//------------------------------// // Chapter 3–Canterlogic Disaster // Story: The Little Pony Legend: A New Generation // by MaggiesHeartLove //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Canterlogic Disaster The Canterlogic factory, a wonder to behold for anyone who stepped foot (Or hoof) into its walls for the first time. Pony and elf workers moved from one place to another, stacking boxes filled with gadgets and gears. One of the workers was Hunk, who got a job working as an engineer driving the forklift. His eyes caught his officer friends passing by. “Hey, Keith!” Hunk waved. “Hey, Hunk,” Keith waved back. “Where’s Sunny with the smoothies? I’ve been craving her Moon-berry Surprise for weeks.” “Yeah, about that… she uh…” “She got banned,” Sprout answered, sipping his stolen smoothie. “She’s not banned! She’s just… not allowed to come in today.” “So, she was banned?” Hunk asked. “No!” Keith grunted. So frustrated, Keith began to massage his forehead till he remembered his jewel. Quickly, he adjusted his bangs again, as casually as he could to avoid suspicion. “Look guys, I know Sunny can be…” “Crazy?” Sprout guessed. “Looney?” James added. “Cute?” All eyes turned toward Hitch, who realized what he just said and tried to cover it. “I mean… ‘acute’. She did get better grades than Sprout back in school.” “Hey!” Sprout exclaimed, frowning. “Please…” Hunk brushed off. “Everybody got better grades than Sprout.” “HUNK!!!” “The point is,” Keith continued. “Sunny is an active dreamer, and true she can be a bit pushy, but she means well. You can’t really fault her for wanting better things.” “Better for who?” James inquired. “For her? She’s the only pony who wants those freaky mages and pegasi to be our friends. Never gonna happen! Just wait boys. The minute I see a mage, I’ll knock him so hard in the head those pesky jewels will fall right out of his skull!” Keith didn’t say another word. The lights soon went out, as a voice spoke through the monitors. “It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. As true founder of Canterlogic, she’s been keeping us safe and stylish for the last twenty moons. Please, go wild for the one and only: Phyllis Cloverleaf!” Phyllis stepped onto the stage, the neon insignia of her company glowing in neon lights from behind as the spotlight shone upon her. By the wall stood a large, imposing man with dark skin and a black shaven beard. He wore a police hat and uniform; his left eye permanently closed. This was Commander Iverson, Phyllis’s personal bodyguard. “Thank you! Thank you!” Phyllis greeted the crowd. “Thank—oh, hey, how are ya? Thank you so much.” Every pony and elf cheered and clapped enthusiastically, while Keith merely clapped politely with little effort. He leaned against the wall where the two seagulls and tiny crab, who’d been following Hitch around, stood idly by. Keith put on a brave face, adjusting his bands as his heart leapt in fright. Standing in a room full of mage-hating earth folk (The general term for both earth ponies and earth elves) was like stepping into the lion’s den with a piece of raw meat attached to his ankle. “We here at Canterlogic are so thrilled to create perfect products that will protect earth folk like you… from creatures like that!” Phyllis pointed her hoof toward two posters, one which depicted a Pegasus about to snatch helpless ponies like a ravenous eagle, and fairies with claws for hands and birdlike feet. The second poster depicted unicorns with horns ready to stab a pony being protected by their elf friends, mages with their mind-reading stones trying to hypnotize their prey. The crowd booed, among them Hitch, Hunk, and James. Keith shrunk in the shadows of the wall, turning away from the stage. Just when he hoped things could change, he was reminded how terrified everyone was of creatures like him. Though as far as he was aware, he couldn’t do ‘any’ of the things they claimed he could. “Hypnotize people? Read their minds? Zap their brains out?” Keith thought to himself. “I can’t even make pasta without burning it! How am I supposed to read or control anyone’s mind? Why would I even want to?” “And like I always say,” Phyllis continued. “’To be scared is…’” “To be prepared!” The audience replied. “Oh, I love it!” “Yeah!” Hunk nudged Keith’s arm. “Don’t you just love that slogan?” “Uh, yeah… it’s great Hunk,” Keith muttered quietly. Hunk was too preoccupied with a bite of his sandwich to suspect Keith’s tone. “And now, let’s start the show!” Phyllis declared. The music played, with Hitch swaying to the beat, and ponies stepping onto the stage modeling three of Phyllis’s latest inventions. The first was an anti-mind reading/mind-control helmet modeled by a pony named Sugar Moonlight. Hunk was hollering like a complete crazy man. “Yeah! Let’s see those mages and unicorns beat that, right Keith?” But Keith didn’t answer. Instead he huffed and kept quiet, trying to suppress the uncomfortable sting in his chest. The next model was an elf walking out with the most ridiculous looking goggles designed to look up, and nowhere ‘but’ up, so he’d see an incoming ‘deadly’ Pegasus or fairy. Of course, it worked too well, and the poor chap couldn’t see he was about to fall… right off the stage. “It’s all part of the show!” Phyllis assured. The next model was a pony, strutting with all the flamboyance of a model, pulling a cord from his backpack. Out sprouted an array of colorful balloons supposedly for an escape pack. But like the last invention, this one worked a little ‘too’ well. The poor pony was hoisted high into the air, dragged off by his own invention and out the open window. “Yikes,” Hitch said, still bobbing his head. “That’s gonna be a lot of paperwork.” “We take great care here at Canterlogic to ensure the safety of you, our loyal customers.” The audience ‘awed’ over her words, though Keith merely rolled his eyes. James, sipping his smoothie, noticed Keith’s indifference toward the event. “Aww, what’s the matter, Kogan?” He asked mockingly. “Scared those things could hurt your unicorn and fairy friends?” “Put a sock in it, James!” “Not if I sock you first!” “Hey!” Hitch exclaimed. “No police brutality on the job… or ever. Got that, cadets?” “Yes, Chief,” Both boys said. Iverson soon stepped onto the stage beside Phyllis. “Stand back, maggots!” He shouted, military style. And the audience did just that, knowing better than to disobey. “This product testing demonstration is fully automatic,” Phyllis warned. The light behind her and Iverson lit up revealing an iron testing room. In the center stood a yellow makeshift pony testing dummy… which Sunny tossed to the side and jumped in its place. There she stood, wearing her cardboard unicorn horn and Pegasus wings. In her hooves she held a sign colored with a rainbow, a horn, wings, and a horseshoe. The audience gasped, while Phyllis looked horrified. “You again!” Iverson sneered in annoyance. Hunk choked on his sandwich, while James spat his drink out. Keith jumped away from the wall. “Sunny, no…” Keith moaned. “Oh-ho!” James chuckled. “This is going to be good!” “Earth folk of Maretime Bay,” Sunny announced. “Fear is not your friend. But the pegasi, unicorns, fairies, and mages can be. Let’s extend the hand and hoof of friendship!” But before she could continue her speech, three of her hooves were encased in metallic shoes, keeping her stuck to the floor. “That is not what I meant.” “Turn it off!” Phyllis told her workers. “Turn it off!” The female pony and male elf tried, but the machine wasn’t responding. In the meantime, Phyllis tried to play it off like nothing was wrong. “And so, now you can prevent an aerial abduction with a set of our new anti pega-lift boots!” A mechanical Pegasus lowered down from the wall, trying to snatch Sunny, only to grab her makeshift wings and unicorn horn, and lastly her sign. “Hey! Give that back!” Sunny waved her hoof in protest. “Sunny, why?” Hitch sighed, shaking his head. A pair of metallic claws strapped itself onto Sunny from above, hoisting her up like a plush toy from a crane game. It held her in the air until an ‘X’ symbol flipped over on the floor. All the while Sunny repeated her mantra. “Peace with Pegasi! Unity with Unicorns! Fellowship with Fairies! Mutuality with Mages!” Phyllis ignored her words and proceeded with the demonstration, hoping nobody would notice. “Everybody, take a look at our unicorn and mage entrapment device.” A helmet with a fake unicorn horn was strapped onto Sunny’s head, the claw dropped her right over the ‘X’, and in seconds her entire body was encased in a metallic box with a red button on the center, the fake horn poking through a hole. Hitch hurried towards the two working on the machine, pressing every button they could, hoping one would do something. “Shut this thing down! Sheriff’s orders!” “We’re trying!” The elf insisted. “Automated means it has to go through the whole cycle,” The pony said, desperately pressing a button. Once the metal box released Sunny, a pair of fake Pegasus wings also strapped themselves onto her back and the wall on her side opened up revealing a long machine with a flinging wheel on its side. “Oh, no.” Sunny was soon hoisted into the air, her body spun around like a whirlwind ride at a carnival. The whole time she kept repeating her mantra. “Peace with Pegasi! Unity with Unicorns! Fellowship with Fairies! Mutuality with Mages!” The wheel on the machine spun, flinging sticky green goop all over the place while Sunny spun round and round. “A-A-And this is the splatter-pult!” Phyllis announced, struggling not to shudder. “Cease fire!” Sunny shouted, at the top of her lungs. *SPLAT!* Her face was struck by one of the green balls. Thinking fast, Keith quickly spotted the power cord and quickly yanked it from the wall. “Huh… I’m surprised nobody else thought of this,” Keith sighed. The machine finally stopped firing and released Sunny. The glass wall split open, sending Sunny sliding down the runway, slowly coming to a stop. She still wore the fake horn and wings, giving the impression she looked like an Alicorn (Or ‘Winged Unicorn’, whichever they preferred). Every earth folk in the crowd gasped at the sight of her. Keith quickly rushed to her aid, removing the sticky green junk off her fur and mane, even the helmet and wings. “Are you okay?” Keith asked, concerned. Sunny didn’t respond. She knew she’d have to face Keith once they left the building, but right now she’s a mare with a mission to complete. She stood with her head held high, addressing the attentive crowd. “Aren’t you tired of being scared all the time?” Sunny asked. “The truth is: We’re ‘not’ in danger! It’s all a lie! We don’t need any of this Canterlogic junk.” Phyllis, on the other hoof, took it as a personal insult. “Oh, we don’t, do we? How do you suggest that we defend ourselves? With hugs and cupcakes?” The audience laughed, though Keith wanted so badly to just take Sunny and run out right now. But his sister, stubborn as usual, won’t leave quietly. Course, she never did… so why start now? Sunny soon spotted a couple foals in the crowd and spoke directly to them, knowing their innocent hearts were more open. “Just imagine if you had a friend who could fly.” To which the foals smiled excitedly over her words. “Or a friend who can—” “Fry your brains with a single horn zap?” Phyllis added. “Or swoop down and snatch you away?” The foals Sunny thought was getting through to shivered in fear beside their mother. Commander Iverson turned towards Hitch with a heavy glare. “Sheriff! Do your job and remove this scoundrel from the premises! On the double!” Hitch had no choice but to comply. “Come on, Sunny. Let’s get you out of here.” “No!” Sunny protested. “Everybody needs to hear this! Everything you believe about pegasi, unicorns, fairies, and mages is wrong! They used to be our friends and they can be again!” “We don’t need any of that around here!” Someone shouted, from the crowd. “Get off the stage!” Keith tapped Sunny’s neck. “Come on, Sun. Let’s go home.” Sunny was so distraught by the pain in his voice. She knew she’d really done it this time. All she wanted was for things to change, but instead she humiliated herself… and Keith… and Hitch. Even worse: She had broken her pinkie promise.