The House

Rainbow Dash groggily began to wake up. She groaned as her eyelids flitted momentarily before she finally regained her bearings on where exactly she was. As she looked around, she noticed that she was still in the house. But what she saw struck a chord within her. The house was actually in pristine condition. The lanterns that hung from the ceiling were completely intact and lit, much unlike their condition when she last saw them. Every window was cleaned and perfectly in place. The floorboards were firm and beautiful, not destitute and rotted. But something perturbed her more so than anything else she saw in the house.

Before her stood a stallion.

He was a relatively plain looking and moderately attractive earth pony, sporting a silver coat and a light brown mane. A cutie mark of a racetrack adorned his flank, and he looked at her with an expression of sorrow in his eyes. He looked as if he had just been through some sort of intense heartbreak.

"Please!" He said, tears flooding his eyes. "Please don't leave me! All I ever wanted was you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rainbow Dash tried to say, but as hard as she tried, the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. Instead what she said was- "I'm sorry Silver! I really am, but this can't happen anymore. I have a husband."

"That doesn't matter!" He cried. "I love you, and that's all that should matter! I know you don't love him anymore."

"You're wrong!" Rainbow spouted involuntarily. "I do love him. The times with you...were just selfishness on my part. I'm sorry that I hurt you, but it's the truth." Rainbow Dash's mind tried to comprehend what exactly was happening to her as she said the words. She didn't seem to be in control of what she said or did at all. Her head would involuntarily look away from the stallion at different times, and the things she said were not what she wanted to say.

"Please...Come away with me. " He sobbed. "We can be happy together!" He roughly grabbed Rainbow Dash's foreleg.

"Let go of me!" Rainbow Dash did mean to shout that phrase, but it still didn't seem like it was her saying it. She wrenched her fore hoof from the stallions grip and angrily turned around to leave. The stallion spoke with an angry and desperate tone.

"If you don't stay with me, you'll come to regret it, I assure you." He growled. Rainbow Dash turned around to face him.

"That is a risk I'm willing to take for the sake of my family!" Her tone was angry, but Rainbow Dash was definitely more confused than anything. "Good bye!" She turned around and began to walk out of the house.

"Feel." Rainbow Dash heard a voice whisper to her.

Suddenly, the stallion grabbed her by the tail and pulled her inside so hard, she slid on her belly, letting out a pained shout.

"Silver! What are you-" She was muffled by his hoof as he turned her over onto her back and leaned down toward her.

"I know you still l-love me...You're just...guilty...You're guilty....I'll show you why you'd want to stay with me." He whispered as he slowly began to lower himself down onto Rainbow Dash, who screamed into his hoof. She looked down and gasped with horror at what she saw. He began to grind his groin into hers as he prepared to violate her, smiling down at her. "Here we go..."

Her body lashed one of it's lower hooves out which luckily connected with the stallion's testicles, making him cry out in agony. It then lashed a fore hoof out which struck him across the face, knocking him back long enough for her to wrench out from his grip and run.

'What the hay is happening?!' Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She attempted to take off into flight, her stomach dropping when she realized she now lacked wings. 'Am I in somepony else's body?!' Her body was wracked with pain as she felt the much larger stallion collide with her, sending her onto her back once more. He screamed at her as he punched her in her face multiple times in succession. She cried and let out screams of pain as he relentlessly pounded her into the ground. She felt several of her teeth break and crack. He relentlessly punched her until she laid back on the floor dazed. Blood and tears flowed down her face as she felt her eye swell painfully. Her jaw, which felt like it was fractured, ached horribly as she groaned. He roughly grabbed her by her mane with his teeth and flung her across the living quarters, tearing some of her mane out and sending her into a tumble.

She tried with all her strength to crawl away from this assailant. She hadn't moved three feet before he grabbed her by her mane again and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Please!" She cried. "Please don't kill me I have a family..." He threw her on the floor.

"You were my only!!!" He screamed loudly, making her flinch. He walked back and forth in front of her, twitching occasionally before screaming again. "I love you!....Get up, Spring." He said. No energy remained in Rainbow Dash's new limbs. She couldn't stand, and her face was so clotted with blood and swelling that she couldn't see anything. He picked her up and handled her in front of him.

"I...I...Please don't do this..." She sobbed.

"I...love...you..." He said, beginning to cry as well. "I always have and I always will. I just...I have to know that you love me....That you love me. It's all I need. Please..." He began to kiss her, moving his tongue along her broken teeth and torn open tongue. His saliva mixed with her blood as she cried into the kiss, thoroughly disgusted. She bit down on his tongue as hard as she could, nearly severing it and making him scream in agony. He punched her head, making her release her grip and fall backward. He picked her up and slammed her mouth on the kitchen table, completely shattering her teeth and breaking her jaw. He then punched her in the ribs and let her fall down as she spat out her teeth and more blood.

"See...Y-you have n-no idea...no idea. What it's like to love someone...love someone so much that it hurts....It hurts bad...It hurts worse than what you're feeling...But I have to try to make it even..." He continued, his speech now garbled by his mutilated tongue. He twitched as he looked down at her. "I have....to set things right..." He then pulled the table over on Rainbow Dash's, or whoever she was currently inhabiting's body, making her cough roughly.

"Pl...Pluh..." She struggled in vain to say 'Please' once more.

"I can make it better for us...I promise..." He said. "Just...you and me..." He grabbed her head in both of his forehooves and held her there as he looked into her eyes. "Goddesses, you are so beautiful..." He grunted and made a motion that made Rainbow's vision blur as she felt several incredibly painful pops in her neck.

Rainbow saw nothing but black. Her mind reeled from the incredible pain she had just endured, as she struggled to comprehend what exactly she had just endured...or who had endured it before her.

_____

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie sat in the waiting room of Ponyville General hospital. The anxiety among the four friends was palpable as they nervously looked around, attempting to find any kind of indication of what might have happened. They all knew for certain that Fluttershy would be alright, but Rainbow Dash had been in bad condition when they had arrived. She had been convulsing violently and hadn't stopped until they were about a mile from the hospital. Once the cyan Pegasus stopped moving, she had shown absolutely no signs of life. She merely laid limp as they handed her over to the doctors who had a stretcher waiting for her.

"Do you..." Rarity began before shakily inhaling. "Think she'll be alright?"

"I don't know, Rarity." Twilight said. "I don't think I've ever seen that happen to Rainbow Dash....let alone anypony else."

"What if..." Pinkie Pie began before sniffling and wiping her eyes. "What if she doesn't...make it?"

"I really couldn't say." Twilight said. "But...I think I know what caused it."

"What?" Applejack asked.

"It was when she flew into the...what are we going to call it?" Twilight asked.

"Monster!" Pinkie Pie cried in anger.

"I'd say entity." Rarity said. "Since we don't know exactly what it is, but it seems to possess some level of intelligence."

"Entity is alright." Twilight said before continuing. "It was when she flew into the entity to protect us. It silenced it, but the entity...did something to her."

"Ah swear, Twilight..." Applejack said. "If Rainbow Dash dies in there...Ah'll...Ah'll..."

"You'll what, Applejack?" Twilight asked her friend with furrowed eyebrows. "Destroy it?"

"Yeah!" Applejack said.

"How would you do that, Applejack?" Twilight asked. "You saw how useless the elements of harmony were against it....it can't be stopped."

"Ah'll find a way!" Applejack cried. "You sound like you're just givin' up!"

"Frankly, Applejack...I am." Twilight said. "If the elements were that powerless against it, there's nothing you or I, or anypony could do at all to stop it!"

"Ah can not believe what Ah am hearin'..." Applejack said, narrowing her eyes. "You saw what it did to one of your best friends... and you're just givin' up?!"

"Applejack! Listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth." Twilight said. "We can't do anything to stop it!" By the end of her sentence, Twilight had moved closer to Applejack. The farm mare pushed Twilight back and threw a hoof into the air.

"You could at least try! Come up with some spell or somethin'!" Applejack said. The tension between the two mares was beginning to build until it was noticeable among all else to everypony in the room, which thankfully was just Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

"It's. Not. That. Simple!" Twilight yelled in rebuttal.

"Stop it!" Rarity nearly screamed, interrupting the two of them. They looked over at usually stately white unicorn to behold a look of anger on her face. "You two are acting like foals! Both of you shut up and try to remember that we're still waiting to hear if Rainbow Dash is even still alive at this point! So sit down and stop this pointless arguing!" Twilight looked at Applejack, and Applejack at Twilight. Regret stained both of their facial expressions.

"Ah'm...Ah'm sorry, Twilight." Applejack said. "Ah'm just stressed and-"

"We're both stressed..." Twilight said. "I'm sorry too." They shared a hug before sitting down once more.

"So..." Pinkie Pie said quietly. "What are we going to do about...the entity?" Twilight Sparkle sighed before sitting back in her seat.

"Well...I suppose I'll have to begin doing research on different spells..." Twilight said before sending a small smile toward Applejack, who blushed and smiled back at her gratefully. As if on cue, Nurse Redheart walked into the room and regarded the four friends.

"How are they, nurse?" Twilight asked, her eyebrows raised in concern.

"Fluttershy's fine. She just suffered a knock in the head. She'll be able to go home tomorrow. And as for Rainbow Dash, she's stable." Redheart replied. "The doctors can't pinpoint the cause of her seizure, but her C.T. scan showed no problems with her brain or nervous system. So they're sure she'll be fine."

"But they can't even guess what happened to her?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"They said that sometimes, the nervous system has small hiccups like any well known power source, and that it's just the nervous system resetting." The nurse said.

"Well...can we see 'em?" Applejack asked. The nurse nodded.

"Yes, but only for a little while." Nurse Redheart said. "They both need their rest." The four mares nodded and followed Nurse Redheart to a room where she stood aside for them.

"Thank you, nurse." Twilight said with a smile.

"I'm just doing my job." The nurse replied with a friendly nod. The four friends entered the hospital room, where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy laid on two adjacent beds. They were both awake and looked to have been in the middle of a conversation when they arrived. Both mares brightened up significantly upon seeing their friends.

"Hey, guys." Rainbow Dash said with a smile. The four friends moved between the two and showed their signs of affection before taking their seats before the two.

"Total bull." Rainbow said. "Fluttershy gets to go home tomorrow and I have to be here for three freakin' days."

"Oh, relax, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said with a small laugh. "You get free ice cream."

"Meh, I've never liked ice cream that much..." Rainbow said with an indifferent shrug. Pinkie Pie gasped exorbitantly before racing up to Rainbow Dash.

"You. Don't. Like. ICE CREAM?" Pinkie said frantically, making Rainbow shrink back uncomfortably with a raised eyebrow, causing everyone else to burst into laughter. Seeing Pinkie Pie back to her hilarious, random, bubbly self set an ease over the everyone present and helped them all to forget what they had all just seen hours previously, if only for a time.

"Geez, Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow said, half laughing. "I said 'not that much.' that doesn't mean I don't like it at all." Pinkie Pie smiled and leaned back.

"Oh, okay!" Pinkie said. "What's your favorite flavor?"

"Does it really matter?" Rainbow asked, causing Pinkie Pie to lean in once more, her eyes widened heavily.

"YES." She said jovially. Rainbow laughed once more.

"Okay, okay!" Rainbow said. Pinkie Pie leaned back away from Rainbow Dash once more and smiled. "I guess it'd have to be vanilla."

"Hey, guys?" Fluttershy said quietly, garnering the attention of her friends. This actually startled the yellow pegasus, as she wasn't used to her friends actually hearing her after the first try. "What happened? All I remember is crying and suddenly blacking out."

"Oh, uh...I could actually answer that better than anyone else." Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her head. "When you were crying, that...thing hurled a candlestick that hit you straight in the head. You were out like a light."

"Oh..." Fluttershy said with a small sigh. "So...about the...thing..."

"We've actually decided to call it...an entity." Rarity said. "To be perfectly honest, I was actually hoping this wouldn't come up."

"It had to come up, Rarity." Rainbow said. "What happened to me and Fluttershy was directly caused by it."

"I know, I know." Rarity said. "I just wish with all my heart that things could...return to normal."

"I understand." Rainbow said. "I wish it could too..."

"So...it just...resisted the elements of harmony." Fluttershy said. "Then...how are we supposed to...beat it?"

"We don't know, Fluttershy." Twilight said. "I suppose I'll begin looking at different spells. There's got to be one of that nature somewhere in my library..."

"Why don't we just try to get Princess Celestia and Princess Luna down here?" Applejack asked. "They've got the most powerful magic in Equestria..."

"They're busy ruling a kingdom right now." Twilight said. "Besides, most of their power against evil stems from the elements of harmony, so odds are that they're magic would be just as effective as mine."

"Ah suppose that's true." Applejack said with a small sigh. "Ah'll help ya look for spells, then."

"Actually, guys..." Rainbow said. "I think I know of a way." This gained Rainbow the attention of everypony in the room. They looked at her expectantly, awaiting an explanation.

"Well, what is it?" Twilight asked.

"What I'm about to tell you guys..." Rainbow said with a sigh. "Isn't gonna be fun to listen to."

"Alright." Rarity said. "Go ahead and tell us."

"Well, we're going to have to go back to the house..." Rainbow said. This earned a gasp from nearly all of her friends.

"Why would we have to go back there?" Pinkie Pie asked with a dismayed frown. "Can't we just...leave it alone?"

"No." Rainbow said. "And I'm getting to the reason we have to go back."

"Well, go on." Rarity said with a sigh. "As much as I'm sure I don't want to hear it."

"After I flew into the...entity, wasn't it? I blacked out..." Rainbow began.

"That's when we found you just convulsing on the ground." Twilight said.

"Right. Well, after I blacked out, I woke up in what looked like the house. But it was like it was new. The hanging lanterns were lit and the floorboards actually looked like they could support something. There was this...stallion there. He was crying, and he kept talking about how he didn't want me to leave him. He kept begging me to stay with him. I tried to tell him that I didn't know him, that I'd never seen him before. But the words wouldn't come out. I said something else entirely. It's like I wasn't in control of myself. That's when I realized that I wasn't even in my body. I...I was in an earth pony's body. It was the entity's body. I heard it talk to me. It said 'Feel.' So then she tried to leave, but he, uh...pulled her back and tried to rape her." Every single one of her friends gasped. Rarity put a hoof over her mouth. "She kicked him off and tried to get away, but he caught her and beat her relentlessly. It happened to her, but I could feel every punch, every strike. Everything that happened to her was happening to me. It was unbelievably painful. He threw her into the kitchen and tried to kiss her, but the body I was in punched him and tried to get away again, but he..." Rainbow shuddered heavily before continuing. "...smashed her teeth in on the kitchen table. The pain was so intense...I've...never felt anything like it. And after that, he snapped her neck."

"So...let me get this straight..." Applejack said. "You're sayin' you were in this entity's body, and you felt everything that happened to her before she was...murdered by this mystery stallion?" Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah. I know how crazy it sounds, but-" Rainbow began.

"Actually, it makes sense." Applejack said, rubbing her chin. "T'would mesh darn near perfectly with everything else that's happened."

"Rainbow, how do you know that it wasn't all a dream?" Twilight asked Rainbow. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you, but the Doctors believe that your nervous system was reworking itself. It's possible that the pain you felt was a result of that bodily function."

"Twilight, what I felt was real." Rainbow said. "Or...at least it was real at a point sometime in the past. My point being that I wasn't dreaming." Truthfully, Rainbow Dash was mildly offended by Twilight Sparkle's comment. The alicorn sensed this and put a hoof up.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Twilight said with a sigh.

"So...please tell me why we'd need to go back to the house." Rarity said with a frown.

"This spirit...it isn't a spirit of hate and malice. It's a tormented spirit of fear and regret." Rainbow Dash said. "This entity...used to be an innocent mare until she was murdered. She was killed in cold blood for whatever reason, and she has to be put to rest...and avenged."

"So I suppose you're suggesting that we go and ask it where its remains are and bury it properly..." Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash nodded with a serious expression on her face. "...and attempt to seek justice for her murder?"

"Yeah, in a nutshell." Rainbow said.

"But how would we know if her killer is even still alive?" Applejack asked.

"We don't." Rainbow said. "But I'm sure that some form of justice can be achieved. We can end this...I'm confident of that."

"...Uhm...If it's...all the same to you..." Fluttershy said. "I'll stay here in Ponyville if you don't need me. I'd prefer never to go near that house again." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"I guess we wouldn't need you for any of that stuff." Rainbow said. "What about you, AJ?" Rainbow asked Applejack, who thought for a moment and sighed.

"Ah...Ah dunno, Dash." Applejack said. "On one hoof, Ah gotta think about my family...on the other, Ah don't think Ah could let this spirit continue in her torment in good consciousness...Ah'll help ya." Rainbow smiled widely and nodded at her friend.

"Thanks, Applejack." Rainbow said. "What about you, Rarity?"

"I, um...I don't think I'll be going either." Rarity said. "I will definitely go there at any time if you do really need me, but I'd prefer to stay here if that's alright." Rainbow nodded.

"Oh, same for me." Fluttershy said. "I'll go if I'm needed."

"Same here, Rainbow Dash." Pinkie Pie said, quickly putting a hoof up. "I just really don't feel comfortable going back...I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said with a small smile. "I understand completely. If I didn't know for sure that she was wrongly murdered, I wouldn't want to go back either." Rainbow Dash then looked over at Applejack, then at Twilight, who stood before her with a small frown on her face. "Well what about you, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm going. I...I promise to do everything I possibly can to help you. If she truly was murdered unjustly, then she does deserve justice." Twilight said before looking at Applejack briefly. "To tell the truth, I wasn't going to go back...ever. But somepony managed to change my mind." Applejack couldn't hide a blush and a smile.

"And besides, who doesn't like a little detective work?" Twilight asked with a small laugh. Rainbow smiled back at her and nodded happily.

"Alright." Rainbow Dash said. "Still, it looks like I'm here for the next three days. After I get out, we should meet in the library and discuss what exactly to do." Applejack and Twilight nodded.

"Right." Applejack said. "Are ya sure you'll be okay, though? Ya had it pretty rough back at the house."

"Honestly, I feel fine now." Rainbow said before Nurse Redheart poked her head into the room.

"I'm sorry, but the doctor would like Rainbow and Fluttershy to get their rest now." She said with a frown.

"Alright." Applejack said. "Ah'll come visit ya soon, Dash." Rainbow nodded.

"Okay." Rainbow said. "Bye you guys."

"Bye..." Fluttershy said. The friends said their goodbyes and left Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the hospital room. Nurse Redheart entered the room and regarded the two of them.

"Again, I'm sorry for running your friends off like that." She said. "Hospital protocols and all."

"I understand." Rainbow Dash said with a small smile.

"Would you two like the light off while you sleep?" Redheart asked.

"Yeah, go ahead and turn it off." Rainbow said. "It's kinda funny. I've been out for the past few hours, but I still feel like I need sleep." Nurse Redheart giggled and reached for the light switch.

"That's actually more common than you'd think." She said. "Goodnight."

"Wait!" Fluttershy said quickly before the nurse shut the light off, earning her attention.

"Yes?" Redheart replied.

"Could you...leave that little lamp over there on?" Fluttershy asked with a deep blush. Nurse Redheart smiled and nodded before walking across the room over to the lamp and turning it on. She then turned the main light off and left, shutting the door behind her.

The lamp cast a pleasant, mild glow across the room that instilled a feeling of peace within Fluttershy. She snuggled in under her blankets and slowly shut her eyes. Sleep had just begun to fall over her as Rainbow spoke to her.

"Pretty crazy, huh?" Rainbow said. "All the stuff we've been through. I'll tell you what, I never even knew stuff like that could happen three days ago."

"Um...yeah." Fluttershy said before turning onto her side. Her mind began moving toward the house and what it contained, and the entity that lurked inside. She thought about how it was once a mare who, according to Rainbow Dash, had been murdered wrongly and brutally. This brought Rainbow Dash to her mind. The cyan rainbow-maned pegasus, still brave as ever, was now determined to put the entity to rest and have justice for her death. She needed all the help she could get, and while she had a lot of help in the form of Applejack and Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel that it still would be just short of enough.

"Uhm...Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy said, catching Rainbow's attention, making her turn around.

"Yeah?" Rainbow replied. "What is it?"

"I'm...going to go with you." Fluttershy said.

"Fluttershy, are you sure?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"...Yes?" The statement tasted a lie as it came from her mouth, but she knew it was what Rainbow Dash wanted to hear.

"Fluttershy, I know you're lying." Rainbow said, making Fluttershy blush deeply and turn away from her friend. "I'm serious when I say that you don't have to come if you don't want to. We don't need the elements of harmony for this."

"But...I feel so useless." Fluttershy said, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Fluttershy, you're not useless." Rainbow Dash said with a small smile. "You had the courage to come the first time when we used the elements. That in and of itself is enough. Besides, I've got Applejack and Twilight helping me out."

"Are you sure you won't be mad at me?" Fluttershy asked, slowly turning around again.

"I promise." Rainbow said. "Now we should get some sleep." Fluttershy nodded and turned around.

"Goodnight, Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said.

"Goodnight, Fluttershy." Rainbow replied.

Sleep enveloped Fluttershy as she felt a burden lift from her shoulders.

_____

Rainbow Dash walked out of the hospital and breathed in deeply, knowing that the task ahead of her was going to take all of her effort to accomplish. She jumped off the ground into flight toward Golden Oaks Library as she continued to contemplate what could possibly happen to her or her friends during their endeavors. In all of her years of living, the pegasus had never once thought that she'd be solving a murder one day. Within two minutes, she touched down in front of Twilight's library and knocked on the door, to have it promptly opened by the alicorn princess.

"Hi, Rainbow." Twilight said. "Come in. Applejack's already here." Rainbow nodded before following Twilight inside and shutting the door behind her. They entered the parlor and sat with Applejack who was waiting for them.

"So where's Spike?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He's down at the farm with Applebloom. Granny Smith's babysittin' 'em." Applejack said. "How ya doin' Dash?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Rainbow said. "Just a little anxious is all."

"I think we're all as anxious as we could possibly get." Twilight said with a sigh. "So Rainbow, what would you suggest our first step in this investigation to be?"

"I've been thinking in the hospital." Rainbow said. "I think first, we should go to the Town Hall and look through the public records. If the murder was discovered by authorities at any time, it would be documented there, right?" Twilight nodded.

"That sounds reasonable enough." Twilight said.

"But what'll they think when they see Princess Twilight Sparkle lookin' through public records?" Applejack asks. "Ah mean, last time Ah checked, Ah've never heard of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna or Princess Cadence riflin' through darn public records to solve a murder."

"That's a good point." Rainbow said. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"If anypony asks..." Twilight thought for a moment. "I'm just working on a little history project. Everypony knows how much I love to study."

"Alright." Rainbow said. "That sounds like a solid plan."

"Guys..." Applejack said with a small. "Just what're we gettin' into?"

"What if we can't solve it?" Twilight asked. "Do we just...let it go and never speak about it again?"

"I've been wondering that too, you guys." Rainbow Dash said. "All I can say is, we're going to find out."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Alrighty, guys! There's that chapter. That opening sequence was crazy to write. I was sitting and thinking for the longest time about how I was going to do it, and I just decided to start writing and let whatever was the product of my horror-loving imagination be what it is. I'm pretty proud of what resulted from that. I must admit, I am extremely excited for what is to come what with the investigation and all. Leave a like if you're enjoying the story and leave me a comment telling me what you think so far! Cheers!