To Test is Science!

by Crimson Star

A deal between devils

The massive bot in front of Manglanosa seemed impenetrable. Gunfire was heard bouncing off the armor plating of the bot, but it wasn’t moving, except for it’s turrets to return fire at it’s aggressors. Ace stepped out from the large group of bots, all of which had their weapons aimed at Manglanosa and his surrendering soldiers. John and the ponies managed to catch up to Ace, witnessing his fuming expression as their friend regarded Manglanosa."Forgetting something, doctor?" Ace spoke, venom dripping from his voice.

Manglanosa looked up at Ace, only to see that the Doc-bots had his family, kneeling in front of them, tears streaming down their faces. They stood next to Ace, weapons at the ready. Feeling that he had no other choice, Manglanosa spoke, trying to appeal to Ace’s humanity. "I offer you my unconditional surrender, doutor. I throw myself at your mercy." He spoke, solemnly.

Ace held up a finger, and slowly brought it down until it was pointing at Manglanosa. “Everyone but you.”

Suddenly, the bots raised their weapons, and as one, opened fire on the surrendering troops, much to the shock of the humans and ponies. Soon, everyone but Manglanosa lay dead, holes drilled into their bodies by various energy weapons. Manglanosa gasped, looking up at Ace with fear in his eyes. "You expect mercy from me?” Ace said, taking a step forward. “You expect me to let you live after everything you've done?!" He shouted.

John attempted to intervene, walking up to put a hand on Ace’s shoulder. “Come on Doc, he may be a twisted psycho but even he doesn't deserve this. Let Celestia decide what to do with him.”

Angrily, Ace smacked John’s hand away, pointing a finger at his face. “No! He’s caused too much damage!” He exclaimed, before turning back to Manglanosa, and drawing his pistol. “I’m ending this, now!”

Rainbow Dash attempted to interject as well, flying in front of Ace. "Ace, stop! You're going too far! What would Pinkie say?" She tried to reason.

Ace paused in his tracks, glaring at Rainbow. "Pinkie?" He said, as Rainbow began backing away from the enraged man. "PINKIE?! What does it matter?! She wouldn't say anything! Pinkie's DEAD!"

Everyone was shocked by those words. Rainbow raised her hooves up to her mouth, covering her gasp. Spark gritted his teeth, his face frozen in disbelief. John’s face went from shock to anger rather quickly, as he glared at Manglanosa. “Forget what I said earlier, slit the bastard's throat and send him straight to Hell!” He demanded.

“John, shut up!” Rainbow interjected, trying to be a voice of reason, despite her frustration. She turned to Ace, who was still seething. “Ace, I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through, right now. But I know you’re upset. Okay? I’m upset, too! But we shouldn’t be the ones who takes out our frustrations on him!”

“Why are you defending him?!” Ace spat. “He’s a nazi!”

Rainbow puts her hooves up in a calming manner. “I’m just saying, maybe his punishment should be decided by someone who is more suited! I mean, you don’t wanna get in trouble for taking justice into your own hooves-I mean, hands, do you?”

"I've got nothing to lose!” Ace replied, pointing at Manglanosa. “This man, this monster, has taken everything away from me! I watched my wife and my child die in front of me!" Ace looks down, tears forming behind his goggles. "Pinkie's dead. Our foal died with her." His expression turned to one of rage, as he looked up at Rainbow, gesturing at Manglanosa. "But she wouldn't be dead if it weren't for the fact that this asshole took her in the first place! I'd be bringing him to face Celestia's judgement, and Pinkie would be safe at home in my lab if it weren't for him! Now I'm gonna make him feel my pain!"

Ace waved his hand forward, and the bots brought Manglanosa’s family forward. Ace turned to look at his rival. "You're gonna watch your wife die.” He declared. “You're gonna watch your son die. And as you mourn them, seeing their corpses bathed in blood, then you have my permission to die."

Ace took his pistol, getting ready to use it. But as he aimed it at Manglanosa’s wife, Manglanosa shouted five words that gave Ace pause.

"I can bring her back!"

Ace stopped, his gun frozen against the woman’s head. His gaze turned to Manglanosa, and for a moment, all he did was stare. Then, he spoke. "You have my undivided attention."

Manglanosa spoke quickly, desperate to change his fate. "I've perfected a regeneration serum. My serum has been documented to bring back the dead in strong enough doses, and if the body is less than four hours old, then she should return with no mental damage."

Ace’s gun never left the woman’s head. "’Should’ is a very dangerous word. What's the catch?" He asked, skeptically.

Manglanosa sighed, before hesitantly replying. "There's no guarantee it will work. Some subjects come back violent, deranged, and unreasonable. In fact, ninety percent of my test subjects have come back in such a state. But if there's even the slightest chance to bring your wife back from the grave, you would take it, yes?"

Ace was statuesque. All eyes had turned to him, as he contemplated this. On the one hand, he could bring Pinkie to life. On the other hand, chances are she’d be some sort of psycho upon rejuvenation. Then there was the matter that Manglanosa might be bluffing, but that was shot down by the fact that he saw those monsters he fought during the battle regenerating. “Won’t she turn monstrous?” He asked.

Manglanosa quickly shook his head. “My regeneration serum is an entirely different chemical from the supercreature mutagen. She won’t mutate in the slightest, doutor.”

Ace clicked his tongue in contemplation, before lowering his gun, causing a sigh of relief from the ponies. But, he held up a finger in warning to Manglanosa. “If you’re not on the level, or if this doesn’t work, I’m going through with my original course of action. Call off your men.” Manglanosa nodded, taking a radio off of one of his dead troops. Ace turned back to his bots. “Get Pinkie’s body. Bring it to Manglanosa’s lab.” The bots nodded, and began moving off.

*****
Ace and Manglanosa descended into the lab, followed by John, and the ponies. Most of the equipment was damaged in the attack, but it was easy to scrounge up enough equipment to get a part of the lab functioning again. Ace made doubly sure any electronics and machines were working at full capacity, and by the time they were set up, Pinkie’s body had been brought in, and laid down on one of the undamaged autopsy tables.

Ace watched as Manglanosa took a green liquid, and loaded a syringe with it. He turned to Ace, and indicated Pinkie. “Remove the shard.” He ordered. “The wound won’t close with that metal in the way.”

Ace nodded, and grabbed the piece of metal, taking it from Pinkie’s neck. He reached toward one of the bots with him. “Hand me Charlie’s wreckage.” The Doc-bot nodded, and a Mine-bot’s debris was handed to him. “I need to make sure there’s no residual metals.” Ace reasoned, as he disassembled the wreckage, mumbling “Sorry, buddy. But this is the only chance I’ll have to save my wife.” He began linking together wires, and wrapping it around a steel bar from Charlie’s insides. “I need to make sure this goes off without a hitch.” Soon, Ace had an electromagnet he whipped up from the innards of his Mine-bot.

Ace moved the magnet over Pinkie’s neck wound, and activated it. Several smaller shards of metal flew out, latching to the magnet, and it became clear that there wasn’t any more in the wound. For good measure, he brought the magnet over Pinkie’s other wounds, and made sure they were clear. As soon as he was satisfied, he brought the magnet away, and nodded towards Manglanosa. Manglanosa returned the nod, before injecting Pinkie with the regeneration serum right into the heart.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, the smaller wounds on Pinkie’s body began to disappear. From there, the larger wounds disappeared as well, and after that, the big hole in Pinkie’s neck closed, and sealed itself, as if nothing happened to her in the first place. Ace and his friends watched on in amazement, keeping their proverbial fingers crossed.

There was a twitch. Ace’s attention immediately shot towards Pinkie’s hoof. She wiggled her fetlock! Ace looked at Pinkie’s face, and saw her eyes flutter open. She was alive! Ace could only stare in disbelief, as Pinkie Pie sat up, and looked over at her husband. He knew they weren’t out of the woods yet, though. He got ready to defend himself, in case the serum made Pinkie feral. “Pinks?” He asked. “How do you feel?”

The pink pony regarded Ace without expression, as she looked down at his feet, then back up to his face. There was an awkward moment where Pinkie just stared. Suddenly, she lunged at Ace, tackling him to the ground.

Ace panicked, and began struggling against the death grip of the pony’s bear hug. But then, he heard something. It was a sound, coming from Pinkie. She sounded like she was...sniffling. “Oh, Acey.” Her voice rang, like a heavenly choir. “I thought I was done for. I didn’t wanna leave you.”

The others of the group smiled, as Manglanosa let out a breath he had been holding. There was a sniffle from the other human in the room. “I-I-I'm crying?” He said, in disbelief. “... Now I've seen everything.”

As Pinkie shared the embrace with Ace, she felt something odd in her stomach. “Um...Acey?” She began. “I feel funny.”

Ace pulled back, looking at Pinkie with concern in her face. For only a few seconds, the entire room was silent. Then, Rainbow gasped. “Pinkie! You’re growing!” She exclaimed, pointing a hoof at Pinkie’s barrel. All attention looked down, and Ace was shocked to see her belly expanding. His face contorted with anger all over again.

“MANGLANOSA!” He shouted, spinning to face the scientist, and whipping out his pistol. “What is the meaning of this?!”

Manglanosa panicked, his hands shooting up in surrender. “Doutor Sorou, I-I am not sure! This has never happened in any of my trials!” He pleaded.

“Well, then fix it!” Ace demanded, waving the pistol at him. Manglanosa quickly moved towards Pinkie, examining her rapidly growing stomach, as she began to moan in pain. “Ohh...” She cried. “I feel like I ate too many cookies...so achey...” Manglanosa hurriedly put on a stethoscope, and pressed the disc up to Pinkie’s stomach. As he listened, he inhaled sharply.

“Mãe de Deus!” He exclaimed. “Of course!” He quickly spun around facing Ace. “When we met, you said she was pregnant, correct?”

Ace lowered his pistol slightly, confusion crossing his face. “Yeah? What does that have to do with-”

“It has everything to do with it!” Manglanosa interrupted. “Don’t you see?! My regeneration serum has affected not just your wife, but your...child, as well! Only now, your child is growing exponentially! What should take months is only going to take a matter of minutes! We haven’t much time!”

“Much time for what?!” Ace shouted, lowering the pistol.

“Your wife is about to go into labor!” Manglanosa announced.

Without a second thought, Ace was by Pinkie’s side, holding her arm for comfort. It was a good few minutes before the birth began. But minutes felt like hours, as Pinkie’s screams echoed through the ruined lab. An eternity passed, as people shouted things like “hang in there, Pinkie!” “C’mon, push!” and “We’re here, Pinkie! You can do this!”

Finally, Pinkie’s screams stopped, replaced by her slow breaths, and the softer screams of a newborn foal. Ace caught Pinkie, and held her reassuringly. Manglanosa looked up at Ace, who looked at him, and then at his foal. Manglanosa gave a nervous smile, handing the foal to Pinkie. “Congratulations.” He said. “It’s a....horse.”

“It’s a filly.” Pinkie smiled, holding the tiny pink foal in her arms.

Ace looked at the foal in confusion. The hair was definitely his, and the coat was definitely hers, but, as he noted, “It’s a pegasus.”

Pinkie giggled, the sound calming the foal, as she nursed her hoof. “Just like Granny Pie!” She said. The couple cuddled together, happy to enjoy the moment.

Author's Note:

Epilogue coming soon! Don't worry!

Comments

[Louisaro]

Ooooooookaaaaaaaay, now I see why Pink's is mad at Ace.

[Lucky424]

I don't think Pinkie should be mad with Ace. He was clearly in an emotional state, and not thinking clearly.

Manglanosa still need to die though. Who knows what he's unleashed in to the world.

[Isumo1489]

Honestly, I gotta say Pinkie leaving Ace was a bad move. If anything, he needs her now more than ever. But then again, Pinkie's never been the sanest thinker. Welp, :Picks up bags and heads into a portal: So long Equestria and thanks for all the ponies. It's been real, but I'd like to be off-planet when you get nuked. Remember, blame Pinkie, and Discord, get a job you hippie.