Rainbow Dash barely processed what was happening to her as lights danced in her closed eyes. It was hard to breathe through her crooked snout, nostrils blocked with congealed blood, but she found the will to keep herself conscious and fight the battle for air while the rest of her remained subdued.

But as the minutes dragged by, as the lights sparked in her darkened vision and her head swam, Rainbow Dash found herself wishing for the battle to end. It didn’t matter if she won or lost, so long as the world could finally fade into black. The metallic scent of blood from her own battered face, the pain that tore through her inside and out, the heaves of her oxygen-deprived lungs… all of it could simply drift away like a leaf flowing downstream. She would have liked that…

The stallion behind Rainbow pulled away sharply, and her back legs collapsed in a crumpled heap. Her throat spasmed with the sudden, tearing pain which lanced through her body like the tip of a spear.

As soon as this happened, the other stallion, with an effortful puff of air through his blue veil, pulled away from her as well. Rainbow Dash gasped through her open mouth, heaving and coughing for air. One hoof drifted down to her ribs and clutched around her belly while she lie down on her side, breathing desperately. Sobs fought against her efforts and choked the air right back out of her, but she couldn’t help it.

A hoofstep beside her head startled her. She opened her bloodshot eyes, and saw the hoof of the same stallion right in front of her face. Rainbow cringed and brought her chin into her chest, wishing for nothing more than to be left alone, if only for a moment. Just one rest from the cruelty…

“Go on, go on. That’s it. Catch your breath.”

The cooing gentleness of his voice made Rainbow Dash’s blood run cold. Both revelry and seething hatred lurked behind every word. But most terrifying of all… anticipation.

She snorted and coughed, spitting blood onto the rock. Exhaustion was the only thing that kept the panic at bay as the realization hit her that something else was in store. Rainbow closed her eyes and cried, and any fantasy of hope was beginning to ebb away.

The stallion’s voice, again. “Oh, come on, now. Crying won’t help you catch your breath. Believe me, you’ll need to in a bit…”

Scootaloo promised. Her eyes stayed closed.

The sobs of her adoptive big sister made her short of breath. She held onto the thick foreleg of her captor with a death grip, and as the one stallion’s voice reached her ears, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight.

They weren’t done hurting her. He wasn’t done hurting her, the stallion with the soft voice that made her whole body turn cold. He taunted her like all the others, promising Rainbow only pain.

Scootaloo tasted the salt of her own tears, which trickled into her open mouth. She moved her lips silently, deathly afraid that any audible pleas would only make Rainbow’s suffering worse.

“Stop,” her lips spelled out. She begged the shooting stars overhead. “Stop, please, stop. Please…”

For a few moments, an ominous silence fell over the ledge. Scootaloo never stopped begging in her own mind, wanting nothing more than for Rainbow Dash to be safe, for them to stop hurting her.

But just as the tiniest glimmer of hope shone in the darkness, the next thing Scootaloo heard snuffed it out like a candle. First, the stallion’s voice.

“Good. That’s better. Now, let’s see…”

Then, something which burned itself into Scootaloo’s memory like a hot iron: the horrifying, bone-chilling sound of wings flapping frantically, followed by a high-pitched shriek of Rainbow Dash before no sound came out at all.

“…let’s see how you like not having air.”

The sounds that followed next made Scootaloo’s heart burst in her chest. Her lower jaw quivered, and with terrified anguish, she let out a wavering wail.

They were killing her. Scootaloo shook her head like a pony possessed, unable to drown out the gags and chokes from her surrogate sister, the pounding of hooves against rock and the hisses of air through clenched teeth drew a picture in her mind that shook her to the core.

Scootaloo wept, forgetting herself entirely. She stammered out pleas from under the noise of her sobs, barely able to articulate. “Pl—please, please, stop it! S-stop it!”

"Hey, you shut up over there!”

For the first time in a long while, Scootaloo heard the voice of the first stallion, the one who had started it all, bark the order at her. In the backdrop, Rainbow’s strangled gags stirred Scootaloo’s stomach like stew in a pot, and she felt like throwing up.

“Don’t kill her… don’t…” Scootaloo didn’t seem to pay the stallion’s order any heed. She shook her head so rapidly it rattled her teeth. “Don’t!”

“Shut her up!”

Scootaloo heard him bark out the next order, and in an instant the thought crossed her mind that they might be the last words she would ever hear. She gasped, clenched her teeth, and braced herself for the hoof on her jaw to snap her neck.

But instead, her captor’s hoof just slid over her mouth, leaving her nose free. It didn’t press on her snout, didn’t even squeeze it, but it kept her from being able to speak at all. Her ear pricked up when the stallion whispered in her ear.

“Just… don’t talk. Don’t talk…”

The command… request, carried a tone of apprehension behind it that felt so out of place from the rest of what was going on that it made Scootaloo stop breathing.

It sounded almost like pleading of his own. Like the request of a fellow victim-in-waiting, telling her to just lay back and just make it easier for them both.

But there was not much time for her to dwell on it. Scootaloo could still hear everything that was going on, and there was nothing she could do.

She cried.

…

Hutch could always appreciate it when a stallion could show his devious streak. It was something that he could identify with. But hanging back, watching what his reluctant companion in the blue veil was doing, he nearly gave a low whistle. He had to admit that he was a little taken aback at the ferocity of what he was seeing.

By now, he knew the steps. It wasn’t until Rainbow Dash was nearly limp until he released her neck from his grasp, and then, he waited. While he stood over her, Rainbow coughed and gagged, clawing at her own throat and curling herself up to shield herself from his attacks. He leered over her, snarling under his veil.

“That’s it. Catch your breath,” he spat.

Rainbow Dash retched, holding up her other hoof while she lay down on her side. She cringed and coughed twice more, tears cascading downward.

“N-N…no, no more, I…” Rainbow brought her back legs in toward her chest. “I’m s-ssorry...”

He stepped toward her, shaking his head. “No you aren’t. Not yet. And if you can talk now, then…”

Rainbow Dash felt a scream gurgle in her throat, and in a panic, she tried to swipe his incoming hoof away, but his strength was fueled by unfiltered hatred. He beat her foreleg away, and before she could stammer anything more, he pinned her down to the rock by her neck with both hooves.

Hutch watched the resistance start once again, but unlike his first time, it was far weaker from the onset. The blue-veiled stallion huffed through the cloth mask around his face like he was doing a sprint, the hairs on his mane prickling with the electric thrill.

Hardly a meteor passed overhead before he was forced to let go once more. He stepped back and watched Rainbow go through the same process again, gasping and coughing for air.

Hutch watched in appreciative silence. Her whole face was flushed a darker shade of violet than the light cyan blue of her skin. The other stallion walked in circles around her, observing her intently.

“Alright. But I’m still not done with you,” he growled with an iciness to his voice that chilled the night air. “Just one more thing…”

Maybe this time, Rainbow had thought hopefully, she wouldn’t wake up.

But she did. And just like every other time, he was there.

He stepped forward, toward her. Only, this time, it provoked no resistance from her. Rainbow’s protective hoof over her neck, the one futile attempt to protect herself, slid away and fell to the ground, inviting in the darkness.

But this time, his hooves did not go to her throat. This time, she felt his grab her around her abdomen, and with a rough kick, he flipped her onto her heaving stomach.

Her spirit gone, the pain that followed dulled away into numbness.

Tears trickled in streams over her captor’s hoof. Scootaloo’s uncontrolled sobs and her brief, shallow breathing were muffled, but they had become the loudest thing on the rock.

Rainbow Dash was hurting, dying, and all for her. Because of her.

Scootaloo wished she would have told Rainbow to fly away while she still could. To just leave her here. She wasn’t worth this. She wasn’t worth this…

Raspy breaths was all Scootaloo could here from Rainbow, now. She heard a snarl, and a light thud, and an expulsion of air from somepony’s mouth. It was not unlike the kind of puff that somepony would take if they had just done a heavy lift.

Seconds later, a cry of shock and pain. Scootaloo seized up in her captor’s grip, knowing it was from her sister, and two more tears fell down her cheeks.

“Alright. I’m done here,” the voice said, with a little laugh.

Unlike before, in the aftermath there was nothing else for Scootaloo to hear. No crying, no gasping for air, just… silence. Rainbow Dash was silent.

But then, she heard somepony else, a stallion with a different voice than the one she had just heard speak. It was said in her direction.

“Alright, your turn, now. We’ll take her off your hooves.”

Scootaloo sucked in air through her nose, gasping. Her hooves gripped onto her captor’s tightly, and she began to shake. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. She couldn’t take it anymore. Rainbow Dash couldn’t take it anymore…

But something happened, then. The pony holding her hostage, in a deep voice, spoke his reply.

“I…I’m actually too tired right now. Lugging all the gear so long... just not up to it tonight.”

Scootaloo’s breathing stopped. His hoof was still over her mouth, but right now, it was pressing down more firmly. For a second, Scootaloo questioned whether or not he hadn’t already snapped her neck, and whether she was now in some sort of different world where ponies weren’t so cruel.

She couldn’t believe what she heard, until a reply from one of the other stallions confirmed it.

“Wha? Too tired to… well, it’s not like she’s gonna put up a fight with you, now! I mean, honestly…”

There was a small laugh, followed by a second of awkward pause. Scootaloo pinpointed the voice; the one who had hurt Rainbow Dash first. She was still nearly breathless, and even though her eyes were closed the filly could feel the new tension rising in the air.

The stallion holding her also gave a little chuckle. It sounded strange… strained.

“Heh, yeah… but still…”

The one stallion, the one who didn’t talk as much, spoke up to Rainbow Dash next. His voice was sharp. “Aw, come on. We’re all tired, here. And plus, she’s right there, the first one we’ve had in weeks, and you’re telling me that you’re gonna pass her up… because you’re tired?”

Scootaloo’s eyebrows raised with sudden realization that maybe, just maybe, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have to suffer anything more. For even a second, the smallest ray of hope shone in her black vision. As her body was still shivering from fear, the voice above her head responded.

“Hey, you try lugging all that gear for the whole day next time. I’ll bet you won’t feel so ready, then!”

A snort. Scootaloo didn’t know who it was from. “Well, only one way to know if you’re ready or not. Won’t know if you don’t at least try!”

“Well, I still gotta carry these packs tonight after we’re done here. You want me to be too tired to get us out of here? Besides, we’ll still get plenty more chances.” He cleared his throat. “I can wait.”

“What? But…”

Scootaloo heard the confused anger in the stallion’s voice. But then, she heard the lead stallion’s voice overpower the conversation, cutting the others off.

“Now, now. The good sir makes a good point, you know. And besides, let’s not spoil this night with more squabbling, eh? If he wants to pass up a chance like this, then that’s his choice. He’s a big boy, he can make his own choices, can’t he?”

The rhetorical question hung in the air. Nopony responded to it. Scootaloo heard two hooves clap together, which made her jump.

“Right, then. Well, if that’s your final decision, then I suppose that means we can continue on our way, hmm? Unless somepony wants another go?”

The small ray of hope was suddenly, just like that, extinguished. Scootaloo shook her head as much as her captor’s hoof would have allowed, and a strangled cry escaped from her covered mouth.

“Ehh… nah. I like ‘em when they still got some fight in ‘em, but her…” He trailed off with a laugh.

Not a sound came from Rainbow Dash. In fact, not a sound had come from her at all. Scootaloo’s heart began to beat furiously.

“Yeah, me too. My vote’s on leaving. She ain’t gonna be much fun, now.”

“And what about her? Should we just chuck her over the edge?”

Another laugh. Scootaloo’s heart seized up, and she felt every hair on her mane stand up straight. She knew they were talking about her. Scootaloo reflexively grabbed the stallion’s big hoof over her mouth and gripped it tight, and her entire body shivered from newfound terror.

“Nahh, no need for that. After all, Rainbow Dash here was a good little mare, did everything we told her to, eh? And, heh, aren’t we all noble stallions here?”

The sickly sweet way the words dripped to the ground as he said them made Scootaloo’s stomach do flips. Except for the pony holding her, the whole group of them laughed. Her hoof momentarily relaxed, but her shaking did not lessen. She heard somepony walk across the rock, and when that same pony’s voice chilled the air, Scootaloo gritted her teeth together.

“Aww, shape up. You did great! I’m sure your little friend over there also appreciates your job well done, too. Hmm… but what about your wings? That one right there looks like it’s seen better days, but… you still think you might be able to fly out of here?”

Silence. Scootaloo’s eyes widened underneath her closed lids, and her mouth went totally dry. Immediate realization struck her, and she tried to say something, but her captor’s hoof stopped her.

Still, Rainbow Dash did not make a sound. The seemingly innocuous question remained unanswered, but the air was so electrified, so tense…

Until, at last, the stallion answered his own question for her. “Well… just in case.”

The next sounds Scootaloo heard would never leave her memory. A hard stomp, a sharp crack, and then, a wavering scream of anguish that tore itself from Rainbow Dash’s mouth. More tears sprang to Scootaloo’s eyes as the gasping, sputtering, and sobbing continued on, the sound of the brutal impact to her wing making Scootaloo nauseous.

“Alright. I think that concludes business, here! We should get on our way.” He stepped in a rhythm the sounded almost like a skip. “Now, don’t you go wandering off tonight, little miss. There’s some pretty dangerous folk around at night. You wouldn’t want to run into trouble!”

Rainbow Dash didn't reply. The stallion walked away from her, and Scootaloo heard his voice project in her direction.

“Bah, she can’t fly. Spindly little wings on her… little legs on her, too. You think she can run?”

Scootaloo’s hairs stood on end. She retched, knowing the implications of the question, and it didn’t matter what he said. She could still hear Rainbow Dash crying, and the sharp snapping sound of her wing reverberated inside of her skull…

“Ah, uhh… I don’t think we need to worry about her.”

“Haha, you took me seriously! Yeah, I know. Wouldn’t want to snap the leg of such a little bundle of joy, anyway.”

Scootaloo’s tears stained the stallion’s hoof around her mouth. Her head felt light with relief, and a shuddering breath escaped her nose. His voice again.

“Alright, let her go.”

Scootaloo suddenly felt the word fall out from underneath her. She fell to the ground, landing on her side with a hard thump on the stone surface. The blow knocked the wind from her lungs, and she opened her mouth in silent gasps for air.

Her eyes fluttered, but she remembered herself and forced them closed again. She didn’t see anything in that time, as the night was no longer illuminated by any meteors overhead. The 100 year shower had already passed on by.

“Be on your best behavior, now.” The sickly sweet voice of mockery made Scootaloo’s skin crawl. She shuddered, curling up and protecting herself from a possible kick or punch to her own body, the cloud of paranoia surrounding her like a mass of crackling static.

She squeezed her eyes shut when pairs of hooves stepped by her head, right beside her body on the stone ground. She tensed up every muscle as they passed by.

Until finally, at long last, they receded into the distance. The little vibrations from their steps faded away into nothing, and within mere moments, Scootaloo felt the air around her settle on her orange coat like a sheet of frost as she realized that, finally, they were gone.

Gone, that is, from sight and sound. But not from her mind. Not ever.

And just like that, the whishing of the air moving through the leaves of the trees was the only sound that remained. After an eternity, time spent at the edge of death’s door, just… silence.

Silence. Deathly, terrifying, a far cry from the peace of before. It surrounded her like a cloud of toxic fumes, and made it almost hard for her to breathe.

Her lips stuck together from dried saliva, and her tongue felt like a ball of cotton. Scootaloo swallowed painfully, and when she opened her mouth, the voice that came out was ragged.

“Ra…Rainbow?”

She squeaked the name out. Scootaloo listened intently for some kind of response, for breathing, for a single word, for… anything.

Those few seconds were the tensest ones Scootaloo ever experienced. Each one slid by in slow motion, stretching out like the light of those bygone meteors through the nighttime sky. Every one that passed in silence made Scootaloo’s heart rise another inch in her chest, until she could feel each pulse pounding in her ears and throat.

But then, just barely, she heard something. A faint, almost unnoticeable sound, but she heard it: a gasp, labored and barely audible.

Then, it whispered her name.

“Ssscoot…” The sound of it was almost washed out by the wind, it was so faint.

But to Scootaloo, it resonated like a loud shout. Her eyes, at last, shot open, and she lifted her head.

Light from the moon and even the faintest twinkling stars overhead flooded into her eyes. She saw the dark grey of the rock, right in front of her head… then, a spot of red from the blood on the stone… until her eyes at last focused in on a mass of cyan blue, lying in a heap on the ground.

Rainbow Dash was motionless. Her chest rose and fell with wheezing breaths, and her hoof clutched at her throat. The pale light of the crescent moon overhead glistened off of the surface of Rainbow’s half-lidded eyes, reflecting off the tears. On her back, one wing lay at a terrible angle, feathers splayed over the stone loosely.

She did not even lift her head when the name escaped from her bruised throat. “Sss..Scoot…”

A cool rush of wind whistled over the mountainside. All the hairs on Scootaloo’s body went rigid, and her vision blurred as hot tears formed in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

“Ra…Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo choked out. Her mind pieced together the sounds she had heard with the injuries she could now see, with the crumpled form of her surrogate sister laying half-dead on the stone. She rushed forward, sobbing. “Rainbow…”

Heart pounding, Scootaloo knelt down next to Rainbow’s head. Rainbow Dash offered no response, other than a slow blink of her eyes as the young filly leaned in to nuzzle the top of her head, running her cheek through Rainbow’s blood and sweat-matted mane. Scootaloo sobbed.

The metallic smell of blood blended with the acrid stench of must rose from Rainbow’s coat, but Scootaloo only hugged her tighter. “I’m staying right here, okay? I’m staying right here, I-I won’t…”

Rainbow Dash's body felt limp in Scootaloo's grasp. It was as if the very will to exist had been cut away from her. Scootaloo ran her head through Rainbow’s mane again, tears pouring down her face.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash! I’m sorry, please…” She sobbed. “Please be okay…”

Rainbow said nothing. Scootaloo leaned her body over Rainbow’s shoulders, and gently rested her hoof on top of Rainbow’s head. Her voice grew louder with desperation.

"Rainbow! Rainbow… are you awake? A-are you…” She trailed off with a sob. Rainbow Dash weakly lifted her head, but it fell back to the rock. Her half-lidded eyes glistened with tears, and she wheezed. Scootaloo felt Rainbow shivering beneath her, and she spread her small wings out to drape them onto Rainbow’s shoulders like a tiny cloak. Rainbow Dash gasped.

“Sss…Scoot…” She barely managed to get her name out. "Ss... stay!"

Scootaloo nodded her head, and leaned right over Rainbow's head. "Yes, Rainbow Dash! I won't leave, I promise, I promise, see? I'm staying right here, I-I'm not going anywhere! See?"

She hopped over Rainbow Dash's battered form, and burrowed into her side. She moved Rainbow's wing, the one that wasn't hanging uselessly on her side in a crumpled heap, and lay underneath it.

"I'm staying, Rainbow! I'm staying..." She sobbed. “I-I’m sorry... I got caught, I-I’m sorry I… can’t fly, I’m s-ssorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Rainbow...”

The wing over her back, ever so slightly, tightened its grip around her.

Eventually, the whimpering pleads ceased. Clouds floated in to cover the stars, covering them in a dark, cold shroud of shadow.

And still lying draped over her sister’s unmoving form, Scootaloo’s senses slipped away.

...

After drifting out of space and out of time, Scootaloo’s eyelids fluttered to the sound of wings flapping. Sunlight flooded in through the flickering cracks, forcing them shut again, but the sound only grew louder. Weakly, she lifted her terribly throbbing head.

Her eyes did not manage to open fully before they were once again clouded, a shadow passing over the sun. Then, echoing as if it were far away, she heard someone speak. The words were imperceptible, unclear garble, but still loud nonetheless.

The air caught in Scootaloo’s lungs, and the blood pounded in her already throbbing head. Her mouth opened, and something like a word tumbled out. Then, her head fell right back down to the rock, and her eyes fell shut again.

Before they closed, and she fell unconscious once more, Scootaloo thought she could hear someone shouting, seemingly right beside her, but also so far, far away...

The last thing she felt before her senses abandoned her was the pull of gravity on her limbs as her body left the ground. Cool air washing over her skin…

And then… nothing.

Author's Note

I said this was the last chapter. But it is too much writing for me to reasonably finish all at once.

Instead, there will be a sequel to this, a story all on its own. I am so sorry, but I had actually planned on having this plotline unresolved, and it only occurred to me a few nights ago how much better my new idea would be if my original ending to this story was its own standalone story. I hope that this is okay, but if it isn't, I am very sorry.

As it stands, I'm glad this part of the tale is over. So, so damn glad. Writing this thing has been... something that, if I could go back, I wouldn't have ever started. It's taken a toll, to be honest. I dearly hope that, while my characters did not treat Rainbow Dash with dignity, that my writing style did. If not, please point it out to me, and I will do my best to correct it. That is my sincere promise.

Thank you for bearing with me.