“Cloudsdale. The pegasus city flying over Ponyville. Hometown of the famous Rainbow Dash.”
I say, not really watching is ponies are listening to me or not. Shaking in excitation, like a little filly, I can barely hide in the shadows.

You're wondering why I'm hiding in the shadows? I have many reasons. First reason is of course for a nice dramatic effect. After all, I'm here, standing on a hill, looking at Cloudsdale with threatening eyes, I'm forced to look like a bad guy. And the other reason is because I plan to break in Cloudsdale. Tonight.
Of course, being an unicorn, I shouldn't be able to reach the city, but... let's say I got my hoof on something interesting. A spell granting pegasus abilities, but only temporary. At first, when I found it, I was delighted. After all, isn't flying everyone's dream?

But then, I had a better idea! Why not disguise myself as a pegasus, and go visit that city? They won't notice me, and I'll finally be able to see how weather's prepared! But I digress.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is... well, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm a doctor. Trust me, I'm a doctor.
No, no, I'm not the Doctor, I'm just a doctor. Just an unicorn interested by life. I could tell you how I got my cutie mark, by helping an injured bird, but that wouldn't be interesting. But I told it anyway, I'm sorry, I'm kind of scatterbrained right now. It's excitation, of course, but there's also fear.

I tried that spell many times, and it worked fine each time. But, there's still that voice, in a corner of my head, whispering “what is it doesn't work? What if your wings disappears while you're flying? What if the pegasus catch you?”. I try to shake my head, but I still get goosebumps. Probabilities are predicting a fine and nice little holiday on Cloudsdale, but I still have a bad feeling.
I shrug. That doesn't help to get rid of the goosebumps. In fact, I think it's making things worse.
Awful, isn't it? I try to get rid of that bad feeling, and I'm only aggravating it.
“Maybe the weather is getting a bit chilly too.”

I see you're wondering why I'm going to Cloudsdale? Sheer curiosity. After all, one cannot observer pegasus in their natural environment. And if one can, he's obviously a pegasus himself, and therefore does not understand the need to observe such things.
After all, you never notice things when they're right under your nose. You only notice them when they're gone. Just how awful is that?
“I am angry!”
I say, while stomping the ground.
…
Okay, that was retarded. But I guess you understand my point, now, do you? That being said, I have to wait just a little longer. And then I'll be able to visit Cloudsdale. Just... Try to imagine how many things I'll see in there! I don't even know how it looks like!

Oh boy, I'll tell ya, this is gonna be good. I'm already eager to see the city by myself!
“Night is now on us. And Princess Luna is obviously on my side, since the Moon itself does not provide any light! I'm really lucky today!”
I jump to my hooves, and I shake my mane, sticking my tongue out like a filly. Excitation is making me do strange things. If I wasn't so eager to see Cloudsdale by myself, I would gladly observe my own behavior, and try to decipher it.

But now's not the time for stuff like that! I have things to discover! I have Cloudsdale to see! It's like taking a filly to a candy shop! Or a mare in any other shop. Mares are so strange, now that I think about it. How can anyone NOT be interested in candies? That's impossible! There's no way that could exist!
“Mmmrr... Just thinking about that gives me the creeps.”
I would rather have crepes than creeps, but it's not up to me to decide, sadly.
And HERE I am, speaking to myself again! Let's just get this over with, while the Moon is hidden by the clouds!

I begin trotting, while casting the spell.
“Par la moustache du grand Hartman!”
I feel two new limbs appearing on my back. I quickly extend them, and THAT'S IT! I'M FLYING!
“Holy Sun, that's awesome!”
It's the first time I fly! I mean, I tried that spell before, but I tried to keep it secret, because I didn't wanted to- aaah, forgive me. Here am I rambling again. I have the body of a young pony and the mind of an old crazy pony.
“I won't age well, that's sure.”
And speaking to myself won't fix anything. I have to keep on! FORWARD, COMRADE! TO CLOUDSDALE! And with that goal in my mind, I flap my wings faster, noticing, half-amused, half-worried, that I'm moving my legs too.
“Guess that's why those things require training.”
But, hey, I can FLY! I won't ask for more!

I curse my own stupidity. Of course that the darkness would hide me from any pegasus. But I forgot that it would also hide Cloudsdale from me.
“Bollocks!”
I quickly look around, still flapping my wings. That exercise is more tiring than I though, and if I don't find a place to land quickly, I'll get tired and probably fall to my death. Or maybe I'll just be too tired to keep on flying and I'll just have to give up for tonight.
I prefer the latter, personally. I don't want to die. Too annoying. Too frustrating. But if I have to give up, it won't be without a fight!
By the way, I'm not being literal with that word. When I say 'fight', I mean 'flying around in circles until I find something or until I'm really to tired to keep on'.
So here I am, flying in circles, like a fool, hoping to find something, to hit something...

I open my eyes. Pure darkness. I try to stand, but my head hurts too much.
“What happened?”
I was flying in circle, and then I hit something with my head. I blacked out for a second, and here I am again.
“Let's think rationally. It's pitch black. So I'm in a cloud. Good thing that spell doesn't worn out when I'm out.”
I gently poke the ground. Eeer, I mean the cloud.
“What the...”
It's hard. I was expecting something soft, like... I dunno, cotton candy or something like that. But instead of that, it's hard.
“That's weird.”
I manage to stand, and I softly stomp the cloud, ears raised.
“Uh? Sounds like metal?”
There's something fishy here. Either I fell somewhere into the Everfree Forest, either, for some unknown reason, there's a huge metallic structure hidden in the clouds over Ponyville.
“Que la lumière soit!”
Casting a light spell, I observe the place. And I'm surprised. To be short, I'm currently standing on a very wide metallic platform. I can't see really far away, the clouds are acting like a fog. So I have to move.
“It hurts, dammit!”

After a little while of walking totally randomly, I start being more and more anxious. What's this place? Am I still in Equestria? How is it possible that nopony noticed something that large?
But all my thought are pushed off by the treasure I found. 'Treasure' being of course totally subjective, meaning in this case 'a trapdoor toward the inside of the platform'.
Grabbing the shackle with my magic, I pull the trapdoor, and I walk inside the building.
I know that's not the best idea I ever had, but I HAVE to know. Curiosity get the best of me, and I have to keep on, and discover what that structure is.

“Holy Batmare breast!”
One more time, my mouth is faster than my brain. But I have every reason to be surprised. I mean, I though I was on a platform. But I was wrong. I was on a roof. And now, I'm inside the building.
“Steam technology? Who in Equestria possess such knowledge to make those machines?”
The room I just entered in is a small place. On the wall, there are several dial, giving indications about different... stuff. I'm sorry, I have no idea whatever those things are supposed to count.
For example, there's this one, here. It says 'rainbow'. And that's just ridiculous! You can't count rainbows! There's no way a dial would display how many rainbow you have...
“Stored?”
Seriously? This thing is STORING rainbows? I lean toward the dial, trying to understand it.
“If that thing is working fine, then we're almost out of rainbow?”
That... just doesn't make sense! Rainbow are created...
I blink several time as I try to remember how rainbow are created exactly. And the weird thing is that I don't remember.
“Commmme on...”
I rub my chin with my hoof. Rainbow are... They are...

How are they created anyway?
I don't know. I though I knew, but in fact I don't. That single sentence is confusing enough, but the fact that this building is creating rainbow is only confusing me more. Does it just make rainbow out of nowhere? And why is that building hidden?
So many questions! And so few answers! You must discover the truth! For Equestria! For Great Justice! And also for your secret lover, Miss Curiosity. She's the one always shoving you toward new things. She's the one making you experiment.
“Haa, curiosity. One day, you'll be my end.”
With that being said, I leave the room, only to arrive in another room, this time way bigger, and filled with all kind of wires and pipes. And there's somepony here!
“H-”
Luckily, this time, my brain is faster than my mouth, and I manage to shut up before saying anything. After all, I'm not supposed to be there. If I'm caught, I'll probably be kicked out. So it's best for now to sneak around, until I figure how they're making rainbow.
Tiptoeing, I manage to pass behind the busy worker. He's too busy working on that multicolored tank to pay attention to me anyway, but it's better to be prudent. I can't know how much long he'll be busy.
“Orange. Only 20%. Yellow. Only 50%. Red. 80%. Purple. 60%. Recommendations: orange.”
His voice startles me, and for a while, I doubt he's a pony. He just spoke in a mechanical tone, just piling one word after another, without a single inch of emotion in his voice.
You bravely decide to leave him alone, instead of picking an useless and dangerous fight, and you just walk away, still being very careful to not make any noise.

You jump when it happens. You weren't supposed to be scared, but that's not something you hear often. After all, you're a doctor. You heal people, you help them to feel better. Therefore, you're not used to this.
A filly screaming to death. That's not something you hear often, and that's not something you wish to hear often. You should probably go back, sneak again behind that mechanical worker, and, just, leave.
But you can't. You're a doctor. You don't just help people, you HAVE to help them. If you see someone being hurt on your way to your house, you automatically make a mental note. And that note never fades. It stays here, until you consider that your duty is fulfilled.
And that filly screaming is a huge mental note. If you were to leave now, you wouldn't be able to sleep, eat, or even look at yourself in the mirror. It's a FILLY, for Celestia's sake. An innocent little filly. You can't turn your back. Not now.
So you just walk toward where the scream came from, while mentally hoping that it's just an accident.
“Please, Princess Celestia, let it be false. Let the rumors be wrong, I beg of you, oh sweet princess, let it be wrong...”

The room is large, and damn high. From your position, you have a good view on what's happening down there. And it's something you wish you could forget.
The room itself is very big, I think I already said it. At one end of the huge room, I can see several square vats. I don't really pay much attention to them, being too busy trying to understand the giant machine. In the middle on the room, above the floor, there is a giant tank, apparently filling the vats with vivid-colored liquids. On top of the tank, there's a small opening, and there's a foal over it, apparently restrained by chains.
I try to understand what's going on, but at the same time, I don't want to understand. I honestly can't even understand how that machine works, but the fact that I can't see an exit door for the foal is making my think... things I'd rather ignore. With a metallic noise, the chains open, freeing the foal. Or rather, dropping him in the mouth of the machine.
I would give everything I have to forget what I see and what I hear. But I can't. There's some kind of morbid curiosity constantly telling me to look, to analyze, and to understand. I try to understand, I try to analyze, I try to look, but all I can see is an innocent kid being crushed alive by a giant machine, and all I can hear are his screams, until the machine finally breaks his skull in a horrible sound.
I turn my head away, and I puke in total silence. That's not what I wanted to see. That's not what I wanted to hear. That's not what I wanted to LEARN!

I hear scared screams, and I force myself into looking again. And what I see drains every color from my face. I thought there was only one foal, but it appears that the workers brought a large group of fillies in the room. I try to look away, but I can't. I'm petrified here, unable to move or to think, trying to assimilate the fact that the pegasus are killing fillies.
And then, one of the worker turns his head and sees me. I stare at him, still unable to move. I notice his dark red color, partially hidden by a white lab coat.
He looks at me.
I look at me.
He notices my horn.
I notice his coat.
He smiles.
I'm disgusted.
Still staring at me, he quickly walks out of the room, leaving the other workers to deal with the fillies.
Still staring at him, I try to decide what I'm going to do. I can't run away. Not now. I have to try something, and help those fillies. I know it's stupid, I know I'm going to die here, in this place, but I have to. I have to do something to help. Even if it's just a little.
I move.

I have to run away.
No, I have to help these fillies.
I have to protect my own life, and tell the outside what's going on!
I'm giving myself excuses. I have to help them!
I run. I don't know where I'm going, but I'll go where my hooves are leading me. If they're leading me outside, I'll do my best to escape. If they're leading me to the fillies, I'll help them.
“I have to help I can't fail I have to help...”
That's what my cutie mark is about. Helping others, healing the wounded, I help everyone.
And find new ways to help ponies feel better. That's why I came here. I wanted to know more about pegasus. They're so different, I could never heal them efficiently. I wanted to know more about them, but now, I regret my curiosity.
“No, I'm being unfair. That's no curiosity. That's just me.”

But then, somepony tackles me, throwing me on the ground. Before I can realize what's happening, I'm on the ground, surrounded by several suited ponies. I want to see their faces, but those are hidden by gas mask. I don't even know if those things are real ponies or not.
“Let me go! I can help! I'm a doctor, I can help them!”
As I try to stand again, one of the suited pony moves, and hits me with something.
“AAAH!”
I fall in the ground again, trying to understand what happened. It was something electric, like a taser. But do they have taser? And what are they here? Aren't they realizing that I'm trying to help fillies?
“Please, let me go! I have to help!”
“Oh, oh oh oh, now that's getting interesting.”
I look around, looking for the voice. And I see him, the dark red pegasus from earlier.
“You! Help me! I have to help!”
He laughs.
“Ain't that cute? Don't you see your own situation? You're an unicorn, in a pegasus facility!”
He continue laughing for a while, and turns serious again.
“You don't understand, I'm a doctor! I can help them!”
“Well, that's nice. But you're not helping anybody here. Beat him.”
The suited ponies take out their tasers.
“No! I beg of you, let me help! Let help! I can hel-”
The first strike is on my flank. I instantly stop talking, and instead, I scream in pain.
“Beat him, but don't kill him. We never tried an adult unicorn before. Oh, and break his limbs.”

I'm thrown on the ground again, in another pained scream. One of them sits on me, restraining me. The others are pulling my leg. I try to fight back, but the one sitting on them hits me in the face with his taser, half-stunning me. I still can see one them jumping in the air, and landing, hooves first, on my exposed leg. The bone breaks instantly in a horrible noise, some kind of nightmarish 'CRACK'.
“AAAAH!”
Screaming in pain, I stare at my useless leg, wide-eyed, my head already full of suggestion about how I can heal it. I need some planks, and a rope. I'll make a splint with that, and everything will be allright-
'CRACK'
“GYAAAAH!”
This time, I scream louder. I was so busy focusing on my broken that I could notice that they were pulling my other leg.
“What do we do about his horn?”
Ask one of them, in that mechanical voice again. I try to listen, but my hind legs being broken, it's hard to even think. I'm already fighting to stay conscious, despite the pain, don't ask me too much.
“I'll ask the manager. In the meanwhile, bring him in the disposal room, with the mules.”
“Yes, doctor.”
I feel like I'm being dragged, but I don't care any more. My legs are broken, and if I don't put splints quickly, I'll never be able to walk again. I have to put a splint in my leg, I have to-

“What in Celestia's name happened here?”
Screams the other doctor. One of the suited pony answers, still in that mechanical tone.
“Rebellion. Manager was forced to exterminate the whole batch.”
While they're busy trying to find what happened, I take a look. It's the same room I saw earlier, it's that room where they're... killing fillies.
“Monsters.”
One of the ponies steps on my broken leg, causing me to scream again.
“Oh, hush you. Adults are speaking! Take me to the manager, we have to talk!”
“Yes, doctor.”
“What do we do about him?”
“Ugh. Just leave it here. It won't go anywhere without his legs.”
I'm dropped on the floor again, while the ponies are leaving.
“I'm alone...”
I must escape. I don't know how, but I have to. This whole thing is just a giant nightmare, I can't stay here for too long.

But as I pathetically try to crawl to the nearest exit, I see something that shatters my heart.
On the ground, there's a little thing. A small, little thing. A cute, small, an innocent little thing.
It's a filly. But she's not moving.
I crawl to her.
Why is she not moving?
Why isn't she running, or flying?
Why is she sleeping?
She shouldn't sleep in a place like that.
No, really, she shouldn't.
Her parents will be worried if she doesn't get back home.
“Hey, little filly, you should sleep here, you know?”
I look at her face.
It's a bloody mess.
Her face was crushed under hooves, and crushed again and again and again.
“Don't be sad about your face. I'm a doctor! I can fix it!”
I try to comfort her, but she doesn't move.
Don't be so sad, I'm here!
I'm a doctor.
I help people.
I heal people.
So don't be sad.
Why aren't you moving?
Are you cold?
Is that why you're not moving?
Hold on, let me hold you.
I'm an adult, I can share the heat.
Let me hold you.
Are you feeling better?
Do you want to sleep?
Don't worry, everything will be fine.
I'm a doctor, you know?
I think I already told you.
Nopony ever died in my hooves.
I'm a good doctor!
I saved everypony that I met!
Don't worry, little filly!
Everything will be fine.
I'm here.
Doctor Caduceus, here.