//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2; Reactions 
// Story: Shattered 
// by BronyNeumo 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2

Applejack seemed in a daze as she stumbled down the stairs. Her mind swam and, as much as she tried to fight it, kept returning to that image. The image of Rainbow Dash standing before her, distraught, in pain, bleeding… it was too much. Applejack shook her head, flinging it from side to side in a desperate bid to clear her vision of what she had seen, but to no avail. It seemed burned in. Her thoughts kept returning to it. It stung her as it swirled through her subconscious. Again and again, the sight of a stream of the deepest crimson, set against cyan fur, flashed across her mind's eye. Applejack let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding in; it came as a ratcheting gasp.

Her hooves struggled to find their place on each step, as if her she was no longer controlling them. Her mind seemed absent as it desperately tried to stave off the grim reality that she knew could be the only explanation for what had happened, and the numbing pain that came with that realization. She made it down the last few steps with her eyes closed, purely on instinct.

"Applejack… Applejack… Applejack…" Twilight's words echoed in her ears. Applejack could hear the concern in her voice. She opened her eyes. The room swam before her, the blurry figures of her friends drifting in and out of focus as she blinked, trying to re-establish her senses. She felt distant, as if her friends were standing far away. Twilight's voice sounded muffled. Applejack's mind, as her vision, was a blur, with too many thoughts competing at once for attention. She didn't understand what was going on. Nothing was making any sense. "APPLEJACK!" Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie jumped back into focus and Applejack snapped back to attention. "Applejack. Is everything okay? What's wrong?"

Silently, Applejack's mouth fell open and closed again several times. She tried to form the words in her mind, but they would die in her throat. Nothing she could possibly say sounded right. How could she express what she had seen? What she knew? Her mouth felt dry. She tried to take a deep breath, but it would only come as a series of choking gasps. She coughed.

Twilight's brow twitched upwards in worry. "Applejack, are you…"

Applejack put up a hoof to silence her as she tried to clear her throat. She shook where she stood; her knees felt weak. Finally, she opened her mouth, calming her gasping breaths, and tried to speak. "Ah… Ah…" Her throat seized up, she couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it. But she had to. She coughed again. "Ah… Ah think… Ah think somepony… and Dash… took… Ah think somepony took… took… advantage… o' Dash." The words tasted vile. Applejack felt sick. She tried to breathe; her chest rising and falling shakily as she drew in one short, choppy breath after another.

She looked up as her shakiness subsided, casting her gaze between each of her friend's frozen faces as they stared back at her. Nopony moved. Applejack looked back and forth at them, silently pleading for someone else to say something as the few seconds of silence stretched into hours, and days. Still, the others just stared, shocked, confused, as if they didn't understand. Applejack's mind whirred frantically. Didn't they understand? Of course not. She hardly did either. "Ah… Ah said…"

"Applejack, darling…" Rarity's voice pierced the still air like the fine, sharpened point of a sewing needle. "Surely… surely you can't mean…"

Applejack could only nod. "Yeah, Rarity… Ah do mean."

"But… but surely there must be some reasonable explanation? This just… it just doesn't make sense!"

"Darn it, Rarity, Ah know what Ah saw!" Applejack shook her head from side to side, tears running down her cheeks. "Ah… Ah know what Ah saw."

"But… but maybe you jumped to the wrong conclusion?" Twilight Sparkle spoke up, still nearly frozen in shock. "Please? This can't… this just can't be."

Applejack's tears were now hitting the floor with wild abandon as they fell, completely unchecked. "Ah'm sorry, Twi. But Ah know what Ah saw. There ain't another explanation."

"But… but that… that… that doesn't make s-sense," Twilight stammered, trying to make sense of what her friend had said. "This… this just doesn't happen. Not in Equestria…. Not in Equestria."

Silence reigned among the five friends. The cloud house echoed with the howling of the wind outside and their own unrestrained, quiet sobbing. Rarity looked up from the floor, shaking her head. "We have to do something. We can't leave her up there all alone."

Twilight Sparkle looked over at her fellow unicorn. "What are we supposed to do? I don't… I don't know how to handle this."

"I'm just as in the dark as you are, darling, but doing nothing simply won't do. We need to talk to her, help her, something."

Applejack looked between her two unicorn friends and shook her head. "She locked the door. Ah heard it."

Rarity groaned, staring up the stairs for some time. "We have to do something. We can't just leave her alone up there."

"Ah don't think it's such a good idea, goin' up there. She might not want ta see us." Applejack frowned.

Rarity shook her head, her mane bouncing slowly back and forth. "We can't just leave her up there, alone. Who knows what she could be thinking? If something this horrible has really happened, she needs someone with her. The last thing she needs is to feel alone."

"Well, what are we supposed to do, then? We can't just break into her room." Twilight sighed. "This just doesn't make any sense? How can this happen to her; to us?"

"Ah don't know, Sugarcube. Ah just don't know."

"Applejack," Twilight looked up, "Are you sure you know… are you sure that…"

"Ah wish Ah could say Ah wasn't, Twi. Ah really do." The three fell silent.

"I'll go." A soft voice echoed through the quiet from across the room. Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack looked up in surprise. Fluttershy, visibly shaking where she walked, strode nervously across the room towards them. Nopony said anything. She stood as high as she could and tried to hold her head high despite how obviously shaken she was. The streaks of fresh tears stained her cheeks, but she did not back down. She rubbed at her cheeks with a hoof and blew an errant lock of her pink hair away from her face. "I'll go. She probably has the window open."

Applejack shook her head. "Ah don't know about that, Sugarcube. She might not want visitors. If Ah know Dash, she might not react well."

"I want to go."

Slowly, Rarity nodded. "Do be careful, darling. We don't know what state she might be in. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I think… I think so."

Rarity glanced towards Applejack and Twilight. Twilight nodded, Applejack just shrugged. Rarity leaned forward to hug Fluttershy, who returned the gesture warmly. Rarity whispered into her ear. "If anyone can treat this gently, it's you, dear. Good luck." Without another word, Fluttershy took off towards the door and flew out into the night. The other girls stared after her for a while, before once again turning back towards each other, all except for Pinkie Pie, who remained silent, lying by herself away from the others, her head down. Applejack glanced over at her and frowned. She noticed both Twilight and Rarity eyeing the unnaturally silent Pinkie Pie as well. "If anything," Applejack whispered, indicating their pink friend, "That's got me worried too."

Rarity just nodded. "I think we've all been fairly well blindsided by this."

Twilight sat down, resting her head in her hooves. "I don't even know what to think anymore." She shook her head as she held it. "How… how can something like this even happen?"

Applejack flopped down next to her unicorn friend. She suddenly felt very tired, as if she had been awake for years instead of mere hours. "Ah don't know, Twi. Ah just don't know."

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The room was dark save for the few waning shafts of soft, blue moonlight that fell across the low wall and floor from the open window. A cool breeze blew in through the open window. On many an occasion previous, this rush of chilled air would have provided Rainbow Dash with the illusion of flying, even while asleep, which was why she often found it comfortable to sleep with both the windows open and her blankets thrown to the floor.

Not this night, however. Rainbow Dash clutched the blankets closer to her face, her snout only barely poking above the fabric. Her eyes widened in fear. The darkness of her own bedroom seemed suffocating, as if it was crushing in upon her, closer... closer... closer.... And then, for one terrible moment, she felt him again, cornering her, coming closer... closer... closer... touching her... pressing into her...

A pool of nervous sweat was collecting under her body, yet she made no effort to remove the blankets and cool down. Instead, she only clutched them tighter, as if they would afford some sort of shield from the outside world. Every little sound, every whistling gust of wind, seemed magnified hundreds of times over to her. Her ears rang with the noise, and she jerked her head around, her eyes wide with fear, desperately searching for the source of the clamor. The rushing of the wind filled her mind, and she could feel it against her face. It felt hot and sickly, as if somepony was breathing on her. No… no… she tried to shut the image away, tried to block her mind to the horrible memory, but it seemed as if behind every gust, somepony blew a breath of hot air her way. And lurking behind every shadow, some stallion was watching, waiting, preparing to pounce. She shut her eyes, shaking her head back and forth. She didn't want to see them. She didn't want to see them leap from the darkness, jump onto her, envelop her, smother her. NO!

Cold sweat ran down her face, mixing with her tears. All around her, she could feel them. They were circling her, singling her out, preparing to strike. She tossed and turned in her bed, tangling herself in her blankets, desperate to keep moving, to keep them away from her. The throbbing pain in her lower body only spiked each time she jerked away, with every thump against the mattress her bruised body screamed in protest. She could feel the pain, like the beat of a drum, resounding against her, as if he was still there, still on top of her, and she could do nothing. It was already too late. She wanted to scream. She whimpered as she thrashed about.

"Rainbow Dash." She could hear him now. He had found her again.

She fought harder. "NO! NO! NO! GET AWAY!"

"Rainbow Dash?"

"No, please, no, leave me alone. Leave me alone!"

"Rainbow Dash? It's me… Fluttershy."

Rainbow Dash came to a sudden halt, tumbling over the side of the bed in a terrified screaming tangle of limbs, tail, and blankets. She lay on the floor, dazed, and panted, staring up at the ceiling with her vision drifting in and out of focus, unable to move. A pink and yellow blur materialized above her, a blur that soon swam into focus, taking the shape of Fluttershy's face. Rainbow Dash blinked several times, disbelieving her eyes, but no, there was no mistaking it. She had known Fluttershy far too long for it to be anypony but her. She squinted up at her, unable even to think for a moment. She tried to speak, but choked on her words, "Fl… Fl… Fluttershy?" She coughed, gasping for breath.

Fluttershy had to fight back tears at the sight of the shaken, distraught pegasus. "Rainbow Dash… please… please tell us what's wrong. We… we want to help."

"No… no…" Rainbow Dash shook her head vehemently, scrambling backwards even as she struggled to move.

Fluttershy stared after her, her face a mask of concern. "Please, Rainbow Dash? We can help."

"No. Nopony can help. Nopony can. No… no… just… leave me… leave me alone." She twisted and turned, finally breaking free of her blanket prison. Then she hopped backwards, receding even further into the shadows near her bed. She clutched against the bedpost for support, barely able to even keep herself on her hooves. Her knees shook. She tried to breathe, but it would only come in short, choking gasps.

Fluttershy panicked. She rushed forward towards her friend. "Please. Let us help you. It's not safe for you to…"

"NO! Leave me alone!"

Shocked, Fluttershy fell to the floor and stumbled backwards. "... to… be alone…" She stared at Rainbow Dash's tear-streaked, harried face. Rainbow Dash was visibly shaking now. Her fur was splayed in random patches and her mane, tail, and feathers were all ruffled to the point where it looked like she had gone through the spin cycle on a dryer. Her bloodshot eyes stared straight back at Fluttershy; pleading, burning, and swollen from tears. For a moment, Fluttershy was torn. She didn't know what to do.

"Leave… leave me alone. Nopony… nopony can help… not now." With that, she collapsed, burying her face into the mattress. Her whole body shook with racking sobs. Fluttershy started forward, bit her lip, turned, and rushed out the window, tears beginning to streak her face, too.

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The cold night air stung at Fluttershy's face as she descended back down to the first floor. She pushed her way through the doorway and settled once again onto the floor. From across the room, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity all looked up expectantly at her as soon as she entered. Silently, she shook her head, and her friends seemed to deflate. Rarity grimaced as Fluttershy approached. "How bad is it?"

Tentatively, Fluttershy whispered her response. "She's… she's in bad shape. I just… I just can't believe… I can't believe… somepony would... would…" Fluttershy shook her head, unable to continue. Rarity stood up and wrapped her fore legs around her best friend's neck, holding her gently. Fluttershy tucked her head into Rarity's neck, burying herself away in her mane.

Applejack shook her head. "What are we supposed ta do now?"

Twilight Sparkle stood up, "I don't know. What can we do, if she won't even let us near her?"

"Ah don't know." Applejack sighed, "Ah don't even understand. How can this happen?"

Twilight held a hoof beneath her chin, trying to think of something, anything. "Maybe… maybe I should send a letter to Princess Celestia. She'll know what to do."

Rarity nodded. "That's a good idea. This is so far beyond us, anyway."

"Well," Twilight walked towards the door, "there's not much we can do here, and I need to get my letter written."

Applejack stared after her, staying rooted in place. "You're not leavin', are ya Twi?"

"AJ, I need to see Spike, so I have to leave. Besides, what else can we do now?"

"Ah don't know. Ah just feel like… like we shouldn't be leavin' right now."

"I don't know what else to tell you." Twilight looked crestfallen. "I have to go send my letter. It's the only idea we have, and the cloud-walking spell will wear off by morning. I suggest you girls come with me."

Rarity looked up from where she had been studying the floor, still lightly patting a quivering Fluttershy on the back of her head. "Darling, with the state Rainbow Dash is in, it might not be safe to leave her alone."

Applejack stomped her hoof in frustration. "We ain't leavin' her alone."

Twilight Sparkle sighed, unsure what to say. "Applejack, I know. I know you don't want to leave. I don't want to either. But what choice do we have? A letter to Celestia is all we've got, and I can't do it from here."

Applejack looked ready to protest, but was broken off by a loud sniffle. She and Twilight turned back towards the center of the room, where Fluttershy had pulled herself out of Rarity's grasp. "I… I'll do it. I'll stay."

Rarity frowned, still holding her pegasus friend at hooves' length. "Darling, are you… are you…"

Fluttershy nodded vigorously. "Yes. I'm sure." She wiped some fresh tears from her face with a hoof. "I want to be here."

Applejack walked over to the pegasus and gave her a quick hug. "Please, Fluttershy. Take good care o' her. Make sure nothin' happens. She needs you… we all need you."

Twilight nodded sagely from over by the door. She tried to give her yellow friend a wan smile. "Thanks, Fluttershy," she whispered. Then she glanced over at Applejack and Rarity. They both stared back. "We should go." Rarity nodded.

Applejack cocked her head to the side, quickly glancing about the room. Her gaze finally fell upon the final member of their party. She grimaced, realizing for the first time that Pinkie Pie had said nothing nearly the whole time. "Come on, Pinkie. It's… it's time." For a moment, it seemed like the pink pony hadn't even heard her, but slowly, she picked herself up, off the floor, and turned around. Her mane fell around her face as she stood up, hanging straight down, as was her tail. Both Applejack and Twilight shuddered as they saw it. That had only happened once before, and it had meant bad news then, too.

Applejack walked over to her fellow earth pony, hanging a fore hoof over her shoulder to help her along. Pinkie Pie accepted the offer and leaned against her friend. They both slowly walked towards the door, where Twilight Sparkle and Rarity both stood, waiting. On their way out the door, Applejack couldn't help but notice a noise, so low and quiet it could have easily been mistaken for the wind, yet was unmistakable. In between Pinkie Pie's slow, shuddering breaths, Applejack heard her moan. "Dashie…"

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Caught up in an aura of purple magic, the quill finally settled against the hard, wooden surface of Twilight Sparkle's writing desk. The unicorn then turned her attention to the faded brown piece of parchment she had been poring over, lifting it to eye level. This was, without a doubt, the most difficult, and probably most important, letter she had yet written to her mentor. She swallowed a nervous lump as she studied her words once again. She had to make sure every word was perfect. After all, this was a matter of most dire importance, and certainly not one she could have trusted to dictate to Spike.

She glanced across the room to where the baby dragon was soundly sleeping in his basket. Twilight sighed. After everything that had happened that night, it seemed so strange that Spike could be sleeping peacefully, undisturbed. It just seemed so normal, when everything else seemed anything but normal. Slowly, she rolled up her parchment into a scroll and strode towards his basket. Gently, she reached out and shook him. Sure enough, the dragon blinked his eyes open and yawned loudly, shaking his head at the unexpected wake-up call. "Tw… Twilight? What's… what's goin' on?"

"Spike," Twilight whispered, "I'm so sorry to wake you up, but I need this letter sent to Princess Celestia."

Spike groaned. "Can't it wait until morning?" He rolled back over onto his other side and tried to ignore Twilight, hoping that she might just let him fall back asleep. Twilight just shook him again. He frowned at her. "I need my beauty sleep."

"I know Spike, and I'm sorry, but this is urgent."

"Really? What's happened?"

Twilight bit her bottom lip. "Nothing… nothing that concerns you." She finally sighed.

"Hmpf. Well, if it's not important enough to tell me, then I don't see why I should have to send it."

Exasperated, Twilight groaned. "Spike, I need you to just do this for me. Please don't ask questions. It's really, really important, but I can't tell you right now."

"Fine, I'll send it. But you gotta tell me in the morning."

Twilight just sighed. "Sure." Looking less grumpy, Spike sat up in his basket, grabbed the tightly-bound scroll in a clawed hand, and held it up to his mouth. With one fiery, green breath, the parchment had disappeared, soaring away into the night on a puff of smoke.

Spike crossed his arms. "There, happy?"

"Very." Twilight assured him. "Good night Spike."

Spike yawned, lying back down again. "Good night, Twilight." Within moments, he was snoring again, out like a light. Twilight shook her head. How he could do that, when there was so much wrong and upside-down in the world, just didn't make sense to her. Then again, nothing about today really made any sense to her. She trotted over to her bed, flopping down onto her blankets and laying her head against the pillows. She stared up at the ceiling, holding her front hooves to her head. She sighed. It was almost morning, and she knew there was no way she could possibly get to sleep now. It was strange, she thought, that she could feel so tired, yet be unable to sleep. Her eyelids sagged, threatening to close, yet it was no struggle to keep them open. She just kept staring straight up, fixating upon one spot on her ceiling.

From somewhere in the distance, she could hear her number one assistant, breathing slowly and rhythmically in the darkest hours of the early morning. The low whistling of the wind emanated from outside, and from far away the hoot of an owl sounded. She wondered briefly if it might be Owlowiscious, away on a nighttime hunt, but decided against it. There might be dozens of owls out at this time of night. It was weird, she thought, how the world just seemed to keep on moving like any other night, despite all that had happened. It almost seemed that, to her, lying alone in her peaceful bedroom with her assistant and friend sleeping nearby and the sounds of the night calling from outside, that nothing bad had really happened. Maybe Applejack had been wrong after all. After all, how could something like this even happen in Equestria?

Twilight shuddered at the thought. No, there was no doubt in her mind what had happened. Applejack wouldn't have told them what she did if she didn't believe it was true, and Fluttershy too had seemed so rattled after seeing Dash. As much as Twilight wanted to believe it wasn't true, she knew it had to be. She closed her eyes, and instantly, the image of Rainbow Dash, harried, pained, shocked, and broken, standing in her own doorway returned to her mind. Twilight shivered. No. There could be no doubt what had happened. She rolled over, opening her eyes, and stared out the window at the dark sky, interspaced with twinkling stars. Somewhere out there in the night, she knew Rainbow Dash, one of her best friends, was suffering through something Twilight herself could hardly fathom. And somewhere else, she knew rested the stallion responsible for all of this. And he was probably sleeping soundly.

Twilight bit back a tear as she continued to gaze past her window and out into the night sky. In the distance, the dim outlines of mountains, barely visible in the pale moonlight, could be seen. Somewhere, Twilight knew, over those very mountains, lay the city of Canterlot and her mentor and ruler, Princess Celestia. Although the princess was probably asleep, Twilight wondered if she had even gotten her letter yet.

As if to answer her question, Twilight's ears were hit with a sharp crack. From below her in the library's main floor, a flash of light briefly illuminated the interior of the tree home. In another instant, everything descended back into darkness. Twilight Sparkle immediately jumped up, looking around frantically. At the foot of her bed, Spike was somehow, miraculously, still sleeping. Twilight didn't have time to wonder at this however, as she dashed towards the staircase. Her hooves clicked against the stairs as she barreled her way downwards. Halfway to the bottom, she stopped dead in her tracks. From below her, a tall, regal, white alicorn, her glittering, tri-colored mane and tail billowing behind her and seeming to glow even in the feeble light, stared up at her pupil. "Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia spoke, her voice carrying all the inflection of both a teacher and an old friend at once, "We have much to discuss."