//------------------------------// // Tenth Judgement (Part Two) // Story: Point of No Return // by Wild_Heart //------------------------------// Fluttershy had, unlike her friends, had no problem in leading her group through the forest. It was in part luck, but the greater part was the ranger's knowledge of nature, both mundane and monstrous. Only a few of the soldiers had been injured, and those were but minor wounds, annoyances at worst. This hadn't stopped the pegasus from fussing over each and every hurt pony, and a few times those under her command had to cajole her into continuing on. Even Fluttershy wasn't normally so fussy, but every instance of harm reminded her that these ponies were willing to throw their lives away in the name of liberation. It weighed heavily on her mind, and even she had to admit to herself that she was only trying to delay the inevitable. That realization, together with the worry of not being in position when the others arrived, saw to it that the newest "casualty" didn't even receive anything more than a look over and a soft nod. "It doesn't look like you twisted your ankle, but please be more careful." The brown earth pony looked honestly surprised she hadn't immediately called for triage, and was thankful they weren't suffering a delay simply because he tripped over a root. Her hesitance, however, caused the unfortunate effect of those under the pegasus's command to grow impatient to continue on. So when they reached the edge of the forest, and the other two groups weren't there, they immediately grew restless. Fluttershy stared at the ground, trying to think of a way to hold this under control. I'm not really a leader... I don't think I can keep them here until the others get here, she thought to herself, frowning. Oh, Applejack, Rarity... Where are you? An idea hit her, and she cleared her throat. "Um... Excuse me. Is there anypony here that could... Maybe... Scout the rear gate while we wait for the others...?" "I can, Ms. Shy," a nearby brass-colored pegasus spoke as he stepped forward. Fluttershy recognized him as one of the resistance members she'd been introduced to by Applejack before the mission had started. The resistance was better trained, if only by a margin, and would help her keep the militia on a leash. "What information do you require?" Fluttershy fidgeted. She hadn't expected to have to specify this, but an answer came to her quickly nonetheless. "I just want to know how many there are at the rear gate... A-And if you can find Rainbow Dash, that would be nice too... But only if you want to, it's not really a requirement..." The rebel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Ms. Shy, we can clearly see the gate from here. The only reason we're not being seen by them is that we have the advantage of the trees. As for Ms. Dash, if I flew out and tried to find her, it would put us both at risk of being seen." He waved a hoof over to the right, along the treeline, trying to keep his frustration from showing. "I could move out of the gate's line of sight, but that would take too long and be too much trouble, not to mention that I could STILL be seen as I went up for the cloud cover." That hoof got stomped down in front of him. "Your delays will cost us our chance, Ms. Shy. There are 50 ponies at that gate. We outnumber them two-to-one. We could easily take them." Something about that sounded off to Fluttershy. She didn't know much about tactics, but she wasn't stupid. "But there's most likely more inside... I mean, there's gotta be a small barracks. We don't know exactly how many are in there." The brass pegasus hadn't expected that retort, and was caught off guard. His temporary commander couldn't feel relief at this small victory, however. "But... W-Well... If we charge through, we could catch them off guard and lock them out, right...?" Feeling a little humbled by her surprising show of logic, the rebel nodded meekly. "Yes, Ms. Shy. They don't know we're here, and it's a relatively short distance." The former ranger closed her eyes, weighing her options. If the others are in trouble, charging in will just get us all... She shuddered as she dodged around the word "killed". She opened her eyes, and asked, "A-Alright. Who's our best tactician...?" "That would be me," came the gruff voice of a grey unicorn who looked rather tired. Fluttershy didn't like that expression. It reminded her of how beaten down Applejack looked most of the time. "What ya need, ma'am?" Fluttershy pawed at the ground with a hoof, digging it in slightly. So many ponies are hanging on my words... I really don't like this... Fluttershy pushed that thought away and steeled herself. No. I can do this. I protected Trixie, I got all of us back in shape, I can do this, too. "Ma'am...?" He sounded concerned, not impatient like the scout had. That helped Fluttershy convince herself, and when she spoke, it was with a firm tone that belied her gentle voice, and surprised the ponies that heard it. "I want you to tell me our options. What's the best course of action, waiting for the others, or charging now?" The unicorn rubbed a grizzled chin with a forehoof. Fluttershy tried not to smile at the thought of him seeming more like a goat than a pony. "Whelp, like Glass Bellows there said, we outnumber 'em pretty bad. Ya make a good point, sayin' that there might be more inside, but there's probly not many more. The only real problem is propping the gate up when it inevitably gets closed, but I think we can get ourselves inside with all the Earth Ponies we got. Better'n a battering ram." "So you think we should charge." Fluttershy looked thoughtful. "But won't propping the gate up mean we'd have to... H-Hurt the ponies guarding it?" "I'm 'fraid so, ma'am." He levitated a stick over and started tracing in the dirt, making a rough diagram of the gate area. "Don't worry, though. If we overwhelm them, they'll scatter and/or surrender. And then we kin just shove the prisoner's out the gate when we go in, lock 'em out." Fluttershy looked relieved at that, then perked up as a thought struck her. "We should soften them up first, to make the charge easier." The old unicorn grinned, and gave Fluttershy a light smack on the back, making her squeak, and smile awkwardly. "Gotta say, for such a gentle soul, ya really got your head in the right place. I think that'sa pretty good idea, how 'bout you, Bellows?" The pegasus simply nodded. The development of a strategy was interesting enough, but at this point he was starved for some action. After all, this was to be their crowning moment. Their grand finale. "Right, well, here's the plan..." As the unicorn spoke, Fluttershy only half-listened. Looking out to the gate, she could only hope no one she knew would be guarding it. --- "Ya know what, Spearmint? Life is awesome." The light green unicorn rolled his eyes, but smiled good-naturedly. "Okay, Scoots, I'll bite. Why is life so great for you?" Mint was very nervous about the current situation. Guarding the rear gate was usually a punishment detail. The ground was uneven, often muddy, and was facing the Everfree Forest. Which, in a word, was terrifying. It was worse tonight, however, since their commanding officer had made it very clear this had become a very important thing to guard, and it wasn't hard to guess why. Knowledge of the prison break had been impossible to suppress inside the palace, and Spearmint just knew any attack would come at this gate. Yet, there were only one hundred ponies stationed here. Fifty on the outside, fifty in reserve. Scootaloo, on the other hand, seemed psyched. That annoyed Spearmint to some degree, but he didn't want to be the pony who killed buzzes. She was grinning like a loon, and he figured maybe her happiness would be contagious if he gave it a chance. "So, look," The pegasus began. "I applied for the Skyshatter Squadron earlier, and Captain Lighthoof said he can't think of a reason why I shouldn't be in with them. Soon as I'm done with this stupid gate, I'm one of the best, baby!" That IS good news, Spearmint thought. "You deserve it, Scoots. You're always working yourself to the bone for Her Majesty. And hey, no more standing in one spot for an entire night, right?" He adjusted the seating of the spear he had wrapped in his horn's magic, before leaning on it a bit. "Yea. Instead I get to fly in circles all night," Scootaloo said, holding back a laugh. "But at least I'm flying, not standing. Second thing is that we're finally going to see some action." "That's... Not a good thing," the unicorn retorted, shaking his head. "I'm scared, and you should be too. Besides," He jabbed a hoof at her side. "I heard Rainbow Dash was with them." He regretted his teasing as Scootaloo shot him a withering glare, her teeth gritted. "That's not Rainbow Dash. It's some kind of actor. If I get my hooves on the mare..." The soldier couldn't believe anyone would do something so heinous as to dishonor the dead. Especially not someone as awesome as Dash was. "Whoa, whoa, Scoots!" Spearmint leaned away from her, raising a hoof. "Calm down, filly. I forgot you had a thing for h-" "I DIDN'T HAVE A THING FOR HER!" Spearmint winced, closing one eye, as the commander's head snapped in their direction. "You two there! Keep it down!" Their entire formation turned to glare at them, it seemed. "Yea, uh... Sorry, Commander. Won't happen again," Spearmint apologized, giving his superior officer a nervous grin until he turned away. Scootaloo hissed at her fellow soldier in a low voice, "She was my idol. I idolized her. I didn't love her. Didn't even have a crush." Spearmint slowly nodded, turning his head away. "Sorry." There was a long, awkward silence, during which time Scootaloo leaned to one side, trying to give her left side a much needed break in the weight it was carrying. The uneven ground was getting to her. After a few moments of this quiet, the unicorn cleared his throat and asked, "So, yea, that's why you're all psyched? It's... Pretty cool." She grinned again, and Spearmint breathed a sigh of relief as she answered, "Nah, there's something else, and it's the best out of the three. But you can't tell anypony, or I swear I'll buck you into next week." "My lips are sealed. Lay it on me." Scootaloo looked around conspiratorially for a moment, before continuing with, "With the imminent danger pay I'm getting from this, I'll have enough to buy that ring I've been wanting." Spearmint couldn't help himself. "Wow, Scoots, I had no idea you felt that way." He fought back a smirk, instead putting on an overblown look of sorrow. "I'm just not ready for that kind of commitment, baby!" He couldn't stop his smirk when the pegasus blushed fiercely and stammered, though. "No, I do-It's not-" "I'm teasing, calm down. Sheesh. It's for that filly you've been dating, right? What's her name?" "You're a jerk, Mint." She took a deep breath, fighting down the embarrassment. "Her name's Sweetie Belle. I told you all about her." Spearmint rolled his eyes, and shrugged. "Look, I know this'll sound shocking, but coming from a friend... No one is ever interested in someone else's crush. Doesn't matter how many dates or how often you-" "Hey, you hear that?" Scootaloo looked up to the air, her ears perked and set straight forward. "Hear wha-" Spearmint was cut off by a loud hissing noise and a chorus of screams following the distinctive noise of arrows striking flesh and armor. The unicorn fell over with an arrow through an eye, instantly killed. Scootaloo stared, shocked into uselessness as the enemy pegasi swooped down, scattering the already panicking ranks. The soldier stumbled, still a bit shocked, as she shakily set herself into a stance, holding her a blade-bearing hoof out in front of her. A charge was coming from the forest, but an arrow biting into her back made sure she wouldn't be able to face it. --- Fluttershy tried not to stare at all the fallen bodies as her group charged the gate, but she couldn't help but look as they had to stop to force the gate open. Her teal eyes watered as they traveled over the carnage. It would have been horrifying for anypony, but for her, it was as if she'd taken her first steps into hell. She couldn't look away. Blood was everywhere, staining the ground, turning any earth into rust-colored mud. The Element of Kindness couldn't help but to lean forward and retch. Thankfully, she hadn't eaten anything at the party, because she knew something like this would happen. She had hoped it wouldn't. A nearby groan snapped Fluttershy's attention to a group of bodies nearby, and she noticed an earth pony soldier, one of Nightmare Moon's, stirred a bit. She made to rush to his side, just as behind her a loud groaning, and the clanking of chains rang out as the gate was finally forced. Just before the former ranger reached the side of the wounded, she felt her tail tug, and she yelped, looking behind her. Bellows held her tail in his mouth, and shook his head. "I have to help! I can save him! Please!" She begged piteously, and Bellows shook his head again. It was all he could do to keep himself from letting her. Spitting out her tail, he argued, "No, we have to get in. We don't have time to help the enemy!" Bellows bit his bottom lip as he realized how cold that sounded. "... Yet. We don't have time to help their wounded yet." "But they'll die! Look at him, he's... He's barely hanging on...!" Fluttershy trembled as she started to cry, looking back to the fallen soldier. He'd stopped breathing, as if on cue. The pegasus hung her head, and sobbed quietly, while the brass pegasus laid a wing over her back, trying to comfort her. "Listen... We'll go on ahead, secure the gate. You're not really expected to fight anyway. See if you can patch up any of the wounded around here, and we'll clear a path. I won't tell anypony what you're doing if you don't." Fluttershy nodded, though she now didn't know how useful she'd be after seeing the soldier die. --- So much noise, the small filly thought as she trotted along the palace's hallway. Adagia had heard they were under attack by a guard who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. The news had frightened her, but she was taken with the curiosity of a foal, and the young unicorn wanted to see for herself. And it was for this reason she approached the rear gate. The sounds of battle echoed through the halls around her, and to anypony else, the din would have been terrifying. Adagia loved it. So much noise to play with! That put a bounce in her step, and a smile on her face. Deep inside, she knew she shouldn't be so excited. After all, ponies were getting hurt. The filly couldn't help it, however. The cacophony of battle just sounded so appealing. CLANG! The sound of blade on blade! CRASH! Someone being tackled, maybe? It's just like the opera! So exciting! When she peeked around a corner to the source of the chaos, she expected a grand, romantic scene. Of the heroic knights thoroughly thrashing the evil rebels. Or perhaps they were struggling, but a final valiant effort ensured victory, and safety of the Queen? What she saw, however, wasn't the sight a foal expects of war, but the horrid truth. The guards were losing, and badly. They'd mounted a brave defense and had a choke point, but their front had been struck with magic and arrow, and the rebels had broken in on even ground. Adagia trembled, stunned at the horrors of battle. A sword sliced through flesh, and caught on bone, the victim of the attack screaming as her assailant yanked the blade away. A spear ran through a chest and stuck from a unicorn's back, covered in crimson. A spell burned an earth pony, flesh seared and bubbling in an instant. Adagia couldn't feel anything but disgust now, and outrage. It was a terrifying sight, to be sure, but anger rose up instead of fear. They had tainted such beautiful sounds. Her horn glowed. She would use those sounds, then, and show them what they were doing was wrong. --- Fluttershy rushed towards the rear gate. She had done all she could for three ponies before she realized how selfish she had been. The resistance needed her, and she needed to be with them. As much as it pained her, saving Equestria was more important than saving a few soldiers. It was a horrible thing, but she'd had to face a lot of horrible things lately. This was just another nightmare to overcome. The battle seemed like it was on the side of the resistance. In fact, as soon as she reached the rear lines, the guards had surrendered, making the pegasus seem silly for panicking so much. There were still clashes of steel, however. Please don't fight to the death, there's no point...! Before Fluttershy could vocalize her thought, however, the sound began to waver. To her it was as though the volume were abruptly increasing and decreasing, completely at random. Then, it happened. Fluttershy was glad to be outside, for if she was in the hall, the sudden, deafening boom would have been enough to burst her eardrums. The echoes might have even had the force to batter her physically. Every single other soldier, however, was not so lucky. The reverberating surge knocked most of them flat, and even then the assault only repeated itself. Ponies, being bashed down again and again by what felt like a solid wave of sound, grew dizzy, and those that remained standing collapsed. All movement ceased, and with it, all sound. Fluttershy had huddled down, forelegs over her head, to try and block out the horrible racket, and when all was quiet, she slowly rose up, her eyes traveling over the fallen. She trotted over silently, but quickly, and breathed out a soft sigh of relief when she saw that all of the fallen were still drawing air... At least, those who were not already struck down by the battle. The pegasus's smile faded when her wandering eyes fell over a small white filly, who was staring straight at her. Oh, no! The poor thing, Fluttershy thought to herself as she slowly approached. Did she see all of this? --- Adagia had smiled when she saw that she'd done a good job. There had been so much noise to play with, using it had been easy. Too easy, in fact. She felt like a giant, and puffed her chest out in pride. Momma will be proud of me! I made them stop! However, her bravado instantly melted when she saw movement. A pale yellow pegasus had gotten up, and was now walking around. Fear overtook Adagia, finally, and she stared with eyes wide with terror. She wasn't... She wasn't affected? Oh. Oh no. No no no no no Momma help me! She tried to force herself to move, but her legs wouldn't work. The pegasus glanced up, and her eyes met the foal's. Adagia finally made herself take a slow step back, and then the mare started towards her. She's going to kill me! That thought broke her out of her petrified state, and she darted off, down the hall. She could hear the pegasus, right behind her, and blind terror drove the filly into making random turns. She knew the palace like the back of her hoof, normally, but her panic kept her from thinking straight, and she soon ran into a dead end... Literally. Adagia smacked into a wall, and fell, dizzy from the strike to her forehead, and she looked up groggily. The sight of the still approaching pegasus brought clarity (or something close to it) to her mind, and she pressed herself tightly against the wall she'd just run into. Why isn't she making any sound I'm so scared where are you momma momma help me The thoughts all jumbled in her mind, and she shrieked finally when she felt a hoof touch her side. She jerked, but a pair of legs wrapped around her, and held her tightly. Kicking out randomly, Adagia flailed in panic, trying to drive off the mare, but she only succeeded in wearing herself out. --- The poor thing was obviously panicked beyond reason, and Fluttershy knew that the only remedy would be to let her tire herself out. She winced at every kick, but didn't let go of the filly. It paid off when the unicorn eventually just started crying, shaking in fear. Poor thing... She must think I want to hurt her... Fluttershy instead gave her a soft nuzzle on the forehead, and rubbed over her back with one of the hooves she held the foal in. "Shhh... It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you..." The mare smiled and hummed soothingly, even as all the foal had just seen plus the panic of being chased, hit her, and she began to sob. Fluttershy knew how the little pony felt. She wanted to cry too. But comforting the foal was comforting in itself to the pegasus, and she didn't want to let go. Especially when Adagia clung to her, burying her face into Fluttershy's chest. "Everything will be alright... I promise." The promise was just as much to herself as to the foal. --- Rarity groaned as she lifted herself up from the dirt in the ravine. Her right side hurt, but a glance over it revealed no wounds, and the lack of excruciating pain told the unicorn nothing was broken. Thank my lucky stars for small favors, Rarity inwardly complained, standing shakily on all four hooves. The thought of how dirty she was became quickly buried deep into the back of her mind, as she knew she had much bigger problems. Namely, the stallion that had fallen with her. The fashionista knew very little about first aid, but she knew that all the blood that he'd lost wasn't good. Quite a bit of it was on her, too, but that was far away in her mind. "Please, please, PLEASE be alive!" Putting an ear to his chest, Rarity cursed the loud beating of her own heart as her panic rose, drowning out the sound of his. If there even was any there. "Come now, please... Get up..." That his sides weren't moving meant he wasn't drawing in breath, and though she did know at least how to give mouth to mouth, the thought of causing more damage with the chest depressions was certainly out of the question. Rarity had never felt more helpless in her life. A shadow fell over her, and her magic jerked a bow and quiver up from the colt's frame, the unicorn ready to use the weapon. The source of the shadow was a tan unicorn standing on a large root system that cut through the ravine in front of her. "He's dead. You can't do anything to save him," he stated coldly, drawing an arrow back on his own bow, aimed straight at her. She barely noticed. A cold rage overtook Rarity, as she notched an arrow to her bowstring. As soon as Fletcher loosed his arrow, she knocked it out of the sky with her own. "I'll not give you the satisfaction of capturing me alive, good sir," Rarity hissed. Fletcher merely inclined his head. "So be it." Fletcher hopped back, falling behind the massive roots. A few moments later, an arrow barely missed Rarity, thudding into the ground near her rear left leg. The white unicorn barely even flinched, trying to follow where the arrow had come from. Failing that, she darted for a rock to hide behind, and tried to calm herself. Oh Rarity, why did you do that? You are not a ruffian, fighting to the death, she admonished herself, notching a new arrow while checking her quiver. 25 more arrows. I should think that will be enough. When she had the free time, Rarity had taken up archery as a hobby. Her natural attention to detail had made her easily capable of taking all the aspects of a shot into account when loosing an arrow, making her much more than decent at the sport. However, what the unicorn had never done was anticipate actually using it to hurt or kill someone, and now that her anger was fading, it left behind panic. A panic that only became worse when an arrow whizzed in from behind her, Rarity jerking her head on instinct. The reflex was just in time to avoid being pinned to the rock by her head, and as it was, it sliced into her hair and broke upon the stone. She let fly her own missile, but due to being startled by the previous attack, she was lucky enough for it to sail over Fletcher's head, and make him duck down. Her opponent was now standing down-range of her (which hardly mattered, as the ravine was mostly wind free); he'd snuck up behind her. While that itself was cause for alarm, it meant that there was an easy way out of the crevice. She simply had to take care of this first. Taking advantage of the ranger's prone position, she quickly notched her third arrow. No wind to speak of, the range is too short to require an angle. You could make this shot in your sleep, Rarity, so STOP TREMBLING! Indeed, her body's shaking was making it hard to aim. By the time she loosed the shaft, Fletcher had struggled to his hooves, and had barely enough time to turn the arrow aside with his magic. Rarity let off a very unladylike curse, and hopped to the other side of her rock. And in the nick of time, too. As she was moving over it, an arrow flew over her close enough to cut into her back, though she hardly noticed thanks to the adrenaline. She lined up a shot in the ranger's general direction, forcing him to dive behind a fallen log. With that, Rarity took silent note of how many arrows she had left, and carefully angled her next shot. This arrow will fly out of the ravine. The wind is negligible even up there, but don't you dare forget to factor that in, young lady! While she wasn't sure whether her internal monologue was more to keep herself calm or to actually remind herself of the process, she was sure that her next arrow would find its mark. Letting it fly into the air, she took a deep breath and held it in anticipation, and when she heard a wet thunk, she didn't know whether to celebrate or feel sick. Instead, she slumped down on the rock with her back to it, only to almost immediately yelp and jerk away. There was a lot of red on that boulder, and it was from her back. Oh dear. That's... That is a lot of blood, Rarity numbly thought to herself, not quite taking in the full severity of the situation. That shock almost cost her the battle. A torrent of loud hisses in the air made her turn her head upwards weakly, Rarity still not all there after the shock of seeing her blood in such large amounts. But the sight she saw snapped her out of it. Easily, 30 or more arrows were raining down towards her. How did he?! No time for that, you stupid filly! Rarity's only idea was a crazy one, and she immediately put it into action. She'd deflected arrows with her magic before. For a unicorn with such focus as her, this was easy. But she'd never tried firing them back, let alone more than a score of them. Then again, Rarity had never tried fighting to the death before. The oncoming arrows sank towards the ground as if time itself had slowed, their target's adrenaline kicking into full swing. She picked out the arrows she needed to turn. Only the ones she needed. Her head hurt, she'd never had to deal with this much information coming to her at once. Is this what it is like for Twilight? How she studies so intensely? The thought passed through her mind liesurely, it seemed. A strange calm had fallen over the Element of Generosity as she picked arrows, holding them back in her magic. She almost seemed to be watching herself, detached, as she stopped one arrow. Five. Eight. Fifteen! If she had the presence of mind to really comprehend what she was doing, her jaw would have dropped. As it was, only arrows she discarded as harmless dropped around her. She would graciously return the rest. Fletcher slowly rose his head from his cover, to check and see if the flurry had made its mark. It hadn't. Rarity was untouched by them. And as half of the arrows he'd fired sailed back to him, he could only watch in utter disbelief. He closed his eyes, and accepted death gracefully. The white unicorn's coat was stained red. If it wasn't for the fact that it was blood, the startling contrast might have been striking, perhaps even beautiful. The blood flow hadn't stopped, but Rarity didn't feel dizzy or numb as she'd always been told about bleeding out, so she supposed she was alright. Now to get out of here... No. She shook her head, with a grimace. I have to check. It would be foolish not to. Glancing to one of the many arrows buried into the ground around her, the unicorn attempted to uproot it with her magic, but nothing came to her. She gave that no thought for now, for if she had she might have panicked. So instead, the mare gripped the shaft in her teeth and jerked it up, cool earth striking the side of her face. She shuddered, and as she slowly walked over to the hiding spot of the felled lieutenant, she had to laugh at her first thought: I sorely need a bath. And then I need to revise my priorities. Rarity stepped around the log, careful not to trip on an outcropping root. I've abused my friends, become a national traitor, been sent trekking through a forest, and fought wild beasts. She paused, staring at the ground, not wanting to look. The fact that she wasn't dead yet meant the ranger almost certainly was. She didn't want to see that just yet. I've been shot at, watched a colt die in front of me, fought to the death, and now... And now I've killed a stallion. She finally looked up. This is the worst night I have ever had. The spot was, of course, riddled with arrows, and Fletcher was no exception to that. He was gone. There was absolutely no two ways about it. Am I supposed to give a eulogy? Do you do that for an enemy? Oh, buck it. Rarity closed her eyes, and spoke. "I... I really don't know what I am supposed to say. I suppose I am sorry it came to this." A sob was rising in her, but she kept it down. Now was not the time for a breakdown. "I did not know you too well, and I think that is to my loss. Of course, I hope you'll forgive me when I say I'm rather glad I wasn't close to you now, that would be simply dreadful!" The unicorn grit her teeth at such a foolish statement, mumbling to herself, "By Celestia, you're bad at this, Rarity." With a shake of her head, however, she forced herself up again. "You were always helpful to the citizens of Ponyville. I certainly saw you assisting ponies around our fair town quite often. Of course," She trailed off as she looked around, to the body of the colt she'd fallen in with. "I have to wonder what horrible things you've done, but I... I don't truly think that matters anymore." Rarity could feel the pressure rising up. Her voice was breaking, and tears were beginning to sting her eyes, forcing her to blink. And that only made her vision blurry. "Rest... R-Rest in peace, Fletcher. I'm sorry." The mare's front legs buckled, and she fell, clenching her eyes shut tightly. "I'm sorry..." Rarity could hear shouting for her from above. They had won, and now they were coming to help her. That didn't mean a damned thing to her right now. "Oh Celestia, I'm sorry!" She'd killed a pony, and that was all that meant anything to her. --- Rainbow Dash never knew what hit her. One moment she was reveling in yet another victory over the last section of pegasi, and the next she had been tackled out of the air. Dazed from the blow, the pegasus spun head over heels towards a tower. She barely had the time to right herself before she crash-landed into a window, hooves first. The window shattered into a thousand shards, and she curled into a ball to avoid taking too many cuts. This also let her hit the ground tumbling, which helped to break her fall. All in all, the aspiring Wonderbolt had taken much worse falls. It was a good thing, too, since her ability to recover almost immediately made her ready to roll away from a swooping attack from none other than Spitfire. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she stared up at her idol, the latter giving her a confident smirk. "Heya, kid. Let's make this simple, okay? I really, really don't want to have to hurt you." Despite her arrogance, the lieutenant's heart was pounding. Stupid stupid STUPID! You could have killed her, just like last time! STUPID NAG! Keep it together, Spitfire. Keep it together. Her expression never changed through that, until Dash let off a snort. "Yea yea, blow it out yours! I'm not scared of you!" The cyan pegasus dug a hoof over the floor, her wings flared out and head low in an aggressive stance. "I'm not interested in talking, so let's just get this over with." Spitfire took a deep breath, and steeled herself for what she was about to do. Then she dove for Rainbow Dash.