• Published 29th Aug 2014
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Rainbow Dash: Re-Animator - JawJoe



Rainbow Dash's loyalty extends beyond the grave. Whether society and the laws of thermodynamics permit it or not.

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Don't Dead, Scream Inside

Sweetie Belle

Easing through the window, we touched down quietly. It was a long hallway lined by windows on one side, and sparsely by doors on the other. The Moon cast smudged shadows along the unlit corridor.

Rainbow squinted into the darkness, looking around before bending down to me. “Can you see her?” Something moved at the far end, and moonlight glistened on white fur. Rainbow patted me on the back. “Go get her, slowly. Predator-like.”

Opal was a blurry white dot in the distant. I did my best not to lose sight of her. “I don't think I can hold her even if I catch her.”

Rainbow rummaged through a bag, then held up a syringe filled with transparent liquid. “Just grab her, I'll do the rest. It'll take a split second.”

“But—”

“Chop-chop.”

I took a deep breath, beginning my approach. I stuck to the outer wall, sneaking under the windows to avoid the light that trickled in. Opal sat at the end of the hallway atop a flight of stairs. I couldn’t fathom why she liked stairs so much when they’d already gotten her killed once.

She licked away at a raised paw without a care in the world. Even after getting chased across town, her first instinct was to groom herself. That Re-Animation Potion sure did its job well.

Just like last our latest run-in by the stairs, Opal didn't notice me closing in.

I was a few steps away when her ears pricked up. I froze. As Opal looked, her tongue was still on her paw. She jumped when she saw me, arching her back and hissing through bared fangs.

I leapt for her, and she leapt back. I managed to grab her tail, but my hooves failed to find the floor. I recognised the feeling of wind rushing through my mane, and the repeated hits and smacks from every side. It was the feeling of tumbling down the stairs.

Bouncing off the final step, I sprawled out on the floor, and heard Opal land beside me. I jumped up to find Opal lying still. My breath held, I poked her, and she lunged at my face with exposed claws. With a yelp, I struck and slammed her head into the floor. Her pained whine petered out, and she fell silent.

I poked her again, this time to no response. I checked her neck just to be safe, finding it still in one piece. Her chest expanded, drawing air in with a quiet snore before breathing out with a shallow sigh, a single paw twitching slightly. It seemed I'd knocked her unconscious.

“Huh.” I took her into my hooves. I checked for a heartbeat, and found it calm. All in all, that ended a lot better than expected. “Guess we're lucky.” A flash of light blinded me for a moment, making me raise a hoof to shield my eyes. “What the...?”

The light moved down to my hooves. Blinking my eyes clear, I saw a stallion sitting at a desk nearby, flashlight shining at me. The desk stood by a set of heavy-looking metal doors that marked this end of the hallway.

“Who's lucky?” the stallion asked, rising from his seat. He had a light blue shirt and a cap of the same colour. Must have been a guard, probably for whatever was behind those doors. He looked down at me, chin high and a brow raised.

“Um,” I mumbled, taking a step back. “My cat. Her name's Lucky.” I held Opal up. “Isn't she cute?”

The stallion beamed the flashlight on Opal. “Why are you wandering around in the middle of the night? The children's ward is in the other half of the building.”

“I, um, I got up to have a tinkle and got lost?”

“And you brought your cat?”

“I could never pee-pee without my—”

Wings flapped. As the stallion looked up, Rainbow Dash crashed into him and slammed him at the wall, the impact knocking the flashlight from his hoof. After a brief struggle, Rainbow came on top and pressing her syringe into the stallion's neck.

The stallion grunted past his chattering teeth, voice waning with every breath. He tried to push Rainbow off, but his punches grew weaker and weaker until eventually his legs fell limp.

“Nighty-night,” Rainbow said, stepping off him. She turned to me, flicking her mane back theatrically. “Well, that's taken care of.”

“He saw us,” I said.

“Don't worry, he won't remember a thing.” Rainbow pushed a hoof under the stallion's cheek, tilting his head up before letting it fall again. “Or I don't think he will.”

I glanced at the sleeping stallion. “Okay, Rainbow. We've got Opal. We have to get out of here. What are you doing?”

Rainbow Dash picked up the flashlight and shone it on the guard's desk. A thermos stood on it, above a clipboard and a few other papers, which Rainbow quickly flicked through. Wordlessly, she stepped over to the guard, pulling a key from the pocket on his chest.

The key hung from a sizeable ring, wide enough for her hoof to fit through. She spun the key around, shining the light above the heavy doors. A sign dangling from the ceiling revealed where we were: 'Morgue.' Rainbow turned to me with a grin on her face.

“No, Rainbow.”

“Yes, Rainbow. We'll never get a chance like this again. I helped you with the cat, you owe me.”

I stomped. “I won't help you break in there.”

She flicked the key around again. “I don't need help breaking in. I need a lab assistant. And you're not getting out of here without my help. Place is unreasonably well guarded, trust me on this.”

I scoffed. She was right, though. They wouldn't let me waltz out the front door, not without asking questions.

I turned the other way, to the dark hallway that stretched deeper into the hospital. I heard a metallic clinking, and a lock turning. When I looked back, Rainbow was standing in the open doorway. With a sigh, I conceded defeat. I was going to regret this, I knew it.

Rainbow let go of the door as I passed through, which in turn slammed into me. “Hold this open,” she said, stepping over to the sleeping guard. She bit onto his collar and began pulling. “Don't want 'em finding 'im,” she mumbled.

The touch of the door sent a chill down my spine. I had to strain myself to keep it from closing, and I could hear my hooves sliding along the tiled floor.

With one last grunt, Rainbow jerked the stallion inside. I let go of the door in relief, but Rainbow kicked it open again. “Gotta get the bags too,” she said on her way out. There I was again, holding the door.

Rainbow disappeared up the staircase. I craned my head into the morgue, but I couldn't see past my nose. The dim moonlight from upstairs couldn't reach far onto the pitch black morgue. Finally, Rainbow arrived with the bags and pulled them inside. Letting go of the door, I hopped away for fear of getting hit again. The entire room shook as the door slammed shut.

The smell of antiseptics stung my nostrils. I leaned against the cold wall, crossing my legs to try stop the shivers. There was a click, and then a buzzing at the ceiling. The lights flickered on above the door, then line by line to the other end, bathing the room in a sterile neon glow. Rainbow stood nearby, hoof on the switch and an excited grin on her face.

The far wall held many crude metal hatches, stacked like cells in a beehive. A few tables stood around, and trolleys of different sizes lined up nearby. A smaller one was packed with surgical instruments and chemicals. Some others were empty, but pony sized. I could guess what those were for.

Rainbow wasted no time in getting to work. She opened a hatch, revealing a dead pony in the wall. She continued, exposing bodies one by one, releasing a whiff of cold air each time. Their left ears were all pierced, and a small tag dangled from each.

An old mare lay in a second row hatch, just at Rainbow's eye-level. From my height, I couldn't comfortably see inside, and I didn't go out of my way to try. Rainbow took a quick glance at the mare's ear-tag before turning it my way.

“These got their names. Plus some info on their death. This one...” She looked at the tag again. “Last week. Lawn mower accident.” Rainbow cocked her head, looking deeper into the shelf. I saw her face screw up with a silent, mouthed 'eww' as she turned away. “I wonder where the rest of her went.” She took another look, shuddered, then closed the hatch. “You gonna just sit there? Help me find somepony good. The fresher, the better.”

Rainbow entrusted me with the bottom row, saying she didn't want to 'kill her back.' I wondered how many dead bodies she had to work through to become this desensitised.

I did my best to focus on the tags, those innocent sheets of paper, rather than the corpses they hung from. The less I saw, the better. For all my best efforts, though, I couldn't stop my imagination. I wished I could turn my brain off.

Burn victim. Crushed on building site. Empty hatch. Mangled by Quarray Eel. Empty hatch. Shredded in dam. Week old. Empty hatch. Empty hatch.

Rainbow's stepped over my with her hind hooves. She reared, leaning onto the second row as she went through the third, all the while muttering something to herself about how 'inconsiderate' these ponies were about how they died.

Opening the last hatch of the lowest row, the head of the pony inside popped out. The stallion was white and massive, barely fitting in his shelf from his rippling muscles. I couldn't have stuck a hoof next to him if I tried. It was a wonder that they'd even managed to squeeze him in there.

“Hey Rainbow, how about this? It's from this afternoon.”

Rainbow turned to me, off-hoofedly throwing a severed head back into a shelf. “Is that Bulk Biceps? Let me guess: overdose.”

I flipped the tag and took a look. “It says he choked on pie.” That stallion's neck was thicker than my torso. I gave him a poke. His muscles felt tense, but apart from that, I didn't see anything wrong. “At least he's in one piece.”

“Well then,” Rainbow said, patting my head. “You grab one leg, I grab the other.”

Either Bulk Biceps was really stuck, or he was exceptionally heavy. It took a lot of strength, a bit of wriggling, and a few curses and prayers to pull the body out. The shoulders were the broadest part. When they finally budged, the rest came relatively easily.

When Rainbow threw him onto a table, I saw its metal legs bend under the pressure.

“Okay now, let's see...” Rainbow opened Bulk's mouth and looked inside, pinching her nose. “Delightfully rancid. Give me the flashlight.” I handed it over, and Rainbow shined it down Bulk's throat. “I can't see any pie in there now. They must've cleaned him. So, if there's nothing else wrong...” She took a step back and looked him over. “And I don't think there is, then we can start. Help me set up.”

We pushed some tables and trolleys around to make space. Then we emptied our bags, preparing a workstation. Opal, still asleep, was put in a corner where she wouldn't be in the way. Rainbow filled the boiler flask from a sink on the wall, starting the burner before beginning to mix. I was once again assigned tome duty. Rainbow had me open the book at the pony Re-Animation Potion.

“Last time I tried this,” Rainbow explained as she worked on the potion, “I added a new ingredient. Mean Face Oak dust. See?”

With Rainbow's less-than-impeccable writing, and habit of writing above crossed-out lines at least three times before moving on, it took a while to find. I eventually found the entry by turning the tome some ninety degrees. “Yeah, I see.”

Rainbow sprinkled a speck of dust into the glass. “Without this, the potion just didn't do anything. With full bodies, I mean. A hoof tried to choke me once. The dust makes muscles stronger. Kind of a jolt. It helps re-animation.” She added something else to the mix, and the water took on a pale greenish hue. “Now, last time, I think I added too much. This time, I'm trying with a little bit. Write that down, one speck instead of half a bag.”

I dipped the quill in ink and added a note. “By last time, you mean that stallion in the library?” Oh, lovely memories. “You said he attacked you?”

“Yeah. Nasty thing, that. But don't worry.” She picked up the glass, put her hoof on its mouth, and shook it a bit before hoisting it back above the flame. “Much less dust this time, right? And Bulk's too nice to do that, anyway.”

“If you say he was.”

“In a minute, you'll see for yourself.”

Rainbow continued adding ingredients in order. As the glass reached critical temperature, the mix turned green, but lacked its signature glow. Rainbow killed the flame.

She glanced at me. “We do still have feathers, right?”

The feather-tube rested on the lower shelf of a trolley. “Not much,” I said. The tube flew up and levitated into Rainbow's hooves. She turned it over, and a single feather fell out.

“Last one,” she noted. “If we mess this up, we'll have get more from the library.” She eyed the feather for a while, waving it in the air. She smiled, straightening her back and puffing her chest out. “We won't need another one.”

I wondered if she was trying to convince me, or herself.

Rainbow dropped the feather into the potion. With a flash, the mix lit up brightly. She looked into the irradiated green glow like how somepony looks at their special somepony. Her grin creeped me out. But the potion, I had to admit, was somehow captivating.

For the umpteenth time that night, Rainbow filled her syringe. “Note it,” she said, dragging her hoof along a thick vein in Bulk's neck. “This time, you're writing history.”

That did make me feel a little special. For a moment, I imagined what a cutie mark in dead-raising would look like.

“Ready?” Rainbow asked.

“Ready,” I confirmed.

Rainbow drove the needle into Bulk's neck. She pressed the plunger down, nice and slow. Bulk's neck glowed green, then the light dissipated. We waited.

And waited.

Rainbow chewed her lower lip, never taking her eyes off the body.

The longer we waited and the longer the body didn't move, the stiffer her posture became. She stood still on shaking legs, breathing through clenched teeth.

I exhaled in resignation, tugging at Rainbow's leg. “We should pack up.”

She stared at the lifeless body. “It should've worked.” Her hind legs gave way and she fell on her rump. “It worked before.” She looked at the floor, rubbing her forehead. She breathed with shallow, frantic sniffs and snorts, all until she could no longer contain it. She stomped on the floor and burst into tears.

She tried to hide it, I think, by speaking. All that came out were choked half-words, interrupted by her sobs. Something about unfairness. Something about Twilight. She rocked back and forth, tears rolling and nose running.

I never imagined I'd see the great Rainbow Dash cry. I made a cautious step closer. “Rainbow, please...”

She pushed me off. “You don't get it. This had to work. It doesn't work. Why doesn't it work?” She stood up, mouth contorted into a snarl. She reared and lifting her front hooves above her head. “It's not fair!” she cried, slamming her hooves at Bulk's chest. The table bounced, and the sound echoed.

Rainbow hunched over Bulk, eyes closed, shaking her head. “It's not—” She opened her eyes, only to jerk back with a gasp. “He's looking at me.”

Bulk Biceps burped and gasped for air, chest convulsing. Rainbow patted him on the head, and took one of his hooves.

“Welcome back to life, buddy,” she said, voice still shaking. “Deep breaths, deep breaths. Remember me, Biceps? Rainbow Dash? Wonderbolt Academy, Equestria Games?”

Every muscle in Bulk's body seemed to have gained a life of its own. One leg pattered on the table while another grasped towards Rainbow. His neck turned away from her, but his eyes tried to keep looking, body writhing like a fish out of the water.

Rainbow grabbed the syringe, stuffing it into the potion. Her hooves shook as she filled up. “He's struggling. He's trying to come back.”

Rainbow pounced at Bulk, holding him down. With the syringe between her teeth, she fought to hit the right artery.

Bulk flounced and jerked, making deep, throaty sounds. When Rainbow moved the syringe closer, he bit her ear. Rainbow planted a hoof in his face. Bulk bit again. The syringe slipped from Rainbow's mouth and fell to the floor. “Sweetie!”

Rainbow wrapped a leg around Bulk's head and pressed another hoof under his chin, keeping his mouth tightly shut. The tip of his tongue peeped out between his teeth. “Sorry buddy, you brought this on yourself. Sweetie, come on.”

Shaking myself out of shock, I picked up the syringe and raced to the table, but it was too tall. I ran to roll a smaller trolley closer to climb on top. Bulk struggled, blowing air through his nose like a mad bull, making Rainbow's mane rise with each breath.

From the trolley I leaned onto Bulk's table. Rainbow grunted, throwing all her weight behind a push, turning Bulk's head the other way. His massive neck throbbed with veins. I targeted the thickest, feeling a pop as the needle pierced through.

As I emptied the syringe, Bulk gave an ear-bursting howl. He slammed a hoof into Rainbow's head and kicked the trolley from under me, making me fall to the floor.

Looking up, I saw Bulk roll off the table. I could barely jump out of his way. Rainbow stepped between us, setting her hooves and unfolding her wings. Bulk curled up on the floor, covering his face with his hooves, and he whined like a beaten dog.

“Bulk,” Rainbow said. “Bulk, look at me.”

His ears flinched. He took one hoof off his face, then the other. The whites of his eyes flushed red.

“Did you see that?” Rainbow whispered. “He listened, he knows his name.” She cleared her throat and continued, loud and clear. “It's okay, don't worry. Everything's fine. Do you recognise me?”

Bulk breathed in, making a sound like a busted pipe. “Daaash,” he croaked.

“Yes.” Rainbow skipped closer, clopping her hooves together in excitement. “Yes, it's me.”

Slowly, Bulk raised a hoof, bones cracking at every flinch, eyes slowly following it. He opened his mouth, crammed his hoof, and bit down. I looked away in the last second, but I still heard the crunch.

Huurtsss,” Bulk mumbled past his hoof. He took it out, only to start banging it over his head. “Dash. Hurts...

“Hey,” Rainbow said. “Calm down now. Where does it hurt?”

Putting his hooves on his temples, Bulk closed his eyes and moaned. Rainbow took his hooves into hers, gently lowering them. Bulk looked at her, and they exchanged a silent look. Bulk's muscles tensed, rippling, sliding under his skin. His eyes bulged and he bared his teeth. With a moan, he lunged at Rainbow, screaming at the top of his lungs. Rainbow couldn't fight the massive stallion off.

“Bulk,” I called out. “Stop it, leave her alone!”

He looked at me. My blood froze.

He stepped off Rainbow, lumbering towards me. His eyes were wide and teeth were clenched, and I saw blood gushing at their base.

Rainbow jumped, tackling him without warning. Bulk jerked and kicked her into the wall. He grabbed the nearest empty trolley, getting on his hind legs to raise it high above Rainbow.

I grabbed onto Bulk's hind leg. “No, don't hurt her!” I pulled, but he didn't even notice.

Bulk brought the trolley down on Rainbow with overwhelming force, then proceeded to pummel it into the floor, crushing Rainbow underneath.

“Stop it!”

Bulk looked at me again. His face contorted, body convulsing, veins popping from his muscles.

That's when it really dawned on me, that this might be it. Rainbow wasn't moving, and now it was my turn. I felt stupid for ever getting into this. I felt insane for believing Rainbow. I thought about Rarity, about Mummy and Daddy. Now a crazed zombie's raised hoof was going to be the last thing I'd ever see.

Bulk didn't move. He just stared. He gave a pained groan, his skin tearing along his right shoulder. His muscles bulged and swelled, and he keeled over in pain. He flipped around, turning his face away from me before getting up to charge the far wall. The tremors of impact rippled through his bloated muscles as he rammed it. He gave me another glance, and yelped like a frightened dog, slamming his head into the wall again.

He leaned his ripped shoulder into the wall and skidded along, painting a trail of red and white hair. When he reached the next wall, he dropped to the floor and stuck his face into the corner, eyes hidden by his hooves. His entire body quivered like a wad of soft jelly.

It took me a while before I could take my eyes off him. Collecting my strength, I pushed the dented trolley off Rainbow. She lay crumpled against the wall, her breathing weak and spastic but not gone. Bruised, bare patches of skin covered her body, and bloody spittle ate itself into her coat around her mouth.

I pulled her off the wall and lay her out on her back. “Rainbow?”

She coughed, opening her eyes.

“Can you stand up?”

Her gaze wandered for a moment, defocused, then her eyelids dropped.

I glanced at Bulk. He was still in the corner, moaning quietly. “Come on, we need to get out of here.” I tugged at Rainbow's wing. “Rainbow, please.”

Behind me, the lock on the door clacked. Somepony was outside, trying it. Then I heard knocking. “Picket, are you in there?” came a mare's voice.

I took Rainbow's head in my hooves. “Rainbow,” I whispered, “somepony's at the door.”

The knocking turned into banging. “Are you trying to pull that zombie prank again? Didn't work the first time, s'not gonna work now.”

I talked to Rainbow, I shook her, slapped her. I splashed water on her, I opened her eyes, I knocked on her head. Nothing helped. I spun around, looking for something, anything, that I could use to wake her up. Then I saw it.

The blue phial, the Sans-Sleep Serum. It was a stretch, but I had nothing else. I filled a syringe, and stretched out one of Rainbow's front legs. I rubbed the tip of my hoof at the bend, searching for a vein. Hitting a throbbing one in Bulk's neck had been easy. Finding a vein in Rainbow's leg proved harder.

“Okay, seriously,” said the mare outside. “You didn't lock yourself in, did you? You can't be that stupid.”

Feeling a little bump under Rainbow's skin, I figured it was now or never.

I stuck the syringe in.


Rainbow Dash

Gone were the days of napping through every boring afternoon. It was one of the things that had been affecting my temper, I think. Not only did I volunteer to work in the library, I still had my weather-pony job, not to mention commuting between Cloudsdale and Ponyville. And then there were my experiments. The only thing that kept me from falling into a coma was the SSS. 'Substance abuse' would be putting it mildly.

I hadn't slept a minute in three days.

So it's a shame that when I finally drifted off, a stinging in my leg jolted me back. The pain snaked up my leg and coursed through my body. As it passed through my heart, it began beating my ribcage as though it wanted to break free. My brain froze over, then burst into flames.

In the time it took my eyes to snap open, I jumped to my hooves, light scorching my eyes and throat ripping with a scream.

An oversized rat gnawed at my aching leg, squeaking something with its teeth buried in my flesh. One smack shooed it away. Its torn tooth dangled from my wound.

In the corner, I saw a hulking, crying mass of muscles whose sight filled me with indescribable fury. My fire axe glowed red, calling to me, jumping into my hooves to swing at the monster.

The behemoth raised its tiny, pathetic hooves in protection or surrender. They couldn't stop the axe coming down and down again.

The rat clutched its hooves around my leg again.

“Rainbow,” Sweetie Belle whispered, tugging, pulling. “Listen to me, Rainbow.”

The axe slipped from my hooves, clattering on the floor. Two tiny, bloody, white hooves writhed on the floor between Bulk and me. He slumped against the wall, whining and crying red. He raised the mangled stumps of his legs and lowered his head, as if to cover his eyes. Even in his life his hooves could barely reach his head – the broken stumps had no chance.

“What in Tartarus is going on in there?” thundered a voice from outside. “Who's in there? Open up this instant.”

I pulled the syringe out of my leg and threw it away. Then I sat down, rubbing my throbbing head. I remembered everything. I knew what was going on.

As thoughts fired up in my brain and sparked from one cell to the next, my mind mapped a plan. I wanted to tell Sweetie Belle, but my tongue got tangled and my words jumbled together. My hoof slapped my face. So much to do, so little time. Easier done than said.

I threw Sweetie Belle onto a trolley. The syringe? Broken.

A medicine cabinet hung from the wall. Through the glass, I saw a whole set of syringes. Locked. I elbowed it open. Didn't care about the cuts. Took a syringe. Big one, sturdy-looking.

Stuck it into the Re-Animation Potion. Filled the syringe with it. Spilled the rest. Couldn't have them find it. I stuffed the syringe into Sweetie's hooves. Had to take it home. Analyse it.

Tome, under Sweetie. Axe, next to Sweetie. Rarity's cat, right, she was important, in the corner, asleep. Threw her onto the trolley, too.

Sweetie stood up, I pushed her down. She squeaked, I put my hoof in her mouth. To the side, large, black sheets were rolled up. For covering corpses. Threw it over the trolley. All hidden. Good.

Everything else? Too much. Couldn't pack. Sorry about Bulk. Well, he was still breathing.

Outside, incessant banging and yelling. Security-pony, lying there. Wore a shirt and cap. I took them off and put them on. Pulled his cap over my eyes. Smudged name-tag. Wiped drool off my face. Hoof slapped me again. Reminder to breathe through nose.

Key, lock. Lights, off. Key, turned. Door, open.

A white-coated mare tried to step inside. The trolley pushed her out. I followed. She peeked over my shoulder, but it was dark in there.

“Who in Equestria are you?” she asked. “Where's Picket?” She sounded irritated.

“Replacement,” I said, locking the door. “Picket, he asked. He was feeling under the weather. Came as quickly as I could for the night shift.” Slipping the key into my pocket, I started rolling the trolley.

“Really?” the mare asked, come with me. “I didn't see you come in. What's your name again?”

“Like I said, I was very fast.” We passed the stairs. That was bad. Had to get to a window unnoticed. “Name's Lightning Dust.” I continued pushing the trolley, with no clue where I was headed.

“And what was that racket in there?” the mare asked.

“What racket? I just checked on the bodies.”

She stepped in front of the trolley, and I rolled it over her hoof. She hissed and grabbed me. “Now stop right there, lady. I'm sure you didn't come in tonight. The gate's locked.”

At her touch, a rush of cold ran through me. “Get your hooves off me.”

She sent me a piercing stare, a hoof wandering to the sheet covering the trolley. My hoof wandered to her face with considerable speed. Then I ran, throwing the shirt off along the way. Had to spread my wings. Lost the key with it. I was more flying than running. The mare yelled for help.

Walls and doors enclosed me on both sides. Dark, no lights on. There was a turn at the far end, sharp, marked by a door straight ahead. No idea what came after the turn. I just needed a window, and then we'd blast out of there. No way she recognised me in the dark. I could still do this. As the mare galloped after me, I picked up speed.

A light-brown stallion in a white coat rushed around the corner. “What's going on—” He jumped with a gasp. “Stop right there!”

I swerved to the side in the last moment. The trolley was going too fast. I couldn't round the corner without crashing into the stallion. We crashed into the door up front instead. The lock gave way, and the trolley bumped over the doorstep. It flipped, throwing everything off, and sending me flying over the wreckage.


Sweetie Belle

The trolley was cold. I curled up on the tome so I wouldn't have to lie on the metal. I held the axe down with my right leg, keeping the syringe in hoof. With my left, I pulled the sleeping Opal closer. I couldn't exactly hold on to the trolley, but that wasn't so bad, so long as Rainbow went slowly.

Then a white hoof peeked under the edge of the sheet. That's when things got bad.

One moment, the trolley rocketed forward, and I was desperately trying not to fly off. The next, there was a huge crash, a bump, and the trolley turned over, throwing me right off. Rainbow tumbled over me, wings flapping out of sync.

She jumped up, leaping over the trolley to slam the door into an approaching stallion's face. Beside the door, there stood a heavy chest of drawers, two or three times my size. Rainbow grabbed it and tipped it over the door, the crash echoing heavily in the room. She propped the chest up with the overturned trolley for good measure.

“What's going on?” I whispered.

They started banging on the door. “Open up,” the stallion demanded.

Rainbow flicked the sleeping Opal out of the way with a well-directed kick, rushing to pick up the syringe. She cradled the thing like a baby, rubbing it at her cheek in relief when she saw it was still in one piece. Before I could check on Opal, she shoved the tome into my hooves.

By the look of it, we were in a patient's room. One bed with some old lady, a bunch of machinery, and a whole lot of wires connecting them. Rainbow rushed to the windows at the back.

“I don't think they recognised me,” she mumbled as she fiddled with the latch. “It's all fine.”

“What do you mean, fine?” I asked, keeping my voice down. “Bulk Biceps? They're going to find him.”

“Yeah, so?” She pushed the window open. “Don't think they'll get much out of him.”

“But—”

“No but. They don't know who we are. Hell, they haven't even seen you.” With the syringe between her teeth, she put her front hooves onto the sill and arched her back. “Nopony's gonna know. Come on.”

“R-Rainbow Dash?” came Granny Smith's voice.

Rainbow froze. So did I.

Granny Smith sat up, shaky hooves pulling the covers over her nose. “And Sweetie Belle? Wha-what're you two doin'n here, uh?

Her gaze danced over to the barricaded door, then at the axe lying on the floor. Her face got screwed up, and she slammed a plastered hoof to her chest.

“Oh horseapples,” she grunted. “You done did it. This'll be it.” She fell back into the bed, hoof digging deeper into her coat. “The big 'un.”

The banging on the door continued. The ponies outside talked, but I couldn't make out what they said. A machine beside Granny Smith's bed beeped violently, and she writhed in the bed, hooves flailing. Her eyes bulged and her mouth gaped, but she choked on her breaths.

The machine gave a long, monotone beep. Rainbow gave it one good kick to make it stop. She looked at me. Slowly, she lowered her eyes until her gaze stopped on the syringe in her mouth. She spent a moment looking, then turned back to me.

I shook my head. Rainbow spat the syringe into her hoof and moved for the bed. I bit onto her tail and yanked back.

“Come on,” Rainbow said. “We'll never find a fresher one.”

“You're crazy,” I whispered. I didn't want the ponies outside to hear. “It's not going to work. It's never going to work.”

Before I could let go of her tail, Rainbow reared and kicked me at the wall. “Watch me.” She spat the syringe onto the bed and started feeling through the saggy skin on Granny's neck.

The kick knocked the air from me, but I didn't care about the pain. I just wanted it all to end. I dragged myself to the chest of drawers and pressed against it. It was heavy, but as I put my strength to it, it slowly started sliding aside. The banging and shouting outside became louder. It's not that I didn't care what they'd do to me. It just wasn't on my mind, is all. I wanted the madness to end.

When Rainbow looked up from Granny's body and noticed what I was doing, I saw her eyes twitch with anger. “Don't you dare. You don't know. You don't have a clue.”

Inch by inch, I pushed at the barricade.

Rainbow bent down, eyes on me, hooves fishing for the axe. She flicked it into her hooves, getting up on her hind legs.

I came off the chest. “Rainbow?” I mouthed, voice gone with fear.

“You know why this is so damn important? I told you I found Twilight, didn't I?” She hobbled closer on two legs, using the axe for support and letting a toothy grin spread across her face. “You know what? I lied, I lied big.” She chuckled. “I killed her.”

I fell back, backing against the chest. As she towered above me with the axe held high, I wanted to scream, but nothing came out.

“You're not gonna come between us!” She swung, and I curled up, putting my hooves on my head.

A crash. Rainbow hunched over me, wheezing. Her hooves were on the axe handle, and the axe head was stuck deep in the chest., not much above me. Rainbow's grin dissolved with her heavy breaths. She let go of the handle and dropped to her haunches. The axe stayed where it was.

“I'm sorry,” she mumbled. “So sorry...”

I moved from under the stuck axe. Rainbow didn't look.

“It was an accident. I never wanted any of this.” She gulped, brushing tears away before turning to me. “I worked with Twilight. I mixed the wrong thing. I injected her. I killed her. She died in my hooves.”

She crawled over to me and grabbed my cheeks.

“I'm sorry. But if I don't bring Twilight back... I don't care what happens to me afterwards. They can do whatever they want to me. I'll tell Celestia everything. But not before I make it right.” She let go, turning back for the bed. “I need to do this. The potion has to work.” Getting up, she combed her mane back and cleared her throat. When she spoke again, her voice was very matter-of-fact. “We've wasted too much time.”

She picked up the syringe. I didn't stop her this time. As I watched her, I realised the banging on the door had stopped. Everything had been quiet for the last little while. Too quiet.

Rainbow injected Granny Smith and stood back. “Only one injection this time.”

Putting an ear to the door, I heard hoofsteps. Lots of them.

Granny's chest jerked. Her eyes shot open and her hooves started twitching. Rainbow leaned over her. “Look at me, Granny Smith. Recognise me?” Granny's body convulsed, but she couldn't respond. “No, no, don't, don't...”

Rainbow scanned the room frantically. Granny's bedside table caught her eye. Some brightly coloured gadget lay on it, the size of a bigger book, though I couldn't see it properly. Rainbow grabbed it and brought it close to her eyes.

“Auto... Automatic External Defi... yes!”

Outside, I heard lots of ponies talking and shouting. The banging on the door returned, stronger than before.

Rainbow slammed the gadget onto the bed, and pulled out two wires that ended in white pads. She pinned down Granny's flailing hooves and stuck the pads to her chest. Then she started pressing buttons on the gadget. It must have been some sort of medical shocker machine.

The banging wasn't coming randomly. A strong slam, grunting, a pause. Slam, grunt, pause. They were ramming the door together, moving the barricade a little more each time. I pushed back against the door, for all good that did.

The gadget beeped. Rainbow pressed a button, and Granny's chest jerked. As the shock ran through her body, she stopped jerking and twitching about.

“Come on now.” Rainbow licked her lips and hopped onto the bed, climbing over Granny Smith. “Talk to me.”

Granny Smith opened her eyes, one after the other. “R-Rainbow Dash?”

Another ram at the door jerked the chest aside. Before I could push back, a stallion put his hoof inside.

A minute ago I felt ready to give up everything and take whatever they'd throw at me. But now, with the stallion's hoof peeking inside, I had a sudden urge to get away with it. I was innocent, after all. Rainbow dragged me into this.

But I asked her to raise Opal. And I helped her. I was right there with her. What would Rarity say, and Mum and Dad? Would I have to tell Celestia? What would they do to me? My blood ran cold. Maybe I got into Rainbow's madness, but I'd drag myself out. Nopony had to know.

Rainbow sat down at the foot of Granny's bed, grinning, giggling. She was completely out of it.

Another slam on the door. I bolted to pick up Opal, sliding under the bed with the momentum.

“What in tarnation are you doin' here, young lady?” asked Granny Smith. I heard Rainbow Dash burst out laughing in response.

“I did it,” Rainbow chortled, throwing her hooves up in victory. “Welcome, Granny Smith, welcome back to life.”

With one last slam against the door, the chest of drawers jerked far enough for a stallion to fit through the door. I saw them rush inside, hooves clopping, three of them, four, I couldn't count how many. They trampled right over the tome.

In a second, they were all over Rainbow. They tore her off the bed and threw her to the ground, pinning her legs and wings. For a moment, our heads came level again. A hoof pressed Rainbow's head down, her other cheek scrunching against the floor.

She didn't look scared or worried. Our eyes met, and she beamed with joy. “She's alive. I brought Granny Smith back to life!” Her screaming turned into a maniacal laughter.

They picked her up, and I saw her hooves slide limply along the floor. She cackled, then I heard them stuff something in her mouth. The cackling was a bit muffled after that.

As they dragged Rainbow away, a few ponies stayed inside. A white mare came to check on Granny. Nopony looked under the bed. They didn't know I was in there.

Granny Smith mumbled something about Rainbow waking her up, and asked the nurse just what happened. The nurse calmed her, then helped her out of bed. She told her they'd be taking her to another room, one with a lock that wasn't bust, and that they'd explain everything later.

The last of them left with Granny smith. And I lay there, cowering under the bed, an unconscious cat at my side.

For a few minutes, I didn't move an inch. I just collected my thoughts. Opal. Fluttershy's cottage. Bulk Biceps. And now, Granny Smith and Rainbow Dash. Somewhere in me, there was still a faint hope that this was all a nightmare.

I listened to the darkness for a while. The sound of hooves, Rainbow's muffled laughter, Granny Smith's questions, it was all gone. I climbed from under the bed, and peeked out of the room. One way stretched the long hallway with the morgue at the end. If I squinted just right, I saw a few figures standing by the morgue door.

I picked Opal up and went the other way. If they'd known I was in there, they would have found me. So they didn't know.

I wandered aimlessly through the hospital's halls until eventually I bumped into a nurse. She was clearly in a rush to get somewhere else. They were all focused on Rainbow, I figured. She looked pretty surprised to see me.

“Who might you be?” she asked, raising a brow.

“I got up to have a tinkle and got lost,” I replied.


I spent the night in the children's ward. They didn't ask a lot of questions. They let Opal sleep beside the bed, too. They probably had too much on their minds to worry about the lost filly and her cat. At one point I thought I heard a scream echo from the morgue's general direction. That was okay. I wasn't going to sleep anyway.

When morning came and they opened the main gates, I left without telling anypony. Exiting the hospital was an incredible relief. As I walked through town, Opal stirred in my grasp. I placed her gently on the ground before she fully came to. She looked at me, then behind her, and into the air. Probably scanning for Rainbow Dash. She then poked my leg, as if asking to lead the way.

On the way to Carousel Boutique, we had to pass by the library. The door was open and a platoon of Royal Guards swarmed all around it. I forced myself to stop staring. I'd never been to that basement, after all. Never at all.

At the Carousel Boutique, I had to knock for a long time. Strangely, after Opal meowed once, the door opened within seconds. She jumped right inside and rubbed herself between Rarity's legs. Rarity didn't look at her, staring instead at me, jaw dropped, eyes wide.

“Sweetie Belle? Where... Sweetie, how, why—”

I wrapped my legs around one of hers and pressed my cheek at her chest. I didn't feel like talking. Rarity fell quiet, putting a hoof over my back.