The Alliance of Chaos

Chapter 12

FZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

“That doesn’t sound good.” Muttered Turquoise. The machine powered down completely. Formerly glowing circuitry had turned dark, and only one piston was still moving, slowing down rapidly. Suddenly, a small screen lit up in the mechanism.

“Rebooting.” A circular icon appeared, and began to pulsate in a circle.

“Loading?! Really?!” A percentage rapidly ticked down below the icon, indicating fifty-one percent. It had stuck there. The dragon rapidly fell, the ground nearing at an alrming rate.

“What’s going on?” Gasped Twilight, horrified by the circumstance.

“The dragon has been shut down. Wait, no, it’s starting back up!”

“YES! Button mashing WORKS!” Said Turquoise. “Now this thing better work...”

“Error: File X834.WRT/76 is missing. Please reinstall operating system.”

“WHAT?!”

“Please reboot the operating system.”

“I’LL REBOOT YOU WITH A BOOT!”

“Command unrecognized. Voice input of binary code is optional.”

“10010 11100 00110 11100 10101 01101 01011 10101 01111 00001 10101 01101 01010 10110 01011 01010 11110 00110 11001 01110 00011 11000 10101!”

“Code input: Processing.... Code accepted. Installing code....” The icon appeared again, the percentage rapidly ticking up.

“Wait... that worked? WHAT?”

“Code installed. Patching system.... Complete.”

Twilight watched, confused by the list of numbers ringing through the valley. Suddenly, the dragon began to spin around, wings flapping rapidly. Its neck let out copious amounts of steam, concealing it in a giant cloud. It cleared quickly, and Turquoise had somehow managed to get on its neck. “HELP!” The dragon began to open up, flares rocketing out of the sides. A large gust of fire rocketed from its maw. Suddenly, it stopped, blue light seeping from the cracks over its shell.

Its wings began to beat steadily, keeping it in the sky.

“Patching complete. All systems operating smoothly at 100% capacity. Bare wires detected.”

A small mechanism closed over the stripped wire, and laid down plastic insulation.

“Impressive.”

“Interfering organism detected. Unicorn male. Identify yourself.”

“Turquoise Frost.”

“State your purpose.”

“SAVIOR OF EQUESTRIA!” Turquoise shouted grandly.

“That is rather presumptuous.”

“Well, I’m not the only one. Them, over there, they’re helping. I’m just along for the show. And I might stay late for the late-night showing, too. And then I’ll come back to the  theater for the twelve o’clock.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Robots don’t appreciate good comedy.”

“Locked onto hostile signals. Open negotiations.”

“Twilight, this is Coalhoof, the grandson of the mechanic who originally found the dragon. He knows how it works, and should be able to help us with it.” His hooves were stained black with motor grease, and oil stained his otherwise alabaster coat. His mane was held back with a black and blue headband, and his mane was spiky and blue. He wore a pair of black welding goggles, propped on his brow above his crimson eyes.

“You look familiar. Do I know you?” Said Twilight, scratching her head.

“My sister is quite popular among the hipsters.” Said Coalhoof. He put his goggle over his eyes, and looked at a wristwatch of sorts.

“Opened communication channel. Distance: One mile. State your name.”

“My name is Coalhoof. I believe you have a friend of ours?”

“Here! The dragon’s fixed! A wire was caught in the coolant distributer piston.”

“The wire’s been re-insulated?” Asked Coalhoof.

“Yep. Apparently, this thing has a supply of liquid plastic on board.”

“I guess my grandfather's diagrams weren’t all-inclusive. I don’t remember that. Hold up...” Coalhoof opened up a design blueprint, apparently of the dragon. “Nope. Guess he didn’t dig quite deep enough. He had a good amount of the metal from the thing, it’s probably still in his workshop.”

“The metal? The metal from my original frame?”

“Yeah.”

“Main priority is acquisition of the alloy.”

“Well, now you’ve been fixed, that can be arranged.”

They stood in front of a house in Canterlot. The dragon was currently in the cave where he had been, and was waiting there for the materials.

“HELLO? ARE YOU IN THERE?” Shouted Coalhoof, stepping back and looking in the window.

“Why are we coming here?”

“I thought I had the key to his workshop. My sister lives here, and she should have one.” Spasmodic lights pulsed behind a soundproof curtain, and bass faintly vibrated through the concrete. “HEY! GET AWAY FROM THE RECORDS AND TALK TO YOUR BROTHER!” Shouted Coalhoof, banging on the door violently. The lights in the window stopped, and the bass ceased. The curtain was pulled aside, and none other than Vinyl Scratch poked her head out the window.

“Coalhoof? What do you want?”

“I need to get into grandpa’s shop! Do you have a key?”

“What? I can’t hear you over the sound of artistic progress!”

“Vinyl, you can hear them and you know it.” Spoke a high-society Canterlot pony behind them.

“Octavia! Did you get the stuff?”

Octavia held up a bag laden with celery, apples, flour, and milk.

“Did you get the cider?”

“You have plenty. Now come down here and talk to your visitors.”

“Fine....” Various thudding noises sounded inside the house. “Ow...” Vinyl cracked the the door, her signature purple shades hiding her eyes. “You aren’t here about the rent, are you?”

“No.” The chain keeping the door closed was pulled back, and she spread her forelegs out invitingly.

“Come inside!”

A relatively clean living room with black and blue swirls painted on the walls. A large cushy couch sat in front of a simple oak table, and a somewhat dusty window let light in. Various papers were laid out on the table, different logos and names printed on each.

“You still haven’t organized those contracts?” Said Octavia, disappointed.

“I have to make the records before I can market them. You should know that by now.”

“You don’t have to leave them scattered over the table.”

“Vinyl, Octavia, you can argue later. But now, I need the key to grandpa’s shop.”

“I don’t have it. What made you think I would?”

“You don’t? Vinyl, what happened to it?”

“I never had one.”

“Yes you did.” Clearly uncomfortable, Vinyl poked at the floor.

“What if it happened to have gotten lost at club at which I may have been slightly inebriated so that I can no longer remember the name and location of said establishment?”

“Then I may have to facebuck you.” Said Coalhoof, poorly disguised frustration in his voice.

“Please don’t. Your hooves are covered in grease.”

“I washed them! It’s nothing but a pigment!”

“Keep saying that.”

“No, really, it is. This is exactly why I had to kick you out!”

“No, it’s why I’m more successful than you.”

Suddenly, a pair of light gray hooves connected with Vinyl’s face.