From Ashes to Ashes (Built Upon Dreams, Paid in Blood)

Rainbow Dash greets the new day with a jolt. A pulsing migraine pounds her skull. “Oh…” She moans, slipping out of bed. Stumbling about, she catches herself on her desk chair. Leaning against it, she takes several seconds to recover from the hangover that clings to her thoughts.

Rubbing the back of her head, she picks up her black cotton jacket and walks over to her closet, pulling out a towel, a red dress and a black under shirt and underwear.

Stepping into the square shaped hall, she decides to check on her mother. Peaking around the corner, she sees her mother’s short scarlet orange mane laying over the armrest of the couch. Her ears twitch as she snores the early morning away. With a sigh Rainbow Das steps into the restroom to freshen up.

Rainbow Dash sits on a stool by the stove, watching the coffee boil within the percolator. The black liquid dancing about calms her as she stares into its endless abyss. “Oh… hell?” She turns around on her perch, watching her mother slowly awaking to a new day. “What time is it?” Windy Whistles looks into the kitchen to read the clock. Her eyes however are drawn to her daughter. “What are you doing?” She rubs her head, sitting up.

“Making coffee for us.” Rainbow Dash frowns, not pleased with her mother’s tone. “Good morning mommy.”

Her mother gurgles out a sigh. “Morning sweetie…” She rubs her eyes as she looks at the smoldering coals in the iron-cast furnace.

With a sigh of her own, Rainbow Dash turns off the stove. The flames puttering into oblivion. Washing two cups from the sink, she pours herself and her mother a cup. Taking out a large raspberry pastry from the paper bag on the counter, she walks over to the couch and sits next to her mother. “Hungry?”

Windy Whistles smiles and takes half of the pastry. “When did you get this?”

“Last night.” She takes a bite of the treat. Her mother shrugs her shoulders and takes a bite of her own. They sit in silence listening to the echoes of pegasi of Lower Cloudsdale, awakening to the day, the light crackling of the coals and their mouths’ chewing their morning meal. Finishing their meal, mother and daughter sit sipping their coffee for several minutes, silence consuming the air. Uncomfortable with the silence, however, Rainbow Dash shifts in her seat. “How long do you have to work today?”

Windy Whistles looks down at her daughter with a dull stare. “The usual…” She twitches. “Why?” She scratches her arm.

Rainbow Dash taps the rim of her cup. “I was wondering if you would like to go to the lake with me today, after work?”

Windy Whistles chuckles. “That does sound like fun…” She squeezes her arm, sweat rolls down her brow as her eyes dart around. The filly’s happy expression fades away. Sighing sadly, she gets up from her seat and stumbles over the trash littering the floor to the table by the door. “Where is it!” Her mother spits, plucking the feathers from the tip of her left wing.

Getting to the table, Rainbow Dash opens the drawer and takes out a syringe filled with a transparent liquid. “Looking for this?” She holds it up.

Her mother growls. “You were hiding them!”

Rainbow Dash growls back. “No! You put them here, you just forgot, like always!” She places it on the coffee table as she walks to her room.

Her mother stares at her, her purple crimson eyes glaring daggers at her daughter. “Where the hell are you going?” She yells, scratching her neck vigorously.

“TO WORK!” Rainbow Dash spats from her room.

Windy Whistles leans on the head of the couch. “I thought I told you to stay away from that fucking stallion!” She looks into her daughter’s room.

“And I thought I told you to stop whoring yourself!” Rainbow Dash storms out of her room heading to the front door, saddlebag in hand.

Her mother tries to chase her, but she stumbles over a pile of trash that sends her to the floor with a thud. Rainbow Dash looks back, worry coating her eyes. Her mother shakes her head, getting rid of the haze. “… I have to work two jobs to keep a roof over our heads… you’re a filly, you don’t need to be working!” She glares at her.

Rainbow Dash frowns. “I work, so you don’t have to work two JOBS!” She slams the door on the way out. Windy Whistles sighs, laying her head on the hard wood floor.

Steel Bit looks over the bottles of beer and hard liquor, counting them in his head. Sitting on the other side of the bar, is his filly-friend Lilly Drops. She watches him with dull amusement, her head laying in her hand, tapping her cheek with her index finger. “When is the squirt coming?”

Steel Bit picks up a bottle and blows dust off it. “Soon, knowing her, she slept in late… again.” He places the bottle back in its spot. Hearing the doors swing open they look over their shoulders to see the filly in question, walking up to the bar. “Speak of the devil. How are you doing this morning squirt?” Steel Bit smiles with a friendly wave.

Rainbow Dash smiles halfheartedly as she sets down her saddlebag. “Good, sorry I’m late.”

Steel Bit sees that she is upset, but decides to let it go. “No worries, you’re here now and that’s all that matters…”

“Let’s go!” Lilly Drops sighs, getting up from her seat, making her way up the stairs to the condo above the bar. “We better start bagging if we want to have some day light left to sell!” Rainbow Dash and Steel Bit both roll their eyes as they follow after her.

In a cramped room, Lilly Drops sits around several large poison joke plants, plucking their blue flowers, placing them on a bronze tray to dry. The hum of the large halogen bulbs above her, washing out any ambient noise. Steel Bit is in a smaller room adjacent to the room she’s in, he stands over a five-gallon pot containing ten pounds of plucked flowers soaking in a solution of honey, water, pure alcohol, lemon and the flower’s natural hallucinogenic properties. Sitting next to him is Rainbow Dash who’s cutting up fully marinated flowers from a pervious batch, placing fifteen grams worth into burlap pouches.

“Damn…I can’t wait to relax and smoke some…” Steel Bit stiffs the aroma from the brew with a hum.

“You’re already getting high!” Lilly Drops mocks him, plucking away. Rainbow Dash giggles at Steel Bit’s hurt reaction.

“I want to get stoned, not lightly high.” He grumbles stirring the pot. He sees that Rainbow Dash has already filled sixty bags. “Hey squirt.”

Rainbow Dash looks up, lollypop in her mouth. “Yeah?” She moves her sweet to the side of her mouth.

“I think you have enough to start your run.” Rainbow Dash nods, scooping up the pouches into her saddlebag. Steel Bit chuckles at her eagerness as he spoons up some of the brew, giving it a lick. “Holy hell!...” He coughs.

“Did he just lick it!” Lilly Drops yells from the other room.

“No…” Steel Bit chokes.

“Yeeeees.” Rainbow Dash smirks at the stallion while she walks out of the room, saddlebag full to the brim. Lilly Drops pokes her head into the room giving him a frown. He chuckles uncomfortably, going back to stirring the pot.

Stepping out of the pub, Rainbow Dash puts on her grey flat-cap and makes her way to her first destination. She walks through the narrow streets and stairs, surrounded by towering favelas, to the river docks. Nearing one of the dock-offices near the base of the mountain, she gives three paced out knocks. Shuffling comes behind the door; the locks unlatch themselves. The door swings open reviling a heavyset stallion in his late fifties, a sailor’s cap rests on his head, his eyes old and dilatated. He scratches his brown beard. “RD, How’s a-been?”

Rainbow Dash giggles at his speech “Good, just making the rounds.” She tosses a pouch to the pegasus.

The stallion chuckles handing her the cost of the drug. “Be safe filly.” She tilts her flat-cap and runs off to her next destination.

Entering downtown Lower Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash makes her way to one of eight orphanages in the area. Coming up to a white cloud-brick constructed building, she looks up at the sigh. ‘Soft Cloud Little Homes’. Smiling she makes her to the back of the orphanage, climbing the chain-metal fence. Peaking around the corner, she eyes three colts and two fillies playing at the back corner of the playground, by the brick wall of an adjacent building that’s connected to the orphanage.

“Yo, dumbasses!” She calls out skipping up to them.

The group turns their attention to the prism maned filly making her way towards them. Her red dress swaying with each skip she takes. “What do you want fag!” The older colt of the group, about thirteen years old, shouts back giving her a playful glare.

“I’m not a fag!” Rainbow Dash walks up to the colt, getting in his face. She giggles and licks his snout. “I like colts.” The colt blushes, rubbing his snout, confusion flooding his mind, he cheeks flushing red from her actions.

“On your rounds Dash?” The youngest filly asks as she hangs from the monkey bars.

“Yep.” Breaking her sly gaze from the colt, she looks at the filly. “Still trying to break your record Sunny?”

“Yeah!” She grunts, concentrating on her grip, however she losses it and falls on the fluffy cloud underneath the bars. “Darn!” She cries, falling dramatically backwards on the cloud.

“Do you need our help again Dash?” The flustered colt asks, still rubbing his snout.

She smiles at the colt, flicking her tail in his face, causing him to blush even more. “Yes, Hoops I need your help.” She takes out fifty pouches and hands each of them ten. With their own saddlebags full, they follow her to the street.

“So, Dash, are we taking the same cut as last time?” The second oldest colt asks.

“Yes, Dumb-Bells.” She tosses her saddlebag over her shoulder.

“Alright, see you in several hours Dash.” Hoops calls out, flapping his wings, flying into the air. The other colts and fillies fly or run to their perspective routes. With a sigh, she runs off to her next stop.

The clouds in the sky shine bright as the sun sits high-noon in the sky. Sitting on a bench near the industrial center. Rainbow Dash munches on her hay-sandwich, gazing at the clouds. Swallowing her bite, she looks into her saddlebag and sees four more drug pouches and an extra sandwich. With a burp, she closes her bag, turning her attention to the street, she watches pegasi of all types mulling about the area.

Some children play along the street, stallions and mares conduct business, or talk about the day, their relationships. On one of the corners of the intersection, an illusionist shows off her talent to passersby. Another corner, a stallion cooks some candy-radishes.

Finishing her sandwich, she hops off the bench, skipping towards her mother’s place of work.

Entering the heart of the industrial district, Rainbow Dash walks up several flights of cloud stairs to the upper levels. Nearing the cotton factory, she walks down the alley to the backside and knocks on the door. The red metal door swings inward revealing a thin pegasus, with small rim glasses. His dark blue frizzy mane clinging to the sides of his face. “Hello Rainbow Dash, here to see your mother?”

Rainbow Dash nods her head. “I brought her lunch.” She holds out the extra sandwich.

The stallion sighs, leaning on the door. “Sorry sweetie, but your mother isn’t here.”

“What?” Confusion washes over her.

He sighs again. “Yeah, she only showed up and worked for an hour…” He rubs the back of his neck. “Then left in a hurry. Don’t know why.” He looks out over the tops of the industrial buildings, watching steam and coal smoke spewing from their tall brick smoke stacks. “Do you have any ideas where she would go in such a hurry?”

Rainbow Dash frowns. A thought of one place in particular crosses her mind. “Yeah…” She shoves the sandwich in her saddlebag. “See yah later Steam…” Steam waves with a sigh before closing the door.

Walking past the cramped favelas and brick walls of her home city, Rainbow Dash makes her way down to a large grassy courtyard. This courtyard is one of three major connections for the intersecting streets and alleys of the favelas. Stepping onto the sidewalk, she walks to the right, heading to a large four-story building near the south corner of the yard.

Two mares, one in her late forties and the other in her early twenties stand by the entrance of the building. Both wear skimpy dresses that show more leg and cleavage than the average dress. The youngest mare looked more fitting for the dress while the older mare seems to have outgrown it. The youngest mare seeing Rainbow Dash walking towards them, smiles, clapping her hands together. “Darla, the filly, she’s here with the goods!”

Darla looks at the bouncing mare. “Wind Fire calm yourself, you’re going to scare away potential clients.” She sighs watching the filly come up to them, holding out two pouches.

“Hello…” Rainbow Dash mumbles.

Wind Fire smiles, gently taking the pouches. “Hello sweetie. How’s your day been?” She hands over the right number of shekels.

“Alright… how’s yours?” She decides to make small talk with the mares.

Darla sighs, laying against the wall of the building. “The usual.” Wind Fire nods with an innocent grin.

Rainbow Dash looks at the mares while putting the shekels in her saddlebag. “Has my mommy been by?”

The mares look at the filly with different emotions. Darla is calm, giving her a look as if thinking. Wind Fire however, gives her a worried gaze. “I think she has… Wind Fire why don’t you get the mistress, she would know if your mother showed up for work filly.”

Wind Fire looks back. “You know the mistress and Dashie don’t get along.” Rainbow Dash sighs at the nick name Wind Fire gives her. “Besides, the mistress has an odd fascination with her.” She places her hand next to her lips, pointing at the filly.

“I’m right here… you don’t have to whisper!” Rainbow Dash huffs, her arms spread wide before falling to her sides.

Darla rubs her brow with a tired sigh. “The mistress is the only one who knows where we ‘ladies’ go, so, Wind Fire, please go ask her now!” She points at the entrance of the brothel. Wind Fire nods with a grunt, heading inside.

Walking past seven green painted doors, she gets to the end of the hall. Knocking on the red door, Wind Fire places her clasped her hands over her groin. “Come in darling.” She opens the door. Within the room, a mare in her late fifties sits at a desk over by the back wall, counting shekels. Two large windows are behind her casting her in a silhouette.

“Mistress?” Wind Fire calls out.

“What is it dear?” She looks up from her work and eyes one of her best ‘ladies.’

Wind Fire plays with the bottom of her dress, slightly revealing her under garments. “Well ma’am, you know that filly you’ve always liked?”

The mistress’s ears perk up. “Yes?” She gives a smirk. “Why do you ask?”

Wind Fire wraps her tail around her waist. “Well she’s asking for her mother.” She sways back n’ forth.

The mistress hums, taking a sip of her gin. ‘Well bring her in.” Wind Fire nods and runs off to fetch the filly. Leaning back in her chair, she patently waits. Not too long after, the filly steps into her office. Timidly, Rainbow Dash stands in the doorway, her gaze fascinated by the interior of the office. “Hello darling, what brings you here to my establishment?” She gives a small smile, waving to her to take a seat.

Rainbow Dash tears her gaze from the crimson wallpaper and Victorian furniture and looks at the older mare. “Um… my mommy…” She walks up to the chair. “Have you seen her?!” She melts into the chair, the cotton stuffing absorbing her.

The mistress keeps her sly gaze on her. “Ah, yes… Your mother.” She leans in her chair taking a sip of gin as she opens her datebook. “She did come into work early today. Worked a couple of clients.” Rainbow Dash frowns at her words. She notices her expression, and frowns herself. “Then… She left around 11:35am. Went off site to see a client in Upper Cloudsdale… I have o say she’s moving up the ladder…”

“I didn’t know there were promotions for fucking!” Rainbow Dash spits.

The mistress frowns, closing her datebook. “Darling please.” She gets up from her seat and walks up to her, her cane supporting her. “You must understand, at least your mother is using her given…” She places the end of her cane under Rainbow Dash’s chin. “Talents.” She runs the end of her cane down Rainbow Dash’s chest to her groin.

Rainbow Dash shivers squirming away from the cane. “When will she be back?”

“Dear, dear, dear, didn’t you listen to my words?” The mistress leans on her cane, hovering over Rainbow Dash. She runs her fingers along the filly’s cheeks, caressing the back of her left ear. Rainbow Dash twitches, moving away, but the mistress grabs her by the back of her neck, halting her protest. “I know when I see good talent filly!” She smells her prism mane. “I know that you’re wasting yours, think of how popular you’d be if you used it, how rich you’ll become.” She lets go of her neck and runs her hand through her prism mane.

Rainbow Dash jumps out of her seat and twirls around quickly, staring at the older mare with mixed emotions. “Just tell me where my mommy is!” She yells, her voice cracking.

The mistress sighs. “Dear I just told you, she’s somewhere in Upper Cloudsdale…” She places her hand under Rainbow Dash chin. “Why, if you miss your mommy so much, why don’t you turn it into a family business?” She strokes her chin. Rainbow Dash frowns, pulling away from the embrace. Walking to the door, she looks back and gives the mare the middle finger before stepping into the hall. The mistress frowns, sitting back in her chair. “One day, you’ll know your place…” She sips the last of her gin.

Walking into the pub, Rainbow Dash storms over to the bar and sits on one of the stools. Sliding the caller-bell to her, she rings it with a pout. Steel Bit stumbles down the stairs, landing hard on the hardwood floor. She stares at his disheveled appearance. He’s shirtless and his pants ride low, showing his butt crack. His eyes are dilated. The smoky smell of poison joke wafting off of him. “Hey squirt, how was your run?” He leans on the counter, his eyes staring goofily at hers.

“Alright…” She moans, placing his cut of shekels on the counter.

He lazily takes the coins, placing them in the register. “You okay?” He walks up to the back of the bar and pours her a drink of her favorite beer. Not hearing a reply, he sets down the drink in front of her and leans beside her, playing with her fingers on her left hand. “Your mother prostituting herself again?”

Rainbow Dash takes a large gulp of her drink, its smooth foamy taste soothing her. “Yeah…” She places her saddlebag on the counter. Pulling out the last of the drug pouches, she unwraps it, taking out the blue hash like substance and puts it to her lips.

“You shouldn’t be taking that!” He places a hand on her hers.

“I shouldn’t be drinking, but you let me!” She rips her hand from his, plopping the drug in her mouth. Seeing his expression, she looks down and gives a defeated sigh. “Sorry… I’m just a little upset.”

Steel Bit rubs his face. “It’s okay Dash, I understand…” He looks at the clock. “Why don’t you lay on my bed until your high wears off.” Steel Bit walks up to the door and looks up and down the alleyway. “I’ll be getting the pub ready if you need me.”

Rainbow Dash nods, hopping off the bar stool, walking up the stairs. Getting to the top of the stairs, she turns right, passing the poison joke growing rooms and walks into the room at the end of the hall.

Entering the room, she walks up to the queen-sixed bed. Standing on the right side of the bed, she sees Lilly Drops laying facedown and topless on the left side. The sheets of the bed covering her lower half as she sleeps the late-afternoon away.

With a grunt, she flops onto the bed, causing her and Lilly Drops to bounce twice, before settling down into the soft worn fibers. Feeling the drug entering her system, she lays her head on the pillow, enjoying the feeling of her nervous system numbing and her breathing slowing to a sails pace. With a tired sigh, her eyes close as she falls into a drug induced dream.

It one o’clock by the time Rainbow Dash steps onto her porch. The lights of downtown shine bright in the distance, casting her home in dull light, enough to make out certain details. Groaning, from a headache, she opens the door and steps inside.

All is quiet in her home. The lights in the kitchen are on, giving the living room enough light to see. The coal in the iron-cast furnace is spent, the ash within rotting its interior. Seeing that the couch is empty, Rainbow Dash knows her mother is in her room, she hopes. Kicking a pile of papers and wrappers off to the side, she makes her way to the kitchen counter and grabs the last pastry.

Heading into her room, she quickly puts an ear to her mother’s bedroom door. Soft feminine moans and masculine grunts stimulate her ear drums. Her face reddens with anger as she steps back from the door with a jerk. Holding back the urge to scream, she pulls on her mane as she paces in front of the door. With a snorted breath, she beats on the door. “Knock, knock fucker, filly’s home, here to be a buzz kill!”

Rustling and mummering comes from behind the door. Handle shaking, the door swings inward, reviling her mother. Her mane is a mess, her eyes are dilated and her mannerisms drunk. The right-shoulder strap of her nightgown hangs loosely. Before she can scold her mother and the stallion who used her. The appearance of the stallion halts any actions she has planned.

The stallion’s build is large, a whole head taller than Steel Bit and two heads talker than her mother. His pale grey-bluish fur shines brightly in the dim light of her mother’s room. His bright yellow eyes can pierce the souls of even the bravest of ponies. But it wasn’t his stature or his eyes that causes her to cower. It’s the color of his mane.

Prism, his mane is a bright prism like hers. She feels her knees go weak as she pulls the ends of her mane out in front of her vision, glaring at her own head of hair, then back to the stallion’s, her eyes growing wide in shock and disbelief.

What were the odds.

The stallion smiles at the filly, noticing her antics as he throws on his white polo-shirt. “She’s a smart one.” He looks at his lover with a smirk.

Windy Whistles looks back at the stallion, uncomfortable with the situation her daughter got them into. “Hey sweetie, why don’t you head to bed, mommy will tuck you in…!”

“NO!” Rainbow Dash yells, her voice cracking. “Tell me now! Tell me!” Tears fall from her eyes. “Is he my? My?

“Father?” The stallion replies in a gentile voice, walking up to her. He notices Windy Whistles’s lack of words, her eyes staring madly at her daughter. Placing a hand to her lips, he gives her a stern glare. She complies and looks down at her hooves, silently. He turns his attention back to Rainbow Dash. “Yes, I’m your father.”

“Why?” He puts two fingers to her lips, shutting her down. She quivers from his touch.

He smiles as he runs a hand through her mane. “Damn, there’s no mistaking it, you got my mane… one of a kind little filly.” He strokes the back of her ear, causing her to deal with strong conflicting emotions. “Got a lot of your mother’s traits.” He looks at her sky-blue fur and her small frame. His gaze turns to her wings. He watches them twitch about in a retarded fashion. With a sigh, he walks away from the two and puts on his coat.

Scared, Rainbow Dash stumbles towards her father. “Where are you going? Why did you leave?” He doesn’t answer as he opens the door. “ANSWER ME!” She yells at the top of her lungs.

The stallion stops, with the door halfway open. “The answer to your question is right behind you, on your back.” Rainbow Dash feels a chill run up her spin. Her wings twitch as she processes his words. “Goodnight you two, I’ll see you later in life.” He shuts the door, leaving the two alone.

Something snaps in her mind; her headache increases in intensity. Running her hands through her mane, Rainbow Dash stares at her mother with hate filled eyes. Her mother stares at the ground, her eyes lost in a drugged induced haze. Feeling the harsh glare of her daughter, she breaks her gaze and looks at the enraged filly. “What?” She spits with venom.

“What? Is that it?” Rainbow Dash lets out a moan. “You said daddy died before I was born!” She stomps her hooves in protest and sobs.

Windy Whistles grunts in frustration. “It was a lot easer to say he died than, I don’t know… He left us because of you!” She storms off into the kitchen.

Rainbow Dash cokes on her sobs. “That’s not true! Maybe it’s because you’re a junkie! A… A slut!”

Her mother’s growls grabbing a glass cup. “Coming from the fucking cripple!” She throws the cup at her daughter. Seeing the glass bullet flying towards her, Rainbow Dash ducks to the floor. Frightened, she crawls and hides behind the couch, her eyes full of fear. Upset that she’d missed, Windy Whistles walks over to a kitchen cupboard full of medicine and pulls out a needle filled with an orange colored liquid. “Its time to take your medicine Dash, its way past your bedtime!”

Rainbow Dash recognizes the liquid in the syringe. She remembers her mother giving it to her when she was younger. She remembers the nightmares it caused. The painful spasms it inflected upon her. Shaking in fear, she runs for her room.

Seeing her daughter fleeing to safety, she reaches out a hand, grabbing the back of her daughter’s jacket. “Stay still, while mommy gives you, your medicine! She holds her in a chokehold.

Rainbow Dash can’t breathe, fear washes over her as she wiggles about, trying to break free from her mother’s embrace. Feeling the needle break skin, she panics as the liquid enters her bloodstream. Scared for her life, she bites down hard on her mother’s arm causing her to lose her hold. Throwing her head back, she hits her mother’s snout, causing her to drop the syringe. It falls to the floor, its glass casing breaking, allowing what remaining liquid to leak onto the wooden floor.

Her mother hisses, holding her broken bleeding snout. “You little bitch!”

Rainbow Dash hunches over on the floor, clutching her stomach. The drug with her body heats her core temperature to unsafe levels. Her pupils dilate, turning her magenta eyes into black orbs. Her wings twitch uncontrollably, her limbs feel like overcooked noodles as she flops about, trying to get her footing For how small of an amount that flows through her, it already begins its horrid assault on her mind and body.

Blinking, Rainbow Dash’s world turns pitch black. Every item, ever piece of furniture surrounding her is outlined with bright, squiggly white lines. Strange haunting noises echo in her ears, telling her awful things. Scared of the noises, she tries to run but she can’t move. Soon, she finds herself floating in the air, Zero-g’s feel strange to her, but relaxing at the same time.

The feeling of nirvana fades however, when the air in her lungs leave violently. A tight sensation radiates from her neck. Twisting herself around, she sees a large black beast with six red eyes holding her down with its tentacles. Its mouth opens revealing and endless abyss of razor-sharp teeth.

In a panic she claws at the best’s tentacles. It roars in pain, its bassy voice shaking the home. Looking for anything to protect herself, she sees a kitchen knife lying off in space. Jumping for it, she takes hold of it and brings it close to her chest. The beast however, grabs her legs and pulls her towards its maw.

Scared that she will be eaten, Rainbow Dash swings around and lunges, stabbing the best in one of its eyes. It screams in pain as it pins her to the floor. Again, Rainbow Dash keeps stabbing the beast until its screams stop. Feeling its warm white blood coating her body, she drops the knife and scoots away from the corpse. Finding a safe spot in space, she curls into a fetal position and lays down, lost in a drugged filled nightmare.

Rainbow Dash stares at the picture of her and her mother. Their smiles look so warm and inviting to her. She shivers from the fever racking her body. Moving her hand across the cool hardwood floor, she feels a strange sensation caked to her hands, like dry mud coats them. Confused, she puts her hands in front of her and sees red crimson staining her bright shy-blue fur. She feels queasy at the sight of blood and becomes even more confused. Rubbing the palms of her hands against her forehead, ridding herself of the heavy haze lingering in her mind.

“Mommy?” She sits up and looks to her left. “Mommy!” Her voice cracks as she stares at her mother, who lays on the floor facedown, laying in a pool of blood, her mouth agape. Shaking in fear, Rainbow Dash crawls on all fours to her mother’s side. Staring at her mother’s lifeless eyes, she fells her body go numb. “Mommy?” She pokes her mother’s shoulder. “Mommy?” She pokes her again. “Mommy?” She grabs both of her shoulders and shakes her. Her mother doesn’t respond. Tears begin to flood her eyes as she shakes her again. “Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY!” Her mother’s legs, which were bent up, fall to the side while her head flops helplessly form the shaking.

Sobbing, Rainbow Dash backs up and looks at her hands, then her chest. The blood coating her, is her mother’s. She feels sick, her gag reflex over reacts causing her to vomit violently. Coughing from the bile coating her mouth, she crawls away from the corpse, heading into her mother’s room. “She’s… Not dead… No… No… No…” She pulls a blanket off her mother’s messy bed and drags it out into the living room.

Draping the blanket over her mother, Rainbow Dash looks down with crazed eyes. She’s in a fog, a horrid fog. With a sob, she picks up the last of the pastry and places it by her mother’s head. Backing away, she heads to the front door, her limbs trembling as she walks. Stepping out of her home, she vomits once again. Unable to control her emotions, she bolts down the steps to the only place she felt safe.

Steel Bit lays on his back, his wings spread out over the bed, his snoring is soft and shallow. Lilly Drops sleeps on his chest. Her wings twitching from her dreams.

THUMP!

THUMP!

“What?” Lilly Drops awakens with a jolt. Groggily, she looks up at the lonely window above them that allows the street lamps to shine their beams into their room.

THUMP!

THUMP!

She hears the noise again and looks at the door to their room. “Steel… someone is at the door…” She rubs her eyes, letting out a yawn. Hearing no reply, she looks down and sees that he’s still snoring, deep in slumber. She frowns, jabbing his sides with her fingers.

“G-ah!” He jumps up with fright. “What?” He spits, giving her a glare.

“Some-pony is at the door!” She points with a yawn, falling back onto the bed, her rump sticking up in the air. Steel Bit sighs, tossing the sheet over her, covering her up. Standing up, throws on some pants and makes his way out of the room and down the stairs.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

“I’m coming!” He shouts, looking at the clock that hangs over the back of the bar’s glass mirror. Seeing that it reads ‘4:00am’, he wonders who could be at his pub at this time of night. Getting to the backdoor, he opens it with a grunt. “Do you know what time… Squirt!” He stares down in disbelief at Rainbow Dash’s appearance. “What the hell happened?” She doesn’t reply, her eyes stare into space as her body shakes. Glancing around the neighborhood, he places a hand on her shoulder. “Come inside...”

“What’s wrong?” Lilly Drops asks as she stands in the middle of the stairs, covering herself with a bathrobe. Her gaze lands on Rainbow Dash. “Oh my… What happen?” She asks, horrified by the filly’s appearance.

“I don’t know, she won’t say anything!” Steel Bit huffs in frustration. “Can you bathe her, wash off that blood, I’m going over to Miss. Silver Wind’s place and see if her daughter has a spare nightgown we can borrow.” Lilly Drops nods, leading the filly up the stairs. He runs a hand through his mane, running out of the pub.

Rainbow Dash stands in the tub, allowing the warm water to fall on her, soaking her fur, warming her skin. Lilly Drops manipulates the shower head aiming the stream of water onto the parts of the filly’s body that needs the attention. Rainbow Dash stares at the red tinted water flowing off her body, down the basin of the tub into the drain. “I… Killed… Her…” She lets out a pained sob.

Lilly Drops looks at her worryingly. Sitting on the rim of the tub, she looks into her eyes, reading her hurt expression. “What was that you’d said?”

Rainbow Dash looks at the mare. “I… I killed my mommy…” Lilly Drops is taken back.

“I’m back! Hopefully this fits her… What’s wrong?” Steel Bit asks stepping into bathroom.

“She said, she…”

“I KILLED MY MOMMY!” Rainbow Dash sobs, tears falling from her eyes. Her body shaking. “I killed my mommy…” She cries, falling on her rump, her tail bone trying to wrap her soaked tail around her.

Steel Bit feels uncomfortable as he kneels down to her. Seeing the tears and the redness of her eyes, he quickly puts his concerns in the back of his mind as he pulls her into a loving hug. “Shhh… It’s okay, I’m here, Lilly’s here. Everything is alright kiddo.” He coos, stroking her wet mane with his fingers. Lilly Drops hands him a towel, which he uses to dry her off.

“I saw my daddy… I saw him…” Rainbow Dash wraps her arms tight around her friend. “He hates me… that’s why he left us…” She sobs. Steel Bit and Lilly Drops stare at the filly in shock, listing to her somewhat incoherent rambling. “I got mad… Then mommy got mad… She gave me a drug… I hate taking it, but mommy likes it when I take it… And then there was this monster… and, and, and it attacked me… I killed the monster…” She cokes on her sobs, coughing in the stallion’s chest. Recovering from her fit, she buries her face into his bare chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

Both of them look down at her with flat frowns and hurt. They knew what she meant by monster. They know what drug, she was talking about. It was a drug made on the cheap, one that a user the fix they needed, but at the cost of awful highs.

With a sigh, Steel Bit does his best to finish drying her off so he can get her dressed. But her grip on him is strong. Giving up on the ordeal, He and Lilly Drops make their way back into the bedroom and lay back down on their bed. Placing Rainbow Dash in the middle of them, they cuddle up to her, trying their best to calm her emotions.