The mists hung heavily over Neighagra Falls, produced by the ever-pounding torrent of water slamming down just outside the Crystal Empire. Extending from the shore where the water ran into a pool of unknown depths grew a small plot of trees and bushes. It was just barely big enough to be called the Neighagra Woodland. It was in this patch of shrubbery where six figures silently walked.

Heading directly for the Falls, the ragtag group of ponies did not stop till they reached the shore. Turning to face those behind her, the purple alicorn said, "Alright, Rainbow, Fluttershy, I think you two should go to the top of the Falls and search, while Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and I spread out and continue the search through the Woodland."

Nodding in acknowledgement, the rainbow-maned pegasus turned to the other pegasus of the group. "Come on, Flutters, we can't let him vanish again!"

Timidly, Fluttershy hesitantly followed Rainbow Dash to the top of the waterfall. The remaining four friends did not move until the two pegasus disappeared into the rolling mist. Then Twilight looked back at those around her. "Well, we best get going. Like Rainbow said, we don't want to lose him again."

Nodding, each one chose a direction and headed off in it. Meanwhile, above the Falls, Rainbow was groaning in irritation. "Sweet Celestia it's impossible to see past all this mist!"

Besides her, Fluttershy mumbled something, her hair covering her face to hide her expression, as usual. Not catching the mumbling over her own complaining, Rainbow continued to try and see where they were going, as well as looking for signs of their quarry.

Fluttershy didn't feel like trying to say it again, her gut twisting inside her for what was about to come. They would soon face their enemy, and then what? It was a no brainer they would end up using the Elements. At least they would try to. But unfortunately...

Oh, maybe I'm making the wrong decision.

Then she remembered why things were going to go the way they were. Sighing, she nodded and swooped down to the ground at the edge of the river. This surprised Rainbow, who stopped and went to join her.

"Hey, what gives?"

While Rainbow worried over Fluttershy, Pinkie met up with Twilight. And then immediately prompted to talk her into insanity.

"Wow, this place is awesome! It's the super-duper-many-times-coolest waterfall I've ever seen! Too bad we're here on a mission, or else I'd be having totally-mega fun! I still can't believe the Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were able to find a spell that could allow us to take back the Elements while moving the effects of the Tree to your castle! That'll make it harder for any meany pants who show up to destroy that Tree, now that it's a castle! Or has the castle become the Tree? Ooooh, Celestia does things that make my head hurt sometimes!"

Sighing, Twilight looked at Pinky, a tired expression on her face. "Pinkie, could you possibly give me a little silence? We have to try and concentrate on finding-"

"Aaaaaaaahhhh!"

Both stopped in their tracks and whipped around. Before Twilight could even muster a spell, Pinkie was gone, having probably reached the top of the waterfall by now, where the screaming had drifted down from.

Without barely a second thought, Twilight hurriedly followed Pinkie's example, running towards the Falls, then teleporting up the sheer cliff of thundering water.

She continued to run, until she made out several shapes in the mist. Bunching her legs, Twilight leaped, landing just to the side of the group of three facing off against a single pony.

"Sombra!"

Turning a wicked grin towards Twilight, Sombra's horn glowed black. "Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle! The pleasure isn't mine!" He shot a blast of dark magic at the alicorn, she just barely had time to dodge it before it hit her. The ground she had been standing on was now a black, melting crisp.

Glaring at the tyrant, Twilight shot a counter attack of her own, which Sombra quickly deflected with another blast of dark magic.

As the two fought, Rarity and Applejack climbed a steep hill besides the Falls and went to join in. It didn't take long for an all out war to break out between the King and the Elements.

Gritting his teeth, Sombra looked for any break in their attack. Finding one, the one he already knew he would find, Sombra took a second to take a deep breath. Then he turned his magic away from Twilight.

The blast that had been met for the alicorn princess now instead hit the pale yellow pegasus. Letting out a scream of pain, Fluttershy teetered at the edge of the bank. Before anyone could even let out a horrified gasp, she fell into the river, getting caught up in the current, heading right for the Falls- and the rocks waiting at the bottom.

While horror gripped the five friends on dry land, Sombra took this opportunity and used his magic to teleport away, knowing he would be no match for the five angry friends.

As Sombra escaped, Fluttershy was tossed around in a swirling, raging torrent, getting way too close the waterfall for comfort. Her friends tried to pull her out, Rainbow swooping in to remove her, Rarity and Twilight trying to use their magic, Applejack attempting to help with her roping skills, and Pinkie doing her thing, which ended up being running so fast she pretty flew over the water.

Sadly, they were all too late. With a cry, Fluttershy plummeted over the Falls. Rainbow went in for one last attempt to save her, but a violent surge of water from the Falls smacked into her, sending her crashing into the ground at the edge of the pool below.

Silence and dread now gripped the group as they stared at the rocks. Applejack was the first to break the stillness. "Fluttershy!" she screeched, turning and bounding down the hill she came up.

This got them all out of their stupors. They were quick to join Applejack, who, alongside Rainbow Dash, was running up and down the shore of the pool, screaming out, "Fluttershy! Fluttershy, can ya hear me?! Please, Celestiadamnit, answer me!"

Their words were wasted, which they learned in no less than ten minutes. Having taken to the sky, Rainbow Dash searched frantically for her friend. Then she spotted a familiar fur coat and a pair of wing. "Oh thank Celestia! Guys, I found her! Over here!"

At Rainbow's call, the other four turned towards the sound of Rainbow's voice, relieved and worried smiles on their faces as they raced toward their other two friends.

As they hurried toward her, Rainbow landed next to the hushed figure of Fluttershy, thanking Celestia over and over. She could not see her friend's face, but she just knew everything was alright. Right?

"It's ok, Flutters, you're gonna be just fin-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

As she had talked, Rainbow had reached up a hoof to brush Fluttershy's soft pink mane back. What she saw underneath nearly made her faint.

At Rainbow's scream, Twilight and the others quickened their pace. "Rainbow! Rainbow, what's wrong?!"

They were about to burst from the mist and join the two pegasus, but then a very terrified, squeaky voice stopped them.

"No, don't come any closer guys! You won't be able to..."

The voice faded, and then the sobbing began. The same dread from earlier filled them, tenfold. Twilight took a hesitant step forward, gulping, her gut feeling telling her something she didn't want to believe.

Gathering her courage, Twilight stepped clear of the mist. The sight before her instantly made her turn her back and puke. The action was not lost to the rest of them. Even though Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie were pretty sure they knew what was hidden beyond this mist, the three could not stop themselves. They had to see for themselves.

Of course, Rarity joined Twilight in puking. Though Applejack's stomach rebelled, she held her lunch and trotted up to the corpse. Pinkie stayed put, her eyes glazing over, not wanting to see this anymore, wishing she had never stepped forward.

Rainbow was curled in a ball next to Fluttershy, bawling her eyes out, unable to focus on anything. "Oh sugarcube...," Applejack whispered hoarsely, "I don't, I can't, I..."

Unable to take it, Applejack broke down, looking up at the sky and letting out an anguished yell as tears poured down her face.

Fluttershy's body itself was intact, with only a few minor cut and bruises, but the neck was where it stopped. No, I mean literally stopped. Her head and neck had been severed from the torso, blood and pieces of throat scattered everywhere. She was missing her left eye, and the right one had a chunk of stone stuck in it. Her jaw was broken, hanging at an awkward angle with blood dripping out of it. Her cheekbones were also shattered, sunken in to what was left of her mouth. Fluttershy's skull was in pieces, blood and brain parts dribbling out the side.

It was the worst nightmare-come-true they had ever had, and they let the world know it with their cries of despair.

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Angel stood there in a state of complete and utter shock. He could feel tears unconsciously drifting down his cheeks, but he didn't care. All around him were other animals having their own meltdowns, but all he could see and hear was Fluttershy. His owner, his friend, the one whom he had treated like dirt. The one pony who actually cared for him and catered to his needs with little resistance. It made him hate himself with a passion. He wished he could turn back time and stop himself from acting like such a complete bastard, but no, it was too late.

Now Angel had no one to blame but himself.

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Celestia stood before the door of the room, her hoof raised to knock. She had to knock. She had to. He needed to...

I can't do it...

No, I must!

Before she could stop herself, she brought her hoof down on the door. Hard. Way too hard. The door flew off its hinges, crashing into the wall across from it, shattering the stone wall of the castle. Both draconequus and pony watched in surprised awe as the door tumbled down through the air, eventually smashing against the mountain.

"Um, can I come in?"

The awkward question now turned the Lord of Chaos from a staring buffoon to a crowd of ponies watching some of Pinkie's most ridiculous antics over and over.

"Oh, my dear Celestia, that was the single most hilarious and chaotic thing you've ever done!" Discord managed to gasp out through his laughing fit.

Celestia felt an embarrassed blush coming on, but one look at the ignorant draconequus changed her expression back to a sad, grieving one. This was not lost to Discord, who stopped laughing at once and floated over to the Equestrian princess.

"Celestia? What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath to steady her nervous feeling, she looked up at the Chaos Lord with tears shining in her magenta eyes. "Discord, I- it's- it's Fluttershy, Discord. She's..."

After the initial shock had worn off, Discord's heartbroken cry could be heard all the way to the outer reaches of the Frozen North.

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The funeral was short and bittersweet. It was a private one, so only the Mane 6, Discord, Celestia and Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were in attendance. Of course, all Fluttershy's animal friends were there too, and a massive throng of ponies sat outside the church, each one giving their thanks to Fluttershy and all she had done for them.

Many tears were shed, and the broken friends all looked to each other for comfort. Only Discord sat apart from them, refusing to let anyone but Celestia near him, and even then he never spoke a word to her.

The unicorns of Ponyville had taken it upon themselves to put the body back together, so at least the friends would get to see the pale yellow pegasus one last time.

Many words were said about Fluttershy. She was the bravest soul of them all. She would always be there for any of them if they needed her. She reminded them all to be cautious and look before they leaped. It was all true, but it didn't matter for them in the end. These things were all gone. No more afternoon strolls. No more relaxing in the sun. No more Kindness.

The world had become a very dark place indeed.

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Zecora was on her way back from the funeral, her soul grieved over the loss of her closest neighbor and friend. Granted, the zebra was no stranger to loss, but this one bit much more deeply than the loss of old homes and still living friends.

It was not so shocking, really, that she didn't feel it until she reached the door of her house and was pulled from her thoughts as she paused to open the door to her home.

That was when it hit with the force of a tidal wave.

Literally knocked off her feet by this unknown power, Zecora looked around her in confusion and fear. "What? This cannot be! The Forest is awakening!"

Quickly, she ran into her hut and pulled a few things off some shelves, while knocking several down in her haste. Then she went to her always pre-prepared cauldron and started throwing things in. Red smoke shot from the pot, making Zecora gag and back up a couple steps.

Once the fumes cleared, she darted back over and looked in the broiling pot. What she saw in there scared her out of her mind, and before anypony could blink, she had packed a few belonging and dashed back toward Ponyville.

In the opposite direction Zecora was running, past her hut and far into the Forest, the earth trembled as something under it shifted. The ground opened and a glowing black orb shot into the sky, exploding and lighting the area with a mysterious gray light.

A pair of gleaming yellow eyes peered up at the display from deep with the forming fissure. It shifted around, wanting desperately to find a way out, but knowing it couldn't leave. Not yet. That was when it spoke in a hissing voice.

'You will pay, Sombra.....'