Midnight ronkers
City slickers
Gunmen and maniacs
All will feature on the freakshow
And I can't do nothing 'bout that, no
Rainbow Dash heard the screaming before she saw the fillies.
“RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH!”
The blue pegasus pony stretched out on the cloud, shaking wiping sleep from her eyes and ruffling her mane.
“RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DAAAAASH!
Rainbow peered over the top of her cloud, “what’s all the noise for?” she looked down at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, who were dancing anxiously on the ground below her cloud.
“Ya gotta help, Rainbow Dash!” Apple Bloom cried, “Scootaloo’s been taken!”
Rainbow Dash’s ears pricked up. “Taken?” she leapt up out of her cloud and swooped down, a cloud of dust rising up from the ground when her powerful hooves hit the earth. She folded her wings against her body. “What do you mean ‘taken’?”
“We were out digging for diamonds in Amethyst Reservoir,” said Sweetie Belle, still wearing the top hat, “and these big, scary dogs came out of nowhere and tried to offer us diamonds!”
“Slow down,” Rainbow said, raising a hoof to Sweetie’s mouth. “Did you say, ‘dogs’?”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, “they were dogs. They had diamonds and said they could get us some. I was all for going with ‘em, but Sweetie got scared. Guess she knew there was somethin’ not right with ‘em but we didn’t listen and Scootaloo said we should just go and I agreed and then they tried to take us but Scootaloo fought one of ‘em off with a shovel so we could get away and now they got her!”
Rainbow’s eyes widened steadily as Apple Bloom recounted the events at breakneck speed. She barely even heard the little foal, because the steady thump of her heart against her chest drowned out all other sounds around her.
“Rainbow Dash?” Apple Bloom said.
Rainbow shook herself, “Yeah?”
“Did you hear me?” asked the foal, “They said somethin’ about ‘blood for blood’, but we never stole any blood!”
“Never!” Sweetie repeated.
Rainbow opened out her wings and rose up from the ground. “Go and find Twilight Sparkle and Applejack. Tell them exactly what you just told me.”
“Where are you going?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I’m going to get Scootaloo back,” Rainbow said calmly. “Tell Twilight that I’ll see her on the other side of the rainbow.” She took off into the air, leaving a dazzling trail behind her.
The two fillies exchanged glances, “what d’ya think she meant by that?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I have no idea,” Sweetie Belle whimpered, “let’s find Twilight Sparkle and Applejack.”
They galloped off to the library as fast as their little legs could carry them.
*
Pinkie Pie hopped between a pair of clouds. She’d been awake for hours, trying to work out what she was going to do, the many words of the Gatepony spinning around in her head.
She understood what she was. She understood that there was a delicate balance between the physical realm, Limbo, Tartarus and the Afterlife. She understood that she was trying to straddle that fine line. Becoming a Grim Reaper... or even a Gatepony, would be awesome, Pinkie thought, and the ability to visit any dimension she wanted? Amazing!
But to leave behind her friends? To give up on making her amendments? She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t abandon her friends, even in death.
Well, you kinda already did that when you killed yourself, silly. Did you forget that, Forgetty Forgetterson?
Her thought process was interrupted when a blue bolt rocketed through the clouds like a bullet, leaving a blazing Rainbow trail in its wake. The air ruptured all around Pinkie Pie and the clouds vaporized.
That was Rainbow Dash! Where’s she going in such a hurry.
One only needed to follow the rainbow trail she left behind her to work that out. Pinkie jumped up and touched the trail. It was dissipating into chromatic energy under her hooves. She didn’t have time to stand around. She hurtled along the rainbow trail, her own speed enhanced by her spirit form, desperate to catch up with the speeding Rainbow Dash.
*
“Slow down, Apple Bloom,” Twilight Sparkle said, pacing in front of the two fillies. “You say Diamond Dogs took her?”
“Those damn mutts,” Applejack hollered at her sister. “What in the heck were you thinkin’ goin’ out into Amethyst Reservoir on your own? Have you gone and knocked over your spud bucket?”
“They said something about wanting blood for blood,” Sweetie Belle said. “But we didn’t take any blood!”
“Blood for blood?” Applejack said.
Twilight Sparkle looked horrified, “Oh God, no.”
“What is it?” Applejack demanded. “Twilight?”
“Did they say anything else?” Twilight demanded.
“No, but when we told Rainbow Dash she took off after them to get Scootaloo back,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Told us to tell you she would see you on the other side of the Rainbow,” added Apple Bloom.
“The other side of the...” Twilight suddenly clicked and a terrified expression formed over her face. “We have to go,” Twilight said, trotting over to the front door, “Right now, come on, Applejack.”
“Stay here, with Spike, you two,” Applejack instructed the fillies as she galloped after Twilight, “y’ understand?”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded and watched Apple Bloom’s big sister leave.
*
When she was outside, Applejack caught up with Twilight after about a minute and ran alongside her, “You mind tellin’ me what this is all about?”
“Remember when Rainbow Dash took off after Pinkie’s funeral?”
“Ho boy I do,” Applejack said, “that mare had more fire in her than a furnace.”
“Yeah, well she went on a rampage,” Twilight said, “she beat the shit out an entire pack of diamond dogs, killing one in the process.”
“Holy fuck,” Applejack exclaimed, “she killed one?”
“Broke his neck, apparently,” Twilight affirmed, “if Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are right, then they’re going to kill Scootaloo to avenge the dog that Rainbow killed.”
“But we’re gonna find her, right?” Applejack said as the entered the Everfree Forest, leaping and dodging the fallen trees and treacherous pitfalls.
“Rainbow Dash is probably already there,” Twilight said, “which is what I’m really worried about.”
“Why? Rainbow can get her back, surely?”
“’See you at the other side of the Rainbow’?” Twilight repeated the words, “I think Rainbow Dash plans to offer herself in exchange for Scootaloo. This whole thing is her fault, after all. She probably feels it’s the only way to fix things.”
“I hope you’re wrong, Twilight,” Applejack said as they veered off towards Amethyst Reservoir, desperate to reach it before it was too late.
*
I was lookin' back to see if you were lookin' back at me
To see me lookin' back at you
*
Rainbow Dash entered the cave on hoof, expecting to find more resistance outside. Two dogs with spears were hardly an effective welcome party and had both gone down almost instantly with a couple of half-hearted strikes to their heads.
She jumped up and flew through the long tunnel, navigating through the cave back towards the main quarry. When she found the set of double doors, she slammed her body against them, bursting through into the main area.
“Stop right there, Pony.”
Rainbow Dash broke to a halt in mid-air. She stared, open-mouthed at the diamond dog Chief who held the quivering Scootaloo at knifepoint, claws digging into her brown body. He was coated in red and white war paint and wore a headdress made of skulls. The knife he held to Scootaloo’s throat had been fashioned out of steel and bone. A quick flex of his wrist would be enough to slice through her carotid artery and she would bleed out in seconds.
“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo croaked. “Get out of here!”
“Hold on, Scoots,” Rainbow called. She glared at the Chief, her eyes burning with that same mad glow as the other night. The pack of dogs below her began to retreat slowly, her merciless rampage still fresh in their minds. “Let her go, dog,” Rainbow Dash growled.
“I don’t think so, pony,” sneered the Chief, pulling Scootaloo close to his chest. “She’s our celebration meal.”
“Drop her,” Rainbow repeated, dangerously, “Or I will take you down.”
“You really think you can do that before I cut her throat?” asked the dog. “Stand down, pony, or the foal dies.”
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the dog, but she controlled her breathing and floated to the ground. Instantly, the pack of dogs, three dozen or more, closed around her in a tight circle. They kept their distance: none of them dared to draw close enough with their spears to prod her with them. Most of them wore armour and helmets, some carried large axes and swords. It was almost as if they were expecting her to be there.
“That’s better,” hissed the Chief.
“I didn’t come here to fight,” Rainbow Dash said, eyeing the pack of faceless, grey canines all around her.
“No?” said the Chief, looking genuinely surprised. “Makes a change from last time, when you killed one of my pack. What do you want?”
“I came to ask you for the filly,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Ask us?” repeated the Chief in disbelief.
“To ask you nicely,” Rainbow Dash clarified.
“Blood must be repaid with blood,” the Chief scoffed, defiantly, “you killed one of mine. We kill one of yours.”
“I understand that what I did was wrong,” Rainbow Dash said, gritting her teeth, “I was angry. I’d lost somepony very close to me and I wasn’t myself. That’s no excuse for what I did, but killing an innocent filly isn’t going to do either of us any good.”
“Blood must be repaid with blood,” the dog repeated.
“Fine,” Rainbow said, putting her hoof forward, “But she’s got nothing to do with this. What about a trade?”
“A... trade?” the dog said, his voice raising in pitch.
“Yeah. Blood must be repaid with blood,” Rainbow said, “Does it matter whose blood?”
The dog considered that for a second, “As long as it is pony blood.”
“Fine,” Rainbow said, “then take me instead.”
Scootaloo let out a cry of protest.
“Quiet!” roared the diamond dog Chief, squeezing her neck. He looked at the tiny Scootaloo, then at Rainbow Dash. Clearly, the blue pony cared about the little one. “You’re willing to trade your life for hers?”
“Let her go,” Rainbow said, “and I give you my word, I won’t resist you. I’m responsible for killing one of your pack. You’re owed a pound of flesh, so take it from me: it’s only fair, right?”
The dog stared at her, curiously.
“Or, you could take it from Scootaloo,” Rainbow Dash said, “but know that if you do, I will personally put every dog here in the ground, starting with you.” As the words left her lips, the pack of dogs that had surrounded her started to shuffle uncomfortably where they stood. Spears nudged bodies, glances swept the room. Rainbow Dash was prepared to act and had picked out the first three targets she would eliminate if things went south.
“Alright, pony, you have a deal,” said the Chief, nodding at one of his pack, “We’ll let her go. Just as soon as you put these on.”
Rainbow Dash flinched as a group of dogs approached her with chains.
“Don’t struggle, pony,” the Chief said as he watched the dogs wrestling to secure the chains around the blue pegasus. He laughed darkly when he saw the end result – six dogs each holding a length of chain that was attached to the pony. Her wings were pinned to her body and her legs couldn’t move. The Chief very much doubted she could break through solid metal. “Take her to holding.”
“Wait!” Rainbow shouted, “what about Scootaloo? We had a deal!”
“I was going to trade her life for yours,” the Chief said, “but that was before you were in chains. I changed the deal, Pony.”
Rainbow Dash started to struggle against the chains, she pulled herself free from the dogs’ grip, but her legs couldn’t move. She fell forward onto her face and keeled over. She pulled at the chains with all her strength, but it was useless. A large dog picked her up and carried her off to the holding cells. As she disappeared down into another length of tunnel, Rainbow Dash caught Scootaloo’s terrified gaze. It sent a chill through her entire body.
*
Pinkie Pie floated through into the diamond dogs’ quarry, just in time to see Rainbow Dash get dragged off in chains by an angry pack of dogs. The dog who must have been their leader sat on a throne made of rags and animal carcasses. Next to him was a little brown filly with a collar around her neck and an attached chain, the end of which was held by the leader.
Pinkie recognised the little pony immediately. It was Scootaloo.
Oh no, Rainbow Dash!
That was when things started to sink in.
But if you hurt what's mine
I'll sure as hell retaliate
You can free the world you can free my mind
Just as long as my baby's safe from harm tonight