Doctor Jekyll and Mister Shyde

Rainbow Dash sighed.

Twilight had left her under that tree forever ago. She was a mare of action! Staying still just didn't make sense. That was like telling Rarity to not be fabulous.

She paced circles around the tree, wishing that Twilight would just hurry up. She had felt better ages ago. Why did she have to wait?

No. She had promised she would rest under the tree until her friend came back, and that's just what she'll do.

Suddenly she heard the sound of rapid hoofsteps. She turned around to see Twilight galloping towards town, showing no sign of stopping.

"What in Equestria?" She murmured as she watched the lavender blur get closer.

And closer.

Oh, ponyfeathers.

CRASH

When Twilight finally came back to her senses, she saw a sea of cyan. It took her a moment to realized what was going on and another moment to untangle herself from Rainbow Dash's limbs.

She glanced down and saw red. Blood? Why was there blood?

"Oh no."

When she had crashed into Rainbow, the resulting tumble had reopened her wounds. The stab injury in her foreleg was especially bad, somewhere between oozing and gushing.

She needed to get back to the hospital now!

Without a second thought, Twilight gently enveloped the pegasus in her magic and flew off towards Ponyville Hospital for the second time that week.

The last thing she remembered was feeling raging hatred for Keres. She had killed one of Twilight's friends. She had a right to be angry. The very next thing she knew, she was on the ground in town. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault.

It wasn't your fault.

Twilight repeated this mantra over and over again as she paced in the hospital living room.

Upon seeing her patient in such bad shape, Nurse Redheart had immediately strapped Rainbow Dash to a gurney, flagging a doctor down as she galloped down the hall.

How could I have let this happen? I was supposed to be looking out for her. The doctors placed her in my care. I should have been more careful. I should have-

“Princess Twilight? Your friend is awake, now.”

Twilight pushed open the door to her friend’s hospital room for the second time that day. Rainbow Dash was pale, her breathing ragged, but steady. The heart monitor beeped rhythmically.

Twilight made her way over to the hospital bed and sat down on the chair next to it. Rainbow didn’t stir, the anesthetics doing their job perfectly. Even more painkillers dripped little by little through her IV, sending her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Twilight reached over and held her friend’s hoof, ready to wait out the night.

Keres grinned to herself. Twilight’s reaction had been perfect. Now, her goal was to get that reaction again.

She crouched on her branch, leaves hiding her from view. She had been tracking Scootaloo for a while now, but there hadn’t been an opportunity to grab her. She seemed to always be zooming around on her scooter without a care in the world.

Not long now.

She just had to be patient. The time will come.

As she watched, the young filly screeched to a halt, panting slightly. She seemed to be thirsty. Keres smiled to herself.

Perfect.

She softly landed on the ground and approached her. “Hi Scootaloo. Wow, you’re getting better with that scooter every day. But you should be more careful. You could fall and get hurt,” she cautioned in Fluttershy's voice.

Scootaloo turned around at the sound of Fluttershy’s voice. “Hi, Fluttershy! Don’t worry about me. I always use my helmet. That way, if I fall, I won’t get hurt.” She demonstrated the durability of the helmet by thunking her hoof against it.

Keres smiled and gently placed her wing on the orange filly’s back. “I’m going back to my cottage now to put on a cup of tea. I’d love to have some with you so we can chat even more. And who knows? Rainbow Dash might even show up.”

Predictably, Scootaloo perked up at the mention of her idol’s name. “Sure! Let’s go!”

Keres was incredibly happy as she led the little filly to her doom. She would have no idea what even hit her.

“When do you think Rainbow Dash will show up?”

Scootaloo hadn’t stopped running around the cottage since they arrived. Keres sighed again as she prepared the tea. “Not until after you drink your tea. I have chamomile here. It should calm you down.”

While the hyper filly’s back was turned, Keres quietly opened a small plastic bag. She dumped the contents – a fine white powder – in one cup and stirred it, dissolving the powder completely.

While making sure to not mix up the cups of tea, she served the chamomile to both her and Scootaloo.

At the thought that Rainbow Dash would stop by after she finished her tea, Scootaloo grabbed the drugged tea and gulped it down. Keres could only watch in disgust. Didn’t this filly have any manners? Well, at least Keres didn’t have to worry about her tasting the powder.

Scootaloo set her teacup down on the table. “So, when will Rainbow Dash show up?”

“Oh, in a couple of minutes. But I think you can wait until then, right? How about we play a game to see who can stay still the longest until Rainbow arrives?”

Scootaloo nodded and sat down on the couch, ready to wait. Keres settled down in the comfortable position, eagerly watching the filly for signs that the poison was working. As the seconds ticked by, she noticed that her breathing had gotten slower and her jaw was dropping. After a minute more, she was swaying and actively trying to keep her eyes open.

With her balance impaired, Scootaloo slumped over onto the floor. She attempted to gather her hooves under her, but they wouldn’t respond. She gazed up at the older Pegasus with tired eyes.

Keres watched Scootaloo try to get up, not even bothering to hide the wide grin that spread across her face. She hopped down from the couch and trotted to the kitchen. She didn’t mind leaving Scootaloo alone for a moment; she was barely able to stand, let alone escape.

She entered the living room again, holding a large vegetable knife between her teeth. Scootaloo’s eyes widened in fear and she doubled her efforts to get up. But it was all in vain.

Keres grasped the knife in her two front hooves, rearing back on her hind legs. As she towered over the scared Pegasus filly, she grinned again.

Right before she plunged the blade into the young pony’s throat, she spoke in her true voice:

“Goodbye, Scootaloo.”

A scream echoed throughout Fluttershy’s cottage as another life was ended by Keres’ hooves.