Chapter 1: The Death of Loyalty
Summary: After the questionable death of one of the mane 6, the lives of the rest are thrown into chaos. But what happens when one of them starts to crack?/p
A/N: Hey guys... I know that this isn't something that people would expect from me considering my immense love of happy endings for my characters, and though one dies... well I'm not spoiling anything.
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, it belongs to Hasbro and the wonderful Lauren Faust. This isn't written for profit and no money is being made. The only thing being gained off of this is valuable insight into the wonderful My Little Pony community.
The rain poured down, soaking the coat of every pony in attendance. But the chill of the rain couldn't compare to the icy cold in the hearts of all. The bells tolled as the casket was lowered into the ground, signifying the end of the greatest flyer Equestria had ever seen. But the pony being buried was so much more than that to everyone there.
For Fluttershy, that pony was the love of her life. Her wife of three years and marefriend for so many more, Rainbow Dash was her other half. Without her, Twilight mused, Fluttershy would probably never be whole again. To Scootaloo, whose little body was shaking with unrestrained tears under Fluttershy's wing, Rainbow was her mother. The one who took care of her, and never gave up on teaching her to fly. The pony who had given her all to make the little orange filly's dreams come true.
To Applejack and Rarity, she was a true friend and companion. Though they had their differences, Rainbow had never let them down. She'd stuck by them through thick and thin and was always willing to lend a hoof to either ones business whenever it was needed. Though they were not related, Aj and Rarity lost a valued family member that day.
The lavender Alicorn was pulled from her musings over therest of her friends by a body snuggling closer into her own and tears mixing with the rain in her coat. She wrapped her own wing around her lover and pulled her pink body ever closer. Her own tears had escaped, despite her best attempts to restrain them. Pinkie and herself had lost a sister that day. Even the Wonderbolts had shown up, and in her death had made the cyan speedsters greatest wish come true. They praised the youngest member of their team, and lamented in the fact that she would never fly in one of thir shows. They grieved for the loss as much as every other pony, and regretted the fact that they hadn't done this sooner.
Not even the princess could escape the tears, for Rainbow was their dear friend as well. Cadence, Luna and Celestia had presided over the funeral, but they had barely been able to make it through the eulogy before succumbing to their own grief.
What truly bothered Twilight is that nopony really knew how the cyan pegasus had died. Her body had been found, but nopony had been around. The newly crowned Princess of Friendship could barely fight back the bile that rose in her throat as she recalled the day they had all recieved the news of Rainbow's passing.
It had been a day like any other. The six friends had been scheduled to meet for a picnic in the park. Twilight and Pinkie had arrived first, and they busied themselves with sitting out the blanket and what food they had prepared before sinking into a conversation to pass the time. Twilight smiled as her marefriend went on and on about this prank that herself and Rainbow Dash were gonna pull on an unsuspecting Applejack when an unamused voice pulled them from their conversation.
"Oh really now Sugarcube? You an' the featherbrain were gonna try and pull one over on me huh?" Applejack asked as Pinkie turned toward her, a deer in the headlights look on her face.
"A-A-Applejack,I uh, I didn't notice you there... any chance you didn't hear that?" The pink party planner stuttered out. Before she had a chance to bolt away AJ had already tackled her to the ground and was relentessly tickiling her. Amidst cries of laughter and surrender neither of the two ponies had noticed Rarity, who had arrived shortly after Applejack, sneaking up on them until Applejack felt the weight and relentless hooves of another pony tickling her own sides. Deciding a truce was in order, Aj and Pinkie teamed up, pouncing on Aj's marefriend and releasing an unrelenting assault upon the fashionista.
Twilight gazed upon her friends with loving eyes as they rolled around, tickling each other and laughing their heads off. Turning away for a minute, she spotted Fluttershy coming up the path to where they all were meeting. Her eyes narrowed upon noticing that the creamy yellow pegasus was alone, void of the usual rainbow goofball that was almost permanently attached to her hip.
"H-Hi girls" She called out in her quiet voice, making the tickle war come to a ceasefire behind the lavender alicorn as her friends rose up to greet the newcomer. After exchanging pleasentries, the pegasus took a seat on the blanket, and eyed the rather impressive spread that Pinkie had undoubtedly made before adding her famous potato salad to the mix.
"H-Hey, Twilight, Pinkie made this didn't she?" The shy pegasus asked, a rather Rainbow like smirk coming across her muzzle.
Unaware of the trap she was walking into, the alicorn responded to her friends seemingly innocent question. "Yes. why do you ask?"
"W-well, no particular reason. Do you wanna know how I knew it wasn't you though?" the pegasus questioned, a devious look in her usually timid teal eyes, unnoticed by her studious friend.
"How did you know Fluttershy?" Her friend asked kindly, still unawares that she had been baited.
"Well..." She paused for a moment to build up tension (Rainbow had taught her that for a joke like this to go over well, you needed to build the tension) and took a breath for added dramatics before finishing her response. "It's actually edible."
Twilight stood there for a second, completely dumbfounded as her friends and marefriend cracked up behind her. Fluttershy, timid, quiet, least-likely-to-make-a-joke-at-your-expense Fluttershy had just got her. And quite well if she took the time to think about it. After letting out a chuckle of her own, she decided that if Fluttershy was determined to play, that she'd fight fire with fire.
"Nice one Fluttershy, you think that one up on your own, or did that jocktard of yours help you out?" she shot back, a smile on her muzzle to reassure her timid friend that it was all in good fun.
"Oooh, jocktard, is Pinkie expanding your vocabulary?" The pegasus shot back to more racuous laughter from their audience. The duo continued to exchange witty banter to the amusement of their audience for a bit longer, before they had to stop. Pinkie had almost passed out from laughing too hard. The group of five managed to quiet down after a fair bit and settled into amiable conversation before Twilight had asked the pressing question on every pony's mind.
"Speaking of the featherbrain, why isn't she with you? You two are always together." Twilight asked Fluttershy after a lull in the conversation.
Fluttershy got a worried look in her eyes as she answered. "I'm not sure Twilight. She told me this morning that she had some weather duties to attend to, and something else to take care of that she wouldn't tell me about. I'm not surprised about the weather thing, it is her job after all, but I'm worried. Why wouldn't Rainbow tell me about the other thing? She tells me everything!" The last bit seemed to have been mostly for Fluttershy herself, as if she genuinely didn't understand why her beloved wife wouldn't tell her about whatever it was that she had to do.
"It's proably nothing major Fluttershy. In fact, I bet it was a surprise for you or Scootaloo." Twilight said to reassure her friend. Little did she know how wrong she was. A shout of her name made her focus on the little colt running up the path to where her and her friends were located. The little colt that would bring them the news that would not only ruin their day of fun and games, but that would change the lives of the five ponies gathered forever. The news that would leave a hole in their hearts for the rest of their lives. Rainbow Danger Professionalism Dash had been found dead.
Later that night, as Twilight sat alone in her library, her marefriend having long since retired to bed, Twilight closed the book she had been reading to keep her mind away from the depression that had been trying to grip her. Rainbow wouldn't want her to lose herself over her death. She yawned and stretched tiredly, rubbing at her eyes with her right hoof. Before getting ready to retire for the night, she took one last look around her library, checking things off as she went.
Front door locked, check. Books put away, check. Rainbow Dash leaning against the left bookshelf, check. Lights turned- Twilight whipped her head around and very nearly screamed in horror. Her eyes did not decieve her, for there, standing before her, was her now deceased friend.