Heartache: Cursed Destiny {Book the Second}by Rainbow Star da NormalChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3PrologueTwilight held the letter in front of her face, her eyes darting back and forth as she read the paper. My Most Faithful Student, I had heard news of you ending up in the Ponyville Hospital. Because of your title of princess, everypony in Equestria had heard news about you and they have started to fret. I do not know why you were in the hospital. Once you recovered, immediately report to the Canterlot Castle. Bring your friends along. They might help you explain everything. Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and I would like to hear everything you got to say. We have a feeling that a simple letter wouldn’t explain everything. ~Princess Celestia Twilight had received this letter on her first day at the hospital. Ever since, she reread over and over. She was tempted to write a letter back to the princesses explaining everything, but she knew that her mentor was right. So much had happened during their adventure that a letter wouldn’t do. It would be faster if the story was spoken. It could be possible if she send several letters explaining the story, but she didn’t want to push Spike that hard. Besides, he had been too tired to draw up his fire to send anything. Twilight reread the letter one last time. She was ready. After a few days at the hospital, she was ready. “Let’s go everypony,” she said, glancing at her friends with a serious look on her face. Noticing how solemn she looked, they nodded. They stepped onto the Friendship Express. They took their seats and waited for their arrival at Canterlot. “Hello princesses,” Twilight said as she bowed down in respect in front of the three princesses. Her friends bowed down to the princesses as well. The other three alicorns returned Twilight’s bow with their own. Celestia stood up straight. “Hello Twilight,” she said, a bright smile on her muzzle. Yet, her tone was dead serious. “It is a pleasure to see you and your friends.” Twilight smiled and laughed somewhat nervously. “Yes, it is indeed a pleasure to see you, all of you.” She glanced back at her friends. They were staring at her strangely, as if wondering why she was so anxious. Princess Luna pounded the floor with a forehoof. “Princess Twilight, I demand you to explain everything!” she said in a particularly loud voice. Twilight flinched at Luna’s volume. “Er, yes, I know, but can you please lower your voi-” “YOU WERE IN A HOSPITAL!” Everypony jumped. Celestia took a small step away from her sister. “I must apologize for my sister’s attitude,” Celestia said, eyeing her sibling. “She had many long days and nights, and she kept saying about...something.” “Yes,” Luna whispered, a drastic change in volume. “One time, though I don’t know when it was, perhaps a few days ago, something strange happened. I fell asleep, but it didn’t felt like it. At the same time, I didn’t fall asleep, yet it felt like I was dozing away. I had dreams, at least I think I did, yet it felt like I hadn’t. I couldn’t do anything. That part was the only thing I’m certain about. It was almost as if time had stopped for me, as if I had been knocked unconscious, as if I had been put to a deep sleep….” The Mane 6 glanced at each other. A deep sleep? Princess Cadance decided that the strange, awkward moment was best to be shattered into pieces. “So, Twilight,” she said, smiling at her sister-in-law, “I believe that you had something to tell us about. I don’t exactly know what, but it must be extremely important if Princess Celestia had asked me to leave my family and my kingdom just to hear what you got to say.” Twilight cleared her throat. She started to explain a long story between her friends and the Nightmare, all the while her friends helped her answer questions. It was hard for the princesses to stay quiet for long. Twilight’s words were beyond what they expected to hear. The seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes morphed into an hour or so. Eventually, the Mane 6 finished up their story and waited for the princesses’ replies. The alicorns were staring at them, their lips slightly opened. They glanced at each other, then stared back at the Mane 6. Twilight smiled nervously. “Well,” Twilight remarked as they walked out of the castle and stepped onto the Friendship Express. “Well?” Rainbow Dash replied, raising her eyebrows as they sat down. “W-” Twilight started. “Well, that was a great and fun conversation!” Pinkie yapped happily. “I mean, did you see the faces on all of the princesses? They were priceless! I had to use everything I had to keep myself from laughing, and it actually worked! No giggle, no expression that gave it away! Also Twilight, why were you so anxious?” “I was anxious because-” Twilight paused. “I have no idea. But at least the princesses accepted my explanation and things returned to normal. That is what I’m happy and grateful for.” “Yep,” Dash said. “But Twilight, why do you get anxious so often? I mean, remember the time with Smarty Pants?” “Shush,” Twilight groaned. “Do you have, like, an anxiety disorder, or something?” Dash continued. “Why,” Rarity exclaimed, “Rainbow Dash, do you think you’re being a bit...rude?” “Hmm? Well, maybe, but you had to admit-” “Shut up.” Twilight moaned, jabbing her front hooves into her forehead. “I rather not speak of my...anxiety.” “Why are we talkin’ about Twilight’s anxiety all of a sudden?” Applejack asked, joining in the conversation. “Nopony knows,” Pinkie squeaked, clapping her front hooves together above her head before forming an imaginative arch by sweeping her hooves through the air. Her friends were sure that Pinkie had created something in the air with her hooves besides an imaginative arch. However, normal air was present, nothing out of the ordinary. A moment of silence passed before the six, young friends shared a small laugh. Chapter 1“Now, come here!” Fluttershy breathed, reaching for the small badger at the corner of her old, weather-beaten cottage. It hissed at her and waved its long claws. “Come on,” Fluttershy whispered in her soft, extremely weak voice, “I had to get a look at your hind leg. Just look at it! It’s twisted at a strange angle.” The young, aggressive badger hissed again in response and swap at the air warningly with its sharp claws. Fluttershy frowned. She thought that her life of 36 years will still be filled with joy and content of having a strong connection with animals, but it seemed that her so-called connection was wearing off. She can’t interact with animals the same way she had when she was in her early twenties. But she knew that she and her friends will all age. They can never stay in their twenties, even if they wanted to, and that is that. Their lives will change as well. Still, Fluttershy wish she can interact with the stubborn badger as easily as she had when she was younger. She reached out a yellow hoof to try to carry the badger and bring it to a table so she can see its twisted leg. It growled ferociously and swapped at her foreleg. The long claws raked the soft skin right above her hoof. Fluttershy yelped as a sharp pain ignited, soon followed by an intense stinging. She jerked her hoof away and began to suck on the deep, nasty scratches. Her mouth filled with the blood from the wound. Her eyes watered, and soon tears trickled down her cheeks just as the blood trickled down her hoof. She carefully set her hoof down on the floor. Through her tears, she glared at the badger. “How could you, you stupid piece of waste!” she shouted, tearing her weak, soft throat. Her age was a great disadvantage for her vocal chords, even if she was only 36. The badger merely hissed. Fluttershy was turning extremely desperate and angry. She backed away from the badger and walked over to a drawer at the other side of the cottage. She opened it and found a pair of thick gloves. As she started to put them on and walk back to the badger, she caught a glimpse of a room. The room where her friend Discord usually slouch in a couch. Used to slouch in a couch, Fluttershy thought sadly. Oh, how I wish he had stayed. She continued to walk back to the badger. It had not left its spot at its corner because it had been watching her warily the entire time. She reached her good hoof to the badger. It growled and swapped at her hoof. The thick glove protected her skin. She snatched the badger off the ground. It hissed and growled fiercely in protest as it slashed at the air and her hoof with its dangerous claws. Fluttershy ignored its struggle. Even though the badger was small, it felt heavy. Perhaps it was just Fluttershy’s lack of strength. She lifted it a bit higher. It was a mistake. Lifting the badger was a mistake. Carrying the badger was a mistake. Attempting to help the badger was a mistake. Having the badger in the cottage was a mistake. The badger took a mighty slash aimed at Fluttershy’s face. The claws raked her eyebrow, dug into her left eye, sliced her left cheek, and continued to graze her skin down her throat. She let out a blood curdling shriek. She dropped the badger, and it slammed painfully onto the wooden floor. It let out a loud scream before struggling to scramble away with its injured leg. Every creature in the cottage quieted, staring. Rainbow Dash paced across the waiting room impatiently, anxiety and concern etched onto her face. Her best friends, minus Fluttershy, were seated in chairs, fidgeting nervously. “I can’t believe it,” Rainbow muttered, pausing every now and then to paw at the ground. The others didn’t reply. A doctor stepped into the waiting room. Immediately, the five mares trotted over to him to hear anything concerning Fluttershy. “Well?” Applejack asked, beginning to grow as impatient as Rainbow. The doctor simply stared at her blankly with tired eyes, as if he could use a break from his career at the Ponyville Hospital. After a moment of silence, he replied, “Fluttershy is in the room in the far end of the hallway at the left, the nurses will tell you what will become of her.” He walked away, without bothering to tell them the exact number of Fluttershy’s room. The mares merely stood there in silence before begin searching for Fluttershy’s room. It took them awhile because the hospital was rather complicated; they had to ask many staff members where a yellow pegasus with pink hair could possibly be held in. Eventually, they entered Fluttershy’s room. Some of them gasped. Some of them began their shrill screams before forcing a forehoof into their mouths. Some of them just stood there gaping. One of them is in the bed, breathing slow, heart rate low. They did not need a nurse to tell them what had happened and what will become of Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. “Why did she have to go?” Rainbow whispered, staring blankly at the coffin. She and her remaining friends were gathered at Fluttershy’s funeral along with Fluttershy’s other friends and family members. Rarity was crying at the back of the group, wiping her eyes with a hoofkerchief. The cloth was stained with her tears and mascara. Pinkie had a hoof draped over Rarity’s shoulders in an attempt to comfort the unicorn, staring at her in sympathy and sadness, her blue eyes becoming an ocean. Applejack was completely silent, staring at the ground, trying to fight the pain to no avail. Twilight was just as grief-stricken as her friends, and Rainbow’s question was not doing anything to make her feel better. In fact, it was now nagging at the back of her mind. Why did she have to go? she thought. Fluttershy was a kind, sweet, and sensitive friend who had suffered and shared great memories with the rest of the group; her sudden death by a simple little badger was shocking and depressing. Twilight thought back to the image of her yellow friend lying in the hospital bed, half of her head bandaged. She and her friends were sitting by her bedside, sharing a few words with her and their goodbyes as Fluttershy took her last breath. Stupid blood loss, taking away my best friend, Twilight thought bitterly as the coffin was lowered to the ground. She wonder if her life, along with the lives of her friends, would continue to be haunted by the question, Why did she have to go? Chapter 2Rarity stared at herself in the large, elegant mirror of her bathroom. She almost couldn’t believe it was her. The unicorn pony reflected on the glass was tired and disheveled. Her usually glossy and neat white fur was sticking up at odd angles and was surprisingly dry. Her once radiant mane and tail was no longer ridiculously curly but simply laid limp on the ground in a tangled and dull heap. Her eyes no longer had their false eyelashes but there was still old mascara stained around her bloodshot eyes. “Ugly,” she muttered then more loudly and forcibly, “Ugly!” She felt it again. The pain. The pain. Her blue eyes darted from here to there across the bathroom until they landed on the tissue box. She snatched a tissue and let it all out again. All the snot, the tears, the mascara, the wails, and the pain. She heard hoofsteps. They were heading toward the bathroom. She moaned and, still holding the tissue, banged her head on the sink counter. There was a sickening thud, and Rarity’s forehead throbbed, but the physical pain does not match her internal pain. She just laid there, tears forming a small pool on the counter. “Rarity,” Sweetie Belle whispered, peeking into the bathroom, “I heard crying. Are you-” “No, I’m not okay,” Rarity snapped at her younger sister. “Go away.” Sweetie Belle’s green eyes glittered with sympathy as she hesitantly stepped away from the bathroom. For some reason, Rarity was faintly reminded of the Sweetie Belle from 14 years ago, when Sweetie was just 12 years old and she was just 22. Good times. Bad times too. But at least Fluttershy wasn’t dead then. Rarity sniffled. Oh, how I miss her dearly. She knew that her grief was slowly destroying her, but she can’t seem to stop from crying. The mere one week of mourning seemed like an eternity of pain to her. Fluttershy, she thought faintly, you did not have to die. You did not have to leave. You were too young, only 36. Sure, you were the oldest out of all of us, but you’re only older than me by a month, and just about a year older than Pinkie. What? Huh? No, Fluttershy that’s not the point. The point is that you did not deserved to die first. No, just because you have had a longer lifetime than the rest of us so far doesn’t mean it’s okay-oh fine, I’ll go. I’ll go and mingle with reality, with my other friends. But don’t think that’ll help me out, Fluttershy. Dear Fluttershy. Rarity wiped a few tears away and discarded her spoiled tissue. For a few minutes, she decided to fix herself a bit. She washed her face and eyes. She brushed her mane and tail. And she smoothed down her fur. Well, she thought to herself, I still don’t look my best, but I look my better. Slightly satisfied, she opened a drawer. She frowned. Oh, I’m running low on makeup and false eyelashes. Biting her lower lip, she hollered, “Sweetie! Could you do me a favor and run to my bedroom to fetch some blue eyeshadow and false eyelashes?” She heard the thumps of hooves and waited. “Rarity, you don’t have makeup or false eyelashes in your bedroom!” came Sweetie’s voice. Rarity cursed. “Okay, dear, er, just hurry up and go to the nearest beauty supply store.” Rarity looked over herself for the last time in front of the large bathroom mirror. She smiled to herself. She looked much better than in the last seven days. She had carefully applied her signature blue eyeshadow and false eyelashes. She had forgotten to remind Sweetie to buy mascara, but she would do fine now. Her eyes were still slightly red, but that was the least of her problems. Okay, Fluttershy. I’ll go. When she stepped out of her boutique, she became slightly confused by the sight of her town. Ponyville was always the beautiful town it was, but it seemed to the unicorn that she hasn’t set eyes on the town for years, not a week. She walked. That was all she was doing now. Walking around neighborhoods, taking in the sight of reality outside of her mourning. She breathed in the air. Fresh, sweet air. It has been awhile. The sun shone brightly against the autumn sky. Pegasi were rearranging the clouds for a few days of rain in the future. She wondered if her dear friend Rainbow Dash was amongst them. It was just her and reality. However, she didn’t know. She didn’t know that reality was about to go against her. She was so hooked up in her senses of Ponyville and reality that she did not realized where she was walking to. Without knowing so, she was climbing up, going above ground level. She was walking on rock. She was on a ledge, a cliff. Hmm, Ponyville looks so beautiful up h-she froze. Dread engulfed her. She found herself falling off a cliff and beneath her would be her doom. She let out an ear-piercing scream. That was the last sound heard from her. Reality had already been hard on her when Fluttershy died. And now again, reality went against her. “Why?!” Sweetie screamed in front of Dash’s face. “Why and how?!” She was pointing at the bloody pulp nearby. She watched as a few ponies took her sister’s body away. Her friend Apple Bloom laid a reassuring hoof on Sweetie’s flank but Sweetie pulled away. Some ponies around her sighed, including Dash. “Rarity fell off the cliff,” Rainbow whispered painfully. She stared up to the sky. “I saw her smack onto the ground.” She shuddered. “She’s with Fluttershy now.” Sweetie let out an agonized cry and galloped away. Nopony stopped her. She needed time alone. Chapter 3Rainbow glided swiftly through the sky after a long day at the Wonderbolt Academy. A long day. I don’t usually get so nervous to get out of there like today, Dash thought to herself. Days like today are not cool. Too bad I’ve been getting a lot of those days…. Rainbow had been so lost in thought that she didn’t realize she was about to slam into a cloud pillar near the front of her cloud mansion. “Woah!” she exclaimed, stopping abruptly. She backed a step or two and shuffled away to the front door. “Tank, I’m home!” she called out into the vastness of her cloudominium after she stepped in. Her pet tortoise came hovering over to her. “Hey, Tank,” she smiled and began hovering next to Tank, “how have you been?” Tank gave a wrinkled smile. “Good to hear,” Rainbow remarked, then added hastily, “er, I mean, good to see.” When they arrived at Dash’s bedroom, she collapsed onto her bed and sighed. Tank hovered over to his own “bed” beside hers, a fairly large basket with a folded soft blanket in it. Tank became too large to sleep beside her long ago. For a while, the awkwardness of silence hung over the air before Dash said, “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen my friends.” Tank stared at her questionably. “I mean, it has been years since I’ve seen Fluttershy, Rarity, and my parents. And when was the last time I’ve seen Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie?” she glanced at Tank then gasped. “Woah! Are you serious?” Tank nodded slowly, frowning. “Let me get this straight. I haven’t talked to Applejack for six years flat. And I haven’t talked to Twilight for five. And Pinkie hasn’t heard a word from me for three. And that’s just how long since the last time I’ve spoken with them. I haven’t spoken to them frequently before that either!” Tank nodded slowly again. “This is ridiculous! We grew too distant!” Rainbow cried out. “That’s it, I’m going.” Tank stared at her quizzically again. Rainbow hastily blurted out her reasons. “I’m the spirit of the Element of Loyalty, for Celestia’s sake! And I’ve been leaving my remaining friends in silence! What kind of loyalty is that? I’m going to see them again, right now.” Tank tilted his head to one side. “I know, I know. It’s evening. It’s 8 o’clock. But I’m pretty sure that my friends have the time because I do. See ya, Tank.” Tank gave a wrinkled smile at her before nodding slowly in understanding. Rainbow gave him a light kiss on the top of his head before dashing off. Hmm. AJ is the one who I haven’t talked to for the longest, so I should start with her, came Rainbow Dash’s thoughts. She shifted her feathers to steer slightly to the west, then allowed the evening breeze to carry her to Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn’t long before she arrived at her destination. After all, she was the fastest flyer in Equestria. It has already been confirmed long ago. She trotted over to the barn door and knocked on the wood, taking care to not end up with a hoof-full of splinters. I need to tell Applejack to fix this old door...it’s about to tear! Sure enough, Rainbow found herself peeking through a little hole in the door. She waited. She knocked again, this time a little softer. “Hey! Applejack! It’s Rainbow Dash here!” she hollered. “Go away!” came a thick Southern accent that Dash knew all too well. However, she wasn’t very familiar with the drawling slur in Applejack’s words. She ignored Applejack’s demand and pushed open the door. “Yo,” she remarked coolly, or at least she thought it was cool. She paused and squinted through the darkness of the barn. “Uh, Applejack?” “I said go away!” “I’m just here to speak with an old friend of mine, that’s all!” She heard the slam of a bottle, the clattering of more bottles, and the clopping of clumsy hooves. Applejack appeared in the darkness, her emerald eyes shining in the little light of the barn like eerie green magic. Applejack glared at Dash, igniting the green magic in her eyes. “When I tell ya to go away, ya better leave now!” she snarled, the slur in her words evident. Dash flinched and watched as her friend turned around and let the darkness consume her. She followed after a moment’s pause. “Applejack, if this is about how we haven’t talked to each other for a long time, I’m very aware of that. And, I’m sorry about that. But that’s no reason to yell at me like that!” Dash snapped and began to hover over the ground in frustration and habit. She gasped. “Applejack, what are you doing?!” The orange earth pony slammed a bottle of alcohol onto a table she was seated at. Several bottles that used to contain the beverage laid strewn around her. A crate of at least a dozen more bottles was next to her chair. “I’m drinking some applejack. What else?” the farm pony replied, turning her head to glance at Dash before facing her bottle and taking another swig. “At any other time, I would have made a joke that you’re being a cannibal, but now? Applejack, this is ridiculous!” Dash flew over to her friend, snatching the bottle away from Applejack’s hoof. “You shouldn’t drink this much, especially with applejack! Since when were yo-” “I’ve been drinking applejack a long time ago!” Applejack snapped. “And I chose applejack because I decided that it fits; if it makes me a ‘cannibal’ like you said, then so be it. I’d love to eat myself until I don’t exist no mor-” “Enough!” Dash cried out, tossing the bottle into the darkness and shaking her friend’s shoulder. “Just about how long ago were you drinking excessively?” “Years and years ago,” Applejack replied bluntly. “A few years after Fluttershy and Rarity died. I just decided that I might as well give up in living my life happily like a fat pig and shut myself away. At first, I just took a small glass or two several months at a time, but then it turned into more glasses a few months at a time, then monthly, then weekly, then daily. Unless Big Mac spends time with me during the evenings, I drink several bottles daily.” “But it’s dangerous to do that,” Rainbow said, keeping her hooves on Applejack’s shoulders. “I know. So dangerous that I might die. Then, I’ll see Fluttershy, Rarity, Granny Smith, my paren-” “But what about us?!” the pegasus cried out desperately. “What about me? What about Twilight, Pinkie, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, all of the other ponies here on Equestria?” “Ah, they don’t care no more. Not even you, Dash. How long has it been that we’ve talked? Even Apple Bloom left the farm just to move into her husband’s place. And Big Mac is just all over Sugar Belle nowadays; working on the farm before coming back to his sugarcube without much of a talk most times.” Rainbow grew mute with shock. Applejack used that moment to bend down and grab another bottle of applejack from the crate beside her, opening the cork and downing the liquid. Rainbow reached forward to the bottle but Applejack swatted her hoof away. Dash growled and grasped the neck of the bottle. AJ tightened her grip around the body. They began to tug, blue and orange flashing back and forth around the bottle. “Applejack, let go! This isn’t what I want to see you as!” RD said, flapping her wings to help her tug the bottle out of AJ’s hooves. “Leave my drink and me alone!” AJ replied, holding onto her bottle in her remarkably firm grip. She began to stand up for more balance and support. “No!” “Yes!” “No!” “Unhand the bottle, you motherbucker.” Rainbow Dash gasped, surprised and slightly hurt by AJ’s savage words. She never heard AJ say anything so vulgar. Applejack seized her chance and, still holding onto the bottle, gave a mighty jerk, stumbling backward from the force. RD’s grasp failed. “Oh no, you don’t!” Dash shouted with determination and a hint of anguish. She reached for AJ’s hooves this time. “BUCK YOU, PLOTHOLE!” AJ roared and she gave a quick, brutal kick with her strong back hooves. There was a loud crack as her hooves collided with RD’s chest and as the pegasus was sent into the darkness, there was a loud crash, suggesting that she has slammed into something. AJ sighed and sat down in her chair, settling the bottle of applejack on the table. “Sorry that I had to do that, but-” she paused, gave a cough, then continued- “I just wanted you to leave.” Silence. “Things change, RD,” Applejack continued her slurred words, poking absently at her bottle, “Things change so fast that my eyes can’t hardly believe any of them. I just need some alone time.” Silence of awkwardness. “Rainbow, ain’t ya listening?” AJ stood up, peering into the darkness. Silence of death. Applejack began walking toward the direction Rainbow has been sent, “Dash, this ain’t funny! Stop it!” Rainbow continued to give the silent treatment as Applejack continued to look for her. She turned on a light along the way, casting the darkness away. “Rainbow, why are y-” Applejack gasped- “oh, my Faust. Oh, my Faust. Oh, my Faust!” The dim light revealed the pegasus, sprawled on the ground, dead. Her eyes were closed, never to see the hues of the world again. Her wings laid limp at her sides, never to soar among rainbows again. Rainbow Dash was dead, never to show her true colors ever again. Applejack took a deep breath, She’s just unconscious, that’s all. But the signs were too true, too evident. The hoofed-shaped indents on her chest. The still body. Applejack, even through the mist of her drunken state, noticed a nearby shelf corner, with soup cans atop, that Dash had most likely slammed her head on. The soup cans were scattered around the pegasus, revealing what created the loud crash after AJ attacked RD. Applejack blinked in disbelief, then in horror, then in despair. “Rainbow?” she whispered shakily. The barn door creaked open. “Eh, what happened here?” came the deep, low voice of Applejack’s brother, Big Mac. She looked up, her eyes widening. Big Mac and his spouse, Sugar Belle, stared at her confusingly. “I…” Applejack gulped, blinking rapidly to send away tears. “I killed...killed…her.” She pointed a shaky hoof at Rainbow. Big Mac and Sugar Belle gasped, gawking at the sight. “I didn’t mean it! It was an accident! I didn’t know! I was drinking! I was stupid! I kicked her hard! She hit her head! I didn’t mean it!” Applejack cried out breathlessly in a desperate manner. Sugar Belle walked over to AJ and tried to comfort her, patting her on the shoulder. “There, there. It was just an accident. There’s still a chance. We could get her to the hospital.” Each pony glanced nervously at Rainbow’s corpse, each with the same thought. They each doubted that she was still alive. Nevertheless, they went about to admit Rainbow Dash to the Ponyville Hospital. “I’m having some horrible déjà vu here,” Pinkie squeaked, a few worry lines forming on her forehead. Applejack didn’t respond. She just fidgeted nervously, standing up now and then to pace back and forth before sitting down again. “It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.” “It is all your fault, Applejack!” Twilight blurted out suddenly, curling her bottom lip back in a snarl as a few tears streamed down her face. “Just why?! You didn’t have to get drunk! You didn’t have to kick Rainbow that hard! You didn’t have to kill her!” Applejack glared at her, opened her mouth to make a retort, then stopped. Crestfallen, she sat down in her seat again. “Twilight!” Pinkie cried incredulously, giving her purple friend a shocked, slightly angered look. Twilight didn’t look at Pinkie. She looked at Applejack instead, wide-eyed. “Applejack...I-I...I didn’t mean it. Not at all. It’s not at all your fault.” Applejack shook her head sadly. “Nah, Twilight. Don’t even try to lie. I can see through every lie, remember? Element of Honesty here.” “I know,” Twilight sighed, wiping away her tears with a forehoof. “I know. But it was still an accident nonetheless. Even if you were accountable for Rainbow’s...injuries, you never meant to do it. That’s what’s important.” Applejack gave a shaky sigh. “I suppose so, Twilight. Still, things could have, would have been different if I-” She stopped herself from finishing her sentence upon seeing a doctor who was responsible for attending to Rainbow. She, along with Twilight and Pinkie, quickly stood up from their seats and rushed to the doctor, only to hear: “I’m sorry. Rainbow Dash has passed away due to fractured chest bone, heart failure, and brain injury,” the medical mare bit her bottom lip, eyeing the three mares with pity and regret. “I truly am sorry.” “I-I,” Applejack started in a trembling voice, “I-I. Um...I understand. There’s n-nothing to be s-sorry for.” Pinkie started to quiver, tears flowing freely down her snout. She let out her wails, earning a few concerned glances from passing ponies. Twilight was quick to rub her pink friend’s back with a wing as she herself blinked her wet purple eyes rapidly. Together, the three mourned for Rainbow Dash, a pony who shall never create another rainbow for others to follow. Element of Loyalty Loyal and Proud Friend Beloved Daughter Awesome Role Model In Loving Memory of Rainbow Dash Born June 11th, 1991 Died August 4th, 2040 by major injuries Aged 49 Years Keep guiding others through your rainbow Rest in Peace “It needs to be about 20% cooler.”
PrologueTwilight held the letter in front of her face, her eyes darting back and forth as she read the paper. My Most Faithful Student, I had heard news of you ending up in the Ponyville Hospital. Because of your title of princess, everypony in Equestria had heard news about you and they have started to fret. I do not know why you were in the hospital. Once you recovered, immediately report to the Canterlot Castle. Bring your friends along. They might help you explain everything. Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and I would like to hear everything you got to say. We have a feeling that a simple letter wouldn’t explain everything. ~Princess Celestia Twilight had received this letter on her first day at the hospital. Ever since, she reread over and over. She was tempted to write a letter back to the princesses explaining everything, but she knew that her mentor was right. So much had happened during their adventure that a letter wouldn’t do. It would be faster if the story was spoken. It could be possible if she send several letters explaining the story, but she didn’t want to push Spike that hard. Besides, he had been too tired to draw up his fire to send anything. Twilight reread the letter one last time. She was ready. After a few days at the hospital, she was ready. “Let’s go everypony,” she said, glancing at her friends with a serious look on her face. Noticing how solemn she looked, they nodded. They stepped onto the Friendship Express. They took their seats and waited for their arrival at Canterlot. “Hello princesses,” Twilight said as she bowed down in respect in front of the three princesses. Her friends bowed down to the princesses as well. The other three alicorns returned Twilight’s bow with their own. Celestia stood up straight. “Hello Twilight,” she said, a bright smile on her muzzle. Yet, her tone was dead serious. “It is a pleasure to see you and your friends.” Twilight smiled and laughed somewhat nervously. “Yes, it is indeed a pleasure to see you, all of you.” She glanced back at her friends. They were staring at her strangely, as if wondering why she was so anxious. Princess Luna pounded the floor with a forehoof. “Princess Twilight, I demand you to explain everything!” she said in a particularly loud voice. Twilight flinched at Luna’s volume. “Er, yes, I know, but can you please lower your voi-” “YOU WERE IN A HOSPITAL!” Everypony jumped. Celestia took a small step away from her sister. “I must apologize for my sister’s attitude,” Celestia said, eyeing her sibling. “She had many long days and nights, and she kept saying about...something.” “Yes,” Luna whispered, a drastic change in volume. “One time, though I don’t know when it was, perhaps a few days ago, something strange happened. I fell asleep, but it didn’t felt like it. At the same time, I didn’t fall asleep, yet it felt like I was dozing away. I had dreams, at least I think I did, yet it felt like I hadn’t. I couldn’t do anything. That part was the only thing I’m certain about. It was almost as if time had stopped for me, as if I had been knocked unconscious, as if I had been put to a deep sleep….” The Mane 6 glanced at each other. A deep sleep? Princess Cadance decided that the strange, awkward moment was best to be shattered into pieces. “So, Twilight,” she said, smiling at her sister-in-law, “I believe that you had something to tell us about. I don’t exactly know what, but it must be extremely important if Princess Celestia had asked me to leave my family and my kingdom just to hear what you got to say.” Twilight cleared her throat. She started to explain a long story between her friends and the Nightmare, all the while her friends helped her answer questions. It was hard for the princesses to stay quiet for long. Twilight’s words were beyond what they expected to hear. The seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes morphed into an hour or so. Eventually, the Mane 6 finished up their story and waited for the princesses’ replies. The alicorns were staring at them, their lips slightly opened. They glanced at each other, then stared back at the Mane 6. Twilight smiled nervously. “Well,” Twilight remarked as they walked out of the castle and stepped onto the Friendship Express. “Well?” Rainbow Dash replied, raising her eyebrows as they sat down. “W-” Twilight started. “Well, that was a great and fun conversation!” Pinkie yapped happily. “I mean, did you see the faces on all of the princesses? They were priceless! I had to use everything I had to keep myself from laughing, and it actually worked! No giggle, no expression that gave it away! Also Twilight, why were you so anxious?” “I was anxious because-” Twilight paused. “I have no idea. But at least the princesses accepted my explanation and things returned to normal. That is what I’m happy and grateful for.” “Yep,” Dash said. “But Twilight, why do you get anxious so often? I mean, remember the time with Smarty Pants?” “Shush,” Twilight groaned. “Do you have, like, an anxiety disorder, or something?” Dash continued. “Why,” Rarity exclaimed, “Rainbow Dash, do you think you’re being a bit...rude?” “Hmm? Well, maybe, but you had to admit-” “Shut up.” Twilight moaned, jabbing her front hooves into her forehead. “I rather not speak of my...anxiety.” “Why are we talkin’ about Twilight’s anxiety all of a sudden?” Applejack asked, joining in the conversation. “Nopony knows,” Pinkie squeaked, clapping her front hooves together above her head before forming an imaginative arch by sweeping her hooves through the air. Her friends were sure that Pinkie had created something in the air with her hooves besides an imaginative arch. However, normal air was present, nothing out of the ordinary. A moment of silence passed before the six, young friends shared a small laugh.
Chapter 1“Now, come here!” Fluttershy breathed, reaching for the small badger at the corner of her old, weather-beaten cottage. It hissed at her and waved its long claws. “Come on,” Fluttershy whispered in her soft, extremely weak voice, “I had to get a look at your hind leg. Just look at it! It’s twisted at a strange angle.” The young, aggressive badger hissed again in response and swap at the air warningly with its sharp claws. Fluttershy frowned. She thought that her life of 36 years will still be filled with joy and content of having a strong connection with animals, but it seemed that her so-called connection was wearing off. She can’t interact with animals the same way she had when she was in her early twenties. But she knew that she and her friends will all age. They can never stay in their twenties, even if they wanted to, and that is that. Their lives will change as well. Still, Fluttershy wish she can interact with the stubborn badger as easily as she had when she was younger. She reached out a yellow hoof to try to carry the badger and bring it to a table so she can see its twisted leg. It growled ferociously and swapped at her foreleg. The long claws raked the soft skin right above her hoof. Fluttershy yelped as a sharp pain ignited, soon followed by an intense stinging. She jerked her hoof away and began to suck on the deep, nasty scratches. Her mouth filled with the blood from the wound. Her eyes watered, and soon tears trickled down her cheeks just as the blood trickled down her hoof. She carefully set her hoof down on the floor. Through her tears, she glared at the badger. “How could you, you stupid piece of waste!” she shouted, tearing her weak, soft throat. Her age was a great disadvantage for her vocal chords, even if she was only 36. The badger merely hissed. Fluttershy was turning extremely desperate and angry. She backed away from the badger and walked over to a drawer at the other side of the cottage. She opened it and found a pair of thick gloves. As she started to put them on and walk back to the badger, she caught a glimpse of a room. The room where her friend Discord usually slouch in a couch. Used to slouch in a couch, Fluttershy thought sadly. Oh, how I wish he had stayed. She continued to walk back to the badger. It had not left its spot at its corner because it had been watching her warily the entire time. She reached her good hoof to the badger. It growled and swapped at her hoof. The thick glove protected her skin. She snatched the badger off the ground. It hissed and growled fiercely in protest as it slashed at the air and her hoof with its dangerous claws. Fluttershy ignored its struggle. Even though the badger was small, it felt heavy. Perhaps it was just Fluttershy’s lack of strength. She lifted it a bit higher. It was a mistake. Lifting the badger was a mistake. Carrying the badger was a mistake. Attempting to help the badger was a mistake. Having the badger in the cottage was a mistake. The badger took a mighty slash aimed at Fluttershy’s face. The claws raked her eyebrow, dug into her left eye, sliced her left cheek, and continued to graze her skin down her throat. She let out a blood curdling shriek. She dropped the badger, and it slammed painfully onto the wooden floor. It let out a loud scream before struggling to scramble away with its injured leg. Every creature in the cottage quieted, staring. Rainbow Dash paced across the waiting room impatiently, anxiety and concern etched onto her face. Her best friends, minus Fluttershy, were seated in chairs, fidgeting nervously. “I can’t believe it,” Rainbow muttered, pausing every now and then to paw at the ground. The others didn’t reply. A doctor stepped into the waiting room. Immediately, the five mares trotted over to him to hear anything concerning Fluttershy. “Well?” Applejack asked, beginning to grow as impatient as Rainbow. The doctor simply stared at her blankly with tired eyes, as if he could use a break from his career at the Ponyville Hospital. After a moment of silence, he replied, “Fluttershy is in the room in the far end of the hallway at the left, the nurses will tell you what will become of her.” He walked away, without bothering to tell them the exact number of Fluttershy’s room. The mares merely stood there in silence before begin searching for Fluttershy’s room. It took them awhile because the hospital was rather complicated; they had to ask many staff members where a yellow pegasus with pink hair could possibly be held in. Eventually, they entered Fluttershy’s room. Some of them gasped. Some of them began their shrill screams before forcing a forehoof into their mouths. Some of them just stood there gaping. One of them is in the bed, breathing slow, heart rate low. They did not need a nurse to tell them what had happened and what will become of Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. “Why did she have to go?” Rainbow whispered, staring blankly at the coffin. She and her remaining friends were gathered at Fluttershy’s funeral along with Fluttershy’s other friends and family members. Rarity was crying at the back of the group, wiping her eyes with a hoofkerchief. The cloth was stained with her tears and mascara. Pinkie had a hoof draped over Rarity’s shoulders in an attempt to comfort the unicorn, staring at her in sympathy and sadness, her blue eyes becoming an ocean. Applejack was completely silent, staring at the ground, trying to fight the pain to no avail. Twilight was just as grief-stricken as her friends, and Rainbow’s question was not doing anything to make her feel better. In fact, it was now nagging at the back of her mind. Why did she have to go? she thought. Fluttershy was a kind, sweet, and sensitive friend who had suffered and shared great memories with the rest of the group; her sudden death by a simple little badger was shocking and depressing. Twilight thought back to the image of her yellow friend lying in the hospital bed, half of her head bandaged. She and her friends were sitting by her bedside, sharing a few words with her and their goodbyes as Fluttershy took her last breath. Stupid blood loss, taking away my best friend, Twilight thought bitterly as the coffin was lowered to the ground. She wonder if her life, along with the lives of her friends, would continue to be haunted by the question, Why did she have to go?
Chapter 2Rarity stared at herself in the large, elegant mirror of her bathroom. She almost couldn’t believe it was her. The unicorn pony reflected on the glass was tired and disheveled. Her usually glossy and neat white fur was sticking up at odd angles and was surprisingly dry. Her once radiant mane and tail was no longer ridiculously curly but simply laid limp on the ground in a tangled and dull heap. Her eyes no longer had their false eyelashes but there was still old mascara stained around her bloodshot eyes. “Ugly,” she muttered then more loudly and forcibly, “Ugly!” She felt it again. The pain. The pain. Her blue eyes darted from here to there across the bathroom until they landed on the tissue box. She snatched a tissue and let it all out again. All the snot, the tears, the mascara, the wails, and the pain. She heard hoofsteps. They were heading toward the bathroom. She moaned and, still holding the tissue, banged her head on the sink counter. There was a sickening thud, and Rarity’s forehead throbbed, but the physical pain does not match her internal pain. She just laid there, tears forming a small pool on the counter. “Rarity,” Sweetie Belle whispered, peeking into the bathroom, “I heard crying. Are you-” “No, I’m not okay,” Rarity snapped at her younger sister. “Go away.” Sweetie Belle’s green eyes glittered with sympathy as she hesitantly stepped away from the bathroom. For some reason, Rarity was faintly reminded of the Sweetie Belle from 14 years ago, when Sweetie was just 12 years old and she was just 22. Good times. Bad times too. But at least Fluttershy wasn’t dead then. Rarity sniffled. Oh, how I miss her dearly. She knew that her grief was slowly destroying her, but she can’t seem to stop from crying. The mere one week of mourning seemed like an eternity of pain to her. Fluttershy, she thought faintly, you did not have to die. You did not have to leave. You were too young, only 36. Sure, you were the oldest out of all of us, but you’re only older than me by a month, and just about a year older than Pinkie. What? Huh? No, Fluttershy that’s not the point. The point is that you did not deserved to die first. No, just because you have had a longer lifetime than the rest of us so far doesn’t mean it’s okay-oh fine, I’ll go. I’ll go and mingle with reality, with my other friends. But don’t think that’ll help me out, Fluttershy. Dear Fluttershy. Rarity wiped a few tears away and discarded her spoiled tissue. For a few minutes, she decided to fix herself a bit. She washed her face and eyes. She brushed her mane and tail. And she smoothed down her fur. Well, she thought to herself, I still don’t look my best, but I look my better. Slightly satisfied, she opened a drawer. She frowned. Oh, I’m running low on makeup and false eyelashes. Biting her lower lip, she hollered, “Sweetie! Could you do me a favor and run to my bedroom to fetch some blue eyeshadow and false eyelashes?” She heard the thumps of hooves and waited. “Rarity, you don’t have makeup or false eyelashes in your bedroom!” came Sweetie’s voice. Rarity cursed. “Okay, dear, er, just hurry up and go to the nearest beauty supply store.” Rarity looked over herself for the last time in front of the large bathroom mirror. She smiled to herself. She looked much better than in the last seven days. She had carefully applied her signature blue eyeshadow and false eyelashes. She had forgotten to remind Sweetie to buy mascara, but she would do fine now. Her eyes were still slightly red, but that was the least of her problems. Okay, Fluttershy. I’ll go. When she stepped out of her boutique, she became slightly confused by the sight of her town. Ponyville was always the beautiful town it was, but it seemed to the unicorn that she hasn’t set eyes on the town for years, not a week. She walked. That was all she was doing now. Walking around neighborhoods, taking in the sight of reality outside of her mourning. She breathed in the air. Fresh, sweet air. It has been awhile. The sun shone brightly against the autumn sky. Pegasi were rearranging the clouds for a few days of rain in the future. She wondered if her dear friend Rainbow Dash was amongst them. It was just her and reality. However, she didn’t know. She didn’t know that reality was about to go against her. She was so hooked up in her senses of Ponyville and reality that she did not realized where she was walking to. Without knowing so, she was climbing up, going above ground level. She was walking on rock. She was on a ledge, a cliff. Hmm, Ponyville looks so beautiful up h-she froze. Dread engulfed her. She found herself falling off a cliff and beneath her would be her doom. She let out an ear-piercing scream. That was the last sound heard from her. Reality had already been hard on her when Fluttershy died. And now again, reality went against her. “Why?!” Sweetie screamed in front of Dash’s face. “Why and how?!” She was pointing at the bloody pulp nearby. She watched as a few ponies took her sister’s body away. Her friend Apple Bloom laid a reassuring hoof on Sweetie’s flank but Sweetie pulled away. Some ponies around her sighed, including Dash. “Rarity fell off the cliff,” Rainbow whispered painfully. She stared up to the sky. “I saw her smack onto the ground.” She shuddered. “She’s with Fluttershy now.” Sweetie let out an agonized cry and galloped away. Nopony stopped her. She needed time alone.
Chapter 3Rainbow glided swiftly through the sky after a long day at the Wonderbolt Academy. A long day. I don’t usually get so nervous to get out of there like today, Dash thought to herself. Days like today are not cool. Too bad I’ve been getting a lot of those days…. Rainbow had been so lost in thought that she didn’t realize she was about to slam into a cloud pillar near the front of her cloud mansion. “Woah!” she exclaimed, stopping abruptly. She backed a step or two and shuffled away to the front door. “Tank, I’m home!” she called out into the vastness of her cloudominium after she stepped in. Her pet tortoise came hovering over to her. “Hey, Tank,” she smiled and began hovering next to Tank, “how have you been?” Tank gave a wrinkled smile. “Good to hear,” Rainbow remarked, then added hastily, “er, I mean, good to see.” When they arrived at Dash’s bedroom, she collapsed onto her bed and sighed. Tank hovered over to his own “bed” beside hers, a fairly large basket with a folded soft blanket in it. Tank became too large to sleep beside her long ago. For a while, the awkwardness of silence hung over the air before Dash said, “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen my friends.” Tank stared at her questionably. “I mean, it has been years since I’ve seen Fluttershy, Rarity, and my parents. And when was the last time I’ve seen Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie?” she glanced at Tank then gasped. “Woah! Are you serious?” Tank nodded slowly, frowning. “Let me get this straight. I haven’t talked to Applejack for six years flat. And I haven’t talked to Twilight for five. And Pinkie hasn’t heard a word from me for three. And that’s just how long since the last time I’ve spoken with them. I haven’t spoken to them frequently before that either!” Tank nodded slowly again. “This is ridiculous! We grew too distant!” Rainbow cried out. “That’s it, I’m going.” Tank stared at her quizzically again. Rainbow hastily blurted out her reasons. “I’m the spirit of the Element of Loyalty, for Celestia’s sake! And I’ve been leaving my remaining friends in silence! What kind of loyalty is that? I’m going to see them again, right now.” Tank tilted his head to one side. “I know, I know. It’s evening. It’s 8 o’clock. But I’m pretty sure that my friends have the time because I do. See ya, Tank.” Tank gave a wrinkled smile at her before nodding slowly in understanding. Rainbow gave him a light kiss on the top of his head before dashing off. Hmm. AJ is the one who I haven’t talked to for the longest, so I should start with her, came Rainbow Dash’s thoughts. She shifted her feathers to steer slightly to the west, then allowed the evening breeze to carry her to Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn’t long before she arrived at her destination. After all, she was the fastest flyer in Equestria. It has already been confirmed long ago. She trotted over to the barn door and knocked on the wood, taking care to not end up with a hoof-full of splinters. I need to tell Applejack to fix this old door...it’s about to tear! Sure enough, Rainbow found herself peeking through a little hole in the door. She waited. She knocked again, this time a little softer. “Hey! Applejack! It’s Rainbow Dash here!” she hollered. “Go away!” came a thick Southern accent that Dash knew all too well. However, she wasn’t very familiar with the drawling slur in Applejack’s words. She ignored Applejack’s demand and pushed open the door. “Yo,” she remarked coolly, or at least she thought it was cool. She paused and squinted through the darkness of the barn. “Uh, Applejack?” “I said go away!” “I’m just here to speak with an old friend of mine, that’s all!” She heard the slam of a bottle, the clattering of more bottles, and the clopping of clumsy hooves. Applejack appeared in the darkness, her emerald eyes shining in the little light of the barn like eerie green magic. Applejack glared at Dash, igniting the green magic in her eyes. “When I tell ya to go away, ya better leave now!” she snarled, the slur in her words evident. Dash flinched and watched as her friend turned around and let the darkness consume her. She followed after a moment’s pause. “Applejack, if this is about how we haven’t talked to each other for a long time, I’m very aware of that. And, I’m sorry about that. But that’s no reason to yell at me like that!” Dash snapped and began to hover over the ground in frustration and habit. She gasped. “Applejack, what are you doing?!” The orange earth pony slammed a bottle of alcohol onto a table she was seated at. Several bottles that used to contain the beverage laid strewn around her. A crate of at least a dozen more bottles was next to her chair. “I’m drinking some applejack. What else?” the farm pony replied, turning her head to glance at Dash before facing her bottle and taking another swig. “At any other time, I would have made a joke that you’re being a cannibal, but now? Applejack, this is ridiculous!” Dash flew over to her friend, snatching the bottle away from Applejack’s hoof. “You shouldn’t drink this much, especially with applejack! Since when were yo-” “I’ve been drinking applejack a long time ago!” Applejack snapped. “And I chose applejack because I decided that it fits; if it makes me a ‘cannibal’ like you said, then so be it. I’d love to eat myself until I don’t exist no mor-” “Enough!” Dash cried out, tossing the bottle into the darkness and shaking her friend’s shoulder. “Just about how long ago were you drinking excessively?” “Years and years ago,” Applejack replied bluntly. “A few years after Fluttershy and Rarity died. I just decided that I might as well give up in living my life happily like a fat pig and shut myself away. At first, I just took a small glass or two several months at a time, but then it turned into more glasses a few months at a time, then monthly, then weekly, then daily. Unless Big Mac spends time with me during the evenings, I drink several bottles daily.” “But it’s dangerous to do that,” Rainbow said, keeping her hooves on Applejack’s shoulders. “I know. So dangerous that I might die. Then, I’ll see Fluttershy, Rarity, Granny Smith, my paren-” “But what about us?!” the pegasus cried out desperately. “What about me? What about Twilight, Pinkie, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, all of the other ponies here on Equestria?” “Ah, they don’t care no more. Not even you, Dash. How long has it been that we’ve talked? Even Apple Bloom left the farm just to move into her husband’s place. And Big Mac is just all over Sugar Belle nowadays; working on the farm before coming back to his sugarcube without much of a talk most times.” Rainbow grew mute with shock. Applejack used that moment to bend down and grab another bottle of applejack from the crate beside her, opening the cork and downing the liquid. Rainbow reached forward to the bottle but Applejack swatted her hoof away. Dash growled and grasped the neck of the bottle. AJ tightened her grip around the body. They began to tug, blue and orange flashing back and forth around the bottle. “Applejack, let go! This isn’t what I want to see you as!” RD said, flapping her wings to help her tug the bottle out of AJ’s hooves. “Leave my drink and me alone!” AJ replied, holding onto her bottle in her remarkably firm grip. She began to stand up for more balance and support. “No!” “Yes!” “No!” “Unhand the bottle, you motherbucker.” Rainbow Dash gasped, surprised and slightly hurt by AJ’s savage words. She never heard AJ say anything so vulgar. Applejack seized her chance and, still holding onto the bottle, gave a mighty jerk, stumbling backward from the force. RD’s grasp failed. “Oh no, you don’t!” Dash shouted with determination and a hint of anguish. She reached for AJ’s hooves this time. “BUCK YOU, PLOTHOLE!” AJ roared and she gave a quick, brutal kick with her strong back hooves. There was a loud crack as her hooves collided with RD’s chest and as the pegasus was sent into the darkness, there was a loud crash, suggesting that she has slammed into something. AJ sighed and sat down in her chair, settling the bottle of applejack on the table. “Sorry that I had to do that, but-” she paused, gave a cough, then continued- “I just wanted you to leave.” Silence. “Things change, RD,” Applejack continued her slurred words, poking absently at her bottle, “Things change so fast that my eyes can’t hardly believe any of them. I just need some alone time.” Silence of awkwardness. “Rainbow, ain’t ya listening?” AJ stood up, peering into the darkness. Silence of death. Applejack began walking toward the direction Rainbow has been sent, “Dash, this ain’t funny! Stop it!” Rainbow continued to give the silent treatment as Applejack continued to look for her. She turned on a light along the way, casting the darkness away. “Rainbow, why are y-” Applejack gasped- “oh, my Faust. Oh, my Faust. Oh, my Faust!” The dim light revealed the pegasus, sprawled on the ground, dead. Her eyes were closed, never to see the hues of the world again. Her wings laid limp at her sides, never to soar among rainbows again. Rainbow Dash was dead, never to show her true colors ever again. Applejack took a deep breath, She’s just unconscious, that’s all. But the signs were too true, too evident. The hoofed-shaped indents on her chest. The still body. Applejack, even through the mist of her drunken state, noticed a nearby shelf corner, with soup cans atop, that Dash had most likely slammed her head on. The soup cans were scattered around the pegasus, revealing what created the loud crash after AJ attacked RD. Applejack blinked in disbelief, then in horror, then in despair. “Rainbow?” she whispered shakily. The barn door creaked open. “Eh, what happened here?” came the deep, low voice of Applejack’s brother, Big Mac. She looked up, her eyes widening. Big Mac and his spouse, Sugar Belle, stared at her confusingly. “I…” Applejack gulped, blinking rapidly to send away tears. “I killed...killed…her.” She pointed a shaky hoof at Rainbow. Big Mac and Sugar Belle gasped, gawking at the sight. “I didn’t mean it! It was an accident! I didn’t know! I was drinking! I was stupid! I kicked her hard! She hit her head! I didn’t mean it!” Applejack cried out breathlessly in a desperate manner. Sugar Belle walked over to AJ and tried to comfort her, patting her on the shoulder. “There, there. It was just an accident. There’s still a chance. We could get her to the hospital.” Each pony glanced nervously at Rainbow’s corpse, each with the same thought. They each doubted that she was still alive. Nevertheless, they went about to admit Rainbow Dash to the Ponyville Hospital. “I’m having some horrible déjà vu here,” Pinkie squeaked, a few worry lines forming on her forehead. Applejack didn’t respond. She just fidgeted nervously, standing up now and then to pace back and forth before sitting down again. “It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.” “It is all your fault, Applejack!” Twilight blurted out suddenly, curling her bottom lip back in a snarl as a few tears streamed down her face. “Just why?! You didn’t have to get drunk! You didn’t have to kick Rainbow that hard! You didn’t have to kill her!” Applejack glared at her, opened her mouth to make a retort, then stopped. Crestfallen, she sat down in her seat again. “Twilight!” Pinkie cried incredulously, giving her purple friend a shocked, slightly angered look. Twilight didn’t look at Pinkie. She looked at Applejack instead, wide-eyed. “Applejack...I-I...I didn’t mean it. Not at all. It’s not at all your fault.” Applejack shook her head sadly. “Nah, Twilight. Don’t even try to lie. I can see through every lie, remember? Element of Honesty here.” “I know,” Twilight sighed, wiping away her tears with a forehoof. “I know. But it was still an accident nonetheless. Even if you were accountable for Rainbow’s...injuries, you never meant to do it. That’s what’s important.” Applejack gave a shaky sigh. “I suppose so, Twilight. Still, things could have, would have been different if I-” She stopped herself from finishing her sentence upon seeing a doctor who was responsible for attending to Rainbow. She, along with Twilight and Pinkie, quickly stood up from their seats and rushed to the doctor, only to hear: “I’m sorry. Rainbow Dash has passed away due to fractured chest bone, heart failure, and brain injury,” the medical mare bit her bottom lip, eyeing the three mares with pity and regret. “I truly am sorry.” “I-I,” Applejack started in a trembling voice, “I-I. Um...I understand. There’s n-nothing to be s-sorry for.” Pinkie started to quiver, tears flowing freely down her snout. She let out her wails, earning a few concerned glances from passing ponies. Twilight was quick to rub her pink friend’s back with a wing as she herself blinked her wet purple eyes rapidly. Together, the three mourned for Rainbow Dash, a pony who shall never create another rainbow for others to follow. Element of Loyalty Loyal and Proud Friend Beloved Daughter Awesome Role Model In Loving Memory of Rainbow Dash Born June 11th, 1991 Died August 4th, 2040 by major injuries Aged 49 Years Keep guiding others through your rainbow Rest in Peace “It needs to be about 20% cooler.”
