//------------------------------// // A Rainbow's Cry // Story: The Rainbow Factory: Fall from Grace // by NightmareTRXY32 //------------------------------// The dream was the same again, Rainbow found herself standing in the factory, the gears of the Pegasus Device whirring and crushing what was being thrown into it. But there was a slight alteration. She turned around to come face to face with her other self and she could get a better view. The mare in front of her was a spitting image of herself in every other way. Her mane was as dark as obsidian and tail as well only both had a few streaks of grey running through them. Her cutie mark was the same Rainbow's only it had deep slash marks covering her flank. And the eyes. They were a piercing neon green like those emeralds Rarity was always mining for and using in her clothing lines. It was the voice that caught her attention, a bit raspy but hardened and ice cold. "The name's Dead Loyalty," it was so devoid of love and affection that Rainbow felt like she was going mad,"and you and I have a lot to talk about."As far as RD was concerned there was nothing she wanted to discuss with her. She just wanted to wake up and make sure Scootaloo was doing ok. She figured that Twilight would have a field day when she told about this dream. She lay on her bed for the longest time, the memories of what transpired flowing into her like wine into a glass. She could of been charged with Treason for what she had done, just up and flying off like that. She blamed Celestia for all of it. The way she had hurt Scootaloo, and how closely she had come to harming Derpy. In Rainbow Dash's eyes it was all Celestia's fault that she had even been offered a managerial position at the Rainbow Factory in the first place. She had tried to refuse the position but was aptly reminded she had a duty to not only her friends but to the Princess and most of all to Cloudsdale. There were times that she hated being reminded of that. Yes, Rainbow Dash, the most loyal of friends, hated being reminded of where her loyalties were supposed to lie. She wanted to buck that stallion right in the jaw. Then, of course, she would have also been arrested for hitting one of the Princess' alleged aides. A part of her secretly wanted Celestia dead, but she stopped thinking that thought when she thought of how much it would have devastated Twilight if anything were to happen to the Rainbow maned pegasus. She hated herself for even agreeing to do it. She had felt so consumed with rage that Scootaloo had failed her flight test at first. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she had treated her the way Dash would have treated herself. By pushing her to be the best, when there was no way to get around the real problem. Scoots didn't have an ego like she did. She idolized her, even called Dash her sister in front of their close friends despite not being related by blood. Or were they, Rainbow thought to herself. No one had even seen anything of Scootaloo's parents, and it was later determined the house she lived in had been given to her by the Orphanage to clear up space. Awhile ago, somepony had mistaken her for being RD's daughter. She was the right age to bare a foal wasn't she? Why couldn't she raise her as her own. The bond was there in one way or another. But how would Scootaloo feel about the idea after everything that had taken place? She would just have to wait until all this was done and over with to even present the idea of them sharing a home permanently. I dont even remember my Past, I dont even remember my destiny... Those words were haunting Rainbow Dash ever since she had left the snctity of her cloud home. She needed some pony to talk to, somepony that could give her more then just comfort. Somepony that could give her peace of mind by just talking to. There was only one pony on her mind at present that she knew for a fact could give her the clarity she desired right now. "I hope Twilight's still awake,", the cyan pegasus thought to herself. Twilight was usually up this time of night reading some book she had just acquired. Rainbow wouldn't realize until later that she was actually asleep and was about to be roused by Rainbow's hooves pounding on the window. Twilight awoke to a loud pounding on her Balcony window, and was mildly surprised to see Rainbow Dash perched there, with a distant, yet panicked look in her eyes. She opened the window to let her marefriend in so she could get out of the cold. On a full moon the nights could get almost deathly cold during the seasons leading up to Winter Wrap Up. She could see a glimmer of pain in her lover/friends magenta colored eyes. It only took the rainbow maned pegasus a few moments to get her bearings enough to start speaking. "I keep having these nightmares Twi, like there's something dark in me trying to claw its way out. I havent felt anything like this since after that time Discord turned us into the opposite of our elements. I swear working at that factory was starting to desensitize me to what was going on around me. At least until i saw Scoots there,", Twilight's eyes started to widen as Dash explained everything that was happening to her for the last several nights. It was heart breaking to hear this being unlaid at her hooves tonight. But what good is she if she cant listen to Dash's plight. She told Rainbow that she could stay at the Castle for the next few days if she wanted until the two of them sorted out the business with the Rainbow Factory and how it was still affecting Rainbow Dash all these days to months later. Dash explained also that she could see a mirror version of herself constantly taunting her in her dreams, and now every time she looked in the mirror at her cloud house. It kept tormenting her to kill Scootaloo, claiming Scoots was a failure and needed to be made into an example of those that fail to hold up to Pegasi Standards. She can't bring herself to do something like that to small orange pegasus filly. Dash really saw her as a sister she never had when growing up in Cloudsdale. Something that she was glad to have in her life at this point in time. She kept a lot of things secret from her friends as of late, especially Twilight. She wasn't sure if she could trust herself to tell Twilight what was on her mind. She knew she'd have to cave eventually and spill the beans to her mare friend. Dash was a lot of things, brash, loyal, steadfast, but a dishonest she was not. At least not at this point in her life. There were a lot of things that Twilight didn't know about Rainbow's past. Only as of now would she learn that Dash's mom had just up and abandoned her and her father Blitz. Or that she had an older sister that she had no memory of, nor the fact that it was Lightning Dust. Apparently Lightning had moved away from home when Dash had been born and went to live with another pegasi family who were looking for a house sitter. That was the first job Dust got, and sent all the money she didn't keep for herself, back to Blitz in a sign of guilt for leaving early. Rainbow Dash didn't know she was related to Lightning when the two ran into each other at the Wonderbolts Academy. But Lightning did, and she did a good job hiding her true feelings and intentions from Dash. From Rainbow's perspective, she was just a brash, arrogant flyer that nearly caused the death's of Rainbow's friends when they came to visit her with a care package. "I don't know what to do Twi,", Rainbow was a mess when she said this. Twilight noticed that her coat was dirty, and her mane was unkempt. How long had she been like this, Twilight thought to herself. "It's ok," Twilight said this as she wrapped a wing around her friend and pulled her close,"first thing's first though, we need to clean you up a bit,", With that the alicorn pulled her friend towards the shower in the bathroom, and proceeded to 'preen' her mare friend. Rainbow smelled like she had taken a bath in the trash can next to Rarity's boutique, but it wasn't the worse smell that she had come across. Twilight remembered having to give Spike a bath on more than one occasion when he had come back from gem hunting with Rarity. Dragon perspiration was not the most pleasant thing to smell on a late night. She kissed Dash on the cheek to remind her of where she was and who she was with. Rainbow had let her mind wander while Twilight was giving her a shower apparently. "Hey," she said softly,"thanks for snapping me back to reality," Dash cooed. "Anytime babe," Twilight smiled slightly as she said this. When the shower was done, Dash turned to Twilight and told her about the dreams, about the monster she felt was being created inside her because of that place. That it felt like her discorded self had become like a split personality inside of her mind. Hearing that last part made Twilight pause. Maybe that's why lately AJ's been distant, and why the farm mare had taken up drinking. The last thing Applejack needed was to become like her distant uncle Apple Schnapps. From what Twilight had heard from AJ, the damn fool had gotten into a bar fight with an outlaw named Mad Dawg Tannen. And for the transgression, he ended up with a knife in his back. That was also why the Apple family always got unnerved at the thought of being called a chicken in front of anyone in public.