The Darkest Kind of Kindness

Chapters

Ch 1: The Prelude to Darkness
Ch 2: Rainbow Dash you're an Egghead?
Ch 3: The Darkness that Lurked in the past
Ch 4: The Dreams of a MadMare
Ch 6: The Pains of a Mother Pt. 2 [The Past, Present, Future, and Apple Jack]
Ch 7: The Pains of a Mother Part 3 [Rainbows may bring Joy but the Past is Eternal]
Ch 8: A Pink to the Past pt. 1 [A Shimmer in the Dark]
Ch 5: The Pains of a Mother Pt.1[Descent]

Ch 1: The Prelude to Darkness

The morning light cascaded down into the room of the young Pegasus filly that it belonged to. Young Rainbow Dash woke up excited for a new day and eagerly flew down the stairs to greet her parents. She ate a hasty breakfast at the table and flew off to the school that awaited her. When she arrived she talked to a friend of hers, a young filly about her age that she knew quite well. Their friendship was one that bloomed from the very first time they met and had kept them together for over two years of schooling, even if the yellow mare didn’t appreciate the gryphon named Gilda that was attending their flight school as a transfer student. The day was particularly uneventful not even their flight coach had them do anything that day, presumably because he wasn’t feeling well.

When the young filly returned home she ate a quick dinner and sped back into the town wasting no time to talk to her parents about her day, she had already told them about her late afternoon plans. She eventually arrived at a candy shop that she was fond of and didn’t care to be seen inside of. The Outside of the shop was fairly plain it was made of dense cloud that was an off white due to the amount of steam the ovens produce. The inside of the shop smelled of sugar and every delectable treat that a young pony could ever dream of consuming while still only teasing you with a faint taste. Rich fudges, creamy caramels, gooey marshmallows, and most importantly Rainbow chocolate bars were all lined up in the glass case near the counter. Those Rainbow bars were the most delectable candies around, and they were produced with liquid rainbow as an ingredient, giving them a slightly spicy flavor while making the candy taste like pure heaven.

Rainbow tried resisting the urge to drool but she found herself failing at that. Eventually she managed to stop staring at all of the delicious treats and decided that today was the day that she was going to buy a couple of Rainbow bars for her playdate with Fluttershy instead of the other treats that she usually gets. The cashier looked down at the filly when she walked up and he smiled politely when she asked for a couple of Rainbow Chocolate bars. The cashier was a light brown Pegasus stallion with a light caramel colored mane and tail. His cutie mark was a trio of brownies and he wore a red vest with a nametag that read Mr. Fudge.

Rainbow quickly handed him the shiny golden bits and flew off towards the park where her friend was going to meet her. The young filly arrived at the park just in time to find her friend sitting under a tree. The tree was a particularly old one that had grown just under Cloudsdale and had a park made around it. The bark on the tree was a light gray and the bark was pretty rough, just rough enough to make a good back scratcher, but not too rough. Fluttershy was sitting under a particularly shady part of the tree were a little bit of Lichen was beginning to grow on the ancient beast. The name Posey was carved into the tree just above her head almost completely obscured by the fillies pink mane. Rainbow walked up to Fluttershy and tapped the other young filly and shouted “you’re it!”

The two fillies ran around the park playing until it started to get dark and then they started to part ways again; however, the young filly had to give her friend a chocolate bar before she left. What kind of friend would Rainbow Dash be if she forgot the candy that they both agreed on bringing....? Again.

The chocolate bar was a simple gesture that meant almost nothing, but her friend looked at the title and grimaced a little, almost as if she didn’t want it. Rainbow asked her friend why she didn’t seem to like her gift, it was the most delicious piece of candy in all of Cloudsdale, maybe even Equestria.

“Th-thank you really, but this brand of chocolate isn’t my favorite anymore. I get a lot of this brand at home and-well…I’ve been trying to st-stop eating so many.” The butter Pegasus stuttered.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped when she heard what her friend had to say, but the filly knew that was the truth behind why Fluttershy looked at the candy funny. When Rainbow Dash turned her back Fluttershy ripped open the package and crammed the whole thing down her throat when nopony was looking. A look of utmost guilt and shameful satisfaction was plastered on her features, but the bar was gone and that was all that mattered.

Rainbow Dash had witnessed her friends unsightly ravaging of the sweet confection when she looked back to make sure Fluttershy was fine. Rainbow Dash was surprised by her friend’s love of the sweets and wondered if Fluttershy actually ate anything before going to the park, but Rainbow crossed that idea off of the list. Fluttershy was the daughter of the Stallion that ran the Cloudsdale weather company and food was definitely not an issue there. Maybe Fluttershy just didn’t want her to know how much she liked the chocolate bars. Rainbow Dash looked at hers and unwrapped the piece of candy. It was a dull brown with a hint of rainbow swirls throughout it. She tentatively took a bite and the flavor of the sweetest chocolate that she had ever tasted graced her taste buds.

That candy bar was heaven on earth and the spiciness of it only added to its greatness. It was sweet and spicy and it blended together in all the right ways. The thick fudge-like bar was quickly consumed as every last bit went down Rainbow dash’s gullet. She felt happily full after that amazing experience and was severely disappointed when there was nothing left of her treat.

(_o_============================================_o_)

The next day Rainbow Dash went to school and she was, admittedly, nervous. Today was the day that the coach would have her practice flight routines along with the rest of the class, but that’s what worried her. She wasn’t the best one when it came to navigation and she got teased for it constantly, but she knew that with enough practice she would stop crashing into things, at least a little bit. She felt almost safe in the fact that Derpy was an even worse flier but that just made her feel guilty. Rainbow Dash would never admit it, especially to Gilda, but she secretly liked Derpy as a friend and they even played sometimes when Rainbow Dash wasn’t around anypony else.

The air was fairly clear that day and the clouds had been pushed out of the way allowing Rainbow Dash to easily pull off all of her practice flights with time to spare. She almost laughed at herself for having worried over such a simple task, but it wasn’t her that had the problems. Her friend, Fluttershy, fell off of the highest point of the training field and was now being ridiculed by the class bullies. Something stirred inside her when she looked at them teasing her friend, she had to do something, but what? It wasn’t cool for somepony to just make fun of somepony else when they could have gotten seriously hurt. The idea finally struck her like a bolt of lightning, making her wonder why she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

Rainbow Dash, as bold as she was, challenged those bullies to a race in a vain attempt to fight for Fluttershy’s honor. With how well she did during the practices she was surely going to have these bullies beat. The race was quickly prepared and the young filly was surprised when another group of ponies joined in including Derpy. The race started quickly and she flew as fast as she could causing the whole world to zip by at amazing speeds. Unfortunately Rainbow Dash veered off course and unknowingly knocked poor Fluttershy off the cloudbank.

Rainbow Dash corrected her path and began to speed up in order to catch up with all of the other contestants. She faintly heard what sounded like Fluttershy screaming but it was drowned out by the crowd of other students that were cheering for the racers. The bullies finally began to get closer, and she eventually passed them allowing them to stare at her in awe as she began to approach the speed of sound. The barrier began to stretch to its limits trying to keep the cyan colored Pegasus at bay. Rainbow cheered internally when she passed up the bullies but things suddenly began to get much faster than what she was expecting.

Rainbow felt like she was going to be shook apart and her whole body began to vibrate as if she were experiencing an earthquake. Then suddenly there was an earsplitting boom and suddenly the vibrating stopped and a prismatic trail of pure Rainbow color was being left in her wake. It almost like a shockwave had expanded out from her body in all directions and was now forming the prismatic band that was following her.

When rainbow Dash looked back to see what had happened, she saw a thing of absolute beauty. A ring of rainbow colors that was expanding outwards as its polychromatic beauty filled the eyes of all who beheld it causing all of the ponies that had gathered around the race to gasp. A rainbow that hadn’t been there before was following allowing her to paint the sky with its divine beauty, she was in complete awe at the thing that she had made. Then she suddenly realized that in the midst of all this beauty there was still something in store for her that was even better, her cutie-mark. She was filled with incredible amounts of joy as she witnessed her special talent. Suddenly the crowd gasped in horror when Rainbow Dash began to move carelessly. Unfortunately she hadn’t realized that Derpy was just ahead of her and the two collided in midair causing a resounding crunch to echo through the air and a few panicked screams were heard as the two plummeted to the ground. Both mares were suddenly put into a tailspin and they crashed into a nearby building causing a sickening crack to resound through the air.

Derpy slammed into the building face first causing a cascade of glass to fall on both her and Rainbow Dash while managing to crack the buildings foundation. Rainbow Dash was slightly luckier and crashed into the building with her back and wings taking the full brunt of the impact. She still managed to smack her head off of the wall and fall to the ground on top of Derpy as the glass from the broken window tore into her wings though. Derpy gave a muffled cry when Rainbow Dash landed on her, but it was soon blocked out by the scream of pain that pierced the air when a large glass shard nearly severed Rainbow Dash’s left wing.

Rainbow Dash got up and shook herself off despite feeling like she had just broken several ribs, “That was amazing,” she thought. “How did I even do that thing with the Rainbow? Ugh! That’s not important! I need to get a doctor or something!”

She looked around, searching for her friend and noticed that she was missing. There was also another filly that had disappeared, it seemed that the race was larger than she had anticipated, and that two groups of bullies had raced. The other filly that Rainbow Dash had crashed into was bleeding profusely and rainbow began to hyperventilate at the sight.

“No! Ditz-er I mean Derpy! Please tell me you’re alright! Please tell me that I didn’t kill you!” The weeping Pegasus begged.

“R-Rainbow Dash? Why is your head bleeding?” The disoriented Pegasus got out before fainting. Rainbow then realized that something sticky and red was dripping onto her snout and that they were both bleeding. Rainbow Dash began to suddenly feel very light headed and the world began to spin around her and fade into an inky blackness. She landed face first on top of Derpy’s chest and she swore she could hear somepony crying before her hearing faded away.

When Rainbow Dash woke up she was lying in a hospital bed and her parents walked over to her and quickly hugged her and let her know how worried they were. The filly barely remembered what had happened but she knew that her friend wasn’t in the room with them. After a very short explanation she learned that her friend was missing and they still hadn’t found her. Another young filly was found after the race, but she was dead when they found her. Apparently that young filly had fallen to her death and if she had survived the fall she bled out and died. Rainbow Dash felt sick, her friend was missing and a young filly was found dead, maybe her friend was dead too. But she still clung on to the hope that her friend might be found, her friend was a Posey after all.

The other filly from the race that she had collided with had been a young pegasus known as Ditzy Doo, or Derpy as the bullies and most other ponies called her. The collision had knocked Ditzy out just like it had herself, but Ditzy had been damaged beyond repair. The filly already had trouble seeing due to her eyes, but now she was suffering from mild brain damage along with a concussion, Rainbow looked at the unconscious filly and at the dried blood that coated the bandage around her head. The doctor told them that he was afraid that Derpy may never wake up again.

Rainbow felt week again, this time out of sheer terror about what she narrowly missed, and guilt for having damaged a friend like that. If they had crashed any harder they both could have died. The doctor asked her about what had happened at the race and she gave the best description that she could have given and the doctor smiled sadly.

(_o_============================================_o_)

Outside of the emergency room the doctor looked at the parents of Rainbow Dash and cleared his throat, “I-uh… I just hope that you take the bad news well.” The doctor stuttered.

“What do you mean? I thought that you said she was recovering?” Rainbow’s father asked nervously.

“We’ll…you see. Not everything is going to heal properly…I just hope you don’t take the news too seriously.”

“Well spit it out already! What’s wrong with our daughter!?” Rainbow Dash’s mom screamed.

“Mam…please don’t panic your daughter is going to live…but…she will never be able to fly again.”

“No! You’re wrong! Our daughter will fly again her wings didn’t even look that badly damaged. She’ll become a Wonderbolt like she always dreamed about…a-and we’ll all be happy for her.” Rainbow Dash’s mom stated while in obvious denial.

“Misses Dash. The damage to your daughter’s wings were severe. She suffered multiple internal lacerations from the splintering of her wing bones. The shredded muscles were patched first to stop the bleeding but the bones in your daughter’s wings are almost completely shattered, they will never heal. The left wing was already removed because it was hanging on by only a small thread of skin, the rest of it was completely detached from her body. I’m sorry Misses Dash I truly am. It always pains me to see a pony get crippled in such a way.” The doctor stated miserably.

“You know nothing! Without wings she’s useless! Nopony in Cloudsdale will let her walk around without getting beat to a bloody pulp! Our daughter will never be accepted here again!” Rainbow Dash’s mother screamed.

“Please Misses Dash calm down.” The doctor kindly asked.

“Calm down! How do you expect me to calm down when I have a crippled daughter that is going to be ridiculed wherever she goes!?”

The doctor looked at the spot where Rainbow Dash’s father should have been but the stallion had slipped back inside the room to talk with their daughter. The doctor looked back at the fuming mare before him and swallowed what little amount of courage that he had left.

“Please…I know that you are scared for your daughter especially when you are so closely tied to the Poesies. The only thing that I can recommend is to remove her wings to prevent life threatening infections and move to an earth pony town. Treat her as if nothing is wrong and let her live life as an earth pony. The pegasi will forget about her and she will be accepted by her new community and if you want to there is a multi-tribal school here in Cloudsdale that she can attend. The factory will leave her alone because she never failed the flight test and the factory only uses pegasi in their ‘work’. Please Miss Dash listen to me, I was hired to help you because of your ties to the factory and I’m giving you the only option that will save her life.” The doctor stated.

“But she will always remember being a Pegasus, she will never be happy with that looming over her head.” Rainbow Dash’s mother cried.

“There is a simple spell that unicorn doctors can perform to alter her memories, she will never remember having wings and any memories of flying will be like a faraway dream that she had. She will remember others close to her flying her places and Cloudsdale will be nothing more than her first home. I wish there was something else that we could do, but this is the only way to save her.” The doctor sadly noted.

“I wish we never knew about the Factory or what goes on in there…but if I didn’t know then my daughter would die in there. D-do it Doctor…save my child a-and make her forget about being a Pegasus…I just hope that we can explain the cutie-mark to her.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll just be a memory of a normal ground race, she will probably strive to be the fastest runner instead of the fastest flier. Hopefully she finds a job that is suitable for her. After she recovers more we will be able to transmute her magic into earth pony magic. I know what you’re thinking Misses Dash but healing broken wings is something that we are certain in and the Princess herself developed the machine for the magic transmutation process.”

“I-is it really easier to turn her into an earth pony than fix her wings?” Rainbow’s mother asked.

“Unfortunately. Even the Princess can’t heal that kind of damage, especially when one of the wings have already been removed, I’m sorry. From now on…Rainbow Dash is now an earth pony. It will be as if she never was born a Pegasus. The only thing that will remain are the scars were her wings used to be. At least she didn’t get hurt as badly as that, Ditzy, filly.”

“But that filly still gets to keep her wings doesn’t she.” Rainbow Dash’s mother said sadly.

“Well yes she does get to keep them. However, there were severe lacerations all along her legs and most of her ribs were broken. She also had a punctured lung and one of her kidneys ruptured. Several of the vertebrae in her back are cracked and there are deep lacerations in all of her muscle tissue. The mare is lucky that we were able to stop the bleeding in time but her head also received quite a bit of damage as well. Her skull is cracked down the middle but is almost completely intact, some minor brain damage was detected though. We are also unsure if she will ever wake up from her coma.” The doctor sadly stated.

“Why are you telling me this? Shouldn’t her parents be receiving this information?”

“Well you see her parents died almost two years ago during a mysterious fire and this young mare has been living with her grandparents for a while now but they are currently out of town for a different medical emergency that occurred. They told me before they left that until they got back that since you are the cousin of her mother that you would be able to help if she wakes up.”

“Wait. My cousin is dead? She had a child? She was married!?” Rainbow Dash’s mother said.

“I’m afraid so. Didn’t your family tell you?”

“No. Ever since I befriended Fluttershy’s mother, Dame Fragrant Posy, we’ve been disowned. Most of our family doesn’t tell us anything anymore.”

“Well I think that it’s time for you to go back inside with your daughter and let her know your decision before she forgets that you even made it. It helps the workers here feel better when their patient knows what is going to happen to them.”

“If it helps you sleep at night.”

(_o_============================================_o_)

When Rainbow Dash was finally released from the hospital she had a large amount of bandages wrapped around her torso and she was completely wingless. The Pegasus made earth pony just looked at the clouds that she was standing on and was confused.

“Hey! Dad!” The cyan mare said.

“Yes Rainbow Dash?”

“If I’m an earth pony why can I walk on clouds?”

“Don’t you remember? We know some nice unicorns that use a cloud-walking spell to let you walk on them.” Rainbow’s dad lied.

“Oh! Yeah I think I remember that?” The pseudo-earth pony said as if it didn’t feel right.

Rainbow Dash was sent to a new school that was for all pony tribes and not just pegasi. She began to learn how earth ponies tended the soil and the ground and was being taught how to farm. Rainbow Dash didn’t like the hard work too much and she swore that she was the worse one in lass when it came to this stuff. After a week Rainbow Dash was taken back to the hospital and her Pegasus magic was transmuted into earth pony magic using an expensive machine that was equally expensive to run. Rainbow Dash was told that all it did was gauge her magic and she didn’t question it.

After the procedure she had a cloud-walking spell placed on her for real this time so that she wouldn’t fall through the cloud layer. The next day Rainbow Dash wanted to go out and search for Fluttershy but she needed to wait for school to end. Rainbow Dash actually enjoyed her lessons more this time and she began to improve dramatically in growing things. She seemed to be exceptionally good at running and watering things though, but that was why she had her cutie-mark right? There was lightning because she was fast and there was a cloud because she was good at watering the crops. At least that what she thought it meant.

The events that led to her getting her cutie-mark were still a little fuzzy, but she still remembered putting Ditzy in the hospital. Instead of a Sonic Rainboom nearly killing the two she only remembered some weird race that involved a watering can. The race was going rather well, Rainbow Dash was clearly the fastest runner there but an accident occurred. When she was distracted by getting her cutie-mark and both her, and Ditzy tumbled off of a nearby cliff after Rainbow dash slammed into the pegasus. The events may not have been as cool as reality but Rainbow Dash still felt guilty about having hurt Ditzy.

Rainbow Dash vowed that she would make it up to Ditzy whenever she got out of the hospital. The next day arrived and then a week passed and Fluttershy was still nowhere to be seen. The absence of Fluttershy troubled her, not only had the other dead filly been confirmed as Ditzy’s friend at the race, but Fluttershy could have also fallen. Rainbow shuddered at the thought of Fluttershy being dead, especially if it was her who knocked her off the cliff. She looked out at the night sky through her window, while lying in her bed hoping that Fluttershy was safe, and that maybe, she too, was looking at those very same stars.

(_o_============================================_o_)

It wasn’t until the Rainbow’s cutie-mark party that Fluttershy finally showed up, and with her family no less. Rainbow was ecstatic when her friend finally arrived and they talked about what happened at the race. Fluttershy was confused when Rainbow Dash mentioned a land race until she noticed that her friend’s wings were missing. After Fluttershy was called away by Rainbow Dash’s parents and briefed about what had happened the young filly just looked sad. When she came back to where her friend was at the filly was bragging about how awesome her plant watering skills were.

Fluttershy just smiled and said, “I know that you take pride in your farming abilities, but please be more careful when challenging others. That is if you don’t mind of course.”

“Come on Flutters, you’re talking to the fastest earth pony to ever live. I don’t even need to challenge other ponies to know how awesome I am.” The snarky earth pony replied.

The next day Rainbow’s parents went out to visit some family member’s in Manehattan, leaving Rainbow Dash alone for a day with her teacher as a babysitter. The flower that Rainbow dash was taking care of was beginning to develop a bud, but that only interested Rainbow Dash for a short period of time. Being a born racer plants grew too slowly to entertain her for long, or anypony for that matter. Evening came and Rainbow Dash went to bed early hoping to see her parents again soon. The next day came and Rainbow Dash talked to Fluttershy on the way to school.

Normally Rainbow dash would walk to school and let Fluttershy attend her all Pegasus school and then the two would usually meet up later after their lessons were over. It surprised Rainbow dash when the butter yellow Pegasus walked up to her and asked her to talk. Rainbow Dash looked at the Pegasus before her and noticed that her eyes were all puffy and red as if she had spent the entire night crying. The pink maned Pegasus’ resolve slowly weekend and she cried, she hugged Rainbow Dash as she slowly sobbed into her coat.

“Fluttershy what’s wrong? Who hurt you this time I’ll make sure they regret it.” The polychromatic mare declared.

“It’s nothing,” the filly sobbed. “I just heard some news from my parents who were doing business in Manehattan, they thought I should be the one to tell you the bad news.” Fluttershy tried choking back her tears but they refused to slow down.

“Fluttershy, what happened? What do you need to tell me? I’m sure it’s not that bad.” The snarky earth pony said.

“Rainbow Dash… Y-your parents are d-d-dead. They suffered a tragic accident and my family members were the only ones that were around that could send the message to you.” Flutterhsy stated in between sobs.

Rainbow dash felt sick and the world spun around her as she fainted. When she finally woke up she was in the nurse’s office at her school. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen and was presumably in class at her own school after having taken Rainbow Dash to the nurse’s office. She held back her tears and went through the rest of the school day without incident. Rainbow Dash’s school teacher let her stay with her until she was allowed to be put under different care but rainbow Dash hardly felt that it was necessary.

That night Rainbow cried for the first time, mourning the death of her parents. The next day was a Saturday and there wasn’t any school, which was good for Rainbow Dash, since she had stayed up all night crying. By the time that she went downstairs she was deathly tired and her eyes were red and swollen from the amount of crying that she had done. The teacher was a little nervous when Rainbow dash left her house but Rainbow Dash paid her no mind, she needed to be away for a while.

Rainbow Dash just sat in a field under Cloudsdale, and stared at the pale blue sky and the darkness that lay beyond it. She felt empty inside, somehow it was as if the death of her parents had torn out her heart and ripped it to shreds. The Pegasus that had helped her get down there was sleeping under a nearby tree, allowing rainbow dash some level of privacy. She cried again and this time she actually tried to fight back the tears, but they wouldn’t stop coming. Her face burned with the heat that was coming from her cheeks as her salty tears slowly slid down her face as she tried to hold them in.

The next day came and she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle, they were kind but they couldn’t replace the hole that was left by her parents. School was relatively pointless to her now, and she did only the bare minimum to get by. Fluttershy was worried about her behavior, but Rainbow dash always insisted that she was fine, and that she didn’t need any help. It went on like that for a moth until she finally managed to move on and accept what had happened.

(_o_============================================_o_)

The funeral procession was a simple matter, Rainbow’s parents were laid in their coffins, each coffin bearing the pony’s cutie-mark on the side. It was the only decoration that her family could afford to put on the coffins after the magic conversion. Rainbow Dash walked up to each individual casket and hugged the necks of her parents for the very last time. They felt cold and lifeless; however, she almost believed that maybe they could still be alive, that maybe they weren’t actually dead, that maybe they were just sleeping. She knew better though, their hind quarters had been crushed by a falling girder near a construction site and they died of blood loss. The only part of their bodies that wasn’t damaged was their upper body.

When the accident happened a girder was being lifted up to the top of the building and the cables broke. The girder plummeted to the ground and obliterated the hindquarters of both ponies. The company had called an ambulance and the workers tried to save them, but both of Rainbow Dash’s parents were dead by the time the medical ponies arrived. The company didn’t go under too thorough of an investigation because it was freak accident. It was just a case of too much weight being lift on a rope that couldn’t quite handle the load that was being exerted on it anymore. The company employee that was controlling the crane when it happened was at the funeral.

That pony was a stallion named Girder and his mane and tail were a rust red color while his coat was a pale blue. His cutie-mark was that of a crane lifting up his namesake. He was only at the funeral because he felt guilty for what had happened, and he felt glad that he had come out to the viewing. No other pony besides the immediate family of those two pegasi were even there, it was as if no one even cared about them. He noticed a young filly that was in tears and he felt like a knife had just stabbed him in the heart. He wondered why there weren’t very many ponies there, surely these two ponies weren’t hated, what could they have possibly done?

After talking with their family for most of the viewing, the worker realized that most of the other family members had disowned them for being close to the Posies, and those that didn’t disown them were either there, or unable to attend. The rest of the procession continued without a hitch, and the two coffins were lowered into a hole at a local Ponyville cemetery where most of their other family members were buried. The dirt was slowly poured into the holes and a single tombstone was erected for the two pegasi. It proudly displayed the names of Rainbow Dash’s parents and the day that they died.

The worker noticed that the young filly seemed to be the one that was taking it the hardest and that she hadn’t stopped crying since they had been introduced. There was nothing he could do about it though, he was just a construction worker with no ties to their family, except for the fact that he was the one who had been controlling the crane on that fateful day. He left that cemetery feeling sorry for the young earth pony who had just watched her parents get buried before she was even eleven years old.

The worker went home and prepared himself a cup of coffee and put about three cubes of sugar into it, and he thought about how hard that ten year old filly was taking things. He settled down onto his couch and relaxed, allowing himself to get comfortable before he took a sip of his drink. It was a little too sweet, but he hardly cared, he had been at a funeral all day, and he comforted what little amount of the family had showed up. Suddenly a knocking was heard at his door, he grunted as he got off of his couch and walked over to the door.

“I wonder who that could be.” He said to himself, “I’m not expecting anypony today.”

He slowly made his way to the door and looked outside his window. Outside there was a rather tall looking stallion who was dressed in a completely black suit. The stallion outside knocked again, this time the whole house shook from the sheer force. When the worker finally opened the door he received a guest that he was definitely not expecting.

“Hello my good stallion, I am Thundering Posey, a friend of the Rainbow family. I just decided to drop by and offer my sincerest apologies for any hate being flung at you, it was not your fault that you dropped those girders on poor miss Rainbow Dash’s parents.” The massive stallion announced.

“Uhm… Wait did you say Thundering Posey? As in the owner of the Cloudsdale weather corporation?” Girder asked.

“The one and the same. Now I am here to humbly invite you on a tour of the prized jewel of my corporation, the Rainbow Factory, not just a normal tour, but a VIP tour. You will get to see what goes on behind the scenes and see how rainbows are made up close.” Thundering stated.

“Uh… thanks for the offer but why should I get a tour? As you said I accidentally killed that young fillies parents.” Girder countered.

“That is exactly why I’m inviting you. You see if I give you a tour of my factory then ponies will see that I have forgiven you for the death of Rainbow Dash’s parents, and that I do not blame you for the events that happened on that dreadful day. My daughter Fluttershy was so torn up about the death of her friend’s parents that she hasn’t been eating regularly and most of the community believes that you willfully murdered them. I am here to offer you amnesty and a way out of this situation that you are in.”

“B-but…nopony believes it was my fault or that I murdered them.” Girder frantically stated.

“Hmm… Well the Cloudsdale paper seems to think differently. It’s all over the front page, Construction Worker Murder’s the Parents of a young Filly who is Associated with the Heir to the Cloudsdale Weather Company… Ooh… It’s worse than I thought. Not only will you be convicted of murder, but you will also be seen as a pony who is striking out against the very foundation of Cloudsdale itself. Everypony will hate you, unless you take up my offer and allow me to clear your name my good sir.”

“Are you threatening me Mr. Posey?”

“My dear boy if I were threatening you I would have made it much worse. I am simply here to help out my fellow Cloudsdale residents. So what is your decision? Do you accept or do you decline my offer.”

The terrified stallion looked up at the huge yellowish Pegasus that towered over him. Thundering Posey had to at least be as tall as Cadence or maybe even Celestia and he wasn’t in bad physical condition either. There was no way that he would win a fight with this giant of a stallion or even possibly run away from him, so he did what he had to do.

“I… I accept your invitation Mr. Posey.”

“Excellent, if you will please follow me I’ve got my carriage already prepared for our departure.”

(_o_============================================_o_)

Fluttershy was sitting in the carriage waiting for her father and the construction worker to return. She slowly doodled in her sketch pad making sure to color in all of the flowers first, and then just scribbling in the sky and grass like most ponies her age. She smiled as soon as she noticed the two leaving the building and heading towards the carriage.

“Uhm… Mr. Driver, if it would be okay with you, could you please set out the refreshments for our guest.” Fluttershy asked sweetly.

“Certainly my dear.”

The driver got out of the front of the carriage and set up the drinks and snacks that would be consumed on the trip to the factory. Fluttershy thanked the stallion and patiently awaited the slow walking stallion and her father.

(_o_============================================_o_)

The worker seemed a little uneasy but he followed Thundering Posey, it wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter anyways. As he approached the gold rimmed carriage he took note of how big it was. Princess Celestia could have easily fit inside along with Nightmare Nebula and Cadence. The carriage itself was made of the finest wood he had ever seen and unlike most carriages, this one was solid black in color. The door to the carriage was opened revealing the daughter of Thundering Posey inside.

“You know it was my daughter that suggested that I take you to my factory.” Thundering Posey said as he began to draw closer to the carriage.

“Really, she suggested a tour of a factory?”

“Indeed, she seemed quite convinced that it was what you truly needed to turn all of these lies around.”

“Well, that’s very nice of her.”

“Quite! My daughter is one of the nicest ponies in the whole world. I dare say that there is nothing more important to her than helping others.”

The worker finally found himself inside of the carriage as it pulled away. The interior was nice and cozy, with a couple of glow crystals in the ceiling of the carriage. The inside was relatively fancy just like the outside, with jet black leather cushions and an interior that was an assortment of various shades of red and gold. Fluttershy looked up at the stallion and asked him a few questions that he immediately answered.

The questions that she asked were trivial and easy to answer, they were questions like: when were you born and what is your favorite color? She made it very clear that her favorite color was red, and that her favorite foods were apples and hay fries. The worker almost laughed at how tiny she was compared to the size of the seats that were built to accommodate a pony the size of an alicorn. He laughed with her and they told each other jokes on the way to the factory, allowing each other to enjoy the ride.

“Here Mr. Girder please have a drink of some juice.” The yellow filly offered.

He gladly accepted it, having talked so much to the curious filly had left his throat parched, and he was in desperate need of refreshment. He took a quick swig and instantly noticed that the juice had a peculiar flavor, almost like a mix between raspberries and a certain something that he couldn’t quite place. It perplexed him but he finished his drink and continued to talk to the filly.

“Mr. Worker, if it’s alright with you, I believe it’s time for you take a nap.” Fluttershy interrupted.

“Huh…What do you mean, if you are insisting that I look tired…I …assure you…that I…am not.”

After that little speech everything for the stallion faded to black as he fell unconscious because of the sleeping powder that had been in his drink. He felt confused as he drifted off but all he heard was Fluttershy say.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you never have to deal with those bad ponies ever again.”

Then everything went dark.

(_o_============================================_o_)

The day after the funeral Rainbow went back out to the field where her parents were buried and stared at the cold lifeless stone that marked their position. She hated that stone, its foul shape and rough edges. The very fact that it was on top of the place where her parents were resting seemed almost sacrilegious. She looked at it and traced the words that were etched into the rough surface of the stone and turned away feeling no better than before. Staring at that grave wasn’t going to bring her parents back.

“I failed you guys.” she cried, “I barely spent any time with you unless it was a family gathering and I never told you guys that I loved you unless I was going somewhere. How could I have been so stupid?! I’m consider loyalty to be the best value in a pony but what does that mean when I’ve betrayed my own family with my neglect.” Tears readily flowed from her cheeks as she contemplated the very fact that she knew what neglect was, and remembered that it was a vocabulary word that week and that her teacher had told her what it meant. She managed to stop the tears and just stared at her surroundings and then she looked back at the grave.

The fields around rainbow dash were filled with flowers of every color, yet no flowers ever adorned the grave of her parents unless she put them there herself. Did the rest of her family just not care about them? She cried again, this time letting the tears freely flow over the grave of her parents. She hugged the grave almost as if it were her parents themselves, but it wasn’t. She left feeling slightly better, but also feeling very hungry. She hadn’t eaten normally in about a week and she was feeling it now. Her stomach gurgled in protest as she was flown back home by Fluttershy to her aunt and uncle in order to get some lunch.

She ate some daffodil sandwiches for lunch but still felt hungry, and her stomach gurgled as a testament to the fact that she still needed something to eat. After a larger lunch than Rainbow anticipated she went to visit Fluttershy who was taking care of a sick bird that she had found outside of her house. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy as she hummed, noticing something a little off about the young mare. Maybe it was her coat that was stained with a couple drops of blood, or the fact that she seemed to be eating the bird, or something next to it. Rainbow just stared at her while she snacked on whatever it was that she was eating and began to feel a little uneasy.

Rainbow scolded herself, “How could I be unnerved by Fluttershy she wouldn’t hurt a fly, and that blood just means that the bird is bleeding. There’s nothing to be worried about, it’s not like she’s actually eating the bird. There are probably just a couple of flowers growing next to it…unlike the grave of my parents,” Rainbow said under her breath, eliciting a small tear as she said it.

“Hey Fluttershy what’s going on!? I haven’t talked to you much for a couple of days now so I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to hang out or somethin’.” Rainbow blurted out after having mustered up the courage to speak.

The yellow Pegasus nearly had a heart attack when Rainbow announced herself. It was almost as if she wasn’t expecting anypony to come near here, Rainbow noted. Fluttershy quickly recovered and turned to Rainbow Dash, hiding the bird from view in the process. She was licking her lips when she turned causing Rainbow Dash to feel a little nauseous, as images of Fluttershy eating a dead bird flooded her mind.

“Oh! Hello Rainbow Dash I didn’t think that you would come outside after eating lunch so early. Why do you look so pale? Oh please tell me you’re not sick again.” The butter Pegasus said to the cyan earth pony.

“What? No, I’m fine. It just sorta’ looked like you were eating that bird over there, but that’s crazy. Not even Derpy would do something like that.” Rainbow dash said nervously.

Fluttershy giggled, “Wow, I guess it did look like that from another pony’s point of view. I was just examining that poor birdie over there and I happened to notice some daisies growing nearby. They are my favorite snack, so I just helped myself to the flowers.” ,As if to prove herself Fluttershy pointed to a small patch of half eaten daisies.

“Whew, that’s a relief. For a moment I thought that you might have went crazy. But it was just my imagination getting the best of me. So do you want to head over to the Wonderbolts’ show with me? My aunt and uncle bought me a ticket and said I could invite any of my friends.”

“Oh…I’m sorry Rainbow Dash but I’m a little preoccupied right now. But if you wait a little bit, if that’s okay with you of course, I will be ready in a few minutes.”

“Okay. Just make sure you’re over at the Cloudoseum by seven, you don’t want to miss the show.”, and with that Rainbow ran off while Fluttershy waved at her, while completely missing the fact that there wasn’t a bird behind Fluttershy anymore.

The show was fantastic and Fyre Fly was doing great, she was Rainbow’s favorite Wonderbolt after all. Fyre Fly was pulling off all of the big stunts and Rainbow just watched in awe as she performed. Flips were only the warmup and rolls were an easy thing to replicate, but the complex tricks came right after that and they left the crowd in a daze. Rainbow Dash knew that she could never become a Wonderbolt, but sometimes she joked with Fluttershy about making an earth pony division.

The tricks went on for hours as the Wonderbolts sped around the track and eventually it was time for the big finale. The last trick stared when two pegasi let down a large basin of water on a cloud in the middle of the Cloudoseum. Fyre Fly slowed down and dove in then she flew back out, after having allowed her whole body to get soaked, much to the delight of a large number of stallions and a select few mares. What happened next was amazing. Fyre zipped around the Cloudoseum as lights were turned on allowing the light to catch the water that coated her body. Suddenly Fyre was a gleaming comet that was flying around the stadium, and the little droplets of water that fell off of her caused tiny rainbows of color to flash briefly into existence.

Rainbow watched this part completely amazed by the display of colors and speed. She watched as Fyre flew past and seemed to wink at the cheering polychromatic earth pony. With that Rainbow accidentally flung her Fyre Fly doll into the arena, and it was seemingly lost to the fields below. After the show Rainbow Dash was so excited she didn’t even notice that her favorite toy was now missing.

“Oh-my-gosh! Oh-my-gosh! Oh-my-gosh! Did you see that performance! Fyre Fly was amazing! I can’t believe how amazing that was only a Pegasus like Fyre Fly can be that awesome at tricks.” Rainbow Dash, shouted, almost in a completely ignoring the fact that the rest of them were there.

“Well at least, somepony appreciates my work.” Fyre Fly said smoothly, “It’s not every day that a fan of mine tosses me a doll either.” With that Fyre Fly proceeded to produce the doll that Rainbow Dash had tossed at her. “So who should I make out the autograph to?”

“Uhm… Rainbow Dash! My name is Rainbow Dash!” The excited filly yelped.

“Okay, to Rainbow Dash, my biggest fan, from Fyre Fly. Here you go.”

Rainbow Dash happily accepted the signed doll and waved at her idol as they slowly walked away from the Cloudoseum.

(_o_============================================_o_)

It was incredibly sunny, the warmth of the very sun itself infused the very being of Rainbow Dash. Her parents were there, and they were smiling at her. She laughed and played with them in the endless expanse of fields that surrounded them. The flowers that they had for lunch were their favorite kinds and they talked with Rainbow about how her school work was going. She didn’t want to tell them that she was getting a D in math but she couldn’t lie to her parents.

They weren’t particularly pleased with the news, but they smiled and reassured her that everything was going to be alright. They played in the field together for another three hours and then they flew her back home. She was with her parents again, she was finally happy again. They made it back home and they talked nonstop about her signed Fyre Fly doll and the show that she had seen. The day slowly drew to a close and with it her time with her parents. They tucked her in and kissed her forehead, letting her know that she was still loved by them as she slowly began to drift away.

Ch 2: Rainbow Dash you're an Egghead?

Rainbow Dash groggily made her way out of her bed and down to the kitchen that her aunt and uncle were sitting at. The earth pony greeted her elders and sat down to her breakfast of bacon and pancakes. The disheartened filly munched away at her breakfast and ate the flower that was included on her plate. Her aunt and uncle were worried about her, she hadn't been taking the death of her parents well and they feared for her health.

Before the two elder pegasus ponies were able to ask their niece what was wrong she got up and left without saying single word to either of them. The walk to school was uneventful and she sighed while looking at the pegasi that were flying overhead. They reminded her of the dreams that she used to have when she was a little younger only she was the one flying. Now all that she dreamed about was her parents which only helped emphasize how much emptier her life was now.

Rainbow Dash talked to Fluttershy who was on her way to the flight school and they talked about who the best Wonderbolt is. Rainbow Dash really didn't care about the Wonderbolts anymore, she was an earthpony, and she sometimes wondered why she ever aspired to be one. Rodeo stars like Ten Gallon or the great Big Macarena were more fun and interesting to watch. The very thought of one day being a rodeo star made Dash' spine tingle with delight.

The two fillies prattled on about what they hoped to do in the future. Fluttershy stated that she simply wished to change the world and that her cutie-mark, which was a fiery butterfly emitting darkness, signified her ability to bring ponies together by lighting the darkness that keeps them separated. Rainbow Dash believed the lie and admitted that she had no idea what she wanted to do. Her special talent had turned out to be precision watering at any speed and she was drawing nothing but blanks for what her future was going to be other than another farmer.

The two mares parted when Rainbow Dash went on to her school in Ponyville while Fluttershy made her way to her Father's carriage that was there to pick her up for school while she was staying with her grandmother in Ponyville. The yellow mare was pleased with herself at having successfully lied to her friend, and allowed her driver to “accidentally” run over a random pony without even feeling remotely guilty. Fluttershy looked at the rising sun and she knew that her life was a good one.

Rainbow Dash was busy trying to avoid being late to class, she hated being tardy. Being tardy was the most embarrassing thing to endure when everypony was already there. It was only made worse when they all noticed you enter the room and Rainbow Dash knew that they would notice, they always did. If the truth were to be told she hated feeling inferior to other ponies, and being looked at for something that was at least considered a misdemeanor had a way of making you feel like garbage. Especially when you were sitting next to a pony like Golden Platter.

Golden Platter was the second biggest bully in school next to Iron Shilling, a colt Rainbow Dash secretly believed was the very son of Satan himself. These two would make fun of rainbow Dash and ridicule her for almost anything. They would make fun of her earthpony status, her sexuality, missing a question she was asked, or even just being late. These two made her life Tartarus, and the two always tackle her from different angles.

Golden Platter made fun of her lineage and upbringing, claiming that an earthpony who was the descendant of a family of pegasi was only bringing her family down. One of the worst taunts that she had was claiming that her earthpony status had actually caused her parents to hire the guy to kill them to get away from Rainbow Dash and her inability to fly. Rainbow Dash was later found crying in the girl’s bathroom after she failed to attend class after recess that day.

Iron Shilling was much worse than Golden Platter, unlike her he was considered highly educated. He would boast that a grade as low as Rainbow Dash's could only be achieved by a rock that had hit every branch on the stupid tree. When he wasn't making fun of her intelligence he was beating the living tar out of her until she was coughing up blood. He always said that if she were capable of higher thought then she would have been able to have avoided hurting Ditzy.

Out of the two she realized that Iron Shilling talking about Ditzy like that made her the angriest. She had never forgiven herself for what had happened and the young filly was still in a coma. She knew that if she had thought ahead instead of being a big idiot and going at it recklessly she would have never hit Ditzy. She hated Iron Shilling for using that as leverage, it was too close to being true for her comfort.

Rainbow Dash always tried to do well in school it made her feel less incompetent and it helped her feel more in control of things. Sports were never easy unless it was a race or tag. Even then she would be called out for ramming the ponies she was trying to tag. She couldn't perform tricks without nearly dying or getting covered in tree sap, which only gave Golden Platter and Iron Shilling more ammunition against her.

Sports were something that quickly became a trivial thing to the growing mare and she found that even though she could barely retain her studies, they were easier to understand than the events going on around her. She hated studying though, it was boring, uncool, not fun, and totally not awesome. Friends for the pony were usually very few and they usually didn't have anything fun going on without it ending with her getting covered in tree sap.

(_0_==============================================_0_)

[five years later]

Rainbow Dash was staring at her latest biology test with adamant horror etched onto her face. She had gotten every question right including the bonus questions which gave her one hundred and twenty points out of one hundred. She was elated in some ways hoping that this would get Iron Shilling to back down, while the rest of her was embarrassed about her sudden egghead like knowledge. If anypony found out that she had actually happily studied for the test they would kick her out of the only groups that she was still a part of. Or maybe they would consider her to be a nerd and try to bully her. She already had enough problems with Golden Platter around.

Why the plant section had managed to intrigue and fascinate her so much that she read the whole thing three times eluded the cyan earth pony. She was determined to never let something as uncool as a plant garner so much attention ever again, especially when Fluttershy caught her reading the textbook. She even vowed to never let Iron Shilling find out just in case he decides to make a joke about her hard work having been some sort of fluke.

The rest of the school day went y fairly quickly and Rainbow Dash had a hard time focusing on anything else other than Cherry Jubilee, the most attractive colt in school. She noticed that he was sneaking bites out of a yellow daffodil that had a crisp stem that was B class, the soft petals were heavenly to look at but they only ranked at a C class. The stigma and pistol of the flower ranked at an A class, making the flower a low B class flower. It would be adequate for a sandwich with some condiments but it probably didn't have much going for it in flavor.

Rainbow Dash turned pale when the bell for school to end started ringing. Had she really just spent the entire class sizing up a flower that somepony was eating for lunch? Her mind answered with a joyous yes, but Rainbow Dash wasn't going to have any of it. On her way home from school the young mare was walking along and was stopped by Iron Shilling himself.

“So I heard that you did well on your exam. It's nice to see a young mare like yourself climbing the ladder. If you keep this up I might consider using you as my personal cock sock like Golden Platter.” The stallion stated trying to act suave.

“You wish! I would never get anywhere near your thing no matter what you threaten me with.” The cyan mare said with disgust.

“Really? You would turn down the most well-endowed, and handsome stallion in school?”

“Every pony knows that Cherry Jubilee is the most amazing stallion in school. You are nothing more than a stupid prick who enjoys tormenting others.” The mare said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Well then maybe a little taste of what I'm packing will change your mind!”

With that Iron Shilling grabbed rainbow Dash with his magic and dragged her into the ally while gagging her. The stallion looked down at his prey hungrily, readying his massive shaft for the young mare's virgin folds. When the shaft was at its maximum size he began to angle his massive rod at Rainbow Dash's tight entrance.

“STOOOOOOP!!!!!” Screamed a voice that rang through the alley way like thunder in the desert.

“Fluttershy?” Iron Shilling asked confused.

“Back away from her! Or I will end your life right now!” The large butter pegasus demanded.

“Oh! What is a mare going to do to me hmm? I could easily take you down foal!”

“Bring it!” Fluttershy spoke sternly.

Iron Shilling wasn't impressed with the young mare's performance, but she had guts for what it was worth. The mare slowly approached the stallion while pulling out a flower and slowly popping it into her mouth. When Fluttershy finally approached him she took his head and passionately kissed him while forcing the flower into his mouth. The stallion swallowed the flower and smiled at the sudden turn of events.

“Well my dear aren't we feisty!” He said

“You do realize that was a Larkspur of delphinium you just ate?” Fluttershy said while smiling at Iron Shilling's panicked face, “Sweet dreams my dear Iron Shilling.” The mare cooed while Iron Shilling passed out from the flowers toxins letting Rainbow Dash remove the gag in her mouth.

“You... You saved me! What are we going to do about Iron Shilling though?”

“Oh! Don't worry, he'll be fine. The plant is poisonous but he only had enough to cause minor damage. He'll wake up in a while feeling disoriented and maybe a little nauseous, I didn't want to cause too much physical harm. Now all we have to do is report him to the cops...”

“No! We can't report him! Do you know what he'll do to me when he comes back? He could kill me or worse!” The Cyan earth pony interrupted.

“I will make sure he isn't a problem, now how about a nice ice cream cone to make you feel better? That is if you want to.”

“That would be nice.” Rainbow Dash stated while poking the ground.

(_0_==============================================_0_)

The two friends made their way to the ice cream parlor and made sure that Iron Shilling was going to get a nasty surprise involving the police. Rainbow Dash was stunned that Fluttershy had used a plant to fool Iron Shilling and save her, maybe the mare was smarter than what most ponies assumed. The order came back being delivered to them by white longma with a pink tint to her scales.

“Fluttershy who was that? The dragon mare thing that delivered our ice cream I mean.”

“That's Strawberry Cream. She comes from a faraway country where more of her kind live, and they are known as longma by the way. They usually don't try to make many pony friends since they don't age once they reach adulthood, but a few do enjoy watching the day to day lives of our race. Strawberry Cream is here with her brother Chocolate Dip so they can make new candies and ice creams for ponies.” The mare explained.

“That's cool, I guess? So what did you get?” Rainbow Dash said unenthusiastically.

“Their best dessert so far! It's called the flaming chocolate mountain. It is so sweet and creamy and they put a flower called a Vulcan flower on top. The whole flower resembles a fire and its pollen flows up from it creating this reddish mist giving the impression that it's made of fire. Its spiciness compliments the chocolate's sweetness in ways that can't be described with words.”

“Really! I've never heard of a Vulcan flower?”

“Well it only grows in the volcanic soil of the Longma Empire. The intense heat of the volcanic terrain that the longma call home is the only place hot enough for these flowers to grow. The deserts are rather reasonably priced though.” The butter Pegasus mentioned.

“Wow! That is one tough little flower if it grows in an environment full of lava.”

“Indeed! It is almost as cool as the vampire rose from Trottingham that induces a sleep-like state on a pony before allowing a vampire an easier time of converting their victim.” The Pegasus replied.

“Or maybe that one flower that will grow on any creature and slowly devour their insides.” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically.

“Hey! Isn't your class going to take a trip to that one biology museum tomorrow?”

“Ugh don't remind me!! I hate museums. They somehow manage to make even the most interesting subjects boring, while leaving you with more questions than when you entered the place.”

“Well... I didn't want to tell you this, but my father had the most expansive garden in Equestria, and I know where all of the coolest places are. If you are up to it maybe you could come by and play with me there.”

“Well I would love to play with you, but as long as you promise this isn't just some ruse to make me think plants are cool. Just because you caught me reading the textbook doesn’t mean that I like them”

“I don't think that I need to help you think that plants are cool, but maybe a little push to help you accept it is in order. That is if you want to of course.”

“Listen Shy, just because there are a few plants out there that are pretty awesome does not mean that I want to study them, or that they are all awesome. I order to even get me to consider thinking that they are cool enough to study would require a least a whole garden full of plants that are beyond amazing.” The cyan earth pony retorted.

“We'll Dash I... well uh... I was hoping that maybe, you would give them a shot. You are an earthpony after all, and I was thinking that it would be a relevant interest.”

“Ugh… now you are starting to sound as prejudiced as Golden Platter. I know you didn’t mean it though. Hey do you know what is going on with Golden Platter anyways?”

“She moved to Fillydalphia the last time I heard anything about her.”

“Oh! Well I’d better get going. I have a lot of… things to do back home.” The earthpony said with a smile.

“Oh, okay. Thanks for eating with me. It really means a lot.”

Later that evening Rainbow Dash was running through the procedures for harvesting a cactus flower on one of the many plants that found a residence in the young mare’s room. Even though Rainbow dash hated being looked at as an egghead, she had always been fond of the plants that she took care of. Her special talent did involve them after all. Her only problem with plants was being mocked for trying to learn about them.

In a way Rainbow knew that her real problem was that she was afraid of what others thought of her, and what being considered an egghead would do to her image. She didn’t want to be known as the nerdy plant pony. A name which was already taken by her cousin in Manehatten. Rainbow hated knowing what kinds of comments her cousin received, and was determined to never let her own image cause that kind of pain.

After taking care of all of the plants in her room the young mare went down and began tending to the rest that littered the house. Her Aunt and Uncle were beginning to think that she was running out of room for her plants in her room, which resembled a greenhouse more than anything. The plants that lined the tables that supported their pots were mostly flowers and herbs of various species that her family enjoyed. The rest of the plants were stationed either in her room, or the largely unused basement that the house sported.

(_0_==============================================_0_)

Rainbow Dash was busy examining the shrubs outside of the Posey mansion while waiting for Fluttershy to let her in. In truth the earthpony had only been inside of the building once before and that was for Fluttershy’s Cutecenera. The mansion looked rather daunting and something about it reminded her of a horror movie. The door to the building opened up and the pony that she was expecting to see eagerly pulled her in and shut the door.

Rainbow Dash wanted to ask her why she seemed so eager, but they were at their destination before she could get a word in. The entrance to the garden was rather plain, just two glass doors that opened into what looked like a large jungle. The mare that had dragged Dash here was eagerly making her way into the garden and was motioning for her to follow.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but notice her friend’s rather large stature now that she was going through what was known as the Posey family growth spurt. It was supposed to skip generations, but Fluttershy was already the size of a full grown mare. Dash sometimes wondered if being larger than most ponies ever caused problems for the family, even Princess Celestia was shorter than some of their stallions.

When the cyan earth pony reached her friend she was in utter awe of the scenery around her. The mare that was currently to her right was giddy for some, still inexplicable, reason. The whole room was filled with lush vegetation and the plants were kept well taken care of. The Rainbow maned mare was silently thanking Celestia for having allowed her to see such divinity as the garden that she was in.

Fluttershy who looked somewhere between elated and needing to use the restroom couldn’t hold back her excitement any longer and told her friend what was on her mind.

“I just inherited my family’s entire fortune!” The mare blurted.

“W-what! That’s terrible I’m so sorry for the loss of your parents.” The Cyan mare said in shock at her friend’s lack of misery.

“Huh? Oh! They aren’t dead, just retiring. They are leaving me with the family business and a rather large sum of money that counts as my inheritance.”

“Flutter’s you’re only fourteen! How can a mare your age inherit and run a factory!?”

“Well, I’ve been receiving a lot of training and I am now considered of age for a Pegasus.”

“That’s… weird. All of my teacher’s and friends say that you come age at eighteen. Are you sure that you aren’t mistaken?”

“Of course! I can see why you would be concerned, but there really isn’t anything to worry about. If anypony even asks they will simply look at me and think that I’m old enough.”

“Listen Shy just because you are the size of a full grown mare right now doesn’t mean that you can get away with lying like that! You’ll get in trouble!”

“Don’t worry about me. My family has the rest already taken care of. Now let’s look at the foliage that is so desperately wanting attention.”

Rainbow Dash wanted to reprimand her friend for trying to do something that was borderline illegal, but the plants that adorned the room were calling out to her. Something about the lush greenery in the room spoke to the young mare. Maybe it was just her special talent resonating with her environment, or perhaps it was her desire to understand the living beings around her.

The vibrant colors of a nearby flower caught the mare’s attention and she looked it over. The stem was mostly a dark purple that was oddly appealing, the leaves were a vibrant green that was looking rather crisp. The many flowers that adorned the plant were of a vibrant orange that slowly turned into a magenta as the petals neared the stalk. It was rather delicious looking and there was nopony looking so she figured a small nibble wouldn’t hurt.

Thankfully Fluttershy was there to stop her from eating the flower. It turned out to be rather poisonous when ingested and was only for display, unlike the wildflowers that could be seen growing around Equestria. Rainbow was unsettled at first by the deceptive flower’s ability to hoodwink her into nearly poisoning herself, but then she found an odd fascination surrounding its deceptive nature. Why would something so vile and harmful look so good and clean?

The mare was never answered, her curiosity had led her to what surmounted to a small water fall of blue pollen. The pollen was lazily drifting from flowers that were growing in front of a small hole in the wall. The hole looked like something made by a magic blast rather than time, which made the young mare wonder what lay behind the misty curtain. Behind the mist was a rather dingy room with a plant that she couldn’t identify.

It was a simple looking flowering plant that bore a striking resemblance to a Lily. A reddish haze surrounded the fragile flower causing Rainbow Dash no small amount of unease when gazing upon it. The flower oddly reminded the mare of home and her family but something was niggling at the back of her mind that the flower was dangerous. Fluttershy called out to her friend causing Rainbow Dash to ignore the flower and leave. Thankfully she hadn’t been paying attention to the animal bones that littered the space around the flower.

The rest of Rainbow’s stay was filled with vibrant flora that beckoned her to tend to them. Fluttershy was rather pleased that she was enjoying herself and started to point out interesting facts about certain plants. One of Rainbow’s favorite plants was one that distributed its seeds by launching its flower into the air. The spectacle that the plant would perform was rather beautiful, but the day was growing short and Rainbow Dash needed to get home.

“I’ll see you later Fluttershy! I really need to get home now.”

“Oh! Okay. Thanks for coming over I just knew that you would enjoy the garden.”

“That reminds me. Why does the rest of your family have posey in their name except you?”

“Oh that’s simple. Fluttershy is just a nickname. My real name is Fluttering Posey, but I prefer Fluttershy.”

“Well, I’d better stop wasting time and head back home then.”

On her way home Rainbow Dash felt something nagging at the back of her mind. Her special talent dealt with plants, and not just a specific type either. How was she supposed to care for them if she knew almost nothing about them? In fact her ignorance nearly caused her to make a mistake and poison herself. She was utterly clueless for what was required to care for certain species that she was likely to encounter.

As soon as the mare thought about that she ran all the way home and made sure that her plants were still alive. To the mare’s delight they were all healthy, but were they as healthy as they could be? The mare knew better than to think that they were the healthiest they could be, that kind of thing required a bit more care. Care that the mare was going to make sure she knew how to administer.

(_0_==============================================_0_)

[2 years later]

Rainbow Dash was now a healthy sixteen year old with a passion for her craft, her mission was to ensure that all of her plants were in top shape. The mare was currently pruning a rather unyielding rose bush that was blossoming into something that looked more like a flowering tree than a bush. Rainbow Dash’s research had paid off and her plants were now looking like something that one would send in for a farming competition.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t the best farmer around, but she certainly had her fair share of first and second place ribbons from the farmers markets that she would attend. Sure the cyan mare was still embarrassed about being called an egghead, but that was still currently a secret. Most ponies just said she was a good farmer and pat her on the back for her expert care. Others looked rather peeved, especially that Apple Jack character.

It wasn’t her fault that she was so amazing when it came to growing things or participating in rodeo events. The rivalry between the two mares was a rather heated one that provided a lot of entertainment for any pony watching. Out of the clashes that the two were known for Rainbow Dash had won a total of five out of ten, putting the two at a tie. The apple farmer never gave up though and she was still trying to outdo Dash.

Although it wasn’t until an apple bucking event that Dash realized the mare was a unicorn. She had caught Apple Jack cheating by using magic to break the stems of the apples when she bucked the trees. It was well hidden, but the mare was caught and her horn had an enchantment put on it in order to keep her playing fair.

The most endearing thing was when the mare’s sister showed up, a young filly of roughly age four. The young filly was rather adorable with a gigantic red bow perched atop her head. The young filly surprisingly bore more of a resemblance to Apple Jack than her other sister Macarena though. The filly also seemed to show an unusual amount of affection towards Apple Jack as well, but what was to be expected from family?

The mare briskly made her way down the hall and stopped to eat breakfast with her aunt and uncle. The two ponies eagerly greeted the pony that had become somewhat of a daughter to them. Rainbow Dash was prepping some gear while eating, today was the day she was going to be going to Canterlot to examine an outcropping of rare flowers.

The flowers happened to be right next to a Wonderbolts stadium, and some ponies thought that they were planted by somepony. Rainbow Dash wasn’t dumb enough to believe that. Those flowers didn’t grow in Equestria, let alone anywhere near the country.

Rainbow Dash was suggested for the study when her secret was revealed to the principle of her high school. Ponyville High wasn’t the most prestigious school, but the principle had a few friends in Canterlot, and was able to help the young earthpony. She was certainly surprised at first and even considered refusing to go in order to maintain her image.

The two ponies that were Rainbow Dash’s guardians weren’t going to let her just refuse it though. After what surmounted to a talk about how she was too chicken to be an egghead in front of an egghead Rainbow Dash was infuriated and accepted because she wasn’t a coward. Later that evening the anxiety came back and her more sensible cousin from Manehatten who was visiting at the time to praise Rainbow’s rather excellent plant collection.

The mare had heard of Rainbow’s amazing skills from a farm pony that had passed through her part of town. The mare quickly made an arrangement to go visit her cousin in order to see if the tales were true. She wasn’t disappointed, but she seriously didn’t expect her aunt and uncle to be dense enough to cause a problem.

She knew what Rainbow Dash was going through and she managed to let Rainbow Dash know that she wasn’t going to be laughed at. Professionals didn’t do that to other’s. Even if they were too close to the upper or middle classes. Something about money caused ponies to have an almost insatiable blood lust and it tended to leach out to those close to them as well.

The mare made sure her cousin was certain that they would accept her, and if they didn’t it was their problem not hers. Rainbow Dash still wasn’t feeling up to going though. She was still afraid that somepony in Ponyville would hear about what she had been up to.

“Alright that’s enough now. Just because some pony knows that you like plants doesn’t mean that they are going to make fun of you.”

“What if they do though?”

“Who cares!? You are Rainbow Dash the best plant grower this side of the Macintosh Mountains and the smartest filly I know. If you aren’t smart enough for those high society folks then may all mares cry over Blue Blood’s grave.”

“You know he is the second most hated stallion in the country. Even the Equestrian Days newspaper can’t find anything worse than him.”

“Now cousin I know that you’ve been through a lot but I want you to know that I believe one day even the princess will be jealous of your knowledge.”

“Well… I guess I could try and get in good with those ponies up there. They might even name something after me if I impress them enough!”

“Now there’s the Rainbow Dash that I know! Now let’s get something to eat I’m starving!”

Rainbow Dash eagerly accepted the offer to eat, she had skipped dinner and was feeling rather hungry. Her cousin may not be known for much, but at least she knew how to make Dash feel better. The two had a rather simple dinner and Rainbow’s aunt and uncle apologized for forcing her to go on the trip.

The next week was spent packing for Rainbow’s trip and a ticket for the train to Canterlot was purchased for her. The ticket was bought using some of the bits Rainbow made off of produce. When the day for the trip finally arrived she waved good bye to her aunt and uncle and looked at the metallic beast that lay before her. It was a pristine engine that was built to run entirely on steam and it was painted in colors that matched the rest of the town.

Rainbow Dash stood there eagerly awaiting what would await her in Canterlot. The door opened to let several passengers off and allowing the cyan earthpony on. She was ushered into the train by a pink pony with an equally pink mane and tail that resembled cotton candy.

“Hiya Dashie! I bet you weren’t expecting to meet me here!” The mare exclaimed.

“Pinke? I thought that you worked for the Cakes at Sugar Cube Corner?”

“Oh I do! And it’s the best job in the world for me! I work several other jobs on the side though. My parents and family aren’t doing so well and I’m sending them as many bits as I can to help out, but rock farming as a business is tanking and I’m worried about what will happen if I can’t help them keep up.” The pink mare said while her mane and tail temporarily deflated, “Oh! But I just know that you are going to have a super de duper good time in Canterlot! Just FYI there’s a little flower that will be overlooked close to the Canterlot stadium, trust me, if you check it out you’ll thank me later.” Pinkie said in a conspiratorial tone.

“Okay?”

“Yep! Now can you point me to the changeling that got on board? I really need to brief him on our mission, but I lost him. Who knew that changelings were so good at hiding!? I bet they are the best at hide-and-seek! So Rainbow do you like hide-and-seek? Oh what am I talking about everypony likes hide-and-seek! Unless you lost somepony then I guess it wouldn’t be too fun, but they’ll still be super happy st the end and…!”

“Pinkie!!”

“Yes Dashie?”

“Don’t you have something you need to do?”

“Of course! Don’t worry my changeling friend! I’m coming!” The pink party mare yelled while running off into a random train car.

The rest of the train ride went on with very little disturbance, except for a foal that was jostled a little too roughly and started to whine. When the train finally arrived at its destination the rainbow maned earthpony gathered her things and made her way onto the platform that was already teaming with ponies boarding the train in order to go to Trottingham.

On dash’s way to the building where she was supposed to meet with her head advisor she noticed a certain pink pony pulling around a rather terrified Pegasus. The earthpony paid no mind to Pinkie’s shenanigans and trotted up to the building that would she would be staying at for the duration of the trip.

The building was just like any other building in Canterlot, its walls were pure white and was accented with golden hued filigree. The building was not what garnered the young mare’s attention though, but the stallion who was in front of her. He was rustic looking and was probably no older then twenty, but his cuie mark of three crowns was what drew her attention.

“Oh hello there my dear! Am I disrupting something?” The stallion asked.

“Uhm… No sir! Mr. Fancy Pants sir!” The mare said in a rather exasperated tone.

“So you’ve heard of me! Well then I am pleasantly surprised. It certainly gets my introduction out of the way, but what pray tell is your name?”

“I-I’m Rainbow Dash…” She stuttered out.

“Really? What a peculiar name for an earthpony. Although most ponies would probably laugh at my name if it weren’t for my reputation. So my young lady what brings you to this fair city?”

“Oh uh… I’m here to help with the research being done on the flowers that cropped up near the stadium.”

“Well then! I wish you the best of luck. It always brings a smile to my face to find young ponies like yourself taking a fine interest in the sciences.”

“Oh thank you Mr. Fancy Pants! Although back home most ponies would probably laugh at me.” The young mare said while tentatively poking a hoof at the ground.

“And why is that my dear? Surely they would understand that your interests are your own and accept you for that. If they don’t respect you then they were never worthy of giving you respect in the first place.”

“Well… It’s just that I don’t want to be labelled as the nerdy plant pony. I’m way too cool for something like that. I’ve managed to grow a tomato that was the size of my own head, and there’s no way I’d be able to live it down with Apple Jack pestering me about being an egghead.”

“A bit of a rivalry I see. Now young filly you need to take your genius in stride! No normal pony can grow a tomato that big without the proper knowledge. If you were to come out with your knowledge in stride, that Apple Jack would be hard pressed my dear. She’d be so jealous that I bet she would storm a library in order to best you. Maybe her sister will even get in on the ordeal.”

“Wait! You know about Apple Jack’s sister?”

“Big Macarena is one of the most renowned rodeo stars! Of course I’ve heard of her! I’ve also heard of the young filly who has been competing with the Apple family and keeping up! You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished! Not many ponies can compete with professionals like that at your age.” The stallion said in reverence.

“I guess you’re right! Thanks for helping me get my priorities focused.” The mare said while feeling a little more confident.

“Think nothing of it! Now I must be off, I have a date I need to get to and she is quite a feisty one!” The stallion said while kissing Rainbows hoof and trotting off into the distance.

Rainbow Dash was grateful when she got to her accommodations. The train ride had sapped her energy and she would be needing it for the upcoming week and her study of the specimen that they were assigned to. Similar to what Pinkie had asked Rainbow Dash had made sure to get placed on the team that was studying the flower groups closest to the Wonderbolts stadium.

The mare wondered what was so special about those particular flowers, but maybe she would be pleasantly surprised. Sleep came slowly and she found herself dreaming about Pinkie kissing a gryphon and then a changeling pulled Pinkie away and had her continue on with their mission to protect Canterlot from aliens.

The next day came with the rather unpleasant ringing of her alarm clock, a device that she had grown to hate. Dash was grateful that her dream had ended when it did, she didn’t want to dream about Pinkie banging a gryphon…again. After the incessant ringing was stopped she made her way downstairs and prepared to head to the stadium along with the rest of her crew.

The Wonderbolt stadium was packed like it always was, but Dash didn’t care about the show. She was too busy looking at the flower that had her attention completely drawn to it. It was right next to the stadium and the spot was open to a small section of the raceway.

The flower itself was a deep iridescent blue that glowed faintly in the morning light. White specks were dotted all along the petals like stars in the night sky. The whole flower shimmered like nothing on the mortal plane was capable of harming its beauty. The flower made the young pony feel happy and also a little bit hungry.

The cyan earth pony began to write down all of the features of the flower and the nature of its presence. What concerned the mare the most about the flower was that the stars on its glowing petals seemed to move and align themselves into known constellations. The glowing green stem was almost completely transparent and was unaffected by physical contact.

The flower seemed to be made of pure ethereal energy that resonates with the night. Dash knew that further testing after dark and a few aura scans were underway in order to determine if it truly was part of the night. The mare continued working on observing the rare flower, unaware that a Wonderbolt was coming in for a landing nearby.

Soarin was still a young Wonderbolt and was happily performing with the rest of his team. That was until he pulled a muscle in his wing and had to land nearby before he lost control. The stallion knew he was an idiot for skipping the warmups, but there was an unattended piece of pie lying around with his name on it. The Wonderbolt began to stretch the wing out and knew from the pain that he wasn’t going to be resuming the performance anytime soon.

The young Wonderbolt looked around to make sure nopony was watching him while trying to alleviate the pain in his wing. He tried to stretch it every way he knew how to, but he either made the pain worse or did nothing to it at all. While the Wonderbolt was trying so desperately to alleviate the pain in his wings a Cyan earthpony who was looking at a flower noticed him.

Rainbow Dash approached the Wonderbolt and noticed that whatever he was doing with his wings wasn’t working. The cyan mare continued to trot over to him until she was close enough to see how tense his muscles were.

“Hey buddy! Do you need any help?!” Rainbow yelled.

“Oh! Uhh…”

Rainbow didn’t wait for him to answer and grabbed his wings and kneaded the tense muscles. The mare did this until both wings were relaxed before popping one of the wings back where it belonged. How he had even managed to pull one of his wings out of socket while stretching was beyond the mare. Rainbow Dash carefully examined the rest of his body in case of any other injury.

When Rainbow Dash was satisfied with her work she went over to her bag and pulled out a few herbs that she had brought in case of an emergency and created an ointment to help the Wonderbolt heal. Soarin was embarrassed that a mare had just helped him like that after causing more injury to himself. When the ointment was applied the Wonderbolt stayed still while examining the mare that was helping him.

Rainbow wasn’t an overly muscular mare, probably due to her sedentary life of tending to potted plants, but she still had an athletic build to her. Her plot was graced with an image of a cloud that had a rainbow colored lightning bolt coming from it. Her eyes were a deep cerise that seemed to emulate pools of wine, while her mane and tail were graced with the colors of the rainbow, a pegasus’ most beautiful creation.

“Hey! Eyes off of the eye candy!” Rainbow said indignantly, “Now that I’ve fixed your wings up you can return to whatever it was you were doing.”

“Oh I’m so sorry! Maybe… if you want to that is, maybe you could join me later for some dinner at a donut shop I know.” The stallion said sheepishly.

“Alright but you’re paying!”

“Deal!”

(_0_==============================================_0_)

Rainbow Dash, aside from having dinner with a stallion that she just met, was having a relatively good time. Soarin was trying to talk to her about things like what Celestia has the Wonderbolts do or other things like that. Rainbow Dash wasn’t paying too much attention to that though, to be honest it bored her to listen about Pegasus sports.

The stallion across from her was starting to notice her discomfort and decided to take a different approach to the situation.

“Uhm… what is it that you like miss…”

“Rainbow Dash, Yes I know the name is odd but that’s what you get in a family of Pegasus ponies. As for my interests I enjoy botany, caring for plants, and creating medical salves or ointments. I seriously doubt that you would be able to comprehend any of the stuff involved.”

“You might be surprised about what I know. I’ve heard that you’ve caused quite a stir in the farming community with your talents. What exactly is your talent by the way?”

“Precision watering and plant maintenance at any speed required of me. The cloud represents my ability to care to the watering aspect of plants while the lightning bolt represents the precision and speed at which I can perform.” The young mare gloated.

“Really? I’ve heard of a cutie-mark having multiple meanings, especially when earned by ponies of a different tribe, but I never though plants would be linked to a cutie-mark with that imagery. You must be a very special pony to get such a cutie-mark.”

“Stop with the flattery, I know that all you want to do is get me in the sack. Well it’s not working.”

“I’m sorry if it seemed like I was coming off that way. I wouldn’t imagine doing something like that immediately.”

“You’re a Wonderbolt! I bet you have mares lining up to get a shot at you.”

“Not really. I’m just the Wonderbolt who always comes in last or injures himself. I was good enough for the team, just not the expectations of the crowd.” Soarin said dejectedly.

“Cheer up. I was embarrassed about my plant thing, but you have no reason to live up to another’s expectations. Being a Wonderbolt means that you’ve already succeeded in a way.”

“That’s true I guess, but what if I never find that mare that’s right for me?”

“Hey, don’t you ever give up! You hear me? If you give up how will you ever expect to grasp your dreams?”

“Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate them. Really. I’m sorry if this sounds intrusive, but… what do you dream about?”

For once during the conversation Rainbow Dash was drawing a blank. What is it that I dream about? The mare began to ponder the question and decided maybe asking Soarin the same question would buy her some time.

“Uhm… I’d prefer it if you answer your own question first.” The cyan mare asked.

“I dream that one day I will meet my very special somepony and that we will be together and have a family.”

This startled the mare out of her thought. She knew that he had been acting oddly sentimental and mushy for a first date, but she had never noticed how attractive he was before. Sure he was a Wonderbolt and physically fit, but something about him seemed to penetrate deeper than his appearance at that moment.

“That’s a nice dream.” Rainbow Dash replied, “I just wish I had a dream that was worth dreaming about. My head is empty and I have nothing to shoot for.”

“Surely there’s something for you out there.”

“No. There isn’t. All that lies before me is farm life, probably one of the biggest wastes of my talents.”

“Why would that be waste?”

“It’s a waste because of what I can do. Nopony can compete with my plant raising skills, I just don’t want it to be squandered on a farm where it will be hardly appreciated or looked at.”

“Well, no matter what you decide to do with your life I’m certain your skills will be put to good use. If it makes you feel better, you mentioned that you like botany.”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“Well, I’ve heard that botanists do all kinds of things. They research plants and depending on which part of the field you go into you can make hybrids or make new medicines. Your talents would be welcomed there I bet.”

Rainbow Dash considered his words. They rang true and her skills would be useful in most aspects of a botanist’s career. She felt a warmness inside from the insight and care that the stallion seemed to be showing towards her. He also knew what it felt like to be rejected because he didn’t meet expectations, he just wasn’t afraid of it though. She wasn’t sure where their lives would go from here, but she was willing to let him be a part of it.

“Thank you… for helping me see what I’ve overlooked. I’m sorry if… I mean… What I want to say is… maybe we can make a relationship work. We’ll just date and go around and see how things go, and if they don’t work out we won’t have any reason to regret our decisions.” The cyan earthpony said hesitantly.

“Th-thank you. You are the first mare to ever want a relationship with me other than sex. I just hope that I can live up to your expectations… egghead” Soarin said with a joking tone at the end.

“Alright, but let’s not get this mopey again. It’s depressing.”

“I’ll try.”

That evening bore witness to two ponies happily walking along Canterlot’s moon washed streets. The pair reluctantly parted ways when they reached the residence that Rainbow Dash was staying at. The stallion, grateful for having been given a chance, and the mare, who was happy to have somepony who at least knew how she felt, kissed under the light of the rising moon. Somewhere in the background a pink pony and a changeling were watching the sight. The changeling sighed and handed the pink pony fifty bits.

The rest of the year was perfect for the young couple. Soarin would take Rainbow Dash out on romantic evenings and Rainbow Dash would present him with one of her homegrown roses. Their nights were tame excursions of either theater or music, something that Rainbow insisted on. The two were growing closer each day and Rainbow knew it wouldn’t be long before he decided to propose.

(_0_==============================================_0_)

Rainbow Dash woke up refreshed and delighted that her dreams were filled with her lover. This dream was different than some of the others though, in the dream they were already wed and they were happily entertaining three foals of their own. The foals were concerned for their mother though and it felt as if a weight was placed upon her.

The dream ended abruptly with only the image of a honeycomb, a gear, and a starburst lingering in her mind. The images haunted Rainbow Dash throughout the morning, but they were quickly forgotten when she remembered the date that she was going on today. Rainbow Dash made a visit over to the boutique in town, today was going to be special she just knew it.

The owner of the boutique, a stallion named Elusive, took the mare’s measurements and began to work on her outfit. Rainbow Dash could almost make out crying in the back ground and decided to ask Elusive about it when he returned with her dress. Normally Rainbow Dash hated dresses, but this wasn’t for her, it was Soarin. When Rainbow Looked at herself in the mirror she was pleased with the work and proceeded to ask Elusive her question while paying him his money.

“Uhm I’m sorry Mr. Elusive, but I can’t help but notice that there is somepony crying upstairs.”

“Sorry deary, that’s just my five year old sister Sweetie Belle. She received some rather tragic news today and isn’t taking it well, she’ll be better by tomorrow though.” Elusive said while ushering Rainbow dash to the door.

Rainbow Dash was sure the young filly was alright and continued on her way to the Canterlot train station. Pinkie was there again, but this time she seemed a little more antsy than usual. She came up to Rainbow Dash and it appeared that she wanted to tell her something, but she also appeared to be trying not to say anything and all that Pinkie wound up doing was making a bunch of faces.

When Rainbow Dash arrived in Canterlot she easily blended in with the dress that she was wearing. She made sure to head to the restaurant that they were to meet up at and made it there a little bit early. When Soarin arrived she greeted him and promptly sat down with him.

“So… notice anything different?” The cyan mare asked.

“I was wondering why you decided to wear a dress like that to a burger joint.”

“Why don’t you guess?”

“Well may…”

Whatever the Wonderbolt was going to say was cut off when a pony ran in and started screaming about an attack on the palace. The stallion gave Rainbow an apologetic look and flew out the door to perform his duty as a Wonderbolt. Rainbow chased after him though, today was supposed to be the day that she proposed. Now she was fuming at the idiot who was stupid enough to attack the castle.

Rainbow Dash ran towards the castle, chasing the stallion that she loved. All that she could see around her were screaming ponies running in the other direction. The young mare laughed at them for being afraid until a blast of dark colored magic whizzed by her head and blew apart the second floor of a building.

Shrapnel cascaded down around the mare but she pressed on hoping to find her stallion. Somewhere deep inside her mind Rainbow Dash was asking why she was running headlong into a fight she had no business being in. The other parts of her mind were screaming that he needed her now more than ever. She would not betray her loyalty to him like she did with her parents, she would be there with him.

As the cyan blur approached the castle the devastation that was being wrought became more and more appalling. If an illiterate pony were to guess what was happening they would think that Celestia’s brother who became Nightmare Nebula came back. Rainbow Dash knew that this wasn’t the case, it was too early in the year for his return, and this was a preemptive strike from supporters of the night.

The mare continued to run trying to distract the unicorns that were throwing blasts of dark magic her way. The mare narrowly avoided being crushed by a collapsing building when Pinkie showed up to give her a push. The pink mare vanished as quickly as she had appeared and the young mare managed to get to the castle gates.

Centuries of paranoia from Celestia had caused a large wall to be built around her castle. The wall was about as thick as two buildings placed side by side, and the night loyalists had managed to blow the gates apart. The guards were missing and the whole castle was eerily quiet. Blood was splattered against the walls and more horrors awaited the young mare beyond the broken gates.

The palace’s courtyard gardens were flooded with blood and the bodies of dead guards were littered everywhere. The gates to the palace were open and undamaged, but blood was dripping down onto the floor before the entrance from an impaled Pegasus just above it. The inside of the palace was just as quiet as the courtyard, blood splattered along the walls were a grim reminder of what had happened.

The pantries that the young mare passed were horrific and gruesome. The bakers and prepares of the food had been slaughtered using their own tools. One poor pony had even been baked into a pie that was cooling on one of the tables. The young mare resisted the urge to vomit and trudged onward fearing what monster was capable of this.

Rainbow kept trotting through the painted halls of the castle almost completely lost. After another sighting of a potted plant that Rainbow Dash swore she had seen three times already the mare sat down on her haunches and looked around. The halls were testaments to the amount of blood a pony had in their bodies, and the trails that dark magic had left were rather obvious. In fact the dark magic blasts all seemed to be heading in a single direction.

The mare followed the scorch marks, cursing herself for being an idiot the entire time, and promptly stopped when she heard voices. One voice was her lovers and the rest were either the other Wonderbolts or their foes. When the mare peeked inside the room she noticed that all of the Wonderbolts other than Soarin had been bound with dark magic. There was only one enemy within the room though and it made Rainbow Dash quiver in fear.

Within the room stood princess Cellestia’s most faithful student, a stallion who had originally been a mare, Dusk Shine. The stallion was standing there with Barb lazily standing nearby. The young dragoness had obviously been forcibly aged up into what appeared to be a teenager, while her feminine attributes had obviously been enhanced. Dusk Shine was glaring daggers at Soarin who was doing the same right back at Dusk Shine.

“Back down fiend.” Soarin demanded.

“Why should I? Your interruption was all the distraction that I needed to bind your co-workers here. Surely you pose no threat to me.”

“Try me.”

“I’d think not. Celestia has been freaking out in her tower for over three-thousand years and a little gift for her brother is in order.”

“I should have guessed that you were a moon worshipper!”

“We are all children of the night my dear stallion. When Artemis was rejected by his own sister and had nopony to love, we mortals were there to satisfy his desires. All ponies are now his descendants and we must honor our father.”

“I don’t care who our great grandpa is! You are not harming the princess!”

“Oh my poor stallion the damage was wrought long before I ever found favor under the sun. The sun is weakening and I am insuring my claim to the throne by aligning myself with the stronger power.”

“Oh really! I’d like to see how you would deal with an insane alicorn bearing down on you!”

“Trust me I have my ways. I will please the night and help him guide us to a proper world.”

“When he became the nightmare and fought Celestia the world was kept dark for five-hundred years!”

“He was angry and upset. We may have begun to starve and freeze, but our coats grew thicker and our teeth grew sharper. Our eyes became more privy to the night and we became more like our thestral brothers. He blessed us with more of his power that way and his magnificence was revealed in greater glory to us! I changed my form to emulate his glory and I am stronger now than ever before!”

“You’re insane! If you think that he was seriously trying to help us he wouldn’t have done that!”

“You bore me. As the last caretaker of the great king’s diary I am privy to all of his inner thoughts and know how he works. I will give him his proper throne and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

Dusk Shine lit up his horn channeling dark energy into it and fired the blast at a dumbfounded Soarin. The stallion was unable to move while the blast neared him, he silently hoped that Celestia would stop this. Suddenly a blur of motion rammed into Soarin clearing him off the blast. Shrapnel erupted from the wall behind the stallion raining debris on all that were present.

Soarin looked at his savior and the explosion of debris going on behind her and nearly fainted from shock. The two quickly recollected themselves and faced the stallion that had attacked the two. Dusk Shine only smirked and turned around while leaving causing a black cape that he had worn for just the occasion to billow behind him. Barb took the hint and followed him while setting fires all throughout the room that the ponies were in.

Rainbow Dash was now officially panicking and running around while fire continued to block any form of exit. The heat was beginning to sap the life out of the poor mare and the rest of the Wonderbolts weren’t doing too well either. Soarin was frantically looking for an exit and gulped when he noticed the barred window that had flames dancing in front of it.

The rest of the room was beginning to buckle and bits of the ceiling were beginning to cave in. Sorain cursed Celestia for using stone and marble for only the large halls and rooms when the doors were blocked off by the crumbling ceiling. Soarin was running out of ideas and his feathers were gradually being singed by the approaching flames.

Meanwhile Celestia was lying in her royal bedchambers curled into a quivering ball under her covers. The princess was always a nervous wreck anyways, she knew that everpony was out to get her, and there would be no denying it. Sugar helped to distract her fear addled mind, but she was under siege right now. Dusk Shine, her most faithful student who was turned into a stallion after an accident, had come in earlier and reassured her that she would be fine.

“Why… Why would I be fine! I’m hunted! Hunted!! The eyes they are always watching me… hoping for me to fall *Cough*… Even my precious sun is against me… Can’t run! Can’t hide! It always follows me! Make it go away! Please… JUST STOP FOLLOWING ME!!!” The alicorn screamed at an empty room.

She had leapt out of her bead and was scanning the room with eyes the size of pinpricks. Her windows were all bricked up, like she had made them, and blackout curtains hung heavily before them. The room was silent and the solar alicorn was scanning every shadow and corner of her almost completely sterile room. Then she rolled back into her bead and placed her hooves over her eyes.

“It always watches, even though it has no eyes. I can tell that it’s looking at me. *Cough* I-I’m scared… Always scared… *Cough* I just hope Dusk Shine can deal with this mess…”

The alicorn continued to quiver in her bed, blissfully unaware of the events that were going elsewhere in the castle, While Soarin had started to ram the barred window in the burning room. Rainbow Dash was helping the other Wonderbolts get to their hooves after their bindings were released. Rainbow Dash suspected that Dusk Shine knew that the bonds were no longer needed.

The mare eagerly rushed to her colt-friend and looked at the window he was trying to bust through. She sighed and grabbed a bit of twisted metal nearby and nearly dropped it from the heat in it. She wasn’t going to drop it though and ran towards the window and began using the metal piece to pry against the bars.

Soarin joined in and the rest of the Wonderbolts began to grab things to help. The bars on the window groaned and creaked, but they eventually gave in and were broken off of the window. The Wonderbolts eagerly escaped leaving Soarin to pick up the mare that had helped save his life.

When the duo joined the rest of the Wonderbolts they were coughing and trying to stay steady. The mare looked up at her colt-friend and smiled at him. They had escaped that crazy stallions clutches, but him still running around was bothering her. When they landed on the ground she decided to finally ask a few questions that had started forming in her mind.

“What are we going to do about that monster of a stallion?”

“What can we do? This was nothing more than a blood sacrifice to Nightmare Nebula while showing his devotion. He already slaughtered everypony in the castle except for the princess. Knowing him he will leave the princess alone for the Nightmare to deal with.” One of the Wonderbolts said.

“But surely something will be done right?! There is no way a stallion that insane is going to just get away with this!”

“He can and he will… Now all that has to do is set up a memory spell and we will forget he was ever tied to the attack. We will only remember a shadow where he once was, he has won.” Soarin said dejectedly.

“But… I don’t want to forget about what he’s done… I love you too much to let him get away with this!”

“It’s already started.” Another Wonderbolt said while a purple glow enveloped the city.

(_0_==============================================_0_)

The next few weeks were quite frantic for Rainbow Dash. She was preparing for her wedding and her colt-friend was leaving the Wonderbolts in order to pursue a safer line of work. Her life was hectic enough as it was without Canterlot being in an uproar about an unknown assailant on the castle. Sometimes Rainbow dash wondered if the ponies up there were ever prepared. That didn’t matter right now though all that mattered was that she was the happiest mare alive and nothing was going to take that from her.

Ch 3: The Darkness that Lurked in the past

[Approximately 9 years after the death of Rainbow Dash’s parents]

Rainbow Dash woke up feeling exhausted, but at least she was a little happy after having a nice dream about her parents, something that had started to become a common occurrence. She went downstairs and ate a hearty, but picky, breakfast while making sure that she spent enough quality time with her relatives and husband. She felt almost afraid that she would lose them to another tragic accident or to some other act of misfortune, or that she would be the one to die. Ahead of her was a particularly boring day and she was aware of it. It was the day that all of the ponies in her class would be evaluated in order to pass into the next grade, if she decided to pursue college, which she was.

Fluttershy was there and had already passed her flight test with flying colors and was waiting for Rainbow Dash when she arrived. She was now quite tall compared to Rainbow Dash and stood almost a head taller than her, and could look most stallions in the eye if not look down on them. The yellow Pegasus smiled at Rainbow Dash when she noticed the arrival of her friend.

“Hey Fluttershy! Did I miss anything important?” The prismatic mare asked.

“No, but the Pegasus named Derpy managed to pass the obstacle course that the flight test has, even with her bad eyesight.” The butter pegasus noted.

“Uh…her real name is Ditzy and I don’t like it when others call her Derpy anymore. It just doesn’t feel right calling her that when the bullies used that nickname to harass her every day.”

“Oh…Sorry I didn’t know. I’ve always heard her being called Derpy and I never asked her for her name I just assumed that was her real name.” Fluttershy said while sounding hurt.

“It’s alright. Only those that get really close to her ever know her real name. I’m happy that things turned out for the best for her, especially since I nearly killed her during that race.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at this, trying to mask the guilt behind having hurt the poor mare when they were younger. Despite having been hit full on by Rainbow Dash and taking the brunt of the collision with the ground, Derpy had managed to survive. Rainbow Dash never told anypony about the incident, and never tried to race without paying attention to her surroundings again because of it. Derpy looked happy at the other end of the stadium and was chatting happily with her friends, almost oblivious to the fact that there was one missing.

Rainbow dash knew that by now the disabled Pegasus had gotten over the death of her friend, but Rainbow Dash hadn’t. She felt guilty about what had happened, and that Fluttershy could have met the same fate. But she knew next to nothing about what happened to her friend that day. It irked her not knowing what happened after she fell off of that cliff.

Rainbow Dash asked her about what she thought of the autopsy on the corpse, and about how the blood in the veins had been drained out before she was discovered. Fluttershy claimed that she didn’t know why the blood was gone, but Rainbow Dash felt that her friend knew more about that filly’s tragic death than she let on. She wanted to ask a few more questions but she only received the same answers. She didn’t want to bother the yellow mare too much, but she just had to ask her one last time before her test.

“Fluttershy… What happened the day that I knocked you off of that cliff face?”

“I’ve already told you, I don’t know anything about what happened to the poor dear, and I’ve already explained what happened to me. There really isn’t anything else to talk about.”

“I know, but sometimes I feel that you know more than what you are letting on.” The cyan earth pony stated.

“Rainbow, even if I did see her die it would have been very traumatic, I don’t think anypony would want to talk about it.”

“So, you did see something that had to do with the mare?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Rainbow you’re going to miss your test, I wouldn’t want you to fail because you missed it.” The shy mare advised.

Rainbow Dash knew that she was avoiding the question but Fluttershy was right and she did need to get onto the track. Fluttershy watched uneasily as Rainbow Dash walked down to the obstacle course. She knew that there wasn’t anything to worry about though. Unlike a Pegasus Rainbow Dash didn’t have to worry about dying if she failed, she would only lose the scholarship that was going to pay for her education. Fluttershy still hoped that her friend would get the scholarship even if there weren’t lives at stake.

As Rainbow Dash took off and began to go through all of the hurdles that were in front of her and go around all of the obstacles. The Rainbow haired Earth pony easily jumped over all of the hurdles that were on the ground and kept going. Fluttershy almost wondered why Rainbow Dash even decided to come to Cloudsdale anymore, she lived in Ponyville for the most part. The only reason that Rainbow Dash even came to Cloudsale was to attend the multi-tribal school in order to get a botany degree. As much as Rainbow Dash had originally hated Eggheads she had started to develop an interest in the field of botany, especially after finding out that Racing wasn’t a very highly honored or well paying field in the Equestrain games.

Unfortunately Rainbow Dash couldn’t afford college and was hoping to pass the Cloudsdale track course in order to get an athletic scholarship. Fluttershy almost found it funny that one little race gave Rainbow dash the initiative to study botany and now here she was running through an obstacle course in order to get a scholarship. As Rainbow Dash began to clear the last few parts of the course Fluttershy just smiled and began to think of the day that the Sonic Rainboom happened.

(_o_============================================_o_)

It was the day of the big race, and Rainbow Dash was racing for her honor, Fluttershy was so happy that someone was finally standing up for her. She walked up to the center lane and started the race as a courtesy to her friend and was knocked off almost immediately. She fell, and the world tumbled around her as she flipped through the air, she knew she was dead and braced herself for the impact that was inevitable. The impact never came though, through some miracle, or Deus ex Machina, she had managed to land on a swarm of butterflies and avoid certain death.

She was surprised that the butterflies were even managing to support her weight, let alone catch her. But when she looked into the distance she noticed a Zebra chanting something. Fluttershy internally thanked the Zebra for having noticed her and saved her from certain death, even if his presence there was uncanny.

The Zebra looked at her and smiled, it was a kind one, not too cruel but not too friendly either. The Zebra was about to say something, but she was interrupted when a loud bang went off, and scared away all of the animals. Fluttershy went and comforted them and gained her cutie-mark. She talked sweetly to the animals and calmed them down that was until a high pitched scream pierced the air as another young filly fell from the cloud banks. The filly was a friend of Derpy’s, but not many other ponies considered her to be their friend. It was probably hard for the filly having only one friend but Fluttershy had the animals to think about.

The Zebra suddenly showed up next to Fluttershy and removed his hood. Startling the young mare, and also thoroughly intrigued her as well. The Zebra smiled at her this time it was much warmer and it felt almost welcoming. She didn’t know shy but Fluttershy felt safe next to this stranger.

“I am Zecoro young one, but I am afraid that our work is not done. That filly falls through the air, our job is to make sure that her death lies there. My gods brought me to you, in order to let you know what you must do. Let the filly die, and I will then show you why.”

Fluttershy looked up at the Zebra and then at the falling filly and the animals that were beginning to notice. She didn’t want to let that filly die but she knew that the Zebra could just as easily kill her. Zecoro, who was becoming impatient, decided that he should encourage Fluttershy.

“I was sent here to save your dark power, but please don’t be dour. My gods sent me to grant you power, if you do this you will soon become their dark flower. Only a shower of blood will suffice, now is not the time to be nice. If she does not die, your power will from here fly. Your power will grow with the spilling of blood, just make sure this is a flood. It was those bullies that caused you to fall down here, this power will make you the one they fear.”

Fluttershy felt weak, power, it was something she had never had, but she had always wanted it. She had never been able to stand up to the bullies, or fly well, and now this Zebra, who claims to be sent by the gods, wants to give it to her. All she has to do is make sure the filly dies, and then she will be able to stand up to those bullies, and maybe even be able to fly well. However, she wasn’t going to let the filly die at her hooves and shook her head no.

“You dare to defy me, a mistake as you shall soon see. If she does not die for me, I will take your mane, wrap it around your throat and hang you on a tree.” The Zebra threatened.

Fluttershy nearly wet herself at the threat and she complied with the zebra’s demands, even if she hated every step of it. She made sure that none of the animals were watching what would happen, and she looked up with tear streaked eyes at the filly that was going to die.

“No one will know that I was here and now I will be able to stand up for myself. I’ll be able to fly well, maybe I’ll be able to do anything. Oh…who am I kidding! I’m a horrible pony and I’m going to be executed for murder.” Maybe she was anticipating horrible things more than she ought to, but she was a filly after all, and she was letting her mind and guilt fill in the blanks.

Zecoro smiled as the screaming filly drew closer to the ground and noted that the filly’s flapping wings were making the decent take longer until the filly had started to fly. Zecoro cursed under his breath, but with a quick incantation the filly’s wings snapped like twigs causing a shriek of pain to ring out through the clearing as blood began to spurt from the appendages.

“Now she dies, and I will get my prize,” Zecoro whispered under his breath.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[Warning Death by falling]

Time was going in slow motion for the filly, and she could see just about everything from her position. It was a little fun, she noted, but most ponies would use a parachute. She was scared, the ground was approaching and she was going too fast. She suddenly remembered that she could fly and threw her wings out to full length and began to flap them frantically. She slowed down and was beginning to become relieved until, by some cruel trick of nature, both of her wings snapped in half causing the bones to pierce through her skin.

The filly screamed out in pain as she began to go into a corkscrew-like descent, causing blood to spray everywhere as she plummeted. She tried to straighten herself out again, just to try and delay the inevitable, but her wing-bones were nothing but razor thin shards that cut into her flesh from the inside. Searing pain flooded her brain causing the world to dim, while tears began to flow from her eyes as the pain became too much to bear. As the ground came closer she said a final goodbye to her family and friends, and anticipated the end.

She plowed straight into the solid ground headfirst tearing the skin along her face. She winced as her face was being ripped away, allowing the rocks to chip her teeth while she skidded. Her head then plowed straight into a rock shattering her jawbone, the pain inside of the filly’s head was too much too bear. The filly would have screamed if she could have moved her jaw at the time, but the ground was trying to force itself into her mouth.

The filly then slid off an embankment and fell another one-hundred feet. This time her skull collided with a rock, causing a sickening crack to echo through the air and the Filly’s vision to go away temporarily. Shards of bone and blood were the last things that filly saw before her brain was smashed into goo, but even after that there was still just a small amount of life left in her, slowly draining away with the rest of her bodily fluids. She lay there, barely alive. Pain was all that existed for her now and she wished that she could die faster, as what was left of her brain slowly oozed out of her skull along with most of her blood. She felt searing pain along her belly and a feeling that her whole body was letting out blood, “Please make the pain go away mommy,” was the very last thing she said as the world faded away into darkness, and then with one last strained breath she died.

Fluttershy felt terrible, had she really just allowed a pony to die? Would this power really be worth it? She tried to look away from the gruesome scene that was before her, but Zecoro wanted Fluttershy to go down there with him in order to complete the ritual that his gods had given him.

The image in front of the two was a gory one. Bits of bone and flesh were splattered here and there but the body was still intact and had retained some blood. The filly’s stomach was visible from where a sharp rock had ripped open her belly and her intestines were spilling out. Fluttershy nearly gagged at this, but Zecoro was still getting closer and at last he spoke.

“Child, of her blood you must now drink, this will give you more power than you can think. Steal her power and you will grow, now trust me this is not going to be a disappointing show. You have had blood in those candies yes, then don’t let this bother you with its mess.”

Fluttershy was hesitant, it was true that she knew what went into the rainbow bars, but she had never drank blood straight before. Her father always told her it was to keep weather stable and that it was to preserve the integrity of their race, but would this make her happy? She doubted it, but she had no real choice, if she refused the Zebra would probably kill her too, Zecoro did easily grind the filly’s wings to dust after all and he had already threatened her.

Fluttershy slowly dipped her head down to the congealing liquid and began to drink it, almost scolding herself for doing something so gross and abhorrent. She nearly gagged at first, it was slimy and tasted like metal, almost coppery, but Fluttershy knew it was Iron that she was tasting. The next gulp came a little easier and she continued, it began to feel almost pleasant, but she still didn’t like the taste or the feel of it, and then the blood was gone. She almost felt sad that it was all gone but that only meant that she had pleased the Zebra and that she was going to get the power that she was promised. She heard Zecoro begin chanting something that made her skin crawl just by the sound of the words he was uttering, if they could even be called words.

That’s when she felt it, power coursing through her veins, it felt warm but it also felt dark, and evil. It was as if two different types of power were entering her being and cementing themselves deep within her. She felt all of the filly’s power enter her and she even saw the filly’s cutie-mark flash upon her own flank before it disappeared underneath her own. She felt strong and she knew that there was more power where it came from. The energy coursing through her body from the filly slowly died down while the dark energy began to flow even faster.

Fluttershy felt like the dark energy was going to make her burst like a balloon but she stayed together as the last bits of evil power soaked into her soul. She felt sick but powerful, almost divine in a way. She gave her wings a few flaps and found that flying was relatively simple for her now, but she wanted more. She wanted to feel even stronger and that Zebra had the key, but now all she had to do was take it.

“I see that you like your power, if you consume even more you will bloom into a larger flower. But when you grow old their power will go, and youth into you will flow. Immortality is not what it is good for, that my dear child requires the crystal of lore. It was a gift from the evil gods I serve in hate, it will all effects of age eliminate. But now you know how to consume power, may your own darkness make others feel quite sour. I was sent by my evil gods to save you from death, but I still require you pay me my due as long as you have breath. I need you to take over the factory and make it more, and with it search for the crystal of lore.”

Fluttershy looked at Zecoro sternly and spoke her mind, “No. I am sorry Mister Zecoro but I will not factorize the murder of foals. I wish to do other things with my life, even if it means disappointing you and my parents”

“My dear child, you are not that mild. You have seen those machines do their deed, and the money gained should be enough to fill your need. You are not innocent and your powers are dark, now all you need to do is give that factory a spark. You will have time to pursue your dream, but on the side you can make that factory gleam.”

Fluttershy didn’t want to admit anything to the Zebra but he was right. Fluttershy was far from innocent and had even watched the foals get slaughtered right before her. The truth was that she didn’t trust Zecoro, and she didn’t want to listen to him either. But maybe Zecoro could teach her a few things about her dark powers, things that will allow her to make sure that she doesn’t get bullied again. Or maybe she could get some more power by doing something else for the Zebra.

“Mister Zecoro, if it would be fine with you, I would like to learn everything there is to know about my new powers. I would also like it if you taught me how to gain more of it as well.”

“Hmm, it seems your power has curbed your fear, now come with me my dear. I have so much to teach and so little time, I’m sure your parents won’t mind.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

Fluttershy grew stronger and more impure under the tutelage of the Zebra and eventually impressed her father with her new powers. Her parents even began to pay Zecoro for the lessons that he was providing and Fluttershy soon became the spitting image of both of her parents by the time she was twelve years old. She laughed at the misfortune of those who were unlucky enough to be fed to the machines and eventually began to call death the greatest kindness to give to those who are unable to pass the flight test.

As time went on Fluttershy took over the Factory completely and allowed her parents to retire. She was now seventeen and had full control of the personnel and all of the workers that her parents owned. After having drank so much blood she began to grow fangs and feed off of the workers when they could spare a few drops. It almost felt like she had the world completely under her control, she had even managed to convince her old teachers that the disappearance of all of the bullies were a mere coincidence.

She gloated to herself and lounged back in her leather chair allowing herself to mentally prepare for the flight test that she wasn’t even required to take. That’s when she remembered her friend Rainbow Dash and decided that she should feel the same power that she did.

“Even if Rainbow Dash refuses, I will make her change her mind,” Fluttershy smiled allowing her newly grown fangs to show. “Maybe I’ll even let her have a job, I am the kindest pony there is after all.” She chuckled to herself at the thought. She smiled as she thought of ponies looking up to her as the kindest pony that they had ever met and then curse her name as they died in her factory.

She almost felt bad for them. Almost. She had lost the ability to care before she turned thirteen and she reveled in the fact that she had fangs, a manifestation of her cruelty and her diet. They almost made her think of those vampire novels she liked, the really gruesome ones where the vampire drains their victims of all life. She loved them so much because it made vampires into the monsters that she hoped they would be, and she reveled in the gruesomeness of them all. She did try reading the ones that became exceptionally popular recently, but she hated them, it completely made vampires into something she detested, and considered them blasphemy against that sacred race.

She knew she wasn’t a real vampire, not yet at least. She checked to see if she had contracted vampirism when her fangs grew in but she turned up negative. She considered herself to technically be a pseudo-vampire that gained her fangs through drinking the blood of others. She really didn’t care what she was though, all she wanted was to do her job, feed when she felt the urge, and feed her power addiction.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

The Rainbow maned earth pony continued avoiding the obstacles as she remembered when she first told Fluttershy that she wanted to pursue botany. It started quite innocently, she was just in another earth pony biology class and she had started to find that the various uses of plants were quite interesting. The next year when they went into more detail on plant anatomy and structure and that’s when Rainbow Dash had started finding herself reading ahead in the textbook when she was only supposed to read one chapter.

Rainbow Dash had hidden the fact that she had taken up an interest in plants, especially if ponies began to think that she was turning into an egghead. Being labeled an egghead embarrassed Rainbow Dash to no end and she played dumb for a little while, even after her marriage, until she let some knowledge accidently slip when talking about Aloe Vera and sunburns with another pony. The pony in question was a friend of Ditzy’s that had been sleeping in the sun too long and woke looking more like a lobster than a pony. The pony, much to Rainbow Dash’s surprise, didn’t ridicule her but thanked her for the information and almost hugged Rainbow Dash, but she quickly decided not to do that with a sunburn.

After that ponies began to come around Rainbow Dash and ask her about herbal remedies for some common illnesses. The mare was knowledgeable enough to the point that most ponies were satisfied and the rest were pointed to somepony else who would have the answer. After the constant questions, praise, and strokes to her ego for her help Rainbow Dash began to accept her interests and began to pursue them whole heartedly.

When she became a senior in High school she had already gotten enough credits in biology and required studies to finish college a year early, but her problem was affording college. Apparently the hospital bills that needed to be paid after the cliff incident with Ditzy had put her family in a financial bind. Rainbow Dash made up for it by working part time on local farms with the Golden Acres Carrot Farm that Carrot Top owned being her main employer. When Rainbow Dash wasn’t working on farms she was doing something that Ditzy was known for and helped deliver the mail.

Rainbow Dash made more money doing mail routes and she was known for speedy delivery. Rainbow Dash had even been sent on runs to other cities and had gotten highly recommended that she host an overnight delivery service. Rainbow dash had considered the prospect of operating a delivery service, but her interests were going to keep her preoccupied.

Being a postal worker did keep her in touch with Ditzy most days and she had even gotten over calling her by her real name in public. After talking to each other one afternoon after lunch they found out that their mothers were cousins, which only made Rainbow Dash feel even worse about having hurt her. She did find out that Ditzy had two daughters, one was named Amethyst Star and was born when Ditzy became old enough to reproduce, and another named Dinky who came along at a more appropriate age. Ditzy didn’t like to talk about the events leading up to Amethyst Star’s birth because she had just entered her first heat and she decided that it was a good idea to lay in bed with the first unicorn that she met.

After that Ditzy recollected her values and made sure not to do something that stupid again. Now she had two children a twelve year old Amethyst Star and a six year old Dinky. Ditzy still hated herself for bearing a foal at age twelve and then going into a coma right after it for two years and recovering from the damage in physical therapy for another two years. Amethyst didn’t blame her mother for the tragic accident that befell her, but she still had questions. She wondered how her mother seamed to believe that it was a Pegasus that had hit her mother and her unofficial Aunt Rainbow Dash and everypony else remembers Rainbow Dash knocking her mother off of a cliff.

Amethyst was more concerned for her father and little brother though. They had both went out on his birthday and never returned. Her mother had told her that they went to go live with other family members in order to ease the financial stress that they were under. Amethyst didn’t buy that lie for a minute though, their father was rich and her mother was still receiving large sums of money from him. Amethyst secretly hoped to find out what happened to him even if it meant going behind her mother’s back.

Rainbow loved Ditzy like a sister and Ditzy’s kids were like her own children to the rainbow maned earth pony. As for Rainbow Dash’s athletic desires she was content with participating in rodeos and beating every opponent that came against her, even some chump named Apple Jack. Sometimes she almost hoped that there would be an earth pony Wonderbolts division but that wasn’t going to be a reality for her. In order to even come close to having that kind of team Rainbow Dash would need enough earth ponies with the talent required for high intensity stunts and entertainment, which wasn’t likely.

She didn’t care too much about it anymore though, those farm ponies singing her praises was enough to drive Rainbow Dash to want to become the best rodeo pony alive. Unfortunately it didn’t suit her more major interests as well as she had hoped and she was already the official rodeo queen, which drove Apple Jack insane. Botany was what truly called her name when she didn’t have work to do and her special talent was perfect for the field. Knowing the exact amount of water a plant needs is a godsend in the field when working with delicate plants.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow dash after the mare finally passed the test and licked her lips at the thought of having her work at the factory. She could almost taste the blood that would be spilled under the supervision of her friend and flew over to congratulate the mare on a job well done.

Rainbow Dash nearly jumped out of her skin when Fluttershy appeared out of nowhere. She looked up at her taller friend and smiled while she talked about how she ‘Passed with added flair’. Fluttershy knew the ‘added flair’ was nothing more than Rainbow Dash recovering from a near screw up, but she acknowledged it as the truth anyways. Rainbow Dash talked for hours about her future plans to be botanist and about how her plans would still be good even if Nightmare Nebula came back.

“Rainbow Dash, I want you to work for the Rainbow Factory…if that’s okay with you of course,” The shy Pegasus suggested.

“Huh? ...But what about being a botanist? Even if Nightmare Nebula came back there are still plants that grow best in the dark.”

“You can still study to be a botanist while working for me at the factory…even if things turn out badly for Celestia, That fat oaf.”

“I guess… but what was that last thing you said?”

“Oh I said that your starting salary would be twenty bits an hour and then it would go up to thirty bits an hour. It could become more if you decide to apply yourself. That is if you accept the job.”

Rainbow Dash was nearly drooling at the sound of the salary that she would receive, and to top it off she would be working for her best friend and study botany, it sounded too good to be true. Then the crashing reality of the thought of working in a factory cascaded into her brain.

“Uh…No thanks. Earth ponies with my talents are meant to be outside with plants or on delivery routes. Not cooped up in some dark factory that makes the weather. No offense.”

“Excellent! Now if you’ll just let my men escort you to my carriage we’ll be off. Oh boys it’s time to get my friend ready for her first day tomorrow!”

“Uhm…Fluttershy are you even listening to me?”

Suddenly two stallions appeared from a nearby alley and joined Fluttershy and began to flank her. The stallions soon stood at either side of Fluttershy and stopped, waiting for more orders from the yellow mare.They were almost three inches shorter than the tall mare that employed them and Rainbow Dash looked up to see that Fluttershy was taller than she had originally thought. This realization made Rainbow Dash realize how tall her friend really was and that she was quite small in comparison.

“Uh, Hello! Equestria to Fluttershy! I said that I wasn’t going to work in that factory!”

The stallions walked up to Rainbow Dash after having received a hoof signal from Fluttershy, who was ignoring her friend, and they lead Rainbow Dash over to a black carriage that was parked nearby. Inside of the carriage there were snacks and refreshments for the mare that she had never had the privilege of getting to see let alone taste. They were all high quality goods that only the richest of ponies could afford and they were all laid out on a tray for her in a way that only screamed ‘Eat Me’.

Rainbow Dash looked over the selection of treats before her and tried to find one that wasn’t over a hundred bits in price and failed. She tried to pick a treat from the rich assortment but couldn’t decide on just one and decided instead to take one of everything. She felt guilty about devouring the sweats but they tasted so good, and she needed the large amount of calories anyways. Fluttershy smiled as she climbed in and selected a treat for herself. She called back to the Driver and had him bring out drinks for the duo.

“Sorry about the unexpected company Rainbow Dash, but sometimes I need escorts for my guests.”

“Don’t worry about it, I figured I wasn’t in danger when you told me that they worked for you. You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Hmm…I am afraid you won’t think that much longer about me…here drink this. It will help you accept your new role in life.”

“Well you obviously wasn’t paying attention back there. I said that I wasn’t going to work for you Flutters.”

“Silly Rainbow Dash I already know how excited you are to…Wait!! did you say that you didn’t want to work at the Rainbow factory?”

“Finally! Sorry Flutters but I just can’t stand the thought of working in a factory. I’m an earth pony and unless an earth pony’s talent is specifically related to industry they usually won’t want to work in a factory.”

“It’s thinking like that which puts earth ponies technologically behind the unicorns and pegasi. I don’t want my friend becoming some sort of stereotypical earth pony. If that’s okay with you of course.Being a stereotype usually doesn’t end well.”

“Hey! Even Maud can agree with me that earth ponies rock and most stereotypical earth ponies run farms and speak with an accent. Also it’s not a stereotype if it’s true.”

“You do like to go to rodeos don’t you? As well as work on farms?”

“Well yeah! What kind of earth pony doesn’t like rodeos?”

“You prove my point. You have already become a stereotypical earth pony. You work farms and attend any rodeo that happens to come by town. I just wan’t you to have a better life than that.”

“I never pegged you for a tribalist Fluttershy, but most stereotypical pegasi are aren’t they?”

“That is beside the point, pegasi are shown to be evolutionarily superior to earth ponies and unicorns. Now please let’s stop all of this fighting. I want to help you.”

“There’s no proof that pegasi are evolutionarily superior to anypony. Is that what they teach you in school? That pegasi are the dominant race?”

“Why yes! I thought that you would know that. All pegasi are taught that they are superior to all other races and that only the alicorns can contend with us. It was taught that Celestia and her sister were handed their thrones by those spineless other tribes and that the pegasi had to concede in order to get food so that they wouldn’t starve. Tactics that were labelled as the black dealings were used to bind us to Equestria. Don’t other ponies get taught history like that? Now please let’s stop talking about this and get back to the story. I don’t want to lose you.” The butter Pegasus explained.

“No! F@&% you! I don’t care what you’ve been indoctrinated with. The Fluttershy that I thought I knew viewed all races as equals.”

“Please calm down…You never use this kind of language. I’m sorry please forgive me!” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Ugh! Fine! I guess it’s not your fault that you were taught that all other races should worship your plot.”

“W-would you like some wine? I was going to give it to you for having joined me but I think that you might need to unwind a little. I find that B.O.T.P.P. wine is quite appealing, but if you don’t like it that just means that there is more for me.” Fluttershy quickly filled two glasses and handed one to Rainbow Dash.

“Sorry I can’t drink alcohol Flutters.” The pony said while patting her plump belly.

“Wait did I say wine? I meant juice, it’s a type of Raspberry concoction that is all the rage in Canterlot.”

Rainbow Dash took a sip of the drink and nearly gagged at the taste. This wasn’t any kind of juice that she had ever tasted before, it almost tasted like metal. She tried to smile and drink the rest but found that she could barely bring the cup back to her mouth. She looked to see what Fluttershy was doing and noticed that Fluttershy’s glass was already empty.

The speedster who didn’t want to look like a bad friend, or look like she hated the stuff, downed the glass and coughed as she looked up to see Fluttershy smiling. She also noticed that Fluttershy had fangs, something that she had never expected to see on a pony let alone her best friend. She wanted to ask Fluttershy about the fangs but was interrupted when Fluttershy began to chant something that sounded demonic in nature.

Rainbow Dash felt weird as dark energy flowed into her, corrupting her mind and tainting her thoughts. The only thing that Rainbow dash could think of now was revenge for the death of her parents. She needed to punish every pony that walked through the gates of the factory and make them pay for their failures. She needed to remove all of the ponies that tarnished the name of Cloudsdale and eliminate those who would oppose her. She hadn’t realized it but she had begun to scream out her intentions while under the effects of the strange power. She began to feet oddly powerful as well but she blacked out when Fluttershy rammed her hoof into rainbow Dashes skull causing blood to form on the unconscious mare’s face.

“Ugh…Now I have to get Zecoro to fix her mind. I wanted her to be evil not so demented that she will kill all of my workers, the poor darlings don’t deserve to die… Driver! If it is okay with you of course, could you please take us to Zecoro’s? We’ve got a mare to mentally rewrite.”

“Yes my dear.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[Meanwhile in Sugarcube corner’s basement]

Pinkamena was relaxing in a bathtub filled with the blood of her most recent victims, the skins of which were already made into stuffed versions of the real ponies they once were. The mare just slumbered there letting the blood soak in until she was jolted awake.

“I Sense that somepony just broke the fourth wall and it wasn’t me.”

[“Well it wasn’t me!”] Pinkie sang mentally.

“Oh are you still around. I thought that I locked you away inside of my head in order to keep you under control.”

[“I am! But you never put a gag in my mouth so I can just talk and talk and talk and talk and talk… (Two hours later) and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk.”]

While Pinkie rambled on Pinkamena took the time to inspect her good side’s prison. It was nothing special it was just a giant cage in the middle of the void that was her consciousness. The pink party pony was inside the cage and was in a locking mechanism that kept her in place by bolting her legs to the floor. It was undoubtable painful but the mare would be able to get out of other things. The Pink party mare just kept rambling on and on until Pinkamena decided to silence her.

“Pinkie!”

[“Yes Pinkamena.”]

“Please shut the F@#% up!”

[“Awww! But annoying you is so much fun! Now will you please let me out!? I promise that I’ll let you continue to be a big meanie pants when you want to!”]

“NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I let you out I will never be able to sleep again!!”

[“Shease! Fine I won’t get out and I’ll let you get back to your super creepy doll obsession. Seriously! You don’t even bake the ponies into anything! All you do is skin them alive and murder them. Then you sell their parts on the black market and sometimes e-hay. Can we at least kill Rainbow Dash for making that bad joke about our sister? ”]

“No we can’t kill Rainbow Dash! This isn’t Cupcakes!”

[“Awwww! But I love that fanfic it’s so popular!”]

“It’s also old, overused and it could use a batter plot. Face it. The readers would hate it if they had to read another rendition of that story.”

[“I guess you’re right. Ooh! I know! How about we invite over Ditzy and give her a cupcake with Rainbow icing!”]

“That’s it I’m getting the ball gag!”

[“Wait! This aside has almost gotten to the good part!”]

“TOO BAD! It’s already become pointless!” Pinkemena said while going to find said item.

[“Well, while she’s going to get the ball gag I can tell my bestiest best Cupcakes Joke. Why did Rainbow Dash start laughing while we were cutting in to her…It’s because I tickled her funny bone! Do you get it? (giggling!) If you come back again I’ll make sure I have even more fun things to do!”

Ch 4: The Dreams of a MadMare

Rainbow Dash’s mind fought against the forces that were trying to invade. She would not let her mind be so easily overthrown by a psychotic mare and stallion, but they were far stronger than she could have ever hoped to be. Rainbow Dash knew that it wouldn’t be long until her defenses fell and her captors had easily seen through her first charade. Then the shattering blow came as her mind was invaded. Her inner vision faded and she could no longer see what the two were doing to her mind.

When Rainbow Dash began to recover she saw that her mind was now void of any semblance of its former glory. She had originally been a good mare that wanted to help others, but now all of that was replaced with hatred and anger. She was bound to a dark dreamscape that was littered with the bodies of the dead, and her thoughts always involved a scene that was filled with gore. Her soul was now blackened with the fires that continually scarred her dreamscape and caused it to writhe, but it was never in danger.

Rainbow’s shattered fragments began to be fused with the free flowing darkness of the abyss that surrounded her. She didn’t want to go anymore, but her mind was becoming twisted, and her thoughts were becoming something that wasn’t hers. The darkness flowed into her being corroding away her heart and she considered that it would have possibly hurt if she were able to feel pain inside her own mind, as the darkness slowly stained her fur. She knew that the pony she originally was, the good Rainbow Dash, was slowly dying as her soul and mind were slowly bound by the two ponies that she now believed were unholy curs.

Suddenly the process stopped and Rainbow Dash was allowed a reprieve from her binding. She looked around hoping that they would stop but she didn’t have such luck. The Darkness was unable to convert the pure heart at her core, the light that protected it was too powerful for the twisted ponies, because its pureness was blinding. Then the wicked stallion called forth two spears of darkness and plunged them into Rainbow Dash and they tried to penetrate deeper while their prey started to buck.

The pain Rainbow Dash felt was unbearable, her entire soul and mind felt like they were on fire. The two spears that were prying into her inner being were now ripping her consciousness to shreds. They pried at her being again and again each attempt less successful than the last but they never seemed to tire. Rainbow Dash wanted to hate these two ponies, she wanted to hate her friend, but she didn’t, she didn’t want to let them win, otherwise she would end up just like her parents, dead.

She fought back, even if it ripped her apart, she wouldn’t let them take her, because she couldn’t let her parents down again. Then without warning the spears stabbed straight through her being causing searing flashes of pain to flow through her. The dreamscape around her twisted and writhed with her, she knew that it was all over for her then. Her core was ripped from her as her mind slowly began to fade and she knew that she could no longer be saved, there wasn’t even any use in fleeing.

A dark essence was shoved into her being to replace her old light. Her entire being was burned from the inside out as her coat and mane darkened. Her soul was now being completely eaten away along with the last bits of her inner light; however, unlike before, she no longer wished to fight. The old Rainbow Dash was dead, a relic that was now being bound to an eternity in the twisted dreamscape of her mind, she couldn’t fight it, all she could do was let it get started.

Her old mentality was chained to a rock in the dreamscape, an un-destroyable part of who she originally was, a good mare. The new Rainbow Dash smirked at the chained Pegasus, it felt almost right to have her old self bound, but it wasn’t like she could care. The Pegasus chained to the rock looked at the new her, an evil mare that wore her face like a second skin, but it wasn’t her, she could tell by looking into its eyes. The imposter’s eyes were cold and lifeless while being full of hatred and malice. It looked like she had died on the inside, and the imposter noticed her realization and tortured her, it gave no thought to her cries, until it began to slowly waver and fade, freeing the mare.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

The pony that lay before Zecoro and Fluttershy convulsed as her soul was slowly ripped away and sealed inside the mare’s own dreamscape. Both villains smiled when the cutie-mark that Rainbow Dash originally sported changed slightly, it became less vibrant, almost monotone, and three black smoke stacks appeared on the cloud. They knew that the old Rainbow Dash was now dead, and that the new one was going to fit into their plans perfectly. It almost pained Fluttershy to see her friend get brainwashed, but she felt that a new, more powerful, alliance could be forged now that all of the good was gone.

The two ponies let the mare lay on the floor while they sat down at Zecoro’s table. They talked to each other about what had happened recently, including the incident involving Fluttershy’s attempt at brainwashing Rainbow Dash. Zecoro didn’t seem pleased with Fluttershy botching the first spell, but he forgave the mare when he learned how many souls had been fed to the Rainbow Factory machines recently.

“Over two hundred Foals! That number is beyond our goals. How do those parents sleep at night, knowing that their kids will not be alright?”

“I imprisoned ponies that were negligible or ones that wouldn’t be missed, and I began using them to breed new foals, it is a much more pleasure filled life than the ones they were originally leading.” Fluttershy said with a lewd smile before continuing, “Foals that show promise will either become a worker or a breeder when they get older. The rest of the foals will either become something beautiful or something that other foals devour as a snack. Those Rainbow Bars bring such joy to their little faces. It almost pleases me to know that every pony in Equestria, that isn’t allergic to chocolate, is a cannibal because of those chocolate bars.” The massive, yellow Pegasus explained to the worried Zebra.

“What a devious idea to employ, the authorities will no longer need a decoy.”

“You dare to imply that the cops, or even that b!%@# princess Celestia, know about what goes on inside my factory. Mister Zecoro, I almost expected you to have more faith in me, I was raised by the two most evil parents in all of Equestria, if you don’t mind my bragging.”

“That may be true, but the Apples may have parents worse than you.”

“The Apples are odd at best, if they don’t mind being called odd. But I don’t think that they are very evil, but their parents are missing for some weird reason. In fact I don’t think that I’ve ever seen their parents. It has always been just granny Smith and her grandchildren.”

“They are a strange bunch, but their parents are not missing if I am correct about my hunch.”

The two ponies continued their chat and ignored the mare lying on the floor that was beginning to wake up. Rainbow Dash moaned as she finally began to open her eyes, her head felt all fuzzy and her stomach was tying itself in knots. When she finally managed to get onto her hooves she ran outside, her stomach losing the fight to hold her lunch in, and began to vomit. When she finally emptied her stomach of its putrid contents, she slowly walked back into the hut and sat down next to the chatting ponies. She was confused at first but if Fluttershy knew the Zebra then he must be a friend.

The other two didn’t seem to notice her, but Rainbow Dash didn’t care. All that she wanted to do was get rid of the hangover that she was experiencing. Some part of her mind told her that the two mares sitting at the table were enemies, not friends, and that this wasn’t a hangover, but something worse. She ignored that little voice and started talking to the two ponies as if nothing had happened.

“Hey…do any of you know what I did last night? My head feels like its splitting open and I don’t think I’ll be able to eat anything for a while. I don’t remember going to a party…that must have been something weird in that juice you gave me.” The disgruntled Rainbow Dash announced to the surprise of both of the ponies that were sitting at the table. Fluttershy was the first to speak, “Oh, Rainbow Dash, I’m so glad you are alright. You got really sick yesterday and passed out. Zecoro here is really good with medicine so I brought you here to recover. We would have treated your dehydration sooner but you needed to be awake first.” The yellow Pegasus lied.

“Indeed, I always help a friend in need. She brought you here last night, you were so sick it gave me a fright. A temporary cure I did create, so that the illness would not seal your fate.” Zecoro added.

“Ughh…Please talk plainer. My brain feels like mush, and could one of you get me some water? My throat is really dry.”

“Of course Rainbow Dash, anything for my best friend!” Fluttershy stated.

When Fluttershy returned Rainbow Dash eagerly downed the drink and instantly felt the difference. The drink was refreshing, but she was still thirsty and she still had questions about what had happened yesterday. She was also wondering when she would get to her new job and if Fluttershy would be able to let her know what she would be doing. Fluttershy and Zecora answered her questions and after a while she was feeling quite satisfied, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with her.

Fluttershy seemed relieved, and it was probably a good thing, she did just lie about an illness and brainwash her best friend. She was nervous about the lie at first, but Rainbow Dash was too disoriented to notice it.

The truth about Flutershy’s cutie-mark, was one that she enjoyed. It completed when she had drank enough blood to cause her fangs to grow. She nearly fainted out of sheer joy at the acquisition of a new, eviler, cutie-mark. She hoped that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be too angry if she ever found out about the spell placed on her, but Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be able to touch her anyway. She knew that she was now completely home free, and that a new partnership was on the horizon, completely unaware that Rainbow Dash’s cutie-mark had returned to its normal state.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

The waiting room that Ditzy Doo waited in was cold, and a little run down, but she didn’t mind. Her little filly, Dinky Doo, was wrapped in the warm blankets that she had brought with her. Dinky was almost seven years old now but she still didn’t like the cold, it was too irritating for her. She endured it though, her mommy needed her and her older sister Amethyst was working with some friends on a school project.

“Miss Doo, the therapist is ready to see you now.” An old mare with red glasses announced, “His office is the first door on the right.”

“Thanks mam.” The wall eyed mother replied. She turned to her daughter and snuggled her.

“Don’t worry, just play with the toys you brought and I will be back out when the doctor is done. If you need anything just ask that nice lady at the counter alright?”

Dinky looked up at her smiling mother and nodded, she wasn’t going to let her mother down.

Ditzy walked into the office and sat down on the chair that was set out for her. It was big, and comfy, and smelled a bit funny, but it helped ease her nerves. The doctor walked in and sat down in his chair, while looking over notes that were scrawled on a notepad. The doctor himself was old, at least sixty, and his mane was turning white from what was presumably a red mane. His cutie-mark looked kind of like a thought bubble that Ditzy would sometimes see in the comics that she would occasionally read.

The doctor reminded Ditzy of her grandfather for some odd reason, maybe it was because his coat was the same color as hers. He looked up at her from his clipboard for a few seconds before writing something down and putting the clipboard aside. He looked at her hoping that she would say something but he knew that he would need to be the first to speak.

“So Miss Doo, I understand that you have been having some unsettling dreams lately? I have also noticed that you just got out of high school and you already have a six year old foal. Do you think that your child had anything to do with these dreams?” The doctor asked, hoping that the mare would respond.

“My Muffin? I don’t think that she’s responsible for my nightmares, well most of them at least. You see doctor, I was held back four years while I recovered from a head injury that occurred a few years before I married Dinky’s father. Before the incident I had already been held back two years because the teacher never seemed to get my homework; I believe that somepony in my classes thought that getting me held back was funny. The incident left me with these horrible nightmares, my best friend was dead, and Dinky’s father was the only friend that I had who understood what I was going through. We were already dating back then and we decided to get married, it was the happiest day of my life. When I had Dinky we were so happy together the nightmares finally stopped. We moved into a new house in Ponyville in order to let my daughter get a proper, unicorn, education. I was finally able to move on, that was until my husband was kidnapped and was never found. After that the nightmares came back, but this time they were worse. I couldn’t handle losing him, I cried nonstop for days after the search was ended. Dinky was too young at that point to really understand what had happened, but she tried to comfort me. I decided to get professional help when the nightmares became so terrible that I feared that I was going insane.” The wall eyed Pegasus was nearly in tears by this point and the doctor didn’t want to make her speak until she was ready. When Ditzy finally calmed down the doctor noted that she was still breathing heavily.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I would prefer that you share what these dreams entail. It would allow me to get a better understanding of the situation and what the causes are. Although it seems that the incident that left you recovering for four years was cause, but I need more evidence in order to conclude that it was indeed the cause.” The doctor explained.

“Of course, anything to help a doctor. I guess I’ll start with the first ones since they are the most similar….”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[Dream amalgamation number one: The Darkness]

The world was silent and Ditzy was travelling home after having completed another tutoring session. The streets were unusually barren, not even the adults were wondering the streets. Chills suddenly ran up Ditzy’s spine when she realized that she was all alone. She began to run trying to get home as quickly as possible, but the road before her didn’t seem to end.

She kept going hoping that she would get home soon, but the world around her was defying her. She couldn’t move forward so she ran into an alleyway to try and get onto another road. The alleyway was dark and dismal, and the graffiti that coated walls made her think that every pony in Cloudsdale took up Graffiti art as a hobby and used that alley as a community canvas. Ditzy paused for a moment when she noticed a rather prominent mural on one of the walls.

The mural was a depiction of a jet black factory in the middle of nothingness. The factory had rows upon rows of fillies in shackles being led to it while several pegasi in dark suits watched. There were two large pegasi in the background of the mural, but their details were hard to make out. On the left was a normal sized earth pony mare that was a cyan color with a multihued mane, the Pegasus next to her was a massive, yellow mare, with a pink mane and piercing blue eyes.

The cyan partner of the yellow mare had a collar on that bore the symbol of the factory. The rest of the suited workers also bore these collars signifying that the yellow Pegasus owned all of them. Blood was at the hooves of the yellow Pegasus and it was also dripping from two stylized fangs on the image. This mare, whoever she was, sent chills down Ditzy’s spine. She left the mural to continue on her quest, unaware that the yellow mare in the mural was watching her.

Ditzy continued on and found herself on a new street, this one was far different than the other one, for it was pitch black and it felt alive. Ditzy turned around to go back to the other road but the alley was gone and all that was left was a solid wall of black bricks. The wall felt alive, its grooved surface felt like it was reaching out for the mare, reaching out to consume her soul. Then the darkness on the wall began to leach off of it and come for her, almost as if her very fears summoned the beast.

Like any sane pony that would find themselves in her position she ran. She ran for her life away from the shadow that followed her. She ran through alleyways and jumped over trashcans in her desperate attempt to get away from the evil that was chasing her. She managed to outrun the darkness that was following her but what lay before her was horrifying.

The friend that Ditzy had fought to protect from the bullies lay splayed in the alleyway. Her head was bloody and her skull was nothing more than thousands of razor sharp shards. The wings of the pony were bent into unnatural positions and its intestines were spilling out into the alleyway. Ditzy felt nauseous, but it wasn’t because her friend was dead, it was because she wasn’t the one that ended her.

Ditzy ran again, this time from herself. She wasn’t going to be a murderer, she was not like the ponies in the mural, and she couldn’t be one the ponies in the mural. The darkness arrived again this time it consumed her vision and everything faded away into the blackness. She reawakened inside of a building with walls made of solid stone, the stone was dense and cold; it was just like her grieving heart.

On the wall was a portrait of the crime scene that the young mare had been subjected to see. Her parents lying in a crumbled heap while blood freely flowed from their broken forms, the murderer, a young mare with a blond mane stood behind them. Ditzy hated that mare with every fiber of her being, and she regretted that punishment never found that mare. Unfortunately, Ditzy was afraid of what would happen if the truth got out.

It was a normal day just like any other day that she could think of, but something was different. She had been agitated all day and she couldn’t think straight, especially with what she had to deal with at school. She had just been bullied nonstop for the past few days and she was feeling rather stressed, or maybe poised to strike was a better word. She walked home and greeted her family rather grumpily, but other than that they didn’t know that anything was going on. The day was rather uneventful and only a few visitors showed up that day, but they managed to make the upset mare feel better.

When dinner time came she helped her mother with the preparation of the carrots, something that Ditzy regretted happening. She slowly slid the knife through the tough roots and gave the chunks to her mother so that they could be put into some soup. That’s when she heard her mother say something, she couldn’t remember what it was but it made her feel afraid. Her mother had asked her how she was dealing with all of the teasing at school, and Ditzy couldn’t handle having those memories come back into her mind that day.

Boiling rage bubbled up through her entire being releasing a part of her that she didn’t know about. She turned around and walked up to her mother, both eyes completely in focus, and stabbed her in the throat. Her mother let out a gurgling scream and collapsed on the floor. Ditzy was almost sickened and horrified by the act but Ditzy was no longer in control.

She stood there and waited for her father who undoubtably heard the panicked scream. When he entered the room he found his wife lying dead on the floor and his daughter drenched in blood. He was going to scream or maybe even run but he was stabbed in the jugular vein before he could respond. The blood splattered on the mare but she didn’t care, he never helped protect her from the bullies or even threaten them. The new, or should I say alternate Ditzy who goes by the name of Aria, smiled at her work and gloated in her victory, hoping that others would taste justice, but her victory wasn’t complete. She needed a way to get rid of the bodies without getting caught and the answer was obvious to her.

Aria unlike her alternate self was heartless, cold, and clever. She was so clever that she believed she was even smarter than Ditzy, maybe even more beautiful as well. She grabbed a blood covered cigar out of her father’s coat and lit the end, letting the thing burn for a little bit while taking a puff. Then she grabbed a bottle of liquor and gave her father one last drink before placing the lit match into his mouth.

Aria gathered her belongings, leaving only the stuff that she wouldn’t miss, and left the house before the fire could escape the confines of the kitchen. When the fire fighters arrived Aria had already left and a distraught, and freshly cleaned, Ditzy was crying for the loss of her parents. Ditzy cried and wanted to tell somepony the truth, but Aria kept her mouth sealed shut about their real fate.

When the bodies were found the flesh was almost completely charred away, the evidence of the attack had burned in the fire and Aria had gotten rid of the knife. Ditzy wanted to get help for her mental problem, but Aria had kept her from doing that ever since she was old enough to talk. After the incident Ditzy moved in with her grandparents and she continued on, keeping Aria a secret, and having fun with her friends.

When Ditzy looked away from the painting she noticed that there was a rusty table nearby, but upon further inspection the rust turned out to be dried blood. There were only two things being presented on the table, her knife, and a collar that belonged to one of the factory workers.Ditzy looked at the knife that had ended her parents, and she saw the straight eyed Aria staring back at her.

“Well if it isn’t Ditzy Doo the mare that killed her parents and got away with it. I seriously hope that we get the chance to do something like that again.” Aria Chuckled, as her voice echoed through Ditzy’s mind.

“I am not like you! I will never kill another pony! Especially if it’s somepony I love!!” Ditzy screamed at the monstrous Aria.

“Why you poor dearie, you actually think that you have a choice in the matter. Anytime that I want a pony dead all I have to do is steal control and finish the job. It almost makes me wonder which one of us is the real personality and which one is the alternate.” Aria said almost seductively.

“I am the real personality, I’m me, and you are not going to make me doubt myself. I am not as evil as you are!”

“Oh…you make me want to laugh so hard. You seriously think that you are the real one. Only the birth certificate knows which one of our names is printed on it, and I believe that you will find that it has my name written on that black line, not yours. You are right about not being as evil as me though, I might need to change that. Although, tormenting you is much more fun than murder, well maybe not murder.” Aria countered at the disheveled Ditzy.

“You…you’re…you’re lying! I’m the real one! Why do my parents call me Ditzy if I’m not the real one!?” Ditzy sobbed.

“It’s because I told them it would be a ‘Special’ family nickname. They just assumed that you were the real one and I was able to relax while you trotted along and led a life that wasn’t yours.” Aria said in an almost monotone voice that still managed to retain all of her cruelty in it.

“How dare you! Even if I’m the fake one I’ll never be tied to a pony as evil as you! I know for a fact that I am the one in control not you! That is enough proof that I am the real one!” Ditzy screamed this as loud as she could. The scream reverberated off of the walls and came back to her as an unearthly howl that sent shivers down her spine. Aria’s mocking laughter echoed in her mind as she threw the blade into the darkest recesses of the room, hoping that it would disappear forever.

The blade skittered of into the darkness making a faint tinkling sound as it skidded across the floors uneven surface. Ditzy just sat in the darkness sobbing, hoping that Aria was gone for now. Her wish was granted but things became worse when two other ponies entered the room. They were the two from the mural.

The yellow one looked down at Ditzy and smiled, showing her two inch long fangs. She was easily bigger than Celestia and she looked hungrily at her. The Cyan earth pony that stood next to her was easily three inches shorter than the average mare and she wore a collar that symbolized her obedience to the yellow one. The Cyan earth pony grabbed the collar that was on the table and presented it while she approached Ditzy.

Ditzy backed away from the mare only to suddenly stop as her eyes became straight and Aria took full control. Ditzy watched in horror as Aria took the color and put it on, and then proceeded to shake the yellow mare’s hoof. Then Aria turned around and pulled out a chain that she had been holding. The evil mare was somehow approaching Ditzy, until she realized that they were now two separate ponies.

Aria grabbed Ditzy and wrapped the chain around her neck and slowly tightened the loop that had formed. Ditzy wheezed as her throat was crushed by the rusty chain that was wrapped around it. The rust on the chain ripped her skin and caused her neck to bleed while she found it harder and harder to breath. Aria pulled herself closer to Ditzy and stared at her sternly.

“Remember this b!%@#, I own this body and no alternate personality is going to steal it from me. Especially when I killed all of the other Fu#$@#% that lived in my head with you. That’s right, you are not safe and I can easily eliminate you.” Aria said coldly, “Now be a good girl and do what you are told, or else! Not even the doctors can know about me unless you want to stop existing. Not even the one you are talking to right now, understand?”

Ditzy tried to nod but the chain kept her from moving her head. Aria still got the message and she smiled wickedly at her alternate personality.

“Good, now it’s time to finish this little dream of ours, shall we?” Aria chuckled.

Ditzy didn’t resist, there was no point in fighting. Aria was the victor yet again and her vision faded away as Aria pulled the chain tight. Then the dream ended when Aria pulled on the chain with unnatural strength and decapitated Ditzy. The whole time Aria just smiled and said softly to her, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you die…yet.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

The Doctor stared at Ditzy trying to process the information that Aria let her tell him.

“Well Mam, I think that I will need to look into your case further.” He said trying not to look disturbed by the thought of being decapitated by a chain, “Please come back one a week and we will continue our sessions.”

“Thank you for your time Doc. I hope that I didn’t bother you too much?” Ditzy asked, feeling guilty for having put the doctor through her memories of her parents dying in a fire.

“It’s quite alright, I hear lots of these kinds of things. I just don’t understand who that other mare was or how you accidently caused the fire by spilling wine on your father?” The doctor asked.

“The other mare was a sister that I had and she died in the fire. My father, who was roaring drunk by that point, probably dropped the match for his cigar on himself and caused the blaze.” Aria responded.

“I just don’t understand why your things were packed up, or why you mother was caught in the blaze.” The doctor stated, taking notice that his patient no longer seemed to be wall eyed.

“My mother had already prepared me for going over to my grandparents’ house and I was well on my way out of the house by the time the blaze erupted. The report say that she tried to save him but died in the fire as well.” Aria stated, almost offended by the doctor.

“Alright Miss Doo, I’ll see you next week and thanks for clearing up that whole part involving the fire.”

“Of course, I always love helping others understand things better. In fact why don’t I talk to you later today? I’ll be over at the Apple farm getting some fresh produce and I would appreciate the company.” Aria added.

“I would love to Miss Doo but I have other patients.” The doctor said almost nervously.

“Then I’ll take care of business right now then.” Aria whispered to herself while slowly drawing out a kitchen knife that Ditzy didn’t remember packing. The mare moved quickly and ended the therapist before he could react making sure that the vocal cords and jugular vein was sliced open first.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

Dinky was bored and her mother was taking forever, even the reception lady didn’t know what was taking so long. When her mother finally came out she was muttering to herself and licking her lips oddly. Her eyes were focused for once. Dinky didn’t like her mother when her eyes were like that.

When Ditzy noticed her daughter her eyes suddenly became unfocused and she rushed over to hug her filly.

“Oh Ditzy Momma’s sorry for taking so long. I just had something to take care of.”

Dinky was happy that her mother, the one that had the funny eyes was back, instead of that other mare. She hugged her mother and felt that her belly was rather full. Her mouth also had traces of some red substance in it as well. The curious filly felt hungry when she realized that her mother ate their cherry sandwiches without her.

“Momma can we go get a snack? I’m hungry.” The little filly stated.

“Alright Muffin.” Her mother responded.

Dinky was happy to be getting some food after having went through almost an hour of waiting. Unbeknownst to the filly her mother was internally arguing with Aria about their cleanup method.

Ch 6: The Pains of a Mother Pt. 2 [The Past, Present, Future, and Apple Jack]

[approximately four days after the shutdown of Gabby Gums]

Ditzy stared blankly at the wall in front of her. Aria stirred at the back of her mind but remained relatively dormant for the time being. The mare that Aria had targeted next made no sense and it wasn’t even for a kill either. Aria wanted to talk to two local mares and heroines, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Dinky continued to stare at the stone wall in front of her contemplating the reasons for this meeting.

Aria didn’t single out ponies to talk to unless they she was going to kill them later. Something didn’t seem right about this meeting especially since they were the two mares from her nightmares. Ditzy new that there was no point in defying Aria since she would just force her to go to them anyways. Ditzy began to trace the lines that the bricks in her basement made for an undetermined amount of time while she lost herself to her thoughts.

After a few more minutes Ditzy rose up and walked deeper into the basement and went down a small corridor that led to Aria’s private study. Unlike Ditzy, Area studied books as if her life depended on it. Ditzy realized that Aria was smarter than her but the wall eyed Pegasus never understood why she studied unicorn magic so much, studying it was almost completely useless to a Pegasus.

Aria proved her wrong though when she talked about how not all magic requires a horn to be performable, but the user would need to have a substitute in order for it to work properly. Fluttershy’s stare was given as an example of manipulation magic that required direct eye contact as a consequence of not having a horn, but Ditzy mentally fell asleep halfway through Aria’s lecture on the use of magic. Ditzy wasn’t here for a magic book though, she was here for a new book that Aria had managed to acquire from a musty old shop somewhere in Canterlot.

The book itself was of no importance to the stallion and Aria, through the art of “persuasion”, managed to get him to lower the price to almost ten bits. Aria laughed at the stupidity of the stallion, but she doubted that he knew of the books importance. Aria had known that the book would be unreadable and would need a translation because it was a book that she had heard of in an old legend from the Griffon Kingdoms.

The book itself looked unassuming and its title was nothing extraordinary but Aria cherished the book as if it were one of her children. The book’s title made Aria’s body tense up as she looked at the Words on the spine “Mundi tenebras et aliis potentiis, ut possideas Consumit”. Aria had translated it along with the book and Dinky realized why she had sought it out considering that the book’s title when translated was “The Darkness that Consumes the World and Other Powers that You can Possess”. It made too much sense for Aria to read it but unfortunately Dinky also found herself wrapped up in the words that covered the old pages. Dinky looked at the old stories of how the sorcerers of the past had created dark magic to overthrow the old order and institute their own only to fail under the persecution of the old race of alicorns. The book went through a brief history of how the alicorns were destroyed in a worldwide cataclysm leaving behind very few survivors some of which are Princess Celestia and her younger brother Prince Artemis.

The book went on about how Prince Artemis who, wanted to recreate the great empire they one had, tried to get his sister to forge a new line of alicorns. The Solar Diarch refused her brothers advances and ultimately had him pegged as a future mate for Queen Umbra who was only a foal at the time. Artemis conceded to the request that his sister made and ultimately dropped the subject.

After the first two hundred years of ruling together a dark power had begun to plague the two royals and it was only a matter of time before one of them fell. Artemis was the one to ultimately be consumed by the darkness first and turned into Nightmare Nebula as a result. The wars between the Sun and the Moon raged for almost three hundred years before Celestia manage to get up the nerve to use the elements of harmony on her brother.

The elements banished Nightmare Nebula to the moon and Celestia was nearly destroyed by the elements that she wielded. Instead she was purged of any residual evil that had taken up residence within her and fainted in her garden. When she woke up she found that the elements were no longer active but had turned dormant and were impaled on an obsidian monument that looked more like a twisted tree.

Celestia then proceeded to overthrow Canterlot which was her brother’s capitol during the wars and made it into her own base of operations. Celestia never figured out where the darkness came from nor did she realize that its ambient magic had settled upon every civilization. The wellspring of all of the dark power was left unnoticed and only the most evil necromancers seek out the ley line that the well sits upon.

The dark mages weren’t dumb by any means though and didn’t try to pollute more, one was enough. If more were polluted all forms of society would disintegrate until only beings of chaos were left. The dark mages kept the rest of the ley lines protected because of this, but they still had an agenda. If everything went correctly the good reign of Celestia would eventually end and a new age of darkness would arise without destroying the world.

The well itself was a black construct that fed on the power of the ley line and was placed there by Dark mages in order to bring about eternal darkness. The well polluted the ley line and dark power replaced all the original magic that flowed there. Even if Celestia removed the capstone the ley line was never going to be pure again, it was tainted down to its very source. Celestia probably didn’t care though, even the alicorns were more prone to dark and evil thoughts with it being tainted. This lead to murder being an act as common as washing the dishes when you realize that they’ve been sitting in the sink for a week.

Celestia set up laws and an indoctrination of “Love and Kindness” as an attempt to counteract the murderous impulses of her followers, but her attempts at containing the damage didn’t work too well. After one-thousand years of ruling and murders, assassinations mostly, happening around her left and right she began to get paranoid. She started placing shield spells around her at all times and started jumping at her own shadow. The next one-thousand years caused her to sink even lower into madness and she started keeping armed battalions of no less than four hundred able bodies that were sworn to protect her nearby at all times.

Celestia even learned a spell that she used to enchant all of her guards weapons so that they would disintegrate if they tried to kill her with them. During the third millennium of her solo reign she started to give away all of the palaces food claiming that all of it had been poisoned. That started a tradition of her showing up to a random household and having dinner with the occupants after screening their entire house. She would watch the ponies prepare the food and would dine with them after it had been prepared.

The reasoning for going to other houses was to prevent one of the many chefs from sneaking something into the food when she wasn’t looking. Surprisingly the prospect of Celestia randomly showing up to have dinner lowered the crime rate by about twenty percent. The fourth millennia of Celestia’s reign saw a new wave of terror when a faction of Artemis worshippers managed to overthrow an entire city. Celestia burned the city to the ground and purged the memories of the event from all but the darkness.

The paranoia that Celestia began to feel led to her adopting an unhealthy diet of nothing but desserts as a form of comfort. Then she began to form groups of roaming guards that would apprehend any pony that was considered part of a splinter group or an avid follower of Artemis. The ponies that were captured were immediately executed without trial or interrogation. The guards were notorious for killing any bystander or foal that happened to be caught in a group.

The fifth and most recent millennium saw to the rise of Celestia almost never leaving her room. She took up students as usual but they never got to see her personally. She set up a form of parliament in order to keep ponies away from her and her power over them began to weaken as a result. She was still the head of government but her power had become limited. Even her most ‘faithful’ students began to exploit her isolation. Now the unofficial goddess of the Sun never walks outside to see it and some rumors say that she committed suicide and that the government was pretending that she was still alive. Those rumors ended when she started attending summer sun celebrations with battalions of guards that numbered near two-thousand and at least thirty high power shield spells woven around her.

That is all that the dark mages of old know about the light bearer but this much is certain: Celestia will be betrayed by a student that she had high hopes in. He will be one who befriends the nightmare on the moon and they shall plot to end the light one. When the deed is done we shall rise again and bask in the glory of a new world of darkness…however, the mages that believe in the light made a counter measure. They say that when darkness rises six ponies shall come against it and vanquish it. This power will allow its bearers to protect the world from our power and end the glory that is the darkness. Ditzy stopped reading after the prophesy part came in and looked at the map that lay before her.

Aria had the location of the well of darkness highlighted and was going to make an expedition to it until she realized that nopony ever survived getting close to the capstone that had tainted the ley line. Knowing Aria she had a plan to counteract the fatal magic levels but unfortunately only an Alicorn is able to perform the required spells to survive and Aria stopped thinking about the expedition. She never really had a plan to do anything at the line besides examine the capstone in order to figure out its secrets, but something in the back of the book had Ditzy worried, it was a spell to cause a pony to become an “Artificial” alicorn.

The spell itself was rather complicated but Aria was definitely smart enough to perform it. The only thing that made Ditzy feel safe though was that the power levels required to perform the spell could only be achieved by either an alicorn itself or a large group of unicorns. The spell granted full access to alicorn magic but unlike a real alicorn the pony that ascended was doomed to die like a regular mortal when their age caught up to them. Aria didn’t care though, all she wanted was magic and she was going to get it, no matter what the cost.

Aria wouldn’t admit it openly but she wanted to use the spell on Dinky. Ditzy asked her why she would use the spell on their daughter but Aria only laughed at her and said “Isn’t it obvious? Who wouldn’t want their child to be an Alicorn?” Ditzy figured that maybe Aria wanted to use her as a pawn to get closer to Celestia, but something didn’t quite feel right about that plan. It almost felt like Aria wanted something else, but what a psychopathic pony would want with an Alicorn for a daughter besides mass destruction was beyond Ditzy.

Aria remained silent for a moment before finally speaking again, “Do…do you think she wants to be an Alicorn?” Aria asked.

“Who doesn’t want to be an Alicorn?” Ditzy stated.

“Several ponies with a good mindset Ditzy, even I don’t want to be one.” Aria slowly stated much to the shock of Ditzy.

“But…I thought that you would love being an Alicorn, just think of all the magic you could perform in order to torture our victims.” Dinky stated much to her own shock and surprise.

“Huh…I never thought that you would want me to grasp for more power, or maybe it is you who wants the power hmmm.” Aria taunted. “It’s a real shame. To think that you really are just as bad as me if not worse.”

“Huh…What do you mean? Start talking you witch!” Ditzy screamed at Aria.

“Oh you poor darling, you truly are mad. I keep better track of Dinky and Amethyst than you do and I am the one that prepares all of our food. I am the one that goes through her journal in order to make sure that she is doing alright in school and you wish to leave her to her own devices. I stay in the back of our mind in order to protect her and how can that be achieved if you are starting to go loopy!? I care more about our daughters than you give me credit for…Do you even know where Dinky is right now!?” Aria stated coldly.

“I...I don’t know. She’s out Crusading with her friends and that’s all I know.” Dinky sobbed. “I know that she’s in good hooves though, nopony would harm her as long as the elements are around.”

“Blah, Blah, Blah…Elements this and Elements that! Those are the most worthless pieces of rock that have ever existed and their wielders can only use them if there is a national emergency. For all we know they didn’t even retrieve the elements of harmony, no pony even noticed anything that could have been them. And the entire time those ponies are out taking care of things that FAT, Manipulative, piece of crap that calls herself Celestia sits back and watches her little pets do all of her dirty work!! She doesn’t care about anything other than cakes, doughnuts, anything with frosting on it, pies, pastries, looking good in the general eye of the public, and hiding from everypony when she can!” Aria screamed while almost frothing at the mouth.

“I know that you don’t agree with…Celestia but she has done a very good job of maintaining order and keeping everypony saf…er well organized at least.” Ditzy reassured her.

“Maybe, but that still doesn’t excuse her for what she did to our second child…” Aria started to shed tears as she began thinking about what had befallen their first son.

“Aria, I’m angry about that too, but it’s time to move on. There is no way to bring him back...H—he…he died just like his father when Celestia’s guard captured them.” Dinky tried getting out while tears slowly slid down her face.

“He was just a Foal!! H—he w-wasn’t even two years old yet and h-his father was going out to get the cake for the party… Dinky was barely a month old at the time and we were setting up f-for his second birthday. Th-then they came and took them! It’s not fare!! They were innocent and Celestia murdered my husband and m-my son. I’m sorry mama wasn’t there to protect you.” Aria began to weep bitterly, “But Dinky and Amethyst will be different, and they will live and show that royal Sun butt not to mess with the Doo’s.”

Dinky couldn’t respond to Aria anymore, she too was mourning for the loss of her family. Dinky almost believed Aria was the product of the tragedy but she was there with Dinky awaiting their husband and child when the news that they had been arrested came. The charges against them were never disclosed and Aria watched as her husband was executed in front of her along with her two year old child.

Dinky and Aria never thought that Celestia was capable of such evil, but even Ditzy hated her after that day. Not only did her family die but the reasons were buried where nopony would be able to retrieve them. Aria swore that she would find the reasons behind their execution and would make Celestia go to Tartarus for it along with any other pony that happened to gain Aria’s ire.

After they had both stopped mourning they became paranoid and almost expected the royal guard to descend on them without warning for the first few years. After that they stuck to making Dinky the happiest filly alive even if her father and brother were dead. Aria made it a mission to tell Dinky and Amethyst once they were old enough to handle the truth.

“I just realized that you’re right Ditzy…We’ll become an alicorn and we will defend our daughter with our lives.” Aria stated in between her tears.

“What!! Who in their right mind would turn us into an alicorn? That kind of power would only bring us more sorrow anyways, who wants to rule next to Celestia!?” Dinky yelled, having nearly forgotten her sorrow from the shock of Aria’s decision.

“Being an alicorn—ha-ha-ha-hahahahahahhahaha!! It will get us close to Celestia!!!!!! Then once we have her Trust we can kill her!! Finally!! We’ll have vengeance for the loss of our family and that fat, pastry devouring, pig of a ruler will be gone!” Aria went into a fit of hysterical cackling at the thought of finally killing Celestia.

“…Are we alright? We shouldn’t be happy about killing Celestia, especially if we get all of her duties dumped onto us.” Ditzy stated.

“So…We’re the same now are we? I’ve never heard you use ‘We’ when referring to me before. As for the duties I have a plan that involves letting Parliament do most of the work involving creating and weeding out laws. Then I’ll just let specially selected judges take care of the court system. If you think about it Celestia is so afraid of everypony that she has nearly given up all of her political power in order to stay locked in her room.” Aria stated while smiling at her own genius.

“Uh…Then what power will you have? I know that even you would want a say in what goes on in the country.” Ditzy stated.

“Well I’ll take care of finalizing and rejecting the laws offered by the Parliament and maybe we’ll train the guard better. Her brother’s return wasn’t even impeded by her soldiers and from what Rainbow Dash has told us Dusk Shine cut a deal with him.” Aria stated.

“I…I guess it could work but wouldn’t Artemis need to be eliminated in order to gain control?”

“Ughh…I completely forgot about him. He can take over if he wishes but if he tries to do anything to me he will be the next one to die.” Aria stated.

“I guess that works but I still don’t want to be a part of an evil plot to overthrow the government.” Ditzy added nervously.

“Grow a spine darling, nopony likes a wimp unless it’s Fluttershy. Speaking of which I’ve completely forgotten why I wanted to talk to her…Oh yes it was about the prices of the Rainbow Chocolate bars in Ponyville. Charging three bits extra here is completely uncalled for. Our Daughter loves them and there is just something addictive about them. Rainbow Dash is close to her so I figured that she would be the one to negotiate.” Aria added.

“I agree that three bits extra is outrageous but can we please talk about why we need to end Celestia? Revenge is hardly a worthy cause to warrant her destruction.” Ditzy said to Aria.

“There is no need to explain why she must die other than the fact that she hurt us and countless others, the elements of harmony nearly killed her when she used them to seal away Nightmare Nebula. The fact that Celestia is crazy has never been asked because of her power. Not even the nobles bat an eyelash when the only thing that Celestia does is consume pure sugar and ignore all government affairs.” Aria stated.

“Well Celestia may not be the best pony to rule but I highly doubt that she eats raw sugar.” Ditzy laughed.

“I wouldn’t put it past her though. The nobles don’t seem to care but maybe that’s because all that sugar goes to her flank that keeps them constantly horny. If that thing gets any bigger the fat’s going to start going to other places and knowing Celestia she’s going to send it to her mammaries before letting it go to her gut.” Aria stated in an annoyed huff.

“Huh I never pegged Celsetia as the Lust ridden type. I always thought that her gluttony was more out of stress.” Ditzy added.

“Hah! I’ve met Celestia personally and I’m guessing you were taking a nap in our head during the encounter. She couldn’t have been less energetic and happy, but maybe that was the sugar high that she was undoubtedly having. But she did like getting the attention from every stallion there and she almost banged one of them in public. Although we were next to a brothel house that screens all of its customers and I was so drunk that I could have mistaken Fluer de Lis for Celestia. Oh! That’s right, that wasn’t Celestia it was actually Fluer. I remember Elusive inviting Rainbow Dash and we went and met Fancy Pants at the brothel house.” Aria added.

“Well… I’m almost glad that I don’t remember that event then, but surely Celestia will stop eating so much when her belly starts showing fat.” Ditzy stated.

“I doubt it, she’ll just burn it away with her magic…or fire.”

“Pbbb…ha-ha-ha. I guess you’re right. Uh but by that time her boobs will be so large that even Milky Way will be small in comparison.” Dinky laughed.

“Everypony is small when compared to Celestia. Not even her brother can compete with her. Her flank takes up so much room that I heard that if she flies in front the Sun an eclipse happens.” Aria laughed.

“*sigh* I haven’t laughed like this since our husband died. To think that we might actually start to become friends because of Celestia.” Ditzy stated.

“So…Partners?” Aria asked.

“No!!” Ditzy screamed.

“I swear on my life and yours that no harm will come to, our daughter.” Aria added.

“The day I make a deal with you is the day that I grow a horn and become possessed by the nightmare force” Ditzy stated.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

Dinky ran around the town completely unaware of her mother’s sorrow for lost loved ones or the events that had led to her misery. All the little filly wanted to do now was play while she thought of a way to end Feather Weight. The little troll had taken several pictures of the Crusaders and their “secret” activities. Skedaddle was tasked with finding the colt and bringing him in before he revealed their murders to the entire town and Celestia by extension.

Dinky wasn’t familiar with politics but she knew that after Prince Artemis had betrayed his sister over a thousand years ago the Princess of the Sun became a tyrant. Her laws were made inflexible and she was known for finding and interrogating ponies that she deemed “suspicious”. Dinky knew that if Celestia ever found out about their murderous tendencies then all of the Crusaders would be executed in front of a live audience in Canterlot. After Prance had a revolution Princess Celestia became fond of using the Guillotine as the primary form of execution after seeing a live demonstration of the device. Dinky swore the princess was infatuated with the device considering it was now her only form of execution. Maybe Celestia got a kick out of seeing blood spray everywhere but Dinky had more important matters to attend to than Celstia’s unnatural life.

Dinky may have gotten used to the idea of killing in cold blood, but she wasn’t keen on having a forty pound weighted blade coming down on her exposed neck. Which is why Feather Weight was either going to comply or die as a result of his snooping in business that he didn’t need to know about. Dinky swore that he was a pervert and had gotten several shots of her and her friend’s marehoods but they never found any evidence, other than his embarrassed smile when asked.

Personally Dinky almost thought he was cute, but he was way too thin for her taste. Apple Bloom thought he was creepy and she also believed that he looked a little too much like Slender Mane from all of the scary movies that her family watches. To be honest he did look like all of his limbs were unnaturally stretched and he was probably fifty pounds underweight but it was his grave not hers.

Dinky wasn’t of the age to really start liking boys yet but she did find that a local boy in town named Button Mash was rather cute. She could almost picture the two of them being together one day. That was if Sweetie Belle didn’t claim him first. She may not like to admit it but Dinky noticed the look in Sweetie Belle’s eyes when they met him for the first time. It was a dreamy look as if she had just found her dream stallion and it was creepily similar to the one Barb gave Elusive whenever they were near each other.

Dinky continued her search for supplies that were going to be used to Kill Feather Weight if he refused. In fact they were probably going to kill him anyways unless Sweetie Belle decides to wipe his memory with a spell her brother, Elusive, taught her. Dinky secretly wanted to let him go, after all if too many students started disappearing somepony was bound to get suspicious.

After all of the supplies were collected she went back to the clubhouse to prepare it for Feather Weight’s arrival. After the secret compartment in the clubhouse was opened she walked inside and spilled the contents of her saddle bag on the floor. The contents that fell out of the bag included two rolls of duct tape, a soldering iron, a rusty spoon from the junkyard, a bottle of lemon juice, a rolling pin, and the plastic bag that they were placed in at the store. After waiting for two hours and talking about their hero of the night Artemis the door to the clubhouse burst open. Skedaddle walked inside with a bound and gagged Feather Weight on his back.

“Finally we can get to the good part!” Dinky stated

“Well ah’ve been a thinkin’ and ah’ve got the perfect idea for the pervert that Skedaddle has on his back.” Apple Bloom stated.

“Really what is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“We give him to ma big sisters and they will make him wish he was never born.” The apple filly stated.

“Aaaw” All of the other fillies cried out including their newest friend Silver Spoon.

Much to the surprise of the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Silver Spoon wasn’t that bad without Diamond Tiara around. In fact she had managed to become one of their best friends and joined the Crusaders as a willing member. The Spoon fill, like most ponies, currently had a blood lust that couldn’t be sated and Diamond Tiara was the main reason for hers. After the death of Diamond Tiara she began to realize that blood spraying all over her was an exhilarating experience and that she really hated Diamond Tiara. Her parents didn’t know about her club dealings of course. How would she explain any of it to them? She couldn’t just waltz up to her mother and say, “Hi mom! I just realized that I like to commit murder and am probably a psychopath.” It just wasn’t going to end well.

Needless to say she was also disappointed that she wouldn’t get to kill Feather Weight either.

“Now they will take care of everything and even make it look like an accident that involved a timber wolf.” Apple Bloom explained, “And trust me when he dies he will be begging for mercy.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[Warning: This next part contains brutally disturbing murder read at your own risk otherwise skip to the next section if there isn’t a warning for that one.]

Feather Weight never reached Apple Jack he was horribly dismembered and maimed by all of those present at the clubhouse instead. He was strapped to a small table and skedaddle began with using a stainless steel cutting knife to hack off his wings. Sweetie Belle was busy readying the soldering iron and Silver Spoon was sharpening the rest of the weapons that were to be used.

When Feather Weights wings came off Skedaddle grabbed the bottle of lemon juice and rubbed some into the wound. The colt convulsed and writhed in pain but his bindings held fast. Skedaddle circled the colt and waited for his friends to start with their work. Silver Spoon was the first to step up and used the rusty spoon to dig into Feather Weights left eye socket. The orb popped out of its socket and dangled on the optic nerve before it was ripped off.

Sweetie Belle, who was the cruelest, took the soldering iron and stabbed Feather Weight in the left eye with it and held it there. The intense heat from the device quickly burst the blood vessels in the eye and burnt the orb to a char. Feather Weight was probably crying in agony through his gag but any possibility of tears was taken away by using the soldering iron to burn his tear ducts to ash.

Sweetie Belle stepped back to let Apple Bloom get to work. The Apple filly took out one of her favorite hack saws and placed right on top of Feather Weights muzzle. Then she pushed down hard and began sawing back and forth splattering blood and bone all over her coat until the top part of his mouth fell off. The sound that Escaped Feather Weight when his captors took off the top part of his muzzle was a mix between a howl and a sick gurgling sound.

Apple Bloom started working on removing his lower jaw while Skedaddle and Silver Spoon carefully used a scalpel and a knife to open up his throat and cut out his vocal chords. As soon as his vocal chords were cut all forms of howling stopped and all that was left was that gurgling noise. Skedaddle took Sweetie Belle’s soldering iron and cauterized any open blood vessels to keep Feather Weight alive as long as possible.

Sweetie Belle walked over to the tray that had the vocal chords on it and placed the pieces of flesh in Feather Weights throat right when his lower jaw was taken off. The piece of meat went down with a slight choking sound but the real fun was only starting. Sweetie Belle knew from Jubilee’s class that during the war between Celestia and her brother that the Sun never rose and ponies became omnivores in order to survive. This trait became engrained as a genetic advantage and protein from the meat became an important part of brain functions.

Sweetie Belle didn’t really care about why ponies ate meat all that she cared about was why pony flesh was the tastiest. After her parents decided that her brother Elusive was a good enough caretaker while they were out doing business Sweetie Belle quickly found out that she liked pony flesh. Of course at the time neither she nor her parents knew that Elusive was a cannibal. After a year of staying at Elusive’s she was let in on the secret that her favorite steak was actually pony flesh. She cried for almost a week after that, but Elusive failed to mention that eating the flesh of your own species is addictive.

After being raised under Elusive’s poor mentality and her addiction Sweetie Belle began to look at other ponies as nothing more than cattle ripe for the slaughter. After a week she began to realize that the undertones of a pony’s flavor was different based on their cutie-mark: weather ponies generally tasted like chicken or something tangy while bakers had a range from nice toasts to dough to pastries. Right now Feather Weight was looking like a rather tasty chicken dinner with a small side of gravy to her.

The colt tensed up as Sweetie Belle’s hot breath hit one of his hind legs. Feather Weight almost hoped that Sweetie Belle was going to do something sensual, but all hopes of that were dashed when she took a big bite out of his leg instead. The gurgling noise came back and Sweetie Belle licked her lips while admiring the flavor that was Feather Weight. She continued feasting on his leg until it was nothing but a group of bones and then she broke it off and flung it out of the way as she prepared to eat his other leg.

All of the other ponies in the room just watched as Sweetie Belle polished off all four of his legs and broke them off after finishing them. Sweetie Belle wasn’t satisfied though. Feather Weight, as tasty as he was, didn’t have enough flesh on his four legs combined to amount to anything more than an appetizer. Sweetie Belle pulled out a large carving knife and split Feather Weight up the middle breathing in the rancid odor of his insides. Her feast started with his liver and she slowly worked her way to his kidneys.

The other ponies knew that they weren’t going to be able to do anything else so Skedaddle took out his knife and dug it into Feather Weights left ear and twisted it. After the pony scooped out what he could he did the same to the other ear. Now Feather Weight was completely in the dark, he was blind, limbless, mute, and deaf. The only thing that was left for him to perceive was pain.

Sweetie Belle didn’t spare him in her feasting. He could feel every rip, tear, and bite that she made. She even chewed on him before tearing out a chunk to increase his misery. After what felt like an eternity Sweetie Belle finally stopped eating. All that was left was to pry open his rib cage and finish the job. He always wanted to ask one of the Crusaders out on a date but wound up being more of a stalker instead, now any feelings he had for them was replaced with a very strange feeling of emptiness. He felt emotionally and physically empty and now he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was not going to be going to school tomorrow. He would have smirked if he could, “I’m going to die and all I can think about is not going to school, at least this has some sort of bright side.” He thought. His musings were cut short when Dinky finally started taking a role and poured lemon juice on every possible opening.

Apple Bloom and Dinky took a crowbar and bashed his ribs apart while Skedaddle and Silver Spoon used the soldering iron and a knife to neuter him. The shards of bone that were once his rids were pushed away revealing his heart and lungs. Sweetie slowly poured water over Feather Weights face while the rest set up an electric shock device that was attached to his heart. The shock device wasn’t too painful but it did cause his heart to beat irregularly and the water on his face made it feel like he was drowning. After five brutal hours of this kind of torture they punctured his lungs causing him to gasp as his body finally died. After Feather Weight died Sweetie Belle finished of his heart and lungs and all of the ponies involved were washed of any evidence of their act.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[Warning: This next part contains murder and consensual sex along with brainwashed sex. Read at your own risk otherwise skip to the next section.]

Apple Bloom Walked home after the death of Feather Weight and went straight to bed. She hated pointless killing and tried to get targets taken out by her sisters instead. Sure they were a little grumpy sometimes and Granny Smith would pester her about getting a colt friend even though her body was still too young to be able to reproduce yet. Apple Bloom like all of the other fillies in Jubilee’s class was only six years old. It still didn’t stop Granny from trying to get her to lay down with a stallion though.

Apple Jack walked through the fields with her latest lover, a stallion named Cherry Jam. Apple Jack really didn’t like him but she let him marry her anyways, it wasn’t like he was going to survive the night. Apple Jack, like every other pony in her family, was a black widow (Somepony who murders their spouse for money). Her family’s methods of murder was rather unpleasant for their victims but was still pretty fun for them.

Cherry Jam was completely love-struck though, and Apple Jack was his mare. He was admittedly lucky to find a wife like Apple Jack. She was kind, worked hard, was absolutely beautiful, and was willing to look past his obsession with large vats of jam. He wasn’t that bad looking his coat was a rich chocolate color and his mane was alight yellow. Most ponies in town recognized him as that one stallion who is related to the Jelly Pony. He didn’t mind the attention his brother got, it kept him out of the spotlight.

Apple Jack led him into the house and down below the basement to where she said her room was. The room down there had another door beyond the entrance that led to a whole cave system that was used to dispose of the dead bodies. The room was covered in a fine bed of hay and there were glowing crystals in the ceiling that set the mood. Cherry Jam was obviously wanting to claim his new wife and Apple Jack had the room built for that purpose.

On the way down to the room though Cherry Jam had started talking about his life and how Apple Jack’s personality had been what he had fallen in love with. Sure she was attractive, everypony in Ponyville could agree on that, but that wasn’t what built a relationship that was made to last. Cherry Jam was tired of getting dumped and let down and Apple Jack was willing to actually live with him.

Apple Jack listened to her husband talk and started to feel almost happy. Nopony in town ever wanted her for who she was, they only wanted her body. Apple Jack shook her head to clear her thoughts, there was no way that she could be falling for him. He was nothing more than a mate that her sister would kill later. Still, he was rather attractive and had a nice personality that Apple Jack could get behind.

Apple Jack began to wonder why she was so, happy? Did he really make her feel happy? Apple Jack thought about it and pushed it out of her mind, she had a night of pleasure ahead of her. That only caused her to think about the other times she had sex, sure they were fun, but they always left her feeling empty later.

“Maybe one of these days I’ll find my special sompony.” The orange mare thought.

When the actual door to the room came into view the duo was roughly two-hundred feet below the surface. The door swung open rather easily allowing a view of the room. Cherry Jam looked at it in confusion but Apple Jack just walked in and plopped herself down in the hay.

“So how do ya want me sugarcube?” Apple Jack asked with a sultry grin.

“What do you mean honey?” Cherry Jam asked with a confused look on his face.

“Well ah know that ya like me for who ah am but ah can change ma appearance.” Apple Jack said while taking off her hat to reveal a horn that wasn’t there a minute ago.

“H-wh-why didn’t I notice that you were a unicorn?” Cherry Jam asked.

“Like ah said. Ah can change ma appearance and ya never asked if ah was one.” Apple Jack said with a sultry smile, “Now how do you want me to look hun?”

“Well I always did like the way that Milky Way mare was built.” Cherry Jam said while his face started to turn a shade of red that should be found on a beat and not a pony’s face.

“Ooh. So ya like big tits huh? Well ah’ll give it a shot sugar cube.”

Apple Jack fired up her horn and began pouring energy into her mammaries. Each small mound swelled causing the skin on them to stretch while her nipples increased in size with them. Apple Jack let out a low moan of pleasure as the two glands began to push against her legs and each other. She instinctively squeezed her hind legs together sending a shockwave of pleasure up her spine.

Apple Jack then weaved a lactation spell into the mix causing her mounds to swell in size even faster and forcing her legs to spread farther apart as a result. She kept the spell active and cut it off when her breasts reached the size of two cantaloupes. The pink nipples on each melon perked up as the pent up milk began to dribble from them causing Apple Jack to look at her handiwork. She looked over at her new husband and noticed that he liked what he saw.

“Well ya did say ya liked Milky Way so ah threw in lactation as well. Now let’s get started. Ya have some fertilizing to do.” Apple Jack said in a tone that was dripping with lust.

“I didn’t expect you to shoot for a child right away but I don’t mind one bit.” Cherry Jam said while walking over to her.

Cherry Jam looked at his wife and pushed her onto her back and lined himself up with her enlarged tits. He shoved his throbbing cock between them allowing all eighteen inches to squeeze past them. The feeling of it was like having his cock hugged by squishy, warm, and silky goodness. He began to slowly piston his thighs causing Apple Jack to moan and convulse in pleasure. Globs of precum were spurting out of the tip of his member giving Apple Jack a preliminary taste.

“Well ya sure do taste good sugar.” Apple Jack moaned.

“Thanks, I guess.”

Apple Jack licked the remaining globs off of her face and began squeezing her hind legs together. The motions of Apple Jacks jiggling breasts sent Cherry Jam into a fit of rapid thrusts fueled by the pleasure. More precum squirted from the member as he began to approach his orgasm while Apple Jack eagerly lapped up the fluids that landed on her. Apple Jack squeezed her legs even tighter as her first orgasm racked through her body sending splashes of cum onto Cherry Jams heavy balls while her breasts painted his belly with a thick layer of cream.

Cherry Jams cock throbbed with every pass through the valley that Apple Jack’s boobs made and he began to feel the slow buildup of an orgasm coming on. Apple Jack lay underneath him convulsing and squealing in pleasure as her second orgasm hit. After a few more passes his throbbing member began to feel close to release. He sped up his actions trying to get off as quickly as possible. Apple Jack noticed this and squeezed her legs tight preventing him from moving too fast.

“Now hun. Ah know that you want to get off but ah want to feel this pleasure for as long as ah can. Now take it slow ya hear?” Apple Jack said in between pants and moans.

Apple Jack eased up and let Cherry Jam continue to slowly build up his orgasm again while she came a third time. Apple Jack began to eagerly slurp at the tip of his cock when the precum began to ooze out of it at a decent rate. Chery Jam was in heaven while his cock felt every throb and movement of the lubricated breasts it was sandwiched in. Apple Jacks teasing tongue tickled the glans of his member whenever it got close enough to her mouth. Apple Jacks fourth orgasm came and her fifth and sixth ones were almost immediately after.

Apple Jack lay there in a goofy daze squeezing her tits against Cherry Jams shaft trying to squeeze out as much pleasure as she could before he came. After her seventh orgasm Apple Jack began to squeeze and wriigle her back legs causing the shockwaves of pleasure to build up faster causing her eigth and ninth orgasm to come and go while her tenth was taking longer.

The Apple Mare began to ben d forward and wrapped her hooves around her husband’s cock while bringing her mouth to it. She swirled her tongue around the shaft and began to suckle on its head while keeping up her boob job on the lower part of the shaft. Cherry Jam was trying to fight the upcoming flood from Apple Jacks constant teasing but he could feel his climax coming on.

“I-I’m cuming!” Cherry Jam shouted.

Finally Cherry Jam released the built up tension as salvo after salvo of hot, sticky seed coated his wife. Apple Jack eagerly tried to drink as much of it as possible but failed after her fifth mouthful. When Cherry Jam’s climax finally began to die down Apple Jack’s face and mane were completely covered and the rest of her body was dripping with cum. Cherry Jam was relieved now that he had climaxed and Apple Jack looked hornier than before.

“Whoa nelly, sugar cube. I didn’t know that ya had that much in ya.” Apple Jack said while sticking out her tongue, “Now let’s get down to business and put a few buns in the oven hon. But first how about I give ya a little snack to help replenish what ya lost.”

Apple Jack grabbed Cherry Jams head and forced his head to get close to one of her massive mammaries and looked at him expectantly. He obliged her and began to suckle the teat drinking the rich cream that flowed from her. Apple Jack cooed in delight at the sensation of being milked. After that teat was emptied Cherry Jam was allowed to pull his face away only to have his head brought to the other one.

“Now drink up hon. I don’t want you getting’ dehydrated.” Apple Jack said.

Cherry Jam complied and began to drain the other one when Apple jack fired up her horn again. Cherry Jam didn’t notice it at first but he began to feel a tingling sensation in his hindquarters, his balls to be more specific. After he finished drinking he noticed the rather lewd smile on his wife’s face.

“What did you do?”

“Ah just gave you an upgrade is all.” The Apple Mare said with a look of sheer delight.

Cherry Jam looked between his legs to see what she did and his jaw dropped when he noticed the two grapefruit sized gonads that were attached to him. He looked back at his wife who was now eagerly presenting her hindquarters to him.

“Come on stud, make ma feel like a real mare.”

Cherry Jam eagerly accepted the offer and plunged his shaft into her steamy depths. He quickly hilted himself inside and began thrusting while the moist walls clenched around his shaft. Apple Jack wanted a bigger stallion though and began weaving a spell that caused her husband’s shaft to slowly enlarge. After a few minutes Apple Jack came an eleventh time and she began to feel her husband’s cock pushing against the entrance to her womb. Apple Jack fired up the spell again and accidentally put too much juice into it causing her husband’s shaft to penetrate her womb and hit the other side.

Cherry Jam was moaning in pleasure at the newfound tightness of Apple Jack’s pussy, completely unaware of the spell on him. Cherry jam groaned when he felt his shaft push past some internal barrier and hit a fleshy wall. The stallion kept going feeling the tight squeezing that Apple jack’s womb and vagina were giving.

Apple Jack was in utter bliss now and all she could feel was pleasure as orgasm after orgasm wracked her body. Her massive tits slapped against her husband’s enlarged testicles causing milk to splatter on the hay underneath them. Her body clenched feeling her twentieth orgasm coming on as her husband fully hilted himself and began to unload his pent up seed directly into Apple Jack’s womb.

Cherry Jam came the hardest he had ever in his life pumping rope after rope of thick gooey cream into the depths of his wife. Her womb was quickly filled to the brim with his massive load causing the rest of his seed to splash out onto the hay that surrounded them. Apple Jack’s body swelled with each rope of cum quickly making her look like she was pregnant with octuplets.

Apple Jack let her disguise down after being filled to the brim and pulled herself off of her mate. Where solid hooves once were whole ridden ones were now in their place and wings formed on her back. The wings were a light orange and bug-like. Her wings and hair were also riddled with holes, it was almost as if a bunch of moths though that she looked like a tasty snack. The most notable change however was her eyes, her once normal eyes were now replaced with serpentine ones, the sign of a royal changeling. Cherry Jam looked at his wife’s transformation and began to wimper.

“What have you done with my wife!” Cherry Jam yelled.

Apple Jack felt hurt by her husband’s accusation and realized that maybe he was more to her than just a sextoy. She hadn’t loved him at the alter nor did she love him when they were coming home, what changed. She couldn’t understand it, but maybe she didn’t want to understand it. She was married to a stallion that actually cared about her for once and not his own life or personal gain. She smiled for the first time in what felt like years out of true joy. Maybe my special somepony was here all along.

“Ah aint done nothin’ to yer wife honey. Ah am Queen Apple Jack and ah am the mare that ya fell in love with. Apple Jack the pony never existed. Ah was born a changeling and ah tend to the family farm with ma sister. Queen Granny Smith gave birth to ma mother and ma mother raised three queens. Now how about ya look past the exterior and look at the mare whose personality and charm ya fell in love with. Ah…w-well ah love you and ah don’t want me being a changeling to come between us.” Apple Jack said in a pleading tone.

“Well I guess you don’t look that bad, I mean you are still beautiful. You’re just taller and have more chitin than what I’m used to. If you truly are the same mare, then I can look past the species barrier.”

“Ah knew ya would come around. Now since yer such a good breeder ah’ll put ya in a conversion pod and have ya turned into one of my consorts. The bad breeders that ah bring home are killed after a mating session by ma sister Queen Macarena, but she just goes by Macy or Queen Macy. She was watching us the whole time through an enchanted crystal. With how well you did tonight she might even try and take you for herself if it wasn’t against the hive rules to steel another Queen’s consort.”

“Wait so she was going to kill me if I didn’t please you?”

“Well when ya put it that way it sounds horrible. Most changelings aren’t evil and most Queens let their drones have specialized jobs along their own personality and individuality within the hive mind. Unfortunately ma granny and parents weren’t most changelings. So ah only let ma consorts have a personality and ah let the bad breeder’s die so that ma family doesn’t convert me into a consort or drone.” Apple Jack said sadly. “Now it’s all just part of the routine and ah don’t think about it anymore. Ah lost my soul when ma parents forced me into this and now ah don’t think ah can go back. Ah just hope Apple Bloom won’t turn out like me.”

“I’m sure your sister will turn out just fine and I’m sure that you aren’t evil. You are just forced to make bad choices.”

“She’s not ma sister.”

“Of course Apple Bloom is your sister. Macarena-er Macy told me that she was. Apple Bloom doesn’t deny it either and you said that you had two sisters.”

“Apple Bloom was taught that ah was her sister and Macarena tells the lie. Ma other sister is down in the great underground Apple Colony that this tunnel connects ta. The truth is Apple Bloom isn’t ma sister…she’s ma daughter.”

[Meanwhile in Macy’s chambers]

The red changeling queen came as her brainwashed sextoy that she brought home finally managed to fertilize enough of her eggs. Macereina let him finish and pulled his seventeen inch rod out of her and faced her slave. The stallion was worthless to the queen. He barely produced enough cum to fertilize twelve eggs and he wasn’t that good looking either. She let her ovipositor extend out to its full size readying it for laying her eggs. The ovipositor looked like a rather large and pointed cock and it was slightly transparent allowing a view of the egg canal. The glistening phallus like object captivated her victim and the slave began to try and suckle on it.

Macy wouldn’t have it though and picked up her slave and pointed her thirty-six inch rod at his anus. Macy let the pointed tip slowly enter the clenching walls of the stallion’s back door before pushing it in further. Macy groaned in pleasure as her ovipositor continued to go deeper into the stallion.

The slave was probably feeling pain but was too out of it to register it. The only thing he could feel was something very big penetrating his rear end. Macy wasn’t kind though and her shaft quickly pierced through the intestinal walls of her slave at the first bend. She continues to ram it in further causing blood to splatter all over her chitin. Macy grinned and kept pushing until the tip of her massive rod was visible in his mouth.

Macy rocked her hips causing her shaft to tingle in pleasure at it was rubbed. She continued to piton her hips forcing an organ within her victim to be ripped apart. The tip of her shaft continued to pierce the roof of her victim’s mouth causing blood to drip from him. Macy felt the eggs coming and slammed her shaft all the way in piercing through her victim’s skull and reducing his brain to mush as her shaft broke through the other end.

The stallion let out a wet gurgle before the life completely faded away in him which only mad Macereina smirk. She pulled her shaft out of his skull and deposited her clutch in his abdominal region and dragged the body to a room with more eviscerated bodies that had her hatchlings were feeding on. The queen smiled before leaving her children to their nymph-hood. She passed through the many great tunnels that made up the Apple family underground and sat down in her room feeling satisfied with a good day’s work behind her.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[“Oh my gosh it’s all of you again! Hooray! I thought this chapter was never going to end. With all of this back story to Celestia and Artemis. Aria actually being a not so mean meany pants with a lot of dialogue and exposition. The murder of Feather Weight and a clop section that showed up out of nowhere with Apple Jack. I mean there is only so much a chapter can have packed into right? I mean I love long chapters but sometimes they get too long and then I have to go pee and I forget my place and then I have to go look through the whole chapter to find my place.”]

“Pinkie!”

[“Yes Pinkamena?”]

“You’re boring the Audience!”

[“What! Boring! Me. There is no way that I’m boring. My parties are so much fun! I even get to roam about later in the story and…”]

“Wait!! Did you say that you get to run around later? That wasn’t supposed to happen!”

[“Well the author taught me this really neat trick on how to get out and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner! I mean it was so simple that I completely forgot!”]

Suddenly the empty void that they were in changed to a game show that looked like a version of Wheel of Fortune without the wheel. Pinkie was behind a podium with a suit on and she was holding a rather large stack of cards. Pinkamena was standing behind a podium herself but instead of the host she was a contestant.

[“All I had to do was think the prison away! Now Pinkamena, why was Skedaddle sad about not cutting off Feather Weight’s ears?”]

“Can I buy a vowel?”

[“Ooh, I’m sorry the correct answer is because he just couldn’t cut it. Better luck next time.”]

“Kill me now.”

Ch 7: The Pains of a Mother Part 3 [Rainbows may bring Joy but the Past is Eternal]

[4 months after Rainbow Dash Joined the Factory]

Fluttershy stared at the Poly chromatic pony before her. Her eyes were a solid blue that could pierce through the soul of any pony unfortunate enough to be in her line of sight. The pony before her, Rainbow Dash, wash shaking like a leaf in front of the giant. She smiled revealing her long canines and gave Rainbow Dash a look that said, “I don’t care who you are I own you and you do as I say.” After a minute of staring at each other Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up.

“So… Fluttershy. I uh came to your office to ask a question.”

“Alright, I’ll entertain you since you are a valuable employee and a close friend.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t like the term friend with her anymore, it just stopped feeling right. Before she got her scholarship Fluttershy was already growing distant with the distance between her and Cloudsdale. After she started working at the factory things went from bad to worse. Rainbow Dash was horrified when she first found out about the secret to making Rainbows, but that faded quickly. After a month Rainbow Dash began to realize that she was seeing Fluttershy even less and barely had time to study.

That wasn’t what was concerning the prismatic earth pony though. It was something that all of her family knew and Fluttershy should know as well. This was something that would prove whether or not Fluttershy was even worthy of being called a friend anymore.

“I want to request a month’s vacation.” Rainbow Dash said

“Request denied, only those with enough accumulated time can request that.”

“Fluttershy… I’m pregnant.”

“Oh! Well I uh… Congratulations I guess. Who’s the lucky stallion?” The butter Pegasus asked.

“My child’s father is… Soarin…We hit it off really well after a show and we found out that we had more in common than we thought. We got married two years later, which is this year, and now we are expecting.”

“How far along are you?” Fluttershy asked while taking a sip of her coffee.

“Eight months.” Rainbow Dash said while moving into a position that showed her swollen belly.

*epic spit take* “What! You went through an obstacle course when you were four months pregnant! You were four months pregnant and I didn’t notice!?” screamed Fluttershy.

“You didn’t even look at me well enough to notice and I was being careful. My child means a lot to me and I am starting to have really bad morning sickness and I want to spend time with my husband before I deliver.” Rainbow Dash said while wiping the coffee off of her face.

“Do you have a name for it?”

“His name is going to be Blitz.”

“How wonderful, I hope he does well.”

“Also I’ve been thinking about my job and I’m not feeling it anymore. I just don’t like working here and I don’t feel like there’s anything between us anymore. I’m sorry Fluttershy I quit.”

“S#@$ Zecoro said this wouldn’t happen. He’ll pay for this later. I respect your decision, but I must ask you why you don’t feel like we’re friends anymore.”

“Well… We’ve grown distant. You weren’t at my wedding and you were never really there when I was going to school. You didn’t even realize I was pregnant and you never once considered why I wanted to study Botany when every other pony nearly fell over when they found out. You’re more of an acquaintance now than a friend.”

“I’m sorry that you feel that way, b-but maybe we can still be friends. I mean we’ve known each other since we were in kindergarten.”

“I’m sorry but we’re done. I am leaving and I don’t want to be affiliated with this factory. I’ll keep your secret but most ponies wouldn’t believe me if I told them anyways.”

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash but my father put a policy in place that if an employee tries to quit before they are allowed to retire then they, along with their family, must die. The first time gets a warning though and that has kept most ponies in the factory, and I am not about to just change a policy for one pony.”

“Thanks for being a Dick Fluttershy.”

“If it’ll make you feel better maybe we can talk about that Botany thing. I was curious, but I just didn’t want to intrude.”

“You threaten my family and you seriously expect me to suddenly open up to you? What is this, a bad fanfic that Dusk Shine wrote?”

“Well… I was hoping that maybe if we talked then we could save our friendship.” The giant, yellow Pegasus said.

“Uhh… Fine! I’ll let in on why the fastest earth pony in Equestria wants to be a Botanist. Now when I was younger I watched the Wonderbolts on T.V. with my parents and all of the other sporty shows. I loved them! The tricks were awesome and I wanted to be like that, nah I was already awesome. After I became old enough to get a scooter and a skateboard I did all of the coolest stunts that I could think of. Most ponies oohed and aahhed while watching me perform my sick tricks. But… I wound up getting hurt a lot too, in fact I hurt myself so much I can’t remember how many times I wound up in the hospital. I may have been able to perform some pretty amazing tricks but they were nothing compared to what I could do on a race track or what I could do with a few herbs in biology. The running thing was a great hobby but the Equestrian Olympics was the only thing that Involved professional running and I wasn’t good at maneuvering like they do. I felt like there was nothing for me there. Then I met a Biology professor that visited my school during a trip and he said that ‘No matter who you are you can do great things. You may not be the smartest strongest or the most attractive. What matters is that you follow your dream and pursue it with all your heart.’ It was a profound statement and the science that he showed us was beyond cool. I looked at him like he was the most amazing pony in the world and I realized that I wanted to be like him. I wanted to follow a dream and use my talent to the fullest, I wanted to be a Botanist. Sure I was embarrassed at first, who would imagine a sporty pony like me being a science nerd. When I realized that ponies liked my remedies and knowledge I began to flaunt it a little. I mean being the smartest pony in the entire school was amazing! I knew more things than one of the teachers and I still had friends and fans. There was no stopping me I was so smart I could beat anypony into submission. Dusk Shine infuriates me though, he flaunts his knowledge like a peacock and here I am trying to go to college while he’s been trained by an alicorn. One of these days I’m going to show him who’s boss and then he’ll be wanting to learn from me.” The Rainbow pony stated.

“Well it’s good to see that your ego is still in check. Even after telling a story that was nothing but cheese. Now do you think we can still be friends?”

“I dunno’ with how things have been going I’m not sure how things are going to go with us. I’ll let things slide this time though. Just try to be more of a friend.”

“Oh absolutely, now if you could get back to work that’d be great. I’ll let you have your leave when the time for birth gets closer.”

Rainbow Dash reluctantly went back to her job and Fluttershy just sat there. She wasn’t happy and a certain Zebra was going to be her latest experiment with dark power. She wanted answers first though. Rainbow Dash should be pure evil not wishy washy. Something was going on and Fluttershy was going take advantage of the situation any way that she could.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

Rainbow Dash was lying on her couch at home and thinking about the day. She didn’t like being tied to Fluttershy like that anymore but she was willing to give her another chance. The threatening of her family was to be expected at the factory, but now her family was in danger if she decided to leave. Fluttershy was going to kill Soarin and Blitz if she ever decided to leave the factory and she wasn’t going to let that happen.

After a few minutes Soarin came home and kissed her on the cheek then he pet her belly and asked how the foal was doing.

“Blitz is doing alright, but I wish I could quit my job.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Uh the Rainbow factory apparently has a policy that states that if you quit they have to kill your family. I just don’t want any harm to come to you or Blitz.”

“I knew that signing on with the weather corporation was a bad idea. So how are the studies going?”

“They’re goin’ but I wish there was more I could do about my situation. This predicament that I’m in is so not cool.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure things will turn out alright in the end.”

“I just hope you’re right.”

“Come on have a little more faith. You remember how we met right?”

“Yeah I do. I was at the Wonderbolts show in Canterlot studying a flower that grows along the Cliffside.”

“Then you happened to look up when I got a wing cramp and crashed nearby.”

“Well you didn’t have anywhere else to land unless you wanted to land in the audience. Although I was surprised when you landed, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the show at the time, being an earth pony and all. But what I did see was rather impressive, I was surprised that mares didn’t throw themselves at you after the shows.”

“Well, you know what they say, sometimes the looks aren’t what is most important. Most mares know me for not being the best Wonderbolt and tend to ignore me. They like to lay in bed with all of the others that are better though.”

“Heh yeah. Your personality was a little odd for someone in your position, but that’s what made me start crushin’ on you when you thanked me for using a suave to alleviate the pain and loosen you wing muscles.”

“I appreciated your help and you actually being kind to me was what made me want to hang out with you and give you a proper thank you.”

“So is that why you rented the hotel room?”

“Uh. No! I just thought that you would need a place to stay since you missed the train back to Ponyville!”

“You’re cute when you’re embarrassed you know that?”

“You know that I don’t like it when you joke about that.”

“And yet here we are two years later and expecting a child.” Rainbow said when she felt a few kicks.

“Ooh! That one hurt a little. With how many hooves hit me you’d think that there was more than one in there.”

“Well maybe it just feels that way. Now let’s eat some dinner I bet you’re starving after having been at work all day.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

Zecoro was busy cleaning up his hut in the Everfree when a series of deafening knocks where heard coming from his door. The Zebra knew that only Fluttershy was capable with knocking that hard and not breaking the door. The zebra was going to open the door but his guest decided that waiting wasn’t an option and knocked the door of of its hinges instead.

“YOU SAID THAT RAINBOW DASH WASN’T GOING TO BE GOOD OR TRY TO LEAVE THE FACTORY YOU LIER!!!!!!!!” Screamed the furious Pegasus.

“What has you in such a fit my dear? Surely there is something to fix your problem here.”

“Rainbow Dash tried to quit her job today while trying to break apart our friendship as well. Something went wrong and you are going to tell me why.” The giant said in a tone that would cause air to freeze.

“Only a powerful source of light would be able to rid rainbow of her blight. She will still have a disposition, but a source of light will require further inquisition.”

“The child. Rainbow Dash’s child. That is what has brought her out of the initial darkness and weakened our spell. Well is there anything left that we can do to her to get her to be loyal to us… Or should I say me?”

“As long as the light remains Rainbow Dash will be free of our domain. A strong dark power such as depression might also be able to send her into a dark regression. Other than that there is nothing else to do, now the rest is up to you.”

“Well thank you for having cleared that up for me now I’m terribly sorry but you have outlived your usefulness and I have already gained enough power to know how your spells work. There is nothing that you have for me anymore and its time that I make an investment.” The buttery Pegasus said with malicious intent.

“What do you plan to do, surely there is some use I have to you.”

“I’ve read all of your spell books and know of all your tricks, but there is still a use for you. I have learned all that you can teach and now I’ll be gaining more power after this speech.”

The zebra tried to run away but Fluttershy was blocking the door way and the windows weren’t large enough to let him get out. Flutteshy grabbed the stallion and opened her mouth in front of his. Zecoro was confused at first but he started to squirm when he realized what she was doing. He felt a draining sensation and he could feel his life being drained out of him.

Fluttershy smiled as ethereal mist began to come from the stallion’s mouth and enter her own. The mist poured out of Zecoro and mixed with the ethereal mist within herself. After almost half a minute Zecoro lay dead while Fluttershy finished absorbing his soul. Fluttershy could feel his knowledge and power within her as her wings stretched out further, the feathers gaining a razor sharp edge to them while her body felt like it was becoming slightly denser.

Her body stretched towards the sky matching a height that was just under Celestia’s. Fluttershy felt her presence in the universe become more pronounced as her soul became more powerful and complex. Her body temporarily took on Zecoro’s black and white stripe pattern, while the cutie-mark flashed upon her flank before fading. The giant smiled when Zecoro’s talent became her own only to be overshadowed by her own cutie-mark.

Fluttershy doubled over when something began to hurt between her thighs. After the pain subsided she stood up and looked back to find that she had grown a pair of balls and had a sheath to go with them. After poking around back there for a little bit she found her marehood and smacked her face with her hoof.

“Uhh… Why does the universe always have to throw something unexpected my way? This could prove to be a fun little add-on though. Maybe being the father of a foal or two won’t be all that bad if I can teach them to be just as evil as I am.” She said while noticing that her voice sounded almost like two ponies were talking.

The mare looked over at the body of her former tutor and waved her hoof in its direction willing her dark powers to enter the empty husk. Zecoro’s body floated in the air while dark energy flowed from Fluttershy’s outstretched hoof completely filling the body. The body landed on the ground and began coughing while trying to stand up.

The disoriented husk looked up at its master and shakily saluted her. Fluttershy looked down at it and poured a little more power into it giving it just enough strength to stand. The zebra looked around with glazed eyes, its flank devoid of its talent. The giant smiled at it with teeth that were more like rows of razors than anything it would have considered teeth.

“Slave. You are now under my rule and you will only do as I say. Stay here act like you once did and fool others into helping you. I will be at the factory until I have need of you. Now let’s see how your potion making fares.” The yellow demon spoke.

The next few hours showed Fluttershy that the puppet was more than capable of replicating the work of what Zecoro used to be able to do. After the displays were over she left the cottage and went into town to get some groceries for her henchbunny, Angel.

The little rat wasn’t much but he was the product of pure fermented evil. Fluttershy was hoping that the fermented evil would be able to allow her to enslave the minds of others but all it did was make her look like her half-brother, Dusk Shine, for a day. Very few ponies knew that the Posies and the Sparkles were related but nopony paid attention to stories about affairs anymore, especially after the fiasco involving a rumor about Celestia dating King Tempo.

The demoness walked over to a stand to “purchase” some produce and noticed that the tomatoes were going for twelve bits each.

“It’s quite a shame that ponies have to pay this outlandish price. Maybe you will get less death threats from the populace if you lower it? If that’s alright with you of course.”

“Uhm… Are you feeling alright miss? You are acting a little funny and you sound weird.”

“I’ll be fine once I have my tomatoes for two bits.”

“You can’t make me lower my price.”

“Well. Maybe Dusk Shine can write a letter to Artemis and tell him to have you personally evaluated. I’m sure the eye of the prince can determine whether or not they are worth the price.”

“Okay fine! And will you please stop acting so out of character. It’s getting creepy.”

“Oh! Why of course. I’m so sorry that I troubled you now if you excuse me I have to feed the spawn of Satan.”

“Don’t we all.” The tomato vendor said in a tone that was dripping with sarcasm.

Fluttershy walked away from the stand rather pleased with how easy haggling with her had been and decided that if she was going to keep a low profile something was going to need to change. Transformation magic wasn’t going to be easy even with dark magic that didn’t need a horn. Acting was more promising but Zecoro’s soul had altered her personality slightly and she was worried about botching an act at normalcy. After sitting on a bench watching squirrels fight over a lone peanut that she threw she spotted the mare for the job, Bon Bon.

Bon Bon was a mare that was known around town as a voice actor for some cartoons that were currently on the air, and she got recognition on occasion. She was the voice actor for shows like Daring Do the Animated series seasons one through twenty, Bat Mare Infinity, Mare-do-Well, and she was also the villain in the show A Taste of Death. She lived with a friend of hers called Lyra who was still hard to get used to. It wasn’t that she was unpleasant to be around, but Lyra had a thing for hands. She was always reading up on old myths about humans and she constantly talked about gryphons and longma.

Bon Bon herself couldn’t care less about gryphons. She dated one named Gilda back in high school and dumped her when the gryphon revealed that she was a hermaphrodite. Apparently gryphons were trying to eliminate the gender barrier, and their death rate had started to overshadow their birth rate. Hermaphroditism was the perfect way to be able to reproduce with any lover. Bon Bon was skeptical at first until she went to the gryphon kingdom and found out that all of the younger generations were dual gendered along with most of the older ones.

Bon Bon swore never to never date another gryphon again after that day especially if they were that odd. Longma were an oddity and they never really leave their empire. Bon Bon knew that they lived somewhere in the dragon territory, being a dragon pony hybrid. She only met one and it was a little intimidating, first of all they were generally larger than a pony and second they could breathe fire. The longma in question didn’t seem interested in talking about his homeland other than the beer that they brewed and anything else that happened involving alcohol.

Lyra had once thought about going to the gryphon empire and becoming a hermaphrodite in order to have a child with Bon Bon. After that day Lyra woke up in the hospital with four broken legs. The mare named Bon Bon herself had considered it before burning the idea out of her mind. Hermaphrodites should stay in the gryphon empire where they belong and the ponies should just stay away from them. She thought.

Unfortunately after her hasty reaction Lyra sent Bon Bon to see a therapist about racism, tribalism, speciesism, and being a sexist. It didn’t end well for Lyra that night when she was forced to sleep outside on a bench. She later claimed that an orange colt with a purple mane pushed her off the bench and stole her wallet, which she claimed was harder to find than a purse.

Flutterhsy followed the mare home and politely knocked on the door to the candy shop that Lyra suggested buying. Bon Bon enjoyed Lyra’s company, but after buying the shop Pinkie and Bon Bon were the ones to make all of the candy while Pinkie played around with Lyra’s lyre. It would have been fine if Lyra wasn’t so protective of it. This lead to a food fight that left both ponies cleaning up the mess they had made.

Bon Bon went up to her bedroom and plopped down on her bed to think about the day. That would have been the case if Fluttershy didn’t knock on her door. The actress flung her door open to see the Pegasus standing there with a hungry gleam in her eyes. Bon Bon face hooved and sighed when she realized who it was.

“Fluttershy how many times have I told you that we don’t make blood candies? Vampires may be common around Equestria but that doesn’t mean that I am allowed to put blood in candies intended for sale.”

“Oh! Do I really ask about it that much? Sorry but I make my own blood candy now. I’m here for a different reason.” The smiling mare said.

“Really? Well why are you her then if you don’t want to talk about candy?”

“Well I heard that you were wanting a child and I thought that I could help with that.” The mare said while stepping completely inside the door.

“W-well… It’s rather nice of you to be concerned about my child problems but I’d like to take care of things on my own.”

“It won’t take long I promise. Just let me have a go and you won’t regret anything ever again.” She said while giving Bon Bon a full view of her package.

“Oh no! NO NO NO NONONONONONO!!!! I will not do it with a Hermaphrodite! They are nothing more than dual gendered freaks!”

“I was hoping you would say that.” The mare said while stretching out her hoof and wrapping Bon Bon’s head in a veil of dark magic.

“I-I… I love you Fluttershy.” The hypnotized earth pony said.

“Much better. Now let’s get this over with I have a soul to absorb and a bunny to feed.”

[short sex scene skip to line of X’s if you want to avoid it.]

Fluttershy pushed Bon Bon onto her bed after being led up the stairs and looked at the mares figure and found it somewhat pleasing. The demoness aimed her twenty inch shaft at the mare’s primary entrance and shoved hard forcing her engorged flare into the tight entrance. The mare’s juices leaked out lubricating Fluttershy’s monster while the demon broke through her hymen.

“Oh… A virgin are we? Well I’m glad I’ll be stealing more than your soul.”

The virgin walls squeezed Flutterhy’s shaft tightly causing the butter Pegasus to moan in delight. She started pumping her body in and out slowly allowing the pleasure of the new organ fill her senses. Her yellow body shuddered in lewd pleasure as the almost alien sensations coursed through her. She was resisting the urge to mercilessly ram her erection in and out, but the sensations were driving her wild.

The hypnotized mare shuddered and moaned under Fluttershy with every thrust of the equine phallus within her. The vaginal walls were winking frantically obviously not used to the experience. Fluttershy could feel her throbbing stallion-hood raking against Bon Bon’s inner folds and rearranging the mare’s insides. Bon Bon shuddered and came her pussy clamping down on Fluttershy’s shaft.

Fluttershy kept going her now unnatural stamina was keeping from peaking like her sex slave. After getting a good feel for what she was doing she began to pump harder slowly building up a rhythm that Bon Bon began to match. The mare underneath Fluttershy came again after about two minutes of this new abuse causing a mixture of red and white fluid to drip onto the floor.

“I can see that you are liking what I’m doing but don’t stay too happy for long.” The giant Pegasus said while smacking Bon Bon’s flank hard with her hoof causing the mare to yelp in pain.

“Oh I’m sorry did that hurt? Maybe you would like something to make you feel better.” The Pegasus said while plowing into the mare.

Fluttershy could feel her orgasm coming on quicker and decided to make the last bit count by going as far as she could. The walls around Fluttershy’s shaft clamped down hard signaling another orgasm from Bon Bon. This in turn pushed Fluttershy over the edge causing her to pump her cum straight into Bon Bon’s expecting womb flooding the mare with fertile seed.

Fluttershy spasmed in pleasure as she felt both her female orgasm and a male orgasm go off at once nearly causing her to black out in pleasure while her female juices splashed onto her testicles. Bon Bon on the other hoof was trying to keep from passing out from the sheer amount of fluid being pumped into her. The cum from Fluttershy began to leak out of Bon Bon as her orgasm began to draw to an end and the Pegasus grinned as it finally subsided.

Fluttershy looked at her work and noticed the ample amount of fluid flowing out of Bon Bon. Her balls were sticky where her female juices had landed on them and she was feeling ready for another round after looking at her conquest. Her deflating stallion-hood quickly became hard again allowing the mare to press her erection against her prey’s tits.

“So, Miss Bon Bon, are you ready for round two?”

Bon Bon just nodded incoherently while Fluttershy decided to take the other entrance. Bon Bon squeed when Fluttershy breached her back door and began thrashing about. The entrance was tighter than the mare’s vagina, which forced Fluttershy to push hard in order to get her flare inside. Bon Bon eventually calmed down when Fluttershy began to find a rhythm again but this time Fluttershy was using her hooves to move Bon Bon up and down on her rod.

Fluttershy smirked at Bon Bon who was just taking her shaft now. It pleased her to find that having both sets of genitals was rather enjoyable. She began to pick up the pace brutally thrusting Bon Bon up and down on her phallus. After a few more quick thrusts Fluttershy came again this time causing Bon Bon’s belly to bloat as load after load of cum was pumped into her. After her orgasm subsided the mare pulled out and let the actress stay on the floor while the fluid leaked out of Bon Bon’s abused rear.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fluttershy grabbed Bon Bon after the ordeal and rubbed her now full tummy causing the mare to moan a little. Then Fluttershy brought Bon Bon into a deep kiss that the mare eagerly returned while her soul was siphoned out. Bon Bon barely registered what was happening to her, a side effect of the mind controlled sex.

Fluttershy let Bon Bon drop to the floor and reanimated her in the same manner that she did with her last victim. The puppet mare that was going to bear Fluttershy’s first child came back to life as a Blank flank. She smiled at her new master while Fluttershy’s body started to assimilate the soul of Bon Bon.

The giant mare groaned as her body started building stronger muscle fibers that fit earth ponies. The coloration and cutie mark of Bon Bon flashed upon Fluttershy before fading away to the giant’s normal coloration. The mare didn’t gain any physical size or an extra part like last time but she knew that Bon Bon’s earth pony magic now resided within her along with her bottomless amount of anger.

As the mare was turning to leave she noticed a rather frightened looking unicorn staring at her with pupils the size of pins. Fluttershy approached the mare and stood in front of Lyra making sure to look imposing.

“Why hello there Lyra. I’m sure that you will make a nice dessert.” The demon said while going in for a kiss.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[1 month later]

“Push! Push!” Screamed nurse Red Heart.

“I am you idiot!” Screamed Rainbow Dash through the pain.

Soarin sat outside waiting patiently for the news to come in and see his child. Flutterhsy had wanted to come but he and Rainbow Dash made sure that she wouldn’t be able to. Something about her was even worse than before, maybe it was the sudden gender change, or the fact that when she walks in a room it drops ten degrees.

An unexpected guest of Pinkie was there however. The mare claimed that she had been expecting the foal for two years now and had been setting up plans for its first birthday party. How the mare knew was a mystery but Rainbow dash who had known the mare since she moved to Ponyville said it was best not to think about it. She said Pinkie was nice but maybe a little misguided but she always meant well.

“Ooh I wonder when King Morphose is going to get here?! Sunset Shimmer is already in Ponyville, in fact she followed Dusk here when he came during the Summer Sun Celebration. Apple jack, Rainbow Dash, and Ditzy already live here so they don’t need any help there. I’m already here so all we need is King Morphose and some character development from me and him and we’re all set to fight the bad guy! Ooh maybe the Author will throw something else really cool or really weird our way! Like maybe I’m actually a robot or maybe Sweetie Belle is secretly part hydra and grows a second head or, or maybe…”

“Pinkie!!”

“Yes Soarin?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oopsies! I forgot that you can’t see past the fourth wall. Well it doesn’t really matter anyways. I mean even if I told you it would seem like nothing more than pure insanity which has been this entire story so far.”

“Okay? I guess.”

The two ponies waited patiently for the doctor to come out and Pinkie was starting to fidget again. Soarin tried to ignore the mare but she started talking to him again.

“So have you ever had sex with a gryphon? I did once when I was kidnapped by a spy who wanted me to reveal our secrets so that the aliens could take over. I was trapped with a gryphon that was named Gilda who was there for the same reason I was, and I wanted to just ignore her because I thought that she would be mean, but she turned out to be really nice and we got to know each other very well, and then one thing led to another and I got pregnant, and the child was a hypogriff, which Gilda kept, Gilda and I still stay in touch even after the aliens were temporarily defeated, and I nearly got pregnant again, but I had access to birth control that time, which made Gilda a little sad, but we already had one child and can you believe that hippogriff’s still get cutie-marks? I mean I knew that longma got cutie-marks, but hippogriffs too. My son’s cutie-mark meant that he was good at hunting and it came in handy when Gilda and I had to infiltrate a foreign nation and we join a bounty hunting league, which I am still a part of, and I am currently hunting down a pony named DJ Pon-3 who is secretly a robot sent by the aliens to infiltrate our society in an attempt to finally overthrow and enslave our entire species, but she doesn’t know that she’s a robot, so my only objective is to knock her out and shut off the signal being transmitted to the mother ship, the Gryphon, Longma, Hippogriff, Dragon, Changeling, and Zebra parts of the galactic resistance are keeping the aliens at bay using super-secret technology that Celestia and our government doesn’t allow to be used in the view of the general public because it would reveal that she does not actually move the sun or the moon, but that she actually moves a giant lamp in the sky that acts like the sun because solar sails were used to build a giant dome around the real sun in order to harvest all of the solar energy the sun produces, the dome around the sun was attacked by the aliens but Gilda, Magnus, who is my child, and I defeated them in an epic battle on the surface of the dome, after that we chased the aliens to the edge of the galaxy and came home using our time technology so that we would return the day that we left, and our secret technology also grants us immortality which is why the longma and dragons never die, but the hippogriffs and Gryphons along with any pony or Zebra in the alliance fake death and move to a space colony in order to keep suspicions low, I am actually over four-thousand years old and I even got to see the birth of Celestia when we went to see why the dinosaurs died, we also got to see when Celestia dies as well, but I’m not going to tell you about that because of spoilers, after that we discovered the vampire alliance back when they were still considered super evil and taboo, not like today where we sell blood in bars for them, did you know that Artemis is a vampire and Celestia doesn’t even know about it? I mean she doesn’t ever leave her room but I think you would notice that your brother is a vampire after having lived with him for as long as she has, speaking of living with ponies I am secretly planning on hitting it off with Gilda again while we are at a time of peace long enough to raise a child properly, not that you can’t do it at any other time, but the alien wars take up a lot of my time, and they involve a lot of time travel, and fixing paradoxes that don’t destroy the universe because Eris uses her chaos magic to allow time to do whatever and never fall apart, Eris is nice but she isn’t very helpful unless it involves keeping the universe in tack when messing with time, especially when I am on leave right now, in fact my leave ends in a month, but an older version of me will be here on that day after having gotten her leave unless I die in the war, but if that happens my mind will be preserved and put into a robot version of myself that looks identical to me except that the skin is actually a regenerative fabric that creates the illusion of blood when it gets cut before repairing, my mother is a robot because of the war but she is still the same, just a bit more metallic, so even if I die I will still be here in a month, oddly enough re-growing limbs is actually impossible because of a deal Eris made with Artemis, and it was a blood pact so Eris can’t break it without having her soul disintegrated and scattered throughout the multiverse, which is why limbs will never be able to grow back but Eris’ limbs don’t grow back they just fade into existence, and because she’s a butt, and that blood pact, she can’t do that for any other pony.” Pinkie said before taking a huge breath of air to replenish what she lost by not taking a breath while talking.

Soarin was trying to ignore the pink mare had been slowly draining his sanity and was hoping that she wouldn’t start talking again. Thankfully the doctor came out and let them come into the room before the pink menace could start talking again.

The room was rather quite when he walked in and even Pinkie was being quite for once. He was led over to the bed that his wife was on and he got to see her cuddling three little foals. He nearly fell backwards when he noticed the number, three, that was not what the doctor said when she had an ultrasound during her early pregnancy.

Pinkie smacked Soarin in the back of the head and said, “You get an ultrasound during mid to late pregnancy you goof. The other two hadn’t started forming yet during the early stages.”

Soarin didn’t know how Pinkie knew what he was thinking or shat he did, and it almost made him think that what she was saying in the hall was actually true. However, he wasn’t so stupid to believe that because Pinkie was known to know things like this with her Pinkie sense or some other thing.

Rainbow looked up at Soarin and smiled weakly. She was obviously tired after having birthed three foals but she looked happy.

“What do we name the other two?” The mare asked

“I don’t know but maybe something like Honey Comb will fit the yellow filly and Blitz is obviously the little, blue Pegasus and the grey one can be named Sliver Star.”

“I like those names.” The mare stated before drifting off into sleep.

Soarin and Pinkie were forced to leave after she fell asleap in order to write the names of the Foals on the birth Certificates.

“Okay Mr. Soarin since you talked with your wife about the names of you children I need to know the names and race of each. I’m still surprised that you didn’t know she was going to have triplets.”

“Well I didn’t exactly get a mid or late pregnancy ultrasound. As for my children the yellow earth pony is named Honey Comb, the blue Pegasus pony is Blitz, and the grey unicorn pony is named Silver Star.”

“Wait! Your wife gave birth to a foal of each tribe!”

“My family is rather diverse.”

“I see. Alright Mr. Soarin the certificates are done now. I suggest that you go home until your wife and children are ready to leave the hospital.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

<“Do you see the robot?”> King Morphose asked a drone through the hive mind while watching Ponyville’s perimeter.

<“Yeah I see her. She’s up on stage producing music and is using her serial number as a stage name. To think that she hasn’t realized that she’s a robot.”>

<“Just stay focused. You need to follow her home and open up the head plate after her sleep cycle has initiated and terminate the transmission to the enemy. After that you need to put everything back and she can go on living without knowing anything is different.”>

<“Got it. So are you going to be hitting it off with the Queen again tonight? You are her chief consort after all and she even made you second in command so you must be good.”>

<“What I do with the Queen is not any of your business now get back to work. Lieutenant Pinkie and General Gilda won’t be happy if the aliens get too much information on us.”>

The drone just sat in the club listening to the pulsating beat of the music that was ambient throughout the place, while looking like the DJ’s mare friend who was in Canterlot for the week. The drone was getting bored and even began to try and figure out what the movies of a pony’s life would be like based on their looks.

It didn’t do much to entertain the drone and she began to start hitting the hard cider that the bar sold. The drone didn’t like giving money to the apple colony Queens but some of them were actually not that bad. Apple Jack was by far the best of them and for an Apple Queen that isn’t too much of a compliment but at least she was like a normal changeling in mentality.

A mare sat down next to the drone. She was a yellowish unicorn with a mane and tail that was a mix of red and yellow. The drone knew that this was Sunset Shimmer by her mane and the fact that she had been coming to the bar ever since the Summer Sun celebration to drown in Cider.

The mare herself was a little obnoxious but she meant nothing by it. She had apparently tried to stop whatever it was Dusk Shine did in the Everfree forest and failed. Now the mare was convinced that the world was going to end and it was all her fault. The drone made a light conversation with Sunset before she passed out.

It was nearly dawn by the time Vinyl Scratch was done doing her thing at the club and started to walk home. When she got inside she was surprised to see her marefriend there.

“Octy! How’s it goin’? I wasn’t expecting you until the end of the week.”

“Well I just couldn’t stand to let my marefriend stay home alone on a day like today so I hopped on a train to Ponyville and here I am. Don’t worry my concert is later in the evening so I can stay here with you for a little while.”

“Well let’s head upstairs. I don’t want to keep you waiting after what happened the last time.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

The drone had quite a bit of fun with Vinyl and was surprised that she was even capable of an orgasm. The fluid wasn’t actual cum though but some sugar based lubricant that smelled like it. After the mare fell asleep the drone slipped the skin covering off to reveal the steel cranial shell. Opening it quietly and without waking up Vinyl wasn’t easy.

It took using magic to undo several of the screws to and catch the plating in order to pull it off. The transmitter was hard to find among the mass of wires that was Vinyl’s brain. The mare mumbled in her sleep about some sort of thing where Octavia was a pirate and she was captured but the rest died out.

The transmitter itself was a small electrical device roughly the size of a coin and all the drone did was remove it and smash it on the floor while replacing the plating. After the skin was slipped back over Vinyl the drone turned around only to be greeted by the face of Pinkie Pie.

“So It looks like Morphose got to the robot before I did. That is so funny! I seriously thought I would be the first one here, but since I’m not that means I owe Gilda fifty Bits.”

“Pinkie! Be quiet. The robot is in sleep mode and we don’t want her to wake up with you in the house.” The drone whispered.

“Well it would help if you realized that you smashed the pony voice synthesizer instead of the transmitter, now she will sound like a robot, but don’t worry I have an extra one. Now let’s remove that transmitter!”

“Huh… What! Ohnzzzz…Octavia you know water makes me feel funny.” The white robot muttered in her sleep.

“Pinkie shut up and let’s fix her.” The drone whispered.

“Okie Doki Loki!”

The next hour was spent finding the transmitter and setting the pony voice synthesizer to the correct frequency. Apparently the synthesizers were set to a random frequency before being placed in a pony bot. The voices that Vinyl sounded like while Pinkie was adjusting the chip ranged from Sapphire Shores to the local town idiot called Snails.

After the frequency was set to the correct voice the plating was put back on again and the skin was hastily slipped back on. The changeling put a note on the fridge saying that she had to catch the train back to Canterlot and left with Pinkie.

“Whew! That was a close one. Do you know what would have happened if she woke up during that?”

“I would knock her out and make her think it was a dream. Also I am getting a lot more attention in this chapter than I thought I would.”

“Alright then. Oh! Look there’s Gilda. Didn’t you say something about owing her fifty bits?”

“I think she’ll settle for something else tonight.” The pink mare said with a smile.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[8 years after the arrival of Prince Artimus]

“Hey dad!” Three ponies yelled at once.

“Hey kids, how was school?” Soarin asked.

“I gave a bee hive to the teacher.” Honey Comb replied.

“I beat the flying record for the fifth time.” Blitz gloated.

“I accidentally turned my teacher into a toad.” Silver Star said sheepishly.

“Honey Comb what have I said about giving bees to the teacher?”

“You told me not to because she’s allergic and doesn’t need bees to begin with.”

“Good, and Silver Star did you turn your teacher back to normal?”

“I needed help from Dusk Shine because he knew how to turn her back.”

“Your mother would scold you for having taken the easy way out and not figured out how to do it yourself.”

“I tried but the spell was really advanced and I wound up turning her into a cactus instead.”

“Alright, but your mother won’t be happy. Now make sure you get in a lot of practice on the transformation spell before you try it on a pony again alright? They don’t just accept anypony into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“*Gasp* I’ll start practicing right away! There is no way that I’ll fail the entrance exam, and maybe I’ll get my own dragon as well. Ooh Barb is so cute! I hope my dragon is as cute as she is!”

“When is momma going to be home?” Blitz asked.

“Well… You know that she has to work late. She has two jobs and she rarely gets anytime to sleep.”

“But she will come with us during our picnic right?” Honey Comb asked.

“I’m not sure. But even if she isn’t there I want you to know that she wants to be there.”

“Alright Poppa!” Blitz said.

Later that night an exhausted Rainbow Dash came hold dripping in blood. The mare went to the bathroom and threw off her once white raincoat. After a long shower she plopped down on the couch and just groaned.

“Working two jobs is killing me! The worst part is Fluttershy promoted me to lead blood extractor. Let me tell you that is a messy job. Hopefully she doesn’t promote me to the fear extraction team for her latest experiment in weird candies. Apparently the dilution of fear in those mints she has started producing gives you chills, while the pure stuff will give you a heart attack.”

“Honey the kids are asleep, please don’t talk about work when they might be able to hear you. You know how horrible something like that would end.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right but it still sucks. ”

“Blitz beat the flying record again.”

“Maybe he’ll make a good Wonderbolt someday.”

“Maybe, I know he has what it takes.”

“So what did the others do?”

“Honey Comb gave the teacher a beehive.”

“Again!? This is the twelfth time that she’s done that.”

“Well her special talent is working with bees to make honey.”

“That’s not an excuse, or even relevant to why she brings them to school.”

“I guess you’re right.” Soarin said sheepishly.

“Is Silver Star still making straight A’s?”

“Yes, but she did turn her teacher into a toad.”

“Did she turn her back to normal?”

“No. She got Dusk Shine to do it.”

“Uh, when is that filly going to learn that she can’t get into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns by having others do her work?”

“Well she did practice all day after I told her about the entrance exam.”

“Dusk is good enough for that. I’m thinking of having all of them attend Ponyville’s school. It’s multitribal like the one in Cloudsdale and they won’t have to go so far.”

“But what about their friends up there?”

“They can make new friends in Ponyville.”

I’ll talk about it tomorrow with them. They want you to be at the picnic this Saturday you know.”

“I won’t be able to attend until six in the afternoon. Fluttershy only gave me that and I wasn’t about to press her for a full day. The last employee that did that was never heard from again.”

“One day she’ll get her reckoning.”

“I doubt it. Everypony is too afraid to do anything that would upset her and she has this air about her. It sends shivers down my spine and it makes me feel like I’m in terrible danger whenever she’s nearby.”

“I’ll tell the kids about the picnic being moved back a little. Now try and get some sleep, you have to get up early for work and you said you were on the verge of a breakthrough.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right. I wouldn’t want those guys at the lab to discover something without me.”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

“Hey momma wake up! It’s time to get breakfast!” Silver Star screamed.

“Oh. Why does the morning have to be so early?”

“Silly momma! That’s why they call it the morning. Now come on we have pancakes and bacon, with orange juice!”

“Alright momma’s coming.” A groggy Rainbow Dash muttered to her child while getting out of bed.

The breakfast table was littered with random objects that Rainbow dash’s children liked. Blitz was playing with a Wonderbolts action figure that he picked out of his collection. Honey Comb was feeding her bees and Silver Star was looking through a book that had complex symbols in it.

Rainbow Dash poked at her breakfast while her children happily chatted amongst themselves while devouring what was on their plates. The mare waved goodbye while they boarded the school carriage and took their seats. After the carriage pulled out of sight the mare trudged to the closet and put her Factory clothes in a bag while putting on her other set of clothes for her first job.

Her day at the lab was rather uneventful and they didn’t make any progress on their research. After her job at the lab Rainbow Dash trudged to the Rainbow Factory and put on her work clothes in an on-site changing room. Her co-workers, whose mentalities ranged between pinkie and criminally insane, waved at her as she passed by. She took up her spot at the lead blood extracting machine and waited for the first pony to come by.

The first pony that was presented to Rainbow Dash was some bum off of the streets and he smelled of hard liquor. The stallion was too intoxicated to cry out in pain and it eased Rainbow Dash’s guilt. After his blood was extracted he was sent to the organ and flesh processing parts of the factory. This process went on for nearly two hours before she came face to face with a pony that made her want to cry.

Splayed before Rainbow Dash was a young filly that was trembling in fear even after most of it was extracted. The filly was relatively young, being around eight years old, but it was a filly all the same. Her bluish coat and mane were enough to give away her identity, but her white unseeing eyes were what Rainbow Dash recognized.

“Snow Drop! What are you doing here! Where’s your mother!”

“I-I don’t know. I was walking down the street with my mommy, and then the next thing I know I’m here! Please let me go! I want to go home! Everything hurts!” The filly cried.

“Don’t worry you’ll be fine Snow Drop! Just follow my lead and you will get out of here alive.”

“Okay!” The filly sniffled.

After the restraints were undone Rainbow Dash carefully walked the filly to a coat rack and placed her inside. The next pony placed before Rainbow Dash wasn’t much better than before however. The young stallion was named Ink Well and he was breathing heavily. Rainbow Dash had suspected that Fluttershy was now putting foals through the factory but she had never seen any come up through her line. Rainbow Dash wasn’t about to kill a child and started undoing his restraints as well.

Unfortunately for Ink Well the room’s temperature began to drop causing frost to form on the machinery. Fluttershy had walked up the line to see how her “best friend” was doing. Rainbow Dash looked like a foal that had put its hoof in the candy jar and was slowly redoing the restraints on Ink Well.

“Rainbow Dash what are you doing?”

“Uh… What are you talking about Fluttershy? I was just checking the restraints. You know how foals are, they always find a way to slip out of things.” Rainbow Dash said nervously.

“Really then you won’t mind if I check the coatrack then?”

Rainbow Dash cursed internally while the mare made her way over to Snow Drop’s hiding spot. Rainbow Dash hoped that the filly wasn’t going to get caught, but Rainbow Dash knew that her chances of survival with Fluttershy nearby were as close to zero as you could possibly get. Rainbow Dash ran a few calculations through her head and came up with a chance of Snow Drop surviving being at negative eight.

Snow Drop was shaking in her hiding spot while the mare approached. Snow Drop, being blind like she was, wasn’t able to see but her other senses were heightened as a result. All the young filly could feel right now was a very power demonic presence approaching her. The filly squeezed herself into the farthest part of the corner where she could hide under a pile of uniforms.

Fluttershy searched the closet for Snow Drop and Rainbow Dash was secretly praying to any creature that would answer that Snow Drop be spared. Rainbow Dash’s heart dropped into her stomach though when she heard the little filly scream in terror. Rainbow Dash didn’t look as Fluttershy yanked Snow Drop out of the coatrack and threw her on the ground.

“Look at her!” Fluttershy commanded.

Rainbow Dash continued to hold her eyes shut praying that the little filly would be spared.

“I said look at her!” The demon screamed while using dark magic to force Rainbow Dash’s eyes open.

Snow Drop lay quivering on the ground above one of the many blood collecting grates at the station. Flutterhsy looked at Rainbow Dash with fury and then she looked down at the little filly.

“Any last words child before I end your life?”

“Miss Rainbow Dash? Why did you lie to me?” The filly sobbed.

“I-I didn’t know.”

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash the entire time and relished in the horrified expression on her face when she crushed the filly with one hoof. After the blood curdling scream and sickening crunch all that was left of the filly was a bloody smear that was oozing through the grating. Rainbow Dash’s eyes began to well up with tears at the sight of the blind filly that was just murdered in front of her.

“Now Kill the COLT. Or you will die in his place!” Fluttershy threatended.

“I-I… I won’t do it!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“Do it or I’ll make that colts last few minutes of life the worst he’s ever had!”

“Please spare him!”

“It’s either him or you and he dies either way. So take the path that leads to less death and kill him.”

Rainbow Dash looked at the frightened colt and approached him as slowly as she could. She grabbed the blood extractor and looked at the sharp blade on its end and she thought that maybe she could end Fluttershy with it, but the frost that was creeping up her legs told her that wasn’t possible. She looked at the colt with teary eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry” into his ears before ending him by slamming the blade into his neck.

After the colt’s blood was drained out Fluttershy walked up to her and handed her a slip of paper before walking away. The piece of paper was a summons to her office and that only meant that she was in for a bad time.

The interior of the office was lit with glowing crystals like every other part of the factory but unlike the last time Rainbow Dash was in the room almost everything was black or red. The giant mare that was Fluttershy was keeping herself busy by playing a rather dark and haunting tune on a lyre that looked familiar. She stopped as soon as Rainbow Dash entered the room though.

“So what was that performance earlier today hmm? Are we starting to get soft?”

“Well I…”

“Shut up! You let one of our victims loose and you were proceeding to do the same for another!”

“I can explain!”

“Explain? I think that you’ve done enough explaining. Do you see this collar that I have here?”

“Yeah? Why is that important?”

“It makes it so that wearer will kill any living being that is strapped to a table or one of our machines. I didn’t want to use this on you but you leave me no choice. The best part is that I am the only being that can remove the collar.”

“Wait no! I’ll do my job! I’ll do it one hundred and twenty percent better even! I was just shocked earlier!”

“Sorry but I’m done letting you push me around, and trust me this way you get to live and I still get things in return.”

“Why did you kill them?” Rainbow Dash mumbled.

“Kill who?”

“Snow Drop and Ink Well! You stole them from their mothers and you killed them! Why did you do it!?”

“They were pathetic and worthless to the pegasi. Their deaths were a greater kindness to them and others than if they were allowed to live.”

“You didn’t know that! They could have done anything, but now they can’t because you ended their lives! I would have quit this job years ago if I could have! Do you know what it’s like going home at a time where all of your kids are asleep and almost never seeing them!? They miss their mother and I miss them but you keep me away from them! Every day I come home and I have to lie to them about how Rainbows are made and what the red stuff on me is! They won’t believe that spectra comes from crayons forever and I don’t know what they’ll do if they ever discover the truth! I’m tired of lying to them! They look up to me like I’m the greatest mother in the world and here you are forcing me to continue murdering ponies! I hate myself! I go home and I am racked with uncontrollable guilt because of what I do here! The only reason I still want to live is because I want my family to at least have a mother! Something I didn’t have when I was a child! Do what you want to me, but know this! You will never control me! My friendship with you is over! You were never my friend and I should have seen that from the beginning. I’ll see you on Monday.” The Rainbow Earth Pony screamed before leaving.

“Mrs. Cloud Kicker? Mrs. Cloud Kicker? I would like to see you in my office about a performance issue.” Fluttershy said into the intercom before licking her lips.

The mare knew that Rainbow Dash would come around eventually. Although a nagging part of her mind told her that she was delusional. That part of her mind also told her that stealing Cloud Kicker’s soul wasn’t going to make her feel better. But what did that part know? It was a part of her that was weak and pathetic and she stopped listening to it long ago.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

“Dad? Why is mom so tired?” Honey Comb asked.

“Well she’s had a rough day and needs to rest.”

“But she promised that she would play with us.” Silver Star said.

“I’ll still play with you, I’ll just be a little slower is all.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yay! Momma’s going to play with us!” All three of her children screamed before running around the park.

“So what’s wrong?”

“Don’t ask Fluttershy might kill you if I tell you.”

“She had you kill a child didn’t she?”

“It’s not fair! They deserved to live!”

“There’s nothing you can do about it, not even Celestia can do anything. Now try to liven up a little, even if it’s only for the sake of our kids.”

“Honey, Celestia doesn’t even open her door. How can you expect her to do anything productive?”

“Point taken.”

Rainbow Dash tried to play with her children but every time she looked at them all she could see was the frightened face of Snow Drop. Silver Star who was the brightest of the three was starting to get worried for her mother, but she knew that her mother wasn’t the kind to accept help. All of the other times she was like this she always said that they would know when they were older. This infuriated Silver Star but there was nothing that she could do besides try and cheer up her mother.

“Hey Honey Comb! Show mom that trick you taught the bees!” Silver Star yelled in an attempt to make their mother happy.

“But they haven’t been practicing for that long!” Honey Comb replied.

“Just trust me!”

Honey Comb was a little nervous but her bees looked as ready as they always did, not that a bee could show much emotion. They floated in the air performing what Rainbow Dash could only describe as synchronized flying. After five minutes of formations the bees began to lift Honey Comb into the air and she stuck a pose that was illuminated by the setting sun.

Rainbow Dash looked upon her daughter with pride and a little bit of awe. Sure the rest of the performance was a little boring but getting bees to do anything besides sting you in the flank was impressive. Her appreciation of her daughter was short lived when she envisioned Snow Drop in her place instead. The mare began to cry and walked back to her husband for a little comfort leaving her children to wonder what they did wrong.

“Borris did you insult mom again?” Honey Comb said to one of her bees who conveyed to her that he didn’t know why she was upset.

“I told you that she doesn’t like it when you say that!” Honey Comb said to Borris the bee.

“Look I don’t care if you meant it as a joke! She is still upset about that you did now go apologize!”

“Uh… Is sis talking to the bees again?” Blitz asked.

“Yes, yes she is.” Silver Star stated.

“Alright I’ll apologize for what you said, but you are not getting any extra nectar tonight!”

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[later that night]

Ditzy slowly walked downstairs making sure not to disturb her sleeping child and crept out the front door. She hated going out at night but something about walking in the gardens after the arrival of Artimus just felt right. The dimly lit garden always seemed to help Ditzy clear her mind of any unwanted filth, or it helped her to keep Aria at bay for a little bit. Tonight was different though, she didn’t want to forget anything she wanted to talk to Aria herself.

“Come on out Aria I need to talk to you.” Ditzy commanded.

“Oh hello dear. What does my other half desire this time? Hmm…maybe it’s about that last bloke we slaughtered, to be honest he did scream quite a bit.”

“Aria, I’m scared! I don’t want Dinky to die but I need to know if you’ll hurt her.” Ditzy questioned.

“Hurt her? How dare you imply that I would do such a thing? The little scamp is the very definition of young evil and I wouldn’t hurt a hair on her evil little head. She may be suspicious about us, but I’ll let that slide as long as she doesn’t try anything. I’ll even make sure she forgets if she does. ” Aria answered.

“Evil? My muffin, evil…? But she’s a good filly just like every other child in town. Unless you’re planning something and if that’s the case I don’t want her anywhere near us!” Ditzy said

“Your naivety is quite high. Do you really think that the daughter of Aria Doo would be good? The best part is I didn’t even have to do anything, those Cutie Mark Crusaders that she joined up with took care of everything for me.”

“Those Cutie Mark Crusaders have made my filly the happiest child on the planet. There is no way those children that she hangs out with are evil. That’s not why I wanted to talk to you though. I fear that Somepony is after her and I don’t want her to get hurt.” Ditzy responded.

“Well if she’s in trouble we’re in luck. I managed to get a small horn to sprout after absorbing enough unicorn magic through our gut lining. It took quite a bit of magic going into us in order to be enough to weave a week spell in order to cause the horn to grow, so congratulations Derpy you’re becoming an alicorn because of me. And those crusaders are far eviler than what you would imagine, all you have to do is read your daughter’s real Diary that is hidden under her bed and not the decoy that stays on the nightstand.” Aria mocked.

Ditzy wasn’t convinced but a quick rub on her upper forehead showed that there was indeed a very small horn forming. Ditzy would have tried to say something about it but decided not to, Aria was smarter than she thought. She just sat there for a little bit letting the cold night air clear her thoughts and worry about the addition that was growing in. She thought about what Aria would do with the horn and began to cry at the horrid thoughts that came to mind.

“I…I…I hate you! You’ve ruined my life everywhere I go and now you’re changing my body to your own sick and twisted will. I will never search under my daughter’s bed for that alleged Diary because I trust her enough to know that she is not evil! Now just go! I already hate myself enough as it is for not telling her about you and now I’ve got this thing on my head to worry about!” Ditzy screamed for another two minutes before calming down enough to quietly sob into the cold bricks that she stood on, “I…I just want this nightmare to end.”

“Don’t cry darling, it will only remind you of the pain. Instead focus on the future and embrace it so that the coming nightmares will pass by easier. Trust me this is only the beginning, now that the horn has started growing magic is going to get a lot easier to perform.” Aria laughed manically.

Ch 8: A Pink to the Past pt. 1 [A Shimmer in the Dark]

[Three days four hours till the return of Nightmare Nebula]

Sunset Shimmer was throwing books off of shelves franticly searching for prophesies involving the return of Nightmare Nebula. That stallion named Dusk Shine was planning on doing something with him and she needed to stop him before it was too late. Sunset knew that he was part of an organization of Moon worshippers and that they were going to invoke a new age of darkness through the Nightmare.

Sunset remembered when she first found out about Dusk Shine. They were a couple back then he was rather charming and mysterious and she was a little brash and impatient, but they enjoyed each other’s company. After their fifth date Sunset walked in on one of the meetings that the followers of Artemis were having. She would have left completely unfazed if Dusk Shine hadn’t been in their midst.

The breakup wasn’t something that was going to end well and she sent him a letter about it in order to avoid being burned alive. She knew that Dusk Shine wasn’t going to let her live down her denial of his practices, and made sure to hire a few body guards that Celestia has on staff for her students. The precaution turned out be justified when Dusk Shine sent a legion of assassins. The guards, having been trained by a paranoid alicorn, quickly ended the threat.

The attacks didn’t stop until Dusk Shine nearly got arrested when he refused to pay the guild for their services. He claimed that since she wasn’t dead that he didn’t have to pay for an assassination. He lost that argument and had to pay over one thousand bits for the amount of assassins that he had hired over the years. Unfortunately he figured out Sunset’s credit card number and used it to buy a large number items that totaled to the amount he spent on the assassins.

Sunset made sure to cancel of her credit cards after that and only kept her bits and other valuables in a special satchel. It wasn’t hard to find but it cancels out spells used on it or in it and it keeps anypony other than her from opening it and taking things out. She cleared her mind and continued looking until she found the correct book and threw it open.

“Okay let’s see here Artemis betrays Celestia… Clestia retaliates… Summer Sun Celebration… Elements of harmony, only five are known the fifth was hidden because Clestia is a douchbag and Artemis rules. Wait what!” Sunset looked back over the book and found that Sompony had scribbled in that last part with an ink pen.

“Uhg. Just great! My ex-coltfriend is going to end the world and I happen to get the one book on the Nightmare Nebula prophecy that has been vandalized! If I find out who did this I will hunt them down and rip their intestines out through their eye sockets!” Sunset looked around sheepishly when her guards gave her an uneasy look.

“Right. Sorry. I’ve been trying to get that under control but my therapist vanished recently. Now back to business!”

After another few minutes of scanning the text Sunset realized that Ponyville would be the most likely place for Artemis to show up at. Celestia was going to be there and there was no way an alicorn like Artemis was going to let Celestia live very long after giving a live performance on the day he returns from exile.

Sunset Shimer packed up her bags and looked out at the rising moon, the only proof the Celestia was still alive, and sighed. Dusk Shine was going to be a pain to try and outwit in the upcoming nightmare that was going to be the Summer Sun celebration. She almost wished that she could avoid doing anything and just let Dusk Shine do whatever he wanted, but that wasn’t going to end well when eternal night set in.

She was going to need special gear in order to even think about taking on the moon worshippers and her funds weren’t high enough to think about that. Changelings were an option if you knew the right ponies and an earth pony in Ponyville named Pinkie could hire them for you, but they needed payment as well. Sunset Shimmer hoped that the changelings would be reasonable enough to afford.

She searched the library for five minutes looking for a phone book and then proceeded to spend another thirty minutes looking up Pinkie’s number. The mare was surprisingly hard to find, even when she works for two different stores. What surprised Sunset the most wasn’t that she worked a lot of different jobs, but that one of her numbers was 1-800-PARTY, which gave her an idea of who she was dealing with.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[In Sugar Cube Corner]

Pinkamena was relaxing on her bed waiting for the latest victim that she had called over. Pinkie was getting harder to control, but that didn’t bother the homicidal pony. What bothered her was that her counterpart hated pointless murder, which caused Pinkamena to do a lot of digging in order to find criminals instead.

On the wall was a calendar with the date that she had to return to the galactic resistance highlighted. Pinkie was already freaking out and planning to save the consciousness of a pony named Snow Drop for placing in a robotic version of the pony. Pinkamena liked the technology, but like everything else she finds ways to turn them into something horrifying.

“Now all I have to wait for is the doorbell and I will have a new pony to add to my collection.” The mare said while stroking a knife.

Suddenly her cell phone rang and Pinkamena was shoved into the back of her mind while Pinkie answered the phone.

“Hello! This is Pinkie Pie proud owner of Pinkie’s party supplies where every day is a party! How may I help you!?” The pink mare prattled off.

“Oh yes Mrs. Pie. I was wondering if you could hire a few changelings for me. There is an important bit of business that is happening in Ponyville and I would need a few in order to keep things going smoothly.”

“How hard was it for you to act professionally like that Sunset?”

“How did you…!?”

“I have a smart phone!” The pink mare said in a singsong voice.

“Uhh! Fine! Just lend me some changelings I need them to stop somepony from doing something bad.”

“Sure thing! I have several packages you can order! There is the two-hundred changeling pack for four-thousand bits an hour, and there…”

“Could you tell me what your cheapest unit is?!”

“Oh! Of course! That would be a single changeling for twenty bits an hour or the next one up which is five changelings for one-hundred bits an hour.”

“Uh! I’ll take the single changeling when I get there!”

“Oki doki loki! Thanks for shopping at pinkie’s bye!”

After the mare hung up the phone Pinkamena came back to the forefront and started heading down to the front register. Her victim should be here any minute, and Pinkamena was going to love ruining the last few minutes of her life. The bell above the door jingled when the mare that was going to die entered the establishment.

She was rather normal for a mare, light blue body and a white and dark blue striped mane. She bore a cutie-mark that was an hourglass, which Pinkamena found odd for a pony that was known for being the local dentist. Her name was Minuette, but most ponies called her Colgate. Pinkie started squirming in the recesses of Pinkamena’s mind at the sight of her.

The young mare also happened to be a part of the galactic resistance against the aliens and specialized in keeping their time manipulation devices running. Pinkie had begged for the young mare’s life, but Pinkamena ignored the plea. Ignoring the rule of not killing the co-workers didn’t matter to an alternate personality.

Pinkamena handed her a cupcake which the mare eagerly accepted before passing out on the floor. Pinkamena then proceeded to drag the body into the sound proof, and surprisingly smell proof, secret compartment of the basement. The room was made out of several layers of compressed steal and lead and the enchantments placed on it kept noise from leaking out. Pinkie kept it as a fallout bunker just in case the aliens decided to show up out of nowhere, but Pinkamena used as a slaughter house instead.

The mare was strapped to a table that was covered in several layers of blood and a gag was placed in her mouth. When Colgate finally started to come to the room was completely silent. There was nothing but darkness in all directions and the only thing that she could make out was pony shaped silhouettes along the walls. She tried to move but found that she was bound and gagged.

The mare started to cry at the thought of what might be happening. After another half an hour the lights slowly began to brighten in the room revealing that the pony shaped objects where actually life sized dolls with black buttons for eyes. The light stopped when it reached a brightness that allowed her to make out what the cutie-mark on each doll was.

Each doll was surprisingly realistic with what appeared to be actual fur and actual manes and tails. The cutie-marks were excellently designed and looked creepily realistic. They were even faded like real ones when the magic of a pony slowly leaks out of their body after death. Colgate just lay there staring at her horrific surroundings in the low light. The dolls were too realistic and they appeared to be staring right into Colgate’s soul.

Colgate was starving by the time Pinkamena showed up and her mind started to race again when the pony appeared.

“Oh! Do you recognize me? Because I recognize you. Now let’s get started shall we? I wouldn’t want to keep our audience waiting.” The mare said while gesturing to the dolls.

Colgate tried to scream something through her gag but all that came out was a series of muffled nonsense.

“Oh what’ that? You want me to remove your gag? Why didn’t you just say so?!” The mare said before removing the device.

“Pinkie! What are you doing?!”

“Oh I’m not Pinkie I’m Pinkamena. Trust me I’m much worse.” The mare said while laughing.

“Why am I here?” The blue mare cried.

“Now that is an interesting question! Why is anypony here really? But if you want to know about why I’m going to kill you it’s because I feel like it.”

“But… but what about the aliens!”

“Don’t worry even though I’m a psychotic alternate personality of Pinkie it doesn’t mean that I’m an idiot. That small device over there will preserve your mind and soul for placement in a robot, while I get to mercilessly rip you to pieces after carefully skinning you alive.”

Colgate didn’t have anything to say to the pink menace she was too busy calculating the probability of ripping the alternate personality out of Pinkie and containing it. Unfortunately Pinkie would need to die and having two robo-Pinkies with alternate personalities running around wasn’t ideal. Colgate was brought out of her thoughts when a blade sliced in to her neck making sure to get just below the skin.

Pinkamena carefully sliced into Colgate around the areas her limbs connected to her body and anywhere a normal seem would go. After all of the cuts were made pinkie grabbed a special skinning knife and pulled all of Colgate’s skin off. The once blue mare screamed in agony at the sensations assaulting her. Rolling pain echoed throughout her body as if it were some sort of tormented cave.

The empty skins were placed on special stands made for each piece and then a water proof sheet was thrown over them. Now that the skinning was done however Pinkamena decided that the bloody part of this was now under way. The mare left leaving Colgate to slowly bleed from having been skinned alive.

When the mare came back she was pushing a cart with an assortment of needles and other sharp objects. Colgate whimpered at the sight, but did nothing else in case she angered the pink one. Pinkamena looked at Colgate and smiled devilishly before pulling out a photo book. The book was placed in front of the unicorn who could only expect it to be filled with the most disturbing scenes she would probably see.

True to Colgates assumptions the book was filled with pictures of the mare’s murder victims. The book was placed in a magic field generator that flipped the pages while holding it in front of Colgate. Colgate would have ignored the book if the field generator wasn’t forcing her to look at the book.

“Do you enjoy my work? I find that it helps distract my victims when I start cutting in to them, but I’ve still got adrenaline shots ready just in case you have a week constitution.” The pink menace said.

“Well don’t I feel lucky?” Colgate said sarcastically.

“Trust me I’ve got a big shocker in store for you.” Pinkamena said while pointing at a car battery.

Colgate didn’t have any time to respond before her captor shoved a cheese grater up her anus. This brought tears to Colgate’s eyes, and she screamed while the pink menace continued to shred her insides with the appliance. After a fair amount of brutal torture the mare uncorked a bottle of wine and poured its contents into the bleeding opening.

Pinkamena smiled when the alcohol had the desired affect which caused Colgate to squirm while tears freely flowed down her face. Pinkamena wasn’t done by a longshot though and she pulled out a device that had a small circular saw at the end. Pinkamena proceeded to shove the device up Colgate’s more sensitive entrance causing blood to splatter everywhere while an ear piercing shriek split open Pinkamena’s eardrums. Colgate passed out after two minutes of this torcher prompting her captor to shoot adrenaline into her system which immediately jolted the mare awake.

“Please don’t fall asleep until I’m done. I just hate it when my victims ignore me. Look at the bright side though, at least you didn’t get changed to a hermaphrodite. I would have a lot more to do if that were the case.”

Colgate didn’t have time to answer before her vaginal torture was started up again. Once the pink mare felt that she was done there was almost nothing left of Colgate’s inner walls that wasn’t shredded to slivers. Pinkie poured the alcohol down that passage before shoving the wine bottle inside and smashing it by kicking Colgate hard in the plot. Tears streamed down the mare’s face again signaling Pinkamena to move on to the next part of her torture.

Colgate was nearly blacking out from the burning pain in her marehood right now and the sensations were only becoming worse as time drew on. She could feel the shards inside of her sending icy needles of pain through her body while the alcohol set her entire pussy ablaze. Her anus felt almost as destroyed as her bleeding vagina, but the pain was just as real.

Pinkamena continued by rubbing salt into all of Colgate’s exposed flesh before lowering each limb into a tank of boiling peanut oil. Colgate screamed in pain as her nerves were fried and her flesh was burned to a crisp. The pink mare sniffed the air at the scent that was being produced and drooled while the scent of boiled unicorn flesh reached her.

Colgate looked at her captor who started to slice into her soft tummy revealing all of her internal organs. The pink mare proceeded to rip out all of her internal organs save for the heart and lungs while cauterizing the wounds. The organs were thrown into the oil as well leaving almost nothing left for the insane mare to do.

“So how far are you along in my little book?”

“Why would you care?”

“Oh no reason. Do you remember the day your sister died and I gave you a full sized stuffed doll of her so you could remember her?”

“Yes what of it?”

“That doll is what’s left of her.”

The revelation of the doll’s origin seeped into Colgate’s brain and proceeded to cause her to mentally shut down. Anger, rage, maybe even a little bit of blood lust were all present within the mare. She began to shake violently before her captor while tears began to flow down her still working tear ducts. The mare then let out an unearthly wail before gaining some amount of sensibility.

“No. Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!” Colgate screamed. “You killed my sister and then you gave her stuffed skin to me as a doll to remember her by! You sick freak!! I don’t care if you are an alternate personality or not, your days are numbered!!” The pony screamed in-between sobs.

“Awwww! I was hoping for a better reaction to the reveal that I gave you the skin of your dead sister as gift! Ugh! She was just as dense as you were anyways. Now time to end this, slowly.” The mare said while repositioning Colgate and lowering her whole body into the boiling oil.

Colgate screamed nonstop while her bleeding insides were fried by the oil. She screamed so long and hard that she ripped her throat open and only blood was coming out of her mouth. Her lungs shriveled and her heart stopped beating as soon as her head went under the surface of the liquid.

Pinkamena laughed at the demise of the mare while Pinkie just sat in the corner of her mind and cried. Pinkamena wen t back upstairs while the machine did its work on making a new Colgate and started humming a tune while making a new batch of sweets. Pinkie’s incessant crying in the back of the mare’s mind successfully ruined her good mood though.

“Alright Pinkie what’s up? You didn’t cry so much the other times.”

“Oh it’s nothing. I was just hoping that she wouldn’t have had such a horrible death. Although I am happy about you finally being dealt with.”

“Pinkie being boiled alive may be pretty bad but Colgate still gets to live, technically. She can still do everything and maybe she will one day be considered a living being again when computers are finally considered alive. Also what do you mean I’m going to be dealt with?”

“Oh nothing that will probably happen in the next chapter, but I was hoping the death of Colgate would have been more shocking with the doll thing.”

“Hey I did my best. It’s not my fault that she didn’t react the way we expected.”

Suddenly clanging hoofsteps could be heard coming up the stairs.

“Oh! Pinkamena! I’ve got a surprise for you!!” Colgate sang up the stairs.

“Oh S#$@. I completely forgot about that! I’m am so F#@$%#.” Pinkamena cursed.

“Yes. Yes we are!” Pinkie sang.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[2 Days three hours until the Arrival of Nightmare Nebula]

Sunset was busy packing up everything that she would need in order to go to Ponyville. She packed all of her cloaks, her bed stuff, her tooth brush, and everything else that she might need on her trip to Ponyville. She was getting ready to arrange all of her things at the front door when a knocking came from the other side.

On the other side of the door was a rather young stallion wearing a mail uniform. Sunset knew him as the local paper colt, but some ponies knew him as the idgit that can’t deliver the mail to the right house. The colt was busy looking through his bags and trying to fish out Sunset’s mail.

“Don’t worry Miss Heartstrings I have your new Lyre in here somewhere.”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer, not Lyra Heartstrings.” Sunset said to the poor stallion.

“Oh! Of course I’m so sorry! Are you by chance related to Lyra?”

“No. At least not that I know of yet.”

“Well we are all related if you look deep enough into the past. Did you know that Dusk Shine just received an article about how genetic research states that everypony is at least fiftieth cousins? It was unbelievable and you will not believe what kind of reading Twilight Velvet is into.”

“Chestnut?”

“Yes madam?”

“If I ever catch you reading my mail I will rip your lungs out through your anus! Got IT!”

The stallion looked at Sunset for a few minutes clearly not getting the message, but before she could say anything else he handed her a group of letters.

“I’ll see you later Princess Celestia!” The stallion said while trotting down the path.

“I swear that pony is as dumb as a rock, or blind, or both.” The mare grumbled.

Sunset looked through the stack of hilariously mixed letters. She was going to send the letters to their correct owners before spotting the latest issue of Milky Mares with Dusk Shine’s name on it. Sunset looked at the magazine wondering what in the world it was about before she quickly closed it after looking through the first few pages. For once in her life Sunset was embarrassed because she saw another mare naked. She went about putting the letters in their correct mail boxes before proceeding to make a magical copy of the magazine to use later as blackmail.

Sunset spent the rest of her day preparing and wound up spending most of her night watching cartoons on the Tele Vision. She was busy watching the fifth episode of season five of the Animated Adventures of Daring Do when she heard a knock at her door. Sunset Shimmer ignored it and continued to watch the episode that was playing. The next set of knocks made her think the pony was trying to break her door down, which elicited a response of Sunset Shimmer going to the door and throwing it open.

On the other side of the door stood the one stallion she didn’t want to see, Dusk Shine. The stallion was well groomed and looked as fetching as ever but Sunset Shimmer wasn’t going to talk to him. She tried to close the door, but her ex moved his hoof inside to stop her.

“Uh! What do you want Dusk Shine! If this is about trying to kill me again forget it!”

“I’m sorry if I overreacted. I was out of line and I thought that maybe we could be a thing again.” The stallion said sheepishly.

“I’m not buying it. Now what do you actually want.” The mare said indignantly.

“Hmm. Making out under the holy moonlight sounds nice. Its beauty far outclasses that blinding ball of fire that we call the sun, and it doesn’t burn our flesh when exposed to its light for too long.”

“W-well… I um. No! You are not going to distract me! Artemis is evil and we need to stop him!”

“Well my little cupcake I was hoping you would at least accept my offer. Even Celestia was fighting corruption at the time of his banishment and now she refuses to even step out into her day. I am only making a long term investment, Celestia has been very sick lately and there are rumors going about the castle.” Dusk Shine said in a conspiratorial tone.

“What rumors?”

“Rumors that Celestia is slowly dying. Of course rumors are just rumors and we shouldn’t pay them any head unless they have a factual foundation, something that is very hard to get from Celestia. I wish for her to acknowledge the world and view all pony’s as equals instead of standing upon a monument of Aristocracy.”

“You’re delusional Dusk Shine. This hasn’t been an Aristocracy for over two-thousand years. Celestia has almost no political power now.”

“Ah, yes! But you do not realize that she is still an alicorn, a self-proclaimed mater race. She has that delightfully dark and evil power known as alicorn magic no? Something that Queen Umbra uses to please her husband King Tempo no doubt.”

“Didn’t you have a crush on Queen Umbra?”

“I was merely a child. The Queen was unmarried and I thought that being her king would be a pleasing experience before Tempo wooed her. I have no idea what she sees in that stallion.”

“Well maybe his personality doesn’t grate against every other ponies like a cheese grater!”

“Oh, you’re so cute when you’re feisty! Now let’s have a picnic under the moonlight shall we? I have your favorite, Cucumbers on rye.”

“Oh, no ham this time?” Sunset said sarcastically.

“Seriously, how was I supposed to know that your mother hates pork? Tis an unnatural thing if you ask me.”

“Well it looks like you still don’t catch my jokes.” Sunset said causing realization to hit Dusk Shine.

“How dare you call me a ham!?”

“Maybe it’s because you are acting so cheesy.”

“Maybe we should head to the bedroom then? You do tend to start saying a lot of puns when you get tired.”

“Only if you die first!”

“Are you pregnant? You sure do seem to be having a few mood swings?”

That comment got the door slammed in Dusk Shine’s face and the stallion just stared at the closed door.

“Well I’ll just leave her alone then I have plenty of things that need to be done in order to prepare for the return of Artemis.” He said before returning home to take care of Barb.

“How dare he!? He certainly does not know how to treat a mare!” Sunset said while sounding vaguely familiar.

Sunset spent the rest of her night in a fluster of arousal and anger. She still liked Dusk Shine, but his thing for Artemis wasn’t healthy or smart. The attack on the castle had his name written all over it, and there was still nopony that was capable of figuring out who orchestrated the whole thing. Something was up and Sunset Shimmer didn’t like it.

The sun slowly set and the moon began to rise in the distance, giving Sunset Shimmer an odd uneasiness. The mare went to bed hoping that Dusk Shine didn’t do anything funny again, although he was known to take things a little too extremely. The mare had just barely managed to fall into a state of nearly dreamless sleep when a rapid knocking was heard on her door. The mare got out of bed and started cursing Dusk Shine on her way to the front of her house.

On the other side of the door was not Dusk Shine, nor was it somepony that he had hired either. Standing outside of her door was a changeling and a gryphon, both of them were wearing armor and leather belts with odd devices attached to them. The changeling cocked its head at Sunset Shimmer and looked at the gryphon nervously. The gryphon wasn’t fazed however and pushed Sunset to the side.

“Nice place that you’ve got here. Not bad for a pony with no money that is.” The gryphon commented.

“Hey! You can’t just barge into my house!”

“Can and will. Listen, I know that your empty little pony brain can barely comprehend the Everfree so I’m going to spell things out for you. I outrank you! Now I have a meet up with a pony named Pinkie Pie scheduled at this location, and I don’t care if you have a problem with that.”

“Do you even know who I am!? I’m…”

“You are Miss Sunset Shimmer, one of Celestia’s most promising students. You have taken exactly three years of therapy before the disappearance of your therapist. You secretly wish that Dusk Shine was actually sane because you still have feelings for him and you are known for your love of the color burgundy.” The changeling said.

“H-how did you…”

“I read your file and trust me those were the best things that were written about you.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about. I have a file?”

“All ponies have a designated file and we are given files on ponies that we are going to be dealing with excessively.”

“What do you mean deal with?!” Sunset said while starting to panic.

“Ugh, listen kid! We are here to help you out and we need you to cooperate got it! If you won’t cooperate then we can’t be held responsible for anything that happens to you, even if its death.” The gryphon said.

“Death?! What’s going on?!”

“Your planet had been targeted by alien life forms hoping to enslave you entire race. Our agents are currently keeping most of them at bay but there are several that are trying to invade a currently weakened Canterlot. If this is allowed then you can forget about the nightmare and worry about how you are going to be serving your new overlords for the rest of eternity.” The changeling said in response.

“Wait aliens, as in little green ponies?”

“They are not little and they are not green. Although they do bear a striking resemblance to ponies due to hybridizing alicorn DNA into their gene structures in order to produce a more advanced lifeform. They are mostly a metallic grey with an almost reptilian skin complexion. They do not seem to have a discernable pupil due to an entirely black eyeball and their diet is unknown. They are capable of all forms of magical attack and are known to be capable of smashing through solid cement if provoked. Flight is common among their species unless they are disabled.” The changeling responded again.

“Uhm does he always talk like this?”

“Yeah get used to it. Changelings are super geniuses thanks to their hive mind helping them study. Some colonies are less intelligent than others due to learning requirements among the Queens being different though.”

“So… this is awkward. When is Pinkie getting here?”

“In about five seconds.” The gryphon said while looking at a wristwatch.

Sunset Shimmer was about to say something when a pink blur showed up and landed on the changeling.

“Oh hi Gilda! Ooh sorry Byte, my landings aren’t always the best, but I promise that I will make you feel super-duper in a minute.”

“Why is Pinkie acting so…”

“Hyper… It’s just the way Pinkie is and I wouldn’t have her any other way.” The gryphon said with a smirk.

“Okay… new question. Why are all of you in my house!?”

“Oh that’s easy silly! The aliens want to keep you from stopping Dusk Shine so they can assimilate the Nightmare’s power into their race and become mega-meanies.”

“Mega-meanies?” Sunset said in confusion.

“Don’t question her or I will rearrange your insides.” Gilda threatened.

“Yeah you’re right that was kind of stupid, but they are still meanies though.”

“How do you know, have you ever talked to them?”

“They don’t do talking, just frying your insides if you piss them off bad enough not to enslave you.” Said Gilda.

“All known communications with the enemy have been either rejected or had hostility returned as a result. We are still unsure if they have decoded our language yet and we are unfamiliar with theirs. Now we must be leaving, the enemy is approaching and the longer we wait the longer we risk Sunset’s capture by hostile forces.” Byte said.

“HEY TALONS OFF OF ME!” Sunset screamed at Gilda, who had decided to pick her up and leave the building.

“Not happening! When Byte says the enemy is close that means they will be right on top of us in five minutes. Now stop squirming Sun Butt.”

“Well can you at least tell me where we are going?”

“Sorry, but they could be listening. Now stay quiet until I say that you can talk!” The gryphon said while heading out of Canterlot.

The two continued to move forward, Gilda pressed onward with uncanny speed, and Sunset lay on the Gryphon’s back holding on for dear life. Sunset glanced back noticing that Pinkie and Byte had managed to keep up. The mare felt oddly important now that she was being dragged somewhere by a pony, a gryphon, and a changeling that she just met. Sunset looked back again only to notice a dark shadow move somewhere nearby.

“I think we’re being followed.” Sunset whispered to Gilda.

The gryphon didn’t stop running, but she talked into a headset that allowed for direct communication to Pinkie and Byte, “Pinkie do you sense any enemies nearby?”

“Yep! Those party poopers are nearby all right! Don’t know where though, but it feels like only one is following us right now.”

“Pinkie! Keep it down.” Gilda whispered into the headset.

“Sorry! Yeah he’s close. Thank goodness the moonlight is bright tonight.”

“I thought you ponies could see in the dark.”

“Oh we can! But having a little light helps a lot too!”

Gilda didn’t talk for the rest of the journey, nor did she seem too happy about their pursuer either. Dawn was approaching and Gilda swore that if they didn’t find cover soon then they were dead meat, thankfully the Everfree was only a few hundred yards away now. The shadow that had been pursuing the group had vanished altogether, but Pinkie was still alert and Byte was just looking ahead at the forest.

The inside of the forest was a dreary dark place that exuded a sense of unease. The trees grew densely and the sunlight wasn’t known for coming in contact with the ground. Caves were known to exist deeper within the forest and all manners of beasts could be expected within them. Timberwolves were known to roam the wilderness, but Gilda and Byte most likely knew a way to deal with those beasts.

Gilda stopped in a small clearing deep within the gloom of the forest and placed Sunset Shimmer on the ground. The rest of the company began preparing some sort of camp and preparing defenses to keep out stray animals. Sunset was still uneasy with this whole being hunted situation. She had originally wanted to go to Ponyville to stop DuskShine and now she was deep within the Everfree.

Sunset looked around and noticed that Byte was preparing all of the camps sleeping areas while Gilda and Pinkie were setting up the barricades. The mare wanted to be anywhere else but here and that Gryphon was not about to let her leave anytime soon. Their story was still ridiculous, but being dragged somewhere unwillingly hardly counted as believing your captors. Hopefully they would be open to reason.

“So Byte… How can I know that what anything that you said back at my house is real?” Sunset asked the busy changeling.

“I understand that forming trust with a creature that you just met is rather difficult, especially if they went into you home uninvited. I suppose your willingness originally was due to shock, and now that you have recovered you are beginning to question our reliability. Unfortunately I am unable to currently help you trust us, because in order to do so we would need to have an encounter with your hunters, or show you things that will ultimately damage your mentality beyond the point where you will be able to enjoy living with ponies of this era. All data pertaining to you would likely be rejected as proof and no known communication will get you to trust us yet.”

“Figures…” Sunset Grumbled.

Sunset walked around the camp for the rest of the day being rather bored, and Pinkie was too busy helping prepare the camp. Gilda was nowhere to be seen for a while and Byte had moved on from the sleeping conditions to preparing the cooking pit. Sunset was confused a little by all of this since they wouldn’t likely be in a position to stay still for more than a day. It was getting close to sunset when Gilda finally returned with some freshly captured rabbits and a pile of wood.

“Alright food’s done cooking. Sunset eats last for doing nothing all day.” Gilda said.

“How do you know that I did nothing?” Sunset said defiantly.

“Pinkie told me. Now wait your turn fat flanks.” Gilda said which caused Sunset to examine her figure.

The food was nothing more than rabbit stew, a rather simple dish compared to what Sunset usually ate. She ate slowly poking her spoon at the chunks of meat in the soup while thinking about how to talk to the other three.

“Hey! I thought ponies ate meat because of that Artemis guy. So either you’re a vegetarian or you don’t like my cooking. Both of which are a major offense in my books.” Gilda said.

“Uh Gilda! I told you that some ponies don’t like the idea of eating meat. Now can you please stop being a grumpy wumpykins.”

“Well they’ll pay for it when they get sick and die. You can’t support higher brain functions on just plants there’s not enough nutrients in them.” Gilda Grumbled.

“Please stop fighting.” Sunset moaned, “You two sound like a married couple.”

“Oh we are! Gilda is my big strong stallion.” Pinkie said.

“Oh! Uh sorry… So why are we camping out here when that creature is after us?”

“If I told you it was to protect a whiny, brainless, pansy then I’d be lying. We are here in order to stay close to the target while being relatively hidden. We are not going to escape an encounter with the enemy, they aren’t idiots like you. They will be all over Ponyville when Artemis returns, our job is to make sure you stop your insane colt-friend and nothing more got it!” Gilda replied.

“Oh! Gilda! Why do you have to be so mean to her? She ordered a changeling bodyguard from me today.”

“I was wondering about that.” Sunset said.

“Oh! That’s a past version of me. She currently has a few mental problems and I am not about to go into details other than I’m not sure how I managed to get so much pudding.”

“Wait you’re from the future?”

“Duh! I mean what do you think this hologram thing of an enemy is for?” While gesturing to a creature that had appeared right next to her.

“Uh… Pinkie! I don’t think that’s a hologram!” Gilda yelled.

The creature next to Pinkie let out a blood curdling roar and leapt for Sunset Shimmer. Sunset ran off into the forest barely seeing Gilda body slam the creature and start wailing on it. The forest ahead of Sunset twisted and turned while the mare made her way away from the camp. She knew now without a doubt that the story that they were telling was true.

Sunset ran for what felt like hours remembering that is what had been done the night before. The darkness of the forest was a supreme darkness that dampened Sunset’s ability to see in the dark, causing the young mare to trip and stumble over the gnarled roots that lay before her. The mare wound up lost in the forest and the trees were beginning to get denser around her. She briefly wondered if Dusk Shine’s fear of Slender Mane was warranted before banishing such nightmares from her thoughts.

Sunset found a small opening under a tree and crawled into the tangled nest of roots hoping that a snake wasn’t living there. Fortunately the space was unoccupied and Sunset hunkered down into the farthest corner. Night seemed to go on forever in this forest, but Sunset was not privy to sleep. She was not about to fall asleep with that thing hunting her.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[6 hours until the arrival of Nightmare Nebula]

Sunset got up with a start and banged her head on the underside of the tree she was hiding under causing a cascade of dirt to blind her. Roaring pain grabbed the unicorn while she cried out from the pain in her eyes. She crawled out from under the trees roots and spotted a small pond in the distance. After she washed the dirt out of her eyes the young mare began to munch on the small amounts of grass nearby.

The grass itself was horrible to eat, it was twisted and strange much like everything else in the Everfree. Sunset sat down after that and tried not to be nauseas while her stomach tried to handle her meal. She noticed the sun was descending and cursed herself for having stayed up so late. She needed to stop Dusk Shine soon and she was lost in the Everfree.

Sunset whirled around when a snap resounded through the now silent forest. Something deep within the mare told her that the silence was a warning of worse things to come. Hoofsteps could be heard approaching and a small legion of birds flew off into the distance at their approach. The bush right before Sunset Shimmer began to quiver and the young mare readied her horn for an oncoming attacker.

Sunset stared at the bush slowly backing up and preparing for a quick flight if needed. The bush shook again and from it came tumbling a young, foolish looking creature. The creature matched the description of the enemies, but its height only came up to Sunset’s barrel. It eyes looked up at her and it seemed almost as frightened as she was.

“Halp Mea.” The creature said.

“Help? Why should I help you? You are trying to kill me right?”

“Whay do yoa faer mea?” The creature implored.

“Oh really! You need to wonder why I fear a creature that enslaves ponies for their own amusement.” Sunset said while slowly backing away.

“Iah aem but ah chield. Iah know naot what mia paeple do.”

“I figured that you were a child. So why would you need my help?”

“Iah aem lost. Iah nead halp. Iah weish to know aebout thea ponies aend wai they faer us.” The creature said while slowly approaching the defensive unicorn.

“Why do you wish to know about us? It seems like your people are quite keen on using us only as slaves from what I’ve heard. Why are you even here anyways?”

“Slaeves? Mia people do noet use slaeves. Mia faether said theiy are frea aend thaet theiy willaengly searve us. Yoa daer to say thaet mia faether lies? We are libearators not enslaevers.”

“Yeah that’s a lie. Your people were here to capture me and steal power that is going to be used to enslave my species. Now that brings me back to my question, why are you here?”

“Iah geot mia faether to breing mia here on the only ship thaet was coming haer soon. Iah noticed yoa running aend Iah followed because yoa wear ah pony thaet could answer mia question.”

“Let me guess. You wanted to know why we fear you. So you followed the only ponies in the city running for their lives. So I’ll answer your question, your kind is evil and they enslave the ponies. You’ve been lied to and you are too young and vulnerable to know otherwise and when you do get older you will have been conditioned to view my race as nothing more than slaves. Happy.”

“Yoa lie. Whay must yoa lie.” The young creature began to sob.

Sunset Shimmer looked at the crying creature and felt a small amount of pity for it. The rest of her stayed aware that it could just be trying to get her to let her guard down. The kid was a little irritating with that strange accent, how the kid even knew equish was another problem. So Sunset just waited for the kid to stop crying.

“So… Do you like pizza?” Sunset asked to liven the mood.

“What is piezza?”

“Figures… So what do you eat?”

“We faed off the sun.”

“Well there has to be some physical food that you eat.”

“Sustaenance caen’t be found on your plaenet. It is ah waest land.”

“Sure it is. So how do you know my language?”

“Yoar miend is no seacret to us.”

Sunset just stared at the creature and it stared back at her with its black, pupil less eyes. It unnerved the unicorn and she wished she could be anywhere else, especially if the kid could hear her thoughts. For the first time in her life Sunset was hoping the Pinkie, Byte, or Gilda would show up. The kid looked up at here and gave a reassuring smile, but the rows of sharp teeth suggested other things.

“Oh come on girls, I need to get out of here soon.” Sunset said into the empty forest.

Ch 5: The Pains of a Mother Pt.1[Descent]

Ditzy wondered along the streets of Ponyville hoping that nopony noticed the obscene bulge her stomach was making. She hated Aria for killing the therapist, especially on the weak premise that he was “suspicious”. She was still amazed at how Aria was able to cram his entire body into her without breaking something, although she was able to do some pretty freaky things if prompted to.

The very idea that Aria had such control was also troubling, but Derpy didn’t want to find a birth certificate in order to find out the truth. She looked down at her filly who kept looking up at her as if something was amiss. She hated it when Aria was in control around her, but Ditzy wasn’t able to control Aria. She only had the courage to fight Aria when she was in either emotional or physical distress. Although Derpy had a tendency to let Aria take charge when physical protection was needed.

Ditzy knew that Dinky didn’t fully understand her “mood swings” but Ditzy couldn’t stand the fear that her daughter had when Aria was in control. It was almost as if her daughter knew that something was wrong, but if she knew then Aria would end her existence. Ditzy didn’t want her filly to die, but she didn’t want to send her away either.

Ditzy slowly started to cry as she contemplated the thought and had to physically stop in order to wipe away her tears. Dinky didn’t notice but she did look at her mother with a worried expression for a little bit. I hope that she doesn’t find out, if she does then she’s as good as dead, Aria will see to that.

After a rather uneventful lunch Ditzy watched as her filly was let loose to play with some of her friends in the town.

Ditzy smiled as she left her filly to frolic with the other children in the town. When Ditzy finally made it home a wave of relief flooded over her entire being. The building itself was rather luxurious and showed almost no inclination that a disabled, or mentally insane, mare lived there. It was in all accounts a Mansion that Dinky’s father had managed to procure on inheritance rights.

Dinky’s father himself was going to become a doctor before he disappeared but the fortune that was left behind easily paid for the upkeep. Ditzy felt a little guilty about taking the money, but it was hers now and she needed to support her daughter. Ditzy looked up at the fancy door and almost dreaded the fact that her house was so large. A large house meant Aria had a lot of room to play with.

Ditzy made her way into the kitchen and put the clean knife in the sink in order to rid it of any lingering bacteria from when she licked it clean. She still felt rather bloated from the whole incident but she really didn’t mind it too much, Aria had done worse things before. She didn’t want to remember anything else while cleaning the knife but she continually thought about her daughter and the other fillies. After the knife was clean Ditzy slashed it through the air a few times before returning it to its proper resting place.

After the knife was put up Ditzy went upstairs to bathe and let the water wash away her worries. She lounged around in the tub for a little bit taking in the exotic smells of a bubble bath from Prance. The scent wasn’t strong but it had a hint of vanilla and some undiscernible scents that reminded her of the rainforest. She felt at ease and Aria was behaving herself for once, although the menace wasn’t going to let that slide easily.

“So Ditzy, darling, who are we going to lure in here next? Stealing cash from the dead is rewarding but Prench bubble baths aren’t cheap.” Aria asked her other self.

“Just leave me alone right now, we can kill somepony later, I just want to relax. I also saved the doctor’s wallet if you don’t remember that part of the disposal process.” Ditzy sighed.

“Just because he’s a doctor doesn’t mean we have a lot of money. Do you remember the last time we tried to access a victim’s bank account?” Aria stated.

“That only failed because we didn’t know the guy had stolen his marefriend’s credit cards. I’m almost glad he died, the cheap bastard was hated by everypony.” Ditzy countered.

“Ohh…Ditzy, why is it that you were the only good personality. I am still making progress on your full corruption though by the way you are taking the latest kill. Maybe one day you’ll be just as evil as me.” Aria interjected.

“Why is it that you always interrupt my bathing sessions? Also, if I am fully corrupted then how will you be able to hide the fact that we murder somepony almost every week? It makes more sense to keep me good in order to maintain an alibi. Now if you excuse me I don’t think that your presence is required for the rest of my bath.”

“Hmm…maybe your corruption is further along than I thought, or maybe the Prench perfumes in the bubble bath are affecting your brain. Either way you do make a good point and I’ll let you finish up for now.” Aria added.

Ditzy sighed inwardly and was glad that she couldn’t afford any servants other than a groundskeeper. If anypony caught her talking to Aria they would immediately think that she was crazy, and maybe she was. Ditzy didn’t linger on the thought too much and continued her bath in utter silence.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[5 days after the founding of the Cutie Mark Crusaders]

Dinky was a happy filly except for when she was being harassed by Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Mr. Jubilee always made her feel welcomed at school and gave her a desire to learn even if she didn’t understand the concept at first. The first lesson of the day was about how Griffins are the only known intelligent species so far that consumes meat regularly. There was some part about dragons’ possibly eating meat as well but no clear evidence that it was a common practice.

After the lesson Dinky went outside for recess and tried to avoid the two local bullies as much as possible. Although, as always, the two fillies named Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made their way over to the little filly.

“So, if it isn’t the blank flank that lost her dad?” Diamond Tiara teased.

“I bet she doesn’t even have any parents and that she’s adopted.” Silver Spoon added.

“Please just leave me alone girls, I don’t want any trouble.” Dinky pleaded.

“Isn’t that cute, the orphan wants us to go away.” Silver Spoon stated.

“Why do you want us to go huh? So you can cry about how you don’t have a cutie-mark or parents.” Diamond Tiara added venomously.

“I…I…I want my momma!” Dinky cried running off while leaving a trail of tears.

Dinky spent the next few minutes crying at the far end of the playground where nopony would bother her, at least for a little bit. After about two minutes she sensed some ponies behind her and immediately got up and began backing away in order to avoid any more teasing. After two seconds she realized that the ponies that had walked up to her weren’t Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon.

The white unicorn in the group was the first to speak out of the four ponies that were present.

“Hi my name is Sweetie Belle and this is Apple Bloom and Skedaddle.” The young filly stated as she introduced herself and her friends.

“uhm...h…hello my name is Dinky. Please don’t make fun of me.!” The little filly cried.

“Make fun of you? We’re not like Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. We just want to be friends.” Sweetie Belle stated.

“You do?” Dinky sniffled.

“Of course we do. Another friend means another idea that could get us closer to our cutie-marks.” Skedaddle added.

“Ugh I just wish Diamond Tiara would go away though, she still bullies us but being together means that we can bounce back a lot easier than being alone.” Sweetie Belle added.

“Thank you for coming by the way. It makes me feel better knowing that Diamond Tiara doesn’t own every filly and colt here.” Ditzy added.

“How did we…Ow! Skedaddle yelped as Apple Bloom slammed a hoof into his gut. “Hey what did I say?”

“If she feels comforted by our presence let her.” Sweetie Belle whispered to the angry colt.

“Okay but please don’t hurt me next time.” Skedaddle whispered back.

“Hey if y’all are done talking back there we got a new friend to play with.” Apple Bloom added.

After a fun day on the playground and the continuation of Mr. Jubilee’s lesson Dinky rejoined her new group of friends. They smiled when they noticed her joining them on their way home.

“So what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you get home or something?” Skedaddle asked.

“Nope! My momma lets me run around all day as long as I don’t stay out after dark.” Dinky added.

“Really? Well since we don’t have any homework today then maybe we could hang out for a little bit.” Apple Bloom added.

Sweetie Belle quickly pulled Apple Bloom and Skedaddle into a huddle, “We can’t hang out for too long yet. We need her to be open minded enough for our more ‘gruesome’ activities.”

“Sheesh calm down Sweetie, we don’t have anypony lined up for today and Apple Bloom already agreed to letting Dinky finish of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. All we have to do is hang out and play for a little bit without causing suspicion to arise.” Skedaddle stated.

“Alright but let’s make sure she’s fully integrated before we pull out the big guns okay?” Sweetie Belle responded.

“Sure” Skedaddle replied.

“If ya say so.” Apple Bloom responded.

“Uhm…what are you talking about?” A curious Dinky asked.

“Oh we were just deciding on what to do first. We decided that in order to get our cutie-marks we are going to pois…er I mean try and clean the water supply.” Skedaddle

stated.

“Nice save.” Apple Bloom whispered.

“Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusaders water purifiers.” Sweetie Belle shouted in the air causing several ponies in the vicinity to make a mental note to shut their water off when they get home.

“Ugh…now we are going to have less vic… I mean ponies benefiting from our service.” Skedaddle moaned.

The next few hours that Ditzy spent with her new friends were oddly exhilarating, something that she didn’t expect when mixing up a powdery substance that was going to go into the water supply. She continued her work and prepared the substance, after which they all walked to the nearest water supply source and dumped the powder in. The powder wash washed away and went down to the water supply that existed on the far west of town.

Dinky suddenly felt nervous, almost as if she had done something bad. But she wasn’t bad, all she did was put some chlorine stuff into the water. Dinky repeated that in her mind as she bid her new friends farewell and walked home. The walk itself was quiet and relaxing giving the filly time to think.

When she reached the mansion that was her destination she skipped inside and closed the door behind her. She rushed around the mansion trying to find her other but realized that she wasn’t anywhere nearby. After the last few times Dinky couldn’t find her mother she quickly realized that her mother was doing something while having those, strange, straight eyes.

Dinky knowing that her mother would show up when she was ready to went into the kitchen for a snack and grabbed a few premade cherry sandwiches out of the refrigerator. After her meal the filly ran around the mansion and played a game that consisted of running from an invisible monster while avoiding the carpets that were hot lava. After a while the filly grew tired and lounged on a sofa while regaining her energy.

“To think that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon live in a house similar to mine. It almost makes me wonder if they actually deserve it though, they are quite mean.” The filly pondered.

“I guess it was the way they were raised though? I turned out nice because my momma always taught me that being nice is the best policy.”

After her brief philosophical moment Dinky ran around the house again this time heading upstairs to her room in order to write an entry into her Diary. The Diary consisted of nothing more than a pink book with a small clasp on it in order to keep it shut. Dinky never understood the purpose of the fake latching mechanism, but she guessed that it had something to do with keeping the things within almost private.

After she wrote down a brief summary of her days activities the filly yawned and went to sleep, making sure that her diary was placed on her nightstand. After the young filly had fallen asleep her mother walked in and kissed her on her horn while tucking her in. Aria grabbed the diary on the nightstand and cracked it open for a read, much to Dinky’s displeasure.

“So our foal has made some new friends. From the looks of it they might be the ones behind the minute poisoning of the ponies in the poor district.” Aria mused.

“She’s our daughter, I don’t see any need in reading her diary. Although the poisoning is a very odd coincidence.” Dinky added.

“Maybe, but our first kill was when we were about eight years old. Always makes me wonder why mother let us cut the carrots at that age.” Aria pondered the question for a moment before dismissing it as trivial.

Dinky placed the diary back where it belonged and looked back at her filly while smiling. After Dinky left Aria took her back down to the secret section of the basement to gaze upon their latest victim. She was a middle aged unicorn that had recently suffered the loss of her family. Aria had decided to relieve her of that pain and her bits. The real thing that set Aria off though was the blatant disrespect that the mare had for her family.

It was bad enough that Dinky was considered a widow but to be openly mocked about her bloodline was another thing. The mare secretly hated Dinky, unfortunately Aria was good at figuring out what was going on inside another pony’s head. In fact Aria was so good that sometimes she could guess what they were thinking without anything to go off of. She told Ditzy once that observation is an art and that if you know what to look for you can read a ponies mind like an open book.

Dinky hated Aria because of her urge to murder but she found that her abilities were far more startling. Whether it was the constant rage or some unknown force, Aria was incredibly hard to figure out. She reminded Dinky of Pinkie almost with what she is capable of. Maybe the Doo’s and the Pie’s were somehow related. Dinky and Aria didn’t really care though the mare was odd and had a doll obsession but their current objective was to kill the mare before them.

The mare herself was strapped to a metal bench with holes in the back of it for pegasi wings. The straps and the table were adjustable up to the size of a pony the size of an Alicorn, if Aria ever managed to figure out how to kill one. The mare lay incapacitated on the table thanks to Aria’s latest bright idea. The presence of Aria caused the mare to wake up and resume her struggles while trying to scream through the gag that was in her mouth.

The mare struggled against her bindings but was unsuccessful do to the steel chains that reinforced them. The mare had already given up trying magic when she noticed the magic inhibiter placed on her horn. She looked up to see none other than Derpy, the mare that had dragged her there. The mare looked at her captor for a few more minutes before breaking the gaze and looking down at the knife lodged in her vagina.

Aria smiled at the mare and slowly dragged the knife out of the mare’s blood dripping orifice, causing squeals of pain to escape from the gagged mare. The fiend then proceeded to slice into the mare’s clit causing the victim to nearly pass out from the amount of pain that she was feeling. Aria brought the knife up to her mouth and licked the blood off of it before slamming the knife straight into the mare’s bladder causing the mare to wet herself. Aria noticed the fluids leaking out of the mare and dragged the knife up to her throat effectively splitting the mare up the middle.

The mare began to faint but Aria didn’t really care as long as she died, but she still injected an adrenalin shot into the mare in order to keep her awake. The mare convulsed a bit before her vision refocused just in time to see Aria slit her skin so that flaps were formed. Aria proceeded to pull back the flaps of skin that were around the mare’s chest cavity and stomach while proceeding to rip out her digestive tract. The first thing to be removed was the intestines followed by the stomach, liver, kidneys and bladder. Aria looked at her dying victim and smiled maliciously as she put her knife down and slammed a hoof onto the mare’s rib cage.

It only took one thrust on the mare’s rib cage to easily crack it due to Aria’s unnatural strength. Aria leaned in close to the mare and whispered to her. “If it makes you feel better, I always knew that you hated me.” The mare made no response to Aria’s talking but silently acknowledged the fact that Aria wasn’t wrong. The mare had never liked Derpy and now she was paying for it with her life. The mare slowly began to fade as blood flowed freely onto the floor causing the mare to bleed out.

Sensing that the mare was getting close Aria slammed the knife deep into the mare and skewered her heart on it before twisting the blade and ripping the organ out. “I always love this part, it’s always the tastiest piece to devour before I cut up the rest of you and make the cuts into sandwiches.” Aria stated that fact with sardonic glee as she gorged herself on the blood soaked organ. The mare wanted to vomit at the horrific display in front of her, but thankfully her stomach was lying in the nearby bucket. The mare didn’t give the fiend anymore responses as she slowly faded while silently cursing the mare that had just ripped her heart out.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

Dinky spent the next several weeks playing with her new friends and doing minor acts of evil that they kept hidden. Dinky was kept out of the more gruesome acts of slaughter while the Crusaders slowly broke her in. Dinky slowly got accustomed to the ways of the Crusaders and they started thinking about their next plan to get her broken in.

“We should let her help us spray paint the side of the town hall.” Skedaddle threw out.

“Na… ah say that we should let her pint some critters across tha’ river with us.” Apple Bloom suggested.

“Apple Bloom as much as I like bucking Angel bunny across the river I don’t think that Dinky is going to be very happy with that. Skedaddle’s plan makes the most sense but I’m not sure if she’s up for knowingly defacing public property yet.” Sweetie Belle stated, “Although if nothing better comes up for tomorrow then we’ll go with Skedaddle’s plan.”

After the group discussion among the three Crusaders they went their separate ways in order to make it back home before it got dark. The next day was rather uneventful at first. Mr. Jubilee talked about multiplication and simple arithmetic, while the class took notes on how to find variables in equations. When the bell for recess rang all of the young fillies and colts ran out to play on the playground and eat their lunches.

Dinky trotted out onto the playground hoping to find her friends but she managed to find Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon instead. Dinky began to slowly walk away when the two fillies decided that harassing her was now on their daily schedule. She managed to avoid the two temporarily by hiding behind the building but the two bullies quickly figured out where she was at.

“Well if it isn’t the blank flank. I bet you wish you had a cutie-mark like ours, maybe then you wouldn’t look so pathetic.” Silver Spoon said while laughing with her friend.

“Just leave me alone Diamond Tiara, I’ve got friends that won’t like it if you tease me.” Dinky stated.

“Oh please. The only friends that you could make are the ones that we draw in art class. Speaking of friends, where are they hmm..?” Diamond Tiara threw at her.

“Well…uhm…you see they aren’t here right now but they will be soon so you should probably get going.” Dinky explained.

“I knew it! You don’t have any friends. Just like your mother with the weird eyes. You’ll be all alone like her. I bet that’s why your dad disappeared. He probably couldn’t stand living with her when she always looks so weird.” Diamond Tiara sneered.

The two fillies laughed as if they had just heard the funniest joke on the planet, but Dinky was deeply hurt. The loss of her father was the worst day in her life and her mother had taken it very hard. Tears freely flowed down the fillies face as she felt the pain of their words that insulted her mother and her pride. She loved her mother and she wasn’t going to let these fillies make fun of her.

The rage inside of Dinky at the moment began to cloud her vision and all she could think about was justice. She found a decently sized rock and levitated it with her magic. The three fillies just so happened to be near the back of the building so nopony would see what was about to transpire. Dinky looked at the two blasphemers and smashed Diamond Tiara’s head in with the rock. The filly crumpled into a bloody heap and didn’t move. The blow easily killed her and Dinky felt energized now that she was gone.

The sudden stop of Diamond Tiara’s laughter caused Silver Spoon to notice that Dinky was holding a rather bloody rock in her magic. Silver Spoon looked at the smiling filly that was approaching her and tried screaming but Dinky smashed the rock into her jaw before she could say anything. Dinky leaned up close to the filly and whispered into her ear.

“NO PONY MAKES FUN OF MY MOMMA! Now I’m going to kill you.” Dinky stated coldly.

Silver Spoon wanted to run but she was pinned against a wall and she couldn’t scream because of the pain in her jaw. She only managed to muster up enough strength to whisper a reply, “P…please don’t kill me. I’m sorry. I’ll do anything…I’ll even be your lackey.” Dinky considered the prospect for a few minutes and came to a startling conclusion when she looked back at Diamond Tiara's corpse.

“I-I’ll let you live. But please don’t tell anypony-I-I didn’t mean to kill her she wailed.”

After Silver Spoon had reasoned with the murderous filly Dinky quickly realized that she was in big trouble. Dinky began running around nearly hyperventilating while trying to figure out how to avoid being sent to counselling or jail. While the little filly panicked her friends rushed over to see what was causing her distress when they heard her start crying.

“I don’t want to go to jail, I didn’t mean to kill her. She just…just. Oh who am I fooling it’s all my fault! I killed her and I sorta’ liked it.” Dinky wailed.

The trio of friends slowed down when they heard the confession of the friend that they were currently trying to break in. When they looked into the corner that Dinky was in they noticed that she was crying while covered in blood from head to hoof. The two bodies of the local bullies lay dead at the far end of the building.

“Dinky! Calm down so we can get you out of this mess!” Sweetie Belle screamed.

“Huh? But aren’t you going to hate me for murdering her or tell on me?” Dinky asked while sobbing into her hooves.

“Hell no! That jerk deserved it and we’ve been plotting her death for almost a year now.” Sweetie Belle stated.

“But…you wanted them dead too?” Dinky asked.

“Yes! Every filly and colt here has wanted her dead since day one. Even Silver Spoon hates her for treating her like a doormat all the time. I also guess this means that you’re initiation into the Cutie Mark Crusaders is a success.” Sweetie Belle replied nervously.

“What do you mean by initiation? Wasn’t I already a Cutie Mark Crusader?”

“Sort of. We just didn’t let you in on all of the murder and mass destruction that we usually do. Murdering Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon was going to be your test on whether or not you were ready to be a Crusader.” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Wait so you do this kind of stuff all the time and never get caught?” Dinky asked.

“Yes.”

“Is it bad if I sort of want to kill again? Only if they deserve it of course, I wouldn’t want to kill innocents, momma wouldn’t like it.” Dinky said while scratching the ground.

“It’s to be expected. Also your mother must never know about this. If it makes you feel better we hand out a black diary with a lock on it for writing down all of the stuff involving our antics.” Sweetie Belle explained while producing the book in question.

“Uhm… is it common for Crusaders to write down what they do every day?” Dinky asked.

“No, but we give out the book in order to keep track of your kills. It can be satisfying sometimes to look back through the book and realize how many kills that you’ve scored.” Sweetie Belle stated.

“Hey! Sweetie, we’re done disposing of the evidence make sure Dinky gets cleaned before her coat stains.” Skedaddle announced.

“So what do you say Dinky? Do you want to join the Cutie Mark Crusader’s in their killing sprees?” Sweetie asked.

“If it means teaching bullies like Diamond Tiara a lesson then the answer is yes!” Dinky said while taking the black book from Sweetie Belle.

“So what should we do with the witness?” Skedaddle asked, “We just can’t let her go.”

Silver Spoon who was still in a state of shock suddenly realized that she was in danger again. She had to act now and if Dinky just found out that she’s a psychopath then there was no telling if Silver Spoon would be defended. Dinky did speak for her however.

“Please, don’t kill her. She promised not to say anything and she even said that she would do whatever we wanted. Can’t she help us or something?”

“I guess we could use her, but only if she agrees to be an accomplice and a fellow Crusader. As long as she knows she has to be a member.”

“I’ll do it! Just please let me live!” The spoiled filly cried.

After Dinky got cleaned up the rest of the school day went on without a hitch, except for the brief questioning about where Diamond Tiara was. When nopony gave an answer he just shrugged and went on with the lesson, it was common for her to skip the last half of class anyways. It wouldn’t be until the next day that anypony would realize that she had went missing. Dinky never told a soul and was starting to help the Cutie Mark Crusader’s formulate the next plan for their new victims.

She felt at ease now that the whole event had blown over. The induction ceremony into the club wasn’t too fancy, all she had to do was pledge that she would kill any target that they set their eyes on and that they would never rat out the rest if caught. The next part involved getting her cape and a knife that was going to be Dinky’s new weapon. Although she still kept the rock hidden in the garden as a reminder of that fateful day, the day that she started to keep secrets from her family.

(_o_==============================================_o_)

[“Oh! Hi! I wasn't expecting company again! Now I can talk all I want to you guys!”] Pinkie said.

“Hey! I thought that I put a ball gag in your mouth! How in the name of the moon are you still talking?”

[“Oooh. So I wasn’t supposed to take it off? Well that’s just boring, how am I supposed to have fun if I can’t move or say anything?”]

“That’s the idea!”

[“Well sorry miss grumpy grumps. Now how about Ditzy’s alternate personality Aria? I bet that you didn’t see that one coming?”]

“Ugh... with us Rainbow Dash and Ditzy there are too many characters with alternate personalities.”

[“Well technically Rainbow Dash didn’t gain an alternate personality all that happened was that mean zebra and Fluttershy put her evil side in control and gave it more power. She is still the Rainbow Dash that this fic started out with, but that part is now buried under anger hatred and a whole mess over other nasty feelings that are just not fun.”]

“I didn’t know that you did exposition Pinkie. Maybe I should let you explain current events more often after all they have gotten a little confusing and the authors terrible writing style doesn’t help either.”

[“He’s not that bad, but maybe a little more explanation into why the characters are the way they are is in order. But that’s all the way in chapter five.”]

“Have you been looking ahead again?”

[“Maybe. But when are we going to get our chapters? The story behind what you do is just as interesting as all this other stuff. It will be so fun!”]

“What about skinning ponies alive is fun?”

[“Well you don’t know what he has planned for you yet but I do! And trust me it will be amazing!”]

“I guess but don’t you have another joke for our uninvited guests?”

[“Oh! How silly of me to forget. What punctuation mark did I find in Rainbow Dash’s body?”]

“What?”

[“I found a colon!”]

“Do you know what these jokes aren’t?”

[“No.”]

“Humerus.”

[“Ha ha ha ha ha. Good one!”]

“That’s only because it’s true.”