"This is so stupid!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she collapsed to the floor, her hooves splayed out as she grumbled under her breath. Sweetie Belle giggled next to her as she dragged a small pile of sweets over to her side of the floor. The few cards before them the only tell that they had been playing a game of Go-Fish, each betting their own candy in hopes to get more.

"You could always try again Scootaloo, don't you have another bag?" Sweetie reminded her defeated friend, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. Scootaloo only grumbled more as she reached forward and dragged a nearby cushion to her face, where she muffled her yell of frustration.

Applebloom and Spike both watched this with amusement as they each munched on small treats of their own, an apple slice and a cut of sapphire respectively.

"Ah think she's tappin out Sweetie, no point in kicking her while she's down." Applebloom chuckled as Sweetie turned to her.

"I guess so, what about you Applebloom? Wanna play?" Her devious smirk settled only to make Applebloom shiver as she remembered the last time she tried to compete with Sweetie in a card game. She was still paying that one off with her desserts at school for another week.

"N-nah, I'm good. How bout you, Spike? Wanna try your hoof, er, claw maybe?" She turned to the young drake who sat on the edge of the bed, kicking his legs softly as he munched his own snack. He shook his head, his expression turning from one of amusement, to worry.

"I don't think I could bring myself to play anything right now. I'm too worried about Twilight." The room became awkwardly silent at this admission. Applebloom sighed as Sweetie Belle nodded in understanding, turning back to count her winnings. Scootaloo raised her face out of the cushion, looking towards the door.

"Grown-ups are stupid..." She grumbled out, breaking the silence. A noise of agreement echoed from the others as they sat. Sweetie Belle glanced around between them for a bit, before shrugging her shoulders and unwrapping a taffy.

"So how much longer do you think they'll be in there?" She asked just before popping the treat into her mouth. Applebloom looked to the window to see if she could gauge the sun's location.

"Ah dunno, it's been hours, but the sky's so cloudy ah can't tell what time it is." Spike, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all looked to her with blank expressions. She blushed lightly at the sudden attention.

"Wh-what?" Spike only chuckled, before pointing to a nearby clock on the wall.

"It's a little past eleven, how do you get by every day without looking at a clock?" Applebloom grumbled in slight embarrassment as her friends chuckled.

"Ah can't help we don't have clocks at home. We work in the fields an' yard all day, so we had ta learn how ta tell time using the sun." Scootaloo cocked her head to the side a bit, confused.

"But if you use the sun to tell time, then how do you tell time on rainy days? Or even at night?" Her question only caused the embarrassed blush on Applebloom's face to grow as she grumbled out a response that they strained to hear.

"What was that Applebloom?" Sweetie asked, a smile playing on her lips. Applebloom huffed in annoyance as she finally looked to them.

"Ah haven't figured that out yet OK! Applejack, Granny, an' even Big Mac won't tell me how they do it. They keep sayin, ' It'll come with time AB.'" Her friends laughed at her misfortune as she dropped her face in her hooves. Spike's laughter turned to a light chuckle as he laid his claw on her shoulder.

"No worries Applebloom. If they say it takes time, then it'll take time. No need to rush it like you girls do with your cutie marks." Applebloom lifted her face to see his smile and her blush only grew more, her face almost entirely red now.

"Th-thanks Spike..." She uttered nervously. Sweetie and Scootaloo shared a knowing look, before turning back to their cards.

"Ok, I'm gonna win this time!" Scootaloo declared, her wings buzzing as she slightly hovered a bit off the floor, before dropping back down. Sweetie smirked at her friend, pulling the cards to her and beginning to shuffle them.

"We'll see about that, my enemy!" She chuckled deviously. She stopped for a moment however as she noticed something was off about her friend. With her wings raised for the first time in a long while, she could just see the signs of a fading dark spot under her left-wing, along her ribs.

"Hey Scoot, what's that?" She asked curiously as she tried to shuffle the cards without looking, a trick she had yet to master. Scootaloo blinked in surprise as now all eyes were on her before she quickly closed her wings and cleared her throat.

"Ah, it's nothing to worry about. C'mon, I want my candy back!" She smiled bravely at her friends. Sweetie only stared at her for a moment, before shaking it off and grinning back.

"Alright then, here I come!" She proclaimed her challenge, Applebloom and Spike watching the new match with renewed interest.

Dimmed Star walked calmly through the halls of Canterlot Castle, the remaining Elements trailing along behind her. The silence was deafening among them as they walked. Occasionally they would pass a guard, who would immediately ready his spear at the sight of Dimmed Star, only to be quickly pulled away by the girls with hushed whispers explaining the situation to them. After a few of the guards had done this, they finally began to spread the word around the castle to the rest of them. This didn't stop any guards they came across from being on edge of course.
The Element Bearers looked to one another in the quiet tension, each trying to figure out how to break the silence with their friend, who had ignored their presence up to this point.

"Shouldn't we say something?" Rarity whispered to them, glancing slightly as they walked to see if Dimmed Star could hear them or not. There was no reaction from her, so she assumed that she had gone unheard. Applejack glanced to Rarity and shrugged.

"Ah suppose, but ah'm not too sure how. Ah mean... we are kinda to blame for all this." She whispered back, her eyes now back on Dimmed Star. Rainbow Dash trotted up next to her, a challenge in her eyes.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, how is this our fault?" She kept her voice low, but it was still loud enough to cause the girls to turn to her with a light glare and, ' shush' her. Applejack shook her head at her friend.

"Come on Rainbow Dash. After all that has happened, are you seriously trying to say that we didn't play a part in this? We turned our backs on her. She was turned into... This, because we weren't there for her. You can't deny that." Rarity huffed at the prismatic mare, who looked ready to argue, only to lose any fire as she realized that the fashionista had a point.

"I know that. But we can't take all the blame, can we?" She asked weakly as they trailed along behind. Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who answered as she came up beside Rarity.

"We may not hold all of the blame Dashie, but we still hold some and that's more than enough for her to hate us. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to be friends with us anymore..." The meek pegasus whimpered as she watched the carpet pass beneath them. The mares fell silent again as they walked. Passing an intersection in the hall, the sound of flapping wings caught their attention down the hall next to them. Turning, they just barely caught a glimpse of something pink shooting down the hall behind them, heading in the direction of the courtroom.

"Was that Princess Cadence? What's she in such a hurry for?" Rarity asked curiously as they continued on. Pinkie began to jump up and down as she tried to take guesses.

"Oh, oh! I know! She's late for a very important date! Oh wait, Shining Armor is still injured, so I guess she can't be going on a date. Oh! Maybe she just really needs to go to the bathroom! I remember this one time that-" Her stream of words was quickly cut short as an orange hoof planted itself over her lips.

"Please Pinkie, now kinda isn't the time." Applejack pushed, the other girls nodding lightly. Pinkie looked to them and frowned, pushing the mare's hoof away.

"It may not be the right moment, but if we keep going like this, we aren't going to get anywhere." She stressed, before trotting past them and making a beeline towards Dimmed Star. The girls looked after her in surprise, before trotting to catch up.

Dimmed Star did well to pretend she couldn't hear every word that the girls, 'whispered' as she made her way through the castle with them in tow.

'The entire hallway is quiet, save their own voices.' She thought idly. At first, their chatter had been easily ignored, but as they kept on, it began to grate on her nerves. Not only because she was still quite mad at them, but also because no matter how angry she was, she still longed for their friendship. She could feel her heart aching at how lonely she felt right now but ignored it in favor of being angry, over an apology seeking doormat.

The sound of their hooves picked up, the only sign to her that they had chosen to catch up with her. A flash of pink in the peripheral of her right eye told her that Pinkie had been the first to reach her.

"Soooo, Hiya Twi-" A quick glare silenced the exuberant mare, causing her to take a half step back before she gathered her courage once more and fell into step beside her.

"Uh, eh heh, sorry about that. How about Dimmy? Can I call you Dimmy?" The cotton candy mare smiled brightly, undeterred by the hard gaze that watched her carefully as they walked. The other Elements followed behind closer now, each watching the two with worry and hope. Dimmed Star faced forward once more.

"Whatever, just don't ever call me by THAT name again. Understood?" Her voice was cold and it bit into their sense of hope, but Pinkie seemed unfazed as she smiled wider.

'Yes! I'm back in the field!' She imagined herself on the edge of a hoofball field, the sound of a whistle being blown by Gummy dressed in a coach outfit. Dimmed Star was in the field on the opposing side. In her little daydream, she wore a helmet that had the word party painted on it bright pink and a jersey with the image of a filly Pinkie hugging a filly Dimmed Star as the two smiled happily, the word, ‘ Goal’ in all caps above them. Shaking the image from her head, she faced forward as well.

'One step at a time Pinkie!' She sang to herself. They traveled in relative silence once more, making their way through the halls of Canterlot Castle. Glancing over every so often with her smile still present, she watched as Dimmed Star would glance at her as well.

'What does she want?' Dimmed Star would be lying if she didn't admit that it was a bit creepy the way Pinkie kept looking at her. But in that same light, it was Pinkie and as she had learned before, there was no sense in trying to figure her out. Suddenly she could hear another set of hooves on her left. Looking over, she now found a nervously grinning Applejack, who took a spare moment to tilt her head in her direction.

"Pardon my intrusion, Miss Star." Applejack wasn't exactly sure what she should say or how she could say it, but she couldn't just let Pinkie be the only one to try. Dimmed Star blinked slowly at her.

"Just Dimmed Star is fine." She responded after a moment. Applejack let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and her smile became more genuine.

"Then, if you don't mind Dimmed Star, might we take a moment and have a word with you?" She asked cautiously, coming to a stop. Dimmed Star hesitated on her next step for a moment, before coming to a full stop as well, Pinkie coming around now to stand next to Applejack.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Dimmed Star hissed through gritted teeth. The rest of the girls finally approached as they came up to them in the middle of the hall. Dimmed Star look to each of them, some brave enough to look back, others looking away immediately.

"Well?" She demanded after none had said anything. Applejack looked to the rest of them, none looking too eager to say anything, before sighing in defeat and stepping forward.

"Ah'm sorry, Dimmed Star." Dimmed Star raised her right eyebrow, which Applejack took as her cue to go on. Reaching up, she slid her hat from her head and held it over her chest.

"We all made a mistake when we left you in at the wedding rehearsal, and we're paying for that even now. But friends do that, ya know? Make mistakes. But that's OK, 'cause as friends, we can always come back from that, right?" She asked cautiously, her words carefully chosen. At the mention of the wedding rehearsal, Dimmed Star's fur bristled and she fought back the urge to growl in her throat. Settling with a hard stare instead, she looked to each of them in turn.

"You think that just because you say your sorry, that we can all be friends again?" Applejack took a step back in surprise, stuttering a bit as she thought back on her words. Dimmed Star's eyes snapped to her.

"Saying you're sorry might work for something as small as spilling a glass of juice, or even breaking an antique in someone else's home. But what you and Celestia did? That was an act of betrayal." She walked forward slowly, causing Applejack to backpedal.

"You left me alone, you left to comfort the very thing I was trying to protect you all from. You weren't there when she came back and taunted me with her own malice." She growled out as Applejack continued to back away, stopping when she found herself pressed against the wall. Realizing that she had nowhere to go, she took a deep breath and gathered her courage, standing firm and nervously staring back into Dimmed Star's anger-filled eyes. The two stared each other down in the silence, before a blur of pink and yellow jumped between them, causing Dimmed Star to back up in surprise. Fluttershy now stood between them, her wings spread and tears in her eyes.

"Please stop this!" She cried out, her voice filled with distress. Dimmed Star felt a small tug on her heart but squashed it immediately. Fluttershy managed to keep her gaze on Dimmed Star's as she stood her ground.

"You're our friend! No matter what name you choose, no matter how bad things get, you'll always be... our friend..." Her voice began to lose strength as she spoke, tears trailing down her cheeks. The other Elements watched her in awe before they felt emboldened by her actions and moved to stand beside her. Dimmed Star watched as each of them came to stand in front of her once more, the fear in their eyes gone, only conviction remained. Rarity pulled the weeping mare into her hooves as she shot her own glare at Dimmed Star.

"This is ridiculous!" Rainbow Dash shouted, catching her attention. The rainbow mare glared at her in irritation.

"So we made a mistake, a BIG mistake yeah, but we're trying to make up for it! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" She tried to spread her wings out, but the bandages holding her wings in place stopped her. Dimmed Stare glared hard at her, her eyes brimming with restrained anger.

"I want you to take a good, long look at me, Rainbow Dash. I want you to see exactly what your MISTAKE has wrought, and then I want you to ask me that again." Rainbow flinched back, before doing as she was told and taking a closer look at the body of her friend. The others took this chance to do the same, finally close enough to her to be able to see her more clearly, as up to now, they had only seen her from a distance.

Dimmed Star's black eyes stared each of them down as they felt their bravado slowly wane with each passing second.

"Your betrayal did more than just leave me crying in the darkness. Every time I look in the mirror now, I'll be reminded of the pain that you all caused me." The girls had no response for that as each bowed their head in shame. Dimmed Star sighed as she turned from them, looking down the hall towards the medical wing.

"In my heart, I want to forgive you... I know I should..." Her voice was low, but not so much that it went unheard. They immediately perked up hearing this, only to have their hopes dashed as she started to walk away from them.

"But I can't. Not while the wounds are still fresh..." Her tone remained sullen as she walked away. The girls looked to one another, a bit of hope renewed. She couldn't forgive them now, but in time, things could get better and that was enough for them. A thought suddenly struck one of them, however, and Rarity quickly trotted after her.

"Wait, but, what about Spike? You aren't mad at him are you?" She pleaded, worry in her eyes. Dimmed Star paused and looked back to her in slight surprise.

'Spike?' The little dragon had not even crossed her mind in her bouts of anger. Even now as she thought back to yesterday, when he trailed after them as they left the wedding rehearsal, she felt no anger towards the young drake, only sorrow. Rarity took her lack of response in a different light, however.

"Please Dimmed Star, you have to know that he is just a child! Such an action can't possibly be held against him!" She begged, the others now having caught up with them again. Dimmed Star took a moment to take in her words and her own feelings on the matter, before giving a light nod.

"You're right, I can't be angry with him... I'll need to talk to him when we get to the room so-" Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized something. Quickly looking down at herself, she stared at her dark purple fur and the black stains that covered her legs up to her knees.

'Will... will he even recognize me?' She thought worriedly. An even worse thought then came to mind and nearly made her cry.

'Will he... be afraid of me?' She began to tremble slightly, her frame just barely shaking. Rarity reached a hoof forward and lightly placed it on her shoulder, shocking her out of her stupor.

"It will be fine. We've already spoken to Spike and he can't wait to see you." She smiled softly as Dimmed Star looked to her, worry evident in her eyes. After a moment, she nodded, before turning and beginning her walk once more. After she got a good ways ahead of them, the girls began to follow as they began to talk among themselves once more.

"Well, it didn't go exactly how ah had hoped, but it's a start." Applejack noted as they walked, placing her hat back upon her head. The girls nodded in agreement.

"Hey, it's better than her going full monster on us and trying to tear us apart." Pinkie piped in with a chipper smile. She got a few disgruntled agreements for that one. Fluttershy wiped her eyes with her hooves and glanced around with a smile.

"It's also a good sign that she is worried about Spike and how he'll think of her. Up to now, she hasn't really shown any concern for what she's become." Rarity nodded, rubbing her shoulder up against Fluttershy's.

"And I was surprised by how you took action Fluttershy. You helped to defuse a potentially dangerous situation with no thought to how she might have reacted." She praised the meek pegasus, who blushed and ducked behind her mane.

"W-well, I just hate seeing my friends fight is all." She managed, trying not to trip as she walked with one eye able to see past her mane. Rarity hummed in agreement, before facing forward herself.

The hall finally came to an end and branched off to the left and right, Dimmed Star didn't hesitate as she turned left and continued on. As they turned with her, they came upon a set of double doors, a golden plaque above the only indication to them that it was the medical wing. Before anything more could be said, she strode forward and pushed through the doors, actually opening them rather than going through them.

The massive room on the other side was filled with noise from the injured guards. Some complaining about their injuries, others singing military songs, and still others trying to have decent conversations above the noise. But all fell silent when slowly, one by one, the guards took notice of who had entered.

Dimmed Star stood silently at the front of the room, glancing around the many beds and searching for her brother. The guards shivered in terror, some even passing out as her gaze passed over them. Those that could, stood up as quickly as their injuries would let them, taking defensive stances, but none dared to say anything or make any sudden moves.

"Where is Shining Armor?" Her voice carried over the quiet. Silence was her only response. The girls finally came through the door behind her, pausing in the doorway at the awkward situation.

"Uh... maybe coming here was a bad idea..." Rainbow Dash whispered nervously. Dimmed Star ignored her and continued on, walking past the many beds. The more injured guards that were unable to stand and defend themselves pushed up as best they could, pressing their backs to the bed posts. A few of the less disciplined guards even went so far as to crawl out of the beds and hide behind them. She only rolled her eyes at this and kept up her search. As she passed a pair of beds, she spotted the two guards that had tried to stop her the day before, both were unconscious.

Finally, she noted a door on the other end of the room, two guards standing nearby it with spears. Both of them had quickly taken notice of her when she had entered the room and were already in combat stances, sweat beading down their brows. She approached them slowly, stopping just a few hoofsteps away.

"I'm here to see my brother." She stated simply. Both guards looked to each other nervously, before glancing about the medical bay and staring at the multitude of others in cots, many of which were in critical conditions the day before because of this very mare. The guard on the left nodded quickly, dropping his spear and backing away, while the guard on the right looked to his partner in shock.

"D-dude!" He exclaimed, a look of hurt on his face. His fellow guard looked to him with an, ' are you serious' look.

"I am not gonna end up like them." He stated simply, raising his hooves in surrender. Dimmed Star smirked at this, while the other guard groaned in disbelief, before dropping his own spear and backing away.

"I'm so fired for this..." He grumbled. Dimmed Star only shook her head in amusement and strolled past them and through the door.

"Thanks, boys~" She sang as she entered. The rest of the Elements decided it was probably best to wait outside while she spent some time with her brother.

Author's Notes:

Twilight: This part goes here, this one there.... wait am I forgetting a piece?

Dimmed Star: * Stops chewing suddenly* No? * she says through a mouthful*

Twilight: * Sigh* Where's that crate of extra supplies for this? I know we stashed it around here somewhere...

Dimmed Star: I think we left it back at the Library.

Twilight: Darnit, fine he can live without a leg and his liver. I'll do the disclaimer, you just sew him back together for the ritual.

Dimmed Star: Got it.

Twilight: Shaded Blood does not own MLP: Fim or the Equinox Ponies and a special thanks to Kuunlehti for Proofreading.

Dimmed Star: * sounds of chewing*

Twilight: Hey! Stop that!