Colors of a Rainbow - Chapter 3

>”Ready… go!” you hear a female’s voice on the intercom.
>Right on cue, you press the button and pull down the lever.
>”Wonderful job, Anonymous!” you hear the voice once again after a few moments of silence, save for the sound of steam and machinery at work.
>Another job well done. She’ll be so proud of you.
>You see the bright, glowing excrement from the machine drip down the chutes into a large vat, filled with every color you could imagine.
>You’ve always wondered where the colors come from, but it’s probably a pegasus thing. You’d probably not understand.
>”Next up, we’ll have an orange source!” you hear her speak on the intercom once again. “This should be enough to even out the colors. Ready, Anonymous?”
>You smile, pressing your lips to the long, winding microphone next to you.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
>”Go!” she exclaims, and you repeat the same process, and watch as a glowing orange slowly winds its way down through the chutes and into the churning vat below.
>It was so convenient that Princess Celestia cast a permanent cloud-walking spell for you. You were going to make sure that you paid her back for it in full one day. But first…
>”Alright, we’ve got a blue one coming up, Anonymous! You ready?”
>You were going to make sure you did your job perfectly.
>You are Anonymous.
>And you work in the Rainbow Factory, alongside your closest childhood friend, Rainbow Dash.
>You couldn’t ask for anything else.
>…Except for a nice, refreshing cup of apple cider.
“Ready!”
>”Alright, go!” she exclaims, and you press the button and pull the lever.
>In the four years since you started working here, Equestria has gone through quite a few technological changes.
>The Flim-Flam Brothers were major players in the field of technology and innovation, and when ponies saw how profitable it could be, immediately they began working hard to bring Ponyville and the outlying areas into a new technologically-advanced society.
>Cloudsdale had already been taking steps in that direction; it just required a small amount of communication between it and Ponyville to help Cloudsdale advance as well.
>As you wait for the call from Rainbro for the next source, you take a look at yourself.
>Sixteen years old, a well-paying job, and they even supplied you with your own lab outfit!
>You grin happily, looking at the black gloves and white doctor’s robes.
>You can tell the manufacturer had a hard time making the fingers, but they still did their job perfectly, giving your fingers just enough flexibility and comfort.
>But no time for that now. “Get ready, Anonymous! This one’s a red one!”
>Ooh, red. You’ve not seen that color show up in a while.
“Ready when you are!”
>”Go!” you hear over the intercom, and you perform your daily routine of button-pressing and lever-pulling, and watch as the bright red makes its way down into the vat of color.
>A buzzer sounds, and you hear the sound of steam firing off as the machine begins slowing down.
>Awesome. Shift’s over.
>You breathe a sigh of relief, wiping your brow. One drawback of your work outfit was that it was ungodly-hot in there.
>You’re in the very heart of the machine, after all; no wonder it’s so hot.
>You slip out of your work outfit and hang it on a hook near the door, and then slip out, locking the door behind you.
>”Anonymous!” you hear a voice come from behind you as you walk down the halls into the workers’ lounge.
>It’s Rainbro; perfect. Both of you rush at each other and you leap into the air, charging at her with a fist curled up behind you.
>You slam it against her hoof, shattering the very fabric of reality with your brofist.
>At least, that’s what it felt like to you.
“Haha! What’s up, Rainbro?”
>”Not much; business as usual, like always,” she says, grinning up at you. You have to admit, the lab coat never really fit her, though you did like it whenever she came to visit you during work hours. “You looking forward to tonight?”
“Yep! Apple cider and movies all night long!”
>You pump your fist into the air excitedly before retracting it, the heads of various pegasi poking out into the hallway.
>Rainbro chuckles, beckoning you to follow her. “So when do you want me to show up, Anon?” she asks, smiling at you.
“Hm… how does  9:00PM sound? Should give ya enough time to relax before more relaxing, huh?”
>She grins, nodding. “Sounds like a plan.”
>”Excuse me, I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” a low, powerful male voice comes from behind you.
>”Oh, Doctor Atmosphere! I didn’t expect to see you here,” she says, smiling at him.
>He grins, his dark red coat and silvery-grey mane colored richly under his lab coat. His eyes were sleek-looking behind his glasses, the kind of eyes that you only saw on the most knowledgeable of pegasi. He wasn’t a medical doctor, of course; his degree was in engineering, as one of the Forecolts of the factory.
>”I apologize for the intrusion,” he says, a sly grin on his face. “Miss Rainbow Dash, if you would come with me, please; there are a few matters we need to discuss.”
>”Sure, I’ll be right behind ya,” she says, nodding at him and then turning to look up at you. “See you at 9, then,” she gives you a final brofist, before flying off behind the doctor.
>He was a bit strange, but hey; he’s been in the factory for even longer than you’ve been in Equestria. You didn’t expect him to be very sociable to begin with. Guess he’s not too bad.
>Anyway, there’s no time to be dwelling on that; time to head home and prepare for the most awesome night of the week.

>Tonight’s gonna be so awesome; you have an entire library of movies lined up for the night. She’s a huge fan of Daring Do, so being the awesome bro that you are, you rented the entire movie adaptation.
>When you reach the door to the outside world, you grab a backpack from the wall. Something new that they implemented after you started working there.
>As you exit the Weather Facility, you cautiously take one step onto a cloud, before moving forward.
>You’ve made a habit of this, making sure that the spell that Celestia cast on you never wears off.
>The feeling of the clouds under your feet was like the feeling of splashing into the lake in Fluttershy’s backyard, only instead of falling under the waves you stayed above the surface, a thin film of water the only thing holding you up.
>Fluttershy…
>…She never really looked at you the same way after that night…
>The two of you had some sort of falling-out, where you ended all forms of conversation. You’ve hardly exchanged any words with her since then, outside of the occasional passing “hello” on your way to the Factory.
>Maybe tomorrow you should stop by and see how she’s doing.
>You breathe in deep as you reach the edge of the floating city, and breathe out calmly as you lean forward, falling off of the edge.
>…Seven… Eight… Nine… Ten!
>Your eyes flare open and you pull the string on the backpack, revealing a pair of mechanical bat-like wings, slowing your fall to more of a glide as you pull up from your dive, skimming along the ground at the peak of the arch.
>All around, ponies watch as you zoom through the city on the wings, heading towards your house. As you get closer, however, you pull a second string, retracting the wings and launching a series of small parachutes out of the backpack, slowing your landing to a jog as you reach your house.
>Such was your normal commute home. Nothing special, though you did love the look and feel of the gliders as you zoomed through the air.
>This must be how Rainbro feels every moment of the day.
>…Fluttershy, too…
>…Ugh, snap out of it, Anon! Your bro’s coming over for movies and cider tonight, time to prepare!
>You quickly rush inside, turning on the lights.
>Rather than run on electricity like Earth, the ponies have come up with their own ways of powering lights using magic.
>You close the door behind you, and immediately go to work preparing everything for the night planned for the two of you.

>A knock at the door comes a few hours later. You’ve got the drinks and movies set up on the table in the living room, in front of the couch and the television set.
>You smile down at the table of supplies, before walking to the door and turning the knob.
>The scene that strikes you gives you the feeling of having the wind knocked right out of your lungs.
>It’s raining outside. Huge thunderstorm.
>And Rainbro’s standing out there in the cold, mane dripping wet and fur matted and soaked. She’s shivering, standing in the doorway.
>You collect yourself, and immediately bring her inside, having her stand at the door as you bring her a towel to dry off with.
“Rainbro? What happened out there?”
>”Sorry,” she says, “Had a last-minute thing that Dr. Atmosphere needed me for. Taken care of, though.”
>You nod. Work related issue, you understand.
>She rubs her head against your hands, the towel quickly drying off her mane, before you wrap it around her body and pick her up, carrying her over to the couch.
>”Hey dude? What d’ya think you’re doing, carrying me like this?” she asks.
>You grin at her.
“So you don’t want to be set down gently, I assume?”
>Her eyes widen for a split second, and she barely has time to react before you tackle her down to the couch.
>You always enjoyed these little bouts between the two of you. Best part is you’d always be the one to initiate it, so she’d never see it coming.
>”Hah! C’mon Anon, cut it out! Ack!” she exclaims, wrestling with you on the couch, before you finally manage to pin her. “No fair, you’ve got hands to grab with!” she laughs.
“That’s never stopped you before!”
>It’s true, it hadn’t; many times she’s managed to get out and pin you down as well.
>And this time is no different; with quick success, she manages to squirm her way out of your grip, before pinning you down under her hooves.
>Rainbro, while fairly light, is easily able to hold her own in wrestling against you.
>The wrestling continues for a good five minutes or so, before both of you decide to call it a draw.
“Only because you’re my bro.”
>She laughs, holding a hoof up to you, and you bump it, before grabbing and opening two bottles of cider for both of you, handing her one.
“To being bros ‘till the end!”
>You hold up the bottle to her. She grins and clanks it without hesitation, before taking a huge swig of the drink and wiping the foam off with her hoof.
>”Bros ‘till the very end.”

>End Chapter 3