A Tale of Two Monsters (Sample)

Chapters

Chapter 1 - A New Life
Chapter 2 - Opportunity
Chapter 3 - The Third One
Chapter 4 - Lies upon Lives

Chapter 1 - A New Life

SECOND DRAFT

This is a non-profit fan-made story. All characters belong to their respective owners. Some alterations were made to facts from other original fan-made stories to make this one.

Warning: Story is not suitable for minors! Contains disturbing violence, foul language and adult situations.

A Tale of Two Monsters

Written by Key Strix

Edited by Mystery Meat

Preread by BlackDenimCap & Rixizu

Chapter 1: A New Life

There were many places Rainbow Dash didn't want to be stuck in and the cramped little office where the nurse parked her chair was quickly topping the list. It wasn't so much for being clustered enough that her wheelchair barely fit between the door and the desk, or that everything in the office seemed to be coated in ugly, joyless layers of tans and browns… it was just so stuffy. It was like sitting inside the cushions of a couch rather than on top, wrapped in stifled heat to the point that her skin crawled and her stomach felt like it was bubbling. She wanted to vomit, but couldn't find enough of the urge to commit.

Starved for fresh air, Rainbow wanted to shout out for the nurse to open the only window in the room, but knew the mare was already gone, off to wake herself with coffee or cool her nerves in the nearest smoking area. Rainbow instead almost gave into the temptation to get up, until pain came slicing from her cast-trapped wings then all throughout her bandaged torso. While it hurt even through the nullification of morphine, it served as an excruciating reminder of when she fell out of her chair the other day. Though she wasn't sure what hurt worse back then: her whole body from the painful fall or her pride as nurses and a doctor had to pick her sobbing self up off the floor.

Why don't they just get it over with and throw me in a volcano already? Rainbow thought, trying hard to humor herself before sucking in more of that insufferable stale air. It reeked of pure furniture. She had to distract herself. It was either that or go insane before the doctor would even arrive. She looked to the window and in moments, her imagination was lost in the murky grey clouds outside. She imagined herself darting through them, full speed, clearing them out for a bright blue sky in record time. The wonderful feeling of refreshing wind blasting over her whole body. Then, as if she hit a button on a recorder, the playful imaginings were paused.

The wind, she thought as her face scrunched in confusion. What does it feel like? She felt stupid for even asking herself, but understandably it seemed as if it had been ages since she was allowed outside. The most she was allowed were gentle teasings of breezes from slightly parted windows. It was nothing compared to the full force that she struggled to recall her body ripping through in what seemed to be very distant memories.

The door behind opened and through it stepped a mare whose colors seemed to blend with the background. Her main in a ponytail and her thick bottle glasses pushed tight against the bridge of her nose.

“I’m so sorry about the wait,” she said breathlessly as she bumbled and squeezed herself around the large wheelchair. “Got an emergency call from another patient that almost went on forever, and well... anyways, here I finally am. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” She clearly strained to stretch out a smile as she put out a hoof for Rainbow to shake, who in return simply stared. Rainbow couldn’t stand the pity practically radiating from behind those goggle-glasses. “I'm Doctor Plush, here to take the role as your psychologist.” The mare added, trying to sound ever more chipper, still patiently holding that hoof there.

Rainbow felt like it was gonna be held there forever if she didn’t partake, so she tentatively did. Luckily, her forelimbs could be moved without much pain. “Rainbow Dash,” she said plainly. “Can you open that window? I’m about to suffocate to death in here.”

“Oh, yes. Here. Want you to be nice and comfortable after all.”

The clear sliding panel pushed open, a cool gush came right on in and washed over Rainbow. It was as crisp and refreshing as wind could only be before rain would come.

“Can I get you anything else? A glass of water? A snack?”

“You could get me a trip outside… maybe outta this place… back home.”

Plush sighed as she found her seat behind the desk and leaned back into it. “Unfortunately, that's not really something I can address. As far as I’ve talked it over with your doctor, you’ve still got quite a bit of recovery time left. But I can still help out in some regard, if you let me. Now, tell me,” she spoke as she cracked open a notebook and pulled out a pen, “how are you feeling?”

“Numb. Sluggish. Stiff. Just rolling my shoulders or breathing too deep hurts.”

“Understandable. As also a physical therapist, I can tell you that your shoulder pains likely stem from your wings. Nearly all of the tendons in them were severed and the nerves of those tendons do connect through your back. You could've unknowingly pulled and tore some other muscles too. Your ribcage also sustained quite a bit of damage, so chest pains would be no surprise. How does your stomach feel?”

“Fine, I guess. Though… I do get grumbles and twitches.”

“Hm. Your body might take some time to adapt to the transplants. If that doesn't go away after a while, it'll have to be looked at. Fortunately... I heard you finally started eating. How's the food here? I’m still a little new here, so I have yet to try any of it myself.”

“It's awful. It's like school lunches all over again.”

“Interesting,” said the doctor with a spark of energy as she struck down a note.

“Interesting?” Rainbow huffed. “How is that interesting?”

“It's a small but good sign that your long term memory is intact, especially with how quickly you answered. A lot of ponies that have….” Plush paused as she picked words as carefully as one would pick roses. “A lot of ponies who have gone through traumatic events end up suffering some form of mental damage. It could affect short-term memory, long-term memory, or often specific memories. It could easily effect all sorts of other things about you too.”

“I’m not mentally damage,” Rainbow protested, bothering to lift both fore-hooves a little. “My head feels just fine. This examination is just a waste of time.”

“While you may not have suffered any direct head injuries, the extreme stress and blood loss you endured could’ve created created issues that even you may be unaware of. Now, answer me honestly, have you been feeling strange at all recently? I mean, other than what we’ve gone over.”

“Well, I do feel sick often.”

“Oh?” The doctor leaned forth to rest her elbows on the desk.

“I feel sick of these stuffy rooms. Sick of this awful food. Sick of this whole place really.” Rainbow’s gaze trailed back to the window off to the side.

Doctor Plush breathed deep, as if she were trying to meditate her own stress away before forcing out some sympathy. “I understand your frustration, Rainbow Dash. Really, I do.”

The broken mare returned a sharp glance of mistrust. No. No, it wasn't just mistrust. For the fleeting few seconds of that stare, Rainbow… kinda wanted to punch the mare in her lying mouth. Even imagined herself leaning over the desk to do so, if she could burden the pains of her tattered body. Wasn’t even sure if she’d feel bad for striking the mare. No. I’m no brute, Rainbow thought and the idea rolled off her shoulders.

“But you need to cooperate with me here,” the doctor continued, unaffected the mildly threatening stare. “It’s for your own good. Besides, you haven't even had your wings restored yet. If we let you go now, how will you get around in that wheelchair?”

Rainbow kept her silence, though she did ponder trying to get into her cloud house via grappling hook… and how horrible that would turn out.

“We cannot let you go until we at least know you're in any form of a good condition. But, if there's anything positive to take away here at this moment, it's that your job - the company backing you, is paying for… well, all of this. Even for me to be here. I myself can't even get any sort of free healthcare like that, and I'm a doctor.” She spoke with a light humorous curve in her tone, trying to see if she could summon a smile on the patient’s face. Having failed, she cleared her throat. “Then there's also all those donations you have pouring in. Rainbow Dash, you have a lot of fans out there who want to see you return nice and healthy. Do keep them in mind.”

Doctor Plush might as well have been a narrator for a stage play that was being heard from a room away as Rainbow's mind was back to being lost in the clouds. She could picture herself heading above them into the glorious blue. There she would practice her loops, twists and dive bombs, dipping in and out of the cloudy ground below with the grace of an Olympic champion.

“Now, I’m sorry to rush this along a little, but this is something that must be addressed before it festers.”

Rainbow Dash imagined herself soothing out into a relaxing glide. Her hooves just barely grazing the grey sky-cotton.

“We need to talk about what happened on that horrible day.”

Rainbow’s lips suddenly closed. Her mouth quickly becoming very dry. Though she still felt the aches of her body and the seat she was in, she couldn’t look away from the window. She couldn’t look away from the image of herself losing the wind from beneath her wings. She fell right into the clouds.

“I can already see that you don’t want to talk about it, but you need to. It’s for your own good.”

No, she thought. Her breathing quickening, seeing her limbs flailing, trying to grasp at any tuft of passing cloud to keep herself afloat. Her hooves tore right through them. She was in full freefall as if gravity turned into a cold, grasping set of claws that was pulling her down with all of its might.

“So please, start from the beginning. Tell me as much as you can.”

Rainbow could still feel her hooves digging into the arms of her wheelchair. Her face tightening, becoming red, eyes glazing with a mist. She could see herself exploding out from below the clouds, able to see a clearing where a town once stood. Amidst the vast expansion of grass and dirt roads with trees all around the outskirts… there was now only a single lonesome building. She was coming at it at a neck-breaking speed.

“What happened at the Sugarcube Corner?”

Her hooves began to tremble and tremble violently. Her throat clamped in around itself. Her cheeks started to feel damp. The building had a cellar with a wooden door. With a crack like breaking bones it opened as a maw of wooden teeth. Rainbow flapped and flailed, but she was sucked right in by the unforgiving grasp of gravity, her imagined self screaming at the top of her lungs. She went blasting down what seemed like miles flying by, into stony depths that led into pure darkness. There, deep… deep down, under a dim, flickering basement light - looking up right at the falling pegasus was a single familiar face with a wide and twisted smile.

“Rainbow Dash, what did Pinkie Pie do to you?”

Twelve Years Later

Mouth stretched wide and eyes clenched shut, Rainbow Dash yawned. Normally she’d at least try to refrain from such an unprofessional attitude before a public crowd, but fortune smiled upon her as most of the day’s crowd was a bunch of inattentive school children. The mass of tiny hooves was far too busy swarming about the place with adults trying -futilely- to keep the chaos in check.

As Rainbow struggled to wait patiently for her signal to get back to work, she looked around the wide open area of the Visitors Centre as kids and families wandered from one section to the next. It looked more like a mall than the first level of a factory... and it was nothing short of a tourist trap. It did its job well as it made the perfect place for any field trip.

The section of the this attraction that always caught the most attention was the Playroom, meant for anyone young or young at heart. Yup. A factory with a playroom. Many visitors could hardly believe it even when they first saw it. It came equipped with all kinds of machines, games and activities to playfully simulate modern day rainbow making methods. Even came complete with a paintball room, which Rainbow sometimes made use of while off the clock. Looking over in its direction she felt the itch to go now and wreck a tiny challenger or two, but sadly she was still on the clock standing just before the entrance -and exit- of the Theater Room as it was currently hosting an employee orientation tour. Were it open it would be playing short documentaries, comedy skits and cartoons for the public.

The least interesting section to the swarming fillies and colts - but was a must see for any history buff - was the museum room. It housed displays of old tools, building models and informational cardboard props that covered many of the factory’s in the past publicised rainbow making methods. Not far from its entrance and all the others, set right in the center of the whole area, was the snack bar which was nothing particularly special. However, just across from it something caught Rainbow by surprise. There, roaming by an overpriced figure-stuffed gift shop cautiously eyeing its wares was a married couple; one Rainbow had not seen in too many years.

Almost as if imitating the fillies around her, Rainbow’s eyes lit up. She quickly looked over herself, making sure her grey business suit and bright red tie were perfectly presentable before quickly trotting past the black metal rimmed fencing that surrounded the many white tables of the snack area, right on over to the couple. “Mr. and Mrs. Shy,” she said gleaming. “What a surprise! I didn’t expect to see you two here!”

“R-Rainbow Dash?” Responded Mr. Shy, looking her way as if he suddenly spotted a hungry bear lumbering towards him. The wife immediately backed up a few steps, almost as if she was trying to place her stallion counterpart between her and approaching perceived danger.

Having noticed the fearful reaction that she should have seen coming, Rainbow eased her trot as to not scare off the skittish ponies. “No no no, don’t worry,” she tried to sooth their nerves with softer tones and less aggressive smiling. “My days of causing trouble are long gone now, I promise you.”

When she came to a stop feet away, the two worried faces looked down to Rainbow’s laminated badge.

“You… you work here?” Mrs. Shy spoke up, still not moving from behind her living meatshield.

“I don’t just work here,” Rainbow proudly puffed out her chest, putting that badge on display. “I’m the Head Manager.”

“Oh.” Just… ‘oh’. That alone from Mrs. Shy was enough enough to knock a good inch off of Rainbow’s already weakened smile. “Well… I guess uh… it’s nice that you’re doing fine. I guess.” She didn’t even try to meet the Head Manager’s gaze.

Rainbow just nodded along. “Uh, yeah. Yeah it is. Anyways,” she cleared her throat as if it would clear away all the unease around their vicinity. “How has Fluttershy been doing? Bet she’s doing pretty well too, right?”

The two parents had to exchange glances between each other before answering with their own timid nodding. “Yup. Doing well.” The short response wasn’t nearly as awkward as the ensuing silence.

After slowly straining her lips into a wide smile once again, Rainbow spoke up, trying in to resurrect the conversation with some positive energy. “So! You guys came here for a tour, right? Did you sign up yet? I’m sure we can get you squeezed into the last one. You guys will love it!”

Mr. Shy lowered his head. “Well, I was actually hoping to get to see the Cloud Generator room. Maybe even get a cloud sample from it. Must be a pretty impressive machine to keep one of the oldest and heaviest buildings in pegasi history halfway up the atmosphere.”

At that, Rainbow reared back almost as if he had pushed her. “Ohhh… Hmmm… that might be a problem. It’s in a highly restricted area. Buuuut,” she quickly added, “I think I might be able to pull some strings to get that to happen. Anything for Fluttershy’s awesome parents!”

Rainbow had tossed the bait and he looked ready to take it with a gleam of excitement. But before he could say a word, he was given a nudge. Looking back into his wife’s fearful gaze, that gleam was no more. “I-I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. I forgot we uh… we had another thing to do today.” He spoke uneasily as he and his wife began to backup.

“You sure?” Rainbow stepped forth, but not fast enough to keep pace. “The trip can be ‘on the house’ for you as well. You… you could even meet one of the heads of the entire factory. Wouldn’t that be great?”

“It would,” he said, all while still retreating. “But, you know… real important uh… thing to do elsewhere. Maybe another time.”

Once all offers were shot down the two were gone. Rainbow’s face grew heavy with a frown. To top off being so clearly ditched, one of the kids at the snack bar started crying and screaming like a blaring siren because he didn’t get his junk food. Suddenly, being inside the theater she had been guarding before didn’t seem like such a bad idea. She pushed through the double doors, just in time to catch the triumphant sound of an orchestra. It announced the end of the short recruitment film she had seen enough times that she could've repeated the script word for word.

Rainbow stepped out into the opening to face a couple earth ponies sitting amongst a crowd of empty chairs. One was a silver-eyed stallion with a coffee-brown coat and mismatched and frizzled sapphire mane. The other was a mare, her coat a light grass-green. Her ponytail mane as dark green as moss. Her eyes a nice glimmer of amber. Their names? Not important enough for Rainbow to remember yet. To her, one was New Operator Guy while the other was New Janitor Girl.

“Alright,” Rainbow bolstered her voice, “now that we have the welcoming video out of the way, anypony have any questions before we get to the tour segment?” The male's right hoof went up to which Rainbow shrugged. “This… isn't a classroom, but okay. What's your question?”

“So what's the real secret ingredient to the rainbow color spectrum?”

The manager's brow twitched, looking at New Operator Guy as if she just had been burdened with the dumbest pony in all of Equestria.

New Janitor Girl cleared her throat as she jabbed him with an elbow. “You numbskull. Didn't you listen to the video at all? You wanna get fired right away or something?”

“I was just curious how serious the secret is! I mean, come on! We're already contracted here, right? Shouldn't they just tell us already?”

“Dead ponies,” said Rainbow Dash, calling both to look at her stone faced expression. “We lure innocent little ponies here, grind them into tiny pieces and then mix them into a cauldron.” Robbed of words, the two just gawked. “Yup. We're all secretly witches and warlocks.”

The stallion cracked a smile before letting out a few soft honest laughs. The new girl shortly following with an awkward chuckle of her own. Rainbow couldn't contain her smirk even if she tried. “Seriously, the real thing is top secret. But don't worry. Do good work around here and you'll eventually join the Sector Two staff and get to see all the stuff we really put into our magnificent rainbows.”

Rainbow’s tour covered everything of importance from clock in stations to bathroom locations, each room passed having been filled with bright paints and often bright smiles. But the trip wasn’t too long as the entirety of Sector One spanned only three floor levels - minus the forth basement level and half of the main level as it was dedicated to the Visitor Center.

The second floor is where most of the final production took place. Though the whole area was dedicated to industrial work and few office spaces, it was about just as happy looking as the floor below, sporting plenty of stone walls as white as clouds and floors clean enough to glisten like polished teeth. There was multicolored window and door frames, some walls painted with swirls of clouds, and various decorations along hallways. All in all, it seemed more like a dream factory than one just for rainbows. Doubly so as the First Sector came complete with a cozy nap room and full sized cafeteria; everything a factory needed to take proper care of its staff.

Having just exited the last room on the mental tour list, Rainbow stood before the two just outside of the door. “And that's that for the final production process. Now, any questions before we move on?” Operator Guy opened his mouth and was instantly cut off by Rainbow. “Any questions that aren't incredibly stupid.”

“No no.” The stallion shook his head and kept his smile that seemed to have left permanent perky dents in his cheeks. “I just wanted to say that this process is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. But why go through with such an effort? I never really saw anything wrong with just letting rainbows form from light reflecting off moisture in the atmosphere.”

“Oh psh!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Natural Rainbows? Those dull things? Please. They are very distant second place runners compared to our product. They wish they could be our rainbows, which as you know is something we've perfected for over a thousand years and many billions of bits. With our powerfully vibrant ribbons spreading across the entire land, nothing else makes ponies as happy and nothing else stands quite as tall as a symbol for equine unity and strength. Next question.”

The manager pointed to Janitor Girl. She rather habitually cleared her throat before speaking. “That kinda leads me to my question: how does this place stay financially stable within a free market economy? Nopony really buys the product, do they? You just take it and throw it in the air while staffing well over a couple hundred ponies. I know about receiving tax payments and all, but how is that enough to keep this massive business afloat? No pun intended.”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Rainbow waved a hoof. “First off, that's a pretty smart question coming a mare suited only for cleaning toilets.”

The pony responded with dull eyes and a tone to match. “Thanks. What can I say? Cleaning is my passion.”

“Second off, new rule: no more boring questions either. Go take that up with the eggheads in the finance department. I don't have time to stand around and explain that. Now, let's get moving. I have one last thing to show.”

The two followed as Rainbow would point their attention upwards. “I'm sure you've both noticed the security cameras littered throughout the building by now. We have eyes everywhere. So you better think twice before napping at your workstation. If a manager doesn't catch you breaking the rules, the cameras will. If the cameras don't, security guards will.

“On top of that,” Rainbow pulled out an identification card from inside the neck of her suit. The light around shimmered right off of its laminated surface. “You'll each be given a Sector One security badge at the end of today. Hold onto it like your life depends on it as it is your literal key to getting around here to where you need to be. If you forget your badge at home, we'd rather have you be late and go get it. If you try to get around on someone else's security badge, that's grounds for termination. Immediate termination if you try to piggyback on a higher security clearance.”

“That’s a lot of security for a secret recipe,” the stallion commented.

“It’s not just for that. Call it ironic, but this job is far from being all ‘rainbows and sunshine’. All around this factory, we have tech that we don’t want getting into the wrong hooves. We slip on that and our business suffers and jobs could be lost. So yes, we take our security very seriously.”

Dead ahead, the path they traversed broke off in a T shape with a large pearl-coated elevator door marked with a massive S2 in the middle of the split. To the right of the elevator, an electric pad, clearly for scanning the aforementioned ID cards. To the left, a security guard.

Just like the rest of the guards they passed fitting the tour, this one was sharply dressed in a black suit and tie, coming equipped with a pair of black gloves and an earpiece attached to a brick radio on the backside of his belt. The two newbies couldn’t help but feel like they were in a military base each time they saw a guard lift a hoof in salute to Rainbow Dash who would then return a nod.

The Head Manager stopped center of the door and turned about. “If you couldn't make the educated guess, this big elevator here is the only path to Sector Two. Once you put in 90 days of experience and earn our trust, you'll be eligible to drop your temporary employment status, get a pay upgrade, a full benefits package, and a Sector Two pass to come work with us Top Dogs. Till then, if I you even loiter around this door, well… I’m sure you remember our chat about grounds for immediate termination. This here is a big one. Have I made myself clear?”

They nodded as Rainbow looked past to another two ponies that were approaching. Two stallions, a stocky bronze coated earth pony with a peach mane and a silver coated unicorn with a matching silver mane.

“Perfect timing,” Rainbow greeted with a grin. “Brass Mass. Brave Bolt. New Operator Guy. New Janitor Girl.” In a polite fashion, the four exchanged hoofshakes and quiet greetings as Rainbow talked over them. “These two are actually on their way to becoming Sector Two workers today. So this where I would break off with you newbies and let your safety trainer take things from here. You’ll then be meeting with the Sector One Manager, each of your primary trainers and all… but…” Rainbow took a quick look around. “Looks like your safety trainer is late. Of course.”

For many minutes they all stood and waited. A couple guards passed by. A single other pencil pusher too. The two fresh meats got to chatting about bits of their work history with the other two more experienced co-workers. Rainbow just kept impatiently looking around. Amidst the chatter, the manager announced with a dull tone, “by the way you're all fired.” Every pony looked to her, eyes wide. Even the more experienced workers had their mouths hanging slightly agape. “I told you all that you'd be terminated for loitering in front of this door.”

“What?” said Bolt.

The new female looked as as if she could start sweating buckets as the new male spoke up for them all. “Y-you’ve gotta be kidding us!”

“I am.” Rainbow looked past them all, seeming to not be even slightly interested in her own joking around. The group found the ability to chuckle though several members looked to be recovering from heart attacks.

A soft melody announcing the arrival of the elevator whisked away the awkward moment. The big, pearl-white, imposing door slid upwards. Eagerly, the tour group looked inside as if they'd spot a company secret or two, only to discover disappointment. It was just an elevator that carried a single earth pony.

Half Hazard was his name. The male clearly in his mid 20’s had a light-blue coat several shades away from Rainbow's, a short trimmed turquoise mane and wonderfully bright yellow eyes. He didn't bother wearing a suit so his cutie mark was exposed. It was of a long rectangle with angled black and yellow stripes.

Rainbow Dash looked at him as if he we're a blister in her side. It was a look he had grown used to seeing given their reaching single year of working together. No matter how kind and well mannered he was, he always got that look. She had never told him why. Perhaps it was because she saw saw weakness in his meager attitude, or perhaps it was because - unlike her - he was hired right into high ranks as a desperately needed safety manager. Either way, Rainbow almost never respectfully referred to him by his name.

“Oh I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting,” Half Hazard said with a shaky smile as he dodged his way around Rainbow Dash, the door closing behind him.

“Rookie,” the manager grumbled lowly.

“Sorry, sorry!” He waved a hoof as if it would help brush away that usual harsh stare she shot at him. “We had another ‘River Incident’! Thankfully, it was short lived and nopony was hurt. So no need to shut down the spectrum flow this time. Still, we need more lights and rails in there! I was sifting through the paperwork to make it happen and I just lost track of time is all.”

He clasped his forehooves together as he looked to the group, quickly figuring which were the newbies and spoke mainly to them. “Okay then! Hello. Greetings. Hola.” He bowed his head after putting a much bigger and far chipper smile across his face. “I'm the Safety Manager of this facility. My name is Half Hazard, or Rookie, according to Rainbow Dash. Today I've been appointed to be your Safety Trainer.” He passed by, motioning for the fresher faces to follow. The two looked rather at ease as they branched off to keep in step with the rather peppy earth pony.

Brass and Bolt turned eyes from the exiting three at the sound of the sacred elevator being reopened. “Gentlemen,” said Rainbow Dash as she stepped aside, holding out a hoof that urged them to enter first. But there was something very off putting by the slowly widening smile of their boss, making their steps rather hesitant. “Allow me to be the first to welcome you into Sector Two.”

The trio boarded and the elevator slowly crawled its way upwards as it passed by layer after layer of empty floors. The two graduates stayed on the far end of the elevator, away from their smirking boss who casually leaned against the door as she spoke. “Congratulations on passing your Fresh Meat status. You’ve done hard work, stayed in line and just been all around good little pups. But your training still isn’t over.”

“It isn’t?” The ever so quiet Brass looked rather insulted at the idea. “How much more do we really have to go?”

“You told your family and friends you might be gone for a couple weeks or so, right? Going on a… private company vacation?” Rainbow watched the two nod. “Very good. That’s how long you’ve got to turn from pups to dogs.”

They reached the end of the climb. Another chime and the door parted upwards. The air suddenly turned musty and felt thick and heavy. The gentle sounds of pumping industry had faded fully away, kept on the floor level left behind. Instead, the subtle hum of buzzing lights washed in through the open door. Whatever heavy industry the two expected seemed to be further off down the walls of the wide and barren halls they and another door guard occupied. The only thing the two could tell that was ahead were several open doors to offices, each bustling with the sounds of chatter and hooves tapping on keyboards.

Around their immediate area, the usual bright whites and other various high-contrast colors that decorated nearly every corner of the first sector… were now gone. With the exception of door signs, the wide space around didn’t have a thick stroke of paint anywhere else in sight. The only colors present were the hues of concrete, metal, and glass with variations of shades and rust.

Once again, Rainbow Dash walked and talked with that odd smile as others followed. “Don't be nervous,” she said rather cheerfully without even looking back. “A real change of scenery here, I know. The environment is a little more… honest looking, if you ask me. You'll learn to appreciate it. Besides, up here there are more flexible work hours and no more need for you to smile all damn day for visitors.”

Neither stallion responded as they were lead past several turns, catching only short glimpses into pipe-filled corridors that led off into the unknown.

They arrived at a plain swinging metal door with two guards at its side. Both dressed identically in their black suits, white undershirts, black neckties and black gloves, much like the guards in the lower sector. However, these ones came equipped with mouth-less balaclavas over their heads and stun batons hanging from their belts. They didn’t smile either, only saluted as the Head Manager approached. Suddenly, the two followers felt like they were more of in a prison than a proper company.

Rainbow Dash stopped several feet before the door and faced the touring duo, her expression rather glowing. “Today, I have a special test ready just for you two. You both have been very reliable so far, so let's try to see how reliable you can really be.” With a nod to the guards, the group was led through the door. Once it was closed, the painful scrape of metal against metal signaled that the door was locked behind them.

If there was any indication of what kind of room they entered, it was the carpeted floor containing imprints of past office furniture that had been moved long ago. Each corner of the rather medium-sized room was occupied by a guard, each dressed the same as the ones just outside the door. They stood astute, sharply monitoring the newcomers. At the very center of the room was the only piece of remaining furniture. It stood out like a buoy in a ocean and was quick to draw the attention of the greenhorns. It was a single large chair with a bright white sheet fully covering it. The luminescent lights above making the clean fabric glow almost as if it were a sleet of snow under sunlight.

The trainees stopped several feet from the sealed entrance and exit as they eyed the suspicious furniture. It didn't take them long to deduce that there was something odd outlining the sheets from under underneath: another pony. It sat upright and still with its head hung low. Just the tips of its hind hooves could be seen dangling below the rim of the covers.

“Ooookay,” said Bolt, his eyes fighting to look away from the chair. “Do I wanna know what’s going on here? Please tell me that's a party clown waiting to jump out and pie us in the face.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she crossed the empty space to the center of the stage to stand with the chair. “You're not in a frat house anymore, Bolt; There are no surprise parties or hazing tricks here… at the moment. This is all very real.” Rainbow, on her hind legs, wrapped her right forelimb over the top of the chair and reached her left hoof over to deliver several taps to the cheek of the pony beneath the sheet.

It stirred from its slumber; chin lifted and its head turned from one side to another in a very groggy manner. “Hmph?” It - sounding female - tried to speak, but couldn't.

“This right here… is a traitor,” Rainbow announced as if letting even the high heavens know of the mystery pony’s sin. “She too got this far, became one of us top dogs up here... became almost family even.”

The nameless pony stirred even more, her weak limbs struggling against hidden binds as the words of the Head Manager seemed to sink in. “We trusted her… but she turned on us. She tried to sneak out information and expose the top secret ingredient of our precious product.”

Having felt Rainbow's hoof touch her shoulder, the pony beneath the blanket started to violently thrash her torso. Her head shook wildly and her fully awakened body lifted over and over as she attempted to pull her limbs free. If Rainbow hadn’t been holding the back of the chair, it likely would’ve tipped to the floor.

“You two wanna know what that ingredient is?” Rainbow's cruel smirk and cold stare pierced right into the two trainees, able to see the disbelief, confusion and growing fear that held them in place. “You're looking at it.”

The blinded and bound mare then unleashed a muffled, bone-chilling scream for help into her gag. The two sweating stallions thought of attempting to step in to answer her calling, but their horrified stares couldn’t help but stray to the statuesque guards around them.

Rainbow Dash continued. “Ponies are the key to the most vivid colors you’ve ever seen. Do you ever wonder where all the—” she was cut off by another muffled, but still rather loud scream that ravaged the throat of the captive. Rainbow’s brow twitched. Her smile slightly faded. She waited a moment before trying to yell to the trainees over the constantly wailing. “Don't you ever wonder where all the sick, weak, and useless pegasi go?! They don't all just—!” Rainbow Dash cut herself off this time as the other mare’s screams continued to defy her gag, growing more and more frantic.

Rainbow took to frowning. “You know what? Gimme a sec.” She raised a hoof before brutally slamming it into the captive’s gut. The nameless mare crumpled within the chair as her spit hit the blanket. Her sounds of distress turned into choking.

“You done?” Rainbow asked the captive who could only respond with gagging and tearful whimpers. After taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash looked back to the greenhorns with that familiar, pleased smirk. “So, as I was saying… you know those pegasi that often just up and leave, have been sent off across the land, ran away, or anything of that sort? Well, news flash, that’s not true for all of them. The weak and stupid ones - especially the trouble makers often end up here, putting the last bit of their pitiful lives to use as we extract what we need to make the best and brightest product possible. As a bonus, it purges all the bad equine DNA from potentially spreading into the future of Equestria.”

The covered mare whimpered ever louder as Rainbow’s hoof leisurely rested on her head, as if she an extension of the furniture.

“So, now that you finally know what the main ingredient is,” the manager spoke as she rather teasingly rubbed the mare's head in a circular motion, “time for you to… mix it?” Rainbow Dash paused and looked upward in open thought. “Well, not that you're actually extracting what we need this time for rainbows, just giving you two practice in… stirring the ingredient?” She shook her head. “Actually that still doesn't work because she's not the ingredient in whole, but she - just like everypony else, holds the key to… you know what? Screw it. This analogy sucks.”

Rainbow Dash took a few steps to the side, away from the chair as she eyed the gawking two. “Just kill her; get some blood on your hooves. Prove that we can trust you with our secret.”

The two greenhorns looked between each other, their manager, the guards and the sobbing victim. Finally, Bolt spoke for the two of them, his voice hoarse at first attempt. He swallowed and tried again. “Wh-why?” He eyed only the manager as she lifted a single brow. “For what purpose?! To… to make rainbows more appealing? To ‘cleans bad genes’? Are… are you serious?! I thought… this sort of stuff was a myth! A rumor! A joke! Have you all seriously lost your minds?! This is just monstrous! This is—” His mouth immediately shut when he noticed far too late that Rainbow was on the move, having lunged into flight.

Bolt wasn't even given a full second to finishing turning about to figure out how to escape. He instead found himself slammed against the door before hitting his left side on the floor. The sound of popping bones rang clear as a near shoulder-shattering kick sent him rolling onto his back. A hind hoof then stepped down onto his soft and exposed throat and stayed there.

“I'm sorry, was that the sound of disobedience?” Rainbow Dash asked with a sneer as she watched the guy struggle for breath from beneath her muscular leg as it slowly applied more and more pressure. “Looks like somepony forgot their place here.”

Brass - tempted by the call of heroism - did take a single step towards the two. Right on that beat, he found himself face to face with a masked guard on his hindlegs with his forelegs crossed over his chest. The lone presence of that soldier looking as mighty as he did tall kept Brass at bay, forcing him to only watch as his coworker struggled for his breaths.

Bolt was trying to beat and pry away Rainbow’s powerful hind leg, but the knocks he took stole away more than just his breath.

“Tell you what, Brass,” Rainbow eyed only Bolt with the smile of a devil as she kept her cool. “If the girl back there doesn't stop breathing in the next thirty seconds, this guy here will.” She only gave the bigger stallion a glance. “Followed by you. And then her. It's either one or all, big guy, so pick quick. You're gonna be faced with this situation more than you know, so time to get used to it and make the right choice.”

Rainbow Dash’s ear flicked as she watched the set of eyes at her hind hooves’ level struggled to not roll back. She was simply listening to the blanketed mare sobbing uncontrollably, but couldn’t hear any steps being made. Then the twisted manager's voice range ever louder. “One. Two. Three. Four….”

Movement alone stopped the aloud countdown. Steps thundered across the room and a shrieking battle cry announced the end of the charge. Brass’ right forehoof mercilessly connected with the imprisoned mare. His strike to her cloth-covered face was so violent that her muzzled snapped to the side and smacked against the back of the chair. The furniture toppled back and onto its side, sliding several feet away even on the rough terrain of the carpet. Her crying stopped. He looked down at his work, hoping he made her end a quick and painless one.

Rainbow Dash had peeked over her shoulder. “I still see breathing, Greenhorn. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.”

Brass clenched his eyes shut, letting out a few tears before kneeling over the fallen mare. One shaky blow after another, the cover over the mare’s face turned red. The sound of cracking bone sounding like breaking rocks turned to crunching. Seven blows in, the strapped down pony was as still as could be.

“Oh wow.” Sinister lips split wide across Rainbow’s face before she lifted her hoof from a bruised throat. She then clapped as she stared at the finished dark deed. “Very good! Here I thought you'd try to go for a simple choke race, but a full relentless thrashing? Now that was awesome.”

The clicks of her clapping hooves ceased and those hooves came to her hips. A breath of success filled her chest. “Ahhhh~! Well, again, congratulations! This time on surviving the first Loyalty Test. I can't wait to see if you two make it to the final one.” She kept her proud grin massive even as she watched Brass turn his head to cry out before unloading a torrent of vomit. “Looks like you two need a break,” she continued. “Take ten. These fine gentlemen here will escort you through your next many days of Sector Two training. Before you know it, you'll be one of us, helping to paint Equestria a brighter future.”

Rainbow Dash turned to the only door and gave it a couple wraps. It clicked and opened. “Oh, one piece of advice.” She stopped in her tracks to look to the broken greenhorns. “When you get your benefits package, do fill out that mass of paperwork and turn it in as soon as possible. The sooner the better as that paperwork only gets cycled here quarterly. Besides, you'll love the dental coverage; it's amazing.”

Author's Note

A simple introductory chapter made for those who never read the original Rainbow Factory - of course, with my own touches. To those who read the original fics: don't worry, there will be plenty of new material ahead.

Chapter 2 - Opportunity

Any new recruits making it to work closer to the true heart of the factory had to be tested and even retrained in more ways than one. They were to be shipped off to a hidden camp. Once there, everything they once knew about life in Equestria was to be torn apart, allowing a new foundation of understanding to be built. It was a long a grueling process and quite a costly investment. But until the they returned from their ‘ vacation’, this is where Rainbow Dash’s involvement ended. She could only wonder if they’ll return as anything samely to their old selves. It was always hard to tell.

Wondering about all of this and her devious test, there was a bit of a strut in Rainbow Dash's stride, glad to finally have pushed her run-in with Mr. and Mrs. Shy out of mind. But her trailing thoughts didn’t distract her from a clear destination. What did distract was her beeping watch, practically yelling at her that it was time for her annual second dosage of the day. She made a detour for the nearest break room.

This one was small and rather cramped, with a few square tables and humming vending machines. Up in a single corner, a hanging television silently displaying some news feed that was of no interest to Rainbow. Already waiting inside the room, making it feel ever more cramped, was one big pegasus.

He occupied a single chair, gently blowing on what was likely his third or fourth cup of coffee of the day. His jaw was thick and strong, yet his belly was big enough to fold over his belt. He often wore a cheap white buttoned up shirt - complete with rolled up sleeves along with some tan slacks. His fur coat was the color of peaches and his buzz cut mane, mustache and short-cut tail were a dirty shade of orange.

“Sargent Scanner,” Rainbow Dash nodded on her way past to the only vending machine in the room. “Lemme guess, the security office coffee brewer broke again?”

The large stallion’s eyes, green as emeralds, flashed her way. “Yup,” He said, his voice all gruff. “That and just givin’ my eyes a break from staring at monitors all day. Still, I think it's about time we throw ol’ faithful to the scrap heap.”

“What a shame,” said Rainbow Dash as she fished through her pockets for bits. “That coffee machine has gotta be the hardest worker in that room. Surprised it lasted this long.”

There was a burst of deep laughter almost strong enough to spill a few drops of Scanner’s hot drink onto his already pit-stained shirt. “Same here! Surprised they didn't label it Chief of Security instead. It even has a couple work years on me.”

Having acquired her desired canned drink from a vending machine, Rainbow Dash moved to a nice and cool-like lean against a nearby wall and crack open the ice-cold beverage. The pop of its top drew a bit of attention.

“Flim Flam Flurm again? Really?” asked Scanner as he sipped from his hot brew.

“Okay, how many times do we have to have this conversation?” said Rainbow as she rolled her eyes before she fished through her pockets to pull out a bottle of pills.

“I'm just saying, at least I know what goes into my cup.”

She huffed. “And I don't care about what's in mine as long as it tastes like there’s a party in my mouth and everypony there brought ecstasy.” She chuckled, not at her own tasteless joke, just at Scanner’s look of distaste before she focused on twisting the white cap off the tiny murky-orange bottle. “Besides, I like to have something tasty to wash down these bitter pills.”

“I get ya, but really, that's a description I could have gone without today,” Scanner shook his head, watching as she popped one of the white tablets before chasing it down with several gulps of sugary soda. “Speaking of parties, though I know it’s pointless to ask, but… me and some of the others guys n’ gals are getting together again this Friday and—”

“Pass,” Rainbow stated, her voice suddenly devoid of emotion.

“Well don't say that I didn't try for about the millionth time. You know, it wouldn't hurt to relax with us once in awhile. Besides, maybe you could actually make a friend or something.” He was then quietly eyeballed as if he could not have said anything less interesting. “Alright, rejection received.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the clock then chugged down the rest of her drink. Casting professionalism aside for a moment, she belch then wiped a bit of dribble on the back of a hoof.

“And where you off to in a hurry?”

“As much as I'd love to stick around, I have a meeting to make.”

Oh. Almost forgot to throw away her can. With a toss to the bin from across the room… two points.

Up not too far past the recently used recruitment room and towards the end of the cubicle-filled sections of offices where fun and color seems to go to die out, there was an equally plain staircase... then suddenly cushy carpet, all soft and crimson red. Luxurious decorations of gold and silver aligned the connected upper hallway and the overpopulated pricey looking portraits of posh ponies that appeared. It was as if stepping from depressing slums straight into a lavish mansion that sat like a crowned room above the many peasants; a very peculiar and utmost pompous design choice to Rainbow.

As soon as she made her first step into what seemed to be a hall for royalty, a peculiar noise of rhythmic thumping had Rainbow Dash lifting a brow. As she continued onward, it grew louder and louder in an area that was often as quiet as could be.

Is that… drumming? She thought.

That fancy hall stretched for many paces before the right side bubbled off into a semicircle aligned with eight hardwood doors, each fancifully carved. Six of them were labeled with names that most workers would carefully use. The remaining nameless two had been left to be nothing but cellars for dust. Along the flat wall to the left, an important set of large hardwood double doors faced the others… but it wasn’t where the noise was coming from.

Entering the half-circle, it was most certainly music… muffled, chaotic and incoherent music, turned up loud enough that even the soundproofed walls all around felt like they could fall apart trying to contain it.

As Rainbow looked about, expecting one of the doors to be vibrating off its hinges, she spotted two maskless guards. One leaned next to the double doors. The other, next to the door marked ‘Silk Sway’. By no means were these any ordinary guards.

Though they dressed in the same black as the rest, their cuffs and undershirts were red enough to match the hall’s carpet. Miniature gold and diamond pins were attached; a small one for each cuff of the jackets with a large pin placed just below the knot of their sold black ties. They were proud symbols of the elite guards.

If Rainbow Dash were any other low ranked worker that wasn’t requested to be there, she’d promptly be sent off the way she came. The two present merely nodded to her as she passed by towards the guarded single door.

The instant it was opened, the sound of screeching guitars, slamming drums, and the shouts of one pissed-off pony - that sang as if he was being stabbed to death - blasted out and down the halls. Directly across the thumping office, a tall, lanky mare in reading glasses was working away behind her large desk.

She had fur and feather colored like that of asparagus. Her mane and tail as dark as charcoal, both tied with silver silk ribbons. A few shallow lines on her face faintly hinted at her status as a more experienced mare than Rainbow, but there weren’t enough to make one even consider calling her old. Her suit, olive black, hardly a shade darker than a guard’s but clearly much more over-priced, complete with pinstripes shimmering like polished platinum. Her necktie was just as silver as her hair ties and had a small ruby pin piercing its knot.

The well-kept mare didn't dance, nod to the beat, tap her hooves, nor hum. Even as the thunderous music rattled the walls, she endured it with near tranquility as she looked over a series of notepads, casually marking away with a massive quill.

“Director!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs from the doorway. Even so, she could barely hear her own voice. She then yelled one more time, “Director Silk!” Even added a wave. This caught the other mare’s attention. The near ear-bleeding blast of soundwaves was ceased, replaced by a voice so smooth and comforting that it might as well have been the audible form of actual silk.

“Oh, Miss Dash,” the mare smiled kindly as she removed her spectacles. “I wasn’t expecting you for at least… another twelve minutes.”

Rainbow stood in the frame, her head tilt slightly to her left.“It’s not that early. Plus, I just wanna get this meeting on and over with, you know? Hope you don’t mind me cuttin’ in like this.”

“Not at all.” The director was already out of her chair, joining Rainbow out the door while locking it behind her. The elite guard that was at her door tailed them, but at a comfortable distance.

“So just what were you doing in there? Having your own personal concert?” asked Rainbow.

“Well, simulating one, really. I was studying a new brand of music, one referred to as,” she added air quotes, “Death Metal. As far as I know, it doesn't involve actual death in a literal manner, more of just singing of dark and dreary thoughts - often with the loudest notes possible.” She stopped next to the centerpiece bench of the half circle expanse, tapping a hoof to her chin. “It is quite fascinating to see such vulgar music slowly becoming a popular stimulus to young ponies around Equestria, especially in times where major conflicts are a distant memory. However, it remains to be seen what kind of impact this musical trend will have. Will it provide a healthy emotional outlet? Or will it influence self-destructive tendencies that—” She stopped, having spotted Rainbow Dash’s wandering gaze. “My apologies, this doesn't pertain to your interest, does it?”

“Nope,” Rainbow's answer was about as blunt as a sledgehammer in full swing.

Letting the topic be crushed, Silk shook her head with her smile still spread. “Very well. So, how did your testing go today go?”

There, like a lightbulb come to life, Rainbow suddenly glowed with interest. “Oh it went great. Only with a little pressure, I got Brass Mass to snap like a twig. He straight up flattened the rat! He’s a total shoe in. On the other hoof, there’s Brave Bolt. He could do alright. Maybe. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“So when you say, ‘a little pressure’....”

“Don’t worry! I did just as I promised and kept physical damage to a minimal. Trust me. Go back and watch the security footage if you want. The most they’ll have to worry about is a couple bruises and a sore throat. The only life lost was the rat’s.”

“And the other fresh recruits?”

“One’s is kinda thick in the head. The other is clearly as green as they come… and no, I’m not making a cute pun there.”

“Didn’t even think to ask.”

“And the third recruit you said was coming... well he didn’t even show up. Heck, he wasn’t even listed. Unless, you’re adamant about him being given a second chance, he’s out.”

Silk gave a satisfied nod. “I suppose we’ll have to pick at that later. For now, shall we continue?” She gestured to the double doors, which it’s guard had unlocked and opened for the two.

Inside the large, expansive full-circle meeting room, Rainbow expected at least half the seats at its central roundtable to be filled with ponies waiting on her arrival. Only one seat was taken. In another seat off against a wall, was another elite guard, Cloudchaser; an old acquaintance and training partner over the weekends. Betraying the professional look of her enriched jewel-encrusted guard suit, her demeanor was as relaxed as could be. Very fitting with her frilled hair and frosted tips. She welcomed the Head Manager with a rather thuggish nod and grin.

At the table, in his drab lab coat only spiced up with his favorite striped tie, sat Director Atmosphere — or as he preferred, Doctor Atmosphere. Coat as red as dried blood. His hair as brown as deep dirt. His amber eyes soulless with boredom. He looked the oldest of the group as time and stress clearly took a toll on his complexion.

“Ah,” he said with a voice made scratchy by years of yelling. He glanced from his notepad, but didn’t bother to close it. “Glad I wasn’t kept waiting too long.”

“Doctor,” said Silk with a hint of surprise. “I was under the impression that you were not joining us for the meeting.”

“I’m not. There’s been a last minute change of plans as climate studies call for me to be out of town for quite some time. So, I thought I’d take advantage of this little get-together to query Rainbow Dash about her medication, rather than next week for which I might not be present.”

“Very well,” said Silk, looking slightly less perturbed than Rainbow. “But do make it quick. We have a very important schedule to keep.”

Doctor Atmosphere didn’t even nod. Just looked straight to Rainbow Dash as she sat at the table and begun immediately. “Have you been keeping up on the prescribed intake of your mood stabilizers?”

Rainbow first looked to Cloudchaser, who left them all to their privacy by stepping out of the room. Once the doors were closed, Rainbow returned the answer. “Yeah. Three a day. Up to two extra if feeling overly anxious or whatever.”

“No more and no less.” The doctor added. “Have you often been needing to take extra?”

“I… sometimes take an extra before bed.”

“Interesting,” added Silk. She took to sitting down at the far end of the roundtable. Her astute posture and puffed chest physically commanded respect, even as she softly spoke, just loud loud enough for them to hear her clearly. “Does that extra one help rid you of the night terrors?”

Rainbow Dash found herself looking between the two, speaking as if she was about to tell a joke. “You know, it never gets any less weird seeing that one boss is my psychologist and the other is my psychiatrist.”

“Well you’re lucky,” the doctor raised his voice in a flash of irritation masking a surge of deep, growing anger. His eyes no kinder. “Either I got to crack you open like an egg for some studying or get the opportunity to inject you with experimental medication. Had to do something after you killed two of our own… not shortly after you lost your cool and killed that recruit. Remember? Remember the ‘mules’ you used to get killed before their proper sacrifice with your silly little hunting games? All of that glorious spectrum flushed down a proverbial toilet.” After such sharp words, he might as well have scowled and pointed at her like a judge to the guilty, ready to throw down the anvil.

Rainbow was caught off tilt, having witnessed such a nonchalant quip spark a rather venomous attempt to dig up her skeletons and hold them over her. He hadn't done so before. Why now? Unless one's mistakes reflected on his own work, he was rather passive.

“I know, I know,” Rainbow said, trying sweep the subject aside. “I remember.”

“Do you know how hard it is for our Infowar team to cover up the death of recruits? Do you know how long it takes to train guards? Do you know how much spectrum we lose when sacrificing stiffs?”

Suddenly being second guessed as if she was some greenhorn oaf, a tick of irritation nipped at her as well. “Doctor, it has been years. I know by now. Trust me.”

“Then know before you complain again: I saved your life by agree to this therapy thing with Silk. Otherwise, I would’ve—”

“Enough,” said Silk, her voice having dropped deep and hard, but never turned to yelling. Her suddenly emotionless yellow eyes flashed over the doctor, who in return leaned back into his chair. Like a dumped cold bucket of water, she smoldered the embers of an argument. Seeing that the elder stallion kept his lips sealed for the moment, Silk's gaze rewarmed as did her tone when she looked back to Rainbow.

“Ms. Dash, we have made such wonderful progress so far. Yes, especially with the doctor’s prescription. As uncomfortable as it makes you, I dare not undue our achievements by passing you back to my subordinates. They will fail as they have before - not that I have a lack of faith in their skills, but because you have issues with listening to anypony with a lack of authority. But enough of this. Doctor, care to wrap this checkup a little quicker?”

Looking to the makeshift patient, he sighed, letting his anger be snuffed into dullness. “Are there any apparent side effects yet? Nausea, headaches, exhaustion, ect.”

“I’d say there’s the side effect of both some slight exhaustion accompanied by a horrible taste. Nothing I can’t handle, but... think I’d be able to stop taking them soon?”

He shook his head. “Absolutely not. Going cold turkey is asking for problems, same as taking too many.”

“She meant ‘gradually’,” corrected Silk. “It is something we might have to consider after the next few weeks or so.” She glanced to a wall-hung clock. “Now, will that be all, Doctor?”

He shifted an uncomfortable look between Silk and his open notebook before shrugging off whatever minor questions he had. “I… suppose that’ll do for today.”

Doctor Harbinger had closed his book and began his departure. Just as he touched the door, he stopped, turning his head just enough to look to the two with one eye filled with what Rainbow could only describe to herself as a calm uncertainty. “Farewell, and to you, Rainbow Dash… good luck.” Then he was gone.

Good luck? She was perplexed by these words and his shift of tone from what was once soft-boiled anger that then became a calm bit of… sympathy? Rainbow immediately looked to the acting director for meaning.

Silk Sway had not batted a second glance to the parting associate, as if she already had him solved, which was very likely. The mare did have a rather uncanny ability to get into the heads of those around her and she most certainly had an occupied living quarters in his. So instead, Rainbow was the soul star of Silk’s full attention. “Finally,” she said with a soft smile inching back to life. “Though, honestly, that did rather well pertain to what we have to talk about here, albeit with an unintended tone of negativity.”

Rainbow had peered around at the lack of attendees. They must’ve forgotten to show up. “And… it’s just us?”

The director nodded.

“Okay… why are we talking about it here, in this big empty room? If it was gonna be just you and me in the first place, why not just do this in your office?”

“I'll get to that in just a moment,” said Silk, her voice soothing and relaxing like that of a nightclub singer backed by the soft notes of a sax. “But first, in lieu of glossing over those negative notes of his, I would actually like to go over the positive contributions you have made over the past 10 years. Well, nearly 11, counting your own trial period before you were hired as a guard.”

Feeling a shower of compliments coming, Rainbow wasn’t eager to interrupt. So she did nothing more than puff her chest proudly.

Silk’s gaze slightly shifted to the side, as if reading off an invisible list somewhere next to Rainbow’s head. “For one, you’re always early or right on time, as if being present is a race to you.” She wasn’t wrong. Rainbow did race her way to work nearly every day. “On top of that, you almost always stay late. Heck, you practically live here with a claimed space down in the Nap Room. I don’t even recall you taking vacation time, less I told you to. The only pony I’ve seen with that much commitment is… well, the doctor. You’ve also become very efficient with organizing, especially when it comes to scheduling.”

Rainbow remembered that being the hardest thing to master around her manager promotional period. It was so much easier to direct guards when she became one of the security leads… but conducting hard hats and pencil pushers? A whole different world. Only after some coaching from Silk back then, Rainbow got into the winning mentality of looking at managing the factory as if she were organizing the world’s biggest and ‘most awesomest’ hoofball team. It’s a team she became rather proud of.

“So while you’ve helped ramp up production, you’ve also been pretty good about diffusing conflicts. Many respect you; though mostly out of fear for understandable reasons. I didn’t want to tell you this before because I’m not encouraging it, but it seems that the wide-reaching whispered story of you lashing out on those two guards had created a bit of a mental bullwhip. So, a bit of positivity did come from that horrible situation. Just… don’t ever do it again.”

Rainbow shook her head, both at the faint doubt buried in the director’s voice and to shake off the memories like a mild case of fleas. Every time those two casualties were brought up, like the flashes of cameras she’d see their disfigured faces, battered in like bloody dough mounds. “Sir,” said Rainbow, like every other time she’d try to sway Silk. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

Silk briefly pursed her lips, as if locking back a comment about distrust before continuing. “Well, in the end, respect is still respect. You’ve earned a lot of it and that is no small feat, considering the rather and often rowdy crew we’ve got. Speaking of earnings, it was your idea that sparked the creation of the Visitor’s Center. It has been wonderful for our image and has been packed with student field trips and vacation goers to the point that we we're already starting to turn a profit a year into its opening. Capitalizing on the factory’s historical value has probably been one of our best financial decisions in ages. Gold Shoe even requested that I praise you for such on his behalf.”

“Director Gold Shoe… praising?” said Rainbow Dash. “I thought that was only a legend pulled from ancient scripture.” The two shared a smirk.

“Oh it’s real. You may not see praise from the others quite so much, but it’s there. Some of us still haven’t forgotten how you helped to convince others into agreeing to opening up our facility to more unicorns and earth ponies. Not only did it open up access to a good resource of hard workers, it opened up a wider pool of… mules to sacrifice. I don’t think anypony will be forgetting any time soon the way Doctor Atmosphere danced through the factory once he was able to discover how to extract such glorious spectrum from unicorns.”

“Oh yeah! Scanner still has the security footage on file too. We sometimes watch it for a good laugh. The look on ponies faces as he shuffles and slides on by… priceless.”

Silk’s chest briefly rumbled with a soft chuckle before she sighed and tilted her head, keeping a rather pleasantly playful look about her. “How does the title ‘Director Rainbow Dash’ sound to you?”

Suddenly sitting up stiff, like an alarmed prairie dog. Her lips played with a few other words before speaking clearly. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve heard you right over my heart skipping a beat. Did you just say—”

“Director Rainbow Dash,” Silk nodded. “Or would you prefer ‘Director Dash’? Seems to roll off the tongue a bit better.”

Rainbow lurched forward to snatch the opportunity before it could squirm away, her eyes bulging. And here she thought she was just going to be getting a pay raise. “I’ll take it!” Rainbow nearly shouted then pulled her nearly untamed voice back. “I mean, the position. Can figure out the name thing later.”

Silk had lifted and softly waved a hoof, signalling for Rainbow to ease on the brakes of her Hype Train. “As much as I wish that I could wave a wand and make you a director right now… it’s not gonna be so simple.”

Rainbow hit the Hype Train brakes, her smile slowly shrinking, but Silk clearly didn’t want that hope to be snuffed, so she reassured kindly. “The door of opportunity is opening, Miss Dash, and it’s opening wide. It would make me quite happy to see you walk through it. However, we do have a good deal of ground to cover before you can.”

Good luck, the doctor’s line struck Rainbow’s thoughts again, this time sounding ever more ominous in her memory; seeming as if he was exiting much further away down a darkened room. His one sympathetic eye gleaming through shrouds of shadow. Rainbow sniffed hard and rattled her head as subtle as she could to not draw attention to the silly thought she was shaking off. No time to daydream. Must pay attention.

“Now, as for why I brought you here to this empty meeting room,” Silk briefly panned a hoof before her. “I think it serves as a wonderful example as to how much we need somepony like you to help us. You work better with visual aids and this is a very clear demonstration of how busy us directors have been. This meeting was by no means to be attended by just the two of us. But all six of us are just so very busy these days.

Rainbow didn't think much of it before, but she did catch Silk eyeing the clock on the wall, up and to the left of Rainbow for the fourth time. Is she waiting for another meeting? But with who? All but the doctor are out. Maybe she's anxious to get out early too for the day. Or maybe she just didn't get her chocolate fix yet.

Silk continued. “There are so many projects and branches to oversee that it has become quite a problem rotating which director tends to the factory’s direct needs, especially since we’ve been down two heads for a while now, being myself and the doctor when he can spare a moment from his lab, but he hardly knows how to manage beyond yelling. I myself can’t keep staying here like a babysitter. I’ve got my own studies, therapy clinics, and disciples that I’d like to be more focused on.

“Director Harbinger has trade contracts and almost non-stop meetings to handle with all the branching opportunities that keep cropping up. Right now, he’s meeting with the Bigwigs sales company, seeing if they’d be interesting in purchasing real hair from us. Texty has her Infowar team on constant alert, keeping our dealings underwraps. That can be a full time job in and of itself. Director Hush… well, you know him. He is always off doing something secretive. Then there’s Gold Shoe, counting every coin spent between all these endeavours.

“We’ve all ended up to our eyeballs in other work. So we’ve come to the conclusion that we once again need a seventh director among us. One to be primarily focused on this very factory. Despite some resentment, the main choice among us is you.”

“Resentment?” Rainbow echoed. It was only after the word left her lips that she could imagine the upset it must’ve caused with a few head honchos, being told that such a rambunctious pegasus might fill such a high position. Maybe, she thought, that’s where the doctor’s upset came from; why he was so trigger-happy with calling out old mistakes.

Silk let out a small airy chuckle. “No matter what you do at where ever you work, there's always somepony to resent you at one point or another. Doubly so if you’re at the top of a big corporate ladder.” She explained no more. “Despite that, you're still a top pick. Along with myself, Director Harbinger has certainly been helping to sell the idea of you taking the reins around here. He really has been swept away by the idea of Rainbow Dash publicly representing the Rainbow Factory through more than our charity sporting events. He thinks you're pretty much born for the role.”

Good old Harbinger. Rainbow felt the need to track him down and give him an extra hearty hoofshake, even made a mental note to do so. He might be a natural born slick-talking sales pony with the most shark-toothed of smiles, but he never gave Rainbow any gruff as he always found the positive. She felt that if the building was burning down all around them, he'd still manage to sell the idea that it was better than freezing to death. Also with him being a fan of dirty jokes, she thought to add another hoofshake for the ‘party in my mouth’ line she stole.

There it was again, Silk eyeing the clock before she spoke back up. “Miss Dash, you've been rather quiet. Something on your mind? I hope it isn't doubt or disappointment.”

Having realized she had slowly been slouching into her seat, Rainbow sprang back up into proper posture. “No. No no. Trust me, I'm as honored as could be. I mean, this is amazing. I'm just wondering,” the word dwindled as she picked at the next few, her face warped with uncertainty. “Where exactly is this going?” She pointed to the table, signaling that she was referring to the meeting itself. “I'm thinking that you all are expecting something of me; something specific, and I doubt you're eyeing the clock for a hoofshinning appointment.”

“Perceptive.” Silk bobbed her head. “We have a test for you. So I’ve been eyeing the clock because,” She smiled sharply, like a poker player ready to slap down a royal flush, “well, it’s just about time for you and I to relocate.”

Good luck, the line struck again, like a distant echo.

Once out the door, the two ventured across the hall to a nameless office door and stopped. Well, that trip was significantly shorter than I expected, thought Rainbow and an added imagined laugh that came off more nervous than she wanted it to. There weren’t very many secure doors left around the factory that swung open in the classic fashion. Most slide in and out of the walls they were attached to, making it much harder to be barged through by anyone who didn’t have the right clearance. But each of these fanciful carved ones around these rather kingly quarters did swing, though they still had to be unlocked via neighboring electronic scanning pad. With a scan of Director Silk’s card, which was pretty much a key to the entire factory, the pad beeped. A tiny green light beaming a brilliant green. She dug her hoof into the crux of a bronze handle, pulled it, and with a satisfying click, she was able to push the door open. The breeze riding along door startled ladent dust into scattering to the air like countless crazed flies. With the lights flipped on, what was revealed to be awaiting inside the room for Rainbow’s test was... nothing; no guards, cloth-covered captives, torture equipment, or even furniture.

“Ivory Tracks’ old office? What are are we doing here?” asked Rainbow Dash as she followed her boss inside.

Though bare of chairs and tables, the room was still vibrant with personality thanks to the chandelier granting a soothing golden glow to the walls lathered in imagery of a symphony hall. Across the room, behind where once stood a desk and chair there was a large section of wall containing a collection of gathered monitors, thirty in total, all neatly arranged together to form one solid square of dusty screens. The director spotted a remote next to the wall of televisions and spoke fondly as she fiddled with it. “Though I and the other chairmen had fared well without his presence for these past years, Director Ivory Tracks’ hard work and innovation is still missed.”

“Wait, is this a history test?” Rainbow Dash abruptly asked. “Way to pick a trial related to my most hated school subject.”

The director chuckled and shook her head. “Miss Dash, what I'm doing here is showing even more visual incentive.” She found the series of buttons to bring the monitors to life, displaying white loading bars over bright blue screens. Silk then turned to meet eye-to-eye, expressing no sense of a joke. “Show us that you can meet our expectations and in due time, this old office could be your future office... of course reconstructed to your liking.”

Rainbow panned around the four corners, already painting them in her imagination. What would she would decorate them with? Rainbows? Too obvious. Clouds? Maybe. Better yet, clouds… with racing pegasus! Maybe even Wonderbolts doing formations! Or… maybe paint it all as a temple with Daring Do and all sorts of villains around! Oh wait! No no no! Half Daring Do temple leading into the other half with flying Wonderbolts! I’ll look like such a nerd, but who cares! It’s my room and I’m the boss! Er, will be.

As she continued her mental artistry, Rainbow asked, “Well, unlike back at school, you know I pass every test here. How’s this one gonna work? Wait, lemme guess: you need me to kill somepony, right? Maybe another rat?”

“Oh, that would be entirely counterproductive in showing your ability to restrain yourself,” said Silk, spying on each screen as they flashed through footage captured from various corners of the factory. “You’re to do the exact opposite of that. We need to really see that you’ve gained true self-control. Granted, each time I have promoted you, you’ve been able to step up and show a great deal of improvement; the more control I give you, the better you act. But… you’re still lacking. As much as that and these years of finding the right medicine for you has proved to be effective, really, it’s not a good permanent solution.”

Silk had stopped browsing about the screen, seeming rather captivated by a live feed of the indoor loading docks. She soon spoke again, her voice dipping low. Silk came off so serious that she might as well have been locking blinkless eye contact from inches away. “You never answered my question before, Miss Dash. Your night terrors… they still haven’t stopped have they?”

A strange dred came over Rainbow like a black cloud. She looked down at the musty carpet and muttered a quiet, “no.” She then filled the room with a groan. “Alright, can we skip to the part where you tell me exactly what this test is, or is guessing part of the test too? This prattling around the subject is killing me!”

“Well, I think I’ve devised a way to help remedy all of your problems.”

“And how’s that?”

“With some... assistance. How many trainees were to show up today?”

“Hm? Three.” Rainbow shrugged. “The two that showed up on time. The one that didn’t. Hell, he wasn’t even listed at the front desk for arrival.”

“Of course she wasn’t.” Silk corrected. “This earth pony is a very… very special case. She is actually due here any second now.” Silk’s gaze batted between her watch from beneath her right sleeve and the security feed. When the garage door in the cargo bay started to crawl upwards, letting daylight wash into the dimly lit den, the Director smirked. “I do love punctuality.”

Rainbow Dash didn't know what she expected to come through the door, but the very last thing she expected was a Tartarus Prison Transportation carriage. It slowly backed its way in with one factory guard assisting in waving it into position. Five other factory guards remained in formation at the far end of the receiving dock, as if ready to pick up a small sacrificial group from the delivery from the van. But the one scheduled wasn’t until way later in the evening and the guards almost never need to pack high powered rifles just to deal with a small pack of delivered ponies.

Rainbow Dash’s lips remained parted and her brow narrowed. She slowly shifted towards the television as if it had hypnotised her. There were four law enforcement officers that arrived with the vehicle. The two hooked to pull the cargo rested. The extra two in the front seats climbed out. One split to chat with the factory guards, the other picked through the keys on his belt.

Finally, Rainbow broke her silence. “What… in the name of Celestia is going on here?”

“I think it's time for you to be reacquainted with an old friend.”

Those rather nonchalant words immediately sent an arctic chill blasting right up Rainbow’s backside. Her breathing hitched. Blood dropped from her face as if it were suddenly heavy like led. To say that she looked like she had seen a ghost would be an understatement as she felt the beating of her heart nearly halt within her chest. For only seconds longer did Rainbow watch over the screen with haunted eyes before she turned tail.

“Wait,” Silk called out, but it was too late. Rainbow had thrown the door open, smashing it against the wall and was already gone. With beating wings and thundering hooves, she rocketed down the halls, plowing through doors and nearly knocked over several workers along the way. She couldn’t even think to apologize. The only thing going through her mind over and over was a single word.

No!

Over and over, it was all she could hear over her drumming hooves, the shouts of other workers. She felt crazy, like she was sprinting towards the gaping mouth of a hungry beast. But she needed to see it. She needed to see with her own two eyes to believe that it was even there… to believe what was even happening.

The door to the cargo bay catwalk was dead ahead. Her hooves slammed to the ground, forcing her into a skidding stop. A protector in a guard’s suit stood before her path. “Sorry, boss,” he said. “Can't let you in right now; Director's orders.”

Rainbow Dash stormed right up and placed her nose inches away from his. Her beady eyed stare stabbing into his nerves. The stink of sweat slowly seeped from his brow through his mask as he — with great effort — kept eye contact and the ground he stood on. “Please, Boss, I’m just following orders.”

She bullishly snorted before stepping aside, letting him breath easy. In truth, she was actually very relieved that he wasn’t letting her foolishly give into her wild curiosity and run right into the beast’s cage. Instead, there was a small window off to his right that she could spy through. She could see into the room beyond and one level below the catwalk. The left side of the truck was spotted quite a distance away. It's back double doors were open and a ramp had been pulled out beneath. The suited guards all around were checking their weapons. Four carried the usual stun batons. Two others carried firearms; tranquilizer rifles.

Something that Rainbow couldn't spot happened, calling the guards to stop fidgeting with their devices and to keep them ready. The ponies in blue emerged, along with them an upright dolly that contained one well restrained pony. The prisoner donned a bright orange jumpsuit, a thick white straight jacket wrapped in chains, a full muzzle, and dark brown straps to keep her pinned. She was covered nearly head to hind hoof in restraints, but all Rainbow Dash needed to see were those sky-blue eyes and that hot-pink curly mane.

Rainbow ducked out of sight and away from the window as fast as she could. Though she had caught her breath from her sprint moments ago, her panting returned all the more rapid, pulsing through her parted lips. Between them she quietly chanted, “No. No no no. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can not be happening.” Her beady eyes locking onto the floor below her hind hooves.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked the nearby guard as he took only two steps from his post.

She stared at her trembling forehooves as her panic attack drowned out the attempt to reach her. She continued to chant even faster, her voice slowly lifting. “It's her. It's her it's her it's her!”

“It's who?” The underling waited again before he prodded for a third time. “Boss?”

It was then that Rainbow gave him what she would never dare to willingly show anypony, especially some underling: a look of pure, unfiltered fear. She finally answered with a name, not caring how strange it might have sounded to him. “Pinkie Pie.”

Chapter 3 - The Third One

Hidden by the sharply carved oak door engraved with the name Director Silk Sway was an office kept immaculately clean, even behind shelves that we're packed with favored hardcover books. The carpet was as green as healthy grass, appropriately leading into the lush plains and mountains painted along the bottoms of the walls. Atop of them and snow coated peaks, a brilliantly blue sky speckled with swirls of clouds that stretched all the way up into the ceiling above. There, in the very center, a shining symbol of Celestia hung as a delicately crafted chandelier.

Though somewhat confusing to one's circadian rhythm, the atmosphere always brought a sense of comfort and familiarity as the imagery matched well with the world just outside the thick castle-like walls of the factory.

Centered at the opposite end of the room from the oak wood door sat a mahogany wood desk with ever more care to its very carving. Behind it, within her pure white cushion-clad office chair, sat the director herself. Just like the office from before, this time amidst a plethora of framed achievements and paintings, there was a section of wall dedicated to a stack of monitors to the right side of the desk. It had captured Silk’s attention. She slipped on two faux leather gloves in preparation before patiently waiting for her office door to inevitably come crashing open.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she stormed onward. Before Silk was even half way around her desk, Rainbow was well before the director as her voice filled the room. “You brought Pinkie Pie here?! Pinkie Pie?!”

“Stop,” Silk harshly commanded with her hoof placed before Rainbow’s face as it was coming uncomfortably close. If it wasn't the command that stopped Rainbow in her tracks, it was the startling pop of electricity from the gleaming metal shoe attached to the gloves Silk wore.

Rainbow, briefly stiff, eyed the weapon before her. It was known as a stun glove. It wasn't very powerful in terms of voltage output, but it was easy to use albeit expensive to obtain.

“Take a seat,” Silk instructed as she gestured to the shiny ruby red couch to the right of her desk. Though the stun glove remained primed, Silk’s voice slipped into a more calming cadence. “Breath deeply and calm yourself, I will explain everything.” The standoff continued for a solid eight seconds before Rainbow grunted and her flank landed on red cushions. Silk’s own resting on her white ones.

“As you know,” Silk began, “for our sessions I'd usually start with asking how you are feeling today. But from the look on your face I’d say — and please correct me if I’m wrong, you currently want to force feed me that entire couch, correct?”

“How'd you guess?” Rainbow hissed.

“Very understandable, but it's interesting that you’d even share that,” Silk nodded along as she cracked open a notebook that was no stranger to the name Rainbow Dash. All the while the corner of her eye catching the monitors. The security team seemed to be wrapping up a rather delightful chat with the officers who were passing off the prisoner. Rainbow, however, couldn't so easily turn her head and stared almost unblinking at the single screen that watched the group.

“These days,” Silk continued, “ each time I ask “how you are doing” you look at me wearily and tell me you're fine. I hear of you throwing tantrums, hitting this and that, yet you tell me “It's nothing.” I see you suffering from panic attacks and then play it off as if still nothing happened. It doesn't matter what methods I try, be it acupuncture, drugs, hypnosis, or massage therapy,” Silk paused, watching Rainbow lean back against and glanced away rather uncomfortably. “You are nearly never honest. Practically all of our achievement here in getting your issues straightened out have been mainly earned through ten years of educated guess work. For a long while, I thought my proteges were just incompetent! Turns out you are the single most difficult case I have ever dealt with, but luckily for you, I do enjoy a challenge.”

“But all that praise from before,” Rainbow interjected.

“Half hollow victories in my eyes.” Silk said as she tapped the inky tip of her feathered pen on a blank page. “Cured as you might be… how are the nightmares?”

Rainbow sank into the couch as if it were swallowing her.

“I thought so.” Finally, that pen began to busily sway. “You’ve made me a bit desperate here, Miss Dash. I’m left with no choice but to make you face the thing you fear the most in order to overcome it.”

Rainbow watched the various security feeds, spying on the small squad of guards as they pushed the loaded dolly through the halls. Once they vanished from on screen, it would take awhile for them to appear in another. Rainbow resisted the urge to take control and flip the channels to monitor every step of theirs like a hawk. She just slumped further into her seat, eyes ahead. A grim sense of foreboding creeping through her body ever more as she witnessed the prisoner being pushed oh so slowly into the bowels of what Rainbow once thought of as a sanctuary. Her skin crawled with the feeling of being violated all over again.

“She will be working here,” Silk commented, having too taken to watching the glowing screens periodically. “But don't fret too much. She is not free to roam. I’m certain you've curiously poked your head into the newly reconstructed Main Filter Chamber at one point or another. That will be her new quarters; her new cell.”

Rainbow thought back to the last time she had looked inside that room, having assumed the shower and sink she had spotted to be some sort of emergency station to wash away chemicals or clean equipment; like the one like she had seen in the labs of Sector Three. What had perplexed her at the time was what seemed to be a toilet from the angle she had seen it at, yet she had forgotten to ask about it at the time. There was no sign of a bed, but there likely was now if what she was told was true. When she looked for the room on stack of monitors… there it was. At least so she thought. Could only see a portion of the room, mainly the door and the bare corners to its sides.

“You turned an entire work room into a cell?” Rainbow asked offended by the very idea.

“Mm-hm.” Silk nodded and focused towards her scribbled notes.

“All of this for me? For a test?” Rainbow asked of, including the effort in obtaining a dangerous criminal from the very depths of Tartarus; a risk and an adventure in and of itself.

“No.” The answer came blunt riding on soft tones, leaving Rainbow confused enough to look Silk's way, meeting her direct gaze. What anger that boiled within Rainbow when she had stomped her way into the room had since cooled enough to peek her curiosity.

“I wouldn't get a full head about it, Miss Dash. She’s here for reasons that don't just revolve around you. For one, we need somepony to work that rather nasty room who wouldn't end up likely killing herself... unlike the many before her. Two, and this is very crucial, I need to study her. Pick her brain, see what I can find.”

“I don't think you're gonna like what you find and if you find… whatever it is, what the hell do you have to gain?”

“I think we’re going to have to pause this chat for a moment,” said Silk pointing to the screen showing the insides of Pinkie’s cell, albeit just a portion. Silk soon remedied that by pressing a several buttons on slick black keypad resting on the left hand edge of the desk. Three other monitors flickered showing that the cell was covered corner to corner by watchful eyes. There indeed was now a bed; a shoddy looking one that a cell deserves, though still too good for the likes of this particular prisoner.

The metal door, with a beep, slid to the side and allowed the group to push their prisoner right in. Up until that point the guards had seemed rather relaxed. Not exactly nonchalant, but not all that stressed either. To them, it was just an odd job to handle. This quickly changed when the four arrived at their destination with the dolly-bound mare where they seemed to just now realize that the dangerous psychopath would have to now be set free. The room seemed to grow tense.

Their faces told well that they’ve heard horrible tales about the prisoner; stories likely fabricated and told around campfires, but nonetheless stomach turning. Quite a number of ponies across the land thought the mare was a mythical monster with many names: The Bloody Baker. Cupcake Killer. Sweet Slayer. But there she was in the flesh, blood, and brilliantly pink coat of fur, silently staring back at them. She seemed calm, even pleased with a small hidden smile. Her wondrous and big sky-blue eyes looking to them as if she were a child delightfully captivated by a cartoon show, but there was no telling what plans might be brewing behind those glassy orbs. Then the guards in unison pointed their attention to the only one carrying a set of keys that remained rather still in his hooves.

Silk, removed from the events unfolding as she calmly pulled up a mic on her desk and spoke to the guards.

“Go on.”

The keymaster looked up to one of the cameras, giving it a brief salute. His voice came clear through the surround sound system in the office. “Yes, boss.” The remaining three readied their weapons, two rifles and one stun baton, expecting the situation to turn bloody at any second. With a few clicks, a clang, a zip and some snaps… Pinkie Pie was free. Lumbering off the dolly on stiff legs, she stopped and slowly… oh so slowly, looked around again. She then shot a sudden glance over her shoulder to the key holder and pointed to her muzzle. It was still on.

“Do it,” Silk commanded from afar.

The stallion swallowed the lump in his throat. He took cautious steps, acting as if he was facing a dragon that would devour him whole the moment the last restraint slipped away. With ease it was unlocked, and it fell with a loud thud. The guard was quick to retreat a healthy distance from the threat.

Pinkie Pie slowly shifted her jaw and rolled her neck, relieved by her freedom of movement. She breathed deeply, filling her lungs to the brim with the stale factory air before she lunged forth onto her forehooves and shouted as loud as she could, “boo!”

The guards went tense with a jolt, one yelping and squeezing his trigger. His gun popped off with an ear-piercing shot that zipped right by the keymaster’s own face, the dart pinging off a wall and falling to the floor. For a second, everyone in the room went still.

Then, shaking in a fit of laughter Pinkie hit the floor; her legs playfully kicking into the air as she giggled. The sounds she made poured into Silk’s office through the speakers all around, accompanied by a very faint crackle.

“Oh my goodness,” she spoke between her giggle fits, “you guys are sooo tense!” Her laughter was rather contagious as several other guards nervously chuckled, all watching as the trigger-happy stallion shamefully shuffle off to reclaim the misfired dart. “It’s not like I bite or anything,” Pinkie hollered then suddenly paused, “Oh wait… I do!” That statement quickly snuffed out any amusement in the guards as her own laughter washed over them.

Rainbow glared. It wasn’t just the high-pitched squealing of glee that scraped a few nerves, nor the disturbing fact that Pinkie was still alive after all these years… but what really made Rainbow angry was seeing how Pinkie seemed not at all different from before her imprisonment. It was as if her years in Tartarus had been nothing more than a short vacation for the mare.

Having been dismissed by the director the guards were all too eager to leave Pinkie to her locked cell. She openly ogled at her new accommodations before looking upwards for whoever spoke. “Well, at least I have you, strange voice!”

“Hello, Miss Pie and welcome to your new home.” Silk sounded far too legitimately delighted with that mic to her up-curled lips. To Rainbow, it truly betrayed the sympathetic sounding tone that she was practically spoon-fed before. Thus her present glare ever so slightly sharpened.

Pinkie had gasped, eyes growing big, her voice still rushing through the speaker system like punches to Rainbow’s ears. “My own new room? And it’s a talking room?!”

Rainbow scoffed. “What a retar—” Like a child that had spoken out of turn she was immediately hushed. Her brow twitched slightly in annoyance.

With the riffer’s silence assured, the director clicked the mic back on and answered. “No, you’re not that fortunate today. I am Director Silk, one of the several ponies in charge of this facility and your new warden. I hope you’d be pleased to know that we are going to have plenty of time to get to know one another, but for now, I suggest you get to know your new cell. I will be back soon.”

Pinkie wandered off further into the room as Silk set aside her mic, making doubly sure it was off.

“Hushing me? Really?” Said Rainbow, “what are you, my mother?”

“I Sometimes ask myself that,” said Silk as she returned to taking notes. It was quite obvious that notebook was about to become even more familiar with the name Pinkie Pie. “But really, you’re not to say a word to her. She will not even see you. I don’t want her to know that you’re here, not yet. I need to study Miss Pie in her current state. Having a former victim of hers suddenly turning up could be like dangling a steak before a lion who didn’t even know it was hungry.”

“Fine by me.” Rainbow huffed. “Not like I was eager for her to even be here in the first place. Now, I think it’s time for you to tell me just what the hell this study really is.”

“Well, I could go into the lofty dream of setting her mind straight like others have tried before she was sent off to Tartarus… but that I have no real hope for. Her mind seems to have been cracked beyond repair.”

“So….” Rainbow impatiently rolled a hoof, urging the director onward.

“Miss Dash, how many workers have committed suicide in the years you have worked here? How many cracked workers have we had to silence due to the threat of them trying to expose us? How many runaways have our teams had to hunt?”

Rainbow actually gave these troubling questions a fair bit of thought. It was rather common to come into work with a familiar face missing for one reason or another. It always carried a trickle effect too: one pony kills himself, a close worker friend often follows suit. As Rainbow dwelled on this her attention didn’t stray far from Silk.

“I have all kinds of helpful procedures and pills to soften these blows; to help our ponies understand the good of our gruesome work. But it’s never enough. Nearly everypony has their second thoughts. Nearly everypony cracks.” She said grimly before pointing at the screens. “That’s why we need a nutcase like her. Or more of, that’s why I need a nutcase like her.”

“But—” Rainbow began.

“I know, we have quite a few crackpots who’ve stayed with us for a while… and you’re pretty much at the top of the bunch. But none of you are on that level.”

They both paused and had to stare at the monitors that showed Pinkie licking the grimy flap to the incinerator chute, which was honestly no better than licking the edge of a trash can. They didn’t speak a word of it, just shared a shudder before Silk continued. “Not only is she proud of her dark work of gutting and skinning, she eats the meat too.” Silk carefully eyed Rainbow as she used these words with a touch of caution in her tone. She could practically see the memories that Rainbow was trying to supress. “I am not sure how aware you are of this, Miss Dash, but… we equin are herbivores. The very thought of eating meat should have our stomachs squeezing in on themselves. The attempted digestion of such things should end with us spewing.

“Miss Pie, on the other hoof, is so committed to her twisted mind that she somehow defied her very biological instinct and showed no sign of physical illness even after all the ponies that she had sampled. I want to tap into that part of her brain. I want to see what gives her that sort of iron stomach in hopes of taking what I learn into mentally reinforcing our workers with stronger wills. If all goes well, that’ll be a great reward for us all. But either way, if I win or fail, you yourself still get a rather special reward; granted that you don’t fall out of line.”

“I get a spot as a director.”

“You get to kill her,” Silk corrected with a rather devious smirk. “In whatever way pleases you. However you handle all of this is simply going to be taken into consideration when deciding if you are truly director material.”

Though the title of Director Rainbow did have a nice ring to it, the tempting thought of Pinkie’s upsetting existence resting in her hooves was more fetching to Rainbow than the scent of a freshly cooked meal of the highest class. She even licked her lips a bit. “I… get to kill her?”

Silk let the softest of laughs pass her nose. “Do I really need to repeat myself? You’ve spouted all that hogwash about how you ‘forgave’ Pinkie numerous times, yet, I see you here now practically salivating at the thought of revenge.”

“This isn’t revenge,” Rainbow instantly corrected. “This is justice. It’s completely different.”

“Uh-huh.” Silk nodded, looking more than a bit unimpressed.

“Besides,” Rainbow quickly added, after shifting her eyes, “a big part of our factory thing is to get rid of bad genes, right? Then what’s more bad than one of the most notorious equine killers in all of Equestria?”

“Well, however you want to look at this, it doesn’t matter. Not right now. With all of this in mind… I now ask once more as I am curious to know: how are you feeling today?” Now sounding quite pleased in how the once heated meeting had turned, Silk folded her hooves together and displayed a small smile.

A storm of ideas had entered Rainbow’s mind, tantalising her as to how she would want to dispose of the pink menace. Chopping off limbs? Setting her on fire? Chopping off limbs and then setting her on fire? This dealing of justice was going to take some thought. But what she didn’t have to think about was her answer for Silk. “Pretty good now,” is what she wanted to say. But didn’t. Instead, she eyed the four monitors focused on the cell and said, “where did Pinkie go?” Rainbow got up and approached the set of TVs.

Silk raised a curious brow as well seeing no Pinkie on the monitors. The camera controls back in her hooves, she remotely adjusted one after another, panning them around whatever little bits of the room they didn’t already have an eye on. Suddenly, a bright big blue eyeball popped right up to stare into a camera lens, nearly scaring the soul out of Rainbow and causing her to take a step back.

“Camera’s… here?!” That eyeball pulled back, showing off the overly excited face it was attached to. “Please tell me we are gonna do some reality television stuff! I already feel like a star now!”

“How did she get up there,” asked Silk.

Rainbow didn’t answer; not that she had an answer to begin with. She instead did her best to breath deep once more, trying to cool the panic within her narrowed eyes. She looked to her fore hooves. They were shaking. She filled her lungs once more with the will to turn away from the security feed to Silk. “I’ve been hanging out here long enough. Think it’s about time I get back to my duties. Still got a bit of prep left for tonight’s shipment. After all, it’s not gonna purge itself.”

“Very well,” Silk didn’t speak up again until the manager had nearly reached the door. “Rainbow Dash, if you succeed here, blue skies ahead. If you don't….”

“I know. I won’t let you down.”

Chapter 4 - Lies upon Lives

Surrounded by lumbering towers of box-packed steel frames and their shadows scattered about by the multitude of pale orange lights, guards stood in the center clearing of the loading bay once again. This time in a much larger force, adding up to a total of thirty nine, all sporting blank knit masks. Twenty nine remained shoulder-to-shoulder, their line spanned nearly from one side of the room to another. Though most of them were pegasi, there were a few unicorns and earth ponies. The extra ten - all pegasi - remained at their back like a second layer of defense. With the main attraction being garage doors that have yet to move, each guard waited… but not very patiently.

There were plenty of relaxed stances and chatter, some guards even breaking formation to go talk to others across. There was casual talk of sports, politics, jokes and taking time off. Rainbow Dash with her balaclava rolled up on top of her head like a cap, paid none of the banter any mind as she stood astute within the center of the larger lineup. Though her stance was a stiff and attentive, her mind was somewhere else entirely.

Pinkie Pie is here, in my factory. My home, she thought. It felt like fire should be erupting from the floor, every indoor window looking into the garage should have panicking ponies slamming on them in desperation to escape a horrific fate, every wall should be dripping blood with its own like a sign of a coming apocalypse; yet somehow everything was normal. It just didn’t seem right, especially with all these friendly, chatty workers about, acting as if the day was no different than any other. Why couldn’t she be like them?

She quickly got sick of worrying, and pushed those anxieties deep down for the time being, focusing instead on a more pleasant thought: what just death she might grant the prisoner.

Maybe, she smirked to herself, I could toss her hind legs first into a fan! Nah. Too quick. Oh. I could strap her to a fan! No… she’ll have too much fun with that. Well whatever happens, once I become a director, I could paint my new office with her blood! No wait, terrible idea, that would stink like crazy after a while. Though I could put her severed head outside my door on a pike! Nopony will mess with me if I do that.

Rainbow grinned ever wider to herself at such a gruesome but goofy idea. However that happy thought was sucked away as soon as she saw a certain stallion. He strutted before the lined up masses with a cocky snap of his hips, as if he was some sort of runway model. And like a movie star, he even shot a couple other ponies a hoof-gun point complete with a twinkling smirk.

Announcer, Rainbow thought in the same way one would think about a returning rash.

His coat was a swirl of browns like almonds and his mane a dirty blond. His prefered specially tailored suit was its usual deep blue. He pointed a pearly white smile so fake it might as well have been plastic. Though he sounded as cheerful as could be, he said his usual, “hey Boss,” with a faintly mocking hiss and a flimsy salute. “Can’t let you take the center spotlight all by yourself.”

She moved aside, only glancing back as his maskless, young, pretty-boy face as he squeezed into the rest of the lineup. Didn’t even look like his mask was ready in his pockets. “Care to start wearing your balaclava like the rest of us?”

“What’s the point? I mean other than looking big and scary. There are enough guards here to do that for us. Plus, covering this face would be like dumping a can of paint over masterful art.”

Rainbow couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but she did want to snap back with, actually, your nose is looking browner than usual today. But she didn’t want to start any sort of drama with him again, be it casual snide line or competitive glares. However, right out the gate, he just had to strum her proverbial pink nerve.

“So, heard you got a new girlfriend around~”

Just as she barely managed to not send a hoof flying his way as she struggled to crack open her lips into a crooked a smile to speak through, “are you trying to goad me into feeding you your own teeth?”

Unfortunately, threats of violence were rather commonplace among the desensitized workers, though most tend to be joking. Announcer was hardly swayed from a smirky claim to innocence. “Hey now, calm down. Where’s all this hostility coming from?”

“I don’t know,” said Rainbow, her tone darkening. “Maybe it has something to do with you always trying to take my job.”

“Take your job?” He innocently batted his eyes. “From my boss who is always cool-tempered and as sweet as honey? Well I never. And you’re saying the prisoner is not your girlfriend? S’all I wanna know. I guess I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have during briefing.”

Rainbow’s razor sharp stare bore into him. The words, “you’re fired” clung to the tip of her tongue when around him, but to let that slip out would be of no use. He might have been under her in rank, but not under her enough for her to send him packing without a more plausible reason than just labeling him as a total asshole. Right then, she was tempted to call him just that, even had her mouth open to do so, but luckily she was distracted by the buzzing of the opening garage door. As she slipped on her mask, Rainbow unleashed an ounce of her frustration in her following shout.

“Take positions!”

All chatter stopped, and broken spaces in the lineup were filled. Masks all around were properly equipped. In an instant, every pony turned from a casual worker to a militant guard. The ten pegasi at the back took to the air creating a loose sphere of guards around the massive door as it drew up, letting in a gust of fresh wind which helped stave off the musty scent of old cardboard and wooden planks. Through this large entrance a trio of carriages were pulled into the garage, the doors sealing shut behind the vehicles.Once the doors were sealed shut, their payloads were unleashed. A flood of confused ponies of all breeds, many barely reaching adulthood, stumbled out to gather before the line of silent equin in masks and suits. The new arrivals had been fenced in like a herd of confused cattle filling the room with whimpering, whining and questions.

From the suits that stood as statues would, Announcer stepped out in greeting. If him breaking the line-up didn’t draw the crowd’s eyes, his ability to live up to his name did as his booming voice overpowered all others. “Welcome, welcome, one and all! Ladies and gents! I shall be your host for your remaining time here and... what’s that you ask?” He cheekily held a hoof to his ear at the imaginary pony in question. “Where is here? Why you’re all in the one and only Rainbow Factory of course!”

To his credit - and Rainbow was rather surprised she could give him any - he did his job well and with pride. His smile only seemed honest when working an audience like an overjoyous circus ringleader.

He continued, “and what exactly are you doing here in the factory? A very good question there too! But don’t you worry your ugly little faces, I’ll answer that one soon enough! First thing I need you to follow me!”

Back within the crowning hall of the factory, within the comfort of Director Silk’s office, she was at her desk. After her meeting with Rainbow Dash and a few more words with the prisoner, she was swept away by other business not worth noting. But she was back with a plethora of blank pages waiting to be filled by her busy pen. Her attention, of course, on her wall of security monitors.

Several screens flickered with footage of the new arrivals appearing at the docks. But while it was considered dutiful and was rather habitual to oversee such important events, it was barely any of her concern... less something went awry. Her focus elsewhere on other security feeds showed a good level of trust in her employees. To hopefully gain another trusted worker, Silk had spent the last while instructing Pinkie Pie on how to work her confined station.

“Alright, Miss Pie,” she said, “please repeat the process from the beginning.”

Pinkie nearly became a pink blur, zipping between points of interest, starting with the large withered pipe running through the very center of her room and along the floor. It looked like a massive rusty nail had punched its way into the freshly built cell. Its prisoner’s voice once again came in clear through the office’s surround sound speaker set.

“I press the button here, the water will gush and flow! It'll go through this filter, then this filter, and this filter, and this filter, and this filter, and this filter, and this filter, and this filter, and this filter too! When one of the filter grate thingies are all full, its green light will go red and will stop the flow! I then dump the filter’s icky contents into the incinerator - which smells delicious by the way - then place the filter back and keep the juice flowin’~”

“Very good. From there the stream will continue down into the other many purification chambers, which will break up and clean out any remaining filth.”

Within her notebook, Silk recorded thoughts kept silent. She remembered well Pinkie’s previous records by other therapists. They certainly touched on the subject’s ADHD, but Pinkie’s astute attention to detail was very noteworthy, yet only glossed over in the past. It indicated a possible high level of IQ that Pinkie did not flaunt. Though it was no surprise that the prisoner was smart. It’s almost always the sharp witted that are the most touched in the head.

“Oh! I have a question!” Pinkie bounced just once without her hooves leaving the ground.

“I might have an answer.”

“What exactly am I disposing here?”

A rather unseen mischievous grin crossed Silk’s face. She opened her lips to unveil the dark truth to Pinkie’s surprise.

“It’s diced up pony parts, isn’t it?”

Pinkie practically made off like a thief in the night after having stolen Silk’s ability to speak, if for a moment. The Director’s eyes lit up in astonishment. The beginnings of a few words left her while the rest remained missing. She hadn't even uttered a word of the factory's violent deeds before. Though Silk was certain Pinkie wasn't just lucky with guesses, she quickly recomposed with a clearing of her throat. “What makes you ask that,” she inquired.

Pinkie chortled as she pointed to the incinerator chute with a hoof and a joke. “I'm a baker, silly! So of course I know the taste and smell of burnt pony like the back my hoof!” Pinkie had then opened the sliding door of the chute and took a deep breath, sucking in a horrid scent that was often complained about by other workers. “Ahhh~”

It became clear to Silk that the mare was quite keen... maybe as keen as she was disturbed. Thus, a bad feeling crawled over the director. Keeping a crazed pony down was one thing, but one so much smarter than anticipated? She noted it to be wise to double the security around that cell. It was the best she could think of for the moment.

Disappointment weighed more on Silk’s tone than her amused expression. “Well, there goes that surprise.”

“If it makes you feel better, I have no idea why you're tossing pony pieces! How does this all tie into making rainbows?”

"I suppose I do owe you an explanation there. First, answer me this: do you remember anything about young ponies having to take aptitude tests of sorts? It used to be just for pegasi, but that's been changed not too long ago.”

“You all failed!” Announcer shouted, his powerful voice easily bounding by echoes on its way down a long, dimly lit corridor that was packed to the brim with shivering ponies. They had moved so deep into the factory that the air became stiff and heavy. All around them, rusted pipes seemed like the bars of an oversized cage, laying further deep the feeling of being trapped. If any pony ran forth they would have to mow down Announcer and the squad of ominous suits at his side. If they ran back, what seemed like a full battalion would greet them. They were given no choice but to listen to the shouting stallion as he stood before a large set of dark metal doors, each bombarded with heavy dents that looked to have been made from the other side.

“You failed! Failed! Failed! Fucking failed!” Announcer nearly screamed the shame into their hearts as a forehoof struck a door, making it shiver all the same. “To weak to fly or plow! To stupid to cast magic or even pass a simple written test! Just cognitive enough to be drooling sacks of living flesh, fur and even feathers.” Then everything about him suddenly softened. “So now, you mules are here with us.” His lips had stretched back across his face. “We… can put you to good use. All you have to do is keep following me past this one… last… door.”

Many felt a tremble beneath their skin as the grinding metal hinges on the double doors cried out in pain. The path was open and the proverbial mules stepped past and spread outward like water from a leaking dam. From a near suffocating squeeze of walls to an opening that could be compared to half the size of a hoofball field, the fresh ponies gawked about. A sickly smell like copper and oil filling their snouts.

The lighting was no better here. The roof couldn’t even be seen past the lights glowing a dim orange like a dying sun. Machines of unknown sorts spanned across the walls. Some abuzz with life, others as quiet as a corpse. From them and the darkness above, pipes both grim and gleaming, spanned around in almost complete disorder like a half tattered spider web; some pipes spawned from the black-nothing above to hang overhead while others closely hugged the walls. The ground was mainly concrete with various squares of grates that trembled beneath the many passing hooves. But no matter where the ponies stepped, there were stains, most of suspicious dark sorts that didn’t want to be guessed at.

At the very end of the cavernous room, on the complete opposite side from which the crowd had entered, was the true eye-catcher: a stage, complete with two spotlights. It’s dull gray metallic frames were attached to the rust-riddled wall behind it. Its platform raised from the floor so that even the tallest of ponies couldn’t peek over it without stepping back. If they tried to climb it, the rails all around would become a decent obstacle. Not that the collecting mules around would want to for what sat center stage is what looked to be a full throne, one made purely of copper. Not a single cushion for comfort. Though it shined with a fine coat of polish while spotted with irreparable dark spots of discoloration. Above it and ever more discomforting to stare at, was half a suspended copper cage, looking like an opened lid to the front of the over-sized chair. Its bars flat, but not too thin to break by the hoof of any pony.

The mighty throne, basking in the almost heavenly white spotlight, seemed to beckon the crowd ever closer as if it were to soon whisper to them its story. The ponies approached, driven by both curiosity and the unkindly shoving guards behind them. With the rest of the suited backup following on in to spread around the entire outskirts of the expansive room, Rainbow Dash appeared last. Two assistants made sure the doors were sealed tight behind her.

The manager had kept a careful eye on everything, making sure no mule or guard strayed. So far, everything ran smoothly. Just like the clueless mass before her, she too turned her rosy eyes to the stage. There, before a propped up microphone, stud Announcer with a small gathering of help not far from him. He looked all too eager to pull that mic close.

“My, my, my,” he grinned mockingly as his sinister tone carried even louder and more distorted through speakers unseen. “What an obedient crowd we have today! Good, good…. Makes this so much easier and quicker. Now gather around, I’ve got something to share with you all! First, I’m going to need a volunteer~!” His gaze swept over the crowd, then swept over again a few more times. His face then filled with irritation as his voice darkened. “Somepony raise a hoof before I break a hoof.”

A hoof came up. It was from a chunky stallion, about a head shorter than Rainbow Dash who often fancied taking the first pick from the masses. He was a pushover earth pony, only needing a single shove from behind and a barked order for him to appear with her on stage before many shimmering eyes. He peered at the copper throne warily before being forced to face the spotlights as Announcer wrapped a forehoof around and pulled the volunteer close.

“A question for my brave assistant here,” Announcer asked almost as if he was speaking to the crowd. “What are rainbows made of?”

That mic was then placed almost impatiently before the chubby pony’s snout. He squinted past the focused lights as shaky breaths rolled over his drying lips. His amplified voice came out like the squeak of a mouse. “Uh… it’s uh… water and… c-color dye. Then there’s sunlight….” His sentence faded.

The mic lingered there for a silent two seconds before Announcer reclaimed it with a low laugh. “Oh, I can see just why you’re here. Wrong,” he mocked again as he waved a hoof, dismissing the shaken earth pony. But he wasn’t returned to his friends below. Rainbow Dash snatched him up with a hooked leg, roughly tugging him backwards to the throne. It’s cage hovering above like a jaw ready to snap on down and eat him. With assistance from a masked stage hand, he was lifted and propped properly, placed square on his rump and tail in the seat. His stubby hind legs too short to touch the floor as they dangled over the edge.

Stunned with confusion, there was very little wiggling in retaliation from him. Just as he feared, that cage top was brought down by a hoof, snapping shut with a loud latch locking it and him in place. Just beyond those flat bars that gave him only a few feet of free space to move… rose-red eyes stared. He then wasn’t sure what to fear most, the mysterious chair he sat in or the masked pony who just silently looked into him with such a cold stare.

Rainbow Dash remained well enough aside, letting others who dare peer into the cage do so. She never looked away from the seated mule herself and he from her. Though the stallion feared moving and speaking out of turn, his expression screamed at her for help. Announcer was rambling on, not yet even mentioning the fate awaited the unknowing. Yet, the seated stallion looked to be in the know as his thick cheeks trembled and his watering eyes pleaded. But his silent begging was in vain.

The masked pegasus before him did nothing, nothing but form what appeared to be the indents of a smile in her mask. It seemed as if she was soaking in the feeling of his fate being nestled in her hooves, which one soon groped a shimmering silver lever at her side. It was rather teasing the way she rubbed it, flaunting her complete control over what was to happen next.

For her, for Rainbow Dash, comfort overtook. Her gaze softening almost lovingly, not for the trapped, but for a strange warm... and almost loving feeling in her chest. The speech beyond her attention had been finished. It was time to do what felt true to her: it was time to be the hero here. Just not this fat pony’s. With a squeeze and a hard pull of that lever, a symphony of shrilling screams began.

“But it’s all hogwash,” said Silk, still addressing Pinkie Pie from the safety of her office.

“What? But making rainbows brighter and prettier out of the lives of others is amazing!”

“Oh I’m not referring to that,” said Silk with a shake of her head. “If I was, our lead scientist would probably try to choke me to death. No, we still take pride in our ability to create such glorious ribbons across the sky. Though… in actuality, and very much to Doctor Atmosphere’s dismay, that is a distant side focus. Our true goal is far more noble.”

Pinkie waited with perked ears clearly going unsatisfied. “Well?” She called out into the quiet. “Don’t leave me hanging here after a line like that! That’s mean!”

Mean indeed and not by accident. A mischievous smile played across the director’s lips as she faked a reluctant response. “Well… the thing is… I am not to share this with any untrustworthy employees, especially our new hires. It is a well kept secret and we like to keep it that way, all for a good reason. It’s a secret that could make or break all of Equestria as we know it. So I hope you understand my caution here.”

“But I’m stuck here! Who am I gonna go blab to? Come on, don’t be such a tease!”

Silk’s yellow eyes shined like the glint of bright candles as she watched her verbal bait being nipped at. “I suppose you have a point. I still want to trust you. I even want you to trust me. If I am to share this with you, I need you to share in return.”

“I’ll share! I’ll keep the secret! You can trust me! I promise, stick a cupcake in my eye and all!”

Silk inched back, blinking in confusion. “Is that a… fetish of sorts?”

“No, silly! It’s a part my patented Pinkie Promise, which no one breaks! Not even me!” Pinkie then took to looking like a cheerleader as she waved her forelegs about along with her short poem. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” The bait was taken.

“Very well.” Oh-so pleased with herself, Silk pulled her mic along with her as she laid back in her chair. “I’ll hold you too that. Now find a seat, make yourself nice and comfy as I have quite a story to share, but I'll try to not make it too long.”

Legs folded beneath her body on the bed, Pinkie waited with open ears and closed lips. Silk had already begun.

***

I suppose the best place to start would be the very beginning. Thousands of years ago, under the wicked snow storms of Equestria, famine and frostbite were commonplace. As you know, these were the harsh winter years of the Windigos; horrible creatures of nature's elements that brought white death with them wherever they went… which was always where ever we equine went. They were as untouchable as the stars and as relentless as predators that never sleep. There was nothing our species could do but struggle to survive.

One day, against the harsh lashings of wind and snow, a desperate village sent out a few more than several hunters. They were to scour a land that was well stripped for food that wasn’t already withered beneath freezing layers. One whose name had been long forgotten took his own path, making sure to stray far from others to where many would not go. He ventured quite a distance under the cover of crowded trees with very heavy branches. Left and right did they snap under the weight of gathered snow, only sometimes hitting him by the scrape of the skin. Each branch landed with a poof in cushiony powder, pretty to witness, but all that snow was like sludge to his weary legs and it hid the rough terrain well. Very dangerous that section of forest was with its steep steps too and only a desperate pony like him would venture so far into the thick of it. It wasn’t just his thinned stomach that spurred him; far behind him was his family — some very sick, but all awaited a cure for their shrinking bellies.

He ventured deep, so deep that even the hard winds had trouble reaching him. The white layers ahead became thin, allowing few plants to appear healthy while glittering with frost. Then miraculously, a great clearing of trees revealed to him bushes of berries, fruits and many edible greens, almost as if it was all well preserved by the frigid temperature. It all looked untouched, even by the nibble of another creature.

With joy surging as a burst of energy in his body, he began to eat. As he did, he counted the banquet around. It could last his whole family for many weeks, months even, if they could hold back from gorging themselves. But it would last the whole village… a week. Maybe two, or so he worried. If shared, either way it wouldn’t last long enough for his sick kin. In his mind, he had found the food, so it was his. Thus plans of sneaking packs under the cover of night were being formed… then disrupted.

Another frail stallion had stepped in from the first’s trail, looking for a possibly lost member. He peered around with wonder and awe at the potential banquet, sharing plans to get it all back to the whole village. That is till the back of his head was struck. He stumbled forth and caught a glimpse behind. The first stallion loomed with a bloody rock in hoof. The follower was struck and struck again ever harder, to weak to fend off the blows, but sturdy enough to survive too many of them. His screams were lost among the winds beyond the trees.

We know not what the attacker truly thought about his actions, but what he claimed is that there shortly after the final blow, a bone-chilling howl of winds rushed over and through the woods like a train. He thought he was being attacked, but he was left unharmed. It all passed by and faded away. When he had turned his head upwards after burying the body, the only snow that fell was from the covered trees tops. The wind was almost no more. Such was rather unbelievable as the two terrors had not ceased beating at him and his home for near countless days before.

The following days after, only sun came from the sky as warm winds cut away layers of white, bit by bit. He had thought that what brought this wanted weather was a blood sacrifice, one that had called the windigos to happily rush past him before taking their harmful elements with them. It was an astute observation, but he was wrong and I will get to why. However, his biggest mistake was his crime being discovered.

The elders of the village fitted him with a punishment to match the crime. No matter how much he shouted his revelation, in the end, he too was buried. But, his claims lingered. When falling flakes and ruthless cold howls eventually returned, a desperate sacrifice was made… then the snow and chill winds were gone again. That was a start of a secret tradition.

But, as I said, the info this village got from the first killer was wrong. The tradition was kicked off by assigning ponies to be the honorable sacrifices. They drank poison and peacefully passed. They slit veins and silently bled out. They died quick and nearly painless deaths. Quite a few smiling corpses were made, but wind and snow still came back with vengeance. While it rattled the bones of the leaders, they rattled each others nerves to discover what was wrong.

One of the leaders, one well versed in all sorts strange creatures and their strange diets, had… the true revelation. To prove it, amidst a heated feud with another leader, he tossed that other down and took a saw to his neck. Slowly. With that life whisked away on sounds of pure suffering, the winter elements were swept off as well. The windigos left, fat and happy.

Have you ever even heard of such beasts swooping down to eat… anything? Even in legend? I would hope not. It would be a lie. Plant nor meat satisfies the windigos, so the simple spilling of blood would not appease them in any way. Instead, much like changelings, they feed on emotion. Though... not love. No no. Suffering is their diet. The more of it… the better. Through it be fear or pain, it matters not. As long as the victim dies under torment, the windigos leave fatter and happier for far longer. Doubly so if not by natural causes or by the base instincts of a different predator. The ill will of the same species killing one another is far more effective - far more filling. All of this info was slowly uncovered over many years after the village adjusted their now everlasting secret tradition. From there, our story becomes less detailed for the sake of time here.

Around that very same period came the start of Hearth’s Warming Eve; the uniting forces of equine of all kinds. The strings of bonds slowly being sewn between unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies depleted suffering from all around… but it was never enough. It was pure fantasy that the windigos were instantly dashed away by the forming of what we celebrate now as a holiday. The beasts still came about for sometime, trying to fight back and return the suffrage of winter. But as time went, the secret tradition expanded and evolved for the better. Through mixtures of magic and science, we learned to absorb emotions as well as these other creatures. We then learned to shoot this strange food through the sky, right to the enemy's habitat high up in the atmosphere as a magnificent light show. Not only would it keep the windigos from reaching our homes, our light shows… our rainbows… put helpful deterring happiness in the hearts and minds of ponies across Equestria. From there, the majority of the tradition was passed to the pegasi. We have kept ponies smiling and the enemy eating out of the palms of our hooves ever since.

Now we come to recent years. Though we pegasi kept the tradition, we’ve recently decided to re-expand our operation back to our other fellow equine. But, that’s a slew of information for another time.

***

With an eased breath, Silk leaned back in her chair. Her lips parched from running for so long. Too bad she didn’t keep a drink nearby.

“I’ve got a question,” said Pinkie, still seen in the monitor laying comfortably on her white cotton sheets. It was rather impressive that she remained quiet for so long. “Why not share this story with everyone? Why keep it all a secret and tell such a half truth?”

“That’s more of two questions,” said Silk, “but two I can answer. First, most ponies, by nature, are very skittish, easy to upset, and don’t take well at all to violence; especially violence against one another. If this truth gets out, it’s very likely the harmony we’ve struggled to keep so many years will crumble and falter. From that, a number of things could happen, most capable of shutting us down and bringing back the windigos. Second, we’re well aware of how crazy half the truth sounds: being that we absorb spectrum from the dead to make rainbows brighter. That, plain and simple, sounds nuts. Sharing that half of the truth or the other stories we make up are both to help instill fear and… serves as a precaution. It’s been a very long time since any sacrifices escaped. If they ever did, they would spout the nonsense we fed them to the world... and most of society would see it as that and shrug them off as just being insane. Sometimes we tell the half-truth to new hires too, just to screw with them. We sometimes have to have fun here in whatever ways we can.”

Silk couldn’t help but chuckle as she thought back. “Trust me, we’ve come up with some interesting false stories too, ranging from ponies being ground up into cereal or into Celestia’s shampoo.” She paused and listened to Pinkie giggle along before continuing. “Now, I’ve fulfilled my part of the deal and shared something very secretive here. I think it’s about time we talk about your secret; the story of what drove you to you murder and cannibalize 34 fellow ponies.”

“35.”

“My mistake. 35.”

Pinkie lifted her head and her gaze. “Hm….” She tapped her chin.

“I’m well aware you’ve been more than reluctant in sharing this with other shrinks. But whatever worries you might have there, well… don’t. You can trust me. I’m a mare that deals in death. I think I’ll have quite an easy time understanding your position. Be your motives good or bad, I don't care. I just want to know why.” A moment of silence, then Silk lifted a brow. “You’re not thinking of backing out of your ‘Pinkie Promise’, are you?”

“Not at all!” Pinkie waved dismissively. “The first half of your story was pretty good… second half was a bit too impersonal and rushed. I liked the happy ending too, but…” Her mouth opened wide, impressively so, as she unleashed a heavy yawn. “Kinda made me feel a bit sleepy.”

“I’ll take the compliment. I did embellish some details after all. But you might wanna hold off on a nap. Work for you is gonna show up any second now.”

“Well, whatever way I come up with to tell my story… I think, I need to do something better. Bigger. More exciting!”

“I’ll be excited just to listen. But very well. Give it some thought, but don’t keep me waiting too long.”

Where once stood a crowd of wide-eyed ponies, whimpering with faces frozen in fear, now was just one who couldn't even stand. There were fresh scratches and dark stains on the floor of which she was being dragged against by her tail. One forelimb stretched out, adding more scratches as it tried to catch traction to pull herself away from the tugging guard. The other forelimb, newly battered and broken, was as useful as a flopping piece of string. She cried and begged and managed to catch herself with a grate. Before her tugging could become anything of a nuisance, the teal hoof of a hero cracked across her face, quickly undoing her grip.

“Oh shut up,” scolded Rainbow Dash.

Without much more of a fight, the poor mare was tugged up the stage, her belly and throat taking jabs from each stair. Then, she was tossed like a ragged doll to the copper chair. To say that it smelled putrid at this point would be a complement. It was glistening red beneath the spotlights, sitting in a pool of shimmering crimson. It was covered in such a thick layer of blood that her rump instantly slipped halfway out of the seat. The cage-like lid to the front of the throne snapped shut, making sure she'd slip no further. The usual shouting, screaming, yelling and begging still came from her. Not a single word of it did her any good.

“Well well,” Announcer chuckled, taunting over her hollering and rattling of the cage. “Looks like you get to be our very highlight of the night! The last to go! You should feel honored! But… who cares about what you feel, right? After all, I’m getting bored here. So it’s time to get this shit over with!” He then did a bit of a fanciful twirl towards the side of the mechanized chair, as if he were dancing the tango on two hooves with an invisible partner... which that partner soon became the dreaded silver lever.

“Now with that,” he shouted triumphantly, “we saaaaaaay...!” He yanked the lever with all of his might. Nothing. It didn't give. He tried again. The metal bar still didn’t budge an inch. “What the hell?” After a few more fruitless tries, he then lightly kicked the defiant switch. “Great! It’s stuck! Hey, Rainbow!” He called out. “How long do you think this lucky mule will have before maintenance can fix this?”

The Lead Manager, whose grey suit was now riddled in red, thought that to be quite a strangely put question, but answered regardless. “Anywhere from minutes to a day or so at most. Probably.”

“Ah,” he nodded and spoke as if in deep thought. “Well it’s stuck good this time. Could actually take a while.” Then from the corner of his eye, he noticed the caged mare finally stopped shouting. There was a glint in her eyes; a glint of hope for even a quiet moment to come to peace with her life. If she were given any longer, she might have even formed a smile, even if it would be a dreary one soaked in tears. But every urge to upturn the corners of her lips quickly faded. Announcer smiled for her. From his lips poured low and cruel words. “Just kidding~”

The lever shifted with complete ease. A loud ‘ka-chunk’ then the sound of bustling gears. Machines all around, even above and below the platform, rumbled with giddy excitement. Then, the seat of the chair popped open like a trap door. Her tail fell right in. Something snapped right down on it and like a vacuum, it was sucked in. She held on for dear life to the small gaps in the cage to keep herself forward but she was pulled harder and harder, too hard to keep resisting. Her grip slipped. Her rump landing deep into the open seat with a spray of fresh blood. Just when it was thought that her screams could get no more horrid, they did.

The copper throne rumbled ever louder like the sounds of large cogs hard at work, tearing flesh and crushing bone. It was like a slow working garbage disposal was taking to her, rear first. The crack of her hips was heard clear from the other side of the room. It crunched and munched her hind and still she was pulled. Legs drenched in the spray of her own blood folded into her stomach. Her back twitched uncontrollably till it felt another torturous snap, turning her high-pitched shrieking into calmer wales of agony with hollow-eyed stares. She had fallen into shock.

Bit by bit, the mare was swallowed into the open seat, leaving behind only sporadic sprays of gore. Her chest tucked fully between her hind legs as she folded like patio furniture. Her half-swallowed body shaking. Mouth open. Eyes glossed over. Soon enough, her head sunk in. It popped like a cherry with its ooze flying right out into the open. Then lastly, her hooves, all four, followed by the sound of significantly hard bone being shattered and ground. The lever was pulled back into place. Bursts of flames meant to fry any entangling hair shot up from the opening, settled, then the hatch closed back up.

“Oh, the look on her face,” Announcer chuckled after a good long laugh. “Priceless~” Others had joined him in smiling, even Rainbow Dash. From there, she passed out hoofshakes and nods, thanking just about every worker involved for a job well done. They were to all depart, leaving any mess for the nightly cleanup crew. When it came down to her and a few others sharing idle chat of their own, she found herself turning her smile to the now crimson throne. Her heart steady. Her breaths light. Eyes soft. Rainbow Dash felt at peace.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE FULL RELEASE

Author's Note

That's all for now. Please leave a rating and tell me what you think. I look forward to hearing any feedback. If you would like to help with the full story, please feel free to message me here or email me at keystrix@gmail.com.