Rainbow Factory: The Tour

by Barrobroadcaster

Safe Work Environment

"Where is he now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I still can't see him. He's been in there for about twenty minutes." Fluttershy replied, looking through a pair of binoculars at the factory. They both hid in an outcropping of clouds that slowly drifted by. The factory had less security lately but they were still wary of getting too close. They didn't want anypony seeing them.

"He knows why we're doing this and he knows what to do. We'll just have to hope everything works out okay." Rainbow Dash said.

The doors closed shut behind Booster as he walked through. They entered a small antechamber passage connecting to the factory floor. Two security gaurds stood at attention before another pair of double doors. Quarterly approached both of them and presented a small laminated card from his labcoat pocket.

"We've lost a few members of our security personnel following the... cutbacks but security is still a priority to us and strictly enforced. You'll be assigned a badge and your own ID number to login to the factory systems with, keep them on you at all times." Quarterly instructed as the gaurd examined the small card. The gaurd simply flipped the card over, read the front and back, hoofed it back to Quarterly and gestured for the two of them to pass.

"And this is where the magic happens." Quarterly announced as he opend the door for Booster. They walked out onto a walkway that stretched across the room before them. Ahead of them was yet another pair of double doors. To their right, a railing seperated them from the factory floor. On the floor itself, four conveyor belts criss-crossed the room, seperated by spaces to walk. The light from the cieling reflected off the floor below. Something about it made Booster think the floor must've been cleaned recently and that it had to be cleaned pretty often. A drain in the middle of the floor caught his eye and confirmed his theory.

"This is where raw materials are harvested and then shipped for assembly." Quarterly said, leaning over the walkway. Booster was more tempted to back away then lean across the rail. His eyes traveled upward and a sharp trill of fear traveled up his spine. Large, mechanical devices resembling arms or claws were attatched to catwalks above. Some were bigger than others with enormous fingers of some sort. Others were smaller, equipped with tubes and wires running further up them. The tubes on the arms ran along the length of the catwalk and connected to pipes in the wall.

Booster's eyes ran along the length of the conveyor belt until he was looking through the grating right under him. In faded white letters were the words PRIMARY DISPOSAL printed on the tops of the machines he'd already seen before: the waste compactors. He knew that inside the unassuming gray boxes underneath him were enormous pistons. Waste compactors, the unused "raw materials" were disposed of by way of the conveyor belt. After all pigment had been drained from each pony, their bodies were placed on the conveyor belt and then compacted. Burning the bodies alone would cause pollution so they were treated first. Meaning crushed into the smallest pieces possible, treated then incinerated.

"Ah yes, the work of harvesting pigment produces quite a lot of waste I'm afraid. Mantainence of the compactors, keeping them clean, is quite tiresome. And messy, but it's work that has to be completed for the raw materials to be-"

"Raw materials?" temper was still in check and although he was disgusted with what he'd seen, with how Quarterly was acting, with everything around him at the moment, he was in complete control. But he needed to play a specific card right now. "You mean the ponies you're slaughtering?" he asked.

Quarterly looked up at him. "Patriots, every last one of them. They're making the sacrifice to keep moral high. Can you imagine if everypony in Equestria turned gray? We could lose everything. Nothing would be done, no progress would be made."

Booster raised an eyebrow. "So it's a sacrifice... for progress?" he asked, though he knew already how Quarterly was going to answer.

"That's right. We're only doing what is absolutely necessary." Quarterly assured him.

"So..." Booster swallowed. The next question was a tough one but one he needed to ask. "How... how hard is it to operate these machines?"

"I bet you think it's complicated, don't you?" Quarterly said, smiling. "Not at all actually. In fact, the instructions are labelled on each terminal and most of the process is automated. Key in a command using the terminal's controls and the machines execute the function."

Booster looked over at the various controls on the walkway across from them, some mounted directly on the wall. Good, it was easier than he thought it was going to be. Now, he just needed to wait for the right moment.

"Despite all the automation, the factory still requires a fair amount of direct attention. I don't know yet if you'll get selected for the factory floor but we'll get that sorted out by the time you're ready for orientation." Quarterly said. He set his hooves off the railing and began leading Booster towards the other set of double doors at the end of the walkway.

"Haven't got a weak stomach, have you?" Quarterly asked over his shoulder, grinning as he did so.

"No." Booster replied, his voice stoic.

Quarterly smiled. "Ah, I wouldn't think so if you applied here. All right, let's move on."

Booster followed the yellow pegasus through the next set of double doors marked R&D. They entered another hallway, this one was actually well-lit. More rooms lined the walls to the left and right, some had numbers on the doors, there were also windows into the rooms large enough to see everything inside. It looked to Booster more like a hospital wing or laboratory. Everything was white and well-lit, Booster looked through one of the large room-windows they passed and saw ponies inside. The occupants of the room wore labcoats and were busy at terminals, none of them looked up to acknowledge them as they passed.

"This is our Research and Development department. Here, we monitor quality control, manage resources and study and design new colors and rainbows." Booster explained as they walked.

"New colors?" Booster asked, trying to act interested. Actually, this time it wasn't an act; he was genuinely interested.

"Oh yes, since I became a manager, we've discovered 2 new colors: breen and super-white." Quarterly said.

"Breen and super-white?" Booster asked, a perplexed look on his face.

"Yes, breen's a combination of brown and green. You might remember it from that episode of Rocko's Modern Life where they try to renovate Rocko's house. Super-white, as the name suggests is the ultimate white. It's so white it's only found in suburban basements playing online games." Quarterly explained.

Booster shook his head. "Don't you think that's a bit... racist?"

"Nope." Quarterly replied. "Moving on, I'm going to introduce you to somepony and they're going to tell you a little bit about this division here while I check on your file." Booster followed the yellow pegasus to an office door. Unlike the others, this one was unmarked.

Author's Note:

Come on! How could racism not exist in a place that makes rainbows? Thought I'd add a little joke in there just for the heck of it.

Comments

[ShadowBrony]

Racism in Equestria doesn't surprise me. It wasn't that long ago when the 3 different types of ponies didn't see eye to eye. Not to mention Earth ponies where considered slaves and Thestrals where considered a bad omen or curse and needed to be cleansed. Anyways....Interesting so it seems we have a spy. I am liking the build up so far. Keep it up.

[Barrobroadcaster]

2537456You poor thestral. *hug*

[ShadowBrony]

2545764 Oh yeah, been meaning to ask but, are you going to put up an avatar at some point? I mean the grey picture is fine and all but wouldn't it be awesome have you're OC there as well?
The reason I thought of this was, well, the weird image of you hugging my OC and I realized I have no idea what you or your OC looks like.

[Barrobroadcaster]

2546956 Ah, but you do know what he looks like. He's a white, somewhat pale stallion with dark brown hair. You know this from Fluttersized.
If I was to choose an avatar picture, I suppose it would be myself and Michael Hay probably in some sort of aggressive poise.

[ShadowBrony]

2548371 Oh yeah. Well hope you can find someone who can draw that. If it was just your OC I could maybe help with that but I can't do anything special beyond that.