//------------------------------// // Kitchen and Laboratory // Story: Let's Play a Game // by Zelda Spectrum //------------------------------// “Why do I have to be at the bottom of the ‘food chain’; why can’t I be one of the cool ponies?” the green colt mumbled, “I should be the one they are respecting; they should be bowing to me, not that big head, Tough Nut. I'm better than they are, what will it take for them to get that through their thick skulls?” Chapter 4 My Items: ‘Balcony’ Rod Elevator Key 1 large oil potion 5 oil jars 19 tinderboxes 8 laudanum bottles My lantern Notebook As I enter the main hall, I start to pass the staircase when I suddenly hear a small piece of glass from upstairs shatter. I immediately hurry to the other side and hide behind the railing. I cautiously peek out and turn my gaze upstairs as I hear the voice of a stallion. “Quiet butter hooves!” The voice says in a hushed tone, “We have to be quiet or else those psychos will find us.” I then hear a familiar giggling as I see something gray slowly move towards Guest Room A. “Oh crap hide, hide!” I do not get a good look at the Thing because I am too busy hiding behind the rails. “Hello friends.” the Thing says in a sweet and innocent voice. I then hear the sound of two stallions screaming followed by a series of metal slicing flesh, a few sickening cracks, and the Thing giggling. I start backing up quickly but carefully and slowly open the door to the ‘Kitchen’ so the Thing will not hear me. Slowly closing the door I turn around to take a good look at the Kitchen. It is a wide area with two large tables that fit twenty chairs each. The floor is carpet again, this time it is a rose red with a golden vine pattern. The walls are made of a fine polished wood and are mounted with fancy candles. To the far right is a very small stage with only a small piano sitting on top of it. On the right wall, just a few paces ahead of me, is a doorway leading into another room where I can hear I fire crackling. I walk in that direction to investigate the room only to suddenly change my mind at the last minute. I stop as I hear the sound of meat being sliced as well as a song by another feminine voice. The voice is older than the Thing’s but not as old as the voice of the Mother; it sounds more like a teenage filly around my age as she sings a familiar tune while only pausing to take a slice of whatever meat she cutting. “The jaw bone is connected to the, skull bone, The skull bone is connected to the, neck bone, The neck bone is connected to the, back bone, The back bone is connected to the, shoulder bone, The shoulder bone is connected to the, foreleg bone," Before she says the name of the next bone of her song, she takes a slice and what her song is describing; a deceased pony. I assume that this is the same ‘Psycho’ from the diary I read earlier; this pony’s song is just as sick as the entry. The urge to vomit enters my stomach again, but keep myself from doing so as it will give me away. I turn back towards the exit to see there is another room in the kitchen that sticks out before the door to the Main Hall. I sneak away from the room with the Psycho and into the newly discovered room. Since this one does not have a door either, I walk in and see two cases of three shelves against the wall of the doorway and boxes on the far side of the room. The shelves contain mostly items such as silverware, plates, bowls, and other kitchen appliances. However, on the middle of the second shelf is a gas mask laying out in the open. I reach up to grab the gas mask, but as soon as I start to pull it off the shelf, three metal butter knives fall to the ground and hit each other upon contact with the ground. I instantly freeze until I hear the voice of the Psycho again. “Somepony is here!” She sounds like a pony that has fallen into insanity past the point of no return. I release the gas mask from my grip, gather up the butter knives, and move one of the boxes so I can hide behind them. I then put the box back in its original position, carefully lay the knives down, and cover my mouth so she cannot hear me if I start to breathe heavily. I then hear her enter the room. “Come out and play, you’ll like what I have planned.” The sounds of hooves on carpet move very slowly as if the Psycho is checking every square inch of the room searching for me. “I won’t hurt you; I just want to taste you.” A shiver rolls down my spine as the words roll off her tongue. Her hoofsteps stop right next to the boxes I am hiding behind and does she not move for the next thirty seconds or so. I try my best to keep my breathing under control and remain silent despite my heart running a mile a minute and constantly pounding in my head. ‘Go away, please! I don’t want to die!’ “You won’t escape so easily, when I find you, I will be the first to taste your blood.” I then hear her turn around and slowly start walking out of the room. About two minutes later, I hear the door to the Main Hall open, and then close. I peek out from behind the boxes and see no pony is around. I move the boxes and take the gas mask off the shelf and into my saddle bags. By now, my head is pounding and my hooves are shaking, but I decide to press on. I wonder into the room the Psycho was recently in to see a large cooking area there are tables on the left and right. On the right table, there is a hammer and a hoof tool with a chipper attached. I throw them both in my saddlebag and continue to look around the room. There are deceased pigs hanging on hooks in the back the right corner of the cooking area. ‘Oh Celestia, they eat meat?! That’s disgusting!’ There is a shelf in the left corner filled with fresh vegetables those creatures are not currently supervising. I take multiple vegetables and stuff them in my saddlebags. A new smell hits my nostrils as I turn to exit the room. There, on the recently lit stove, are severed limbs of a corpse, freshly sliced with blood still dripping from the wounds. I look away from the stove to avoid losing my appetite; if I do not eat soon, I will lose my strength. I sit at one of the tables and put some food down in front of me. As I consume the fresh vegetables, another memory comes into my vision. ----- I sat in the cafeteria with Cloud Runner as we both enjoy our lunch. The green pegasus paused in the consumption of meal to start talking to me. “Hey Moon Seed, I have some great news.” “What is it?” I asked pausing in the middle of my daisy sandwich. “Emerald Broach and Tough Nut invited us to a party this Friday night! Isn’t that great?” I raised an eyebrow at my friend. “Emerald Broach and Tough Nut, are hosting the party?” “Yeah, so ya want to go?” “That depends, where are they hosting it?” I asked as I took another bite out of my sandwich. “That’s the best part,” he replied with enthusiasm, “they are hosting it at the abandoned house in the Everfree Forest.” I nearly choked on the bite upon hearing that name. “The house in the Everfree Forest?!” I whisperd loudly, “Are you out of your mind?!” “Hold on, you don’t actually believe that myth about the house being haunted do you?” “No, but, it’s Tough Nut! He is most likely inviting us to pull some kind of prank and make us look bad! Plus, it's the Everfree Forest; one of the most dangerous places in Equestria!!” “But they said any pony who is any pony will be there and that if we attend, and I quote, ‘we won’t be so lame anymore’. Tough Nut even said he would take back all those mean things he said about us. Think about it, I can finally be some pony; they will finally recognize my talents and accept me!” “If this is all about you, then why am I invited?” “Because I told them I would only attend if you came too. It won’t be any fun if my best friend can’t attend.” I paused, “I don’t know Cloud…” “Come on, pleeeeeaaaasse?” Cloud Runner made sad puppy dog eyes and made a pouting face. “Oh Celestia, not the face.” I tried to ignore it, but to no avail. Eventually, I was forced to give in. “Okay fine, I’ll go.” “Yes!” He celebrated by a miniature hoof pump. “Trust me Moon Seed, you won’t regret it.” “I hope your right.” ----- As the memory fades, I see I have finished all the food in front of me. ‘So I’m here because Tough Nut hosted the party held in this house? What was I thinking whe- oh right, ‘the face’ convinced me. So then, where is Cloud Runner? Oh Luna, I hope he’s alright.’ I excuse myself from the table and head out the door back into the Main Hall. After checking to see if the coast is clear, I walk over to the Wine Cellar door and proceed through it. I descend down a flight of stairs only to see a large rock pile at the end of the small corridor. I pull out my notebook and quickly write down a reminder. A rock slide is blocking the path to the Wine Cellar. I must find a way to clear it or get around it. I put the notebook back in my saddlebags and exit back into the Main Hall to explore the one area I have not yet checked on this floor. I stop in front of the door to the Laboratory to put on the gas mask. If I’m dealing with chemicals, then it is better to be safe than sorry. With the gas mask secured on my head, I enter the Laboratory to be greeted by a big room with a green cloud covering the area. ‘It’s a good thing I put this on.’ The green cloud is making it hard to see, so I light my lantern, take it under my fore-hoof, and proceed forward. My head starts to pound again and my legs start shaking as I see multiple corpses on the floor in front of me along with short note. Oops, did I forget to mention that there are poisonous chemicals loose in the Laboratory? Oh well, if you’re wearing a gas mask, you have nothing to worry about. If you're not, you’ll be taking a long nap in a few seconds. I discard the note and continue forward until I come upon a flight of wooden stairs that descend to a lower level of the Laboratory. I find it very hard to climb down the stairs with a lantern in my hoof and my nerves causing my legs to shake. Eventually, I make it to the bottom of the stares and I am greeted by a stone wall. I decide to turn left and see what I can find. The bottom floor is mainly made of stone bricks and is the only part of the house I have seen that does not have a “noble” feel to it. I finally come across an iron door with two torches mounted on either side of it. The torch on the right is lit, but the one on the left is not. The torch offers a bit of light, but not much. I turn off my lantern, set it down and pull out a tinderbox to light the unlit torch. ‘Finally, a use for these blasted things.’ I then take a look at the iron door to see it is locked with a padlock that is in excellent condition. ‘Hmm, I could use the hammer and chipper on the padlock, but it would have to be weakened first. These things usually weaken over time, but I don’t have time to wait for that!’ I decide to continue exploring to see if I can find anything to help with the padlock. I look behind the wooden staircase to find a workstation with multiple flasks of chemicals and six of unlit candles around them. I decide to light the candles with my collection of tinderboxes. As soon as I light the first candle, my lantern goes out. I carefully set my saddlebags on the side of the workstation, keeping them away from the candles and chemicals, and use four of my oil jars to completely refill my lantern. After that is done, I proceed to light the rest of the candles around the work station. With all the candles lit, I head back to where I laid my saddlebags and lantern to find a note sitting around the flasks. If you are looking for one of the rods for the engine room, you can find it in the Laboratory Storage. There is only one problem, the padlock on the door is brand new, and the key was lost a long time ago. If you want to get in, you will need to create an acid to weaken the padlock and then destroy it with some kind of tool. If you can open it, I’m sure you will H+ave NO3 trouble operating the terminal. Oh, and one more thing…You’ve probably noticed there has been a rock slide in the Wine Cellar. I’m afraid we don’t have any bombs or dynamite in the house; we have something much better. It is a mixture that is powerful enough to blast those boulders out of existence. This will require you to mix together Nitrogen and Mandragora Saliva and heat them to room temperature. Once that is finished you’re ready to clear the rubble. Just make sure you handle it with care, you wouldn’t want to blow up something else besides the rocks. I let out an exasperated sigh as I look at the various flasks and chemicals. ‘Chemistry has always been my Achilles’ heel.’ I start by grabbing two random chemicals and pouring them into an empty beaker. The mixture starts to boil a bit before exploding into thin air. I then take two different chemicals and mix them together. This time, the mixture quickly bubbles until the entire mixture has completely evaporated. After hours of continuous experimentation, I begin to get very frustrated. Every combination I try explodes, evaporates, or precipitates. “What is the stupid combination?!” I yell from under the gas mask, “What am I overlooking?!” After taking a few minutes to let off some steam, I take another look at the clue. If you can open it, I’m sure you will H+ave NO3 trouble with operating the terminal. Wait a minute, I recognize a chemical hidden in the clue; HNO3, Nitric Acid. I immediately facehoof myself for not realizing this sooner and wish I could have done so to save much needed time. ‘Ugh, I HATE Chemistry!’ Putting my hatred aside, I find the flasks of “Sodium Chloride”, “Copper”, “Hydrochloric Acid”, and “Deionized Water”. The memories of an old chemistry class come back to me through the experiment. I remember despising the class and the boring lectures given with the visuals for the demonstration of creating Nitric Acid. Using the knowledge from the agonizing experience, I pour 50 mL. of water into the Sodium Chloride. After the mixture settles I pour the Hydrochloric Acid into the mixture and set the flask into a medium-sized beaker that I have already filled with 50 mL. of water. I then pour the copper into the mixture and notice the reaction is starting to fume and I immediately take a nearby beaker and cover the fuming flask. Realizing the reaction is in no rush to finish; I take an oil jar out of my saddlebag and use it as a weight to keep the medium beaker covering the fuming flask from moving so much. Another hour passes before the reaction finally settles. Very carefully, I put the oil jar back into my saddlebag and, very carefully, pour the newly created Nitric Acid into a clean beaker. I then take beaker in my hoof and, carefully balancing of my three remaining hooves, I trot over to the Laboratory Storage. Once I reach the iron door, I pour the Nitric Acid onto the padlock and it starts to dissolve. I walk back over to the workstation and search for two ingredients to make the Explosive Mixture. The flask of Nitrogen is still next to the stand for the flask, but the Mandragora Saliva is somewhere amongst the chemicals. After a while of searching, I find a flask labeled “Mandragora Sailva”. All I need now is a clean container to mix them in. Realizing there are no clean containers left, I trot back towards the iron door to see the padlock is in a much weakened state. I set my saddlebags down and pull out the hammer and chipper. I carefully place the chipper in the keyhole of the padlock and take the hammer in my hooves. After a few precise swings, the padlock finally breaks. I put both the hammer and chipper back in my saddlebags and proceed through the iron door to find a very small room with only a metal cabinet inside. I open the door to find three oil jars, a chemistry pot, and a yellow rod marked ‘Archives’. I feel the sense of relief wash over me again as I gather everything into my saddlebags and put them on my back again. I walk back over to the workstation, locate a burner on the leftmost side, and place the empty chemistry pot on top of it. Around the burner is a thermometer and a special cloth used for carrying hot substances. I pour both the Nitrogen and Mandragora Saliva into the chemistry pot and turn the burner on. Placing a nearby thermometer in the mixture, I wait patiently for the mixture to heat up. Once the thermometer reaches 35 C, I turn the burner off and remove the thermometer from the mixture. I then put the cloth on my back and place the Explosive Mixture on top of it. With my lantern in my saddlebags, I carefully proceed to the wooden staircase. While walking up the staircase, I have to be very careful not to spill or shake the mixture, which I find very challenging. After I finally manage to get to the top of the staircase, I cautiously step over the remains of the unfortunate ponies and exit the Laboratory. End of Chapter 4