Rainbow skulks down a dark hallway, hands stuffed in her pockets, and slumps to the floor, brushing tears off her cheeks. Ugh! Goddamnit, she hates crying. It's totally not cool to cry, and yet, Rainbow has found herself crying at least twenty percent more in the last two weeks. All because of him. Flash Sentry, her boyfriend.

He's cheated on her. Again. With Twilight. Again.

How many times has he done this? Ten? Twelve? Rainbow has lost count. And each time, he begs for forgiveness, she grants it to him, and not two days later, she'll catch him with Twilight again. She knows she should've broken it off with Flash by now, but she just can't. She loves him too much, and each time, she tries to convince herself that it's the last time he will cheat. She's always wrong.

Rainbow sighs, leaning her head against the wall, trying to stem the flow of tears. She hates this. She hates herself for always crawling back to Flash when he calls. She hates herself because she can't be mad at him. She's all set for spending the rest of her day just lying here, crying, when she hears a noise like glass breaking and an anguished scream. Starting up, she runs towards the noise.

The sound leads her to a pantry deep down in this hallway. Nobody uses this pantry anymore. That's why Rainbow always comes to this hallway to cry. So what's going on? The door is slightly ajar, and Rainbow peeks into the room. What she sees makes her blood curdle.

Twilight is lying on the floor, covered in blood and broken glass. Celestia is standing above her, holding a blood-stained broken glass bottle, her face devoid of emotion.

"You failed to stop the Republic at the missile shelter, Twilight," Celestia says.

Them she brings the sharp edges of the bottle down on Twilight. Twilight lets out an anguished scream that chills Rainbow's spine. Celestia raises the bottle and brings it down again and again and again. Blood splatters over the walls and floor. The bottle comes down again and again. Twilight is knocked against the floor, her hair and clothes matted in blood. Rainbow feels a sick feeling in her stomach, and yet she can't look away. She can't do anything.

"I-I'm sorry," Twilight chokes out, "I deserve far harsher punishment for what I've done. I don't deserve your mercy. I don't deserve your love."

Love? Mercy? Rainbow feels as if she will throw up. It's sickening how Celestia must have manipulated Twilight.

Celestia smiles a cold empty smile and bends down to softly kiss Twilight.

Rainbow feels her heart break. She sees the elation and adoration on Twilight's face, and she also sees the empty bored look on Celestia's, and it just breaks her heart.

"You won't fail me again," Celestia states harshly.

"Of course!" Twilight says eagerly.

Rainbow decides she's seen enough and she leaves. It's only once she's completely out of the hallway that the irony of the whole thing settles in. Flash may have been dragging her on a string, but he doesn't even know that Twilight has been dragging him on one as well. And Twilight may be dragging Flash, but she's being dragged along by Celestia, albeit in a much darker way.

She sighs, reveling in the irony of it all. She walks out of the dark hallway, a sort of numbness creeping inside of her. She's already decided she won't tell Applejack. It's got nothing to do with her anger towards Twilight. Rainbow just doesn't want to feel the wrath of Celestia.

As she walks away, she happens to run into Flash.

"Rainbow! Babe! Listen! I'm so sorry, and it won't happen again. I promise," he calls to her.

Rainbow can tell he expects her to accept.

Before she'd seen Twilight and Celestia in the pantry, Rainbow would have accepted, missing him too much to care. Now, she laughs. A twisted laugh at the irony of it all. At the irony and the foolishness of falling in love. All love does is break you. It breaks your soul. How many times as Flash broken her? Celestia broken Twilight? And even though he doesn't know it, Twilight has broken Flash. The laughs slip dryly through her lips, and without a word, she turns and leaves with a sense of pride. Screw love. Screw men. Screw everybody. Rainbow's an admiral in the army, goddamn it. She does whatever the hell she wants and she won't let anyone tell her otherwise.

Author's Note

Okay, in the next chapter, we will see a little more of Rarity, Spike, and Sweetie.