The Grey Rainbow

by Dark Days

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Original Character, Comedy, Tragedy
Length: 1032

The tale of Cloudsdale's first ever mistake in making a rainbow.

Spinning Twister is out of work currently, so she goes to work at The Rainbow Factory. After a few days of learning the ropes, she is tasked with making her first rainbow. Although, one mistake, and she's fired.

Published 2013-01-28 03:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-28 03:40:01 UTC

The Blending

She stepped upon the blend deck. Looking around, surrounded by machinery, and eyes. The eyes were watching, waiting, expecting. Just waiting for one slip up. Multiple ponies with clipboards, others observing the blender levels to make sure she put the right amount of ingredients, no more, no less. The machinery daunting, looming, almost as if saying, "We know you're going to mess up. Just do it already." They were almost as bad as the eyes. Almost.

A single pony dressed in a becoming suit stepped out, and handed her a recipe. Upon doing so, he retreated to a room above the blend deck. She reads, reads again, and once more the recipe. After a deep sigh, she proceeds.
Following every step to the T, a perfect rainbow is almost created. All that’s left is to start the blender. A large red button on a user interface attached to the guard rails. Nothing was said by the ponies observing, so she imagines she must've done it correctly, yes? She hits the button. The machine fires up. It fills the air with the most unnatural screech ever heard before by Twister. Her ear drums were pounding.

Peering inside after her ears adjusted, she notices the rainbow beginning to take it’s color. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. All in the correct shade, hue, location, and size. Relieved, she leans back on the rail, placing herself not to far from the user interface. The floor is cleaned regularly with chemicals to prevent any rainbow from leaving. Leaving the factory with rainbow, it's recipe, or anything related to is punishable by law. This chemical happens to be highly slippery.

Twister slips after adjusting herself, and presses another button. The blender stops. Being in its delicate stage, it fades gray. Before it can be stopped by the management ponies on the upper balcony, it gets sent out. She watches it slowly trickle down the receiving chute, as if the world was turning slower and slower with each passing second. She frantically looks around for a solution, stumbling over this and that, which proves to be of no avail. She gets up, to find herself being approached by faculty staff. Blank expressions on their face. They say nothing, but she knows what is going to happen next...

The Grey Rainbow

A greyscale rainbow is seen all over Equestria moments later.

Ponies all over Equestria notice this rainbow. It's origin... Cloudsdale. What was going on? Nothing like this had been seen before. Had this been used to signal the end? Perhaps. No one knows for sure... but it was certainly a sight to be seen. It inspired a strange form of awe in all the subjects of Celestia and Luna alike. Not a good kind of awe though, one of those awes that seemed to... stop everypony in their track.

Nopony could take their eyes off it. The world around them, slowly fading into a matching greyscale that of the rainbow. Equestria is now free of any color, personality, and anything interesting. Ponies voices became monotone. Eyes glazed over. A single speed was shared by the ponies. Everything save all physical appearance was the same.

Never before had a mistake been made in The Rainbow Factory. Never before had a bad rainbow been shipped out. Never before had anything but perfection been accepted. Now, it's too late. Too late to take it back. Because everyone makes mistakes, and nopony is perfect.

The Hiring

It was an average day in Cloudsdale. Sun shining, clouds most everywhere in sight, blue skies, everything a day spent there could hold. Weather production was at it’s height, for winter was almost upon them. They needed to stock up on extra weather for when production ceased. Especially the rainbow’s, for those were the hardest to make.

The Rainbow Factory had been in full swing as of three months ago. They, of course, had been running on 100% efficiency, as always. Each rainbow being an exact copy of the first one ever made. They never made mistakes. Never before. And never will.

About two months later, during the transition of autumn and winter, a young mare by the name of Spinning Twister -known to be the best at creating twisters, hence the name- got a part time job at The Rainbow Factory. Twister's need in Equestria was at an all time low, because honestly, who wants a twister ravaging their home? And besides, the areas that do get a scheduled twister, are not eligible right now. Due to it almost being winter and all. So, she decided to help out there by getting a job as an apprentice rainbow maker, and earn a few bits here and there in the process to support herself. Said Spinning Twister was a brilliant dark grey with slick green, and dull blue mane and tail, and a slightly dull yellow set of eyes. Her left ear was slightly torn due to a foalhood accident. and down her right flank was a scar -deep and seen by most who pass by- obtained by a rouge twister case in five years ago.

Three days into her job, she’s been taught the basics, meet her co-workers, and every in-and-out of her new workstation. Just like any other, she was excited to get working. So, on the fifth day -the fourth happened to be one of her two days off a week- her work started.

Twister was as nervous as a filly going into their very first day of school in kindergarten. Thoughts rapidly running through her mind, like a defendant in the court of law attempting to prove themselves innocent. As a result, the ability to stand still was.... lost. She was violently shaking, but not even she knew why.

All throughout the day she started to calm down. Until it was time to make a rainbow. One mistake, and she’d be fired, unlike what she had been doing before. Running errands, making sure this and that worked properly, keeping an eye on this pony, doing that odd task. Observing how rainbows were made. Gathering rainbow materials. Everything rainbow related. Except making one. Her time had come....