Despite Twilight’s earlier assessment, it took the two ponies a full two hours to navigate their way out of Bramblewood Forest. From there it was another long walk towards Ponyville, which consisted of many stops and starts when they saw other ponies walking down the path towards them. As they neared their destination Twilight took a few opportunities to teleport them ahead, which did save some time, but ultimately it was still late in the afternoon by the time they reached the actual outskirts of town.

They approached up to the edge of the park. Twilight quickly shifted Dash’s corpse behind a small set of shrubs, while the live Dash flapped behind a tree. Leaning out, Dash carefully peered ahead. The small bridge over the river was a few meters ahead of them, and after that one of the side streets leading to the center of town. Over a few houses to the right, the top of Twilight’s tree was clearly visible. Though the park was empty, ponies wandered the streets, while a few pegasi carted clouds around in the sky.

“Well, it’s a bit less crowded than I thought it was going to be, so that’s something,” Twilight said. The purple glow on her horn disappeared, and the bubble around the body along with it. It flopped to the ground with a damp smack.

“Yeah, but that’s not going to work to get us all the way back,” Dash said. “And I’m not waiting out here until the sun goes down. It’s bad enough it’s taken this long already.”

“Right, right…” Twilight swung her head around to check behind them. “Hang on, let’s move to that overhang under the bridge. We’re still in the open out here.”

Dash glanced back and forth along the paths leading to the park. Two came up from behind, completely exposing them to anypony who decided to take the scenic route around Ponyville.

“Alright, fine. Just wait for that dude by that house to turn around.”

Twilight nodded and lit her horn up. The body floated back into the air, stuck in the awkward position it landed in thanks to the onset of rigor mortis.

“Not yet, not yet…” Dash watched the stallion with intense concentration. “Alright, he’s walking back inside… go, now!”

Twilight jumped over a low bush and ran towards the bridge. The body kept pace with her the whole way. From a distance it would’ve been a strange sight, like a large purple balloon chasing after a unicorn. Dash flapped her wings but stayed low to the ground, to the point where her stomach skimmed along the tops of the flowers. In a few seconds they had cleared the gap between the grove and the bridge. A small mound of dirt to the side of the bridge sloped down beneath it, leading to a tiny outcropping of rock over the water. It was bathed in shadow and looked to be a tight space, but once Twilight had set the body down there proved to be just enough room for the three of them to fit.

“Okay, we got that much closer,” Dash said. There was a slight echo in the small space between the water and the underside of the bridge, and she quickly lowered her voice. “So now what do we do?”

“Well… now I think I can teleport back to the tree,” Twilight said. She leaned her head out from the shadow, checking again to see if anypony had come closer in the short time they were out of sight.

“What, and just leave me here? What’d I say before?” Dash pointed down at her remains. “I don’t wanna be left alone with that right now. And what happened to the whole ‘no teleporting’ thing? After we came all this way anyway?”

“That’s why I need to go alone!” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “Look, I know you’re stressed. So am I. All I need to do is quickly get to the tree and make sure it’s empty. If Spike’s there, I’ll send him on an errand or something. We’re close enough now that I can get there, get back, and get us moving before he or anypony else comes back. It’ll take five minutes, tops.”

Dash looked as though she would protest, but instead backed down. “Okay, fine. Just… don’t be long.”

Twilight nodded. “Five minutes. Promise.”

She closed her eyes, concentrated, and with a bright flash she was gone.

Dash sighed. She leaned out to glance both ways, but the surrounding area was still deserted. She leaned back against the wall. For the next few minutes, the only sound to be heard was the gentle ripple of the stream as it flowed by in front of her, and a few stray flies that had congregated over the remains. Dash tapped a hoof on the ground, constantly glancing back and forth for any kind of movement.

Alright, so… alone with myself. Great.

Her tapping continued. More minutes ticked by.

Sorta wish I had a watch right now.

Dash leaned forward and coughed. In doing so, she caught a glimpse of the body out of the corner of her eye. Taking one last look around to ensure that there was still nopony about, she turned and stared down.

Her corpse looked as broken and drained as it ever did. The leaking intestines had a sickly brown color to them, possibly due to having been dragged through the mud at several points in the journey back from the woods. Her legs stuck out at twisted, unnatural angles, one of them jutting up into the air. Dash looked up the body towards the head, which Twilight had pressed against the wall to better fit it in the space.

Tentatively, Dash raised a hoof towards the head. She reached out at a snail’s pace, treating the body like a coiled snake. She aimed for the left cheek, which was the one part of the face that hadn’t been seriously damaged, and gave it a swift tap.

At first, nothing happened. Then the head slid against the damp wall, pushing itself back into the original position Twilight had forced it out of. It fell forward, exposing the smashed face to Dash. In spite of the ongoing rigor, the jaw managed to slip open, broken in such a way that all the bones and muscles had been severed. A few chipped teeth dropped out and plinked onto the ground one by one.

Dash stifled a gasp, but didn’t look away. She cocked her head to one side, hoof over her mouth to keep down whatever bile was urging its way out.

Another tooth slipped out of the mouth, followed swiftly by a bloated, dark red bit of flesh. It took Dash a few seconds to realize it was her tongue, or half of it at least, slowly giving in to gravity and oozing its way forward.

Ah man, come on… really?

“I haven’t bit my tongue in a crash since I was a filly,” Dash said with a groan.

“Um, excuse me? Did somepony say something?”

Dash froze. Hoofsteps clattered out, getting closer with every stride.

“Hello? Hello? Is somepony there?”

Dash swore under her breath and glanced down at the water. Though a mix of wind and clouds was obscuring the reflection, she was able to make out a light yellow blob wandering towards the edge of the bridge.

Oh for the love of–

Dash pushed out, flying out from the overhang and back into the air. She stopped level with the bridge, coming face-to-face with a very surprised looking pegasus.

“Eep!” Fluttershy pushed herself back at the rush of movement and cowered on the other side of the path.

“Hi Fluttershy!” Dash said with a smile on her face. “What a day we’re having, isn’t it?”

Fluttershy peeked out from behind her wings.

“O-oh, R-Rainbow Dash?” She took a deep breath and stepped forward again, letting a small smile return to her face.

“Hey, sorry to scare you like that,” Dash said. “Just, uh, you know… just me being quick and all again, coming in out of nowhere, like I do.”

“Um, yes. I mean, it’s alright, I wasn’t, uh…” Fluttershy took another breath. “It’s just, um, how’re you doing today?”

“Fine! Never better, even. Just look at this beautiful day, how could I be anything else? But what’re you doing way out here?”

“Well, uh, I do, um, live over there.” Fluttershy pointed down one of the paths in the back of the park. “So I was just walking into town to do some shopping.”

“Oh! Right. Then, uh… then turn around and go back now. There’s a storm coming in, I don’t want you to get caught in it. So, get moving, go on then.”

“There is? But what about that beautiful day?” Fluttershy looked up at the sky. A few white puffy clouds drifted by here and there, one of which was being moved into place by a lone pegasus. Other than that, the sky was a perfectly blue expanse.

“Yeah, well, situation’s changed.” Dash crossed her forelegs and adopted a sterner expression. “In fact, it’s going to be a big storm. Huge. First one of the new season and all that. I’m the one who needs to bring all the storm clouds in, so the sooner I stop talking to you the sooner I can get to work.”

“Ah, well, in that case… sorry to bother you, I won’t keep you.” Fluttershy turned to leave, then hesitated. “But, uh, I was wondering, before I go then… Was that you who said something just now?”

“Somepony said something? What, out here? Don’t be ridiculous, Fluttershy,” Dash forced out a single broken laugh.

“No, it’s true, I just heard somepony talking.” Fluttershy took a few steps forward. “It sounded like it was coming from under the bridge. Was that you?”

“Oh, that talking! Uh, yeah that was me, I was, um, just, uh…” Dash glanced back and forth. They were the only ponies in the area, though a few more still mingled around in the streets across the stream.

“Is something the matter down there?” Fluttershy took another step forward and leaned over the side of the bridge. Dash pumped a wing and slid to one side in the air, blocking Fluttershy’s view.

“No, no! Nothing’s the matter, nothing at–”

Fluttershy’s eyes suddenly grew wide.

“Rainbow Dash, you’re hurt!” she said with a gasp.

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Huh? What?”

Fluttershy pointed down to Dash’s abdomen. Dash glanced down to see her cut from the door, still dripping fresh trickles of blood down her leg.

Stupid! How’d I forget about that? I could’ve splashed some water on that down under the bridge. At least I got all the glass out of it… say, why doesn’t that feel–

“What happened to you? Here, let me take a look at it, I can fix that up. You can’t be going onto storm duty with an injury, after all.”

“No!” Dash flapped back, hovering out over the stream. Fluttershy frowned at her.

“Uh, that is…” Dash stammered. “It’s, uh, it’s not a big deal. It’s not as bad as it looks, it’s just, uh…”

A bright light flashed out from under the bridge, catching both pegasi off-guard. It was followed by a few muffled steps and a voice sounding out.

“Rainbow Dash? Where’d you go?”

“Ah! Twilight!” Dash swooped down, grabbed the unicorn, and pulled her back up in front of Fluttershy in one swift motion.

“That’s all it was, Fluttershy! Just me and Twilight fixing a little problem on the bridge, nothing else. Right, Twilight? There’s nothing else that Fluttershy should be worried about right now, right?”

Twilight’s bewildered expression went back and forth between Dash and Fluttershy. After a moment she caught on.

“Uh, yeah… that’s all that it was,” she said slowly. “So, if, uh, you’ll excuse me Rainbow, I’m going to go down and finish taking care of that little problem.”

She leaned in next to Dash’s ear for a quick whisper. “Meet me at the tree as soon as I leave.”

Another flash. Twilight teleported out of Dash’s arms and back onto the ledge. There was a quick flurry of shuffling while Dash continued holding Fluttershy’s attention. Finally, with one final flash, Twilight was gone. Dash poked her head down to see that the body was gone as well, along with the few loose teeth. A small blood smear remained on the wall, but it wasn’t enough to stand out at a distance.

“Uh, Rainbow Dash, you’re… alright, then?” Fluttershy asked.

“What– I mean, yes! Totally fine!” Dash smiled and inched away from the bridge. “Everything is all fixed now, so you can go ahead and cross over.”

“But what about–”

“Love to stay and chat, but… I can’t. Bye!” With a quick wave, Dash took off towards town. Fluttershy waved after her.

“But what about the storm!” she called, but Dash was already too far away to hear her. Fluttershy gulped and glanced at the sky. At that moment, a contingent of four pegasi struggled to get a particularly large cloud into place directly over her head. With a final small “eep”, Fluttershy scurried across the park and back towards her house.

Dash flew high up over the rooftops, glided past a stream of smoke coming out of a chimney, and took a long, steady dive towards Twilight’s tree. Ignoring the second story window and the piece of wood nailed over the broken door, she headed instead for the ground out front. One rough but fast landing later, she knocked on the door.

Twilight poked her head out on the third knock. She glanced around in every direction. In spite of the crowds still out and about in town, the streets directly around the library were deserted. Without a word, Twilight grabbed Dash by the shoulders, pulled her inside, and shut the door tight.

“Twilight, in the future, when you say five minutes tops, I really hope you mean it,” Dash said. She followed Twilight across the main room towards the basement door. “And where’s Spike, anyway?”

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I didn’t mean for it to take so long,” Twilight replied. “When I got back Spike was still cleaning up. I had to dodge his questions and send him out to Sweet Apple Acres on an errand.”

“What’d you have him do?”

“I just asked him to get the harvest estimates from Applejack. Knowing her at this time of the year, that should keep him busy for at least a little while. Anyway, after I sent him away, I figured I’d get the basement all set up, and that took a few extra minutes as well.”

“Alright, that’s swell and all, but still…” Dash shook her head. “What if somepony other than Fluttershy had wandered over? Or if she had looked a little farther down, or gotten a little nosier about my cut?”

“You seemed to keep things under control,” Twilight said. “But we’re here now, so let’s move on.”

The two entered the basement and descended down to Twilight’s workspace. Looking over it, Dash saw that most of the large scientific equipment had been stacked up along the wall, leaving most of the floor empty. A large metal table sat alone at the center of the basement, with most of the ceiling lamps directed on it. Dash’s corpse lay atop it. Her ripped belly faced the ceiling, the entrails glistening in the light.

Dash winced at the sight. “Geeze, Twilight, at least put a sheet over that or something.”

“Oh, right, sorry. Just take a seat over there, I’ll get it.”

Twilight levitated a large white cloth from one of the machines over onto the table. It settled down into a strange geometric shape from the frozen, outstretched limbs. A few spots stained a dull red from the parts of the body that still had wet blood on them. Dash settled herself in a spot on the floor next to two tall, metal machines whose purpose eluded her.

“Okay Twilight. We’re here,” Dash said. “What’s going on?”

“Well, that’s a little complicated…”

“Of course it is. It’s never simple, is it?”

“Look, let me do this another way…” Twilight paced back and forth in front of the table. “Just, tell me what happened. In full, from the beginning, and I mean every last detail you can remember.”

Dash fought the urge to roll her eyes. “It’s like I already told you in the woods. There’s really not much to tell. I was coming down from the sky, I tried to pull up, but I was too late and crashed through into the trees. I remember falling through the branches, I remember hitting the ground, I remember seeing the rock appear past the bush… and then I remember standing up again, feeling fine, with a dead me right in front of me. After that I basically just got out of there to find you.”

She shuddered all over as she recanted the memories. “I first I thought it was, I don’t know, an out-of-body experience or something. But then the other pegasi started talking to me, so I… well, I guess I figured out I was still me. So… I just don’t know…”

Twilight nodded. “Alright, alright… let me see then…”

Twilight glanced towards a desk that had been pushed to the wall under the stairs. A purple glow appeared around an object on it and hovered over to her. It didn’t take long for Dash to see it was the black book with the red initials.

“That stupid thing!” Dash cried out. “So spill it Twilight, what’s going on here? What are we dealing with?”

The book cracked open in front of Twilight, who quickly hurried to an earmarked page.

“I can’t say much about the specific spell,” she said. “After you left last night I tried to translate more of it, but I didn’t get much. There’s something strange about the language it’s written in, like it never quite lines up with what it should be. It’s almost like a code, or some sort of cipher. I did get a few phrases, but they didn’t seem to make any sense… until now, of course.”

She looked up to Dash. “But it’s not the specific spell that worries me.”

Dash stifled a groan. “Yeah, because why should it? I’m the one who’s dead and alive here.”

Twilight nodded. “Exactly. A spell of that caliber and effect, out of a book that’s in a coded version of a dead language that only appears to a magical touch, found hidden in a box that had been buried and forgotten in the Canterlot archives… this kind of magic I recognize. Or at least, I think I do.”

Dash leaned in. “And it is…”

“It… doesn’t have a specific name… but, for lack of a better term, dark magic.” Twilight gave Dash a hard stare. “Magic with wicked applications, cast by wicked users. Magic that’s been banned in the kingdom for as long as Celestia’s been in power. I’ve read about it in my history books, and how a few isolated cases of it crop up every few decades that always result in very… dire consequences. I don’t know where this book came from, or how it got in that box, but I do know that it’s definitely not something that should be out in the hooves of everyday ponies.”

“Okaaaaay…” Dash said. “Bad magic. Well, I kinda figured that. Can’t we just go see the Princess about this, and ask her what–”

“No!” Twilight said suddenly, causing Dash to start. Twilight took a breath and calmed down. “We, uh… we can’t tell the Princess. Or anypony at all, for that matter. If word got out that I cast a spell like this from a source like this… I can scarcely imagine the Princess’s disappointment. Or what kind of trouble I might get in! Those dire consequences I mentioned? Most of them happened to the poor foal who cast the magic to begin with.

“Wait, you cast the spell?” Dash cocked her head. “I thought it just, you know, came out of the book on its own or something. I mean, it’s magic, it can do things like that… right?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head bashfully. “Well… that’s also a bit more complicated. I didn’t cause it intentionally, but…”

Dash looked at her. “Can we stop with the trailing off? Just explain.”

“It’s a little hard to put into basic terms, since it involves a lot of magical theory and applied casting concepts, but… look, the book is a magical artifact, alright? It’s activated by magic, like you can see here.”

Twilight turned the book over in the air, allowing Dash to see the pages. They were once again filled with the thin black text, some of which faded in and out of view as Dash watched.

“But it’s not just the writing that’s activated. There’re multiple layers of encoded magic at work here. The spells in the book, though, seem to be of a dual-conscious state. That is to say, they don’t need a specific user to cast them, just to activate them, provide a steady supply of magical energy to power them, and a direction to push them. I was translating the book, read off part of it, which seemed to be the trigger, then said your name, it absorbed some magic out of me to power itself, it targeted you, and… there you go.”

Dash’s expression remained blank. “…so, like, auto-magic? That’s a thing? Really?”

Twilight shrugged. “It’s not something that’s very common, but I’ve seen it before. Usually they’re on quick-use scrolls, for medical emergencies and things like that. In the absence of a more experienced spell caster, any random unicorn could simply read it, work it, and provide assistance. I will admit, I’ve never even heard of it being applied in a manner nearly this complex or invasive. The amount of magical energy and knowledge that would go into just binding the pages together is nothing short of–”

“Alright, alright, I got it,” Dash said, shaking her hoof. “So it’s a magical book that can do bad things mostly on its own. Super. Can’t you just, you know, fix it?”

Twilight hung her head. “I… I’m not sure how.”

Dash released a hollow laugh. “Yeah, right. Come on Twilight, you’re you. You know every spell under the sun, and the moon, and everything in between, and probably stuff out of things I don’t even know how to describe. You can figure out anything when it comes to magic.”

“Not if I’ve never learned about how to do it!” Twilight shot back. “Least of all stuff that I was never even supposed to learn in the first place. I’m working blind here. I’ll need to– wait, hold on. Let me get this all down right.”

Twilight hovered over a fresh scroll of parchment and a quill. “Let’s write down what we know.”

“We know I came popped right back into life in a fresh new body after apparently dying in a crash, leaving the old me behind,” Dash said. “But that’s all!”

“Not quite.” Twilight pointed to the cut on Dash’s flank. “How’s that feel? For that matter, how’s it ever felt? Did it hurt at all?”

“Huh?” Dash glanced down at her wound. The bleeding had long since stopped, though it hadn’t started to scab over. “Well, it… no, actually. It didn’t. I don’t think I even noticed it until Spike pointed it out.”

“And during the crash? Do you remember feeling anything then?”

Dash shook her head. “Nope. Come to think of it, I’ve just sorta felt numb all over, ever since I woke up. I thought it was just nerves, ya know? For the demonstration and all, and then after the accident I was too busy trying to get you and figure all this out.”

“Then there’s another symptom.” Twilight made a quick scribble on her parchment. “A total lack of sensation.”

“What, I can’t feel pain?” Dash asked skeptically. She glanced down at her hooves and rubbed them together. A curious numbing sensation filled her body, one she hadn’t truly noticed until now.

Twilight’s eyes flicked over to the desk. She aimed her horn. A small pushpin pulled itself out of a small bulletin board, hurled through the air, and pricked Dash in the shoulder. Dash recoiled and flicked it away.

“Hey, what was that for?” she said indignantly.

“Did you feel pain? Did you feel anything?”

Dash rubbed her shoulder a few times, then glanced down. A tiny drop of blood formed at the site, but it didn’t push out enough to fall down her leg. “Well… no, no I didn’t.”

She looked back at Twilight. “But I do remember stubbing my hoof last night before bed! And that definitely hurt. What’s up with that?”

Twilight stopped her scribbling for a moment. “Hmmm… the spell might’ve had a delayed effect. It would explain why I couldn’t detect it at all yesterday. Now it’s turned itself on.”

“Great, always a new surprise.” Dash rose to her hooves. She paced back and forth in front of the stacked equipment, her eyes traveling along the floor. “Twilight, we can keep writing this all down, but how will that help? You say you don’t know how to fix it, that’s fine. Can’t you just keep reading that book until you do?”

Twilight turned to the black book, which had remained floating obediently behind her the entire time. “I’ve been trying, and I’ll keep at it. But like I said before, it’s not easy. The words seem to disappear and reappear at will sometimes, and what I do figure out is somewhat… vague. Like for this spell, I’ve got it saying ‘Fear not the dangers of the outside world, for they no longer induce their ache, and you shall instead feel as though an empty cloud always.’ Which I guess is some broken way of saying you don’t feel any pain.”

Twilight squinted at the text. A few more lines vanished under her gaze. “It’s so bizarre. It’s almost like… like it’s trying to keep stuff from me. Like it knows what I’m trying to do, and won’t allow it.”

She looked back to Dash. “I did figure out the title at the top. ‘interminatis corpus’. Somepony thought they were being clever.”

Dash rolled her eyes. Twilight went on. “But my point is, there’s no telling how long it’ll take me to get to a point where I can safely and effectively remove the spell.”

Dash sighed, pausing in her pacing. “Well, just as well the spell got me when it did yesterday. If it didn’t, then I might’ve just crashed and been… you know…”

She drew her hoof across her neck. “There wouldn’t be two of me here right now.”

Twilight cringed. “Actually, uh… that’s another thing I deciphered, I just wasn’t sure how to… I didn’t want you to worry or anything, you understand, and I still don’t…”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “What? What is it? Come on Twilight, don’t leave me hanging here.”

“Well…” Twilight glanced at the page. “It says ‘Through flaunting death, death will become angered, and do all it can to seek you out at every turn, even at times where it seems like it never belonged in the first place’. I’m pretty sure that means that, for as long as you’ve got this spell on you, you will, uh, end up in particularly deadly situations you might otherwise not have encountered.”

Dash’s jaw dropped. “You mean to say that without this stupid spell I could’ve pulled off my trick just fine today?”

“Not necessarily, you still could’ve crashed–”

Dash shot Twilight a dirty look.

“–but, uh, even if you did, it wouldn’t have killed you. It just would’ve been a bad crash, not a fatal one.”

“Well this is just perfect.” Dash resumed her pacing at a furious rate. “There’s a freaky spell on me that causes bad accidents, I got it from some stupid evil book, the smartest unicorn in Equestria doesn’t know how to fix it… and to top it all off, it all probably made me look like an idiot in front of all those other pegasi.”

“Glad to know your priorities are still in order,” Twilight said, flipping through more pages of the book.

“I know it’s serious, Twilight,” Dash said. “It’s all just so… I don’t even know!”

Dash let out a growl of frustration and slammed a hoof against the nearest piece of lab equipment. The device vibrated from the hit, shaking the equally-sized piece of machinery that was precariously stacked on top of it. It wobbled back and forth, gaining momentum, and finally tipped over towards. It hurled towards the ground, striking Dash square on the back and snapping her legs out from under her. A long iron rod embedded on the roof of the machine drilled through her back at an odd angle, forcing its way through her heart and windpipe before popping out her chest and continuing down into the ground.

Twilight screamed. Dash let out a few hurried breaths. She opened her mouth, but only a slow gurgle came out, followed by a small stream of blood as the shredded remains of her heart emptied its contents into her fractured throat. One final gasp escaped slinked out, and what little part of her body still left upright slumped to the floor.

A meter to the left, with no fanfare other than a loud popping sound, Dash appeared out of thin air. She stood upright and looked more ruffled than usual.

Twilight screamed again. Dash covered her ears.

“Twilight, please! Not so loud down here, it echoes.”

“Oh! Uh, sorry, I, uh… I didn’t expect that.” Twilight took a few tentative steps forward, her eyes going from the newly living Dash to the freshly deceased one. “Well, no, I did, but not like… well, that was, uh… that was definitely something.”

Dash, having recovered from the noise, turned and stared at the new body. “Okay, now I’m a believer.”

Dash leaned in close. Only the top half of the corpse was visible. Everything from the bottom of the ribs down was crushed under the heavy metal machine. A large red pool spread out in every direction, absorbing into the ground at a surprising rate.

Upstairs, the sound of the front door opening and closing made both ponies jump.

“Twilight? Hey, Twilight, where are you?”

“Spike!” Dash’s eyes shot up. “I thought you said he’d be out for a while!”

“I didn’t think he’d be that fast,” Twilight said back, speaking in a hushed tone. They both listened to steps cross over the floor in the library and approach the door.

Twilight disappeared in a flash, reappearing just on the other side of the basement door. The knob turned and it pushed open, only for it to shut again as she threw weight against it.

“Spike! Hi, it’s me, it’s Twilight,” she said quickly.

“Twilight? What’s the matter? I thought I heard you scream when I was coming back.” The knob turned a few more times. “Why can’t I get in? Is everything alright in there?”

“Uh, yeah, everything’s fine, we– I’m just trying a little experiment, and it spooked me is all. Nothing big. Did you finish everything with Applejack?”

“Huh? Oh, right, yeah, I got all that done, it’s right here. Why can’t I come–”

“That was fast! Why don’t you take some bits and go to Sugarcube Corner to reward yourself? It’s on me for such a good job.”

The knob stopped turning.

“Well, Twilight, if you think that’s–”

The door flashed open. Twilight pulled a few gold coins out of nowhere and shoved them into Spike’s still-outstretched claw. “Greathereyougobye!”

The door slammed shut again, and Twilight leaned against it.

“Uh, alright Twilight… I’ll be back in a little bit then. And thanks!”

More steps, followed by the front door opening and closing one more time. Twilight stayed where she was for another minute, listening intently for any sounds of movement. Once she was sure that the coast was clear, she teleported back down next to Dash.

“You really need to get some locks installed in this place,” Dash said.

“This isn’t really something you plan for.” Twilight resumed kneeling next to the body. She levitated the machine up, revealing the squished, pulpy mess that lay beneath. Several bones and organs had been pressed so hard into the floor they looked like they were growing there. More chunks of flesh and tissue sloshed down the underside of the machine, dropping to the floor one by one in a series of wet smacks.

Dash winced. “Would it kill me to die in a less gruesome way?”

Twilight gave her a cockeyed look, but said nothing.

Dash took a few steps towards the far wall. “So… now what do we do? I mean, so now is stuff like this going to happen often, or…what?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. I think so, at least. Maybe you need to do something to cause them. But I’m not sure yet. I’m just… I’m not sure. That’s definitely a very distinct possibility.”

Dash sighed. “Day just keeps getting weirder.”

Twilight nodded again. “Well, at least we know what we’re dealing with. Now it’s just a matter of researching until we find a solution… however long that takes. Let me just start by taking a look at that book again.”

Instead of bringing the book back in front of her, Twilight levitated the whole desk back to the center of the room. She flipped open the book, a few notes, pulled out some more parchment, and got to work on the lot. She mumbled softly under her breath as she looked back and forth between the papers laid out in front of her.

Meanwhile, Dash stuck to pacing back and forth on the far side of the room. With a pale face and sunken cheeks, she kept staring at the two corpses. Rigor was still in full effect on the one under the sheet, but the fresh one was still completely limp. It continued to ooze out blood to the point where Dash wondered where it was all coming from.

A stark silence gripped the basement. Nearly an hour had passed before Dash stopped walking, shook her head, and spoke up. “Uh, do I need to be here for this?”

Twilight stared at her. “Well, uh… I would think it would be better. Don’t you want to stay here until I figure this out?”

Dash’s eyes travelled from the bodies to the many tall, heavy pieces of equipment still stacked up around the room. “Pass. After everything that’s happened now, I could sort of use a bit of a break.”

“I can figure this out, Rainbow, I can. I just need some–”

Dash put her hoof up. “Twilight, believe me, I know. I’ve known you long enough to know you always come up with a solution when it comes to magical stuff, even something like this. You’ll find the answer, no question. Right now, though, there’s, well… a bit too much me in this room for comfort, I guess.”

Twilight looked around. “Oh, yeah. Well, then are you sure you’ll be alright on your own? There’s no telling what little ‘accidents’ this spell could cause, not to mention the mess when it does. And if somepony saw… no, Rainbow, I really think you should stay the night.”

Dash shook her head. “Twilight, I hear you, but I just need a little alone time here. I can stay alive for one night, and at home on the soft clouds is definitely safer than what’s going on down here. And I won’t let anypony in on what’s happening, no matter what. Although really, since it wasn’t your fault at all, if you just talked to the Princess I’m sure she would–”

It was Twilight’s turn to shake her head. “I can do this on my own. There’s no need to bring in any outside help, least of all the Princess. She might think that… no, no, I can do this myself. And fine, go ahead, you can leave. Just… be careful out there?”

Dash smirked. “Always am. No dumb curse can keep me from flying home anyway, and there’s nothing to impale me in open air.”

Dash turned flapped up to the top of the room. Twilight watched her climb, and called out as Dash reached the door. “Oh, and if you see Spike up there, tell him to keep out! Tell him I’ll be up shortly, I just need to clean up down here.”

A purple bubble appeared around the new body. Dash quickly scurried out of the room before it and its half-liquefied contents started to mix around in the air. Crossing through the main library, she threw open the front doors and nearly ran face first into Spike.

“Whoops! Sorry Rainbow Dash, I didn’t know you were in there,” Spike said. He was holding a large ice cream sundae in one claw and a metal spoon in the other.

Dash recoiled, but caught herself before she reacted too badly. “Uh, don’t worry about it Spike, I was just, um, telling Twilight thanks for helping me earlier today.”

“Yeah, you do look a lot better. I can’t even tell there was even a cut there now.” Spike pointed to Dash’s flank. She glanced back at the clean, unbroken skin and grinned.

“Yeah, what can I say, I’m a quick healer like that.”

A flash lit up the library behind them. Twilight slipped past Dash and quickly hustled Spike inside.

“There you are Spike, I’m glad you’re back. There’s still a little cleaning I want you to do upstairs before bed, and you need a bath tonight as well, so don’t forget that!”

“Aww, come on Twilight, at least let me finish eating.”

While Spike reluctantly climbed the stairs, Twilight turned one last time towards Dash. She gave a small nod, and shut the door. Dash stared at the tree for another moment, then spread her wings and took off into the sky.

The sun hung lazily in front of her, the bottom of it barely scraping the horizon. Around it, a dark red sky signaled the end of another day. Dash looked down and saw the dim outlines of ponies closing up shops and returning home for the evening. She soared over Ponyville, taking a tall arc into the air towards her house in the clouds. She kept her mind clear at first, but soon thoughts started to leak their way in.

What a day, what a day… died twice and haven’t even had dinner.

Dash sighed and continued flying. The air temperature dropped around her, but she didn’t shiver. Nor could she even tell it was getting colder. The same gentle numbness that had taken hold of her since she got up that morning continued to fill her body and block out all sensation.

So, now I gotta watch out for everything and anything that might be able to kill me, and not let anypony know what’s up, lest it get Twilight or me in trouble from whatever ponies are in charge of magic. I’m sure she’s just being paranoid, but hey, it’s her deal. I’m just the one who can’t die.

Dash’s wings flared, and she slowed to a stop. Hovering high in the sky, she scratched her chin.

…I can’t die. Or feel pain. Sure, stuff seems to be going out of its way to get me, but if I keep my eyes open I can avoid that. Other than that…

Her frown disappeared, replaced by a slowly growing smile.

Other than that… no pain, no consequences. Any bad crash, I can just keep going until I drop, and then a whole new me is there to take over. Might need to hide a few bodies, but that’s not too hard… and it’s not like anypony will go looking for them, since I’m right here. Yeah… yeah, no need to be a downer about this. This is something special after all. Twilight will have me fixed up soon anyway, like she always does. So why not just roll with it for a bit?

She started flying again, faster this time. The sky continued to darken, but she was within sight of her house at this point. Her smile kept getting bigger.

Just go and try a few things I never really could’ve done before, or can ever do again. I mean, it’s not my fault I’m like this. I didn’t do anything. Why should I just sit back and take it?

The sun finally vanished over the horizon just as she reached her front door, letting the night move in completely. Thanks to a fresh cloud cover overhead, there were no stars to be seen, and the area was completely bathed in darkness.

I think I can actually end up having a little fun with this.