Rainbow Dash landed with the others in Cloudsdale, looking over the dull grey city in the sky, the cold air sinking into her coat and chilling her flesh. There was something cold about the entire city, something, empty.

        The ponies that fled Ponyville were lined up by a pair of guards, slowly being filtered into a small building with a poster. The poster was plain, a piece of pegasus propaganda. It felt out of place, something harsh and unforgiving in a town supposedly steeped in solidarity and mourning for the late Commander Hurricane. Rainbow Dash felt uneased by it, made only worse by the armed guards ushering her towards the building.

        Tension followed her as she walked towards the building, and only compounded once inside. The room was dull, a dark grey that drew every bit of color out of the ponies inside. She felt horrid, oppressed by a room.

        “Excuse me...eyes forward.” A pony behind a desk called out to her, snapping her forward. Rainbow Dash looked past the desk, staring at the dull red pony behind it. “Due to the recent influx of refugees food is being rationed, as is housing and water. You will be given a dorm, daily ration tickets and free reign of the town for two hours a day. Any questions are best kept to yourself. Move along.”

        Rainbow Dash was stunned. These were the ponies causing it all, these were the instigators, and they were rationing. Rainbow Dash tried to look the pony over, quickly tapping the tip of a spear to her flank. She yelped at the small prick and jumped forward. “Keep moving.” An angry looking guard stated, pushing her forward. “Stay with your group.”

        Rainbow Dash hurried on. She found the other ponies in yet another line, being given slips of paper. She waited in the quiet room, being watched all the while by looming guards and a pony in a strange hat. When she reached the counter, she was slid a piece of paper and a card. “Dorm twenty-six b, work hours are six to eight, move on.”

        “Wait what--”

        “Move along, now.” The pony in the hat walked over, shoving Rainbow Dash out of line and towards the door. “Keep to yourself, and stay out of trouble.”

        Rainbow Dash was tossed out of the room, stumbling into the street. The dark grey sky above, the dark streets below her, the damp oppressive cold clinging to her coat and drawing the heat from her. She tried to look around, but wherever she went armed guards lined the streets.

        Whenever she stopped she was poked and prodded to stay in line. Ponies hovered above her, clung to her side, stared her down, and kept her in line. She had no where to go but forward, forward against the line of ponies, forward towards the dull grey ahead. Forward to whatever work they had planned for her.

        She felt her life leave her hooves as she entered a dull building. The hall was lined with doors. All plain, all grey, all numbered. “Find your rooms and settle in, lock-down is in thirty minutes!” A rough voice shattered the silence of the room and made the new arrivals jump.

        Rainbow Dash didn’t turn around. She stood tall and walked steadily towards her room. Twenty-three, four, five, room twenty-six. She stood before the door, looking it over as the guards drew closer. She jammed the key into the door and threw it open, revealing yet another dull grey room, a single bed, and a bedside table.

        The room would barely fit her, it smelled of mildew, the was damp, but it was a bed. Something Rainbow Dash had spent days without. She threw herself inside, letting herself fall against the bed and collapse.

        Her body ached, her mind was frayed, her old life was gone, but for now, she could sleep.

        Rainbow Dash, I love you, and you know I’ll always be here for you.

        I know dad, but I have to do this, Fluttershy’s down there, Ponyville needs a weather pony.

        Dash--

        I know you want me to stay but…

        Rainbow Dash--

        I just need you to--

        Rainbow Dash! You’re crying.

        I am not! I just- I- I’m gonna be late….

        Go on, I’ll be here if you ever need me.

        I...I love you daddy, I’ll visit, I promise.

        I know you will, you’re my little girl.

        A loud bang snapped Rainbow Dash awake. “Everyone up, now!” The banging grew louder and louder. Rainbow Dash threw herself out of bed, her head aching and body reeling from the rough night’s sleep. “Work starts in an hour, get to your stations and start early!”

        Rainbow Dash pushed her way out of her room, into the hall. She found ponies lining up and marching outside. She joined them, spotting a few familiar faces. However happy she was to see them again, the stares of the guards forced her into line. She joined the march outside and flung herself headlong into the early morning sky. A heavy fog had descended and ponies were going about their day trying to clear it.

        Her group was split up. Half of them working to clear the fog, her and the others continued moving towards the weather factory. Little by little the security tightened. Red banners lined the streets, armed ponies were everywhere, and the weather factory was pumping out thick black clouds, stuffed to the brim with precious water.

        She smiled to herself as she walked proudly forward, taking a kick to the gut and being pushed out of line. “Knock it off, now!” A burly pony screamed, stepping on her ribs. “Why the buck are you smiling, huh!?”

        Rainbow Dash failed to catch her breath and was left wheezing as the pony let off. “Get the buck back in line, now!”

        Rainbow Dash whirled around. She let out a rough cough as she fronted on the guard. “What the- kkruch- what the buck’s your problem!?”

        A pair of guards joined rank against her. She found herself at the tips of three spears. A nervous looking pony stepped forward, his helmet clanking against his head. “G-get to work, now!” His eyes were pleading, needy.

        Rainbow Dash’s eyes darted around her aggressors, but slowly she relented, joining the other ponies on their march towards the factory. Rainbow Dash spotted the pony in the hat once again, talking with someone else. It wasn’t until she was face to face with them, taking the back of a spear to the jaw, that she realized who it was. The scarred pony stood with the hatted one.

        Her heart shattered. He was wearing their armor, they were beating her for nothing, he was no different, he had kept her from fighting back, he had always been there, keeping her from discovering the truth. The scarred pony occupied her mind as she walked.

        She was stood at a tub of water, small white clouds passing by. She was forced to fill the clouds, sending them along the line like a machine. She lost track of time as her mind searched for answers. She tried to turn to the ponies next to her. They ignored her.

        She looked past her station, finding Flitter nervously stuffing clouds full of water. “Flitter...Flitter….” Rainbow Dash called. “Flitter!”

        Flitter jumped, a bruise on her chin becoming apparent. “R-Rainbow Dash?! What are you doing here!? Oh dear Celestia, tell me Cloud Chaser’s not--”

        “No talking!” A guard screamed, kicking Rainbow Dash in the side and jabbing Flitter with his spear.

        Rainbow Dash waited until the guard passed. “Flitter, what the hay is this!? Don’t they know Sharp--”

        The line ground to a halt, throwing clouds off as it stopped.

        “No! She didn’t know!” Flitter screamed, guards pouring around her and Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash tell them you didn’t know!”

        Rainbow Dash was yanked down by her mane. She scrambled to stand as she was dragged out of the factory, kicking the guards behind her and screaming. “Let me go, let me the buck go, buck you, let go!”

        The guard dragging her lifted his leg, giving her a swift kick to the head and silencing her. Rainbow Dash was left dazed as she watched the dull sky drift past. She couldn’t hear, she could barely see, her mind was blank. It was as if she was watching through her own eyes as a pair of guards dragged her into an alley.

        She could see fritter being taken away, flailing and crying as she went.

        One day, one day back in Cloudsdale and she was being beaten, treated like a criminal, and now, as she watched the scarred pony approach with his spear drawn low, she would die.

        She closed her eyes, waiting for the blow, waiting to finally get the rest she so desperately needed. She felt a heavy weight press against her being as she fell into darkness, she lost the feeling to her limbs as she drifted away. She regretted not fighting, she regretted not seeking out the princesses. She regretted not staying in Ponyville. But none of it mattered as she lay dead on the cloud floor of Cloudsdale.

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