Amnesia: The Pony Machine

by Darkryt Orbinautz

The Facility: The Descent Begins

The monstrous pony glared at them. The room was filled with the sound of the generator-pistons in her back going pa-push pa-push pa-push. Through her one, single eye, she glared at them, oblivious to their overwhelming fear of her.

“Maybe you didn't understand me, kids. I said, do your parents know where you are?”

“Uh-uh ...” Sweet Heart stammered. “N-no.”

The pony frowned at them. “Well, we're just going to have to do something about that, aren't we?”

The pony leveled their malformed hoof, aiming it at them with the clear intent to strike. Sweet Heart, as always, was the brains of the group. She formulated a plan for their best course of action.

“RUN!”

Sweet Heart, Teddy and Ace all broke into a gallop, running as fast as they could from the monster. The monster took a swipe at Sweet Heart with its weapon, but missed as Sweet Heart ducked underneath it and fled.

“Hold still - this will be good for you!” The pony shouted, galloping after them.

Despite being taught by cartoons not to look behind her when she was being chased by a monster and instead focus on running, Sweet Heart glanced over her shoulder at their pursuer. She noticed the monster's gait was steady and uneven. Observing her build, Sweet Heart came to the conclusion she was athletic and healthy, aside from the patchwork of machines sewn into her flesh. So why she was moving so slow and not chasing after them with the speed of a cheetah?

Sweet Heart could see why. With the weapon in her front right hoof, the monster pony had to move slow to compensate for the uneven distribution of weight on one side.

“Mushrooms mushrooms mushrooms!” Ace warned the group of more of the liquid-covered fungus ahead, and they had to scramble to slingshot themselves around and away from the mushrooms. This path sent them heading straight towards the pony.

“Metal pony-thing!” Ace added. He and the group veered to the right, escaping another strike from the pony's weapon by the narrowest of margins. Their pursuer let out a frustrated growl, disliking the struggle of her prey.

“Hold still.” The pony growled. She attempted to run after them, but her weapon had become lodged in the soft soil of the room.

Sweet Heart continued to observe and take notes about her patterns and behaviors. With the metal in her hoof affecting her speed, Sweet Heart felt confident they could continue to outrun her. It was a war of attrition, the only question being who would give out first; them or her.

Of course, that conclusion did not factor in the primary trait of a pegasus. The ability of flight granted to them by their wings. Their pursuer saw the distance her prey and herself, and realizing she was not going to catch them by chasing them on foot, spread her wings. They were worn and tattered, with bones and metal patches in them. They shouldn't have been able to function. Yet, they did. The pony took to the air and landed right in front of them, growling and snarling. They had to skid to a halt to avoid crashing into her.

“Seriously, hold still. This will make easier on all of us.” She took another swing at Sweet Heart, who ducked it again.

Between the legs of their assailant, Sweet Heart saw the river in the room. She gasped, having an idea. The pistons in the monster's back were generating electricity for her to use in zapping and shocking unwanted intruders. Sweet Heart had studied enough in school to know water conducted electricity.

“Follow my lead!” Sweet Heart shouted! In a bold show of daring, she ducked under the monster's legs and ran under her.

“Go UNDER the crazy monster trying to kill us? Are you crazy!?” Ace shouted.

“Grrr.” The “crazy monster” looked back and forth between Sweet Heart and Ace and Teddy, trying to determine who was an easier target. She decided it was Sweet Heart, as she galloped after the girl towards the river.

Perfect. Sweet Heart thought. The plan's working so far.

Sweet Heart stopped galloping just by the riverside, frightening Ace and Teddy. Didn't she realize a deranged monster was chasing after her?

The monster took the bait, raising her weapon and skulking towards Sweet Heart at a leisure's pace. She was sure Sweet Heart wasn't going anywhere. “Now I've got you.” She let out a battle cry as she charged and readied herself to swing at Sweet Heart.

Sweet Heart dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. The monster saw what she had done and tried to will her body to stop, but she accumulated too much momentum and kept going, propelling herself straight into the water.

“Oh dear.” She said, knowing what was about to happen. She landed in the water with a splash. The generators in her back did not appreciate getting wet and went haywire, pumping faster than a heartbeat and sending out electric shocks into the water. The river lit up with the chemical reaction, flashing a bright blue color which illuminated the room, if for only a brief moment. The shocks traveled out into the water, electricity jumping from one hydrogen molecule to the next, electrocuting anything unfortunate enough to be inside the water at the time. Which included the monstrous pony whose body was full of metal, and metal was an excellent conductor.

She screamed and twitched as the electricity fed into her, shocking her. Sweet Heart, Ace, and Teddy gathered together, unnerved by having to watch this pony writhe in pain. Although she may have been trying to kill them a moment ago, it was still a painful sight to endure, watching her struggle and listening to her scream. After a while, the generators gave out, no longer pumping or producing electricity. The river ceased flashing and her body rolled over onto its back, her hooves in the air as though she was a dead fish rising up to surface level.

“Uugh.” Teddy groaned.

“How unfortunate.” Sweet Heart said, her bleeding heart full of sympathy.

“I know it's not pretty, but it was either her or us.” Ace reminded them. “Come on, let's get out of here before – AAH!” Ace shouted in panic as he saw Sweetie Belle limping towards them. Her detached leg trailing along the ground behind her should have been amusing, but it was nothing short of horrifying.

“When I catch up to you three ...” Sweetie Belle threatened them, walking with a gait to adjust for her bad leg. “Oooh, the things I am going to do to you!”

“Ha!” Ace laughed, backing away into the water. “You'll never catch up to us. Not with your leg like that.”

“Children?” A soft, elder voice called, followed by a creak.

Ace, Teddy and Sweet Heart whipped around to see the vault door was opening. Through it were Apple Bloom and Twilight. Apple Bloom was frowning while Twilight was wearing a smile of concern, though Sweet Heart could somehow sense an insincerity from it.

“Mistress Twilight.” Sweetie Belle said, stopping and bowing her head. “These children – they came into the operating room and tricked Rainbow Dash into the river. With your permission, of course, I would like to punish them.”

“Oh, you'll do nothing of the sort, Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash will be fine. Celestia knows it's not the first she's crashed and burned.” Twilight Sparkle said, using her walker to pull herself into the room. “These kids got away from their parents on the tour and they're right worried sick.”

“As well they should be!” Ace shouted. “We've seen what kind of weird, sick things you've been keeping down here! When we when tell our parents about this, they'll go the police and have you shut down for good!”

Twilight chuckled. “Now, I don't doubt you little foals would do that for a second. But you need to come see your parents first before that happens. The parents who you ran away from and disobeyed the orders of, I might add.” Twilight smirked at them. A smirk full of malice and the intent to cause pain. Despite how hateful and unnatural the smirk was, Sweet Heart felt as if it was the first time she had seen the real Twilight Sparkle since meeting her.

“Come.” Twilight nodded her head at the door. “Apple Bloom will take you back to the tour group. Go on back to the operating room, Sweetie Belle. I'll be right along.”

Swallowing the lumps in their throats, the children walked to the door under Twilight's watchful and foreboding gaze. Apple Bloom held her hoof out, counting their heads as they jumped out from the vault door.

Ace wiped his brow, more than relieved to be out of the forsaken room behind the door. His relief was called into question as he saw the tour group before them with their parents at the forefront.

“Young man,” Teddy's father said, “do you have any idea how worried sick we were about?”

“Mom, dad!” Teddy exclaimed, running up to them and hugging them. “It was awful in there!”

His father whinnied. “Do you really think now is the time for hugs, son? Your mother and I have been worried sick about you. Running off from the tour group the way you did, jeopardizing the tour AND your own personal safety -”

“No, dad -”

“And to think you got poor little Sweet Heart and Ace tied up in it as well!” Miss Hackney added. “I can't fathom how big a lie Teddy told you to drag you into this, Sweet Heart.”

“But I -” Sweet Heart sputtered.

“No buts, young lady!”

Sweet Heart scowled, her face curling with discontent. Unwilling to accept the blame of her elders, she ran up to her father and dragged him by the hoof.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Her father protested, jerking his hoof away in vain.

“Come on. I'm going to show you something.” Sweet Heart growled. She was going to pull them though the vault door and show them Twilight's horrific work. It wasn't in her nature to be as pushy as she was, but she was determined her parents were going to see Rainbow Dash and realize the truth of what was happening behind those doors. Perhaps Teddy was rubbing off on her.

Her determination and anger faded at the sound of a loud clicking. Sweet Heart gasped as she saw Twilight and Apple Bloom close the vault door and latch it shut. “No!”

Sweet Heart's father jerked his hoof away from his daughter, experiencing more success than on previous attempts. He rubbed his sore hoof, glaring his daughter down. “What has gotten into you, Sweet Heart? First you run off, now this?”

“But Dad! Twilight's been doing things - awful things in there!”

Sweet Heart's father closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. “I'm disappointed in you, Sweet Heart. Not only do you run off with Teddy, but you believe this cockamamie story Teddy cooked up to get you out of trouble?”

“What? No! Dad -”

“Hey -” Teddy shouted, unwilling to let the slight against him stand. He had made up a few stories in the past, but this wasn't one of them.

“You're in no position to be objecting, mister.” Miss Hackney cut Teddy down. “We should all be grateful your misbehavior didn't get all of us thrown out and banned! The chance to explore Twilight Sparkle's wondrous Facility is a rare treat, and you've gone and squandered it! I hope you're proud of yourselves.”

Realizing none of the adults were going to listen, the three children hung their heads and sighed. “Yes, Miss Hackney.” They spoke in unison.

“I do hope they weren't too much of a problem for you, Miss Sparkle?” Sweet Heart's father asked the matron of the building.

“Oh, no. No trouble at all.” Twilight answered in a gentle voice.

“Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?”

“No, no … well, there is one tiny thing.”

The children gulped. Having seen the results of Twilight's gruesome work on Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash, they became afraid of the possible of being made into Twilight's next test subject through means of some clever manipulation of their parents.

Apple Bloom produced a paper.

“Simply have your children sign this paper saying they won't discuss what they've seen inside these walls with anypony.” Twilight gestured to the paper, putting an emphasis on the last word.

“Done.” Sweet Heart's father took the paper and presented it and the quill Apple Bloom produced to his daughter. “Go on. Sign it.”

Sweet Heart took the quill. She was willing to sign the written agreement, on the tiny, unspoken condition of ignoring it in its entirety the moment they were safe from the Facility. As she wrote her name down, she felt a tiny prick on the side of her hoof. When she finished writing, she noticed the ink was a vivid red color and her hoof had a cut on it where no wound existed a moment ago.

It took naught but a few moments for her to realize she had just sighed a contract in her own blood. Teddy and Ace did the same, Sweet Heart too disheartened to warn them against it. Their parents would just shout them down again. Teddy wince and Ace rubbed his hoof as Twilight took the sighed paper away.

“Good, good. Now that's settled, I'm afraid I'm going to have ask everypony to leave. You see, the antics of these three have taken up too much time for the tour. If we tried to finish it now, it would be well past everpony's bedtime.” Twilight bowed her head. “As such, I bid you adieu. Perhaps we can have better luck the next time I'm doing a promotion, hmm?”

“Perhaps. Come on.” Teddy's mother said as she scooted her rascal of a son towards the exit. As the children were escorted to the building grounds, Sweet Heart looked over her shoulder. She saw Twilight and Apple Bloom, waving them off with warm gestures of the hoof. But their smiles conveyed malice and a sort of unsettling, unspoken threat of harm if they tried to tell anypony what they had seen.

And having written her name in blood, Sweet Heart was sure they would have a way to know if she tried to tell anypony.

---

Some time later at Teddy's residence, Teddy walked with a delicate step towards his still-irate father, who was resting on a recliner while holding a newspaper in front of his face.

With no small amount of passive-aggression, his father bundled up the newspaper and rested it on the table. “Have you thought about the stunt you pulled today, son?”

“Yes, I have and I ...” Teddy caught himself in the midst of apologizing and shook his head. What was he doing? He didn't come here to apologize. “No, dad, I haven't, and you know why? Because there's something evil and unnatural going on inside that building! There were these mushrooms covered in blood, and this pony who was like a cyborg or something.”

Teddy's father held his hoof out for him to stop. “Son, do you not remember the part where you sighed a waiver wherein you would not tell anpyony anything about what you saw in the building?”

“Yeah, but -”

“I don't think you understand what that means. A pony like Twilight in charge of a business like her's has a lot to lose if her copyrights and parents get leaked around. So it would be best if you didn't leak them. On top of that, I don't believe a word you're saying. I mean, cyborgs? Bleeding mushrooms? You'll forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical.”

“No, I won't.” Teddy muttered to himself. “And you're just still mad because I misbehaved! If you were so blinded by anger, you'd realize I'm being serious right now!”

“Uh-huh.” His father nodded.

Teddy shook his hoof, attempting to reign in his anger. “Can I at least go outside and play with my friends?”

“After what you did today, what do you think the answer is going to be?” His father asked him, picking up his newspaper once more.

Teddy looked to the door and back to his father. I didn't hear an explicit “no” in there, he thought to himself. He was just going to gloss over the implicit no. Making sure his father was engrossed with his morning news, he sneaked out the door and made a full-steam gallop towards Sweet Heart's house. He didn't have to travel far, as Sweet Heart and Ace were heading in the opposite direction towards his own abode, and they met at the corner of the street.

“Hey guys.” Teddy said. “Did your parents not believe you either?”

“Oh, you don't know the half of it! Not only did they not believe me, they said I shouldn't make up stories just to make myself look better!” Ace complained. “Me! Make up stories? Can you imagine?”

“I don't have to imagine. I live it every time you score on a baseball game ...” Teddy muttered before Sweet Heart shut him with a bump to the knee.

“Shush.” Sweet Heart told him. “What are we going to do? Our parents won't listen to us. I know Miss Hackney won't listen to us. And any other friends we might have will probably avoid us out of fear of getting into trouble if we try to get them involved!”

“We need to put our heads together and think.” Ace said. “Think, think, think.” He repeated, bashing himself in the head with his hoof. “Where do ponies go when their parents won't believe them and their friends won't help? Who do they turn to?”

A brainstorm sparked in all of three of their heads.

“The police!”

---

“So let me make sure I understand you correctly … you're trying to tell me that Twilight Sparkle's Facility houses – amongst other things – zombies, cyborgs, and fungus which produce blood?”

The three children nodded at the officer sitting across the desk. “Uh-huh, uh-huh.”

“Well, I'm sorry, kids. I don't believe you.” The officer told them, picking up a piece of paperwork as though it were more important than them.

“But Officer Flathoof -!” Sweet Heart complained. “Don't you have a moral and ethical obligation to give every claim some level of investigation, should an actual crime have been committed?”

“I'm sorry, kid. But Twilight's got a good record.” Flathoof said. “She's helped the townsfolk, cut down the crime rate, introduced inventions which have made several ponies' lives easier. She even helped me get promoted once, you know? And you … well, no offense, but you're kids. One of whom I know is quite the troublemaker.” He glared at Teddy, who gave a sheepish grin. “When I put your record up against Twilight Sparkle's, well … you lose, simple as that. Are you sure you didn't imagine up some of these things?”

“Imagine – uugh!” Sweet Heart groaned. She turned towards the door. “Come on, guys. Let's go. This chump isn't going to help us.”

Ace and Teddy looked to each other. Sweet Heart, whose sweetness was such a dominating aspect of her personality the word “sweet” was in her name, calling somepony a chump? Of course, unlike them, Sweet Heart had a perfect track record for good behavior until today. So for her parents to disbelieve her, followed by the police not believing them, the stress might be having some effect on her.

“So what do we do now?” Teddy asked, galloping after Sweet Heart as she descended the stairs leading up to the police station.

“I … I don't know.” Sweet Heart confessed, dropping to her haunches and covering her face. “I've never … I've never had my parents not believe me before. Not like this.” She hiccuped, crying a bit.

“We do the only thing we can do.” Ace said. “It's up to us.”

Sweet Heart and Teddy glared at him as though he were an alien from outer space.

“Ace, you don't mean ...”

“Yes, I do mean. Think about it, Teddy. Our parents didn't believe us. The police are clearly in Twilight's pocket.” He cast a scathing glare at the police station entrance. “We're the only ones who know what's really happening inside that place. So we, as ponies, have an ethical and moral duty to stop it.” Ace put his hoof over his head, saluting an imaginary flag.

Sweet Heart and Teddy didn't want to admit it, but he was right. It was all up to them to do it. It was up to them to stop Twilight's sins against nature. It was up to them, even though they were just a trio of kids. Even though they had no experience, no training, no combat skills or special powers, and no idea what they were doing.

But still. If not even the police would help them, it was clear their was no other choice. They would have to begin a descent into the darkness of Twilight's Facility, probe its secrets, and learn how to drive into the stake into the black vampires' hearts.

“So, what's our next move?” Teddy asked.

“We need a way in.” Ace said. He rubbed his chin. “A way to sneak inside without being noticed. We can't just go up to the front door, or those goons of her's will throw us out.”

“You know, we did see sewage inside that room we were in.” Sweet Heart said.

Ace and Teddy glared at her. “Sweet Heart, you … you're not suggesting we climb in through the sewers, are you?”

“Hey, I don't like it anymore than you do. You think I want to get all muddy and filthy running around inside those tunnels? But it's our best bet.”

Ace hung his head. “As unpleasant as the idea may be, Teddy, she's right. To the sewers we go! I hope everypony brought noseplugs ...”

---

After ambling about the town square for awhile, they found a porthole covering they could use to gain access inside The Facility … or so they hoped. They had to duck behind a market stall at least once on their way to avoid being found out and caught by their parents. So this had better be worth it.

Ace and Teddy set about removing the cover from the ground for them to climb in. The scraping sounds the lid made as they dragged it along the concrete were foreboding and told them of their certain doom if they were foolish enough to continue on this path.

They hesitated, rethinking this course of action, but a simple nod from one another was enough to convince them to continue. Ace was the first one to climb down, followed by Teddy, with Sweet Heart bringing up the rear.

“Oof.” Ace groaned. “It's dark in here.”

“Why didn't any of us think to bring a flashlight?” Sweet Heart bemoaned.

“Well, no use going back for one now.” Ace said. “Come on. This way. We'll make our through by sound. Remember to go slow so you don't accidentally step into sewage water.”

“Oh yes. Thanks for the helpful reminder, Captain Obvious.” Teddy said.

They wandered through the dark tunnels. They had to put up with the dim lighting and the noxious smell of sewage waste and runoff during the course of their little misadventure. As they continued to make no apparent progress despite how long they had been trekking, doubts began to settle in their minds. Perhaps they should go back while they still could and leave well enough alone. Perhaps they should have told their parents what they were doing, so at least somepony would be around to worry if they didn't return.

“Maybe we should turn back.” Sweet Heart muttered, the smell getting to her.

“Yeah, maybe ...” Ace concurred, nodding his head. Even though Sweet Heart couldn't see it in the dark. “What do you think, Teddy?”

“I think ...I smell flowers.”

“Flowers?” Ace asked, incredulous Teddy's nose was even still functional after having been exposed to the sewer muck for as long as they had been. “How can you possibly smell -”

“No, he's right. I smell them too.” Sweet Heart said. She sniffed the air. “This way.” She took point, holding Ace's hoof as she guided towards the flowers, whose pleasant smell stood out like a sore thumb amidst the stench of polluted sewer water.

“Hey, guys, I see light!” Teddy said. His voice came from a distance in the darkness, worrying Ace and Sweet Heart.

“Teddy?” Sweet Heart asked. “Teddy, where are you? Stay close to the group!”

“It's no problem, guys!” Teddy assured them. “I've found an exit and I'm going in!”

“Teddy, please!” Sweet Heart begged. “Wait up!” She and Ace ran a frantic pace in their attempts to catch up with him. They were just a hair too little, too late, as they saw Teddy's rump hanging out from an unusual window. Light was coming off the window pane, illuminating Teddy's backside as he kicked and flailed before making it inside.

“Oh, dear ...” Sweet Heart muttered.

Teddy flew out the window on the other side and crashed into the floor. He was relieved to have a soft landing. Looking down, he saw it was because he had landed onto some sort of garden patch, full of grass and flowers. Pushing himself up, he observed the layout of the room. It appeared to be a large, indoor garden, with flowerbeds scattered everywhere and plants of various shapes and sizes populating the room. Some skylights were installed in the ceiling to allow light for the plants.

“Huh.” Teddy muttered to himself, stepping down from the garden he landed he. He wandered about for awhile until he noticed, some distance away, the shadow of a pony nestled amongst the flora.

He bit his lip, unsure if this was a good thing or not. He stepped backwards, trying to escape notice. As he did, he observed the tiling of the floor. He thought he recognized it from somewhere. With horror dawning on him, he realized he did.

It was the same tiling as in Twilight's Facility. Which was both good and bad. Good because they had found their destination, bad because it meant the plants could be any kind of nasty things.

Teddy continued sneaking, attempting to hide behind a large bush. He thought he might have been safe and he could lay low long enough for the shadow to leave the room … until Ace and Sweet Heart decided to take this particular moment to come tumbling through the window, landing near him.

Teddy winced, seeing the shadow perk up its head.

Sweet Heart and Ace didn't seem to notice. Sweet Heart engaged Teddy in a hug, which Teddy would have loved in any other circumstance.

“We were so worried about you!” Sweet Heart said before bopping him on the nose. “Don't you go running off like that again!”

Teddy nodded. “Yeah, okay, sure. Fine. But Sweet Heart, we oughta -”

“Excuse me?”

Everypony looked up to see a pretty young pegasus mare approaching them. She had long pink hair and wore a kimono dress. There was a small patch of grass in her mouth, which she chewed and swallowed before speaking.

“Oh dear.” She said in a voice as soft as melted butter. “Are you three foals lost?”

“Lost?” Teddy said, doing his best poker face. “What do you mean, lost?”

“Did you get separated from your parents during a tour?” The pony speculated. “Oh, maybe you were playing around and fell in from the sewers.” She gasped. “Oh, you didn't fall out of a flying machine, did you?”

“N-no ma'am!” Ace assured her. “We did not fall out of any machines or fliers, hehheh. Our names are Ace, Teddy, and Sweet Heart. What's yours?”

“You can call me Fluttershy.” She explained with a smile. “Now then, why don't I help you foals get back to your parents?”

The three of them gave a nervous laugh, attempting to stall for time as they tried to come up with a good excuse to convince Fluttershy to ditch the idea. “Why not? Well, um, you see ...”

Fluttershy gasped again. “Oh no! You're not orphans, are you?”

Ace sighed. This mare's penchant for jumping to the worst-case scenario was beginning to wear on him. “No ma'am, we are not orphans.”

Fluttershy placed a hoof on her chest. “Oh, good! If you were, well … I might just decide I'd have to adopt you. I love to play with little foals.”

Teddy chuckled. “Ya-ya do?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes. I love to hear the pitter-patter of their little hooves. Oh, and they just get so excited about the tiniest of things! It's adorable, really. It's just like playing with a pet.”

“Oh, really? How nice.” Sweet Heart said.

“Oh, um, not that I'm saying you three are pets!” Fluttershy assured them. “Maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.” Fluttershy gestured to the door. “Now come on. Let's get you three home. Does that sound good?”

“Um, all right.” Ace said. “I guess it's not the worst fate in the world – oh my Celestia, WHAT IS THAT?” Ace pointed his hoof at a disturbing sight in the ceiling. A pony was hanging from the ceiling tiles, tied by leather straps and bound with a gag stuffed into his mouth, spinning like some grotesque ceiling fan.

“Oh, phoo.” Fluttershy complained, looking up at the suspended body. “I thought I put him away already. You three really weren't supposed to see that.”

Teddy, Ace, and Sweet Heart became quite frightened. “O-oh no? W-why not?”

Fluttershy sighed. “Well, goodness, I'd hate to do this. Especially to a trio of foals as lovely and cute as yourselves, but … I'm afraid now that you've seen my, um, acquisitions … I can't let you leave here alive. I'm so sorry. Mistress's orders. If it were up to me, I'd just give you an amnesia potion and let you walk out of here. I'm terribly sorry.”

Teddy, Ace, and Sweet Heart gulped as Fluttershy began approaching them, a pair of fangs spouting from her lower lip.

Author's Note:

The title of the chapter is taken from a soundtrack on the Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs OST.

I fear I may have done bad form by ending the fifth chapter in the same scenario as I ended the fourth, with the trio of kids about to be attacked by a monster.