Rainbow Factory

The Rainbow Factory

"Ah,” Boss smiled. “There’s my stop. You ponies play nice now. Have fun in wherever the hell you’re sent to.”

The carriage door shuffled open and Boss hopped out with a gust of cold wind. It was dark outside, with hardly any light to see at all. Scootaloo stared outside, and noticed another figure staring in. It was dressed in a black suit, its tail dyed an unnatural black that never occurred in nature. Its face was covered by a dark, loose fitting mask, concealing its mane. All that was visible were rose colored eyes, staring indifferently at the three ponies inside. They stopped on Scootaloo momentarily, unrecognizable, but she stared back. A second passed. The dark pony slammed the door shut, and the carriage took off once again.

“At least we can talk, now,” Aurora whispered in the dark. But they had nothing to talk about. ---

"But with all great things comes a great responsibility. With Cloudsdale being weather stability"

The three desolate foals blinked their eyes awake, having all resolved to conserve energy for whatever came next. With a loud scraping noise, the doors shook, and then swung wide open. Several more ponies, obscured by masks and suits, were moving around the area. Scootaloo blinked against the light from what she was seeing. They were in a cloud building. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed more details. Several of the blackened ponies were rushing around, some holding clipboards, some carrying briefcases and other important looking items on their backs. The complex was full of machinery and signs. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and a loud ‘whirr’ ran in the background, occasionally joined with other industrial sounds such as crashes and alarms. Scootaloo gasped.

“This place... the architecture... it’s all so familiar... I think we’re in the weather factory!”

Orion frowned. “That can’t be right. We were traveling for way too long. We’ve got to be far away from Equestria now, not to mention the city.”

“Actually, Scootaloo may be right,” Aurora mused. “I noticed... it was maybe the same amount of time from when we left the coliseum to the place the carriage drivers swapped, that it was from the swap place to here. But... I don’t know. I’m confused. Maybe that’s just a coincidence.”

“Welcome, mules,” A large and powerful voice commanded. Several of the suited ponies moved to make way for a deep, dark red pegasus dressed in a white lab coat. “You degenerates are probably wondering where exactly you are. Stupid fillies. You’re in Cloudsdale! The Rainbow Facility, to be correct. Allow me to show you around.”

“What’s going on here? Do you expect to use us as slaves? Because I’d rather be deported, thanks,” Scootaloo yelled. Orion and Aurora got off their seats and stood behind Scootaloo, nodding in agreement.

“Like you failures have a choice. You’ll be here for the rest of your lives! Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners? I am Dr. Atmosphere. My degree isn’t a medical one, I shall reassure you, in case you’re picturing some dreadful surgery going on behind the scenes. Strange how so many worthless pegasi get that idea. No, no, my degree is in engineering. I’m one of the Forecolts in this facility. I’m sure you’ve all had the tour of the lower factory, no?”

The three ponies nodded slowly, unsure of what was going on. “Excellent! Who can tell me where the tour begins?” Orion spoke up first.

“Where the Spectra comes from upstairs and is mixed.”

“Very good. What a pity you’re utterly useless to the Flock, you could have been a smart one.” Dr. Atmosphere smiled sadistically and patted Orion on the head. “But, today, we’re on the upper floor. Please, follow me, and don’t get too far behind, or one of my helpers will be forced to... encourage you.”

With that, he winked at the suited ponies.

With nods, three of them at the rear end leaned forward and jabbed each of the pegasi with tasers, shocking them to the ground. Dr. Atmosphere whinnied in laughter as they all yelped and fell, and continued into a soft chuckle as they all stood up again. Scootaloo blinked more tears from her eyes, and shook herself again, trying to lose the tingling in her nerves. She turned and quickly looked at each of the suited ponies, catching each of them in the eye when she could. None of them were the rose-eyed pony from the carriage. Begrudgingly, she started walked behind the red engineer.

“You simply must be careful in this department,” Dr. Atmosphere began in a tone not unlike the many tour guides in the lower floors. “There’s plenty of nooks and crannies and vents and vats one could fall into. One must be careful not hurt themselves. After all, you’re all hopeless as it is, any more so and even we couldn’t use you.”

He glanced behind himself maliciously as the three foals frowned in insult. They were walking down series of halls with vibrating machines and assembly lines lining the way, occasionally ducking under low hanging wires or carefully stepping over steaming pipes. As they walked, though, the building became cooler and cooler. All three were watching, sensing, looking for any way out. They couldn’t see any.