Rainbow Factory is one of the most infamous dark fics in the fandom of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic for a darn good reason.
Rainbow Factory
- The very premise of the story: At a certain age, all pegasus foals in Cloudsdale are required to take a flight exam. Failing for any reason means being exiled from Cloudsdale to an unknown fate to avoid bringing shame on the city. It turns out they're sent to the Cloudsdale Weather Factory to help make rainbows...but not as workers, oh, no. You see, the primary ingredient in rainbows is a substance called Spectra. But magic and Spectra only run together freely in living ponies, and, well...you can see where this is going.
- The first pony in Scootaloo's class to take the test, Aurora Dawn, does perfectly until the last part where she injures her wings and falls to the ground. The judges fail her without hesitation.
- Once a worker is promoted to the Upper Factory, they're told about the secret of producing Spectra. They are then given two choices: keep working for the Factory and never tell a soul about how rainbows are made, or save one foal by sacrificing themselves to become Spectra instead.
- The Reveal that Rainbow Dash—Scootaloo's mentor and surrogate big sister, and the Element of Loyalty—is one of the upper ranking Weather Factory officials, has gone completely Ax-Crazy from working at the Factory for years and overseeing the murder of countless foals who failed their flight tests, and is more than willing to sentence Scootaloo to her fate of being processed into Spectra, believing she deserves it for failing the test after Rainbow Dash gave her so much advice to help her pass.Rainbow Dash: I tried, alright! It was up to you to save yourself! You didn’t just fail yourself. You didn’t just fail Cloudsdale. You failed me! You failed me! And that’s the worst thing you could have done. You aren’t just dead to Cloudsdale. You’re dead to me!
- As Rainbow Dash explains to the test failures, the Pegasus Device that extracts Spectra from ponies works better if the pony's ribs are broken beforehand.
- During the foals' escape attempt, Rainbow Dash tears off Aurora's bandaged wing with her bare hooves before hurling her headfirst into the Pegasus Device.
Pegasus Device
- Dr. Atmosphere tells Rainbow Dash about a method that has been found to extract Spectra from ponies without harming them...but Rainbow Dash shuts it down, because she believes killing pegasus foals who fail their flight tests is necessary to improve the image of Cloudsdale.Rainbow Dash: This isn’t senseless. We’re doing Cloudsdale a favor by removing those too worthless to wear its name. That’s what you seem to have forgotten, Hide! Besides, how do you expect me to announce that? We’d have to let the whole world know about what we’ve done. The company would be ruined! Celestia would kill us all!
- Two escapees, Cloud Cover and Corona, make their way through the factory trying to find a way out. When they stop by the Main Theatre Room, they hear a hellish ghostly chorus of foals screaming in agony.The howl of a thousand dying foals filled the hallway. Voices of colts and fillies of all ages and breeds cried out in an eternal anguish, the screams of those met with a fate never deserved by even the darkest of war criminals. The two foals shrunk, looking for some source of the screams. They dragged on, the range of pitches fluctuating into some sort of messed up song, an anthem of death and horror. It came from the floors. It came from the lights, and the fog, and the hallway.
- Gentle Butterwing, a Factory worker newly promoted to the Upper Factory, rapidly falls victim to Corrupt the Cutie after being told the terrible secret behind Cloudsdale's rainbows, and is easily convinced that killing pegasus foals who fail their flight exams is for the good of Cloudsdale and the Factory. After she orders the escapees to be killed on sight instead of captured, this conversation ensues.Rainbow Dash: Does it feel wrong, Gentle? To order another equine dead?
Gentle Butterwing: Well, of course it feels wrong to, I just... why did I? I could have let them go, couldn’t I? Right then?
Rainbow Dash: Did it feel wrong, Gentle? Was issuing that order right now the wrong decision?
Gentle Butterwing: ... No, it didn’t. They’re failures. It’s best for the Corporation.
Rainbow Dash: Good girl. - Gauge confirms to Gentle that a foal has to be alive and conscious as they're being processed into Spectra because it drives their magic and stimulates their Spectra, which produces more vibrant color.
