Author's Notes:

Edited on 07 Mar 2016

“Oh boy, we’re pretty high up,” says Applejack nervously over the chilling wind while peeking over the edge of the upgraded Griffin Chaser, peddling her part of course, with Pinkie Pie up front and steering with unbeatable determination.

“Of course we are, silly,” says Pinkie Pie. “Have you ever heard of a pegasus that was afraid of heights? I mean pegasi live on clouds and if they were afraid of heights they wouldn’t be much of a pegasus. They’d be like a tofu pegasus, and tofu is nasty.”

“So yer saying that a pegasus that’s afraid of heights is nasty?”

“And bland. Just like tofu.”

“And what if Ah told ya that Fluttershy was afraid of heights?”

“Fluttershy is a special, tasty kind of tofu. Oh, goodie! Here we are!”

The clouds part like curtains to reveal Rainbow Dash’s towering household. The Romanic architecture and rainbow waterfalls give it a warm, welcoming appearance, and Pinkie Pie and Applejack peddle faster and the Griffin Chaser ascends to the uppermost level where Rainbow Dash’s room is. The balcony is conveniently wide open, giving both mares a clear line of sight into Loyalty’s messy room. They can see the pegasus’s body rise and fall underneath her Wonderbolt blanket with each snore, but her tail is poking out from under the blanket, occasionally twitching with a sleepy giggle.

“Sure, I can do both,” says Rainbow Dash, followed closely by some undercover shifting.

Pinkie Pie snickers while Applejack shivers and rubs her hooves together, teeth chattering and thin, earth pony fur standing.

“I wonder what she’s dreaming about,” says Pinkie Pie.

“Can we hurry this up, please? I ain't really interested in gettin' a cold,” says Applejack, getting a sudden spasm to shake the shivers away a second later.

“Sure thing, Jackie! Do you have the lasso ready?”

Applejack unclips her rope from the side of the Griffin Chaser. “Got it right here, Pinks.”

“Excellent,” says Pinkie Pie. She pulls out a megaphone, turns it on to the maximum volume and aims it at Rainbow Dash. “GOOD MORNING RAINBOW DASH!!!”

Rainbow Dash screams and flails under her covers until she’s standing upright on her bed. Her mane and tail are plagued with the effects of early morning bed-head, and her wings are outstretched from the surprise of Pinkie Pie’s obnoxious morning greeting.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes dart around the room until they focus on the two mares on the Griffin Chaser, then her eyes turn to angry slits and she burrows herself under her covers once again.

“Way to ruin my nap, you guys,” says Rainbow Dash from under the sanctuary of her covers.

“BUT, DASHIE, TODAY IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY AND WE NEED YOU ASAP!!!” says Pinkie Pie.

“Go away!”

Pinkie Pie sighs and puts the megaphone away, and then she looks at Applejack with lidded eyes. “Do it.”

“One grouchy pegasus comin’ up!” says Applejack.

Applejack carefully twirls her lasso so that it does not get caught in the propellers, and then she skillfully throws it over Pinkie Pie’s head. It avoids the Griffin Chaser’s propellers and goes around Rainbow Dash’s tail, and with one quick tug the lasso tightens around the colorful tail and Rainbow Dash is yanked out of her bed and dragged across the floor. The pegasus swears and tries to grab anything her hooves can get a hold of before remembering she has the gift of flight. She tries to fly away, but the rope is on her good and tight and is quickly subdued by Applejack and Pinkie Pie through an airborne hogtie that leaves her tied to the Griffin Chaser.

“Let me go!” orders Rainbow Dash, ferally thrashing in her bondage. They don't release her, so she screams and calls for help to the ponies down below, causing some to look up and -unfortunately for Dash- wave with giant smiles on their faces. One of which is a teenage Scootaloo. “Scootaloo, get help! I’m being kidnapped!”

“Hi, Rainbow Dash!” hollers Scootaloo, waving enthusiastically.

“Get help!” cries Rainbow Dash desperately. “Help!”

Scootaloo gallops down the road. “See ya around, Dash! I’m late for practice!”

“No, don’t go to practice! Get help!”

It takes them another few minutes to reach the big, red barn that serves as a staple for Sweet Apple Acres, and during the whole trip they had to deal with Rainbow Dash’s protests and threats. Pinkie Pie lands the Griffin Chaser at the front and Applejack unties Rainbow Dash just enough so that they can take her off of the aerial vehicle. After that, the farmer carries her fellow Element to the barn and pushes the door open while Pinkie Pie locks her prized possession to a tree. Once Pinkie is inside with the two, Applejack closes the door, covering the whole barn in darkness.

“What’s going on here!” says Rainbow Dash harshly.

“Will ya just relax, already,” says Applejack.

“Relax? Relax! I was kidnapped by you lunatics at only Celestia knows what time!”

“It was noon, Dash.”

“Yeah, do you know how early that is?”

Pinkie Pie hears Applejack face-hoof, but she does not care. Dash needs an explanation, so she will get one.

“But, Dashie, we had to become lunatics so that way we can congratulate you on your latest achievement!” says Pinkie Pie.

“And what achievement is that?” says Rainbow Dash.

Suddenly, the barn is lit up by colorful flashes of light that match Rainbow Dash’s vibrant color scheme and confetti falls from the ceiling like raindrops in a storm. The light show illuminates the tables of punch, cider, and cakes, cupcakes and cookies as well as wafers with bowls of pudding next to them.

“SURPRISE!!!” shouts all of her friends and a dozen extra guests from Weather Patrol and around town.

Rainbow Dash screams and backpedals, but since she’s still tied up in rope, she ends up tripping over herself and lands on her back with a loud thud. Applejack chuckles nervously and quickly apologizes before undoing her work. Once Rainbow Dash is free she scrambles to her hoofs and is about to chew them out for scaring her, but her scowl turns into a wide eyed wonder when she sees HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAINBOW DAS written in crayon on a large banner.

Twilight walks up to the three with the cake levitating in front of her, smiling brightly too. The cake is huge and covered in blue frosting with lightning bolts all along the sides. There is also a cluster of lit candles on the top.

“Happy birthday, Rainbow Dash,” says Twilight. “Ready to blow out your candles?”

“Today’s my birthday?” asks Rainbow Dash.

“Um, yeah. Don’t tell me you forget about your birthdays, too.”

“Well, technically today isn’t Dashie’s birthday since she was born on a leap day,” says Pinkie Pie matter-of-factly. Everyone goes silent and stares at her, and her response is a big smile and a hug for the birthday mare. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate your birthday!”

“Um, thanks. But you said you had to congratulate me on my latest achievement... So, what is it?” says Rainbow Dash.

“Turning another year older is an achievement.”

Rarity steps forward. “But keep in mind that it also brings you one year closer to getting gray hair. Luckily for you, I got you some great products that will help you keep your magnificent colors.”

Rarity hands Rainbow Dash a basket the size of her head that is filled with fur and mane care products, as well as hoof polish, general makeup, new brushes and combs, perfumes, bath oils and salt, and twenty four hour odor protection lady speedsticks. Sports edition.

Rainbow Dash forces a smile and gingerly pats Rarity's shoulder. “Gee, thanks. I like it. I like it a lot.”

Rarity beams and Twilight chuckles nervously and uses her magic to wipe sweat off of her face.

“Can you please blow out the candles, now?The wax is getting all over the frosting,” says Twilight.

Rainbow Dash takes a deep breath and blows out all but one candle, which she blows out a split second later. The ponies cheer and stomp the ground in applause, and Pinkie Pie stands on her hind legs and shouts: “LET’S PARTY!”

The guests cheer once more and the celebration goes in full swing. The music is blaring so loud that ponies have to shout just to hear each other speak, the food and drinks quickly vanish in the stomachs of the guests, and everyone is generally happy.

Pinkie Pie does her part in the party. Such as dancing with random guests, refilling glasses out of the blue, and “accidentally” pushing Fluttershy into in Big Mac after said shy pegasus gives Rainbow Dash a book on tortoise care. When that ordeal is taken care of, Pinkie Pie makes her way to Rainbow Dash, who is moping in the corner away from the party for some reason.

“So, Dashie, how are ya liking the party?” asks Pinkie Pie, the enthusiasm in her tone is enough to make anyone around her smile. Anyone but Rainbow Dash, that is.

“It’s good,” says Rainbow Dash, forcing herself to smile.

Pinkie Pie’s smile fades away and she wraps her hoof around her best friend in a sympathetic hug. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Wonderbolts?”

“Haven’t responded yet.” Rainbow Dash clenches her teeth and looks down at the floor to hide her aggravation. “It’s the same thing every year. Whenever I go to try out, something either happens where they get knocked out, my wing gets broken, they all mysteriously get food poisoning, or they find somepony ‘better’. Maybe I dreamed too big or something.”

Pinkie Pie hands Rainbow Dash a mug of Applejack’s famous cider, and the birthday mare chugs it all down in a matter of seconds. Pinkie Pie is quick to refill it while Rainbow Dash continues with her depressing chatter.

“I mean I just look around and-”

Pinkie Pie hands her the refilled mug.

“Thanks. I look around what do I see? Everypony else having their whole world handed to them on a silver platter. Applejack’s farm and the Cakes’ are growing into even bigger businesses. Rarity has shops and deals popping up left and right. Twilight’s got her own little whatever in the royal court because of her fantastic connections. Fluttershy has her vet, now. And what do I get?”

Rainbow Dash chugs the cider in one sitting and wipers her mouth of the leftover foam.

“The same old crap, just a different night. Is it seriously too much to ask to join the Wonderbolts? I mean I’ve been training my whole life for them and I’ve been going to their tryouts every chance I get! And I get rejected. Every. Single. Time!”

Despite Rainbow Dash being close to tears, Pinkie Pie still smiles, and in a provoking tone, she says: “So, all you’re asking for is some Wonderbolt love?”

Rainbow Dash nods. “Yeah, but I guess it’s too much to ask for, though.”

Pinkie Pie giggles, hugs her best friend in a loving embrace and points at the barn door. “Well, Dashie, it’s as my Papa Pie used to say: ‘Ask and ye shall receive’.”

And right on que, the door flings open and Scootaloo walks in with pride radiating off of her as she escorts two very important pegasi wearing military uniforms. Soarin and Spitfire. The music grinds to a halt, making a comical scratching sound, and all eyes fall on the trio as they walk in. The Wonderbolts nod politely at the guests, and Soarin slows down for a moment when he spots a freshly baked apple pie, but Spitfire nudging him with her wing brings him back up to speed. Rainbow Dash’s eyes become dilated, and when the three pegasi are in front of her, all she can only sweat and shake in her spot.

“Here she is, the one and only Rainbow Dash,” says Scootaloo proudly, flashing a toothy grin and pointing at the subject.

Soarin reaches into his side pocket and pulls out an envelope with the Wonderbolt insignia on it and hands it to Rainbow Dash. It takes Pinkie Pie nudging Rainbow Dashfor her muscles too unlock, and the pegasus is quick to take the letter from Soarin with her mouth. Her cheeks burn red from being so close to him and for having their mouths so close together, and her blush doesn’t go unnoticed. Spitfire rolls her eyes while Soarin shifts his gaze nervously, also flushing a little.

Once Rainbow Dash is holding the envelope, Soarin says with a proud, albeit nervous, smile: “Welcome to the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash.”

The crowd bursts into a deafening cheer and applause and Rainbow Dash’s eyes and smile widen to impossible levels and she cries tears of joy. In fact, she’s so happy that she faints, and when she hits the ground-

A piercing slap goes across Pinkie Pie’s face, waking her up completely, and she blinks the daze away and focuses her eyes on the group of upside down griffins in front of her. She feels trickles of blood seep out from her previous injuries and the new scratches on her cheek, and when she looks down she wants to puke from seeing the puddle of her blood underneath her.

The griffin that slapped her smirks and turns to Octavia and Winny.

“That woke her up,” he says.

“Octavia?” groans Pinkie Pie, her eyes trying to focus on her sister, but she cannot since the slap has put her body in a sickly swinging and twirling.

“Hello, Minty Sprinkles,” says Octavia coldly.

“What’s going on? Who are these guys? And why am I upside down? Where’s Trixie?...”

Pinkie Pie looks around, realizing that she’s trapped in a chain cocoon and in a grungy, abandoned warehouse that still has mostly empty racks and random pieces of garbage here and there.

“What’s going on?” says Pinkie Pie, tears building in her eyes and a wet bulge clogging her throat.

“Trixie bled to death an alley, unfortunately. So now it is just me and you,” says Octavia. She then grabs her head and forces her to look at her eyes. “You did what you had to do, remember?”

“Octavia, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” says Pinkie Pie, sniffling and tears mixing with her blood.

“LIAR!”

Octavia’s hoof strike’s Pinkie Pie in the jaw, splitting her lip and more than likely cracking some teeth. Pinkie Pie grunts and awkwardly spits blood out of her mouth as sobs and begs her sister to listen.

“Octavia, please!”

Octavia strikes her again, this time Pinkie Pie starts spinning, and the more her world spins the stronger her need to puke becomes. And she does puke out a bloody mess, and a tooth falls loose too, making the griffins laugh and taunt her.

“She trusted you!” screams Octavia.

“Octavia, please just listen to me.”

Octavia growls, grabs a metal bar with her hooves and swings them against Pinkie Pie’s side. She cries out in pain as she feels and hears her ribs snap. Pinkie Pie sobs and tries to get Octavia to listen to her through her labored breathing, but she won’t hear any of it.

“She trusted you and you fed her to the timberwolves!” yells Octavia over Pinkie Pie’s desperate begging, and then she turns to the griffins, wiping some of her sweaty mane out of her eyes. “A fitting punishment would be having these griffins beat you to a pulp before I put a bullet in your head.”

The griffins look eager to go along with Octavia’s plan, but Winny steps forward, looking pissed.

“Octavia, that is enough!” says Winny. “It is bad enough we’re tarnishing griffin honor with this-” Winny motions to Pinkie Pie “-but I refuse to let you use my griffins for something as barbaric as turning a pony into a pinata! Just kill her already so we can go home!”

“Aw, c’mon!” whines a griffin.

Octavia’s eyes narrow, she points at Winny. “They are not your griffin’s. They are Gilda’s. Also, I am employing you to make Minty Sprinkles suffer for what she did to Pinkie! Now either you let them beat her to a pulp or I’ll pay each griffin separately to do so!”

“Octavia... I’m... I’m...” whimpers Pinkie Pie weakly.

“SHUT UP!” Octavia looks at Winny. “Well?”

Winny ruffles her feathers and flexes her talons, but the prospect of getting paid individually for beating their victim pleases the other griffins to where they eagerly step forward. Winny points at them and barks an order in her native tongue, the griffins stop and one shouts back in their native tongue as well, and soon all the griffins are having a massive argument as them versus Winny. The argument only stops when Lock limps in with his agents, blood caked on his face and neck. All of his agents are unicorns and are armed with tentacle gear and carrying automatic weapons, which makes the griffins and Winny visibly uncomfortable.

“Enough babbling! We still have work to do and arguing will only take up time,” says Lock, and then he glares daggers at Pinkie Pie. “Not that anypony is coming for you anyway.”

“Inspector Key, your services are no longer required. I’ll give you the bits tomorrow,” says Winny.

“My business has yet to conclude with this pony, and she will not become a bucking bag until I’m finished with her,” says Lock while approaching Pinkie Pie with his escorts trailing him. “So, Minty Sprinkles, it looks like tonight me and Director Brisk Wind will finally be getting the answers we seek.”

When he is directly in front of Pinkie Pie, his eyes lock onto hers and kneels down so that his horn is touching her bloody forehead.

“You’re like a ghost. Finding anything on you was nearly impossible, but now you’re here and I can finally figure out who you are before Octavia has her revenge,” says Lock.

Pinkie Pie’s only response is a heavy, shaky sigh of defeat. She can barely understand what anyone is saying, and her Pinkie Senses seem to be the only things working properly. Her whole body is tingling and shaking, and her eyes keep drifting to the different weapons and potential weak spots for the targets. She uses what little energy she has left to strain her neck to look up, and she notices that they chose a very poor spot to hang her in. The chains are wrapped around a rusted steel beam that is poorly connected to rotting wooden beams that cross the hole dotted ceiling.

“So you won’t talk? That is fine. I do not need to hear you to figure out who who you are,” says Lock, his horns sprouting a small orb at the tip that sends pinpricks up Pinkie Pie’s spine and around her forehead.

A small beam shoots out of Lock’s horn, straight into Pinkie Pie’s forehead, blinding her and filling her with immense pain. It feels like someone has taken a chisel and hammered it into her brain, and then shot shards of ice into it. Pinkie Pie screams and thrashes and sees everything from her life go in rewind from today all the way back to the night she died.

Pinkie Pie groans and opens her eyes just in time to see a giant fireball roll out from the construction site, launching burning debris and equipment all over the place. Her eyes widen when she sees a burning table saw and wooden beams fall towards her, and She rolls out of the way just in time to avoid getting splattered. The burning splinters fly in every direction upon impact and the blade from the table saw bounces past her, almost slicing her leg. Then she sees Trixie fly backwards, out of the construction site, and land on the ground with a sickly crunch.

At first Pinkie Pie thinks she died, but when Trixie shifts on the ground, she is nothing short of amazed. And then Twilight appears in front of Trixie while guards and agents swarm the fallen mare, and Pinkie Pie tries to get up, but an intense pain in her back drops her to the ground.

She lays there, moaning and whimpering, and eyes burning like her destroyed hoof. But she knows she cannot stay. They guards are closing in, and if she is caught right now then her plan will fall apart. She cannot afford to lose this game, so she bites her tongue to keep herself quiet and crawls away into an alley, and keeps her eyes focused on the Royal Palace.

Lock gasps and pulls away. Both he and Pinkie Pie are breathing heavily, and she is sweating and trembling profusely with her eyes closed and her body ready to shut down at any moment. Lock's eyes, on the other hand, are the size of dinner plates and his heavy breathing is loud and shaky. He takes another step back and wipes the sweat from his mane and waves at the agents.

“Get her down,” orders Lock.

The agents step forward.

“What are you doing? Don't take her down!” says Octavia.

The griffins snap their weapons up and the agents stop and aim their weapons at them while charging their horns.

“Take her down, right now!” orders Lock.

“No! You are being paid to kill her!” yells Octavia.

“The deal is off. We're taking her in.”

Octavia growls. “Minty killed my sister, and she will pay for it!”

Before Lock can say another word, the structure shakes with a deafening thud and pop, and all of the lights go out, blanketing everything in darkness. The agents get into a defensive circle around Lock, horns glowing like ghostly lanterns and their weapons and eyes scanning the darkness, and Winny pulls Octavia close to her while shouting orders to the griffins. The other griffins reluctantly go into the darkness, occasionally calling each other to see if they are okay or if their area is clear.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie, now as alert as her battered body can be, strains her eyes and ears to observe what’s going on. She can hear the heavy breathing and beating hearts of those near her, and as the silences becomes more intense, the voices become more nervous.

Suddenly there is a pained squawk and something metallic and fleshy crashes to the ground. All the griffins and agents swear and start shooting wildly in the dark, their muzzle flashes acting like flickers of sunlight that illuminate parts of their body.

Pinkie Pie gets a burst of adrenaline and starts shaking in her chains, desperately trying to get them loose while the nightmarish flickers, whizzing bullets and tracers, and painful screams send her senses on overload. When she does manage to break free she lands in her blood on her head, disorienting everything with a blurry, double vision and a ringing in her ears. Pinkie Pie also feels a spike in pain on her side and neck, and as she struggles to free herself from the chains, she coughs out a glob of blood, which feels like another stab to her side. When the chains are off she wipes the blood and puke off of her mouth with a shaky hoof and hobbles towards her targets.

Through her blurry vision she can barely see the silhouettes of griffins and unicorns falling one by one. They are getting knocked off of their feet or out of the air and falling to the ground or on objects with bone crushing velocity by a mysterious pony she cannot make out. The barrage of gunfire mixed with agonizing screams and bullets ricocheting off of metal or breaking off pieces of the walls make Pinkie Pie’s heart race and her breathing even more painful as she hyperventilates. But when she sees her three targets, the pain and fear disappear. All that remains is rage.

The battered pony’s hobbling turns to a walk, and from a walk, to a trot. And soon, in spite of all her body’s demands to tell her to lay down and rest, she charges. If she wasn’t nearly dead she’d be screaming in rage at the trio next to her.

Her mane and tail deflate, her eyes shrink to that of pinpricks and her vision turns blood red as she gets a crazed, bloodthirsty smile and maniacal laugh. Winny and Lock are too distracted to see or hear her charge them, but Octavia sees Pinkamena leap towards them and she screams and makes a mad dash from the psychotic pony.

When Lock turns, he swears and turns his weapon towards her, but before he fire his pistol Pinkamena shatters his horn with a harp punch. His painful scream causes Winny to turn her head just in time to see Pinkamena buck him in the chest, sending him crashing into a rack of old materials.

Winny tries to shoot her, but the crazed pony reaches her first and destroys her beak with a single punch. Winny clutches her beak, sobbing, and then she is bucked into the wall. After impacting the wall, she falls to the ground, completely still and silent. Then a bullet tears into Pinkamena’s shoulder and she grins maniacally at the source, which is Lock with a pistol in his mouth, who is barely standing from how much he is trembling.

Pinkamena laughs. “Oh, does the strong guy wanna play a game?”

Pinkamena charges him again and when Lock pulls the trigger there is an ominous click. The colors do not get a chance to drain from Lock before Pinkamena uppercuts him in the jaw at the expense of an intense burning pain in her shoulder. She ignores the pain and cackles madly he falls to the ground, his mouth filled with blood and destroyed teeth. Then Pinkamena jumps on top of him and starts pummeling him, despite his best efforts to fend her off.

“You’ve been a bad pony!”

She shatters his jaw with a powerful punch.

“You were mean to Pinkie!”

She punches him in the eye, popping it and the surrounding bone.

“Just like Twilight!”

She grabs his head and slams it down on the pavement with a sickening crack. He weakly pushes his hoof against her head while making gurgling blood, leaving her face streaked in red.

“And Rarity!”

She slams his head down again. His hoof drops and the pupil to his good eye expands in shock.

“And Applejack!”

She slams his head down again and he stops moving and breathing, and the life leaves his remaining eye.

“And sweet ole Tia!”

BANG!

Pinkamena is knocked backwards as a searing hot object tears into her chest. She struggles to stay standing, and when she turns to the shooter, ready to pop their head open, another shot rips into her, knocking her on her back and leaving her gasping for air and choking on her warm blood.

She can hear the gunfire and squawking fading away. In fact, everything is fading away. Her hearing. Her vision. Her sense of touch. And warmth. The only thing that she seems to hear clearly is her heartbeats and ragged breathing.

Pinkamena presses her hoof on her most recent wound and holds it up to her face, giggling by what’s she’s seeing. Her blood. Lots of her blood. And more pool around her, warming her cold body. She looks away from her hoof when Octavia steps into view, and she chuckles at the sight of her with a smoking pistol in her mouth. The musical pony is doing a terrible job of masking her fear, and Pinkamena wishes her limbs would move so that way she can teach the bratty mare a lesson.

Pinkamena chuckles. “So, are you really doing this, Inkie?” She removes her wig with her blood soaked hoof, to reveal her cropped, dark pink mane. “Are you really going to shoot your own sister?”

Octavia’s jaw drops, and with it the pistol, and she slumps to the floor, crying and covering her mouth with her hoof, and hardly able to talk with the suffocation her crying is bringing her.

“What’s the matter, huh? You don't want to shoot Pinkie? You don't want to shoot your own sister!”

Octavia sobs and presses her hooves on top of one of the injuries she inflicted on her sister and cries over Pinkamena’s insane laughter. “Pinkie, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”

“Pinkie!” cries Rainbow Dash.

Before Octavia can react, Rainbow Dash tackles her to the ground from the air and they roll over each other, and when Rainbow Dash gets the upper hoof, she ruthlessly beats her. Over the impacts of hoofs on flesh, Octavia screams and sobs.

“I'm sorry!” she says. “I'm sorry! I'm sorry.”

“So much... blood,” chuckles Pinkamena weakly, stretching out her hoof towards her eyes, ignoring her sister’s rapidly weakening and increasingly more painful screams. “Sorry, Pinkie, it looks like... you're is really dying... this time.”

Pinkamena snickers and her eyes focus on her bloody hoof without a care in the world. Everyone dies eventually so she sees no point in resisting. Might as well smile in the face of death.

Octavia is now barely able to whimper. “Please...”

Rainbow Dash growls and brings her bloodied hoof up for another strike, but when she tries to bring it down, a hoof grabs it and another rockets into her side. Rainbow Dash gasps explosively and rolls off of Octavia, coughing and wheezing and wings flapping with no effect.

“What the hell did you do that for?” says Rainbow Dash, glaring at the responsible pony.

Maud stares down at Rainbow Dash, her brows slightly furrowed and a tiny frown on her face. She is wearing her frock dress, but on her front hoofs are metal gauntlets that are emitting a pale orange glow underneath.

“I brought you here to save my sisters, not kill them,” she says.

“Sisters?” Rainbow Dash looks at Pinkamena, who is cackling weakly, and then at Octavia, who is bloodied and bruised and barely able to whimper. Then she looks at Maud and her face falls to disbelief as she carefully hugs Pinkamena. “Man, your family is really screwed up.”

Maud burrows herself underneath Octavia and rolls her on her back, but says nothing when she groans in pain and spews off a faint line of apologies. With Octavia on her back, she looks at Rainbow Dash.

“Get Pinkie to the hospital quickly. She won't last long without professional help,” says Maud.

“Got it.” Rainbow Dash lifts Pinkamena off of the ground and looks at Octavia with disgust. “And where are you taking her?”

“I'm taking her home.”

“And where's that?”

Maud gallops off without answering, leaving Rainbow Dash in the warehouse alone with Pinkamena in her grip. Pinkamena giggles and waves farewell to Maud while Rainbow Dash mutters something, and when she looks up with heavy eyes, the last thing she sees in her cold world is the Element of Loyalty smiling at her. Her smile is forced and tears lace her eyes, but what is not fake is her grip. Rainbow Dash is holding her tight, not caring of the blood staining her, and when she starts her accession out, she tightens her hold until they are nuzzling with no chance of Pinkamena slipping out.

“It’s okay, Pinkie, I got you,” says Rainbow Dash gently. “You're going to be fine. I won't let you go. Just please stay with me.”

Pinkamena's eyes close and darkness moves in, and the only things she can hear are two heartbeats and the voice of her loyal friend.

“Stay with me. Please.”