Poison Kiss

The wind howls like coyotes in the night. A clap of thunder startles us and makes us gallop even quicker. The chilly rail pours over our heads and a flash of lightning lights up the dark sky. The only trace of her is a trail of sunken hoofprints in the mud.

" I can't believe I am trudging through the mud and getting my hooves all filthy for the likes of her." Rarity complains.

" As soon as we get Fluttershy, the sooner you can go home and get all cleaned up." Twilight Sparkle says.

" I'm getting mud all over my new engagement hoof band." She says.

" Good! He ain't nothin' but a tramp anyway!" I say.

" I am not!" Tunesong says.

" He's been flirting with all of us." Rainbow Dash says weaving between the trees.

" Not me." Pinkie Pie says.

" Ah think ya might need a doctor because you take mah breath away." I quote.

" I never said that." He lies.

" Yes you did! I remember." Pinkie Pie says in a sing song tone.

" He kept giving me all these complements and stuff." Rainbow Dash says.

" I want them to approve of me as a husband. I have no feelings for anypony but you." He says.

" I know you don't. I know you love me. You're all I have left." She sobs.

" He didn't say that to me. He said he wanted me back." Twilight says.

"You're just jealous. You have no proof." He says.

" It's five against one." Spike says.

" Can we fight about this some other time. We need to find Fluttershy!" Twilight says.

" I can sense her stronger! Follow me!" Pinkie Pie says.

" I think I see something up ahead." Rainbow Dash says.

" Fly higher. You'll see more that way." Tunesong says.

" The winds moving too fast I'll lose control." She says. I see a flash of lightning. It's luminosity makes my eyes squint. A tree bursts into flames and topples over on Rainbow Dash. She lets out a horrible spine chilling scream as the tree crushes her body. Then there is a long empty silence. A cloud of smoke envelopes around us.

" Rainbow Dash!" We all scream in unison.

Tunesong, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity levitate the tree off of her. The rain helps the flames die down.

" Rainbow Dash, are you okay?" I ask in between coughs. There's no response.

" We need to get her to a doctor." Tunesong says.

" There's no time." Spike says.

" We should have never gone looking for Fluttershy. Now two of us are probably dead." Rarity says.

" She's not dead yet. She's still breathing. She's still hanging on by a thread. I'll put a little healing spell on her. I just learned how to do it in a book. I don't know how well it will work." Twilight says. Her horn glows pink and Rainbow Dash's burn marks look slightly healed. I lift her broken body on my shoulders. Her blood drizzles down my neck and her hooves lay limp.

" Do you think she's going to live?" Pinkie Pie asks. Her body is twitching uncontrollably. Pinkie Pie can barely walk.

" I don't know." Rarity says. We hear a far away shriek.

" Fluttershy!" Spike says pointing ahead.

Her hooves are stuck in the mud and a giant two headed swamp monster is standing behind her with it's mouth open wide. Each head only has one yellow eye it has sharp fangs. Twilight Sparkle uses her magic to slow the beast down. The beast shoots a glob of pond scum out at her and sticks her to a tree. I try to pull the glue like substance off of the tree. Pinkie Pie pulls Fluttershy out of the mud and throws a rock at it. The creature shows pain but then absorbs the rock and spits it out at Spike.

" Nobody hurts my Spikey Wikey!" Rarity screams stabbing out the monster's eye with a stick. The monster roars and Rarity's hooves get stuck in the goo. She starts to slowly sink in the toxic scum. Tunesong grabs her front hooves.

" I'm not going to let you sink." He says. The monster swallows her from the waist down.

" I'm slipping!" She says.

" Don't let go!" I say.

" Rarity! No!" He cries as the engagement band slips off and she gets submerged into the sludge. Fluttershy dives back into the mud to go get Rarity. Pinkie Pie takes Rarity's stick and jabs it's other eye. The blinded monster howls in pain again. I put Rainbow Dash by a soft bush so she can lay down.

"Come on! Fluttershy you can do it!" Pinkie Pie cheers.

" They're not going to make it. They're running out of air." Twilight Sparkle says.

" Hang in there, Rarity!" Tunesong says.

Suddenly a yellow hoof comes out of the sludge. Twilight grabs Fluttershy's hoof and tugs. Her feet start to get sucked in. I grab her tail and pull. Pinkie Pie grabs my tail and Tunesong grabs hers. Finally Spike grabs Tunesong's tail despite their rivalry. The monster lets go and we all get thrown into a tree. It gave me an idea. I run behind the tree and think about all the things that happened.

(Sometimes the truth hurts but she has to know.

You know, Rarity is going to find out sooner or later

Dear Rarity,

Will you marry me?

If you're reading this, I'm already gone. I'm leaving Ponyville forever

Fluttershy's in trouble

She's stuck out in the typhoon! We have to help her.

She's not my friend and neither are you!

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

BUZZZZZZ)

My eyes snap open and I kick the tree so hard that it collapses on the monster. Twilight Sparkle blasts the monster with her magic one last time for good measure.

" Is it dead?" Spike asks.

" I think so." Rarity says.

" We put our differences aside and worked together. That's going to be in my next letter to Princess Celestia." Twilight says. Fluttershy staggers over to Rarity and coughs up a thick chunky green liquid.

" She swallowed the toxic swamp scum." Tunesong says. Fluttershy drops to the ground.

" Fluttershy? Fluttershy! Can you hear me?" Rarity asks.

" Rarity. I'm so sorry. Just leave me here. I'll only slow you down. Take Rainbow Dash to the doctor. I deserve all of this." She says.

" No! No you don't. It's going to be okay Fluttershy." Rarity says.

" I didn't think you'd all come back for me. Rarity you mane is a mess. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." Fluttershy says.

" I don't care about my mane right now." Rarity says.

" Say what?" I say. My jaw drops.

" So you're not mad at me?" Fluttershy says.

"No. Not anymore. I was, but I was wrong. Everypony makes mistakes sometimes. No matta what happens I'll always care about you, foreva. You saved my life, dahling." Rarity says. Tears stream down her cheeks.

" Here's your band back." Tunesong says.

" I don't vant it!" Rarity says smacking it out of his hoof.

" Rarity, I want you two to be happy together. Don't let me ruin your relationship." Fluttershy says.

" Zecora's house is somewhere past this swamp. She might have an antidote." I say.

" How are we going to get across?" Pinkie Pie says putting Fluttershy on her back.

" The tree Is touching the other side like a bridge." Twilight Sparkle says.

" We can walk across." Spike says.

" We should all go one at a time. I'll go first to see if it's safe. I'll go first." Tunesong says.

He slowly pads across the tree trunk. I secretly hope that he falls in despite the fact that he helped save Rarity.

" It's a little slippery but If your careful you should be able to make it across." He says.

Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike make it safely across the bridge. Pinkie Pie carefully walks across the bridge with Fluttershy on her back. She's falling in and out of consciousness. Pinkie Pie looses her balance for a second but catches herself. She makes it to the other side with all of the others.

" Wahoo! I made it!" Pinkie Pie cheers.

I swallow a lump in my throat. I tip toe across the bridge. A gust of wind blows my hat off of my head and my mane into my face. I keep moving straight. A loud clap of thunder makes me panic and lose my footing. I fall into the cold pond of sludge. I cling on to the side of the tree. Rainbow Dash starts to sink. I paddle over to her. Her eyes open from the shock of the chilly water. She wraps her hoofs around my neck and gasps for air. She drags me under and my head goes back to the surface again. She comes back up out of the water.

" Help!" She sputters. She bites my ear and we sink to the bottom of the water. I grab her tail with my teeth and try to pull her up again. She kicks me in the face and I bubbles come out my nose. Suddenly a red figure grabs me and pulls me out of the water. He pulls me to the land. Twilight levitates RainbowDash out of the murky water. Big Mac puts my hat back on.

" Big Macintosh! What are you doing here?" I ask.

" Apple Bloom snuck out of the cellar to go find ya'." Big Mac says.

" She did?" I ask.

" E-yup!" He says.

" We gotta go find her!" I say.

" What happened? I can't move my front legs. I think my wings are broken." Rainbow Dash says.

" Lightning struck a tree and it fell on you." Twilight says.

I try to lift Rainbow Dash up. She moans.

" My chest hurts." She says.

" Your ribs are broken." Rarity says.

" We better keep moving. Fluttershy's getting worse." Tunesong says.

" Ah think we're almost there!" I say.

" I smell smoke and butterscotch." Pinkie Pie says.

" She's probably brewing up something." Twilight Sparkle says.

" Are you going to be okay, Rainbow Dash?" Tunesong asks.

" I don't know. It hurts when I breathe." Rainbow Dash sighs.

" Hang in there a while." Spike says.

" Ah think it's at the top of this hill." I say.

" Everypony be quiet! I think I hear something." Twilight says.

" You're going coo coo! I can't hear anything!" Pinkie Pie says.

" Wait! I hear it too." Tunesong says. A small shadow peers above the mountain.

" Applejack, You're okay!" Apple Bloom says galloping down the hill. I smile and let out a sigh of relief. I don't even have time to think about how angry I am at her for running away again. I'm just glad that she's in one piece. She gleefully prances over to us. She's wearing my old hat I gave her instead of her bow.

" Ah got a cutie mark!" She says.

" Apple Bloom!" Big Mac says trotting to her up the hill. Before they can reach each other a bolt of lightning from above strikes Apple Bloom. She yelps in pain and drops to her side. Her body trembles. My heart stops. Every pony crowds around her.

" No!" I scream running up to her. " Apple Bloom…" I whisper. She stares at me with orange eyes like saucers. A single tear drizzles down her face. " You should have never ran away." I sniffle. My ears droop down. My heart pounds like a drum.

"Ah'm sorry… Ah just wanna be brave…like you." She sobs. I look at her flank. He cutie mark is an apple with a door and two windows with a little blue bird on top. She takes her last deep breath and her eyes close gently like the drops of rain rolling on my back. Big Mac cradles her into his arms, takes off his straw hat, and cries. He never cried in front of me. At this point the doesn't care who's watching. He picks her up and puts her on his back.

" Apple Bloom…" He mumbles somberly to himself as he carries her into Zecora's home. Nopony spoke, instead we were all crying and wishing that things would get better.

Her life was so short but she made every minute count. She enjoyed being with her family and the crusaders, and she never let the nasty things Diamond Tiara says get to her. She always stayed optimistic good times and bad. Now she's gone…