Cadence was awoken by a loud crash. Before her was a tray of food. Not candy, but hot, steaming greens and hay.
"Morning, Sunshine," Discord said mockingly.
Cadence rubbed her eyes and glanced out the window, seeing that it was dark out. "Have you been messing with the sun again or are you just waking me up real early? And what's with the food?"
The Chaos King shrugged. "Oh, I thought you'd just like to have a little something to eat before your execution."
The princess sat upright in shock. "What?!"
"Of course, every prisoner is entitled to their last meal. I'm not completely heartless."
"But…but…" She gripped her neck. "Execution?"
"Why so surprised? You said so yourself you would rather die than marry me."
"But…I didn't think…"
"That I'd give up so soon? Well, you thought wrong. You see, Princess, once I have the nutcracker in my grasp, I'll have no more use for you. And don't think you can change my mind. You were right when you said I could have any mare in the land, and I've found one who is not only a better candidate for Queen, but surpasses your beauty by infinity."
Cadence blinked. "You're marrying some pony else?"
Discord grinned toothily. "Jealous, Princess? Well, you had your chance, but this ship has sailed!" He glided to the door. "Enjoy your meal, Princess. Did I mention it will be your last?"
Cadence narrowed her eyes. "Whoever this mare is, she'll never love a monster like you!"
He shut the door with a smirk. "We'll see about that."
On his way to the throne room, Discord passed by an open room filled with cloth and sewing equipment, ponies working tiredly on an unfinished gown hanging on a dummy in the room's center.
"Put your backs into it!" he shouted. "My bride deserves only the best!"
"But, your majesty," a yellow mare with a short blue mane squeaked, "I'm not sure how fast we can…"
Discord's eyes flashed red. "Don't talk back to me, Coco Pommel!"
She shrunk back in fear. "But we don't even have her measurements…"
"THEN GUESS!"
"Yes, sir!"
As the mare went back to her sewing machine, Discord turned to Spot who was standing guard.
"Anything from Rainbow Dash?"
The Diamond Dog shook his head. "No, your majesty. I haven't heard the whistle yet."
Discord groaned as he made a watch appear on his wrist. "It's been ten hours! What's taking her so long?!"
"You sure you don't need anything else?" Pinkie Pie asked the nutcracker.
"No, thanks," Shining Armor said, looking back at the heavy bag of sweets Applejack was carrying. "I think we're settled."
"Ya know," Applejack said, "y'all could be valuable assets for when we face Discord. You little fillies have especially good aim!"
"We'll catch up with you later," Pinkie declared. "I think I can convince my sisters to come and help. They're hiding out at the Rock Candy Farm."
"Don't worry," Shining Armor said to the Pies. "We'll get Cheese Sandwich back."
"Oh, I can't wait to see Daddy again!" Raspberry said, bouncing up and down.
"Thank you so much," Fluttershy said, "for everything."
"Aw, it was no problem!" Blueberry exclaimed.
"Well," Rainbow muttered with downcast eyes, "see ya."
The Pies shouted their goodbyes as their friends departed.
"Bye!" Raspberry waved.
"Good luck, guys!" Blueberry called.
"Have fun storming the castle!" Cherry waved.
"Ooh, I love that movie!" Pinkie piped.
The travelers glanced at each other in confusion but then shook their heads, deciding not to question it.
"What a nice family," Sweetie Belle declared.
"Wish I had known about 'em earlier," said Applejack. "The Resistance could've really used 'em."
"We won't need the Resistance anymore after today," Shining Armor claimed.
Rainbow Dash gazed up at the sky. "I thought we agreed we weren't traveling by night. Why didn't we stay with the Pies?"
"That's just what Discord wants us to do: continue resting until morning, which he will never make come."
"Then he'll catch us in our sleep!" Applejack finished. "Or at least catch us off-guard!"
Oh, they're good, Rainbow thought.
It was just as well she hadn't blown the whistle last night. She was going to. She had the whistle at her lips.
The sound of Applejack yawning had stopped her in mid-blow. Rainbow had waited until the rebel had gone quiet before raising the whistle again.
She didn't know what it was that had made her tear the accursed thing off her neck. Maybe it had been the light snoring of the Tri-Pies on the other side of the room, or the sound of Fluttershy turning on her side.
Either way, she just couldn't go through with it. She might have signed her sister's death warrant, but she couldn't betray these ponies that had so far treated her like a friend. Who knows? Perhaps the mission would be successful and the Chaos King would finally be defeated.
"Rainbow Dash!" a voice whispered.
Speak of the Devil, Rainbow thought as she bit her lip.
"Uh…guys?" she called to the others. "I, uh, gotta go!"
Applejack turned back to her in exasperation. "Didn't ya go before we left?"
"Sorry! Ya can't control these things! This'll only take a minute, I swear!"
She quickly dove into the bushes. She raised her hoof and was about to knock the side of her head when Discord saved her the trouble by teleporting in front of her at his full height.
"It's been ten hours since I turned out the lights," he growled, "plenty of time for every pony to fall asleep, and the Diamond Dogs haven't heard a single squeak!"
Rainbow Dash started sweating. "I can explain…"
"My patience is wearing thin, Dashie!"
"No, you see the nutcracker was standing watch and the dolls have that freaky asleep but not asleep thing so the Diamond Dogs wouldn't have been able to sneak…"
"Wait a minute!"
Discord pulled on the front of her leotard and examined her neck.
"Where's your whistle?" he demanded.
Rainbow gulped. "I, uh…"
"WHERE'S YOUR WHISTLE?!"
"Rainbow, are you alright?" Fluttershy's voice called.
"Yeah!" Rainbow called. "I'm fine, just…" She paused and then wailed as if she were in pain. "Oh, boy, is this a hard one to get out or what?"
"Ew!" exclaimed Rarity's voice. "Keep that information to yourself!"
Discord lowered his voice. "Well, where is it?"
"I, um," Rainbow stammered, "lost it."
He scoffed. "What kind of fool do you take me for? I know what's going on. You're having second thoughts about this, aren't you? You're growing attached to these ponies! Am I right?!"
"Well, uh…"
"Go ahead, Dashie. Spit it out."
"I…" She paused and looked boldly up at the Chaos King. "I don't think I can be a part of this anymore."
He sighed as he released her. "I see. Shame. You were such a useful minion. Well, I can't really blame you for your softness. You are a pony, after all. However, if you think this little betrayal isn't going to go unpunished, then you're wrong. Oh, you'll get off scot-free. Your little sister, however…"
"Look! I'll do anything you want! Just please, I don't wanna hurt any pony!"
He laughed. "Well, it's a little late for that! Oh, and do you really think the nutcracker and his motley crew will actually be successful in trying to defeat me?" He patted her head. "My little, naïve Dashie, they can't save your sister, if that's what you think. They don't stand a chance against me. Your choice, Dash. Will it be this group of friends you only just met yesterday or your dear, sweet sister who's counting on you to save her?"
Rainbow Dash glanced back at the bush, as if she could see the ponies on the other side of it.
"They won't be hurt?" she asked weakly.
Discord shrugged. "I can't really say much for the nutcracker, but I assure you, the worst the others will get is hard labor. As for our dear friend Fluttershy…" He smirked. "Well, you could say she'll be treated like a queen."
She raised an eyebrow at this last statement but then sighed and nodded slowly.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Well," Discord said as he tapped his chin. "Since you 'lost' the whistle, we'll have to try something different. My magic won't work on her. Well, I can't teleport her to the castle, anyway, yet somehow I was able to shrink her." He snapped his fingers. "Maybe…if we use a magic the Jewel of Kindness won't suspect, magic that doesn't harm her in any way, magic that is not really mine…"
He snapped his fingers again, this time summoning something in his claw. It was a rose of a very unusual color: blue.
"Give this flower to her," he commanded as he gently handed the rose to Rainbow Dash. "But don't inhale its scent."
"Why?"
"Because doing so will put you into a deep slumber, but only temporarily. Give this to Fluttershy, and when she falls under its spell, take her back to the palace."
Rainbow glanced down guiltily at the rose. "And after I do this…you…you will release Scootaloo?"
Discord grinned as he stooped down to her. "Once I have the Jewel of Kindness, your precious little family will be together once more. Just bring her to me. And there better not be a scratch on her, or I'll put an equal one on you!"
She nodded anxiously. "Understood!"
"Good. Now go. And whatever you do, don't get caught."
With a snap of his fingers, he was gone and Rainbow Dash was left with the deadly blue flower.
"Rainbow Dash?" called Fluttershy's voice.
Rainbow quickly tucked the rose in her leotard and stepped out of the bushes. She looked around and saw that Fluttershy was the only one there.
"Where's every pony else?"
"Applejack didn't want to keep waiting," Fluttershy explained. "So the others decided to scout ahead. I volunteered to wait for you."
Rainbow blinked. "Wow, um…thanks."
"Come on. We should catch up with the others."
The rainbow pony said nothing as she unenthusiastically followed the yellow pegasus. She withdrew the rose from her leotard and gazed at it. Such an innocent-looking object: an appropriate seal to an innocent mare's fate.
She looked back up. "Hey, Fluttershy?"
"Yes?" Fluttershy replied without looking back.
"If your little brother were in trouble, you would do anything to save him, right?"
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing, just…making sure you understand."
Fluttershy stopped in her tracks and turned to her. "Is this about your sister?"
Rainbow bit her lip. "Kinda."
It was just now that Fluttershy noticed the flower. "Oh, my! I've never seen a blue rose before! Where'd you find it?"
"Uh…" Rainbow stammered. "In the bushes! Yeah, I saw it and, um…" She held it out to her. "You want it?"
"Oh, thank you!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she carefully took the rose in her hooves. "Oh, it's so lovely!"
"Give it a sniff. It smells, uh, really good."
Rainbow watched in agony as Fluttershy brought the flower to her face, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Oh, it's so…"
She trailed off as she dropped the flower and her legs gave out beneath her. Rainbow caught her before she could hit the ground.
"I'm sorry, Flutters," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."
"I wonder where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are," Rarity said, looking back at the way she and the others had come.
"I'm tellin' ya," Applejack snorted, "that no-good rainbow pegasus ran off and left Fluttershy waitin' for nothin'!"
"I'm sure they're fine," Shining Armor said. "Still, it's been a while. I'll go back and see if they're alright."
"I don't think that'll be necessary," Sweetie Belle said, pointing up to the sky.
Every pony looked up and gasped when they saw Rainbow Dash zooming past, carrying an unconscious Fluttershy in her hooves.
"Hey!" Applejack hollered. "What are ya doin'?!"
"Fluttershy!" Shining Armor called, attempting to run after them. "Rainbow, what's going on?!"
"Come back here, you!"
But alas, Rainbow was too fast for them and was soon out of sight.
"Where are they going?" Sweetie Belle questioned. "What's Rainbow doing with Fluttershy?"
"What do ya think she's doin'?!" Applejack snapped. "She's takin' Fluttershy to Discord! I told ya she was a spy! I told ya she couldn't be trusted!"
"But…" the young doll sniffed. "She was our friend…"
"She lied!"
"No!" Shining Armor cried, collapsing to his knees. "This is all my fault! I should've stayed with her! I swore to protect her! First Cadence and now Fluttershy!"
"Don't worry," Rarity said, laying a hoof on his shoulder. "We'll rescue her, just like we'll rescue every pony else."
The nutcracker sighed. "But now he'll be expecting us for sure. Not only will Rainbow Dash tell him we're coming, but now he has Fluttershy as bait."
"Not to mention the princess and Applejack's sister and a whole lot of other ponies," Sweetie Belle added. "But I still can't believe that Rainbow would…"
"Forget Rainbow!" Applejack exclaimed. "What matters now is stoppin' that varmint once and for all, so we can get Fluttershy, Cadence, Applebloom and every pony back!"
Shining Armor's eyes narrowed in determination as he stood up. "You're right. We need to do this." He drew his sword and raised it above his head. "For Cadence!"
"And Fluttershy!" Rarity exclaimed.
"And Applebloom!" Applejack shouted.
"And…um…" Sweetie Belle pondered. "For Cheese Sandwich!"
They all cheered as they shot their hooves into the air.
"Now let's go bring that monster down!" Shining Armor commanded.