Being trapped in this cage felt like an eternity, but it was most likely only a few hours since I woke up. The other ponies in here didn't like to talk, and I was a bit shy and scared to say anything. My empty bowl that once contained disgusting grey mush, was sitting intron of me. I laid on the ground and wrapped my hooves around me to keep warm. Suddenly however the sound of the sliding door startled me from my near sleep and I woke up and looked back. Now two metallic robot ponies entered the cage. They looked around and their eyes scanned the room. Shivers ran up my spine as they passed over me. One of the, opened up its back and blabbers shot out again. They grabbed the bowls and that robot left leaving only one.
"AQUIRING TARGET DATA..." Said the robot pony staring off into space. It's eyes seemed to faintly flash for a few second. Once his eyes stopped flashing they turned back to yellow and the robots head immediately shot straight to screensaver huddled in the corner next to starburst. " TARGET ACQUIRED... BEGIN COLLECTION PROCESS..." Said the robot as it marched over to screensaver, staring him down.
" hey you get away from him... You have no right to keep us trapped here." Said starburst trying to defend the helpless pony. He was just shoved aside with ease. The robots back opened up and grabbed screensaver by the waist trapping his front hooves so he could move.
"YOU WILL BE TAKEN FO-" said the robot pony before starburst let out a fierce shout as he ran right into the robot with all his strength and sent it flying. It flew over towards me and I screamed and jumped out of the way. The robot hit the side of the cage and laid at its side. It looked like it was trying to get up but Couldn't get up.
" HA..." Said starburst in his moment of victory. " take that you robot asshole... Teach you to kidnap innocent ponies." He said. " these things may seem big, but they are just as heavy as most ponies."
" what's the matter with you?" Said sapphron. " your going to get us all killed."
" what do you mean... Look he can't even get up, we just need to knock them on their sides... We can get out of here." Said starburst. The robot pony that landed where I was recently sitting was trying to get up but soon stopped and went silent. It's back opened up and tentacles shot out from it. They went up into the air and then landed on the ground. The robot pony picked itself up and stood back on four hooves. " oh shit..." Said starburst.
" PREVIOUS TARGET VOID..." Said the robot pony. In an instant it's eyes flared a fiery red and saw blades shot out from every inch of its metallic shell and they started spinning rapidly making some king of deadly armor. The tentacles shot back out from its back and waved in the air. " NEW TARGET ACQUIRED..." Said the robot slowly walking over to starburst. "LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED... BEGIN TERMINATION OF HOSTILE TARGET." Said the robot now talking in a darker and more evil sounding voice.
" crap..." Said starburst. He and all the other smeared clear of the robot death machine. It grew closer to him and the grabbers on the ends of each tentacle seen to open up and then close together forming small drill bits at the end of each tentacle the spun around and filled the air with a high pitched whirring sound. A few more tentacles shot out from the robots back but these ones had saw blades at the end of them. One of them lashed out towards starburst but he ducked down and it hit the bars of the cage.
Starburst seeing that he had survived got up and ran to the other side of the cage. His progress was halted by a volley of tentacles that shot out from the robots back and cut him off. He tried running back but he was blocked off again. He was trapped in a web of blades and tentacles. The robot grew closer and closer and starburst fell to the ground. He turned his head so he wouldn't see it coming and I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see it. I covered my ears too, I knew he would probably scream in pain... And I didn't need to hear it.
I waited... And waited. When I was sure it was over I looked back but the pony just stood there looking at starburst. He looked back at it breathing heavily. Soon the blades on its body and tentacles stopped spinning and receded back into its shell. The tentacles flew back and the hole in its back closed. The robot stood there motionless. It's red glowing eyes soon faded to black and it fell to the ground completely frozen... Did... Did it shut down. Starburst sat there breathing heavily staring at the robot still fearing for his life.
" my my... What a mess we've caused here..." Said a strange new voice. Everypony including me shot our heads towards the sound of the voice and there was a large black stallion standing in the doorway. He was larger than most stallions and he was... I think he was a robot too. His left hoof and right back hoof where robotic limbs. There was a sliver of metal than ran by his back like a metal spine. Wires coiled around it and stuck into his fur and skin. His left eyes was glowing and red, like a robot and there was scaring shown above and below it. He had black fur and a dark green mane with lighter green swirls in it. His real eye was blue and his flank was mostly metal on one side. On his flank was an imprinted and colored cutie mark of a book with locks and chains around it.
" who... Who are you?" I asked timidly as I was genuinely afraid of the large stallion. He didn't look natural, he was horrifying and scary.
"Ah, I'm glad you asked my dear little unicorn..." He said with a glare of interest in his eyes. " my name used to be black shadow... But that was when I was...normal, shall we saw. As you can see now I am not so normal... But my little pony... You may refer to me as ... My subordinates refer to me as the iron hoof, a title I've grown fond of... Don't make me show you why." He said raising a hoof slightly in intimidation.
" what do you want with us...?" Asked shockwave.
" just asking a few questions, then we are going to put you through a simple test... That is all."
" what happens if we pass the test?" I asked nervously. He glared at me again and smiled.
" if you pass the test then you can proceed... If you fail, then there will be consequences."
" what consequences...?" Asked sapphron.
" we still need one pony to come with us... Who would like to volunteer."
What are the consequences...?" Asked sapphron more intently now.
" you will see... If you want to know then follow me and fail the test for yourself... If not then it is none of your business to be troubling over it." He said getting a bit upset at her. " now... If one of you won't come with me then ill be forced to choose."
Still no pony spoke up. I just sat in the corner away from everypony. I felt safe since I wasn't in that huge stallions direct line of sight. I could see one of the robot ponies outside and to the side of the door. I had a feeling there would be another one on the opposite side of the door. The large stallion kept looking around but still nopony spoke up or said anything. I don't think anypony was eagerly willing to just volunteer.
" fine then..." He said. "I'll choose..." Just then the two robots outside the door walked in and stood behind the large stallion. He looked around the room searching. Suddenly his head shot straight towards me and my heart stopped. " ahh... How about you... My dearie." He said taking a few strides over. I just laid back trying to cover myself and keep him away. I even shook my head. " don't worry dear... We won't hurt you... Just want to ask some questions."
I kept laying there still scared and afraid. I couldn't trust him, and I had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth. I was in a strange place and being put through things I don't understand. He stood there towering above me as I laid on the ground helplessly. The others simply stared at us waiting for something to happen. His one real eye seemed kind and helping in a way. But the red glowing bionic eye on the other side of his face, surrounded my metal plating and wires, was very off putting. It made him seem like a terrible monster who only wants to hurt me.
"Please come with me dear... Or I will have to drag you there." He said.
" what... What are you going to do with me?" I asked shivering and trying to push myself up against the bars even more.
" like I said before..." He said. " we're just going to ask you some questions." He looked down at me and the robots behind him took a few steps closer and their backs opened up. Tentacles flew out and waved up above everypony. I didn't want to go, but I don't want to get hurt, and I don't trust this robots anymore. So I slowly started to climb up to my four hooves. " there we go... Good," he said as I was now on all fours. " now please follow me... We can begin soon." He said turning around and walking.
" uhm... Okay." I said slowly walking behind him. The robots stayed behind and we passed through the cage bars then the doors. The robots followed behind me and the doors closed. The last thing I saw were the hopeless eyes of the other ponies staring at me. We were in the hallway now and it was an entirely different place. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all white and somehow managed to create its own light. The hallway was warm too, instead of that cold frigid cell. I noticed there were no doors, anywhere. It was a long empty, white hallway. I looked behind me and saw only one door. It was a large metal and mechanical door at the very end of the hallway. There was a red glow around it. That one door seemed to scare me the most out of anything. I was glad that we aren't heading towards that door.
" alright through here..." Said . We stopped suddenly and the wall next to us opened up into a hidden door. The large robot ponies escorted me into the room and left me in there. The door closed behind me and I looked around in a panic. It was like a questioning room. There was a window, probably a one way mirror, a table with two chairs on either side and a doorway along the wall with the mirror. There was a dim light hanging from up above. I was so nervous that I was sweating, shaking, and getting dizzy. Suddenly the door on the wall opened up, and a whole new pony walked out.
He was as tall as me and rather skinny. He had a lab coat on with goggles resting above his horn on his head and a clipboard in his hoof. There was a pen in his coat pocket that he might use to write with. He closed the door behind him and walked in. He had lit brown fur with orange scraggly hair. His tail was longer and unkempt. The goggles made his hair a mess and he seemed rather tired since he had bags under his eyes. It was glad to know he wasn't a robot or cyborg pony... Maybe he will be nicer than the others.
" hello there miss... Please have a seat and we can begin." He said taking a seat. I reluctantly walked over and slowly took a seat.
" wh-what are you going to do with me?" I asked nervously.
" don't worry, I'm just going to ask you a series of questions... I want you to answer them." He said.
" what happens after that?" I asked.
" what happens after is determined on your answers... Shall we begin?" He said looking up to me. I felt less nervous around him since he was just a regular pony and that he hasn't raised his voice or threatened me yet. He didn't seem bad, so I felt better, but I still don't want to be here anymore. I never answered his question about starting, but he did anyway. " alright, question one... What is your name?" He asked taking out his pen and clicking it open.
"Uhm... Colgate..." I said nervously.
" alright..." He said scribbling down the answer on his clipboard. " question two, where do you live nonspecifically." He said.
" non-what?" I said confused by his vocab.
" the town you live in, I just need the town, no address or anything."
" oh... I... I live in ponyville." I said.
" alright..." He murmured writing down the answer. " please list all your current and previous occupations." He said. Occupations... That's just a fancy word for job.
" I've had one job, I work as a dentist." I said.
" and this job required a college degree?... Correct."
" uhm... Yes." I sputtered.
" alright..." He murmured again scribbling down the answers. " does dentistry specifically require the use of magic, if not do you use magic regardless."
" well, it doesn't need to be done with magic..." I said. " my assistant is a Pegasus, but I use magic anyway, its more sterile."
" wonderful..." Said the pony. " how popular would you say you're business is, does it take in manny clients or buyers?" He asked.
" I have the only dental clinic in ponyville... Everypony comes to me." I said quite proud of it. I've never truly been in it for the money, but I have to help regardless.
" impressive..." He scribbled more down on the paper. He seemed to write down more than I said. " when you were young, when did you first gain noticeable control over your magical abilities?"
" that's a while back now..." I said not quite being able to remember my childhood very well. " I think the first time I ever used my magic to actually do something, was when I was eight... Yes when I was eight." I said excitedly remembering now. " it was summer and I just-" I said before the other stallion stopped me.
" alright miss Colgate..." He said. " I don't need a story on your childhood, when you were eight is good enough." He said putting his hoof dawn and writing some more.
" oh... I'm sorry." I said with my excitement now gone again.
" now, when you were young did you ever experience magical outburst?" He asked looking at his chart and not anywhere else.
" I had one when I was just a filly, too young to really remember, but my mother brings it up all the time... And one more time when I was five, just starting school." I said.
" would you say these were stress induced?" He asked.
" I can't really say for sure when I was a filly... But when I was five, going to school for the first time was pretty scary, so I guess so." I said.
" you guess so?" He said looking up at me.
" I'm 32. Your expecting me to remember stuff from when I was five, jeez give me a break." I said getting a bit mad. " you use throw me in a freezing cage for no good reason then question me... You can't honestly expect this to go perfectly..." I said getting angry now and remembering that I was trapped here against my own will.
" alright... Miss Colgate calm down. I understand, just a take a minute and relax then tell me when your ready to continue." He said. He had a very calming voice and it did help. Because I was already angry I still wanted to be angry, but I started calming down in a few seconds and regained my composure. I felt like I was at the doctors as a kid.
" alright... Alright, I'm fine." I said. I didn't want to be fine, I still wanted to be angry and upset. I want to get out of here, but if I have to go through their damn test to get out then so be it.
" good... Now, how often do you use your magical abilities?" He asked.
" all the time, in and out of work." I said calmly.
" what do you use your magical abilities for?"
" mostly carrying things and levitating objects..." I said.
" do you know any special spells or incantations?" Asked the stallion.
"N-no." I said reluctantly. Suddenly the room started to flash red and I became scared. " w-what?..." I sputtered.
" miss Colgate please don't lie to me." He said. " we can tell." Soon the red flashing went away and the room was normal again. " once again, do you know any special spells or incantations?"
"I... I know a few..." I said nervously.
" what are they?"
" I have a friend named twilight sparkle... She helps me with my magic." I said. " she showed me a spell to heal small wounds." I said.
" you said you knew a few... Are there others?" He asked.
" just one other." I said. " I have a bad history of getting in trouble on the streets, since I work into the late hours and I have to walk home from work, the streets of ponyville can be dangerous at night... I used to get mugged occasionally."
" please skip to the point miss Colgate." He said.
" well twilight showed me a defensive magic spell to keep me safe on the way home." I said.
" can you explain what the spell is?" Asked the pony.
" it's an intermediate magical bolt..." I said. " it's powerful and can knock back most ponies..."
" what is the killing potential of this spell?" He asked.
" killing potential...?" I said offset by this question. " I've never killed anypony with it, I used it only once and just blew the wind out of somepony." I said.
" what would it take to kill a regular pony with this type of spell?" He asked more concerned. I had thought about using this spell to escape, but with the robot ponies and that large cyborg pony, I don't think I would have stood a chance, even with regular ponies it would have been a long shot.
" I guess if you hit them a couple of times it...cit would do something." I said. " it's not an attack spell, it's defensive. My friends explained it to me, it just pushes ponies back by focusing energy and releasing it in a wave or blast." He stared at me and I just looked nervously at him.
" alright... So the killing potential of this spell is very low, but the force and defensive properties are substantial... Alright then." He said scribbling down more notes. " now, have you ever been married or in a relationship."
" I- I had a boyfriend in college." I said.
" has your relationship changed since then?"
" we stopped seeing each other."
" how long has the relationship lasted and how did it end?"
" five years... We were together one year after college, but we both lived in opposite sides of Equestria... We couldn't keep the long distance relationship."
" was your boyfriend a unicorn?" He asked.
" uhm... No... He was a Pegasus." I said remembering back to my college days.
" in the time of your relationship, have you ever had intercourse?" He asked. I was shocked by the personal question, but there was no way of avoiding it. They must have a spell in here that detects when I'm lying... So I can't Wesley my way out of it... But I want to get out of here, so I should answer the question I guess.
" uhm... Yes... On several occasions." I said blushing lightly.
" don't be embarrassed miss Colgate, this information is staying here in a disclosed file." He said, that didn't really help at all, but he tried. " now, has intercourse ever lead to any complications?" He asked.
" uhh... No." I said.
" did you use protection?"
" yes."
" have you had intercourse any time after your relationship?"
" no..." I said abruptly.
" alright... Next set of questions, then we're done." He said jotting down a few more things then putting the pen down. " do you have any illnesses, mental disorders, or allergies?"
" no mental illness or viruses like that... Uhh. I am allergic to dogs." I said.
" how severe are your allergies?" He asked.
" not very, it won't kill me... I just can't stop sneezing around them... And my throat gets all scratchy... But that clears up in an hour or two." I said.
" alright... Did your parents or relatives have any diseases or illnesses that may be generic?" He asked.
" my mother had magnetic discharge..." I said. Magnetic discharge is a generic, magical disease of the horn. Since magic has a very equal frequency to that of the earths magnetic field it conducts through metal easily. But magnetic discharge it when it becomes very In tune to the magnetic field and often bolts of magical energy can escape the horn if you get close to something metal."
" have you started showing any signs of magnetic discharge?"
" no... I went to have myself tested at my mothers request... The doctors said there's a very slim chance of me developing it." I said.
" excellent..." Said the pony. " now there Sony one more thing we need from you..." He said. " I just need you to follow my pen with your eyes if you please." He said.
" uhm... Sure." I said. He started waving the pen to the left and the right and I followed it like he said. He brought it down to the table and then up to the tip of his horn. He kept it there and his horn then started to glow white. I was confused then there was a bright flash and everything seemed to fade. I felt numb and everything was white now. I could slowly feel myself slipping away and soon enough I was out cold as the white light began to fade to black.
Not even while I'm dreaming do I feel safe...
-Authors Note: whoa... things are happening and they are happening fast... already been called into questioning by this new scary cyborg guy. and what will become of ponyville's beloved dentist Colgate ... what about those other ponies in the cage? all good questions with answers that will be revealed in the future chapters. until then, keep holding on to the edge of your chairs ladies and gentlecolts... there's always more to come. characters and ideas inspired and created by Legendary Bronywritten by me. stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-