Shattered Sapphiresby Amethyst HeartChaptersPrologue: VengeanceWelcome To Canterlot HighA Dream Come TruePrologue: Vengeance'Five more minutes...' Sapphire Dazzle stared at the clock hanging on the wall as the teacher droned on about maths, asking random students to answer questions. "Sapphire!" the teacher turned to her. 'Oh, crap!' "Please answer question 7," Sapphire knew she was in trouble, as she had not been paying attention at all. She glanced at the clock again. 'Less than a minute,' maybe she could stall until the bell rang. She looked down at her book, pretending to read the question. When it was not enough, she started writing false equations, hoping the teacher thought she was actually trying to solve the problem. She could almost feel the stares of the other students. This was not the first time she had avoided trouble like this. As careful as she was to not repeat the same strategy in the same class, most of the students in the maths class were also in other classes with her, and knew exactly what she was doing. All it would take to get her into detention was someone calling her bluff in front of the teacher. Fortunately for Sapphire, the bell rang before anyone could do so. 'Saved by the bell!' she thought as she left the class. She could hear the other students mocking her and laughing at her even as she arrived at the school's main entrance. They always did this when she found some way to get out of trouble. Unfortunately, before she could get to the exit, she ran into Vicious Brutality. He was widely considered the cruelest student in school. "Sapphire!" he said, grabbing her by the arm. "I heard about what happened in maths," 'No! Not him!' terror flooded her mind as she realized who had said that. She had gotten in trouble with Vicious before. He was so horrible that the only thing stopping her from punching him in the face was the fact that he would return the favor, and he was obviously stronger. 'So what if you can't punch him!? You have a knife in your pocket, so use it!' the dark and twisted part of her mind urged, trying to take over. 'It's just a small penknife. Besides, I don't want to hurt anyone, much less go to jail,' the kind and rational part argued back. 'If you don't fight back, he'll just keep tormenting you! Besides, people like him deserve to burn in Hell!' "That's the fifth time you've done that this month," he slammed her against the wall, hard. "It's time you learnt your lesson!" Vicious dragged her towards an open locker. "If this is how pathetic you are, it's no wonder your father abandoned you!" The mention of her father was nearly enough to bring her to tears. He had left when she was five years old, leaving Sapphire and her mother's hearts shattered. "It also explains why your mother is dead. I would kill myself too if my kid was as useless as you!" with that, Vicious pushed Sapphire into the locker, slamming the door behind her. "Good luck getting out. Nobody's even going to bother to let you out!" he said before leaving. Remembering the event that had effectively torn her personality in half was enough to make her cry. Sapphire's mother couldn't stand losing her husband, and had killed herself a few months later. Sapphire was unfortunate enough to hear her scream, and rushed to the kitchen to see what had happened. She discovered her mother lying in a pool of her own blood, with a bloody knife in her hand. The last thing she said before dying was: "Sapphire...i'm so sorry you had to see this." Even more unfortunate, it seemed her mind could not process what had happened and split itself in two, dooming her to spend half of her life and a kind and caring person and the other half being cruel and sadistic. However, even this was not enough to prevent the grief, and she had spent the entire night bawling her eyes out, just as she did now, trapped in the locker. 'Vicious...I will make you suffer...' o0 The Next Day 0o 'Vicious...I will make you suffer...' that same thought had been running through Sapphire's mind without pause since the incident the day before. As she entered the gates to White Tail Academy, she noticed almost all the other students snickering and whispering to each other. She overheard a few of them and realized they were talking about her. 'One of these days, they're all going to regret it...' As she started towards her Chemistry class, she tried to ignore the other students' jeering. It would all be for naught; most of the students were also in her maths class. 'Just ignore them, Sapphire' she entered the class filled with dread. 'Why ignore them when you can make them pay for what they've done?' 'If I do that, i'm no better than them' While Sapphire's fractured mind argued with itself, she didn't even notice when class began. "For the remainder of this class, we shall carry out an experiment," the teacher's words were enough to force Sapphire's opposite personas to calm down. Knowing there was going to be an experiment gave her an idea. 'This is my chance!' 'Oh no you don't! If you do this, we'll be in serious trouble!' 'I'll leave no evidence! Besides, chances are they won't survive long enough to realize what happened!' 'No!* Enough is enough! I won't let you do this!'* 'You are not in charge anymore!' and with that, what little kindness Sapphire still possessed was shattered, replaced by a twisted need for revenge. When all the other students huddled around the teacher, she saw an opportunity. The students were watching the experiment and the teacher was too busy explaining. 'Excellent!' She took the chance to set up her own 'experiment' while nobody was watching, dark thoughts of how White Tail Academy would meet its end flowing through her mind. 'A gas pipe. Perfect!' she grabbed the nearest string. 'Now all I need is...' she noticed a Bunsen burner on the table next to her. 'A fire!' She finished setting up the weapon that would end White Tail Academy. Just at that moment, the teacher noticed what she was doing. "Sapphire! Step away from the Bunsen burner!" he shouted. This only elicited a maniacal laugh from Sapphire. "It's too late now!" she lit the Bunsen burner. Turning towards the window, she grabbed the nearest stool and smashed it. "You all deserve this!" she made a run for it, leaving her class to its explosive demise. She barely made it out of the school grounds before the entire building went up in flames. Once the laughter had subsided, she realized just what had happened. The joy of finally removing one of her biggest enemies suddenly gave way to guilt faster than she could handle, and she burst into tears right there on the sidewalk. 'What have I done?' Welcome To Canterlot HighSapphire Dazzle stood at the gates of Canterlot High a week after the incident at White Tail Academy. The news had confirmed it. She was the only survivor, and there were no witnesses, so people just assumed it was an unfortunate accident with the gas pipes. 'If they can truly believe that, people really are too gullible for their own good.' 'Maybe you should just shut up! We don't want a repeat of what happened the last time you were in charge.' The more her consciousness argued with itself, the more she felt like something else would go wrong and ruin her chance to start over. Deciding that there was no point in just standing around doing nothing, she started towards the doors of Canterlot High. before she could open them, however, a strange pink blur shot past her, almost bowling her over. "What the-" Sapphire couldn't finish her sentence as said blur turned out to be a girl with pink skin and even pinker, extremely messy and poofy hair. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Canterlot High!" She spoke so fast that most of her words seemed to merge into one, and her voice was so high-pitched that Sapphire thought she might go deaf. Before Sapphire could say anything, Pinkie gasped extremely loudly before continuing. "And if you're new, that means you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely! That makes me so sad!" "Well, there's no need to be sad i'm used to it. I was never very friendly," Unfortunately, instead of the intended effect, this only served to do the opposite. Pinkie suddenly let out another loud gasp before nearly shouting her next sentence. "I have an idea! I'll throw you a welcome to Canterlot High party, then you'll have lots and lots of friends!" 'Great! Now look what you've done.' 'Hey, at least she's friendly!' 'But she's so annoying!' 'If you think making her shut up is easy, why don't you try!' 'Very well...' 'No! I didn't mean-' "Hey Pinkie. Just take the hint! I don't need friends so why don't you just get lost!" Upon hearing this, Pinkie's eyes started watering and she looked on the verge of tears. 'You idiot!' Sapphire's kindness screamed. 'I'll take it from here!' "I'm so sorry, Pinkie. I've had a really bad week," This caused Pinkie to look up. "Surely you've heard about White Tail Academy?" "Of course. I heard there was only one survivor... She must be so sad right now," "Well that survivor... Was me," Now it was Sapphire's turn to almost start crying. Though she may have caused it, the memory of what she'd done still haunted her. Pinkie however, perked up when she heard this. "All the more reason for me to throw a party! You really need something to cheer you up!" With that, Pinkie literally started bouncing away, shouting "The party's at Sugarcube Corner!" 'Well she's a strange one.' 'Agreed.' This was the first time Sapphire's two personalities actually agreed on anything in years, and just knowing that was enough to bring a smile to her face. before she could enter the school, the pink blur returned, slamming the door shut. "I didn't get your name," Pinkie crashed into Sapphire. "It's Sapphire Dazzle," Pinkie disappeared just as fast as she had appeared. 'Am I seriously going to that party?' 'Of course we're going. We can't just say we'll go and then forget about it.' 'Fine.' With that, Sapphire opened the doors to Canterlot High and a new start. o0 P.E. 0o I there was one thing Sapphire was not, it was athletic. Despite this, she had somehow ended up in P.E. 'Why'd we sign up for P.E again?' 'Because I can just sit back and watch you try not to fail,' Sapphire could have sworn her cruel personality was grinning madly at that moment. 'You're the worst.' 'I know.' Sapphire was unfortunate enough that their coach, Spitfire had decided to have the students race against each other on that day. "Rainbow Dash! Applejack! You're up!" barked Coach Spitfire. Sapphire looked up to see a rainbow-haired girl with blue skin and a blonde girl with orange skin heading towards the track. The way they looked at each other at the starting line made it obvious that they were rivals. One could even argue that Coach Spitfire had pitted them against each other just so they could settle it. "On your marks!" The two girls stood at the starting line. "Get set!" They looked at each other, fire in their eyes. "Go!" They took off faster than Sapphire thought was humanly possible. The race seemed fairly even, but Applejack seemed to have a slight advantage. This all changed when they reached a stretch of track that required them to avoid bumping into obstacles. It seemed Rainbow was far more experienced in avoiding objects, dodging all of them. Applejack, however, was not so lucky, and crashed into the last barrel. It was not much, but it was enough for Rainbow to catch up. 'This just got interesting...' 'I didn't think anyone was that fast.' Before long, both girls had reached the last stretch of track, and Sapphire could tell it would be close. They crossed the finish line in a massive cloud of dust, each thinking they had won. "I totally won, AJ!" Rainbow exclaimed. "No. Ah think ya'll find that ah won, Dash!" Applejack retorted. As the girls bickered, Coach Spitfire looked at her stopwatch and declared the winner. "It's a tie!" The victory on the girls' faces quickly turned to horror. "A tie!?" They exclaimed at the same time. "No way. I totally beat her!" This display caused Sapphire to chuckle at how desperate each of them were to beat the other. 'Seems a lot like us, doesn't it?' 'I suppose...' "Well too bad! It was a tie," the coach turned to Sapphire. "Sapphire! Sunset! You're up!" 'Oh no.' 'Good luck. You'll need it' As Sapphire walked towards the track she contemplated all the ways this race could end. "On your marks!" Sapphire glanced at her opponent. She was a orange-skinned girl and her hair was red and yellow. What really caught her attention was what she was wearing. Her black leather jacket only reminded her of Vicious. She knew he was dead but anything that reminded her of him still made her furious. "Get set!" Her thoughts were cut short by the coach's words. "Go!" It all happened so quickly. Sapphire ran as fast as her legs could carry her, determined to beat Sunset, who reminded her of her old enemy. Despite this, she was still surprised to realize that she was winning. Sapphire stayed in front until the last stretch of the race, and Sunset was too far behind to have any chance of winning. 'Looks like I win, Sunny!' Unfortunately, in running so fast, she has exhausted herself far too quickly. Just before she could cross the finish line, a massive wave of nausea overtook her and her legs gave out beneath her, and she fell to the ground. 'I can't believe... I lost to someone like her...' Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Sapphire felt someone grab her arm. "Sapphire!" Sapphire couldn't believe it. Sunset sounded genuinely concerned for her. "Are you alright?" Sapphire tried to get up, but another wave of nausea and excruciating pain prevented her from doing so, sending her crashing back down. "I can't... I can't do it..." "Don't say that. It's just a few more steps. I'm sure you can do it!" Sunset helped Sapphire to her feet. It didn't do much good, as she almost collapsed for the third time that day. The only thing saving her from another fall was Sunset catching her. "Lets do this!" Sunset allowed Sapphire to use her shoulders as a support, and took the last few steps. Each step burned as if she were stepping on hot coals, and as soon as they crossed the finish line, Sapphire fell to the ground once more. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might burst. "And the winner is Sapphire!" shouted Coach Spitfire. Sapphire could hardly hear it due to exhaustion but it made her smile nevertheless. 'I won!?' "I won!?" For the first time in years, Sapphire was actually happy. It had been so long that she had forgotten what it felt like to win. "Hey. You did it" Sunset held out her hand. Her paranoia returned full force. Nobody had ever bothered to help her for as long as she could remember. 'Do I trust her?' 'She just made herself lose for you, of course we trust her!' Sapphire took Sunsets hand, and she pulled her up. "I don't even know you, but you still stopped to help me. Why?" Sapphire's confusion was evident in her voice. "Because it just isn't right to leave anyone behind like that," she paused for a moment, as if remembering something she didn't want to. Before Sapphire could ask about it, Rainbow and Applejack appeared behind her. "Well ah'll be. You're a mighty fast runner, Sapphire," Applejack said. "If that there race were any shorter, ah think ya could beat any one of us!" "Just try not to collapse like that and you'll be fine!" Rainbow was obviously surprised at how someone who looked so out of place here could be that fast. "I'm sure you'll win next time," Rainbow looked her right in the eye before continuing. "Unless of course, you're against me!" 'Oh that is one overblown ego...' 'Yeah. we could put an end to it right here, you know?' 'As long as it doesn't end up like last time, go for it!' "You sure about that, Rainbow? Because I think I could beat you," Sapphire challenged. 'Wait, *what!?** We can't beat her!'* 'Sure we can! We just have to make sure the race isn't too long, and there are no obstacles.' "Well bring it on, then!" "Alright, looks like a challenge!" the coach announced. All the students present gathered to watch the race. As Sapphire walked to the start line, she could hear people muttering things like 'This can't be happening' or 'She'll never win this one'. She had been underestimated before and she hated it. 'We'll see about that!' "Go!" Sapphire took off faster than she could remember doing in her entire life. 'I can't lose, I can't lose, I can't lose...' She repeated to herself. 'Might want to rethink that. Look to your right,' Sapphire did so, and saw Rainbow running right beside her, and she didn't even look tired! "Tired? I knew you couldn't win!" The smug look on her face sent Sapphire into a frenzy. 'I'm *not** losing to her!'* Sapphire gathered all the energy she had left, and unleashed it all in one massive burst of speed, easily overtaking Rainbow, shocking the entire crowd. None of them expected her to even stand a chance. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Rainbow growled, and sped up to catch up to her opponent, but it seemed like Sapphire was too far ahead. Sapphire was nearly at the finish line when the nausea returned. 'No! Not now!' This time, however, Sapphire knew what was coming. When she started falling, she put both arms in a forty-five degree angle above her head, and used her last step to boost the rest of her body forwards, using the momentum to do a flip. Seeing this, Rainbow used all of her energy to catch up. She was a few steps away from the finish line, but was slowed when the dust from Sapphire's landing bombarded her eyes. When she could see clearly again, she had crossed the finish line. "It's a tie!" Exclaimed Coach Spitfire. Neither Rainbow nor Sapphire could believe it. The new student had just raced the fastest girl in Canterlot High to a tie. 'A tie!?* Next time I get the chance, i'll make sure she loses!'* 'Well at least we didn't lose.' "You!" Rainbow stormed across the track. 'Uh oh.' 'We're doomed.' "You are awesome!" This surprised Sapphire. A lot. "Wait, what?" She thought she was dead for sure. Fortunately for Sapphire, Rainbow seemed to respect people who could keep up with her. "Anyone who can race against me and not lose is awesome in my book," Before she could say more, the pink menace that was Pinkie Pie slammed into her, knocking her back. "Lets not forget i tied you just after another race where I used up so much energy that I collapsed," Sapphire smirked. "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't raced Sunset." The crowd suddenly backed up a bit. Rainbow Dash was a very proud student and everyone knew that messing with said pride was a very, very bad idea. Before she could say more, and before Rainbow could react, the pink menace that was Pinkie Pie slammed into her, knocking her back. "Oh hey, Sapphire. I'm just here to invite Rainbow, Applejack and Sunset to the party!" Pinkie seemed oblivious to the fact that she had just bowled someone over and started running around so fast that she was almost invisible to the naked eye. Within seconds, everyone was holding an invitation, and by the looks on their faces, not all of them were sure where exactly it had come from. Once Pinkie was sure everyone had gotten one she stopped just long enough to say one sentence. "I'll see you all at the party!" Once she was done, she did something Sapphire never thought possible. Pinkie ran over to the nearest flowerpot, turned to wave goodbye, and dived headfirst into the pot. Even more puzzling, she seemed to disappear into it as it there was a hole in the bottom. 'What in the world?' 'Oh that'll take some getting used to...' the shock was enough for Applejack to approach Sapphire without her noticing. "Ya'll get used to it," she chuckled. Suddenly, said flowerpot suddenly leaped into the air as a huge wave of sound blasted from the top: "And don't be late!" It was so loud that those closest to it fell to the ground covering their ears. It was quite obvious that even those who knew Pinkie very well were not prepared for that. Sapphire just happened to be right next to the flowerpot when this happened. Her muscles went limp and she collapsed, her eardrums exploding from the torrent of sound. She heard hurried footsteps and voices screaming. As her vision went black, she saw Sunset next to her trying to help her up. Just before passing out, she managed to say one sentence: "Pinkie Pie... you will be the death of me..." A Dream Come TrueA Dream Come True Sapphire stood at the ruins of White Tail Academy. Where the school used to be, there was only rubble. She stared at the chaos she had caused, plagued with guilt. Slowly, she walked towards the collapsed pile of debris that was the science lab where she had set of her makeshift bomb. Once she had reached the center of it, she looked down to see her Chemistry teacher's lifeless body had been impaled by a piece of wood. Sapphire assumed he had been blasted back by the explosion. She could only stare in horror at what she had caused. 'He didn't deserve this...' She thought to herself. Realizing that they were all dead because her revenge went too far, she fell to her knees and let out all the tears she had been trying to hold back. There was no point in trying to stop it. The memory of what happened here would haunt her forever. 'Wait...' Sapphire bolted to her feet. Something was not right. She had just said that her victims didn't deserve this, but there was no cruel reply saying they had to suffer. Before she could act on the realization, a hand suddenly burst forth from the rubble and grabbed her ankle. She screamed, trying to escape from the hand. She was silenced when a cloud of black smoke emerged from another part of the ruins, followed by psychotic laughter. The dark cloud started to take the form of a teenage girl wearing a dark blue jacket and very worn looking jeans. Sapphire could not believe what she was seeing. She was staring at a dark, twisted reflection of herself. "What are you!?" Sapphire screamed. The dark reflection looked at her and laughed that terrible laugh of hers before disappearing, only to reappear right behind Sapphire. "Why... I'm you, of course," she whispered in Sapphire's ear, causing her to fall forwards in shock. "That can't be true!" The fear was evident in her voice now. "There is no way that a monster like you is me!" The monster in question started circling Sapphire. "Oh really? Look around you, Sapphire! You caused this! They're dead because of you!" the reflection paused. "But if you insist that i'm not you, you can call me Obsidian." "I hate you!" Sapphire screamed. This only made Obsidian laugh. She turned to Sapphire, grabbing her by the neck. "Well that was rude! Begone!" Obsidian threw Sapphire into the center of the lab. With a shriek of pure horror, Sapphire realized she had landed on the remains of none other than Vicious Brutality. She tried to get up, but there was something holding her down. She was horrified to find that the charred corpse of her worst enemy was very much alive and was currently trying to strangle her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a wooden splinter that could work as a very effective spear. Grabbing the splinter, she stabbed it into Vicious' skull, giving her time to escape from his grasp. Once she had gotten up, she looked at what she had done. Her makeshift spear was jammed into his skull at an angle that should be impossible to survive. "Looks like you're really gone this time..." She said as she stood up. Suddenly, the corpse before her opened his eyes. Sapphire was speechless. There was no way anyone could survive that. The sound of Obsidian's laughter snapped her out of her trance. "Nobody enters the afterlife without my permission!" Obsidian's eyes started glowing red. "And if i'm not mistaken, these people still have unfinished business here! To destroy their killer!" Sapphire looked around and saw all the other intact corpses rise to their feet before noticing Sapphire. They started advancing towards her. "This can't be happening," Sapphire started backing away from the ruins of her old school. She picked up a metal pipe. "I'm warning you... back off!" When the first corpse got close enough, she swiftly smashed it over the head with the pipe, causing it to stumble back. She did the same to the next few until they started attacking her all at once. She could only scream as they pushed her to the ground and started attacking with everything they had. Nails, teeth, and a few of them picked up dangerous looking pieces of rubble. The pain was excruciating and she wanted them to just kill her so it would end. She finally woke up when she felt someone splash water on her face. The first thing she saw was six faces staring down at her. She recognized Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Sunset but the other two were strangers. One had white skin and purple hair that ended in curls and the other was a light yellow with long, pink hair. Sapphire groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. "What happened? Feels like I got hit by a truck." Sapphire was just glad that it was all just some weird dream, but she could not remember why she was unconscious to begin with. "Well you basically did get hit by a truck.. if trucks were made of sound..." Sunset replied. Something seemed a bit off here. "Wait a minute... keep talking. At the same volume if possible." Sapphire turned her head first left then right while listening to Sunset's voice. She suddenly realized what was wrong, and the very idea of it made the entire day seem unreal as she became nauseous from the shock and realization. "Something the matter, darling?" the white one asked. "I... I can't hear anything from my right ear..." the thought filled Sapphire with rage. "What happened!? Tell me who did this!?" she demanded. She could not imagine living the rest of her life half deaf. 'I warned you. If you make friends with people, you'll only suffer! We could have just gotten rid of them and now look what's happened!' screamed her cruelty. 'What do you have to say now!? How do you justify sacrificing your hearing just to make friends!?' for a few moments, there was no reply. 'I... I have nothing to say...' That was the first time her kindness had actually admitted defeat. Before anything else could happen, Pinkie suddenly tackled Sapphire into a hug. After a few moments, she noticed Pinkie was crying. "I'm so sorry, Sapphire. After I jumped into the flowerpot, I screamed something out as loud as I could because I thought the crowd was gone and you wouldn't hear me otherwise. I didn't stop to think that maybe there might be someone right next to it and..." Pinkie looked like she wanted to say more but her sobs stopped her. 'Give her what she deserves! Let's make her suffer!' 'No. It was obviously an accident. Besides... Once I get used to it, maybe it wont be so bad.' Even after telling herself that it would not be so bad, she was still uncertain. She knew even if she got used to it, it would never be the same again. As she looked at the crying girl before her, she knew she could not blame her. Pinkie had not done this on purpose. "It's... alright. As long as it wasn't intentional, I can forgive you." Sapphire tried to calm Pinkie down. "Really?" Pinkie asked between sobs. "Yes, really. If it was an accident, you know that person did not actually want to cause harm, so I know you don't actually want to hurt me." It pained Sapphire to say this. It was one of the last things her mother told her before she died. Pinkie stepped back and stood next to her friends but there were still tears in her eyes. Sapphire turned towards the two strangers in the group. The white one saved her the trouble of asking who they were. "I don't believe we've met. I am Rarity." "I'm Sapphire." She tried to find the yellow-skinned girl only to find her missing. "Oh that's perfectly normal," Rarity said, looking at the spot where her missing friends once stood. "Fluttershy's a bit shy. Fluttershy, darling, won't you come out and introduce yourself?" As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a barely audible squeak from behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow stepped aside to reveal a very nervous Fluttershy. "Oh, alright," she said. Her voice was so soft that Sapphire could barely hear it. "I'm Fluttershy." "Sorry, but I didn't quite catch that." Sapphire already knew her name, but thought being able to introduce oneself was very important. Instead of replying, Fluttershy simply stood there shaking. "Oh dear. Sapphire, do you happen to have any pets?" Rarity asked. Sapphire didn't see how having a pet would help, but thought about it anyway. 'Well there's Tenebra.' 'Absolutely not! That little guy helped us spy on our enemies for years. Bring him out now and we lose that advantage!' 'Oh shut up! I came her to make friends and we don't do that by spying on them.' "Tenebra, you can come out." At first nothing happened. The girls just stared at her like she was crazy, and she blushed from how awkward it was. "Tenebra, we're done spying on people!" This time, something happened. A small patch on the wall next to her shifted and started changing color, revealing a midnight black chameleon with purple eyes. "This is Tenebra. My pet chameleon," Sapphire said as the reptile crawled onto her arm until it was perched upon her shoulder. The girls had very different reactions but one thing was for certain: They were all surprised. Before anyone could say anything, Fluttershy dashed over at speeds that could rival Rainbow Dash. "Oh my goodness he's so cute!" Fluttershy's shyness just went out the window when she saw Tenebra. "I look after lots of animals but i've never seen a black chameleon before! And those eyes. I've never seen any animals with purple eyes." "Yeah, he's pretty unique." Sapphire beamed with pride at having such an uncommon pet. "You can hold him if you want." Tenebra crawled into Fluttershy's arms. "That's strange. His scales feel weird," Fluttershy's voice was full of confusion. "He's also unique in that aspect. His skin has a strange reaction to sunlight." "Huh? What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "See the burn mark on his tail? That's what happens if he's exposed to too much of it," Sapphire pointed to the end of Tenebra's tail, where it appeared charred and looked as if it had split in two. Fluttershy stared at the disfigured tail. She could not believe a reptile could be burned by the Sun. Before the conversation could continue, Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Wait. Did you say you were done spying on people!?" Her voice full of suspicion. "Are you a spy!?" She charged at Sapphire. She was stopped by Applejack pulling her hair back. "Whoa there, Nelly..." Applejack let go of Rainbow's hair before asking "Sapphire, ah ain't gonna accuse you like Rainbow did, but ah'm curious. Why'd ya say ya'll used that there chameleon as a spy?" Sapphire sighed. She did not want to have to reveal this secret so soon, but she was out of options. "In White Tail Academy, people used to pick on me a lot. My only defense was sending Tenebra to gather some information. I had no choice but to use the information to threaten them to prevent them from doing the same to me. It's a school where only the strongest survive." When she was done, all six girls were staring at her wide-eyed. Finally, Rarity stepped forward. "Sapphire... I had no idea White Tail Academy was such a horrid place. People always say it's a great school." "It's just a cover. If people knew nobody would go there." Sapphire suddenly realized the sky had become orange. "How long was I unconscious?" "A few hours. We should probably get out of here. School ended long ago." Rainbow said before running out of the school. One by one, the girls said their goodbyes after Pinkie pointed out they would be late to the party of they stayed any longer. o0 At The Party 0o Sapphire had no clue how so many people could fit into Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie wasn't kidding when she said she knew everybody. "Hey, Sapphire. Enjoying the party?" Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere. "Of course! I suppose this is why so many people go to your parties." Sapphire looked around. "How many people did you invite!? It's like the whole school's here." "That's because the whole school is here! Oh look, there's Rainbow Dash. You wait here while I go pull a prank on her!" Pinkie disappeared just as quickly as she appeared. Seconds later, Seconds later, she was behind Rainbow wearing a Slenderman costume. She tapped Rainbow on the shoulder, causing her to turn around. When she saw what was behind her, she screamed and jumped back in shock before 'Slenderman' seemingly pulled off his own head, revealing Pinkie Pie in the costume. Rainbow's shriek caused everyone to stop what they were doing to see what happened. Her cheeks turned red and she tried to ignore the stares of everyone in Canterlot High. phire When the party continued, both of them started laughing. "Oh, that reaction was priceless!" Sapphire walked up to them while laughing. Rainbow suddenly looked like she had just noticed something was off. "Has anyone seen Fluttershy?" She asked. All the girls were here except for her. At that moment, the doors burst open and Fluttershy joined the party. Even Sapphire could tell there was something different. Every step the yellow girl took seemed to cause her pain and she was without her usual shyness. "I'll go talk to her," Sapphire said. When she got close enough, she noticed a bump in the back of her shirt. "Fluttershy. Is something wrong?" Fluttershy quickly turned as if she wanted to hide something. "Not at all. Why would you think something was wrong?" Each word seemed forced and she grimaced with agony on each one. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Sapphire pulled her up the stairs where there was nobody in sight. Once she was sure nobody was looking, she swiftly pushed Fluttershy to the ground and ripped off her shirt. What she saw left her aghast. The bump turned out to be a knife, stuck in her back. Dried blood surrounded the injury and the knife was in a position where it could have impaled her heart. The memory of her nightmare returned as she realized that Fluttershy should be dead. She tried to check for a pulse but found nothing, yet Fluttershy was still struggling against her. Suddenly, Fluttershy broke free of Sapphire's grasp and slammed her against the wall, her hands trying desperately to strangle her. "I'm sorry, Sapphire, but I can't let anyone find out." She growled. Sapphire did the only thing she could think of. She reached around Fluttershy and grabbed the knife. She couldn't pull it out so she pulled it through Fluttershy's back, effectively slicing her in two and spraying blood everywhere as she fell to the ground, wailing in agony. Fluttershy, however was not done. The top half of her corpse started crawling across the floor towards Sapphire, trying to grab her. Sapphire realized she only had one option left. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she whispered before using the knife to behead Fluttershy. This time, the corpse fell to the ground, dead for good. Sapphire dropped the knife and knelt down next to the remains of her friend. Her thought's were interrupted as a crazed laugh echoed through the hall. Sapphire recognized it, and was not eager to meet its owner. She stepped back as the black mist curled out from under one of the doors. She whispered "Tenebra, go get help." "My word, Sapphire! I didn't think you had it in you," Obsidian sneered. "Well, since she failed maybe you wont" The mist surrounded Sapphire. "What are you talking about? If I didn't do it, i'd be dead!" "You're going to die anyway. Well half of you anyway." Sapphire suddenly realized what was going on. It was just like the nightmare. Before she could plan her next move, the mist clamped down on her and all she felt was agony. "You've been kind for far too long! Time to change that." Sapphire could hardly move as the mist disappeared, seemingly dissolving in her skin. She fell to the ground as a massive headache racked her brain and she went unconscious. All rainbow dash and Pinkie Pie found as a comatose Sapphire and the mutilated remains of one of their friends.
Prologue: Vengeance'Five more minutes...' Sapphire Dazzle stared at the clock hanging on the wall as the teacher droned on about maths, asking random students to answer questions. "Sapphire!" the teacher turned to her. 'Oh, crap!' "Please answer question 7," Sapphire knew she was in trouble, as she had not been paying attention at all. She glanced at the clock again. 'Less than a minute,' maybe she could stall until the bell rang. She looked down at her book, pretending to read the question. When it was not enough, she started writing false equations, hoping the teacher thought she was actually trying to solve the problem. She could almost feel the stares of the other students. This was not the first time she had avoided trouble like this. As careful as she was to not repeat the same strategy in the same class, most of the students in the maths class were also in other classes with her, and knew exactly what she was doing. All it would take to get her into detention was someone calling her bluff in front of the teacher. Fortunately for Sapphire, the bell rang before anyone could do so. 'Saved by the bell!' she thought as she left the class. She could hear the other students mocking her and laughing at her even as she arrived at the school's main entrance. They always did this when she found some way to get out of trouble. Unfortunately, before she could get to the exit, she ran into Vicious Brutality. He was widely considered the cruelest student in school. "Sapphire!" he said, grabbing her by the arm. "I heard about what happened in maths," 'No! Not him!' terror flooded her mind as she realized who had said that. She had gotten in trouble with Vicious before. He was so horrible that the only thing stopping her from punching him in the face was the fact that he would return the favor, and he was obviously stronger. 'So what if you can't punch him!? You have a knife in your pocket, so use it!' the dark and twisted part of her mind urged, trying to take over. 'It's just a small penknife. Besides, I don't want to hurt anyone, much less go to jail,' the kind and rational part argued back. 'If you don't fight back, he'll just keep tormenting you! Besides, people like him deserve to burn in Hell!' "That's the fifth time you've done that this month," he slammed her against the wall, hard. "It's time you learnt your lesson!" Vicious dragged her towards an open locker. "If this is how pathetic you are, it's no wonder your father abandoned you!" The mention of her father was nearly enough to bring her to tears. He had left when she was five years old, leaving Sapphire and her mother's hearts shattered. "It also explains why your mother is dead. I would kill myself too if my kid was as useless as you!" with that, Vicious pushed Sapphire into the locker, slamming the door behind her. "Good luck getting out. Nobody's even going to bother to let you out!" he said before leaving. Remembering the event that had effectively torn her personality in half was enough to make her cry. Sapphire's mother couldn't stand losing her husband, and had killed herself a few months later. Sapphire was unfortunate enough to hear her scream, and rushed to the kitchen to see what had happened. She discovered her mother lying in a pool of her own blood, with a bloody knife in her hand. The last thing she said before dying was: "Sapphire...i'm so sorry you had to see this." Even more unfortunate, it seemed her mind could not process what had happened and split itself in two, dooming her to spend half of her life and a kind and caring person and the other half being cruel and sadistic. However, even this was not enough to prevent the grief, and she had spent the entire night bawling her eyes out, just as she did now, trapped in the locker. 'Vicious...I will make you suffer...' o0 The Next Day 0o 'Vicious...I will make you suffer...' that same thought had been running through Sapphire's mind without pause since the incident the day before. As she entered the gates to White Tail Academy, she noticed almost all the other students snickering and whispering to each other. She overheard a few of them and realized they were talking about her. 'One of these days, they're all going to regret it...' As she started towards her Chemistry class, she tried to ignore the other students' jeering. It would all be for naught; most of the students were also in her maths class. 'Just ignore them, Sapphire' she entered the class filled with dread. 'Why ignore them when you can make them pay for what they've done?' 'If I do that, i'm no better than them' While Sapphire's fractured mind argued with itself, she didn't even notice when class began. "For the remainder of this class, we shall carry out an experiment," the teacher's words were enough to force Sapphire's opposite personas to calm down. Knowing there was going to be an experiment gave her an idea. 'This is my chance!' 'Oh no you don't! If you do this, we'll be in serious trouble!' 'I'll leave no evidence! Besides, chances are they won't survive long enough to realize what happened!' 'No!* Enough is enough! I won't let you do this!'* 'You are not in charge anymore!' and with that, what little kindness Sapphire still possessed was shattered, replaced by a twisted need for revenge. When all the other students huddled around the teacher, she saw an opportunity. The students were watching the experiment and the teacher was too busy explaining. 'Excellent!' She took the chance to set up her own 'experiment' while nobody was watching, dark thoughts of how White Tail Academy would meet its end flowing through her mind. 'A gas pipe. Perfect!' she grabbed the nearest string. 'Now all I need is...' she noticed a Bunsen burner on the table next to her. 'A fire!' She finished setting up the weapon that would end White Tail Academy. Just at that moment, the teacher noticed what she was doing. "Sapphire! Step away from the Bunsen burner!" he shouted. This only elicited a maniacal laugh from Sapphire. "It's too late now!" she lit the Bunsen burner. Turning towards the window, she grabbed the nearest stool and smashed it. "You all deserve this!" she made a run for it, leaving her class to its explosive demise. She barely made it out of the school grounds before the entire building went up in flames. Once the laughter had subsided, she realized just what had happened. The joy of finally removing one of her biggest enemies suddenly gave way to guilt faster than she could handle, and she burst into tears right there on the sidewalk. 'What have I done?'
Welcome To Canterlot HighSapphire Dazzle stood at the gates of Canterlot High a week after the incident at White Tail Academy. The news had confirmed it. She was the only survivor, and there were no witnesses, so people just assumed it was an unfortunate accident with the gas pipes. 'If they can truly believe that, people really are too gullible for their own good.' 'Maybe you should just shut up! We don't want a repeat of what happened the last time you were in charge.' The more her consciousness argued with itself, the more she felt like something else would go wrong and ruin her chance to start over. Deciding that there was no point in just standing around doing nothing, she started towards the doors of Canterlot High. before she could open them, however, a strange pink blur shot past her, almost bowling her over. "What the-" Sapphire couldn't finish her sentence as said blur turned out to be a girl with pink skin and even pinker, extremely messy and poofy hair. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Canterlot High!" She spoke so fast that most of her words seemed to merge into one, and her voice was so high-pitched that Sapphire thought she might go deaf. Before Sapphire could say anything, Pinkie gasped extremely loudly before continuing. "And if you're new, that means you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely! That makes me so sad!" "Well, there's no need to be sad i'm used to it. I was never very friendly," Unfortunately, instead of the intended effect, this only served to do the opposite. Pinkie suddenly let out another loud gasp before nearly shouting her next sentence. "I have an idea! I'll throw you a welcome to Canterlot High party, then you'll have lots and lots of friends!" 'Great! Now look what you've done.' 'Hey, at least she's friendly!' 'But she's so annoying!' 'If you think making her shut up is easy, why don't you try!' 'Very well...' 'No! I didn't mean-' "Hey Pinkie. Just take the hint! I don't need friends so why don't you just get lost!" Upon hearing this, Pinkie's eyes started watering and she looked on the verge of tears. 'You idiot!' Sapphire's kindness screamed. 'I'll take it from here!' "I'm so sorry, Pinkie. I've had a really bad week," This caused Pinkie to look up. "Surely you've heard about White Tail Academy?" "Of course. I heard there was only one survivor... She must be so sad right now," "Well that survivor... Was me," Now it was Sapphire's turn to almost start crying. Though she may have caused it, the memory of what she'd done still haunted her. Pinkie however, perked up when she heard this. "All the more reason for me to throw a party! You really need something to cheer you up!" With that, Pinkie literally started bouncing away, shouting "The party's at Sugarcube Corner!" 'Well she's a strange one.' 'Agreed.' This was the first time Sapphire's two personalities actually agreed on anything in years, and just knowing that was enough to bring a smile to her face. before she could enter the school, the pink blur returned, slamming the door shut. "I didn't get your name," Pinkie crashed into Sapphire. "It's Sapphire Dazzle," Pinkie disappeared just as fast as she had appeared. 'Am I seriously going to that party?' 'Of course we're going. We can't just say we'll go and then forget about it.' 'Fine.' With that, Sapphire opened the doors to Canterlot High and a new start. o0 P.E. 0o I there was one thing Sapphire was not, it was athletic. Despite this, she had somehow ended up in P.E. 'Why'd we sign up for P.E again?' 'Because I can just sit back and watch you try not to fail,' Sapphire could have sworn her cruel personality was grinning madly at that moment. 'You're the worst.' 'I know.' Sapphire was unfortunate enough that their coach, Spitfire had decided to have the students race against each other on that day. "Rainbow Dash! Applejack! You're up!" barked Coach Spitfire. Sapphire looked up to see a rainbow-haired girl with blue skin and a blonde girl with orange skin heading towards the track. The way they looked at each other at the starting line made it obvious that they were rivals. One could even argue that Coach Spitfire had pitted them against each other just so they could settle it. "On your marks!" The two girls stood at the starting line. "Get set!" They looked at each other, fire in their eyes. "Go!" They took off faster than Sapphire thought was humanly possible. The race seemed fairly even, but Applejack seemed to have a slight advantage. This all changed when they reached a stretch of track that required them to avoid bumping into obstacles. It seemed Rainbow was far more experienced in avoiding objects, dodging all of them. Applejack, however, was not so lucky, and crashed into the last barrel. It was not much, but it was enough for Rainbow to catch up. 'This just got interesting...' 'I didn't think anyone was that fast.' Before long, both girls had reached the last stretch of track, and Sapphire could tell it would be close. They crossed the finish line in a massive cloud of dust, each thinking they had won. "I totally won, AJ!" Rainbow exclaimed. "No. Ah think ya'll find that ah won, Dash!" Applejack retorted. As the girls bickered, Coach Spitfire looked at her stopwatch and declared the winner. "It's a tie!" The victory on the girls' faces quickly turned to horror. "A tie!?" They exclaimed at the same time. "No way. I totally beat her!" This display caused Sapphire to chuckle at how desperate each of them were to beat the other. 'Seems a lot like us, doesn't it?' 'I suppose...' "Well too bad! It was a tie," the coach turned to Sapphire. "Sapphire! Sunset! You're up!" 'Oh no.' 'Good luck. You'll need it' As Sapphire walked towards the track she contemplated all the ways this race could end. "On your marks!" Sapphire glanced at her opponent. She was a orange-skinned girl and her hair was red and yellow. What really caught her attention was what she was wearing. Her black leather jacket only reminded her of Vicious. She knew he was dead but anything that reminded her of him still made her furious. "Get set!" Her thoughts were cut short by the coach's words. "Go!" It all happened so quickly. Sapphire ran as fast as her legs could carry her, determined to beat Sunset, who reminded her of her old enemy. Despite this, she was still surprised to realize that she was winning. Sapphire stayed in front until the last stretch of the race, and Sunset was too far behind to have any chance of winning. 'Looks like I win, Sunny!' Unfortunately, in running so fast, she has exhausted herself far too quickly. Just before she could cross the finish line, a massive wave of nausea overtook her and her legs gave out beneath her, and she fell to the ground. 'I can't believe... I lost to someone like her...' Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Sapphire felt someone grab her arm. "Sapphire!" Sapphire couldn't believe it. Sunset sounded genuinely concerned for her. "Are you alright?" Sapphire tried to get up, but another wave of nausea and excruciating pain prevented her from doing so, sending her crashing back down. "I can't... I can't do it..." "Don't say that. It's just a few more steps. I'm sure you can do it!" Sunset helped Sapphire to her feet. It didn't do much good, as she almost collapsed for the third time that day. The only thing saving her from another fall was Sunset catching her. "Lets do this!" Sunset allowed Sapphire to use her shoulders as a support, and took the last few steps. Each step burned as if she were stepping on hot coals, and as soon as they crossed the finish line, Sapphire fell to the ground once more. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might burst. "And the winner is Sapphire!" shouted Coach Spitfire. Sapphire could hardly hear it due to exhaustion but it made her smile nevertheless. 'I won!?' "I won!?" For the first time in years, Sapphire was actually happy. It had been so long that she had forgotten what it felt like to win. "Hey. You did it" Sunset held out her hand. Her paranoia returned full force. Nobody had ever bothered to help her for as long as she could remember. 'Do I trust her?' 'She just made herself lose for you, of course we trust her!' Sapphire took Sunsets hand, and she pulled her up. "I don't even know you, but you still stopped to help me. Why?" Sapphire's confusion was evident in her voice. "Because it just isn't right to leave anyone behind like that," she paused for a moment, as if remembering something she didn't want to. Before Sapphire could ask about it, Rainbow and Applejack appeared behind her. "Well ah'll be. You're a mighty fast runner, Sapphire," Applejack said. "If that there race were any shorter, ah think ya could beat any one of us!" "Just try not to collapse like that and you'll be fine!" Rainbow was obviously surprised at how someone who looked so out of place here could be that fast. "I'm sure you'll win next time," Rainbow looked her right in the eye before continuing. "Unless of course, you're against me!" 'Oh that is one overblown ego...' 'Yeah. we could put an end to it right here, you know?' 'As long as it doesn't end up like last time, go for it!' "You sure about that, Rainbow? Because I think I could beat you," Sapphire challenged. 'Wait, *what!?** We can't beat her!'* 'Sure we can! We just have to make sure the race isn't too long, and there are no obstacles.' "Well bring it on, then!" "Alright, looks like a challenge!" the coach announced. All the students present gathered to watch the race. As Sapphire walked to the start line, she could hear people muttering things like 'This can't be happening' or 'She'll never win this one'. She had been underestimated before and she hated it. 'We'll see about that!' "Go!" Sapphire took off faster than she could remember doing in her entire life. 'I can't lose, I can't lose, I can't lose...' She repeated to herself. 'Might want to rethink that. Look to your right,' Sapphire did so, and saw Rainbow running right beside her, and she didn't even look tired! "Tired? I knew you couldn't win!" The smug look on her face sent Sapphire into a frenzy. 'I'm *not** losing to her!'* Sapphire gathered all the energy she had left, and unleashed it all in one massive burst of speed, easily overtaking Rainbow, shocking the entire crowd. None of them expected her to even stand a chance. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Rainbow growled, and sped up to catch up to her opponent, but it seemed like Sapphire was too far ahead. Sapphire was nearly at the finish line when the nausea returned. 'No! Not now!' This time, however, Sapphire knew what was coming. When she started falling, she put both arms in a forty-five degree angle above her head, and used her last step to boost the rest of her body forwards, using the momentum to do a flip. Seeing this, Rainbow used all of her energy to catch up. She was a few steps away from the finish line, but was slowed when the dust from Sapphire's landing bombarded her eyes. When she could see clearly again, she had crossed the finish line. "It's a tie!" Exclaimed Coach Spitfire. Neither Rainbow nor Sapphire could believe it. The new student had just raced the fastest girl in Canterlot High to a tie. 'A tie!?* Next time I get the chance, i'll make sure she loses!'* 'Well at least we didn't lose.' "You!" Rainbow stormed across the track. 'Uh oh.' 'We're doomed.' "You are awesome!" This surprised Sapphire. A lot. "Wait, what?" She thought she was dead for sure. Fortunately for Sapphire, Rainbow seemed to respect people who could keep up with her. "Anyone who can race against me and not lose is awesome in my book," Before she could say more, the pink menace that was Pinkie Pie slammed into her, knocking her back. "Lets not forget i tied you just after another race where I used up so much energy that I collapsed," Sapphire smirked. "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't raced Sunset." The crowd suddenly backed up a bit. Rainbow Dash was a very proud student and everyone knew that messing with said pride was a very, very bad idea. Before she could say more, and before Rainbow could react, the pink menace that was Pinkie Pie slammed into her, knocking her back. "Oh hey, Sapphire. I'm just here to invite Rainbow, Applejack and Sunset to the party!" Pinkie seemed oblivious to the fact that she had just bowled someone over and started running around so fast that she was almost invisible to the naked eye. Within seconds, everyone was holding an invitation, and by the looks on their faces, not all of them were sure where exactly it had come from. Once Pinkie was sure everyone had gotten one she stopped just long enough to say one sentence. "I'll see you all at the party!" Once she was done, she did something Sapphire never thought possible. Pinkie ran over to the nearest flowerpot, turned to wave goodbye, and dived headfirst into the pot. Even more puzzling, she seemed to disappear into it as it there was a hole in the bottom. 'What in the world?' 'Oh that'll take some getting used to...' the shock was enough for Applejack to approach Sapphire without her noticing. "Ya'll get used to it," she chuckled. Suddenly, said flowerpot suddenly leaped into the air as a huge wave of sound blasted from the top: "And don't be late!" It was so loud that those closest to it fell to the ground covering their ears. It was quite obvious that even those who knew Pinkie very well were not prepared for that. Sapphire just happened to be right next to the flowerpot when this happened. Her muscles went limp and she collapsed, her eardrums exploding from the torrent of sound. She heard hurried footsteps and voices screaming. As her vision went black, she saw Sunset next to her trying to help her up. Just before passing out, she managed to say one sentence: "Pinkie Pie... you will be the death of me..."
A Dream Come TrueA Dream Come True Sapphire stood at the ruins of White Tail Academy. Where the school used to be, there was only rubble. She stared at the chaos she had caused, plagued with guilt. Slowly, she walked towards the collapsed pile of debris that was the science lab where she had set of her makeshift bomb. Once she had reached the center of it, she looked down to see her Chemistry teacher's lifeless body had been impaled by a piece of wood. Sapphire assumed he had been blasted back by the explosion. She could only stare in horror at what she had caused. 'He didn't deserve this...' She thought to herself. Realizing that they were all dead because her revenge went too far, she fell to her knees and let out all the tears she had been trying to hold back. There was no point in trying to stop it. The memory of what happened here would haunt her forever. 'Wait...' Sapphire bolted to her feet. Something was not right. She had just said that her victims didn't deserve this, but there was no cruel reply saying they had to suffer. Before she could act on the realization, a hand suddenly burst forth from the rubble and grabbed her ankle. She screamed, trying to escape from the hand. She was silenced when a cloud of black smoke emerged from another part of the ruins, followed by psychotic laughter. The dark cloud started to take the form of a teenage girl wearing a dark blue jacket and very worn looking jeans. Sapphire could not believe what she was seeing. She was staring at a dark, twisted reflection of herself. "What are you!?" Sapphire screamed. The dark reflection looked at her and laughed that terrible laugh of hers before disappearing, only to reappear right behind Sapphire. "Why... I'm you, of course," she whispered in Sapphire's ear, causing her to fall forwards in shock. "That can't be true!" The fear was evident in her voice now. "There is no way that a monster like you is me!" The monster in question started circling Sapphire. "Oh really? Look around you, Sapphire! You caused this! They're dead because of you!" the reflection paused. "But if you insist that i'm not you, you can call me Obsidian." "I hate you!" Sapphire screamed. This only made Obsidian laugh. She turned to Sapphire, grabbing her by the neck. "Well that was rude! Begone!" Obsidian threw Sapphire into the center of the lab. With a shriek of pure horror, Sapphire realized she had landed on the remains of none other than Vicious Brutality. She tried to get up, but there was something holding her down. She was horrified to find that the charred corpse of her worst enemy was very much alive and was currently trying to strangle her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a wooden splinter that could work as a very effective spear. Grabbing the splinter, she stabbed it into Vicious' skull, giving her time to escape from his grasp. Once she had gotten up, she looked at what she had done. Her makeshift spear was jammed into his skull at an angle that should be impossible to survive. "Looks like you're really gone this time..." She said as she stood up. Suddenly, the corpse before her opened his eyes. Sapphire was speechless. There was no way anyone could survive that. The sound of Obsidian's laughter snapped her out of her trance. "Nobody enters the afterlife without my permission!" Obsidian's eyes started glowing red. "And if i'm not mistaken, these people still have unfinished business here! To destroy their killer!" Sapphire looked around and saw all the other intact corpses rise to their feet before noticing Sapphire. They started advancing towards her. "This can't be happening," Sapphire started backing away from the ruins of her old school. She picked up a metal pipe. "I'm warning you... back off!" When the first corpse got close enough, she swiftly smashed it over the head with the pipe, causing it to stumble back. She did the same to the next few until they started attacking her all at once. She could only scream as they pushed her to the ground and started attacking with everything they had. Nails, teeth, and a few of them picked up dangerous looking pieces of rubble. The pain was excruciating and she wanted them to just kill her so it would end. She finally woke up when she felt someone splash water on her face. The first thing she saw was six faces staring down at her. She recognized Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Sunset but the other two were strangers. One had white skin and purple hair that ended in curls and the other was a light yellow with long, pink hair. Sapphire groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. "What happened? Feels like I got hit by a truck." Sapphire was just glad that it was all just some weird dream, but she could not remember why she was unconscious to begin with. "Well you basically did get hit by a truck.. if trucks were made of sound..." Sunset replied. Something seemed a bit off here. "Wait a minute... keep talking. At the same volume if possible." Sapphire turned her head first left then right while listening to Sunset's voice. She suddenly realized what was wrong, and the very idea of it made the entire day seem unreal as she became nauseous from the shock and realization. "Something the matter, darling?" the white one asked. "I... I can't hear anything from my right ear..." the thought filled Sapphire with rage. "What happened!? Tell me who did this!?" she demanded. She could not imagine living the rest of her life half deaf. 'I warned you. If you make friends with people, you'll only suffer! We could have just gotten rid of them and now look what's happened!' screamed her cruelty. 'What do you have to say now!? How do you justify sacrificing your hearing just to make friends!?' for a few moments, there was no reply. 'I... I have nothing to say...' That was the first time her kindness had actually admitted defeat. Before anything else could happen, Pinkie suddenly tackled Sapphire into a hug. After a few moments, she noticed Pinkie was crying. "I'm so sorry, Sapphire. After I jumped into the flowerpot, I screamed something out as loud as I could because I thought the crowd was gone and you wouldn't hear me otherwise. I didn't stop to think that maybe there might be someone right next to it and..." Pinkie looked like she wanted to say more but her sobs stopped her. 'Give her what she deserves! Let's make her suffer!' 'No. It was obviously an accident. Besides... Once I get used to it, maybe it wont be so bad.' Even after telling herself that it would not be so bad, she was still uncertain. She knew even if she got used to it, it would never be the same again. As she looked at the crying girl before her, she knew she could not blame her. Pinkie had not done this on purpose. "It's... alright. As long as it wasn't intentional, I can forgive you." Sapphire tried to calm Pinkie down. "Really?" Pinkie asked between sobs. "Yes, really. If it was an accident, you know that person did not actually want to cause harm, so I know you don't actually want to hurt me." It pained Sapphire to say this. It was one of the last things her mother told her before she died. Pinkie stepped back and stood next to her friends but there were still tears in her eyes. Sapphire turned towards the two strangers in the group. The white one saved her the trouble of asking who they were. "I don't believe we've met. I am Rarity." "I'm Sapphire." She tried to find the yellow-skinned girl only to find her missing. "Oh that's perfectly normal," Rarity said, looking at the spot where her missing friends once stood. "Fluttershy's a bit shy. Fluttershy, darling, won't you come out and introduce yourself?" As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a barely audible squeak from behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow stepped aside to reveal a very nervous Fluttershy. "Oh, alright," she said. Her voice was so soft that Sapphire could barely hear it. "I'm Fluttershy." "Sorry, but I didn't quite catch that." Sapphire already knew her name, but thought being able to introduce oneself was very important. Instead of replying, Fluttershy simply stood there shaking. "Oh dear. Sapphire, do you happen to have any pets?" Rarity asked. Sapphire didn't see how having a pet would help, but thought about it anyway. 'Well there's Tenebra.' 'Absolutely not! That little guy helped us spy on our enemies for years. Bring him out now and we lose that advantage!' 'Oh shut up! I came her to make friends and we don't do that by spying on them.' "Tenebra, you can come out." At first nothing happened. The girls just stared at her like she was crazy, and she blushed from how awkward it was. "Tenebra, we're done spying on people!" This time, something happened. A small patch on the wall next to her shifted and started changing color, revealing a midnight black chameleon with purple eyes. "This is Tenebra. My pet chameleon," Sapphire said as the reptile crawled onto her arm until it was perched upon her shoulder. The girls had very different reactions but one thing was for certain: They were all surprised. Before anyone could say anything, Fluttershy dashed over at speeds that could rival Rainbow Dash. "Oh my goodness he's so cute!" Fluttershy's shyness just went out the window when she saw Tenebra. "I look after lots of animals but i've never seen a black chameleon before! And those eyes. I've never seen any animals with purple eyes." "Yeah, he's pretty unique." Sapphire beamed with pride at having such an uncommon pet. "You can hold him if you want." Tenebra crawled into Fluttershy's arms. "That's strange. His scales feel weird," Fluttershy's voice was full of confusion. "He's also unique in that aspect. His skin has a strange reaction to sunlight." "Huh? What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "See the burn mark on his tail? That's what happens if he's exposed to too much of it," Sapphire pointed to the end of Tenebra's tail, where it appeared charred and looked as if it had split in two. Fluttershy stared at the disfigured tail. She could not believe a reptile could be burned by the Sun. Before the conversation could continue, Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Wait. Did you say you were done spying on people!?" Her voice full of suspicion. "Are you a spy!?" She charged at Sapphire. She was stopped by Applejack pulling her hair back. "Whoa there, Nelly..." Applejack let go of Rainbow's hair before asking "Sapphire, ah ain't gonna accuse you like Rainbow did, but ah'm curious. Why'd ya say ya'll used that there chameleon as a spy?" Sapphire sighed. She did not want to have to reveal this secret so soon, but she was out of options. "In White Tail Academy, people used to pick on me a lot. My only defense was sending Tenebra to gather some information. I had no choice but to use the information to threaten them to prevent them from doing the same to me. It's a school where only the strongest survive." When she was done, all six girls were staring at her wide-eyed. Finally, Rarity stepped forward. "Sapphire... I had no idea White Tail Academy was such a horrid place. People always say it's a great school." "It's just a cover. If people knew nobody would go there." Sapphire suddenly realized the sky had become orange. "How long was I unconscious?" "A few hours. We should probably get out of here. School ended long ago." Rainbow said before running out of the school. One by one, the girls said their goodbyes after Pinkie pointed out they would be late to the party of they stayed any longer. o0 At The Party 0o Sapphire had no clue how so many people could fit into Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie wasn't kidding when she said she knew everybody. "Hey, Sapphire. Enjoying the party?" Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere. "Of course! I suppose this is why so many people go to your parties." Sapphire looked around. "How many people did you invite!? It's like the whole school's here." "That's because the whole school is here! Oh look, there's Rainbow Dash. You wait here while I go pull a prank on her!" Pinkie disappeared just as quickly as she appeared. Seconds later, Seconds later, she was behind Rainbow wearing a Slenderman costume. She tapped Rainbow on the shoulder, causing her to turn around. When she saw what was behind her, she screamed and jumped back in shock before 'Slenderman' seemingly pulled off his own head, revealing Pinkie Pie in the costume. Rainbow's shriek caused everyone to stop what they were doing to see what happened. Her cheeks turned red and she tried to ignore the stares of everyone in Canterlot High. phire When the party continued, both of them started laughing. "Oh, that reaction was priceless!" Sapphire walked up to them while laughing. Rainbow suddenly looked like she had just noticed something was off. "Has anyone seen Fluttershy?" She asked. All the girls were here except for her. At that moment, the doors burst open and Fluttershy joined the party. Even Sapphire could tell there was something different. Every step the yellow girl took seemed to cause her pain and she was without her usual shyness. "I'll go talk to her," Sapphire said. When she got close enough, she noticed a bump in the back of her shirt. "Fluttershy. Is something wrong?" Fluttershy quickly turned as if she wanted to hide something. "Not at all. Why would you think something was wrong?" Each word seemed forced and she grimaced with agony on each one. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Sapphire pulled her up the stairs where there was nobody in sight. Once she was sure nobody was looking, she swiftly pushed Fluttershy to the ground and ripped off her shirt. What she saw left her aghast. The bump turned out to be a knife, stuck in her back. Dried blood surrounded the injury and the knife was in a position where it could have impaled her heart. The memory of her nightmare returned as she realized that Fluttershy should be dead. She tried to check for a pulse but found nothing, yet Fluttershy was still struggling against her. Suddenly, Fluttershy broke free of Sapphire's grasp and slammed her against the wall, her hands trying desperately to strangle her. "I'm sorry, Sapphire, but I can't let anyone find out." She growled. Sapphire did the only thing she could think of. She reached around Fluttershy and grabbed the knife. She couldn't pull it out so she pulled it through Fluttershy's back, effectively slicing her in two and spraying blood everywhere as she fell to the ground, wailing in agony. Fluttershy, however was not done. The top half of her corpse started crawling across the floor towards Sapphire, trying to grab her. Sapphire realized she only had one option left. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she whispered before using the knife to behead Fluttershy. This time, the corpse fell to the ground, dead for good. Sapphire dropped the knife and knelt down next to the remains of her friend. Her thought's were interrupted as a crazed laugh echoed through the hall. Sapphire recognized it, and was not eager to meet its owner. She stepped back as the black mist curled out from under one of the doors. She whispered "Tenebra, go get help." "My word, Sapphire! I didn't think you had it in you," Obsidian sneered. "Well, since she failed maybe you wont" The mist surrounded Sapphire. "What are you talking about? If I didn't do it, i'd be dead!" "You're going to die anyway. Well half of you anyway." Sapphire suddenly realized what was going on. It was just like the nightmare. Before she could plan her next move, the mist clamped down on her and all she felt was agony. "You've been kind for far too long! Time to change that." Sapphire could hardly move as the mist disappeared, seemingly dissolving in her skin. She fell to the ground as a massive headache racked her brain and she went unconscious. All rainbow dash and Pinkie Pie found as a comatose Sapphire and the mutilated remains of one of their friends.
