Rainbow Factory: Reckoning

by Celestial Swordsman

Managing the Rainbow Factory is not an easy task. Rainbow Dash had initially snapped from the weight of her duties here; she's better now. She thinks. Others aren't so sure. For the first time, Canterlot has ordered a thorough inspection of the secretive operation. But the inspector is not who he seems, and the stakes are much, much higher. Rated R for Religion, and some gore.

7. Doctor Atmosphere

Doctor Atmosphere

The laboratory was full of equipment that Dash had never seen anywhere else. Steam pipes descended from the high ceiling, each supplying pressure to a different apparatus. Most of them where silent for now, but some gave a low hum or gurgle that hinted at what was going on inside. The main instruments lined the back of the room. Flasks and beakers surrounded a contraption of glass pipes where spectra was subjected to endless chemical tests. Cabinets along the end of the room were stuffed full of carefully packaged samples.

Whenever she came here, she felt like Twilight would have been better for the job. If the scientist or any of his staff tried to explain something, she just had to nod and try not to look stupid.

"Increase the voltage!" an authoritative voice called from further into the lab. There he stood, a figure in a lab coat and thick goggles, surrounded by an erratic flicker and an unnerving crackle. His white clothes gave sharp contrast to his dark red fur and jet black mane. He was fixated on his experiment, a glowing rainbow suspended inside a huge vacuum tube. Arcs of simulated lightning flashed across the bottled sky.

His assistant left her post by the levers of the apparatus and tapped him on the shoulder. His head snapped around. He followed her gesture to the visitors that had just entered. "Alright, shut it down." She hurried back to yank the main lever down.

"Not all at once!" the scientist scolded. "You have to draw the power down slowly! How many times have I told you..." He trailed off, glancing toward his guests. He pulled off his goggles and dangled them towards her. "Just go, and do your daily titrations." She dutifully took his protective gear and slunk away.

He approached Dash and the newcomer, saying, "Welcome! Inspector Ironshoe, I presume? I am Doctor Hyde Atmosphere. I'm sure you've heard much about me."

"I have," said the supposed inspector.

"Have you seen my Machine? Isn't it magnificent?" Hyde asked eagerly.

"It's effective," Yeshua agreed, with reservations. "But rainbows are magnificent."

"Yes, quite," the scientist said, unfazed. "No process is better than its product. But you should know that it's far more effective than it was at first."

"I'm sure you're aware that I designed the original machine," Hyde said as a matter of course. "What you may not yet appreciate is the fact that I've been refining it for years. I have not been sitting on my laurels. The initial formula was able to produce rainbows, yes. But today we can make twice the spectra per unit, with twice the quality."

The scientist took any space of silence as an invitation to continue. "Many leading wizards and potion brewers have also contributed to this achievement, though sadly most did not understand what we were creating. Each only knew of the specific problem they were solving, just their own small piece of the puzzle, for security reasons of course. Essentially the machine does what they would all do if they were gathered here."

Hyde paused, almost embarrassed, wondering if his guest felt slighted. "Not many of your kind have been here. I know as a unicorn, this must seem like a pathetic display of jealousy, pegasi trying to compensate for the inability to wield magic ourselves. I hope you're not offended to be replaced by machinery."

The visitor answered honestly, "No, I assure you, that is the least offensive thing about it."

"Ah yes, this business is not for the faint of heart," Hyde nodded understandingly. "Imitation may be flattery, but this is not mere flattery. Automating the magic allows us to increase the scale of the operation and use unskilled labor. It also allows us to control the magic very precisely and get the same result every time. There are very volatile elements which, outside of the protective shell of the machine, would be too dangerous to work with."

"But perhaps most important, it allows us to operate independently. There is no single pony whose removal would halt the operation. If we relied on the talent of a unique spellcaster, they could fall ill or become troubled and refuse to continue," Hyde said as though describing some horrible fate. "No, this is our lifeblood, this is our legacy for the generations."

"But you are the only one who understands how all of the pieces work together," the guest noticed. "Does it all depend on you?"

"The invention of the system was my own spark of genius. But now that I have discovered the principles, anyone with an adequate intellect can replicate my results. I claim full scientific credit, but even my disappointing assistants could continue in my absence," Hyde said with a disdainful glance towards his helper at the back of the room.

Doctor Atmosphere said hopefully, "When you report to Princess Celestia, I would like you to request that a historical record be made. I know that information is under tight control right now, but one day perhaps the world will be ready to openly accept our service, and I'd like them to remember my name. I don't think that's too much compensation."

Yeshua said solemnly, "I'll make sure you get the credit you deserve."

Doctor Atmosphere smiled proudly, but Dash thought he should be more careful what he wished for.

"How did you ever turn this complex magic into something that can be done automatically? Harmony magic can't be accessed by any heartless machinery," the disguised inspector pointed out. "So what kind of magic are you automating, exactly?"

"Ah, finally!" The scientist's eyes lit up. "It's so good to have visitors who ask such intelligent questions. It's true that some kinds of magic are difficult without an equine touch, a force of will even." His voice became wistful, and he swept his hoof in a fanciful flourish through the air, like a stage actor. "Harmony magic is what the Machine must harness, the magic of friendship and love, of cutie mark talents and destinies. The stuff that makes us who we are. No steam pump or electric current can capture it. It's too special, too powerful, too precious."

He lowered his tone and continued cleverly, "That's all very romantic, but there are other kinds of magic which are more malleable. There is liquefied input and liquid output, so in a sense the Machine is brewing a large potion, which is something that machinery can handle. For the really interesting part, amulets get the magical processes started."

He stepped closer and started to motion with his hooves, excited to share his solution. "Some magic can be summoned in rituals. Though ponies are required to perform them, rituals are just a set of actions that can be repeated to produce the same result. When the operators pull the levers, push the buttons, and do as they're trained, they set into motion rituals that are completed within the Machine. Even though they're not fully aware of what is happening, their consent and their intent is enough to trigger the magic. And Harmony magic can be acted on by other magic."

"So what magic does it trigger?" Yeshua asked once more.

Hyde's gaze wandered as he searched for a diplomatic way to put it. "Certain criminal elements have used artifacts or other magic to steal or alter cutie marks. But it can be put to more productive use. Extracting Harmony magic from the processed bodies can be done in much the same way."

"So you do know that you're using dark magic," Yeshua pointed out as a red flag.

Doctor Hyde rolled his eyes. "Don't be alarmed. That's just an ignorant name for any magic that provides an opposing force for Harmony. It's a perfectly natural aspect of our world. There is no evil witch in the basement. Since it's all contained in the Machine, it's perfectly safe."

He quickly moved back to the positives, like a good salesman. "Some of the byproducts of the Machine fetch a lot of bits from discerning magicians and medical buyers. Mothers, of course, pay for the service of removing the neophytes, and towns will give anything to have one of our rainbows nearby. This is a business, after all. Not only does the machine pay for itself, we create an impressive profit." Having built it up, now he reached the point of his pitch. "So it would only be sensible to expand my laboratory, even from a financial perspective. I trust you'll recommend a larger budget, and maybe some better staff to assist me."

Rainbow Dash was mortified. She quickly deflected, "Yeah, sure, but remember it's not about the money, it's about saving the world."

"About that," Yeshua said. "I know the problem is getting worse. Show me the numbers."

For once, Hyde was silent. He nodded somberly.

"Gladly." He opened a filing cabinet and pulled out a thick binder. "I've had all the measurements meticulously recorded, daily, for several years."

As he offered it to the inspector, it glowed, and hovered in front of the unicorn. It opened, and Yeshua scanned the page. "Very detailed."

Bright yellow lines appeared in the air, forming the outline of a chart, with numbers along both sides. The pages of the binder began to turn rapidly, and the numbers were shining on every page that passed. Points of light appeared almost rhythmically, rising and falling along the length of the graph in a symphony of data.

"Have you considered working here?" the scientist said, his eyes alight with pleasure.

A line traced along the points. There were sharp peaks and valleys, but from left to right the trend was ever downward. "This is the ambient Harmony magic across Equestria."

"The problem began before I was keeping records," the methodical researcher commented, "but since then you can see how it has been draining away faster and faster."

The inspector—for a moment Dash doubted her wild ideas about him being something else. For all his weirdness, he really seemed to be inspecting everything, and latching on to any paperwork in sight. He asked, "Do you also have a copy of the factory's operation reports?"

"Of course." Hyde collected a stack of papers, emptying the contents of multiple yearly folders.

The papers leapt into the air of their own accord, passing in front of the magician one by one and collecting back into a stack that hovered obediently beside the binder.

"These are the exact times when spectra was deployed as rainbows," said the chart-maker.

Blue marks appeared along the bottom of the chart, that seemed to match the rhythm of the yellow peaks.

Ah, perfect. The data tells the truth. You can see our work restoring the world time after time, like a heartbeat. Notice, as we increase production, the peaks are higher. The more sacrifices are made, the more magic we are able to restore. It's slowing down the decline, but we haven't been able stop it yet."

"When the artificial rainbows touch down, the reserve of Harmony magic does go back up. But let's look closer." At the visitor's wish, the expansive holograph zoomed in from years to a couple months. "I'm adding in the times the machine was in operation—the time when the fillies were killed."

"Why?" Doctor Atmosphere objected. "I don't see how that's relevant."

Deep red marks scarred the air, one before each stroke of blue. Each condemning mark coincided with a steep plunge in the world's magic. "Every violent act damages the harmony of this world, most of all the murder of the innocent. Since the intent to kill is almost as important as the act, you can assume most of the damage in the 24 hours before is also the result of what happens here. Look, you lose more than you gain, every time. The more fillies die here, the worse it gets."

The admiration on the scientist's face twisted into a look of contempt. "What? That is the flimsiest correlation I have ever heard! You have causation backwards. The size of the sacrifices don't cause the decrease, we sacrifice more because of the decrease. When it gets worse we have to make more spectra to compensate. Of course it lines up. Besides, that's clearly not the cause of the problem, because the world was already losing magic before the Rainbow Factory began operating."

Hyde snatched files out of the air with irritation. "That's an impressive visual display, unfortunately your deduction leaves something to be desired. Clearly you don't know the first thing about reading and interpreting scientific data."

Hyde hastily stashed the papers back into the folder. His frustration showed as he shoved the sloppy stack down out of sight with no regard to snagged corners, crumpling pages in the process.

Yeshua gave no rebuttal, but gave Dash a look. She made eye contact and received the message, and looked down. She was really uncomfortable that this was even up for debate, and especially that Dr. Atmosphere had been put on the defensive. She was a little reassured that his answers sounded reasonable, sounded correct. In fact, both of them sounded right when they were talking. Come on Hyde, say something smart.

"All you've proven is that we need MORE sacrifices!" the mastermind insisted, raising his voice. "In fact, that will be crucial to solving the real underlying problem. As much as Harmony magic is innate to all ponies, it is also true that all ponies have a tendency to drift out of Harmony."

"Look here, let me show you the problem, in its smallest increment." He stepped away to retrieve something from a metal supply cabinet. Glassware clinked as he pulled out a particular jar. He brought it back to them, holding it close to his chest on the way. "Here is the problem," he announced, and held the jar out where they could clearly see… A tiny, shriveled form floating in formaldehyde. Though it was only a few inches long there was no mistaking it for anything but what it was—a pickled pony fetus.

Dash was unaffected. She had seen this all before. But she could tell Yeshua was rankled by the sight of it, more so than by any discussion or disagreement.

Doctor Atmosphere studied his macabre object lesson and began to teach. "As they say, 'It all starts with a mother's love.' Well, maybe a little bit of a father's love too. Or maybe another mother's love, we're progressive now," he shrugged. "But they also absorb Harmony magic from the world around them. In a poetic sense, it's as if mother earth loves ponies, like the universe lovingly gives each one its own magic, starting the moment they are conceived."

"They take in Harmony magic during their early development, up until birth, and release it during their lifetime, which should create a perfectly balanced cycle." He lowered his voice as if about to say something scandalous. "But NO. They don't ever actually release as much as they took out, they don't actually pay back their debt. Some come closer than others, but the deficit is inevitable. Some phenomena like naturally occurring rainbows actually release Harmony magic back into the world as well, and for a long time that was enough."

He set the jar on the desk. "He may be a greedy little parasite, but he's manageable. But here's the real problem…" His statement of contempt hung in the air a moment as he walked back to the specimen cabinet.

He gave them a sideways look, trying to contain a mischievous smile. He threw open the doors all at once, rattling row upon row of glass containers. Each held another shriveled baby pony. "Too many problems!" he proclaimed loudly. He watched their reaction, reveling in the shock, wondering if they could understand his forbidden wisdom.

Yeshua's eyes flashed with anger through his calm demeanor, but only Dash saw it. A chill went down her spine. Everything seemed heavier.

"Simply put, there are too many ponies," the scientist said callously. "The deficit grows as the population increases. The Rainbow Factory allows us to pay back that debt. It atones for the excesses of our society, if you will. In time, everyone will understand that we should not value the quantity of ponies, but rather the quality. If we scale up the Factory's operations, we can end overpopulation, and select for the best and brightest offspring."

Yeshua seemed, well, not confused, but mystified that anyone would think that way. "Aren't you overlooking the basic way that Harmony magic works? Every friendship and every kind deed strengthen the magic of Equestria."

"Yes, well, you'd think that galloping around hugging ponies would sort it out, wouldn't you," Hyde said with a note of sarcasm. "But just as it's in their nature to be loving, being suspicious, fearful and jealous is just as intrinsic. Trying to teach ponies to be better usually only gives a small, temporary boost, not enough to counteract the loss. You can't change equine nature."

"This IS the simpler solution," he insisted. "We are using all their love and laughter, we're just helping them let it all out at once."

"Since it's about love and laughter, why do you think it can be solved in such an unloving way?" Yeshua asked rhetorically.

"Unloving? UNLOVING?! This is my labor of love!" He held his arms wide, as if he wanted to embrace the entire science lab. "Every pony is here to work together, for the love of the motherland."

Yeshua was beyond unimpressed, and continued to appeal to a nobler instinct. "If you're doing it for love, why don't you sacrifice yourselves, instead of the weak and vulnerable?"

Hyde looked hurt. "Ah, but we are sacrificing ourselves, aren't we Dash?"

"Yeah, seriously," she nodded, with a hint of emotional exhaustion. "I feel like I'm giving everything I have here."

"You see?" the devoted researcher said in a soft, if pedantic tone. "No pony is happy about the violence. This is the only way."

A sly smile crept across Hyde's face as he had an idea. "Ah, this should clear things up. You probably believe that Rainbow Dash can solve this problem all by herself. Come on, who wouldn't think so?"

"Yes she can, in ten seconds flat," Yeshua boasted on Dash's behalf, turning to her. "Why don't you make a Sonic Rainboom?"

Dash cringed. "Geez, don't you ever watch the news? Do I really have to talk about this again?" She looked at them both a moment, checking if they really expected her to say more. She huffed. "The last time I did was a disaster. It came out gray, scared everybody. I've been hiding here ever since." She hated to think about it—the most humiliating day in her life. It's like I just suddenly found out I'm not myself anymore, and I had to find out in front of the whole world. She looked down, avoiding eye contact and nearly holding her breath till the conversation moved on.

Dr. Atmosphere noted ruefully, "The magic index actually dropped that day." Just then noticing how dejected Dash was to talk about it, he tried to soften the blow. "Now that's nothing particular about Dash here. You see, everyone has been affected by the magic crisis, and adults are exposed to more of its effects. Why, if you were to make a rainbow of spectra from adults, it would probably come out shades of brown, and hardly worth the trouble. When we have to retire one of the inbred failures who—" He halted at the sight of Dash forcefully making a kill motion across her throat and glaring at him.

He resumed more tactfully, "What I mean to say is, when our workers are no longer able to serve, they—nobly give themselves—yes, to the cause to ensure the secrecy of our endeavor. But they yield not a tenth of the product of one of our little ones."

"Do I still see a little trace of doubt on your face?" Hyde rhetorically observed. "After all, the factory doesn't keep the best stock of workers, many are even criminals. Perhaps you think that if there was someone good enough, someone strong and noble and virtuous, they could sacrifice themselves and save us all with the power of goodness and friendship." He hugged his chest in a caricature of some loving, noble fairytale person.

"This little instrument here can tell the magic potential of a pony," he said, holding up something like a Geiger counter, with a probe coming out the top and an analog gauge on the face of it. "In other words, how good a rainbow you would make. Ponies of particular virtue do indeed have a higher potential, and just our luck, we have a couple of them right here."

"I am a pillar of society, intellectual, visionary, and absolutely committed to saving the world at any cost," Doctor Atmosphere humbly self-identified. "But if I had to boil that down to a number, it would be…." He held the detector to his chest and pressed a button. It gave a beep, and he held it up for them to see the gauge. "2.1."

He turned to his manager as if she had just walked onto the stage. "But here we have the one and only Rainbow Dash, hero of Equestria, wielder of the Element of Loyalty, a true patriot and friend! May I?"

"Sure," she sighed. She didn't feel like the person he was describing anymore, but she wanted to see where he was going.

He unceremoniously prodded her and tapped the button. "See, 3.9. She really is good. But even though they're rejects, most of the foals have a purity over 5.5, so you see, even the best adults aren't good enough to replace them. Never have been, never will be. Not even Princess Celestia in all her radiance. That's just the way it is."

Now that Hyde was pleased that all the points of his argument were lined up, it was time to finish it. "Now, you come up here with all your virtuous talk, understanding nothing. As if you would teach ME about ethics, and science of all things! If you really think you're any better, why don't we find out right now? Go on, measure yourself!" He held out the detector as a challenge.

The plain-looking unicorn picked it up with magic and laid it back down on the table, as if unwilling to touch it. "I'll pass for now."

"Hmph. Just as I thought." Hyde didn't smile, but somehow he exuded smugness anyway. "Best decision you've made today."

"It wouldn't help," Yeshua said, unbothered. "You don't need numbers to tell right from wrong."

"Numbers do tell me correct from incorrect, which is the same thing as right and wrong," the scientist shot back. "Clearly you're only interested to discuss the way you wish things were, and not reality. As a matter of fact, who are you to debate me on this? What are your certifications? Where are you published?"

Yeshua simply stated, "I am who I am."

To Hyde, it must have sounded like a weak deflection. To Dash, it was frustratingly mysterious, almost ominous. Yeah, but who the heck are you?

The "inspector" switched from a confrontational tone to a more inquisitive demeanor. "What about you? Is this the reality you want, or do you wish things were different?"

Doctor Atmosphere paused, not to choose his answer, but to put it to words. "Even if the magic crisis didn't exist, I would believe in what we're doing here," he declared with certainty.

Dash raised her eyebrows before noticing she was the only one surprised by his response. That's the whole reason anybody does any of this, right? Doesn't EVERYBODY wish things were different?

"You see," Hyde elaborated, "Cloudsdale has always had strenuous rites of passage, without which a young pegasus cannot become a full member of society. Why should we waste our time, our teachers, our precious resources raising the weak and inferior? Such folly would only hold us back. And I won't even enumerate the massive waste and social disruption the neophytes would cause. They're parasites on society."

"It's only progress," he explained. "By overcoming adversity, an individual grows stronger. In much the same way, this cleansing purifies and strengthens our society and our bloodline. This is how the pegasi have evolved to be the strongest, most independent race of ponies." He paused, briefly, waiting for the inspector to contest the assertion with some worn-out rhetoric about unicorn superiority.

He took the silence as a surrender to his reasoning, and continued with a flourish. "This facility is simply the extension, the full bloom of this hallowed custom. Now, within the secrecy of these walls, we are free from foreign, superstitious moralities. Here, we can not only ostracize the useless and the pathetic, but we can eliminate them completely. Now we control what we take out of our gene pool and what we put into it. Now we control our own evolution directly. This is the greatest advancement of civilization in a millennium! We are creating the perfect society. We can't teach ponies to be better, but we can breed them better. Perhaps one day, we shall even become so strong, that we do not need this place."

"Very well. You know what you're doing," Yeshua said with finality, as if reaching some sort of verdict. "I'm done here." Just like that, he turned and walked toward the exit.

Irritated that anyone would turn away from his "beautiful" speech, the scientist called after him, "Well, don't run off and forget this lesson! If I were you, I'd be taking notes."

Dash followed in a low hover, trying to burn off nervous energy. She was frustrated at him for turning this into another argument. Why couldn't he just see the light? But no, he had to put more doubts in my head.

On his way out, this fake inspector was walking past the table where he had set the personal magic detector. Dash glanced at it. The thought raced across her mind like lightning. Why didn't he want to be measured? If his number was lower than theirs, he couldn't keep acting like he was better than them. He was looking away from her and Dr. Atmosphere was grumpily headed to restore order to the wad of records that he had stuffed into the drawer earlier.

Within a second, Dash carried out her impulse. She subtly steered her flight to the stranger, grabbed the little device off the table, and sneakily pointed it at him. She was careful not to touch him or make any jerky movement that would draw his eye. She pretended she was doing nothing, and pressed the button.

If the reading was low enough, she would say it loud enough for the scientist to hear, just so everyone would know he won the argument. Come on, 3 or under. Even if it was a few bars higher than her score, putting a number on it would still take him down to earth.

Instead of a soft beep, it let out a continuous shrill alarm. Yeshua stopped in his tracks and looked her in the eye as she held it to the side of his chest. His gaze was intense but more disappointed than angry.

"Don't give me that look, I was just curious," she said. She checked the gauge. The needle jumped off the end of the scale and its circuits screamed in confusion. Dammit. Whatever he was, he was simply not equine. That didn't help her at all, and she quickly put the detector back on the lab table, hoping to drop the subject.

Doctor Hyde stormed across the room and snatched it up. For a brief moment, he stared at it with wide-eyed amazement. He quickly replaced his shock with a deep scowl, aimed sharply at Ironshoe. "What did you do? Look, now it's on the fritz." He turned a knob to silence the offending sound. "Inspector, when you write that report of yours, be sure to tell Celestia I need the money for more reliable equipment. And don't even think that reporting this childish argument will help you. I'm far more important than you."

They left the lab without answer, and Dash stared at the floor as she went.