Blue

Night has fallen. To be precise, it was pretty late in the evening, because the inmates were scheduled for a late dinner. Trixie slipped between the lines of prisoners unnoticed, their attention diverted with their protests about the inedible food. The wardens took a defensive formation, and tried to reason with them first. This gave an edge for Trixie, for she was silent unlike the others, and was simply ignored in favor of those who already threatened to break into the kitchen. They should hurry, because soon the riot will be quelled. Probably.

She eyed the distance of the crowd and the hidden explosives. Perfect. Too far away to hurt them, but close enough for them to consider escaping. Grinning, she retreated silently from the mess hall, and once she was out, ran back to their cell at full speed. She looked at her co-conspirators, and grinned again.

"It begins."

A loud explosion could be heard. If there was chaos up until now, it paled in comparison. Rainbow saw guards rush past them, hurrying over to see what happened; however one of them noticed that they were in their cell, unlike any other prisoner in the vicinity. He immediately barged in to check up on them, but left the cell door open.

"What is going on here?"

Blue smoke enveloped the warden's neck, and some of the bars. The stallion recoiled with shock, but a grim voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Gobbles wouldn't fidget if she were you."

The smoke passed through one of the bars on two points, and a piece of it fell down, it's trajectory followed by the warden's horrified eyes.

"Wait!" Shining stepped forward. "Give us the keys, then we'll lock you in, and nopony has to get hurt."

The guardspony hurried to oblige, the keys were handed down immediately, and he stood in the middle of the cell, with a defeated expression on his face. Shining took the keys in his mouth.

"Perfect, now we'll—"

BANG!

Vinyl stood above the now unconscious warden, sporting a dented metal tray.

"What?" she asked. "He could've shouted!"

"Nice work, Throat." said Trixie reassuringly, while she tore apart the sheets with her magic to bound and gag the warden. They hurried out of the cell, and locked it with the key. Fortunately, not a single soul was in sight, but the sounds of skirmish echoed through the corridors, giving a bad feel about the whole ordeal. Trixie lead the group, her eyes constantly darting around to recognise any sign of danger, but to Rainbow's great relief, nopony stumbled upon them. The corridor was long, but strangely enough, once they passed through another metal gate, they only had to move forward, until they finally reached the director's office.

The showmare nodded, and Shining slammed into the door with full power, bursting through it in a blink. To their great surprise, the office was not empty; Strong Walls was inside, sipping something reeking of alcohol, which he dropped in shock when he saw them.

"Wha--?!" He couldn't finish his sentence, because the ex-captain slammed into him, using his momentum to tackle him, and finally pin him to the wall. He looked into the earth pony's eyes sternly.

"Where are the keys to the limiters?"

The brown pony spat.

"Ain't gonna tell ya, filthy blue. Ya can't hold me like this forever. And when ya bust out, I'm gonna go down on your sorry arse with a machete!"

Shining knew he was right: if they don't hurry up, the wardens will quickly overwhelm them. He looked around the room, but nothing seemed to contain a clue where to look for the sought freedom. The room had a desk filled with paperwork, a picture on the wall of Strong Walls when he became director, and three cupboards, containing books, trophies, and personal belongings of the earth pony. What are they supposed to do?

As if Trixie chose that moment to finally lose the rest of her sanity, she ducked beside one of the cupboards, and stuck a hoof under it. Rainbow was about to question her, but then the showmare brightened up, and produced a small package from there; a package which she put up against a wall which seemed to be the least decorated in the room. She turned to Rainbow and Vinyl, who were the closest to her.

"Be a dear, you two, and move away from this wall, would you? I hid this bomb here during one of my visits."

Rainbow obliged, pulling Vinyl along, but couldn't help herself, but ask.

"Why were you visiting here?"

"Oh, about that... I think you could answer that, couldn't you, Strongie?" She intoned the nickname with malice. The stallion was silent, but doubt crept upon his face. "Well, if you won't answer, I'll do it instead." She turned to Rainbow, her expression much darker than before, her crazy good mood all but gone. "I was here several times, because he wanted to beat me, to feel the power he had over me; and he couldn't really do that in front of everypony, could he? I guess I should be glad, 'cause if he tried to rape me, I'd have blown my cover, and used my magic."

Rainbow shuddered at the implications, but suddenly froze.

"Wait a second! You talk normally now!"

Trixie shot her a pitying look.

"No shit, Sherlock Hooves. Why would I pretend to be mad now, when I don't have to act like I'm no danger to him?" She let out a demented cackle. "The thought that I might be simulating, didn't even cross anypony's mind. That worked out perfectly for me, so far. Now, onwards to another topic. You might want to cover your ears, because the magic word to blow up my explosive is 'Luna'."

A small bang shook the room, leaving a two-pony sized hole in the wall. The very next moment, Trixie yanked Strong Walls from Shining Armor's grip with her magic, and swiped him through the wall, stopping above the cliffs outside—which seemed to be a twelve-story fall. The warden lost all of his previous calmness, his eyes widening so much that they threatened to pop out of his eyesockets. The showmare spoke silently, but with deadly determination.

"Now, I will count to three. I want to know where the limiters' keys are, or I'll throw you down. You know I'd do it. You know what you've done. One. Two. Three."

"In the safe!" Strong Walls screamed, absolutely horrified. "Behind the painting! The combination is 763!"

"Check it." Trixie commanded, not moving an inch.

Shining reached up to the painting, and clumsily shoved it away. There indeed was a safe behind it. He set the combination, and it opened without a sound. Casting a glance inside, he immediately noticed two slim keys among the various stuff inside. "They're here." he said, taking them, and immediately starting to unlock Vinyl's limiter. Trixie stared at Strong Walls with intense hatred. Rainbow stepped closer, but said nothing.

"Well, look at that. The pursuer of crime, the mighty Strong Walls, afraid from the thought of losing his life. You're nothing but a slime, who lives on pain and suffering of others. But I still tried to forgive you. Thought about the stuff you've done to hurt me, and tried to just forget it. I couldn't. But then again, what could I do right now? Nothing." She gave him a satisfied smile. "So I'll just let you go."

With that, she removed her magic, and let Strong Walls fall to his death. Rainbow immediately darted out of the hole, straining her wounded wings to reach the falling pony. Neglecting the pain in her back, she finally reached the warden, who passed out from the shock, and tried to pull him up. For a moment, they actually moved upwards, but then she felt her wings cramp, and an even more intense pain jolted through her body. "Oh, buck." she thought. Before she could fall though, she felt a violent gank, and felt herself being pulled back. In a few moments, she came muzzle-to muzzle with a furious Trixie, while Vinyl and Shining pulled up the still onconscious director. The showmare grabbed the pegasus.

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR RETARDED LITTLE MIND?!" Trixie shouted. "YOU RISK YOUR LIFE FOR THIS PIECE OF SHIT?!"

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, then headbutted the showmare, prompting her to let go, and fall on her back.

"Better to become a murderer like you, huh?" she spat.

Trixie slowly stood up. She carefully inspected her hoof, and shot a pitiful look to Rainbow.

"Yeah, a murderer. That I am." Ignoring everypony, she limped to the safe, ruffling through it's contents. Her search resulted in a dossier, and a small book. Flipping through the dossier, she simply hummed, then set it on fire and threw it into the waste basket, startling the other three. When she examined the book, however, an evil grin crawled on her face. She turned around and saw that the two white unicorns already tied and gagged Strong Walls. Shining turned to Trixie.

"What you just tried to do—" he began.

"Yeah, yeah, I've got a better idea." she interrupted. "We leave him, and go escape."

Shining blinked. "You... accepted it quite quickly."

Trixie ignored him.

"Get some saddlebags, and look for food. There's bound to be both here."

The four prisoners rummaged through the cupboards, but Trixie only took a few dossiers with the prison's logo, and put them in Vinyl's saddlebag, which she just found and equipped. Shining and Rainbow also found saddlebags, and one of them contained what they supposed to be the warden's late lunch (or early breakfast). Whatever the case, it was a start.

"Let's go!" Trixie hurried them. "Two doors to the left."

"What's there?" the pegasus asked, full of suspicion.

"Toilets. But what's more important, sewers. Now go! I'll lock the door."

Vinyl hurried out, and the ex-captain was forced to follow her. Rainbow, however stayed in the same place.

"I'm not going anywhere until you're out here, first."

Trixie chuckled.

"Relax, I'm not gonna throw him out. I've got a much better idea."

She placed the small book she found in a clearly visible spot on the table, and grabbed the pegasus with her magic while leaving the room. Once outside, she closed the door. She smirked to herself. Rainbow, on the other hoof, understood nothing.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"That was a little something that will cause our director a bit of a headache. I'd like to see the face of the first pony who sees this. Now, let's go, before anypony catches us!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

An hour later, just a bit after Celestia raised the sun, Sturdy Spear welcomed her near the prison's staff entrance. The alicorn came alone, motioning impatiently to the warden to lead the way. He complied, recoiling a bit mentally from the princess' cold demeanor. She seemed angry; angry at nopony in particular, but the world itself. Spear gulped, and sped up on the narrow corridors, briefly wondering why they didn't encounter anypony. Discarding that thought, it wasn't long before they reached Strong Walls' office. He knocked, fully expecting a groan in reply, but nothing happened. Glancing at the impatient princess, he decided to push the door. To his great surprise, it was unlocked. At that exact moment, two wardens appeared running from the other side of the corridor, shouting.

"Call the director! We finally managed to quell the riot!"

"Riot?" Celestia asked with raised eyebrows.

"Y-Your Majesty?!" the two wardens gasped, only noticing her now.

"Be at ease, my little ponies, and explain."

"Well, Your Majesty, last night we served lunch late, around midnight, because of some previous arrangements on behalf of our caterers. When we distributed the meals, the prisoners started complainin' about the food. Soon after that, one of our walls blew up, well, a part of it, and there was a large chaos. Thankfully, we could stop them, and nopony was hurt seriously."

"Interesting. Follow me."

The wardens saluted.

"At once, M'lady."

She went inside the office, ready for an attack. Her finely honed senses told her that something was amiss, even from outside. The scene inside was indeed something to worry about. All the cupboards were rummaged through, items were scattered throughout the room, the wall had an enormous hole in it, and the head warden was bound and gagged behind his desk. The two others rushed to help him, while Spear stared out of his skull. In the light of these events, the fact that Strong Walls is a sadistic powermonger will be overlooked in favor of his... 'effective' way of handling the uprising. Unless... wait, what was he doing tied up, and on top of it, here? Shouldn't he be out there, commanding the staff?

The princess strolled through the room, with an incredibly bored expression. She noticed a book just lying neatly on the director's desk, even though everything else was a mess. She took it, and flipped through the pages absent-mindedly. That look and her boredom soon disappeared, and she began reading the book with more interest, and disgust. Finally, when the warden was free, she hid it behind her back, only noticed by Spear.

"Yer Majesty!" the director shouted, "It's terrible! Those damn blues have escaped!"

"I'm afraid I need more information than that." Celestia replied coldly.

"The ex-guard capt'n, that annoyin' DJ, the flyin' terror, an' that bucking madpony!"

"Mind your language, Strong Walls!" the princess said, reprimanding him. "Is there anypony who can tell me what do those descriptions mean?"

"Your Majesty." Sturdy Spear stepped up. "He refers to the following, in order: Shining Armor, Vinyl Scratch, Rainbow Dash, and the last one is the one we already talked about, Trixie."

"Trixie? You haven't mentioned that before." Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Surely that is not her full name?"

"We only found a banner with her face and the words 'Great and Powerful Trixie' printed upon them. We have not encountered her name in any registry."

Strong Walls' gaze darted back and forth between the princess and the grey pegasus.

"Wait a minute! Why do ya ask him, Yer Majesty? He's juss' a backstabbin' git, not even worthy of hearin' out!"

"Really? But I believe he has told me some interesting facts."

"Don't lissen' to that lyin' colt-cuddler, Yer Majesty!" the director screamed, clearly afraid.

Celestia shot up an eyebrow. With Equestria's population being mostly female, stallions were usually very popular with the mares, although female homosexuality was not unheard of, or despised. Males, however, were not easily forgiven for being attracted to their own gender; most ponies took the role of founding a family very seriously, and argued that colt-cuddlers lessen the number of foals being born, by reducing the number of stallions that can impregnate a given female.

"While that is generally frowned upon, director, I can accept it." Celestia replied. "His charges are valid, and I'm beginning to think an investigation is in order, just as he requested."

"Yer Majesty," the brown stallion began slyly, "I question the credibility of this pony."

"On what account?"

"Him bein' a blue, and all." the director blurted out victoriously.

There was a long silence. The princess glanced at Sturdy Spear. He hung his head, but then raised it defiantly. "Yes. Yes, it's both true. I dye my mane brown. But it won't change the gravity of the situation."

"You do realise that I will be taking you into custody, don't you?" Celestia asked.

"Yes. I know. Still, I'll be happy to obey, if only to bring him to justice."

"Well, this is an interesting situation. You two, place him under arrest."

The other two wardens stepped from both sides to Sturdy Spear, surrounding him. The princess continued.

"Both of you expected to only care about the others' misdeeds, and in the end, no secrets remain. Now, in light of this, I could easily dismiss your claims, Sturdy Spear."

The director grinned triumphantly. Celestia looked at the pegasus, who gritted his teeth, resenting his inability to influence anything.

"But one would make a terrible mistake doing so. Strong Walls!" she said, turning to the head warden, whose smile melted from his face, "This pony accuses you of brutality, and hurting ponies for your own enjoyment and entertainment. How do you plead?"

"Innocent, M'lady." Strong Walls gruffed, recovering a little. "There is no proof to this lunatic's claims."

The room suddenly lost all it's warmth, and Spear could feel the room getting colder.

"I'd rather you don't dirty my sister's name any further, thank you very much." the alicorn hissed. " You are right though, his accusations would not stand on solid ground in any court..." She paused, revealing the small book she hidden before, levitating it in front of her. "If only you had been more careful in hiding your diary, Strong Walls."

The director's face distorted. He immediately recognised the book in question. He watched as she levitated it carefully on the desk, sitting down facing away from him, and taking it in her hooves.

"You have lead a very, very precise list here." she observed. "Did you enjoy recalling others' pain?"

The three wardens gazed at the director. Before they could react, he let out an inarticulate scream, and lunged for the alicorn, fully intent of getting his diary, to destroy the evidence. His trajectory soon changed, however, on account of a bright yellow glow, which enveloped him; first, it simply stopped him, then suddenly he was slammed into a cupboard. The director let out a sharp scream of pain, and did not move anymore. Celestia stood above the earth pony, who was now crying in pain, and gave him a cold stare.

"You torture my subjects, revel in their pain, prepare for each occassion in advance with joy, then you write it down, assault me, AND TRY TO GET AWAY WITH IT?!" She unconsciously switched to the Royal Canterlot Voice, but unlike her sister's, it was filled with threaths, and rage. "NINE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, THOU'D BEEN CUT DOWN BY ANYPONY WHO WITNESSED THY BLASPHEMY! THOU THINK THYSELF A GOD, WHO DECIDES WHO LIVES, DIES, OR GETS PUNISHMENT?!" Her menacing aura soon disappeared, and all that remained was a tired alicorn, with a sad voice. "But now, you will only be a high-security prisoner, with a professional therapist trying to help you recover your sanity, and be a valuable part of society again. Personally, I think you are beyond help."

She turned to the others, who were still frozen in shock. "Call a medic, and guard him. I'll take care of Sturdy Spear here, then I'll appoint a new director in a few days. Until then, everything, and I mean everything, must be reported to me. Understood?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the two wardens replied in unison.

"Now come, Sturdy Spear. Let us fly to your... new home."

__________________________________________________________________________________

"Bleargh! If we ever get out of here, I'll be known as Vinyl Stink!"

"If we get out of here, you'd better not be known, or you will be turned in for your bounty." Trixie replied.

"I got a bounty?" Vinyl asked dumbfoundedly.

"Escaping from prison automatically adds a 5000 bit bounty to any existing or new bounties one might have." Shining interjected.

"Neato! I'll be the infamous DJ PON-3! Think of the publicity!"

"Think of the lynch mob." Trixie groaned.

"Are we there yet?" Rainbow asked, annoyed.

"I think we're near. Shining, please check the streets through the ponyhole cover again."

"Okay." Shining got directly under the cover, then charged his horn. A single thread beamed up. Moments later, it disappeared. "We're at Horsatius Street."

Trixie was deep in thought.

"Do you think we can make it to the Opera House undetected?"

Shining briefly considered it.

"I think there is an alley close to it that has a sewer exit, so yes, I suppose."

"The Opera House? Why?" Vinyl asked.

"Because after your little forest trip, half of the musicians there are dead. The others are probably too terrified to perform." The blue unicorn turned to Shining Armor. "Am I wrong?"

The stallion shook his head. "No. The Opera has been closed for about a week now."

"Okay. I have a plan."

"Why should we listen to you?" Rainbow asked antagonistically.

"Do you have a better idea?" Trixie retorted. "Besides, I got you out of prison."

"Stop arguing, and let's hear your plan first." interrupted Shining.

"Well, if they kept the old routine, there is only a solitary guard near the entrance. We knock him or her out, and put him where they won't find him at first—somewhere outside."

"Why outside?" asked Vinyl. Trixie rewarded her with a toothy, evil grin.

"Because we will set the whole thing on fire."

"What? Why?"

"I'll tell you: we'll steal the body paint that the actors used; they will be helpful in hiding your identity. I mean, seriously, I don't think I've ever seen manes like you two's, and I travelled all around Equestria. We will also empty the safe in the director's room, so anypony who investigates will think it was simple robbery. Plus, if we find some bits, they should solve the problem of money, if we have to get supplies somewhere."

"I don't really like the idea of setting it to fire." Shining shivered.

"Then go back to Strong Walls, and tell him it was a mistake, and you'd like to be part of his magnificent prison again. Buildings can be rebuilt, Shining Armor, but you only have one life."

The stallion sighed. " Every fiber of my being shouts 'Stop!'... but I'll comply."

"Let's do this!" Vinyl beamed.

"But the guard must come to no harm!" Rainbow added.

"Sure, we'll knock him out gently!" the DJ laughed.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Infiltrating the Opera was a blur for Rainbow. Before she knew it, they were standing in the dimly lit storage room, full of various equipment; while the security pony was bound and gagged, lying unconscious outside in a dark alley. The costumes gave the place an eerie feel, with most of them being black; Rainbow supposed they preferred performing tragedy plays. She shrugged, wanting to get over with it as soon as possible, and leave this creepy storeroom. Trixie, on the other hoof, was in her element. Like a foal on her birthday, she ran around carrying pots and jars with her, filling them with paint of every colour imaginable, sometimes even stepping on her limping hoof, which she immediately regretted each time. Poking around, the pegasus found a backpack of sorts, which was promptly put on Shining, on account of it later being stuffed to the brim with the masquerading equipment.

"Hmm... paint, brushes, manecare... All right, this should be enough. Before I forget: Vinyl, check the guard's belongings, and if there is something usable, take it." She motioned to the stallion. "Both of you should head back to the sewers. Rainbow and I will pay a little visit to the office. There's no need for all of us to be there, and smaller groups attract less attention while retreating."

Shining nodded, and the two white unicorns took off. The pegasus followed the azure mare to a small room, which she supposed to be the office of the manager of the Opera. The showmare rummaged through the drawers, while Rainbow had found a small stash containing various drinks and some food.

"Hey, there're some supplies here!" she observed. Trixie looked up.

"Take every drink but the alcoholic ones! If you need to cross a place with no water, you shouldn't drink booze, it'd just dry you out. Rather," she said, an idea forming in her head, "spill it out around here, so it will be easier to start a fire."

The pegasus put away the food, and poured the bottles' contents around the room, save for two cartons of daffodil juice, and a large bottle of orange juice. She slipped these two in her saddlebags instead, and looked at Trixie expectantly. The unicorn already managed to open the safe, and was now checking the contents of a dossier that she found inside. Rainbow frowned.

"Do you really have to read every possible piece of paper that we find?"

Trixie looked up.

"Don't be so rash. It seems that the manager here held a lot of paperwork back. Namely the widows' and orphans' funding."

"Huh?"

"It means my dear pegasus, that the manager held back these requests for money by the victims' relatives, so the Opera won't have to pay them. Let's put these away, too."

Rainbow's bags were burdened further with the dossiers, and a sack of bits. She looked at the showmare questioningly. Trixie sat down on the manager's chair, and shot her a sad smile.

"Nothing left here. The only thing left for you is to go back to the others in the sewer. If you follow the waste flowing out of the city, you'll be at the base of the mountain in half a day or so. Once you decide where you will go, figuring out how to use the paint should be a cinch."

Rainbow tried to remember all of that, but then it dawned upon her.

"Wait a sec! You sound like you're not coming with us!" she chuckled nervously. Trixie slowly nodded.

"That is correct. You know, Rainbow, when you tried to save Strong Walls, and headbutted me, I had a kind of an epiphany. I realized that would it not be for you, I'd have thrown him down. I'd have murdered him in cold blood. And you know what? Seeing you, your innocence... made me think. It does not matter what we believe in, or what we think about ourselves... All that matters is one's actions. And from my actions, the conclusion is..." she took a deep breath. "That I'm a murderer, who is not even worthy to talk to ponies like you. I once longed for the admiration of the masses... I'm now terrified of the idea of being watched by a crowd." She looked deep into the pegasus' eyes, her eyes radiating sorrow, and...fear? "I'm slowly becoming what I loathed in my whole life. My family, my friends, they were right... darkness resides within me. So now, I'll purge the darkness...forever... through the only way I know. Goodbye, Rainbow Dash... I think given the chance, and the right time, we could have become friends... if only I hadn't screwed up everything."

The pegasus felt a tug on her body, and she was levitated out of the room. The door slammed shut, and the lock clicked into place. A few moments later, crackling could be heard. Rainbow shook her head and stood up. She wasn't sure before, but now she was certain. Trixie's eyes begged to her. They were the eyes of a pony who was completely alone, full of doubt for herself. She recognized it far too well, a shadow of a painful memory tinging inside her, from before she met Gilda. She shook off her sad thoughts, and grinned. "You're pretty stupid if you think Rainbow Dash lets anypony hanging." she thought. All of the unicorn's attempt to block her out are useless. She'll make her see that it's not the end. She is not the evil pony she believes herself to be!

She stepped back a few paces, and ran as fast as she could. She slammed into the door like a tank, busting it open, and tearing it from it's hinges. Trixie was still sitting in the chair, which was slowly surrounded by flames. Upon seeing Rainbow crash in, she lost her composure for a second, but then kicked the chair away, and snapped at the pegasus.

"Go the buck away! You're going to burn, too!"

"I'm not leaving you behind! C'mon!"

Trixie seemed to hesitate for a second, but gathered herself quickly, and shook her head.

"I told you Rainbow, I must not live. I only cause pain and suffering whereever I go. I hadn't realised that before, but I've gotten a harsh lesson about it. I don't deserve another chance."

The flames already enveloped most of the room, eating away the curtains and the carpet, making the temperature inside unbearable.

"The hay you don't!" shouted back Rainbow. "Look at me!"

She forced the unicorn to look into her eyes. She saw doubt, fear and a silent cry for help in Trixie's magenta iris. Her own reflected the fire raging around them.

"I don't hate you! Neither does Shining or Vinyl! Sure, you were taken by anger with Strong Walls, but you didn't hurt anypony else! This doesn't need to be the end!"

"B-but..." Trixie stammered.

"Would you please hurry the hay out here with me, or do I have to kick your flank out of the door? You should know; I'm Loyalty! I don't leave my friends in danger's way!"

"Friend..." the showmare mumbled. She suddenly looked up. "I... I'll trust you. But promise me, that at the first sign of me becoming a criminal...If I ever steer down from the right path..."

"I'll be there to knock you to your senses, okay? But come the holy buck out here before we're fried alive!" the pegasus shouted. She ran to the unicorn, and pushed her out of the hellhole the office became. Once they were out, Trixie got on her hooves, and they ran down the stairs together. A greedy trail of fire already caught up with them. Straining their muscles, they burst to the street, and just reached the ponyhole cover before the fire became visible from the outside, lighting up the city. Looking back, Rainbow shuddered at the thought of a pony burning alive. She pushed aside the cover, and motioned Trixie to move down. The unicorn stepped closer, but instead pulled the pegasus into a tight hug, tears falling from her eyes.

"Thank you!" she sobbed. "Nopony... has ever trusted me before."

She let go of Rainbow, and jumped into the hole, grabbing the ladder and sliding down all the way. "Damn, that was cool." Rainbow thought, before she followed the azure unicorn, replacing the cover as she descended into the canals. All that reminded anypony of their presence was their soft speech, which slowly faded into the sound of the fireponies arriving to the scene.

_________________________________________________________________________________

By the time they finally arrived at the base of the mountain Canterlot laid upon, dusk began to set in. The fading red rays of sunlight made the small forest they hid in (which was separated from the greater forest, that was supposedly an extension of the Everfree, only by a dirt patch containing a few sharp-looking rocks) look otherwordly. Advancing slowly in a terrain unknown by all of them, they made their way west. Shining and Vinyl argued about their destination, the former suggesting that they avoid any settlements, the latter claiming her parents would be glad to hide them. They were completely engrossed in their conversation, leading up front, while Rainbow and Trixie followed them from behind. The pegasus paid no mind to the two unicorn's bickering, instead, she watched the showmare stumble more and more with increasing worry.

"Guys, we should stop. Trixie can't keep up."

"Nonsense!" the azure unicorn wheezed, "I can carry on just fiiiiine..."

She finally tripped over a dried root, falling on her side. She cried out in pain, and slowly stood back up. The other unicorns stopped, their eyes filled with concern, and guilt for not noticing her state before.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just..." she noticed their unconvinced look. "All right, all right, fine. Be it that way." she shrugged, threatening to fall over even from a simple gesture as that, "There's a small clearing ahead, I can see it. We can stop there, it's just a hundred steps... or so."

The others finally turned away from her, and they made their way to the clearing. Rainbow noticed, that with each step, Trixie seemed paler and paler. Her features also seemed to.. vibrate, especially her side. When they finally reached the spot not covered by trees, the showmare staggered into the moonlight, and seemed to fight herself to even stand straight. Rainbow was about to force her to rest, if needed, when the unicorn suddenly started coughing up blood. She seemed to vibrate even more, and when she finally collapsed to the ground, smoke seemed to dissipate from her body, sparkles lighting up and fading away around her in quick succession. Rainbow hurried to her, and gasped at the sight unmasked before her eyes. Trixie's side was full with horrible, bleeding wounds, halfly covered by bloodied straps of torn bandage, that certainly wasn't present before.

"How did you get these?!"

Trixie collected her strength to look at herself. "Damn," she whispered with a weak smile, "I guess my illusion wore off."

Shining stepped beside her, and winced at her state. "How were you even able to walk?!"

"I just... ignored the...pain. I guess... they opened... sometime during... our escape." She was now technically fighting for each breath. Ruby-red drops of blood uglied the grass around her. "Stupid, I... know, but... I had to... not hold you back..."

"You did it. You got us out nearly by yourself. You didn't hold anypony back!" Rainbow felt her stomach churn. She had injuries in her life, but these... She realised the unicorn was dying, and to top it off, fever crawled in to her eyes, making them misty.

"Really?" Trixie asked. She was looking at Rainbow, but she did not saw her. "That makes me... feel better, Specs..." She groaned again in pain, and convulsed slightly. "If you... meet Blissful... again, tell her I said... sorry." She chuckled to herself. "I always... told you that I... wanted to go down... in applause. Now I'm... bleeding to death in... a nameless forest. The irony..."

Trixie felt her vision blur. She could see her old friends, Colorful Spectrum, Diamond Throat, and Light Shield no more. She wanted to tell them she was sorry, sorry for everything fifteen years ago. She tried to speak, but only incoherent groans escaped her mouth. The pain suddenly numbed, and Trixie fell into the darkness.