“Wow Rainbow Dash you're so cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“yeah I know, you're not too bad yourself twerp.” Dash replied.
Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash have been spending a lot of time together, they could call each other a best friend and not feel guilty about having a biased opinion or something stupid like that. Dash had been noticing Scootaloo had been a bit down lately so she tried hard as she could to make the other Pegasus happy.
“No You're wrong Rainbow Dash...I'm not cool at all...” Scootaloo said lowly.
“What are ya talking about of course you're cool!” Dash retorted. Scootaloo snorted and sat down.
“No I'm not...Yesterday was my birthday, I'm a fully grown Mare now...and I just now learned how to fly how I should have been able to fly when I was a little filly!” the orange-brown Mare exclaimed. Dash's face softened as she sat next to the Pegasus.
“You know Scoots...just because you couldn't fly well until now doesn't mean anything.” Dash started. “Everypony has their flaws. You were born with under developed wings, that was out of your control and you still fixed it. That's really cool, most ponies just accept or ignore what they can't control...I'm a pretty good example of that.” she continued, the last part a bit sadly.
“You say that...I want to believe you but...but I can't say that I'm cool at all without feeling like I'm lying...” Scootaloo said solemnly.
“Who cares? Anypony can call themselves cool. I think you're the coolest pony I know, and praise only truly matters when it comes from others!” Dash exclaimed.
“Twilight scolded you with that one didn't she...” Scootaloo said with a smirk. Dash, who had looked proud of herself with an over dramatic pose, flopped backwards onto the cloud they were sitting on.
“Yeah...you could tell that easily?” Dash said, looking at the Mare that joined her and plopped down onto her back as well.
“Well Duh, it sounded too smart for you.” Scootaloo said with a sly grin.
“Yeah..you're rig- HEY! Did you call me dumb?!” Dash exclaimed, sitting up and looking at Scootaloo, who was rolling around laughing.
“Ah...sorry Dash...I had to.” Scootaloo said. “Just a joke.” she continued. Dash calmed down and plopped back down.
“Eh Trust me Scoots...you're a strong Mare, and now you're a strong Pegasus...with all the crap life throws at everypony, that's an achievement to be dubbed as 'Awesome'...” Dash said, switching back to the previous and more serious topic.
“Thanks...that means more than you ever could know coming from you...” Scootaloo said, rolling over and hugging Dash. Dash hugged her back.
“And why is that?” Dash asked innocently.
“Well...after we all got our cutie marks, Applebloom went to Appleoosa to learn all she could about apple farming and now she owns her own Orchard there...Sweetie Belle owns a Carousel Boutique in Canterlot now too...Everypony else just aren't that special to me...except you Rainbow Dash...I was your number one fan, remember?” Scootaloo explained.
'Whoa, this is getting pretty heavy' Dash thought, but she didn't mind. These late night conversations with Scootaloo tended to get heavy when the Pegasus got thinking.
“Yeah I remember...hey wait, Was?!” Dash asked, feigning an offended pout.
“I'm not just a mindless fan filly now Dash. You're still awesome and the pony that's the most special to me...but it's not an infatuation anymore...” Scootaloo said.
“Whoa quit with all of those big words...but I get what you're saying. Now we're really best friends.” Dash said. Scootaloo nodded.
“Y'know...I'm starting to really like these nice long talks we have at night...I don't have to keep up appearances with you.” Dash said, leaning back and closing her eyes.
“Yeah me too...it seems every time we have them it starts with something wrong with me though...” Scootaloo said.
“Ah quiet you...I enjoy helpin' you out like this...makes me feel real good inside.” Dash retorted. They both suddenly yawned wide. Dash was snoring lightly in seconds.
“If only you could help me with my biggest problem Dash...” Scootaloo said to herself as she looked at the Dozing Pegasus besides her. “I wish I could get the courage to tell you how much I love those beautiful eyes...how much I love you...” she continued lightly. She kissed the sleeping Mare on the cheek and took off to go to her own tiny cloud home.
She missed her....those beautiful red eyes...One year ago, Rainbow Dash had left Scootaloo and Everypony else suddenly...nopony knew where she had went, nor why nor how. All Scootaloo knew was that Rainbow Dash was gone and probably never coming back. Dash was the one thing Scootaloo had to live for, now that was gone. She missed the late night talks, the flying lessons...everything. She had never told her how beautiful her eyes really were.
Ever since she disappeared, Scootaloo had been getting more and more depressed, sometimes nearly starving herself to death. She contemplated suicide many times, the last time just now as she flew through the night sky, but she was never strong enough to go through with it. She was finally going to do it now, all it would take is for her to close her eyes and snap her wings shut and she'd never have to see this miserable place again. She flew high and closed her eyes.
She couldn't snap her wings shut. Something wasn't letting her. Not physically of course, nothing but clouds and a light drizzle up in the sky with her, but something within her stopped her. She tried to track it down and eliminate it, but when she found it she couldn't smash it. It was her love for Rainbow Dash. The light drizzle was coming down a bit harder now and a new thought crossed her mind she had never thought of before.
Instead of going through this spiraling depression, why not try and find Rainbow Dash? Nothing said she was dead, nothing said she'd never return. She had only disappeared, it had happened many times before. She'd always be found somewhere, and this time Scootaloo was going to be the one to find her.
Days went by...weeks even, and no sign of Rainbow Dash. And now here she was again. The thought of suicide back on her mind, hovering high above the ground. They were only thoughts of course, she hadn't given up on finding Rainbow Dash...but now one thought crossed her mind.
If she was trying to find a pony that happened to be dead, there was only one way to find them...she pondered this new revelation for an hour, she couldn't make a decision so she just slumped in the air and sighed. But life has it's ways, the decision was made for her as her wings convulsed and snapped to her sides.
She yelped and flailed as she fell, but only for a little bit. About halfway down she accepted it as her wings seemed glued to her sides...funny how you forget your wings are under developed...she didn't remember hitting the ground.
Wait...if she was dead, how could she even remember falling? She snapped her eyes wide open and bolted upright, only to be pushed back to the ground.
“Stay down!” a Masculine voice yelled.
“W-what? Where am I?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
“Hell...” a Feminine voice said without emotion. Her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and her eyes widened in horror. She saw a pile of dead Pegasus ponies on the other side of a fence. She looked around and saw the owners of the two voices she heard, one was a Stallion holding her down and the other was a Pegasus Mare with stumps for wings looking at her without interest.
“Hell?” Scootaloo said.
“Well sort of...if there is a Hell, this is it...but for us it's heaven...we don't have to live anymore and we actually get to do something with our pathetic lives...” the Mare uttered. Scootaloo chose not to get into it with this Mare, she seemed troubled enough. What she decided to do instead, was to push the Stallion off of her.
“Whoa there, looks like you got some fight in ya.” he said with a grin as he got to his hooves. “Doesn't matter now though.” he continued as he flew up to a balcony, where she saw lines of Pegasus ponies in black with stun sticks.
Ok, so she can't fly out of here. Why were they here anyways? Her question was answered as the Mare next to her was grabbed up in a sort of machine and hoisted above a sort of pit in the middle of the room.
“Finally...just make it quick.” she mumbled. A Stallion operating a series of switches just chuckled and with an “As you wish”, pressed a button and pulled a few switches.
The Mare closed her eyes and took a breath as a small blade shot towards her and impaled her right through the heart. Then her lifeless body was dropped into the pit, which glowed like a rainbow for a second, and a series of pipes connected to the pit lit up as they pumped something away. The pipes were every color of the rainbow. Another pipe, this one larger, made a banging noise as it dropped the Mare's body, now completely drained of color, onto the pile with the others.
She looked back to the glowing pipes and noticed that they were being pumped through a wall made of clouds. Dear lord, she was in Cloudsdale...and they were making rainbows, out of Ponies! She quickly formulated an escape plan, if enough of them tried to escape at once then they could overwhelm the guards and get out of there and even get some payback.
She paused as she turned to the other ponies, they all looked just like the other Mare. Waiting. For what though she shivered at the thought. They all had the looks of utter defeat plastered on their faces. Their wings maimed, or completely gone, and permanently unusable. They were Pegasus ponies without wings...that's like saying it's an earth pony without a heart. They welcomed their fates, she realized.
She sat down and thought, why was she fighting? Her wings were duds half the time and the Mare she loved was missing. But then she remembered, the one reason she wanted to live was to find that Mare again and tell her that she loved her. She stood up and glared at the Stallion.
“I can't die here. I still have something I need to do.” she growled at him.
“Hm?” he replied and looked down at her.
“Hm...” he repeated and sort of ignored her. His head snapped to a door, though, as it slammed open.
“What did that one just say?” a Feminine voice asked. Hey that voice was familiar...REALLY familiar.
“I don't know, something terribly depressing.” the Stallion said without emotion.
“Liar. Say it again!” the Mare said, finishing with a yell down the pit. Scootaloo couldn't quite see the Mare, but she complied.
“I can't die here! I still have something I need to do!” Scootaloo yelled. Scootaloo realized this mare must be running the place here, so she dashed up as fast as her wings could take her and whizzed right past the surprised guards. She faltered as she finally caught sight of the Mare...cyan blue coat, rainbow mane, rainbow lightning loud cutie mark...it was Rainbow Dash.
They collided and started rolling a few times and Scootaloo wound up on top of Dash. She was so shocked she couldn't move or even think, that is until a series of sharp pains hit her. All of the guards had their stun sticks pressed into her back, about seven in total. She screamed and was thrown off of Dash.
“S-Scoots?” Dash asked. “What the Fuck is she doing here?! Her wigns work just fine and she's got reason to live!” Dash yelled to the Stallion.
“When we found her she flew up high and suddenly snapped her wings shut...she just let herself fall and didn't bother opening them again, so we thought she was trying to commit suicide.” the Stallion said with a bored tone.
“You're not telling me everything...” Dash said threateningly as she got to her hooves and walked towards the now unconscious Scootaloo.
“Well she did flail around for about half of it...but she let herself fall.” he said. He suddenly found himself on the ground as Dash's rear hooves connected with his jaw.
“You Moron! She has under developed wings and they do that sometimes! You didn't even bother looking into it at all?!” Dash yelled. She huffed as the Stallion scrambled away from her in fear and turned towards Scootaloo, who was starting to wake up.
“D-Dash?...is that you?” she asked weakly, occasionally twitching.
“Yeah Scoots...it's me...” Dash replied.
“Why'd you leave?” Scootaloo asked.
“Not here...come with me.” Dash said and began walking. Scootaloo shakily got to her hooves and followed, cautiously glancing at the guards as she went.
The second the door to what appeared to be Dash's office closed, Scootaloo was caught in a huge embrace from Dash.
“Oh Scoots I'm so, so sorry...I never wanted you to see any of this...that's why I left...it was starting to get into my normal life and...and I didn't want to do something bad to anypony...” Dash said, Scootaloo realized she was crying.
“W-what?” Scootaloo asked.
“Oh sorry...this is the Rainbow Factory in Cloudsdale...I've been running it for three years now...when a Pegasus loses their wings...they loose their will to live...they usually try to kill themselves...one insane Pegasus scientist found that the color, or spectra, can be drained from a Pegasus pony to create artificial rainbows...that was over a hundred years ago...we only take ones that want to die and who think of it as a mercy...” Dash explained.
“I was starting to go a bit psychopathic...so I left Ponyville...I wish I could have said goodbye but...I wouldn't have been able to leave...” Dash continued.
“...I wouldn't have cared...” Scootaloo said as she hugged Dash.
“Thanks Scoots...so uh...what's the reason you have to live? That thing you still have to do?” Dash asked.
“To find you.” Scootaloo replied.
“Why?” Dash asked, a bit confused.
“So I could tell you something.” Scootaloo continued, going nearly muzzle to muzzle with Rainbow.
“What is it?” Dash asked, her eyes drooping a bit.
“To tell you that you have beautiful eyes...” Scootaloo said. Their lips met silently and Scootaloo conveyed all of her love into it. She nearly broke it when Dash kissed back just as fiercely, but she wound up just melting into the others' embrace.
Dash wound up firing the Stallion, he would take ponies without even bothering to find out if they wanted to die or not, Scootaloo being the prime example, and replaced him with Scootaloo. They worked together, helping the broken Pegasus ponies to create the rainbows Everypony loved so much.
Scootaloo was happy. They had even started doing those late night conversations again. Though this time, it was odd. Dash was the first to speak usually.
