Sure enough ten feet in front of us, was a shack that I could only assume that was designed for Milton.
“I don’t think you'll have to open the door,” I said, “it will open for you.”
“How do you know?” Milton said.
“The same thing happened to me!” I said.
Milton stood in front of the door to the shack. Just like with me he didn’t even have to knock, the door just lit up and opened.
“Okay,” said Milton, “is it just me, or is this weird and creepy?”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said, “the same happened with my shack!”
“Well,” said Milton, “whatever this is I definitely don’t like the word ‘Experiment’ attached to my name!”
“That’s exactly what I thought!” I said.
“Well,” said Milton, “just call me Milton from now on!”
“And just call me Henry!” I said. “It’s nice to meet you!”
“The same goes for me!” Milton said.
Entering the shack there was a small round table and on it was a book with the title: Experiment Milton How to be a Pegasus.
“They must think we’re babies!” I said. “And I know for sure we’re not!”
“You’re telling me!” Milton said. “Let me look in the mirror here.”
Milton looked in the mirror and saw that he had black hair and green eyes. He stood about a foot taller than me and had freckles on his face. Milton smiled at his appearance and was doubled over in laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I said.
“I wonder what those spots on my cheeks are?” Milton said.
“Well,” I said, “the manual probably says something about it.”
“Let’s see…” Milton said.
Milton then flipped to the section in the book on facial features that said what you look like as a human.
“Well,” said Milton, “it looks like those spots on my cheeks are freckles! Interesting!”
“Let’s see what you look like as a pegasus,” I said, “it’s bound to be different from a unicorn!”
“Sure!” Milton said. “Pegasus!”
When Milton turned into a pegasus, his fur was blue and he had no horn but wings. On his butt was a picture of a cloud with a lighting bolt coming from it.
“Hey,” said Milton, “there’s some sort of picture on my butt! I wonder what that’s for? Do you have a picture on your butt when you’re transformed as your type of pony?”
“I have no idea!” I said. “The only way to find out is if I transform.”
“Well,” said Milton, “why don’t you show me what you look like as a pony.”
“Okay,” I said, “unicorn!”
“Whoa!” Milton said.
I looked in the mirror only to see a picture on my butt that looked like a red moon and a black cloud off to the left corner of it.
“Oh,” said Milton, “look at what’s around my neck! It’s a gold chain with a ring on it! You have one too!”
“I know,” I said, “and it stays with me even when I’m human!”
“And,” said Milton, “you’re hats over there by the way!”
“Human!” I said. When I saw my hat laying on the table, I panicked. Then I reached over and put it on.
“Yup,” said Milton, “one of your important items for sure!”
“Yeah,” I said, “I don’t feel complete without it!”
“What’s your other item?” Milton said.
“This music box,” I said, “it plays this weird tune and I know I’ve heard it before, I just don’t know where.”
“Weird,” said Milton, “I wonder what the necklace with the ring on it means?”
“I have no idea,” I said, “but I think your things stay with you when you change back to human.”
“Yeah,” said Milton, “we should probably get started on rescuing Sarah and Martin. And something tells me we have to act fast!”
Milton then turned back into a human and put his things into his pocket and grabbed his bag. Before we could head out, my small Tv started talking.
“Experiment Henry!” Cora said. “Experiment Henry, you do read me? If you do turn on the auto button on the screen.”
“Something tells me,” I said, “that I need to do this but I really don’t want to!”
“You should probably go ahead and talk to her,” said Milton, “or she’ll probably bug me next!”
“The woman’s name is Cora!” I said. “And I don’t think she’s friendly!”
I found the auto button on the Tv and turned it on.
“Hello Cora!” I said.
“Ah,” said Cora, “it’s nice to see you again Experiment Henry!”
“I really don’t like to word Experiment attached to my name!” I said. “Just call me Henry!”
“Nope,” said Cora, “no can do! You’re an Experiment for Lab 14! That’s all you are! Nothing more and nothing less! I was about to say that I couldn’t get a read on your location. We haven’t been able to update your tracker device! It’s necessarily for this Experiment if you don’t do this you will be automatically eliminated!”
“You go ahead and do that Lady!” I said. “There’s no way on earth, I’ll let you put that tracker in me you piece of shit!”
“I’m going to have to figure out,” said Cora, “who planted cuss words into your mind! I suspect it was Princess Celestia out of spite when she left Lab 14! Anyway, are there any more Experiments with you?”
“Like I’d tell you!” I said. “Like I said, I’m not letting you put that tracker inside of me if I got a thing or two to say about it!”
“Then we’ll have no choice,” said Cora, “to track you down and kill you where you stand!”
“Fine by me!” I said. “You’ll have to catch me first!”
“Yup,” said Cora, “It’s definitely Princess Celestia! I’m going to have to send a tracking team to find and kill her!”
“Damn you to Hell Lady!” I said.
“I’m not Lady!” Cora said. “My name’s Cora! And if we can’t get those tracking devices in all six of you then the Experiment will be considered a failure!”
“Good,” I said, “let it be a failure for all I care! I’m done talking to you Lady! Like I said, you’re not going to put that tracking device in me! Over my dead body! So let the elimination process begin! Goodbye for now Lady!”
“My name’s not Lady!” Cora said.
That was the last thing I heard before I turned off the Tv.
* * *
“So,” said Milton, “what do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” I said, “something tells me that we have to rescue the four other Experiments before they get that tracking device put in! I have a feeling that they’ve been dropped off in a forest that’s going to lead back to Nightdale! I really don’t like saying this, but we’re going to have to go to Jade Summer’s hideout.”
“What’s so bad about him?” Milton said.
“He’s an unfriendly pony,” I said, “that works for Lab 14!”
“What’s the plan Henry?” Milton said.
“According to Jade Summer,” I said, “we were only supposed to be at the hideout for two days. However, I heard that person that works for Lab 14, say that we were supposed to stay there until all six of us woke up! Then we were supposed to be transferred to another hideout until we’re brought back to Lab 14! If we hurry, we can rescue Sarah and Martin. And I’m not calling them Experiments either! I just hope we aren’t too late!”
We headed out of the shack and before we could get much further a rope came out of nowhere and was tied around our waist.
“What the hell?” I said. “Oh great! Not this again!”
“Uh… Henry,” said Milton, “I just got a rope tied around my waist too! Looks like we’re stuck!”
“Well hello Experiment Henry!” Willow said. “So nice to see you again!”
“Oh and look!” Ada said. “We’ve got ourselves another fish! I think this is Experiment Milton! I wonder what Lab 14 put in their blood lines? Experiment Milton looks just as adorable as Experiment Henry!”
“Damn you,” I said, “I’m not an Experiment!”
“Awe,” said Willow, “Experiment Henry got cuss words programmed in his mind! I wonder who could’ve done that?”
“Oh cares Willow?” Ada said. “Let’s rope them already! We’ll definitely get a fair price for these two!”
“Milton,” I said, “that pocket knife of yours is gonna come in handy right now!”
“Sure!” Milton said. Milton then took out his pocket knife and cut the rope. He then tossed it to me and I did the same thing.
“Who are these two?” Milton said.
“Their names are Willow and Ada,” I said, “they’re creepy weirdos! And I don’t wanna stick around and find out what they’re going to do!”
“Well,” said Milton, “if you say to run, I’m running!”
“Yup,” I said, “we’re out of here!”
* * *
When we finally reached the sign that said Nightdale, we both changed into ponies. After making sure I had my hat on and my backpack on my back, Milton and I went to Jade Summer’s hideout. Since I knew where it was exactly that’s because of the landmarks that aligned the way so I took the lead in rescuing Sarah and Martin.
We got to Jade’s hideout and I remembered that the room was one the second floor.
“Hey Milton!” I said.
“Yeah?” Milton said.
“You’re a pegasus,” I said, “and it looks like you can fly! Can you fly up to the second story to see if there are any young ponies our age? In there?”
“I can try,” said Milton, “but I don’t know if I can fly yet.”
Milton then flapped his wings a couple of times and he was up in the air. He was able to fly up to the second story window and looked in.
“Do you see anyone?” I said.
“I only see one young pony,” said Milton, “and he’s a pegasus just like me! He’s a male pony just like us!”
“You think you can get his attention?” I said.
“I don’t know,” said Milton, “the window is shut tight and there are bars behind it too!”
“Why didn’t I notice that?” I said.
“You were probably too busy trying to figure things out!” Milton said. “Anyway, there’s someone coming!”
“You’ll be here for a couple of days,” Jade said, “then I’ll get you to the next city but you have to trust me, okay?”
“Yes,” said the mare that was with him, “that’s fine…”
I looked to see that the mare that was with him wore a Stetson hat too and also had a necklace with a ring around her neck.
“Okay Experiment Sarah,” Jade said, “you’re the fourth Experiment to wake up!”
“The fourth Experiment sir?” Sarah said.
“Yes,” said Jade, “Experiment Henry and Experiment Milton have already woken up along with Experiment Martin. As of now, we have no idea where Experiment Henry and Experiment Milton are. We are now waiting for Experiment Jane and Experiment Aria. They should be here in a couple of days. Then we’ll transport you to the next city. Okay?”
“Sure,” Sarah said, “I didn’t think I needed to know all of that information. But, that’s fine I just can’t wait until I can get out of my pony form!”
Jude laughed, “Looks like all you Experiments have been programmed the same way! Don’t like being in your pony forms but prefer being human!”
“O...Kay?” Sarah said.
“Anyway,” Jade said, “let’s go inside shall we?”
“Over my dead body!” I said. I then stepped out of the shadows and stomped my foot a couple of times.
“Ah Experiment Henry,” said Jade, “what luck! Experiment Milton’s with you too! Come with me so I get the updated tracking device in you. The wake up one is about to come out sooner or later!”
“Hell… No!” I said. “And you’re not taking Sarah or Martin either!”
“Looks like you got cuss words programmed into you,” said Jade, “don’t worry, I’ll just have to teach you some manners!”
“Oh really?” I said. “I don’t think so!”
I then charged at Jade and all he did was step aside and I ran into a trash can.
“Um,” said Sarah, “what’s going on Jade sir?”
“Oh nothing,” said Jade, “Experiment Henry is up for elimination!”
“Why?” Sarah said. “What did he do?”
“He won’t get that tracking device put in,” said Jade, “and he’s a lab rat just like you!”
“Excuse me?” Sarah said. “I’m not a damn lab rat! You’re going to pay for that!”
“What is with these Experiments and cuss words!” Jade said.
“We’re not Experiments!” Sarah, Milton and I said.
Jade couldn’t react fast enough, that's because Sarah ran up behind him and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled backwards and fell over.
“Humph,” said Sarah, “serves you right!”
“Okay,” said Milton, “remind me never to get on her bad side!”
I then went up to Jade and stomped him on the chest.
“Dude,” said Milton, “did you have to do that?”
“Yup!” I said. “We don’t know how many men and ponies are in there before we can get to Martin! Now let’s go!”
“Who died and made you leader?” Sarah said.
“I’m the first Experiment that woke up,” I said, “and I know more about what’s going on than you do!”
“Fine!” Sarah said.
I then ran up to the hideout and kicked the door open.
“Gee,” said Sarah, “that’s a way to make a dramatic entrance!”
“I was thinking,” I said, “if we can make enough noise, then we can rescue Martin in the chaos!”
“That’s not a bad idea!” Milton said.
“Fine,” said Sarah, “I agree.”
No sooner had we entered the hideout we had needles being thrown at us. I used the strange sensation in my forehead and let it out through my horn. Out came a bubble that surrounded me, Milton and Sarah. The needles that were being thrown at us just bounced off the bubble.
“Nice one Henry!” Milton said,
“Huh,” said Sarah, “I didn’t know unicorns could do that. I’m a unicorn too!”
“When we get out of this,” I said, “you’ll have to have a look in the manual. You did get one didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” said Sarah, “I did! It’s in my bag!”
“Good,” I said, “the sooner we have Martin the sooner we can help save Jane and Aria from coming to this place!”
“Bravo,” said a woman, “three of the four Experiments that have woken up are working together! This is an interesting change of events. Oh, and I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Eleanor and I work for Lab 14. I was waiting for you to show! We need to get those updated tracking devices in you, shall we?”
“Like I told Cora,” I said, “hell no!”
“We’re definitely going to have to kill Princess Celestia for that one!” Eleanor said. “Speaking of Princess Celestia, she’s right behind you!”
“Hello Eleanor,” said Princess Celestia, “you will not get those tracking devices in any of them!”
“Oh really?” Eleanor said. “Experiment Martin is already here! We’re also waiting for Experiment Jane and Experiment Aria to come too!”
“You won’t get away with this!” Princess Celestia said. “They’re not Experiments, they’re children! And I’m going to return them to their rightful parents!”
“But they are Experiments!” Eleanor said. “Lab 14 created them! So we at Lab 14 are their parents!”
“Yeah,” said Princess Celestia, “and that’s a no!”
“Ha!” Eleanor said. “We’ll see about that!”
Before Eleanor could react Princess Celestia had Martin in her magic and floated him down the stairs. She put him on my back inside my bubble.
“You three run now!” Princess Celetsia said. “And don’t drop Martin!”
“Got it!” I said.
“Where are we going?” Sarah said.
“There’s a shack in the forest,” I said, “where Milton woke up, we should be safe there at least until we wake up Martin!”
“Wait a second,” said Sarah, “you guys woke up in front of a shack too?”
“Yup,” I said, “we need to go now!”