Disaster Anon: G2; D24; Heartsting's Mechanical Horror Show

Disaster 25: Heartsting’s Mechanical Horror Show

>Day 124.
>While working at your workstation, coiling copper wires for a future light staff, you get an announcement from Minty upstairs.
>“You’ve got mail, Anon,” she says slightly muffled with the envelopes in her mouth.
>It’s rarely anything worth reading.
“Thanks for the heads up. Fluffles,” you say looking to the sick little pony resting by your side, “would you be a dear and get the mail when she leave?”
>She springs up excitedly at your request, cheerfully proclaiming, “You can count on me, Mr. Anon!” before trotting to the stairs.
>“Are you sure I can’t come down?” says Minty as Fluffle waits at the bottom stair.
Nonsense, the last thing we need is you getting sick.
>“But I haven’t seen you all morning. And what if /you/ get sick. ”
Humans can’t catch a horses cold, and even if they could, I’m wearing a gas mask right now sooo yeah…
>“But Anon.”
I’ll be up in a few hours for lunch.
>“Can we have waffles?!”
I’ll make you some waffles.
>You hear a distinct *humf* before Minty leaves, dropping the mail for Fluffle to soon pick up.
>“Ghh hhit”
Good job, puffball.
>She returns to an awarding pet on the head before you take your envelopes and start skimming through the mail.
>Fan letters, prom request, lewd poetry.
>Trash
>Death threats from anonymous centaurs. Apology letters about how centaurs aren’t so bad,
>Into the trash it goes.
>“Grow your horn by up to 50%”, “10% discount coupon.”…
>Leave that one for later.
>Lastly, there’s a red envelope, marked with “23ANWHC” identical to a letter you were sent last month, and the month before that (when your arm was healing).
Trash.
>You crumple the envelope without even reading the content, and get back to wiring.
>“You didn’t wead the wed one Mr. Anon.”
It’s trash. Just a pointless offer to go to some convention in Neighoponitan. No one has time for that.
>“You sure like to wowk Anon. Maybe—Maybe I could be assistant! I did weally good at getting mail.”
An assistant huh?
>She did say she’ll looking for a purpose.
I could use one of those, but /you’re/ supposed to be back in the forest in a few days.
>“But I wuuuv you,” she says in a whining fashion, pushing her hooves on your leg.
Well…that’s nice.
>Suddenly you hear the faint explosion, followed by the scream of a colt from outside.
Trouble!
>Quickly, you equip your “Go-Go-Go Gauntlet”, sitting by your toolbox, a plastic knight stick you fasten around your belt, the explosive teargas gun, and your signature P.A.C. Beam.
>It only takes less than a minute, but the continued explosions and civilian outcry make it feel like an hour.
>Ready, you rush into the living room, where you see Minty backed against the front door, curled up as a young female’s voice speaks from the other side, slightly muffled as if you’re listening through an intercom.
>“Ma’am. Are you still in there? Helo-ooo?”
>Another explosion rumbles the door as you quietly ask,
What’s going on out there?
>In a whisper you’re told, “T-there’s a monster out there!”
Scooch over.
>You crouch down to look through the door’s peephole. Waiting outside is…you’re not entirely sure.
>It’s sort of a mare, but it looks more mechanical that flesh. Her jaw is obviously fake and made of metal, her eyes are like that of an animatronic, partially obscured under her stapled in mane of white and cyan, her limbs are prosthetic, painted aquamarine as her coat, and her body seems visually starved, riddled with bolts and a seam running down the chest.
>As she looks around, unsure if she has the right address, you also notice as her cutie mark, which for some reason is a slice of pizza.
>“Anypony there?” she says through a speaker at the back of her throat, “I’m trying to find a guy named Anonymous. Somepony’s also call him Anon if that helps.”
Are you an assassin?
>“Anon, what are you doing?! Don’t talk to that mare!”
>“Who’s there?”
That’s not important. Are you an assassin?
>“An assassin? Well, I guess I have killed here and there, but assassin’s a bit of an overstatement.”
>You give a frustrated sigh, before telling Minty,
I’ve got work to do.
>“Are you nuts! I’m not opening this door!”
Suit yourself.
>In a flash of magic, you teleport outside of the shop, far behind the mechanical mare’s whose asking the now yelling Minty, “Are you okay in there?”
>It’s then that you also notice Firefly along with a couple of town guards littering the snowy ground around her. Unsettling to say the least, but you try not to let it get to you.
Hey Rattle-Trap?!
>She gives a jittered jump before turning to face you.
>“Whoa! You’re fast.”
Who are you?
>“That depends. Are you Anon?”
…Sure.
>“I was hoping you’d say that. *ahem* MYAHAHAHAHAAA! So I’ve finally found you Anonymous.”
>Dramatic point.
>“Now that you’re caught, there’s no hope of survival. You may have bested that fool Trottin in magic, but my knowledge in technology is unrivaled! Prepare to feel the mechanical sting, of the Genius of New Fjord City: Love N’ Heartsting! MUUUAHAHAHAHA!”
Are you quite done?
>“HAHAHAaa…ha…too much?”
>You roll your eyes as you pull out your gun, pointing it towards her.
I’ll give you one chance. Turn in peacefully, or so help me I’ll break off your jaw and melt it into a boot.
>She gives a smug chuckle before telling you, “Now where’s the fun in that?”
>Having received your answer, you fire a shell that she doesn’t even try to avoid.
>It makes direct contact to her face, creating a massive explosion of blinding mist that shocks the civilians watching through their windows.
>With you knightstick prepared you were going to run in and strike, but you stop immediately as you realize she’s unphased by the blast.
>“You call /that/ an explosive?”
>Defying physics, hatches on both her sides open, and a disproportionately large set of missile launchers springs out.
Shit!
>Both fire in a wild and swirling pattern as they close in on you, but you teleport out of the way to a nearby lettuce cart, letting them explode on the snow and a nearby house; destroying its front door.
>Having escaped, her head snaps towards your location, and she gives a dissatisfied glance as a horn-tipped satellite laser rises out of her back, charging a reddish aura.
>Before she can fire however, Brightly comes in out of nowhere and tackles her to the ground like a damn tank! The high keyed blast then passes your right, burning a giant mark into a tree.
>“IMPLYING YOU COULD GET RID OFF ME?!” Brightly yells as you take note of singed patches of fur.
You okay?!
>“I’m fine!” she yells whilst grappling Love N’, “but Ember’s not doing so hot!”
>Brightly’s soon kicked off, rolling back at least four meter as Love N’ leaps back up. You then run in and give her a mighty twack across the face with your knightstick, but it does practically nothing, leading to a very blank expression as her satellite points to you and begins charging once more.
>Panicked, you push her away and ready yourself to teleport, but you’re not fast enough and the blast fires into your chest, burning away at your sweater, and sending you flying back to the ground.
>Thank god you’re wearing armor.
>“I’ll aim for the face next time,” she says bitterly.
>Before things can get worse Brightly intervenes, firing a blast of light that engulfs Heartsting in a blinding orb of light. With her magic being mostly nonlethal however, it only serves as a distraction as you run out of the way thinking to yourself, “What the hell am I supposed to do?!”
>You pull out the combustion beam quickly announcing (because it’s required),
Armada, phoenix of judgment PLEASE don’t let me down.
>the noise however gives away your location causing a missile to fly in your direction.
>You’re try to leap out of the way, but the explosion still catches your left side, causing a nearly deafening impact, before you take a second missile to the chest plate, breaking it apart.
>It had a good run at least.
>Easily the strongest blow you’ve taken full force, you lose grip of your gun and tumble back through the ground, clutching at your chest as you begin curling in pain.
>You can’t force yourself to look in her direction, but from your slightly deafened ears, you can hear Love N’ speak.
>“Is this REALLY the mighty force that protects Dream Valley?”
>Ember releases one of her war like cries as you hear her charge towards Love N’; it’s quickly followed however by a cringe inducing screech over the high pitch of her satellite beam firing. That scream is more than enough motive to get back on your feet, but before you can manage, you feel an iron plated leg dive into your exposed ribs, before rolling you onto your back.
>She then holds you down with a mere hoof to the chest, providing such a stinging pain that you can’t help but give an audible groan.
>You’re pain causes an almost childish squee, distorted by Heartsting’s voicebox as she looks to you with those cold, lifeless eyes.
>“MUAHAHAHAHA! What’s wrong human? Having trouble teleporting like a coward?”
>The laser collapses back into her spine, quickly replacing itself with a cartoonishly large buzzsaw that begins to slowly descend towards your face.
>“A shame we’re over so soon, but worry not; I’ll put your body to good use.”
>With what strength you have in you, you bring your very thick gauntlet to your face, protecting your skull as the drill begins to weigh into it.
>“I suppose I would’ve removed the arm anyways. If anything, you’re just speeding up my wo-“
>There’s a surprising flash of light, and before you know it Heartsting’s disappeared…or rather, you disappeared as you realize you’re now looking at a home several buildings west of where you live.
>“Where in the world?!” you hear Heartsting declare in the distance.
>As you try to process what happened, a pony that you can only assume is responsible, brings herself over your lying body.
>Though clearly a mare in appearance, her features are obscured under a skintight bodysuit of dark-green, which is also under a lab coat, much like the one you often wear. Even her eyes are obscured, thanks to a thick green tinted of a pair of goggles…much like your own. The only real identifier is her distinct horn; much larger than the average unicorn, and composed of swirling parts of crimson, violet, and pink that are hard to ignore.
>With a young, yet stern voice of familiarity, you’re told, “Stay here,” before being left behind.
>Calm, and stalwart, she begins walking towards the animatronic abomination as you begin charging the P.A.C. Gun in the background. Not being especially far however, it doesn’t take long for Heartsting to spot you two.
>“Well, well, well,” she says with a jerkish sway of the head, “you another one of Anon’s little friends?”
>The anonymous mare stops a few feet short, and responds.
>“Friend is a very strong word to use.”
>Limited by her metal jaw, the closest thing to a smile comes on Heartsting’s face as she excitedly yells, “So what? Is this the part where you try to talk me down and make me give up?”
>“I suppose I /should/ ask you to submit, but in all honesty,” her legs widen to a more competitive stance, “I want you to fight me.”
>A distorted chuckle comes out of Love N’s speaker before announcing, “Well then, LET’S PARTY!”
>A new set of missiles then pop out of her sides and fire immediately towards the mare. Before they can connect however, both disappear in a burst of light.
>“What the…”
>A set of explosions to her asshole soon follows, causing her to leap in the air, gripping at her cheeks and hopping on her hindlegs.
>“AW! That smarts!”
>The mare is then levitated into the air, before having her side cratered back into the ground below her.
>You almost assume she’s pinned then and there, until a set of jets come out of her hooves, eventually forcing her free as she blasts into the air.
>A hatch then opens on her stomach, and though the sight is hard to make out, you can see a cluster of multicolored horns fused together in a metallic ring.
>“Taste my special: Twelve gauge quantum dispersal arrow cannon deluxe!”
>From the cluster, a red mass of magic fires into a frenzied set of a dozen arrows, swerving and jolting erratically at the mare at seemingly all directions. The first response is an obvious dodge through teleporting, but the arrows to take a hard turn to her new location on top of Shenanigans’ Joke Shop.
>Then the unexpected happens.
>Rather than try to escape the tracking errors, she takes the attack head on, blocking a series of explosions with a bubble shield spell THAT YOU WERE PLANNING ON LEARNING.
>This is getting weird.
>The look, the spells, even her dialogue seems pretty on point to your own. Maybe she’s one of your fans, but you’ve never seen one with such an insane horn, and that still wouldn’t explain why she knows a spell you haven’t even began testing.
>Your trail of thought is soon broken, as you notice Firefly limping her way to your location.
>“Anon…Aaanon?”
>Weakly, she comes to your aid, only to collapse at your side moments later.
>“Are you okay?”
I’ve…been through worse.
>Your focus comes back to the mystery mare as you watch her dodge satellite beams whilst firing a series of basic level magical blast in an attempt to strike down Heartsting.
>“I like this new kid,” says Firefly casually as she tries to work to her hooves.
I dunno.
>You point the barrel of your P.A.C. Beam and ready a shot.
Something seems off with that mare.
>Though not at its finest, you fire a blast of summoned phoenix magic that takes off to the air, propelling itself at ever increasing speeds before closing in on the distracted Love N’ Hearthsting.
>Picking up on the slight whistle your blasts produce, her head turns at the last second revealing; at least to you, a faint expression of shock, before the streaking bullet makes contact.
>Like the others, her soul quickly bursts into flames, cursing her misdeeds, and causing a scream that clips out her speakers. Unable to control herself, she begins flying erratically trough the sky, blowing out a back jet before eventually crashing face first in Cotton Candy Café’s brick wall. She becomes fairly still after that point, but just in case, the unknown mare runs in to give her a couple of stomps to the head.
“Easy there!” You semi-seriously yell to the mare, “I think she’s had enough.”
>She responds with a sudden glare back in your direction, before teleporting from a block away to a few feet, and even then she still begins walking into your bubble.
>“You are in no position to joke around /Mr./ Anonymous. You’ve still much to learn.”
>Well damn.
Interesting statement coming from a mare-
>“Trying to emulate you?”
I can only assume.
>She scoffs in an irritatingly smug manner as she lowers her goggles to your level.
>“Oh poor, increasingly menial Anon. I’m much more than some cheap imitation. On the day that I take my vengeance, you will see this as fact.”
>On that note, she teleports away, leaving you and your partner to wonder what just happened.
>“…Okay, maybe she’s not /as/ nice as I assumed.”

---

>It’s been about a half hour since the incident with the cyborg.
>After several injections of elephant tranquilizer, Love N’ Heartsting was successfully taken in by the guards soon after the anonymous mare’s disappearance. Because of this Disaster 25 will be marked as resolved for now, but you doubt the prison cells will hold her for long however, even if they can successfully remove her weapons.
>With potential internal trauma, Firefly forced you to join the others as the local paramedics came to everyone’s aid. You wanted to refuse, since Fluffle Puff still needs your care and attention, but you can’t reveal the fact that you’re harboring an endangered animal.
>To be safe, you made a request to Minty, who was by your side praying to Celestia for your safety.
“Minty,” you said as you was magically lifted on a stretcher, “keep an eye on the you-know-what in the basement until I come back.”
>As expected, there’s much protest ranging from, “I can’t just leave you behind,” to “I never asked for this,” but an eventual compromise is made when she reluctantly tells you, “I’ll do it, but don’t expected me to touch that…project.”
>Turns out you and Firefly will be ‘okay’ to an extent, but Brightly’s taken several 1st degree burns and a major 2nd degree burn near her neck from the satellite beam, and Ember’s spine was nearly dislocated after getting hit with a missile to the back.
>On the upside though, at least you’re all together to discuss the anonymous mare.
>Together in the patient’s room of Brightly and Ember, you all begin spitballing theories and information on everything you can.
…Pink, red, or purple, I’m guessing she’s at least one of those colors.
>Ember mentions, “I do believe I read something about a vigilante parading around eastern Mangalara. She was wearing a cloak but someone did mention she was a pink unicorn.”
>“I don’t think so,” says Ember as she tries to move to her side, “This mare wants REVENGE. She said so herself, so it’s gotta be somepony that doesn’t like us.”
>“And yet she assisted us.”
>“Because nopony gets to kill Anon except her! If you ask me, it’s one of the Whimsy Twins. We never did catch them during that carrot robbery, and their horns were flippin’ huge!”
They don’t seem that capable.
>“My thoughts exaAH-A-AAAH!”
>There’s a loud cracking noise from Ember’s back, having shifted too drastically out of place to see you better.
>“Are you okay!” yells Firefly as a green nurse colt peeks his head into the door.
>“I’m fine. Just got a little excited is all.”
>She closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath before continuing.
>“What we really need to consider is her magical capabilities.” Referring to Brightly, she tells her, “You unicorns rarely know more than one trick when it comes to magic, so whoever this mare is is either a highly adept magician, or a cheating. Remember how Paul had his fancy little stone to increase his powers?”
>The others nod and murmur in agreement.
>“Considering such an item sexist, I believe that whoever this mare is may be a rogue immigrant who worked under Paul. Likely an alchemist that could forge these stones on her own.”
>The others seem to think she’s onto something, but you’re still skeptical.
Interesting theory, but Paul only had that stone because he was rich enough to afford its production. There aren’t many Saddle Arabians around here, that could afford an alchemy stone, and even if they made one in secrecy, I’m sure it’d still cost a ton to synthesize.
>“Good point.”
>Noticing Firefly pondering in the chair next to yours, you decidedly ask,
Any ideas Firefly?
>“Me?” she says caught off guard. “Well, this might sound silly, but that mare didn’t actually say her vengeance was against us. She just said she wanted vengeance. Maybe she helped us because she’s after somepony else.”
That…actually, how come we didn’t think of that?
>Ember adds, “If that were true, she may have a bad relationship with the assassins.”
Meaning she could be an important key to figuring out who put the bounty on my head in the first place. Firefly, when you’re ready, I’d like you to visit the prison and interrogate the cyborg. I doubt she’ll talk much about her boss, but she may drop a hint or two on who this wannabe Anon is.
>“You sure about that, Anon? I thought somepony like you would be really interested in a robotic pony. Maybe you should go instead.”
I’ve got a project to look after.
>“Oh.”
This isn’t going to be a problem, right?
>“O-of course not. I just sort of-“
>“I can do it!” says Brightly excitedly on her medical bed. “Get this baby rolling, and I’ll get those answers in a jiff.”
>It’s tempting, but you have faith in Firefly, and Brightly needs her rest.
She’ll be fine.
>With that, you rise out of your chair, almost stumbling to the ground, but managing to keep your footing.
Be safe everyone. I’m going home.
>With that, they give you there farewells, and you begin limping your way outside of the hospital. Yeah, you’re supposed to get rolled out by a nurse, but Fluffle needs you, and you’re not gonna waste time waiting for someone to push you out in an undersized wheelchair.
>The walk home would’ve been terrible at your current state, but thankfully, there’s a nearby Yak Taxi trying to capitalize on patients and the winter cold. Having a few bits on you, you’re quick to pick up the assistance of the giant guy napping in the snow, and in a couple of minutes, your being rushed back home in style.
>You’ve still gotta make those waffles.