Some time later...
"Stick together now! We don't want anypony getting lost!" Miss Cheerilee said to her class as she stepped through the double doors. The hallway beyond was well-lit, pictures lined the walls and a smiling green pegasus with a white mane and labcoat was standing there to greet them.
"Hello there Miss Cheerilee," the stallion said. "I see you've got quite a big class." he said, noticing the minature herd of ponies behind her.
"Oh yes. Nopony wanted to miss out on field trip day!" the teacher said.
The green pegasus' smile got even brighter. "My name is Hazey Veil and welcome to the rainbow factory!," he addressed the younger ponies. "Now, who thinks they know how rainbows are made?"
The class erupted into enthusiastic outbursts. The smaller ponies raised their hooves into the air, shouted, jumped and competed for attention.
"Well, the truth of it is that the very first rainbow was discovered by accident..." Hazey began, leading the ponies down the hallway.
Towards the back of the crowd, Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo had their minds on other things as they followed. As the class was led down the hallway, the three of them stopped at a picture hanging on the wall to their right. They stopped to examine it.
"I wonder who that pony was," Applebloom said, looking at the picture. It was a portrait of a blue pegasus wearing a labcoat, his expression joyful.
"You think it's true what they say about this place?" Sweetiebelle asked. "How... how they really made rainbows?"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "You know, we could probably find out if we stuck with the rest of the class..."
"Psssh," Sweetiebelle scoffed at the statement. "You really think they're going to let us see the whole factory?"
"I don't know," another voice said from behind them. "The tour I took was pretty comprehensive." A blue pegasus walked out of an office door they'd just passed. He approached the three fillies and Applebloom noticed he looked like the pony in the picture.
"Oh, sorry, we were just uh-" Applebloom tried to think of something to say but couldn't.
The blue pony thought for a moment, then asked, "Looking for something a little more in-depth?" he suggested.
"Well, kinda," Sweetiebelle said. "We were just wondering... if the rumors were true about this place. That they make rainbows out of ponies here," she explained, her voice mournful.
"You want to know a secret?" the pegasus asked them. He then leaned in close and whispered, "They used to."
The three fillies gasped in fear.
"It's okay, they don't any more," the pegasus explained. "I stop by here now and then to make sure of that. To make sure that this place stays 'environmentally friendly'."
"Wow... so you're like an inspector or something?" Scootaloo asked.
"Something like that. You three want to help me out with something?" the pegasus asked.
"Sure," Applebloom said, the other two nodding. Still somewhat afraid but excited too, they were eager to help.
"Keep your eyes open while you're here. Tell me if you see anything that looks suspicious, okay?"
The three fillies hopped gleefully. "We can do that!"
"Good. Now go catch up to the tour!" he ushered them. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle ran down the hallway. The blue pegasus smiled as he watched them hurry to get back to the rest of the class.
"You didn't mention that you were good with kids on your application," a voice said from behind. The blue pegasus turned to see a yellow pegasus entering the factory from the main doors.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but this place isn't exactly family-friendly, Quarterly."
Quarterly grinned. "It has changed a lot since you started here, Booster." The two entered the office Booster had stepped out of, this time Booster took a seat behind the desk. Quarterly had done his best to make up for what he'd done to Booster when he'd first arrived. While it had been the initial decision of the courts to simply pay Quarterly back the injustice he'd forced so many other ponies into, Booster was not so shortsighted. Despite what Quarterly had done to Booster when he first arrived, Booster had recommended that Quarterly keep his position in the Rainbow Factory to oversee production of new eco-friendly rainbows. It didn't make up for what he and the others had done but it was better than the alternative.
"We're ahead of schedule for this month," Booster said, going over the latest results on paper. "We're producing plenty of colors. We might even produce a few surplus rainbows."
Quarterly was genuinely surprised. "We've never had a surplus before. What should we do with the extra colors?"
Booster smiled. "I was thinking we might deploy two rainbows at a time one day."
"A double rainbow?" Quarterly raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "Now that's just silly."
Booster laughed. "Well, we've got the extra color anyway, why not?"
Quarterly chuckled himself. "So it looks like your alternative worked."
"It would seem so. We've even got a few new positions opening up, we might need to go over some new applications soon."
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Quarterly said. "You know about the Crystal Empire, right?"
"In northern Equestria, the kingdom of the Crystal Ponies right?"
"Yeah," Quarterly said. "Have you ever been there?"
"No," Booster said. "Why?"
"Well, it's where all the crystal ponies live. All the buildings, the palace, everything is made of... crystal. It's really quite beautiful."
Booster raised an eyebrow. "Are you... implying something?"
Quarterly leaned in. "Have you ever heard of the Crystal Factory? Or the Coral Factory?"
Booster's eyes went wide. "Are you saying...?"
"I'm not saying anything. I've never been there, I've just heard about this place. But if it's anything like this place was..."
Booster felt his back sink into the chair. "Are you saying there's another place out there that's just like the Rainbow Factory was?" he asked Quarterly.
Quarterly grinned. "I don't know for sure, Booster. But I know how you can find out."
Booster leaned forward. "How?" he asked.
The yellow pegasus' smile grew just a little bit wider. "Let me see your application again. I think I can arrange a tour."
Dedicated to SHADOWtheHEJHOG