//------------------------------// // The Snoozatron // Story: Equestria Girls: It's Showtime--Wallace and Gromit: Cracking Contraptions // by PlymouthFury58 //------------------------------// Today had been stressful. Then again, this line of work was always in some way stress-inducing, especially when dealing with bratty or prissy kids who think they know better, and therefore don't bother with any of the work, and because of that they usually end up taking a visit to the Vice-Principal's office. Most all students dreaded visiting her office, and those that didn't immediately did when they entered the darkened room. It was Luna's method of intimidation, and it hadn't let her down before, but sometimes it took virtually all her time and energy just to break one kid, and on a daily basis she had to deal with a minimum of five, and on a bad day close to eleven. The job was good paying, some students were actually a joy to spend time with, and though her older sister actually running the place as the actual principal was honestly a breath of fresh air, feeling smug that Celestia's job was more aggravating than her own, but some days she just wanted to drop dead asleep right onto her desk and forget about everything important about life. Speaking of which, she had just arrived at the front porch of her and Celestia's house after taking out her dinner an hour before, then walked from there back home on top of walking to the restaurant, and she was exhausted. Good thing that it was the weekend, because if Celestia had anything to say about it, she would be sleeping peacefully in dreamland all weekend. Entering the front door, she kicked off her shoes and hung her coat before heading to the kitchen, hoping to have a nice drink of iced tea before crashing for the day, only to hear the sound of someone humming while pounding something into the ground coming from the dining room. Hoping to ignore it long enough, she prepared her glass of iced tea, taking sips between the sounds of pounding hammers interrupting her concentration, trying to ignore the fact that each pounding sound also felt like it was pounding into her own head. Darn migraine pills. Once she finished her glass, she unceremoniously dumped the ice cubes down the sink and the glass into the garbage, she walked into the dining room to meet the source of the disturbance, now that the pounding sensation had finally stopped. Once she entered into the doorway, she was met with a man bending over on his knees screwing something into the floorboards while humming a merry tune. The man wore brown trousers, black shoes, a white shirt and red tie underneath a green sweater, and was bald with large ears and bulbous nose. "Oh, hallo, there!" he greeted, holding a screwdriver. This man was Wallace, the crackpot cheese-loving inventor who had recently moved into town from somewhere in England. "I didn't see you there." "No need for apologies, Mr. Wallace," Luna yawned. "I'm Luna, the vice-principal at Canterlot High. What are you doing in my sister's and I's house?" "Oh, well, Principal Celestia came to me after hearing that you have been having trouble sleeping recently. I was just putting on the finishing touches for my latest invention: The Snoozatron." Luna raised a tired eyebrow. "The Snoozatron?" "Oh, yes," Wallace proudly grinned. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you how it works." Luna trudged after the inventor up the stairs, stretching into a yawn, before he led her into her bedroom. Inside clearly looked like it had been tampered with. Off to the wall-side of the bed was a large slot machine with a single level labeled "Snoozatron". Jutting out from inside the wall behind her favorite painting of "Starry Night" was a small record player. Underneath the bed were two robotic arms with gloves. Hanging from the ceiling were two robotic soft pressers, coupled with a small claw with a water pouch. "What is all this?" Luna asked, stargazed. "I'm glad you asked! Here let me show you. So picture this," Wallace explained, "you're lying in bed but are having trouble trying to sleep, so what do you do? Well, with the help of Wallace's Snoozatron, you will be guaranteed to win back all of that lost sleep. Simply by pulling this lever," he indicated, "you will activate the machine's various comforting devices: these hands with press the mattress to its former comfortableness, while these pressers with fix the fluffiness of the pillow so it won't feel like a brick. This claw will then drop a warm water bottle where you can then shift it wherever your joints feel stiff. And finally, this painting right here will open up to reveal a gramophone on a track that will start playing a nice comforting little tune." Luna was impressed by the sheer ingenuity and amount of mechanics involved. "And you're sure this will help me sleep better?" "Oh, I'm sure," Wallace grinned. "And that's only the first part. You see that trapdoor at the foot of the bed?" Luna yelped as she backed away. "That's for the sheep to count." "I beg your pardon?" "Well, all you have to do is take a sheep, place it directly onto the spring, and once the trapdoor opens the spring will bounce it to your level so you can count it. After all, counting sheep is guaranteed to put anyone to sleep." Luna smiled, though was puzzled. "Where do you expect me to find a sheep?" Wallace stammered. "Oh, uh, I'm sure you'll think of something. And anyway, if you don't feel satisfied with it after the trial run tonight, you can let me know and I'll come around to remove the Snoozatron." He then pressed a button on his remote causing all of the mechanics to retract out of sight. Luna still found the entire setup and purpose of the machine to be absurd, but it was that kind of absurd that was so absurd it just might work. "Thank you, Mr. Wallace. Frankly, anything is better than gorging myself on nighttime prescriptions." "Anytime, Miss Luna. Anyway, I must be off. There's a plate of gorgonzola with me name on it. Ta-ta!" Wallace waved goodbye which Luna reciprocated. Luna then yawned again, and rubbed her tired face, struggling to stand. Trudging out of her bedroom she decided to skip the shower and go straight to the toothpaste and brush, completely missing the conversation that Celestia was having with the inventor. "Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to do this for us, Wallace," Celestia said. "Oh, no need to worry, Miss Celestia," Wallace replied. "Gromit and I tested this out a few days ago and it was a smashing success." He then grew a face of worry. "Though, are you sure that the addition for your room is necessary? I'm sure I could find a sheep--" "Wallace, please. I understand your concern, but I simply must do this for my sister. If anything, I owe it to her for myself." "Whatever do you mean, if you don't mind?" "Not at all. To he honest with you, Wallace, for the longest time, I've felt like running an entire multi grade level school was a recipe for disaster, and at first I jumped at the chance for adventure, because it felt like an adventure. But not long after, I felt like something was missing from my life, something that was important. It wasn't until Luna and reunited that I felt whole again, and her inclusion at the school is invaluable. It felt like a true adventure. And now seeing her in this position, I can't help but feel like I should have been there more for her. I owe her that much." Wallace was taken aback at Celestia's confession. "Well, uh, good luck then, and don't forget to let me know how it went." Celestia waved him out the door. "Goodbye, Wallace. See you later." Night fell across the town and in the home of the principals of Canterlot High, Vice-Principal Luna tossed and turned in her bed, struggling to find her sleep. "Uugh~" she moaned like a zombie. "This is ridiculous. I deal with this day in and out, it shouldn't bother me this much." Turning on her lamp, and peering through the haziness, she picked out the lever of the Snoozatron. "I suppose now's a good time as any to give it a try." She pulled the lever, causing the four numbered cylinders to spin in rapid motion, while a light illuminated the word "SNOOZATRON". Meanwhile, in the room of Celestia, the principal was snuggly dozing in her bed, when suddenly a blaring alarm built into the wall at the side of her bed snapped her out of her pleasant dreams and into the waking world. While she knew of her mission, being snapped awake is not comfortable for anybody. As shown before, a pair of mechanical hands emerged from underneath the bed, packing in the mattress, and the pressers from above packed in her pillow, bouncing her body in an amusing way. "Oh, now that does feel good," she smiled. Celestia rubbed her tired eyes, trying to hold back from nodding off. Once the mechanical limbs went away, and Luna laying comfortably in her pillow, Celestia then took out a sheep onesie she kept hidden in her closet that was just her size. The claw from earlier came down and dropped the hot water bottle onto where her thighs laid under the covers. "Oh, yes...that feels just right." Just then, another claw from across the room delivered a stuffed animal in the shape of a pig. "Oh! Leonard, I was wondering where you went," she smiled, reminiscing. Celestia meanwhile trounced downstairs in her onesie through the pitch darkness of her tiredness. Finally, her painting of "Starry Night" lowered to reveal a small gramophone that rolled out on tracks and began playing soft xylophone music, which made Luna feel comfortably gentle. "Alright, now for the finale." Celestia sat on a dining chair, sipping three cups worth of coffee, waiting for the trapdoor to finally open. She yawned, stood up, placed the hood over her hair, and then the spring sprang her up to Luna's view, praying that her tired eyes wouldn't see through the costume. "One...two...three," Luna counted, growing more and more drowsy. "Four...five," she yawned. "Siii~." In no time, her head plopped onto the pillow as she peacefully began sleeping away. Celestia meanwhile was still operating on the spring, feeling dizzy and annoyed with the whole procedure. She then noticed the meter on the Snoozatron operator reading "490, 489 Sheep Remaining." Not wanting to wait all night, she time the spring to catch the ledge of the trapdoor. She then calmly crawled up to Luna's bed, turned off the lamp and lightly kissed her cheek. "Sweet dreams, Lulu." Celestia crawled around the area at the edge of the bed, curled up herself, and peacefully went to sleep with the fuzziness of her favorite and only onesie.