The Bureau: Wretched Machines

by MDNGHTRDHTLN

Rating: mature
Tags: Crossover, Sex, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Doctor Whooves, Thriller, Original Character, Rainbow Dash, Horror, Scootaloo, Adventure
Length: 5872

When Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo start having night terrors, who do they turn to? The Bureau.

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, arguably Ponyville's most adorable non-biological family. But when the pair start having night terrors, they turn to Rainbow's new employers, The Bureau. Can they save Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, or will somepony be dead before the week ends?

The theme song for this one is Rainbow Factory by WoodenToaster. If you haven't heard of it, go do so. Now.

Published 2013-07-29 05:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-04 23:17:21 UTC

Chapter One: Terrors

“Any final words, you miserable, worthless whore of a foal?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened. She was standing in a room filled with other ponies. Pegasi, to be exact. These ponies were wearing suits and sadistic smiles as they watched a small, injured, orange teenager look up into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. These…guards, or soldiers, or whatever they were, were all visibly armed. Rainbow Dash looked down at the small teenager in front of her. She had an orange coat with a messy fuchsia mane. She was covered in small bruises and cuts. She was Scootaloo. My daughter, a small part of Dash thought. My daughter. What happened to her? She looked down at herself. Hell, what happened to me?

Rainbow Dash was wearing a black bodysuit that was, for some reason, covered in warm, wet, dark red blood. Yellow feathers were sticking to the blood, along with small bits of muscle. Dash looked upwards and into a large, reflective, chrome surface on the other side of the room. She looked at herself. To her, it looked like she was still looking down at Scootaloo, with a completely insane look in her bloodshot eyes. Speaking of blood, the viscous liquid was all over her face and mane, dampening it with its macabre moisture. She looked upwards even more and saw orange and red on the surface, which turned out to be some kind of machine, complete with visible, exposed pistons and cogs. She realized that there was also a brown shape with wings caught between the machine and the ceiling. More red seeped from the brown figure. With a chill going down her spine, she realized that the red was blood and that the brown figure was a dead pegasus. One half of her conscience said, Who could do such a thing? while some other half of her said, You did, Rainbow Dash, and you enjoyed every second of it. It is your job, after all. Her job? What the hell did that mean?

Scootaloo looked into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. She said, “You have beautiful eyes.” Rainbow Dash, without control, stepped forwards and brought a hoof down towards Scootaloo’s orange, quivering body. Just as the hoof connected and made a sickening snap, Rainbow Dash woke up.

Her pillow was damp with a mixture of tears and cold sweat, along with her mattress. She was crying, sweating, and turning in her sleep. Thank Celestia it was just a dream, she thought to herself. Just as she was about to try and fall back into the peaceful respite commonly known as sleep, her adopted daughter called out to her.

“MOMMY!”

“Scootaloo? What’s wrong?”

“Mommy, come here! Please!”

Rainbow Dash sped out of bed and towards her little foal’s room. When she opened up the door, she found Scootaloo balled up in the fetal position, shaking and crying to herself. She had wet the bed. Rainbow Dash ran towards Scootaloo and embraced her in her arms. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I…I had a nightmare.”

Dash brought Scootaloo close. Scootaloo’s speech was punctuated by sobs every few words.

“Who was in it?”

“You and me…and other ponies. A few that I thought I knew, even though I don’t.”

“What happened?”

“Well…um…I was on the floor. You were looking down on me, and you were covered in red stuff. You were wearing, like, a black suit or something, and there were yellow feathers on you, and you had a really scary look in your eyes and you were smiling. There were other ponies surrounding us, and they had suits and stuff. And you said, like, ‘Any final words, you miserable, worthless whore of a foal?’ and I said, like, ‘You have beautiful eyes,’ or something, and then you punched me, and it hurt, a lot. As soon as you punched me, I woke up, and… I guess you know the rest. Mommy, what’s a whore?”

Rainbow Dash looked at Scootaloo and started to stroke her filly’s mane in long, gentle strokes. “Don’t worry about it, Scootaloo. Everything’s okay, baby. Everything’s okay…” Rainbow Dash focused her attention on a photograph of her and Scootaloo from early in the summer. They had stopped for ice cream that afternoon, since it had been particularly hot. Scootaloo got one scoop of chocolate in a waffle cone, while Dash had gotten two scoops of vanilla in a waffle cone. They both loved waffle cones. The savory treat had quickly started to melt on them, and that resulted in that picture of them uncontrollably laughing while ice cream got all over their faces and hooves. Soarin had taken the picture, since the three had become increasingly close since the Best Young Fliers Competition, which Rainbow Dash had gloriously won with the famous Sonic Rainboom. Looking at the picture made her think about her nightmare, which was exactly the same, albeit the point of view. How could she kill Scootaloo like that? Why would she kill Scootaloo like that? Dash’s voice started to shake, too. “It’s okay, baby…it’s all okay…mommy’s here now…it’s okay…there’s nothing to be afraid of…”

There was something to be afraid of. And Rainbow Dash, for one, was deathly terrified of it, and there was only one organization that could help. An organization she was a part of.

The Bureau.

Chapter Two: The Doctor Is In

“Nickel?”

Rainbow Dash knocked on Nickel’s front door. No answer.

“Nickel…”

Still nothing.

“Nickel, open up!”

The door opened, but it wasn’t Nickel. Instead, it was Frostbite. “Hello, Rainbow Dash. What’s up?”

“We need help. Me and Scootaloo.”

“Come inside.”

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo walked inside. “Sometimes, I housesit for Nickel while he goes and works other odd jobs around Equestria. Make yourselves comfortable. Need anything to drink?”

“I’m okay. How about you, Scootaloo? Need a drink?” She shook her head no. “No, we’re both okay on drinks,” she said, “But we need your help.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well…Scootaloo, why don’t you tell Frostbite what happened? In your nightmare?”

“Um…okay…” Scootaloo proceeded to tell Frostbite about her nightmare, not leaving anything out. Frostbite had a look of deep interest on his face.

“Hm. I see. And this was last night?”

Scootaloo nodded.

“Okay. I’ll look into it. But I need to talk to Rainbow Dash. Alone.”

She nodded and left the room, not saying anything.

Rainbow Dash looked at Frostbite. “I know what you’re thinking, and no, I don’t abuse her. I love her, damnit.”

“That’s not what I was going to ask. I was going to ask if you had the same nightmare, but from your own point of view last night. I’m also guessing you both dreamt and woke up at the same time, and you both were crying, sweating, and moving restlessly in your sleep.”

“Yeah, but…how could you know all of that?”

“They’re signs of bleeding.”

“Bleeding? What’s that?”

“I’m going to call a friend of mine. He works for the Bureau, too. He might be able to shed a light on this whole thing.”

“Who is he?”

Frostbite opened his door and called out, but using a normal speaking voice. “Doctor? Hey, I need you for a sec.”

Rainbow Dash could make out a brown pony with a darker mane with a Trottingham accent. “Yeah, sure.” He came inside. He was wearing a multi-colored scarf around his neck, and he had an hourglass for a cutie mark.

Doctor Whooves.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash. I trust you do well today?”

“I’m good, yeah.”

Frostbite joined in. “Doctor, I’m pretty sure Rainbow Dash and her daughter, Scootaloo, have been bleeding. Quite severely.”

“Ah. I see. I take it you want me to explain the process of bleeding?”

“I do.”

“Alright. Now, you see, Rainbow Dash, this may come as a shock to you. You may not believe a word that I am about to say. But, I assure you; this is completely real. I have been studying bleeding for a long enough time to make Twilight Sparkle jealous. That is a long time. Do you understand?”

Dash nodded her head.

“Good, Then we can begin. So, I must start out with one thing: you, your friends, and all of Equestria are the subject of a television show.”

“What? What’s television?”

“It’s a box that runs on electricity, and humans watch it for entertainment.”

“What the hell is a human?”

“It’s a kind of highly intelligent life form residing in another dimension. See, there are three different dimensions. You have ours, the Equestrian one. Then, you have the one your friend, Twilight Sparkle, visited a few months back to get her crown back. That dimension is a halfway point, bridging the gap between pony and human. Then, you have the human dimension. Now, see, some fans of the show have taken to calling themselves bronies, and some use us to channel their creativity in many ways. Some of their art, like stories, pictures, animations, songs, and games are beautifully made. Others, not so much. Some bridge that gap. Now, see, bleeding occurs when one of these pieces of art, in your case, a story, starts to become real in our dimension. Side effects of this include having nightmares that reenact sequences from these pieces of artwork. Now, for some reason, only bad stories happen. I’m still looking into that. So, tell me about your nightmare.”

Rainbow Dash spoke to the good doctor, telling him her nightmare, leaving no detail, no matter how small, out. “I see. I know what story has befallen you and Scootaloo.”

“Really? What is it?”

“The Rainbow Factory.”

Chapter Three: Daddy's Home

“The Rainbow Factory? What’s that?”  Rainbow Dash asked Doctor Whooves.

“A story, my dear. Would you like a plot synopsis?”

“Uh…sure?”

“So, basically, Scootaloo, her friend Orion, and another pegasus named Aurora Dawn. Basically, the three fail their tests and are sent to the Factory, where failed pegasi are sent to be murdered and harvested for their genetic material in order to make rainbows. You, Rainbow Dash, are the overseer of this facility. You see, the Cloudsdale in this story is one that many ultra-nationalists live. If any pegasi are worthless to the ‘Flock’, as in, they fail their flight test, they are sent to the Factory to die.”

“How could anypony think that a pegasus who can’t fly is worthless? You can still do great things without flight!”

“Sadly, in the Rainbow Factory, the inhabitants of Cloudsdale do not share your acceptance of flightless pegasi. Anyways, Orion is murdered by a machine that breaks his ribs and tears him apart for his genetic material. That was the mangled brown body you saw caught between the ceiling and machine. Anyways, Scootaloo and Aurora try to get away. You tear Aurora’s wings off because she was blocking your way, which explains the blood and yellow feathers on you. Then, Scootaloo gets lost, and you corner her. After she says, “You have beautiful eyes,” the story ends. It’s widely accepted that Scootaloo is then murdered by you, but no one is one hundred percent sure.”

A loud knock emanated from the front door. “Who the hell could that be?” Frostbite wondered aloud.

Frostbite opened the door, and standing in front of him was Soarin. “Hey, guys. Dashie, you okay? I heard something was wrong.”

“How could you know that?”

“I had an off feeling in my stomach. Something told me you’d come here for help. Maybe it was just intuition. Is everything okay?”

Doctor gave Soarin the lowdown on the situation. “Wow. So, what are we going to do about it?”

“Well, the only way to combat bleeding is by significantly altering the events of the story. We do this by traveling into your subconscious and doing something. In this case, it would probably be preventing the deaths of Orion, Aurora Dawn, and Scootaloo, neutralizing Rainbow Dash, and reveal to the world what happened inside the Factory after we destroy it. Those changes would be enough.”

Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Why not just kill me?”

“Because that isn’t significant enough t the universe the story takes place in. The Factory could just bring someone else in to finish the job. Scootaloo would still die, and the horrors inside the factory would continue. We need to completely annihilate all remnants of the Rainbow Factory. Come to think of it, we’d probably have to eliminate all of the Suits and scientists, especially Doctor Atmosphere, working there, too.”

“Oh. I get it now. We really need to fuck shit up over there, huh?”

“Precisely. But we still need a few days to prepare. The machine that I’d use still needs a few adjustments. Until then, I’d recommend you have a third party, probably Soarin or Frostbite, observe you and Scootaloo while you sleep. It would help in us knowing when the best time to travel into your subconscious would be.”

“Um…okay…”

“I would recommend starting tonight. So, you and Scootaloo can go about your day now. Frostbite and I will coordinate a plan to alter the events of Rainbow Factory, and we’ll alert you when we’re ready.”

“Doctor?”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash?”

“What would happen if we just ignored this problem?”

“Well, the events of Rainbow Factory would become a reality. History would be altered, and Rainbow Factory would actually happen, something we don’t want. Usually, the bleeding process, from start to finish, takes about a week, starting when you have your first night terror. That gives us about six days. I can imagine we’ll be ready to travel inside your subconscious in about three.”

“Okay. Well then, I guess Scootaloo and I will be off. Scootaloo!” She called for her daughter, who had been waiting in the other room for about a half hour.

Scootaloo slowly walked into the room. Parts of her coat were matted and a darker shade of orange around her eyes and in smaller streaks down her face. She had been crying.

“Scootaloo, what’s wrong? Why were you crying?”

“I fell asleep and had another nightmare.”

“What happened in it?”

“Well, we were in a room, and you were there, and you told me…you told me that you didn’t love me…that I was dead to you and that I was a failure to you and Cloudsdale…”

“Baby, I would never think that!”

“That’s not all. There was a brown pegasus. His name was Orion, I think. You called him up and strapped him to a machine. He told me he loved me, and I told him I loved him back. I think he was a friend of mine or something, but I’ve never seen him before. You said something about how it works better when the ribs are broken, and then he was crushed and stuff came out of him. It was so scary, mommy…”

“It’s okay, baby…it’s okay…we’re gonna go now, okay? Wanna go get some ice cream?”

Scootaloo nodded in approval and smiled. “Can I get two scoops this time?”

“Of course you can.”

Scootaloo looked to her right, and saw Soarin there. “Daddy! Hi!”

“Hey, sweetie! How have you been?”

She ran at him and gave him a hug, which he gladly reciprocated. “Don’t call me ‘sweetie’, daddy. And I’ve been good.”

“Cool. So, are we gonna go get ice cream or what? It’s pretty hot out.”

“Okay.”

Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and Scootaloo left the room, leaving the Doctor and Frostbite to think.

Chapter Four: Waiting for a Few Answers

Six days.

Six days until Rainbow Dash murdered Scootaloo. That is what would happen, right? History would change and Rainbow Dash would murder her beloved daughter. Yes, that’s what would happen. Another terror happened. Rainbow Dash killed Orion.

Right now, life was filled with uncertainties for Rainbow Dash. What would happen? Will we run out of time? Will I…will I kill my daughter? Will I be okay?

Five days left.

What will happen to the Doctor? What about Soarin? How about Frostbite? Another terror. Rainbow Dash killed Aurora.

Four days.

Will Scootaloo come with us? If she does, will she be safe? Another terror. She called Scootaloo worthless.

Three days.

Shouldn’t we be ready to go by now? What’s the holdup? Another terror. Rainbow Dash explained the purpose of the factory.

Two days.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fucking…what’s taking so long? We don’t have much time! Another terror. It was the same as the first one she had, with her killing Scootaloo.

One day.

Where are they? No terror tonight.

Twenty hours.

Someone knocked on Rainbow Dash’s door. She opened the door, and in front of her was Frostbite. “Let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

“You’re telling me? I’ve been waiting all week for you guys!”

“Sorry. The Doctor’s system crashed, and we had to reboot and reload all the programs, and then code a few more add-ons. Follow me.”

Scootaloo was with Soarin for the day, so Dash could follow without hesitation, which she gladly did.

Frostbite led Rainbow Dash down into Ponyville. Eventually, they ended up in an alleyway next to Sugarcube Corner. A blue box resided at the back. It was pretty small, only a few feet wide. Frostbite opened the door to the box, and motioned Rainbow inside.

This was fucking impossible. The thing was bigger on the inside. What the hell was this thing?

“It’s a TARDIS, my dear,” said Doctor Whooves, picking his head up from under an operating table inside the TARDIS. Whatever that was. “It stands for Time and Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS.”

“What does it do?”

“It lets me get from Point A to Point B. I probably shouldn’t talk about it that much, since we’re losing time. Frostbite knows what I’m talking about.”

“How?”

Frostbite looked at Rainbow. “The Doctor and used to be partners on the major case squad in Manehattan. We saw some shit there, huh, Doc?”

“I’d prefer not to talk about it.”

Rainbow looked interested. “Why not?”

“I saw some…terrible things in Manehattan. Terrible things.”

“Like what?”

“Things that made Frostbite an alcoholic. He’s Frostbite, so that’s some…some bad things.”

“Like what?” Her tone was descending to the grey area between whiny and inquisitive.

“Frostbite, would you like to tell Rainbow Dash what happened that day?”

He pulled a flask out and took a sip. “Sure, why not? But not now. We need to leave. We have no time for stories. Maybe, when we come back, you can hold me an intervention and I can tell everypony there. I’ve always been a sucker for drama.”

“Please tell me? Please! I wanna know!”

“Later. I promise. Okay?”

“Fine. Doctor, what’s gonna happen?”

He looked up and took a wrench out of his mouth. “Well, I’m going to hook you both up using some tubes to the TARDIS. Then, I’ll flip a switch and you’ll be inside Rainbow Dash’s subconscious. You’ll ‘spawn’, I suppose, here, in this alleyway. Luckily, you’re both pegasi, so you can fly upwards to Cloudsdale, and, in turn, the Rainbow Fac-“

He was cut off by the sound of a door slamming open.

It was Soarin.

“Soarin!?” Rainbow Dash prodded. “What are you doing here? Where’s Scootaloo?”

“I left her with Applejack. Apple Bloom was having a sleepover.”

“Oh. That’s better than bringing her here. Why’d you come?”

“Well, I came to help. I am Scootaloo’s ‘dad’, after all. I care about her, Dash.”

“I guess…but can you even come inside my subconscious? I’m still trying to mull all this over, so ask the Doctor.”

The good doctor looked over his shoulder. “Yeah, I can fit up to four people in this thing. No worries at all. If you’re ready, we can start now. We don’t have much time to waste.”

“I’m ready when you are,” said Frostbite.

“Me too,” agreed Soarin.

“Let’s go kick some homicidal ass,” said Rainbow Dash, who was met by confused looks from everypony else there. “What? I’m trying to lighten the mood.”

“Let’s go,” said Frostbite, rolling his grey eyes. “We’re burning daylight!”

“That’s John Mane, right?”

“Yeah. Pretty cool guy. Had a few good quotes.”

“Comrades?” interrupted the Doctor. “We need to get moving. I approximate you have about 19 hours to finish, and getting inside takes about five hours. The flight to Cloudsdale is another five, and getting through the border patrol takes about three or four. That leaves you with about five hours to neutralize Rainbow Dash, Doctor Atmosphere, and the overseer of Cloudsdale and his cabinet, as well as every scientist in the facility. You must also prevent the deaths of Orion, Aurora, and Scootaloo and destroy the Rainbow Factory. Dash, I would suggest using your identity to say that Soarin and Frostbite are your friends or new employees. Make them belong inside. Once there, find and kill everyone there who’s not a filly. No mercy. Understand?”

“Gotcha. Let’s go.”

The Doctor smiled and attached small wires to the temples of Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and Frostbite. He regarded his comrades. “Good luck,” he said, flipping a switch and sending them to Dash's subconscious.

Chapter Five: The Plan

Darkness.

It’s all Rainbow Dash saw. It was completely filling her worldview, making her sick with its…well, its darkness.

Light.

It blinded her, making her eyes burn in its…well, its light.

She woke up. “What the…guys?”

“Ugh,” said Frostbite, rubbing his temple. “I’ll never get used to that.”

“How about you, Soarin? You okay?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a killer headache, though.”

She felt a headache, too. “Join the club. We need to get moving. Now.”

All three started the flight upwards towards Cloudsdale.

When they finally got there and through the border police, they had about five hours before they failed. If they failed, the Doctor had told them, they would be pulled out of the dream, because, in the altered history, this would have never happened.

Right, killing things.

“I have a plan. We lure everypony on our shit list into the factory and kill them all there. After it’s done, we blow it to kingdom come with the C4 they store in the adjoining building. It’s a demolition and construction company,” said Frostbite.

“How can you tell?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I can read.”

Rainbow looked to the left and saw a tall building that clearly read, “PEGASUS DEMOLITION AND CONSTRUCTION: YOU CAN TRUST US!”

“Huh. Look at that. So, how do we lure them?”

Soarin chimed in. “We can probably send out a red alert to them. Say they need the overseer and his cabinet. Then, blow ‘em to hell and high water.”

“Sounds like a plan. But what about the foals?”

“See, they’re brought in via a carriage of sorts. I say, you stop the carriage, Dash, we kill the guards and take their weapons, and evac the foals.”

“How do we get them out? The whole city’ll be looking for them once they find the bodies.”

“So, we bring ‘em with us. No problem.”

“Well, I guess that’s our plan. Let’s go. So, step one: find the carriage thingy.”

A small vehicle appeared down the road. Dash could make out three foals and a few guards. Speak of the devil. “Go on, Dash. Stop the cart,” beckoned Soarin.

Dash jumped in front of the carriage. “Slow down, pal!”

The guard turned red. “Oh! Miss Rainbow Dash! Um…hi?”

“What’s in the back?”

“Just three worthless foals, ready to be used.”

“Open up the back.”

“But-“

“OPEN UP THE FUCKING BACK!”

“Okay! Okay.” He got out of the driver’s seat and headed towards the back. Dash used this opportunity to pull a hair from her mane and garrote him with the multicolored weapon. She stole his gun and found a silencer in his pocket, which she screwed onto the muzzle. She walked to the back, opened the door, and saw the three foals. There were a few guards in the back of the vehicle with them, standing guard. One reached for his gun. “What the fu-“ he tried to say, but the bullet from Dash’s gun cut him off. She did the same to the other guard in the cabin. “Come with me,” she said to the foals. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“Rainbow Dash?” the three said in unison. “Awesome! You’re our hero!”

“Cool. But, we need to go. Now.”

“Where are we going?”

“Well, we have to go to the Rainbow Factory.”

“Why? What’s the Rainbow Factory? What do you need to do there?”

“I need to right some wrongs.”

Chapter Six: Inside

“Right some wrongs? Like what?” the foals asked.

“Just follow me,” instructed Rainbow Dash.

The foals climbed from the cart and started to follow Dash. She walked back to Soarin and Frostbite, who were patiently waiting. “Ready?” asked Frostbite.

“Yup. Let’s go.”

They headed towards the factory. It was hard to miss, what with the large waterfall of rainbows coming out of a large grate in the side of the factory. The main entrance was located behind the waterfall. Two armed guards were at either side of the door. “I’ll take care of this,” Rainbow said. “Just follow my lead.” She headed towards the door. “Halt!” one guard commanded, raising his weapon. He was purple with a black mane. His cutie mark was of a stop sign. “Who goes there? State your business.”

“Shut the fuck up, or I’ll have your job.”

“Did you just talk to me like that? I will-“

“You’ll what, you’ll stop me? Lower your gun. Do you even know who I am?”

He studied her closely. “Oh! Miss Rainbow Dash…I…uh…I’m…didn’t recognize you there…”

“Yeah, because I’m so hard to miss. Anyways, these two stallions are new. They’re with me. These three foals almost escaped, but we got them. Now let me through.”

“Right. Jones!” He called to his partner, who had dozed off. “Jones, wake the fuck up! Miss Rainbow Dash is here!”

“Rainbow Dash? Oh, yeah…right there…that…whoa! That feels really good, Dashie…yes…”

“JONES! GET THE FUCK UP!”

“What do you-oh! Miss Rainbow Dash! I was, uh…”

“Having a wet dream about me, apparently,” snarled Dash. She was actually pretty good at this jerk leader thing.

“Oh. I…um…I…” His white cheeks turned redder than his mane.

The first guard got very close into Jones’ face. “Open up the fucking door. NOW.”

“Okay, okay.” He pulled out a key ring from his pocket. Attached to said key ring were a few keys, of course. He took a small bronze key and inserted it into the door. He turned and there was a satisfying click. The door opened. “There you go, Miss Rainbow Dash…”

She walked up to him and whispered into his ear. “Why don’t you go find us a place to…talk?” she said seductively. She had a plan to get rid of these two. “I’ll catch up to you later.”

He smiled. “Yeah! Sure! How about…Storage B5? Just head down the hallway and take a right. I’ll be waiting.”

She smiled and lightly bit his ear. “I’m sure you will be…Jones…” Her voice sent shivers down his spine. He turned and trotted down the dimly light hallway, a newfound spring in his step.

“Miss Rainbow Dash?”

Dash turned, raised her weapon, and fired two shots into his skull faster than you could say “surprise”. Blood and brains splattered on the white wall behind him and seeped into the cloud floor, staining it red. “Let’s move. Frostbite, take his gun. He should also have a silencer,” she instructed. Soarin, Frostbite, and the foals followed her down the hallway. “Before we head any further, I need to make something clear. There is an exact copy of me roaming these hallways. Just ask if it’s me, and I’ll say…um…I’ll say ‘jumping horsefeathers’. That’s the magic phrase. Got it?”

Her party nodded in approval. “Good. Let’s go.”

She had a few things to take care of in Storage B5.

Dash turned a right corner and saw Jones standing outside. “Oh, hey, Miss Rainbow Dash. Ready?”

“I sure am,” she said, blasting two rounds into his misled and hopeful head. “Soarin, take his gun and silencer.”

“Dash?” he said.

“Yeah, Soarin? What’s u-“

Before she could finish, he kissed her. Their lips caught, and Rainbow Dash felt warmth go through her body. Her eyes were wide at first, but she settled into it and returned the kiss with a passion she had never felt before.

“…I love you,” he finished.

“I…I…” she stammered. “I…I love you to, Soarin.”

Frostbite cut in, his voice impatient. “Great! You can fuck when we get back home. We have bigger priorities, guys.”

Rainbow Dash blushed. “Right…”

“Let’s go, then.”

Frostbite led them down a corridor. There was a three-way intersection where they were standing. “I say we go forward and find the comms center and sent out an alert to all personnel to report to Processing. We do the same for the overseer and his cabinet.”

“Sounds good to-“ Soarin started, but a gust of wind and a blue blur took him by surprise. “Huh. Took me by surprise. Anyways, I like that plan.”

“That’s not all that blur took!” Rainbow said.

“What do you mean?”

“Where the hell did the foals go?”

Chapter Seven: Finshed

“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.”

Chapter Eight: Answers At Last

Rainbow Dash looked at Frostbite. “Frostbite, we need to talk.”

“About what?”

“About what happened in Manehattan.”

“Oh. Sit down. I guess I promised, didn’t I?”

She nodded.

“Fine. How’s being back in the real world again?”

“It’s great. After we woke up, I wanted to take a nap. I was pretty tired.”

He nodded.

“And, um...you saw what happened in that hallway between Soarin and I, right?”

He nodded again.

“Well, than and there, I felt a lot of love for him, but, when we got back, it all went away. Is that...is that normal?”

“Yeah. The TARDIS amplifies certain feelings inside your subconscious. So, while, here in the real world, you love Soarin, you live him like a friend loves a friend, not like a stallionfriend loves a marefriend.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense, then. Kind of.” She laughed softly.

“Anyways, I owe you an explanation, don’t I?”

It was Rainbow’s turn to nod.

“I think I told you about me and the Doc working on the Major Case Squad in Manehattan, right? Well, this one time...a little filly was foalnapped. Name was Curtain Call. Wanted to be an actress. She was foalnapped by someone who we called the Frog, because after he raped his victims, he strangled them and folded their bodies up like a frog about to jump.”

“Dear Celestia...” Rainbow gasped.

“I know. Pretty fucked up.  Anyways, we had found him. I went in to confront him. I caught him...raping...” he choked up. “I caught him raping her with a sex toy covered in barbed wire.”

“Sweet Luna...”

“I know.” His tears were coming out now. He couldn’t control them anymore. “I could have saved her! If only I had been faster... I could have done something... but all I could do was watch. When he saw me, he stopped, took out a hunting knife, and slit her throat. When I saw it...I pulled my gun and emptied an entire clip onto him. After that incident, I became worse and worse. My wife and kid...left me, and I was dishonorably discharged. After a tangle with the mob, I cut my losses and moved to Ponyville to try and forget, and everyone knows that it’s easy to forget with alcohol in your system.”

Rainbow was in shock. He’s been through so much loss...

All she could do was hug him.

And it was all she could have done at that moment.