Rainbows and choices

22

I dragged Silverstream into the room with the pegasus device. The room was empty. The other workers had not succeeded in catching the others. Did I always have to do everything myself? I hung Silverstream on the machine. 'It ends here. For all of you. I don't like it you know. That you are trying to escape. You have seen below what will remain of you. You have seen at Yona and Party Pizza what will happen to you. But we only become more angry and murderous if you try to escape. We cannot let that go unpunished, you know. We will not let that go unpunished!' I said. I knew I couldn't cut of  a cutie mark, because Hippogrifs don't have one. I thought about what I said to Sandbar. Rainbow Dash had punished Aurora. She had pulled off her wings. But I couldn't do that. Partly because, unlike Aurora, Silverstream's wings were not weak and injured, and partly because it is such a terrible shame to de-wing creatures. I thought about what I had done at Sandbar. I flew beside Silverstream and hit her side hard. I felt her wing break and maybe even a rib. 'Do you have any last words?' I asked routinely. I was no longer surprised when Scootaloo's "You have beautiful eyes" echoed through my mind. Why did those words matter to me so much? They might sound profound, but there was no meaning behind it. Or no meaning that I know about. Why did they sound through my head again and again? 'Do you remember that lesson with Professor Pie where we had to give each other cupcakes and say something good about each other? Do you remember what I said about you then?' Silverstream asked in between the crying. I didn't know if she was crying with sadness, fear or pain. I tried to think back to that lesson, but my memory was empty. I vaguely remembered that Silverstream put a cupcake in my hoof and said something. My memory couldn't find details such as the color of the cupcake and what Silverstream had said. 'Vague. I remember you saying something, but I don't remember what you said.' I answered. 'I said I admired you for how you never, no matter how angry or sad or hurt you were, never but never would intentionally hurt anyone.' Silverstream said with tears still streaming down her cheeks. 'It turns out you didn't know me that well.' I said. 'I did. But you have changed. Please, just change back.' She said softly. 'Never.' I whispered and pulled the lever. I didn't even look when the machine tore up my most enthusiastic "friend". I thought about what she had said. I couldn't change back. Not after what I had done to stay alive. I couldn't return to school and pretend that this had never happened. And why couldn't I remember anything from before the Rainbow factory. I shook my head. I could focus on that later. A dragon and a griffon still flew free and I did not think that the workers were going to catch them.

I shot through the corridors. For the first time I was annoyed that the Rainbow factory was so big. I had no idea where they could be. I tried to imagine for a moment that I would make a desperate attempt at escape. Where would I go? I would look for the sign with EXIT, but we weren't stupid enough to hang it. I flew through the entire factory. I shot narrow and wide pipe's up and down. I stopped panting in the room where the gigantic vats with spectra were kept. They were piled high and sorted by color. I took a moment to catch my breath. Where were they I just wanted to fly back through a pipe when I saw something. Just above the edge of a yellow vat I saw something. It was exactly the same color as the vat, but stood out a bit. I silently flew to the vat and looked behind it. Gallus. The yellow tip of one of the feathers on its head came just above the edge of the vat. 'You almost succeeded too.' I said with a grin. Gallus screamed and flew away. He was faster than I had ever seen him, but I just managed to grab his tail. He really did his best to get away and was stronger than I remembered, but I managed to drag him to the room with the pegasus device.

I hung him on the machine and gave him the same hard kicks on his side as I had done at Silverstream and Sandbar. I didn't even bother to explain why. He didn't cry, but I saw that he had to make an effort. 'Do you have anything to say before I send you directly to death?' I asked. I ignored Scootaloo's voice while listening to Gallus' reply. 'I don't have a real family. But I thought I had found a new family. In all of you. Yes, also in you. This is not what you do with family. And I know you've sent your own brother and sister to death, but I'm glad I'm going with most of my family, even if you're responsible for it.' He said. That was ... deep. And this time I also saw the deep meaning behind it. For once I didn't know what to say. That was weak. I was weak. I didn't want to be weak. I pulled the lever without saying a word. I hated being weak. And those who make me feel like the thing I hate the most don't even deserve my answer.A worker entered the room. 'The guards at the exit grabbed the dragon, but we can't find the others.' He said. Smolder had came a long way. 'I have already taken the others. If I had to wait for you, it would take forever. Release the dragon, but make sure she can't leave the factory. I love the hunt.' I said.