Title:           ToE Chapter V-2
Author:          AnonKnight
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/XRDszXAV
First Edit:      Thursday 21st of June 2012 08:54:31 AM CDT
Last Edit:       Thursday 21st of June 2012 08:54:31 AM CDT

>At the end, there is a door, and a staircase. You open the door a little, and lean into the room, which, in contrast to the wooden cabin, looks like a lab of sorts. The walls are made of smooth plaster, and the floor is tiled.
>On one side of the room, there are two blocky machines. Each has several dials and buttons. Next to the machines, is a water tank, which is connected to one of the machines by a flexible plastic pipe. The tank is about two thirds full of clear water.
>A bench runs along the opposite wall. What looks like chemistry equipment occupies most of the bench's surface.
>There's also a table in the center, empty apart from a few scattered papers.
>Still no Water Works.
"There's nop0ny in here... Let's go upstairs."
>You carefully proceed to the cabin's top floor, step by step, with the ponies in tow.
>The stairs take you to another hallway, with two doors. The closest door is right next to the stairs, while the other is at the end of the hall; That one is padlocked.
"Over there..."
>The three of you quietly walk down the hallway, and stop outside the door.
 
>You eye the padlock. It's quite large, sturdy, and heavy. You won't be opening this door without a key... Unless, Twilight knows some kind of unlocking spell.
>"I'll open that lock, Anon."
>Hm, apparently she does.
>You move aside, and Twilight steps forward and eyes the lock. Her horn glows, and her aura surrounds the padlock.
>You can just about hear some little ticking sounds coming from the keyhole.
>...
>...*Click*.
>The padlock opens, and Twilight levitates it off the door's latch, and onto the nearby windowsill.
>Twilight places a hoof on the door, and gently pushes it.
>Once the door swings all the way open, you see her.
>On the floor, lies a blue earth p0ny, with tear-filled yellow eyes, and a wavy, water-like, aqua coloured mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a water droplet.
>Her hooves are tied, and her mouth is covered by a scruffy cloth.
>"Mmph!"
>"Oh, goodness!"
>Twilight quickly unties the p0ny, who, once she's free, wraps Twilight in a tight hug and begins crying her eyes out.
>"...Water Works?"
>The pony only just manages to stop crying long enough to respond.
>"Y-yes, that's me..."
 
>"Don't worry, you're safe now."
>Once Twilight manages to free one of her forelegs from Water Work's hold she returns the hug.
>After a while, Water Works' tears stop flowing and she lets go of Twilight, and steps out of the closet she was, until minutes ago, trapped inside.
>"Water Works, I'm Twilight Sparkle. This here's Applejack..."
>"Hey there, sugarcube."
>"And, that's Anon. He's... Not from around here, but he's very nice."
>You slowly approach the blue p0ny, and kneel down next to her. She shies away a little.
"Miss Water Works. Are you alright?"
>"Uhm... Yeah, I guess..."
"Those hooded creatures didn't hurt you, did they?"
>She doesn't really look hurt; just shaken, but you want to be sure.
>...Given how murderous those minions were, you're surprised they didn't just kill her outright.
>"N-no, not really. Ah! Wait! Where are all those monsters?"
>"Don't worry, we sorted them out. They won't be botherin' nop0ny no more."
>"That's right. Well, there is one left, but he ran off, over the bridge. He seems to be the one in charge... We'll have to go after him soon."
 
>"NO!"
>Water Works clings to Twilight as if her life depended on it. The tears are starting to well up...
>"Please, don't leave me here all alone! What if more of those things show up?"
>Twilight looks like she's having a little trouble breathing.
>"Don't worry... Water Works. We're not gonna... Leave you here, by yourself."
>Water Works relaxes a bit, and releases Twilight.
>"One of us will stay here, with you. Now, why don't you come downstairs and lie down?"
>Once you're all downstairs, you head into the front room, while Twilight walks into the kitchen.
>As soon as she walks into the front room, Water Works walks right over to the desk.
>"Oh, There they are..."
>She picks up the safety goggles, and puts them on. Why she needs goggles at the moment, you do not know.
>Applejack then walks her over to the sofa. Water Works climbs on, and lies down, resting her head on one of the pillows.
>"Now, just try an' relax, okay?"
>Water Works nods slightly.
>Twilight soon leaves the kitchen, with four glasses of water on a simple wooden tray.
 
>You take one off the tray as it floats past you, before Twilight puts it down on the coffee table.
>"You should have a drink, Water Works. You must have been locked in there for hours..."
>"Uh-huh."
>Water Works sits up and picks up a glass with her hooves. She drinks the whole glass in one go.
>"Um... You guys. Thank you, for rescuing me..."
>"Aww, don't mention it, sugarcube."
>"No, really. Until you found me, I... I really didn't think I was going to live to see another day. So, thank you. Thank you all."
>Water Works is on the verge of tears, again. You can tell she'll be forever grateful to you and your companions.
>This is a nice feel.
>Twilight takes a sip of water.
>"So, Water Works, what exactly happened here, today?"
>"Oh. Well, you see, Twilight..."
 
>...
 
>Several hours earlier...
 
>Water Works wobbles into the kitchen, still half asleep.
>"Mmmmhhh..."
>The p0ny stumbles over the the cupboard, and takes out a small white cup, and places it on the counter, then does the same with the coffee jar. She spoons some coffee into the cup, then sticks the cup into the water dispenser, underneath the left nozzle.
>She tries to push the red, fireball-shaped button above the nozzle, but being so drowsy, she pushes one of the others by mistake.
>Ice-cold water begins to trickle out of the rightmost nozzle. It passes through the plastic grate underneath, and into the drain, wasted.
>"Oops..."
>She tries again. This time, she hits the right button.
>Boiling water fills the cup, and mixes with the coffee granules.
>Water Works gently picks up the cup, and slowly shuffles over to the table, careful not to spill it.
>Once she's there, she sets the cup on the table, and takes a seat. She stirs the drink with a little spoon.
>The p0ny rests her head on the table, and waits for the coffee to cool down a little.
>*Sigh*
>A couple of minutes later, Water Works takes a sip of her coffee... It's still a bit too hot, but, whatever.
>"Hmmmmmm... What would I do without you?"
>Ten minutes later, Water Works enters the lab, and trots over to one of the machines.
>This machine, controls the flood gates. Each gate has a few dials, meters and buttons pertaining to it.
>"Okay, let's see how the gates are- Oh."
 
>...According to these dials, all the gates are closed, almost completely, instead of being about a third of the way open like they're supposed to be.
>"...Hm."
>Water Works stares at the dials for a few seconds, then walks over to the window.
>"Maybe the machine is faulty..."
>Nope. Once she looks out of the window, and looks across the lake towards the gates, she realises that the machine is just fine. The gates are, in fact, closed.
>"No, no. Something isn't right. I never closed those gates."
>The p0ny walks back over to the machine, and presses one of the buttons under the metal plaque that reads "Gate 1: Controls".
>She walks back over to the window, and watches the gates for a while. Gate 1 should begin opening soon.
>...Or not.
>She tries the other gates. Those don't open, either.
>Looking at one of the dials on the other machine, Water Works learns that the river's water level has fallen by almost a foot.
>"Oh, this is bad..."
>This river supplies P0nyville's water. If those gates don't get fixed soon...
>With a sigh, Water Works starts thinking.
>"...There must be a problem with the hydraulics. I'll have to go up to the gates and see what's wrong, exactly... Right after I've had some more coffee."