The Replacement

by n3k1dsk1llz

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Sad, Original Character, Profanity, Gore, Violence, Slice of Life
Length: 3406

Brisk had made his decision. He was going to make sure his grandson was safe from the factory no matter what.

Brisk had made his decision. He was going to make sure his grandson was safe from the factory no matter what. Most ponies brought in to work in the upper factory are brought in because they don't really have family that will miss them. But sometimes they find out that they do, and will do anything to keep them safe.

My entry into the Rainbow Factory Contest.

Indescribable thanks to my wife and LeylaQuartz for loads of help in the editing and finalizing process.

Published 2021-09-26 18:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-09-26 18:50:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Brisk Bronco truly lived up to his name that day. The pipe had burst over the walkway leading to the Main Theater Room. Damn fools who installed it forgot to include any emergency shut off valves. Liquid Lightning was pouring from the pipe, splashing everywhere, falling down to the depths. Brisk was the one that found the clog in the pipe and dislodged it. He was also the only one fast enough to fix a leaking pipe.

While it was true that they could shut the line down and work on it more safely, his ability to fix leaking lines had saved Cloudsdale Weather Corporation millions of bits in lost time over his tenure and this time, he would do it again. He took his tools and pipe patches to the leaking pipe and got to work. His blue hooves worked like lightning to seal the tear. A few short minutes later, the half meter tear in the pipe was completely covered. As he was sealing the last corner, a splash of the dangerous chemical arced out of the open seam. Brisk Bronco yelled out and tried to dodge it.

But he didn’t dodge it. The splash landed in his mouth. It hit his back right molar in the top of his mouth. Brisk had blacked out instantly. It was only later, in the hospital, that he found out the full extent of the damage. His tooth had exploded, sending shards in all directions. Some went out through his cheeks. Some went out through his tongue and the bottom of his jaw. And some went up, through his skull, and into his brain. It was these shards that caused his speech to remain unsteady. It was these shards that made him the slowest pony in the entire factory. But that was over a decade ago.

Brisk knocked on the door to the director’s office and waited. He always waited and she was always in a better mood because of it. He waited just a few seconds before the director invited him inside. He opened the door to find the director writing some notes down into a file. She’d been writing a lot of notes into the files lately. Except this file wasn’t a normal beige file folder. This one was red. Curious.

The director closed the folder and met his gaze. Her stoic glare quickly turned to a happy smile as the grey mare rose from her desk and crossed the room to give him a hug. Her words were hoarse, but gentle.

“Brisk Bronco. My favorite mechanic slash processor. I’m so glad to see you. I could use a friend right now.”

“I-i-i-I’m glad to b-bb-b-brighten your day, d-d-d-director.” Brisk grimaced and turned away. Ever since his accident, he couldn’t get rid of this damned stutter. No matter how often he worked with the speech therapist, it just seemed to get worse. The director, Mythic Haze, noticed his shame and used her hoof to guide his gaze back to hers.

“Don’t be ashamed of your scars. Your heroism saved this entire facility. Hell, you probably saved all of Cloudsdale. That liquid lightning leak was the worst leak in the entire history of this facility.”

This was true. As much as he was scarred by the incident, it was still his proudest achievement. It was this pride and legacy that he was hoping to use in this meeting. He looked Mythic Haze in the eyes and hoofed her a note he had written. She took it and glanced over it. She let out a long breath and looked back up at him.

“You can’t be serious about this, Brisk.” She sighed as Brisk simply nodded in reply. “But you’re not new. This is reserved for new employees to the upper factory. You make this decision on your first day.”

Brisk stared at her for a moment before slapping his brilliant blue chest and pulling his vibrant orange mane taut for her to get a really good look at. It was such a stark contrast to her grey coat and even greyer mane.

“I see your point but I'll have to ask about this one, Brisk. There’s no guarantees, but I’m certainly going to push for you.”

He smiled and gave her a hug. She squeezed him tight and asked him softly one more time, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

He nodded into her mane before releasing her and turning to leave the office.

**************************************************************************

Brisk Bronco stood on the walkway looking at his patch. It was beautiful. Perfect even. Except for the corner. The corner he didn’t get a chance to finish. That corner was mangled and barely holding on. Whoever they had finish the patch really didn’t know what they were doing at all.

He took a deep breath and focused on the smell. It was a smell that meant progress. It was a smell that meant perfection of the Pegasi race. It was a smell that only increased his conviction in what the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation was seeking to achieve. They really were doing the most amazing work for Cloudsdale.

His mind wandered back to his accident. The company had sent him out of the factory to a proper hospital. This was unheard of. No one left the upper factory. Ever. They had utmost trust and respect for him to do such a thing. And they valued him highly.

**************************************************************************

Brisk woke up in a hospital bed surrounded by several ponies he didn't know. A black stallion approached him in his hospital bed. His short red and orange mane made him look like a burning piece of charcoal. When he introduced himself as Night Twister, Brisk Bronco’s breath caught in his throat. That was the name that he had joked about giving to the foal he said he would have with his marefriend, Thunder Spark. Then she was there.

She stepped out from behind Night Twister and smiled, “Hey, Brisk. It’s been a while.”

Brisk felt the tears forming in his eyes. It was the love of his life standing before him, as beautiful as ever. She walked up and grabbed his hoof. He opened his mouth to tell her he loved her, but he couldn’t form words. His mouth wasn’t moving the way it should. She placed her other hoof on top of his head, “Don’t try to talk. The doctor said you’re fine and healthy, but you’re gonna need a lot of speech therapy to learn how to talk again.”

His breathing and heart rate increased, but soon quieted down as Thunder played with his mane. When he had calmed, she smiled and gestured to the other ponies in the room, “This handsome stallion you see here is your son, Night Twister.” She turned her gaze back to Brisk, “Yes I know it was only one time when we were still very young. But I’m so happy about it now, because you also get to meet his wife and your grandson.”

A soft yellow mare with a dark orange mane walked up holding a blue colt with a rainbow mane, “Hi. I’m Saffron and this little bundle is Bow Hothoof. And now I know where he gets his dashing good looks.” She giggled as her husband nudged her with a mildly annoyed look.

Thunder Spark gripped Brisk’s hoof just a little tighter. He looked up to her and saw her tears starting to form. He gave her a look that hopefully was asking her what was wrong. She sniffed and looked into his eyes, “You’re going back after you heal, aren’t you?”

He squeezed her hoof as tight as his exhausted body could manage. He looked to his family in the room. There was the love of his life, standing by his side. There was the son he never knew and his wife doting on a beautiful baby colt. His grandson. He wasn’t just gonna disappear in the factory like most. He met Thunder Spark’s gaze once more and nodded. She squeezed his hoof back and bent down to give him a kiss.

**************************************************************************

Brisk knocked on the director's office door and waited.

"Come in."

Brisk opened the door and walked in, looking to Mythic Haze behind her desk. She stared at him like she had been waiting for him for hours. He closed the door behind him and approached her desk. Her eyes followed him all the way as he traversed the room to sit in the chair across from her. She knew why he was there, so he waited for her to speak.

After a minute of studying him from behind her pressed hooves, she asked, “Why?”

“You know w-w-w-ww-w-why.”

Mythic sighed, “Yeah. I know.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “This is why we always recruit ponies without families.”

“I d-dd-d-d-dddd-d-didn’t kn-kn-”

“I know you didn’t know, Brisk. Nopony is blaming you for this. It makes sense that it would eventually happen.” She took another deep breath, “Did you look over those files we gave you? We can’t afford to have your spot empty at all.”

Brisk tossed the folder he was holding onto her desk. She picked it up and glanced at it. “Atmosphere? Hmm. He’s not a mechanic, though, Brisk.”

“He’s b-b-b-bb-b-better. H-h-h-h-he’s a-a-an inventor.”

She looked at the file again and noticed the notes Brisk had made. She nodded. “I trust your instincts on this, Brisk. You’re a good pony with the interests of Cloudsdale at heart.” She closed the file and set it aside. She pulled out another sheet and centered it in front of her. “Now, let’s make sure we have all the details right. We’ve never allowed a worker to request a specific student. We’ve also never had an employee with such a long tenure request to replace a failure.”

Mythic Haze cleared her throat and began reading from the document in front of her. “You are requesting to replace a certain failure, Bow Hothoof. This request is made knowing the full implications of said request. Should the student fail his flight test, he will be exiled and you will take his place in the queue for the Pegasus Device. Your request has been granted by management and the director.”

Brisk smiled to himself. His grandson would be saved. His life didn’t matter as long as his family could live on. His life had ended the day of the accident anyway. He couldn’t do any of the things that he used to do. He was too slow. Sure he had been in a mentor position for those few new employees that came up, but his trouble speaking made it hard to really guide them. More often than not, they could get the tasks done, but they would miss his nuance of reasoning that gave him so much pride in his work. His thoughts were interrupted by hooves wrapping around his shoulders.

“I really hope your grandson passes, Brisk. Nopony could ever replace your loyalty or dedication to the CWC. I don’t know what this place would turn into without you.”

Brisk turned to look into Mythic’s eyes. “I-i-i kn-kn-kn-knnnn-know.”

He stood up as Mythic released him. She kissed his cheek, the worry on her face telling him more than words ever could. “This could be your last night, Brisk.”

Brisk nodded and turned toward the door. He knew what she wanted. She had been trying to get him into her bed for a long time. Truth be told, he had been entertaining the thought for a while himself. But that wasn’t why he was here. That wasn’t why he came back. She was gorgeous, with her soft green eyes nestled in that amazing charcoal face, but he was here for Cloudsdale. He was here for his family. He wasn’t here for himself.

“Please.” The crack in her voice caused him to stop in the doorway. He turned to her one more time.

“I-i-i-i would lo-l-l-ll-l-love to.” He gave a heavy sigh. “But I c-c-c-cc-c-can’t. N-n-n-nn-nn-n-not t-t-tonight. Maybe not e-e-e-ee-ever.”

He left and closed the door, hearing Mythic Haze break down in her office.

**************************************************************************

The next day, Brisk Bronco was in the Main Theater Room waiting for the arrival of the day's batch. Test day was a busy day, which usually saw him making his way around the entire top floor of the factory, making sure everything was lined up and working as smoothly as possible. But today, he would be working Processing. He needed to be there if Bow failed. So he waited and inspected the Pegasus Device.

It needed to be cleaned. The crew had been slacking on the past few batches. The outer edges of the intake were stained. Brisk could tell a repaint was needed at this point. He’d be sure to get it done when processing was over. Or possibly pass the message along, if needed. The levers were starting to show some wear. He’d be sure to replace the knobs too.

He scoffed at the missing screw on the bottom access panel. Who was so...disrespectful as to not put all the screws back in when replacing a panel? The paint was beginning to flake. He saw blue paint chips scattered all around the base of the device. The more he inspected, the more he saw wrong with it. He was gonna just put a whole team together and overhaul the Pegasus Device. It deserved that for all the Spectra it had given them.

The door to the catwalk opened and Mythic Haze walked in. Brisk looked up and stared at her as he flew up to meet her. He was livid. “Did you know how bad the condition of the Pegasus Device was?! It hasn’t been cleaned since Celestia knows when. It needs paint. It’s missing screws!”

Mythic stared at Brisk with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. After a few seconds, Brisk just yelled, “WHAT?!”

She finally blinked and gained some composure back. She put a hoof out to his chest and whispered, “You didn’t stutter.”

She was right. He hadn’t stuttered. He turned and looked at the device and his brain started recalling. He hadn’t actually been in the Main Theater Room in years. In fact, the last time he had been in there was about six months before his accident. The first year he skipped batch day to inspect other parts of the factory.
“Brisk.” Mythic’s voice pulled him back to the present. “I have some more good news.”

He turned back around and was met with her lips. She wrapped her hooves around his neck and kissed him hard, followed by a peppering of pecks across his face as giggles slowly started escaping her muzzle. “He passed! Ha, Bow Hothoof passed his flight test! You get to stay here.” She held his gaze with a hoof on his chin, “With me.”

Brisk stared into her green eyes and saw the future. Her future. His future. The company’s future. It was amazing, and he smiled. He leaned in and kissed her again. “That’s great news, Mythic. Let’s get ready for processing.”

**************************************************************************

The batch was terrified as the processing team walked back out to the platform. Brisk looked down and saw about fifteen students and at least three puddles. This was going to be a good batch even though it was small. He looked to his fellow workers and they all nodded to him. He walked to the rail, gave the room a long, hard look, and began to speak.

“You have all failed to be a pegasus. But you may now serve a greater purpose. Behold!” He raised a hoof and wing to the Device beside him. “This is the Pegasus Device. A wondrous machine invented long ago. It was invented in a time when the pegasi needed to offer help to the Princess in her heavenly duties. This machine has seen all ponies through some very hard times. Remember that feeling you got every time you saw a beautiful rainbow? That was because of this Pegasus Device.

“And now you get to share in the GLORY of it! You get to become rainbows and inspire thousands of pegasi. Millions of ponies across Equestria. Isn’t it just beautiful? Even though you have failed at being pegasi, you need not be ashamed. For your wonderful essence will be shared with the whole world.”

When he was done with his speech, the students below were less scared. A couple even looked proud. Brisk smiled and looked over to Mythic. She was beautiful in her grey on grey coat and mane. Her eyes twinkled like polished Peridot. Looking back down, he saw a colt raising his hoof.

“You there! Would you like to go first?”

The colt nodded and was guided to the shackles. Brisk saw the colt’s shaky breath as he was lifted above the Device. He was scared.

“You look scared, young one.” The colt nodded. “It’s okay to be scared. But your essence will provide for all of Cloudsdale. You are glorious and what you do today will live on forever. Thank you.”

The colt managed a small smile at Brisk’s words as he began lowering into the Device. The pain on his face was visible to everyone in the room. The sound of his body being turned into Spectra caused a few of the students to gag and retch, but there were no screams. The containers below the device began to glow brightly with the colt's spectra.

The students stared in awe at the glowing raw Spectra. Soon, there were more volunteers. Brisk comforted them and thanked them. Some remained stoic. Some smiled through the pain. One even laughed on her way in. One of the engineers commented on how bright the Spectra was in this Batch.

Then there was one student left. She was huddled in the corner of the theater, as far as she could possibly be from the machine. He nodded to the guards to strap her in. She didn’t fight. She hung completely limp in the chains. Once she was over the machine, Brisk noticed her cutie mark. A paint brush crossed with a feather. He tried reassuring the filly.

“I assure you, young one. Your service today will bring glory to the flock.”

She turned her head and glared at him. Then, as a beast rampaging out of Tartarus, she screamed, the echoes reverberating in his bones. She thrashed and very quickly pulled a bloody hoof from the shackle. Brisk gestured to start lowering her in, but she pulled her back hooves out and began using them as leverage to free her final right hoof. Then she was free and flying, trailing blood from four hooves in various mangled states.

The guards flew up after her and she batted them away like flies, knocking a couple into the device and the rest down to the ground either unconscious or dead. She hovered there above the machine. Her wild eyes darted around, daring someone from the platform to fly up and challenge her. Mystic Haze accepted her challenge and all Brisk could do was watch.

Mystic flew up slowly, circling the filly with enough distance that she would be safe from sudden movements. Gradually, Mystic’s speed increased, soon becoming a grey shadow surrounding the crazed student. Suddenly, Mystic stopped behind the student. She grabbed her wings and gave them a strong twist. The filly barely reacted as her wings became completely dislocated. Brisk felt pride welling up at the sight of Mystic’s skill.

His pride soon turned to shock and horror. The filly twisted in the air, as if given speed from the gods. She wrapped her hooves around Mystic Haze’s neck and kicked her hind hooves up around her body. The timing was perfect as wings came down to meet rising hooves. The dual snap was unmistakable. Student and director tumbled together into the open maw of the machine.

Brisk Bronco was aware of the grinding, cracking and screaming. He was aware of a platform full of engineers panicking that their director was just killed. He was aware. But all he could do was stare at the machine that ate his second love.

Author's Note

After watching the new movie, I feel that it's important that I wrote this before the movie was released.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, please carry on.:twilightsmile: