Behind Closed Doors

‘…Today is one of those days.’

The sun princess frowned in an accusing manner as she watched the stormy sky above the glorious structure of Canterlot, perhaps rationalizing the foul mood she acquired from the banters of the Equestria Council. In fact, she hadn’t felt at ease in quite some time due to all that had occurred lately, and the lack of answers had only raised her frustration.

Something was going on…terrible things…

She never spoke of it to her sister or the Council, but she was starting to get worried if she could ever handle the truth. What could be happening that she had missed? Do the ponies of Equestria truly trust her to take care of their problems? Could she trust them?

Celestia shook her head. Such thoughts would only cloud her judgement. Yet, she couldn’t always rely on the Elements of Harmony to solve her problems, but…it wouldn’t hurt to pay Twilight a visit on the matter…

…She’d trust HER more than the Council any day.

The sun princess proceeded to exit her chambers when she was suddenly assaulted by green flames, causing her to panic and let out a high-pitched shriek.

…Which was followed by an entire army of guards barging into her room, weapons in hoof. “Princess Celestia, what is the matter?! Who dares to harm the Princess?!”

Celestia blinked herself out of her shock, surrounded by the Royal Guard. “O-Oh, it’s…fine, sirs. At ease…I was simply...A letter arrived when I did not expect it.” She explained in a calmer voice, glad for her practice in hiding embarrassment from the public.

The guards nodded. “…We will return to our posts, then. Please call for us if you need us, Princess.”

The Princess nodded as she watched the crowd exit from her chambers. As soon as the door was closed shut, her tense body became relaxed, a reddish tint forming in her cheeks.

“…Oh, dear…If only I hadn’t shrieked like I did…” Now wasn’t the time for childish behavior. If a letter was sent to her, it must’ve been from Twilight or another foreign connection.

Unless…

Celestia frowned as she levitated the letter in front of her. It wasn’t from Twilight or anypony foreign.

…Only one pony sent a letter to her in that certain material of paper instead of a scroll.

Dear Princess Celestia,

In all my observations, I have yet to come across the cause for all the sudden disappearances in Ponyville. As much as I enjoy a challenge when it’s thrown at me, this is extremely concerning, and I am ashamed to say that I have nothing to report that actually means anything.

For now, I plan to remain in my current position as I’ve always been, but I’ll be keeping an eye if I catch something worth reporting. Until then, I don’t plan to send any letters if they’ll only waste your valuable time, Princess.

Till next we meet,

Red

P.S. - I’m actually running a little low on bottled dragon fire, if you’d be so kind as to send me some…

The sun princess frowned. Even Red wasn’t able to find anything. Even so…If she had anything to say about it…she would catch whoever had taken those missing ponies.

And they WILL face judgement.

“Ugh! What the hay is going on here?!”

Pinkamina Diane Pie blew her flat mane out of her face with a puff as she watched ANOTHER newspaper being ripped to shreds by her merciless partner to all things paper; her head slouched over a metal table long since stained with rainbow splotches, yours truly from the Rainbow Factory.

Two weeks ago, she could’ve just killed her best friend and made delicious treats out of her…

…but instead she had chosen to join her in her OWN little project known as the Rainbow Factory, helping to get rid of evidence of little failures so neither of them would get caught in their fun. And this is what they kept doing since then, as part of a partnership. For two weeks!

…So why?

Rainbow ‘Dr. Dashie’ Dash groaned as she slammed her hooves on the metal lab table. “This is the umpteenth pony to go missing in the space of a week! With missing ponies being a red-zone growing POPULAR, this could jeopardize our whole foundation!”

“Oh relax, Dashie, you’ve only been fretting about this for the WHOLE WEEK.” The pink pony’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “Anytime a pony goes missing and it isn’t our fault, you blow into paranoia and act like it’s the end of the world or something.”

“It IS the end of the world! It’s gonna be harder to slip in resources, y’know!” The rainbow-maned Pegasus huffed in her white and multi-colored stained lab-coat, magenta eyes glaring through a pair of safety lab goggles. “…You haven’t been keeping your number system behind my back, have you?”

The pink pony stuck out her tongue in response. “You just HAVE to accuse ME, don’t’cha? I haven’t pulled out a number since we made our partnership two weeks ago!”

She frowned. “You sure about that…?”

“Positive!” Baby blue eyes narrowed in self-defense as the two faced each other, the lab table between them as the tension rose in the room.

“…Alright. I believe you, Pinks.” Pinkamina blinked as her friend’s expression shifted from a dangerous sneer into a softer smile.

Even if she was a murderer like herself…Dashie was still Dashie.

“Aww, thanks Dr. Dashie!” The pink pony threw her hooves around the pegasus, causing her friend to grunt at the sudden weight crushing her ribcage.

“Ugh, okay, okay! I can’t…I can’t breathe, Pinkie!” The pink pony giggled as she released her partner, the latter moving away from her to catch her breath.

“Guh, I need to…check on our current specimens…refill on benzodiazepines…” The rainbow-maned pegasus hastily trotted out of the room, leaving her partner to continue her own work.

Pinkamina sighed in disappointment as she watched her friend leave. It was so much fun crushing her while she squirmed, the loyal dog. Shrugging, she quickly switched her attention to the bloody batter she left half-way mixed on the table.

‘…If Dashie wasn’t fretting about the whole missing ponies thing, she might’ve complained for me to have a cleaner work space…’

With a sheepish grin, the pony began stirring at a fast pace, allowing the gruesome organs and juicy blood to be cloaked by the delicious flour and milky vanilla concoctions, losing herself in her own train of thought.

If it wasn’t the Rainbow Factory…and it wasn’t her….

…Who had been causing the mysterious disappearances?

Blinking out of her thoughts, the pink pony stopped short in her work. It turned out she forgot to put on gloves, and other lab stuff…she didn’t even bother to wear her dress today.

Oops. Big no-no if Dashie returned.

The mare rolled her eyes as she resumed her baking. ‘…Pfft, sanitation can kiss my flank. I’m gonna do it the traditional fun way!’ Speeding up, the batter began to soar in circles around the insides of the bowl, small bits of contents spilling on the cloud-marble floors of the laboratory.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she walked through the steam-piped halls of the Rainbow Factory, capsules flowing with all colors of the spectrum, leading down through the building to the basement where the Pegasus Device was kept, each pony at work to condemn the lives of failures who had no purpose in society ahead of them, never to be missed.

It truly was a beautifully bloody system.

“…Maybe I am being way too paranoid.” The rainbow-maned pegasus mused to herself as she continued through the halls, leading towards the confinement hangars where the other resources were being stored for future use. “I kinda HAVE a good reason to be, though…” The mare frowned, recalling her partner’s earlier argument. If ponies went missing in other places, there’d be more awareness if any pony went missing, out-casted or not.

…That was the problem in a country so focused on harmony. Even failures are deemed worthy of chances far beyond what they deserved, all under Celestia’s rule, all filled with love and sap.

If ever she was discovered…then everything would have gone to waste. Commander Hurricane’s efforts would’ve been for naught, and how would she be able to face her dad? The factory had being running in her family-line since the beginning, after all…

Shaking her head, Rainbow gave a small growl as she went through the automatic door towards the hangars.

And then there was the matter with Pinkie…

Even if Pinkie wasn’t killing ponies behind her back, she certainly had something going with how she squeezed her and all. That pony was still trying to eventually kill her, secrets exposed or not. The pegasus’ lips curled into a cruel smile at the thought. It truly was a game to see if one would conquer the other. And while Pinkie out-matched her in brute strength…she had her fleeting speed. Speed that even AJ struggled to compete with, and that pony was really something…

…but if it wasn’t her that took those ponies, and it wasn’t Pinkie…

…Who does she need to drag onto the conveyer belt?

Groaning at the thought, Rainbow clenched her teeth. She needed to clear her head. Somepony was going to suffer.

…HARD.