My Little Pony: Thunder Dash

"Hi we're here for the intern position as lab assistant in the quantum physics department." Dave said to the woman sitting behind a desk in the lobby of the valley flats research and development center.

"What are your names?" She asked.

"My name is David Ming Chang, and my friends name is Wesley Ericson." Dave replied.

"Ah yes, I see you, here's your badges take mono rail 017 to the central complex and then 095 to the physics complex." She said.

"Thank you." I said after she handed me my badge.

"Your welcome, and welcome to the staff." She said.

"Alright 017 is there now lets get on and see what we can see from up here." Dave said. The research facility was massive, with three buildings spanning a massive bowl of earth that was created by a meteor that struck thousands of years ago.

"I wonder what will be doing as lab assistants?" Dave said.

"You mean you didn't ask when you took the job?" I said.

"All she said was you will get paid per day for doing whatever in the physics department." Dave said.

"Well at least we know that much." I said.

"Yes and we didn't have to sign a waver form so no lab rat jobs." He said.

"But, I wanted to do that." I said.

"What!!" Dave said.

"I'm just kidding, oh the monorails here." I said.

We boarded the small car and shut the door. The vast majority of the facility was built down into a crater making it possible to construct biological domes at certain levels in the facility. The monorail system was suspended on a track at the very top of the crater allowing you to see the facility in its entirety.

"Welcome to main platform please disembark when the tram has stopped and the door has opened."
The computer voice said. We arrived at the platform and the door swung open to reveal a large square lounge which was almost completely empty except for a few people.

"Guess this is also the lunch room." Dave said.

"Looks like it, OK now were is the tram, oh there it is." I said.

The station was on the opposite side of the platform through a glass door.

"I see tram 095, lets go." I said.

"Alright then." Dave said. We made our way through the common area and towards the tram station. When we arrived we boarded the tram and the computer voice began to speak.

" Welcome aboard tram 095 to section 12BX6 temporal and spacial travel, quantum physics department, and astrophysics." The computer voice said.

"What did the first one say?" I asked Dave not expecting to be answered by the computer, but to my amazement it did.

"Section 21BXK bio-gravity test lab." The voice answered back.

"Cool." Dave said.
"You could say that again." I said.

I could have sworn that wasn't what it said, but I could have just heard it wrong.

"Cart 095 process 11011101010110101101 Malfunction failure to pay maintenance fees is subject to toothpaste." The computer voice aboard the tram said as the lights flickered and the speed slowly increased.

"What the hell, what is the destination, computer!" I said.

"Emergency stopping procedure station section 12bx6 t-temporal and spacial travel...." The computer's voice said as it trailed of into oblivion.

The lights on the tram went dark and all we could do was sit and hope the tram stopped at the emergency stop. A few minutes after the lights went out they came back on, the tram stopped and the doors swung open.

"Welcome to section 12bx6 temporal and spacial travel, please watch your....cabbage as you exit the.....Cabin...... 10011010100100 departing in 3....2....1." The computer said as we jumped through the open doors and landed on the platform.

"Damn that was close." I said.

"Yes it was." Dave said.

"So were are we?" He asked.

"I would say what ever this section 12bx6 is." I said.

"Lets go and look." Dave said.

"But we need to call for help, look theres a emergency phone station just over there." I pointed just up the way on the wall where there was a telephone station.

"Na lets explore were pretty safe whats the worst that could happen." Dave said.

"We should still phone." I said.

"We can do that after it's not like it's going anywhere." Dave said.

"I Suppose your right." I said.

"Good, all right then lets go and see whats so mysterious." Dave said.

"Ok." I said.

We made our way a few paces into the pitch black room, the small amount of light that was there came from the large metal archway that was the entrance to this room.

"Damn, we need a light switch." Dave said.

"This might be one, there." I said.

After flipping the switch a series of lights lining the roof turned on eventually showing the whole room in its entirety. The room was large, at least 40 feet high at one end was the metal archway that was big enough to move a semi truck through, at the other was a large machine spanning the whole wall. At the very top pipes went out in all directions ending at either the roof or the very top of the side walls of the room. Further down the machine very steampunk-esk pumps and cogs were intertwined to form some kind of network. And finally at the very bottom of the machine a circular ring with an aperture style covering was front and center, to the left there was a station upon which a computer system sat with wires connecting to the machine.

"What is this." I said.

"I have no idea, but hey lets see whats on the screen." Dave said.

"Ok." I said.

We walked across the metal floor to the machine. The plaque above the screen read 'temporal and spacial mapping and transport device'.

"I wonder if this could actually, send us to another time." Dave said.

"Well we have seen what it is lets go and call for help." I said.

"not yet, I want to see what this can do." Dave said.

"Fine we will spend a few minutes and then we go." I said.

"Sounds reasonable enough." Dave said.

"This machine, must have an index of locations somewhere, ah ha!"Dave said.

"Dave its a book, do you even know whats in it?" I said. Dave blew the dust off directly in my direction causing me to sneeze.

"Hey what was that for!?" I said.

"Oops sorry." He said.

"Damn this book is huge, the cover says index of known dimensions and spacial plains." Dave said.

"Open it lets see what is known." I said.

We opened the book it looked like holding our breaths was all for nothing there was but one line on the page 'PROJECT CANCELLED'.

"Really thats all." Dave said.

"There has to be more then this." I said.

We shook the book and to our astonishment something fell out, it was an envelope.

"Open it." Dave said.

"Ok." I said.

I opened it, the contents of the envelope was just a page. On it read 49.

"What in the world does that mean." Dave said.

"I don't know." I said.

"Wait page with a 49 written on it could it be page 49?" I said.

"I will check." Dave said.

"Nope nothing just a blank page.

"Wait flip the page again." I said.

Dave flipped the page but something was different it fell heavier then all the rest.

"Let me see that." I said.

Dave passed the book and I immediately started trying to remove the page from the book.

"What the hell are you doing." Dave said.

"Trust me." I said.

The page came clear out of the binding and there was a small tear which showed that the page was actually three pages stuck together.

"How did you know?" Dave asked.

"The page was slightly thicker and heavier then the rest." I said.

I ripped the two pages apart to reveal yet another envelope. I opened it and unfolded it.

"We went through all of that for this." I said.

"What?" Dave asked.

The contents was a paper with 2 lines of text, they read.

EQP4O9N7Y1
14367 251094 17442

"Well thats something." Dave said.

"We came all this way for nothing we should have just used the phone when we saw it." I said.

"Well now we can go back." Dave said.

"We don't even know how to turn the computer on." I said.

"Computer active input target destination." A voice emanating from the desk said as the screen flashed on and the machine roared to life.

"Well if our being here didn't set off some kind of alarm then this did, lets go Wes, Wesley lets go god dammit." Dave said.

"Wait, I want to see what this can do." I said, punching in the first line and second line of text into the input space on the screen.

"Destination set opening portal." The voice said.

An alarm bell rang as the machine sprang to life, steam flowing out of ports and belt drives spinning.

"Well were screwed that alarm can probably be heard throughout the entire facility, Wesley, hello, are you even listening to me?!" Dave said.

"Look." I said.

The aperture on the front of the machine had opened to reveal a glowing blue portal, it spun slowly on its axis as wisps of energy were absorbed back into the machine and recycled.

"Hands up you are under arrest." A voice said from behind.

We turned to see ten armed guards move through the archway

"Don't move or we will be forced to fire." The one standing dead center of the slow moving wall of guard said.

"Dave." I said.

"What."

"Run!"

We made a beeline for the portal but before we reached it a loud bang stopped me dead in my tracks, dave had been shot in the back and was now lying face down on the ground. I knelt down beside him.

"Dave listen to me you have to try and move." I said.

"Just leave me Wes*cough* just go." Dave said.

"I'm not leaving you." I said.

"Just go god damn it, Go!" Dave said.

He fainted from the exhaustion and from the pain.

"Stay right were you are." The guard said.

I slowly stood up and made my way closer to the portal, i turned *bang* a bullet came wising by just centimeters away from my face.

The bullet had flown straight into the portal.

"Warning, portal is unstable, do not enter, warning, portal is not stable, do not enter." The computer said as the once peaceful blue portal had turned into a plasma spouting whirlwind.

"OK kid turn around and come with us." The guard spoke again.

"No." I said reaching into the portal and stepping forward.

The portal was working fine until one of the guards decided to fire a bullet thinking it would hit me, but instead it hit a stray plasma wave which ran into my back causing the most excruciating pain i had ever felt so much so that I went unconscious from shock.

"Portal closing." The computer said.

The aperture closed around the portal sealing Wesley inside.

"What happened captain is everything all right." A voice from the two way radio said.

"No, we lost one to the portal and we had to shoot one." The captain said.

"Well, will he be all right for interrogation?" The voice said.

"He will sir he will." The captain said.

"All right I will expect a full report in an hour understood?" The voice said.

"Yes sir." The captain said.

"Good i will be looking forward to it." The voice said before closing the line.

"Lets move him to the infirmary." The captain said.

They lifted Dave onto a stretcher and moved him out of the room and into an elevator to head to the infirmary.