//------------------------------// // Jackass // Story: To Observe is Science! // by Crimson Star //------------------------------// (A/N: This next chapter is written entirely from the third person. Reason being? I find it easier to write from third person. That said, the rest of this story, and all future stories shall now be written from third person. Hope you enjoy.) Ace stalked through the shadows of Ponyville, snickering to himself. He was burned out on repairing the bots that delivered him from the volcano, and a fresh set of eyes was needed if he was gonna fix the Rockidile. He needed some kind of distraction, and his borderline insane intellect came up with the perfect plan. He had forsaken the lab coat that ponies had come to always recognize him with, and his goggles were now pulled down over his eyes. A grin stretched his cheeks, as he went through Ponyville with a guitar case, searching for a victim. He finally found one, lazily sleeping on a cloud floating low to the ground. Wordlessly, he opened the guitar case, took out the object inside, and hid it behind his back. “I’m Dr. Ace Sorou, and this is Jackass.” He muttered to himself. Rainbow Dash was relaxing in the sun, wondering what she should do with her day. The weather ponies didn’t have anything scheduled, and she had got all her daily tasks done early, for once. That left a whole day for her to do anything she wanted. And she was disappointed to find herself chillaxing on a cloud. Such wasted potential. “Hey, RD!” A voice suddenly called, snapping Rainbow out of her thoughts. She looked down, and saw Dr. Sorou, waving up at her. She was surprised to see him out of the lab, especially after what happened the other day with his machine, but she was even more surprised to see him without his lab coat. She waved a hoof down at him. “Hey, Doc! What’s up?” She called. “C’mere!” He shouted, beckoning her down with a wave. “I need to ask you something!” Bells went off in Rainbow’s head, but she didn’t see any harm in coming down off the cloud. Warily, she glided down in front of Ace. As she drew closer, she noticed that he was wearing a shirt she never saw him with. It had the image of a human skull with crossed crutches on it. Something as grotesque as the bones of a living creature should normally disgust many ponies, but she believed the shirt was so cartoony and outrageous, no one would bother complaining. In fact, she found the shirt kind of cool. “Liking the new shirt, Doc.” Ace stifled a giggle, as he tried to keep his composure. Oh, if Rainbow Dash only knew what the symbol stood for. “Thanks.” He said. “I save it for special occasions.” Rainbow Dash’s curiosity was now thoroughly piqued. “Special occasions?” She asked, forgetting her earlier warnings that something was up. “What kind of occasions?” “Well…” Ace put a hand over his mouth, which was stretched out into a smile. “Have you ever thought of dying your coat a new color?” He asked, looking up at Rainbow. Rainbow was taken aback by the question. She raised her front hoof, and suddenly stood at an angle, ready to bolt. “No, I’ve never considered it. Why?” She asked, skeptically. Ace shrugged. “Oh, no reason. I just have a selection of colors that I think would look good on you. Here, let me give you a sample.” As soon as he said this, he whipped out a paintball gun from behind his back, and let off a rapid burst of automatic fire aimed right at Rainbow Dash. “Aaah! What the-?! Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelped as she was peppered by Ace’s fire. It was over as soon as she started flying, and she heard Ace cackling loudly. She looked back to see him running away. “Don’t worry!” He called to her, running as fast as his legs would carry him. “It’s water soluble! It’ll wash out!” “Huh?” She looked back at her stinging body, and gasped in outrage. Her awesome, bright blue coat had been peppered with paint, making her stomach, back, and parts of her flank just as rainbow colored as her hair. She turned back to his direction, and glared. “Oh, you are so dead!” She exclaimed, as she reared up, and flew after him. Rainbow was fast, but Ace was clever. As soon as he thought she was gonna catch up to him, he suddenly veered down an alleyway, or jumped over a fence. He used obstacles to put some distance between him and Rainbow. But that only worked well for so long. As soon as she caught on to his pattern, she was able to anticipate his jumps and what obstacles he was going to try and use to his advantage. At one point, Ace glanced back at his pursuer, and saw that she was catching up. But he planned for this, and kept Rainbow at bay long enough to reach Sugarcube corner. Pinkie Pie was helping the Cakes fill an order today, and as much as she wanted to go play with friends, she had responsibilities to attend to. After all, the Cakes needed help, and she was the only good baker available to help them out. Suddenly, her Pinkie sense began acting up. It was a combo. Shaky knees, thirsty mouth, thumpy heart… “Acey’s coming!” She exclaimed, grinning. The Cakes looked up, just in time to see Ace fall directly in front of Pinkie, having jumped into the kitchen window. He picked himself up, and dusted himself off. “Hey, Pinks.” He said, giving a quick smooch on the snout, before running off, quickly saying, “Sorry, can’t talk now. Busy pranking.” He quickly exited to the busy front of Sugarcube corner, where several patrons were trying to enjoy a meal. Several adlibs of confusion sounded, as Ace moved through the crowd, saying things like “’Scuse me,” “Pardon me,” “Look out,” and “Coming through.” Just then, Rainbow shot through the kitchen from the window, into the storefront of Sugarcube corner. Pinkie managed to catch a glimpse of the paint stains all over Rainbow, to which she snickered. “WHERE IS HE?” Rainbow Dash shouted, much to the surprise of the ponies at Sugarcube corner. Everypony pointed towards the main entrance, which was still wagging back and forth from Ace’s exit. Rainbow Dash got into gear, and headed for the door. She looked over just in time to see Ace headed for the park. She was about to chase after him, but stopped to think. If she did, he’d end up throwing obstacles in her path, just like he did earlier. But if she flew directly to the park, she could cut him off, and catch up to him. Grinning deviously, Rainbow shot up into the air, and went directly to the park. She landed in a clearing facing the treeline that functioned as the edge of the park. Ace had to come through those trees. They were the only thing between the park and the path to Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow licked her lips, flying in place, as she prepared to… Wait… What WAS she gonna do? Ace was just pranking her, not doing anything mean. Sure, the paintballs hurt, but they just stung a little. And to be honest, it WAS a pretty funny prank. He’s just playing around. But then, the paintball DID hurt, and if Ace wants to play rough, she could play rough! Rainbow got ready to Dash at Ace, and tackle him! Yeah! Tackling him to the ground would hurt too, but she would be playing back! So she waited for him! And waited! And waited… But Ace never came. Rainbow increasingly became agitated, until she groaned in frustration, throwing her hooves up in the air. ‘Aw, man!’ she thought, bringing her hooves to her face. ‘Did he double back, or something?!’ She crossed her arms, her mood spoiled. ‘He could’ve gone anywhere! Ugh, now I’m gonna have to go find him.’ This thought in mind, she grumpily made her way to the treeline. “Splash!” As soon as she passed the first tree, she was hit by a wave of water from the side. Surprised, Rainbow fell to the ground with a yelp. She wagged her head, and looked at her aggressor. Ace was tossing a water balloon in his hand, grinning idly. There was a bucket behind him, filled to the brim with more water balloons. “Gotcha, didn’t I?” He asked, nodding for Rainbow Dash to look behind her. Rainbow looked, and saw a second bucket of water balloons, ready and primed for use. “Splash!” Another water balloon hit Rainbow from behind, as she was inspecting the second bucket. She quickly ducked behind the second bucket, and smirked confidently. “That does it!” She declared. “It. Is. ON!” The treeline quickly became murky, as water balloons sailed through the air, exploding against trees, buckets, and the ones tossing them. At one point, Ace slipped, and fell into a mud puddle, causing Rainbow to burst out in laughter. “Watch that first step, Doc!” She said. “It’s a doozy!” Ace harrumphed jovially. “Yeah, yeah, yuck it up.” He told her, picking himself up. “I’m just gonna need to clean up, a little.” “I can help ya there.” She said, smiling menacingly at Ace. Before Ace could respond, a water balloon collided with his face, causing him to fall back in surprise. And just like that, the battle resumed. Eventually, both combatants exited the treeline, dripping wet, bits of broken and busted balloon on both of them. They both were sharing a laugh between them, leaving behind a small mess of murky mud amongst the mass of trees. “That was the most fun I’ve had all week!” Rainbow shouted, flying up, and tapping her hoof with Ace’s fist. “I had a blast!” Ace nodded, smiling at her. “I’m glad ya did!” He replied. “Does that mean you might wanna do it again, sometime?” “Of course!” Rainbow affirmed, before looking over at him. “Are you leaving already?” She asked. “That was the plan.” Ace told her. “I have some work to do. If I don’t get this bot finished, I may never get any more high value ores.” “High value ores?” Rainbow asked, her curiosity piqued. “What is that supposed to mean?” “High value ores are mineral deposits that have never been mined, and form quicker.” Ace explained. “They mostly appear in dangerous places, such as volcanoes.” That last sentence caught Rainbow. “Hold on a second!” She said, dashing in front of Ace. “You promised Pinkie you’d never put yourself in another super-dangerous situation again!” “And I fully intend to keep that promise, Rainbow.” Ace reasoned. “Which is why I’m crafting the Pyro-bot. He’s a fully automated powerhouse equipped with both a Particle Beam and an experimental Heat Ray, for melting metals. Once he’s completed, he’ll be going after all the dangerous ores that I would have used the Rockidile to go after myself.” He indicated the direction to his lab, which was just over the horizon. “You can see for yourself, if you want.” Rainbow was skeptical. Not because she didn’t believe Ace, but because she wanted to protect Pinkie’s feelings. She shrugged in agreement. “I got nothing else to do, today.” With Ace leading the way, the two headed over to Ace’s lab. ******* “Whoa.” Rainbow said, staring up at the machine. It was a ten foot tall humanoid robot with two cannons mounted to its shoulders, the left one purple, and the right one red. “It looks kinda like a minotaur!” Rainbow said, referring to its body structure. “I wanted Pyro-bot to be as strong as he looked.” Ace informed Rainbow. “So I designed him to look like a minotaur I found on a brochure.” Ace took the brochure out from his desk, and put it down in front of Rainbow. “Obviously, black is a more suitable color for Pyro-bot than blue, but I’m gonna add in some red details on the final paintjob. The body structure works out perfectly, because it’s easier to fit the gravity generator inside.” Ace went back to work on the robot. “You designed him to look like Iron Will?” Rainbow snickered. “What’ are you a fan of his, or something?” Ace shook his head, continuing to work on his robot. “Nope. I just think he’s a good base for my stronger bots.” He said, as Dash looked around the lab. She had noticed something tucked away in another room. A glint of shiny blue metal caught her eye. She peered into the room, and saw something vaguely pony-shaped. In this light, all that could be seen was a metallic hind leg, and a group of seven large, rainbow colored cables. The leg was the same shade of blue as Rainbow’s coat, and engraved near the ‘flank’ of this metal pony was- The metal door slid shut before Rainbow could examine it further. “Hey, Rainbow!” Ace said, not in any threatening manner. “Sorry, but that room’s off-limits.” He told her. Suspicion took to the forefront of Rainbow Dash’s mind. “ Why?” She asked, accusingly, as her wings began to carry her to eye level with Ace. “What’s in there?” She demanded, glaring at him. “Just a project I’m working on.” Ace replied coolly, as his forehead became moist with sweat. Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of project?” She said, bumping her snout into his nose. Ace, to his credit, stood his ground. “Possibly my greatest work.” He told her. “You’ll find out what it is soon enough, but I’m missing a lot of materials to complete it.” There was a pregnant silence between the two of them. Rainbow was wondering why Ace couldn’t tell her what it was, and assumed the worst. Ace was wondering if he would get his personal space back. Pinkie was wondering why Rainbow and Ace were touching noses. Wait, Pinkie?! “Rainbow?” Pinkie asked innocently, a blank look on her face. Both Rainbow and Ace looked over at Pinkie, surprised to see her in the lab. “Pinkie?” Rainbow asked. “What are you doing here?” “The cakes and I finished baking the food for the order, so I came over to visit with Acey.” Pinkie’s eyes narrowed. “What are YOU doing here? And why was your snout getting all comfy with my coltfriend’s face?” “Oh, uh…” Rainbow began, putting a hoof behind her head, as she tried to put the words together. But Pinkie didn’t skip a beat. “Well, it looked like you were trying to give my Acey a little sugar!” She accused, walking forward. “You want a human to share your sugar with?! Get your own!” She shouted angrily, waving her hooves up in outrage “Whoa, wait a second!” Rainbow said, shooting her hooves out defensively. “I-it’s not what you think!” Ace saw an opportunity. Rainbow was getting inquisitive, and Ace didn’t want to be found out. He chose now to act. “It’s okay, Pinks.” Ace intervened, wrapping his arms around Pinkie. “Rainbow was just a little confused about something.” He told her, looking over to Rainbow with a smirk on his face. “And she was just leaving, right?” Rainbow was speechless. A rush of confusion and fear ran through her, as tears began to well up in her eyes. She huffed, glaring at Ace. “Yeah, I was.” She said, flying out the door. Ace and Pinkie watched as Dash left, Pinkie still angry, and Ace adopting a look of disappointment. As soon as she left, Ace turned back to Pinkie. “Pinks, nothing happened.” He told her quickly, catching Pinkie’s attention. “I just have a surprise that I didn’t want her to find, and she got a bit too close to discovering it.” “A surprise?” Pinkie asked, her anger melting. “Is it a good kinda surprise?” She wondered. “Yes, I assure you, it is.” Ace said. “But nopony can know about it. Not until it’s complete. I didn’t want her to get too much info on it, so I trust you with the information.” “But…” Pinkie looked up at the door, confused. “I thought she was kissing you, and you weren’t enjoying it.” She told him. “If nothing happened, then why did you-“ “Because I didn’t want to be put into a corner, and have to reveal it before it was completed. I’m sorry I implied the situation you described, and I want to apologize to Rainbow. But I need to move the surprise to a new location. So, can you apologize to Rainbow for me?” Pinkie looked down, thinking. “Well, if you’re telling the truth, then I need to apologize to her, too.” She looked up, and kissed Ace. “I’ll tell her, for both of us.” She said. “Go ahead and move your surprise.” With that, she trotted off, out the door. Ace watched her leave, and sighed. “That was close.” He said, before entering the room. His thoughts drifted to nightmare night. It was tomorrow. That meant there was one more month before Geo’s trial. As Ace began picking up his ‘surprise,’ he silently hoped Geo won.