A Dash of Insanity

by Mist Shaker

First published

A mare finally achieves her wildest dream, but will she realize the consequences of the coming darkness and , or will she be too late and succumb to the other mares dark machinations?

Rainbow Dash, Equestria’s fastest flier and Wonderbolt fanatic, had just been accepted into the Wonderbolt Academy, little did she know what it would cost her in the future as she persued her dream. What she didn't expect though, was to be kidnapped by a group of ponies nopony has ever heard of before.

Contains: Blood, Gore, Rape, Murder and a decent amount of language

Beware: Contains fourth wall breaking

I know the cover art has human Dash, but don't hate, it's the best I could find.

Special Thanks to:
missangest for producing such a wonderful piece of art

Ascending Anthem: for prereading

The Trap

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For months, Rainbow Dash awaited for the day she would find out whether she would be accepted into the Wonderbolts, an elite team of pegasi in servitude to the princesses and a valuable asset to Equestria’s military.

Today, was the day she found out.

As Dash was out doing her daily exercises, she never heard the warning call of the mailmare Derpy Hooves.

“Look out!” cried Derpy, but it was too late as the mare crashed into Dash, tackling the mare to the ground.

“Ugh… what they hay!” Dash complained but then spotted Derpy. “Oh, hey Derpy.”

“Hey Rainbow Dash, I’ve got a letter for you.” Derpy replied as she pulled an envelope out of her saddlebag. “Looks like that’s it, gotta go.”

As Derpy flew off, Dash inspected the envelope for a moment, indicators of the letter being from the Wonderbolts painstakingly clear.

Once Dash opened it, she unfolded it and read aloud.”Rainbow Dash, it has come to our attention that you have been applying much effort into your daily practices and have been seeking many opportunities to enter the Wonderbolts Academy. Well your wait is over. I Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts and proud to announce that you have been granted full membership and a full term in the Academy, Welcome to the Wonderbolts and good luck in your future endeavors.”

Excitement, that was all Dash could feel when she finished reading her letter of acceptance into the Wonderbolts Academy, she felt ecstatic, she was visibly quivering with joy as she had finally gotten her one desire, dashing off to inform her friends of her success.

“Ohmygosh!” Pinkie said frantically with enthusiasm, as she was the first to find out about the acceptance. “I’ll get started right away with the planning.”

“Tonight, we celebrate, tomorrow, my preparation for departure begins.” Dash said. “Make sure all of our friends are there.”

“You got it Dashie!” Pinkie exclaimed and dashed off.

“Pinkie, you are so random.” she giggled as she went home to prepare for the party.

~Later that Night at Sugarcube Corner~

Dash, along with her friends Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

“Congratulations Rainbow Dash, I knew you could do it.” Twilight said as she hugged her friend.

“Well land sakes alive, I knew you’d get accepted no problems.” Applejack added.

“Aww girls, I wouldn’t have made it without your support and you know it.” Dash replied. “I mean, you girls have helped me in more ways than one.”

“Oh Rainbow Dash, you made it possible for yourself, not us.” Rarity interred. “We just gave you the means.”

“You have given me more than the means to succeed. You gave me a reason.” Dash replied. “Why, if I was able, I’d try and convice Spitfire to make you all honorary Wonderbolts.”

They all giggled and shared a night of fun and laughter… and cake… and… wait… where’d the chips and dip come from… Pinkie!

What… I just thought it’d be a cool new addition to my parties.

Eh… I suppose you’re right, anyway, where were we?

You were about to move on to the next part of the chapter where Dash goes to sleep and wakes up the next day to get ready for her trip to the Wonderbolts Academy.

Ah, thank you for reminding me.

You’re welcome.

Alright, moving on.

~Later, in Dash’s house~

“Wow… that was quite a party.” Dash said to herself as she began making her way upstairs, where she spotted Tank the tortoise in his bed. “What a day.”

“Tomorrow marks the start of another chapter in my life.” Dash said as she laid down on her bed of clouds and fell asleep almost instantly.

~The next day~

“Wow, I can’t believe it, I’ll be heading to the Academy in just a few hours.” Dash said to herself as she finished packing. “First I have to say goodbye to all my friends and let them know that I’ll be okay.”

As Dash made to leave, there was a glint in her eye, a glint of pride, confidence and determination to ensure her success would not be cut short.

‘First stop, Twilight’s.’ Dash thought to herself as she made her way to Twilight’s library.

As soon as the pegasus arrived, she knocked on the door, receiving an immediate response from Twilight herself. “Why if it isn’t the mare of the hour. I got you some going away presents before you go.” she said as she handed Dash a neatly wrapped package.

“Aww, Twilight, you didn’t have to go through all that for me.” Dash said, but graciously accepted the package anyway, opening it immediately.

What was inside was the first three volumes of Daring Doo, her favorite. Dash squeed and hugged Twilight.

“Hey, we all decided we’d meet you at Sugarcube Corner before you left, so I was on my way there, the others should already be there.” Twilight said as she began leading Rainbow to Pinkies.

~Later~

“Well girls… It’s time for me to go, I’ll write as soon as I get there.” Dash replied as she stepped into the carriage and closed the door.

The carriage had taken off and begun it’s flight… at first it seemed to be heading to the Academy, but then took a sudden turn and Rainbow was suddenly exposed to a sleeping gas that knocked her out.

~Back on the ground~

“Hey!” called a stallion as he crossed a hill, obviously a pegasus. “Our carriage was jacked, we were on our way to pick up a new initate, have you seen it come this way?” he asked the mares.

“Oh… oh Celestia… We have to do something… We have to save Rainbow.” Twilight said as she headed for the library to retrieve Spike, but was stopped.

“I’m sorry miss… but there is nothing we can do for your friend, and even if we knew where they were taking her, we would have done something already.” said the stallion. “I am truly sorry, but all that can be done is hope that she can escape on her own before it’s too late.”

“W-what… n-no… that can’t be true!” Twilight cried. “There must be something?!”

“I’m sorry miss, but there is no other way.”

~Meanwhile, in an unknown location~

“Sir… we have her.”

“Good, prepare for phase two.”

“Right away sir.”

Awakening

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‘Ugh… w-where… where am I?’ Dash thought to herself as she tried to sit up only to feel a sharp pain in her skull from sitting up so quickly.

“Hehehahahaaa” laughed a deep sinister voice as she recovered.

“Who’s there?” Dash said as she whipped around, her vision limited to directly in front of her, despite the lighting of a few torches in the room.

To her left, she heard the shuffling of a pony, but she couldn’t tell if it was real. “I must be dreaming.” she told herself. “I’m probably still in my bed and am just having a really weird, freaky dream.”

She tried closing her eyes and counting to ten, opening her eyes, nothing changed. “No… no this can’t be…”

Again, she tried, same result, nothing happened.

Dash was beginning to panic and began backing into one of the many dark corners of the room, as pegasi were never very good at handling tight spaces, thus making her feel claustrophobic.

“Afraid of tight spaces are we?” said the same deep voice.

“W-who are you? W-what do you want from me?” Dash said weakly.

“Us… want something from you, nay, I think it is you who wants something from us.” replied the stallion as he stepped into the light. “You… my dear Rainbow Dash… want help from somepony who can get you recognized and get you accepted no matter your dark side and that… my dear, is what we want to do for you, to help you show your dark side so that you may accept it.”

“N-no! My friends will come for me! You won’t get away with this!” Dash screamed.

“Hah! Your friends, they’re nothing more than a bunch of pathetic ponies who can wield the Elements of Harmony, just... like... you.” The stallion laughed. “Let me be your friend and this can all be so much easier and we can conquer your fears… Scarlet Shadow…”

“W-what… wh-who are you talking about… whose Scarlet Shadow?” Dash asked, near hyperventilating.

“Why, you of course. Why else would we go through all the trouble of imitating those pathetic pegasi that call themselves Wonderbolts?” the stallion spat at the name.

“N-no! Let me go! You don’t have to do this, whatever it is! Please just let me go!” Dash said before finally going into full panic, making the stallion groan before waving at his assistant.

“Sedate her.” he said simply.

The mare standing next to him nodded and pulled out a needle and stuck it in her neck and injected a tranquilizer, knocking her out immediately.

“It is done sir.” said the mare.

“Good, it seems it is going to take a while to break her.” replied the stallion. “We’ll need time to prepare the first part of phase two.”

“Does she seriously think her friends will be able to save her by the time we’re done with her?”

“It’ll be a pity when she realizes it’s too late for them to save her.”

“I’ll have her moved to the torture chamber.”

“No… not yet.” said the stallion. “Xeva, cut out all the lights in here, let’s see how she deals with complete darkness when she wakes.”

Xeva nodded and extinguished the torches as she exited the chamber, following the stallion. “Jericho… I-I mean sir.” said Xeva.

“What?” growled Jericho after hearing her use his name. “What do you want?”

“W-what if they do come for her, how will we stop them?” Xeva asked.

“Easily… with this.” Jericho held up a canister of some sort of gas. “It’s non-toxic, but it’ll knock them out near instantly once they breathe in a healthy dose of it, make it easy to capture them and turn them all.”

“But… what of the Alicorn? They, of all ponies, are strongly resistant to this kind of thing.” Xeva quipped.

“Now, don’t be so silly, you think I wouldn’t compensate for that?” Jericho questioned rhetorically. “I added an extra dose of a certain special compound that would allow the gas to affect anything that breathes it unhindered.”

“That’s brilliant sir.” Xeva replied before yawning.

“Indeed.” Jericho replied. “Go, get yourself some rest, it’ll be a while before she wakes again.”

“Yes sir.” Xeva replied again before leaving.

“Now, Rainbow Dash, your observation begins.” he said as he used his magic to amplify the rooms sound only to him, using his magic like a hidden microphone.

~A few hours later~

Waking up, Rainbow Dash had expected to be in a lit room, but what she saw before her, was complete darkness, she couldn’t even see her own hoof if she held it to her face.

“No… t-too.... too dark… Must find light.” she said as she ran about the empty room trying to find some form of light.

Jericho chuckled as he watched from above in a room above her. “By the time we’re done with her, she’ll go insane and we’ll have succeeded…” he cackled. “...and then, if we capture her friends, we can do the same experiments on them to see what they fear and use it to drive them insane.”

“How is she handling it, sir?” asked a pony in a white lab coat.

“Ah, Black Heart.” said Jericho. “The ‘treatment’ is going splendid, she’s already losing parts of herself with every moment she spends in there, but, she is a tough one, so it’ll be hard to bring out her dark side.”

“Ah, the chamber of darkness.” Black Heart replied. “That gives me an idea.” said the stallion as he headed off for a moment before coming back with what looked like some sort of noise box. “Put this in there, it’ll imitate the sound of a manticore, an angry one at that. Ponies in the dark like this will be too petrified in the dark to be able to fight back.”

“Keep talking.” Jericho replied, his interest piqued

“And with every moment it is active, it grows louder, making it sound closer with every passing moment.” Black stated.

“Amazing work doctor, your work never fails to amuse me.” Jericho said with a smile. “Do it.”

Black Heart grinned and opened the chamber door before setting it just on the inside and flipping the ‘on’ switch and closing it.

~inside the chamber~

Dash had begun trying to escape the noise, this torture continued for another hour before a door opened and a stallion stepped in, lighting the torches. “Hello Rainbow Dash, I am Doctor Black Heart, you may refer to me as Black.” Black said as he went inside and shut the door behind him.

“Get away from me!” Dash screeched, attempting to kick at the stallion but found magical shackles holding her down.

“Settle down, I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to ask you some questions.” Black said.

“W-what kind of questions?” Dash glared at the stallion, pulling at her restraints.

“Just a few simple yes or no questions, that’s all.” Black started. “Now, have you ever, in your time since you met your friend, Twilight Sparkle, felt that your friends have started to develop a certain distrust in you?”

“No, they’d never have a reason not to trust me.” Dash replied, her glare intensifying.

“Denies… distrust… of… friends.” he muttered under his breath as he wrote it down before turning back to her. “At the coronation, was there any possibility that you had felt any sort of jealousy at Twilight Sparkles ascension?”

“No, why would I be jealous of her, she’s my friend.”

Black muttered once more and wrote down his mutterings. “Have you ever considered that your friends don’t acknowledge you as much as they should?”

“No, I’m done answering your stupid questions, now let me go.” Dash growled, struggling against her restraints once more.

Black shook his head. “I will only be able to help you if you will cooperate.”

“Never!” Dash tried to lunge at the stallion, only to be stopped once again by the chains that held her.

Black sighed. “I really didn’t want to resort to this, but you leave me no choice.” he then withdrew a syringe topped off with a needle before injecting the contents into her neck and leaving.

Jericho noticed the look on his face. “Didn’t go as you had planned, did it?”

“No… it didn’t…” Black replied before pulling the empty syringe. “I had no choice… she’ll be lucky if she survives.”

“And if she survives?” Jericho growled deeply.

“She will be weakened and her will… nopony knows how it will affect her will.” Black replied before leaving entirely.

Jericho groaned. “This is going to be a long night.”