My Little Chrono Triggers Are Magic

by Pav Feira

The Factory Ruins

2300 AD

Northern Factory—Entrance Chamber

“Ooo! This place sure is flashy!” said Pinkie Pie.

The entrance of the factory was aglow with flashing indicators and ambient lighting. Humming motors and buzzing electronics provided a steady level of white noise. Patches of grime and rust dotted the brushed metal walls, indicating both a lack of maintenance and a sign of productivity. Up until this point, the ponies has only seen gloomy domes running on minimal power; the contrast of this factory was somewhat unnerving.

Their new robotic companion, however, did not show any signs of unfamiliarity. She rotely tapped onto a console with her hoof, intently reading its output display. “Oh, how wonderful. It appears that this factory still has plenty of power.”

“That’s great, Fluttershy!” Twilight Sparkle’s smile fell as she added, “Though I don’t suppose we can redirect the power from here, can we?”

“Oh, no, I’m afraid not, Twilight Sparkle. We will need to travel down to the basement, where the primary generator is located. Don’t worry though; it’s not that far. Please, follow me. We can take a shortcut through the assembly line.”

“Wowwie! Get a load of this place, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie excitedly hopped along behind Fluttershy, taking in the futuristic ambience of the factory. “Now this is more like it. This is totally what the future is supposed to be like: with robots, and blinking lights, and all kinds of high-tech gizmos. Not like everywhere else we’ve seen: with nap boxes, and programmable alligators, and weird-tasting doors. No-no-no, this is a cool future-y place. It’s just a shame that Rainbow had to miss out on this.”

Fluttershy turned to look behind herself as she led the way. “Oh, I’ve been worrying about Master Dash,” she lamented. “She seemed so upset. I think perhaps we shouldn’t have left her alone.”

Twilight Sparkle groaned. “First off, please stop referring to her as Master Dash, for all of our sakes.” She smiled reassuringly, continuing, “And secondly, you don’t need to worry about Rainbow Dash. I know that you and her became friends only five minutes ago, but you’ll learn that she’s able to handle things just fine on her own.”

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2300 AD

Magno Dome

“So booored!” Rainbow Dash screamed at the ceiling. She was flying laps around the perimeter of the confined chamber in a desperate attempt to keep herself entertained. “What the hay is taking them so long? They’ve been gone for like five hours!” She landed roughly on the ground and pouted. “There’s nothing to do in this stupid dome! What am I supposed to do here, all by myself?” Her eyes wandered around the room, before pausing on an object at the far end of the dome. She arched an eyebrow in consideration.

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2300 AD

Northern Factory—Robotics Assembly Floor

Twilight Sparkle stood slack-jawed at the edge of the catwalk. Her eyes glazed over lightly as she absorbed the sights before her. The factory’s entrance had raised her expectations of this era’s level of technology, yet she wasn’t prepared for this. Lights and info panels were present in dizzying quantities, covering the walls, machinery, and even underlying the grated floors. The majority of the room was devoted to a massive assembly line. A wide conveyor belt snaked its way around the room, doubling back on itself, ducking into an enclosure, inclining up to the second floor, hugging the perimeter of the room, before finally disappearing into a large passageway in the wall. The conveyor was lined with oversized robotic arms, each designed with an express purpose in mind; there were grippers, assemblers, welders, bolters, scanners, and several more that Twilight Sparkle wasn’t sure about. Partially-assembled robots were drifting along the line, slowly taking form as each assembly arm performed its sole duty. By the time that the robots were exiting the room, they were readily identifiable as the model of robot that had accompanied Spitfire.

“This is amazing,” she squeaked. “Just look at that precision! Dozens of machines operating in synchronization, all working toward a singular goal to produce a machine that’s beyond anything we’ve seen in our home era. Isn’t this factory just magical?”

“You said it, sister!” said Pinkie Pie. “The lights are all like blink-blink-blink and those arms are like bzzz-bzzz-bzzz and that moving floor is like whrr-whrr-whrr! This room looks like oodles of fun!”

“Oh, why thank you, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. I’m glad you like this factory so much. In addition to Magno Dome, I spend a good amount of time here at the factory, caring for my... animal friends?” Fluttershy hung her head sadly. “No no, that doesn’t sound right at all. Maybe I’m not an animal caretaker after all. Oh, it’s so frustrating, not being able to remember my purpose.” She jerked her head upright. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful.”

“Don’t worry about it,” reassured Twilight Sparkle. “I can’t imagine how confused you must feel right now. But hey, if you used to work here, maybe something will trigger your memory. Where should we head next?”

“Next, we should head—Oh dear.” Fluttershy was pointing a hoof to the far corner of the factory floor, where a looming pyramid of oil drums had been carefully stacked. “There’s supposed to be an access hatch there, but it seems that somepony has blocked the way.”

“Well that’s inconvenient, and probably a safety violation to boot,” Pinkie Pie mused. “Is there any other way downstairs?”

Before Pinkie Pie could finish her question, Fluttershy had the factory’s floorplan loaded and analyzed in her cybernetic mind. “Well, there’s an elevator in the supervisor’s office.” She repositioned her hoof, pointing to a row of glass windows lining the upper floor. “The elevator could take us down to the generator. But I don’t have the proper security clearance to enter that office, so I’m not sure how we—”

“You heard her! Geronimo!” Pinkie Pie tossed herself off the side of the catwalk.

“Pinkie!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. She ran to the edge of the catwalk and leaned over, and was met by Pinkie Pie’s grinning face. The earth pony gleefully waved goodbye as the conveyor belt swept her along its course. Frantically, Twilight Sparkle traced the catwalk’s path, before coming to the same conclusion that her friend had reached. “Great thinking, Pinkie Pie! That conveyor belt will lead us right up to the office windows. We should be able to find a way inside from there. C’mon Fluttershy, let’s go!” She carefully hopped off the edge, landing slightly off-balance on the moving conveyor.

“Oh no, you mustn’t! Oh dear.” Fluttershy stood petrified on the catwalk. “P-Please, come back! It’s against regulations to be on the assembly line right now. It isn’t safe!”

Twilight Sparkle galloped against the flow of the conveyor belt, keeping herself stationary underneath the catwalk. “It’s okay, Fluttershy! We’re your friends; you can trust us! You can make the jump, too.”

“N-No, that’s not what I—T-T-Twilight, look out!”

Twilight Sparkle’s gaze was fixed up at the catwalk, so she failed to notice the partially-assembled robot rolling down the conveyor belt. As she smashed face-first into the robot, the room was saturated with shrill sirens. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes rolled around inside her head as the conveyor belt pulled her along. “Great. Let me guess.” On cue, grates along the assembly line opened up, unleashing a small squadron of robots.

Pinkie Pie’s section of the moving platform had already doubled back underneath Fluttershy’s catwalk. “Aww yeah,” she cheered as she rolled past. “Looks like it’s time to show these guards that we’re not playing around. Well, not right now, anyways. Whee!”

Twilight Sparkle was next to drift past the catwalk. “Fluttershy, you have to jump! It’s not safe to stay—vah!” She scowled as a pair of roboponies dropped in from a platform above her. Arming herself with her trusty dart gun and Flamethrower, she crouched defensively and waiting for them to make the first move.

Pinkie Pie started to bounce upstream to assist her friend, but was intercepted by her own pair of guards. Without losing a beat, she hopped up from the belt onto the head of a partially-assembled bot, then leapt onto a nearby assembly arm, before flipping head-over-hooves above her foes. With a nimble flick of her hoof, a trio of crossbow bolts rained down on one of the robots below her, tearing apart its circuitry. The guard fell silent as Pinkie Pie landed nimbly behind it.

“Oh, please be careful! Resisting the security is much too dangerous. W-Wait... Meep!” Gathering her courage, Fluttershy leapt off the catwalk with a timid squeak. Her heavy steel body landed with a thunderous crash, rattling the conveyor belt from start to finish. Turning downstream, she raced along at an ungainly trot, trying to catch up with the others.

Pinkie Pie was keeping her remaining attacker thoroughly off-balance by leaping over its head repeatedly. The guard’s whirring servos could not spin fast enough to keep itself pointed in the same direction as the energetic bouncing pony. Spotting an opening, Pinkie Pie turned sharply and bucked the robot in its spherical body, launching it off the catwalk onto the ground below. She grinned, waving to her friends. “See, girls? Nothing to it. These roboguards are a piece of cake.”

Without warning, Pinkie Pie’s teeth chattered vigorously, and then she hiccuped. “Uh oh, that means—” She quickly turned around, just in time for the incoming missile to explode in her face. The blast knocked her off her hooves, sending her skidding violently across the conveyor belt. From further down the belt, a new pair of robot guards were slowly approaching her.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight Sparkle yelled in concern, momentarily turning her attention from her own attackers.

“Please hold on, Pinkie Pie! I’m coming!” Fluttershy called out. She raced past Twilight Sparkle as fast as her hooves would carry her.

Twilight Sparkle turned her attention back to her own robot assailants, barely ducking an incoming laser bolt in time. She returned fire with her dart gun, but as she had sadly come to expect, the darts grazed harmlessly off the robot’s metal shell. Undeterred, she followed up with a spray of flames from her Flamethrower. The fire penetrated some of the gaps in the robot’s outer frame, cooking its circuitry and stopping it in its tracks.

The robots who assaulted Pinkie Pie from range were drawing closer, whereas she was slow to get back onto her hooves. Fluttershy ran up the inclined conveyor belt to the prone Pinkie Pie. Her emerald eye sensors glowed with a warm light as she stood protectively over her injured teammate. A beam of glowing green energy emanated from her eyes, washing over Pinkie Pie.

The latter pony blinked in surprise, then energetically hopped back up to her hooves. “Neato! Thanks, Fluttershy.” She turned her attention back to the incoming robots. “Hey uglies! Betcha can’t hit me again!” She leapt over the robots, intent to draw them away from her friends.

The ruse succeeded, but only partially. One of the robots turned to follow Pinkie Pie, but the other remained fixated on its previous target: the robot who was healing the intruders with her Cure Beam. The guard rolled closer to Fluttershy, locking onto her with its laser turrets. Fluttershy’s response was somewhat less intimidating; her body shook uncontrollably as she slowly tried to shy away from her attacker.

Twilight Sparkle caught this scene playing out in the corner of her eye. She telekinetically tossed her remaining attacker off the edge of the belt, and turned to look up at the second floor. “Fluttershy, don’t just stand there! You have to fight back.”

“I know, b-b-but...” She cowered in fear as the guard closed in on her.

Twilight Sparkle quickly looked about the room. I’m too far behind them on the belt. I won’t make it in time if I gallop. There’s got to be something that I can—Oh, yes. Grinning maliciously, her horn exploded with magical energy. She magically reached out to a large assembly arm above her, which responded by lighting up with her magenta aura. Focusing her mind, she pulled as hard as she could on the arm, bending its joints inward toward the conveyor belt. The guard robot had no time to react as the arm’s activated plasma cutter sliced through its body like butter. The cleanly sliced halves fell harmlessly off the side of the belt. “Now’s your chance. Run for it, Fluttershy!”

Further down the line, Pinkie Pie was frantically beckoning to her friends. “Girls! The office is right here. C’mon! We can jump across.” She dashed upstream in order to stay next to the office.

Fluttershy was racing along the conveyor belt, but faltered slightly when she heard this last remark. “Jump? But the windows are covered with glass. How are we—” She leapt back as the plasma cutter arm flew through the windows, showering the inside of the booth with glass shards. Without warning, Twilight Sparkle next grabbed Fluttershy with her magic, and gently tossed her inside as well. Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle hopped through the broken window quickly thereafter.

Fluttershy struggled back up to her hooves and lunged at a nearby control panel, pressing an oversized red button. The console mercifully killed the overhead siren, leaving behind the relatively peaceful sounds of cranking machinery and buzzing electronics. The remaining guard robots lost interest; due to the cancelling of the alarm, they dropped their current objectives and slowly returned to their staging areas. Everypony heaved a sigh of relief.

“Goodness, is everypony alright?” asked Fluttershy. “That was scary.”

Pinkie Pie flashed a reassuring smile. “Yepper doodles! It’s a good thing that there was an oversized red button here; that’s exactly what we needed.”

“How about you?” inquired Twilight Sparkle. “You’re not injured at all, are you, Fluttershy?”

“Oh, n-no, I am uninjured,” stammered Fluttershy.

“I’m glad to hear it, but we’d better keep moving,” said Twilight Sparkle as she looked around the room. “You mentioned there’s an elevator that leads to the power generator, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Twilight Sparkle, but there may be additional security in place. One minute, please. I should be able to access the central security systems from here.”

Twilight Sparkle’s face glowed. “Perfect! That would be a huge help, Fluttershy. Say, while you’re working on that...” She walked over to the wrecked assembly arm, studying it intently.

“Whacha doing, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously.

“Well, I was thinking. The technology in this device appears to be capable of creating thermal plasma. Basically, it’s matter that’s extremely hot,” she clarified in response to Pinkie Pie’s confused look. “If I can extract those components out of this arm, I might be able to use it to enhance some of my weapons.”

“Ah, yes, that reminds me,” interjected Fluttershy as she continued scanning the security systems. “You mentioned earlier that you were an ‘inventor’, but I wasn’t familiar with what that is. So if I understand correctly, an inventor is somepony who scavenges the technology of others, and uses it for her own purposes?”

“Oh no-no-no, it’s nothing like that,” Twilight Sparkle explained. “There’s much more to it than that. I’m creating something that’s entirely unique and novel. Besides, I also need to understand how to reverse-engineer this plasma torch, then figure out how to integrate it properly with my dart gun—”

“I see. So, you created the dart gun?”

She hesitated. “W-well no, my dad helped me put together this dart gun together, years ago.”

“Ah. So you take two products, neither of which you created, combine them, and the result is your original creation? Is this inventing?”

“I... But...” Twilight Sparkle’s face darkened. “We should probably get moving.”

Fluttershy nervously turned to her other companion. “I don’t understand. Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry.”

Pinkie Pie winked playfully. “You probably just hit a nerve, that’s all.”

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2300 AD

Magno Dome

“Why, Spring Sproing, this dinner party has been an absolute delight. Thank you so much for hosting us!”

“Think nothing of it, Mrs. Board!” Spring Sproing cheerily replied. She bounced about the room, flexing her coils. “I’m just glad that you and Steelchunk were able to make it on such short notice.”

“Beep. Beep boop whrr,” said Steelchunk.

“And might I add, Mrs. Board, that you’re looking quite radiant tonight! Your, um... your little chip thingies sure do complement all those, uh, silver lines you have.”

Mrs. Board laughed good-naturedly. “Oh please, Spring Sproing, you’re such a flatterer.” She let out a whimsical sigh. “I just wish that Rocket Booster had been able to attend. She’s always the life of the party.”

“Oh, I know!” agreed Spring Sproing. “Rocket Booster is just about the coolest friend anypony could have.”

“Beep!” confirmed Steelchunk.

“Right?” gushed Mrs. Board. “She’s so fast! So awesome! So—”

From across the room came a loud rolling crash, which caused Rainbow Dash to leap up in shock. She jerked her head around to spot the source of the sound; the garbage heap that she rummaged through earlier had collapsed. When she realized that she was still alone in the dome, she slowly turned back around. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson as she looked at the items strewn on the floor by her hooves: a motherboard, a loose spring, and a small block of steel. She angrily kicked the objects away, and folded her hooves across her chest. “What’s taking those jerks so long?” she muttered.

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2300 AD

Northern Factory—Maintenance Levels

“Huh. Just how close are we, anyway?” Pinkie Pie inquired. “Poor Dashie is probably bored out of her mind by now.”

“Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy assured her. “We should reach the power generator shortly.”

“Great! It definitely helps that you were able to turn off the security down here. We’ll be in and out in a jiffy!”

“Y-Yes, I am glad too. After that incident on the conveyor belt, well, I think I’ve had about as much... excitement as I can take.”

Twilight Sparkle drew up alongside Fluttershy as they continued down the gently humming corridor. “You’re scared of fighting, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am!” Fluttershy proclaimed with an unprecedented level of assertiveness. “I just couldn’t stand the thought of hurting anypony else. I know that robots are unable to feel pain, and I am grateful that we’ve only fought with robots thus far, but... It’s just too cruel to cause harm to another. I don’t think I could bring myself to fight like you.” She jolted and began stammering apologetically. “Oh! I-I’m sorry! I d-didn’t mean to sound so judgmental. It’s j-just that, for me, well—”

“Did you know,” Twilight Sparkle interrupted her with a sheepish grin, “that I used to be too afraid to fight, too? Just a matter of days ago, in fact.”

Fluttershy stopped in her tracks. Her voice jumped up in pitch. “Really? You were?” She paused, turning away. “I don’t understand. Just earlier, you were so b-brave and powerful. What changed?”

Twilight Sparkle shared a quick smile with Pinkie Pie before replying. “I believed. I believed in my friends, both old and new, because I knew they’d always believe in me. I believed in our mission to use our time-traveling gift to save the world, because each of us was determined to give it our all. And most of all, I believed in myself.”

Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide in awe, emitting a gentle glow. “That sounds very wonderful, Twilight Sparkle.”

They resumed their trot down the hallway. “Hopefully someday soon, you’ll find something you can believe in, too. And when that day comes, you’ll know what you need to do.”

“Thank you,” she replied, deep in thought. “I will keep this in mind.”

Ahead of them, Pinkie Pie stopped abruptly, pointing to a large bolted door affixed with a tiny placard. “Hey look, ‘Generator Room’! We found it! We found it!”

“Great!” cheered Twilight Sparkle. She rushed up to a console next to the door. “Hmm,” she mused after fidgeting with the panel, “I guess this door is locked. It’s saying that we need a clearance code.”

“Oh, yes, that’s correct. I looked up today’s code while we were in the supervisor’s office. Let me see. First try ‘A’ and ‘E’, followed by ‘I’, then ‘O’, and lastly ‘U’.”

“A-E-I-O-U!” Pinkie Pie gleefully parroted.

In response to Twilight Sparkle’s inputs, the security door surged to life, pulling itself up into the ceiling and permitting entry into the heart of the factory. A narrow suspended catwalk led the ponies to a massive cylindrical generator, which sat suspended above a sea of cooling fluid. Pinkie Pie felt the hair of her coat stand on end, thanks to the electric aura that was charging the very air around them. The machine hummed a low deep chord, reverberating in a way that the light whine of the factory equipment above could not hope to match.

“Excellent. Please wait one minute. I’ll make the necessary arrangements.” Fluttershy walked across the catwalk to the electric generator. She tapped repeatedly on the nearby computer terminal, accessing specific subsystems and entering the necessary clearance codes. After a succinct round of inputs, she happily turned back to the ponies. “Perfect. Magno Dome should now be receiv—”

A deafening alarm flooded the room, causing everypony to double over in agony. “Seriously! What’s up with all these super-loud sirens?” complained Pinkie Pie as she pinned her ears closed with her hooves.

Fluttershy was visibly rattled. “T-T-This isn’t possible. No, I was sure that I disabled all of the security systems. How c-can this be?” She gasped loudly, and bolted for the exit. “Run!”

The other two ponies turned, and quickly noticed the newest source of Fluttershy’s panic. The security bulkhead that they had opened with a passcode just minutes earlier was now closing itself in response to the alarm. “Oh no!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “We’ll be trapped inside! Run for it!”

Fluttershy reached the closing doorway first. Rearing up on her hind legs, she planted her forehooves squarely against the lowering bulkhead and locked her joints in place. The lowering door’s gear shafts screeched in mighty protest against the robotic pegasus’s hydraulic supports. “Please! Hurry!” she screamed.

Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie bolted toward the exit at a full gallop. They squeezed out between the rigid door frame and their selfless friend, escaping out into the hallway. Fluttershy dropped the bulkhead behind her, which forcefully slammed shut as the gear shafts released their pent-up tension. She limped up behind the two of them, shoving them forcefully along the hallway before they could say anything. “I’m still functional. Please, we must get you out of here!”

As they ran down the hallway, Twilight Sparkle could make out yet another drove of robot guards approaching from the far end. She snarled, drawing her weapons to the ready. “Okay, Rainbow Dash,” she muttered. “We did our part. The rest is up to you.”

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2300 AD

Magno Dome

Power was temporarily restored to the dome, causing it to hum with new life. The fans of the climate control system whirred, circulating the stale air. Overhead lighting loudly buzzed as the gases inside the bulbs heated up. Computers and terminals—including the access panel for the door that held their Gate hostage—beeped in acknowledgement as their systems reinitialized. The symphony of new noises joined one solo that had been playing for the last ten minutes: the gentle snores of a peacefully dreaming pegasus.

Comments

[Levimos]

... I'm not even at that part of the story and i already know that i'm gonna HATE certain 6 robots that are coming up

[Salnax]

Called it.

[Chengar Qordath]

Silly Rainbow Dash, everyone knows that Pinkie's the one who equopomorphizes inanimate objects!

[RTStephens]

So I guess Rainbow Dash is suffering from acute hunger pains and hallucinations which has accumulated up to... sleepiness. Seems legit.

I was beginning to wonder how the group would upgrade their equipment. Where's a strategically placed treasure box with inexplicably placed equipment specifically designed for the characters that the party currently has when you need it? Really, some RPGs.

Cute how inventor got turned around on Twilight. From Fluttershy's perspective, the term probably comes closer to a scrapper.

[Silverstein]

This chapter was hilarious! Rainbow you so funny!

Silver out!

[Tatsurou]

“Ah. So you take two products, neither of which you created, combine them, and the result is your original creation?

Fluttershy just summed up the process by which most Original Characters are created. Lol!

[Thought Prism]

Her serial number is T-R33. Amazing.