Rainbow Dash was ecstatic.
Sure, one could look at her night . . . day, whatever, and say that it had been pretty bad so far: She'd broken her leg . . . well, Twilight said it was a sprain, but what would that egghead know? She'd hurt her leg, nearly been made into mulch by a walking tree, almost got chowed on by a manticore and then had to race around and save everypony during a landslide. She'd nearly died like, three times tonight!
Today. Whatever.
The point was, to most ponies that would probably be a pretty bad day. But for Rainbow Dash? This had been the most awesome day of her life! She felt like THIS was what she had been training for, for her whole life! Techinically, she'd been training for the Wonderbolts, which would be the topper to this day, if they suddenly showed up and started making her offers and said she was gonna be their new captain and . . . Well, like that was gonna happen. But, as it was, this was still super cool. She'd gotten to show her stuff, kick some flank and be an actual hero!
All her life, Dash had been told she was the best. The best at everything, and so she worked, hard. Harder than most any other pony her age, because . . . because she had to earn that. She'd seen ponies who got praised for doing nothing and lapped it up, and it just went all over her. Not her. If she was going to win something, she was going to make sure it was fair, that she deserved it. And, all her life, she had felt . . . like there was something more, for her, out there somewhere. That she was meant for something more.
She had always thought that would be the Wonderbolts, ever since she first got to see them perform at the Equestria Games. Her Uncle, Prism, had taken her to see the games and, while she had been torn up that Cloudsdale wasn't the host, she remembered the show for the rest of her life. For a solid decade, that had been all she wanted, was to fly with the greatest aerial team in the world. To be a 'Bolt.
But now? After tonight, she felt like maybe . . . maybe THIS was what she'd always wanted. To be a hero, to be there for those who needed it. She'd always felt like that was a part of her, anyway. She'd always stuck up for ponies when they were being bullied, or picked on or singled out for being different. One of her best friends in Flight School had been a griffin. She hadn't seen Gilda in a couple of years, though. Not since she dropped out of school. There was nothing they were teaching there, that she didn't already know. And the things she didn't know, she didn't need to, or at least, that was her way of thinking.
But tonight had been different. She wasn't standing up to bullies, or being a friend to a misfit . . . she was protecting ponies, even that stuck up cunt, Rarity. For all that she had been a bitch to Rainbow, the pegasus hadn't harbored a second thought or any hesitation in jumping in to save her. It wasn't in her nature to let somepony get hurt if she could help, and that was all there was to it.
That was what a hero did.
And so, Dash felt top of the world, like she could handle anything put in front of her. Bring the manticore back! She'd crack its leg in return and then go hoof to branch with those stupid tree thingies! She could handle anything!
Such was her mood as they approached the edge of the deep canyon, the dark, sinister shape of the castle looming above them, on the other side.
An old stone bridge had once spanned the gap, the arcitechture no doubt impressive. Now, though, all that was left were the bases of the bridge on either side, some tall stone pillars and bits of crumbling masonry that looked as though it had broken away a long time ago.
There had been a rope bridge, at some later point, tied off to the old stone pillars, used to cross the gap, but it, too, had fallen. Rainbow Dash watched as Twilight stepped up to the edge, frowning over it. "The rest of the rope bridge is here! It's still connected on this side, but it's come loose on the other!" She said, looking out across the fifty foot gap that separated them from the old Castle, as a fog began to grow thicker around them, seeming to rise up from the creek at the bottom of the rift.
"I got it!" Dash said, grinning at another chance to show off and prove herself. "I'll have that bridge back up in a jiffy!" She said, beating her wings and shooting over the edge of the cliff. She swept down and turned her wings, angling herself in midair to come back up to a hover by the cliffside, seeing the end of the beat up old bridge hanging down into the foggy air. She grabbed one of the ropes in her teeth and beat her wings, rising back up to take a look at the ground, where the others stood. She saluted them with one hoof, before beating her wings and making for the other side.
The fog grew thicker still.
Applejack was nervous. Nothing much had happened since the landslide, over half an hour ago and it had her concerned. A glance over at Twilight showed that she, too, seemed worried and kept looking around at the darkness, and the growing fog, as thought afraid something would come out after them.
Nightmare Moon was still out there, and Applejack highly doubted she was the sort to give up so easily. As they watched Rainbow Dash take off towards the far side of the gorge, the fog closed in, and soon they could see neither any longer.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called out, eyes wide.
Applejack grit her teeth, feeling her hackles rise as the air started to buzz slightly with that feeling, again. Magic brewing. "Twilight." She said, glancing around nervously.
Twilight glanced back at her, eye twitching. "You can feel that?" She asked, and the farm pony nodded. Twilight's lips thinned and she glanced back over to the other side of the gorge, or where it should be. "Rainbow Dash!" She yelled again, louder, but received no reply.
This was not good.
Rainbow Dash turned her wings, coming in for a landing on the castle side of the gorge. This close, and still a few hundred yards away, the ancient structure loomed ominously out of the fog, above the tops of the trees and rocks, like some great, evil beast out to eat any pony that got to close.
It was so awesome!
Grinning from ear to ear, she sat her hooves and turned to one of the stone pillars, deftly using her wings to lash one side of the rope bridge to the pillar, tying it off and turning to trot over to the other, so that her friends could safely cross. She realized as she did how thick the fog had gotten, preventing her from even seeing halfway across the gorge, let alone all the way to her friends, some fifty feet away.
Distantly, she thought she heard her name being called, but it seemed far away, distorted some how. . . .
"Rainbow Dash."
That voice was NOT far away, but rather right behind her. She spun with a yelp she would later deny, wings snapping open and beating the air to get her up off the ground, a pegasus' natural fight or flight instinct.
However, she froze upon seeing what was facing her. Four pegasi stood before her, wearing suits of black and gold and dark blue trim, flight suits, modeled similarly to those worn by the Wonderbolts, but the colors were different. All four of them shared similar fur color as well, dark grey with deep blue manes and tails.
"Who're you?" Dash asked, frowning as she looked between the four. They were fanned out in a semi circle, stretched from one side of the path to the other, and each of them had their wings flared. While they weren't airborne yet, they could be in a moment's notice.
One, the only mare, stepped forward, tilting her head to the side. "That's not important, Rainbow Dash. What is important . . . is you." She said, smiling slightly, and Dash lifted her head up slightly.
"Well . . . Maybe, but-" Dash began, but the mare interrupted, taking another step forward.
"No. No buts, you ARE the most important pony here . . . The greatest flier in all of Equestria! Perhaps even . . . the whole world. Isn't that so? It is what we were told." She said, voice firm, but also submissive, putting the emphasis on what she had to say about Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash couldn't help it. A smile curled up one side of her lip and she shrugged, even as she looked proud of herself. "Well, I mean, duh."
"Of course you are." The mare continued. "And what if I told you that word of your deeds is such, to have gained the attention of the greatest troop of fliers in Equestria?"
"The Wonderbolts?!" Dash excalimed, eyes suddenly wide and teeth showing in a huge grin. "Where?! Where are they?!"
"No!" The mare snapped, voice stern, bringing the rainbow maned pegasus' attention back to her. "We are better than them, better than any! Except for you . . . We . . . are the Shadowbolts! And . . . we are in need of the greatest flier in Equestria to be our captain."
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings slightly, looking at her, then the others behind her. "The Shadowbolts, huh?" She said, biting her lip, before narrowing her eyes. "Never heard of you." She said, coming down to land while tucking her wings against her barrel. "Sounds like a shitty ripoff, to me."
"I . . . What?" The mare said, taking a step back and, though it was hard to see through the golden lensed goggles she wore, Dash could feel her blink. "We are not a ripoff of those-"
Dash waved her wing in the air. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. What, do you think I'm stupid? Huh . . . Nightmare Moon?! Come on, seriously, those shitty costumes and all of them looking the same, with the same colors? These fucks are obviously an illusion! What were you gonna do, huh? Offer me some awesome position as captain of a fake ass team in exchange for betraying my friends?! Pfft! You clearly don't know me as well as you think you do, bitch!" She said, grinning at herself as she turned her back on the illusionary ponies. "Now, if ya don't mind, I'm gonna-"
And then something hit her, knocking the air out of her, and slammed her into the pillar to her left hard enough to crack a rib.
Applejack's ears perked, thinking she heard something from the other side of the gorge, though she couldn't tell what it might have been. Feeling her heartrate pick up, and that gnawing feeling in her stomach again, she looked at Twilight.
"We gotta get over there!" She said, stepping towards the ravine and the former bridge.
Twilight bit her lip, frowning. "I can try-"
Applejack's ears twitched again, and she froze, before spinning with a snarl and leaping towards Twilight Sparkle, seeing the unicorn's eyes go wide in sudden fear.
Twilight staggered backwards, a scream caught in her throat, seeing the pony leaping at her, eyes glowing in the moonlight. Had Nightmare Moon done something to her? Or was she not as trustworthy as Twilight had thought she was? Or-
And then, as the purple unicorn tripped backwards, falling onto her bum, the earth pony went flying over her and tackled a figure out of the air, a pegasus dressed in black and gold, who had been dropping down at them silently from above.
Twilight twisted, watching as the two impacted the ground, rolling in a tumble of grunts and growls for a moment, before the pegasus, a stallion, suddenly yelled out in pain. His wing hung limply, and Twilight was able to see something glinting along the edge. Fine blades, worn on a specially made rig that affixed to the wing, over the radial section, and which held an extendable blade that would shoot out when the wing was opened with the right movement, creating a razor sharp scythe-like surface that followed along the major primary feather.
Wingblades.
He was armed, and had been diving right for her. The sudden realization that he had meant to harm . . . maybe even kill her sunk in, and Twilight felt herself starting to hyperventilate, even as the fight continued.
Fluttershy was laying on her belly again, trying to hide her eyes, and Twilight wondered why she did not help. If she was a vampire she ought to be strong enough to fight him, right? And yet, she remained so timid. Rarity and Pinkie seemed to both be in as much shock as Twilight, although the pink pony seemed like she might be faking it.
The sound of Applejack gasping snapped Twilight's head back around, her barrel heaving with each breath taken, and she saw the farm pony stagger, though she kept one hoof locked around the stallion's neck while blood dripped from her nose. With a growl, she stepped forward on her rear hoof and snapped her head forward, butting him in the face with the bony crown of her skull.
Grunting, the stallion was the one to stagger now, and he attempted to disentangle himself from the mare, but was grabbed by the strong hooves of the earth pony who, snarling, eyes glowing, twisted and rolled, planting both rear hooves in his gut and flung him bodily over her and off the edge of the cliff, a final scream being the last thing heard as he fell into the fog below.
Applejack rolled back to her hooves in a smooth motion, and turned to Twilight, who stood, gasping. "I . . . He . . . I . . . You . . . " The lavender unicorn stammered weakly. Lips thinning, Applejack stalked over, grabbing Twilight by the shoulder. The contact snapped the unicorn mare back to reality, briefly, long enough for Applejack to lock eyes with her.
"Twi! Y'all can freak out later, and I might even join ya! But right now, we gotta get over to Rainbow Dash!" She snarled, and Twilight blinked, looking back to the cliffside the stallion had gone over, and then to the others, Pinkie pronking up to them grinning, though with a more serious cast to her features than normal, while Rarity attempted to help Fluttershy up to her hooves.
She looked at them, feeling something in her mind, like an inkling of an idea of a thought, that was nowhere near fully formed yet, like a puzzle that would make sense once all the pieces were in place, but that was still missing something. She looked back to Applejack, and nodded.
"Right. You three, stay here. Applejack, you come with me." She said, trotting over towards the edge of the bridge. The farm mare nodded, following her, while Rarity seemed a bit put out at being told to stay here.
"What're we doin'?" Applejack asked, serious.
"Just, hold on, stay close and . . . Did you eat a big dinner?" Twilight asked, while her horn started to glow, her eyes drifting shut as she focused.
"Uhhh . . . No? What're you doin'?" Applejack asked again, more concerned now.
"Don't worry, just hold on, and be ready to move." Twilight said, grimacing as she focused harder, remembering the other side of the gorge, the way it looked, the way it was shaped, where things were. She hadn't gotten a great look at it, before the fog rolled in, so she hoped nothing would be in the way. . . .
"Uh, T-Twilight? What're y-" Applejack began, only to be cut off as the unicorn's pink aura surrounded and ensnared her, and with a last hopeful thought, Twilight triggered the spell.
Applejack's Wolf quailed.
Her mind stuttered, struggling to comprehend what was happening, what it was seeing.
Everything seemed to slow down, even as it all happened at once. Looking forward, she saw the back of an old Stetson hat, faded brown and worn around the edges of the brim, stained with sweat in places, mud and rain in others. Poking out of it were a pair of fuzzy, orange ears. And, on either side of it, a mirrored pair of emerald eyes stared at her and through her and around her, freckled cheeks strained in fear and shock.
The edges of her vision seemed warped, turned inwards yet backwards at the same time.She felt a shiver run up her spine, and turned to look behind her, seeing the image in front of her turn at the same time, before it bent and twisted around itself, like looking in a funhouse mirror, or through a glass of water.
There was no sound, no air, no feeling, everything was a silent, blank vacuum and everywhere she looked she saw the back of her own head, but also saw her own eyes looking back at her, and felt them staring at the back of her head.
And then she watched as a white light began to overtake the images, burning through and around them, warping everything into pieces and particles that she barely understood. The white overtook everything and then, with a chiming pop of unicorn magic and displaced air, she felt herself stumbling forward, tripping over her own hooves to fall on her face in the dirt, feeling a rock poke at her chest, even as her nose, still sore from her fight of a moment ago, throbbed.
The pain gave her and her Wolf both something to focus on. Growling and shaking her head, she looked up to see Twilight stumbling, rubbing her horn which seemed to be smoking slightly, even as she made a beeline for the loose end of the rope bridge, to tie it off.
Eyes widening, Applejack pushed herself up to her hooves, looking around as the sounds of a struggle came to her ears. They were on the other side of the gorge, Twilight having brought them there with magic.
And Rainbow Dash was not having a good time.
She and three other pegasi, each of them wearing the same sort of black and gold uniform as the one Applejack had fought earlier, were stumbling and rolling around in the dirt and rocks. Dash was dragging one hind leg behind her, and one of her wings was limp, even as she held the wing of one of the two stallions in her teeth, grinding down hard enough that she was clearly biting bone.
The stallion in question was yelling in pain, even as he turned, trying to get a hold of the mare to get her off, but Dash was scooting and rolling, keeping away from him, even as another stallion was clinging to her from behind, trying to get her into a chokehold with his forelegs while he, too, drug a leg along the ground, his nose bloodied. Why became clear as the blue mare jerked one foreleg back, smacking her elbow into his ribs, but he didn't loosen his grip.
Flapping nearby, sharp wingblades singing slightly in the air, a mare in the strange uniform looked on, gritting her teeth as she tried to find an opening to attack.
She had clearly already done so a couple of times, as Dash was bleeding from several places, the worst probably being what looked like a deep gash on her right foreleg, which bled freely enough that Applejack felt worried. It was leaving a trail of blood in the dirt behind the blue mare.
The hovering mare shifted her wings, snapping her head around at the sound of magic, and ducked her head, immediately tilting her wings to whip her around and bring her in towards the two mares that had just appeared.
With a yelp, Applejack leaped clear, the sharp edge of the wingblade scything through the air close enough to her head that it took a few strands of blonde hair with it, and clipped the edge of Tallulah, adding another notch to the brim.
She hit the ground on her withers, rolling back to her hooves, hat falling clear. As the pegasus whipped around in the air to come back at her again, the earth pony mare snapped her tail, baring her teeth, which were starting to feel a bit sharp, and gave a snarl of rage.
The pegasus angled her wings, bringing her in to a path that would take the orange mare's head off cleanly, and she was moving far too fast for a simple earth pony to be able to avoid it.
What she didn't count on, though, was Applejack not even trying. Instead, the farm mare crouched down and sprung up into the air, launching herself head first into the pegasus, her skull smashing into the other pony's. Dazed, the pegasus was knocked from the air, and she landed hard on one wing, the sudden pain of her own wingblade beind broken off at an angle, jabbing her in the barrel, bringing her around, just in time for her head to meet Applejack's forehoof.
The punch landed with a sickening crack, and the pegasus mare went limp, even as the orange mare rose up from her, glaring at the squabble going on in the dirt before her, and snarled, eyes glowing slightly, before she leaped again, bounding across the earth, more like a beast of the woods than a pony.
She landed in the middle of the melee and grabbed the wings of the pony who was trying to choke Rainbow Dash out, pulling hard and dragging him back, the pain from his broken wing making him scream out, a sound which made her Wolf jump, trying to gain more control. Turning on her rear hooves, Applejack levered him over her hips and threw him across the path to strike a large rock outcropping with an ugly crunch.
Finding herself free, Rainbow Dash tried to go on the offensive, releasing the stallion in front of her and pushing forward, throwing fast, direct punches with her forehooves. However, her balance was shot due to her broken hind leg, and the stallion wound up retaking his own initiative, deflecting her attacks and stepping around her, wrapping her into a half nelson, which turned into proper chokehold. Once he had it, he walked backwards, dragging the mare off of her hindlegs and began flapping his wings, trying to take off into the air. The move would effectively hang Rainbow Dash with her own bodyweight.
Applejack took a snarling step towards him, only to be halted by a previously prim, proper voice. "Get your filthy hooves off of her, you bastard!" Applejack snapped her head over to see Rarity, face twisted in rage, her horn lighting up sapphire blue. Turning back as she heard a masculine scream of pain, she watched as the stallion dropped Rainbow Dash to the ground, one wing hanging limp, the fading remnants of aura around it showing that Rarity had done something to him.
As he staggered backwards, Pinkie Pie popped up behind him, the grin on her face in contrast to the hard look in her cold, blue eyes. She grabbed him, spinning him around to meet her eyes. "You hurt one of my friends!" She exclaimed, giggling slightly as she spun them as though they were dancing. This turned her back to Applejack, so the farm pony couldn't see her face, but to her it seemed that the party pony's colors seemed to dull for a moment, her mane and tail going limp.
Then the stallion screamed, as though he had seen the fiery depths of Tartarus itself, a sound to make a banshee shudder. As suddenly as it started, the scream faded away into a muffled whimpering as the pink pony released him to crumple into a mewling, sobbing heap on the ground. When she turned around, she seemed perfectly normal, as bright and happy as ever, even as a worried frown came over her face and she rushed over to where Rainbow Dash had fallen.
Applejack felt her Wolf sink further away inside of her, seemingly having no interest in catching the attention of the strange pink mare. Applejack just turned to move over to where Rainbow Dash was laying.
Rainbow Dash did not look good in the slightest. Along with the deep wound to her foreleg, which was still bleeding freely, she had a number of other, smaller cuts and gashes all over her body, including one across her left wing which had rendered it limp and useless. her fur was roughed and missing in spots, and she had brusies starting to shine through the thinner patches, while her left eye was beginning to swell shut.
In spite of all of this, bruised and bloodied though she was, Applejack felt her heart catch in her chest as the blue pegasus attempted to push herself up to her hooves, only to collapse as her right rear leg gave out under her. It was the same leg she had injured fighting the manticore earlier that night, and it seemed one of the other pegasi had taken advantage of the weakness in the fight, damaging it further.
Before she could fall, however, Pinkie was there, catching the mare over her back and easing her down to the ground, smile vanished in favor of a worried frown. "Dashie! Are you okay? Ooh, stupid question, of course you're not! Oh my gosh, this is bad! This is bad!"
Dash waved her one good wing, forcing a smile through the blood that stained her chin, where her bottom lip was split open. "Nah, Pinkie, I- Urgh . . . I'm fine! Really! I just . . .Need ta . . .Ta catch my breath. Yeah, that's it."
"Rainbow Dash, darling, don't be an idiot! I've seen a pony come out a cart crash looking better than you do. Lie still, that's an order!" Rarity snapped, trotting quickly over while her magic untied the shawl from around her neck. Applejack and Twilight moved over as well, while Fluttershy seemed to stay back, hovering near the bridge. Applejack saw the shy mare glancing at the blood staining the other pegasus, and felt her jaw tighten in concern. Still, she seemed to understand her own limits, and kept back away from the injured mare.
"Gah, Rarity, fu-fuck off." Dash said, with little effort as she laid her head back, Twilight magicking over a bundle of leaves and plant fibers she had thrown together to act as a makeshift pillow. The blue pegasus grimaced as Pinkie and Applejack slowly rolled her over under Rarity's instructions, revealing the vicious gash on her foreleg that was bleeding so much. Rarity did not hesitate for even a moment, and began tending to it.
"Yes, yes, dear, that's fine, now sit still." The ivory mare said, eyes focused as she tied off the area above the cut, pulling it tight enough to cut off the blood flow.
"Ow! Owowow! Rarity! Not so . . . Wh-I . . . Is that your shawl?" Rainbow Dash asked, blinking in shock to see the old, antique fabric tied off around her leg, already soaked with blood. "I thought . . . "
Rarity looked up at her, frowning. "Darling . . . This is an antique, and a family heirloom." She said, as she took some cloth from her saddlebags and, with a pair of sticks found by Twilight, began fashioning a splint for the mare's hind leg. "It is also not as important as the life of a pony, especially a friend. I shudder to think what my Grandmama would do to me if I allowed you to bleed to death, just to save a silly old piece of fabric." She said, smiling slightly as Rainbow Dash frowned, now.
"F . . .Friend?" The blue mare asked, tilting her head. "I . . . I mean, I was kinda mean. . . " She said, not making eye contact, and the ivory unicorn, sure as she could be that the bleeding had slowed and that the broken pastern was fixed as well as could be, reached out a bloodied hoof and touched the other mare's mane.
"You saved my life, Darling, back there when this evil hag tried to kill us all. I think that makes us friends." She said, smiling.
Dash gulped. "Thanks, Rares . . . And . . . Thank all of you." SHe said, looking away, but not before Applejack spotted the fear and shock in her eyes. "I . . . I think I would've died, if you hadn't shown up, when you did."
"Thank Twilight." Applejack said, biting her lip. "She magicked the two of us over."
Rainbow Dash looked back at the orange mare, before glancing at Twilight. "Thanks, Twilight." She said, looking back to Applejack again. "AJ, you . . . You were awesome! You really showed those assholes!"
Rarity waved a hoof. "Yes, yes, all of this is fine, but we have to get you back to town, young mare!" She said, pointing a hoof to Rainbow Dash. "You need to get to the hospital! I don't suppose that Twilight can teleport us there?" She asked, looking up at the lavender unicorn, only to blink at the expression on the mare's face.
Looking over, Applejack saw that Twilight looked conflicted, worried, scared, but also somehow certain, as though she'd found proof of something she was afraid of. Pinkie stood up, looking between Twilight and the wounded Rainbow Dash. "Uhhhh." She said, seeming uncertain of how to proceed, as well.
"No way!" Rainbow Dash said, gritting her teeth and forcing herself up into a sitting position, much to Rarity's consternation. "I haven't come all this way to wuss out now! We've gotta beat this bitch!"
Fluttershy spoke up from near the bridge. "But . . . Rarity's right, Rainbow Dash! You're hurt! Too hurt to fight. You need to get back to town." She said, pain in her face and voice as she looked at the wounded pegasus.
Twilight took a deep breath. "I'm afraid we might not be able to let her go back, girls. I have a . . . we'll call it a hunch, for now, but if I'm right . . . We're all going to need to be here."
Rarity frowned, standing up and glaring at the other unicorn. "Oh? And why is that, Miss Sparkle?" She demanded, tone serious.
Twilight took a breath and turned, looking up into the dark of the night sky. The castle loomed, huge and forboding, a scant hundred paces away, and around it . . . A blue light flickered and died, only to come back, as of magic being worked, such that Applejack could taste it on the back of her tongue, feeling it racing along under her skin, as though trying to goad her Wolf out into the open.
Twilight ground her teeth hard enough that Applejack could hear it, and looked over, fear and sorrow on her face. "Because She's here." She said, looking back towards the castle, her words and expression drawing the eyes of the other five as well. "She's waiting up there, for us. And if I'm right . . . it's going to take all of us to beat Her."
"She's right." Pinkie Pie spoke up, earning glances from every pony. She looked around, before sighing and shrugging. "Pinkie Sense." She said, and Applejack gritted her teeth.
"What?" Twilight asked, before the orange mare put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head, earning a sigh and a grumble from the lavender mare. "Whatever. I'm sure of it! We all need to be here!" She said, even though Applejack could smell uncertainty wafting off of her. Still, if Pinkie's "sense" said that the unicorn was right, that was enough for Applejack. She'd seen it often enough to know it was reliable, if not easily understood. She could see Fluttershy looking worried as well, as she had lived in town long enough to know the same thing, it seemed. So did Rarity, who was looking between the pink pony and the fallen pegasus with a shocked, worried look, like she would be sick.
"But . . . How? Rainbow Dash cannot walk OR fly, need I remind you?!" Rarity pointed out, which prompted the pegasus to try and stand again, earning her a glare from the ivory unicorn. "Rainbow Dash! Sit!"
"I'm not a dog, Rarity!" The pegasus snapped back. "And if you all need me, then I'm going! No 'if's 'and's or 'but's!" She growled, forcing herself to rise to her hooves, shaking from the strain. Still, she was soon standing on all fours again, mostly. She was keeping less weight on that hind leg, but she was up. Pinkie trotted over, worried, and stood near her, smiling at her through her concern.
"I'll stick with you, Dashie! Just in case." She said, and Rainbow Dash blushed, and grumbled, but also smiled slightly, when she thought nopony was looking.
"Fine." Rarity said, huffing, and turned, looking at Twilight. "What is the plan, then?"
Twilight took a breath, looking at them all, and Applejack saw something ,a glint in her eyes . . . or a sparkle, perhaps. Turning, the mare looked up at the gloomy shadow of the castle walls, and nodded. "We go in, and we find her. I think . . . I think where ever she is, the Elements should be there, as well."
That was an odd sentence. Applejack felt like it was a lie, but also true at the same time, as though the way it sounded and the way it was meant were two different things. Still, she wasn't backing down, now. This had to end, before something bad happened. Or, something worse than had already.
And so it was that the Six squared up, as best they could, beaten, bloodied, scared and scarred, and began to move forward, towards the danger that threatened them and their friends and families, their very world and way of life. They walked in, in the face of their fear, determined to see this through, even if the only thing that they had to lean on was each other.
Perhaps, it would just be enough.