A yellow Pegasus walked into the headquarters of the Long Clan. His cutie mark was that of a red dragon, his name was Wu Jiang Yang. He had come to inform his master of some bad news he received half an hour ago from a colleague. Before speaking, he put his right hoof out and then used his left hoof to cover over the right hoof. This was called the Wushu salute, used to respect elders, seniors and masters; it was a tradition that had been around for over a thousand years. They referred to their masters either as 夫子 (Teacher, Fuzi) or 兆大夫 (Teacher Zhao, Zhao Da Fu), in respect of his title. The yellow Pegasus advanced up to his master and spoke in Chinese “Fuzi, I’ve recently received news from a colleague, she has learned about us and our status”

“Send in three of the best men; tell them to watch them silently. And when they can, capture the orange mare and hold her captive. Which will let the blue Pegasus comes.”

“Nuo (Yes), what do we do then?"

"Kill the orange mare and leave her” said Fuzi. Jiang Yang did the Wushu salute once again and exited the room.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood staring at Twilight. “You have to watch yourselves out there, I recommend you staying in your houses”

“We will” they both said, as they exited Twilight’s estate and headed back into their house. Celestia dammit! She thought to herself. You had the perfect damn opportunity to tell her your feelings! And you blew it! She thought about the events before, and she thought about what it was in Applejack’s eye. She knew she had seen it somewhere but she couldn’t find it in her memory. But then she found it, it was right there in your memory, she knew it always. That was why Applejack had looked as if she had anticipated what she was about to say on the day in that cabin. Applejack knew all along. She knew that I was going to express my feelings for her, but didn’t have the guts to.  Applejack liked her, and she liked her back.

Three Pegasus’ crawled down on the ground, and they spotted the orange earth pony. “That’s her” one of them said in Chinese.

“Fuzi probably wouldn’t want you shooting that drugged crossbow bolt into her leg right now” But he ignored him “Be ready to pounce, get the bag ready” he instructed, as he pulled out a crossbow. “What are you doing?!” asked the third one “He told us to wai-”

“He told us to capture her when we can, killing and kidnapping is what we’re trained to do, now get that damned sack ready!” He aimed the crossbow at the mare’s knee, and squeezed the trigger. The bolt tore freely through the air and slammed into Applejack’s knee. She didn’t have time to cry out, a bag was put over her and the other two carried her away into the mountains. Within seconds Applejack the drug on the crossbow bolt begin to take effect. Applejack was asleep almost instantly. All that happened in under ten seconds. They also left a note by Dash’s door for her to find.

Rainbow Dash walked down the street towards her cloud estate that she knew too well. She found a piece of paper taped onto the door. As soon as she glanced it, she dashed away towards the South-eastern direction. It read:

We have Applejack.

Go to the Huangshan, on the south-eastern side,

Find a cave, its 3 kilometres from here.

We’ll be waiting.

Applejack opened her eyes; she was in a cave of some sort. She remembered only a searing pain in her knee then her world was black. There was a huge tub of water in front of her. She had no idea what it was for, but it didn’t seem like they were going to boil her. A yellow pony walked up to her, her cutie mark was that of a red dragon. “Ah, you’re awake”

“What are you doing you-” She was silenced as the pony shoved a gag into her mouth and slammed her into a cage and tied her up. “Your blue Pegasus friend shall get a surprise when she comes” the yellow Pegasus said “By the way, my name is Wu Jiang Yang, just so you can remember me” he smiled and walked away.

Rainbow Dash tore through the air as fast as she could go. Those ponies are not going to hold her captive! Dash said to herself. She soon spotted Huangshan, not far from the Wei province, where the Long Clan was born. She spotted a cave in the distance. It must be that one. Rainbow dashed right at the cave.

Applejack was stuck in the cage with no way out, but then she saw a cyan Pegasus appear in the distance. Jiang Yang must’ve seen it too since he called out “Ta lai le!, She’s here!” other yellow Pegasus’ took their positions high up and loaded their crossbows. Applejack looked in fear at those other assassin’s positioned high up with those deadly weapons trained on her as she flew inside. “Finally, you’re here” said a voice. Jiang Yang did the Wushu salute as Fuzi passed by “I’m glad you could make it, I was about to kill your orange friend here” said Fuzi in broken English, but Dash could just make out the what he’s saying. “You either fight or die” snarled Dash, but the pony addressed as Fuzi didn’t flinch. He simply said “I’ll let you two have a moment before I fight you. “Fang le ta” The two yellow ponies let Applejack go and removed her gag and untied her. The two mares embraced each other as soon as Applejack was released, Dash finally said “Applejack, there’s something I need to tell you that I’ve failed to tell you before” Applejack nodded for her to continue “I…I love you” Dash managed to whisper “I’ve always loved you, but I was never able to admit it to you” Applejack stroked Rainbow Dash’s mane and said “I know, Sugarcube, I loved you too. I always have” There weren’t any more words, the two mares seem to have completely forgotten the situation that they’re in.

They’re moment was suddenly and rudely interrupted by a kick from the Fuzi. The two mares toppled to the ground and he said three words “Sa le ta, kill them” Two of the yellow ponies held Dash down to the ground “Hey! I thought you said you were going to fight me!” she yelled. “You’re no match for me” said Fuzi Coward. That’s what Dash thought of him. “Since you even bothered coming, you shall have the pleasure of seeing your orange friend die” As he dumped her head into the water, Rainbow Dash yelled insults at Fuzi, but he simply ignored her. Dash had heard that drowning is a most painful way for anypony to die; she never knew she would witness the death of one of her friends through drowning. “Stop! I’ll kill you! You bloody coward!” Tears were streaming from Dash’s eyes, her insults for him continued towards Fuzi, but it was no use. Everypony eventually reach their breaking point when under water for too long, and they will eventually start inhaling the water, and Applejack is probably almost up to that poiny. The water will flood the lungs, rendering the victim unable to breath, which will kill them. Dash was crying now “Please…” she begged the Pegasus before her. What was once a proud and agile Pegasus that would allow nothing to stand in her way was now crying and begging for her friend’s life.

The most torturous minute Dash's life passed, and Applejack was finally dead. Her lifeless body lay before her. She would never speak again, nor will she share her feelings with the blue Pegasus. Her life had ended right here, in this cave, with this man called Fuzi. They released her and they moved out of the cave. Rainbow Dash crawled weakly up to the body of Applejack, her one and only love, and whispered over her dead body “I love you, Applejack, I always have. I know you will stay by my side regardless if you’re dead or alive” She stared at the body and done something she has rarely done before in her life. She sobbed. The sobs eventually turned to crying. Dash cried long and hard for what seemed like hours. She will never gain back what she has lost over here. She’s gone. And I watched her die.