Haywire

Chapter Four:

The truckstop was beginning to fill to the brim with eightteen wheelers when more cars arrived. A pink VW Karmann Ghia, a gray Volvo station wagon and a Lexus pulled into the parking lot, and parked side-by-side. Their occupants were the rest of the Mane 6. All four ponies walked inside the diner, and trotted straight over to Rainbow Dash.

"SURPRISE!" Pinkie squealed, busting out her confetti cannon.

"Hey, guys!" Dash replied, "what are you doing here?"

"We wanted to visit your new job!" Twilight explained, "ever since you took it, we barely get to see you again!"

"Are you enjoying it?" inquired Fluttershy, "I really hope you are...."

While Rainbow Dash told them the entire story, another tragic event was going on. Twist, shaken by the death of Beltran, had wondered off from her class, and into the Big L's extensive arcade.

"This is amazing!" she thought, almost bursting with joy, "they have all the old games: Pac-Man, Galaga, Pole Position...."

Just then, a sparkling white light caught her eye. There was a game in the back she had never heard of before. It looked so awesome, she just had to play it!

Eldorado was in his office, counting profit, when he heard a loud electrical buzzing. "Hey, Bubba!" he called, "come with me to go check that noise out!"

The two ponies traced it to the arcade, and entered to find a young nerdy filly slumped on the floor dead, still clutching the joystick of a nearby arcade game. The tips of her mane were blackened, and every so often, a bolt of electricity would pass through her.

"Extra crispy, ain't she, Bubba?" Eldorado teased, unphased by seeing Twist killed.

"She was so young...." he uttered, a tear coming to his eye, "what're we gonna do to her, Mr. Eldorado?"

"Put'er in the basement," he replied grimly, "but don't let anypony see ya carrying her in there."

Bubba grabbed Twist, and placed her body gently into a burlap sack. He put the sack behind his back, and carried it out the rear door and around the back to the basement's outdoor enterence. He was digging for his keys, when another truck started up.

The truck raced toward Bubba, but luckily, he opened the basement door just in time. The Mack raced around the other side of the building, and dissapeared.

Meanwhile, Fleetwood was talking to Cheerilee about purchasing a bible.

"It will give you unlimited protection," he reassured her, tapping the dusty bible with one hoof, "in times of peril, it's the only friend you'll ever need."

The Mack raced around the side of the lot and sideswiped Fleetwood's Cadillac.

"It will... will..." he stuttered, staring out the window at his precious car being destroyed. "Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed, running out of the diner, "I'm gonna tear 'em off, son! Oh, you wanna rock and roll, bucko? Come here, come get some!" It was that time when he realized the truck had no driver.

He then took off running for a ditch, the Mack following. Everypony in the truckstop watched as the cabover slammed into him, and knocked his carcass into the ditch.

"Whoa...." Vinyl whispered, "that thing punted him like a football!"

Then, all eyes were on Ray's truck as it started up, and blew it's horn a long, low, honk. The Mack seemed to respond, honking quickly twice. Soon, all the other trucks on the lot started, their horns uniting in a terrifying chorus, their highbeams creating a series of eerie orbs, each one bright white.

Finally, Big Macintosh summed up everypony's feelings: "Those apple-buckin' things ain't got no right to be runnin'!"

****

The trucks all began a continuous circuit around the stop, more and more starting and joining in with each pass, even Checker's school bus took part in the ring of rubber and metal!

"The whole world is going upside-down!" Scootaloo shrieked, "I gotta get outta here!" the bolted to the door, but Ray stopped her.

"Oh, no you arent!" he growled, "if you go out there, you'll end up like Frank Sinatra in that ditch over there!"

Lyra and Bon-Bon were still out by their car when the rebellion began, and watched in horror as a truck shoved a telephone box out of the way like a pony swats a fly.

"Oh, once we get to the truckstop, everything's gonna be just FINE!" Lyra muttered sarcastically, "now what are we gonna do?!"

"I have an idea!" Bon-Bon replied, and hopped into the Oldsmobile, and started it. Lyra jumped into the passenger seat, and listened to her plan:

"You see that gap in their circle?"

"Yeah."

"The next time that comes around, I'm gonna go right through!"

"Be careful, Bon! They could squash us!"

As soon as Applejack's Dodge passed, Bon-Bon stomped on the gas, and the beaten Oldsmobile took off toward the diner. Lyra watched silently in fear as a Peterbilt tanker broke it's course around the truckstop, and raced toward them. It hit them in the rear left corner panel, and sent them flying. The station wagon landed with a dull thud upside-down, a few feet away from it's destination, and caught fire.

"Somebody help me go get them!" Carrot Top yelled as she watched the Olds burn.

"I got this," Rainbow Dash called back as her and Checker joined the mare in saving the car's occupants.

As soon as they got the two out of the car, the same Autocar that killed Beltran came racing toward them at full speed. The five ran toward the diner, as fast as they could, when they noticed Eldorado and Pinkie Pie aiming something through the front doors.

"Are you sure this thing fires shells as well as confetti?" he asked her.

"Oh, I'm more than sure it can handle a shell!" Pinkie giggled menacingly, her hair going flat.

"Alright then. Ready? FIRE!" A loud BANG! ripped through the air as a cannonball shot across the parking lot. The five ponies running toward the diner ducked as the cast iron shell shot over their heads, and into the truck behind them, creating an emense explosion.

"YEE-HAW!" Eldorado cheered, hopping up and down, "WE HIT THAT METAL SUMBITCH DEAD CENTER!"

Pinkie Pie looked confused. "We were aiming for the truck?"

"Quick, Bubba!" he called to the pump jockey, "Get us another!"

Bubba ran out, and loaded a second cannonball into the pink barrel of the confetti cannon, and Eldorado aimed for another truck, this time an International with a trailer full of cake. Another shot roared throught the air, and cake splattered all over the outside of the diner's windows as the International went up in flames.

"That's all we have, Mr. Brougham!"

"Alright, then, everypony back in the diner!"

"Hey!" Ray interrupted, "Where'd you get those shells?"

"My hearth's-warming eve stocking," Eldorado replied sarcastically, "Now, come on, everypony back in the diner! Be quick, now!"

"Hold it right there, Mr. Bigshot!" Soarin' growled, marching up to Eldorado and putting his face in the other's, "I have just a few questions for you!" But, before he had the chance to ask them, Soarin' noticed that the jukebox began to play "White Knuckle Ride", by Lynard Skinner. "Can anypony shut that junk off?"

"I've got it," Octavia sighed as she trotted over to the dusty jukebox, and pressed a button to mute it. As she walked away, the machine gave off a huge amount of sparks, and began to play the song louder. She looked at it in bewilderment, and raced over to shut it off, only to be electrocuted severely. Stunned, the beige mare fell to the ground, the tips of her mane on fire.

"Sweet Celestia, 'Tavi!" Vinyl raced over to the fallen pony, and felt her heartbeat. It was faint, but it was definitely there. After what seemed like half an hour, Octavia opened her eyes, wide with fear. "Whatever you do," she warned, "whatever horrible tune it plays, DON'T TOUCH THE JUKEBOX!"

After several hours of close calls, bad music, and listening to Eldorado rant about how much he didn't deserve to be trapped, the Celestia's sun began to set, and as darkness fell, a thundering drone could be heard over the trucks. Everypony inside the diner had begun to grow used to the situation, and some even grew bored of it.

"Excuse me, Mr. Brougham?" Vinyl asked, walking up to the elderly pony, who was currently smoking a cigar, "Is it alright if I go onstage now?"

"Sure," he grumbled back, dabbing the cigars ashes into her electric blue mane, "The day can't get any worse." He led her to a small platform, barely big enough for her two speakers and turntable. The stage was sealed off with chicken wire, which was a common feature in bars in the Equestrian Backwoods, where ponies only knew two things about music: Johnny and Cash.

"HEY THERE, BIG L!" Vinyl yelled to the crowd, "ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?"

Everypony stayed silent accept for the Mane 6, who were stomping their hooves rythmically, enthused at the aspect of entertainment.

"Thank you, thank you, you're a lovely crowd! Now," she continued, starting a record, "LET'S DO THIS!"

What happened next can only be described in two words: Bass drop. A loud hard rhythm ensued, accompanied by strobing lights, temporarily blinding some of the ponies in the front row. The patrons of the bar began to shout angrily and throw full bottles of Buckweiser at the stage, but Vinyl didn't notice it, she was enjoying herself too much. The trucks responded to the horrible noise with another chorus of horns, and one truck's windshield shattered. The crescendo blasted on for approximately 30 seconds, until the lights began to flicker, along with the beat from the equipment, and shut off completely leaving the diner cloaked in darkness.

"Nice going, lady!" Smokey growled, "Now we don't have any lights!"

Everypony began to take their turn complaining, until everything went quiet, except for a high-pitched yowling, resinating from the ditch which Fleetwood was knocked in. Spitfire ran into the restroom, Soarin' following nervously.

He ran in to find Spitfire in a stall, taking off her flightsuit.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously, ignoring Fleetwood's screams of pain.

"Changing," she choked back, "That pervert had his hooves all over me!"

After she was finished, Soarin' remembered he was in a mare's bathroom. He backed out shyly, and rejoined the others.

"What're we gonna do?" Applejack thought out loud.

"Well, you're gonna go get him, and bring him back here!" Eldorado replied sharply, "That's my son out there!"

"Why should we?" Rarity said slyly, "He's had sex with more than half of the mares in this room!"

"Well, we just can't stand here and listen to this, can we?" Soarin' pointed out.

"If you like him so much," Rarity answered, "Why don't you go out there?"

"I will!"

"I'm coming with you," Rainbow said, walking up to the blue pegasus, "I don't wanna see a friend of mine die."

"You're friends with Fleetwood?"

"NO! I just don't wanna see you squashed, Soarin'!"

"I'll come too," Checker added, "You're gonna need another pair of eyes."

****

The three began the gauntlet over to the ditch. They waited for a gap in the trucks, and scampered across the lot, hiding behind Fleetwood's half-destroyed Cadillac. They were about to scramble back into the pit, when they noticed the school bus looming up behind them. As menacing as it looked, for some reason it didn't attack. In fact, it wasn't even idling!

"Good thing that one was outta gas!" Checker chuckled.

"Don't be so sure it was," Dash replied grimly, "It has a faulty radiator, remember?"

Meanwhile, Pip, Cupcake and Silver Sketch had fought their way through the burning ruin that used to be Ponyville, only to end up outside the powerless Big L, hiding in a ditch next to a half-dead stallion obsessed with Cadillacs!

"Well, this sucks," Cupcake muttered flatly, but her mood increased greatly when she noticed three ponies jump in the ditch with them.

"We're here to save you, Fleetwood!" Soarin' trumpeted triumphantly, his chest puffed out, "Wait, who are you three?"

"JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Fleetwood screamed angrily.

Rainbow and Soarin' had begun to pick up Fleet, and pull him out of the ditch, when they noticed a dumptruck racing toward the ditch, highbeams sparkling. The ponies jumped out quickly, barely avoiding being flattened by the Ford. When they got inside, Eldorado greeted his battered son with tears of joy, and the two hugged. Cupcake and Silver told the occupants of their guns, and that the comet Rhea-M was causing the machines to behave strangely. The celebration was short-lived, though. Everypony froze when they heard Pipsqueak utter a simple phrase:

"Wait, where's my dad?"

Everpony looked at him with sadness brewing in their eyes, until Eldorado trotted up, and blew smoke in the young colt's face.

"Well, shit, boy, you're dad got squashed by those big boys out there!"

"Is this true?" Pipsqueak asked Rainbow.

"I'm so sorry, Pip," Rainbow answered, coming to hug him. Spitfire was disgusted by Eldorado's insensitivity, and slapped him across the face as she stormed pass, heading for the back room.

"Don't worry, Pipsqueak," Cheerilee interrupted, "Now that we've got the tools, we can blow these metal morons' sky-high!"

Everypony cheered, answering the idea happily, and Pip's sadness was forgotten. Everypony began plans on how to take out the trucks, how to preserve food, and how to escape. For the first time all night, a small bit of hope shone through the patrons of the Big L. With these guns, they were ensured survival, or so they thought.