Chapter 1
She trotted down what she thought was the hallway that lead to her room. The weather factory was big on the outside but it was huge on the inside. At least that’s what she though; she was only a filly after all and everything seemed big to her because of how short and little she was. She squinted into the darkness trying to see if she was going the right way, but sadly failed. She sighed and shook her head, her dark red mane swiping back and forth with each turn she made. She started down the unknown hallway again, cursing the weather team under her breath. They had lost control of the storm again and knocked out the power of the factory.
“Stupid weather team. Why do they get to explore Equestria and not have a care in the world and I have to be stuck here for the rest of my life?” she mumbled. “Can’t believe I’ll never go to Manehattan or Fillydelphia. Or even Appleoosa and all its boring glory.” She sighed again, pulling a grey hoof to her eyes and wiping the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Her ears perked back up when a faint sound echoed through the hallway. “Hello? Cirrus? Are you trying to scare me again?” she asked in a shaking voice. She was always easy to scare and extremely timid. The sound came again and this time she could make it out.
“Please………. Didn’t mean too……..No!”
That was all that she could make out. “Sounds like its coming from the Extraction room. But it’s Thursday. Who works the Extraction room today?” she rubbed a hoof on her chin and thought. “Cirrus does but we haven’t gotten any new worthless ponies today.” She stood there contemplating. A loud scream made her jump into the air and her wings to flutter open. She turned towards the Extraction room. “That sounded like Dreamer…” her eyes widened and she ran as fast as her little legs could take her, her mane flowing behind her like a bloody river. She kept bumping into god knows what as she ran. Her eyes had eventually adjusted to the darkness and could see a little bit. She soon reached the old, metal door the lead to the Extraction room. The room was used for well, Extracting. The test failures from Flight School come to the factory and their uselessness to Cloudsdale gets put to use. The factory is known for their ability to make rainbows. But the secret to making them is unknown… to anyone that has never been sent to or forced to work in the factory. The rainbows are made from the spectra and the magic that lives inside the Earth ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi. There would be chaos and rebellion to Cloudsdale if anypony found out that the rainbows they all love so much are actually made up of the bones and blood of their friends and family members.
Slasher placed a hoof on the big metal door and pushed it slowly open, stepping inside and hiding behind a stack of crates. The room was big with no windows but had a few wall lamps shining dim yellow light throughout the room. There was a big machine on the left side that was used to rip the victims apart to kill them and the drop them into the abyss below. The machine had no cockpit, but a little room that could hold only two ponies inside had a panel of controls to the machine. The front wall to the room is glass, for the controller to see what they are doing. The rest of the room is occupied by boxes and tables with matching chairs. She looked at the boxes she was hiding behind. “Earth Pony” It read. Slasher scoffed. She always hated the Earth ponies and was glad when they get thrown into the machine; even more so when she gets to do it. There was one Earth pony that she did befriend.
The brown filly sat in her cold cell, her head down. Short pink hair covered her face. Her eyes were closed but tears still rolled down her cheek. No sound or movement came from her, save the few shudders she gave. A younger Slasher slowly and quietly walked into the Jail room. She stopped in front of the cell the weeping filly was inside of and sat down on her flank, her curly tail fanning out. She stared at the pony for a second before saying, “Hi, I’m Slasher. What’s your name?” The pony looked up at Slasher, startled to see her there; she didn’t even hear her come in. her watery light green eyes staring deep into Slasher’s own. A few minutes filled of silence and staring passed before the captured filly finally spoke.
“B-Babs… My name is Babs Seed….” She managed to choke. Though her voice was horsed, her heavy Manehattan accent still shone. Slasher smiled hearing her unique accent.
“You’re from Manehattan?” Slasher question was more like a statement. Babs sighed.
“Yeah… You can tell?”
“Of course I can. Nopony has that kind of accent unless they’re from the big city.” Babs started to smile but fell into a quivering frown, another tear rolled down her cheeks.
“You know,” Slasher started, trying to keep the conversation alive. “I’ve always wanted to go to Manehattan. I’ve heard a lot of stories about that city from many Stallions and Mares before the get stuck here.”
“Really?” Babs replied.
“Well yeah. It’s the city where the most important people come from. The city ponies go to make their dreams come true…” Slasher trailed off.
“What is it Slasher?” Babs asked, standing up and walking to bars that held her captive.
“Manehattan is a place where ponies go to make dreams come true.” She stared at Babs. “My dream is to get out of here and live a normal life.”
“What do you mean by ‘to get out of here’?” Babs asked cocking her head to the side slightly to pronounce that she’s confused. Slasher sighed and stood on all fours.
“I mean by I’m trapped here. From the time I was born up to the time I die. I was born here and I’m going to die here. Just like everyone else.” As she spoke she paced the length of the room. Babs sat back down on the cold floor, her ears perked up in full attention. “I’m never going to get out of here. Never. Neither will my mama and my daddy, or Dreamer and Blood splatter.” She stopped and looked at an again, confused Manehattian. “Dreamer is my older sister and Blood is my little brother.” Babs nodded as if she understood. Slasher walked back up to the cage. “How’d you get caught anyways?”
Babs looked down and the floor. “I was with my friends and one of them, Scootaloo, had asked her friend Rainbow Dash if she could take us on a tour of Cloudsdale’s Weather factory. She said ‘she’d be happy too.’ We made it to the rainbow part and I saw a big black door and, without a thought walked up to it and tried to open it. I heard Rainbow yell something and these huge stallions grabbed me and dragged me away. Next thing I knew I was here. Then you came.” Babs started crying again. Slasher gasped. She’s heard stories about the boss of the Factory being someone called Dashie… was it the same person? She’s going to die… Slasher thought. All the ponies that are captured die…. By machine or hoof. She remember her first kill, it was another captive. How good it felt, how much she wanted to kill another. Especially Earth ponies... she stared back down at Babs. She saw no horn or wings.
“I’m sorry….” She whispered.
“What’s going to happen to me?” Babs cried.
“I can’t tell you. I can’t bring myself too.” Slasher confessed.
“You said you wanted to see Manehattan…” Babs wiped her eyes, “how about I tell you a couple of stories to help you see what it’s like before you go there? She finished.
“I would like that.” Slasher smiled. She laid out in front of the cell her new friend was held in and listened intently to her stories about the place she wanted to visit the most.
I miss her… she made the prettiest rainbow that day.
