Her lilac eyes cracked open in the darkness. She felt weightless, as though time itself held her in a cradle, keeping her safe from the world in its tender embrace. She felt herself shrink down, smaller and lighter than ever, into a small ball in the oblivion. She was nothing. She felt nothing. Is this happiness, she thought curiously, as she closed her eyes again. Darkness was all she knew, and it was magical. She felt content.

Yet not all was good in her oblivion. She felt something in her body, trying to compel her to move; she could not rest now. Her job was not yet done. Whatever that job was, she did not know. She didn’t care to know much. She was content to stay resting, to be in peace. Why couldn’t she be at peace?

Then her mind began to wander past the darkness to the blinding light, that forbidden threshold of suppression. She began to remember. Little by little, like gears turning in her head - Like gears, tugging, grinding, devouring -

She sat up quickly as pain shot through her body, her eyes opening wide. The light faded as she got her bearings, realizing without fully realizing that she had been awoken for the last time. That was her final rest - for awhile, at least. She panted out her fright, hurriedly getting to her hooves with a slight flutter of her wings. It had been a sharp pain, straight through her head; at least it didn't last too long. She shook her head lightly and looked around.

She was surrounded by clouds. They were fairly dark thunder clouds that seemed constantly ready to rain, not unlike the clouds of an oncoming storm after one previous. They reminded her of fluffy clouds, soft and warm. Ones she could sleep on. Ones she could forget everything on. She was already beginning to miss rest.
Somehow, the gray - black clouds seemed familiar. She couldn’t quite place where, as she thought about it. In fact, she couldn’t quite place anything around her. She couldn’t even place herself. She realized with only a slight alarm that she didn't know where she was or who she was. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother her as much as she imagined it would.

Oh, she certainly remembered some things: she was a Pegasus who struggled to fly; she was here for a reason; and the pain would stop when she found that reason. Those things were the only things she truly knew. She didn't know her name; didn't know who she was or who she used to be. Why couldn’t she remember?
The haunting silence around her formed an eerie tranquility as she thought on that thought. The pain would continue until she found her reason for being stuck here. Why not search around and see what she could dig up? Perhaps something would jog her memories, make her remember who she was. She knew that she didn’t need to worry about food or things. She didn’t know why, but she knew she didn’t. How peculiar.

She wandered around the dark… wherever she was, trying to find anything that reminded her of anything. An unsettling familiarity set in again as she stopped by a vent. It was a tight squeeze down, she thought. So small an escape.
But why would an air vent be an escape? What would she be running from? And would the escape even work?...

She turned, startled, as she heard a bell overhead. What did that mean? She soon heard hoofsteps on the cloud, dampened by the fluffy surface. Somepony was walking her way. It was a mare with rainbow colored hair and… and the most gorgeous rose - tinted eyes… Why did they remind her of…

*~*~*~

Rainbow Dash washed her hooves in the sink, watching the blood of the most recent batch of failures rinse off and run down the drain. Her nose scrunched up in distaste at the sight - at least it was off of her now. Dried blood of the scum of all ponies on her fur was always unsettling. She looked at her now cleaned face, deep into the rose colored irises reflected back at her.

Scootaloo brought her chin high, still demanding even the tiniest fraction of dignity.

"You have beautiful eyes."

Rainbow Dash shut her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth. That pathetic excuse for a Pegasus, that miserable little scab on her side that she had wasted so much time on, had actually gotten to her. With her eyes closed, she still saw that little filly, screaming about love and what a monster she had become. For weeks she had dreamt of - or maybe remembered - days she had spent with the orange filly. Those dreams slowly became nightmares, all ending with those same four words.

"Why didn't she get it," Rainbow muttered under her breath, her hooves supporting her against the blood stained sink. "I told that little b-" She bit her tongue, cutting off the cuss word. New company policy, to help keep them hidden from the rest of the community. Most ponies didn't have such foul mouths.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Why didn't she get how much I hoped for her? How much I trained her, wanted her to.." She sighed again, unable to get that filly out of her mind. That pitiful excuse for a Pegasus…

She groaned as she heard the work bell ring, signaling the end of the break. The days harvest had ended, and it was time to clean up a bit of the mess. The kids were mostly injured today, at least; they hadn't fought back as much as some. Not as much of a mess. There was that, at least.

Dash trotted out of the bathroom, letting her mask rest under her wing as she walked. No sense hiding her face now. All the kids were disposed of, and everypony around here knew her face. Here, she was solid, real: more solid than ever as she used these children's deaths for sport. Their Spectra created her namesake - it seemed only proper that they would die for something so beautiful, so amazing.

As she trotted down the abandoned hallway, Dash stopped near a small vent. She gazed down the long dark abyss, sighing. This had been the spot where she had finally captured Scootaloo. Knocked her unconscious in a fit of sheer rage; this was where Scootaloo had lost.

No. She had lost a long time ago. She had been born a failure; she had been born a loser. Rainbow had been born a winner, had been born amazing. How had that foal thought she could live up to the great Rainbow Dash?

"But she still won in a way," Rainbow whispered to herself. "She's still made me pity her..." Dash shook her head harshly. "C'mon, Dash! Get ahold of yourself... Maybe tonight you can get plastered and forget for awhile..." She sighed softly. "I should get to the killing floor...They’ll need help clearing up anything we missed in the final sweep..."

As she turned, Rainbow thought she saw some pony; there one instant, then gone at the blink of her eye. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as her blood ran cold. Her eyes widened as her every reflex froze, paralyzed by some chilling force. It lasted but a moment, like a sly gust of wind stealing your breath away in the autumn cold, taking a small bit of your soul with it.

She wasted no time in flaring out her wings, her blood stained mask falling forgotten to the ground, and, dashing to the closest intercom, she punched in the all call hurriedly. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she yelled: "Evacuate! Absentia roaming! Full lock down to be enacted in 10 minutes! Those who remain inside will become prey!"

She repeated the orders once more, the fur on the back of her neck standing up, that feeling of being watched causing her to shiver; that feeling of someone blowing on your neck, then turning around and realizing no pony is there. She shoved the com back into place and spun around. She saw just a flash again: orange, with a purple mane. It was her. Of course it was. It would be her. "Absentia, leave this place! Your life was spent; it's time to leave this world!" Shutting her eyes tightly, almost as though fearing a response, Dash blindly flew away from the scene.

That day, the factory and it's devilish machine were silenced, if but for a day.

*~*~*~

The ghostly figure of Scootaloo held her eyes wide as she hovered, watching the rainbow maned mare run for her very life. That mare… Rainbow Dash… how could she ever forget her? How would Scootaloo - yes, that was her old name - ever forget that murderer? That’s right… Her legend, her sister, her idol…. had murdered her.

Scootaloo felt a pit in her stomach. She was dead. She would never get her cutiemark. She would never get married or join the Wonderbolts. She would never learn to fly properly. And it was all because of this mare, that righteous mare, ordering her death…

Scootaloo glanced at the vent. That was where… She remembered. She was remembering everything, everything her mind had been trying to protect her from. She didn’t want to remember, but she had to. She had to to end this madness. If she didn’t try, she would never leave. If she didn’t try, she would have to watch, pained, as more and more children were led to their deaths.

She licked her lips as she thought. She could stop it all. She, that ‘miserable failure of a pegasus’ as she remembered, could stop it all once and for all. She refused to let anypony bring her down anymore. She glanced at the ground below her. Her hooves rested above the cloud layer, hovering slightly. Taking a deep breath, she spread her wings. She felt as though she could cry as she moved forward at the slightest twitch of her wings. She smiled for the first time since she had awoken.

Scootaloo had learned to fly at last.

Author's Note

I had planned for this fic to be all one chapter, but I think I'll extend it a bit. I just loved ending it there. Let's see how the fans react to this...