The Pegasus Device: Another Reality
Whoosh! SaberStar Brightwing swooped upward and then spiraled down tightly, narrowly avoiding a jet of steam. He turned around and to his horror, saw Hide only a few wingbeats behind. Retracting the blades on his wing, he flew faster than he'd ever flown in his life. Landing on a catwalk, he thought he was safe when a raspy voice said behind him.
"Oh, you are so hard to catch, you know that? Doesn't matter now. Time to pay the price and die in the machine."
It was a beautiful day in Cloudsdayle. Pegasi were flying about, doing all sorts of things. SaberStar was going to visit his marefriend, Rainbow Dash. He hadn't seen her in two years. She worked in the weather factory, where almost every cloud, thundercloud and rainbow were made there. He approached the huge cloud doors and walked in. Saber asked a factory worker where he might find her and they gave him a confused look. What was that about? He asked a more serious looking guard where she was and the guard gave him directions, but not after warning him that he wouldn't see her. Saber walked towards a menacing looking pair of steel doors. Steel? I thought Cloudsdayle was just cloud. He knocked on the huge doors and a worker covered in soot stuck his muzzle out.
"What the hell do you want? Nopony gets in here." He growled.
"I'm here to see a friend."
"Who?"
"Rainbow Dash."
"You must be that guy she always talks about. Eh, whatever come on in." He replied, opening the door so Saber could come in. The stench of rotting flesh and blood assaulted his nostrils.
"What the hell is that?" Saber choked.
"You'll see. Wait here."
Saber didn't like the sound of that. The worker left the room and returned later with a pony in a cloak and mask. Clearly, it was a mare. She took off her mask and underneath was the cyan Pegasus that Saber had known for so long. Dash hugged him and kissed him. Something was different. Her mane was greyed and she seemed, not quite sane. Saber didn't ask what was wrong.
"Saber! Oh I'm so happy you're here!" Dash exclaimed, "It's been what, two years since we last met?"
"Yeah, two years." Saber replied, planting a kiss on her forehead. An alert blared and a voice crackled over the intercom.
"Ready for spectra creation. All workers report to the Pegasus Device along with the failures."
"Here, I'll show you my role in this place." Dash says, putting on her mask. She lead Saber down a dark corridor. He didn't like the looks of this place. Darks stains splattered the floors, walls, and ceiling that looked horribly like blood.
"So, where exactly are we?" He asked,
"The Rainbow Factory. It's where all the components for rainbows are made." Dash replied, her demeanor becoming more serious
"What are they made out of?"
"You'll see." Just what the other worker had said.
Saber was disgusted by what he saw. Pegasi foals crying and sad were in front of a huge machine. The thing looked like a vat with turning turbines and whirring blades. Saber recognized one of the foals. Two actually. One was his own brother, SunFlight and the other was his brother's friend, Scootaloo. A brown Pegasus was comforting Scootaloo, who was crying, along with SunFlight. Saber started towards them but stopped when Dash began to yell at the others.
"So. You are all the failures from your flight tests. Well, I can tell you you'll be here for the rest of your miserable lives. Not that they'll be very long." Dash threw back her head and laughed maniacally.
Saber reared in surprise. Little white bands on his wings almost extended, but he refrained.
"I bet you're all wondering what you're doing here. Well I'll put it out plain and simple. You are here to help us."
"Like we would ever help you." Sun spat. Saber was shocked at his brother's bravery. Dash looked at the trio of foals and her eyes widened.
"You five," She says, pointing to five buff Pegasi stallions, "Guard them. Make sure they don't escape."
"Yes ma'am."
"Saber, we need to talk." Dash said, gesturing towards an area out of earshot.
"What the hell is going on?" Saber demanded. Dash explained it to him and Saber backed away, horrified. "Why would you do that?" He asked. Dash was silent. She tried to put a hoof on his cheek but Saber blocked it and looked away. On normal circumstances, that would've been an ice cold move. Now, it was apt.
"You could join us." She said softly.
"No." Saber said in a voice hard as steel, but contained so many other emotions. "Jus-just leave me alone!" He yelled, flying to the only place that didn't smell like the dead, which were the rooms that the workers stayed in.
