Old Stories, Older Curses

by KillerSteel

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Adventure
Length: 26029

Watch how a day gone bad can become something far, far worse.

[On Hiatus so I can finish some of my other projects. Considering this is a very big story for me that's going to see a lot of sequels, it's a project I'm definitely coming back to.]

Sun, lots of sun. Celestia's blessing for all the little colts and fillies in Equestria, but not for one pegasus who finds the sun and nice weather has outstayed its welcome just a little too long. A nap taken in order to pass the boredom is interrupted by a strange visitor in black.

What once started as a day gone bad turns into a journey through Equestria's history, and a tale that many would consider fable turned reality; but perhaps it's been real all along?

[Credit to Rhanite of DeviantART for the badass cover art! Thanks man!

A/N: Welcome, one and all, to the first entry in my story arc! What's the name of this story arc?

Well, I'm sure I'll think of one. So far, I'm happy to say the title is this:

"Mira"

...The Mira Arc. Not bad.

Ahem, anyway, yes, this IS the first entry in my overarcing story, and it will be my first shot at building a living, breathing world with dynamic action and reaction.

Praise, ravage, criticise and stupify, I'm expecting and wanting it all. Enjoy!

Published 2012-10-09 19:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-11 15:58:03 UTC

Prologue: "That's one way to end a day..."

“Urgh…could this day take any longer to end?”

The sun drew a slow path across the sky in front of Rainbow Dash, as she lounged on, possibly, one of the softest clouds she'd ever granted the privelege of using as a bed. Watching the sun, Rainbow swore she saw it stop moving from time to time, as if to admire the flowers blooming in the fields below.

“The Princess's dragging the day out so she can get a tan, isn’t she? The moon should be up already… stupid weather patrol shift not ending,” Dash grumbled, grimacing at the sun; the theory just seemed more and more likely as time went on. Could somepony with a white coat get a tan? “Is there really nothing I can do today? ‘Shy's off with Rarity at the spa, Twilight got sucked into one of those crazy hurricanes she called ‘studying’, AJ's gotta work all day at the farm, and Pinkie has to work a double shift at Sugarcube Corner! That means no pranks, no Daring Do, no competitions; it's like life itself's trying to bore me to death! There isn’t even a single raincloud to buck apart here!”

She roared out to the clear blue sky in a rage, cursing this beautiful week for ever existing and sucking all the fun out of her day. She could practice her stunts, but they usually included clouds for her to fly through; what was the point of showing off if she couldn’t have a rainbow following behind her? It went against her very name, for Celestia’s sake! Dash slammed her hoof into the cloud beneath her, sending a gentle ripple across it, as she reconsidered what the day could be; well, maybe it wasn't all bad? “…I guess I could catch up on my napping…but I’ve already had five today…eh, I guess a sixth couldn’t hurt,” Dash shrugged to nopony in particular. She rolled a bit to get comfortable before closing her eyes, ready for the sweet embrace of rest. Slumber was swift in taking her.

“A nap? Well, if you insist… this will make things easier.”

Life just wasn't able to give up, was it?

The breath falling across Dash's face felt like a forest fire! Dash grimaced and lazily swatted away the sweltering air, swinging a few times before hitting something solid; she dreamed she was fighting a fire in the Everfree, and every swat of her hoof blew some fire away. She hit the thing a few more times before stopping and opening her eyes, two red eyes in a shadow staring back at her.

“Woah… somepony hasn’t been sleeping lately.” Dash blinked, getting the haze out of her vision; was she still dreaming? Her renewed senses were met with a grin filled with knives, red eyes that should've been in a dragon rather than... whatever this is, and the feeling of scorching breath creeping across her face; painfully hot. “Oh…”

“Just go back to sleep… this will be over in but a moment,” The shadow whispered, mouth opening to expose the knife-like fangs within, the razor-sharp edges glinting in the sunlight.

“AHH! ZOMBIE PONY!” Dash screamed, throwing a hoof straight into its cheek with lightning speed. The hit landed with a crunch, but the hoof went no further, simply pressing against the shadow’s face. It was like trying to push a mountain with one leg!

“My, my, such a kick… so unfitting of a mare like yourself,” It chastised, as if telling the wind off for messing up its mane.

“Jeeze, how hard is your face? And who the hay are you anyway?!” Dash hissed, trying to get a grip on the cloud to shove herself off the cloud..

“Somepony who’s running out of time and options… and you’re Plan Z.” it planted a hoof on her chest, crushing down on her ribs. She gasped, air being shoved out of her lungs.

“Hey, hooves off, buddy!” Dash shouted, and she let her hoof fly into its face again; that time actually hurt!

“Excuse my use of force, Miss, but I can’t mess around anymore,” its voice quaked slightly as the hoof on Dash's chest pressed down harder, a very strange sound coming from her ribs; were her bones creaking!? Dash's vision moved backwards as her chin was pushed on, flipping her sight to an upside-down view of the world. Something hovered off in the distance... was that a cloud? Maybe a set of them? And since when was the sky green? “I’d ask for your name first, but I’m out of time…”

“My name…“ Dash brought her hind legs up and, with an adrenaline-filled kick that'd make AJ blush, threw the shadow off her, “Is Rainbow Dash, best flyer in Equestria and kicker of butts that belong to ponies like YOU!”

“Hm, feisty… I suppose a little foreplay is in order.”

Rainbow kicked off the cloud into a freefall, spreading her wings. The shadow dove after her, missing by a hair as Rainbow threw herself upwards with a mighty blast from her wings. The shadow followed behind her with the vigor of a starved stallion hearing a dinner bell, but its flight speed was more abysmal than Fluttershy’s! No offense meant to Fluttershy, of course...

Rainbow flew back, playing with the shadow by slowing down to fall into its grasp, then using a powerful flap to rocket back out of its reach.

“C’mon, you had me pinned pretty well… aren’t your wings as strong as your legs?!” Rainbow shouted, her typical smirk filled with confidence. Maybe this shadow wasn’t so tough after all? There wasn't a lot of room to punch it. Maybe the fun of the day could be saved; a brawl never hurt anypony! She chuckled at the idea, looking down at her rival as she moved just out of reach again.

“Maybe I’ve been out of practice for the last two hundred years… but even old stallions like me have a few tricks up their sleeves.” He smirked, a mist forming around him. A final glint from his red eyes shined through the darkness before the mist closed up around him, creating a deep purple cloud. Moments after it closed, not even enough time for Rainbow to breathe, the right side of it exploded outward as something suddenly tore through it. Dash's eyes quickly followed the object, her keen eyesight yielding nothing but more blue. Her brain barely registered the approach of the shadow until it rung her neck in his foreleg, crushing down like a vice, “Like this one…”

“Why you sneaky…” Rainbow grunted, struggling against the grip of her captor. Her flails and grunts amounted to about as much as her earlier kick against the steel of the shadow's face, so she decided to ditch her honor and take the fight below the belt; she chomped down on his foreleg as hard as she could, hoping for a reaction.

The resulting consequence of this action? She tasted his skin... and it made her mind recoil in absolute horror. His skin tasted like a combination of rotten apples and burnt leather, and the blood being drawn from the wound tasted impossibly worse; were his veins full of somepony's raw sewage? No shout of pain, no grunt of discomfort, not even an exhale from the stallion came with the disgusting taste, either; she just bit a pony, tasted this abomination, and got nothing for it.

“I don’t taste too good, do I? Well.” he lifted her up further and drew her close to his chest. He gave her neck a long draw with his tongue, Rainbow shivering in response to this sick show of affection, “I’m sure you’ll make up for it…” he opened his mouth as a chuckle passed by his teeth, the sharp knives glinting in the sunlight.

“What’s wrong with you?! And where’d you get those teeth?!” Rainbow shouted, her head being shoved to the side by the leg wrapped around her neck. She gave a final struggle as that same flaming breath came over her neck, “You aren’t gonna-“

A stabbing pain in the side of her neck answered her incomplete question, much to her terror, as the stallion freak-show did something she never thought would happen; sink his teeth into her flesh. A battle between two thoughts immediately launched as the initial flaming wave of pain let up: ‘MURDER HIM’ and ‘Oh, this is just gross…’

The pain quickly faded into a strange pulling sensation as the pony tugged at her neck, each draw punctuated by a wet slurp. Her mind settled on a final thought, a negotiated compromise between the two at war: 'This is the most disgusting reason to murder another pony I’ve ever felt.'

The world began to bend and blur as the slurping continued. Cold spread over her appendages as her life was sucked away, one sickening lick at a time, and white spots filled her sight. Wait... those things hovering in the distance... were they getting bigger? Mumbled shouting entered her mind, somepony else's, as one of the dots that blended so well with the sky returned and quickly expanded in size. The slurping ended with a dry suck of air, and the knives exited her neck. The dot became some armored… thing, possibly a pony, as it tore through the air past her. It hit something with a crunch, probably that stallion that just let her go... Everything descended into a blur of ‘maybe’, ‘probably’, and ‘I don’t know’ as the world started to slip away from the sky blue pegasus.

“Well… this… is… bad…” Dash whispered as the last of her strength died, and she was granted one last view of the world... the very same boring, routine world in which she thought nothing would happen.

A sight of her home town, Ponyville.

Chapter 1: A Most Unpleasent Surprise

“Why in blazes is it so hot?!” Rarity moaned to the beautiful skies overhead, adjusting her wide hat. The shade under it could barely be considered shelter against this dreadful heat. It had been sunny for the past week or so, and even though everypony loved the light of the spring sun, it simply played havoc with her complexion. “This sun is going to ruin all the effort Aloe and Lotus put into our spa trip…”

“Well…I guess it’s about time we got some proper sun…right? Wasn’t it rainy, or windy, or storms all over for a month before this?” Fluttershy asked in her wispy tone. She'd agreed to walk with Rarity to Carousel Boutique; modelling was on the agenda, something Fluttershy was reluctant to return to, but it was to help out her friend, so how could she say no? "I actually prefer this weather over rain... the sun just brings everypony's spirits up."

"Yes, well dear, you don't live in a world where you have to worry about your materials melting in the backroom. This week has been relentless on my cloth; I can't even make foal's clothing with it!" Rarity says with an annoyed look.

"Was the cloth damaged at all...?" Fluttershy raised her eyebrow, her mind jumping to wild scenarios; Rarity's back room suddenly exploding into a scene straight from Tartarus from an unluckily-placed sunbeam on an especially flammable piece of fabric. Once the terror from that scene was spent, her mind shifted to another scene without time to breathe; rays of the sun hitting an open chest of gems just right to turn Carousel Boutique into the perfect place for Pinkie and Miss Scratch to throw a dance party; oh, the mess those two would make...

"No, dear, it simply shrank. I knew cotten and silk were susceptible to heat, but...well, this was simply ridiculous," Rarity rolled her eyes, a hissing exhale from her nose; yet another setback in her plans, and the deadline for her latest project was closing in. Getting a new shipment of materials would only cut off more time... she figured she'd be in for yet another trio of sleepless nights, rushing to get this done. Well, she'd be making ponies smile, so it wasn't all bad... right?

"Well...I'm sorry..." Fluttershy's lips moved, but Rarity couldn't be certain if a sound was ever made. She simply read her friends lips, wishing some of that brutish minotaur's lessons stuck from their last meeting.

"Oh, it was my mistake, Fluttershy. This is hardly anything for you to worry about; my work shines when it's made under pressure!" Rarity offered a smile to try and cheer her friend up, eventually succeeding in making the shy pegasus grin back; poor Fluttershy's always been slightly unstable with her emotions, she'd try and apologize for anything remotely bad happening to her friends as if it was her fault. It was troubling to say the least.

"Still..." Fluttershy mumbled, still stuck in a slump. Rarity sighed, looking forward down the street to her shop. She found it sported a fine new accessory; a gaping hole in the roof.

"Oh, what in the world?!" She shouted and broke into a run; if this was Rainbow Dash with another crazy idea involving flaming hoops and fifty feet of the fashionista's best silk, she was going to break something. Her teeth ground together in preliminary rage, and she opened the door with her magic; she'd make the lecture on the fly! C'mon, Canterlotian wit, make this speech singe with anger! "Rainbow Dash, Twilight and I have explained to you countless times! Use the front door!"

The shout, strangely, wasn't met with an answer. Rather, a lonely wing lay in the beam of light drawn through the roof, the body connected to it hidden by the shadows, "Did she decide to take a nap here after putting such a hole in my roof?! Why, I never!" Rarity stomped off towards the shaded Pegasus, steam screaming out of her ears. Fury enveloped her mind as it strove to create the scathing speech she had in store for her brash friend. Fluttershy, not wanting to interrupt her well-worded friend in her moment of red-sighted rage, simply moved along the wall to find a light source.

After a few moments of searching, the grand search for the light switch turned up nothing. "Um... Rarity, where... where do you keep the lights?" Fluttershy looked over at Rarity's illuminated form, the unicorn's face registering as something besides anger, something strange...

Was that surprise?

A few tense moments passed before Rarity registered the question, "Erm... r-right, hang on dear, let me get that..." Rarity answered, setting her horn alight with a simple spell, and the shadows curled away in fear, unable to cover their secret. She stared down at the lit, prone form of the Pegasus; yes, that is indeed Rainbow Dash, and her eyes are indeed closed... she tapped Rainbow's foreleg with a grimace, tilting her head. "Rainbow? It's time to wake up."

The pegasus refused to move. Fluttershy creeped over, looking at her friend lying on the ground. Her brow furrowed in thought; Rainbow never fell asleep during flight, or even after landing... is she hurt? "Oh, dear... do you think... she's unconscious...?"

"Well, it's possible... hang on, I'll go and ask Twilight, see if she has anything. I don't keep medical supplies around here," Rarity flicked her mane up and headed for the door, her friend not bothering to look up, "Be back in a moment!"

"Ok..." Fluttershy simply nodded, wincing at the sound of the door slamming shut. The shadows quickly stole their chance to cover up their secret; diagnosing injuries in the dark isn't very easy. Fluttershy frowned at this interruption, and moved around behind Rainbow. With a quick pair of shoves, Rainbow was pushed into the light. "Goodness, Rainbow... I didn't know you were so light..." She mumbled; somepony who worked as hard as Rainbow should be a bit heavier, shouldn't they? "I hope you aren't too badly hurt..."

With her patient fully illuminated in the small circle of light, Fluttershy started her amateur examination by checking Rainbow's head; if she passed out during flight, the first thing that would break through the roof would be her head. Fluttershy moved Rainbow's mane around, looking for any bruising or lumps, no such injuries readily presenting themselves. A few more tussles of the river of rainbow revealed something peculiar; a mark on her neck... several red marks to be exact, "This is... wait... are those... b-bite marks?" She whispered, her mind subconsciously creating scenarios that could cause her patient such injuries as she felt along the bite marks. They sliced rather deep, but what kind of creature could do this to Dash?

Hang on. Fluttershy squinted her eyes, pressing down into the neck a bit. She waited a bit, the sound of hoofsteps outside fooling her into a reaction. Her eyes slowly go wide as she realizes just what's missing.

Wh-where... where's her pulse?

Her mind immediately jumped to a horrific flurry of worst-case scenarios. She tried to quiet her mind by pressing her ear to the blue pegasus' chest; sometimes the pulse couldn't be felt through the neck! A faint pulse may not generate enough of a beat!

No pulse... she moved her hoof under Rainbow's left foreleg and lifted, trying to get a better position to listen for a heart beat. Nothing, no beating, no movement.

"No..."

A sudden gust of wind blew through the room as the door was nearly torn off, a panicked Twilight skidding to a halt on the wooden floor, "Fluttershy, we got here as fast as we could! Did you find any injuries? We've got a medical kit!"

Fluttershy simply shook, ear still against her friends' chest.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight raised an eyebrow and trotted forward, Rarity following close behind.

"What's wrong, dear? Did Rainbow hurt herself?" Rarity looks from Fluttershy down to her foreleg against Rainbow's chest.

"She..." A single tear dragged a path down from Fluttershy's eye. Twilight drew closer and gently moved Fluttershy's shivering form out of the way. She looked to the chest of the pegasus, then back to Fluttershy.

"Did something happen?"

Fluttershy simply took Twilight's leg in her hooves and placed it against Rainbow's chest. One very certain thing registered in the unicorn's mind.

Cold. Her chest was cold?

Her eyes immediately went wide in shock, the diagnosis, as well as the impossibility of it all, was far too clear to her; it just couldn't happen! She'd run into far harder things than Rarity's roof in the past!

"Twilight, Fluttershy, you're starting to worry me. Is something wrong?" Rarity braced herself for the possibly bad news, but when she saw her friends' eyes look back into her, she just felt like her heart was flushed into the briney depths of the Dragon Sea. Despite the hot weather outside, the coldest wind imaginable swept through the room as Twilight spoke.

"Rarity, she's... dead," the lavender unicorn strung together before Fluttershy exploded into hysterics, collapsing onto Rainbow. Loud cries quickly filled the Boutique, while Twilight and Rarity simply stared at each other in complete disbelief.

Rarity's bad week just got a whole lot worse.

Chapter 2: The Definition Of Shock

Dead? Rainbow's dead? Rarity first ran the words through her head, her stare unwavering. They just didn't sound plausible, let alone something to say about her friend! She shook her head; no, it's not possible, Rainbow's fine, she has to be!

Fluttershy’s shivering, sobbing form struck her like a flail across the face, and the unmoving pegasus under the meek soul's river of tears, Rainbow Dash, Equestria’s greatest flyer, the invincible Pegasus who would fight dragon and villain in order to protect her friends. Why didn't she move?

She couldn't possibly be dead from a flying accident, right? She's too strong for that!

“But… how could she… how did she hurt herself this badly…?”

“I-I don’t know! She’s hit things far harder than a wooden roof or floor! She’s run full force into a cliff face and come out completely unscathed!” Twilight grabbed her head, trying to process the situation. Her mane sprang out in places as her brain cooked trying to process the reality of it all.

She’s crashed and flown into so many stronger things than the Carousel Boutique's roof! Her skeleton has to be made of steel in order to survive it all! What, did she run into a thunder cloud and get hit by lightning!?

“We have to get her to a hospital, have her checked properly!” Rarity blurted out, a weak smile growing on her face; yes, a proper medical examination will reveal this to be a prank! Rainbow will get up, shrug it all off, get a lecture from Twilight and everything will be back to normal!

“I ch-checked… myself,” Fluttershy choked between sobs, immediately grabbing the attention of the two unicorns beside her. She looked up with soaked cheeks and bloodshot eyes, the waterworks still clearly flooding, “She-” A hiccup saved her from continuing as she looked back to the blue, swimming blur before her.

“W-we've gotta get her to the hospital! Rarity's right; I know you have medical training, Fluttershy, but it’s best we just get the official word from a doctor! M-maybe you're wrong about her!" Twilight suggested with a grimace that tried to disguise itself as a smile, and she lifted Rainbow’s slack form with her magic. She shivered as the bones audibly shifted themselves within the body, “This… really doesn’t feel right.”

“Now isn't the time to question moving her, Twilight! We need to go!" Rarity shouted, running to the door.

“I think I can teleport us there, just let me focus! Come over here,” Twilight beckoned with a hoof. Rarity walked over to the frantic librarian as Fluttershy fought to stand up beside the body. Rainbow’s body was laid on the floor a few inches from Fluttershy, and Twilight focused, “C’mon,” She whispered, an image appearing in her mind; a hospital reception room, chairs lining the walls, a desk in the back next to a door of to its right leading into the hospital proper.

"What's taking so long?!" Rarity looked around, seeing the same walls and mannequins, the typical things used in her craft; why hadn't they left yet? It's been 10 seconds!

"Shut up and let me concentrate!! This is something I have to focus on!" Twilight growled, not bothering to hold her words in check; apologies could be made later, but the teleportation spell really was taking longer than normal. Maybe she hadn't visited the hospital enough to make it... natural? Twilight sighed, cursing her own lack of knowledge concerning instantaneous spatial movement. After a good minute of focus, something insider her skull clicked as her horn sparked up, and the room was blinded by a massive flash of light. With a crack and the suck of a vacuum, the group was gone.

The next thing the group saw as they rejoined Equestria's reality was several very shocked ponies looking at them, the receptionist behind the desk seeming the most surprised. He blinked a few times, staring at the group, and supposedly decided some humor would help... somehow, “Usually, ponies use the front door…” A bored tone closed the sarcasm for the stallion, and his hoof rubbed against the stubble on his chin.

A charging librarian towards somepony would take anypony aback, a reaction supported by Twilight rushing up to the desk. She stared the brown-coated Earth Pony straight in the eyes, panic possessing her like a demon.

“Listen! We need a doctor, NOW! My friend is in cardiac arrest and we need help!” She shouts, receiving a blank stare with a few blinks from the stallion in front of her, “Now stop staring at me and move!”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” He shouted with a salute before throwing himself over the desk and heading through the white double doors on the right side of the room; an authoritative tone that would make her brother charge into war for her. Shouting slammed up against the shut doors like a battering ram before a doctor did the job right, two nurses at his sides. Twilight looked to his forehead, a proud horn sitting atop it like a crown; good, a Unicorn, treatment tends to be faster with them.

“Where’s the patient?” He said in a calm tone, betraying the worry written on his face. His eyes moved about the room before locking on the prone form of Rainbow Dash, “Nurse Breeze, get the Pegasus on the gurney and into the ER! Nurse Summer, come with me and we’ll set up the room!”

“Right, Doctor!” The Nurses replied as they got to work, Breeze running over and picking up Dash with her hooves before setting the dead weight on her back. The Doctor and Nurse Summer ran down the hall ahead of their last team mate while Breeze carried Dash over to the gurney and put the slack Pegasus on it. With surprising speed and reassuring vigor, the gurney was shoved down the hall.

“C’mon!” Twilight shouted, and she took off after the medical team. The fashionista and chronically shy pegasus were left behind in her dust, and they looked to each other before registering that they’re meant to be running after the lavender unicorn, not sitting there enjoying the scenery. They both charged down the hall, weaving around corners, trying to keep Twilight in their line of sight, while she tried to do the same with the Doctor and his assistants. “Grrr… great time to not be as fit as you can be, Twilight… those three are fast!”

She skid to a halt outside a room with double doors, but the lack of windows denied her peaking curiosity any solace. A red light blinked on over her head, and the clang of tumblers in the doors signalled the sealing of the room. "Well, it’s in their hooves now,” She grimaced with a twinge of guilt for not being in there in time, though the feeling didn't last long as Fluttershy rounded the corner, neglecting Hooton's First Law of energy, inertia, which was quickly solved by the solid, lavender object in front of her, “Oof!”

“Ah!” The Pegasus squeaked as she gave her wings a flap, moving up off the tumbling Unicorn and crashing into the floor six feet away. “Ohhh… owwwww.”

“Fluttershy… you’ve got to look where you’re going! Ngh, my head,” Twilight rubbed her forehead, now having a headache on top of her twisted stomach and tornado of negative emotions.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Fluttershy popped up in Twilight's view, an apologetic look scratched into her face. A sigh pulled their eyes away from each other.

“Ladies, this is a hospital. We shouldn’t be running, let alone crashing into each other,” Rarity rose up from the bottom of Twilight's sight, offering a hoof to help her up. Twilight sighed and took it, pulling herself up into a sitting position. Her left hoof traced circles on her temple, a feeble attempt to soothe the pain that usually came with overthinking as she looked at the door, “Did you see anything?”

“The doors locked before I could get a good look. I know about as much as you do right now…” Twilight lowered her hoof, her eyes following suite to stare at the ground. Her brain once more set off on the trail of finding out what could have put Rainbow in such a state. Broken neck, concussion, heavy impact sending her brain on a roller coaster ride in her skull… what else? Mental shock from pain stopping her heart? Stray lightning strike? Sunstroke? There has to be an answer!

“Fluttershy, you checked Rainbow, didn’t you? Did you find anything out of the ordinary?” Rarity interrupted Twilight’s already shaky train of thought, the librarian stumbling over an answer before turning to Fluttershy, seeing the pegasus trying to come up with her own. Oh... the question isn't for me. Back to Rainbow's diagnosis!"

Fluttershy simply blinked in response before looking at the ground, drawing a slow circle in the immaculate tiling.

“Fluttershy, you have to speak to us…” Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder, brow knotting in worry.

“I… she…” Fluttershy simply shivered, trying to assemble a coherent sentence that would at least half-answer the question, but nothing representing a solid train of thought could fight its way through the storm of despair currently clouding her mind. She simply squeaks before looking away from the pair, eyes closed to fight the threat of a coming flood of tears.

“Guess we’re going to have to wait for the doctor,” Twilight groaned; nothing about this was right, not even what she’s feeling right now. Her friend is for all she knows, DEAD, and all she can do is take an analytical approach to what injury she could’ve sustained? “Get your mind out of it, Twilight,” she whispered to herself, starting to feel alienated by her own thoughts.

“Shall we head back to the reception area then?” Rarity looked between the pair, both of them pulling their eyes off the floor to look at the white unicorn. They exchange a glance before nodding, and the trio began their slow, uneventful walk back to the reception area.

The next half hour drifted by in complete silence, the ponies preferring to sit away from each other, despite the occurrence. Despair seemed to hang over Fluttershy’s head like a terrible thunderhead, while simple confusion turned Twilight’s mind into a hurricane; Rarity seemed to sit between them in mentality, unable to tell how she should feel. Even the other ponies in the room seem weighed down by the atmosphere; a single look at Fluttershy's saddened, pathetic eyes was enough to crush somepony's soul.

A glorious break in the silence came with the doctor stumbling into the room, looking as if he’d just seen something that doesn’t seem to work; a puzzle piece that seems part of the bigger picture, but it just doesn’t fit with its brethren in the design. He cleared his throat, looking over at the trio who brought him his mystery patient, “Er… i-if you three could come with me, please?”

“Of course,” Rarity quickly answered, hopping off her seat and walking up to the doctor; thank Celestia, they were about to get some answers! Fluttershy and Twilight quietly follow her example, and the four headed back into the hospital proper.

“Now, if I’m right, you three are Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy, correct?” The doctor turned his head, a note of Canterlot’s higher style of living shining through in his accent, as he led them left down a hall.

“Yes, we are,” Twilight nodded in confirmation, slight confusion showing in her eyes; weren't the Element Bearers famous across the country?

“And the Pegasus you brought me is a Miss Rainbow Dash?”

“That’s right.”

“I apologize for not knowing you beforehoof, I’m a new transfer from Canterlot, and I’ve always been more tied up in my medical terminology than the goings on of celebrities. The only thing I heard about Discord’s defeat was how he went down, the names never stuck. My name is Sye Ringe, most of the ponies here simply call me ‘Doc’,” Doc gave a quick nod and a smile, the smirk quickly fading into the more serious look used by doctors with a lot on their shoulders.

“Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Ringe. Have you found anything out with Rainbow?” Twilight asked, bracing herself for the answer.

“That…seems to be the problem. Miss Dash has suffered no surface, muscular or skeletal injuries; her spine, skull and brain are all in perfect shape. How did she end up here?”

“She… crashed through the roof of my shop, and we found her there. Fluttershy was the first to check on her, but couldn’t tell us anything... Twilight said her heart wasn’t beating, so we brought her here,” Rarity tried keeping her voice level, but it refused to stop itself from cracking in places. Looking over at Fluttershy didn't help much; her eyes were pretty well welded to the floor.

“I see… well, I can tell you now that she didn’t suffer from any injury related to a broken neck. For everything that we’ve checked, she shouldn’t be in this state at all,” Doc grimaced, “I’ve never seen a case like this in the past, where the patient simply enters cardiac arrest for no reason at all. I’ve still to see her medical record, but a quick look over her body revealed that she is quite fit and healthy.”

“It’s confusing us just as much, Doctor,” Twilight wore a serious look to cover up the derailing trains of thought in her head. She wasn’t injured in the accident? Her heart still stopped, randomly at that! Was she doing something in secret? Drinking? No, that’s not like her at all…

“My staff are currently drawing blood for a test,” Doc stopped in his tracks, "That said, where are they?" He looked down the hall with a raised eyebrow, “Around the corner is the ER… they should have run past us by now.”

“You don’t have the equipment in the operating room?” Twilight walked up to his side, following his eyes.

“No, the equipment is too large to move from room to room, so we have a central lab where we perform our tests. It’s all within walking distance of the numerous holding areas and operating rooms. What are those two doing?” Doc furrowed his brow and continued on with a sigh, rounding one last corner before coming to the door that separated Twilight and her friend before, the red light above it now off. He pushed the door open with a burst from his horn, seeing the two Nurses staring back at him. “Both of you! Why haven’t you-“

“Doc! We-We’ve got a problem!” Nurse Breeze shouted, empty syringe in hoof. She looked like she just saw a ghost!

“A problem? What do you mean?” Doc asked as he walked over, the nurse meeting him half way. She leaned to his ear and said... something. With a quick nod, he looked back to the trio, “Did you see any blood when you found Miss Dash?”

“N-No, we didn’t. Why?” Twilight blinked. Why ask about blood? The floor was as clean as it usually is, except for all the shrapnel from the roof.

“Then this is going to sound very strange. There’s a reason my staff couldn’t perform the blood test. That reason being, well… there’s no blood to use for a test.”

“No… blood…?”

“None. She’s been bled out,” Doc turned back to his staff, “Did you see any kind of hole? Any spatter or blood stains?”

“No, just these bite marks…” Breeze answers, pointing to the half-circle of cuts in the right side of Rainbow’s neck.

“What in Tartarus?”

“Wait, what does this mean, then!? I don’t know of any monsters that can fly!” Twilight leapt to Doc's side, looking at Rainbow. The prospect of a new monster feeding on ponies sent shivers down her spine; one that can fly and keep up with Rainbow Dash!?

“I-I don’t know! This is completely new to me! The Guard needs to be informed, there’s something out there; this injury isn’t in any way natural,” Doc turned and started his deft march out of the room.

“Hang on, I can get a letter sent straight to the Princess! Just give me a minute!” The shout made Doc jump, and he turned to only see the blinding flash of a pony vanishing from existence.

“T-Teleportation?” He said, rubbing his eyes. A Unicorn that can use teleportation? “Letter sent to… so that’s why the name seemed familiar.”

“Doctor, is there anything else we can do here?” Rarity tapped him on the shoulder, breaking his short trance.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so. With no blood for the heart to pump… well… it doesn’t really matter if we can get the heart started again or not,” He looked at the ground, then turned his eyes to his staff, finding the ground a rather sad conversational partner. Everyone just stared back at him, as if seeking answers for this. Suddenly the ground was seeming like a far better thing to talk to, “Just… record the time of death and add it to her record. Keep the body in the morgue, ready for release upon request of friends or family.”

“… Right,” Nurse Summer nodded solemnly, moving to the counter to collect a clipboard and pen.

“Miss Rarity, Miss Flut-“

Thud.

“Fluttershy?” Rarity stared at the prone form of her friend, panic immediately charging the gates before logic could barely respond; she's not dead too, is she?! “Fluttershy!?”

“She must have fainted, hang on,” Doc quickly moved over to the yellow pegasus, pressing his ear up against her neck. After a few moments of waiting, he gave a curt nod, “Yes, there’s still a pulse. The poor mare must be having a hard time.”

“A harder time than you would want to know, Doctor Sye,” Rarity looked over at Dash’s body, now being covered up with a white cloth. She pulled her eyes away from the macabre scene, a chill running-, well, more jogging down her spine as the bones freeze over; A harder time than anypony would want to know, and now Equestria’s most gentle pony has to endure it…

“Give me a hoof, we’ll move her out to the reception area.”

“No, don’t worry… I can do it,” Rarity lifted Fluttershy with her magic, placing her gently on her back. Using her magic to support the weight, Rarity walked out of the room, leaving the Doctor and his nurses to their work. A small magical explosion caught her attention, turning to see Twilight through the open door. Twilight's head whipped around in search of something before finally settling on Rarity behind her, and the librarian quickly walked over.

“Did they find anything?” Twilight grimaced slightly, worry already coming back.

“Nothing beyond what you were told,” Rarity slowly shook her head, “Fluttershy just fainted, so I’m moving her out to the reception area.”

Twilight looked at her as if Rarity were a book that contained all of Equestria’s worst nightmares, spells summoning horrors as soon as the pages were opened. All hope that this was simply a prank fell into the abyss of Twilight's worst fears.

“Yes, dear… and now Fluttershy has to deal with the heaviest burden of us all.”

“Tell me when you get back to the library.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve got some reading to do,” And without another word, Twilight blinked out of space again, leaving Rarity and an unconscious Fluttershy to their walk, and a bit of a blindness problem.

“Reading? What could she possibly read at a time like this?"

Chapter 3: A Study In Magic

“What to do, what to do…”

The ceiling of Ponyville Library was a very interesting thing; how does bark grow on the inside of a tree like that? How long did it take to get these bookcases cut into the wood? Just how long could Spike lie there on his back, staring up at the ceiling? Answers to these questions seemed to evade the dragon as he thought of ways to beat his boredom. I could go hang out with the Cruasaders. Eh... nah, that’d probably end in… was disaster the word? I think it is. Twilight calls whatever the Crusaders do a ‘disaster’. Isn't that kinda mean? Guess I could ask her.

“Never felt this bored before. Usually chores keep me occupied all day, but today? Things just felt… simple? Easy? I dunno, maybe I’m just getting better at cleaning up… and maybe this boredom is driving me crazy, since I’m talking to the ceiling. Trees are alive though… maybe it’s not talking to myself?” Spike scratched his chin in thought. Talking to inanimate objects was usually a sign of one going insane, but the library was alive… so did that mean he was talking to a plant? Plants aren’t inanimate, are they? What the hay does ‘inanimate’ mean anyway?

A loud crack and a bright flash of light stole away all manner of coherent thought from the dragon, and he responds to this complete derailment of his mind in the best way possible; he quickly jumped up and dove behind the couch for cover. Peeking over it after a few moments, he spotted Twilight, looking quite panicked.

“Spike!? Spike! Where are you?!” She screamed. She’s looking for me? What’s with that look in her eye? Oh no, it's not the Princess again, is it?

“I-I’m over here, Twilight! What’s going on?” Spike shouted, pulling himself over the back of the couch and onto the seat. Something’s wrong, very very wrong. Twilight only gets like this when she misses a deadline, and that usually means her really crazy side is right around the corner… and that’s not fun. I don't wanna restock everything again!

Twilight quickly spun around to face him, the panicked stare derailing the dragon's train of fearful thought, “Quill. Parchment. Now,” She ordered, and Spike quickly jumped up into a salute; Something is wrong! “We’re sending a letter to the Princess, and I’m leaving for Canterlot soon.”

“Say what? Why?” Spike asked as he set about his task, digging through the bookcases for the needed supplies. Where did I put them? Historical section… between uh… G and I?

“You don’t need to worry about that, I just need you to write something quickly and send it, then I’m off to Canterlot,” Twilight started yanking books off the shelves. The Magic section? Is she studying a new spell to wow the Princess or something? He decided not to press the issue, simply gathering the needed materials, going through a short mental checklist. Parchment, check. Quill, check. Ink pot, check. Panic? Considering she's already been here and made a letter to Princess Celestia about the Guard... well, already over that cliff and right into the canyon.

“Ready t’ go, Twilight,” Spike nodded, quill and paper at the ready, furrowed brow made for insurance; he had to look serious to be serious! He dipped the quill into the inkpot on the floor beside him and braced himself. Whatever’s coming is gonna be a real long run-on sentence…

“Alright. Write as I speak,” Twilight said with a nod, reading tomes as she paced back and forth, starting to dig a trench again. Splitting her brain between three things? Did the Princess order a two-hundred page report due tomorrow? She isn’t like this, usually.

”Dear Celestia,

this is an urgent request for access to the Canterlot Archives. Something has happened that requires your immediate attention, which I will explain in full upon my arrival. I am leaving immediately, so please spare Spike the reply.

Yours truly,

Twilight.”

Warning lights thought dormant start going off in Spike’s head, signalling something similar to Nightmare Moon’s second coming. “W-Wait, something happened? What’s going on, Twilight?”

“Send it,” Twilight didn't even look up from her book. Why is she so serious?

“R-Right…” Spike slowly nodded and wrapped up the letter, sealing it. With a quick blast of green flame, the letter was blown off on its single-minded trail to the Princess, leaving Spike with his thoughts. Why do these things keep stacking up? Why does Twilight suddenly need access to the biggest library in Equestria? I thought it was open to everypony.

“Twilight…seriously, you’re freaking me out here. What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Twilight said, slamming a book closed and placing it back on the shelf. She mumbled somthing in passive thought, ‘necro’ being the only noticeable term in her speech. “I’m leaving right now.”

“Wait, I’m coming with you!”

“No you aren’t, Spike, I need somepony to watch the library, and you’re the only one I trust. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, and I don’t know what state I’ll be in when I come back… just stay safe,” Worry finally broke through her stalwart look as she headed to the door, "If Fluttershy and Rarity come by, tell them I'm in Canterlot and won't be back for a while!"

“Twilight! Hey!” Spike shouted, only the slamming of a door being provided as an answer. Twilight, the most level-headed pony in Ponyville… sent into a panic, and she’s not saying why? “Just…what in the hay is going on?” Spike tilts his head slightly in thought, thinking of what to do. He could go after her, try and figure things out, but right now she’d just teleport him back to the library. “I can barely think of what’s going through her head on a good day; what’s got her so wound up now?”

"Two teleports, two letters, and now she's running off to the Archives? Fluttershy and Lady Rarity coming by? And I don't know a single thing, great. Maybe I can ask Lady Rarity, so not much point in freaking out if they're already coming here. I'll wait ten minutes, then head to the Boutique, see if they're there," He whispered to himself, satisfied with his plan; guess this day wasn't going to be as boring as he first thought. “What can I do, anyway? It’s better to let her sort things out and calm down,” Spike rubbed the back of his neck in idle thought; what was there to do while he waited? Well, he was staring at the ceiling before. And stare at the ceiling he continued to do, only in a new position; a weird sitting position, with his feet over the back of the couch and his back on the cushion. So what if the blood rushed to his head? Maybe it’d kill time faster.

“C’mon, gotta make it to the train!” Twilight whispered to herself in the middle of a mad sprint through the streets. An unplanned visit to the Princess? Desperate times called for desperate measures, and this was about as desperate as Twilight could get. Rainbow was dead, an Element of Harmony cut off from the world, but maybe it wouldn’t have to stay that way. Maybe the Archives held some long-lost secret? Starswirl the Bearded figured out time travel, for Celestia's sake! This kind of science had to at least have been studied in one way or another!

"Hi, Twilight! Whatcha doin'!?"

Pinkie? Now of all times!? "Uh, just heading to er..."

"Looks like you're going to the train station!"

"Yyyyes! That's where I'm going! Why?"

"Just wondering! I was actually looking for you!"

"And why's that?"

"I need some help with a new recipe, and I thought with your magick-y stuff, you could help me bake it faster!"

"Now's not the time, Pinkie!"

"Aww, c'mon! It'll take five minutes, I promise!"

"Pinkie-"

"Pleeeeease? I don't ask for much!"

Not the puppy eyes, not the pu- oh, she's pulling out the puppy eyes! Diversion, Twilight, diversion! Got it!

"Pinkie, I saw a new pony in town!"

"You what?!"

"Yeah! New pony! He's um...over by the spa!" Good thinking, Twilight!

"I'll ask you later then! Bye!"

With that, a possible disaster was averted as Pinkie ran off in the opposite direction of the station. Rainbow's death couldn't be revealed just yet, not until Twilight had had a proper chance to research it. Hopefully Fluttershy and Rarity would restrain themselves from blurting the truth first chance they got; if any library in the country had anything on bringing back the dead, it'd be the Archives, and causing a panic when Rainbow could just be brought back would be useless! Right? Right??

One crazed sprint later, and Twilight was at the station. She charged up to the booth, mane most likely in disarray, as it usually was when the librarian was panicking; the poor mare's shocked face in the ticket booth was certainly signal enough! "Ticket! Ticket to Canterlot, now!"

"Of course, Miss Sparkle...er, i-is something the mat-"

"No talking! Just get me the ticket, please!" Time was of the essence, an essence more critical than anything else in Twilight's life!

"Right, here you are. That will be ten bits, please."

"Oh, darn it, why'd I forget my money!? Listen, I'm in a really big hurry, can you hold it on a tab until I get back!?"

"W-Well, I'm not su-"

"Thanks!" The gust of wind created from Twilight running off to the train had to have been quite strong; that mare's mane wouldn't be straight for the next few days. The gust of wind from Twilight sprinting back to the booth and grabbing her ticket only served to mess up the mane more, then again when Twilight ran back to the train. Her friends would be calling her 'Sleepy Bedhead' for the next two weeks!

Twilight crashed into her seat, panting; that was the most running she'd ever done in her life. To Tartarus with athletics, not even AJ or Rainbow could run that far!

"Allll aboooooard! Mornin' train t' Canterlot! If y' got a ticket, it's invalid after we return! Last call!!" The conductor shouted to the station boarding area as hoofsteps echoed up and down the hallway beside Twilight. I wonder where that accent comes from? Maybe I can think about it after a nice... nap...

"Miss? 'Scuze me, miss,"

Twilight snorted, her eyes fluttering open. She looked around, that stupid haze in her vision obstructing everything. Was the voice speaking to her a pony or some kind of Changeling monster?

"We're about t' head back to Ponyville."

"Oh! Sorry, sorry! H-Here's my ticket!"

"Hm...alright. 'Ave a nice d-" And she was off like a shot, nearly blowing the poor conductor into the wall. He stared down the hallway, wide-eyed. "Oy, reminds me o' the little lassy back home... bleary tornado, that one. What's on this letter anyway?" The conductor raises an eyebrow, taking a note off the other seat and opening it. "The lassy who gave this to me did say del-"

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.

"Oh dear."

As the crowds of Canterlot parted to allow a very frantic-looking lavender mare by, Twilight retreated to her thoughts; her body could run on its own to the castle, she knew the route like the back of her hoof. Right now, she needed to think of ways to help Rainbow.

Now, considering she was already... dead, the many fields of medical research were pretty much rendered null; without a beating heart, the body can't help itself, and without blood, the heart has nothing to pump and the body has no oxygen to feed itself. So what could be done with a mare with no blood?

Transfusion? Fill the body back up with as many blood packs as they could get? Even then, the time it would take to fill the body would be extremely long, and the brain would suffer tremendous damage from oxygen deprivation before they managed to even get a litre back into Rainbow's body. What else? Was there a way to save the brain so a transfusion could be done? Re-ignite the pathways?

Shocking the body may cause the muscles to respond, but there's no fuel for them to work with! The entire body lacks redundancy for the absence of blood in the circulatory system! Curse Equestrian evolution!!

Ok, calm down. There has to be a way! Rainbow can't die! She's the Element of Loyalty, a vital part of Equestria. She wouldn't leave her friends behind...death is the ultimate betrayal, isn't it? Dying, leaving your friends behind...marching off to...th- NO, no! She can be brought back! There has to be a way to save her!

Twilight came out of her thoughts in time to see the gates of the castle fly past her, soon charging through a crowd of Royal Guard. No details were ever apparent, but the sheathing of swords was definitely audible; Yeah, training exercise. Twilight shouted a final time before throwing herself at the doors to the main hall of Canterlot Castle.

"I'm coming in!!"

"Luna, what exactly are you doing?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow as she watched her sister float lazily about the main hall, horn clouded by a deep blue. Curtains, cushions, couches and furniture flew about the room, all cloaked in the same starry night.

"Re-decorating. We thought that the hall required some 'sprucing up', as the citizens call it," Barely even a whisper. Well, at least Luna was getting better at controlling her voice; it seemed Twilight was right about her learning a few things during the last Nightmare Night.

"I'm not sure the hall really needs re-decorating, Luna. It's fine the way it is."

"It's been the same way for the last thousand years, sister. Just let us perform, and the hall shall be rendered anew!"

Celestia sighed, smirking slightly; if anything, Luna was always determined to finish a task given, even if the task itself was rather mundane. Still, it was less work for the castle staff, so some relief could be taken to that.

Watching Luna work away helped provide a distraction, for all it was worth trying to figure out that strange letter that ended up in Celestia's chambers that afternoon. Why would Twilight Sparkle require immediate access to the Archives? So much old information was kept there. Indeed, the genius mage, Starswirl the Bearded's work was contained there as well - it still surprised Celestia how he was able to create and solve Temporal Theory on his own -, but what could Twilight possibly need? Something had happened, certainly. Well, once she a-

"I'm coming in!!"

"Hm? Do we have a visitor, sister?" Luna asked, looking to the door as it becomes shrouded in a deep purple aura. Oh dear.

The doors were thrown open to reveal a lavender mare flying into the hall; quite the jump for a librarian! She crashed to the floor, and the doors slammed shut behind her with shocking force, the wind blast throwing her back onto her hooves.

"Well, Twilight Sparkle. To what do I owe the rather... flashy entrance?" Celestia smiled slightly, hoping to hide her worry behind a joke. Everypony liked jokes, right?

"Celestia, we have a problem," Twilight walked towards the steps, speaking with a tone that rivalled Captain Armor during his disciplinary lectures with the Guard. Didn't the citizens of Manehatten have a term for this? This dire situation?

'The feces has impacted the rotary device', wasn't it?

"Well, Twilight, I find it surprising how you're foregoing title."

"I'm sorry, Princess, but we don't have time. I need access to the restricted areas of the Archives, I'll explain on the way."

Twilight managed to get one step short of being crushed under a falling alicorn, as her view was blocked by a black chestplate, crescent moon adorning the center. The impact knocked Twilight onto her flank.

"We don't believe you should take another step before explaining thyself," Luna leaned down to Twilight's eyes, her own showing off a rather unsettling glare; angering one of the Princesses was a death sentence.

"I really am sorry for not addressing the Princess in the proper manner, but every second counts right now! I-I've got... horrible news. It's about Rainbow Dash."

Wait a moment... Rainbow Dash? The Element of Loyalty? Celestia thought there might have been something going on with the necklace Dash had worn in the past. It was strange... it was so much like a thousand years ago when she sealed the Elements within her castle after Nightmare Moon's banishment. The Elements had lost their color, and calling out to them resulted in nothing but the typical wind blowing past the trees. That memory played itself again today after checking on the Vault; one of the gemstones had lost its color, growing a deep black... it was cracked.

The lightning bolt.

"She's..."

Celestia had never seen Twilight cry in the past; distraught when she forgot how a spell was weaved, depressed when she failed a test - which was rare enough to suggest a test failure heralded the end of the world -, but never before has a tear left her eyes... the same tears now drawing rivers down her cheeks as her mouth twisted to form the words. A heart-rending sight.

"Twilight, please, say no more."

"B-but...!"

"No. I shall take you to the Archives, and you will have free access to all materials contained within for the rest of the week. Please, lay your worries at rest...I can see this news is very painful to share."

"...T-Thank you..."

Twilight seemed so determined when she crashed through the door... it didn't require a thought-appraiser to know what happened. Rainbow Dash fell today... and with her, the Element's power. Celestia could only pray the seal on Discord was strong enough to prevent him from escaping; without the Elements, he'd well have free reign unless she could summon up the same kind of power she'd had twelve hundred years ago.

Thoughts of the past could wait however. Celestia turned to the West Tower, walking up the steps as Twilight dashed to keep up. They could wait until Rainbow Dash had been taken care of.

Was this all related to that escaped prisoner, though? He brought down a company of Guards before escaping the castle and the city... did he really go to Ponyville? It wasn't that long a flight by any stretch of the imagination, and the Lunar Guard detachment that went after him hadn't yet returned... she just hoped that Luna's soldiers would have some good news.

"Princess, I have a question..."

"Yes?"

"It's about the material in the Archives," Twilight was shaken, definitely. There really was only one field of magic suited for fallen soldiers.

"Yes, Twilight... there is a section dedicated to necromancy."

"Really?"

"Yes. It has been sealed for the last four hundred years, however," Now there was a memory that wasn't worth bringing back... she still regretted allowing that research to proceed.

"Would I be allowed-"

"If my assumption is correct, then it's the one section of the Archives that would be useful to you."

The grand threshold of the Archives passed over Celestia's head as she spoke, and she walked into the center of the vast tower of records. Every bit of research not contained in Canterlot's library was held here; notes on pegasi and unicorns, documents on weather pattern theory, even a few enticing novels that were kept for historical value. All the information contained within the tower was preserved using a shield spell known only to the Royal Records Department, the blue glow over the bookcases marking the spell's effect.

A thousand years, and none of these books had aged a day... unicorn magic was remarkable.

"The section you want is two floors down."

"Wait, this is the Archives? I thought it was further up in the main body of the castle..."

"That is important documents still valued today, and are constantly used by the Magic Corps. Even Starswirl The Bearded's spells find use today in inter-continental teleportation and divining the future."

"Th-this information isn't... classified, is it?"

"You are my personal protege, Twilight. You would be learning the information contained in these walls one day," Celestia smiled, thinking of the notes and documents held within the tower. The real Archives, built so long ago and immediately added to by every library in the country... a spectacular show of how cooperation in Equestria could grant so much to its citizens.

"There's a lot to learn..." Twilight sighed, furrowing her brow as she stepped forward, "How do we get down?"

"Like this," Celestia's horn sparked to life, a platform of light appearing in the open air, "The entire tower is enchanted, and the air will solidify into something of a cloud by command of a certain spell. Cloud-walking is necessary, but I find it very useful."

"No kidding! Once I'm done here, I'm definitely learning that!"

Celestia chuckled to herself as Twilight's own horn lights up, her hooves sparking slightly with the spell's effect. At least she was easily pleased, even when it came to dire tasks. They both step onto the platform, the light bending like water to accommodate their weight, and it slowly moved downward. Under the platform, the records quickly hid themselves in the darkness, as if the light from above was cut off by something.

The platform slowed to a stop after a minute's descent, the books surrounding Twilight and Celestia tied and bound in chains. Luckily, the preservation spell functioned as well on chain and binding as on paper and leather. So much information contained within these books and tomes... all locked away from the public.

"Is this platform permanent?"

"As long as a source of magic is nearby, the air will hold its form by feeding off the reserves of that source."

"Good. Thank you, Princess."

The chains release with a mighty shattering of steel as Celestia undoes the spell, a thousand years of black magic ready to be put to use. A field of magic sealed away for so long, but she could still feel that creeping shadow in the black, the thing that corrupted those who approached it, and granted so much power to one who mastered it... that same one sealed away in the North.

"...Twilight, before you begin reading-"

"I promise to only do what is necessary with what I learn here. If I step beyond that, then I'm at your mercy."

Well, it helped solve Celestia's question, but that was a rather dire way of putting it.

"Very well. Simply call on me if you need anything. Moving the platform is as easy as conducting your levitation spell."

"Right. Ok..." Twilight closed her eyes, a book levitating over to her. 'Necros Nemis Flota', an interesting book on necromantic rituals.

"I shall leave you to it then, my student. Good luck."

"I'm going to need it," she mumbled, and slowly pulled open the ancient covers of the first book, the space in front of her seeming to darken as the dust and dirt of a millenniums imprisonment floated away.

So many terms, so many formulae... half these symbols were abandoned for more efficient equations centuries ago! Twilight had a lot of work ahead of her, and the blinding flash of her mentor teleporting away didn't help much for her focus. Still, this was the magic that could bring Rainbow back, to drag her away from the void of Death. Twilight read the first page quietly to herself, cementing every word in her mind.

"Necroyis, a search both vile and freeing; the negation of Death's hand and the returning of souls. Necroyis finds a foundation in the existence of spirits that remain 'chained' to their original bodies in a state of limbo. This 'chain' is a magical connection between the body of the fallen, and the spirit that belongs to it.

"Current mages know not of the time of this chain's existence, nor how long it can last, but theories suggest that the chain's strength is based on the final moments of a pony's life; great regret forges a stronger chain."

"Great regret? That's interesting... Rainbow Dash would have a lot of regrets if she died, maybe that gives me time?"

The book continued, the ink seeming to drag in light like a parasite deprived of sustenance for years.

"Formulae linked to Necroyis-"

"Ok, Necroyis means 'necromancy' in today's terms..."

"-all find basis in the movement of magic in the environment. The spirit is naturally tuned to the world around it; the air, the earth, the trees, rocks, any form of existence within the world. A spirit will bind itself to each of these objects in an attempt to stay connected to the world. Regret creates stronger bonds."

"Interesting..."

"The use of Necroyis is in ritual. Blood, skin, hairs of a mane and tail, bones and even close possessions all hold a binding link to the spirit, and can be used in order to call on it. These 'beacons' provide the easiest way for a spirit to find and interact with the world."

"...Blood?"

"Ritualistic acts are banned by moral and law, as they involve the taboo of connecting oneself with the next world, putting themselves and other ponies around them at tremendous risk. A spirit attempting to find its way through the other side will attract other spirits, many who have been linked to Equis for years, perhaps-"

"Wait... Equis? I thought this country's name was Equestria? I know the Griffins call the world we live in 'Kalis'...maybe Equis was the old name for Equestria?"

"-centuries. Two cases of spirits other than the one being attracted have been reported, the mages involved reporting strange hallucinations, chills running down their spine, and severe pain in organs and extremities without any injury being apparent. The most common injury is a 'gripping' of the heart, almost crushing it to the point where the muscle stops beating-"

Twilight's eyes shot wide in shock; wait, spirits could do that? Crush a heart?! She slowly lifted a hoof to her own beating heart as she continues.

"-, deaths having been reported related to this injury."

That was the clincher. The line that said everything about this field of magic's banishment. Twilight nearly dropped the book, her thoughts freezing over at that line.

Doing this wrong could lead to her own death...

Chapter 4: Out Of Sight, Still In Mind

It felt strange... a hospital really shouldn't feel this ominous, right? The white walls signifying purity, all the doctors wandering about, fixing ailment and injury with their magic and skills. It should all bring hope and pride, right?

To come here was to be offered a chance to recover... to discover that one of your friends was well and truly...

"No, no, now isn't the time to think about that... stay strong, Rarity. Fluttershy needs you to be, if no one else," Rarity whispered to herself, a look thrown back to her near-comatose friend; a spirit like that shouldn't suffer such an emotional bomb.

Ponies walking by looked to Rarity as if she were a ghost; did news really travel that quickly? They either pulled their eyes to the side in shame, or gave a sympathetic nod to the mare as they passed by. The simple acknowledgement caused Rarity's stomach to flip, keeping her eyes fixed to the floor. Her hoofsteps sounded hollow, as if she were walking through plaster, rather than across tile.

"Still hard to believe... though I doubt I'd get over something this quickly. Hmph, and to think... the only things that troubled me this much were Rainbow crashing in through my shop, and the weather playing havoc with my mane," She smirked; what cruel fate should befall the invincible pegasus. Well, as they say: misery loves company.

The double doors gave way to a gentle shove of her magic, the lobby within view, as well as all those eyes. They all simply stare at her, as if expecting some form of news. Rarity shook her head, and they all moved their eyes to each other; so few ponies, four or five at best, yet the air of sadness felt like the weight of her friends' expectations times a thousand on the unicorn's shoulders. She walked through the lobby, head held high and eyes fixed on the door; strength at this point was her greatest ally, if only to hold back the ever-growing tsunami of emotion in the depths of her mind.

It, thankfully, wasn't a long walk to Carousel Boutique, though the weight in Rarity's mind wasn't what pushed her forward, it was the eyes. The eyes belonging to everypony staring at her... all staring with some sense of knowing what transpired. Twilight didn't tell anypony, did she? No, she couldn't have... the town would be in a panic. Those knowing eyes, though... they felt like a disease burrowing into her stomach.

With a heavy slam of the door, she stumbled into the center of the Boutique and simply collapsed, Fluttershy rolling off her back as she fell into her depression. She barely managed to keep her wails to a volume that could be contained within the walls of the shop, and her tears ran unchecked in a flood.

"What happened to you, Rainbow?!" she shouted at her drawing board, though it may as well have been a pile of orange jelly in the muddled, wet world shown by her tears, "Why did you die? How? How could a pegasus as arrogant as yourself succumb?!" she pounded the floor out of rage, a flame borne of the tide crashing against her sanity. Her horn lit up in response, and a chair flew across the room; thankfully nothing of value was struck, besides the wall which now sported a rather wide crack.

A knock at the door froze Rarity's tears, and her heart skipped a beat; who could possibly- wait...

Was that humming on the other side of the door?

"Weird, Rarity usually leaves the door locked," A voice from the other side; foallish, light... oh no...

Rarity quickly pulled herself up and wiped away the evidence of her depression, setting her eyes about the room; Fluttershy! Rarity quickly picked the poor pegasus up and near tossed her into the couch, slowing her down before she hit the velvet cushions. Quick Rarity, reasoning, reasoning! She's uh... t-taking a nap, she wanted to stay for a while after the spa! Yes, perfect!

The door opened to reveal the barely lit Boutique, and a smiling Rarity sitting in the ray of light from the hole in the roof. The short unicorn furrowed her brow and walked in, looking around. Ok... Fluttershy's here, and there's a hole in the roof, and Rarity is freaking out over something, if that psychotic smile is real.

"Uhhh... Rarity?"

"Yes?!" The quick response jerked Belle back like a lasso; ok, freaky, very freaky.

"Are you... ok?" Belle backed away to the door, squinting her eyes at the crazy unicorn in the middle of the room. Maybe she should go get Twilight...

"Fine, fine, perfectly f-fine!" A sniff quickly followed.

"So why do you look so... creepy?" Belle raised an eyebrow, still unsure of whether to cross into the lair of a psycho-mare; she's seen what Twilight can do when she goes crazy.

"Er, well, y-you can see why something would trouble me!" Rarity pointed up at the new window in her roof, "A c-certain Pegasus put a hole in my roof!"

"Fluttershy?" Belle lowered her brow, looking over at the supposedly sleeping form of Fluttershy; could she really put a hole in somepony's roof? For some reason, Belle doubted it.

"No, of course not," Rarity sniffed, a shiver running through her legs, "R-Rainbow did it."

"Ahhh, yeah, that make sense. So where is she? Shouldn't she be helping you fix it?" Belle walked inside, looking around; at least they'd have a skylight now.

"No, s-she went home, flew off after me and Twilight gave her a lecture."

Were her eyes red?

"That... so? Rarity, are you ok?"

"Yes, perfectly fine, Sweetie!"

"Not when you're looking from here. Have you been crying?"

"N-No..."

Belle sat down, sliding her saddlebags off, "You have been. Your eyes look the same as mine after I cried for a while."

Rarity looked away from the filly, staring at her drawing board indignantly, "I haven't been."

"Yes, you have," Belle tapped her sister on the cheek; yep, coat's damp.

"I haven't been! I just... needed to have a shower, that's all."

"C'mon, stop lying to me, sis. What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"I know there's something wrong when you can't even look at me!"

Rarity turned back and stared Belle right in the eye, her own eyes shaking. "Nothing."

Belle stared back, eyes squinting. A rustling from the couch caught the sisters' attention, and they both turn to see Fluttershy rising from it. A cloak of pink hair hid her face from the other ponies as she made her way to the door, every step as slow and deliberate as dredging through a swamp.

"Fluttershy?" Rarity moved around her sister, managing to take a step before Fluttershy raised a hoof. She weakly shook her head and lowered the hoof, wordlessly speaking volumes to her friend. Rarity simply sat down and watched Fluttershy make her exit, the click of the lock the only sign of the door ever being closed, "Fluttershy..."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, sis," Belle looked over her shoulder at Rarity, her voice mirroring the weight of the situation felt on her mind, "If Fluttershy acted like that after it... then I don't wanna know what happened."

"The sad part is, Sweetie Belle," Rarity blinked away a few tears, "You will end up finding out eventually..."

What word could describe Fluttershy right now? The way she stomped through the street as if her hooves were lead, the way her face hid behind the mask of her mane, unwanting to see the light of reality, the way her head was hung low like a pony on the way to the gallows. What single word could describe what ponies saw moving through the streets of their town?

Was there such a word? If there was, then it rested on the tip of Fluttershy's tongue, never taking that final step into recognition, yet always there in the back of her mind, giggling as it teased. Nothing passed through the pegasus' mind as she made the slow trek home, simply protecting herself from the images, the words... that doctor.

She knew something was weighing her down, making every step painful, every thought a stream of black through her mind. Any thought that turned to that multi-colored mane, that deafening sonic boom, that raucous, confident laugh, it all just melted into a disgusting poison in her stomach, causing her to retch every time it came up. What did she want? Need? What was eating at her right now, and what could be done to make it all just stop?

Stop the country, stop the world, stop Time itself... to make the world simply freeze solid so she wouldn't have to suffer this dreaded feeling any longer. Everything slipping into an eternal slumber, no more suffering, no more depression, no more anything...

No, that's horrible... think of the ponies that would be affected. They wouldn't fall apart though, they would never feel pain like this. It would just be dreams of happiness...

"What are you doing, Fluttershy...? Wishing that on everypony," she whispered to herself, a volume barely even audible to herself.

Her mind remained blank for the rest of the trip home, a long trudge through the muk of what occurred. She opened the door with a shove from her forehead and dragged herself inside. Everywhere around her, there was silence. Complete, deafening silence, despite the multitude of birds, raccoons, badgers and squirrels. All eyes locked to their caretaker as she made her way to her room.

Even Angel simply stared on in silence, moving back slightly as Fluttershy passed.

Silence. Maybe that was what she needed... silence. The quiet of her bedroom, of a house full of guests that respected their host enough to know when to stay quiet.

She climbed onto her bed and sat down, staring at the covers under her. Brushing a hoof through her mane, she moved the worn mask back over her head in a sweep to reveal bloodshot eyes, tears still flowing from them. How long had Fluttershy known that rainbow-maned speed demon? That ever-present sign of motivation in her life, all the way from Flight School to Ponyville. Always holding her up when she was down, always defending her when she was being bullied... and she only returned the favor once with that dragon.

For a pony to know that they'll never get the chance to pay another pony back for all that was done in their life... it was a betrayal. Fluttershy, sadly, was no different in her thoughts, the same beach currently suffering a tide of black wishes and dark feelings, spreading through it like a virus. C'mon, what did she have left of her friend? What did she have that still reminded her of that pillar of strength?

Fluttershy looked about her room, wiping her eyes occassionally to get that look of drowning out of her sight. Nothing beyond a picture of her friends sitting on her nightstand could be considered a memorium of her friend. She took it gently in her hooves and placed it in her lap, staring into the magenta eyes of the pegasus who stood up for her for so long. Tears fell from her chin onto the spotless glass, muddling the faces behind it. All she had was a picture?

She had a book from Twilight's library, "101 Ways To Make Animal Food"; not very helpful, but the techniques shown were interesting. She had a scarf from Rarity, sewn specifically for Hearth's Warming Eve, along with her spa visits with the fashionista. The crazy parties and infectious giggle were given to her by Pinkie; who couldn't start laughing when she managed to faceplant into a pie after bouncing off the walls? Nothing from Applejack, but that was to be expected; the two never shared much in conversation.

What hit her hardest was her lack of things that belonged to Rainbow, a pony she'd known for most of her life. She simply stared into the pool of tears that once contained a clear image of Dash and everypony else, then closed her eyes, retreating to the things she held closer than anything: her memories.

"Harder!" A shrill cry echoed through the sky, sounding more annoyed than supportive. Fluttershy flapped her wings as hard as she could, but barely rose two feet in a single beat, "C'mon, Fluttershy!"

"I'm trying, Dash," Fluttershy pouted, looking at her friend; who knew launching into the air was so hard?

"Yes, I know, but you need to try harder. Watch me again," Dash stamped her hoof into the cloud before standing up. She spread her wings and moved them above her back. "I'll do it slowly, so pay attention."

She slowly moved her wings down, keeping them stretched and spread as far out as possible. She completed the movement with a quick flick of her wings back above her back, keeping them in towards her sides. "Alright, what'd you see from that?"

"I saw that you, um... kept your wings out as far as you could... and moved them down," Fluttershy nodded sagely at her analysis; it made sense!

"Right. I kept my wings above me as far as they could go, then moved them down, spread as far as possible. Now, what are you doing that's different?"

"I'm, um... well..."

"Do it again, and copy me."

Fluttershy nodded, standing up and spreading her wings. She moved them back and above her, then brought them down. Her wings pulled inward as they moved below her back, then stretch back out as they come down to her legs. She blinked, doing the motion again, and watched her wings repeat the pull and release. "Huh?"

"There's the problem. Something up with your wings?" Dash raised an eyebrow as she walked over to her friend, stretching out a wing and moving it.

"I-I'm not sure... can you please not do that?" Fluttershy winced as her wing was brought down past her back, forced to stay stretched out by Dash. The tendon yanked back, unable to tug against her mentor's strength, so it simply cried to her brain in pain.

"Weird. Do you fly a lot?"

"N-No..."

"Ahhh. Your wings aren't getting a proper workout then."

Fluttershy looked down at the cloud, folding one of her wings and pawing the cloud below.

"Well, how about a quick fly around then?"

"Um... b-but I'll just... slow you down."

"I want you to try and keep up with me anyway. I'll go slower this time around," Dash let go of her friend's wing and walked around to her front, "Remember what you learned in Flight School?"

"Rhythm is everything."

"Right. Keeping a consistent beat of the wings will keep you in the air. From there, it's all pitch and pause, right?"

"I-I think so..."

"Then let's go."

Dash lifted herself off the ground and ascended, the sun burning away her color until she was nothing but a black silhouette staring back at the shy pegasus on the cloud. As the world began to bleed away, Fluttershy ascended toward the rainbow mane and magenta eyes, every flap booming in her mind like a drum, every beat of her quickening heart like a punch to the chest.

Every foot of distance lost between her and Dash like a vile knife in the leg as the world disappeared...

Everything moved without constraint in her eyes, swimming like a soup made of reality itself. Nothing pieced together into a clear picture, except for the vivid colors of the picture in her lap.

"Why, Dash? Y-You stayed beside me all this time... always pushing me forward. Why did you have to leave?" Fluttershy sniffed, shivering. Tears ceased running down her cheeks, trying to comfort Fluttershy by blurring her sight of the harsh future before her, "Why did you have to leave? Leave me, leave us all behind..."

That picture was all that remained; the picture and her memories. No more overconfidence, no more supporting hoof, no more raspy laugh as Pinkie told a joke...

She turned her eyes to a window, the forest outside a mess of green and brown. The blue sliver of sky seemed to strike through clear as day, and gears turned in Fluttershy's head. She would need a lot of help, but maybe she could have something of Rainbow's... something that would help her remember.

Her cloud house wouldn't have a resident anymore... moving out would be quick. Images of a sunrise over the city of Canterlot, shadows receding in the massive valley below moved through her head, the sky painted red and pink in a beautiful rendition of Celestia's glorious Sun. Sleeping on a cloud again would be a liberating experience, and Luna knew how much Dash talked about another great nap she had on those clouds dotting the sky.

The only problem, or rather, the only things to take care of were her animals. Who would take care of them if their caretaker left for a new home? Could Rainbow's house be moved over the Everfree? If it were to hang over her cottage, then the animals would all be a quick flight away, and carrying out her care for the animals would be just as easy as any other day.

Something that belonged to Dash, and being able to take care of her animals still...

For the first time since that hospital visit, a smile grew on Fluttershy's face; the sky looked so inviting when she thought back to Dash's lessons... maybe flight would be something to try?

Chapter 5: Laughter's Lament

"T-Th... th-that can't be!"

A small thud disturbed the silence of the Boutique, the news hitting the unicorn even harder than the floor was hit by her. She could hardly believe it, that something so disastrous was locked up in her sister's head.

Never before in her life had she so hated being right; something really was bugging Rarity... and now it's bugging her. She could tell that something was wrong right after Rarity started the story; the way her eyes moved around the room, always ending up back at the hole in the roof, the panic in her voice when they discovered it, the pain of learning what happened from the doctor. It all felt like it could happen in a few moments.

It'd scare anypony, just how quickly death can occur.

"I thought the same, I assure you," Rarity fell onto her own flank with a sizeable thud, staring at the floor. She seemed spent, every feature of her face and mane screaming exhaustion. Sweetie Belle couldn't say she felt much different; when the story came to the climax, she felt like she was punched in the gut. Nausea, sadness, shock... everything just locked up.

"Have you... told anyone else?" Belle wiped her eyes quickly, trying to keep herself strong.

"No, not yet. So far... only me, Twilight, Fluttershy, and you are aware. I'm also hoping the doctor and his staff stay quiet as well," Rarity blinked, the hole in the roof pulling her eyes away from the floor, "Strange how the most irritating things in life can leave the biggest holes," she solemnly chuckled at the pun, a grin trying to crack through the macabre expression of her face.

Belle followed her eyes, staring at the hole in the roof. Being greeted by such a happy sky made her feel sick; as if the day had any reason to be happy right now! Somepony just died... and here was the blue sky, smiling as if nothing happened! She glared through the hole, willing the sky to turn red, or simply go dark with a sad moon moving overhead. At least then, her sister and her friends wouldn't be alone in their depression.

"I guess we're keeping this secret then?"

"For the moment, yes."

"... What now, then?" Belle moved her eyes back to the couch where a pegasus once lay, finding her efforts to incite sadness in the world useless. The back of the couch was soaked, as if shedding tears of its own.

"Now? Well, what would a lady do for her fallen friend? Organize a funeral," Rarity sighed and headed over to her drawing board, her steps containing renewed determination, "And at a funeral... everypony always looks their best."

"I'm gonna go find Scootaloo... see if she's heard about this," Belle walked to the door; why did every step feel heavier? C'mon, Belle, focus, you have to find your friend! If Scootaloo learns about this... well, I'm not sure what might happen. It'd involve a lot of tears, screaming, and probably a visit to that place... therapist? Thurapest. Thirapest?

Oh, one other pony to find, actually; Twilight.

The walk through Ponyville, despite the sun hanging high in the sky and the happy ponies going back and forth, felt heavy, as if the world itself was trying to suck all manner of reason out of Belle's efforts. If Scootaloo found out about her, then she would've been tackled already by a frantic filly, or Apple Bloom would be running around screaming her name. Would Scootaloo even be in town anymore if she found out?

A few minutes passed, not even a sound helping to confirm or deny her suspicions. Belle already decided the search for Twilight was pointless; a quick stop-in with Spike at the library confirmed that, but her search for Scootaloo wasn't turning anything up either. What would that filly do, anyway? Would she run away? Lock herself up? Go find somepony else for help? Or-

Belle stopped in her walk, now feeling the tears running down her cheeks. No, she wouldn't do that, never. She'd go find somepony, she'd look for the other Crusaders! Don't start thinking the worst, Belle, just carry on. She'll turn up, no doubt! With a quick wipe of her eyes, she continued on her way. Sugarcube Corner sat straight ahead, oblivious to all the evils in the world with its happy colors and gingerbread house look; Scootaloo did enjoy her cupcakes, almost fanatically so. Belle picked up her pace into a trot.

"Hello!" The bouncy pink mare behind the counter near-shouted as Belle came through the door. Her greeting seemed to fall on deaf ears however, as the filly's eyes simply moved about the room. "Oh, hi Sweetie Belle! Come in for a treat?"

"Huh? Uh, n-no, I'm actually looking for somepony. Have you see Scootaloo at all?"

"Scootaloo, Scootaloo... I don't think I've seen her since yesterday! She ordered a lot of cupcakes, I had to make three batches to cover the order! How do you think she eats them all? Even I have trouble eating three batches of cupcakes, although the batches I make for myself are twenty in one tray while the batches I make for other ponies are thirteen in one tray which would be a baker's dozen but-"

"Miss Pie, slow down!" Sweetie fell on her rump, fore hooves flailing in the air; no rambling! A tangent would keep her there all day!

"Woops, sorry! Guess I got ahead of myself!" Pinkie smiled her typical toothy grin; Sweetie almost hated how infectious that smile could get as a smile started to grow on her own face. She shook her head, staying focused on the mission at hoof, and turned back to the door.

"Not gonna buy anything, Belle?" Pinkie inquired with a quirked mouth, bouncing around the counter. Belle stopped at the door and scuffed the floor, grimacing slightly; maybe bringing Scootaloo a cupcake would be good...

"Well... yeah, sure. I... don't have any money on me, though," Belle turned, keeping her eyes to the floor in a slight squint.

"That's ok! I can run a tab for you, then you can pay me tomorrow! What'll it be?"

"Um... a cupcake would be nice... make it two," Belle nodded; one for her and one for Scootaloo. She'd need the sugar boost to get through what's coming anyway.

"Coming right up!" Pinkie saluted and vanished into the kitchen, a pink trail left behind. Belle found just enough time to sit down before her eyes fell upon two cupcakes that seemed to have sprouted pink roots; the cupcakes have pretty good decorations, too! Blue icing... multi-colored sprinkles all arranged in... a rainbow?

"Uh... th-thanks, Pinkie... could you put them in a bag, please?"

As if reading her mind, Pinkie was already behind the counter before Sweetie could finish her sentence, and two seconds later, she returned with a bag between her hooves. Sweetie gingerly took the bag in her teeth and turned back to the door, thoughts other than how two cupcakes will hammer her already lousy allowance plaguing her mind.

"Oh! Belle, before I forget!"

"Huh?"

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere? She and I are supposed to go pranking tomorrow, and I wanna make plans before hand!"

Belle froze at the door mid-step, bag crumpling under her tightening jaw; she wanted to see Rainbow? Scenarios started scrolling through Belle's head, all varying degrees of very, very bad. Should I tell her the whole story? Say that Rainbow died today? Or should I ease into it? Should I even say anything at all?

Lie? Tell the truth? What should I do!? And why did she have to ask now of all times!? Dealing with Scootaloo is gonna be hard enough, but Pinkie's been friends with Rainbow for who knows how long! What to do, what to do!?

She very gently placed the bag down on the top step of Sugarcube Corner's front door, using as much time as she could so she could think things through. If she lied, then Pinkie would know... and if she told the truth, then Pinkie would... would do something! Why did this have to be so hard!?

"Um... I, uh," Belle stuttered, keeping her eyes faced outside. If she saw her face, Pinkie would literally taste the fear coming off her! Focus, Belle, focus! Think up something! She's gonna find out eventually, right? Why do I have to be the bearer of bad news?

Of soul crippling, mind destroying bad news?

She's going to find out eventually... going to find out eventually...

Somepony's going to tell her sometime. Maybe...?

"Um... I-I have s-seen her," Belle kept her sight locked on the street, shivering slightly. She dug deep to find any form of resolve she could, any bastion of inner strength that would hold against the incoming storm, but every single structure crumbled under the terror of what was coming.

"Where? Is she at her house? The library? Oh, I bet she's at the library! Daring Do is pretty cool!" Pinkie bounced with a giggle or two, this only serving to make the message more painful for Belle to deliver. The filly stepped to the side, taking her cupcakes with her, and sat down in the shade of the wall. Funny, the shop was pretty well lit, yet this one wall had a shadow... perfect for the message that was coming, right?

"Well, no. Pinkie, can you stop bouncing around, please? This... this is serious," Belle looked up at Pinkie, and the mare immediately stopped bouncing. Her eyes seemed to change as her smile disappeared, and with a blink or two, she took a seat on the floor as well. The two simply stared at each other, each seeking something within the others' eyes; Belle looking for some form of understanding, something that would free her from having to say what she had to, while Pinkie sought out the truth, searching for some form of hint. One felt like her life was on the line, while the other simply felt it was another game.

"I'm not sure how to say this, but... Rainbow Dash... she's," Belle shook slightly, her eyes wavering every so slightly, "S-She's... in t-the hospital."

Pinkie remained surprisingly silent, though her own expression started to waver. Before, she seemed neutral, indifferent, impervious to any kind of news, but the mere mention of her friend being in the hospital hit a nerve, and her mouth curved into a slight frown.

"What's wrong with her?" Pinkie's flat tone, however defensive to her emotion, was almost scary to the filly before her. This wasn't like her at all...

"S-She's... s-" Belle sniffed, tears creeping into her eyes.

"Tell me," Pinkie's brow furrowed as she leaned in, digging further into the unicorn's eyes, looking for that truth again. Her cerulean eyes dove straight down into Belle's soul.

"I..."

"Tell me."

"I c-can't..."

"I'm going to find out eventually, Sweetie Belle... just tell me."

Belle simply quaked, despite the encouraging words; This is only gonna end in disaster! Pinkie's gonna leave, crying, and it'll be all my fault! She whipped her head back and forth quickly, tears flying off muzzle from the expression of denial.

"Please, tell me!"

Her breath was ragged, waterfalls sprouting from her eyes as she looked back up to the baker's own. She knotted her brow, still seeking that one shelter to protect her own heart from the storm.

"Tell me, Sweetie!!"

Another pause. Another damning pause, another few seconds burning away in Belle's search. Nothing was strong enough, no walls, no cliffs, no mountains... just the shore, and the coming tidal wave. Pinkie leaned in further, her eyes driving further into Belle's mind, their muzzles close enough to be considered a crime. This is a bad idea! A very bad idea! Stop listening to me and leave, Pinkie!

"Belle, tell me, I'm just gonna find out later if you don't say anything!" Pinkie's own expression lost strength as she grabbed the filly by the shoulders, "Don't let this be a surprise! Please! Just tell me what's wrong with Dashie!!"

"She's...!" Belle shivered again, her legs losing strength, "She's!" Her knees finally gave out, causing her to stumble, but she found the structure she needed... that final castle. Now or never!

She takes as deep a breath as she can, and Pinkie moved back, the room holding a breath of its own. Their minds put up a final wall in preparation for the storm, the filly praying hers was strong enough.

"SHE'S DEAD!!"

An echo... then silence. Numbing, frigid, locking silence. Two pairs of eyes looking into each other, now both seeking some form of refuge. A mane burst, losing its usual puff, a coat lost its vibrant color, yet the silence held strong. Neither could find it in themselves to cry. Belle's refuge crumbled, Pinkie's defenses fell...

A moment of weakness could shatter a soul... not even a speck of dust was capable of making a sound. The two simply stood still, staring at each other, nary mouthing a word, making a sound, their eyes speaking volumes for them. Belle's heart clenched, staring into the cerulean eyes now spilling their own tears; she would leave in tears... but she would cry eventually... it'd be best to start now, right?

Bad news should always be given first, shouldn't it?

Pinkie rose to her hooves and walked over to the door, mane draped over one of her eyes. She mouthed out a silent 'thank you' before walking through the door, quickly picking up into a sprint. The filly left behind simply looked out the door, gathering up the rubble of her castle, building it back into a reasonable defense.

This was going to be one long day...

~~~~~~

Thunder. Lightning. Anarchy. Chaos. There was no fitting word to describe the state of Pinkie's mind as she raced through the streets, ponies flying left and right to get out of the way of the pink train. She made a sharp right, dust flying up as she struggled to stay on her hooves, mane fluttering in the wind behind her. For once in her life, she felt glad that she could run so fast, grateful for her time working on the rock farm; it made her legs the strongest things she knew in life. The four pillars carried their payload all the way to the hospital with frightening speed, the double doors quickly coming into view. She hit the brakes and turned to her side, using her flank to soften the blow of opening the doors.

Well, it certainly softened the physical impact against her skeleton, the same couldn't be said for the two ponies suddenly grabbing their chests as the doors slammed into the walls. "Sorry!" Pinkie shouted as she slid up to the desk with a spin. Her hooves slammed down in front of the receptionist, and he was treated to the second set of frantic eyes he'd see that day, only these ones unsettled him to his core. "Where's Dashie?"

"W-What?" The receptionist leaned back as Pinkie came closer, nearly pushing herself over the desk.

"Where's. Dashie?" She asked again, brow furrowing with growing frustration.

"D-D-Dash-"

"Rainbow Dash!! Where's Rainbow?!" Pinkie shouted, throwing the receptionist onto his back. He rolled over his head and stood upright, saluting in terror.

"M-M-Morgue, m-ma'am!"

A pink dust cloud was left behind for him to speak to, and he slowly lowered his salute. A blink beat his mind registering that a psychotic mare was now charging through the hospital, and he ran after her. "Hey! Wait!!"

The shouts fell on deaf ears as Pinkie charged about the halls, expertly dodging around patients and doctors, searching for the room called 'Morgyou'. That was what he said, right? What's a morgyou? Sounds like candy! Maybe that's why Rainbow was there!

Pinkie's mind twisted and flipped with every jostling turn she made, sometimes making complete one-eighties and running back and forth down the same hall. She finally crashed into the receptionist, and he grappled her in his forehooves, keeping her on the floor.

"Wait a minute, miss!"

"I need to see Rainbow! Please!"

"Just let me take you there! Calm down and stop running!" He shouted, tightening his grip; this mare was powerful!

"I need to see her now!"

"I know, just stop flailing! You ran past the morgue about five times!"

"Oh," she immediately gave up her fight with a flat expression, and the receptionist slowly let her go, confused by the sudden surrender. They both rose to their hooves, eyes all around staring at them.

"Um, s-sorry gentlecolts. I'll take care of this," the receptionist let out a nervous chuckle; his boss was watching, wasn't she? "R-Right, this way."

The walk was meagre and silent, Pinkie waging war against her urge to blurt out another tangent, and thankfully winning. The receptionist would throw glances back to her from time to time, worry constantly etched into his wrinkled brow, but he breathed out a sigh of relief as she remained completely calm.

Well, she looked calm, sure. In her head was the most terrible storm imaginable, the kind of storm that would burn the entire planet away, but she looked completely calm. Stone-faced. Poker faced. Calm and collected. Cool. About to lose her mind, but she looked fine.

"Are we there yet?" She asked flatly, several lightning strikes vaporizing a house in her mind.

"Almost," he replied, sweat creeping down his brow. The sign hanging next to the next set of double doors brought a wave of relief to him, which was quickly replaced with spine-shattering terror; the Morgue was where dead ponies went... she wanted to s-

"Here it is!" Pinkie exclaimed, confirming the stallion's terror, and bounced up to the door. She pushed it open, the very air recoiling in appalled horror of her expression; how dare she smile while entering the room! Yet she moved into the room, taking in the sights.

The first relation she made was the cold air. It felt like her fridge at the bakery! Chilly! A shiver ran through her spine down to her tail as she walked on, two doctors staring at her with furrowed brows. She waved at them, completely oblivious, and continued looking around. Steel lined the walls like a giant vault, simply doors all marked with numbers. Twilight would love it here! So many numbers!

Her mane refused to puff back out, and the pink curtain blocking half her sight annoyed her; she was happy! Rainbow would be here, just sleeping! She'd be fine and they'd go out pranking again!

"Um... where's Rainbow?" Pinkie tapped her chin, looking around; the room did lack a certain rainbow maned laugh machine. Weird.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" One of the doctors asked, lowering his clipboard, his eyebrow moving in the other direction.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"Ah, yes, the baker and famous Element Bearer... you're looking for a Miss Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, I am! Where is she? I thought she'd be in here!" Pinkie smiled again as a town burned to the ground in her brain. Thousands died in the flames as the storm relentlessly tore the country apart.

"Er... can we show her?" The doctor turned back to his co-worker, and the two lowered their voices as they spoke to each other. Pinkie leaned in, her hard-coded want to eavesdrop taking over.

"... She is a friend, it's in our policy..."

"... Mental anguish..."

"... trouble?"

"... Fine..."

The doctors nodded to each other, and the one with the clipboard turned back, his yellow eyes glinting in the blue light of the room. His expression became serious as he placed the board on the counter and walked to the end of the room, "It is within our policy to allow friends and families to see the patient. You're absolutely certain you wish to see her?"

"Of course I am! I don't know why I'd be here otherwise!"

Ponyville exploded into chaos in her mind, Twilight battling against innumerable abominations rising from the Everfree, a Hydra leading the charge as it tore through ponies and houses alike.

"Then come over here. I'd suggest you brace yourself," he placed a hoof against one of the doors, this one marked 'CI-47', and Pinkie joined him at his side. He pushed her slightly to the other side of the door, and waited a moment. His eyes fell on the mare before him, but her expression just seemed... childish to him. Didn't she know what was held behind this door?

"Well? I'm ready," her voice fell to a much more serious tone, and the doctor was taken aback. He blinked, confused, but simply gulped, shoving his fears back.

"Well... here you go."

The door opened as a terrible earthquake tore apart Canterlot's support pillars in Pinkie's mind, causing the entire city to fall to the earth below. Lightning fell all around, ripping apart the country's fields and hills as the doctor moved around the door and placed a hoof on the bed within. She remained as the last pony in a country of fire and destruction, facing down the horrible thunderhead as the doctor pulled on the bed...

And when she saw that rainbow rise from the darkness of the cell...

She died as well. She wasn't even sure of what killed her... it could've been lightning, a Hydra cutting her in half with its teeth, or simply her heart stopping.

Everything just froze as she looked at her friend's face, and she moved her pink mane out of the way to take in the whole picture. Rainbow didn't even bother to look back at her, but how could Pinkie expect that to happen? A pink foreleg draped over the blue neck and drew Pinkie closer, staring at Dash's closed eye. She was frigid...

An eerie, raspy laugh echoed through the destroyed landscape of Equestria, lightning still falling like rain all over. Pinkie stared up into the black clouds, unable to move her body; did she even have one anymore? Whatever killed her was pretty thorough if she couldn't even move her eyes.

The laugh bounced around in her head, throwing up fleeting clouds of dust that passed over her vision. Her eyes burned... couldn't blink to get the dirt off, so she just lived with it. Something pulled her up, or at least it felt like she was being pulled up.

A lock of hair fell into her vision, followed by a pair of magenta eyes. That same laugh passed across the land, throwing dust up again, but the mouth below the eyes never moved.

"Dashie...?" Pinkie's voice bounced in her own head, projecting from nowhere, but arriving everywhere.

"Not anymore," the voice replied, "Well, I guess my nickname won't go away that quick... but I won't be hearing it again."

"Dash..."

"C'mon Pinkie, where's that smile of yours?"

"How can I smile at a time like this?"

"Because it's what you do best, Pinkie."

The world darkened with a blink, the clouds above sharpening. Pinkie continued staring upward.

"No... I can't smile now. My friend's dead..."

"I may be gone, but you've gotta keep smiling."

"What've I got to smile about? Smile for?"

"Well, you can smile about tomorrow coming around eventually. Your next party's coming up, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

Her view fell to a sight of the wartorn landscape as she got pushed up into a sitting position, Rainbow draping a leg over the back of her neck; it felt like ice over her spine.

"And who to smile for? The rest of your friends, obviously."

"Twilight, and Applejack..."

"And Rarity and Fluttershy. You've still gotta make them happy, right?"

"But I can't make you happy..."

"If you just carry on, that'll make me happy. I'm there in spirit, aren't I? And what am I gonna think if the local party master isn't up to snuff?"

"I guess you wouldn't be very happy..."

"I can't be disappointed in my friends," Rainbow pulled her in, and Pinkie looked over, finally regaining control of her eyes, "But I don't think I'd be too happy seeing a frown on your face."

"No, I don't think you would... still..."

"C'mon, Pinkie, smile."

Pinkie looked back across the landscape, some fires still burning, the green hills and grass turned to torn up dirt and burned earth. The storm continues to broil above, lightning strikes landing in the distance. How could she smile right now? Everything's destroyed, everypony's gone, and all that was left was her and Dash.

Everypony was gone. Nopony left to smile for, no smiles left to give, no laughs left to make. Pinkie's eyes drifted back to the pegasus beside her as she was taken into a hug, and her strength returned to her legs. She lifted up two torn, bleeding legs, and weakly returned the hug. Her grip passed into Rainbow's body, but the cold was there.

"Just smile for me, please."

Pinkie tried to tighten her hug, but she simply hit her stomach everytime she tried to pull her friend closer. She shook as the efforts continued, a hurt sniffle coming out.

"Smile..."

"I-I'm trying... b-but how? You've always been there..."

"I haven't been around as long as you think I have, and you've been smiling for longer than you think. You have your other friends... I'm not saying forget me, I'm saying try and move on."

"I can't! I can't just move on after this!"

The pulls turned into weak flails.

"You have to, Pinkie. You've gotta move on and stay strong for everypony else... I can't be there anymore."

"You're lying! T-This is another prank, I know it is!"

"I wouldn't do that. You taught me pranks should make everypony laugh in the end, right?"

Pinkie felt herself get pulled closer as her legs finally got purchase, and the two pulled each other into a tight hug. The lightning continued to fall all around them, the storm not giving up in its thorough mission to end all life under its deadly shroud.

"T-That's right... you wouldn't hurt us like this..."

"No, I wouldn't. I don't know why I died... or how... but all I know is you have to move on. Please..."

"Not without you..."

Pinkie leaned up against the frigid form of her friend and closed her eyes. Her lips fell on the cold neck, shivering as she made contact. Rainbow pulled her away and looked her in the eyes.

"You have to. Neither of us have a choice in this..."

Pinkie pulled at Rainbow's shoulders, but her friend's grip held her in place rather easily. She wanted to take Rainbow back in her embrace again, feel her, even if it's just a cold image... her heart screamed out for the two to join together again, but the world just wouldn't have it. She pulled as hard as she could, but she started to fall backwards. The storm cracked above them, a ray of light shining down as Rainbow's wings spread.

Her friend gave her a single kiss on the nose before she rose up, "I'll see you around, Pinkie... remember, smile for everyone. Stay strong..."

"Dash!" Pinkie screamed, her body losing all control. She flopped back onto the ground as her eyes shot wide, the rainbow mane flowing in some invisible wind, "Dash!!"

"See ya... I'll always be with you."

"DAAASH!!!!"

Pinkie shot up off her friend's chest, screaming her name. The doctors jumped in response as her tears started flowing freely, dripping on the cold steel of the morgue bed.

"Dash! Come back!" Her eyes shook, perceiving something besides the corpse before her. She pounded the bed as the other doctor by the counter rushed over to her, "Come back to me! Please! Come back! Come back, Dashie!!!"

"Miss Pie, please, restrain yourself!" The doctor shouted as his magic kicked into gear, grabbing Pinkie by the forelegs. She was dragged backwards, flailing like a madmare as her friends shadow disappeared into the sunlight.

"RAINBOW DAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!"

Chapter 6: Just Out Of Reach

The sound of scratching filled the tower, a hoof grating against the ground. Stone, marked with red, began to bear a peculiar symbol, an arcane circle drawn so hard into the platform that it looked like a natural formation. The lavender unicorn with red stripes continued scratching the design into the ground, making repeated checks to the book beside her.

It has to be perfect, nothing less.

The three-circle design, drawn like a tunnel, sat complete as the hoof was drawn away, setting about drawing the symbols.

Omega, Alpha, Tybre, Epsilon, Sibnis, Ulth...

She read off every symbol and drew as such, every drawing perfectly shaped, perfectly made. A single mistake could put everypony in the castle in danger, and the unicorn would be at the center of it.

... Trith, Epsilon, Alpha, Fuse, Dithis. That should do it for the outer circle... that'll seek out any spirits who are inherently connected to what I place in the circle.

A nod came from the unicorn, the relieved tension allowing her to swallow for the first time in minutes; it was amazing just how painful a dry throat could be...

Next, the inner circle... binding. Spell equations relating to telekinesis.

Eyes scanned the designs in the book, blinking in shock; this wasn't telekinesis...

'Chain Bind'? I haven't heard of that spell before...

She set about drawing the complex equation into the circle, hoping all the symbols would fit. Yestercentury's unicorn magic was strange; was it just more inefficient, or did the equations dynamically change over the years?

... Done. Now the final circle, vision.

She looked back to the book and flipped the page with her magic, careful not to get her red stripes on the book; it would take a while for the cuts to heal.

There it is, Mage Foresight. Strange name, but at least it's to the point.

She nodded and set about writing the equation into the inner circle, remembering orientation with the outer symbols. Perfection was a must here, and thankfully, the librarian was always perfect.

She hoped...

Alright... done. Now I just need something of Rainbow's...

She looked around, realizing she never brought anything with her, "Well, the Princess did say call her for anything I needed..."

She turned to make her way out, only to come face to face with a rather immaculate golden necklace. No, really, it was immaculate... perfectly polished, the design was smooth... was it made from a single piece of gold?

Wait, focus.

"Twilight Sparkle?" A voice asked from above, and the librarian looked up into her mentor's eyes.

"Oh, uh... Princess, there's something I need."

"Besides a doctor? What did you do to yourself?"

"I uh... tried to find a proper artery that wouldn't hurt when I cut it open... it took a few tries, but I'm fine now," Twilight shook her head, looking over the cuts on her left leg; she'd torn it to ribbons in her search for that painless artery...

"I shall call for a medic then."

"No, wait! I'm fine... I need the blood anyway, they'll heal over. There's something else I need."

"And what would that be, my student?" Celestia stepped back, looking over at the arcane circle in the ground. A Soulseeker ritual... good first choice, the blood made a good binder.

"I need something of Rainbow's. Something she held very close to her."

"Would the Element of Loyalty do?"

"It's worth a shot... but if you could also get something from her cloud house, I think that may help as well."

"Anything in particular?"

"Rainbow was a Wonderbolts fanatic through and through... so she probably held something from them very close. A signed photo, or a poster maybe?" Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, her mane smearing with blood. Her vision blurred a bit as another heart beat sent out a short spurt of blood onto her neck; maybe the cuts were a bit bigger than she thought, "Maybe that medic would be good..."

"I shall send one down then, and retrieve the items from Rainbow Dash's home."

"Ok, t-thanks, Princess Celestia... I'm gonna get to work on a second ritual," Twilight meekly smiled as the Princess turned and left, passing through the huge double doors.

Celestia sighed, the nausea now hitting her full force; even as a simple circle of blood on the ground, the feeling was unmistakable. Necromancy never had a good effect on her stomach, though she never really understood why. The research put towards the field was what scared her most, but the practice was banned across Equestria, and the field itself slipped into history's fold.

The only ones who truly knew about necromancy now were her, Luna, and Twilight, along with a single shadow that she'd prefer to leave locked in its cell. Even bringing the field back out through her student caused her stress; she promised she wouldn't take the field further than what was necessary, but the basis of that magic had a tendency to reach into one's spirit...

Celestia cast her worries aside with a quick shake of her head; Twilight promised, and she wouldn't dare break that. The main hall came into view as she passed a final threshold, the room filled with the red light of sunset; it would almost be time for Luna to take over. She looked over the hall, two Guard saluting her; Thunder units? Didn't the Knights usually guard the hall?

"Gentlecolts," Celestia spoke with her usual level tone, a light smile gracing her lips.

"Princess," The two mares replied in unison. Celestia's brow furrowed for a moment in confusion; these Guards did have a tendency to look similar... and contain a majority of stallions.

"Why are Thunders guarding the main hall?"

"Captain Armor took a Knight detachment over to Manehatten, something about a disturbance there, ma'am."

"That so? Why didn't he tell me?"

"He informed Princess Luna, ma'am. He said there wasn't a lot of time, so he left soon after with about forty soldiers."

"Forty? What could he possibly need that many soldiers for?"

"Security, he said."

"I'll be sure to have a discussion with him about 'subtlety'. I have a request for the Guard."

The two soldiers lowered their salutes and set their spears on their backs, "Anything, Princess."

"I'd like one medic from the Magic Corps and one of our royal doctors be sent to the Archive Tower. Faster is better, ladies."

"Of course, Princess," The two quickly snapped back into a salute.

"Dismissed."

The two guards took to the skies and rocketed off through the hall; even inside, the Thunders were impressive flyers. Lieutenant Striker did a good job with training his soldiers... hopefully, news of this death wouldn't spread further than Twilight's circle of friends; having him hear about it would just create ripples in the ranks, the stallion tended to be emotionally unstable as is. The Princess walked down the steps and stretched out her wings; she never got many chances to simply fly somewhere, and a trip to Ponyville would give her some good exercise. The front doors cast open with a push of her magic, and a single flap of her wings set her soaring over the courtyard of the castle.

Marble walls stretched up into the dimming sky as the Princess rose up over the yard, several soldiers on the battlements saluting her as she flew past. Powerful wings sent her along in long glides over the side of the mountain, the valley rolling away in a smooth river of green. It seemed strange to the alicorn as she made her way towards her destination; Equestria just suffered the death of a very important pony... yet no one was the wiser, no one seemed to mind, not even the land itself changed or shifted in response.

Well, it seemed kind of crazy for the land itself to shift in response to a death, but everything seemed to move on as it usually did. The world was oblivious to losing one of its most critical lives, and it carried on turning... every time she'd lost someone in the military, or close to her, the world simply carried on. She eventually learned to do the same, just by watching the world from her balcony; Death was, in the big picture, ineffectual... nopony ever remembered the bad things, or the pain of those who passed on. Many pursued numerous fields of magic to bring their loved ones back, of course, but they all learned to let go as well.

Necromancy was one of those fields, and certainly the most dangerous. The capability to drag a soul through the veil? A very powerful binding magic was required, as well as extremely sharp perception, and even then, the caster was at the mercy of the spirit as to whether the spell would be a success or not. The world slowly scrolled by under the gliding alicorn as memories passed through her mind.

Many were grainy, aged, drawing themselves through her mind like ancient pictures. Visions of her and Starswirl working away in a dark library, the light from their horns and a single candle allowing them to perceive years of written knowledge. Clover the Clever performing alchemical experiments under the castle... goodness, that was a rather loud explosion when she tried making medicine.

Good memories... well, except for that one accident. Clover spent a week cleaning up the dungeon after that particular mix-up! Celestia chuckled at the memory, ending with a melancholy sigh. Of course she wanted those two back, she wanted everypony back... those that fell in the war, those that fell due to a simple mistake in a lab, and ponies simply taken by Time itself.

Moving on was the hardest lesson to learn, but it had kept her strong for all these years. Being immortal could be hard when the pony didn't have the right mind set.

She shook her head, setting her mind back on her task, and touched down at Rainbow's house. The clouds here seemed puffier than those in Canterlot... that was another experience she hadn't had for hundreds of years: sleeping on a cloud. Perhaps her royal duties would slacken enough to afford a nap above Canterlot, or maybe just spend a night outside...

A nasty cold would likely follow that... A grimace crossed Celestia's face as she made her way to the door, looking over the house. Well, it couldn't really be called a house up close, it looked more like a fortress... Cloudsdale's architecture shined through in white pillars supporting the open-walled house's ceiling, though certain rooms definitely were blocked off by clouds. Posters and pictures were spread all over the living room, as well as an unfinished breakfast; work must have called her in early that day...

The Princess wandered about the house, looking over the pictures; most, if not all, were pictures of the Wonderbolts, several of which had the Captain's face circled in red marker. Walking closer to one of the pictures, she saw something strange... that was a circle, wasn't it?

Hmmm...

That is indeed a circle. Strange... ah, it blends in with her mane! That's why. Funny, looked like something else for a moment. Celestia raised her brow as the realization hit her. Perhaps she wanted to be Captain of the Wonderbolts some day?

More wandering about the house revealed little besides how much of a mess a single pegasus could make. The answer to that? Quite a mess indeed. It looked like her bed chamber while she was still learning telekinesis... such a long time ago, that was. Food was spread all over the place; must have been enchanted by residual magic from the furniture, though some of it was stuck to the ceiling.

She had quite a love for sandwiches.

"You'd think Rainbow Dash would eat a little better," Celestia mumbled to herself, deciding to head back to the living room; intruding in the household of another was quite rude, though her curiosity had to at least be half-satiated, "I'm sure she'll haunt me for this."

Looking over the pictures again, she found what she was looking for; a shot of Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts after the Best Young Flyer's Competition. She looked so happy then...

She turned and pulled one of the posters off the wall and looked both articles over; both bore autographs from Captain Spitfire. Nodding to herself, she walked to the door and headed outside. Sunset had fallen to twilight during her flight.

"Luna's probably waiting for me," she sighed; another slumber awaited her. Perhaps she could stay up and assist Twilight with her work? A flap of her wings sent the alicorn towards the shadowy town of Canterlot, a tiny blue light shining from the top. Quite impressive how Luna had improved over the last year and a half; her magical skill had only sharpened during her banishment, likely under Nightmare's guidance, but what truly impressed Celestia was the sheer volume of magic her sister contained. The light generated from her horn must have been blinding most of Canterlot for it to be seen all the way from Ponyville... even if the city was three hundred feet up the side of a mountain, the central tower of the Castle had a clear view of the valley. Quite impressive worksstallionship from the time of King Goldenline.

"Huk!" Celestia threw a hoof over her mouth as her stomach suddenly flipped; what was with this powerful nausea!? Has Twilight already cast a ritual?!

The threat of vomiting passed as a violent burp, causing a thick blush on her white cheeks, thankfully covering up the green, "Excuse me..." she said to the air. Even when alone, it was polite. The rest of Celestia's flight consisted of random bowel turnovers, burps, and one case where she had to stop on the mountain to vomit. Every inch of distance covered created more of a disturbance in her stomach; that was definitely a ritual being cast, she never ate anything bad that day!

Curse that magic...! She thought as another burp broke its way through her clenched jaws. Wiping her lips with a quick swipe of her leg, she continued her journey back to the castle, the trek becoming more difficult as she got closer.

By the time she got back to the castle, she'd suffered another vomit attack, and several more rude burps. Her throat was getting sore from all the apologies for her gas... had Luna not been there, she would have collapsed!

"Sister, are you alright!? What's wrong!?" The blue alicorn asked, panicked.

"I-It's alright, Luna... just a bit sick from t-the ritual occurring downstairs," another burp passed through, and Celestia fell to her flank, "I'd forgotten why I sealed away that magic..."

"It... causes you severe nausea?" Luna raised her eyebrow, "And what magic dost thou speak of, Sister?"

"N-... Necromancy."

"Necromancy? You mean that field of magic discovered over four thousand years ago?"

"One and the same... ohhhh," Celestia grasped her stomach, mouth twisting in sickened agony, "Get me a bucket please..."

As she released her lunch, a bucket teleported in just in time to save the balcony from a rather vile green stain. Luna stepped back as the stream continued flowing, blocking her eyes from the rather undignified display, "Goodness, Tia, thou must hold back on thy eating habits..."

"We try, Luna... this magic has never had a very good effect on us," Celestia took a deep breath, confused by her fallback to the old tongue; she'd had a thousand years to get used to the new dialect! She really was sick!

"Sister, thou must go to bed. We shall handle the setting of the sun tonight."

"I've... business to take care of, but thank you, little sister. Good night," Celestia covered another burp with her hoof before getting up and stumbling over to the door. She looked like a Canterlot corner drunkard who'd just won the lottery!

"G-Good night, Sister," Luna blinked, staring at the receding tail of her elder sister; Twilight's capabilities in magic truly have improved if her necromancy was capable of affecting Celestia from here!

Her eyes turned back to the horizon as she returned to her duty of setting the Sun, her horn letting off a radiant blue light. The roofs of a hundred households below shone with the sheer output of magic from the alicorn as she pulled the Moon up above the mountains of the East. Her task complete, she gazed out across the valley, mulling over the day's news about the fallen pegasus.

How are we to compete against any threats like Discord now? Me and Tia could gather up enough power to replace Loyalty, possibly... but it wouldn't be worth much. We'd likely exhaust ourselves, and Twilight may suffer adverse effects from having the combined power of two alicorns coursing through her along with the rest of the Elements. We only pray Twilight can bring her back...

Two seer spells and three rituals... nothing.

Twilight sighed, looking at the platform before her; arcane spell circles covered every inch of it. She couldn't even see what was in the other world, let alone the spirit she wanted to see! There were forty rituals, thirty five seer spells, twenty soulseekers, and five spiritual ascension spells, every single one requiring massive amounts of channeling and effort to make them work! And every one she'd tried thus far came up a dud!

Every single one!

Twilight swayed slightly, exhaustion conquering her muscles inch by forsaken inch, and her eyes fell back on the blood circle she drew as her first ritual; she could still use that if the Princess came back soon...

Her mind ran over the results of the other five spells; the only real effect she got was from one of the rituals... she could hear the clinking of metal, and saw shadows of... something connected to the walls, but everything vanished after her horn started feeding back with the huge amount of power she was throwing through it. The stabbing pain broke her focus, and then it was all gone... she hadn't been able to get that far since.

Maybe she was just exhausted? Used too much magic with that spell, so the other two rituals wouldn't work? It was possible...

C'mon, Celestia... I'm running out of gas here she thought, her jaw hanging slack. She pushed it back up and locked her teeth together, now realizing she'd lost feeling in her mouth and the base of her tail. Were these effects part of the spell as well? No wonder the field was banned!

A tap on her shoulder took the librarian by surprise, and she spun around, nearly crumpling on her left foreleg; her mentor stared back at her, rather taken aback by the sudden jump.

"Twilight? Are you alright?" She mouthed, no sound coming to her student; great, now she's deaf?!

Twilight nodded, then poked her ear, rubbing against it. Her ear popped and the gentle breeze from the door created sound in the world once more, "Yeah, now I am."

"So, how fares your efforts?"

"Nothing'th come up yet... I got clothe, I think with one richual, but it needed thuth a mathive output of magic that I couldn't handle it fah more than a few thecondth."

"I see... Necromancy does require quite a bit of power, you are bending Nature after all."

"I gueth tho," Twilight sighed, flinging her bad leg over to rub the back of her neck; hopefully she'd get feeling back in it soon.

"Did something happen to your tongue?"

"Can't feel it."

"Ah. I retrieved your requested items, though I suggest you take a break, Twilight."

"Why? I have to find Rainbow Dath!"

"I know, and I'd be more than happy t-" Celestia held down a belch; cursed residual magic, "-to help you, but there is a severe risk to using these spells."

"I don't care! I need to find her!"

"Calm yourself, my student. You will find her... it just takes time," Celestia shook her head with a sigh; it took a lot of time... and time wasn't what they had. She laid the poster and photo next to Twilight, "Here. I chose the items that seemed to have the most significance to your friend. They both bear autographs from Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts."

"Perfect! Rainbow Dath loveth her!" Twilight meekly smiled, part of it sagging; she really should take a break...

"Excellent, though I am taking you out of here for twenty minutes so you may relax. Overuse of your magic could endanger your horn."

"Or my life... I did thtudy medithine, Printheth."

"Follow me. Luna's taken over for guiding the Moon, so we can go over some volumes in the Archives."

"I can thtudy with you?"

"I'd like to see what you've learned over your studies."

"Yay!" Twilight bounced around like a filly on Hearth's Warming Day, and led the way out of the tower. Celestia giggled to herself; she hadn't seen such enthusiasm since Twilight's entrance exam! She quickly followed her student out of the tower, throwing one last look to the ritual area. The clinking of chains sounded off in her ears, shadows moving about the room, and she returned to her march back to the main hall, her smile fading away with each clank of metal.

Oh, what tricks can I show the Princess!? What've I learned, ummm... I've honed my telekinesis, successfully created a permanent mustache on Spike and Pinkie, I can change the color of things... what else? Flares, fireworks, a bit of offensive magic... I hope she doesn't expect anything too spectacular.

Twilight stopped bouncing at the top of the stairs to the tower, finally getting feeling back into her leg. She sent a few sparks through her horn, seeing the purple stars fall to the ground, and nodded in approval of the lack of stabbing pain in her forehead. She walked down the steps into the main hall, tongue stuck out in concentration; she had to be careful not to mess up her walk, since her leg still felt a little numb...

"Theeere we go..." Twilight sighed as she set down on the floor. Turning, her eyes locked with her mentor's at the top of the steps, the blackened mural still casting angelic light down around the regal alicorn. Great... stage fright...

"Alright, Twilight, how about we start simple? Show me one of the easier spells you learned, and we'll walk up from there. Maybe I'll have a few things to show you as well," Celestia put on a warm smile; even she could still get excited over some things, and seeing how much Twilight had progressed in her studies was certainly a fun subject!

"Oh... ok. Um... levitation is probably as easy as it gets, sooo... ah, I know!"

Twilight shut her eyes and sat down. Her face started to show strain as small bolts of lightning jumped from the tip of her horn to her mane, sparks of power increasing their frequency exponentially as the seconds passed. A furiously bright purple ball appeared at the end of her horn, becoming brighter as more power flowed into it. Twilight pushed forward, casting the ball into the air, and after a few moments, it exploded into a multitude of colors.

"Oh my!" Celestia raised her brow as the sparks from the firework coallesced into a face. Not just a face, an actual three dimensional model! A model of Spike... "T-That's quite impressive!"

Twilight clopped her hooves together in foalish glee, a giant smile on her face.

"Where did you learn to do that, Twilight? I've never seen such accuracy!"

"Well, it started- hey, I've got feeling in my tongue back!" Twilight just added volume to her smile with the realization, keeping her eyes on her mentor, "It started back when this travelling magician came to town, showing off a bunch of tricks. I thought it was cool how she could create fireworks with her horn, so I started studying that field for an hour every week. I started with typical fireworks, all explodey and stuff... wow, explodey," she seemed bothered by the use of the term, but carried on, "And I kept on making them. About two months later after I got genesis down, I started adding new spells to the mix."

"Such as telekinesis?"

"Yeah, that was the first spell I added! I started using telekinesis to try and catch the sparks, but they kept slipping through my grasp."

"So I guess you added more power to the genesis spell, allowing the sparks to come in a higher density?"

"Exactly! With bigger sparks, as well as more of them, I started trying to guide the sparks as they fell to the ground, but it was pretty hard just grabbing them and creating a shape."

Twilight blinked, expecting her teacher to come up with an answer to what she did. Celestia blinked back, confused as to why her student stopped, "Twilight?"

"Um... j-just wondering if you... knew what I did."

"No, I'm honestly interested in your answer. Carry on."

"Alright! Ahem, as I was saying, it was difficult to catch the sparks, so I used the cloud generated by my telekinesis spell to draw 'paths' for the sparks to fall through. It started as simple shapes, like squares in the air, or straight-edged numbers. I took it further by adding curves. Fireworks are pretty useful since I can make math equations in the air, though before, all I could do was the simple '2 plus 2 equals 4' equation."

"Very interesting, Twilight... but how did you figure out three dimensional art?"

"Thaaat took me a year to figure out. The basic mechanic lies in casting three different telekinesis spells at the same time."

"What?"

"Yeah, three spells. It takes a lot of power, but I've used levitation all my life. Telekinesis has a pretty strong base in levitation... so I just kinda felt it out."

"Three spells at the same time sounds... I've no idea, honestly. The most I've done is two at the same time."

"Really?" Twilight's brow shot to the ceiling in shock; she outdid the PRINCESS?!

"I'm not joking. I may have a lot of power, but my focus in the magicks is lesser than my sister, but three spells at the same time is incredible, Twilight!"

Poor Twilight almost fell apart right there, her eyes welling up with tears of pure joy, "Y-You really mean that!?"

"I don't see why I'd lie about such a thing, Twilight. Few ponies have achieved this level of mastery over a single spell, so doing it with levitation in such an advanced way... why, it's historical."

Twilight sniffed and wiped her eyes, heart practically jumping out of her chest with pride, "T-Thank you, Princess...!"

Celestia smiled; what she said wasn't a lie. It really did take a lot of focus to control multiple spells at the same time. Her focus limited her multicasting to two spells, but her power allowed those spells to vary greatly in strength. What else did she have to show off? "Shall we move on to something a little more advanced?"

"There is a spell I do know, but it takes a lot of power... I dunno if it's safe to cast it."

"Fair enough, Twilight. Explain it to me."

"Uhhh... well, it's a spell developed for offensive purposes."

"Offensive purposes?"

"Well, um... I was doing some reading in the Archives around when the last Gala ended, and I found a spell I thought was interesting. When I cast it, I... um..."

"You...?"

"... Blew myself up..."

"You exploded."

"Exploded, conflagrated, combusted. I created fire."

"You what!?" Celestia furrowed her brow, shocked.

"W-Wh-"

"Twilight, that's military grade magic! Somepony not part of the Guard using that is a federal crime!"

"Huh!?"

"What book was it?"

"I-I don't remember! I was just looking through the Archives!"

Celestia grit her teeth together, trying to bring herself back under control as Twilight laid down on the ground, ears drooped, "I'm sorry, Twilight... it's just, that kind of magic is very dangerous... you could have destroyed a lot of material, as well as injure yourself."

"I-I'm sorry..." Twilight sniffed, her pride vanishing as quickly as it had come. Celestia came down the steps and sat down beside her student, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

"I shouldn't have raised my voice like that, but-"

"No... no, y-you're right. I did hurt myself with that spell... b-but I've been practicing with smaller volumes of magic, trying to keep it under control..." Twilight shivered as her shoulder was rubbed, eyes moving away from Celestia.

"Well, if you can do it safely... start small. Use as little magic as possible, I do wish to see this."

"Really...?"

"Yes, but after this demonstration, you must never cast such a spell again unless it is in the defense of your country."

"Right."

Twilight gulped and rose to her hooves, sitting down next to her teacher. She squinted her eyes, looking up at her horn as it started to shine again. Purple stars sprayed off in random intervals from her horn as waves of magic moved up to the tip and compressed into a ball, her tip quickly becoming hot. With a hiss of an exhale from her, the tip of the horn ignited, and a small trail of flame creeped up into the air.

"I... I did it...!" A smile crossed the librarian's lips as she stared up at the little fireball.

"Well done, Twilight. It takes a lot of focus to weave the elements... how big did you make it when you first cast it?"

"Well, I put my usual amount of effort into the spell. It never said how much to use, so I just... put in what felt appropriate. It blew up though, so I guess I used too much."

"At least nothing burned, right?"

"Heavens no! I'd never want to harm a book! So much written knowledge in that library, and I was responsible for it all if any of those books were destroyed!"

"So nothing burned?"

"Not a thing," Twilight said with a nod.

"Good, good. How're you feeling now?"

"... Great, actually. I've got feeling in all my muscles now."

"Well then, maybe it's time we looked for Rainbow Dash again."

"Right!" Twilight charged up the steps, her legs filled with renewed strength. Celestia followed slowly behind, careful to balance herself so her nausea didn't cause another attack on her digestive system; strange how frail her body could be when exposed to the right emotions...

By the time the Princess arrived at the tower, her student had already assembled the correct materials and placed her hoof on the circle. A wave of nausea hit her like a runaway train, and she fell to her knees, gagging. Magic shot up from the circle, enveloping Twilight in an ever-strengthening flood of power, the walls curving further upwards. As the spell reached its apex, Celestia caught a view of the aurora borealis at the peak of the tower, and then everything fell to darkness.

Bm bm...

... A heart beat? Celestia blinked, looking around. They were still in the tower, but all the light had been sucked away by something. She moved to get back up, but her stomach did so many backflips she lost count, falling back onto her belly. "T-Twilight..."

Her words fell on deaf ears, as the unicorn was in a completely different world.

Chains. Chains littered the tower, extending all over the place... ever shelf, every book, every single brick in the walls had some kind of chain connected to it, and they all extended up into the top of the tower. Was this the next plain? Was Twilight dead!?

A quick swat across the face confirmed that she wasn't dead, and that slapping herself in the face hurt quite a bit. She rubbed her burning cheek while looking around, staring at the innumerable golden and silver chains adorning the tower. Why were all these here? And where did they all go? Were they even tangible, could they be touched? She blinked, unable to comprehend all of it; this was a whole other plain of reality! Something normal ponies couldn't perceive, something even the greatest mages in history had difficulty reaching!

She'd crossed the veil, and kept her life tied to her home... she'd taken the first step to finding her friend. What did the book say about the blood ritual, though? Looking to her side, she just found the drawing of her blood circle, but that didn't surprise her...

The size of it did! It extended to fill the entire floor of the platform, and it even pushed outward to the books! How'd it get so big?! She stumbled backwards onto her flank, completely taken aback; why'd it get so huge? Was it containment, a shield that protected her from the demons in this world? Her eyes flew about the walls, unsure of what to look for; what did a demon look like, anyway?! Was it just a pony? Or was it like the stories?

Nothing jumped at her though, nothing... other-worldly, anyway. Just the clanging of chains kept her company in that quiet tower. Finding that she was safe for the moment, she allowed herself to more closely inspect the chains connected to the books. Weird... they're all rusty. Well, not really all rusty, but some links are completely covered in oxidized iron. Where do all these chains go, anyway?

Twilight looked back up, shielding her eyes; the ceiling looked like the Sun! Since when did the castle lose its roof!? Pulling her eyes off the star above, cursing the temporary blindness as she blinked, she settled on inspecting one of the chains. They were all connected to every book, but some chains had aged more than others, at least they looked like they did. Sparks of gold shined through the cracks of rust on some of the chains, the books connected to them having titles related to research materials.

Through The Time Stream, By Star Swirl The Bearded? Oh, yeah, this was one of the books I studied when I was in school! It was all about Temporal Theory and the concept of time travel. Wonder what it'd be like now to read it?

Twilight smiled to herself, staring at the ancient spine; newer copies had been made, obviously, such critical research material being lost to the ages would be a dire hit against the scientific community, but this one had to be the original book... a book written by a legendary mage. Maybe some footnotes and old scrawlings hadn't been translated over to a newer book?

Her smile grew as interest conquered logic, and she reached towards the chain to move it away...

No, focus! This isn't the time for reading when I'm so close to finding her! Just wish the book was still here so I knew what to look for...

Her eyes quested over the numerous books and shelves again, searching for anything that could give her a hint. High up in the tower, just under the star she cursed so heavily for nearly blinding her, hung a disconnected chain... a sky blue chain, "Is that hers? Did the book even say anything about these weird chains? One of the circles' spells was a 'Chain Bind'... maybe?"

She reached up towards it, but it was much too far out of her reach. She instinctively focused magic into her horn for a teleport, but nothing came; did magic not work in this world? She clenched her teeth and tried a few more times, each failure setting off more warning lights. Great, now I don't have a weapon in case something does come after me!

Her brow fell as she stared at the blue chain, taunting with its gentle clinks as it sat out of her reach. Her eyes moved to the chains beside her, and a rather simple thought came into being.

I'll just climb up! Hopefully I can do it...

She reached out to the chain with both hooves, but as soon as she made contact, the notion that this plan would go perfectly was readily fired out the window by Pinkie's Party Cannon, along with her as she suddenly lurched into the air, pulled along by the chain like some frantic fisher tearing a shark from the Drake Ocean. The blue chain flew by and smacked her in the back, tearing the unicorn off the golden chain.

The ivory walls of the Archive tower left her sight a second later, revealing the wide expanse of the valley below. Her eyes widened as seemingly millions of chains stretched and flew about the landscape, attached to random points, places, buildings and even ponies. The chain currently trying to tear the spine from her body was firmly attached to... something in Ponyville, a white cube in the distance.

"Woah!! W-Wa- i-it's not possible for a pony to move this fast!" She screamed at the air; unless you were born a Pegasus, no living pony could survive moving at this speed! They'd be torn to pieces faster than somepony could say 'farewell'! "Rrgh, let me go!"

The wind carried away her demand before it could arrive anywhere useful as she continued careening towards her home town. She dropped quite quickly towards a massive white building, though anything identifying was torn away by the blur of the wind and the sound of a hurricane. Fortunately, her body fell straight through the roof of the building.

Unfortunately, she slammed into a floor about half a second later, crushing her flat against it. Twilight groaned and pulled her paper-thin body up off the floor, wobbling a bit as she looked over herself.

"Ahhhhh!!!! Wh-What happened to me!?" She screamed, flailing her flat limbs around, an action that looked more into a graceful dance than a panicked whipping of limbs as her mind imploded. This screaming and flailing continued for a few minutes before her body puffed back out, though the mind-paralyzing confusion shined through in her face.

"Ok... note to self: never grab another chain again!" She quickly nodded with her vocal mental note, worried of what other shape she might become should she slam into a mountain or some other structure. She might even turn into another pony if she slammed into somepony! Her mind spun into a number of scary, yet humorous images of becoming a duplicate of her friends; could the country really take two Pinkies?

Her train of thought was interrupted by... chittering? Or was it chewing? Scraping, definitely. She looked around for the source of the chittering, taking a few steps into the middle of the room.

"Wait, th-this is a morgue..." the wind heard her say as her eyes quested, settling on a single door with a blue chain sticking out of it. Not a single other chain protruded from the morgue, setting a weight of sadness on her heart; not a soul remained in that morgue, she knew as much.

Wait... a chain is always connected to a soul. If that's Rainbow's...!

The unicorn immediately ran for the door marked 'CI-47', the chittering noise growing as she came closer; the sound was readily ignored, all prospect of fear thrown aside as the hope of seeing her friend again swelled inside her. She grabbed for the door and pulled...

Her hoof passed right through the handle.

"What the?" She tried again, missing the handle, then again. The same swipe repeated about twenty times, each yielding the same damning result. Her growing frustration was quelled slightly as she tried her magic, but she couldn't even begin to generate the needed power for her levitation spell.

"Why does a stupid door have to be in the way!?" She stomped the ground in anger, staring at the defiant door; how dare it separate her from her goal! She couldn't grab the handle, she couldn't open the stupid door with her magic... all she could do was sit there and think, trying to melt a head-sized hole in it with her eyes. If her horn couldn't generate the heat, maybe her glare could?

"Why can't I grab the handle?" She asked herself, looking down at her leg. Nothing seemed to be missing from the appendage; in fact, it was rather well-groomed. Maybe all that sprinting wind-blasted her coat and stuck it to her skin? Casting the image of herself exercising from her mind, she tried grabbing for the handle again, moving slowly enough to analyze her every movement.

Sure enough, her hoof passed right through it, the handle not even disturbing her flesh. It's like she wasn't even there!

"So I can't touch it, alright. Maybe I can do this instead?"

Twilight leaned forward, pressing her horn against the door. Like her hoof, the horn passed through as if it were air, and the head behind it quickly followed. The chittering became much louder as she saw the source of the noise, or at least part of it; eight small, black eyes stared back at her, two serrated pincers clacking together in annoyance.

Suffice to say, Twilight really didn't like bugs.

A righteous scream and shove against the door proved ineffective for getting her away from the freaky, beady eyes, so she simply resorted to jumping through the ceiling. Through that, she saw way more corpses than anyone ever should.

"Get it away get it away get it away get it away!!!" She screeched as she ran to the door of the morgue, panting in a frenzy of terror, "Wh-What was that!?"

The damned chittering continued, just in case the eyes weren't enough to give Twilight a heart attack. She got her panic under control and grit her teeth, staring at the door; Rainbow's in there, why is a bug stopping her?

"It's just a ghost, Twilight... c'mon, grow a spine. You need to do this!" She bit her lip and moved forward, hooves dragging silently across the white tiles to the door. The chittering grew as she came closer, as if the thing could hear her approach, and it was not happy about it.

"Just a ghost... just a ghost. Just a ghost. Focus!" She mumbled, forcing herself to the door. On her last step to the door, she threw her head in and stared the beady eyes full on, "You don't scare me!"

The pincers simply snapped out at her, a quick duck being the difference between losing her hair and losing an eye. The... roach-like bug quickly devoured the pieces of mane it cut off, wings buzzing in glee. She took the chance to inspect the body in front of her, only to find something far worse...

Rainbow Dash hovered above her corpse, held down by the bug under her, and many of the chains had scratches and chunks torn off; this thing was eating her chains!

"Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you take my friend away!" Twilight quickly lashed out at the insect, putting a hoof right in one of its tiny eyes. It crunched under her force, but it didn't relent, snapping back out at her neck. Pulling one of the chains into its path, she saved her neck from getting a manecut, and got to work with destroying the bug.

"C'mon, Rainbow, wake up! An i-icky bug is on you! Rainbow!!" Twilight shouted, yanking on the bug, but the grip of its numerous legs around its victim's body was too strong. Another snap forced Twilight down into another cell, feeling a bit of her mane get lost to the snap. Her determination only grew with every second that passed, and she quickly bolted back up and started beating on the eyes.

One by one, they crushed into a sickly ichor that spilled out through Rainbow's corpse, but neither side stopped in their attacks. A snap of the pincers was followed by the crack of a hoof against the insect's face, but the unicorn felt her strength beginning to fade. She attacked more and more, but the bug just wouldn't let go, like a vulture defending its cadaver to the last...

"Get off her! Get off! Get your disgusting body off her now!!" Another crack of the hoof, the beating continuing until, eventually, she started to feel numb. The numbness was followed by a slight burn in her chest, but she ignored it all, hitting the bug on her dead friend's soul until she could hit no more.

But the spell had other plans, as she felt something emerge from her back. The only sight she got when she turned around was something purple coming out of her back, followed by a sudden yank... and then she was off.

The spirit realm hadn't heard such a scream for another in years...

"Rainbow Daaaaaash!!!!"

Author's Note

AT LAST, it's done! Holy crap, this took a while! Hope I didn't keep anyone waiting too long, and consider this my start in writing again!