Fallout Equestria Price of Paradise
Chapter 4
Movie Magic
“It’s time to make de magics!”
“Say what?” I asked in disbelief.
“We want you to help us escape.” The raggedy buck said as flakes of skin pealed from his face and fell to the floor. “We’re prisoners here just like yourselves. All we want is your help escaping.” he sighed his voice was hoarse and scratchy. “Will you help us?”
“Why do you need our help?” Patch asked earnestly. “Why haven’t you tried to escape on your own?”
The young glittery pony step forward. “Because we can’t,” a wild look in her eye. “If we try that thing will kill us!”
The magenta mare hushed the youngster with a hoof. “I wish we could say more, but we can’t.” Her sunken rotting eyes dug into my soul. “Please help us,” she implored “We’ll do what we can, but it might not be much. Please, will you help us?”
Well Silva, here you are again. Ponies asking for your help. Well it’s not like I had much choice in the matter before... Great now I’m talking to myself.
I looked at the three ponies that stood before me pleading for help, then at Patch. “Patch?” I asked. Maybe he’d know what I should say.
“It couldn’t hurt us anymore than our current predicament.” He shrugged. “And besides it’s not like we have much of an option.”
“Then it’s settled we’ll help you get out of here.” I sighed. “We’ll help you get out of here. What’s the plan?”
* * *
“No sir, I don’t like it.” I moaned as we rode the elevator up to the ‘Lab’ “Not one bit. Why did we decided that this was the best option?” The other three remained silent. Apparently the robopony had implanted them with some sort of chip that had limited control over their nervous system. They couldn’t speak until their script allowed for them too.
Patch sighed and looked at me “Because if we follow the script we should theoretically be able to end this ‘Play’ early, all we have to do is...” I elbowed him to hush as we approached the lab floor.
~Screeeeech!~ the elevator ground to a halt. The cage doors opened slowly and the raggedy buck made his way out into the lab.
The “lab” was coated floor to ceiling in pink marble. The floors were covered in expertly laid and polished tiles. Two curved ramps lead up onto a balcony that circled half way round the room and a stage was set up opposite it. Four thick, beveled, marble pillars were place evenly around the chamber and several marble statues of ponies in various poses of strength and grace decorated the room. The entire lab looked like it could have been part of the gymnasium back in Hayday, making me feel more than a little home sick. A large, covered tank sat opposite us on the other end of the room next to a large, red vault door.
“Magenta,” the mechanical pony called from the stage. “Columbia go and assist Riff Raff.” As the robot spoke each name the mares stepped forward out of the lift moving across the lab towards the raggedy maned buck and the tank. “I will entertain. . . ah. . .?” Now it was our turn. Patch and I made our way out of the elevator.
“I’m Silva Mane and this is my companion, Patch Work.” I motioned with a hoof to Patch.
The robopony approached as I introduced us
“Encante. . .” It said in its artificial voice as it took my outstretched hoof, pretending to kiss it. “How nice.” It said circling us giving me the distinct feeling it was checking us both out.
Great now I’m being hit on by a perverted robot. Can my day get any worse?
“But here, put these on, they’ll make you feel less vulnerable.” It continued, levatating two lab coats to us. “It’s not often we receive visitors here.” It said with an electronic chuckle. “Let alone offer them hospitality.”
“Hospitality?!” I seethed. “Luna’s connecting cutie marks! All we want to do is get out of this hell hole! So far all you’ve managed to do is sing to crappy polka music and dance... badly.” My body shook with rage. My only good wing was outstretched as I readied myself to pounce this talking tin can.
“Silva,” Patch leaned over and whispered into my ear. “Remember the plan. Stick to the the plan.” If he was trying to calm me down it wasn’t working.
“How forceful you are Silva!” The robot mocked in a sarcastic scared tone. ”Such a prime example of pegasi. So dominant.” Magenta and Columbia nickered.
‘You must be awful proud of her Patch.” The robot attempted to bring us back onto its script.
Patch blushed and pawed at the ground. “We-we’re not that way.” He finally managed to mumble.
“Right that was awkward...”I said while avoid eye contact with the embarrassed medical buck “Can we change the subject. Please?” We have a plan to stick to. No time to get caught up in this robots mind games. I’m not blushing... Eenope, not at all.
“What did you do to earn you’re cutie mark Silva?” The silver colored robopony asked” I take it involved some sort of encounter with a magical energy device of some sort?” .
Oh good, the metal head can take a hint.
“It’s not important.” I expertly dodged the question.
“Well, then how about you Patch?” the bot turned its inquisition on the ‘wonderful’ blue buck standing next to me.
“Everything is in readiness master.” Somehow ‘Riff Raff’ had made his way over here without us knowing. “We merely await your word.” By the color of Patch’s face I’d say he was glad for the interruption.
“Sorry I’ll have to get back to you on that!” The robotic pony chirped. “Science won’t discover the magic of life on it’s own.” The robot pranced away from us towards a podium that had been set up on stage flickering its spiked wire wipe tail along the way.
“Testing, one, two.” The perverted metal pony tested the mic. ” Very good. Let’s get started, Riff are the others on visual?” The ghastly buck nodded in reply as four monitors descended from the ceiling. Each of them were displaying a different robotic pony. One, bronze, one cobalt, one gunmetal, and the final one gold.
“What is this all about Flankenferter?” A feminine voice sprang forth from the cobalt robot. “We all know your work is a joke. There is nothing you can contribute to the College of Arcane Science which would be of any value.” The voice chided. “I’m mean really your life’s work has been dedicated to the study of Movie Magic. You’re a washout.”
“Now hold on one second, Maregun.” Another voice chimed in form the bronze machine. This one was deep and masculine. “Let him embarrass himself again I could use a good laugh. Besides, it’s not like anything he does will actively interfere with any of our plans for the island.”
“Yes well,” The gunmetal automaton said. This voice while while masculine sounded more timid, and hoarse. “I’m not opposed to hearing about his latest depraved attempt to procure our attentions. I agree with Celsior, let’s hear what he has to say.”
“Foldback you always side with Celsior, but neither of you hold the final say.” The feminine voice countered. “That honor belongs to Professor Unitron. Professor your opinion on the matter at hand?”
“LET THE WORM SPEAK SO THAT WE MAY LAUGH AT HIS FAILURE.” An elderly sounding electronic voice boomed from the final golden robopony.
“I will not be deterred.” Flankenferter shot back. “You’ll all hold your tongues when you see what I’ve got cooked up! You’ll be begging for my research by the night’s end!” The sliver bot barked with his head held high, he continued. “Tonight my unconventional conventionalist's.” Flankenferter’s voice became more confident with each word. “Tonight you are to witness a breakthrough in bio-magical research.” The metallic pony pranced around the mic. “And Paradise is to be mine!”
“What the hell is going on here...” I whispered to Patch “This isn’t how they said the script would go.”
All Patch could do was shrug.
“It was strange the way it happened.” Flankenferter started while he paced around the mic. “ One of those quirks of fate really. One of those moments when you seem irredeemably lost:” He paused in front of mic for second before continuing to pace. “You panic; you’re trapped.” He stopped again , this time to look in our direction before continuing. “Your back’s against the wall. There’s no way out, and then suddenly you catch a break.”
“Flank, cut the dramatics, and get to the science. Any more and I swear I’ll blow circuit,” the masculine bronze bot growled. “We don’t have time to listen to you go on and on for hours. I don’t know about the others but I have more important experiments to run,” Celsior huffed.
“Fair enough.” Flankenferter grumbled. “Ladies and gentle colts, I present to you...” The speakers played a drum roll for dramatic effect. “The essence of life!” A silver glow enveloped the cover on the tank revealing the mummified form of a large earth pony buck floating in a pink, viscous fluid. “Throw open the switches on the sonic oscillator.”
Riff Raff started to flick switches on a control panel not to far from the tank. The light in the room dimmed. ~Whurrrvip~ a high pitched hum started to fill the room.
“And step up the the reactor talisman three more points!” Flankenferter’s voice sound hysterical as the sliver bot broke into maniacal laughter. ~Whurrrvip!~ The hum was getting louder and faster in pace. A chandelier slowly lowered from the ceiling over the tank. Flankenferter practically skipped over to the tank still cackling like a madmare. A silver, magical glow enveloped the small valves attached to the chandelier, letting a multitude of rainbow colored liquids flow into the tank. ~Whurrrvip~ The deafening hum nearly drowned out all other sound other than the silver robot’s psychotic laughter. Magical energy arced out from the tank, striking all the nearby ponies turning our three new friends into glowing piles of pink ash. The crazed robopony was still laughing as the wild energy ripped into its metal hide revealing the circuitry and wiring underneath.
Patch and I ran back towards the elevator only to find the cage doors had been locked. “I told you we were doomed!” Patch screamed as we struggled to get the locking mechanism open.
Slowly, the humming began to quiet. Patch and I cowered against the cage door as residual arcane sparks arced off of the tank. A figure wrapped in a blinding, golden light arose from within the tank. As the figure stood wings unfolded from its back. The sparks of magical energy still occasionally arcing off the tank slowly started to die down. The lights of lab flickered on illuminating the now decimated stage, revealing the horrible, hulking, monstrosity now standing in the tank.
* * *
Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Egg Head: You gain two additional skill points per level.
Science at 52
Repair at 52