To Observe is Science!

by Crimson Star

Out of the frying pan...

I banged my fist on the console. “Dammit.” I sighed. “Pinkie’s gonna be pissed off at me for this.”

“She’ll only be cross if you come back, mate.” John tried to reassure me.

“Positive thoughts, John.” I told him. “I AM coming back, somehow or another, and it’s NOT gonna be in a bodybag.”

“Right, sorry.” He replied, turning his eyes to the monitors. He shook his head. “Are you sure you’re damaged? The monitors are reading that you’re fine.”

I checked my monitors, and shook my head. “My monitors are saying all my legs are damaged.”

“Well, maybe your monitors are wrong.” John suggested. “Try moving again.”

I reached for the controls, and pushed forward. I got no movement from the Rockidile. “No dice. I think your monitors are out of synch with me.” I speculated, before thinking of another explanation. “Hold on, I’m gonna try something.” I began typing at my console, reprogramming the Rockidile to ignore all input from status reports and damage control subprograms. After I was done, I tried moving again, but it didn’t work. My legs still weren’t moving. I exhaled sharply, crashing my face into my palm. “Damn.” I rolled back my modification, but saved a backup, just in case. “Looks like the Rockidile really is damaged.” I looked over at John’s screen, noticing that Applejack was gone. “Where’s AJ?” I asked.

“Ah went ta get Pinkie.” Applejack’s voice sounded, as I watched a very angry Pinkie Pie storming up to the camera. “Ah thought she’d wanna know, just in case, uh…”

“It’s alright, AJ.” I tried to tell her.

“It’s NOT alright!” Pinkie Pie yelled at me. “You went and ran into an active volcano?! What were you thinking?! Volcanoes are nature’s ‘don’t-come-here’ spots! They are anything BUT fun!”

I put my hands up defensively. “I know, but-“

“No ‘buts!’” She interrupted me. “You march your robot back here right now! We’re gonna talk!”

I shook my head. “How much did AJ tell you?” I asked.

“She told me enough!” Pinkie replied angrily. “She said you were in trouble, and told me where you went! And boy, are you in trouble!”

I sighed. “You don’t know the half of it, Pinks.”

Curiosity etched into Pinkie’s angry expression. “What do you mean?! “

“Pinks, I’m in deep.” I told her. “It’s starting to look like I might not be coming back from this fool’s errand. My bot’s legs are damaged, and I’m trapped under a cave in. This may be the last time we see each other.”

As I explained the severity of my situation to her, I saw her anger fade, and her hair deflate. Her face was suddenly one of despair. “No.” She shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no. Don’t you dare say that, Acey!” She said, trying to maintain her anger, as tears started to form in her eyes. “You always have an idea! That’s what you’re good at! You get ideas, and you make things happen!”

I shook my head. “Well, I’m open to suggestions.” I told her. I think she got the message, as the feeling of defeat finally set in for me. I didn’t have any idea of what I could do.

She shook her head, looking down in thought. “Well, you made it so that your seat can detach and take off, right?” she asked, referring to the Sorou-mobile, and its universal compatibility with my larger machines. “Why don’t you open up the cockpit, and-“

“No.” I cut her off. “I’m in the core of the volcano right now. If I open up the cockpit, I’ll be burned alive.”

She gritted her teeth, as tears began to stream from her eyes. She then looked up, as if getting an idea. “I got it!” She said. “Twilight can help! She can teleport in, and-“

“That’s a negative too, Pinks.” I said. “This cockpit is a very confined space, and Twilight’s never been here, before. What you’re talking about is the equivalent of shooting a pin into the eye of a needle at twenty paces using a bow while flying thirty feet in the air. If she’s so much as an inch off, she’ll teleport right into me, or the window, and we’d both be dead.”

Pinkie’s ears flopped back, as she sat in disbelief, out-and-out bawling, at this point. “Y-you can’t give up!” She told me, suddenly standing defiantly. “We have to try something! There gotta be a way!” She sighed, crying silently, as she looked down at her hooves. “There’s just gotta be…”

I suddenly felt like a jerk. I came off grumpy and unreasonable, and that’s not how I wanted Pinkie to remember me should the worst happen. I didn’t see any way out of this, but I had to put Pinkie in a good mood, at least. “Look, Pinks.” I began, catching her attention. “I’m getting out of this. I don’t know how, but I’ll figure out a way to come back to you. You’re the main reason I’m happy with my life, okay? Do you think I’m gonna just give up, when I have something so wonderful, energetic, and loveable to live for? No.” I kissed my hand, and put it up to cover part of the camera. She smiled through her tears, and put her hoof up to the screen. “I’m coming back, Pinks. I promise.” She nodded. “I need to discuss some ideas with John. If there’s a way out, I’m gonna need all the help I can get to find it.”

She was smiling at me solemnly, and she bowed her head. “You’d better keep your promises. I’m not losing anyone else.” She told me, before letting John have the chair.

*******

“Ace, don’t talk like this is the end of the world.” John told me.

“I’m not. I’m just giving you the facts.” I replied.

“Well, every time I pitch an idea, you use the facts to shoot it down.” He gave a chuckle. “It’s annoying as all hell.”

“The truth hurts sometimes. But stay in good humor. If nothing else, it helps me think.” I told him, watching the screen. “How’s Pinks doing?” I asked.

John looked away from the screen, and shook his head. “She’s with Applejack right now. AJ’s trying to keep her calm. Rarity went to go get Twilight, see if she could help.” I nodded, as John sat back in his chair. “Doc, don’t you have a plan B? You always have a plan B.”

“You WERE my plan B.” I informed him. “You were supposed to be my second set of eyes to make sure nothing happened that I didn’t notice. A fat load of good that did, huh?” I heard Twilight’s voice joining the other ponies in the background. I had to guess they were discussing possibilities on getting me out alive.

John shrugged. He then looked around the lab, and then looked back at me. “I got something. Do you have any bots capable of repairing your…Rockidile’s legs?”

I shrugged. “The Mine-bots are programmed to have some basic repair and maintenance skills, but I don’t know the extent of the damage. I might need to rework the legs entirely. I might need a garage just to get moving again.”

John put a palm to his face. “There you go; talking like it’s the end of the world, again.”

“I’m just saying that the mine-bots would need time to repair the Rockidile. In this temperature, my average bot would barely have an hour-“ I sat up, as a thought occurred to me. Oh, this was brilliant! “John, you’re a GENIUS!” I shouted, startling him, and catching the attention of everyone else in the lab.

“What? What did I say?” He said, looking confused.

“I don’t need to repair the Rockidile! I just need to get it to a location where I can repair it without being crispified!” I said.

“An’ how is he gonna do that, now?” Applejack asked. “His robot’s legs are busted up.”

“Ah but there’s more than one way to travel.” I said confidently. “I need Slender-Bot. Oh, Slendy! Papa needs you!” I saw Slender-Bot appear on the screen. “Now Slendy, listen carefully. The Rockidile is immobilized in a high temperature area. I’m currently piloting the Rockidile. I need you to take four mine-bots, and teleport to my location. After you do, you’ll have about…” I quickly did the math. “…forty eight minutes before you lose functionality. In that amount of time, I need you to unearth the Rockidile, and open up the power core. Then, hook yourself up to the core, and draw power from the Rockidile in order to teleport yourself, the four mine-bots, and the Rockidile with me inside back to the grounds outside my lab. Understand so far?” Slendy stuck a hand out, and gave me a thumbs up. “Good. Now, I’m gonna turn my radio transceiver into a locator beacon. This means I’m gonna lose contact with everyone. After you detect the beacon, your mission is a go. Oh, and you might wanna take off your suit, Slendy. It’s hot outside, and your suit’s liable to burn.”

“Doc, is that gonna work?” John asked. “Teleporting something that large seems like a tall order.”

“I have to agree.” Twilight said. “Something twice as big as a house takes a lot of power to teleport. More than I have, at any rate.”

“That‘s why Slendy’s gonna hook up to the Rockidile’s power core.” I explained, as I began working on the transceiver. “The power output of the Rockidile should be more than enough to charge Slendy for a massive teleport.”

“I can’t begin to count the ways this could go wrong.” John threw his hands up exasperatedly. “Have you ever hooked up an American device to an English power source? Your bot could be overloaded, You could have some sort of power failure due to incompatibility, you could-“

“Now who’s talking like it’s the end of the world?” I shot at him. “Like it or not, it’s my only chance. And trust me. It’s gonna work.”

John shook his head. “I don’t mean to doubt you, Doc, but there’s no way you can be sure.”

“’Course I can.” I said. “Know why? Because I said it will.” And with that, the transmission cut feed, as I finished reprogramming the transceiver. Now, all I had to do was wait.

*******

The lab was tense. It had been almost forty minutes since the transmission cut feed, and everyone was starting to get worried. Pinkie was in the corner, sighing, as Rarity and Fluttershy were trying to comfort her. Twilight was with Geo and Spike, composing a report for the Princess to tell her what was going on. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were discussing their options with John.

“He shouldn’t have gone.” Pinkie said. “He knew volcanoes aren’t any fun. He could be hurt, or…”

Rarity offered a hoof. “Now, now, dear.” She said. “That’s nonsense. I’m sure Dr. Sorou felt he had a good reason for going into the awful place, but I am certain that he’s fine. He’ll be along shortly, safe and sound in your hooves. Just wait, you’ll see.” Though she said this, even Rarity was beginning to have her doubts. It was drawing close to the forty eight minute mark that Ace had set. If he didn’t appear soon, then he wouldn’t appear at all. This thought plagued everyone’s minds.

Pinkie shook her head. “He…he was the first one I had ever loved.” She said. “I don’t want to lose him.”

“Twilight knows how you feel, Pinkie.” Fluttershy offered. “But she never gave up when Geo was shot. Why, as soon as she found out that he was alive, she did everything she could think of to make sure she was there for him when he came back. She never lost hope that he would return, and he came back. And if Geo can beat all odds, and return to Twilight, then maybe Dr. Sorou can beat all odds, and come back to yo-“ As if on cue, there was a heavy thud from outside, which shook the earth. Everyone looked up in surprise. For a second, everyone looked at each other. Then, the group rushed outside.

There, next to the lab, where there wasn’t before, was the Rockidile, with Slender and the four Mine-bots standing on top of it. Every single bot looked charred, and parts of each of them looked melted. The cockpit of the Rockidile slowly opened up, and out launched the Sorou-mobile, with Ace still sitting in the chair. He was alive, alert, and inspecting the Rockidile. Pinkie’s hair suddenly exploded back into its original state, as the Sorou-mobile came in for a landing. She ran up, and Ace stepped out of his machine. She leaped up into his arms, and they embraced, as Pinkie let out tears of joy for seeing Ace safe. “You can yell at me all you want now, Pinks.” He said.

“I never wanted to yell at you.” Pinkie replied. “I just wanted you to promise me you’d never do something like that again.”

Ace leaned back, took two fingers, and made all the motions of a Pinkie Promise. They smiled, and shared a passionate kiss.

Comments

[GeodesicDragon]

D'aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww.

[Hi]

1349043 geo geo geo *tsk, tsk, tsk* you never show emotions even when you see your favorite fluffy kitten got ran over by your house also your daww was the finale straw i started to laugh a little at you.

[Lord Guffington]

1351940 A fluffy kitten?

[Hi]

1357173 fine fine you pet eagle or poodle or turtle whatever that you own maybe a lama? Ostrich? Alpaka?

[Lord Guffington]

1357556 Ocelot

[Hi]

1357562 fine fine whatever but your favoritist cute pet