The Birth of a Flash

A blue-maned stallion slipped during work. The cardboard box he carried on his back cluttered to the ground with a crashing sound, spilling its contents into an expanding pool of brass accompanied by the sound or metal scratching against concrete. He didn’t let out a single word, just immediately got up and began trying to stop the shell casings from rolling further away. The rhythmic hoofbeats behind him didn’t stop him.

The stallion was sure to receive a dressing down by one of the changeling guards, followed by a painful whipping, if he was unlucky. Nopony in the factory bothered to slow their work, or even spare a glance to the poor soul that just caused himself a whole lot of trouble. A daily occurence. Something they’ve grown used to quickly enough.

Jade Jester didn’t blame them. None of them wanted to become part of that stallion’s trouble. He didn’t spare more than an acknowledging glance, either, even as the shells rolled away and their sound was drowned out by the echoing, harsh sounds of Changeling words.

Changeling. It didn’t matter what the guard was saying - Jade understood nothing but a few choice words, at least three of which were insults. All the guards spoke Equestrian, as far as he knew - but this one wouldn’t deign to talk to a pony in their own native tongue. That bode ill for the blue mane. He’d probably be the latest victim of a lashing. Such things weren’t uncommon, not really. Not after the equestrian army surrendered.

The factory floor was what it was.

Jade focused back on his own work, filling another shell with gunpowder, then passing it off to the next pony in line. He didn’t even know the mare’s name. She didn’t know his, either. It didn’t matter one way or another - the important part was that just like everyone else, she remained silent as their hooves moved in unison.

Sometimes, she would place her hoof on his, when the guards weren’t looking and the daily quota wasn’t so far away. It was a strange kind of kinship - they didn’t know one another, not really, but still they found one another’s presence comforting. In another world, maybe they could be friends. Jade didn’t hold out hope this one would let them, not even as she brushed up her hoof against his again when he handed her another soon to be complete bullet.

The cool metal felt different then the warmth of the mare’s hoof, and he once more remembered he stopped wondering how many deaths his work had led to years ago.

The stallion on the ground spoke up, and then fell back to silently collecting the casings when the butt of the changeling’s rifle struck against his muzzle. The other guards were staring now, following the screaming. They could’ve picked the casings up themselves using magic, instead of torturing the earth pony like this, but that thought didn’t seem to cross their minds. Only when the box of shells was filled once again did they lend a hoof - they got the pony up, then dragged him out the door. The silent sobbing coming from the group went unacknowledged

Once again, the electric lights and rhythm of machines became the only sources of noise on the factory floor, and nobody noticed that the pack of cigarettes in Jade Jester’s pocket now contained a bullet.