Spectra laid her hooves on the cogs of Extractor 17. The machine sent chills through her body. The hard metal was ice cold against her fur. The green-coated pegasus was confused, her mind ached. If this is a dream... Then why does if feel so... So real...? And worse... Why won't it end?
Spectra, not wanting to be killed, hit the lever on the machine. It coughed a little smoke, sparking to life immediately afterwards. This machine seemed to work differently. Instead of Spectra having to control it, it controlled itself. The giant metal claw swayed across the room, over to a semi-large shipping crate. It dived into the box, "Agh!" Somepony cried out. Oh no...
When the crane came out of the crate, it wasn't the same. This time, it was bloody, and had a weak-looking pegasus pony hanging within the claw. He was just barely breathing. The stallion was slammed against the metal plate, as if he wasn't half-dead already... His eyes began to well up as the machine did its work. Next step... The extraction...
Spectra tried to shield her eyes, but her hooves wouldn't move. The extractor syringe leveled to the stallions forehead, slowly inching its way to the victim. And then... What Spectra heard, made her tear up herself, "Goodbye my darling Spectra... Just remember... Your daddy loves you no matter... what..." The stallion murmured.
Spectra's mind began to race, sending her into a flash back.
**********
"Mommy, where's daddy going?" The little filly asked her sobbing mother. Two pegasi, wearing black cloaks, were dragging her father out of their house. He father was kicked and struggling, but the pegasi didn't let go.
"Daddy... Daddy's going on a little business trip sweetheart." Spectra's mother said through her sobs.
"Why does it look like daddy doesn't want to go?"
"He has to, honey..." With that, Spectra's mother pulled the filly away.
**********
Spectra hadn't even realized, she always wondered what happened to her father. Going missing, and never seeing him again. His rainbow mane suddenly glistened within Spectra's realization... Her father was killed by the facility... Ground up like all the other innocent ponies! And she was about to witness it first hand...
"Daddy...? Daddy!" Spectra leapt to the switch it off. Alas, it was too late... All Spectra heard...
CRACK!
The sharp syringe came into contact with the father's forehead, cracking his skull instantaneously. Blood splashed all over Spectra's coat, staining her green fur to red. Spectra reeled back in horror and disgust at herself. I- I just k- killed my own fa- father...
The terrified pegasus looked back to her dad, who was hanging limply as the extractor sucked the spectrum clean. She just staggered back. Spectra felt as if she was going to get sick at the sight. She stumbled over to the fencing along the edge of the platform. And looked down, throwing up over the edge. She looked up from the edge. The room was spinning, Spectra couldn't keep her concentration on if she was walking left or right. Or even walking at all in this case.
Spectra fell to the metal floor, holding her head as an attempt to stop the spinning, "Stop stop stop..." She moaned. The room spun like a hurricane around her. Suddenly, the room stopped spinning... He vision went black.
Spectra fainted.
**********
It must have been a few hours when Spectra finally woke up. She was awoken by a hoof kicking her in the side, "Get up! Get up you filth!"
Spectra wearily stood up and rubbed her eyes to get a good view of who woke her. It was a yellow mare with a bright green-ish mane.
"What are you doing, taking a nap?!" The pony shouted at her.
"N- No. I- I just..." Spectra looked around for the answer, "I must have fainted..."
"Don't let it happen again! If Miss Dash catches you, you're dead!"
"Uhm... Yes ma'am. May I ask of your name?" Spectra asked cautiously.
"You can call me by Glaze. Now get back to work." Glaze ordered sternly.
As the pony walked away, Spectra turned back to the extractor. She sighed, "Why is this happening...?"
**********
Spectra worked for several hours on the machine. It became a regular thing by now... This all reminded her way too much of her work life outside this dream. Switch, watch, kill, repeat. That same process, repeated time after time. It was torture, not only for her victims, but for herself.
Finally the day was over and she was able to get her two whole hours of sleep before working again. But if this is a dream, can I sleep? Do I need sleep? With how real this is playing out, she probably does. Spectra followed the halls with the several other workers. They all looked as miserable as she used to. Grayed coats from lack of sunlight, bagged eyes from lack of sleep, and bloodstains on their lab coats.
Eventually, Spectra arrived at her room. There was another mare already in there. It was actually a filly. She had a purple coat and green eyes. Along with her teal mane, Spectra felt odd looking at her. As if she knew this filly, "Uhm... Hello?" Spectra greeted.
The filly looked at Spectra sternly and trotted up to her, taking a short flutter to get to eye-level, "Listen you. If you do anything to screw this up for me, I'll throw you into the grinders myself! You hear me?"
Spectra was too shocked at the filly's hostility to speak herself. Instead she nodded in acknowledgement.
"Good." The filly's attitude suddenly changed, "The names Skye. Yours?" She reached out for a hoofshake.
Spectra reached and shook the filly's hoof, "Spectra."
"Well hello Spectra. It's always nice to meet new people... Even before you die." Skye chuckled lightly. This filly had such attitude and such... Happiness. Even working here? What's with this filly? Does she want to die? Is she fine with death? Is she fine with working here? Where does she work? How did a filly survive this place anyways?!
All these questions fogged her brain. She didn't even hear Skye talking, "Heeeelllooooo? Spectra?"
"Huh? Sorry what?"
Skye chuckled, "I said, when did you get here?"
Spectra thought about that for a moment. Saying she just got here in the dream this morning would not be believable, "I was taken here as a filly..."
"Ah. Same here. Hell! I still am a filly." She laughed softly.
Spectra just stared at the filly.
"Yes?"
Spectra shook her head, "Uh. Sorry. Hey, can I ask something?"
"Go for it."
"How-" Spectra was interrupted by a banging on the metal door to their room.
"Lights out! You got work to do tomorrow!" A voice ordered from outside the door.
"Yes ma'am!" The filly shouted back as she hopped into the top bunk of the bed, "Hope you don't mind. I love the top bunk."
"No problem..." Spectra replied.
Spectra watched as the filly pegasus got into bed, she spun around several times like a dog and patted her bedding with her hooves. Spectra simply slipped herself under the thin covers she has and settle in. As the filly kept moving around, Spectra finally spoke up, "What are you doing?"
"Making myself comfortable, duh." The filly replied, "Hey, what was it you were gonna ask?"
"Well, I was gonna ask why do you seem so happy...?"
The moving from the top bunk stopped. Suddenly the filly's head appeared over the edge of the bunk as her mane hung down, "You think I'm happy here?!" She brought her head back up and began making herself comfortable again, "I'm not happy. I just think it's best to make the most out of this sickening place."
"Oh."
"Besides," The filly finally settled into her bed, "We're all gonna die here anyways, so why be so miserable?"
"I suppose..."
"So don't let it get to you Spec." The filly was clearly falling to sleep, "I'll see ya in the morning... Hopefully..."
Spectra thought about that for a moment before replying to the filly, "G'Night..."
Spectra couldn't fall asleep though. Not that she actually couldn't. But more that she didn't want to. She was too afraid, to nervous. What if all this wasn't a dream? What if instead all that she had experienced with Rainbow and Twi and the others, what if that was the dream? This was all confusing her.
**********
Spectra woke to the filly poking her in the side, "Come on Spectra! Wake up. If we don't get to work they'll beat us."
Spectra sat up and rubbed her eyes with her hooves, "I'm up."
"Okay. Great! I'll see ya later then? I need to get to my station."
"Yeah. Sure. I'll see ya then."
Skye fluttered out the door with her tiny wings and down the hallway. Meanwhile, Spectra tiredly made herself to out of the room and down to the extractor floor. Like a zombie, she made her way to her work station and began another day of horrid torture.
As if her day wasn't going to be bad enough, on her way to the extractor, Spectra tripped on a loose wire laying across the bridge.
"Waah!" She exclaimed as she fell forward. Spectra's fell flat on her head against the metal floor. The room began to spin around her. The floor was incredibly hard and she may have gotten a concussion. When the room stopped spinning,Spectra made an attempt to stand. She didn't want any punishments. Especially not after Glaze caught her fainted yesterday. Alas, instead of success, Spectra fell backwards, hit the cold, metal floor and passed out...