"Disengaging primary cryo field," a voice intoned as Twilight felt her awareness returning.
"Nnn...we don't do cryo sleep..." she mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes. She could then only stare as she found herself hanging upside down by her hind hooves, electrically bound to some sort of suspension device. "Oh hell no," she grumbled.
"I feel I should complain about your language as a parental figure," Alister commented dryly as he hung from a similar position, "but I'm feeling much the same way."
"Uncle!" Twilight called out. "Are you alright?"
"As well as can be expected when we've been kidnapped, kept in cryo-sleep for an unknown period of time, and hung upside down," Alister replied. "What about the others?"
"A little help here?" Qwark called out as he was lowered down, his entire body bound up like a pretzel and wrapped in an electric coil. He gestured to the device he was hanging from. "I think mine's broken!"
"...perfect," Alister grumbled. "Can this get any worse?"
At that point, Nefarious lowered down, similarly bound up like Qwark. However, he seemed to be in a programming lock, as he did not move and an unusual song was playing, rather than the usual snippets of soap operas.
"...BBBFF?" Twilight called out. "Would you?"
"I dunno," Qwark replied, bouncing as best he could to the beat. "I kinda like it."
"Excuse me!" a young, feminine voice called out. "Whatcha doing up there?"
Twilight glanced down at the source of the voice, a short blue girl dressed in orange and pink. "Oh, you know," Twilight replied. "Just...hanging around." Twilight paused as she caught sight of the gadget the girl had with her. "Ooh! What's that do?"
Grinning, the girl hefted the device. "Lemme show you!" Turning the gadget towards another device, she pulled the trigger. A massive suction was generated until it pulled part of the device part way out of its locking point, causing all four of them to drop to the platform below. Twilight and Alister landed gracefully, Qwark and Nefarious less so.
"Ugh...not the most comfortable way I've ever been snapped out of one of those," Nefarious grumbled, pushing himself to his feet.
"Aww..." Qwark complained as he rose, rubbing his back. "I liked that song..."
Twilight quickly rushed up to the device the girl was holding. "It looks like the old suck cannon, but it seems to have different features..."
"No time for that!" the little girl proclaimed. "You need to get out of here before she finds out I released you?"
"She who?" Alister demanded.
"No time!" the little girl countered. "Head through the Sector 7 air vent! We'll rendezvous on the South side! A Galactic Scout never leaves before her mission is complete!" Using her gadget to manipulate another device, a launch pad unfolded. "Get going!"
"Do we trust her?" Qwark asked Twilight worriedly.
Twilight looked the girl in the eyes for a time, then nodded. "We do," she confirmed.
"Good enough for me!" Qwark proclaimed, leaping onto the launch platform.
"If you're certain..." Alister grumbled, stepping on more hesitantly.
"I don't know," Nefarious began as Twilight stepped onto the platform. "I feel like I've been getting a bit too buddy-buddy with you good guys..."
"Nefarious, if you had a facility like this and had prisoners hanging upside down like that, what sort of experiments would you conduct on them?" Qwark asked curiously.
"Wait for me!" Nefarious screamed out exactly 0.68 seconds later, leaping onto the launch platform.
As the platform prepared to launch them, Twilight called out, "What's your name?"
"Susie!" the little girl replied as the group was propelled across a gap to a new platform, a door irising open to allow them to progress.
"I like her!" Twilight stated firmly as the group raced ahead, seeking a way out.
"How come you trusted her so readily?" Alister asked curiously.
"I scanned her with my magic, and I got apples," Twilight replied readily. "That told me I could trust her."
"You realize that makes absolutely no sense, right?" Nefarious pointed out as the group got on an elevator.
"Yeah, my magic's like that sometimes," Twilight replied. "But as far as I can tell, in my magic apples equal honesty."
"What do oranges equal, then?" Qwark asked curiously.
"No idea!"
As they spoke, the elevator stopped as a device scanned them. "Organic lifeforms detected," the device proclaimed in a somewhat feminine voice. "Reroute to creature pen for probing and experimentation."
"I need an adult!" Twilight squeaked out.
"Twilight, you just turned 18," Alister pointed out. "You are an adult!"
"We're not test subjects!" Qwark shouted out. "We're...uh...new trainees?"
"Very well," the computer replied. "Rerouting to training lab for gadget certification."
As the elevator started up again, Twilight turned to stare at Qwark. "That...was oddly brilliant, BBBFF. Not only are we not going to be experimented on, but we're going to get new gear!"
Qwark grinned widely. "I have my moments," he boasted modestly, rubbing his knuckled on his chest. A thoughtful look crossed his face. "Say, Twilight...since you needed an adult and I saved you, does that mean-"
"No," Nefarious interrupted firmly. "No you're not."