Eventually, she decided to go back one last time.
She walked along the path, slowly, surely. The gravel made faint crunching noises under her hooves as she made her way forward, ever forward. The night air whistled past her ears, causing them to instinctively flick in irritation. The trees around her were like clawed, gnarled hands, reaching for her.
She frowned, hoisted the saddlebags up on her shoulders, and continued, briskly.
The sign was gone. By accident or by mob - couldn't tell. Didn't matter. She stepped over the charred remains and walked along the once familiar path, now covered with wreckage. Wagons lay in the street, some burning with fresh fires, others unrecognizable mounds of cracked, torn wood.
The ground crunched under her hoof. She looked down and saw that she had stepped directly into the chest cavity of a corpse. She recognized him. His once brown fur was now a bright, sickening red, and sticky to the touch. She had broken the last few ribs and squashed any remaining organs that had been inside of him.
She pulled out her leg and continued walking.
The streets that followed could have easily been from a ghost town. Windows were boarded up along the sides of the road and various items were strewn about in the street. A door slammed shut as she made her way forward. She paused for only a minute to gaze at the building in question. A pair of eyes stared at her from the door's mail slot. She continued forwards.
Finally, she came to what had been the central marketplace of the country town. Any sales carts that had been there the last time had been either shattered or hauled off somewhere else. Small fires lit up the night like the stars she used to see out in the open fields. There were also bodies. Corpses and skeletons lined the circle like Hearth's Warming Eve decorations. She looked up and saw the double doors that she had entered so many times, now torn off their hinges and ripped apart like confetti.
Hi, Rainbow Dash! Long time no see!
Hey, Pinkie Pie. Sorry about that. I've been working on some new moves for the Best Young Fliers' Competition, so I haven't had much downtime...
Oh, that's fine, Dashie! I totally understand!
She was at the front of the store, stepping gingerly over the glass fragments.
How have you been doing?
Oh, you know me. Never a dull moment! Last night, I made a special delivery to Twilight's place to give her that cake for Rarity's surprise birthday party!
Oh, nice! Did you save me some?
Of course! Just give me a minute...
She was at the counter. How did she get there?
...And here you go!
Oh, wow! It looks even better than the last one.
Apple-solutely! This one's a new recipe, too. Go ahead and try it!
Mmm...oh, it's g-
Her eyes snapped open. She stumbled back into a table, clutching her head. She fell down and cut her arm on the glass, that shiny, shiny glass. She hissed through her teeth and looked down. It was thankfully shallow, but hurt. She took out some gauze from her saddlebags, wrapping it around three times before tying the end off. She shakily stood up and gazed towards the sky. The Moon stared back at her.
She checked the watch.
Time to go.
<->
She walked back along the path she had arrived from with a barely noticeable limp from her earlier injury. Her destination was just outside of town, and she could feel its presence. It all came down to this, and she would have to push herself farther than she had ever before if she didn't want them to die in vain.
Dash! What do ya think you're doing?
Snrk...wha...?
I'm tryin' ta buck these here apples! Come down from there this-
No. It hurt too much to think about them.
She quickened her pace and steeled her eyes. She could just see the imposing building looming in the distance. It was ironic - in the past, she had never given it a second thought. Now, it meant everything to her. She couldn't see him at the top. But she knew he was there, just as the trees know to blossom in the springtime.
The shadow grew denser the closer she came to the clock tower. She could feel its gaze on the back of her neck, but didn't stop to turn around and look. She couldn't give anything the chance to delay her, not after she had come this far.
She had to do this.
She had to kill him.
Or else he would kill her.
<->
She walked up the steps in a circular fashion. She counted the first hundred steps, but soon lost interest. She had to have been climbing for at least an hour now. He had been busy.
Every time she put down her left front hoof, a wave of pain shot up her leg. She stumbled a few times, but she did not fall. She knew that if she fell down so close to her goal, she might never get back up again.
The candles along the walls had long since melted and died. They lay on the steps, mere puddles of wax amidst the grand expanse of the staircase. She stepped in a few, getting the juice stuck on her hooves only for it to fall off a few steps later. The dull moan that had followed her was now a low roar.
She checked the watch again.
11:40.
It was almost time.
<->
"You're late."
She steeled her nerves and walked out onto the balcony. No way was this guy getting to her. The aged stone caused dull thuds to resonate over the silent, circular platform. She opened her rose red eyes and stared up at him from where she stood.
"Yeah, I am. No thanks to you."
He laughed. It was a high, shrill sound, twanging off the rock floor. It hurt her ears and made her head ache. The only thing that matched it was the ominous rumble coming from above both their heads.
"I must say that I'm impressed with you." He floated down to her level, his wooden shoes clacking against the floor. "Canterlot Mines...Crystal Mountains...even the Apploosa Desert ." He was grinning, although she couldn't see it. "Every challenge I threw at you and here we are on the night of the final day. You can really get a lot done in a few days if you put your mind to it. So tell me, Rainbow Dash..."
"...what is it exactly that you intend to do?"
She did not reply and redoubled her efforts to contain to composure.
"Are you going to try to stop me?"
Suddenly he was right there, in front of her face. She stumbled backwards, cracking her head on the concrete. Seeing stars, she unsteadily rose to her feet.
"Over the last 72 hours, how many times did we fight?" He floated around the platform's edge, musing. "We caved in the Mines...the Mountains are craggy and bare...our most recent battle burned everything in that Desert to the ground. And the result?"
The Skull Kid spread his hooves out wide.
"I'M STILL HERE, AREN'T I?!"
She bit her lip, shaking from head to tail.
"You listen to me, Rainbow Dash. You look at me right now. You are nothing. Do you understand that? You're no more special than the rest of them. That Sun Princess of yours was far greater than you and now her body lies in the ground beneath us both. Element of Loyalty? HA!"
The Skull Kid grew deathly quiet.
"A lot of good that did them."
Rainbow tasted blood. She had bitten clear through.
"And if you are still holding onto some blind notion that there is even a modicum of hope that you and your world will come out of this alive, then answer me this - what do you have that I don't? What power do you intend to use to best he who has slain everypony and everything you hold dear?"
Rainbow looked up at the Skull Kid. Tears stained her vision.
"The power of Friendship."
He looked down at her. His emotionless mask shrouded his expression. He threw back his head and laughed once more.
"Friendship? Friendship?! Where have you been, Rainbow Dash? You're the only one left alive! Everypony else is dead. All of your friends are dead. How could friendship exist in you now, much less fight for you?!"
She closed her eyes. It was time.
"I won't waste words on a fool."
He laughed, his mask clicking and clacking over his face. "Yes, Rainbow Dash! A fool! A fool who single hoofedly conquered your world and brought this crashing down!" The Skull Kid made a dramatic gesture upwards.
Rainbow had already stopped listening. She was crouched on the ground, huddled up in a ball. Her saddlebag began to shift.
"You were wrong, by the way."
He stopped laughing.
"About what, Rainbow Dash?"
"I'm not the only one alive."
The Skull Kid noticeably tensed, leaning forward ever so slightly.
"Excuse me? Rainbow Dash, I killed everypony personally. I watched their corpses wither away and-"
"To be killed in body is one thing." Rainbow Dash's saddlebag unclipped itself. "To be killed in spirit is quite another. You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?"
He laughed once more. "Yes, Rainbow Dash. It's as simple as that."
An unsettling silence fell over the clock tower.
Her saddlebags shifted and turned. They were growing restless.
Rainbow Dash stood up.
"I have been fleeing from you for three whole days, Skull Kid. But there comes a time," she said as she walked forwards. "When a mare will not run from a fight."
The Skull Kid loomed over her. "Rainbow Dash...?"
"And that time..."
Her saddlebags whipped open.
"...is when her friends..."
They glided out.
"...are laughed at."
He took a step back and stopped gloating. Finally.
"How...W-Where did you get those..."
She smirked. They had begun to spin around her in a hypnotic fashion. She began to sway back and forth as they circled closer and closer to her. Her body began to shake as they built up more and more energy.
"My friends didn't die, Skull Kid."
The three of them came together.
"I know they'll rebuild the world I leave behind."
Now they were one, and descending towards her face.
"And I..."
An explosion. Rocks from the floor flew up ten feet into the air.
"Rainbow Dash! Stop that right this instant!!"
"And I..."
It was on her face now. She could feel the power racing through her like the mother of all adrenaline rushes.
"AND I..."
"Rainbow Dash!!!"
Her eyes snapped open. Her pupils were a bright gold.
"AND I WON'T LET YOU LAUGH AT THAT!!!!"
And all hell broke loose.
She ran forwards, feeling more alive than ever before. She leaped up towards the Skull Kid and delivered a right hook to his face. He fell down onto the roof. She came down with an axe kick, but he rolled to the left and leapt to his feet. Her hoof sunk two feet into the solid stone.
She wrenched it out and turned towards him, murder in her eyes. She dashed forwards with both hooves outstretched. He parried them off to the sides and hit her square in the gut. As she doubled over, he yelled out. His mask rattled as a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and speared her body through-and-through. Her mane and tail stood up on end as smoke poured out from her mouth and ears. Her mask instantly grew hotter.
Shakily, she stood to her feet once more and looked around her. There was a ten foot circle of blackened stone around where she had been laying. Taking advantage of her hesitation, he dashed forwards and performed a rising kick into her chin. She shot upwards like a bullet, screaming towards the sky. He flew past her and readied his left arm. She dodged him in mid-air and tackled his midsection, sending them both tumbling towards the ground. Locked in an embrace of death, the two of them hurtled downwards, the tower barreling past them like a freight train. She growled and grabbed for his mask.
"You fool!" he shouted. "We will both die!"
"IT'S NOT ABOUT ME!" she yelled back over the deafening roar of the air around them. "IT NEVER WAS!"
She took the mask and ripped it from his face.
"AND I'VE GOT TO END YOU SINCE YOU'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND THAT!!!!"
She broke the mask.
They hit the ground.
And slowly, very slowly, the shadow began to lift.
