怪談とポニー Ep2 - Factory Reset

Exactly at six PM a large black sedan slowly drove out of the factory checkpoint, heading north-west up the forested hill. Passing under the raised barrier the wide Corre L’Alicorne rolled a few yards lazily as if undecided whether to turn to the dark road snaking under the natural canopy of the old overgrown trees handshaking over the roadbed. Thus everypony interested could easily notice the car leaving the plant territory with four fillies on the back seat.

A few minutes before that, chattering and giggling joyfully, Misty, Lacy, Windy and Flaunty left one of the modern factory buildings through the main exit; the girls headed towards the gates nonchalantly, smiling and waving goodbye to accidentally met rare workers, who prepared to their improvised night security shift. Every curious eye could watch them gathering around Thorntwist’s car discussing something, then boarding inside with fuss and laughter – the sudden excursion ended and mister Thorntwist was going to return his friend’s daughter and her classmates to her Baltimare house. The stallion in the booth lowered the barrier smiling – today’s visit was a bit unexpected, considering the circumstances around the facility, but generally well understood by the majority of the workponies, many of whom had foals of various ages as well. At the end of the day, the girls managed not even to avoid the unwelcome disturbance, but rather to add some fun and light into the factory current bleak routine. Remembering the funny misunderstanding between one of the pegasi sisters and Myopic Hawky, the guard couldn’t hold back a snort.

“What’s up, Windy?” Mister Thorntwist glanced at the girls through the mirror, when the car distanced from the gate a bit. He noticed the appraising look the red-head pegasus gave the car and its owner on the driver seat upon boarding. “Surprised it not being a fancy Colt-Joyce, eh?” he chuckled seeing Windy’s nose getting slightly pinkish. “It’s good even being a serial model! Corre L’Alicorne production was reopened in the New Lunar Era in Prance; this one is the second generation model,” Nordy stroked the steering wheel lovingly. “The car must be reliable and suit owner’s needs – simple as that!”

“Yeah…” drawled Windy a bit confusedly – rare case by itself. “I’m sorry, mister Thorntwist, it seems I let the stereotypes get ahead of me a bit,” the girl let out a smile. Her friends giggled.

“Well,” watching the winding road, the stallion threw another glance into the mirror. “I prefer to invest into my business rather than some indulgence, especially when things are as they are. The so-called “cool” car won’t help us keep the factory afloat, so what’s the point? Reputation is gained by other means here.”

“That’s what we already noticed, sir,” said Misty with respect; the rest of the girls nodded in agreement.

“One of the reasons why the old workers are still on board no matter what,” noticed Lacy with a tiny smile. “They know they can rely on you.”

“I would like to believe they do… and I can meet their hopes,” Nordy said with a tint of sadness. Then he winked with a chuckle. “And I’m not that old or snobbish to hire a personal driver, Windy! I like powerful cars, yes, but that’s about it, them not being the essence or aim of my life.”

The car moved uphill, passing the bushes of various thickness, trees growing denser and thinner, large rocks and once crossed the small creek taken into a metal tube under the road. The quiet rustle of soft tires left the feathery forest fauna almost undisturbed, mostly overshadowed by the insects rasping. According to Misty’s calculations, they passed about half of the road to the hilltop, that making one-sixth of the way to her house, when Thorntwist slowed the large sedan down and looked over his shoulder.

“The spot is behind the turn,” the stallion nodded towards the next loop, “the forest comes very close to the road and the shoulders are bushy. I doubt anypony can watch the road there nor has any chance to notice anything, so you’ll have a moment to exit. I hope you can find the way!” he turned back looking at the girls seriously.

“No worries, mister Thorntwist,” Misty watched the passing landscape through the side window. “I know how to find my way through the woods,” she smiled. “We came here through the thicket anyway, so we get a bit uphill and head back to the fence. Will wait for your signal at the same spot we got in this morning.”

“Well, then…” Nordy checked the wristwatch. “I’ll dial, when I reach your house, right?” he named the address once again to be sure.

“Yes, I hope the thing works still.”

“Are we supposed to hop off on the go?” Flaunty examined the passing vegetation and branches reaching for the roadbed with some doubt and concern.

“I’m strange enough to ask for your help, ladies,” chuckled Nordy. “But not strange enough to catapult you. Of course, I’ll stop for a moment, just be fast, if you don’t want to get spotted!” His eyes sparkled with laughter as Flaunty flushed a bit.

“Sorry!”

The road turned and dived into a real green tunnel, so dark the day turned evening at once: the trees’ branches entangled over the path making the shadows dark-green, the ground – damp and the mosquitoes – almost audible. Misty thought that the path was specifically cut through the dense foliage that way it could barely fit a couple of typical trucks passing each other on their way to the factory. Black Corre L’Alicorne rolled slowly under the green roof and finally stopped, the back door opened and closed after a couple of seconds with a soft thick sound, which sank into the cicadas’ screeching. Not startling any bird, the shrubs closed behind the last pair of wings deepening into the thicket and the car slowly started again, rustling its tires on the way to Baltimare eastern suburb.

“Well, I suppose we still have some time,” Windy Mane rubbed her arm squinting: one nasty buzzing git was daring enough to pass the repellent barrier and dumb enough to end its bloodsucking life under girl’s palm the next second after bite. “We almost ran through the forest. That’s impressive, pal,” she nudged Misty lightly, “even for one born here, even if you spent most of your foalhood in the wild. Don’t humble down your virtues!” the girl smirked at confused and blushing Misty. That sudden linguistic pearl of hers made two other girls exchange meaningful glances. “What I say, the guy hardly raced all the way to your parents’ house, even if he remembers the road well.”

Finding their way through the darkening forest, the girls sneaked back to the same overgrown fold reaching almost the factory wall. From their hiding spot they could perfectly see the fence, its corner nearby on the right, the cleared stripe of land along – nopony in the view as far as the eye picked. Naturally, the surveillance camera was on its spot as well, staring along the stone wall. The girls promptly stopped in the shrubs outside of the electronic eyesight, waiting. The sun already passed the top of the hill behind their backs, giving it and the treetops the golden halo, but it was very bright anyway. The day was only gaining towards night and real twilight could fall long after nine. Ambulating back and forth in the plain daylight wasn’t smart, especially if they did their best to make an impression that they were not on the territory anymore, regardless of who could be interested in that fact.

“What’s with the time?” moving a twig away from her face, Flaunty picked a couple of small leaves out of her hair.

“It’s almost seven,” Misty’s eyes were chained to her cell phone screen as she answered. “He must reach there anytime soon.”

“And what then?” almost simultaneously asked Lacy and Windy; the girls sat back to back on the leafy branch they pulled to the ground, and looked at their friend inquiringly.

“Thorntwist was supposed to deliver us home, right?” Misty raised one eyebrow slyly. “And we are supposed to… well… do something in the house, turn on lights at least.” She smirked. “I very much doubt anypony spies after us too diligently as we did our best to look casual, but…”

“Ah, here it is!” she exclaimed quietly as her mobile lit silently with the incoming call dropped in a second. “I doubt we ever used it,” Misty brushed through her phone for something, “after the alarms were installed… besides, the area was really quiet. Let’s hope it still works…” she launched some application, searching for a moment, then tapping some button. “The whole system is controlled remotely and turns on and off lights in and around the house randomly,” elaborated the unicorn girl with a smile, “to make an impression there is somepony in. Dad installed it before we got the alarms. You know, we are rarely home!” she shrugged.

“Now we can wait only…” sighed Windy, fidgeting on her spot. The friends exchanged humorous glances knowing it was part statement, part compliance.

The shade had already flooded the forest entirely and crawled towards the factory wall, touching the bushes and bringing the usual for the woods damp chillness. Unfurling her wings, Flaunty cuddled looking chilled Lacy and Windy; throwing a smiling glance at her feathery motherly embrace, Misty returned to watching the path to the gate closely. Finally, the velvet rumble of the powerful engine reached the girls’ ears; after a few minutes, somepony showed up under the far end of the factory wall: Nordy Thorntwist was balancing between hurried and relaxed walk, which wasn’t easy by itself.

Quietly whistling, the unicorn approached the camera; his glance barely slid on the surrounding vegetation not stopping at any particular spot. Eyes wide, the girls watched how he was staring into the camera enveloped in his teal-blue aura: the stallion was pretending his best to be correcting the device focus and position… not actually changing it too much. Finally, he huffed with satisfaction, waving into the lens, then left the camera field of view, somehow heading directly to where the girls sat watching that pantomime.

The unicorn stepped back almost forcing himself into the shrubs; observing the fence, as if he wanted to check the wall condition and camera orientation once more, Nordy seemed to be ignoring the hiding girls.

“Everything was fine,” he said quietly from the corner of his mouth, barely squinting over the shoulder at them. Noticing the girls’ surprised eyes, the stallion smirked. “That’s probably the only well-masked place here unseen through the cameras – our big mistake, I guess!”

“Anyway,” he rubbed the chin; for the random observer, it looked as if Nordy was pondering aloud. “I passed the gate and drove to the garage as agreed, it’s completely invisible from the road indeed. The lights outside went on seconds after I called you, so I suppose everything is working at the moment,” he winked conspiratorially. “When I left the lights were randomly on in the house. Let’s hope, if anypony was watching you, they think you’re minding your own business there.”

“Excellent!” breathed out Misty with relief. “I was mildly afraid the stuff might have gotten rusted… What about…”

“Here it is!” the stallion subtly dropped a massive bunch of keys into the shrub with a quiet heavy tingle. “The spare keys, complete set from the old block. Including the basement and passage between the buildings,” he gazed at the thin palm, which accurately pulled the keys deeper into the shade, and smirked.

“Thanks, mister Thorntwist!” whispered Lacy peeking out from Flaunty’s feathery cuddle. “You can rely on our eyes and Misty’s… vision.”

“I’m going to distract the patrolling ponies for a short while. Get inside in ten minutes after now,” Nordy checked the time, lingering for a second. “And, girls… Remember, you are not here officially; it’s too bright yet, don’t get spotted! You’re on your own at least until you find or spot something; however, dial my number if you decide you need backup. Good luck!” the stallion clenched his fingers together; he wanted to add something but pushed himself away instead with a sigh.

“I think I can understand how your father and this guy got along well, Misty,” noticed Flaunty Mane watching his receding figure. “If the adventurer spirit is dormant, it doesn’t mean there is none!”

“Shhh!” whispered Windy Mane bringing her finger to the lips; the filly perked her ears catching some foreign sound.

Indeed, another stallion silhouette showed up at the far end of the gravel-covered stripe; he looked as if he searched somepony and quickly started waving to Thorntwist, spotting his presence. The latter was off-camera for a few minutes maximum.

“The closer to the inspection… and to the next night, the jumpier they get,” muttered Misty, watching how the new stallion waited for Nordy, following him to the supposed factory entrance. “Yet that didn’t help them find the saboteur…” she stared at the watch, counting seconds to the clearance.