Nights Stained Red

Chapter 8- A Shining Tear
Rainbow struggled forth through the darkness, hoping to find some trace of light or anything. She could feel the warmth of blood running down her side, spiking her fur awkwardly. Her breathing was still ragged, a spraying cough racking her body occasionally. Strength had abandoned her, leaving her weak and defenseless. How was she to find Scootaloo's spirit and return it in this state?
She paused. How did she plan on doing that in the first place? It was too late now. There was no turning back. She'd just have to figure it put when she got there. Rainbow sagged and collapsed on the ground, feeling utterly tired.
Rainbow needed help. She was utterly lost. Somehow, she had stumbled along blindly here through the darkness that enclosed her. She wasn't even sure if her eyes were open anymore. It was hopeless to try and press on. But, somewhere out there was Scoots; she had to get up, at least for her. However, the strength she had been relying on had been completely depleted. Rainbow could hardly even lift her head. The cyan pegasus was certain death was going to claim her. Rainbow closed her eyes. The blood was still seeping; she could feel the it streaming down her belly to the ground from the opening under her wing. There was no more pain, only fatigue.
“Now, now dear. Don't be thinking such dreadful thoughts.”
Rainbow's eye's opened at the sound of the familiar voice. A brilliantly lit form had appeared before her.
“Rarity?” Rainbow croaked.
“Yes dear. Now don't speak. I'll fix you up,” Rarity said. A spool of thread and a needle was summoned before her. The unicorn took the needle to the pegasus' side and began to sew up the wound.
With every tug of thread, Rainbow felt pain subside. It was as if the thread itself had healing properties. She relished each and every second of it.
“There you are. All better,” Rarity stated as she finished. Rainbow staggered and attempted to stand straight.
“Wait! Not yet!”
It was too late. The blood rushed from Dash's head and she fainted.

“Is Twilight alright?” Roan asked.
Nurse Redheart refused to look her in the eye. “I'm not sure. There's a lot of poison in her bloodstream. We're draining as much of it as we can, but it's proving to be quite the feat. It's going to take time, but if we press on through the night, she has a glimmer of hope.”
Roan sighed. “I see.” She glanced at the battered unicorn lying in the bed. Burn marks crisscrossed her lavender coat. A doctor was analyzing a gaping wound on her shoulder. It was a pitiful sight. Just that morning she had seemed so lively... well, as lively as you could get when all your friends were being slaughtered.
“Is Rainbow the one who brought her here?” Roan asked.
Redheart nodded. “She's quite the loyal friend. She refused to leave Twilight's side until I dragged her away to fix her wing.”
“She's definitely not who I thought she was...”
Nurse Redheart gave her a confused look. “What do you mean?” Roan was saved by answering when the doctor by Twilight's shoulder called the nurse over.
Everything Roan had worked for was being shattered. Every inconspicuous lead had been luring her further from the truth. Rainbow Dash couldn't be the killer. It was impossible. What Nurse Redheart just said proved it. Now, her primary suspect was a little filly. A poor, young girl she had never met.
One that was connected to the murders, Roan suddenly realized. This Scootaloo was apparently friends with the sisters of Applejack and Rarity. What kind of friend kills their best friends' sisters? It was all so confusing. Ponyville was in too dark a time. She just wanted to give up and go home to Canterlot where she would cry and tell the entire horrible story to Firemane. But she had to figure out who this killer was. It was her duty.
Roan cried out, letting all of her emotions swell up at once. Ponies all around looked at her as if she were psycho. She didn't care. The mare turned and exited the room. Rushing through the hallway, she made her way outside. It was raining harder now, thunder rumbling in the distance. Roan didn't care how, but she was going to fix everything tonight. And she'd start where it all started... at the cottage at the edge of the Everfree.

Scootaloo's heart pounded in her chest. She had started wandering in the direction of the falling star she had seen earlier, but found herself lost within a place she'd never seen before. It was like an endless empty basement. Occasionally she'd think she saw a wall lined with dreadfully rusted pipes, but whenever she looked again, there'd be nothing there but more blackness. All the florescent lights looked about ready to fall. Many were flickering and quite a few were burnt out. Wires hung from the ceiling and sparks showered down around her. It was like a haunting fireworks show. The sound of her hooves clopping against the concrete added to the loneliness of it all.
Scoots was dreadfully cold. Until now, she hadn't had the chance to realize how cold it actually was in the dreamscape. She'd either been fighting with Pathos or been lost in deep thought. Now that she was moving, the chill bit deep into her flesh, causing her to shiver violently.
Scootaloo noticed the blood on the ground. That's when she remembered. This was the area of the dream that Pinkie had been tortured in. A tear slid down her cheek as she remembered the horror of it all. The usually happy mare had worn a look of sheer terror on her face. Here, rules didn't apply like in the real world. Everything worked according to Pathos' desires.
“I've got to get out of here!” she screamed into the blackness. She began to run, but she soon realized it didn't matter at all how far she ran. She could run forever and never escape, just like Pinkie. Scootaloo didn't care though. She just kept running and running and running...

Roan stood before the Fluttershy's cottage. The place looked absolutely haunted on this night. Clouds swirled low overhead, sending rain hammering down upon her. Lightning flashed constantly, both blinding her and deafening her with its roar. Police tape was plastered to the doors and windows. A nightmare's background.
She stepped up to the door and creaked it open, peering inside. The putrid smell of death had been greatly diminished by cleaning crews, but a hint of it remained in the air. Used to the scent, she pushed her way inside and turned on a light. It was empty. No furniture, no blood, hardly a stain remained. All traces of the murder seemed to have vanished... except for the looming sense of oppression.
Roan had no idea what she hoped to find here. She had already scrutinized every nook and cranny of the cottage, and collected all the evidence she could scrounge up. Now there was nothing here. She would be less likely to find something now than ever.
Roan sat on the floor. The wind from the still open door whipped her black mane about her face. Anger lit in her blue eyes. She was losing her head at the very moment she needed it most.
“Okay,” she said to herself aloud, “Why did I come here?”
Roan found she actually had to think for a second. She held her hooves to her temples in concentration. Suddenly it came to her. “To prove Scootaloo's guilt or innocence.”
“...But why come here to the initial scene instead of one f the ones that probably weren't cleaned up quite yet?”
“Why not ask her yourself?”
Roan's ear twitched. Either she was going crazy, or she somepony else had answered her. She slowly turned. The door had been shut.
Roan stood up in fear. The mare reached for the handle and tugged on it. She pulled over and over and over until the handle actually snapped off.
“What the Hell's going on!” she yelled.
Don't lose it! Don't panic! she told herself in her head. Somepony was in here with her. Roan felt her body shaking and she struggled to get it under control.
“I... am... back...” The voice thundered through the house. The lights flickered and went out. She was alone in the dark. The only light came from the lightning through the windows. A silhouette of a pony was outlined against the flickering light.
“Revenge... of the fallen soul... will lead me back... to the realm.........”

Sweetie Belle stirred from her sleep. Apparently she had dozed off during the night. A storm raged outside. She yawned and something dripped in her mouth. Sweetie went wide-eyed and gagged at the taste of coppery liquid. She wished she had stayed asleep.
She and Apple Bloom were covered in blood, but as far as Sweetie could tell, the blood all came from from one place. Zecora's head had been exploded, pieces of skull and brain matter littered the inside of the hut.
Sweetie couldn't hold back the squeal of terror rising in her throat. She burst forth in caterwaul of horror, tears streaming from her eyes.
Apple Bloom jolted awake from her sleep in a delirium. “What in the hay is going on?” she asked. Only to falter when she saw the scarlet painting everything. When Sweetie finally got a hold of herself, she turned to her best friend though sobs still racked her body.
“Where's Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked.
Sweetie turned and noticed that the table was empty. She didn't even want to find out how this happened. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins. “I don't even want to know...” she whispered.
Lightning illuminated the room. It was frightening to realize that somewhere out there was a murderous spirit. And it was on a mission.
“We have to find her, Sweetie Belle. We have to find her before Pathos kills again,” Apple Bloom said, getting up and crossing over to the door. She shook a bit of the blood out of her fur but it didn't help much. Her yellow coat was still splotched with scarlet.
All Sweetie wanted to do was curl into a ball and block everything out. The confidence she had been brimming with that morning had totally disappeared. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the death of Zecora had been so quiet that the two fillies sleeping mere feet away had not been stirred. It was horrible to imagine the cruel speed and strength it must have taken to pull off the attack.
“Come on, Sweetie. It won't help nopony if you stay here stewin' in zebra blood. You could get sick.”
Sweetie shot her a heated stare. “You think I'm not? I'm sick of all of this! I'm sick of death! I'm sick of Pathos! I'm sick of the rain!” She got up and marched up to Apple Bloom. “But you wanna know what I am most sick of? I'm sick of crying... I'm sick of being sad and having to block it out long enough to eat. I just want all of this to end...” Tears had begun to slide down her cheeks, turning orange as they mixed with the blood spattered on her face.
“That's why we need to go. Pathos is out there, using our best friend to murder. You were the one who told me that. You restored mah faith in her. Scootaloo is still one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We just need to help her out. The only way to stop Pathos is to keep her from attackin' anypony before Rainbow finishes her job. If you hadn't been there to lift me up past the depression long enough to see that you could be right about Scoots, I wouldn't be here right now. Now I'm here for you. Trust me, we can do it.” Apple Bloom held out her hoof. “You comin' with me?”
Sweetie wiped the tears from her face, inadvertently smearing blood across her face. She reached out with her own hoof and bumped the yellow filly's. Her face was stern, her heart set. “I'll do it.”

Rainbow opened her eyes hearing her heartbeat pounding in her chest.. She could see light, but it was not the same as the one that surrounded Rarity. Rather, it was a sickly green, like cave moss.
She stood, careful to do so slowly this time. Dash looked around at her surroundings. Apparently she had woken up in a forest of some sort. The green was emanating from various mushrooms and fungi that grew on the ground and trees.
Dash noticed that there was something odd about the trees though. They seemed to move on their own. Swaying back and forth and, if she looked really closely, pulsating. She reached out with her hoof and touched one of them. Immediately she pulled her hoof back. The tree was soft and warm, like it was made of...
“Flesh...” Rainbow uttered in disgust.
That's when she realized the heartbeat wasn't her own. Rather, it was the forest's. The whole place was mortifying, and Rainbow felt no closer to finding the orange filly. No options were really left to her though, so she began to walk again, keeping a safe distance from the trees when she could.
As she stumbled onward, the sound of the heartbeat increased in intensity and speed. The sound of the pulse was putting her on edge, causing her to panic a little.
Ka-thunk... Ka-thunk.. KA-THUNK. KA-THUNK KATHUNK KATHUNKKATHUNKKATHUNK!!!
Rainbow was ripping through the forest at top speed now. She dodged around trees and ducked under arm-like branches. She couldn't calm her mind long enough to say that the fear was illogical. But what if it wasn't illogical? What if the forest was warning that there was something... behind her...
Rainbow came to an abrupt halt. The heartbeat had vanished. The cyan pegasus trembled as she turned her head to see if there really was something...
The forest behind her was dark, the fungi extinguished like candles in a breeze. There was a mass of green and brown, like bushes lined up in the path she had just taken. The thing about these bushes, though...
One of them stepped out of line with a wooden hoof. The mane of leaves rustled as the wooden creature inched forward. Rainbow rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. When she opened them again, the creature was mere inches from her, staring directly into her eyes. It's face looked just like a pony's frozen in an expression of fear. Dark liquid like black tree sap poured sluggishly from the gaping eyeholes. A faint sound, like ragged, pained breathing escaped its permanently opened mouth.
Rainbow dared not move an inch. The creature, though it had no eyes, seemed to gaze into her soul. She was petrified by it's haunting appearance. Something twisted about her leg. Without moving her head, she glanced down to see what it was. A bramble vine was curling around her, snaking its way to the other legs. She realized that she was to be ensnared.
Yanking her hoof free, she whipped around and darted in the opposite direction, her vigor renewed with the knowledge of what was following. The sound of blood rushed in her ears as she galloped on, not daring to use her wings for fear of another incident like the last. To add, the trees around were growing more grotesque. Some had hair growing on them; others peered at her with wide, bloodshot eyes. Some had branches shaped like hands that reached for her as she shot past.
Then she came to the end of the line. A massive tree was towering before her. In the center was a massive heart that beat slowly, rumbling the ground like a small earthquake. Ribs jut from the tree at odd angles creating a sort of cage around the clearing. She was trapped. The only exit was probably already blocked by an army of plant creatures.
“Hehe. Great,” Rainbow said, feeling her mind slip from the sheer inevitability of her demise. “This is exactly what I wanted! Hehe.”
Vines were snaking up from behind, cocooning her balk half while the trees in the cage began to bend down and grab a hold of her. All Rainbow did was laugh, her fear causing insanity to sweep of her.
“This is all a horrible dream after all!” she said. “I'll wake up and everypony will be fine! All my friends will be alive, and Scootaloo will be in school with the other Crusaders. I'm just having a nightmare.”
However, a sudden glimpse of clarity struck her. This was all really happening. The vines were constricting her chest, her wings were being yanked by the trees. Something in her mind just clicked. Those plant creatures were actually those who had entered the forest before her... and were caught. But she wouldn't be one of those with a horrified expression on her face. She had seen Hell itself over the last two weeks. Instead, her face would be one of blank realization...
“Don't give up, Dashie! You don't ever give up! You play to win!” Rainbow couldn't turn to look, but she already knew what she would see if she did.
A shriek came from one of the plant creatures as Pinkie attacked. Some of the brambles around Dash's waist went loosened. Another shriek and another vine unwound itself. Rainbow wished she was facing the other direction so she could see what was happening. As her cocoon of briars and brambles came undone, she began to realize that her hysteria was fading.
Soon she was freed, but the trees pulsated much more intensely than before. She turned to see Pinkie Pie, her pink frame spattered with black sap. In her mouth was a glowing broadsword, also stained and splattered. A copse of corpses lie around her, but she still had fire in her eyes.
“Be careful Dashie, these trees are angry!” said the glowing pink mare.
Pinkie leapt over Rainbow and slashed down at the massive heart a wave of blood gushed out and the light of the fungi began to go out. “Hurry! Jump through the wound!” Pinkie shouted.
Rainbow didn't dare to question her. Without hesitation she jumped up and through the hole in the heart. The scent of blood engulfed her as she fought her way through the current. Soon, she was freed from the tide, and found herself standing in an empty void. It was the same place as the dream she had weeks ago. Darkness seemed to touch everything except herself... and a small orange form running straight towards her across the plain.

“I remember you... You're that little filly Cyan took up to Cloudsdale...” said a ragged deep voice.
“How do you know that?” Roan called into the dark.
Suddenly, the fireplace roared to life with an unnaturally red glow. The pony before her was... somewhat reminiscent of an orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane. The filly looked dead, hanging by six spindly spider legs. Blood dripped from her mouth, which didn't move as the voice spoke. Her eyes were closed lightly as if she were asleep.
Roan cowered away from the grotesque monster. “S-Scootaloo? Wh-what?”
“I am not Scootaloo... Her body is mine to control permanently now. I am the one known as Pathos... I want my vengeance so I can go on to the afterlife and leave this accursed land behind! You can be my final ticket out. Just sacrifice yourself here and now, and will leave this place forever...”
“No!” Roan yelled and ran up the stairs, she turned into the first room she saw and closed the door behind her... only, she was back in the living room, the door she had just closed behind her was the front door.
“You cannot hide...” Pathos said, turning to face her with the limp form of Scootaloo. “The blood of Dawn's Ray must be spilled. You and Twilight both share her blood. However, she cannot be reached as easily as you. Your blood will be just fine.”
Roan, closed her eyes tight and concentrated. “Now would be a great time to be able to teleport!” Roan opened one of her eyes and saw a completely different landscape. She was in the Everfree forest in front of a gravestone. On the gravestone was a bit of blood that the rain would not wash away.
“The contract...” said Pathos. He appeared from the other side of the clearing and approached her. The large spider legs carried Scootaloo over to grave and stood her in front of it. There was a blinding flash from a lightning bolt, then Roan saw the true form of Pathos. The grey and blue stallion. The torn face, side, and limbs leaked blood. His pitch black eyes with glowing red pupils stared into hers. It was the same pony she had seen in the reflection of the glass. This was her murderer.
“When dear Scoots here ran into the headstone, blood from her head got on it. That is what sealed the contract. Through her blood, she allowed me her body. Cyan also gave his blood so I could use him, though his was willingly. Cyan proved to be purely evil and overrode my control. But what could be more convenient than an innocent little filly? A perfect vessel.”
“You're horrible! How could you hurt a little filly like that!”
“I don't murder for the joy of it. I murder for the settling of my spirit. All of my foes have been surmounted, except for Dawn's Ray and Tsunami. The final two who taunted me and made my living life Hell. The remaining descendants are you, Twilight, and Rainbow who has walked straight into the arms of the predator.”
“Why are you telling me this? Why, if you are so desperate, don't you just attack? Why Rarity and Applejack instead of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom?”
“I don't hurt fillies!” Pathos roared and came in close, staring down into Roan's terrified blue eyes. “What Cyan did to you was not my fault. I don't want to kill anymore! I just want to leave, but I can't until I settle my spirit! Only then will the gate to the afterlife be opened unto me! I just want to explain so you don't take it personally when I take your life!”
“What does it matter if we're dead anyways?” Roan asked.
“It matters. If I upset your spirit, you may be trapped as I have been...”
It was odd, but Roan felt sorry for the mutilated stallion. Had everypony who died received such a speech? Four murders he had committed thusfar, and now it all made sense. Blood of the ancestors. Entrance to the afterlife. “I understand... but you must stop. You cannot go through with this! These ponies have nothing to do with what their ancestors have done. There must be another way to find a way to the afterlife. I could help. But please, you must stop this! You have to‒”
Roan stopped midsentence as a piercing pain erupted in her chest. Lightning flashed and the image of Pathos was replaced by the disfigured form of Scootaloo. One of the spider legs was jabbed into her chest, the blood from the wound dripping down the limb.
Pathos' voice filled the air around her. “But this is the easiest way...”
Scoots' tiny frame began to convulse and gag and a blood-stained, ropey white web shot out of her mouth. The spider legs began to expertly wind the web around Roan, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. She was helpless.

Scootaloo skidded to a halt in front of the scarlet figure before her. Her eyes widened with horror at the dripping pegasus. She had never wandered so far so she hardly expected that other creatures might reside here in the nightmare.
“Scootaloo! I found you!” the red pegasus said. Her voice was familiar. Extremely familiar.
“Rainbow? Is that you?” she ventured, daring to take a step closer.
The scarlet pegasus wiped some of the blood from her face, revealing some of the bluish fur underneath. Scoots let out a yelp of excitement and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow's neck.
“Oh Rainbow! I missed you so much! I was afraid I'd never seen you again!” Suddenly, a horrifying thought popped into the filly's mind.
“How did you get here? Did Pathos take you, too?”
“No,” Rainbow replied shaking her head, “Zecora sent me here with a special herb. I came here to restore you to your own body.”
“What if Pathos takes over again? I don't know if I can fend him off. I tried for so long...”
“Yes, but you tried to do so alone. I am here to help you this time. Twilight has taught me a lot about friendship since she came to Ponyville. It really does bring you strength.”
“Wait. You knew I was trying to fight off Pathos alone? Does this mean you knew I was the murderer” a spark of guilt lodged in her throat.
“I knew you weren't hanging out with your friends as much as you used to for the past couple of weeks. Then I found the feather at Rarity's crime scene...”
Scootaloo felt tears well up in her eyes. Even though it was Pathos' fault, she felt every bit responsible for the deaths of the ponies. “I can't believe it... Do you still love me? How could you? I killed your best friends.” The thorn of remorse dug deeper into her heart the more the memories came to her. Her tears became quiet sobs.
“Shh...” Rainbow wrapped her bloodstained limbs around the filly. Despite the horrifying image, Scootaloo felt the warmth of the hug. “Listen. Though I knew it was you, I also knew you weren't behind the killings. I know you would never murder anypony willingly in a million years. I'm sad that Pathos chose you, but I will always be there to protect you. I will always love you, demons or no.”
Scoots smiled. This was the first time she felt sincerely loved since Pathos arrived. The warmth spread through her body nose to tail-tip. Maybe she would finally have a chance of returning to her former life after all. Just maybe... all her atrocities could be washed away...
“You need to get yourself back in line, young one,” Pathos' voice growled behind her.
Scootaloo tore herself from Rainbow's grasp and turned to face him. Pathos stood there with his usual look of rage. The blood running down from two century old wounds pooled around his hooves. She glared defiantly at him, Rainbow's encouragement restoring her former vigor.
“I think it is you who has to get back in line,” Scoots roared. “I've had about enough of this! You are nothing to me! I will come out on top! No matter what you do!”
Pathos did not back down. In fact, every word she uttered seemed to fuel his anger. Rainbow stepped in front of the orange pegasus. “Let me handle this...”
Rainbow Dash went up to the mangled stallion and gazed directly into his eyes. Scootaloo watched on, wondering how she could bear to look into those evil, heartless pits.
“You bear a burden bigger than you are... I see that. When I read your story, I initially saw you as the wronged. But you started messing with ponies' lives. Killing innocents is not the way to the afterlife. I have killed before, and it does hurt to know you have committed such a horrible crime. But you've ruined my sister's life. And all for your own gain. Now please leave...” Rainbow lowered herself into an aggressive crouch, “or I'm going to have to take you out myself.”
“Handing your life over? I'll take it with pride!” Pathos let out the same unearthly screech he made when Scoots had first dreamed of him. Dark clouds swirled around his body like a whirlwind. The red pupils filled out his dark eyes and suddenly knives and chains and countless other weapons appeared around him, floating as if by magic. “Let's begin!”
Pathos lunged towards the blood-drenched pegasus and Scootaloo clenched her eyes shut.

“I don't think this is the way out of the forest, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie said as the two trotted through the dark, wet forest. They wandered through Everfree side by side shivering and relying on each other for warmth. Sweetie Belle was absolutely miserable.
“Ah'm doin' the best I can navigatin' without no light,” she replied with equal misery in her tone.
“I could try the light spell again,” she suggested.
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Don't bother. We're already lost. And if Pathos is out here, I'd rather not give away our position.”
“I guess you're right.” Sweetie and Apple Bloom trudged on through the wet leaves, mud, and brambles. The icy drops continued to pour through the canopy. A brisk wind brought with it a fresh, freezing wave of rain forcing the friends to huddle closer together.
“I wanna go home,” Sweetie complained, wishing she had one of her sister's scarves with her.
“Me too. But home isn't as comfortable as it once was anyhow. Not since AJ died...”
“Maybe, after this is all over, we could all move. We could restart in some distant town far away. You, me, Scoots, Rainbow, and Twilight! Oh, and of course, Spike.”
“Maybe... if Twi and Rainbow are alive after this... and if Scoots ever gets her body back...” Apple Bloom replied, shooting down Sweetie's attempt at lifting their spirits a trifle.
The two came out into a clearing and paused. A cocoon hung in a massive web spun around a clearing. The centerpiece was a nameless headstone marked with blood. Next to the cocoon was the demon Scootaloo, her spindly spider legs preparing to attack the white sack.
“What in the name of Nightmare Moon happened to Scootaloo?” Sweetie asked nopony in particular out of dumbfounded horror.
The spider turned the corpse-like form of Scootaloo towards the two Crusaders and Sweetie felt fear pulse through her veins. However, she could not move. Fear froze her in place, but determination began to well up from within her soul. All the anger she felt at Pathos was rising to the surface.
“You there! Pathos!” Sweetie yelled.
“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom whispered harshly out of the corner of her mouth, “What the Hell do you think you're doin'?”
Sweetie ignored her friend. “You killed my sister! You killed our sisters! Why would you do something like that? Scootaloo told me all about your horrid designs! I saw you kill Pinkie! She and Fluttershy have never done anything to you! You really are shit!”
“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom snapped, “Get a hold of yourself or he might attack us, too!”
“Provocations are not becoming of you, little filly,” the masculine voice of Pathos muttered as the monstrosity lowered itself to the ground before the two girls. Apple Bloom shrunk backwards at the sight but Sweetie Belle stood her ground. In fact she felt brave enough to snap every one of Pathos' sick spider legs and rip his soul out herself.
“Oh yeah! Well, maybe I would be so angry if you weren't so sick and twisted!”
“I'm warning you!” Pathos growled.
“Yeah? Well, I'm warning you!”
“You are testing my patience!”
“Sweetie! Stop that! We gotta get outta here! We need help!” Apple Bloom urged desperately.
“No!” she spun on the yellow pony. The wet on her face was no longer just the rain. She could feel slight warm on her cheeks from tears. “I'm done... We have to get our friend back. We have to... so we can be the Cutie Mark Crusaders again. So we can go back to how we used to be, three friends against the world. We will live together... or we'll die together...” Sweetie held out her hoof, beckoning Apple Bloom to join her. Apple Bloom simply stood there in the rain.
Sweetie felt a flash of betrayal. “Apple Bloom!” she urged, despair heavy in her tone.
“I-I can't,” the yellow earth pony said. She gazed at the ground at her hooves. “I'm sorry. I'm done with this.”
Sweetie turned away from her. “Fine! I'll handle him without you.” She gazed at the supposedly sleeping form of Scootaloo in front of her. She could hear Apple Bloom's hoofsteps as she ran away. “Together indeed...” Sweetie muttered under her breath.

Rainbow hardly had time to duck out of the way of the countless blades flashing in her direction. The silvery missiles gave chase, obeying the will of their master. She ran and dodged, making sure to keep well away from poor Scoots.
“Why do you try to escape the inevitable?” Pathos asked. “There is naught but death before you. Why cling to life when it is futile?”
Dash evaded another wave of sharp projectiles. “I cannot fail after coming so far!” she panted. “Too many of my friends have died for nothing!”
“They died so that I might regain my peace!”
Some blades shot past and scored Rainbow's side, shredding wing and digging rivulets into her flesh. She let out an agonized scream and collapsed. The pain was so great it blinded her. More blades sliced through her other side, magnifying her shrieks of pain all the more.
“Pathos! Stop!” Rainbow hardly heard Scoots say. The adrenaline rushing in her ears prevented her from hearing much else... except Pathos' piercing voice.
“You see, death is the only answer. The penultimate act in my grand play. I would toy with you more, but I am too impatient for such trivial matters. You've suffered enough getting here as it is. Prepare for your final breath...”

Roan struggled in her cage of web. Her magic was well at work trying to destroy the prison. Just a little more...
BOOM!
She collapsed raggedly on the ground. Shakily she stood, the gaping wound in her chest still leaking profusely. Pathos/Scootaloo was standing before the small yet resolute frame of Sweetie Belle. The look on the filly's face was one of pure grief. Nothing could compare to the pain she must feel.
“What are you going to do?” Roan asked Pathos.
“Her friend has betrayed her, left her in the face of danger when it mattered most. I know her pain. I am her pain. I am the pathos she experiences now. I will leave her in peace.”
Sweetie gave the creature a grateful look and she collapsed on the ground. Pathos then turned to Roan. “But you must go. There's no other way.”
“You show that you can be compassionate. Why don't you see that you don't need to do this? Your compassion could get you to the afterlife surely.”
Sweetie looked up at Pathos. “No more killing,” she pleaded. “Please? No more death. You make me want to die. You are the reason friends are gone. You struck fear in Apple Bloom's heart. You broke Scootaloo's spirit. And you are fracturing my sanity. Because of you, I am beginning to question if life is worth living!”
Roan saw that, as she got worked up, a green aura began to surround the filly's horn. Sweetie Belle's anger was beginning to spill out.
“You have destroyed my life! Why would you do that! I heard about that little filly you killed all those years ago! Well guess what? You are still killing innocent little fillies. Me and my friends are Dying because of your choices! You flipped out because somepony killed your wife? YOU killed my SISTER! You ever think of that! You say you are my pathos? WRONG! I am YOUR pathos! The emotion you so adore is in me and I am what you adore! If hate this world so much then have a taste of this! How's THIS for pathos?!”
Suddenly the clouds burst and a beam of pure light shot down from the heavens. Roan closed her eyes, but she could still see its blinding radiance. Whatever Sweetie was doing it must have been working because she could hear Pathos screaming with horror. Then, Roan began to see blackness. Faint washed over her and she collapsed to the ground.

Scootaloo watched with horror at the dozens of blades arranged to strike the quivering form of Rainbow Dash on the ground. However, Pathos convulsed and the blades clattered to the ground. The world around Scootaloo trembled.
“What?” Pathos said. “This cannot be! I can no longer see the waking world!”
Scootaloo saw in a light drifting down from the ink-black of the sky. She was alarmed to see Fluttershy.
“You have been severed Pathos. You can't return to the real world now.”
“NO! Damn you! I can't be stuck here forever!”
“Which is why I am here...”
Scootaloo watched in awe as Fluttershy walked up to the bloody, mangled stallion. Six spectral images appeared behind the yellow pegasus. In unison, all six ponies bowed their heads and one by one they muttered...
“I'm sorry...”
Suddenly, Pathos began to glow and rise into the air. Every time the words were spoken, a wound closed on his body and he let out an ear-bleeding caterwaul. When the last pony had muttered the apology, all six vanished and Pathos fell to the ground in a shuddering mass not unlike Rainbow Dash. The stallion before her was almost unrecognizable.
His mane was all blue, his coat sleek and healthy, and his eyes wide and blue. He scrambled up shakily and looked at himself. Joy and ecstasy seemed to bubble up from within him.
“Kindness,” Fluttershy said, “Is the last thing you would think of showing him, isn't it?”
Pathos then looked directly into Scoots' eyes with a smile on his face. A single tear slid down his cheek. “I'm sorry, too... And thank you.”
The stallion then exploded in a shower of warm sparks. That was it. He was gone. All that... for an I'm sorry... and a poof. Scootaloo wasn't exactly sure how to take it. She had expected more to his downfall. She felt that he himself should have suffered. Scootaloo felt... unresolved. It made her a little angry.
“I know you wanted him to pay... but God is his judge now,” Fluttershy rested a warm hoof over Scoots' sagging shoulders.
“I guess,” she moped.
“But now I can take you back... to your own body.”
“What about Rainbow Dash though?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I can't bring her back with you. She'll live, but she's going to stay trapped here. I'm sorry.”
“Why not?” Scootaloo asked. She couldn't bear to be separate from her sister forever.
“You are in spirit a spirit form right now. Rainbow on the other hand is actually, physically here. With the way to the waking world severed, she won't be able to return.”
“Then why will I? Aren't I stuck here as well?”
“It's your dream now... You can wake up from it... if you so choose. I can help you.”
Scootaloo looked at Rainbow, who was now sitting up straight. Maybe the pain had grown numb. Their eyes locked and Rainbow nodded. It was clear what she was conveying.
Scoots sighed. Her hesitation and lament was overpowering, but it was clear that she couldn't stay here. “Take me back...”
Fluttershy nodded. She fluttered above her and picked her up by the shoulders. Scootaloo felt her self rise from the ground and soar into the sky. However, she only watched Rainbow as she faded high into the sky. “I'll miss you,” she whispered.
Suddenly the light of Fluttershy disappeared and she fell into complete and uncomfortable darkness. Scootaloo opened her eyes and looked around. A crumbled tombstone in the Everfree forest clearing. Two unconscious ponies. Fading clouds and the orange of sunrise.

“I'm back...”