“Let me through! Get the buck out of my way! Get your sorry asses back to work or I’ll feed you to the Pegasus Device!” snapped Rainbow Dash, clad in her Rainbow Factory outfit, as she pushed her way through the crowd of workers and security, all of whom were eager to investigate what had been the first successful breakout from the Rainbow Factory since it first opened its doors so long ago.

She made her way to the guards who were forming a perimeter around the Incinerator Room, where the escape was said to have taken place. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash and the Factory faculty, it was also the only place in the entire Rainbow Factory that didn’t have security cameras or any kind of security measures outside of the general alarm, which was only supposed to be used in the event of an incinerator starting a fire that threatened the entire facility.

“Okay, what the buck happened here?! Today was supposed to be my day off! So if I were you, I’d make it snappy!” Rainbow snapped at one of her guards, who merely gulped, nodded, murmured a simple, “Yes, ma’am,” and began to lead Rainbow to where the bodies of the dead guards and workers were laying.

“What do you make of this?” Rainbow asked the guard.

“In my opinion, judging by the fact that these poor bastards had their Spectra drained.”

The guard answered as they approached the shriveled and shrunken corpses.

“It seems we’ve got another Absentia on our hands.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, confused.

“But, why would an Absentia try to break out of the Factory? It’s not like one of them to do something like that.”

The guard could only shrug.

Rainbow bent down and examined the shriveled and shrunken bodies before her, taking note that they all seemed to have the same imprint of some kind of insignia upon their chest, directly over their hearts. A glance towards the one of the walls of incinerators showed that one of the hatches had been removed, most likely kicked off by somepony. Rainbow began to mutter as she struggled to figure out how such a disaster could happen.

“It doesn’t make any sense. No Absentia has ever so much as even tried to escape the Factory before, much less actually pull it off. And they most certainly never broke out of an incinerator before either. I don’t know what we’re dealing with here, but I don’t think this is the work of an Absentia. This has gotta be something else. And for all we know, something worse.”

“What are your orders?” the guard asked.

Snapping out of her pondering, Rainbow Dash snapped her orders at the guard.

“Tell our agents to tear Equestria apart until they find whoever or whatever broke out of here. Give them the information on every pony who failed their exams and were sent here within the last six months. We need to find whatever undead monster busted out of here before it can lay a finger on anyone in the Cloudsdale Corporation’s chain of command, or worse, innocent ponies.”

Rainbow then proceeded to walk away.

“And when we kill it this time, I will personally make sure it stays dead.”

Scootaloo had changed into a new set of clothing. The clothes consisted of a black leather jacket with a hood and a white t-shirt underneath, black jeans with a black leather belt, and black combat boots.

Once she was changed, Scootaloo began to ask her new ring some questions as she flew in the direction of her hometown of Ponyville at breakneck speeds.

“So...what’s the deal with you? What are you exactly? And where’d you come from?”

The ring answered, I am what is known as a Black Power Ring, the source of power for the Black Lantern Corps, who are essentially an army of the undead from all over the universe who are controlled by their power rings. They are dedicated to bringing about the Blackest Night and wipe out all life in the Universe, as bleak and horrific as that sounds. Our rings hold a limited charge, so what we usually do is make a victim feel a strong enough emotion so that we may feed on their hearts and gain power.

This alarmed Scootaloo.

“Wait. You mean I’m just a puppet?!”

Scootaloo began to feel more than a little uncomfortable at the thought that she may not be truly back from the dead, but may rather be only an undead puppet. Then, something occurred to her. “If I’m supposed to be an undead puppet with you in the driver seat, then how come I’m in control? And how come I was able to kill those guys the way I did?”

That, Miss Scootaloo, is a very good question. I have no idea how such a thing is possible. Perhaps the way you died has something to do with it. What can you tell me about what happened?

As much as she did not want to relive the memories that lead up to her death, Scootaloo knew that if she was going to get the answers she needed, she would have to explain. With each word, the taste of bile formed in her mouth as she spoke with despair and hatred.

“Well, I bombed my final flight exam and got sent to the Rainbow Factory. Which, I had found out then, is run by Rainbow Dash, who used to be my idol. She taught me everything she knew about flying and was the closest thing I had to a family… before I learned the truth about her and that she was responsible for the deaths of Faust-knows how many ponies. Anyway, the Factory uses this horrible machine called the Pegasus Device to extract color, or what they called Spectra, from their victims in order to create rainbows.”

Hmm… so the reason you’re in control and not me is because, at the time of your death, you had your ability to feel emotions sucked out of you, thus allowing you the ability to drain this… Spectra, in order to power the ring and your own ability to feel emotions.

Scootaloo shrugged, unsure of the ring’s reasoning.

“Yeah, well, as long as I’m not a puppet, I think I can live with whatever happens next. Especially killing off every last pony who is part of the management of the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation and the Rainbow Factory. What they took from me, I will take from them!”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes as she drew near to a large metropolis and landed in front of a sign that read Welcome to Ponyville. The resurrected mare cooled down as she looked at the sign.

Home sweet home.

She entered the town and began to make her way through the city’s streets. Everything was just as she remembered it being. Sugarcube Corner was still a giant desert ripped straight out of Hansel and Gretel. The elementary school where she and her oldest friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, had once attended was still there.

As Scootaloo looked around, she couldn’t help but chuckle. Everything was just the same as it’d been when she’d left for her final flight exam…

Scootaloo frowned as she remembered the exam.

How long HAS it been since I died?

Spying a newspaper stand, Scootaloo walked over to it and read the date on the front page. Her eyes widened as she read it.

Six weeks? I’ve been gone for six weeks? Wonder what Dash has been telling everypony about me. Scootaloo thought bitterly, a surge of hatred coursing through her at the thought of her former mentor and sister. Not to mention how was her death covered up, exactly. No doubt her so-called “sister” had to pull some strings and spread some sort of lie to keep investigators off the trail. On the word “sister,” Scootaloo had an idea. As far as she could recall, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had no plans to leave Ponyville anytime soon, so why not get back in touch with them?

Besides, they’ve been far better sisters than Rainbow Dash had ever pretended to be, thought Scootaloo.

Scootaloo’s mind came to a screeching halt at the thought of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow lived in Ponyville too. How long would it be before she figured out she was here, and tried to draw her out by threatening those she cared about?

Scootaloo knew one thing for certain now that she was back from the dead, armed with super powers no less. She had a lengthy list of ponies to kill for what they’d done to her and so many other, nameless, faceless ponies whose lives had only just begun. And one thing she knew for certain was that Rainbow Dash was last on that last. It was too early for a final confrontation with her.

“Excuse me, but who the Tartarus do you think you’re fooling?” demanded a stallion’s voice from behind her.

Scootaloo turned around, the hand her ring was on clenched into a fist, ready to call upon its power if she needed to, to find that there was a gray pegasus stallion with a black mane and tail wearing a black zip-up hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans, and navy blue and white sneakers glaring at her.

“Rumble? What the buck are you-”

“Don’t you Rumble me, bug. I don’t know how you know my name, but I know what you are. You’re just some changeling spy taking the shape of a dead mare so you can bring in the rest of your hive to attack us. I got news for you, pal, that ain’t gonna happen,” said Rumble with a fierce glare.

“Look, Rumble, I don’t know where you got this whole idea that I’m a changeling spy from, but I can assure you that I’m no changeling.”

“Oh, really? Then how do you explain being still alive, when I saw Scootaloo, the real Scootaloo’s body in Rainbow Dash’s arms? I even attended her funeral for Faust’s sake! And you have the balls to go cavorting about disguised as her?! I don’t think so!” snarled Rumble as tears began to run down his face.

Scootaloo heaved a frustrated sigh. “Look, Rumble, I can understand how you can think I was dead, but the truth is, I was just comatose, okay? Dead to the world. I only recently just woke up, and now I’m back.”

Rumble scoffed, still not believing it. “Oh, really? Tell me, if you’re the real Scootaloo, then what’s the group she, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle formed when they were foals? Answer me!” the stallion demanded.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Scootaloo said, knowing the answer instantly.

Rumble’s angry face almost instantly faltered. The next moment, Rumble had tears coming down his eyes as he flung himself on Scootaloo. “Scootaloo… how are you still alive? Rainbow said there was no way you could’ve survived your accident,” he sobbed.

“Well, I guess she was wrong. Point is, I’m still alive and I have no intentions of leaving any time soon. Say, how are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle these days?” asked Scootaloo as she and Rumble broke apart and started walking down the street together.

“Well, Apple Bloom’s still working Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack and Sweetie Belle’s still working on her first album and still lives with Rarity. Truth be told, not much has really changed since you left. Well, apart from the fact that Rainbow Dash moved away and didn’t leave any forwarding information, but other than that, nothing’s really changed,” explained Rumble.

Scootaloo felt a surge of relief run through her at this news about Rainbow Dash. With her gone, she could take her revenge and operate from Ponyville without drawing unwelcome attention from her former big sister and her henchponies.

“That’s good. You know, seeing as I’m back in town, I wouldn’t mind getting back in touch with them. Mind if I borrow your phone?”

Inside one of the bedrooms of the Carousel Boutique’s Corporate Headquarters, which also doubled as the home of the apparel company’s founder and CEO, a unicorn mare around the same age as Scootaloo with white fur and a lavender and pink mane and tail wearing a purple zip-up hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans, and combat boots was performing her latest song for her coltfriend, who was a brown-furred Earth Pony with an orange mane and tail wearing a black hoodie with blue jeans, and blue and white sneakers, along with her best friend who was an Earth Pony mare with butter yellow fur and a red mane and tail, the former of which had a faded pink ribbon in it. She wore a green button-up shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. With her was her own coltfriend, who was a pegasus with a pale-ish yellow fur, a brown mane and tail, a skinny build, and who was wearing a blue button-up shirt with a black t-shirt underneath, black jeans, and black and white sneakers.

“We see, today, a world we couldn't see. Before I say goodbye to you, one more last fist bump…” sang Sweetie Belle as her song came down to a close. Once it had ended, Apple Bloom, Button Mash, and Featherweight burst into applause.

“Bravo! Bravo!” called Button Mash.

“Encore, encore!” called Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle blushed as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Thanks, everypony… it’s not quite ready yet… but, I really appreciate the support,” she said.

Apple Bloom quickly picked up on Sweetie Belle’s tone of voice. “What is it, girl?” she asked her longtime friend.

Sweetie Belle sighed. “I just wish Scootaloo was here to see this… I know it’s been six weeks, but… it still hurts, ya know?” she said.

No sooner had the words left her mouth then her cell phone went off with a text message alert, as did Apple Bloom’s. Glancing at each other, the two young mares pulled out their phones and read the simple message.

She’s alive! Come to Starbucks Coffee Shop on Buckner Ave. and Golden Oaks Lane ASAP.

“What in tarnation is this all about?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I don’t know. But, I think we’d better get down to Starbucks right away,” said Sweetie Belle.

“We’ll come with you,” said Button Mash, to which Featherweight nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, just in case this is a trap, like that one time you two and… Scootaloo… got foalnapped by Queen Chrysalis,” said Featherweight, the tone of his voice suggesting he was walking on a minefield.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded, but said nothing as they and their coltfriends got ready to head down to Starbucks, each of them unsure of what awaited them there.

Author's Notes:

And thus concludes Chapter Two. Well, not really much else to say here other than I'll see you guys next time for Chapter Three.