Rainbow Factory: Reconstruction

Running. That's all Hazel has done for the past day, aside from crying. Running from her past, her life, and the world. She never wanted to stop running. Fate had proven its cruelty to her the day before she ran away. However, she was growing tired. She had no idea where she was now, nor did she care. In the distance, Hazel saw what appeared to be steam. As she ran closer to it, she saw that the steam was coming from a factory of some sort. She didn't know why, but she continued running towards the factory, as if something was calling her there. When she was but a few feet away from it, Hazel collapsed.

When Hazel awoke, she was met with two faces staring her in the eyes. One of them green, the other cyan.

"Wh-where am I?" asked Hazel.

The cyan one answered. "Safe, for now. Tell me, what's a nice hazel-colored filly like you doing out here in the desert?"

Hazel broke into quiet sobs as she answered. "Running. I'm running from everything. It's not fair, why did they have to die like that? Why did he have to kill them? Why? Why? Why?"

"Whoa now, calm down for a second. Tell us everything that happened, from beginning to end," said the green one.

Will they understand? They'll probably think I'm a lunatic child. Oh well. I have nothing left to lose now, do I, thought Hazel as she gathered the strength to tell them her story.

"It was on the day I passed my flight test. My parents and I went out to celebrate my success. We went to my favorite restaurant and arcade and had lots of fun. However..." Hazel felt the tears rising to her eyes. "On the way back home, they, they..." she broke into a cry. "They were murdered!" She cried harder. The two strangers looked at each other, with a look of shock, disgust, and... delight? They directed their attention back to her. The green one asked in a rather paternal voice,

"What's your name, child?"

Hazel sniffed, "Hazel."

"Don't worry Hazel. Everything's going to be fine from here on out. I'm Silo, by the way, and this here is Rainbow Dash. We'll take good care of you from here on out. How does that sound?"

Hazel's spirits rose. Are things finally turning for the better? Can they really take care of me?

"That would be very nice of you," she said. Hazel thought to herself, If they're willing to take care of me, maybe they can do something I want. I wonder... She asked her biggest question. "My parents' killer. If I told you who he was and what he looked like, could you kill him for me? To avenge my parents."

Their answer surprised her. "We can do better than that, Hazel," said Rainbow Dash. "We'll bring him to you, so you can kill him yourself."

"That's perfect!" shouted Hazel. "Okay, his name is Soarin. He's a white pegasus-"

Rainbow Dash cut her off. "I know that guy," she said.

Oh no. Is he friends with her? Hazel started to worry. If this was the case, then her parents would never be avenged. Rainbow Dash continued. "Yeah, he cheated on me with some other pegasus. Don't worry Hazel, I'll bring him to you."

Hazel exploded into a fit of joy. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Don't mention it, Hazel," said Silo as Rainbow Dash flew out the doors. While she was away, Silo took her on a lovely tour of the factory. This place is beautiful. Certainly larger than my old home, Hazel thought to herself as they toured the basement of the facility. Silo explained how she would work here with them, and how they would be one happy family forever. They arrived at the prison room, where two stallions, whose identities were unknown to Hazel were hanging in chains.

She asked, "Who are they, in the chains?"

Silo responded. "The first one was a friend of mine. He betrayed me, so now he's paying the price for betrayal. The other one destroyed our previous business, leaving us poor and at the mercy of society."

"They must be horrible ponies then, right Silo?"

"That's right Hazel. They're evil ponies who do nothing but hurt innocent people, like you and me."

Just like the stallion that killed my parents, thought Hazel. She was excited by the concept that she'd help them kill evil ponies, and not innocents. Siphon kneeled down beside her.

"Hazel, I want you to understand something. The ponies we kill here are mainly fillies and colts your age. However, they're not innocent."

Hazel was confused. Others my age? But I'm only ten years old! "I don't understand. How could others my age be guilty of anything?" Hazel asked.

Silo continued. "They failed their flight test, Hazel. If we allowed them to continue living, then they would make us pegasi look weak. We pegasi want to look strong and fierce for everyone, but we can't do that with those failures around. If we don't look strong, then the other pony races will laugh and mock us. Do you understand now, Hazel?"

She understood perfectly, and admired her new parents even more now. Wow, she thought to herself. Silo and Rainbow Dash are the best parents ever! Not only are they going to help me avenge my parents, but now they've given me a second chance at life!

"Silo," she said. "From this day forward, I promise to do my very best helping you kill the bad ponies in the world for as long as I live."

Silo's expression was one of approval. "I'm proud to hear that, Hazel. I knew you'd help us the moment I saw you."

"Really?" Hazel asked excitedly.

"Really," responded Silo, a huge grin across his face. Not long after the tour, Rainbow Dash returned. Entering through a secret back entrance to the facility, she threw Soarin's body with disgust on the floor in front of what they called 'the Device.' From what Silo told her, it grinds up the bad ponies into a beautiful liquid called spectra. Hazel couldn't wait to start grinding up evil ponies, starting with her parents' murderer.

"Well," Rainbow Dash said. "Ready to avenge your parents, Hazel?"