//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 
// Story: Rainbow Factory Condemned 
// by LordCarn 
//------------------------------//

          You flip a few pages ahead. September 18"They forced me to do it. I pulled the lever and it killed her. A small flight test failure. She had a dark red coat, with pink irises and a pink mane. She reminded me so much of.... of Scootaloo. I saw her smile at me before I pulled the lever. A smile only someone with no hope could conjure. The look of someone who had long ago accepted their fate and greeted it with open hooves. If only it were that easy for me. I can feel myself slowly slipping away into darkness, I don't know how much more of this I can bear. If one caused this much damage to me, imagine how much ten would do to my conscience. They've almost completed a second theatre room, where 'it' happens. I can only hope they have somepony else to operate the device."

Flipping to the next page reveals a few water stains. September 23" twenty-one... I killed twenty-one today. There was no one else who had been introduced to the device yet, so they came down to pipe-control, and brought me back up to the device... I can... see their faces every time I close my eyes, and I hear their screams still ringing in my ears. I had seen a few of them before, playing outside with their friends and family, and now they're here, in the Rainbow Factory. I remember when I was just a filly, right after I took my flight test. I had passed with flying colors... but one of my friends did not. He smiled at me before he walked to the failures gate. I remember hoping that wherever he was banished to, he would be alright. I didn't ever think about him again. And now, he's part of a rainbow in the sky that brings joy and happiness to all the land's residents. Hmm, I never would have thought a phrase such as that would upset my stomach. I don't want to talk about the factory anymore, not after today. If... if only there were some way for me to escape this nightmare. I'd like to instead write down what kind of dreams I've..." the text cuts off and begins a new paragraph.

I've been having strange dreams, all of them about loyalty. The first dream takes place a long time ago. When I had been offered a place among the Shadowbolts. There I am, standing between the bridge and the Shadowbolts. I slowly start to walk forward and leave the bridge behind me. I can hear Twilight behind me, screaming for me to come back, but my dream self doesn't seem to care. The second dream was of my encounter with Discord in the maze, but instead of reliving this event firsthoof, I saw it from above the maze. I could not move or speak, only watch what happened. As Discord touched me, the color drained from my body, my wings reappeared, and I took of flying as fast as possible away from the maze. Discord smiled and began laughing hysterically. As his laugh died down, he looked at me, the dream me, and his grin only seemed to have deepened. Why am I having these dreams now! Of all the times I could be plagued by my dreams... why do they start when I am the weakest..."