Chapter 8: The Secret of a Rainbow
Princess Celstia was riding in one royal chariot, The Elements of Harmony and The Cutie Mark Crusaders in another. "Time ta confront those monsters!" Applejack retorted. "Well, Rainbow Dash isn't a monster." Fluttershy pointed out. "Well, yeah." Applejack said blushing a bit. "This has really gotten to you, huh Applejack?" Twilight Sparkle questioned. "Ah just hate to see this happening." Applejack replied. They all stayed silent, lost deep in thought. They didn't know what was going to happen.
In the other chariot, Princess Celestia was all alone. Except for the guards, but they were in the front flying. She was too lost deep in thought. She sighed as the chariot soared through white clouds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"So are you saying that you still don't get why Rainbow Dash 'had' to kill ponies?" Twilight Sparkle asked Rarity. "Yes! I mean, why did she absolutely HAVE to do it? What would Celestia have done to her if she didn't?" Rarity replied. "Ah bet its just cause if she wanted to kill her, she would have if she wasn't the element of loyalty!" Applejack said harshly. She was the element of loyalty, she was expressing her true feelings.
"Applejack! The Princess had good reason!" retorted Twilight. "Yeah! What would Equestria be without rainbows? That's how I discovered my cutie mark!" Pinkie pie piped up. "See?" Twilight added. "Well, ah guess, but she could'a prevented it." The other friends just shook their heads. Applejack was going to have to have time to recover from this sudden news of her friend being a murderer. They all fell silent again. No pony talked for the rest of the way, Scootaloo still lost deep in thought, completely ignoring what the five other friends just said. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were patting her back as she curled into a ball.
Cloudsdale was starting to come into view now. At first it looked like a white splotch. But then it became more clearer. Scootaloo looked out the window. Seeing Cloudsdale brought back horrible memories of riding in the bus into the Rainbow Facility. She couldn't look, she curled back up. The two chariots landed on the cloud city. Princess Celestia walked out and murmurs were sent through a crowd of ponies. Twilight Sparkle cast the spell where earth ponies and unicorns could walk on clouds on every pony except Fluttershy.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders stayed put. "Girls? Are you coming?" Twilight asked. "Ah think we'll stay here with Scoot." Apple Bloom replied. "But-" Twilight was cut short when Celestia spoke. "Leave her there. She would be a threat to our entrance. They'll take her away to kill her." She whispered in the purple unicorns ear. She cast the cloud spell on Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, nodded and walked off with her other friends.
The Rainbow Facility started to come into view. It was a shorter walk than they thought. They looked up at the massive building. Something like a scream could be heard. A chill of sheer horror ran down Twilight's spine. "You know, if you want to get up there, your going to need some wings." Princess Celestia said. "You don't mean...." "Oh, I mean." Rarity's face lit up with excitement. The princess's horn started to glow, and a brilliant burst of light appeared, blinding the other ponies for a minute. When they could all see, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie pie all had wings.
Twilight's were lavender with a white outline, and were shaped like a phoenix's wings. "They're beautiful!" She exclaimed. Rarity's were the butterfly ones from the time they visited here for the best flyers competition. Applejack's were orange with a tinge of red. They were shaped a little like a maple leaf. "Well, golly! Nice!" Applejack said. Pinkie pie's were like Twilight's, only bright pink. "I've always wanted to fly!" Pinkie pie said with excitement. "Alright my little ponies, fly!" They flapped their wings as best they could. "Hey, this is pretty easy!" Said Pinkie pie.
Before they knew it, the mares were soaring through the air, and they landed gracefully on the cloud above. "Woo! That was fun!" Exclaimed the pink mare. "Yeah!" Twilight said. "Ah never knew that flying would be that fun!" Applejack agreed. "You'll get to fly again soon. Lets focus on getting in the factory." The princess said seriously. They all nodded their heads and walked into the factory. The first floor was open to the public, but when they went up to the second floors entrance, they found two suited ponies blocking the entrance.
Even though it was the princess, they didn't let her through. She gave them a look, staring deep into their eyes. Her horn started to glow, and there was a burst of light. The suited ponies looked dizzy. They quickly fell to the ground, unconcious. The others gasped, but Twilight looked rather impressed. The doors opened, and what they saw was horrible. Ponies from Cloudsdale in lines, getting thrown into vats and ear piercing screams were heard all around.
A pony in a black mask was standing on a balcony. The Elements couldn't believe their eyes. The tail was rainbow, and the hoofs were cyan. When she glanced over, the unmistakable kind loving rose eyes stared at them. Though these eyes were not kind and loving. They had no compassion, and no emotion. When she saw the ponies getting killed, she didn't care. Though sometimes she shed a tear, as if part of her didn't want this. "Dash! No! Don't do this!" Applejack yelled, flying over to Dash.
Rainbow Dash took off her mask. "Applejack? I'm so glad your here, I've been having to work overtime on this horrible job! Its truly awful, seeing ponies get killed. I was about to go completely insane! I....I don't wanna be here!" The cyan mare cried into the orange earth ponies shoulder. Applejack patted her friends back. "Its okay...Its alright. Princess Celestia said ya'll not gonna have to do this job anymore. We've thought of a way to do this without killing ponies." She informed her. "Really? But....No! Stop! Shut up, shut up!" Applejack looked scared.
"Dash? Are ya okay?" Applejack was beginning to look very confused and scared. "Ya see....uhg...There's these stupid voices in my head....that tell me its okay to kill ponies....rrgh...I went to see a therapist and he said the only way.....to get away from the voices was to get away from whatever is causing the stress! Nrgh......You....have to get away from here.....while you still can! I don't....want to h-hurt you!" "No! Ah'm gonna....get you outta here!" Applejack grabbed Dash by the neck and flew with all her might over to the princess and the other elements of harmony.
"Let me go! No! She's gonna save me! Killing ponies is fine! You need to stay here! No! Its....its wrong!" Rainbow Dash was now having a conversation with the voices in her head. The failures below saw her talking to herself though. Applejack was now hovering above the group. She landed and let go of Rainbow Dash. "Get....get me outta here! No! You must stay! Kill! Shut up!" Rainbow Dash was trying to drag herself out.
Princess Celestia stared in horror. "I....didn't...realize how much damage I caused on this innocent pony...." She said. "You better believe it! No! She had no choice!" The five friends dragged their friend out of the horrible environment. "I'm....free....I think it worked..." Dash gasped. "Wait, I'll be back." Twilight Sparkle teleported to Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "Your safe now. Rainbow Dash is out." Scootaloo's eyes filled with fear. "No! I'm not gonna go out there!" Before she could run away, Twilight pounced on the three fillies and teleported all of them at once.
Scootaloo found herself next to Rainbow Dash. She tried to run, but she picked her up in an embracing hug. She was very surprised. "I...I thought you went insane!" Scootaloo said flailing. "No, no squirt! It was because I was in that factory all the time. Its okay." Dash said. "Now I won't have to worry so much anymore!" Scootaloo replied, embracing the hug.
"I think I have an announcement to make." Celestia told them. She walked over to the end of the cloud where every pony could see her. "If any of you know, the rainbows are made out of the failures of the flight test! Its not right! I made Rainbow Dash do it. But this shall not happen no more! What we will do, is go back to having unicorns make them!" Murmurs of surprise rippled through a crowd of ponies, then finally cheers. Celestia's voice was so loud that the workers from the factory came out. "We don't have to kill anymore ponies?" A yellow one said. "We don't have to get killed!" A pink failure said.
They too cheered. "Hang on squirt." Dash flew into the air, and preformed a sonic rainboom. Scootaloo's eyes were filled with joy. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom patted her friend on the back. "I knew that we didn't have to do this, killing ponies is wrong. Now I won't have to live with the secret of a rainbow."