Lincoln Hospital
Examination Room 105
Margot was starting to get bored waiting when the door burst open.
A light-brown female earth pony stood in the doorway, then, closing the door, entered the room. “Hello, I’m Dr. Vasny Poori. Dr. Shelton, um, Tabby told me about the situation,” Vasny said.
Jerome stepped forward. “I’m Jerome. We need doctor’s outfits and IDs.”
Vasny shook her head. “What do you think I can do? I’m not going to get you IDs or doctor’s clothing. You aren’t doctors and Equine Resources (ER) handles all of the IDs.”
Margot sighed. It seemed like she was going to have to work even though there were easier ways to do things. She scanned Vasny’s ID and looked around at Jerome and Skybreeze. A moment later, doctor’s IDs appeared on the examination table. There was even one for herself.
Vasny’s eyes widened then she used her left fore hoof to point at Margot. “How can you do that? You’re notched.”
Margot bowed. “I found a way around the notch.”
Vasny’s eyes narrowed. “Really?”
For a few moments it seemed like there was a contest of wills between Margot and Vasny.
Actually, it was Vasny just standing there and thinking. A smile crossed Vasny’s face. “For the sick children, I will do what I can.” Vasny left the room.
Jerome looked at his ID. “Ya know, my mother wanted me to be a doctor.”
Skybreeze looked at the door then at Jerome. “What happened when she found out you didn’t become one?”
Jerome looked down. “Well, she passed before finding out. Where ever she is, she’s probably proud of me.”
Margot had no idea if her mother or any of her family were still alive. She pushed that thought away. Now, wasn’t the right time to get all melancholic.
The door opened and Vasny tossed in a bunch of bundles wrapped with green cloth. “Put them on and then put on the IDs.”
Jerome faced Vasny. “What do you know about the doctors that work on the top floor.”
Vasny held up her right fore hoof. “Well, they don’t work here. They never show up for staff meetings. Their IDs look different than regular staff IDs, they have a light green strip on the front. I think the IDs have something special on them because my ID doesn’t work for the elevator.”
Jerome put on his doctor’s robe. “Do they have some sort of work schedule?”
Vasny nodded then looked at her watch. “Yes! Yes. In a few minutes, some doctors will walk in and relieve the ones upstairs. The shift change happens one pony at a time so they don’t attract attention, but they failed with me. I’ve been watching them carefully.”
Margot adjusted her doctor’s robe. She secretly wanted a stethoscope, but it wasn’t really needed. “Dr. Vasny can you tell me about the hall where the express elevator is?”
Vasny nodded. “Yes. the elevator is in the middle of the hallway. There are ER offices in that area. We should leave soon.”
Jerome faced Vasny. “Are you going upstairs with us? We can’t guarantee your safety though.”
Vasny pointed her left forehoof at Jerome. “Wait wha? I personally would like to see my next birthday even though the grey hairs show up a lot now.”
Skybreeze nodded. “Without your help, we won’t know what to bring back downstairs.”
Vasny looked down then looked up. “I cannot allow these monsters upstairs to cause such misery. My oath might not cover violence, but I have to help. Please don’t let them turn me into something unnatural!” She covered all of the ponies in her gaze.
Margot looked away first. It was an empty promise to make when there were so many unknowns.
Vasny turned around. “Hopefully the Princesses will protect me if you won’t or can’t.”
Lincoln Hospital
First floor
Hallway A
5: 55
Right on 5: 55 p.m., the first of the doctors showed up. She had her brown muzzle deep inside some files and didn’t notice when Margot and Jerome walked next to her.
It just took Margot a few moments to stun the fat pegasus and drag her into one of ER’s offices.
LaShawn and Skybreeze helped to carry the heavy pony into a room.
Margot stabilized the stun spell so it would last a few hours then she did a deep scan of the ID.
“Got it?” Jerome said.
Margot shook her head. “Yeah, I can make our IDs look like hers but the duplication spell doesn’t work for info on the magnetic stripe. We are going to need her ID.”
Vasny’s eyes narrowed. “Well, none of you look like this tubby monster pony. How is this going to work?”
Jerome smiled. “Let’s say that I’m very persuasive. The guard will see what I tell him to see.”
Vasny’s eyes widened in surprise. “Are you a Jedi? You know, with Jedi mind powers?”
Margot looked away for a bit to hide the smile on her face.
LaShawn straightened up and peered at Jerome.
Skybreeze just looked confused. “What’s a Jedi?”
Before Vasny could go further, Jerome changed the subject. “Are you ready? We need to get up there and be in position before the next pony arrives.”
Margot took off the pony’s ID and placed it on Vasny.
Vasny put her ID in her pocket.
LaShawn checked her gun, that caused a small chorus of clicks as every pony that had a gun got it ready. Then they left the room.
The walk down the hallway didn’t concern Margot. It was the moment when the elevator door opened, and the MA guard was staring into the elevator. If he got suspicious, it would be like shooting sea ponies in a barrel. She shoved that unpleasant thought away. Inside the elevator there was another magnetic card reader.
Vasny slid the card in and the doors closed. She sighed. “Holy Princesses of the Night and Day, protect me as I go on my way. Amen.”
Margot was surprised when LaShawn said “amen” along with Vasny.
The elevator stopped at the top floor. Margot got ready to cast some bullet blocking spells.
The door opened and a MA enforcer peered into the elevator like he could see into their souls. Then he stepped back and the group got out.
As she walked down the light green tinted hallway, Margot fought the temptation to look back and see if the guard was watching her.
Jerome tapped Margot. “Don’t worry. He’s staring at the elevator door.” The door in front of them had a sign that read, “Advanced Biological Remediation.”
Vasny pointed at the door. “This is why most ponies think that this place is harmless. Tabby, um, Dr. Shelton and I had our suspicions.” Then Vasny slid the stolen ID through the card reader. The door opened without a sound.
The sight that greeted them stunned the group.
On the other side of the door were a bunch of ponies in doctor’s outfits breathing in some sort of dark green mist from metal canisters.
Margot noticed that the ponies’ eyes glowed green like Remnants, but they had ecstatic looks on their faces like they were high.
LaShawn was the first to step in and do something. She pulled out her gun and waved it at the ponies. “Stop it! Stop it! Put those cans down!”
Fear covered their faces and they complied. The lab was filled with the tinny sound of cans hitting the floor.
Vasny looked at the ponies with a horrified expression on her face. “So we were right, there are monsters up here.”
A grey unicorn stallion held up a fore hoof. “Please, please let us feed. If we don’t, we will be in agony until we die.”
Vasny stepped closer to the doctors. The green glow in their eyes made her feel uncomfortable. “Why are you doing this? You swore an oath not to do harm.”
A blue earth pony stallion stepped up then stepped back when LaShawn pointed her gun at him. “The Hippocratic oath is just a bunch of words when they half drain you. Once you feel that Essence high, you will do anything not to go without.”
LaShawn’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know where this Essence comes from?”
A red unicorn mare answered that question. “Essence comes from ponies and other creatures. You ponies need someone to control you. We in Biomedical Research came up with a way to keep you in check. Population is booming and the resistance is going to be a pain soon. Now we have a way to persuade them to comply.”
The blue earth pony stallion yelled at the red unicorn mare. “Shut up Louise!”
A cold grin covered LaShawn’s face. “How does this disease work and what do we have to do to stop it? Answer quickly and you get some Essence.”
One of the ponies tried to run and LaShawn shot it in the head. The rest of the doctors cringed and whimpered.
Margot walked to the end of the lab. There was a door with a magnetic lock, behind it, she felt gleaner magic blazing away. Then front door opened and another pony stood there in shock.
Jerome got him to stand with the others.
Margot walked back to LaShawn.
LaShawn raised her gun. “Tell me what I need to know or some of you won’t make it.”
Margot grabbed one of the metal canisters and with a blast of fire magic turned the silver green canister into slag.
A low moan came from the ponies. Before they could doubt Margot’s intentions, she melted two more canisters.
An orange pegasus mare slowly stepped up. “Okay, don’t destroy any more canisters. I will tell you all you need to know.”
LaShawn glared at her. “Good. I want you to stop sending out the disease. Next I want you to copy all of the research notes and give them to me.”
The orange mare nodded. “Fine.”
Margot wondered when the doctors would betray them. She just knew it was going to happen. For a few moments, it seemed like Margot was wrong.
The orange pegasus downloaded the files to a flash drive and gave it to LaShawn.
While that was going on, the other doctors watched the goings on with fear filled eyes. Every few minutes they would look at the dead pony and look away.
Margot started scanning the devices to see how to disable the lab. The best solution was to destroy everything, but it was on top of a hospital. Dr. Vasny and Dr. Shelton would never agree to the destruction of the hospital. On the other hoof, if they didn’t destroy the lab, the MA would just fix things and continue the project. Either solution seemed to suck.
Margot called out to Skybreeze. “Can you keep an eye on them?”
Skybreeze nodded and stood next to LaShawn.
Margot motioned to LaShawn and Vasny.
Both of them walked up to Margot. She walked to the back of the room then glanced at Jerome. He was still standing in front of the door.
“Gals, we have a problem,” Margot said.
LaShawn nodded. “We have to stop this lab and it’s doctors from being used again by the MA.”
Vasny’s eyes widened. “Oh no, no! You can’t destroy this hospital. It’s the only one around here for this area. Pick another way. I don’t like the monster doctors, but I can’t condone murder.”
LaShawn stuck out her left fore hoof. “Vas, if we don’t prevent the MA from coming back, they will just replace the equipment and start over.”
Vasny shook her head. “Yes, yes but even if you destroy the hospital, the MA could find another building to work with. Now, without the hospital, it will be harder to save lives.”
“Vas, this hospital has cooling towers. Not too many buildings in this area have them. It will be harder for them to spread the sickness.” LaShawn said.
“Is it possible to just destroy just the machines?” Vasny said.
LaShawn looked at Margot.
Margot shook her head. “No, they can just take out the broken equipment, and replace it and be back at work.”
Jerome walked up to the group. “I know some things that will help us. I was able to gather from the minds of these poor misguided doctors that the MA considers them the best in their field. If we take them out, the MA won’t be able to continue their research.”
LaShawn opened her mouth then closed it.
Jerome continued. “All we need to do is to destroy the new research and we can leave.”
LaShawn pointed to the room behind them. “What about that?”
“I will have to deal with that and whatever they use to send the disease up to the air cooling towers,” Margot nodded. The door opened and three MA enforcers stood there. Margot recognized all of them. Two were the guards at the front of the hospital and the other one guarded the elevators.
Louise yelled “Get them!” The frightened doctors began to cheer. Their elation was short lived as the guards stood in front of the doctors with their guns drawn.
Jerome walked back to the guards. “Sorry guys, these guards work for me now. Please find all of the research notes and pass them to me.”
Louise grumbled, but she began to grab folders and pass them to Jerome.
LaShawn picked up a metal trash can, and placed it next to Jerome.
Louise grumbled some more, but she placed the folders into the trash can. After she was done putting all of the folders inside Skybreeze cast a fire spell in the can. A bit of black smoke puffed out of the garbage can.
Margot didn’t trust the doctors. She generated an energy pulse that would magnetize all of the metal in the computers. Nopony could use the drives because their contents were mush. Then she walked by each of the desks scanning for hidden compartments. There were none, but Margot sensed a storage area in the wall. A quick burst of energy burnt the papers and fried any drives behind the wall. The panel buckled from the heat and fell to the floor with a clang.
LaShawn smiled. “Okay, now we need access to the room in the back.”
Louise nodded. “I can help with that.” She walked up to the control panel next to the door. Before anypony could react, she whirled around and kicked the panel.
A moment later, LaShawn shot Louise in the head.
Skybreeze looked at the smashed control panel while sparks flew from some wires. “Is there another way to open the door?”
The orange unicorn mare laughed. “Your pink furred friend just toasted our computers. Several of them had overrides on them. When the Infusor explodes because we couldn’t adjust it, you will be going to hell with us along with the patients downstairs.”
LaShawn pointed her gun at her.
Skybreeze looked at Margot.
Margot scanned the door. The wiring coming out of the control panel was too complicated for her to trace what to use. She scanned the door. There were several spells that kept the Gleaner magic inside the Infusor. A quick scan of the door to the lab showed that it had the same magic on it. Margot started to think of a plan…
“Hell no! That’s some sketchy nonsense, Maggie,” LaShawn said with narrowed eyes.
Margot took a breath. “I know but we can’t stay here forever. This lab needs to be destroyed.”
Vasny shook her head. “You’re gambling on so much. If this Infusor thing explodes, we could lose the hospital! I really can’t support that.”
Margot saw a pained look cross Jerome’s face. She couldn’t sense the enchanter magic he was using, but it looked like he was getting tired.
Jerome took a deep breath. “We have no choice. It’s possible that the MA helped to set up Lincoln Hospital exactly for this purpose. The plan is hinky, but we have no choice. I will keep the monster docs and guards here until you open the doors if I can. Good luck.”
Skybreeze and Margot nodded.
LaShawn and Vasny kept Jerome on his hooves until they left the room.
Margot waited until the door closed before scanning the door to find out how to open it.
Skybreeze kept an eye on the doctors and the guards.
“Skybreeze get ready when I open the door. Something is going to hit us hard,” Margot said.
Skybreeze stepped close to Margot. A moment later, she opened the door.
The monster doctors and the guards screamed, but Margot stopped listening to them.
When the door opened, something flew at Margot and tried to suck the breath from her lungs. Her sight turned red as it became harder and harder to breathe. She barely heard Skybreeze say she had this. What ever was sucking the air from Margot’s muzzle backed off a bit. She still felt short of breath though. The red tint didn’t leave her sight, but she could still work.
In front, a green pillar of energy buzzed and crackled.
“We have to destroy the whole device to stop this,” Skybreeze said. It sounded like she was far away.
Margot tried to do a deep scan, but it was so hard to concentrate and breathe at the same time.
Skybreeze punched Margot on the shoulder to get her attention. “Just be ready to levitate us to the ceiling!”
Margot looked up, there was a metal grate just large enough for two ponies to fit through. It was getting so hard to think coherent thoughts. Just when her thoughts were starting to fade...
Skybreeze hit her hard again. “Fly! Up! Now!”
Several devices exploded throwing green sparks all over the area. Green tinted flames started to spread across the floor.
Margot finally managed to focus on a levitation spell, and they floated slowly upwards. It seemed like the flames would catch them, but she put more power in the spell. Before they could crash into the grey metal grate, Skybreeze blew it away with a blast of magic. As they moved away from the flames below them, Margot started breathing more easily. A quick glance upward showed that the tunnel was getting smaller. When the lab blew up, there would be no place to go. Already they could feel the heat from the flames below, the explosion was going to happen real soon.
Margot barely remembered what happened next. They were in a tight section of the air vent then Skybreeze blew a hole through the wall. She remembered sucking in clean fresh air then they flew somewhere. After that, she blanked out.