Fallout: Equestria, Project Horizons

Chapter 39: Wages of Sin

Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons
By Somber
Chapter 39: Wages of Sin

"I hope you're happy! Both of you! You've ruined my very first slumber party. The makeover, the smores, the truth or dare, the pillow fight! I mean, is there anything else that could possibly go wrong?!"

Twilight stared up at the massive silver statue, her eyes wide in horror, then turned to Goldenblood and pointed a hoof back at the strange amalgam creature. "This is Project Chimera?!"
"I know, I know," drawled the nasal, sarcastic voice. "But I suppose 'Project Discord' or 'Project Draconequus' would have been too much of a giveaway."
Twilight's eyes went flat as she looked over her shoulder at the statue, then back at Goldenblood. "What is Discord doing here, Goldenblood? How could you put those two in charge of... of this! Luna will be informed..." she began when she was cut off by the low snicker of the statue.
"Oh, I wish I could see your face right now, Twilight. I really do," Discord cackled. "Well, actually, I really wish I was out of this damned silvery suit Goldie dressed me up in. Oh the fun we could have, Twilight. Fun..." He hissed the word long and low.
"Luna knows. Celestia knows." Goldenblood slowly trotted up towards the statue, and now Twilight didn't look certain of anything anymore. "When the war began, Celestia knew that Discord would be the greatest threat to Equestria. If three squabbling fillies could break him loose, even though that was long after the sealing spell was cast and after the Elements changed hooves, how long would the magic hold when ponies and zebras were killing each other on such unprecedented scales?" He gazed at at the statue with a long, baleful look as he added, "Worse, zebra lore knows of Discord... trickster of the stars."
"It does?" Twilight asked in shock.
"I try not to boast," Discord said in feigned modesty.
I trotted closer towards the statue, getting out of her way, and was suddenly seized by an incredible vertigo that ended abruptly with a sharp pain in my tail. I felt distinctly nauseous, but then moments later it passed. Okay. I didn't know what that just was, but no more trying to move. My poor tail was one of the few original bits of me I had!
"Indeed. Ponies aren't the only people he's manipulated, tormented, and hurt," Goldenblood replied evenly. "Spirits of chaos like him are well known in their culture, and of them all, Discord is the strongest and worst."
"Thank you for the compliment," Discord interjected with mock sincerity, "But really, I must admit that I'm nothing compared to you, Goldie, when it comes to manipulating, tormenting, and hurting others. How's Fluttershy?" Goldenblood's face didn't change a bit, but his horn flared, pushing a button and turning a dial. The metal began to hum, and the hum became a scream. Discord's manic laughter grew into a manic scream as well.
"Goldenblood! Stop!" Twilight shouted, her horn lighting and turning the dial back the other way.
Discord panted, chuckling a low, slow, pained laugh. "Too soon?"
Goldenblood glared up at the statue as calm reasserted itself. "Even before Luna assumed the throne, zebra agents attempted to capture Discord. After what you and Celestia did to him, everypony fairly assumed he'd focus mostly on us if he got free, and that made the zebras think that they might be able to use him as a bargaining chip or deterrent. Celestia's original solution was to have him buried here; there's a special ore underneath Hoofington that counteracts his powers. But as the war escalated, we knew the enchantment wouldn't last even there. His size had already increased fifty percent in just over ten years, and the petrifaction spell was already in doubt."
"Well, when you have a steady diet of war, chaos, and uncertainty with zero exercise, you tend to pack on the pounds," Discord murmured.
"It's hard to believe our efforts were so weak," Twilight murmured, hanging her head a little. "What he did to my friends, and bringing them back together... Now it looks like it was all for nothing."
Goldenblood stared at her for a few inscrutable seconds, then looked back at the statue. "It's not your fault, Twilight. Celestia had many centuries of relative peace after Discord was trapped; the closest he came to release was during Nightmare Moon's bid for power, and that still wasn't enough. Had things remained as they were, he likely would have stayed in stone for at least another millennium. But this war... so much confusion and hatred, widespread violence and turbulent emotion, and for nearly twenty straight years now... It was the perfect diet to set Discord loose."
"And given how exciting everything is, can you blame me for wanting to get involved? I was so looking forward to seeing how much more interesting I could make things for everybody! Being a statue is so boring, you know... oh, wait, you don't. You have no idea what that's like, do you?" Discord said with the sound of a sneer. "And you called me a villain."
"We had to contain him quickly. Fortunately, Luna recommended utilizing the ore we were excavating in the reconstruction, and it has indeed proven quite effective in keeping him trapped," Goldenblood explained, not taking his eyes off the statue.
"Funny how she suggested it," Discord said in a faintly hurt tone. "And I'd always had a soft spot for little Luna. I never appreciated how much potential she had."
"How does this metal work? Why can't Discord just teleport out of it or turn it into cheese?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"This metal," Goldenblood replied, "Unique in all our experience, resonates at only one magical frequency. Not 'effectively' one like some of the experimental materials we've developed, but truly only one single pure tone; it fully ignores all other magical effects. Discord, being a creature of chaos, can't focus his power to such a narrow degree."
"And I'm not stupid enough to try and play that note," Discord muttered, and my ears perked. There was a definite undercurrent of deadly seriousness in his voice.
Twilight sighed softly. "All right. I can understand containing him, but how did you go from that to... pulling Flux out of him?"
Goldenblood smiled that humorless little smirk. "Do you really want to know, Twilight?" She glared back at him, and for a moment their eyes remained locked. Then Goldenblood gave a little shrug. "It was my idea. The raw magical essence of Discord was simply sitting there, unused, gaining power all the time, and the potential for his magic was mind-boggling. Once the research was begun, it actually didn't take that long for a method to drain it in a usable form to be developed." Goldenblood pointed at the hoses with his hoof. "Needles were drilled into the stone and hooked up to extraction lines; to create base Flux, the metal is resonated, liquefying portions of his essence."
"You drilled into him?" Twilight gaped. "You drilled holes in him?!"
"Don't worry. It's exactly as painful as it sounds," Discord said in a sarcastic mutter.
"Yes," Goldenblood said without taking his eyes off hers. "And we suck out his magical essence, mix it with gems to stabilize it, and ship it all across Equestria. A portion of the sales goes to covering the O.I.A. operating budget, which is substantial. The rest is given to the ministries."
Twilight shook her head. "Torturing him... sucking his essence out... and you sell it to fund all this? I thought your funding was through the kingdom!" she said, looking startled and disgusted.
"Not exclusively. The O.I.A. goes through a lot of bits in a year," he said as he gestured down at the production room with his hoof. "Even with our secondary and tertiary sources of income, projects like Chimera are horrifically expensive. And it benefits us to keep some expenditures off the books."
"How much money could you possibly need?" Twilight asked with a scowl.
"Our budget exceeds those of the M.A.S. and M.o.A. combined," he countered, and that set her back a step. "Possibly even the M.o.P. as well." I had no idea just how much money that was, but I thought of all the money Goldenblood had bilked from the nobility for Project Redoubt. Add in the proceeds from side projects like selling Flux... and, actually, I still had no idea just how much money that was; I wasn't sure I could count that high. Twilight's jaw dropped as Goldenblood said softly, "Of course, as I'm not the director anymore, that information is strictly hush hush."
"I'll have to remember that next time I approach Luna for a budget increase," Twilight murmured as she stared up at the statue. "So, why in Equestria did you put those two in charge of him?"
"To be fair, this is an O.I.A. facility. They are simply the face company, selling and distributing Flux and a sizeable number of spinoff products. But really, can you think of anypony better? The pair are natural obfuscators, entrepreneurial in the extreme, and unscrupulous but cowardly. They embezzle wherever they can, and I let them get away with a certain amount to keep them working. Their utter lack of political ambition combined with their goal to excel makes them diligent in their complicity. After all, they delayed you for more than a year while you were trying to make your alicorn potion work."
"They weren't the only ones," Twilight said, frowning again. "Remember, your stonewalling cost you your position."
But Goldenblood didn't look upset about that. If anything, he looked sad and so very tired. "Well, we do what we must for love."
"Excuse me? Doth mine ears deceive me, or did you say 'alicorn potion'?" Discord chuckled. "Oh... Twilight... you're making an alicorn potion? As in a potion to create alicorns?" The silver statue began to laugh. "Oh I just bet the royal duo absolutely love that idea!"
Twilight scowled up at him. "I have the full support of Luna!" If anything, that made Discord laugh even harder. "Shut up!"
Goldenblood twisted the knob once more, and the statue began to hum. The laughter rose higher and higher until it became a scream of agony, and then the knob was turned back down. "Oh, I do so love all you little ponies. Even when I'm sure you're all going to be so boring, you find ways to surprise me..." Discord said with another quiet chuckle. Goldenblood looked away, sitting on the edge of that narrow bridge. "Well, I do hope that works out well for you, Twilight. A step up in the world."
"It will make us win this war," Twilight answered, but I could see she was shaken. She looked at all those hoses snaking out of the silver statue. "I'll talk with Luna. She'll put a stop to this. She can't know exactly what's been done to you, Discord. You're imprisoned. There's no point to torture as well."
"Oh, Twilight. You always were such a good little pony. Always surrounded by loyalty, honesty, kindness, generosity, and laughter," Discord said in a voice that was almost pitying. "What are you surrounded by now?"
Twilight stepped off the bridge, back onto the catwalk, and a moment later Goldenblood's horn flashed and the bridge slowly rose back up. A moment later, the central pillar's doors swung back into place and sealed with a faint hiss. The purple unicorn adjusted the glasses she wore as her magic brushed her mane back into place, but her face was troubled and haunted. "So... that's why my potion wasn't working. Why it kept going unstable. It'll likely need that magical resonance to stabilize it... possibly a pinch of that metal as well."
"Possibly," Goldenblood replied. He turned and started to trot away, but then he paused. "So, you mean to continue?"
She looked at him in confusion. "Of course. This is why the M.A.S. was established. I swore to Princess Luna that I would find her a magical solution to the war, and the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion will do it. We'll be able to turn hundreds of ponies into alicorns. Earth ponies will be able to do magic and fly for the first time. We could make thousands. End this war once and for all!"
"Even given the cost? You'll use Flux, knowing where it comes from?" Goldenblood asked. She looked away, and he sighed. "I see."
"I have to do this. I promised Luna that my friends and I would win this war," Twilight Sparkle said quietly, keeping her eyes away. She stood and started away, but then she too paused. "You promised something similar, if I recall." She started off without looking back, steps slow and heavy with the burden of knowledge.
"Something like that," he said softly, then he looked around a moment, and his eyes suddenly locked on mine. The side of his lip curled in an expression of mixed annoyance and amusement. "Cute." His horn flashed.
Suddenly, the world darkened and my head spun; my... dream-delusion-hallucination-thing faded away, and the room returned to the normal grime and spotty emergency lightning. The machinery below stopped humming, and pink fog swirled around it. I swayed on the edge of the platform, then shook my head as the vertigo passed. "Huh? What just happened?"
"You're back?" Rampage asked.
"I went somewhere?" I replied, rubbing my head.
"You walked right off the edge," the striped pony said, then nodded over at the brooding yellow mare. "Psycho caught you."
"She did?" I asked, not able to hide the surprise in my voice. "Why?"
Psychoshy snorted. "In case you forgot while you were out of it, we need you to open up this Chimera thing. Since I can't..." she added bitterly as she lowered her head.
"You're still helping him?" I asked sharply as I looked at Sanguine sitting away from the rest of us. His face had pulled itself together, and the rest of his injuries were rapidly healing. Was this a ghoul thing? ...Maybe he hadn't really been hurt at all? A ploy to trick gullible, softhearted Blackjack? I snorted hard. Maybe P-21 was right all along, and I should just smash him now to make sure he couldn't stab me in the back.
Be kind, a little pegasus begged me. Uggghhh... easy for Fluttershy... But Scotch needed help, and if he did have an innocent family...
"No!" Psychoshy snapped, then grit her teeth. "I mean... not once we're done here. I'll help him here, and then we're done." She looked over at the undead pony and slumped a little. "I mean... he still needs my help... if I help you, that is." She tried to sound tough, but she looked listless and confused, her eyes glancing every which way save at me and Sanguine.
"You don't need him," I said, trying to give her an encouraging smile. "I mean, you're a kickass Reaper pony, yeah? You sure kicked my flank all over that cage, remember?"
"Don't try and make me feel better," she retorted bitterly. "Just... do whatever you're going to do. We need to get out of here."
Good point. I had no idea how long we had. "Right." I looked up at the metal cylinder with its engraving. "Right... so... Chimera. How long would it take for you to make a copy of my friend, Sanguine?"
Sanguine blinked a moment, then answered slowly, "An hour or so to grow a healthy blank. The process can be rushed, but the results of that are... substandard." Ugh, did we have that much time?
"Does this place have some more automated defenses like those turrets we ran into earlier?" Rampage asked.
I looked sharply at Sanguine, my eyes trying to pick out some sign of betrayal. He'd been beaten, but that didn't mean he'd given up, and automated defenses could be turned against us. The ghoul stared off for several seconds before answering, "It does, but they're only active in a few places. Besides, with what's trying to get in here, I doubt that they'd be much help."
"What is trying to get in here?" P-21 asked in a low, even tone. He hadn't moved from where he'd been when I'd gone out. "What's behind those robots?"
"Hoofington was a crown jewel of technological development. It was designed to be the perfect city. A city that could, and did, house hundreds of thousands of ponies. It was the dream of visionaries like Horse and Apple Bloom to create a city that could manage and police itself. Automated systems are in place to handle security and defense, even two centuries after the bombs. Those systems are effectively responding to an intrusion."
"So you're saying that there's a crazy computer in Hoofington fighting us?" I asked, perking up. I imagined a rogue Crusader Maneframe, or something like it. "Well, that's not so bad. I can smash a computer."
"Unless it has some tragic sob story about how its vacuum tubes were molested or it just wants to save its motherboard," Rampage snickered. I glared at her; I wasn't that bad, was I? Rampage wasn't having any of it. She tapped my chest. "Softest. Heart. In. The. Wasteland."
"I don't have a heart. I have a cold machine of steel running inside me," I huffed indignantly. Everypony looked at me with expressions ranging from scorn to pity; Boo was the only one looking around in baffled confusion. I snorted. "Okay, my heart aside, how do we turn on those defenses?"
"You need to turn on all the systems. You need to unseal Chimera," Sanguine replied in a low, distracted voice. He pointed at the central pillar. "The access point is there."
I looked up at the massive pillar. I could just leave it sealed up; presumably, Discord was still alive, or at least alive enough to suck a few tanker trucks out of him over a few weeks. If I talked to him, he'd try and trick me. He was dangerous; I'd seen the look on Twilight's face. I looked at my PipBuck with a small frown. "Dealer?"
"Dealer? Is that what you call that thing?" Psychoshy muttered.
"I know you're not my crazy, Dealer. I want to talk to you," I said. Then, as I slowly turned my head, I spotted him shuffling his cards. He kept his eyes hidden behind the brim of his hat. "I need to unseal Project Chimera."
"So? Unseal it," he muttered, his eyes locked on the cards. He turned over a Joker, showing me in a clown suit. "You don't need me for that."
Huh? "I don't? But then why couldn't Psychoshy do it?" My question set the yellow pegasus's teeth on edge.
"Because she's as thick as you are, Blackjack," Dealer muttered, rolling his eyes. "I'm not EC-1101." He spoke the words like a guilty confession.
"But you're also not my crazy," I replied firmly. "There's way too many lapses, times you should be there when you're not. Times you do show up when you shouldn't. You're something outside me." I frowned at him, narrowing my eyes. "Who are you, Dealer?"
"Somepony who never mattered. I'm just a ghost along for the ride, seeing that EC-1101 gets where it needs to go. That's all." He nodded towards Psychoshy. "She did the same thing you did. Yelled, threatened, growled, begged, and finally cried to try and get me to open it. And I just told her 'no, not going to happen', and described all the ways you were going to kill her when you caught up with her."
I thought about that a moment. "Dealer? Are you Goldenblood?"
He looked at me pityingly. "Did you miss what I said? 'Never mattered.' Not before the bombs dropped and not now. Trust me. Don't worry about Goldenblood. He's dead as a doornail."
"Why do I have trouble believing that?" I muttered, glaring hard at him. "You've been screwing with me from the start, Dealer. When did it all begin? When I found out what EC-1101 was? Back in Stable 90? Miramare?" Then I frowned. "The first time I fired Folly."
"Folly?" Sanguine asked, and I glared at him. No no, mister nasty ghoul. You do not get any more toys to play with! Heck, even I shouldn't have a weapon like that!
The pale image gave the slightest little twitch of the corner of his mouth. "Yeah. Before that, you were just another mare, as far as I could tell. One stupid and reckless enough to keep getting ponies killed with your good intentions. That kid. Those zebra. You spared a slaver... I honestly didn't know what to make of you. But when you fired that weapon, I knew there was something more to you."
"Because I have Ministry Mare blood in me," I said, and he gave a slow nod. "Even if it's not Twilight Sparkle, that meant I could access EC-1101."
"Might," he countered, looking angry, "And that meant that I might be necessary after all. When you fired that weapon, systems from Trottingham to Fillydelphia to Hoofington lit up like a Hearth's Warming log. Nopony was listening, of course. There's maybe a half dozen ponies left across the Wasteland with the access capability and a clue as to what those systems actually do and how to make them work; maybe a dozen with the Enclave. And since meeting you, I've bumped into others who could get access. That mare Velvet Remedy might have gotten the program to work. Psychoshy would have figured it out, too, if she'd had enough time."
"But why does it matter?"
"Something I've been asking all month," P-21 said under his breath.
"Look at this place, Blackjack!" He gestured around us. "Mass cloning facilities! Biological fusion. Even Flux production. Discord! Sanguine's own knowledge and expertise. This is perhaps the greatest treasure trove of wartime biological technology in all the world! Do you have a clue what a pony could do if they really applied themselves to it? Monsterponies by the thousands! Possibly even an alicorn assembly line, if a pony knew what they were doing. You're lucky Red Eye or the Enclave doesn't really know what's going on here, or they'd actually be applying themselves to get you to unlock it."
"How do you know all about Chimera if you're not Goldenblood? Who are you, and why should I trust anything you say?" I asked with a scowl.
"Goldenblood. Every time she says that name, I want to kick somepony," Rampage said.
He pressed his lips together, then finally said, "What choice do you have? You don't exactly have time for twenty questions. I can help you, Blackjack, but I want to make sure that this place isn't used by anypony else."
Urrrgh... he had a point. "I don't want Chimera to be used by anypony. Not by Sanguine. If I can save Scotch, I'm happy. If I save Sanguine's family to do that, that's good too." It wasn't their fault that they were related to this... this thing. Speaking of which, it would have been nice if said thing would gasp or something, give some sign that he was going to work with me on this. Instead, he just stared off into space. Was he trying to work out how to best cooperate or how to best betray us?
"And letting him trot back here ten, twenty, or a hundred years from now?" Dealer asked firmly. He shook his head. "I'm not going to turn this place over to just anyone who walks in once you leave. Watching you unseal Steelpony was hard enough. I only let you have that because you needed it, and if the Enclave hadn't already been in possession of the raw data, I would have tried to keep it from you."
"Wait, I thought you said I didn't need you to open the Project?" I looked over at the yellow pegasus, but she was simply passing time. Sanguine looked over too, a feverish kind of hope dancing in his eyes.
"You don't... if you know the proper place to access. Otherwise, you can have fun trying to figure out how to make it work all on your own," he replied with a smug smile.
That would take time I didn't have. "So... what do you want?"
"Less Blackjack talking to herself would be nice," P-21 muttered.
"I want this place destroyed," he replied evenly.
"You want what?" I gasped, making Boo jump away.
Rampage winced. "Oh, that can't be good."
"You heard me. I don't care about what you use it for right now, but I want this place gone when you're done. No more Flux. No more fusion megaspells. No more hybrids. Nothing. I want this mistake reduced to a crater," he said with a wave of his hoof.
"And Discord?" I asked with a frown.
He laughed briefly. "Discord? He can be buried along with the rest of this place. Discord was an enemy to ponykind centuries back, and he'd be our enemy today." Dealer looked down the catwalk. "I think Red Eye's forces are clear now. They'll be coming in soon, if they're not here now. So... do you agree or not?"
I imagined that I could hear them, too. The clicking-clanking hoofsteps of Protectaponies, the rolling treads of sentries, the levitation talismans of Mr. Handys... "Fine. You help, I'll destroy this place."
I probably shouldn't have said that last bit aloud...
"What? Destroy what?" Sanguine shouted, Pink Cloud spurting out his nostrils. "I'll not see this place destroyed for any reason!"
"Of course..." P-21 groaned. "The mine was just a warmup..."
Psychoshy gaped at me. "You're insane!"
Rampage just fell back laughing. "Oh Luna, I fucking love you, Blackjack!"
And Boo blinked in confusion.
I whirled on Sanguine. "Your family, or this place? Choose!" If I was going to have to figure this out without him, then best find out now. I couldn't keep working with him like this; not with the worry that he could backstab me at any moment.
His cloudy eyes popped as they looked at me and then out at production. Then back at me. "I... my work... my family... Blackjack, I can't. Don't you understand? This place was the culmination of my entire life's work! Years of research and study. I can't just throw it all away!"
"You're going to have to," I replied. "Your family or this place, Sanguine. If your family really is all that matters to you, I'll help you save them. But for me to pull this off, I'm going to have to destroy this place so nopony can use it. Otherwise, you better just kill me now." I took a gamble, hoping he truly meant it. And I got ready to jump aside from a plume of pink poison.
Sanguine closed his eyes and stepped away. He stood there for a few seconds, and then nodded once. "Very well... if you must."
I let out my breath, surprised. I wasn't the only one, either. "Right." I turned to the Dealer. "So, how do I unseal Chimera?"
"The access is inside Discord's chamber. To open it, you say 'Project Chimera containment open. Password--"
"A wonderful, wonderful thing," I finished for him, and was rewarded by his momentarily stunned expression. I tried not to act too smug as he recovered. "Surprised?"
"Apparently you don't need my help as much as I thought," he murmured.
I stood at the edge of the catwalk and said the phrase and password from the vision, and the pillar gave a massive groan and shudder. The mechanics squealed as it slowly ground open; two centuries of little to no maintenance hadn't done it any favors. The drawbridge slowly dropped down in front of me... revealing Discord.
Or something that had once been Discord.
The statue of the immense hybrid creature now appeared shrunken and crumpled. The serpentine body was now contorted into a spiral, his limbs twisted and pinched. The wrinkled silver casing had formed creases and spiny ridges. The expression of fear was now one of agony. The hoses that once connected to the walls had stretched and deformed, pinching off or becoming jagged wires. Only a few still resembled tubes. The interior of the chamber was warped and melted, the smooth surface forming countless spikes all pointing in on the distorted form. The array of dark rainbow balefire eggs had been reduced to a flickering dozen. Instantly, my PipBuck began clicking like mad from the magical radiation.
"Discord," I breathed, and the others backed away. Even the Dealer looked horrified at the sight.
"The one and only," rasped a low, hollow voice.
"The internal failsafes went off?" Sanguine gaped at the contents.
"And off... and off... and off... and off. Never enough to kill, but always enough to hurt." Discord laughed softly. "It's been a long time since I had anypony to talk to. So fill me in? I've got two centuries of hoofball seasons to catch up on. Have the Canterlot Cavaliers finally won the playoffs? Are stripes still a fashion faux pas? Oh, and are you people all a bunch of little monsters still?" We just looked at each other as he laughed. "I imagine you want to do something horrific to me too..."
"Why would you think that?" I asked as I took a few cautious steps forward.
"Because that's what ponies do," he muttered in that pained, hollow voice. "To diamond dogs, to buffalo, to dragons... griffins... minotaurs... Oh, I know you all look so cutesie wootsie, but deep down you're all monsters. Turned me into stone... twice. Locked me up... drilled into me... You have to admit, that's a little excessive for a couple of bad jokes and some screwing around with folks." He sighed. "You make it rain chocolate milk once or twice and turn a few roads to soap, and suddenly you've crossed a line."
"You did more than that, Discord," Sanguine rasped as he stood and approached the statue. "Your antics nearly overthrew the kingdom. You targeted Twilight and her friends; turned them against her." Honestly, I wasn't hearing the part about Discord throwing ponies through a rock crusher.
"Oh yes, and Twilight and her friends didn't harm Equestria in the slightest," Discord drawled softly. "You know, even at my absolute worst, I never killed anyone. Toyed with... manipulated... teased... oh yes. But kill? There're few things more boring than a corpse."
Dealer looked at me and tugged his hat down over his features. I realized it was the exact same style as P-21 now wore. I wondered if, eight or nine generations removed, the bucks could possibly be related. "The Project's main interface is there. I'll make sure your PipBuck connects straight to it." He then frowned at me. "Remember, Blackjack. Crater."
"Yeah, yeah..." I muttered as my vision began to scroll funky data. I started to hear a rhythmic banging from the direction of distribution. I looked at the terminal and the dial and buttons that Goldenblood manipulated. I gaped at the knob twisted all the way over. "You... he... two centuries in agony?" I asked, gaping at the dial and then at the crumpled statue. At once I twisted it to zero. I heard him let out a long groan of relief.
"I think you could summarize that as 'Oopsie'," Discord snickered. "The more the metal resonates, the more Flux one can slurp out of me. Of course, even I have limits."
"What with the fighting and all you must be feeling better, though..." Rampage said as she stared at the statue.
"Right. Murder, rape, and mass mayhem... yawn. You know, eventually, even wanton slaughter and war gets boring. Not that it matters much. It won't be long before there's nothing left of me but metal... As Goldenblood intended, I suspect. A permanent end to a threat to the kingdom. Oh so practical and useful. Such a dull pony." Discord snickered sarcastically. "How about you, Trueblood? What do you think; what makes ponies do monstrous things?"
"Losing the things we love tends to strip away reluctance," the ghoul murmured.
Crimson beams flashed up the catwalk towards us, one passing so close to my head that I felt the heat from it! Okay, Discord or Sanguine or -- no. The robots were here. The Protectaponies clomped slowly and inexorably along the metal walkway towards us, and down below I caught sight of a sentry rolling through the pink fog. "Intruders detected. Surrender yourselves immediately and face disintegration."
My friends jumped into action, and Psychoshy snapped her wings once and launched herself into the air. The yellow pegasus arched high along the domed ceiling, nipping behind the warning signs as six Protectaponies blasted away with their crimson beams. Then, suddenly, she dove and corkscrewed down at the robots, hooking up at the very end and smashing into the row of robotic ponies. Metal bits went flying as she climbed back to the ceiling.
Before the still-functional robots could rise and resume attacking, Rampage was dancing on top of them, hooves flashing and blasting the machines to pieces. Then the sentry below began to spray the catwalk wildly with its gatling gun. Persuasion thumped, and suddenly a section of the Pink Cloud geysered. The trail of gatling fire swung wildly around as P-21 shook out the spent shell, calmly slapped a fresh grenade in the breech, clapped it shut, and patiently aimed once more. The spray chewed along the catwalk towards him. The grenade launcher 'pomf'ed once again and lobbed the explosive in a perfect arc into the mist. The Cloud geysered again, and the robot went silent.
I looked around, but that seemed to be all of them. For the moment. But if that group had found a way in and radioed it to the others... I tapped the terminal a few times, then smacked the monitor with my hoof, and the screen slowly glowed to life.
Project Chimera Primary Interface
Project Chimera sealed per Equestrian Royal Command.
I looked down at my PipBuck, and the arcane device mirrored the terminal. However, there was an additional box at the bottom of the PipBuck screen.