The Factoryby Dark WishesChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1PROLOGUE- THE DEPTHS OF DARKNESS As Rainbow paced the room (not for the first time), she was mentally preparing herself for what was to come. She had to do this every time, meditate silently inside her head, so that she would be able to complete the task at hand. When you work at the Rainbow Factory, everything isn’t sunshine and lollipops. She slowly trotted out into the machine room, scanning over the group of newly arrived fillies and colts. No, she reminded herself, these FAILURES don’t even deserve to be called ponies. Satisfied, she continued across the platform, approaching the podium to where she gave her little spheal every time a new arrival of failures came. As she walked up to the podium, a small, bright blue colt stepped up. “Where are we? What are we doing here?” He said boldly, looking Rainbow directly into the eyes. “What an excellent question!” She said, smiling. “Maybe you will be the first to… demonstrate.” Then, she started the lines that were given to her, that everypony who led the Factory had always said. “By now, you’ve all clearly determined that you are not going into exile. There is no deportation. There never was. You are in The Factory. You will never leave the factory. And while you may be called u-useless,” she said, stumbling over the words. “That’s n-not entirely t-true.” She was wondering why she was having such a hard time repeating the words she had said about twice a month for years, but then se looked up. When she looked into the eyes of all the fillies, every single one, all she saw was her. All she saw were those adventurous eyes, always filled with a kind of spark, a hope for success. Those eyes… suddenly, the world went dark. In her spiraling semi-state of consciousness, she remembered somepony screaming, and she remembered being picked up and carried somewhere. But all the while, she was writhing and squirming, flashing back in her head to the moment when that pony had been lifted into the machine, and she played in her mind over and over again on repeat, that pony’s last words, as she was looking straight into her eyes… “You have beautiful eyes.” “Rainbow? Rainbow? Hey! Rainbow!” As Rainbow Dash awoke into consciousness, she noticed a pink earth pony, bouncing around her bed and repeatedly calling her name. “Rainbow? Rainbow? Rainbow!” “Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash said, groggily sitting up. “SHE’S AWAAAAKE!” screamed Pinkie Pie, running out of the room. Suddenly, a group of ponies Rainbow half recognized as her friends all crowded into the room at once. “Oh my, are you OK deary?” asked Rarity, shoving to the front of the group. Rainbow scanned her gaze around the room, trying to recognize what was happening and remember what was going on… but then it all came rushing back to her at once. The Factory. Seeing Scootaloo’s eyes in all the fillies. Fainting. She thought she was going to be sick. She tried to stagger out of bed, but Applejack pushed forward and pushed her back down. “Oh no you don’t. Hold yer horses there, Rainbow. The doctor pony said yall aren’t going to be out of this here hospital fer at least a few days.” Thoughts were spinning quickly through Rainbow’s head. “Where am I? What am I doing here? What happened?” All of her questions spewed out at once, without even giving the other ponies a chance to answer. “I think I can answer all your questions.” Said a smooth and somehow foreboding voice, coming from the doorway. END OF PROLOGUE Chapter 2Chapter 1: As he awoke, the pony sat up from his bed and dropped to the floor, landing on his feet. He walked out of his small bedroom past the living room, which contained a couch, a coffee table covered in old soda cans, horror stories, and old food wrappers. He gave a little smile as he saw the title on top of a stack of books, “Cupcakes.” From there he walked into the kitchen. It had the usual stove, microwave, countertop, and counter. But there was also a rusty cage sitting in the corner. It had been given to him by one of his old friends a long long time ago as a joke present, but he had dragged it out and dropped it in a corner the day they all died. As sort of a reminder, or some kind of ironic humor, he barely even knew himself. As he set the coffee pot on the table, he realized he was running low on supplies. Great, he thought, I have to go out there. He set the coffee pot down on the table and prepared to step outside. he knew that all the ponies would shy away as he walked down the street, that the mothers would pull their fillies closer. He wouldn’t have it any other way. Since his birth, he had been marked as a “devil child,” “unnatural,” etc. He was a pitch-black Pegasus pony with a black mane and a kind of aura that emanated darkness, and made ponies naturally shy away from him. His eyes may have had something to do with that, blood red pupils, and red rings surrounding his eyes. Nopony could figure out the natural red rings around his eyes, the color of blood, and some assumed that he painted them that way just to disturb ponies. When you looked straight into his eyes, it caused a deep unexplained dread that made even the bravest ponies fear him. It wasn’t his fault that he had been born with the natural ability to cause fear in ponies, but it shaped who he was. He enjoyed the look of fear in other ponies, cherished causing terror in others. He walked out the door of his small cabin in the Everfree Forest, and headed down the dirt path towards the town of Ponyville. As expected, the ponies were in fear and looked away from him, mentally pushing him away and trying to protect themselves. They had all heard the rumors, that one look could cripple you for life, that if you didn’t keep them safe he would kidnap your fillies and eat them. He found these rumors humorous, and did nothing to stop them. But enough dawdling, he had things to do. He walked by a few stalls, picking up food and other necessities, and dropping off a few bits in pay. As he started to walk down the path back towards his house, a filly, probably about 8 or 9 years old smashed headfirst into him as she was bounding down the path. “I’m sor-“ She started as she looked up. But as soon as she saw who she had bumped into, her look quickly changed into that of horror. She screamed and started bawling, as he simply scowled and walked away. Of course, all the ponies were now staring at him as he walked down the path back towards the Everfree Forest and his house. This is why I hate going out, he thought spitefully. He started setting the coffee pot on the stove again, but he heard a knock on the door. What the hell? He thought. No one ever comes out here. I swear if it is some idiotic pony that got lost… He came to the door and opened it. To his great surprise, two members of Celestia’s personal guard were standing there, holding an important looking document. “Are you the pony known as Dark Wishes?” one of them asked, in a stern tone. “Yes.” He replied, his eyes narrowing. “You have been requested for a personal audience with the princess.” The pony handed him the official looking document he was holding, and he opened it. According to this scroll, he was supposed to meet with Celestia the following day, at noon. “There will be an escort to pick you up outside of here, at 8:00 tomorrow. Don’t be late.” The pony said this with an heir of finality, and closed the front door of his house. He just stood there for a second, considering. What could Celestia possibly want with him? He realized that he had left the coffee pot on, and went and turned off the burner, then proceed to pour out his coffee. As he slowly sipped at the coffee, he stared at the document sitting on the table. Almost no one ever got a personal audience with the princess, especially him… Except for that time, 20 years ago, when I was still a filly, he thought. Frustrated, he went to sit on the couch, and started reading a book. Later that night when he slipped into bed, he was still thinking about what would happen the following day. Eventually he fell into an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning all night. At the same time, deep in the city of Canterlot, in the royal halls of the palace, Celestia sat in the throne room, nervously looking at the file of the pony she had selected. She remembered him from about 8 years go, but back then he had looked just as menacing, just as… unnatural. To this day, she sill couldn’t figure out the aura, almost, that seemed to drive away other ponies, to cause them to feel fear or at least be unnerved at the sight of him. It still bugged her, but this time she wasn’t summoning him to study him. This time, she had a job that only a certain type of pony, only one insane enough could pull off. She was almost ashamed that this still went on, but it was for the best. Her face darkened as she thought of the task ahead of her, and the pony she had selected. It was time to select a new leader. For the better. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. END OF CHAPTER ONE Chapter 3Chapter 3 It was raining, that day. A good setting of tone for what was to come into place. A dark looking Pegasus pony, with blood red eyes, stepped out of almost a little cottage, into the mud and pouring rain outside. Dark Wishes had woken up early that day, at about 7:30 A.M. He had to get prepared, for the day that was coming was an important one. He got up, drank his coffee, and waited for the carriage to arrive and take him to the city of Canterlot. He saw that it was raining, and this suited him just fine. It was always raining. Even when it was sunny, it was always raining for him. The carriage finally pulled up, and he stepped out into the mud and rain, his hooves squelching in the mud. He walked up to the carriage. It was ornery looking and had floral and sun pattern designs, as is usual for royal carriages and architecture. A grey, stony-faced guard from Celestia’s guard opened the door for him. He sat down, and the powerful Pegasus ponies pulling the carriage began to lift off. He didn’t ask any questions or talk at all for the ride, and he assumed Celestia’s guard dog wouldn’t be too chatty anyway. Another pony probably would have been more curious, but Dark Wishes knew that when it came to these situations, it was best just to let things unfold themselves. He wasn’t generally a curious pony anyway. The carriage finally stopped in front of the palace, and the guard motioned for Dark Wishes to step out of the carriage. He stepped out into the grass in the royal garden, and saw that it was sunny up here in Canterlot. Royal ponies are too good for rain, huh? He wondered. He had preferred it when it was raining. He walked through the royal garden, past flowers and statues, with the guard following closely behind him. He felt the sun casting its rays on to his face as he approached Celestia’s castle. The last time he had been here… Well, he didn’t care to think about that right now. He walked slowly through the halls of the palace, past palace workers and visitors, through the perfect shiny white and sunshine patterns towards the throne room. He knew his way around here pretty well, from past experiences. Most of the palace workers were too young to remember him personally, but his presence still put them on edge, because of his natural abilities. The only thing I’m good at is scaring ponies, he lamented, but it suits me. He was still a little curious about what Celestia wanted from him, but he knew better than to ask anyone other then her majesty herself. He stopped in front of the doors to the throne room, his hooves coming to a stop as he looked up at the towering white doors, covered, as every single damn thing in this palace was, in floral patterns and the royal symbol of a blazing sun. He couldn’t wait to get out of here and return home. It wasn’t long that he waited until he heard a voice echoing out. It was the voice he remembered, still very clearly, from 20 years ago. “Come on in, I’ve been waiting for you.” He slowly trotted into the room, and saw Celestia, sitting and looking as regal as ever, on her throne. It would have intimidated most ponies, but he wasn’t the kind of pony to get intimidated. He bowed, and then got back up to face her. She sighed. “I’m assuming you’ve been wondering why I’ve brought you in here? It’s been so long since I saw you, last time, you were only a filly…” She had a distant look in her eyes. “I don’t know why you called me here, but I’m assuming it wasn’t for a walk down memory lane.” He said, scowling. “No,” she said, “I have something I need you to do. It’s… a job, I guess. You’re really the only pony I could think of, to fill this empty position. “What is it?” he said, with an almost barely detectable hint of curiosity in his voice. What was she thinking of? What position or job could she possibly want a pony like him to do? He couldn’t think of anything. “How much do you know about… the Rainbow Factory?”
Chapter 1PROLOGUE- THE DEPTHS OF DARKNESS As Rainbow paced the room (not for the first time), she was mentally preparing herself for what was to come. She had to do this every time, meditate silently inside her head, so that she would be able to complete the task at hand. When you work at the Rainbow Factory, everything isn’t sunshine and lollipops. She slowly trotted out into the machine room, scanning over the group of newly arrived fillies and colts. No, she reminded herself, these FAILURES don’t even deserve to be called ponies. Satisfied, she continued across the platform, approaching the podium to where she gave her little spheal every time a new arrival of failures came. As she walked up to the podium, a small, bright blue colt stepped up. “Where are we? What are we doing here?” He said boldly, looking Rainbow directly into the eyes. “What an excellent question!” She said, smiling. “Maybe you will be the first to… demonstrate.” Then, she started the lines that were given to her, that everypony who led the Factory had always said. “By now, you’ve all clearly determined that you are not going into exile. There is no deportation. There never was. You are in The Factory. You will never leave the factory. And while you may be called u-useless,” she said, stumbling over the words. “That’s n-not entirely t-true.” She was wondering why she was having such a hard time repeating the words she had said about twice a month for years, but then se looked up. When she looked into the eyes of all the fillies, every single one, all she saw was her. All she saw were those adventurous eyes, always filled with a kind of spark, a hope for success. Those eyes… suddenly, the world went dark. In her spiraling semi-state of consciousness, she remembered somepony screaming, and she remembered being picked up and carried somewhere. But all the while, she was writhing and squirming, flashing back in her head to the moment when that pony had been lifted into the machine, and she played in her mind over and over again on repeat, that pony’s last words, as she was looking straight into her eyes… “You have beautiful eyes.” “Rainbow? Rainbow? Hey! Rainbow!” As Rainbow Dash awoke into consciousness, she noticed a pink earth pony, bouncing around her bed and repeatedly calling her name. “Rainbow? Rainbow? Rainbow!” “Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash said, groggily sitting up. “SHE’S AWAAAAKE!” screamed Pinkie Pie, running out of the room. Suddenly, a group of ponies Rainbow half recognized as her friends all crowded into the room at once. “Oh my, are you OK deary?” asked Rarity, shoving to the front of the group. Rainbow scanned her gaze around the room, trying to recognize what was happening and remember what was going on… but then it all came rushing back to her at once. The Factory. Seeing Scootaloo’s eyes in all the fillies. Fainting. She thought she was going to be sick. She tried to stagger out of bed, but Applejack pushed forward and pushed her back down. “Oh no you don’t. Hold yer horses there, Rainbow. The doctor pony said yall aren’t going to be out of this here hospital fer at least a few days.” Thoughts were spinning quickly through Rainbow’s head. “Where am I? What am I doing here? What happened?” All of her questions spewed out at once, without even giving the other ponies a chance to answer. “I think I can answer all your questions.” Said a smooth and somehow foreboding voice, coming from the doorway. END OF PROLOGUE
Chapter 2Chapter 1: As he awoke, the pony sat up from his bed and dropped to the floor, landing on his feet. He walked out of his small bedroom past the living room, which contained a couch, a coffee table covered in old soda cans, horror stories, and old food wrappers. He gave a little smile as he saw the title on top of a stack of books, “Cupcakes.” From there he walked into the kitchen. It had the usual stove, microwave, countertop, and counter. But there was also a rusty cage sitting in the corner. It had been given to him by one of his old friends a long long time ago as a joke present, but he had dragged it out and dropped it in a corner the day they all died. As sort of a reminder, or some kind of ironic humor, he barely even knew himself. As he set the coffee pot on the table, he realized he was running low on supplies. Great, he thought, I have to go out there. He set the coffee pot down on the table and prepared to step outside. he knew that all the ponies would shy away as he walked down the street, that the mothers would pull their fillies closer. He wouldn’t have it any other way. Since his birth, he had been marked as a “devil child,” “unnatural,” etc. He was a pitch-black Pegasus pony with a black mane and a kind of aura that emanated darkness, and made ponies naturally shy away from him. His eyes may have had something to do with that, blood red pupils, and red rings surrounding his eyes. Nopony could figure out the natural red rings around his eyes, the color of blood, and some assumed that he painted them that way just to disturb ponies. When you looked straight into his eyes, it caused a deep unexplained dread that made even the bravest ponies fear him. It wasn’t his fault that he had been born with the natural ability to cause fear in ponies, but it shaped who he was. He enjoyed the look of fear in other ponies, cherished causing terror in others. He walked out the door of his small cabin in the Everfree Forest, and headed down the dirt path towards the town of Ponyville. As expected, the ponies were in fear and looked away from him, mentally pushing him away and trying to protect themselves. They had all heard the rumors, that one look could cripple you for life, that if you didn’t keep them safe he would kidnap your fillies and eat them. He found these rumors humorous, and did nothing to stop them. But enough dawdling, he had things to do. He walked by a few stalls, picking up food and other necessities, and dropping off a few bits in pay. As he started to walk down the path back towards his house, a filly, probably about 8 or 9 years old smashed headfirst into him as she was bounding down the path. “I’m sor-“ She started as she looked up. But as soon as she saw who she had bumped into, her look quickly changed into that of horror. She screamed and started bawling, as he simply scowled and walked away. Of course, all the ponies were now staring at him as he walked down the path back towards the Everfree Forest and his house. This is why I hate going out, he thought spitefully. He started setting the coffee pot on the stove again, but he heard a knock on the door. What the hell? He thought. No one ever comes out here. I swear if it is some idiotic pony that got lost… He came to the door and opened it. To his great surprise, two members of Celestia’s personal guard were standing there, holding an important looking document. “Are you the pony known as Dark Wishes?” one of them asked, in a stern tone. “Yes.” He replied, his eyes narrowing. “You have been requested for a personal audience with the princess.” The pony handed him the official looking document he was holding, and he opened it. According to this scroll, he was supposed to meet with Celestia the following day, at noon. “There will be an escort to pick you up outside of here, at 8:00 tomorrow. Don’t be late.” The pony said this with an heir of finality, and closed the front door of his house. He just stood there for a second, considering. What could Celestia possibly want with him? He realized that he had left the coffee pot on, and went and turned off the burner, then proceed to pour out his coffee. As he slowly sipped at the coffee, he stared at the document sitting on the table. Almost no one ever got a personal audience with the princess, especially him… Except for that time, 20 years ago, when I was still a filly, he thought. Frustrated, he went to sit on the couch, and started reading a book. Later that night when he slipped into bed, he was still thinking about what would happen the following day. Eventually he fell into an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning all night. At the same time, deep in the city of Canterlot, in the royal halls of the palace, Celestia sat in the throne room, nervously looking at the file of the pony she had selected. She remembered him from about 8 years go, but back then he had looked just as menacing, just as… unnatural. To this day, she sill couldn’t figure out the aura, almost, that seemed to drive away other ponies, to cause them to feel fear or at least be unnerved at the sight of him. It still bugged her, but this time she wasn’t summoning him to study him. This time, she had a job that only a certain type of pony, only one insane enough could pull off. She was almost ashamed that this still went on, but it was for the best. Her face darkened as she thought of the task ahead of her, and the pony she had selected. It was time to select a new leader. For the better. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. END OF CHAPTER ONE
Chapter 3Chapter 3 It was raining, that day. A good setting of tone for what was to come into place. A dark looking Pegasus pony, with blood red eyes, stepped out of almost a little cottage, into the mud and pouring rain outside. Dark Wishes had woken up early that day, at about 7:30 A.M. He had to get prepared, for the day that was coming was an important one. He got up, drank his coffee, and waited for the carriage to arrive and take him to the city of Canterlot. He saw that it was raining, and this suited him just fine. It was always raining. Even when it was sunny, it was always raining for him. The carriage finally pulled up, and he stepped out into the mud and rain, his hooves squelching in the mud. He walked up to the carriage. It was ornery looking and had floral and sun pattern designs, as is usual for royal carriages and architecture. A grey, stony-faced guard from Celestia’s guard opened the door for him. He sat down, and the powerful Pegasus ponies pulling the carriage began to lift off. He didn’t ask any questions or talk at all for the ride, and he assumed Celestia’s guard dog wouldn’t be too chatty anyway. Another pony probably would have been more curious, but Dark Wishes knew that when it came to these situations, it was best just to let things unfold themselves. He wasn’t generally a curious pony anyway. The carriage finally stopped in front of the palace, and the guard motioned for Dark Wishes to step out of the carriage. He stepped out into the grass in the royal garden, and saw that it was sunny up here in Canterlot. Royal ponies are too good for rain, huh? He wondered. He had preferred it when it was raining. He walked through the royal garden, past flowers and statues, with the guard following closely behind him. He felt the sun casting its rays on to his face as he approached Celestia’s castle. The last time he had been here… Well, he didn’t care to think about that right now. He walked slowly through the halls of the palace, past palace workers and visitors, through the perfect shiny white and sunshine patterns towards the throne room. He knew his way around here pretty well, from past experiences. Most of the palace workers were too young to remember him personally, but his presence still put them on edge, because of his natural abilities. The only thing I’m good at is scaring ponies, he lamented, but it suits me. He was still a little curious about what Celestia wanted from him, but he knew better than to ask anyone other then her majesty herself. He stopped in front of the doors to the throne room, his hooves coming to a stop as he looked up at the towering white doors, covered, as every single damn thing in this palace was, in floral patterns and the royal symbol of a blazing sun. He couldn’t wait to get out of here and return home. It wasn’t long that he waited until he heard a voice echoing out. It was the voice he remembered, still very clearly, from 20 years ago. “Come on in, I’ve been waiting for you.” He slowly trotted into the room, and saw Celestia, sitting and looking as regal as ever, on her throne. It would have intimidated most ponies, but he wasn’t the kind of pony to get intimidated. He bowed, and then got back up to face her. She sighed. “I’m assuming you’ve been wondering why I’ve brought you in here? It’s been so long since I saw you, last time, you were only a filly…” She had a distant look in her eyes. “I don’t know why you called me here, but I’m assuming it wasn’t for a walk down memory lane.” He said, scowling. “No,” she said, “I have something I need you to do. It’s… a job, I guess. You’re really the only pony I could think of, to fill this empty position. “What is it?” he said, with an almost barely detectable hint of curiosity in his voice. What was she thinking of? What position or job could she possibly want a pony like him to do? He couldn’t think of anything. “How much do you know about… the Rainbow Factory?”
