Prologue

Paying no attention to the awkward stares her blood-matted coat was attracting, Twilight Sparkle slowly made her way home. The ponies gawking at her had no idea what she'd just put her friends through, and even if she had the energy she wouldn't have given them a reaction. Upon her arrival she cast her gaze around the room; she was finally home, in her safe little haven of knowledge. Placing a sleeping Spike in his bed, she made her way upstairs to try and wash away the grime that caked her body and organise her thoughts. As she entered the bathroom her gaze strayed to the mirror. For a moment, she was lost, as if in a trance, staring at her reflection. It disgusted her. "Look at you," she croaked, "You're PATHETIC." She let out a piercing scream and smashed the mirror with her hoof. Her rage almost immediately transformed into sorrow, and tears ran down her cheek as she lowered herself into the bath. She wished she could stay there forever. She wouldn't have to face any of the physical challenges of the real world. Let alone the emotional ones. She could just sit there in her own little world, totally innocent and clean. But she knew that wasn't an option. She needed to share her thoughts with somepony, and her teacher always seemed to understand her better than anypony else.

When Twilight finally made her way downstairs, Spike was still asleep. No matter, she preferred to write this letter herself anyway. She magically summoned a quill, ink bottle and parchment and prepared to pour her heart out.

"Dear Princess Celestia," she wrote, "Today I've learned little and accomplished nothing. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and I were out in Ponyville together this morning. We were on our way to Sugarcube Corner when Spike ran up to us, ranting incoherently. All I really caught was "Rarity", "taken", "woods" and "Save her", so naturally we followed his instructions and headed to the woods to save Rarity."

"As we galloped through the woods, Spike settled down and explained the situation. He had been helping Rarity find gems for a big project. A group of diamond dogs ambushed them from the trees and abducted rarity, practically ignoring Spike. His efforts to stop them were useless. He's only a baby dragon, after all. The dogs took Rarity with ease. This news worried me immensely; I've read about how the dogs treat captive ponies. Some of the things they do are unspeakable. Of course, I didn't tell the others this as I didn't want to worry them. Best we just get Rarity out of there as quickly as possible without too much hassle. I underestimated how the situation would escalate beyond the harmless romps we usually have."

"After some time, Spike told us that we were near the area Rarity had been taken. I knew that diamond dogs lived underground in complex networks of tunnels with multiple entrances, so we fanned out and searched for holes that we could fit through. Three such holes were in close proximity. This worked out well, because Spike would be little use against giant diamond dogs, and Pegusi are known to suffer from claustrophobia. I felt uneasy splitting up our group; in the past our strength had come from our friendship and combined efforts. I didn't know how we'd handle being separated like that. But I had little choice. The holes were barely big enough for a single pony to squeeze through, and my priority was to get in and out as quickly as possible. My plan was for Applejack, Pinkie and I to each take a hole, and for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to remain up top with Spike, who would expand one of the openings to make our return easier. Naturally, Rainbow Dash objected to being left behind, but she eventually conceded that it was the only reasonable option. I wish I had listened to her; I quickly grew to lament my decision"

"I wish I could forget those tunnels, but I never will. Apparently I'm as claustrophobic as a Pegasus. Within the first minute of forcing myself through that dark, cramped channel I was hyperventilating. Absolutely convinced that I was about to be crushed in a massive cave-in, I felt all the strength leave my body as I became drenched in cold sweat. After what felt like an eternity, I reached a breaking point. I tried inching backwards, but I couldn't manage it. I tried turning around, but there wasn't enough room. A feeling that I was crawling down into a suffocating grave completely overcame me, and I stopped moving as tears streamed down my face. I had given up on everything, and I just lay there, breathing in the overwhelmingly stale air of the tunnel, blubbering pathetically."

"I must have been sobbing louder than I thought, as it was loud enough to catch Applejack's attention. From the bottom of the tunnel I heard her call out "Is that you, Twi?" I had never been happier to hear her voice. It reminded me that I wasn't in this alone, that I had friends who had my back. It gave me new strength, and I managed to force myself further down the tunnel as I croaked "Yea, Applejack, I'm coming." The tunnel seemed far less suffocating with a friend waiting on the other end. It may have been my mind playing tricks on me, but the tunnel seemed to grow larger as I got closer to Applejack's reassuring voice. "C'mon now, sugar cube. You can make it." Her voice was comforting and encouraging, and without her I probably would've stayed in that tunnel until I died of dehydration. As I came to the end of the tunnel, I saw that it joined a larger tunnel that a few ponies could comfortably stand in. Seeing Applejack's silhouette (minus her hat, which she had abandoned before coming down the tunnel) I scrambled the last few metres in a great frenzy. She hauled me out into the larger passage, falling back as she did so, and I landed on top of her. "Ya'all right, sugar cube?" she asked with a reassuring smile,

"I'm fine now. Thank you, Applejack," I replied, with what must have been the weakest smile imaginable.

"All right," she said, sliding out from under me, "Let's go find our girls."

I picked myself up and we proceeded down the shaft."

"I was already regretting splitting up our group. Though Applejack put on a brave face, I could tell that she was very distressed too. Pinkie had suffered depression and hallucinations from being ignored by her friends for one day, so even a few hours in these caves would be incredibly distressing for her. On the other hand, she had been the one who sang "giggle at the ghostly" on the night we defeated Nightmare Moon. What were we to expect? Pinkie could have jumped to either extreme."

"As we continued, we happened across a most disturbing discovery; blood was smeared along the walls and floor. This trail started immediately below a hole in the roof and appeared to proceed further down the tunnel. Applejack and I stopped in our tracks and stared aghast at the sight. I looked at my comrade and held my hoof to my mouth, and she nodded, understanding my desire for silence. We slowly moved on, stealthily as possible, trying to perceive as far as possible down the dark passage."

"Our stealth was pointless. The wretched dogs probably detected our presence before we even found the bloody mess. Four of the brutes ambushed us from shallow cutaways in the cave walls, two on each side. Applejack kicked back at the pair on her side, knocking them back into the wall. I attempted to do the same, but I didn't have the strength of the earth pony, and my blows were easily resisted by the dogs. As Applejack faced the dogs on my side to save me again, one of the dogs on her side recovered from his daze, and collected themself for another attack. Before I could say a thing, the dog was lunging at her, and I launched myself at him to try and wrestle him away. I'd never used my magic to harm anypony before, and I knew no spells to hurt the dogs. As the dog and I moved towards each other, I put my head down and braced for the impact. I honestly didn't mean to kill him; I just underestimated my own horn's strength and sharpness. Immediately after I realised what I had done I pulled back. I felt the poor beast go momentarily tense, then completely limp. My horn had pierced his neck, and he seemed to be losing gallons of blood. Seeing the lengths we were apparently prepared to go to, the two conscious dogs retreated into the darkness."

"The beast stayed alive for what felt like hours, looking directly into my eyes. He seemed to be pleading; begging me to save him or put him out of his misery. I did neither. I just stared back at him, shocked at what had just happened. There was a clear moment when the life left his body. He shuddered and his eyes seemed to glaze over. Shortly afterwards, I broke eye contact and gazed up at Applejack, who was looking down on me concernedly. I tried to explain that I didn't mean to actually kill the poor dog, but she held up her hoof to interrupt me and said "S'all right, sugar cube. You did what you had to do." I wanted to tell her that I didn't mean that much harm, and convince her, as much as myself, that it wasn't my fault. But I was too tired, physically and emotionally. Besides, it really was my fault. I was just deluding myself to try and retain a sense of innocence at the time. I got up and said, "Let's just keep moving," with my back to Applejack. We proceeded, leaving the unconscious dog with his dead kinsman.

"We continued in eerie silence down the tunnel. Again it seemed to be becoming more and more narrow and stifling, and again I felt like I was slowly creeping to my grave. Eventually the silence was interrupted by the creepiest noise I've ever heard. It sounded like a wailing ghost tortured by unimaginable pain. This high pitched moaning was punctuated by hoarse croaks, coughs and sobs. Proceeding with caution, we eventually managed to distinguish the noises. "Giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly, crack up at the creepy- oh god, it won't stop, make it stop- giggle at the ghostly, giggle at the ghostly..." A chill ran down my spine and I started to gallop ahead. I should've known Pinkie couldn't handle this. I should've known none of us could handle this."

"The pink pony was a truly pitiful sight. She was cowering against the cave wall with her eyes tightly shut, blubbering, trying to force herself to laugh the pain away. Once wild and frizzy, her mane and tale were now straight and matted with grime. Her entire body seemed broken and she had dark purple bruises around her face, neck, legs and flank. Though she was covered in scratches and grazes, the deepest and most painful looking cut ran from her left temple to her right cheek, and appeared to have barely missed gouging out her eyes. She was drenched in blood, sweat, vomit, and other filth. The stench was repulsive. She was a total wreck. Of course I felt tremendously sorry for her, but I'm ashamed to admit that my strongest feeling was disgust."

"After staring at the tortured pony for the better part of a minute, I heard Applejack coming up beside me. We were both too shocked to make any move to try and reassure or comfort her. I wanted to, I really did. I just couldn't bring myself to approach her. She seemed unnatural. It was like she was radiating a repulsive, evil force. The wrecked pony eventually seemed to feel us gawking at her. She looked at us, with her eyes still tightly closed. She whimpered before forcing her dark, bloodshot eyes open. Returning our shocked gaze, she tried to wipe her face clean, before forcing the weakest, fakest smile I've ever seen. "Hi girls," she said quietly.

"What the hell did they do, Pinkie?" I shouldn't have asked. It was a reflex, not a conscious decision. The smile disappeared from her face, replaced by a look of absolute contempt. She looked directly into my eyes and paused for a moment, breathing deeply. A second later she looked away indignantly and said "Let's just go." To my surprise, she managed to stand, albeit wobbly, and we continued down the tunnel."

"Darker and darker, tighter and tighter, a feeling of absolute oppression. I had failed. I never should've split our group up. When we were broken apart, we were each individually broken and tortured in our own way. If we rescued Rarity, I thought that it would make everything better. We would have triumphed, and I would have my redemption. Of course, I was denied even this one ounce of satisfaction."

"Proceeding forward, we eventually heard muffled diamond dog voices from around a bend. They were coming our way, and it seemed we had no choice but to fight. Pinkie smiled wickedly and muttered "I'll make them pay" before charging ahead with renewed strength. Applejack and I came up after her. Her bloodlust was obvious. She tackled one of the dogs, biting and stomping on him viciously. His partner merely fell to his knees and screamed "please, stop!" but Pinkie wouldn't let up. Applejack and I stood there helplessly while Pinkie mauled the now limp dog. About half minute later, a few more diamond dogs walked through, hauling massive carts of gems. Following these dogs was the glamour pony herself, Rarity. She was totally unscathed and radiant as ever. The dogs howled while we ponies merely stood and stared on as Pinkie brutally murdered her target. After what felt like an eternity, she started panting and eased back on the beating, exhausted. Blood dripping from her mouth and hooves, she stared wildly around at us. "Well what are you waiting for?" she demanded, "Get them! Slaughter all the savages!" When the dog closest to me, who appeared to be the leader, was satisfied that we would not comply with the pink pony he pleaded, "Just take her. We thought her whining was bad enough. I never thought any of you would- would kill over this. We just wanted gems. That's all we wanted. I didn't mean to start- this. Please, just take her and leave us alone; to bury our dead." This statement enraged Pinkie.

"You didn't start this? You didn't start this?" she giggled hysterically for a moment before altering her tone and becoming incredibly dark and terrifying, "Look at me. Know what you dogs did to me? And you dare try and make us out to be in the wrong? None of you deserve to live. You're all disgusting, savage beasts. You all need to die. You need to know suffering. You need to know pain." She was truly terrifying. I fear the Pink Pony has gone insane. She had clearly lost her element; I don't think she'll ever laugh again. I wanted to tell her that we can't descend to their level. I wanted to apologise to her. I wanted to make it all better. But all I could manage was to feebly say "Pinkie, let's just go." I'd had enough. I just wanted to get out of those tunnels. I felt more suffocated, more depressed than ever. Pinkie glanced from me to the bloody mess she had created. She seemed taken aback by her own act. She whimpered, and slowly started walking back the way we came, back to where Spike, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy would be waiting for us. Back home. We each fell in line behind her, ignoring the gems Rarity had collected which seemed so trivial and useless now. Without saying a word we made our way back through the labyrinth."

"Spike had done a good job expanding the tunnel. It was now much wider, and easy enough to climb to the surface. But even in the fresh air I felt I was suffocating, slowly creeping to a dark, smothering grave. I had caused lot of pain and suffering for no gain, and my failure was a heavy burden, which seemed to be physically weakening me. Moreover, I had no opportunity to seek redemption for my offense. This weight and depression was increased tenfold when we emerged from the ground to find Rainbow Dash and Spike kneeling over Fluttershy."

"I froze in shock and horror. Rainbow Dash heard us coming, and explained in a croaky voice "He came from the trees. I didn't see him 'till it was too late. There was nothing I could do." We all stood in silence for a moment. The world seemed to be crashing down upon me. Rainbow interrupted this silence again, saying "I hope you made 'em pay for this. Those dogs don't deserve to live." I had done everything wrong and caused so much damage. I was feeling light headed and physically sick. "She deserved better than this. She never harmed anypony. All she ever wanted to do was care and love," continued the Pegasus. I gazed around, trying to find something to distract me from my breakdown. A short distance from Fluttershy was the beaten, bloody mess of a diamond dog. I felt sick. Even with the fatal wounds he had suffered, I recognised him as the dog we left unconscious in the tunnel, next to the one I killed. Evidently, he came to the surface seeking revenge. Averting my gaze from either of the corpses, I caught Pinkie's eyes. She was looking at me as if to say "Still think they ought to live?" and in an instant I knew the answer. "Slaughter all the brutes," I blurted out. "They're beyond pity, they don't deserve rehabilitation or redemption or a second chance."

Rainbow dash turned to face us and I saw the tears, which she had tried to hide, spilling down her cheeks. "I'll go sonic Rainbomb on them," she said, angrily, "They'll never know what hit them." The proposition was morally wrong; it would entail the genocide of a small community, whom we deem guilty by association with the few who had wronged us. But none of us were thinking of morality. We were distraught, we were tired and we just wanted someone to pay for what had happened that day. Nopony objected to the plan."

"Rarity, Spike, Appljack, Pinkie Pie and I made our way to a vantage point atop a grassy hill to watch Rainbow Dash execute our revenge. We had wrapped Fluttershy's body in large leaves and vines and taken her with us. The fitting thing to do would have been to lay our gentle, caring friend to rest before committing a mass murder she never would've wanted any part of, but we wanted to get our revenge as quickly as possible, callously prioritising it over our friend's funeral ceremony. Even from our distance, we felt the shockwave of the Rainbomb, heard the incredible boom and saw the multi-coloured mushroom cloud it produced. After a few minutes, we saw Rainbow Dash flying towards us. She seemed shaken, but she had survived what we hoped the dogs hadn't. That much force surely would've collapsed those tunnels. When Rainbow Dash met us, we moved onwards. There was no need for discussion at this point; we all knew the next destination was Flutterhy's house."

"We buried the gentle yellow Pegasus in a beautiful grassy clearing near her home. We knew she would prefer a small ceremony, and it was fitting that she should be returned to the earth, rather than kept in a crypt in Cloudsdale. Few words were spoken at the funeral. Splitting the group up had broken everypony's spirit, and personally I now found the company of the ponies I had put through hell to be awkward, rather than comforting. Rarity was the first to leave, no doubt blaming herself for what had happened as much as I blamed myself. She was followed by Applejack, who was distressed by what her friends had been through and probably wanted to drown her sadness in cider. Pinkie left next. It was impossible to tell exactly what she was feeling, but she seemed to be angry at everything, needing to blame somepony for her own suffering as well as Fluttershy's death. The look she gave me as she turned to leave convinced me that she blamed me entirely. Shortly thereafter, Spike started dozing off, so I took him home."

"While I was in the tunnel, I just wanted to get home, to escape the oppressive, cruel atmosphere underground. But it seems that the subterranean mood has followed me, and I feel a dark cloud hanging over my head. I have put my friends through terrible physical and emotional pain and suffering, all for zero gain. Rarity never needed rescuing. So what have I learned about friendship? Nothing. What have I achieved? Nothing. I want to make up for what I have done. I want to make amends. I want to earn my redemption. But there is no way I can redeem myself. I'm too tired to continue like this, I want to sleep but I know my dreams will be haunted by my horrific mistakes. My life, for all intents and purposes, is over.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle"