怪談とポニー Ep2 - Factory Reset

Hoping that her exhale sounded like a squeak not, Misty Lagoon turned around, very-very slow, trying not to make a sharp move. There was a certain risk of them being spotted or even caught by the local workers, but, as she was to admit, realizing the possibility of something and the actual condition felt quite different. At the first moment, her heart made a leap, seemingly pumping all the blood from her stomach and legs and throwing it to the head, making the lower half freeze and the upper half hot, raising the hair on the girl’s nape.

The opening image wasn’t overly intimidating, as Misty could assume when her blood flow reverted to normal. Standing at the entrance of the administration booth, there was a stallion resting an old baseball bat on his shoulder. A white shirt, loose tie, dark blue suit trousers but no jacket, the fair-maned stallion looked expecting somepony to break into the factory, yet was visibly surprised to run into the four school fillies. His grey eyes even widened a bit, when the girls all turned to face the newcomer. Yet, when he spoke up again, his voice was still tired and dull. Misty noticed the polished shoes got dusted and stallion’s hair called for a brush – he possibly was on his duty since yesterday’s evening.

“So, who are you, for Harmony sake? And what are you doing here? Come on, I’m all ears!”

Misty’s thoughts raced with the speed of light: the decision was to be quick as the future of their entire investigation, let alone their safety depended on it.

‘Tell him the truth… or… make up something plausible? Most important, suitable for that guy! Think girl, think!’

“I hardly imagine that somepony sends four high-school girls to sabotage my factory, but… in our crazy times…” he shook his head slowly. “You have gotten inside somehow. What for that’s the question. So, names, goals, leader? Come on…” strangely there wasn’t any threat in that voice, only fatigue and, to Misty’s confusion, disappointment.

‘So that’s the owner of the facility!’ Misty looked at the stallion differently. Young, a few years younger than her father, he inherited that factory, according to what Misty knew, and took the entire responsibility quite seriously, according to what Misty saw and felt at the moment. ‘They must feel desperate indeed…’

“I-I’m sorry, sir…” Misty made an effort, forcing her voice calm and even again. “I’m Misty Lagoon, these are my friends,” she decided to place a bet on truth, “and we are from Canterlot Pinewatch school,” meanwhile, she subtly pulled Lacy back, making the girl retreat behind Misty’s back slowly – the move causing a tiny smile on stallion’s face.

“Otherwise than studying, we spend time investigating some…” Misty stumbled, searching for a word to avoid “supernatural” for the first impression, “… mysterious cases. Something others failed to comprehend or lost heart to do.”

“What did you say your name was?” the stallion looked suddenly woken up. “Lagoon…”

“Misty Lagoon,” nodded Misty. “My parents live here in Baltimore, sir. They are oceanologists, Charity and Stone Lagoon…”

“She was Charity Caring back then…” muttered the stallion with a faint smile. “Stone Lagoon is your father, you say?” he raised one eyebrow. “That may change things… if it corresponds the reality. I have a couple of questions for you then,” smirked he watching the girl fixedly. “For your fate, girls, I used to study with one Lagoon in college. The colt, who ran to the bay shore more often than to the library, yet managed to graduate somehow. With the help of Charity maybe… yet, considering the field he naturally chose, well… He is two years older than me and we were pals back then, so…”

“So… When puzzled by something or in the moment of deep thoughtfulness, Stone Lagoon does what?” inquired the stallion. “It’s impossible to miss.”

Despite the stress and absurdity of the situation, Misty Lagoon couldn’t hold back a smile.

“He starts to wind up his hair onto his finger. Right behind his horn! Mom always says, he will have another one that way soon,” the girl chuckled with warm sparks in her eyes.

“Well… At least you know the stallion we’re talking about!” he barely nodded, but his face lit up a bit; out of the edge of her ear, Misty heard, how Flaunty exhaled with relief quietly.

“Another question,” he cut their flow of thoughts. “I suppose only close ones know. Stone has a… special sign of sort…”

“You mean that scar, sir?” Misty glanced at her collocutor.

“Yeah, scar… Where, then?”

“A thin scar, half a palm long behind his right scapula,” said Misty confidently. “I always shuddered when he mentioned the story,” added she; a faint shadow ran across her face. “Dad hurt himself on an underwater cliff in Horseshoe bay…”

“…while diving from the high point,” nodded the stallion with a sad smile. “He was dating Charity already. Her older sister visited on holidays and we four went to the beach.”

“Upon diving into the water once he hit his shoulder on a cliff tangentially,” continued Misty, feeling how the atmosphere became noticeably defused.

“Luckily, it wasn’t dangerous,” stallion’s eyes seemingly rewound that day. “But there was a lot of blood and… it looked worse than it actually was. Anaesthesia sewed the wound shut after disinfecting it,” he chuckled. “I was pretty shocked to find out she carried such stuff in her lady bag!”

‘He knew parents well! He even knew auntie Ana…’ flashed in Misty’s head. ‘On the one hand, it may help our job, on the other though…’ meeting the eyes of her friends, Misty understood that the girls were visited by similar thoughts.

“Okay, girls, I’m Nordy Thorntwist, the owner of that place as you might already catch. And now I know who you are at least,” the stallion lowered the bat, leaning on the wall tiredly. “With that aspect clear… what were you four doing here anyway?”

“As I said, I’m Misty, this is Lacy, Windy and Flaunty… Windy and Flaunty are sisters…”

“Somehow, I caught that up,” Nordy let out a smile throwing an attentive glance at them, “and not because of the same sports uniform.”

“… and we’re investigating strange cases in our free time. Feel free to call it our hobby, even if I prefer to avoid that word not to sound more unprofessional than we are,” Misty rolled her eyes with a sigh. “But we can do that, rest assured.”

“Do what, girls?” the stallion dropped on the edge of the desk loosening his tie even more. “Excuse me my scepticism… I’m on that casual security shift since evening, so a bit stiff in the brains.”

“We can at least try and help you sort that problem you’re having for quite a while,” slowly and confidently said Flaunty. “When the others gave up on that mostly…” she shrugged meaningfully, looking away through the booth glass wall.

“You lose nothing, sir,” nodded Windy in unison. “You tried to find out the truth, police tried, maybe some other officials… Everypony found nothing and left you to fight the situation alone, but…”

“Nopony knows us here, we’re school fillies for them and that’s all,” continued the pegasus girl suddenly ardently. “And nopony would probably take us seriously enough, just like you at the moment, sir,” she made a sly face. “Yet we can ask our own questions and try to at least find out the reason of your problem for you… Not to mention that the four pairs of fresh eyes can notice something others didn’t.”

The stallion glanced at them pensively, but now it looked as if he was weighing a possibility.

“Sir, giving us a chance to examine the place once again won’t hurt anyway,” for the first time since his arrival, Lacy said softly. “You can simply continue doing what you were doing if we find nothing new at all. I assume this place isn’t running at the moment,” the thin hand circled the room, “our short presence changes nothing… or everything if we manage to help.”

“Our current findings are scarce, but we did our best in that short time!” Misty said persuasively. “Am I right, the place was cleaned up quite meticulously after the last… event?”

“Heh! I must admit you’ve found the only thing connected to the accidents, we left shortsightedly,” chuckled the stallion, alternating between the girls appraisingly. “That scheme with points marked!” he pointed at the paper on the desk. “Yes, most of the facility is working as usual, so… we replaced almost all the outdated equipment and fixed everything.”

“Except that!” he pointed at Flaunty’s hands, spotting the black dust traces. “No idea what it is… But…”

“To make things clear,” accurately interfered Misty Lagoon. “We investigate regardless of the supposed nature of the problem, sir. Natural or not-entirely…” she made the meaning face, adding insinuatingly. “Even better if it’s the latter case.”

“And I’m still unsure…” said she after a moment of silence. “There is something… near that building basement… It’s the basement entrance, right?” Misty pointed at the big plan.

“Mhm…” muttered the stallion indeterminately, he only glanced at the girl pointing, but it seemed he knew where she was poking already; some faint shadow glimpsed behind his eyes. Nordy Thorntwist sat thinking, resting the bat on the tip of his shoe. Minutes dripped like an eternity.

“Okay!” he finally exhaled, making the girls perk their ears. “You have guessed properly, Lacy… right? We have nothing to lose indeed…” Before the girls exchanged triumphant glances, he added. “You and your friends may try, why not… But mind a few rules, girls.”

Misty raised one hand and nodded as if making a silent oath; Lacy, Windy and Flaunty showed the polite readiness to listen.

“As you know the accidents only happened here. We checked the entire block,” stated Nordy, “and found nothing suspicious. The machinery is safe… when powered off!” he looked long at the girls. “Do not turn anything on, electricity in general. If you have your own flashlights, use them, but nothing else. The second thing, be prudent in general: everything is fixed in its place, but mind the balance of things while looking around.” The girls nodded in agreement.

“You are right, Misty,” Nordy turned to her. “We cleaned and fixed everything here. The renovated line is to be examined by the specialists – the inspection should arrive on Monday. That means you have roughly two days to look for your clues. If everything is assumed to be operational, we run the line next week and… Celestia help us! Even with the rest of the facility running, we can’t afford to keep this place on hold forever…”

“No matter what we tried, the incidents kept happening until we stopped the workflow here completely,” the unicorn gritted his teeth, the eyes sparkled for a second before veiling with fatigue again. “I would suspect an insider, but… The newest workers are here as long as I’m the factory owner and the oldest worked probably with my granddad. Whom can I trust then? It’s about to turn desperate indeed, Misty Lagoon.”

“It was a long day before and even a longer night!” the stallion got up tiredly. “Let’s talk out the details in my office. That’s in the newer building next to that. Come on, ladies, I will need at least a couple hours of rest before the next… eh, this day,” he sighed, heading to the narrow stairs.

“You may take the plan with you if you need it for the job,” Thorntwist intercepted the glance Lacy drilled the production line plan with.

To friends’ bewilderment, he headed towards the supposed basement entrance. Taking out a massive bunch of keys from his pocket, the stallion unlocked the door at the bottom of a short staircase and turned to the girls. The deep sucking sound produced by the opening door, turning silently on the well-greased hinges, made Misty cringe involuntarily; by the look of it, she wasn’t alone in those sentiments – the rest of her friends were slightly stunned by the evident tightness of the basement. But it wasn’t what made the soft fuzz on the back of her neck stand; faintly perceptible near the door, the feeling of presence turned out confirmed when the girls entered. Neither her expectations nor her paranormal sense failed Misty Lagoon, leaving her in mixed feelings and making the girl stumble for a moment.

“The blocks connect through the first level of the basement,” elaborated the stallion, seeing the unvoiced question in girls’ eyes. “We need to be careful, right?.. If it turns out there is an insider,” he made a dry mien. “No need to show everypony that you appeared out of the blue… in the old closed block.” The girls were to admit reason in his words.

To reach Nordy’s office, they had to pass the dark underground level. As electricity was off in the entire old building, the long hallway was pitch black, echoing with weird sounds of pipes and constructions. The stallion turned on a powerful flashlight for the girls not to bump the walls and crates, stacks of which were placed along the walls between the locked doors.

“Careful here, ladies,” the unicorn lit their path. “Keep behind me not to hurt yourself or knock anything over. As you can see, we still have lots of work; can’t even fit all the materials and product in dedicated storage rooms. But that lasts as long as the factory is running and ponies can work here safely,” chuckled he sadly. “As soon as we are declared unstable, it’s a full stop, I’m afraid…”

The flashlight swept the concrete floor – the unicorn looked for another key in his bunch. When the new door opened, Misty was to cover up her eyes, the lit corridor appeared so bright for the first moment. ‘The newer building!’ guessed she, nodding the girls to proceed. After Nordy, they covered the last yards, passed several staircases, going up three floors presumably, and stopped in front of another door, this time unlocked.

“Well, nopony there!” Thorntwist peeked into the doorway, checking the situation. “Come on, girls, it’s the second door on the left,” he pointed at the brown double doors in the long softly lit hallway with light-blue walls.

“I’m residing here for now,” the stallion elaborated upon Misty’s eloquent glance. “Father’s office is in the old building. I can’t make myself change anything there since… since him passing away.” He held the door into the modestly decorated room with a long T-shaped desk, surrounded by varied chairs. Bookcases circled the walls, on one of which Misty spotted a window, finding the morning landscape behind quite relieving after the dark tunnels. Some sports prizes shone dully in the sloping rays behind the doors of a glassed showcase, catching Windy’s attention at once.

“The work starts in a few minutes,” Nordy closed the cabinet door behind them and gestured the girls to take seats. Enveloped in the teal-blue aura, the showcase leaf opened; the factory owner accurately put the merited baseball bat on its place and sank into his armchair at the head of the desk. “Now, we need to make your presence here legal,” the stallion slowly rubbed his chin, observing Misty, Lacy, Windy and Flaunty pensively. “Not mentioning your real aim… if we keep the possible insider in mind.”

“I think I’ll tell them the truth. That part which is safe,” he threw a glance through the window, where the sunlight was flooding the broad factory territory. “Let’s say, the daughter of my college friend visits her home city and brings a few classmates on an excursion,” he winked to Misty conspiratorially. “The girls, you, are interested in history in general and some local stories, so the old factory is on your list naturally.”

“Thus you can ask my workers about the history of this place and workflow as well,” noticed Nordy. “This covers the… supernatural,” he rolled his eyes jokingly, “part of your questions. As for looking for some evil wish, material that is, you will need to disguise what you ask into something vague – that’s your job, girls. Unfortunately, I can’t help you with that exactly without gaining too much attention to your real role.”

“We understood,” Misty nodded, looking around the girls. “For the natural clues, we will mostly use our eyes. No problems being subtle, sir.”

“So, I’m going to ask the workers to cooperate with your… “historical project” and assist where possible,” Thorntwist let out a tiny smile. “As for the old building…”

“Yes, I’m afraid we need more time to examine it,” Misty shrugged apologetically. “Minding the basement as well…” Lacy nodded quickly; she looked like bearing some question, but going to wait for a better moment at the same time.

“No objections, but…” the stallion hesitated a little. “Unfortunately, that could be done only after the day shift is over. Otherwise, we will blow your cover instantly. Moreover, I will need to imitate driving you home then drop you somewhere near the factory but outside the territory.”

“That’s even better!” quickly said Windy Mane, exchanging glances with Misty. “We’ll have hands untied, except the need to keep quiet during our search.”

“Don’t forget to keep the power off!” reminded Nordy. “Well, I suppose you can wait somewhere behind the fence then get in the same way you did this morning. Hmmm… You reminded me of something. Just a second, sorry!” he took out a portable radio set, clicking with some switch.

“Dusty!” called Thorntwist when the device grunted affirmatively through the faint static. “Send somepony to change the guys at the old block. They seem to fizzle out after the whole night,” smirked he throwing a humorous glance at the girls keeping their innocent faces.

“Okay!” he listened to the answer and hanged off.

“I will provide you the necessary keys and give time to get inside,” the unicorn addressed the fillies again. “Now, if you have some questions about that case, and you must have some, ask them now, girls. Use the chance that I can answer you openly.”

“Thank you, mister Thorntwist!” Misty’s pensive eyes stared at the desk in front of her, the girl recalled the details told her by Fluffy Folgen in Pinewatch. “Can you tell us more about the take over attempts? We know that your brother was involved… Anything except that?”

“The thing is, that never looked like “take over” actually,” sighed Nordy locking his fingers together and resting the chin on top. “You heard it right: one day, Fallton, my younger step-brother, appeared out of the blue and completely caught me off guard by his new pony of business stance. If you know his colthood traits, you can imagine my surprise instantly,” he glanced at Misty, raising one eyebrow insinuatingly. “Then he shocked me again by his offer to buy the factory from me; him having suitable funds aside, the mere idea that Fallton suddenly became interested in family business stunned me wordless…”

“But not enough to accept that crazy offer!” the stallion chuckled sarcastically. “Word by word, when I recomposed myself after the initial impression, I found out that he had a stable, even developing income source. Why would he need the factory then? Naturally, I declined the first and a few following offers from him… when he finally dropped that idea. The problems started shortly after.”

“What is it other than suspicious coincidence?” Windy’s wry grin dripping with sarcasm made mister Thorntwist smile.

“At first I thought the same, girl,” he shook his head slowly. “But visiting Fallton, I saw his own business running smoothly, found no connections between him and our problems… Frankly speaking, he could hardly have found time and interest in that sabotage… if that was sabotage, at that moment.”

“Know what,” the stallion leaned forward, lowering the voice, “dropping the whole factory profitability and value to convince or even force me to sell it isn’t that easy. Not by manipulating with our… reputation at least.”

“We have long-established partnerships,” elaborated he, seeing girls’ perplexity. “Business that doesn’t build trusts upon rumours solely. That factory isn’t the building or machinery, it’s the ponies and knowledge working!” in his eyes, Misty saw true belief in those words. “We can repair machinery, fix the material damage. As long as we work, we are profitable, fulfilling our claims and completing contracts. I’m not my father,” a tint of sadness in Nordy’s smile, but he stated firmly, “but ever since I found common grounds with my workers, I had no reasons to give up the factory.”

“I think I understand,” slowly said Flaunty. “As long as the workers trust you, feel the place safe for work, see the future – they do the job and the whole facility is running fine, despite some wiredrawn problems…”

“And what was going on recently, hit the pony factor mostly,” quietly concluded Lacy, adjusting her glasses. “Sowed concern and uncertainty… until a few employees quit. The others can’t work as effectively as usual under that, even if ephemeral, strain, so…” the girl squinted.

“Exactly, a few of the new workers left,” Thorntwist was to admit with the heavy heart; suddenly, he brightened. “But the rest stayed and… Nopony of the old guys quit, these who worked with my father!” added he with audible relief, even some pride. “Together we tried to tighten the bolts on security but succeeded nothing. I hate to say that, nor can I prove anything, but some insider seems a feasible explanation,” the unicorn gloomed.

“You wanted to tell us something about that… black dust, sir,” remembered Misty; Flaunty and Lacy demonstrated their palms, still slightly powdered with the stuff.

“Yeah, funny thing,” Nordy grimaced. “Funny-unfunny… Well, that stuff occasionally appears on the production line in the old building, despite we renovated and cleaned all the sectors of the conveyor. Nowhere else in the factory, not even in the basement of the old block or offices. Nopony knows what it is. The machinery itself can’t produce that stuff – that’s I’m sure about, last month I read more on the matter than in my whole life before,” he chuckled sadly. “And… I consulted the oldest and most experienced of my stallions – all of them said that magical crystals couldn’t produce similar matter, even upon destruction.”

“Hmmm…” drawled Lacy Reins; she raised her eyes on Thorntwist. “And have you…”

“We couldn’t define the nature of it, so we ordered a thorough chemical analysis,” nodded he, guessing her next question properly. “It should be ready on Tuesday at least. Then we’ll probably see…”

“… if the inspection assumes the line safe and ready for work,” sceptically noticed Windy in half-voice, habitually fidgeting with one of her hood straps.

“Exactly!” nodded Nordy, admitting the unpleasant but inevitable fact.

“That’s why we need to stay in the old building,” meaningfully exclaimed Misty; the girl flushed and covered her mouth as the last phrase came out overly enthusiastic. However, everypony in the room seemingly caught her thread of thoughts. “Tonight and probably on Sunday as well if necessary,” added Misty calmer. “If that’s sabotage,” elaborated she, “chances are high, somepony attempts to play a show for the inspection!”

“Reasonable!” Nordy rubbed his chin. “So, my stallions keep an eye outside and you… try to find what’s going on from inside the hall.”

“That may work, considering nopony expects you,” the stallion let out a small smile, hopeful for the first time. “But I want to ask you, girls! Please, be careful… Your job will be to watch only! Don’t mess with anypony, okay?”

“I wouldn’t want to contact Stone for the first time after a while only to tell the bad news about his daughter!” he looked into Misty’s eyes gravely serious. “Right, speaking of which,” <…> took something small out of his desk drawer. “Here. If you see anything strange, anypony, in case of emergency… Scratch that! Upon any unplanned sneeze! Dial me immediately!” he handed Misty the business card. “I’m living here at the factory lately, so…”

“Agreed,” Misty took the thick paper rectangle. “You’re our backup, sir!”

“Well, if you have no other questions for now…” Nordy Thorntwist grabbed his desk edge, forcing himself out of the armchair. “I’ll gather the team; let’s introduce you according to your legend.”