Steel Hearts

by CluelessBrony

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 7559

Ponies are disappearing in the mountain ranges to the west of Canterlot, and one investigator sent to find out why is about to find out the hard way.

Crystal Clear was sent to figure out what exactly was going on at the Misty Mountains Campsite. She's about to figure it out when she meets an unexpected friend.

Temporary cover art.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-28 01:37:10 UTC

Prologue

The little machine rolled along on its single wheel, swerving around the boxes that occasionally blocked its path. The little antenna on the top of its head wobbled with each movement, giving the appearance of a single hair. In the little devices thin, wiry arms, it was holding a box two times bigger than itself.

The robot slowed down upon reaching a large metal door with intricate looking gears on it. The door was closed and locked, a red light above it indicating that nobody would be able to penetrate its steel defenses. The door towered over the tiny robot, easily ten times its height. Fortunately for the robot, it didn't need to open it. A small maintenance hatch right beside the towering metal door was just the right size for the little load-bearing robot to enter through.

The robot rolled through the hatch and emerged on the other side of the wall. The room was barely lit, all the inhabitants being able to see very well in the dark. Thick black wires snaked across the floor, making it difficult for the little wheeled machine to cross. The far side of the room was dominated by a massive circular machine. All the wires on the floor seemed to attach to some part of the machine, leaving no spot of the giant metal monstrosity untouched.

The little robot traversed the room, making its way towards the circular machine. On either side of the machine, stacks of boxes identical to the one being carried by the little load-bearer. The robot placed the box beside the rest, before turning around to head back to whence it came. It never got to return, however, as one of he stacked boxes tipped over, falling onto the robot, crushing it in an explosion of sparks and metal bits.

"Maintenance, report to the transport hub," a loud, tinny voice called out from an intercom, prompting robots identical to the now-crushed bot to come rolling into the room. The machines promptly began cleaning the up the mess.

It was a busy day for the little machines, just as it had been the day before. Just as it had been for weeks, just as it had been for months.

Just as it had been for centuries before, and just as it would be for centuries more.

Crystal Clear trotted through the hallways of the Canterlot Police Department, nodding to everypony she passed. A small, cocky smile was affixed to her face, her head bobbing up and down as she strutted through the hall. Her dishevelled white mane, however, shattered the uncaring and confident look she was trying to pull off. The bags under her eyes betrayed the fact that she hadn't gotten any sleep the previous night.

In fact, Crystal had been up stressing all night. Her boss had sent her a letter in the mail, telling her that the next day she would be reassigned to a "special case" up in the Misty Mountains. This had worried her a lot. Why was she being sent there now? She thought back over all the assignments she had done over the past few years. Had she done something wrong? Maybe she was being sent to the woods on a "special case" as a punishment.

Crystal reached an ominous looking wooden door at the end of the hall. The name "Commissioner Justice" was engraved on a name plate on the door. She took a deep breath before raising her hoof to knock. "Come in, Miss Clear," a baritone voice called from behind the door, before she had a chance to knock. Crystal gulped and nudged the door open.

"Take a seat."

1

The limp form of a unicorn was dragged along behind two massive metal machines, the chains binding him jingling with every movement. His eyes were closed, and he was sedated to prevent him from using his magic to free himself. The metal machines were similar to the unfortunate maintenance bot that was crushed previously, with the exception of being much larger.

The unicorn stallion's eyes opened, the sedative used on him wearing off. His eyes widened upon noticing the robots dragging him along, and he let out a scream.

"Let me go!" he shouted, "Let me go, you monsters!"

The robotic beings continued to drag the pony along the shiny steel floor, and towards a door. The front of the door was covered in gears and other pieces of machinery, which appeared to be the door's locking mechanism. As they approached, the gear turned and unlocked the door, causing it to silently slide open.

Beyond the door was a sight that frightened the unicorn to his very core. The floor was covered in piles of ash. A few  charred bones could be seen sticking out of some of them, and he could clearly see a pony skull lying on its side, staring at him with empty eye sockets. The robots lifted him up by the tail and flung him inside the room, launching him straight into a pile of ash. He closed his eyes upon landing to prevent the black dust from blinding him.

He could feel the chains that were holding him hostage slide off as he heard the door close. He was no more free than he was a minute ago. The unicorn opened his eyes and attempted to get up, but he stopped mid-movement when he saw what was in front of him.

A small pony skull stared at him, and the horrified unicorn realized that this was the skull of a foal. His breath caught in his throat as he tried to scream. No matter how hard he tried to tear his head away from the horrifyingly sad sight, he couldn't move even an inch. After a few moments, her snapped his head in the other direction and emptied the contents of his stomach. He lay down for a few minutes, waiting for the horrible feeling in his stomach to pass.

The stallion stood up, regaining his composure. The last thing he remembered before waking up being dragged by robots was hearing a noise outside his tent at night. He had been out on a lonesome camping rip to get away from it all. He sighed, hoping this was all just a dream. Maybe he had stepped into some poison joke that he hadn't noticed?

He looked around the room, trying his best to ignore the bones. There was nothing else of interest in the room, except for design on the far wall. He walked up to it, inspecting the markings. It was just a simple design. Two lines. One dividing the wall in half horizontally, and one vertically. A circle in the middle.

He inspected the circle. It was slightly reflective, and he could see his face in it. He lifted his hoof to touch the circle. For some reason he couldn't quite figure out, he felt compelled to touch it. As his hoof slowly came into contact with the glassy circle, a feeling of dread washed over him. The circle flashed red as soon as his hoof touched it. His muscles tightened as he prepared to jump away, but he was unable to move away from the ominous design.

The room was lit up with a bright flame that lasted for a half a second. When the smoke cleared, a new pile of ash could be seen.

The robots stopped watching the view from the hidden cameras installed in the corners of the room. They turned around, intent on returning from where they had come from. They were going to need to get another pony from the holding cells.

There was a lot of work to do.

Thick black wires slowly swung back and forth from the ceiling, nearly invisible in the darkness. Every few moments, an explosion of sparks would shower the ground, illuminating the area surrounding it for a short amount of time. It was too dark for anybody to tell how large the room was, but from the echoing sound the wires made, one would be able to tell that it was very, very large.

A pony ran into the room, a determined look on her face. On her head sat a bright, glowing headlamp, illuminating the area in front of her. She skidded to a stop, just before the exact centre of the room. "I've destroyed your tin-can soldiers, you bitch! Now you'd better let me go or I'll do the same to you!"

A small, circular green light flickered to life in front of her. It moved up and down, as though inspecting the mare in front of it. "Oh my," a mechanical female voice said. "You've been a bad, bad girl, haven't you?"

The pony glared. "Just let me go, and I won't have to use this!" she shouted, reaching a hoof into her tail and pulling out a small, disc shaped object with a green light in the middle. The mare placed her hoof on the green light, preparing to press down at a moment's notice.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, Minty." the mechanical voice piped up. "I'll let you go."

Minty rubbed the back of her head. "Wait..." she said. "Really? You would let me go, just like that?"

"Of course. You've already made it past all my workers and soldiers. There's really nothing I can do to stop you from leaving." The light turned and looked at another portion of the room, where a sliding door opened, bathing a portion of the room with bright white light. "Here, there's the exit. Have a nice life, and leave me alone."

Minty smiled as she placed the disc back into her tail and ran towards the door. She slid into it, but her smiled dropped when she noticed what was inside it. There was no exit in here. It was just a small room with a bright circle on the ceiling. "What! You lied to me!" she shouted as the door slid shut behind her.

In a flash of light, Minty found herself in another room.

Piles of ash and bone were covering the floor.

"No..." she muttered. "No no no... This can't be happening!"

Minty ran around the room, pounding her hooves on the walls. "Let me out!" she shouted. "I've been through too much to let it end like this! Let me out!" The pounding achieved nothing, however.

Minty turned to look towards the back of the room, where a slightly glowing design adorned the wall. "Fine..." she muttered. "Fine... you win. You win! I give up!"

She ran towards the design. "You beat me, you bitch! You beat me! I hope you're happy!" she shouted, a panicked note creeping into her voice. "You want me to touch your damned circle? I'll touch the damned circle!"

And with that, she lifted her hoof and smashed it into the faintly glowing circle in the middle of the design. The room was once again filled with flame.

2

Crystal Clear opened up her suitcase with a huff. "I can't believe I have to go to the stupid Misty Mountains..." she grumbled under her breath, starting to pack her bags. Indeed, even after she had brought up the issue with her boss, he had still refused to send somepony else in her stead. It wasn't that she was afraid she couldn't solve the mystery. She was one of the police department's best detectives! It was all the nature.

Crystal had never been a nature pony. She had been raised and lived her whole life in Canterlot, barely ever stepping within ten miles of a forest. Not to mention the fact that every time she did venture into a forest, it never ended well for her. For instance, one time when she was just a filly, her school had taken a field trip to some animal reserve where they kept a whole bunch of endangered animals. The reserve was heavily wooded, and nothing good came out of the trip. She had been bitten by mosquitoes, tripped on a tree root, and discovered that she had an allergy to pollen. And grass. And bees...

Crystal shook her head to rid herself of the bad memories. With any luck, the forest would treat her better this time around. She looked into her suitcase, double checking to see if she had packed everything she would need. Bug spray, allergy medication, toothbrush, more allergy medication, more bug spray, a flashlight, several thick white sweaters that she hoped the mosquitoes wouldn't be able to bite through, and a wide-brimmed hat. "Looks like I have everything."

She closed her suitcase. Maybe this won't be too bad, she thought. Maybe everything will be okay. The mare picked up the suitcase in her teeth and placed it beside her apartment door.

Crystal was due to set off to the mountains tomorrow, and wanted to spend the rest of her evening relaxing and trying to get herself into a better mood for tomorrow. Nopony liked a grumpy Crystal. On her way to her living room, she passed by a wide mirror and frowned. By the time she got back, her normally light blue coat would probably be brown with dirt from the dirty forest, and her short, straight white mane would be full of twigs and bugs. She shuddered.

Pushing the thought from her mind, she continued into her living room. With a few hours to spend before bed, she decided to pick up a book to help her relax. She picked one from her bookshelf at random and looked at the cover. A picture of a pony running through a dark forest, away from a crazy-looking pony with a knife adorned the dust jacket. She was not amused by fate's choice of books. "Maybe I'll just go to bed..."

The tall green trees of the Misty Mountain campsite serenely swayed in the breeze, giving the forest a calm feeling. Squirrels slept in the branches, while rabbits lay peacefully under the roots of the great trees. The calmness of the forest ruined when a pony frantically ran by, waking the animals and shattering the silence.

The frightened red mare tripped over a root in the ground and was sent sprawling in the dirt. She quickly got up and continued her mad dash. Her body was bruised and battered, but she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was getting away from the thing that was chasing her.

A single white light could be seen between the trees and bushes, getting closer and closer. The mare picked up the pace. It had already gotten her husband, it was not going to get her!

The thing was gaining on her, though. She tried to run faster, but she couldn't find the energy left in her. With each step she took, she found it harder and harder to continue breathing. Her hooves felt like they were encased in cement, and her vision started to become blurry. No, I will push on! she thought.

It was to no avail. As she continued to run, she smacked into a low-hanging branch and was knocked off her hooves. The mare couldn't find the energy to get up, couldn't even find the energy to call for help.

The last thing she saw before blacking out was a single bright light looking down on her.

The train slowly rolled to a stop in front of a run-down looking station. The train car Crystal was currently occupying was practically empty. Two seats ahead of her, a couple sat, snuggling each other. Probably here for a romantic getaway, Crystal thought. In the woods...

Other than the couple, she was alone. The mare looked out the window and stared at the scenery in front of her. To anypony else, what she saw would be a beautiful sight. Tall, coniferous trees dominated the landscape, as far as the eye could see. To her, it was just a waste of space. They could be building houses here!

A pony walked into the train car as the train stopped. "We've reached our destination! Please grab your things and exit the train. Have a wonderful day!" she said, before turning around and exiting again. Crystal sighed. There was no turning back now. After making sure her gun was holstered and grabbing her suitcase, she stood up and walked out of the door, right behind the two other ponies she had shared the train with.

Crystal scowled as her hooves touched the ground. Just a few seconds in this place, and she already felt as though her hooves were dirty. I can't wait to be done here, she thought.

She turned to look around the station and spotted a pony sitting behind a kiosk, idly tapping his hooves on the wooden counter in front of him. She trotted towards him and stopped in front of the kiosk, but he didn't notice her and kept tapping his hooves. Crystal cleared her throat in an attempt to get his attention. No reaction from him.

"Hey, bud, I need to ask you a few questions." she said impatiently.

The pony behind the desk looked up. "What do you wanna know?" he asked, obviously annoyed at being bothered. Crystal scowled and took a manila folder out of her bag, then proceeded to pull a stack of photographs from her folder. She showed them to the pony.

"Do you remember any of these ponies?" she asked.

The stallion nodded. "Yeah, I remember a few of them. These ones," he said, pointing to a photo of two happy ponies and a small foal. "I remember them. Their damn foal wouldn't stop crying when they were paying for a campsite."

Crystal nodded. "You're at the only entrance and only exit in this entire campsite. Do you remember seeing any of these ponies leave?" The stallion shook his head. "Huh. Thanks for the info." she said, as she turned around to trot off.

"Uhh, wait! Why are you asking these questions? Did something happen?" the stallion called after her.

"Nothing you need to worry about."

Crystal sat down on the small bunk bed that was included in her cabin. The administrators of the campground had provided her with her own private cabin for the duration of her stay. "It's better than the tent I thought they would give me..." she mumbled. The mare took the manila folder from her saddlebags and opened them up, intent on refreshing her memory. She looked at the first file that fell out of the folder and skimmed it over.

The file said that there were many disappearances occurring at the campsite. Stallions, mares, and even foals were vanishing without a trace. There were no clues as to where they were going or what was happening to them. Personally, she suspected they were being eaten by bears, but the campsite denied that there were any bears at all in the region.

Crystal pulled out the stack of photographs. The pictures were supplied by the friends and family of the ponies that had went missing. The first photo on the stack depicted a happy looking pegasus. The second, a unicorn. The third, and earth pony. It seemed that whatever was taking the ponies didn't have a certain preference. "Good," she muttered. "More proof that it's probably just a bear or some other animal."

Crystal put back the files. It was getting late, and she decided to go to sleep. Her investigation would continue tomorrow.

The pony-shaped creature sneaked through the grass, barely causing the long green stalks to rustle. Its purple eyes swept about the area, searching for the newcomer to the forest. After a few moments, it found her. Light blue coat, white mane and tail. A gun strapped to her hip. This pony was an authority figure, and it was obvious.

The creature watched as the pony walked towards one of the older, unused cabins and opened the door. It stayed still, standing in the grass for hours, motionless, until the moon was high in the sky. This cabin  must be where the pony was sleeping. The creature made a mental note to remember the number of the cabin, so it could return later.

It turned around quickly, its long, whip-like tail cutting the blades it touched, before bounding away.

3

An errant beam of light strayed onto Crystal's face, causing her to snort and roll over. After a few minutes, the mare groggily opened her eyes, immediately wincing from the bright light. "When I find whoever it was that built a skylight in this cabin, there will be consequences..."

Crystal rolled off her bed, falling into an unceremonious heap on the floor. "Meant to do that..." she muttered. After standing up and brushing herself off, she trotted over to her suitcase and pulled out everything she would need for her morning routine.

After a few minutes, she was ready to head out and investigate. Her hat on her head and her gun on her hip, she opened the cabin door, ready to face the day, only to immediately close it and sigh. She had hoped for at least a few hours of investigation before ponies started to catch on that she was a cop, but was sadly disappointed. She held her breath and opened the door again.

Lying on the cabin porch was a mutilated cat with a not stapled on it. She didn't know who did it or why, but she intended to find out. "Ugh, I wish I was a unicorn..." she said to herself as she used her hoof to tear the paper note off the corpse. The hoofwriting was hardly legible, and she had difficulty reading it. After a few minutes, she decoded the chicken-scratch.

we dont like cops here

leave now or you'l regret it

stop investikating inveestigating searching and leave

Well, I guess I was wrong about it being a bear, Crystal thought. She took a plastic cover out of her saddlebags and slipped the note into it. The note immediately went into her evidence folder. Crystal hopped over the dead cat and quickly made her way to the admin offices. "How can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"There's a dead cat on my porch. Don't ask how it got there, or why there's a staple in it, just get rid of it."

Earlier

The moon hung high in the sky as the pony shaped creature jumped from one tree to another, barely causing the branches to sway. It looked down, watching the blue pony's cabin. It watched as a pony dragged a garbage bag to the cabin, up the steps, and onto the porch. The creature recognized the pony as one of the campsite's maintenance workers, and wondered what he was doing.

The pony dumped the contents of the bag onto the porch, and the creature recognized it as a cat. Well, it used to be a cat, anyway. The pony took a stapler and a piece of paper out of his bags, and he attached the paper to the cat.

The branch the creature was standing on suddenly gave away, producing a loud cracking noise and falling to the ground. The creature leaped up just in the nick of time, grabbing a higher branch, but it was too late. The pony quickly turned around and looked up in the tree, staring right at the creature.

The pony opened his mouth to scream, but was cut short when a small object came hurtling out of the tree, embedding itself in his neck. The creature watched as the pony plucked the object out of his neck, discovering it to be a small needle. The pony quickly slumped to the ground, unconscious, as the powerful tranquilizers the needle had been dipped in took effect.

The creature deftly jumped out of the tree and landed on the ground. After placing the unconscious pony on its back, it turned around and bounded to the administrator offices to place him in bed, in the hopes that upon waking he would  dismiss it as a dream.

He didn't dismiss it as a dream.

"I'm tellin' yah, I don't know what it was! It had glowin' purple eyes, and they looked like little telescopes! There was wires all over its body, and it was shinin' like it was made a' metal or somethin'!"

The other ponies at the table laughed, slapping the table and holding their stomachs. "Sure it was, buddy! Lemme' guess- it woulda' eaten you, but a faerie came 'long and rescued yah?" one of the ponies asked, causing the rest to burst into another round of laughter.

"No! It made me fall 'sleep somehow!" he exclaimed, but to no avail. The laughter of the others drowned out his comment. Suddenly, the door to the office slammed open, revealing a grumpy-looking blue mare with a white mane. She had a gun strapped to her hip. The stallions at the table gulped.

The mare noticed the stallions and made her way toward them. "I'm Crystal Clear, with the Canterlot police. Can I ask you a few questions?" she asked, not waiting for a response before pulling out a chair and sitting down. The stallions looked at each other, nervous.

"Uhh, whaddya' wanna' know, officer?" asked one of the stallions. Crystal took out a notepad and a pencil.

"First of all, what were you talking about before I came in? Something about a monster?" she asked. One of the stallions glared at her.

"Was you listenin' in on our conservation?" he asked, angrily. The pony beside him nudged him in the ribs and whispered something into his ear. "Uh, I mean conversation. Was you listenin' in on our conversation?"

Crystal stared at him for a few moments, before nodding. "Yes. Yes I was." She turned to look at the pony who had seen the creature. "You saw a monster, you say? Where was this?"

"Out by the cabins, last night!"

"Uh huh, and what were you doing out there?"

All the stallions started to sweat. "Well, uh, I was... clearing rocks off the path..." he muttered.

"Well, you didn't do a good job. I nearly tripped on a rock on my way here. So anyway, why did you leave a dead cat on my porch?"

The pony did a spit-take with the coffee he was sipping on, soaking Crystal. "Eeeww!" she cried, jumping out of her chair.

"How did you know about that?" he asked, quickly backing away to the door to make a quick exit. Crystal didn't say anything, instead focusing on using a napkin she obtained from the table to wipe the coffee off her face.

"It was elementary, really. You see..." she started to explain. As she was speaking, she opened up her saddlebags to take out her notepad, and a slip of paper fell to the floor.

"Hey boss, ain't that the note I gave you?" one of the stallions asked. The other stallions started shaking their heads, miming for him to shut up and be quiet.

The "Boss" looked at the note, as did Crystal, who fell silent. From where he was, he could slightly make out the writing on the note.

Boss,

Theres a cop in the campsite. I think shes on to us. Should I close down the still till she goes away? maybe you should give her a warning, but do it diskreetly. dont let her know it was you.

"Okay, I lied," Crystal said. "I didn't use my amazing detective skills, I just found that on my way here." She took out a a few pairs of hoof-cuffs from her saddlebags and walked towards the stallions. "You're all under arrest for moonshining."

Crystal watched as the cuffed stallions were herded onto the train by some police ponies. Now that that was finished, she could get back to investigating what she was really here for. It's too bad they weren't the guys I was looking for, she thought. I really thought I found a clue when I saw that cat...

Crystal sighed. No use being disappointed now. She had some kidnappers to catch. Now that the cat incident proved to be unrelated, however, she was having doubts again that this was a crime. "Most likely just ponies getting lost in the woods. Probably eaten by mountain lions..." she muttered.

It wasn't her job to have a closed mind, though. Crystal looked towards the forest, scowling. "I guess I should be heading out to one of the campsites to look for any clues..."

So she set off into the forest, unaware of the danger she was walking in to.

4

"Oof!"

Crystal looked back at the root that had tripped her. She growled. This was the third time she had tripped in the last half hour. She was getting sick of all this nature. Soon I'll be at the campsite, then I'll be able to finally get to work, she thought.

After a few more minutes of walking, she came across a small clearing with a few tents set up. If she didn't know better, she would think that somepony was still camping here. A pile of firewood rested by the still-smouldering fire pit. A glass half-full of water rested on a picnic table, a half eaten oat dog lying on a plate beside it.

Crystal took out her notepad and pencil and scribbled a few notes down. The entire campsite felt strange, a feeling of dread in the air. The campsite itself was a big contradiction. On the one hoof, the fact that nothing seemed disturbed made it seem like the ponies left on their own free will. On the other hoof, however, there was uneaten food left here. The fire was just now dying down and there was still a pile of unused firewood.

Crystal carefully trotted toward one of the tents, unzipped the flap, and poked her head in. A messy sleeping bag lay on the ground, with an open book lying on top, unread. "Well, nothing interesting in here..." she muttered as she pulled her head from out of the tent.

It seemed that nothing could be gained from staying at this campsite. Crystal decided to go and investigate another one of the abandoned sites. Just as she turned around, however, something in the smouldering ashes of the fire pit caught her eye. A shiny glint, just for a brief second as she turned.

Crystal trotted over to the fire pit, looking for the object that caused the glint. After a few moments of searching, she spotted it, hiding under the half burnt remains of a log, mostly buried in ash. She reached for it, but the ashed burned her hoof, and she withdrew it with a yelp.

After rubbing her burned hoof for a few minutes, she looked around for something to extinguish the glowing-red ash and spotted the glass of water. "That'll do nicely..." she said, getting up and grabbing the glass. The smoke that rose up from the ash once she doused it in water was enough to make her choke and cough. "Ugh, things are not going my way today," she muttered.

Crystal picked up the object from the now mostly cool ashes and held it up in front of her face. A shiny metal object rested on her hoof. "What are you?" she muttered. The object was as small as a coin, and looked a little like the objective lenses of a microscope. It looked like a normal metal, but felt much lighter than it should have.

Crystal dropped the object into her saddlebags. She would give it a good look over later on, but now she was going to go investigate the second abandoned campsite.

As she turned, Crystal saw a shadow move in the corner of her eye. Her breath caught in her throat as the feeling of dread intensified. She didn't know why, and she didn't know how, but she had the feeling she was being watched.

And whoever was watching didn't like her very much.

Crystal quickly turned towards the path and scampered out of the campsite.

The creature watched as the pony sifted through the remains of the fire pit, searching for... something. It wondered what she could possibly have found in there. Surely it was nothing of importance?

Just as the mare pulled something out of the ash, the creature was distracted by a movement on the other side of the campsite. A rustling in the bushes. Too large to be a rabbit or other small animal. The creature decided it was worth investigating. It would wait until the policemare left, then go and investigate.

The mare left the area a few minutes later, heading in the direction of the next campsite. The creature stealthily made its way out of the bushes and proceeded to creep towards the opposite end of the campsite. Just as it reached the other end, however, it heard a shrill scream coming from the direction the policemare had gone. In a split second, the creature was off and running.

Crystal quickly backed up until her flank was against a tree, her heart beating like a drum. In front of her was a... a thing. It had jumped out of one of the bushes and made a grab for her. Crystal didn't even know how to describe the thing in front of her. Its skin shone in the sun, and its glowing red eyes stared at her menacingly.

The creature's long tail flicked, and something round and sharp came out of the tip. The object started to spin and made a loud whirring noise. Crystal recognized it as a small buzzsaw.

"Wait..." she muttered, not comprehending what she saw. If the thing had a buzzsaw attached to it, then...

The machine took a few steps toward her, whipping its tail from side to side. Crystal reached for her gun and pulled it out, but was trembling too much to aim. The machine took a few more steps forward, until its face was just a few inches from Crystal's muzzle. She let out a scream as the machine grabbed her... and was quickly puled off her and thrown into the trunk of a large tree, snapping the ancient trunk like a toothpick.

Crystal didn't bother to see who or what had saved her. The mare quickly turned and ran in the direction she believe the administrator offices to be. It wasn't her job to deal with this type of stuff!

She stopped running and let out another scream when the machine landed right in front of her, sliding on the ground and creating a rut. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that this wasn't the same machine that had attacked her. Now there's two of them?!, she thought as the machine got up and shook the dirt off its body. The new machine looked nearly identical to the first, save for its glowing purple eyes and slightly darker colour.

She flinched as the machine ran at her. Before it hit her, it jumped over her head, landing gracefully behind her. Crystal didn't stay to watch what was going on. The sound of metal on metal emanated from behind her. After a few moments, all was silent again. After another ten minutes of running, she stopped to catch her breath and leaned against a tree.

Crystal reached for her gun, only to realize she had dropped it in all the commotion. "Great..." she muttered. "Now I'm going crazy and defenceless." She sighed.

This is why she hated forests.

5

Crystal stood up from her spot against the tree, having caught her breath. She didn't know what those things were, and quite honestly, she didn't want to find out. All she wanted to do was get to the train station, get home, and never come back to a forest again.

Crystal looked down the path. "Oh no..." she said. She couldn't recognize the path she was taking. Had she gone the wrong way, and ran deeper into the forest? The policemare ventured a few metres into to dense foliage to search for her old path, but in vain. She was completely, hopelessly lost.

Crystal leaned her back against a tree and slid down. "No no no..." she muttered. "Now not only did I just get attacked by... something... but I'm lost as well!"

She sighed. This was not going well. Maybe when she got home she would quit? This job obviously wasn't for her. She had always wanted to open a restaurant, and this was her perfect excuse...

A rustling in the bushes snapped her out of her daydreaming, and she jumped up in shock. Twirling around to face the bushes, she watched as something stepped out. It was the metal creature from before, the one with the purple eyes. Crystal got into a fighting stance, but the wobbling of her legs gave away her fear. She didn't know where the other one was, but she assumed it was waiting somewhere, preparing to ambush her.

Instead of attacking, however, the machine just sat down. She was even more surprised when the thing spoke to her. "Please," it said in a tinny voice, as though the speaker were standing behind a metal door. "Don't run away. I need you help."

Crystal was at a loss for words. Now the metal thing could talk?! Silence hung in the air for a long moment.

"Uh, you okay?" The machine asked. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

"What do you care?! You're the one who attacked me in the first place!" Crystal snapped.

"Woah, hold up there, you've got it all wrong!" the machine cried. "It was the other guy who attacked you! I helped you! If anything, you should be thanking me. I totally saved your life." The machine laid down on its back, resting its head on its hooves. Crystal noticed just how pony-shaped the machine was.

"So... what are you?" she asked, innocently. The machine seemed to take offence, however.

"What am I? That's a little insensitive, don't you think? I mean, just because I'm hard and metal on the inside doesn't make me any less a person than you are!" The machine pointed an accusing hoof at Crystal. "Do you know what I think you are? I think you're a racist."

Crystal's jaw dropped. She had just met some sort of... thing... and the first thing it did as call her a racist. "What? But, I'm not-"

"Racist!"

"But I'm not a-"

"Racist!"

"Stop interrupting me-"

"Racist!"

Crystal stopped trying to speak, and the forest fell silent for a few moments. The only sound that could be heard was the chirping of the birds in the trees. Crystal awkwardly pawed the ground with her hoof. "Sorry..." she muttered.

"Eh, don't worry about it," the machine said, nonchalantly. "So anyway, I'm kind of in a sticky situation. There are some people who want to hurt me, and I kind of need your help. I figured that since you're a cop, you'd have to help me. It's like, your job, right?"

"I... might be able to help you. But you have to answer a few questions first." Crystal said, taking out her notepad.

"Oh, are we playing twenty questions? Okay, I'm thinking of an object. Ask away."

"Do you know anything about the disappearing ponies?" Crystal asked, preparing to write down the answer in her notepad.

"Silly pony, that's not how you play twenty questions!"

Crystal glared at the machine, who just shook its head. "No, no, I don't know anything about that." it said.

Crystal looked skeptical. "Really? I meet a talking robot alien thing, but it doesn't know anything about the mysterious disappearances? I find that hard to believe."

"He."

"Pardon?"

"I'm a he, not an it. You are just so insensitive... How would you like it if I went around and called you an it? 'Cause you know, to me, you're the strange one. I mean, come on, how do you live with all those squishy bits?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Crystal apologized. "I just met a metal pony, cut me some slack here."

"Eh, it's okay. Anyway, while I don't know anything about that, I may know someone who does. Interested?" he asked. Crystal's ears perked up. Could he really know somepony who could help?

"Who is this pony, and how would they know about the disappearances?" Crystal asked, suspicious. "And what do you want from me in return?"

"Oh, not much," the robot answered. "Just your soul." Upon Crystals shocked look, he waved his hooves. "Joking! That was a joke, don't freak out! Seriously though, I do need your help. There are some people who want me gone, and you're a cop, so... yeah. I figured you could help me out here."

Crystal raised her hoof to her chin. "I feel like you're neglecting to tell me something..." she said. "I won't help you until you tell me everything."

The machine sighed. "Fine. They may or may not be other robots like me."

Crystal stared blankly at the robot. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. "I'm not helping you. Those things will kill me! Not to mention the fact that-"

"My name is Gizmo, by the way."

Crystal stared blankly at him for a moment. "You have no social skills. Are you broken? I think you may have a screw loose in that metal skull of yours."

"Yes."

"Huh?"

"Yes, I'm broken. Why else do you think they would want me gone?"

Crystal sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Tell me everything," she said as she sat down.

"Everything? We're going to be here a while."

6

Gizmo tapped his hooves on the ground, nervously. "I... don't actually know where to start, really..." he said. "Okay... what do you know about the universe?" he asked.

Crystal scratched her head. "How is this related?" she asked. When Gizmo didn't answer, she sighed. "The universe is like, everything, right?"

"Wrong! The universe is just one of the everythings! There are an infinite amount of everythings, all stacked on top of each other like an onion! Do you get what I'm saying? An onion? Do you get it?"

Crystal quickly back up, away from the robot. "No, I don't get it! What are you talking about, you hunk of metal?"

"An onion! I don't know how I can make this clearer..." Gizmo scratched his head, which Crystal thought was pretty superfluous. Robots couldn't get itchy, could they?

"I've got it!" Gizmo cried out after a few moment's thought. "Think of the universe as round, okay. If it were round, what would be outside of it?"

"Uh... nothing? If the universe is everything, there's nothing left to go there."

"No! It's filled with everything, just someone else's everything!" Gizmo shouted, enthusiastic. "Once you pierce the barrier, everything you knew ceases to exist, yet it exists at the same time! Are you with me? No? That's okay! You see, there are different universes, which means that there are different layers! Each of those layers is another layer of skin on the onion! The closer you get to the centre, the better it tastes! The worlds are happier, and richer, and healthier! The farther you get, the sadder and more desolate! It's the onion hierarchy! I come from the world under this one, the one that's just a little higher on the happy scale!"

Crystal stared blankly at Gizmo. "O...kay. Let's pretend like I understood that. If you come from a happier and better place, why are there people who want to hurt you?"

"Just because it's happier overall doesn't mean it's happier for everyone. So, anyway, my people created a way to pierce the veil that separated each of universes, and became able to travel from one to the next."

"...Okay. Let me get this straight. You're an alien?"

"Correct."

"An alien from another dimension?"

"Yes."

"Okay then... Now get to the part about the other robots who want to hurt you, and why I should risk my life to help you."

"Oh, yeah. You see, as I said before, I'm broken. But instead of fixing me, they just want me gone so that I can't cause any trouble! But I don't think that's fair, because I have just as much a right to function as they do! ...Right?"

Crystal slowly shook her head. "I'm not so sure about that. You just saved my life so that you could guilt me in to helping you. That's not something good ponies... er... people do."

In a flash, Gizmo jumped at Crystal and latched on to her forelegs. "Please please please help me! They want to get to me and then tear me apart for scrap metal and I'm so scared you have to help me!" he exclaimed, hugging her legs.

Crystal looked down at the poor machine. "...Fine. But if I do this, you'll lead me to the person who knows about the kidnappings?" she asked.

Gizmo nodded. "Yes, yes, of course! Oh, thank you! You don't know how much this means to me! We're going to have so much fun together!"

Crystal looked to the ground, already regretting her decision.

"Yeah... fun..."