Chapter 6 – Rescue-Party

Josh was resting, and in his semiconscious opinion, he deserved it. After escaping from kidnappers, finishing

a dimensional gateway, and blowing up said gateway, he was tired. REALLY tired. Trixie, meanwhile, was

ecstatic, reminiscent of Pinkie Pie as she bounced up and down the corridors in joy. Sara had a similar

feeling. She was in Equestria! Better yet, she was in an Enrichment Center without GLaDOS! Oh, she could

do whatever she wanted. She could be a Test Subject. She could oversee the several griffin Test Subjects

shipped by the cartload as prisoners of war. Or she could have lunch. Sara, for the moment at least, chose

lunch. There was only vegetarian food here (which made sense), so she made herself a sandwich.

00000

It was a boring sandwich, topped with boring lettuce, boring tomatoes, and an especially boring olive.

Nonetheless, it didn't stop Sara from feeling like her happiness was about to explode inside of her.

00000

By the time Josh got up, it was late afternoon. He swung out of bed, confused for a moment. Then he

pumped his fist. "Record time to beat the rules of intradimensional physics? Two Months," he said jubilantly.

True to form, the camera recorded this and sent it off to the Records and Achievements Department. He

walked down the corridor, making his way to the one place he felt the most at home; the Central AI

Chamber. Spying his suit, he noted that Trixie was not controlling the facility at the moment. Her suit limply

faced the floor, no signs of activity present. Josh shrugged and attempted to climb in his own, only to find

someone already there.

00000

"…What are you doing, Sara?" he asked, for it was indeed Sara in the robotic body. "Er, sorry!" Sara said,

climbing out. "I just wanted to see what it felt like!" Josh laughed. "I don't blame you, it is pretty awesome."

He climbed in, and once the suit was on again, did a celebratory spin, the panels following him by doing their

own sort of 'wave'. "Oh, that felt REALLY good. Oh! Here's an idea!" he said. "Why not go about town? I

could use a few things from Sugarcube Corner." He went on to list a few pastries and treats. "Sure thing!"

Sara said, brightening. Josh watched her go from the suit, a hidden smile on his face. She was in for a

surprise. "Now…" he said, straightening his 'body' and extending a screen down to his optic.

00000

"What have I missed?"

00000

A full three hours later, Sara had just met with Pinkie Pie. True to form, Pinkie had to throw a party for her,

and rushed off to prepare. The Cakes took over the sale, which was uneventful apart from the usual small

talk ("Oh, another human?") Sara headed back into the Evergreen Forest, feeling excited and

uncomfortable. She opened the door and was met with a full blast of confetti, sending her reeling backward

and laughing. Pinkie stood in the doorway, the Party Cannon still smoking and a devilish grin on her face.

"Happy Welcome-to-Ponyville Party!" she exclaimed happily, and the party began. Trixie was there, as Josh

was still overseeing from his room. All of the important ponies were there, including Gilda (who was now

assistant Test Subject Overseer) and many more. Turrets also were present, talking to various ponies and

having fun in general (one had managed to cover itself in Repulsion Gel, and had to leave the room because

it was bouncing everywhere. Well, actually it left all by itself, but everyone agreed that it was better they

didn't get hit by a flying, gel-covered piece of metal, however cute it might be). Josh occasionally made

comments through a screen next to his camera in the room, and refilled various food items. Where he got

the refills, science may never know. Regular science, that is. Anyway, the party went quite smoothly, with

the younger ponies having access to a playground that Josh had built out of Repulsion Gel, Propulsion Gel,

and a whole lot of shock-absorbing foam. The entrance had an Aperture Science Gel-Absorbing Cover

stretched across the entrance, which would clean the foam off of the ponies' hooves when they left.

00000

The party went on well into the evening, and finally ended late at night. The last of the ponies, Pinkie

included, said their goodbyes, and left the building, while Josh set about disassembling the playground and

cleaning up the room in general. He was just finishing when Princess Luna walked into his chamber. "Hello,

Princess. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" he inquired politely, shifting uncomfortably a little in

his suit. Luna, after all, did not look happy. In fact, she looked positively anxious. "To tell the truth, we need

thy help," Luna said, eyes downcast a little.

00000

"Yes…?" Josh prompted. "Our royal sister the Princess Cadence has gone missing. Can you find her using

your science?" Josh thought a while. "I can do so, but I will need a sample of her DNA," he finally answered.

"Her what?" Luna said, looking confused. "Deoxyribonucleic acid. It's the genetic blueprint for any particular

life-form, and with it, I can narrow down the lifeforms with that sequence of DNA to the one you're looking

for," he explained. Luna still looked confused, and Josh sighed, exasperated. "Just bring one of her… hairs

or something. Something that came from her body." Luna nodded and left, leaving Josh alone in the

chamber. "I wasn't even aware there was a third Princess," he grumbled as he climbed out of his suit for the

night.

00000

The next day was uneventful. Josh brought out a few DNA sequencers, and the corresponding apparatus

that would tell where in the world Princess Cadence currently was. In the meantime, he did furious research

on Cadence, finding only small mentions here and there. The best he found was a fragment of the royal

birth tree, which showed a clear line of 'Princess Cadence' next to Luna and Celestia's lines. This frustrated

Josh to no end. "How am I to find this princess if I don't know who she is?" he griped to Trixie as the clock

struck one. "Which one?" said Trixie, unaware of the entire situation. Josh proceeded to explain Luna's

strange arrival and his request. Trixie thought. "Cadence… Cadence… if I remember right, she's one of the

royal family but not actually a 'princess' in the governmental sense." Josh nodded, storing this tidbit of

information in an online folder for later use.

00000

An hour after the sun went down, Luna once again arrived at the Enrichment Center. "One moment, testing

in progress," Josh said over the intercom. Luna impatiently waited. "Alright, he's passed out again. You can

come in," Josh finally responded, opening the door from the lobby to his chamber. "We have the hairs thou

requested," Luna said, levitating a group of purple, pink and yellow hairs. "Excellent! Incidentally, where did

you get them?" Now Luna shifted uncomfortably. "We had to ask the royal barber. He… keeps hairs of each

of the princesses." If Josh's suit had any eyebrows, they would have been raised. "Really? Well, lucky for us

that he did. If you don't mind…" he said, taking the hairs with a robotic arm and placing them into the

sequencer. "This determines, down to a Thymine, Princess Cadence's exact genetic blueprint." Josh

explained, as the hairs were slowly fed down the machine's intake slot and the results processed on-

screen. The results were then fed to the program Josh had developed, showing a full-globe map. The map

zoomed out of Equestria to the world, and then rapidly zoomed in. "Is that…?" Luna asked. Josh was

surprised as well. "It is. The Griffin Nation Maximum-Security Prison." Josh answered.

00000

Luna's aura immediately burst out, raging in a whirling tornado of anger around her. Josh tried to resist

being pushed by the winds, but quickly gave up trying, as Luna was far too furious. She made to leave,

when Josh stopped her by closing the door. "Wait just one moment! That is a maximum-security prison

you're flying into. Emphasis on maximum." Luna turned to face him. "Are you saying I should not rescue my

sister?" Josh shook his head violently. "No, I'm saying that I can help you yet. Give me a moment, I'll need

some sort of interface. I wonder if any of the Cooperative Testing Bots are active…" he muttered as he

brought out a short, squat robot with a blue optic. It looked half-finished in Luna's opinion. A robotic claw

activated something within the central sphere, and the core flickered to life, looking around cautiously.

"Good morning, ATLAS," Josh said.

00000

"Today, I have a special mission for you that does not involve your partner. However, I will be using you as

my eyes and ears. Is that clear?" ATLAS nodded as a chip was installed behind his optic. "I'm fully

connected. I can see everything." Josh said from both his and the robot's speakers. " In addition, you will be

given this laser cutting and EMP tool, just in case," Josh said, while handing ATLAS something that looked

like a smooth, circular-barreled gun. "Is this necessary?" Luna impatiently questioned. "Completely. Magic

might not be able to open some doors, but a laser can open all. The EMP can instantly stun guards. Now we

can go." ATLAS raced out the doors, and Luna followed, catching up to and then passing him, to which

ATLAS ran harder. He had also been equipped with the Gel Boots, and was now racing Luna across the

countryside.

00000

"Sister!" Celestia cried as she teleported in from above. "I sensed your anger. What is going on? And who is

this?" the Princess of the Sun questioned as she raced alongside Luna. "This is Josh, through one of my

testing robots named ATLAS. We are currently rescuing Princess Cadence from the Griffin Nation Maximum

Security Prison," Josh explained as ATLAS ran. Celestia nodded, her expression hardening, and continued

with them.

00000

After some hours of flying and running, with only ATLAS able to go continuously (as he didn't get tired), they

arrived at the Equestrian border. The border guards were somewhat surprised to see both of their

princesses and a metal ball with legs and arms racing past, and didn't stop them. They were simply too

confused to do anything, in fact.

00000

After avoiding most of the towns and cities, the trio came to an imposing stone building. "Well, here we

are," Josh said. "I don't suppose there's a front door?" Celestia almost laughed. "You would try getting in

through the front door? We'd be spotted and arrested immediately." ATLAS actually did laugh in his odd

manner of speech, causing the two ponies to look up in surprise. "He can talk?" Luna questioned. "Yes, but

he speaks a language that neither of you would recognize." ATLAS then proceeded to say something in his

language. "The wall, Blue. We need to get the inner wall." Josh answered the question. 'Blue' immediately

sprinted over to the nearest wall and began cutting through it with his laser tool. "Is that thing melting solid

stone?" Celestia asked, marveling at yet another technological innovation.

00000