//------------------------------//
// The Dreamer, the Celebrity, and the Killer 
// Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 9: Triple Rainbow 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 3: The Dreamer, the Celebrity, and the Killer


Fly and Buy Inn, Feathersville, The Griffin Kingdom, Gaia, Summer, 1021 C.E.

Nighttime arrived quicker than anypony else had expected it to. Mr. Long had survived his attack and was being tended to at the local clinic. Rainbow Dash the elder, due to her celebrity status, had rented out the entire fifth floor of the inn for herself and her friends. Everypony was still shaken up about what had happened.
"Okay, I want to know just what the hell happened earlier today!" Rainbow the younger snapped. She turned to her older self and snarled. "It would be nice if you'd tell us what's going on!"
"I was about to but then I remembered the time and...I was too late," Rainbow the elder sighed. She looked at everypony and chuckled. "I can't tell you how weird this is for me." She pointed towards her younger self and laughed. "I mean, I remember being in your hooves at one point listening to my older self say what I'm saying right now! Ugh! I think I'm going to have a migraine!"
"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey!" the Doctor chimed. He didn't even get a chuckle in return. "Too soon? Right. Too soon. Okay, let's cut to business. What's going on here?"
"Make sure not to give away too much info, Rainbow Dash. You don't want to screw up the timeline in any way," Scootaloo warned.
"Right. I know who attacked Mr. Long. Her name is...Rainbow Dash," said Rainbow the elder. Everypony looked at each other awkwardly.
"Come again?" Applejack asked.
"Let me rephrase that. Your Rainbow Dash didn't attack Mr. Long and I didn't attack him. The Rainbow Dash I'm talking about is a different one entirely."
"Do you mean like a clone of sorts?" Twilight asked.
"No. She's me but from another reality. A darker reality."
"How did she get here?" Derpy asked.
"Through a dimensional rift. She was probably in the middle performing a despicable act before the rift popped up and brought her to our dimension."
"What does...this Rainbow Dash do?" Rainbow the younger asked.
"She's a killer. That's all I want to say at this point. The rest of the details, what she does, I can't even begin to describe it!"
"Things just got a whole lot stranger," said Spike.
"And scarier," Fluttershy exclaimed.
"Do you know where she is?" the Doctor asked.
"No. But I know where we're going to meet her," Rainbow the elder replied. The future Rainbow Dash was beginning to look a little tense. Her eyes were darting all over the place.
"Where is this other Rainbow Dash going to meet you?" Rarity asked.
"In a house by the cemetery."
"There's only one by the cemetery, right?" Gilda asked.
"Then let's go find her and send her back to where she belongs!" said Scootaloo.
"We won't have to find her. She's going to find us," said Rainbow the elder as she pointed at herself and Rainbow the younger. She was beginning to shake with fear. 
"Dashie Two, is there something that you're not telling us?" Pinkie Pie asked suddenly.
"Yes...but, you know, spoilers."
Suddenly, there were two bright flashes of light both Rainbow the elder and Rainbow the younger were gone.
"Rainbow Dash!" the Doctor cried.
"I'm really starting to hate spoilers," Twilight said with an annoyed tone.
"Me too," Derpy gulped.
"We better go find them. Something tells me that our third Rainbow Dash has something to do with this," said the Doctor.

Old House, Feathersville, The Griffin Kingdom, Gaia, Summer, 1021 C.E.

Rainbow Dash the younger heard a horrifying scream as the white light disappeared. She was standing in a cage in the middle of a rundown living room. Her older self was standing right next to her, a look of horror was on her face. She looked ahead and felt her stomach flip. A cloaked figure was standing a few feet away. The figure was standing over the bloodied and shredded body of a unicorn mare.
"Thank you, dearie. Your work is done," said the figure as they implanted the knife in the mare's back. The figure looked towards the two Rainbows and laughed. "I didn't expect two of you! This will just make things even more interesting!"
The cloaked mare removed to hood and Rainbow Dash found herself staring into the eyes of a psychotic version of herself. The killer Rainbow laughed as she began to approach the cage. 
Rainbow the elder leaned towards Rainbow the younger's ear and whispered, "Whatever you do, don't go near the sofa."
Rainbow the younger's eyes trailed off towards the sofa and then turned back towards the killer Rainbow Dash.
"What do you want?!" Rainbow the younger asked.
"This world needs a new Rainbow Dash. You don't live up to the responsibilities that you need to take care off," Rainbow the killer replied.
"What are you talking about?!"
"Tell me. What are rainbows made of in your world?"
"Why the hell does that matter?!"
"Just answer the damn question before I cut your head off."
"A mixture of magical ingredients. Unicorn magic also helps out a bit."
"Pathetic. Magical ingredients? Unicorn magic? Please! That'll never give you a perfect rainbow!"
Rainbow the younger was afraid to ask but she did anyway. She asked, "Well...what do you think rainbows should be made of?"
"It's simple really. The main ingredient for rainbows should be ponies."
"What?!"
"It makes perfect sense when you think about it. It's only within ponies that color, magic, and life come together. Throw a pony into the blender and you'll see some of the best rainbows ever created!"
"You're sick!"
"No. I'm just ahead of the curve. I haven't been in this world for an entire day yet but I now know why I'm here. I'm here to bring true rainbows to this world. You, little happy Rainbow Dash, shall be my apprentice."
"No way! I'm not going to help you kill ponies and turn them into rainbows!"
"I knew that you'd resist. That's why I'm going to punish you. Your future self shall be our first victim, Dashie."
Rainbow the elder's eyes went wide. The memories of this night flooded back to her. She had wanted to avoid having her past self go through what she went through but she now realized that there was no choice. Rainbow the killer armed her knife as she moved towards the cage.
"Forget what I said earlier! Jump for the sofa! I'll be fine! Before you go, I just want to say that I'm sorry about what you're about to see," Rainbow the elder whispered.
Rainbow the younger turned and asked, "What are you-"
The cage door flew open and Rainbow the elder flew straight into Rainbow the killer. The knife flew across the room and slid under the sofa. Rainbow the younger flew towards the sofa while Rainbow the elder and Rainbow the killer engaged in an aerial fight. Rainbow reached her hoof under the sofa, assuming that her older self wanted her to retrieve the knife. Suddenly, the air above her began to ripple like a pond and a foreign force began acting on her body. Something was pulling her away. Rainbow the elder punched Rainbow the killer and turned around just in time to see her younger self disappear into the dimensional rift. 
"Die!" cackled Rainbow the killer as she lunged at the future Rainbow Dash. Rainbow bucked her dark self straight in the face, breaking her nose. Rainbow the killer looked just in time to see the dimensional rift disappear. "Where is she?! Where is your younger self?! Where did she go?!"
"She's gone and somewhat safe for now. I think I'd much rather end things a little bit more quickly this time," Rainbow the elder replied as she lunged at the killer. The dark Rainbow dodged the attack and flew out a nearby window. "Come back here!"
Rainbow the elder watched as her younger, dark twin flew off into the night sky.

Talon Road, Feathersville, The Griffin Kingdom, Gaia, Summer, 1021 C.E.

Twilight, Derpy, Pinkie Pie, and Scootaloo were walking down the road in silence. They had all split up into groups in order to find the two lost Rainbow Dash's as well as the killer Rainbow Dash. 
"I hope they're okay," said Pinkie Pie.
"Come on, Pinkie! This is Rainbow Dash we're talking about! She can handle anything!" said Scootaloo.
"Still, we better hurry," said Twilight.
"Wait...what's that?" asked Derpy as she pointed towards a shadowy figure. Out of the shadows emerged Rainbow Dash. Her mane was matted, her nose was broken, there were a few cuts on her body, and she had several bruises on her chest. "Rainbow Dash!"
The four mares gathered around their beaten friend. 
"What happened to you?!" Scootaloo asked.
"The killer Rainbow Dash summoned us to this house and...ugh! My leg!" Rainbow exclaimed. Twilight wrapped an arm around her friend.
"Come on, let's get you back to the inn!" she said.
"Thank you, Twilight."
As the mares helped Rainbow back to the inn, none of them noticed the small, sadistic smile form on her face.