Rainbow Factory

[Nivrad00]

@WildpeltTheCat


Ding!


A dark blue pegasus blinked, peering out as the elevator doors opened. Most ponies only glanced towards him before continuing on, having the sense not to stare at anything that came from the upper factory. A few halted, staring. He could feel their gaze linger on his flanks, where a set of scars marred the place where his cutie mark should be.


With a grunt, the pegasus trotted past the workers, only scanning them over once. He was looking for a very specific pony. After the marked failures of the last promotion, he'd decided to be more careful in his selection. It had taken a few hours scrolling through employment data to find a good fit.


A window passed by his side. The pegasus' eyes seemed to gravitate towards the light of the sun, but he quickly turned his head away.


There -- his quarry.


"Hey, you!"

 

[BeyondOblivion]

A light blue pegasus with flowing orange hair was holding a long stirring rod between his jaws, spinning around the cauldrons full of spectra. The stirring fed into the small canals were it was then fused into rainbows.


The pegasus was named Dusk Darter, and it was an ironic name. Since he was blue and orange, he stuck out like a sore hoof in the night. Dusk Darter was an unusual name. He was a young worker, and he was actually a blank flank, unusual for his age.


He turned and looked at the pony, instantly shaking when he saw the elevator to the upper factory open. All the lower workers knew were if you went up, you came down in a body bag. There were almost no exceptions to that rule. If you happened to come out, you were dead.


He walked over to the pony, bowing slightly, "Hello sir."

 

[Nivrad00]

The dark blue pegasus stared at the young pony, unblinking. No cutie mark - that had drawn his attention from the get-go. A worker would function better without one. "Everypony is unique"? Hardly. They were all insignificant parts of the whole. All cogs that kept Cloudsdale pumping out weather.


He realized that Dusk Darter was waiting for him to speak. A smile cracked his face for a moment, then disappeared. "Dusk Darter, yes? I'm Cobalt. Come with me. Leave the rod, we'll get somepony else." Abruptly, he trotted back towards the elevator.

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Dusk Darter whimpered slightly as he realized he was being promoted. Ironically, promotions here were a bad thing. Again, no pony knew what the upper factory did. All they knew was that they disappeared forever, only to come down dead and thrown in a garbage bag.


He stepped onto the elevator beside Cobalt, keeping his head down and biting back the urge to scream. He focused on his hooves to try and keep himself from freaking out.

 

[Nivrad00]

The young worker was shaking like a leaf during a hurricane. No good. Ponies tended to operate worse under stress.


"Calm down," Cobalt said, his tone neutral. "You'll be okay, relatively. You're the best candidate. Most qualified." He stared at the wall. "Supposedly, at least. The database is bugged to hell... took hours to get the info out of it. But at least it's fixable. When computers mess up, there's a reason. Always a reason. Wish the same went for ponies. The last one we promoted was perfectly fine for three days before she broke."


He glanced down at Dusk. Dammit, that didn't help. He shut his mouth.

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Dusk blinked three times before he finally looked up, "uh...sir... could you please... just stop talking?" He tried to say it nicely, yet it was almost impossible. He sighed, "It doesn't help...."


The elevator stopped. He gulped, "so this is the upper factory?"

 

[Nivrad00]

"Yep." Cobalt added under his breath, too low for the other to hear: "Welcome to the rainbow factory, mules."


He stepped out into the hallway, entering into the maze of wires and machinery. "Watch your step. Don't touch anything that looks hot." A low hum of power permeated the air, along with an distant howling that could have been wind, or, perhaps, equine in origin.


Cobalt glanced over his shoulder as they walked, appraising the young pegasus. "You know what we do up here. Research, design - we invented the solid cloud mix. Storage and power. 'Course, primarily, we make spectra." He ushered Dusk Darter into a separate hallway as he rambled. "Spectra. What's it made out of?"


He snorted. "Flurry was much better at this. New promotions. She got caught in a gas eruption a couple days ago. Not dead - just out of commission. Really ought to replace that piping. Can't reroute the steam, though - we'd have to shut down the furnaces, and we don't have time for that. Maybe if we delayed the Fillydelphia shipments...." He stopped. "Sorry, where was I?"

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Dusk Darter followed him, constnatly having to move and manuever around the hazardous array of wires and attempting not to get zapped and killed. He yawned after a little while of doing this, finding it almost annoying to do it. He yawned after a while and groaned a bit, "How long does this hallway go on?"


"And... no I don't know how spectra is made." He gulped, "W-what is going on with this place?"

 

[Nivrad00]

"We're here, actually, so you can stop complaining. Let me show you what spectra is made of. They're in this room."


He threw open a door, emerging onto a mezzanine above a room otherwise bare of furnishings. Dismal-looking colts and fillies looked up at the stallion, along with a couple guard ponies wearing gas masks. Again, the bare beginnings of an unnatural smile flashed onto his face before disappearing.


"Exam failures. Welcome to the, ah, the Rainbow Factory. I'm sure you're curious as to what we want with you, but due to a policy change I can't..." Cobalt trailed off as a guards flew up to the pair on the mezzanine, holding the limp body of a foal. Its stomach rose and fell slowly with breath. "What's this?"


"Exhibited leadership traits and the intent to rebel, sir," came a tinny voice from behind the mask. "Apprehended as per policy of -"


"Oh, right." Cobalt coughed. "Apologies. Flurry usually does all this. Anyways! Failures. Breath deeply, thanks." The stallion tossed the unconscious foal onto his back and ushered Dusk Darter out of the room. Behind him, he could hear the yelps of foals as a thin mist began to flow into the air of the chamber.

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Dusk stared at the foal, not sure what was giong on. He watched hte foal bounce and barely breathe, which he wasn't sure what was gonig on. He knew that foals were something to do with this factory, but what exactly this was he had no clue what they were using foals for. Were they just there for labour?


"What do you use examine failures for?"He asked, looking at the barely breathing foal, "I-I don't understand... woudln't the government arrest you for.... for... forced labor?"

 

[Nivrad00]

Cobalt snorted. "The government doesn't know. It's a secret. The best kept secret in all of Equestria, I would think. And now you're in on it." Only a few steps down the hall, the stallion stopped by another door. A placard on the wall read "Dr. Atmosphere."


Cobalt lowered his voice, barely audible over an odd churning noise a few rooms down. "Here's my office. And Flurry's. Very cramped. It was only meant for one pony, but then Atmo got "put down" and the manager shoved us in here. Trying to expand it, but there are research cells in the way and - well. Anyways. It's best not to bother Flurry. She's still recovering, so -"


"Cobalt?" asked a mare with a fluid voice. "I can hear you! I lost my leg, not my ears." A terrible, forced giggle.


Cobalt winced. "Actually, change of plans." He dumped the filly onto the floor. "Take the failure and find the break room, down this hallway, to your left. Get somepony who knows what to do with it. They can explain everything. Welcome to the factory. Have fun." Not waiting for a response, the stallion disappeared into the office.


"Hi, Flurry."


"For the love of the Flock, Cobalt, don't you have something better to do than traipsing around the hallways muttering to yourself? Are you talking to the ghosts again? Haha! Little foal ghosties?"


"Hardly."


Flurry's voice was suddenly serious. "How's the new worker?"


"Well..." Cobalt pushed the door closed behind him, cutting the rest of the conversation off.

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Dusk Darter hadn't comprehended the state of what this factory was going on. He knew that it had something to do with foals, that much was certain. It was a secret that they used foals for forced labor inside of a dark factory inside of the largest pegasus city? That didn't seem like a well kept secret, if he was being honest with himself. It wasn't one that he even thought was bad.


The constant clanking eventually got to him, and he was unable to drown out the noise. He covered his ears and whimpered, cowering down slightly as he tried to think despite the insane noises that this factory continued to produce nonstop.


Finally, he saw more guards passing by. He saw that they didn't seem to have any particular designation. They hardly even acknowlged he was even there. Why woudln't they care?


Just what did this factory do anyways?

 

[Nivrad00]

A tired-looking mare wearing a pair of hefty saddlebags trotted around the corner, eyes narrowed. She knew this hallway. It was right next to the containment room for the failures. The higher-ups claimed to have soundproofed it, but she could always hear them. Sometimes they were sobbing. Screaming. By Celestia's mane, she hated this hallway.


She glanced at the pegasus huddled by the wall, though she didn't slow her trot. Odd. She'd never seen the blank-flanked pony around before. And he would have been hard to miss, with the bright blue coat and orange mane. She would have left him alone--she didn't have the energy to stick her muzzle in others' business--had she not noticed the unconscious filly sprawled out next to him.


The mare halted. "Hey! Blankflank," she spoke over the industrial noise, little energy in her voice. "What's with th' foal?"

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Hearing his title being called, he turned around to look at the female pony that was walking by. He shivered a little bit, not sure what to say he should her. He stood up and walked over to her, standing a little straight so he was looking at her


"I-I'm new..." He whispered, getting nervous. He whimpered, "I-I don't know about the foal... t0they just dropped it off with me."


Finally getting extrodinarily curios, he asked, "What are the foals here for anyways?" He shivered, "Wouldn't the government get on you for putting foals to work illegally? Child labor is illegal!" He frowned a little bit, "Where are you putting all these foals?!"

 

[Nivrad00]

The mare stared for a long time. He certainly looked new. Clean. Scared. Unlike her, no lines under his eyes.


"You don't know?" she asked, quietly. "Nopony told you?" Then, a frown. "Why'd you get chosen anyway? No offense, but you don't exactly look like Rainbow Factory material."

 

[BeyondOblivion]

"I have no idea!" He whimpered, looking around the walls, "All I know is some pony comes down to me and says I'm chosen to work up here! I've been up here for maybe ten minutes and I already want to go and hide! What is this place?!"


He backed away a little bit, nervously shaking under his long fur.

 

[Nivrad00]

The mare opened her mouth again, but the words caught in her throat. Good Celestia, calm down, she meant to say. Get a hold of yourself. But, looking at his nevous expression, she felt a twinge of sympathy.


Great.


She thought she had gotten used to distraught young ponies by now. All she wanted to do was find her room and sleep; this pegasus wasn't her problem. She ought to walk away. But, dammit, she couldn't make herself look away from his pleading eyes.


A sigh, then an attempt at a smile. "Sweetie. Calm down. It looks kinda bad up here, but you get used to it. We'll take care of that failure, then I can get us away from the noise for a little bit." Cautiously approaching the pegasus, the mare hauled the unconscious foal onto her back. Then, motioning for the him to follow, she started down the hallway. "The name's Ivy."


Maybe he was up here by mistake. She didn't see why such a young pony like him had been chosen.

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Trotting after her, Dusk smiled, "Ivy, regards nice name." He smiled widely to her as they began to trot down. He guessed he could come back to the office after he was done here. After all, hd was never told to stay put.


"So why do you keep calling that foal a failure?" He asked, looking at the adorable little pony with a bit of sympathy, "I mean, what did they fail? Was this one defective?"

 

[Nivrad00]

"They failed the flight exam, of course. There's no 'exile'. They all come here." Ivy's voice was flat, as if the subject made her even more exhausted. A yawn stretched across her face.

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Dusk blinked and leaned back, groaning a small bit. He was already starting to realize the things that were obvious to him now, "So what happens to the foals? I-If they don't go into exile... where do they go when they...?"


The two stepped into a large room, where the screams of foals were becoming more noticeable. Gasping nervously, he whispered, "W-why are they screaming?! T-they didn't do anything wrong!" He jerked around, not sure what he should take these as.

 

[Nivrad00]

Ivy plodded into the room, eyes staring straight forward. She knew she could see cowering failures if she only turned her head. She would see them corralled into the corner, some of them shaking with their hooves over their eyes, some of them shouting in fear and anger. She didn't look.


"You don't understand," Ivy said quietly, her voice almost lost in the noise. She headed to a group of workers, standing next to a panel of controls and a whirring conveyor belt which led to a massive glossy cube. "They're failures. They have to be dealt with. Somepony has to do it."


Her voice was dead, lacking the earlier compassion. The screams battered at her ears, but she walked mechanically, ignoring it. Closing herself off, as if steel walls surrounded her. She hated being near the failures. She just had to do her job. Then she could leave.


"You have to learn the truth sometime, Dusk. This is where the foals go. The Pegasus Device."


"What the 'ell is this. Ivy?" asked one of the workers in a gruff voice.


"Just a failure," Ivy intoned. "Nothing special." She dumped the foal off of her back.

 

[BeyondOblivion]

The reality of the situation began to sink into him as he looked to see the coals. Scared. Lost. Fearful. Being prodded into the corner and left there to simply wait...for death.


He looked up as a blue colt was suddenly strapped down to a conveyor belt. The colt tried to scream and beg, yet the five began to hum and the belt moved him towards the machine.


Hid eyes widened with horror when the colt was tossed inside, his screams cut off instantly as suddenly the cube vibrated. A stream of blue liquid spewed from the pipes attached to the cube and down into a small canal.


He started to slowly step backwards, "no... No... No no!" He looked around, his vision spinning,, "you can't do this!"

 

[Nivrad00]

Ivy shuddered slightly as the failure's screaming was cut off by a muffled tearing sound. She was still walking, but the door was so very far away. The air, thick with chemicals and industrial grinding, felt like a stifling blanket.


She couldn't look left, or she would see the failures. She looked at Dusk Darter instead, whose eyes were filled with the same horrific realization that she had experienced herself only a year ago. Or was it more? Two years? She felt like she should say something. Anything to ease Dusk's descent into oblivion. Nothing came out of her muzzle. She only stared blankly, watching the Rainbow Factory devour the innocence of yet another pegasus.


"Dusk," the mare managed to force out. She hadn't noticed herself stopping, but she started walking again. "Let's go."

 

[BeyondOblivion]

Dusk blinked a few times before finally his mouth closed and tears came to his eyes. He wasn't able to believe, dare he say it, even comprehend this... this attrocity. He simply knew that this was wrong, wrong in so many ways. It was so awful, completely and utterly awful.


Following her, he kept his head down and quietly cried, his chest and mane heaving as he tried to hold in the tears. He wanted to be strong... yet this was simply too horrid.

 

[Nivrad00]

Ivy didn't speak during the trip back. By the time they'd reached the worker's lounge, the screams had long melted away into the background, but the mare still wasn't feeling quite the same. She knew the sense of dread wouldn't leave her for the rest of the day. Then again, she didn't feel quite as bad as she had the last time she visited the Pegasus Device. Maybe she was desensitizing. Next step: insanity.


She finally spoke, though she didn't meet the blue pony's eyes. "I'm really sorry, Dusk, but it's... it's what has to be done. Anyways, chin up. Chances are you won't be assigned anywhere close to there." She reached a hoof forward to push open the door.


"Here's the worker's lounge. Home, sweet home."


The bright lounge was a lot more welcoming than the metal and gray clouds of the factory hallways. It was empty of personnel, but for a red pegasus staring intently at the coffee maker in the corner. Ivy collapsed onto a worn couch, dropping her saddlebags to the side.