//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Maretrix OC // by Violet Runner //------------------------------// Violet opened his eyes to find himself in a small pool filled with a green gelatin-like liquid. As he struggled to get out, air bubbles formed in the gelatin. As he pressed up, the surface distended, stretching like a green rubber like bubble. Unable to breathe, he fought to be able stand, and eventually ruptured the surface, creating a hole, which he used to gasp for air. Tearing himself free, he emerged from the green liquid. Dizzy and unable to stand properly, he waited for his vision to focus. When his vision finally became clear Violet saw that he was standing in a green horizontal cocoon filled with green gelatin, the surface of which had solidified like curdled milk. Looking at himself he saw that he had hooves, was covered in short tan fur and had what looked like black wires or cables sticking out from different parts of his body. He felt the weight of two other cables, one on the back of his head and one on his forehead. He reached around to the back of his head where he found what felt like an enormous coaxial cable plugged and locked into the base of his skull. He tried to pull it out, but couldn't get a grip with his hooves. Giving up he looked around his surroundings and saw other cocoons filled with green gelatin-like liquid; beneath the wax-like surface, were other pale and motionless, equine beings. Fanning out in a circle he saw that there are even more of them. All of which connected to a central core, each cocoon attached to a thick black stem. Looking up he saw, level after, level, as the stem seemed to rise forever. He moved to the foot of the cocoon and looked out. Towers of glowing petals spiral up to incomprehensible heights, disappearing down into a dim murk like an underwater abyss. All of a sudden a Changeling dropped directly in front of him. He swallowed his scream as it stared at him. The Changeling then sent out a green energy beam from it’s horn directly at Violet. He wriggled in pain as the energy beam seemed to expose the nervous system wired to the coaxial cable at his cerebral cortex. At the back of the neck, the “cable” pulled itself free, a long clear needle and cerebrum-chip slid from the interior of Violet's skull with an ooze of blood and spinal fluid. The other “cable” on his forehead also came free and he saw that is was in fact some type of tentacle. The smaller tentacles on his body snap free and snaked away as the back of the unit opened and a tremendous vacuum, sucked the gelatin and Violet along with it into a black hole. Violet fell, sliding down a tube, screaming his lungs out. He eventually fell out of the end of the pipe, into a body of water. Because he was not used to his new equine body he began to drown. Just as he was about to lose conciseness, he was suddenly snatched up by a machine. The metallic cable then lifted him up into a flying machine of some sort. The metal harness opened and drooped the half-conscious Violet onto the floor. Equine hooves and legs help him up as he found himself looking straight at Ponies that resemble Crescent Sliver, Hawkeye and Deep Darkness, along with others he doesn't recognize. The one that looked like Crescent Silver smiled at him. “Welcome to the real world....” Crescent Sliver said quietly to Violet right before he passed out. As he drifted in and out of conscious, Violet heard Crescent and Hawkeye talking in hushed voices. “...We've done it, Hawkeye...we've found him.” Crescent said happily. “I hope you're right...” Hawkeye said a little sceptically. “I don't have to hope. I know it.” Crescent said reassuringly. Violet woke up on an operating table and looked at the ponies standing over him. “....Am I dead?” He asked, squinting in the light. “Far from it...” Crescent said, looking down at him before he passed out again. Violet woke up again some time later. He saw his equine body pierced with dozens of acupuncture-like needles wired to a strange device. “He still needs a lot of work.” A Pegasus with light brown coat, short cropped black mane with a silver stripe down the middle said. “What are you doing?” Violet asked weakly. “Your muscles have atrophied, we're rebuilding them.” Crescent Sliver said turning to look at him. “Why do my eyes hurt?” He asked blinking. “You've never used them before.” The black unicorn said getting a confused look from him. “Rest, Violet, the answers are coming.” He said, as he passes out again. Violet woke up to find himself lying on a bed in a small room. He began to examine himself finding that he was indeed a pony. He saw a futuristic IV plugged into a jack in his foreleg. He tried to grab it but failed as he had no hands to grab it with. He then saw a part of it lying on the bed and put a hoof on it and pulled his other leg away pulling the IV out. He felt a slight weight on his forehead and lifted a hoof to find a horn coming out of his skull. Just as he’s about to touch it, A Black Unicorn with a white mane and tail and a tiny sliver of a new crescent moon Cutie Mark opened the door and walked in. “Crescent Sliver? What's happened to me?” He asked looking at the black unicorn. “More important than what is where.” Crescent said sitting down. “Where?” Violet asked confused. “You believe that we are somewhere in North America, when in fact we are in Equestria. I can't tell you exactly were we are, because we honestly don't know. There's nothing I can say that will explain it for you, Violet... But if you come with me, you can see for yourself.” Crescent Sliver said getting up. Because he wasn't use to using hooves yet, Violet followed Crescent rather unsteadily through the door. “This is my ship, The Lunar Dream....” Crescent said gesturing around him. “It's an Airship.” He explained as they walked throw the halls. “This is the main deck...This is the core, where we emit our pirate signal, and...tap into the Maretrix.” They enter a room where the other ponies Violet had met are all standing, or sitting at computer terminals. “Most of my crew, you already know.” He said to Violet as he looked around. Hawkeye nodded and smiled at him when their gazes met. “This is Hawkeye, Deep Darkness, Solo Gamer, and Bad Apple.” Crescent said reintroducing them. Hawkeye was a brown earth pony with a dark green mane and tail with a Cutie Mark of red cross-hairs with a bird of prey in it. Deep Darkness was a black pegasus with a black mane and tail with a white streak in it and 5 stars for a Cutie Mark. Solo Gamer was a light gray earth pony mare with a green and dark green mane and tail and had a cutie mark that looked like an Atari 2600 controller. Bad Apple was a warm caramel coloured earth pony with a shiny black main and red apple with a wedge cut out in the front for a Cutie Mark. “Hi. Call me B.A. Everypony else does.” Bad Apple said with a smile. “The ones you don't know, Mixer, and his big brother, Crisp ...The little one behind you is Divergent Breeze.” Crescent said with a sigh. Mixer was a cobalt blue unicorn with a brown mane and tail and a Cutie Mark of a vial, possibly crossed with a crystal. Crisp was a light brown pegasus with short cropped black mane and tail with a silver stripe down the middle and a Bass Clef turned slightly with an eighth note inside for a Cutie Mark. Divergent Breeze was a pale yellow pegasus with a light brown mane and tail, and a cog with a wrench and a thunderbolt crossed in the centre Cutie Mark. Divergent smiled at Violet and waved slightly shyly, but backed away when Crescent Sliver looked at him. “You wanted to know...what the Maretrix is, Violet?” He asked turning back to him. Violet nodded unsteadily and Crescent turned to face Hawkeye. “Hawkeye...” Crescent said giving her a silent order. Hawkeye approached Violet, and helped him into an armchair, strapping in his feet, and leaning his head back against the headrest. “Try to relax...this will feel....a little weird the first time.” Crescent said getting into another one. As Hawkeye guided a Tentacle up to the back of his neck, Violet screamed and made a few other disturbing noises as it latched onto his skull. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a totally white place and he was Human again and noticed he was wearing Steampunk-like clothing. As Violet spun around a bit, trying to see what was going on, Crescent Sliver appeared in front of him. “This is the construct. It’s our Hivemind and I guess you could say it's like loading program. We can load anything from clothing, to equipment, weapons, training simulations, anything we need.” Crescent explained. “Right now....we're inside a Hivemind?” Violet asked having a hard time getting a grasp of it. “Is it really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different. Your horn is gone. Your human again.” Crescent said pointing out the things that had changed. Violet put a hand to his head and touched his forehead comforting the horn was gone. “Your appearance now is what we call residual self image. It is the mental projection...of how you see yourself.” He said as two chairs appear in front of them, and Violet reached out to touch one and ran his hand along its back. “This....this isn't real?” Violet asked, still trying to comprehend what was going on. “What is real?” Crescent asked looking at him. “How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” He said as a small plasma screen television appeared in front of the two chairs. As Violet sat down in the chair beside Crescent, the white haired man picked up a television remote and turned it on. The TV showed an image of a city with people and cars going about their daily business. “This is the world that you know. The world as it was described in fantasy books. It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive Hivemind, that we call The Maretrix.” Crescent said turning to Violet. “You've been living in a dream world, Violet. This...” He said changing the channel “Is the Real world, Equestria as it exists today.” The sky was an endless sea of black and green bile. The earth was scorched and split like burnt flesh. The image then spread out beneath them startling Violet. “Welcome.....to the desert of the real...We have only bits and pieces of information, but what we know for certain is that at some point after the Crystal Empire returned all of Equestria was united in celebration. But that all changed when They attacked...” Crescent started to explain confusing Violet a little. “...The Swarm.” “The Swarm…you mean The Changelings?” Violet said looking at Crescent astonished. “Shortly after the Crystal Empire returned, the Changelings replaced Chrysalis with a new Queen. Under her command the changelings managed to invade and take over the Crystal Empire. Thou nopony knows exactly what happened, after Celestia and Luna went to deal with the Changeling Queen, the sky fell into chaos, with the sun and moon being in the sky at the same time. After that it was only a matter of time before all of Equestria and the other kingdoms fell.” Crescent said sighing. Violet stared at him, with his mouth open still trying to take it all in. “There are fields...endless fields, were Equines and other beings are no longer born. They are grown.” He said as their surroundings changed to show what he was talking about. “For the longest time, I wouldn't believe it...and then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watch them liquefy the dead, so they could be fed intravenously to the living. And standing there, facing the pure horrifying precision, I came to realize the obviousness of the truth. What is The Maretrix? Control. The Maretrix is a Hivemind generated dream world, combined with a type of sentient plant found in the Everfree Forest, built to keep us under control in order to change an Equine being into this.” Crescent said holding up a burger to Violet. “No....I don't believe it!! It's not possible. The Elements…” Violet said beginning to panic. “I didn't say it would be easy, Violet. I just said it would be the truth.” The white haired man said, trying to calm him down but failing. “Noooo!! Stop!! Let me out!! I want out!!” Violet yelled panicking. Violet’s eyes snap open and he thrashed against the chair, trying to rip the tentacle from the back of his neck. “Easy, Violet. Easy...” Hawkeye said trying to calm him down. “Take this thing off me!! Take this thing…” He yelled angrily. “Listen to me...” Crescent Sliver said getting out his chair and also trying to calm him down. “Don't touch me! Stay away from me! I don't want it, I don't believe it!!” He said trying to get out of the chair. “He's gonna pop.” Bad Apple said rolling his eyes. Violet finally got out the chair, and, staggered about the room a bit, eventually falling onto the ground. “Breathe, Violet. Just breathe...” Crescent said still trying to calm him down. Violet then through up on the floor before passing out.