Don't Expect to Tango, It Will Just Scream

The stairwell led Rainbow Dash into a researcher's paradise.

On the surface, the Golden Oaks Library was nothing out of the ordinary. Beneath it, however, lay a secret world of magic and science: Twilight Sparkle's domain. This time of night, when Ponyville was asleep and you listened just right, you could hear the soothing hum of machinery all the way from the main floor. And although Rainbow wasn't sensitive to such things, Twilight told her tales of magi-engines resonating with energies that made her teeth tingle.

A thick tube of metal sprouted just above the last step of the stairs, snaking to the ceiling of the basement before disappearing there. Wires and thinner pipes joined this tube with others to form an intricate network, freeing magic to flow as Twilight wished between her enchanted machines.

Machines with glowing buttons and levers filled every corner. Some were small, barely reaching above Rainbow's neck while others ran from the floor all the way to the ceiling.

Where the machines made space, countless shelves lined the walls, holding all manner of items arcane: potions and pickled ingredients, instruments of steel and glass that sparked with purple light, and of course, the books and parchments Twilight used to keep track of it all. The mare herself hadn't yet unlocked all the secrets of her own laboratory, but she knew her machines had the potential to do amazing things.

Pushing boundaries was what they were here for. Step by step, one project at a time.

Rainbow could never help but feel overwhelmed – humbled, perhaps – by it all. A constant doubt gnawed away at the back of her mind: the thought that she didn't quite belong. For the sake of her friend, though, Rainbow would always hide it. She was good at that, hiding doubt.

And things were looking up, anyway: Twilight's research was right on track, and Rainbow had proven herself – to herself – a more than capable lab assistant. Tonight, she strolled into the basement with an ease that surprised even herself.

“Don't bang your hooves so hard,” Twilight said. “You'll wake up Spike.”

“Sorry, boss.” Rainbow rolled her eyes for show, but admonished herself inside.

Amidst the amazing sights of the library basement Rainbow saw the most ordinary of things: Twilight, horn glowing, focused on a tome open on the table before her. A quill dipped itself in ink and danced on the page, jotting line after line with a finesse and speed unparalleled by any pony's hoof-writing.

The quill stopped, and Twilight turned her attention to a glass container that hung hoisted above a small burner. She inspected the bluish liquid that frothed inside, and the quill began writing again before Twilight turned back to the tome. Rainbow waited patiently – she was used to this – and, soon enough, the glow around the quill gave out, placing it gently beside the tome. Twilight turned around with a weary sigh.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn't show.”

“When do I abandon my friends?” Rainbow failed to suppress a yawn. Her eyes scanned the room briefly before settling on a freezer in a closet at the back of the basement. “You still got apples in there?”

She began walking to the freezer before Twilight responded. As she passed by, she saw Twilight roll her eyes, and pretended to not notice.

The freezer lay on its back, crammed into the small closet. Rainbow opened it up and took a moment to appreciate her reflection in the faintly glowing, greenish slime that filled it to the brim. Several apples floated inside, fresh, ripe and begging to be eaten. While she'd never admit it, Rainbow hated to sacrifice a good night's sleep on the altar of science – the apples, she thought, were a fitting consolation prize.

She stuck her hoof into the green slush and fished out one of the apples, wiping it off with a practised brush against her chest before taking a bite.

“Those are important research subjects,” Twilight grumbled, shooting a displeased look at Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow said around a mouthful of apple. “I haven't had a bite to eat all day, okay? Just get some more.”

“I do pay Applejack for these, you know.”

“Then buy some on me.” Rainbow swallowed another mouthful and held up the apple in her hoof. “They're just too good.”

Chuckling, Twilight smiled in satisfaction. “At least it's working, then.”

Exactly, Rainbow thought. The half-eaten apple in her hoof was picked over a month prior by Twilight herself, yet still tasted as fresh as the day it had come off the tree.

In her head, Rainbow complimented Twilight's “Preservation Fluid” for a job well done.

“Now then, if you're done—” Somewhere on a high shelf, there was a scurrying noise, and an empty glass crashed to the ground, breaking in myriad pieces. “What was that?”

“Must be the rats,” Rainbow said.

“There are no rats here.”

“There are, I'm telling you. Saw one last time, too.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “Noted. Now then,” she began again. Her ears perked up, her lips curled into a smile, then a full-blown grin. “I haven't slept in two days.”

She hopped over to Rainbow – with unexpected grace for somepony so sleep deprived – and unfolded a wing, poking it under Rainbow's nose.

Rainbow craned her neck away. “For the record, I'm still not totally comfortable doing this.”

Twilight scowled impatiently and Rainbow sighed in compliance. Begrudgingly, she opened her mouth, pinched her teeth on the first feather she could find, and pulled.

Twilight winced and ruffled her wings as Rainbow jerked the feather loose. “Neither am I. But sacrifices must be made.”

“Ponies are going to notice your mangled wings,” Rainbow mumbled around the feather.

“I'll just tell them I fell down the stairs or something. Now, mix it in.”

Rainbow took the feather to the table and spat it onto the boiling glass above the flame. The feather dissolved in a matter of seconds, sending a puff of thin smoke above the glass.

“Yeah, remind me not to stick my hoof in this.”

The glass lit up purple, and bouncing on its hoist and splashing some of the hot blue liquid over Rainbow.

“Hey!” Rainbow mentally prepared herself for the incoming burning sensation, but she felt nothing. The liquid quickly ate itself into her coat and drooped a little over her wings, but there was no other effect.

Although glad it didn't happen, Rainbow still had to question Twilight's little prank. “You realise that could've hurt me.” Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to her.

Twilight playfully elbowed Rainbow's side. “That's just it: it couldn't have. At this stage, it only reacts violently to alicorns.”

Rainbow looked Twilight over. “Oh. So it's totally safe. I get it.”

“You don't seem to understand the significance,” Twilight said. “This proves that I am different, Rainbow. Cadence and I, we might be just like Celestia and Luna. Think of it: immortality.”

Intrigued as Rainbow was by the idea, she couldn't help the jealousy that clouded her opinion. “Must be cool.”

“Not to brag, of course.”

Twilight poked a hoof at the table with the stewing potion. “Would you finish this for me?” Lighting up purple, the tome slid closer, accompanied by the inkwell and quill. “I'm just too excited. And tired, obviously. My hooves won't stop shaking.” She giggled thinly. “Don't want to mess up. We must have done this a hundred times by now. You can handle it on your own, right?”

'They' – as in the two of them together – may have prepared potions before, but Twilight rarely allowed Rainbow to fiddle with lab equipment alone. To have it thrust on her like this was at once frightening and exhilarating.

Rainbow puffed her chest. “You bet.”

She'd been visiting Twilight in night time hours for long now, and she knew Twilight had been at this for much longer than that.

Thing is, Twilight's research was all very hush-hush. They were partners in crime, and that thought excited Rainbow Dash. She still wondered, sometimes, why Twilight had asked her of all ponies to be her assistant down here, but in moments like this, it hardly mattered. She'd never disappoint a friend – especially not Twilight, and especially not in a matter so personal.

Rainbow looked at the half-done potion, then peeked into the tome. “Which one are we doing again?”

“The Sans-Sleep Serum,” Twilight answered. “It's why I haven't been sleeping, right? So we can test it properly.” She prodded a hoof at the page. “See?”

There it was indeed, in Twilight's magic-writing. The page claimed that the Sans-Sleep Serum – the 'SSS,' as Rainbow liked to call it – was “exactly what it says on the tin. Safe and reliable, for all ages.” Further down the page were detailed instructions to the making of the serum, ingredients and all.

Rainbow ran her hoof along the words until she found what she was looking for. “So we just added the alicorn feather.”

“Yup,” Twilight said, turning away. With a spring in her step, she skipped over to a bookshelf and scrutinised a line of books. She placed the tip of a hoof onto one end, and gently brushed it over the spine of every book in the line.

Must have been some kind of a ritual for her, Rainbow figured. Twilight took a book in her hooves, and another floated up. She switched the two, pushing them in carefully. She then sat down, one hoof under her chin, another pointing to this book and that.

Rainbow reminded herself that she couldn't stand and watch; she had a job to do. She looked to the tome again, found the next step, and got to work.

She'd learned her way around the basement shelves by now; she knew where to find every ingredient and tool. Measuring everything carefully, she sprinkled in strange dusts and plopped in gooey balls and sticky petals. She mixed, stirred, and shook, adjusting the flame's intensity at the right times.

Rainbow was rather proud of herself, all in all. She'd never have imagined herself a science pony, but on nights like these she'd picked up plenty. She wasn't keen on writing everything down like Twilight was. In fact, she found she didn't need to. She was a natural.

Or so she liked to think.

Although Rainbow would never have said it out loud, it felt good knowing that Twilight trusted her ability.

True enough, she did almost drop a thing here, and she did spill some stuff there. She didn't always waste time to measure as accurately as Twilight would have demanded, preferring to quickly eyeball it instead. But right now, Twilight was wandering about the room, checking shelves and ordering desks.

Point is, she wasn't looking, which meant it was fine. Rainbow felt a desire to impress the mare, and worked as quickly as she could to that end.

They'd been working on the Sans-Sleep Serum for a while, too. Rainbow knew the formula like the back of her hoof. They'd tested it before – first on birds and rodents, to much success. Just last week they'd tested it on Twilight, albeit to no effect. But that's what tests were for.

Twilight promised to revise the formula – she was 'this' close, she said – and now, well... now here they were again.

Rainbow stirred the glass one last time, then blew out the burner's flame. She took the thermometer into her hooves and clinked it proudly against the glass. “Done.”

Twilight quickly paced closer. “Perfect.” A chair slid over, and Twilight dropped into it, placing one of her outstretched legs onto the table. “Will you do the honours?”

Raising a brow, Rainbow picked up a syringe. “You're really eager to do this, aren't you?” And probably high on caffeine, Rainbow mentally added.

Twilight shrugged. “What can I say? I have a good feeling about this one. I barely even had to change it. I tried ground chimera teeth first, you know, for the extra kick. Turns out, all I needed was some Mean Face Oak acorns to—”

“Yeah, yeah, I noticed.” Rainbow dipped the needle into the glass and sucked up some of the blue stuff. She knocked on the side of the barrel and pressed the plunger down a bit to force out any trapped air bubbles. Just like Twilight had taught her.

She had to wonder how much Twilight knew about medicine. Knowing magic is one thing, but stabbing ponies with needles and injecting strange things was a different matter entirely.

Ah, but among the many things she'd learned, one was not to voice concerns while Twilight was in 'research mode.' If anything, she felt lucky that Twilight always volunteered to test the potions. The idea of a needle coming anywhere near her skin made Rainbow's flesh crawl.

Twilight gave a determined nod. Rainbow sighed, felt for Twilight's artery, and put the needle to it. She'd missed before; she wanted to make sure she hit the vein the first time tonight. Twilight smiled encouragingly at Rainbow as she slid the steel into her vein.

“Steady now. You're good at this.”

Once the syringe was spent, Rainbow pulled it out. “Uh, thanks, I guess.”

“So like I said...” Twilight put up a hoof. “I'm positive this will work. It's an early formula, of course. I don't think it would be safe to use more than once, say, every three or four days. And I might be stretching it there.”

“Why?” Rainbow asked. “What if you used it every day?”

“I wanted to make sure it works, so it's a bit strong. It puts your brain in overdrive. Works through vast amounts of sleep in moments. Using it too much might, well, it might fry your brain.”

“That so.”

Rainbow took the quill and dashed off a few words into the tome. “Side effect: makes you crazy.”

“So you can stay up a night every week,” Rainbow said. “Big deal. You were talking about never dying earlier, that sounded way more awesome.”

Twilight scoffed. “Sleep is part of the brain's self-repair protocol. If we learn its secrets, think of how we could use that to help other parts of the body. It might be the first step towards reversing the ageing process.”

Rainbow grabbed a chair and pulled it up, sitting down beside Twilight. “Repair, huh? Think we can bring back the dead?”

Twilight crossed her legs and studied Rainbow. “Let me answer with a question. What if we could?”

Rainbow leaned back, grinning as the obvious answer crystallised in her mind. She didn't get why Twilight would even ask such a question. “Then we'd never have to die.”

“Yes.” Twilight leaned closer. “What would we eat? Where would we live? If nopony ever died, nopony could live.”

Rainbow looked away, propping her tired head up with a hoof. “A bit grim, aren't you?”

“No, I mean, as a princess... I think about these things too, it's not just you.” She uncrossed her legs. “But bringing back the dead? When you rationally consider everything, it would actually make life worse for everypony. And I haven't even mentioned all the ethical considerations. It would be insane.”

She leaned back, placing her hooves on her stomach and turning her eyes to the ceiling. “Not to mention impossible, in the long run. Very long run. On a principle level, I mean.” She looked at Rainbow. “Nothing lives forever.”

“I don't know, Twilight. Your magic does a lot of impossible things.”

“Nothing lives forever,” Twilight repeated. “Even if you keep reviving it. Sooner or later, it will have to die for good. It's a law of nature. The second law of—”

“Yeah, I remember.” Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “The second commandment of thermos-dynamics, you've told me all about it. But what about Celestia? She doesn't die. And you just said that you might be like her, too. How do you explain that?”

“Look, we don't know if I'm like her or not. That's what we're doing here to begin with. We're trying to find out.”

“Uh-huh.” Rainbow clapped a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “Hey, feel anything yet?”

“Something, now that you mention it.” She lifted her injected leg, circling her shoulder a little. “A bit tingly. But I'm still pretty tired. Give it a minute.”

“You know,” Rainbow said, “it's pretty clear you're not like Celestia. Neither is Cadence, for that matter.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Your manes aren't all swirly-lookin'.”

“Yes, of course, I noticed that. We don't have all the details yet.”

Rainbow stretched, putting her hind hooves onto the table. Twilight slapped them off.

Rainbow fidgeted, trying to find a comfortable position. “Why not just ask Celestia? Point blank, straight to the face. Excuse me, Princess ma'am, am I gonna have to watch all my friends die?”

“I've already asked,” Twilight said. “With different wording, obviously, but I have.”

“In letters.”

“Keep your voice down. Fact is, Celestia refuses to answer. She told me I wasn't supposed to think about such things.” Twilight leaned closer to Rainbow. “Between you and me, I think she's using reverse-psychology. Wouldn't be the first time.” She sent Rainbow a conspiratorial wink. “She wants me to find out on my own.”

Rainbow grinned. “Looks like it's working.”

Twilight giggled.

“So, anything yet?”

Twilight pulled up her injected leg. “It feels funny. Sore.”

“That's not supposed to happen, is it?”

“No. And I don't feel any more awake, either.” She shook her head, looking over the desk, gaze stopping on a jar of dark-blue goo.

“Rainbow...” she poked her in the side. “You did add the jellied manticore venom extract, right?” She gulped, then put a hoof to her forehead. “I feel sick.”

Rainbow pointed at the blue jar. “Yeah, it's right here.” Rainbow looked at the label – for a moment, she froze up. Then she jumped to her hooves with a start.

'Boiled parasprite.'

“Oh dear,” Rainbow mouthed.

“What's that?” Twilight asked, sitting up straight to get a better look. “What is that? Is that parasprites? You put in star-forsaken parasprites?”

With a pained groan, Twilight heaved and hunched over the desk. Her hooves caught the glass with the serum and knocked it off its hoist, sending it rolling across the table and spilling the blue potion. Rainbow was a second late in pulling the tome away, and some of it got soaked.

“You know what the manticore extract is for?”

Rainbow was supposed to know. She didn't.

“You remember what happened to my feather?” Twilight grabbed at her chest. “It stops that.” She breathed in heavily, and exhaled with another groan.

Rainbow gaped, hooves pattering on the floor, running in place. “What do I do, Twilight? What do I do?”

Twilight leaned back on her chair, one hoof on her chest, other fanning her face. “Okay, let's see,” she said, breathing heavily. “Parasprites. No manticore. Burning. Page four.”

Rainbow frantically slammed the heavy tome shut, then opened at the beginning, turning pages as quickly as she could.

“No,” Twilight said. “No, that's not it. Hold on.” She breathed through her teeth, hissing. “Page forty. That's it. Antidote.”

Rainbow flicked to the page, tearing a few out on the way. There she found a complicated formula she'd never seen before. She skipped the precursory text, gaze darting to the ingredients. A quick skim. They had it all in stock.

“Hang in there, Twilight. I can do this.”

“I'd say you have about three minutes,” Twilight replied. She bit her lip, suppressing a cry of pain. “Two, you have two.”

Rainbow dashed about the room, grabbing ingredients from a dozen more shelves and drawers. She grabbed a new glass, filled it with water, and threw one thing in after the other, stopping only to look at the label on each container. Again she mixed and swirled. No mistakes this time.

Time to boil. She lit up the burner and placed the glass on top. She glanced into the tome, but a blotched blue stain obscured the next step.

Rainbow turned to Twilight. “How long?”

Twilight opened her mouth, but only a pained gasp came out. She banged her hoof on the desk three times, then stopped.

“Three minutes?” Rainbow asked.

“No!”

Rainbow put her hooves around the glass, ready to pull up. “Three seconds?” Twilight shook her head, bending and snarling with pain, hooves scraping at her chest. “Thirty seconds? Thirty seconds.”

“Come on, come on,” Rainbow mumbled, watching the purplish liquid bubble. She counted each nerve-wracking second in her head. At thirty, she blew on the burner's flame, but it didn't go out. Rather than keep trying, she tried to lift the hot glass, burning her hoof.

She recoiled with a yelp and the glass slipped from her grasp, falling and cracking, rolling on, spewing the precious antidote across the table. Rainbow jumped after it, but the glass rolled over the table's edge and shattered against the floor.

The liquid spread out and seeped into the parquet. Rainbow Dash and Twilight locked eyes.

Twilight doubled over barely suppressed scream, interrupted by a fit of coughs. Trying to catch her breath, she tumbled off the chair. Rainbow saw and quickly dove, catching Twilight in her hooves.

Rainbow’s eyes grew frantic and she felt her heart sinking in her chest. “I'll make another one. I can. Hold out.”

Twilight shook her head. Twilight breathed faster than Rainbow had ever seen, but every breath came up shallow and wet.

“It's okay, hold on,” Rainbow said, putting Twilight back onto the chair. She rushed to gather more ingredients, but couldn't take her eyes off her friend. “Stay with me! I'll fix it, you'll be fine.”

Twilight slumped on her chair. Drool foamed at the corner of her mouth. Her glassy eyes stared forward, and didn't follow Rainbow any more.

Rainbow rushed back to her. She grabbed Twilight's head and turned her blank eyes towards herself. “Twilight?”

No response. Her breaths had stopped. Rainbow looked at her chest, and found it completely still.

A tidal wave of emotions – of terror, guilt, panic, desperation – washed over Rainbow Dash. It would have consumed her, had she not heard a new noise from upstairs.

“Twilight?” came the sleepy voice of Spike. “Where are you? I heard something.”

Rainbow looked at Twilight, lifeless and limp. She glanced at the mess on the desk, the broken glasses, and the spreading puddle of spilt potions on the floor. She looked to the back, at the freezer in the closet.

She didn't think. She couldn't think. In her conscious mind, she hadn't yet processed what happened.

On instinct, she dragged Twilight's body and stuffed her into the freezer, burying her in the preserving green goo. She ran back for the tome – the recording of Twilight's secret research – and threw it on top of the freezer.

“Twilight?” Spike asked again. “Are you down there? It's the middle of the night.”

Not far from the closet stood a peculiar magi-technological machine. Rainbow remembered Twilight's tales about the thing. Once, Twilight hooked Pinkie Pie to it in an attempt to determine the nature of her “pinkie sense.” When the machine yielded no usable data, she decided it was a worthless piece of junk. The device hadn't seen use since.

Its glass screens were now blank and devoid of life, and the tiny lamps and buttons that festooned its surface gave no light. A cascade of yellowed, crumpled papers hung from the machine's mouth, piling in an old, rusted bin below.

It was perfect.

Rainbow kicked the bin aside, throwing herself against the machine, pressing, pushing it to cover the closet. On the way, it left an ugly ridge of scratches on the previously pristine floor. Didn't matter.

Spike's steps were getting nearer. “Seriously, what's with the racket? Who's there?”

Rainbow flicked a switch, and the lights went out, leaving the basement in pitch darkness. She would escape, and think things through. She just needed a bit of time.

By the time Spike fumbled to the light switch, Rainbow Dash was long gone, escaping under the veil of darkness. When the lights came on in the empty room, Spike found only questions.

Rainbow Dash would come back later.

Rainbow Dash

Re-Animator

I almost slipped as I drove my shovel into the mushy earth. Just my luck, I thought. Take a week off at Cloudsdale to clear my head and miss a funeral. Old geezer had to have a stroke now of all times.

Ah, the taste of wet wood in my mouth. The shovel's slick handle grated against my teeth. Exactly the sensations I needed to compliment the smell of mud and soaked bones. Graves, rain, and a full Moon. Such lovely atmosphere.

I flung back another load of mud. Sticking my shovel back into the ground elicited a metallic clang – I'd reached the coffin. Sweeping a few rainbow hairs from my face, I exhaled in relief.

I leaned onto the shovel for a moment's rest. The hillside cemetery provided an excellent view of the sleeping Ponyville. It felt like yesterday that we first banded together. Beat Nightmare Moon, we did. And so many more after that. Good times.

We'll be having good times again, I promise. I'd never let a friend down.

Cracking my neck, I bit down hard on the spade and strained against the cemetery earth again. After a few more minutes of digging, the grave lay open before me. Open enough, anyway, for me to lift the lid of the coffin.

The corpse was several days old, and decomposition was in full swing. Tonight's rain did the body no good, either. At least he was still in one piece. Much better than that last one with the dislodged lower body and ruptured bowels. That one was nasty.

A body bag of my own making lay in the mud. Insofar as you can call a bunch of sewed-together garbage bags a body bag, at any rate. Hey, when you're conducting illicit – and probably illegal – research on the dead, you use what you've got. I unrolled the bag with a flick and prepared to fill it.

By the end of his short vacation underground, the old stallion had become all soft and smelly. It was like holding a soft bag of jelly. A really shoddy bag, too, like made out of old rubber, stretching and tearing everywhere. It wasn't a pleasant experience, and I refused to believe this was something you get used to.

Slowly and carefully, I dragged the corpse out of the grave, stuffing it head first into the bag. I found that was the easiest way, not sure why. One floppy leg followed the other, and once the entire body was inside, I slid the shovel in beside it as well. Ragged, discoloured tail-hairs clung to my legs. I wiped my hooves in the mud. Rather have wet earth on them than parts of dead pony.

Eager to get this thing home, I grabbed onto the bag's mouth, arched my back, and spread my wings. I'd be at the library in no time.

Then I sighed, relaxing my posture. “No,” I whispered. Can't rush things, not now. Bad things happen when you rush things. Have to take it slow. I hated taking it slow. But I wouldn't want to risk the bag coming apart somewhere above town. I didn't think I could explain a body falling into Ponyville from nowhere. With a displeased grumble, I bit onto the bag and threw it over my back. On the way back, I paused every so often to spit and rinse my mouth out with rain water to get rid of the taste of rotting pony.

I was already halfway through Ponyville when I noticed a hoof sticking out of a hole in the bag. Oh well, I thought. Lucky thing nopony's up this time of night. The hoof was a good reminder to double-wrap next time. You might not get used to stealing corpses, but even here practice made perfect.

The Golden Oaks Library was easy to make out, even in the night, standing tall in the open field. One stray look out a neighbouring window, and I'd have been busted. The darkness was my only cover.

My heart was pounding when I reached the tree. I walked around the back, trembling teeth clutching the bag, hooves feeling along the bark, step by step, inch by inch. It's gotta be here somewhere.

There was a soft snap; the dead stallion's nose poked from a new hole in the bag. At the same moment, my hoof touched a protrusion on the library's outer wall. Pushing it, a hatch opened with a reassuring clack.

I'd already spent too much time outside. I threw the hidden door open with a few skilful movements of my hind hoof. Behind the door was a flight of stairs: the back entrance to the library's basement.

I had to hurry, lest the worn bag disintegrate right there and then. I escorted my plastic-clad guest down the stair, shedding mud and water with every clop of my hooves. I issued a mental apology for each bump of his head, and prayed that the bag held out a little longer.

Once at the bottom, I hit the light switch, and the old bulb that hung from the ceiling flickered on. Without a lampshade, it cast stark shadows on the shelves. Blinding refractions bounced from the countless vials and glasses that filled them.

With one last groan, I threw the bag onto the operating table in the middle of the room. That is, the regular table I repurposed for “operations.” As the bag slammed against the wood, a half-eaten apple rolled off and bounced on the floor.

“Whew,” I huffed, shaking water from my soaked mane.

Carefully stepping over the fallen wires that spread across the floor, I made my way to the magical-analytical machine that hid the closet, kicking the little paper bin away with the last step. It flew into the nearest wall, tumbling and rattling as it came to a stop under a table with a broken leg. Since Spike moved out, I didn't have to worry about the noise.

I pressed myself against the heavy machine. Slowly, excruciatingly, the thing slid to the side, leaving another set of scratches on the floor. There were more than I could count now, so what harm were these?

The sight of the freezer was at once gut-wrenching and elating. Everything I worked for came back to this. I couldn't help but grin. Out of nerves, excitement, guilt, joy, I wasn't sure. Didn't matter. I pushed the tips of my hooves under the freezer's door and opened it up. A blast of cold air hit me.

“I'm home, Twilight.”

Princess Twilight Sparkle lay at the bottom of the freezer, covered entirely by the pale green goo. The body was whole, entirely untouched by decomposition. So much time had passed, but nopony would've told the difference.

“Haven't given you an update in a while. I've been hard at work. You know the apple I took out way back? Took long enough, but it started to rot. I used a brand new injection on it, developed by yours truly.” I patted a hoof on my puffed chest. “It worked. Didn't just stop the decay, it reversed it. That apple is alive, good as new. What's left of it, anyway.”

I paused, waiting for an answer I knew wouldn't come. I leaned closer so she could hear me better.

“So I did some changes to the formula, based on your research. Tested on the rats. Was messy. Learned things. But it worked. Oh yeah, the place definitely has rats. Convenient.” I cleared my throat, embarrassed before my silent companion. “So yeah, changed a few things up. Then I tested on body parts, pony body parts. I could make them move. Gonna test on a stallion in a minute. A whole stallion, I mean, all in one piece this time. It's gonna work, trust me.”

Talking to Twilight helped me preserve my sanity, or so I told myself. I wondered whether that was true, or if it was a sign that I'd already gone mad. I closed the freezer before I could think too much about it.

Alright, let's see. I had a desk somewhere with all sorts of cutting instruments. Finding it was harder than you'd think. Truth be told, keeping the place organised was a nightmare. I gave up after a few days, which only deepened my respect for Twilight.

Books and instruments cluttered the floor, a few shelves were turned over, and tables and desks stood here and there, loaded with as much as they could carry. The fire axe, I remembered, stood next to the desk with the rest of the cutting things: a big, red flag that I used to mark the spot.

Yes, of course I had a fire axe. I used several burners in my experiments, and when playing with fire, it's safety first. Didn't want any more accidents.

I found the desk soon enough and picked up my pair of scissors. I banged the blades against the side of the table a few times. Flakes of old, dried blood fell like snow. I really gotta clean these things once in a while. I'd been meaning to do it, but I never bothered. The work was always more important.

The scissors pierced the bag, and with one smooth motion, I cut it open along the length. The bag split open, the shovel fell to the floor, and the rotten stallion stared back at me blankly, jaw unhinged and hanging to the side. Not a pleasant sight at all, but if everything went according to plan, he'd be all better soon.

Throwing the scissors behind me, I turned to another desk nearby. This one I used to hold pre-prepared potions. A sizeable vat was hoisted above the desk, kept warm by the peaceful flame of a burner. Quickly putting an empty phial below the vat's spout, I turned the rusty, screechy valve to extract the bright green liquid inside.

I picked up a syringe and touched the tip of the needle to the liquid. As I pulled the plunger, the syringe began sucking it up. When I had just the right amount – I'd marked it earlier – I pulled it out, holding the filled syringe before my eyes. The syringe glowed green with the liquid – a hypnotising radiation.

The Re-Animation Potion, that's what I called it. I was fond of the name; it had a nice ring to it. And what a journey it's been. Twilight had wanted to study alicorn longevity, curious about her new body. She wanted to make things live longer, healthier, happier. On better days, she laughed at the idea of raising the dead. On worse ones, she scoffed. Impossible, she told me, physical laws and philosophical issues.

Unlike her imagination, however, mine wasn't curbed by an abundance of education. I knew what I wanted, and that was enough.

Syringe in hoof, I turned to the old stallion on the table. For a moment, I came this close to ramming the needle into his neck. But, again, I remembered what I learned from Twilight.

“Take it slowly now,” I reminded myself. “Be precise.” Remember what happens when you're not precise.

I looked back at the freezer, shuddering inwardly at the sight. I put the syringe down and went to scour the room for a notebook and a pen, knocking things off tables and pulling out every last drawer. Once I found them, I returned to the operating table.

In a corner was a dusty grandfather clock, showing eight past midnight. I quickly jotted the time down in the notebook.

Because you always gotta write things down.

“Cadaver lying on its back,” I wrote. “Airways unobstructed.” Yeah, I did pick up some big words from Twilight's notes.

I wrote down the exact mixture and ratios of the ingredients in the current formula. I noted the age of the subject, how long he had been dead – give or take a few hours – as well as the cause of death. His gravestone had been pretty informative. Then I dashed off the date of the experiment.

“Administering the Re-Animation Potion at 10 past midnight, sharp.”

The clock showed nine past midnight. I stared impatiently at the vein in the stallion's neck. Never seen one that thick. It popped right out of his shrunken skin.

I glanced at the clock again. Nine and a half past midnight.

I wiped sweat from my forehead.

Picking up the syringe, I brought it before my eyes again, pressing the plunger lightly to expel any air trapped inside. The sight of the glowing green drop at the syringe's tip made me grin. I watched intently as it slid down the needle and onto the barrel, its own glow dancing with the burner's fire. Such beautiful light – the light of life.

The clock's longer hand hit ten, and I jammed the needle into the old stallion's neck, letting the green glow creep into the body. Although there was no blood flow – not yet – the serum didn't seem to mind. The liquid snaked through the vein in both directions, towards the heart and into the brain, lighting up every tiny capillary along its way, glow dissipating the more it spread.

When the glow was gone, I glanced at the clock. “Ten seconds since potion administered. Nothing yet.” Make that twenty by the time I finished writing.

My gaze alternated between the still body and the ticking clock. I found myself grinding my teeth, counting every passing second in my head, biting a little harder each time. As the thirty second mark flew by, my ears drooped with lost faith.

Maybe I got overexcited, I pondered. Maybe reviving rats was simpler than bringing a thinking pony to life. Yes, I adjusted the amount. I did the maths and put in the new stuff and everything. Noting that a full minute passed since the initial injection, I looked back at the corpse.

His eyes were open.

The notebook slipped from my grasp.

I dove right after it, scrambling to pick it up. I could barely hold the pen in my mouth. “r/a 60s,” I scribbled before casting the notebook and pen aside.

I leaned onto the desk, legs shaking, above the corpse that wasn't a corpse any more. A grin crept across my face. “Hello,” I greeted him, voice wavering with excitement. “Welcome back to life.”

Slowly, his eyes slowly shifted towards me.

“Can you hear me? Can you?”

He stared blankly. His jaw moved, and out came a horrible gurgling, accompanied by a stench just as unbearable. I waved the smell away and covered my nose.

“Y-yes. Don't stop. Talk to me, go on.”

The head twisted to the side, twitching eyes staring at me. A brownish-reddish liquid drooled from his mouth. What do I say? Didn't think that through. Stupid. But I'm sure he can hear me. What was his name again?

His muscles swelled. Without taking his eyes off me, he dragged his front hooves across the table, face screwing up with pain. Clenching his teeth into a snarl, he pushed himself up, sending a round of pops and cracks along his spine. He turned his head towards me without moving the rest of his body, turning to an unnatural degree.

“Hey, pal,” I said, offering a hoof.

His eyes turned to my hoof, then back to me. His chest expanded slowly, making a sound not unlike air whistling through a pierced balloon.

“It's okay, just take it slow. Come on.” I put my hoof on his shoulder carefully.

In the blink of an eye, the stallion slapped my hoof, making me recoil and trip over a stack of wires on the floor. As I clambered to my hooves, I saw the stallion lean off the table and roar with rage, splattering me with the gory bile that bubbled in his throat.

He scooted off the table, landing with a clumsy, wet crash. His hind legs tensed, propping up his rear, but his front legs and neck went slack.

I took a step back, raising an innocent hoof. “Alright, alright, easy now!”

The stallion started running – his hind legs did, anyway – pushing his body forward as the limp head painfully howled. I jumped out of his way, and he rushed right by, ploughing through the scattered junk before ramming into the freezer.

Oh, no you don't. “Hey, leave that alone.”

As if gaining strength from my voice, his flabby front legs stiffened, straightening the stallion's posture, his neck cracking as it too came to life. He turned to me with his teeth clenched in pain and eyes alight with animalistic fury. He breathed in and coughed out wet, bark-like moans.

I paced in place, legs readying to move. What's he doing? Do I help him? Fight or flight?

With another deep breath, the stallion gave a howl and rushed at me, teeth jaws open and ready to bite.

Fight it is, then. I set my hooves and didn't move an inch. As we collided, I wrapped my forelegs around the stallion. He clamped his teeth around my neck, but I pushed him away so that all he tore was a few hairs. With a quick twist and turn, I tackled him to the ground. He kicked my chest and bit my hooves in a desperate bid to push me off.

For all his madness, he still possessed the physical capabilities of an old pony. An old pony who spent his last week taking a dirt nap. Not a challenge for the awesome Rainbow Dash.

I thought I'd effortlessly hold the old stallion down, then maybe talk some sense into him. “Now listen here, you—”

A hoof ramming into my throat and another slamming at my temple put a dent in that plan. Before I came to, amidst more screaming came another impact at my stomach, like a freight train, strong enough to knock the air out of me. I flew through the air, bumping the light bulb and sending it swinging wildly, the hot glass burning me.

I crashed into on a desk and felt a dozen tiny pricks. As I slid off, scissors and scalpels fell with me. The shadows of the basement followed the bulb's swinging. A burner – thankfully unlit – bobbed and fell from the desk. As the glass shattered, the liquid inside spread out on the floor.

That stuff was flammable, too. And I was inside a gigantic tree. If the library caught fire, I had no clue what I'd do.

Wait a sec. If something caught fire, I'd use...

Snarling, gurgling, and drooling bloody saliva – oh look, the body's producing saliva – the stallion charged at me again. He threw up his front legs to come trampling down on me. Still on the floor, I grabbed the fire axe and held the handle out to keep him at bay.

He strained against me, and I held him back, but it took all my strength. I struggled to understand what was going on.

To combat deterioration and help animation, the newest Re-Animation Potion was loaded with agents that strengthened muscle and bone tissue. The point was to give the corpse an extra kick, a jolt to get them going again after being turned off for so long.

This was something entirely new – I'd never tried it on a whole pony before. The apples hardly needed it, lone legs and hearts worked fine without it, and the rats were always fresh enough. I made this change specifically with whole ponies in mind. And on one hoof, I was proud of myself for being correct: the agent worked. On the other, I was terrified of how well it worked.

The stallion pushed against the handle; standing up, I pushed back. He pushed harder, standing on his hind hooves; I followed the dance, getting up on mine. It seemed he couldn't figure a way past the impassable barricade that the axe handle provided.

He pushed on, forcing me to back up against the wall. Unable to push past the axe, he opted to come in with his head, biting at anything he could reach. I slammed my forehead into the stallion's to put the him in his place.

Not caring for the concussion I may have given myself, I pressed a hind hoof against the wall for leverage, putting enough force behind my weight to finally push the flailing stallion off. He tripped and fell straight onto his back, hooves flailing in confusion. I swooped down and pinned him against the floor again, prepared for his burst of strength this time.

“Calm down! You're upset, I get it. Must've been quite a trip. But you're fine now.” He tried to push, but I pressed him down. “Work with me here.”

The stallion howled in response, tongue flapping, eyes holding no understanding. With a quick move and more barks, he flipped me over, coming on top. His cracked, bleeding hooves pummelled my head, making me lose all sense of direction.

I swung the axe blindly, blunt end first, managing to jam it into his soft stomach. The stallion pounded away, his head swaying side to side, his neck unable to mitigate the violent shakes of his body. Indistinct howling and moaning echoed from his busted windpipe.

Desperate to get out of his hold, I pushed against the axe's handle, driving it through his stomach. The wall of muscles proved sturdy – yeah, the potion worked – but with the stallion leaning on me with all his weight, I pierced through. Half-liquid blood leaked all over me, and a few maggots fled the sinking ship through the breaches of his torn intestines.

After tunnelling through the stallion's body, the handle's blunt end emerged from his back with a wet pop. It took one final push and a strong screw on the axe to throw the stallion off me.

He fell on his back, writhing, crying, the axe's bladed end sticking up from his stomach; a flag of victory, this time. I jumped to my hooves and pulled the axe out, lifting it high for him to see.

“Last chance.”

The stallion spat, gurgled, and hopped up, once again throwing himself at me. I knocked him aside with the broad side of the axe, sending him into the side of the nearest desk. I heard a crack and a snap at the impact; the desk wasn't the only thing that broke there. The stallion fell limp, trembling legs trying to gain a hold on the floor.

Before he got up, I slammed the axe's blade into his back, severing the spine. He howled and writhed with his front hooves, but the hind ones were still.

Another swing, this time where his lower left leg met the torso, tearing it clean off. I swung again; his lower right leg followed the left one, plopping off with a clean sweep.

By that point, I wasn't thinking. I've always had the tendency to do things I later regretted. Hot-headed, they called me. I never thought much about it. Not until Twilight's death.

Since then, things had been falling through the cracks. And each day it was getting worse. Different ponies deal with grief in different ways, I guess. Irrational anger at anything that moved turned out to be my way. Not something I'm proud of.

I let the fury consume me. It coursed through my veins and it clouded my mind. Every swing was a tiny little release. I needed more.

I was angry. Angry that this thing tried to kill me, even though all I wanted was to help. Angry that the potion worked, but didn't do what I wanted. Angry that it had to come to this. Twilight wasn't supposed to die. I wasn't supposed to be doing this. This was an insult! A slap in the face from lady fortune, destiny, or something, anything. Anything that wasn't me. This was out of my control. Had to be.

Not my fault, I thought. Couldn't have been. I did everything right this time. I did everything right. Everything.

“Everything!”

My voice resonated throughout the basement. It bounced off the walls and chimed with the arcane phials before the shelves and machinery absorbed it. Then the only thing left was my panting, and a stabbing pain in my lungs. Sweat rolled into my eyes.

The bulb above was still again. The shadows had stopped their dance.

Before me, in a pool of spilled viscera, lay the stallion's torso, torn open. Splintered ribs adorned his punctured lungs. The head, crushed and leaking, had rolled away – at its side, I saw the mark of kick. On my hoof, I found my coat bloody all the way to the first bend.

The stallion's legs were off, too. I counted three. A slushy of pulverised bone and sinew spread under me, trampled and splotched across the floor. That I figured to be the fourth.

The axe slipped from my hooves. The axe head clanged, and the wooden handle bounced once on the cracked floor. I sat down, bringing my cleaner hoof to cover my eyes. I tasted blood on my lips. I licked it off, then wiped my bleeding nose. I felt sick. I breathed in deep.

Closing my eyes, I raised my head, then exhaled slowly.

No sound but the peaceful ticking of the old clock. My rapid heartbeat calmed.

A breath. Not mine.

My eyes snapped open, and my heart raced again. The corpse's lungs were a pulpous mass in his collapsed chest. This thing couldn't even hold air, much less breathe. The sound must have come from somewhere else. I cranked my aching neck towards the back stairs.

I didn't know why. I didn't know how. But I wasn't dreaming – I didn't think I was. Unless I'd finally gone mad for good, I had to believe what I saw.

There stood Sweetie Belle, her eyes wide and breath taken.

Go to the Golden Oaks, Scream a Little, and Wait for This to Blow Over

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Sweetie Belle

I stretched my hooves out the window, draping my tired neck over the sill. As blood rushed into my head, I let loose a long, drawn-out yawn. To anypony on the street, I must have had the funniest face, but there was nopony there to notice.

Rarity loved the big rooms of the Carousel Boutique, but they had this tendency to gradually heat up during long summer days. Some days it got as hot as a sauna in the showroom.

When my hanging head started to hurt, I threw it back, letting my jaw hang open with a groan of boredom. “When's Apple Bloom coming already?”

Scootaloo responded by rearing up her scooter briefly only to drop back down. By the tired look on her face, she was having a blast as much as I was.

“Stop that,” I mumbled. The long wait and summer heat had sapped all my strength. I could barely muster the will to open my mouth. “Rarity's going to be mad if you ruin the carpet.”

Scootaloo threw her chest over the scooter's handles, hooves hanging loose. “It was your idea.” She kicked one leg out to scoot forward, but the wheels got tangled up in the carpet and barely moved.

“Not on the carpet,” I said. “We'll have to roll it up.”

“So why don't we do that instead of just sitting around?”

“Can't roll it while you're scooting on it.”

Scootaloo dragged her hooves off the handle and stepped off the scooter before kicking it into a corner. She trod out of the room with weary steps. Once she passed the doorstep, she dropped to her rump and crossed her hooves. “Happy?”

I came in from the window with a stretch and a yawn. “Yeah.”

I looked at the corner of the carpet, took a deep breath, and licked my lips. My horn prickled, and I felt the warmth of magic gather at my forehead. The corner of the carpet lit up green and lifted a few inches above the floor.

Scootaloo sprawled out on her back and studied the ceiling.. “Maybe Apple Bloom's at the hospital?”

My concentration faltered, and the carpet fell back down. “Why'd she be at the hospital?”

She raised a hoof and mimed out her words like it was a puppet. “Granny Smith broke her leg in a freak high diving accident yesterday. Don't ask me.” She poked her head up, looking to me. “Hasn't she told you?”

I frowned. “No. When did she tell you?”

“I bumped into her this morning.” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. “Yeah, now that I think about it, she did say they'd be visiting Granny today.”

My brows furrowed. “And you haven't told me, why?”

Scootaloo shrugged. “She was supposed to be back by now.”

I slapped a hoof to my forehead, a barely suppressed groan slipping between my teeth. “But Rarity's coming home in an hour.”

Scootaloo sat up, placing a hoof behind her neck and cracking her back. “How about I go get AB quickly and you prepare the room?”

I pursed my lips. Scootaloo could get around town pretty fast, but we'd have to cut it close. “Fine. Just hurry.”

She hopped up and snapped to attention, saluting. “Alright, one little Apple comin' up.”

With that, she whipped around and started for the stairs, nearly tripping over a sleeping Opalescence.

Opal liked napping there, around the stairs and under everypony's hooves. And oh my, if you accidentally stepped on her paw or tail or something. You wouldn't tell by looking, but there were claws like a tiger's on that little demon.

As Scootaloo made her way down the stairs Opal followed her steps with a single eye and a displeased, quiet growl.

“That cat's a monster,” Scootaloo said. “Anyway, see ya' in a minute.”

“See you,” I said after her, unsure if she heard. Shooting a quick glance at Opal, I mumbled a quick “Dumb cat.” I never got what Rarity loved about her.

Turning around, my gaze locked on to the scooter. I slapped my forehead again before rushing to the stairs. “Scootaloo!” But of course, she was gone. I ran to the window and looked out, but saw no sign of her anywhere.

Oh well. I had work to do, too. Just had to hope Scootaloo and Apple Bloom would make it back before Rarity came home.

Since Twilight disappeared, everypony's been on edge. Grown-ups kept an especially close eye on us 'helpless little foals.' Like we were looking to get ourselves into trouble. Sure, Rarity left me alone while she was off shopping today, but had I asked her a few weeks ago, I'd have been grounded just for thinking about leaving the house alone. All in my best interests, of course.

If Rarity was as punctual with her fabric shopping as I knew her to be, we had about an hour to prepare for what Scootaloo called the 'best move we'll see in our pony lives.' I started by rolling up the carpet, at first with magic. Somewhere halfway through, when my head became heavy and my horn winked out, my hooves had to take over. With the carpet rolled to the side, I moved the bed out of the way, making a clear path to the window.

We'd stashed a bunch of planks in a nearby alley yesterday. Scootaloo insisted that the hole in the clubhouse would be well worth it. I took a quick trip outside to retrieve the planks, making sure to avoid Opal both in the way out and in. I brought the first up the stairs with magic, then took a minute's rest before painstakingly dragging up the other few.

Once I managed to get the planks into my room, I propped them up at the window to make a ramp, using a chest of drawers for support and some tape to make sure they stuck.

Scootaloo's plan was simple. My room was pretty wide, so she was going to gain speed in here with her scooter, jump out the window, fly all the way to Quills & Sofas next door, then slide across the roof before an elegant glide to the ground. 'Easy-peasy,' she told us.

I had my doubts, being ever the responsible filly. But then, this was hardly more dangerous than zip-lining, right? At least this time, it would only be Scootaloo falling amusingly. And if she managed to pull it off, well, if this wouldn't get her a cutie mark, we didn't know what would.

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I dropped onto my rump and leaned against the wall. The room was ready, and I had time to spare. Emphasis on I. The girls were nowhere to be seen.

I got up with creaking bones and an annoyed grimace on my face, climbing the ramp to stare out the window. No matter which way I leaned, I couldn't see them. We had half an hour or so to do this, and then we still had to get rid of the evidence. Goodness knew what Rarity would do if she found out we'd been scootering around inside the house.

“Oh come on!” I stomped in place, rocking the ramp left and right. When my call failed to reach my friends, I threw myself back with a groan, rolling down the ramp before sprawling out at the bottom. Watching the room spin kept me entertained for the few seconds that it lasted. I twiddled my hooves, threw my body this way and that, and made the silliest faces I could while using my imagination as a mirror.

Boredom kills. And that terrible heat. I couldn't shake the heat.

I think it was when I hung from the bed, hind legs coiling the covers and front hooves looking for dust in the cracks of the floor, when my wandering gaze came across the scooter. For all my boredom, I hadn't thought about that before. I guess my brain just locked it out on purpose, knowing full well it wasn't mine and I'm just that nice.

But when my head started hurting just trying to comprehend how I was stuck alone in my room on a summer afternoon, all these little locked doors in my mind seemed to slowly open.

Before I knew it, I was playing with the scooter. Scootaloo's tricks always impressed me, but I'd never tried it for myself. My first few minutes with the scooter I spent learning all the ways you can fall off it. Slowly, I got the hang of that 'actually staying on' thing that Scootaloo was so fond of.

In my excitement, I neglected figuring out the art of braking. I mean, the walls were right there.

Call it a flimsy defence, but I cannot bring this up enough: boredom does things to a filly.

The ramp looked inviting. Do I need to wait for Scootaloo? Maybe I could do it. Never know until you try...

Then again, the window was pretty high up. I had the presence of mind to drop that idea. I reserved to scooting in the safety of the room.

On the third or fourth lap, I kicked harder than before, gaining a refreshing burst of speed. This made the wall close in faster than I liked. I quickly swerved to the side, only to barrel towards the doorway. No wall to stop me there.

My legs froze up in fright, and so did my brain. I had no idea how to stop, and my legs refused to move. All I could do was hold on for dear life.

I bumped over the doorstep, which reduced my speed a bit, and that was a good thing. On the other hoof, the doorstep bumped me straight towards the stairs, which was a very, very bad thing.

As the front wheels rolled over the highest step, I considered how lucky it was that Opal wasn't in the way this time. The scooter bobbed forward, rolling down the high stairs, and I screamed with the rushing wind, desperate to stay on.

My teeth clapped together at each step, and the scooter became harder and harder to control. The handle yanked itself out of my grasp, and I felt the scooter slip from under my hooves. I lunged forward, managing to wrap my legs around the handle, just before another step kicked it right into my face.

I saw Opalescence sleeping at the foot of the stairs. For a brief moment, time seemed to stand still.

One of her ears twitched, and she raised her lazy head towards me.

Her eyes went wide. Her legs jerked, clawing into the floor.

In the last second, I grabbed the handle and pulled to the side with all my might.

There was a crash, a pained meow cut short, and a whole lot of pain.

It took me a moment to come to my senses. I remember lying on the floor. The first thing I noticed was the sound of a squeaky wheel spinning on a broken axle. Everything hurt. Getting up, I grumbled something about Scootaloo being a crazy pony and Opal being dumber than usual.

I wondered how I was going to explain what happened to the scooter.

Dusting myself, I accidentally stepped on Opal's tail. With a reflexive jump, I pulled my hoof away, falling over again. My first instinct wasn't trying to get up, but to quickly crawl to a safe distance. Knowing how Opal usually reacted to being touched, that was a perfectly reasonable reaction.

But I didn't feel the swipe of her claws this time.

She was lying on her stomach, like how she usually slept, just her legs were stiffer. And I couldn't put a hoof on it, but her neck was weird. I gave a quick, careful poke her with the tip of a hoof while keeping well away.

“Opal?”

Leaning forward, I stuck my head out, eyeing the cat for the smallest sign of movement.

“Opalescence?”

I rolled her onto her back. Her neck contorted, but her head stayed where it was, and I fell back in fright. The more I looked, the worse it seemed. My jaw hung agape. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't.

Slowly, I put my hooves to Opal's cheeks and turned her towards me. Her eyes bulged, staring back without blinking, out of focus. When I let go, her head fell back to the side.

I took a step back, my whole body trembling, my breaths growing quick and shallow. Trying to stay calm, I put a hoof to my mouth. I could feel my hoof shake under my nose.

There came a knock on the door, giving me a start. I glanced back at Opal. Then I panicked. If that's Rarity, what will I say?

Another knock. I eyed the door, but my legs were numb.

“You in there?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We're running out of time,” added Scootaloo.

I exhaled deeply. I could feel my legs again. Stepping to the door, I opened up.

Scootaloo's face lit up when she saw me. “So, you prepared the room?” She tried to butt her way in. “Come on, don't just stand there.” She paused for a moment, furrowing her brows. “Are you alright?”

“No offence Sweetie, but y'all's whiter than usual,” Apple Bloom remarked. “Did something happen?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but my lips trembled and my throat was dry. Unable to say a word, instead I threw the door open stood aside, casting my gaze to the floor. I didn't see their faces, but I there was silence for a bit.

Scootaloo rushed past me with a worried gasp. “What did you do?”

“It was an accident,” I mumbled.

“My scooter's completely bust!”

“Wait, what?”

Scootaloo cradled her broken scooter with shaky hooves, looking at me teary-eyed. I cocked my head towards the cat.

“Oh.” The scooter slipped from her grasp. “Also completely bust?”

“That's one way to put it.”

“A-are we going to hide it?” I knew Scootaloo wanted to sound brave, but her quivering voice gave her away.

Apple Bloom took a step back and put up a hoof in protest. “Hey, hey, I wasn't here, alright? Don't know what happened, but I ain't touchin' it.”

Scootaloo slunk closer to the body and prodded it curiously.

“You sure it's...?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Pretty sure,” I said.

Scootaloo gave Opal another careful poke. “Cat's bust alright. So are we gonna let Rarity find it or what?”

“We're not hiding her, stop saying that,” I responded. Scootaloo's eagerness appalled me.

“I'm just saying,” Scootaloo added. “What's she gonna do if she finds out?”

“Well...” I pondered. “She'll be furious, first thing. She'll probably cave in on herself afterwards. No amount of ice cream will get her out of it. If I'm lucky, she won't skin me and sell me as a hat. Hey, what do you mean, if?”

Scootaloo cocked her head towards the back door, rearing up and making motions with her hooves that resembled working a spade.

I groaned, turning to Apple Bloom. She was slinking away, inch by inch. “You're being very quiet,” I said. “What would you do?”

“I'd stay very quiet,” she whispered.

“Rarity's gonna be home soon, right?” Scootaloo asked. “In, like, half an hour?”

“Yes, stop reminding me.” I dropped to my rump, putting my hooves over my eyes.

“Look, y'all, I didn't see nothing. But I don't feel like being a part a' this.”

I sighed, rubbing my forehead, not even turning to Apple Bloom to respond. “Yeah, sure, go. I'll handle this.”

Apple Bloom's response came with sounds of quick hooves and the door shutting. Then I noticed the sound of slower, more careful hooves moving the other way. Turning my head up, I found Scootaloo with Opal in her hoof, tip-hoofing for the back yard.

“Hey!”

Scootaloo froze, looking back, but didn't say a word. I took a step forward, thinking I'd wrestle Opal out of her grasp.

But then I stopped, too. She picked her up, I thought. It wasn't me. I hated myself for it, but she did lift an enormous weight off my chest. But I didn't see her take Opal. She took her without my permission. So my conscience was clear.

Right?

It's not like I wanted Rarity to know. It's not like I had a plan. And this was the easiest way...

I looked Scootaloo straight in the eye, then gave her a nod.

That was all she needed. As she rushed outside, I stayed in and scrambled to find a spade, or shovel, or something. Rarity has to keep one of those around for gem-digging, I figured. From before she had Spike to do it, anyway. After a few minutes of frantic searching, I found a spade tucked away on a shelf somewhere. There weren't half as many cobwebs on it as I expected.

I also grabbed Scootaloo's broken scooter. Didn't want that to be the first thing Rarity sees when she steps in. I rejoined with Scootaloo outside.

Behind the Carousel Boutique was a small garden where Rarity grew exquisite flowers. Here the dry earth was softer and relatively easy to dig through. Not that we had many options. We couldn't stash her away in the house, and it was best we didn't go too far. I didn't want to be seen with a cat's corpse in hoof, not by Rarity, not by anypony.

The ground, soft as it was, still provided resistance. The spade was twice our size, so we had to work it together. We stopped time to time, throwing our heads up and scanning for prying eyes. It was the middle of the day, after all. Our only saving grace was the heat. The adults didn't like it either, it seemed, so most of them were indoors.

My hooves were trembling so much that the spade slipped out of my grasp several times. I couldn't believe I was going along with this.

I'd never have admitted it to anypony, but I wasn't sad about Opal. All she ever did was scratch and bite me whenever I came to visit Rarity.

Now I broke her neck, and all I cared about was hiding the body so Rarity wouldn't be mad.

That's what made me sad: that this didn't make me sad. What did that make me?

Worse, I was sad because I knew what that dumb cat meant to my sister. And I took her away.

And I was angry, too, because I had no excuse. No reason, no explanation at all. I was an idiot. I hated myself.

Every time I drove the spade into the earth, my conscience protested. But I couldn't stop my panicking body. Maybe I didn't want to.

“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom came running around the Boutique, wheezing and sweating.

I threw a spadeful of dry earth aside. “What is it?” I asked, wiping my forehead. “Why'd you come back?”

“I-it's Rarity,” she panted. “I saw her just around the corner.”

“What, this early?” Scootaloo yanked the spade out of my hooves and frantically stuck it into the earth. “She wasn't supposed to be home this early, was she?”

“No, she wasn't,” I said, looking down at Opal. We'd dug a sizeable hole, but it wasn't deep enough yet.

Scootaloo dug faster. “Come on, just a little more.”

“No,” I said. I tore the spade out of her hooves, using it to slide Opal into the hole. “It's okay, I'll finish up, you two get out of here.”

“But I—” Scootaloo began.

“Just, just go,” I said. “Saw nothing, know nothing.”

They both nodded and waved a reluctant goodbye. Apple Bloom was faster to turn and leg it. Scootaloo bit down on the broken scooter's handle, and ran off with it in tow.

On the other side of the boutique, I heard the front door open. I quickly threw the dirt we piled up onto Opal and evened out the ground a little. Her ears still stuck out.

“Sweetie Belle?” I heard Rarity call. “I'm home.”

I tore a few flowers from their place, sticking them onto Opal's 'grave.' It was rather undignified, and served more as camouflage than paying my respects, but it would have to do.

With a deep breath, I stepped inside.

“Oh, there you are,” Rarity said, seeing me across the hallway. A bright spool of cloth floated by her side. “You'll need to see this. I found this beauty at the market today, and I had to bring it home right away. Silver-lined and gem-gilded, it came all the way from...” She stopped, eyeing me up and down. “What's with the spade?”

That's when I noticed it was still clenched between my teeth. “Umm...”

Smiling, Rarity patted my head before blowing some dust out of my mane. “What has my little crusader been up to? Staying out of harm's way, I should hope.”

Okay, I got this. I spat the spade out. “Well, you know, just killing time.” Wait.

Rarity raised a suspicious brow, looking over my head, at the back door. “You haven't been digging around in my flower beds, have you?”

“Oh, no, of course not.” I grinned as innocently as I could muster.

“At any rate, like I was saying. This cloth...”

Rarity droned on about that dumb fabric that she just had to bring home early. I could barely hear it over my teeth chattering. At some point, I think when she was telling me about traditional Saddle Arabian garb, I excused myself to go get cleaned up. I felt awfully dirty, and not just because of the earth and dust.

As I leaned over the sink to wash my eyes, Rarity called out again. “Sweetie, have you seen Opal anywhere? She's usually all over me when I come home.”

“S-she's probably asleep somewhere.” I hoped the running water would drown out how shaky my voice was.

I heard Rarity's steps around the house, and my heart pumped faster and faster with every turn she took. Doors creaked, hooves clopped, and Rarity just didn't want to give up. “Opalescence, mummy's home. Here, puss, puss.”

Washing my hooves off kept me occupied for quite a while. Possibly longer than the amount of dirt demanded. I opened the tap fully and stuck my head under the flow to drown out the noise Rarity was making. And my conscience.

When I managed to cool off, and my heart became a bit less frantic, I closed the tap. My horn sparked alive and a towel floated closer. I grabbed a brush with a hoof.

Maybe this won't be so bad, I wondered as I dried up. Rarity's not going to find Opal. We hid her well enough. Well, not until she decides to do any gardening. And it's summer too, she loves tending to the flowers this time of year. Oh, I need to get Opal somewhere else before—

“Sweetie Belle!”

Gulp.

I burst from the bathroom, mane half-dry and messy, snapping my head towards the back door. It was closed.

“Sweetie Belle.” Rarity's voice came from upstairs, and although she sounded angry, it wasn't 'you killed my cat' angry. I'd never been more relieved to be scolded for... whatever Rarity was going to scold me for this time. I trotted upstairs with a surprising ease.

At the top of the stairs, Rarity stood stunned before my room, eyes wide and jaw agape.

Turning to me, she pointed into the room. “What in the sweetest namesakes of Celestia is this mess?”

Oh. Yeah, that. No wonder that the bare, scratched floor, and conspicuous planks leaning on the window made Rarity upset. Now to get out of it with a practised explanation. Come on, I'm good at this.

“Well, you see, um, we, that is I—”

Rarity ground her teeth, letting a suppressed groan slip between them. She rolled her eyes with a sigh. “I can see you've been very busy. I won't even ask. That Saddle Arabian fabric already made my day, and I'm not going to let a little clutter ruin it for me. Just put everything back the way it was, okay?”

Like I said, I was a natural. “Okay. No problem.”

“Oh, and I'll definitely be telling Mum and Dad once they're back from their trip.”

Oh goodie.

“See,” Rarity droned on, “this is why I'm so reluctant to watch you. I'm very fond of the boutique, you know. I leave you alone for an hour, and you make it your quest to destroy something I love.”

“I'm sorry,” I said, with more sincerity than she probably picked up on.

“No, it's okay,” she replied. She closed her eyes to take a deep breath. Opening up, a smile spread across her face. “Like I said, fabric.” As she turned for the stairs, I heard her mumble under her breath. “Just where is that cat?”

I cleaned my room in record time. Rarity spent the afternoon working on that exotic fabric, cutting and forming it into different shapes, putting it against dress after dress, seeing how the colour worked and whatnot. I know because I watched her like a hawk, ready to skip country the moment she made a move for the back door.

Occasionally, she'd drop what she was doing in favour of a walk around the boutique, chanting Opal's name and making all sorts of supposedly cat-like noises. I spent those moments biting my lips and breathing heavily. Out of sight, of course.

The Sun set, evening came, and Rarity was getting anxious. I decided to go to bed early to spare myself the stress. If she hasn't found Opal yet, she's not going to now, I figured.

Rarity stopped by as I was making my bed. From the corner of my eye, I saw her stand in the doorway. I pretended to be really focused on those sheets and blankets.

She knocked on the open door. “Sweetie?”

Act natural. “Oh, hi, Rarity. Didn't see you there. I'm just getting ready for bed. I cause less trouble that way. I'm sure she's fine.”

Rarity blinked. “I'm sorry?”

“Opal,” I said. “I'm sure Opal's fine. You came to ask about Opal, right?”

“Well,” she said, “I only wanted to ask, are you sure you haven't seen her?”

Okay, I practised this. “She was sleeping on the stairs, last I saw.”

I could see a faint hope die in Rarity's eyes. “Are you absolutely certain?”

Tucking the last bit of bed sheet into its place, I hopped onto the bed. “Yeah. Super positive. Last I saw Opal, she was fine. Why wouldn't she be fine now?”

Rarity bit the tip of her hoof. “I suppose. You think she'll turn up?”

“I'd be surprised.”

Rarity raised a brow.

“If she didn't, I mean.”

“Maybe she's stuck somewhere,” Rarity mumbled, turning. “Perhaps in the attic. My, I haven't checked there. She must be so scared.”

She hurried out of the room without waiting for a response.

Dropping into the bed, I wrapped the blanket around me, pulling it over my head and squeezing my eyelids as tight as I could. I felt tired. Tired from rearranging my room twice, tired from the digging, and tired from the guilt. Sleep couldn't come quickly enough.

Outside, the winds of a cool night rain rattled the window. Above me, hooves clopped up and down in the attic. It was rather soothing, listening to the white noise of the night. Better than listening to my conscience, anyway. I managed to fall asleep, in the end.

Only to be woken up by a prodding at my back.

“Sweetie. Sweetie. Are you awake, Sweetie?”

After some trial and error, I managed to poke my head out from under the blanket. My eyelids felt like lead. Rarity stood by the bed, a lantern floating next to her.

“Wha-what?” I spat out, squinting into the blinding light.

“I still can't find Opal,” Rarity said. “I think she might be lost.”

“What?” I asked again, rubbing my eyes. “No, she's not lost, don't worry.” I yawned, sitting up. “Cats wander off all the time. Normal ones, I mean. Doesn't Opal?”

“Opal would never spend the night outside. Think what the wind might do to her hair. Don't get me started on the dew. It must be the rain, she's terrified of it. Poor thing, she's probably stuck in a tree somewhere. I'm going to look for her.”

“Now?” I asked. “What time is it?”

“It's almost midnight,” Rarity said. “Sorry, I'm absolutely unable to sleep. I'll climb up the wall if I have to spend another minute just sitting here, waiting for her.”

“You can't climb the wall when you're sitting,” I grumbled.

Rarity didn't seem to pick up on the humour. “So I'm going outside. I just wanted to tell you. If you woke up and didn't find me, I didn't want you to be frightened.”

“I wouldn't have woken up.”

She patted my head. “I'll take a quick walk around Ponyville. My poor darling has to be around somewhere. You be good. Just go back to sleep. I'll be back with Opal soon, I'm sure.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, dropping my head back onto the pillow.

As Rarity left, I closed my eyes and waited for the dreams. Good, I thought. The longer she spent away from the boutique, the better.

I drifted in and out of sleep for a while. I'm not sure how much time passed.

But one moment, my eyes burst open with a realisation. Rarity's out of the boutique! I had a chance to hide Opal. I wondered whether the rain had washed off what little dirt I threw on the body.

I rolled out of bed, crashing to the floor. I was halfway across the room before even kicking my blanket off. My head dragged me down, heavy from a long sleep and protesting the sudden jump. I almost managed to fall down the stairs again.

At the bottom, I turning to the back door, and I froze. The door was open, and outside the light of a lantern silhouetted a mare. In her hooves, a small furry thing.

Rarity's soaked mane hid her face. She pulled Opal closer, and the cat's head fell to the side. She inspected her neck, then lowered the body. Slowly, she turned her head towards me. Runny, skewed make-up circled her empty eyes. The rain made it hard to tell, but I don't think she was even crying.

My mind shut down.

Rarity knew. She knew what I did, she knew I lied, she knew I tried to hide Opal.

My body acted on impulse. Before I realised, I bolted for the front door.

I couldn't stand it.

“Sweetie!”

I didn't look back. I threw the door open and burst into the cold, rainy night.

I wasn't afraid of punishment. Deep inside, I knew I deserved it. I just couldn't imagine looking in my sister's eyes again. I wished I'd never have to.

My hooves splashed in mud, and the chilling wind stung my skin. With every wheeze I swallowed rain.

Somewhere halfway across town, my legs grew numb. In a narrow alley, I slipped in the mud and fell against a wall, bruising my side. My conscience had finally caught up with me. Looking back, I saw no trace of Rarity.

I felt cold and tired. I wanted to turn everything back. I wanted Opal to be okay, I wanted Rarity to be happy, and I wanted to be home, tucked in a warm bed. But I couldn't go back. What could I say to Rarity?

In the distance, a glimmer of light caught my eye. I squinted to make out the source: the Golden Oaks Library. After Twilight's disappearance, Rainbow Dash volunteered to work there. She wasn't supposed to be in town this week, though.

Spike moved out, too. Something about it hurting him too much to stay where he lost Twilight. I heard him mention it to Rarity some time ago.

The light didn't come from a window or the door. It seemed like the bark of the tree was cracked open, at the back of the structure. Like a back door or something.

Well, it's either this or Rarity...

I gave in to my curiosity, and following the faint glimmer, I found a hatch at the back of the tree. It opened to a steep staircase, going down. The passage was just fine for me, but a grown-up would have needed to watch their head. Along the ceiling, a long wire trailed downwards, tiny lights spaced out on it.

I took one last glance back and saw a shadow dart across a street. Frightened, I stepped inside and pulled the hidden door closed. Acrid smells lingered in the air, chemicals and disinfectants, kind of like at the dentist's, but with a little bit of garbage dump and sewer smell added.

I figured the stairs must lead into the basement. Would explain the smell. Rainbow Dash must have left the lights on when she left earlier this week. And the creepy back door open. Strange that nopony noticed all this time.

Hopping step by step, I noticed a trail of muddy hoofprints. Still wet. As I came to a turn in the stairs, I heard a crash from below. There was a groan, and a howl unlike any animal I'd ever heard.

“Hello?” I whispered. “Rainbow Dash?” I knew nopony would hear me, but I was afraid to raise my voice. The mere act of talking gave a little comfort.

There was more crashing and thrashing, and throaty sounds of struggle. After one last crash, they stopped. After a moment of silence, a fleshy, wet smacking noise made its way to my ears. Gulping, I took another step down and peeked around the turn of the stairwell. I found the library's basement, cluttered and dirty.

In the middle lay an elderly stallion... in pieces. Blood splattered everywhere. Rainbow Dash stood above him, axe in grasp. She swung it above her head before running the axe into the pony. She swung, she swung again, again, and again, teeth gritted, pupils tiny little pinpricks in her eyes, muttering to herself. The head of the stallion came off, Rainbow screamed, and her whole body trembled.

“Everything!”

Rainbow cast the axe aside, sitting down. I wanted to run, but my legs were frozen.

I'd forgotten to breathe in fright. When I did, Rainbow's ears fluttered. She turned towards me.

We locked eyes. Her gaze set my legs free. And as I whipped around to rush up the stairs, my voice was freed too with a long, uncontrolled scream.

I heard Rainbow's wings storm behind me, and I knew she'd be on me in a second. There was a thud and a groan, followed by a rapid clopping on the stairs. The narrow space must have proven too difficult to navigate in the air. With my head start, I had a chance.

“Stop!”

One of my hooves slipped as I scuttled along the steep steps, making me whack my head against the next. Ignoring the pain, I hopped up and ran on. Coming around the turn in the stairway, I saw the hatch. Rainbow's open-mouthed huffing echoed in my ears.

I felt a tap on my back and kicked instinctually, slamming Rainbow in the face with my hoof. “You little—”

Jumping over the final step, I flung myself at the hatch, ramming my shoulder into it. The door held, the oak's rough bark bruising my skin. I recoiled, losing my balance and missing a step. My momentum worked against me, sending me tumbling back down.

Rainbow caught me. “Nice of you to close the door after coming in,” she muttered, locking her legs around me. “That could've ended badly.”

I squirmed and screamed, trying to break free.

“Quiet now.”

She threw up her wings. Descending slowly, she could now easily manoeuvre the tight space. Her hooves were free to hold me, and they did, stronger than I could break.

I bit her legs, and her grip loosened for a moment. I slipped from her grasp only to be caught again.

“Calm down,” she said. “You want me to drop you? You want to get hurt?”

Rainbow didn't stop at the basement. She flew up the other set of stairs, into the library. Once in the main room, we stopped mid-air. Rainbow looked around, ears and eyes scanning the place. When she decided it was safe, we slowly descended.

Rainbow sat down, leaning her back against a reading table, hooves clutched tightly around me. I thrashed and bit and screamed for help, but all in vain. The fighting only exhausted me more. I never took Rainbow for an intimidating mare, but she was strong and fit. She held me effortlessly in her lap, pressing me against her chest and keeping my hooves pinned.

As my eyes got used to the darkness, I began taking in my surroundings. The room was completely dark, and the windows were curtained. The only sign that this was really the library were the smudged outlines of a few bookshelves.

When my squirming lessened, Rainbow stuck her bloody nose over my shoulder and I craned my neck to distance myself from her. Even though Rainbow's body felt burning hot, I was shaking wildly. Her rapid breaths ruffled my mane, and her heaving chest rubbed my back. I just wanted to get out.

“Calm down,” she whispered.

I felt tears rolling on my cheeks. My throat ached. “Please don't hurt me,” I pleaded. At least that's what I wanted to say. I'm not sure how it came out.

“I'm not going to hurt you,” she replied. Her voice was calm, now. Even motherly, in a way. I'd never have expected to hear Rainbow speak like that.

But that wasn't enough to calm me. I struggled against her hold. “Let go, let go!”

“Listen, what you just saw, it wasn't what you think.”

Finally admitting I couldn't break from her, I gave in. I lay back, letting her hold me. I wasn't even listening to her. I was just tired. I wanted to go home. I wanted Mummy and Daddy. I wanted to wake up.

Rainbow began rocking back and forth, gently, calmly, bringing me along.

“You need to understand,” she said. “I was defending myself. That was a madpony. He wanted to hurt me. I had no choice. Do you understand?”

Since I didn't struggle, Rainbow's hooves around me relaxed a bit. Seizing the opportunity, I tried prying them off, but then she held me even stronger.

“I just think you got the wrong impression, pip. That's all. I'd like to talk, just a little bit. Talk to me, kid.”

“I won't tell anypony,” I said. I was going to tell everypony.

“I need to know I can trust you.”

“You can trust me. I swear, I won't tell anypony.”

“Have you ever done something you regret?” she asked. When I didn't answer, she continued. “I have. I did something bad. Something really bad.”

I didn't answer for a while, rocking quietly with her. She was quiet, too.

“What did you do?”

“I found Twilight,” she said. “I found her, and I didn't tell anypony.”

I turned my head back to look at Rainbow. Her chin rested on my shoulder, but she wasn't looking at me, instead staring blankly forward.

“You know where she is?” I asked.

“I've known all along,” she said.

“Is she dead?” I asked.

The rocking stopped. She raised her head, turning to me.

Grown-ups always thought we didn't understand, just because we were little. I knew what death meant. Oh, did I know what it meant.

After a moment's stare, Rainbow looked away again. “She is,” she said with a nod. She relaxed her hold again. “This door's locked too, by the way.”

Feeling her hooves go slack, I pried them off and bolted for the door, yanking the knob. It wouldn't budge.

“I won't hurt you,” said Rainbow, getting up. “But I need to make sure. I need you to see something.” She extended a hoof. “Come on.”

I stood by the door for a little while. I pulled again, fully knowing it wouldn't open. Rainbow stood in the middle of the room, calmly, hoof out. She beckoned, and I had to give in. I wasn't getting out of here.

On our way down to the basement, she pulled me closer and put a hoof over my eyes. I'd have closed them anyway. That stallion wasn't something I wanted to see. Rainbow helped me down the last few steps, and when we reached the bottom, and she guided me around the room. Stopping, she took her hoof off.

Before me was a gigantic white box, humming quietly. Like a fridge.

“Don't turn around,” Rainbow said.

I nodded, eyes set on the box. I knew full well what kind of sight would welcome me if I did.

“Listen, squirt,” she continued, “I really don't like this. You weren't supposed to see any of this. I left the door open, didn't I? Stupid. But I'm not totally stupid. I know you're going to tell Rarity and everypony else. I'm showing you this in hopes it'll change your mind.”

“The box?” I asked.

“You gotta know that Twilight... she was always the studious one, right? Ever since she became a princess, things have been bothering her. She wanted to know if she'll outlive the rest of us. Like Celestia and Luna. But they wouldn't tell her. They told her she wasn't supposed to think about such things. But you know her. She started researching on her own. In secret. She eventually roped me into it. She said she trusted me, and I never told anypony. Until now.”

“You said she died.”

“She used her magic and book-smarts to make this... slushy stuff that preserves dead things. But this wasn't all. She made all kinds of things. She put Zecora to shame with all her crazy potions. And one night I came in, and Twilight was... dead. Just like that. I found her with an empty syringe. She must've tried something new on herself. I don't know.”

Rainbow stopped there. All I could think was, she was completely crazy. For what it was worth, at least, she didn't want to hurt me.

She opened the freezer, and a whiff of cold air descended on me. Rainbow sent me a nod. Reluctantly, I stood on my hind legs and leaned against the freezer. Sticking my neck out, I could peek inside.

And in there I saw Twilight Sparkle, suspended in green goo. I blinked in disbelief.

“I panicked, okay?” Rainbow said. “Twilight used this thing to keep apples fresh. Also for illicit research. See, it preserves things. Keeps anything the way it was. So when I found her, I stuffed her in there. Then I hid the freezer. I've been coming back ever since, and I've been trying to, to...”

She looked at the floor and shook her head. Then she looked up at me again.

“You'd better see this too. I'll be right with you, just don't peek.”

Rainbow sounded scarily enthusiastic. She skipped backwards, out of my view, and began rummaging about the room. In the meantime, I stared into the freezer. I couldn't wrap my head around it. I tried telling myself this was a joke. Rarity told me about Rainbow's pranks, but this! This was something else.

I heard a desk get turned over, then the inevitable crashing as everything on it landed on the floor. “Easy now,” Rainbow whispered. “A-ha!” I heard her throw herself to the floor with a smack, and I heard her groan in frustration afterwards. She spat, she cursed, then threw some more things around. “Gotcha.”

After a moment, she let out a breath of relief. “Alright. You can look.”

I counted to three in my head. Turning around, I found the chopped-up body gone. A trail of blood and hairs led to a pile of desks and shelves in the corner. A hoof stuck out from under them.

“Look here,” said Rainbow. “Not there, right here, look.”

She stood behind the central table. Her hooves were pressing down on something. Something dark, furry, and squeaking.

“Is that a rat?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Can't go two steps without bumping into one these days. But they've got their uses.”

I felt something brush against my leg, but when I looked, there was nothing there.

Rainbow pressed on the rat's chest. The rat, in turn, swiped out and buried its claws in her leg. Rainbow bit her lip and mumbled. “Stop squirming, it'll be over soon.”

Although rats made my skin crawl, seeing Rainbow torture the defenceless animal, I couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

“Rainbow,” I risked, drawing myself up, “you need help.” I tried my best to sound like a mature and responsible adult.

“You think I'm crazy?” Rainbow asked, hooves still on the rat. “Well, watch this.”

There was an outburst of high-pitched squealing, a flurry of claws assaulted Rainbow's hooves, and then it all gradually died down. Rainbow lifted her hooves. The rat didn't move.

“You compress the lung a little harder each time they breathe out,” Rainbow explained. “That's how Anna Conda tried to choke Daring Do in Snake Queen's Treasure. Super simple stuff.”

Completely detached from reality, Rainbow was. I reminded myself to make no sudden movements. Didn't want to startle the mare, goodness knew what she'd do. Just do what she says, and she won't hurt you, I told myself. “Why did I need to see that?”

“No, that wasn't it.” She picked up a loaded syringe. The fluid inside gave a deep green glow. “Come closer, closer,” she said, gesturing at a chair by my side of the table.

“Rainbow, I don't think—”

“Closer!” she yelled, making me flinch. She cleared her throat, brushing a few stray hairs from her face. “Sorry. I don't wanna scare you, but you need to see this up close.”

I climbed into the chair like the good, obedient filly I was. I had to stand up, front hooves leaning on the table to see. The rat's hair was ruffled and scrubbed out in a few places, and its dead eyes gave a glassy stare. Rainbow stuck the needle into dead rat's neck, and the glowing stuff crept down the needle and disappeared into the body.

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” Rainbow said. “See, I've already made a solution for small rodents. Rats, they work perfectly.”

“What works perfectly?”

“So while we wait, that guy?” Rainbow continued, pointing over her shoulder. “He's technically been dead all week, so you can't say I killed him. I was testing a new formula to see if it works on ponies.” She shrugged. “It did not. He went mad and attacked me. Tried talking to him, but he didn't listen. Had to axe him.”

By now, she wasn't looking at me. She stared, without blinking once, at the rat. Her lips twitched, like she was trying to stop herself from grinning.

“I'm still not sure what you're trying to show me.”

The rat's body contorted, its legs twitched and bones cracked.

“See? See?” She hopped in place, pointing at the rat with uncontrolled excitement. “Would you have believed me?”

The rat's skin stirred and swelled, like there was something moving underneath. Its glassy eyes regained their shine, and after a blink, they began moving. Tiny, fluffy hairs sprouted where the rat's hair had been scarce. Its little clawed fingers snapped in and out, and the rat squealed.

“Close your mouth,” Rainbow said. “It's not done yet.”

The rat raised its legs, stretching paws. Its tail writhed side to side and its entire body trembled. It turned on its stomach and stood up before toddling to the edge of the table, swaying groggily on its way.

Looking over the edge, the weight of the rat's head brought its whole body along, tipping it over. Rainbow Dash extended a wing, catching the rat and putting it back onto the table. “Whoa there.”

The rat staggered across the table with wobbly legs, where it fell over with a fit of shudders. After a moment's rest, it got up, shook its head, and went back to the edge of the table. There, it reared on its hind legs to take a better look around, sticking its pulsing nose every which way. Emboldened, it hopped off, landing elegantly on the floor before scurrying off to a dark corner.

Rainbow grinned, puffing her chest proudly. “Better believe it.” With a flap of her wings, she skipped over the table and landed at the fridge. “I will bring Twilight Sparkle back to life.”

I stared where I'd last seen the rat, processing what I'd just seen. “No” was the first word that came to mind. “No. No, I don't believe it. This is a prank.” I turned to Rainbow. “Did Scootaloo put you up to this?”

“What do you want me to do?” Rainbow asked. “I could catch another rat and chop its head off. I can bring that back, you know, I've done it. It just doesn't last long. And I guess it also hurts. Wanna see?”

“No! Don't, just... just calm down,” I said, talking more to myself than Rainbow.

“I want you to believe me. Can you imagine what others would think if they found out?” She paused for a moment. “Think about Twilight. I promised to keep her research a secret. You go telling everypony, you'll be dishonouring her.”

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my legs. “I don't buy it. Why would Twilight pick you for a helper, anyway?” I took a look around the room. “You don't seem particularly good at this 'lab' thing.”

Rainbow's eye twitched. Although her grin seemed to grow wider, I saw her clench her teeth. “Not good, huh?” She walked closer, sticking her face in mine. “Tell me, who else? Who else?”

I looked her over. Unkempt mane, tired eyes, shaking legs. The mare was a wreck. “Just about anypony, really.”

She looked up, shaking her head. “What, what, like, I don't know, your sister? Syringes aren't sewing needles, y'know. You think she could handle that, giving up her precious beauty sleep every night to work in a lab? It's dirty work, even when you're not working with dead rats.”

“Dirty work?” I asked back. “Applejack.”

Rainbow pursed her lips. “Applejack. Yeah, Applejack. Excuse me, I know you're drop-dead exhausted from working on the farm all day, could you come in here and perform serious scientific tasks that require utmost precision?” Rainbow prodded my horn. “Hello, did you miss the part where we were keeping this secret? You think Applejack could keep something like this to herself?”

“Fluttershy? Pinkie?”

“No way Fluttershy could get herself to experiment on live subjects.” She put a hoof to her chin. “I wonder if she'd object more to the pony tests or the animal ones. Either way, I can't see her stabbing herself, much less anypony else with needles, not even for science. And Pinkie, well, I doubt Twilight ever wanted her anywhere near the lab again.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Pinkie's too Pinkie. But still. You, of all ponies?”

“I had all the free time in the world. I'm punctual. Reliable. Quick to learn and not at all squeamish. A dream to work with. And, maybe, just the right amount of crazy. Twilight must have realised that I was her best bet.” She leaned close again, lowering her voice. “And, most of all, I can keep a secret. The question is, can you?”

I licked my lips.

Rainbow picked up the syringe again and walked to the fridge, knocking on the side. “Keep this between us, Sweetie Belle, and Twilight can live again.”

Can she? If Rainbow wasn't lying, if this really wasn't just a horrible, elaborate joke...

“So you want to make me believe you,” I said.

“That was my plan.”

If Rainbow's 'formula' really worked, I knew what she had to do to convince me.

“Opalescence died today,” I said.

“What, Rarity's cat?”

“I want you to bring her back to life.”

Screaming at a Cottage. Rarity's Gonna Think I'm Such a Burnout

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Rainbow Dash

I had a lot of questions, of course. How did Opal die? What was the cadaver's condition? And why was she so important? Sweetie Belle wouldn't say. The more I pushed, the angrier she got. She stomped, she yelled, she went red in the face – there was no reasoning with the kid.

“Bring Opal back,” she demanded, again and again. “Bring her back!”

She threw a tantrum something fierce, kicking up wires, flinging phials, banging her hooves on the desk – she seemed to have fallen into a different plane of consciousness altogether. After a while, she wasn't even responding to me, she just screamed and crying for the life of Rarity's cat. I was afraid to even go near her.

Just when I was beginning to contemplate taking out the axe, something snapped in Sweetie Belle. As suddenly as the storm had started, she fell silent, wheezing, gasping for air. She lost her balance, managing briefly to catch herself with a hoof before falling over for good.

Me, well, I panicked. I may have had stray, joking thoughts about the axe, but I never wanted to harm the kid. I had no idea what came over her, and I certainly don't know what I'd have done if I had another dead friend on my hooves. The little ones, as they say, always weigh the most.

I quickly picked her up and checked her pulse. Her heart, while frantic, was slowing down, and her breathing grew softer by the second. Touching a hoof to her forehead, I realised she was burning up. Only now did I notice how beaten she looked – mane and coat soaked wet, mud eating itself into her white hairs everywhere.

How or why she ended up in the library in the middle of the night remained a mystery. Yet I knew it must have been quite the trip.

I carefully put her onto the floor and propped up her hind legs with a chair – I recalled Twilight lecturing me about reviving a fainted pony. Something to do with circulation. I hoped for the love of all that was holy that she would be alright. After a few minutes, Sweetie's heart and breathing calmed, but her head was still far too hot.

No wonder she got sick. Some goodie-two-horseshoes like Sweetie probably never stayed up late – not under the watchful eyes of Nanny Rarity, at any rate. The shock of the night's events – whatever they had been – must have tipped her delicate, pampered body over the edge.

So the details regarding Opal would have to wait. I had instruments to wash, dried blood to scrape, a body to bury, and a kid to put to bed. Well, all in a night's work.

First things first: Sweetie Belle. I took the kid to Twilight's room above the library and hastily tucked her in. I made sure to lock the windows and the door behind me as I left. On the off chance she woke up, I didn't want her to go mucking about while I was gone. She caused enough trouble already.

Second on the list: the body of the old stallion. Or what was left of it. I collected the bits and pieces, looking under every last overturned table and behind all the heavy machinery. I spent an hour scraping the splattered bits of pony from various surfaces.

Dead bodies, I was used to. Apples and rats were a bit a bushel. I'd experimented on severed pony appendages, on guts and livers and brains and lungs – really anything that I’d managed to mine from the Ponyville cemetery. I don't think there was a single intact grave there by now. As far as I knew, the townsfolk only ever noticed the first one; I'm nothing if not a quick learner in times of need.

That, or they knew about them all, but didn't care. I preferred the first possibility.

As I diligently scrubbed away at one last stubborn giblet under a desk with a toothbrush, my mind wandered. I chopped up this pony, and I didn't notice until it was over. Have I really gone crazy?

The bit of viscera just wouldn't come off, and I found myself pounding the toothbrush at it in sheer frustration. So yeah, probably.

Tearing the shred of meat loose, I finally flicked it into a garbage bag, and the brush after it. I wiped my forehead, examining my work.

One, two, three bags by the wall, and one stallion divided evenly in them. Better to use more bags and not have them break. With a thick piece of yarn, I tied the bags together. Taking one into my mouth, I pulled the rest along.

Subtlety be damned this time; coming outside, I rocketed into the air, using the dark skies for cover. Normally, I returned whatever I scavenged where I found it. In this case, I opted to hide it in the Everfree. Even I had standards in what passed for a pony.

As I zipped over the town, I passed over a sizeable crowd. Among the many ponies, I saw the whole gang: Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie; at the lead, Rarity. I wondered what they were doing out at this time of night. Looking into an alley, Rarity yelled Sweetie Belle's name. There was my answer.

The group combed the town meticulously. To my fortune, their prying eyes were fixed on the streets, not on the sky, checking every nook and cranny where a little filly might fit. Lucky that they didn't know I was in town. Had they known, I bet that Rarity would have come knocking at my door, too. And then we'd have had a problem.

I flew as fast as my wings could carry, making the trip in minutes. Avoiding the crowd in the streets, I carefully sneaked back into the library.

Come morning, nopony would've been able to tell there was anything out of the ordinary at the Golden Oaks Library. It was just your everyday, run of the mill, boring library. No necromantic experiments of any kind in the basement, that’s for sure. ...okay, so the place still smelled a bit, but that wasn’t my fault. It’s hard to air out an entire tree.

After a careful check of Sweetie Belle's forehead, I noted her fever seemed to have gone down. Still, figuring the kid would be grumpy when she woke, I prepared a plan to catch her off guard. I'd make a good impression before she remembered who I am and what I did.

I set up a dining table in her – Twilight's – room, and brought in the freshest bread I could find in the house. If the newspaper ads were true, the fragrance of hay and butter sandwiches in the morning would make any kid smile. Pattering my hooves on a plate, I managed to wake the traumatised filly up.

“Hey kid.” I threw on a finishing slice of bread to complete a sandwich. “Thought you might be hungry.”

Sweetie Belle looked at me, blinking sleep away and letting loose a wide yawn. Her gaze danced around the room, finally settling on the blanket. With a deep breath, she pulled it up and turned towards the wall.

My brows furrowed. “Come on, now.” I picked up a plate and sat onto the bed, stroking her shoulder with my other hoof. “Eat up. You'll need the strength. Big day today.”

Her ears perked for a moment, turning towards me. Then they went slack again. She breathed in deep, blanket rising with her expanding chest. Just as I reached a hoof to nudge her again, Sweetie stirred. Slowly – and without looking at me – she folded the blanket off and sat up.

“So it wasn't a dream,” she muttered, softly patting a hoof on the bed.

I offered her the plate. “Afraid not.”

She took the sandwich but not the plate. She took a small bite, munching quietly and turning her eyes to me. “Can you really do it?”

“Of course I can,” I reassured her – and myself. Truth is, I'd never tried cats.

She turned her attention to the sandwich and nibbled wordlessly for a while.

“What happened?” I asked.

Sweetie looked at me, confused, stopping chewing for a moment.

“I know what you saw last night was... something. But how did you get here? Rarity, and practically the whole of Ponyville was out hunting for you last night.”

Sweetie swallowed, probably a bite too big, making her tear up and gasp for breath. “Rarity was looking for me?”

“I bet she still is.”

Sweetie dropped her sandwich, jumping up to press her muzzle against the window, eyes frantically searching the streets.

I picked up the half-eaten sandwich without a word, brushing crumbs from the bed. “I take it you don't want to be found. Best come off the window, then.”

She sat back down, but stretched her neck to keep peeking.

Looking over her shoulder, I saw a lonely Rarity crossing the street with her head hung. She slowly turned her head towards the library, sighed, then shambled the other way.

“Don't worry,” I said. “I'm out of town this week, remember? They won't come here.”

As Sweetie stared out the window, I couldn't see her face, but I heard her sniff. A tear-drop rolled down her cheek, glistening in the morning light.

“Oh, kid...” I reached for her, but she shook my hooves off, casting her gaze down.

“I did something bad,” she whispered, throat dry. “I killed Opal.” She swallowed. “It was an accident.” She shuffled away from the window, turning to me, face screwed and lips shaking. “I didn't mean to. I didn't.”

I fetched a tissue and wiped her eyes. She let me.

“I ran away,” she continued, struggling against heavy breaths. “I tried to hide her, but Rarity found her, and I ran away. I saw the light here, and...” She choked on the word, turning away.

I sat down beside the bed, my head coming level with hers, putting my hooves under her cheeks. She looked into my eyes.

I'd never seen a child cry before. Not like this, up close. She wasn't bawling, kicking or screaming – no tantrum this time. She breathed spastically, tears swelling in her eyes one after another.

As I leaned closer, I let her put her head beside mine, muzzle buried in my mane. She wrapped her legs around my shoulder, and I patted the back of her head. Her little chest throbbed with her quiet sniffles at my ear.

Is this what being an adult feels like?

“Can you make Opal okay?”

She wasn't crying any more. As she settled, a calmness came over me, too. I could do it; I had to do it. With Sweetie in my embrace, I felt confident – content, even. I hadn't felt like that in a while.

“Yes, Sweetie,” I said. “Yes, I can.”

Sweetie Belle

If it had been a nightmare, I'd have woken up already.

It was weird, finding relief in Rainbow's hooves. Last night, I was convinced she wanted to kill me. I thought she was crazy. Now, she just seemed confused. Maybe even more than me. She needed a hug as much as I did, I think.

Rainbow inhaled slowly, legs going slack. Her chin weighed heavier on my shoulder.

“Dash?”

She jerked her head up with a snort. “Yes, I can.”

By the wrinkles under her eyes, she hadn't had a wink of sleep days. “Have you been up all night?”

Rainbow responded with a long, wide yawn and a theatrical stretch. “Lucky me, huh? We left a hell of a mess down there. But don't worry about me, I'm used to it. I just need my...” She stood up. “Actually, would you stay here for a minute? I need to take care of something. And avoid the window, would ya'?”

She turned around without waiting for an answer.

“Where are you going?”

She made her way to the door. “Have to prepare, you know, for tonight.”

“Are you talking about Opal? I don't know what Rarity did with her after... I don't know where she is.”

“We'll figure something out. Now, if you'll excuse me.” With that, she left the room. I considered going after her, but then again, I didn't want to drop in on something I wasn't supposed to. Didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

I'd been in Twilight's room once or twice. It didn't seem to have changed much, if at all. If I hadn't known Twilight was gone, I wouldn't have told. Well, there was one tell-tale sign: the bedsheets, decorated with various Wonderbolt insignias and symbols. Definitely not Twilight's. But apart from that, the room appeared untouched.

Rainbow must have been serious about bringing her to life. In her mind, the library was still Twilight's.

Against Rainbow's advice and my better judgement, I turned to the window. Rarity meandered with her head hung, stopping at every corner for a peek. Fluttershy walked beside her, a wing over my sister's shoulder.

Was she out all night, looking for me? As if I needed more to make me feel horrible.

Rarity looked up, at the library. She turned to Fluttershy, and Fluttershy shrugged. They both looked this way, but Fluttershy didn't seem enthusiastic. She tugged at Rarity's side, nudging her the other way. Rarity didn't budge. She eyed the library up and down, stretching her neck this way and that.

All until she froze, jaw dropping, gaze set on my window. Gasping, I threw myself down.

She didn't see me. No way. She didn't...

I crept up for a quick peek, and saw Rarity stomping this way.

Dropping back, I set my back against the wall and breathed in deeply.

Well then.

I burst for the door and down the stairs. I had to tell Dash. I ran a circle in the library, looking here and there, but Dash was nowhere. Carefully lifting a curtain before a window, I saw Rarity closing in, eyes set on the upper floor. I turned, rushing into the basement.

I found Rainbow Dash sprawled out in a chair, an empty syringe between her teeth and its needle in the bend of her leg. Glasses and phials filled with differently coloured liquids and ingredients cluttered her desk, connected by wires and tubes.

She noticed me as she pulled the syringe out, jumping in her seat. “Not a good time, pip.” Her voice sounded weak, and her words gurgled in her throat. She sneezed and she coughed, shaking her head, then pointing a shaking hoof to the stairs. “G-get out, s-shoo.”

I didn't know what she did to herself, but I didn't have time to care. Suddenly, the idea of being found by Rarity was much more frightening than being helped by a drugged-up Rainbow.

“Rarity saw me. She's coming here.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, groan through clenched teeth. “Oh, she'd do that, yeah. Okay, alright.” She climbed out of her chair only to fall over like a stringless puppet. She flipped over to her back and her eyes shot up, to a point where I could almost only see the whites. She gaped and arched her chest up, drawing throaty, heavy breaths.

“Rainbow!” I rushed to help her up, but had to jump away to avoid her incoming hoof.

“Leave it,” she gurgled.

She put her hooves on her temples and rubbed her head, blinking quickly, groaning and moaning. She froze up for a second, breathing out, then her whole body went limp. A moment passed, and Rainbow came alive with a jerk and a deep breath. She jumped to her hooves, rubbing her nose and sniffing before turning to me.

I took an uncertain step back. “Are you okay?”

She looked at me blankly, jaw hung, and blinked one eye after the other. “What?”

“What what?”

“What did you just tell me? Tell me again.”

“It's Rarity. She saw me and she's coming here. Do something!”

A shiver washed over Rainbow, making her shake, starting at the head and ending at her hooves. She did that weird blink again. “What? No. No. I get it. No. Don't tell me.” She turned around, cracking her spine. “I got it. Stay here. I'll handle this. I got it.”

With a single flap, she blasted off, stopping right before she hit the ceiling. There she slapped herself, strong enough that I heard. “Booyah!”

She shot towards the stairwell in the back and disappeared. The library's hidden door clacked and slammed shut within a second.

I spent a moment collecting my thoughts. I had no idea what I witnessed there, but at least Rainbow seemed to know what she was doing... and I couldn't help being curious. Climbing into her chair, I inspected her workdesk. Looking at the syringe, I found some blue stuff drooping from the needle.

Behind the clutter, I also found a thick tome, lying open. I hopped onto the desk to read it. The open page was titled “Sans-Sleep Serum – SSS.” There was a long explanation as to the workings of the serum, ingredients, details on production and use, and probably a lot more. I skipped most of it.

What grabbed my interest was a short scribble at the bottom of the page. Where everything else was written in impeccable writing, that bit was skewed and barely legible. If the tome was Twilight's research, the scribble must have been Rainbow's contribution. It said something about the SSS making you crazy.

The ceiling creaked. Somepony entered the library.

I tip-hooved up the stairs, as quickly as I could without making noise.

“You've no idea how grateful I am,” said Rarity. “How fortunate you arrived right now. If I couldn't get past the door, I may have...” She brushed aside a loose lock of mane. “I may have done something I'd have regretted.”

Keeping my head down, I took cover on the staircase at about halfway, just around the bend, pricking my ears up.

“Yeah,” came Rainbow's voice. “What a crazy random happenstance.”

“I'm convinced I saw Sweetie up there,” Rarity said.

“She's gone missing last night, you see,” added Fluttershy.

“Well, as you've seen, I locked the door,” Rainbow said, accompanied by the sound of the door creaking open only to be slammed shut again. “Couldn't have got in.”

“Just let me check, please,” Rarity said.

“That way upstairs,” Rainbow replied. “Say, apart from the missing child situation, you've been alright?”

The voices were getting quieter. I moved a few steps up, peeking into the library. The upper stairs creaked, and I caught a glimpse of Fluttershy's long tail snaking upwards.

“No,” Rarity said. “Not at all, in fact. This past day has been a disaster.”

“How come?” asked Rainbow.

I heard them move about the bedroom upstairs, but no words came for a while.

“Maybe she saw me coming,” Rarity said. The stairs creaked again. “We should check the basement, just to be sure.”

I took a few steps down.

“We've been out all night looking for her,” said Fluttershy.

“Yes,” Rarity chimed in. “We barely had time to... oh, she has to be in the basement.”

As the trio came down, Rainbow was looking curiously at Rarity's hooves. The white hair on her fetlocks was clumped together with old, dried mud.

“Been digging for gems?” Rainbow asked.

“Something like that,” Rarity said.

Oh, Opal...

They turned for the basement stairs. That was my cue to scurry further down. I needed a place to hide.

The basement was a lot cleaner than last night, but there was still plenty of clutter. Hide under a desk? Too obvious. There was a bookcase with broken shelves in a corner, with a huge pile of books under it. Probably been like that since the thing broke. I thought about burying myself in that pile.

Hoofsteps. The pile was in the far end. I didn't have the time.

The closet! A huge machine stood where I remembered the freezer to be. Under it, a whole lot of scratches. Bingo.

I set my back against the machine and pushed with all my might. Which wasn't all that much, when you get right down to it.

When I saw just enough space to squeeze in, I did, climbing onto the freezer and cowering to be as small as possible. I couldn't push the machine back from the inside, but at least that gave me space to peek out. But that also meant somepony could peek in. I hoped the freezer's buzzing wouldn't give me away.

Rarity appeared first, followed by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. She pinched her nose. “Stars, what is that smell?”

“Is that rat droppings over there?” Fluttershy asked. She seemed more excited than disgusted.

“Okay,” Rainbow said, “I get it, place's kind of a mess. But I'm telling you, Sweetie isn't in the library. Even if she was, I don't think she could stomach hiding in the basement.”

Sounds about right. As I quietly inhaled, I remembered how the basement had been the previous night. The old stallion, Rainbow with the axe, the rats, the guts... and Twilight. The only thing between me and her dead body was the thin door of the freezer. The memories made the air smell that much worse.

Rarity scowled at Rainbow. “Do you think I'm imagining things?”

“You do get neurotic when you're sad,” Rainbow replied.

“For Sweetie's sake, I'll ignore that remark. Now help me find her. She's in here, I just know it.”

Rarity paced up and down the room, checking under tables, desks, and even rummaging through that pile of books.

“Why'd she run away, anyway?” Rainbow asked.

Rarity froze. “She... I did something.” She went on to check behind the broken bookcase. Her back was turned to Rainbow, but I could see her grind her teeth.

“I get that you want to find her,” Rainbow said, “but she isn't here.”

Fluttershy also walked a lap, looking her and there, but luckily not into the closet. With a sigh, she put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. “Rainbow's right. There's no use in working yourself up. But we'll find her, don't worry.” She turned to Rainbow. “I'm sure Dashie will help.”

When Fluttershy said her name, I saw Rainbow quickly shake her. When Rarity looked, the shaking blended into nodding.

Rarity sighed, shoulders sunk. “I'm sorry. But can you blame me? I hope she's okay. I just want to hold her and tell her that it's alright.”

That's all I wished, too. I wanted it all to be alright again. I had the urge to step out of my hiding hole. To tell Rarity everything.

Rarity craned her neck, taking another look through the room. When her gaze passed over the closet, all my courage dissipated. Because it wouldn't be alright. I couldn't stand to look at her. I pulled myself in as much as I could, burying my face in my legs.

“Rainbow,” Rarity said. “What's behind that thing?”

I opened an eye and peeked. Rarity was pointing here.

“Er, nothing?” Rainbow mumbled.

“Rarity, please...” Fluttershy put a wing over Rarity's shoulder, but she shook her off.

Rarity started moving my way. “No, there's definitely something.”

“Anyway, how's your cat?” Rainbow asked.

I knew about Rainbow's prankster nature, but I've never been told about her expertise in subtlety.

Rarity stopped. She stood still for a moment, then slowly turned to Rainbow. “My cat?”

Fluttershy said nothing, but waved a hoof at Rainbow and shook her head with a worried look.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “How's the little furball?”

Rarity's eyes went wide. She stared at Rainbow, and after a second, she gulped. “Opal's dead.”

Rainbow put on a horrified expression. “No way.” She skipped into the air with one flap on her wings, landing between Rarity and the closet. “How did that happen?”

Rarity stepped back, saying nothing.

“S-she was in an accident,” muttered Fluttershy.

“Really?” Rainbow asked. She put a hoof over Rarity's shoulder, flipping her around. With her other hoof, she grabbed Fluttershy and pulled her close too. She unfolded her wings, pressing them against her friends' rumps, in the stairs' direction. “And where is she now?” Rainbow asked.

As Rainbow herded them to the stairs, Rarity kept her eyes on the floor. “Fluttershy will take care of her.”

“I have to do these things from time to time,” Fluttershy explained timidly. “I took Opalescence already, but we didn't really have the time to do much, with Sweetie Belle missing.”

“Fascinating,” Rainbow said. “I mean, in a sad way. Sympathies for the little fiend, Rarity.”

Rarity sniffled. “Thanks, Rainbow.”

“Opal will receive a proper burial today,” Fluttershy said. By this time they were walking up the stairs, and I couldn't make out anything else clearly.

There was some walking around above, a few more muffled words, then the sound of the door closing. Rainbow Dash came down the stairs with long, victorious steps. She walked straight for the closet and looked through the gap, straight in my eye. I gave a short, embarrassed giggle. Rainbow scoffed, then pushed the machine aside with one huge slam.

She stuck a hoof in my face. “You dense little filly. They could've found Twilight. What would I have done then, huh? Why were you even in the basement, anyway?”

“I warned you about Rarity?”

Rainbow stepped back, looking away and rubbing the side of her head. Her eye twitched. “You did. Huh. Yeah, you did.” She shrugged. “I take it you heard all that, then. I kinda had to promise to look for you, but now we know where Opal is.”

She grinned. Her grinning always crept me out. She pulled me up and touched her nose to mine.

“Tonight, we're bringing Opalescence back to life.”

Rainbow Dash

I expected the kid would be over the moon. She wasn't.

From what Rarity has told me, Sweetie Belle was a ticking bomb of bad decisions. Well-meaning, but unpredictable. I've spent more afternoons than I liked to admit posing for some flamboyant dress at the Carousel Boutique, listening to Rarity drone on about the crusaders' newest, craziest shenanigans.

Yet mentioning Opal seemed to make Sweetie more reserved, and she looked under the weather already. Probably for the best. I promised to help Rarity find Sweetie, which wasn't an obligation I could get out of. That meant leaving the kid alone. Better have her sit in a corner in some self-induced stupor than walking around causing trouble.

I told her the plan, set her up with a pile of books, and left the library. I hoped, for the love of all that was sacred, that she kept away from windows.

Like a mutual trust exercise, I had to trust her not to blow her own cover like a silly pony, and she trusted me to make Opalescence all better. This was appealing at first, but I couldn't shake the memories of the last time somepony put her implicit trust in me.

Rarity had me check every corner of Ponyville. She made me fly up and scan this side of the Everfree. At the rate she pushed me, it was almost more exhausting than it was boring. It gave me an opportunity to collect a few things, at least. Let's just say that Poison Joke wasn't the only useful – and possibly lethal – thing that lived in the forest. 'Oh hey, I think I saw Sweetie in the bushes over there. Let me check...'

I started feeling bad after a while, breaking Rarity's heart every time I came out not with Sweetie Belle, but a hoofful of flowers, berries or pods.

By the end of the day, Rarity had to concede that even I couldn't find her sister. This admission happened early evening, near the library, and resulted in her breaking down right on the doorstep.

Rarity hunched over a table, sobbing and burying her face in her hooves. I slid a box of tissues closer, and she picked one out with her magic.

“First Opal,” she cried, “and then Sweetie. I can't take this.” She wiped at her runny make-up before blowing noisily into the tissue.

Me, I was busy sorting through a fresh basket of Mean Face Oak acorns. “Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be fine.” Not that Rarity's condition wasn't heartbreaking, but giving up and crying never helped anypony. That, and I knew certain things she did not.

I picked out an acorn, and found it far too tiny. You get the most juice from grinding all the biggest ones.

Rarity kept her gaze down, twiddling her hooves. “I should never have let her out of my sight. I knew something might happen, I just did.”

“You're overreacting.” I threw aside another tiny acorn. What remained would have to do.

Her breath caught. “I'm over—!” She looked up, inhaling deeply. “Rainbow Dash, I've not mentioned it so far, but what's wrong with you? You've been like this all day. You think I didn't see, you picking flowers when I asked to check the Everfree? Now, what's that in your hoof?”

I turned to the furious Rarity, hiding a patch of Ursa Major fur behind my back. “Er, nothing?”

Rarity eyed me up and down, nose scrunching with disgust. “You don't even care.”

That made me freeze. Keeping my cool, I put the patch of fur down and counted to three in my head. “What do you mean, I don't care?” I pushed off the ground and flew right up to Rarity. “You think I wouldn't bring them back if I could? I'm terribly sorry about Sweetie Belle. And the cat. I looked for Sweetie. I didn't find her. So it's back to the drawing board. We gotta keep going. There is no use in breaking down.”

Rarity looked away. She clenched her teeth and blinked a few tears away.

Okay, maybe I did lose my temper for a moment. I landed at her side, calming myself with a sigh.

“What if she's gone?” Rarity asked. “Like Twilight? What if I never see her again?”

I put a hoof over her shoulder. “Right now, the best thing would be to go home and have a good night's rest. Sleep on it, you need it.”

“How could I sleep?” Rarity asked. “I should write to Celestia. Surely she'll help. Send out the Royal Guard. I mean, we're the Elements of Harmony.” She sniffed. “Or we used to be.”

I wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of Celestia's goons sniffing around Ponyville. “Look,” I said, “there's no need to involve Celestia. I'm sure she's super busy, doing... princess things. Just give it another day. We'll come up with something. But there's nothing we can do tonight.” I put a hoof under her chin. “Hey, maybe Sweetie's gonna show up on her own.”

She kept her eyes on her hooves, fiddling. “M-maybe a personal audience with Celestia...”

I slammed a hoof onto the table. “Snap out of it.”

Rarity jumped, finally looking at me.

“Tomorrow, Rarity. I promise. Tomorrow, everything is going to be fine.”

It took a while, and a lot more consolation, but eventually Rarity managed to calm down – and, if I'd played my cards right, I managed to make her forget about that crazy Celestia idea. As a parting gift, I sent her home with a fresh box of tissues. That oughta keep her occupied.

Locking the door after her, I made my way into the basement. I met Sweetie about halfway down the stairs.

“Listened to all that?” I asked.

Sweetie sat quietly, and nodded without looking.

“Come on, pip,” I said, patting her head. “It's time.”

Down in the basement, I prepared all that we would need. Jars of pickled ingredients lined the desk. I packed syringes, vials, a burner, and enough fuel to last a whole night. And, of course, the tome full of Twilight's work.

When I picked up the fire axe, Sweetie raised a brow.

“Better to have it and not need it, right?”

Although Ponyville was usually quiet by night, after the commotion yesterday, I didn't want to move around too much. It would be better to dig Opal out and operate on the spot than risk being caught in the streets.

This was the plan: considering I've never done cats, there was no guarantee the current formulas would have any effect. Rather than bring Opal back into the lab, we'd bring the lab to Opal. If we got lucky, we'd be done in no time. If not, well, we had a long night ahead of us.

We packed everything up in those large, black garbage bags: one for me, and one for the kid. Double-wrapped, naturally. By the number of bags I went through every week, the stallion I bought them from must have thought me some kind of crazy pony.

I opened the freezer to pluck a bunch of feathers from Twilight. Her left wing didn't have enough – it had gone completely bare.

I'd have to finish the pony formula soon.

Sweetie Belle

We hurried through open areas, keeping to narrower, darker alleys when possible. Opal, so Rainbow had been told, was buried at Fluttershy's. It was close enough for Rarity to visit, but far enough that she didn't have to see it every time she walked out the door.

Fluttershy's cottage was right at the edge of the Everfree. When we arrived, the lights were still on inside. The trees of the Everfree gave us a good place to hide and prepare. We put our bags down and lay low.

Rainbow squinted her eyes. “Now, where could it be?”

I pointed to a silhouette of an unusual outcrop in Fluttershy's garden. “I think that's that.”

“Since when do pets get gravestones?”

“Since they're Rarity's.”

A shadow passed by a window, and we kept our heads down.

“While you were out,” I said, “I kinda read into that book of yours. With all the potions, you know?”

“Pretty cool, huh?” Rainbow asked. “Twilight's work, most of it.”

“There's so many things in it,” I said. “I saw one that said it's... 'highly volatile.' That means it explodes, right? How did Twilight come up with these? And more importantly, why would Twilight invent a bomb?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Don't ask me. I joined pretty late. The explodey-thing? That was supposed to be an air freshener. It's got flowers in it and everything.”

“Uh-huh,” I mumbled. “And what's with the blue stains all over the book?”

Rainbow waited a moment before answering, eyes set on the cottage. “A... minor lab accident.”

The lights went out on the lower floor. Just as Rainbow got up, they came on upstairs, and she threw herself down again in a fit of grumbles.

“So how are we doing this?” I asked. “Are we just going to do this out in the open?”

“Don't worry, kid.” Rainbow fished a tiny flask from a bag. A transparent liquid sloshed around inside. “I got it all figured out.”

“I don't suppose that's water.”

The upper room's lights went out. Rainbow waited a moment, and when the cottage stayed dark, she bit down on the mouth of her bag. “Time to move.”

She started for the grave, and I followed with my bag in tow. By the time I caught up, Rainbow had her spade out. The gravestone had no words on it, but a brilliantly cut opal was embedded in the middle. Rainbow took one glance at it before driving the spade into the ground.

I watched the cottage anxiously. No lights. Rainbow's grunting was the only sound to be heard.

Uncovering a wooden casket, Rainbow prodded the spade at it. “Get that, would you?”

I closed my eyes and concentrated. The casket lit up and slowly floated upwards.

“Nice,” Rainbow said, snatching it from the air. “Now, come on.”

Rainbow clutched her teeth around the spade, curled a wing around the casket, and took her bag in one hoof. She cocked her head towards Fluttershy's chicken coop, around the corner. With that, she started running, bag clattering.

The coop itself was in some kind of animal pen. Goats, sheep, cats, dogs, and who knows what else slept within. Little holes in the ground marked the homes of rodents and snakes, and a variety of birds snoozed in nearby trees.

Rainbow jumped the fence effortlessly, bag crashing as she landed. A dog sniffed the air nearby, making me freeze. Finding the dog's eyes closed, I climbed over the fence, gently lowering my bag behind me. We'd barely even begun, and my heart was racing already. Rainbow quickly disappeared behind the coop.

Turning the corner, I found Rainbow with her back to the wall. I poked my head out, peeking towards the cottage. Still no lights. So far, so good.

Rainbow put the casket down and brushed off the remaining dirt. Licking her lips, she opened it up.

A purple bow ornamented Opal's pristine, freshly brushed fur. Her jewel-studded collar hid the injury on her neck. If I hadn't known, I wouldn't have had a clue how she died.

Rubbing her hooves, Rainbow stuck her head into a bag. After some fumbling about, she emerged with two of those small, transparent flasks in her hooves.

She held them up, one flask in each hoof, moving them up and down, gaze alternating between them. I think she was weighing them. “Okay, here's what's gonna happen.” She put down one of the flasks and clutched the other one. “Twilight called this the Sleep Serum. Used it to study, well, sleep. To prepare for the Sans-Sleep Serum. It's supposed to be injected, but thanks to a... minor lab accident, I know it works in a different way, too.”

“Wait, who are we putting to sleep here?”

Rainbow turned into the coop, throwing the flask. The glass shattered, and Rainbow pulled out.

Before I could ask anything, she put a hoof on my mouth, then pushed down my head. “Head down, kid. Cover your nose.”

After about a minute, Rainbow poked her head into the coop and sniffed around. She then stepped inside, beckoning me to follow.

“Look at these things,” she said, tapping a chicken on the head. It didn't react in any way. “Out cold. You can play ball with 'em at this point.”

“Rainbow...”

“Right, yes, the cat.”

We emptied the bags by the walls. Rainbow lit the burner. I laid Opal out on the floor, feeling the break in her neck.

“Get that off her,” Rainbow said, pointing briefly at Opal's collar before going back to sorting her things.

With a gentle tug, Opal's bow came off. As I raised my head, Rainbow pushed the tome into my hooves. Then she threw a quill at me, followed by a small glass of ink. Thankfully, she'd sealed it properly.

“I'll be doing the hard work here,” she said. “So make yourself useful and write everything down. Open at the very end. Work backwards. See a blue smudge, skip over it.”

At the end of the tome, I found Rainbow's scribbles. Lines were slanted and words were barely legible, often forced into much smaller places than they had any right to be. Cross-outs and overwrites ran rampant.

As I was trying to make sense of it all, Rainbow picked up a vial that radiated a faint green glow. She filled a syringe from it, then showed it to me.

“This is a variant of the Re-Animation Potion,” she explained. “The one I use for rats. We'll begin with this. Yeah, just find an empty page and write down what we're doing. Note the time of administration, and I'll inject. No reason to sit around.”

At the tug of my magic, the quill took on a faint green glow, dipping itself in ink. I needed to practise fine movements anyway. “What's the time again?” I asked.

Rainbow groaned. “What do you mean, what's the time? It's... okay, no clue, doesn't matter. Got everything else? Rat formula, Opal, yada-yada?”

The quill scraped on the page. “Yeah.”

“Here goes nothing, then.”

Rainbow jammed the syringe into Opal's neck and pressed the plunger. The green glow dissipated into the body.

For a while, I didn't even breathe. My eyes were fixed on Opal's body. Seconds passed, and then a minute more. Remembering the rat, I prepared myself for Opal's wake-up groans and hisses, but nothing came.

Rainbow Dash pursed her lips. She took a large, round glass and hoisted it above the flame. From a bottle, she poured water. “Doing it the hard way, then. Turn to the Re-Animation Potions. At the end somewhere.”

I flicked the pages until I found the entry. There was one marked 'rodents.' Another entry was marked for 'fruits,' crossed out, with the word 'apples' above it. The 'ponies' entry followed. Rainbow snatched the tome from my hooves, putting the tip of hers into it, and began comparing the entries.

“Are we going to be here all night?” I asked.

Rainbow didn't look up. “The more you talk, the longer we'll be here.”

I sat down, hooves crossed. For a summer night, it was rather chilly out. The burner's tiny flame quietly crackled away, but it did little to help with the cold. Hens and roosters sat on perches or in piles of hay, snoozing, unaware. The more I thought about it, the louder that snoozing sounded.

Turning to Rainbow, I saw her with her back was against the wall. A limp hoof hung at her side, some kind of flask in it. Her mouth opened for a long snore.

I poked her side. “Dash.”

Rainbow perked up, the flask falling from her hoof and rolling away. “Yeah, huh?” She rubbed her eyes. “Sorry.”

“Haven't you slept at all last night?” I asked.

“No,” Rainbow said. “I'll be fine.” She stuck a hoof into a bag. “Just let me get my...” She pulled out a phial of blue liquid. With her other hoof, she reached for a syringe. Opening the phial, she stuck it inside.

I recognised the liquid as her Sans-Sleep Serum, and remembered her seizure-like episode right after she used it. “You sure you should do that?”

Rainbow held the syringe in her jaws, feeling for a vein in her leg with her other hoof. “Uh-huh,” she mumbled. “You wouldn't like me screwing up 'cause I'm sleepy.”

“I wouldn't like it if you messed up because of that thing.”

She looked at me for a moment. Then she craned her neck, moving the syringe to her leg.

As she moved her hoof to press the plunger, I grabbed her leg. “Please, Dash.”

Rainbow pulled her hoof up to shake me off, but I refused to let go, getting onto on my hind legs. Our eyes came level. For a moment, Rainbow stared at me. She then lowered her hoof, and spat out the syringe with a sigh.

“You're gonna be the end of me, kid.”

She emptied the syringe by squirting the serum all over the floor. And a little bit on me. I gave her the benefit of the doubt that she didn't do it on purpose.

Putting the syringe down, she pointed at a little brown packet. “Now give me that.”

I handed it over, feeling some kind of dust inside. Rainbow mixed it into the brew. She added I don't know how many things, mixing, stirring, always checking labels twice. She was silent throughout her work, barely looking at me. I could barely keep up with the writing. The brew's colours and shades shifted with each addition.

From a long, sealed tube, she picked out a bunch of purple feathers.

“Is that Twilight's?” I asked.

“Alicorn magic,” she replied. Catching herself, she put a hoof on my mouth. “No talking. Have to pay attention here.”

Rainbow dropped the feather into the potion, and it dissolved in seconds. She sat back. A spark lit up inside, and the glass glowed green. She filled the syringe again and held it out proudly.

“Note it,” she said. “Try number two. Kind of a mix between the pony and the rat formula. And some other stuff.”

As I penned the last lines, Rainbow injected Opal again. I found myself tapping on the floor.

Movement. Opal's mouth opened with a hiss.

“Opal...” I reached for her, but Rainbow stopped me.

She put a hoof before her lips. “Shh. Wait it out.”

Opal's neck contorted. There was a crack, and her head jolted. Her eyes snapped open, and she gave a pained whine.

“What's she doing?” I asked.

Rainbow grinned. “Beautiful, isn't it?” she asked. “That's her neck mending. She'll be better than new in no time.”

Opal made unearthly sounds, like she was being skinned alive. It was quiet at first, but quickly got louder.

“Okay, that shouldn't happen,” Rainbow said.

Rainbow scrambled for the tome, searching the text frantically. I rushed to take Opal into my hooves. She wouldn't stop screaming. Her eyes turned to me. I wondered if she recognised me. After she swiped her claws at my face, missing by an inch, I figured she must have.

The sounds she made! Imagine a cat with her tail in a grinder.

Rainbow cast the book aside. Hooves now free, she started tearing her mane. “No, no, no. She's gonna wake up every animal here.”

Opal swung at me again, making me drop her. She fell on her side and writhed, twitching and moaning. She swiped at anything in reach, raking the floor with her claws.

“Don't you have some kind of painkiller? Can't you brew one?” I peeked outside, looking for light in the cottage. So far, nothing. “Or, or use that sleep thing. Anything.”

Rainbow shoved me aside. “Oh, I'll show you anything.”

She seized Opal by the neck, and Opal dug her claws into her legs. Rainbow clenched her teeth, hissing in pain. She lifted Opal above her head, then swung downwards. Opal's head crashed into the floor, and the whole coop shook.

My jaw dropped. I couldn't make a sound. By the ensuing silence, neither could Opal.

Rainbow wiped her forehead. “Whew.” She glanced towards the cottage, and seeing no lights, a relieved smile appeared on her face. “That could have ended badly.”

Opal lay silently on the floor, one leg twitching. I watched Rainbow take the glowing brew outside and pour it all out. The earth radiated green for a short time. She casually walked back inside, looking down at Opal. She pulled up the cat's head, then let go. After it collided with the floor again, the leg stopped twitching. Rainbow put up another glass of water to boil.

I just stared. Rainbow waved a hoof in front of my eyes. “Hey, you alright?”

I closed my mouth. My gaze shifted to Rainbow, then to Opal, then back again at Rainbow.

She added a familiar dust to the new brew. “What? What's the worst that could happen?”

So Rainbow Dash made a new potion, and tried to raise Opal from the dead. Again.

And again, and again.

It took three new formulas before I could speak.

After the fifth, I was properly desensitised.

With each altered formula and subsequent horrible death, Opal came closer to the cat I knew. And who knows? I thought. Maybe the lasting brain damage will make her easier to handle.

“Okay,” Rainbow whispered, filling the syringe. She yawned. “What's this? Twelfth try?”

I could feel myself falling asleep. I put the quill to the page with my eyes closed, hooves under my cheeks, barely keeping my head up. “Thirteenth,” I sighed.

Rainbow put the needle to Opal's neck. “Try thirteen. This one will do the trick.”

“Just like the previous three?” It was getting late. Mentally, I was preparing to bury the cat again. “Why'd you kill her this time, again? I thought she was pretty good.”

“Yeah, good, except her heart wasn't beating.”

“How does that even work?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Magic?”

As I awaited our newest failure, I looked through the notes on the previous ones. It was a gradual change, but by now the new formula barely resembled the old ones. I don't think there was a single ingredient we didn't switch out and back at some point.

There was one constant, though: the purple feather. Rainbow said that Twilight's alicorn... ness... was important. I remembered how Rainbow preserved her, but I didn't think she was growing these feathers back. Rainbow had a limited supply. She was wasting it on that dumb cat, on me, just to prove a point.

Opalescence stirred. She didn't scream now. I wondered if the newest formula was more merciful than the previous ones or she'd just got used to it. I didn't like the cat one bit, but I wouldn't have wanted to be in her place.

Opal stretched her paws, and gave a long yawn. She rolled onto her stomach, cracking her back along the way. I extended a hoof towards her. She hissed in anger and swiped at me, arching up her back and slinking away.

“You think that's fine?” Rainbow asked.

I reached for Opal again, getting the same swipe and hiss. “Yeah. That's her alright.”

Rainbow threw herself on the cat and pinned her down. Opal struggled to break free, clawing at her hooves, but Rainbow held firm. “And what's that I feel?” Rainbow asked. “A heartbeat. Bit quick, but, yeah.”

The realisation was slow to sink in. “You... you think we did it?”

“Oh yeah.” Rainbow grinned. She lowered her head to Opal's level, who in turn gave an angry hiss. “Welcome back to life, Opalescence. You cost us half of Twilight's feathers, so don't go wasting that extra life.” She looked back to me. “I'll hold on to the furball. Pack up, would you?”

I began putting away the half-empty jars and bottles. The newest potion still sat hoisted above the flame. Figuring that I needed the light, I decided to leave it for last. Carefully sealing every bag, phial, and what not, I packed up in the garbage bags.

Rainbow grunted. “Little pest just bit me. Doesn't like being held, does she?”

“Not unless you're Rarity.”

Filling one bag, I turned to pack into the other. I heard another yelp, Rainbow's cursing, then the sound of paws on wood. When I looked, Opal was on the floor, backing away from Rainbow.

Backing right into the open flame.

Before I could reach out, the tip of her tail touched the fire. Opal jumped and let out a blood-curdling shriek before bolting across the coop, flaming tail trailing behind her. I tried to grab her, but I only got my hoof scorched.

Opal jumped into a haystack. As she leapt out, that side of the coop went up in flames.

Rainbow grabbed the full bag and threw it outside. Then she turned for the equipment still unattended, distancing them from the devouring flames. Anything she could get her hooves on, she threw it into the empty bag. The tome was the first to go in.

In the meantime, the shrieking Opal found the door and burst outside. I ran right after her. “Catch her!” As if the fire wasn't enough motivation to get out of there.

Outside, every animal was wide awake and making terrified sounds. No way Fluttershy's going to sleep through this.

A creek flowed through Ponyville, arcing right by the cottage. Opal darted right for it, and I was hot in pursuit. Then I realised I couldn't hear Rainbow. Looking back, I caught a glimpse of a rainbow tail flicking about inside the coop. It was going to collapse at any moment, and that insane pony stayed in there.

Opal jumped into the creek. I jumped after her, but she stayed submerged. No matter which way I turned, I couldn't see her. I felt through the dark water, to no avail.

Back at the cottage, there was a loud crash. Half the coop collapsed. Something bumped under the smouldering debris. Fallen planks burst outwards, letting smoke and embers float to the sky. Rainbow emerged, axe in mouth, dragging the bags behind herself. Coughing, she stuffed the axe into a bag. Taking one bag into her mouth and the other between her hooves, she rocketed into the air.

She swooped over me, nodding her head towards the far bank. There, Opal crawled from the water to shake herself dry. I started swimming for her, but her ears flicked, and she took off running again.

As I stepped out of the water, a black bag crashed down before me. “Grab it.” came Rainbow's voice. Looking up, I saw her speeding straight at me. I barely had time to pick up the bag before Rainbow wrapped her legs around me and carried me into the air. “Time to leg it.”

“Don't lose Opal.”

Rainbow did a quick turn in the air, scanning for the cat. I saw her, pointed, and Rainbow began the chase. I took one look back. The cottage's door burst open, the flooding light silhouetting a stiff figure in the doorway. Fluttershy's scream echoed through the town.

Opal ran, crawling under fences, crossing streets and private gardens. She must've heard us coming for her. Or she went crazy.

Rainbow didn't care about being noticed now. She must have figured that if anypony got up, they would be drawn to the fire anyway. Or she went crazy, too.

With all the weight she lugged around, it was a wonder she could even keep up with the mad cat.

Opal eventually slowed down, probably from exhaustion. As we closed in, she jumped on a tree and hid between the leaves. Rainbow elegantly slammed us into the trunk. She, too, must have been tired.

Rainbow jumped up right away. I, on the other hoof, enjoyed the simplicity of lying in the grass. It hurt less, not moving.

“Opal!” she yelled, putting her hind hooves against the tree. “I'm gonna get you, and then you'll be sorry.” She bucked the tree, and the kickback planted her face in the dirt. She spat a mouthful of grass, grumbling. “Applejack makes it look easy.”

Collecting myself, I got to my hooves. Opal clung to a long branch. The branch grew by a nearby building, right under an open window. I took a step back for a better look. That's when I realised: we'd landed right beside the Ponyville Hospital.

Rainbow shook a hoof at the cat. “Don't even think about going through the window.”

Opal went through the window.

Rainbow stomped. “That's it.” She crammed a bag in my hooves. “Sweetie, bag.” She took the other one in her mouth. “Rainbow, bag.” She clutched her hooves around me, and lifted me to the air. “Opal, dead.”

Don't Dead, Scream Inside

View Online

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.

Haven't Screamed like That since Twilight

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Rainbow Dash

I remembered the confusion in Granny Smith's eyes. How her old bones creaked as she dragged herself away, terrified of her unexpected visitor. I remembered the hooves around my legs, the way they and threw me down, and the pain in my shoulder as I was slammed into the floor. Sweetie Belle curled up under the bed, staring at me, pulling farther away.

They took me away, into a bright, blinding room. Echoes of laughter bounced between the walls, and they emanated from the halls. Was it mine? Was it in my head?

I spat a thick rag out of my mouth.

A burly stallion slammed a hoof into the pit of my stomach, knocking the air out of me. “Stay down.”

My chest convulsed uncontrollably, and I struggled the breathe.

They kicked out my hooves, tackling me down again.

“Where's the straitjacket?”

They overpowered me. They were big, and faceless, and scary, and they stank of sweat. Their hooves weighed on mine, pinning me down. One of them brought in a big, white blanket-thing with rattling belts and binds hanging from it.

When I could finally breathe, I heard laughter again. “Don't you get it?” I asked. “I did it. I conquered death! Twilight is—”

“Shut up,” a stallion said, stuffing the rag back into my mouth. It tasted of drool and dust. “Stop squirming.”

They forced the jacket on me, twisting my legs into place, pulling binds and fastening latches. I snapped my teeth at the neck of a faceless pony, but I couldn't bite through the rag.

“Calm down,” said a mare. “Don't make it harder than it needs to be.” I growled back in response. The idiot, moron, featherbrain! How dare she? I snarled and chomped on the rag, making saliva drip.

My legs were tied. My wings couldn't move at all. I writhed like an earthworm cut in half, at the mercy of a playful little colt.

“Onto the bed,” somepony instructed.

They grabbed me, and the ground jumped away. The lights burned my eyes.

From the underside of the bed, they pulled up more binds. They threw one over my chest. With another, they pinned my forehead. Two separate ones pulled down my hind legs. As the binds tightened, I felt them press the blood from under my skin.

“What do we do?” a mare asked.

“I've already sent Windy Wings to Canterlot,” a stallion replied.

The lights went out. A door creaked. Hoofsteps made their way out, and the lock clacked. From the other side, muffled words seeped through. Words of Celestia, Royal Guards, Rainbow Dash, Princess Twilight... what were they talking about?

My eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the darkness. A blanket of blackness engulfed me. Save for the quiet mumbling through the door, everything was silent. Yet my head pounded. Hammers drummed on my temples. I heard voices, voices inside, voices that wouldn't stop. They blamed me. They hounded me, they screamed at me, and I couldn't run away. My brain burned, and my heart battered my ribs. Beads of sweat rolled down my side, leaving chilling trails.

A shadow in the corner turned into a pony, and the pony lunged at me. I tried to jump away, but the binds held firm. When she touched me, she dissolved into nothingness.

My nose ran, spurting with every frantic breath. I coughed into the rag. Calm down, I had to calm down, but I couldn't calm down. I tried to turn, but I couldn't move an inch.

Everything hurt. I saw ponies holding me down, hurting me, biting me. Twilight hugged me and died in my hooves. The lights came on and went out again. Sweetie Belle looked at me in fear. Twilight asked me to clear the Ponyville sky. A nurse asked how I was feeling. A doctor examined my sprained wings. I rearranged a bookshelf. I tore at the bindings, unable to scream through the rag in my mouth.

I spent the night sobbing.

The next thing I remember is early sunlight pouring through the window, and a pair of Royal Guards eyeballing me.

Most of it is a blur. They dragged me out of bed and stood me up, only for me to collapse on the spot. They pulled me up again and walked me to the door. I don't remember making it out. My next shred of memory is of being thrown into a wagon, and the clack of a lock behind me. There was a tiny window on the side, barred. As I looked outside, the light hurt my eyes.

The wagon screeched to a halt. The door opened, and Royal Guards picked me up. More dragging and pushing. My head pounded.

Stone walls. Dank air. Dark corridors. Ponies looking at me, talking to me, touching me. Some in armour, some in white coats.

A cell.

Delirium.

Acid filled my lungs. I coughed, gasping for air, but my breaths came empty.

My legs burned. My eyes sizzled. My lips cracked.

Twilight held me in her hooves. She assured me I'd pull through. I always did.

But not this time. I was dead, I knew it. It was only a matter of time.

Air. I needed air.

My mouth and eyes snapped open, and I breathed in deep. The nightmare dissolved. I wheezed. I propped myself up with a hoof, wiping sweat from my face with the other. My eyes scanned my surroundings.

A tiny cell, barely wide enough to turn around inside. A small, barred window let some light in, but it was too far up to peek through. A stiff, metallic corset clamped around my torso, holding my wings down, making it hard to breathe. Chains bound my legs together in pairs, front and hind.

My bed, if you can call it that, was a wooden plank suspended from the wall by more chains. There was nothing else that passed for furniture within the musty walls. I licked my lips, feeling the cracks with my tongue. I'd never felt this thirsty.

The way out was a sturdy door of wood and rusted iron. A small, barred hatch gaped on it at around eye-height. “Hello?”

Armour rattled. A guard peeked through the hatch, then disappeared.

“W-where am I?” My tongue tripped over my words. I rolled off the bed, clambering to my hooves. The chains were heavy, unwieldy, and my entire body felt sore. “Hey, hey, talk to me.” The only answer was my own echo.

How did I get here? No, that was a stupid question; I knew exactly how I got there. But why? Sweetie, Opal... Bulk... what else was there? My mind raced, and memories slowly resurged. Granny Smith. I gulped.

I arched my back, trying to stretch my wings to break off the binds, but all I managed to do was get a cramp. I conceded defeat with a pained whine, and sat down to wait out the pain. Looking up to the window, I tried to hop and reach for the sill. With the chains dragging me down, I could barely get off the ground.

How long have I been here? One hour? Two?

What do they know?

“Stop wrigglin' about,” came a voice from outside. “You'll hurt y'self.”

“Finally, some response,” I said with a sigh. “So what's the plan, big guy?”

The trick, I found, was to act brave even when you were convinced your life was officially over. That tactic had gotten me through a few rough spots in my life. Drove me to kick a dragon in the face once.

“I just sent for the Princess. She'll decide what happens to ya'.”

“The Princess?” The words washed over me like a cold shower. “Celestia?”

“Celestia a'ight.”

I ran to the peephole on the door – well, it was more like an awkward skipping, what with the chains – and stuck out my muzzle between two bars. A pair of unamused eyes greeted me from the other side. “Come on,” I said. “It's me, Rainbow Dash, the one and only. No way calling Celestia is necessary. Hey, I don't know why I'm here, but let's just have a small chat, I'm sure we can clean everything up. It's a misunderstanding, see? It's gotta be. You listening?”

The guard eyes me for a moment, then stared forward, face still as stone.

“A nasty mix-up, I tell you. I can explain. I can, really, no need to bring Celestia into—”

Without looking, he lifted a hoof to the hatch, and slid a metal pane over it. I barely had time to pull in. Nearly capped my chin.

“Innocent until proven guilty!” I yelled at the door. The echoes agreed.

I trudged back to the plank-bed and threw myself down. My matted mane fell over my eyes in thick rainbow tufts. I let out a frustrated sigh, blowing them away. Had to stay calm. They know nothing, I reassured myself. Nothing.

I dangled my legs off the plank, playing with the chains. The rattling took my mind off the silence.

The first time I heard hoofsteps pass by, I jumped right up. The second time, too. After the third, I stopped counting. Guards escorted ponies this way and that, and the hallway outside resounded with their steps. Celestia sure took her sweet time.

Steps again. I pulled my legs onto the plank and I closed my eyes. The more I tried to sleep, the less I could relax.

The steps stopped, and the cell's lock clacked. I raised my head, ears perking. As the door swung open, I hastily hopped from the plank, dusting myself quickly to look proper for my esteemed guest.

The Princess' guards waited at the door; Celestia stepped inside, standing high, chin held high, wearing an unreadable expression. Her gaze wandered around the cell before setting on me. “I apologise. I understand that the Royal Guard were less than courteous in restraining you.”

I skipped forward, getting on my front legs and bumping my chest into hers. “But you're taking these off, right?” I put on a smile and stuck it right in her face.

“Soon enough.” She walked outside, flicking the tip of a wing towards me. “Walk with me, Rainbow Dash.” The guards made way.

Her tone was soft as ever, yet it sounded to me more like a command than a request. I took a deep breath – or would have, if the wingbinds had let me – and stepped forward. Out of the tight cell, the chains on my legs were long enough to allow a casual – if a bit wobbly – stroll. If not for their weight, I might have made an escape work. Maybe.

A dark corridor stretched outside, connecting many more cells. Like the one in my cell, the same kind of tiny, barred windows dotted the opposite wall along its length. Celestia nodded her head, beckoning me to follow. She trusted me enough to walk beside her. She didn't trust me enough to tell the pair of guards behind us to get lost.

“How have you been?” asked Celestia, leading me to a spiral staircase. The steps were cold stone, and the parapet ornamented by engravings of ponies of all kinds. “I have been told they found you a little over a day ago in a rather unenviable condition.”

“Wait, did you say a day?” Celestia raised a brow at me, making me cast my gaze down. I pretended I had to watch my step. The chains justified that, anyway. Truth is, Celestia scared me. Couldn't put a hoof on it. If I'd been out a whole day, there was no telling what they knew. “Feels like somepony pickled my brain and shook the jar.” I looked up the stairwell, paying attention to avoid Celestia's eyes. It was a long way up.

“I trust you will recover.”

As we passed by a window, I took a peek. I froze. Pristine white spires towered along a rocky mountainside. We were in Canterlot. Of course we are, I thought. No jail in Ponyville, is there?

“Do you need rest?” Celestia asked. She got a few steps higher before noticing I lagged behind. It was her unusually formal tone, I think, that was creeping me out.

Looking down at my hooves again, I continued walking. “No. I'm fine.”

That was a lie. The more I moved, the more every muscle in my body hurt. I bet the SSS could've made the pain go away. But the SSS was why I let myself get captured. Stupid.

Much to my relief, we took an early turn out of the stairwell. As we emerged from the basement, the sights became much less dour. Proud, pompous halls replaced the walls of blackened earth and stone. Statues, busts, and colourful stained glass led our way to wherever we were going. I didn't bother to ask.

Maybe Celestia had run out of nice things to say. Maybe she was waiting for me to talk. Whatever the case, we spent the rest of the way in silence.

After many turns, we came to a set of shimmery doors ornamented by gems and precious metals. Two guards stepped forward, horns lighting up in unison as the doors opened before us. My eyes were treated to an enormous, beautiful room, with a long table running its length at the centre. I recognised this place as the ballroom where the Grand Galloping Gala was held each year.

Celestia stepped inside. “On most days, this is where I hold court for the royals of Canterlot. Today, I have a more special guest.”

The doors shut behind us, and the guards took their posts, one at each side. At the far end of the long table was a chair that more resembled a throne. Celestia's, I guessed. That one was empty. At its right, though, three chairs held three ponies. The two mares I didn't recognise. Between them sat somepony I knew very well. Somepony huge, white, and teary-eyed.

Celestia's horn flashed, and the chair directly opposite to Bulk Biceps pulled out. “Please,” Celestia said, “have a seat.”

So I did. I didn't think Bulk noticed me; he was looking down at the empty table before him, sniffling quietly. The stumps of his front legs were mostly bare, with only a few white hairs covering them. The mares helped him stay upright in his seat. His right shoulder was patched up and covered with bandages.

Managing to take my eyes off Bulk, I noticed a pitcher of water on the table, with several upside-down glasses surrounding it. I practically pounced at them. Would have been easier without the chains, but I didn't let them stop me. Pouring, I splashed about as much on the table as I got in the glass. I chugged quickly, loudly – I had to finish two more glasses before I felt satisfied.

Slamming the glass down, I noticed Bulk looking at me. As our eyes met, his face screwed up with what I guessed to be fear, and he gave a surprised moan. One of the mares put a hoof on his chest and patted, hushing him. Bulk seemed to calm down, but he wouldn't take his bloodshot eyes off me.

Celestia took her seat. As she did, I heard movement from the back. A number of servants emerged from a small door, rolling a trolley packed with food. They placed down plates that were bigger than my head, and showed us a variety of dishes. I saw pastries I didn't know the name of, confections covering the entire spectrum of colours, and more kinds of fruit than I cared to count.

Some crispy-looking rolled bun-thing floated over to Celestia's plate. “Please,” she began, “take anything that catches your eye.”

“Uh, that one.” I poked my hoof towards a cupcake type of thing. A servant floated it over before rolling the trolley to Bulk and the two mares.

“As you have no doubt noticed,” Celestia continued, “Bulk Biceps is in a most disconcerting disposition.”

“Yeah.” I gave a nervous giggle. “Most disconcerting indeed.”

Bulk blinked, croaking, “Dash?” His helpers picked food for him.

“It is my understanding that you were found at the Ponyville Hospital morgue,” Celestia said. “I have also been told that Bulk was registered dead earlier the same afternoon. Multiple professionals have confirmed that diagnosis. I should not think it was mass malpractice.”

Listening to Celestia, I watched Bulk fumble about trying to get a grape into his mouth. His nose kept bumping it out of the way, and his flailing tongue didn't seem to be fully in control. The tip of it seemed to sag, too. Any attempts by the two mares to help him out were met by stubborn pushes from his shoulders.

“I don't see why I need to be here,” I said.

“I am giving you a chance to explain yourself,” Celestia responded.

I rubbed my head. “Was I really found in the morgue? I can't seem to remember anything. I think I was pretty out of it.”

“Found in the morgue,” Celestia replied, “but captured only after barricading yourself in the room of Granny Smith. Interesting thing about that: the machinery revealed that Granny Smith suffered fatal cardiac arrest. Twice. Yet she left the room on her own hooves.”

“Huh.” I took a bite out of the cupcake. “Weird.”

“All in the same period that you were reportedly with her,” Celestia added.

“So?” I asked, spreading half-chewed crumbs over my side of the table. “You think I can bring back the dead? All due respect, that's a bit crazy, don't you think?” I took another bite. “So how's Granny Smith, by the way?”

“She is very much alive,” Celestia answered. “In much better condition than Bulk Biceps here, despite her age. Quite the miracle, considering.”

I felt a grin creep up my cheeks. “Really? Nice. Way to go, Granny.” Celestia remained silent. Swallowing, I noticed she hadn't taken a single bite. “What?”

“I know about your laboratory,” Celestia said. “We found Twilight.” That was a kick in the chest. My grin dissolved. “Now, if you would, Rainbow Dash.”

I lifted the cupcake to my mouth, but I didn't bite. “Laboratory? Twilight? I don't know what you're talking about.”

Celestia leaned closer, giving a stern look I hadn't seen on her since Discord first broke free. “Listen carefully, Rainbow Dash. I want you to consider where you are. There are two ways out of this room: you can either talk, or go back to the cell. If you choose the latter, I will come back tomorrow.”

I gritted my teeth. I felt a cream filling run down my hooves; I'd apparently squashed the cupcake.

“I have all the time in the world,” Celestia said, leaning back.

I threw the squashed cupcake at her. She flinched; I missed by an inch. “It's your fault!” I snapped. “If you'd answered Twilight's questions. If you hadn't made her into a freak like you, she would still be alive.” From the corner of my eye, I saw the guards at the door start moving towards us.

A hint of a frown appeared on Celestia's face, for just a moment. By the time she breathed out once, it was gone. She waved a hoof towards the mares with Bulk. “Take him back.” As the mares escorted Bulk outside, Celestia turned back to me. “How did Twilight die?”

“Because of you,” I said. “She experimented with life, with living, and lifespans, and health, and...” I breathed through my teeth. “You killed her. You did.”

It was easier to think that way.

“I've taught Twilight to respect death,” Celestia replied. “Bulk Biceps, Granny Smith, this is your doing.”

“All based on Twilight's research. I couldn't have done it without her.” The guards were standing right behind me, but did not touch me.

“How do you do it?”

I rolled my eyes. She was still playing around. “It's all in the...” I paused. Celestia raised her brows.

Didn't she know? Had she played all her cards? She knew about Twilight. No doubt she had the body and the Preservation Fluid analysed. I didn't know how Bulk ended up here, but surely she'd examined him. Probably Granny Smith, too. She had to know about the potion. The formula was right there in the tome.

She hadn't mentioned the tome. Had the guards missed the tome?

“It's all in my head,” I said. “Well, it used to be. After what happened at the hospital, I think my brain's fried. I can't really remember it.” I leaned in. “That means I'm free to go, right? Can do no more harm, can I?”

Celestia straightened up. For the first time, she looked away. “Perhaps it is for the better,” she mumbled. She turned to me again. Her voice wavered more with each word. “I don't know what you think about me. I loved Twilight, Rainbow. She was my most faithful student. At times, I'd felt as if I had been her mother. When she disappeared, my heart was broken, but I had hope. This morning, I had to look at her dead body.”

She had dropped her emotionless façade, it seemed. Maybe this was my chance. Reaching my legs out, dragging the chains over the table, I took one of Celestia's hooves into mine. “We can bring her back to life.”

Celestia pulled her hoof away. “No.”

“Don't you love her?”

“She will forever be in my heart. I will not play with death. I will not let it happen.”

I bit my lip. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. “Don't you want her to live?”

“I do,” she said. “There are many, many ponies I wish were alive. In a life such as mine, one must learn to grieve – as one must learn to move on. If I brought Twilight back, what's to stop me from bringing them all back? Am I supposed to pick and choose? Why should only I be spared the pain of losing those I love? If I could bring ponies back, I might do away with death altogether.”

She put a hoof on her chest, closing her eyes for a sigh. “No. Ponies are born, and ponies die. It is the rhythm of nature, and I will not tamper with it.”

I sat back, crossing my hooves. “Look who's talking.”

Celestia opened her eyes, shooting me a piercing stare. “I am truly sorry, but I cannot allow you to continue your research.”

The guards took a step closer. “Hey, I told you, I can't remember a thing. You can let me go. No way I'll start from scratch.”

“I am not a fool.” She nodded, and the guards seized me. “Do not worry. You will not have to return to that cell. I have arranged a comfortable life for you, right here in Canterlot, under my watchful eye.”

The guards stood me up.

“Until we meet again, Rainbow.”

Celestia stayed true to her word: rather than throw me in some underground cell, she gave me a luxurious mansion in the best district of Canterlot. They even removed my binds. It was nice, breathing properly again.

The mansion itself was a big enough place, as pretty on the inside as out. It was only the barred windows that ruined the picture. I could've sworn some of the welds were still warm when we arrived.

The army of guards that oversaw my 'relocation' also felt a tiny bit like overkill.

When Celestia said I'd always be under her watchful eye, she really meant the eyes of the guards. At any given time, I'd have at least two with me inside, and through any window I spied at least one sentinel perched on a rooftop nearby. The doors were locked every minute of every hour. The windows weren't, but then again, bars.

Of the two guards currently inside, one was a pegasus, and the other a unicorn. As I dragged a hoof across the bars on a bottom floor window, the pegasus whistled.

“Nice place,” he said. I didn't turn. “Maybe I should kill a princess too.”

The unicorn cleared his throat.

“What?” the pegasus asked. “You were thinking it too.”

I turned to the pair. “You don't really believe that, do you? That I killed Twilight?”

“Oh, not for a second,” the pegasus said. “I was just kidding. Rainbow Dash would never hurt her friends.”

I raised a brow. “You heard of me?”

“Of course.” The pegasus hopped over like an excited kid. “Been a fan ever since the Best Young Fliers. Anyway, I don't think even Celestia believes it. Why'd she let you stay at such a nice place otherwise? The real question is how you never noticed her body all this time. Something's fishy, all's I'm saying.”

I nodded towards the unicorn. “What about him? He isn't as thrilled to see me.”

“He's just being professional.” The pegasus shrugged. “Loves doing that. But he's a real sweetheart off work.” He shot his companion a glance. “Three of us are going to get along great, I can already tell.”

The unicorn rolled his eyes.

“Look pal,” I said, turning to him as well, “if you're gonna watch me ten hours a day, you might as well lighten up a bit.”

“No, thank you,” the unicorn replied. “I should mention that we've been instructed to leave the upper two floors all for you, in case you need privacy.”

Disregarding his none too subtle way of trying to get rid of me, two whole floors all for myself did sound nice. I put a hoof to my chin.

“Don't get smart,” the unicorn added. “Unless you can vibrate through the wall, you're not getting out. We'll be conducting routine checks on all the locks and bars.”

“Oh,” I sighed. “Good. Wouldn't want those bars to accidentally fall of, would we?” I turned to the window, murmuring under my breath, “Choke on an apple.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” I turned to the pegasus. “Say, what do we know about Twilight? I haven't exactly been in the loop.”

He looked aside for a moment, rubbing the back of his head. “She was found in the Ponyville library, so I've heard. They brought her to Canterlot right away. They say she's been dead a while, but her body is showing no sign of decay. Amazing things, alicorns.”

That was no magical alicorn gene – but the Preservation Fluid. He didn't need to know that, of course. With Twilight's prolonged bath, I imagined her body would stay perfectly intact for at least a few more days. “So where is she?”

“Somewhere down that way.” He pointed through one of the walls. “On display at Star Swirl Square. A ceremonial funeral is scheduled for next week. I expect a lot of ponies to come up these next days to pay their respects.” Putting a hoof on his heart, he stared out the window at the sky. “Rest in peace, good princess. Too young.”

By the looks of it, Twilight might have been older than this guy. Mentally, if nothing else. “Thanks. I think I'll go explore my, er, temporary home a bit.”

“Neat,” the pegasus said, trotting towards the stairs.

I put a hoof in front of him. “Alone.”

“Oh.” His ears drooped, and he shambled back to his post at the door.

As I walked for the stairs, I saw the unicorn roll his eyes again.

I counted three bedrooms across the upper two floors. Two living rooms. More bathrooms than I'd ever need. Several rooms completely empty. The walls weren't even covered in one of them. A sizeable gym-type room was on the uppermost level, filled with weights of many sizes and several kinds of equipment. How generous of Celestia. And, naturally, bars on every window. Less generous of Celestia.

I spent half an hour on the treadmill to calm my nerves. Big as the gym was, it was scarcely enough to fly. My wings may have been unbound, but they itched for a long flight. Perhaps another hour on the treadmill...

The running occupied my legs, but not my mind. All throughout I pondered the ways I could escape. The front door would be locked, not to mention the guards. It would make sense to do something up here, where at least I could be alone. Celestia was too soft for her own good.

The windows? The bars wouldn't budge. But what else was there? I couldn't very well punch through the wall. Even if I got out, there had to be squadrons of guards outside. On a better day I could easily outfly them, but then, I hadn't been keeping in practice.

Shutting off the machine, I leaned against the wall, sweaty and wheezing. My tendons were on fire. Rainbow Dash never gives up. There had to be a way out. After Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra, a locked door wasn't going to get the better of me.

As I wiped my forehead, I noticed my hooves were all banged up. I'd never been one to pretty myself up, save for a few special occasions, but this time they looked particularly bad. They needed a generous rasping, but the thought of metal scraping against my hooves made my skin crawl. I'd dive hooves-first into the swollen guts of a week-old corpse, but touch me with a rasp and I'd go flying for the hills.

Seriously, rasps. About the only thing I hated more at that moment were the bars on the doors.

Then I got an idea.

If the rasp was plan A, then I quickly had to move on to plan A-point-two. Turns out, there wasn't a rasp in the whole building. That shouldn't have come as big of a surprise as it did. Why would Celestia provide tools for an escape?

What she didn't foresee was my number one fan – the pegasus guard downstairs. It took a few hours, and I really had to lean on him, but I managed to convince him to get me a rasp. Although he couldn't leave his post until nightfall, he promised he'd get it after his shift.

A few hours into the evening he and his unicorn companion were replaced by another unicorn-pegasus pair. These seemed a lot less chatty. If I had to guess, they didn't know each other at all, and didn't give a flying feather about me. If anything, they seemed frustrated for having to work the night shift.

Dinner was delivered by a royal courier. None of that fast food garbage; this was the real, Canterlot-class deal, coming straight to my plate without me having to lift a hoof. Something I could've got used to, although I didn't plan to.

My fan knocked on the door as I was finishing my meal. As I got up, the current unicorn guard pushed me back into my seat. The other pegasus got the door for me. How nice.

The pegasus stood on the porch with a rasp between his teeth and a grin on his face. When the on-duty guard questioned him, he explained he brought the rasp at my request. From the look on the guard's face, he was this close to shoving the thing right up his rump.

He did take the rasp, in the end, and slammed the door in the other pegasus' face. After dinner, I asked for the rasp. I made sure to emphasise just how terribly beaten up and positively pruney my hooves were, and all those phrases I'd heard Rarity say sometimes before going to the spa. I didn't have a clue what they meant, but then, neither did the guard.

So that worked out; reluctantly, he gave up the rasp, but insisted he'd watch me while I used it. I kindly reminded him that no guard was supposed to come upstairs, as per Celestia's orders. In the end, the only way he let me up was on condition I returned the thing in half an hour.

How was I supposed to cut through I don't know how many bars of solid metal in half an hour? Still, I had no choice. At least the rasp was now inside the mansion.

And that half an hour was plenty enough to fix up my hooves. They did need it.

Day two. Early morning; Celestia wouldn't raise the Sun for another few hours. I'd shut myself in a first-floor bedroom. Not that I slept at all. I spent most of the night with an ear stuck to the floor, listening to the guards downstairs. There was some meaningless banter about weather and mares, most of it too muffled to make out. They didn't talk much.

The laminated floor creaked under them as they paced back and forth. Some hours past midnight, even that died down. Plan A-point-three was a stretch, but it was now or never. As quietly as I could, I opened my bedroom door and tip-hoofed down the stairs.

I saw the unicorn guard first. He was sprawled out on a couch, spear thrown under it. Had to be the other guy's turn on keeping vigil. And there he was, the pegasus, by the door. He leaned on his spear, the handle bending graciously under his weight. His jaw slopped open, and he let out a loud snore. He really must have hated the night shift.

The rasp was on a smoking table by the couch. I picked it up and turned for the stairs.

Hold on, I thought. Scratch that. Plan A-point-three could wait; it was time for plan B. These featherbrains were asleep on the job, and the door was right there. It was big, sturdy, made of heavy wood and reinforced by different metals in several places. There were at least half a dozen latches on it, and I spied a combination lock, too. Talk about overkill.

The pegasus shifted his weight. He didn't open his eyes, but I figured best not to take chances.

So yeah, plan B was bust. Back to plan A. I sneaked back up the stairs, rasp in mouth.

Routine checks on the bars, they said. They'll watch me day and night, they said. Well, check this routinely. With hours to go before dawn, I could surely weaken the bars on at least one window enough to kick the things out.

My bedroom window, first floor, was in the shadow of a large terrace on the second floor. I wasn't allowed to go out to that terrace, but it still had its uses. This was about the safest place to start rasping away at the bars.

I used my mouth. I used my hooves. I even tried with my tail, like I'd seen AJ hold things. Two hours down the line, the Sun was coming up and most every cartilage in my body ached. But it was worth it: I'd weakened the middle two bars, at their top and bottom. They only needed a little more persuasion, and then they'd fall out.

Grabbing onto the bars, I pulled and pushed. They fidgeted and bent, but stayed in place. One good kick, and they'd have had to come loose. Either that, or I'll just make one hell of a racket, and then the guards would rush up and pin me down.

I turned around and stretched my hind hooves, preparing the strongest buck this world had ever seen. Setting my front hooves well, I raised my hind legs. Then somepony coughed. I let my hooves drop and listened. Silence.

I raised my hind hooves again.

“I would not do that,” came a stallion's voice from outside the window.

I peeked out, but saw nothing.

“Up here.”

I rubbed my eyes. In the first rays of sunlight, a dark set of armour shimmered. A pony sat on the underside of the terrace above, upside down, refusing to fall. His pupils were slit, his wings were leathery, and his wirehaired tail coiled around the terrace rails.

“Who in Equestria are you?”.

“A member of the Night Guard order,” the bat-stallion replied. “Ordinarily, a humble servant of Princess Luna. For the time being, I've been borrowed by Princess Celestia. I keep an eye on you when the rest of the Royal Guard can't.”

“How long have you been there?”

“All night, Ma'am,” he said.

“You didn't stop me.”

“It was worth the look on your face.” His tail unwrapped itself from the railing, and the stallion fell. In a second, he came up to the window, wings flapping and hoof held out. “The rasp, please.”

Such it was that bats broke to the top of my 'things I hate the most' list, beating rasps and bars. The bars I'd gruellingly weakened were replaced within the hour.

And that's how the Royal Guard took my rasp from me.

Day two, early afternoon. Plan C. It took me far too long to notice that pretty fireplace in a second floor living room. It was big and engraved with all kinds of pretty pictures. Some noble must have paid pretty penny for the thing once upon a time. Note that by now I was getting rather desperate. I didn't think twice about trying to climb out the chimney.

Yes, it was narrow. It was worse than the wingbinds, leaving little room for my chest to expand. Whenever it did, I inhaled more soot and ash than air. The light at the top of the tunnel beckoned me, though. Finally, my head emerged. Oh, fresh air and the sweet blue sky!

A shame that the rest of me got stuck. I spent about a minute dangling there before an overhead pegasus guard spotted me.

They had to saw the chimney off at the base take me to the hospital still stuck in the thing. Breaking the thing apart without injuring my delicate wings proved difficult for the doctors. That was a fun way to spend the day.

As for the chimney, they didn't bother to repair it. They just covered the hole with more bars. They told me not to use the fireplace. Thanks.

Day three. Plan H. I think it was H.

Yesterday's trip to the hospital gave me an idea. Why bother trying to get out of the building when the guards will eagerly escort me out in case of emergency? The first idea was to set the place on fire, but I found no matches. The kitchen was on the ground floor, so when I left the stove on accidentally on purpose, my biggest fan thoughtfully turned it off for me.

Plan H-point-two also involved the kitchen, but in a different way. I drank half a bottle of dish soap. The pros: projectile vomiting and foaming at the mouth turned out to be an excellent way to hitch a ride to the hospital.

The cons: the stabbing pain in your stomach makes it impossible to walk, much less fly and escape. So that day was a riot, too. I recognised one of the nurses. She was nice, very understanding.

Every chemical in the mansion got locked up in some cupboard somewhere, and I wasn't allowed near them anymore. But that meant the guards had to do the dishes, so ha!

Day four, mid-afternoon. The grumpy unicorn was really, really tired of me. His pegasus buddy was more impressed by my determination. It probably helped his mood that the unicorn was on turn to do the dishes that day. I made sure to have the biggest lunch I could. It's the little things in life.

As the pegasus guarded the door, I sat in the kitchen with the unicorn. His attention was focused on scrubbing a particularly stubborn spot from a wide plate. Time for plan... plan whatever it was. I walked up to the unicorn, and bumped my flank to his.

“What?” I snapped. Had to make sure the pegasus hears.

The unicorn put the plate down, turning to me. He raised a brow but said nothing.

“You touched my rump!” I shrieked.

The unicorn blinked. “Excuse me?”

The pegasus bolted into the kitchen, skidding to a halt. “What's going on?”

I mustered the most furious expression I could. If I did it right, my face got all red. Not sure. “This pervert touched me.”

The unicorn sighed, returning to the dishes.

“H-he's acting like I made it up.” I pointed an accusing hoof at him. “Look at him. He's making it like he doesn't care.” I stamped up to the pegasus. “You know what? I want to see your captain.”

“Captain Shining Armor?” he asked back.

“Yes, Captain Shining Armor,” I replied. “I know he's in Canterlot, I saw him when you brought me here. Bring him here. Or let me go to him, whatever you prefer.”

It was perfect. I'd complain about one of the guards and demand to see Shining. Then I'd have a little private chat with him. Tell him everything. That I could bring Twilight back to life. See, I knew Shining Armor to be two things: incredibly dutiful, and stupidly loving. Sure, it would take a while to crack him. He wouldn't go against Celestia's orders easily.

But if he was the stallion I knew, the one whose love saved Canterlot from the changelings, then he would surely help me. I couldn't imagine what the news of Twilight's departure had done to him. He travelled all the way down here from the Crystal Empire just to see her one last time. Today, I'd give him a chance to get her back. He could never turn me down.

I just needed to talk to him.

The unicorn mumbled as he worked away at the dishes, “You won't see Shining Armor.”

The pegasus grimaced. His lips contorted, and he put a hoof before his mouth. He started giggling, quietly at first, then burst out laughing. “That's a good one,” he chortled. “You know, you could've got me. You could have. If only you'd picked somepony who wasn't...” He pointed at the unicorn, closing his eyes, laughing even harder. “He couldn't be any less straight if he were, I dunno', a spring or something. Isn't that right, honey?”

The glow of the unicorn's horn subsided, and a plate fell into the basin. He spoke without turning, staring stiff at the wall. “D-don't call me that. Not in front of other ponies.”

“Quit acting like you don't like it,” the pegasus said.

“It's not about me liking it, okay?” He turned around, cheeks flushing red. “I keep saying, it's—”

I raised a hoof like a filly at school. “Can I just see Shining Armor, please?”

“Can't,” the pegasus said. “Celestia's orders. Don't ask me why, but she made it abundantly clear that the captain can never come near this place.”

“Oh, okay,” I said. “Makes sense. Wouldn't want him to be emotionally bullied into doing something she wouldn't like. Yeah. Logical. Excuse me.”

I walked out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and threw myself onto the first bed I found.

Celestia herself dropped by later that day.

She talked a lot but said precious little. She reminded me she'd already gone far beyond favouritism by accommodating me like this. The message was clear: if I don't calm down, I might find myself in a cell for the rest of my life.

Wasn't I already in a cell?

Late at night, the mansion resonated with the treadmill's whirr. My hooves banged against the machine. On and on, step by step, second by second, bang, bang, bang. I'd be damned to let those slackers at the bottom sleep on the job.

For the haughty nobles of Canterlot, their backroom politickings were wars written in ink. The spoils of their petty squabbles were places like this very mansion: more room to pile their excess wealth, more opportunities to vulgarly display their fortunes. I'd met ponies in my life who would have killed to live in a mansion like mine.

I pressed a button to increase the pace. I spread my wings, flapping to keep up. Another button slanted the running pad upwards at a steep angle. My breathing drowned out the machine's roar.

What was even the greatest, most beautiful mansion to the open blue sky? I couldn't stay tied down on the ground, locked between walls. Twilight and I were meant to soar together.

A hoof slipped. My jaw hit the controls before the treadmill flung me at the wall. I lay down, crumpled, too tired to get up. The vibrations of the machine filled my ears and pulsed through my body.

I looked to the nearest window, but I couldn't see outside. I'd closed the curtains to keep out the peering gaze of the Night Guard. I wanted to see the stars, but now I couldn't. I pulled my hooves in. Curling up, I bit onto the tip of my tail. The walls of the dark room closed in on me.

I laughed through my teeth. I screamed through the rainbow hairs in my mouth.

I'm going to die here.

Sweetie Belle

The morning after the hospital, I told Rarity how I killed Opal. Or how I 'thought' I killed her. I told her how confused and scared I was, and how I hid the body. When she asked where I'd been all this time, I told her I ran into the Everfree and got lost. As for how Opal was alive again, or alive 'still,' I had no answer to give.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, putting all of this behind me. For the time being, Rarity seemed happy with my lies. Or content, at least. That was a good start. My conscience told me it wasn't. But with the news of Twilight's discovery, and Rainbow getting taken away, Rarity had too much on her mind to keep on interrogating me. All that mattered, Rarity said, was that Opal and I were okay. Best not question good fortune, she said, just accept it gracefully.

For me, though, it wasn't over yet.

It was an off-chance. I tried hard to convince myself to not do it. But I had to go back to the hospital. The tome had my writing in it. If it was still there, I'd have to get it back.

Rarity insisted I'd come with her to the market this time. She simply couldn't let me out of her sight. I pleaded to stay at the Carousel Boutique. Finally, I convinced her that I'd be a good girl and stay put until she comes back. Another lie. It scared me, how easily it came.

Once Rarity was off, so was I.

I remembered the room well. Up the stairs here, a turn there, and there I stood. The door seemed new. Inside, a plump mare in an ill-fitting apron was making the bed. Leaning in, I scanned the room. That humongous chest of drawers was still there. On it, the tome. Undisturbed, unopened.

Smoothing the fresh covers on the bed, the mare looked up and noticed me. “Hello, dear. Are you lost?”

“N-no,” I stammered. “I'm actually here for... for my book.” I pointed to the tome.

“Oh, is this yours?” The mare picked up the tome, scrutinising the cover. “I know they keep books for the patients, but this ain't nothing like I've ever seen. I knew it didn't belong here. I was going to throw it out.”

“I brought it for... for my grandmother.” I forced the most adorable, innocent smile. “They let her out this morning, but she didn't bring it home. I figured she'd forgotten.”

“They told me her broken leg healed overnight.” The mare chuckled. “Silly doctors, I've been telling them there was nothing wrong with her to begin with. But do they believe me? No, they never do. She's a strong one, Granny Smith.” The mare paused. “Wait, you're her granddaughter?” Smiling, she patted my head. “Yes, I see now. So much like her. Apple Bloom, was it?”

“Yeah, Apple Bloom.” I reached for the tome, but she pulled it up. “The book, please?”

“What's this about, then? I don't see no title.” She opened the first page, squinting. As she read, her brows furrowed deeper and her head slanted more and more to the side. “Research into the... the effects of various sub... substances on equ-equine phy-physio—”

“Please, it's my diary.”

She looked up from the tome, and stared at me for a moment before closing it. “Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Rather a heavy one, isn't it?”

“Well, Granny needed something to read, and...” Oh, for the love of! “I'm actually in a hurry, would you please give it back?”

“Of course, dear,” she said, giving the tome over with a smile. I snatched it before she could change her mind. “Say hi to Applejack for me, would you, dear?”

“Sure,” I said, already on my way out.

A Whimper

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Rainbow Dash

No nightmares this time. Just blackness. The sound of knocking woke me up. I opened my eyes with a crunch, brushing crust away. It took one look at the ceiling for my lids to fall again. I turned my back to the door and pulled my blanket over my head. Didn't feel like living today.

With a startled realisation, I threw the blanket off and looked around. I wasn't in the gym; I was in my bedroom, one floor below. A dark stain spread on my pillow where my mouth had been. Outside, they kept knocking.

“Rainbow Dash?” came the voice of the pegasus guard. The nice one. “You up yet?”

I stretched my back, feeling every pop and snap. I cracked my neck with a circling of my head. “Yeah,” I said with a yawn. “Am now.”

I rubbed my eyes again. A curtain hung in front of the window, as dark as it was thick, but it couldn't fully block out the light of morning. Perhaps it wasn't morning at all – if the lovebirds had replaced the snoozers, it could've been pretty late. I usually got up before the changing of the guard, just after sunrise.

“A-are you going to come out?” asked the pegasus.

I rolled out of bed and shook my legs awake. “What're you doing up here? You're supposed to stay downstairs.”

“Sorry,” he replied. “You have visitors. Thought you'd like to know.”

I pulled the curtain open and stared longingly at the blue Canterlot sky. “Visitors?”

“Your friends have dropped by.”

I zapped to the door with the speed of lightning, throwing it open. The guard tumbled into the room, letting go of the handle a moment too late. He dusted himself and jumped to attention, clearing his throat quickly.

He greeted me with a smile. “Figured that'd get your attention.”

“Downstairs?”

“Downstairs.” He stepped aside, holding out a hoof and bowing his head like a humble butler. “Go on then.”

I rushed past him, but skidded to a halt halfway to the stairs. He was following me in a leisurely pace, but stopped when I turned to him. He returned my gaze by cocking his head and raising a brow. I looked at the wall for a moment, eyeing something that wasn't really there and looking for the right words. Finally, I walked over to him with a sigh.

“I think I passed out last night.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “The nighters wagered you were playin' it.”

“Well, I wasn't really...” I prodded at the floor, hoping I'd find my words between the carpet's fibres. “Did you drag me to my room?”

“Just doing my job.” He shrugged. “Wasn't hard, you slept like a log. I was starting to wonder if you'd wake up at all. See, we have to guarantee your well-being. Celestia was pretty clear on that. Now, you're not making that easy, but we manage.”

I drooped my ears and looked away, whistling in mock innocence.

The guard chuckled. “Honey gave those two jerkoffs a nice talking to. You should've heard him. Cap'n will definitely be hearing about this.”

“I'm sorry, who gave them a talk?”

“Honey. Honey Flower. My partner?”

I snickered. “You're kidding me. That's his name?”

“Riles him up real good when strangers say it,” the pegasus chortled. For a moment, he leaned closer and slipped into a conspiratorial whisper. “So you don't know his name, capisce?”

“You got it,” I replied through a smirk. “Say, all this time, and I still couldn't catch your name.”

He straightened himself, posing in an almost theatrical form and adjusting his helmet for show. “Sun Shield.” His impressive pose collapsed in a fit of giggles. “Yeah, I know. Guard family. As bland as it gets.”

I clapped a hoof on his shoulder. “Cooler than Honey Flower.”

He nodded. “I suppose it is.”

“So, Sun Shield.” I offered a hoof. “Nice meeting you.” He took my hoof and we shook on it. “Listen, I just wanted to say, you're alright. Alright? Were it up to me, I wouldn't spend another second in here, and I totally hate what you do, but you're okay.”

“So you're gonna stop making my life a living hell? I'm terrified to be the one who finds you dead stuck in an escape tunnel somewhere.”

I pulled my hoof back. “That I can't promise.” Sun Shield rolled his eyes. “Oh, my friends still down there?”

“They should be. Unless they got bored waiting on ya'.”

“I'm sure they're used to it.” With that, we turned for the stairs.

Honey Flower stood at the door, back straight and face devoid of emotion. A study in discipline.

Pinkie Pie was in the middle of the room, balancing a tray of cupcakes on her hoof. Brightly coloured crumbs marked the spots of missing confections. A warm, sugary smell filled the air. From the heat I felt emanate from the kitchen's direction, I figured she baked these right here. If I'd closed my eyes, I might have thought I was back in Ponyville, sharing a meal with my friends at Sugarcube Corner. Reality was harsher than that, though.

Rarity and Fluttershy sat on the couch, each with a cupcake of their own, and Sweetie Belle in between. Her muzzle was hidden behind a cupcake she held with both hooves, but she didn't seem to be chewing. Her eyes moved quickly, nervously, finally fixing on me. She was the first to notice me, but she didn't do anything but stare.

Applejack slumped backwards on a chair, her chin resting on her legs drooped over the backrest. Her hat dangled slackly from her hooves, swaying gently side to side.

Pinkie, still oblivious to my presence, was running her mouth about cupcakes and the proper preparation of frosting. I'd listened to Pinkie drone about baking before. From experience, I could tell she wasn't all too enthusiastic about it now. If I had to guess, she was just talking to relieve stress. From the way Applejack looked at her through dark-circled eyes, I could tell the rest of them didn't care much for what Pinkie was saying either. They probably appreciated the distraction, though.

As I took the final step off the stairs, Applejack's ears flicked my way. The rest of the group turned too, with Pinkie being the slowest to react. She didn't stop talking as she turned to me; her speech gradually slowed before she finally fell quiet. She never did finish that sentence about the advantages of using one and a half pinches of salt rather than just one.

An awkward silence. Gotta love those.

I raised a hoof. “Hey—”

“Hi Dashie,” Pinkie replied before the others.

Silence again; nods got passed around.

Behind me, I heard Sun Shield take a few cautious steps back.

“Didn't know you'd pop by,” I said.

“We didn't know what happened,” Fluttershy said.

A round of nods.

“But you do now,” I said.

“We arrived this morning,” Rarity said. “Shining Armor met us at the train station. He told us about... your lovely new home.”

“Hey Dashie,” said Pinkie, hopping over, bouncing the cupcakes on her tray before sticking it under my nose. “Have one. There's enough for everypony.” She gave a fake smile. I could tell. The eyes gave her away.

“Yeah, thanks.” I picked a cupcake. Pinkie didn't take her eyes off me until I took a bite. She skipped over to Sun Shield and stuck the cupcakes in his face, too. He took one without a word, quickly biting off a huge chunk for Pinkie to see.

Pinkie grinned and turned to the others. “It's nice, being together again. Don't you agree? Oh, Applejack, you're being such a quiety pants.” As Pinkie started for her, the cupcakes slid backwards, but none fell. “Remember, we're not playing 'ssh!' any more. You can talk now. We played it all the way to Canterlot. Remember?”

Without raising her head, Applejack looked at me, lips and eyes growing thinner. She took a deep breath and, without looking away, reached for a cupcake. She grabbed it by the top, mashing it as she moved it towards her mouth. She crammed the cupcake in whole, chewing a few times before taking her eyes off me. She chomped loudly, messily, morsels and spittle drooping at the corners of her mouth. From the corner of my eye, I saw a wide-eyed Rarity gulp.

“Look, she just loves it,” Pinkie said, a smile frozen on her lips. “It's the same kind I made for Twilight's welcoming party, back when she first came to Ponyville. Remember that?” She flicked the tray out of her hoof, catching it with her puffy tail. Hooves free, she leaned onto her front legs, craning her neck to stick her face into mine. “That party was a blast, wasn't it?”

“Sure was,” I said, slowly inching away.

Another overlong moment of silence.

I couldn't take it. “Say, I can't help but notice you brought Sweetie Belle along.” As I turned to her, Sweetie did her best to hide behind her untouched cupcake. I stroked her mane gently. “We don't talk nearly enough, do we, kid?”

Sweetie looked at me, then at her sister.

Rarity wrapped a leg around Sweetie's shoulder, pulling her close and almost making her drop her cupcake. “She really wanted to see you,” Rarity said. “She seemed very concerned. But then, I'd expect no less from a sister of mine. Right, Sweetie?”

“I...” Sweetie swallowed. “I'm happy you're okay, Dash.” She looked me in the eye, then turned back to her cupcake. She played with it, pushing the sides and turning it around the base. I didn't get what was so interesting about it. Anything to avoid looking at me, I suppose. But eh – scarring a kid for life was probably the tiniest of my crimes at this point.

“So, uh,” I started again, “you said Shining filled you in, right? What exactly did he say?”

“That you were under...” Rarity put a hoof to her chin. “What was it again?”

“Indefinite house arrest,” Fluttershy helped.

“So since you couldn't come to us,” Pinkie continued, “we figured we'd come to you. Another cupcake?”

“We just wanted to say hello,” Fluttershy said.

Pinkie waved excitedly. “Hi Dashie.”

Applejack groaned. She sat up in her chair, grating her teeth. “Al-right,” she said, pushing that second syllable like the crack of a whip. “Looks like it's goin' ta have ta be me.” Her accent was more pronounced than usual. She hopped out of her chair, bucking it to the side with one hoof. The chair slid without tripping, leaving a trail in the carpet before crashing to a halt at the far wall. With a flick of her hoof, she slapped her hat onto her head, and didn't bother to straighten it. “Rainbow Dash, for the sake of all that is sacred in Equestria, how did you not notice Twilight?”

And so the bomb was dropped, and there was no shelter to hide in. I couldn't look at her. My gaze found a comfortable spot on the ceiling, and I rubbed the back of my head. “You know, there's a fascinating story behind that...”

Pinkie giggled nervously. “You know how it is. Sometimes things just completely slip your mind. Right?” She turned to Applejack. Applejack stared her down, making her slouch back. “M-maybe not something like this.”

“We're waiting, sugarcube.”

“Applejack...” Rarity got up as well. “Will you please control your temper. I'm certain Rainbow has a perfect explanation.”

“It boggles my mind, is all,” Applejack replied. She turned to me, her eyes showing more concern than anger. “How? I can't understand. It just doesn't go into my head.”

“We've seen Twilight,” Fluttershy added. “It's like it happened today. How long was she in the library?”

“Well?” Applejack asked.

I couldn't tell them the truth. They wouldn't have understood. They would've called me crazy, a liar, or both. And I couldn't fault them for it. Even if I did tell them, there was no telling what Celestia might do. She wanted this buried, I gleaned as much.

Twilight had always known what to say. No matter what happened, no matter what strained our friendship, she knew how to fix it. Me, I had nothing. Some friend I was.

I lowered my head, closing my eyes and biting my lips. I felt I could explode. There were no right words. The only one that could fix this was Twilight. I could bring her back. I knew I could. If only Celestia let me. I hated her. I hated the bars on the windows. I hated these damn walls, and I hated the guards that kept me here.

I couldn't stop shaking.

Applejack scoffed. I heard her take a breath, undoubtedly preparing to verbally rip my head off. I didn't blame her principles; I blamed her lack of vision.

“Leave her alone, Applejack,” said Sweetie Belle.

Everypony looked at her, and she flinched behind her cupcake. She looked down and licked her lips. Then she took a deep breath, putting the cupcake down and standing up on the couch. With her head high and chest puffed, she was almost at Applejack's level. Almost.

I mouthed a silent 'thank you.' Hope she got it.

“I don't know what's going on,” Sweetie said. Her act was good. She almost convinced me. “But did we come all the way to Canterlot so you can rail on Rainbow Dash?”

Applejack sighed, stepping back. “Look Dash, I'm mighty sorry. Really, I'm glad to see you're okay. I don't know why'd the princess lock you in here, but at least you're okay. With Twilight's funeral coming up, we all need to stick together, don't we?”

I put a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. “I appreciate it, AJ. Believe me, if there was anything I could do to make this right, I would in a heartbeat. Nothing's gonna... nothing would come between me and a solution. This business with Celestia, I'm gonna sort it out, and then we can be together again.”

Applejack flicked the brim of her hat up to better look me in the eye before placing her hoof on my shoulder as well. “I hope so, Rainbow. I really do.”

Silence again. This time, the pleasant kind. I stole a glance at Sweetie, quickly jumping my gaze to Rarity. “So, where are you all staying?”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie pounced at the opportunity to talk about ineffectual things. “Celestia offered us a suite at Canterlot Palace. She's so nice. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she's overdoing it. But there's no reason for her to do that, is there? She always accommodates us, since, you know, we're all friends.”

Pinkie stopped for a breath, taking the time to send each of us a toothy smile.

“Quite so,” Rarity said. “All friends.”

“Yup,” Applejack said. “Couldn't have said it better m'self.”

“All of us here, all friends,” Fluttershy said. She cast her gaze down, and prodded at the couch with a hoof. “This is really soft,” she remarked. “Is it cashmere?”

Rarity brushed a hoof across the couch. “I'd say so, yes.”

Another pregnant pause. Wow, talk about depressing.

“It's not the same without her, is it?” I asked. “When's the funeral again?”

“Tomorrow evening,” Fluttershy said.

“Lotta' ponies in Canterlot today,” Applejack added.

“You will accompany us, right?” Rarity asked. She turned to Honey Flower at the door. “She can come with us, can't she?”

Sun Shield stepped forward, replying in his partner's place. “Rainbow Dash is to stay here until Celestia says otherwise.”

“Then I might just have a word with the Princess,” Rarity said.

“Wait, tomorrow?” I asked. It only just sunk in. I turned to Fluttershy. “You said her body's still fresh?”

“I still say she's just asleep,” Pinkie said. “Did you see her, Dash? She's going to wake up and surprise everypony, I'm telling you.”

From her tone, it was clear Pinkie didn't believe her own words. She should have, though. A fire sparked in me again. Sweetie Belle, don't fail me now. I rushed up to Rarity and grabbed her shoulders. “You need to get me out of here.” My eyes were set on Rarity, but my words weren't meant for her.

Rarity raised her hooves defensively, shrinking away. “W-what are you talking about? I can't just—”

“Help me,” I continued. “I need this. I can do it.” In the corner of my vision, I saw Sweetie Belle peek at me from the cover of her cupcake. She clenched her teeth and her chest expanded slowly.

“Do what?” Rarity asked.

“What in tarnation's gotten into you?” Applejack asked.

“Help me.” I shook Rarity. “Help me. Help me!”

You might say I snapped. That something broke inside me. I'm not sure myself. Call it whatever you want: righteous determination or the lashing out of a complete madmare. All I wanted was to break out of that cage and do what must be done. I needed Sweetie's help. Didn't know how. But she needed to help me. I had to take drastic measures to make sure she understood.

Before I realised, Sun Shield was on me. He pulled me off Rarity and pinned my legs. Everypony looked at us with confusion.

“Sorry,” he said. “She has had a number of... episodes, these past days. Best not take chances. I suggest you leave.” He leaned closer to me, whispering in my ear. “Rainbow, what are you thinking?”

I tried to shake him off, but he only squeezed my tighter. “I don't care any more.” My eyes were still fixed on Rarity. Green-hot flames burned inside me. “One day. We have one day. You need to help me.”

“Dash, calm down,” Pinkie said. “You're scaring me.”

Honey Flower stepped up to Pinkie, and not so gently urged her towards the door. “This way, please.” He grabbed the tray and cast it to the floor, sending the remaining cupcakes rolling about.

“Deep breaths, Dash,” Sun Shield grumbled.

“Don't leave me like this!” I screamed. “I can do it, you know I can. I need this!”

One by one, my friends turned their backs and left. Sweetie stayed the longest time, staring, but when she turned, she didn't look back.

Nothing happened.

I wasn't used to that, nothing happening. On the night of Twilight's first arrival in Ponyville, Nightmare Moon sought to bring about the end of the world. Ever since then, it felt as though something interesting had happened every day. Dragons sleeping, parasprites infesting, reality-bending creatures breaking free... there was always something. We couldn't go a week without something to write to Celestia about.

After my friends left, nothing happened. I wasted away in my gilded cage.

The clock showed late afternoon; the Sun was barely visible above the high towers of Canterlot. In a few hours, the lovebirds would give their places over to the snoozers. I didn't like those guys at all. Straight-faced, stiff upper lip, raised chin, the full programme. Even Honey Flower didn't have as big a stick up his rump as those two.

Hot, late afternoons were the bane of my existence. They sapped my energy even on the best days. Even Sun Shield was too tired to talk. I wondered if Celestia cranked up the heat on purpose. I wouldn't have put it past her. I lay on the couch, sprawling out on my back and bouncing a pretend-ball with my hooves. I occupied my brain by imagining its movement, up and down, juggling, kicking big, kicking small, trying to keep it realistic.

Knocking. My ears perked up. Way too early to change the guard. Sun Shield pointed his spear at me – routine, nothing personal – as Honey Flower undid the numerous latches and locks on the door. I poked my head over the couch's armrest.

At the doorstep stood Pinkie Pie. A bright red flower decorated her mane, and a gift box hung by a ribbon from her mouth. “Hi,” she mumbled past it. “I'ss a giff' for Rainbow.” She tried to step inside, but Honey blocked her. “Hey Dash, you can take presen's, right?”

“Celestia never said I can't,” I said, more to the guards than her.

“The Princess never said she could,” Honey said, putting a hoof on the doorknob.

“Oh, just let her in, will you?” Sun asked with an exasperated sigh. “My hoof's going numb from holding the spear out like this.”

Honey rolled his eyes, then stepped aside. “Fine, whatever.”

Pinkie came inside, and Honey locked the myriad latches on the door.

Sun relaxed his posture and slung his spear over his shoulder, holding out a hoof for Pinkie. “Now, let me take that.”

“Thanks,” Pinkie mumbled, giving it over. She giggled nervously. “It's for Dash, really. No, don't shake it.”

Sun set the box on a desk, then took a step back. “Celestia would probably want me to open it, but do go ahead, Rainbow.”

“You're being far too lenient,” Honey grumbled.

“Just go back to being a statue,” Sun responded.

“Bite me,” Honey said.

“Yeah, maybe I will,” Sun said back.

I cleared my throat, to which they both fell quiet. Sun Shield nodded encouragingly towards the box. There was a little card attached. 'Sorry you've been incarcerated!' “Wow,” I said. “Thanks, Pinkie.” She giggled.

I undid the wraps and opened up the box. Inside was a tall, fragrant cake, accompanied by an equally tall, dark bottle.

“Wow,” I said again. “Really, Pinkie?”

“Sweetie and I spent the whole afternoon working on this,” Pinkie said, stretching her hooves for effect. “Do you like it?”

I craned my head, looking at the colourful cake from this way and that. “It looks amazing.”

Sun leaned closer, sniffing. “It smells amazing.”

I turned to Pinkie. “Hold on. You said Sweetie helped?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “You wouldn't believe how hard it was to convince Rarity to let her come with me. She practically had to beg her. Since she disappeared, Rarity's been watching her like a hawk. Or a griffon, I don't know. At least she came back, not like...” Pinkie bit her lip. “You know, I was thinking, after Celestia lets you out, we're going to have the biggest party ever. All five of us. J-just like, just like old times.”

Her smile didn't convince me. I wondered if it even convinced her. I extended my hooves and hugged her close. She needed it. I needed it.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” I said. “It means a lot. Really, it does.”

She nodded, brushing her cheek against mine. “Oh,” she said, pulling away. “Sweetie bought this for you, actually.” She took the flower out of her mane and placed it in my hoof. “I didn't know where to put it, and it was just so pretty. Sorry.”

“It's fine,” I said, looking at the flower. It reminded me of something, but I couldn't tell what. I'd seen it before, but where? Definitely a rare kind. For a recipe, maybe?

“Sweetie made the drink for you, too,” Pinkie said. “She said it was your favourite. Wouldn't tell me how she knows.”

“Did she now?” I looked at the bottle. The glass was thick and dark, so I couldn't exactly make out the colour of whatever was inside. “She's a smart kid,” I added without taking my eyes off the bottle. “I must have let it slip to Scootaloo sometime.”

Pinkie smiled, shifting her weight to her hind hooves. Then back to her front hooves. She gave an uncertain nod. “Yeah. That's it. That's why I came. Yeah.” Another nervous giggle. She turned for the door. “I should probably—”

“Pinkie.” I put my hooves on her shoulders. “Thank you. Now trust me, Pinkie. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Really?” Her smile was a little more genuine now. Though she drooped the corners of her lips, I could tell she really did have faith in me. I flicked away a tear from her eye.

“Yes, Pinkie. Really.”

She beamed, smile whole and sincere now. I'd known her long enough to tell.

After Pinkie's departure, I was left with the box and two guards. Eager as Sun Shield was, I had to refuse his proposal to help me eat the cake. It was indeed on the large side, but I could only assume that was for a reason. As for the drink, I questioned whether I was really supposed to drink it. And of course, the mysterious flower...

I requested a knife – they trusted me with a plastic one – and took my gifts upstairs, telling them I'd like to savour this alone. I locked myself in my bedroom and closed the curtains, unpacking the box on my desk.

I toothed the bottle open and took a quick whiff. That made me light-headed for a moment. Whatever that stuff was, it was rather potent.

Next, I cut the cake. Slowly, I sunk the knife deeper and deeper, breaking the layers of frosting, filling, and pastry. I wondered if I was thinking too much of Sweetie. This could've been nothing but Pinkie's genuine attempt at cheering me up. Would've fit her.

Then, at the very bottom, the knife touched something. I made another careful cut, dissecting the cake with the precision of a madmare who re-animates corpses. Not so different from extracting a liver. I found a small sack, mouth hastily stapled together. Tearing it open, I found a brownish, mushy substance inside that smelled like a toilet after a good meal.

If being too kind had been Celestia's first mistake, then this was her second. She was far too trusting. She never anticipated that my friends might go against her word and bust me out. Much less that it would be Sweetie Belle. Oh, the deviousness of a fertile young mind – and the carelessness of an ancient one.

Unless the cake itself was part of the puzzle – by the looks of it, it wasn't – then these were the ingredients. The flower, the bottle, and... fertiliser?

And suddenly, it dawned on me. I knew what this was. It was exactly what I needed. If Twilight's funeral was tomorrow, I had no time to waste. It was tonight or never.

The tools of my escape I hid under the bed. The cake I shared with the guards downstairs. I'd almost forgotten how magnificent Pinkie's cooking was. The guards, well, these two earned it. I couldn't blame them at all; they had a job, which they fulfilled to the best of their ability. I bore no ill will, really.

But then again, they did just fall for the oldest trick in the book, so I had to subtract a few points. Not that it mattered. Tonight, I'd fly free.

I went to bed early, and tossed around until around midnight. The changing of the guard happened somewhere along the way. I didn't say goodbye to the lovebirds. That might've given me away.

My blood boiled. My hooves ached to move. My wings spasmed eagerly. When the night was at its darkest, I jumped out of bed and spent a moment stamping in place, trying to work off my excitement. I climbed under the bed and fished out the ingredients.

I remembered the recipe. Or the end of it, anyway. All I needed. Sweetie had nearly finished it for me. I put the flower in my mane – even I had to admit it was awfully pretty – and headed downstairs with the bottle and sack of fertiliser in tow. I didn't like it, having to show myself to the guards. The bottle needed to be boiled, though, and the only kitchen was at the bottom.

Downstairs, the unicorn sat slouched in front of the door. His spear lay on the floor before him, as if fallen after his magic had gone out, and he never bothered to pick it up. From behind his drooping eyelids, he cast longing glances towards the couch – taken by his pegasus comrade, who snored loudly with his tongue out and a hoof over his eyes.

As I turned into the kitchen, that zombie of a unicorn craned his head my way with a startled snort. Placing the bottle onto the stove, I saw a faint glimmer of light shine in from the other room – the unicorn picked up his spear. With the flick of a switch, I cranked up the heat.

“Oi,” barked the unicorn from the other room. “Hey, clouds-for-brains, get up, get up.”

This was followed by the animalistic moan-yawning of his comrade. When he managed to get his tongue under control, he slurred, “Whaaat? Wha'ssup?”

I pattered the tip of a hoof on the floortiles impatiently. The bottle fizzed. It would take a minute to boil.

The pegasus guard dragged himself into the kitchen with heavy steps. Rubbing his eyes with a hoof, he hit the lightswitch with the other. The kitchen lit up with bright, stabbing light. I used my wings to shield my face.

The guard fared no better. He held his spear clumsily, squinting, blinking rapidly. “Wha-what are you do-ahh...?” he asked, stretching that last word into a yawn.

I fixed my stare on the bottle and bit my lip. I could feel a grin coming on. “Oh, you know, just making a drink.”

“What do you mean, making?” I heard him step closer, and his shadow stretched over my shoulder. “You're not allowed to use any chemicals.”

Minute bubbles swarmed on the liquid's surface. This concoction, if memory served, reached its boiling point faster than water. Just a few seconds now. I flipped around, looking my captor right in the eye. I leaned uncomfortably close with a wide grin on my face. That made him recoil. “That depends on your definition of chemical, don'cha think?” I batted my eyes innocently. “Tell me, what's a chemical exactly?”

His eyes shifted about and his brows furrowed as he searched for his words. Perhaps the late hour had clouded his brain. “Well, a chemical is, it's a, like in chemistry...” Maybe he just wasn't very smart.

Hearing the concoction seethe, I turned around again. I pinched the tip of the fertiliser sack between my teeth and tore it open, pouring it right in before the guard could ask what it was. It seemed just the right amount. I made a mental note to give Sweetie a pat on the head later.

“Stop,” the guard said, putting a hoof on my shoulder. “Whatever you're doing, stop.”

I brushed his hoof off. “Excuse me, mister guard sir, but your job is to ensure I live a peaceful, comfortable life inside these walls. I don't feel comfortable with you touching me.”

The guard took a step back to set his hooves, breathing out through clenched teeth. He flared his wings and flourished his spear. “You don't seem to understand. We don't take orders from you. I said drop what you're doing.”

“Or what?” I asked right back, taking the fiery-red flower out of my mane. I bit the head off and let the stalk fall to the floor, chewing through my words. “You can't hurt me. That spear's just for show.” Normally, I'd just use a knife to dice the petals, but that was no option now. The flower's juices burned my tongue and made me tear up, but I smiled through it.

The guard reared, lifting his spear high. “Step away.”

I slouched back, putting my hooves up in innocence. “Hey, hey, alright.” I flicked a switch on the oven to kill the heat. “See, I stopped. Calm down, big guy.” I reached for the bottle and spat the pulpy, chewed flower into it.

“Now, what is that?”

I held the bottle up. “It's nothing at all. Just water with bits in it. Totally harmless. See?”

The guard raised a brow, reaching for the bottle. I pulled it back before he took it.

At the same moment, the unicorn guard turned into the kitchen in a rush, near well slipping on the squeaky-clean tiles. “What's she doing?”

“Don't know,” the pegasus responded. “She cooked something up. Take it from her.”

The unicorn frowned and his horn lit up. A faint glow scintillated around the bottle, and I felt it slip from my hoof. I grabbed it with both hooves and tore it from the light-bubble. “Now, now.” I raised a hoof in warning. With the other, I started shaking the bottle, careful not to splatter too much. “That's nice and all. But I can do magic too. Watch me.”

In a bright flash of light, the bottle lit up red, shining through the dark glass. The liquid frothed and seethed like the roiling depths of a volcano ready to erupt. The guards both stepped back, jaws slack and spears raised in alarm.

“What is that?”

“Drop it!”

I glanced at the nearest window. No more walls. No more bars. No more cage. It was time to get out. I reared, flinging the bottle above my head with all my might, sending it at the base of the window. As the glass left my grasp, I turned and jumped to the floor, wings and hooves shielding my head.

The glass shattered. For a split second, the room turned dark as the concoction sucked in all the light. For that moment, there was complete silence. I heard one of the guards gasp out one last “What—” before the explosion. Infernal heat filled the room and scorched the tips of my hairs. Pieces of the building's structure rained on my back. Tiny, burning bits; all fallen to cinders before I looked up.

The beauty of the Phoenix Fire Potion was how concentrated and thorough it was. The wall and half the room was gone, and it took with itself a portion of the next room, too. But just a few steps away from the blast, the destruction stopped sharp, leaving the rest of the room intact.

The explosion left nothing behind but red smoke. The last piece of debris I saw was a wooden beam that fell from the ceiling, burning in white-hot fire. Colliding with the ground, it evaporated in flames before my eyes, getting erased from existence in a fog of embers.

The smoke of the blast quickly filled the room and began pouring outside, rising into the night sky like a red-hot cloud. I heard the two guards cough and stumble somewhere in the smoke. From the clattering I heard, one of them either dropped his spear or snapped it in half in fear.

I wouldn't wait for them to come to their senses. In the blink of an eye, I was on my hooves, and then on my wings. One flap, two – and the curtain of smoke parted before me, revealing the majestic spires of Canterlot.

I closed my eyes for just a moment, taking in the cool night air. I was free.

I had no time to waste, however. Soaring above the streets, I saw that a few lights had already come on here and there. Good, I thought. The more concerned ponies the guards had to tend to – the more guards that swarmed to the blast – the less of them would be out here looking for me.

And I needed the guiding lights, anyway. Turning my gaze upwards, I couldn't see the sky; a dark blanket of clouds hid them. Only the Moon shone through in a blotched patch of light.

After finding my bearings, I quickly dove under the line of buildings. Didn't want to get caught, after all. For a while, I zapped through shadowed backstreets and dark alleyways. Didn't even look back. If I had any pursuers, I'd lose them here.

When I was certain there was nopony trailing me, I took a sharp right. My destination was the suites of Canterlot Palace. I was sure Sweetie Belle wouldn't mind my dropping by.

Dodging the guards was easier than I thought it would be. It seemed that the city was entirely devoid of them, actually. Looking back at the mansion, and the swarm of pegasi above it, I could guess where they'd all gone.

Window by window, I checked the spires of the palace. Most of them glowed with light now, and silhouettes looked out into the commotion in the night. High up on a spire, I saw a dark window. Strange that the room with the best view wouldn't be used by anypony curious. As I approached, the window swung open, and a little white unicorn peeked out.

I perched on the windowsill. “First thing, how did you—”

Sweetie Belle put a hoof on my lips. “Ssh. Rarity, other room. I think she's waking up.” She glanced at the door – still closed – then back at me. “You'd be surprised what you can find in the Canterlot market. And what they wouldn't sell to a little filly with a lot of bits.”

The sky rumbled, and the first drops of rain fell on my back. “But the Phoenix Tulip, Sweetie. That thing is highly illegal.”

“Yes.”

Thunder. From the other side of the wall sounded a terrified yelp.

Sweetie clambered under her bed and pulled out a syringe. A greenish liquid glistened inside. “Just add the feather, and it's done. You'll need the tip of a big one for this.” She put the syringe into my hoof, but didn't let go yet. “I wasn't part of this, okay? Never.”

Hooves clopped in the other room. “Sweetie, who's there? If anypony lays a hoof on you...”

I took the syringe with a pat on her head. “Part of what?”

Sweetie's door slammed open. Rarity's hoof was still on the knob, nightgown draping loose, and a sleep mask tucked over her horn. She stared at me, jaw dropped. Lightning struck somewhere nearby, illuminating the room in a flash of light. Rainy wind rushed by my ear and the draught waved my mane.

Grinning through the syringe between my teeth, I sent Rarity a wink.

“Rainbow, what are you—”

I jumped from the window. For a second, I enjoyed the fall. Then I unfurled my wings, and the wind caught me. Sun Shield had told me that Twilight's body was on display at one 'Star Swirl Square.' I had no clue where that was, but it didn't sound like something that was easy to miss.

Up in the highest district of Canterlot was a square lit by magical lights. I alighted on a low terrace of a looming spire. Even through the night storm, the square was bright as day. At the centre stood a lone building in the shape of a hexagon. Six sides; one gigantic pair of gates.

The diamond-walls glistened in the lights. The ceiling was one great pane of stained glass. In it, a memory: Twilight's cutie mark. I wondered if only the ceiling was new, or if Celestia had the whole place built in a matter of days.

Looking every which way, I saw no sign of pursuers. The swarm at the mansion swelled, though, its radius expanding. I didn't have much time. I hopped from my perch without a second thought.

The handles of the gates were large and ornate. Designed to be operated by multiple guards, I imagined. From the tracks of dirt in the ground, I figured they opened outwards. Well, now's as good as ever. I wrapped my hooves around a handle and pulled. It was still raining heavily, of course; my coat was soaked, my hooves were wet, and the handle was as cold and slippery as it could be. My hind hooves sunk into the mud as I strained against the door.

I pulled and I groaned. The syringe was still in my mouth; I almost cracked the thing, clenching my teeth in exertion. Finally, the door yielded. It budged an inch, only to stop right away. A burst of heat radiated from the handle, burning my hooves, making me fall back into the mud.

“Hot, hot, hot...” I shook my hooves and blew at them. The storm actually helped, there. I grasped to my mouth and found the syringe gone. I dove right into the mud, ploughing through it to find the syringe again. After a tense moment edging on a heart attack, something touched my hooves. I pulled the syringe out, whole and unbroken. Whew.

Getting up, I took it into my mouth again. The door shimmered before me. Instead of the gentle, magical glow that previously radiated from it, now a slanted square-pattern danced across its surface. It blinked in and out for a while before dissipating completely, returning to the old, simple glow.

I might not have been a brilliant unicorn, but I knew a magical lock when I saw one. That's when I noticed a small, circular hole where the gates met, undoubtedly meant for a unicorn's horn to release the spell.

Gah! I stomped in place, kicking mud this way and that. Why can't Celestia use a piece of metal like everypony else? If it was a simple key, I could just steal it, or something. Heck, I was prepared to trample somepony for it. But I couldn't steal a spell.

I bucked the door in frustration. No effect, of course. If I didn't raise Twilight soon, decay would set in, and then everything would have been in vain. Either Celestia caught me again, or I'd live in exile for the rest of my life. All for nothing.

Growing tired of stomping, I just stood there, head hung and legs shaking. I almost lost the strength to hold the syringe between my teeth.

“Rainbow Dash,” called a stallion.

The words whipped at me, instantly bringing me back to my senses. The pair of lovebirds stood not far from me, just coming around the bend of the hexagon.

Sun Shield looked to the sky, at the pillar of smoke above the residential district. “What did you do?”

I spat the syringe into my hoof. “Escaped. Had to blow up the mansion. Sorry.”

Honey Flower said nothing. His horn glowed and his spear came up, enveloped in his sparkling aura.

“And you two?” I asked. “I figured Celestia ordered everypony to the mansion.”

“All the active guards,” Sun said, pointing at the swarm of pegasi in the distance. “Which is why she pulled us up from leave and told us to patrol here. And you can bet that the Night Guards are looking for you, too.”

“Big city,” I replied. “Hey, you had to take the day shift, and the night shift? Boy, is Celestia demanding.”

Sun sighed and flourished his spear. “Look, I'm sorry, but you were supposed to stay in that mansion. I like you, I really do, but I'm under an oath to serve the Princess. Please, make it easy for all of us, and step over here.”

“Or I could turn tail,” I replied. “You'd never see me again.”

“You can bet on that,” Sun said. “Believe me, if you leave Canterlot, you're not coming back. You'll never see your friends again.”

I eyed the pair of guards for a moment, tension mounting within me. Then I broke, slamming a hoof into the mud in impotent anger. I had to look away. Then, with a deep breath, I looked back at them. There was that fire inside me again.

I began walking closer, wings spread wide, taking long, stomping steps. “You have no idea why I was in there. No. Clue. You think you know me, but you don't. Let me introduce myself. I am Rainbow Dash. The Element of Loyalty. Fastest flier in all of Equestria. Personal friend of the princesses.”

With one last step, I stopped right before them. The two exchanged a look, but did nothing else. Sun pulled away ever so slightly.

“I saved the world from eternal night,” I continued. “I was there to defeat and reform Discord. Does the name Sombra ring a bell? How about Chrysalis?” I took another step forward, coming too close to Sun for comfort. He took a step back. “A princess of Equestria, my friend, is dead.” I lifted the syringe, poking the needle towards him. He took another step back, and I took another forward. “I've felt the power of the Elements course through my veins. I've done things once thought impossible. And now I'm telling you, kid, I am going to bring Twilight Sparkle back to life.”

Sun raised his spear with a jerk, only for me to kick it out of his hoof. I leaned at him, and he slouched down like a cornered, terrified animal.

“You will not stand in my way,” I finished. A strike of lightning punctuated my last word.

Light flashed behind me. I turned to see Honey Flower pulling his horn out of the gates. His horn glowed, and one wing of the gates lit up as well.

“Get inside, then,” he said. “Those idiots up there aren't paying attention here, but if this gate opens, they'll certainly see it.”

I shook my head. “Really?” was all I could say. If anything, that speech was supposed to be more like a bad-ass final line before my life was over.

“Are you nuts?” Sun Shield snapped, voice shaky. “If Celestia finds out...”

“Maybe she'll punish us by locking us in a mansion,” Honey responded. “Or not. Whatever. I've had enough of this guard gig anyway. Two shifts in a row, my big meaty rump. If anypony asks, you tried to stop me.”

I got to the door, and nodded at Honey. He nodded back, and one of the gates slowly swung open. I clapped a thanking hoof on his shoulder before rushing inside. Before the gate shut behind me, I heard him shout one last thing my way. “You owe me, you hear? You don't know my name!”

As the gates shut, the entire building rumbled.

Before me, a hallway stretched wide and shone with light, the many colours of my mane dancing on every surface. Shame about all the mud and dirty rainwater I brought in; it ruined the whole picture. But that was the least of my worries.

From the hallway, I emerged at the centre of the hexagon. In the middle stood an elevated podium, barred off by a red rope barrier. Rolling hills of flowers surrounded it, their scent filling the air.

On the podium lay a pedestal, and on it, a glass coffin: inside, a purple form. I jumped the rope barrier and skipped onto the podium. With quaky hooves, I pushed off the thick, heavy lid of the coffin. It skidded off the podium and cracked in two atop a pile of flowers.

Twilight was beautiful. Last I'd seen her, her coat was discoloured and patchy. Her mane had been clumped together and soggy with goo. For the first time in a long while, I finally looked at her face without a layer of green slime separating us.

She wore a splendid dress. Her coat was spotless, and her mane brushed to look her best. I hadn't seen her like this since her coronation.

The only thing they couldn't get rid of was the smell. The stench of the Preservation Fluid lingered, overpowering even the flowers. All the better, though. It was what kept her body pristine all this time, even outside my – our – laboratory. Pinkie had been right: Twilight seemed only asleep. I didn't know how long the fluid's effects would last, but with her funeral coming the next night, I didn't want to find out.

Spitting the syringe into my hoof, I leaned into the coffin and pinched my teeth on a purple feather. One quick pull, and pluck – I had it. I snapped off the tip and hoped with all of my being that Sweetie had done the maths.

Carefully, I took the needle's tip into my mouth. With my hooves, I pulled out the plunger, sucking on the needle to keep the fluid in as I stuffed the feather-tip inside. I pressed the plunger back in. Got it.

I felt a tinge of blood on my tongue. It may have swollen a little, too. A small price to pay. Inside the barrel, the feather-tip boiled. One good shake, and it was all gone. The dull green fluid came alive with a bright glow. The light of my soul.

There came an explosion at the end of the hallway, making me jump. I looked in time to see the unhinged gates fly inwards as the lock disintegrated, the crash echoing through the hexagon. As it subsided, the walls still whistled with the vibrations.

Guards began pouring in, and behind them walked Celestia, horn and eyes white with her spell's afterglow. She let the guards rush forward, taking her time with long, deliberate steps.

I touched the needle to Twilight's neck, bending to her ear. “I'm sorry,” I whispered

“Stop right there,” a guard said.

The needle was in.

I pressed the plunger.

I'd done it.

I pulled the spent syringe out, throwing it behind my back.

I really did it.

I laughed in the face of Celestia.

“Step away from the princess!” a guard yelled.

The glowing in Celestia's eyes receded. “It is not too late,” she said. “Just come down.”

Guards surrounded the podium from every side. They inched closer, spears and wings at the ready.

“But you are late, Princess.” I pointed at the spent syringe on the floor. Then I hopped onto my front legs, bucking the glass coffin and cracking its side. “Wakey-wakey.”

Twilight's eyes jolted open. Her pupils dilated, then quickly constricted before returning to normal. With a gasp, she took a rattly breath. Her chest convulsed, and she started coughing and wheezing. Her whole body began jerking.

“Stand away!” thundered Celestia.

A bright aura surrounded me. I dove into the coffin and wrapped my legs around Twilight just as Celestia's spell yanked me upwards. Celestia held me in the air, with Twilight over my shoulder. As the guards approached, I stared Celestia down, with the choking Twilight held close.

A guard reached for me. Locked in Celestia's spell as I was, it took all my might to move a muscle – but managed to kick the guard's hoof away. Celestia flinched, and for a split second, her concentration faltered. I snapped my wings out and flapped with everything in me. Breaking from Celestia's spell felt like tearing myself from my own skin.

I felt Celestia's aura grip me again, but I zapped away, flying as high as I could before hitting the ceiling. It wasn't easy, manoeuvring with the jerking, twitching Twilight in my hooves. I couldn't keep dodging Celestia for long, not to mention the guards.

A pegasus flew for me. No time to think. I stormed above Celestia, right into the wide hallway. The guards that blocked it put their spears up. I held Twilight forward, refusing to slow down. Her body was an untouchable battering ram. After the first guard dropped his spear in confusion, so did the others; they'd rather roll out of the way than risk hurting Celestia's protégée.

In a split second, we were outside. Maybe you shouldn't have blown up the door, Celestia. The storm soaked Twilight's beautiful dress and mane in seconds. That only added to the weight. Twilight jerked, gasped, and spat, making it all the harder to hold on to her. And the water made my grip all the more slippery, too.

I looked around, facing the wind and the rain. Guards surrounded me from every side: they swarmed in the air and perched on every terrace. Below me, the streets were filling up with ponies, all watching the spectacle. No place to hide there. From the hexagon, yet more guards poured out, tailed closely by a furious Celestia.

As I was looking down, a duo of guards surprised me from above. One pinned my wings, and the other tore Twilight from my grasp. I jerked my head, slamming the back of my skull into his nose. As he recoiled, I tore my wings from his grasp and bucked him in the stomach before he recovered.

I dove at the other guard; he didn't see me coming. One swift kick at his teeth made him drop Twilight. Undertaking him with a roll, I caught her and rocketed forward. As the two tried to catch up to me, I twisted into a turn too sharp to follow with their heavy armour.

On the streets, too many ponies. Below, Celestia. All around me, a swarm of guards. No way but up, directly above the hexagon. I strained every last muscle in my body to stay ahead of my pursuers.

“Please!” I screamed in Twilight's ear. “Wake up. Tell them to stop. You're their princess. They'll stop, tell them to stop, please.”

Her only response was more spastic kicking and coughing. Her eyes opened and closed randomly, gaze darting about without direction. While my breaths became heavier with each tug of my wings, hers grew shallower with each intake. I was losing her. Didn't the potion work? Did I stress the body too much? Did I misjudge the feather?

Then I realised, finally, why Twilight struggled. The same way that Bulk Biceps had failed to complete his re-animation, now the potion burned within Twilight's body, pushing it beyond the limits of mortality. But that was not enough. The potion was enough to restart the machine that is a pony's body, but every function ran amok, unable to find sync.

She needed a kick – something to control the chaos before it melted her mind. If I was late, Twilight might have ended up a gibbering shell like Bulk. I had to act quickly, like I had done with Granny Smith.

Twilight needed a shock.

With the swarm of Royal Guards closing around me, I had no more time to think. No thought, but going up – up above the clouds, where I could catch the thunder. Grasping Twilight tight, I beat my wings with all I had.

In seconds, I reached the heart of the storm. The air became thick with vapour, and I couldn't feel my hooves from the cold. My hairs stood on end as they gathered charge from the static between the colliding clouds. I knew the feeling well – as a pegasus, this was my playground. It would become the womb of Twilight's rebirth.

As I broke the upper layer of clouds, I clenched my teeth and let go of Twilight.

I slammed my hooves at the clouds, and saw the shockwave burst across its surface.

Air seethed, rushing away from the cloud, the wind pushing against my body.

Air rushed back, seeping into the cloud, sucking my mane towards itself. I covered my ears.

Lightning struck, bright enough to shine through the clouds. I saw the bolt curve and twist – missing Twilight and striking a Sun-shaped ornament atop the closest spire.

“No!” was all that went through my head as I dove for the plummeting Twilight.

If I could catch her, I could still bring her up for another try. I had the time. I had to have the time.

My wings were numb from exhaustion and soaked from the rain. No matter how hard I flapped, I was little more than one rock falling after another. The hexagon closed in too quickly.

I could reach her. I was so close. I would grab her. Bring her up. The lightning had dispersed the guards. That gave us a few crucial seconds. We could still make it. I grabbed Twilight's hoof. Then I heard thunder again.

Light blinded me, my eyes popped, and my ears rang.

My body burst aflame.

I couldn't scream.

Sweetie Belle

“You heard the guards,” said Rarity. “Rainbow's dangerous. You're staying in here, young lady.” They key floated towards the lock in blue light.

“No.” I put a hoof in front of the door before she could swing it shut. She didn't hit me.

“Yes you are.” She pushed me back. “I don't know what's going on outside, but I'm not letting you out into that mess. You're not getting lost on me again.”

“Rarity, please.” She wanted to lock me into the apartment while she went outside. She loved me, and was terrified of having me disappear again. I knew this. I understood this. But I didn't care, did I? “If Rainbow's doing something, I need to see.”

Rarity flared her eyes. “Just what did Rainbow want with you, exactly? I wanted to leave this for later, but you, Sweetie, you...” She paused for a moment, looking down, taking a deep breath. “What do you know that I don't?”

I stepped back. “W-why would I know anything? I don't know what Rainbow's doing, that's why I want to see.”

Rarity stepped above me, face burning red under her white coat. “What do you take me for, Sweetie? You disappear, and come back right after Rainbow turns up. You ask desperately to come visit her, even though you barely know her. You stay out all day making her a gift with Pinkie.”

She bent down, putting her forehead to mine and casting flames from her eyes. “And now Rainbow drops in, pursued by guards, to say hello in the middle of the night.” She pulled up, putting a hoof to her forehead. She closed her eyes for a sigh. “Please, talk to me.”

I cast my gaze down. Should I tell? She wouldn't believe me. I bit my lip. If I lied, she still wouldn't believe me. Inhaling deeply, I puffed out my chest and turned back to Rarity. I suppose it was only a matter of time. “Rainbow Dash wants to bring Twilight back to life.”

“What?” Rarity forgot to close her mouth after the word. She blinked at me once, twice, then shook her head. “What?”

“She can do it. Rainbow was already at the Golden Oaks that night, when I ran away. I was scared. I walked in on her doing... things. Rainbow can bring the dead to life.”

Rarity's eyes went wide. “This is no time for jokes. What's got—”

I stomped. “What do you think happened to Opal? I'm not joking. I wish I was.”

Hearing her name, Opalescence walked into the room, giving a tired meow as though asking what the commotion was about. Rarity stared at me for a moment before she looked at her. In turn, Opal rubbed her cheek on one of Rarity's legs. Rarity sat down, pulling Opal into her lap to pat her. She ran her hoof down her back once. When she did it the second time, she stopped at the neck.

She forgot to close her mouth again.

“I did kill her,” I said. “I did. I ran over her with Scootaloo's scooter. I was afraid to tell you. I felt like a monster. When you found her...” I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I panicked. And I ran. When I saw Rainbow... when she told me what she can do, I asked her to prove it.”

Rarity looked at me for a moment, then back to Opal. She bent to bury her muzzle in Opal's beautiful white hair. She'd spent the morning grooming her, even longer than she usually did. Opal purred, content.

She knew the truth now. Or half of it. As the momentum of my words carried me, I was tempted to tell her about my involvement, about the tome. It would've been easy, spilling it all right there and then, the complete truth.

My legs trembled. I swallowed again. My tongue didn't move.

“Can she really do it?” Rarity asked, eyes still on Opal.

“If anypony can, then she'll be the one.”

Slowly, Rarity nodded. She put Opal down and opened the door wide. As an umbrella floated closer, she turned her back to me and lowered her rump. “Well, then. Hop up, Sweetie. Don't you dare jump off.”

And so we were off, off into the storm and chaos of the crowded streets.

With all the ponies in Canterlot that night, it was hard to move. Rarity followed the flow of the crowd, and after sluggishly pushing our way through the muddy streets, we reached Star Swirl Square.

A wall of guards cut off the hexagon from the crowd. The crowd, in turn, was live with questions. “What's happening?” “What happened to the princess?” “Why's Celestia here?”

They swayed left and right, craning their necks up and forward, trying to make out anything. Rarity pushed forward as much as she could. I had to hold on to her really strong, else the crowd might have pushed me off. A guard's chestplate eventually stopped Rarity's advance.

“Hey,” came a voice from behind the guards. “Let her through, let her through.” Shining Armor cut into the wall and pulled us through.

“Shining,” Rarity began, “what in the wide world of Equestria is happening?”

“It's Rainbow Dash,” he replied. “She took Twilight's body, she's escaped Celestia, and she's just, she's just...” Shining flailed a hoof towards the hexagon. “Just flying up with Twilight. She's gone insane. You're her friend, Rarity. Do you have any idea what's going through her head?”

Rarity looked at Shining for a second too long. I grabbed her tight, and a bolt of lightning struck something high above.

“How could I possibly know?” Rarity asked. I relaxed my grip.

Shining stomped. “If I get my hooves on her, I'll...” His gaze shot up, and his jaw dropped. “Twilight.”

Above the hexagon, the clouds broke for a moment. Two small dots fell from the sky, one purple and one blue. They spun in the air, the blue one grasping towards the purple, the purple doing its best to throw the other off. Guards closed in on them from every side.

Rainbow grabbed Twilight, and the two plummeted in an uncontrollable spiral. The clouds roared with a deafening thunder, and lightning split the sky in two.

The lightning struck fast and hard, cutting through the pair before arcing to the side of the hexagon.

In the last moment before impact, Rainbow pulled Twilight closer, turning to her back as they crashed through the glass ceiling of the hexagon. The whole structure shattered and came down, the crash drowning out even the roar of the storm. Gasps and screams swept through the crowd.

Shining rushed inside the hexagon, Rarity close behind him. Rainbow, what did you do?

The hallway that led to the centre was flooded by shards of glass. As Shining, Rarity, and dozens of guards behind us ran, their steps echoed with crunches, splinters cracking and pattering under their hooves. Almost like walking on fresh snow.

Rainbow had landed smack on the podium, right on the glass coffin, breaking in pieces. Twilight lay on top of her, both of them motionless. A myriad more shards filled the entire space as the storm battered the glass-covered floor.

Celestia was the last to arrive, steps short. Rarity stopped before the layer of shards became too thick; the rest of the guards froze in their tracks at Celestia's approach. She walked slowly, eyes wide, ears perked towards the pair.

At the centre, the collecting water gained a red tinge.

Twilight's wings sprouted up, startling a guard enough to make him fall into the glass with a gasp. Her wings stayed up for a moment, their tips black. Then they fell slack. A second later, Twilight's eyes snapped open, and she let out a horrible, raspy gasp. She jumped to her hooves, stamping, turning in place. She looked in every direction, eyes twitching, before staring at Celestia. Even she was frozen still now.

“What happened?” Twilight cried. “Where am I?”

Under her, Rainbow coughed. Twilight jumped off her with a frightened yelp.

“No, no, no,” Twilight mumbled, eyeing Rainbow and shaking her head. She got on her knees, coming close to Rainbow. “What are you all looking at? Help her!”

Rainbow's coat and mane were all charred black, with red cracks running through her patchy skin. Her back canted back too far. She opened her eyes, all red, and looked at Twilight without raising her head. She extended a hoof towards Twilight, twitching and twisted the wrong way. When Rainbow breathed in, it sounded like somepony shaking a tin can full of tiny pebbles.

“Rainbow, Rainbow, Rainbow...” Twilight's gaze danced frantically on Rainbow. She reached for Rainbow's extended hoof, but was afraid to touch her. “You'll be okay, Rainbow, stay with me.”

Rainbow grinned, showing chipped, scorched teeth. Her lips moved slowly, uncertainly, mouthing something. I made out a 'w' shape. Then an 'e.' Her tongue curled for an 'l.'

Her hoof went limp. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as her face painfully contorted. She breathed out, spurting red-tinted liquid between her teeth. Twilight gasped, grabbing Rainbow's hoof with both of hers and pulling it to her chest.

A grin crept up her lips one last time before her face went numb.

I was the only one, I think, that understood what Rainbow wanted to say.

Welcome back to life, Twilight.

Celestia really had to scratch her head to explain to the general public why Princess Twilight Sparkle's funeral had been indefinitely postponed. Something about the Elements of Harmony, residual magic, spellcasting mishaps, immense arcane power inside the Element of Magic... it was all bogus anyway.

Twilight was physically fine, save for minor burns. Her magic returned after a week.

I kept the tome. I told myself I'd get rid of it, but I never got around to it. At first, it was Rarity keeping her eye on me every waking minute. Then it was me forgetting it. I may have purposefully let it slip my mind.

Twilight never came asking about it, either. But one time when she was over, I heard her mention to Rarity that she never goes down to the basement any more. I think she must know what happened.

So the tome collected dust in the bottom of some drawer, back in my room. My real room, at home, not in the boutique. Oh, speaking of home, Mum and Dad were in for quite the story when they returned from their vacation. What a week to miss. The news of Twilight's discovery hadn't even reached them.

I was anxious. I didn't know much about Celestia, but I never heard she was a dumb pony. If she ever investigated how Rainbow escaped that mansion, she'd have to find out about the potion. And if she found out about the potion, that would lead her to Pinkie, then to me.

My conscience urged me to tell everypony the full story. I could reveal the tome, give it to Celestia, say I'm very, very sorry, and hopefully put it all behind myself. I was just a little filly who didn't know what she was getting into, after all. But something stopped me.

I thought back to Rainbow's story about Twilight. I thought about Twilight's original research, and how she roped in Rainbow Dash. How she ended up killing her. And then there was me, getting tangled up in the mess.

If there was one thing I gleaned from all this, it was that sometimes, some secrets are best kept to yourself. Rainbow had given her life to save another. How could I trample over her legacy by giving up the tome?

And if Celestia was ever to find out about me... well, I had the tome on my side, at least. It's pulled me out of bad situations before. I was sure it could do it again. Not that I would use it. I'd probably just tell Celestia everything anyway, I thought. But it was good knowing that it was there.

For all her madness, Rainbow did create something great. She overcame death. And she didn't just fix her own mistake. She fixed mine, too. Opal was still alive and well. Sometimes, I wondered if she'll ever even die.

Maybe I could repay the favour by keeping Rainbow's secret safe.

Or... maybe I could do something more.

Rainbow Dash: Re-Animator

by JawJoe

Don't Expect to Tango, It Will Just Scream

Go to the Golden Oaks, Scream a Little, and Wait for This to Blow Over

Screaming at a Cottage. Rarity's Gonna Think I'm Such a Burnout

Don't Dead, Scream Inside

Haven't Screamed like That since Twilight

A Whimper