It was cold. Oh so cold.

It wasn't meant to end like this, she was sure.

She wasn't meant to die this way. She didn't want to die, trapped beneath a mountain's worth of rubble.

She didn't want to die.

There was so much she still wanted to do.

Dresses to make.

Outfits to arrange.

She wanted to see her friends again.

Just one more time.

She wanted to tell them that she was sorry. That she had to leave. That she wasn't coming back.

It was odd, she contemplated, that she hadn't even thought of death before now. She was willing to bet her friends hadn't, either.

And then the thought struck her.

She was never going to see Sweetie Bell again.

She wouldn't see Cherilee.

Pinkie Pie would have lost a friend.

It wasn't fair. Not at all.

It shouldn't have to end this way.

She hadn't even realized that this was coming. She had been riding on the train to the castle.

Suddenly, there had been a tremendous roar, one that shook the train itself.

She had realized that it wasn't the roar that was shaking the train. They were falling.

What happened next occurred in brief bursts, like a camera flash going off.

There had been ponies screaming around her. She remembered the numb horror that spread through her body.

The impact had been an agonizing jolt, far worse than any collision with Scootaloo.

And then, darkness.

She couldn't hear anypony else. The silence had been far more terrifying than any scream.

The rock had crushed her, oppressed her below its gargantuan weight.

The mare tried to curl up in a ball, but she couldn't. The memories kept playing over and over, beating a brutish pulse into her forehead.

She tried to sob, but couldn't. The tears were long gone by now.

She was tired. Very, very tired.

Her eyelids slid shut, and only a herculean effort pried them open again.

"I..." her voice was faint, lost in the immense blackness. "I'm so... sorry... dar...darlings..."

Rainbow Dash shut her eyes and waited to die.