//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Dead cold // by laradash //------------------------------// P o n y v i l l e , E n t r a n c e t o E v e r f r e e , 10 : 38 P M , A p r i l. A gentle chilly breeze whistled through the air of the forest, the leaves made a quiet noise, brushing against each other. It was very quiet, yes, but being in a forest, right now it was the only thing notable, so volume didn't really matter. There was a pony in the grass, oblivious to her surroundings, asleep. Though her peaceful nap was about to be disrupted. A white bunny hopped to the patch of grass to where she was, apparently angrily pointing at it to someone behind it, impatiently tapping it's foot against the ground. Behind it was a Pegasus mare, with long, light pink hair, and a butter-y coat, three butterflies on her flank representing her cutie mark. Fluttershy finally caught up to Angel, giving a pant or two of exhaustion. "Angel, what did you see? I-Is that a... pony?.. O-Oh my!" The butter pony rushed to what appeared to be a pony with a completely black head, though upon inspection she realized it was a hood. She slowly leaned closer, tapping the strange mare on the head as lightly as possible. "E-Excuse me.. A-Are you alright?" But there was no response. Fluttershy attempted to take the hooded pony's hood off, maybe it was one of her friends! In fact, it looked like Rainb- At that moment, Rainbow came to. Completely in reflex, she pulled away and got up, taking her small sharpening knife and slashing at the tip of Fluttershy's hoof in a split-second. It took Fluttershy a second to catch up with what happened and tear up, and the same amount of time to make Dash realize who she slashed. Oh fuck.. It's only a slash, it barely cut through. She'll get over it, I don't fuckin' care. Or at least, she tried to convince herself so. Maybe she did care, maybe she didn't, right now, it wasn't important. Getting away was. She turned around, and ran away as fast as her legs could take her, which was very fast. Dash was smart enough not to dwell deeper into the Ever-Free, so she just circled it until she got halfway around, as far away from Fluttershy as possible. Three seconds of consciousness in this dimension, and she's already cut at her best friend. Never mind that.. it was time to concentrate on her mission. ----------- Dash made her way through the silent and calm Ponyville, making way for where her home was. This was going to be easy as hell, and the plan was too. Infiltrate, sneak in, stab her in the neck and watch her bleed, go home and get payed. But.. something just didn't feel right. Not that it was her sense of justice or anything alike, but why couldn't they do.. this? It seemed easy, and to pay that money just to kill a regular speedster? It just didn't.. click. Once she finally reached the cloud home, she gave herself a sigh of preparation, and face-hooved almost immediately after. It was a Cloud. House. In the air. Rainbow lost her wings, she's been without 'em for two years now. A pony'd think she got used to it. Fuck.. looks like I'll just have to.. fuck. Maybe she could find an inn to sleep in? Then again, which inn that wasn't in Canterlot, a war city, would accept such a heavily armed pony in? Well, in HER Equestria, each and every one, anything for money. But this one.. not so much. She decided to just keep walking around aimlessly, discussing a plan with herself. Maybe she'd just.. get her while she's on the ground? No, she's NEVER on the ground... Except.. when she's with the other five! Yeah! So, she'd have to kill them all. Because killing just Dash and then.. teleporting away is too risky, first time she did, she fainted for who knows how long? She couldn't do that. Or maybe make a get away? From Pinkie Pie?! Yeah, that wouldn't work.. It was settled. The whole six would have to go. Sorry Princess, looks like you'll need a new set of jewelry. But aside from that.. where to sleep? Even though she just woke up, she could get some sleep.. Maybe.. yeah. Yeah! The twerp's clubhouse. In the Ever-Free. Well, she was sure it was empty, and it was shelter, it would provide. Now, there's gotta be a restaurant open somewhere... ---------- Finally, a place to sleep. Rainbow Dash wasn't an over-sleeper. Before anyone could get in here, she'd surely be awake and on her feet. Though the hay/daisy sandwich helped out her stomach a lot, she didn't have something like that to eat since forever. Rainbow curled up in what seemed like the warmest corner of the room, though it didn't matter much, her skin barely administered pain, and cold against the skin, was in fact pain in it's own form though. Her hooves were aching and her head was beginning to pound again, probably a side effect from earlier today. In little to no time, Rainbow Dash was fast asleep, already prepared for the next day. ------------ P o n y v i l l e , C r u s a d e r s ' C l u b h o u s e , 0 6 : 1 4 A M , A p r i l. Rainbow slowly opened her eyes, administering her surroundings. So.. it wasn't a dream after all. She should've known, she never dreams these days. Not things anywhere this nice, anyways. Sometimes, she wished her life was a dream, one that she'd wake up from. To have wings again.. it would be nice. Yeah, nice. Unfortunately, no time for fucking dreams or emotions, the clock is ticking and she was just wasting time laying around. Dash quickly got up to her feet, stretching out her bones and hooves. Who needs dumb wings anyway? Just slow you down when running. She had her hooves, hidden blades, weaponry and money at her free disposal, nothing more than that was needed. Except the death of this Rainbow Dash. And Rainbow took it as a personal goal, that she would see that come true. She trotted to the door and opened it, beginning to think about when and where would the six be, and how would she would find out. Pinkie Pie wouldn't spill, just disappear. Fluttershy could command a bear, Twilight's magic was strong enough to repel Dash if threatened, or to teleport her away, Applejack wouldn't say anything under pressure, and she couldn't restrain both her and Big Mac, if she could get to Rainbow there'd be no need, only leaving.. Rarity. Yeah, Rarity. Or.. not. As she was thinking through of infiltrating Rarity's home, another idea popped to mind. She needed six envelopes, six pieces of paper and a pen. Yeah, this was gonna be goo- "THUD." Fuck. Dash was so distracted in thought that she bumped her head right into a tree, the last tree to Ponyville. Time to work. ----------------- P o n y v i l l e , C e n t r a l P l a z a , 1 2 : 0 9 P M , A p r i l Alright, everything was attained and no money was spent. Oh the magic of pick-pocketing.. In any case, she had what she needed.  Time to start writing! Okay, letter one to.. Rainbow Dash. She tried her best to write as horribly as possible, as she knew Applejack was barely educated in these things. "Dear RD, ah' request dat' y'all get yer' flank ta' the clubhouse dis' afternoon at 2PM, it's urgent n' critical. Yers truly, AJ." Alright.. perfect. She set it in the envelope and wrote the address, name and date. Five more to go, these could be in.. her own handwriting! It didn't matter. "Dear Twi, I really, really need to talk to you asap, so can you come to that old clubhouse today at 2pm? I just have something to announce, and I want all my friends there. I promise it'll be quick! -RD Oh, yes I do.. hah. Four more. "Dear Fluttershy, I heard what happened to your hoof last night. Be a real pal and come to the crusaders' clubhouse today at two pm? Thanks in advance! -RD And so she wrote out the letters, folded them in envelopes and bought stamps at the office, then paid seven bits for express shipping. The letters were each to arrive at 1:35PM, which would leave them all unaware of what was going on, and surprised, worried or excited. The windows were tightly locked and secured with wood, there was only the door, through which Dead RD would come through once they were all there. Twilight and Rainbow were first, she could do them before Pinkie reacts. Then Pinkie, and the rest was just up to choice. Applejack was a dumb brute with no weaponry or armor, when she'd strike, RD'd dodge, and go for the throat. Rarity could be taken with the stiletto, and a throwing knife with accuracy would be enough to down Fluttershy for a longer while, then it'll just be a quick chase. Was she.. really going to do this? All five of her friends.. even herself.. NO. No sympathy, no emotion. Then she remembered what she lived by a long time ago. Though they meant nothing now, they were good memories. Only thing she could call good memories, that is. "...Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent. Hide in plain sight. Never compromise the Brotherhood. Where others are bound by law, remember; Nothing is true. Where others are bound by morality, remember; Everything is permitted. Was there an existing Brotherhood here? Was there even one in history here? It didn't matter, though the thought of coming back was stupid. If she killed six innocents, how'd they accept her, ever? Enough. Time to go. --------------- End of Chapter 2