//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Angelswift II: The Awakening // by Nevel //------------------------------// “Let me go! Let me go!” Cherry screamed as Rift flew down the hallway. He flapped his wings harder then he ever had before. Rift had to put some distance between him and the monstrous robot that was right behind them. The pegasus could hear heavy thuds of its legs as it chased after them. Rift flew around the corner and the filly he held in his forelegs began kicking at the air, trying to get free. “Put me down! We have to go back!” She kept screaming and fighting, but Rift knew that if Titan was chasing them, then Spark was already dead. “Cherry, you’ve got to stop that!” Rift shouted down at her. Her kicking was making it harder for Rift to keep his speed up. “You left him with that monster! You should have helped Spark!” Cherry said, yelling up at Rift. “I’m sorry Cherry, but Spark did that to save you. If we had stayed with him, we’d be dead too!” Cherry stopped kicking. “Wha… What?” She asked quietly. Rift didn’t hear her. The sounds of the metallic thuds were getting louder. Rift glanced backwards and immediately regretted it. He could see Titan getting closer to them. Soon he’d be within reach and it would all be over. Titan fired an energy blast of crimson red at the two ponies ahead of itself. The beam missed them, barely shooting past the pegasus. Rift looked ahead, almost too late, as he saw the corridor went to the left. Rift tucked his legs in, spun around in the air and then kicked off the wall, not losing a beat of his wings. Rift flew down the corridor at his top speed and just behind him he heard a crash. Titan had slammed sideways into the wall as it turned the corner, leaving huge cracks in the wall. It did nothing more than slow it down for a second. The pegasus with the wild blue mane was willing to take that second, but he still had a murderous robot on his tail and it wasn’t going to give up. He needed a plan, or at the very least, a safe spot he could hide Cherry, till he could lure the monster away. - - - Fire Wire and Moonlight watched Rift on the monitors. He was fast but nowhere near as fast as Titan at full speed. “It’s too fast.” Moonlight said, watching Titan chasing after Rift. “How can that robot be faster than a pegasus? Rift’s not gonna be able to escape it!” Fire Wire turned from the security footage for a moment, thinking. She turned around, facing a smaller monitor and she quickly brought up a screen with details showing the layout of the facility on both sides, zooming in on the area that Rift was currently going through. “What are you doing?” Moonlight asked. “You’re right. Rift isn’t fast enough. If he carries on the way he is, he’s finished.” Moonlight didn’t like that news. She looked back up to the security monitor, watching the pegasus struggling to go faster. She had to do something. “But he is more agile.” Fire Wire continued. “If we can make him take a different route, perhaps one that isn’t a straight line…” She trailed off, mid-sentence. The grey unicorn was looking for a route Rift could take that would zigzag his way to a safe area. “I think… Yes!” An orange glow wrapped around the tiny mic and Fire Wire floated it to her ear. “I’ve got a plan. Moonlight could you…” Fire Wire turned around, and noticed she was alone in the room. “Oh pony feathers, girl! What are you thinking?” - - - Rift continued to flap his wings, he could feel the strain finally taking its toll and he was starting to slow down. Titan was right behind him, Rift knew this was his end, but maybe he could slow down the machine enough for Cherry to hide somewhere. His thought was cut short as a burst of static came from overhead. “Rift! It’s Fire Wire!” The speakers distorted her voice, making her sound just like one of the machines. “Listen to me. When I say, go through the door on the left.” Many doors whizzed past him as he flew down the dark grey corridor. Titan was right behind Rift, one more second and it would be too late. Ahead of him, he heard a door hiss as it opened. “In there!” Fire Wire’s voice commanded. Rift turn into the doorway and it immediately began to close. Fire Wire was remotely opening and closing the door. The door didn’t close though. Titan charged into it, head first, making the sliding door whine and bent inwards as the massive robot pushed through it, like it was soft plastic. Rift kept flying, away from the door. The room was filled with dozens of workbenches, each covered in what looked like computer chips. This was possibly a room where all the smaller electrical pieces were manufactured. Rift didn’t have time to think about that now, flying over all of the benches, he moved to the door on the other side. Titan fired the beam from its eye and it narrowly missed him by a hair. Cherry screamed as the blast caused the door to explode, right in front of them. Rift didn’t stop. He flew through the burning wreckage that was once the door and was again in a hallway. “Go left and go down the stairs!” Fire Wire’s voice called from above them. Titan had been slowed down by all the tables blocking its path, but that was only a few seconds delay at most. Titan was back in the hallway, giving chase. Rift came to some stairs and flew down them. Cherry tucked her legs in as they came dangerously close to the steps. She held on as tight as she could. The threat of Titan was now more real to her after seeing how easy the door had just exploded, leaving almost nothing. She had felt the heat of the ray and just being close to it, made her feel like she had been burned. They reached the top of the stairs and another door opened up ahead of them, leading to a catwalk in a large empty room that went up into darkness and also went down into darkness. The walls were covered in large pipes, each leading to the darkness below. There was another catwalk below them Rift noticed as he flew out halfway across the catwalk. Fire Wire’s voice echoed throughout the room. “Don’t go to that door, it’s sealed! Head up to the-“ A red light flew across the room, hitting the camera in the wall and destroying the speaker with it. Rift turned back. Titan stood in the doorway that Rift had originally came through, stopping him from going back. The pegasus looked up quickly. Fire Wire was trying to tell him something about a way out before she was cut off. Titan began to step closer to Rift. The white pegasus flapped his wings, bobbing up and down. He was tired. He’d pushed himself too hard and was having trouble keeping in the air. Sweat was running down his forehead, he couldn’t keep going. Just then he saw it. There was a large vent in the wall where Titan couldn’t follow them. Rift pushed himself one last time, with Cherry holding on tightly. Rift flew straight up, heading for that hole. Titan saw it too and fired his grappling hook leg up to the vent. It missed and Rift had to stop for a second as the hook leg flew past it, Rift looked down at Titan and too late he realised the error he’d made. He held still for a moment and that was all the killing machine needed. Another blast of red from its eye struck Rift in his side, as he turned to protect Cherry Blossom. She screamed but not as loudly as Rift himself did. The pegasus fell from the air, twisting as Cherry screamed again. They missed the first catwalk, but landed hard on the one below it. Rift landed on his back, with his guitar splintering underneath him. Cherry was lying on top of him, scared and crying. She opened her eyes slowly, looking past her watery vision and could see a large red burn mark in Rift’s side, right under the wing which laid spread out and limp against the catwalk. The blast from the robots eye had burned away Rift’s fur where it struck, burning the flesh and turning it a deep red. “Oh no. Mr. Rift, you’ve…” She looked to Rift’s face. His eyes were only half open. He wasn’t moving. “No! Mr. Rift!” Cherry moved down to his side, shaking him gently with her forelegs, then more roughly. “Mr. Rift! Please wake up! Wake up! Rift!” She screamed out between tears. The little pink filly was terrified. Rift had given his life to save her. If she hadn’t of come down here in the first place, none of this would have happened. She called out his name again louder, and then a heavy bang from in front of her caused the catwalk to shake from side to side as it began to bend. Cherry looked up to see Titan walking towards her. The red light shining from its long slit for an eye seemed to focus entirely on her. Cherry scooted backwards, away from the monstrous robot. Titan stepped over Rift’s body, completely ignoring him, making its way to Cherry. She kept moving backwards, getting closer to the door behind her, she knew that running would do no good. The filly was terrified beyond words. She heard the door behind her open but didn’t turn to look. Cherry was grabbed from behind and pulled into a tight embrace. Whoever it was placed themselves between her and Titan. “Don’t look sweetie!” It was Moonlight. She had come to get Cherry but it was too late. They were both going to die here. Cherry never even got to see her brother one last time. Everything became red. It was firing its red beam at them both. Cherry felt Moonlight hold her tighter. “No!” A shout came from behind Titan. Cherry and Moonlight looked up as Rift came flying down from above, swinging the shattered remains of his guitar and brought it down over Titan’s head. It connected just as it fired the blast of red energy and it caused the guitar to explode point black in Titan’s face. The mechanical monster stumbled and bucked as its head burned. The catwalk began to buckle and break away. Rift flew past Titan, grabbed Cherry and Moonlight in a hoof each and flew them into the room just before the catwalk collapsed, falling to the dark below, along with Titan. - - - Lance and The Doctor were moving swiftly down the corridor when they had come to a stop outside of a door marked “Private”. Their curiosity was peaked. The Doctor used the keycard to open the door, and then they stepped inside. They were both shocked when they were greeted by the giant face of Twilight Sparkle. “What in Equestria…?” Lance looked around the room. Twilight’s wasn’t the only familiar face in the room. Lance could see Pinkie Pie’s, Fluttershy’s, Applejack’s, Rainbow Dash’s and Rarity’s faces each on separate monitors of their own. The monitors also had complete statistics, from weight and height to strengths and weaknesses. Why? Lance wondered. Why would the Clockwork Stallions care about these six ponies? The answer came quicker than expected. “The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” The Doctor said, looking from each mare to the next. “What?” Lance asked, looking at The Doctor. The brown pony looked back at Lance and smiled. “Kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty, honesty and magic. Your six friends here represent the six elements I just mentioned. These Elements of Harmony when brought together create a powerful weapon that can abolish evil or even turn spirits into stone.” The Doctor walked over to a computer, proding it with a hoof. “Locked.” “Hold on.” Lance said, moving over to The Doctor’s side. “What’s all that gotta do with anything that’s going on here?” The Doctor tipped his head forward and something long and metal fell out from behind his ear, which was hidden by his mane. He caught it in his teeth and then pointed it at the computer. The tip of the metal rod glowed blue, and instantly the computer was showing up all of the files marked classified. The Doctor then spit the thing up into the air and caught it again behind his ear. “Ha, I’m getting quite good at that. Wouldn’t you say Lance?” The Doctor grinned happily to himself as he double tapped a file on the screen, causing a whole page of information to pop up. “What’s all this?” Lance asked. “Everything you ever wanted to know about the Clockwork Stallions, including their plans for those six mares.” “What? Well… what are their plans?” “Hmm, seems that they plan on separating them from each other. Something about the elements being a potential threat while being a useful weapon of their own.” Lance instantly began to worry for his friends. “We have to warn them! They can tell the Princesses that-“ “Oh, it gets worse.” The doctor said, not looking at Lance. “What?” “According to this, they plan to take over Canterlot, steal the Elements, lock away the Princesses, trap the city under a giant shield and separate the bearers of the elements from each other. A pretty solid plan if I do say so myself. But of course they’ll need an army to pull it… oh.” The doctor had opened another file. “What is it? Don’t tell me more bad news.” “Well, seems this isn’t the only facility for the Clockwork Stallions here in Equestria. In fact, this was one of the experimental ones that didn’t work out.” “You mean because of Spark shutting the place down?” “That was part of it, yes. Seemed they were making unique robots here. Apparently their last completed project was a mechanical buffalo. However it would only attack other robots or anything that moved fast. They released it out to the surface because they couldn’t contain it to reprogram it. It was infinitely strong. A daresay stronger than your Titan fellow.” Lance thought about that for a moment. A metallic buffalo that only attacks other robots and fast moving targets? Could that have been what derailed the train? “Why though?” Lance asked The Doctor. “What are these robots hoping to accomplish by doing all this?” “Isn’t it obvious Lance?” Seeing the blank expression on Lance’s face, the brown earth pony answered. “They want to take over Equestria.” - - - Rift threw himself down against the wall, holding his wing out to stop it from touching the extremely nasty burn on his side. Moonlight and Cherry were right next to him. “Rift, don’t move okay? I’m going to take a look at it.” Moonlight told him. Rift didn’t move. He just kept his wing held out. Moonlight tried to touch the burn with a hoof and Rift yelled for a moment from the pain, before gritting his teeth to keep it in. Moonlight had barely touched it, but shecould feel the heat, still on the tip of her hoof. The scaring could be permanent. “We need to get you to a doctor. That’s beyond anything I can help you with.” Moonlight said, shaking her head. Cherry looked at Rift sadly, thinking about all he risked for her. Seeing Moonlight again also made Cherry remember how she had run away and ignored Moonlight when she told Cherry to go back upstairs. If she had just listened to her in the first place, Rift would never have been shot and Spark would still be alive. If she had listened to her brother before this all started and never ran away in the forest, they’d have never come to this awful place. The tears fell from her eyes as she dropped to the floor, crying. “I’m sorry!” She cried out. “I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! Everything!” She kept crying loudly. Moonlight and Rift looked at the filly, neither sure what to say. After everything that happened today, it would be a miracle if she didn’t need therapy for years to come. Moonlight couldn’t think of anything to say. A loud bang from the door told them that Titan had somehow recovered from the fall and was trying to get in. “Doesn’t it ever give up?” Rift asked, groaning as he tried to stand up. “What are we gonna do?” She asked, helping Rift to his hooves. There was a burst of static from above, then Fire Wire’s voice called down to them. “I’ve got an idea!” - - - Titan crashed against the door, breaking its way in. The machine’s visor was wrecked from the previous explosion. Its red eye no longer glowing. Cherry watched it enter the room. Moonlight was hiding in a place away from her. Titan walked across the floor, looking around the room. It was unable to see any of the ponies it was stalking. Moonlight gave the signal to Cherry Blossom and the filly screamed, then jumped inside a small vent in the wall, to hide out of sight. Titan followed the scream across the room, running through the room, knocking over boxes filled with hollow helmets that would have been used for making other robots. Moonlight watched as Titan reached the vent, kicking at the wall. It was trying to get through. Moonlight focused her magic. With Titan distracted, she was able to lift up all of the heads slowly and not give herself away. She floated them up into a line and launched the first head at Titan. It struck its back and the machine then turned around. Another one was telekinetically thrown at Titan and struck it in its face. Seemingly frustrated, the killer robot began batting the heads away, one by one. Moonlight smiled as everything was going according to plan. Then Cherry sneezed. Titan stopped and turned back to the vent. Moonlight panicked and tossed another of the hollow robot heads at Titan. It ignored it. Again and again she tried, but nothing. It was focused only on Cherry. Moonlight had to do something quick. “Hey!” She yelled out, jumping out from behind a crate. “I’m right here! Come and get me!” Titan turned its focus on the unicorn, than ran after her as she began to gallop off across the room. Titan was fast, much faster. But Moonlight still had her magic and was tipping over boxes and crates, just to slow it down. It wasn’t enough though. Titan fired its grappling hook leg at Moonlight and she didn’t see it coming. It grabbed her hind leg and Moonlight fell to the ground with a hard thud. She screamed from pain as the hook cut into her flesh. Moonlight could feel her leg starting to bleed as she crawled away from it, but she didn’t get far. The thick steel cable between Titan and its hook pulled tight. Moonlight wasn’t going anywhere. She panicked as the grappling hook began to pull her towards Titan itself. She was in the middle of a big open space with nothing to grab hold of. Moonlight closed her eyes, she had an idea. It worked on Spark, it might work on Titan. But he was much bigger. Moonlights telekinesis spread from her horn and slowly wrapped itself around Titan’s frame. It looked at itself and then began to wiggle its legs as it started floating. She brought Titan closer to herself to make the cable slack again and began crawling across the floor. The cable was getting taut again and Moonlight had to hurry. The strain on her magic, lifting Titan was getting too much. She was running out of time, and room. Titan was close enough to her now. It was all over. The grappling hook had reconnected to became its leg. Moonlight used her last bit of telekinetic strength to tip Titan over, dumping it on its side. The monster machine let go with the hook so it could stand up. Moonlight smiled up at the machine standing over her and then looked up at the ceiling above them both. “Hey Metalhead!” Titan looked up. Rift was holding onto a crane hook, flapping his wings slowly. “This is a hard hat area!” Rift smacked the safety pin off the crane’s hook. Moonlight rolled out of the way as the pallet above them fell, bringing with it a ton of metal, both in number and weight. It landed with a loud crash. Debris flew off in all directions as the pallet of metal crushed Titan under it.