The last fifteen minutes could not have possibly been real. How could they have been? Pinkie was a friend! One of Rainbow Dash's best! And only this morning Dash was flying through the air feeling so alive. It was just supposed to be a beautiful day... And now she was going to die. She didn't want to believe it, but it was going to happen and it was going to happen soon.
But even if she did live, would she want to? She was in so much pain... And her cutie mark was gone - the thing that made her unique; her very destiny, forcibly taken by one of her best friends. Her wings were gone - her pride and joy; the things that had gotten her her cutie mark in the first place, carelessly hacked away and discarded like trash.
And yet, for some reason Dash wasn't ready to let go. Surely this monster who had tortured her could not have been the same Pinkie Pie she had met with to make cupcakes earlier in the day... Maybe all she had to do was ask.
"Pinkie...?"
"Yes?"
"I want to go home." She had meant to sound dignified and sincere, and yet she knew she sounded only pathetic and weak.
"Yeah, I can see wanting to do that." Pinkie said sweetly. "Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say 'I'm done with this mess' and go to bed. But you know wha-"CRASH "What!?"
"STOP IT RIGHT THERE PINKIE!" The straps holding Rainbow Dash's head to the table she was strapped to wouldn't give enough for her to see, but she knew from the voice that it was her friend Applejack.
"Applejack!?" Pinkie gasped. "You weren't invited! I mean, don't get me wrong I'm glad you came 'cause I want to invite all of my friends to all of my parties like all of the time! But this was just a party for me and Rainbow Dash. I know we'd have gotten to hang out eventually!"
Applejack stepped forward. "Well ah never, Pinkie. This... This ain't you at all."
"Oh of course it is silly!" she jumped "Can't you see? I made all of this! The streamers, the banners, the balloons! Oooh, look! Look at this! See this balloon!? It's a HEART, how cool is that?"
Applejack must have noticed the scalpel in Pinkie's hoof, because she said "Pinkie... Would yuh... Uh, would yuh put that down or somethin'?"
Pinkie looked. "Oh, this? No, no I don't think I want to. This is our party after all!" She pointed the scalpel at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash is helping me make cupcakes!"
Taking another few careful steps forward, Applejack raised her head to look more impressive. "Pinkie, now ah know you'n ah've had our differences, but you need to think clearly 'bout all this... What yer doin'... It's murder plain'n simple. 'N'ah cain't let yuh do this to my friends! So put the knife down, please so we can... So we can talk..."
"Talk? Talk about WHAT!? I'm not the one who crashed in on somepony else's party. YOU'RE the party pooper! Not me! I was just here doing what I do best and here comes Applejack all 'oh, I wasn't invited so I'm just gonna shut the whole thing down.' Well NO WAY! I'm gonna finish what I STARTED!!!"
What happened next happened as fast as a rainboom. There was a flash of light glinting off of the scalpel blade as Pinkie thrashed out at Rainbow's belly. Before it could reach its mark, Applejack turned and bucked with what must surely have been all of her strength. Suddenly the blade was falling to the ground, along with Pinkie Pie - her dark intentions cut short by a well placed hoof to the side of the head.
Then Rainbow Dash lost consciousness.
***
Rainbow Dash came to in Ponyville Hospital, with four pairs of eyes gazing down at her. She didn't even realize where she was before she recognized who they belonged to: Her friends. Her real friends. The ones who would never hurt her the way Pinkie did... Or did Pinkie hurt her? Was it all a bad dream? Her eyes jolted open the rest of the way as Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all took a step back.
Applejack spoke first. "Rainbow Dash... Are you okay?"
Rainbow Dash tried to sit up. Her flanks burned, and her hooves were numb. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to spread her wings, but there were no wings to spread. It was real... Slumping back into her hospital bed, she answered weakly "I... I don't actually know."
Twilight Sparkle spoke next. "Applejack told us what happened Rainbow. I couldn't believe it... Princess Celestia came all the way from Canterlot to see for herself. The guards, they all came..." She couldn't continue.
As she turned her head to regain her composure, Applejack finished her thought. "Ain't nothin' like this had ever happened in Equestria for over a thousand years. Sure someponies get into fights 'n' all, but this is somethin' else entirely..."
Fluttershy tried to pitch in, but all that came out was a pained squeak. With all eyes on her, she burst into tears and fled the room. Rarity hung her head, said "Oh dear. I'd better go talk to her," then took off through the door as well.
"Applejack." Rainbow managed through a stone dry throat. "You... You saved my life."
"'N' ah'd do it again in a heartbeat Rainbow Dash, ah... Ah hope yuh know that."
"But... Pinkie. Is she-"
"Ah'm 'fraid so. Ah felt really bad, but it had to be done. Ain't nopony gonna hurt my friends. Not even my..." she paused to swallow the lump that was building in her throat "Not even my friends."
Twilight nuzzled against Applejack to reassure her she'd done the right thing. "It's okay Applejack, I mean... It's not okay... What she did I mean... It's..." she paused to collect her thoughts. "You did what you had to do. Rainbow Dash, you're in good hooves! And Pinkie, well... No we can't worry about that."
Rainbow Dash eyed her inquisitively.
"Why are you looking at me like..." She took a step back. "Celestia said something that bothered me. With Pinkie gone, the Elements of Harmony are-"
Applejack pulled away. "-Who cares about the Elements of Harmony!? We cain't worry 'bout that now... Much as I'd hate to say it Twilight, Equestria's gonna have to look after itself for a while. I cain't... I cain't leave Rainbow Dash's side. Not after what I saw! Not after what I done!"
"And nopony's asking you to Applejack!" Twilight trotted over to her Rainbow's side. "Rainbow Dash, I'm not going anywhere. I agree with Applejack. We can't worry about what lies in Equestria's future, when all that truly matters is lying right here right now." She placed a hoof tenderly on Rainbow's left shoulder, and Applejack repeated the gesture on the right.
"I'm so sorry, everypony." Fluttershy had come back with Rarity in tow. "I just couldn't bear to see Rainbow Dash in such a state."
Rarity took her place next to Applejack. "It's quite alright Fluttershy. To tell the truth, I don't know what's worse. Seeing Rainbow Dash so hurt, or knowing that Pinkie Pie was the pony who did it... I want you to know that I will be by your side for as long as it takes to make everything better!" She placed her hoof over Rainbow's, as Fluttershy took the other.
"Me too!" Fluttershy said quitely, but sincerely.
"Thanks everypony... It feels better having you all here by my side!"
It took Nurse Redheart nearly two hours to convince Rainbow's friends to give her enough space to sleep through the night. While Rainbow Dash appreciated that her friends wanted to stay by her side, getting so much attention while she was feeling so weak felt so wrong. She was used to getting the attention when she was at her best, flying through the sky as fast as her wings would carry her.
She paused in thought. Her wings were gone. She would never fly again. She would never again experience the thrill and the rush of the adulation that soaring through the sky on her magnificent wings would bring her. She was damaged, and though a pegasus at heart she no longer had the very things that made her one.
So Rainbow Dash did not sleep. She closed her eyes for sure, but as soon as she found herself drifting into a restful state, she would hear only laughter - Pinkie's laughter - and wake up in a cold sweat. So for hours she would extend and retract her wings, struggling to remind herself that they were not there. Every now and again she would swear she could feel them ache, and would reach back on instinct to rub them. And so passed the first night. When the sun came up she would be as tired as she'd ever been, and still not be able to sleep.
Then her friends came back, and she would feel a little better. Twilight would read her Daring Do and make conversation about the lessons she learned in friendship over the years. As much as she loved Daring Do, she found that lately she didn't have the stomach for adventures.
Fluttershy would get birds to whistle outside her window, and Rarity fashioned blankets of the most beautiful colors. It was Applejack who took their visits the hardest, never knowing what to say. Rainbow Dash learned to appreciate the silence when Applejack was around. It was the least she could do.
Inevitably her friends would have to leave for the night. Despite Rainbow Dash's pleas, Nurse Redheart made it her responsibility to see that she at least had the chance to get a good night's rest. For Rainbow Dash, it meant being left alone with the one thing that she simply could not stand to be alone with: Her thoughts.
It was on the fourth day when she finally succumbed to the bitter, nightmarish sleep where only the laughter waited. Unable to fight it and wake up, she found herself once more strapped to the table waiting to be dissected. Pinkie Pie emerged from the darkness - her knife shimmering red with blood. As she approached, Pinkie grew larger and larger until she was a giant towering overhead. "Let's make cupcakes!" she roared, her voice billowing across an empty expanse whose floor was made from the sewn patchwork of cutie marks belonging to her victims.
"SOMEPONY HELP ME!" Rainbow Dash cried out. "SOMEPONY HELP!"
"Nopony is coming to save you!" She did not sound like Pinkie Pie. She sounded like a monster from the deepest recesses of imagination. Pinkie placed the end of the knife onto Rainbow's belly and slowly pressed inward. As the knife entered her, it melted, covering her body in a hot blanket of molten steel. She began to sweat, screaming as she did.
Just as she feared for her sanity, there was a bright light: A moonbeam that shot through Pinkie's chest, and obliterated her into a fine, white mist. The patchwork ground gave way to soft grass, and soon the soothing sound of crickets filled her ears, calming her.
"I make it a point not to intervene with anypony's demons, but yours are by far some of the most troubling I have seen." A dark shape descended before her, silhouetted against the bright, orb-like moon. Her great wings carried her downward, and her magnificent horn was sheathed in magic, illuminating the night around her.
"Princess Luna? I didn't know you could..." Rainbow Dash realized she was no longer strapped down, and quickly knelt before her princess.
"Please, Rainbow Dash. This is not Equestria. Here in your mind you owe me no deference. It is I who should be kneeling before you." Luna touched down gracefully in front of her, lowering her head in a gesture of submission.
"Wh... Why kneel before me?"
Standing tall, Luna continued "Because you are one of the strongest ponies I have ever had the good fortune to visit. You fear that you have lost so much, and yet you are alive. You are weak, but you do not surrender."
Rainbow Dash frowned "I'm weak alright... I feel like everything's been taken from me."
"Not everything, fair Rainbow Dash. You are surrounded by those who love you. Look..." Without taking a single step, they moved at the speed of sound across the grassplain. Ponyville swept over them like a wave, and stopped just outside of the hospital. "Let's go inside, shall we?"
Rainbow Dash followed Luna's lead. "We're just outside of your room. In it, you are in an uneasy sleep... But you have a visitor. Would you like to see?"
Rainbow nodded, and stepped inside. Applejack was at her bedside, head nuzzled against her neck, asleep even as she stood. "Applejack... I am worried about her. She visits me during the day, but she never says anything. I'm afraid she might be mad at me."
"Would a friend who is mad at you stay by your side all through the night? She worries for you, as do I. I have been trying to visit with you in your dreams for some time, but you sleep none too often. Until now I could only see but a glimpse of what is happening in your mind. You worry that Applejack is giving up on you, because you are not whole."
Rainbow Dash looked back to see her wings unfurling. In her dreams they could not be taken from her. And yet it made her sad, because she knew that when she awoke they would be gone.
Princess Luna placed a hoof upon her shoulder as the hospital room melted away to reveal the night sky all around them. "You cling to what you have lost because it was taken from you so suddenly. But I am here to tell you, that sorrow and regret... It will poison you and turn to envy and hate. I am speaking from experience, as you know. I would not like to see you so tainted, for you are beautiful just as you are Rainbow Dash."
"But... But what will become of me, princess? I can't race. I can't control the weather. I can't even fly! My home is in the clouds and I will never see it again." Rainbow Dash felt a tear stain her cheek.
"Friendship will find a way, fair Rainbow Dash. And so will you. But now I must go, for other nightmares call to me. Though I must, I shall leave you with some advice: Tomorrow will be the hardest day of the rest of your life, but it is only the first with many more to come." And with that Princess Luna was gone, the stars fading into darkness.
Rainbow Dash did not dream for the rest of the night, for which she was boundlessly grateful.