Sunset held tightly onto her two captives as she soared through the frigid air. Pinkie was oddly silent as she prayed that Sunset didn't drop them, while Fluttershy, having regained her breath, alternating between begging for mercy and weeping openly, her tears falling hundreds of feet onto the frozen ground.

“Sunset, please put us down!” Fluttershy begged for the umpteenth time. Fluttershy watched in horror as Sunset simply flew higher. “For the love of God, please take us down!” she screamed in fear.

Sunset looked down at her, smirked deviously, and loosened her grip. Panicking, Fluttershy twisted and wrapped her arms around Sunset's neck in terror, squeezing and holding on for dear life, inadvertently cutting off Sunset's breathing. Starting to worry herself, Sunset writhed, trying to loosen Fluttershy's hold enough to breath, but her thrashing only made Fluttershy squeeze more tightly. She tried to say something, but the tightness around her neck stopped her from uttering a sound.

After a few seconds, Sunset's eyes began to roll up into her head, and her wings started to lose their strength as Sunset began to pass out and descend into free fall. Pinkie was jolted out of her trance as she noticed Sunset's muscles begin to relax, threatening to drop her. Quickly spotting the source of the problem, she screamed, “Fluttershy, let go of her!” Seeing the ground rapidly approach, Pinkie screamed again, “Fluttershy!”

Pinkie's screams snapped Fluttershy out of her panic, and she quickly let go of Sunset's neck. Immediately, Sunset took in a huge gulp of air and began to stir. Opening her eyes, Sunset saw the ground was fast approaching.

“Whoa!” Sunset yelled. Quickly banking up, the girls' boots barely skimmed the ground below as she flew high into the sky, growling out, “Don’t you ever do that again!” Looking down, she softened slightly, saying, “Perhaps walking would be for the best.”

Flying low to the ground, Sunset tossed Pinkie and Fluttershy with the same enthusiasm as one tossing away garbage bags, landing a few feet away and watching as they both rolled to a painful stop.

“Where are we?” Pinkie asked as the two shakily got to their feet and dusted themselves off. Looking around, Pinkie saw a long, dirt path leading towards some trees and bushes, the path illuminated sparsely by several park lamps posted along the path. Outside of the pools of light was pure darkness. “This looks like Canterlot Central. But, you know, darker. Much darker.”

“That's because this is Canterlot Central,” Sunset said patronizingly.

Insulted at Sunset's tone, Pinkie began examining herself to keep from saying anything she might regret. Her coat was filthy, and her skirt was torn up from the hard landing, revealing a generous portion of her thighs. Quickly looking over Fluttershy, she saw that the shy girl fared no better, with a torn-up blouse and skirt of her own, while the girl herself was huddled up and crying. Taking off her coat, Pinkie covered her friend up, saying as she zipped the coat closed, “It’ll be alright. We'll get out of this. Somehow.” Turning to Sunset, she continued, "Why'd you bring us here, Sunset?" A terrible thought occurred to her. "A-Are you gonna...kill us?"

“No,” Sunset replied bitterly, “I am not going to kill you. But I'm not gonna just leave you alone. I have business with Fluttershy.”

Sunset's sentence was punctuated by a loud thunderclap sounding overhead, causing Fluttershy to shriek and clamp onto Pinkie, who tried her best to soothe the frightened girl. Pinkie glared at Sunset, only to notice in surprise that as Sunset waved her fingers, yet another flash of lightning lit up the night, followed closely by a monstrous boom. Pinkie looked disbelievingly at Sunset. "Are...Are you doing that?" When Sunset only smirked deviously in response, Pinkie continued, "But how!?"

"Don't know, don't care," Sunset said nonchalantly as she cause a lightning bolt to strike down a relatively short distance from the trio.

Fluttershy tightened her death grip on Pinkie, and Pinkie resumed her glare at Sunset. “Stop it, Sunset! You're scaring Fluttershy!”

“I don't give a fuck,” Sunset replied bitterly, waving her finger in an arc from left to right. As she did so, more lightning arced in the darkening clouds above, and a light drizzle began. "I brought you here to show you something."

Sunset reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a thin video recorder with a small butterfly charm hanging from it. "You have no idea how hard it was getting this from my parents' house without anyone noticing," she continued, walking forward and thrusting it into Fluttershy's breast. "I meant to give it to you way earlier, but things kept coming up, and I eventually forgot about it. Remember when our friendship ended two years ago and how you were always wondering why?" When Fluttershy hesitantly nodded, Sunset continued, "Watch the latest video. It should enlighten you."

As Fluttershy put the camera in her pocket to watch in the safety of her bedroom, Sunset began walking away and flexing her wings, saying, "Well, I gotta go deal with some brats. See you, girls, later."

The conversation was interrupted by a series of low growls. The group looked to the source of the menacing noise and saw yellow and amber eyes light up the darkness just outside the light of one of the park lamps. Six clearly wild dogs began to step into the light of the street lamp, each bearing its teeth and crouching low as they glared hatefully at Sunset.

"Um," Sunset began, but before she could continue, the dogs charged her. Sunset barely jumped out of the way of the first set of jaws going for her arm, while she felt teeth graze her right calf as she moved it instinctively. Knowing it was dangerous to cause lightning to strike so close to her, Sunset opted for a strategic retreat.

Dodging one last set of teeth, Sunset took to the air and sped off, not realizing that she flew right over Pinkie and Fluttershy as she fled with the storm to the asylum. The dogs gave chase, and the two grounded girls watched in silent horror as the dogs, in their frenzy, turned their bloodlust from their airborne target to Pinkie and Fluttershy instead.

“Run, Fluttershy!” Pinkie screamed, yanking Fluttershy to her feet. The two girls ran for their lives as the dogs followed in hot pursuit.

“What are we going to do, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked frantically. "We can’t outrun them!”

“I don’t know, but I’ll think of something!”

Running as fast as their legs could carry them, Pinkie looked behind her, seeing the dogs frighteningly close to them, some even snapping at the girls' ankles. Pinkie looked around frantically, spotting a public bathroom coming into view nearby. “This way!” she screamed, pulling her frightened friend down the path as Fluttershy desperately tried to keep up, breathing very heavily. “Onward to safety!”

As the girls rushed towards the bathroom, the dogs practically on top of them, Pinkie saw that the girls' side was gated off, though the boys' side's gate was bent outwards. Thinking quickly, she swiped up a large stick from the ground and swiped it at the dogs as the girls put a last burst of energy into their legs to get as much distance as they could, and they reached the gate.

Pinkie squeezed through almost effortlessly. She turned around, grabbed Fluttershy's wrist, and started pulling her through the gap. “Hurry, Fluttershy! You need to get inside, or you're dog food!”

“I can’t move," Fluttershy panted heavily. "I’m too scared, and my legs are killing me!”

“Come on, Fluttershy! If you don't get in here, it won't be just your legs that's killing you!” Pinkie screamed.

Pinkie pulled with all her might, squeezing Fluttershy through the gap. As the dogs lunged, Fluttershy closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable, only to be forced through the gap at the last second.

The dogs snapped and snarled, and a few tried getting through the gap themselves, but Pinkie kept them at bay, kicking their snouts as they tried. Eventually, the dogs stopped their assault. Fluttershy flew into Pinkie, burying her face into Pinkie's breast and sobbing, while Pinkie rubbed Fluttershy's back and tried to calm the yellow girl down as she looked around for any other means of escape.

Before long, the dogs' frenzy diminished, and they calmed down. As they realized that there was no threat in the trapped humans, they slowly dispersed, leaving the girls alone.

Breathing heavily, each girl slowly calmed down. Remembering the camera in her pocket, Fluttershy wiped her eyes and sat up, saying, “I don't really feel safe out there, so, um, why don't we just stay here for a while. We can at least pass the time by watching that video.”

“How can you possibly think--”

“Please, Pinkie," Fluttershy interrupted, to Pinkie's surprise. "I've wanted to know for so long why Sunset turned on us. I can't wait any longer.”

Pinkie hesitated, then shrugged and nodded. Fluttershy took out the camera and inspected both it and the charm. Pinkie started at seeing the charm. "Hey, isn't that your camera?" she asked. "I remember when you bought it a couple years back."

Fluttershy nodded as she ran her fingers over the camera, her breathing returning to normal. “I gave Sunset this camera two years ago, both as a sign of trust and to help her record her reading or thoughts.”

As Fluttershy turned the camera on, Pinkie said, "You go ahead and watch the video. I'm gonna call the cops. There's no way I'm going out there without someone protecting us."

“Alright, you do that. I need something to take my mind off of tonight, anyway.” Pressing the playback button, Fluttershy flipped open the movie screen, watching as she saw the images displayed on the screen. Sunset's boots came into view as Fluttershy heard her former friend say, “How do you work this thing?”

Fluttershy heard her own voice giggle and respond, “Here, let me show you.” She watched as she appeared on the screen as the digital Fluttershy took the camera. The scene moved to show Sunset sitting on a bench in the very place Sunset had just taken the girls before the dogs attacked. Fluttershy’s eyes watered as she heard herself say, “Smile, Sunset. Wave for the camera.” Sunset smiled happily and waved at the camera. “There. Now that I got you on camera, I’ll show you how to record something, alright?”

“Sure. Thanks, Fluttershy.”

The scene turned around as Fluttershy sat down and handed the camera to Sunset. “All you have to do is press this little red button to start recording and press the button again to stop.”

Fluttershy paused the video and began listening as Pinkie's call started to wrap up. “Yeah, we're both trapped in the boys' bathroom at Canterlot Central Park. No, we don’t need an ambulance. We're both fine. We're just cold and a little scared is all. We just need someone to come escort us home." Pinkie paused as the dispatcher spoke. “Alright, we won’t try to leave until someone gets us out of here. Thanks.” Hanging up her phone, Pinkie sat down next to Fluttershy, saying, “The police should be here in about ten minutes; turns out Canterlot Central's pretty close to the police station. Let's get back to the video to pass the time.”

“Alright.”

Both girls turned their attention back to the video, and Fluttershy pressed the playback button.

"I think I got the hang of it. Thanks, Fluttershy," Sunset said.

“You're welcome. Just don’t run with it, alright? This camera cost me quite a bit of money. Anyway, now that you know how to record something, I’ll show you how to rewind and fast-forward the video and then how to delete the video.”

“Okay.”

Wanting to get to the meat of the video, the current Fluttershy fast-forwarded, stopping when the video cut to a new one, apparently edited into the video she was just watching. She saw herself sitting on the same bench from earlier in the video (or was it the previous video?), while Applejack stood over her, looking agitated. The candidness made it clear that the video was being recorded from a distance, likely while the recorder hid out of sight.

“And Ah'm tellin' ya that somethin's fishy about her,” Applejack asserted. "We've known her for months, but every time one of us tries to talk to her about her past, she clams up or leaves. Ah'm fine with a little secret or two, but no one who's that dodgy about her past is on the up-and-up."

"Um, just because Sunset doesn't want to talk about her past doesn't mean we should be afraid of her," Fluttershy said meekly, looking down and away from Applejack.

"Ah'm not afraid of her, Ah'm suspicious of her," Applejack said heatedly. "If Ah'm honest, Ah don't think it's safe to trust her until she gives us somethin' about her past. She might be dangerous or on the run or somethin'."

The digital Fluttershy bit her lip and shrunk into herself at the accusation against her friend. "Well, uh, why don't you talk to her about it?" she asked quietly.

"We both know she won't tell me nothin'!" Applejack snapped. "It has to be you. She always spends her time with you. You're closest to her. If she's gonna open up to anyone, it's gonna be you. Go talk to her, Fluttershy."

"But what if she doesn't tell me anything?" Fluttershy asked. "She doesn't really open up to me about it, either."

"Then give her an ultimatum," Applejack said grimly. The digital Fluttershy's head snapped to look at Applejack in disbelief. "Ah'm sorry, Fluttershy," she continued softly, "but sometimes, it's just not worth it to be friends with someone."

The digital Fluttershy lowered her gaze to her lap. "I'll...I'll talk to her," she said sadly.

The scene shifted as whoever was recording turned around and stalked off, the camera bouncing back and forth as it swung in the recorder's hands, revealing a familiar pair of boots. After a few seconds, Sunset's face filled the screen as she turned the camera toward herself, tears falling down her face, the features of which were twisted in rage. “So that's it, huh?" she demanded. "After all the time we spent together, you don't trust me? You're just gonna let that hick bully you into breaking it off with me? Well, I won't let you! I'm breaking it off myself, you traitor!”

The screen abruptly went black as the video ended, and Fluttershy shook violently as Pinkie held her. “It was me," she said quietly, her tears once more threatening to fall. "She turned on us because of me.” Fluttershy began to hyperventilate, her eyes widening in fear and anger as her mind raced. It all made sense, now: Sunset's sudden hostility, her abrupt hatred of friendship, and even her targeting of Fluttershy more than of anyone else. It was all because she saw that conversation and Fluttershy's betrayal. "How can I be so stupid!?" she thought angrily. "I lost a good friend because I just couldn't stick up for myself!"

Pinkie held onto the crying Fluttershy for a few minutes until they heard someone approach the bathroom. Pinkie and Fluttershy looked at the doorway, praying it was the police and afraid that it wasn't. Their prayers were answered as Brushed Jade peered inside, relaxing when she saw the girls. "Hey!" Jade called to someone out of sight. "I found them!" Jade began fiddling with the gate to try and widen the gap as her partner joined her, stopping when she saw the state Fluttershy was in. "What happened to her? I thought you said you were both fine."

"We are," Pinkie said. "Mostly, anyway. Fluttershy just...saw something she wasn't prepared for."

Jade raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject, instead, she began helping the girls out of the bathroom. When the girls were free, Jade looked the two of them over and said, "So what brings you two all the way out here at one in the morning? The curfew started two hours ago." Pinkie opened her mouth to speak, when Jade interrupted, "The truth, Pinkamena."

Pinkie's eyes kept flashing to Jade's partner, which Jade noticed. Jade sighed and said, "Cuffs, go pull the car around. I'll hear what they have to say, and we'll take them home." Officer Cuffs nodded and walked off, and Jade turned back to Pinkie. "Go on, then. Let's hear it."

Pinkie quickly explained everything to Jade, making sure to cover all the important information. Once finished, Jade said, “So it is like that, huh?” She sighed. "Alright, let's get you home. I'll call Celestia or Luna afterward and talk to them about it, see if there's anything I can do to help.”

Cuffs pulled up in the police car, and Pinkie and Fluttershy got in the back. The trip to the girls' houses was uneventful, but Fluttershy couldn't stop replaying Sunset's final message in her head, nor could she stop her tears from falling.

"You're just gonna let that hick bully you into breaking it off with me? Well, I won't let you! I'm breaking it off myself, you traitor!”

"I'm breaking it off myself, you traitor!”

"You traitor!

Next Chapter: Rescue (Edited and Titled by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 46 Minutes