The door to Rainbow Dash's cloud house opened slowly. The inside of the building was dark, because all the curtains were closed. Light flooded in through the open door, framing the silhouette of the pegasus mare.
"Tank, I'm home," Rainbow Dash said in a montone, her voice void of all emotion.
The tortoise looked up slowly as Rainbow Dash entered the house. The loyal pet tilted his head in confusion at the mare, detecting that something was clearly wrong with his caretaker. He watched as Rainbow Dash stared blankly into space, her saddle bags appearing to weigh her down low, as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her back.
The mare reached out blindly with her hoof to turn on a lamp. She clicked it on, only to knock it over onto the cloudy plush floor.
"I'll get your supper, buddy," Dash said in the same disturbing monotone as she walked into the kitchen. She came out soon enough, flying over with Tank's food bowl and a bag of Fluttershy's turtle food. Dash dropped the bowl onto the ground, and nearly emptied the entire bag into the bowl, causing an overfloor across the floor. She didn't notice it, however, due to the fact that she was still staring straight ahead into space.
Tank blinked slowly at her owner, genuinely worried for her mental state. The rainbow haired mare simply turned around and walked back into the kitchen, her body telling her to get some food into her stomach despite her complete lack of any apatite.
Rainbow Dash slipped two slices of bread into her toaster, and then walked over to her refrigerator. She opened the door and grabbed the first thing that came to her mind. She placed the jar on her kitchen table and got out a butter knife. She opened the jar and stuck the knife into the brightly colored jam. Rainbow stirred the delicious Zap Apple Jam, staring down at it's colors. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Violet. All the colors of the rainbow. The entire spectrum of light. . .
"AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHH!" Rainbow Dash screamed in raw anguish and anger as she threw the jar of Zap Apple Jam across the room as hard as she could.
Tank's head jerked up in shock in response to both the animalistic cry and the jar of Zap Apple Jam soaring out through the kitchen door and across the living room. To his further shock, Rainbow Dash flew across the room with an insane look in her eye, and picked up the jar only smash it against the floor, walls, and furniture until it was smashed to pieces.
Tank's jaw slowly dropped. Other than Sweet Apple Cider, Zap Apple Jam was Dash' favorite food. Whatever had set her off must be really serious if it could cause her to turn on Zap Apple Jam.
After destroying the jar and painting the far side of the room rainbow colored, Dash yet out a spine chilling insane laugh as she took off her saddlebags, turned them upside down, and shook them wildly until a sheaf of papers stapled together fell out and landed on the floor. Throwing her saddle bags aside, Rainbow Dash picked the papers up with her mouth and began shredding it with her teeth like a rapid dog.
At this point, Tank decided the best course of action would be to hide in side his shell until whatever was wrong with his friends blows over.
After shredding the papers, Dash flew into her kitchen and gathered up two more jars of the Zap Apple Jam. She then flew into her bedroom and gathered up a map of the Weather Factory, the white uniform the factory workers were required to wear, a snow globe containing a scale model of the Weather Factory, some newspaper clipping depicting some of the main pegasi in charge of the factory, and a T-shirt from the Weather Factory gift shop. Dash flew back into her living room, gathered up the shredded papers as well, and flew out the front door and to one of the liquid rainbow pools around her house. She dropped all the objects she had gathered together into the pool with a sizeable rainbow colored splash. Dash then flew back down into her house, grabbed a shovel, and then stood threateningly over the pile of objects.
The mare breathed heavily, that insane light still in her eyes. Letting out a final breath, Dash swung wildly at the pile, the sound of grass smashing and soggy paper being smacked ringing in her eyes. Letting out a steady stream of laughs mingled with sobs, Rainbow Dash continued to swing away with the shovel, taking the occasional moment to stop and spit at the object before going right back to assaulting it.
Dash wasn't wasn't sure how long this went on for, but she eventually wore out her forelegs, and the shovel fell from her hooves. Rainbow Dash fell with mighty splash into the pool of liquid rainbow amid the hated objects. Unable to handle it any longer, the mare burst into tears as she lay there, sobbing strongly as she wallowed in her own pity. . .
ONE DAY EARLIER. . . .
The two pegasi laughed joyously as they flew through the sky. Scootaloo clung to Rainbow Dash's mane as the older pegasi gave her a quick ride before school. Dash flew high above the clouds, much to Scootaloo's delight.
"Ready to get 20 percent cooler?" Dash asked excitedly.
"You bet, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo replied, sounding equally excited.
"Hang on!" Dash shouted as she pulled down into a steep, fast dive towards the school.
All the students outside gasped in awe as the pegasi zoomed down to ground level to sound of Scootaloo's cheering, and then skidded to a halt in front of the school house.
Scootaloo hopped off of Dash's back and flapped her wings excitedly, "You are so-!"
"Awesome?" Dash said proudly with a wink, "Heh. You're right about that, little sis. Well you've had your own moments of awesomeness too, squirt. Don't you forget that." Dash took to the air and hovered there for a moment, "See ya later, Scoots!" And with a wave, she flew off.
"Later, Dash!" Scootaloo said happily.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom ran over to their orange friend.
"Oh my gosh, that looked amazing!" Sweetie Belle squealed.
"Ah wish Ah could get a ride like that!" Applebloom said in awe.
Scootaloo chuckled and said smoothly, "Sorry, girls. It's a special sister thing."
Suddenly, obnoxious laughter was heard. The Cutie Mark Crusaders turned to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approaching them.
"Awww. Isn't that sweet?" Diamond Tiara said venomously with an evil smirk, "Rainbow Dash feels so bad for the flightless little blank flank that she pretends to be her sister!"
"HEY! THAT'S-" Sweetie Belle began, but she was interrupted, to her surprise, by Scootaloo.
"Just forget it, Sweetie Belle. She's just jealous, that's all," the orange pegasus replied smoothly.
"Ha! Jealous? Jealous of what?" Diamond remarked uncaringly.
Scootaloo smirked and said, "Well, we're the ones who're gonna be the Flag Carriers at the Equestria Games."
Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes, "Well, yeah-."
"And I actually have a sister who cares about me, unlike you," Scootaloo said as she poked Diamond Tiara in the chest.
"Well. . .well. . .I . ..I never needed a sister!" Diamond Tiara stammered out, searching her brain for an appropriate hurtful comeback.
Scootaloo smirked and said, "Well, I guess that's good, because who'd wanna be your sister anyway! You're just a brat with the lamest Cutie Mark in Equestria! Come on girls, let's get inside."
Diamond Tiara stood completely dumbstruck as Scootaloo walked past her and into the school house. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged shocked glances, and then ran in after Scootaloo.
Silver Spoon blinked in shock and said, "Um. . .wait, did we just loose there?"
Diamond Tiara snapped out of her daze and ground her teeth, "That stupid little cripple! And that good four shoes Rainbow Dash!"
"So, I guess we can't pick on Scootaloo anymore?" Silver Spoon asked.
"Oohhhhh no! I want revenge!" Diamond Tiara said, "And I know just how to do it!"
"How?"
"I'm gonna split 'em up!"
"Who up?"
"Cripple and Zap Apple Hair!"
"Huh?"
"Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash you moron!" the pink filly shrieked as she slapped Silver Spoon across the face.
"OW! Okay, okay, but how?" Silver Spoon asked as she massaged her cheek.
Diamond Tiara gained a devious looking smirk, "I'm gonna make Scootaloo so afraid of Rainbow Dash, that she'll never speak to her, or even look at her ever again!"
"How are you going to do all that?" Silver Spoon asked with wide eyes.
Diamond Tiara just rubbed her hooves together and said, "The pen is mightier than the sword."
The next day was quite uneventful as school days go, What made it sweeter was how Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara didn't bother them at all.
"You sure showed Diamond Tiara yesterday!" Sweetie Belle said as the three fillies were relaxing outside during recess.
"Yeah! You just shut her down in-" Applebloom began.
"Ten seconds flat?" Scootaloo finished proudly as she leaned back with her forehooves behind her head, "Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I owe it all to Rainbow Dash of course!"
"Psssst!"
The three fillies looked around in concern when they heard to sound.
"I said: 'Psssssssst!'"
The fillies turned to see Button Mash looking out from behind a tree.
"Button? What is it?" Sweetie Belle asked as the fillies walked over to him.
Button Mash looked around nervously, and said, " Well, I was just playing my Joy Boy, when Diamond Tiara walked by. She probably thought that I was so focused on my Joy Boy that I wouldn't notice the world around me. But the truth is that I've developed the ability to play my game while keeping the stuff around me in mind, so I can, like, beat the Ogre Lord in Umbra Castle while still noticing the ponies that walk by-."
"Get to the point!" Scootaloo interrupted impatiently.
"I saw Diamond Tiara slip an envelope into you saddle bag while you weren't looking!" Button said urgently.
Scootaloo's eyes widened as she reached into her bag and pulled out an orange envelope.
"What could be inside?" Applebloom wondered out loud.
"Knowing Diamond Tiara, it can't be anything good," Scootaloo said gravely.
Sweetie Belle gasped and jumped back, "What if it's a bomb!?'
Scootaloo shook her head quickly, "No, no, it's just a bunch of papers. I can tell."
"Well? Are ya gonna open it?" Applebloom asked gently.
Scootaloo stared at the envelope and sighed.
"I don't know."
Scootaloo sat next to her scooter under the shade of a tree, staring down at the envelope in her hooves. It was pretty big, and pretty thick, containing a couple of pages at least. She wondered what Diamond Tiara could have possibly given her.
Scootaloo frowned and began to psyche herself up. "Come on, Scootaloo! Don't be a baby! Why are you so afraid. Just open it up and see what it is for yourself!"
Scootaloo gulped audibly, and began to slowly open the envelope.
"Whatcha go there, squirt?"
"AHH!" Scootaloo cried, her forelegs shooting up and tossing the enveloped into Rainbow Dash's hooves.
"Heh. What's in here?" Rainbow Dash asked, holding the envelope up to the light in an attempt to read the contents without opening it.
"Well. . ." Scootaloo said nervously, looking away nervously.
"Whoa, what's with the long face, sis?" Rainbow Dash asked as she landed next to the little orange filly.
"Well. . ." Scootaloo said again, but when she looked up at Dash's concerned face, she found the strength to talk, "Ya see, yesterday, Diamond Tiara was bullying me, and I told her off real good!"
Dash gave Scootaloo a friendly punch in the shoulder and smiled, "Great, Scoots. There's two things in life I hate. Loosing, and bullies!"
Scootaloo nodded ,"Yeah. But then today, Diamond Tiara slipped that envelope into my saddle bag. But she did it all secret like, and I would never had known it was her if Button Mash hadn't spotted her, so she must have planned for me not to know that she put it there, so. . .well. . ." Scootaloo sighed and confessed, "I'm kind of afraid to open it. . ." The filly looked away sadly and said, "You probably think I'm a wimp."
"No way, Scoots," Dash said sincerely as she ruffled the filly's purple mane, "In fact, this whole thing kinda smells weird if ya know what a mean."
Scootaloo smiled a bit and nodded.
"How about you let me take a look at this for ya?" Dash suggested.
"You don't have to," Scootaloo said nervously.
"Right. Because as your big sister, I want to," Rainbow Dash said with a smile.
"Wow. Thanks Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo said, perking up a little bit.
"No problem! Now, how about you work on your scooter stunts while I check this thing out!" Rainbow said as she waved the envelope.
"Okay! And thanks again!" Scootaloo said before mounting her scooter and flying off.
"Love ya, Scoots," Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she watched the filly ride off. She then flew off to find a lone cloud to relax on. She opened the envelope and took a stack of pages stapled together. The first page had the title "Rainbow Factory" at the top, and the whole thing appeared to be typed on a type writer.
"It's a story," Dash thought to herself, "I wonder what it's about?" And so, Rainbow Dash started reading the story, and was very quickly pulled into it's narrative, unable to break away until she had read the last sentence.
The door to Rainbow Dash's cloud house opened slowly. The inside of the building was dark, because all the curtains were closed. Light flooded in through the open door, framing the silhouette of the pegasus mare.
"AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHH!" Rainbow Dash screamed in raw anguish and anger as she threw the jar of Zap Apple Jam across the room as hard as she could.
Rainbow Dash picked the papers up with her mouth and began shredding it with her teeth like a rapid dog.
She dropped all the objects she had gathered together into the pool with a sizeable rainbow colored splash. Dash then flew back down into her house, grabbed a shovel, and then stood threateningly over the pile of objects.
The mare breathed heavily, that insane light still in her eyes. Letting out a final breath, Dash swung wildly at the pile, the sound of grass smashing and soggy paper being smacked ringing in her eyes. Letting out a steady stream of laughs mingled with sobs, Rainbow Dash continued to swing away with the shovel, taking the occasional moment to stop and spit at the object before going right back to assaulting it.
Dash wasn't wasn't sure how long this went on for, but she eventually wore out her forelegs, and the shovel fell from her hooves. Rainbow Dash fell with mighty splash into the pool of liquid rainbow amid the hated objects. Unable to handle it any longer, the mare burst into tears as she lay there, sobbing strongly as she wallowed in her own pity.
However, after a few brief moments, Rainbow Dash opens her eyes wide and looks directly at YOU. She takes a breath to compose herself, wipes her eyes, and says to you, "To all those Bronies foolish enough to think they can read 'Rainbow Factory'. . . I'm not gonna lie to you about your chances. You'd be torturing yourself to levels not even King Sombra could reach. It will not leave you the same way it found you." Rainbow Dash puts a hoof over her heart. "Its scars run deep. . . So. . . If there is anyone ignorant enough to try to read this FanFic, all I have to say is...Be strong. Be brave." The mare's beautiful eyes widen and focus in a dead serious manner.
"Beware. . . . . . . . . . !"
