Rainbow Factory - The Closure

Chapter 4 - Dirty Work

Only her head was visible, but I recognized that she did not look normal. Her rainbow mane was bloodied and partly bald, as if someone had torn it out in that place. She looked terrible. Her eyes were marked with black circles of insanity. The iris had shrunk almost to the actual size of the pupil had normally. And her once magnificent wings resembled those of a decaying bird. Scootaloo, on the other hand, seemed quite frightened and sad, but unharmed. I hoped it would stay that way.

I turned away again so as not to be seen. But Rainbow Dash started another push. Rainbow screamed a few more sentences before she came to rest, she was about to kill Scootaloo. And yet, it seemed as if Rainbow did everything to save her somehow. But then madness took over her mind again.

"...And that’s the worst thing you could have done. You aren’t just dead to Cloudsdale, now. You’re dead to me."

I dared to look around the corner again. Then they started hanging a brown Pegasus on chains that went all the way up to the top floor. It hung right in front of the blast furnace, which radiated a massive heat that I could feel all the way up to me. Rainbow Dash seemed to enjoy every moment as the pony screamed in pain from the twisted chains and was lifted higher and higher. At first I thought they were going to burn the pony in the blast furnace, but they had something even worse in mind. Rainbow Dash even joked until the chains in the upper level above the opening of the Pegasus Device loosened and the pony fell into the grinder. The deafening sound of bones breaking and meat being squashed could be heard all the way down to us.

At the top of the funnel were six different pipes running from the funnel, through which one could see the different colours running. Among the workers' ponies were only the eldest workers, so I wondered where all my other employees were. I noticed how Scootaloo got so sick at the sight that she sank to the ground unconscious. Rainbow Dash then had her and the other ponies taken away by the worker ponies, probably to lock them up somewhere.

As Glaze turned around to make her way back to her department as well, she spotted me standing at the door.

"Well, you wouldn't want to miss the spectacle, boss?" she called over to me.

"What are you talking about? I'm here!" snorted Rainbow Dash as she turned to Glaze and saw me standing at the door.

"Oh, I was wondering when we'd finally meet. Come out, I don't bite... usually." she tried to say in a flattering voice.

I convinced myself that the other ponies were gone and came out of my hiding place behind the door and walked slowly towards them. After a few slow steps she came towards me a little bit until we were directly opposite each other. Now I could catch a glimpse of her shining pink eyes, which were staring at me manically. It was indeed Rainbow Dash, but her sight was terrible. No joy, no laughter, I couldn't believe at first that it was really her standing in front of me. She had apparently completely forgotten who she used to be. At that moment I discarded all plans to save her somehow, because now I saw what was in front of me. And although I was twice her size, I felt puny in her presence. This darkness that surrounded her made the blood freeze in my veins. Then she began to walk around me to examine me from all sides. I somehow had the feeling all the time that she would jump at me from behind and kill me.

"So you're my right-wing that keeps everything going, huh?" she asked me.

"That's right, ma'am," I said shyly. I could hardly get a word out.

Rainbow stared at me with a stern look. But then she put on a smug grin.

"Why so distinguished? You're funny. I like that. My name is Rainbow Dash. You've probably heard of me, even though you're obviously not from around here."

I wondered from the beginning why no pony cared that I was human.

"Yes, I know about your race. For thousands of years, no human being has set foot in this world. It's too bad Princess Celestia was too stupid to see your potential!"

"Potential? Potential for what?" I asked cautiously.

"Why do you think she banished the human race from Equestria back then? "Go ahead, ask me!" she asked me.

i didn't even know until that point that humans had ever lived in Equestria before. But at that moment I was too insecure to think about it.

"Wh-why were they banished then?" I asked confusedly.

Then she began to scream.

"Because you were morons! You destroyed this world, subjugated it and built castles from which you ruled over the whole world! But that's not all! When you realized that the space on this world was limited, you started to tear your own race to pieces! How you gave a shoot about morality or feelings to fight for your own survival! How selfish that might sound to you, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I reply, intimidated.

Then she drew her circles closer around me and her voice became calmer, but no less eerie.

"And yet... you fought for a greater cause. You are not morons. You have always made sure your own people are well. And if you look at human history, you'd think it hasn't hurt you. On the contrary, it has made for your progress. Progress in technology, in knowledge, in power!"

I didn't dare answer back and let her continue.

"You're probably asking yourself now, what does a place like Equestria need technology, knowledge and power for? Well, in contrast to your children’s tv show, which makes you think that everything is perfect and beautiful here, there are certain problems in reality, which even the...Elements Of Harmony... can't solve," she said, gazing at her filthy gold necklace that hung around her neck.

I noticed that the red stone of her element is missing.

"What happened to yours?" I wanted to know meekly.

"How perceptive! My element needs to be used temporarily... for something greater. But I never leave it unwatched, don't worry. Now, where was l..."

She pondered for a moment, then she seemed to remember the empty words with which she was besieging me. She explained to me how important the work of the Rainbow Factory was for the general welfare of Equestria and the role of the Pegasi who had to be sacrificed for it. But the more she told me, the more I realized what was behind this cruel enterprise. Even though Rainbow Dash seemed to have gone mad by this work, she was able to explain to me exactly what a responsibility lay on all the ponies that worked there.

"Where I come from, rainbows happen by themselves. All it takes is for the sun to shine after it has rained," I replied with a slightly sarcastic undertone.

"Do you have the slightest idea how hard it is to make rain?" Rainbow Dash hissed at me. "Pfft, of course not! Everything on your world is so perfect that it runs itself. But here, a different wind is blowing, and luckily wind is one of the few things we don't have to make to keep the climate up."

Even though she tried hard to talk to me normally, I could feel her mood swings very clearly. I kept trying to choose my statements carefully so as not to upset her. After all, she had just executed a pony in front of me.

"Excuse me for asking, but what do rainbows have to do with climate?"

Then she opened her eyes and gave me the gaze of a distraught banshee who could lunge at me at any moment.

"What rainbows... ha... hahaha! HAHAHAHA!" she suddenly began to laugh.

She didn't stop laughing, which sounded more like wringing the neck of a rooster while it's crowing.

"Excuse me, nobody has asked me that in a long time. It's a well-kept secret in the history of Equestria's development. In those days, it was impossible to tame and control the weather of Equestria. The weather ponies did their best, but nature always did what it wanted. Ponies that got caught in thunderstorms, crashed with soaked wings or were struck by lightning. Natural catastrophes that have affected large parts of Equestria over time and have claimed the lives of thousands of ponies. We have found a way to prevent such things."

"Wait, you're talking about weather control? This has been researched here on Earth for a long time! How did you do it?"

"We had to find a way to put some magic in the air that would make the weather manipulable. Normally that would require dozens of unicorns, if not a bunch of alicorns to do the job full time. And the princesses are already busy controlling the sun and moon. So we kept researching until we found that along with unicorns, every earth pony and Pegasus had magic in them."

Everything Rainbow Dash had told me so far sounded for me like psycho-babbled talk... but now she had my attention. She seemed to know more about Equestria than I could ever know from the tv show. I listened to her excitedly, but at the same time tried to ignore her meaningless justifications.

"The earth ponies use this magic for their resistance and strength. We Pegasi use this magic to fly, the wings are only responsible for maneuvering so that we don't whirl aimlessly through the air. This magic also ensures that we could work with the elements of the weather, for example moving clouds or making them rain. But not all Pegasi can handle this gift that was given to them. When I was still working in the Weather Factory upstairs, I was annoyed every day that I had to work twice as hard for every Pegasi that didn't do its job. Instead, they were doing something else in their endless free time.

I knew how the story would end even before Rainbow Dash had finished telling it, but I was still interested in her thoughts. I finally wanted to know what was going on.

"Can you imagine? These Pegasi carry a power inside them that they can't even control, what a waste! If they can't even fulfill their destiny, what's the point of their worthless lives..." she said with increasing anger before she interrupted herself to calm down.

"Excuse me, I just got carried away. Where was I? Oh yes, the magic. I wondered if the Weather Factory couldn't use this magic to control the weather in a better way? I talked to some of my colleagues about this idea, one of them was Hide, I am sure you have already had the pleasure with his...special type. But he was in charge of the upper facility at the time and had a very good technical understanding. He was taken with my idea and wanted to explore this possibility in more detail. It was clear that from that point on we were talking about experiments on living ponies. Such a thing would of course never have been justifiable for the Weather Factory and so we started to use the empty storage rooms for our experiments".

Rainbow Dash was taking me down a corridor I had never been before. Probably the way also went to the executive floor. I followed it as if I was walking next to a rabid dog who was just telling me about his biggest bone it had found.

"We began to select our test subjects according to their abilities. This included all the Pegasi that did not work on the weather, and I was shocked at how many they were. We had enough test candidates and many were willing to participate in the welfare of Equestria despite their lack of skills. Of course we tried to support them first to find out what tasks they could take over. We did our best to bring out the magic in the ponies without overstraining them. Right at the beginning we could find out from medical examinations that the magic was firmly anchored in their bodies. The fur, the skin, the bones, the flesh and blood. Everything was soaked with magic, but the ponies were not able to use it. So to harness all the magic, we had to find a way to extract it...without killing the pony."

I could see, that they had obviously not been successful with it. So I spared myself the question.

"Hide and I had reached a point where we didn't know what to do. We did not want to go public, so we only asked our closest colleagues if they would help us. He had a colleague named Pony Joe who specialized in extracting minerals and pollutants from water. Pony Joe had a colleague, Glaze here, who worked in cloud production. She knew how to compress and liquefy gaseous and intangible materials. So our team was complete and the research continued. Pony Joe and Glaze developed a syringe with which it was possible to extract the magic particles directly from the blood of the ponies. The first results were promising, and as long as the whole magic was not removed, the ponies stayed alive!

I was astonished. Now I could understand why magic was so important. But how could it happen that ponies had to die for it? As if Rainbow Dash had sensed my plea for an explanation, she went on with her story. By now we had reached the executive floor and were walking past my office. Apparently she was on her way to her own room.

"But this life had a price. The extraction procedure was painful for the ponies and the consequences were not long in coming. They suffered memory loss, lack of drive... ...so that either exhaustion or circulatory failure caused the Pegasi to fall out of the sky. So instead of preserving life in Equestria, our research even killed ponies. You can't imagine how that made me feel. But Hide told me that progress is not possible without failures, even if they were fatal. At the same time, however, he made a proposal that threw the whole experiment over. If it wasn't possible to extract the magic without killing the pony... why not kill it before the procedure?"

I couldn't blame her for saying that. After all, it was Atmosphere who first had the idea. Besides, Rainbow Dash told me exactly what I wanted to know, the truth. And that was all that mattered to me at that point.

"Of course I didn't agree with it, who else would? But...without the possibility to use magic the whole experiment would have been pointless and those ponies would have died for nothing. And the alternative would have been a slow and painful death. So we decided to give them a quick demise and... it was actually a win-win situation. Not only were the ponies spared the agony, but now we could extract all the magic!"

Rainbow Dash saw that as long as she was talking about killing ponies, I didn't care about the results.

"At first I still felt sorry for the ponies, too. They did not know what they were being hired to test for and before they knew it, it was over. But it was the only way they could do their job if they could not work as weather ponies because of their lack of skills. That was a tremendous relief for me personally and we could finally show a product. A luminous liquid, which we called 'Spectra' because of its spectral colour. It was magic in its purest form and we couldn't imagine what it could do."

We kept walking and Rainbow Dash started to impress me with her story. It still had a bitter aftertaste, but the more she told, the less I saw a pointless killing, more of a...a heavy necessity.

"We put this new liquid into the research department without telling where it came from. The ponies were thrilled, and could do what Equestria had always needed: weather stability. By adding this fluid to the clouds, rain and all other weather elements, they became controllable. The clouds didn't start raining on their own and didn't let the wind blow them away.

She began to talk enthusiastically about her first successes. In the middle of the corridor I could already see the door of her office. The corridor looked similar to the one that ran past my office. But that was apparently on another corner.

"We could cover our fields with the clouds when it got too hot and could only let it rain when the fields needed water. The most wonderful result of our research was the snow that never melted. Well, we always have the work to collect the snow after the winter, but this has created an interesting tradition called "Winter Wrap Up". And in order to supply the steam engines I developed with enough water, I always gather all the Pegasi in Equestria to direct a huge water vortex into the weather factory. Every pony helps and it has brought Equestria further together. These were all great things!"

Then she looked deep into my eyes before unlocking the door to her office.

"But...with all great things comes great responsibility. So you see...we're not doing this for fun. The rainbow philosophy goes way beyond Cloudsdale mythology. It's easy to misjudge this floating city, with its alluring decor and social psychology. But to preserve all that a simple facility was needed."

So she opened the door to her office and it was breathtaking. She had decorated her office with pictures of her friends, but the pictures looked a little dusty. So did a big dusty mirror that hung next to the door. Apparently she loved to look at herself, but in her current state I couldn't blame her for not looking in. She seemed to have suffered a lot from the work at the factory herself. At the back of her office, large busts of Celestia and Luna hung over two doors, probably leading into adjacent rooms, just like the two doors in my office. Between the doors was a large picture frame showing her element of loyalty. Above the entrance door through which we entered the office was a large crest with the Rainbow Factory logo. On the wall next to the mirror was a picture of all her friends.

Rainbow Dash proudly stood in the middle of the room and looked back over her shoulder. She could tell I was impressed...not only about her office, but also about her story. I could understand now why she had to do all this. While I was inspecting the room, she told me why they preferred foals for the production. Older ponies usually had a circle of friends who cared about them and their magic faded with age. The foals were all orphans who, one way or another, had no future alone in Equestria. Nobody would miss them and they would not have to live a life full of loneliness, only to die senselessly in the end. But I wondered why Scootaloo ended up here, although she had friends. But Rainbow Dash would be the last person I should ask this question to at this moment.

"I want to show you something," said Rainbow Dash and went to her desk.

She opened a drawer and took out a big long bronze syringe with a glass screwed on it. It looked just like the tools that Hide and Pony Joe owned. Its tip was already very rusty and the glass was also almost not transparent anymore. Apparently this tool was already several years old and had been used often.

"This is my old extraction syringe I used to kill my first pony with. Every time I looked at it, I thought about how hard it was for me then. But at the same time I see my responsibility for Equestria in it. As time goes by...I have come to terms with it. I didn't care how many ponies I had to kill to accomplish our mission. But unfortunately, this extraction method still created a personal bond with the ponies. Whenever I drained the Spectra from a pony, I could see how the color in her eyes faded. But now with the help of the magic of the Pegasus Device, I am able to free myself from it once and for all.”

Now I knew the whole story. Rainbow Dash had actually opened my eyes. How could I be so blind as to think that Equestria was just a place of love and harmony? These ponies had as much obligation to perform unpleasant tasks as I knew from Earth. There was always war going on among the people and they built weapons to kill other people with. Could one really hold the weapon manufacturers responsible for this, if their weapons brought peace in the end? Why should the employees of the Rainbow Factory be an exception? It was hard for me to imagine that anyone here was working of their own free will. Everyone here had to do their part...like me.

"Since I have no further use for it, I want you to have it. It will remind you how important you are to the factory... and to me as well," she said to me in a calm voice.

"Thank you, Mrs. Dash."

"Hey, we're co-workers. Just call me Rainbow," she said, bumping me with her body.

"I'll help you get along with your work here and find your way, but I don't know how much time I got left. if I’m dying here eventually, somepony or maybe… somebody else will have to run this place. That someone will decide the future of the Rainbow Factory," she giggled manically.

"What about Hide? Won't he be the new manager then?" I asked anxiously.

She looked at me diagonally and started giggling at her, which sounded more like a caw. Her bloodshot eyes were watering with laughter and she turned away from me. She no longer paid attention to me at all, but just laughed out loud and was no longer responsive. Her manic laughter penetrated my ears and made me leave the office in a hurry. When I closed the door, I could still hear her screaming laughter through my ears. It crawled through my bone and marrow. It was probably better not to enter the office again. But I was dying to know why she reacted that way when I mentioned the Doctor.

I held the Spectra syringe firmly in my hand and was about to go back to my office when suddenly Glaze came rushing towards me.

"Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you! Where have you been?" she asked.

She saw the syringe in my hands.

"Where did you get that?" she asked me suspiciously.

"The manager, I mean Rainbow, she gave it to me. I was just in her office."

Suddenly Glaze looked at me with eyes wide open. Apparently, she couldn't believe her ears, what I had just said.

"I had one of those a long time ago, but I couldn't handle it anymore.I try my best to block out the screams, but they're haunting me in my dreams. So I got rid of mine and one day I threw it into the blast furnace. But the others seemed to have less trouble with this tradition...or maybe this is what caused the trouble," Glaze replied, pointing to the tool I held in my hands.

She was very interested in what it looked like in her office and I explained every detail I had discussed with Rainbow. She knew the history of the Rainbow Factory better than I did, so I left that part out. When I told her about Hide, she looked at me in horror.

"You're lucky she laughed when you mentioned him," she said.

"Why? "Why? You and Hide had been colleagues for ages?" I asked confused.

"Colleagues? I wish. As soon as I joined her team, the power game between them started. She was the one who had the idea for the experiment, but Hide had made the research possible. Since the experiment I could watch them both waiting like hungry hyenas for each other's mistakes. They always tried to avoid each other."

"What has changed?"

"You." she said, looking deep into my eyes.

"Why? What have I got to do with it?' I asked her astonished as she stopped and turned to me.

"When I heard the alarm from the production hall yesterday, I immediately ran over to see what was going on. When I got to the top I could see that the machine had stopped for some reason. I thought maybe something had gone wrong with the initial start-up. Next to the grinder I could recognize Hide, who looked in stunned. It wasn't long before Rainbow showed up and got an idea of the situation. She waved me over to her and I saw you lying unconscious in the grinder of the device. I was supposed to pull you out and take you to your office. When I had you, I could see that he and Rainbow were having a heated argument. Then she ran up to him and..."

She suddenly seemed very nervous and frightened.

"...and he stumbled off the gangway. I guess Rainbow had intimidated him. He slipped and fell into the Pegasus Device. There was nothing more she could do as he was buried beneath the victims and pulled into the interior of the machine by the suction. You're lucky to be alive."

I was shocked by the thought that Rainbow had intimidated one of their oldest employees so much that he was killed. Even if I was allowed to get to know her by now, I did not consider her to be a pony that killed his own employees. But Atmosphere had more than deserved it for the invention of the Pegasus Device. That was probably the reason why his death left me very cold at that moment.

After that, Glaze was silent the rest of the way to my office. I could see in her eyes how much this uncertainty weighed on her. Maybe she also thought they were safe as employees. I could roughly imagine what was going on in her head, I had experienced the same thing.

"Because of this incident, she has asked me to explain your new assignment. You are to ensure that the safety of production at this factory is guaranteed at all times. Probably in the form of some kind of security machine.”

At first I easily broke out in a sweat at the thought of building a new machine. But now that Atmosphere was gone, I had some hope that this job would be less complicated than the first one.

"Oh, and we'll put your old team back together for this," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

When she said that, my heart warmed a little. I was probably allowed to see Codi and the old team again. I couldn't imagine what they went through in the meantime, the happier they must have been when they were transferred back to me from Atmosphere’s former department. However, Glaze told me that the team was not complete since my arrival. They were placed in the lowest levels for the disposal of the bodies, in the so-called Bodycount Department. Some ponies couldn't stand the work any more and tried to escape, but when they were stopped they went crazy. They had to be locked up so as not to be a danger to the factory or the other workers. But I was to get replacements from the new arrivals who had just started here. Probably it had something to do with this assignment. It was time to explain to Codi and the other ponies what was behind the work at the Rainbow Factory. I just hoped that he could accept it as I did, he probably wouldn't have any other choice.

I hadn't noticed during all the talking that we were already back in front of my office after a few turns. Glaze said goodbye and set about putting together my research team so I could make the Rainbow Factory safer. The next days I spent with Pony Joe getting to know the different departments. He did not seem to like being my tour guide. I didn't like it even more to get to know the different working steps, but it probably had to be similar to the people who worked as butchers. After all, they also had to slaughter animals to make food. But of course the thought of food vanished as soon as I watched another pony being devoured by the Pegasus Device.

Hide was no more, but I always kept the Spectra syringe close by in case someone wanted to kill me again. Except for Glaze I did not trust any of the staff, especially Pony Joe. The number of company elders was manageable, which also explained the need for personnel. Either it was because Dash was very careful who she hired to do the work or it was simply the activity itself that would scare off many ponies. But it was better that nobody outside the factory knew what was going on.

I spent the rest of my free time in my office after the tours and decided to look at my monitor again and check the list of names after another. It was sad to see how many names were on the lists, and new ones were added every day, which were put on my desk overnight while I was still asleep. Not long ago I wanted to save every pony on these lists, but there was no way to do that. Glaze had explained to me how the selection process went and that the ponies were to blame if they failed the flight test. Even I as co-manager could not change that.

After a few days, Glaze came into my office just as I was taking a break and looked out the window as I was thinking about what the future would look like for me from now on. I slowly turned to her and wanted to know what she wanted. She told me that the research team was now ready and I should follow her. I took my extra syringe off the table and left my office with it. We walked together through the corridor where I first met Pony Joe. After a short time we came to a fork where the floor became metallic again. Also the doors were made of massive iron, one would not like to imagine what happened behind it. But Glaze recognized that I looked at the doors questioningly and explained to me that the extracted Spectra was kept there refrigerated. The lower levels also had cold storage rooms...for the dried remains, which are delivered as organic waste to various farms in Equestria. So the killed ponies were not carelessly thrown into the garbage, but made sure that life came out of them again.

When we arrived at the research complex, Glaze warned me.

"I had to...put a guard dog from Hide on duty for you, as Rainbow always wants an update on your progress. I'm sorry," she said.

She opened the door and behind it stood Pony Joe, who looked at me annoyed. In the background I could hear many ponies talking.

"I should have known you were the leader of this project. Since Hide died, there's nopony else who..." Pony Joe said to me.

"Then perhaps you can tell her that you don't like her decisions..." I interrupted him.

He fell silent immediately. Apparently he was very close to the doctor, which would explain his aversion to me. But now I was number two here and he knew as well as I did that my presence was very important to Rainbow.

"Hrmpf...I think we should see that we can get some results as soon as possible" he said shyly.

I had earned my respect. Glaze smiled at me without Pony Joe seeing it. Obviously they didn't really get along either, probably they just worked together too long.

"Listen up, everypony! The project manager has just arrived! Stop all private conversations and listen to him so we can give the boss useful results!" Pony Joe shouted to the crowd.

The crowd went quiet. I went forward to Pony Joe and looked from a podium into a large room where almost a dozen ponies were standing and looking at me with big eyes. Apparently Glaze was able to assign all the members of my old team to the project, at least the ones that were left. Some of the new ponies seemed relatively inexperienced and their eyes were a bit jumpy. Maybe it was because some of them had certainly never seen a human before, or maybe it was because of the work. Apparently these ponies were from the group of newcomers I had seen at the entrance when I arrived here by train. But I could clearly recognize one pony in the crowd. It was Codi who looked at me expectantly. I could not see his whole face, as he was wearing a white factory helmet like the other ponies and a white lab coat like Glaze. I was just wondering why Pony Joe wasn't wearing his. Maybe he didn't want to be considered working class.

"I...welcome you to this new project which Rain..." I said before Glaze showed me a sign that I shouldn't say the name.

"I mean...which I was asked to undertake due to the...unfortunate...passing of Dr. HIde Atmosphere. I am responsible for this project and...obviously I am not from here" I said, while a quiet giggle went through the crowd.

"I am a human being and I come from earth. Many of you have worked with me before, others of you will probably have to get used to the sight of me first.”

The giggle grew louder before Pony Joe stepped in.

"What's all the cackling about, huh? Shut the buck up and listen to him!" hissed Pony Joe.

I realized that it was not the right time to make my performance funny. But I wanted to loosen up the mood a bit, because I saw fear in every single pony. Which was absolutely understandable after all they had experienced so far. But Pony Joe was right, the introduction round was over. Now I had to get serious.

"Right. Because we're not here for fun. There have been recent events at the Rainbow Factory that pose a security risk. I'm not just talking about the machines, but I don't want to reduce the problem specifically to the employees. It's about safety in general, so that no information gets out. By now it is clear to each and every one of you what our job is here. We are fully responsible for the welfare of Cloudsdale, for the welfare of EQUESTRIA!

I started talking a little louder to illustrate the gravity of the situation.

"You don’t want to imagine what would happen if the machines stopped working or...if another employee were killed. It is our responsibility to do something... ... to make this factory safe in the long run!"

I got hoof trampling from Glaze and Pony Joe as a sign of my strong speech. However, the crowd was not particularly taken with it. So it was time for me to be a little more explicit.

"Seriously...Do you GIVE A SHIT about the safety of the factory?" I yelled out and every pony looked at me with big eyes.

"FOALS ARE DYING UP THERE ONLY FOR THEIR PATHETIC AMOUNT OF MAGIC! ONLY FOR YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO LIVE A PEACEFUL LIFE OUTSIDE!”

The ponies looked at me with frightened eyes and some of them were about to water.

"IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK OR BELIEVE IN, WE ARE NOT THE BAD ONES, WE ARE NOT THE GOOD ONES EITHER! WE DO WHAT KEEPS EQUESTRIA ALIVE! AND IF YOU WANT IT TO STAY THAT WAY, YOU BETTER THINK OF SOMETHING!"

"Can't you think of something yourself, you stuck-up being?" said another pony from the line. And I noticed how Pony Joe had a slight grin on his face. The other ponies looked at each other in bewilderment.

"WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT? WHO IS THE BRONCO WHO JUST SIGNED HIS OWN DEATH WARRANT?" I shouted.

The pony didn't show itself. Apparently one of the ponies didn't take me seriously. I guess it was time to make my point. I went down the side of the podium and walked towards the ponies. They saw, trembling, that I was holding the Spectra syringe in my hand.

I walked around the ponies that consciously looked away from me. Apparently, the guilty pony in the crowd wanted to remain anonymous. When I almost walked around once, I noticed a stallion who apparently was not afraid that I was standing right behind him. The others had beads of sweat on their foreheads, but he was staring straight ahead. This confirmed my suspicion. I stood close to his ear.

"It was wise of you to hide from me. But unfortunately I saw you move your lips earlier."

I stabbed the pony in the back with the syringe and it went down screaming. It was his voice that I had heard before. I did not need more confirmation that I had gotten the right one.

"So, and now I'll show you what kind of being I am!" I said before I wanted to pull up the vial to suck him dry.

But Glaze intervened and I pulled the syringe out of the pony again, which was rolling agonizingly on the ground.

"Come with me, NOW!" she said in an angry tone.

As I followed her and looked through the crowd, everyone looked at me with teary eyes of fear. Even Codi was stunned when he saw me with the bloody syringe in my hand. I didn't know what I had done wrong. Had I perhaps exaggerated? As we left the lab and closed the door behind us, you could still hear the screams of the injured pony softly.

"Say, what was that all about, huh? You almost killed the pony!"

"The pony didn't take me seriously. If he doesn't want to work, you have to encourage him. You don't work here of my own free will either.”

"I work here because I HAVE TO, and so do you!"

"Like you still care after all this time? Besides, what do you know about how I do my job?"

"Tell me, what's the matter with you? What did she do to you to make you act like this? These are your EMPLOYEES! You're not supposed to kill them, you're supposed to PROTECT them!"

So I stayed calm. Glaze had never yelled at me before. If it wasn't for her, I would have killed that pony for sure.

"You...you are right. What was I thinking? Why...why did I do it, Glaze?" I looked at her and held out my bloody hands.

"I know the last few days have been hard for you...but...damn it, pull yourself together!" she said to me calmly.

"O...okay. I'll be fine." I took a deep breath.

Glaze looked at me a bit uncertain before she entered the lab again to help the injured pony. I had almost killed a pony, how could it have come this far? A few days ago I would have killed myself for it and now... was this supposed to be my future? I wiped the bloody needle on my sleeve and stuck it under the back of my jacket so that nopony had to see it again when I slowly walked through the door back to the lab. The ponies were already at the writing boards that were set up in the room and scribbled various drawings hectically on them. Apparently my action had caused everypony to start working immediately. Another one from the group apparently provided the pony with a healing spell, while Glaze took care of getting it back on its hooves. The injured pony looked at me startled and immediately avoided my gaze. His eyes were distorted with pain and looked around frantically and his screaming turned into a pitiful whimpering after the stab wound had healed to some extent. Luckily I had not taken Spectra from him.

Pony Joe turned around and walked towards me.

"All respect, the ponies have understood the...urgency of the project and are already starting to gather ideas. I didn't think you had such a...hard form of motivation," he said, looking into the group of frightened ponies who didn't even look at me.

My former work colleagues must have thought I was a monster. I wanted to make up for it and tried to give a calm impression. The ponies did not speak a word to me and were silent as soon as I stood next to them. I looked around and watched Codi, who also walked past the ponies and checked the results. As I walked towards him, he turned away from me and wanted to go to another group.

"Hey Codi, can I talk to you for a second?" I said in a calm voice.

He stopped and hesitated before turning to me and looking at me with reproachful eyes.

"What just happened, I didn't mean it..." I said to him.

"What happened to YOU?" he asked me softly.

"I... I don't know. I didn't mean to hurt the pony, why did I do it? Now everybody's scared of me."

"Not only are they afraid of you, you've lost their trust."

I didn't know exactly what he meant by that, but before he took care of the ponies again, he turned to me one last time:

"You promised to help us."

The project continued for the next few days, but I did not know how to proceed. Pony Joe and Glaze examined the ideas of the ponies and estimated their realization. It was important for me at this moment that Codi understood why I was doing all this. Only when he was on my side again, I could concentrate on my work again. But I noticed how he always avoided me whenever possible. Just like the other ponies.

I had won their respect, which I had wanted for a long time. But for what price? I lost all my friends just because they didn't see the bigger picture. But I could not blame them for that, they only got half of what was going on here, if at all, in their jobs. Who knows how much they were told, when the new ones among them didn't even know that Rainbow Dash herself ran this place.

When the planning phase was complete, Glaze and Pony Joe presented me with the ponies' proposals. There were many good ideas for improving the factory. Soundproof walls, security guards, even improvements to the Pegasus Device were suggested by some ponies.

I discussed with Glaze and Pony Joe which ideas could be implemented. They took the task to improve the occupational safety, so it was up to me to reduce the safety risk as much as possible. I also immediately recognized a big main problem: the ponies themselves. The work was so physically and mentally demanding that some of them could not stand the pressure in the long run and would start to make mistakes and put the other ponies or even the whole factory in danger.

So I had to find a way to keep the factory running even in case of a total failure. There was only one feasible way to do this: Robots. Or rather, robot ponies. Workers who would never complain about the conditions at the Rainbow Factory and who could really work day and night. Maybe we could even produce so much Spectra that Equestria would be supplied for the next decades and no pony would have to die for the next hundred years.

I asked the ponies in the research department to draw plans of how the design of the robot ponies should look like. I asked Codi for help, because he could translate the symbols for the ponies in a way that was understandable for them. At first I thought that he would refuse, but when he looked at the designs I made he understood that I tried to free them all from this work. Even if he would be still a prisoner in this place... as was I...unless I would do something about it.

From then on, the project almost ran itself. The plans were complete and the workers could make the first prototype. I stuck to a simple design, the function was crucial. Everything went like on an assembly line. The Pegasi purchased the materials needed to make the robot pony. The earth ponies machined the parts until they got the right shapes. The Unicorns assembled the parts of the robot in laborious detail work. Nevertheless I was amazed at the abilities of the ponies, even the inventions that were made without my help here in Equestria.

I spent most of my time in the research area, forgetting the horror in the production hall above us. Some of the ponies were tired of this laborious work, but Pony Joe had his own methods to motivate the ponies. I could watch him scream and knock them down. I could not approve of it, but it was more harmless than what I had planned for the first pony, which was not fully behind the work we were doing here. I was very concerned when he pushed Codi around as if he was just a simple worker. But I could not afford to get soft now, so close to the finish line. With the drill we managed to get the prototype ready after a few weeks. At least I thought of weeks, in Equestria you quickly lost the sense of time...especially inside a place like this where day and night are the same.

It was a rough framework of cables and poles, which had only a slight resemblance to a pony. But this was the only way we could quickly detect a fault and intervene if the prototype did not work as expected. I went around the robot and checked if the work was done properly. Everything should work perfectly, but...I had said this before in the past. Codi introduced the project name for the robot. He called it an Auto Mechanical Pony for Execution, Refining and Extraction, in short A.M.P.E.R.E.

Glaze and Pony Joe were very curious to see how the robot pony would work. Since Codi had been in charge of the setup, this time it was up to him to turn on the machine. On his command the unicorns put a magic spell on the robot, which at first emitted a cawing and rattling sound. A bright triangular prism was engraved on his chest, in which the magic circulated. A little sweat ran down my forehead as the pony's yellow eyes began to glow and scan the surroundings. After that it stopped motionless. Codi and the other ponies were trampling with joy as everything seemed to be working perfectly. There was no command the robot could execute yet, but it looked like a triumph to me. But since we were in one of the most unholy places of Equestrias it was hard for me to overstand my satisfaction.

I requested a demonstration of how the robot performed its work. The unicorns steered the machine out of the research department and toward the production hall. As we walked toward the top level, I could see Rainbow watching the test through the control room windows. But the other ponies didn't notice her, they were staring at the robot. On the way to the production hall I had an uncomfortable feeling, but I noticed how much I had gotten used to the scenery by now because I couldn't hear the screams anymore. But when we arrived at the top, I could also see the reason for the silence.

The Pegasus Device wasn't running, probably it had been switched to manual control via the control panel for testing purposes. The Unicorns wanted to test if the robot was capable of operating the control console. Throughout the performance, Ampere was under the control of the unicorns to learn the motion sequences. I knew this machine learning behavior from Earth, where it was used in car factories.

The motor function of the joints and the memory were running optimally. He was able to control other machines via the control panels and continuously repeated the work steps with precision. However, the screams of the ponies still got under my skin, so I tried to concentrate on the control consoles. I could have hated myself for such an invention, but it was simply fascinating how accurately and conscientiously the robot worked. My team had apparently exceeded the expectations of Pony Joe and Glaze by far, as I could see from their impressed looks. Even I was deeply impressed that the invention worked. Especially the motion sequences seemed more natural than I would have expected from a CPU due to the magic.

When we put the robot back in the lab, a worker pony from the production hall came to us to tell me, Glaze and Pony Joe something confidentially. Apparently Codi and the other ponies were not supposed to know about it. Rainbow wanted to discuss the project with us and we were supposed to meet her in the meeting room, which was located on the other side of the production hall. We headed straight for the meeting room. When we entered it, Rainbow was already sitting at the table, but I was surprised at her appearance. She was sitting without her black suit on one of the two black executive chairs at the table, and she seemed to have combed and trimmed her mane. I noticed that the red stone had been put back in her element collar. Now she looked at least a little more like the pony I knew from the series. In my presence she seemed to behave normally, which gave me some hope that she was not completely lost yet.

Glaze and Pony Joe sat down together at the front end of the desk, Rainbow insisted that I sit next to her. I was very uncomfortable sitting next to her as she still gave me a look that made my blood freeze in my veins despite her better appearance. Glaze and Pony Joe told Rainbow about the success of the project and Rainbow was so pleased with the results that she ordered one robot to be produced for each RF employee. This way the factory could continue to operate even without employees. This statement visibly frightened Glaze and Pony Joe, but I didn't care about it. Why would Rainbow put me in danger?

As the conversation progressed, Rainbow praised me for my performance, which Pony Joe seemed to dislike less. After all, I had not contributed much to the project. But I was in charge of the project for the whole time, so I enjoyed this praise to the full. I did not know how to help myself, but somehow I seemed to enjoy all the work here. Meanwhile I could handle what was happening here quite easily. No, seriously. I believed that this job had strengthened my self-confidence, it did me good to work here.

Why hadn't I realized it until now? I always felt like I was the victim, but I wasn't anymore. I was the boss, I owned the whole factory... well, almost. Atmosphere was gone and Dash would not get in my way as long as everything went according to plan. What else could she do? She could hardly have hoped that the Elements of Harmony would help her after all she had done. If it all went to shit, she'd be just as screwed as I was. But unlike her, I had a lot of plans. What would the company have done without my ideas? After all, they were the reason Rainbow had to hire me in the first place.

I was human, so when it came down to it, I shouldn't be underestimated. I noticed how effeminate I was when I was weak and vulnerable. What an idiot I was who didn't see the potential in this company. But now I began to see the potential, and I was just starting out. At that moment I lost a thought for Earth.

Why had we never considered the possibility of research on humans before on Earth? Actually our soul also consisted only of life energy. Spectra was also only an energy that could be transformed into different forms. I began to think if similar experiments could be done on Earth. Of course the experiments on ponies were not applicable 1:1 to humans, or maybe they were?

Now you will ask yourself what I was getting at. I wouldn't do these experiments just to move a few clouds back and forth. I could produce something much more important for mankind, which would ensure the survival of society: electricity! I would only need the human body as host. Any "useless" people I could find, our society was much too divided for that. I'd do it just like Rainbow. I would only choose the people who nobody would miss or who were no longer useful to society. Connected to a chemical cycle, people's bodies could generate a lot of electricity to power the whole world. I would even do the poor and hungry people a favor by releasing them from their suffering beforehand and using only their bodies as power plants. And after the "useless" bodies were used up, they would also play a big role for our planet. All the "waste" that would be created, we would of course redirect to Mother Nature to strengthen the eco-system. We would use the biological waste to re-grow our nature. Could you imagine such a world? Where green meadows would blossom, nature would grow and flourish and would remain unaffected by all environmental influences by man? The world would be a wonderful place, you only need a few people who are willing to get their hands dirty during this "dirty work".

But my motivation was curbed again when Rainbow Pony entrusted Joe and Glaze with the management of the robot assembly line production. Pony Joe took care of the locomotion, Glaze was responsible for cohesion. She said that it was now important to her that I should get to know the other parts of the factory better. For this I was now to take over the management in the production hall. I was a bit uncomfortable leaving my project to Pony Joe, but Rainbow promised he would leave the job when the job was successfully completed. The same was true for me, as Glaze was the actual production manager here. But I did not worry about that at first. As production manager, I saw an opportunity to finally face my fear of the work environment and become a worthy right-wing for Rainbow.

Meanwhile, during my familiarization phase in the production hall, I was allowed to continue working on the prototype to try out further possibilities for improvement. After this success I was totally motivated to bring the factory forward in all areas of technology. Again I came up with a suggestion for improvement, which many of my employees had brought in. So I decided to be the first official act as the new production manager...modernizing the Pegasus Device.

While observing the comminution process for a longer period of time, I had samples of the Spectras given to me, which the machine won. But I noticed already under the ceiling lights that it looked a bit dull despite the rainbow colours. Apparently the shredder had contaminated it a bit with all the body parts, but the ponies that monitored the quality of the Spectra assured me a purity of 96%. But that was not enough for me... I wanted more. And when I took a look at my syringe in my hand, I had a better idea. Maybe the extraction didn't have to happen after the shredding, but before.

I thought about how I could extract the spectra from the ponies before. Only when the last drop left the body it should be shredded. I liked this idea very much and it would make sure that the ponies would be unconscious before they were killed. A similar principle to the slaughtering of pigs on earth, except that the purity of the final product would be improved many times over. I really liked the idea from a moral and practical point of view. I pulled out the research staff who had worked on the Pegasus Device before. My old colleagues would be able to finish the remaining robots on their own.