The Bureau: Wretched Machines

“Scootaloo?”

No response.

“Orion?”

Nothing.

“Aurora?”

Silence.

“Where are they?”

Frostbite walked over to the floor where the foals were standing before. There was a light blue feather on the ground, matching Rainbow’s coat color pretty well.

Frostbite got it. “Oh, shit.”

Rainbow’s ears perked up. “What’s wrong?”

“I swear, Celestia as my witness, if she touches a hair on those foals’ manes, I will rip her wings off and feed them to the dogs! I will-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Frostbite. Just slow down.”

He showed her the feather. “The other Rainbow Dash kidnapped her.”

“What? Where did she take them?”

“I don’t know. But we need to find out, and fast. We don’t have all that much time left.”

A voice echoed from down the hallways. “Listen to me. And listen closely, or otherwise, these foals...”

The voice grew closer, until a figure stepped out of the shadows. A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane held three foals in her hooves, along with a blade at Scootaloo’s throat.

“...will get it.” She smiled, the insane look in her eyes unnerving Soarin. “You are going to leave now, and accept your fate. My dream- Cloudsdale’s dream- will become reality! You hear me? And you!” She looked at Rainbow Dash. “You and me are the same, you hear? We are the same!”

Rainbow Dash felt her pulse quicken. She eyed a grate in the hallway. A soft whirring emanated from it. A fan. And an idea.

“I am you, and you are me! Got it?”

Rainbow Dash said nothing. This had to be done just right, or the foals could die.

Other Rainbow Dash shouted again. “I SAID, GOT IT?”

If there was one thing Rainbow had learned at the Wonderbolts Academy, it was that anger led to carelessness. She saw her opening, and took it. She lunged forward, using her wings to propel her forward at a breakneck speed. She grabbed Other Rainbow Dash’s arm, ripped the knife from her hoof, and threw it across the room. She started to repeatedly punch Other Rainbow Dash in the face, the sound of her hoof striking her victim’s face punctuated each of her words.

“I! AM! NOT! YOU! AND! I! NEVER! WILL! BE!” She slammed Other Rainbow Dash’s head into the grate she had saw earlier. It broke open, surprisingly.  She had expected more from a well-funded facility like this. “Any last words?”

Other Rainbow Dash looked at her assailant, her face bloodied and beaten. She struggled to speak. “Fuck...you...”

“I can reciprocate.” And without another word, she pushed other Rainbow Dash into the fan. The body was ripped, mangled, and torn to shreds as the fast-moving fan blades made slow, painful work of Other Rainbow Dash. Her screams pierced the air.

Everyone looked on in horror at the scene before her.

Except for Frostbite. In fact, he was smiling.

“Frostbite? Soarin? Finish the job. I’ll get the foals to safety.”

Frostbite smiled again. “Sure thing, Rainbow Dash. Good work.”

Without another word, Dash walked out of the factory, horrified foals in tow.

And that was it. Almost.

The factory, its workers, and its supporters were all destroyed by Frostbite’s ruthless and grim efficiency. Soarin was still in shock from what had just happened, but he was still helping with the cleanup. As soon as the explosives they had stolen from the adjoining building were set up, Frostbite and Soarin walked outside, flew to a safe distance, and detonated the explosives.

Pain again. Terrible pain in Rainbow’s head. Her eyes opened. She could see that she was inside the Doctor’s TARDIS or whatever.

“Welcome back to the real world, Rainbow Dash.”