The hallway seemed endless, but I refused to look back, I was afraid I'd see her again, smiling that unhinged smile of hers as she bore down on me effortlessly. I shook my head to clear the thoughts, even if by some dark and horrible miracle she was still… alive… she would never move again.

I choked back the urge to vomit once more, I had done unspeakable violence to her, even if she was crazy she was still, or used to be, one of my closest friends.

Tears threatened to overwhelm me again but I bit them back, losing myself now wouldn't do anypony any good. I had to find the others and I had to find them fast, Luna was probably trapped here too, if anypony would know what was going on it would be her. The walls rushed past as I galloped harder, and I was running full force when I heard a sound come from down the hall, it sounded like… crying. I dug my back hooves into the ground, skidding to a stop, and perked my ears up, carefully trying to locate the source the noise, I moved slowly forward looking this way and that until I finally reached a closed door. The sound was definitely crying and it sounded like…

"Fluttershy? A-are you in there?" I called softly, I was still afraid but my concern for my friend overrode the impulse to be quiet.

I concentrated, wrapping the doorknob in a telekinetic sheathe and slowly pushed it open, my headache started pounding a little harder as I did. The sobbing sounds became more pronounced but they still sounded distant. I looked in and saw a staircase leading down, I locked up for a moment; they were the same stairs from Sugarcube Corner. I choked back my fear and took the first few faltering steps down, my resolve hardened as I heard her voice.

"P-please… I'm sorry… we're so sorry… It's all my f-fault… it should have been m-me." I heard Fluttershy pleading with somepony, "Please… it hurts… p-please stop…"

My heart nearly gave out when I heard the voice that answered, a voice I never thought I'd hear again, but it was different now, twisted by rage and pain.

"You're right friend, it should have been you, but it wasn't, it was me!"

I got down to the door and peeked in.

A cyan colored Pegasus covered in stitchs and scars had her back to the door, her ragged mane was in disarray but still held some of its original color, a bright rainbow pattern. Her wings were the worst though; they hung limply and were missing most of their feathers, at the shoulder muscles were thick metal surgical staples keeping them haphazardly affixed to the pegasus's back. Where her cutie marks should've been was only a mass of discolored scar tissue. Fluttershy was strapped to a metal slab raised chest high, her wings were partially mangled, pastel feathers littered the floor around the slab itself. Thick needles were keeping Fluttershy's wings spread to their full span as the horrible revenant of our friend tore feathers out one by one with sickening viciousness.

I shook with fear and rage, Fluttershy didn't deserve this, if anypony deserved to be punished here it was me, I was the one who found them, I was the one who was too late…

"STOP RAINBOW DASH!" I had barged in before I even realized what I was thinking.

She did stop, and slowly turned to face me, I shuddered as I finally saw her face. It was a network of scars and pain, her right eye was stapled shut, a tiny trickle of blood leaked from the ruin of the tear duct, her left eye was barely any better, it was discolored and bloodshot. I had thought her wings were the worst but I was proven wrong in that moment, the worst part was her expression. Always I had known Rainbow Dash to be defiant and proud, ambitious and loyal, but her expression was an awful parody of that, it was an ugly thing, every line spoke of anger, her crooked and scarred lips were twisted in a partial sneer of miserable hate, and her single serviceable eye was narrowed and glaring.

Dash snorted, "Twilight… I was hoping you'd come along, wanna see a new trick I learned?" without waiting for an answer Dash lashed out with her back legs and slammed her hooves into Fluttershy's ribcage, I winced at the cracked sound and her scream of pain. "Neat huh?" that twisted sneer turned up in a grim parody of satisfaction.

"Dash… Please, you're dead… I'm sorry, I know I can never be forgiven for not finding you but don't take it out on Fluttershy." I said softly, I didn't want to have to repeat what I had to do to Pinkie.

"You think she's blameless?" Dash said in a dark whisper, "YOU THINK ANY OF YOU ARE BLAMELESS?!" her voice hit a roar so fast it made me jump.

"W-what do you mean? Fluttershy didn't do anything…" I said, unwilling to believe the gentle pony could ever have had anything to do with what happened at Sugarcube Corner.

"Heh, exactly, it's what she didn't do… why don't you tell the story 'Shy?" Rainbow Dash said with a crooked and painful-looking smile.

Fluttershy cried softly for a few minutes, neither I nor Rainbow Dash spoke, my stomach turned as I realized she even seemed to be enjoying her tears. Before long she lost patience though.

"TELL HER!" Dash roared before ripping out another feather.

With a small cry of pain Fluttershy started talking through her sobs.

"I-it was s-supposed to b-be… sniffle… me." She said weakly.

"C'mon 'Shy, give her more than that," Dash taunted.

"T-the day D-dash disappeared I w-was supposed to m-meet Pinkie Pie to help her… t-to help her b-bake c-cupcakes, she s-said she needed help…" She started to cry again but stopped with a muffled cry as Rainbow Dash delivered another blow to her ribs.

"B-but I had t-to… sniffle… c-cancel at the last m-minute because A-angel had come d-down with a c-cold and I… sniff... I needed t-to stay home to n-nurse him b-back to health…" As the truth slowly dawned on me I realized why Fluttershy had never spoken up, she knew what she had escaped when the truth came out. She knew it had almost been her and by some cosmic slip-up she had missed the headspony's axe by inches.

"P-Pinkie Pie sounded really disappointed when I t-told her… sniffle… b-but she said she m-might be able to g-get…get..." At this Fluttershy started crying, "Oh Dash I'm so sorry… I d-didn't know… I swear I d-didn't…"

Rainbow Dash glared at her with her one good eye, "Finish the story…" her voice was a deadly whisper.

"Pinkie Pie said i-it was ok… t-that she could p-probably g-get Rainbow Dash to h-help her instead… I n-never saw either of them again…" finally finished she broke down crying.

"And there you have it Twilight… So, still think she's so blameless?" Dash said hatefully.

I was stunned. I'd had no idea how close Fluttershy had come to being the one I found on the slab in that horrible basement. Or what she must have been dealing with all this time. I thought I had felt responsible because I hadn't seen it coming, because I hadn't gotten there in time, but Fluttershy…

"No, it's not her fault Dash," I said, unwilling to let Fluttershy suffer anymore, "She didn't know, and couldn't have known. You knew Fluttershy better than anyone, you went to flight school together, she gave everything into caring for the creatures around Ponyville, she only did what she always did, she put her duty and her kindness first!"

With that final word I forced a painful surge of magic forward, sheathing Dash in my telekinesis spell I slammed her into the blood-stained rack in the corner, with a twist of my head I snapped the restraints shut and locked them.

"NO! NO! NOT HERE! ANYWHERE BUT HERE!" I drowned out her words, whatever that thing was it wasn't Rainbow Dash, the Dash I knew wouldn't have blamed anyone, that thing was just some trick made to torment us. I undid the restraints on Fluttershy who had fainted and pulled her onto my back. As I made my way up the stairs the door behind me slammed shut on its own. I stopped and stared back as I heard Dash start screaming again, but what was worse was that I heard a second voice, playful and full of laughter.

"Hey Dashie… Why do you think they call it a HACKSAW? Heeheheheheeeheeheehe"

I dropped Fluttershy on one of the steps as softly as I could and ran back to the door.

"NO! PINKIE PLEASE-"

I slammed the door open.

The room was empty. No slab, no rack, no Rainbow Dash.

No Pinkie Pie.

I backed out and went back up the stairs, as I lifted Fluttershy's thin form onto my back I couldn't help wondering if I'd just damned whatever was left of my friend to a living hell of torment under the knife of a giggling psychopath.