Behind the Bleeding Veil

Fluttershy glided in to her witching ground, her heart full of joy at the idea that soon she would transverse the multiverse, go behind the Veil, and commune with the Source of All Things. Then she saw the fire burning, it's smoke burning her nostrils. Rage erupted in her heart, replacing the joy that had been there. Who would dare come and defile such a perfect moment? No matter, she would destroy any and all who were down there. As she came in for her landing; she saw a form which grew in clarity until there was no mistaking who it was.

"Rainbow Dash," she said, as she landed, with both surprise and a hint of mockery. "I thought you were dead."

"Don't," Rainbow said in short, commanding voice.

"You certainly got old and ugly. Looks like you've been through a ringer made of cheese grinders." Fluttershy tried to continue to sound like she was mocking Rainbow but there was genuine fear in her voice. Did she know what Fluttershy was up to? How could she know? And why did she look so old? And where had she been for the last almost two years?

"Don't. Drop whatever's in your hand, undo the spell you put on Twilight and Sunset, and forget about trying to go behind The Veil." Rainbow said in her firm, commanding voice.

Fluttershy was startled. She had prepared or even conceived of this. "How do you know about that?"

"Word travels, even in the lower dimensions. That day, the day we got back from destroying the pyramid, an Azazal saw us at the ruins of the mansion. It saw you pick the list of forbidden books. It knew with having been the Mystic, you had greater powers to find and enact the rituals in the Oblitus. Pretty soon all the infernal realms knew you had it. They trapped me in one of the dimensions with my comrades. I spent thirty years of my life, fighting from dimension to dimension, slowly piecing together what was going on, what their plans were. It cost me everything, but I made it back here to stop you.

"You've been used Fluttershy. Pushed down this path. They want you to open the Veil so that everything ceases to be so their suffering can end. It was the demons who caused Rarity's car accident."

"STOP!" Fluttershy shouted in pure hatred. "How do you know about that? How dare you speak her name?"

"I told you, I was gone for over thirty years. That's a long time to find things out, to look for answers. Sometimes it was only the looking that kept me from going insane. Slowly, from clue to clue, from interrogation to interrogation, I found out what was going on. Finally, luckily, I found a portal that would bring me back here."

"You won't stop me Rainbow. You can't. I am about to find out the answer to the biggest question ever asked - why. Why do we suffer, why do we die? Why does bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? Why is there even bad? I asked the so called Goddesses and they were useless. So I found a higher source, the ultimate source, I plan to have my answer." Fluttershy's voice was filled with cold determination and, paradoxically, a white hot fury.

"I told you . . ." Rainbow started but was cut off by Fluttershy.

"Yes, I was being manipulated. BUT WHY WAS I EVEN ALLOWED TO BE MANIPULATED?! Why was I allowed to be born to a mother that hated me? To find a love and then watch him die? To lose my sister? To be betrayed by my best friend? I . . . was . . . an . . . INNOCENT! Why was any of that allowed to happen?"

"I don't know," Rainbow replied sadly. "This isn't the way to find out. The first ones couldn't handle what they found; what makes you think you can?"

"Because I had the power of the Mystic. I have read the Oblitus and not gone mad when everyone else who had did."

"Really? Tell me something Fluttershy; what did you have to do to cast that spell over Sunset and Twilight? Where's Apple Jack? Where's Sonata? Why are you covered in blood? And why does that look like a human heart in your hand there? Are those the actions or thoughts of a sane person? From where I stand, you look quite mad to me."

"Ok Rainbow Dash. Maybe I am mad. Do you think you can reason with a crazy person?"

"No," Rainbow said as she shook her head sadly, "but I was hoping there was enough of my oldest friend left that I could get you to stop."

"And what if there was? What if I started crying, repented, undid the spell, all of it? Then what? What would you do with me? Welcome me back with open arms? Would Flash? Adagio? Sunset? Twilight? Would all be forgiven by the POWER OF FRIENDSHIP?" Fluttershy said power of friendship in a grand, pompous, overly dramatic voice.

"No." Rainbow replied again, sullen and depressed. "I have to kill you no matter what. You've read the book, used it's magic. Even if you stopped now, you'd be a walking, human, nuclear warhead, always in danger of going off. I can't allow that."

"Well then, if my fate is sealed no matter what I do, then why should I surrender?" Fluttershy asked mockingly.

"Because it's the right thing to do. I take no pleasure in this Fluttershy, but you made your choice. Manipulated or not, you still chose to go down this road."

"And you made your choice as well when you wouldn't tell me what happened at the concert. We went through everything together. Fought evil, saved the multiverse, and you couldn't tell me what was going on."

Rainbow nodded. "You're right, I did. I had taken a vow of secrecy but I should have trusted you. It was my choice and it was a choice I've payed dearly for; every day for the past thirty years.

"You think you suffered? You have. But so have I. You lost Rarity. I lost fourteen of my closest friends, one of which was my husband. I lost my hand," Rainbow brought up her metal hand to show Fluttershy. "I have been through and experienced pain and suffering that would have killed anyone else. I lost . . . " Rainbow choked up with tears and she looked away as she tried to regain herself. "I lost a son. I had a son. I had a son with my husband while trying to escape from the Hell dimensions; and I lost them both. So, yes, I've payed for my choices. You have to pay for yours. It's just a question do you go out an unrepentant villain or as a remorseful, fallen, hero?"

Fluttershy placed the heart on the ground and stepped away from it. She looked at Rainbow, her eyes wide, a ghosts of sadness danced in them. She held out her hands to the sides of her and they began to glow red.

"I've come too far now to stop." Fluttershy started speaking. Her words sounded like a cross between an apology, an accusation, and a challenge. "I need to know what lies beyond, to know why all of this happens, to see if there's really a point to all this. Whatever happens to me after that, it doesn't matter; but I will not, I can not stop until I've found out the answer."

Rainbow powered up into her full warrior form. "Let's do this then," she simply replied.

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From all around them the tree branches struck out like hands. Adagio and Flash hacked and slashed at each as they tried to ensnare and kill them both. These demonic trees were the guardians of whatever dark magic lay beyond this path and they were doing their utmost to fulfill their job. The two would not be daunted though. The lives of their partners, the lives of everyone, rested on their shoulders and they would not yield in their task as well.

They finally made it through to the clearing. In it, the stump where Fluttershy had pinned the cloth to cast the spell that took out Twilight and Sunset; spewed reddish orange light in a pillar up to the sky. Spirits circled and danced around it, chanting, hissing, singing, "Soon we will be free! Soon we will be free!" .

"How are you feeling?" Adagio asked Flash as he panted, bent over, trying to regain his breath.

Flash stood straight up and took one last deep breath before he answered. "Exhausted but we gotta do this. I don't know what to do when we get there, but I know we got to get to that stump over there."

"We'll figure it out once we get there," Adagio said as she looked at the stump. Then she turned to Flash and placed her arm on his shoulder. "If you don't think you can make; I can try on my own. I have more experience at fighting and magic and fighting then you do."

Flash smiled and patted Adagio's hand. "I can do this. Even if I can't I'm not letting you face those things alone." He then grew quiet and thought for a moment. "Adagio, I just wanted to say, you've been an amazing friend these past years. The whole mind control to feed of negative energy thing not withstanding. I . . . I . . . if this is it . . . ,"

"Oh shut up!" Adagio said with fake scorn. "Save the touchy feely stuff until after we're done or actually dying ok?"

Flash nodded with a smile. "Alright, let's go."

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Rainbow and Fluttershy swooped and soared, dived and climbed in the sky. Their movements looked less like a fight than a dance. It was beautiful, intricate, even somewhat intimate. It was only the blasts of energy and cursing which gave away what it truly was. The two fought with a rage and a viciousness that could only come from the oldest and deepest of friends. This wasn't fighting to win but fighting to completely obliterate your opponent.

Rainbow had decades of practical experience. She had honed her skills fighting against the most dangerous and brutal monsters and demons. She also had the full might of the Warrior power flowing through her. Fluttershy was lacking in experience but had access to powers darker and greater than that of Rainbow. Fluttershy had youth as well and was unhampered by the regrets and scars of a life lived in constant pain and struggle.

The two were evenly matched given their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Where one was strong, the other was weak; and vis versa. They would land blows and defect. One would gain the upper hand for a moment then lose it for an equal moment. Neither could bring the other to heal but neither could be brought to heal as well.

There was no pithy dialog, no jokes or taunts; just grunts, screams, and yells. This wasn't a cinematic fight between good guy and bad guy. This was a legitimate fight to the death. Every move was made to inflict as much damage as possible or to avoid it. It was this economy and purpose of movement that gave it its macabre beauty.

Fluttershy knew her window was closing in which she could perform the ritual. In a desperate act, she dove at Rainbow, head on, blasting away with all she had from her hands. Rainbow guarded herself with her shield. She tried to fly out of the way but Fluttershy matched her and the two collided and fell to the earth. The impact knocked the wind out of both of them and each was sure that they had suffered broken bones. They rolled around, trying to beat the other to their feet. More than the pain from their injuries, they were exhausted. It was only the magic that flowed through them which kept them from collapsing completely.

Fluttershy was slowly getting up to her feet faster than Rainbow. Rainbow raised her metal hand and fired a laser at Fluttershy, hitting her in the side and caused her to fall back down to the ground with a shriek of pain. This gave Rainbow the time she needed to get up first. She walked over to Fluttershy and put her foot on her chest, pinning her to the ground. The locked eyes and just stared at each other, out of breath.

Rainbow aimed her hand at Fluttershy's head. "I'm sorry," she said mournfully. She paused, just for a brief second to see what Fluttershy would say. She felt liked she owed her that much.

"I'm not," Fluttershy responded with a wicked smile.

Before Rainbow could respond she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her throat. She couldn't breath and it felt like she was drowning. She grabbed at her throat and felt a tree branch sticking through it. She fell to the ground in shock, choking on her own blood.

Fluttershy slowly got up and stood over Rainbow. "The trees themselves protect me. This is my land," she said in a triumphant, mocking voice. "You could have defeated Rainbow; you almost did. I didn't win, you lost. You lost because despite everything, you wanted to. All that pain you carry with you, it made you weak, it made you hesitate. My pain focuses me. That and maybe, deep down, you knew your time was up. How could you ever fit back into society? How could you begin to explain how a twenty year old girl turned in to a fifty year old woman."

Fluttershy just looked down at Rainbow, gurgling and gasping for air; her face radiating fear. "Can you comprehend me?" she asked. "Did you hear any of that? Or are you so lost in your own pain, your own futile struggle for life that my words just passed over you?"

Rainbow stopped gasping. She turned as far as she could and met Fluttershy's gaze. with her finger, she wrote in the bloody earth I'm forgive you.

Fluttershy looked at it then she urinated on Rainbow and said, "I don't". She walked over to where she placed the heart, picked it up and limped down the path.

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Adagio and Flash were almost at the stump. The magic they had allowed them to dispense with the spirits as though they had corporeal form. They could see now that there was a knife sticking up out of the stump and it was pinning something down.

"That must be it," Adagio said as she continued to fight of more spirits.

"Agreed" said Flash as he did the same. "I'm guessing if we pull that out, we can undo the spell."

Fluttershy made her way to the clearing and saw two figures fighting their way to her casting stump. She realized they were going to try to undo her binding spell on the goddesses. Rainbow had back up all along. If she had managed just to keep her occupied a little longer, her accomplices would have freed the goddesses and then she would have been truly defeated.

But she wasn't! She had made it in time. Fortune was now truly favoring her. She raised her hand and blasted the one who looked like a male. He yelled and went down but his armor kept him from being killed. The female looking one turned and shouted, "FLASH", and Fluttershy realized they were Adagio and Flash.

"Well, it looks like Pinkie failed me then," Fluttershy said to Adagio as she turned to face her.

"Pinkie's dead," Adagio said angrily. The remaining spirits all fled at the sight of Fluttershy. It was only Adagio and Fluttershy now. "Rainbow Dash killed her and since you're hear, I'm taking it you killed Rainbow Dash."

Fluttershy smiled and shrugged. "It does seem to be the night for it. Ryan, Regina - don't worry, you don't know them but in their own way, they made all this possible; Sonata, Apple Jack, Chippy, Apple's girl boy friend, so Rainbow fit right in."

"And it doesn't bother you? Not even little Chip's?" Adagio asked genuinely curious.

"It's for a higher purpose," Fluttershy responded flatly. "As if you're one to talk there missy. You have way more blood on your hands than I do."

"From what Rainbow said that might all change after tonight," Adagio replied equally as flat.

"Life's a gamble Adagio. You still got to take your chances though." She turned and looked at Flash who had gotten back up to his feet; rage and hatred burned in his eyes.

"I must admit," Fluttershy started again, "I am impressed with you two. Especially you Flash. I guess all that goddess pussy finally rubbed off on you huh? Just look at those wings and shiny armor you have on. You're all powered up now like everyone else. Good for you. Unfortunately I have to kill you now. I have a Veil to get behind and I can't allow you to stop me."

"Bring it sister," Adagio said and raised her sword and shield.

Fluttershy went to blast Adagio but before she could Flash rushed over to her with superhuman speed and knocked to the ground; the heart flying out of her hand. She hissed and went to blast him but she saw him about to bring his sword down and she had to roll away as fast as she could to avoid a killing blow. The strike did manage to catch her one wing, severing it off.

Black blood spurted from the where the wing had been amputated. Fluttershy howled in pain. Flash went to strike again but she was able to get a short blast off from her left hand. Flash twisted to get out of the way and fell down. Fluttershy summoned all of the power she had and regrew her lost wing. She was tired, in pain and her magic was fading. It mattered not. She would not give up.

Flash and Fluttershy both got to their feet. She let lose with a bunch of energy blasts which he blocked with his shield. Her ran at her and tried to strike her again. She turned and avoided his sword and landed a sharp elbow to the side of his helmet. The blow was so powerful, it dented it and caused him to go unconscious. Fluttershy turned to Adagio and saw she was at the stump, getting ready to remove the knife. Fluttershy screamed and ran over to stop her.

Adagio could feel the power of the light coming from the stump. It felt like fire. She breathed deep and grabbed the knife. Immediately her skin started to blister and burn. She felt pain like she hadn't since Chrysalis had possessed her. She was being burnt alive but she kept pulling and pulling. She had to remove the knife, she had revive Sunset and Twilight.

Adagio felt two claws grab her sides and she suddenly felt herself being thrown through the air. She landed with a thud and felt her left shoulder break.

"I told you, I can't, I won't allow you to stop me," Fluttershy said full of smoldering anger.

Adagio rolled on her back and started laughing. "I don't have," she raised her right arm to reveal the knife. she had held on to it when Fluttershy grabbed her and threw her. It was Fluttershy's force which had caused the knife to come free.

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A nurse had come in to see how Twilight was doing. She thought how pretty Twilight was and how sad it was that she had been struck down so young. All of a sudden the nurse saw Twilight convulse, gasp for air, and her eyes spring open. What was even more shocking (and terrifying), all of the monitors and tubes which had been hooked up to Twilight suddenly dissolved into thin air as if they were smoke. The nurse screamed and ran out of the room.

"I have to find Sunset," she out loud to herself. She closed her eyes and searched for Sunset's presence and found it on the floor above hers.

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Sunset snapped awake. She didn't recognize where she was and could feel things on and in her. Soon she realized she was in a hospital room. She sat up and made everything she was attached to disappear. She was getting out of bed when Twilight appeared before her in a medical gown.

"Twilight, what happened?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know. We got hit with something, something big, something magical," Twilight responded equally as frantic.

"This is bad, this is really bad. We gotta find out what's going on. Like, now!"

Twilight nodded. The two closed their eyes and took each others hands. They scanned the planet and found where the magic was coming from. It was a place in the woods near Fluttershy's school. They could see a fire and a body laying on the ground. There was a thick, intertwined mass of dead trees that kept them from seeing what was underneath them but they knew that's where the magic was.

"Let's go," Sunset said and they teleported to the spot.

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Fluttershy ran over to where the heart had fallen, grabbed it, and ran back to the stump. As she got there, Twilight and Sunset appeared at the entrance way, in full armor.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight called out confused.

Fluttershy quickly put the heart on the stump as she recited the incantation. She spun around and yelled, "TOO LATE". A gigantic ball of fire erupted from the stump and Fluttershy was suddenly gone. Twilight and Sunset looked at each other confused and then around the clearing. Each saw their partner and ran to them.

Twilight knelt beside Flash and cried, "FLASH, FLASH," while she shook him. He slowly came too and she hugged him.

Sunset dropped to her knees beside Adagio. "Babe," she said, tears pouring down her cheeks when she saw how burned and scared Adagio was.

Adagio shook her head and looked mournfully at Sunset. "It'll heal," she said. "It's a magical burn."

"So what happened?" Sunset asked, still crying.

"We lost," Adagio replied flatly.