Rainbow Dash was soaring over Canterlot when she saw something.

"Princess!" she shouted. "You escaped! Who—"

"Later, Rainbow Dash," said Celestia weakly. "Please take this foal from me…I feel very weak…so…so…ah…"

She collapsed in midflight and Dinky Doo's scream ran out, high and clear as crystal.

Rainbow Dash flew down as fast as she could. Dinky looked at her with huge eyes and reached out her arms in protest. She grabbed hold and let the filly sit on her back. She was heavy at all, but Celestia definitely was. She held on to her arm, and the speed slowed around them until they were feet off of the ground. Several ponies ran out.

"The princess!"

"Oh, no, I'll alert—"

"Princess Celestia!"

Twilight Sparkle ran forward. "Is she alright?" she asked nervously, supporting the princess with her tiny body. "Where'd you find her?"

"She found me," said Dashy, aware of the light weight of Dinky against her side. "This filly was by her the entire time though. We could interrogate her if necessary…"

Dinky burst into tears. "It killed my mom!"

.:.

Princess Celestia awoke in a darkened room. Her eyes were still sore, and her body hurt all over, but the fact that it was over with comforted her greatly. Thank you, God. She blinked her eyes; the tears were smooth against her bruised face. It was satisfying beyond belief.

The door creaked open. "Princess?" asked a small voice, and Fluttershy walked in.

Fluttershy was always one of her more favored ponies; she was soft and caring and compassionate and adorable. Celestia really appreciated those qualities, and to see them all at once in one body was immensely pleasing.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and placed her hoof around Celestia's. "How are you?" she asked softly.

"Pretty terrible, honestly," said Celestia with a tiny smile. "What about you? Twilight told me about the…incident."

"I think that just admitting that it happened help me," said Fluttershy. "I'm afraid that other ponies…ponies without such great friends…will be affected by this in even more negative ways."

"You know…he did it…to me," said Celestia quietly. "…it…"

"It's alright," said Fluttershy. "I understand. Princess, do you want to go to…I don't know…"

The door swung open and the rest of the mane six came in along with Shining Armor and Princess Luna. "Sister," said the latter, rushing over dramatically, her long mane flickering in the night breeze. "Who captured you?"

"I don't know," sighed Celestia. "Is the filly doing well?"

"Just a little traumatized," answered Twilight. "Princess, what happened? Do you need any medical attention, per say, that we couldn't get to you beforehand without your consent?"

"What do you mean?" asked Celestia hazily. "I'm sorry, I just have a terrible headache…"

"We can come back later," offered Rainbow Dash.

"Anytime," chirped Pinkie Pie.

"No, it's best to get it over with now," said Fluttershy in her soft little voice. "Princess, we need to perform an abortion."

Celestia's eyes widened. "I…?"

"Yes," answered Fluttershy. "You've been gone for quite a while, but you're not too far along for the procedure to be considered 'illegal'. We did an ultrasound and if you carry this to full term, death is a possibility."

"Do it, then," whispered Celestia, sinking into the bed.

There was a baby inside of her.

A foal.

Well, not a foal, exactly, but something that vaguely resembled a foal. A little rape baby.

The rape did it.

"Get it out."

.:.

Dinky Doo was crying when Rainbow Dash found her in the library.

"Hi, Dinky," she said gently, sitting next to her. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No," snuffled Dinky. "My mom died."

"I know, um, kid, but it's going to be alright from now on, okay?"

"How do you know?"

Rainbow Dash sighed. She knew that this day would come eventually, but discussing it in front of a filly wasn't her exact plan.

"When I was a filly, my dad took my mom up to Cloudsdale to visit," she began, picturing the scene in black and white. "She was a unicorn, so they put a magic charm on her."

"Like how my mom was a pegasus!"

"Exactly like that, Dink. Anyway, um…they were up there too long."

"So?"

"My mom fell and died."

Dinky Doo hugged her. "I'm sorry, Dashy."

Rainbow Dash started to cry. "Thanks, Dinkling," she said. "You're a cool little unicorn."

"I wish everybody else believed that."

"What do you mean?"

Dinky sighed. "Nobody likes me at school because my eyes go derp sometimes."

"Everybody's eyes go derp sometimes."

"Really?"

"Yeah." On cue, she derped quite beautifully.

"Oh, cool! You do it almost as good as my mom!"

.:.

Spike was not in a good state of mind.

He paced back and forth, barely able to concentrate on the subject of his brooding, pulling a ruby on and off of his soft underbelly, furious as all hell, unable to do anything at all.

"Spike, calm down," said Twilight from her magazine. "Just try to relax, okay?"

"How can I relax when Rarity is being bizarre?" he demanded, nostrils flared and smoking. "She won't talk to me or any of you for that matter! How can you ignore that? Is she not a priority?"

"God, Spike, stop being so melodramatic," snapped Twilight. "I'm sick of your pubescent little rants. Rarity does not want you. Get over it."

She came to regret that in moments.

A blast of fire touched against her face, and she screamed as Spike ran out of the room angrily. He was angry, alright; angry enough to harm his friend.

Spike stomped out, his scaly tail thudding against the floorboards. Seriously, he wanted to get out of Ponyville for good, out of Equestria, even, as long as he could protect Rarity. Rarity was the only pony he knew was worth it.

Come on, Spike! Twilight's pretty cool, minus her little statement pertaining to—bitch. Fluttershy's alright. Okay, so is Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, and Celestia, and Luna, and…okay, who am I kidding? I freaking love ponies.

He sighed and wondered if he'd ever find solace in something other than Rarity's perfume…

Rarity.

Spike crouched down, ears perked like a predator. He could hear everything going on in the castle—Celestia in the bath, Rainbow Dash flipping the page of a book—and sniffling. Delicate sobbing was a more accurate label.

He ran down the hallway on all fours, his gawkiness giving away to elegance. He burst through a door and found himself face to face with Rarity.

"Spike?" she asked in shock, struggling to wipe away her tears. "What—what are you doing here?"

"Rarity," he said pointedly. "Who hurt you?"

Rarity laughed nervously. "No one hurt me, Spike."

"Look, Rarity, I can tell."

She closed her eyes and sank to the floor. "I killed him," she whispered, tears running down her face. "Okay, Spike? He's dead. I'm a murderer."

Rarity killed somepony?

It definitely wasn't expected, but the idea of Rarity, bloodied up by another, was strangely attractive in Spike's mind. Rarity the Badass. Interesting title…interesting title indeed…

"…and then I smashed his head in," sobbed Rarity. "Oh, Spike, I feel so awful!"

"It's alright, Rare," said Spike, wrapping his arm around her. "You did the right thing."

"You really think so?" sniffled Rarity, looking up at him with her great big doe eyes. "Because…Spike…if you do…could you…could you…?"

He bent down and kissed her on the mouth. Woah. Woah my Celestia. She struggled to find his erection, and then slipped on as easy as pie. Oh my Celestia. He groaned as she kissed his neck. This was too weird, too awesome to be true. I'm dreaming. I have to be. It's too good to be true. But when Rarity came, he knew that it wasn't just a dream at all.

.:.

There was nothing but darkness.

She shifted, her limbs tracing against the already tight inner walls. Life on the inside is not comfortable physically, but it is better than being exposed to the fearful attributes of the outside world. She knew this without knowing why; the knowledge known by the unborn is frighteningly complex at times and sometimes resists being understood.

Her eyes opened briefly, and they closed as soon as the flowing liquid around her started to burn. It is warm but dangerous. Danger is something she is well aware of.

"Twilight? Wake up, Twilight."

That was the voice of the Other. There were two Others she knew that she was directly connected to, the one above and the one to the side, and lots of smaller, less important others around her, but those two were connections. They mattered more than any of the other beings.

"Yes, Luna?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay or not."

One voice is lower, more of a contralto, and the second is mezzo soprano, fine against her ears. She herself, never having spoken in the outer world, doesn't know what her voice is like. She wants to know desperately.

"Cadance…she lost the baby."

Emotions run through the one above.

"No!"

"I know…it's terrible. Shining Armor just burst out of the room crying…"

"He cries?"

"Apparently his emotional capacity is greater than a teaspoon, dear."

She understood this to be humorous, darkly so. She wondered what a baby was, who Cadance was, who Shining Armor was. There was a lot she was aware of, but a lot she didn't know.

Grimacing, she turned to her side. The others liked it when she moved.