Chapter 1: A punishment Without Reason

The room was quiet. Dried blood painted the floor, walls and ceiling, leaving the grey dead hair and decayed bone fragments to litter the dirt floor. It was no bigger than a dull office cubicle and contained only a blackened bed mattress and a moth-balled and shredded blanket. On this bed that not even mold would want to feed off of if most slept soundly a white pegasi with a myriad of blue colors that made up his mane.

The guard outside slammed his hoof into the door, waking up the pegasi inside. "Get up and out! Time to get to work!"

The white pegasi growled as he was rudely waken from his nap, not as if he ever gotten actual beauty sleep. "Come on, five more minutes." He yelled out, pulling the ragged and never-washed covers over his muzzle.

The guard forcefully opened the blackened-steel door, revealing him to be a unicorn. Behind him hovered a metallic pole with two prongs at the end. The prongs sparked to life as the Taser was turned on. "Now." He growled.

Alpha poked his face out of the covers and glared at the guard. "Fine," He snarled. "I'm up." He shoved the covers back with his right-wing and got up, walking past the guard. He exited the door and joined the others as they all were rudely woken up and walked to the showers.

Turn a right after door.

Although he was only a colt and those around him were much older than him, nopony gave a glance at the youngling. Half-asleep, Alpha had already memorized where to go that it was muscle memory. His legs knew where to go.

50 paces forward.

Turn left.

25 paces forward.

Turn right.

42 paces forward.

Turn right.

10 paces forward

Turn left.

The colt was broken and acted like a husk; a soulless, mindless shell. Although the Rainbow Factory was a living and breathing hell, there were still small events that helped Alpha along.

Today, he had turned 11. Unlike most his age who wanted a cake, presents, friends and a party, all that Alpha wished for was to be given a full meal and get some real sleep without getting in trouble. Not that he was a trouble maker; like those around him, getting in trouble was what you didn't want to happen. Punishments were often cruel and torturous and most who got in trouble didn't survive. Those who did wish they hadn't and in the past, those who did survive often threw themselves into the machine.

Alpha opened his eyes once his legs stopped and looked up. A dirty tiled room with shower heads five feet above the ground made up the Showers. There were no heat-or-cold valves; the water was always the same rainwater: cold.

He waited for a shower to be free as the cold mist woke him up. One freed up and he replaced the missing worker with himself. The cold liquid seeped through his sweat-drenched mane and coat, stinging as it splashed onto his newly formed burn that etched itself from above his right eye and ended just below his left. Only a week old and it felt as if it happened an hour ago.

Once his five minutes were up, he left the Showers, making his way to the Locker Room. He always had a knack for repairing metal parts and, on the plus side; he really couldn't hear the screaming. The white colt turned a left, walked a couple meters then took another right, entering the Locker Room assigned for his job. Alpha walked past the rows of dented and old olive-green lockers; their color slowly fading away, until he reached his own at the half-way point.

Pushing himself up onto the bench that divided the row of lockers, Alpha leaned precariously as he reached for his lock. He spun the wheel as he imputed the code and yanked down as he finished, unlocking the lock and removing it. Now was the hard part.

Alpha had lost count of how many times he had hit the floor face first as he pushed himself off the locker to get off the bench. He hesitated and then, with a huff, he pushed off the locker and, for a moment, was balanced as his momentum seemed to cease. He smiled as he watched his locker slowly open as the metal bounced back ever so slightly.

And then his balance decided against him.

He felt fine until he slowly began to lean to far back. Panicking, Alpha countered, leaning too far forward and toppled over. His face hit the side of the opened locker, causing the pain of his burn to spike to near-inconceivable limits. He hit the floor with a thud, his hooves covering the scar, his wings covering his face as he writhed about and screamed in agony.

Last week, a guard had brought in another pony; a red unicorn mare with a god-like blond mane and had a wrench as her cutie-mark. As the guard talked to his partner about the stray, the mare hesitantly explored her surroundings. She turned her face left to right as she scanned the room and her eyes locked on to the seemingly abandoned welding torch on top of a table. Her curiosity peaked and took control over her body, slowly walking towards the object, her eyes wide and glued on it.

Upon closer examination, the welding torch was a rude improvised version of an actual welding torch.

At one end was a small cylinder about the size of a water bottle that she presumed held the gas. Tubes connected the cylinder to the gas head about twelve inches directly opposite of the cylinder. The pipe that connected and protected the tubes to the gas head was a small blackened pipe and was bent at a 90° angle to the right. A leather leg guard held the torch in place during use by two thick leather straps that were to be wrapped around the leg. The pipe was held firmly atop of the leather guard and in between the head and gas tank was a valve that controlled the gas flow.

She looked around and noticed the spare canisters of fuel on her left. The mare reached out, grabbed the torch, placed her left leg underneath the top of the wrist guard and firmly wrapped the straps of leather around it, strapping the tool to her leg, oblivious to the metallic pipe rolling around on the floor that had fallen from the table when she took the tool.

Noticing the small gas valve on the top of the wrist guard, she hesitantly tugged on it and a cautious smile slowly formed upon her face as she heard the flammable gas whistle through the nozzle. Her eyes widened as the gas was lit by the small electric sparker within.

Alpha entered the bay, pushing a large box of broken materials to repair as he looked up at the mare, wondering if she knew that that table was his workstation. He watched as the mare tugged on the valve, opening it nearly all the way, causing the torch to breathe an acute cone of fire to which the mare yelled out in fear and shock.

The white colt jumped over the box and galloped for the mare as fast as his tiny white legs would carry him. "The valve," He screamed. "Close the valve!" The others stopped what they were doing and looked around to the source of the cry.

He was close, his hoof outstretched to tackle the mare, when he tripped on the pipe that had fallen from his table.

Time seemed to slow down to a near stop.

He watched, unable to do anything, as the mare turned around to see who spoke.

She saw him tripping and her instincts kicked in, raising her left leg up to block her face.

The torch was ablaze; its heat turning the nozzle red.

His eyes were open and they watched in fear as the nozzle moved closer, threatening them.

The pegasi slammed into the mare and he let out a scream that could fill the invincible with crippling fear as the welding torch came into contact with his face, its fire changing in a blur of neon colors as the rainbow-liquid within him touched with the acute cone of fire. His chest impacted the table first and he convulsed violently as he was brutally close lined. The body hit the ground with its right hoof squeezing its chest, the left covering his face.

The mare hit the ground as well and fumbled quickly with the valve before shutting it off; the flame dying at once but its nozzle still glowing dark red. She shook off the confusion and turned to look at the colt. His mouth was open and was making an inaudible croaking sound as he desperately gasped for air. His wings were opening and closing as he fought for control over the immense pain. She watched in horror as he fell silent, still writhing in pain.

She quickly unstrapped and removed the welding torch and reached out towards the colt but was stopped when a hoof stood on her outstretched leg. Her head slowly looked up and stared in horror at the guards dressed in black. Their faces, emotionless, made them look unreal, that is until they frowned at her. Two guards behind her lifted the mare off of her hooves and began to drag her away towards the door that she had entered not too long ago.

Some of the workers cleaned up the mess for Alpha but none actually helped the poor colt.

He felt…different. The pain was still there but it felt as if it was lessened. He rolled to his stomach, wincing and stood up and turned to see the guards taking the mare away. Alpha felt empowered, as if he drank a potion and it enhanced his willpower and strength tenfold. He took a breath and spoke loudly.

"She does not deserve to be punished."

The guards turned around to look at the colt; a new scar etched into his face and was even still burning. The stallion on the mare's right chuckled, dropped the mare and gave Alpha a curious and confused look. "She hurt you; damaged your face beyond repair and nearly broke a welding torch. Do you know how hard it is to get these tools?"

Alpha began to reply but coughed violently and felt dizzy. He shook his head and resumed speaking. "Having their parents abandon them should not be punished by death, let alone tortured and killed." He stopped suddenly at the different tone in his voice but decided to ignore it and continue. "She was curious," He spoke as he limped to the guards, his right front hoof clutching his chest. "She wanted to know what the tool was. Thank Celestia I walked into the room and was able to stop it before it got worse. Had I not, she," Alpha pointed to the mare. "Wouldn't be alive." He stopped and then added. "And your welding torch would've been destroyed beyond repair. Let her go, I'll show her the ropes." He felt his heart race as he stopped clutching his chest and reached out for the mare.

But he was stopped by the guard before he could touch her.

"Don't worry." He said; his voice gruff and deep. "We have ponies working on that, she'll live."

Alpha felt the urge to argue but decided not to. He was already in immense pain; he didn't need anymore. He nodded, glanced at the mare then turned around, still limping away.

He got to his table, strapped on the welding torch and pushed himself up onto his hind legs, resting his front hooves on the top of the table and begun to stand up the spare canisters that had fallen down when he impacted the table when a soaked gray strip of what seemed like cloth hit several of the standing canisters, causing them to scatter. Alpha's shoulders dropped and he turned to see who threw the cloth.

A purple pegasi, a stallion, had his hoof covering his mouth with his eyes open wide before dropping his hoof and quickly trotting towards Alpha. "Sorry 'bout that; meant to throw it in front of you, not for it to hit the canisters." He saw the cautious glance that Alpha gave to the wet strip and laughed. "Don't worry; its water is from the faucet that we use to fill out buckets with. You know, the water we use to cool the parts we repair."

"Oh, Thanks." The colt said with a smile as he grabbed the strip and wrapped it around his head so it covering and cooled down the burn. "Still stings." He added.

"It will. Mind if I ask a question?"

"Not at all." Alpha replied as he picked up the fallen and scattered canisters.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"You stood up for the mare. Why?"

Alpha turned and gave him a confused look as if he was insulted. "Because she was innocent; because her curiosity took control over actual reason." He sighed and his face relaxed. "Three years ago, I was caught stealing bread because I was a stray and had no clue how to make money. Instead of bringing me to a jail as punishment, they brought me here to work for the rest of my short life. I do not believe in such punishment as death or torture for those whose wrong is so minuscule. When I was a stray, I did not know that stealing was wrong, I was just hungry. So I stood up although I was hurt, because I knew for a fact and I still know what they were about to do to her."

The stallion smiled and nodded. "Keep that trait kid for most on this planet want revenge."

They watched the colt writhe about in pain, their faces emotionless, as their partners held the colt down forcefully. One held a bucket above and splashed the cold liquid on his face, violently bringing him back from the past and into the present. Alpha coughed violently but fell silent as if somepony placed a spell upon him when he looked up at the guards that surrounded him. He swallowed.

"Alpha?" One of the guards spoke.

He blinked quickly before nodding, too afraid to speak.

"Pick him up."

Alpha felt hooves grab him, lifting him up and placing him firmly, not gently, back onto his hooves but the hooves that helped him up didn't leave.

One guard left, then another, then another until those who held Alpha gave him enough of a push to tell him to follow. He heard metal scraping metal as one picked up his welding torch.

They walked past the showers and his cell and took a right. Alpha was uncomfortable and sacred. A group of guards was one thing; he had been punished before but he knew from the cries and screams that haunted and plagued him at night echoed from this hallway. The walls were an eerie white but weren't littered by doors or signs like the other hallways Alpha saw. They were clean.

The guards felt the gradual increase of resistance from the colt and continued to push when needed. They knew that Alpha was beginning to put the pieces together, realizing where he was going and had begun to snicker, glancing at the other and nodding.

They reached the end of the hallway and waited in front of the double door that mimicked those seen in hospitals which confirmed Alpha's greatest fears. The door opened and Alpha was shoved inside. The room, unlike the hallway, was nightmarish.

The floor was built with checkered sheet metal and like his ceiling in his cell, was stained and crusty with dried blood. Hoof-Saws, knives, machetes, needles, whips, large stakes and other various torture devices and tools were held by racks on the walls. The lights that shined down were horribly rudimentary; a thin copper spring held by two prongs in a glassless lightbulb. In the center of the room was a clean and shiny chrome-like table. Lit up by a strong light above, Alpha could make out the four metallic restraints on either end and the two on either side.

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Alpha turned around to flee and instead was met with a punch to the jaw. He fell back to the ground and stared at the wall of guards that blocked the exit. He was shaking violently as his fear exploded within.

A hoof on his right shoulder was more than enough to send the colt fighting for his life. He screamed, struggled, and bit his way out but to no avail as he was forced onto the table by a group of guards, resisting to surrender to his fate like a man would resist and continue to fight when he realized he was going to die horribly and slowly, unable to change his fate.

One stallion climbed up onto the table and placed all his weight onto Alpha's chest as he forced him down while the other guards forced his hooves into the restraints and closing them, locking each leg in place. His wings flapped violently but for he was still young, they restrained them with ease.

"W-w-why am I here?" The colt cried.

"You are here because you have violated and broke the laws of this facility." The stallion that held him down told him. "You stopped a mare from doing what she was told." He growled as he leaned down towards his face. His breath stank of cigar smoke and liquor; a specialty that only the highest of guards could obtain. "Normally, this…violation would result in death via the machine, but we received a special letter from the Princess herself, hoof-written, that you, specifically, were to be kept alive." He said with a grin.

Alpha's eyes widened.

"I'm going to be honest with you because you WILL live after this. The original plan was to take off a wing, play with that pretty scar of yours, and maybe have some fun," His eyebrows jumped and he smiled. "With you before we end your life as you bleed out." He shook his head and sighed, gesturing somepony who Alpha couldn't see to come to him. "But, because the princess wants you alive, we won't have fun."

The white colt's heart nearly stopped as he heard the sound of a familiar welding torch turn on; the gas whistling. "I-I-I'm sorry. I-I-I promise I won't do it again. I-I swear." He began to frantically plead as he felt the heat beneath his right wing.

"Don't worry. We know you will never do something like this again." He nodded and the pony out of view brought the torch to the tip of Alpha's right wing.

He watched, his head poking through the blood-stained ceiling. He was invisible, dead for hundreds of years, to all those alive and mortal. He watched the colt, brutally bullied and innocent, tortured without reason. Instead of letting him die, they would keep him alive, which did not suit the ghost well."If you are going to torture an innocent pony, you should kill him in the end." He spoke to himself, not caring if the living could hear him. Being dead and a ghost had both its pros and cons. Not being heard when he talked was both a pro and con.

Alpha writhed in pain, unable to scream or cry as his wing was burnt off, the pain too much for him to even gasp for air. His back arched up and down and he struggled continuously as the agony wreaked havoc upon his mind.

The ghost above took a breath and decided that now would be the time was he could return and gain revenge. He gathered what power he could from the nearby electrical appliances and flung himself into the colt.

Alpha's vision faded as the pain began to shut down his mind.

The Ghost grabbed hold of the spirit within and swung himself onto it, combining his own to the body. Powerful and dark mutant magic collided with Pegasi Magic and, for it was the right time and the right place, a bond, as weak as a snowflake, but a bond none the less, began to form.

Alpha's back relaxed as he lost conscious due to the pain. The wing fell to the ground soon after.

"Good job." The guard above the unconscious colt said with a smile, tapping Alpha's cheek to check if he was still awake.

"I try." The other replied with a shrug and a grin. He tugged on the valve and the gas ceased to whistle. He sighed and looked down at the colt.

"He won't bleed out, will he?"

"The wing is cauterized, so no; he won't. What did that letter say about the colt? The one you mentioned?" The stallion rested his back on the table, the torch resting in his relaxed right hoof.

"Not much really. He's for some sort of 'Experiment'. Something about spreading fear or some shit like that." The lights flickered and the two looked up.

"The machine isn't supposed to start, right?"

"It's too late for it to start." The stallion hopped off of the table and walked towards the wall of guards, his partner following. "Let's go see what's up."

"Let's not, shall we?" The voice was calm and old but young at the same time. It was a bit lower than Alpha's, but just a bit, by a hair. He breathed in and felt the cold air pass through his mouth and down the windpipe, filling the lungs; a first for the ghost for 900 years.

The main guard froze and turned to look at his partner.

The partner shook his head before looking behind and watching the colt's back arch up. "Aw…shit." He muttered as his friend walked by.

"Back for more fun? We thought you nodded off." The main stallion chuckled.

It laughed. "Nah, just resting my eyes." The restraints unlocked and the guards watched in confusion as the unconscious colt sat up and hopped off the table. He opened his eyes and looked around. "Nice place, bit rudimentary, but it would get the job done, just barely though."

"Alpha?" The guard had walked up to the colt and tapped his shoulder. The colt turned his head and glared at the guard who stood up on his hind legs; his back straight.

He watched as Alpha's eyes slowly changed from brown to red.

"What?"

"Get back on the table or else."

"Or what?" He talked back. "Are you gonna hit me again?"

The stallion behind the main guard lit the welding torch, glaring at him.

The colt smiled, grinned, and then chuckled as his mane turned from blue to blood-red. "Lemme explain something." He stood up without a problem on his hind legs, his front hooves bent at Forty-Five degree angles and tilted to either side. "I am not Alpha."

The main stallion, insulted and embarrassed that this colt, whoever he was, would not listen, took a step forward with his left-hind hoof and swung a right hook at the colt.

The colt chuckled and shook his head with disgust. "Predictable."

It ducked under the hoof with surprisingly fast reflexes and jabbed the attacker's chest twice with his left then his right hooves, the second hoof cracking the ribs within.

The guard, stunned, clutched his chest in pain and gasped for air.

It side-stepped around the guard, brought its right hoof just above and past its left shoulder and swung hard against the spine of the stallion, easily breaking several vertebrae.

The stunned stallion arched his back from the blow, the back of his head parallel to the floor.

The colt, now possessed by the ghost, reached up, wrapped his hooves around the guard's neck and crouched, bringing the guard's head down across his shoulder, snapping the guard's neck and killing him instantly.

He looked up, letting go of the corpse's head, and smiled as the wall of guards locked the doors and began to surround him. One stood facing him, the torch alive with flame in his right hoof.

The colt stood up and lowered his head, waiting. His ears flicked left and right as he listened to the others moving. He heard a whip uncoil, the leather scraping against itself and hitting the floor with a soft thud in the right corner. He heard the distinct sound of Velcro as one of the guards strapped on the hoof-saw on his left.

The room was quiet. All that he could hear were seven guards breathing. The ghost slowly extended the left wing, still intact, as he attempted to get used to the limb that he never owned. He bent both front legs and extended them fully twice, twisted the head left and right, and arched his back like how a robot does a diagnostic on its new body; checking quickly to see what does and doesn't work.

"Before you die, you should know my name."

He heard the deep inhale, the strong grunt as the stallion exhaled and the near-silent sound of the leather strands stretching as they were extended it their full limit.

The possessed colt turned and fell back on his front legs, lunging at the guard, ducking under the whip as it flew over him.

The whip cracked.

The colt somersaulted onto his back and slid, kicking out his right hind leg hard at the Guard's left, breaking the knee.

The guard, due to the phantom experiencing adrenaline for the first time in recent memory, slowly began to react to the pain.

He didn't let him and grabbed the leg as he slid past, tripping the guard and using the leg to swing him around like a pendulum.

The stallion's head hit the ground with a thud, the jaw fracturing upon impact.

And his skull shattered like glass as the colt spun in the air and landed beside, stomping his right hoof into the crown.

The whip hit the floor with a sad and soft thud.

"I am Beta." You replied with an evil grin as he removed his hoof from the skull and wiped what blood and skull fragments off on the back of the dead guard like he would with mud on a welcome mat. "And you WILL NOT survive this."