/Good day, friends! I haven't got anything to say this time around, so I hope you enjoy the chapter!/

I trot quietly through the crystal-paved hallway. The walls are spattered with blood and there does happen to be a body lying in my path. A crystal pony who has long since stopped shining. I kick the body out of my way. I am extremely grateful all this happened when it did. Pinkie Pie would never manage to make her Element shine in this situation. She would be a broken mare. To Pinkamena Diane Pie, however? This is the most ironically hilarious situation ever! I mean, come on. A great war breaks out almost right after the Element of Loyalty abandons her friends? How funny is that?

In fact, Rainbow Dash has been gone for two years. The war started about a year and a half ago, when the first terrorists attacked Canterlot. Coincidence? Think about it. That is just enough time for Rainbow to get some hidden revolutionaries fired up. Maybe get Discord back on the chaotic evil side once again. How else could the Princess trifecta be wiped out so easily? How else could all of Equestria suddenly be convinced that the Princess of Friendship and her friends, the ones who have saved them literally countless times, are the bad guys? Rainbow Dash must have Discord on her side and the whole war is her doing. That is the only logical explanation. The timelines add up. Besides, I can totally see some rage-consumed Dash trying to get us destroyed.

I turn a corner, thinking I hear a soft thump. I speed up a little bit.

"Is anypony there?" I call.

Suddenly the noise goes silent. Beginning to worry, I start running. Somepony could be seriously hurt. Somepony could have just died.

"Hey, who is that?" I call again.

I make it to where the noise came from and skid to a halt. I skim the room up and down. Completely bare. What in Equestria was that? Who was that? Thump. Thump. There it is again. Louder this time. I look everywhere in the room. In every corner, behind every crevice. Nothing is in place by the time I decide it was just in my head. Thump. Thump. Oh my gosh. Seriously, what is that?

"Whoever you are, you'd better come out right now." I say, voice rising.

Thump thump. Thump. I check again. Still nothing. I press my ear against the cold wall. THUMP! I fall backwards with a shout. Pain shoots up my spine. I lie on the ground, unmoving. I see a crack in the crystal-paved wall. Another thump, the crack grows. Something is attacking from the outside. Heh. Maybe I could just stay here and let whoever it is break through. Whatever it is, it'll obviously be after us. Besides, if it turns out my theory is true, we'll be running for the rest of our lives anyway. I may as well let it get me. I glance out the window. There's a fire escape out there, so whoever it is got out through the window and has been waiting out there for a little while.

I relax on the floor. Ready for whatever is coming.

"Pinkie Pie!" An outside voice shouts, followed by another thump.

"Yes?" I ask calmly.

"Open the window!" I look back out the window. Somepony is standing on the ledge, banging her head against the wall. "Please, I'm going to rupture my skull put here!"

"Sorry, I can't move."

I load groan echoes through the walls. The thuds come again, weaker this time. Whoever that is, I know them. And, if one sliver of Pinkie Pie remained, it's the caring part. So I drag myself to the window and slowly open it. An extremely familiar light blue pegasus jumps through the window. She pulls herself up and coughs a few times, shaking her head. I study her briefly.

Well, of course it's Rainbow Dash. Only she is extremely injured. Her mouth is bloody, the tip of her left ear has been torn off, there's a sling tied around her body, holding an injured right wing (the other one is unfurled and completely unharmed). Her left leg hangs up above the ground, wrapped up in a bandage, and her right eye is bloodshot and bruised.

"Oh my goodness, Pinkie Pie! I've missed you so much!" She cries, wrapping her wing around me.

I push her away. A perplexed look crosses Rainbow Dash's face that is wiped away almost instantly when she looks me up and down. She takes a few steps back upon noticing the flatness of my mane.

"Don't touch me." I say.

"What happened to you, Pinkie?"

"Don't call me that." I order. "Nothing happened. Not really."

I clench my teeth behind closed lips. I can feel Pinkie Pie fighting to break free. All I want to do is hug Rainbow Dash tightly and tell her how much I love her. How much I've missed her. How happy I am to see her.

But that is not going to happen. Not on my life.

"Well, okay." Rainbow says quietly. "Come with me! I've found a survival camp that travels Equestria, looking for the sick and injured! They can keep us safe."

I can feel the inner Pinkie clawing with all her might inside me. Maybe I should go with Rainbow. I might be safer with her than with the girls. I mean, she's part of a survival camp, which would obviously have some means of protection.

But on the other hoof, I have my theory. This could be a trick, and Rainbow would be leading me straight to the terrorists. I mean, obviously she doesn't know that the others are here in the castle with me. She thinks I'm alone. But one Element is still good enough. It's not like she would need to get us all together. I can't trust her.

"Sorry, Rainbow, but I'm already part of a survival camp." I lie.

"Really? Which one? I'll join yours." Rainbow says happily.

"No, you can't." I think quickly. "It's... Uh... No pegasi. No unicorns either. Strictly earth pony camp. If you have wings or a horn they blow you to bits with their cannons because nopony can be trusted."

That was a terrible lie. But it was all I could think of. Rainbow stares at me, absolutely baffled. Of course she would be, I wasn't a racist pony when she knew me. I'm still not, of course.

"Well, you can trust me, right? I'm hardly even a pegasus anymore, look. I'm completely grounded. Maybe you can just tell them that I'm trustworthy and they'll-"

"Rainbow, that's not going to work on them." I interrupt. "It's a strict rule. One time a pony whose wings didn't work tried to join us, saying that he was basically an earth pony, and they still attacked him. I helped him get out alive."

Rainbow Dash sighs and remains silent for a moment, contemplating my awful, awful story. I can tell she believes it. She wouldn't have reacted like that if she knew I was lying.

"Okay, okay, fine. You keep to your camp and I'll keep to mine. But please, can we rest here for the night? Just keep us hidden here and we'll leave in the morning. It'll be like we were never even here."

"We were just about to leave. Take the place to yourself if you want."

Rainbow Dash thanks me and whistles out the window. I leave the room before anypony can arrive. I have to get the others out of here, before her terrorist camp attacks. I run through each hallway, grabbing all my friends. I'm having a hard time finding Fluttershy, but I'll just find Twilight first... The rest of the girls regroup in the center of the castle. I run down to the throne room Twilight went to, looking for Shining Armor.

"Twilight! Twilight!" I hiss. "Did you find him?"

I stop before Twilight, sitting on the ground in front of a dead body.

"Yes." She whispers with a shaky voice.

"Twilight?"

I walk around her to get a good look at the bloody body. It's a stallion. White, with a blue mane. A unicorn.

"He's dead, Pinkamena."

/Hey, we got a Rainbow Dash in this chapter! And a dead Shining Armor. I am a terrible person, I know. Do you guys think KPLUS is too soft a rating? What with all the blood and bodies and stuff? I don't think it's that graphic, but do you think I should change it? Let me know down in the reviews!/