THE YEAR WITHOUT SAPPHIRE
PART 3
"Do you think it was the dark horn?" Snowbreeze asked curiously as Fairweather paced back and forth while Bluesteel placed a hoof on his chin looking deep in thought.
"No, its too subtle and besides, the dark horn likes to handle its assassinations personally to make sure there are no mistakes." Fairweather remarked aloud and sighed.
"You call that, subtle?! If I were still standing where I was, that thing would have blown my right front and hind legs off!" Snowbreeze exclaimed in disbelief as she pointed a hoof at the smoldering check-in desk as ponies continued to put out the fires.
"Trust me, kid. We're looking into every possible lead right now on who the possible assassin could be." Fairweather replied calmly.
"Do you think it could be a dark horn sympathizer or maybe somepony who openly supports what the dark horn is doing?" Dr. Doodle asked curiously.
"Naturally that's we thought as well. The very best of the M.P.D. is looking into that as we speak. If there are any supporters out there, they will be brought in for questioning." Fairweather replied calmly once more.
"If you ask me, you should just save yourself the trouble and lock them all up." Snowbreeze added bitterly.
"We can't just go about throwing ponies in jail for supporting the dark horn's ideals, Snowbreeze." The mare replied simply. "If we did that then we would be no different than them."
The Pegasus refused to accept this answer though. "Whatever. While you guys are sitting here doing nothing, I'm going to go out and do a little detective work of my own." She said aloud as she walked towards the door only for Dr. Doodle to rush in front of her to halt the filly.
"Kid, that's not the best of ideas." The donkey said in a worried tone.
"Why not?" Snowbreeze retorted angrily.
"Naturally, everypony knows that your best friends with Sapphire. You're the second target they will most likely be after to get to her once they realize their first attempt to kill her failed." Fairweather reasoned.
"Big whoop! I took care of myself for three years before I met Sapphire, I can do it again for a few hours." Snowbreeze countered.
"Yes but you didn't have the dark horn or its supporters after you then either." Fairweather remarked much to Snowbreeze's annoyance.
Snowbreeze then turned to look at the elder Pegasus. "Tell me then, what were you doing just after your parents got killed by the dark horn?" She asked with a mild glare.
Upon hearing this, the Pegasus bit her lower lip with a nervous look at Snowbreeze for a brief time before she sighed in defeat. "I was all over town trying to find clues as to who killed them." She said softly.
"You're a real hypocrite, you know that?" Snowbreeze remarked with a glare before she darted past Dr. Doodle and out the door.
"You're not going to stop her?" Dr. Doodle asked curiously as he watched the filly through the hospital window, trot a few feet away from the hospital, spread her wings, and take off for the skies.
"Huh, what do you know? She pinned the tail right on the donkey." Fairweather remarked aloud with a wry smile only to hear an annoyed "nee-haw!" sound emitting from the doctor who gave her an annoyed look.
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Sapphire landed in the city streets as the sun began to set, sat on her rump, and rubbed her sore wings. "Stupid wings…" She remarked aloud taking note of what Dr. Doodle had told her roughly two days ago.
"Look, kid, there's something you need to know about your wings." The doctor said as Snowbreeze began to take off the bandages.
"Yeah, I know I banged them up pretty bad but I'll be flying in no time. In fact, I was thinking about stretching them out after I left the room." She replied dismissively though the doctor's face was much more grave than she cared to realize.
"Yeah, about them. Look, you're going to notice that they aren't as durable as they used to be." He remarked as he tried to choose his words carefully.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The Pegasus asked with a confused look.
"I almost couldn't save them, kid. It was only thanks to the advice of a 'wings specialist' in the hospital that you're even able to open them now." He said calmly though his expression still remained grave.
"I don't get it." Snowbreeze replied, still looking confused. "You fixed them right?"
"Yes but here's the facts, kid." The donkey said and sighed. "You break those wings one more time and there'll be no saving them. Me and the wing specialist had to use some pretty sketchy techniques to make them even usable." He said as he sat down to his rump and sighed once more.
"Uh, how sketchy?" Snowbreeze asked uneasily.
"Without going into the grim details, we used something they called 'Artificial' wing marrow, a few spells from a unicorn doctor to meld the stuff into your wing bones and joints, and prayed to Luna it worked once we were finished." He said calmly.
Snowbreeze gave one last look at her wings before she sighed aloud depressingly once more. She was grateful for them saving her wings but she was quick to realize what he meant exactly by "not as durable as they used to be". She could no longer break fifty miles per hour in a straightaway flight without her wings feeling as if somepony had took sledgehammers to them nor could she fly for more than twelve hours straight without them giving off a similar feeling.
She tried.
"Breezie?" A familiar voice said though she couldn't place a face with it until she looked to her left and gasped.
"Beaky?!" She exclaimed in disbelief as the jet black Pegasus with a red mane and flaming star cutiemark.
The two Pegasi at once let out joyful cries as she rushed up to one another hugged and locked lips with one another. Much to the mild surprise of Snowbreeze who looked at him with a mild blush once the kiss had ended. "Heh, wow. I didn't expect that." Snowbreeze remarked aloud in mild shock.
"Oh come on, how could you not?! Its not like we haven't done more than that!" He replied with a knowing smirk which made Snowbreeze blush even more so. "So, wanna come to my place? I bet we can find something to pass the time." He added with a wider smirk if possible.
"Really, Beaky? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were wanting some." Snowbreeze replied with a smirk as she playfully slugged the colt on the shoulder.
"What can I say? I've been with plenty of mares but none of them compare to you." He flirted with a smirk.
Upon hearing this, Snowbreeze rolled her eyes in annoyance at the less than pleasant memories. "You're just trying to butter me up so you can rut me." She remarked aloud irritably before she turned away from the colt and began to walk away.
"Aw come on Breezie! You know none of those mares meant anything to me!" He exclaimed defensively as he rushed in front of her and stopped her as he placed a hoof on her cheek.
"Yeah well, you could have mentioned one of the qualifications to becoming an Ironwing for the fillies was you rutting them all night Ironbeak." Snowbreeze remarked bitterly as the unpleasant memories she had kept suppressed for years were rushing to the front of her mind no matter how much she tried to ignore them.
"I thought you knew!" Ironbeak replied with an innocent yet guilty expression.
"You bucking knew I didn't know, Beaky! Why else did you always make sure I was away when the new female recruits came to your house for their 'interview'!" Snowbreeze snapped angrily at the colt as she turned and slugged him hard on the shoulder much harder this time.
"Alright, I bucked up, okay? I admit it! But Breezie, I wasn't lying when I said I loved you." He said as he placed a hoof on her cheek and rubbed it affectionately.
Snowbreeze's eyes slowly trailed along her old flame's foreleg and to their hoof as she slowly placed her own hoof on it and began to rub it affectionately. An unsure feeling overcoming the Pegasus as she looked at him directly in the eyes now.
"Come on, Breezie. Give me another chance. I'm a changed colt now. Why do you think I'm here in a town full of Leadhoofs and Spikeheads? Me and a few of your old buddies wanted to make a fresh start here. Make an honest living, you know?" Ironbeak said with a serious expression as he looked at her.
"Alright but lets take it slow this okay? I don't wanna end up with your dick inside me for at least a few months, got it?" The Pegasus said, still not sure about this but her love for her old flame was most likely overriding her better judgement and though she knew this, she walked with him back to his place.
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"You two did it no sooner you got back to his place, did you?" Sapphire asked with a cheesy grin which caused Snowbreeze's face to go red as a cherry. "Ha! I knew it!" She exclaimed enthusiastically as she pointed a hoof at her friend.
Snowbreeze gently shoved the Alicorn's hoof to the side as she gave her an annoyed glare. "Cut me some slack, okay?! I hadn't had any in three years and then the colt who I had been dating for like two years and was deeply in love with waltzes back into my life and practically begs me to give him another chance. What would you do?" She replied defensively.
"I don't know. I'm still a virgin remember? I have no idea how it feels to be rutted so I'm kind of in the dark on what would drive you to bang him less than an hour after you run into him again." Sapphire replied with a light blush of her own.
"It wasn't less than an hour later!" Snowbreeze snapped angrily until her face resumed its previous expression with the same cherry red blush. "It was two…" She muttered.
Upon hearing this, the Alicorn burst out laughing at her friend's expense for a time before she finally managed to quell her laughter. "You can skip over the details on that though okay?" She said between soft giggles though she had a mild sense of uneasy in her voice which Snowbreeze picked up on.
"Aw, don't you wanna know how he made me scream his name as he slammed my-mmph,mmph!" Snowbreeze began to say only for Sapphire to jam her hoof into the Pegasus's mouth. "Three letters, Snowbreeze. T-M-I!" She exclaimed sternly, her blush just as red as Snowbreeze's was a few moments ago, much to the amusement of her friend who yanked her hoof out and had her own bout of laughter at the Alicorn's expense.
"Okay, I'll skip over the details to spare your innocent virgin ears." Snowbreeze said aloud mockingly with a grin much to Sapphire's annoyance. "Besides, he kind of pulled a jerk move anyways." She explained with a sour face at the memory.
"What kind?" Sapphire asked curiously.
"He uh… well…" Snowbreeze began to say only to mutter the following through Sapphire understood every word.
"No way!" Sapphire exclaimed as she slammed a hoof over her mouth in shock.
"Way." Snowbreeze replied as she continued to tell her story.
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Snowbreeze's eyes fluttered open wearily, the wonderful events of last night soon coming back to the front of her mind. It was then that she realized she was alone in Ironbeak's bed. All too soon, another fact soon became apparent as she attempted to sit up. "Hold up a second, that doesn't feel right." Snowbreeze remarked aloud worriedly as she threw the blankets off to get a clearer look at the "unclean feeling". Upon further inspection, the Pegasus's eyes widened in panic as she snapped her gaze to the end table next to Ironbeak's bed taking note of a small unopened square package.
SON OF A-(Buy some apples!)
These words seemingly rang out across the city followed by the sound a very pissed off Pegasus rushing to the nearest pharmacy.
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"You bucking jerk! You faked putting on the condom!" Snowbreeze roared at the top of her lungs once she found Ironbeak talking with his friends.
"Hey, I didn't hear you complaining. In fact, I remember you saying: Give me all of it Beaky!" He replied as he attempted to make a fake version of her voice during his impression of her much to the amusement of his friends who laughed at this.
"You know that wasn't what I meant!" Snowbreeze snapped as she slugged him hard in the shoulder. "By the way, you owe fifty bits for the morning after pill!" She added with a glare at him.
"Aw, come on Breezie! We had fun didn't we?" He said as she attempted to place a hoof on her cheek only for the filly to swat it away and turn away from him.
"You haven't changed at all, Beaky. I have to be a special kind of stupid to even think you had." Snowbreeze remarked aloud bitterly as she walked away.
"Ooh! She's walking away!" one of the stallions jeered.
"Shut the buck up, featherflank!" Ironbeak snapped at his friend before he rushed over to Snowbreeze to cut her off.
"Okay, Okay! I bucked up again, alright?! I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind!" He exclaimed defensively.
Snowbreeze's eyes flashed with anger upon hearing these words. "Didn't think I'd mind? What the buck would make you think that I'd want to end up pregnant?!" She exclaimed at him.
"Don't you remember, Breezie? We talked about it all the time back in New Cloudsdale." He said softly as he ran a hoof along her cheek once more only she didn't swat it away this time.
"That was three years ago, Beaky." Snowbreeze remarked aloud and sighed, her anger subsiding now as she looked at him.
"Okay, Okay! I'll make sure to ask you next time, alright?" He said as Snowbreeze narrowed her eyes at him.
"What makes you think there will be a next time?" She asked as she gently lowered his hoof from her cheek and walked past him.
"Breezie! Come on babe! Don't make me beg you to stay because you know I'll do it for only you!" He exclaimed desperately which caused the Pegasus to halt in her tracks and look back to see him on his hind knees with his forehooves clamped together in a begging gesture.
Snowbreeze looked at the colt for a few moments longer before she sighed aloud in defeat. "Fine. one more chance, Beaky. You buck this up and I'm walking away for good." She said aloud sternly as she walked up to him as he stood to all four hooves, leaned in and locked lips with her.
"You won't regret it Breezie, I promise!" Ironbeak exclaimed after they broke the kiss.
Snowbreeze had half a mind to make him Pinkie Pie Promise but she knew that the gesture meant nothing to him so it was pointless to ask. "Alright, so what were you featherbrained nitwits talking about before I blew up at Beaky?" Snowbreeze asked as the two walked back over to the others.
"Oh! Glad you asked, Breezie! You're gonna love this! See, we found out who ratted out that stallion about serving you the lame drink!" Ironbeak exclaimed excitedly.
At once the memory of witnessing the earth pony being burned alive came to the front of her mind and played out before her eyes like a live action movie. "Wh-What about it?" Snowbreeze stuttered slightly as she fought the urge to break down in tears over the memory here and now.
"Okay, so get this. Me and the boys were thinking of getting a little… payback." Ironbeak replied much to the shock of the filly who looked at him apprehensively.
"Payback for what? They didn't do anything to you." Snowbreeze reasoned.
"No but they did to that stallion and by extension to you as well. See, that leadhoof, Luna bless the poor sap, could of turned ya in but he didn't! Yeah, we were there too and we saw everything. Course we didn't know they were talking about you until you stepped up on that stage during that Fairweather mare's speech." He explained much to the surprise of the filly.
"You aren't going to hurt them, are you?" Snowbreeze asked apprehensively.
"Just their wallets." Ironbeak replied smugly as he and his friends gave light laughs. "So, we were wondering if you wanted a piece of the action?" He asked curiously which caused Snowbreeze to back away slightly.
"What happened to that 'new life' you said you and your buddies were making for yourselves when you came here?" Snowbreeze asked as she narrowed her eyes at the colt.
"Oh yeah, we are trying to make an honest living, Breezie. Really, we are!" He said as he gestured to his friends who agreed with him. "Its just that its not cutting it as much as we'd like, you know?" He added.
"And what makes you think that I'm not going to turn around and turn you into the authorities?" Snowbreeze asked threateningly to the group.
"Breezie, Breezie, Breezie. I know you won't turn in a fellow Ironwing. Remember our credo?" He asked as he ran a hoof along her neck.
"Once an Ironwing, always an Ironwing. Through even the darkest of nights, the stormiest of days, the Ironwings will be there for one another… Always." Snowbreeze remembered aloud and sighed. "Alright fine, I'm in. We're only going to rob them blind, right?" She asked uneasily.
"Of course, Breezie!" Ironbeak replied before he locked lips with her. "You don't even have to go inside. Me and boys will handle everything! That way you can warn us ahead of time if the cops show up and get out first if things get dicey." He added once he broke the kiss with her.
"Aw come on, Ironbeak! Why doesn't she ever have to get her hooves dirty? It's always been like this, we do a gig and she gets to sit outside with the best chance to run off when we're stuck trying to get away with our wings intact!" One of the other colts complained.
"My babe never gets her hooves dirty! You got that reggie?!" Ironbeak exclaimed as he walked up to the Pegasus and jabbed him hard in the upper chest.
"Alright, Alright! No need to get all physical with me about it!" The Pegasus replied uneasily.
"Alright everypony, we hit the place at midnight so be ready!" Ironbeak exclaimed as he looked to the group and began to go over the plan.
"Oh wow, did you actually go through with it?" Sapphire asked as she looked over the cards she was not holding. "Got any threes?" She asked.
"Go fish." Snowbreeze remarked with a smirk which caused Sapphire to reluctantly draw a card. "And I'm getting to that. Course, if it wasn't for Pinkie Pie, things might have turned out a little differently." She said as she continued telling her story.
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The moon hung high in the sky as the soft flapping of wings could be barely heard along the streets of Manehatten and even though Snowbreeze had agreed to this, she couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole thing. Three years ago, she wouldn't have given it a second thought. Just another gig as she and her fellow Ironwings would be doing almost every week but now, after all the time she had spent with Sapphire, helping so many ponies who had been living in poverty or worse who were victim to the very thing she was about to do on a daily basis, made this feel very wrong to her.
"Hey, Beaky? You sure we gotta do this? Why don't we just report them to the police and let them handle it?" Snowbreeze asked aloud nervously as the group stood outside the house while Reggie began to carefully pick at the door's keyhole.
"You aren't getting cold hooves now, are you Breezie?" Ironbeak whispered as he looked back at her.
"No! Well, maybe a little but this just feels wrong, you know?" Snowbreeze replied uneasily.
Ironbeak put a hoof to the Pegasus's cheek, leaned in, and kissed her deeply before he looked at her with a dead serious expression. "I know this isn't the life you're used to anymore, Breezie. I mean, if i traveled around with that Alicorn and did half the good stuff you've done for those ponies, I would probably be feeling like you are right now." He said softly as he rubbed her cheek gently.
A soft click rang out as the sound of the door to the house creaking open caused the two to look over at Reggie. "It's open, Ironbeak." He whispered.
"Alright, get in there and start looting the place, I'll be with you guys in a moment." He instructed to his group who nodded and silently hovered inside the house.
He then turned to face Snowbreeze once more. "This isn't about right or wrong, Breezie. It's about Karma. These leadhoofs may not have burned that stallion alive but they may as well have by ratting him out to those unicorns in black. And you know what they say about bad Karma right?" He asked with a smirk.
"It always comes back to bite you in the haunches." Snowbreeze replied allowing a smile to wash over her face now as the two bumped hooves.
"Glad to know you're on board now, Breezie. And don't worry, this is the only gig I'm taking you with on since it involves you personally. I know you're trying to make an new start with that friend of yours and you've done a lot of good. The last thing I want is the Alicorn's best friend behind bars." He remarked warmly before he turned around and walked back into the house to join his fellow Ironwings.
The Pegasus was now alone, the faint sounds of clattering the only thing she could hear coming from within the house as she looked about nervously for any signs of the cops.
"Freeze!" A voice exclaimed which caused the Pegasus to launch ten feet into the air only to hear a snorting laughter coming from the same voice at which point she looked behind herself and glared at the prank by the pink mare.
"What the buck is your problem, Pinkie?!" Snowbreeze hissed angrily at the party mare who looked genuinely confused as to why she was ticked off at her.
"Geez, you're awfully jumpy for a pony who's going to a slumber party." Pinkie Pie remarked curiously.
Upon hearing this, Snowbreeze's hoof collided with her forehead and let out a groan. "This must be some kind of act. There's no way in Tartarus that you can be this dumb and be the element of laughter." Snowbreeze remarked aloud dismally before she placed her hoof back on the ground and stared at the pink mare.
"Hey! That's rude to say you know!" Pinkie Pie retorted with a look of mild annoyance now.
"Well it's true! Why else would you think that a group of ponies breaking into a house to rob them in the dead of night is some kind of slumber party!" Snowbreeze retorted with a glare at the pink pony.
It took a few moments for what she had said to sink in but once it had, the Pegasus was in for a mild shock as the pink mare leapt literally five feet off the ground with an overly exaggerated gasp. "Robbing innocent ponies in wrong! You need to go get the police ponies and bring these meanie-pants to justice!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed firmly her humorous go-lucky attitude all but vanishing as she looked at Snowbreeze.
Snowbreeze scoffed at the "innocent ponies" remark as she pointed a hoof at the house. "The ponies that live in that house are far from innocent, Pinkie! They're responsible for ratting out that stallion who served me that bad drink at the cafe!" Snowbreeze retorted angrily. " If it weren't for them, he would still be alive! They deserve this!"
"Wait a second!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she seemed to be peering straight into the Pegasus's eyes until her mane suddenly deflated. "Y-You're working with them? How could you hurt innocent ponies like this? This doesn't make ponies smile." She asked softly, tears forming in her eyes as she spoke.
Upon hearing this, Snowbreeze sighed aloud. "Look, I know two wrongs don't make a right, Okay?! But those ponies are getting what they deserve and besides, we're only robbing them blind, not hurting them." Snowbreeze replied in an attempt to beat back the little voice in her head that told her this was wrong no matter how much she told herself it wasn't.
"Really? Then why did one of those ponies bring a sling-shot with pointy things?" Pinkie Pie asked curiously.
The second Snowbreeze heard this, she charged into the house just in time to see Ironbeak pointing a slingshot armed with a very sharp piece of metal at the two sleeping ponies. "What the buck are you doing, Beaky?! You only said you were going to rob them, not hurt them!" Snowbreeze exclaimed aloud which woke up the mare and stallion much to the dismay of the group.
"Blast it all! Tie them up, Reggie!" Ironbeak ordered as he lowered the slingshot while Reggie and the others quickly overwhelmed the two ponies, tied them up, and placed them against the wall while Ironbeak forcefully dragged Snowbreeze into the other room.
"Let go of me!" Snowbreeze exclaimed only to be slammed against the wall hard by the colt.
"Breezie! Listen to me! These ponies don't deserve to live!" Ironbeak shouted fiercely into the filly's face as he pointed a hoof at the quivering couple.
Snowbreeze looked to the couple and then back to Ironbeak. "Two wrongs don't make a right, Beaky. Besides, you only said you were going to rob them, not kill them!" Snowbreeze shouted back into Ironbeak's face.
"Because I knew you'd react like this if I told you straight out what the plan was! You never understand! That's why I didn't tell you about the female recruits!" Ironbeak roared back as he slammed a hoof into the wall, a little too close to Snowbreeze's head for her own comfort which filled her with a sense of fear that Ironbeak took note of in the filly's eyes as he looked at her.
Upon seeing this, colt closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and finally let out a sigh. "Look, Breezie. I'm sorry I was a bit rough with you." He said softly as he backed away from the filly and sighed once more as he sat down in front of her. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get your hooves dirty. But this isn't just about Karama, Breezie. Those ponies ratted you out, they ratted out my babe for bits. I couldn't just sit back and let them go unpunished." He said softly as he looked at her.
"Killing them won't make things right, Beaky." Snowbreeze remarked softly as she kneeled down and placed a hoof on his cheek.
"You're right." He said as he stood up and looked his lover in the eyes. "Me killing them won't make things right but you killing them will." He said softly as he placed the sling-shot into the filly's hoof.
"Wh-What?" Snowbreeze asked aloud as she stared at the slingshot for a time then back to Ironbeak.
"This is something only you can do. I thought I could do it for you but now that I think about it, me killing them wouldn't bring you closer." He said as he gently ushered her into the room to the couple who looked at her in fear. "Do it, Breezie. Make them pay for taking that stallion's life." He said calmly while the other Pegasi looked at her.
Snowbreeze looked at the couple who looked back at her, terror and fear in their faces. It was then that the memory of the stallion came back to her mind as she looked at them.
The stallion looked to the crowd back and forth each time his gaze stopped on the Pegasus, Snowbreeze took a sharp breath expecting him to point her out but he hadn't yet despite the fact he had stopped to look straight at her in the crowd three times already. "Our patience grows thin, earth pony! Do you see them or not?!" The unicorn exclaimed at which point the stallion's gaze stopped dead on Snowbreeze much to her horror.
"No...She's not here." The stallion finally replied as he hung his head low much to Snowbreeze's shock.
"Very well, your fate is sealed!" He unicorn exclaimed at which point the other unicorn charged up his spell and literally incinerated the earth pony in front of the crowd much to everypony's horror. Cries of shock, terror and panic rang through the town square now.
Snowbreeze sat her rump on the group as her forelegs shakily lifted up, pointing the sling shot armed with the sharp piece of metal at the stallion, tears flowing freely from her eyes as she stared at them. "Y-You killed him…" She said shakily as she began to pull the string back, her facial expression and being slowly being filled with a sense of justice and rage as she pulled the string back to it's full strength yet she hadn't let go yet. Something was holding her back.
"You aren't really going to do it… are you?" Pinkie Pie's soft yet saddened voice asked which caused the Pegasus to gasp and yank her gaze to the pink mare whose mane was deflated as she looked at Snowbreeze with a very saddened expression.
"I… They…" Snowbreeze tried to reply as tears continued flowing from her eyes while the memory of the stallion being burned alive continued to play through her mind as her forehooves shook even more so now.
"What are you waiting for, Breezie?! Make them pay!" Ironbeak exclaimed as he looked to the filly.
"Are you really going to become like… them?" Pinkie Pie asked softly as a single tear streamed down her pink cheek.
"But they… they killed him." Snowbreeze remarked softly as she looked back at the terrified couple.
"Uh, Ironbeak, I think she's losing it. She's talking looking over there and talking to nothing." Reggie whispered to Ironbeak who was also noticing this.
"Don't worry, she'll do it, Reggie. I know my babe and I know this is what she wants. Just give her some more time." Ironbeak replied though he didn't quite believe his own words as he looked at his lover.
The pink mare then placed a hoof on Snowbreeze's shoulder, making her take a sharp breath as she turned to look at the pink mare. "Snowbreeze… this isn't you. This won't bring you closure and it will haunt you for the rest of your life. Trust me, I know." She said softly.
"H-How could you possibly know what I'm going through?" Snowbreeze asked softly as her face turned into a glare towards the pink mare.
Pinkie Pie sighed aloud upon hearing this. "I Pinkie Pie swore I'd never talk about this again but for you, I will." She said softly and moments later the world around Snowbreeze soon began to fade away, the room slowly being replaced with a city in flames.
"I've got it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she flew, darting back and forth, dodging beams of magic as she flew.
"Not so fast, Rainbow Dash! We can't keep up!" Twilight exclaimed as she watched her friend get further and further ahead of the rest of the group.
Pinkie Pie was running nearly as fast as Rainbow Dash was flying but she was forced to not only deal with the ground which was filled with potholes from the previous battle that waged here but also the dark horn soldiers that continuous attempted to end her life.
"Is she nuts?! We can't protect her if she's flyin' in thar like a mare on a suicide mission!" Applejack exclaimed in a panic as the four continued to rush forward.
"I don't think she's thinking clearly!" Twilight remarked aloud as the other three dove behind cover.
"I understand her pain but runnin' to yer death is no way to avenge Fluttershy!" Applejack remarked aloud as the two flinched due to the top half of their cover being blown clear off above their heads.
"Wh-Where am I?!" Snowbreeze asked in a panic as she looked around herself in shock only to let out a shriek as a beam sailed at her and through her. "I-I'm not dead?" Snowbreeze asked herself aloud in shock as she quickly looked over herself only to notice Pinkie Pie rushing past her.
"P-Pinkie, wait! Where are we?!" Snowbreeze exclaimed as she took off from the ground and flew after the party mare only for Pinkie Pie to seemingly not to hear her.
"Dashie, wait! I can't keep up!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she barely dodged a spell only to trip over a pothole and sprain her hind left leg which caused her to let out a cry of pain.
This caught the cyan blue Pegasus's attention as she looked back to her friend, then to the unicorns, then back to Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash knew they would take out the weakened earth pony if the opportunity presented itself and it had. Without thinking, the cyan blue Pegasus dove for her friend. "Come on, Pinkie! We've got to get you to some cover!" She said as she helped the pink mare back to her hooves.
"Thanks, Dashie." Pinkie Pie said with a smile to which Rainbow Dash smiled back as she placed a hoof on the pink mare's cheek.
Their moment however came to a horrific and abrupt end as Rainbow Dash's smile soon snapped into a shocked expression before she let out a light cough as blood leaked from her mouth.
Pinkie Pie's mane suddenly deflated as she witnessed this, staring on in disbelief, as if in slow motion before her lover's eyes, Rainbow Dash fell to the side and collapsed onto the ground. The world seemed to mute around Pinkie Pie as she shook her lover's body, screaming her name along with screaming for her to get up. No matter how much she did so, the expression of pure shock remained on the cyan blue Pegasus's face.
The world seemingly unmuted itself as she looked forward to the unicorns who were preparing to fire on her. Her smile forever gone, the pink mare looked upon her lover's killers as unspeakable rage filled her very being.
The last thing Snowbreeze saw before the world around her seemed to fade once more and return to the house she was in was the image of Pinkie Pie giving a rage filled cry as she charged forward. Snowbreeze suddenly realized that the pink mare was sobbing now. "I changed on that day, Snowbreeze. I became what they were… killers. From the moment I looked into the lifeless eyes of the unicorn who killed Dashie, I knew I couldn't go back to my old self." She said between sobs.
Snowbreeze looked to the terrified couple now. It was as if barely a second had passed yet what she had just witnessed seemed to have taken hours to unfold. Snowbreeze slowly retracted the string to the slingshot, stood up, and walked past Ironbeak and his buddies.
"Breezie? Where are you going?!" Ironbeak asked as she rushed after her as she walked outside.
"I'm not a killer, Beaky!" Snowbreeze exclaimed before she spread her wings and took off from the ground.
"Bah!" Ironbeak exclaimed as he waved a hoof at the fleeing Pegasus and returned inside.
"Looks like your babe couldn't handle getting her hooves, dirty." One of the colts remarked aloud only to get socked squarely in the nose.
"Shut the buck up! I'll handle this!" He snapped as he looked about for the slingshot until it dawned on him.
"Uh, Ironbeak, we need to deal with this soon." Reggie remarked aloud uneasily.
"I know but Breezie has my slingshot!" Ironbeak exclaimed and sighed.
"This is the M.P.D! Come out with your hooves up!" A voice suddenly exclaimed much to the group's horror.
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Snowbreeze walked into the jail cell part of the police department and stopped just in front of Ironbeak. "Breezie! Thank Luna the cops didn't get you!" He said in a relieved tone as he walked up to the cell bars.
"Of course they didn't, Beaky. I'm the one to called them." Snowbreeze replied blantly much to Ironbeak's shock.
"What?! How could you, Breezie?!" Ironbeak exclaimed in shock.
"Because what you were doing was wrong, that's why!" Snowbreeze exclaimed fiercely before she let out a sigh. "Look, this is the last time we'll see each other and I just wanted to say goodbye and tell you something important." She said softly as she attempted to reach through the bars to place a hoof on Ironbeak's cheek only for him to swat it away.
"Don't bother! You betrayed not only me but your fellow Ironwings! You're dead to me now, featherflank." He remarked bitterly as she walked away only to see her still standing there. "What are you waiting for? Get out of here!" He exclaimed.
Snowbreeze let out a soft gasp as tears formed in her eyes but she fought them back as she glared at him, reached into her saddle pack,pulled out a small square box, opened it, took out a pill from it, and downed it before the colt's eyes. "What the buck was that?" Ironbeak asked curiously.
"The morning after pill." She said simply which caused Ironbeak eyes to widen in shock and realization of what she had just done. "That's right, Beaky. I never took it. I've been trying to decide if I should or not and until now, I was seriously considering not taking it but after seeing your true colors, I realized that bearing your foal would be an insult to my family's heritage." She said as she turned around and began walking away from the colt's cell. "See you around, Beaky. Actually, no I won't." She added bitterly as she opened the door to the jail cell part of the police station and closed it behind her. Leaving Ironbeak with a purely stunned expression on his face.