Fallen Angel

Chapter 1: Friends?

Location: Sugarcube Corner's basement/ Equiestria

Date: Three Months Ago

A/N: Sup my slaves, Battle Damage here with another funfilled chapter (well maybe not this chapter) I just wanna say thank you to JohnyBGoodPro for helping me.

Disclaimer: I do not own, My Little Pony, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, associated charecters, Hasbro, or the fanfic Cupcaces. These all belong to there respective owners, BUT I CLAIM THE REST. You know in hindsight I probably shouldn't have said the last bit, but you know what, fuck it.

*WARNINNG: THIS SCENE MAY BE CONSIDERED GRIMDARK, BUT YOU ARE READING A MATURE RATED FANFIC SO SUCK IT UP.*

"Dash. Daaash. Wake up." Rainbow Dash managed to give her a modicum of weak acknowledgment.

Pinkie reached into the medicine bag and produced a large syringe.

"Alright, time for the last round."

Dash looked at the needle, and Pinkie took that as a question as to what it was.

"Something to take the pain away." she informed as she walked around to Dash's ruined back side. She stuck the needle into the lower part of her spine. Dash flinched.

Coming to the front again, she told her friend, "In a few minutes, you won't be able to feel anything below your ribcage. Then you'll be able to stay awake to watch the harvest."

Dash started to cry again.

"Pinkie." she trembled out.

"Yeah?"

"I want to go home." she openly sobbed.

"Yeah, I can see wanting to do that." the party pony replied. "Sometimes, I just wanna give up, say 'I'm done with this mess' and go to bed. But you know what? You can't shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you're gonna get ahead in life."

Dash cried. Minutes passed and the drug took effect. Dash was numb from her chest to her flanks. Aware of this, Pinkie approached with her scalpel. Suddenly, the door to the room burst open, and Pinkie whipped around to face the intruder. Applejack burst into the basement, and took a split-second to take in scene that greeted her. The room reeked of urine, blood, and death, and there were pony skulls, medical knives and needles all around. And at the center of it all, was Rainbow Dash restrained to wooden planks, and Pinkie, eying her with the scalpel.

"Pinkie, 'ah don't know what yer thinkin', but ah'mma give you one chance to drop that knife, now."

Pinkie looked dumbstruck for just a moment; as if AJ was out of line for giving her orders in her basement. After a couple seconds, she blinked, and gave an enraged scream as she charged AJ with the scalpel. Applejack, remaining collected, took a small leap forward, swiftly rotated 180 degrees on her front legs, and gave the insane Pinkie a full force buck to the chin with both back hooves. The move sent Pinkie airborne, back-flipping wildly towards the back right corner of the room, where her head slammed into a wooden table with knives on it. The momentum broke her neck on contact, and the pink pony landed limp in a heap on the floor, completely motionless.

Dead.

As several knives on the table clattered to the floor from the crash, Apple Jack quickly approached Rainbow, growing more wide-eyed the closer she got.

"Oh, Equestria..." she said disbelievingly. It seemed that Rainbow wasn't aware of anything that had happened in the last few seconds, her eyes wandering aimlessly. AJ grabbed the dropped scalpel, and went immediately for the leather straps restraining Rainbow to the planks. First the legs, then the arms, and Rainbow collapsed onto the cobblestone floor, where her body began to go into shock.

"Rainbow Dash? Stay with me, Rainbow, ya hear? Stay with me Rainbow!"

Applejack desperately fought back the panic. If she didn't do something, and fast, her friend was going to die. Answers for this horrific sight would have to wait. Rainbow needed help, now. Before dropping the scalpel, she quickly cut through the copper wires that were wrapped around nails that had been hammered into her back hooves and connected to a power box on the far wall. Spotting a discarded bucket nearby, she resisted the nausea as best she could, and placed Rainbow's dismembered wings and cutie marks into the bucket before placing the unconscious Pegasus on her back, taking the rope handle of the bucket in her mouth, and raced out of the basement as fast as she could.

She came bursting out of Sugarcube Corner into the black of night. Making sure to keep her friend balanced on her back, she galloped as fast as she could to Ponyville Urgent Care. Minutes later, she came bolting through the doors of the care center, dropping the bucket on the tile floor and screaming for help. The desk attendant quickly alerted two orderlies, and they rolled out a gurney into the lobby, placing the unconscious Rainbow Dash onto it, and rolled her into the ER, quickly signaling for a doctor's immediate attention. Applejack's eyes were locked on her friend all the way to the shutting ER doors; the last sight of her was blood starting to trickle from the Pegasus' mouth. The events of the night finally catching up to her, Applejack resisted the urge to vomit one last time, and passed out in the lobby.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Twilight Sparkle's sound sleep was interrupted by a rapid pounding on her front door. Yawning, she made her way down the stairs to greet whoever wanted her attention at 2 in the morning. She opened the door to a panicked Fluttershy and Rarity.

"We need to get to Ponyville Urgent Care right now! Something serious has happened!" Fluttershy quickly told her.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked, still waking up, and her concern growing.

"We don't know. The messenger pony didn't say anything specific. Just that two of our friends were at the care center, and one of them had been admitted to the ER. I went to get Rarity and then you. Come on, we need to hurry!"

Together, the three of them raced to Ponyville Urgent Care to see what the trouble was. When they ran into the waiting room, it was empty, save for Applejack, sitting in the row of chairs next to the doors to the ER, with her hat resting on the chair next to her.

She looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Applejack? What's wrong? What's happened?"

The farm workhorse turned to her friends with tired, desperate eyes. Tears pricked the corners of her eyelids, and her lips trembled.

"It's Rainbow..."

"What's happened to her?"

"'I...'ah don't know for sure..."

Twilight looked around the waiting room again.

"One of us should go find Pinkie Pie."

"No...no ya don't." Applejack answered.

"Why not? What's going on?"

AJ swallowed hard, and prepared to do her best at describing what she had just seen earlier that night.

By the time she had finished explaining the last hour or so to her three friends in the waiting room with her, each of them looked as confused and horrified as she.

"Wh-why would she do such a thing?" Twilight shakily asked.

"Ah haven't the faintest idea, Twi'. I didn't mean to kick her so hard either. I just saw Rainbow, and when Pinkie came at me with that knife, I just made a split-second decision. And judging from what was in that room, I don't think Rainbow was the first victim. Not even close."

"I just hope they can help her..." Fluttershy said softly.

"Ah really hope so, too, Fluttershy. She didn't look good when they took her in there. Not good at all." AJ said.

It was another 30 minutes before a nurse pony came quietly trotting out into the waiting room. The 4 friends were immediately on their feet, anxious for any news. They prayed it was good.

"Well?" Applejack asked.

"We managed to stabilize her. You got her here just in time." the nurse reported.

"Oh thank Celestia..."

"But I'm afraid it's not looking good. She was clearly tortured. We removed the nails from her back hooves, and administered antibiotics. Hopefully that will stop any infection. Her heart's been jolted by prolonged electrocution, so we're keeping a very close eye on that, to see if there's any permanent damage to her heart. As for what you...brought in with her...we were able to sew her cutie marks back on. Hopefully those will heal up, and be no worse for wear, and the muscle tissue that was removed from that area will hopefully heal too. But...I'm afraid we weren't able to do anything about her wings..."

"No...are you sure?"

"I'm sorry; I don't know what to say. We smoothed down the jagged edges from where they were broken. If her skin heals up, they'll just be small stubs on her back. She might be able to pass for an earth pony, but...I'm sorry, we've never dealt with anything like this before. We did the best we could. Aside from the doubtless psychological harm, she'll carry some of these physical scars for the rest of her life. But...but at least you got her here alive."

AJ collapsed onto her back haunches, looking like she was about to break down into tears.

"Can we see her?" Rarity asked.

"I wouldn't recommend that. At least not until morning. She's asleep. Once we're sure she's stable enough, we'll move her out of Intensive Care to a private room tomorrow, and then you can see her. And as far as I know, Royal Guards have quarantined off Sugarcube Corner, so hopefully we'll get some answers soon."

"Th-thank you, nurse." AJ shakily said.

The nurse nodded. "Again, I'm so sorry." She then walked back into the ER, and left the four friends alone in the waiting room.

The events of the night finally coming to a climax, AJ's shoulders heaved, and she quietly wept. With there being no words to say yet, Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy gathered around her, put their arms around each other, and held each other silently.