Dash was wandering through her house, looking for the source of the horrible groaning. She gasped when she entered the living room to see Scootaloo’s mangled upper half spinning Blue Devil’s back wheel. Scootaloo turned towards Rainbow Dash, who stood paralyzed in fear.

“Big sister,” Scootaloo whispered. “Big sister, I hurt so much. I can’t feel my legs.” She had begun dragging herself towards Dash, her intestines trailing behind her and leaving a grotesque snail-trail of blood and bile.

“Scoots,” squeaked Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo smiled, revealing a mouth of broken teeth.

“Big sister,” she groaned. “Why did you kill me? Why did you throw me in? It hurts…”

“Scoots, I’m sorry,” cried Rainbow Dash. “I’m so sorry!”

“You killed me,” whispered Scootaloo. “Now I’m dead and it’s all…your…FAULT!” Scootaloo launched herself at the wailing pegasus as she said this last part.

Rainbow woke up screaming. She looked around, reorienting herself into reality.

“Another nightmare,” she said. It was the same one that had come almost every night for about a month. Dash put her face into her hooves and sobbed.

To her surprise, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her. With a yelp, she tried to get away. To her relief, Fluttershy answered.

“It’s okay, Dash,” she soothed. “It’s just me. Relax, I’m here.” Dash wept into her arms, whispering apologies to Scootaloo over and over.

“Wait!” shouted Dash as Fluttershy tried to leave. “Don’t go. Please, I don’t want to be alone.” Fluttershy nodded and walked over to her friend, holding her close. “I still feel like she’s here,” Dash whimpered. “I miss her so much, Fluttershy. I wish I could bring her back, to keep her safe.”

“I know, Dash,” Fluttershy sighed. “Do you know what?”

Dash look up at her friend. “What?”

“I think you need to tell Twilight,” Fluttershy replied.

“No way,” shrieked Dash in horror. “She would never speak to me again! I already lost Scoots; I can’t lose my friends too!”

“Dash,” said Twilight, warping in from her house. “I haven’t seen you in a few days. Is something wrong?” She looked confusedly as she noticed Fluttershy holding her.

Dash whimpered, then broke down and told the whole story, from her initiation to murdering Scootaloo. Twilight listened in horror and revulsion as she grew to understand Dash’s problem. She felt true sympathy for her friend.

“Twilight, I just want her back so much,” sobbed Rainbow. “The guilt is tearing me apart. I can feel myself losing it. Every night I have nightmares about her.”

“Well, Dash, I hate to say it, but you brought this on yourself,” Twilight said. “You killed her, and you have to find a way to live with that. I’ll help all I can, but there’s no bringing her back. You have to remember that.”

“I know,” Dash sobbed. “The worst part is, the last thing I told her wasn’t even ‘I love you’. It was…I called her a whore.” Dash burst into tears once more. Twilight felt tears sting her eyes as well. Her heart ached for her friend and the pain she was feeling.

“Dash, we need to find a way for you to cope with this,” the wise unicorn said. “If we don’t, you’re going to hurt someone. Or yourself.”

Dash nodded, her eyes still full of tears. Twilight tucked her back into bed, and Fluttershy lay down next to her. Finally, after a long few minutes of crying, Dash fell back asleep, completely exhausted.

No nightmares came the rest of the night.

Fluttershy awoke to find the bed empty. After looking around, she found Dash hunched over the kitchen table, pouring herself a glass of coffee spike with whiskey. She was staring miserably over at Blue Devil. Fluttershy attempted to speak to Dash, but the cyan pegasus was in the middle of another flashback.

“You have to keep Blue Devil here,” Dash was saying. “Fly everywhere else; those wing muscles need to bulk up.” Scootaloo looked forlornly at her scooter, which lay on its side in the corner of Dash’s living room.

“You mean I can never ride him again?” she asked solemnly.

“That’s not right at all,” said Dash. “You can ride him for a while before and after training. I’ll even take you down to the skate park. But, you have to earn it.”

“Okay,” shouted Scootaloo happily. “You’re the best Pegasus ever, big sister!”

Dash smiled warmly. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Scoots.” Scootaloo didn’t see the smile fade, or that her mentor’s eyes had become hollow and sad. “Promise me again that you’ll pass the test, Scoots,” she suddenly said, her hands on Scootaloo’s shoulders. “I’m serious. Promise your big sister that, no matter what, you won’t fail.”

“I won’t,” said Scootaloo quizzically. “Why is it so important that I pass?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Dash muttered. Then, louder, “Let’s just say that it would make your life not so nice around Cloudsdale.” Scootaloo nodded, recalling the warnings from her first day of flight school. Failure was not tolerated in Cloudsdale.

“Don’t worry, Dash,” smiled Scootaloo. “I won’t fail. You’ll see, I’ll make you proud.”

“I sure hope so,” replied Dash. “I sure hope so…”

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy was saying. “Rainbow, are you listening?”

Rainbow Dash wiped her teary eyes and shook her head.

“Sorry,” she choked out. “I was…”

“Remembering a good time with Scootaloo?” finished Fluttershy.

“Yeah.” Dash smiled, but it was an empty one. She seemed so lost without her former student by her side; all the joy seemed to have left her world. Fluttershy hugged Rainbow, who gulped down the rest of her coffee.

“I have to go to the factory for work,” she finally said. “You can stay here if you want, but you’re not allowed in the part of the factory where I need to be.” Fluttershy nodded that she understood, and Dash started towards the door. “Oh, and Fluttershy?” she asked, stopping in the doorway. “Please send someone else over tonight, but don’t explain why.” Not waiting for a response, Dash soared away. Humming to herself, Fluttershy made herself busy preparing dinner and cleaning for her friend. When she finished several hours later, she nodded satisfactorily and went off to retrieve Applejack.

Rainbow Dash weaved aimlessly through the morning influx of workers. Her mind was elsewhere, and it showed in her appearance. Her eyes were misty and far-off, her walk was slow, and she barely responded to the other ponies when they spoke to her. She had earned herself a trip to Dr. Atmosphere’s office, and he was presently lecturing her.

“Rainbow Dash, you are one of the best managers we’ve ever had here at the factory,” he said. “But you’re workmanship has degraded horribly this past month. You need to pull your head out of your ass, young lady.” He sighed, suddenly seeming much older. “It was that blank-flank wasn’t it; what was her name?”

“Scootaloo, sir,” answered Dash through gritted teeth.

“Yes, that was it,” said Dr. Atmosphere. “Look, I’ve read her file; she was your friend, a sister almost. I get that, but you have to move past it.”

“Did you ever have to kill one of your best friends, sir?” Rainbow said defiantly.

“Well, no,” he admitted. “But-”

“Then don’t act like you understand,” Dash cut in.

“Miss Dash, I-”

“We’re done here,” Rainbow Dash said as she stormed out. Dr. Atmosphere only shook his head.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3 Estimated time remaining: 5 Minutes