“Come on, girls!” Pinkie cried, striking a heroic pose. “Our mission, should we choose to accept it—which we already did—is to find Rainbow Dash!”
“We know, darling,” Rarity answered, “we were there. Where is that girl, anyway?”
“It’s third period,” Fluttershy whispered, “so she should be in English class.”
“Rainbow Dash, go to class?” Applejack replied sardonically. “I’d bet mah family’s farm that we’ll find her out on the practice field.” A look out the window confirmed her guess, as a familiar rainbow-headed figure kicked a ball past three defenders and a goalie to score a point. "Yep, there she is."
“Really, I don’t know how she gets away with it,” Rarity said, joining Applejack at the window. “The teachers must think that she has nine periods of gym per day.”
“Yeah, her and that Bulk Biceps fella,” Applejack added. "Well, time's a-wasting."
The group glanced around to make sure there were no teachers or hall monitors watching, then left the school by a nearby side door. With the coast clear, they hurried over to the soccer field, where Rainbow had just performed an admittedly impressive sliding tackle to take control of the ball once again.
They waited a few moments for a break in play. As soon as someone kicked the ball out of bounds, Pinkie called out Rainbow Dash’s name. Fluttershy did as well, though not even the girls standing next to her heard.
Rainbow looked over and spotted them. With a water bottle in hand, she trotted over to join them.
“If you’re here to talk me into helping the Dazzlings,” she cut in before any of the others had a chance to speak, “then forget it. They don’t deserve anything from us or anyone else.” She unscrewed the cap of her water bottle and took a deep drink.
“Rainbow Dash, they’re desperate,” Rarity pleaded. “More than desperate, they’re quite literally dying. One of them looks like she could go at any minute.”
“Why should I care?” Rainbow demanded.
“They’re dyin’ because of what we did,” Applejack told her. “Ah dunno about you, but I don’t think I could sleep right anymore if I knew that three girls were dead because of me.”
“We were protecting everyone,” Rainbow spat back. “They were evil monsters. We’re heroes!”
“Sunset Shimmer used to be ‘evil,’” Rarity countered, “and now you two are the best of friends!”
“Sunset was sorry for what she did,” Rainbow argued. “I haven’t heard an apology out of any of the sirens, have you? They’re just going to take what they need and go right back to their old tricks. It’s what they do.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Fluttershy said. “The one with the ponytail seems really nice.”
“Seems nice?!” Rainbow slammed down her water bottle, spilling the contents out onto the grass. “So you’re going to risk all of CHS to help these evil witches because one of them seems nice?!”
“Uh, girls?” Applejack pointed out to the field, where everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the argument. “Maybe we wanna take this someplace a bit more private.”
“What for?” Rainbow huffed, thankfully more quietly. “I said the world was better off without them, and I meant it. There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Please, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy hit her with the saddest eyes she could muster. “Please at least come with us and talk it over?”
Rainbow met her eyes as long as she could, but eventually groaned and adjusted her hair uncomfortably. “Alright, alright, jeez, I’ll hear you out.” She turned back to the field and waved to catch the teacher’s attention. “Hey, coach! I gotta go take care of something, I’ll be right back!” Not waiting for an answer, she joined her friends in walking back toward the school. “This had better be good,” she said angrily.
With her letter to Twilight written and sent, Sunset Shimmer went back to check on the sirens. As she approached the practice room, she noticed that the door was slightly ajar. That was strange, since she was certain she’d closed it behind her. She could faintly hear voices from inside.
“Will you use your empty head for once in your life?” Aria appeared to have recovered from her fainting spell. “Think about what’s happening here.”
“Umm… the Rainbooms agreed to help us?” Sonata sounded puzzled. “Well, most of them did. They’re going to get the others and fix our hearts for us! Isn't that great?”
Sunset knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but she had to know what was going on. She crept up next to the door so she could hear more clearly.
“Yes, but how are they going to help us?” Aria demanded. “They use Equestrian magic. How is that even possible? And Princess Twilight? There aren’t any princesses around here, but there sure are back in Equestria.”
“Not a Princess Twilight, though,” Sonata’s voice answered. “Only Celestia and Luna.”
“What about that pegasus filly? The pink one with the ridiculous name.”
“Oh, right, I forgot about her. Still her name wasn’t Twilight Sparkle.”
“My point is, it wouldn’t be the first time that there was a new princess. Now it looks like there’s a Princess Twilight too. These girls somehow use Equestrian magic, and they’re asking for help from an Equestrian princess.”
Sunset, unable to resist, put her eye up to the crack and saw Aria, who was still lying on the ground, gripping Sonata’s collar with the tiny amount of strength she had left.
“There is a portal to Equestria somewhere around here,” Aria growled, “and we need to find it.”
“Aria, please,” Sonata reached down to take her angry friend’s hand, “don’t cause any trouble. If the Rainbooms decide we’re not worth it, we’re finished.”
Sunset had heard enough. Sonata seemed to be toeing the line, but obviously she needed to keep a closer eye on the other two. She opened the door and stepped inside, as if she had only now gotten back.
“Princess Twilight’s on her way,” she said as she closed the door behind her. I hope. “How are you three… holding… oh no.” As she looked into the room, Sunset’s heart stopped and her stomach fell down to her feet. “Sonata,” she asked weakly, “where is Adagio?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head angrily. “I promised I’d hear you out,” she said with her arms folded and her eyebrows furrowed, "but I've heard it all before. The Dazzlings are dying. It's our fault. We need to help them." She opened her eyes and glared at nothing in particular. “It’s that last one that I still don’t agree with. And,” she added as Pinkie started to open her mouth, “I know that we gave Sunset Shimmer a second chance, but these three haven’t even said that they want one. They just want to survive so that they can keep hurting everyone around them.”
Rainbow looked around at her friends. Applejack’s angry stare, Rarity’s shocked expression, Pinkie’s downcast face and slightly flattened hair, and Fluttershy’s teary eyes. Her stomach twisted with guilt, but she knew that she was right, especially when nobody answered her. “Cool. Are we done here?”
“They are,” a silky voice joined their conversation. “I’m not.”
The others looked up in surprise to see Adagio Dazzle swaggering toward their group.
“You got something to say to me, too?” Rainbow demanded.
“Actually,” Adagio answered, “I have a present for you.” She reached into the pocket of her hoodie and pulled something from it, presenting the handle to Rainbow. “Go on, take it.”
Rainbow Dash looked down and her eyes went wide. “That’s a knife!” her voice cracked in her surprise. “Are you threatening me?” The others swiftly moved between the siren and their friend.
Adagio rolled her eyes. “Yes, Rainbow Dash, I’m threatening you with the hilt of a knife.”
“What’s this about?” Rarity asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“I’m making things easier for everyone,” Adagio replied. Silence and blank stares were her only answer. “What, you don’t believe me?”
“No, we don’t!” Pinkie shouted at her.
“Just what’re you up to?” Applejack asked.
“Rainbow Dash here has given us a death sentence,” Adagio explained, still holding the knife. “I’m just asking her to carry it out herself.”
“What?!” Rainbow squeaked, backing away from the knife as if it had snapped at her. “You’re crazy!”
“‘This world would be better off without them,’ isn’t that what you said?” Adagio pressed her. “You’d be doing me a favor, really. Do you have any idea how painful it is to starve to death? You can end it yourself, right here, right now.”
Rainbow Dash, the blood draining from her face, desperately looked at her friends for help. They all seemed as shocked by the sudden turn of events as she was.
“What?” Adagio refused to back down. “No snappy comeback? No bickering? Well, if you really do stand by what you said before, I suppose there’s nothing to argue about. Just take the knife.” She craned her head back, exposing her throat. “I’d appreciate it if you went for the neck. That should be the quickest way to kill me. It’s a whole lot more merciful than what you’re doing now.”
"I... I..." Rainbow's insides twisted around until thought she might be sick. Adagio was as good as calling her a murderer. Even worse, Rainbow couldn't find a way to say that she was wrong.
“Alright, that is way more than enough,” Applejack finally found her voice. “Rainbow’s got some doubts about helping y’all, and ah can’t say I blame her.” She turned to look at her friend, whose normally blue coloring had gone ghostly white. “Rainbow Dash, don’t you listen to her. We’ll work this out without any 'help' from the Dazzlings.”
Rainbow Dash tried to moisten her throat, but couldn’t get any words out. She felt so cold, yet her ears were burning. That was weird, wasn't it? And why were her hands tingling like they were asleep?
“What’s this?” Adagio asked coyly. “Could it be that, despite what you’re trying to tell yourself, you don’t want us to die after all? Is there some part of you that believes we deserve to live?” She narrowed her eyes. “Or are you just too much of a coward to take responsibility for our deaths?”
Applejack lunged forward and took hold of Adagio’s arm, angrily tearing the knife from her hand. “Rarity? Gimme a hand here.” She handed off the knife to Rarity, who hid it inside her handbag. Between the two of them they marched Adagio back into the school, leaving Pinkie and Fluttershy with a badly shaken Rainbow Dash.
“Dashie?” Pinkie called quietly. “Yoo-hoo!” She waved a hand in front of her friend’s wide, staring eyes.
“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy laid a caring hand on her friend’s back. “Don’t listen to Adagio.”
She didn’t respond. Fluttershy could feel the poor girl trembling under her hand.
“Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy tried again. "Are you okay?”
Rainbow staggered a few steps away, leaning on the building for support. Without warning, she suddenly bent over and vomited.
Applejack furiously kicked open the door to the practice room open and threw Adagio inside.
“That,” she said through gritted teeth, “was low. Real low.”
“What happened?” Sunset shot up to her feet.
“Oh no, Adagio, what did you do?” Sonata moaned.
Adagio smirked “I brought the last of the Rainbooms around, that’s all,” she said. “It turns out that she didn’t want to murder us after all. Girls, we’ll have our hearts back in no time.”
“Oh, goodness!” Nurse Redheart exclaimed as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie came into her office with Rainbow half-walking, half-carried between them. “What happened?”
Rainbow Dash had needed someplace safe to go. Since Rarity and Applejack would presumably take Adagio back to the practice room to keep an eye on her, they’d decided to take Rainbow to the nurse’s office instead.
“We’re not quite sure,” Fluttershy said to Redheart. “She was playing soccer, and she just suddenly got sick.”
“Poor thing, you’re white as a sheet.” Redheart clucked her tongue and laid a hand gently against Rainbow’s forehead. “She doesn’t feel feverish, but I’ll take her temperature just to be sure. Can you make it over to the bed, dear?”
Rainbow nodded and allowed her friends to help her across the room.
“Do you need me to call your parents?” Redheart asked. “You shouldn’t be in school if you're sick.”
“Nah,” Rainbow said with as much strength as she could muster, “just need to lie down. I just… got dizzy for a minute.”
“Well, no worries, we’ll take good care of you,” Redheart reassured her. “Thank you for bringing her, girls, now you’d better get back to class.”
Rainbow reached out and caught Fluttershy’s hand. Fluttershy looked over in surprise to see her friend staring up with pained eyes, silently begging them not to leave her alone.
“Oh, I have… um… lunch, right now,” Fluttershy stammered. “I’d like to stay with her, if that’s okay with you.”
Nurse Redheart looked at the clock and lifted her eyebrows, and Fluttershy immediately realized her mistake: there was no lunch during third period.
“Um,” she squeaked.
“It’s alright,” Nurse Redheart said. “You can stay for a little while, at least through the end of ‘lunch.’” She winked at Fluttershy. “Miss Pie? What about you?”
Pinkie looked at Rainbow clutching Fluttershy’s hand. Her rainbow-haired friend was in the best hands possible, and there might be more trouble with the other sirens. Besides, there was something else, something super-duper important that she had to do.
“Oh!” Pinkie said as if remembering something, “I have to, uh, go and… do-the-thing-at-the-place, bye!” She exited as quickly as Trixie pulling a disappearing act. Nurse Redheart shook her head and opened a cabinet, rummaging through it for whatever supplies she thought might be needed.
With Pinkie gone and Nurse Redheart occupied, Fluttershy pulled a chair next to Rainbow’s bed and held her friend’s hand in both of her own. “Rainbow Dash?” she whispered, hopefully quietly enough that the nurse wouldn’t hear. “What’s the matter? Is it what that awful siren said to you?”
“It's the fact that she's right, Flutters,” Rainbow said faintly. “If I don’t help, that’s as good as me taking that knife and killing her myself.”
Fluttershy shook her head and squeezed Rainbow’s hand, gently brushing a thumb across the back of it. “Don't you believe that for a second. She was just trying to upset you.”
“Well, it worked!”
"Shh. It's alright." Fluttershy softly stroked her shaken friend’s hair. “Whatever you end up deciding to do, make sure that you do it because you think it’s right. Don’t help just because someone bullied you into doing it.” Maybe that was a bit hypocritical, Fluttershy thought privately, but she wasn’t feeling especially kindly toward the sirens just then.
Rainbow convulsively clutched Fluttershy’s hand, forcing the timid girl to bite back a whimper. Understanding her friend's need, Fluttershy leaned down and pulled Rainbow Dash into a hug. To her surprise, Rainbow—who was normally too proud to show any kind of weakness—gratefully laid her head against Fluttershy’s shoulder and held her tightly.
“I can’t do it,” Rainbow whispered into Fluttershy’s ear after a long moment. Fluttershy gently rubbed her friend’s back, silently offering what strength she could. “I can’t let the Dazzlings die,” Rainbow continued. “It’s not because they scared me into it or anything, it’s just that Adagio really was right. I'm the one who's always supposed to be there for people. There's no way I could live with myself knowing that I’d as good as killed them.”
Fluttershy murmured soothing words as she held her shaken friend, realizing with surprise that Nurse Redheart had left at some point without either of them noticing. Whatever the reason, she was grateful for the privacy and was certain that Rainbow would be as well.
Rainbow Dash stayed there in her arms until Fluttershy’s warmth stopped her trembling and brought some color back to her face. After a few long minutes, she finally pulled away and took a deep breath. “Okay," she said. "I’m ready.”