Author's Note

This is not the last chapter. I had to split it in two.

I am sorry.

Suffer

It was the only the beginning of many to come. The second streak came soon after the first, bright enough to split the sky in two before fizzling into oblivion on the horizon. Scootaloo's wings whirred at her sides, almost taking her into the air.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "It's starting! It's actually starting! Whoa!" Another meteor zoomed over her upraised head. 'There's another one!"

Rainbow Dash grinned broadly. "Yep! Told you this was the best view around. Here," she said, tapping Scootaloo on the shoulder while the girl was riveted to the sky. "Lemme show you the best part. Right up here..."

Scootaloo reluctantly took her eyes away from the spectacle, following Rainbow Dash over to where a flat-topped boulder was jutting up from the rest of the rock face like an observation deck. Scootaloo grabbed Rainbow's offered hoof, allowing herself to be flown up to the top.

"Be careful up here," said Rainbow. She landed lightly beside Scootaloo, taking a place with her on the rock. "It's the best place to watch, but it's a straight down drop off to the right, so stay back here, 'kay?"

"Okay!" Scootaloo chirped, too enamored with what was going on up above to pay any attention to what she was being told. Rainbow Dash took a light hold of Scootaloo's shoulder to pull her back to reality. Fortunately, this seemed to get Scootaloo's undivided attention, which Rainbow used to her best ability.

"I mean it, Squirt," she chided. "I know you're excited, but I don't want you to get too worked up and end up falling off because you weren't paying attention. I don't know if I could catch you in time. Stay right back here, okay?"

Rainbow Dash kept her voice level as possible, trying not to sound too much like a nagging mother. She didn't want to ruin the fun, after all. She was rewarded with a slow nod of Scootaloo's head.

"Okay..."

Much better. Rainbow smiled, and gave Scootaloo a light pat on the back.

"Good. Now..." She sat back against the rock as if she were on a lounge chair. "Time to enjoy the show!"

As if on cue, another meteor blazed across the sky. It's phosphorescent trail appeared like a water droplet over glass. Scootaloo's mouth opened almost as widely as her eyes.

"Wow! That's gotta be the biggest one yet!" She tracked it all the way to where it disappeared. "You can see everything both ways from up here!"

It was true. This rock seemed to be the perfect vantage point, just high enough above the trees to reveal the horizon to both the east and the west. And with so much of the sky at their observation, it soon became impossible to follow them all. Three, sometimes four meteors at a time, zipped like bullets from one side to the other, like a group of aerial acrobats putting on a spectacular show just for them.

And this, she knew, was only the beginning.

Scootaloo was giving herself whiplash from trying to see them all. She kept her hooves rooted to the ground while her head snapped from side to side, up and down, and all around. Rainbow Dash was getting a kick out of watching Scootaloo so much that she nearly forgot to enjoy the real spectacle. Still, she remembered to take a look up every once in a while, and whenever she got the chance, the sight was never disappointing.

Between her glances over at Scootaloo and her gazing at the sky, she never looked down.

...

Neither did they.

For Hutch, the meteors weren't the spectacle. She was. He watched her with keen eyes from behind a mossy rock at the forest's edge, breathing lightly through his veil.

The little pegasus was the only one he had to watch out for. She was unpredictable, head swinging this way and that, sometimes in his direction, and sometimes not. Fortunately, the trees concealed them quite well.

He communicated silently to his companions at a distance with a series of hoof gestures, something which they had all become rather adept at reading. Anvil, who had been bringing up the rear, shed the hulking bag from his back and set it onto the forest floor as quietly as possible, concealing it behind a tree. Hutch then pointed to him again, drew a little circle on the spot beside him, and jabbed his hoof down. Anvil gave him a curt nod and crept over the leafy forest floor as well as his large frame allowed, taking great care not to step on any twigs or trip over any protruding roots while keeping low to the ground. Keeping his face forward, Hutch drew Anvil in and wrapped a foreleg around his withers, pressing his face against his partner's neck.

"Right up there," Hutch whispered, pointing to the edge of the boulder that was furthest away from them, where a piece of the cliffside appeared to protrude outward, acting as a sort of step. "That's the only way we can get up to the top. We have to take them by surprise. This is what I want you to..."

"Ehh... this might be too risky, Hutch."

Even with a whisper, Hutch still recognized the voice. He looked over his shoulder, where the blue-veiled stallion and his unicorn companion crouched beside him, side by side. They had advanced without his order, but he did not make it an issue.

"What if they get away? They'll tell everypony for sure..."

If silence had not been of the essence, Hutch would have snapped. However, with the ultimate goal in sight as well as in mind, he kept calm.

"They won't. I promise you that." Unconsciously, the tip of Hutch's tongue flicked out from between his lips. "We just have to wait for the right moment. She won't get away..."

"But she's a pegasus," said the unicorn. "What if she flies off after the fact?"

A valid point. But even so, Hutch was not worried. He smiled, yellowed teeth showing from between his lips.

"Who says she'll still be able to?" He turned back to Anvil. "Now, as I was saying before..."

...

It took a while, but at last, Scootaloo began to realize the futility of trying to see everything. Instead, she rotating slowly in place. Clusters of bright, curved streaks adorned the sky like strands of tinsel all around her. Her head lolled off to the side, looking as though she were stuck in a trance.

"Wow, Rainbow Dash..." She sighed in awe. "This is awesome. I've... I've never seen anything this cool before. Not like this."

Rainbow Dash smiled through drooping eyelids, readjusting her position where she lay. The mossy rock was no cloud, but when it came to kicking back, she wasn't too picky where she chose. "Yeah, Squirt. Me neither."

Scootaloo sidled over and parked herself a few steps away from Rainbow's hind hooves. "Thanks for flying me all the way up here..."

Rainbow crossed her back legs, bending them slightly at the knees. "Jeez, Scoot! That's like the fifth time you've thanked me tonight. It's no biggie, really."

Her words brought a reddish tinge to Scootaloo's cheeks, which the filly turned away to hide. She resumed her observation of the stars, though, as Rainbow Dash took note, with notably less enthusiasm. The shower was intensifying rapidly in front of them, not having even reached its peak, but Scootaloo's head remained in place, almost as though she were only pretending to look.

Frown lines formed on Rainbow's brow.

"You okay?"

Scootaloo jumped at the sound of her voice. Her head jerked around to Rainbow Dash, and then back up to the sky.

"Oh! Um, yeah, why?" she said, a little too quickly. Rainbow Dash uncrossed her legs and sat up a bit, tilting her head.

"Nothin'. It's just that..." Rainbow stopped herself short. In a search for words, she finally came up with the right ones. "... you seem down."

Scootaloo's eyebrows formed a shallow V. She shrugged. "What do you mean? I'm fine."

To the casual observer, her voice sounded unperturbed. Her body said differently. Half-turned away, head angled downwards, staring at nothing despite all that was going on around her. Somber. Rainbow Dash bit her lip, thinking back to the last ten minutes or so.

"Did I... Did I say something?" she finally asked. Rainbow's question seemed to fall on deaf ears, the only semblance of an answer she received being a half-hearted grunt and a shrug of Scootaloo's shoulders, followed by a single, lonely word.

"No..."

To Rainbow, she may as well have said yes. She leaned a little further forward, propping herself up on one foreleg. Scootaloo didn't even budge an inch.

"Are y'sure, Squirt? If I did, I'm sorry..."

"I'm fine!"

Scootaloo's snappy response took Rainbow Dash by surprise. She flinched, falling back onto her side with a muffled thump. The young pegasus wilted immediately afterward, apparently regretting her outburst. Stammering apologetically, she made a hasty effort to make amends.

"I-I mean... I'm fine, really. Nothing's wrong. It's just..."

She hesitated. Then, she gave her head a rough shake, clenched the tip of her tongue in her teeth, and concluded, "I'll tell you later. Later."

Her repetition of the last word finalized her demand, leaving no more room for questions. Rainbow, siding with her better judgment, respected her young charge's request in spite of the flames of curiosity stirring in her gut. Sighing through her nose, she nodded her head.

"Okay."

...

Amidst the surge of passion that had covered his brain in a misty cloud, there had not been proper time for risk assessment. But now that the time for planning had passed and the time for execution was nigh, Hutch was given a lot more time to think.

He only wished his more sensible side had decided to show up before he'd found them all pinned up against the rock, right beneath the platform where their targets sat. Where, if either pegasi were to even look down in their direction, they would be seen. Otherwise, he may never have spared this idea a second's thought.

And now, with his heart swimming in his ribs, Hutch realized the stakes at hoof. There was no denying it; if they were to spot he and his group and escape, it was over. The authorities would have a definitive trail to follow, and there would be no coming back. And while this had been true of all their previous excursions, this time was already shaping up to be a far greater challenge.

A dry chuckle from the top, to the right of where he crouched. Hutch pressed himself up against the wall, pinpointing where his targets were with one ear angled toward the sky. The sound of their chatter was subdued, at least more than it had been when he had made his stealthy approach. The relative quiet unnerved him, daring him or anyone else in his entourage to make a mistake.

To his left, Anvil lay flat. A much smaller crag of rock, one that stuck out at an odd angle from the rest of the cliff, was at his side. It was a stepping stone made by nature, one that rose up almost as highly as Anvil did when standing straight. For non-fliers, it was the only feasible way to climb up onto the main platform up above. He stared at Hutch's right hoof, which was raised up in he manner of somepony swearing an oath of honesty. Beads of sweat trickled down his face and the tip of his tongue stuck out with concentration. He would not move until he'd been given his cue.

Hutch tried his best to pinpoint the location of his targets, listening and focusing all of his attention on the task at hand. Specifically, he listened for the more youthful of the two voices, and determined that she was closer to the center of the rock. Separated from her older counterpart.

He smiled, but did not drop his upraised hoof just yet. He had to be absolutely sure...

...

"Hey, hey Scoot?" Rainbow broke the silence at last. Scootaloo's ear twitched. "You wanna sit back here with me?"

Rainbow cocked her head toward the empty space at her side, keeping her hooves behind her head like a pillow. Scootaloo gave the suggestion some thought, head frozen as she stared at the spot Rainbow Dash had indicated. But alas, after some consideration, Scootaloo shook her head.

"Nah... maybe later. I can see a whole lot more from right h--"

Scootaloo was cut short as a whole cluster of pale white streaks blazed across the sky, starting from the furthest horizon to the east and shooting westward. They crossed right over the top of where they stood, six or seven of them all at once. She let her mouth hang open, doing a little hop skip backwards in surprise. Rainbow Dash sat up, catching the display just before it dissipated into nothing amidst the stars.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, both of them made eye contact. For the time being, however brief it was, the tension between them fizzled away into the night air, carried into the cosmos.

Rainbow Dash grinned. Scootaloo pointed a hoof up at the sky, eyebrows raised in incredulous awe.

"Did you see that?"

...

Hutch saw it, too. They all did. But, more importantly, he heard.

Not the meteors, of course. But as he trained his ears to listen to every word, he'd heard had been exactly what he wanted to hear.

The rainbow mare had asked her young friend to join her. To be next to her, within hoof's reach.

Her offer was declined.

Hutch and Anvil looked at one another in silent understanding. To his right, the other two stallions watched with a blend of anxiety and concern, ready to jump into action at a moment's notice. Satisfied that everything was in place, Hutch made sure Anvil could see his right hoof.

He let it fall.

...

It was not a cool night. The breeze was not especially great, and even at the high altitude, Rainbow would have considered herself comfortably warm.

Which is why the sudden chill, starting from the back of her neck and traveling all the way to the tips of her hooves, made no sense.

Her half-lidded eyes snapped open. She sat her head up, craning her neck forward. The first thing her focus came to rest on gravitated towards was Scootaloo, who sat a few meters away from her hind hooves. Her head was still pointed longingly at the sky, breathing silent ooh's and ah's at every meteor that whizzed past.

Goosebumps spread over her neck and shoulders, accompanied by the sensation of a ice cube being traced over her cyan coat. She propped herself up on her elbows, taking a closer look at her immediate surroundings. Her head stayed frozen in place while her two ears angled themselves in either direction.

She heard nothing, but the chill only intensified.

"Scoot..."

...

"Yeah?" the younger voice answered.

Hutch felt his abdomen spasm underneath him, and the blood drained away from his features. Even with his mouth covered by the veil, he did not dare breathe.

"Did you hear something?"

Hutch's head whirled around. Anvil was already on top of the makeshift stone step, perched uncomfortably on all fours and crouched down below the platform's edge. He sent the other stallion a glare that could have curdled milk, and Anvil grimaced.

"Uhh... no. I don't think so..."

Hutch made sure Anvil was looking right at him as he raised his hoof up again. Anvil gave him a curt nod. All of the veins in his foreleg bulged, and the muscles in his shoulder spasmed. He let a breath out through his nostrils, exhaling slowly...

The pegasus mare's voice was agitated and alert.

"Something... something isn't right."

Hutch's hoof shook like a leaf. His other groupmates stood right beside him, tense as coiled springs.

"I-I... Sorry, I think..."

His teeth gritted together audibly. He heard his quarry get up, the tiniest step magnified by the tense silence. Anvil prepared to leap.

"I think we need to go."

Hutch whipped his hoof down.

...

A blur of movement in front of her. A dark figure, clothed like an angel of death, reared its head over the edge of the rock.

The very air around her fell to earth.

"Scoot!"

The figure landed on all fours. Scootaloo whirled her head around, and screamed.

Rainbow Dash was automatic. She launched herself into the air, flapping her wings and reaching out to snatch Scootaloo up into safety. The cloaked figure lunged toward them, extending a hoof out toward Scoot, whom was stumbling backward in retreat, tripping over her own hind legs from shock.

Her hooves made contact with Scootaloo's shoulders, and she immediately yanked her body up from the rock. Giving her wings another frantic flap, she aimed herself skyward. From below, a gruff voice hollered.

"Grab her!"

Suddenly, all of her forward momentum came to a sudden stop. Her tail stretched taught, and she suddenly felt herself falling backwards. Instinctively, she clutched Scootaloo as tightly to her chest as she could, a cry of shock escaping her throat as her back slammed into the hard stone.

The force of the blow took the air right out of her lungs. Colored stars joined the passing meteors on the canvas of sky above her head, and Scootaloo's cries sounded distant. Mouth gaping open, she attempted to roll herself onto her side. But before she could correct her mistake, she found herself falling again, rolling over once in midair before crashing down hard on her side... and onto her left wing.

Rainbow Dash heard the snap. It was followed closely by a searing, stabbing pain which lanced through her back, like a spear being driven through her ribs. Her mouth opened wide to scream, but it came out as little more than a gurgle. Scootaloo popped out from her loosened hold, tumbling out onto the stone with a terrified cry and landing several hoofsteps away.

Then, through the murky haze of pain, she saw something above her, looming like a stormcloud. In a panic, she lashed out blindly with her right hoof, feeling it connect with something. She heard a loud howl, and whatever it was tumbled off of her. Rainbow quickly rolled onto her belly, shoving the pain in her wing aside and pushing herself up from the ground, making a beeline for Scootaloo.

Something took hold of her back leg. With a yell of dismay, Rainbow jerked backward. Her belly slammed into the ground, and in a struggle to get away, she twisted onto her back.

Another figure, a hooded stallion masked in black, stood over her, both forelegs grabbing tightly onto her back hoof. Frantically, she kicked out with her free leg, slamming it into the face of her assailant as hard as she could. She was rewarded with a roar of pain, but he did not let go of her. Rainbow stomped down again and again, fighting with all she had to get loose, but it took several hits until her leg slipped away. She wasted no time, scrambling onto her hooves.

"Scoot!" She coughed out. Meters away, Scootaloo was stumbling backward in an apparent daze. Blood trickled down her chin from a missing tooth. "Sc--"

The name never left her lips. Something crashed into her side, the force of the blow knocking her into the air. Her battered frame tumbled over the ground, but she was too stunned to cry out. Peering through a haze of colors that weren't even there, Rainbow staggered, trying but failing to stand up.

She saw it this time. The blue veil flashed in her blurred vision before she was bulled into head on. Using both front legs, he lifted her bodily up from the rocky ground, only to slam her back down with crushing force.

The colors exploded like fireworks in her vision. More on instinct than anything else, Rainbow's front legs shot up to wrap around the back of her attacker's neck, locking into a death grip. Pinned to the ground, it was the last defense she had, but she gave it every vestige of her strength.

Her back scraped along the rock as the stallion twisted his head, driving her a meter forward. With his mouth and snout crushed against her body, guttural sounds began to rattle from his throat with every failed attempt to get a breath. He tried lifting her up again, but Rainbow Dash jerked his head back down, wrapping all fours around his torso and squeezing tighter. She stifled a cry as she felt his hoof swing wildly into her exposed ribs again and again, trying to pry her off.

Rainbow didn't let go. She couldn't see much from the ground, but what she did see was tinted red. Adrenaline mingled with a kindled flame of fury, a product of survival instincts and rage. She could feel his struggles lessening in her grasp, the flailing of his hooves and the strength of his punches waning.

The veins formed ridges on her neck and forelegs, bulging at the seams as she squeezed tighter and tighter. He tried again to lift her, but the attempt was even feebler than the last. He tried to pull away, to get even a gasp of air, but she remained on his face like a leech. A growl rumbled in her throat, morphing into a bestial roar as it left her mouth. Her would-be hunter's chest heaved as his lungs spasmed in his ribs, desperate for oxygen...

"Rainbo-aagh-ack!"

The muted cry for help penetrated through the blood mist. Through the carnal rage of a desperate, cornered beast. Rainbow Dash looked up.

From within the hooves of her captor, Scootaloo stared right back. One foreleg encircled the top of her head, while the other pressed against her jaw in the other direction, stretching the corners of her mouth to an unnatural position. Both her hooves clasped uselessly onto the stallion's right foreleg while her hind legs bent at ninety degrees, whole body tensed with pure terror. Two other stallions stood on either side of her, all of them looking right at Rainbow.

"Let him go," said the one on the right. He pointed to Scootaloo. "Or we snap her neck!"

Scootaloo inhaled sharply as her captor's hoof gave a painful tug on her jaw. Tears streamed down her cheeks and into her gaping mouth. She couldn't speak a word, but her eyes begged Rainbow Dash louder than any cry for help.

Rainbow looked down at the pony in her hold. Then back up to Scootaloo. The red tint in her eyes receded like an ocean's tide.

And then, she let go.

No sooner had she done so that the blue veiled assailant launched himself backward, gasping for air like he'd just emerged from a body of water. He stumbled over, flopping onto his back with one hoof clutching at the veil on his face. His abdomen heaved in a violent coughing fit, and he grit his teeth together in between each bout.

Rainbow Dash stood up, but nearly fell back down as her knees quaked like a baby fawn's. Blood pounded against her eardrums and through every extremity. But it was the pain in her wing she could feel the most, a searing burn that shot up her spine with every pulse of her heart.

Scootaloo inhaled sharply as the hold on her jaw loosened. She sucked in air greedily, resting her chin on her kidnapper's leg. The same pony, the one on her left, spoke.

"Wow." He stepped forward. The other, a unicorn, walked alongside him and over to heir fallen counterpart. "I gotta say, after... is it five, now? Six?" He turned his head to look at the unicorn, who nodded in affirmation. "Anyway, after six mares... you've gotta be the feistiest we've ever had. I'd show you my bloody snout, but I can't have you getting a good look at my face."

He spoke in a casual manner. It was as though he'd met her a few days prior and was just catching up on the names again.

The pounding in Rainbow's ears stopped. So did the throbbing from her limp wing, replaced with a steady, localized burn. It was the only warmth she felt as a chill descended upon her, freezing her limbs in place. The hairs on her mane stood out like spines.

The one with the blue veil still clutched at his throat. One of his cohorts made a motion to help him up, but he batted the hoof away. Rainbow Dash flinched as he instead directed his eyes at her.

“You…” He stepped toward her, closing the gap. “You tried to kill me. You…”

Two pairs of hooves grabbed hold of him before he could rush forward. He fought them near to the point of blows, all the while snarling at her like a wild beast.

“Come here! You think you can get at me? I’ll make you beg, I’ll make you wish you were dead! Come here! Come h—”

He was hoisted bodily by his two partners, practically tossed behind them while he continued to yell. The apparent leader of the group attempted to calm him down, wrapping a foreleg around the front of the other stallion’s chest to hold him back.

“Slow down there, sailor,” he chided. “Don’t want to mess her up too badly. Not yet, anyway.” He looked up to the sky, which was still being readily illuminated by the passing meteors. “Wouldn’t want to spoil such a romantic atmosphere, anyhow.”

They conversed as though Rainbow weren’t even there. Or, perhaps as though she were on display behind a shop window, a novelty item at a rare sale price. Her stomach churned, working the bile up to the bottom of her throat.

Across the rock, she locked eyes with Scootaloo. The filly’s eyes were filled with tears, and the rest of her body was stock still, paralyzed with shock and fear. She stared almost apologetically back at her, crying softly.

Rainbow Dash asked a question. She tried to sound in charge, but the wavering in her voice was unmistakable.

“What do you want?”

She already knew the answer.

…

Hutch almost hadn’t heard the question. He had still been busy making sure his favorite partner wouldn’t be able to get to their prize just yet. Once he had succeeded in keeping the blue-veiled stallion calm, he turned around, letting his other companion keep things in order while he looked away.

The rainbow mare stood completely parallel to him, showing only her front side. One wing, however, protruded from her back in a haphazard mess of feathers, crooked and bent at an odd angle. And while her question may have indicated her innocence to their intentions, Hutch could already see the despair dimming her countenance. It was as though she were simply waiting for a suspicion to be confirmed, bracing herself for an inevitable fate.

Hutch rolled his eyes.

“Do you really have to ask?”

Like smoke in the air the question lingered, floating in the space between him and his prey. He spotted a lump traveling down the young mare’s throat, followed by what sounded like a strained hiccup.

She shook her head. Hutch smirked.

“Didn’t think so.” He leaned his head to the side, looking over her shoulder. She rotated her body a few degrees in response, keeping her lower half hidden. Hutch chuckled.

“We’re going to see you one way or another.” His hooves padded over the rock like a cat’s. “Don’t be so shy.”

He walked in a circular pattern. On the other side, the unicorn had left his place and begun his approach from the right. Unfortunately, she wasn’t appearing to cooperate, backing up and turning nonetheless out of fear. Hutch’s lips immediately curled down into a snarl.

“Hey!” He called over his shoulder. “If she doesn’t comply in ten seconds, I want you to snap the filly’s neck.”

…

Rainbow froze mid-step.

Her gaze shifted to Scootaloo, leaving the two approaching stallions in her periphery. Fear wrung out her insides like a wet rag, a dull throb working its way up to the base of her skull.

But it was nothing compared to the terror she could see on Scootaloo’s face. She was too scared to speak, no sound coming from her gaping mouth other than a single, soft croak.

“Ra-Rainbow…”

Her name. Almost whispered, but she heard it clearly. Begging her, her only chance for salvation. Her only chance to continue breathing.

The rapid pulsing of her heart made the time drag slowly by.

“Nine,” said the stallion on her left. Scootaloo’s pupils dilated, and she started to sob. Rainbow Dash shot up to attention, turning her head so that she and the hateful stallion were eye to eye. Her lips trembled as she spoke.

“Wait,” she said. “Wait, just... I need to—”

“Eight,” he said. Rainbow Dash felt the hairs on her mane stand up like spines.

“I need to tell her something! I promise I’ll cooperate, I just…”

“Seven,” he said. Rainbow Dash cringed, shaking her head as panic swelled in her chest.

“Please! I don’t care what you do to me, I’ll do it!” Her voice rose to a fever pitch. “Let me say one thing, just one—”

“Six…”

“Please! Please, one thing!” It morphed into a scream. “I’ll do it, I don’t care! Just one thing. That’s all. That’s all…”

Rainbow Dash had lowered her head, bracing herself for the next number to be called out with teeth clenched. She prepared to give up, to turn around and comply without another word. But when the count did not immediately come, her head shot back up.

His glass eyes looked her over. Like he was seeking a reason to approve her request. He glanced over to Scootaloo, and then back to her. Rainbow Dash’s pulse pounded in her throat.

Perhaps he was still counting. No, he must be. Silently, the numbers still ticking down to zero…

He sighed, and spoke.

“Well, then. Go on.” He jerked his head in Scootaloo’s direction. “If you must.”

For a single, sweet moment, Rainbow felt relief. It fleeted away in in an instant like the streaking of the meteor over her head. Wasting no time, her eyes locked with Scootaloo’s.

She was so tense that her hind legs were extended out below her, rigid as staves. The hoof of her captor still rested threateningly on her jaw, ready to yank on it and end her life. Rainbow inhaled deeply through her nose, held in the air, and slowly let it out.

“Scoots…” She leaned her head in. In her mind, she created a tunnel between them, closed off and shutting out everything else around her. Her voice was gentle. “Close your eyes, okay? Close your eyes and don’t open them.”

Rainbow Dash scanned her face to see if what she had said had been heard. Scootaloo’s eyebrows formed a V in between her eyes, looking confused. But only a second later, she did what she was told, eyelids falling shut and forcing two more tears onto her cheeks.

“R-Rainbow Dash…”

“Don’t open them,” Rainbow cut her off. “No matter what you hear, no matter what… Don’t open your eyes, Scoot. Okay? Do you promise?”

For Scootaloo, the tears were already starting to flow from the corners of her eyes. Her eyelids twitched, but she held them shut. She nodded.

“I-I promise…” she coughed out. “Wh-What are they… Rainbow…”

Rainbow Dash could see the hysteria beginning to rise. She silenced it with a quick shush and a worthless smile.

“It’ll be alright, Scoot. Don’t worry. We’ll both be okay,” she said. “I promise.”

The words themselves made her wince. She thanked Scootaloo’s inability to see. The filly nodded again.

“O—Okay,” she finally managed to say. Her eyes stayed obediently shut, but her ears stayed on high alert. Every joint in her body remained tense as a coiled spring.

Rainbow Dash blinked away the water welling up in her eyes. And then, with every bit of her resolve, she willed the tunnel away.

Everything swam back into her vision at once. All four of her assailants, their eyes scanning over her like merchandise. They’d gotten closer, and their gazes… hungrier. Predator and prey, with no chance of the latter’s escape. A reality with optimism.

The same stallion spoke.

…

“Touching,” said Hutch. “Although, that was quite a bit more than ‘just one thing...’ But no matter.” He continued in his semicircular pattern while the two across from him did likewise. To his approval, she did not move an inch, barely daring even to breathe. “So… ‘Rainbow Dash,’ is it? That’s what your little friend over there said.”

At the mention of her name, the mare shivered. However, she said nothing, neither confirming nor denying it. Hutch rolled his eyes.

“A simple yes or no would have done,” he complained. “But no matter. Quite a fitting name, I suppose. If you hadn’t been slowed down so much, then there’s no way we would have caught you…”

His musing trailed off as he resumed his inspection of her. Rainbow Dash’s knees quivered, and a bead of sweat ran down the length of her neck. Hutch raised his eyebrows as he came across the mangled wing on her back. He pointed to it, drawing a circle around the injury.

“That looks painful,” he said. His words dripped with phony concern. Once again, Rainbow Dash said nothing back, holding her head up higher in response. Staring straight forward, at attention. Hutch rolled his eyes. Not the type for friendly conversation, he surmised.

The vast canopy of sky stretched endlessly above their heads, accented by glittering meteor streaks. Hutch took notice, and spoke to the rest of his group in a raised voice.

“They really set the mood, don’t they?” He gestured to the sky’s entirety. “Like nature’s own tiny, scented candles. Perfect!”

The rest of them agreed. Or, at least, they didn’t disagree. Hutch took it as a good sign, and then turned to her.

“Wouldn’t you agree?” he asked. Her eyes appeared to light up, presumably with the realization that he was talking to her, but once again, she said nothing. Hutch frowned, clearing his throat.

“I said, wouldn’t you agree?” he repeated. His menacing glower demanded an answer. Again, there was hesitation, and Rainbow Dash swallowed a lump in her throat. But eventually, his insistence was rewarded with a reply.

“Y-Yeah.” She nodded her head. Her lip twitched down in a grimace of disgust, but it quickly went away. Hutch wrinkled his brow and gave a short scoff. Apparently, he was not impressed.

“‘Yeah?’ That’s it?” His voice raised in volume and pitch. “I’m trying to have a civil conversation with you, but all I get is one word?”

His question lingered on empty air. Rainbow Dash’s lips moved slightly, looking like she was trying to find something to say, but she was unsuccessful. Hutch’s scowl deepened.

“Hm. Stubborn. It would be a shame if it got your friend into trouble…”

Hutch watched for the pegasus mare’s reaction. But to his surprise, the thinly veiled threat seemed to spark something inside of her, a tiny flame which grew exponentially in size in only a second’s span.

“If you hurt her…” Fire ignited in her eyes. “I-If you hurt her, I’ll…”

She made it no further.

“You’ll what?”

His sudden roar chilled the air. Even his companions fell silent. Rainbow Dash froze mid-sentence, and her mouth hung open with unsaid words. It was as though a puff of wind had blown the flame of defiance right out of her eyes.

The icy coldness of her predicament had finally sunk in. Hutch smiled inwardly, but it didn’t show. His lip curled upward into a derisive sneer.

“Right answer. Nothing.” His hooves clopped over the rock as he walked toward her. “Absolutely nothing.”

He closed the distance between them to only a couple of steps. She shot a glance over her shoulder, but faced forward again.

From up close, Hutch could see her cyan coat vibrating, her whole body starting to shiver as he neared. He exhaled deeply through his nose.

And then, with a jumping start, he drove his hoof into her ribs as hard as he could.

…

Rainbow Dash would have screamed, but all of the air whooshed out of her lungs. Her eyes gaped open in tandem with her mouth as she tumbled over onto her side, fighting for a breath of air.

She’d hardly even registered the first one before a second strike knocked her onto her back. The injured wing was squashed against the stone, bringing a strangled cry to her hoarse throat. Her stomach heaved, allowing the slightest wisp of air back into her lungs, but before she could roll back, a heavy weight landed onto her chest. Her body attempted to curl up out of reflex, but no sooner had she done so that something grabbed a hold of her mane, cruelly yanking her head upright.

Rainbow found herself face to face with her attacker. His snout touched against hers, separated only by the veil he wore. But even through the fabric, she could smell his acrid breath hot against her nose and cheeks. A hoof clasped like a vice around the back of her head made it impossible to turn away, and another had been stomped down in the middle of her chest. A reflexive flap of her uninjured wing was rewarded with an even harder pressure on her gut, pinning it down.

His words made every hair on her body stand up.

“You listen to me.” His eyes bore into hers like a dental drill. “No more concessions, no more exceptions. You? You don’t tell us anything. You don’t make any demands, you don’t set any of the rules. You do what we want, when we want.”

He punctuated the sentence with a vicious rattle of her head, causing Rainbow to cry out and squeeze her eyes shut. When she opened them again, her view had not changed. The upper part of his snout, the part that was visible, wrinkled like corrugated cardboard as he snarled.

“You’re nothing,” he spat. “Do you hear me? Nothing. Same goes for her. We can do away with her in an instant if you try anything. Anything.”

The last word, repeated for emphasis, halted any semblance of movement from her. At a distance, his ears honed in on the other girl’s shallow breathing, a series of breathy gasps that registered nothing but the purest terror. His heart swelled in self-approval.

“You can keep trying to fight, to be brave… but it won’t last. You hear me? Because by the time we’re done with you…”

He lifted her head an inch higher, touching his forehead against hers.

“There won’t be any of you left.”

…

She stared wordlessly up at him. What he was saying barely seemed like reality; she blinked once, as if expecting him to disappear and for her to wake up in a cold sweat, gasping for air as the real world materialized from the ashes of her despair.

It didn’t happen. The cold shock was all too real, and so was the pain. They would only get worse. Rainbow Dash felt a sob rising in her throat, and her eyes blurred with tears.

He gave a dry chuckle. And then, at last, he pulled his face away from her.

“That’s it.” A nod of approval. He stepped off her, setting his hoof back onto the rock. “Progress.”

Rainbow didn’t see his head flying toward her until it collided with her snout. A cry died in her throat, and both hooves shot up to her nose. Blood dribbled over her forelegs and down onto her chest and neck, as well as into her open mouth. The taste of metal coated her tongue, and feebly, she rolled over and spat it out, both hooves still pressed against her bent snout. Her head swam, but she could hear the hateful voice of her abuser echoing through the water.

“Now we’re even,” he said. “Get up.”

The first of many insensitive demands. Rainbow’s heart would have sunk, but it had nowhere deeper to go. Her spirit was a bygone memory. Letting go of her battered face, she rolled onto her belly.

With quaking knees and a hung head, she stood. The whole cliff felt like it was tilting from side to side, and everything ached.

His voice. She was only vaguely aware of where it was coming from…

“Now, boys…”

A step in her direction. It was followed by many more in front of her, and she could see the shadows of the other two stallions in her peripheral vision. They were boxing her in.

“I promise you will all get a turn. You too,” he added in a much louder voice. “One of us can take her off your hands…”

He was closer. Rainbow Dash’s ear angled itself to the left, tracking his approach. But at the mention of ‘her,’ something clicked in Rainbow’s brain. Her head lifted back up.

She saw Scootaloo. She was meters away, and they felt like miles. Far out of reach, still squeezed tightly in her captor’s hooves. Scarlet streaks stained the sides of her face, both ears were folded back, and her head was turned away as far as it could go.

Her eyes were still closed. Rainbow began to cry.

“…but since she busted my snout…”

His hoof came down on her shoulders, shoving her head into the ground and forcing her to bend her knees. She did not resist. The same acrid, unwashed odor from before assaulted her nose, and she felt him climb onto her back.

He spoke right into her ear.

“…I think I deserve to go first.”

He pushed his hips forward.

…

Hutch would have normally covered her mouth. But they were on a mountaintop, and night had fallen, so he could let her scream.

Some may have tuned it out. But to Hutch, it was a fine reward, one which made the arduous journey to get here all the more fulfilling. Far beyond a simple thrill; every cry she made was validation. A definitive statement from the universe that it was on his side.

Hutch felt her turn to solid rock beneath him. Every muscle, inside and out, tightened up in her body’s reflex to resist. He’d seen it before; it was something else to break. He drove himself in harder, straight down to the ground.

The mare’s sobs pealed out in a sharp intake of air, only to come back out as a louder wail of anguish. He pulled back and rammed himself forward again, and again, each time strong enough to bend her back legs at the knees. Hutch had to smile a bit on the inside; hardly the beginning and the waterworks had already started.

Tears increased in tandem with her shaky cries. Hutch saw her bring her forelegs up to cover her bloodied face, burying it in her hooves. It formed a desperate barrier, like some last ditch effort to shield her dignity from those who had ripped it away.

Hutch would have none of it. Growling, he slid the veil down his face, and like a deranged beast, clamped his teeth down onto her mane and yanked it at the roots, setting her head and pent up screams free. He did not let go. The bitter taste of her mane was a small price to pay to hear her shatter.

As he sped up his movements, he managed to glance upward. His other companions had closed in on the scene, riveted to the young mare crouched beneath him. From the looks of their faces… and elsewhere… they were more than ready. Eager, and impatient.

They would have to wait. This case was a little more unique than the others, and he wanted to relish a little. There was no hurry to get in and out quickly or any worry of discovery. No emphasis needed on efficiency.

Regardless, old habits die hard. He didn’t have to think as the peak of his pleasure came rather suddenly upon him, causing him to bite down even harder on her mane. He rode the many waves and, for once, did not spare a moment’s calculation or care. Like a child shielding its toy from another, he dragged her in closer and held nothing back, pushing and pulling forward and back in an erratic pattern.

Unfortunately, the bliss was temporary. But as Hutch came down from the crest of the wave and stepped onto shore, the sense of achievement lingered on for much longer. All memories of the past miserable week seemed far off, almost irrelevant, and all thoughts of the future, what daunting tasks he and his group would face… they were doable. This journey had been worth it, so why would the next be any different?

Optimism flowed back like an approaching tide, and it was only at her expense.

…

Rainbow Dash’s head fell to the ground as he let her mane, which had been partly torn at the scalp, go. Her back legs joined the rest of her as he peeled himself away, and she collapsed onto the rock.

The coolness of the nighttime breeze chilled the sweat on her back. Rainbow bunched up her front legs beneath her and hunched her back into a tight ball, shivering uncontrollably. But it wasn’t from the cold alone; she’d been shivering long before that.

She felt nothing and everything at once. An agonizing fire that blazed with relentless fury, mingling impossibly with a numbness that blocked out all feeling and any sense of connection with her limbs. It wormed its way inside her gut, and every shuddering breath she took only made the fire worse. The cycle continued on and on without respite, and like a corpse, she lay as motionless as she could. It was the only thing that stopped the flames from spreading.

And this, she knew, was only the beginning.

She heard laughter. Chortling, as if with mild amusement.

“…not a necrophiliac.”

The conversation trickled into her realm of awareness. A voice from right in front of her sounded, gruffer and more agitated.

“Damn it! If ‘e gets to go first ‘cause of a crooked nose, then… she almost choked the… bah, fine! But you better not wear her out before I get there! Got it?”

They were still talking about her. Rainbow didn’t move or make a sound, even going as far as to hold her breath in spite of the pain in her lower abdomen. Maybe they would think she was dead…

“And what about Anv—”

“Shut up!” A third voice interrupted. The voice she knew best, the one that would never leave her memory. “Don’t say names, you idiot!”

“What?” the other voice replied. “It’s not like it’ll… ah, whatever. But do I have to wait for him to go, too?”

It took Rainbow a moment to figure out who they were talking about. She also figured out who was speaking. Her heart leapt into her throat.

“Well, if you’re doing what you’re saying you are going to do, then… yes.”

A loud groan in reply, and the conversation continued. But over the loud murmur of bickering, she suddenly became aware of another set of hoofsteps moving toward her. They started from the front and moved around, nearing her from behind…

No. Not this soon. It hadn't been a minute. She could hardly breathe right, her gut still felt like she had been stabbed with a pike, she didn’t even think she could…

“Get up.”

The command was delivered by a different voice. But it was just as callous and cruel, nonetheless. Rainbow Dash’s diaphragm spasmed in a dry sob.

“Come on, get up!” She felt his hoof grab hold of her shoulder. The unexpected touch shocked her out of playing dead, causing her to flinch away out of reflex. Her movement drew a sharp punch to her ribs, knocking her over onto her other side. She lay directly on her injured wing, but the horror of what was coming outweighed the pain the position brought.

“She giving you trouble?” the leader asked.

The question made Rainbow’s pupils widen beneath her closed lids. In the midst of the agony that had caused her to forget, the question was all it took to make her remember. The stallion lording over her responded.

“A little bit. Won’t get u—”

“No!” she cried. Her hooves shuffled frantically. “No, w-wait…”

Her hind legs screamed out their disapproval as she rolled onto her belly. Ignoring her body’s protests, and with all her willpower, she pushed herself up. Both back hooves shook so violently that they rattled against the hard stone, and the pain was omnipresent.

But she stood anyway.

Across from her, the stallion in the blue veil stared at her. His front hooves drummed lightly with barely contained anticipation. She couldn't look for long, though, as her next abuser took full advantage of her position and climbed onto her back, shoving her head and shoulders down in the process.

His heavy breathing felt lukewarm on the back of her neck. The sensation brought more bile to the bottom of her throat and made her gag. Her body swayed from side to side as he adjusted himself, wrapping a thick set of hooves around her waist. Giving up all pretense of breathing softly, Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut.

It began again.

…

Hutch observed from the front. Now that he was no longer looking down on his victim, he had the privilege of seeing her face. It proved to be quite the spectacle; her head rolled from one side to the other, teeth bared and eyes shut. Hutch could see the stallion’s motions in his peripheral vision, and matched them up with every contorted grimace Rainbow Dash made. Light crimson tear trails showed through the dried film of blood which was still oozing from her snout.

To his chagrin, a flurry of movement to his right shifted his focus away. A flash of bright blue in the corner of his eye told him exactly what it was.

“That’s it. I can’t take it. I gotta do something…” Before Hutch could stop him, he blew past and walked up to her front side. Hutch’s jaw tightened.

“What’re you d—”

“Relax,” the other stallion said. He adjusted the veil over his mouth. “I just need somepony to keep me warmed up…”

His statement made Rainbow Dash lift her head. When she looked up, the color drained from her features. Relaxing a bit, Hutch suppressed a laugh.

“You know, you could always just use your hoof…”

The suggestion was met with indifference. With a shrug, his cohort faced away.

“I can do that anytime.” He turned all his attention to Rainbow Dash. In response, she craned her head all the way around, bending her neck until her chin was almost resting on her shoulder. He sat on the stone and scooted himself forward. Amusement twinkled in his eyes from her reaction.

“Want your friend to die? Keep your mouth where it is,” he spat.

His words hung in the space between them. Fortunately for him, they appeared to have the desired effect. A desperate, woeful sob escaped her throat, but at last, she turned her head.

Nodding with satisfaction, he and the unicorn stallion exchanged knowing smirks. Then, he refocused himself on her battered face. She didn’t look up. He slid himself forward until he was right next to her, and whispered in a manner not unlike a mother’s caring coo to her baby foal.

“Open up.”

…

Confined to darkness, Scootaloo came to one realization; imagination was a more vivid and horrifying spectacle than anything she could ever see.

Scootaloo had heard every single strike. She’d heard every muffled cry, every strangled sob, and every dull thud. She heard every single word uttered; the low way the stallions spoke, the bestial growl and cold laughs that accompanied their every word. She wanted desperately to cover her ears, to block it all out.

But she couldn’t. She had no choice. In the clutches of her captor, eyes glued shut and too scared to speak… to not hear would be the final act of abandonment. To leave Rainbow Dash completely alone, to suffer… to suffer…

The air crystallized into ice in her lungs. In that instant, every threat she’d heard, all of them directed at her surrogate sister, came rushing back to her like a string of accusations. Her mind came to rest on one in particular, which replayed itself over and over.

If you hadn’t been slowed down…

From close by, Scootaloo heard a raspy, strangled sob. The sound finished the sentence for her.

She cringed in her captor’s hooves. Like a pony condemned, she let her head hang limp. Her chest heaved.

…alone to suffer, because of her.