“My dear, sweet Dashie, I never imagined you’d end up in this condition.”
The pink prowler kneeled and gently kissed the scar seeping through the skin on her wounded companion’s cheek, she was littered with the latter. Rainbow Dash had sprang her left wing and to make matters worse, she currently laid in her own warm, red pool.
If only she’d gotten to her just a moment sooner… her wing wouldn’t be in such a state. She examined the cyan equine, eyes ajar, slowly tracing a hoof over fur; being mindful not to rub against her injuries. The earth equine looked as though she were mesmerized by the bleeding mare.
Why Dashie? You choose to heed my every warning before we arrived in the Everfree, why now, why didn’t you watch the trees? her inner thoughts, riddled with question.
Her hoof continued, until it began brushing through the rainbow mane, every bristle and hue felt through Diane’s fur.
Even if she knew the creature responsible, she never dreamed to find her friend face down, collapsed upon such an unflattering color. And she’d managed to fall in such a wide area of the forest, the moon had more than enough room to shine down on both.
She ceased tracing, the hoof now firmly clasping the multi-colored mane. Slowly she began pulling, lifting the head from the pool, it was still breathing. However, her eyes were shut and not a single muscle appeared to be in motion, a less experienced hunter might have thought her dead.
The night and stars shone their light down upon them, their bodies in turn complementing the light by casting shadows.
Despite the desperate state Diane had found Rainbow Dash in, she gave a queer grin, one that showed through her teeth; her iris and expression silhouetting underneath their looming shadows. She matched levels with the head, leaning in close enough for her visible breath to cradle the pony’s nostrils against the chilling air.
She spoke softly, sweet and as sensually as she could. Her straightened mane making certain their faces took refuge in the dark, alongside the aforementioned silhouettes.
“Broken or not, I still find you beautiful and I don’t ever wanna lose my best friend. Mhmm…” she breathed in the scent of mane she housed within her hoof, carelessly letting it spill through her grasp and the head land harshly in the pool once again.
The heavenly shiver that touched her spine was only the start as her eyes shut behind two curtains, it’d sunken much deeper, she couldn’t begin to describe how delicate she felt in her fit of euphoria.
It wasn’t long before Diane regained her composure, brushing back her mane as her senses returned one by one. She remained kneeled, set upon one knee, her eyes leering down at the mare in question; as she gave her edict to what could be misconstrued for a corpse.
“I make you this promise tonight, that I won’t let die… you can’t die, not here.”
Tears began to swell up within her eyes, she’d have made a patented Pinkie Promise, but she only had one thing to substitute a cupcake at the moment. The very instrument she’d used to make her way through the thicket of the forest, and it was the sharpest delight she never wish to sample.
She held it in hoof before she’d began speaking, a lowly dagger, she tightened her grasp against its handle, smearing its stained color against the grass. There was no chance she could ever forgive the pony who left Rainbow Dash in this condition, not if they let her final place of rest become the enigma that was the Everfree.
She allowed her nose to taste the air and her eyes to track their whereabouts. The freshly donned moon flaunt in the sky told the time. The thick smell of the crimson told her she couldn’t keep the pegasi here overnight, even if she were bandaged and the bleeding stopped, the present pool would call predators they’d only fair a slim chance of possibly keeping at bay.
Slowly she stood to her earthly legs, only two. Diane had made a habit of doing such whenever she felt herself too far from home, or having reason to be alarmed. Though… as the months had come and gone, one might have found that home wasn’t as far anymore.
Putting a pensive hoof to her chin, she scanned the surrounding area pondering the best, rather fastest path back, she recalled a certain swamp was nearby; it was the best route considering risk.
The moment she’d made up her mind she could have sworn her paranoia was getting the better of her, truth be told it was, but she’d learned it better to believe in it these nights. The faint whistling she begun to hear was steadily growing, she felt a slight twitch in her straightened tail and it felt… unusual.
Diane stood entirely still until she was certain of what she was seeing, numerous shadows, circling her own!
Her eyes fell to the clouds, the very creatures in her sight causing her to snarl, she was ensnared in a fever of her own scorn. The mare grit her teeth, mercy was the last thing on her mind, she’d be damned if she were going to let anything within the earth or sky lead to Rainbow’s death.
One of them, those… mid-air demons was already descending at full speed, it was why she’d heard whistling at all. “She sent these vultures after us!?” she screamed to the sky.
Everypony knew of the Wonderbolts, they were revered and respected, far and few between in fact. So, why had the hunter’s eyes met four?
Closer and closer they came, an unusual color jetting toward her, the moment of impact mere seconds away… then she realized the truth. Readying her instrument, she sighed, it seemed cleaning it before was futile as it would soon become encased in the same color once more.
The sloppy form, it was a show of speed and strength, nothing more. A descent with no defenses or true technique that required worry, and the uniform this one kept, a cadet no doubt.
“Cowards…” she spoke under her visible breath, as time seemed to stagnate, she was more so ready for the remorse she’d feel when the mare would meet her blade. All it took was a simple step to the left resulting in a slight re-position of stance. The poor dear, screaming, charging as fiercely as she did ensured she couldn’t possibly deter herself from current destination.
The world between them, the two being brought together… slowed tremendously. Through fur, through feathers, and then flesh with a single stroke, blood splashed against the sky. Diane never flinched or blinked an eye as it matted her upper half, fortunately for the cadet she was a mercurial mare, a single mislead creature had inspired mercy within her once more.
An ear shattering scream sound through the forest, the magneta cadet crashing into the blades of grass and against the surface of the earth. Her body tumbling, flailing about due to her own traction, it almost seemed as if she hadn’t intended on a safe landing from the start.
Their prey had made certain not to hit anything particularly vital, or valuable in her eyes. She would live, dependent upon the Wonderbolt’s choice of action.
However a wound was still a just that, and now the mare was bleeding through her blonde mane. She brought a hoof to her injury, Diane just watched, her expression indifferent… she wore a face fit for one casually watching water run.
Judging from her reaction, I doubt she’d ever been cut so deeply.
Unnecessary bloodshed was something she couldn’t stand, she felt it spoiled her instruments, spoiled her even. But she gave her word not long ago that she’d do whatever it took to see a certain pegasus’ life prolonged.
“HHHHAAAA!”
Diane turned toward the sound. “More shouting.” The mare sighed, still wearing the same weary expression she wore before she’d silenced the other.
Truthfully this one hadn’t arrived with the same mundane flight pattern as the previous, but it might as well have been. Admittedly this cadet had a bit more, precision and the position of his wings allowed his weight to shift and himself to steer should he need to but… he was still far from safe.
For months Diane had studied Pegasi, she knew them inside and out due to her newfound obsessions. One thing she’d realized was that a pegasus’ wing power and flight pattern were more so determined by personality than strength alone. Of course she studied one above all else, her closest friend, the one she still hoped to Luna wouldn’t pass with a fractured wing.
Compared to Rainbow Dash, these cadets… she couldn’t help but show sympathy for them. In the end the colt met with a similar fate. His color of crimson coating her chest, yet again the world decreased around her and her predator. Every passing droplet soaking through to her bare skin, her upper half now completely covered. As the colt fell the same as the other, she never made contact with his iris, she never met with his realization of fear, nor the epiphany passing beyond his eyes as their bodies crossed paths.
The nameless, wounded, even worse-without number cadet… his suffering sustained in his right wing, traveling downward to his skeletal cage.
“You monster! How could you!?” a familiar voice bellowed down from above.
Diane groaned, she wondered how many planned to scream at her in a single night. She wondered if she were ever so annoying with all the shouting and bouncing she did while she was a lighter shade.
As she recalled this one was an idiot, at least that’s the impression her current mind remembered, his own unhealthy obsession with pies and unsightly feeding. But according to Rainbow Dash, he was ranked second for a reason, his flight form showed he had some sense.
A speeding blue blur, his leg extended with his expertise, he had no intention of backing down and he was still believed an idiot. The earthly equine rose her weapon, honestly hoping this would be the last pegasus she’d possibly injury tonight, her weapon had already intentionally struck three.
Faster and faster he fell! His technique was very familiar, one could literally see sound and streams of air splitting beside his body as the vulture came upon his prey with all the force he could!
The sound of metal engaging in malice rung through the Everfree, Diane’s eyes shot open, astonished by the clever fool. The impact causing a shockwave that sent her hooves deeper into the dirt where she once stood, she was sent sailing backward, barely maintaining her balance.
Horseshoes!? Damn!
The collision also sent the Wonderbolt backward, just as he planned, using the momentum to flip before landing to ensure his own balance. With his wings he stifled the remaining recoil and propelled himself at the mare, clenching his teeth the same as his hoof as he closed in on the unstable opponent.
Diane quickly clenched her dagger, but it was far too late. With Soarin’s robust strength and speed he connected with her cheek, sending her backside grinding against the dirt.
When she opened her eyes, all she could she was the cold night sky above, the strike had of course stung, greatly, but she wouldn’t give the idiot the satisfaction of knowing she clearly felt it. Wiping the loose blood that ran to her chin, she slowly stood from the earth, as she looked ahead she saw the furious stallion; nostrils flaring and his balance now set to two limbs, he looked like a bull about to charge.
Looking over her shoulder she saw Rainbow’s body hadn’t moved from said spot, but her head wasn’t planted in the pool it once was, it laid to the side now, her mane only visible from Diane’s view.
She smiled as she turned her attention back to Soarin, he’d make a horrible mistake, one he couldn’t fix now. The mare’s smile signaled the pegasus the same a matador’s muleta as he charged, this time meeting her with a fury of kicks, it became clear to her he only wore them on his hind.
One leg after another, a left hook, a right, axes, spins of all kinds and caliber… however, he couldn’t connect with his prey.
His legwork isn’t sloppy, but it needs polishing. The hunter scoff, still smiling, amused by her own thoughts.
“You don’t dance, do you?” A smirk outfit her every word, as she evade the assault.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He glared through the other’s nonsense, the speed of kicks growing with every passing moment.
Soarin had steadily forced Diane to do more than carelessly dodge his attacks, her dagger was slowly becoming shield as sparks flew over and under against the other as metal matched iron.
“Well, I only ask because you move as if you’ve two left feet,” she stated callously as she swiped away his attack.
This wasn’t a waltz, nor was this a game to the Wonderbolt, the taunting affecting his fragile temper, rising like the tide.
She chuckled. “No wonder she calls you the Blue Bullet.”
“The Blue Who?”
His ability to change velocity so quickly was admirable, to most his pace would be overwhelming, like an ocean crashing down. To Diane his attempts came like torrents, waves splashing in rapid succession. However, like all water, his every strike had the same weakness: only capable of moving forward in the same, familiar pattern, body forced to bend to the will of any momentum.
Soarin’s unyielding pattern permitting his prey to land a single blow, a small crease across the chest.
Just as she was getting the better of pursuer, her mercurial mannerisms caught hold of her, once again expressions shift; becoming one that showed frustration, verging upon anger.
“Earlier, you called me a monster. Yet you called your cadets to their deaths.” Now her speed was steadily increasing, slowly matching the other’s decreasing volume, clashing with the colt who’s visage had now been set on trial. A slice for every kick, at the rate their weapons met it seemed as though they might melt if they continued much longer.
The two concluded in struggle, one heel driving downward, another forcing a hilt forward.
“Y-Your horseshoes show enough proof that you knew you were putting yourself in danger, why didn’t you leave them behind!?”
“I-It wasn’t my idea! Spitz promised them they’d graduate from cadets if we made it b-back with you alive or dead!”
The struggle continued until Diane pulled back weapon with herself, letting the stallion’s heel dent the earth as she spring backward. That’s all she needed to hear.
A small sound struck her ear, one she thought she’d heard not long ago. “Alive or dead… so they knew, all along…?”
The sound growing, the vibrations becoming vibrant, Diane eyes narrowed, head shifting to the trees. In the beat of a heart she sprint to the thicket, reaching a hoof into her bloodied mane as she closed in.
“Wait!” The wonderbolt nowhere near reached out a hoof as he shouts, fearing she may already know.
Another oddly colored cadet emerged from the forest, uniform and all, just as she suspected. Brushing a hoof inward, she pulled yet another dagger from her mane, without a moment’s hesitation she flung it directly into their cranium, dead center.
Soarin couldn’t believe how heartless this creature was, he wasn’t sure who was hunting whom as he watched the life literally spill from the cadet’s skull, all the shock and strain of the instrument suddenly embedded in the equine’s final expression.
It was over in seconds, but to Soarin it seemed to last for hours, he’d never seen such a ruthless spectacle.
Diane never ceased charging forward, she leapt toward the pegasus, using the impaled dagger for a stepping stone as she took to the air higher above. The pony grabbing the only other Wonderbolt of three that submerged from the forest’s verdure, latching onto her hanging forehoof.
All Wonderbolts were trained to handle sudden shifts, such as the recent weight she’d just put on, the pegaus’ wings kept both afloat.
“The heck!?”
The mare in shock lifts her goggles, looking down at the extra carriage, finding a frown all her own when she locked eyes with the pony that looked to honestly be enjoying the ride.
Diane dangled from below, more concerned with introductions than possible death.
“You… you’re… Fleet something or another, aren’t you?” she pointed to the Wonderbolt with the befuddled expression to make certain she knew who was being addressed. Before she’d received her answer, she saw her companion’s body below… what she witnessed caused her heart to ache, unlike anything she’d ever known.
“…How did you even- the names Fleetfloot! Celestia sent us to end you once-and-for-all!”
The earth pony was in another world, far… far away, as she’d done something she once deemed impossible. She hadn’t felt Fleetfoot adjust their angle, or arch backward, her hoof sending an impact to Diane’s snout, bringing her back to reality and causing her grip to fail.
The earth pony couldn’t tell how blackened her snout had become, but the pain assured it was broken. However that was the last of her concerns, now her own nostrils flaring through the fire they felt, the rage boiling in her eyes.
Reaching outward she viciously snatched the pegasus’ wing, ripping through feathers with all her might, pulling the other down with her toward the hardened terrain.
“You! This is your fault, all of you! Did you think I wouldn’t see you earlier, circling that bastard like a halo!? Murdering precious time!?”
Diane grasped the hilt of her weapon and plunged it as deeply as she could into the flyer’s chest, the blood trickled down both their hind legs as both grit their teeth. Fleetfoot raised her legs and bucked blade and body that caused her such harm, she sent both flying, rather crashing toward the bitter ground.
The Wonderbolt’s breaths were heavy as she did her best to conserve essence, slowly descending to solid ground, while Diane in the end used her forehooves for cushion. The pain she felt was hardly bearable, she tightly clutched her now useless right hoof as she looked to her surroundings, surprised at where and now just how she landed.
Lifting only her upper half… she saw her there, her stricken friend… and what had been done to her. Standing to a single knee she fought until she rose to at least two limbs, and approached until she was able to sit herself next to the pegasus; the pony she admired more than any other.
She kept her back to the other, her hooves against their side, underneath their spoiled, spilled life. She let her dagger drop from her grasp, still coated the same color as the pool she sat in now, her head hung and she began gently brushing the useless wing.
I must have felt these magnificent wings a million times now… she mused to herself as she tenderly stroked them, just the way Rainbow Dash liked as she recalled being told so many times.
She sighed, battling back the sensation swelling in her eyes, she saw that face from above. The one holding such anguish and pain the likes of which this pony had only seen once upon the pegasus’ face. Though, this time was different entirely, behind that mane were tears, she never thought it possible that one so proud ever could cry, it was a line she never wished to cross. She blamed the rats with wings, but she knew deep down that her earlier action was most likely playing part.
Diane stopped caressing the tips of the humbled wing, allowing her hoof to rest where it lay. “Dashie… I know that you’re in pain, but… if we die at the same time would that still scare you…?
She knew she wouldn’t receive an answer, in the end she just stood from where she were, looking ahead she saw Soarin tending to Fleetfoot’s injury, apparently they’d come more prepared than she thought. Prey furrowed a brow toward the pair, the one recently wounded now housing a stained dagger in her hoof.
“…Hmm?” Diane couldn’t help but wonder why she’d taken it, clearly it came from the corpse she’d used to take to the sky. But, was it intended for her next, or just removed because the pegasus found where it sat before to be insulting?
Reminded of the present threat she took her brand of steel from the grass, her first notion was to get as far away from Rainbow Dash as possible, she didn’t want her anywhere near the bloodshed, no more than she had to be.
She began making her way toward the trees, only now wishing she could set her speed to four appendages, if only one hadn’t lost its use. Though, just as she reached them, she realized it was best to strike while they were wounded as well… even if it were against her casual morals and numeric systems.
She redirected her speed and focus to the two mending one another, at best she could acquire their supplies as well and stitch up the pegasus, even if only a meager amount of her.
She wouldn’t have the chance to put her change of plans in motion. The sky suddenly lit like a furnace! The abrupt flash stopping the predator in her tracks, and shooting her attention toward the moon. Looking to the stars, one in particular seemed to stand out; it echoed the sun, though it would appear microscopic if the two met.
It wasn’t long before she realized the star was falling, plunging toward her as its pace seemed to increase with every passing second. It came crashing down the same as a spiraling comet, the ball of fire becoming ever brighter.
Diane retreat from her current position, the star seemed almost set on her previous space. The earth pony dove atop the one she’d wounded, her own battered, matted body forming a fragile shield over the other.
With a roar, the burning star collided with terra firma, the ground shock immensely, and an intense light smothered every existence in an astonishing radius.
Dagger between her teeth, she braced herself for the coming indescribable infliction to come… but there was none. She opened her eyes and look to the sky, then over her shoulder to see the scorched terrain, it was tremendously wide, but for whatever reason it hadn’t reached them; it’d ceased, the flame stopping only inches before them.
An enormous sphere of fire stood, flames still crackling, it wasn’t known why it hadn’t it imploded upon impact.
Slowly she stood from her protective position, now certain, but curious as to why Rainbow and herself remained unharmed, still a single piece and not singed piles of ash. Eyes narrowed as she stared into the fire, the queer spectacle appeared to be shrinking, and gradually it diminished until the creature responsible was scantily visible.
Diane clenched her teeth, the disgust she presently divulge now mixing with her fermenting desperation as the one behind her slipped further and further away with every passing breath.
“Figures… as flashy and foolish and ever!” the injured equine’s tone now far less whimsical than it was from the start.
The Wonderbolt wore a grin as she stepped through the smoke, eyes shut, and her target already mortally wounded. However, the hotshot knew she was still a danger, this one had been found in worse condition and still managed to elude others in the past, but she wasn’t them.
The smirk she wore faded with the remainder of the smoke, as she raise her forehooves and lift the curtains from her eyes, taking her stance with stern eyes jet-set on the one she was sent to capture or kill. She’d come equipped with horseshoes just as Soarin had, her eyes quickly shift as she took note of the familiar cyan cadet she one kept, now bleeding behind another.
The captain unfurled her wings, and bearing a battle cry from her lungs she flew toward her target. Her first strike landing against the metal currently textured with her comrade’s inner essence, the pegasus’ second incoming strike barely missing the other’s cheek.
Diane could see the heat vibrating, causing a crease through the air as she dodge the blow. Again Spitfire marked her prey as she evade backward, away from you-know-who.
The desperation and adrenaline augmenting in both equine’s eyes as their weapons clashed, sharpening, striving against the other as sparks spill from their edges like beads of sweat from brands of steel.
“You’re a cannibal, the worst kind of creature!” the captain’s words seething, her breath mimicking steam.
“I like to t-think I’m a carnivore.” She replied in an almost patronizing tone, as she gave all the strength possible in her only useful forehoof.
“Your days of murder are over!” Spitfire snarled as she pressed her searing hooves forward.
“And yours are just beginning! These cadets you’ve sentenced to death just for a chance!”
The Wonderbolt strained her entire form, slowly forcing the other backward, she’d gone too far. She withdrew a single hoof backward, and one and after another she drove it toward the sociopath, flickers of flame dancing atop the dagger before dying out; once again it’d become a shield.
“That is what their dreams are worth to them!” she delivered another blow. “There were over a dozen with us before we moved out,” and she fired another, “the ones who wanted to stay were lift behind! Those who fought for their dream, don’t you dare disgrace their deaths!”
Spitfire had always been a passionate soul, her every offense hotter than the last, matching her rising temper. The team itself was known for their tempers, rather, passion in their every performance.
The nameless cadets hadn’t become cadavers just yet, only one, but they soon would be, the loss of blood would become fatal if they didn’t find remedy soon.
“Soarin and Fleetfoot are the best in the business, the Wonderbolts wouldn’t give up the chance to fit a crazed animal in a cell if the princess herself calls upon us! I’m the captain and those two are ranked second and third under my command!
Diane had managed to escape the barrage in between the pegasus’ angered edict, her heated breaths had become bated, heavy.
However the bruises and blistering heat had begun taking their toll on the carnivore, she herself took a deep breath before she spoke, fur still matted in blood.
“And… again, I stand by my previous statement,” she chased her breath before she continued, “ponies like you see my actions for an atrocity, while I create what I will because I am an ar-tist. Who would have thought we held a single similarity?” She sighed, her eyes meeting the captain’s.
She aimed her dagger toward the fuming pegasi. “You sentence those bound to number to their deaths, you forced numbers two and three to follow you to your final resting place and yet you call me cruel?”
The vulture stamped against the grass, her step singed the grass beneath her, causing it to curl and crumble the same as soot; smoldering. With shaking hooves, the captain spoke through her teeth.
“We are nothing alike, do you hear me!? She swiped the air, as if she were discarding the other’s every word. “I didn’t kill my cadets!”
“And
yet, you gave them the incentive to be slain.” And again Diane sighed. She loathed the sensation of sympathy cast upon her. It was always sudden, and she never had a say in its arrival or absence.
If she truly cares for them this much, then she shouldn’t be wasting time.
“Your cadets are still breathing you know.” She furrowed a brow at her supposed captor.
The glow surrounded Spitfire suddenly roared into a flame. “You’re lying! You think I’d let you get away that easily!? I’ve heard all about you, the rumors, you’ll run as soon as I blink!”
She just shook her head in response, she wondered why she even tried reasoning with one so headstrong.
She won’t even check to see if they’re actually alive, before assuming me. Just as I suspected, she’s temperamental, “too” temperamental, she’s the same as…
The only pony lacking of wings looked to her companion, the one in the worst shape of all the cadets; the one who shed tears, still atop her own spilled saturation. It was conflicting to see her and turn back to the Wonderbolt’s face… so full of anguish… so familiar.
“If I don’t stop you here and now you’ll just kill again. That’s what your kind does… you never think of how your twisted art as you call it, affects others.”
The permeating flame had returned to its previous glow, her eyes, glaring through the monster in front of her. Taking a calming breath she closed her eyes, she appeared to have taken a single step forward as she exhaled.
Diane blinked, and as she opened her eyes she felt, then met, a heat that was far from anything healthy. She found a hoof racing toward her, she barely managed to block the strike, however this time her shield didn’t hold.
Spitfire’s temperature had always been determined by her mood and its current level had caused a recalescent, quickly resulting in turning steel to a sharp liquid. Her own horseshoes had already parted with her, but she hadn’t noticed, she never did.
In the end the aggression leaving what was left of the dagger to be discard, the hilt thrown, the liquefied metal now splattered among the forest floor. The instrument lasted long enough to fend off the first attack, however, the second came swiftly; her hoof now engulfed in flame and aimed at the earth pony’s chest.
The first attempt was only a diversion, as the captain fired all her energy to her right side to deliver the final blow.
Time sloth just as the impact came, an inferno enveloped the mare entirely until it expanded into a column, a spiraling pillar of fire that burned the bloody mare as cried in agony at a height believed capable of tearing vocal cords.
She’d never felt such pain, she wondered how it was possible she managed to stay alive. The fire lift her from the ground where she once stood, she couldn’t breathe inside the vacuum , she could barely see as she writhe in the swirling prison.
Her life began trotting before her eyes, both lives she’d lived, of who she’d been and the artisan she’d become many months ago. One life, where she were simple, admittedly silly, and ever smiling even when she shouldn’t for other’s sake; another, when she held actual sanity, wit, and wield weapons as sharp as her mind, numbers navigating her to prey she took for supplies.
As her lives end before her eyes, she saw the one she cared for most in front of her, it was difficult to tell through the pain, the pillar itself; but she knew that shape, those measurements… frame all too well. Using the last of her strength she reached a hoof through the flame, that was when she found her answer, she could finally see a piece of herself.
So…warm.
She could see the suffused color that matted her fur, her mane and all else; the crimson bubbling, boiling all about her body, the mask of blood acting as armor. But it wouldn’t matter for long as the mare felt herself slipping, the sensation of the heat starting to comfort her as her hoof fell into the flame to meet her side once again.
That’s two things today… I never thought I’d see. Rainbow in tears and myself breaking a promise that bears my own name, A… Pinkie… promise.
Diane made many promises in her lifetime, the last few she made being to never allow herself a canvas to create caricature again should she ever let a single pony die alone; this promise stating as well that they wouldn’t leave this world without a smile. Just as well she vowed she’d never let a friend pass without her beside them… and one final pledge. She had made a myriad of such to ponies everywhere, and so far she’d kept everyone.
Slowly her eyes began to shut, ajar, they spotted two shadows next to her beloved. They were getting close… closer… too close!
“Rainbow… Dash,” she faintly spoke, barely audible.
Again and again the same name was spoken, still caged within the swirling prison, her breaths beginning to hurry, rushing her heart as it raced alongside her fevering temper.
“No… she’s still…”
The burning, stinging sensation now gradually returning to her once lifeless limbs, teeth and hoof clinched as she struggled; forcing herself forward as she fought for the same freedom she’d found earlier. Using the strength she could, a single hoof broke through, pulling her upper half through.
The spiraling pillar was still attempting to take her within its grasp, its rotation pulling at her until she managed to herself set free, all but her useless hoof. It acted as a hook as the tower spun her round till she was able to see the position to pounce upon the two vultures.
Diane tore herself from the scorching funnel as she reached the height of its rotation, literally throwing herself with its full momentum at the unsuspecting two.
“SHE’S MINEEE! YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER, ITS NOT HER TIME!” she roared with every fiber of her being, her fangs and every ounce of her anger aimed at their throats as she flew toward them.
Descending upon Soarin, the predator bore her teeth, hinging her jaw to his neck as she pinned him to the pasture. Easily tearing through the skin and ignoring the taste of fur, her fangs sunk as far as they could till they were halt by bone, the blood enticing her senses as the scent flared in her eyes and nostrils.
She felt his heartbeat… twice, before she inhaled and without a moment’s hesitation fastened her grip, rending the flesh from his neck, wrenching away until herself and the skin part from pegasus.
The Wonderbolt struggled with eyes bewildered, gasping, grasping at his collapsing throat as the crimson danced down his side. He tried his best to choke out something comprehensible as the color began fading from his face, the affliction upon it was coherent enough... agony. The pool forming underneath him was already more than twice the size of the first pegasi Diane had wounded, Soarin struggled as he reached for the clouds; his eyes caught glimpse of a falling star just as his captain called out his name.
“SOARIN!” Spitfire screamed out to her dearest companion, tears already flowing from her eyes.
His body twitched and the hoof aimed at the sky fell to the earth, the sight and unforgettable sound that rang through his ears, he imagined she genuinely felt the same way. His every experience passed before his eyes, and somehow… even those after, the two together as he’d believed they would had eventually become. A smile shone through all the anguish, he was immersed in the ever-after. as his last visible breath came as anything but bitter.
The hunter turned to her next target, now virtually helpless after witnessing such a grotesque execution, the look of terror magnified within her goggles. Fleetfoot took slow steps backward, in shivers, as she watched the demon peel the flesh she’d pick from her teeth as she rose from the ground; wiping the abundance of blood from her muzzle.
Her expression displaying an air of annoyance as she threw was left without a care. She surveyed her previous efforts, queer enough… she shared what she’d saw, a smile. Both were genuine, she’d seen that smile many times before, the breeze of murder that blew beside her evaporated in an instant; her expression was warm. She only wished she met him at the numeric time, but silently bid him farewell.
Fleetfoot had begun charging the mare the moment she showed a smile, her training made her capable of achieving high speeds without so much as a sound. Unfortunately the other had training as well, well-versed for combat rather than just acceleration.
Third in command plunged the knife forward, her speed slightly quicker than Diane’s reflexes as she scarred the mare’s cheek. As confident as this Wonderbolt was she hadn’t expected she’d miss, nor did she predict the pony would be at her behind her in the blink of an eye.
Fleetfoot felt the other’s shadow before their body met, her back now pressed against a pink chest, the same sense of fear returning to her trembling wings. A delicate hoof brushed against her own, until it reached the dagger’s hilt, a warm breath blown across her ears. Diane gave a swirly grin as she spoke with a tone as tender as her touch.
“And I was… so close too.”
The touch to the hilt became firm, and dagger itself driven into the vulture’s throat! She fought only a few seconds before she’d begun to slump, the other shushing her and slowly guiding her soon to be corpse, warmly cradling what would be left upon the cold terrain.
She did her best to soothe the gagging fool for her valiant effort to avenge another. “You’re one of a kind you know, you’ll never be replaced,” she softly repeated the sentence in her ear until the body ceased any further resistance.
Rainbow Dash had told her stories of Fleetfoot’s insecurity, she always believed the Wonderbolts intended to do away with her eventually, she was all speed and Spitfire had lectured her more than enough on how fundamental turning and technique was in competition.
The bounty of blood that covered her chest became blanket, the earth where her body now lay, becoming her bed. A smile found in her suffering as well, her head resting in Diane’s lap, the goggles themselves were left in place, only dagger removed. The pegasus truly was irreplaceable in both equine’s eyes, nopony knew where or when she’d found said fears, but they’d no longer had a place to call home as the expression she wore was proof they been sent somewhere far away.
The head was set down gently, there was no time left to bid this body a wish. The earth pony stood with blade to see the source she’d felt fermenting from the moment she’d flee from her former prison.
Diane sighed as she turned her head and caught a full, what she knew to be final, glimpse of Spitfire. The captain stood within a towering flame, a stream of overflowing fire that towered atop the trees. The pyro stood proud, her ego unyielding, despite the pain manifested within the horrors she’d witnessed; the tears that poured from her eyes didn’t dare show as her own intensity turned them to steam as they spread among the starry sky.
It was truly a wonder, seeing her condemn such an enraged flare to flicker only from her own depths, the forest hadn’t caught fire… the amount of control was undoubtedly unlike any other.
Diane’s expression had reset to what it was before, indifferent due to finally being forced to acknowledge the unnecessary bloodshed… such a waste. “You know… at times I felt she knew more of you, than of her own friends. Perhaps being an open book is part of being a celebrity, I wouldn’t know?” she looked to the dagger in her grasp before continuing, “But you became her dreams, rather, her only one. I always felt if I’d gotten rid of you then I’d be the only one that haunted her dreams day and night.”
She held her blade up to the moon, its reflection showing Spitfire and her spite, the other end showing the owner’s pathetic self as she chuckled. “I was so selfish to think such things, I suppose I was scared I’d lose her to strangers, but those notions died long ago… just as you or I will soon.”
Diane was aware Rainbow might have heard every word, she already confessed such long before they’d found themselves here… however she hadn’t been so blunt when stating her intentions then.
Spitifire’s flame shrunk to an ember, the remainder flowing to her hooves, both encased in fire. “You’re right about one thing, one of us isn’t going to see the sun ever again. And don’t you dare think I’d give you the slightest bit of sympathy after... after what you’ve just committed!” she wiped her eyes, the tears no longer trying to escape. “You’ve taken everything from me!”
“Then why fight at all?” the mare tilt her head, still wearing her unflattering face. “You don’t strike me as the type for revenge, or avenging unless asked.”
Spitfire flew at her target, she’d been asked more questions than she cared to answer, unleashing a fury of strikes at the fiend. Fortunately for Diane, the same as Soarin, she’d made the mistake of letting emotion cloud her experience and focus, every motion evaded without too much strenuous effort.
Every hoof fired sent a burning sphere in its wake, even enraged her concentration as she forced every one to dissipate before it reached plant life was anything less than awe-inspiring. Her own opponent knew it would only take one touch and she’d be burned beyond repair to eternal rest.
The two waltz weapons, energies waning, one from inconsistent demand and the other from over exertion.
Diane had become clever since she’d become a darker shade, as she was careful to avoid the literal living flame attempting to melt her insides, perhaps her metal first, she looked to the verdure. She could have easily fled to the thicket of the forest, knowing the foolish captain would have to quell her flame before following in after, but her morals kept her from doing so.
However the heat was sapping her strength, she’d began sweating somewhere around the first swing, she’d already had her fur singed three times, luckily the other felt the exhaustion as well, the only reason they were still now was because Diane had almost managed to trip over Soarin as she sprung backward.
Now both mares were taking heavy breaths as they stared down the other. She had slowly stepped away from the cadaver, but now she was gazing at the smile he’d left behind once again… his last gift giving the answer to her former question loud and clear.
“Heh… so that’s what a fool leaves behind,” the fool smirked.
The captain grit her teeth and charge at the now chuckling pony, her strike missing entirely and a ball of fire released to the sky, this one in particular didn’t break apart it. The sphere soared higher and higher until it became nothing more than a shimmer.
The vulture had lost control as her body grew stiff, her restless approach had led her to be struck, the instrument run through her chest. Her face held no grief or shame, only astonishment as she hadn’t expected death to come so swiftly.
“Love… I see now that was the obvious answer,” she plunged the dagger further before continuing, “never dying alone, discarding that very notion is the decision that’s made when we love.” The hunter slowly began to sever the skin.
The essence brimming from the pegasus’ muzzle, crimson decorating her coat the same it had every other that evening. Spitfire grinned at the overconfident equine, chuckling as she did her best not to choke. “W-What… what the hell would a creature like you know about love!?” Spitfire screamed at the top of her lungs as the flame returned to her hooves. She flung her hoof forward with every ounce of her fiber… and a yet again a column of inferno towered above the foliage; this time it sailed high enough to touch the stars, the sound it made rang through the entire Everfree alarming everything residing within it…
Despite its immerse stature, however, the pillar was too tall… too thin.
Diane had avoided the blast, and now she stood over the captain’s body. She was kneeling and then took the corpse in her grasp, lifting it from the scored earth, her eyes examining the hothead who from the very beginning never cared for burning brightly alone.
“I wonder what sympathy inside you kept me alive, if any…? You only spoke of cells after all.”
Diane carried the bruised and battered cadaver to the next, her former useless hoof being strained as every fragile muscle screamed with every second. She knew from the start, if the captain hadn’t contained her flame, be it for the forest’s sake or her own… she could have bested that which she considered a beast of sorts long before.
She was placed next to the last name she’d spoken, it only seemed fitting as both wore a similar face. The pyro’s muzzle had softened to a smile at some point, her mind in her final moments remained a mystery and forever would.
Spitfire and Soarin, their hooves now joint in embrace, current expressions now etched for eternity.
The equine now setting her sights to her cyan companion, she sprint to her side, slowly turning on her back, the wound Pinkie had inflicted upon her chest was indeed there. She leaned in over the deep wound, she pursed her lips as she came closer, gently she blew breath against it causing the pegasus to cringed.
“Ah, so you are awake. I just couldn’t forgive myself if I let you die here,” she cooed.
The only mare capable stood, as she smile her teeth shone, their edges seemed much sharper. The opaque around eyes appeared twice their size, her iris decreasing just as much as a shadow of lust gradually veiled all but her expression.
Rainbow Dash’s pupil were full… too full, blood running from both ends of her muzzle as she mumbled a name that she knew every meaning for. “D-Diane…”
Sending a hoof gently under the mare, Diane lift the pony, setting her atop her should with her proper hoof. She chuckled once she made certain she was secure in her grasp. “You still refuse to call me by name, I warned you about such, only one creature is allowed to call me that. And I imagine they’re dreaming they aren’t you.”
They made their way toward the forest, the injured pegasi slumped as her wound rattle with every step. “You know Dashie, you’re the very foundation of every color above and beneath the sky, what couldn’t I create with you? You just may go down in history as my only masterpiece, a flavor, a fit for every occasion.”
“You’re my guest only this evening, perhaps the next if you haven’t healed properly. I’ll see to your every need, the best accommodations, bed and all. As promised… I’ll grant any wish you desire, any that doesn’t involve death. It’s as inviting as it sounds, sleepless torture, endless comma, and finally creation.”
As mentioned, her home wasn’t as far, it was hidden well within the Everfree. The two were seemingly swallowed into the thicket of the enigma as they ventured through, the artist leaving with a devilish grin and the duo were never seen together again.
