The Escape From the Rainbow Factory
The Escape from the Rainbow Factory
By: Colton Taylor
Colorful Insanity Part 1
Day 1
So, I just got a job at a place called the Rainbow Factory. I heard it was a strange place but I'm a strange guy so who knows I may like it. Plus you never know the benefits and pay may very well be pretty good, I just hope I can finally support my girlfriend who's in intensive care I need 10,000 bits to afford her surgery, I just hope Crystal-Wonder will be okay she's basically my whole life ever since I... well ever since my family passed away.
When I get there I've been informed that the upper levels are strictly off limits, I wonder why but my instincts are telling me it can't be good. I'll abide by what they say for now but if it I hear anything suspicious I'll need to check it out. I need to go to work tomorrow at 6:30 A.M. so I'm gonna need a lot of rest.
Day 2
Okay today's the day I go to work, I'm actually pretty excited I can finally start making some money and helping out Cat. Before I go in it's about 6:00 A.M. so I fly over to the hospital to visit Crystal I wish her a good day kiss her on the cheek and then head off. Since I have 15 minutes to spare after the visit I stop at the market in Ponyville and buy an apple really quick then fly up to the Factory.
"Wish me luck everyone!" I say to myself as I head off into Cloudsville. at the entrance I'm given a lab coat and am wished good luck, I'm not exactly sure what he meant.
I'm in the entrance spot of the factory and it seems a bit depressing so I try and hurry the tour, they say that I can't go into the testing room again to make sure I get the message and so I listen for now but my curiosity won't be sated until I see what's in that room. I really would like to figure out what's in that room but I hold it off for now.
It's about time to get back home though I did not see many other workers leaving with me. So I head back to my house back in Ponyville. It's about time to get to sleep the hours there were uneventful and overall boring, so I return home and go to sleep.
Day 3 (Taken)
It's about time to get back to the factory but I'm stopped because I hear somepony screaming, I was up fairly early so I had time to check it out. I found a old pony behind a building mumbling something to herself about a terrible nightmare, I ask her what's wrong and she just kept mumbling to herself and I make sense of one word... "Rainbow." I reluctantly fly off and get to the factory with only a single minute to spare before I'm late. I'm given my lab coat again and head to my dedicated room, around 4:00 P.M. I am approached by another pony and he says,
"Follow me." I shrug to myself and follow him with slight hesitation. We approach the door to the Test lab.
"Uhhh I thought the lab was forbidden for me." I ask nervously.
The scientist is silent and puts a devilish smirk on, as he pulls out a large bag.
"What are you doing with that bag... OH SH..." I'm cut off.
Day 4
I wake up barely able to keep my eye open they must've beaten me or something because my eye is swelling terribly. My hooves and body are chained to some kind of metal board and I try to break free.
"Where the hell am I?!" I exclaim and I hear no response from anypony. I see a bright light flashed in my eye, and I see a figure sliding my way. As it gets closer and closer I sweat more and more. Then I break down and yell,
"HELP! HELP! SOMEPONY PLEASE CELESTIA! LUNA! SOMEPONY HELP ME!" no response yet again. The figure comes closer and then it becomes clear to me... it's a dissecting knife. About this time it's pointed at my stomach and before I notice the knife is right there it stabs through my stomach then I nearly faint just before I see a tube come up to me and my golden fur is drained of color. I try as hard as I can to stay awake but any longer. Before I know it I black out from loss of blood and shock.
Day 5 (Awakening)
I wake up and all I can see is bodies all around me, they're all black, white, or gray. I raise my hoof and it's no longer gold, it's black as sin. I... I can't move, my body won't allow me, then another body drops on me, a unicorn that I knew her name was... Jamie Grey, an old friend. After that I grit my teeth then my eyes are near shut.
"I'm gonna kill those bastards... as soon as I regain feeling in my legs."
I act dead for about 2 hours, the longest hours of my life and then feeling finally comes back. So I push my body up slowly and find a shard of glass, I see that my whole body is black, but my mane, eyes and tail are still the same color. My glasses are broken from the fall so it's hard to see, but I do my best.
I stumble out of the test lab through the emergency exit but before I could get even 2 yards from it I'm stopped by bars of lasers that I walk through and they start an alarm. I see 3 big Earth ponies right behind me and I try to flap my wings to see that they are dead wings, It's obvious to me that I won't be able to use them any time soon. The three guards approach me and I try to defend myself by swinging my hoof at them but it was useless. They grab my hoof easily and twist it backwards. I shriek in pain and then I look down to see there is blood flowing from my stomach, my eyes shoot open from shock and I take my other hoof and attack the second guard. I shake free and run towards the bodies and take a strip of a coat from one of them quickly tie it around my stomach. I start to run as fast as I can, although it's more like I'm tripping over myself.
Day 6
I check my watch that's cracked open but it still works and it's about 1:00 A.M. the next day. All I can hear is alarm bells and I see several guards all over the place, I duck down and one looks over in my direction, I don't think he sees me then I run through the hall watching my back. I stumble over myself and then get up peer forward and all I can see is a tall boxy looking figure.
My eyes shrink and I panic inside saying absolutely nothing out loud, while the figure uses his magic to pick me up and I struggle the most I can against him. I keep struggling and try to shake free but it's futile the unicorn's magic was too strong. Then I squeal in a nervous voice,
"Please, if you're going to kill me, get it over with!" He simply looks at me with a straight face and shrugs the comment off. I then grasp my stomach because I've neglected it and I don't want to bleed out. We finally approach a door and he opens it while I treat my stomach, by applying pressure with my hooves. My stomach is completely numb and I feel nothing in my lower body around that area.
Day 6.5
When we enter the room I see the scientist that bagged my head and probably was one of the scientists trying to kill me. They say something unknowledgable to me, to each other. I am so afraid of my death right now but then I remember... Crystal still needs to live, I need to get out of here. The unicorn drops me onto the ground but then I can't push myself up so I lie there motionless on the ground while the scientists talk unknown words which I'm assuming are about me.
I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling and then I push as hard as I can. It's futile. Since I can't stand, or even sit I crawl to the door. I manage to reach up to the door and open it. The scientists seem to be caught up in whatever they are talking about, and probably don't expect I'll be up anytime soon. I slip out of the room and aimlessly crawl around hopelessly trying to find an exit. I can't go on like this.
If I'm going to get out of here I'm going to need to quickly. So I see a sign and it seems to have the letters, EXIT so I stumble towards them... turns out I was way off it said TEST, I knew that it would be near impossible to get around without my glasses. I knew I was back where I started. I hear hoofsteps quickly getting louder behind me and I slip into the testing lab and hide in the bodies
"This is a tad morbid." I think to myself. Then I realize a glint in one of the pony's eyes. I start to cry to myself, thinking things like,
"Why did I have to live? Why couldn't I just die like the rest?" to get out of here or Crystal may not make it out of the hospital alive, and then there will be 2 funerals, that is... if anyone cares enough to notice I'm gone.
I see this strange figure off in the distance. it's small but a glare shines off of it into my eyes, it's a knife they one that cut me open I assume. So I walk out of the bodies grab the knife in my mouth and then walk out of the test labs again. I see two guards in front of me then I quietly sneak up behind them and stab them both quickly and silently.
"Oh Celestia what did I do.... I just killed two ponies!" I say quietly to myself. "Hmm while I'm here... I wonder if they have a vault or treasury. I could take some money and pay for Crystal Wonder's operation." I murmer to myself again. "God she won't recognize me with this new color, I'll have to explain this whole factory and what happened to me to her." I start to wonder around with the knife ready in my mouth, and I see a door I stumble towards it and it says Main Office. "I could leave now... no the money comes first, anyways it's not really a crime. These bastards deserve it." I think to myself remembering what they did to me. I see a vent, stack some nearby boxes under it, then climb up them and jump into the vent, "I need some sleep first, maybe they won't find me in here." I mumble under my breath, and then doze off into a restless sleep.
Day 7
I'm awoken by a large amount of different ponies I hear stomping below me, they must have noticed the boxes I stacked. I crawl through the ducts trying to find another door I could jump down and hide in until I hear the other ponies stomp by. I see a door that says Color Storage, so I jump down and check the room out. I'm in the room and I can't believe what I see... there are rainbows everywhere, they look beautiful but I remember what they're made out of.
"This is... disgusting! I...I didn't know that this is what those beautiful things were made out of... I think I'm gonna throw up." I exclaim in disgust. I walk around the room shivering from the great fear and disgust I have for this place. This place needs to be shut down! Okay I think the Ponies are gone, I should continue my search for the vault or treasury. I push the door open slowly and quietly and creep away.
I start to wonder a little more around the corners, finally regaining the strength to stand up and walk slowly. Turning around a corner I hear screeching of a metal object closing and hear voices of other ponies.
"You seen him?" One of the guards say.
"No but the boss is pissed, he killed two other guards and escaped death itself." Another replied.
"Yeah I can't believe it he's the first sucker to come in here and survive." The first one said.
"I heard he's just a kid to, how could he have survived that and killed two of the boys so easily?" A new voice chimes in.
"Who says it was easy, when he was running from us there was blood seeping from his stomach." The first corrected.
"Damnit guys it's over shut up and guard the door the boss said he might be heading this way we need to stand alert!" A new guard barks an order.
"What you think the little punk can overpower 4 of us, not a chance." The first voice boasts.
"I don't care anything can happen and I don't want to have to explain that to the boss." The leader of them growls. I throw a piece of refuse to the right of me to distract the guards.
"What was that?!" The third guard yells.
"Stay here I'll check it out." The first one says boldly.
"Damn they're he's gonna see me!" I say to myself slowly backing off. As I back up as the guard appears right in front of me, and by sheer luck he doesn't not notice me. I carefully aim my knife at the guard, and take the throw. It lands right in his head and I hide in the nearest door.
"Cloud Crusher's down" The third guard yells. I see the guards running towards him and I see one of them isolated and searching for who did it. I creep out of the room and behind him, jump on his back, place my hands around his head, and snap his neck. I jump off and creep around the next corner as I hear the same guard scream,
"He got another one! How the hell did he take two if us out?!" I let out a quiet snicker and they hear me.
They run in my direction. I run as fast as I can, circle the corner and then find the body of the pony they called "Cloud Crusher" and slide the knife out of his temple. The guards are trailing right behind me. Then my wings finally regain feeling, next to Rainbow Dash I'm about the fastest flyer I know of. I quickly flap my wings and fly up to the ceiling, holding myself up, even though this effort is extremely hard I need to do it or risk dying. As the guards stop below me, I drop my knife hoping it lands somewhere fatal and it did, it dropped in a White head killing him.
The guard looks up at me, an enraged look on his face as he shouts curses, and every insult I've ever heard at me. Then I simply laugh, but I don't know why I do... I just killed three Ponies. This time I fly down slowly and then I buck his head from the air, I made sure he was only knocked out. I didn't want to deal with another death.
"I did what I needed to." I say calmly to the unconscious body.
Day 7.5
After I see the one man knocked out I walk into the vault and grab a bag. I slip into the treasury room and then stuff the bag with as much money that I can. I run out of the room...
I'm surrounded. I see maybe 12 other ponies around me and I can't think of anything that I can do right now... wait my wings! I can fly around them! Then I look up and see another 5 Pegasus ponies. As I'm motionless I don't see right behind me and out of nowhere I see my knife, in my leg.
"AHHHHHHH!" I shriek in pain, "My leg!" I have no choice I have to try. I lift myself off the ground as they unicorns and Earth Ponies don't try anything because they don't think I'll be able to get past the Pegasus' but they don't know my speed. I quickly shoot myself forward and my leg is gushing blood, so I try not to look at it. I blindly wonder around the hallways for about 3 minutes as I hear the others following behind me I finally see the door to the main office. I shoot for it so fast I don't even stop to open it, I break through it. Then I see it the light coming from the door to freedom.
"I MADE IT!" I scream as the door opens right in front of me, and the first thing I do is go straight to the hospital and give the doctor the money. He nods and doesn't even count it because he knows it's enough he goes to tell his superiors that it's a go. I tell him right before they start, "Doc, please be careful with her and tell her that Colton will be at the castle." I walk out of the hospital and am relieved that all of that is over, so I head to the castle to warn Princess Celestia and as I reach the castle I land on a cloud and I see... the scientists. My heart stops, not because of shock, but I look behind me really quick and see a knife coming at me, my ears perk up, I turn around, ducked, and bucked the horse away, it was the guard who was with "Cloud-Crusher" and the other guards. I realize that the knife in my leg is still there and I've ignored it for maybe an hour. I pull it out fast and point it at the guard and growl,
"I may have let you live once, but I won't be so generous again!" He simply cackles at the situation we're in I mean I'm just a small Pony only 18, and he's a guard bulky and muscular probably in his 30's. My legs quiver from the loss of blood then I simply start to tear up yet say nothing, I make no sound while he keeps talking some words which I'm too in pain to listen to. I interrupt him and say, "Your monstrosities will stop, Celestia won't stand for this!"
He cackles again and says,
"Ha! You didn't know? Celestia entrusted the Pegasus over 1,000 years ago with the creation of rainbows, and you know what your color made the prettiest looking rainbow I've ever seen." I raise my left hoof up and look at the Ash Black fur I now have. I still can't believe I'm alive, that I'm still breathing, and finally that I was stabbed twice and still can't fathom the fact that that's where rainbows come from.
"You know what... if it will satisfy you that much ki..." I look down to find a knife in my chest, and fall through the cloud I'm standing on.
Day 8
I wake up and hear beeping from a machine, there is a tube around my nose and I find it difficult to breath. I notice that the areas where I have been stabbed have been fully treated, bandaged, but not quite healed. I notice the scenery around me. This is the room I have visited so often that I have loved to visit to see the one I loved. Then as my eyes wonder around the room I black out again from lack of oxygen. I regain consciousness and the first thing I see is a too familiar face, Crystal-Wonder. She's leans in and kisses me on the cheek, and I manage to whisper out, "Crystal... how did you recognize me?" She shushes me and says
"Don't talk you're barely alive right now. To answer your question I'd recognize your sweet face no matter what color you are. You need your rest." I smile at the figure and nod slightly. but I have to ask one more question first,
"Crystal... one thing, how are you?" She smiles and gently says,
"I'm fine, I'm more worried about you." I reply, with a nod and she knows I'll recover, well I think she does. Maybe she wants to keep me calm before I get the bad news. I fall asleep from exhaustion.
Day 9
It's started I think I'm going insane, I had my first nightmare and it was all images of the factory and it's horrors. I wrap my head around the words that the guard mentioned before nearly killing me. I can't believe Celestia knew... then I attempt to push myself up, and see Crystal laying in the bed next to mine, she's still recovering from the surgery. I get up really slowly and collapse again. I whisper over to the next bed.
"Crystal... you awake?" she turns over and smiles at me then says
"Yeah, by the way thank you for paying for my surgery, where did you get it from?" I get a flash of pain in my head from remembering all of the horrors I experienced, not sure if I want to relay them to her so I say,
"Long story but I'm not sure if I want to tell the tale yet, maybe another time." She nods and agrees it couldn't have been pleasant. I fall back asleep, and wake up half screaming half crying to a nightmare I had about the knife coming towards me when I was strapped to that board. The doctors come in to calm me but I'm panicking making myself believe I am still in the factory, making myself believe... I'm going to die. Crystal comes over and kisses me, that calms me down, and makes me blush. I'm embarrassed I've never shouted like that in public. Crystal uses her magic to lift me out of the bed and gives me a walker. She walks me outside to the hospital Courtyard, and I decide it's time.
"Crystal it's time I tell you what happened or nothing will change and I won't be able to keep my sanity." I explain, it took me around 3 hours and she seemed mortified by the story, the horror on her face when I told her I killed, and the shock from the factory... I lived it and still was mortified by my own story. When I finished Crystal hugged me, she pitied me and only cared about my safety.
"Colton so that's what happened to your color, the doctors were puzzled by that as well... I had no idea I'm sorry, Celestia needs to find out about this!" She exclaims.
"She... she does know about it, she supports it even." I whimper and start to sob. "Crystal I don't know if I'll live though, I mean they will surely be looking for my body, and when they hear I'm alive... I don't know what will happen. I need to do something..."
"Colton..." Crystal sighed.
"I just want you to know, I love you. If I don't come back then promise me you'll move on, I don't want to weigh you down." She starts to answer with delay but before she looks in my direction again, I'm gone. Before I head up to the Factory I stop by a friends, for some supplies I'll need, his name is White Bolt he's a long friend. I ask him for a detonator and some detonation bombs.
"Wait what do you need detonation charges for? What are you planning?" White Bolt asked me in and suspicious voice.
"White you gotta understand I'm desperate!" I implore him.
"Colton..." He sighs.
"Damnit White... fine but be just remember you asked." I grunt. So I went on for the next 2 hours re-explaining it for the second time today.
"Wait and Celestia knew?!" White says in shock. I give a nod and he get's straight to making codes for the detonation and he gives me the equipment.
"Thank you." I say to White then notice some headphones to his side, "Hey could we use those things to communicate? I could use the tech support."
"They're just prototypes... but they should work fine." He says with some hesitation and then hands me a headset. Then with a quick goodbye I'm off.
Day 10 (The Final Stand)
I fly up to Cloudsville again and approach the factory. For some reason I can't wait to get back to the factory. I slowly fly towards it when there it is... I see my hero Rainbow Dash enter the factory without any hesitation. I... I'm blinded by the fact that she's my hero to belive that she can have anything to do with that factory. I drop down onto the clouds and walk towards the factory. I strap the detonation charges to my chest, then slip the detonator into my pocket. I creep up to the door, and slip in before the door closes.
"Come in White do you read me? I'm in the factory." I say into the headphone.
"Loud and clear, are you in the factory?" He asks.
"Yes I'm near the test lab... I just... I just saw Rainbow Dash go into the factory before me, I need to keep the channel clear for now, but contact me in 10 minutes." I reply
"Understood, White Bolt out." He finishes. I slightly open the door and see Rainbow Dash and scientists killing... another pony, she can't be more then 9 years old... I look away but hear the slashing noise cut her open and see them suck the color from her. Rainbow Dash talks to the other scientists and says,
"That's one more, we almost have enough colors to make rainbows for the whole year. Have you heard any word on the escapee? I heard you never found his body."
"No nothi... actually we may have a lead on him. We heard that a doctor may have found him and brought him to the Ponyville hospital." The scientists replied.
"Well... good." I hear slight hesitation in her words, I knew her since I was a young Colt, and she knew me. I gasped very quietly but I can tell that she heard it. I quickly move to the next door and she exits the room, sees, and stops me.
"What are you doing here?" she growls at me.
"I...I uhh, damnit Dash! Why? Why are you here?" I yell in sheer anger, "I thought that... no I don't even want an explanation."
"A higher purpose." She says in a calm monotone voice.
"I... I can't let these tests go on, or whatever the hell they are, this place almost got me killed and you want me to die for some color for a useless rainbow?" I yell in anger. "I thought we were friends. Also to answer your question, I'm blowing this place to hell, don't try and stop me... or I'll blow us all to hell right now, and I'd rather you live despite these crimes." I then joke a bit and say, "I mean yeah, I guess you did gave me this cool black color heh... but please, just let me do this or else..." I walk away from her placing my hoof on my strap of explosives placing one down near the door to the lab. As I try to continue Rainbow Dash stops me,
"I'm sorry we have to do this, there is no other way!" she says in a half sympathetic half angry voice. Then raises a hoof to fight me.
"No I'm not stopping, and I'm NOT FAILING! EITHER YOU'RE WITH ME OR NOT!" I scream at her, and put her hooves down, and I see a single tear go down her eye, and she starts mumbling to herself.
"I guess you're not I'm going to blow this place to hell, either get out or die with the scientists!" I growl at her. I hear White Bolt contacting me,
"Come in Colton, come in." White says to me. I'm choked up and then I finally respond.
"Y-yeah? Sorry I just... I'm alittle unfocused right now." I responded.
"Okay sorry I always have the worst timing, anyways you're going to want to hurry with those detonation charges turns out, heh the headsets are interfering with their tech and it set off their timers, yeah you have about 10 minutes before that place is a smoldering pile of rubble." He explains.
"Oh f- okay uhh I need to get to the center of the test labs and set the rest of the charges." I say nervously.
"Okay White Bolt out, and good luck." I thank him and run through the halls to get to the Testing Lab in the center, where the... bodies are. My leg wound re-opens, I stop a moment and wrap some of my coat's fabric around it.
"Damn me!" I whisper to myself in anger. Then I quickly find the door bust open, and set the charges on the floor, the scientists see me enter and trying to set the charges then they sick their tech knives, dissection tools, and whatever the hell else they have.
I'm cut maybe 5 times on the way out, and drag my self out of the room leaving puddles of blood behind me. After I get out I leave the I estimate I have around 4 more minutes to drag what's left of my body out of the factory and... if possible Rainbow Dash to. I re-enter the office. Dash is still there, and when I open the door she stares at me and I can't help but say,
"Dash please come with me, you can give this up!"
"I... I don't know if I can live with all of this." Rainbow says irritated. I stumble forward, grab her hoof and drag her out,
"We have maybe a minute, let's go!" She hesitantly follows me and we make it out just in time but the explosion stuns me on the floor.
"Dash... help me I can't move." I whisper out "Please, the cuts... they're going to kill me I need to get back to the hospital..." Dash slowly picks me up and hesitantly but carefully flies me down to the Ponyville hospital. She drops me on the floor outside the entrance and then writes a quick note, lays it on me and flies off. A doctor comes out around 10 minutes later, then rushes me to an emergency room. After this I black out.
Day 11 (Happy Never After)
I wake up in cold sweat, and see Crystal, White Bolt, and a bunch of doctors around me. They all say things like I didn't think you'd make it, or yes he pulled through I knew he would! I interrupt their comments and say,
"Yes, yes, I appreciate the concern, but where is Dash?!"
"Wait. Dash was here? The only thing we saw next to you was a note that just said, "Colton I'm sorry." But now that you mention Rainbow Dash, no one has seen her since last night." I can't say anything, but after a long period of silence I roll over on my other side and see White Bolt patiently sitting there and I whisper his name, calling him over.
"We need to find her."
The End
*Author's Note* Part 2 is done, I just need to edit it and everything. I just made this account. It's also up on fanfiction.net under my username Cdude1777, but will be up on this site very soon. Hope you enjoyed!
