Welcome to the Factory
Night Patrol Chapter 16
By Foxgear
Luna sat nervously on the floor of Celestia’s room while the elder alicorn circled around her like a shark. Irritation was apparent on Celestia’s face, as well as exhaustion, both of them have been up for the past two days with no sleep and little coffee. The clock struck eight marking the third hour since the sun had risen and the citizens of Canterlot awoke to discover mobs of soldiers in the streets and ash in the air. Even before the reports from the units came in. The ponies of Canterlot were demanding answers and Celestia faced down the mob of ponies alone. At Celestia’s smoldering suggestion she stayed in the sun tower.
“I’m sorry,” Said Luna breaking the silence between them, Celestia stopped her pacing and gives her a look that read angry and concerned at the same time. Luna wasn’t sure how her sister manage both emotions at the same time, but she did.
Tiredly Celestia sighed sitting down on the pillow across from Luna, her head hung low. “You need to be more careful with your words, Luna.”
“Sister I…”
“LISTEN TO ME!” Shouted Celestia rising back to her hooves, her frustration and anger boiling over, “You can’t carelessly throw words around when you have an army of ponies loyal to you to the point of death! Do you know what they did, Luna? Do you know what they did when you told them to go kill? They went out and killed Luna! They burned Yellowblood’s mansion to the ground with everypony inside, there’s not even a single bone left from the bodies! This is not how we do things! The nobles are guilty of crimes, but even they deserved to be trialed and punished by the rule of law. Running and dealing out justice without evidence or trial is how the griffons may do things, but we do not! We have ponies terrified by the actions of your soldiers and done at night no less! How do you think this will affect the opinions of ponies? Didn’t you want to should them the beauty of the night? How can they see it when crap like this happens?”
Celestia fell back onto her pillow, covering her eyes with her leg as she tried to regain her composure.
“You worked so hard, Luna, you made the night safer than ever before. I heard stories from my staff of ponies going out and exploring the night and coming back in the morning overjoyed by the wonders they found. I don’t want all the hard work you did to be for nothing, so I ask you, please take hold of your anger and let it go.”
“And let the nobles get away unpunished?” Luna interjected.
“I never said that,” Replied Celestia, “I’m just saying we have to do it civilly. This isn’t the old days when we could simply slay the villains, and everything would be fine. Ponies nowadays want law and order. I know of many ponies wronged by the nobles who would want them to face trial, to be held responsible for their crimes and to know they were judged.”
Luna’s ears flopped down, confusion evident on her face, “Is the judgment dealt last night not sufficient?”
“To you and me it is enough,” Celestia answered coolly, “But to the common pony. They want a trial in public followed by a hanging for all to see. To show others like the nobles, that they are not above the law.”
Luna shook her head, “I still do not understand the difference. What does it matter how we deal with villains if the results are the same?”
“That my sister is where we differ, I guess, but I will do my best to explain. In our view doing what we did was just, but in another view, the view of the common pony we look like tyrants getting rid of political rivals. That is the difference.”
“Surely our little ponies would not think such things of us?” Luna inquired, a fear growing in her gut as she thought of ponies turning against her and what they might do out of fear to her patrollers. “They wouldn’t, I mean how we are comparable to some tyrant? What is there to compare to?”
“Sombra.”
“What?”
Celestia lied down on the pillow, stretching her body over the plush furniture as she looked up at her sister. “Sombra did the same. He got rid of ponies he didn’t want, no trial, no jury, he just killed them.”
“How are we comparable to Sombra? What pony would even dare to compare us to him?”
“None yet, but if we continue to act like tyrants, ponies will see us as tyrants.” Celestia yawned. “Just keep your temper, and your words in check Luna and everything will be fine.”
“Only if thou do the same, you also command the night patrol.”
Celestia chuckled sleepily, “If you think they listen to me like they listen to you, then you need of some glasses, dear sister. You found them. You gave them a home, a purpose in life, a reason to live. They’re your ponies, Luna. If lines were drawn, they would choose you over everything else.”
“If that is the case, why don’t you form your own guard or patrol? Have an army of your own to countermine? It is the only tactical thing to do.”
“Perhaps, but it would only divide ponies if I raised an army now. Ponies could see it as a sign that I don’t trust you, Luna and I do. I trust you and the patrollers with my life, so no army for me. Now (Yawn) if you don’t mind, I need some sleep, do what you feel is right and then get some sleep yourself.”
Smiling despite herself, Luna laid a blanket over Celestia. As much as she wanted to deny her sister's words, she could see the logic in them and where her actions could lead her and her patrollers if she left them unheeded.
The fear in her gut churned her stomach as she thought over Celestia’s words. She must watch her words. As much as she wanted to deny that her patrollers follow her so blindly, Luna shuttered to think of what they would do if she said something she didn’t mean. Fear of what actions they would take if she so casually told them to hunt down and kill ponies again. Would they do it? Maybe not all of them, but at least one would and that scared her, it scared her a lot.
“Perhaps I need some grounding. A quick chat with Applejack would suffice.”
Applejack swayed haphazardly through the file of ponies, occasionally bumping into somepony on accident. Some shouted but quickly shut their mouths when they recognized her. A few asked if she was all right or if she was feeling sick. She wasn’t ill. She was just a little woozy from the hard cider she ingested last night is all. Not a big deal, if not for the fact she was on duty, but the need for a stiff one had been a great and powerful one, and she couldn’t resist the call. Not after what she saw last night.
Funny how somethings affect you like that, she’s done her fair share of monster-slaying and killed a good number of ponies in the battle for the Crystal Empire, but seeing Gadget turn a couple of no good vermin into brain dead slacks of flesh struck her the wrong way.
Maybe it was the way he did it or what he was doing to them with such disregard, or perhaps it was the fact that the goofy father could do something like that without a second thought. Or maybe, it was the words he said to her.
(When you have foals of your own, you'll understand.)
Applejack frowned thinking over his words, she wanted to say he was wrong and that she wouldn’t make the same choice, yet she’s gone down the darker road before for family, and they hadn’t even been her own kids. What would she do to get her foal back if somepony tried to take them? How far would she go? The answer was a mystery, but Applejack had a gut feeling that she would go as far as she would need to and wouldn’t think twice about it and that is what scared her.
Slumping against the wall, she pulled the canteen from her saddlebag and took a nice long gulp of refreshing water. Once she was done, she returned the bottle to the bag and stared out over the vast landscape of Canterlot. She had to admit, the city had its own appeal from this angle.
“Enjoying the view?”
Nearly jumping out her skin Applejack whipped around to see Luna laughing as she settled down next to her. The Princess’s magical hair blew into her face, making Applejack scrunch her noise as she waved the offending stains away. Luna giggled as Applejack swatted at her hair, her laughter prompting Applejack to join in, together they broke down into a hysterical giggling fit, then to a full-blown laugh.
“Thanks, Ah needed that,” Said Applejack as the giggles died down, the worry and fear that gripped her earlier seem to roll off her coat like rain. “Sure is a mighty pretty view up here.”
Luna agreed, “It is. I rather enjoyed this very sight many times when I still lived in Canterlot. After I left, I thought there was nothing about this city I would ever miss, but perhaps there are a few things worth coming back to see besides my sister.”
“Why didn’t you come back?”
Frowning Luna looked at her friend seeing… concern or maybe confusion, perhaps a little of both.
“You read the book?” Applejack nodded apathetically, Luna sighed thinking back all those years ago. To the day when the world literary shit on her.
“When I left Canterlot that night. I still ruled with Celestia for a few years afterward from our castle in the Everfree, so it’s not like I left it all to her for the last twenty-five years or so, but as time dragged on, the council complained about my absents. Saying if I wasn’t going to show up, I should just hand over my authority to Celestia. I didn’t do that, as much as I hated the job. I didn’t want to throw the entire burden of ruling on Celestia, though looking back that’s pretty much what I did. Eventually, they just stopped asking for my opinion, which worked well for their plans I guess, they feigned concern so they look good and I look like a lazy no good ruler. I think it was five or ten years ago when I officially stopped helping rule Equestria all together. I spent my time reading, walking through the Everfree and such. Then one day I felt the need to go visit some villages, to see how ponies are getting by and I remember this one village. They were so afraid of the dark that they begged me not to raise the moon in fear of the monsters that would come. The same thing happened in the next village and the next one after that and so on and that’s what led me to go out on that fateful night when I met you and look at where we are today. Things have changed so much.”
“Things sure have changed since then, seems we're fighting ponies more often than monster nowadays.” Applejack tilts her hat down, hiding her eyes. “Ah wonder what we’re supposed to be doing, everything seems so much more complicated now than before. Ah thought we’d just be fighting monsters when Ah joined up but feels Ah’ve killed more ponies then monsters recently.”
Luna wrapped her leg around Applejack’s shoulder, “Monster is just a word we use to describe creatures that frighten us, what those creatures are varies from cyclops to griffons to ponies, but never forget Applejack we are the ones that keep those monsters at bay, so that others may live in the illusion of safety.”
“Ah see what you’re saying, but that doesn’t make what Gadget did to those ponies right.”
“No,” Luna replied sourly, “but it is what needed to be done and thanks to him, we have a heading at least. One of the guards overheard Redblood saying they were going north, so we can at least start looking in the right direction. I've already sent out scouts. Hopefully, they find something.”
A bright flash of light exploded far off into the distance. Applejack instantly leaped to her feet and began running towards the source, but she didn’t get anywhere, and she realized her hooves weren’t touching the ground.
“What the hay are you doing?”
“You’re in no shape to go out there,” Chided Luna, “None of us are. No pony here has slept more than an hour in the past two days or eaten a proper meal. In short, we are in no shape to be rushing off into a possible battle.”
Applejack snorted angrily, “So you’re saying we just let them get away?”
“Of course not,” Luna pulled Applejack back over to her, so the earth pony was looking right into her eyes, “I’m merely saying we need to be smart. Situations like this are why we have reserves. I’ve already made the call, The Moon Cutter and a fresh platoon of patrollers will be here in a few hours, till then we will rest and keep tabs on our enemies movements.”
Luna let Applejack down. The earth mare simmering down. A long yawn escaped Applejack as she chomped her lips.
“Sounds good, Ah guess, some shut-eye sounds pretty good right now actually.” She muttered sleepily as the last of her energy yields to the demand for sleep. “Hey, have you seen Fury or Sixes around? Ah haven’t…. seen… them…in a while…zzzzz.”
Gently Luna carried Applejack with her magic up to her old bedroom in the lunar tower. She flew up the side of the white structure, not having the energy to take the stairs. Once her hooves were firmly on the floor, she unrolled the covers and placed Applejack on the bed.
Yawning Luna loudly copied Applejack’s earlier action of lip chomping before simply falling onto the bed with a soft “poof” of the mattress. She’d already spread the word for everypony to rest and eat, with a few ponies keeping updates on the scouts of course. The Moon Cutter was still being repaired from the battle in the Crystal Empire. Reports said all that was left was servicing the engine.
(Whatever that means, Gadget’s lecture on how the engine worked had been beyond my understanding.) all that was left for them to do here in Canterlot was to wait for Killing Perfection and the rest of the patrollers to pick them up.
“Where are Sixes and Fury?” Luna mumbled as she fell asleep.
“Come on, let’s go! Let’s go! Move it double time!” Rawhide roared over the clamor of marching hooves. The Moon Cutter’s repairs were finished and not a moment too soon as they have just received a letter from Princess Luna requesting reinforcement as quickly as possible.
“Is that everypony?” Killing Perfection asked, walking up the ramp to the earth pony, who gave her a salute. For the duration of their flight to Canterlot, she would be the head commander of the night patrollers, it was a position Killing Perfection took with great reluctance. She didn’t have an issue leading her fellow monster ponies, her confidence in their skills had her worrying little for their safety. Commanding hundreds of ponies was a scale she was not used too, and it weighed heavily on her. She hoped the flight would be smooth and she can pass the reins of command back to the princess as soon as possible.
Rawhide put his hoof down, “Yes, every active reserve member is on board.”
“What of Ms. Dippy? Her safety is still of the utmost importance.”
“She is under heavy guard and has been advised to not leave the castle until the all-clear is given by the princesses.”
Killing Perfection nodded, “Good, good, and has anypony check on Dusk and Nightingale? Gadget and the princesses are very… interested in their current conditions.”
Rawhide tapped his chin, “The last report was about an hour ago, they were playing chess and have not been alerted to the situation.”
“Good, good, and finally has Gadget’s new toy has been loaded into the hanger? He insists it is brought for this mission, though I’m not sure why it’s such a clumsy thing.”
“We just loaded it.”
“Good, let’s be off then.” Killing Perfection and Rawhide enter the haul of the ship, the ramp lowering beneath them as they walk away. The rumble of the engines shook the craft as the turbines came to life, by the time they enter the cabin, the motor was at full power, and they were ready to take off.
Rawhide trotted to the center of the room taking up the position of the first mate in place of Gadget, leaving Killing Perfection standing uneasily by Luna’s chair. All eyes were on her, she kept up her usual neutral expression as she prodded the chair as if it would come alive and bite her. Once she sat down, she would officially be in command of the Moon Cutter.
Sighing tiredly, she dropped down into Luna’s chair and pointed forward, “All hooves, prepare for takeoff!”
The cabin became a whirlwind of action as ponies shout commands through the intercoms, gauges sprang to life as the engine engaged, white puffs of clouds float up around them as the cloud maker roars to life. There was sudden jolt as the ship tilts left to right, trying to find its center of balance. Once they level off, it was time.
Fire exploded out the back of the Moon Cutter, launching the floating ship out of the hanger at high speeds. Right out of the gate the ship pointed skywards, the other side of the canyon coming dangerously close to scrapping the bottom of the vessel. They clear the canyon in seconds, quickly leveling off and turning towards Canterlot.
“We really need to find a new place to launch this thing,” Rawhide said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Agreed,” Seconded Killing Perfection. Killing had no fear of flying, being able to fly herself, but being trapped in the interior of a pony made a flying ship, made by a pony that could not fly and operated by ponies that could also not fly was not very comforting.
The two Night Patrol commanders share a small laugh together before tending to their duties. They expect no trouble flying to Canterlot, but that didn’t mean they were about to let their guard down.
--break?
Deep below the decks of the Moon Cutter hidden in the dark shadows of the hanger were two ponies that shouldn’t be there, hidden within the ships new cargo.
“Nightingale are you sure we should be doing this,” Whispered Dusk, dressed into full battle armor and looking very scared as she watched the wingless pegasus play with the controls of the new machine. Thankfully it was turned off, so nothing was actually happening.
“Don’t worry Dusk, from what I hear the ship is only going to rendezvous with Princess Luna.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Dusk sighed with relief. They weren’t going into another battle, thank the sisters!
“But after that is sounds like we are going on a hunt for some ponies, can’t hear who through all this metal, but I’m sure it will be epic!”
“Oh.”
Nightingale frowned, looking over Dusk’s mood, “What’s wrong, kid?”
“I’m just… well, I’m scared! I don’t want to fight again; it was horrible last time, why would this time be any better?” Tears swell in the aged mare’s black eyes, making Nightingale question her logic in bringing her with.
“Look Dusk, I need to fight, no I need to prove I can still fight even without my wings. This is the only thing I can think of to get over… well, you know.” Nightingale wrapped a leg around Dusk, pulling her close. “And don’t you worry about fighting, you just want to see your dad, right?” Dusk nodded against Nightingale’s underbelly, making the wingless pegasus blush as she awkwardly pats Dusk’s head. “So there’s nothing to be nervous about. I’ll drop you off with Gadget and then sneak back on aboard with no pony being the wiser, (YAWN), but for now some sleep. Who knew playing chess could make you so tired.”
“Well, we did play all night,” Dusk pointed out, “And you didn’t want to quit till you won at least once, which never happened.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a smart cookie. Now go to sleep. This thing we’re in doesn’t have a bed, but the seats are at least nice.” Sighing Nightingale sunk into the soft seats with a long yawn. “Hey, what does your dad call this thing anyway?”
Dusk eyes fluttered shut as she too felt the heaviness of sleep, but she did manage to answer the question, “I think he called it a tank, the AT-1 or something like that.”
“(Yawn) That’s cool… goodnight…”
Sixes, Fury, and Nico held their position on a cloud overlooking the nobles getting as close as they dared to get. They’d been on rotating two-hour shifts keeping an eye on the nobles, pushing their hiding cloud, and sleeping. They were somewhat surprised by the nobles’ pace. The aristocratic ponies were covering a lot of ground in very little time, mostly because they got tired of Yellowblood and Greenblood slowing them down, so the three remaining nobles carried them with their magic. It was hard to admit, but Redblood, Orangeblood, and the mare they identified as Violetblood were in excellent shape, both physically and magically. Enough to be worried if a fight were to happen.
The five nobles made their way around a narrow pass between two low mountains that gradually grew wider forming into a vast valley. Flowers drifted in the breeze, little critters roam through the grass, and a waterfall of rainbows fed into the river. The whole place looked right of a children’s fairy tale, and it left the three Rinin with varying reactions of, what the hell?
Sixes stared with his mouth open at the valley, “Maybe I read too many of those adventure novels in the library, but this doesn’t look like a place you run to when an entire country is chasing after you.”
“Agreed, hardly seems like a place for a factory of evil either,” Added Fury, his brow frowning at the rainbow falls. “You don’t suppose…”
“The factory is behind the waterfall?” Finished Nico, all three Rinin looked closer at the multicolored waterfall. In the shadows of the mist, a narrow rocky pathway could be seen. They held their positions as the nobles approached the path and began crossing behind the waterfall one by one.
Sixes nudged the cloud closer to get a better look. The inside was dark. Pitch black, in fact, making it impossible to see inside, but there had to be a cave or something inside.
“Stay here Nico, Fury, and I will take a closer look if we don’t return in two hours go back to the castle and report to Princess Luna,” Ordered Sixes as and he Fury clung to the high walls of the cliff leading into the waterfall. They entered the cave, crawling on the bottom of the ceiling. Their moon phase armor changing from white to midnight blue to blend into the surroundings.
They hid behind a rock formation the nobles below standing in a softly glowing circle.
(Runes? I think I read something about those.) Sixes mused observing the five with interest as they each activated their horns.
The five ponies pointed their glowing horn to the ceiling magic leaked out alike a mist and poured into the circle. A soft hum filled the cave rising in volume as flashes of light bounced off the cave walls. The light beams began to gradually right themselves traveling upwards to the ceiling, forming one huge beam of light. The eyes of the nobles were whited-out as they started to float in midair. The noise became deafening, the light blinding in the pitch darkness of the cave. But through it, all Sixes could make out the small specks of light rising off the bodies of the nobles.
Acting on gut instinct Sixes flew into the beam with Fury right behind them. The light whites out their vison making it feel like they were flying through a white void, and then everything cleared, and they were in a vastly different place.
Metal surrounded them, loud machinery roared, and the smell, it was nearly impossible not to smell it, the entire place reeks of new and old blood laced with fear and panic.
Voices down below brought the two Rinin back to their senses, and they quickly ducked under some sort of platform and hung from their claws. The nobles were directly below and none the wiser of their presence. Fury and Sixes exchange nods and held their position. This is no doubt, what they were looking for, but what and where this place was still needed to be answered, so they settled down for some eavesdropping. Tuning out the all other noise and the smell focusing solely on the nobles.
“This place is as drearily as the last time we visited. Would it kill them to put in some rugs or something?” Greenblood loudly complained as they were greeted by the Factory’s welcoming staff.
A group of frankly freaky looking ponies wearing beak masks and goggles approach the group, at the head of the herd where two ponies in white coats covered in red stains. They were Madhoof and Hoofenstein, head researchers of the factory and its founders. They regard their guests with an air of annoyance.
“Why are you here? There is no scheduled visit, and you have brought no new materials. What is the cause of this unannounced visit?” Hoofenstein demanded slamming his hoof against the metal floor, snorting angrily. “Do you realize the danger you could have placed us in with your foolishness? Now answer us, why are you here?”
“Well, you see Dr. Hoofenstein,” Yellowblood began, “There have been some complications in Canterlot.”
“What kind of complications?” Madhoof questioned darkly, getting right in Yellowblood’s face. Their horns touch and Yellowblood felt a shiver run down his spine as the strange coldness of Madhoof’s horn ground against his own, it felt as if it was made of metal rather than bone.
Redblood coughed getting the two ponies attention as he pushed Yellowblood aside. “We have been betrayed, Blueblood sold us out, and we were forced to flee. We set up some distractions during our escape to buy us some time, but only a day or less. Our best course of action would be to move the factory unless you have completed your experiments and can transcend us to alicornhood.”
The two Doctors blink, their highly intelligent minds going through the details at super-fast speeds. There was anger in their thoughts as they deliberated, all their hard work could be for not if they are discovered now, but then again this would be the perfect chance to test out their latest project.
“Yes, we might have something ready, but only ponies such as you are worthy of the honor! Please follow me, and I’ll show you the realm of the gods!” Madhoof theatrically waved the nobles to follow his lead, leaving his partner and brother to deal with the rest.
Once Madhoof and the nobles were gone, Hoofenstein tapped his hoof against the metal, creating a shock wave of magic that transverse the room. The two hidden Rinin wonder what he was up to when he suddenly looked directly at them.
“Hello again, 6666 and 1330, nice to see you my little runaways.”
“Fury!” Sixes' yelled as Hoofenstein fired a beam of magic from his horn. Both Rinin dodge and move in to tackle the pony, but something strange happened, Hoofenstein held up only a hoof to stop them. They met him head-on, and they quickly figured out they’d been duped as Hoofenstein held not just one, but both of them back with one hoof!
“Earth pony magic,” Sixes glared putting all his strength into trying to knock the pony down, but Hoofenstein held firm, not even moving an inch, “but you’re a unicorn!”
“Surprising isn’t little colt!” Hoofenstein laughed smashing Sixes into the ground as Fury leaped back, rage overcoming him as causing his body to be engulfed in flames. “Oh, that’s new.”
Fury’s chest puffed up as he exhaled a stream of fire, “Shut up and die!”
“I think not,” Hoofenstien shoots back, calmly casting a shield to block the flames, “tsk, tsk, you and that temper, a dragon and phoenix was the best choice for you Ferocious.”
“What did you call me?”
“Oh, did I say something? I tend to let my mind wander, but now is the time for focus, and right now, you should be sleeping!” Hoofenstein disappeared in a flash of light reappearing beside Fury, who stood no chance of dodging as the pony’s hoof smashed into his jaw, knocking him out.
“And that’s why you were a failure 1330, but don’t worry, you’ll be back with the rest of your failure brethren like before in the vault. Oh, I guess its bad manners for me not to do this,” Hoofenstein leaned down and whispered into Fury’s ear, “Welcome back to the Factory.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
1,095 users online
2,095,840 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®