Crash.
Rainbow Dash smashed open a top floor window of the hospital with a hoof, and carefully maneuvered herself inside. She didn't care that it was dark, with them hiding potentially around every corner, or that she might cut her leg up pretty bad on the broken glass, or about the noise. She was even going to flippantly disregard a bite - as long as she stayed alive long enough to get up to speed, she'd be happy.
It still hurt though. A shard had sliced along the outside of her leg, and while the bleeding was slow, it stung terribly. She winced, and pushed past the pain to take up her search. She jogged through the upper corridors until she found a staircase. She whizzed past the remains of Nurse Redheart again - they hadn't moved an inch since she was last here. The utter silence and near-total darkness didn't do much for her nerves. By the staircase, there was a list of departments, accompanied by arrows for direction. Let's see... Maternity ward, no... urology.. what the hay even is that? Hmm... ENT, neurology pulariatrics... okay, ground floor. Operating theatres, A&E... aha! Anaesthetics and pharmacy. That should be it...
As the note had said, the stairs were nigh-on impassable. Cabinets full of medical equipment were tossed haphazardly into the stairwell, and there were a couple of gaps big enough to see through, there weren't any she could worm her way through. Dammit Redheart, there's no way I'm gonna be able to lift these... She looked around for ideas. Her eyes settled on a fire extinguisher, and a wry smile crept across her face.
A couple of minutes later, she returned with every fire extinguisher, oxygen tank and propane tank she could find on the top floor. She hastily stuffed them together in every gap she could see in the blockage, wedging them between cabinets and shoving them into the peep-holes. Eventually, she was left with just the original fire extinguisher. She looked at the veritable barrage of tanks, most of them oxygen tanks, and then back at the fire extinguisher. Better hold on to this one.
Another few minutes later, she returned with a heavy rack, laden with machines of various functions. She'd deliberately removed some of the load from the bottom, making it top-heavy. With a bit of a run up, she set the rack in motion, barrelling down the corridor like a freight train. The doors swung open with ease, and as planned, the rack swung over the banister of the stairwell and on to the blockage with a mighty crash. She ducked and covered her head.
Wait for it...
... any second now...
... dammit. She waited a good half a minute, before picking herself up and cautiously peering into the stairwell. She could hear a hissing noise, and there was definitely a smell of propane in the air. Her frustration quickly gave way to panic when she heard some sparking. Was one of those machines electrical... I don't... The hissing got slightly louder. Time to go!
She immediately banked round and leaped through the double doors, and took to rapid flight down the corridor.
Boom.
Behind her, the stairwell erupted in flames, blowing the doors clean off and sending them bouncing down the hallway. She ducked around a corner to let them fly past, and a wave of hot air rushed behind her. Considering herself a safe distance away, she stopped and looked back.
Boom.
Another blast rocked the building, air flooding into the stairwell from broken windows and the downstairs corridor to fill the vaccuum left by the hot gasses, igniting a backdraft. Dash was knocked to the floor, but mostly from shock. Stunned but uninjured, she peered around the corner at the charred remains of the stairwell. Burst, blackened tanks lay all over the place, and when she looked inside, most of the blockage had been cleared - the racks and shelves were pushed several yards away, and while she'd still have to climb over a few of them, the way was passable.
The ground floor was a mess. Shattered glass littered the ground, along with the occasional gorey remains of a pony. She guessed that it was only a matter of time before she came face to face with...
Thump.
Too late. A single undead pony, hobbling along on three legs, its jaw missing, butted against the window. She could see another few in the distance at the edge of the hospital grounds. Dammit! The explosion must have caught their attention. Better move it.
The anaesthetics department wasn't so much a department as it was a single room, with wall-to-wall cabinets chock full of bottles and vials. A window from the corridor to the room let her see inside. The door was locked, and even with a few firm bucks it seemed to be staying that way. She looked around for a solution, and another fire extinguisher caught her gaze.
Crash.
Rather than going to all the trouble of rigging the door to explode, she went for the more direct approach of breaking down the internal window. She gave herself another scratch while hopping through the broken window, but with natural adrenaline already pumping through her veins, she didn't notice. Painkillers, check... let's pop a few of these... blech! That tastes nasty. What else we got... sedative? That's the last thing I need right now... adrenaline! Now, careful... careful... no wonder doctors are usually unicorns, filling syringes with your teeth is hard! Then just... OW, ow ow... that's not how you do that, let's try that again... prick... there! Gah, that's gonna leave a mark...
Dash absorbed herself in going through the various drugs cabinets, becoming increasingly jittery as minutes passed. Another thud caught her attention, and she dropped a bottle of gepefrine. Another few of the groaning, walking bodies, in various states of bodily decay, were crowding the window. One of them fell over side ways with a sickening crack, while the others just craned their necks inside, or batted a hoof limply across the broken glass. I'm out of time.
To test her painkillers, she thumped a hoof firmly against the corner of a desk. It just tickled mildly - perfect. She gave the suit's apparatus a whack, and it hummed into life. She smirked, hunkered down, and charged for the door.
Crash.
With a four-hoofed assault on the door, it flew clean off its hinges, knocking two ponies to the floor and crushing a third against the wall. Dash immediately kicked off the door and made for one of the outside windows. At the last moment, a rotting pink face popped up from below, into Dash's path out of the window. Already in motion, she collided with the pony, and tumbled to the floor outside.
It wasn't even stunned by the impact, putting Dash at an instant disadvantage. She could just about prop two hooves up against the pony's collar to keep its dripping, jagged jaws away from her. From a distance, these once-living ponies could potentially pass for normal, assuming they weren't missing a leg or had a rotted flank, but up close they were just plain horrifying. The eyes and nose had just rotted away to nothing, and its teeth were crooked and broken, with blood congealed all around its face. The only relatively intact thing about this one was its poofy pink mane. Wait... poofy pink mane?
"P... Pinkie?" Dash's jaw hung slack. The earth pony just continued its mindless assault as if she hadn't said anything. "Pinkie, I..."
In a moment of distraction, Dash let go. The remains of Pinkie Pie lowered on to her, jaws opening out sink their teeth in. By the time Dash realised what was happening, she couldn't get out of the way, only roll to the side in damage control. With the cocktail of drugs coursing through her body, she didn't feel a thing, but she could hear the result.
Crunch.
At about the same time, Pinkie placed a full-force bite on Dash's right shoulder, and Dash used the same arm to thump her attacker away. With the suit, the blow knocked Pinkie clean off her feet, and a crack told her that some serious internal damage was done too. But in coming away, two small chunks of flesh were ripped from Dash's shoulder. All she could feel was a dull sting, but she could tell from the fresh crimson on Pinkie's face that the damage was done.
Dead within minutes... alright, let's do this. Without a second thought, she took to the sky.
The painkillers and stimulants were working a dream. Although she was light-headed and rapidly becoming surly, it felt almost like her regular flight. The only thing that threw it off was the bite on her shoulder, which stung more and more as time went by. As soon as she passed the sound barrier, she was already feeling slightly nauseous. The light-headed feeling only intensified, and before long she could barely even tell where she was going. By the time light intensity around her was starting to shift, the only thought in her head was a simple wish:
I hope that virus isn't in my brain.
Dash sat up sharply. An owl perched on a nearby branch flew away. She was in the canopy of a few trees, saliva encrusted on her face, and she could still feel the mild constriction of the flight suit and its goggles. Her head was still swimming in some of the leftover drugs that had carried over, and while it wasn't nearly as bad as a few seconds ago, she was still pretty dizzy. That said, the sudden transition from a highly altered mental state to near sobriety was a jarring feeling in itself.
The first thing to hit her as soon as she came to her senses was an intense hunger and thirst. Called it. Totally called it. She rolled off the tree canopy fell straight into a glide, beating her wings with renewed ease. With a sigh of relief, she fluttered up to the cloud layer to get an idea of her position.
She could just about make out some mountains on the horizon, lit up by the last vestiges of sunset. Judging by the direction of the shadows, they were to the north. They had a somewhat familiar shape to them, but what struck her the most was that they were alarmingly far away. This place certainly looked like the Everfree Forest, but she didn't know it went on this far. She sighed, and started flying.
It was nearly sunrise by the time she reached familiar territory. She'd made a couple of stops along the way for food, water and the occasional catnap on a cloud when the wind was favourable. On her approach to Ponyville, she kept herself hidden in a cloud, making sure to hold on to it this time - no harsh wind was going to blow this one away. Under her cover, she could lower herself over the town square, where she could see a small gathering of ponies at a wooden stage. As she got closer, she could start making out more details: there were five ponies on the stage, two of them standing under a scaffold, with... what looked like bags on their heads?
She was now close enough to make out the faces of the other ponies. Applejack, face hidden under her hat, Rarity, looking fabulous as always, and Pinkie Pie, bouncing around like she hadn't a care in the world. She looked back at the other two, and recognised the colours - soft lilac and bright cream. She could also pick out a rope strung around the necks of each. She gasped, and drifted in closer, enough to hear voices.
"Nearly dawn, Applejack."
"Alright, let's get this show on the road! Heheh... any last requests?"
"Bite me." Twilight grunted.
"Okie dokie lokie!"
"Ow! I didn't mean that literally, Pinkie!" Oh, we are not doing this again. Dash took another moment to position her cloud just right. The sun broke over the horizon, and Applejack reached for a lever on the stage.
Crunch.
Dash lunged from the cloud, both hind hooves outstretched. They first connected with Applejack's head, and proceeded to the floor, putting her face through the floorboards. The earth pony yelped in pain, but quickly went limp.
"Ohey, it's Dashie! Do you want me to bite you too?" Pinkie Pie beamed. Funny that. Dash pushed past her, casually knocking her off the stage, and lunged straight for Rarity. Before she had time to react, Dash's forehoof connected with the unicorn's temple, knocking her out cold and flinging her from the stage. An aside glance to the crowd showed her guards scrambling towards the stage.
"Time to go!" Dash leaped to the scaffold, and with a well-placed kick, shattered the beam holding up the two nooses. She whipped the bags off their heads, revealing a disgruntled looking Twilight with an odd, metallic device hooked on to her horn, and a terrified Fluttershy, tears streaming down her face.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight gasped. "Get this thing off my horn, I'll get us out of here!"
"Uhm..." Dash blinked. She leaned over to the horn, and tapped it. It was like a black, steel ring with some jewels embedded in it. There didn't seem to be any kind of clip that she could detach, but maybe if she just... lifted it...
Fswsh. As soon as it was out of contact of the horn, Twilight grabbed the two pegasi and winked out.
When they reappeared, they were somewhere in the Everfree forest, in a clearing.
"What was that thing? The thing on your horn?" Dash panted, finally getting a moments' break.
"It's a neuroarcane neutraliser." Twilight replied casually. Dash's blank stare prompted a simpler explanation. "... a thing that stops a unicorn from using magic."
"Ohhh... alright, so you can give this thing another blast then?" Dash tapped the console on her suit. Twilight's cautious relief drained away, and she snapped back harshly,
"Oh! You're that Rainbow Dash! Is this so you can abandon us again? Is that it?"
"I came back!" Dash yelled. After spending all night in the air, her patience was as frayed as Twilight's.
"If you were even a minute later, we'd be dead!"
"And if I didn't 'abandon' you, I'd be on those gallows with you!"
"Guys..." Fluttershy interrupted, her voice barely above a whisper, and only audible by virtue of timing.
"What?" Twilight and Dash barked in unison.
"Please... stop fighting..." The pegasus whimpered, curled up on the ground next to them, her eyes still watering. Reluctantly, they looked back to each other, and continued their exchange in a more civil tone.
"Just tell me this, Rainbow. Why should I help you get home?" Twilight growled.
"Because if you don't, you don't get your Rainbow Dash back." Dash replied in tone. Twilight paused, giving her an icy stare, before eventually bowing her head to the box and giving it a zap.
"Fine. But be quick." Twilight snarled. Dash just nodded, and took off.
"Where... where's Rainbow Dash going?" Fluttershy asked, as they watched Dash accelerate into the distance.
Boom.
"It's... a long story."
Crunch.
As Dash approached Twilight's cave, a guardspony, decked out in khaki uniform, tumbled backwards from the cavemouth, a bloody mark on his head. She cautiously stepped forward, and a rock, surrounded by a soft lilac glow and covered in scarlet splatters, shot forward to meet her. She ducked, and the rock narrowly missed.
"Hey! Ease up Twilight, it's me!"
"Rainbow Dash?" The unicorn jumped out of cover to meet her. "You're alright!"
"Sort of. Four jumps in three days and twelve hours of straight flying really take it out of you."
"Come in, rest up..."
"I... can't."
"What?" Twilight gasped. "Why not?"
"Long story short, we were right. Discord's behind it all. But, I think I know a way to beat him and set everything right. I just need to get home as soon as possible."
"Oh..." The unicorn looked a little disappointed. "I was kinda hoping you could help me with something..."
"What?" Dash tilted her head quizically.
"Ever since you left, I've started seeing guards more often, and sometimes even finding my hideout, as you..." Twilight levitated the guard's body away from the cave mouth, and with a little windup, fired it into the air. Dash watched it career away into the distance with a wince. "... might have noticed." After a few seconds, a quiet, echoing thump heralded the body's landing. "They must have followed your trail here."
"Oh..."
"Don't worry about it, I'm just as stupid for not thinking of it. So anyway, while I could keep skulling them with rocks and punting them away, it'd probably be better if I just found a new cave."
"Well... actually, if what I learned from another Twilight is right... if what I'm trying to do works, then it should cause a para... paradox! Cause a paradox, and completely erase Discord from every..."
"A paradox?" Twilight went wide-eyed. "Of course! If Discord is a multidimensional being, then a paradox that removes him from existence would remove him from every instance of Equestria, and all the harm he did anywhere would be undone!"
"Right!"
"In that case, we need to get you moving, missy!" Twilight promptly kneeled down, and gave the suit a shot of magical energy. The suit hummed into life, and Dash staggered a little.
"Not even a cup of hot cocoa?" Dash bleated.
"There isn't a second to lose, go!" Twilight was positively bouncing with excitement as she pushed Dash back out into the snow. Eventually, Dash conceded defeat, and reared up to take off. "Celestia speed, Rainbow." Twilight grinned. Dash just nodded and saluted, and was off.