The Factory

PROLOGUE- 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