“Shadow?”
Sky paced down the hallway as quietly as she could, both of her wings spread to silence her hoofsteps completely. Large windows set into the wall let in rays of moonlight, for the shortest while casting black and white stripes across her body. She recognised this place well enough. It was the biology block of Canterlot University. Sky used to come here a lot a few years back, back when she attended college. She’d never enrolled exactly, but she’d had a lot of fun with some of the frat houses.
Here, though, the university was far more hostile than she remembered it. Shadow had disappeared a while ago, chasing after Nightshade. Sky was left alone, prowling down the corridor in the vain hope that her little sister would come back. This entire operation had gone to shit. She wished that she’d never come.
A distant cry echoed down the otherwise silent corridor, and Sky perked her ears at the sound. She knew that voice.
It was Shadow, and she was calling for her.
“Sis?” Sky called back. Her voice sounded so small, even as it reverberated down the hallway. It felt like something was tugging at the back of her mind, a horrible sense of dread that seemed to be holding the continued existence of her little sister over her head.
Shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear it, Sky started picking up speed, following the all-too-distant sounds of combat. It didn’t take long for her to get up to a full gallop, yet her hooves felt sluggish, like she was wearing lead horseshoes. She snapped out her crossbow with a flick of her hoof, flapping her wings to get a little more speed.
What the hell was that bitch thinking, anyway? Sky wondered, unsure whether the thumping in her ears was from her hooves or from her heartbeat. When I get my hooves on her, I’m going to kick her ass for flying ahead like this…
So lost was she in her own thoughts that she barely saw Shady out of the corner of her eye, and by the time she’d acknowledged him, it was far too late. His hoof came flying out of nowhere, catching her in the face and taking her to the floor. Sky was blind for a moment, feeling the warm trickle of blood down her muzzle as she struggled to focus.
The stallion didn’t let up, grabbing her around her midsection and slamming her into one of the high windows. She gasped for breath as the wind was knocked out of her,a spider’s web of cracks running up the glass.
Sky didn’t have much opportunity to get her bearings again, as Shady turned around, balancing on his forelegs and bucking her in the face. Her head snapped back, smashing through the glass as she tumbled out of the window. Jagged shards shredded her skin as she was launched back, catching the windowsill with her forehooves before she fell.
Shady grabbed a loose piece of broken glass, driving it down towards one of her hooves. Sky let go of the windowsill to avoid it, hanging on by only one hoof as she snapped out her crossbow. As Shady tried to drive the shard down onto her other hoof, Sky levelled her weapon and shot him in the neck. Shady choked for a while as the sleep formula drained into his body, before slumping down pathetically.
Sky clambered back into the hallway, her torn legs shaking as she inspected the damage to her own body. The shattered window had torn her up something terrible, and she was covered in gashes. It hurt to move, let alone to walk, but as Shadow screamed off in the distance, Sky spread her wings again and forged toward her.
“I’m not gonna fuck this up…” She muttered, limping down the hallway. Glass cracked with a quiet tinkling sound as she trod on it, and her breath came in short gasps, As she beat her damaged wings, she felt herself begin to pick up speed again. The floor seemed to shift under her hooves, unbalancing her, slowing her down.

“SKY!” Shrieked Shadow. She was closer now, maybe one or two lecture theatres ahead. It wasn’t common for Shadow to refer to her by name, especially on jobs. There was no doubt about it. That filly was desperate and panicking.

There was a crash from up ahead, from a biology theatre. Sky pushed onwards, getting as much use out of her bleeding legs as she could. Her fur was matted in it, making her coat very nearly indistinguishable from her mane. She’d at least built up enough momentum that she was going to make it to the doors. Shadow was going to be okay. They were both going to get out of here.

Then...the screaming stopped. There was one last thud, and then silence.

Sky slammed into the door, pushing it aside and charging into the dimly-lit lecture theatre.
“SHADOW!” She screamed, glancing around.

The first thing that caught her eye was Nightshade, standing in the aisle with a knife held in his mouth. It was dripping with blood, and a hell of a lot of it at that. Sky didn’t even hesitate, raising her crossbow and shooting him with a second sleep dart. She followed up by charging straight into him, tackling him to the floor and beating him into submission before the dart even took effect. There was paltry resistance out of the stallion, but he was clearly worn down by the earlier fight with Shadow, and he fell unconscious after only a few seconds.
Sky spat on him, staggering upright and looking around. “Sis?” She ventured nervously.

When her eyes fell on the little filly, Sky’s heart broke.
“Oh Luna no…” She whispered, galloping over.
Shadow lay on her back just off the aisle, a massive gash across her midsection leaking blood into the carpet. A little voice at the back of Sky’s mind told her that it was lethal, but she shunted the thought aside and galloped over, sitting down by her little sister. “Hey, Shadow...it’s okay, I’m here now.”
“To...took your time, didn’t you?” Shadow replied, looking up at her with an adorable little smile. Her cloak was torn, her hood hanging off of her head revealing her hazel-coloured mane. She shakily reached out with a blood-covered forehoof, wrapping it around Sky’s and holding on tight.
“Oh fuck…” Sky whispered, ears splaying back as she looked her over. “Shadow, just stay calm. I’ll get you out of this, I promise. You’ll be okay…”
“I know I will.” Shadow replied softly. She didn’t pull away, no matter how shaky and weak she looked. “I...trust you…”
Sky wrapped her tail around the leg of a nearby trolley full of medical equipment, used to teach college students how to perform operations. It was serviceable.
She pulled a few syringes and surgical tubing off of the trolley, driving one of them into her own foreleg and filling it up with blood. “We’ll keep you alive until we can get to Sawblades, okay? He’ll patch you up. It’ll be okay…” Sky could barely hear her own voice anymore, her senses overcome by panic and desperation. All she could do at this point was concentrate on trying to keep Shadow alive.
Holding onto the filly’s foreleg with one hoof, Sky drove the syringe into it with the other, using her own blood to try and sustain Shadow. Both ponies’ breathing was slow and ragged, but Shadow was fading quickly, looking up at Sky with pleading eyes.
“Sis…” She whispered, so quietly that Sky didn’t hear her at first.
“Ye...yeah?”
“I don’t wanna go just yet.” Shadow whimpered, tears running down her cheeks as she struggled to cling to life. She knew damn well that they were going to be fine. After all, they’d gone on a lot of adventures together, and they’d always escaped stuff like this.
“Well...you don’t have to, okay?” Sky smiled, ruffling Shadow’s mane and coaxing a soft giggle out of the younger pegasus. “We’ll get home, we’ll get safe and then everything will be all right. I just need you to stay with me right now. Can you do that?”
“Yeah...yeah, I can do that. Don’t worry.” Shadow said wearily. “Just...don’t let go of me...okay?”
“Sure. I’ll hold onto you. You’ll be back kicking ass again within the week.” Sky tried her hardest to keep her smile up, for Shadow’s sake.
Fuck me, since when am I supposed to be the adult here? She thought to herself, repeating the act. She pumped Shadow full of as much blood as she thought she needed to stay alive, before taking a needle in her free hoof and starting to sew the filly’s wound shut. “Just hold on, sweetie. I’ve got you…” True to her word, not once did Sky let her little sister out of her grip.
“I’m...sleepy…”
“It’s not time to go to sleep yet, sweetie. Just stay with me.” Sky looked into her eyes, ears splaying back as she saw the light fading from them. “Come on, I just need a few more minutes...we can do this…” There was something very wrong with the filly. Sky had expected her to yelp or squeak or at least react to the passage of the needle, but she did no such thing. It was as if she was feeling far too numb for her body to even register what was happening to her, like it had accepted what was going to happen before Sky had even had a chance to administer aid.
No, I’m not gonna let her down like this… Sky grimaced, trying to work faster, trying to close the wound. Surely that’d keep her alive until they could get to Sawblades. He’d know what to do. Sky didn’t have a clue how to deal with stab wounds, especially such a horrible gash as this.
Shadow placed her other hoof on Sky’s, holding her tighter than such a weak little pony should be able to manage. “Right now...I just want a hug…”
Sky paused, looking between Shadow’s face and the wound. It was too big for her to sew closed, and she was still losing blood too fast. The part of her mind that insisted that Shadow wasn’t going to survive this grew bigger, turning from a whisper in the back of her head to a voice right in front of her.
“I love you.” Shadow muttered, managing a little smile as she clutched her tight. In that moment, Shadow didn’t care too much about surviving, or worry too much about what was going to happen to her. As the voice in the back of her own mind compelled her to close her own eyes, she cared about only one thing...knowing that Sky loved her, and making damn sure that she knew that Shadow loved her back.
Sky whimpered, dropping the needle and wrapping Shadow in her hooves and wings. “I love you too...and I’m not gonna give up. You’ll be safe, sis. I promise.”
Shadow wanted to say something to Sky to make it alright, to somehow wave a magic wand and make it so that her big sister could just understand what was going to happen. Darkness encroached on the edges of her vision. She knew that this wouldn’t be like falling unconscious. This would be the last time she ever saw her big sister, and she wanted to make the most of it. “I...know...you’ll...do...fine…”
Shadow struggled to keep her eyes open as she stared up at Sky. She couldn’t stay awake much longer, but she couldn’t really speak anymore. She simply didn’t have the energy. All she could do was smile encouragingly at her
Come on sis, get the message…
Sky, however, didn’t, holding onto Shadow until her eyes fluttered shut one last time.
“You’ll be okay. I know it.” Sky whispered in her ear, laying the pony over her back and galloping off to find someone who could help. She didn’t even care if she got caught or arrested right now. She just needed help.
As Sky galloped down the hallway again, the moonlight shining through the windows began to permeate everything. The walls and ceiling dissolved in the white light, the world around her disappearing even as she forced herself to gallop faster.
No...I’ve got to get her to a doctor...I’ve got to…
As fast as Sky was, it wasn’t fast enough, and as she whispered promises of safety and happiness to her little sister, she too was consumed by light.

Sky woke up screaming.
She’d expected to be blinded, but the only light was the full moon shining through her bedroom window, the little candle on her windowsill flickering away. She was safe, at home in her hideout. As the pegasus looked down at herself, she began to relax just a little. She wasn’t covered in cuts from shards of glass, though her tears had been very real indeed.
Sky wiped her eyes and shakily rolled off of her mattress, her legs still shivering from the onset of sheer terror. She was certain that the whole thing had been a bad dream, but she had to check...just to be sure.

Sky pushed the door to Shadow’s room open, and a wave of relief washed over her.
There, nestled on a little cloud, all curled up with Scruffy the homemade plushie pony, was Shadow.
“You silly bint.” Sky smiled fondly, sneaking over and running her hoof through her little sister’s mane. She was fine, uninjured and happy, her hooves and wings twitching slightly as she fled from guards in her sleep. The tiniest little smile crept over her face at Sky’s touch.
Maybe I shouldn’t wake her...she always gets to grumpy if she doesn’t get her sleep… Sky thought to herself, gently lifting Shadow off of her cloud and onto her back. Keeping her hoofsteps as light as ever, Sky carried her back to her own room, laying her down on her mattress and snuggling up next to her.
“You might have Scruffy, but I need a cuddle-buddy tonight too.” Sky whispered. squeezing Shadow tight and coaxing a tiny little happy whimper out of her. As she felt Sky’s forelegs around her, the little filly grabbed onto one in her sleep. Her breathing grew softer, more regular, and eventually devolved into something between a snore and a whinny.
Sky couldn’t help but smile. “I love you, Shadow.” She murmured, kissing the filly on the cheek.
Wow, I’m glad I don’t sound like that when I sleep…
Sky settled down next to the filly, wrapping her in her hooves and wings and keeping her warm. As the two of them drifted off, Sky started snoring just like her little sister. The challenges of the investigation tomorrow seemed so distant in that moment. Right then, they weren’t burglars, they were two little ponies who loved each other very much, both living safe in the knowledge that neither would ever let the other down.