With Azure exhausted and Melonwater jumping at every shadow, the ten minute trot back to the Second Chance took half an hour. The four ponies climbed up to the deck and took a moment to recover and reflect. Azure was soon laying down on the foredeck, wings spread out in the warm sun and eyes closed, apparently deep in thought. Melonwater sat nearby, pulling out pen & paper and distracting himself by starting to make a map of the area. He kept opening his mouth as if he wanted to ask the guardpony something, but then closing it again without speaking.
It looked like the two would take a while to recover; in the mean time, Summer Scribe kept fluttering her new butterfly wings with excitement and looking at the sky. Perhaps a quick overflight of the 'ancient witches' convent' wouldn't be a bad idea, before they galloped in? Hmm, yes indeed! She still had energy for it, and while the rest of the party is resting, she may as well try out her wings: she barely got a chance to back in Vanhoover!
"Hey, I'm gonna do a fly-over of the convent..." she said, looking around, "Anyone coming with? Cloud Cutter, maybe?"
Melonwater looked up, startled, then shot nervous glances at Summer and Azure. "Heh yeah you go on ahead Summer, sounds great, have fun. I've gotta... gotta get this map done, very important, but, uh..." The earth pony stared into the sky. "Stay safe up there, ok?"
Summer Scribe nodded back. "Just gonna look around, not gonna do anything dangerous, promise!" The young stallion smiled weakly and went back to fiddling with his theodolite.
"Yes, I will depart with you," Cloud Cutter said amiably, the blank eyed pony not moving until that moment. Something like amusement did cross the purple mare's face as Summer fluttered up into the air, like a newborn foal who'd just discovered that she could fly. She takes off afterwards, keeping a steady pace just behind the unicorn, ready to swoop down and catch her, should the magic expire and leave Summer Scribe falling to her doom.
As they ascended into the blue, the ship and its two passengers grew tiny, until Summer and Cloud had achieved a dizzying height. Drifting south over the central cliffs, Cloud Cutter gazed downward, trying to make sense of the terrain they'd be facing, though she was far too high to spot any restless spectres that might be floating around.
Summer Scribe turned out to be a pretty confident flyer for somepony getting their first real practice! She already seemed to have a good sense of how to float, dive, glide and propel her body around, and didn't need much in the way of assistance, but the unicorn seemed awed by the vista spread out below. "Goodness..." Taking a look around as she beats her wings, seeing the three-dimensional puzzle of the floating river winding through the scattered islands, it was like she was her own airship! "Okay... let's check out the convent, Cloud Cutter. Must be those big buildings, over there."
From their vantage point above the highest point of the third island, the two ponies could see the full length of the sky river, save for the topmost lake, still hidden within the rocky peaks and misty interior of the mountain source. The upper plateau was covered in a forest several kilometres across, bordered on two sides by open sky and the others by cliffs and rapids. Down below, at the far end of the island, was the impossible shimmering dome of the enormous magic 'bubble'. The flickering and distorted forms of pools, buildings and some kind of elevated structures could be seen within.
Tearing their eyes away from the fantastic view for the moment, the mares focused on what was immediately below them. The forest was broken by various small hills and clearings; in one they could make out the outlines of the ruined village they'd visited. By far the most obvious feature though was the huge complex of buildings, penned in by a rectangle of high stone walls. The structures were simple stone with tile roofs, like long barracks or warehouses surrounded by smaller sheds, chimneys and a tangle of pipes and tanks. Not exactly like a purpose-built factory, more like an older structure that had been steadily overtaken by a tangle of industrial technology.
'It's a really nice perspective seeing the islands from here!' Summer thought. Like looking down on the world's best map, and being able to just point yourself where you want to go. No reliance on carts or airships this time: sweet! She studied the building complex before swooping down to take a closer look.
From their elevated perspective it was clear the cobblestone road from the docks took an almost direct route to the complex, making only a few lazy turns that had obstructed their line of sight when grounded. The causeway ended in a set of enormous gates, set into the wall of the compound and flanked by ornamental-looking but still substantial towers. There was some kind of sign over the entrance, but the covering of moss and vines makes it impossible to decipher from the air.
Circling around, it seemed like the structures might have been abandoned a few years ago, not a few centuries ago; there were broken tiles, missing panes of glass, rusted steel rails and grass poking up through flagstones, but everything seemed basically intact: no gaping holes in the walls or collapsed sections of roof. None big enough to fit a pony through at least. Circling around to the far side, the ponies saw a particularly thick tangle of pipes extending through the stone perimeter wall and snaking down to a nearby lake, where the river pooled before feeding into the cascade of rapids and waterfalls along the south side of the island.
"Be careful not to fly too low!" Cloud Cutter called after that eager hummingbird of an archaeologist, still trailing behind. A flicker of confusion crossed her face as she looked beyond Summer to what they are approaching. This was a far cry from the ancient stone cathedrals she'd seen as a foal. In fact it looked more like a factory one might spot alongside the train tracks in Southstock. "Does this look like a convent to you?" she asks uneasily as the two ponies watched from above.
"Huh, it's still in PRETTY good condition. I wonder... Oh! Sorry, Cloud Cutter." Summer shied away from diving any lower, admiring from a distance. "Well, a convent for witches, certainly! It looks hooked up to the local water supply: I bet you could use it to brew all kinds of potions. Still could, possibly even? And it's definitely a delight to see facilities like this in the Cloudbreak Islands! Makes me wonder where these airships come from, you know, where they're made and what that might look like..." Whoops: she caught herself rambling again.
"You could use it to brew potions alright..." Cloud Cutter replied, coasting in a circle as she stared pensively at the warehouses, tanks and pipes below. "A whole lot of potions."
Summer Scribe grinned at that, circling lazily with Cloud Cutter to get a look of the ley of the land... but given that it looked like what they were after and doesn't seem obviously dangerous or a waste of time, that seemed to conclude the scouting trip. "OK, shall we head back? Next time we'll come on hoof."
Nodding, Cloud Cutter said, "Anything further we could do here, the others could do with us on the ground. You fly very well by the way, though I don't know how much of that is the magic of the spell."
"I'm a natural, spell or no spell! Nutmeg could whip me up a wing-pack, I bet I'd handle it no problem." The little unicorn grinned, self-assured.
"I don't think she has the tools for crafting artificial wings," Cloud Cutter said, giving the other mare a sceptical look, "But given what that creature has done with the ships, I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow managed it."
"I'm learning to raise my expectations: she's already surprised me enough times!" chuckled Summer.
Cloud Cutter gave the desolate site a final look as they swung around to begin the return flight to the docks. The only motion was the rustling of leaves in the wind and a few small birds perched on the gantries, although... was that a flicker of light in the windows? Might have just been the sun glinting off the glass. The two ponies covered the few kilometres back to the ship in no time and are soon gliding down to the deck, where Azure stood watching their approach.
Seeing both fliers make a safe approach to the ship, Azure nodded softly. She'd needed time to recover after her magical exhaustion, and while an hour was enough to stop the headache, her magic hadn't fully come back. She'd have to be careful to conserve it for the rest of the day.
Cloud Cutter landed lightly, folding her wings, looking to Summer and saying, "Well, what would your assessment be of the facility ahead?"
"Looks like it's what we're after! A relatively recently abandoned alchemical facility." the cyan unicorn replied. She looked excited to go check it out! "It's not like anything we've seen before!"
Azure tilted her head at that. "So that's what we're looking for? Hmm. Sounds like a plan, but again... I won't be of too much help if we have to fight again. Just... a fair warning." she reminded her squad, although she was ready to travel at least.
Summer Scribe grinned back. "Well, we're looking for a LOT of things: we're basically just looking to help out our new Gillmen friends in any way we can, and seeing if we can brew potions to fix their fin-rot is one of those!"
Melonwater trotted over to Summer, uncharacteristically eager to rub his flank against hers, as if to reassure himself she was still physically present. "Abandoned?" he said hopefully. "You're sure?"
Cloud Cutter was about to give her assessment, but at Melonwater's question, she said with an uncharacteristic smile, "I'm fairly sure one of the ghosts made themselves known before we left. Whether it was a ghost, or just somepony with a light in the window, will not be revealed until we creep in and investigate."
"G-g-ghost? You're not... serious?" the stallion said, looking at Cloud Cutter with wide eyes. She certainly seemed serious. "Ghosts aren't real! Not in Equestria..." he trails off. Zombies weren't real either, but here he was staring at one.
Summer tried to reassure him: "It sure looked abandoned..." She couldn't outright dismiss the possibility of ghosts. I mean, you can't just assume every cool abandoned place is haunted! Most of them weren't.
Cloud Cutter was quick to lose her smile, given the way Melonwater was looking at her. "It's probably nothing," she said neutrally, turning her gaze away from his sight, "Just be ready for company, and if nopony is there, then I'll say it was nothing more than a trick of the light."
Summer Scribe thought out loud: "So if there hypothetically is a ghost, is your spooky skillset any good at dealing with that, Cloud Cutter...?" Might be a rhetorical question, given their lack of knowledge!
Azure chuckled a little. "Just keep your guard up. They might not even be hostile. Then again..." she trailed off as she started to think. Most of their encounters had been hostile up to this point, precious few were actually friendly. She suspected this wouldn't be one of the friendly cases. That plant creature had put them all on edge...
"Uh... ok. Ok." Melonwater repeated, breathing out and trying to psych himself up. "We can just leave if there's... something unfriendly... in there, right?"
Summer Scribe nodded, reassuring Melonwater. "Yep! No problem there, we're not in a hurry. We can take this at our own pace."
The four ponies made their way onto the docks and down the track, trotting through the forest to the mysterious complex. Without further excitement they arrived at the gates Summer had spotted from the air; huge, solid, made of ancient oak bound with iron, flanked by stone towers and surmounted by a decayed, half-collapsed sign the height of a pony. It was adorned with the painted outline of what might be a potion bottle, along with fragments of runes once outlined in golden paint. The gate was solidly secured by several extremely rusty chains, meeting at the centre in an elaborate looking lock of weathered brass. Instead of a keyhole it had several dials and levers.
Cloud Cutter walked up to the gate, stopping short of attempting to walk through it, and peered at the apparatus that looked something like a lock. Then she shrugged, trying to peer through the cracks and get a glimpse of the courtyard beyond.
Summer Scribe inspected the locking mechanism, and got straight to the safecracking! She sent out a gentle feeler pulse with her horn, getting a sense for what mechanisms are hidden inside, before sticking her ear close and twisting the dials and levers back and forth, listening to the faint clicks and clacks and chacks. "Easy! I have to solve puzzles like this for my day job." She grinned, taking a bow of satisfaction as the lock clicked open... then realised that they could have just flown over, and briefly reflected on her life choices that lead up to the point.
The lock seemed to involve two glass sliders that move through a series of one-way channels to unlock the tumblers, in a manner equivalent to but more elaborate than a standard combination lock. Whoever designed it obviously wasn't counting on the unicorn's divining magic or lockpicking experience, and the device was soon crashing to the ground, rust flakes going everywhere as the disused chains fell away.
"Well, at least we're 'knocking' on the door and announcing ourselves instead of breaking in. You know, the proper way in and all." Azure noted, as she smiled to Summer. "Seriously, nice work there."
"Heheh, thanks!" Summer Scribe bashfully rubbed the back of her head. It's nice to just... Do something normal and get praised for it, for once!
The courtyard beyond was filled with empty carts, much more substantial than the one the expedition's hippogriff had been pulling around for the last two weeks, probably for moving heavy goods to and from the dock. One of the main buildings loomed ahead, the double doors facing the main gate, while a ramshackle collection of outbuildings, cranes, scaffolding and pipework surrounded the courtyard. Small doors to the side led into the towers next to the gate. The sense of stillness was even stronger here; it was obvious that the place had been a bustling hub of industry at some point.
"That was unexpectedly easy," Cloud Cutter said, poking a hoof at one of the crumbling chains, "Are you sure these things didn't just fall off on their own?" She stood up straighter, unsure of how to feel about this place as she continued to gaze within. "It's a lot less spooky, and more dangerous than I imagined," she remarked, "No ghosts trying to scare us off yet. We should be careful though. Those chains were either meant to keep us out, or to keep something in."
Summer Scribe waved a hoof dismissively. "I mean, in some cultures you use locks to keep people out of your private property, just because it's important enough... It doesn't necessarily indicate anything bad, just a cultural difference." She hmmmed and looked around: it looked even more vast and impressive from down below! Like an alchemical factory and shipping yard. "Alright, shall we start poking around inside the buildings? Get a feel for what makes what."
"I'll bet on the former, Cloud Cutter. So far so good, but... uh, this place has definitely seen better days..." Azure admitted with a sigh. She wasn't leading the pack, either, keeping her eyes open for anything valuable while keeping the fact that she wasn't at 100% in mind.
Melonwater trotted in behind the others, staring around, taking in the details of the architecture and the machinery. "Somepony is doing basic maintenance, at least. Keeping the plants back and... look, see that section of wall?" He gestured with a hoof. "It's been repointed, quite recently, the mortar is fresh. Clumsy job though, look how crude it is compared to the original stonework."
Summer Scribe perked. "Good spot, Melonwater!" She stroked her chin: "That increases the odds we'll find someone inside. I'll have to look lively."
And so far, nothing to report on the profit side, Azure thought. She glanced at the repairs, but she had no experience to let her discern good work from bad. She was keeping an eye on Cloud Cutter though, making sure the Pegasus wasn't heading into danger.
Cloud Cutter looked too, but she was hardly an expert at stonework. She glanced at the clouds overhead with a tactical eye, gauging what weather could be made useful around here, but if her new powers included a spook detector, it certainly wasn't going off at the moment. Trotting past Melonwater, she looked around the courtyard, checking for ways through the clutter and access routes to the interior.
Cloud Cutter confirmed that the facility goes on for some distance, rows of larger buildings looming over the smaller sheds and offices. There was junk piled everywhere; crates of empty bottles, barrels of unknown substances, engine parts, but they were all shoved to the sides and stacked up against walls, keeping the throughfares clear. Summer Scribe, however, wasn't interested in the smaller buildings and assorted industrial detritus; she trotted straight up to the largest building and wrapped her magic around the doorhandle... then furrowed her brows and strained to move the heavy, swollen doors.
They slowly opened with a series of loud cracks and creaks, exposing the interior beyond. The pony's first impression was of an endless series of vats and pipes; giant house-sized ones, pony sized ones, scattered about the stone floor of the huge open area, lit by shafts of sunlight coming in through the dusty skylights. Catwalks criss-crossed the upper areas, providing access to the higher pipes and lip of the bigger vats. More barrels and crates were stacked around the floor, along with creaky tables covered in centuries of dust, and the collapsed remains of chairs, filing cabinets and other furniture.
Summer Scribe peered about, catching her breath after the exertion of the door opening: the place won her over pretty much immediately! Quite inactive, of course, but a sizeable and serviceable potion distillery operating at massive scale! "Cooool." She grinned, trotting around and inspecting every bit and bob and loose end, skimming over the detail but concentrating on making out the overall process and functions.
Two things caught Summer's eye as she peered about the dusty, quiet space. Firstly; the largest, house-sized vats formed a line down the middle of the facility, and everything else seemed to feed into or out of them. Moving to one side to peer around the first mixing vat, she saw the remains of a second one further inside; it looked like it had exploded, the copper shell torn apart and the adjacent pipes ruptured and bent. Even the roof above was crudely patched with scrap steel from where an enormous hole had once been carved out.
Two more of the giant vats could be seen further down inside the building. Secondly: what looked like a control centre of some sort, half way up one wall. Many of the pipes and catwalks converged there, and the windows granted a commanding view of the rest of the factory. Melonwater's voice broke her concentration: "Do you... uh, do you, hear something?" he asked. He was probably talking about the distant, regular "clang... clang.. clang...". The confused mass of echoes in the huge cluttered space make the sound difficult to pinpoint, but it was definitely getting louder.
'Alchemical explosion in the past! Duly noted.' Summer thought. She wondered if that was why the place had been abandoned, or if it was just the cost of doing business! The unicorn's eyes were on the control center when Melonwater got her attention. "Yeah, I hear it too. We should probably check that out...?" Where had Cloud Cutter gone?
Still outside, Cloud Cutter trotted past the piles of rusting engine parts, tsking and thinking maybe the ship's engineers should have been here, not a zombie weatherpony. She stopped near one of the smaller buildings; a lean-to, built into the side of the main structure. The pegasus peered through the windows, wary for any movement within. It looked like it was once an office; a mass of spiderwebs covering the tumbled down remains of what probably had been filing cabinets. Many of the documents within had slipped out and rotted into mulch, but some survived in the less damaged areas. To the rear of the office was a small door, probably a side door into the main factory floor.
With a grimace of a smile, Cloud Cutter moved around to the door, testing it with a wing to see if it was locked. She didn't know what was in there, but it certainly wasn't large enough for anything monstrously gigantic to be laying in wait. Her companions were probably checking the other small buildings right now too, for that very reason. Not like anypony would just walk into the center of whatever disaster befell this place in that central factory, opening themselves up to attack on all sides.
Melonwater's warning prompted Azure to pay close attention. "Maybe now we'll find some creature here. Because right now it's just ruins and little else..." she admitted, trotting in close to her two companions and staring ahead, trying to spot the creatures. "Guards up. No idea if this thing's friendly. Seeing how the place is, in any case, gives me even less of a clue..."
Flickering red light was now visible, reflecting off the bits of metal not covered in dust or a patina of corrosion, as the unseen entity approached. Quietly slipping into a defensive stance, Azure Feather was soon on full guard, her eyes constantly scanning the labyrinthine mass of machines and catwalks for oncoming threats. Whatever was making that noise, it couldn't be more than a few seconds away: she had no idea what it was, but she knew this could get ugly fast.
Summer stood her ground, flanked by Azure and Melonwater, as the entity clanked into view. Their first impression was of a giant metal humanoid; a collection of steel plates, as if it was an enormous suit of armour, made for the biggest minotaur anypony had ever seen. There were great gaps between the plates though, and in those gaps was nothing but pulsing orange light and flickering flames. The eyeholes in the great domed helmet glowed bright yellow, but showed nothing but emptiness within. The thing marched forward with regular, thunderous steps, leaving steaming footprints behind, until it spotted the ponies and clanked to a stop. "INTRUDERS." it intoned in a booming, hollow monotone. "UNCLASSIFIED QUADRUPEDS. BEGINNING WILDLIFE EXTERMINATION PROTOCOL."
"Oh, shoot! They have magical guards here?!" Summer Scribe gaped. She wasn't liking the idea of a 'wildlife extermination protocol'! The unicorn backed up, thankful for Azure's protection. "What's the play, Azure? What are the chances of just blowing it apart right now?"
The construct took a step forward, its arms snapping up to point at the ponies, ready to unleash fiery energies at them. Then it stopped and stood motionless for a second. "REQUEST NOT UNDERSTOOD. INTRUDERS. UNCLASSIFIED TALKING QUADRUPEDS. BEGINNING FACILITY DEFENCE PROTOCOL." A shrieking, whooping sound assaulted the pony's ears, coming from all around them. "LEAVE NOW OR HOSTILITIES WILL COMMENCE. YOU HAVE TWENTY SECONDS TO COMPLY." the thing thundered. Melonwater didn't even need that long, immediately turning tail and galloping for the main gate.
Cloud Cutter heard the thundering footsteps and that amplified voice, her ears going flat as she moved away from the office, looking at the main factory with disapproval. She reluctantly headed back towards the entrance, moving with a leisurely gait.
Azure's eyes were wide open. Wildlife extermination protocol. Commence hostilities. Yeah, okay, if that's not Hostile with a capital H, Azure's been an earth pony this entire time and hasn't told a soul. "Cloud Cutter!!" she called out. "Full retreat! We've got a hostile and I don't think we're anywhere close to being able to take it!" She hoped to Celestia her friend heard the cry. Looking to Summer, she said "No way I'm taking that. Run for it! I'll go find Cloud Cutter..." There was no time to plan. She had to go with what she thought was right...
"Yep, running!" Summer Scribe didn't need to be told twice; ponies are excellent at galloping in straight lines, and there wasn't much in her path, so she should be able to make it out in time. Once she'd had a moment to catch her breath outside, something occurred to her... She clicked her saddlebag open and took out the brass plaques found at the village earlier today. A single row of mysterious runes... "Azure, you don't think these are like..." she waved one with a chuckle, "ID badges for this place or something, do you?"
The ponies collected in the courtyard, pausing just inside the archway of the gate, as the golem clank-clank-clanked its ponderous way to the main doors. "EXECUTING DEFENCE PROTOCOL" it bellowed "YOU HAVE THREE SECONDS..." then its deafening voice wound down, getting lower and lower pitched like a grammophone running out of power. The internal flames died down to a simmer and the infernal screeching finally stopped. "WELCOME FOREMAN FIZZO. CONFIRM PROTOCOL FOR THREE UNKNOWN QUADRUPEDS. DO YOU WISH TO REGISTER GUESTS?"
Summer Scribe sweated nervously as the golem was about to totally obliterate her! ...but it seemed her hunch was right. Whew! She nervously held the card up: "Uhh, y-yeah... Foreman Fizzo would like to register three guests. Melonwater, Cloud Cutter and Azure Feather." Indicating them one by one!
Cloud Cutter ceased trying to lift Melonwater bodily into the air and let him drop, looking up at the constrosity in disbelief.
"GUEST PROTOCOL ENGAGED." the thing declared, before stomping backwards into the building again, apparently as happy to move in reverse as forwards. Then it just stood there motionless, just in front of the first vat.
Azure looked stunned as the huge golem that was about ready to incinerate everypony just falls into an almost-friendly... no, actively helpful state within a few seconds. She turned to Summer and face-hoofed. Did that really just happen? With just a bunch of... ruined pieces of brass... oh, what the hay...
"... Okay! Back to exploring?" Summer Scribe looked about as shaken as everyone else, but that wasn't going to stop her! "Ha-ha, so I'll be honest, that was just a hunch."
"Aaah no no let go zombie, put me down..." Melonwater shouted "...ah, what? What?!" He collapsed to his knees, hysterical giggles escaping from his muzzle. "Oh awesome, Senior Researcher Fizzo, that's... that's perfect!" He continued laughing his head off.
"I think Melonwater needs some time to rest," Cloud Cutter said, lifting a hoof at the hysterical stallion, "...in peace. Perhaps he can keep watch here while we... dig around in there?"
"Hey I'm fine, it's fine..." the green stallion said, alternating between giggling and gasping for air. "I'm... yeah, just give me a minute here."
Summer Scribe smiled and shook her head, before walking back straight back into the factory. "Ok, Senior Researcher Fizzo is on the clock!" She had the rest of the main building to poke through still!
Azure just followed "Fizzo" inside, still muttering to herself. It had only been a couple of weeks and she'd already seen a lot of crazy things here in the Cloudbreak Islands; this may just beat all of them...
Back inside, another of the animated constructs was now visible. Similar in size and general design, this one was lit up with blue energy instead of orange, and crusted with sparkling ice crystals instead of licking flames. It clanked along some way behind the first, which was still standing like a statue near the entrance, glowing eyes fixed on Summer. "FOREMAN FIZZO. PRODUCTION HAS BEEN HALTED FOR ONE-HUNDRED-SIXTEEN... THOUSAND... TWO-HUNDRED-THIRTY-FOUR... DAYS. DO YOU WISH TO RESUME PRODUCTION?" the fiery golem asked her, in its halting, booming monotone.
One hundred sixteen... thousand days. Give or take 320 years. Azure just shakes her head at the realization. Yeah, this place has been... well, dead. Shaking her head and shrugging at the decision, it seemed like every creature's eyes were on "Fizzo" now.
Cloud Cutter lifted her hoof to Summer, opening her mouth to shout as if moving in slow motion.
Summer Scribe perked. "Oh, you mean this place still works? Then I'd absolutely love to resume production!" Just look at the big grin on her face! And is the place really as old as the golem said? Because wow is that old if so. It must be getting maintenance non-stop!
"RESUME CONFIRMED." the golem boomed. Was there a hint of satisfaction to is scratchy voice or was that Summer's imagination? "EXECUTING STARTUP PROTOCOL FOR MAGIBUBBLE COLA PRODUCTION LINES ONE... THREE... AND FOUR. LINE TWO REMAINS UNAVAILABLE PENDING SERVICE." It clanked over to a set of huge wheel valves and began to turn them, while the second blue-coloured construct began climbing the stairs to the control room, the whole system of catwalks shaking and spilling dust into the air with the vibrations from its steps. Yet another of the golems, this one with no distinctive glow but with turning gears visible through its joints, started moving around at the back of the building.
"Magibubble Cola?" What kind of a potion is that? It sounded like a soft drink, almost... or did it give you magical powers? "Who dibs taste testing... wait, silly me, we can just ask. Hey, golem! What is Magibubble Cola?" Summer asked. She gazed around happily at the majesty of the factory re-activating around her! Well... Give it a moment, first!
The golem's head spun round a hundred and eighty degrees to face the little unicorn, while its body continued to work at the valves. Instead of the previous monotone, a catchy jingle played, still at deafening volume "Refresh and amaze, transform your world, it's MagiiiiBubbbble Cooooola! Fly through the sky, grow up so high, flame at your command or the cool ice your drink demands, it's all just a ring-pull away, with Maaaagiiii.... Bubbbbllle.... Cooooooola!" The jingle ended, replaced by the sound of creaking, groaning pipes, the thump-thump of pumps and the whine of turbines starting up.
Melonwater, not wanting to be left alone outside, trotted into the doorway. He stared wildly around before focusing on Summer Scribe: "What's going on? What... what did you do?"
"... I think I jump-started a magical soda company entirely automated by golems." Summer enthused. "And the jingle is REALLY catchy." She was nodding her head to it as she imagined it again! Earworm time! "And I've DEFINITELY gotta try some once it's poured out! You in?"
"So... unicorn without being unicorn." Azure Feather stated, shrugging again. "Trust me, I know how that feeling is." Never mind the whole fact that she was a unicorn trying to be a pegasus, sort of. Turning to Melonwater, she explained: "Long story short? Researcher Fizzo here restarted production in a three-twenty-year-old factory. With one sentence."
"...what?" Melonwater boggled at Azure. "A factory? Over three centuries? How could that possibly work?" If in answer to his question, a pipe some way behind Summer split open, spraying a continuous stream of reddish-brown goop out onto the floor.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Summer," Cloud Cutter said warily, "Actually I'm almost certain you don't know what you're doing."
Summer Scribe nodded to Cloud Cutter, still grinning: "I EXTREMELY have no idea what I'm doing, but that's what I'm good at!" She was trying to sound reassuring, but... she started sweating after the pipe burst. "Uhh, lemme just..." levitating a piece of scrap metal into the air, "Paaaatch that up real quick..."
"PRESSURE ON FEED THREE ABOVE TOLERANCE." the golem boomed "PRESSURE ON FEED EIGHT ABOVE TOLERANCE. PRESSURE ON FEED ELEVEN ABOVE TOLERANCE..." Its monologue was interrupted by the sharp pings of rivets popping out of pipe fittings overhead and bouncing about in the catwalks, before dropping to the floor with a gentle patter of thuds.
"Um... y'know, maybe we should try and reduce the pressure before-" There were already a few bolts scattered around her. "...before this entire place comes down on our heads?" Azure ventured a guess, looking a bit nervous. "Else we may be forced to try that Cola... and not in the way I was hoping..."
Cloud Cutter backed up at the rising volume of malfunctions, bumping into Melonwater who startled and skittered away. "Maybe you should shut this thing down, Foreman Fizzo!" she suggested.
Summer Scribe was sweating profusely now! "Okay, yeah, looks like this is more than a quick fixer-upper!" She called out to the golem: "Shut down all feeds immediately! Foreman Fizzo says so!"
With a resounding clang, a joint on one of the large pipes was forced open. Water, or something close to it, sprayed out and splashed around the pipework, turning inches of accumulated dust to mud, but not with anywhere near the force or volume the ponies were expected. After a pregnant pause, something... else slithered out of the pipe and dropped to the floor with a splat. A thick rope of translucent blue goo, perhaps three metres long, that began to writhe and slither like a snake. "INTRUDER. ANIMATE MAGICAL WASTE. EXECUTING CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL" the golem declared, staring down the animate slime, before its head snapped around to regard Summer again. "PRIORITY CONFLICT." it intoned. "CONFIRM PROTOCOL, CONTAINMENT OR SHUTDOWN?"
Summer Scribe's ears were flicking nervously. "Great, we have magical goo outbreaks too?! Well, cola at least we can swim in, but we don't know what this thing does. Containment!" If the fire golem was strong as it looked, it should be a cinch!
Cloud Cutter took wing just in case, not sure of where to fly or what to do, so she just hovered there near the ceiling.
Well this wasn't looking good, Azure thought. The cola being about ready to explode out of the pipes was one thing. Animate magical waste? Entirely another. At Summer's command of containment, though, Azure decided it might be better to stand back and let this golem take care of it... if it could. If not, though, this could be a headache...
"CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL ENGAGED." it confirmed, but the time it took to converse with Summer was more than enough for the goo-creature to coil and strike. The thing leapt forward, wrapping itself around the golem's head and body. The construct's arms snapped up and began to flail about wildly, as the golem stomped forward, body rotating. "ERROR! VISION IMPAIRED! ERROR! VISION IMPARIED!" it bellowed, before tongues of flame shot out from its arms, torching random bits of machinery and setting fire to decayed desks and paperwork. Steam hisses and rises as the flames from the golem's body eat away at the goo creature, but it seems to be taking some damage as well as its metalwork begins to warp and soften. Meanwhile more of the characteristic cracks of pipes being forced open and thump-slither of the goo worms emerging into the factory could be heard.
"Augh! These golems are total idiots at fighting!" Summer exclaims, her tone exasperated. It was breaking more of the factory and itself than its actual opponent. She looked around nervously as more and more goo-creatures emerged. "Shoot, they're probably going to overwhelm the golems running this place! What do we do?" She didn't want to abandon the facility, but it might be a sad necessity!
Cloud Cutter could have tried to do her spooky thing, but she was hearing sounds of these creature waste things coming from all over the place. "We could we could draw them out, so they only damage the surrounding woods?" she suggested frantically.
"If this thing can't fight, at least make sure the factory's shut down before it keeps running with no pipes and a flood of cola running through this island! I'm sure the gillmen don't want to drink that stuff instead of water!" Azure suggested, seeming more nervous about the cola than the worms. With her fighting ability impaired... this could be a bad day.
Melonwater was backing away from the flailing golem, flinching at the flames, but shaking his head. "If they get into the river? With that teleportation effect you described? They'll be all over the place in days." Turning to Summer he asked nervously "Do you... do you suppose... can they reproduce? Outside the factory?"
Summer Scribe looks distraught at the thought! "I hope not! We have to pray that they only get made here and..." She yelled at a nearby golem, "Shut down production, now!" Nodding to everyone else, "We'll just have to figure out the rest on our own! Somehow..."
"I-I can't do this very fast! Just give me a sec!" Cloud called out, already starting to look more purple than usual.
The fire-powered golem didn't seem able to respond any more; it continued to flail wildly at its gooey assailant, smashing through and then setting fire to a pile of crates. Of the other two golems, one was last seen in the control room and the other at the rear of the factory floor; neither had line of sight to Summer or could hear her over the din.
"Shoot, hang on, I need to escalate this request to a higher-up..." Summer Scribe raced off, heading deeper into the factory before anypony could object. "Shut down production! Shut down production!" she cried out, to anyone who'd listen!
Cloud Cutter, on the other hoof, could see straight into the control room from her vantage point flapping up near the ceiling. The icy blue golem was in there, engaging two of the worms. It seemed to be going better than the fire golem's engagement; as Cloud Cutter watched it shot out a blast of ice crystals that froze an attacking worm solid. However three more had picked up on the noise and vibrations and were converging on the control room, oozing their way along the catwalks.
It seemed like all the fun was happening in the control room, so Summer Scribe started scaling the stairway and cantering along the catwalk, hoping to meet up with Cloud Cutter. "OK, maybe we can shut down production from here?" She could see ooze monsters heading the same way, so she'd have to burst in and figure this stuff out quick!
With a snort of frustration at her tortuously slow magic, Cloud Cutter shouted, "It's not working Summer! There has to be a- a manual break lever around here somewhere!" She headed for the control room, flying with the difficulty of somepony really trying hard to concentrate right now. She ignored the ice golem to land near the controls, arriving ahead of Summer. If she couldn't get things stabilized fast, she'd be trapped in there by three of those things! Though maybe that was her plan...
Azure's was still trying to make heads or tails of the situation... She took off, ready to assist wherever needed, her eye soon drawn to the control room. She should be able to catch any worms with wind blades, magical exhaustion be damned...
The little unicorn bounded up the metal stairway, only to be faced with one of the goo worms, about to slither through the open door into the control room. Detecting her hoofsteps on the metal, its eyeless head swung around and began weaving in her direction.
Summer thought for a moment. Maybe these things can't actually see, only hear sound? Her horn flared with magic as she wrenched off a loose piece of railing and hurled it off to the side. Clank! The worm outside the door coils up then springs at the noise, slithering off to consume the annoying piece of scrap. Success! Summer Scribe snuck by the distracted worm, heading into the control room to join Cloud Cutter. Hoof raised, she made a 'keep your voice down' gesture!
The ice golem is covered in frozen and half-frozen bits of worm, its armour melted and pitted. It moved jerkily forward toward Cloud Cutter, staggering off balance. Unable to comprehend Summer's gesture, it bellowed "GUESTS MUST VACATE THE AREA. CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL IS IN EFFECT."
Summer Scribe found herself looking at a massive bank of gauges, dials and levers, with wide windows overlooking machinery now clanking and shuddering, spraying different coloured fluids. Worse, the third of the great vats was beginning to bulge out noticeably, at risk of bursting the same way its neighbour did, long ago. The rear wall was covered in diagrams, charts and noticeboards, all yellowed, dusty and written in the native runes.
The unicorn huffed. "Shoot, I can't believe I was so excited that I let this place fall to pieces!" Well, what to do? Maybe one of these levers was an emergency stop lever or something? She couldn't read the local language yet, so it'd be too long to parse through labels! Just look for something big and imposing!
Cloud Cutter had backed away as Summer trotted in; she looked dishevelled and... glowing wrong. The pegasus backed up hastily all the way against the golem bellowing at her, declaring to Summer, "Just do something! It- I can't read any of this!" She looked for a way out of the room without going near the other pony.
"Working on it!" Summer Scribe huffed back! OK, it was worth a shot... "Hey, Golem! How do I shut this thing down?"
"REQUEST UNCLEAR" the construct intoned, voice cracking and warping. "DOES FOREMAN FIZZO REQUEST SHUTDOWN PROTOCOL?" Meanwhile the next three worms were converging on the control room. Azure zeroed in and fired off a flurry of wind blades, slicing one into a blue goo approximation of salami, the pieces splattering on the factory floor below. A second reared up and smashed its way through one of the windows, its featureless head weaving back and forth in front of Summer Scribe as it searches for prey... before Azure's horn finished charging and released a powerful blast, blowing the thing clear off the catwalk.
The worm tumbled end over end through the air before the gale dashes it against a staircase, splattering its body into harmless globs. "Aah!" Azure cried out as pain stabbed through her horn; that last blast was a little too much after the earlier exertions. She watched helplessly as the third worm slithered through the broken windows, into the control room.
Cloud Cutter couldn't risk doing the spooky thing, not with Summer in there with her, but she could still kick the offending worm in the nose. Her hoof connected, but had little effect on the goopy mass. "Yes! Say yes!" she urged her companion, as she tried to use her body to block the way in.
"Yes, yes!" Summer Scribe told the golem, as goo critters ran havoc all around her! "Shut it down! And hurry, please!"
"SHUTDOWN CONFIRMED." the golem confirmed. It took a step forward, one arm reaching towards a small cluster of controls in the corner of the room... but the invading goo worm had already wrapped around its waist. With a crack and then clunk the construct's torso separated from its legs, pitching forward and crashing to the floor. "ERROR! MOBILITY IMPAIRED! ERROR!" it warbled, jerking back and forth uselessly.
"Uurgh! Dang it, it's so close!" Summer stomped her hoof in frustration. "What do I do now?" She looked over to the rune-lined board. Maybe knowing where the golem is trying to initiate shutdown could be cross-referenced with the instructions for a good guess at which control to pull?
Summer tried to recall the translations Blue Type had managed from the old shrine, along with what she'd picked up in an hour or so of speed reading on the last visit. There was a valve wheel with 'somthing flow', a button with 'something energy', a large red lever with "bad event something empty'...
Cloud Cutter was still trying to stop more worms getting into the control room, without releasing the deadly purple energy. She wasn't having much success...
"Okay, here goes an educated heat-of-the-moment guess!" The unicorn's horn lit up... and a one, a two, a three! Grab the wheel, squeeze it shut! Hit the button nice and firmly! Grab the lever and ppuuullll! And if we did the dance right...
In the main part of the factory, worm creatures continued to squeeze their way out of pipes. As Azure watched the last golem stomped about, zapping the goo with bursts of lighting, which made them crackle and explosively vaporise where the electricity touched them... yet more emerged faster than it could zap them. With the cracks and crashes and pops and clangs, the spraying fluids and hissing steam, the scene was a chaotic mess of noise and motion, yet when the deep, resonant rumble starts up it still managed to overpower all of that and fill her perception.
The rumble became a rushing, swirling sound, as if the plughole had been pulled on an enormous bath. Overhead the lights blinked on, the lamps flickering and surging brightly before popping like firecrackers, adding sprays of sparks to the general confusion below.
Summer Scribe stares out of the windows, heart in her mouth! "Seems like I guess right... huh, better get ready to run with me if not, Cloud Cutter!" She winced and shielded her gaze as the lights blow out: woah, this place had been out of commission for a while!
"Get out!" Cloud Cutter shouted desperately, back to her state of inverting existence that's hard to even look at, "Get away from me!"
That sudden, overpowering rumble was enough to make anypony uneasy, never mind Azure in her current frazzled state. Hearing lightbulbs suddenly popping all around her? The final straw. She was soon down on the ground, struggling to deal with the chaotic situation. "Melonwater! Out, now!" she shouted; she couldn't see him and could only hope he'd heard her. Then with Cloud Cutter's warning.... she was soon dashing out herself.
Summer had forgotten just how profoundly disturbing Cloud Cutter's new ability was. "Right, getting out as fast as I can!" Cantering out the door, she made a hard right and leapt through one of the exterior windows!
The unicorn fell one story to land hard in a disused cart, which creaked in protest before shuddering forwards and rolling through the yard. It picked up speed, bouncing off walls as it barrelled down a passageway, heading towards the main gate. Melonwater was already outside, standing just beyond the threshold on the track to the docks, staring at the factory with a horrified expression.
'Totally planned!' Summer told herself. She grabbed Melonwater with her magic as the makeshift getaway vehicle rushed past the stunned stallion! "We're getting out of here: Cloud Cutter's doing the spooky thing again!" A combination of levitation and momentum managed to scoop the dazed Melonwater up into the cart just before it slams into him; the vehicle rattled out onto the causeway, shedding bolts and chunks of rotten wood as it went, while Azure flapped straight over the wall and flies above them.
Following after Summer, Cloud Cutter shakily made her way to the door, before the worm she was kicking recovered enough to tackle her, sending her falling to the factory floor below. She got up in a mess of wings and hooves, wincing at a pain she shouldn't have been able to feel. Limping over to a girder, Cloud kicked it again and again, making loud clangs until every last goo creature was heading her way. A bright blue slimy worm the size of a pony wrapped around her and started crushing her, with more piling on in a blinding rush of impacts as she crashed to the ground.
The purple light filled the entire factory, if not its effects, reflecting eerily off of every surface as the wave of eldritch energy burst out from her form. The mass of writhing, snaking blue tendrils around her was instantly dehydrated into sparkling sapphire dust by the violet magic; the remains collapsed and spilled onto the floor like sand.
Slowly, gradually, calm returned to the abandoned factory as turbines spun down, pumps ceased pumping, and another of the ice golems puts out the various small fires started by the original golem. Cloud Cutter slumped, drained in a way beyond normal exhaustion, as she listened to the drip-drip of spilled fluids, the creaking of cooling boilers, and the clank-clank-zap of the tech golem exterminating the last few worms.
In the courtyard, Summer Scribe was looking back at the factory; she'd let out a sigh of relief as a brilliant purple flash erupted through everything, and the noise seemed to be dying down. "That was, uhhh, something." She gave Melonwater an apologetic look. "I guess I should have known better, huh?"
The stallion was still speechless, but Azure was quick to reply. "You don't have to worry. Honestly, in your shoes... I'd have probably done the same thing, really..." She sighed, looking back to the factory. "Crazy day. And two headaches, too."
Inside, Cloud Cutter was still sprawled on the floor near the control room. After a while the zapping sound stopped, but the clanking continued and got louder as the construct approached the purple pegasus. Hearing the thing approach, she lifted her head weakly, not even trying to get away, just remaining perfectly still.
"UNKNOWN QUADRUPED GUEST." the construct declared, "MAGIBUBBLE COLA COMPANY HOPES YOUR TOUR OF OUR FACILITY WAS PLEASANT AND EDUCATIONAL." The thing's arms extended jerkily forwards, presenting its offering for Cloud Cutter's consideration: a small crate of bottles, all full of brightly coloured carbonated liquids. "PLEASE ENJOY YOUR FREE SAMPLES."
Cloud Cutter heaved herself to her hooves, standing unsteadily for a moment before the golem. Then she bit the cap off one of the bottles and tilted her head back, chugging the contents of the little thing all in one go.