Author's Note

Things are starting to build up, I promise. You could probably tell by the last chapter's descriptions of the beasts. But the real stuff is building up.

I know it currently has a lot of thumbs down compared to thumbs up, (admittedly one of thumbs up is my own) but that's okay. I feel like it just needs to reach the right audience. So even if you don't like it, you could share it with friends who love horror and friends who love Aurora Dawn's masterpiece "Rainbow Factory."

Everything Is Never As It Seems

"In a thousand years time, we've developed and grown.

"Yet this operation cannot work on its own."

The viewing theatre was an elegant, and also gothic, auditorium. A tall stage and balcony loomed over the sets of velveteen seats, all embellished with gold and embroidered with the initials G.G. in purple. All along the sides and hanging from the ceiling were crystals shaped into unicorn horns. Sweetie Belle and her friends decided to take the first row with Sweetie Belle ending up on the far left. Next to her left was Lydia Blizzard who was still wearing her necklace.

"They didn't take that?" Sweetie Belle asked her, indicating to the necklace.

Lydia shook her head.

"It's weird. They took everything else; my ADHD meds, my anti-depressants, my stuffed animal, all the stuff inside my satchel, but they let me keep this?"

"Maybe they couldn't get it off?" Rose suggested, popping up from the second row and startling the two.

Lydia shrugged.

"It's possible. I mean, Glimmering Gems necklaces have a reputation for being difficult to take off; apparently it's a precaution in case somepony tried to steal it from you while you have it on."

"What's Glimmering Gems?" Sweetie Belle's face contorted in confusion.

"You've never heard of Glimmering Gems?" Now it was Lydia's turn to be confused. "They're a major manufacturing company. They produce a lot of things; medicine, bath salts, pillows, towels, spices, lightbulbs, just about anything you can imagine. But their main product is this."

She held out her necklace.

"Unicorn horn-shaped necklaces. What makes them so unique is that each of them has a different charm inside of the top. See? Mine's a snowflake to match my cutie mark."

"What exactly is your talent?" Rose asked. "Ooh! Are you like that one pony princess that can harness the power of ice and snow? Can you make it snow?"

Lydia chuckled.

"I wish. No, my talent is actually in winter-based events and activities; hot cocoa-making, snowpony-building, sledding, skiing, even navigating through a blizzard. I tend to get sent out to find ponies who get lost in blizzard and snowstorms because I have the know-how to stay warm and figure out the best navigation paths. Anyway, these necklaces are said to give the wearer good fortune, especially if it matches up with their cutie mark. Though I'm guessing it's only to an extent, otherwise I'd be a Pass Complete."

At that moment, the theatre lights dimmed and a spotlight appeared on the balcony. A dark-violet unicorn, who the Pass 30s assumed was Doctor Vessel, and two unicorns dressed all in black appeared into view. As Doctor Vessel stepped up to the microphone on the balcony, Sweetie Belle noticed that the other two were the azure and purple-eyed ponies she'd seen the evening prior.

"By now, I'm sure several of you have come to the conclusion that things are not as they seem here. You are not in some sort of hotel or in a medieval castle. You are in a manufacturing facility. This is your final destination, and the reason you won't fall upon the fates of those pathetic Fail 70s. However you are not quite worthwhile to have in Equestria, as you lack the kinesthetics of magic. But don't worry, you'll be able to train those here, provided you choose to stay. You get to help us make everything from pillows to lenses to our signature commodity; unicorn horn necklaces."

Realization befell on each of the ponies and Doctor Vessel smirked.

"Yes, indeed. You have the absolute honor of working at the Glimmering Gems Manufacturing Facility. Isn't that wonderful?"

"You're....you're gonna turn us into corporate wage slaves?!" Neptune exclaimed. "You're gonna give us the bare minimum to work mindlessly until our bones become dust?!"

"Sounds like getting a job in Equestria to me," Cadence shrugged.

Doctor Vessel glared down at Cadence.

"I don't appreciate your tone."

The pink unicorn simply rolled her eyes before Doctor Vessel continued.

"As I just said, it's quite an honor to work here. You are able to choose your job or be assigned to one. You can also refuse, but I should think that would be an unwise decision....."

This sent shivers through everypony. Their eyes widened and they remained silent. But soon one brave light-blue unicorn from Applewood University spoke up in an accent almost identical to Scarlet's.

"How are you able to stand there and imply that we either work or die? Do you have no conscience? Do you have no compassion for other ponies? For fellow Equestrians?! The princesses would never allow something like this! It's insane! It's demented!"

"I think you'll find it's quite the opposite if you see it in a different light."

The azure-eyed pony stepped forward followed by the purple-eyed pony. Sweetie Belle perked up at the voice. It was familiar and so was the purple-eyed pony as they spoke.

"You all know what happened during the Great Famine just over one thousand years ago. It's always on the history portion of your written magic exam. However what they don't teach you is exactly how Equestria managed to lift itself out of it. You see, Princess Celestia entrusted us unicorns to find a solution to it, as the pegasi were busy working on a solution to the rainbow problem and the earth ponies were starving too much to work. We tried many solutions with the natural and artificial resources we had, but everything fell by the wayside. The entirety of Equestria was becoming demoralized, so we were on a time limit before it was all doomed to fall.

"But then one day, completely by accident, a breakthrough was discovered. There was a natural resource that wouldn't wither away. One that our species, specifically, sees every single day. It also gave us a solution to what to do with those who couldn't contribute to their fullest potential."

"What....what was that?" Neptune asked timidly.

"Who cares?" the light-blue pony snapped back. "There's no reason to justify working ponies to the bone! None!"

The azure and purple-eyed ponies looked at each other and nodded before turning back to the Pass 30s.

"We'll let you form your own opinion on it once you see it," the azure-eyed pony said. "If you keep it to yourself."

The purple-eyed pony pulled out a button and pressed it. Two parts of the wall, one on each side of the stage, slid down to reveal a set of double metal doors on each side. From the other side, Sweetie Belle thought she heard choral music.

"Fillies, gentlecolts, all in between, and all outside," the purple-eyed pony announced. "Welcome to the main Glimmering Gems Manufacturing Floor!"

The azure-eyed pony pressed another button and both pairs of doors slid open. The choral music got louder, as did the sound of machinery. With a morbid curiosity, Sweetie Belle galloped over to the left door as the others followed.

The room stretched far and wide. A set of conveyor belts lined bunches of unicorns as they were each assembling various products. Cyborg ponies and regular unicorns were also patrolling around each part. On the far side, standing on metallic bleachers, were unicorns with leather-bound folders singing for the workers to hear. Machines pounded, buzzed, sawed, and blew rhythmically. But nothing could prepare her for what was on her left.

Behind a pane of glass laid rows of farm animal stalls, each guarded by the same beasts that had been guarding the dungeons. The floor of each one was lined with hay, but she could also see nails peeking out of several of them. And another horror set in; the occupants were not farm animals. Many of the occupants had their muzzle chained shut. Others had the sides of their face pierced, forcing the mouth to pull apart, giving the impression of a forced smile. Many had slashes on their body, some had been pierced by chain cuffs on the legs, body, and hooves. On their flanks, right beside their cutie marks, a set of numbers and letters had been branded. Some of them even had their eyelids pierced and forced open. And all of them wore the same rings the Pass 30s did.

They were unicorns. But not just any unicorns. They were the Fail 70s from their schools.

"So how do we make up for the time we've lost?

"We take down all the failures, make them pay the cost."

Sweetie Belle reeled backwards at the sight as she recognized a Fail 70 from her own college; Melody Meadows, a pink unicorn with a beautiful daffodil-yellow mane and an eighth note cutie mark with daisies in place of the circles. She'd been the lead mezzo-soprano of the Canterlot Choir, which Sweetie Belle and her best friends had been a part of, and was one of the few who had her muzzle free and only had her legs chain to the walls, giving only a small sense of relief to Sweetie Belle. Another unicorn next to her had the same entrapment; Canary Symphony, a beautiful unicorn with a canary-yellow coat and wavy-peach mane. She had been the lead soprano of the Canterlot Choir. The two gasped when they saw Sweetie Belle on the other side of the glass.

"Sweetie Belle!"

Though their voices were muffled slightly, Sweetie Belle could still hear them. She cantered over to the two with tears in her eyes.

"Canary! Melody!" she cried out. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Not quite..." Canary sighed. "But we've at least been spared the inevitable."

Sweetie Belle's face contorted in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"It seems they really value employee morale....to an extent," Melody sighed. "They take names into account when deciding what's to be done with us...."

"H-huh?"

"Do you see the choir over there?" Canary asked.

Sweetie Belle nodded.

"Our names each have something to do with music, so our fates became simply that....and when they called my name, they made jokes about putting me in a bird cage."

Saying that, Canary shuddered in horror.

"Though in all honesty, with how morbid this place is, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a joke."

"But....what's going to happen to the other ponies?" Sweetie Belle desperately needed all the answers she could get.

Suddenly, the beast beside Melody's enclosure lunged at the glass, making the unicorn jump back in fright.

"We....we can't tell you the specifics," Melody admitted, her eyes watering. "Just that it won't be pretty. Though I suppose you figured that already."

She then smiled weakly.

"But....at least we'll get to keep our horns."

For several moments, Sweetie Belle's mouth just sank open. It was only after fully processing this that she spoke.

"Keep your--what?!" Sweetie Belle couldn't believe her ears.

"Alright, Pass 30s." The purple-eyed pony called out through a megaphone. "Gather round."

"We're sorry, Sweetie Belle," Melody squeaked. "Hopefully we'll get to see you again...."

Sadly, Sweetie Belle gave a nod before trotting over to the crowd forming around another stage in the center. The azure-eyed pony and the purple-eyed pony were standing upon it, their heads raised in establishment of authority.

"So...I suppose you're wondering just exactly what this resource is, correct?" asked the azure-eyed pony. "Or mayhaps some of you figured it out?"

The unicorns glanced around at one another. Some of them looked completely clueless while others looked reluctant to give the truth away, unsure of how much more heartache any of them could take.

"Shall we, dear?" The azure-eyed pony glanced over at the purple-eyed pony.

"We shall."

With a mere swish of their cloaks, their faces soon appeared, faces that anypony would never have guessed would be involved in such an operation as this one, faces that spoke the horrific truth in perfect synchronization.

"They had to be from unicorns!"