//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 
// Story: Sleeping in the Light 
// by Wheller 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 9


The road became windy as they descended out of the Ponyville metropolitan area and into Ghastly Gorge, the vehicles of Kelso and Company's convoy automatically slowed for the conditions. Not even an autopilot could go fast here. Most roads in the Ponyville area were perpendicular lines that could be travelled in any direction for a very long time before meeting a curve, or necessary turn. This was not the case here.

Ghastly Gorge was a desolate place, difficult to get in to, difficult to get out of; the bleak canyon was the perfect place to put a top secret research facility where you didn't want anyone else to know what you were doing.

From her spot in the holographic side car on Hopely's motorcycle, Kelso was able to see the GGIC off in the distance. The building itself was a small one, but that was not surprising, that was just the part of the complex that could be seen. Most of the complex, like all other FutureTec installations, would be underground.

The building itself was situated on a small island in the middle of the gorge, and the road itself was practically at the level of the river, and as it flowed, water occasionally splashed up onto it. Up the river about a kilometre was a hydroelectric power station that controlled the flow of water throughout the river. It seemed that in an emergency, the dam could let out a couple decalitres of water and cut off the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex from the rest of the world by flooding the road.

Indeed this was the perfect place for a secret research station that you didn't want anyone to know what was going on that.

The road began to straighten, and their descent steepened as they closed in on the facility. The road straddled the river, and it continued to flow on both sides of them as they approached the facility. Kelso looked up at a large posted sign as they passed. 'Warning: Restricted Area. Unauthorised persons will be prosecuted'.

Kelso was sceptical. This was the GGIC; after all, security was more likely to shoot unauthorised persons than anything else. Hopely took the motorcycle off of autopilot and began to slow as they reached the security gatehouse, coming to a complete stop in front of the gate.

A rough looking earth pony stallion wearing dark sunglasses stared at them intensely, or so it seemed, at least, he was after all wearing sunglasses after it was dark out, which was more than a little odd. The holographic canopy around Hopely faded away as she sat up and looked at the security guard. 'PPS Convoy returning the missing patient, Sugar Plum', Hopely said.

'I will need to see credentials', the guard said.

Hopely nodded, bringing up the holographic display of her PIP and broadcasting her badge signal. The guard took a look at his holographic terminal, nodding his head and opening the gate for Hopely, Kelso, and the others in the truck.

Hopely sat back down, and the holographic canopy re-materialised and she drove forward. The truck followed behind them, and they pulled into the parking lot outside the GGIC. The motorcycle's side car de-materialised, and Kelso rose to her hooves. The engine died, and Hopely climbed off the bike as the truck pulled up next to them.

'Cold out tonight', Hopely said with a frown. 'Wish I'd worn a hat'.

Kelso nodded her head in agreement. 'Colder than it should be for a late summer's evening', she said as they trotted to the back of the truck and opened it up. Sparky and Dizzy stumbled out of the back of the truck and onto the pavement before them. Pinkie Pie hopped out after them, humming softly as she followed. They joined with Viola and headed up to the entrance.

Kelso felt uneasy, she was worried about Pinkie Pie. The pink pony, her friend, had no idea what was about to happen. She pushed open the front door to the facility and stepped inside.

The room was mostly empty, four white walls, with a receptionist's desk on the eastern wall, and a lift along the northern. The room was similar in size and shape to the entrance lobby to the Whitetail Industrial Complex, of which Sparky and Kelso were most familiar with. Standing in the room was a unicorn mare with a pristine white coat, and fiery orange hair. Her silvery eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses. She was wearing a white doctor's coat that was far too big for her, and she had a FutureTec issue Micro Information Processor attached to her left leg. She was flanked by two very large and generic looking earth pony security guards, both of whom were wearing dark Sunglasses.

'Doctor Fontaine?' Kelso asked.

'Yes', the unicorn said in a pseudo-cheval accent. 'Doctor Belle Fontaine', she repeated with a nod as she trotted towards them, looking them over, noticing Pinkie Pie immediately and examining her fully. 'Oh it is so good to see you again! We wish that you hadn't run off, we were worried!'

Pinkie Pie looked at Doctor Fontaine in confusion. 'I'm sorry, do I know you? I know a lot of people... but I've never met anyone that looks quite like you'.

'Well, that would be because we've never met face to face', Doctor Fontaine said with a smile. 'I've been in charge of your treatment, but I, unfortunately, have had to remain as a passive observer... that'll be changing now, you, and I will be getting to know each other quite well'.

Pinkie Pie looked at each of the others in confusion as Doctor Fontaine put her foreleg around the pink pony, smiling oddly at the mare before turning to the security guards. 'Take care of the Police', she ordered.

Doctor Fontaine did not even have the opportunity to finish her sentence before Dizzy and Sparky had their guns out. Dizzy leapt forward at the first guard, catching him off balance and bashing him over the head with the grip of her pistol. When the second guard moved to help him, Sparky responded by cracking him in the shins with her baton, continuing her swing and smashing him in the face. Sparky leapt at him, trying to tackle him to the ground.

The stallion did not go down however; he struggled to shake Sparky off of him, by jerking back and forth. 'Would any of you real police mares like to help!?' Sparky cried out.

'Nah, you've got it, just keep beating on him!' Viola called out with a smirk.

Ignoring her, Hopely and Kelso charged forward, tackling the earth pony stallion to the ground, allowing Sparky to knock him cold by bashing him in the back of the head with her baton.

The first stallion, was having even less luck, Dizzy delivered a powerful kick to his flank, sending him flying into the northern wall and knocking him cold. Doctor Fontaine watched with awe, her mouth fell open and she began to look around rather nervously. 'Uh... I do believe that this is all a misunderstanding' she said, trying her hardest to talk her way out of the mess she had just made for herself.

Pinkie Pie brushed the doctor off her and trotted over to the second security guard, giving him a complete once over. She pulled the sunglasses off his face and turned back to look at the doctor. 'Well doctor, I guess this means...'  Pinkie Pie began as she put the sunglasses over her eyes. 'That they just got administered fifty CCs of pain!' Pinkie Pie turned her head back and let out a cry of 'YEEEEEEAHHHH!' and began to flail her arms wildly as if she was playing the drums.

'What is she doing?' Hopely asked.

'I have no idea', Kelso said raising an eyebrow.

Doctor Fontaine bolted towards the front door, only to be met by Viola, who extended a foreleg, tripping the doctor up and sending her face planting into the ground, smashing her glasses to pieces. Doctor Fontaine struggled to get back to her hooves, but Viola was quick to counter her. 'Here's how it works, Doctor, give me your MIP, and I don't send you to gaol for a very, very long time'.

Doctor Fontaine pressed the button on the back of her MIP, snapping open the locking mechanism and allowing it to fall off at Viola's hooves.

'Good', Viola said as she picked it up and attached it to her own leg. 'Get out of here, and you even think of telling the guard at the gate what happened? We'll find you'.

Doctor Fontaine skittered across the floor, throwing open the door and running through the parking lot like there was no tomorrow, getting in her car and leaving the premises.

'So?' Viola asked as she held up Fontaine's MIP. 'Who wants to figure out what the devils are up to?'

…

Using Fontaine's MIP, they were able to get access to the lift; their first stop was the security office. Sparky was able to sabotage the security cameras, erasing all the footage from tonight, and keeping them from recording until tomorrow. A count of the MIP Tracker signals around the facility showed minimal contacts. In fact, the only one they could see was Doctor Fontaine's, which, of course, was now in Viola's possession. Their best bet for information was going to be on the fifth sub level, the main server housing, along with the other facilities for Station SPECTRE. With Doctor Fontaine's high level clearance, they should have no problem making their way there.

As they rode the lift down to the fifth sub level, they couldn't help but feel as if the place was unnaturally empty, and then they understood why.

When they reached the fifth sub level, they discovered a sign warning off anyone who wasn't supposed to be here. 'Warning, hazardous, proceed only with supervisor clearance and above, and at your own peril'.

'Ominous', Viola said as she read the sign.

'Everything looks fine to me', Sparky said as she held out her own MIP, waving it around to sample the air. 'Not detecting anything hazardous to our health...'

'As if turning around was an option anyway', Kelso said as she stepped out of the lift and turned down the hallway. At the far end of the room, something caught her eye, something out of place, and she immediately was drawn to it.

Before she knew it, Kelso was heading towards it. Not giving a second thought about the course of action. The rest of the group fell in behind her, taking a brisk pace just to keep up.

Pinkie Pie stopped in her tracks, she looked around nervously at the hallway. 'I think we should go back!' Pinkie Pie called out.

Kelso stopped and turned to look at Pinkie Pie. 'What? Go back? Why?' she asked.

'I've got a really, REALLY bad feeling', Pinkie Pie said nervously. A look of genuine distress had appeared on the pink pony’s face.

'Come on Pinkie, we're the only ones here!' Kelso said, and continued on her way down the hall. Pinkie Pie, however begrudgingly continued to follow.

At the end of the hallway, Kelso discovered that it opened into a small room. The door was open, and sitting on the ground in the room was an earth pony mare. Her coat was navy blue, and her mane was pitch black, but what Kelso was most interested in was the mare's eyes. There were strips of white cloth tied over them.

Kelso walked into the room and kneeled down next to the mare. Pinkie Pie began to grow more visibly nervous. 'Kelso!' Pinkie hissed at her.

Kelso did not reply, and neither did anyone else in their party, because they were all wondering the same thing. Who was this mare? Why where her eyes covered? The mare did not move at all, she did not seem to even be aware that they were there. Before Kelso knew it, she was reaching up to pull the coverings off the mare's eyes, she didn't know why she was doing it; she just was.

Suddenly, Kelso felt a hoof strike across her face.

'Do not touch the bindings', the navy blue mare said.

Kelso stumbled back in surprise, the mare was not only awake, she was very aware of what was going on. 'I'm sorry... I... I don't know what came over me', Kelso said apologetically.

The mare did not reply, instead she just continued to face towards Kelso, she could not tell, but she was very sure that the mare was staring at her. 'Duty based, the desire to help overrides all others, the simple mare with few needs, very well attuned sense of right and wrong. Police mare, Detective Sergeant, Ana Kelso', the mare said, rattling off a perfect psychological description of Kelso.

'How... how do you know that?' Kelso asked, shocked by the mare's statement.

'You're an open book', the mare said simply, offering her an odd smile.

'Who are you?' Kelso asked.

'I am nameless, unknowable. I am patient, prisoner, slave, words so different, all the same here', the mare said simply. 'Could leave, would be very easy, guards pathetic, nowhere to go, so here I remain, my torment is theirs'.

'Kelso!' Pinkie Pie cried out, pushing her way past the rest of the group and into the room, catching the mare's attention.

'Ah, the two faced mare, proponent of many masks, also nameless, believes to be more than what is possible, incorrect, unaware of the truth. Curious, prisoner to the falsehood', the mare said simply.

'Kelso!' Pinkie Pie said again, this time beginning to panic. 'We really should go!'

'What's the rush?' the mare asked, looking directly at Pinkie Pie and giving her a sadistic grin. 'You do not know yourself, but I know you, you wear the name and face of Pinkie Pie, but you are not her. You are a falsehood'.

'You know who she is?' Kelso asked, raising an eyebrow at the mare before her.

'I do', the mare said as she rose to her hooves. 'I will show you'.

She raised her foreleg towards Pinkie Pie and began to concentrate. Pinkie Pie froze, her face filled with fear, the rest of the group watching in awe, as if they were entranced, unable to do anything to stop what was occurring before their eyes. Pinkie Pie's face began to twitch, and she cried out in pain. She clutched at her head and fell to the floor, crying out, begging for the pain to stop.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie burst, a flash of green fire, and the pink mare was gone. In her place, lying on the floor clutching its head was a black, insect like creature, with solid bright blue eyes, and sharp teeth, gossamer wings and a jagged horn. 

Kelso's mouth fell open. Pinkie Pie...  was a changeling.