Clouds

-=Cloudwing's POV=-

All that kept him company was the darkness around him. His vision was obscured so badly that he couldn't see his hooves if they were right in front of him.

It felt like time was nonexistent. He could think for an eternity if he wanted to. Unfortunately, whenever he tried, the only thoughts that came to his mind were those of Rainbow.

They were too painful...

-=???'s POV=-

He was sitting in a white room. It had one door that was locked from the outside. The walls were enchanted to keep other magics from escaping.

He had one job and hoped he'd completed it successfully. Otherwise...

His employer walked through the door, interrupting his thoughts.

The green pegasus closed the door behind her and sat down. "I believe that your job is done." she stated bluntly.

His ears perked up. He thought if he should ask if that means he can leave but decided against it. After all, he didn't want to be her next victim.

She continued to speak, "Your unique ability is valuable so you may be of use to us later. As that is, you are free to live but you cannot leave for the time being."

That brought his hopes down. He was hoping to be able to return to his family but this monster intended to keep him in custody.

She seemed to noticed his sorrow, for her cold smile only grew.

-=Emeraldwing's POV=-

After leaving the room of her "associate", she went back to the basement.

As she trekked through town, she noted how few ponies there were on outside today.

"Hi Emerald!" a perky voice said from behind. She turned and saw it was Pinkie.

As quickly as she could, she put on a convincing smile as the pink mare came to a stop.

"Whatcha doin'?" Pinkie asked.

"I'm just headed to the Everfree." she replied, trying to sound innocent.

The pink mare stifled a giggle, "You're such a silly filly. Don't you know that the Everfree is dangerous?" she said, still having a smile on her face.

"And?" she said quizzically, "It's not like you haven't been out there before."

"Yes, but I had my friends with me at that time." Pinkie replied.

"I'm not going out far, or alone. I've got Fluttershy with me." she stated bluntly.

"Okie dokie loki!" she said happily, as she bounced away.

Emerald turned back around with a look of disgust on her face. That pony was always too happy. It filled her with the desire to grab the party pony by the scruff, drag her into a dark alley, and wrap her hooves around her neck until the lack of oxygen made her pass out. Then she'd take the unconscious pony to the nearest river, and dump her.

Instead, she just continued walking towards Fluttershy's cottage.

-=Fluttershy's POV=-

The timid pony was waiting on her 'friend', Emeraldwing, to come back.

Knock knock knock

She three raps on her door pulled her from thought. She got up and walked over to the door to open it. The pony standing there made her upset and relieved at the same time.

"Um... hi Emerald. Would you care to... um... come inside for some tea? That is, if you don't mind... you don't have to if you don't want to..." The yellow mare said to the intimidating, green mare in front of her.

"You know why I'm here, and you know it's not for tea. Just take me to the abandoned castle and you can continue with whatever you were doing in your shed when I came by earlier and interrupted." she replied harshly, making the timid pegasus cower.

"O-okay..." she stammered and started off in the direction of the old, broken castle that she, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow had discovered a while back. Speaking of Rainbow...

She was interrupted as the castle came into view. Had she been that lost in thought?

"He-here w-we are." she said, avoiding eye contact. She didn't know why the other pegasus did here, but really didn't want to.

The green mare walked past her silently, an unnatural smirk on her face.

As Fluttershy turned to leave, the other mare walked closer to the castle, seeming to have more of a spring in her step.

"Hhhmm, I wonder why? It's almost like me when I head to my shed..." she thought as she continued walking.

-=Cloudwing's POV=-

...those thoughts were too painful...

...He cried. He couldn't stop the flow of tears. Even in this mindscape that didn't exist, he could feel the tears stain his coat.

-=Emeraldwing's POV=-

She stared triumphantly at her handiwork. Cloudwing was one push away from insanity. And she intended to give that last shove herself...

-=Cloudwing's POV=-

The swell of emotions broke the barrier he had spent his life building. He'd always kept his emotions pent up behind a mental wall. Only once in a while would anger or sadness slip through.

Nothing prepared him for what he felt now. All his memories and feelings burst forth: the good became sad and the sad became unbearable.

Images of Rainbow filled his mind and he couldn't pull away from them, no matter the pain he felt.

He saw himself the first time he met her. He saw her stare down at him with her with concern on her face when he crashed into the side of a cliff.

He saw when they had spent time together laughing at both their fails after training. He saw the time he got sidetracked while flying and bumped into her, causing them both to tumble down a hill, ending up sprawled on top of her.

It was just too much...

-=Emeraldwing's POV=- (She and Cloudwing have too many moments of swapping between themselves in this chapter don't they? I swear, this isn't the last time it'll happen. :D)

She picked up the hypodermic needle labeled "Adrenaline" and injected the light grey stallion chained up with it.

He awoke with a startled gasp.

"Good morning," she said mockingly. "Glad to see your alive. I'm a bit shocked though about what you did to Scootalo and Rainbow Dash. I would've thought you were better than that."

He just stared in shock at her, thoughts were obviously running through his mind. They were soon replaced by realization, then into horror, and then into anger.

"Oh don't look at me like that," she said putting on a fake pouty face. "It's not like everypony knows."

Tears rimmed his eyes. She could see them, even in the dim light of the hidden basement in the old, musty castle.

She turned her attention the the cart she kept there and inspected the sharp tools she could use.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cloudwing not paying any attention. He seemed lost in depression. It was only reinforced since he hadn't said a thing yet. Or it could be dehydration...

Either way, she didn't care.

She decided on a cleaver with a few blood stains still on it. She moved behind him.

His only reaction though was him hanging his head in defeat. "Just kill me already..." he whispered, just barely audible.

That made her hesitate. He'd just given up. There was no fun giving them what they wanted. She was going to use the cleaver to cut into his skull but now knowing he wanted death, she decided to play a painful game of keep away.

Instead, she lifted the cleaver over to his left. She brought it down hard on his injured wing, bringing a blood curdling scream of pain. She just smiled.

She lifted the cleaver and set it next to his head. She inspected the severed wing. Memories flooded her mind of her time at the Rainbow Factory. None of the victims were awake when they were cut up. By that point, they were either dead or in a coma.

She picked it up and grabbed a wooden board laying nearby. She went back to the cart to grab a few nails and a hammer. She then set the board down and positioned the severed wing on it. She then took a nail and carefully found a think part of the wing, and nailed it to the board. She did this in a couple more areas before taking the newly made plaque over to the wall to hang it up.

Cloud just lay there, not caring about what she had just done. He didn't care how she basically just insulted him in the worst way possible.

She frowned. He just sat there. Nothing else. Odd...

"Well if I'm not going to get any reaction, he's no fun," She thought. "I guess I might as well kill him."

She accented the stairs behind her. She decided to let his suffering prolong until tomarrow.

As she made it to the top of the stairs and closed the secret door, she noticed a flicker of violet in the shrubbery. It was there for only a millisecond, so she just tossed it to the back of her mind.

-=Twilight's POV=-

Twilight was on her way to the old castle that the Royal Sisters lived in until they moved to Canterlot.

She was about to enter the clearing it was in until she spotted a green mare walk into one of the walls. She knew it was a wall because there weren't any doors on that wall except for the one that she could see.

She was confused. "Who is she? Why is she here? How did she go through that wall? She's a pegasus." The thoughts came to her mind.

The scientific side of her brain told her to investigate. The logical side of her brain said it didn't matter. Somepony else found an interest in the castle, even if it was one she hadn't known existed. Like walls you could phase through.

Yet her gut told her to not move. It told her to stay there and not do anything except wait. Something was just off about this all. She hated herself because that's what she went with.

"Why am I just sitting here and waiting though? Normally I'd-" her thoughts were interrupted by a muffled scream of agony. It sent shivers down her spine.

What really threw her off, though, was that it was a stallions scream, not a mares. Two thoughts came to mind instantly.

Thought number one: The mare that went into the castle was a psychopath and was currently hurting another pony while she just sat out here, doing nothing.

Thought number two: Somepony got hurt in there. That meant the mare she saw earlier could either be in there with a stallion alone, or there was another visitor that just got hurt.

She was really hoping for the latter thought.

Just then, the wall swung outward, as if it was on hinges like a door.

"What a rediculous idea! Why would there be a secret door in an abandoned castle? Oh..." The stupidity of her thought hit her.

The mare she'd seen walk into the wall before came out of the supposed opening. "That makes alot more sense than her just walking into a wall."

She quickly ducked into the undergrowth to avoid being spotted.

She sat there for about ten minutes before deciding to peek out again to see if the coast was clear. She didn't know why, but she decided to avoid confronting the mare or being confronted by her.

She slowly made her way out of the bushes and made her way over to where she thought she saw the door.

"Why am I snooping around? Normally I wouldn't do something like this. I can only recall one time I ever really did this and that was when my brother was getting married. I doubt it's a changling invasion. They could have easily done so right now."

She slowly lofted her hoof and felt along the wall, trying to find where that door was.

She found what felt like a handle expertly hidden in the brick work. She took her hoof away and concentrated on opening the door with her magic.

Her horn glowed with a fuchsia aura and so did the door. I slid open almost silently.

She saw steps leading down into darkness. She gulped and lit her horn. She started down the stairs and when she was on the 7th step, the door closed, causing her to jump and fall down the stairs.

She blinked the blurriness out of her eyes. Even after that, it was still hard to see. She realized that her horn had gone out. She tried to concentrate on lighting it again, but her head hurt too much to do so.

"Back so soon?" Asked a deep-ish voice from somewhere in front of her. It sounded strained as if it was in immense pain. "I didn't realize you wanted to kill me that bad."

She just sat there, dumbfounded. Why would this pony think she was going to kill him? Then it dawned on her. That green mare from before had done something horrible to whoever was in here. What she didn't understand was why he seemed so calm. It seemed as if he didn't care anymore if he died.

"Well?" The voice asked, snapping her out of hero thoughts.

"Wh-why would I kill you? I-I don't even know you." She stammered.

"Likely story, Emerald," he retorted hatefully. "This is just another way to trick me, isn't it? Trying to make me believe I'm being saved. Well guess what? I'm not falling for it."

If she thought she was confused before, she was absolutely lost now.

"Who's Emerald?" She asked.

Nothing. Whoever else was in here didn't respond. She gathered her concentration now that her head wasn't throbbing so badly and managed to light her horn again to provide some light.

What she saw made her want to extinguish it instantly.

-=Cloudwing's POV=-

The purple unicorn in front of him looked like she was about to puke. He didn't blame her. He was definitely bloody and one of his wings was cut off, not to mention his ear.

But he was also surprised to see an unicorn. He didn't think that it was really another pony. The only reason he was convinced was because she was using magic and and he doubted Emerald would be able to use magic, even if she made herself look like a unicorn. Then again, who's to say she can't.

Silence fell upon them and Cloud was kinda glad it had. Minutes passed. Sadly, the unicorn broke the silence.

"How long have you been down here?" She asked. Frankly, he was surprised she hadn't tried to release him yet.

Reluctantly, he responded. "I don't know. How long has Rainbow been missing?" He knew she had hung out with her friends after their flying lessons, and he knew this one but couldn't remember her name.

"Well, she came by 3 days ago saying she had to go to Cloudsdale for a few weeks," She said like it was obvious. "Why?"

He stared at her in disbelief. "That wasn't her. She's dead. What told you was a half changling."

This time, it was her turn to to stare in disbelief. She quickly regained control over her self. "And how would you know?"

"Well, for one, the half changling is the one who did this to me," he said, pausing for effect. He didn't know why. "And two, I killed Rainbow, twice..."

And then the mare froze.

Anger, disbelief, and curiosity fought for control over her. That was plain to see. Her face kept contorting into different emotions.

Eventually her face went blank. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"How could you have killed her twice?" That wasn't what he was expecting. Logically, he had no idea how. He just knew he had.

"I don't know. I just recall it. Two different ways. One where I also killed Scootalo."

"Scootalo's alive though. I saw her this morning."

Then it dawned on him. It was all just dreams. He didn't actually kill Rainbow.

"..." He didn't know what to say. He just felt stupid as a childish grin grew on his face. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing.

The purple mare just stared in confusion.

Eventually the fits of laughter died down, and he spoke. "You're right, that makes no sense. It was all just a nightmare."

The pony didn't look completely convinced.

"So, uh, could you maybe try and get me outa here?" He felt like he wanted to live. Only minutes before had he given up on life.

She seemed to cautiously use her magic to remove to bonds holding him in place.

He jumped up and lunged at the mare as soon as the last one was released.

"Eip!" A startled squeal escaped the mare as he hugged her.

He realized what he just did and let go almost instantly as horror crept into his face.

"..." she just stared at him.

"Sorry..." he muttered lightly.

A sharp pain flared in his left back.

"AAARRRGGG!" He screamed in agony.

"Ar-are you okay?" She asked, snapping out of shock.

She really was oblivious wasn't she?

"Take a look behind you and you might know." He snarled in both pain and anger because of how she didn't seem to notice his missing wing.

She looked behind her and slowly she realized what was hanging on the wall. She turned back to him and seemed to notice his missing wing and ear.

"Who did this?" She demanded.

"Like I said, the half changling." He said blatantly.

"Not helping. I need a name or at least a description."

"She's green, has snake eyes, and bat wings. That's all I've seen of her. Besides, a description isn't helpful if she can change appearance."

"You're right. I can't believe I forgot about that."

That was when his brain decided to black out.

-=Twilight's POV=-

She saw as the pegasus' eyes rolled up and he fell to the ground, muzzle first.

She was shocked, to say the least. He didn't seem like he was going to pass out.

For 5 minutes, 26 seconds, and 72 milliseconds passed before she regained control. She had no idea what to do other than take the stallion to her home.

She couldn't take him to a hospital because that would look odd. Imagine taking a mutilated stallion in a hospital. There would definitely be some unwanted attention.

So she took him in her magical grasp and laid him on her back. She then charged up a teleport spell.

There was a bright flash of light, and a poof of smoke and she was standing in the Golden Oaks Library. It looked like it always did, except for one major detail: Pinkie Pie was standing in front of her, smiling.

"Congratulations on saving Cloudwing from a mutant!" She yelled right into her ear.

Twilight flinched, rubbing her ear. "Pinkie, you don't have to so lou- wait, what did you say?"

"Oh, I said congratulations on saving Cloudwing from a mutant."

"How... wait... what?" She was confused. Was the name of the pegasus on her back Cloudwing? And was the mutant Pinkie was referring to the half changling?

"Well, yeah silly head! Of course the Emie is who the mutant is!" She just smiled.

"Emie?"

"Oh, that's the nickname I have for her. Her name is Emeraldwing."

"Wait, how do you know this?"

"That's simple, the author told me." Her smile was starting to become creepy...

"Author? Like a writer?"

"Yeah! He goes by many names, but the ones most people use are Alex and Xander."

Twilight was confused.

"Oh, don't forget to say "hi" to his awesome readers!"

She gave up. "Just Pinkie being Pinkie..."

"Okay, well I need to tend to his wounds, so could you just leave the library?"

"Don't worry silly head, Cloud's fine. He won't die." And with that, she bounced out the door happily.

"I will never know how her brain works..." she carried the pony who's name was supposedly Cloud up to the guest bedroom and placed him gently on the bed.

She was slightly worried about what might happen if the mare who kidnapped him found out she had saved him and had him here. On the other hoof, she didn't really care. She might be just saved his life.

She went to her room to lie down. It was only 4 PM but after what just happened, she was exausted. Then it struck her.

Rainbow Dash, the mare she had a crush on, was dead...