//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Bad Ends // Story: Laughter is Faith // by Redric Carrun //------------------------------// “Hey, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “Do you think I'm brave?” Scootaloo glanced up in surprise at being spoken to. The glazed look on Sweetie Belle's face as she stared off at something a couple miles over Scootaloo's shoulder made a chill run down the little pegasus' spine. “What kind of question is that?” Scootaloo asked. “I barely know you.” “I thought I was the brave one,” Sweetie Belle continued, voice growing wistful. “I'm not smart, or pretty, or talented like her, but I thought I could be brave. But she's brave too. She's the better sister at everything I do. I'm completely useless...” She said this last part in exactly the same tone as all the rest, as if she was commenting on the weather or the score of a hoofball game she wasn't interested in. Scootaloo backed up a step almost without noticing that she did so, stepping on Apple Bloom's tail in the process. Realizing what she had done, Scootaloo jumped off immediately. “Whoops,” she said. “Sorry about that, Apple Bloom. Didn't mean to hurt you.” Apple Bloom didn't respond. She was lying seated on the ground, staring in the direction of the doorway Nightmare Moon had departed through all those tense moments ago. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at her inaction. “Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked. “Apple Bloom, are you okay?” The young filly didn't respond. Scootaloo walked around to Apple Bloom's side and gave her withers a gentle shake. “Apple Bloom?” she asked again. “Hellooo? Hey, don't give up on us now!” Apple Bloom looked slowly around. “Don't give up?” She asked slowly. Her eyes narrowed as her eyebrows grew suddenly together with singular intensity. “Don't give up?” She leapt to her hooves and whirled round on the startled Scootaloo. “Is that your idea of a joke? Just rub it in to the stupid country filly that her dumb hick of a sister choked when the chips were down, huh? Is that it?” “Wha – n-no!” Scootaloo stammered. “She was supposed to save me,” Apple Bloom continued as if Scootaloo hadn't spoken, “and not only did she fall into every trap under the Sun, but when her friends really needed her, when Ah needed her, she just gave up and quit! Just like that! What kind of older sister just gives up like that?” Scootaloo remained silent this time, but her eyes grew wider as she noticed that, even in the midst of all this anger, Apple Bloom's own eyes were just as glossed over as Sweetie Belle's were. A cold trickle of fear began to pool around Scootaloo's stomach. The clicking of hooves on stone tile drew Scootaloo's attention away, and her head snapped up to see Nightmare returning from where ever she had gone. The other two fillies didn't seem to take notice, and Apple Bloom kept right on ranting, but Nightmare Moon ignored them. She spoke up. “I have decided to spare your sister's lives,” she said shortly. An image appeared in the air, showing the rescue party picking themselves up and removing the last of the Octospider's webs. “Be grateful that I have been so merciful, but realize that, if they still choose to confront me, I will be forced to deal with them myself.” Joy and relief flooded Scootaloo's small frame, and a grin gripped her face so hard it was almost painful. “They're safe! Well, of course they're safe,” she said, folding her forelegs across her chest and feigning a level of 'cool' indifference. “Rainbow Dash is with them. She's not going to stop at anything until she's rescued me, all the others, Princess Celestia, and kicked you back to the Moon where you belong!” Nightmare Moon was silent. She tilted her head to one side. “She's already almost here,” Scootaloo continued. “You might as well give up now. Rainbow Dash is already gonna be ticked that you foalnapped me, but maybe if you beg for forgiveness, she'll let you off with imprisonment for life.” “Why, exactly,” Nightmare Moon asked, “are you so confident that Rainbow Dash is coming to rescue you?” Scootaloo blinked. The question caught her entirely off guard. “Huh?” she asked. “But- she is coming. You've showed me she is.” “Princess Celestia is certainly a big enough figure to merit rescuing,” Nightmare continued. “The rewards and prestige are sure to be equally grand. But why would anypony go to the trouble of rescuing you?” Scootaloo blinked again. And then another time. “What do you mean 'why would anyone rescue me?' Of course she'll rescue me. Rainbow Dash is a hero!” Nightmare Moon scoffed. “'Heroes...'” “What?” Scootaloo asked. “What's so funny?” “Do you even listen to your little idol, there?” Nightmare asked. With a flash of her horn, she pulled up an image from earlier in the night. Scootaloo found Rainbow Dash glaring down at her, and jumped at the angry tone in her voice – it was as if Rainbow was there herself, chastising her. “Those big, flashy, invincible heroes don't exist!” The image disappeared into thin air. The light of the rising full moon streamed in from the cracks in the castle walls, staining the room a deep night blue. Nightmare Moon stepped forward while Scootaloo was still reeling. “It is a part of growing up,” Nightmare began, “when we realize that the ones we idolized shall always fail to meet our standards for them. When we begin to realize just how vapid and hollow their affected affections can really be, as they use us to satisfy their own delusions of heroism.” “What?!” Scootaloo cried. “Rainbow Dash would never-” “Look,” Nightmare Moon continued, powering through Scootaloo's protestations. Six new images appeared in the air behind Nightmare Moon. They showed Rainbow Dash and the others walking through the woods, and each one was focused on a different pony. They circled round, and the one centered on Pinkie Pie floated up towards the front. “Every single one of them will fail you.” “Come on, guys!” Rainbow urged. “We've gotta be almost there by now.” The ground had taken on the slightest bit of an uphill slope for the last few miles, and Fluttershy and Rarity were both panting a little as they climbed. None of the ponies, however, showed any signs of slowing their hurried pace. “There should be a bridge, not far ahead,” Twilight spoke up. “That should be right in front of the castle. We should be there in just a few more minutes.” “Unless that Nightmare tries somethin' again,” muttered Applejack. Pinkie laughed. “Well, joke's on her! We'll get through whatever mean tricks she tries on us, and the more time Princess Moon spends trying to trip us up, the less time she has for whatever her real plan is. I hope she tries something again. There's only been five traps so far – Bow-chan's still missing hers.” “Bow-chan?” Rainbow asked. “What? Wait, are you saying I'm not pulling my weight here?” “You know, you're right,” Rarity said smoothly. “Each of us has contributed something to our little group, if you count Twilight's masterful soothing of that nasty little quarrel we had. But what did you do, Pinkie, if you pardon my asking? I can't seem to think of anything.” Pinkie blinked. “Duh.” She swung the end of her tail around in front of her to reveal the diminutive reptile dangling off of the end of it by its un-teeth. “I forged a solid mutually beneficial alliance with Gummy here when everypony else was worried about his mysterious origins and unnaturally attractive demeanor indicating that he could possibly have consorted with forces of utter darkness in order to become such a stunning specimen of bullhood. It was an impressive display of my princess-taught skills of diplomancy, if I do say so myself.” The others glanced back at the pink pony, who managed to keep a bounce in her step even though she was now walking with something approaching a normal gate. “... Bullhood?” Rainbow asked. “Actually, that's correct,” Fluttershy spoke up. “A male alligator is called a bull. So, um, I guess that's what Gummy is, too. Although he's not like any alligator I've ever met...” “Diplomancy?” Rarity asked. “Darling, don't you mean diplomacy?” “Do I?” Pinkie asked. “Silly me, I always get the two confused. What was the difference, again?” “One actually exists?” Rainbow snarked. “Nope!” Pinkie giggled. “I'm sure that's not it. The Princess was very clear in my lessons that there are ways to get ponies to like you without resorting to eldritch magics.” A thought clicked in her head. “Oh, that's right! I did mean diplomacy. Good catch, Rarity!” Rarity let out a hesitant half-laugh, and turned her eyes resolutely back up the road. The full Moon continued to rise overhead, and the forest began to take on a pale blue hue in its powerful light. “What?” Scootaloo asked. “What's going on? Why is everything blue?” She screwed up her eyes. A faint pressure was starting to grow behind her eyes, and it was beginning to grow uncomfortable. “Why are there six pictures?” “Each of those ponies have their strong points,” Nightmare said, as if Scootaloo hadn't spoken. Scootaloo was startled to find that Nightmare had stepped up beside her while she was focused on the image. The filly tried to pull away, but Nightmare had one large wing draped over her, holding her in a strong grip. “And yet,” Nightmare continued, “each of them also has their weaknesses. And I know all of them.” She was staring down into Scootaloo's eyes with her own snake-like monstrosities. They seemed to be devoid of all warmth, even as they burned with a cold rage. The image focused on Twilight Sparkle cycled into the foreground. “A mare who can go for years without seeing her loved ones and not grow lonely, only concerned about them when tragedy strikes. Her bleeding, child-like heart is covered up with her obsessive interests and her near-love of isolation. Apprehensive of her own motivations.” The full Moon continued to rise. The colors grew ever more blue and distorted. “Diplomancy?” Twilight asked, a note of surprise in her voice. “Isn't that considered a school of extremely black magic? Why in the world would Princess Celestia be teaching you that?” “Oh, silly,” Pinkie giggled, “Celestia doesn't teach me anything like that. I'm not a unicorn, so she can hardly teach me how to do a spell like one, now can she?” “I- well, I suppose not,” Twilight admitted. “It's sometimes hard to tell with you what you can and cannot do.” “Of course, that doesn't mean I can't cast it,” Pinkie continued. “But after the first time, Princess Celestia said that we shouldn't use eldritch magics to convince Philomena to light my hair on fire, no matter how badly my Nightmare Night costume required my hair to be singed.” She grinned. “Did you know that phoenix fire has healing properties when applied in a haphazard fashion to your face? I certainly didn't!” Twilight's eyes widened and she fell back a step, but Pinkie didn't seem to notice, bouncing along the path just as cheerfully as before. “But can you really count that?” Rarity asked, drawing the conversation back to its original track. “Your little alligator wasn't even a real threat. All you did was run out and pet it while the rest of us were still trying to figure out if it was going to eat us. Not to put you down at all, darling – you've certainly proved your worth to our expedition in other ways – but it just doesn't seem quite on par with, say, Applejack's dramatic rescue from those horrid spiders.” Applejack flushed. “Aw, shucks, that ain't nothin'. What about how Fluttershy here ran right up to that star bear? That sounds like a more appropriate comparison to me. You know. Tiny alligator, giant bear. It sure was impressive.” Fluttershy ducked her head, but there was a smile on her lips. “Oh no, it wasn't that impressive. I mean, all the rest of you rushed out to help too. I just put us all in danger.” “And saved us all from the wrath of mama bear!” Pinkie chimed in. “And patched up that little baby bear's leg too, while you were at it. You're a hero, Fluttershy! Three cheers for Fluttershy! A one, and a two-” “Ugh!” Rarity stumbled, her hoof catching on a slight indentation in the ground. She clutched at her head. “Pinkie, if you could just tone it down a bit...” Instantly, the group's tone shifted. Applejack stepped up and reached out a hoof towards Rarity's shoulder, but thought better of it and dropped the hoof without touching her. “Are you feelin' alright, Rarity? You still up to this?” “Has your horn started bleeding again?” Fluttershy asked gently. “Please tell me if it does. It's very important.” “I'm fine,” Rarity protested. “I'm fine. Just a little... headache, that's all. It makes loud noises irritating. I'm fine, really.” Twilight, forgotten on the outside of the trail, found her eyes drawn to Rarity's injury. The thick bandage that Fluttershy had applied to Rarity's horn was mostly clean and white on the outside, matching the pale unicorn's color almost exactly. In the darkness and half-light of the forest trail, the effect was rather upsetting. It was as if Rarity, in other ways almost a ponification of beauty, had not merely had her horn removed – a smooth, clinical procedure, horrifying, perhaps, but unobtrusive – but had it replaced with a malformed mockery of a thing, something which could not hope to channel magic properly. It made Twilight's blood run cold to look at it. “The first cut wasn't even that bad, to be honest,” Rarity continued. “It was only after the second toll that I began having this dreadful aching in my head. Like the whole thing was dipped in acid.” She stiffened. “I'm fine,” she said hurriedly. “Forget I said anything.” “We're not gonna do that, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash replied. “You're our friend. If we don't want to hear that you're hurting, it's 'cause we don't want you to actually be hurting, not because we don't want you to tell us. How's Fluttershy supposed to do her job if you don't tell us how you're feeling?” Rarity shrank back. “I hate to be a burden...” “Well, maybe if somepony had contributed, you wouldn't have had to.” Everyone turned to stare at Pinkie, whose face had lost its customary smile and replaced it with an unsettling scowl. No pony said anything. “Or what about her,” Nightmare said, pushing the image aside for the next one to take its place. Now the focus was on Rarity. “Why do you think she is so willing to offer up everything she has to save her precious sister?” “Answer my question!” Scootaloo said, the anger in her voice watered down into a petulant whine. It was too hot underneath Nightmare Moon's wing. She had started to sweat. Scootaloo tried to push the dark Princess away, but it was like pushing a mountain. “She is a most generous soul, to be sure,” Nightmare said. “But more than a little of that desperate effort comes from the fact that she is convinced she has nothing much to give.” “You okay there, Rarity?” Applejack asked. “You're looking a bit out of it.” Rarity started. She hadn't noticed Applejack coming up quite so close. “Oh, yes, I'm fine,” she said. “Nothing new to worry about. I'm just a little bit distracted, that's all.” “Uh huh.” Applejack's eyes drifted up to Rarity's broken horn. “That thing bothin' you that much? You're lookin' mighty flushed there.” “I am?” Rarity gasped. “Oh, how awful! Red is completely not my color. It goes against my entire image! Tell me, quickly, how bad is it?” “Oh, uh.” Applejack took a step back. “Well, Ah don't know. It's pretty red. But, Ah mean, you don't look bad or nothin', just that you don't look good, if you know what Ah mean.” Applejack blinked. “No, wait. That didn't come out quite-” “Don't look good?!” Rarity cried. “Oh stars, it's worse than I thought! Oh, and me without a dressing room! Makeup, I need makeup!” She began rummaging around in her saddlebags. Her sense of balance began to fail her, and she almost fell as she pulled forcefully on her small bag of supplies, but she caught herself in time. Her headache began to grow worse. “Just give me a moment. I just need... there!” Rarity spotted her makeup kit inside her bag. Reflexively, she tried to grab at it with her magic, and a spark of pain ripped through her head. She froze, flinching imperceptibly as she the pain reminded her once more of her situation. “... Fluttershy,” she said, trying to recover, “be a dear and help me out, would you? I need somepony to hold the mirror for me while I work.” Fluttershy had a pained look on her face, but she stepped forward and took the mirror Rarity offered her. Rarity got to work applying powder to her face and neck, ignoring the fact that she was now the center of attention. “Rarity,” Applejack said. “That wasn't what Ah meant. Ah meant to say you don't look alright.” She sighed. “Are you sure you're okay?” “I know what you meant,” Rarity said, not even turning from her work. “Just give me a moment here and we can get started again.” “... Rarity,” Pinkie said at last, “Maybe you shouldn't go.” Rarity paused. She looked up. “What?” “You're obviously more injured than you're letting on,” Twilight observed. “Do you really want to be facing down Nightmare Moon when you're almost falling over from shock?” “... We've already talked about this,” Rarity said, snapping her makeup-kit closed and placing it back in her bag. “My coming with you is the best of many bad choices. I'll simply have to bear with it until we can make it back to civilization.” “At this rate,” Rainbow Dash said, “you'll be more of a liability than a help.” Rarity blinked. “What?” “What we're sayin', sugarcube, is that... well, maybe it's best for you if'n you come along, but it might not be best for us. For all of us.” Applejack sighed. “You get me?” Twilight nodded. “We can't be worried about you passing out on us while we're facing down the pony who took out Princess Celestia. It just wouldn't make sense to hurt our chances that way.” “Why- of all the-” Rarity rose and stomped her hoof. “I can still fight, you know, even without my magic. I can still be useful!” “You think you can do something unarmed against the mare who took out an entire detachment of Royal Guards?” Rainbow asked pointedly. Rarity turned and opened her mouth to speak, but the pain from her horn chose that moment to grow more intense. Her vision pulsed with the sensation, fading out around the edges into phantom pricks of light and darkness. Rarity shut her mouth without speaking. Fluttershy came up to her and put a hoof upon her shoulder. “Maybe it would be best for you to wait here.” Scootaloo's headache was growing worse. With a frustrated shove against Nightmare's side, she craned her head round to see the other fillies sitting listlessly by themselves on the dais, neither of them taking any notice of Nightmare Moon or the images she was showing. “Guys!” Scootaloo called out. “Help me out here! I can't get her to let go.” “Or what of this one?” Nightmare asked as the images moved on to Fluttershy. “She tries, she tries so hard for her friends, but a courage you can only summon when your friends are in front of you is easily pushed to the side when they're nowhere to be found. Is this your idea of a hero, Scootaloo?” “He really is a nice bull, isn't he?” Fluttershy trotted up alongside Pinkie, coming close to where Gummy was hanging. “Hello, Gummy. I'm sorry that I was so afraid of you at first. I let my fears get the best of me. I do hope that we can be friends.” Gummy blinked ponderously in Fluttershy's direction. Fluttershy smiled. “Can you really understand him?” Pinkie asked. “That's so incredimazing! I talk to animals all the time, but I've never had any of them say anything back to me before. Except that one time I talked to a parrot. Now that was fun!” “Oh!” Fluttershy perked up. “What kind of parrot was it? Was it a Lorikeet? I just love how their feathers-” “Aren't we getting a little off topic?” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “We're supposed to be focused on beating Nightmare Moon. Come on, we're almost there.” “R-right,” Fluttershy said, flinching back at the chiding voice. “Sorry...” The group continued walking through the forest, moving at such a rapid rate that Fluttershy found herself trailing at the back end of the line. The forest on either side seemed much darker now with the moonlight falling on the path than it had earlier when everything was in shadow. Fluttershy jumped as something rustled in the bushes to her left. “Did you hear that?” She cried. The others paused and turned to look back. Everything was still. There was not a sound or a movement in the entire forest around them. “It's just your imagination,” Applejack said at last. “Ah didn't hear nothin'.” “Oh,” Fluttershy murmured. “Okay...” The party resumed their advance. The pathway seemed to grow narrower, and there were certainly more twists than before. Even walking right behind the pony in front of her, Fluttershy often lost sight of the rest of the party for brief instants as they walked around a corner. The chill of the night began to creep in through her feathers. A figure crept just outside of her field of vision. The others jumped as Fluttershy screamed. “Something's there!” she cried. “I saw it, just over there!” Rainbow Dash darted past her into the bushes where Fluttershy pointed, sword at the ready. Twilight followed close after, horn aglow. Applejack stood between the rest of them and whatever was out there, ready to deal with whatever might come. The rest stood huddled together, sharing tense looks amongst themselves. “There's nothing here!” Rainbow Dash stepped back out of the bushes, a look of disgust on her face. “False alarm,” she said testily. “Fluttershy's just jumping at her own shadow.” “B-but there was something there,” Fluttershy protested. “I saw it!” “Nothing was there, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she stepped back onto the path. “No creatures, no signs of creatures. Nothing. You just need to relax, okay? Don't let this get to you.” Fluttershy shivered. The group resumed the march. With every step she took, Fluttershy could feel her heart pounding against her lungs. She told herself that it wasn't the time to be scared, that she needed to be brave, but still she found that her breaths came a little too fast and a little too shallow. More dark figures flitted in and out of her sight. “There it is again!” she cried. “Oh, I know I saw it this time, I just know it!” “Where?” Applejack asked. Fluttershy pointed to where she had seen something duck behind a tree. Applejack stared for a good minute, but nothing came out. “It's just your imagination,” she said at last. “Come on. Let's get this whole thing over with, and then we can set this all behind us.” Just as Applejack turned to leave, Fluttershy saw the figure lean out from its hiding place. As the moonlight fell full upon it, Fluttershy got her first good look at the creature's face. It was the rotted, diseased face of a pony, twisted up into a horrid grin. Fluttershy's breath squeaked out in a soundless shriek of terror. Then it was gone before she could call any more attention to it. Fluttershy hurried to catch up with the others. “Guys,” she said timidly. “I think we have a problem. I keep seeing these- Guys? Hello?” She was alone. Alone in the middle of the terrifying Everfree forest, with something else, something very wrong, right next to her in the darkness. Fluttershy ran. She raced down the path as fast as her thin legs could carry her, faster than she had ever moved in her life. The trees seemed to grow closer here – the patches moonlight grew fewer and fewer, and once she almost crashed headlong into a tree before she saw it. All the while, the figures of the not-ponies kept popping up to the sides of the trail, rustling leaves, breaking branches. One of them let out an unearthly moan, and Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat out of sheer terror. Even as she kept running, she still couldn't see any sign of the others. She felt certain that she must have gone off the path. But she couldn't turn back, not now, with those things after her. The very idea was too much to contemplate. Choking sobs began to ring their way out of her mouth, and tears began to fill her eyes. She rubbed viciously at them with a hoof. When she dropped the hoof again, she found herself staring straight into the face of the creature. Its cold, fetid breath washed over the skin of her face. Fluttershy screamed and scrambled backwards, unable to tear her eyes from the monster in front of her. Another moan came from somewhere to her right, and she turned her head to find another not-pony standing there, moving slowly towards her. Her back bumped into the rough bark of a tree. “Rainbow Dash!” She screamed. “Help! I- AIIIEE!” Another not-pony reached around with a not-hoof and grabbed her by the shoulder. Fluttershy panicked, tugging at her foreleg and beating the monster with pitifully weak blows, but she could not dislodge it. The other two creatures came up to her and reached out to grab ahold. Fluttershy shut her eyes, sobbing hysterically all the while. It didn't help at all. She could still feel the creatures' mouths begin nibbling at her limbs, pinching her cruelly, and it was all the worse for not being able to see it. She still struggled, but only out of fear and not from hope of escape. Then a voice spoke out. “My little pony, I can save you.” Fluttershy's eyes flew open. Standing before her was Nightmare Moon. “Yes! Please!” Fluttershy cried out. One of the monsters bit at her ear hard enough to draw a trickle of blood, which ran down the side of her face. “Please help me!” “I can save you,” Nightmare Moon repeated. “But then, you are trying to ruin all my hard work. I'll tell you what – I'll call off these monsters, here. I'll get you safely back to your precious cottage on the edge of the woods. I'll do this, in return for one thing,” she said, leaning in quite close. The monsters shied away from Nightmare Moon, but their grip on Fluttershy's legs only tightened to the point of being painful. “Swear on your life that you will never oppose me again.” Fluttershy was trembling so badly that her entire body was shaking where she sat curled up as tightly as she could against the tree trunk. For a moment, she hesitated. A flash of lighting cut through the night sky, and in that moment of illumination the monsters seemed to loom three times as large and frightening in her mind. “I swear!” Fluttershy cried, breaking down completely. “I swear, I swear! Please, just help meheeheeee...” “Or the pink one, my sister's student?” Nightmare asked. Everything was starting to go fuzzy. It was hard to think. “A flighty thing whose competency is questionable at best. She trusts her delusions implicitly. But what happens when those very impulses fail to match reality?” “Oh hey, look!” Pinkie pointed from her position at the back of the group. “The trees are clearing out up ahead. That must be it now! We're here!” The group emerged from the woods and spread out as they did so that Pinkie was able to bounce out to the front of the column. She glanced around and snapped a hoof up to shade her eyes from the non-existent sun. “Where's the bridge?” she asked. “I don't see it.” “It's not here, Pinkie,” Twilight said, voice just a little bit cold. She and the others walked slowly to stand between Pinkie and the forest behind them. “Oh,” Pinkie said. “Okay. Hey, you want to make a game out of it? First pony to see the bridge wins – I don't know – fifty-three points!” She glanced around again. “Boy, this is a big clearing. I can't even see the trees on the other side from here.” “That's 'cause it isn't a clearin',” Applejack said. “We're not in the Everfree forest anymore.” “What?!” Pinkie cried. She whipped around to look back at the dark depths of the forest she had just left. “You mean we came out all the way on the other side of the Everfree? But that makes no sense! The Everfree Forest is huge!” Then Pinkie blinked. “Oh!” she cried. “Ohhh! I get it now. Princess Moon must have sent us all the way out the other side. Phooey! That means we're gonna have to walk all the way back, and we don't even know where we are. This is gonna take forever!” “On the contrary, Pinkie, dear, I believe the rest of us know exactly where we are.” “You do?” Pinkie turned to where Rarity was seated next to the others, who had begun to lounge about. Rarity was buffing one hoof against her chest. “Of course we do,” Applejack replied. She took off her stetson and smacked the dust off of it before putting it back on her head. “It's the end of the Huntin' Road. We're out on the other side of the Everfree, alright, just like we're supposed to be.” “Oh right,” Pinkie giggled, “I forgot.” Then she paused. “Wait. What?” Applejack sighed and opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Rainbow Dash, who was only halfway through pulling off her camouflaged suit. “Don't tell her, stupid! There's no reason for her to know what we're doing out here.” “True,” Twilight commented, “but then again, I don't really see the harm in her knowing. If we've done our job right – and, let's face it, we've done a pretty good job – there's nothing she can do now, anyways.” Pinkie snapped her head from friend to friend. “Okay,” she started, “I have absolutely no idea what you all are talking about, but whatever it is, we're still kinda in a time crunch here. Come on, guys! We've got three little fillies and a princess to save!” “Don't worry, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said. She had a smile on her face, but it rubbed Pinkie the wrong way. Pinkie was an expert on smiles, and this one looked like one she would have expected Fluttershy to give a wounded critter. “The royal guards are already on the case. You don't have anything to worry about. In a few short minutes, Princess Celestia will be safe and the Sun will come back over the horizon.” “The royal guards?” Pinkie asked. “Since when were the royal guards on the trail of Princess Moon? They don't know about the Elements of Harmony.” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Will you guys just shut up? She's gonna figure it all out at this rate.” “Figure what out?” Pinkie asked. Then she shook her head. “Come on, let's get going. We can talk on the way!” Pinkie tried to head back into the forest's shades, but Applejack got up and blocked her path. “Whoa there, little filly,” Applejack said. “You ain't goin' in that there forest 'till the Sun's good and up, you hear? Princess Celestia told us to make sure you don't interfere with the guards' job, and we're gonna make sure that you don't.” Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof to her face and groaned loudly. Pinkie's jaw dislocated and violently hurled itself to the ground, smacking into the dirt with a soft poomph. “What –” she stammered, picking her jaw off the ground. “What do you mean Princess Celestia told you to keep me out of the way? That's – that's ridiculous! She wants us all to go and use the elements to save her sister!” Twilight scoffed. “Whatever gave you that idea?” “What are you talking about?” Pinkie asked. “Of course she wants us to save the world and get her sister back with no drawbacks and huge payoffs. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want that? It's the best possible result!” “Actually,” Rarity argued, “I didn't quite understand the lengths the Princess went to myself before we set out on this little trip. Having gotten to know her, however,” she said, gesturing towards Pinkie with a nod of her head, “I now understand completely. The Princess couldn't let a freak like her get in the way of the actual rescue mission. She had to make sure she was safely taken care of, for the sake of everypony else.”' “What?!?” Pinkie shrieked. Her face started turning red, and her eyes started watering with rage as she glanced about her for some sort of response. “I just- you don't- how dare you say that to me? Friends don't call each other that, and the Princess would never think that about me! She loves me!” “The Princess can care about whoever she wants,” Rainbow sighed. “She's old. She can be a little crazy sometimes if she wants to. Although how anyone can stand being around you even when you aren't being a flat-out monstrosity is more than I could say.” Pinkie stumbled back. On cue, her eyes started leaking two steady bands of tears which ran silently down her face to splash against her hooves below as they dribbled off of her chin. She turned one by one to each of her companions, coming to rest on Twilight where she stood in the center. “B-but... you said-” Pinkie sniffed. “You said... I thought you said we were friends. That you were okay with...” Twilight smiled softly and reached out to stroke Pinkie's chin with a hoof. “Pinkie,” she said, “friendship is a wonderful thing to have. But with your... issues, it may be a very long time before you understand that friendship is also something you will never be able to truly experience.” Pinkie stared. Then her still watering eyes went into a sharp deadpan. “What.” “You see?” Twilight interrupted. “A normal pony wouldn't waste time arguing about their sanity. They would just be upset at an accusation like that.” “I am upset!” Pinkie cried, the tears practically gushing out by this point. “I am very upset!” “Are you?” Twilight asked. “Or did you just convince yourself that you were after I mentioned that was what a normal pony would do?” “I just- of course I am!” Pinkie sniffed. “Why are you doing this to me?” “Because you need to understand just how far away from normal you really are,” Twilight said calmly. “The Princess has studied you for a very long time. You think in a very different manner from a real pony – all your emotions are much too fast and virulent to be the real thing. Why, just look at us.” She waved a hoof around the group. “You've only known us for a few hours, and yet you've already formed such a 'close bond' that our turning out not to reciprocate your feelings causes you to break down in tears.” Twilight shook her head. “You are much too unstable to let loose in ordinary society.” Pinkie fell backwards on her rump as if she had been struck. Her lip trembled, and she broke into a howling, sobbing mess. The others paid her no mind, occupying themselves with whatever happened to catch their fancy. After a short while, Rarity spoke up. “Isn't it a bit late on the part of the guards? I thought for sure they would have had the Sun up by now. We dragged this sniveling beast through the whole of the forest, for heaven's sake.” “You're right,” Twilight said irritably. “They ought to have been finished some time ago. They must have fallen behind schedule somehow.” “Y-you don't think...” Fluttershy hesitated. “You don't think Nightmare Moon might have – g-got them, do you?” “Wait!” Pinkie cried out, jerking herself to her hooves and scattering salty tears everywhere. There was a big smile on her face. “I get it now. This is all a fake, isn't it! Princess Moon is trying to stop us! And, and that means we're some kind of threat to her, not just a wild goose chase designed to get rid of me. This is all some kind of horrible lie!” “Of course we're a threat, darling,” Rarity said coldly over her shoulder. “Nightmare Moon was just trying to get you out of our sight so that you could go and trip up all the ponies the Princess had sent to do their actual job.” “Princess Celestia would never do that!” Pinkie said, suddenly shouting. Her normally curly mane and tail went limp and straight, all on their own. “She loves me! She loves me, I know she does, she loves me! She doesn't think of me like some kind of monster. Like you do!” There was a pause in the conversation. Everything went very still. Pinkie frowned and looked down in confusion. “No, wait. That doesn't make any sense...” “I don't presume to know the Princess' thoughts,” Rarity said. “All I know is what she told me to do.” “Look,” Rainbow interrupted. “This is sweet and all, but I'm beginning to think something must have happened. Those guys really should not have had this hard a time dealing with Ol' Shadow Nag. What say we go back in and look for them, huh?” “Is that really a good idea?” Applejack asked. “The Princess told them to deal with her sister, and she told us to deal with Miss Pinks here. Why not just do our job and trust them to do theirs?” “We've done our job,” Dash argued. “We took the freak the whole path through the Everfree Forest. We've kept her from interfering with the rescue effort. Now it looks like they messed up. So I say, let's go back and see what we can do to bail them out.” “Agreed,” Twilight said. She stood and turned towards the forest. “Let's get moving. For the sake of Equestria!” “Indeed,” Rarity said. “Now we can finally get around to actually rescuing my sister.” As the others all made their way back into the darkness of the forest, Fluttershy looked back at where Pinkie had sat down and was thinking furiously at the ground, clutching Gummy's cold and scaly flesh to her chest. “Do you want to come, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked. “I'm sure you can't mess anything up now.” Pinkie didn't reply. Fluttershy turned around and walked back down the path. When she was gone, Pinkie turned to her reptile companion. “Well, Gummy,” she said, in a very serious tone. “Those ponies weren't real. They were all fake. So it looks like you're the only friend I've made tonight.” Gummy struggled in her grip. Suddenly, he popped out and trotted down the pathway after the other five. Pinkie just stared after him. She had never been quite so alone as at that moment. A few moments later, screams started echoing from the forest, but Pinkie took no notice. She just sat there hugging herself, eyes flicking furiously back and forth as she tried to figure out what had gone wrong. The tears began spilling down her face once more. Scootaloo cried out as the image was whisked away. She almost felt like sobbing herself now. Everything felt wrong inside, and her head just wouldn't stop pounding. “This 'Applejack' comes close, I suppose,” Nightmare mused. “She keeps calm when she needs to. She's strong. She's determined. She has no experience, of course, but then that was never a real impediment to heroism in the first place. But still, as she is, she will never get to be anything more than a 'good mare.'” She snorted. “It's easy to stay true to ponies who are useful to you – that is hardly a virtue. A good pony will stay true even to those who give them nothing of value in return, and the rare few will lend their strength even to those who are a burden. But loyalty is a two-way street. A hero must expect those they love to be the target of terrible things, sorcerous and mundane, which make them not only a burden but an active threat. And that is where Applejack fails. Loyalty cannot survive betrayal... “And that is why there will never be a true 'hero.'” For the third time in as many minutes, Applejack fell heavily to the ground as something pulled her tail taught behind her. She snorted and blinked back the hint of tears as Rainbow Dash started laughing her head off, and more than one other pony joined in with chuckles of their own. “Tar-nation!” Applejack fumed, yanking her tail out of the bushes it had gotten caught in. She turned around to look at what had happened. “Just what is this thing, anyway? Some kinda bush made of fishing hooks?” “Don't be absurd, Applejack,” Twilight sighed. “There's no such thing as a plant that can refine and forge the metals necessary to fashion actual metal fishhooks. What you have there is just a rather common hunting trap. Let me see that.” Picking up the artificial bush with her magic, she eyed the arches of metal carefully. “It looks like you got lucky,” she said at last. “Normally these hooks would be coated with some kind of sedative or poison, but it looks like these are clean. That or you just managed to avoid getting pricked by any of the hooks.” Applejack frowned. “Wait a minute. Are you tellin' me somepony just left something like this here by the side of the trail where anypony could have walked into it? That's just plain dangerous if you ask me.” “Oh come on, Applejack,” Dash teased. “You're just upset because you walked into yet another trap. Hey, maybe Nightmare Moon set that one up too, right guys?” The other ponies joined in with a round of laughter. Applejack glared at them before rubbing her eyes and tugging her hat down over her face, eager to get back on the march. Just as they were leaving, however, Rainbow Dash stopped to pick up the trap. “And what are you doin' with that?” Applejack asked. “Well, I'm not just gonna leave it,” Rainbow remarked, stowing the contraption in a side pocket of her bags. “These things are expensive, you know.” Applejack gaped. “You can't just take that! Somepony put that there expectin' to find it again later. It don't belong to you.” “Sure it does,” Rainbow said. “Who do you think put it there in the first place?” “That there's your trap?” Applejack stood there for a moment in silence before scratching her head. “Ah thought you said you don't come down this here path when you're huntin'.” Rainbow smirked. “I don't.” Applejack blinked. “But then, how did...” Her eyes grew wide. “You – you set that up just now?” Rainbow burst out laughing. “Finally, she gets it!” “Why in all the gardens of Hesperides would you do that?” Applejack cried. “We're on a serious mission here! Are you tryin' to doom all of Equestria?” “Oh please, Applejack,” Rarity chided, “don't be such a drama queen. The fact that you've managed to fall into every one of Rainbow's little pitfalls just means you're not quite suited for the adventuring life, that's all.” “There's more?” Applejack asked. “You knew about this?” “Of course we did,” Twilight said casually. “It was fairly obvious that Rainbow Dash was responsible right from the beginning.” “You all knew?” Applejack looked from pony to pony. Fluttershy nodded sheepishly. Pinkie shrugged. “She did warn you about those plants the first time, Jackie,” Pinkie said. “After that, well... you really didn't have to fall for every single one of them.” Rainbow laughed again. “It's like you're some kind of magnet for traps. That or you're completely blind.” Applejack stared in disbelief. Then she scowled and shook her head. “We're wasting time,” she grumbled, heading off with her eyes fixed firmly on the ground. It was only because she was so focused that she noticed the stick she stepped on in time for her to barely jump out of the way of the massive tree limb that came crashing down where she had been walking. It passed so close to her face that the bark rubbed up against the tip of her nose as it fell. Rainbow Dash let out a roar of laughter, and she was not the only voice Applejack could hear. There were Pinkie Pie's high-pitched squeals, and Rarity's cultured, bell-like tones. Applejack wheeled round and grabbed Rainbow by the collar. “You could've killed me with that!” Rainbow was too busy laughing to respond. Beside her, Fluttershy spoke up. “Um... I know this isn't my place to say this, but maybe, if you couldn't dodge that, you shouldn't be in the Everfree Forest in the first place.” Applejack looked at her aghast. Her hoof slipped from Rainbow's neck as it started trembling uncontrollably. “Y- y'all are supportin' this?” Twilight shrugged. “It's not a big deal, Applejack. Some ponies just aren't cut out for this kind of life.” Applejack took a step back. Her heart was still pounding in her chest. “Y'all are insane.” The others laughed at her. Applejack turned and set off down the path at a run. “Look out ahead, Applejack!” Rainbow called out. “Wouldn't want to get hurt!” Applejack nearly stumbled as she caught herself in mid-step with one hoof positioned right over a steel bear trap. She leapt into the air in a desperate attempt to avoid disaster, but as she landed on a patch of leaf-strewn ground just beyond, the earth collapsed beneath her hooves, and she fell headlong into a pit, avoiding impalement on the nasty spikes inside only through sheer luck. The laughter continued, even increased at this new stroke of misfortune. As Applejack scrambled to her hooves, she saw Pinkie give Rainbow Dash a cheerful bump with her hoof. Applejack didn't stay to watch but took off as fast as she could. It was only a few moments of panicked flight and the rest of the party was lost to sight behind her in the woods. Then she was suddenly in a clearing, the trees falling away to her left and her right. In front of her was an old wooden bridge, and beyond that, a crumbling old castle made of stone. At the foot of the castle was a sight that caught Applejack's full attention: Nightmare Moon, with Apple Bloom and the others held captive in her loathsome magic. As Applejack stood motionless from the shock of seeing her sister again, the sound of laughter from the forest suddenly cut off. It was replaced with screams of terror. She could hear each of their voices – Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight – and with each sound, she could tell exactly which one had cried out. She had come to know them that well. Nightmare Moon walked away, into the castle, dragging her captives with her. Applejack looked back at the forest for one brief moment. Then she took off at a gallop across the bridge. Behind her, the cries all ceased. “Do you think they deserved that?” Nightmare asked. “To be left alone, to whatever fate befell them?” Scootaloo didn't answer. “Perhaps so,” Nightmare admitted. “But that's not a very heroic answer. Then again,” she chuckled darkly, “I wouldn't make a very good hero either. It's just not... practical.” “Well, maybe if somepony had contributed, you wouldn't have had to.” At last the silence became too much for Twilight to bear. “What do you mean?” she asked, her throat dry with anticipation. Applejack coughed. “She means we have two unicorns here, and only one of them helped out.” “W-what- I-” Twilight fumbled for words. Everypony's eyes seemed suddenly to be on her. “You can't possibly have expected me to cut off my own horn!” “Rarity cut off hers,” Pinkie said. “What makes you so special?” “I... nothing!” Twilight shook her head violently. “There wasn't even enough time for me to do anything! Rarity didn't wait, the second time.” “Are you tellin' me that you'd have done it if you'd had enough time to think?” Applejack asked, eyes narrowed. “Somehow I can't quite bring myself to believe that. You're choking up just thinking about it.” “I would have!” Twilight protested, even as her body broke out in a cold sweat. “I would have, if I was the only one left who could.” “And what would you have done,” Rarity asked, “if I had given you enough time to think about it? If I told you, 'the Toll Frog wants another toll, and it's either you can start chipping in, or I can keep cutting away at my horn,' which would you have chosen?” “I... I would choose...” Twilight wanted to say something. To say she would have been brave enough to mimic Rarity's act of sacrifice so she wouldn't have to repeat it. But even as the words were on her lips, they brought the image to her mind – the chill of the cold steel against her brow, that dreadful cutting, rending sound of metal cutting through bone, the pain, and the sudden feeling of emptiness – and her tongue caught in her throat. “You said it was for the best,” Twilight said, her voice hollow. “That it was better to have one unicorn with working magic than to have none.” “So,” Rarity snarled, “you admit it! You admit that, even if you had the choice between you and a pony who has already suffered it once, you would choose to let the other pony go before yourself! I can't believe I ever thought to call you 'friend.'” Twilight stepped back another pace as the others closed in around her. “Please,” she begged. “I'm sorry, but- but magic is my life! It's always been my life, ever since I was a little foal. It's even my special talent,” she said, turning to the side to display her cutie mark: a grand pink star surrounded by five smaller white ones. “The idea of losing it is just- it's my worst nightmare, okay?” “So you'd rather make somepony else suffer through it?” Rainbow scowled. “You're disgusting, Twilight.” Twilight flinched, but she couldn't think of anything to say in reply. Her breath whistled in through her nose as she tried to hold back the tears she could feel just starting to run down her cheek. “Why are you even out here, anyway?” Pinkie asked. “Your brother wasn't foalnapped. He's back in Ponyville, in a hospital bed. Why'd you run off and leave him there, huh?” “P-Princess Celestia is still out here,” Twilight said. “And the others. I still want to help!” Twilight fell back on her rump as Pinkie got right up in her face. “The Princess is my teacher,” Pinkie said harshly. “You don't even know her. What makes you think you can do anything to help her? It's none of your business!” “I met her once,” Twilight blurted. “During my entrance exam to her School for Gifted Unicorns. On the last test, I had a massive power surge, and she came in and saved me from my own magic. She's my hero!” Twilight leaned around to look Rarity in the eye, searching for any sign of sympathy. “Please, Rarity. You can imagine how I feel about it, right? I'm sorry that I wasn't brave enough.” “I don't have to imagine it,” Rarity said coolly. “I'm living it, right now.” With a snort, Rarity turned and walked away down the path. One by one, the others followed. At the tail end of the line, Twilight stood up and tried to step forward, but Applejack turned and barred her way. “Ah think,” Applejack said, “it would be best if you didn't come.” Applejack turned and left with the rest, leaving Twilight alone in the middle of the forest path. Suddenly, there was a scream from just up ahead. Twilight's head jerked up at the sound, and before she could think about it she was running up the path as fast as her legs could carry her. She rounded a bend in the trail, only to come to a halt in shock at the terrible sight that was in front of her. There was a small clearing in the forest. Twilight's friends lay scattered across the ground – Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash – all unnaturally still and silent. On the other side of the clearing, Pinkie Pie screamed and struggled as she was held aloft in the sinister aura of Nightmare Moon, who was slowly walking away towards the foliage of the Everfree, her captive in tow. “Stop!” Twilight cried. Without thinking, she hurled a bolt of magic from her horn at Nightmare Moon. The shot crackled with desperate energy, ripping through the space between them and singing the air as it passed, only to bounce harmlessly from a passive shield Nightmare had around her. The dark princess didn't even seem to notice as she disappeared into the bushes and out of sight. Twilight stood there, panting. She darted over to where her friends had fallen. They didn't look injured – maybe they were alright. Anxiously, she put a hoof at Rainbow's jaw to check for a pulse. There was none. She checked each of them in turn. There was nothing. She shook them, violently, but they wouldn't get up. It was as if they had just fallen asleep, only they neither breathed nor did their hearts beat. They were all dead. Twilight jerked to her hooves as the world began to spin around her. She felt suddenly queasy. Pinkie's words from just moments before came floating back to her. Why had she decided to come out here, to brave the depths of the Everfree forest in search of the most dangerous villain in Equestria's living memory? Revenge. When Twilight looked into the depths of her heart, that was the only answer she could come up with. Nightmare Moon had hurt her brother, and Twilight wanted revenge for that. So she had tagged along on a foalish quest to take out a pony who had already felled Princess Celestia like it was nothing. And now, everypony was dead. Revenge wasn't enough anymore. It all seemed so thoughtless, now, looking back on it. Why had she done this? Why had she suggested going after the Elements themselves, instead of telling the Royal Guard about it and letting them handle all this? She couldn't even call herself idealistic. Revenge wasn't a noble cause. It was crazy, mind-numbingly crazy, to have tried all this. Twilight took a step back, away from the bodies in the ring. It wasn't over yet. She wasn't dead yet. There was still a chance. She could make it back through the forest, find her way back to Shining and to Spike, where they were waiting for her. Or, a soft voice whispered, I could try and save Pinkie by myself. Twilight stared at the clearing for a long moment. Then she ran off, back down the path they had such a short time ago traveled together. A flash of Pink rang through her mind, but she ignored it. Coming here had been a mistake. “No,” Scootaloo protested weakly. “Stop... stop doing this to them...” “Not even a single one will meet your standards,” Nightmare repeated. “Maybe it would be best for you to wait here.” The ache in Rarity's head was matched with a dull emptiness which now possessed her heart. Slowly, she looked round at the other members of the party. “... Do all of you feel this way?” One by one, each of her friends nodded. Rarity stood there for a moment. Then, without a word, she strode over to the side of the path and began clearing out a section of dead leaves and twigs, leaving a path of bare earth. Even working with her hooves, it took her but a moment – when she was done, she curled up on the spot and relaxed, leaning against a tree. “Well, off with you then,” she said, eyes closed. “Hurry on and finish this, so that we may all return home together. Go and rescue my sister.” No pony spoke. In a moment, Rarity heard the hoofsteps of the rest of the group walking away. She opened her eyes just in time to see Fluttershy glance back at her and give a gentle wave. “We'll be back for you,” Fluttershy said. And then they were gone. The forest didn't actually get any darker or colder than it had been before, now that the others were gone. Rarity shivered anyway. A chill breeze ran through the trees. A twig jabbed into Rarity's side. It seemed like she hadn't been as successful in clearing the ground as she had hoped. She jumped as a shrill scream split the air. Rarity was standing before she had time to think, legs stiff, ears twitching to catch any continuation of the noise. There was none. Her skin crawled. She knew that voice. The scream had been from Pinkie Pie. Rarity ran off down the path. They hadn't been gone long. She didn't know what she would be able to do – she might even be too late – but she couldn't just hang back when her friends were in danger. As she slid around a bend in the path, she came upon a terrible sight. There was Nightmare Moon herself, with the limp forms of her friends floating in the air beside her. “Ah, there you are,” the monster-princess said. “I was wondering where the last of the group had gotten off to.” “P-put them down!” Rarity sputtered. She pawed at the earth. Her mind was reeling in an attempt to find something, anything, that she might do to save her friends. “Oh!” Nightmare Moon gave an insincere little gasp and held a hoof up to her mouth. “Oh, my! Whatever did happen to your horn, my dear? That looks rather hideously painful, on top of being just hideous in general.” Rarity blinked at the unexpected change in topic. The pulsating pain in her horn seemed to double as she paid more attention to it, and a bead of sweat trickled down her nose. Nightmare gave a smile that had just a hint too many teeth in it. “You know, I don't really want to hurt you any more than you've already hurt yourself with this trifling endeavor. Perhaps if I just give you your horn back, you can go back to Ponyville like a good girl and we can just put this whole thing behind us? Even with your magic, it's not like you're any sort of a threat.” “My horn?” Rarity asked. “You think my horn is the most important thing on my mind here? You foalnapped my sister, two other fillies, Princess Celestia herself, and now you've captured my friends! I'm not going to abandon them all to your villainous cluthes just because you give me my horn back – in fact,” she said, pulling herself to her full height, “I'm proud of the sacrifice I've made. I gave my horn of my own free will.” “Oh, don't be a fool,” Nightmare muttered, rolling her eyes. “Fine, fine, you can have your sister back, too.” With a flash, Sweetie Belle's sleeping figure lay sprawled out on the forest floor with her customary lack of grace, along with two other forms of a similar size. “Take the other foals as well. I don't particularly care.” “But it- that-” Rarity stumbled for words. This was not how she had expected things to go at all. “What about my friends?” “Well of course, that was what I needed the foals for,” Nightmare said. “The hunter will do quite well as my vanguard, once I have convinced her of where her true loyalties should lie, and her little shy friend has such an interesting talent with animals. Imagine what I could do with an Ursa or three who took orders, instead of just letting them loose and hoping they walk towards your enemies. The librarian seems to know quite a bit more than she should, on top of being one of the biggest fanfillies for my sister that I've ever seen – it should be most amusing to break her of that. The farmer will be useful as a bargaining chip with the Apple clan, if any of them should get it into their heads to betray me instead of loving me as they should, and the pink one is a mare my sister felt was worth keeping a personal eye on. She might even have confided things to her that would be useful for me to know – or dangerous not to.” Nightmare turned to walk away. “These others will serve my purposes quite well, thank you. I hardly need to worry about a few foals and an armorer on top of that. You and the other oversights can go home now, and await my return as your rightful ruler of the Night.” “No!” Nightmare paused. She turned to look back over her shoulder. “No?” “No,” Rarity repeated. “I'm not letting you walk away with my... my friends.” Nightmare blinked. “You say that like you had any choice in the matter.” Nightmare's horn glowed in a flash of light, and Rarity had to cover her eyes to keep from being blinded. When the light died away she lowered her legs to look around. She was back in Ponyville's main square. Lying a short ways from her were her sister and the other two fillies. “Blast and botheration!” Rarity scowled, scrambling to her hooves in a trice. Her head seemed much clearer now, and it rang full of righteous outrage. “She thinks she can treat me like this? I'll show her. She can't just ignore me!” She started running for the village entrance, heading back in the direction of the forest. “I'll show her –” Rarity paused, her steps slowing to a gradual halt. She lifted a hoof to her horn. It was healed. The pain was gone without a trace. It was like she had never given it up in the first place. Nothing we did mattered. The conviction struck her hard, an icy claw encircling her chest and making it hard to breathe. It was all part of her trap. She gave the fillies back and just took the others. She was playing us all along. And I wasn't even important enough to be part of her plans. My coming along was just an accident. Just a mistake. She trembled. As Rarity stared off into the woods beyond the town limits, seeming further from her now than they had any right to be, she could feel the moment when her nerve broke and she collapsed helplessly to the floor. She wasn't strong enough to even try to help her friends. “All of them are among the finest that equinity has to offer,” Nightmare said, “and yet, each one of them has her own flaws, unsurmountable defects which prevent them from ever being worthy of the title 'hero.' Do you honestly think that any pony alive would risk their lives to help a filly they've never even met out of some misplaced sense of heroism?” She shook her head. “Even if they do make it here, it won't be to rescue you.” “Shut up,” Scootaloo said, her voice sounding oddly disconnected and far away. “R-... Rainbow Dash...” “Oh, you didn't think I had forgotten about her, did you?” Nightmare asked. A new image pulled up in front of them. “Of course I wouldn't forget. After all, this whole thing is to teach you just how fragile your heroes really are. It wouldn't mean much if I didn't stop on the one you actually consider your hero, now would it?” Scootaloo stared at the image of Rainbow Dash. A cold, sickly feeling made her want to puke as a part of her mind began to wonder what was going to happen. “Your Rainbow Dash is special,” Nightmare said, a small smile lacing her every word. “She's the only one among all of those there who knows what I know to be true. She's learned for herself that most valuable of lessons, the one I'm teaching you now. “There are no heroes in this world.” “Look out!” Even as she cried out in warning, Rainbow Dash was in motion through the air, drawing her sword from its place on her back in one smooth motion as she tackled the Crimson Fangbeetle in mid-pounce, the full force of her weight only just managing to divert the course of the massive insectoid from where it would have hit Pinkie Pie to instead land harmlessly on the ground. There was a frantic few seconds of wrestling with the creature, trying to avoid its many lethally sharp limbs before Dash finally found a chink in its natural armor, sliding her blade home to rest in the creature's side. Its struggles grew weak, then died out all together just as the creature itself did. Fluttershy gave a low gasp of horror. Somepony else made a retching noise, but Rainbow Dash couldn't tell who. As Rainbow stood up and pulled the sword out to wipe it on the ground, no pony else made any noise. Dash sheathed the sword, then looked around at the others questioningly. “What?” she asked. “That was the Crimson Fangbeetle from my story!” Pinkie spoke up, sounding quite upset. “You weren't supposed to just kill it like that!” “Pinkie,” Rainbow sighed, “I don't know if you've noticed, but your stories have been coming to life for the past few minutes, and all of them have been trying to leave us dead. Nightmare Moon must be doing something to-” “You killed it!” Fluttershy blurted, rushing up to the creature and laying her hooves on its bony carcass. “Rainbow Dash, how could you? You promised you wouldn't do that any more!” “It was going to kill Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow protested. “I figured breaking my promise was the lesser of two evils.” “You shouldn't say something you don't intend to follow through,” Applejack interjected. “Well, what's it to you?” Rainbow asked, turning to the farmer. “Would you rather I have just let Pinkie die, just so that I can keep from making a little fib?” “I should say so!” Pinkie said sharply. “Promises are serious business. That wasn't how the story was supposed to go at all. We were all supposed to befriend the monster, and learn about how our differences can be overcome without fighting. And now you've ruined that!” “It was in the middle of trying to kill you!” Rainbow said. “I can't believe what I'm hearing. Is no one here grateful at all?” “Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy roared. Everyone went silent. Rainbow stared in jaw-dropped amazement at the normally quiet mare, and she wasn't alone in her reaction. Fluttershy glared Rainbow right in the eyes with such intensity that the hunter felt like she was facing down a savage beast instead of her oldest friend – she unconsciously took a step backwards. “You think you can just go around breaking your promises and hurting poor defenseless creatures?” Fluttershy asked. “Defenseless?” Rainbow started to argue. “W-” “You think the things you do don't have any consequences?” Fluttershy interrupted. “That just because I'm your friend that I'll forgive you for disobeying me?” “Disob-” “I think you need to be taken down a peg!” Fluttershy said, cutting Rainbow off again. Fluttershy glanced at the others. “I sincerely apologize for my friend's unacceptable behavior. Perhaps you can understand why she acts the way she does better if I share a little story with you about her life.” It was getting hard for Scootaloo to keep her eyes open. Darkness was beginning to creep in from around the edges of her vision. “Are you paying attention?” Nightmare Moon asked, giving the filly a little shake. “This is the part I want you to remember.” A jolt of fear ran through Scootaloo's mind, urging her to keep awake. It was numbed underneath layers of drowsiness and discomfort, but, with a maximum of exertion, she was just able to keep her eyes open, to stay focused on one thing, the only thing that reminded her there was still something to fight for. “Rainbow Dash...” Rainbow's eyes went from wide with shock to narrowed with anger in a flash. “Fluttershy, don't you dare.” “It has to do with a flight team called 'the Wonderbolts',” Fluttershy said, a poisonously hostile smile on her face as she said it. “They were somewhat famous around the time that we were growing up. Perhaps you mightn't have heard of them, not being pegasi and all.” “I've heard of them,” Twilight commented. “They were a special aerobatics and reconnaissance team, trained to be the fastest, most agile fliers in Equestria. They reported directly to Princess Celestia herself, and held airshows when they were not currently on a mission – they were pretty popular, especially in their hometown of Cloudsdale. They were disbanded years ago, though.” “That's right,” Fluttershy said in a sickly sweet tone, nodding as she did so. “Twelve years ago, the Wonderbolts were quietly retired from duty.” “Fluttershy, shut up!” Rainbow growled. “You do not want to go where this is going.” Fluttershy ignored her. “Rainbow Dash was a huge fan of theirs, you know,” she went on. “She dreamed of joining up with them one day. She even thought she could make it in with her special 'Sonic Rainboom,' which no pony seems to recall seeing her pull off.” Rainbow Dash flinched. She glanced wildly from side to side, but everypony else was wrapped up in Fluttershy's story. “So you can imagine how heartbroken she was when they broke up,” Fluttershy continued. “The media tried to keep the real reason why it happened quiet, so as not to upset anyone, but Rainbow Dash was just so determined to find out that she snuck into the newspaper room and found their little pile of research on the subject. And you wouldn't believe what she found.” “Fluttershy, I swear, if you say one more word-” “The notes detailed the last mission the Wonderbolts would ever perform,” Fluttershy said, heedless of Rainbow's warning. “They had been sent deep into the center of the Everfree, as part of one of the first efforts to map out the interior of the forest in over three centuries. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out so well for them. Of the seven members of the team, only two made it out alive, and one of them was crippled for life.” Pinkie gasped. “That's horrible!” “It gets worse,” Fluttershy continued. “Willow Wind, the only one to make it out under her own power, confessed to leaving the others behind when they got injured half-way through. They had already gotten into horrible trouble with the dangers of the forest up to that point, and now they had injured ponies to deal with. Willow told the reporters that their captain, Spitfire, decided that it had gotten too dangerous to continue caring for them and still make it out with their own lives intact, so they just left them there for the wolves to chew on. Of course, it didn't help Spitfire much when they ran into an Octospider's hunting ground.” “Serves her right, leaving her own teammates to die,” Applejack said. “And Rainbow here idolized these ponies?” Rainbow Dash was shaking violently in place, a look of tortured rage across her face. “Oh, yes,” Fluttershy said. “She used to have all sorts of posters of them hanging up in her room. She took them down after she saw the pictures the newspaper didn't print, though.” Fluttershy stared Rainbow right in the eyes, a sadistic gleam in her features. “They were so graphic it caused her nightmares for weeks just looking at them.” As Fluttershy finished speaking, there was a moment's pause. Rainbow Dash was breathing heavily, staring at nothing and gritting her teeth so hard her jawbone was creaking. “I see,” Twilight nodded at last. “So her childhood heroes turned out to be the kind of pony who would abandon their own teammate just to save their own skin when the going got rough. I guess that's where Rainbow must get it.” Rainbow Dash almost stumbled. Her tensed up wings offered her no lift upon the air as she moved to turn her glare on Twilight. “What did you say?” “Of course,” Pinkie said. “The kind of pony who murders a defenseless forest monster would have heartless, soulless creeps for idols as well.” She nodded too. “Everything falls perfectly into place.” “What's with all these accusations?” Rainbow shouted, losing what little composure she had left. “I hunt things for a living! I'm here to rescue those kids, the Princess, and all of Equestria! Why would you all turn on me like this?” “Oh, really?” Fluttershy asked, her smile still present and an arch in her brow. “Well maybe we don't want your help. Why should you come along instead of anypony else?” Rainbow Dash was so worked up she was running out of breath now. “Because,” she panted, “because that little filly asked me to, that's why!” Fluttershy snorted. “If you care about her so much,” she challenged, “then say her name.” Nothing but silence greeted her, as a chill wind whispered through the trees. “Rainbow Dash is coming to save you?” Nightmare asked. Scootaloo's vision faltered. Things started fading in and out. “I-” Rainbow started. “Her name is- is...” “She cares about you? Can you really believe that?” Scootaloo opened her mouth. She wanted to call out to her hero, to catch her attention, but no sound came. “I don't know, okay?!?” Rainbow said at last. “I don't know the little twerp's name.” And the light faded from Scootaloo's eyes as the image before her died out completely.