Weather Factory, Entrance Hall

Commander Spitfire had made her last report to Governor Rainbow Dash, and been shown Scootaloo in action, killing Pinkie Pie. And, seeing the little filly reacting to seeing the dead body of her companion, and not remembering that she'd been the one that had done it, she'd begun to wonder about the azure pegasa's motivations. Killing those three stallions who had been elected joint governors over Cloudsdale was reasonable in a way. After all, how they won on their political platform, expelling Rainbow Dash from the Wonderbolts, was a mystery that might never be solved. But, when Fluttershy and Mayor Mare came, the order to imprison them was something she hadn't expected. Still more bizarre was the decision to turn this visiting pegasetta, Scootaloo, the governor's closest friend and greatest fan, into a puppet so she could kill without getting her hooves dirty. That being the case, what game was Rainbow Dash playing, that she'd have the little filly clean up her mess after killing each victim? Did she want her little friend to not suffer guilt if she'd ever found out what she'd done?

The fiery-colored pegasa shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts away before using her wings to set up a board. Using pins, she placed a picture of Rainbow Dash, at what she'd call her awesome-est, at the top; then a piece of scroll with the words, “Will You Kindly,” on it. Under that, she placed three pictures, each one with the image of one of the ponies Rainbow Dash had manipulated Scootaloo into murdering, strung up in that humiliating position. After that, she took some string and connected the picture of Rainbow Dash to the three-word phrase, then three more pieces of string to connect the phrase to each of the pictures, one piece of string per picture.

As Commander Spitfire set up this board, she began to wonder to herself why she was doing this. Was she trying to absolve herself from the crimes Governor Rainbow Dash was committing? If so, why torture a little filly with the restoration of these memories? Certainly letting the little filly know that Rainbow Dash was no longer the friend she'd been before she'd come to Cloudsdale had some value. But, how far was too far in this matter?

Years of training helped the military pegasa keep control of her emotions while she put up the display. It was only when she was finished that the thought struck her, were emotions governing her decision to place this display in the entranceway to the weather factory? But, then again, she felt that this was something that needed to be done. For the good of Cloudsdale. For the good of Rainbow Dash. For the good of Scootaloo. And, most of all, for the good of all ponies that might become involved later on. If her emotions were her main motivation for doing this, then they had to be good emotions. Thus were her thoughts as she went to the front door and unlocked it as carefully and quietly as possible.

The Bank, Starting in the Vault

Scootaloo had been in the bank's vault for hours, crying for Fluttershy, crying for Mayor Mare, crying for her companion Pinkie Pie. All three were dead now, strung up like strange display items or decorations. What was Scootaloo going to do now? Should she try and take Pinkie's body back to the balloon, then go back to Ponyville again? No, that would've made the sacrifices of those three ponies meaningless. And, besides, how was she going to carry her companion's body all the way back to the balloon? Would she be able to carry the pink earth mare's body all the way back to the balloon without collapsing, or literally falling apart?

She remembered how the pink party pony had taken the body of Fluttershy, then later the body of Mayor Mare, back to the balloon; and she'd been there to make sure each one didn't fall off of her back. And, they hadn't. Pinkie was able to take each of the two mares' bodies back to the balloon without them falling off. And, tossing them into the basket, while not the most sensitive and dignified treatment, had been, or at least seemed, like a very simple job. But, Pinkie Pie was an adult. Could Scootaloo do that? Or, was she too small, too weak, to carry the body of an adult back to the balloon and toss it into the basket?

It took a few minutes, but Scootaloo made her decision. She was the only one left, that she knew of, and she was going to take the body of her companion back to the balloon.

But, that was before she heard Rainbow Dash's voice in her head, asking, “Will you kindly go to the weather factory?”

Again the pegasetta felt herself falling into a dream state, and she said, “Yes, Rainbow Dash.” And, with that, she moved away from the body of the pink party pony, out of the vault, through the main room of the bank, and out the front door.

For all the little filly cared at the moment, the streets could've been crowded with all types of ponies, or completely empty; it didn't matter. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it. That was her frame of mind as she marched through the streets, to the intersection connecting the road in front of the bank to the road leading to the weather factory. And, it wasn't long afterward when she found herself at the double doors to that building.

As she reached out for the door, she heard the voice of the azure pegasa say, “Wait, and I'll unlock the door so you can enter.” Obediently the crusader waited, forelimb outstretched, for a minute before the voice said, “Now, will you kindly enter and proceed to the end of the hallway?”

Still in her dream state, Scootaloo nodded and said, “Yes, Rainbow Dash.” Then, she reached out and pushed the door open, then proceeded into the building.

The Weather Factory, in the Hallway

The little filly, after entering through the double doors, proceeded to close each one, when she happened to catch sight of a bulletin board, with images that were familiar to her. And, there was a message under the image of her heroine, Rainbow Dash: “Will You Kindly.”

Presently, she heard the azure pegasa's voice in her head, asking, no, demanding, “Scootaloo, will you kindly proceed to the end of the hallway?”

But, seeing those words on the board, she was snapped out of her dream state, and found herself uninfluenced by them anymore. At first, her eyes were attracted to the image of Fluttershy, and the memories of her murder invaded her thoughts. Scootaloo remembered stabbing her with a blade from one of her own hooves. She remembered sowing up the wound with Fluttershy's own skin. She remembered cleaning up the mess, then going into the mares' room to clean the blade she'd used. And, all this at the museum.

Next, Scootaloo turned to look at the picture of Mayor Mare, and the memories of her murder invaded the little filly's thoughts. Just like she'd done with Fluttershy, she'd stabbed Mayor Mare, sewn up her wound with her own skin, cleaned up the mess she'd made, and gone to the mares' room and cleaned up the blade she'd used. The only difference was it had taken place in the storage area of the grocery store.

Finally, the pegasetta's attention was drawn magnetically, almost instinctively, to the image of Pinkie Pie, her companion; and she remembered everything that had happened at the bank. Just like what she'd done with the two other mares, she'd stabbed Pinkie Pie, sewn up her wound with her own skin, cleaned up the mess she'd made, and gone to the mares' room to clean up the blade she'd used. But, there was more. She remembered what the pink party pony had said about her fellow element bearer, that the azure pegasa was no longer the representative of loyalty, she was a traitor.

Scootaloo looked up at the image of her heroine, and saw the three words written under it, words that now torturously echoed in her mind: “Will You Kindly.” And then, everything started to make sense.

Remembering what she'd done, what Rainbow Dash had made her do using those three words, she stopped wondering why she'd seen Fluttershy's image in the mirror of the town hall mares' room the way she had, then Mayor Mare there in the hallway, just outside that room.

Scootaloo and Pinkie hadn't eaten anything since they'd gotten to Cloudsdale. And right now, considering what she was feeling, Scootaloo was glad for that. If she had eaten anything, she'd have to see it again, liquefied and all over the floor in front of her. She couldn't believe it. Had her friend, her heroine, Rainbow Dash, really done those terrible things, made her do them? And, she was still trying. Again she heard the words in her head, “Will you kindly proceed to the end of the hallway!?”

The three words, which she knew had been used to control her, no longer had their power over her. But, did Rainbow Dash know that? If she did, would she still be calling her, demanding that she proceed to the end of the hallway?

Scootaloo slumped into a canine-style position. For once, she didn't want to see her heroine again. But, at the same time, she needed answers to her questions. Yes, she'd already gotten answers to some of the questions in her mind, the answers about why she'd found Fluttershy dead in the museum, Mayor Mare dead in the store, and Pinkie Pie dead in the bank. She also knew that Rainbow Dash had come to Cloudsdale to rid its leadership of the three stallions that had tortured her as a filly. But, there were a few more questions that needed answering. Why did Rainbow Dash use her as a killing machine? Why did she give her these mechanical wings, these mechanical forelimbs? Why didn't she just return to Ponyville?

After a minute or two, the crusader made her decision. Rising to all fours again, but unable to keep her emotions under control, she stammered, “Y-y-yes, R-r-rainbow D-d-dash.” And, she turned and walked away from the entrance, away from the bulletin board, and toward the double doors at the end of the hallway.