//------------------------------// // Diamond Tiara // Story: A Cold Quarantine // by The Crusaders //------------------------------// Diamond gasped and leaped to her feet, running to find out why Sweetie had screamed. As she arrived in the frame of the door, she found Sweetie passed out on the ground. Turning to face forward, she also screamed. On the ground was a dead body, but not like Silver Spoon, this one was missing most of it's flesh, drenched in blood, barely recognizable as Noteworthy. A small squishing noise could be heard coming from one corner, muffled by an occasional grunt. "Sweetie, wake up, now! C'mon, we have to go!" she cried, shaking Sweetie roughly in an attempt to awake her. Sweetie stirred, moaned, but didn't awaken. Diamond bit her lip, listening to the sound as it silenced abruptly. A puddle of blood began to grow on the floor as the edge of a hoof poked out slightly from under the desk. It was light purple, dipped in garnet-coloured blood. Tears welled in Diamond's eyes as she began to realize her fate. Sweetie's fate. Both of their fates. The hoof poked out further, followed by three more and the rest of the mystery pony's body. The pony, by Diamond's memory, was Cloudchaser. But this wasn't the Cloudchaser she knew. Her entire body was soaked in blood, dotted by the occasional meat bit, bone chip, or navy blue fur. Her already messy mane was an even bigger mess than before, slightly slicked, quite greasy, and extremely bloody. Her pupils were shrunken down to dots, her eyelids occasionally twitching. Diamond screamed at the sight, grabbing Sweetie and racing off in the other direction. Cloudchaser didn't hesitate, chasing her at full speed. Diamond suddenly realized that she wasn't running at her regular speed. Then, it hit her: Sweetie Belle. She was being weighed down by Sweetie Belle. That meant she had to make a tough decision. "Sweetie Belle, please, please! Wake up! You have to run! C'mon Sweetie, please!" Diamond sobbed between breaths, trying her best to wake her friend. And to Diamond's incredible pleasure, she succeeded. Sweetie moaned and blinked, then caught a glimpse of Cloudchaser and shrieked. "No, Sweetie, please! Don't pass out! You have to get up and run!" Sweetie nodded and dove from her friend's back, galloping by her side, but as you might have guessed, her legs were quite weak from her unconsciousness. So she did the worst thing she could do. She tripped. Diamond watched in horror as Sweetie rolled back with a yelp and straight into Cloudchaser's path. Cloudchaser snarled with satisfaction as she spotted the stitch on Sweetie's forehead as Sweetie desperately clambered to her feet in an attempt to escape. CC yanked quickly at the stitch, causing a scream from Sweetie as blood poured from her head. Diamond nearly vomited as she saw the horrible sight of all that blood, the smell was intoxicating, it was all so horrible. Diamond couldn't handle this, not alone. So she went to find the only people that could possibly help her, even in the slightest. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applebloom. And there was only one way to get there. She raced down the staircase as fast as she could, looking for the door to the rink. When she finally reached it, she found it locked. She also found blood dripping down the stairs, getting heavier as CC got closer. With her quick mind, she came up with an idea. Pulling a broken tiara piece out of her hair, she quickly began to pick the lock with it. Tears flowed heavily from her eyes, choking on her sobs as she jammed it into the lock, her hooves shaking. The door flew open, and she ran into the ice rink, screaming like she was the one who just got eaten. Then, she was grabbed. She screamed quickly, but relaxed a little when she realized it was just Rainbow Dash. "What the buck is going on?!" Rainbow stammered, watching the blood pour from the door. Diamond explained what had happened through sobs, Rainbow Dash dropping her onto a "bed" and flying off the check for any sign of CC or Sweetie. Then, the lights went out. Rainbow gasped slightly as everything went dark. Knowing she couldn't possibly fly with this type of lighting, she slowly landed, wincing as her hooves became wet with blood, silently stepping up the staircase. She felt around with her wings, being careful not to hurt herself. If there was one thing she DIDN'T need, it was an injury. Or to get sick. Speaking of which, she felt a tickle in her throat. She quickly swallowed. NO way could she get sick, it was her job to protect everybody, even Apple Bloom, who seemed to be doing quite well on her own. But it was Scootaloo, all Scootaloo who had made the beds, they owed the fact that they didn't freeze to death that night, or any other nights, to her. Rainbow clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tight, tears pouring down her cheeks. A small sob escaped her lips as she thought of Scootaloo. She grunted loudly and bucked at the ground in fry. Why the buck was nobody helping them!? They were going to die! Scootaloo was already dead, and Pinkie Pie was going next! Then, she let herself go. She collapsed to the ground sobbing loudly, tears puddling around her as she soaked her face. It was too late. Why the hell wouldn't they help them?! When Rainbow got out of here, she had a lot to say to Celestia. thanks to her, her friends were dying. She screamed and stomped fiercely into the ground. "GOD DAMNIT, WHY AREN'T WE GETTING HELP!?" she screamed. Just then, she heard a light 'oof', then a weight on her back. then she started getting very wet. Somebody had fallen on her. Somebody was bleeding. Then the lights flicked on, and Fluttershy's voice filled the air, she had very obviously been crying, and was also thirsty. "We're very sorry for the blackout, we have just been informed of some fatalities." Fluttershy choked on a sob, her voice filled with tears. We'd like to show incredible amounts of respect for Spike the dragon and Scootaloo the pegasus filly. Sadly, we can not remove the bodies at this time. Please do not go anywhere near a corpse if you are to find one, just inform the front desk and move away. Goodbye. Fluttershy's soft, comforting voice ended too soon. Rainbow looked back and saw Sweetie Belle lying on her back, a nasty, infected, newer looking stitch covering a wound on her head. Rainbow gasped and picked up Sweetie, flying her out of the room and onto her bed. Sweetie sniffled softly as she lay in her cot, but she didn't speak a word. She didn't have to. Rainbow already knew.