Rainbow Factory - The Closure

Chapter 3 - A New Job

The next day, we made sure that the Weather Factory in Equestria would hear about the incident. Codi wrote a letter and the unicorns sent the envelope away with a spell. It wasn't long before we got a response. However, this letter did not come from Atmosphere, it was handwritten. But I could not read it. So Codi took the letter and read it out loud:

"To all employees of EQUESTRIA LTD. LLP,

we deeply regret the events that have occurred during the project and at the same time we fully understand that you cannot continue the project under these circumstances.

Therefore, you will be relieved of your duties on Earth with immediate effect and allowed to return to Equestria, where you will be looked after. If, despite the catastrophic circumstances, you can imagine continuing to work for the Cloudsdale Weather Cooperation, please consider yourself an integral part of the team from now on.”

I could hardly believe my ears. Was Codi reading it right? I was allowed to travel to Equestria with the ponies? At first I didn't know what to say, but Codi seemed not to be finished yet.

"We hereby inform the project manager that his accommodation will be moved to the Cloudsdale Weather Factory if he feels able to exercise his new position as co-manager of the Rainbow Factory. We understand the inconvenience this will cause him, but due to our strict and structured approach we are unable to offer him any other solution. We will also ensure that all his belongings arrive here with all of you without any problems and in a timely manner".

There was no name on the letter, but this letter could not possibly have been written by Atmosphere. But that was the least of my worries at this moment. I really wanted this job, but should I really give up everything and move to an unknown place, even if it was Equestria? That would have been the dream of every Brony! The ponies were happy about the letter that all were allowed to go home again. And I was visibly relieved that the company had decided to support us in the best possible way. This company seems to care about its workers quite a lot and I really wanted to be a part of this new world. For some jobs you had to be willing to make sacrifices and flexibility was very important at that time, at least that's what my parents told me before. I wondered how they would get into my apartment without a key, but when I remembered that I had apparently lost my key since I arrived here, I could guess where it was now.

So we started to disassemble the machine in the basement, which was much faster than the complicated assembly. It was completely cleaned, but I could still see the fear in the eyes of the ponies. We used the old boxes of the delivered parts and made the Pegasus Device ready for transport. When evening came, the train that had already taken me to my job interview arrived at the depot. But like back then we were the only passengers. The unicorns loaded the boxes together into the freight wagon at the back of the train, the others took a seat in the front of the passenger wagon. Loading was fast, and when I was the last being standing on the platform, I looked back at the dispatch depot one last time. As I slowly entered the train and closed the door behind me, I was somehow sorry to leave the earth behind me and go to another place. Who knows if I could ever come back and tell my parents about it. But in Equestria so many new things would await me and it was time to end this dark chapter.

I noticed a marked relief in my worker ponies. They started talking again and even made plans for the time after their return. Apparently they all seemed to be happy except for Codi. He was sitting in a four-chair-area in front of me all alone, looking out the window. Since I didn't want to disturb the ponies in my chair-area in their heated conversations, I decided to sit with him. He looked over to me, nodded briefly and looked out of the window again.

"Now you can finally go home again to your family." I smiled at him.

"A nice thought, if I had a family..." Codi puffed slightly and lowered his head slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know your parents were..."

"No, it's all right. I'm sure my parents are alive...I just haven't seen them for so long that I can't even remember them," he said as he slowly turned his gaze toward me.

That surprised me a bit. Glaze had told me the same story on the first day at the Weather Factory. They both seemed to have given up a lot for the Weather Factory as well, just as I had just done. At that moment I had felt a special bond with Codi again, as if we still understood each other, despite our quarrel, like brothers.

"Do you know a pony called Glaze? She was the first pony I met at the factory. She told me the same thing..."

Codi looked at me with interest.

"I will make sure she sees her family again. I promise you that too."

"You could do that?"

He probably thought I'd be the new manager now, even though I was only number 2 on the chain of command. I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't want to discourage Codi either.

"I will find a way. In the meantime, maybe we can be... a family, even if I'm not a pony. Would you be okay with that?" I suggested.

"You know, despite for being a human, you seem pretty different..." he looked at me a little funny.

"...but in my eyes, that makes you more one of us." he smiled at me.

I took that as a compliment at that moment. The Weather Cooperation wanted someone who thought differently than any other pony. But this statement from Codi also made me feel part of the community. When the train stopped in the forest again this time, I could now watch what was happening outside through the windows. Without rain the spectacle was easy to watch, even though it was night. Apparently ponies had made a kind of sigil of several colours under the train to transport the train from the real to the fictitious world. I had seen something like that once in a series that was very hip at the time.

While everybody was watching the show, I noticed that a dark figure got into the back of the freight wagon. I became totally pale when I recognized by the glowing sigils that it was the figure that had been following me since day one. But it didn't even look at me, it only seemed to be interested in the freight wagon. Everyone was excited about the play of colours in front of the windows, but I didn't feel like celebrating. If that creature does something with boxes, we could get into serious trouble at the factory. I didn't want to let it come to that, so I told Codi that I had to go to the bathroom and went through the wagon door into the back compartments of the freight wagons. I didn't even know that there was even a bathroom on board this train.

I remember when this place was empty. The many boxes and the little moonlight made it look even more eerie than it did then. I heard someone going through the boxes and taking out something that glowed red. Apparently it was the sensor core of the machine. I was terrified of facing the creature, so I tried talking to it first.

"Hey, who are you? You have no right to be here! Put that back, that's our property, you hear me? " I said in a trembling voice.

The creature gave a gloating and distorted giggle. Then the creature turned around and I could see straight into the mad eyes it had. It was a pony, but through the black suit I could see almost nothing. Parts of its fur were missing from one hoof and its shimmering wings were sticking together in blood and hung crooked. It was too much for me, I staggered backwards and fainted, maybe it was shock-induced paralysis. I could have sworn that the creature would kill me any moment. But it didn't happen that way. A few moments passed before I could feel anything again. Codi tried to shake me awake.

"Hey, what happened to you? "Hey, are you okay? What are you doing back here? The bathroom is in the front part of the train," he asked me worriedly.

I looked around briefly and could see that the creature had disappeared. Besides, some morning light came through the small roof windows of the wagon.

"Yes, I thought I heard something back here." I said, holding my aching head. I didn't want to upset Codi.

"You got good hearing. "The wagon door was wide open and the crates threatened to fly off the train. It probably hadn't been properly closed at the departure, but I closed it again."

"Phew, how long was I out for?" I asked him.

"Long enough to worry me. Now come on back up, we'll be there in a few minutes." Codi patted me on the shoulder and accompanied me back to the passenger wagon.

Outwardly I seemed a bit absent, but inside I was very nervous. I had to check at the delivery inspection if the sensor core was lost. Without it, the machine would probably not work. We drove past the place where I had gotten off on my first day. But the train went a little further under the clouds. I looked through the windows and could hardly believe it. Below us there was Equestria and the sky was a beautiful blue. I could see the castle of Canterlot on the mountain from a distance, it was incredible to see it with my own eyes. Now, despite the incident on the freight train, I was fully convinced that I had made the right decision.

It took only a short moment until the train stopped at the platform. Outside a group of ponies was already waiting there. Apparently they were also on their way to the Weather Factory. I was a bit worried that my appearance as a human being would not frighten them. When the ponies were getting ready and I wanted to leave the carriage with Codi, the conductor pony came towards me.

"Please take the exit on the other side of the train, we don't want to scare the rest of our newcomers" he said to me with a grin.

I understood what it was all about. I didn't want to cause a commotion and decided to get off on the other side of the train. The conductor's pony showed me the way. Under the tracks a cloud bridge led from below into the gigantic complex. After almost a year I saw the building again. I still wondered how I could walk on this cloud bridge, with every step it felt as if I was sinking in a bit. But apparently something stopped me from sliding through the cloud. Probably since my first visit I was put under a spell that made walking on clouds possible. But it probably wouldn't protect me from falling down, so I walked in the middle of the cloud cover and didn't try to look down over the edge to see how high I would be above the ground. The pony pointed his hoof in the direction of an old entrance and then turned back to the train. What a great help, I would have found the way on my own.

When I looked up, I could see the herd of ponies entering the big main entrance of the Weather Factory. Nobody seemed to notice me and it was better that way, I thought. I couldn't see Codi anywhere, but he was probably in the middle of the crowd. But I didn't mind, we would probably meet again at a more convenient time. Outside the lower gate I could see a yellow pony opening the gate a crack and waving me in with its hoof. I tried to get to the entrance as quickly as possible without falling off the clouds. When I came closer I recognized the pony. It was Glaze.

I arrived slightly exhausted and Glaze closed the gate right after I had just gone through. I took a short breather and she watched me a little worriedly without saying anything. After a few deep breaths I had air to speak again and we exchanged the first words.

"Good...to see you again, Glaze."

"Good to see you too." she nodded, still looking at me a little funny. "You all right?"

"Yeah... just... a little out of breath. But it'll pass in a jiffy."

"That's not what I meant, but okay. Can we go?" she asked.

"Go where?"

"You don't want to be late for your first day at work, do you?" she smiled at me.

We walked up a slightly darker staircase. Still, I could see that Glaze's tunic had gotten dirtier since I'd last seen her. Either they didn't have much work clothes or the dirt on them couldn't be washed out. Oil was really stubborn and hard to get out of clothes. But I didn't mind, what bothered me more was the smell. Somehow it reminded me of the night when the accident happened at our place, in the back by the garbage cans...there it smelled the same. But I tried not to think about that night anymore, it would drive me crazy in the long run.

Further up we walked a long corridor, which was equipped with windows at the sides. From here I could look into the reception hall, where I had visited the factory for the first time months ago. But now everything was different here, the factory had upgraded a lot. Everything looked very modern and there were bright headlights, despite the fact that there should not be any electricity in Equestria. But I saw in an episode how DJ-Pon3 powered her turntable with her magic, so many unicorns should work here. That would also explain why I could walk on the clouds...they probably even kept the whole lower part of the factory in the air. I couldn't see much metal in the upper part of the building before, probably only the outside of the factory was really made of clouds.

I looked down through the window and could see the pony herd below. The whole hall was built like a huge double doorway. Only when one gate was closed, the new one opened. An automatic voice could be heard, which interrupted the chatter of the ponies.

"Welcome! Welcome to the Rainbow Factory! You have decided or have been chosen to move to one of our most beautiful cities in Equestria. Thank you very much for choosing to stay at Equestria’s most important facility, which we have made available to you. And you should be proud of it! Even if for some of you it’s just a job, you’ll realize that this work will become a center of enrichment for you! Welcome to the Rainbow Factory! It's the place to die for!"

The announcement in the last sentence scared me a little. I would probably have laughed about it if I hadn't already experienced something cruel that had to do with the Rainbow Factory. I had to talk to someone about it, otherwise it would wear me down from the inside out.

"Glaze, I have something to tell you," I said before she stopped and turned to me.

"I lied earlier. I'm really not feeling all right."

"I heard the story. It must have been hard for you." she said to me and came closer.

"I... I can't understand how something like this could have happened. "How can I go on like this with two ponies on my conscience?"

"There was nothing you could do about it, it just happened. You know, a lot of things happen that we don't want to happen or shouldn't happen...and yet they do." she told me and looked deep into my eyes.

"Thank you. But why can you be so calm about this? I thought, something like that doesn't happen in Equestria?" I asked her.

Glaze did not try to answer the question directly.

"Well, the story of the rainbow is not quite as nice as the story of sugar and spice."

"Sugar and spice?" I asked, confusedly.

"Listen. If you're not feeling well, you'd better go home. Go home... to your parents. I'll just tell Atmosphere you didn't come by train because you didn't want to leave home."

I was surprised by her statement. First she wanted to support me with the job and now she suggested that I should throw away everything I'd been through?

"No, Glaze, after everything that's happened, I have to take this job. Otherwise those two ponies would have died for nothing if I just quit now."

"As you say..." she said with a more serious look, and walked on.

Had I made the right decision to refuse her offer? Apparently she was worried about me, probably about my job performance. But I would pull myself together again, so that the work wouldn't suffer. But it was still good to talk to someone about it. As we walked on, the corridor with the windows ended. I looked through one last time and saw the colourful crowd disappearing through the second airlock door.

"Where does that airlock actually lead to?" I wanted to ask with interest.

"It leads to the lowest level of the factory. Normally, the airlock is only used for...deliveries..." Glaze replied.

Apparently the cargo was very valuable, as I saw dozens of spotlights and guard ponies in the hall, watching the workers' entry on the upper railings. No soul would pass through here unobserved. But I was soon to realize that it was not about nopony getting into the Rainbow Factory, much more that nopony should get out.

It did not take long and we arrived in another staircase, which looked familiar to me. At that time I was walking up these stairs to Dr. Atmosphere's office and that's where Glaze was apparently going. I wondered why she wanted to go there, he would certainly not show any consideration for me despite the accident.

When we arrived at the office, Glaze stepped in without words. Atmosphere was apparently not there, but I didn't want to take any risks.

"Sorry for the lack of space, the Doctor always had to have his books handy."

Even with the huge bookshelves, the room still seemed enormous so that even I felt small.

"Shouldn't he come back any minute?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. This is your office now."

I couldn't believe my ears. Did Glaze just say that this was my office now?

"What do you mean? What happened?"

She had to grin.

"You happened. Since you’ve been hired, he complained that he will be your coach. Then he preferred to be transferred to another department. He's now in charge of receiving inspection and... setting up the Pegasus Device. You are now officially the co-manager of the Rainbow Factory."

I didn't know why Atmosphere hated me so much. But I didn't care at that moment, I achieved my goal. I got my job... in a place I never thought possible.

"I’m sure you can do it, your tasks are simple."

"What should I do first?" I asked excitedly.

"On your desk is a list of names. Check if the names match those in the computer. Check the command sequence on the screen..."

"Wait, you have a computer?" I looked up to her.
"Isn't that what you humans call that device on your desk? It's yours, we brought it from your home...the unicorns teleported it here. Otherwise, it would have taken forever to get your stuff here."

When Glaze said that, I realized that the computer on the desk was really my own. It was plugged into a power line that disappeared into the walls. Apparently, steam engines had been generating electricity here for a long time. It surprised me, though, that my computer worked here at all. There must have been magic to help. From my desk I could see an open bedroom where all my things from my apartment were. In this room there was another door that apparently led into another room. I tried to open the door, but it was locked. Apparently I was not supposed to go in there without further ado. I did not own many things, so everything should fit into this room without any problems.

“l’II let you do your job. If anything goes wrong, call me."

She pointed to an electrical speaking tube that was mounted on the wall. It had strange buttons with more strange symbols on them. I was surprised that something like that existed in Equestria. But I had asked Glaze enough questions, and I didn't want to hold her off any longer.

I thanked her for the reception and she calmly nodded at me. Then she left my office and disappeared again into the dark corridors. So this was it, my future workplace. I didn't know how I made it here after all I'd been through. But I had reached my goal. I had finally arrived in Equestria. From now on everything could only get better.

I was too excited to recover from the train ride. I looked out of the big windows of my office with proud eyes. The view was gigantic. I looked up at a huge closed cloud cover and saw the midday sun in the sky. It filled the whole room with light. I felt really happy, but this joy still had a bitter aftertaste. Not only because two ponies had to die for this view. No, also because of Dr. Atmosphere. It didn't sound as if he voluntarily gave up the second highest post here. And it's because of me. I wondered if it was a good idea talking to him about the situation at some point. But first I had to concentrate on my work.

The first day of work was very sluggish, but I was highly concentrated until the evening sun slowly shone behind me into the office. I worked through the lists one by one from the pile on the desk and compared the words with those on the screen. Unfortunately I couldn't do anything else on the computer during this activity, probably also because there was no internet. But the command line program did not look like anything I would have known on earth, or that my computer would ever have had it in this form. At least the list ran very slowly on the monitor, but so I could read through every word in peace. They were names of some ponies. Maybe they were the new employees who would start their job here anew. I was curious when I would see Codi's name. But he didn't show up for the whole day. The names of my other worker ponies didn't seem to pop up either. I scanned the list to see if I could recognize a name that might mean something to me. It looked as if it was stained with ink, but the names themselves were still easy to read. The first page was not a hit, also the first backside didn't tell me anything when I scanned it. But when I arrived at the third page, I recognized a name that appeared surprisingly.

Orion
...
Aurora
…
Scootaloo

Scootaloo... I knew that name from the TV show. It was a little orange foal which I always felt a little sorry for as it was the only Pegasus pony that couldn't fly. Why was this name on the list? Was she ready for a job at the Weather Factory despite her young age? I had to get to the bottom of this and removed the page from the block. I had to ask Glaze what it was all about. I just had no idea where to go to find her. Normally there would have to be some sort of account department where the list of employees was kept. When I wanted to call her, I noticed that I did not know how to use the buttons on the speaking tube. I forgot to ask about them. So I decided to go looking for her.

I put the note in my jacket pocket and went out of the office. Next to the staircase another way led straight ahead, probably further into the factory. The floor was covered with a red carpet, much darker in the middle than at the edges. Either it was very old or the ponies did not clean their hooves. But in a place like this, I wasn't surprised, it was a factory after all. You could get dirty there.

As I walked along the corridor, I noticed again the numerous doors. The junk had disappeared and one could admire the finished wood paneling on the walls. Then a pony came out of one of the doors and got a fright when it saw me standing in the passage. It had a yellow mane, blue fur and deep black eyes that scared me a little. I could swear that I had seen this pony before, back when I fainted in Atmosphere's office. But I didn't want to bring that up at that moment.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" the pony asked me suspiciously.

"I am... the new co-manager," I said, slightly shyly.

The pony seemed a bit calmer when he knew who I was. But he still looked at me sceptically.

"And may I ask what you're looking for?"

I did not like the sound of the pony. It sounded to me like I shouldn't be here. Or it was another pony that didn't like me.

"I... I have to go to the account department."

"Account department? What is this?" the pony asked me with a wry look.

"Okay...do you have any idea where Glaze is?" I asked impatiently.

The pony still gave me a wry look.

"Tell me, how do you know her name? Her call sign here is WoodenToaster! Don't ever say her real name just like that again. No one can know what our real names are. The codex forbids it!"

"Oh, sorry. I don't know the codex," I said.

"Even if you're human, how can you work here if you don't even know the codex?"

This question was certainly rhetorical, the pony seemed as sympathetic as Dr Atmosphere... so hardly at all. I tried to get an answer where I could find Glaze, but all I got was a vague sense of direction. I should just look in the lowest level. The pony couldn't or wouldn't describe the way more exactly. He seemed to be under a lot of stress, so I didn't want to hold him off any longer. I had not even found out the name. Privately I was rather shy, but should I just let people talk to me like this? After all I was now the co-manager here.

So if this pony didn't know where the accounts department was, I had to ask Glaze about it. I could not imagine how everything else would work here without administration. So I took the stairs to the lowest level until the stairs stopped.

My way led me to a darker floor of the building. It became colder and colder and more uncomfortable, the carpet gave way to a floor of stone and a tread grid. I cringed at every sound I heard from the corridors. But every time I looked there was no one there. Probably there were other employees, who apparently walked around the building all day. When I got to the lowest level, I noticed that it was getting warmer and steamier. Maybe the factory had a blast furnace to probably run the steam engines that apparently supplied the electricity here. It would be too costly to heat such a large complex with many small furnaces.

At the end of my way I turned off apparently wrong. The signs were almost unreadable. When I turned into the corridor, I noticed a strong smell, which was unpleasant but familiar. I seemed to be in the right place, because that was the smell that always surrounded Glaze. She probably had to work down here. But I tried to stay in the lit corridor, the stench from the dark corridors was unbearable.

"Glaze!?' I shouted into the corridors, but I got no answer.

I walked a little further and could hear voices far away. When I came closer I could recognize a voice. It was Codi's, he seemed to be delegating some work. I went to see him and asked if he had arrived safely. Then I cringed again when I heard another familiar voice right behind me.

"Well, well. The new co-manager. May I ask what you are doing down here?"

I turned around to see the pony. It was Doctor Atmosphere.

"You know you're not supposed to be down here, right? This is my place!"

"Well, I think as co-manager I'm free to move around, don't you?" I replied. I was still a bit shy, but at least I was now higher up in the hierarchy than him.

"Just started and already shooting my mouth off? If it wasn't for you, I could have kept my old job! Instead, I'm down here making sure that your scum of the staff is good for something. But don't worry, I can handle it, no matter how much they suffer. This will put them in the right frame of mind. As for you..."

Atmosphere was about to get something out of his gown when Glaze came up behind him.

"Hide, leave him alone!"

Atmosphere turned to her.

"Excuse me, but did you just tell me what I have to do?" he giggled slightly madly.

"No, but he can. And you know exactly why we work for him now. It wasn't my decision."

Atmosphere reluctantly gave way and I went through to Glaze. The Doctor threw a smug grin at me as we walked down the corridor to leave the department.

"What are you doing down here alone? It's dangerous now that the Doctor's in charge down here."

It almost sounded to me like Atmosphere was trying to kill me. Fortunately, Glaze got there in time to help me. Now I could tell her about my concern. I took out my note and showed it to her.

"What do you need from me?" she asked.

"There...there's a name that came up that means something to me...Scootaloo."

"What about it?" she wanted to know.

"The name sounds familiar. I know that pony."

"Probably from that TV show you know from Earth?"

I nodded.

She thought for a moment.

"The name doesn't mean anything to me. Is this pony something special?" asked Glaze.

"Well, it's a flightless Pegasus filly."

"Flightless? No, it can't be. Otherwise the pony would not appear on this list." she said.

"Well, it could be that she already can... she has a friend who's trying to teach her. A blue Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash."

By that name, Glaze turned white as chalk and she opened her eyes wide. Apparently, she knew the blue Pegasus with the rainbow mane. She had to swallow hard.

"This... this could actually become a problem. I'm glad you discovered it so quickly. I've got to go and sort this out. Will you find your way back on your own? If the Doctor shows up again, just shout, I'll be back as soon as I can!"

Before I knew it, she disappeared into the side hall at a gallop It wasn't long before I couldn't hear her anymore. My feeling told me to get the hell out of here too, but I wanted to see if Codi was okay. So I put the note back in my jacket pocket and slowly crept back into the passage where I heard his voice. I made sure that nobody followed me, especially not the Doctor.

As I continued walking down the corridor I arrived at the crossroads where Atmosphere had lurked for me, but there was no sign of him anymore. In the side corridor I could see again the lights and the voices I had heard before. As I approached the passage into the hall, I could take a look inside. Then I recognized a familiar figure, wearing a white coat and helmet, delegating the workers. It was Codi.

He was standing in front of a huge installation that ran upwards over several floors. At the height of the middle floor I could see the blast furnace of the factory, which went up to the top floors. But there seemed to be something wrong with the workers, they seemed very tense.

I didn't want to attract attention and slowly approached Codi from behind. He seemed to be totally focused on the work.

"I see you've got everything under control here," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

His wings jumped up in shock and he stopped petrified at first. When he turned around and his eyes fell on me, he didn't know what to say at first.

"Hey, Codi, how you doing?"

"Oh, what are you doing here?" he asked me in surprise.

"I came to see if you arrived safely."

"Oh...uh...well I...well, what can I say?" said and looked around nervously.

"What's the matter, Codi?"

He glanced around for a moment, probably to make sure that Atmosphere was not nearby.

"Please... help us." he said in a trembling voice.

"About the Doctor? Is he really that bad to you? I'll have to do something about that, nobody treats you like that."

"Don't do that. He'll do to you what they do to the ponies here..."

"What's he gonna do? What ponies are you talking about?" I wanted to ask.

Then Codi looked up at the grounds.

"...on the top floor," he said.

"Codi, what do you think? What's on the top floor?"

"Please, you gotta get us out of here. I'm begging you," he said in a trembling voice.

I ran my hand through his mane and could tell it was all disheveled. We'd only been here a few hours, and yet he looked very beat up.

"I will help you, I promise." I said to him and he nodded at me.

Then he ran back to the other ponies and tried to concentrate on his work again. I was shocked, what had scared Codi so much in such a short time? Was there something going on here that I didn't know about? I decided to see for myself and went back to the staircase to get to the upper floors.

As I went further up the stairs, I heard hissing machine noises that looked familiar to me. Apparently the Pegasus Device was already assembled and it seemed to be running already. I only hoped that there had been no further fatalities during the commissioning. I ran faster to find out whatever Codi suspected up here.

When I had run up the last staircase, I was able to walk over a railing bridge that led from one end of the hall to the other end into a room that looked like an observation post. Since the bridge led across the hall, I was able to walk on it without any pony noticing me at the bottom of the machine. Below me I could look through the railing floor to the lowest floors. It was a dizzying height, but I was much more frightened by the view into the huge grinder of the Pegasus Device when I looked into the machine next to the abyss.

It was drenched in blood red and the funnel was full of little Pegasus foals that lay badly injured in it and whimpered, others did not move at all. You could only see their bodies moving to the rhythm of the grinder, only to be dismembered at any moment. At the edge of the machine I could see the logo of the Weather Factory and a name was stamped on it: Super Speedy Filly Squeezy 6000, which was a perverse allusion to a Flim & Flam invention from the series.

I couldn't believe what I just saw there. I couldn't look away, I was so shocked by the sight. Some foals looked up at me and started screaming with their last ounce of strength, trying to stick their hooves out at me as if I was supposed to help them. But it was too late for that. I was too far away and could do nothing. I was thinking about what to do next when the sound of a glaring industrial siren interrupted me in my thoughts.

Suddenly a trapdoor opened above me, through which something fell past me into the funnel. It was another small Pegasus colt, which seemed to be badly injured. It cried out during the fall and landed with a muffled noise on the other ponies in the funnel of the Pegasus Device. I saw him struggling desperately to avoid sliding further into the machine. But the effort was in vain, the walls were too slippery and apparently the foal's wings were cut off.

It was horrible, I was shocked. What was going on here? I had to get out of here, that much was certain. I couldn't stand the sight of it any longer. Then I suddenly noticed a sharp pain in my back. I turned around, distorted and hurt. Behind me stood Dr. Atmosphere, who had apparently come from the room at the other end of the hall. Perhaps he had heard the screams of the foals and of course I had to run into him again. He held something brightly coloured in his hoof, and I recognised that it was a bronze-coloured syringe with which the blue pony with the yellow mane had also stung me then.

"Some people just don't know their place! You should have just stayed where you came from!" he said.

I was dazed and leaned against the railing to avoid falling to the ground. I noticed the Doctor pressing himself against me and pushing me over the railing. I didn't fall far as the funnel of the Pegasus Device went right under the railing. In addition, the foals in the funnel slowed down my impact. They cried out as I landed on their soft injured bodies. I could see the sensor on the machine starting to glow red. Despite the injection, I was under adrenaline from the horror around me and tried desperately to climb up the walls, but I slipped on the smeared blood. The stench of death was unbearable and the screams of the ponies that rang out beneath me numbed my thoughts. I was about to lose consciousness when I looked up at the railing towards Atmosphere.

"This time Glaze is not here to save you! Don't bother screaming for help, because at the Rainbow Factory, no one will hear you scream! HAHAHA!" laughed the Doctor.

My last thought was that the grinder would tear me to pieces at any moment. But just before I passed out, I could hear another siren sound and the grinder seemed to stop.

When I regained consciousness, I was lying on the bed in the next room of my office. My heart was beating fast and I was bathed in sweat. I fell sideways out of bed and could hardly catch my breath. How had I got here? I should have been dead! Atmosphere had stunned me with the syringe and I fell into the machine. How could I still be alive? I panicked and began to scream.

"Help...help! Somebody help me!"

A pony ran from the office into the next room. I could see, despite my still blurred vision, that it was Glaze with her distinctive mane in yellow and green.

"All right, all right! Thank Celestia you're awake! You are safe," she said and sat me back down on the bed.

All my bones were aching. Apparently I had survived the fall well except for a few bruises and some bloodstained clothes, but my head was throbbing like crazy. My neck was also aching from the injection that Atmosphere had given me.

"Stay in bed for now. The unicorns should check on your condition. Maybe someone knows a good spell for healing wounds."

"Hey, Glaze. What happened? Why am I here?"

"I found you unconscious in the factory and brought you here. I was worried where you'd gone."

Before she turned away from me, I grabbed her shoulder and held her for a moment.

"I need to talk to the manager."

"No, you're going to lie still for a while until you get better," she said and ran for the door.

"I've seen things, things I never wanted to see."

Then she stopped for a moment and looked back in my direction.

"So you have found out the truth," she sighed.

I could believe my ears.

"Wait. You know what's going on?"

She looked at me confused.

"I wanted to tell you, but the boss told me not to talk to you about it."

"What kind of boss would support something like that!? Which pony is crazy enough to manage this place?"

She turned her head away again.

"You don't want to know."

"Tell me! I need to know!"

"All right, I'll show you." she said angrily and waited until I got out of bed.

I followed her as fast as I could. My body still hurt a lot but I could still walk slowly. We ran out of the office into the corridor and stopped in front of a wooden door, where at that time there were still many packed picture frames.

"Believe me, you don't want to see what's behind that door," she said.

I stubbornly stopped and she opened the door with a key, which she pulled out of her dirty work vest with her wing. We went into the room and she turned on the light. In this room there were dozens of portraits hanging on the walls.

"Here you can see the pictures of all the ponies that have worked for the Rainbow Factory since it was founded."

I couldn't believe my eyes. Did all these ponies work here even though they knew what was going on? I could also identify the pictures of Glaze and Atmosphere. Under the picture of the blue pony with the yellow mane was the name "Pony Joe". I did not recognize the other ponies, but which of them was responsible for this massacre?

"And who is the manager here?" I wanted to know.

"Look at that painting over there," said Glaze, pointing to the largest painting hanging on the other side of the room.

When I went to the other end of the room and stood close enough to see the big painting, I collapsed.

I could not believe what I saw. The pink eyes, the blue fur... I recognized them immediately. It was Rainbow Dash, except she had a slightly manic grin on her face. Around her neck she had her element of loyalty hanging.

"No...not her."

"That’s her. She's our manager."

"You’re lying to me! This can’t be true!"

"I'm sorry."

Tears were streaming down my face as I fell to the floor. I screamed so loud that everyone probably heard it all over the factory.

It took a few moments for my grief to turn into something else. An irrepressible rage. I could feel the anger of a lie that I had lived until now flowing through me. I clenched my fists and began to snort heavily. Glaze noticed that it was very hard for me but she had no idea what I was capable of at that moment. I knew even less.

"Come on, boss. Let's get you out of this room."

"Leave me alone, Glaze. Just leave me... alone."

"But, guv, if anyone sees you..."

"I SAID, LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T NEED YOU! YOU'RE A MONSTER! EVERYPONY HERE IS A MONSTER! GET AWAY OR I PROMISE I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU JUST LIKE YOU KILLED THOSE POOR PONIES UP THERE!"

Glaze stepped backwards away from me and ran out of the room. She would probably tell every pony now that I had found out the truth. I would probably lose my job soon and be sent back to earth, but I didn't care at that moment. I never expected anything so terrible to happen in Equestria. Probably best that they'd just take me home. But I could never forget what happened here, and the fact that Glaze hid the truth from me...I should kill her for what she had done and would do to these creatures of Equestria...for that I wanted to kill them all.

It sounded crazy, of course, but what was i going to do? I knew the truth now, there was no way back. But why her, how could all this have happened to her? Was it really the Rainbow Dash, which I had learned to know as an element of loyalty in a children's series, behind the machinations of this horrible place?

I spent the rest of the night in the gallery staring at the Rainbow Dash painting to understand what was going on. It made me think of the phone call I got back then in my apartment. It was actually her voice, there could be no doubt about that now. But why was she looking for a human being? Why did she come to me on earth and choose me of all people?

I couldn't imagine she was behind all this. I knew the pony from the show. She was a helpful and faithful friend of Twilight Sparkle and always stood by her and her other friends when there were problems. The only explainable possibility for me at that moment was that it might not have been the Rainbow Dash I knew from the show. If that really was the case, I would not hesitate to kill her too.

But I didn't want to make that decision until I knew if she was responsible. I walked out of the gallery with my head bowed and ran back to my office. When I arrived there, I sat down at my desk with my head in my hands. After a while Glaze came back into my office and shyly knocked on the door with her hoof.

I wanted to wring her neck, but I didn't want to rush into anything. So I played her game for a while until a suitable opportunity arose to make them all pay for what they had done to the ponies...and me.

"Hi! Feeling better, boss?" she asked somewhat reluctantly.

"What do you think, huh?" I snarled at her.

"Sorry, I'm sure it was all a bit too much for you yesterday. I'll explain everything to you when we have time. We are expecting a shipment of new ponies. Would you like to be there? I think you will understand our work better."

"Phew, I suppose even if I say no doesn't change the fact that they're still gonna get killed?"

"That's not for us to decide.”

"I'll think about it," I said, asking her to get out of my office with a wave of my hand.

"By the way, I passed on your message. The manager will be there, too," said Glaze before she disappeared from the office.

She walked towards the door without saying another word. Apparently, she realized I didn't approve of what was happening. How could I? First I ended up in this killing camp and now my favorite pony from my favorite show should be responsible for it? I had to see for myself which Rainbow Dash I was dealing with and...what I should do about it.

I thought about the best way to do it. I could hardly face her and just say that I didn't like what she was doing. And why did she want me for the job? It could have been any other pony. So why was she looking for a human? My questions would remain unanswered if I didn't go and see her myself.

So I decided to walk in the direction of the newly arrived ponies. I walked down the staircase, the whole staff of the factory seemed to be present at this delivery, apparently it seemed to be very important. But I could not see Dr. Atmosphere anywhere. As I looked into the passage leading to the old entrance of the factory, an idea came to me. I could escape from the factory now without anyone noticing. No one would notice, since no pony had seen me today except Glaze. But... what would become of Codi and the others? If I disappeared, my former colleague would be the first suspected person to have helped me escape. Besides I couldn't imagine what would happen to them if they had to continue working here.

I decided to forget the plan quickly, after all I still had to go to Rainbow Dash. There was a small glimmer of hope in my head that she didn't know anything about all this. I had often seen in the show that she seemed to work at the Weather Factory. But she really couldn't have anything to do with all this. If she was really innocent, I felt it was my duty to rescue her from this terrible place. I would do anything to free this innocent blue Pegasus from this situation. It would be better if she never had to know what was really going on here. I had to find her as soon as possible.

As I was walking down the stairs to the airlock, I suddenly heard voices coming from the mid-level hatch. The ponies were apparently in the hall where the Pegasus Device was located. I got a very bad feeling about this. When I was already very close to the hall, I heard a voice very strongly.

“After... after everything... you’re just going to let me die? I tried so hard for you...”

That sounded like the voice of a young pony, it could have been Scootaloo. It seemed to be still alive, but it was very offended by the pony it was talking to. I stood beside the entrance door to the middle level, but at first I didn't dare to look around the corner.

"I thought... you loved me." I heard her speak softly.

“I DID LOVE YOU! I tried so hard for you! I taught you everything I knew, in hopes you would pass your test! You had it in you, kid! I knew... I knew what they did here. Ever since I performed that Sonic Rainboom, and they approached me... They wanted to find more ways to make Spectrum. They thought that if I was capable of making rainbows, I could help them make its components. Well, they couldn’t. But I learned a lot about this place. I’m the manager here now, you know? I worked my way up, in secret, pretending to only be simple weather control. How do you think I could afford that massive house over Ponyville? How do you...”

It couldn't be. Now I recognized this voice immediately, even if it sounded very scratchy and painful. I risked a look around the corner to confirm my suspicion. The blood froze almost in my veins when I realized that I had heard correctly. It was actually Rainbow Dash in a black suit who had just yelled at Scootaloo.