//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Remix // by Ghost Cobbraaa //------------------------------// A single dull light bulb illuminated Rainbow Dash as she huddled in the corner of the hospital bathroom. Her ruffled mane, damp cheeks, flushed red face, and bloodshot eyes all indicated that she had been crying for quite some time now. She whimpered softly as she wrapped her hooves around her knees in the corner of the room. Pinkie Pie was the owner of a local nightclub known as Sugarcube Corner. She was also an extremely notorious mobster. The pink pony was never 'made' a member of the Apple Family, but she might as well have been. Drugs would be peddled through the nightclub while a small fee ensured that the police would look the other way and pretend they knew nothing. Millions of bits passed through there on a weekly basis. From the nightclub, other gangsters would take the substances and distribute them all around Equestria. It was really amazing how the Apple Family has been turning all of the nation up-side-down for the past thirty years. At the center of all the drug trade was the nightclub which acted as a grand market. Pinkie Pie never actually had anything to do with the sales, but she provided a safe haven for the Apple Family and private rooms for exchanges. More than all of this, however, she was Rainbow Dash's friend. She, along with Applejack, were one of the very few ponies that actually accepted Rainbow Dash. Dash simply scared everypony off; all they ever saw was the ruthless killer, yet Pinkie Pie had stayed as someone that Dash could talk to on lonely days, and drink with on weekend nights. There were many days that the two would just go around town pulling harmless pranks on the population. It was one of the very few times that Rainbow Dash got to laugh, carefree of the world around her. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were never extremely close, but the small amount of companionship that was offered by the pink mare meant a lot to her. And Rainbow Dash thanked her for all the fun they had together with a bullet to the brain. She let out a small whimper. She destroyed Pinkie's life out of her own selfish anger. Rainbow Dash imagined all the memories she had, all the friends she made, the life and all of its beauty that she possessed. Then she imagined another selfish pony coming and taking all of that away from her. That is exactly what she had done. Took the life of a pony out of anger. She really was nothing more then a murderer. It's a feeling that can't really be described in words, the feeling you get when you know that you had destroyed life. No movie nor book could ever describe the feeling. It's hard when you know that you had just had something pure and beautiful in your hoof, and crushed it like a bug. You begin to feel like you owe the world something. Like the crime you had committed could never be redeemed. And it couldn't. Rainbow Dash could go on living her life and enjoy everything that had been given to her, but Pinkie Pie will always be dead. She will never get to see any more of life's joys. Therefore, Rainbow Dash felt as if she didn't deserve any of them either. The saddest part of it all: nopony would ever get to know just how sorry she was. Nopony would ever know that she truly wanted to die, and switch places with Pinkie Pie. All they would ever know is that a monster murdered her companion out of anger. She dug her face into her hooves. Applejack was another issue entirely that also ate away at Rainbow Dash's heart. She had been hit with some shrapnel. The doctors said that she would be alright, but it was just a painful reminder to Dash that she might lose the only thing she had left that kept her clinging to life. It reminded her of how hazardous their job was. Job? Is this a career? She had a career out of taking lives and crushing them like ants, and slowly killing the kingdom of Equestria! What kind of career is that?! Rainbow Dash was contributing to the fall of a once great nation. The world around Dash was burning into ashes. She got up from her huddled position in the corner and stared in the mirror. All she saw was a killer looking back at her. She stared in anger at her own reflection. Her look softened as she thought of Applejack. The orange mare that had comforted her so many times. The love she had for that pony was indescribable. As if being in her embrace was the only thing that would keep her alive. She wiped the tears from her face and brushed some of the dust off of her blue coat before exiting the bathroom. She walked down the hall and past the front desk before turning at room 560. She used one hoof to slowly open the door and peeked her head inside, nervous as to what she might see. "Dash! Where ya been? Ah been missen' ya. It's lonely without my little Dashie to cuddle with." Her voice rang with joy, she smiled widely and closed her eyes as she announced, "An' guess what: they said that the shrapnel weren't nothen' ta worry 'bout. Ah'ma be outta here in two days flat." Rainbow Dash tried to force a smile but couldn't. She walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She needed Applejack right now, yet she felt guilty that she needed comfort. She was guilty because she didn't want to feel sorry for herself when Pinkie was the victim. She had no right to be sorry for herself. Her emotions tore at her heart. All she wanted was to be in Applejack's arms. She rushed over to the bed and climbed in it, careful not to disturb any of the tubes attached to her love. She breathed deeply as she placed her hooves around Applejack and squeezed tightly. Her eyes were closed as she let the sweet scent of Applejack fill her, while she felt her mane being brushed out of her eyes with a gentle hoof. Everything just seemed alright at that moment. When she had somepony to hold her close. "What's wrong, sugarcube?" The voice just sounded soothing and gentle. "I... I just don't want to lose you." The tears began to well up in Rainbow Dash's eyes. "Haha, is that all?" came the amused reply. "Ah told ya, the doctors told me that it ain't nuthen' to worry 'bout. Ah'ma be just fine, okay?" "That's not what I mean." Rainbow tightened her face as she fought to not cry. She let out a few whimpers on accident. "What do you mean, sugar?" Each word just seemed so soothing and gentle, like a mother trying to reassure her baby. Rainbow Dash just lay there with her head buried into Applejack's chest. She thought that question over before she was able to look up into Applejack's eyes. She was met with a gentle smile and eyes that danced with love. "Well.... have you ever wanted to... I dunno. Just, like, run away from all of this? The Family, I mean. And just... get a real job. Maybe, earn a decent living, and have a small house together? Like, normal ponies?" Applejack looked on with confusion. "Sugar, tha's just silly talk. You know Ah'm gonna be the new head of the Family after Granny Smith passes away. What would happen to the Family if ain't nobody was there to run it?" "Why would you want to be the head of all this? Why would you want to be the very thing that's destroying so much?" Rainbow Dash's voice was cold and flat. She gave an equally cold and emotionless stare toward Applejack. A few moments of silence. Applejack grew uncomfortable under Rainbow Dash's challenging gaze. She shifted her weight around and tried to look at something else. But when she returned her eyes, Rainbow Dash was still giving her that gaze. "Look, I know how much you don't like-" "What I want to know is why you don't do anything to stop it!" "Stop what?" "All of this. The drug cartels, the killing, the madness, all of this bullshit!" Rainbow Dash wondered what was going through her lover's mind at that moment. All she wanted now was for the two of them to live together in peace. Away from all the chaos. Applejack sighed and stared out the window. "We're gonna have a good life. Just you wait and see. Ahm'a get us a nice house, and Ah'll make sure that Granny Smith don't force you inta the field no more. You know that I don't want nothin' to happen ta you. I love you." Applejack looked down at the cyan pegasus laying next to her. Her eyes just filled with that love that she had for Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash only returned the look with one of disgust. "This isn't about me. This is about every pony that dies because of the head Family Member's greed for money." She got out of the bed and stood looking down at the wounded earth pony "Ya know, every pony that dies from a gunfight, or a drug overdose, or whatever: there blood is on your hooves. I hope you know that." "Now wait just a minute! I ain't ordering these hits, and I sure as hell ain't forcen' nopony to do drugs." "No. But you watch watch Granny Smith order those hits and you watch ponies buy the drugs and you do nothing to stop it. And I'm just as guilty as you are..." she added somberly before heading to the door. "Dash, please, don't-" "I'll watch Applebloom while you're in here." The voice was flat and dead of emotion. She opened the door, and slowly walked out without casting a backwards glance. Now it was Applejack's turn to cry in guilt. ***** Vinyl sat in the third row of the Ponyville Arts Centre's performing stage. The seats were still getting filled up, and the show was to start in about thirty minutes. One thing Vinyl liked about the demographic of individuals that attended such events was that most of them weren't into dubstep, so the chances of her getting recognized were slim. Vinyl stared at the closed red curtain, trying to picture what Octavia's performance would be like. She figured that she would look as beautiful as ever playing the soft tune. She felt a tap on her back and spun around to see a yellow pony with green eyes, a bright yellow mane, a brown cowboy hat, a jacket, a red apple cutie mark, and a holster with a 1911 handgun tucked inside. "Braeburn! Mah nigga! Wha'ch you doing here?" ********** Rarity sank herself in the bathtub with a deep exhale. Her hooves twitched and she closed her eyes as waves of pleasure tingled through her whole body. She tightened her face and released a deep moan from her lips as she stretched her body as far as she could in the bath tub. "Oh yesssss, darling!" She opened her eyes wide for a few seconds as her lower body shook with pleasure. Spike lifted his head from the water gasping for breath. He looked at Rarity with a blushing face and she smiled with a wink. He inhaled deeply before dipping his head down into the bathtub again and the bursts of pleasure returned to the fashonista. The door to the bathroom slammed open. Rarity quickly jumped and collected herself and stared in shock as the Cutie Mark Crusaders stood looking into the bathroom. Spikes head popped up and stared with a loss of words. "Hi, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle squeaked in delight. "SWEETIE BELL! Close the door and knock next time!" "But we just wanted to know if we could go to Applebloom's house to-" "That's fine, just LEAVE!" Sweetie Bell closed the door immediately upon hearing her sister yell. Rarity could hear the muffled voices of the young fillies behind the door. "What do ya think they were doin'?" "I'm not sure. Spike has been coming here an awful lot lately." "You guys, I think that both of them were..." Scootaloo lowered her voice to a whisper, "having S-E-X." Sweetie Bell and Applebloom let out a gasp. Their hoofsteps grew fainter and fainter until Rarity was sure they were gone. She turned her attention back to the young dragon. "Now, where were we?"