//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Angelswift II: The Awakening // by Nevel //------------------------------// “Doctor?” Lance asked shocked, between fits of coughing. He couldn’t believe it. The Doctor was earth pony from Ponyville and he had been gone for several months. A lot of ponies thought he wasn’t coming back, especially his old assistant, Derpy. “Lance my boy, it’s been so long. How are you feeling? You look terrible.” Lance had been in a train wreck, lost in a forest, chased by a murderous robot and had almost been incinerated. Lance figured he looked worse than terrible. “What-” Lance had another coughing fit from inhaling too much smoke from the incinerator. The doctor patted him on the back a few times till it stopped. “Thanks. But what are you doing down here?” The Doctor smiled at him. “You mean other than saving you from having a new coat of crispy brown? Not much. Listen, I’d love to let you get some well-deserved rest, but I’m afraid your friends upstairs don’t have the luxury of time. They’re in trouble.” The Doctor helped Lance get back up to his hooves. “What do you mean?” Lance asked. “Walk and talk Lance, hurry.” The Doctor turned around and climbed a short set of steps, then headed down a long corridor. All the lights in this area were red and the walls had several thick pipes on them, leading in many different directions. “Doctor, what’s going on? Why are you down here? What’s happening with the others? Is Cherry okay?” “Well, Cherry should be fine. You left her in good hooves, with Moonlight. Right now they should be getting to the command centre. That Fire Wire is quite a smart girl you know, working out how to crack the Clockwork Stallion’s code. I barely managed to do it myself.” “Clockwork what?” Lance asked as they climbed up more stairs. “Clockwork Stallions. Strange name for ‘em really. I’ve always thought they were closer to Cyber ponies myself.” The doctor chuckled to himself. ”Ah, that always makes me laugh. Still, what’s no laughing matter is that Titan fellow.” “Yeah, I had a run in with him.” “He’s a tough one. Not gonna be easy to stop him, but I’m sure you can do it.” “What? Me?!“ Lance asked, surprised, thinking the doctor was off his rocker. “And don’t worry about what I’m doing here,” The Doctor continued, stepping out onto a catwalk over a pit that looked bottomless. Lance felt his stomach drop out as he looked down. “Just make sure to give me this when you next see me.” “Give you what?” Lance suddenly noticed that The Doctor was wearing a small card around his neck, held on by a thin bit of rope. He took it off and put it over Lance’s neck. “What is this?” Lance asked, looking at the card. It had ‘LVL1’ printed on it. “That’s a level one access card. It’ll get you into any room. Don’t lose it.” The Doctor looked over the edge and down below. Lance looked around, noticing have similar this room was to the other side of this facility. “Very little imagination went into making this place.” Lance said, looking at another catwalk above himself. “Haha, yeah.” The brown earth pony then climbed over the railing. “Doctor!” Lance called out. “What are you doing?!” “I’m taking a shortcut. Now get upstairs, and hurry. There’s a good lad.” The Doctor then dropped off the edge. “Doctor!!” Lance shouted. Suddenly a grey pegasus swooped in out of nowhere and caught The Doctor on its back. Lance recognised the mare. It was Derpy. She circled around, keeping the speed but flying dangerously close to the wall where one of the pipes were sticking out. The Doctor saw it coming and ducked under it, just in time. He sat back up, turning to the pipe and laughed, taunting it. Then another pipe hit The Doctor on the back of the head, knocking him dizzy. “Are you okay, Doctor?” Lance heard Derpy say as they disappeared into a vent in the wall large enough for both of them. Lance couldn’t believe it. He even began to wonder if he really did die in that incinerator. After a moment of gawking, wondering if they would come back out the vent, Lance turned and started moving quickly. He had to get back to his sister and the others. Skylar was still missing, but at this point Lance was much more concerned about Cherry. Lance continued to the other side of the catwalk and came across a large factory floor. There were dozens of tables, welding booths, tools, a crane and many machines that Lance could only imagine were for cutting metal. Large stacks of thick metal lay in piles across the place. Half formed helmets that would soon become the head of a robot like Spark were lying in a large metal bin with dozens more helmets, ready to be collected for assembling. Now they just remained here, never to be assembled. Without power they couldn’t work the machines. They couldn’t build more. The Clockwork Stallions had to leave. Spark mentioned that the robots designed for building the others were weaker than the actual fighting ones. Did that include there power? How long did the builders work for before they had to regenerate their power? Fighting robots would be useless if, like Spark, they only lasted a few hours. So why would they be reprogramming the builders to be fighters? Lance found a lift and climbed inside, pressing a hoof against the button to take him to the higher level. The lift began to ascend. He hoped this took him to somewhere familiar. - - - “I’m telling you! The thing tried to kill us! It’s alive and it’s gone to the other side of the facility!” Moonlight had been trying to convince Fire Wire about how Titan was free, and currently looking for them all. She couldn’t believe it. “But I shut it down!” Fire Wire said, looking horrified that her plan backfired. “It should have been deactivated.” “You only shut down the pod.” Spark said, walking up to the dark grey unicorn. ”When all the power to the factory was shut down, I made it so that Titan’s pod was to stay powered by other means. When robots, such as I, need to regenerate energy we first have to power down. When Titan was in stasis, it was still activated. Titan’s own energy was what was powering the pod to keep the stasis active. With the pod deactivated, Titan was immediately mobile. But I am unsure as to why it reacted violently so suddenly.” Fire Wire jumped to her hooves. “Skylar!” “Huh? What about him?” Moonlight asked. “He was by the pod when I deactivated… oh no!” Fire Wire immediately turned to the computer, going to the security footage for the regeneration room. The image on the screen was horrifying. There was a squeak behind them from Cherry Blossom. Moonlight immediately hugged the filly and turned her from the screen. “Don’t look Cherry.” She said to her. But it was too late. Cherry had already seen it and immediately began to panic. “M- My brother! Wha- What about my brother? We have to save my brother!” Cherry’s voice kept getting louder with each moment her panic also rising. “Shhh, it’s alright Cherry. We’ll figure out a way to help Lance.” Moonlight looked up to Fire Wire who was still fixated on the screen. The body of Skylar Black was lying on the floor beside a broken regeneration pod and glass shards were lying around him. His eyes were wide open, unseeing, and a large deep burn mark on his breast showed more of Skylar then anypony ever wanted to see. Rift stepped forward to Fire Wire, shouting her name in her ear. She jumped, coming back to her surroundings. She could hear Cherry, begging the others to find her brother. She then snapped her attention to the monitor and changed the image, starting to scan every room on the other side of the facility. “Don’t you worry, Cherry.” Fire Wire said, calling over to the little pink filly “We’ll find your brother and get then we’ll get everypony out of here.” Fire wire kept scanning rooms using the security cameras, but Lance couldn’t be seen anywhere. “We have to lock this facility down.” Spark said, stepping forward. “If Titan escapes, then all of Equestria is at risk.” Rift turned to face the mechanical pony. “No way! We’re not locking this place down until we get everypony out of here.” Spark looked at each pony in the room, his head buzzing as he turned it. “Then may I suggest you all begin to leave.” Spark suggested to them. “Well… I can take Cherry out of here and we can wait above.” Moonlight said still sitting next to the filly. “But what about-“ Cherry started to say but she was cut off by Rift. “Cherry, there’s not much you can do here and I’m sure your brother would be worried sick about you still being in here while that thing is about.” “But-“ Rift put a hoof on her head and ruffled up her mane a little. “And don’t you worry. I’m going down there right now to find him.” Rift stepped back from the filly and then adjusted the guitar on his back, giving him room to spreading his wings. “I assure you, I’ll get to him quick.” “I’ll watch these monitors and keep an eye out.” Fire Wire said, determined to make up for her mistake. “There might still be some good I can do from here. I mean, I do have full control of the facility here.” Spark turned to Fire Wire. “You should leave with the others. I can control everything from here.” Fire Wire narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Oh no. You’ve been adamant in wanting to lock this facility down, with all of us still in here with that monster machine you built.” Spark didn’t respond. He continued to stare at Fire Wire as if she was right. And she was. “We have a plan then?” Moonlight called over the room. “Rift, you’ll go as fast as you can through the other side of this facility, try and find Lance and for ponies sake, be careful.” Rift gave a nod and galloped down the stairs, as fast as he could. “Fire Wire, you watch all of the cameras and if you see Lance, do what you can to communicate with him.” “There’s a speaker system.” Spark added. “Just use the microphone there to communicate through the active camera.” Fire Wire saw the microphone Spark indicated. It looked like a tiny block designed to fit into an ear. “That’s a microphone? But it goes in the ear.” Fire Wire said, confused. “It’s a speaker also, so you can hear them on the other side.” “This tiny thing? That’s incredible!” Fire Wire said as she floated it up, placing it to her ear. It didn’t fit but she could use her magic to hold it in place. “Okay then.” Moonlight said as she stood up. “Cherry, you and I are going outside where it’ll be safer while we wait.” Cherry looked up to Moonlight, her eyes were still wide with worry and she wanted to protest. “Can’t we stay here?” She asked quietly. Moonlight got down low to Cherry. “I think it’s better to wait outside, don’t you? When Lance comes back, we wanna be ready to leave.” Cherry nodded and then stood beside Moonlight. “Let’s hurry. And you two,“ Moonlight looked to Fire Wire and Spark. “Be careful.” Fire Wire smiled and then turned to focus on the monitors, as did Spark. Moonlight walked to the door with Cherry and out across the catwalk. They reached the lift and walked in together. The little pink filly was keeping her head low, looking worried. “Hey, don’t worry about it.” Moonlight said as she pressed the up button on the lift. “I’m sure Lance will be-“ The doors started closing and Cherry jumped out the door. “Cherry!“ Moonlight reacted too late. The doors closed and the lift began to ascend with Moonlight on it. Cherry Blossom ran back across the catwalk and then peeked into the control room. Spark and Fire Wire were busy watching the monitors. The filly slowly snuck through the room, to the stairs and went down to the lower level. She was heading to the other side of the facility. - - - Cherry made it to the door leading to the other side of the facility. A large door hidden between two shelves stacked with all kinds of electronics was in one the room next to where they were hiding before. The door was ajar, so Cherry knew this must have been the way Rift came. She took a step inside and jumped as she heard a voice behind her. “Weren’t you leaving with Moonlight?” It was Spark. He had seen Cherry going down the steps and then followed her, leaving Fire Wire to watch the monitors. The filly turned to Spark, her heart beating hard in her chest after the scare. “S-Spark!” Cherry shook her head and looked at him seriously. “I’ve gotta go down and help find my brother. He might need me.” “And getting yourself lost is going to help him?” Cherry turned back to the door. “I-I’m not leaving without him. H-he’s the only family I-I’ve …” Cherry couldn’t get the words out. The thoughts of her brother lying unconscious on the train and that moment of panic when he wouldn’t wake up, even when she screamed his name haunted her. And after seeing what that monster had done to Skylar, Cherry couldn’t get the thought of the same thing happening to her brother out of her head. Tears welled up in her eyes as she sobbed silently. Spark walked past, indifferent to her current emotions. “We must be fast. Your brother could be anywhere, but we’ll try down in level one first.” Cherry wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. “Th-thank you, Spark. You’re a good friend.” A spark shot from the little metal pony’s neck, as he turned to face her. “Come, Cherry Blossom.” He turned back and they both went in together. - - - Fire Wire was still checking through the camera. All she saw were empty corridors, rooms filled with half assembled robots, but no signs of Lance or Titan. The sound of hoofsteps caught her attention and she turned around. Moonlight was stood in the doorway, looking around nervously. “Moonlight, what are-“ Fire Wire started to ask, but Moonlight shouted over her. “Have you seen Cherry?!” “What?” Fire Wire looked confused. “Wasn’t she with you?” “We got separated at the lift. I think she’s gone down to find her brother!” Moonlight said, panicking. Fire Wire turned to the monitor, and brought up the camera to the entrance leading to the other side of the facility. The door was open, but no pony was there. She checked a few other ones before she spotted them. “There they are.” Fire Wire pointed out to Moonlight. Cherry and Spark were walking through a room filled with computers, making their way to a platform in the corner. They both stood on it and it took them down into the room below. Fire Wire changed to camera to the next room. This room was filled with hanging wires and was darker, lit only by a red light. Exposed power boxes were everywhere, making that room look incredibly dangerous. “I’m going after them!” Moonlight said, making her way to the staircase. “Wait!” Firewire shouted. “Lemme talk to them. Get them to come back.” Fire Wire pressed a button on the computer in front of her. “Cherry? Cherry Blossom, can you hear me?” - - - Cherry stood frozen. Somepony had called her name, but she could see nothing. A hum and a buzzing noise came from the power boxes around her, but no pony was there, nor another robot. “Cherry! It’s me, Fire Wire.” Cherry hardly recognised her voice. It sounded so robot like. “Where are you?” Cherry asked looking around her. “I’m in the control room where I’ve always been. Remember how Spark said I can talk to ponies through the cameras? Well that’s what I’m doing now.” Cherry looked around and then saw a camera, hanging from the ceiling in the corner. Cherry looked at that as she spoke. “Is… Is Ms Moonlight with you?” “Yes, yes Moonlight is here with me!” There was a rough rubbing sound coming from the speakers, followed by a “Hey!” from Fire Wire. “Cherry! Cherry it’s me, Moonlight! Are you okay?” Cherry looked down sadly at the floor. “Are… are you mad at me for running off?” Cherry asked, quietly. “No,” Moonlight said, breathing a sigh of relief into the mic. “No I’m not sweetie, but you’ve got to come back upstairs right now. You know it isn’t safe in there.” Cherry looked back up to the camera. “But I can’t, I’ve got to find my brother!” “Cherry, listen.” Moonlight started to but Cherry cut her off. “It’s alright. Spark knows a shortcut.” “Cherry.” Moonlight was cut off again by the filly. “And don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” “Cherry!” Moonlight shouted into the mic but still the filly kept talking over her. “We’ll be back up before you know it. You should get out quickly though.” Cherry turned around and began walk with Spark out the door. “Cherry? Cherry wait!” Moonlight’s voice called after them, but they left the room quickly, cutting off the sound of what Moonlight said next. - - - “Cherry, come back here!” Moonlight yelled again. She stomped a hoof and then turned to Fire Wire. “Follow them! Get the next camera up.” “Moonlight.” Fire Wire said with a sigh. “Come on, how does this thing work? Moonlight asked, trying to get the controls in her magic. Fire Wire over powered her though and kept it from her. “Moonlight, listen. If we start following them and calling to them from every camera they walk past, that monster thing down there will be lead right to them.” The white unicorn thought about it for a moment and then floated the communication device down next to the monitor. She took a few breaths, clearing her head before speaking again. “Okay. I’ll just go down and get them back then.” Moonlight said, making her way to the stairs. “Don’t you dare!” Fire Wire yelled. Moonlight stopped in her tracks, looking back to the orange haired unicorn. “If you go down there, you’ll just become another pony we have to worry about.” Moonlight looked like she wanted to argue, but was never given the chance. “We’ve got Rift down there already. We’ll contact him, tell him what’s up, and let him bring Cherry back.” Moonlight walked over to the corner and sat down on the cold floor. She knew Fire Wire was right, but she felt like Cherry was her responsibility now. Lance had been counting on her and she blew it. - - - Lance was right next to Titan. He had found a room that required a level one keycard. He knew he didn’t have time to go snooping around but curiosity got the better of him and he decided to take a look. After using the card, the door beeped and the large shadow of Titan could be seen at the end of the hall. Lance jumped inside the small room after seeing this and hid. But his biggest mistake was leaving the door open. Seconds later Titan was inside the room with him and Lance had to curl up under a desk in the middle of the room. Lance couldn’t see where it was nor could he hear it. Spark was noisy when he moved, but this monster was silent, except for the sounds of its metallic hooves hitting the floor. Lance couldn’t hear it moving, but he definitely didn’t hear it leave. It was still here. Lance was holding his breath, afraid to make the slightest noise. He waited. Soon he heard movement. Titan was coming further into the room. Lance saw its legs come into view, and he was inches from it. Lance felt every joint and muscle freeze up in his body. If he moved now, he was dead, and there was no way out the room except that door. Titan stood there unmoving, just as still as Lance. Titan could do this forever. Lance couldn’t. His lungs were begging to take a breath. Lance needed air but he knew that Titan would hear him. The sound of a voice echoed from far away. It was slightly muffled, like when Spark talked. Titan then walked to the door and left the room quickly, following the sound. Lance let out a gasp of air, breathing deeply after he was sure that Titan was gone. Lance poked his head out slowly, making sure he was alone. He then crept to the door and shut it. Lance relaxed, glad he was alone again. “Lance!” Lance screamed and fell over backwards, kicking his legs trying to defend himself from… nothing. He was still alone in the room. The sound of laughing came from above him. “We’re- We’re sorry Lance. Are you okay?” The voice said. Lance didn’t think it sounded sorry between its fits of laughter. “Who are you?” Lance asked, standing back up. “It’s Fire Wire and Moonlight. We’re speaking to you using the speaker system throughout the facility. We can see you on the camera.” Lance looked around the room spotting the camera. He moved towards it and peered into the lens, getting a little too close. “Hey, hey! Don’t do that, your fogging up the picture.” Fire wire said though the speakers. “And are you okay? We saw Titan and decided to distract him.” “Wait, that was you?” Lance asked. “Yep. Just one of my simpler idea’s. These machines are strong, but aren’t too smart.” The smugness behind Fire Wire’s voice couldn’t be hidden, even through a speaker that made her sound like Spark. “Hold on. Fire, is Cherry there? You said Moonlight was with you.” No response. That was bad news and Lance didn’t want to hear bad news involving his sister. “Fire Wire!” Lance yelled worriedly into the camera. “Lance. This is Moonlight.” Her voice sounded different though the speakers too, but he could hear the fear in her voice. “Moonlight…” Lance could feel his worry building. “What’s happened? Where is Cherry?!” He yelled into the camera. If anything had happened to his sister… “She’s not hurt Lance. She’s… She’s okay.” Lance relaxed, leaning against the desk. “She’s with Spark and… and their looking for you.” Lance turned back to the camera. “What?” “Don’t worry!” Moonlight said quickly. “We’ve got Rift looking for them, but you’ve still got Titan hunting you. Lose him and then get up here fast. Rift will make sure Cherry gets up here when he finds her.” Lance couldn’t believe this. “Where are they now?” Lance never got an answer. There was a loud bang from down the hall and he ran to check it out, praying Cherry wasn’t the source of the bang. As he made his way down the faded grey hall where he heard the bang, he noticed that everything looked normal. No Titan, no marks, no debris. Whatever caused the bang was… BANG! The door right next to Lance sounded like something was slamming into it, trying to get out. “Well, that didn’t work. Need to think of something else.” Lance recognised the voice on the other side of the door. He saw the card slot and used the Level one card on it. The door beeped and opened. “Doctor? Is that you?” The brown earth pony stepped out from the room. “Ahh, thanks for that friend.” The Doctor then looked Lance up and down, realising who it was he was talking to. “Lance my boy! It’s been so long. How are you feeling? You look terrible!” Lance had a feeling of déjà vu as he stared at The Doctor. “What do you mean? We saw each other not five minutes ago.” “We did?” The Doctor asked, confused. “Yes, you saved me from that incinerator.” “Did i?” “Then you gave me this card to open these doors.” “Is that so?” “Don’t you remember? You jumped off a catwalk and landed on Derpy then flew into a vent.” “Derpy? But, I havn’t seen that ditzy mare in months.” The Doctor looked puzzled for a moment then smiled. “I think I get what’s going on.” The Doctor said to himself. “Gotta love a good, old fashioned, paradox.” Lance stared at The Doctor. “How hard did you hit your head on that pipe?” - - - Rift rounded a corner. He knew that Cherry was around here somewhere. The white pegasus flew down every hallway that was wide enough for his wings and constantly listened out for any sound from around corners before going down them. Fire Wire had said that Cherry and Spark were on this floor, but he felt like he’d checked every room. He wanted to call out, but that was a dangerous risk. Rift was ready to try another floor further down, but then he heard a clang noise from behind him, followed by a silenced shriek. “Cherry?” He whispered. Rift flew silently towards where the sounds came from. He reached a room and listened for a moment before opening the door. It creaked quietly but it sounded loud against the silence. The pegasus landed on the ground gently. He carefully looked around the room then stepped in. The lights were off in this room, so Rift couldn’t see much. Tables had stacks of drawings on them, as well as littered the floor. A smaller table had been toppled over, which might have been the clang he heard. Rift turned around and saw a faded red light shining at him. His heart stopped. “Rift?” He heard a young filly call from behind the robot. It was Spark and Cherry Blossom. Rift never felt more relieved. “Cherry! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Rift said, letting out a deep breath. “Did you find my brother yet?” She asked, looking hopeful. Rift shook his head. “No, I had to stop to find you. You should have never came down here.” Cherry hung her head low. “I… just wanted wanted to help.” Rift smiled then kneeled down close to her. “And it’s great that you do little Cherry, but if you wanted to help, you should have left earlier like we planned.” This didn’t make Cherry feel any better, she just wanted to help and now felt like a hindrance. Rift saw the sad look on her face, from the light coming through the door. “Hey, don’t mope. I still need to find Lance and I could use your help.” Cherry brightened up at this and had a huge smile on her face. “Really? You mean it?” Cherry asked, happily. “Come on.” Rift smiled at the filly and led her out the room. Spark walked in front of them and stopped in the hallway, Rift was looking down at Cherry and noticed her smiling face turn into a look of sheer terror. Rift looked up to see what she was looking at. Titan was standing at the end of the hallway. It was staring right at them. We’re dead. Rift thought to himself. He felt paralysed. “Rift. Grab Cherry and flee. I’ll hold it off.” Spark said. “What?” Cherry gasped. “No!” “All of Equestria is doomed if we don’t lock this place down. Cherry Blossom, I gave you the code. It’s up to you to lock the facility down.” Rift looked from Spark to Titan. He started moving towards them. “I’ll hold him for as long as I can. Protect Cherry Blossom from harm, and lock it all down.” Rift grabbed Cherry, picking her up as he jumped into the air, flapping his wings. She screamed, demanding to be let down. Repeatedly she called out Spark’s name, begging him not to do this. Rift flew of down the hallway and Cherry’s screams could be heard all the way as they left. Spark was left alone with Titan. “Goodbye, Cherry Blossom.” Titans stomping grew louder as it made its way to Spark. Soon the metallic pony was face to face with its own creation, the one that he himself had designed and made to be the perfect machine. Spark stood still, ready to face the consequences. Titan looked down at Spark. The giant Clockwork Stallion without hesitation fired a red blast of energy from its eye, blowing off a large chuck of Sparks head. Spark hit the ground, twitching as Titan raised its foreleg up and stomped down on the much smaller Clockwork Stallion’s torso, crushing it. The machine didn’t care who it destroyed. It just wanted to kill. Titan stepped over the now smoking wreck of Spark and gave chase after Rift and Cherry.