Rainbow Dash grunted as she was hurled to the floor. Her head hit something sharp and pain shot through her skull. She groaned. A stallion removed her sack. Sunlight poured into Rainbow's vision and she winced at it, squinting her eyes. Where was she?
Her vision adjusted to the light. Rainbow saw the group of stallions standing before her. She turned her body and looked around. She was in some kind of campsite. When since did The Plains have one?
Rainbow Dash scowled as she looked up to the stallions, putting on an aggressive front. She got back onto her hooves and her eyes searched for her saddlebag. It was nowhere in sight.
Luckily she had her cloak and mask on. She didn't want these stallions to start probing about her identity.
"Whoa whoa whoa, sugarcube...settle down!" The leader stepped out of the group, his face bearing a smirk.
Rainbow clenched her teeth at the mention of "sugarcube". The memory of Apple Jack triggered some sort of sensitivity within her. "DON'T call me 'sugarcube'," she warned him with a dangerously low voice.
"Alrighty then, if that's comfortable with ya," the leader grunted. "...just no fightin'." He grinned menacingly, something Rainbow was not paying attention to. Her mind was already planning her escape plan.
"What do you want? Where's my saddlebag?" Rainbow growled, ignoring his statement.
"You invaded our territory, almost let us get eaten by some manticore, and now, you are to receive your fair lesson. Looky here," he swung a metal rod he grabbed from one of his stallions. "Have fun, yea?"
Rainbow Dash smirked. "Very well then. Expect no mercy."
She shot into the air in a flash and snatched the metal rod out of the stallion's hooves. The group backed away, holding up a few rusted shovels and crossbows in defence. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"You know..." she tossed the rod into her other hoof. "...you shouldn't have messed with me," Rainbow grinned in triumph as she simply broke the metal rod in half as though it was a piece of paper. She threw the metal rods into the earth below her and they stuck there like two poles. "Maybe try picking somepony..." she drew out her dagger that she had hidden in her cloak and gave them a deadly grin. "...your own level."
Rainbow Dash flew rapidly towards the group and got a good grip on her dagger. She slashed at the helpless stallions one by one, her figure a fast blur. She cut them on the cheek, hooves, flank and necks. Blood splatted onto her face everytime she slashed.
Without wasting a single effort, all the stallions were down; except the leader.
She smiled at him, holding her dagger to his throat. "Where is my saddlebag?" Rainbow asked nicely.
"T-There...t-two t-tents t-to y-your r-r-right..." he stuttered, shuddering in fear.
"Good." With that, she slashed his throat. The stallion fell limp onto the ground. Rainbow sheathed her dagger and wiped blood off her hooves and face, as she took off her hood and mask. She stepped over his body without a second glance and headed off to her right.
Rainbow Dash walked over to the tent the stallion pointed out. She unzipped the flap and peeked inside.
She gasped.
"R-Rainbow Dash!" The filly squealed with joy.
"S-Scootaloo...?" Rainbow Dash stood stunned for a moment, and ran forward to give her a hug. She pulled away. "What happened?! I thought you died!" Rainbow looked at her in disbelief. Scootaloo went missing one year ago on a mission for Luna and never came back. Rainbow was heartbroken. Now that she saw this filly well and alive, tears threatened to blur her vision. Scootaloo patted her back ressuringly.
"Don't worry Rainbow Dash...I have been here the whole time. I was ponynapped, and I couldn't escape those stallions. They fed me, though for some reason...they were so scary!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Rainbow just smirked and ruffled her mane.
"If I told you I defeated them all in ten seconds flat, would ya believe me?" Rainbow snorted.
"No way!" Scootaloo scoffed.
"Yes way," Rainbow chuckled. Then she remembered why she was here in the first place. "Oh yeah, did you find any saddlebag in here? Mine's taken," she looked around the tent.
"Uh, no," Scootaloo frowned. "Why are you here anyways?"
"I'll tell you later, squirt. Now follow me," Rainbow led her outside of the tent. "That stupid bastard gave me a bucking lie before he died...I'll make sure he dies a second time in hell," she muttered under her breath.
Rainbow spotted another tent. She squinted and found a shadow of a stallion inside. A pegasus, even. The shadow portrayed a stiff posture. Rainbow grinned as she thought it might be a guard. It would be easy getting the information out of this guard.
Rainbow Dash gestured for Scootaloo to stay put outside as she crept up against the tent, ready for ambush.
She unzipped the tent's flap quickly. A throwing knife flew out. It came short of a few centimeters as Rainbow dodged it. Rainbow Dash dove immediately into the tent, pinning the stallion down. He had a hood and mask on like her. This was a familiar sight.
"Dash?" His deep voice suppressed genuine surprise.
Rainbow's brows furrowed as she tried to put two and two together. Where had she seen this cloak and heard this voice? Something made a click in her mind.
"Soarin? Why are you here?" Rainbow asked as she got off him. Soarin threw off his hood and mask. He got up.
"I was ponynapped," he replied as he reached for something behind his back. "Is this yours?" Soarin held up her saddlebag.
"Yeah!" Rainbow took it gratefully and she looked up at him. "How did you know?"
Soarin held up the photo she took with her friends years ago. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Come on, I check everything I get," Soarin chuckled, "by the way, you looked quite happy in there."
"I was," Rainbow's ears drooped as she took it from his hoof and slotted it inside her saddlebag.
Sensing her sudden change in her mood, Soarin looked outside the tent, hoping to see something to change the topic. "Who's she?" he raised an eyebrow upon seeing the filly.
Rainbow lifted her head. "That's Scootaloo. A filly I took under my wing years ago," she smiled sadly. "Let's go."
Soarin grabbed his saddlebag and and walked outside with Rainbow.
Scootaloo gasped, "S-Soarin?! The Wonderbolts?!"
"Yeah, I met him on the way before meeting you," Rainbow replied.
"Oh my Luna!"
"Geez squirt. Forgot I was a Wonderbolt?"
"Nah, you're different. But still awesome!"
Soarin laughed at the two ponies. "You know you guys look so cute when you're talking like that?" The two ponies turned around to face him. Scootaloo looked like she was about to explode out of gush-iness while Rainbow gave him a "stop-the-cuteness-shit-or-you're-dead" look.
He stopped laughing upon receiving Rainbow's message.
Rainbow turned around swiftly as she was just reminded of what she was supposed to do and to stop fooling around. "Guys, we need to go," she looked at Scootaloo sternly as she was still gushing over Soarin. "Now."
"Right," Soarin sighed. "Bye, Scoots." His sight lingered on Rainbow for a little while more than it should have. "Bye, Dash."
"Now let's go squir-" Rainbow turned around just as the filly shouted. "No!" Scootaloo shrieked. She leaped in front of Rainbow.
The world seemed to shatter around Rainbow, all at once. Tears flooded her eyes. An arrow shot Scootaloo in her head as she fell motionless onto the ground before her.
"Scootaloo! NO!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she scrambled beside the lifeless filly. She cradled Scootaloo's body in her arms as the filly's life drained away. Blood trickled down her forehead.
Soarin rushed towards Rainbow as she shot a murderous glare at the stallion who shot the arrow. It was one of the stallions Rainbow fought just now. Apparently, one of them was not dead and tried to shoot the arrow to kill Rainbow. And Scootaloo protected Rainbow's life. By sacrificing her own.
Scootaloo sacrificed her own life to protect Rainbow's.
Rainbow Dash advanced dangerously towards the stallion that shot the arrow. She unsheathed her dagger and rage flared in her eyes. She screamed whatever curse and swear she knew and plunged the dagger repeatedly into his body until he lay dead. Rainbow flung the dagger away and kneeled on the ground, sobbing.
"Rainbow..." Soarin placed a hoof on her shoulder. When she did not react and continued crying, he pulled her into a warm embrace, comforting her as he stroked a hoof through her mane.
Rainbow Dash cried even harder and sunk into his chest, returning the embrace.