Awoken
______________________
By Commander Resurrection
The sound of clashing metals, gears rotating, and the flow of boiling hot Rainbow mixtures. Those were the only sounds heard in the large chambers of the Rainbow Factory. The factory had been running for over one-thousand-and-fifty-five years. Over time, they started to run out of material for the factories main export of rainbows. A single pony operated the whole machine, never leaving its side, and never stopping. About three hundred years or so ago, a huge shortage of the traditional Spectrum had arisen. The weather factory superiors were afraid that they had to close down the Rainbow Department. Most employees were outraged and feared that they were going to lose their jobs, until one of the lead experimental Spectrum Scientists found another source. Inside one pony, deep within the blood molecules, they found tiny specs of Spectrum. But they couldn't just extract it; they had to do it while the blood was still fresh, and they had to do it quickly. The employers of the Rainbow Department thought it was crazy, but they went through with it nonetheless.
The best of Equestria’s engineers were tasked with building a machine that could get the job done, and to spice it up—the engineers were paid a sizable amount to keep their mouths shut. The machine was built and began the new production of rainbows. They had to find ponies that could be used on it. Each six to eight months, a new shipment of ponies were brought to the factory. None of the workers know exactly where they got the ponies, but they would never think to question the way things worked. The Rainbow factory has been split into two different layers. The lower floor, where the workers go through the atomization and store the rainbow mixture in cold storage until active weather Pegasi deploy it. And the top floor, where the highest ranking employees work; they ship the ponies to that floor. Those who work on the top floor are forbidden from leaving, and they make the factory their home. But who can tell how far one may go to escape it?
What cause have I to feel glad?
I've built my life on judgement and causing pain.
I don't know those eyes I see in the bloodstained chrome.
As I inspected the wires in the machine’s power box at the power compound, I start to draw closer to the problem. I had worked in the Rainbow Department for over fifteen years now. My job wasn’t power maintenance, if you’re wondering, I worked at the Spectrum harvest complex in the East side.
When I finished assessing the situation, the light flickered and sparked on, letting me know it was fixed. Closing the panel to the power box, I saw the familiar words on the box cover read: -Cloudsdale Weather Factory- in large black literature. A voice cracked on the small ‘talkie. Bringing the device to my face, I spoke into it, softly and clearly, "Yeah?"
-54- the voice spoke up on the talkie. -power is restored, now get your ass back here, we have a job to do.- The voice ended.
I cleared my voice and replied. "Alright, 88. Be there in a minute." With that, I placed the device back into my uniform pocket and left the power compound. As I walked through the badly lit hallway, I heard screams of despair and death. I tried my best to block out the sounds, but they seemed to creep back into my ear lobes unfazed.
As I made my way deeper into the facility, cold air started to circulate, and the familiar rush of wind hit me. I was near the factory’s main chamber. Its freezing temperatures help stabilize and increase the life of the fresh blood. I drew closer the the main chamber. As I reach it, I pulled the two giant metal doors that lead into the main chamber open.
The main chamber had various hoses and tubes that lead and connect to six silo containment units at the right hand side. In the far end was a huge machine; the tubes and hoses were connected and distributed from the each side. One hose was unlike the others; it was a black hose with a clear streaked center that descended out from the front of the machine and lead upwards. In front of me was a metal bed with restraints on it.
Below was a cell center, with various ponies that sat in a defeated and fearful positions, and above was a bridge that lead into a control room with one pony occupying it. The lights flickered on, and a steel claw descended from the darkness above. Quickly, it picked up the ponies and placed them on the metal sheet in front of me. Two other Pegasi workers focused on putting the restraints on the struggling pony. When the restraints were fashioned on, one worker gave the control operator the signal to start up the process.
The pony pressed various switches and turned many knobs, adjusting and positioning the metal bed sheet. Satisfied, the operated pulled down a large lever and a secondary device descended from the darkness, the dark hose moving with it. The device was a mechanical arm, and at the end was a syringe.
The operator pressed a big red button, and the syringe dug deep into the chest of the restrained pony. He cried out in pain and agony. The blood was forcefully sucked out of him and ran through the black hose, feeding into the machine. When the process was done, nothing but a hollow shell of dead entrails was left.
Steam erupted out the machine. As I watched, the colors of the rainbow came out the device. The dark colors were separated from the light colors for quality differences, and to avoid accidental color mix. The two working ponies went up to the metal bed and loosened the restraints, the body falling straight to the floor below with a skull-cracking thump.
One of the workers noticed me and called out. "Hey! 54!" A dark red pegasus ran up. "Glad you decided to show up! The High Drone of the place was chewing on my ass, wondering where you were! Now that you’re here, 23 can finally take a break." He waved the pony at the control room. The pony nodded and flew down. "He's back 23, take five!"
"So, how's the situation with the power?" I ask 88.
"The situation is bad. It's the third fucking power outage this week! I'm getting sick with the engineers slacking on their jobs!" Number 88 sounded stressed. His job was much tougher, making sure it all goes smoothly. I couldn't blame him if he was starting to lose control. As we both stared at the machine, he sighed. "I never wanted this, but we don’t have a choice.”
Welcome to the factory, Tools! We are thrilled to have you on board. Just remember your place and we won't have a problem!
My head hurts when I remember the horrors.
"Then what DO we have?" The feeling of taking another life sickened me. I looked up at the control room and got to work. Looking back, I saw 88 nod as I flew up and went into the control room.
Now everything that I've had
And everything I've known have been thrown away;
And with time, I've come to find this isn't my home.
While I was operating the machine, I couldn’t help but feel floods of memories, not bad memories, good ones. Memories from before I joined the factory. I love those memories, but the bad ones keep creeping back.
'NO! Get your hooves off my brother, you bastard!' I shouted at the buff stallion that held my brother down with a powerful hoof. He was being executed for trying to start an uprising.
The large pegasus laughed and hit me. I then fell to the ground with a grunt. 'Aww, look. The new guy doesn't like it when I touch his brother, how cute!'
A tear glided down my cheek.
'Time to say your final thoughts, bitch!' The pony shouted menacingly.
My brother brought his head up to me, bleeding from the cuts and bruises that the Pegasus had given him. 'One, I'm sorry bro, I brought you into this. I did this. I love you, bro. Maybe the afterlife isn't half bad. G-g-goodbye, I'll miss you.'
The pegasus placed his hoof on my brother’s head, and with a powerful stomp, he crushed my brother’s skull. As my heart stopped, my attention turned to the stallion. 'Well, I guess he ain't so tough after all!' He laughed.
I looked at the pegasus, sobbing as I did. 'You... bastard!' I shouted and began to charge at the pony.
The pegasus raised his hoof and came down with it across my face. When I fell, I looked up at the pegasus, who smirked. 'You better learn your place, Tool.' With that, he left, laughing.
While I tried to get up I heard a voice. 'Hey, I'm sorry about your brother.'
Looking up, I saw a dark red pegasus. 'Who are you?' I asked.
He lifted me up from the ground. 'I'm known as maintenance worker Number 88.' He gave me a smile. 'I have to go back to work. I'll see you later. What number are ya?'
I looked at him. '54, my name is 54.' I held a slight smile. 'Thanks for helping me to my hooves.'
'Eh, no problem. I have to go, so talk to ya later!' With that, he left.
The memory ended there. Looking at the controls, I pulled the lever and the mechanical hand grabbed another pony, repeating the process. With the years I've spent in the factory, I start to question if it’s a good choice. I've come to a conclusion; I don't want to be here, but we don't have a choice to. It's the same shit, only different ponies. I can almost smell the rot of decay and the smell of the chemicals.
My brother and I had lived a horrible life. Both our parents died in a fire and we were orphaned. My brother and I had learned to fend for ourselves, until one day, he joined the rainbow factory. Knowing I was still without a job, he talked me into joining. We worked our way up to the upper floor. That's when it all went downhill. We learned the secrets of the factory and its upper floor employees.
It was hell.
As I finished up the harvesting, I took a break. I was in the middle of eating a daisy sandwich when I thought about the outside. About how much had changed since the last time I’d seen it. As I finished my sandwich, I looked down to the place where the ponies that had been drained of their blood get discarded. It was a small vent, appearing to lead to a garbage bin or an incinerator. I couldn't tell. To me it looked bottomless.
I finished the last of the sandwich and looked out at the other workers. Each one was rushing to their stations as quickly as possible. One even called out to the other workers. "The High Drone is coming! Everypony get to their stations quick!"
The large doors swung open and in stepped a cobalt pegasus with a purple mane. He looked to the left and slowly panned his head across to the right. "Attention, Tools!" Nopony challenged the order, and they formed a line in front of him. He looked up at me and shouted. "Asshole! Get the hell down here, now!" I huffed and slowly flew down.
I man these wretched machines,
Day in, day out, the grinding wears on my brain;
Undermining my sanity, making me question my reality.
I flew next to 88 and my eyes darted forward. The cobalt pegasus stood in front of us. "Goddamn Tools is what'cha are! I am employing a bunch of degenerates! If you’re asking yourself, ‘gee, why is the High Drone being a dick’, well shut your fucking mouth and listen up. We have a problem. One of our ponies escaped. He or she has escaped and we need to track the bitch down. Am I clear, maggots?!" The group and I nodded. He laughed a little. "You’re like goddamn dogs. I say it, you do it. Now, this pony can't leave. If this pony escapes fully, we're fucked! Now, search in parties of two and find this cocksucker! NOW!" With that, the group rushed into pairs.
88 and I paired, and we went looking through the facility. "What do you suppose this pony will look like?" 88 asked me.
"Just search for a pony that looks unusual, out of place."
"And out of uniform." We both bumped hooves as we searched high and low for the escaped pony. We went into the large corridor and the darkness overwhelmed our vision. "Damn, can't see. Lets get the flashlights out, 54," 88 whispered to me. We both reached into our pockets and took out our flashlights.
We walked slowly as the flashlight lit up our direction. I quickly heard the sounds of clacking hooves that echoed in the corridor’s empty exterior. As we exited the corridor through the other end, light hit us again and we turned the flashlights off and put them away. "Did you hear the hooves?" I asked 88.
88 turned to me and nodded, "Could it be our missing pony?"
I only shrugged in response. As we walked down the hallway, I broke the silence, "This is the first attempted escape in all the years I’ve worked here."
"Yeah, same here. What gives?! How did this one escape?" He asked me.
"Don't know, whatever it was must’ve..." I was interrupted by the sounds of hooves. "What was that?" In front of me was another hallway to the side. A pony descended out of it and stopped. A unicorn mare with a blue mane and a golden coat turned to me . Her eyes shrank as she noticed 88 and me. She turned and fled from us. I made chase after her. "Hey, stop!" I shouted at her, but she didn't stop.
88 flew above me. I looked at him, nodded, and he darted at her. He knocked the unicorn to the ground, essentially tackling her. As he held the squirming unicorn down, I radioed in. "We got the pony. Mane is blue, it's coat is golden, gender is female, and its breed is unicorn. Requesting extraction of unicorn."
"Let go of me! You brutes! Let go of me!" She cried out. "You are not getting away with this!" She swore.
"Is that her?" A new voice spoke up. Eighty-eight and I looked up to find Number 34. We both nodded in agreement. He trotted up slowly and looked down at her.
She looked up. "Let. Me. Go! I swear, if you don't! I'm gonna-" her final words were cut short as the mares head was stomped on by the larger stallion in front of her. Blood gushed out. Some of her teeth broke out and skittered across the bloody floor.
I didn't hesitate to respond, "What the fuck’s your problem?!" I yelled in sheer fury.
“I did your job. What a shame, you could’ve done it yourself, but I guess not!" He turned and walked away laughing.
I took one final glance at the body and couldn't believe what I saw. We needed her alive. By now the blood had probably gone bad and the Spectrum specks were long gone. The only thing I could do was walk alongside 88.
As time went on, I saw other ponies drag the body of the runaway, up to the railing edge In the main chamber. They hauled her over and pushed her into the hole below. I stood there in shock. How can they just dump their supplies like that? It never occurred to me, but I had a weird feeling that I was going to find out soon.
I rushed directly to the High Drone’s office in anger, with 88 following shortly behind me. I busted down the doors and gave him a piece of my mind. "High Drone! We have a problem. One of your high ranking workers just wasted a potential resource! I demand that he be stripped of his rank for failing to capture the escapee alive!"
The High Drone stood up from behind his desk. "Stay your tongue, Tool, and yes, he did kill her. But he was given the order to. We couldn't have the chicken cluck."
"One. Pony. Equals. Thirteen gallons of Spectrum. We have eight ponies down at the cell blocks. The amount needed for the rainbows is over one hundred gallons! Are you hearing me?" I spoke in a infuriated voice.
"All I'm hearing is you bitching, not harvesting like you’re supposed to. Who cares about the shortage? We get more ponies every five months! I don't see the big deal," he said, in a angered tone.
"But the factory policy is-" before I said another word, the angered pegasus banged his hoof against the desk.
Rage came out of his mouth with each word. "I AM THE FACTORY!" The powerful voice echoed in the office. "You forget, number 54. You are the Tool, and I'm the mechanic! If you are done wasting my time, leave," he stated coldly. "Are we clear?"
I scowled at the deranged pegasus and nodded. "Yes, we are," I angrily said before turning and leaving with 88.
As he and I trotted back in silence, 88 spoke up to break it. "That could have been worse," he said in a hushed tone, as we continued our descent back into the main factory chamber. I quickly looked up at the control room and growled. 88 noticed this and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "Hey, we'll get through this. It'll just take time."
"Yeah," I looked down. "I just want out of this." With that, I continued with my daily factory tasks.
But life is not as it seems,
Should I take a chance for freedom and throw it all down the drain?
I've been imprisoned, please burn my transgressions away.
It was mid afternoon. Most of my work was finished and done. We had only two ponies left for harvesting. One was an earth pony, the other a pegasus. I took a break and looked at my surroundings. This is my life, nothing is going to change that. Day in and day out, its the same shit, only a new day.
I flew to the bottom floor to talk with 88. The dark red pegasus spotted me and smiled. "Hey! 54!" He called out.
I flew up to him. "Hey, 88, how's it been?" I asked the slightly-buffed pegasus.
"Hell, that's how it's been. I tell ya, this place feels like a prison to me." I was about to say something, but I had to agree with him. This place was a prison. Sometimes I wondered if there is a life beyond the black walls, if there's one that is worth living.
I looked at him. "Can I tell you something?" He nodded in response. "I want to break out of here, but I don't know where to start." Looking over the whole room, there were exactly fifteen ponies, and each one would use all of their might to stop us. I sighed. "And it will be damn near impossible." My head swayed to the right. "Unless... you could help me?"
He backed up. "Dude, I can't do that! They'll fucking kill me!" He shouted in a whispered tone.
"I know, but we need to leave, don't we? This may be our only chance at freedom." I tried to convince him. It was working, but he had to ask one question.
"Why the sudden urge to leave?"
"Because, I would rather live on the outside than be tortured in this hell-house. So, are you with me or not?"
I held my hoof out. He looked at me and formed a small smile. "Yes... yes I am." We bumped hooves and we began making a plan to escape.
After we finished with planning the escape route, we tried to put the plan in motion. "Okay, this is it." I looked around to make sure nopony was in earshot as my attention came back to my friend. "We're going to wait for the power outage. At that time, we make a run for the hole the bodies get dumped in. You clear?" 88 nodded in response. "Okay, as soon as the power goes out, we make a dash for it. Got it?"
"Got it."
We went our separate ways acting as casual as possible. Hours dragged on as we waited for the outage to occur. I walked down a hallway back to the main chamber. "Damn, where's the outage!" I said out loud.
"Waiting for somthing, Tool?" I turned and my eyes met the large stallion from before.
"No, why do you ask?" I started to back up, only to crash into two other ponies. "What seems to be the prob-" I was cut short when a hoof collided with my muzzle, making a small gash on my mouth. The stallion laughed.
"Save it. One of my boys overheard your little plan! Now get the fuck up!" He forcefully grabbed me and tossed me against the metal pipe. Before I could get up, he placed his hoof on me and grabbed my wing. With a powerful pull, he dislocated it. Screams of my pain echoed into the empty chamber. My agony was amusing to him. "Hehe, well, I guess little Miss Sunshine has broken her wing!"
I looked up at him and beamed hate with my vision. "Bastard!" The yell was followed by a grunt. My wing was badly injured now. I could relocate it, but not now. The pegasus spun around and bucked my face with his hind legs. I lost all consciousness and slipped into darkness.
As I slowly came around, the pain I felt faded. When I tried to move my legs, I found myself not being able to. I was restrained on the metal bed. I tried desperately to shake them off, but no real progress was made. With my current state, however, I could still hear voices.
'Where is he then!' One figure spat at the other.
'I don't know, sir. He is nowhere to be found. He disappeared when the alarm was raised.
'Of course he's gone, you dumbass! He's hiding from us! What did you expect!' The previous figure sounded furious. 'Just get a group and find Number 88, fast. We can't have him escape our reach! Now go!' With the the two other figures gone, the third figure turned to me and laughed.
'Look who decided to wake up!'
As my eyes adjusted, I noticed more detail on the pony. It was the High Drone. "You...." Was all my weak self could say.
"Aww, you’re not happy to see me?" A sadistic look crept along his face. "I've decided to give you another chance! If you promise not to conspire against me again, I will not kill you like your crack-head brother. Do we have a deal?" He reached a hoof out.
My face burnt red with anger as I spat the words, "FUCK YOU! YOU DARE MENTION MY BROTHER AGAIN AND I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
He shook his head. "You all act tough, at least, until you get punctured with a big-ass needle. Well, let’s not waste time. Let’s begin!" The High Drone flew lazily up to the control room and pressed the series of buttons. As he did so, the large syringe with the arm came out, and its pointed edge faced me. "This is your first time with the machine. Don't worry, it will hurt like hellfire at first, but it will stop when you’re a hollow husk. Have a nice afterlife, 54."
As I felt the syringe drawing ever closer to me, I tried to struggle to get free. I closed my eyes knowing this was the end until 'CLICK' the room suddenly went dark. Could it have been 88? Had he found a way to shut of the power when there was no power outage? It could be.
"What the hell is going on!" The High Drone went on his talkie and spoke into it. "What the hell happened?!"
-The power box has been bucked. Somepony sabotaged it.-
While talking with the ponies on the talkie, a dark figure came in and loosened the restraints. "It's me, 88. Now hold still, this is going to hurt." He then held my wing and whipped it back in its socket. I grunted a bit, but my wing was moving again and in the first of many days, a flood of relief washed over me. "Okay, you go down first, I'll follow."
The lights then flickered back on, as the High Drone stared at us, he yelled in pure fury. "Get them!" He shouted.
"Go!" 88 pushed me into the hole. I looked up and saw him get forced down by three or four ponies as they savagely beat him. As I turned, I noticed below was a pool of some bubbly water. I flapped my wings and hovered above it. As I looked in, I noticed that there were decaying bodies dissolving in the water. Pony bones were floating and skin vaporized in the tub of acid. I looked far to my right and noticed a large tunnel.
I took my chances and went in the tunnel.
I've stoked the fire;
Seen more pain than you can know.
The tears of the broken have washed away my soul.
I made my way down the tunnel, but I couldn't help but feel guilt wash over as I left 88 back there. "Dear Celestia, what do I do? I-I can't go back. He'd probably want me to move on. I have to move on. I have to stop living in the past, focus on what lies ahead." I forced myself to keep moving forward, never looking back. At the end was a drainage vent. I spun and gave it a good buck, making it dent. Another well placed kick finished it off, and the vent tore from the wall.
When I stepped outside I found myself in the corridor from before. It was empty and abandoned among various machines within. My eyes adjusted to the darkness as I looked around. "The corridor? If I'm here, then the main entrance is to the East. That would be suicide, but I don't have a choice. There should be an exit above it that will lead to the fire exit. I should try there." As I finished, I took the hallway to the upper floor above the entrance.
I trotted up various flights of stairs. They were big and they stretched for a while. Pain still hit my jaw, but I kept going at it. The upper floor was being patrolled by many official looking pegasi. I hid behind the desks and looked out to make sure the coast was clear. I walked ahead once the hallways became empty.
The factory had fractured any pony that worked there. That is the main reason they never leave. Their brains are so damaged that it drives most of them mad. These weren't ponies anymore, just monsters wearing their skin. As I slowly made my way through the hallway, I noticed the emptiness of the hallway. I looked behind and heard the clacking of hooves on the hard concrete floor. I turned and darted down the hall. I heard only the solid thump of the ponies behind me. I then noticed an open vent.
I rushed toward it and ducked in. Looking back, I saw six sets of hooves rush by. I tried to stop breathing until they were gone. Readjusting my head to peek out, I noticed they weren't there. I slowly pulled myself out of the enclosed vent, turning sharply to make sure nopony was behind me. Looking down, I noted that there were two halls at the end. Whichever one I chose would either lead to an ambush or freedom. I was willing to take that chance.
Pushed by desire,
To change the way my stream will flow;
Now I've awoken, and I'm taking back control.
As the room grew ever so dark I stopped in my tracks. "Wait, if 88 is still alive. I can bring him with me!" I exclaimed. "Dammit! I wish I knew where he was." I blinked real quick so my eyes could adjust to look beyond the darkness. I now knew where I was. I was in a holding cell where a bunch of other ponies laid. At the far end was a dark red Pegasus who was badly injured. I crept up to him and spoke up. "88?" I cooed. He lifted his head.
"54..." he said weakly. He lost a lot of blood and was feeling light. I spun around and bucked the old cell doors down.
I reached my hoof down and brought him on his feet. "I knew you were alive." I checked the gashes across his body. "You look like shit."
He looked over the cell rooms and looked to me. "We can't just leave them here."
"You up to breaking them out?" 88 nodded. "Lets get to work then." With that we trotted to each cell and bucked it down. Years of neglect had rendered the doors weakened to the point where a powerful kick to the lock could break it, provided the pony in question knew just where to hit. Each pony came out, smiling in relief. "Okay, we all ready?" I asked the group.
I watched them all nod. "Then lets get the hell out.” We left the cell block and made our way to the right hall that I had previously came out of. When I saw all those ponies free, it made me happy to know what I did was good. I was no longer a puppet to this place. I was in control now.
I try my best to block out the screams,
But they're haunting me in my dreams;
Please, break my shackles, I want it to stop.
As we made our way through the long, unlit hallway, I looked over at the small group of ponies. They looked up to me, and I was not going to fail them. Suddenly, the power went on and alarms were lifted. A powerful voice came on the intercom. 'Good evening workers! We have a problem, one of our own believes they can escape this factory! He's dead wrong! I want all ponies that are with him to do one thing. Put your hooves down and turn him in! The whole facility is now under lockdown. There is a checkpoint at each door. So don't try to pass... because they'll kill you. Thank you and have a nice day!' With that, the voice stopped. The alarms rang through my mind. I kept straight, looked forward, and fought the challenges right in front of me.
I motioned the group to follow up behind me as we kept our distance from the corners. I made a quick peek around one and saw it was clear. Turning my head back, I saw the group awaiting my next order. "Okay, it's clear. We have to move cautiously." The group understood. "Let’s go!" I went out, trotting down the hallway with the group following up. As we went further, cold air started to hit us, letting us know we were getting close to the main entrance.
A feeling hit me hard, a feeling I had never felt, freedom. I finally know what it means to be a free pony. That was what my brother taught me before his untimely death. He said ’A pony isn't free from their bonds and shackles until they sum up the courage to try.’ A frown formed on my face. "Big brother, I let you down by letting you die, but I'll be damned if I fail you now by dying. I refuse to die here," I stated in a hushed tone, a scowl prominent on my face. As the group and I made it to the end of the hall, I bucked at the doors as hard as I could. These were more solid and I felt the resulting shockwave travel up my hind legs, but the doors fell regardless.
When they fell, we rushed out, only to be greeted by a ton of guards. My eyes shrank, and I fell to the ground. "No," was all I said.
I looked up when I heard a familiar laugh. "You almost made it, Tool, but you can't beat the Factory." The pony that spoke up trotted up to the front. It was the High Drone. "Now that you’re here, I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago. I'm going to kill you." The voice of the High Drone shot across the catwalk. I wasn't going to let him get me! Not today, nor ever.
I'm sick of hurting,
Sick of thinking it's all I do;
I break those around me, those spared are very few.
This was it. This was the final battle, after all this bastard has done to me and my brother. I will not show mercy! I was about to charge, but 88 stopped me before I did. "If we're going to do this, we'll do it together." I looked beyond my friend and saw the group ready to fight. They got into their stances, ready to charge. I gave a smile of gratitude.
When I was focused enough, I shouted the one word that would start any battle. "CHARGE!" I bellowed. Catching the guards by surprise, the pegasi prisoners focused on the groups above, the earth ponies focused on ground groups, and the unicorns focused on the groups that tried to fly away.
The guards that had shaken out of their trance went after the offenders, mostly the pegasi and earth ponies. Even though most of the ponies fell or dropped down lifeless, it was plain that the prisoners were a lot stronger. With the combined force of three races, they were damn near impossible to beat.
I rushed passed the guards; they weren't my target. At the end was the one I had in mind. One of the brave pegasi tried to hold him down but with no success. The cobalt pegasus grabbed the pony and threw him to the ground, finishing him off with a powerful stomp to his neck. The High Drone looked straight at me as I pushed my way through the final group of dying guards.
With steam erupting from his nostrils, blood splattering and matting his fur, his purple mane ripped, and blood dripping from his forehead, he glared at me with eyes that told of an unspeakable rage. Indeed, it was the true image of a monstrous creation. A loud roar escaped his mouth. With his red eyes staring through my soul, he charged at me with the intention to kill.
I quickly spun around and dug my legs deep into his face, knocking him on his backside. He quickly got up, growling like a demented animal. The cobalt pegasus ignored any fatal injuries inflicted on him. No sanity was left. The High Drone had finally snapped. "Will... kill." He said in a demonic voice. "I'm... g-going... to... kill you!" He rushed directly towards me. I wasted no time, bucking my legs into his face again and knocking him on his back again.
"88! How's the fight!" I called out to my friend.
"We're still-" 88 then punched a guard in the face. "We're still fighting!"
I looked back and saw the deranged pegasus getting up. His eye bled as he struggled to stand. Using a metal railing, he was now on all fours as he charged again. I shifted to the side and tripped the badly injured pony. Stepping on his back, with his wing in hoof, I pulled until a loud snap - followed by a scream - occupied the chamber. "That was for my brother." I forcefully grabbed him and forced his head over the railing. "And this... this is for everything else!" With that, I pushed the convulsing pegasus over the catwalk.
He fell, and fell, and fell, until 'SPLAT' his body hit the pavement at full force. Red ichor forced its way out of the gashes. His teeth were ripped out by the mere force, his right eye shot out of its socket, and his rib bones broke and ripped through his backside. The last reminders of who this pony was were unrecognizable. His was beyond mutilated. As I stared down at his body, I felt woozy and fell into deep unconsciousness.
But the bright sun is burning,
And my sky shines, ever blue;
Friendships surround me; I'm becoming a part of you.
I came around, lying on the cold grassy floor. "Holy shit! He's awake!" I looked to my left and saw 88. "Thought we lost ya. Welcome to the outside." I looked around and I found that the sun hitting my skin was warm. The sky shined on my face with the color of blue. I got up and looked around. Only five out of ten of the prisoners were left.
"What happened?" I asked in a weak voice.
"You passed out from the blood loss when trying to pass the guards to get the High Drone." He helped me on my four hooves and patted me on the back. "Glad you’re okay."
I looked up at the factory. It gave me chills. I hated every second there, but I couldn't help but to smile. "Lets get the hell out of Equestria for a while. This place is full of terror for me." I sniffed the air and happily sighed. "I forgot how beautiful it was." I looked over the group. "What about them?" I asked 88.
"They got their own places to go, I won't stand in their way if they want to do what they want to do." We took one final glance at the factory, saying goodbye to those who helped us. Even they didn’t think things would be the same in the world they live on. Then we left the field and went on our way. We don't know what route we headed to, but knowing we've made it out of the cursed building is all that mattered. For better or for worse.
As for what future of the Rainbow Factory hold you may ask? Well, that is a different story...
The end...
