Rafting Against the Current

The friends of Twilight Sparkle were all conversing in Ponyville Square, waiting for their friend to show up.

“Where the hay is Twilight? She was supposed to be here, like, forever ago!” Rainbow Dash moaned.

“Actually, she was s’posed to be here a couple ah minutes ago, Raynbow,” AJ corrected.

“Oh… right… that’s what I meant…” Rainbow replied, slightly embarrassed.

“Right…” Rarity retorted sarcastically.

“Twilight sent me a letter earlier…” Fluttershy interjected.

“What did it say, Flutters?” questioned Rainbow.

“She said that she would probably be late because of some royal duties she had…”

“Well, at least she told one of us ahead of time!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

There was a cough, and the five mares looked to the source of the sound to find that their friend had made it.

“Hey, Twilight! I see you finally made it!” Rainbow Dash greeted her friend. “Y’know, if you want, I could show you how to fly super awesomely fast and you could make it here in ten seconds flat!”

“That’s okay, Rainbow, I’m fine,” Twilight denied the offer. “I have something to show you guys.” Twilight rubbed her hooves together, an evil smile creeping across her face.

“Ah’m a little bit worried about what’s happening,” Applejack whispered to Rainbow Dash. “She seyms… a bit different.”

“Oh, just relax, AJ! Everything’s fine! You’re just being paranoid!” Rainbow Dash whispered back.

“If you don’t mind, could you, maybe, tell us what it is?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sorry, but it’s a surprise. Now follow me.”

“If y’all don’t miynd, ah need to go do som’n real quick,” Applejack interjected quickly, running off. “Ah’ll be back in a minute!”

“Here we are!” Twilight said, pointing a hoof to a small hole.

Applejack caught up with the five mares.

“Ah finally caught up with y’all!” she exclaimed, panting.

“What are we doing here, exactly?” Rarity questioned.

“Oh, you’ll see, don’t worry,” Twilight answered.

Suddenly, Twilight’s magical aura surrounded the five mares, hovering them above the hole.

“Twilight! What do you think you’re doing?!” Rarity demanded.

“How foolish of you… Did you actually think I’m your friend? Hah! I’m not Twilight!” the fake laughed.

“Whajja do with her?!” Rainbow demanded.

“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough,” she assured them. “Right now, you’re getting out of the way!” And with that, the false Twilight dropped the five mares into the hole. The hole sealed itself behind them.

Rainbow Dash awoke to find herself strapped down to a table with some sort of helmet on her head.

“Is Twilight trying to give me a brain scan or something?” she questioned quietly to herself.

She looked around the room she was in to find all of her friends, also strapped up with helmets on their heads as well. Well, except for Twilight.

“Not quite,” came an answer. The voice sounded female. It sounded soft and smooth, but mysterious, somewhat like Mist.

“Who are you?” Rainbow demanded.

“Me? Oh, Master Mint says you’re not worthy to call me or Master Mint by name,” the black-robed unicorn replied.

“Master Mint?”

“He’s my master,” the mare continued.

“Misty, are they here ye- Well, would you look at what we have here!” a black-robed stallion smiled devilishly as he suddenly walked in the room. “Misty, would you be a dear and fetch me a drink? I’m thirsty!”

“Yes, Master Mint!” Misty agreed to get the stallion a drink. She rushed off to do just that.

Rarity and Applejack woke up, shortly followed by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

“Oh, good, you four are awake!” cheered the stallion gleefully.

“Where are we?” the four mares questioned tiredly.

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I think I’ve finally perfected my machine! All I need to do is test it, and why not test it on you five so that I can get my revenge on Twilight Sparkle!”

“So that’s what this is about!”

“Yes, that’s exactly what this is about, Rainbow Dash! And now, it’s time to test it!” answered the stallion with the sound of devilish enjoyment in his voice.

And with that, he flipped the lever. A bright flash of light took over everypony’s vision for several seconds.

Searing pain tore through Rainbow Dash’s body. She screamed in agony as she felt as if her stomach was being ripped out of her body. She felt her central body only to find that everything was still in order. She felt as though her heart was being wrenched out of her through her chest, as well as all love she had ever felt coming to and from her. She felt all of the happiness she had ever experienced ripped from her soul, leaving her.

As the light disappeared, Domino’s face lit up with joy.

The real ones were hauled away to the storage room in their cages. The door shut behind them.

There was a dim light. The walls of the room were a dark grey-blue color. On the opposite side of the room, there was a small stack of empty cages.

The only filled cages contained the girls. Rainbow Dash’s cage was on top of Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s. Rarity’s cage was on top of Applejack’s and Fluttershy’s was above Pinkie Pie’s. Applejack’s and Rarity’s were on the right, whilst Fluttershy’s and Pinkie Pie’s were on the left and Rainbow Dash’s was in the middle. Each cage was filled up to about 3 inches with hay.

“Guys, was it just me, or did that hurt like crap?!” Rainbow asked her friends.

“No… why do you ask?” Rarity questioned.

“Well, that hurt a lot for me…”

“Oh my! Are you okay? Oh, I hope you’re okay…” Fluttershy worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that…” Rainbow drifted off.

“What is it?” Rarity asked.

“Nothing,” Rainbow kept her thoughts back from her lips. “I’m fine.”

Rainbow knew that the exact opposite was true. She hurt horribly on the inside, both emotionally and physically, but she didn’t want to worry her friends. She cared about her friends, and the last thing she wanted to do was to make her friends have to care about her. She knew her friends cared about her already, but she didn’t want for them to need to care. So she didn’t tell them.

What a big mistake she made.