“River Rapids?” Twilight Velvet’s voice quivered. “C-can you feel your back legs?”

The buffalo grunted, not bothering to look up as she fiddled with her gun. She swatted at a mosquito as she chewed on the question. Finally, she pulled off a torn headband and chucked it onto the ground as she hung her head. “Nothing below my waist.”

Velvet opened her mouth to reply, but a harsh voice in the distance cut across her.

“Galing ang putok didto—kung asa nawala si Dalag!”

Velvet circled behind the buffalo’s hulking form. “C’mon. Either we get you up in a tree, or we hijack one of the vehicles these insurgent idiots have. Either way, you can’t stay here!” She hooked her forelegs under Rapids’ arms and pulled up, doing little more than to rumple her jacket.

Rapids huffed. “Come on, pony. You don’t have any way to do it and you know it.”

“But… I made a promise! What would Thunderhooves say?! I told you; he’s willing to take you back!” She tugged again. A tugboat she was not, however—more like a hatchback towing a semi.

Rapids squirmed out of Velvet’s grasp. “By Celestia, you’re dense. Listen!” A shimmer glinted on Rapids’ eyes despite her frown. She gagged, swallowing a lump in her throat, then continued. “Only one of us can walk away from this and go home. It’s too late for me. I threw my life away for a thrill. I let my birth family down; I let my mercenary family down…”

Rapids’ voice trailed off, her eyes drifting to her limp hind legs, then at the rustling bushes at the other side of the clearing. Pulling out the rest of her ammo and stacking it neatly beside her, she turned back at Velvet.

“Death is preferable to the shameful hell that is life.”

Velvet’s jaw dropped, and she sat on the ground beside Rapids. “Don’t say that! Come on, there’s got to be–”

“You…you don’t have to follow my path.” Rapids paused, looking back up to her again. “Don’t waste the chance I’m giving you.”

Velvet bit her lip and sniffled, backing away to the edge of the clearing. It was her turn for her eyes to shimmer. “N-nothing to say to Thunderhooves, then?”

“There is one thing.” Craning her neck downwards, Rapids rested her rifle on her lap. Her cloven hooves moved upward, snagging something on her neck. As if she’d rehearsed this moment, Velvet crept closer and brought one of her forelegs forward, allowing Rapids to cup her turquoise necklace into Velvet’s hoof.

“Tell them I’m sorry.”

The insurgents’ clamor grew louder. Velvet and Rapids turned their heads and ears to the direction of the sound. After stuffing Rapids’ necklace into her pocket, Velvet gritted her teeth and looked up, inert sparks of aether dripping from her horn and sweat streaking down her temple. “I… I won’t forget you. I’ll tell your clan you were honorable at the end.”

Velvet took two steps back, then turned tail, half-disappearing into the bushes. Her eyes chanced one last look at Rapids. It was hard to see through the weeds, but Velvet could make out a soft, wan smile.

The bushes at the other side of the clearing rustled behind Velvet. Tail between her legs and neck craned down, Velvet disappeared fully into the jungle. A gunshot rang out, followed by another. Soon, a volley of gunfire could be heard dwindling in the distance as she ran. A cry of pain rattled the air and shook her bones all the way from her face to her sternum.

It was only about two minutes tops before Velvet stopped running and slumped down the foot of another dark multicolored tree. The dense jungle brush gave her ample cover from the mercs and insurgents…and ample time to digest the morning’s events. This time, there was no adrenaline high to blunt the pain.

This chapter provided "Celestial-Rainstorm":https://www.deviantart.com/celestial-rainstorm with yet another opportunity to draw buffalo. Unfortunately, it probably would be the last time she'd be drawing buffalo for the fanfic, on account of the primary buffalo character...well...dying and all. Celestial had fun drawing the buffalo, though, so that's good at least!

Rapids was a weird character to write, and to this day, I'm still asking myself how I didn't screw up her character. I didn't expect many of my readers to get emotional over Rapids' death, especially since she only appears in three chapters.

Want to know who Rapids is, why she shook Velvet to her core, and how Chief Thunderhooves ties into all this? Head over to "Spectrum of Lightning":https://www.fimfiction.net/story/381182/spectrum-of-lightning to find out! While the story is mostly standard action-adventure fare with explosions and witty one-liners, it also slows down every now and then to flesh the characters out. They may be larger than life, but they have their own emotional vulnerabilities just like us.