Deathby YofigfulChaptersThe Heart AttackThe SacrificeThe BattleThe Heart AttackPinkie has always been that crazy pink pony who makes everypony smile, no matter how bad there day was. She was sure the party animal, the way she threw her crazy parties! Friends with everypony she was, and most certainly a baker; her treats were so good! Her treats were also so deadly. After the years of giving ponies smiles on their faces, the pink pony simply used her own happiness against her. Oh, those sweet delicious treats she made- she ate too many for herself. Over the years of parties, smiling and making new friends, the effect started to pile up on Pinkie. *** "Clogged arteries?" Pinkie asked as she looked at the doctor. "I'm afraid you've partied too much, my dear. Start eating better or else you have the risk of a heart attack." replied the doctor, a grim look on his face. "B-but! My baked goods make everyone smile and happy! I can't stop!" Pinkie cried. "I'm afraid you will have to, Pinkie. It's for your own health." the doctor sighed. Pinkie's big bubbly mane deflated like a balloon as it went down and gave Pinkie the sad look. "You can go on, Pinkie. Just be careful." the doctor said. Pinkie Pie nodded, knowing what was right. *** "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DASHIE!" Pinkie screamed as she burst into Dash's bedroom. Dash screamed as her Daring Do book flung from her hooves and flew into the air, only to land on Dash's cloud floor, and as fast as it flung from Dash's hooves, the book fell through the cloud floor. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Screamed Dash as the book left the cloud. Rainbow looked at Pinkie with fury. "PINKIE PIE! I WAS JUST STARTING THAT!" "Eh, you don't need that dumb ol' book anyway." said Pinkie as she walked into Dash's room. "What?!" Dash said as she flew towards Pinkie, only to stop a few inches away from her face. "BUT THAT WAS DARING DO!" Rainbow Dash screamed. The yell was so strong it sent Pinkie's mane flying backwards as if she were running in the wind. Pinkie smiled, "You don't need that dumb old because...I GOT YOU THE LIMITED EDITION!" Out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie pulled out the rare Daring Do book. It was printed "Limited Edition" on the side with gold shiny letters. "THANK YOU!" Dash hugged Pinkie and took the book and looked inside, just when the book slipped from her hooves. "NOOOOOO!" Rainbow screamed as she tried to catch it. Pinkie Pie only giggled as Rainbow Dash slammed her face into the book. "I had Twilight cast a spell so it wouldn't fall through the clouds!" her eyes twinkled. Rainbow Dash lifted up her face to only have the book stick to it. Using her hooves, Dash pried the book off, and it flew into the wall and fell on the ground. "Well that saves me a lot of trouble!" Dash said with delight. "I guess it does! NOW IT'S TIME TO PARTY!" Just like she did with the book, Pinkie pulled the party cannon out of nowhere and shot multi-colored confetti that all got mangled in Rainbow's rainbow mane. Both of the ponies laughed when Rainbow Dash suddenly interrupted their joy. "Wait, how'd you get up here?" she asked, tilting her head. "Twilight gave me the spell so I can walk on clouds again to make sure I won't fall like your old book did!" Pinkie Pie smiled. "I wonder where that book is....? Anyway, you said party? Let's go party!" exclaimed Dash. The two ponies walked outside of Rainbow Dash's cloud home. Pinkie Pie went towards Dash's mailbox, where some balloons were tied. "Are those balloons for me?" Dash asked. Pinkie didn't respond. She just stuffed her hooves in her mane, as if she were trying to wriggle something out. Rainbow sighed and rollled her eyes as she walked toward the crazy pink pony. Then she felt something go up her hoof. "OWWW!" she screamed, and lift up her front left hoof to find a needle was stuck halfway through it. Pinkie Pie galloped over to Rainbow and yanked the needle out of her hoof. Since the needle was out, the hoof was bleeding a little. Nothing to be concerned about. Rainbow put her hoof back on the cloud ground. She took her attention back to Pinkie, who was wiping the blood off the needle on the cloud ground. She then galloped towards Dash's mailbox popped about four balloons in her multi-colored-balloon collage. Pinkie untied the balloons from the mailbox and re-tied them to herself. "Let's go!" Pinkie let out a cheerful yell. Pinkie jumped off the cloud and slowly descended to the ground. Dash grumbled on how slow she was taking. Rainbow jumped off the cloud, ready to show how even her slowest flight could still beat Pinkie to the ground. *** "Surprise!" Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight yelled as Rainbow entered Sugarcube corner. "Not really, Pinkie told me we were gonna party." Dash shrugged. Applejack frowned. "Pinkie, it was supposed to be a SURPRISE PARTY!" Pinkie's happy self didn't change, though. "Woops! Sorry! Surprise or not, it's still a party!" Pinkie ran over to a table. "LOOK AT ALL OF THESE DELICIOUS SWEETS WE MADE JUST FOR YOU, DASHIE!" Dash was about to say something, but Pinkie cut her off. "AND LOOK AT ALL OF THESE PRESENTS, TOO! AND WE ALSO GOT ALL OF THE GAMES YOU LIKE AND EIR IWERIEIWERELFEW NEIFL SFLEJSJFLSJF LESJK OESLKE ES" Pinkie was talking to fast Dash couldn't keep up, despite the fact that she was the fastest pegasus in Ponyville. Pinkie gasped, "AND WE'RE ALL HERE TO CELEBRATE!" Dash blushed as her friends swarmed her with hugs. As the ponies let go of Dash, she ran towards the table, munching down the delicious treats. "Hey!" Pinkie cried, "Don't eat without me!" As fast as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie dove into the sweet treats. Applejack made no regret to join in. Twilight looked for a second, then smiled, and dove in with them, too. Fluttershy squealed in fear. "Come on guys!" Applejack said, throwing a peice of cake at Twilight's face. Fluttershy whimpered, but then joined in. She dove deep down under the giant cake, and came back up, the top of her head disguised with cake, she looked over the top and saw Pinkie. She grabbed a peice of the cake and threw it at the back of her head. "Huh?" Pinkie turned around to see nothing but a cake there. Then suddenly Pinkie was sprayed with vanilla frosting! Pinkie turned around and avoided the vanilla sprays by taking each one in her mouth. Rarity stood back, trying to stay clean. Twilight jumped out of the sweet table pile and dragged Rarity in, Rarity screaming the entire way, "LET ME GO TWILIGHT! AHHH!" Pinkie jumped over her vanilla-frosting attacker. She was standing above Rainbow Dash. Rainbow squealed as Pinkie shoved a Pie on her face. Rainbow turned and grabbed a batch of cupcakes and soared them at Pinkie's face, Pinkie catching everyone of them in her mouth and swallowing them whole. Rainbow gasped as Pinkie started to jitter like crazy, her pink mane even poofier than before. Rainbow Dash screamed, "SHE'S HAD TOO MUCH SUGAR!" Pinkie Pie went crazy shoving all of the food she could in her mouth. "NEED-MORE-SUGAR!!" she cried as she accidentally bit Fluttershy's mane as she was hiding behind a stack of pie trying to hit Applejack with one of them. Rarity was already out of the pile, trying to get as clean as possible. "GET OUT OF THE FOOD!" Twilight cried, as Pinkie started to go mega-mad. The other four ponies jumped out as Pinkie pushed her limits in shoving her sugary treats in her mouth. The five ponies were covered in frosting and were exhausted, but Pinkie didn't stop. "I'll get her!" Dash yelled as her frosting-covered wings flapped to get to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie finished off the the last treat when Dash caught her. "She's eaten way too much sugar!" Rainbow Dash said as she plopped Pinkie on the ground. Pinkie Pie felt dizzy, her vision was blurry, and she could swear she just threw up on the floor just a second ago. Her heart beat faster than it should, and she felt soreness in her from legs. Pinkie blacked out. *** "Pinkie? Are you okay, darling?" Pinkie heard Rarity say as she blinked open her eyes. Pinkie awoke in an unfamiliar place. "Huh...where am I?" she asked, then noticed her friends were all clean. "You passed out after eating too much sugar." Applejack remarked. "You were passed out for nearly a DAY!" cried Dash. "You're in the hospital, Pinkie. We wanted to make sure you were okay." Twilight told her. Pinkie suddenly got the flashback of her talking to the doctor. "MY ARTERIES!!!!" cried Pinkie. "Ummm..." Fluttershy said quietly. "With all of the sugar you ate, let's just hope they aren't clogged." grumbled Dash. Twilight elbowed her and whispered into her ear. "We can't worry Pinkie! Keep your mouth shut!" A nurse came in. "We have to do some tests on Pinkie. You'll have to leave." "Bye, Pinkie." said Fluttershy as she walked out. "Get better soon, darling!" Rarity said as she followed Fluttershy. "Hope you get better." Applejack said as she shuffled out. "Bye Pinkie! I know you'll get better." Twilght said as she trotted out. "...Bye, see you later." Rainbow Dash said as she walked out. "Oh um yeah- bye guys!" Pinkie said as she saw them leave, "Bye." Pinkie Pie sighed as she lay her head on her pillow. She looked out at the moon not sure whether she'd ever see it again. "Bye." she told herself, and fell asleep. *** Twilight was cleaning out her library when she heard a knock on her door. She trotted it and opened, to find the mail mare, Derpy. "MAIL FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Derpy yelled. "Yeah, okay." Twilight's horn glowed and she levitated the mail, taking it out from Derpy's hooves. "Bye, Derpy." She said, walking back to her tree home and shut the door. She sort through the mail. "Bills, ad, 'We want you to join us Princess Twilight!', huh? Ponyville hospital?" Twilight opened the envelope. Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away- Twilight gasped, tears formed in the purple alicorn's eyes, but she continued to read on. ...last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time. Twilight ran upstairs. "Spike," she said, waking him up. "Huh? What is it Twilight?" he asked as he saw the tears rolling down Twilight's cheeks. "Pinkie's dead." Spike gasped. "What!?" Spike said, tears forming in his eyes, "B-but!" Twilight wrapped a wing around the innocent crying baby dragon. "It's okay, Spike." But Twilight was crying herself. Twilight felt the tears of the baby dragon roll down her legs. Twilight looked at Spike. We have lost such a good friend, a friend that was very meaningful to us. More tears formed in the young alicorn's eyes as she wrapped her other wing around Spike. Pinkie was dead. *** Angel pounded at the mail slip in Fluttershy's door. It dropped mail all over the spoiled rabbit. "Angel?" Fluttershy asked as she approached. The young bunny grabbed the mail and went over to Fluttershy. "Why, thank you, Angel." Fluttershy smiled at him, and the rabbit hopped away. Fluttershy looked at the first piece of mail to gasp. It was from the Ponyville hospital. Why had they contacted her? Fluttershy opened the letter. Dear Fluttershy, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time. Fluttershy gasped. Her fragile heart seemed to break. Tears formed in her eyes, and she fell on the floor crying. Angel hopped over to comfort her, but that wasn't enough. Pinkie was gone, and she wanted Pinkie. "Oh Pinkie..." Fluttershy cried. She wouldn't take the time to pick up the body- it was too much. She couldn't handle it. Pinkie...dead. The utter thought of it made Fluttershy cry. It happened to soon. Pinkie was gone forever. *** "MAIL FOR THE APPLE FAMILY!" Derpy called out in front of the Sweet Apple Acre gates. Applebloom trotted towards the mail mare and opened the gates. "I'll take that," Applebloom insisted. Derpy's mouth grasped the mail she insisted on giving the young filly, and her head moved towards Applebloom. "Just drop it in my hooves..." Applebloom extended her hooves, knowing from past experiences Derpy's aim wasn't the best. The mail pony dropped the mail a few inches away from Applebloom's hooves. "Woops, my bad!" said Derpy. "Eh, you're improving." Applebloom said as she picked up the mail from the ground. "Bye, Derpy!" Applebloom trotted back into the Sweet Apple Acre gates when she smashed into something. She fell back onto the dirt ground, the mail flying out of her mouth. One particular envelope landed on her face. The "thing" she happened to crash into was Applejack. "Ponyville hospital?" Applejack said as she removed the envelope from Applebloom's face. Applejack carefully opened the envelope and started to read the letter. Dear Applejack, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m.- Applejack gasped in shock, the letter dropped out her hooves, and landed back on Applebloom's face. Tears formed in the orange pony's eyes but she simply blinked them away, but it wasn't long before they returned. Applejack galloped off into the farmhouse. "Applejack?" Applebloom asked as she removed the letter from her face. The young filly stood up and looked around. "Applejack? What's wrong? Where'd ya'll go?" she asked, looking at the possible ways where Applejack could have gone. The young filly wondered, What in the hay is wrong with her? *** "Almost complete!" Rarity exclaimed as she stitched the final stitch in her newest dress. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "AHH!" Rarity jumped in surprise. Her horn had stopped glowing and the needle she was using fell onto the ground. "Sweetie, be a dear and see who's at the door!" Rarity called upstairs to her younger sister. "Sure thing, Rarity!" Sweetie exclaimed as she galloped towards the door. The young filly opened the door to find Derpy standing there. "Hi, Derpy." Sweetie said. "Hi there Rarity's sister! I have mail for Rarity." Derpy's derped eyes fixed on the young filly. "Okay, I'll give it to her." Sweetie said, waiting for the mail to come to her hooves. Derpy grabbed the mail and dropped it all over the filly's head. Sweetie grumbled, and grabbed it all. Then she looked at Rarity, who was way too busy looking for her needle to pay attention to anything else. "Yeah, bye Derpy!" Sweetie exclaimed. And she closed the door on the derp-eyed pegasus. Sweetie looked at the mail in her mouth, and ran up to her room. "Lucky Rarity, I never get mail." she said as she opened the first envelope, and read it aloud to herself. "Dear Rarity, you have been invited to a Canterlot Dress Competition. The winner gets blah blah blah money and- who cares?" Sweetie threw the letter in the trash. She opened the next envelope. "Dear Rarity, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time." Sweetie gasped. "I CAN'T LET RARITY SEE THIS!" Sweetie slapped herself and shoved her hoof in her mouth. She looked at the letter and envelope laying on the ground, and picked them up and shoved them under her pillow. "Not let me see what?" Rarity asked as she took her first steps into Sweetie's room. Sweetie Belle gasped and jumped into the air, "Ahh!" She landed atop of her pillow. "You scared me, Rarity!" "You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" "N-no, Rarity!" Rarity scanned the room. "Why is there random mail in your room?" "I uh-" Rarity trotted towards the mail. Her horn glowed, and using her magic, picked up the mail. "I will read the rest of this mail!" hissed Rarity as she left. Sweetie let out a sigh of relief. That was a close one. *** Rainbow Dash was reading her new Limited Edition of Daring Do that she got from Pinkie, when she heard a knock at her door. Dash grumbled, got off of her couch and walked towards the door, holding the book in her wing. She opened it. "Oh, hi Derpy." "Mail for Rainbow Dash!" Derpy exclaimed, and threw envelopes at the cyan pegasus. "I'm sooooper busy so I'll have to go. Bye!" and the grey pegasus flew away. Dash picked up her envelopes and went back to the couch, and she put Daring Do atop of her belly. She read the mail one by one. Five envelopes later, she found something interesting. "Ponyville hospital?" Dash opened the envelope. Dear Rainbow Dash, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time. "WHAT?!" Dash exclaimed. Tears formed in her magenta eyes. Dash closed her eyes as tears slipped out of them, grasping her book and hugging it to her chest. Pinkie...dead. Pinkie is dead. She is really dead. And the last thing I told her was, '...Bye, see you later.' *** "INKIE! THERE IS A RANDOM PEGASUS AT OUR DOOR! GO SEE WHAT SHE'S UP TO!" yelled Blinkie as she sat on the couch, ready to take a nap. "Fine, fine. But next time guests come you're getting it!" hissed Inkie. She trotted over to the door and opened it. "You got mail." said the pegasus. "Mail? We never get mail!" Inkie hissed at the pegasus. "Well this envelope goes to this adress, so you got mail, congrats!" said the pegasus happily. Inkie grumbled and grabbed the envelope from the pegasus and slammed the door on her. "Get up, Blinkie." Inkie told her half-asleep sister. "Nooooo." moaned Blinkie. Inkie growled and sat atop of her sister. "Augh! Fine!" Blinkie growled. Inkie got off of her sister and Blinkie sat in a normal position next to her sister. Inkie began to open the envelope. "Mail!? We never get mail!" said Blinkie, shocked. "I know. That's what I said. It must be extremely important." replied Inkie. Inkie finished opening the envelope and took the letter out, and read aloud, "Dear Inkie and Blinkie, we are very sad to say that your sister, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to her friends. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her friends may pick up the body at any time." Both Inkie and Blinkie's jaws dropped. "Pinkie's..dead?" Blinkie couldn't believe it. "We're the last two in the family." Inkie sighed. Not a single tear was shed, but rather shock and disbelief was taking over the two mares "Let's go pick her up." Inkie suggested. Blinkie agreed. And the two ponies strapped themselves to their two-pony wagon, off to the Ponyville hosptial. *** "Ah, after a long day, you two are the ones to pick up Pinkie?" asked Nurse Red Heart. Inkie and Blinkie only nodded. "Where will you bury her?" asked the nurse. Inkie and Blinkie looked at eachother, and whispered into eachother's ears. "The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes." They said at the same time. "That cemetery takes approval to put somepony in there." Nurse Redheart reminded. "Oh come on! She saved Equestria, like, four times!" grumbled Blinkie. "Well then, write a letter to the princesses." Nurse Red Heart said, "Find another place to bury her or she can stay here for a bit." "We'll let her stay." the ponies said at the same time. "We'll return once we get our answer." Inkie said. "Well, then. Goodbye for now." Nurse Red Heart said. The two ponies strapped themselves to their wagon, and walked home, with no Pinkie Pie. *** Once the two mares got home, Luna's dark night was upon them. They unstrapped themselves from the wagon and walked inside their dark home. Blinkie lit a candle at the table and Inkie grabbed the quill and paper. "We write together." said Inkie. "Fine," said Blinkie, her tired eyes stared at the paper. Inkie began to write. Dear Princess Celestia and Luna, today we got a letter from the Ponyville Hospital. It said that our sister, Pinkie Pie, has died. we are sure that you both know who Pinkie Pie is, and we think Pinkie Pie deserves to be buried in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes. "You write now." Inkie suggested. Blinkie grabbed the quill from Inkie and began writing. We think she deserves to be buried there because she has helped save Equestria from Eternal Night, Eternal Chaos, A changeling queen taking over, and the Crystal Empire help defeat King Sombra. Please reply as soon as possible. Sincerely, Inkie and Blinkie "You'd make a terrible author." growled Inkie. "HEY!" shouted Blinkie, "What is that supposed to mean?" "Nothing. Let's put this in the nearest post office box or something tomorrow." said Inkie, sealing the letter in a blue envelope. And the two mares went to bed. *** "What's this?" asked Princess Celestia as she looked at the mysteriously blue envelope. She read, Dear Princess Celestia and Luna, today we got a letter from the Ponyville Hospital. It said that our sister, Pinkie Pie, has died. we are sure that you both know who Pinkie Pie is, and we think Pinkie Pie deserves to be buried in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes. We think she deserves to be buried there because she has helped save Equestria from Eternal Night, Eternal Chaos, A changeling queen taking over, and the Crystal Empire help defeat King Sombra. Please reply as soon as possible. Sincerely, Inkie and Blinkie Celestia hid her emotions, though nopony was around. Iit came natrually to her after having to remain strong for over 1000. Though she has felt that she has died a little on the inside. The element of laughter. Gone. The princess grabbed her quill and started to write. My dearest subjects, Inkie and Blinkie, I write to you to accept your request. Pinkie Pie is worthy of being buried in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes. Sincerely, Princess Celestia Celestia put the letter in a blue envelope just like the ponies who sent it, and sent the envelope away. Celestia then realized she has written only two sentences. "Well, I need to work on that.." she told herself, and went back to her work. *** Rarity walked into the Ponyville hospital. "Hello there, what can I do for you?" asked Nurse Red Heart. "Hi there, I am wondering if it is okay to see my friend, Pinkie Pie?" The nurse gave Rarity a cold look. "...No?" Rarity guessed. "Didn't you get the letter?" the nurse asked. "What letter?" Rarity asked, a bit worried. "Who are you, to be exact?" asked the nurse. "...Rarity..." Rarity said with caution. "You should have gotten a letter two days ago. Did you get your mail that day?" "Yes, I read it on the same date, too. There was no 'letter' from here." The nurse sighed, "Well I hate to tell you the hard way... Pinkie Pie is dead." *** "SWEETIE BELLE!" Rarity screamed. Sweetie trotted downstairs with caution. "What were you hiding from me two days ago?!" Rarity screamed again. "Umm..." Sweetie said, looking down. "TELL ME NOW!" Rarity shouted into her ears. "Okay okay! I hid a letter from the Ponyville hospital! Pinkie's dead! I'm sorry! I didn't want you to be hurt!" tears rolled down Sweetie's face. "Well you should of have TOLD ME!" Rarity hissed. Sweetie cried harder. "I-I'm sorry Rarity! I didn't mean to!" Rarity's face softened, seeing the pain in Sweetie's eyes. Rarity's ears went back, her eyes slanted up, and she frowned. "It's okay, Sweetie." Light tears were going down Rarity's face. Sweetie Belle looked up. "I am a terrible sister." Sweetie sniffed. "You're not, Sweetie." Rarity wrapped a hoof around her younger sister. "We can go visit Pinkie at the cemetery once she's buried there. Her funeral is in three days, do you want to go?" asked Rarity. Sweetie nodded. "Okay, then we'll go." THE FUNERAL The five friends sat next to eachother as they saw Pinkie laying down in her coffin peacefully. Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo were sitting next to eachother. Applebloom was telling her tale of how she found out Pinkie died. "'Applejack? What's wrong?' I asked. Applejack looked up at me, tears rolling down her face. She was sitting in her bedroom. I trotted over to her. 'Applebloom, it'd be unwise of me to hide it from you. So I gotta tell you the truth.' Applejack said. 'What's the truth?' I asked. 'The truth is, Pinkie Pie died.' I gasped, slight tears rolled down my cheeks. 'Hey sis, it's okay.' I told her, 'One day, everypony's time will come.' Applejack looked at me. 'I know, but the time came too soon.' she said. 'It always seems like that, doesn't it? Be glad you enjoyed Pinkie by your side while you had her. You were quite lucky to have her as a friend.' I said. Applejack looked at me. 'You're right, 'Bloom.' she grabbed me, and said. 'Please, I need the comfort of another pony. Can you spend the night with me?' 'Sure.' I said. Eventually, we both fell asleep on her bed." Just then Twilight came up for speaking. "Pinkie Pie was such a good friend, it was a shame to lose her.." But Twilight could say no more. It was too painful. Apparently, the other four had thought the same. The only thing they could do was cry. Out of nowhere, Celestia appeared. "Am I late?" she asked. "No, we're just starting." replied Inkie, somewhere in the seats. "I shall speak." said Celestia. "Pinkie Pie was a very important pony in Equestrian Society. She has left a history mark on the entire world, and without her, disharmony would occur. But now, Pinkie's time has come to leave us. And therefore, she shall be honored and buried here, in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes." Twilight went up next. "Although I am pained, my respect for Pinkie is great, therefore, I must finish my speech. At first I thought Pinkie Pie was a very annoying pink pony, who did nothing but party, but there was more to her than that. She had a big heart, and I love that about her. I knew her for short years compared to my other friends, but I can easily say, I knew Pinkie well." Next was Fluttershy. "Umm..." she squeed, "Whenever I was sad, Pinkie would make me smile. And that's what I liked about her. She made friends with everypony." Fluttershy quickly left the stage crying. Next was Applejack. "I can honestly say Pinkie was the laughter and joy to all of us. She may of had parts of her life that were sad, but I'm glad Pinkie made us smile, making her smile for the most of her life. I've known Pinkie the longest, and I oh do miss her. I hope she is at peace." Then came Rarity. "I love how Pinkie Pie always inspired me to keep going, and even at my most frustrating times, she would make me happy. I love how she would celebrate our friendship instead of acting like it is nothing to celebrate about. Because, honestly, right now, I feel like we should celebrate that Pinkie was our friend and we were so lucky to have her." Lastly of the friends, Rainbow Dash. "Pinkie Pie's personality is such a rare one. I mean, you don't see a pony that can make friends with everypony she sees everyday! She was really good at pranks, and whenever we pranked someone, she would make the person she pranked smile, too. Pinkie was a great friend, and I'm really hurt she is gone." Then Inkie and Blinkie gave a short speech about their sister. "We were so happy to have our sister. Our rock farm was sad and boring until she found happiness deep in her heart." said Inkie. "Yeah! Seriously. She was the first pony to make me smile." said Blinkie. Eventually, other friends gave speeches about Pinkie. Then the time came, to bury her. The coffin shut and lowered deeper and deeper into the ground. The ponies had to pull back tears. They all had one thought on their mind, and the thought saddened them. Pinkie was going into the ground, and she was never, ever coming out. She was never going to be able to make them smile anymore. She was never going to see her friends again. Dirt piled upon the coffin Pinkie was in, until it was full that it made it look like nopony was buried there. The gravestone went atop of the ground Pinkie was buried in, with her element of harmony now inside it, and only the balloon part showed. Pinkie will never wear that necklace again. There was another thought going throughout all of the ponies' minds. Goodbye, Pinkie Pie. I miss you. The Sacrifice2 weeks later The sun was starting to set in in Equestria, and Luna's moon slowly crept up. Fluttershy sighed as the sun's bright light reflected on Pinkie's element of Harmony, giving it a happy glow. Fluttershy sat there until the the sun set, and Luna's moon was in the sky. Fluttershy looked at the element. "I miss you, Pinkie." But Fluttershy knew that she must go, she had work to do. She slowly got up, and walked away from the Tombstone, and out of The Canterlot Cemetery For Lost Heroes. Light tears rolled down the yellow pegasus's face as she walked to the nearest train that lead to Ponyville. She looked back at the cemetery, now thinking she left Pinkie alone. Pinkie must be very lonely in there. The thoughts slipped away from Fluttershy as the Train Engineer demanded bits for her ride back to Ponyville. "Two bits, please!" the Engineer was starting to get impatient. Fluttershy took out two of the four bits she had with her, and gave them to the engineer. She sat down on the left side of the train, getting a perfect view of the cemetery. Soon enough, the train started to pull away and Fluttershy was forced further and further away from Pinkie Pie. *** Angel impatiently stomped his foot as Fluttershy walked inside her cottage home. "I know you all want dinner. I'm sorry I was late." Fluttershy apologized. She grabbed all types of food; bird, cat, dog, rabbit, etc, etc. For being rude, Fluttershy was going to give Angel his food last. First, she poured the dog's food. There was only two dogs; or puppies, in Fluttershy's cottage. She found them together abandoned in Fillydelphia a few weeks ago. She then fed the birds, but to prevent total chaos, had the birds sit in their cage and get their food one at a time. Then was the cats. Just like the dogs, Fluttershy had very few cats, only four. She put the cats' food in one big giant bowl so they could learn to share. Then she went to the rabbits' section, and poured them their food, but Angel had to sit in his cage. Fluttershy stepped outside to feed the chickens and pigs, and then she heard a rustle come from somewhere. "Huh? Who's there?" she asked. Nothing happened. Fluttershy shook her head, and walked inside, and gave Angel his food. She then settled all of the animals in their cages to go to sleep, and walked upstairs to go sleep in her own bed. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep. AROOOO! HISS! BECAW! SNORT! SCREAM! (just incase you didn't know, rabbits scream like little girls when they're scared.) All panicked sounds of different types of animals came from everywhere. Why are they making these noises?! Fluttershy thought as she got out of bed. She trotted downstairs. Nothing was there. Why were they panicking? AHHH!" Fluttershy screamed as she felt herself be slammed against the wall. She cried, looked up, and saw a grey unicorn wearing a mask. Defentily a stallion. His horn glowed a scary black, and with his magic, holding a blade. Fluttershy gasped as the unicorn approached her.Her wings opened and she took off to the ceiling. "What do you want?!" she asked. "I want you, Fluttershy." he said in a raspy voice. "What?! Why?!" asked Fluttershy. The pony only responded, "You have a way with animals, my dear. If I have you, I can capture some of the smartest show dogs and get my money's worth!" Fluttershy gasped and her eyes widened, then her eyebrows slanted downwards. "NO!" She flew over to her kitchen and grabbed the biggest, sharpest, knife she had. "Leave me alone!" she hissed, "OR ELSE!" The unicorn charged after her. Fluttershy flew up and back down and stabbed the pony in the back, barely missing his spine. The pony turned around and bit Fluttershy on her hoof. Fluttershy squealed, took the knife out of his back and let the blood run out. She then turned around, so she once again faced the unicorn. "We don't have to fight. Just come with me.." the unicorn said. Fluttershy growled and charged after the unicorn. She aimed for his chest, but missed it, and stabbed his fron arm. The unicorn stabbed Fluttershy in her flank, causing blood to run out over the three butterflies on her. She took as much advantage of this as she could. She kicked her back hoof, that was also attached to the bloody flank, and hit the unicorn right under his chin. He pulled back. Fluttershy soared towards him and her two front hooves hit the front of his chest. He fell backwards. Using his magic, he flung himself upwards and pinned himself down on Fluttershy, using his hooves to pin down Fluttershy's hooves and wings. He put his blade up to her throat. Fluttershy gulped, but could not think of a way to escape. What Fluttershy has not noticed before was that the unicorn was wearing saddle bags. Out of the left saddlebag, he took out a rope with his magic and wrapped it around Fluttershy, keeping her hooves and wings in while still having the blade to her throat so she couldn't scream. He then brought out duct tape and wrapped it tightly around her muzzle. He lifted the blade off of her throat and used her magic to pick her up. He then galloped into the Everfree, where he had a one-pony wagon. He put Fluttershy in a giant box behind the place where the unicorn would pull. He opened a door in the back of the box and threw Fluttershy in, then closed the door. He strapped himself to the wagon, and started to pull Fluttershy further and further away from her home. *** Fluttershy awoke in what seemed like a jail cell. The ropes were off her, but the duct tape was still wrapped around her mouth so tightly her hooves wouldn't be able to take it off, infact, she tried to. A stallion, not the same one from last night, came up to her cell. He was a big muscular Earth Pony Fluttershy defentily didn't want to mess with. He had ponies attached by the hooves and neck with chains, which reminded Fluttershy of what King Sombra did. The Earth Pony was holding the next pair of chains, ready to hold in it's next victim - Fluttershy. Fluttershy obidiently came up to the Earth Pony and let him chain her. Fluttershy looked ahead; ponies of all types. Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus, stallion, mare. They stopped by a few more cells and picked up more ponies. They then walked into a large room, and it looked like a medieval torture chamber. Fluttershy noticed a stallion; he was a black pegasus, with eve a more black mane, cuts and bruises all over his body from bloody fights. His eyes were bloody red, as if from so much fighting they were stained over time. Fluttershy lowered her head in fear, and observed more her surroundings. The front of the chain was chained to a pole. "You're probably all wondering why you're here..." Fluttershy heard the stallion say. The stallion looked at the crowd of ponies tied to the pole, and the crowd of ponies reflected his gaze. "Money. We need it. You should feel honored, all of you ponies have very special talents that we could use. So you will stay here for as long as we need you." the stallion said, "Any problems?" Fluttershy thought about how her animals could be in danger of starvation, but didn't want to take the chance of them doing something bad to her animals. Everypony else remained silent. "Very well. Workers, unchain the ones we need right now." The workers unchained a few pegasi, three female, two male. "You are all of my athlete pegasi. You will stay with us, and compete in competitions so we can win money, that's if, if you do win." Fluttershy suddenly thought of Rainbow Dash. But she knew that Dash was way too good of a flyer for them to even catch. The same strong stallion that brought them here brought them back to their cells. As they were walking back, Fluttershy heard a vicious scream. "LET ME GO!!!" She looked over to see somepony familiar. Lightning Dust? The pony was strapped to a wall, she had duct tape around her mouth, but it was ripped. "YOU ASSHOLES! LET ME GO!" she screamed. The stallion ignored Lightning Dust and put everypony else back in their cells. Fluttershy watched as the stallion grabbed something off the wall; is that a whip? Fluttershy thought. He unlocked Lightning Dust's cell and started smacking her with the whip. Lightning dust whinnied in pain, but he only hit harder. Fluttershy could tell Lightning Dust was in great pain, but she was refusing to show any sign of weakness. The stallion walked out of the cell and grabbed duct-tape, and wrapped it tightly around her mouth. Fluttershy uncomfortably went to the corner of her cell and tried to sleep. *** Fluttershy awoke again. She got few hours of sleep, and she heard her stomach grumble. She tried removing the duct-tape, but it was still tight around her mouth. She then heard hoovesteps go around the hallway of jail cells. A different pony, an Earth Pony mare, was pulling a cart of food. She stopped at a female unicorn's cell first. "Come here. I won't hurt you." she said. The unicorn walked up to the front of the jail cell like an abused caged animal. The Earth Pony brought out a knife, and the unicorn backed away from the cell doors, trying to illuminate her horn in defense, though she couldn't. "We put a gel on all of your horns while you were still unconscious. Don't worry this knife is only to cut off your duct-tape so you can eat." The unicorn walked back up to front of the cell, and let the Earth Pony mare cut off the duct-tape. The Earth Pony slid a bowl of moosh in the cell, and the unicorn looked at her and spoke, "What is this?" "Beats me. I'm not the cook." The unicorn eyed the food, and hesitantly began to eat. The Earth Pony stopped at different cells and began to repeat the same process. She stopped at Fluttershy's cell, feeling sorry for the scared Pegasus. Fluttershy didn't want to come up, but her hunger got the best of her and she allowed the Earth Pony to cut her duct tape off. She then ate. The food wasn't good at all, but who cared now? If this is what she had to eat, she'd eat it. After the Earth Pony left, Fluttershy could hear Lightning Dust swearing to herself and biting her jail cell bars in effort to break them. Nopony was in the mood to talk to eachother, so the only noise was Lightning Dust's banging. Eventually a pegasus stallion walked into the jail cell, and stopped in front of Lightning Dust. "Listen," he said in a deep, dark voice. "Come with me. Do not try to escape. If you are too much of a problem, we will have to execute you." Lightning Dust's eyes widened in fear and she followed the pegasus with her head lowered. Fluttershy was about to go sit in the corner of her cell when she heard the same voice, "You are coming with us, too." Fluttershy squealed in fear, but followed the pegasus and Lightning Dust. They went into a small office, and the familar black pegasus greeted them neutrally. The other stood guard by the door. "You both have a mission for me. You need to capture the grand show dog, Tiana. Fluttershy screamed in her mind, No! She has heard about Tiana, the star show dog. She won nearly every beauty pageant she's entered, and for the last two years, a non-stop streak. "Why do you want Tiana?" Fluttershy asked in fear. "Money. We're going to hold the dog ransom." Fluttershy shuttered at the fear of doing such a crime. "And why would we do such a dumb thing?!" Lightning Dust hissed. "Would you like to be killed?" asked the pegasus. Lightning Dust shook her head, but then screamed, "You should work for your money!" "Nah." said the pegasus, "I'm Steal Stuff." "Steal Stuff?" Fluttershy asked, keeping her humor inside of her body. "That's my name, yes. I come from generations of ponies who did one thing; steal." "Now," said Steal Stuff. "Here's the plan. There's a finale dog show tomorrow, and we need to get Tiana before that time. Right now she's in her mansion in Canterlot." "How do you know this?" asked Fluttershy "You want me to reveal all of my information, don't you?" asked Steal Stuff, "If I reveal too much, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you after the job is done." Fluttershy squealed in fear. "Now, you...blue one-" "Lightning Dust." Lightning Dust hissed. "Lightning Dust goes to the mansion first and with her skills, gets around everything she needs to and grab the dog. Of course the dog will wake up and freak out, so thats when the yellow one comes in to calm it down, and you bring the dog back to us, and your job is finished." said Steal Stuff. Fluttershy didn't dare tell Steal Stuff her name. "Now, you both understand your job?" asked Steal Stuff. The two mares nodded. "Good. You will be leaving at 10 tonight. I expect you both to at most be back by midnight." "You will locate this mansion. It is white, with many flowers, most being yellow and purple. It has exactly five floors. Walk out this door at ten exactly, not one minute before, not one minute after. You will both go back to your cells." The pegasus pony at the door took them back to their cells, where Fluttershy realized there was a hole nearly the size of her mouth in there. "Hello?" she said into the hole. A sudden big yellow eye came up, blocking the light from the hole. "Ahh!" Fluttershy screamed, and flew back to the opposite side of her cell. "Hi there, Fluttershy!" a friendly and familiar voice yelled. Fluttershy went back and looked in the hole to see the mail mare, Derpy. "W-Why are you here, Derpy?" she asked. "Dunno. They said something about me being an experiment." Derpy said. Fluttershy gulped. Why would they want to experiment on Derpy? "Why?" "They said something about my eyes being odd. Are my eyes weird?" Derpy asked. Fluttershy knew how much Derpy would feel out if she kept pointing out the flaws of her eyes, so she said, "N-No. Not at all, Derpy." "Okay!" Derpy cheered in her normal, happy voice. Fluttershy looked at a clock installed on a wall. 10:46 a.m. Why are they so confident me and Lightning Dust will return? Of course we'll escape once we get the chance, she thought. The same Earth Pony mare returned. Isn't it a bit early for lunch? Fluttershy thought. Then she realized that she was collecting plates, and then she realized something else. She was putting the duct tape back on. One unicorn stallion bit her on the hoof when she tried to attach the tape. Fluttershy noticed how she pressed on a button near the wall. Is she opening the cell? Soon enough stallions of all races came in. One big strong muscular unicorn held a whip. Oh, no. With the outnumbering of ponies, the imprisoned unicorn was slammed to the wall and chained there, where he was whipped, and the duct tape was put around his mouth. The Earth Pony mare had a bandage around her hoof. So that's what the buttons are for...to call down misbehaving ponies! "Any objections?" the mare asked as she came across another unicorn stallion at the next cell. He shook his head, galloped to the front of his cell and let her duct-tape him. She took away his plate. Surprisingly, Lightning Dust made no trouble, and allowed the mare to wrap the tape around her muzzle. Once the mare got to Fluttershy's cell, Fluttershy thought of how eager she wanted the freedom to talk, and even move her jaw. But she didn't want to have the mare hit the button next to her cell wall and have Fluttershy be whipped like the poor unicorn did. She didn't gallop to the front of her cell, but rather walked. What's the rush? She let the mare wrap her muzzle with duct tape. The mare spoke to her. "You don't even need duct tape. You're quieter than a mouse." She then went over to the next cell without looking back. Fluttershy eventually found herself just staring at the clock. Tick, Tick, Tick 12:07 Tick, Tick, Tick 12:08 Fluttershy had found herself growling in frustration. This wasn't her. Everytime a pony passed by the cells she was eager to slam on the bars and tell them to let her out. Fluttershy spread her wings and flew at the cell door, trying to get herself out. Derpy looked through the hole at Fluttershy. She's gone crazy. Fluttershy realized how much her freedom was to her, and this was the first time ever. She wanted her freedom again, and she wanted it now. She opened her jaw and felt the painful but sweet sensation of it rip. Fluttershy moved her jaw, and whispered a few words to herself. She had broke free. Only from the duct tape. Fluttershy went towards the cell bars and started pulling back with her teeth, as if she were playing tug of war. As she was pulling, she then realized every other pony in the cell was watching her, with one note to her on all of their minds. It's useless. Then hoovesteps came down the hallway. It was the Earth Pony Mare. "Lunchtime." she said. She was cutting off the duct tape of the ponies, when Fluttershy realized she would notice the ducttape unwrapped around Fluttershy's mouth. Fluttershy tried wrapping the duct-tape back around her mouth but it looked like hardly any job was done at all. When it was Fluttershy's turn to receive food, the Earth Pony made another comment; "I must have not done a good job with your tape...oh well, you don't need it." and she cut off the rest of the tape. Fluttershy got her bowl of moosh and began to eat, when she noticed something on the mare. A vest. And attached to that vest was... keys. Normally, Fluttershy would finish her food and sit back and cower, but now she's gone half crazed, and she was willing to do whatever she could to get out. Fluttershy reached her hoof farther and farther toward the keys. EARLIER THAT DAY "Fluttershy promised she'd be here." said Twilight, concerned. "She's probably busy tending to her animals, her usual 'I'm late' excuse." grumbled Dash. "It's been quite a couple minutes since the picnic started..." Applejack said, "And at this location, Fluttershy's cottage is the closest to us." "Do you think she's alright?" Rarity asked. "She's fine!" Dash exclaimed. "I'd rather go check on her. Maybe we'll come by her as we go towards her house. I just wanna make sure she's not having any problems." Twilight said. "Fine, but we're wasting time doing this!" Dash growled. Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash with concern, "Twilight's right RD, Fluttershy is usually the first one here after Pinkie..." An awkward silence swept through the air. "...Let's go." Twilight said, breaking the silence. The four ponies trotted towards Fluttershy's house. As they approached, it seemed like a zoo. Animal screams were heard throughout the house. "She must be having BIG problems if her house is sounding like that." Rainbow Dash said nervously. Applejack knocked o the door. "Fluttershy? Ya'll home?" No response. After a few more tries, the four mares decided to just walk in. They all gasped at the scene. "Oh, yuck!" Rarity yelled as the smell of animal poop wafted in the air. "Is that...blood?" Rainbow Dash asked as she went towards the floor, inspecting a suspicious red stain. "That's blood alright." Twilight said, concerned. Rarity fainted at the sight only to be caught and shaken awake by Applejack. "Whatever happened, Fluttershy either made blood spill or spilled her own blood." Rainbow Dash said. "Probably both..." Twilight remarked. Twilight took lead. "Okay, guys, I have a plan. Applejack and I will feed the animals and clean the cages,Rarity looks for any signs of Fluttershy's disappearance, Rainbow Dash, look everywhere for Fluttershy. This includes the Everfree forest! Pinkie Pie-" Another awkward silence filled the air. "GO!" Twilight screamed, once again, breaking the silence. The ponies went to work. *** Fluttershy grasped the keys and ended up slamming the mare into her cell doors. In surprise, the mare turned around but Fluttershy slammed her again, desperate for the keys. The mare extended her hoof to hit the button of doom. Fluttershy slammed her again. The mare let out a scream. Suddenly the keys flew out of her vest and into Fluttershy's cell. Fluttershy grabbed the keys, and then she realized the mare had hit the button of doom. No! Fluttershy quickly ran to the front of the cell and tried to get the key to unlock herself, while the mare lie on the floor, back aching. The door unlocked. Fluttershy grabbed the mare and threw her into the cell, slammed the door, and then she was locked in. Fluttershy could hear the steps apporach faster. Fluttershy unleashed her wings and flew throughout the hallways, holding the key in her mouth. When she realized it would be no more of use, she dropped it, and she heard a voice scream, "MY EYE!" Fluttershy soon realized she was underground, and soared up a pair of stairs and shoved open a door. The entire prison was like a giant cellar. The sun's warmth shone on her yellow coat, and she soared into the air as fast as she can. Soon enough, there were other pegasi following her. Fluttershy panicked as they approached faster. Then suddenly, she felt something wrap around her body, stopping her wings from flapping. Fluttershy lounded with a loud thud. Dust exploded around her, and she could hear the coughs of many ponies. Once the dust cleared, Steal Stuff slowly trotted up. Once he was close enough, Fluttershy could only see his dark hoof. "You're in big trouble, yellow one." he said, and turned around. "Take her away." Fluttershy felt herself being lifted with unicorn magic. and being carried back down to the prisons. She was literally thrown back in her cell. "Blood Break is dead!" a pony came galloping up to the group. "What?!" Steal Stuff asked, then looked at Fluttershy. "You're innocence is gone, yellow one! You killed her!" He looked back at the other pony. "How'd she die?" "Severe brain damage. No way I could save her. She died within about two minutes when I got her out of this cell." He pointed at Fluttershy's cell. Steal Stuff looked at Fluttershy, but said nothing. 1:32 Has it really been that long? The crowd of ponies began to descend when the same strong unicorn that she fought earlier wrapped duct tape around her mouth. Fluttershy had caused an awkward silence throught the prison cells. Nopony talked. They didn't want to talk. What could terrifying Fluttershy could do next? Fluttershy fell asleep, thinking I'm a killer. *** Fluttershy awoke on her bed. She checked the clock. 2;30 p.m. It was just a dream. She walked downstairs, seeing her animals happy to see her. And she was happy to see them. Angel hopped over to her, hungry and grumpy. She pet him. "It'll come soon, Angel Bunny." Then she realized how soft, how soozing his fur was. And how she wanted to stroke again and again. The young rabbit tried to scurry away and Fluttershy stroke him more and more. "No, no, Angel." Fluttershy said as she kept on petting him. She then realized how much she wanted to keep his soft, soothing fur forever and ever, and never let it go. If the rabbit starves from me holding him so much, I will be stroking a smelly corpse, Fluttershy thought to herself. "Oh Angel, come with me, I'll feed you first." In no regret, Angel followed. Fluttershy and Angel went into the kitchen and saw blood stains everywhere. She thought in her mind, Did the dream I have really happen? Fluttershy then realized what a thrill it was to fight, to see blood spill. To represent her victory that she did. She then loved blood. She wanted to see blood that she made come out. She set Angel on the table. Fluttershy again thought to herself, I want to see blood spill, to see what beautiful work I have done. "Here, Angel," Fluttershy said grabbing the same, thick, bloody knife as she remembered from the battle. (Which she had not cleaned.) "Hold still!" Before the rabbit could respond, Fluttershy sank the knife into his soft, fragile body. Blood spurted from the dying rabbit's chest as it hit Fluttershy's face. Not only has the sight of blood made her feel alive, but the feeling of it splashing on her face did. Fluttershy licked around her mouth. And the taste, too! Fluttershy continued stabbing Angel, seeing the blood and feeling the blood and tasting the blood. Soon enough she could smell the blood; which smelled better than anything to her. Blood, she loved it. And the only way to get more was to work for it. *** "Get up, yellow one." she heard a voice say. Fluttershy woke up startled, she looked up at Steal Stuff. "We need to talk." Steal Stuff looked at Fluttershy as she followed him. They went into his office. "You know, yellow one. I am not mad at you for murdering Blood Break. Infact, I'm fascinated. I underestimated you. You even took out Metalhoof's eye." Fluttershy thought of how she dropped the keys when she made an attempt to escape. "Even almost escaping has impressed me, yellow one. I want to know; would you like to be an assassin for us?" Fluttershy gasped. More blood! "Sure!" She said in delight, without thinking. Fluttershy then stopped herself. What monster have I become?! There was no going back now, though. Steal Stuff already acknowledged the offering. "Good After your first mission tonight. Get some rest, yellow one. We are getting along well. Perhaps you'll become a friend to me." Fluttershy uncomfortably went back to her cell thinking how she would become friends with such a horrid pony. Perhaps Fluttershy was a horrid pony, too? Was this really who she was? Fluttershy looked at the clock. 6:27 Her first mission was in four hours, and she had a plan to make it her last. *** "It is time, yellow one." she heard Steal Stuff say. Lightning Dust was by his side. "You are going to leave in ten minutes. Let me give you the supplies necessary." Steal Stuff said. *** Fluttershy and Lightning Dust soared out the door with their supplies. "Where are you going, Lightning? Canterlot is this way!" Fluttershy said over the wind. "I'm not heading towards Canterlot!" Lightning Dust hissed, "I'm heading for freedom!" Of course. Fluttershy did remember her strive for freedom as she remembered escaping "Let's go. Quickly." Fluttershy said. The two ponies soared side by side. Fluttershy would never be able to keep up with Lightning Dust's average speed, so Lightning flew slower than usual. Atleast they were both on their way to freedom. *** "Just as boss predicted, Metalhoof." Wingburn said to the one-eyed pony. Metalhoof looked at the pure red pegasus. "Go at them, Wingburn." Wingburn took off into the sky, carrying a net in his mouth. *** "...Who's-" Lightning Dust started, but then got cut off by Wingburn soaring into her side and pushing her into a cloud. Fluttershy gasped. "How DARE YOU?!" She flew over to Wingburn and slammed him in his side, causing him to fling away. Fluttershy heard a loud thud. Lightning Dust flew back towards Fluttershy. "I seriously thought he was gonna kill me. If there wasn't a way out, I would have suffocated in that cloud." "I think I killed him..." Fluttershy said quietly. Suddenly a loud roar of wind came as Wingburn soared to the two pegasi and threw the net at both of them, entangling their wings. "AHHH!" They both screamed as they fell towards Earth. Fluttershy grabbed at the rope and started to viciously bite. "What are you doing?!" Lightning Dust, sure those would be her last words. "Setting you free!" Fluttershy cried. Fluttershy thought of her goresome thoughts and how she loved them. I don't want to die being a monster! "And how will you set me free?!" Lightning Dust screamed "By having the rope all to myself!" Fluttershy screamed Suddenly, part of the rope tore off of Lightning Dust's wings, but there was no time to get the other half of the rope off Fluttershy's. Lightning Dust soared after Fluttershy. "No! Don't save me!" Fluttershy screamed. Lightning Dust looked in confusion, and attempted to grab Fluttershy's back hoof but ended up being kicked in chest. "Go!" Fluttershy screamed. She looked at the ground. She realized she would be hitting water. It would only be a few seconds before she hit. This is it, she thought. Goodbye. life. Goodbye, friends. Goodbye, everything. Goodbye, me. I'd rather die a non-psycopath than one. Suddenly, Fluttershy felt her body impact on the water. It was cold, and the impact was so hard pain went surging throughout her body. Her eyes opened in shock. While it wasn't even a fourth of a second, it felt like an hour. It was supposed to be quick and painless. But she's never expreienced such pain before. Her body quickly spilled blood, her bones broke. Too much damage happened to Fluttershy to ever save her. She saw a bright light, and felt herself leave the pain. Forever. *** "It's been THREE DAYS. THREE!" Cried Rainbow Dash as the four ponies met up at Twilight's library. "I did the best I could do, Rainbow. I contacted the Ponyville police, I even used one of my tracking spells. She's nowhere near here." Twilight said. "I have to agree with Rainbow, Twi. Wouldn't ya'll get a little suspicious if Fluttershy was missing for three days?" asked Applejack. "So right now all we can do is put up more flyers on Fluttershy being missing?" Rarity asked, impatient. "I guess, so, Rarity. Because Twi here can't use her egghead brain to think of any bright ideas." Dash replied. "Let's just go-" Twilight started, but then the doorbell rang. "Is it Fluttershy?!" The three other ponies asked in hope. "I don't know, girls! Let me open the dang door." Twilight grumbled. The door opened, there, she found a green unicorn mare holding mail. "What, an accidental mail mix up? I don't blame you, Derpy-" The unicorn interrupted her. "Ah, no. We haven't been able to find Derpy for days. Usually I do Manehatten services, but since they have all that fancy technology, mail isn't really popular there anymore." "How long ago did she go missing?" Twilight asked. "About three days ago, possibly four." the unicorn said. "Odd, that's the same time our friend went missing." Rarity excalimed. The unicorn shrugged. "Oh, well. Probably just a coincidence. Just take your mail, please. I'm busy." Twilight took the mail using her magic. When she shut the door, Twilight and her friends looked at the newspaper. Dash asked, "Did they put our 'Missing' poster in there?" "Let me see..." Twilight flipped through the paper. "Wait Twilight-stop!" Rarity hissed. "Why?" Twilight asked, impatient to find their friend's 'Missing Pony' poster. "Look here. 'Dead Pegasus Found in Canterlot River'." Rarity replied. "Whoa!" Applejack exclaimed, "ya'll don't see that in the front page of the paper everyday." "Okay. I'll read it aloud, then." Twilight said. " 'I was just fishing, when I felt something tugging on my line. It felt big and heavy. I knew fish weren't that heavy down in this river, so I reeled it in and there was a dead body of a pony.' a local Canterlot pony, Fish Reel, claims, 'We don't know who it is. It was defentily a full grown mare, and a pegasus.' Applejack interrupted Twilight's reading. "That's odd. Ain't a full grown mare and a pegasus a little suspicious to ya'll?" asked Applejack, but nopony wanted to reply. Twilight continued to read. "This pony has a yellow body and light pink mane. If anypony knows who she is or why she is dead, please contact Canterlot Investigation Team with mail, or visit them at 786 Loral Drive." - ss. Writer, Bean Mc Goolb" An awkward silence went throughout the ponies. "Fluttershy...dead?" Rainbow gasped. "...Let's go, girls." Twilight announced. The ponies stepped out of Twilight's door and made their way to Canterlot. *** "Twilight! I'm back from shopping! I-" Spike stopped talking when he realized nopony was in the treehouse. "That's weird..." Spike said, looking around. "Hoo!" a mysterious voice said. "It's me, Owlicious!" Spike exclaimed. "Hoo!" Owlicious came into view holding the newspaper. "What? Were you reading the news?" Spike asked, and chuckled. "Hoo!" Owlicious shoved the newspaper in Spike's face. "Fine, fine I'll read it." Spike began reading. His eyes went back and forth as he read the first articale. Spike gasped. "Fluttershy!" *** Twilight and her friends burst into the Canterlot Investigation Team HQ. "How may I help you?" A pony came up to them and asked, but then bowed, seeing princess Twilight. Twilight sighed. She didn't like how she got this kind of attention all of the time. "We know who the pony is, that died in the river. She's our friend Fluttershy." Twilight said. "Is she, princess?" the pony gasped. "I'm sorry for your loss. Here, let me talk with you all." And she trotted toward her office. *** Spike burped out a letter. He opened and read, "Dear Twilight and Spike, just instantly, I received news about a pony dead in a river. This sounds a lot like Fluttershy, your friend. Please find out. I am sorry if you had to receive the news this way. Sincerely, Princess Luna "Luna?" Spike said to himself, "Either way, I might as well write back." Spike wrote. Dear Princess Luna, I have heard of the news. I'm not sure if Twilight has, I came home to find I'm the only one here. Sincerely, Spike He sent the letter. "Where is Twilight...?" *** "What is THIS!?" Steal Stuff asked. He shoved the newspaper into Wingburn's face. "You IDIOT! I SAID TO CAPTURE THEM IF THEY TRIED TO ESCAPE, NOT TO KILL THEM!" "Master- I don't even know if the blue one is dead!" Wingburn cried. "I liked the yellow one better!" Steal Stuff hissed, "I WAS BEFRIENDING HER! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! WE COULD SAVE OUR PRISONS FOR OTHER PONIES!" Steal Stuff shouted. "If you were befriending her, how come she attempted to escape?!" Wingburn asked. "She probably followed the blue one!" Steal Stuff hissed. "What if she didn't master?" Wingburn asked. "She would learn to trust me anyway!" Steal Stuff hissed, "I never got to learn her name! Get the pony who captured her." Steal Stuff hissed. Wingburn trotted to get the grey unicorn whom captured Fluttershy. "What is it, master?" The grey unicorn asked. "The yellow pony's name.." Steal Stuff started, "What was her name, BearStrike?!" "Fluttershy, master." The grey unicorn replied. Steal Stuff's pupils shrank. A flashback soared into his mind. "She's beautiful..." Steel said as he saw the new pony sit down at her desk at Cloudsdale Elementary School. "Maybe I can make friends with her." "Class, this is our new student, Fluttershy. We will be nice and kind to her." the teacher, Miss Notin said. "Now Fluttershy, right now it's time for writing. I'll have a partner help you. Is anypony willing to help Fluttershy with writing?" A A few ponies raised their hooves, Steel raised his eagerly. "Steel, you can help Fluttershy." Miss Notin said. Steel went over to Fluttershy's desk. "Hi, there. I'm Steel." Steel said happy at the beautiful pony. Fluttershy whispered, "I-I'm Fluttershy." "Did you say something?" Steel asked. Fluttershy didn't respond. "Well, welcome to Miss Notin's Kindergarden class. Let me help you get started." Steel Stuff smiled, and started explaining everything to Fluttershy. *** "I'm..I'm moving, Steel. To Ponyville." Fluttershy said to Steel, her best friend since Kindergarden. "What?!" Steel exclaimed, dropping his sandwhich on the lunch table. "N-no, Fluttershy! Please stay!" Steel cried. "I'm sorry...its just..my aunt Posey has to take care of me, now..today's my last day." Fluttershy sighed. "B-but, we're only half way through second grade!" Steel cried, "Stay with me, Fluttershy! I'm sure my parents will love you! It's-" "I'm sorry, Steel. It's just...things have happened and I'm not allowed to tell." Fluttershy said. Steel sighed. "Fine... but one day, we will see eachother again." *** Fifth grade. Fluttershy hasn't been here since second. "Welcome Fluttershy, class." Mrs. Montio said. "Hi, Fluttershy." Everypony in the classroom said. Steel gasped. It was Fluttershy! It was really her! Once lunchtime rolled around, Fluttershy felt a sudden pounce on her back. "Ah!" she squealed, and turned around to see her old friend, Steel. "Steel? Is that you?" Fluttershy asked. Steal nodded. "I knew one day I'd see you again!" he said cheerfully. "I do recognize some other ponies in this school." Fluttershy said. "Great! Want to sit with me at lunch?" asked Steel. "Sure!" Fluttershy said. She grabbed her own tray and they sat down. "So how was third and fourth grade?" asked Fluttershy. "Fine. It'd be much better with you here, though. Fluttershy, why'd you come back?" asked Steel. "My aunt Posey divorced my uncle ScarredWing." Fluttershy said, "Scarred Wing was a pegasus. I moved back with him, to here. Posey was an Earth Pony, so that's why I couldn't stay." "Well I'm glad you're back, Fluttershy." said Steel. "So am I." Fluttershy said, and she smiled at him. *** Second year at Cloudsdale Junior High. 7th grade. "We have a lot of class periods together, Steel." Fluttershy said. "Yeah, except for math and social studies. But that's okay." Steel said. "Yeah. Oh well." Fluttershy said. *** "Class, take a seat please anywhere. Find a partner for our lab project." Mr. Oy said. "Want to be my partner?" Steel asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy responded, "Always, Steel, always." *** "Gah! Stupid math homework! I'm so dumb, Fluttershy. I'm not afraid to admit it. I still have 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and college course math classes to go through, yet I can't understand this stupid crap!" Steel growled. "You're so lucky my uncle isn't home, Steel. He'd tell you to shut up so meanly you'd be afraid to come back over." Fluttershy chuckled. Steel made a nervous laugh. "Uh, okay. Yeah." "Let me help you, Steel. It's simple. I'll do an example problem." Fluttershy wrote on the back of her homework sheet. "See? Simple. I'll write a problem for you to figure out." Fluttershy said. She wrote a problem. Steel figured it out easily. "Sorry my handwriting is so sloppy." he said. "That's okay, Steel. Most boys do." Fluttershy chuckled again. Soon enough, they finished their homework. "So...you have no TV, right?" Steel asked. "No. 'Uncle thinks it's brainwash." Fluttershy chuckled yet again. "Why are you laughing so much?" Steel asked. "Nothing.." But this time, Fluttershy laughed even more than before. Steel thought to himself, am I making her laugh? Fluttershy brought out a radio from her closet. "We can listen to music." Fluttershy turned on the radio. "Ooh! This is my favorite song!" Fluttershy exclaimed. She stated doing a little dance. Steel remembered the thought of when he first saw her... the most gorgeous mare ever. She moved so elegantly, her mane swayed side to side.. Fling! Steel saw his wings open. And they were stuck. "Oh no..." he said. He went to find the bathroom. He locked the door. "Go-down-you-stupid-wings!" Steel said as he tried to push his wings back to normal. With many tries, he finally got them normal again. He went back out, Fluttershy was still dancing. He hoped she didn't see that. That'd be awkward. The song ended. "Why didn't you join me?" Fluttershy asked. "I uh-I can't dance." Steel said trying to his lying eyes. He actually never knew how to dance. He never really cared. "Let me show you, Steel." Without asking him,she grabbed Steel by the hoof. The next song came on. "Okay, just move your hoof like this..." Fluttershy said, "Good...now..move like that-wait, no! Wait!" But it was too late. Steel fell atop of Fluttershy. His face went red. "Oh uh-sorry!" he said. "It's alright," Fluttershy said. She got up but knocked her head under his chin. "Agh!" She said, she backed away and faced Steel. She's never been this close to Steel. Like Steel, her face went red and she backed away. They sat there in silent awkwardness until the song ended, and the commercials came on. Fluttershy turned the radio off. "Well, wanna get something to eat or something..." Fluttershy said, trying to get rid of the awkwardness between them. She started to make her way to the kitchen. You've had a crush on her ever since first grade, Steel. It's about time you told her.. he thought to himself. "Uh, Fluttershy?" Steel asked. Fluttershy was halfway through the door way. "Yes?" "Uh...Fluttershy, I've..I've always l-liked you since I met you..." "Well, of course. Once we made friends, I've liked you since then." "N-no..it's more than that, Fluttershy...I-I love you." Fluttershy turned over to face Steel. "You really do?" "Y-yes." Fluttershy walked towards Steel. "I've been waiting forever for you to admit it, Steel." "You knew?" "Of course I did. Boys are so obvious." Right then, she took Steel by his neck and slammed his lips into hers. Steel's eyes opened wide in shock, but then closed them in ease as he felt Fluttershy's soft lips touch his. After about a minute, she let go. "Fluttershy..." he said, "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend silly!" she said, smiling. "...Yeah. I was gonna ask that." The front door of the cloud aparment unlocked and Fluttershy's uncle ScarredWing came inside. Fluttershy and Steel looked at eachother and just laughed. That was close. The high school years were all one happy blur for Steel, until the last year. *** "I'm moving back onto ground, Steel. After I graduate." said Fluttershy. "What?!" Steel asked, "I'll come with you, Fluttershy!" "You can't. You belong in the sky. You need to put your talent to good use, Steel. I'm no good at flying, I belong on the ground where all the animals are. I wouldn't waste your life just so I can enjoy mine even more." "B-but, does this mean we're done?" "No," Fluttershy said, "One day we will see eachother again, Steel. One day." *** Steal Stuff flashed back into reality. "MASTER!!!" BearStrike was yelling. Wingburn and BearStrike were waiting impatiently. "You are dismissed." Wingburn and BearStrike left without a doubt. Steal Stuff closed his office door. More memories flowed through his mind. The school year ended. "Why, out of all the ponies, FLUTTERSHY HAD TO BE THE ONE TO GO DOWN TO THE GROUND?!" Steel screamed. "Steel?" A hoof knock was on his bedroom door from his father. "Go away, dad." But his dad opened his door anyway. "What's wrong, Steel?" "Nothing." "You are my son. I know when something is wrong with you. Now tell me. Become a man." Steel sighed. "Fluttershy is leaving." "Ah, your girlfriend. You can never trust mares, they are pieces of garbage." Steel growled, "You sexist asshole!" and he pinned his father to the bed. "Let me go, Steel! I am your father!" "No! You didn't know Fluttershy like I did! She said we'd see eachother again - she promised!" "Ah, but will you still be in love with Fluttershy when she sees you again? Will she still love you?" asked Steel's Father calmly, despite the fact he was pinned down. Steel's eyes widened. "She will no longer love you the next time you see her!" scolded Steel's father. He slipped out and pinned down his son, "It's time to inherent what's been going on in the family for generations..." "No! NEVER!" Steel hissed. "Oh yes. You have MY BLOOD, Steel. and everyone who shares OUR BLOOD has one thing they must do. They must steal, they must do crimes. Listen to me, son. If you don't, I will make you." Steel slipped from his father's grasp. "No! I'm not a criminal! It's not me!" Steel cried. His father pinned him down. "You shall inherent your new name, Steel. Your name shall now be called Steal Stuff. You will take on the newest generation of burglary in Equestria. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" "No!" Steal Stuff hissed. "Yes," his father replied, "Welcome to the family, Steal Stuff." Steal Stuff shivered as he snapped back to reality. The mare he loved was dead. He walked out into the hall. "You're all going free." One by one, ponies flew and galloped out of their cells. "BOSS!" Wingburn screamed, "Now they all can tell the princesses!" "I know. They can. I can't forgive myself for the crimes I have done to these innocent ponies." He grabbed a knife. "Goodbye." And he slit his throat. *** Twilight inspected Fluttershy's body. "It seems she died once she hit the water. She didn't drown." "Ah, okay." The piny said. "I don't need approval to do this; I'm burying her in the Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes, right next to her best friend. "Ah okay, here, take a temporary coffin." the pony said. She placed Fluttershy gently in the coffin, and the ponies took her over to the cemetery, a trail of tears followed them. Twilight's horn glowed, and suddenly Spike appeared. "New spell I'm working on..." she told her friends. She looked at Spike, eyes dry with tears. "Wha-?! Oh hi, Twi." Spike said. "Spike, take a letter please." "Sorry Twi, no paper or quill." Twilight's horn glowed and a quill and paper appeared. "Write what I say, okay?" "Okay." "Dear Princess Celestia, my friend, Fluttershy, has died. We wish you ask to hold a small funeral tomorrow." Instantly, Spike burped out a letter. All it said was, "Yes." ONE DAY LATER The funeral was smaller than ever. It only had Celestia, The four friends, Posey, and ScarredWing. "Any speeches?" Celestia asked. Rainbow went up first. "Fluttershy was awesome..really. I am so shocked from her death that tears are hardly even coming out. I know sooner or later they might...I just hoped Fluttershy isn't as shocked as us. I hope she's at peace." Then Applejack. "Fluttershy was kind to the core. I appreciated her alot. I'm devistated she's gone." Then Rarity. "It's a shame to lose such another good friend. I know everpony's time comes, and I'm glad we enjoyed Fluttershy while we could." Lastly Twilight. "What can I say, really? Fluttershy was another extremely good friend of mine and I'm so sad she's gone. May her heart rest in peace." Princess Celestia nor Scarredwing or Posey made a speech. The four friends sat next to each other crying. Fluttershy, the kidness to their souls, the shy small pony with a really big personality. She was gone forever, slowly lowering deeper into the ground, next to one of her best friends. Fluttershy would never be able to show her kindness and care to her friends again. Maybe she will be able to show it to Pinkie Pie. The Battle11 months later "Hello, Miss Lightning Dust." A voice echoed off the dark walls of the cave. "Huh?! Who are you?!" Lightning Dust scrambled out of her sleeping bag and lit a lamp. Hoovesteps echoed off the walls and they only seem to be getting louder and louder. In the dim light, Lightning could see a pony emerge. It was her old Wonderbolts Academy Buddy; Rainbow Dash. Lightning let out a sigh of relief. "What do you want, Rainbow?" "I want answers, and I want them now." Rainbow said as she stopped walking and faced Lightning. "Answers to what, exactly?" Lightning asked. "You were captured and you were with my friend. WHAT HAPPENED?" Rainbow asked. "How do you know this?" Lightning asked, but didn't wait for an answer. She soared at Dash. Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, pulled out a knife, and landed on top of Lightning ponning her down. The blade was held against her throat. "Easy there, tiger." Dash commented. "Ugh! How do you know this?!" Lightning cried. "If you're that eager, then I'll let you know. Derpy told me." Rainbow said. "Ugh! Fine! I'll tell you the entire thing if you leave me alone!" Lightning cried. "Good. Now talk." Rainbow growled. Lightning explained the entire thing. She didn't dare miss a single detail. She even told Rainbow how Fluttershy went mega-mad and killed a pony. "What if," Rainbow started, "I don't believe you?" "I swear it's the truth, Rainbow! If you don't believe me, then don't, but either way it's the truth!" Lightning cried. "So about that part," Rainbow started again, "Why didn't you save Fluttershy?" "She didn't want me to! She even kicked me in the chest when I tried! See?" Lightning pointed at her chest with hoof marks in them. "And my wing! See how it's a bit torn? That's from the rope she pulled off." She pointed to her left wing. Rainbow sighed. "Fine. But don't think I won't find you again." She let the knife of Dust's throat and backed away, then put the knife away. "You won't find me again." Lightning growled. "Oh, I will," Rainbow Dash growled back, "And I will come back for a good reason." and the rainbow pegasus took off into the night sky. *** Rainbow Dash went back to her cloud home and looked at the clock. It was about 3 am. She has been gone since 7 am. Her stomach rumbled and she went to open her fridge to get a snack. She pulled out some left over Hay-Sandwhich. Rainbow trotted towards her couch and ate there, knowing after she'd eat she would eat she would fall asleep. Rainbow was chewing on her Sandwhich when she saw her mail on the floor. After eating, she picked it up and set it on her table and went up to bed. She might as well read tomorrow. *** Rainbow Dash walked downstairs and made herself breakfast, and opened the mail. Bills, bills, bills. When she noticed something odd. One envelope had a sticker of her favorite Wonderbolt's cutie mark, Soarin. She opened up the letter. Dear Rainbow Dash, ever since you have finished the Wonderbolts Academy, we have been putting in ponies we decided to add on to our team. Congratulations, you're one of them. Write us back if you accept. Sincerely, Spitfire - Captain of the Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash dropped the letter. She shook her head. What if it was a scam? Rainbow Dash took her chances and flew over to Twilight's tree house. *** "Don't be so gullible, Rainbow." Twilight said, "It could be a scam." "That's exactly what I thought. But I'm taking my chances." Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight. Twilight changed the subject, "Did you find Lightning Dust?" "Yep. I'll only tell the story and the information if you have Spike write a letter back." Twilight groaned, "Fine..." "Spike, come here please." The purple dragon ran over to Twilight, "Yes, Twilight?" "Supposedly, Rainbow here got an invitation to join the Wonderbolts. She wants you to write a letter back for her." Twilight told Spike. "Wow! Congrats, Rainbow! Anyways, I'll get started." Spike grabbed a paper and quill. Rainbow began talk, "Dear Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts, OMGOMGOMG! YOU REALLY WANTED ME TO JOIN THE WONDERBOLTS?! THANK YOU! OF COURSE I WILL! YOU'RE SOO AWESOME!!!! Your newest member, Rainbow Dash" "You got that, Spike?" "Yep." he sealed the letter in an envelope. Rainbow snatched the letter and flew away to put the letter in her mail box. "Wait, Rainbow! You have to tell me what Lightning Dust said." Twilight growled just as Rainbow was about to fly out the door. "Oh, that." Rainbow said. Rainbow Dash began talking, "When I finally tracked her down..." *** "And that's everything she said." Rainbow finished. "Interesting..." Twilight said, but she said no more. "...Soo, can I go now?" Rainbow asked. Twilight said one word, "Yes." *** Rainbow Dash slammed the envelope in her mail box and put up the red stick, to show there was a letter needing to be sent. It was still pretty early in the day, about 11 am. Rainbow Dash thought about all of the possibilities that could happen when she became a Wonderbolt - if it wasn't a scam. Rainbow Dash had always been skeptical of these things, and the last thing she needed was some asshole ponies pranking her into thinking she was in the Wonderbolts. Whether a scam or not, Rainbow Dash still wondered what it would be like being a Wonderbolt. Sure, professional flying, defending Equestria (when needed) and putting on shows, and competing with other teams across Equestria, like Lightningbolts; which were her favorite next to the Wonderbolts. But the reason why Rainbow Dash loved the Wonderbolts the most was because they were the best. And they also originated in Cloudsdale, where she grew up. Rainbow Dash wondered if Ponyville would ever get their own "bolt" team. Since Ponyville was way too small and rural for a flying team, there was none. But in the recent years, since some of the greatest villains like Nightmare Moon and Discord did their evil acts in Ponyville, it was becoming more and more popular and populated. Not to mention her best friend, Twilight, was a princess, and she lived in Ponyville. Heck, even if this whole Wonderbolt thing is a scam, Rainbow can start her own Ponyville flying team. That'd be awesome. With all of the Wonderbolts thoughts, Rainbow hasn't realized how much time has passed. She finally snapped out of it within 3 hours of thoughts. "You're getting too hopeful, Dash." Rainbow Dash told herself. She rarely talked to herself, but right now, it was necessary. Rainbow Dash's stomach grumbled. She hasn't eaten since about ten a.m, and right now it was three p.m. She walked over to her fridge and ate whatever she found. To pass the time, Rainbow flew around Cloudsdale to see what was going on. The usual. Busy city. Shopping, ponies talking, flying. She remembered how she flew around with Fluttershy all the time here. Then it felt as a knife of sadness stabbed at her heart. Maybe I should visit them. Rainbow Dash landed on the fluffy clouds to think. A flight to Canterlot would take about ten minutes at my speed. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took off towards Canterlot. *** "Hi, guys." Rainbow Dash said as she approached her two deceased friends' graves. Obviously, neither of the ponies said hello back. Rainbow Dash sat down between the two graves. "Hey guys, I-I might be joining the Wonderbolts! Isn't that great?!" No reply. "I'm talking to dead bodies. What have I become?!" Rainbow Dash cried to herself. But deep down in her heart, she knew they were more than dead bodies. They were ponies she once knew, once loved (in a sisterly way, of course.) and once made good memories with. In those dead bodies, there was once a pony with her own personality, her own uniqueness, her own talents and she had things that made her special. And those spirits will never leave Rainbow Dash's mind. Death may take away her friends, but it will never take away one of her most powerful tools. Her memories with them. Rainbow looked at the two gravestones. "I will never forget either of you, ever. But I have to go." Rainbow Dash said, tears rolling down her face. She wasn't talking to dead bodies. She was talking to the bodies that once held the spirits of these ponies, and hopefully, she was talking to the spirits, too. *** The next day, Rainbow Dash got only one envelope from her mail. It held the same Wonderbolts sticker. Excitment went throughout Rainbow Dash's body. She opened the envelope. Dear Rainbow Dash, Good! Meet us on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at the HQ. Sincerely, Spitfire-Captain of the Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash dropped the Wonderbolts letter for the second time, and gasped in delight. She knew this wasn't a scam. This was sent straight from the Wonderbolts HQ. She flew around her cloud home, grabbed Tank, and flew into Ponyville, Tank tightly wrapped around her hooves, under her chest. Dash slammed open Twilight's door. "Yah!" Twilight exclaimed, dropping a test tube, with odd green luquid now bubbling on her floor. "RAINBOW!!!" Rainbow flew in and plopped tank on the ground. She took a deep breath, "HEYTWILIGHTCANYOUBELIVEITIGOTACCEPTEDINTHEWONDERBOLTSOMGOMGOMGOMGSOIMIGHTBEBUSYSOTAKECAREOFTANKFORTHEWEEKKAYTHANKSBYE!" And she flew out as quickly as possible. Twilight stepped outside and looked and watched the rainbow pony fly away. She then looked at Tank. "She wants me to take care of you, huh? I'm sure Fluttershy would be her first choice if she were here..." Twilight told Tank, though she knew the tortoise did not understand. Twilight remembered on how Discord came to Fluttershy's one day, and the ponies had to break the news that Fluttershy was dead. Twilight was pained by the normal mischievous expression on Discord's face turned into a wobbly frown, and though Discord did try to hide it, Twilight could see tears forming in his eyes. His ears folded back. He did one thing Twilight never has seen Discord do. He flew away. Twilight never discovered how, but that wasn't one of her problems now. Later on, the ponies needed to find other ponies wiling to take on Fluttershy's animals. A majority of farm animals were sent to Applejack's farm. Twilight thought of how cows in the human world were farm animals used to eat, and they really had no relation at all with pony-humans. Cows were cows. Ponies were humans. What a strange world. Twilight shook her head. She was going to give herself a major headache. She switched her mind to the thought of giving the animals away. Many of the garden ponies took in kittens and puppies, one even took in a rabbit, despite them being 'pests' to the gardeners. Cheerlie took in a bird, and it's now a pet at the schoolhouse. What seemed like forever to give all of the animals away, they were finally taken in by other ponies. They even had to stop ponies in their tracks and ask them if they wanted a pet while they were shopping for who knows what at the Ponyville market-stands. Twilight snapped back into reality. She scanned the room for Tank, but could not find him. "Wait a minute..." Twilight turned around, and there was Tank licking the odd-green liquid inside the test tube. "Oh, no!" Twilight exclaimed. She levitated the tortoise into the air and placed him on the floor on the opposite side of the room. "That's poisonus! No!" Twilight galloped over to Tank and began inspecting him. "Oh please, please be okay! Rainbow would kill me if you weren't!" *** "And this," Spitfire said, left hoof wrapped around Dash's back as they walked into Spitfire's office, "Is my office." Rainbow covered her nose. "AUGH! WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!" "Probably drugs, y'know." Spitfire replied. "Yeah..I could tell." Rainbow Dash's eyes watered and she looked at her obviously stoned captain. "Doing drugs isn't a good idea, especially being the captain of the Wonderbolts and all." "Chillax, Rainbow. Today's Saturday afternoon. I only let mahself do drugs from Friday night. And then I do drugs again da next mornin'." "Well aren't you scheduled?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Why the BUCK would you do drugs in the first place?!" "'Cause I can!" Spitfire exclaimed. She let go of Rainbow Dash and collapsed on the floor. Rainbow Dash walked over to the desk and saw different kinds of drugs. "Some of this stuff isn't even legal, ma'am!" "I know Dash, chillax, ...BUT HELP ME UP PLEASE." Rainbow Dash helped her stoned captain up. *** "That was Everfree thorn poison!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why would you be working with THAT?!" Spike exclaimed, trying to get Tank to throw up. "I was trying to find a cure! You know how many more ponies like to be stupid in the Everfree forest these days!" Twilight galloped around her science table and started mixing random heal medications together. A beaker filled with liquid medicines she was working with exploded. "It's no use!" Twilight cried, looking at the now very ill tortoise. "Try a spell!" Spike exclaimed. "There is no spells, Spike! I've checked all seventy-two healing-spell books before I even started the experiment!" "What about Zecora?" Twilight facehoofed. "Of course! I'll watch Tank. Go get Zecora, quick!" Spike dropped tank and ran out the door. Twilight ran back over to Tank, who was now looking half-dead. His normal green color was grey. His eyes were bloodshot and had a red tint in his pupils. His tongue was dry and hanging out of the side of his mouth. "What made you even want to drink that, Tank?" Obviously, no response. Twilight just wished Fluttershy were here. Tank wouldn't be surrounded by dangerous chemicals. He'd be safe in Fluttershy's cottage. Pinkie Pie would make him happy, and better than he ever was originally. But nothing can be perfect, can it? *** Rainbow Dash galloped to a nearby Wonderbolt. "Why does Spitfire do drugs?" The pony looked at her with confusion. "She only tells her most trusted members. Why'd she tell you? Did someone else tell you?" "No...she told me. She showed me. Now tell me, please." "She's struggling a lot in life. She's planning on retiring soon and doing another job until she gets to old to work at all." "Oh..." Rainbow Dash said, keeping her emotions in. *** "This is your cabin." Said one of the Wonderbolts' staff as she led Rainbow to her room. "Do I have a roommate?" Rainbow asked. "Yup. StormChaser. She's a new member, like you." Rainbow Dash gave a nod and walked in, holding a bag of supplies she brought with in her mouth. "See you, and good luck with your career." The staff-pony went trotting down the hallway. Rainbow Dash saw a bed on the other side of the room with random things all over it. "Guess that one is taken." Rainbow Dash said to herself as she headed towards the opposite bed. Rainbow Dash walked into her temporary cabin. "Man...I'm a Wonderbolt..." She said to herself as she plopped on her bed. She looked up at the ceiling. Paintings of pegasus ponies in Wonderbolt uniform. It's crazy how far she'd come. And at such a young age. She was not even twenty years of age. Only about a month after she got out of high school she met her most recent friend, Twilight. Wow, time flies. She never bothered going to college. It was too expensive, and only rich Canterlot ponies could afford it. In fact, most Canterlot ponies didn't even GO to college, it was that expensive. But being a Wonderbolt didn't require a degree, so Rainbow couldn't be happier for where she was. Okay, maybe she could be happier. If Pinkie and Fluttershy were alive, if her parents weren't so motherbucking far away, and she didn't have a drug-addicted leader. But nothing can be perfect, can it? Suddenly she heard an announcement through a speaker: "All new recruits please report to Spitfire's office! Immediately!" Rainbow Dash took off instantly. She wasn't going to miss a second of this. Of course, Dash was the first to arrive in Spitfire's office, which was fairly easy to get to, since the door had a giant decal of her cutie mark on the outside of it. "Hey there, newbie. Wheres all your friends?" Spitfire asked "Frien-" Rainbow Dash began, but was cut off by the opening of a door and a panting male pegasus came walking in. Soon enough three other ponies came in with eachother, two mares, one stallion. Spitfire gave those three a look that seemed to say: "Go faster next time, you lazy bums." Spitfire began speaking, "I'm here with you today to begin on how long you will be staying here. About a week. Today through Friday. You will return for events like competitions and shows. In case you didn't know already, you will be sharing a cabin with somepony else. Storm Chaser and Rainbow Dash will be sharing one, Brick Breaker and Vice Vortex will be sharing one, and you, Blizzard, you'll be sharing a room with one of our more older Wonderbolts. I'm sure you all know where your cabins are. Do you?" Everypony nodded. "Good! Now do what you want for the day, but tomorrow, we're getting to work! You are excused!" Everypony quickly filed out of Spitfire's office. *** "I once had a creature that was a victim of Thorn Poison too, but unfortunately, there was nothing I could do." Zecora said as she studied Tank, "Twilight Sparkle, you must tell your friend, that soon this tortoise's life will come to an end." "No!" Twilight cried, "Please Zecora, there has to be something you can do!" Zecora looked at Twilight, sorrow. "I have worked with Thorn Poison myself, but I could not find any cure that was on my shelf." Twilight sighed. She watched as Tank began to look worse and worse. Twilight scooped him up and cradled him in his arms. "Shh, it's okay..." She could feel Tank's heart beat begin to slow down. His breathing slowed down. Twilight looked as his eyes began to close, and the tortoise seemed to tense. Slower and slower the breaths and beat were...the more tense the tortoise got. Soon enough they got so slow, there was no more. Tank began to slowly feel cold. Twilight didn't feel a heart beat. She didn't hear any breathing. She gently placed Tank on the floor. Spike and Zecora looked at Twilight with concerned eyes. Twilight only nodded. "Rainbow Dash is going to be gone until Friday, and it's Sunday. What do I do?" "Why don't you go tell her?" Spike asked. "I don't want to possibly ruin her career. I'm not sure if you know, but she really, really loved Tank. Knowing about his death can possibly ruin her entire job." Twilight answered. Spike shrugged, "She'd find out eventually." Twilight sighed again. "I just..." *** "So, you're the pony who did that sonic rainboom?" StormChaser asked just as Dash was getting into bed. "Uh, how'd you know?" Rainbow asked. "I was there." StormChaser replied, annoyed. "Oh." Dash said. "So when do you think you'll retire?" Storm asked curiously. "I just became a Wonderbolt. You too." Dash replied, and yawned. Storm Chaser sighed, "Spitfire's retiring." "I know." Dash sighed, too. StormChaser walked over to the window and looked out. "Sad, isn't it? I wonder who will take her place." "I'm guessing Soarin'." Rainbow Dash said, knowing the colt's amazing history. "Soarin? Oh, that guy. Yeah. Cute, isn't he? He became a Wonderbolt at fourteen. It was under the age limit." StormChaser said, staring at the moon. "Yeah. The age minimum is eighteen, I know. But actually, he started as a staff the first year then since he was so good at flying himself they decided to make him one at fifteen. Lucky colt." Rainbow said, slightly jealous. "I think he just turned twenty a few weeks ago." StormChaser remarked. "Yeah he did. I'm turning twenty later this month. How old are you?" Rainbow asked. "Nearly twenty one. In August I will be." Storm Chaser said, starting to crawl into her bed. "So only a few months...huh." Rainbow Dash said. "Yep." StormChaser said blandly, "Well I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." "Goodnight." "Goodnight." *** Applejack piled dirt upon the coffin "Whew," she said, "Well now Tank gets to be with his little...critter friends." Twilight lifted up a fancy gravestone with her magic and placed it in front of the spot where Tank was buried. "We won't get in trouble for this, will we, Twilight?" Rarity asked. "No. The Ponyville Bank may own Fluttershy's property now, but Fluttershy always wanted animals to be buried next to eachother, so they can live in peace." Hopefully Fluttershy's living in peace...and Pinkie...I know she's in peace, wherever she goes. Twilight thought. "We should get going. It's getting dark." Rarity remarked. In silence the three ponies walked with each other. Soon enough they split and went on their own paths. *** "WAKE UP!" A loud, agressive voice blasted through the speakers. Rainbow and StormChaser groaned. "What time is it?" StormChaser asked. Rainbow looked outside. "Probably around 5 a.m. Celestia's sun hasn't risen yet. StormChaser groaned again. The pony speaking into the speaker spoke again: "NEWBIES, MEET IN THE FIELD. NOW!!!" Instantly, StormChaser and Rainbow Dash shot out of bed into the field. "First ones here." Spitfire said, turning off her wireless microphone, "Good job." Soon enough the other 3 arrived. "At the end of the month we have a competition. Which means you have about two weeks off before we come back to this building. And you're probably wondering why I got you up so early. We need to train! Hard! We're going against the Manehatten Lightning Bolts then! I know this is a sudden news report to you, but you need to get used to it, because events in Equestria will happen. Disaster events. Saving lives. We may seem like a sports team, but we're also like a military. You need to train hard. You can win the money and save somepony's life. Now training! I want you all to do a hundred wing pushups! I expect NO SLACKING! I didn't make you a Wonderbolt so you could become a slacker! I expect effort! NOW GO!" Spitfire blew her whistle. *** Golden Feather slammed his claw on the table. "No! Us griffons will not settle with the lack of meat Equestria has been giving us! We are starving, and we need food!" Celestia looked with a concerned face, "Please use common sense, King Golden Feather. Us Equestrians have also had problems, for our meat sources has been running low due to the lack of rain, causing not enough food for the meat you buy off of us." Golden Feather was still in fury. "My kingdom is falling apart, Miss Celestia! For I do not want to keep peace if you do not let us buy our worthy meal. Please make your pegasuses...pegasi, do something!" Luna looked at Golden Feather in anger and started to say in the royal Canterlot voice. "It is not the pegasis' fault! For this power is beyond any mortal pony's limits! It is a power that is a negative influence. Some door from another world has opened to Equestria, and with two beholders of the Elements of Harmony no longer with us, Celestia and I are the only ones that are going to be able to stop it! That's what we have to figure out. How to stop it!" Golden Feather looked in confusion, "What?" Celestia sighed. "Luna means that there is something magical, beyond power of any mortal, influencing with our lives. The weather's changed. Did you not notice the sky turn a bit grey? Something strange is going on, and Luna and I can sense it. We have to find this. The ponies of Equestria can possibly die. Please understand, King Golden Feather." King Golden Feather snarled, letting his ignorance get the best of him. "Excuses, excuses, princesses! I'm sick of it!" He got out of his chair and started walking towards the exit. "King Golden Feather, please-" Luna started, but the only response was a slam of the large door. *** "Day two over." Rainbow Dash sighed as she finished her exercises. It was about three o' clock in the afternoon, and the ponies were getting a late lunch in the Cafeteria. Rainbow Dash and the other new Wonderbolts sat together in a table, especially reserved for them. "So? You guys tired yet?" Vice Vortex asked. "Don't even act like you aren't! We're all tired..." said Blizzard. Brick Breaker nodded in agreement. "We have to do this until Friday. And even then this is our entire career, guys. This is Spitfire's last month, so we need to show her that we're the best group of new Wonderbolts she's ever gotten!" StormChaser encouraged. "Don't forget that we're playing the Lightning Bolts at the end of the month. We'll give it all we got!" Rainbow Dash cheered on her team. "'We'll do it. I know we can." Brick Breaker said. Suddenly Blizzard's jaw dropped, and the sandwich she was holding fell out of her grip and smacked back onto her tray. "You okay?" Vice Vortex asked. Suddenly a new voice came by, "Hey there, newbies. Welcome to the Wonderbolts." Rainbow Dash gased and stared in awe. It was Soarin! She could see Blizzard and StormChaser begin to blush like crazy, Vice Vortex and Brick Breaker gave an obvious look of tremendous amounts of jealousy. "S-Soarin!" Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. "Yes, that's me. Anything important, Rainbow Dash?" Soarin replied. "W-Well, no. I just remember you...from saving your life, and your pie...and the wedding- and the academy." "Yup, I remember you too." Soarin gave a playful laugh, and Rainbow blushed. "You, with the muscles." Soarin said to BrickBreaker. "Me?" BrickBreaker asked. "Yes, you. Name?" "BrickBreaker, sir." "Sir isn't necessary. My name's Soarin. I don't want anypony calling me anything else." Soarin replied. "So, uh, what brings your to this table?" Dash asked. "Just visiting and wanting to get to know the new Wonderbolts." Soarin sat down. "So, what's it like playing other teams?" Vice Vortex asked. "Extremely competitive. But in the end, we're all friends." Soarin said. After a few minutes of talk, a bell rang and lunch time was over. Rainbow Dash walked back with StormChaser to her cabin. "He likes you." StormChaser said as she closed the door. "Who?" Rainbow asked. Storm rolled her eyes, "Soarin! Duh!" "How do you know?" Rainbow questioned. "I have a lot of experience with stallions. Now is your time to make a move." StormChaser winked to Rainbow before she jumped onto her bed. "It's only 3:30." Rainbow remarked. "I know. Just getting a nap." Storm said, "Now go talk to Soarin." "He might be busy." Rainbow replied. "Well, go see if he is. If he is, see him when he isn't." Storm said, and she closed her eyes. *** Rainbow Dash trotted around and looked for Soarin. Luckly, he was trotting around, too. Rainbow Dash had an idea. She would "accidentally" to bump into him. And that's what she did. "Ah!" Soarin jumped in surprise. He looked at the pony he bumped into- Rainbow Dash. "Oh, I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash! I was just looking for you." he said. "So was I! Heh. Why were you looking for me?" Rainbow asked. "I barely got to know you from those small minutes we shared together. I wanted to get to know you better." Soarin said, trying to hide a blush. "Oh. Same reason. So, what do you want to talk about?" Rainbow asked. "How about you tell me about yourself? Everypony knows about me- What about you?" Soarin asked. Rainbow smiled, "Well..." *** Spitfire was sitting in her office, watching T.V. on the small television that was mounted on the wall. Television- the only source of electronics in Equestria. Although Spitfire hated to admit it, she was fascinated with politics. She was flipping through channels until something caught her eye on Neighbc. "...The princess reports that King Goldenfeather would not reason with her, and stomped out of the castle doors." A mare news reporter said. "Wow, and to think that we are allies. Some Equestrian staff even demand war for this cause." another said. "Let us hope that there will be a compromise between Equestria and Griffon Kingdom." the mare replied. Suddenly there was a knock on her door. Spitfire quickly turned off the TV and said, "Come in." *** "Wow, Soarin. I never knew we had so much in common." Rainbow Dash chuckled after Soarin finished telling the story about how his dad wanted him to golf. She started to have a crush on him now. There was so much more to him than she thought. She was going to win him over as soon as she could. *** The week passed, and boy was it hard. Everypony said bye and hugged eachother- Rainbow Dash and Soarin hugging abnormally long. Rainbow Dash was going to see her friends and Tank again, and everything would be good. *** "Is she coming?" Applejack asked. "I'm sure she's coming back soon." Twilight said. "Oh, how ever are we going to tell her what happened to her poor Tank?" Rarity cried. "We'll just try to explain as calmly as possible. Okay?" The other two nodded. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "She's here..." Rarity said nervously, and Twilight opened the door. "Hey guys!" Rainbow said happily. "Rainbow Dash!" the other three said at the same time, giving a sad smile. "What's wrong?" Rainbow asked, "Wait, where's Tank?" Rarity and Applejack exchanged sad glances. "Rainbow Dash, Tank is dead. Twilight was working with Everfree Thorn Poison, and he somehow got to the liquid and drank it. There was nothing nopony could do- we're sorry." Applejack said. Rainbow Dash's happy face went to shock. "You guys are pranking me right?" she asked in hope. Twilight shook her head. "Rainbow Dash, I'm so sorry. I'm really, really, sorry. It was my fault!" Twilight teared up. Rarity sighed, "She is truly sorry, darling. Please forgive her." Rainbow was already crying now, from the loss of her beloved pet. After she heard Rarity's words, her crying stopped and she looked up in anger. "How can I forgive her?! She killed my pet! It'd be one thing if Tank died from something else, I would get over it! But TWILIGHT KILLED HIM! I HATE YOU, TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash flew out in angry tears. Twilight was bawling now, still murmuring "I'm sorry." Rarity stroked Twilight's mane. "She's just mad for now, darling. She will get over it and forgive you." "How can she forgive me?! What if she killed Owlicious? I'm a terrible pony!" Twilight cried again. Applejack came up, "Twilight, you have wings and a horn for a reason. You aren't a terrible pony. And now let me and Rarity tell you why." *** Rainbow flew home and ran into her bed, and cried for the rest of the night. She's lost three important friends in her life now in too short of time. *** Rainbow Dash returned to her job. She has gotten over Tank's death, but still hasn't forgiven Twilight. The one thing she looked forward to was seeing everypony (especially Soarin) and going against the Lightning Bolts. Today Rainbow Dash would let it all out- she would run her determination on her hatred for Twilight, and pretend the opponents were a bunch of Twilights. At the finish line she imagined Tank there, waiting for her. She had to win against the Twilights to see her Tank. She was in the locker room, getting ready for her competition. She, Vice Vortex, and some other Wonderbolts would be racing the opponents. Others like Brick Breaker would test strength, and there was agility, but speed was Rainbow Dash's highest pro. Rainbow Dash walked out into the Cloud Stadium, where what seemed like silence went into ear-killing cheers and blinding lights of the flashing cameras. Barely anypony knew who the new Wonderbolts were until now- now, they would see who was added on the team. An announcer came on, temporarily silencing the loud audience. "First we will start off racing with Wind Surge, Vice Vortex, Blaze Blaster, and Rainbow Dash from the Wonderbolts against Stronghoof, Redeye, FloodingSky, and StormDaze on the Lightningbolts!" The crowd went nuts. "Take position!" The announcer announced. Each pony took their place on the line, Rainbow Dash now imagining four Twilights trying to beat her. "Ready..." the announcer said, and the ponies got ready. "Set..." "Go!" and everypony took off like a bunch of rockets. Rainbow Dash flapped as hard as she could- if she didn't make it to the finish line first, Tank would be taken from her forever from the evil Twilights that were beside her. She would not let them get to him first. She took the lead, and the crowd exploded in cheers and amazement on how a new pony could get ahead. Then an evil Twilight came up and passed her. Tank is MINE! Rainbow thought, and passed the evil Twilight and flew as fast as she could to get ahead of her. Then she slowed down and was in the lead for about a minute, but then everypony else, including her own team caught up to her. She would conserve her energy and do a final dash at near the end. She could see exhaustion begin to come over everypony, but she kept her pace. Soon enough, they were near the end of the race and the crowd was deafening. They flew as fast as they could but Rainbow Dash passed them, and went faster and faster as the crowd cheered and then she passed the finish line! She did it! She won the race! She made it to Tank first! An evil Twilight flew from behind, then two of her team members, then another evil Twilight, then her last team member, then the last two Twilights. Rainbow Dash could see the blinding flashes of cameras and cheers of the crowd. But one things was on her focus- a bright yellow speck in the sky. It wasn't the sun, because it was too small and seemed to be getting closer. It was going very fast, actually. Rainbow Dash suddenly panicked- what if it was a meteor? But it was so close, somepony else would of had to notice- so why was she the only one staring? All of the sudden, the yellow thing smashed into the cloud in front of Dash, and flew to her. "Hi, Rainbow Dash." Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it- it was Fluttershy. Was this all her dream? Was this her imagination? As if reading her mind, Fluttershy said, "No, I'm real. You're not dreaming." "H-How?" Rainbow asked. "I am simply a spirit, now, Rainbow. I also have Tank with me." Fluttershy turned around and revealed Tank being on her back. Rainbow ran up in happiness, "Tank!" she picked him up and hugged him- Tank gave her a lick on the cheek. "Where's Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow asked. "She's coming." Fluttershy gave a smile. "DASHIE!" Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere and hugged Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow was reminded on how much she missed those hugs. "Why are you guys here?" Rainbow asked. "We wouldn't of visited you unless we had this reason. You need to forgive Twilight. See? Tank is happy with me and Pinkie Pie now, just how you wanted it before." Fluttershy. Rainbow sighed, "That's going to be real hard, besides, I'm busy all week." Fluttershy began getting angry, which put a stab of fear in Rainbow Dash, "You have to forgive her!" "Okay, I will!" Rainbow cried in panic, "But will I ever see you guys again?" Pinkie lowered her head and cried, "You will be seeing us too soon..." Fluttershy wrapped a wing around Pinkie Pie and Rainbow looked at tank. "What do you mean?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "You'll be seeing us too soon, Dashie. Too soon." Pinkie said again. Rainbow hated to see Pinkie Pie cry. "Pinkie, no! Don't cry!" She hugged the two. Fluttershy just gave Rainbow Dash a look of sadness, and the two slowly vanished, along with Tank. "WAIT!" Rainbow Dash cried, but they were gone. "You okay Rainbow Dash? You've been talking to air." said Vice Vortex. Rainbow Dash's eyes swerved around the end of the line, where everypony was looking at her. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine." she said in embarrassment. But what did they mean? *** "C'mon, Dash!" Soarin said excitedly as he leaded a blindfolded Rainbow Dash to somewhere. "I'm coming Soarin! I'm blindfolded! Give me a minute to not bump into something!" Rainbow replied. Soarin chuckled, "Trust me, you won't." After a few moments of silence, he smiled, "We're here. Take the blindfold off." Rainbow Dash took off the blindfold and gasped in shock. "I-Is this your cabin?" she asked. "Yup!" Soarin replied happily, "Everytime I walk into it, it still amazes me." It was a huge room- about six times the size of Rainbow's cabin. It had colorful lights hanging from beds and the ceiling. The ceiling was high and wooden, there was also a fireplace and a couch and a giant flatscreen. There were closet doors with his cutie mark on them. Some of the room had soft carpet, and some of the room had wood. There were giant windows on the top of the walls letting sunlight in. "No wonder why the HQ is so big," Rainbow said, "If your room is this big, I wonder how big Spitfire's is." "Actually about the same size." Soarin said. "Why is there so many beds?" Rainbow asked. "Sometimes I get a few buddies to stay here. Do you want to stay here for tonight?" Soarin asked. "Sure!" Rainbow Dash said, excited to stay in such an awesome room. Soarin seemed to hesitate but said, "There's something I want to show you." "Huh?" Rainbow asked. Soarin walked towards his closet and opened the doors. He grabbed a remote in the closet, and clicked a button, and part of the ceiling on the closet opened, and he flew in, and Rainbow followed. He landed somewhere and clapped his hooves, and lights came on. The room was full of carpet and was furnished. "Wow, so this is like a secret second floor?" Rainbow said, exctied. "Yeah. No windows, though. So it may be a bit darker than what you're comfortable with." Soarin sighed. "No, it's fine." Rainbow Dash said, now realizing there was a second TV, although it was not as grand as the one downstairs. Soarin pulled out beanbags from a corner, and pulled out a couple of sodas. "You like soda?" he asked. "Yup!" she said excited, and was handed one. Soarin pressed another button on his remote and the door leading up to the second floor closed. The two sat on the beanbags and Soarin turned on the TV. "How many ponies know about this?" Rainbow asked out of curiosity. "Only me and my old buddy. He moved, sadly. We made this place together. But now it's just you who knows about it." Soarin gave a smile and Dash blushed. "Hey, you know that movie that is coming out, The Dead Nightmare?" Soarin asked. "Yeah, what about it?" Dash asked. "I have a copy. Wanna watch a movie not even released yet?" Soarin asked, giving her a wink. Rainbow Dash was shocked, "How'd you get a copy?" "The company gave me one. I haven't seen it yet. But now we can watch it up here. The popcorn machine is downstairs. Want some?" Soarin asked. "Uh, sure!" Rainbow said. "Okay." Soarin said, he hit a button on the remote and flew downstairs and came back with popcorn, "Let's watch this movie." *** Soarin yelped and hugged Rainbow Dash as the Nightmare took it's first victim without warning. "You are such a scaredy pony!" Rainbow Dash laughed. Soarin's face went red in embarrassment as he let go of Dash and turned back to the screen. The Nightmare took it's next prey. Soarin jumped and spilled popcorn all around them. Rainbow Dash chuckled as she saw popcorn stuck in his mane. "Soarin, it's okay. It's just a movie." Rainbow said as she took a piece of popcorn off her leg and ate it. Soarin gave a nervous chuckle, "Believe it or not, I'm easily scared by these type of mov- AAAH!" he wrapped his hooves around Dash. "I think you get it." Soarin said as he let go. Suddenly there was a loud noise, causing both of the ponies to jump, and then there was a force that seemed to shake them. Screams went all around them from the outside. "Is there an earthquake?!" Dash panicked. Soarin was shaking like a leaf. The TV shut off and the lights flickered. "We've gotta find out what's going on. Open the door, Soarin!" Rainbow demanded. Soarin obeyed and opened the door, and the two pegasi soared out through the closet and out of Soarin's cabin, and into the hallway of panicking ponies. "What's going on?!" Rainbow demanded. "The griffons! They're attacking us!" a pegasus shouted. As if on cue, another explosion went off and the HQ shook. Spitfire came through the hallway. "We are not going to sit here and shake like foals! We are Wonderbolts! We're going to fight back, whether we die or not. We need to protect the Equestrians from these rats!" Rainbow admired Spitfire's bravery. "Now go out and FIGHT!" Spitfire yelled. The ponies determinedly left the building. "You too, Soarin." Spitfire said, and flew out. Rainbow Dash and Soarin exchanged concerned looks. "Soarin, if we die out there-" Rainbow started, but was cut off by something she never expected- a kiss. Once Soarin stopped, Rainbow Dash looked at him, "I've had the same feelings for you, too." Another explosion. Soarin looked in concern, "We have to go out and fight." Rainbow Dash nodded and the two dashed out together. *** Rainbow Dash slammed into the belly of a griffon, and punched and kicked with all of her might. The griffon screeched and grabbed Rainbow Dash's sides and sunk her talons into them. Angry and in pain, Rainbow Dash grabbed her arms and broke them, although the griffon still had her much more powerful lion legs. Rainbow Dash grabbed a wing, which was much more powerful and stronger than her's, and bit down, twisted around it in effort to break it. Rainbow Dash knew she would have to kill this griffon, although she's never killed before. The griffon screeched and Rainbow Dash heard a snap. Rainbow let go of the wing and watched as the griffon fell towards the ground and hit it with a loud thump. She dashed to the next griffon, who was killing a Wonderbolt. In anger, Rainbow Dash grabbed the neck of the griffon from behind and began choking it, and the griffon used it's talons to scratch Rainbow Dash's hooves in the front. The pain was awful. The Wonderbolt got loose and flew away, then flew back, using a two-hoof blow on the left wing. Rainbow Dash let go and the griffon fell. The two Wonderbolts didn't say a thing, but instead went back to fighting their own griffons. This griffon was much stronger than the other two. It took hold of Dash's wings and began to twist them. If this griffon breaks my wings, I'm dead. Rainbow thought. She kicked the griffon's chest with her powerful hooves, and the griffon let go but quickly took hold of Rainbow Dash from the behind, where she was defenseless. Is this it? Is this how I die? Suddenly she heard a crack in the griffon's neck, and the griffon let go and fell, and behind her Rainbow saw Spitfire. "Thank you." Rainbow whispered. Spitfire nodded and flew away. Suddenly there was an ear shattering explosion. How many damn bombs do they have?! Rainbow thought. She then saw dead bodies of Wonderbolts and griffons. They've killed too many already, Rainbow thought, and pure anger took over her. She flew as fast as she could and cracked a griffon's skull from behind, quickly killing it. She repeated the process but soon tired, and was taken by surprise when a griffon grabbed her flanks and began biting down on her neck. She kicked the griffon's chest and it let go, and she grabbed the neck and broke it. Suddenly, she saw a struggling pony in the distance. Soarin! he was being clawed by another griffon. She flew as fast as she could, and she then realized another griffon was holding a bomb. The griffon was high in the air, and there was no way that bomb would make it to the ground. Rainbow Dash snapped the neck of Soarin's attacker, and then screamed, "Soarin, we've got to fly away!" Soarin didn't question. The two flew as fast as they could from the bomb, and then the griffon dropped it. The bomb was too close. With the force of the bomb, the two were blown away, and the force was so strong it broke several of their bones. Rainbow Dash screamed as the ground came nearer and nearer towards her, knowing that this would seal her fate. "I'm so sorry, Twilight. I forgive you." she whispered to herself as she neared her end. She heard a yell in the distance, "I love you, Rainbow!" "I love you too, Soarin!" Rainbow Dash knew this was it. Her and Soarin were going to die any second now. Now she knew what Pinkie had meant. They knew this was going to happen. Why didn't they tell what was going to happen?! She wondered. Now she stared at the ground, Just kill me already. Don't wait. Smack. Rainbow Dash hit the ground, and felt her skull crack- but then she felt nothing else. Rainbow was dead.Gone from existence. There her body lay with many others, and the battle raged on. *** 3 days later All of the bodies were picked up and put in their own coffins. Spitfire had luckly lived, but she wondered if it was worth it to see most of her team dead. They all died, all of the new Wonderbolts. A tear went down her cheek. "They have fought bravely, Captain Spitfire." Spitfire looked up and saw her- Princess Celestia. "Your Majesty." Spitfire bowed. "For their bravery, they will all be buried in the Canterlot Cemetery for lost heroes, although Rainbow Dash will be next to her friends." Spitfire sighed, "Okay. Thank you, your majesty. They deserve it." The princess gave a sad smile. "I hate to have to tell Twilight her friend is dead. But it must be done. I will be sending carriages over to bring these ponies to Canterlot. Are you understood, Captain Spitfire?" "Yes, your highness." Spitfire sighed and looked at the many coffins, sad that one of them included the Wonderbolt's next leader. *** "Twilight?" Princess Celestia knocked on the tree house door. Twilight opened the door. "Yes, princess?" she asked. Princess Celestia walked in sadly. Applejack and Rarity were there- they've been there since Rainbow Dash left in anger. "Rainbow Dash is dead." Celestia said. Shock took over the three mares. "I was scared of that..." Applejack said, and she took off her hat and held it against her chest while crying. "It was the attack on the Wonderbolt's HQ, wasn't it, princess?" Rarity said sad, but did not yet cry. "Every Wonderbolt has fought bravely. They found her near a river. One living Wonderbolt said she sacrificed herself to attempt to save another Wonderbolt, Soarin. Sadly they both died." A tear went down the princess's cheek. Twilight and Rarity were crying now, Twilight especially because Rainbow never forgiven her and the last time she ever saw her she was mad. "Cry it out, my little ponies. We shall hold a funeral tomorrow for all the Wonderbolts tomorrow at the cemetery. Rainbow Dash will be buried next to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy." Princess Celestia said. And the three did cry. They hugged eachother in hope of comfort, but half of their friends were gone now. What comfort could there be? *** "Today we are here joined by Spitfire and Princess Luna to hold a funeral for all of the Wonderbolts who have died in the Battle Of The Head Quarters. We will start in alphabetical order." Princess Celestia said. The cemetery was awfully crowded with friends, family, and fans. Spitfire spoke, "We'll never forget these Wonderbolts who have fought for us. Now we will mourn them. The first one to be burried will be..." *** "Our next will be Soarin. For him, I will give a speech first." Spitfire began, "When I was captain and saw how Soarin wanted to be a Wonderbolt, I thought it was cute. He was only eleven at the time, so I let him help me a bit. The older he got, the more helpful he got. So I decided to make him a staff member when he was only fourteen. When he showed me how great he was at flying, I made him a Wonderbolt, knowing he would be a great addition to the team. Now after all of these years, I decided I would make him captain when I retired. But he died in battle, and died bravely. At such a young age of only twenty- I-I'm sad he's gone..." Many more speeches were made about the famous Wonderbolt. *** "Now we will begin with Rainbow Dash. I have my own speech for her." Spitfire said, "When Rainbow Dash saved my life and did the sonic rainboom, I knew she would be destined to be a Wonderbolt. And now that she was for such a short time, it's just heart breaking." Twilight came up. "When Rainbow Dash became a Wonderbolt, she wanted me to watch her pet. Her pet got in some chemicals I was working with and died. She never forgave me. But if there is one thing I have to repeat to you Rainbow Dash, it's I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me!" Twilight trotted off stage tears in her eyes. Applejack came up. "When I first met Rainbow Dash, I thought she was just some egotistical pony. But she's really one of the bestest friends you can ask for. Undying loyalty..." Applejack said, now allowing Rarity on stage. "Rainbow Dash is the opposite of me. She never liked dresses, never liked heels, never liked getting her mane done- but we somehow clicked. And losing a friend like her has to be one of the most devastating things I can get." A few more speeches were made, and Rainbow Dash was lowered into the ground to unite with her friends and her pet. The three friends watched as their third friend was lowered into the ground. Why, why did this have to happen? Rainbow Dash was dead- the loyal, confident friend. She's dead. Dead. Dead! Why?! Why? The ponies knew, like the other two times, they were never going to see that beautiful, bright, rainbow mane again. They were never going to see the confidence and determination again. They were never going to see Rainbow Dash ever again.
The Heart AttackPinkie has always been that crazy pink pony who makes everypony smile, no matter how bad there day was. She was sure the party animal, the way she threw her crazy parties! Friends with everypony she was, and most certainly a baker; her treats were so good! Her treats were also so deadly. After the years of giving ponies smiles on their faces, the pink pony simply used her own happiness against her. Oh, those sweet delicious treats she made- she ate too many for herself. Over the years of parties, smiling and making new friends, the effect started to pile up on Pinkie. *** "Clogged arteries?" Pinkie asked as she looked at the doctor. "I'm afraid you've partied too much, my dear. Start eating better or else you have the risk of a heart attack." replied the doctor, a grim look on his face. "B-but! My baked goods make everyone smile and happy! I can't stop!" Pinkie cried. "I'm afraid you will have to, Pinkie. It's for your own health." the doctor sighed. Pinkie's big bubbly mane deflated like a balloon as it went down and gave Pinkie the sad look. "You can go on, Pinkie. Just be careful." the doctor said. Pinkie Pie nodded, knowing what was right. *** "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DASHIE!" Pinkie screamed as she burst into Dash's bedroom. Dash screamed as her Daring Do book flung from her hooves and flew into the air, only to land on Dash's cloud floor, and as fast as it flung from Dash's hooves, the book fell through the cloud floor. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Screamed Dash as the book left the cloud. Rainbow looked at Pinkie with fury. "PINKIE PIE! I WAS JUST STARTING THAT!" "Eh, you don't need that dumb ol' book anyway." said Pinkie as she walked into Dash's room. "What?!" Dash said as she flew towards Pinkie, only to stop a few inches away from her face. "BUT THAT WAS DARING DO!" Rainbow Dash screamed. The yell was so strong it sent Pinkie's mane flying backwards as if she were running in the wind. Pinkie smiled, "You don't need that dumb old because...I GOT YOU THE LIMITED EDITION!" Out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie pulled out the rare Daring Do book. It was printed "Limited Edition" on the side with gold shiny letters. "THANK YOU!" Dash hugged Pinkie and took the book and looked inside, just when the book slipped from her hooves. "NOOOOOO!" Rainbow screamed as she tried to catch it. Pinkie Pie only giggled as Rainbow Dash slammed her face into the book. "I had Twilight cast a spell so it wouldn't fall through the clouds!" her eyes twinkled. Rainbow Dash lifted up her face to only have the book stick to it. Using her hooves, Dash pried the book off, and it flew into the wall and fell on the ground. "Well that saves me a lot of trouble!" Dash said with delight. "I guess it does! NOW IT'S TIME TO PARTY!" Just like she did with the book, Pinkie pulled the party cannon out of nowhere and shot multi-colored confetti that all got mangled in Rainbow's rainbow mane. Both of the ponies laughed when Rainbow Dash suddenly interrupted their joy. "Wait, how'd you get up here?" she asked, tilting her head. "Twilight gave me the spell so I can walk on clouds again to make sure I won't fall like your old book did!" Pinkie Pie smiled. "I wonder where that book is....? Anyway, you said party? Let's go party!" exclaimed Dash. The two ponies walked outside of Rainbow Dash's cloud home. Pinkie Pie went towards Dash's mailbox, where some balloons were tied. "Are those balloons for me?" Dash asked. Pinkie didn't respond. She just stuffed her hooves in her mane, as if she were trying to wriggle something out. Rainbow sighed and rollled her eyes as she walked toward the crazy pink pony. Then she felt something go up her hoof. "OWWW!" she screamed, and lift up her front left hoof to find a needle was stuck halfway through it. Pinkie Pie galloped over to Rainbow and yanked the needle out of her hoof. Since the needle was out, the hoof was bleeding a little. Nothing to be concerned about. Rainbow put her hoof back on the cloud ground. She took her attention back to Pinkie, who was wiping the blood off the needle on the cloud ground. She then galloped towards Dash's mailbox popped about four balloons in her multi-colored-balloon collage. Pinkie untied the balloons from the mailbox and re-tied them to herself. "Let's go!" Pinkie let out a cheerful yell. Pinkie jumped off the cloud and slowly descended to the ground. Dash grumbled on how slow she was taking. Rainbow jumped off the cloud, ready to show how even her slowest flight could still beat Pinkie to the ground. *** "Surprise!" Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight yelled as Rainbow entered Sugarcube corner. "Not really, Pinkie told me we were gonna party." Dash shrugged. Applejack frowned. "Pinkie, it was supposed to be a SURPRISE PARTY!" Pinkie's happy self didn't change, though. "Woops! Sorry! Surprise or not, it's still a party!" Pinkie ran over to a table. "LOOK AT ALL OF THESE DELICIOUS SWEETS WE MADE JUST FOR YOU, DASHIE!" Dash was about to say something, but Pinkie cut her off. "AND LOOK AT ALL OF THESE PRESENTS, TOO! AND WE ALSO GOT ALL OF THE GAMES YOU LIKE AND EIR IWERIEIWERELFEW NEIFL SFLEJSJFLSJF LESJK OESLKE ES" Pinkie was talking to fast Dash couldn't keep up, despite the fact that she was the fastest pegasus in Ponyville. Pinkie gasped, "AND WE'RE ALL HERE TO CELEBRATE!" Dash blushed as her friends swarmed her with hugs. As the ponies let go of Dash, she ran towards the table, munching down the delicious treats. "Hey!" Pinkie cried, "Don't eat without me!" As fast as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie dove into the sweet treats. Applejack made no regret to join in. Twilight looked for a second, then smiled, and dove in with them, too. Fluttershy squealed in fear. "Come on guys!" Applejack said, throwing a peice of cake at Twilight's face. Fluttershy whimpered, but then joined in. She dove deep down under the giant cake, and came back up, the top of her head disguised with cake, she looked over the top and saw Pinkie. She grabbed a peice of the cake and threw it at the back of her head. "Huh?" Pinkie turned around to see nothing but a cake there. Then suddenly Pinkie was sprayed with vanilla frosting! Pinkie turned around and avoided the vanilla sprays by taking each one in her mouth. Rarity stood back, trying to stay clean. Twilight jumped out of the sweet table pile and dragged Rarity in, Rarity screaming the entire way, "LET ME GO TWILIGHT! AHHH!" Pinkie jumped over her vanilla-frosting attacker. She was standing above Rainbow Dash. Rainbow squealed as Pinkie shoved a Pie on her face. Rainbow turned and grabbed a batch of cupcakes and soared them at Pinkie's face, Pinkie catching everyone of them in her mouth and swallowing them whole. Rainbow gasped as Pinkie started to jitter like crazy, her pink mane even poofier than before. Rainbow Dash screamed, "SHE'S HAD TOO MUCH SUGAR!" Pinkie Pie went crazy shoving all of the food she could in her mouth. "NEED-MORE-SUGAR!!" she cried as she accidentally bit Fluttershy's mane as she was hiding behind a stack of pie trying to hit Applejack with one of them. Rarity was already out of the pile, trying to get as clean as possible. "GET OUT OF THE FOOD!" Twilight cried, as Pinkie started to go mega-mad. The other four ponies jumped out as Pinkie pushed her limits in shoving her sugary treats in her mouth. The five ponies were covered in frosting and were exhausted, but Pinkie didn't stop. "I'll get her!" Dash yelled as her frosting-covered wings flapped to get to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie finished off the the last treat when Dash caught her. "She's eaten way too much sugar!" Rainbow Dash said as she plopped Pinkie on the ground. Pinkie Pie felt dizzy, her vision was blurry, and she could swear she just threw up on the floor just a second ago. Her heart beat faster than it should, and she felt soreness in her from legs. Pinkie blacked out. *** "Pinkie? Are you okay, darling?" Pinkie heard Rarity say as she blinked open her eyes. Pinkie awoke in an unfamiliar place. "Huh...where am I?" she asked, then noticed her friends were all clean. "You passed out after eating too much sugar." Applejack remarked. "You were passed out for nearly a DAY!" cried Dash. "You're in the hospital, Pinkie. We wanted to make sure you were okay." Twilight told her. Pinkie suddenly got the flashback of her talking to the doctor. "MY ARTERIES!!!!" cried Pinkie. "Ummm..." Fluttershy said quietly. "With all of the sugar you ate, let's just hope they aren't clogged." grumbled Dash. Twilight elbowed her and whispered into her ear. "We can't worry Pinkie! Keep your mouth shut!" A nurse came in. "We have to do some tests on Pinkie. You'll have to leave." "Bye, Pinkie." said Fluttershy as she walked out. "Get better soon, darling!" Rarity said as she followed Fluttershy. "Hope you get better." Applejack said as she shuffled out. "Bye Pinkie! I know you'll get better." Twilght said as she trotted out. "...Bye, see you later." Rainbow Dash said as she walked out. "Oh um yeah- bye guys!" Pinkie said as she saw them leave, "Bye." Pinkie Pie sighed as she lay her head on her pillow. She looked out at the moon not sure whether she'd ever see it again. "Bye." she told herself, and fell asleep. *** Twilight was cleaning out her library when she heard a knock on her door. She trotted it and opened, to find the mail mare, Derpy. "MAIL FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Derpy yelled. "Yeah, okay." Twilight's horn glowed and she levitated the mail, taking it out from Derpy's hooves. "Bye, Derpy." She said, walking back to her tree home and shut the door. She sort through the mail. "Bills, ad, 'We want you to join us Princess Twilight!', huh? Ponyville hospital?" Twilight opened the envelope. Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away- Twilight gasped, tears formed in the purple alicorn's eyes, but she continued to read on. ...last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time. Twilight ran upstairs. "Spike," she said, waking him up. "Huh? What is it Twilight?" he asked as he saw the tears rolling down Twilight's cheeks. "Pinkie's dead." Spike gasped. "What!?" Spike said, tears forming in his eyes, "B-but!" Twilight wrapped a wing around the innocent crying baby dragon. "It's okay, Spike." But Twilight was crying herself. Twilight felt the tears of the baby dragon roll down her legs. Twilight looked at Spike. We have lost such a good friend, a friend that was very meaningful to us. More tears formed in the young alicorn's eyes as she wrapped her other wing around Spike. Pinkie was dead. *** Angel pounded at the mail slip in Fluttershy's door. It dropped mail all over the spoiled rabbit. "Angel?" Fluttershy asked as she approached. The young bunny grabbed the mail and went over to Fluttershy. "Why, thank you, Angel." Fluttershy smiled at him, and the rabbit hopped away. Fluttershy looked at the first piece of mail to gasp. It was from the Ponyville hospital. Why had they contacted her? Fluttershy opened the letter. Dear Fluttershy, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time. Fluttershy gasped. Her fragile heart seemed to break. Tears formed in her eyes, and she fell on the floor crying. Angel hopped over to comfort her, but that wasn't enough. Pinkie was gone, and she wanted Pinkie. "Oh Pinkie..." Fluttershy cried. She wouldn't take the time to pick up the body- it was too much. She couldn't handle it. Pinkie...dead. The utter thought of it made Fluttershy cry. It happened to soon. Pinkie was gone forever. *** "MAIL FOR THE APPLE FAMILY!" Derpy called out in front of the Sweet Apple Acre gates. Applebloom trotted towards the mail mare and opened the gates. "I'll take that," Applebloom insisted. Derpy's mouth grasped the mail she insisted on giving the young filly, and her head moved towards Applebloom. "Just drop it in my hooves..." Applebloom extended her hooves, knowing from past experiences Derpy's aim wasn't the best. The mail pony dropped the mail a few inches away from Applebloom's hooves. "Woops, my bad!" said Derpy. "Eh, you're improving." Applebloom said as she picked up the mail from the ground. "Bye, Derpy!" Applebloom trotted back into the Sweet Apple Acre gates when she smashed into something. She fell back onto the dirt ground, the mail flying out of her mouth. One particular envelope landed on her face. The "thing" she happened to crash into was Applejack. "Ponyville hospital?" Applejack said as she removed the envelope from Applebloom's face. Applejack carefully opened the envelope and started to read the letter. Dear Applejack, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m.- Applejack gasped in shock, the letter dropped out her hooves, and landed back on Applebloom's face. Tears formed in the orange pony's eyes but she simply blinked them away, but it wasn't long before they returned. Applejack galloped off into the farmhouse. "Applejack?" Applebloom asked as she removed the letter from her face. The young filly stood up and looked around. "Applejack? What's wrong? Where'd ya'll go?" she asked, looking at the possible ways where Applejack could have gone. The young filly wondered, What in the hay is wrong with her? *** "Almost complete!" Rarity exclaimed as she stitched the final stitch in her newest dress. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "AHH!" Rarity jumped in surprise. Her horn had stopped glowing and the needle she was using fell onto the ground. "Sweetie, be a dear and see who's at the door!" Rarity called upstairs to her younger sister. "Sure thing, Rarity!" Sweetie exclaimed as she galloped towards the door. The young filly opened the door to find Derpy standing there. "Hi, Derpy." Sweetie said. "Hi there Rarity's sister! I have mail for Rarity." Derpy's derped eyes fixed on the young filly. "Okay, I'll give it to her." Sweetie said, waiting for the mail to come to her hooves. Derpy grabbed the mail and dropped it all over the filly's head. Sweetie grumbled, and grabbed it all. Then she looked at Rarity, who was way too busy looking for her needle to pay attention to anything else. "Yeah, bye Derpy!" Sweetie exclaimed. And she closed the door on the derp-eyed pegasus. Sweetie looked at the mail in her mouth, and ran up to her room. "Lucky Rarity, I never get mail." she said as she opened the first envelope, and read it aloud to herself. "Dear Rarity, you have been invited to a Canterlot Dress Competition. The winner gets blah blah blah money and- who cares?" Sweetie threw the letter in the trash. She opened the next envelope. "Dear Rarity, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time." Sweetie gasped. "I CAN'T LET RARITY SEE THIS!" Sweetie slapped herself and shoved her hoof in her mouth. She looked at the letter and envelope laying on the ground, and picked them up and shoved them under her pillow. "Not let me see what?" Rarity asked as she took her first steps into Sweetie's room. Sweetie Belle gasped and jumped into the air, "Ahh!" She landed atop of her pillow. "You scared me, Rarity!" "You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" "N-no, Rarity!" Rarity scanned the room. "Why is there random mail in your room?" "I uh-" Rarity trotted towards the mail. Her horn glowed, and using her magic, picked up the mail. "I will read the rest of this mail!" hissed Rarity as she left. Sweetie let out a sigh of relief. That was a close one. *** Rainbow Dash was reading her new Limited Edition of Daring Do that she got from Pinkie, when she heard a knock at her door. Dash grumbled, got off of her couch and walked towards the door, holding the book in her wing. She opened it. "Oh, hi Derpy." "Mail for Rainbow Dash!" Derpy exclaimed, and threw envelopes at the cyan pegasus. "I'm sooooper busy so I'll have to go. Bye!" and the grey pegasus flew away. Dash picked up her envelopes and went back to the couch, and she put Daring Do atop of her belly. She read the mail one by one. Five envelopes later, she found something interesting. "Ponyville hospital?" Dash opened the envelope. Dear Rainbow Dash, we are very sad to say that your friend, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to the rest of your friends and her family. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her siblings may pick up the body at any time. "WHAT?!" Dash exclaimed. Tears formed in her magenta eyes. Dash closed her eyes as tears slipped out of them, grasping her book and hugging it to her chest. Pinkie...dead. Pinkie is dead. She is really dead. And the last thing I told her was, '...Bye, see you later.' *** "INKIE! THERE IS A RANDOM PEGASUS AT OUR DOOR! GO SEE WHAT SHE'S UP TO!" yelled Blinkie as she sat on the couch, ready to take a nap. "Fine, fine. But next time guests come you're getting it!" hissed Inkie. She trotted over to the door and opened it. "You got mail." said the pegasus. "Mail? We never get mail!" Inkie hissed at the pegasus. "Well this envelope goes to this adress, so you got mail, congrats!" said the pegasus happily. Inkie grumbled and grabbed the envelope from the pegasus and slammed the door on her. "Get up, Blinkie." Inkie told her half-asleep sister. "Nooooo." moaned Blinkie. Inkie growled and sat atop of her sister. "Augh! Fine!" Blinkie growled. Inkie got off of her sister and Blinkie sat in a normal position next to her sister. Inkie began to open the envelope. "Mail!? We never get mail!" said Blinkie, shocked. "I know. That's what I said. It must be extremely important." replied Inkie. Inkie finished opening the envelope and took the letter out, and read aloud, "Dear Inkie and Blinkie, we are very sad to say that your sister, Pinkie Pie has passed away last night at about 2:30 a.m. She had a heart attack. She has had previous check-ups warning her about a heart attack, but it still sadly occurred. We have her body in the chamber, she is currently inside a temporary coffin. We sent this same message to her friends. We are very sorry for your loss. You or her friends may pick up the body at any time." Both Inkie and Blinkie's jaws dropped. "Pinkie's..dead?" Blinkie couldn't believe it. "We're the last two in the family." Inkie sighed. Not a single tear was shed, but rather shock and disbelief was taking over the two mares "Let's go pick her up." Inkie suggested. Blinkie agreed. And the two ponies strapped themselves to their two-pony wagon, off to the Ponyville hosptial. *** "Ah, after a long day, you two are the ones to pick up Pinkie?" asked Nurse Red Heart. Inkie and Blinkie only nodded. "Where will you bury her?" asked the nurse. Inkie and Blinkie looked at eachother, and whispered into eachother's ears. "The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes." They said at the same time. "That cemetery takes approval to put somepony in there." Nurse Redheart reminded. "Oh come on! She saved Equestria, like, four times!" grumbled Blinkie. "Well then, write a letter to the princesses." Nurse Red Heart said, "Find another place to bury her or she can stay here for a bit." "We'll let her stay." the ponies said at the same time. "We'll return once we get our answer." Inkie said. "Well, then. Goodbye for now." Nurse Red Heart said. The two ponies strapped themselves to their wagon, and walked home, with no Pinkie Pie. *** Once the two mares got home, Luna's dark night was upon them. They unstrapped themselves from the wagon and walked inside their dark home. Blinkie lit a candle at the table and Inkie grabbed the quill and paper. "We write together." said Inkie. "Fine," said Blinkie, her tired eyes stared at the paper. Inkie began to write. Dear Princess Celestia and Luna, today we got a letter from the Ponyville Hospital. It said that our sister, Pinkie Pie, has died. we are sure that you both know who Pinkie Pie is, and we think Pinkie Pie deserves to be buried in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes. "You write now." Inkie suggested. Blinkie grabbed the quill from Inkie and began writing. We think she deserves to be buried there because she has helped save Equestria from Eternal Night, Eternal Chaos, A changeling queen taking over, and the Crystal Empire help defeat King Sombra. Please reply as soon as possible. Sincerely, Inkie and Blinkie "You'd make a terrible author." growled Inkie. "HEY!" shouted Blinkie, "What is that supposed to mean?" "Nothing. Let's put this in the nearest post office box or something tomorrow." said Inkie, sealing the letter in a blue envelope. And the two mares went to bed. *** "What's this?" asked Princess Celestia as she looked at the mysteriously blue envelope. She read, Dear Princess Celestia and Luna, today we got a letter from the Ponyville Hospital. It said that our sister, Pinkie Pie, has died. we are sure that you both know who Pinkie Pie is, and we think Pinkie Pie deserves to be buried in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes. We think she deserves to be buried there because she has helped save Equestria from Eternal Night, Eternal Chaos, A changeling queen taking over, and the Crystal Empire help defeat King Sombra. Please reply as soon as possible. Sincerely, Inkie and Blinkie Celestia hid her emotions, though nopony was around. Iit came natrually to her after having to remain strong for over 1000. Though she has felt that she has died a little on the inside. The element of laughter. Gone. The princess grabbed her quill and started to write. My dearest subjects, Inkie and Blinkie, I write to you to accept your request. Pinkie Pie is worthy of being buried in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes. Sincerely, Princess Celestia Celestia put the letter in a blue envelope just like the ponies who sent it, and sent the envelope away. Celestia then realized she has written only two sentences. "Well, I need to work on that.." she told herself, and went back to her work. *** Rarity walked into the Ponyville hospital. "Hello there, what can I do for you?" asked Nurse Red Heart. "Hi there, I am wondering if it is okay to see my friend, Pinkie Pie?" The nurse gave Rarity a cold look. "...No?" Rarity guessed. "Didn't you get the letter?" the nurse asked. "What letter?" Rarity asked, a bit worried. "Who are you, to be exact?" asked the nurse. "...Rarity..." Rarity said with caution. "You should have gotten a letter two days ago. Did you get your mail that day?" "Yes, I read it on the same date, too. There was no 'letter' from here." The nurse sighed, "Well I hate to tell you the hard way... Pinkie Pie is dead." *** "SWEETIE BELLE!" Rarity screamed. Sweetie trotted downstairs with caution. "What were you hiding from me two days ago?!" Rarity screamed again. "Umm..." Sweetie said, looking down. "TELL ME NOW!" Rarity shouted into her ears. "Okay okay! I hid a letter from the Ponyville hospital! Pinkie's dead! I'm sorry! I didn't want you to be hurt!" tears rolled down Sweetie's face. "Well you should of have TOLD ME!" Rarity hissed. Sweetie cried harder. "I-I'm sorry Rarity! I didn't mean to!" Rarity's face softened, seeing the pain in Sweetie's eyes. Rarity's ears went back, her eyes slanted up, and she frowned. "It's okay, Sweetie." Light tears were going down Rarity's face. Sweetie Belle looked up. "I am a terrible sister." Sweetie sniffed. "You're not, Sweetie." Rarity wrapped a hoof around her younger sister. "We can go visit Pinkie at the cemetery once she's buried there. Her funeral is in three days, do you want to go?" asked Rarity. Sweetie nodded. "Okay, then we'll go." THE FUNERAL The five friends sat next to eachother as they saw Pinkie laying down in her coffin peacefully. Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo were sitting next to eachother. Applebloom was telling her tale of how she found out Pinkie died. "'Applejack? What's wrong?' I asked. Applejack looked up at me, tears rolling down her face. She was sitting in her bedroom. I trotted over to her. 'Applebloom, it'd be unwise of me to hide it from you. So I gotta tell you the truth.' Applejack said. 'What's the truth?' I asked. 'The truth is, Pinkie Pie died.' I gasped, slight tears rolled down my cheeks. 'Hey sis, it's okay.' I told her, 'One day, everypony's time will come.' Applejack looked at me. 'I know, but the time came too soon.' she said. 'It always seems like that, doesn't it? Be glad you enjoyed Pinkie by your side while you had her. You were quite lucky to have her as a friend.' I said. Applejack looked at me. 'You're right, 'Bloom.' she grabbed me, and said. 'Please, I need the comfort of another pony. Can you spend the night with me?' 'Sure.' I said. Eventually, we both fell asleep on her bed." Just then Twilight came up for speaking. "Pinkie Pie was such a good friend, it was a shame to lose her.." But Twilight could say no more. It was too painful. Apparently, the other four had thought the same. The only thing they could do was cry. Out of nowhere, Celestia appeared. "Am I late?" she asked. "No, we're just starting." replied Inkie, somewhere in the seats. "I shall speak." said Celestia. "Pinkie Pie was a very important pony in Equestrian Society. She has left a history mark on the entire world, and without her, disharmony would occur. But now, Pinkie's time has come to leave us. And therefore, she shall be honored and buried here, in The Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes." Twilight went up next. "Although I am pained, my respect for Pinkie is great, therefore, I must finish my speech. At first I thought Pinkie Pie was a very annoying pink pony, who did nothing but party, but there was more to her than that. She had a big heart, and I love that about her. I knew her for short years compared to my other friends, but I can easily say, I knew Pinkie well." Next was Fluttershy. "Umm..." she squeed, "Whenever I was sad, Pinkie would make me smile. And that's what I liked about her. She made friends with everypony." Fluttershy quickly left the stage crying. Next was Applejack. "I can honestly say Pinkie was the laughter and joy to all of us. She may of had parts of her life that were sad, but I'm glad Pinkie made us smile, making her smile for the most of her life. I've known Pinkie the longest, and I oh do miss her. I hope she is at peace." Then came Rarity. "I love how Pinkie Pie always inspired me to keep going, and even at my most frustrating times, she would make me happy. I love how she would celebrate our friendship instead of acting like it is nothing to celebrate about. Because, honestly, right now, I feel like we should celebrate that Pinkie was our friend and we were so lucky to have her." Lastly of the friends, Rainbow Dash. "Pinkie Pie's personality is such a rare one. I mean, you don't see a pony that can make friends with everypony she sees everyday! She was really good at pranks, and whenever we pranked someone, she would make the person she pranked smile, too. Pinkie was a great friend, and I'm really hurt she is gone." Then Inkie and Blinkie gave a short speech about their sister. "We were so happy to have our sister. Our rock farm was sad and boring until she found happiness deep in her heart." said Inkie. "Yeah! Seriously. She was the first pony to make me smile." said Blinkie. Eventually, other friends gave speeches about Pinkie. Then the time came, to bury her. The coffin shut and lowered deeper and deeper into the ground. The ponies had to pull back tears. They all had one thought on their mind, and the thought saddened them. Pinkie was going into the ground, and she was never, ever coming out. She was never going to be able to make them smile anymore. She was never going to see her friends again. Dirt piled upon the coffin Pinkie was in, until it was full that it made it look like nopony was buried there. The gravestone went atop of the ground Pinkie was buried in, with her element of harmony now inside it, and only the balloon part showed. Pinkie will never wear that necklace again. There was another thought going throughout all of the ponies' minds. Goodbye, Pinkie Pie. I miss you.
The Sacrifice2 weeks later The sun was starting to set in in Equestria, and Luna's moon slowly crept up. Fluttershy sighed as the sun's bright light reflected on Pinkie's element of Harmony, giving it a happy glow. Fluttershy sat there until the the sun set, and Luna's moon was in the sky. Fluttershy looked at the element. "I miss you, Pinkie." But Fluttershy knew that she must go, she had work to do. She slowly got up, and walked away from the Tombstone, and out of The Canterlot Cemetery For Lost Heroes. Light tears rolled down the yellow pegasus's face as she walked to the nearest train that lead to Ponyville. She looked back at the cemetery, now thinking she left Pinkie alone. Pinkie must be very lonely in there. The thoughts slipped away from Fluttershy as the Train Engineer demanded bits for her ride back to Ponyville. "Two bits, please!" the Engineer was starting to get impatient. Fluttershy took out two of the four bits she had with her, and gave them to the engineer. She sat down on the left side of the train, getting a perfect view of the cemetery. Soon enough, the train started to pull away and Fluttershy was forced further and further away from Pinkie Pie. *** Angel impatiently stomped his foot as Fluttershy walked inside her cottage home. "I know you all want dinner. I'm sorry I was late." Fluttershy apologized. She grabbed all types of food; bird, cat, dog, rabbit, etc, etc. For being rude, Fluttershy was going to give Angel his food last. First, she poured the dog's food. There was only two dogs; or puppies, in Fluttershy's cottage. She found them together abandoned in Fillydelphia a few weeks ago. She then fed the birds, but to prevent total chaos, had the birds sit in their cage and get their food one at a time. Then was the cats. Just like the dogs, Fluttershy had very few cats, only four. She put the cats' food in one big giant bowl so they could learn to share. Then she went to the rabbits' section, and poured them their food, but Angel had to sit in his cage. Fluttershy stepped outside to feed the chickens and pigs, and then she heard a rustle come from somewhere. "Huh? Who's there?" she asked. Nothing happened. Fluttershy shook her head, and walked inside, and gave Angel his food. She then settled all of the animals in their cages to go to sleep, and walked upstairs to go sleep in her own bed. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep. AROOOO! HISS! BECAW! SNORT! SCREAM! (just incase you didn't know, rabbits scream like little girls when they're scared.) All panicked sounds of different types of animals came from everywhere. Why are they making these noises?! Fluttershy thought as she got out of bed. She trotted downstairs. Nothing was there. Why were they panicking? AHHH!" Fluttershy screamed as she felt herself be slammed against the wall. She cried, looked up, and saw a grey unicorn wearing a mask. Defentily a stallion. His horn glowed a scary black, and with his magic, holding a blade. Fluttershy gasped as the unicorn approached her.Her wings opened and she took off to the ceiling. "What do you want?!" she asked. "I want you, Fluttershy." he said in a raspy voice. "What?! Why?!" asked Fluttershy. The pony only responded, "You have a way with animals, my dear. If I have you, I can capture some of the smartest show dogs and get my money's worth!" Fluttershy gasped and her eyes widened, then her eyebrows slanted downwards. "NO!" She flew over to her kitchen and grabbed the biggest, sharpest, knife she had. "Leave me alone!" she hissed, "OR ELSE!" The unicorn charged after her. Fluttershy flew up and back down and stabbed the pony in the back, barely missing his spine. The pony turned around and bit Fluttershy on her hoof. Fluttershy squealed, took the knife out of his back and let the blood run out. She then turned around, so she once again faced the unicorn. "We don't have to fight. Just come with me.." the unicorn said. Fluttershy growled and charged after the unicorn. She aimed for his chest, but missed it, and stabbed his fron arm. The unicorn stabbed Fluttershy in her flank, causing blood to run out over the three butterflies on her. She took as much advantage of this as she could. She kicked her back hoof, that was also attached to the bloody flank, and hit the unicorn right under his chin. He pulled back. Fluttershy soared towards him and her two front hooves hit the front of his chest. He fell backwards. Using his magic, he flung himself upwards and pinned himself down on Fluttershy, using his hooves to pin down Fluttershy's hooves and wings. He put his blade up to her throat. Fluttershy gulped, but could not think of a way to escape. What Fluttershy has not noticed before was that the unicorn was wearing saddle bags. Out of the left saddlebag, he took out a rope with his magic and wrapped it around Fluttershy, keeping her hooves and wings in while still having the blade to her throat so she couldn't scream. He then brought out duct tape and wrapped it tightly around her muzzle. He lifted the blade off of her throat and used her magic to pick her up. He then galloped into the Everfree, where he had a one-pony wagon. He put Fluttershy in a giant box behind the place where the unicorn would pull. He opened a door in the back of the box and threw Fluttershy in, then closed the door. He strapped himself to the wagon, and started to pull Fluttershy further and further away from her home. *** Fluttershy awoke in what seemed like a jail cell. The ropes were off her, but the duct tape was still wrapped around her mouth so tightly her hooves wouldn't be able to take it off, infact, she tried to. A stallion, not the same one from last night, came up to her cell. He was a big muscular Earth Pony Fluttershy defentily didn't want to mess with. He had ponies attached by the hooves and neck with chains, which reminded Fluttershy of what King Sombra did. The Earth Pony was holding the next pair of chains, ready to hold in it's next victim - Fluttershy. Fluttershy obidiently came up to the Earth Pony and let him chain her. Fluttershy looked ahead; ponies of all types. Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus, stallion, mare. They stopped by a few more cells and picked up more ponies. They then walked into a large room, and it looked like a medieval torture chamber. Fluttershy noticed a stallion; he was a black pegasus, with eve a more black mane, cuts and bruises all over his body from bloody fights. His eyes were bloody red, as if from so much fighting they were stained over time. Fluttershy lowered her head in fear, and observed more her surroundings. The front of the chain was chained to a pole. "You're probably all wondering why you're here..." Fluttershy heard the stallion say. The stallion looked at the crowd of ponies tied to the pole, and the crowd of ponies reflected his gaze. "Money. We need it. You should feel honored, all of you ponies have very special talents that we could use. So you will stay here for as long as we need you." the stallion said, "Any problems?" Fluttershy thought about how her animals could be in danger of starvation, but didn't want to take the chance of them doing something bad to her animals. Everypony else remained silent. "Very well. Workers, unchain the ones we need right now." The workers unchained a few pegasi, three female, two male. "You are all of my athlete pegasi. You will stay with us, and compete in competitions so we can win money, that's if, if you do win." Fluttershy suddenly thought of Rainbow Dash. But she knew that Dash was way too good of a flyer for them to even catch. The same strong stallion that brought them here brought them back to their cells. As they were walking back, Fluttershy heard a vicious scream. "LET ME GO!!!" She looked over to see somepony familiar. Lightning Dust? The pony was strapped to a wall, she had duct tape around her mouth, but it was ripped. "YOU ASSHOLES! LET ME GO!" she screamed. The stallion ignored Lightning Dust and put everypony else back in their cells. Fluttershy watched as the stallion grabbed something off the wall; is that a whip? Fluttershy thought. He unlocked Lightning Dust's cell and started smacking her with the whip. Lightning dust whinnied in pain, but he only hit harder. Fluttershy could tell Lightning Dust was in great pain, but she was refusing to show any sign of weakness. The stallion walked out of the cell and grabbed duct-tape, and wrapped it tightly around her mouth. Fluttershy uncomfortably went to the corner of her cell and tried to sleep. *** Fluttershy awoke again. She got few hours of sleep, and she heard her stomach grumble. She tried removing the duct-tape, but it was still tight around her mouth. She then heard hoovesteps go around the hallway of jail cells. A different pony, an Earth Pony mare, was pulling a cart of food. She stopped at a female unicorn's cell first. "Come here. I won't hurt you." she said. The unicorn walked up to the front of the jail cell like an abused caged animal. The Earth Pony brought out a knife, and the unicorn backed away from the cell doors, trying to illuminate her horn in defense, though she couldn't. "We put a gel on all of your horns while you were still unconscious. Don't worry this knife is only to cut off your duct-tape so you can eat." The unicorn walked back up to front of the cell, and let the Earth Pony mare cut off the duct-tape. The Earth Pony slid a bowl of moosh in the cell, and the unicorn looked at her and spoke, "What is this?" "Beats me. I'm not the cook." The unicorn eyed the food, and hesitantly began to eat. The Earth Pony stopped at different cells and began to repeat the same process. She stopped at Fluttershy's cell, feeling sorry for the scared Pegasus. Fluttershy didn't want to come up, but her hunger got the best of her and she allowed the Earth Pony to cut her duct tape off. She then ate. The food wasn't good at all, but who cared now? If this is what she had to eat, she'd eat it. After the Earth Pony left, Fluttershy could hear Lightning Dust swearing to herself and biting her jail cell bars in effort to break them. Nopony was in the mood to talk to eachother, so the only noise was Lightning Dust's banging. Eventually a pegasus stallion walked into the jail cell, and stopped in front of Lightning Dust. "Listen," he said in a deep, dark voice. "Come with me. Do not try to escape. If you are too much of a problem, we will have to execute you." Lightning Dust's eyes widened in fear and she followed the pegasus with her head lowered. Fluttershy was about to go sit in the corner of her cell when she heard the same voice, "You are coming with us, too." Fluttershy squealed in fear, but followed the pegasus and Lightning Dust. They went into a small office, and the familar black pegasus greeted them neutrally. The other stood guard by the door. "You both have a mission for me. You need to capture the grand show dog, Tiana. Fluttershy screamed in her mind, No! She has heard about Tiana, the star show dog. She won nearly every beauty pageant she's entered, and for the last two years, a non-stop streak. "Why do you want Tiana?" Fluttershy asked in fear. "Money. We're going to hold the dog ransom." Fluttershy shuttered at the fear of doing such a crime. "And why would we do such a dumb thing?!" Lightning Dust hissed. "Would you like to be killed?" asked the pegasus. Lightning Dust shook her head, but then screamed, "You should work for your money!" "Nah." said the pegasus, "I'm Steal Stuff." "Steal Stuff?" Fluttershy asked, keeping her humor inside of her body. "That's my name, yes. I come from generations of ponies who did one thing; steal." "Now," said Steal Stuff. "Here's the plan. There's a finale dog show tomorrow, and we need to get Tiana before that time. Right now she's in her mansion in Canterlot." "How do you know this?" asked Fluttershy "You want me to reveal all of my information, don't you?" asked Steal Stuff, "If I reveal too much, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you after the job is done." Fluttershy squealed in fear. "Now, you...blue one-" "Lightning Dust." Lightning Dust hissed. "Lightning Dust goes to the mansion first and with her skills, gets around everything she needs to and grab the dog. Of course the dog will wake up and freak out, so thats when the yellow one comes in to calm it down, and you bring the dog back to us, and your job is finished." said Steal Stuff. Fluttershy didn't dare tell Steal Stuff her name. "Now, you both understand your job?" asked Steal Stuff. The two mares nodded. "Good. You will be leaving at 10 tonight. I expect you both to at most be back by midnight." "You will locate this mansion. It is white, with many flowers, most being yellow and purple. It has exactly five floors. Walk out this door at ten exactly, not one minute before, not one minute after. You will both go back to your cells." The pegasus pony at the door took them back to their cells, where Fluttershy realized there was a hole nearly the size of her mouth in there. "Hello?" she said into the hole. A sudden big yellow eye came up, blocking the light from the hole. "Ahh!" Fluttershy screamed, and flew back to the opposite side of her cell. "Hi there, Fluttershy!" a friendly and familiar voice yelled. Fluttershy went back and looked in the hole to see the mail mare, Derpy. "W-Why are you here, Derpy?" she asked. "Dunno. They said something about me being an experiment." Derpy said. Fluttershy gulped. Why would they want to experiment on Derpy? "Why?" "They said something about my eyes being odd. Are my eyes weird?" Derpy asked. Fluttershy knew how much Derpy would feel out if she kept pointing out the flaws of her eyes, so she said, "N-No. Not at all, Derpy." "Okay!" Derpy cheered in her normal, happy voice. Fluttershy looked at a clock installed on a wall. 10:46 a.m. Why are they so confident me and Lightning Dust will return? Of course we'll escape once we get the chance, she thought. The same Earth Pony mare returned. Isn't it a bit early for lunch? Fluttershy thought. Then she realized that she was collecting plates, and then she realized something else. She was putting the duct tape back on. One unicorn stallion bit her on the hoof when she tried to attach the tape. Fluttershy noticed how she pressed on a button near the wall. Is she opening the cell? Soon enough stallions of all races came in. One big strong muscular unicorn held a whip. Oh, no. With the outnumbering of ponies, the imprisoned unicorn was slammed to the wall and chained there, where he was whipped, and the duct tape was put around his mouth. The Earth Pony mare had a bandage around her hoof. So that's what the buttons are for...to call down misbehaving ponies! "Any objections?" the mare asked as she came across another unicorn stallion at the next cell. He shook his head, galloped to the front of his cell and let her duct-tape him. She took away his plate. Surprisingly, Lightning Dust made no trouble, and allowed the mare to wrap the tape around her muzzle. Once the mare got to Fluttershy's cell, Fluttershy thought of how eager she wanted the freedom to talk, and even move her jaw. But she didn't want to have the mare hit the button next to her cell wall and have Fluttershy be whipped like the poor unicorn did. She didn't gallop to the front of her cell, but rather walked. What's the rush? She let the mare wrap her muzzle with duct tape. The mare spoke to her. "You don't even need duct tape. You're quieter than a mouse." She then went over to the next cell without looking back. Fluttershy eventually found herself just staring at the clock. Tick, Tick, Tick 12:07 Tick, Tick, Tick 12:08 Fluttershy had found herself growling in frustration. This wasn't her. Everytime a pony passed by the cells she was eager to slam on the bars and tell them to let her out. Fluttershy spread her wings and flew at the cell door, trying to get herself out. Derpy looked through the hole at Fluttershy. She's gone crazy. Fluttershy realized how much her freedom was to her, and this was the first time ever. She wanted her freedom again, and she wanted it now. She opened her jaw and felt the painful but sweet sensation of it rip. Fluttershy moved her jaw, and whispered a few words to herself. She had broke free. Only from the duct tape. Fluttershy went towards the cell bars and started pulling back with her teeth, as if she were playing tug of war. As she was pulling, she then realized every other pony in the cell was watching her, with one note to her on all of their minds. It's useless. Then hoovesteps came down the hallway. It was the Earth Pony Mare. "Lunchtime." she said. She was cutting off the duct tape of the ponies, when Fluttershy realized she would notice the ducttape unwrapped around Fluttershy's mouth. Fluttershy tried wrapping the duct-tape back around her mouth but it looked like hardly any job was done at all. When it was Fluttershy's turn to receive food, the Earth Pony made another comment; "I must have not done a good job with your tape...oh well, you don't need it." and she cut off the rest of the tape. Fluttershy got her bowl of moosh and began to eat, when she noticed something on the mare. A vest. And attached to that vest was... keys. Normally, Fluttershy would finish her food and sit back and cower, but now she's gone half crazed, and she was willing to do whatever she could to get out. Fluttershy reached her hoof farther and farther toward the keys. EARLIER THAT DAY "Fluttershy promised she'd be here." said Twilight, concerned. "She's probably busy tending to her animals, her usual 'I'm late' excuse." grumbled Dash. "It's been quite a couple minutes since the picnic started..." Applejack said, "And at this location, Fluttershy's cottage is the closest to us." "Do you think she's alright?" Rarity asked. "She's fine!" Dash exclaimed. "I'd rather go check on her. Maybe we'll come by her as we go towards her house. I just wanna make sure she's not having any problems." Twilight said. "Fine, but we're wasting time doing this!" Dash growled. Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash with concern, "Twilight's right RD, Fluttershy is usually the first one here after Pinkie..." An awkward silence swept through the air. "...Let's go." Twilight said, breaking the silence. The four ponies trotted towards Fluttershy's house. As they approached, it seemed like a zoo. Animal screams were heard throughout the house. "She must be having BIG problems if her house is sounding like that." Rainbow Dash said nervously. Applejack knocked o the door. "Fluttershy? Ya'll home?" No response. After a few more tries, the four mares decided to just walk in. They all gasped at the scene. "Oh, yuck!" Rarity yelled as the smell of animal poop wafted in the air. "Is that...blood?" Rainbow Dash asked as she went towards the floor, inspecting a suspicious red stain. "That's blood alright." Twilight said, concerned. Rarity fainted at the sight only to be caught and shaken awake by Applejack. "Whatever happened, Fluttershy either made blood spill or spilled her own blood." Rainbow Dash said. "Probably both..." Twilight remarked. Twilight took lead. "Okay, guys, I have a plan. Applejack and I will feed the animals and clean the cages,Rarity looks for any signs of Fluttershy's disappearance, Rainbow Dash, look everywhere for Fluttershy. This includes the Everfree forest! Pinkie Pie-" Another awkward silence filled the air. "GO!" Twilight screamed, once again, breaking the silence. The ponies went to work. *** Fluttershy grasped the keys and ended up slamming the mare into her cell doors. In surprise, the mare turned around but Fluttershy slammed her again, desperate for the keys. The mare extended her hoof to hit the button of doom. Fluttershy slammed her again. The mare let out a scream. Suddenly the keys flew out of her vest and into Fluttershy's cell. Fluttershy grabbed the keys, and then she realized the mare had hit the button of doom. No! Fluttershy quickly ran to the front of the cell and tried to get the key to unlock herself, while the mare lie on the floor, back aching. The door unlocked. Fluttershy grabbed the mare and threw her into the cell, slammed the door, and then she was locked in. Fluttershy could hear the steps apporach faster. Fluttershy unleashed her wings and flew throughout the hallways, holding the key in her mouth. When she realized it would be no more of use, she dropped it, and she heard a voice scream, "MY EYE!" Fluttershy soon realized she was underground, and soared up a pair of stairs and shoved open a door. The entire prison was like a giant cellar. The sun's warmth shone on her yellow coat, and she soared into the air as fast as she can. Soon enough, there were other pegasi following her. Fluttershy panicked as they approached faster. Then suddenly, she felt something wrap around her body, stopping her wings from flapping. Fluttershy lounded with a loud thud. Dust exploded around her, and she could hear the coughs of many ponies. Once the dust cleared, Steal Stuff slowly trotted up. Once he was close enough, Fluttershy could only see his dark hoof. "You're in big trouble, yellow one." he said, and turned around. "Take her away." Fluttershy felt herself being lifted with unicorn magic. and being carried back down to the prisons. She was literally thrown back in her cell. "Blood Break is dead!" a pony came galloping up to the group. "What?!" Steal Stuff asked, then looked at Fluttershy. "You're innocence is gone, yellow one! You killed her!" He looked back at the other pony. "How'd she die?" "Severe brain damage. No way I could save her. She died within about two minutes when I got her out of this cell." He pointed at Fluttershy's cell. Steal Stuff looked at Fluttershy, but said nothing. 1:32 Has it really been that long? The crowd of ponies began to descend when the same strong unicorn that she fought earlier wrapped duct tape around her mouth. Fluttershy had caused an awkward silence throught the prison cells. Nopony talked. They didn't want to talk. What could terrifying Fluttershy could do next? Fluttershy fell asleep, thinking I'm a killer. *** Fluttershy awoke on her bed. She checked the clock. 2;30 p.m. It was just a dream. She walked downstairs, seeing her animals happy to see her. And she was happy to see them. Angel hopped over to her, hungry and grumpy. She pet him. "It'll come soon, Angel Bunny." Then she realized how soft, how soozing his fur was. And how she wanted to stroke again and again. The young rabbit tried to scurry away and Fluttershy stroke him more and more. "No, no, Angel." Fluttershy said as she kept on petting him. She then realized how much she wanted to keep his soft, soothing fur forever and ever, and never let it go. If the rabbit starves from me holding him so much, I will be stroking a smelly corpse, Fluttershy thought to herself. "Oh Angel, come with me, I'll feed you first." In no regret, Angel followed. Fluttershy and Angel went into the kitchen and saw blood stains everywhere. She thought in her mind, Did the dream I have really happen? Fluttershy then realized what a thrill it was to fight, to see blood spill. To represent her victory that she did. She then loved blood. She wanted to see blood that she made come out. She set Angel on the table. Fluttershy again thought to herself, I want to see blood spill, to see what beautiful work I have done. "Here, Angel," Fluttershy said grabbing the same, thick, bloody knife as she remembered from the battle. (Which she had not cleaned.) "Hold still!" Before the rabbit could respond, Fluttershy sank the knife into his soft, fragile body. Blood spurted from the dying rabbit's chest as it hit Fluttershy's face. Not only has the sight of blood made her feel alive, but the feeling of it splashing on her face did. Fluttershy licked around her mouth. And the taste, too! Fluttershy continued stabbing Angel, seeing the blood and feeling the blood and tasting the blood. Soon enough she could smell the blood; which smelled better than anything to her. Blood, she loved it. And the only way to get more was to work for it. *** "Get up, yellow one." she heard a voice say. Fluttershy woke up startled, she looked up at Steal Stuff. "We need to talk." Steal Stuff looked at Fluttershy as she followed him. They went into his office. "You know, yellow one. I am not mad at you for murdering Blood Break. Infact, I'm fascinated. I underestimated you. You even took out Metalhoof's eye." Fluttershy thought of how she dropped the keys when she made an attempt to escape. "Even almost escaping has impressed me, yellow one. I want to know; would you like to be an assassin for us?" Fluttershy gasped. More blood! "Sure!" She said in delight, without thinking. Fluttershy then stopped herself. What monster have I become?! There was no going back now, though. Steal Stuff already acknowledged the offering. "Good After your first mission tonight. Get some rest, yellow one. We are getting along well. Perhaps you'll become a friend to me." Fluttershy uncomfortably went back to her cell thinking how she would become friends with such a horrid pony. Perhaps Fluttershy was a horrid pony, too? Was this really who she was? Fluttershy looked at the clock. 6:27 Her first mission was in four hours, and she had a plan to make it her last. *** "It is time, yellow one." she heard Steal Stuff say. Lightning Dust was by his side. "You are going to leave in ten minutes. Let me give you the supplies necessary." Steal Stuff said. *** Fluttershy and Lightning Dust soared out the door with their supplies. "Where are you going, Lightning? Canterlot is this way!" Fluttershy said over the wind. "I'm not heading towards Canterlot!" Lightning Dust hissed, "I'm heading for freedom!" Of course. Fluttershy did remember her strive for freedom as she remembered escaping "Let's go. Quickly." Fluttershy said. The two ponies soared side by side. Fluttershy would never be able to keep up with Lightning Dust's average speed, so Lightning flew slower than usual. Atleast they were both on their way to freedom. *** "Just as boss predicted, Metalhoof." Wingburn said to the one-eyed pony. Metalhoof looked at the pure red pegasus. "Go at them, Wingburn." Wingburn took off into the sky, carrying a net in his mouth. *** "...Who's-" Lightning Dust started, but then got cut off by Wingburn soaring into her side and pushing her into a cloud. Fluttershy gasped. "How DARE YOU?!" She flew over to Wingburn and slammed him in his side, causing him to fling away. Fluttershy heard a loud thud. Lightning Dust flew back towards Fluttershy. "I seriously thought he was gonna kill me. If there wasn't a way out, I would have suffocated in that cloud." "I think I killed him..." Fluttershy said quietly. Suddenly a loud roar of wind came as Wingburn soared to the two pegasi and threw the net at both of them, entangling their wings. "AHHH!" They both screamed as they fell towards Earth. Fluttershy grabbed at the rope and started to viciously bite. "What are you doing?!" Lightning Dust, sure those would be her last words. "Setting you free!" Fluttershy cried. Fluttershy thought of her goresome thoughts and how she loved them. I don't want to die being a monster! "And how will you set me free?!" Lightning Dust screamed "By having the rope all to myself!" Fluttershy screamed Suddenly, part of the rope tore off of Lightning Dust's wings, but there was no time to get the other half of the rope off Fluttershy's. Lightning Dust soared after Fluttershy. "No! Don't save me!" Fluttershy screamed. Lightning Dust looked in confusion, and attempted to grab Fluttershy's back hoof but ended up being kicked in chest. "Go!" Fluttershy screamed. She looked at the ground. She realized she would be hitting water. It would only be a few seconds before she hit. This is it, she thought. Goodbye. life. Goodbye, friends. Goodbye, everything. Goodbye, me. I'd rather die a non-psycopath than one. Suddenly, Fluttershy felt her body impact on the water. It was cold, and the impact was so hard pain went surging throughout her body. Her eyes opened in shock. While it wasn't even a fourth of a second, it felt like an hour. It was supposed to be quick and painless. But she's never expreienced such pain before. Her body quickly spilled blood, her bones broke. Too much damage happened to Fluttershy to ever save her. She saw a bright light, and felt herself leave the pain. Forever. *** "It's been THREE DAYS. THREE!" Cried Rainbow Dash as the four ponies met up at Twilight's library. "I did the best I could do, Rainbow. I contacted the Ponyville police, I even used one of my tracking spells. She's nowhere near here." Twilight said. "I have to agree with Rainbow, Twi. Wouldn't ya'll get a little suspicious if Fluttershy was missing for three days?" asked Applejack. "So right now all we can do is put up more flyers on Fluttershy being missing?" Rarity asked, impatient. "I guess, so, Rarity. Because Twi here can't use her egghead brain to think of any bright ideas." Dash replied. "Let's just go-" Twilight started, but then the doorbell rang. "Is it Fluttershy?!" The three other ponies asked in hope. "I don't know, girls! Let me open the dang door." Twilight grumbled. The door opened, there, she found a green unicorn mare holding mail. "What, an accidental mail mix up? I don't blame you, Derpy-" The unicorn interrupted her. "Ah, no. We haven't been able to find Derpy for days. Usually I do Manehatten services, but since they have all that fancy technology, mail isn't really popular there anymore." "How long ago did she go missing?" Twilight asked. "About three days ago, possibly four." the unicorn said. "Odd, that's the same time our friend went missing." Rarity excalimed. The unicorn shrugged. "Oh, well. Probably just a coincidence. Just take your mail, please. I'm busy." Twilight took the mail using her magic. When she shut the door, Twilight and her friends looked at the newspaper. Dash asked, "Did they put our 'Missing' poster in there?" "Let me see..." Twilight flipped through the paper. "Wait Twilight-stop!" Rarity hissed. "Why?" Twilight asked, impatient to find their friend's 'Missing Pony' poster. "Look here. 'Dead Pegasus Found in Canterlot River'." Rarity replied. "Whoa!" Applejack exclaimed, "ya'll don't see that in the front page of the paper everyday." "Okay. I'll read it aloud, then." Twilight said. " 'I was just fishing, when I felt something tugging on my line. It felt big and heavy. I knew fish weren't that heavy down in this river, so I reeled it in and there was a dead body of a pony.' a local Canterlot pony, Fish Reel, claims, 'We don't know who it is. It was defentily a full grown mare, and a pegasus.' Applejack interrupted Twilight's reading. "That's odd. Ain't a full grown mare and a pegasus a little suspicious to ya'll?" asked Applejack, but nopony wanted to reply. Twilight continued to read. "This pony has a yellow body and light pink mane. If anypony knows who she is or why she is dead, please contact Canterlot Investigation Team with mail, or visit them at 786 Loral Drive." - ss. Writer, Bean Mc Goolb" An awkward silence went throughout the ponies. "Fluttershy...dead?" Rainbow gasped. "...Let's go, girls." Twilight announced. The ponies stepped out of Twilight's door and made their way to Canterlot. *** "Twilight! I'm back from shopping! I-" Spike stopped talking when he realized nopony was in the treehouse. "That's weird..." Spike said, looking around. "Hoo!" a mysterious voice said. "It's me, Owlicious!" Spike exclaimed. "Hoo!" Owlicious came into view holding the newspaper. "What? Were you reading the news?" Spike asked, and chuckled. "Hoo!" Owlicious shoved the newspaper in Spike's face. "Fine, fine I'll read it." Spike began reading. His eyes went back and forth as he read the first articale. Spike gasped. "Fluttershy!" *** Twilight and her friends burst into the Canterlot Investigation Team HQ. "How may I help you?" A pony came up to them and asked, but then bowed, seeing princess Twilight. Twilight sighed. She didn't like how she got this kind of attention all of the time. "We know who the pony is, that died in the river. She's our friend Fluttershy." Twilight said. "Is she, princess?" the pony gasped. "I'm sorry for your loss. Here, let me talk with you all." And she trotted toward her office. *** Spike burped out a letter. He opened and read, "Dear Twilight and Spike, just instantly, I received news about a pony dead in a river. This sounds a lot like Fluttershy, your friend. Please find out. I am sorry if you had to receive the news this way. Sincerely, Princess Luna "Luna?" Spike said to himself, "Either way, I might as well write back." Spike wrote. Dear Princess Luna, I have heard of the news. I'm not sure if Twilight has, I came home to find I'm the only one here. Sincerely, Spike He sent the letter. "Where is Twilight...?" *** "What is THIS!?" Steal Stuff asked. He shoved the newspaper into Wingburn's face. "You IDIOT! I SAID TO CAPTURE THEM IF THEY TRIED TO ESCAPE, NOT TO KILL THEM!" "Master- I don't even know if the blue one is dead!" Wingburn cried. "I liked the yellow one better!" Steal Stuff hissed, "I WAS BEFRIENDING HER! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! WE COULD SAVE OUR PRISONS FOR OTHER PONIES!" Steal Stuff shouted. "If you were befriending her, how come she attempted to escape?!" Wingburn asked. "She probably followed the blue one!" Steal Stuff hissed. "What if she didn't master?" Wingburn asked. "She would learn to trust me anyway!" Steal Stuff hissed, "I never got to learn her name! Get the pony who captured her." Steal Stuff hissed. Wingburn trotted to get the grey unicorn whom captured Fluttershy. "What is it, master?" The grey unicorn asked. "The yellow pony's name.." Steal Stuff started, "What was her name, BearStrike?!" "Fluttershy, master." The grey unicorn replied. Steal Stuff's pupils shrank. A flashback soared into his mind. "She's beautiful..." Steel said as he saw the new pony sit down at her desk at Cloudsdale Elementary School. "Maybe I can make friends with her." "Class, this is our new student, Fluttershy. We will be nice and kind to her." the teacher, Miss Notin said. "Now Fluttershy, right now it's time for writing. I'll have a partner help you. Is anypony willing to help Fluttershy with writing?" A A few ponies raised their hooves, Steel raised his eagerly. "Steel, you can help Fluttershy." Miss Notin said. Steel went over to Fluttershy's desk. "Hi, there. I'm Steel." Steel said happy at the beautiful pony. Fluttershy whispered, "I-I'm Fluttershy." "Did you say something?" Steel asked. Fluttershy didn't respond. "Well, welcome to Miss Notin's Kindergarden class. Let me help you get started." Steel Stuff smiled, and started explaining everything to Fluttershy. *** "I'm..I'm moving, Steel. To Ponyville." Fluttershy said to Steel, her best friend since Kindergarden. "What?!" Steel exclaimed, dropping his sandwhich on the lunch table. "N-no, Fluttershy! Please stay!" Steel cried. "I'm sorry...its just..my aunt Posey has to take care of me, now..today's my last day." Fluttershy sighed. "B-but, we're only half way through second grade!" Steel cried, "Stay with me, Fluttershy! I'm sure my parents will love you! It's-" "I'm sorry, Steel. It's just...things have happened and I'm not allowed to tell." Fluttershy said. Steel sighed. "Fine... but one day, we will see eachother again." *** Fifth grade. Fluttershy hasn't been here since second. "Welcome Fluttershy, class." Mrs. Montio said. "Hi, Fluttershy." Everypony in the classroom said. Steel gasped. It was Fluttershy! It was really her! Once lunchtime rolled around, Fluttershy felt a sudden pounce on her back. "Ah!" she squealed, and turned around to see her old friend, Steel. "Steel? Is that you?" Fluttershy asked. Steal nodded. "I knew one day I'd see you again!" he said cheerfully. "I do recognize some other ponies in this school." Fluttershy said. "Great! Want to sit with me at lunch?" asked Steel. "Sure!" Fluttershy said. She grabbed her own tray and they sat down. "So how was third and fourth grade?" asked Fluttershy. "Fine. It'd be much better with you here, though. Fluttershy, why'd you come back?" asked Steel. "My aunt Posey divorced my uncle ScarredWing." Fluttershy said, "Scarred Wing was a pegasus. I moved back with him, to here. Posey was an Earth Pony, so that's why I couldn't stay." "Well I'm glad you're back, Fluttershy." said Steel. "So am I." Fluttershy said, and she smiled at him. *** Second year at Cloudsdale Junior High. 7th grade. "We have a lot of class periods together, Steel." Fluttershy said. "Yeah, except for math and social studies. But that's okay." Steel said. "Yeah. Oh well." Fluttershy said. *** "Class, take a seat please anywhere. Find a partner for our lab project." Mr. Oy said. "Want to be my partner?" Steel asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy responded, "Always, Steel, always." *** "Gah! Stupid math homework! I'm so dumb, Fluttershy. I'm not afraid to admit it. I still have 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and college course math classes to go through, yet I can't understand this stupid crap!" Steel growled. "You're so lucky my uncle isn't home, Steel. He'd tell you to shut up so meanly you'd be afraid to come back over." Fluttershy chuckled. Steel made a nervous laugh. "Uh, okay. Yeah." "Let me help you, Steel. It's simple. I'll do an example problem." Fluttershy wrote on the back of her homework sheet. "See? Simple. I'll write a problem for you to figure out." Fluttershy said. She wrote a problem. Steel figured it out easily. "Sorry my handwriting is so sloppy." he said. "That's okay, Steel. Most boys do." Fluttershy chuckled again. Soon enough, they finished their homework. "So...you have no TV, right?" Steel asked. "No. 'Uncle thinks it's brainwash." Fluttershy chuckled yet again. "Why are you laughing so much?" Steel asked. "Nothing.." But this time, Fluttershy laughed even more than before. Steel thought to himself, am I making her laugh? Fluttershy brought out a radio from her closet. "We can listen to music." Fluttershy turned on the radio. "Ooh! This is my favorite song!" Fluttershy exclaimed. She stated doing a little dance. Steel remembered the thought of when he first saw her... the most gorgeous mare ever. She moved so elegantly, her mane swayed side to side.. Fling! Steel saw his wings open. And they were stuck. "Oh no..." he said. He went to find the bathroom. He locked the door. "Go-down-you-stupid-wings!" Steel said as he tried to push his wings back to normal. With many tries, he finally got them normal again. He went back out, Fluttershy was still dancing. He hoped she didn't see that. That'd be awkward. The song ended. "Why didn't you join me?" Fluttershy asked. "I uh-I can't dance." Steel said trying to his lying eyes. He actually never knew how to dance. He never really cared. "Let me show you, Steel." Without asking him,she grabbed Steel by the hoof. The next song came on. "Okay, just move your hoof like this..." Fluttershy said, "Good...now..move like that-wait, no! Wait!" But it was too late. Steel fell atop of Fluttershy. His face went red. "Oh uh-sorry!" he said. "It's alright," Fluttershy said. She got up but knocked her head under his chin. "Agh!" She said, she backed away and faced Steel. She's never been this close to Steel. Like Steel, her face went red and she backed away. They sat there in silent awkwardness until the song ended, and the commercials came on. Fluttershy turned the radio off. "Well, wanna get something to eat or something..." Fluttershy said, trying to get rid of the awkwardness between them. She started to make her way to the kitchen. You've had a crush on her ever since first grade, Steel. It's about time you told her.. he thought to himself. "Uh, Fluttershy?" Steel asked. Fluttershy was halfway through the door way. "Yes?" "Uh...Fluttershy, I've..I've always l-liked you since I met you..." "Well, of course. Once we made friends, I've liked you since then." "N-no..it's more than that, Fluttershy...I-I love you." Fluttershy turned over to face Steel. "You really do?" "Y-yes." Fluttershy walked towards Steel. "I've been waiting forever for you to admit it, Steel." "You knew?" "Of course I did. Boys are so obvious." Right then, she took Steel by his neck and slammed his lips into hers. Steel's eyes opened wide in shock, but then closed them in ease as he felt Fluttershy's soft lips touch his. After about a minute, she let go. "Fluttershy..." he said, "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend silly!" she said, smiling. "...Yeah. I was gonna ask that." The front door of the cloud aparment unlocked and Fluttershy's uncle ScarredWing came inside. Fluttershy and Steel looked at eachother and just laughed. That was close. The high school years were all one happy blur for Steel, until the last year. *** "I'm moving back onto ground, Steel. After I graduate." said Fluttershy. "What?!" Steel asked, "I'll come with you, Fluttershy!" "You can't. You belong in the sky. You need to put your talent to good use, Steel. I'm no good at flying, I belong on the ground where all the animals are. I wouldn't waste your life just so I can enjoy mine even more." "B-but, does this mean we're done?" "No," Fluttershy said, "One day we will see eachother again, Steel. One day." *** Steal Stuff flashed back into reality. "MASTER!!!" BearStrike was yelling. Wingburn and BearStrike were waiting impatiently. "You are dismissed." Wingburn and BearStrike left without a doubt. Steal Stuff closed his office door. More memories flowed through his mind. The school year ended. "Why, out of all the ponies, FLUTTERSHY HAD TO BE THE ONE TO GO DOWN TO THE GROUND?!" Steel screamed. "Steel?" A hoof knock was on his bedroom door from his father. "Go away, dad." But his dad opened his door anyway. "What's wrong, Steel?" "Nothing." "You are my son. I know when something is wrong with you. Now tell me. Become a man." Steel sighed. "Fluttershy is leaving." "Ah, your girlfriend. You can never trust mares, they are pieces of garbage." Steel growled, "You sexist asshole!" and he pinned his father to the bed. "Let me go, Steel! I am your father!" "No! You didn't know Fluttershy like I did! She said we'd see eachother again - she promised!" "Ah, but will you still be in love with Fluttershy when she sees you again? Will she still love you?" asked Steel's Father calmly, despite the fact he was pinned down. Steel's eyes widened. "She will no longer love you the next time you see her!" scolded Steel's father. He slipped out and pinned down his son, "It's time to inherent what's been going on in the family for generations..." "No! NEVER!" Steel hissed. "Oh yes. You have MY BLOOD, Steel. and everyone who shares OUR BLOOD has one thing they must do. They must steal, they must do crimes. Listen to me, son. If you don't, I will make you." Steel slipped from his father's grasp. "No! I'm not a criminal! It's not me!" Steel cried. His father pinned him down. "You shall inherent your new name, Steel. Your name shall now be called Steal Stuff. You will take on the newest generation of burglary in Equestria. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" "No!" Steal Stuff hissed. "Yes," his father replied, "Welcome to the family, Steal Stuff." Steal Stuff shivered as he snapped back to reality. The mare he loved was dead. He walked out into the hall. "You're all going free." One by one, ponies flew and galloped out of their cells. "BOSS!" Wingburn screamed, "Now they all can tell the princesses!" "I know. They can. I can't forgive myself for the crimes I have done to these innocent ponies." He grabbed a knife. "Goodbye." And he slit his throat. *** Twilight inspected Fluttershy's body. "It seems she died once she hit the water. She didn't drown." "Ah, okay." The piny said. "I don't need approval to do this; I'm burying her in the Canterlot Cemetery for Lost Heroes, right next to her best friend. "Ah okay, here, take a temporary coffin." the pony said. She placed Fluttershy gently in the coffin, and the ponies took her over to the cemetery, a trail of tears followed them. Twilight's horn glowed, and suddenly Spike appeared. "New spell I'm working on..." she told her friends. She looked at Spike, eyes dry with tears. "Wha-?! Oh hi, Twi." Spike said. "Spike, take a letter please." "Sorry Twi, no paper or quill." Twilight's horn glowed and a quill and paper appeared. "Write what I say, okay?" "Okay." "Dear Princess Celestia, my friend, Fluttershy, has died. We wish you ask to hold a small funeral tomorrow." Instantly, Spike burped out a letter. All it said was, "Yes." ONE DAY LATER The funeral was smaller than ever. It only had Celestia, The four friends, Posey, and ScarredWing. "Any speeches?" Celestia asked. Rainbow went up first. "Fluttershy was awesome..really. I am so shocked from her death that tears are hardly even coming out. I know sooner or later they might...I just hoped Fluttershy isn't as shocked as us. I hope she's at peace." Then Applejack. "Fluttershy was kind to the core. I appreciated her alot. I'm devistated she's gone." Then Rarity. "It's a shame to lose such another good friend. I know everpony's time comes, and I'm glad we enjoyed Fluttershy while we could." Lastly Twilight. "What can I say, really? Fluttershy was another extremely good friend of mine and I'm so sad she's gone. May her heart rest in peace." Princess Celestia nor Scarredwing or Posey made a speech. The four friends sat next to each other crying. Fluttershy, the kidness to their souls, the shy small pony with a really big personality. She was gone forever, slowly lowering deeper into the ground, next to one of her best friends. Fluttershy would never be able to show her kindness and care to her friends again. Maybe she will be able to show it to Pinkie Pie.
The Battle11 months later "Hello, Miss Lightning Dust." A voice echoed off the dark walls of the cave. "Huh?! Who are you?!" Lightning Dust scrambled out of her sleeping bag and lit a lamp. Hoovesteps echoed off the walls and they only seem to be getting louder and louder. In the dim light, Lightning could see a pony emerge. It was her old Wonderbolts Academy Buddy; Rainbow Dash. Lightning let out a sigh of relief. "What do you want, Rainbow?" "I want answers, and I want them now." Rainbow said as she stopped walking and faced Lightning. "Answers to what, exactly?" Lightning asked. "You were captured and you were with my friend. WHAT HAPPENED?" Rainbow asked. "How do you know this?" Lightning asked, but didn't wait for an answer. She soared at Dash. Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, pulled out a knife, and landed on top of Lightning ponning her down. The blade was held against her throat. "Easy there, tiger." Dash commented. "Ugh! How do you know this?!" Lightning cried. "If you're that eager, then I'll let you know. Derpy told me." Rainbow said. "Ugh! Fine! I'll tell you the entire thing if you leave me alone!" Lightning cried. "Good. Now talk." Rainbow growled. Lightning explained the entire thing. She didn't dare miss a single detail. She even told Rainbow how Fluttershy went mega-mad and killed a pony. "What if," Rainbow started, "I don't believe you?" "I swear it's the truth, Rainbow! If you don't believe me, then don't, but either way it's the truth!" Lightning cried. "So about that part," Rainbow started again, "Why didn't you save Fluttershy?" "She didn't want me to! She even kicked me in the chest when I tried! See?" Lightning pointed at her chest with hoof marks in them. "And my wing! See how it's a bit torn? That's from the rope she pulled off." She pointed to her left wing. Rainbow sighed. "Fine. But don't think I won't find you again." She let the knife of Dust's throat and backed away, then put the knife away. "You won't find me again." Lightning growled. "Oh, I will," Rainbow Dash growled back, "And I will come back for a good reason." and the rainbow pegasus took off into the night sky. *** Rainbow Dash went back to her cloud home and looked at the clock. It was about 3 am. She has been gone since 7 am. Her stomach rumbled and she went to open her fridge to get a snack. She pulled out some left over Hay-Sandwhich. Rainbow trotted towards her couch and ate there, knowing after she'd eat she would eat she would fall asleep. Rainbow was chewing on her Sandwhich when she saw her mail on the floor. After eating, she picked it up and set it on her table and went up to bed. She might as well read tomorrow. *** Rainbow Dash walked downstairs and made herself breakfast, and opened the mail. Bills, bills, bills. When she noticed something odd. One envelope had a sticker of her favorite Wonderbolt's cutie mark, Soarin. She opened up the letter. Dear Rainbow Dash, ever since you have finished the Wonderbolts Academy, we have been putting in ponies we decided to add on to our team. Congratulations, you're one of them. Write us back if you accept. Sincerely, Spitfire - Captain of the Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash dropped the letter. She shook her head. What if it was a scam? Rainbow Dash took her chances and flew over to Twilight's tree house. *** "Don't be so gullible, Rainbow." Twilight said, "It could be a scam." "That's exactly what I thought. But I'm taking my chances." Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight. Twilight changed the subject, "Did you find Lightning Dust?" "Yep. I'll only tell the story and the information if you have Spike write a letter back." Twilight groaned, "Fine..." "Spike, come here please." The purple dragon ran over to Twilight, "Yes, Twilight?" "Supposedly, Rainbow here got an invitation to join the Wonderbolts. She wants you to write a letter back for her." Twilight told Spike. "Wow! Congrats, Rainbow! Anyways, I'll get started." Spike grabbed a paper and quill. Rainbow began talk, "Dear Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts, OMGOMGOMG! YOU REALLY WANTED ME TO JOIN THE WONDERBOLTS?! THANK YOU! OF COURSE I WILL! YOU'RE SOO AWESOME!!!! Your newest member, Rainbow Dash" "You got that, Spike?" "Yep." he sealed the letter in an envelope. Rainbow snatched the letter and flew away to put the letter in her mail box. "Wait, Rainbow! You have to tell me what Lightning Dust said." Twilight growled just as Rainbow was about to fly out the door. "Oh, that." Rainbow said. Rainbow Dash began talking, "When I finally tracked her down..." *** "And that's everything she said." Rainbow finished. "Interesting..." Twilight said, but she said no more. "...Soo, can I go now?" Rainbow asked. Twilight said one word, "Yes." *** Rainbow Dash slammed the envelope in her mail box and put up the red stick, to show there was a letter needing to be sent. It was still pretty early in the day, about 11 am. Rainbow Dash thought about all of the possibilities that could happen when she became a Wonderbolt - if it wasn't a scam. Rainbow Dash had always been skeptical of these things, and the last thing she needed was some asshole ponies pranking her into thinking she was in the Wonderbolts. Whether a scam or not, Rainbow Dash still wondered what it would be like being a Wonderbolt. Sure, professional flying, defending Equestria (when needed) and putting on shows, and competing with other teams across Equestria, like Lightningbolts; which were her favorite next to the Wonderbolts. But the reason why Rainbow Dash loved the Wonderbolts the most was because they were the best. And they also originated in Cloudsdale, where she grew up. Rainbow Dash wondered if Ponyville would ever get their own "bolt" team. Since Ponyville was way too small and rural for a flying team, there was none. But in the recent years, since some of the greatest villains like Nightmare Moon and Discord did their evil acts in Ponyville, it was becoming more and more popular and populated. Not to mention her best friend, Twilight, was a princess, and she lived in Ponyville. Heck, even if this whole Wonderbolt thing is a scam, Rainbow can start her own Ponyville flying team. That'd be awesome. With all of the Wonderbolts thoughts, Rainbow hasn't realized how much time has passed. She finally snapped out of it within 3 hours of thoughts. "You're getting too hopeful, Dash." Rainbow Dash told herself. She rarely talked to herself, but right now, it was necessary. Rainbow Dash's stomach grumbled. She hasn't eaten since about ten a.m, and right now it was three p.m. She walked over to her fridge and ate whatever she found. To pass the time, Rainbow flew around Cloudsdale to see what was going on. The usual. Busy city. Shopping, ponies talking, flying. She remembered how she flew around with Fluttershy all the time here. Then it felt as a knife of sadness stabbed at her heart. Maybe I should visit them. Rainbow Dash landed on the fluffy clouds to think. A flight to Canterlot would take about ten minutes at my speed. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took off towards Canterlot. *** "Hi, guys." Rainbow Dash said as she approached her two deceased friends' graves. Obviously, neither of the ponies said hello back. Rainbow Dash sat down between the two graves. "Hey guys, I-I might be joining the Wonderbolts! Isn't that great?!" No reply. "I'm talking to dead bodies. What have I become?!" Rainbow Dash cried to herself. But deep down in her heart, she knew they were more than dead bodies. They were ponies she once knew, once loved (in a sisterly way, of course.) and once made good memories with. In those dead bodies, there was once a pony with her own personality, her own uniqueness, her own talents and she had things that made her special. And those spirits will never leave Rainbow Dash's mind. Death may take away her friends, but it will never take away one of her most powerful tools. Her memories with them. Rainbow looked at the two gravestones. "I will never forget either of you, ever. But I have to go." Rainbow Dash said, tears rolling down her face. She wasn't talking to dead bodies. She was talking to the bodies that once held the spirits of these ponies, and hopefully, she was talking to the spirits, too. *** The next day, Rainbow Dash got only one envelope from her mail. It held the same Wonderbolts sticker. Excitment went throughout Rainbow Dash's body. She opened the envelope. Dear Rainbow Dash, Good! Meet us on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at the HQ. Sincerely, Spitfire-Captain of the Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash dropped the Wonderbolts letter for the second time, and gasped in delight. She knew this wasn't a scam. This was sent straight from the Wonderbolts HQ. She flew around her cloud home, grabbed Tank, and flew into Ponyville, Tank tightly wrapped around her hooves, under her chest. Dash slammed open Twilight's door. "Yah!" Twilight exclaimed, dropping a test tube, with odd green luquid now bubbling on her floor. "RAINBOW!!!" Rainbow flew in and plopped tank on the ground. She took a deep breath, "HEYTWILIGHTCANYOUBELIVEITIGOTACCEPTEDINTHEWONDERBOLTSOMGOMGOMGOMGSOIMIGHTBEBUSYSOTAKECAREOFTANKFORTHEWEEKKAYTHANKSBYE!" And she flew out as quickly as possible. Twilight stepped outside and looked and watched the rainbow pony fly away. She then looked at Tank. "She wants me to take care of you, huh? I'm sure Fluttershy would be her first choice if she were here..." Twilight told Tank, though she knew the tortoise did not understand. Twilight remembered on how Discord came to Fluttershy's one day, and the ponies had to break the news that Fluttershy was dead. Twilight was pained by the normal mischievous expression on Discord's face turned into a wobbly frown, and though Discord did try to hide it, Twilight could see tears forming in his eyes. His ears folded back. He did one thing Twilight never has seen Discord do. He flew away. Twilight never discovered how, but that wasn't one of her problems now. Later on, the ponies needed to find other ponies wiling to take on Fluttershy's animals. A majority of farm animals were sent to Applejack's farm. Twilight thought of how cows in the human world were farm animals used to eat, and they really had no relation at all with pony-humans. Cows were cows. Ponies were humans. What a strange world. Twilight shook her head. She was going to give herself a major headache. She switched her mind to the thought of giving the animals away. Many of the garden ponies took in kittens and puppies, one even took in a rabbit, despite them being 'pests' to the gardeners. Cheerlie took in a bird, and it's now a pet at the schoolhouse. What seemed like forever to give all of the animals away, they were finally taken in by other ponies. They even had to stop ponies in their tracks and ask them if they wanted a pet while they were shopping for who knows what at the Ponyville market-stands. Twilight snapped back into reality. She scanned the room for Tank, but could not find him. "Wait a minute..." Twilight turned around, and there was Tank licking the odd-green liquid inside the test tube. "Oh, no!" Twilight exclaimed. She levitated the tortoise into the air and placed him on the floor on the opposite side of the room. "That's poisonus! No!" Twilight galloped over to Tank and began inspecting him. "Oh please, please be okay! Rainbow would kill me if you weren't!" *** "And this," Spitfire said, left hoof wrapped around Dash's back as they walked into Spitfire's office, "Is my office." Rainbow covered her nose. "AUGH! WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!" "Probably drugs, y'know." Spitfire replied. "Yeah..I could tell." Rainbow Dash's eyes watered and she looked at her obviously stoned captain. "Doing drugs isn't a good idea, especially being the captain of the Wonderbolts and all." "Chillax, Rainbow. Today's Saturday afternoon. I only let mahself do drugs from Friday night. And then I do drugs again da next mornin'." "Well aren't you scheduled?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Why the BUCK would you do drugs in the first place?!" "'Cause I can!" Spitfire exclaimed. She let go of Rainbow Dash and collapsed on the floor. Rainbow Dash walked over to the desk and saw different kinds of drugs. "Some of this stuff isn't even legal, ma'am!" "I know Dash, chillax, ...BUT HELP ME UP PLEASE." Rainbow Dash helped her stoned captain up. *** "That was Everfree thorn poison!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why would you be working with THAT?!" Spike exclaimed, trying to get Tank to throw up. "I was trying to find a cure! You know how many more ponies like to be stupid in the Everfree forest these days!" Twilight galloped around her science table and started mixing random heal medications together. A beaker filled with liquid medicines she was working with exploded. "It's no use!" Twilight cried, looking at the now very ill tortoise. "Try a spell!" Spike exclaimed. "There is no spells, Spike! I've checked all seventy-two healing-spell books before I even started the experiment!" "What about Zecora?" Twilight facehoofed. "Of course! I'll watch Tank. Go get Zecora, quick!" Spike dropped tank and ran out the door. Twilight ran back over to Tank, who was now looking half-dead. His normal green color was grey. His eyes were bloodshot and had a red tint in his pupils. His tongue was dry and hanging out of the side of his mouth. "What made you even want to drink that, Tank?" Obviously, no response. Twilight just wished Fluttershy were here. Tank wouldn't be surrounded by dangerous chemicals. He'd be safe in Fluttershy's cottage. Pinkie Pie would make him happy, and better than he ever was originally. But nothing can be perfect, can it? *** Rainbow Dash galloped to a nearby Wonderbolt. "Why does Spitfire do drugs?" The pony looked at her with confusion. "She only tells her most trusted members. Why'd she tell you? Did someone else tell you?" "No...she told me. She showed me. Now tell me, please." "She's struggling a lot in life. She's planning on retiring soon and doing another job until she gets to old to work at all." "Oh..." Rainbow Dash said, keeping her emotions in. *** "This is your cabin." Said one of the Wonderbolts' staff as she led Rainbow to her room. "Do I have a roommate?" Rainbow asked. "Yup. StormChaser. She's a new member, like you." Rainbow Dash gave a nod and walked in, holding a bag of supplies she brought with in her mouth. "See you, and good luck with your career." The staff-pony went trotting down the hallway. Rainbow Dash saw a bed on the other side of the room with random things all over it. "Guess that one is taken." Rainbow Dash said to herself as she headed towards the opposite bed. Rainbow Dash walked into her temporary cabin. "Man...I'm a Wonderbolt..." She said to herself as she plopped on her bed. She looked up at the ceiling. Paintings of pegasus ponies in Wonderbolt uniform. It's crazy how far she'd come. And at such a young age. She was not even twenty years of age. Only about a month after she got out of high school she met her most recent friend, Twilight. Wow, time flies. She never bothered going to college. It was too expensive, and only rich Canterlot ponies could afford it. In fact, most Canterlot ponies didn't even GO to college, it was that expensive. But being a Wonderbolt didn't require a degree, so Rainbow couldn't be happier for where she was. Okay, maybe she could be happier. If Pinkie and Fluttershy were alive, if her parents weren't so motherbucking far away, and she didn't have a drug-addicted leader. But nothing can be perfect, can it? Suddenly she heard an announcement through a speaker: "All new recruits please report to Spitfire's office! Immediately!" Rainbow Dash took off instantly. She wasn't going to miss a second of this. Of course, Dash was the first to arrive in Spitfire's office, which was fairly easy to get to, since the door had a giant decal of her cutie mark on the outside of it. "Hey there, newbie. Wheres all your friends?" Spitfire asked "Frien-" Rainbow Dash began, but was cut off by the opening of a door and a panting male pegasus came walking in. Soon enough three other ponies came in with eachother, two mares, one stallion. Spitfire gave those three a look that seemed to say: "Go faster next time, you lazy bums." Spitfire began speaking, "I'm here with you today to begin on how long you will be staying here. About a week. Today through Friday. You will return for events like competitions and shows. In case you didn't know already, you will be sharing a cabin with somepony else. Storm Chaser and Rainbow Dash will be sharing one, Brick Breaker and Vice Vortex will be sharing one, and you, Blizzard, you'll be sharing a room with one of our more older Wonderbolts. I'm sure you all know where your cabins are. Do you?" Everypony nodded. "Good! Now do what you want for the day, but tomorrow, we're getting to work! You are excused!" Everypony quickly filed out of Spitfire's office. *** "I once had a creature that was a victim of Thorn Poison too, but unfortunately, there was nothing I could do." Zecora said as she studied Tank, "Twilight Sparkle, you must tell your friend, that soon this tortoise's life will come to an end." "No!" Twilight cried, "Please Zecora, there has to be something you can do!" Zecora looked at Twilight, sorrow. "I have worked with Thorn Poison myself, but I could not find any cure that was on my shelf." Twilight sighed. She watched as Tank began to look worse and worse. Twilight scooped him up and cradled him in his arms. "Shh, it's okay..." She could feel Tank's heart beat begin to slow down. His breathing slowed down. Twilight looked as his eyes began to close, and the tortoise seemed to tense. Slower and slower the breaths and beat were...the more tense the tortoise got. Soon enough they got so slow, there was no more. Tank began to slowly feel cold. Twilight didn't feel a heart beat. She didn't hear any breathing. She gently placed Tank on the floor. Spike and Zecora looked at Twilight with concerned eyes. Twilight only nodded. "Rainbow Dash is going to be gone until Friday, and it's Sunday. What do I do?" "Why don't you go tell her?" Spike asked. "I don't want to possibly ruin her career. I'm not sure if you know, but she really, really loved Tank. Knowing about his death can possibly ruin her entire job." Twilight answered. Spike shrugged, "She'd find out eventually." Twilight sighed again. "I just..." *** "So, you're the pony who did that sonic rainboom?" StormChaser asked just as Dash was getting into bed. "Uh, how'd you know?" Rainbow asked. "I was there." StormChaser replied, annoyed. "Oh." Dash said. "So when do you think you'll retire?" Storm asked curiously. "I just became a Wonderbolt. You too." Dash replied, and yawned. Storm Chaser sighed, "Spitfire's retiring." "I know." Dash sighed, too. StormChaser walked over to the window and looked out. "Sad, isn't it? I wonder who will take her place." "I'm guessing Soarin'." Rainbow Dash said, knowing the colt's amazing history. "Soarin? Oh, that guy. Yeah. Cute, isn't he? He became a Wonderbolt at fourteen. It was under the age limit." StormChaser said, staring at the moon. "Yeah. The age minimum is eighteen, I know. But actually, he started as a staff the first year then since he was so good at flying himself they decided to make him one at fifteen. Lucky colt." Rainbow said, slightly jealous. "I think he just turned twenty a few weeks ago." StormChaser remarked. "Yeah he did. I'm turning twenty later this month. How old are you?" Rainbow asked. "Nearly twenty one. In August I will be." Storm Chaser said, starting to crawl into her bed. "So only a few months...huh." Rainbow Dash said. "Yep." StormChaser said blandly, "Well I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." "Goodnight." "Goodnight." *** Applejack piled dirt upon the coffin "Whew," she said, "Well now Tank gets to be with his little...critter friends." Twilight lifted up a fancy gravestone with her magic and placed it in front of the spot where Tank was buried. "We won't get in trouble for this, will we, Twilight?" Rarity asked. "No. The Ponyville Bank may own Fluttershy's property now, but Fluttershy always wanted animals to be buried next to eachother, so they can live in peace." Hopefully Fluttershy's living in peace...and Pinkie...I know she's in peace, wherever she goes. Twilight thought. "We should get going. It's getting dark." Rarity remarked. In silence the three ponies walked with each other. Soon enough they split and went on their own paths. *** "WAKE UP!" A loud, agressive voice blasted through the speakers. Rainbow and StormChaser groaned. "What time is it?" StormChaser asked. Rainbow looked outside. "Probably around 5 a.m. Celestia's sun hasn't risen yet. StormChaser groaned again. The pony speaking into the speaker spoke again: "NEWBIES, MEET IN THE FIELD. NOW!!!" Instantly, StormChaser and Rainbow Dash shot out of bed into the field. "First ones here." Spitfire said, turning off her wireless microphone, "Good job." Soon enough the other 3 arrived. "At the end of the month we have a competition. Which means you have about two weeks off before we come back to this building. And you're probably wondering why I got you up so early. We need to train! Hard! We're going against the Manehatten Lightning Bolts then! I know this is a sudden news report to you, but you need to get used to it, because events in Equestria will happen. Disaster events. Saving lives. We may seem like a sports team, but we're also like a military. You need to train hard. You can win the money and save somepony's life. Now training! I want you all to do a hundred wing pushups! I expect NO SLACKING! I didn't make you a Wonderbolt so you could become a slacker! I expect effort! NOW GO!" Spitfire blew her whistle. *** Golden Feather slammed his claw on the table. "No! Us griffons will not settle with the lack of meat Equestria has been giving us! We are starving, and we need food!" Celestia looked with a concerned face, "Please use common sense, King Golden Feather. Us Equestrians have also had problems, for our meat sources has been running low due to the lack of rain, causing not enough food for the meat you buy off of us." Golden Feather was still in fury. "My kingdom is falling apart, Miss Celestia! For I do not want to keep peace if you do not let us buy our worthy meal. Please make your pegasuses...pegasi, do something!" Luna looked at Golden Feather in anger and started to say in the royal Canterlot voice. "It is not the pegasis' fault! For this power is beyond any mortal pony's limits! It is a power that is a negative influence. Some door from another world has opened to Equestria, and with two beholders of the Elements of Harmony no longer with us, Celestia and I are the only ones that are going to be able to stop it! That's what we have to figure out. How to stop it!" Golden Feather looked in confusion, "What?" Celestia sighed. "Luna means that there is something magical, beyond power of any mortal, influencing with our lives. The weather's changed. Did you not notice the sky turn a bit grey? Something strange is going on, and Luna and I can sense it. We have to find this. The ponies of Equestria can possibly die. Please understand, King Golden Feather." King Golden Feather snarled, letting his ignorance get the best of him. "Excuses, excuses, princesses! I'm sick of it!" He got out of his chair and started walking towards the exit. "King Golden Feather, please-" Luna started, but the only response was a slam of the large door. *** "Day two over." Rainbow Dash sighed as she finished her exercises. It was about three o' clock in the afternoon, and the ponies were getting a late lunch in the Cafeteria. Rainbow Dash and the other new Wonderbolts sat together in a table, especially reserved for them. "So? You guys tired yet?" Vice Vortex asked. "Don't even act like you aren't! We're all tired..." said Blizzard. Brick Breaker nodded in agreement. "We have to do this until Friday. And even then this is our entire career, guys. This is Spitfire's last month, so we need to show her that we're the best group of new Wonderbolts she's ever gotten!" StormChaser encouraged. "Don't forget that we're playing the Lightning Bolts at the end of the month. We'll give it all we got!" Rainbow Dash cheered on her team. "'We'll do it. I know we can." Brick Breaker said. Suddenly Blizzard's jaw dropped, and the sandwich she was holding fell out of her grip and smacked back onto her tray. "You okay?" Vice Vortex asked. Suddenly a new voice came by, "Hey there, newbies. Welcome to the Wonderbolts." Rainbow Dash gased and stared in awe. It was Soarin! She could see Blizzard and StormChaser begin to blush like crazy, Vice Vortex and Brick Breaker gave an obvious look of tremendous amounts of jealousy. "S-Soarin!" Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. "Yes, that's me. Anything important, Rainbow Dash?" Soarin replied. "W-Well, no. I just remember you...from saving your life, and your pie...and the wedding- and the academy." "Yup, I remember you too." Soarin gave a playful laugh, and Rainbow blushed. "You, with the muscles." Soarin said to BrickBreaker. "Me?" BrickBreaker asked. "Yes, you. Name?" "BrickBreaker, sir." "Sir isn't necessary. My name's Soarin. I don't want anypony calling me anything else." Soarin replied. "So, uh, what brings your to this table?" Dash asked. "Just visiting and wanting to get to know the new Wonderbolts." Soarin sat down. "So, what's it like playing other teams?" Vice Vortex asked. "Extremely competitive. But in the end, we're all friends." Soarin said. After a few minutes of talk, a bell rang and lunch time was over. Rainbow Dash walked back with StormChaser to her cabin. "He likes you." StormChaser said as she closed the door. "Who?" Rainbow asked. Storm rolled her eyes, "Soarin! Duh!" "How do you know?" Rainbow questioned. "I have a lot of experience with stallions. Now is your time to make a move." StormChaser winked to Rainbow before she jumped onto her bed. "It's only 3:30." Rainbow remarked. "I know. Just getting a nap." Storm said, "Now go talk to Soarin." "He might be busy." Rainbow replied. "Well, go see if he is. If he is, see him when he isn't." Storm said, and she closed her eyes. *** Rainbow Dash trotted around and looked for Soarin. Luckly, he was trotting around, too. Rainbow Dash had an idea. She would "accidentally" to bump into him. And that's what she did. "Ah!" Soarin jumped in surprise. He looked at the pony he bumped into- Rainbow Dash. "Oh, I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash! I was just looking for you." he said. "So was I! Heh. Why were you looking for me?" Rainbow asked. "I barely got to know you from those small minutes we shared together. I wanted to get to know you better." Soarin said, trying to hide a blush. "Oh. Same reason. So, what do you want to talk about?" Rainbow asked. "How about you tell me about yourself? Everypony knows about me- What about you?" Soarin asked. Rainbow smiled, "Well..." *** Spitfire was sitting in her office, watching T.V. on the small television that was mounted on the wall. Television- the only source of electronics in Equestria. Although Spitfire hated to admit it, she was fascinated with politics. She was flipping through channels until something caught her eye on Neighbc. "...The princess reports that King Goldenfeather would not reason with her, and stomped out of the castle doors." A mare news reporter said. "Wow, and to think that we are allies. Some Equestrian staff even demand war for this cause." another said. "Let us hope that there will be a compromise between Equestria and Griffon Kingdom." the mare replied. Suddenly there was a knock on her door. Spitfire quickly turned off the TV and said, "Come in." *** "Wow, Soarin. I never knew we had so much in common." Rainbow Dash chuckled after Soarin finished telling the story about how his dad wanted him to golf. She started to have a crush on him now. There was so much more to him than she thought. She was going to win him over as soon as she could. *** The week passed, and boy was it hard. Everypony said bye and hugged eachother- Rainbow Dash and Soarin hugging abnormally long. Rainbow Dash was going to see her friends and Tank again, and everything would be good. *** "Is she coming?" Applejack asked. "I'm sure she's coming back soon." Twilight said. "Oh, how ever are we going to tell her what happened to her poor Tank?" Rarity cried. "We'll just try to explain as calmly as possible. Okay?" The other two nodded. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "She's here..." Rarity said nervously, and Twilight opened the door. "Hey guys!" Rainbow said happily. "Rainbow Dash!" the other three said at the same time, giving a sad smile. "What's wrong?" Rainbow asked, "Wait, where's Tank?" Rarity and Applejack exchanged sad glances. "Rainbow Dash, Tank is dead. Twilight was working with Everfree Thorn Poison, and he somehow got to the liquid and drank it. There was nothing nopony could do- we're sorry." Applejack said. Rainbow Dash's happy face went to shock. "You guys are pranking me right?" she asked in hope. Twilight shook her head. "Rainbow Dash, I'm so sorry. I'm really, really, sorry. It was my fault!" Twilight teared up. Rarity sighed, "She is truly sorry, darling. Please forgive her." Rainbow was already crying now, from the loss of her beloved pet. After she heard Rarity's words, her crying stopped and she looked up in anger. "How can I forgive her?! She killed my pet! It'd be one thing if Tank died from something else, I would get over it! But TWILIGHT KILLED HIM! I HATE YOU, TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash flew out in angry tears. Twilight was bawling now, still murmuring "I'm sorry." Rarity stroked Twilight's mane. "She's just mad for now, darling. She will get over it and forgive you." "How can she forgive me?! What if she killed Owlicious? I'm a terrible pony!" Twilight cried again. Applejack came up, "Twilight, you have wings and a horn for a reason. You aren't a terrible pony. And now let me and Rarity tell you why." *** Rainbow flew home and ran into her bed, and cried for the rest of the night. She's lost three important friends in her life now in too short of time. *** Rainbow Dash returned to her job. She has gotten over Tank's death, but still hasn't forgiven Twilight. The one thing she looked forward to was seeing everypony (especially Soarin) and going against the Lightning Bolts. Today Rainbow Dash would let it all out- she would run her determination on her hatred for Twilight, and pretend the opponents were a bunch of Twilights. At the finish line she imagined Tank there, waiting for her. She had to win against the Twilights to see her Tank. She was in the locker room, getting ready for her competition. She, Vice Vortex, and some other Wonderbolts would be racing the opponents. Others like Brick Breaker would test strength, and there was agility, but speed was Rainbow Dash's highest pro. Rainbow Dash walked out into the Cloud Stadium, where what seemed like silence went into ear-killing cheers and blinding lights of the flashing cameras. Barely anypony knew who the new Wonderbolts were until now- now, they would see who was added on the team. An announcer came on, temporarily silencing the loud audience. "First we will start off racing with Wind Surge, Vice Vortex, Blaze Blaster, and Rainbow Dash from the Wonderbolts against Stronghoof, Redeye, FloodingSky, and StormDaze on the Lightningbolts!" The crowd went nuts. "Take position!" The announcer announced. Each pony took their place on the line, Rainbow Dash now imagining four Twilights trying to beat her. "Ready..." the announcer said, and the ponies got ready. "Set..." "Go!" and everypony took off like a bunch of rockets. Rainbow Dash flapped as hard as she could- if she didn't make it to the finish line first, Tank would be taken from her forever from the evil Twilights that were beside her. She would not let them get to him first. She took the lead, and the crowd exploded in cheers and amazement on how a new pony could get ahead. Then an evil Twilight came up and passed her. Tank is MINE! Rainbow thought, and passed the evil Twilight and flew as fast as she could to get ahead of her. Then she slowed down and was in the lead for about a minute, but then everypony else, including her own team caught up to her. She would conserve her energy and do a final dash at near the end. She could see exhaustion begin to come over everypony, but she kept her pace. Soon enough, they were near the end of the race and the crowd was deafening. They flew as fast as they could but Rainbow Dash passed them, and went faster and faster as the crowd cheered and then she passed the finish line! She did it! She won the race! She made it to Tank first! An evil Twilight flew from behind, then two of her team members, then another evil Twilight, then her last team member, then the last two Twilights. Rainbow Dash could see the blinding flashes of cameras and cheers of the crowd. But one things was on her focus- a bright yellow speck in the sky. It wasn't the sun, because it was too small and seemed to be getting closer. It was going very fast, actually. Rainbow Dash suddenly panicked- what if it was a meteor? But it was so close, somepony else would of had to notice- so why was she the only one staring? All of the sudden, the yellow thing smashed into the cloud in front of Dash, and flew to her. "Hi, Rainbow Dash." Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it- it was Fluttershy. Was this all her dream? Was this her imagination? As if reading her mind, Fluttershy said, "No, I'm real. You're not dreaming." "H-How?" Rainbow asked. "I am simply a spirit, now, Rainbow. I also have Tank with me." Fluttershy turned around and revealed Tank being on her back. Rainbow ran up in happiness, "Tank!" she picked him up and hugged him- Tank gave her a lick on the cheek. "Where's Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow asked. "She's coming." Fluttershy gave a smile. "DASHIE!" Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere and hugged Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow was reminded on how much she missed those hugs. "Why are you guys here?" Rainbow asked. "We wouldn't of visited you unless we had this reason. You need to forgive Twilight. See? Tank is happy with me and Pinkie Pie now, just how you wanted it before." Fluttershy. Rainbow sighed, "That's going to be real hard, besides, I'm busy all week." Fluttershy began getting angry, which put a stab of fear in Rainbow Dash, "You have to forgive her!" "Okay, I will!" Rainbow cried in panic, "But will I ever see you guys again?" Pinkie lowered her head and cried, "You will be seeing us too soon..." Fluttershy wrapped a wing around Pinkie Pie and Rainbow looked at tank. "What do you mean?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "You'll be seeing us too soon, Dashie. Too soon." Pinkie said again. Rainbow hated to see Pinkie Pie cry. "Pinkie, no! Don't cry!" She hugged the two. Fluttershy just gave Rainbow Dash a look of sadness, and the two slowly vanished, along with Tank. "WAIT!" Rainbow Dash cried, but they were gone. "You okay Rainbow Dash? You've been talking to air." said Vice Vortex. Rainbow Dash's eyes swerved around the end of the line, where everypony was looking at her. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine." she said in embarrassment. But what did they mean? *** "C'mon, Dash!" Soarin said excitedly as he leaded a blindfolded Rainbow Dash to somewhere. "I'm coming Soarin! I'm blindfolded! Give me a minute to not bump into something!" Rainbow replied. Soarin chuckled, "Trust me, you won't." After a few moments of silence, he smiled, "We're here. Take the blindfold off." Rainbow Dash took off the blindfold and gasped in shock. "I-Is this your cabin?" she asked. "Yup!" Soarin replied happily, "Everytime I walk into it, it still amazes me." It was a huge room- about six times the size of Rainbow's cabin. It had colorful lights hanging from beds and the ceiling. The ceiling was high and wooden, there was also a fireplace and a couch and a giant flatscreen. There were closet doors with his cutie mark on them. Some of the room had soft carpet, and some of the room had wood. There were giant windows on the top of the walls letting sunlight in. "No wonder why the HQ is so big," Rainbow said, "If your room is this big, I wonder how big Spitfire's is." "Actually about the same size." Soarin said. "Why is there so many beds?" Rainbow asked. "Sometimes I get a few buddies to stay here. Do you want to stay here for tonight?" Soarin asked. "Sure!" Rainbow Dash said, excited to stay in such an awesome room. Soarin seemed to hesitate but said, "There's something I want to show you." "Huh?" Rainbow asked. Soarin walked towards his closet and opened the doors. He grabbed a remote in the closet, and clicked a button, and part of the ceiling on the closet opened, and he flew in, and Rainbow followed. He landed somewhere and clapped his hooves, and lights came on. The room was full of carpet and was furnished. "Wow, so this is like a secret second floor?" Rainbow said, exctied. "Yeah. No windows, though. So it may be a bit darker than what you're comfortable with." Soarin sighed. "No, it's fine." Rainbow Dash said, now realizing there was a second TV, although it was not as grand as the one downstairs. Soarin pulled out beanbags from a corner, and pulled out a couple of sodas. "You like soda?" he asked. "Yup!" she said excited, and was handed one. Soarin pressed another button on his remote and the door leading up to the second floor closed. The two sat on the beanbags and Soarin turned on the TV. "How many ponies know about this?" Rainbow asked out of curiosity. "Only me and my old buddy. He moved, sadly. We made this place together. But now it's just you who knows about it." Soarin gave a smile and Dash blushed. "Hey, you know that movie that is coming out, The Dead Nightmare?" Soarin asked. "Yeah, what about it?" Dash asked. "I have a copy. Wanna watch a movie not even released yet?" Soarin asked, giving her a wink. Rainbow Dash was shocked, "How'd you get a copy?" "The company gave me one. I haven't seen it yet. But now we can watch it up here. The popcorn machine is downstairs. Want some?" Soarin asked. "Uh, sure!" Rainbow said. "Okay." Soarin said, he hit a button on the remote and flew downstairs and came back with popcorn, "Let's watch this movie." *** Soarin yelped and hugged Rainbow Dash as the Nightmare took it's first victim without warning. "You are such a scaredy pony!" Rainbow Dash laughed. Soarin's face went red in embarrassment as he let go of Dash and turned back to the screen. The Nightmare took it's next prey. Soarin jumped and spilled popcorn all around them. Rainbow Dash chuckled as she saw popcorn stuck in his mane. "Soarin, it's okay. It's just a movie." Rainbow said as she took a piece of popcorn off her leg and ate it. Soarin gave a nervous chuckle, "Believe it or not, I'm easily scared by these type of mov- AAAH!" he wrapped his hooves around Dash. "I think you get it." Soarin said as he let go. Suddenly there was a loud noise, causing both of the ponies to jump, and then there was a force that seemed to shake them. Screams went all around them from the outside. "Is there an earthquake?!" Dash panicked. Soarin was shaking like a leaf. The TV shut off and the lights flickered. "We've gotta find out what's going on. Open the door, Soarin!" Rainbow demanded. Soarin obeyed and opened the door, and the two pegasi soared out through the closet and out of Soarin's cabin, and into the hallway of panicking ponies. "What's going on?!" Rainbow demanded. "The griffons! They're attacking us!" a pegasus shouted. As if on cue, another explosion went off and the HQ shook. Spitfire came through the hallway. "We are not going to sit here and shake like foals! We are Wonderbolts! We're going to fight back, whether we die or not. We need to protect the Equestrians from these rats!" Rainbow admired Spitfire's bravery. "Now go out and FIGHT!" Spitfire yelled. The ponies determinedly left the building. "You too, Soarin." Spitfire said, and flew out. Rainbow Dash and Soarin exchanged concerned looks. "Soarin, if we die out there-" Rainbow started, but was cut off by something she never expected- a kiss. Once Soarin stopped, Rainbow Dash looked at him, "I've had the same feelings for you, too." Another explosion. Soarin looked in concern, "We have to go out and fight." Rainbow Dash nodded and the two dashed out together. *** Rainbow Dash slammed into the belly of a griffon, and punched and kicked with all of her might. The griffon screeched and grabbed Rainbow Dash's sides and sunk her talons into them. Angry and in pain, Rainbow Dash grabbed her arms and broke them, although the griffon still had her much more powerful lion legs. Rainbow Dash grabbed a wing, which was much more powerful and stronger than her's, and bit down, twisted around it in effort to break it. Rainbow Dash knew she would have to kill this griffon, although she's never killed before. The griffon screeched and Rainbow Dash heard a snap. Rainbow let go of the wing and watched as the griffon fell towards the ground and hit it with a loud thump. She dashed to the next griffon, who was killing a Wonderbolt. In anger, Rainbow Dash grabbed the neck of the griffon from behind and began choking it, and the griffon used it's talons to scratch Rainbow Dash's hooves in the front. The pain was awful. The Wonderbolt got loose and flew away, then flew back, using a two-hoof blow on the left wing. Rainbow Dash let go and the griffon fell. The two Wonderbolts didn't say a thing, but instead went back to fighting their own griffons. This griffon was much stronger than the other two. It took hold of Dash's wings and began to twist them. If this griffon breaks my wings, I'm dead. Rainbow thought. She kicked the griffon's chest with her powerful hooves, and the griffon let go but quickly took hold of Rainbow Dash from the behind, where she was defenseless. Is this it? Is this how I die? Suddenly she heard a crack in the griffon's neck, and the griffon let go and fell, and behind her Rainbow saw Spitfire. "Thank you." Rainbow whispered. Spitfire nodded and flew away. Suddenly there was an ear shattering explosion. How many damn bombs do they have?! Rainbow thought. She then saw dead bodies of Wonderbolts and griffons. They've killed too many already, Rainbow thought, and pure anger took over her. She flew as fast as she could and cracked a griffon's skull from behind, quickly killing it. She repeated the process but soon tired, and was taken by surprise when a griffon grabbed her flanks and began biting down on her neck. She kicked the griffon's chest and it let go, and she grabbed the neck and broke it. Suddenly, she saw a struggling pony in the distance. Soarin! he was being clawed by another griffon. She flew as fast as she could, and she then realized another griffon was holding a bomb. The griffon was high in the air, and there was no way that bomb would make it to the ground. Rainbow Dash snapped the neck of Soarin's attacker, and then screamed, "Soarin, we've got to fly away!" Soarin didn't question. The two flew as fast as they could from the bomb, and then the griffon dropped it. The bomb was too close. With the force of the bomb, the two were blown away, and the force was so strong it broke several of their bones. Rainbow Dash screamed as the ground came nearer and nearer towards her, knowing that this would seal her fate. "I'm so sorry, Twilight. I forgive you." she whispered to herself as she neared her end. She heard a yell in the distance, "I love you, Rainbow!" "I love you too, Soarin!" Rainbow Dash knew this was it. Her and Soarin were going to die any second now. Now she knew what Pinkie had meant. They knew this was going to happen. Why didn't they tell what was going to happen?! She wondered. Now she stared at the ground, Just kill me already. Don't wait. Smack. Rainbow Dash hit the ground, and felt her skull crack- but then she felt nothing else. Rainbow was dead.Gone from existence. There her body lay with many others, and the battle raged on. *** 3 days later All of the bodies were picked up and put in their own coffins. Spitfire had luckly lived, but she wondered if it was worth it to see most of her team dead. They all died, all of the new Wonderbolts. A tear went down her cheek. "They have fought bravely, Captain Spitfire." Spitfire looked up and saw her- Princess Celestia. "Your Majesty." Spitfire bowed. "For their bravery, they will all be buried in the Canterlot Cemetery for lost heroes, although Rainbow Dash will be next to her friends." Spitfire sighed, "Okay. Thank you, your majesty. They deserve it." The princess gave a sad smile. "I hate to have to tell Twilight her friend is dead. But it must be done. I will be sending carriages over to bring these ponies to Canterlot. Are you understood, Captain Spitfire?" "Yes, your highness." Spitfire sighed and looked at the many coffins, sad that one of them included the Wonderbolt's next leader. *** "Twilight?" Princess Celestia knocked on the tree house door. Twilight opened the door. "Yes, princess?" she asked. Princess Celestia walked in sadly. Applejack and Rarity were there- they've been there since Rainbow Dash left in anger. "Rainbow Dash is dead." Celestia said. Shock took over the three mares. "I was scared of that..." Applejack said, and she took off her hat and held it against her chest while crying. "It was the attack on the Wonderbolt's HQ, wasn't it, princess?" Rarity said sad, but did not yet cry. "Every Wonderbolt has fought bravely. They found her near a river. One living Wonderbolt said she sacrificed herself to attempt to save another Wonderbolt, Soarin. Sadly they both died." A tear went down the princess's cheek. Twilight and Rarity were crying now, Twilight especially because Rainbow never forgiven her and the last time she ever saw her she was mad. "Cry it out, my little ponies. We shall hold a funeral tomorrow for all the Wonderbolts tomorrow at the cemetery. Rainbow Dash will be buried next to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy." Princess Celestia said. And the three did cry. They hugged eachother in hope of comfort, but half of their friends were gone now. What comfort could there be? *** "Today we are here joined by Spitfire and Princess Luna to hold a funeral for all of the Wonderbolts who have died in the Battle Of The Head Quarters. We will start in alphabetical order." Princess Celestia said. The cemetery was awfully crowded with friends, family, and fans. Spitfire spoke, "We'll never forget these Wonderbolts who have fought for us. Now we will mourn them. The first one to be burried will be..." *** "Our next will be Soarin. For him, I will give a speech first." Spitfire began, "When I was captain and saw how Soarin wanted to be a Wonderbolt, I thought it was cute. He was only eleven at the time, so I let him help me a bit. The older he got, the more helpful he got. So I decided to make him a staff member when he was only fourteen. When he showed me how great he was at flying, I made him a Wonderbolt, knowing he would be a great addition to the team. Now after all of these years, I decided I would make him captain when I retired. But he died in battle, and died bravely. At such a young age of only twenty- I-I'm sad he's gone..." Many more speeches were made about the famous Wonderbolt. *** "Now we will begin with Rainbow Dash. I have my own speech for her." Spitfire said, "When Rainbow Dash saved my life and did the sonic rainboom, I knew she would be destined to be a Wonderbolt. And now that she was for such a short time, it's just heart breaking." Twilight came up. "When Rainbow Dash became a Wonderbolt, she wanted me to watch her pet. Her pet got in some chemicals I was working with and died. She never forgave me. But if there is one thing I have to repeat to you Rainbow Dash, it's I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me!" Twilight trotted off stage tears in her eyes. Applejack came up. "When I first met Rainbow Dash, I thought she was just some egotistical pony. But she's really one of the bestest friends you can ask for. Undying loyalty..." Applejack said, now allowing Rarity on stage. "Rainbow Dash is the opposite of me. She never liked dresses, never liked heels, never liked getting her mane done- but we somehow clicked. And losing a friend like her has to be one of the most devastating things I can get." A few more speeches were made, and Rainbow Dash was lowered into the ground to unite with her friends and her pet. The three friends watched as their third friend was lowered into the ground. Why, why did this have to happen? Rainbow Dash was dead- the loyal, confident friend. She's dead. Dead. Dead! Why?! Why? The ponies knew, like the other two times, they were never going to see that beautiful, bright, rainbow mane again. They were never going to see the confidence and determination again. They were never going to see Rainbow Dash ever again.
