> The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Equestria > by Caddy Finz > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One: Worthless > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Nothing lasts forever". It's an old saying that holds true and applies to any tangible object. Even in the days of "they don't make them like they used to", the best of appliances will eventually break and become obsolete. Some people throw their broken item away and replace it, others, like Rob for example, would rather keep fixing their appliances and putting them back to work. Since childhood, he has kept his favorite electric blanket, his desk lamp, vacuum cleaner, radio and his toaster. For all those years, he has repaired them time and time again. That was all well and good for quite some time but a new problem has arisen that they all knew would eventually be inevitable. Parts are no longer made for these models and they are becoming harder and harder to find. Much to Rob's frustration, he would learn that even on the world wide web, parts for his favorite old electronics were nowhere to be found no matter how hard he looked. "Darn it..." Rob mumbled under his breath as he scrolled up and down on his computer in search of a belt for his old kirby vacuum cleaner. "Nobody has these anywhere." Rob had scoured the internet, searched high and low, but still, a belt for his old kirby vacuum cleaner was nowhere to be found. Not only was he having difficulty with finding the right belt, his search for a speaker for his old radio, wires for his desk lamp, heating coils for his toaster and a heat control unit for his electric blanket were proving fruitless. Rob was a man who almost never threw anything away but now, he may be left with little choice. "I've been telling you to get rid of those old junky things for years, hon." Rob's wife, Chris said with a shrug, as she leaned against the doorway. "Now they don't even make parts for them." "I hate to say it, but you might be right, dear." Rob replied as he scratched his head through his thinning, middle aged hair. "I guess I'm the only guy in the world who keeps his things as long as I have. Heh, my grandparents bought that old kirby from a door to door salesman after my grandpa got back from world war two." "And that blanket? You've had that since you were a kid too, right?" "All of them. The blanket, the toaster, the radio, the lamp..." "They're rusting and falling apart, dear. Don't you think it's time to let them go?" It was true, Chris had been more or less playfully getting on Rob's case about his keeping and fixing his old, junky appliances for longer than the couple had been married. After several more years of rinse and repeat however, things had just started getting ridiculous in her own humble opinion. Now that these items had reached a point that repairing them was no longer an option, they simply did nothing but take up space. Rob hated throwing things away but now, he had every reason to do so. For his entire life all the way into his late fifties, he had held onto these outdated contraptions and for the first time ever, he had seriously considered it. Who else keeps electronics for several decades and gets as much use out of them as he had? If anything, these machines were lucky to have had such an owner. It wasn't like this day would never come, Rob had simply stretched the lifespan of his possessions for as long as he could until he simply could fix them no more. There was only one option at this point. "Well, shoot." Rob said as he realized that if he would keep his appliances, they would only function as mere paper weights. "It feels weird getting rid of these old things after growing up with them and holding onto them for so long but...I guess they've run their course." "And then some." Chris said as she placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder. "So look, you have free time tomorrow. Just take them to the Ernie's Disposal yard and we'll go out and get some replacements. Sound good?" "Ahh, you're right, dear. It's settled then. I'll take them to the junkyard tomorrow." Little did Rob know, that by uttering those words, he had sent chills down the cords of his beloved electronics as they sat in various places around the house, listening to their conversation the entire time. To say they were horrified was a grave understatement, they simply couldn't believe what they heard. The longtime friends would absolutely have to regroup later tonight while their owners were asleep to discuss their future, or rather lack thereof. Very carefully, and quietly, the five friends snuk from their positions into a closet that they often used as a rendezvous point. With a height boost from Kirby, Lampy the desk lamp pulled the string above to shed some light for the group as he no longer could. For several minutes, they sat in awkward silence, desperate for one of them to break it and say something, anything. It was difficult for any of them to form words, they were shaking from the fear of what might become of them. Finally, Radio managed to crackle a few words from his broken speaker. "So th s is t, huh fe as?" Radio whimpered. "How could he?" Lampy asked, nearly to the point of tears. "How could he do this to us? After all these years." "It's not like we didn't know this day was coming." A depressed toaster interjected. Kirby just sat there in silence as his friends bickered among themselves. "It's not the mater's fault..." The childlike Blanket said with a pout. "Af er ll we' e do e for h m..." The radio said, completely ignoring what Blanket had said in Rob's defence. "In twe ve ho rs ti e, w 're to b thr wn aw y l ke m re ju k. C st as de." "That's enough." Blanket huffed, having none of it. "That...double crosser." Lampy whined, striking a nerve with Blanket. "Stop it!" Blanket shouted, finally grabbing everyone else's attention. It was out of character for the normally meek and quiet Blanket to become so angry and start shouting like he just had. The now even more confused Radio and Lampy just stood there as their childlike yet still very grown up Blanket friend clenched his teeth in anger. How dare they speak of Rob that way? After a moment of Blanket failing to stifle tears, they would soon learn to see another side of things. "Try to imagine...being owned by someone else." Blanket sobbed. "What if we had someone else for a master? Someone who throws old things away as soon as they break." Blanket had a point and Radio and Lampy knew it. He had them there. "Think of...how long ago we would have been thrown away if the average human was our master?" Blanket continued to sob. "We would have been gone decades ago. You shouldn't talk about master that way." "That...is a very grown up thing to say, Blanket." Toaster commended his friend. "Take note, guys, he's onto something." "I uh...ne r th ug t of t tha w y b fore." Radio crackled. "P rha s...h 's rig t..." "Well...I...I'm sorry, Blanket." Lampy conceded. "Maybe...we all would have been goners way long ago if some other fella was our master. Kirby, you've been all quiet there, what do you think? Kirby?" The ancient 1947 model vacuum cleaner didn't respond with word, instead doing something none of them had ever seen him do nor would have ever fathomed. Curious about their eldest comrade's silence, they all turned to Kirby who sat in the corner of the closet, his teeth clenched and tears of oil rolling down his face. For the first time as long as they have all known him, Toaster, Radio, Lampy, and Blanket stared in awe as the normally tough and stoic Kirby was reduced to a rusty, sobbing pile of chrome and bolts. "G-guys..." Kirby sobbed. "Listen to Blanket, he's right!" Look at me. I was built in the forties for crying out loud! I'm over eighty years old! No human in the world would ever keep something for that long! There are humans who haven't gotten to live this long!" Kirby the vacuum cleaner was a prime example of electronic longevity and though he was already pushing forty by the time Rob had claimed ownership, it was thanks to him that all of them had lasted as long as they did. Radio and Lampy knew that Kirby and Blanket were right and hung their cords in shame. They were all extremely lucky to have had an owner like Rob and they had him to thank for their constant maintenance and repairs over the years. Rob was the one who had given them countless years to spend and work together. "We owe him..." Kirby continued. "We all knew this day was coming, he just delayed it all these years. Aren't you glad for all this time we've had together? Can't we just...just...b-be happy f-for what we were given?" Kirby was not normally one to get emotional and even less to show affection for friends but the tired old vacuum cleaner extended his cord out to pull every one of his friends close for a group embrace. To see the gruff and sometimes grumpy old dust sucker behaving this way was truly a sign of the end that was nigh. The only thing any of them wanted to do now was spend their last night at home together before they would be brought to be crushed and dismantled for the scrap that they were no better than. The next day... "We l fel as, si ce we' e ab ut t be crushed so n, I m y as well use t e l st mo ents e ha e together f r one la t weat er b oadc st." Radio crackled as he and his friends bounced about in the trunk of Rob's car. "What did he say? Lampy asked, intrigued. "He said he's picking up a weather channel broadcast." Toaster clarified. "Go ahead, Radio. This might be the last time we get to hear you make a weather announcement." "Th nk you, To ster, t e pl as re is all mi e. Folks, looks li ke w 're n for o e he k of a doo y th s aft rno n! We h ve re orts of li htning stri es in va ious plac s aro nd th cou ty! He vy ra n expe ted f r the majority of th d y, and t e li htning is on y gon a get wo se! T e county adv ses all resi ents to stay ind ors unt l furt er ot ced!" "I'm gonna miss hearing that." Kirby said, letting a big sigh of air out of his dust bag. They all know things are about to go downhill when Kirby of all machines gets emotional or what he would normally call sappy. It was a sigh of relief at the same time as they could all relish in their final hour or so before they were to be crushed into tiny cubes, so much so that they completely ignored the storm reports. There was no time to worry about that, save for Rob's safety which did cross their minds along the way. The car suddenly stopped and the engine was shut down, indicating that their destination which was Ernie's Disposal had been reached. The five friends had been unfortunate enough to have seen the utter graveyard for anything made of metal or plastic. In 1987, before being reunited with their master after years of being apart, they ended up here before and were nearly crushed themselves. They were even traumatized by the horrible place as they had to watch as several cars and trucks meet their fate at the crusher. As far as they were concerned, this was where machines come to die. The friends were dead silent as the trunk popped and opened up, revealing their beloved master outside, sporting a gloomy look on his face. Rob didn't want to do this. As he gathered up his broken possessions, Kirby in his left hand and the others juggling in his right, Rob let out a sigh of disappointment, for he was about to leave his favorite electronics after owning them his entire life. Rob walked up to a booth with a man behind a glass window, an employee of the junkyard. After giving a brief glance to the items Rob was carrying the man tapped on a keyboard to total up a disposal fee. Within seconds, the man at the booth printed out a receipt and handed it to Rob through a tiny hole in the glass. "That'll be two bucks." The junkyard employee stated. "Just go down that way and put those on the conveyor belt." "Okay, thanks." Rob replied as he stuck two one dollar bills through the hole in the glass for the employee. It was the beginning of the end for the five friends and they made it a point to enjoy the last few seconds they had within the grasp of their beloved master. It would end far too soon, as Rob made his way to the conveyor belt which was stopped at the moment. Everywhere they looked, they saw people haphazardly tossing their appliances to tumble about the belt but the five friends were proven lucky once more. As a parent would a baby, Rob very gently placed his items upon the belt as if he knew that they had feelings. After a moment of giving them a gloomy stare, Rob let out another sigh as he turned around and made his way back to his car. That would be the last time they would ever see him again. As Rob walked away with his head hung and his hands in his pockets, the conveyor belt slowly started to move. Toaster, Radio, Kirby, Lampy, and Blanket all watched as Rob returned to his car and drove away into the rain. They held nothing against him and had forgiven him for their apparent abandonment. They knew that Rob was unaware that they were sentient beings with emotions and feelings and could be left by their master, at peace and with hopes that he would live a long and happy life. The conveyor belt was agonizingly slow and it turned out that this one in particular lead to a massive junk pile rather than directly to the crusher. Who knows how long it could be until they finally actually met their fate? For all they knew, they could be sitting in that gargantuan heap of junk for weeks or even months before they were destroyed. They all had the chance to look around and take in their surroundings and found themselves next to a row of half a dozen black and white sedans, decommissioned police cars apparently. "Pa don me, of icer, but how long h ve y u be n sit ing there if you do 't m nd me as ing?" Radio asked one of the old cars, hoping to get an idea of how long they may have to wait. The tired old police car, whom of which was a mid nineties Chevrolet caprice looked up at the five friends, sporting a look of confusion in his tired headlight eyes. He was a sad sight to look at, his black fenders and white painted doors covered in rust and riddled with bullet holes. All four of his tires were flat and the rubber rotting. All that remained of the once bright and vibrant light bar on top were a series of holes with several busted wires sticking out. He was a mere shadow of the once proud, tough, and powerful instrument of law enforcement he used to be; Absolutely pitiful. "What did he say?" The Chevrolet asked. "I think he wants to know how long we've been sitting here." A Ford crown victoria in the same state sitting next to the Chevrolet interjected. "We've all been here for about a year now." "A year!?" Lampy beamed. "You hear that, guys? If we're lucky, we could have a whole year together!" "Don't be so sure about that, kid." The caprice said, bringing more rain on their parade. "Look what's coming." An electric humming sound could be heard coming from the fog in the form of a monster that the five friends had eluded once before thirty-two years ago and had hoped so badly would never have to cross paths with again. A machine so vile and wicked that anything made of metal viewed as their own grim reaper. Looming over them all from the fog and now hovering over the Chevrolet was the electromagnetic crane of Ernie's Disposal Yard. With a loud buzz followed by the metallic slam of the magnet coming down on the poor old police car echoed throughout the scrap yard. Glass from his windows shattered from the impact but soon, it would mean nothing as the tired old car was moments away from his final destination. "Gentlemen..." The Chevrolet police car began to sob as the magnet carried it to a conveyor belt leading to the crusher. "It's been an honor and a privilege serving with all of you." The magnet then rudely dropped the old car onto the belt with a loud thud. "Oof!" The Car grunted. "No...don't look, guys. Look away, you don't wanna see this! It's gonna be okay! It'll be over soon! Let's all go with dignity! I have no regrets! No regre-" SLAM! Bwipbwipbwipbwipbwipbwipbwipbwip! Bwoowoowoowoooooo! "No regrets! No regrets! No regrets!" The rest of the police cars chanted and sobbed as they watched their comrade be crushed into a tiny cube. It was a grizzly sight to say the least. Black motor oil, coolant, and transmission fluid gushed from what remained of the Chevrolet whose demise was quick and dignified. The electromagnet wasted no time picking his next victim who was the broken down old Ford patrol car who sat next to his now deceased General Motors comrade. He too kept the chant going as he popped his hood open as a final salute. "No regrets! No regrets! No regr-" SLAM! BWAAAAAAMF! Woopwoopwoooooop! "Pardon me while I panic!!" A Dodge neon yelped at the sight. The scrap yard was alive with the screams of anguish and sobbing from machines of all different types, shapes, and sizes. One by one, the electromagnet picked off his victims and made short work of the troop of police cars who were now nothing but lifeless cubes of steel, rubber, and plastic. Toaster and friends were petrified with fear as they could only watch helplessly as again and again, the lives of cars and machines being snuffed out before their very eyes. The cold, dead look in the magnet's eyes as he destroyed many a fellow machine was more than enough to send shivers down the five friends' cords as they were well aware of what this monster was capable of. With their mouths agape, they gawked as the magnet effortlessly and remorselessly picked up his victims and tossed them into the crusher. It was when those stone cold eyes met those of Toaster and his friends that they knew it was all over. "Well, look who it is!" The electromagnet boomed as he hovered over to the terrified appliances. "Bwahaha, I never forget faces! You guy got away from me like, what, thirty years ago?" "Guys..." Toaster whispered to his friends as he stepped forward with confidence. "It's time." "Not today chumps!" Seethed with malice as he switched himself on. "You got away from me then, but now...I'm ready for you." Kirby then followed suit and rolled over to Toaster and stood by his side. Radio was the next to bravely step forward, then Lampy, and finally, Blanket joined them. There they all stood tall and proud, face to face with their impending doom. Like the stack of cars before them, they too had decided that they would go out with dignity and they would do so together. The rain poured and lightning lit up the sky, casting the magnet's shadow over them "We're ready too!" Toaster shouted as the five friends all began tying their cords together so they may all be crushed into the same cube. "Come and get us!!" Lampy shouted, oily tears rolling down his brim. "The only reason you're getting us this time is because we're letting you!!" Kirby taunted as he too began weeping once again. With a sickening, maniacal cackle, the electromagnet swooped down and grabbed the group. From here on out, there was no turning back, and for the friends five, that was okay. They had fully accepted their fate and were at peace with their master and the lives he had enabled them to live. The magnet swung through the torrential downpour as lightning shot though the sky in every direction with Toaster and company tight it his clutch. The bitter taste of ozone filled the air while the magnet hovered over the conveyor belt, ready to drop his latest victims into the crusher. They had not a single regret and were about to go out with dignity and class. As the monster electromagnet prepared to switch off and drop the appliances five to their doom, with their electric cords all joined together, they all closed their eyes and smiled in the face of death. That was what made it all the more worthwhile, to go out smiling; or so they would have believed. KAAARRRACKAPOW! Just as the magnet switched off and the five friends began to fall, a bolt of lightning struck the cables of the electromagnet, severing one of them and forcing a surge through his system. With a sudden and unwanted surge of power striking the magnet, he involuntarily switched back on and sucked the falling friends back up. With the appliances five back in his grasp, much to his dismay, the magnet buzzed and hummed as he swung around in the air on one of his two support cables. With too much power coursing through him, his involuntary grasp on the appliances was tighter than ever, nearly crushing them through the shear force alone. "Get back! Everybody get back!" A junkyard worker shouted as he and many other people on the ground fled for their lives. Even the man operating the magnet's crane jumped out and abandoned ship. He wasn't stupid, he knew that staying put could very easily get himself crushed by the impending fall of the giant magnet if the lightning strike hadn't gotten him. The circuits within the magnet's system were either fried or going absolutely haywire and he was unable to keep himself switching on and off over and over again. The only luck he would have is that lightning never strikes twice. KAAARRRACKAPOW! Instead, he wouldn't prove quite that lucky. Man and machine alike throughout the junkyard stood in awe as the magnet convulsed, crackled, sparked, popped, buzzed and even began to glow as parts of him started melting from the intense heat. At this point, the appliances five were now thinking that instead of quick and dignified, they would be going up in flames. It all made sense until suddenly, the air around them began to glow much like the melting steel from the magnet. Just when it would seem that their nightmare would never end, finally, the last cable holding the evil electromagnet snapped. The appliances five had no adrenal glands to speak of but it their plummet to the Earth seemed to play out in slow motion and they even had a moment to wonder why the air around them was now shining with a bright light. Even more strange, there appeared to be a stationary ball of light on the ground below them. The biggest problem was that they were all still directly under the thousand pound magnet with the ground coming up fast. With another sharp crack that rocked the junkyard to its foundations, the appliances five disappeared into the strange orb of light just before the electromagnet, or what was left of him hit the ground. The boom of the giant falling to the ground and sinking deep into it for good measure was enough to send every machine and junk car into a frenzy. It was a code that all man made objects abide by to avoid showing any form of sentience in the presence of humans but with the greatest monster now destroyed, that code was thrown to the wind. Cars revved their engines and honked their horns, anything with a light bulb flickered and flashed, blenders roared, radios sang out and televisions cheered. Every machine and appliance, weather it be powered by electricity or petrol came to life and cheered for the brave appliances five who had just apparently sacrificed themselves to bring down their most feared and hated monster. Surely they had all been incinerated by that high powered electrically charged...whatever that was. Meanwhile... "Guys! Just hang on!" Toaster screamed as he and his company plummeted down through a perpetual torrent of flashing lights and electrical arcs. "Keep your cords tied! Don't let go!" Kirby shouted. "I think I like the idea of getting crushed betteeerrr!" Lampy cried out. "Masterrrheherrr!!" Blanket sobbed. "Th s ju t in, perhaps we should h ve sta ed ind ors as it ind ed does ap er that we are le rning th ha d w y." Radio deadpanned through his broken speaker. For what seemed like an eternity, the five appliances fell down and down and down, holding each other tight and bracing for impact the entire way. No matter how long it took, none of them could work up the nerve to open their eyes whether it be because of the lights of the constant fear that they were about to finally hit the bottom. At long last, they did. "OOF!" Toaster grunted as he smacked into a hard surface. The impact was not nearly as hard as expected but hard enough to render Toaster dazed and disoriented. As he used his side handles to crawl around an what he assumed was the ground, he could still feel rain pouring down on him and mud clogging up his crumb tray. The booms and cracks of thunder still sounded through what must have been some sort of sky. Finally, Toaster wiped the mud from his eyes where he could at last, learn of his surroundings and what became of his friends whom were no longer in sight. "Blanket!!" A terrified Toaster cried out through the raging storm. "Kirby!! Radio!!" Toaster waddled his way around the solid ground and with every flash of lightning, he could make out his surroundings somewhat. He appeared to be in some sort of clearing within a forest. He cared not about finding shelter from the storm or assessing his own physical damage, locating and reuniting with his friends was the one and only thing on his mind. "Lampy!!" Toaster screamed in anguish, fearing that he was the only survivor. "Kirby!! Blanket!! Radio!!" It was looking hopeless for the brave little toaster but upon seeing a dim light off in the distance, with nothing else to lose, he dumped out his dirty crumb tray and waddled towards what looked like a small cottage. Toaster was desperate and willing to completely disregard machine code if it meant finding help. The wind whipped and the rain continued to pour, but the determined little box of chrome continued to waddle as fast and his nobby little plastic legs could carry him. He was at least relieved that what he was waddling towards was indeed a little cottage at the edge of a forest. He waddled through the raging storm over a tiny wooden bridge over a little creek until he finally tripped over and tree root and tumbled several feet through mud and puddles of water. Toaster was stuck lying on his side, his bread slots full of mud and stones which bogged him down and rendered him helpless. He could only lie there and scream for his friends. "Kirby!!" Toaster sobbed. "Blanket!! Lampy!! Radio!! Somebody!! Anybody!!" "Is somepony out there?!" A high pitched, feminine voice called out as the door of the cottage swung open. While laying on his side, Toaster could only see the dark silhouette of a creature standing in the doorway and with a faint click, a broad beam of light shined from where the strange creature stood. Toaster flailed his nobby little legs around in a desperate attempt to free himself from the mud puddle as the odd, four legged creature trot towards him, making a clicking sound with every step. If being stuck wasn't enough, Toaster was now blinded as the mud had made its way into his eyes. Still, all he wanted nothing more than to find his friends and it all rode on whether or not this unfamiliar creature was kind enough to help of would instead put him out of his misery. Only time would tell, as Toaster could feel himself being lifted by a hard pair of appendages attached to a pair of fuzzy legs. Rob for years ran a veterinary clinic so Toaster and friends were no strangers to talking to and dealing with animals. "I uhh...I don't know what this is, Angel." The creature with the oddly soothing voice said as it gently placed Toaster on a hard, clean surface. In response, another smaller creature let out a series of chirps and squeaks. It sounded like a rodent of some sort or perhaps a rabbit. Toaster and company had met many rabbits over the years, so it was at least comforting to have something nearby that he was familiar with. With the door now slammed shut and the storm now behind him where it belonged, all Toaster could do was wait to see whatever creature seemingly rescued him would do now that it had him where it wanted. "Angel, could you get me a towel, please?" The creature asked the smaller creature. "I think...I think this is a living creature...maybe?" Again, the rodent or rabbit squeaked a few times in response. Seconds later, Toaster could feel a soft, dry cloth being wiped across his face. Wishing so badly that it was Blanket cleaning him off, Toaster held his eyes shut tight and braced for what he was about to be face to face with. When he finally worked up the nerve to open them again, he would be greeted with a sight like never before. All he could see was another pair of eyes staring into his own. The eyes were massive and a shade of teal green. Upon further observation, he could see that the eyes held an expression of confusion and curiosity rather than any sort of malice. Looking beyond the eyes, he observed a fuzzy, butter yellow coat much like that of Blanket's. On top of the creature's head was one large loch of pink hair flowing down to the floor. On the way down, a pair of wings were neatly folded onto the side of a soft, round belly, at last reaching the very bottom was a set of uncloven hooves. A horse of some sort. Toaster had met plenty of horses over the years of Rob running the vet clinic but never ones quite like the one he was face to face with. Plenty of horses with coats of brown, tan, and black but never yellow and especially without wings. What kind of world could he possibly have ended up in? "Uhh..." Before Toaster could get a word out, the small horse let out a yelp and darted under a sofa a few feet away. The little horse stared up at Toaster whom was sat upon a table and he simply couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Clearly this creature was more afraid of him than he was of her and certainly must have no intentions of harming him. Now that he was somewhat clean and could think straight, Toaster took a couple wobbles towards the edge of the table and looked down at the strange, frightened creature. He would need to approach it delicately. "He-hello there." Toaster said, his usual, friendly tone ever present. "Thank you for getting me out of that storm." The strange horse's ears perked up and she slowly and cautiously arose from her hiding and approached Toaster at a slug's pace. Just to display that he can be trusted, Toaster held out one of his plastic handles to offer it to the little winged horse. After hesitating for a moment, the yellow horse slowly reached out one of its hooves and gently brought it into contact with Toaster's handle. Now that some form of trust was built, Toaster could finally calm down and try to get some information and ultimately find his friends. "What...what are you?" The little yellow horse asked with utter fascination. "My name's Toaster. What's yours?" Toaster replied "I-I-I'm...Fluttershy." "Nice to meet you, Fluttershy. I um...I really could use help finding my friends...could you please help me?" "Oh, are they lost? Of course I'll help you uh...you um...oh sorry, it's just that..." "What's wrong?" "Oh! Nothing, nothing's wrong! Oh, forgive me but it's just that I've seen so many woodland creatures before but I've never met one made of...made out of...chrome?"