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.