At this point, Goggles couldn’t help but follow in Trixie’s example and laugh maniacally like a mad scientist, instantly blushing with embarrassment when Trixie looked at him with a smirk on her face because of the sheer irony. After about a minute, the lightning stopped, allowing Trixie and Goggles to turn off the magnet and started to lower the panel back towards the ground, enabling all three individuals on the ground to see the result of the experiment. While it was interesting to see that the green mesh that served as the Pony-Droid’s mane and tail now had blue streaks in it like real pony hair, the most noticeable change within the metal body was the fact that even now there was still smoke coming out of it.
“What happened?” Red Tape asked, hoping to receive a positive answer as he removed his goggles.
However the only response Red Tape got, was a look of disappointment from Trixie as she removed her own.
“The only thing that DID happen was the fact that we only managed to cook it,” she said regretfully, she had hoped that there would be a better result than this.
However Goggles always had faith in his creations, as the smoke began to fade away the Gizmonk couldn’t help but prod the Pony-Droid with his finger just to see what happens, as soon as the Gizmonk touched the metal body a small spark of static shot between them and something amazing transpired. Within a matter of seconds, the Pony-Droid’s chest piece lit up with a blue light and body began to twitch as though something were only just beginning to wake up from the inside, but the best result of all came from the small, yet clear feminine voice emanating from within the Pony-Droid itself.
“Where… am I?” it said, clearly not having any idea what was going on.
Upon hearing the Pony-Droid speak for the first time, everyone had a different reaction, Red Tape stumbled backward from fear and astonishment, Trixie simply smiled with delight, relieved and excited that Goggles’ creation is actually working, and Goggles himself was so filled with so much happiness that he was literally bouncing with joy.
“It’s alive!” he screamed cheerfully. “IT’S ALIVE!!!”
At those words, it was Trixie’s turn to stare with a deadpanned look on her face.
“What!?!” Goggles said defensively. “I always wanted to say that!”
As Goggles marvelled at the birth of his latest creation, Red Tape’s mind became completely baffled, never mind the report, he would have to write an entire essay to describe what he was feeling at this point. Suddenly he noticed something about the Pony-Droid that didn’t seem right.
“I… I cannot see,” it said in a nervous tone. “Where am I?”
“It’s… blind?” Red Tape said, raising an eyebrow.
At those words Goggles stopped bouncing and inspected the Pony-Droid, while the chest piece may be glowing, there should also be a pair of lights on the visor too, however the screen still remained black.
“Her Sensory Gem must still be trying to jump-start itself,” Goggles deduced, rubbing the visor clean with his paw.
“I thought that once it was powered, this machine would be fully operational,” Red Tape questioned.
Goggles rolled his eyes at that.
“It’s not like putting a fresh battery into something Mr Red Tape,” he pointed out. “This is a thinking, self-sustaining being, she will most likely need time for all her gems to activate. Now that her main Power Gem is completely operational, the other four gems should follow in their own time.”
To prove his point, Goggles once again pressed the chest piece of the Pony-Droid, instantly opening up the torso again, however the view was somewhat different from the last time.
“You see?” Goggles said, pointing towards the gems inside. “The Power Gem and Memory Gem are both in full effect, the Emotion gem and the Personality gem are still dark and the Sensory Gem is still trying to flicker to life.”
Indeed this was true, while the sapphire and the ruby were now glowing more brightly than ever before, the amethyst and the emerald were still in their dormant state and the topaz was shifting between the two. Satisfied with the results, Goggles once again closed up the Pony-Droid’s chest.
“Astounding,” Red Tape exclaimed in awe. “So what happens now?”
Goggles smiled at that.
“Now we need to give her a name?” he said.
Upon hearing that red Tape once again raised an eyebrow.
“A name?” he asked confusingly.
“Of course,” Goggles answered simply. “When creating life, one must always give their creation a name, it’s only proper.”
Red Tape may not have known for sure whether that was a fair argument in this particular case, but regardless he felt no need to stop the Gizmonk and he proceeded to walk up to the Pony-Droid and place his paw upon it’s chest.
“Can you hear me?” he asked the metal pony.
“I… can.” The Pony-Droid answered.
So far, so good.
“Good,” Goggles replied. “My name is Goggles, I am your maker.”
As Trixie and Red Tape looked with admiration at the Gizmonk and his creation, they could both already sense a small connection between the two as Goggles continued to speak.
“From this day forth, your name shall be…” he said, looking over every feature of the Pony-Droid, from the blue light in her chest to the blue streaks that have now become part of her hair. “…Blue Lightning.”
“Blue Lightning?” Red Tape questioned curiously.
However Goggles simply ignored the stallion and continued to focus on the Pony-Droid.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
“My name is… Blue Lightning,” The Pony-Droid responded, causing Trixie and Goggles to smile with delight and a small symbol of blue light to shape itself into a bolt of lightning on the other black screen on the Pony-Droid’s flank.
“Excellent!” Goggles exclaimed cheerfully. “This is great, this is Fantastic! Okay, now the first thing I want you to do is just go to sleep for about 24 hours, okay? Your sight should come to you after a short reboot, do you understand?”
At first Blue Lightning didn’t respond, however after a few seconds of silence she spoke again.
“I… understand,” she said. “Powering down now.”
On that final note, Blue Lighting hung her head and the light in her chest piece began to fade, but not completely since everyone could still see the faint flicker of blue if they looked very close.
“She’ll be alright,” Goggles said reassuringly, stroking Blue Lighting gently. “She just needs to reserve her power for a bit so that her eyes can fully activate.”
Turning his attention back towards Red Tape, Goggles could see that Red Tape was now looking at him with a look upon his face that clearly made it seem like a burst of excitement was welling up inside him.
“Incredible, he gasped. “And this Pony-Droid is only your latest creation?”
Goggles nodded at that, causing the largest smile Red Tape had ever put on to appear on his face.
“Show me more!!!”
#
By the time the inspection was over it was already the start of the afternoon, Red Tape had become so infatuated with the stuff that Goggles had come up with, that he wanted to stick around longer than expected just to be in the same room as them for as long as he could. Finally Red Tape was gone and Goggles and Trixie could go back to their daily lives, after removing Blue Lightning from her panel, Trixie set her safely into a comfortable corner of the lab where she would awake the next day, ready for her first real day in Ponyville. Needless to say, Fluttershy and Applejack couldn’t help but laugh when Goggles and Trixie told them about what happened during their tea-party that afternoon.
“Wait, so he actually went all ‘fan-boy’ on you once he saw the Pony-Droid come to life?” Applejack chuckled.
“Like a nerd at comic-con,” Trixie replied with a smirk.
At those words, the entire residential area of the lab erupted with the sound of laughter, normally Tea with Fluttershy would usually occur at her cottage, however since the Pegasus was passing by Sweet Apple Acres anyway and the inspection took longer than expected, both she and Goggles thought it best to have tea at the lab, that way Applejack could join them on her afternoon break from working in the orchard.
“I still can’t believe that you two were able to create a living creature,” Fluttershy said in awe as she looked over the banister towards the lab below. “You must be very proud.”
“I’m always proud of my inventions,” Goggles chuckled smugly. “Although I have to admit, Blue Lightning down there has got to be my very best. Just imagine what she’ll be able to do in Ponyville, she can find her own purpose in life just like any other Pony and then some.”
That was indeed something to think about, now that the Pony-Droid was now up and running, or more accurately, alive, then next step would be to find a way to fit her into society. But both Fluttershy and Applejack had complete confidence that Goggles and Trixie would be able to accomplish that, after all the Gizmonk WAS one of the most brilliant minds in all of Ponyville, even Twilight and Doctor Whooves had to admit that they didn’t compare to him in terms of most scientific knowledge.
“So what else did you show him?” Applejack asked curiously. “After all the fella did stick around a while.”
“Oh a few things,” Goggles answered, taking a sip of his Camomile as he thought back to the inspection. “There was the Sleep Inducer, the Gem-Powered Engines, the Animal Translator, oh and my personal favourite, the Dimensional Capacitor.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow at that.
“You mean that big archway-thing we keep stashed at the back of the lab?” she asked, earning a nod from Goggles in response.
The Dimensional Capacitor, one of Goggles’ greatest achievements, a large archway made of Equestrian Steel and embedded with at least twenty Moonstones infused with magic from Princess Luna herself, undoubtedly something the Gizmonk acquired due to their close friendship. Ever since he began constructing it over two months ago, Goggles has never been able to get it out of his mind, even after the Cutie Mark Crusaders blew up the front half of the lab to take his first P.L.A.N.E. he still believed that the Dimensional Capacitor was one of his most brilliant of ideas and instantly reconstructed what was left of it after the lab was rebuilt. And yet there is stood at the very back of the lab, unfinished and untested, but none the less still one of Goggles’ working progresses.
“What exactly does that thing do anyway?” Trixie asked curiously, not really understanding much about it since Goggles always preferred to work on it by himself.
“At the moment, nothing,” Goggles replied with a slight shrug. “But theoretically, it’s meant to be a gateway to other worlds.”
Everyone raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.
“Excuse me?” Applejack exclaimed.
Upon seeing their confusion, Goggles couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It’s funny really, I actually got the idea from Twilight,” he explained. “She told me that she once travelled to another world via a Magic Mirror some time ago and she said that everyone there was an almost exact counterpart to someone in this world expect for the fact that they were a totally different species. Needless to say I was fascinated by the story, so I did a little research on the matter and studied the mirror after flying to the Crystal Empire a few days ago. Since the mirror only works every 30 moons, I decided to create an alternate method that will not only allow us to travel to that world, but whatever other world is out there.”
“And you believe that device down there has the potential to do that?” Fluttershy asked inquisitively.
“Possibly,” Goggles replied. “But unfortunately I haven’t been able to come up with the proper variables in order to provide safe travel yet, it’s gonna take me at least month just to figure out the right stabilising agent that will make sure a portal opens without collapsing in on itself while sucking up everything in the process. I wouldn’t even know if it can even send anyone to other worlds just yet, at least not without some kind of link anyway, for all I know it could turn into a black hole and whoever goes in would never come back out again.”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but whimper at that, the way Goggles described the danger of all portal was indeed unsettling. However Applejack and Trixie simply looked back at the Gizmonk with awe, there just seemed to be no end to his inventive talents.
“Ah have to admit Goggles, ah’m impressed,” Applejack said with a small smile on her face. “How is it that y’all were able to create such things in such a short period of time anyway?”
At those words, Goggles couldn’t help but chuckle again.
“Well I’ve been doing a lot of studying ever since I first came to Ponyville,” he answered. “And not to brag or anything, but Gizmonks have one of the best memories in the world. Granted during infancy we’re just as clueless as anyone else but as we grow older, our memories begin to develop into something spectacular. You give me a 1000 page book, and I can recite it for you cover-to-cover after only 3 days of reading it.”
“It’s true,” Trixie said in agreement. “I once saw him read a music book while visiting Octavia and play the Piano perfectly after the first hour.”
Needless to say both Applejack and Fluttershy were awe-stricken at this.
“Wow,” Fluttershy exclaimed. “That IS impressive.”
“Indeed,” Goggles said smugly, resting his head in his arms. “It’ll take something pretty big in order to knock THIS head clueless.”
Hearing this everyone once again couldn’t help but chuckle, Goggles’ ego may not have been as big as Trixie’s once was, but it was still big enough to get a few cheap laughs every time he opened his mouth.
“Hang on,” Applejack said, interrupting the laughter. “Is THAT why you borrowed my banjo last week?”
At those words, Goggles merely shrugged.
“What can I say?” he said. “I wanted to see if I could play it just as well as you do.”
On that sentence laughter erupted again, only this time even louder. However after a few moments, the laughter was interrupted again, only this time by a loud knock on the front door of the laboratory.
“Now who can that be?” Goggles asked curiously, obviously not expecting anyone.
“Ah’ll get it,” Applejack said, rising up from her seat.
Applejack then walked a few paces away from the seating area and tapped her hoof three times against the floor, upon which then the panel she was standing on began to slowly drop, thus lowing her down to the ground floor like a miniature elevator. Upon opening the door, Applejack was met with a trio of Earth Pony stallions, led by a white Unicorn with a greasy black mane, dark blue eyes and wore a dark blue suit and a smug look on his face that would have made Diamond Tiara look humble.
“Howdy,” Applejack said politely, being as hospitable as she could be. “You here to see the Professor?”
At those words, the Unicorn then pulled a small badge from his jacket pocket and flashed it in Applejack’s face.
“Counsellor Forge from the Ministry of Science,” he announced with a deep, yet harsh voice. “Please step aside Miss.”
But before Applejack could even respond, Forge and his three followers rudely pushed their way past Applejack like they didn’t even care that she was there, needless to say Applejack was both shock and insulted by the stallions’ discourtesy.
“Hey!” she snapped angrily. “Y’all can’t just…”
“What’s going on down there?” Goggles called out from the second floor, cutting Applejack off before she could even finish her sentence.
Instantly responding to the sound of the Gizmonk’s voice, everyone on the ground floor instantly looked up. Since the residential area of the lab needed to only take up a small section of the entire building, it only made sense that Goggles had it close to the back of the barn and had a railing installed so that he and Trixie could look over the entire ground floor from above. As such, Applejack, Forge, and his three followers we’re able to see the Gizmonk as well as Fluttershy and Trixie standing above them as they looked over the railing to see what was causing all the commotion.
“Ah’m sorry Goggles,” Applejack called up to him. “They just barged in.”
However it wasn’t applejack that Goggles was giving a scornful glare to, in fact his heated gaze was fixated on a more deserving target.
“Hello Forge,” he growled through gritted teeth.
“You know this guy?” Trixie asked, with a raised eyebrow, having never even heard of this particular pony before.
“He was one of the guys at the Ministry who was against having me certified,” Goggles explained. “A complete racist if I ever seen one.”
That may have been what Goggles said, but in all honesty that was only putting it mildly, Forge wasn’t just some guy at the Ministry of Science, he was one of its top Councillors. When Goggles first applied for his certification, this particular stallion was visibly offended that something other than a pony would even dare to try to become certified in scientific discovery. No one knows where this racism originated from, but from what Goggles heard, he rejected certifications to a Griffin and a Donkey a few years back just because they weren’t ponies. Luckily for Goggles, he had Celestia backing him up all the way so Forge had no choice but to allow him his certification, much to his dismay. Undoubtedly, he was the one who sent Red Tape to inspect the lab this morning, hoping to have something that would allow him to fix that little error.
“Seize all the equipment,” he ordered, turning his head towards the three Earth Ponies behind him.
“Hey, you can’t just come in here and take what you like!” Applejack protested, instantly stepping in front of the group before they could move.
“Oh I believe we can,” Forge retorted, shoving something else from his pocket into her face.
What Forge had just presented to the confused Earth Pony was a signed document, which was in fact a warrant to seize any equipment the Ministry had declared unsafe for Equestrian Society, which according to the document was everything Goggles had built with the Ministry’s resources. Needless to say Goggles was ticked off when he and the others came down from the residential area and read to warrant, in fact he was so angry that Applejack thought that he was going to lose his cool like he did while fighting a whole group of Gem Foxes a while back.
“You may THINK that you have the right to just barge in here and do what you like, Forge!” he snapped angrily. “But you have no idea who you’re dealing with!”
However Forge only sneered at those words.
“What we’re dealing with sir, is an animal who has obviously bitten off more than he can chew,” he retorted. “Your inventions are a danger to society, particularly THAT thing.”
Looking towards where Forge was pointing, everyone soon comprehended that he was taking about a certain Pony-Droid in her corner, a fact which only pushed Goggles’ anger even further,
“We’ve read Red Tape’s report,” Forge continued, eyeing the Gizmonk with a hateful glare. “And you are in violation of section 3, paragraph 42 of the Scientific Offences Act by creating such a dangerous device.”
At those words Goggles’ felt like he was going to burst, even the orb at the end of his tail was glowing red with how much hate he felt for this particular stallion, not even Diamond Tiara drove him this insane in such a short period of time. Before the stallion could even blink, Goggles then snatched the document from Forge and tore it up right in front of him.
“That’s a load of pigswill and you know it!” he growled, throwing the torn pieces of paper in his face. “No document can be written up in such a short period of time, and certainly not without the proper certification to make it official, not even you can make that possible.”
“You tell him boss!” Trixie declared, standing by her best friend 100%.
“Darn tootin!” Applejack added.
“That’s right,” Fluttershy concluded, though shrinking back a little from Forge’s stern gaze.
“So you are NOT taking my inventions,” Goggles announced, fiercely pointing a finger directly towards Forge’s nose like he was just a colt being scolded at.
However Forge only scoffed upon hearing that.
“Oh?” he said. “And what makes you think you can stop us?”
With a nod of his head Forge then gave the signal for the other stallions to make their move, trying to shove their way past the small group, they once again attempted to seize Goggles’ equipment, however this time it was the Gizmonk himself to put a stop to them. With one quick flash of movement, Goggles pulled something out of his pocket, opened it up to reveal it as his compactible Bo-staff and delivered three powerful strikes across the heads of all three Earth Ponies, knocking them senseless. Needless to say Forge was taken aback by this display of aggression.
“I’ve been practising a LOT of martial arts ever since I came to this town,” Goggles announced, gripping his Bo-staff tightly as he remembered all the training sessions he had with Rainbow Dash over the last few months. “And I am not letting you have my creations without a fight.”
Knowing Goggles for a while now, all three ponies standing next to him, knew for a fact that he meant every word, after all, all his inventions were like his children, and there was no way he was going to just let someone steal them.
“Now are you going to get out of my laboratory, or am I gonna have to beat some sense into you first?” the Gizmonk growled angrily, pointing the end of his staff towards the confused Unicorn.
However Forge soon regained himself long enough to look back down at the Gizmonk and growl with fury, there was no way that he was going to let some filthy animal treat him with such disrespect.
“Do you really want to do that Gizmonk?” he sneered. “After all I do have the power to take your certification away if I wished.”
“Oh I don’t think we need to worry about that,” Trixie said smugly. “After all, we ARE close friends with three of Equestria’s princesses.”
“And how do y’all think either of them would react when they realise that y’all were abusing your power like this eh?” Applejack added, sharing in Trixie’s haughtiness.
Even Fluttershy felt a little braver with the whole situation now that the odds are now more into Goggles’ favour, however Forge wasn’t one to give up so easily.
“I am completely within my rights!” he snapped, before once again turning his attention to Goggles. “You however, shouldn’t have such a privilege. BOYS!”
As it turned out, Forge had a lot more Earth Ponies backing him up than the three he had brought inside with him, as soon as he had made the call at least a dozen more ponies began to flood the lab.
“Take everything!” he ordered, “And arrest anyone who tries to interfere!”
Nodding their heads with understanding, Forge’s goons began to spread all over the laboratory and try to take all that they could get they’re hooves on. However neither Goggles, Trixie, nor Applejack was having any of it, they didn’t care if they did get arrested for trying to interfere, they were not going to let some stuck-up Unicorn or his goons ransack the lab without just cause. While Goggles fought off two ponies with his Bo-staff, Trixie was knocking three more back with her magic while Applejack bucked another two in the face. Fluttershy on the other hand, felt that she would be more useful by trying to hide a few of the smaller inventions while everyone else was distracted, however before she could do anything one of Forge’s goons blocked her path.
“Going somewhere?” he growled.
Fluttershy couldn’t help but whimper as she fell beneath the Earth Pony’s cruel glare, soon enough she found herself backing away from him as he took a few steps towards her. However while Fluttershy may have been too scared and preoccupied with the stallion in front of her to look where she was going, Goggles was able to take his attention off Forge’s goons long enough to see the large red button on the wall she was about to back into.
“NO!” he screamed. “DON’T TOUCH THAT!!!”
But it was too late, as soon as Fluttershy’s flank pushed against the button the whole lab was soon in a state of emergency, in a matter of moments a red flashing light emanated from the ceiling and an alarm as loud as a dragon’s roar echoed throughout the entire laboratory.
“WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME HAVE YOU DONE!?!” Forge screamed fearfully.
That was a question only Goggles knew the answer to at first, but soon enough everyone got the idea of what was going on at that moment. As it turned out, the button the Fluttershy had just backed into was none other than a power grid connected to a long cable that lead directly towards the Dimensional Capacitor, and unfortunately because it was unfinished and more than likely unstable, turning on the power grid had to have been the worst possible thing any pony could have done at this point.
“HANG ONTO SOMETHING!” Goggles screamed as he rushed towards Fluttershy and tackled her to the ground, instantly wrapping his tail around her leg as he plunged his Bo-staff into one of the gaps in between the floor panels.
Thankfully every pony obeyed the Gizmonk’s command without question, and just in the nick of time too as all of a sudden the back of the laboratory lit up with an electrifying green light, meaning that Goggles’ Dimensional Capacitor had now been activated. As the large swirling vortex burst out of the centre of the steel archway, everyone had to tighten their grip on whatever they were holding onto at the powerful pull of air tugged at the entire room, instantly sucking up anything that wasn’t nailed down like a large vacuum. As they all flung about in the powerful air current, desperately trying to hold onto dear life to whatever was holding them down, everyone also had to avoid getting hit by whatever else the vortex was sucking up, as one point Trixie had to duck her head in order to narrowly avoid getting bludgeoned by one of Goggles’ hammers. In a matter of minutes the portal itself began to double in size, soon breaching the steel barrios and becoming at least half the size of the barn wall, as such the suction became even more powerful just as quickly, making it even harder for everyone to hold on and heavier objects to start flying towards the swirling vortex. Realising that his tail could only hold onto Fluttershy’s leg for so much longer, Goggles tried his best to pull the screaming Pegasus closer towards his Bo-Staff so that she may get into a more secure position, after all there was no telling how long it would take for the portal to collapse in in itself. However while his efforts were noble, Goggles’ attempt at helping Fluttershy out cost him dearly, as soon as his tail had let go of Fluttershy’s leg his paws quickly began to slip off the Bo-staff and he was soon pulled away into the gushing wind.
“Goggles!!!” Fluttershy screamed.
Luckily, Goggles had managed to grab onto one of the cables that was still attached to the wall just as he was only a few inches away from the swirling vortex, however he was far from letting out any sigh of relief due to the masses of heavy objects narrowly missing him by inches as they too were sucked into the portal. Soon enough the portal finally reached its critical point, as the swirling vortex finally grew to the exact size of the barn wall the power of the suction finally became so strong that it started lifting the really heavy objects, including the worktable and a certain Pony-Droid, which quickly began making its way towards the helpless Gizmonk
“Oh Scrap-bun…”
However Goggles didn’t even get to finish his sentence, while the worktable was only dragged towards him at a slower speed, the Equestria Steel Blue Lightning was made of was much lighter and flew directly at him with the speed of a bullet and hit him directly in the head, forcing the poor Gizmonk to lose consciousness and let go of the cable.
“GOGGLES!!!” Applejack, Trixie and Fluttershy screamed simultaneously.
But Goggles could never be able to answer them now, now that the portal had reached critical levels of electrical instability, it quickly began to shrink back down again. The last anyone saw of Goggles the Gizmonk or Blue Lightning the Pony-Droid, they were flopping about like ragdolls into the swirling vortex of the portal just before it closed in a loud explosion of light. Finally being able to let go of their anchors, everyone soon began coughing up the dust left behind by the now destroyed Dimensional Capacitor
“What just happened?” Forge asked muzzily, only to receive a furious buck to the head from Applejack in response, knocking him out in an instant.
However, Applejack’s fury aside, Forge did bring up an excellent question, what did just happen? And more importantly, what in Equestria happened to Goggles?