Beneath the thin fog covering Ponyville in the early morning hours you might have seen many things, one of which may have been the mayor out giving a speech to a massive amount of ponies gathered in the square. Not far off you would have seen an unnoticed meeting of teacher and student, one of comforting words but in the end no avail to the two’s tearful demeanor. Further off you would see three friends sitting, staring, and crying in a building that normally represented all the joy in the small sound. Nopony in Ponyville was having their normal joy.
This carried onto even outside the boundaries of the city, to the outskirts of the Everfree forest, where one by one creatures of the strange and dark wood silently exited. In fact in every direction, animals from nearby were pouring into one place. If you had seen the point where they converged you would see a mass of rainbow colors curled up by a stone, weeping heavily though seemingly in sleep. Though it had no inscription, it was clear what the stone’s purpose was. A tombstone.
“No.” Rainbow Dash cried to Twilight, who herself looked shaken. Tears streamed down the flier’s eyes as she choked back sobs as well as she could. “There had to have been a- a mistake. The has to-- no! This-- no. No!” She finally could not hold it any more, she began screaming out cries, with a rasping “no” inserted every time she could stop. Her head fell into her hooves, and her frazzled mane fell over what remained. Twilight put her leg around her friend's neck and lay on it, weeping along with her friend. But Rainbow did not notice, for the world had frozen as she felt everything that had happened that day resonate within her.
“Dash, you are acting strangely today.” noted Fluttershy, “I- mean- not that there is anything wrong with that.”
Rainbow chuckled nervously and slowly pushed a cat that thought that her mane was a colorful treat away, “Why would you say that?”
Fluttershy took up the kitty and placed her in one of the many beds littered around her house that day. After a bit of struggle to keep it down, she returned to the conversation, “Well you showed up so suddenly and you say you don’t want anything. This just isn’t like you. You normally would be doing awesome tricks in the air and flying so fast around town. But you aren’t”
Rainbow swallowed and stammered a bit, blushing, “I- I- I’m here to uhhh... get some... Food! Yeah, food for Tank!” She gave a wide, fake smile.
Fluttershy perked up, “Oh, really? Well I have just the thing!” As she turned she said one more thing to Rainbow Dash, “I think you may have a talent with animals too like I do.”
Rainbow Dash knew it was just Fluttershy trying to be nice but she enjoyed it all the while. As Fluttershy left the room and Rainbow turned, muttering to herself, “Rainbow, come on, you can’t keep this up any longer. You gotta... how could I? What should I say? How do you tell somepony you love them? I have to say something. I have to before I lose my co-”
A thud and a scream was heard and Rainbow reacted, zooming into the room Fluttershy was in. She saw a shelf had been knocked over and bags of various things had fallen on Fluttershy. Rainbow panicked and started digging. “Fluttershy are you okay?” she called. Fluttershy started to respond but was cut short as Rainbow Dash hit something hard with her hoof. It was hard and as she felt it it seemed... wet. Rainbow looked down to see it was a knife handle. and the wetness wasn’t milk.
The blade was in Fluttershy’s neck.
They say the Animus of a pony lives on in the dreams of their friends. Rainbow wanted to sleep in the cold mist with the animals around her and the funeral done. But sleep would not come. And if it did, would she see her lost friend? If she did it would not be the same. She loved Fluttershy ever since she was taken in by the pegasus. Would her Animus love her as she did? She looked at her dreams, none would come to pass. She was shattered. And in the dirt she had written with her hoof: I want to rewind time, if it was only to die with you.
