Rainbows and choices

16

I looked into Ocellus' eyes. 'THAT ALSO APPLIES FOR YOU, OCELLUS! STAY IN YOUR OWN FORM OR WE WILL CUT OFF YOUR WINGS!' I shouted and slammed the door shut. Ocellus had made a pinkie promise that she would flee. Rainbow Dash pulled the carriage and although I normally flew above it, I was now lying on the roof. Dash did not look back and didn't see it. In the carriage roof you had a small lattice window without glass. I could see through it just enough to follow the conversation. 'So you're called Nasus and Ocellus. My name is Marry Cookie.' Said a rose-purple pegasus. She had pink, curly mane that was somewhat reminiscent of Professor Pie's mane. The pegasus was a bit chubby and had a cookie as cutie mark. 'I'm Party Pizza. Said an orange pegasus with red and brown mane. His cutie mark was a slice of pizza. 'My friend actually told me to flee if I failed.' Ocellus said sadly. 'Then why didn't you do that?' Marry asked. 'Have you not seen her attempt?' asked Party Pizza. 'She tried to flee, but the test supervisors caught her.' Nasus said. 'Yeah, it was a very weak attempt.' Said Party Pizza. 'Sorry, I'm more of an egghead. Physical things such as flying and fleeing are not my strengths.' Said Ocellus. 'Fleeing bach to the hive of the changelings. That I hadn't thought of that.' Nasus said thoughtfully. I flew forward. To talk to Rainbow Dash. I had heard what I had been looking for. The reason why Ocellus was here after she promised to flee.

'Why do you let them take the test too?' I asked Rainbow. 'That's not my fault. I manage most of the Rainbow factory, not the Cloudsdale board.' She said. 'Is there nothing you can do?' I asked. 'Sorry, Kid. I am afraid not.' Said Dash. 'The test wasn't really fair. Hippogrifs and griffons have larger wings and can hardly fly through the hoops. And changelings have a harder time recovering because of the way their wings work. They go much faster than ours. If your wing beat is accelerated to recover, they simply cannot because their wings are naturally so fast.' I said frustrated. 'I know, but I don't make the rules. Nothing to do about it.' Rainbow said lightly.

Me and Rainbow Dash stood for the failures group. I was preparing mentally. Rainbow Dash had tested me every time. And I was successful every time. Immediately she would say that I had to take off my mask and use Ocellus as an example. She always did that, she always tested me. 'Let's start with an example. You! With the Pizza Cutie Mark. What's your name?' Asked Dash. 'Party Pizza.' He replied. Rainbow thought. 'Your name sounds cool, I think I'll keep you for a while, but you won't get anything in your head. Your turn will come anyway. You, with your pink curls. What is your name?' Said Dash. 'Marry Cookie.' She answered nervously. 'You sound boring. Start with her.' Rainbow said. I did not expect that. Apparently Rainbow was done with testing me. Not that I minded that. I was happy to see how Marry was torn to pieces and I turned around as soon as it was done.

The  fear and disgust in the eyes of the failures always looked so funny. 'Who are you!' I heard Ocellus' voice say loud above the buzz that had begun. 'Excuse me!' I said in a loud, strict tone. 'Who are you? You must be someone I know. You said my name in the carriage. Even before I told anyone my name. So you have to be someone I know. Who are you?' Ocellus shouted. I grinned softly. 'You were always the smart one.' I said and I took off my mask. Ocellus opened her eyes wide in surprise. 'Black Blue?' She said. 'I said you had to flee. Not my fault that you failed to do that to.' I said. 'That's not possible. I thought ... ' Ocellus began. 'Yeah, no I have never been in a reserve defense whatever it is. Well what would you think of being our next example?' I asked. I was happy that Rainbow didn't test me anymore, but I still wanted to prove myself.

'Not going to happen. The barrels are full. The previous load of failures was fairly large. That means that this gang will get a week's respite, that Equestria will get extra rainbows this week and that you will have a week off. Go home before your friends ask questions.' Rainbow said. 'A week off? I won't say no to that. Thanks Dash.' I said and I flew to the door. 'Dash?' I heard Ocellus say behind me. I turned around. 'Dash as in ..' Ocellus began. Rainbow Dash pulled off her mask with a smile. 'It looks like you are faced with more than one surprise today.' She said. Apparently she was not bothered that I had said her name. I decided that I did not want to attend this discussion and left.

It was very quiet in the school when I returned. After some searching I found everyone in the room where Ocellus normally slept. Gallus, Smolder, Silverstream, Sandbar, Yona and Devo were deeply saddened by an Ocellus photo frame. The only light in the room came from the candles they had placed around the photo. There were also flowers around it. Sandbar and Silverstream were crying softly. I knocked on the open door to let them know I was there. 'I came back to Cloudsdale and there they told it.' I said and I sat down with them. 'We know she's not dead, but we still wanted to do this because we lost her.' Gallus said. You heard a sound of sadness in his voice, but he didn't cry. That's how we sat there. Would they have done this for me if I had not passed my test? It suddenly dawned on me that these were my friends. Who cared about me and who I should care about to. Why didn't I care about them like I used to? How could I sit here, in mourning for Ocellus, knowing that I would kill her within a few weeks? And why didn't I care?