sat a proud Rainbow Dash, relaxing in her tree as she always did, flashing that confident grin at her. The image faded away as Twilight opened her eyes, and the tears that were held back for so long finally began their rolling down her cheeks. “You can’t be forgiven... but I know you’ll be a great help for Shining. Good luck...”

Chapter 7: Words That Hurt

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"Mmm..."

Light streamed in through the curtains in four beams, split by the window's supports as they offered a dim glow to the room within. Fluttershy shifted under her covers, rolling away from the light as she struggled to prolong her stay in Dreamland, but sadly, as the light glimmered off a picture on her endtable and right into her eyes, her ticket was made void. Her eyes opened up in a squint, staring at the picture so deviously aiming the light into her sensitive blue orbs.

"...Gotta move that sometime, sun rises right in front of it..." She sighed and pushed herself up, mane falling around her in a pink, lustrous waterfall as she took a look around the room. Still just as she left it, her cabinet and vanity mirror off to the right, dresser filled with clothes in front of her, and a pile of tools and aprons all hung up on the wall to her left. Another bleary blink passed before she made the effort of climbing out of bed, only one hoof setting down on the ground before she felt that ever-familiar kicking against her leg. She looked down towards the side of the bed, spotting a white bunny staring right back up at her, holding up an empty plate. "Don't worry, sweetie, I'll feed you soon. I just need to wake up first."

She yawned before sliding off the bed fully, stretching out on the floor. Her muscles stretched and relaxed, her bones popped back into place, and with a last arch of her back, she felt her spine settle into place. The cooling feeling of her blood flowing through her body helped wake her up, and she took a deep breath, shaking her head. "A shower sounds nice right now." The bunny simply frowned at the suggestion, deadpanning before giving her another kick, and making his gruff, upset leave. She didn't even make a squeak of protest, simply smiling and shaking her head softly before heading for the bathroom.

Her morning routine began as she turned the water on, setting the shower for hot before setting about getting her bathroom supplies together. Toothpaste, toothbrush, hair brush, tail brush, three bottles of shampoo, two conditioners, and a look in the mirror followed by a thought. I still don't understand how all these things help me bring out my beauty, Rarity... not to mention how expensive it all is. She frowned as she rubbed her face, staring at her slightly bloodshot eyes and saggy bags under them. 'The prim and proper Fluttershy, shining for all the world to see...' You make it all sound so easy.

Ultimately, the disaster that was her morning face was unsalvagable, so she retreated to her shower, sticking a hoof into the cascading waters to check the temperature. Some adjustments were made before the water became satisfactory, and she climbed in, raised her head, and let the water spill down all over her sleep-racked body. Shower, teeth and face, breakfast... feed Angel, then go out back and feed everyone. Hmmm... I should have all the feed set up out back. Then I have to go meet with Pinkie... Scootaloo should be coming home soon as well, come to think of it. She turned her head down towards the drain in front of her, humming. Her wings spread out, feathers spread as well to accept the warming waters coming from the shower head. She giggled, a smile crossing her face as she imagined Scootaloo marching through Ponyville, wearing her graduation letter like a gold medal around her neck. I'll have to ask Pinkie about setting up something nice for her.

After a few minutes spent thinking and soaking, she reached for the soap and shampoo in the little rack hanging off the side of her tub, and got to work cleaning up.

Fluttershy's ears perked as she heard the delightful chirping of songbirds in the trees beyond her backyard's fence, and she lifted her head, tipping her hat back to try and catch a sight of them. The two pigs zipped up towards the trough she just filled with feed and started eating away, mud still dripping from their underbellies from a recent tumble in their pen, and after a gaze down at them, she nodded and gathered up the bag. "Alright, Mr. and Mrs. Oink, that should be everything." She bowed lightly to them before hauling the bag up over her back, and headed back over to the feed shed near her home. She found her eyes wandering over the backyard, noting all the changes from her recent redesign. She frowned at the placement of the chicken coop at the far back right of the backyard, right next to the fence keeping all the more dangerous wildlife out of her property.

The pigpen right next to chicken coop, the opening leading off towards the Everfree in front of both off to the right of her yard. Then there was her new additions, a vacant playpen for two bear cubs, a birdhouse fit for the large birds native to Ponyville's northern forests, and possibly the most odd addition to the place.

A tea table for Angel.

Fluttershy pursed her lips at the side as she stared at the table, a small tea set still sitting on it from yesterday's party. Her hoof found its way to her chin, slowly rubbing before her ear picked up the sound of trundling footsteps from around the corner of her house. She looked over, tipping her sun hat down slightly over her eyes as a manticore walked around into the backyard, carrying a letter in its mouth.

"Joey? What's that?" Fluttershy got to her hooves and trotted over to the manticore, meeting him halfway as he deposited the letter into a raised paw. He shrugged lightly before holding it out to Fluttershy, the mare bowing with a smile before taking it in a hoof and looking it over. "Hmm... Rainbow Dash?" She raised her eyebrow as her smile shifted to a frown, staring at the name on the letter in confusion. A lavender envelope, folded and sealed neatly, and as she checked the back of the letter, she noted the red wax seal on the back. She looked back up to Joey, nodding to him. "Thank you, Joey."

The manticore smiled and leaned in, giving her a little lick and a snort before heading off back to the front yard, doffing his guard's cap back on his head. Fluttershy watched him go before turning the letter back over to the front, checking it again.

From: Rainbow Dash

To: Fut

~~Flt~~

Fluttershy

She blinked a few times at all the crossed out lines on it, furrowing her brow gently with worry. "Rainbow... why didn't you just come speak to me? Why send a letter?" After a moment more of thinking, she turned and headed back to the back door on her porch, quickly opening it with her free hoof and heading on inside.

Angel looked up at the clock in the living room. 8:00 AM. An hour after he was supposed to be fed, and two hours since Fluttershy woke up. He furrowed his brow and frowned. A whole hour since Fluttershy told him she just needed to check a letter, then he'd be fed right away.

What hogwash.

With a quiet sigh, he rolled his eyes and retreated to the kitchen, deciding to see what was taking so long.

And there he found Fluttershy, sitting in her chair, quaking as a shivering hoof held an open letter in front of her. Angel blinked, before he finally picked up the sound she'd been making, quiet enough for even his ears to miss it.

Sobbing.

He quickly bounced over to his side and made a mighty hop into her lap, then another up onto the table, turning to face her. She hadn't even noticed his presence, hindlegs crossed over each other, with a forehoof over her mouth as pinprick eyes stared at the letter. Her mane had become a frazzled mess, make-up running down her cheeks in thin, black streaks, growing longer with every fresh wash of tears that spilled down from her eyes. Angel's ears splayed back, matching Fluttershy's own as he looked on in horror, before slowly looking over to the letter in her hoof. He slowly walked over to a spot just in front of her, not obscuring his sight, then took a look over the letter.

The first part, expertly written in perfect cursive, listed off numbers. A whole lot of words.

Nothing Angel really understood, as he furrowed his brow and looked back at Fluttershy, raising his eyebrow in a silent question. After failing to get her attention, he hopped back into her lap, and hugged onto her belly, feeling a gentle, quivering hoof return the hug.

For Angel, the meaning of the letter had been lost entirely, and all he knew was that something had his owner distressed. Hugs always fixed situations from what he could understand. It would help here.

For Fluttershy, though, her eyes kept scanning over the confession over and over and over. The exact same motions they'd been making ever since her first reading of the letter an hour ago.

And after a fresh reading, and a revived, rotting comprehension of the contents, she fixed on the P.S at the bottom of the letter.

P.S: Fluttershy. I-

A few lines had been scribbled out behind thick strokes of a pen, a tear in the paper seen as well.

What can I even say to someone like you? Start from the beginning, jump to what all this means, just talk off the top of my head? I don't know. I guess I should just start from the top.

Fluttershy, you know that you mean the world to me. Ever since we were kids, we worked together in Flight School to see each other through to the end. We did everything we could to help each other through the tests, the studying, all the hard questions you helped me with, and all the physical tests that I helped condition you for. We bonded, like sisters, and you always had my back, even if it was just in the privacy of our dorms.

The paper crinkled as Fluttershy's grip tightened, though the words could still be made out.

I know you weren't the most social of ponies, and that there were times when I wish you were there. When I was first starting to look at boys, or dealing with all the peer pressure after becoming one of the best athletes in our gym class, you always stayed in the background, quiet and out of the way, even when I got swarmed by ponies all asking me to do stuff.

I kept saying yes, over and over, and kept going off to do stuff. When things went wrong, I'd come back and vent, start shouting about stuff, and you were always quiet. I'd scream at you, say I hated life sometimes, or how some jerk blew me off, or a cute guy dumped me for some other girl, and I'd take all that anger out on you. You were an incredible friend, amazing in every way... patient, kind, caring, and you always knew how to make someone feel better, even if it was just with a quiet hug.

But, I know that you didn't always believe me. That what I said was overblown, that guys couldn't be that bad. And, with this, I wish I was blowing things out of the water. I wish it was just me saying I broke a speed record, or showed a bunch of ponies up, or made Spitfire drop her jaw at my awesomeness.

"Rainbow..." The word took the last of the air of Fluttershy's lungs, and she gasped, struggling to stay steady.

I wish it was something that'd put a smile on your face, make you laugh at how crazy it all was, make you want to give me a little smile and a wink while you said you totally believed me.

But, now, I need you to believe me. Because everything you read before I started writing this, it's all true.

I'm a monster, Fluttershy. And there's no way to make up for that, push it aside, or even say sorry. I can't justify any of this. I was being drugged, I was pressured into it, the management at the Rainbow Factory told me over and over that I had to do it. But I never said no, and I never did anything against them.

They said it was for my city, so pegasi could hold up their pride, and mean something to the country. Unicorns had their magic and moving the sun and moon and stuff. Earth ponies made things grow, provided food and water for the country.

What'd pegasi have? Weather control? Unicorns could just give themselves cloud-walking and move clouds themselves. It didn't matter if we were here, it didn't matter if we had that magic ourselves naturally, because they'd just replace us.

That's what Red Line told me. That's what everybody there told me. That pegasi that couldn't pass the final exam weren't good enough to represent Cloudsdale.

They said that about every kid that came to the second floor. They said that about all those terrified foals.

And... they said that about you.

Like every previous pass over the line prior, Fluttershy flinched, sniffling. Just beside the line, a few wet spots could be seen.

After I did my Sonic Rainboom, and found out that you'd fallen from Cloudsdale and didn't come back. I

The word 'god' could barely be seen through the scribbles and scratches, the writing deteriorating slowly into barely legible printing as the note went on.

I thought you were dead. I thought you fell from Cloudsdale and hit the ground, and nobody cared.

I missed a week of school because of that. I wouldn't even leave my room, even if our gym teacher came shouting for me. I didn't go.

Losing you hurt too much to carry on. And, if I didn't get that offer from the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation about them wanting to hire me. If they didn't hire me then.

Fluttershy stopped reading, shutting her eyes. She knew the rest to come, but like every time before, she stopped again. It took her a minute to build up her courage, will, endurance. No word that passed through her mind fit what she had to build. All she could do was prepare, and open her eyes before continuing.

I'd probably be dead. I would've been carted off with all those other kids, failed my test because I screwed up or got distracted, and I would've been turned into a rainbow, too.

The mere mention made Fluttershy's stomach flip, a dry heave escaping her.

Fluttershy, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you all of this. I told Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity and Spike, and I just

The rest of the words on the line were obscured by a set of scribbles and scratches, part of the page torn right out by a pen. Distinct rips could be seen in the middle of wet spots, where the pin did more notable damage.

I couldn't do it, not to you. Not to the pegasus who helped me through so much. Not to someone I swore never to hurt. But, here I am, sending you this confession, this massive note, everything.

I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll keep saying it all the way up to when I die, and even past that.

I'm sorry that I did all this. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this face to face. And I'm sorry I'll never see you again.

I'm probably already in Canterlot, confessing to Captain Shining Armor about my crimes, getting locked up and giving him all the evidence he needs to take down the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation. I don't want you to remember me like all those times I came home early. I just want you to remember me as that confident little filly at school.

Please, Fluttershy.

Fluttershy's eyes kept turning downward, expecting some more words to magically appear past the bottom of the page. But all she saw was Angel clutching onto her belly, held softly against her coat by her own hoof. She couldn't manage the words, eyes slowly turning back up to the paper, before she sniffed one last time and threw it across the table, right off onto the other chair before lifting Angel up and trapping him in a tight hug.

And she wailed. She screamed to anyone who would listen.

The two pigs outside looked up from their trough, their snack interrupted by a curious screaming. After a few moments of thinking, they looked to each other, then went back to their eating.

Sweet Apple Acres, host to a single orange mare standing outside on her porch, holding an open letter in her hoof. One that she'd opened about an hour ago.

A breeze brushed past her, shifting her mane and tail off to the side, the golden waves unhindered by her usual red ribbons. Today, she only had her Stetson on, rim tipped down to shade her face from the sun as she read over the letter for the fifth time that day. Next to her, rocking lightly on a chair, was Granny Smith, gazing at her with her hooves steepled in her lap.

"...Gran." Applejack spoke the word softly, folding the letter up against her chest before sticking it up under her hat.

Granny Smith simply nodded softly, looking back over the field in front of her. "You can. I'll have Big Mac cover some of your part of the orchard. It ain't crunch time yet, so you take all the time you need."

AJ nodded softly at her grandma before walking down the steps off the porch, turning, and heading off to the Eastern portion of the orchard. Apple Bloom stuck her head out of the bedroom on the second floor, shouting out to her sister and waving, but AJ didn't even pick up the sound. Bloom simply frowned before turning her head, raising her brow as she heard Big Mac shouting for her. The mare popped back into her room and out of sight.

The walk was silent, except for the gentle winds that flowed past AJ. Her hair and tail flew freely on the wind, but the letter was held securely by her hat as her eyes focused on the path ahead. A familiar dirt road leading towards a hill in the distance, green surface unmarred by trees, except for the tall apple tree at its peak. A smile dared to make its way onto her face at the sight of it, a ghostly laugh fading in and out of her mind, though it was snuffed out in only a moment as her frown remained resolute.

A few minutes rolled by as her hoofsteps disturbed the earth under her, barely visible hoofprints along the central part of the path being stomped back into clear marks, though they did not form a straight line. Even so, AJ kept her eyes fixed on the hill in the distance, letting her mind wander.

Rainbow Dash resting up in the tree, half obscured by the rim of AJ's hat before she had the mind to tip it up and give her a proper scolding for, once again, sleeping in a tree and blocking a branch trying to grow new apples. Rainbow, again, waved it all off, calling AJ a worrywart.

The word echoed in her head as the image faded away with her tipping her hat back down, turning around, and getting ready to buck the tree with her hind legs.

Another image, the sound of whistling wind filling her ears as she raced through the roads of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash laughing as she kept pace easily in flight, both of them swerving and weaving through the crowd's during the town's lunch hour. Laughter, happiness.

Until AJ caught the rim of the fountain, and the image faded away as her face made contact with the water inside.

And as she climbed up the hill, her eyes turned to the sky. Streaking through the air was a ghostly image of Rainbow Dash, grinning as she always did, with Applejack riding on her back. The earth pony squealed in terror as Rainbow Dash spiralled and flipped through the air, laughing like the madmare she was.

Guess 'madmare's literal now, huh.

The image faded away as AJ reached the top of the hill, and placed her hoof against the bark of the tree. And another hoof came into view, placed right next to it as she looked to the side, seeing Dash's grinning face there. Again, a smile dared to appear on her face, but it just couldn't win the war against her frown.

She turned and sat down against the tree, slowly retrieving the letter from under her hat, and she opened it. She skipped the confession, and just went down to the P.S at the bottom.

P.S: Applejack.

There's not really a lot I can say to you. Honestly, you'll take this the best out of all the girls I think. You've always been a mare who could handle her feelings.

Better than I ever could, anyways. I guess you were an inspiration in that case. Definitely not because of your strength, or speed, or anything like that! Bec

The word promptly ended in a bunch of scribbles, starting again below the line.

Well, it's not like you can fly! I had to

Another scribbled out line.

The words after were all scribbled out as well. AJ just turned her half-lidded eyes down further, seeing six more lines, every single one scratched out in a more furious manner. The last scribbling couldn't obscure the massive curse word at the very end, before the letter began again.

No. This is a confession, after all.

Applejack. Out of everyone I've ever met, you've been the single strongest, most dependable mare I've ever come across. When I went to Fluttershy before for emotional support, I came to you for physical stuff. Making myself stronger, tougher, always looking for ways to improve my wings, or legs, or form.

I know you saw me as a rival, probably even more than as a friend. We've butted heads more times than I can count. We've insulted each other, gotten in fights, competed over and over again.

And there was one thing I could never admit to myself. Never admit to anyone around me, because it'd just tear me down. No, that's not the word for it. Embarrassment? Shame? I don't know.

But I'll say it here.

AJ blinked softly, moving the letter up a little higher as she looked down to the next line. No emotion betrayed her face, a neutral frown present as she sniffed lightly, her breathing seeing no other interruptions.

You were better than me.

And AJ paused. Another blink passed, some kind of light appearing within the dark stillness of her mind. She carried on after a few seconds of staring at the line.

You've always been better. At running, at fighting, at jokes, at style, at cooking, at everything.

And I couldn't say any of that to you. My pride wouldn't let me.

And now I won't have the chance to say any of it to you. I can't admit anything. I can't proclaim anything, or even feel anything for being stuck at silver under you. I don't even know what to feel.

I know that I'd try and cover it up with jokes, or boasts about my flying, but all that would fall through just because you don't have wings. You don't need wings.

Twilight doesn't need them. Rarity doesn't need them, Pinkie doesn't, I bet even Fluttershy'd be great without them.

A pony isn't her wings, or her horn, or even her amazing skill with farming.

A pony is just her skills. And every single one I can think of, I'm behind you.

I can't make plans, I break down when I'm stressed out, and I definitely can't stick to a task and skip sleep for days because of it.

So everything I couldn't admit before, I'm saying now, because

The line abruptly ended. AJ looked on after it, seeing no scribbles, and below it, blinking. There was a few illegible lines scribbled at random amidst wet spots, whatever it was that hit the letter having blurred the ink.

I hate myself. could be made out amongst the droplets. AJ simply carried on after staring at that line for a couple more seconds.

Applejack. I can feel it now. You hate me. You hate me with every single fibre of your body, because I did the one thing that you hate above all else. I lied. I lied constantly. Every single time I came home, and you asked me about work, I told you it all went well and that I just needed to rest.

Every time you and the girls were worried about me, I'd shrug it off like nothing was wrong.

Everything was. And I lied to your face. Looking back, I can't believe I even got away with it all.

Hate me. Hate me like all those foals I killed hate me. I deserve it. I deserve every single burning, hateful knife stuck into me. And I hate myself even more for not having the courage to say this to your face. Do you know why?

You wouldn't spit in my face. You wouldn't curse my name. You wouldn't even kick me.

All you'd do is stare at me. You'd stare at me with those eyes that have always burned with the determination I wanted to beat.

And all they'd say is that I lost. I lost my one chance in life to finally stand next to you as an equal. I didn't even want to beat you. All I wanted, all I needed, was to say that I was just as good as you.

More wet spots stained the page as AJ reached the end of the page.

I'm probably already in Canterlot, helping Captain Shining Armor in his investigation of the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation with my confession. And all I can hope for, is that you can look towards the city, and think one thing for me. Just one little thing.

Think that I'm doing the right thing, and that I grew just a bit in your eyes.

The letter ended. AJ blinked softly before folding up the letter again, and she set it on the ground, slipping it under her hip so it would stay still. Her eyes were fixed on the grass under her, the sound of the wind no longer reaching her ears.

She'd since fallen into another memory, one of Pinkie's birthday party at the barn. A surprise party, one that Rainbow designed. Nobody could tell Pinkie about it, and AJ and her friends had to avoid the poor mare and lead her on a chase while they got everything ready. Lying to her face, but in the end, it lead to one of the greatest days of their lives. Another golden memory for the scrap book.

Her eyes turned towards Canterlot, her head lagging behind before it turned as well. And she looked on at the ivory city on the mountain, an image of Rainbow Dash appearing in front of her. She weakly reached out with a hoof, only to see her friend turn, shame in her eyes, before walking away to the city. And in silence, she faded away, AJ's hoof falling back to the grass.

Her body was numb. Her eyes were dry. Her mouth was frozen in her frown.

Tranquil, as she stared on at the city.

And she stared for a good ten minutes, blinking only so often to keep her eyes moist, before she turned back to the letter held under her hip. She picked it back up, and gently placed it between her teeth, clamping down softly. She removed her hat and checked inside it, pulling out a matchbook.

With a smooth motion, she drew one of the matches, lit it on the scratch pad of the matchbook, and lit one corner of the letter. She removed it from her mouth and held it out, watching the fire spread across the letter.

With another blink, the letter once filled with Rainbow's words was cast to the wind as ashes, a burn left behind in AJ's coat. One she couldn't feel, as she settled her hoof back in her lap, and she turned her eyes to the sky.

"Rainbow..."

The word was released softly, carried by the breeze in the direction of the city. She closed her eyes, and her cheeks registered the first new feeling since she'd read the letter that morning.

Moisture.

"You've grown." She opened her eyes again. "Into what, I dunno. But you did. I can't lie."

She looked back towards Canterlot, brushing some of her hair away from her eyes as she stared at the city. "Now you have to stop lying... and tell the Captain the truth. The whole truth. And help him bring those monsters down."

"Y' can't be forgiven. But I can't say you aren't still my friend." She smiled gently and closed her eyes, raising a hoof towards the city.

"Give 'em hell, sugarcube."

"Still weird how I can't open this letter..." Apple Bloom pouted as she looked over at her big brother, the lavender envelope sitting in front of her. She was sat at the family dinner table, the living room seen through an open door frame in front of her. On her hip rested a familiar mark to her family, an apple sitting behind two crossed hammers. A combined talent in farming and carpentry.

"It's what Miss Dash said, lil' sis." Big Mac looked over to her, giving her a pat on the head with a hoof, looking stoic as ever. "Y' said she looked pretty grim when she handed those letters to ya."

"Yeah. Gotta open this with Sweetie Belle. I'm gonna head out to the treehouse and wait for her." Bloom reached back to her bow and untied it, frowning with her tongue stuck out as she fiddled with it. After some work, she managed to untie it, and used it to tie the letter to her leg, letting her short red mane fall down over her shoulders. "Aright, that should work."

"Y'all come home for lunch, alright?" Mac gave her a light punch on the shoulder, smiling as she rubbed her shoulder lightly and giggled. "And if anything comes up..."

"Yeah. I'll come home and talk to ya about it. Don't worry! I'm sure it's nothin'. Probably just a note about Scootaloo." Apple Bloom smiled and shrugged, creasing her brow lightly. "Scootaloo passed, but not with the super high grade she wanted, I bet. She and Rainbow probably sulked a ton and didn't wanna tell us to our faces, so they just wrote a letter to get it all out of the way!"

Mac chuckled lightly, grinning as he moved around the table and off towards the living room. Bloom kept up the grin until Mac had left the room, and she let it fall as she looked down at the letter.

Still, it don't explain why she was wearing that cloak. Or why Princess Luna was with her... or that other guy.

She sighed and shrugged, hopping off the chair and trotting on towards the living room. Well, guess I'll find out once I'm there! Crusaders Treehouse, here I come! Heh, Scoots' probably waitin' for us there already! She giggled as she passed the gateway between the dining and living room, wearing a cheery smile as she headed on past Big Mac.

And as she left the homestead, she picked up a few words being exchanged between Big Mac and Granny Smith just before they were out of earshot. Something that made her eyebrow rise as she looked back towards the house. Wait, AJ's got the day off?

She blinked at that, furrowing her brow in thought as she turned back to the path in front of her. Well, she has been workin' pretty hard over the last few days. Guess she earned it, but I'm gonna make sure she plays with me after work! She grinned and giggled, picking up into a gallop towards the dirt path leading towards the treehouse. "I ain't missing my chance today, big sis!"

And as she raced along, the letter was protected by the dirt kicked up by her hooves. Her little heart beat with determination, and a playful light danced in her eyes as she raced between the apple trees, a smile crossing her face as she thought of all the silly things the letter would have to offer her.

Don't worry, Scoots, I'll be sure t' give you lots of hugs once I see you!

The treehouse came into view after several minutes of galloping, Apple Bloom slowing down to a walk as she grew close. She panted as she looked around, smiling brightly, and she called out once she'd caught her breath. "Yo, Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle! Y'all here?"

"Up here, Apple Bloom!"

Apple Bloom looked up towards the window of the treehouse, seeing Sweetie Belle poking her head out of it and waving down at her. "Hey! Scoots up there with ya?"

"Doesn't look like it, but I just got here! C'mon up!" Belle slipped back into the treehouse after that, closing the window behind her.

Apple Bloom took pause at that, however, looking towards the ramp leading up to the door. "She's not here yet? Weird... she always beat us here whenever we were supposed t' meet up." She let out a little hum before heading on up the ramp, feeling a little more suspicious of the letter. The suspicion was soon cast away as she smiled again, having lasted up to halfway across the first ramp. Ahhh, what am I worrying about? Nothin'! Nothin' at all!

Still, the suspicion was only thrown to the back of her mind, starting to creep and fester.

Apple Bloom trotted up to the top of the ramp, squinting her eyes as the sunlight shot in through the canopy of leaves over her head in thick, yellow beams. One hit her right in the eye, forcing her to close it as she turned to the door and took hold of the knob, pulled down and opened it up. Her head poked in as she looked around, lowered so she didn't hit her head on the shrinking door frame thanks to her height, expecting an orange mare to be hiding somewhere inside, and she walked in with a confident smile. "Alright, Scootaloo, you can come out n' surprise me now!"

"Uh... Bloom? She's not here yet." Belle just blinked at her friend, sat down at one of the three cushions arranged around the table in the center of the room. On her hip rested a lovely Cutie Mark, a heart behind a songbird, singing a few happy notes. Her typically curly and uncontrollable mane had thankfully been pulled back into a short ponytail today. Apple Bloom looked over at her, then around the room proper, ears splaying back as she confirmed the strange lack of orange mare.

"Oh. Uh... my bad." She quickly shook it off and smiled, turning around and pulling the door closed before trotting over to the table. "I'm sure she'll be here soon!"

"Yeah! She's probably off hanging out with Rainbow Dash. The exam was supposed to be over a few days ago, so they're celebrating, I bet." Belle smiled brightly, and the two friends bumped hooves before Bloom sat down on her cushion. Belle took notice of the letter tied to Bloom's leg, looking down at it as the filly lowered her foreleg. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, this? Hehe..." Bloom grinned as she raised the letter, untying her hoof with her mouth and free hoof. After a bit of fiddling, the letter was deposited on the table, Bloom tying her hair back up with the bow as she continued. "Just a lil' confession note!"

"A confession? About what?" Belle tilted her head to the side in confusion before looking over to the letter, pulling it over to her to read the front.

"From Rainbow Dash! It's her and Scootaloo confessing that even those the exam was a cinch, Scoots didn't get the grade she wanted. They were so ashamed, they just couldn't say it straight to us!" Bloom grinned and shrugged, Belle giggling a bit at that as she looked over the front of the envelope.

From: RD

To: Crusaders

"Huh, it's to the both of us! Yeah, this is a confession note." Belle giggled, smiling as she flipped it over and ripped it open. "Alright, Scootaloo, let's see what grade you got!"

Bloom scooted on over to Belle's side, settling into her cushion after pulling it over to herself. Sweetie even put her magic to use, pulling the letter out of the envelope gently, a not-so-gentle grin playing on her face as she did so. She got a pat on the back from Bloom in congratulations, both of them smiling to each other as the note was unfolded.

And then they each read the first paragraph.

Their grins faded away. Slowly, though as they both looked through it, confusion started to take the grins' places.

Another read through.

Then another.

One more, and confusion started giving way to grief.

"Wait... what the heck is this?" Bloom blinked, leaning in towards the letter. "Why's Rainbow confessing? And... s-she, she did what?"

Belle went over the letter vocally, speaking softly as her eyes scanned along. "I, Rainbow... confess to crimes... Cloudsdale Weather... Rainbow Factory?"

Bloom shook her head as Belle looked over to her, shrugging with a look of distress on her face. "Never heard of it..."

The two quickly turned back to the letter, Belle continuing. "By order of supervisors... k... k-killed no less than... th-three hundred twenty eight foals? And, assisted in killing a hundred more?" Belle covered her mouth with a hoof, eyes widening in horror as her ears splayed back. "B-By the stars..."

Bloom carried on afterward. "Cover up operations, rank in social circles, help them t' cover up the deaths better... confess to every crime... accept my given punishment in court..."

Bloom just stared at the letter, even as Belle dropped it back onto the table, no longer able to focus on her magic. She reached over with a hoof and pulled the unicorn mare into a soft hug, staring on at the letter as Belle shivered.

"H-Holy Celestia... it's... s-she... i-it can't be true... s-she's lying!"

Bloom just stared on at the letter as Belle drove her muzzle into the mare's neck, starting to break down. She quietly carried on with the letter, and sadly, the very first complete line hit her like one of AJ's famous kicks.

P.S: Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

I'm sorry, but I need to say something outright. There's no sugar coating this. There's no hiding it either. I can never say sorry enough, and even then, my apologies would be worth nothing in the first place. All the same.

Scootaloo isn't coming home.

She failed her exam, and for it, she paid the price. The one thing no filly should have to give up for their city, their race, or even their country.

And I was the one who forced her to pay up.

"Rainbow..." Bloom blinked, and unknown to her, a grimace started to spread on her face as a fire built in her heart. Belle couldn't bring herself to read further, still reeling from the shock of what was already said.

Bloom, Belle, there's never anything I can say. Nothing I could say to my friends, and especially, nothing I could say to you two. Because you're both the ones who'll be hurt the most by this.

Scootaloo's dead... I killed her. I killed her, and hundreds of others. I can't deny it, and I can't hide behind any excuses.

This is a horrible way for you to learn about how the world works... and believe me when I say that, what I've been doing, it's a rare case. I was well-connected, and management assured me that there wasn't any other Rainbow Factories being run in Equestria. They'd never be able to get away with it, since Cloudsdale's the only pegasus-only city in the country.

And after I confess to Shining Armor and the Royal Guard, I'm gonna make sure they're shut down for good.

"T-Too tight..."

Bloom stopped at that line as Belle squeaked in her ear, snapping the girl out of her trance as she looked over to Belle. She quickly let go and stepped away from Belle, letting her take a breath. "S-Sorry, Sweetie!"

"I-It's okay..." Belle gulped, holding up a hoof to Apple Bloom. It took her a few moments to put the question together in her head, and she lowered her hoof, along with her voice before speaking. "But... S-Scootaloo... s-she's okay, right?" She blinked, tears starting to build in her eyes as she put on a shaky smile. "R-Right? S-She'll come through that door..." Her shivering hoof pointed towards the treehouse's front door. "A-And wave, and... a-and ask if w-we missed her..."

All Apple Bloom could do was frown and soften her stare at Belle, turning to follow her hoof. She looked at the door for a long while before turning back to the letter, then to Belle. She quietly nodded to the letter before moving over to the cushion, and as she sat down, she pulled her friend into another hug.

The fire still blazed in her heart, but it was easier to manage. Rainbow can wait... gotta help Sweetie through this first.

And together, they went through the start of the note. And as they reached the confirmation of Scootaloo's death, Apple Bloom closed her eyes and held Belle close as the mare's jaw dropped. Tears spilled from her eyes as her hooves rose up to her head, grasping just behind her ears as she stared at the words. "S-She can't... s-she's not...! S-Scootaloo's not dead...!"

"She's not! She's not! She can't be!!"

Apple Bloom furrowed her brow as Belle screamed and tackled her in a hug, burrowing her muzzle into the earth pony mare's neck as she tightly closed her eyes. Bloom simply took the crushing hug with a numb look on her face, softly rubbing Belle on the back.

"Scootaloo! No! No! You aren't dead! You can't be dead!" Belle just kept on wailing into Bloom's neck, sobbing as her heart fell to pieces inside her. "We j-just found our Cutie Marks! Why!? Why'd you die!? Why'd she kill you!? Why? Why!? Why!?"

The questions just kept rolling out of her mouth, hindhooves digging into the cushion as she shoved against Bloom over and over. Light shoves, as she couldn't get a whole lot of leverage.

But one in particular took her surprise as Belle roared, shoving Bloom right back and off her cushion. "Why aren't you saying anything!?" Bloom winced at the shriek as Belle fixed her with a glare of pure despair. But it wasn't the only thing in her eyes as her horn started to spark, tears spilling down onto the floor.

Flames of rage burned within her eyes, starting to appear as pools of white light swirling around her pinprick pupil. "Say something! Anything!"

Bloom found herself at a loss for words, stepping back a bit as she looked on at her friend. "B-Belle..."

"Scootaloo's dead, and she was killed by her idol! Why aren't you saying anything about that!?" Belle's voice had full on shattered, constant high-pitched squeals accompanying her screaming. "Don't you care!?"

"Of course I do! Scootaloo was my friend! Is my friend! I just..." Bloom paused again, looking over the floor for the words.

"Just what? What!? Or do you want me to put the words in your mouth!?" Sweetie stomped the ground, shutting her eyes tightly as she sobbed, sniffling as her magic started to kick into gear. Random objects around the room started hovering into the air, attracted to spot above her head. "Aren't you angry!? Sad!? Anything!?"

Bloom just looked up as the objects started to swirl around the spot above Belle, as if they were paper boats starting to swirl around a whirlpool. She quickly looked down at Belle, mouth opening as she tried to find the words. Anywhere on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, her eyes sought the answers desperately as the magic tug grew more intense.

"Apple Bloom!!" Belle's eyes snapped open as she screamed, shining white as she lost herself, even the table and cushions being dragged up by her magic as everything started to swirl around her, compressing in towards the single space above her.

"I can't think of anything!" Bloom screamed back, shutting her eyes. "I can't think of a single damn thing! I've never been good with words, and all this just makes me so damn angry that I can't think straight!" She shivered in place as Belle grit her teeth, staring on in pure agony at her friend. "But that's not gonna solve anything! Throwin' a tantrum is just gonna cause more problems! Scootaloo's... S-Scootaloo's dead, I know that! I, I still think she's gonna walk right in and disprove everything, but..." Bloom gulped, before her eyes suddenly snapped open, the lightbulb of an idea shining in her head. She quickly turned to the door, then looked back to Belle, putting on a smile. "M-Maybe she's out in town!? Maybe this is all a really bad joke!"

And that made Belle take pause, the rage in her expression slowly fading away as she blinked at Bloom. The objects above her slowed down, approaching a stop. "...W-Why would they m-make that kind of joke?"

"I..." Bloom's smile shivered, turning into a crooked expression of happiness as she looked back towards the door. "I-I can ask 'em later, let's just go look for her! It's not like we'll get anything done here, throwin' a fit, right?" She looked back to Belle, some droplet of hope trying to shine through the stress and fear in her eyes. "Right? She's out there, just... j-just distracted by something! We'll go find her, give her a good scoldin', then do the same with Rainbow! Then everything'll be back to normal!"

"W-Well..." Belle looked down at the floor, the light beginning to fade from her eyes as things started to fall all around her. The cushions, the table - thankfully missing her by a mile as it clattered to the floor -, crayons, paper, drawings.

Even one of their capes. This one bore the emblem of a running foal, wings spread wide and high. They both looked down at it, walking towards it subconsciously. Bloom reached out with her hoof, picking it up off the floor, before she quickly tossed it over her shoulder and got to work on tying it up. "C'mon, Belle, we've got a lost mare t' find!"

"Right!" Belle quickly nodded, though she took a hazardous glance to the letter. "But, what about—"

"Fuck the letter!!" Bloom suddenly burst out, Belle recoiling at the shriek, backing away a few steps as she looked at Bloom. After realizing what she said, she quickly shook her head and held up her hooves in a peaceful gesture. "S-Sorry, I mean... look, the letter might be fake. Maybe the Rainbow Dash who gave it to me was fake, too! H-Hey, maybe this is a whole mystery!?"

"A m-mystery?" Belle blinked, rubbing the tears from her eyes with her foreleg. "W-Whadya mean?"

Bloom grinned as she stood up on her hind legs and planted her forehooves on her hips, letting her cape drift on an odd breeze moving through the room. "Someone's tryin' to frame Rainbow for a crime! A whole load of crimes! And we're gonna hunt 'em down and bring them to justice!"

"...C-Cutie Mark Crusaders... Private Eyes?" Belle said, a smile starting to cross her face. It only grew wider as Bloom gave her a confident grin, coming back down on all four hooves.

"Yeah! C'mon, smile n' say it with me!" Bloom reached out with her hoof, determination burning in her eyes. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Private Eyes!"

Belle sniffed hard and nodded, thrusting her hoof into Bloom's in a high hoof. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Private Eyes!"

"Let's roll out, Dr. Belle!" Bloom grinned as she trotted away to the door, Belle nodding before she realized the role she was just handed, and she quickly took off after Bloom.

"H-Hey, I should be the detective!"

"I got the sharper eyes, though!" Bloom laughed as she threw open the door and ran outside down the ramp, shouting back towards it as Belle left the treehouse and shut the door behind her. "Maybe if y' catch me, I'll consider switchin' us up?"

"You're on!" Belle grinned as she took off after Bloom, and the air once more filled with the laughter of fillies.

As one lonely orange mare watched on, sitting on top of the treehouse. She looked down at her hoof, noting the new blue bracelet around it, and thought back to earlier that morning when she'd received it. Words of a promise made by the God of Death as he handed her the bracelet, the slight sting of it latching onto her wrist after she slipped it on.

I can visit them one last time... just tap the crystal on the bracelet, and I'll become visible to anyone near me. Scootaloo closed her eyes and sighed gently, sniffling as she set her hoof back down on the roof. She lifted her head and spread her wings, gazing out towards the mares running off towards the town. "One last time... don't worry, girls, I'll make it count."

And with a flap of her wings, she vanished from sight, racing off after her best friends.

A Reaper's Travels

by KillerSteel

Prologue: Ramblings Of An Old Man

Chapter 1: A Nova Without A Sound

Chapter 2: A Factory of Nightmares

Chapter 3: A Thousand Skeletons in her Closet

Chapter 4: From The Ashes

Chapter 5: Pink And Lavender

Chapter 6: Honesty Is A Sin

Chapter 7: Words That Hurt