Chapters The Rainbow Factory- How It Should Have Ended
“I didn’t hear about it. It just came up in my dream!” Scootaloo retorted.
"You must have heard of it from someone!" Rainbow Dash yelled "Who did you hear about it from?!" She demanded.
"I swear, It was just randomly in my dream" Scootaloo squeaked.
"Fine!" Rainbow grunted "I understand, but you can’t tell anyone, promise?” Rainbow asked. Scootaloo nodded. “Pinkie promise?” She nodded and gestured a pinkie promise.
“Good now let’s prepare you for that test” Rainbow Dash said, enthusiastically.
All morning they practiced for Scootaloo’s flight test. By time they were done, even Rainbow Dash was exhausted. “There,” she said, “Now I’ve shown you all my moves. You’re sure to pass that test now.”
“Oh, no” Scootaloo groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“You showing me all your moves,” Scootaloo whined, “The Rainbow Dash in my dream said she showed me all her moves. Yet I still failed.”
“You’ll do fine” Rainbow Dash reassured her, “After all it was just a dream.”
“You’re right, why should I be afraid?” Scootaloo said "I'm going to see Orion before the test".
"Don't forget to keep the factory a secret." she called
"I won't" Scootaloo replied. And with that she was off
The Rainbow Factory- How It Should Have Ended
“Places, places, every pony.” A massive, buff Pegasus walked towards the entrance to the coliseum. “We’re going to do this by name. Your adjudicators are on the east side of the field. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT fly too far west. If they lose sight of you for any reason, you’ll be failed, immediately. Take deep breaths. Stretch your wings one last time. The test will consist of three sections. Weather clearing, Agility, and finally Recovery. Clear the clouds, fly through the hoops, and then fly to the marked elevation. Close your wings for at least three seconds. Any less and you’ll fail, but keep in mind there’s no ‘extra points’ for extra seconds. Finally, recover before you hit the cloud floor. Understood? Any questions?” The instructor paused, and carefully glanced at every single pony in the room. Everyone’s eyes were completely focused on him, and none were creased with confusion. “Alright. Aurora Dawn. You’re up first. Clear, Fly, fall, complete.”
The yellow pony nodded and walked quickly up to the starting ramp with purpose. She stared at the watching judges, waited for a nod from all three, and then took off with powerful force. The ramp bounced slightly from the force of the takeoff.
Every pony watched as Aurora quickly reached the starting altitude, and then began a direct and purposeful attack on the positioned clouds. With expert timing and intelligent angles, the sky was soon empty of any moisture. Scootaloo and Orion watched with open mouths as they watched the first test taker pull fast and tight turns, expertly shooting dead center through each and every hoop. Finally, Aurora pulled herself up to the proper altitude, hovered, and closed her wings.
The group of students gasped as she started plummeting, down towards the clouds, and counted breathlessly. One... Two... Three. They sighed as they watched her wings open in the correct amount of time, collectively holding that relief.
Suddenly, Aurora’s wings whipped upwards, and the group of students flinched in horror as they all heard the loud, hollow SNAP, only to be suddenly replaced by an unending, piercing scream. Many, like Orion, shielded their eyes with their wings, as others like Scootaloo could only watch, terrified, as the blur of yellow, green, and red plummeted into a cloud with a dull ‘thump’.
All Scootaloo could think was ‘Crap my dream is coming true so fast. What happens if I really do fail?’ She already knew the answer to the question, but did not let it come to her mind.
Many ponies’ turns passed before Orion’s. And when it was Orion’s turn, Orion didn’t go to help Aurora Dawn, like in her dream. Orion cleared the skies, flew through the hoops, and fell without hitting the ground. She had just completed her test almost flawlessly.
At that moment in time, Scootaloo realized, ‘I can change my future’.
When her turn came, she too passed the test with Orion cheering her on. She was the last test taker of the class. But she noticed that Aurora Dawn was still down and had failed her test. She was the only pony in the class who failed her test.
The Rainbow Factory- How It Should Have Ended
“Any final words, you miserable worthless whore of a foal?”
Scootaloo brought her chin high, still demanding even the tiniest fraction of dignity.
“You have beautiful eyes,” she cooed, soft, yet clearly.
And with that, the machine started to twist her. She cried out in agony.
She sprung upwards out of her bed, panting. It took her a while to realize all this was just a dream. She decided to go to Rainbow Dash and ask her what she thought it meant.
She started telling Rainbow Dash about her dream. "When my dream started I was flying to get to the flight test." she explained. "We were going to be late so I told Orion to hurry up. She told me she was worried we were going to fail. But I didn't listen to her.
"Well, that's good, right? He didn't stop you from passing, did he?" Rainbow asked.
"Not at that point," she continued, " but eventually he did. When I was in the middle of the test i looked over at him and he smiled at me. I lost my focus and hit one of the rings.The judges saw this and failed me. So, in a way he was a reason I fail."
"NO!" Rainbow dash exclaimed, "You can't blame him for your failing. Just don't get distracted during your real test"
Scootaloo continued "We were carried in a carriage to a top where one of the ponies got out. then we were brought to a Rainbow Factory where they killed us to make spectra for rainbows."
“How did you hear of the Rainbow Factory?!” Rainbow Dash interjected.
The Rainbow Factory- How It Should Have Ended
“C’mon, Orion! We’re gonna be late for our final test!” Scootaloo called to Orion. She tried not to show her nervousness, and it turned out to be a harder task than expected.
Scootaloo moved a little to the side as Orion, a tall, yet fairly skinny pony, settled next to her. He fluffed his light brown feathers and gave a worried attempt at a smile as he stared around where he sat. They were sitting in the large open waiting room on looking the colosseum, with all the other graduating pegasi. Just visible in the distance was The Factory. Orion glanced at it, and gulped.
“What’s the matter, Orion? You afraid of getting a dead end job on the snow line?”
Orion chuckled a bit, then closed his eyes and sighed. “No... It’s just... I don’t know. I don’t think I can do this. What if I fail? What if I don’t fail, but do just bad enough to still be disliked by everyone? I don’t know if I can take being deported. Where do we even go, anyways?”
Scootaloo gave Orion a friendly punch. “No one knows, you dolt. And we’re not going to fail. Everyone here is going to be fine. I know I will at least pass,” she laughed. “Thanks to the tips from Rainbow Dash, I’m sure to be fine.”
This made her a lot more nervous than before. Because every thing was happening in exact order and being said exactly as in her dream. What if Rainbow Dash was wrong and it was more than a dream?
She shook her head clear of the thought. The test was about to begin.
The Rainbow Factory- How It Should Have Ended
Scootaloo, knowing she was risking going to the Rainbow Factory, flew up to the judges. There, she told them that Aurora Dawn had missed a month in flight school and wasn’t properly prepared for the test. “Will you please give her a second chance?”
The judges stared at her. She hovered there in silence. Finally, one of the spoke, “You were very brave coming to us like this.” He said, “You risked failing, not to mention your life for her. You two must be really good friends. We'll let her try again after she has healed and had proper training.”
“Thank you guys sooooo much!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“No, thank you for telling us that she was under trained.” Another one said, “We were about to send an innocent pony to exile. We’ll get some paramedics over there, and you can tell her the good news”
Scootaloo flew over to Aurora Dawn. Then, Scootaloo told her “You’re going to stay in Cloudsdale, Aurora Dawn. They are going to give you a second chance once you have healed.”
“Thanks for defending me. You risked your life so that I wouldn’t have to go.” Aurora Dawn replied.
“Just rest up and heal so that you can pass your next test.” Scootaloo said,
She went back to Orion who was waiting for her. “That was very brave of you’” he said.
“I know” Scootaloo retorted, “How many ponies have to say that?”
“Let’s go home,” Orion suggested.
----------Epilogue----------
Scootaloo went to Aurora Dawn’s second attempt, as she had promised. She was cheering the loudest when Aurora Dawn went. Even louder than Aurora Dawn’s mother. As it turned out, none of the fillies failed their tests this time. And that made Scootaloo happy.
