Chapter 9 – Wake up and Smell the Ashes
It had taken most of the day and all night, but Medic and Engineer had finally finished building a respawn system. "Zank Gott, zat's done," Medic stated wearily,
flopping down on a couch. "Er… Ain't ya gonna finish the job?" Engineer asked. "Just… let me rest… a moment." The Medic said. Engineer decided to let him rest and
headed out to the common grounds outside the castle, where the others had camped the night waiting. The ponies immediately jumped up, expecting news. "Hold
your… selves, I guess," the Engineer corrected, saving his euphemism at the last moment. "Medic's takin' a breather before we start – poor fella's been up all night.
What about y'all?" The ponies answered with various affirmatives that they had slept, whereas the humans simply groaned. The Engineer chuckled and headed back
in.
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"Ah, zere you are," Medic called, stretching and getting up. "Ready, doc?" Engineer replied. Medic nodded. As if on cue, a whisper was heard behind the doorway. "…
Who's zere?" Medic called. Two more whispers were heard, and Pinkie tumbled out of the door. "IwantedtowatchcusIwasworried!" she said in one breath. "…Very well
zhen. Just stay out of ze way until Pyro is avake again." Medic bluntly stated, and Pinkie nodded furiously.
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"Initiatin' sequence." Engie started, flipping a switch. "Medigun activated…now," Medic replied, flipping the trigger for his Medigun, which was duct-taped to the ceiling.
"Seein' predictable charts…" Engie muttered, staring at a small army of makeshift vital-sign graphs. Medic glanced up at the UberCharge meter. "So why isn't he alive
yet, if he's being healed?" Pinkie hesitantly asked. "It takes energy to restart ze heart and especially ze brain. Ze primary function of ze Medigun is to knit ze bones,
muscle, organs and skin back together – ze actual revival will happen once zis meter reaches 'full'," Medic explained, pointing to the UberCharge meter which was
slowly ticking its way past 40%.
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Some time later, the Medigun emitted a crackling sound, and Medic smiled. "Ready!" he called to Engie, who turned off all the electronics, the graphs monitoring Pyro
falling silent. "Go ahead, doc!" Engie replied. Medic flipped the switch, holding the Medigun in place as Pyro turned a bright, glowing red. Screams could be heard from
under his mask as Pinkie watched in a fascinated horror. Finally, the charge meter depleted itself, and Pyro's body stopped glowing and flopped to the desk.
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Medic anxiously checked for breathing and vital signs. He straightened up, smiling slightly. "It's barely zere… but it's a pulse. Breathing looks normal too. Ze only zing
wrong is ze-" Medic caught himself. "What?" Engineer worriedly asked. "Nahzing to worry about," Medic said with an unconvincing cough. Engineer knew Medic was
hiding something, but didn't ask – the least professional thing to do was have a full-scale argument in the middle of an important procedure. The two left, talking
animatedly. Pinkie, after making sure they were gone, cautiously walked up and checked Pyro's breathing herself, to be sure. She was shocked to find that Pyro's body
was boiling hot – almost scaldingly so. She dismissed it as a consequence of the recent electrocution and Pyro's constantly-on suit, and promptly left Pyro to his sleep.
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When she found the rest of the two groups, they were chatting and laughing – all tension relieved now that Pyro was alive. "And den Engineer just sat there playin'
his guitar – they just kept comin', the idiots!" Scout was saying, to laughter all around. Pinkie immediately joined in.
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Hours later, when all was still and night had fallen, Pyro awoke as suddenly as though someone had slapped him in the face. Was he dead? He remembered falling,
and hitting the ground, and dying. He looked around, and bonked his face on something above him. He looked up, and Medic's healy-gun was duct-taped to the ceiling.
Pyro was disappointed – if he wasn't dead, he had a lot of questions to answer. He'd have to have some words with Medic about heroic deaths, although he doubted
he'd win the argument. He adjusted some parts of his suit that were off, and set about finding his stuff.
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Eventually, after wandering his way through two rooms, a supply closet and an open window, he found his way onto the castle grounds. Immediately visible was the
bloodspatter that he'd made, easily ten feet square. Some of the changeling's remains were also still there. His Scorch Shot and Axetinguisher were some distance
away, having been flung all the way to the castle wall. His toy was still nowhere to be found. He was about to start burning things when a calm voice spoke behind
him. "Art thou looking for thy weapon?" it said. Pyro turned around to reveal a midnight-blue pony with a mane like the stars. For a while, he got lost in staring at the
bright, twinkling specks, and then realized he was supposed to say something. "Mmph," he said while nodding. Luna immediately turned around and set off for her
own room, secretly relieved that the thing had finally responded – for a while she thought it might stay like that forever.
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Eventually, they stepped into Luna's private room, which was cluttered with books, scientific objects and apparati, and other curiosities. Luna's horn lit up blue, and
Pyro's toy was lifted from the table it had been sitting on. Pyro reached out for it, but Luna used her magic to gently lift it out of reach. Pyro looked at her, annoyed
that she wanted to play a game now. "First thou must promise us that thou will never use it to harm another pony," she said. Pyro understood, and nodded,
attempting to make some sound of affirmation through his mask. She smiled and gave it to him, and it glowed even more brightly. Seconds later, the Backburner was
back to its normal appearance, and the Elements of Harmony were hanging on its barrel. Luna was mildly surprised. "So that's where those got to," she said. "Once
we saw the door had melted, we figured thou were involved, but could not see them on thy person. We must return these immediately – and a good night to thou."
With that, she departed from the room. Pyro hesitated for a second, curious about the room's contents, but decided that now was probably not a good time. He left,
whistling softly through his gas mask, and went to find a bed to sleep in.
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