A tale of an alicorn princess who finds herself captive in an unfamiliar location.
Welcome to the Sleipnir institute for the mentally unwell, where the most dangerous ponies in existence are contained within small, metal cells designed for the sole purpose of imprisoning them. It is in this grim, dark place that the alicorn princess Twilight Sparkle finds herself, her wings bound and her magic disabled. Twilight doesn't know how she came to Sleipnir or why, and every time she turns her mind to the past, she feels only pain. Twilight can do nothing but piece together enough of the past to find out why she was imprisoned. It will not be easy, but Twilight has the help of others to assist her, a crippled pegasus, a cannibalistic psychopath, and mysterious machine named Dread.
WARNING: This fic is extremely graphic and not for the easily disgusted and/or disturbed.
When Twilight woke up, the first thing she was aware of was a sharp pain in her head. The second thing she realized was that she was not in her bed, and what she had been sleeping on seemed to be made of kind of cool metal. her wings bound to her by some type of belt. The next thing Twilight realized was that she was in complete darkness. Instinctively Twilight attempted to use her magic to give her some light, only to have the pain in her head double.Twilight reached up to try and see what was wrong, and found that her horn had been covered by some kind of paint. Twilight attempted to use a telekinesis spell to remove the substance, only to once more cause a that seemed to want her skull to shatter.
Panicked, Twilight Sparkle leaped to her feet and tried to run, only to take one step and have her face collide with an unseen barrier. When she recovered,Twilight placed a hoof on the wall and began to feel the dimensions of wherever she was. Twilight’s heart sank when she found that she barely had enough room to lie down. Her panic renewed, Twilight began to shout, hoping that some pony would hear her and come to her aid.
“HELP! SOME PONY! ANY PONY! ” she shouted as she banged on the walls of the thing that trapped her, “I’M TRAPPED IN SOME KIND OF GARBAGE CAN!”
“Finally awake are you?” A familiar voice said coolly from Twilight’s left, “Did you really have to wake up during nap time? Some ponies are sleeping here.”
“Wha- Pinkie Pie? Is that you?” Twilight asked, momentarily distracted from her present predicament.
The voice laughed, “Now there’s a name that I haven’t heard in a long time. Not since my first time come to think of it. I used to be called Pinkie Pie, but now I go by my full name, Pinkamena Diane Pie. I’m gonna guess that you’re Twilight Sparkle from the sound of your voice. So what are you in for?”
Twilight blinked, “In for? What do you mean? I haven’t done anything. Where am I?”
Pinkamena laughed, “You’re in the Sleipnir Asylum, silly, where all the most bad ponies end up. You don’t get in here if you didn’t do anything.”
Twilight frowned, “Like I said I haven’t done anything.”
“Its okay, Twilight, every pony here has done something, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. So what’s your crime? Rape? Murder? Cannibalism? Torture? Which is it? Wait, don't tell me. It was jaywalking wasn't it?” Pinkamena laughed at her own joke.
Twilight stood there in shock. It was one thing for a pony talk about such abhorrent things, but to casually ask a pony if she did any them! Twilight couldn’t even process the thought.
“Oh come on,” Pinkamena said cheerfully, “whatever you did couldn’t have been too bad, judging by the fact that the Administrator doesn’t have you restrained. Then again, I’m a cannibal who butchered ponies alive and all they’ve got me in is an 'I love my self so much jacket'.”
Twilight was briefly enraged, “The Pinkie Pie I knew would NEVER hurt one of her friends!”
Pinkamena laughed maniacally, “YOUR Pinkie might not, but I’m not the Pinkie Pie you knew am I? Don’t you realize where we are? Didn’t Dread explain anything to you when he brought you here? Didn’t he tell you what this place was? I’m not the Pinkie Pie that you knew, just as you are not the Twilight Sparkle that I knew. This is the first time either of us has met each other.”
Twilight shouted, “You’re not making any sense! What do mean known our selves before meeting here at the Asylum? How can we have just met if we’ve known each other? And who in the hoof is Dread?”
Just as Twilight finished her rant, a light from outside her holding cell turned on, and Twilight could see how many more ponies where being held at this Asylum. Outside the glass window on her cell, Twilight could see rows of cylinder-like holding cells, each containing a different Pony. Upon closer inspection Twilight realized that many of the Ponies, in addition to the straightjackets, had muzzles placed on them, preventing them from speaking.
“Good morning dear children,” a sing song voice that sounded neither masculine nor feminine said over an intercom, “we at the Sleipnir House of the Mentally Unwell hope that you've all had a long night of pleasant dreams that last nap time. Breakfast will be served shortly, followed by the announcement of today’s therapy schedule. We hope that you have a pleasant day.”
“Oh great,” Pinkamena said miffed, “they didn’t announce what they’re going to be feeding us. That usually means that whatever it is, it'll be almost inedible.” Twilight was still trying to figure out why this asylum had multiple variations of the same pony and didn’t listen.
“Where am I?” Twilight asked stupidly.
“Ugh, you’ve been told twice now.” Pinkamena said, “Once by me, and once by the intercom. You’re in the Sleipnir Asylum. You know, the nut house?”
“Why are there so many ponies here?”
“Because there are that many crazy ponies out there in the world?” Pinkamena laughed, “Seriously, how the buck am I supposed to know? All I know is that any pony that commits an act that the Administrator defines as unnatural ends up here, no matter what universe they’re in.”
“What do you mean universe?” Twilight asked.
“Well it’s not something that the doctor’s confirmed, just something that I’ve come up with as a way of trying to rationalize why…” Pinkamena stopped mid sentence as the sound of a hatch opening came from somewhere far to Twilight’s right, “Buckin’ finally, food’s here!”
In the distance, Twilight could just make out the sound of doors being slid open and closed. As the noise came closer, she began hear a metallic thump approach rhythmically, pausing as whatever figure making the sound stopped to feed an inmate. As the figure came closer, Twilight could just barely make a silhouette pushing cart, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. The figure was walking on two legs and didn't look like it could be a dragon. The figure came closer and Twilight could make out a rounded head and two limbs hanging along either side of the creature’s body.
When the creature came close enough to Twilight’s cell, she saw that it couldn’t be a creature. It had metal instead of skin, two glowing red lights where its eyes should be, and three fingered claws at the end of its limbs. As it moved, Twilight could hear a faint buzzing noise coming from the entity’s joints.
When the machine made its way to the front of Twilight’s cell, she could make out the robot’s more detailed features. Its entire body appeared to be loosely designed after a pony’s skeleton. Where it’s eye’s would have been, there were two glowing red lights that were angled to look like the robot was glaring. This seemed to be entirely aesthetic as the robot’s vision seemed to come from a black lens located at the center of its face.
Looking at the robot’s face caused Twilight’s head to hurt again. As she tried her best to fight back tears, Twilight found herself standing before the Canterlot royal palace. Just as suddenly, the purple alicorn was standing before Princess Celestia, who looked both shocked and disgusted.
“How could you, Twilight Sparkle?” The Princess asked, just as she and everything around her began to fade.
The window on Twilight’s cell was slid open by a metal, three fingered claw. When the window was opened, the robot spoke. Its voice was electronic, but masculine, and it echoed as if the voice wasn’t coming from the robot, but rather something far away.
“Your meal, patient Twilight Sparkle. Enjoy.” The robot gave her a small disposable bowl with a plastic lid, “Have a pleasant day.”
The robot went on to feed the other ponies. Twilight inspected the contents of the bowl. Inside appeared to be a grainy, white chunk of bread that had been cooked and allowed to get moldy. Upon touching the substance, Twilight found that despite all appearances, the food was a liquid. When Twilight tasted the substance, she decided that whoever cooked it had just mixed old food together and bleached it.
“Do you know what that robot was Pinkamena?” Twilight asked, trying to take her mind off of the disgusting meal before her.
“Who, Dread?” Pinkamena asked, “I don’t know much about him, assuming he is a he. From what I can tell, he does all the grunt work for the Administrator. Feeding inmates, cleaning, restraining, stuff like that. He’s also the one who actually bring the inmates in; he’s the one dragged you in this time yesterday.”
“Thanks, I was just wondering why…”
“Why he has the weird claw things?” Pinkamena said, predicting Twilight’s question.
“Yeah, those things.”
“I think that he was designed to perform delicate tasks, things that only a unicorn could do with telekinesis. You’ll see him walking around like a normal pony most of the time.”
Twilight sat in silence, eating her breakfast which despite all appearances turned out to be a kind of pudding. She found herself unable to explain her vision. Did it have something to with why she was here?
What was she thinking? Of course it had something to do with it. Princess Celestia wouldn’t be mad at her for no reason; she would have asked Twilight to explain herself, and then lectured her. And besides, Celestia wouldn’t send her to a place like this, not if she didn’t deserve it at least.
'But what if I do deserve to be here?' Twilight thought with a shudder. 'No. There is no way that I would have done something that would warrant me being sent to mental hospital. This has to be a mistake; Princess Celestia will show up any time now to take me home. Everything will be just…'
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening from somewhere above her. A light from above suddenly illuminated her cell, and Twilight looked up to see a small screen mounted to the roof of her cell. The image on it was blurry, but Twilight could just make out the image on old stallion wearing what appeared to be an expensive suit.
“Good morning,” The Stallion said in that same gender neutral voice that the intercom spoke in before, “I do hope that you have all enjoyed your breakfast. Today I thought that we would do one of my favorite methods of treatment, a Release of Tension. I’m sure that many of you are already quite aware of this exercise and are eager to participate.”
“Now those of you who have only recently came to stay at the Sleipnir House of the Mentally Unwell, I feel that I should explain this exercise so that you know what it is that we will be doing. You see, here at Sleipnir, many of our patients have this…pressure that builds over time, like air in a balloon. The more this pressure builds, the more likely that the patient will, pop if you will, and become a threat to themselves and others. In order to treat this, I have developed a method reminiscent of the olden days of gladiatorial combat.”
“In this exercise I will be selecting to patients at random to come to an Arena located just outside this room. While in the Arena, the patients will have the freedom to do whatever they please. Whichever patient comes out alive shall receive full medical attention, as well as one request for their dinner. The Patients who will be in the exercise shall be announced at noon.”
The screen cut off a moment after the Stallion finished. Twilight began trying to figure out the reasoning behind the exercise that who she guessed was the Administrator had just described. Twilight wasn’t one to question a professional’s methods, but this 'Release of Tension' made absolutely no medical sense. Shouldn’t a doctor try to get patients to focus their urges into something productive, or else get them to stop acting on them at all?
“You’re probably wondering what exactly the Administrator was going on about.” Pinkamena said as if reading Twilight’s mind.
“I’m trying to make sense of it, if that’s what you mean. Why would a doctor use such methods? And what did he mean by Whichever patient comes out alive?”
Pinkamena laughed, “It means that one of the two ponies is going to die silly.”
“But why?” Twilight asked, “Why would a doctor have his patients kill each other? Doctors are supposed to help ponies, not have them kill each other!”
“Beats me,” Pinkamena said, “all I care about is that whoever wins gets to eat whatever they want.”
Twilight sat there in her cell pondering her current situation. She woke up to find herself being punished for something she didn’t even remember doing. In that prison there were ponies from other realities or universes that had committed terrible acts an,d from what Twilight could tell, where all insane. Among those ponies was an evil version of her friend Pinkie Pie, no not an evil version of Pinkie Pie, just an evil pony that sounded and claimed to be Pinkie Pie. The prison seemed to be maintained by a robot that had been designed to resemble a pony but walk on two legs, and was controlled by an Administrator that seemed to periodically force ponies to kill each other for seemingly no reason at all. What troubled Twilight the most was the way Pinkamena said “whatever they want”.
As she reflected, Twilight’s head began to hurt again, causing her to rub her hooves on the most sensitive part of her skull in a vain attempt to ease the headache. When the headache had passed, Twilight asked herself why she was having headaches; she had rarely ever had them back at Ponyville, why was she having so many of them now? Did it have something to do with whatever it was that got her locked up in Sleipnir? Did it have something to do with the asylum itself? Twilight stopped thinking about it when her head began to feel like it was ready to split itself in two.
Moments later the robot named Dread came back into the hallway, this time walking on all fours. As the robot walked by each cell, it shined a light into the window and flashed the lights on its eyes twice. Occasionally it would light the cell twice and write something in a notebook.
“What is it doing?” Twilight asked.
“What is what doing?” Pinkamena responded.
“The robot, its shining a light into the cells!”
“He has a name you know. Anyway, Dread is just scanning each Pony’s health to see which ones will give the Administrator the best show. At least that’s only conclusion that I’ve been able to come up with, he always does that before one of the Administrator’s exercises. Don’t pay any attention to it, it’s not gonna hurt you.”
When Dread had finished scanning every inmate, the robot went up to an observation area that overlooked the entire hall. There Dread announced over a speaker,
“The patients that will be competing in today’s release of tension will be announced within one hour of this message. It is advised that all ponies begin to mentally ready themselves for the exercise. If anypony would like to volunteer for releasing their tension, please do so at this time.” No pony volunteered.
Dread continued, “In the meantime, please enjoy this replay of the last patients who participated in the release of tension.” When the robot finished the screen in Twilight's cell turned on and displayed a logo with SLEIPNIR written on it.
After a moment the logo switched to a title card asking Twilight to please silence her cell phone, whatever that meant. Shortly after, the image on the screen turned black and classical music began to play over the intercom. A second later, the screen showed an image of two ponies, a mare and a stallion facing each other in the middle of a large, circular room, a metal fence separating them.
The two ponies stood there for about 30 seconds before the fence sank into the floor. Almost immediately the stallion charged at the mare. The mare just barely managed to dodge him. The stallion charged again, this time he managed to knock the mare off her hooves. The mare attempted to get up, but was stopped when the stallion leapt onto her. The stallion turned the mare over so that she was forced to look at his face.
At first Twilight was confused, the way the Administrator described it she had expected this exercise to be more…violent. She did not think that it would be this odd sort of wrestling. Maybe the exercise wasn’t as bad she thought.
Then Twilight noticed the expression on the mare’s face. It seemed like she was in more pain than she should have from just being pinned down. The Twilight saw how the two ponies were positioned, how the stallion was moving. Twilight felt her insides squirm.
“SWEET MOTHER OF LUNA!” Twilight said in disgust, “WHAT THE BUCK?”
Twilight was not used to idea of this kind of act, she had heard of it before, but she never thought that a pony would actually do something like that. Twilight watched for a moment longer, the stallion placed a hoof on the mare’s throat and began to press down. However doing so freed the mare’s right hoof, allowing her to try to ward off the stallion. The mare began to try a push the stallion off her, but it was to no avail, the stallion seemed completely unaffected by the mare’s vain attempt at freedom.
The mare began hitting the stallion in his head, but at this point she must have been running out of oxygen, and her blows weren’t strong enough to faze the stallion. Eventually the mare gave up on her attempt at freedom and allowed the stallion to do as he pleased, waiting for him to end it. In her last moments of life, the camera zoomed in on the mares face, showing her anguish in explicit detail. Twilight watched, her eyes hypnotically glued to the screen, as the nameless mare’s eyes lost focus. It wasn’t until the stallion got off the mare that Twilight forced herself to look away, and vomit.
In the next cell, Twilight heard Pinkmanina laughing at the grotesque scene, “Oh man, I remember that fight! It was bucking hilarious!”
“You-you found that funny?” Twilight asked, trying to sound like she didn’t just vomit.
“Yeah, mostly because that’s not how one would’ve expected the fight to go. That mare was guilty of 26 cases of first degree murder. I think she was called Berry the Chopper, or something like that. That stallion was a foal molester, but other than that her never hurt anypony. In fact, I think that that was the first time her ever assaulted anypony older than…” Pinkamena stopped mid sentence, “Do you smell puke?”
Twilight panicked, she didn’t want Pinkamena to know that she wasn’t used to watching ponies hurt each other, “NO! No, there’s no vomit here. Nope, no vomit at all. Honestly, I don’t know why you would think that…”
“Twilight,” Pinkamena interrupted, “I’m not going to think any less of you if you couldn’t keep your breakfast down. Hay, sometimes I have trouble digesting that crap they call food.”
“Oh, okay. Yes… I vomited”
“Look at the back of your cell, there should be a little nozzle that’ll clean the cell up for you. It’s also your water supply, and toilet.”
Twilight felt around the side of her cell opposite of the screen and window and found a round metallic object that had multiple indentions so that it could be easily turned with a hoof. Twilight turned the nozzle counter clockwise and was hit almost immediately by a torrent of intensely hot water. The water filled up the cell quickly. The cell would have completely filled up had Twilight not turned the nozzle back a second later.
Twilight sat there up to her neck in the uncomfortably hot water for a good seven minutes, having to endure various soaps that were squirted in automatically when she had turned off the water. Eventually though, small drain vents opened at the bottom of Twilight’s cell and the water level lowered, giving Twilight more room to breathe. Although she was soaking wet and smelled of a disgusting mix of Roses and Peanut butter, Twilight had at least gotten the vomit out of her cell.
“Well that was…intense;” Twilight said plainly.
“Yeah, try not to need water too much.” Pinkamena said, “Sometimes the water is just sewage that got backed up and re circulated through the pipes.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The intercom came on moments later saying, “The contestants for this exercise will be,” a drum roll played, “patient’s Corncob and Pinkamena Diane Pie.”
Twilight heard Pinkamena laugh in the cell next to her, “Well that’s great! Been a while since they let me out of this trash bin!”
“Yes, but aren’t you afraid that you’re going to die?” Twilight asked, oddly concerned for the sociopath.
“Buck no. If I die, then it means I won’t put up with this crap anymore, and if I win, well then at least to kill somepony, and I get a nice meal as an added bonus.”
Seconds later, Twilight heard the sound of metal hooves thumping in the distance. As the noise came closer, Twilight looked out her window to see Dread walking down the aisle, this time on all fours, his fingers nowhere in sight.
“Are you ready Miss Pie?” The robot asked when it got to Pinkamena’s cell.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” Pinkamena said, “Just try not to rip this straight jacket when you take it off me, this one’s actually somewhat comfortable.”
“Very well, I will now be opening your containment cell.”
Twilight heard the sound of metal latches being opened one at a time, from what she heard; Twilight guessed that there had to be at least twelve of them. Twilight strained to get a glimpse of what Pinkamena looked like, if only to just have an accurate mental image of her. When Twilight finally saw her neighbor, she was shocked and amazed.
There were many things about Pinkamena’s appearance that disturbed Twilight. For starters Pinkamena stood on two hooves, her hind hooves being elongated to balance her. She had wild, piercing eyes that looked as though they belonged to a pony that had died a long time ago. Her teeth were crooked and occasionally pointed. Her mane was unwashed and greasy, laying flat on her back. What shocked Twilight most about Pinkamena’s appearance was how much she resembled one of Twilight’s best friends, Pinkie Pie. She had the same fur color, the same eye color, and most of all, the same cutie mark.
Dread began untying Pinkamena’s straight jacket, undoing a number of odd little knots that seemed unnecessary just to hold a simple mare. As Dread undid more and more knots, Pinkamena seemed to change. Her eyes became brighter and more lively, her expression changed from a smirk to a warm smile, and her mane began to slowly rise in a sort of curl. By the time Dread was finished, Pinkamena looked like an unwashed version of Pinkie Pie.
“Ooh, what’s going on Mr.Robot?” Pinkamena asked in a cheerful voice.
“The Administrator has set up a game for you Pinkie.” Dread answered, taking no notice of Pinkamena’s, now Pinkie’s, sudden change, “It is set up in the usual play room, you will find your playmate waiting for you when you arrive.”
“Thank you!” Pinkie said cheerfully as she began hopping in the direction of the arena.
As she hopped past, Pinkie caught a view of Twilight out of the corner of her eye. Pinkie gasped excitedly, “Hey Twilight! Long time no see!”
“What?” Twilight asked. Hadn’t they been talking to each other for the last couple of hours, or did Pinkie somehow forget that?
“ITS GREAT TO SEE YOU!” Pinkie said happily, her hopping becoming slightly faster,
“Miss Pie,” Dread cut her off, “Have you forgotten that you are supposed to be attending a party?”
“Oh yeah, you know I totally forgot about that when I saw Twilight here, I guess that I just got excited and…”
“Yes, very well,” Dread said as he began pushing Pinkie towards that arena, “you will have plenty of time to catch up with one another after you are finished playing.”
Twilight heard the sound of a heavy door being open and closed, followed by the ringing silence of Pinkie’s ramblings no longer being audible. The silence was broken only be the sound of Dread’s metal hooves clip clopping on the metal floor. Every few steps Dread would stop moving, when Dread returned to Twilight’s limited range of vision she found out that he was checking the doors on all of the cells.
Shortly after, the monitor in Twilight’s cell lit up, this time it displayed a bag of popcorn and informed her that snacks could be purchased in the lobby, she was beginning to suspect that these messages were some pony’s idea of a joke. The screen changed to an image of Pinkamena/Pinkie standing in front of a blank background. Words began to scroll across the screen, but they were too small and moving too fast for Twilight keep up with them. This annoyed Twilight, who had always prided herself on being a speedy reader. Twilight did however manage to pick up the words butcher, cannibal, multiple, and sánguinum.
The image that was next displayed was that of a reddish brown Earth pony stallion. Again words began scrolling across the screen but this time Twilight didn’t bother trying to read them, she was more interested in what would being going on after the text finished. This must’ve been the pony named Corncob.
When the text stopped scrolling across the screen, a song began to play on the intercom. Twilight recognized the song as one that was often played a circuses, however she also remembered that the song was originally written a war song for soldiers to march to. The image changed to a view of the arena, Pinkamena/Pinkie was standing at one side facing the stallion named Corncob, a chain fence being the only thing separating them.
This was the first time Twilight had a good look at Corncob, and he was by far the strangest thing Twilight had seen during her imprisonment in Sleipnir, and that’s including Pinkamena and Dread. Like Pinkamena/Pinkie the stallion stood on two legs, but whatever mutation that caused such a strange adaptation clearly affected Corncob more than Pinkie. To begin with, instead of forehooves, Corncob had digits, similar to the claws that dragons and griffons had. His snout was short and appeared to have been squished into his face by brute force. But worst of all where his eyes; they were so small and beady that at first glance he appeared to not possess any. Twilight felt sick to her stomach after looking at such a strange and ugly pony.
Corncob and Pinkie stared at each other through the fence. Between the two of them Pinkie appeared to better fed, but Corncob was clearly the more physically fit. Corncob appeared to be getting impatient as he swore violently at the fence, demanding that it collapse.
“Hey,” Pinkie said in protest, “don’t be mean to the fence, it’ll come down when it wants to!”
“Shut up you little cry baby.” Corncob said coldly, “The faster that fence opens up, the faster I get to sample that tight little plot of yours.”
Pinkie ignored the obvious sexual harassment and said, “Stop being such a Meany!”
Corncob laughed, “I’m the Meany? I’m not the one who butchered two of her friends for the sole purpose of eating them!”
Twilight stopped paying attention to the screen. Pinkie/Pinkamena killed two of her friends? She said that she was a cannibal, but killing her friends? The idea was unthinkable to Twilight, that one could care so little for pony life that she would actually kill a friend! Twilight’s attention was brought back to the screen by the sound of something metal being dropped.
Corncob lunged at Pinkie, missing her by only the slightest margin, Pinkie laughed as she evaded him. Undaunted, Corncob kept trying to hit Pinkie, only to have her dodge at the last moment, and despite his best efforts, Corncob was unable to lay a hand on his opponent. Throughout all this, Pinkie continued to smile, but not in a taunting or insane way. Her smile was warm and cheerful, as if she were actually enjoying the fight. This angered Corncob, who began to express his frustration by screaming angrily.
Pinkie frowned and said holding her nose “Pee yoo, your breath smells bad, have you been forgetting to brush your teeth everyday?”
This actually caused Corncob’s rampage to come to a halt, “What?”
“I said your breath smells bad silly.” Pinkie said happily, “I have a friend who can get you some better toothpaste if that’s the problem.”
Corncob’s anger returned almost as quickly as it had vanished, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY BREATH STINKS!”
Corncob’s eyes bulged, his nostrils flared, and fur began to stand straight. He charged at Pinkie, ready to grab her throat. His digits were inches away from their target, before Pinkie grabbed his arm. In one swift movement Pinkie twisted Corncob’s arm so that she was holding it behind his back. Laughing, Pinkie slammed Corncob into the floor of the arena, bending his arm into an unnatural position.
While Corncob was dazed by the force of Pinkie’s attack, Pinkie grabbed his head and slammed it onto the arena floor twelve consecutive times before the brown stallion became unconscious. Pinkie then took the arm that she had damaged when she slammed Corncob to ground, and began pulling on the shoulder. Pinkie pulled on Corncob’s arm until the bone popped out of its socket. The pain of having his arm dislocated snapped Corncob back to consciousness. The stallion swore loudly before Pinkie slammed his head into the floor once more.
“I know you want to be awake for this part,” Pinkie said playfully, “but it works better if you’re asleep. Don’t worry though; I’ll make sure you’re up when the real fun begins.”
Pinkie proceeded to repeat this pattern of dislocating on of Corncob’s limbs, and knocking him back unconscious when the pain woke him up. By the time Pinkie had dislocated three out of Corncob’s four limbs, Corncob could only muster up a faint whimper before having his head slammed back into the ground. Twilight averted her eyes away from the screen.
This isn’t real, Twilight thought to herself, any moment now I’m going to wake up and never think about this again.
Twilight covered her eyes and began to cry. She didn’t want to be in that cramped metal container, she didn’t want to watch ponies brutally murder each other for sport; she wanted to be back home in Ponyville, with all her friends. Twilight longed to be home, away from this mad house, where she belonged. Twilight was shaken from her emotional state by a knock on her cell door. Twilight looked out of her window to see the harsh, cold, metallic face of the android Dread.
“Wha-What do you want?” Twilight asked, her voice trembling.
“Miss Twilight Sparkle,” the android said its electronic voice, “I wish to see you in my office.”
The android began unlocking the door to Twilight’s cell. When it was finished, the robot opened the door and Twilight stepped out, her knees buckling, causing the purple alicorn to fall down. Twilight realized that this was probably the first time in a while that she had used her legs, she didn’t have much room to move around in her cell, and Celestia knows how long she had been asleep
Dread held out a metal claw and asked, “Do you need any help?”
“Very well then,’ Dread said, retracting his claws into his front legs, “let’s be on our way then.”
The robot led Twilight down the cell lined hallway, opposite the direction of the arena. This was the first time Twilight had seen just how long the hallway went on. It was long, longer than Twilight had originally thought, with cells lining the walls on either side. As they walked by Twilight looked into various cells out of curiosity, she sometimes wished that she had just kept her eyes looking forward.
Most of the inmates were oddly shaped, similar to Pinkie’s/Pinkamena’s appearance, whereas others were grotesquely mutated to the point that they no longer even looked like ponies, like Corncob. Very few of the inmates were normal ponies, which Twilight found to be stranger than the mutated ponies. They were nearly at the end of the hall before Twilight saw a griffon.
Dread led Twilight through a door at the end of the hallway into what seemed to be some kind of laboratory. It was a large room with various machines and contraptions scattered throughout the area. On the walls were metal doors with biohazard symbols painted on to them. Twilight felt the urge to lose herself amongst these areas, to learn what nopony had ever learned before. If her cramped cell had been hell to her, this laboratory was heaven.
However something was off about the laboratory, it was too big for one pony alone to fully use, so that meant that there had to be other ponies working in the lab, and yet there weren’t any. Taking a second look at the machines, Twilight realized that only a couple of them were in working condition, and even fewer seemed to be in use at all.
“Dread,” Twilight said.
“What is it Miss Sparkle?”
“What is this place?”
Dread stood silently for a moment before responding, “The remains of a fallen dream.”
Twilight wanted to ask more, but she had a feeling that doing so would only result in a more cryptic response. The two walked on further until they reached a wooden door. Inside were various bookshelves, a few chairs, a grandfather clock, a few cabinets, and several small red flowers growing in a glass case. Looking at the flowers, Twilight was reminded of poison joke, but she felt that if she were to touch one of these flowers worse things would be done to her than a harmless prank.
“Please have a seat Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, gesturing towards one of the chairs.
“What is this place?” Twilight asked as she took her seat.
“This is my office, Miss Sparkle. It’s where I told you we would be going.”
“Oh, yes. That’s right, you did say that.” Twilight said. She had forgotten what she was doing while in the laboratory.
“Now I should probably tell you why I brought you here.” Dread said as he took out clipboard and a pencil, “I am going to ask you a few questions that will help me get to know you. The more I know about you, the better I can help you. Any questions?”
“Um, yes,” Twilight answered, “why are we doing this during the Administrator’s exercise? Don’t you have specific time to be doing this?”
“The blood sport that the Administrator calls an exercise is my time to be doing this. It’s the only time that it isn’t watching us,” Dread answered, “anything else?”
Twilight had many questions, but felt that Dread must’ve been stressed for time if he only had as long as the fight. Instead she shook her head and waited for Dread’s questions. She might have a chance to find out her answers later anyway.
“Good, let’s begin.” Dread said, “What did you do to warrant Princess Celestia having you sent here?”
Twilight stared at the robot blankly, “You don’t know? But Pinkie said that you were the one who brought me here.”
“Yes, that is correct. I was the one to bring you here,” Dread answered, “but when I went to collect you, you had been in a dungeon cell for what I imagine was a rather long time.”
Twilight’s mind began to race. How long had she been asleep? What could she have done to deserve this? And why did her head hurt whenever she thought about this?
Twilight collapsed to the floor, her head feeling like it was trying to outgrow her skull. The room began to spin around her, she felt like she was about to vomit. Then almost as quickly as it had come, the pain vanished.
“Miss Sparkle, are you alright?” Dread asked in what Twilight guessed was a voice of concern. The android had gotten up and moved to where Twilight was lying.
“Yeah,” Twilight answered, “I’m fine. It’s just that my head started hurting all of a sudden.”
“Have you experienced one of these headaches before?”
“Yes.” Twilight answered, “Once when I first woke up and again when I tried to remember what happened before I came here.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, I’ve never experienced a headache like that before today.”
“Well then I am guessing that your headaches are an after effect of some form of cranial trauma.” Dread said as he began writing something on a clipboard, “Let me know if you experience any more headaches.”
Dread looked at the grandfather clock and said, “We don’t have much time left before Miss Pie finishes dealing with that stallion.”
“Um, Mr. Dread?” Twilight said nervously.
“I prefer the term Doctor, Miss Sparkle,” the android said, “but please, what do you have on your mind?”
“That Pinkie, the one who’s fighting in the arena, she’s not really Pinkie right?”
“Well that would depend on how you define what the real Pinkie is.” Dread said
“I had a friend named Pinkie Pie back home, and she looks an awful lot like the Pinkie that’s in the cell next to me. They’re not the same, are they?”
Dread looked again at the grandfather clock before answering, “Yes and no. Yes the Pinkie Pie that is held in the cell next to yours is very similar to the Pinkie Pie that you are familiar with, both physically and genetically. But no, they are not the same Pinkie Pie.”
“But that can’t be right!” Twilight objected, “Two ponies can’t be genetically similar, unless you mean they’re related?”
Again Dread glanced at the grandfather clock, “No, they are not related. They are the same pony…”
“But you just said that they’re not the same pony!” Twilight interrupted, “That’s a direct contradiction to your previous statement!” Twilight was beginning to become irritated, she wasn’t used to not getting a straight answer.
“Please let me finish Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “They are not the same pony in the sense that they are the same entity, but they are the same in that they are each other’s counterpart.”
Twilight looked at the robot blankly, “What, you mean like evil twins? Because if so, then I've somehow wandered into one of Rarity's soap operas.”
The robot looked at Twilight and said, “Yes, they idea of evil twins is ridiculous, but perhaps not as ridiculous as the actual answer.”
Dread paused for a moment before asking, “You familiar with the multiverse theory correct?”
“Well yes, but I don’t see how that…” Twilight started to say before it dawned on her.
“The Pinkie that you are familiar with and the Pinkie that lives in the cell next to yours are from different realities.” Dread said matter of factly.
Twilight stood still for a moment thinking, “No, no that isn’t right, I mean that can’t be right. That would mean that this mental hospital or asylum or whatever it is would have to have the ability to take ponies from different universes, and that’s ridiculous. I mean it’s impossible…”
“Miss Sparkle,” Dread interrupted, “Sleipnir is in no way an average mental hospital, nor was it even a mental hospital when it was first founded. I believe it was originally a facility that was designed to study the multiverse, and each individual universe as well as what makes them unique.”
Dread looked at the clock once more and said, “Oh dear, it would seem that we have talking for far too long. Come, we need to get you back into your cell before the administrator notices your absence.”
Dread began to get up walked hurriedly to the office door, “Come along Miss Sparkle, we haven’t much time.”
“But you still haven’t given me a good answer!” Twilight protested.
“I’ll tell you later Miss Sparkle, but right now we have more pressing concerns.”
“But…”
Dread turned and looked at Twilight, “Believe me when I say that if the administrator finds out that I’ve been letting ponies out of their cells, it could very well mean both of our lives.”
Twilight followed Dread through the laboratory, past the cell with the only griffon, and back to her cell. Once Twilight was inside Dread hastily began re-locking the door. As soon as Twilight was once again locked in the cramped cell, Dread hurried back in the direction of his office.
Twilight sat in her cell for what seemed like forever. Pinkie had reduced Corncob to a bloody blob that barely resembled a pony, even one with an anatomy as odd as Corncob’s. From what Twilight could tell, Pinkie had twisted off one of Corncob’s legs, how she managed to cut his body open was beyond her however.
Moments later Dread returned and waited silently outside Twilight’s cell. After waiting for a short amount of time, and a few futile attempts at conversation by Twilight’s part, a blood soaked Pinkie Pie came hopping happily down the hallway. Dread coerced Pinkie back into her straightjacket, almost immediately Pinkie’s mane straightened out and her eyes lost all emotion.
Pinkamena looked down at herself and scowled, “You could’ve at least washed the blood of my coat before sticking me back into this thing.”
“My apologies, Miss Pie,” Dread said, “I have been a little absent minded today. If it is any consolation, your cell’s power wash was designed to wash though the straight jacket.”
“No Dread, that doesn’t console me at all.” Pinkamena said sourly.
“I am sorry, Miss Pie. How would you like me to prepare your meal?” Dread asked, possibly trying to change the subject.
“Oh, just grill up whatever’s left of that idiot in the arena. Don’t spice it too much, you know I like the taste of meat.”
“As you wish;”
Dread locked Pinkamena back into her cell and then walked off in the direction of the Arena. Twilight heard the sound of running water coming from Pinkamena’s cell and wondered if Dread was actually going to cook the remains of Corncob just so Pinkamena could eat him. Perhaps Pinkamena meant it when she said that the victor could ask for anything to eat, even ponies. The idea of it made Twilight want to puke.
“So, what did you think of my little performance out there?” Pinkamena asked when the sound of running water had ceased.
“I um…” Twilight wasn't sure how to bring up her visit with Dread with out offending the cannibal she was talking to.
“What?” Pinkamena asked when Twilight failed to produce an answer.
“Dread asked me to come with him to his office while you were fighting. I’m sorry Pinkamena, I didn’t see much more after you dislocated that stallion’s legs." It was a strange feeling, apologizing for not watching a pony (a pony who looked almost exactly like a friend Twilight had back home) kill another pony.
“Oh, so Dread’s been talking to you too? I guess that makes sense,” Pinkamena said thoughtfully, “I thought for sure that I was the only one he brought back there. Oh well, I guess it doesn’t really matter.”
“Wait, what do you mean he brings you back there?”
“He takes me back into this room that he calls his office every so often, usually when the Administrator sets up one of those little exercises of his. He talks to me about things, how I’m feeling, is the temperature okay, is my straightjacket comfortable. Generally just stuff that you wouldn’t think he would care about. And then there these questions he asks that…” Pinkamena paused, “Never mind, forget I said anything. Anything else you wanna talk about?”
“So, how was your fight?” Twilight asked, wishing a second later that she hadn’t.
“It was so fun!” Pinkamena said excitedly, “You should’ve seen him trying to move with all his joints dislocated! I swear, I thought he was going to cry for his mommy the way he had his faced messed up, and the look on his face when I was twisting his leg off, priceless.”
Twilight congratulated herself on being correct about Corncob’s leg.
“But that doesn’t even compare to what I did next!” Pinkamena said gleefully, “When I twisted his leg off, I broke one of the bones into a makeshift knife. The way he screamed when he realized that I was cutting his liver out with his own bone was hilarious. He's never gonna liver that one down! Actually now that I think about it, maybe he was just crying because he was being cut open… Oh well, it’s still funny. I really wish that you had seen it, I think that you would’ve liked it.”
“Yeah… I’m sure I would have,” Twilight lied.
Pinkamena continued to describe how she killed Corncob in graphic detail, coming up with a macabre joke every couple of sentences, usually plays on the word 'bladder'. Twilight listened politely as Pinkamena told her story, but wished more than anything that they would change the subject. Eventually Pinkamena ran out of ways to describe how she pulled Corncob’s kidneys out with her teeth and the two mares sat in awkward silence until Dread returned with a cart carrying a number of paper bags.
“Miss Pie, your dinner.” The robot said as it pulled out a paper bag, “How much would you like?”
“Oh, I’m not that hungry.” Pinkamena said, “Maybe two for now, I’ll eat the rest later.”
“Very well then, Miss Pie.” Dread balanced himself on his hind legs, unfolded the claws on his front hooves, and placed two of the paper bags in Pinkamena’s cell.
Dread was beginning to walk away when Pinkamena suddenly called out, “Dread!”
The robot turned to face Pinkamena's cell, “Yes, Miss Pie?”
“You prepare the same amount of food every evening whether somepony gets their own meal or not right?”
“That is correct Miss Pie. Everypony receives a the same amount of food whether they have a special meal or not.”
“Then could you please give my serving to Twilight?”
“If that is what you wish. It is your food after all, you may choose whatever happens to it.”
“Thanks, Dread.”
Dread turned and walked back toward the laboratory.
When Twilight was sure that the android was out of earshot, she asked Pinkamena, “Why did you give me your food?”
“Because I wouldn’t have been able to eat it myself,” Pinkamena answered, “like I said to Dread, I’m not that hungry.”
“Oh, okay then.”
“And…” Pinkie paused, “As a way of saying thank you.”
Puzzled, Twilight asked “Thank me, for what?”
“You’re the first pony to talk to me like I’m not a monster in a long time, well besides Dread. Do you have any idea how it feels to be locked in a tin can with nothing but your next visit with a robot to look forward to? To be forced into a straight jacket just because some pony said that I had to. When I talk to you, I feel like I did before, back when I had friends. You have no idea how much that means to me.”
Twilight didn’t know how to react. In truth she had only thought of Pinkamena as way to find out more about Sleipnir, as well as a way to distract her from her situation. While Twilight was still disgusted by Pinkmena’s blatant disregard for morality and how she talked about terrible things, Twilight did feel some pity for her.
“I’m glad I could help.” Twilight said.
The two ponies sat in silence for the next couple of minutes, the sound of insane laughter coming from one of the cells on the other side of the hall. The laughter was bone chilling, a laugh that was without mirth, a laugh without a soul. Twilight shuddered at whatever strange thoughts were going through the laughing pony’s mind.
It wasn’t long until Dread returned to feed the inmates, even so it still took him a long time before he got to Twilight’s cell. The robot gave Twilight two Styrofoam packages and a plastic packet that appeared to have water in it. Dread stopped to give Pinkamena a water packet and went on to supply the rest of the inmates.
The food within the packet was almost as appetizing as the breakfast was. Within each of the packages were what Twilight guessed had once been a kind of cheese, but had now molded into a multicolored substance that looked like it had grown its own fur. The objects were also leaking a brownish yellow liquid that reminded Twilight of pus that came out of the pimples she got when she was a teenager.
Twilight reluctantly dipped her head toward her dinner, and hesitantly took a bite out of it. Much to her surprise, it wasn’t that bad. In fact it wasn’t bad at all. The food tasted like daisies mixed with cherries and milk; three flavors that should’ve conflicted, but instead complimented each other.
Twilight quickly devoured the rest of her dinner and began to examine the packet of water. The packet had no marking of where one should open it and was so small that Twilight could’ve put the entire container in her mouth with little to no trouble. Twilight looked at the packet for a moment before she realized that putting in her mouth was exactly what she was supposed to do.
Twilight lowered her head to the packet and tentatively lifted it up with her lips, restraining from biting it in case her teeth punctured the packet. Once the packet was safely in her mouth, Twilight bit down and allowed the water to run down her throat. Twilight had not realized how thirsty she was, she didn’t receive any water at breakfast and Celestia knows how long she had been asleep; the water refreshed her very much. It was then that Twilight realized that the packet had dissolved in her mouth, convenient seeing as it meant that Twilight didn’t have to put up with a plastic bag all night.
Sometime after Twilight had finished drinking, the intercom came on and the voice said, “Five minutes until lights out.”
Twilight thought about how short the day seemed to be. It felt like only a few hours had passed since she woke up in this undersized cell. Even so, Twilight suddenly felt tired, as though she had spent an entire day studying and had only just then turned away from her books.
“Twilight?” Pinkamena called from her cell.
“Yes Pinkie?” Twilight asked half awake.
“Thank you for being my friend.”
Minutes later the lights in the hallway began to flicker out. Twilight made herself as comfortable as her cell would allow her. The entire asylum was peaceful, the distant laughter of an insane pony being the only thing that broke the silence. No longer able to keep herself awake, Twilight began to sleep.
Twilight woke up after a few hours sleeping uncomfortably in her cell. The first things that Twilight noticed as she awoke was that she was still imprisoned in the Sleipnir Asylum, and she had once again woken up before what was considered daytime at Sleipnir. Twilight was preparing to try once more to sleep on the floor of her cell when she noticed a muffled sobbing coming from the cell next to hers.
“Pinkie, I mean Pinkamena, is there something wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight, is that you?” Pinkamena asked in between sobs, “Why are you here? You don’t belong here; this is where the bad ponies go.”
“Pinkamena…”
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Pinkamena snapped, “My name is not Pinkamena! It’s Diane, DIANE!"
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry Diane, but don’t you remember me? We talked a lot yesterday; you said that we were friends?”
“Friends? No, I can’t have friends. I don’t deserve friends. I can’t be trusted with friends!” Pinkamena/Diane began to slam herself against the wall of her cell, and evident by a loud banging noise coming from just next to Twilight’s cell.
“Diane, are you alright?” Twilight asked.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I am so sorry.” Diane sobbed.
“Diane what’s wrong?” Twilight asked again, “What are you sorry for?”
“You don’t want to know Twilight, it’s awful. I’m a bad pony.”
“Whatever it is, you can tell me.” Twilight said soothingly
“Do you promise not to hate me?”
“Pinka…”
“Diane.” Pinkamena corrected.
“Right, Diane. I could never hate you. We’re friends.”
Diane was silent for a moment before she said “Ever since I was a little filly I’ve had this… craving I guess would be the right word. I’m not sure how to explain it, it sort of feels like an itch inside my mind. Whenever I see pony, I want to do things, such terrible, awful things to them.”
Diane sniveled, “Usually it’s not so bad and I can just ignore it, other times it gets worse and I have to go somewhere to be by myself. But there was this one time, I invited Rainbow Dash over to bake cupcakes with me, she was running late so I decided to make a few cupcakes by myself. While I was gathering ingredients for the cupcakes I stumbled upon some medicine. I ground up the medicine into a powder and mixed it and some alcohol into the batter. When Rainbow Dash finally did show up, I fed her the poisoned cupcake; it knocked her out almost instantly. I took her down into the basement of Sugercube Corner, where Mr. and Mrs. Cake had this table that was designed so that you could easily strap a pony on it. I tied Rainbow Dash to the table and waited for her to wake up. When she finally did I took one of the knives we used to cut cakes and… and…” Diane broke into a cry, “I’m sorry Dashie, I am so sorry.”
Twilight sat for little bit while she let Diane’s story sink in. She didn’t expect to hear how Diane murdered one of her friends; she almost wished that she hadn’t asked. As Twilight thought about Diane’s story she remembered something that Corncob had said during his fight with Pinkie. Didn’t he say that Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane killed two of her friends? Diane only mentioned Rainbow Dash, so who was the other one? Twilight almost asked Diane about it, but hearing her sobs Twilight decided that now wasn’t the time to do so.
Twilight sat in her cell, listening to Diane’s crying, unable to think of something to cheer her up, and unsure if she even should. It wasn’t long until the lights came on and the Administrator announced that day’s schedule. It was mostly the same as what the schedule was yesterday but this time the exercise was called Fun house. It was basically the same exercise as yesterday’s but with landmines. Once again the Administrator neglected to inform the inmates of what their meal would consist of.
Twilight waited quietly for a while before Dread’s signature metallic clopping became audible. It was a while before Twilight could actually see the android, but even so, seeing him made her feel hopeful. After Twilight came back from her visit to Dread’s office yesterday, Twilight had been fantasizing in her mind how Dread was going to prove that Twilight didn’t belong at Sleipnir, take her home, and put everything back the way it was supposed to be.
These daydreams had partially clouded Twilight's perception of her situation as well as her view of Dread himself, and what’s more is that Twilight was completely aware that daydreams were fantasy and completely unrealistic. Even so, Twilight felt that she had to hold on to something, for the sake her sanity if not anything else. She had no idea why she was locked in Sleipnir, or what she had done to deserve such a bleak fate. Twilight no longer had anything to look forward to, nothing except a fantasy.
“Good morning Miss Sparkle,” Dread said when he had finally arrived at Twilight’s cell, “I do hope that you had a pleasant night’s rest.”
“Well then my answer might disappoint you, Dread.” Twilight mumbled before asking, “So what’s for breakfast.”
“I assure you that you are better off not knowing.” Dread answered, “You know what they say; ignorance is bliss.”
This annoyed Twilight, saying that ignorance was bliss insulted her very being. She had spent the majority of her life seeking to rid herself of ignorance, so that there would never be a problem that she could not solve with her wits. Twilight was prepared to give Dread a very long lecture about how it was every pony’s responsibility to educate themselves for the future, then she realized that she was getting upset over some food and that Dread was probably right about it anyway.
“How are you feeling today Miss Pie?” Dread asked Diane as he gave her food.
“Bad.” Diane said plainly, having stopped crying sometime while Twilight was watching for Dread.
“Well we certainly can’t have that…” Dread said, emulating thoughtfulness; “Is there something that you wish to talk about?”
Diane sat quietly for a second before answering, “No, I don’t want to. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t feel like talking about my feelings right now.”
“Very well then, I respect your decision, but if you change your mind you need only to tell me the next time I come by.”
With that Dread left to feed the other inmates. As soon as he was out of earshot, Diane began crying again. Twilight was about to ask her what was wrong, but instead decided that it would be better to let Diane cry herself out, after all she did say that she didn’t feel like talking. Until Diane was ready to open up, Twilight would just have to respect her friend’s wishes. In the meantime, Twilight could study what foreign chemical that she had been given in the guise of breakfast.
Twilight opened the container that held her breakfast and inspected its contents. The item inside could only be described as the most disgusting thing Twilight had ever seen. It was a brownish green lump of goo that was sprinkled with specks of a black fungus and coated in what Twilight hoped was just watered down mayonnaise. The object tasted no better than it looked; it had a flavor that seemed spicy, sweet, and bitter at the same time. Dread was correct; Twilight didn’t want to know what she had just ingested.
After forcing down her breakfast, Twilight waited in her cell for the Administrator to announce which inmates would be forced to kill each other. While Twilight was waiting she could just make out the sound of an insane pony laughing somewhere distant from her, it was the same voice that she had heard the night before; a dry, humorless laugh. Twilight contemplated what could be running through the pony’s mind, but decided that it couldn’t possibly be good.
Twilight instead turned her thoughts to Ponyville, her home. She wondered how her friends were doing, and what they must’ve thought of her. Surely they would know what Twilight did to get herself locked up in a dungeon, and then get locked up in Sleipnir. They must’ve hated her.
As she was thinking, Twilight realized that she wasn’t actually visualizing her thoughts. Twilight tried to visualize her friends, only to be met with a piercing headache. The sudden headache caused Twilight to collapse, her entire body shaking from the pain. A combination of Diane’s sobs and the nameless mad mare’s laugh became the theme song of Twilight’s current pain. It wasn’t until a few minutes after Twilight had stopped visualizing her friends that the headache finally subsided.
Twilight was disturbed by her most recent headache. Why did it hurt so badly when she visualized her friends? Twilight didn’t have an answer; her head didn’t hurt at all when she saw Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane, so why did it hurt when she visualized the real Pinkie?
A few hours later, the Administrator announced the names of the ponies that would be killing each other. Twilight didn’t know either of the two ponies and neither one of them looked out of the ordinary, so Twilight didn’t even give them a second look. This disturbed Twilight, after all those ponies were still ponies and she as a princess should care about their well being. Even if they were psychopathic rapists, no pony deserved to be forced to fight for their life. And yet Twilight couldn’t find it in her heart to care about them.
Shortly after the ponies had been called up, Dread came over to Twilight’s cell.
“Miss. Sparkle, I would like to see you in my office.” The android said when he was sure that the Administrator wasn’t watching, “There is much that I wish to discuss with you.” Dread let Twilight out of her cell and walked her down the hallway and into the laboratory.
The scenery hadn’t changed much from when Twilight was last in the lab; everything still looked like it was abandoned. Twilight did notice however, that some pony had begun to repair a few of the machines; or at the very least clean them up so that they looked nice. Twilight wasn’t familiar with these machines so she had no way of knowing whether or not they were fixed at all.
It didn’t take long before the two of them arrived at Dread’s office. Unlike the laboratory, the office seemed to have had a cyclone pass through it. Books were haphazardly tossed everywhere, covering the floor, bits of paper with hastily written notes covering the spots that the books couldn’t.
“My apologies about the mess,” Dread said as he began to pick up some of the books, “I spent all of last night researching what might be causing you to have these headaches that you’ve been experiencing and I fear that I have forgotten to clean up.”
Twilight smiled, “Oh I know the feeling, I once stayed up for three days straight doing nothing but studying. Here let me help you clean up.” Twilight prepared to cast a levitation spell to clean the office up in a single movement, only to have her head try to punch the back of her eyes, causing her to utter an involuntary grunt of pain.
“What the hay was that?” Twilight asked before she remembered that her horn was coated in something, “Oh, right the paint. I forgot about it.”
“Sorry about that.” Dread said, “For reasons of security, unicorn inmates have their horns coated in a metallic polish that cancels out any and all attempts at magic use. The headache you just experienced was the magical energy in your horn being bounced back into your head. Come to think of it, you haven’t been attempting use magic have you? That would explain the headaches.”
Twilight shook her head, “No, that can’t be it; the headaches only come whenever I try to remember my past. Just today I tried to visualize my friends in Ponyville and my head felt like it was going to rupture.”
“Yes, I think you mentioned something like that yesterday. Perhaps it’s an effect of…” Dread’s voice fell silent as the android began to pace the room. “It’s worth a shot, but what if…”
“Uh, Dread?” Twilight asked, “What are you mumbling about?”
“Nothing, just an idea as to what may be causing these headaches that you’ve been having, I’ll need a blood sample to be sure though.”
Dread grabbed a syringe from a drawer and prepared it with a sterilized needle. Dread then grabbed what appeared to be some kind of rubber band.
“Now if you don’t mind, could you please sit on the sofa? I don’t want you fidgeting when I take the sample.” Dread asked.
Twilight obeyed. Dread took the rubber band and placed it on one of Twilight’s front legs; the rubber band was uncomfortably tight. Dread then used one of his claws to feel out a vein in Twilight’s leg. When he had found a vein that was large enough, Dread sterilized the spot with alcohol and inserted the needle. The pain that Twilight felt was minimal, but the purple alicorn had a history of medical shots going wrong; once when a doctor had accidently missed the vein, and another time when the doctor had accidently used the wrong medicine; Twilight new that those were just accidents and that she had nothing to worry about, but she still was not comfortable with the idea of sharp objects being poked into her.
Once the syringe had the right amount of blood in it, Dread bandaged the wound on Twilight’s leg and prepared for some kind of blood test.
“Um, is this going to take long?” Twilight asked, “Am I going to have to go back to my cell?”
“Yes, you will have to return to your cell eventually,” Dread said as he searched his office for supplies, “but not right now, I still would like to talk to you. Today is a rare opportunity; it’s not often that the administrator sets up exercises that take up several hours to be determined.”
Twilight blinked, “What do you mean several hours, the fight today involves explosives! If anything it should take up less time.”
Dread made an electronic white noise sound that Twilight guessed was some kind of chuckle, “Miss Sparkle, do you really think that a pony who loves to watch others suffer would set up a fight that can be completed quickly?”
When Twilight didn’t answer Dread continued, “The Administrator only said that the fight would involve land mines to make the fighters paranoid. The purpose of today’s fight is to drive the ponies even more insane. There are no landmines, only flashing lights that make a beeping noise if you get to close, but the ponies don’t know that. They’re so terrified of the fake bombs that they’re more concerned with not blowing up than actually killing their opponent. But here’s the twist, they’re also paranoid about their opponent managing to take them out, so they just sit there staring at each other. The paranoia gnaws at their minds until one of them makes a move, and that can take hours, days in some cases.”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “Wow, that sounds awful. But what if the inmates aren’t afraid to die, or are so Tartarus bent on killing that they don’t care about the bombs?”
“Simple, the Administrator performs a background check on the inmates and finds the ones with the ones that value their lives the most or will think too much about the situation at hand. It’s the only time the Administrator actually looks at the files I keep on the inmates, but I digress. The entire process takes approximately two weeks for the Administrator to complete, and that is including the elimination of sociopathic inmates such as Miss Pie or the late Corncob.”
“Are you sure that Pinkie Pie’s a sociopath, because she was showing a lot of emotion this morning.” Twilight asked, hopping that she would get an explanation of Pinkie’s/Pinkamena’s/Diane’s multiple personalities.
“Ah yes, Miss Pie’s contrite personality, perhaps I should have been more clear. Miss Pie is considered a sociopath because her dominant personality is a sociopath. Miss Pie suffers from dissociative identity disorder, more commonly known as multiple personality disorder. Miss Pie has three personalities to be exact; a sociopath, a manic psychopath, and contrite personality that suffers from depression. Like I said before, the sociopath, the one called Pinkamena, is Miss Pie’s dominant personality, or at least it’s the one that Miss Pie usually uses; the manic psychopath, called Pinkie, comes out whenever Miss Pie is preparing herself for a kill; and the contrite personality, who insists on being called Diane, Diane I believe is the real personality of Pinkie Pie;”
“No, that can’t be right.” Twilight interrupted, “The Pinkie Pie I knew was a fun loving pony who wanted to make every pony happy, not some overly emotional mare that can’t go two minutes without crying.”
“You forget, Miss Sparkle; the Pinkie Pie that lives in the cell next to yours is not a carbon copy of the Pinkie Pie that you knew before you came here. This version of Pinkie Pie is a murderer and a cannibal; she slaughtered two of her friends in fit a fit of madness. How would your version of Pinkie Pie feel if she knew that she killed any pony, and what if those ponies were her friends?”
“I guess that does explain Diane’s constant crying. But why does she insist that she be called Diane?”
“As to that I am not sure. All I know about the Diane personality is that it will only come out when Miss Pie has consumed pony flesh.”
Twilight blinked, “Pony flesh? You mean to tell me that Diane will only show up whenever she eats some pony? That’s impossible! It makes no sense, I mean how can…”
“Yes, I agree that it makes little sense,” Dread interrupted, “but I have tested the theory numerous times. Miss Pie will go into her Diane personality every time she consumes the flesh of a pony, whether she is aware of it or not.”
“Wait, you mean to say that you’ve been giving her pony flesh without telling her?” Twilight asked, her stomach twisting at the thought, “That’s bucked up! What kind of a pony would do such a thing? And furthermore what made you decide that it was pony flesh that triggered the personality anyway?”
“Perhaps I should explain how I came to my conclusion. You see at first I didn’t notice the connection, I simply believed that Diane was just another alternate personality that Miss Pie would become randomly, after some length of time I began to notice that Miss Pie would only become Diane after she competed in one of the Administrator’s exercises. I went on believing that a vigorous exertion of energy was the trigger; that is until the Administrator decided that for one exercise the survivor would get nothing, that time Miss Pie did not change personality and I developed my hypothesis.”
“Okay, that explains your thought process,” Twilight said, still glaring at Dread, “but that doesn’t explain the sneaking her bits of pony flesh.”
“Miss Sparkle, you are a scientist, surely you understand the need to test a theory.”
“Yes, I understand, but I also understand that a scientist must have morals. Sneaking a pony food without telling them what’s in it is just despicable.”
“Miss Sparkle, I understand that my methods are not exactly ideal…”
“Ideal?” Twilight interrupted, “Your methods are so far from ideal that I can’t even fathom why a pony would even consider them, yet alone implementing them! It’s monstrous, ghoulish, and disgusting! You should be ashamed to even call yourself a pony!”
The lights in Dread’s eyes brightened and when he spoke his voice became much lower and much louder, “You forget, Miss Sparkle, I am NOT a pony! You forget where you are; you are no longer in Equestria, you are in Sleipnir! Your concepts of morality mean NOTHING here! I did what I did what I did for Miss Pie! You have no right to question MY ethics; YOU are a lowly inmate guilty of crimes against pony kind!”
Twilight trembled; she had forgotten that she was not innocent. No, she was guilty of what must’ve been a terrible crime, a crime she couldn’t even remember committing. Everything that she had known back in Ponyville was gone. Even if she went back there was no way any pony would forgive her. She no longer belonged there, she could never go back. Twilight’s eyes began to tear up at the thought that she would never see her friends again, and she began to cry.
“My apologies for losing my temper with you, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, “but you have to realize that I only want what’s best for Miss Pie. If cannibalism can somehow stabilize her condition, then isn’t it worth the lives of a few ponies?”
Twilight glared at the android, her eyes red from crying, “The sanity of a single mare is not worth the lives of many others. Even if all the ponies that you feed Pinkie are psychopaths or rapists, that doesn’t give you the right to just kill them! If you are going to put so much effort into curing one pony, then don’t the other ponies deserve the same amount of effort? No matter how evil a pony is, they are still a pony and they deserve to be treated like such!”
The android looked down at his mechanical legs, “I’m sorry if I implied that I was the one who murdered the ponies that I served to Miss Pie. Not all of the inmates at Sleipnir are cannibals, so more often than not I have to dispose of a body, the administrator never said how. I realize that my methods are morbid, but I thought that if I could help Miss Pie become herself again, then the end would justify the means. You have said nothing that I do not already believe. Forgive me, Miss Sparkle for coming off as though I only cared for Miss Pie, but out of all the inmates here at Sleipnir, she is the one who has come closest to overcoming her own insanity. I fear that I may have gotten so obsessed with finding a cure that I have allowed myself to become obsessed. I only want to help.”
“Wait a minute, if Pinkie is the closest to overcoming her insanity; that would mean that Sleipnir has never successfully cured a pony of insanity.”
“Yes, but remember that insanity is not something that can be cured with standard medicine, and the ponies that get sent into Sleipnir have a different insanity from standard insanity. You see…”
“That’s quite enough Dread.” A masculine voice said from the entrance to Dread’s office. Twilight looked to see that the voice was coming from a dark gray earth pony who was wearing glasses and a dirty lab coat.
“Dr. Layne what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be hiding with Project 6-19?”
“Shouldn’t you be pretending to be a mindless automaton Dread? Not giving away top secrets to blood thirsty psychopaths?”
Twilight wanted to protest at being called a psychopath, but her better judgment told her that doing so would only result in her being forced back to her cell.
“I don’t see the point in keeping secrets anymore now that Sleipnir has been largely destroyed.” Dread said, “You and I are the last surviving staff and you know. Who cares if I tell one of the test subjects the truth behind the insanity? There’s no pony to care or do anything about it, all of the administrators are dead. I had to dispose of their bodies myself.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, “What administrators, what bodies, who is this Layne pony?”
The android and the stallion looked at each other.
Dread asked, “Should I tell her or…”
“I’ll tell her Dread.” The stallion interrupted, “At least I’ll explain who I am. I am me so it’s only right.”
The stallion turned to face Twilight, “My name is Dr. Quill Layne. I am in charge primary research of Sanguinam Ungolum, at least I was until well… Never mind, it’s not important right now.”
“Sanguinam Ungolum?” Twilight asked. The words sounded strange to Twilight.
Dread answered, “Yes well to explain that I must first explain what exactly Sleipnir is. You see Sleipnir was not originally a gladiator coliseum; it was originally a facility that was designed to research the multiverse and the various ponies that inhabit it. At first, that was all we studied, until we discovered certain corruptions among ponies often in the form physical appearances and behaviors. Over time we discovered that these corruptions were caused by genetic mutations, viruses, or a combination of the two.”
“Dr. Layne, would you mind fetching the examples that we use?” Dread asked.
“Hmph, fine.” Dr. Layne answered as he left the office. Twilight wasn’t sure, but he seemed that glare at her as he left.
“Thank you, now where was I? Ah yes, genetic mutations and viruses.” Dread said before continuing, “Here at Sleipnir we have identified three ailments that we believe are responsible for the majority of the corruption throughout the multiverse; anthropromorphia, turpus equus, and sanguinam ungolum.”
Dr. Layne returned with what looked like a rolled up poster in his mouth.
“Which virus is this?” Dread asked.
Dr. Layne spat out the poster and answered, “Anthropromorphia, it’s the only example that I was able to locate. I doubt that I’ll be able to find the others without drawing attention to myself.”
“Well I suppose that it is lucky that you managed to find that one. Fortunately anthropromorphia is the only condition that requires a visual aid to understand.” Dread answered, “If you don’t mind, could you please set it up?”
“You’re the one with those claw things.” Dr. Layne grumbled, but he complied.
There were five images on the poster, each one more grotesque then the last, all of them having a number beneath them. The first image was that of a normal pony, with dotted lines were the horn and wings would go if the pony was an alicorn, the number one was written beneath this illustration. The second image had a similar looking pony, but it was standing on its hind legs, its hind hooves were elongated and lines had been drawn on its front hooves for some reason. The image resembled the Pinkie Pie that was in the cell next to Twilight’s. The rest of images were showed the cartoon pony advancing further into an alien, becoming taller, thinner, and developing oddly shaped faces.
“Anthropromorphia is a genetic and magical mutation.” Dread explained, “The condition causes drastic changes to a pony’s biological structure. Exactly how much a pony is affected by the condition varies from pony to pony but Sleipnir scientists have been able to determine five stages that the condition tends to take place.”
“The first stage,” Dread continued, “is a carrier. A carrier is a normal pony that has been infected by the gene that causes the mutation, but is unaffected by it. At this stage the mutation remains a recessive trait until a pony is actually born with the active condition, at which it becomes very dominant.”
“Stage two is where you can actually see how the condition is changing a pony’s body. Aside from the obvious skeletal differences, stage two also mutates the hooves of a pony. Rather than being a stone-like growth on the end of a healthy pony’s legs, the hooves on an anthro pony become softer, especially on the front hooves. Affected ponies also develop bones in the inside of their hooves that can be used like a griffon’s digits.”
“Stage three is essentially a taller version of stage two so we’ll be skipping it.” Dread said much to Twilight’s disappointment. The knowledge that Dread had given her had caused Twilight to want to learn more about the mutation, and vomit, but it also made her want to vomit.
Dread went on to explain the last two stages of anthropromorphia. Stage four was essentially what Corncob had. Stage five altered a pony’s physical shape to the point that Twilight thought that the affected pony could no longer be considered a pony.
“Stage five looks awfully like those creatures that Lyra won’t shut up about.” Twilight commented, remembering all the times that the strange unicorn had up to her to talk about those imaginary monsters that she had come up with.
“Yes, I’m quite aware,” Dread said, his eye’s glowing like they did when he was yelling at Twilight, “in any case we need to move on.”
Dread gave Twilight a rudimentary description of what turpus equus was. The effects of this disease were not as nightmarish as anthropromorphia in Twilight’s opinion, but nonetheless Twilight was disgusted by the virus.
Turpus equus is a virus that causes a pony’s brain to produce an excess amount of hormones, increasing the pony’s sexual appetite to an unhealthy level. According to Dread, ponies infected with turpus equus are low priority unless the pony in question has another virus to go with it and make the infected pony a threat.
“Unless they have another virus,” Dread said, “ponies infected with turpus equus are little more than a nuisance. That said, it usually better to separate them from uninfected ponies to prevent an epidemic.”
“Please, never mention that virus again,” Twilight said, mildly traumatized, “or that example you used, the one with Applejack and Gilda.”
“Believe me when I say that discovering the two’s fetish for cacti was among the tamest examples of turpus equus.” Dread said, emitting the same white noise that seemed to be his laugh, “In any case, it is time that we moved on to the most dangerous of the diseases, as well as the most mysterious, sanguinam ungolum.”
“Sanguinam ungolum,” Dread continued, “is a virus that alters the mind of those who are unfortunate enough to have come under its influence. The virus causes its hosts’ natural desires, their hopes, their dreams, and their emotions to become warped. Those who become infected with an active sanguinam ungolum virus become consumed with an overpowering desire to cause pain, specifically the pain of other ponies, even if such an act would directly contradict the infected pony’s personality.”
“It turns ponies into another species.” Dr. Layne interrupted, “Sanguinam ungolum turns ponies into monsters. Hay, the only reason why Sleipnir doesn’t exterminate them like we would any other vermin is because…”
“It is because not every pony shares your view on the matter.” Dread said, cutting Dr. Layne off mid sentence, “There are some who believe that just because a pony is a cold blooded murderer does not mean that he or she is not a pony. There are some who believe that just because a pony suffers from a virus does not mean that that pony should just be killed.”
Dr. Layne began to mumble something but was too quiet for Twilight to hear what he was saying.
Dread apparently could hear him because he said, “Don’t act like you’re the only one who hasn’t experienced loss by the hand of a sanguinam infected pony, between the two of us I would say that you have lost the least.”
Dr. Layne opened his mouth to speak, but instead scowled at Dread and stormed out of the room, muttering under his breath.
“What was that all about?” Twilight asked.
“Dr. Layne lost his left wing to a pony infected with sanguinam ungolum many years ago and has harbored a hatred for the disease and any pony infected with it ever since.” Dread answered.
“Wait, I thought that Dr. Layne was an earth pony?”
“That is because from all outward appearances Dr. Layne looks like an earth pony, the fact that his lab coat covers his remaining wing doesn’t help.”
“When you were arguing, you said that you had both lost something to the virus, what does that mean?” Twilight asked, genuinely curious as to what an android could possibly lose.
“Perhaps another time,” Dread answered, “right now I need to tell you as much about sanguinam ungolum before I have to put you back into your cell.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Like I said before, sanguinam ungolum corrupts the minds of ponies. It causes them to have an unbearably strong desire to cause pain. However ponies infected with sanguinam ungolum do not always lose their sense of morality, rather their morality becomes warped to accommodate the virus’s influence. For example, when I first talked to Miss Pie, she told me flat out that cannibalism was the best way to express friendship.”
“What?” Twilight asked in surprise, “She never told me anything like that!”
“Yes, it seems that Miss Pie’s view on the matter has changed during her time here at Sleipnir, but she did believe it at one point. If I recall correctly she said that when she ate some pony that their bodies became unified, and that she would never be separated from her friends again.”
“That’s bucked up!”
Dread’s crackled with white noise, “Believe me, it is tame compared to what some of the other inmates will tell you.”
“You said that about A.J. and Gilda.”
Dread looked at Twilight, his red lights looking right into her eyes, “That’s because I mean it.”
Twilight shifted, the full weight of what Dread said hit her like one of Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainbooms. Exactly what constituted the term bucked up here at Sleipnir? Twilight wasn’t sure that she wanted to know.
“We have about ten minutes before it is time for me to take you back to your cell.” Dread said.
“What? But you said that the fight could last days?” Twilight responded.
“On rare occasions, but I am not willing to wager your life that this fight will take that long. Now if you don’t mind, there is one more thing that I need to tell you about sanguinam ungolum.”
“Okay, fine. Tell me.”
“Sanguinam ungolum does not only affect the pony who suffers from it. We’re not sure how, but the virus actually corrupts the very world that the victim inhabits. Exactly how much a world is corrupted depends on how much the afflicted pony is corrupted, as well as how many ponies are afflicted. Worlds that become tainted with sanguinam ungolum have their color spectrum altered. For example, on one world everything became a reddish color, even the sky. Society is also affected, with wars being more likely to breakout for increasingly irrelevant reasons. Sanguinam ungolum is the single greatest threat to all life, as well as the very nature of the multiverse, and there is no cure.”
“Wait a minute, why hasn’t any pony tried using the Elements of Harmony against sanguinam ungolum?” Twilight asked, “If it’s such a major threat, then surly the Elements can do something about it?”
“Unfortunately the Elements of Harmony are only useful against threats that disrupt the natural order of the world they inhabit. When faced with something that doesn’t, the Elements are nearly useless. Sanguinam ungolum is a virus that perverts the natural order, but they it does not disrupt it.”
“But what about ponies who represent the Elements, surely they have some immunity to the virus?”
Dread’s voice crackled white noise, “Forgive Miss Sparkle, but you do realize that both Miss Pie and yourself are Elements of Harmony, correct?”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “Well, yes but, I'm not inf...”
“Then you should know that being an Element of Harmony means almost nothing. Almost every pony can be placed into one of the six categories that are the Elements of Harmony. Take for example your friend Applejack, a mare that reasonably honest but not so much that it is something to admire about her. In fact, if you were to ask me to describe Applejack in three words, honest would not have to be one of them.”
“But… But surely the Elements can do something?” Twilight asked, disheartened, “They’re the most powerful magic in the world.”
The red lights on Dread’s face dimmed, “Do not misunderstand me Miss Sparkle; the Elements of Harmony are very powerful, but only against certain things. The Elements were never meant to be an end all solution to evil. Evil is something that there can be an easy solution for, or else viruses such as sanguinam ungolum would not exist.”
Twilight began to cry. The idea that the Elements of Harmony, that which Twilight had always believed could do anything, were next to useless against something as vile as sanguinam ungolum terrified her. What if there was something even more dangerous than sanguinam ungolum? What if there was something so evil that it would destroy all of Equestria without even caring for the lives it took? The ponies would have no way of protecting themselves if the Elements didn’t work. Every pony knows the Celestia never does anything to help.
“Would you like me to take you back to your cell Miss Sparkle?” Dread asked.
“Yes, please.” Twilight choked.
Dread walked Twilight back to her cell. On their way Twilight began to hear the insane laughter of the crazy pony who Twilight hoped that she would never meet. When they arrived back at her cell, Dread locked Twilight in and left, neglecting to say goodbye.
Twilight looked at the screen mounted inside her cell. Obviously the fight was still going on, but it seemed to almost be over. One of the two ponies had apparently stepped on a mine and blew off their left hind legs. The other pony hadn’t gotten around to finishing off her opponent, but Twilight could see that it was only a matter of time.
Twilight looked away. No matter how desensitized Sleipnir made her, Twilight swore to herself that she would never be able to look at the face of a dying pony and feel nothing. Twilight averted her eyes to avoid breaking what was the string that she felt kept her who she was, and the only thing reminding her that she wasn’t a psychopath.
“Are you back already?” Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane asked from the next cell over.
“Didn’t you see me walking down the hall?” Twilight asked.
“No, I was asleep until just now.” Twilight decided that it was Diane who she was talking to, “I thought that maybe some sleep would help forget what I did… I don’t know why I bothered though; I just relived the whole thing in my head. The look of terror in Dashie’s eyes, the way I could almost see her heart break. It was awful!” Diane had begun to sob when she finished.
“Oh, I’m um… sorry.” Twilight wasn’t quite sure what to say, after all it was Pinkie’s fault that Rainbow Dash was dead, at least this Pinkie’s version of Rainbow Dash, Twilight still wasn’t used to the idea of a multiverse. As far as Twilight knew, Diane deserved to feel this upset, she probably deserved more but Twilight didn’t know exactly all that Pinkie had done.
Twilight sat in her cell for the next couple of hours, quietly listening to Diane’s sobs and the distant laugh of the insane pony. Occasionally Twilight glanced up at the screen to see if the fight was over, but somehow the pony who had had blown off his leg had managed to survive for much longer than Twilight had expected, and the other pony in the fight hadn’t yet made a move, probably afraid of the mines. Twilight quickly looked away from the screen after she understood what was going on.
Eventually the mare did manage to build enough courage to end the stallion’s life. In her attempt to get within reach of her opponent, the mare stepped on a mine and blew both of the fighters up. Twilight, who wasn’t paying attention at the time, only realized what had happened by the sound of an explosion coming from the intercom.
“Looks like the fight’s over.” Twilight said absentmindedly.
Twilight tried to think about something to distract herself from her cell, but anything that came to mind either caused her head to hurt or simply depressed her. It wasn’t until now that Twilight realized just how boring the cell was. Twilight was not one to be easily bored, but the simple fact that there was literally nothing for her to do. No books for her to read, no problems for her to solve, and nothing for her to reorganize. At least when Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane wasn’t crying she could have a conversation, even if the topic was unpleasant.
Twilight’s boredom ended when the Administrator announced that dinner would be served shorty.
'At least I’ll be able to see Dread, if only for a moment.' Twilight thought to herself, still clinging to the hope that Dread would be able to get her released.
Minutes later Twilight heard the familiar metallic clopping noise echoing down the hallway, mixing in with the sound of the pony who never seemed to stop laughing. Twilight waited in mild anticipation, both for the chance to see one of her few friends here at Sleipnir, and for the prospect of food.. Twilight hadn’t noticed it before, but she was hungry enough that she was willing to eat whatever foreign material Dread gave her.
“Good evening Miss Sparkle.” Dread said when he came to her cell, “A word of warning, when you eat your dinner, hold your nose, it will help hide the taste.” Dread gave Twilight a container and a water packet.
“I hope that you sleep well tonight.” Dread said as he moved on to Pinkie’s cell.
'Not likely,' Twilight thought to herself.
“Miss Pie, you food is here.” Dread said to Diane as he inserted the containers.
“Go away!” Diane cried, “I don’t deserve to eat!” Diane began to ramble about how she was a terrible friend and deserved a number of painful deaths to make up for how evil she was.
“Miss Pie, I understand that you are guilty about the loss of your friends, but would they want you to starve yourself?”
Diane said nothing but accepted the food nonetheless.
As Dread went on to feed the other inmates, Twilight inspected the contents of the container. Inside was a stinking mass of what looked like a combination of manure, mayonnaise, and rotten fish. Twilight pressed her front hooves to her nose in an attempt to block the smell, hoping that Dread was right and that this would somehow hide the taste. It didn't; when Twilight attempted to take a bite out of the shapeless mass, her mouth was filled with the taste of onions, medicine, and her brother’s cooking. Resisting the urge to vomit, Twilight forced the vile meal down and immediately popped the water packet into her mouth. The water did little to wash away the foul taste of whatever it was Twilight had just eaten.
“Twilight?” Diane asked from her cell.
“Yes?”
“How was your talk with Dread?”
“It was pleasant,” Twilight answered, “Why do you ask?”
“No reason. I just wanted to know if you enjoyed his company.” Diane answered, “What did he talk to you about?”
“Oh he just asked about how I was feeling and if I remembered anything about what I did to end up here.” Twilight answered, unsure if she should tell Diane about the viruses. Then, remembering what Pinkamena had told her the day before, Twilight asked, “Doesn’t Dread talk to you sometimes?”
“Yeah, sometimes, I think that the reason he didn’t talk to me today was because I was crying so much, he doesn’t take me out when I’m like that. Back when I first came to Sleipnir, Dread would take me out even if I was crying, then one day he just decided that he wouldn’t take me if I was crying, I’m not sure why though.”
This didn’t make sense to Twilight. Shouldn’t Dread talk to Diane more when she’s crying? Isn’t it just natural to cheer up a crying pony? Twilight decided that she would ask Dread about it tomorrow.
Diane and Twilight talked for the next couple of hours until the Administrator announced that it be time to sleep soon. This didn’t feel right to Twilight, it seemed as though night time came sooner than it should’ve. Maybe she had lost track of time while she was in Dread’s office? That was probably the answer; after all how many times had she accidentally stayed up all night reading a new text book?
When it was time to sleep, Twilight attempted to make herself as comfortable as she could in her undersized cell. When Twilight finally succeeded in getting comfortable, she closed her eyes and listened to the distant laughter of the insane mare. Slowly but surely, sleep began to overcome Twilight.
Just before she had fully succumbed to warmth that sleep offered, Twilight heard a high pitched voice say, “I’m so sorry Fluttershy.”
Twilight slept better that night and only woke up because the lights came on in the hallway. Despite how well she slept, her body was still stiff from sleeping on the cold, hard cell floor. Twilight’s first instinct was to stretch out her wings, only to remember that they were tied down, and that even if they weren’t Twilight still wouldn’t have had enough room to unfurl them.
Twilight sighed. She had only been in Sleipnir for two days and was beginning to get sick of the place. She spent most of her time locked up in what was essentially an over sized soup can and was only ever outside of it for a few hours at a time. Also, the food was terrible.
'Perhaps I ought to be glad,' Twilight thought to herself, 'I mean it’s not like I’m all tied up like all of the other inmates.'
From what Twilight had seen, most of the other inmates had been forced into straitjackets and gagged so that they couldn’t speak. It was a wonder why they didn’t die of starvation. All Twilight had done to her was having her wings tied down and some kind of material coated onto her horn. Really Twilight was probably the best off out of all the inmates. But that didn’t change the fact that she hated Sleipnir, and despite all evidence suggesting that she did something to end up in the strange facility, Twilight could not shake the mentality that she didn’t belong there.
“Is it morning already?” A high pitched voiced said while yawning from the cell next to Twilight’s, “It feels like I only went to sleep just now.”
“Good morning.” Twilight said, deliberately avoiding saying Pinkie’s name in case she got it wrong. Yesterday Twilight found out that her neighbor had three personalities that alternated based on two factors, the third personality emerging if neither conditions were met.
“Hey Twilight, how did you sleep last night?” the pink mare asked.
Deciding that it was Diane whom she was talking too Twilight answered, “About as good I could sleep in this cell. What about you?”
“I think I slept alright.” Diane answered happily.
Twilight wasn’t sure what to think about Diane’s sudden happiness. On one side of the coin it was good that her friend was feeling good, but on the other side Twilight wasn’t sure that Diane should be happy; after all she had killed at least two ponies, Rainbow Dash and (based on what Twilight heard before she went to sleep) Fluttershy. Twilight wanted to ask what Diane meant when she said that she was sorry to Fluttershy last night, but stopped when she realized that the question might send Diane into a crying fit. No matter the circumstances, Twilight never did anything that might make one of her friends cry, even if that friend was a psychopath. Twilight decided that should would just try to avoid thinking about, at least until she could ask Dread, who presumably knew more about Pinkie’s/Diane’s condition than she did, about his opinion on the matter.
“So, did you have any dreams last night?” Diane asked, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.
“What?” Twilight asked, mildly surprised by just how normal the question was.
“I asked if you had any dreams last night.” Diane answered, “If you want I can tell you what I dreamed about first.”
“Sure, that sounds okay.”
“Last night I dreamed that I was in the middle of Ponyville, only every pony was the size of a dragon, except for me, I was normal sized. Anyways I spent the first part of my dream trying not to get crushed, which was hard because no pony seemed to notice me, which would’ve been sad except I don’t think that any of them actually looked down. Eventually I found a magic tuba. When I played it the head of a hydra came out of my toilet. I’m not sure why a hydra would be in my toilet, but for whatever reason it was there to give me…” Diane spent the next half hour describing her incredibly incoherent dream.
“Well your dream was certainly… unique.” Twilight said when Diane was finished.
“Now tell me yours!” Diane demanded in a cheery voice, unnerving Twilight slightly.
“Well um…” Twilight said thoughtfully, “I don’t really remember what I dreamed last night, at least not at the moment.”
“Oh come on, surely if you tried.” Diane begged.
“Okay, okay, let me think.” Twilight decided that it would be easier to just make up a dream for the sake of entertaining Diane, “Well I remember that I was in my library, except that all of the books had been put into the wrong place. So I, um, started to reorganize them so that ponies could find the right books if they need to. However once I was done the books started to fly off the shelves and onto the floor. I tried to pick them up again but they, um, turned into potato peelings. I called Spike in to help me clean up the mess, but when he came he was wearing my Nightmare Night costume and Apple Jack’s hat.” Twilight continued to make up a dream for the next three minutes.
Twilight found herself enjoying discussing her dream, even though she had completely made it up. It let her mind wander away from her current situation. Twilight could definitely see why Diane would want to talk about dreams. A fun-loving pony like Pinkie Pie would’ve been absolutely miserable at Sleipnir, even a grossly mutated, psychopathic version of Pinkie Pie. Up until Twilight had arrived, dreams were the only way Diane could entertain herself, seeing as to how Dread would take her to his office every time the Administrator decided that he would set up one of his exercises.
Eventually the Administrator announced breakfast over the intercom, “Today for breakfast, you will be served two muffins and a water packet.”
“He’s late today.” Diane commented, “And he announced what breakfast is going to be. I wonder what’s going on.”
Twilight didn’t know how to answer; she had only been imprisoned at Sleipnir for two days, today marking her third, and she didn’t know enough about the Administrator to infer what might be plotting. There was however one thing that Twilight could be sure of. Whatever the Administrator had planned, it wouldn’t be pleasant.
Twilight’s heart began to sink. What if the Administrator found out that Dread had been letting inmates out of their cells and taking them to his office? What would be the penalty that Dread would receive be? What if the Administrator decides that punishing Dread was not enough, and that every pony he had talked to should be given the same fate?
Twilight had caused herself to panic. Her heart seemed to be trying to escape her chest and run off into the sunset. Twilight realized that it wasn’t a good idea to allow herself to be panicked by her own mind; the Administrator seemed to use that as a way of torture, if yesterday’s exercise was of any evidence at least. Besides, if Twilight was so freaked out by something that might not even happen, then what would she do if the Administrator called her name for one of his exercises?
After a short span of time, Twilight began to hear the signature clip clop of Dread’s metallic hooves. Twilight waited fervently for the Android to come into view. There so many things that Twilight needed to ask and Dread was her only source of answers.
As the sound of Dread’s hoofsteps came closer, Twilight realized that her mentality towards Dread’s arrival was similar to what it was yesterday, albeit with a different reasoning behind her feelings. Twilight began to wonder if her life would soon become a repetitive cycle of events that only varied slightly day to day. Wake up, talk to Pinkie, talk to Dread, eat breakfast, go to Dread’s office, come back, eat dinner, go to sleep, repeat. Even though she had always been one to try to schedule every little detail of her life, the idea of her life become little more than a mechanical passing of events made Twilight shudder.
When Dread came into view, he was pushing a cart with several paper bags on it. The paper bags caught Twilight’s eye because there was something written on them. Twilight tried to make out what the bags said but couldn’t due to the size of the print and Dread’s distance from Twilight’s cell.
“Good morning Miss Sparkle,” Dread said when he got to Twilight’s cell, “you can rest easy today, because your meal is actually fit for pony consumption."
“Morning Dread, do you by chance know why the Administrator was so late with the morning announcement today?”
The red lights that Dread had in place of eyes grew dim, “No Miss Sparkle, I haven’t a clue. The Administrator has never been late a single time since he came into power, and it concerns me that he was today. The fact that he decided that today’s breakfast should be edible would be enough to tell me that he has something planned. I just don’t know what it is yet…”
“Wait, could he have poisoned the muffins?” Diane asked. Twilight had forgotten that they were in earshot of her cell.
“Well I have already seen one of the inmates devour the pastries with extreme prejudice. If he dies or becomes ill, we’ll know.”
Twilight shuddered, “That’s not reassuring, Dread.”
Dread produced a white noise before speaking, “Relax. I assure you that your breakfast is safe to eat. The Administrator may be cruel and twisted in his treatment of his inmates, but he would not wipe them all out something as nice as poison. He enjoys deaths that are slow and painful, not silent and kind.” Dread gave them both their breakfasts and went to feed the other inmates.
Twilight investigated the paper bag that Dread had given her, still worried about the possibility of poison despite Dread’s confidence that it wasn’t. As it turned out, the writing that was on the bag simply said Sleipnir, with a cartoon image of a grey pegasus mare holding a muffin. Twilight was amused by the fact that whoever drew the image had accidentally made the mare cross eyed.
Twilight spilled the contents of the bag onto her cell floor. Sure enough, there were two muffins and a water packet. When Twilight sniffed the muffins to see if she could pick out any chemicals that might do her harm she found nothing but the smell of a slightly old muffin. Twilight longed for the use of her horn; if she could use her magic then she would’ve been able to simply see if the muffin was poison. As it stood however, Twilight would either have to trust that Dread knew enough about how the Administrator thought, or she would have to starve until dinner, which wasn’t for several hours.
Twilight took a small bite out of one of the muffins. There was nothing off about the taste of the muffin that would’ve suggested any sort of poison, but the Administrator could easily have used a poison that didn’t have a flavor, one that would’ve lulled its victim into a false sense of security and kill them slowly. Despite her fear of poisoning, Twilight enjoyed the muffin very much, it being the most delicious thing she had eaten since her imprisonment. Eventually Twilight forgot her fear of poison and ate both of the muffins quickly, washing them down with the water packet.
A few minutes after Twilight had finished her breakfast the Administrator spoke on the intercom in his eerie genderless voice, “Today, we have planned a special treat for you to enjoy. You see, a few days ago we came into possession of a very special guest. A pony who has surpassed all the normal standards of morality, a pony who has time and time again proven herself a worthy opponent, a pony who has even achieved the status of alicorn.”
Twilight’s blood ran cold. The Administrator was talking about her-he must have been. What was he planning?
As if to answer Twilight’s question the Administrator added, “This pony shall give you a show the likes of which you have yet to see.”
The screen in Twilight’s cell turned on, showing an image of Twilight on it. Words scrolled passed the picture, but again they were too small and moving too fast for Twilight to make out what they said.
“The princess will have the chance to spend time with our single most powerful guest,” The Administrator said once the words had finished scrolling across the screen, “a guest so rambunctious that until today I have been hesitant to allow him to play with any of you. However I feel that surely an alicorn would be able to play with him long enough for him work out his excess energy.”
The image on the screen changed, but instead of giving an in depth profile of Twilight’s opponent, all that the screen displayed were the letters S.A.M.
“Diane, who is Sam?” Twilight asked, her breath shaky with dread.
“I… I have no idea.” Diane answered, “I’ve never heard of him before.”
Twilight began to panic. Not only was she about to engage in a fight to the death, but she also had no clue as to who or what she was going to be fighting. For all she knew this Sam could be a dragon with ability to destroy an entire country if it chose to. Twilight’s mind ran wild trying to imagine who or what Sam could be, so much that she lost track of the passage of time, only to snap out of it when she heard Dread coming to unlock her cell.
“Dread, you have to help me!” Twilight begged as the android unlocked her cell, “I can’t fight, not without magic. If I go in there I’m going to die!”
“Believe me Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, his electronic voice mockingly calm, “if I could help you with this then it would my top priority, but as it stands I can’t do anything without risking my life as well as Dr. Layne’s, possibly Miss Pie’s as well. I am sorry but you are on your own on this.”
“Can’t you at least tell me who this Sam pony is?” Twilight asked, desperate for any help she could get.
Dread was quiet for a moment before responding, “I don’t know much about the S.A.M., I didn’t have the clearance to study it. The specimen was officially top secret, but any pony who worked at Sleipnir knew of it. It was a legend, spoken of only in whispers. Descriptions of it varied wildly, but it was generally agreed that it was pony with the most severe case of sanguinam ungolum ever documented. Beyond that I haven’t a clue what it is.”
Dread opened the door to Twilight’s cell and Twilight apprehensively stepped out.
“Would like me to escort you to the arena?” Dread asked.
Twilight nodded, fearing that speaking may cause her to vomit. Dread lead Twilight down the hall in the opposite direction of the way to Dread’s office. As they walked the laughing mare cackled louder and more wildly than she had before. Twilight guessed that the mare was excited to watch her die.
They came upon a metal door at the end of the hallway. Dread told Twilight that the door would take Twilight to the arena before he left to check on Diane. Twilight pressed a button on the side of the door and it slid open, making a swoosh sound. The door did not lead directly into the arena, rather it lead into a small chamber that was roughly four times the size of Twilight’s cell. On one of the walls inside the chamber there was a small hole with a flashing light next to it.
“Place your horn into the slot.” The Administrator instructed from a speaker that was somewhere inside the chamber.
Twilight was reluctant to obey, but did so anyway after a moment of hesitation. Once her horn was inside the slot, the something began to scratch at it. The sound of metal scraping horn irritated Twilight, but not so much so that she didn’t worry about what the slot was doing. Twilight began to panic when she realized that the device was likely going to cut her horn off.
The device made a beeping sound and stopped scrapping at Twilight’s horn. Twilight immediately placed a hoof on her horn to check that it was still there. Twilight found that not only was her horn still attached to her head, but the material that coated it was gone!
“Due to the nature of your playmate, we at Sleipnir have decided that you should be temporary permitted to access your magic.” The Administrator said.
“Thanks.” Twilight said as she began to cast teleportation spell.
The Administrator had made a mistake when he had given Twilight her magic. Twilight had no intention of using her magic only against whatever monster Sam was, she was ready to leave Sleipnir for good. Twilight felt her entire body tense up as she teleported home.
Twilight was standing in the middle of the Ponyville library. Everything was as clean and organized as Twilight remembered it. Twilight started towards her collection of pens and parchment, she was going to tell Celestia about the Administrator and what he had put her through. The princess would send an army to attach Sleipnir and destroy the Administrator. Dread and Layne would be free to help the sick ponies imprisoned in the facility, and everything would be right again.
Twilight suddenly felt an electric shock, sending her hurdling back into reality. Twilight was still in the small chamber, the only thing that had changed was that now there was a large scorch mark on the floor. Twilight had imagined returning home and didn’t even realize that her spell didn’t work. Twilight would’ve cried, but the shock of her failed attempt at teleportation left her paralyzed.
“Dear child,” The Administrator said over the intercom, “did you really think that I would allow you to put yourself in harm’s way? No, I need to keep you safe. I need you to stay at Sleipnir, where I can protect you. Now off to your play date.”
Twilight felt the chamber begin to lower, as if it were a hot air balloon that was landing. Twilight realized that somehow the chamber was taking her directly to wherever Sam was, and that she needed to get over the fact that her escape attempt failed, as quickly as she could. The chamber descended for what felt like hours to Twilight. When the chamber finally came to a stop, its doors opened to a large room with dim lighting.
Twilight looked around the room, it much like the laboratory several floors up with its odd machines and contraptions. However in this room, the contraptions almost reached up to the ceiling, making it difficult to see exactly what was in the room with her. Twilight noticed that there were a lot of droppings on the floor, droppings that were too large to be from a normal pony.
Twilight advanced into the room, careful that she was never too far away from something that she could hide behind. If the droppings were any indication, Sam was in the room with Twilight, possibly even searching for her. Twilight wasn’t one to rush headlong into danger without knowing what she was getting herself into.
Twilight’s strategy proved useful when she heard heavy breathing coming from around a corner. Twilight hid herself underneath a desk and waited to see what was making the loud breathing. Soon Twilight began to hear loud hoof steps, and after a moment the thing that was making them came right by Twilight’s hiding spot.
At the angle that Twilight was hiding, mixed in with the low level of visibility, she could only make out one of the creature’s hooves. It was large, much too large for a normal pony, although Twilight didn’t expect Sam to be a normal pony. What disturbed Twilight about the hoof was that it seemed to be coated in dried blood. This meant that either Sam had recently killed a pony, or he hadn’t washed since his last kill.
Sam paused for moment, and sniffed. Twilight felt her heart begin to race. If Sam decided to bend down, he would find her. Time seemed to slow down. Twilight had never been so afraid in her life, not when she fought Nightmare Moon, not when she faced Discord, not when even when she did battle with the Changelings. But this monster, the named Sam, terrified her in a way that Twilight could not begin to explain. Perhaps it was because she knew almost nothing about Sam, perhaps it was because she was alone, perhaps it was simply an effect that ponies infected with sanguinam ungolum had on other ponies, or perhaps it was a combination of all these.
Eventually the monster moved on, and when Twilight was sure that Sam was far enough away, she quietly came out of her hiding place and walked in the direction that the monster had come from. Twilight needed to figure out a way to kill Sam; and order to do that she need information on the abomination. Also, Twilight wanted to make sure she was where Sam wasn’t.
As she crept along the passage, Twilight began to notice that the droppings were beginning to increase in number. Twilight could only assume that she was in a part of Sam’s lair that the monster spent most of its time. After what seemed like hours of walking, Twilight came upon what looked like a larger version of the cells that all of the inmates stayed in. The cell was in poor condition, and appeared to have been torn apart from the inside.
Twilight found a torn piece of paper with the letters S.A.M. written in bold letters. Twilight risked illuminating her horn slightly so that she could read what was written on the parchment. What was written on the paper was mostly either illegible or terms that Twilight was not familiar with, but there was one small tidbit of information that caused Twilight to relax a little. Sam was technically an earth pony. While this in and of itself was not enough to ensure Twilight’s survival, it did mean that Twilight had an advantage over Sam, one that no matter how dangerous Sam was he stood no chance against it. Twilight smiled, knowing that The Administrator had made an error in giving Twilight her magic back after all.
Twilight began to retrace her steps back towards where Sam was. Confident in her ability to subdue the monster, Twilight speed up into a trot, and then a run. Twilight was not usually one for running, nor was this a time for her to be distracted, but after being imprisoned for Celestia knows how long the feeling of freedom that running gave Twilight was unbelievable.
It wasn’t long before Twilight heard the heavy hoof steps that could only belong to Sam. Immediately Twilight felt her confidence being replaced by fear. Twilight ignored her emotions, after all if Twilight’s theory was correct, and Twilight was sure that it was, all she would have to do was use a levitation spell to hold Sam in place and snap his neck.
As Sam came closer, Twilight braced herself for combat, her horn illuminating at the tip. Twilight saw a large, bulky
shape in the distance and used her magic to lift it off the ground, the magic illuminating the monster’s features. When Twilight got her first look at Sam, she wished that she had just kept hiding.
Out of all the horrors that Twilight had seen during her stay at Sleipnir, Sam was easily the most disturbing. Sam was a large, bulky stallion with blood red fur. His eyes seemed to be devoid of any color, and his teeth would’ve been better suited to a dragon. Around his waist, Sam wore a loin cloth that looked like it was made of the faces of dead ponies. But what Twilight found the most terrible was Sam’s cutie mark, a green apple that had been cut in half.
“You’re Big Macintosh.” Twilight said to herself quietly.
Big Macintosh was the older brother of Apple Jack, one of Twilight’s friends back before Twilight was imprisoned in Sleipnir. He was one of the sweetest stallions that Twilight had known. She had enjoyed his company very much, even though they could never decide if they should be special some ponies or not. To think that right now Twilight was fighting an evil counterpart of her Macintosh enraged Twilight.
It was a good thing that the researcher of Sleipnir had given Sam a new name, Twilight decided. The decision was strengthened when Twilight saw the faces that made up Sam’s loin cloth. They were the faces of three fillies that Twilight had known back in Ponyville, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo.
Twilight looked into the eyes of the monster and said in an unusually cold voice, “I’m going to kill you in the only way you deserve to die, the way that the researchers should have killed when they found you, as slow and painful as possible.” Twilight heard the laughter of the mad mare, somehow penetrating several floors of metal.
Sam bellowed and violently swung his arms, somehow managing to break Twilight’s levitation field. A soon as Sam had hit the floor he charged towards Twilight. Twilight had just enough time to cast a short range teleportation spell before Sam could tackle her.
Once Twilight was safely away she began to try and think up a new plan to defeat Sam. Twilight was concerned that the monster had somehow thrown off her levitation spell; something that Twilight didn’t even know was possible. To Twilight’s surprise this fact did not worry her, in fact Twilight was fascinated by it.
How could something break through a levitation field? Twilight asked herself
Twilight had no explanation for this phenomenon, and this excited her. Was this ability unique to Sam or could other ponies learn how to do it? What else was this monster capable of? Twilight wanted to know. She wanted to study Sam. No, she needed to study Sam.
A strange lust for knowledge began to take over Twilight’s mind. Twilight had decided that she was going to find out everything she could about Sam, no matter what she had to do. Twilight’s head began to hurt severely, but she didn’t mind, she loved the pain!
Twilight snapped herself back into reality. She didn’t know what to think of her thought process other than that she had never before felt such a disgusting mixture of bloodlust and curiosity. Twilight made a mental note to ask Dread what might’ve caused her to think such insane thoughts, though Twilight could probably already guess his answer. In any case, this wasn’t the time for Twilight to be self analyzing. Twilight needed to survive, and in order to that she would have to think of a new way to kill Sam.
Twilight took a look at the area that she had teleported to, searching for something that would assist in her study of Sam. As luck would have it, Twilight found a box with the word Emergency Amputation Supplies. Twilight wasn’t sure why exactly the researchers on this floor would need an emergency amputation, or what separated an emergency amputation from a standard amputation, but Twilight was not about to question small miracles. Inside the box were surgical tubes, a thread for stitching up wounds, and a bone saw.
Twilight took the bone saw out of the box and held it her mouth. Twilight wasn’t sure if the bone saw would be of any use against Sam, but it was better that hiding for the rest of her life. Twilight used her magic to levitate the bone saw so that she would be able to fight without the risk of dropping it, and made her way to confront Sam for a second time.
Twilight didn’t have too long before she located the monster, Sam had been tearing up the lab after Twilight managed to escape him. Twilight was impressed by how much Sam had managed to destroy in the time it took her to locate the bone saw and return. The location was almost unrecognizable from before.
When Twilight came upon Sam for the third time fortune smiled in her favor, she had managed to approach Sam from behind. Unwilling to waste any time, Twilight took the bone saw and slashed it across Sam’s back. Twilight managed to pierce the skin, but the monster’s hide was too tough for the blade to cut deeply into it.
Enraged, Sam turned a bellowed his indecipherable war cry. Once again Sam charged at Twilight, but rather than teleporting away like last time Twilight ducked between the monster’s legs and once more attempted to slash at the monster’s back. Again Twilight only managed to scratch the monster, but this time Sam roared with pain.
Twilight smiled, somehow finding joy in Sam’s pain. She wanted to hurt the monster, she wanted to know what could hurt it and what couldn’t. Twilight’s fear for her life had been replaced by a savage desire for pain mixed with a scholar’s never ending quest for knowledge, and it felt right.
Twilight’s head became filled with a head splitting pain that would’ve caused a normal pony to collapse, but not Twilight, no not Twilight. To Twilight the pain in her head was something to be welcomed, it meant that she was defying whoever caused her to feel the pain, to punish her for thinking or remember. The pain made Twilight whole, it filled the parts of Twilight that Twilight didn’t even realize were missing.
Twilight forced herself to focus. She prepared to swing again but Sam lunged at Twilight before she could complete the action. Twilight evaded the attack but she had lost her focus and dropped the bone saw mid swing, she heard it clatter to the ground some twenty feet away. Instantly Twilight’s priorities changed from killing Sam to regaining the bone saw. Twilight ran in the direction that the bone saw had hit the ground and had managed to get about halfway to the weapon when Twilight felt something heavy slam into her.
Twilight had made the fatal error of turning her back on Sam. The monster now held Twilight in his front legs, his breath hitting the back of her neck, smelling faintly of copper. Twilight had lost this fight, and now Sam was going to kill her.
Twilight tried to resist, using a variety of spells that would’ve been enough to fend off a hydra, but Sam was a monster in his own league, and Twilight spells either didn’t affect him, or else they only managed to make the monster angrier. Twilight tried to cast another teleportation spell, but found that she couldn’t concentrate long enough to do so. Twilight was in a blind panic, she quickly gave up on spells altogether and began trying to kick her opponent, it was no use though; Sam didn’t seem to notice the blows.
Sam slammed Twilight onto the floor in a similar manner that the stallion in the first fight that Twilight had seen had slammed the mare. Twilight cried out once she realized what it was that Sam intended to do. Twilight would not let that happen, Sam could beat her, maul her, or decapitate her, but Twilight was not about to allow herself to be violated!
Sam placed one of his fore hooves onto Twilight’s throat, forcing her head into a position where her horn laid parallel to the floor. Twilight’s eyes began to tear up. This was it for her, her life was going to end here and now, in what was possibly the most degrading way to die.
Just as Twilight was about to come to terms with her fate something a few feet away caught her eye. The bone saw! Somehow the blade had landed in way that it caught the light. Wasting no time, Twilight used her telekinesis/telekinetic ability to pull the bone saw towards her. The bone saw came flying, and in a single motion, putting an end to what Sam intended to do to Twilight, permanently.
Sam howled with pain, releasing Twilight while the monster tried to nurse his wound. Twilight got up and prepared to for another strike. Using her telekinesis, Twilight pulled the bone saw along the back of Sam’s legs, severing multiple tendons. Sam fell to the floor, unable to do anything but whimper with pain. Twilight almost pitied the monster.
Twilight took the bone saw and began to sever the tendons in Sam’s front legs as well. Once the monster was properly immobilized, Twilight turned Sam over onto his back and slid the bone saw over his torso, leaving a deep gash in the beast’s stomach. Twilight then took the bone saw and began to make more gashes on Sam’s body. The creature looked at Twilight and growled, his eyes still filled with a sadistic rage. Twilight took no notice and continued to cut into Sam’s body, fascinated with the amount of blood it contained. Eventually Twilight stopped cutting and just waited for Sam to bleed out. After roughly five minutes of waiting Sam could still muster up a weak growl, but was dying nonetheless.
Twilight became impatient and decided that she was going to have to speed the process up. Twilight took the bone saw and carefully uses it to saw off Sam’s scalp, revealing his brain. Sam’s brain was not like the brains that Twilight had seen in medical journals, it looked visibly diseased, like what a sponge would look like if it were covered with mold and drowned with ink. Twilight used a telekinesis spell to slowly pull the brain out of Sam’s skull, carefully so that she did not sever any nerves.
Once the brain was as far out as Twilight could force it, she let it down carefully onto the floor. Sam managed to take a good look at his brain and made a weak snort. Twilight turned her back on the monster, so that it could die alone. As she left, Twilight felt a sick kind of pleasure at what she had done.
When Twilight found her way back to the chamber she arrived in, the Administrator said over the intercom, “Congratulations, I do hope you had fun. Please insert your horn into the slot again, and you will be returned to your bed chamber.”
Twilight did as instructed, placing her horn into the same hole in the wall that she had before. This time Twilight felt like something was dripping molten honey onto her horn. Unicorns don’t have nerves in their horns so it didn’t hurt, but Twilight could still feel the heat radiate from the tiny hole. Twilight could only guess at how much it would hurt if some of the material slipped through the space between the edge of the hole and her horn.
After a minute the material stopped dripping onto Twilight’s horn and a beeping sound came from the device. Twilight removed her horn from the slot and placed a hoof on it. Whatever material that was dripped on it had rapidly cooled down once it was exposed to air. A second later the chamber began to rise back to the floor Twilight’s cell was on.
Dread was waiting outside Twilight’s cell when she returned.
“How do you feel?” The android asked once Twilight was close enough.
“I…I’m not sure.” Twilight answered.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I can’t tell whether I’m horrified at what I’ve done, or ecstatic about it. I mean shouldn’t I be feeling some kind or remorse? I just killed a pony for buck’s sake!” Twilight’s eyes were beginning to tear up, “I should be hating myself right now! I should be begging for forgiveness. I took a life Dread, that’s something that I know is wrong, but I don’t care. No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to feel guilty!”
“Yes, that would be an effect of your… condition. We’ll speak more of this later. Right now I need to know what you would like for supper.”
Twilight looked at Dread, her eyes red from crying, “Supper?”
“Yes, you won so you get a meal of your choosing.”
The idea of food distracted Twilight from her frustration long enough for her to stop crying. She could have whatever she desired, and if Pinkamena’s cannibalistic appetite was of any indication there was nothing that Twilight could not ask for.
“Cupcakes.” Twilight answered, “Two of them, one for me and one for Pinki… Diane. Is that alright?”
“Am I right in the assumption that you want normal cupcakes?” Dread asked.
“What do you mean normal? What kind of cupcakes do you serve here?”
“Never mind, your order will arrive along with your regularly scheduled meal.” Dread let Twilight back into her cell and left to do whatever it was he did to prepare the inmate’s meals.
“So how do you feel?” Diane asked as Dread’s metallic hoof steps began to fade.
“I’m fine, why?” Twilight answered.
“Well you just killed a pony. Surely that had to get some kind of reaction out of you.”
Twilight thought for a moment. In truth, Twilight honestly didn’t care that she had taken the life of a pony, but she couldn’t tell Diane that. The fact that Twilight wasn’t feeling any remorse at all disturbed Twilight more than the actual act of killing, and there was no telling how Diane would react to it.
“The creature that I fought had not been a pony in a long time.” Twilight finally said. Twilight wasn’t sure if she believed her own statement, but it was better than admitting to being a cold blooded murderer.
“What do you mean Sam wasn’t a pony?” Diane asked.
Twilight wasn’t sure how to answer. What constituted a pony? If Twilight were to say appearance then she would’ve stated the Diane, or any pony afflicted with anthropromorphia for that matter, did not fit the definition of pony. It couldn’t have been the cutie mark that made a pony, Sam had one. Twilight could not think of a good answer.
“I don’t know. He just wasn’t.”
Twilight and Diane sat quietly until they heard the sound of metal hoof steps announcing dinner.
“So what did you ask for your dinner?” Diane asked.
“Didn’t you hear me say it when I got back from the fight?”
“No. I try not to eaves drop on other pony’s conversations. It’s rude you know.”
“Oh, well I asked for cupcakes, one for each of us.” Twilight said cheerfully.
Diane made a choking noise. Exactly what she could’ve choked on, Twilight had no idea.
“Cupcakes! You asked for cupcakes?” Diane began to hyperventilate.
“Yes,” Twilight answered, suddenly concerned, “why not cupcakes?”
“No. No, I can’t have cupcakes! Cupcakes are bad! Cupcakes are evil! I can’t eat cupcakes!” Diane broke into hysterical cry, “I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I hate myself. I WANT TO DIE!”
Diane began to slam herself onto the inside wall of her cell rambling on about how she was a disgusting, miserable excuse for a friend. Twilight tried to calm Diane down, but everything she said seemed to only make matters worse. Eventually Twilight decided that the best course of action would be to wait and ask Dread what to do.
It wasn’t long before Dread got to Twilight’s cell.
“I take it that something has upset Miss Pie?” Dread asked as he prepared to give Twilight her food.
“She’s been like this ever since I told her about the cupcakes.” Twilight said.
“Oh dear, I should’ve know that this would’ve happened.” Dread said, “I do apologies Miss Sparkle, this is partially my fault. I forgot to tell you about Miss Pie’s relation to cupcakes. You see when Miss Pie murdered her friend Rainbow Dash, she cooked her into cupcakes. Now whenever you mention the pastry to Miss Pie’s Diane personality, she goes into one of these fits.”
“That would’ve been useful information to know when I was ordering the food. Why didn’t you tell me then?” Twilight asked.
“Forgive me Miss Sparkle, my mind was on other matters then. My advice right now would be to allow Miss Pie to calm down. Come tomorrow she will have reverted to her Pinkamena personality. I think that it would be wise to wait until then to give her the cupcake.”
“Alright then,” Twilight said, “is there anything else that you have neglected to tell me?”
Dread thought for a moment before answering, “Nothing that you need to know. Please enjoy your meal.” Dread gave Twilight the cupcake and then when to take care of Diane.
Twilight began to nibble on her cupcake. It wasn’t the best cupcake that Twilight had ever eaten, but after the meals she had had at Sleipnir it was a blessing. Having two edible meals in one day was likely as rare as a zapapples at Sleipnir. Twilight savored every bite of the pastry, seeing as she might never get the chance to taste one again.
After a few minutes Diane stopped slamming herself against the walls of her cell. Twilight asked if she was alright, but received no answer. Twilight thought about calling for help, but decided that it would be a waste of energy. After all, the Administrator didn’t care if his playthings lived or died, Dread was too far out away, and Dr. Layne never ventured into the part of the facility.
Twilight laid down in her cell and pressed an ear onto the part of the wall that was adjacent to Diane’s cell. Twilight listened for any sign that would confirm that Diane had not beaten herself to death. At first Twilight heard nothing and was ready to have an episode when she heard it. It was a faint noise that almost didn’t penetrate the metal walls, but it was all Twilight needed. Relief filled Twilight when she realized that Diane was not dead, but unconscious.
Twilight sat in silence for a long time before the Administrator announced that it was time for sleep. Twilight welcomed the idea and settled down as comfortably as she could in the metal cell. She had a long day and was ready for some rest. As Twilight laid listening to sound of a mad mare’s laughter a thought occurred to her.
As Twilight slept her dreams took on the form of strange images, the likes of which chilled Twilight’s blood. The images appeared before her like macabre works of art, so grisly and ghoulish that, had Twilight never stepped hoof into Sleipnir, would’ve offended her paradigm. The images passed in before Twilight, each one carving itself into her mind, demanding that she would not forget them.
The first image was that of Pinkie Pie. Not the Pinkie Pie who was imprisoned in the cell next to Twilight's, but the Pinkie Pie Twilight had known in Ponyville. The image showed Pinkie Pie crucified on an obelisk. Pinkie must’ve been dead for a long time, for her flesh was rotten and great, black birds had begun to peck at it. The crows each had six eyes that glowed a pale yellow. One of the birds had apparently tried to pluck out Pinkie’s left eye but stopped so that hung down on her face.
As Twilight looked at the image, the decaying cadaver of Pinkie Pie opened its right eye and looked at Twilight. The corpse smiled warmly, her lips splitting as she did so. A second later her cheeks began to swell up as though Pinkie were holding her breath. Soon holes began to form on the rotten cheeks and a swarm of insects exploded from the corpse’s mouth. The insects flew in the direction where Twilight was standing. The bugs quickly surrounded Twilight and began to bite at her flesh. And then the image changed.
The change did not happen instantly, first the image began to blur, and then it seemed to blow away, like dust in the wind. The colors that made up the first image swirled around Twilight, mixing and changing almost randomly. In the colors Twilight could see the twisted shapes of a thousand nameless ponies, their pained expressions standing out in the chaos. Twilight tried to look away but she could not escape the gaze of the ponies. Their eyeless stares bore into Twilight, and the figures screamed silent pleas for help. As the chaos began to settle down, the figures themselves became a part of the second image, their bodies molding to fit together. As the second image took form, the figures seemed to scream in agony before they disappeared entirely.
The second image was that of Spike, a baby dragon that Twilight had been given to take care of when she was just a filly, but this Spike was not as Twilight remembered. This Spike was taller than the Spike Twilight was accustomed to. In the image, Spike was sitting on a bed, his eyes where bloodshot and the color in his scales had faded so that he looked almost grey. Twilight noticed that this Spike had some sort of cord coming out of his back that ended in a forked piece of metal.
The dragon began to stir, lifting his left claw to scratch his right. As he did so, the scales on his body began to fall away, his flesh not long after. What remained was not bone, but metal. Upon closer examination, Twilight saw that Spike’s eyes were not bloodshot at all, they were simply red. When the dragon was finished peeling away at his organic body, the now fully mechanical dragon stood up and lunged at Twilight. The mechanical dragon clawed at Twilight; tearing her wings clean off. Twilight tried to fight it off, but found that all her strength had left her as the robot attacked. Just as it was about to land a fatal blow the metal dragon began to melt, its colors rolling off Twilight like water off of a duck.
The colors quickly began to bubble and change. It wasn’t long before the colors began take shape once more. The colors twisted upward like snakes, tangling and untangling randomly as the third image was formed. As the image formed, it sunk into the ground at Twilight’s feet.
The third image was that of Applejack, an orange earth pony that Twilight had known back in Ponyville. Applejack laid within a small square hole, her body twisted so that she would fit. Applejack’s eyes stared upward at Twilight, who had to look down at the image. The image of Applejack began to glare at Twilight, although as she did so her eyes began to tear up. Applejack opened her mouth as if to speak, but all that came out was a mechanical buzzing sound.
Unlike the first two images, the third image that Twilight saw in her dreams made no attempt to harm her. Instead, it continued to stare at the alicorn until it began to fade. As the third image faded, it left behind something that haunted Twilight more than anything else she had seen.
The fourth image was not of a pony that Twilight had known, or a pony at all for that matter. Still, Twilight felt herself begging her body to wake up upon seeing the fourth image. The fourth image was too much for Twilight to take, and she hated it. She did not want to acknowledge the fourth image, she wanted to run away from the fourth image. The fourth image was a question, one that Twilight had no answer for, try as she might to come up with one. The fourth image was brilliantly simple, so simple that Twilight wanted to shriek at the pony who had come up with it. The fourth image was a single word.
Twilight woke up screaming; her head was hurting as if some pony had tried to jam an icicle into it and succeeded. Twilight placed her front hooves to her temples and pressed down. The pressure did nothing to calm Twilight’s headache so she pressed her head onto the wall of her cell and waited for the pain to pass. Twilight’s headache took several minutes to calm down to a bearable intensity, and even longer for it to fade altogether.
As soon as Twilight’s head stopped hurting, the alicorn looked out of her cell window to try and guess what time it was. This proved to be a waste of time; the entire hallway was pitch black save for the occasional flickering light in the distance. Twilight tried to go back to sleep, but found that every time she closed her eyes for more than a couple of seconds the images from her dream would flash before her.
Twilight thought about the dream she had. It was not like her to be bothered by something as foalish as a nightmare, but still she could not get it out of her mind. Twilight reflected on the images that she saw, trying to figure out why they bothered her so much. The reason why the first three images bothered her was obvious, they were simply graphic images that Twilight wasn’t used to seeing, even after her encounter with the monster named Sam.
It was the fourth image that troubled Twilight; Why. How could a single word cause Twilight so much distress? Did it have something to do with whatever Twilight did to end up at Sleipnir? Was it something to do with the actual dream itself? Twilight didn’t have answer.
After an hour Twilight managed to force herself to sleep despite the unpleasant mental images. A few hours later Twilight was awakened by the pony who lived in the cell next to hers.
“Hey Twilight, wake up! You’re gonna miss breakfast!” Twilight’s neighbor called from the next cell over.
“What? What am I going to miss?” Twilight asked as she jolted awake.
“I’ve been trying to wake you up for since the lights came on.” Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane said in cheerful, if slightly raspy voice, “For a second there I was afraid that you died in your sleep.”
“Well I’m alive. Did the Administrator already do the morning announcements?”
“Yeah, he also showed the highlights of yesterday’s fight. I have to say I’m very impressed by how brutally you took out that thing, uh… What was his name again?”
“Sam.”
“Right, Sam, weird name. Anyways, I can’t believe how far you pull his brain out of his skull without breaking any of the nerves! And then you just left him there to die with his brains hanging out. It was so cool!”
“Um yeah, the brain thing…” Twilight didn’t think about it at the time, but how did she know how to remove the brain without killing Sam? It seemed so natural in the heat of the moment, but now that Twilight was thinking about it the whole idea seemed ridiculous. The act of removing a brain without killing a pony would take supernatural skill to perform; all the nerves would’ve had to stay connected to the body in order for the act to be successful.
“So did the Administrator say what we will be having for breakfast?” Twilight asked.
“No.” Pinkamena grumbled, “I swear he goes out of his way just to make food as bucking disgusting as he can.”
“Yeah that’s probably true.” Twilight said.
A few minutes later Twilight heard the sound of Dread’s metal hooves clip clopping some distance away. As the sound grew louder, Twilight noticed that there was something wrong; the pattern of Dread’s hoof steps was off. Twilight listened as closely to Dread’s hoof steps as she could in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with Dread. In the distance Twilight could just make out the sound of metal scraping metal mixed in with Dread’s hoof steps.
It took longer than usual for Dread to come into Twilight’s limited range of vision. When the android did come into view he was visibly damaged; the top of his head had been burned, one of his hind legs seemed to have stopped working, and the light that was his left eye had been broken.
“Good morning Miss Sparkle.” The android greeted, his voice crackling slightly, “I do hope that you slept well last night.”
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.
“Mostly, I’ve had a few of my body parts breakdown this morning, but all is well.” Dread answered, “It’s nothing that cannot be repaired.”
“But the burn mark…”
“Burn mark?” Pinkamena asked from the next cell over, “What burn mark?”
“It’s nothing Miss Pie. I simply had an accident with a falling light.”
“Liar, you’ve been hurting yourself again haven’t you?” Pinkamena accused.
“I assure you Miss Pie; it was only an accid…” Dread started to say before he was interrupted by Pinkamena.
“Don’t try to feed me that accident crap Dread! You’ve hurt yourself like this before and it nearly killed you!”
“I appreciate your concern Miss Pie, but I have not been causing myself any harm recently. Now if you would be so kind, I have inmates to feed.” Dread gave both Twilight and Pinkamena their breakfast and then quickly left.
“He’s been hurting himself again and I know it.” Pinkamena grumbled as soon as Dread was gone.
“What do you mean hurting himself?” Twilight asked.
“It’s a long story Twi, and I’m not sure about all of the details, but every couple of weeks or so Dread shows up looking like he did just now with a burn mark on his head. At first I believed him when he told me that it was just an accident, but then I noticed that it happened far too often to just be bad luck. I’m not sure how he does it, but I know that it’s him who puts the burn on his head. I think that he’s sad about something, but every time I ask him about it he avoids the question. I’m worried about him Twilight, I’m afraid that any day now he’s just gonna do himself in.”
Twilight took in what Pinkamena said for a moment and then began to giggle.
“What’s so funny?” Pinkamena asked.
In between laughs Twilight answered, “It’s just that when I first met you, you seemed to be proud of how heartless you are, and now here you are expressing concern for a robot. I’m sorry, but it just feels so fake!”
Pinkamena grumbled, “I am not a black hole of morality you know, I am capable of caring about some pony. I’m not a total monster Twilight.”
'Tell that to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy', Twilight thought before saying, “I’m not saying that you are, but it is odd that you value the life of a machine over the life of a pony.”
“I don’t think you understand what Dread means to me.” Pinkamena said quietly.
Curious, Twilight asked, “If I don’t understand, then would you care to enlighten me?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it Twilight.”
“It’ll pass the time until the Administrator announces the fight today.”
“Ugh, fine I’ll tell you, just promise not to laugh okay?”
“I promise that I’m not going to laugh Pinkamena, just tell me the story.”
Pinkamena sighed, “For most of my life I’ve had to deal with homicidal urges. Usually I could just ignore them, but sometimes they would become so strong that I would have to lock myself in my room to keep myself from hurting any pony. There was this one time however, I asked Rainbow Dash to come over to help me make cupcakes…”
“You’ve already told me this.” Twilight interrupted.
“What?”
“You invited Rainbow Dash over to help you make cupcakes, she was late and your urges began to become stronger. When Rainbow Dash finally did arrive you fed her a poisoned cupcake, murdered her in your basement, and then somehow turn Rainbow Dash into cupcakes. Did I miss anything?”
“No, that pretty much explains what happened up to a certain point. I don’t remember talking about this before though, when exactly did I tell you all this?”
She doesn’t remember what she did as the Diane personality, Twilight thought to herself before answering, “Come to think of it maybe it was Dread who told me all that.”
“Weird, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, after I killed Rainbow Dash I ran away, no note, no message, I didn’t even bother to pack anything; I just ran. I started what I thought was a new life in the Everfree Forrest. I lived off of berries, wild fruit, and the occasional squirrel. I hated myself; I hated how seclusion didn’t stop me from feeling my urges, even though I had killed one of my best friends. I started to justify my actions to myself, to try and prove that I wasn’t a monster. I told myself that cannibalism was the ultimate expression of love; that Dashie wasn’t really dead, she was just living inside me. I think that it was sugar withdrawal that drove me insane.”
“Well that explains a little about what happened after you ate Rainbow Dash. But I don’t see what Dread has to do with any of this.” Twilight said after Pinkamena stopped talking.
“I’m getting to that. Sorry I had to catch my breath. Now where was I? Oh right; I lived in the Everfree forest for a long time, at least a couple of months. Every day I felt my urges become stronger, even though there was no pony around to trigger them. It was so bad that even my dreams started to become affected. I would dream that was a monster that would do nothing but hunt ponies down and maul them. Strange thing was that in every dream was different, sometimes I was a large wolf that terrorized the streets of Canterlot, other times I was a dragon that preyed on the pegasi of Cloudsdale. The dreams didn’t help my urges though, if anything they made them worse. Soon I couldn’t think of anything but bloodshed. I would go about my day thinking of better ways to kill ponies; how to make them bleed more, or how to make them scream louder. It’s a wonder how I remembered to feed myself.”
Pinkamena stopped to take a breath, “Eventually a pony somehow wondered into the area that I had been staying. I was asleep when they came so she didn’t notice me. I woke up when the pony screamed out in pain. I looked out of my hiding spot to see Fluttershy lying on the ground. I don’t know how she fell over; she must’ve tripped on a rock or something. Anyway, I didn’t think twice about what to do. I took the closest rock I could find and used it to knock her unconscious. Once I was sure that she was out cold I laid her on her back and place two boulders on her front legs to keep her from getting up. I took the rock that I used to skin animal skins and tore open Fluttershy’s torso. I was so blood thirsty that I just started ripping out her organs. I didn’t care that Fluttershy was my friend, as far as I was concerned my life as Pinkie Pie ended when I killed Rainbow Dash. I was the monster in my dreams, a wild beast that would kill any pony it came upon, and I loved it. I loved the feel of ripping apart flesh, the warmth of the body as it spills its contents. I began to splash Fluttershy’s blood onto my fur, embracing the monster that I was.”
“Pinkamena, you’re going off topic!” Twilight shouted.
“Sorry.” Pinkamena replied.
“It’s fine; just tell me what happened next.”
“While I was busy killing Fluttershy, she woke up. I don’t know how, but Fluttershy woke up after I had completely torn apart her insides! She didn’t say anything, but her eyes looked happy. Why was she happy? I had torn her organs to ribbons, and she looked up and smiled at me. Why was she happy Twilight?”
Twilight tried to find an answer, but none came to her.
“Maybe she was just happy to see you after so long?” Twilight guessed, trying to give Pinkamena some closure.
“But why though? She had to have known that I was the one cutting her up. I was covered in her blood for Celestia’s sake!”
Twilight didn’t know what to say. A number of solutions as to why someone would smile to their executioner popped into her mind, but none of them seemed right. It could be that Fluttershy thought that Pinkamena was trying to save her, or that Fluttershy simply didn’t realize that she was dying; neither of those reasons seemed likely thought. What was most likely Twilight believed; was that Fluttershy made a face that Pinkamena, in her insanity, mistook for a smile when it was actually an expression of terror. Twilight didn’t want to tell Pinkamena that last thought though, seeing as it might only upset her more.
“So what happened next?” Was all Twilight could think to ask.
“Well, I was angry, angry that she wasn’t afraid, angry because she was happy. I was going to finish her off right then and there, to punish Fluttershy for not fearing me, to wipe that smile right off her face, but then I heard a noise coming from behind me. I felt something hit me on the back of my head. The next thing I know, I was tied up and being dragged off to Celestia knows where. I tried to struggle, but whatever it was I was tied up with was designed so that no pony could escape it. I looked back at what was left of Fluttershy, and would you believe that she was still smiling?”
“Do you know who…” Twilight started to ask before Pinkamena interrupted.
“It was Dread Twilight. Dread was the one who knocked me out and tied me up. I don’t know if he meant to take me out while I was killing Fluttershy or what, but because of him Fluttershy had to die on her own, without any pony with her. No pony should have to die alone, no pony.”
Twilight thought uncomfortably of the state that she had left Sam in yesterday, before reminding herself that Sam wasn’t a pony.
“They way you’re talking, it sounds like you would hold a grudge against Dread rather than care for him.” Twilight pointed out.
Pinkamena laughed, “Yeah, I did hold a grudge against him for a while, but then after a few weeks of being locked in this cell, he offered to let me walk out for some fresh air while the Administrator watched the ponies play his games.”
“And you accepted?”
“Buck no, I spat in his face the first time he offered me that. It wasn’t until the next time he asked that I accepted.”
“So when did you accept his offer?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, the third or fourth time;” Pinkamena answered, “I don’t remember exactly why I accepted, but I’m glad that I did.”
“So what did you talk about the first time you went with him?” Twilight was eager to find out more of Pinkamena’s relationship with Dread.
“He asked what my favorite party was.” Pinkamena answered.
“And what was your answer?”
“A surprise party of course!” Pinkamena laughed.
Twilight was prepared to inquire more when the Administrator’s voice suddenly came on the intercom to announce the day’s fight. Twilight looked at her still untouched breakfast, wondering how the time had passed so quickly.
“Dang, how long have we been talking?” Pinkamena asked.
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered, “I haven’t even taken a bite out of my breakfast.”
Twilight quickly ate her food. It was dry and tasteless, but it was still better than what Twilight normally had to eat at Sleipnir. Once she was done eating, Twilight turned her attention to who the Administrator would have killing each other that day. Twilight didn’t recognize either of the ponies that the Administrator had named, from what she could tell they were both stallion with a severe case of anthropromorphia. Twilight didn’t bother trying to read the impossibly fast scrolling list of offenses that the two stallions were guilty of, but judging how one of them was named Fleshpounder it couldn’t have been tasteful.
Shortly after the Administrator announced the two ponies who would be fighting, Dread’s hoofsteps became audible somewhere down the hallway. When arrived at Twilight’s and Pinkamena’s cells he wasn’t in as bad a shape as he was before; he had fixed his eye, his leg, and had even made an attempt to clear up the burn mark on his head, though it was still visible.
“Greetings Miss Sparkle and Miss Pie,” Dread said, “how are you doing?”
“Fine Dread,” Pinkamena answered, “what about you?”
“Me? Well I’ve been forced to fix some of my faulty body parts without proper tools or even a way of looking at what I was doing; but barring that though and my day has not been out of the ordinary.”
“So you haven’t hurt yourself anymore?” Pinkamena asked.
“Honestly Miss Pie, I don’t understand where you get these ideas.” Dread answered.
Dread unlocked the two ponies’ cells and led them down the hallway in the direction of his office. Twilight found
that she was strangely more comfortable with the insane ponies that lined hallway staring at than she had been the last couple of times she had come this way. Twilight guessed that it was either the fact that she was in a larger group than the last couple of times she had walked this path, or that she was simply getting used to the stares.
It wasn’t long before the group made it to the abandoned laboratory. When they entered Twilight notice that a few of the machines had been fixed, including a large metal box with blinking lights, several monitors that were now displaying, a pole with a wire coiled around it that was topped with a strange circular object. Twilight had no idea what any of these objects did, and had to use every fiber of her self control to not jump around like an excited school filly.
Dread led the two mares to his office and began to talk with them.
“Alright, I’m going to ask you five questions,” Dread said when they had both sat down, “for each question I want Mrs. Pie to answer first then Mrs. Sparkle. Understand?” They both agreed.
“Very well, let us begin. Question one; how do you feel about each other?”
Pinkamena answered, “Well it’s nice having some pony talk to. Before Twilight arrived I would have sit in this stupid straight jacket and listen Berry mumble those weird poems of hers.”
Twilight answered, “Well having Pinkamena to talk to has certainly kept me sane while I’ve been here. I wouldn’t say that all of our conversations have been…pleasant, but I’ve enjoyed her company nonetheless.”
Dread scribbled something into a notebook before continuing, “Whenever you look at a dead pony what do you feel?”
Pinkamena answered, “Well I don’t really feel anything per say. I mean it’s just a dead body, hay I’d probably make ice cream out of it or something.”
Twilight answered, “Disgusted at the body and sad for the pony, but I don’t think that it would bother me too much…”
Again Dread scribbled into his notebook before continuing, “Do you feel like you have changed any during your time at Sleipnir?”
Pinkamena laughed, “Yeah, I think that I’m a lot calmer than I used to be. I’m not sure why though, maybe the constant pony flesh I get to eat?”
Twilight had think about the question for a moment, she didn’t feel any different than she did when she lived in Ponyville, but did change would she have noticed the difference? Twilight thought back to her fight with Sam, and of how eager she had been to cut the monster up? Was that a sign of some change that Twilight had undergone in a matter of days?
“I’m not sure.” Twilight said finally.
“Hmm, well perhaps it was a little early to be asking you that,” Dread said, “I’ll ask you again in a few weeks to see if your answer changes.”
Twilight’s stomach twisted when Dread said ‘in a few weeks’. Twilight hadn’t thought about it before, but she had no idea how long she was going to locked up in Sleipnir. Buck, she didn’t even know if there was an end to sentence at all. She could very well be here for the rest of her life, though that might not be a very long time if the Administrator has something more dangerous than Sam waiting for her.
Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of quill scratching on paper.
“What is kind but also cruel?”
“The sun,” Pinkamena answered plainly, “I mean it’s a giant ball of fire that can burn every pony to crisp if Celestia bucks up its orbit, and yet we can’t grow crops, or dry anything without it.”
Twilight thought for a moment before answering, “Time, it ages certain enchantments, making them more powerful, but it is also what causes certain things to fade away.”
Dread scribbled his again before asking the last question, “What is love?”
Pinkamena looked as though she had trouble coming up with an answer. It took her a full minute before she decided on what she was going to say.
“I’m not sure.” Pinkamena answered, “I mean love has meant so many things to me over the years. For most of my life I thought that love meant that you wanted some pony to smile no matter how tough life is, latter I thought that love was something that could only be expressed by eating some pony, now I don’t know what to think.”
Twilight didn’t have as much trouble coming up with an answer, “Love is when you care about a pony more than any other pony in the world, when you love a pony you are choosing that pony over every pony else. Really, that’s all I have to say on the matter.”
Dread made one last note before putting away his notebook. Dread got up and walked over to a cabinet from which how pulled out a small package.
“I am terribly sorry Miss Pie,” Dread said as her walked back, “I meant to give you this at breakfast but forgot.” Dread gave the package to Pinkamena, “It is a gift from Miss Sparkle.”
“Oh really?” Pinkamena asked as she examined the package, “How would Twilight get me a gift?”
Dread was about to answer when a dark grey pegasus stallion burst through the door.
Dr. Layne was breathing heavily and he had a panicked look on his face.
“Dread, I need your help!” Dr. Layne said urgently, “There’s a complication with Project 6-19!”
Dread swore loudly before rushing off, adding as he left, “Enjoy your present Miss Pie. I’ll be right back.”
When the Dread and Dr. Layne were gone Pinkamena turned to Twilight and asked, “Do you have any idea what the buck that was about?”
“I have no idea.” Twilight answered honestly, “Has Dread ever mentioned a Project 6-19 to you?”
Pinkamena shrugged, “No, I guess it never came up. Whatever it is it has to be important, judging by how Dr. Layne reacted to it.”
Twilight suddenly found herself very curious about this Project 6-19. Pinkamena was right, it had to be important; otherwise Dread wouldn’t have rushed off like that. Twilight wondered exactly what could be so important that Dread would just leave without an explanation. Could it have been a cure for sanguinam ungollum, a way to overthrow the Administrator, or something else entirely?
“Hey, hey, Equestria to Twilight.” Pinkamena had begun to wave a hoof in front of Twilight’s face.
“Wha-what?” Twilight asked, snapping back to reality.
“You’ve been starring into empty space for a while now, I was afraid that you were going to start drooling. Pinkamena answered.
“So do you want to find out what Project 6-19 is?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena shook her head, “Nah, if it were important for us to know Dread would’ve told us, and besides if Dread doesn’t want us to know we have to respect that.”
“Yes but…” Twilight didn’t like the idea of there being something that she didn’t know about.
“Look at it this way,” Pinkamena interrupted, “we can ask Dread what Project 6-19 is when he gets back. If he tells us, then we’ll know. If he doesn’t, then it’s none of our business. If we press the matter then Dread might get mad at us and stop having these little talks with us. The only reason that we’re out of our cells is because Dread wants to talk to us, but I have no doubt that he’ll have no trouble leaving us in our cells like all the other inmates.”
Twilight looked at Pinkamena, “This morning you were distressed over the fact that Dread was hurt; and now you’re talking about him like he’s some kind of lonely sociopath.”
Pinkamena sighed, “Yeah I guess that is a bit of a contradiction. But that doesn’t mean that Dread won’t get mad at us. I like Dread, but I’m not sure what he thinks about us. I mean he may just think of us as some kind of experiment or something. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t know how exactly Dread would react to us snooping.”
Twilight thought for a moment. She still didn’t like the idea of not knowing something, but always preferring rationality over mindless urges, Twilight decided that Pinkamena was right and that she should wait to ask Dread about the project.
“So what’s in the package?” Twilight asked, pointing a hoof to the package that Dread had given to Pinkamena before he left.
“I’m not sure,” Pinkamena answered, “I haven’t opened it yet.”
“Well open it already.” Twilight ordered.
Pinkamena opened the package. Inside was a cupcake that had been crudely frosted with icing.
“Huh, why would you give me a cupcake?” Pinkamena asked while looking at the pastry.
Twilight suddenly remembered her reward for killing Sam yesterday, “Oh yeah! Yesterday I asked for two cupcakes, one for me and one for you. I remember getting my cupcake, but Dread thought that it would be better to wait until today to give you the cupcake because… of reason that I can’t seem to remember.”
“Okay? Why didn’t you say anything when Dread gave me the cupcake? He did say that you were the one who got it for me.”
Twilight shrugged, “I guess I didn’t think about it at the time.”
Pinkamena frowned, “Didn’t Dread tell you about my relationship with cupcakes
Twilight sighed, “Yes, but it wasn’t until after I had made the request, and by that time it was too late for me to change my order. I am so sorry if it offends you, I really am.”
Pinkamena giggled, “I’m not offended by cupcakes, I love cupcakes. They make me feel close to Rainbow Dash when I eat them.”
Twilight could not think of a response to that.
Dread returned after some time. When he returned to his usual standing place he acted as though he was never gone.
“So Miss Pie, did you enjoy your cupcake?” the android asked as casually as his electronic voice would allow.
“It was fine Dread,” Pinkamena answered, “but there’s something that I would like to talk to you about.”
“Well by all means, talk to me.”
Pinkamena cleared her throat and asked, “What is Project 6-19?”
Dread’s eyes flickered, “Oh a chemical compound that Dr. Layne believes might be able to greatly reduce the effects that turpus equus has on a ponies mind, effectively rendering the virus harmless.”
It was Twilight’s turn to ask questions, “When Dr. Layne came in he said that Project 6-19 was having complications, what were the complications that he was talking about?”
“Ah, yes well the solution that Dr. Layne had created was beginning to produce fumes when it shouldn’t have. Dr. Layne wanted me to look at the fumes and tell him what to do about them. It was a fairly simple fix so I had no trouble with it.”
“Okay, what did you do about it?”
“About what?” Dread asked.
“The fumes!” Twilight answered angrily.
“Ah, yes well I added a few drops of mercury to the formula and mixed in some haloperidol to settle it.”
Twilight shook her head, “Neither of those chemicals would stop something from fuming.”
“Yes, well…” Dread looked at his clock, “Would you look at the time! The fight will be over any minute now; best get you two back into you cells.”
Dread hurried Twilight and Pinkamena back to their cells, ignoring all protests and questions. As soon as the two mares were safely lock away Dread turned and hurried back to his office.
“He’s keeping something from us.” Twilight said as soon as Dread was out of ear shot.
“What makes you say that?”
“The fact that what he said about chemicals makes no scientific sense, when a chemical starts to fume you don’t get someone to try and stop it from fuming, you put it in a fume hood to filter out any potentially dangerous from the air. Also, if Dr. Layne were actually working with chemicals, especially chemicals that start producing fumes, then he should’ve been wearing some kind of safety equipment, but all he had on was his lab coat. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well, you do have a point there.” Pinkamena said thoughtfully, “Dread doesn’t want us to know what Project 6-19 is, but I’m sure that Dread has a good reason to keep it a secret.”
“I’ll bet he does.” Twilight grumbled unhappily.
The two mares sat in silence. Twilight listened to the ramblings of the insane mare who never seemed to shut up, trying to see if she could make out what exactly the mare was rambling about. Meanwhile Pinkamena occupied herself by thinking up ways to improve the standard surprise party, all of her ideas involved blood and severed heads but they entertained her.
After a few hours Twilight broke the silence in an attempt to alleviate herself of some boredom.
“You never finished your story.” She said quietly.
“What story?” Pinkamena asked, her mind still dwelling on macabre celebrations.
“The story of how you became so close to Dread.”
“Oh, right. Where did I leave off again?”
“You were at the first time you talked with Dread.”
“Thanks.” Pinkamena said before continuing her story, “The first couple of times Dread and I talk were mostly uneventful. He would occasionally ask me these random questions, kinda like he did today, but most of the time it was just us talking. It was fun; it relieved the boredom of being stuck in a cramped cell all day. As to why I worry so much about him, well I guess it started when he actually started asking me about my killing Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. As we talked about them he explained to me that I was infected with a virus that makes ponies crazy. He told me that I couldn’t help myself and that I wasn’t a bad pony because of how I acted. He told me that he was going to try to help me control my urges so that I can go back to normal life one day. He told me that I wasn’t a monster.”
“Oh… okay… That makes sense.” Twilight answered awkwardly, Pinkamena’s last sentence bothered her.
“Thanks, I’m glad that you understand.” Pinkamena replied.
Once more the two mares sat in silence, but this time Twilight’s mind was on something other than the ramblings of an insane mare, this time she was concerned about what Pinkamena had said. If Pinkamena’s story was accurate then it meant that Dread had told her that it was okay to be a murderer, even though it might’ve been unintentional. By telling Pinkamena that she was not a monster Dread took away some of the guilt that Pinkamena should be forced to endure. Under no circumstances should murder just be forgiven, no matter how nice the pony was. If there was one thing that Twilight was certain of, it was that taking another pony’s life was the most evil thing that a pony could do, the only thing that could make it worse was murdering a friend or loved one.
Twilight thought back to Sam and how if she were to judge all ponies by the same standard then she must consider herself to be evil. Then Twilight remembered the faces that made up Sam’s loin cloth and once more Twilight reminded herself that Sam was not a pony. Killing a monster was not the same as killing another pony.
After some time Twilight heard the sound of Dread walking along the halls, giving food to the inmates. To her left Twilight could just make out the sound of Pinkamena snoring. That was good, if Pinkamena was asleep then she wouldn’t butt in on the little talk she and Dread were about to have.
Dread didn’t take long to arrive at Twilight’s cell.
Almost as soon as Twilight saw the robot’s mechanical muzzle she said, “So Pinkie told me some of the things that you’ve told her.”
“Hello to you too Miss Sparkle, might I ask what about my discussions with Miss Pie have gotten you so riled up that you feel the need to discuss it so loudly?”
Twilight, realizing how loud she had been a moment before dropped her voice so that only Dread could hear her, “I want to talk to you about the ideas you’ve been putting in Pinkie’s head.”
“Go on then, I’m listening.” Dread said politely.
“I don’t think that it’s a good idea to tell a known psychopath that she isn’t a monster, especially if the psychopath is as unstable as Pinkamena.”
Dread replied, “Yes, you are correct that telling a pony that they’ve done was not wrong is indeed a very bad thing to do. You and I are in agreement there.”
Twilight blinked, “But Pinkamena said that you told her that she wasn’t a monster?”
Dread lowered his head so that he was looking at the ground, “Yes, I can see how Miss Pie could get confused and believe I told her that...” Dread look back up, “The problem with Miss Pie and her mindset is that memories are often warped versions of what actually happened. I’ve noticed that this is especially true with memories that Miss Pie shares between her three personalities, with each alter ego changing the memory to fit that personality’s mindset. In the past I have told Miss Pie in her Diane personality that she was not beyond redemption and that she did not have to forever be a monster if she did not want to, that may be were the Pinkamena personality came up with the story that she told you.”
“So what you’re saying is that just that I shouldn’t trust anything that Pinkamena tells me?” Twilight asked.
“No, you can trust what Miss Pie tells you, for all her crimes she is not a liar, but keep in mind that what she says may not be exactly what happened. If you feel like you need to know the exact truth, ask me about it and I will do my best to fix any inaccuracies that Miss Pie comes up with
“Alright, but what if you don’t know the answer?”
“Then you will have to ask one of Miss Pie’s other personalities and try to uncover the truth with what you are told.” Dread answered before he left to feed to the other inmates, leaving Twilight with her dinner.
Twilight tried to wake Pinkamena up by calling her name but it was no use, the mare wouldn’t wake up. Giving up, Twilight turned her attention to her dinner. It was dried, shriveled thing that had deep fried and then coated with sugar. When Twilight tasted the object, it reminded her of the way Sam’s lair had smelled. Twilight had to force herself to swallow the thing.
As soon as she was done eating Twilight laid down as best she could in her cell and waited for the Administrator to announce that it was time to sleep. As she waited Twilight began to think again about Project 6-19, and how she should’ve asked Dread for more information about it instead of criticizing his counseling techniques. Then Twilight remember that Dread had lied to her the first time she asked about the project and that he could’ve just as easily lied again. Dread’s lie was weak the first time but Twilight had no doubt that he had come up with a better one since then.
After some time the Administrator announced that it was time to sleep and proceeded to turn off the lights in the facility. Twilight closed her eyes and waited for sleep to overtake her, and then she remembered her nightmare the previous night. Twilight found herself reliving the images. As the macabre visions flashed through her mind Twilight tried to think about what they could mean. As she thought Twilight’s head began to burn on the inside. Twilight tried to scream but found that she couldn’t. Quickly the first three images began to flash by less and less until only the fourth and most horrible remained. Twilight’s mind melted at the fourth image; Why. Twilight tried to cast the image away but it would not leave her. Twilight sat up and opened her eyes, almost immediately the visions left her. Twilight looked out of her cell window into the dark halls of Slepnir where in the distance an insane mare was cackling wildly.
Twilight wasn’t sure when exactly she had finally drifted to sleep, though it couldn’t have been long after she had to suffer the torment of reliving the four images that had haunted her two nights before. When Twilight woke up, the Administrator had just begun to greet the inmates of Sleipnir with his strangely gender neutral voice. Twilight didn’t really care to listen to what the Administrator had to say, he just telling the inmates that they would be eating some unknown breakfast and then two of them would be forced to kill each other to relieve some tension. Nothing Twilight hadn’t heard before.
“Good morning.” Twilight called out when the Administrator was done talking.
“Morning Twi,” Pinkamena called back from the cell next to Twilight’s, “How’d you sleep?”
“Fine I guess. What about you?”
“Just peachy.”
After several minutes of incredibly boring small talk Twilight finally heard the sound of Dread’s hoof steps down the hallway, stopping every couple of steps whenever the android gave one of the inmates his or her breakfast. Twilight was eager to find out what Dread’s plan for the day was, even though it was probably no different any other day. Twilight enjoyed talking with Dread, the android kept her sane in the metal hell that was Sleipnir.
“Good morning Miss Sparkle.” Dread greeted when he arrived at Twilight’s cell.
“Any knowledge as to what’s in our meal today?” Twilight asked
“Unfortunately no,” Dread replied, “The Administrator cooked today’s breakfast himself, there’s no telling what might be in it.”
“The Administrator cooked?” Twilight asked, shocked to find out that the Administrator did anything else besides coming up with games to torture ponies.
“Yes, the Administrator was up all last night preparing the meal. He seemed to be planning something with the food, though I cannot say what.”
Twilight gulped, “You mean he could’ve poisoned the food?”
Dread emitted a white noise before speaking, “No, Miss Sparkle, I do not believe that is anything quite that crude. We’ve discussed this before; the Administrator enjoys watching ponies die slowly and gruesomely, a poison is too kind for his taste.
Twilight sighed, “Well if it’s not poison, then what?”
The red lights on Dread’s face grew dim, “I have no idea, though if I were to guess I would say that the Administrator has figured out a way to increase aggression in ponies infected with sanguinam ungolum so that battles will be bloodier, but that seems too farfetched.”
“So should I eat the breakfast then? I mean if there’s the possibility that it’s going to affect my mind…”
Dread interrupted “The risk of you being hurt by the food is minimal, Miss Sparkle, as I said before it is unlikely that the Administrator has been able to alter the effects of a virus. Even if the Administrator did create a mind altering drug you need to eat, if only to survive. There are many cruel ways to die Miss Sparkle, but most of them are dwarfed by starvation.”
Twilight wasn’t sure how to respond. On one side of the coin Twilight didn’t like the idea that something could affect her mind, but on the other side Twilight had seen pictures of ponies who had nearly starved to death; she saw their pained faces, how their bodies had shriveled and wasted away; Twilight had even less desire to suffer the same fate. But still, was avoiding starvation worth risking her mind? Would it matter if Twilight lived if she forgot herself, became like Sam, and abomination that only sought to cause pain?
Dread seemed to notice Twilight’s indecisiveness because the next thing he said was, “Perhaps I should not have put that idea into your head Miss Sparkle, because I can see that it is troubling you.”
“I don’t like the idea of something messing with my head.” Twilight said, “My head is already acting weird, I don’t need some pony bucking it up even further.”
“I assume that you are referring to the headaches that you have been experiencing?”
“Yes, but it’s not just that…”
Dread’s eyes glowed brighter, “What is it Miss Sparkle? Is there something that you haven’t told me?”
“It wasn’t something that I realized was an issue until just now. The other night I had this dream, a nightmare.”
“Well that is to be expected, given your situation, I’d be worried if you didn’t have a nightmare at some point. Could it be that your fight with the S.A.M. influenced this dream?”
Twilight shook her head, “No, I don’t think that Sam had anything to do with it. The dream seemed to be about my life before I came to Sleipnir.”
“Could you please describe your dream?” Dread asked.
Twilight answered, telling Dread everything she could about her dream as best as she could. Twilight described each of the four visions and how they all seemed to want to hurt her.
When Twilight finished Dread said, “Yes, that is quite a disturbing dream that you’ve had, but that does not mean that it is anything more. Dreams do not always mean something Miss Sparkle, and I highly doubt that your dream was one of the few that do. Anyway I need to feed the rest of the inmates; we’ve been talking for far too long. ” Dread turned to leave.
“Wait, there’s something that I forgot to tell you.” Twilight said
“Yes Miss Sparkle?”
“Last night, when I was trying to go to sleep, the visions from the dream started playing through my head, causing me to get one of my headaches. I tried to make it go away by thinking about other things but it wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t control it at all.”
“That is odd.” Dread said, “Perhaps there is something to this nightmare, let me know if you have any similar dreams.” Dread walked to the next cell to feed Pinkamena.
“You haven’t hurt yourself today.” Twilight heard Pinkamena say to Dread.
“Of course not Miss Pie, why would I do something like that?” Dread replied.
Twilight didn’t like the idea of eavesdropping so she turned her attention to her breakfast, to find that Dread had forgotten to give it to her.
“Dread, you forgot to give me my food!” Twilight called.
Dread sprang back to Twilight’s cell, “Oh dear this is embarrassing. I am so sorry Miss Sparkle, here let me give you your food.”
Dread gave Twilight a brown paper bag. Inside was a pill shaped loaf of bread that had been dyed a greenish yellow and sprinkled with some kind of spice. Twilight sniffed the loaf, carefully checking if she could detect any kind of poison. When she couldn’t, Twilight took a small bite out of the food, only to find that she couldn’t detect any poison by taste either. If the Administrator had poisoned this meal then he had used a poison that was both tasteless and odorless. Twilight took a small bite of the loaf.
Twilight waited for a moment to see if she could feel any effects that would prove that her food had been poisoned. Twilight knew full well that this was not an effective strategy to detect poison, for one thing she probably had to eat the entire loaf to notice any effects, but still Twilight did not want to risk her precious mind.
“Did you enjoy your breakfast?” Pinkamena asked cheerfully.
“I haven’t eaten it yet.” Twilight answered, keeping most of her attention on any possible changes in her body.
“Why not, does it taste bad?”
“No, I just haven’t gotten around to eating it.”
“Why?”
Twilight grumbled to herself before answering, “Because I want to make sure that it’s not poisoned.”
Pinkamena laughed, “That’s silly. Why would you think that your food is poisoned? I mean I know that you can be paranoid at times, but come on why would some pony poison your food?”
“Didn’t you hear anything Dread and I talked about a few minutes ago?”
“No. I told you, it’s rude to eavesdrop on ponies.”
Twilight gave Pinkamena a brief explanation of what Dread said about what the Administrator might’ve done.
“Uh Twilight, I know this is going to sound strange coming from me, but don’t you think that’s a little farfetched?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, doesn’t poison have to be injected directly into the bloodstream in order to work?”
Twilight sighed, “No, Pinkie…”
“Pinkamena.” Pinkamena corrected.
“No, Pinkamena, poison does not have to be injected into the bloodstream in order to work, you’re thinking of venom.”
“Oh, well anyway I don’t think that the Administrator poisoned the food. I mean I already ate my breakfast and I don’t feel any different.”
“That doesn’t really prove anything; some poisons take hours for the effects to start showing. Besides, from what Dread told me the poison only affects a pony’s mind so it’s unlikely that you would notice the effects in the first place.”
“Wait, you think that the poison is only going to affect your mind?” Pinkamena asked.
“Yes.”
“Then why are you so worried? It’s not going to kill you, just eat it.”
“But I don’t want to risk my mind!” Twilight said, exasperated.
“For Luna’s sake, Twilight, we don’t even know if the food is poisoned! You’re worried about something that might not even be real. Just eat the food.”
Twilight wanted to argue. In her mind Pinkamena was telling her to risk her very being on because there was a chance that the food was not poison. At the same time however, Twilight was aware of how irrational she was being, the only reason she suspected the food to be poisoned in the first was because Dread that it might be, and he even said that it probably wasn’t. Even if it was poisoned, Dread had said that it would likely have only affected ponies afflicted with sanguinam ungollum, a disease that Twilight wasn’t even sure she had. Still, Twilight could not escape the fear of losing herself to something as meaningless and a loaf of bread.
“Look at this way,” Pinkamena said, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts, “if you don’t eat and the Administrator decides that you’re going to fight today, then you’ll have to fight on an empty stomach. I mean I suppose you can still win a fight like that, but you’ll have a much harder time. Whatever, it’s your food so you get to decide whether you eat it or not.”
Pinkamena was right; if she was selected to fight then she would need both her wits and her strength to survive. Twilight had killed Sam two days ago, but only because she was fortunate enough to have been allowed her magic, the next time she fought she would likely not have such a blessing.
“Alright fine, I’ll eat the bread.” Twilight said; her mind made up.
It didn’t take Twilight long to eat loaf, though it was unusually salty toward its center.
“If I was right about it being poisoned it’s your fault, got that?” Twilight said when she had finished.
“Jeez Twilight, you really need to lighten up.”
Twilight and Pinkamena sat in silence for several minutes before Twilight spoke again, “What dream about last night?”
“Um Twilight, are you sure you want to know that?” Pinkamena asked, “I mean my dreams aren’t exactly what you would call tasteful.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I mean it can’t be any worse than what I’ve already seen here at Sleipnir.”
“Alright, last night I dreamed that I was eating a baby, it was one of the Cake’s foals I think.”
Twilight blinked, slightly taken aback, “A baby? You dreamed that you were eating a baby?”
“I told you that it wasn’t tasteful.” Pinkamena said plainly.
“Any idea why you dreamed that?” Twilight asked “I mean you’re explanation for why you ate Rainbow Dash, while insane, at least made some kind of sense, but why a baby?”
“First of that wasn’t an explanation it was a justification, I still have no idea why exactly I did it other than I wanted to. About eating the baby… I dunno, maybe I have fetish.”
Twilight felt her breakfast try to claw its way up her throat when she heard that.
“I’m kidding, Twilight,” Pinkamena said after a second, “I don’t have a fetish for eating babies, I’m not that sick. Really I don’t know why I dreamed about eating a baby but I don’t think that it actually means anything.”
“Alright,” Twilight said while keeping her breakfast down, “just please don’t make a joke like that ever again.”
“Okie dokie lokie.” Pinkamena replied.
The two mares sat in silence for several minutes, after which a high pitched beeping noise came from Pinkamena’s cell.
“What’s that noise?” Twilight asked when she noticed.
“I don’t know, I can’t tell where it’s coming from.” Pinkamena replied.
A moment later the intercom came on and the two mares got their answer.
“We at Sleipnir hope that you have enjoyed your breakfast this morning.” the Administrator said, “By now you will have noticed that some of your meals have been altered.”
Twilight’s heart began to race. So he did poison the food!
“You ought not to be worried though, if your food had been altered then you would be hearing a special sort of sound right now,” said the Administrator.
“Twilight,” Pinkamena said through heavy breaths, “I-I don’t feel so good.”
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked urgently.
“I-I don’t kn-know, my body just started, just started to.”
The Administrator continued, “If you hear a beeping noise coming from one of your neighbor’s rooms that means that eaten one of my very special cakes that will greatly relieve some of the tension around here.
“Twilight, he-help.” Pinkamena said faintly, the beeping noise become more rapid as she did so.
“Some pony help!” Twilight called, only to be answered by the laughing mare.
Twilight tried to talk to Pinkamena, to keep her calm. Pinkamena tried to answer but the only sound that she could muster up was little more than a whimper. Every time Pinkamena tried to speak, the whimper became fainter and fainter. Twilight realized that she was about to lose one of her only friends at Sleipnir.
As Twilight consoled herself to the grim reality of Pinkamena’s coming death, she heard the sound of metallic hoofsteps making their way down the hall.
“You’re going to be okay Pinkie,” Twilight said, “I can hear Dread coming; he’ll know what to do.” Pinkamena gave no answer.
It wasn’t long before Dread became visible through Twilight’s window.
“Dread, Dread!” Twilight called, “I need your help, Pinkie’s been…”
“Poisoned?” Dread interrupted, “Yes, I was afraid of that. Give me a moment.”
Twilight heard Dread unlock Pinkamena’s cell. When she looked out of her window Twilight saw that the android was dragging Pinkamena onto a cart that was full of what appeared to be the bodies of several dead ponies.
“Dread what are you…” Twilight started to ask.
“Not now Miss Sparkle, I’ll explain later.” The android interrupted, “Right now I need you to pretend to be unconscious.”
“But…”
“Do it!”
Twilight did as instructed, lying down on her cell floor with her eyes closed. Twilight heard Dread unlock her cell door. When he had opened it Dread grabbed Twilight with his three fingered claws and drag her onto the cart with the dead ponies.
“Stay still and breathe as little as possible. I’ll tell you when it is safe for you to move again.” Dread said to Twilight as quietly as his speakers would allow.
It was a disgusting experience for Twilight, lying amongst the dead. Many of the corpses still had the warmth that came with life while others were already cold. It took much of Twilight’s courage not scream in disgust, and an even greater amount of willpower to remain calm.
Dread began to push the cart, stopping every now and then to pick up another body. Somewhere to Twilight’s left she could hear the faint sound of Pinkamena’s breathing, the pink mare still somehow clinging to life. Twilight could only hope that Pinkamena could hold on until Dread could help her.
Twilight laid among the dead for what seemed like hours, eventually though Dread came to what must’ve been the final stop.
“You may open your eyes now; there is very little chance of the Administrator watching us here in the laboratory.” The android said.
Twilight opened her eyes to see the face of an orange unicorn mare staring blankly at her, her eyes dry and unfocused. Twilight jumped; her head hurting as she looked into the corpse’s eyes.
“Are you alright Miss Sparkle?” Dread asked when he noticed Twilight’s reaction.
“I’m fine; I just wasn’t expecting to be looking at a corpse when I opened my eyes.” Twilight said, her heart still racing.
“Alright then, help me carry Miss Pie. We need to act quickly.”
Dread grabbed Pinkamena from the pile and Twilight positioned herself so that the pink mare was level. Together the two of them carried Pinkamena to the far side of the laboratory where a single metal door marked with the word medical stood.
“Layne open the door!” Dread said loudly, “It’s urgent!”
Moments later the metal door slid open and an angry grey pegasus came out.
“Dread, I am trying to sleep!” Dr. Layne said angrily.
“Not now Layne, I have a patient that it in need of immediate attention.”
Dr. Layne glared at Pinkamena’s shivering body, “Ah so the Administrator has finally decided to kill the little monsters himself has he?”
“Not now Layne.” Dread said; his slowing down slightly so that it appeared that his voice was getting deeper.
Dr. Layne grumbled but directed Dread and Twilight to a room with a medical bed in it. The two laid Pinkamena down so that they could begin to treat her.
“How much time do we have?” Twilight asked.
“I do not know Miss Sparkle,” the android answered, “it is remarkable that Miss Pie has survived for as long as she has. All the other victims died not too long ago.”
“Well do you have an antidote?”
“Unfortunately no, I have no idea what the Administrator put into your meals. Even if I did I’m no chemist, I would be unable to produce an antidote.”
“So what do we do? We can’t just let her die, she’s my friend!”
“The only thing that we can do, the best we can.” Dread answered.
“That’s not helpful Dread.”
Dread was silent for a moment then said, “Wait here Miss Sparkle, I have an idea.”
Dread left the small room, leaving Twilight alone with the barely alive Pinkamena. Twilight turned to examine the pink mare to see if she could identify the poison. Twilight had never spent much time studying toxic material, but if she could figure out how the poison was killing Pinkamena then she might be able to treat the symptoms.
Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkamena’s forehead; she was running a fever but wasn’t sweating. Twilight remembered the eyes of the corpse that she had been forced to lie next to and lifted on of Pinkamena’s. Sure enough the eye was dry, but not by exposure to the air…
“Dread, come in here!” Twilight called.
A moment later the android appeared, carrying what looked like some sort of peach.
“What is it Miss Sparkle?” the android asked.
“I think I know how to save her.” Twilight said, “We need water, and a lot of it.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, but I would like to understand why.”
“Whatever the Administrator put into those loafs is rapidly dehydrating her. I don’t know how but that’s all that I can tell.”
Dread went to Pinkamena and placed a claw inside her mouth, when he pulled it out the claw was completely dry.
“It would seem that you’re hypothesis is at least partially correct Miss Sparkle,” Dread said after examining his claw, “but I would like to compare Miss Pie’s symptoms with those of cadavers of the unfortunate ponies. In the mean time there is a small supply of water packets in one of the cabinets, feed one to Miss Pie every few minutes. I’ll be back when I’m done examining the bodies.”
Dread left Twilight alone with Pinkamena once more. Twilight found the cabinet that Dread said would contain the water packets. Twilight opened the cabinet and then grabbed one of the packets in her mouth.
The water packet burst open as Twilight bit down on it, spraying the alicorn and the interior of the cabinet. Disgruntled, Twilight attempted to grab another packet, this time by holding it between her front hooves. Carefully Twilight balanced herself on her hind legs and slowly made her way towards the dying Pinkamena.
It wasn’t easy; Twilight wasn’t used to holding items with her hooves and even less used to the act of walking on her hind legs. Every step took much of Twilight’s concentration so that she didn’t trip, and the rest to keep her from accidentally breaking the water packet. It didn’t help that Twilight was so unbalanced that every step she took was threatened to cause her to fall. By the time Twilight had made it to where she could give Pinkamena the water, her hind legs were sore from the unusual activity.
Twilight placed the water packet inside Pinkamena’s mouth and pressed her jaw down so that it was punctured. The life preserving water trickled down the pink mare’s throat and into her stomach. Once the first packet was used up, Twilight sat by Pinkamena’s side, watching a nearby clock for when she would have to get her friend more water.
Outside of the hospital room, Twilight heard the sound of an argument. Curious, Twilight decided to eavesdrop.
“It was one thing to sneak one of those little monsters and tell me to take care of it,” a disgruntled Dr. Layne said angrily, “but this, this is too much. You have brought three of those things into this place. How many do you plan to hide here Dread? Four? Five? I won’t have it!”
“I understand your frustration, Dr. Layne, and would have preferred to keep them in their cell with the rest of the infected, but that is no longer an option.” Dread replied.
“And why not?” Dr. Layne asked.
“Because the Administrator has made a deliberate attempt on their lives.”
“So what? It’s not like the Administrator wasn’t going to watch them die anyway.” Dr. Layne said, “I’ve seen those little games that it sets up Dread, I’ve seen what it’s done to my colleagues. Furthermore that little poisoning spree was random and as such was not deliberately targeting those two. The alicorn wasn’t even poisoned.”
“You are correct in saying that my choice of words was poor, but that still does not mean that I should just let her die, not when there is a possibility that she may be saved.” Dread responded.
“I don’t understand why you care so much about that one mare, Dread.” Dr. Layne said, “That’s actually something that I’ve been meaning to ask. Why is it that you care so much about that one mare?”
“You know the answer to that Dr. Layne.” Dread said calmly.
Dr. Layne’s voice shifted tone from anger to a cold calm, “I thought that we’ve been over this Dread. The mare in that room is not the one that you knew. She’s a monster, a killer.”
“She was and she is, but that does not mean that she is without the possibility of redemption. If I can find a way to help her…”
Dr. Layne interrupted, “You cannot turn vermin into treasure, and you cannot bring a dead mare back to life. You need to let go, Silver Platter, you can’t keep dwelling on that what cannot be changed.”
“I assure you, Dr. Layne,” Dread said, “I am well aware that my past is gone, and that it does not affect my current goals. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a patient to attend to.”
A moment later Dread entered the room.
“How is she, Miss Twilight?” the android asked when he came in.
“I gave her a water packet a little while ago, I was about to give her another when you came in.” Twilight said.
“Good, good.” Dread said, “I’ll get the next packet for you Miss Sparkle.”
Dread opened the cabinet that contained the stash of water packets and pulled out something that looked similar to a shovel. Using the tool, Dread picked up a bundle of water packets and easily carried them over to Pinkamena’s side.
“Wait a minute, THERE WAS A SHOVEL?” Twilight asked, the sore parts of her hind legs aching slightly as she did so.
“Of course,” Dread answered, “the majority of the Sleipnir medical staff were unicorns, but there were earth ponies working here as well. The scoop, or shovel as you called it, allowed pureblooded earth ponies to move multiple water packets at once without the risk of making a mess. Why, did you not see it?”
Twilight gritted her teeth and said nothing.
“Anyway,” Dread went on, “I’ve examined some of the bodies and I think I have an idea of Pinkamena’s chances for survival.”
Twilight looked at the android, “How could you possibly have come up with a hypothesis so quickly? I mean you only started to examine the bodies a few minutes ago! I mean I realize that you’re a robot, but come on!”
Twilight was angry. There was no way that a single pony; or android in this case, could so quickly examine so many bodies. It wasn’t possible, it wasn’t fair. How could Dread have studied them so quickly?
“I understand your confusion, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “You are correct in assuming that it would take and individual a significant amount of time to examine so many bodies with the limited resources that we have access to in the lab. But you, I did not have to examine that many bodies, in fact I didn’t have to examine the bodies at all.”
Twilight looked at the robot, “What do you mean?”
“The bodies continued to dehydrate long after the ponies had died.” Dread answered, “When I returned to examine them, the bodies had effectively mummified.”
Twilight blinked, “How is that possible? How can a body continue to be affected by a poison after the heart stops beating? It doesn’t make sense!”
“Believe me when I say that I am as much at a loss as you are, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “Even the nature of the poison makes little sense. How did the Administrator create such a concoction?”
Twilight didn’t have an answer. None of the corpses showed any visible signs of water leaving them. Pinkamena had absolutely no sweat on her so the water didn’t leave her that way. Even if the Administrator had used magic there should have been a sign of evaporation or something, unless the Administrator knew some kind of magic that Twilight was unfamiliar with, perhaps he even knew of science that Twilight had yet to study.
Twilight didn’t like that idea. Magic and science were HER forte; no one should’ve known more about it than she did. Twilight had spent YEARS studying both subjects! Twilight knew EVERYTHING about magic and science! Twilight was one of the greatest scientific minds in all of Equestria! Twilight had become the PRINCESS of magic! Who did this Administrator think he was, using some kind of magic that Twilight was unfamiliar with, creating chemicals that Twilight had not heard of? Twilight Sparkle, who… who…
Twilight’s head erupted in a flood of pain, knocking out of her thoughts. Twilight collapsed to the floor clutching her head, screaming as an invisible knife slowly cut through her brain. The sensation was all consuming, everything around Twilight ceased to matter; all that existed was the pain. Twilight felt herself being torn apart from the inside. It seemed as though Twilight had reached the end the end of her life when suddenly all went calm.
Twilight felt no pain now, only a cold darkness that swallowed her. Twilight felt as though she was falling, but at the same time she felt like she was lying completely still. Twilight wondered if this was purgatory, that the headache had caused her so much pain that it had killed her. It wasn’t so bad really, better than her cell. Twilight could certainly spend an eternity in this eternal calmness. Who knows? Twilight might be reunited with her friends again soon, and together they would spend eternity in the void, that wouldn’t be so bad…
“Miss Sparkle!” Dread’s voiced echoed from far away, “Miss Sparkle please wake up!”
Twilight opened her eye, noticing for the first time that they had been closed.
“Wha-What happed?” Twilight asked, her head feeling like some pony had filled it with helium.
“You collapsed, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, his voice box doing its best to emulate concern, “you’ve been unconscious for about a half hour.”
Twilight picked herself up, finding that Dread had moved her to a medical bed in another room.
“Did anything happen with Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
“I doubt that Miss Pie is going to suffer the exact same fate as the other unfortunate ponies, but I’m still not sure that she is going remain alive for long.”
“Did the water packets help?”
“Yes, I think so, but they do not guarantee survival.”
Twilight got out of the bed.
“Miss Sparkle, I think that you should lie down.” Dread ordered.
“I’m fine, Dread, I just got a headache.”
“Headaches do not normally cause ponies to faint for half an hour, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “You may not have been poisoned, but that does not mean that you are perfectly healthy. I want you to take it easy.”
“I’m fine Dread.” Twilight insisted, “I just want to walk around.”
Dread at the ground for a moment, as if calculating every possible outcome of allowing Twilight to walk around.
“Please, Dread,” Twilight said softly, “I haven’t been able to walk around comfortable for days.”
The android looked up at Twilight, “Very well, Miss Sparkle, I will allow you to walk around the hospital wing on three conditions.”
“Okay, what are the conditions?”
“You will not run, you will not stray too far from where I am, and if you feel like you are about to have another headache you will notify me immediately. Does that sound fair?”
Twilight agreed to the arrangement. Twilight climbed down from the hospital bed and walked with Dread to the door.
“I’d like to see Pinkamena, if that’s okay.” Twilight said as they walked.
“Of course;” The android answered.
Twilight smiled to herself.
Dread lead Twilight a few doors down from where he had put her and opened the door. Pinkamena was unconscious but breathing, a tube had been placed into her mouth and several wires were attached to her hooves.
“What’s with all this wiring?” Twilight asked.
“I’m not sure…” Dread said, “I had asked Dr. Layne to look after Miss Pie while I tended to you. Why would he…”
“Because I couldn’t be bothered with constantly shoving water packets into the little monster’s mouth.” Dr. Layne interrupted from behind them, “Honestly, Dread, I hope that you don’t intend to have me babysit Princess Starbutt here, expecting me to look after the first one was more than enough.”
“I am glad to see that your attitude hasn’t improved any, Dr. Layne.” Dread said to the crippled pegasus, “But I did not mean for you to look after Miss Pie indefinitely, I only asked that you watch over her while I…”
“While you tend to Sleeping Beauty, yadda yadda.” Dr. Layne said sarcastically, “I did what you asked didn’t I? I even set up a little rig so that you wouldn’t have to constantly be feeding water packets to little miss lollipop. It’s designed to measure a body’s hydration level and keep it at a desired amount. You have to refill it every couple of hours but otherwise it’s low maintenance.”
“Thank you Dr. Layne,” Dread said, “I appreciate the help.”
“Don’t thank me Dread,” Dr. Layne said, “it’s a device that we used to use all the time back when Sleipnir was actually functioning, I just used it because I was lazy.”
“Very well then, I won’t thank you.”
“Good, now if you excuse me, I am going to return to my nap.” Dr. Layne said as he left the room.
Twilight and Dread stood silently, watching Pinkamena. Twilight had always known that Pinkamena was a very unattractive mare, but she had never realized before just how ugly the pink mare was. Twilight was just now realizing how crooked Pinkamena’s face was, how it looked like some pony had taken a hammer and violently used it to hit her in the face.
Twilight tried to force herself to stop thinking about her friend’s appearance. It wasn’t appropriate to think about the way her friend looked while she laid their unconscious. Hay, it wasn’t appropriate at all. And yet Twilight couldn’t get herself to think about something else other than how ugly Pinkamena was. Twilight had almost given up on resisting when she remembered something from the conversation that Dread and Dr. Layne had earlier.
“Dread, is it alright if I ask you something?” Twilight asked.
“Of course, Miss Sparkle; what do you have on your mind?”
“Who is the other pony that you are taking care of in this hospital?”
Dread was quite for a moment before he said, “I’m sorry, Miss Sparkle, but I’m afraid that I do not know what you mean.”
“Earlier you and Dr. Layne were having an argument,” Twilight said, trying to think of a way to phrase her next sentence without offending Dread, “and well you were kind of loud. I couldn’t help but overhear some of the things you said… Dr. Layne said that there was another patient somewhere. I’d like to know who they are.”
Dread was quiet once more. Twilight was afraid that she had asked for too much.
“Come with me, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said after what felt like an hour, “It would be best if we did not discuss such things while there is a patient in the room.”
Twilight didn’t understand what Dread meant by that last part but did as she was instructed. Dread lead out of the hospital room and several feet to the right. Only after they had passed several doors did they stop.
Dread turned to face Twilight, “Before I show you the third patient, you have to promise me that you will not tell Miss Pie about her.”
“Why?” Twilight asked, not liking the idea of keeping secrets from a friend.
“Because it is very important that Miss Pie remains ignorant of this patient.” Dread said, his voice box becoming slightly louder.
“Alright then, I won’t tell Pinkamena.”
“Forgive me, Miss Sparkle, but I’m going to need you to specifically promise not to tell Miss Pie about the third patient.” Dread said.
Twilight sighed, “I promise not to tell Pinkamena about the third patient.”
Dread make a clicking noise and then said, “Good, I am going to hold you to that promise, Miss Sparkle.”
Dread turned to open the door, but before he did so the android asked, “Miss Sparkle, do you remember yesterday when you asked me about Project 6-19?”
“Yes, you lied to me about it.” Twilight answered, not seeing why Dread was deciding to talk about this now.
“I am very sorry that I had to lie to you, Miss Sparkle, but I simply could not risk Miss Pie finding out about the project, or
worse, the Administrator finding the information.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with anything.” Twilight was getting irritated, “What is Project 6-19, and have you decided to talk about it right now?”
“Why Miss Sparkle, if I am to show you something, shouldn’t I tell you what it is?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” Twilight said, “Please, I just want to see this third patient right now.”
“Then by all means, see her.” Dread as he opened the door.
Twilight walked into the room. There was very little light, so it was difficult to make out the layout of the room. Twilight
waited for a moment for her eyes.
“Give me a moment; I’ll turn on the light.” Dread said.
Seconds later, the room became filled with artificial light and Twilight could see the room’s resident. Twilight could tell that it was a pegasus mare, but otherwise it looked like chewed up book leather. The mare’s coat and mane was mostly shaved off, with the remaining patches so caked it dried blood that Twilight couldn’t identify what the poor thing’s color was, though it appeared to be a shade of orange. The mare’s body looked almost skeletal, with the majority of its body fat seemingly nonexistent, and one of its eyes seemed to have been removed completely. The mare’s ugly appearance was not helped by a series of gashes in its torso and other body parts that had been crudely stitched up, giving the mare a ragdoll-like appearance. Twilight had almost turned to look away from the pitiful thing when she noticed its cutie mark.
Twilight could not believe who the mare was, and in fact she found herself denying the reality for a moment. But there was
no getting around the truth. She knew who this mare was.
“Miss Sparkle, I would like to introduce you to Project 6-19.” Dread said.
All Twilight could think in response was a single word. The name of the mare that laid unconscious before her. Twilight said the name twice, first quietly to herself, and then once more as if to cement its reality.
For the first time in a while Twilight got to sleep in an actual bed. The bed wasn’t the most comfortable one she had ever slept in, but it was an improvement over the cell that she had been forced to sleep in for the past few nights. Compared to that, the hospital bed was perfect.
Despite this, Twilight still couldn’t get any sleep. Everything that she found out yesterday was swimming through her head. It wasn’t that Twilight had a difficult time understanding what Dread told her, or that she thought that the information had some kind of hidden meaning that she was trying to figure out. No, the information that Dread had told her was meant to be taken at face value, Twilight was sure of that. And yet she could not stop herself from going over every last detail in her head, as though she was trying to figure something out.
“How can this be?” Twilight asked Dread shortly after he had shown her Fluttershy, “How can she be alive? Didn’t Pinkamena rip her to pieces?”
“That is correct, Miss Sparkle,” Dread answered in his electronic voice, “Miss Pie did indeed tear Miss Shy apart, but she did not kill her.”
“But how could Fluttershy have survived that? Ponies have died from less than what Pinkamena did to her!”
“Indeed, many ponies have died from less serious injuries. In fact it is purely by luck that Miss Shy survived.”
“But how did you save her?” Twilight asked, “I mean judging from just how bad she was hurt, Fluttershy should’ve died shortly after you tore Pinkamena off of her. Even if you went back for her after Pinkamena was locked up, the time that it would’ve taken you to get back to Fluttershy would’ve been too long to save her.”
“After Miss Pie had been safely locked away I returned to where she had attacked Miss Shy to clean up the body. To my surprise, her heart was undamaged and still beating. I placed her as gently as I could on the cart that I use to transport cadavers and rushed Miss Shy to the facility’s emergency room. Once there I contacted Dr. Layne and asked for assistance.”
“I imagine that he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of helping some pony,” Twilight said.
"Miss Sparkle, I am shocked that you would say something like that,” Dread said, “What gave you the idea that Dr. Layne was opposed to helping ponies?”
“Well he’s not exactly the nicest pony around.” Twilight said, “I mean he called me vermin!”
“Dr. Layne has a tendency to be irritable, but that does not mean that he’s against helping ponies.”
“Could’ve fooled me;” Twilight muttered.
In her bed, Twilight opened her eyes. It was no use: she could not get herself to relax. Using her hoof, Twilight turned on the electric lamp that sat next to her bed. After a moment’s thought, Twilight climbed out of bed. It had been at least four days since Twilight had read a book, and that was an issue that needed to be remedied.
Twilight exited what was now technically her bedroom. Twilight smiled, the very fact that she was able to go looking for a book when every pony else was asleep made the alicorn happy. Ponies often take things like walking around for granted, and now that Twilight had spent the past couple of days in a cramped cell, the simple act of walking felt luxurious.
It wasn’t perfect however; Dread didn’t have the right tools to remove the substance on Twilight’s horn which prevented her from using magic. Twilight hated the fact that she was unable to practice magic. Before Sleipnir, Twilight made sure to spend at least one hour of every day practicing various spells, excluding days when she was helping one of her friends with something. Twilight’s wings were also still tied shut, although this didn’t bother Twilight as much, since she rarely ever used her wings even when they weren’t bound.
Twilight continued her quest for reading material. At the moment the biggest obstacle barring her from finding a book was the lack of light. It wasn’t that Twilight couldn’t see where she was going; there was just enough light for Twilight to make out vague shapes in the hospital; but if Twilight was going to have any luck in finding a book for herself, she would need some kind light to identify what it was she was seeing.
"If my horn wasn’t covered in this gunk,” Twilight muttered to herself, “then this wouldn’t be a problem.”
As she spoke to herself, Twilight noticed a flashing light in the corner of her eye. When Twilight turned to locate the strange light, she saw that it was coming from the laboratory. Curious, Twilight went to investigate the light.
As she walked, Twilight’s thoughts turned once more to Fluttershy, and what Dread had told her.
"It wasn’t easy to save her, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said after a short argument about Dr. Layne, “I never studied surgery, much less organ repair, so I have no doubts as to Dr. Layne’s responsibility for Miss Shy’s survival. Even so, we did not have the proper tools to safely repair Miss Shy’s body. We had no access to proper needles for stitching together her wounds, so we had to make do with standard sewing needles. Any blood that we had on hand was either the wrong type or spoiled, therefore we finally risked using samples of Type O blood that were a month out of date. But perhaps the most obvious place where we had to take risks was with her skin. If you’ll look you will see that there are multiple sections of her fur that are the wrong color. I took the skin off of a recently deceased pony and used it to repair areas of Miss Shy’s body where her own skin had been completely destroyed.”
"Why would you take so many risks?” Twilight asked, “You knew that you didn’t have the right tools to fix her, so why didn’t you just…?” Twilight did not want to finish that question.
“Because, Miss Sparkle, I would not have been able to live with myself if I had simply put her out of her misery.”
After a moment of walking, Twilight found the source of the flashing light; or rather she found the room that it was coming from. A door stood between her and the strange light. For a moment, Twilight stood before the door, wondering if opening it was the smart thing to do. Twilight didn’t know what was casting that light, or if it was safe to be around. It was very possible that the door that Twilight stood before closed intentionally to prevent any pony from blundering in and hurting themselves.
On the other side of the coin however, what if whatever was behind this door wasn’t dangerous? What if it was some strange new machine that Twilight had never had the pleasure of using before? This was a laboratory after all, and laboratories are meant for learning. Whatever was behind that door was almost certainly a device used to study something.
What exactly the machine was meant to study, Twilight didn’t have a clue. Twilight hadn’t completely done away with the possibility that whatever was behind the door was potentially dangerous, but curiosity had clouded her better judgment.
Eagerly, Twilight opened the door to see what was beyond it. What she found surprised her. What Twilight found was not some new machine used for science or something that was obviously dangerous. Behind the door was a room with four rods that had round, saucer-like objects on top of them. The rods were placed so that if one were to draw a line connecting them, it would form a perfect square. Twilight quickly found out what was causing the flashing light. Somehow these rods were producing an electric current between them, connecting at an oddly shaped object at their center. Upon closer inspection, Twilight saw that the object resembled a metal pony.
Twilight’s heart began to race. Realizing exactly what was at the center of these strange rods, Twilight began frantically searching the room for a button or switch; anything that could deactivate those weird columns. After some time, Twilight found a small red button with no label.
Without hesitation, Twilight pressed the button. Rather than turning them off however, pushing the button seemed to increase the voltage that the rods were producing. The room became almost blindingly bright from the electricity. Twilight pressed the button again, and this time the rods did shut off.
“Dread, are you alright?” Twilight called, her heart still racing. The android didn’t respond.
Twilight rushed up to the robot and began looking for a sign: something to assure her that her friend was okay. The first things Twilight inspected were the red lights on the android’s face, but they were producing no light. Twilight then checked the android’s metal casing. It was burned in places and hot to the touch but otherwise perfectly intact.
Twilight then began to search for a way of turning Dread back on. It was entirely possible that the electricity had only switched the android off. Yes, that had to be the answer! Dread must’ve been deactivated when he accidentally blundered into this high voltage area. All Twilight had to do to save her friend was find a button on him and press it.
Except that there was no ‘on’ button; or if there was one, Twilight was unable to locate it. After a moment, the truth of what must’ve happened began to dawn on her. The electricity produced by those rods had fried Dread’s circuits. Twilight’s metal friend was, for all intents and purposes, dead. Twilight had lost a friend.
Twilight grabbed at the lifeless clump of scrap metal that was once her friend. Tears began to form at the back of her eyes as she mourned.
“I’m sorry Dread.” Twilight said softly.
“Miss Sparkle?”
“You didn’t deserve to go like this. I am so sorry,” Twilight continued, the tears beginning to fall down her face.
“Miss Sparkle, could please get off me?”
Twilight blinked the tears out of her eyes.
“D-Dread?” She asked, as if to convince herself that she wasn’t hearing things.
“Yes, Miss Sparkle?”
“You’re not dead!”
“Was I supposed to be? If so then I am sorry to disappoint you.”
“But-but you were being electrocuted by those rod things! When I turned them off you were burned all over and you wouldn’t respond to anything I tried to do! I thought you were dead!”
“Well, I believe we’ve established that I am alive, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “Now, could you please get off of me?”
Twilight released the android.
“What are you doing up at this hour?” the android asked. “And, while we’re on the subject; why are you in my bed chamber?”
“This is your bedroom?” Twilight asked, looking around at the small enclosure. “There’s nothing here but those electric rod things!”
“They are called Tesla coils, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said.
“Excuse me?” Twilight asked, blushing slightly beneath her fur.
“I said Tesla coils, Miss Sparkle. It is two words; ‘Tesla’ and ‘coils’.”
“What are these ‘Tesla coils’?” Twilight asked, the words sounded alien to her. “And for that matter why do you have four of them in your bedroom?”
“A Tesla coil is a device that produces a high voltage electro-static discharge, as you probably saw when you entered my bedchamber.” Dread answered. “I don’t know the entire history of the device, but I’ve read files that claim they were invented by an otherworldly being, though I highly doubt that they were.”
“Okay. Why were you shocking yourself with these Tesla coils?” Twilight asked, slightly interested in finding out more about this otherworldly being.
“I…” Dread paused for a second.
“Well?”
Dread continued, “I… I use them to recharge my battery at night. Yes, unlike ponies I do not sleep in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, I place myself at the center of these Tesla coils. They shock me for a few hours, then I go on my merry way.”
“That seems like a terrible design choice.” Twilight said.
“Yes, well I wasn’t designed by the most logical of ponies,” Dread said. “In any case it does not matter, so please do not bring the topic up again.”
“Why? What’s wrong with discussing Tesla coils?” Twilight asked, not liking the idea of being forbidden from asking certain questions.
"Nothing, Miss Sparkle,” Dread answered, “I was referring to the way I was designed. It is a sensitive subject for me and I do not wish to talk about it.”
“Alright then;” Twilight replied.
She hadn’t thought about it at the time, but Twilight had probably insulted Dread when she said that something about him was designed poorly. Perhaps Dread was self-conscious about the way he was designed. There was also the possibility that Dread saw his creator as a filly saw her mother, and Twilight’s comment had hurt him in that way.
“I’m sorry.” Twilight said sincerely, “I shouldn’t have made that comment about your design.”
“I asked you to not bring it up anymore,” Dread replied. “But I accept your apology. Besides, there are more important issues that we need to address, such as why you are in my bedchamber right now.”
“Well I couldn’t sleep, so I got up to look for something to read. That’s when I noticed a light coming from somewhere…” Twilight explained the order of events that led her to turning off the Tesla coils.
“I see,” Dread said. “Well if it is reading material you want, I’m sure that I can find you something in my office. You don’t mind reading science reports, medical journals, or psychology text books do you?”
Twilight smiled. “That sounds perfect actually.”
Twilight walked with Dread to his office.
“Feel free to look around. Let me know when you’ve found something that interests you,” the android said when he had opened the door.
Twilight carefully scanned the bookshelves that lined the walls of Dread’s office. There was no shortage of interesting reading material; from books on pony psychology to books on rare plants that could only be found in specific caves. There were so many books that Twilight was having trouble picking one that interested her more than the others.
There was one book that stood out from the rest, however. It was a children’s book that was bound in an odd sort of fabric and had edges lined with lace. The book was decorated with various stickers that resembled hearts and flowers. The title on the cover read, ‘The Best Party Ever’.
Twilight looked at the book for a moment, curious as to why Dread would have a book that was clearly written for little fillies. There didn’t seem to be anything special about it, other than the fact that, for whatever reason, some pony felt compelled to cover it in cheap stickers. Twilight was about to ask Dread about the book when she realized that it wasn’t her business what books Dread liked to keep.
As Twilight continued looking through the various books, an envelope fell out from one of the shelves. Twilight examined the envelope. There was nothing particularly unusual about the envelope aside from what was stamped onto it. In bold red lettering, the words ‘TOP SECRET’ were written on one side of the small packet.
Twilight looked at where Dread was standing. The android was not paying attention to what she was doing. Instead he appeared to be scratching the burnt part of his casing.
Twilight turned her attention back to the envelope. Carefully, she opened it and removed its contents, spilling a folded piece of paper onto the floor. She knew that what she was doing was wrong and that Dread probably didn’t want her snooping through his stuff, but Twilight couldn’t stop herself. It felt as though her body was acting against her mind’s better judgment, or was it acting against her own morals? Either way, Twilight wanted to see what could be so important that it would be labeled ‘TOP SECRET’, but not so important that nopony bothered to put it somewhere other ponies couldn’t easily stumble upon it.
Twilight unfolded the piece of paper and began to skim through what was written on it. The page was titled ‘Sanguinam Venenum Iocum Test Log Twelve’. The first paragraph gave instructions on how to perform a sort of experiment. The experiment seemed to be designed to study a subspecies of Poison Joke.
“Dread!” Twilight called, outraged.
“Yes, Miss Sparkle?” The android replied.
Twilight went up to the robot and pressed the experiment log up against his face.
“Care to explain this?”
The experiment described in the instructions that it required for live test subjects to participate, specifically the experiment called for pony test subjects. To make matters worse, the ponies who had been forced to undergo the experiments suffered horrible fates while the scientists overseeing the tests watched and recorded what was happening, ignoring the ponies’ pleas for help. The lead researcher was none other than Doctor Layne.
“Well?” Twilight demanded.
“I give you my word, Miss Sparkle; I had no part in the experiments,” Dread said.
“But you knew about them?”
“Where did you find this file?” Dread asked. “It’s not supposed to be in here.”
“Don’t try to change the subject! I want to know what the HAY Sleipnir did before the appearance of the Administrator, and I want to know NOW!” Twilight was shouting by the end of the second sentence.
Dread was quiet again.
“Well?” Twilight demanded.
“Have a seat, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said. “This is going to take some time to explain.”
Twilight did as instructed, sitting on the sofa that she had used during her previous visits with Dread.
Dread began. “I’m not going to be able to tell you all of Sleipnir’s original goals or purpose, as I myself do not know them. But what I can tell you is that my first description of Sleipnir was… inaccurate. You see, most of those working for the facility were told that tale as a means of keeping the more sensitive researchers from becoming biased in their work. In truth, I do not know what Sleipnir’s goals were back when it was functioning, but from what I am able to guess based on the information I have been able to get out of Dr. Layne, Sleipnir was an organization designed to contain, study, and eventually terminate anything that the founder deemed a threat to pony society.”
Twilight nodded. “That makes sense for a pony to create a group just to help ponies, but that doesn’t explain the experiments on them.”
“You are correct, Miss Sparkle, there is nothing wrong with an organization that seeks only to improve pony life,” Dread continued. “I don’t think that Sleipnir was founded with the experiments in mind. I believe that when it was first organized, Sleipnir was a benign research facility that, over time, became corrupted with its own self-righteousness.”
Dread continued. “As to what initiated such a change, I can only guess. What I think caused it was the discovery of the multi-verse, and with it the three viruses of corruption. I believe that the original staff of Sleipnir saw the viruses as a form of evil that might threaten pureblood ponies and as such they began looking for ways to eliminate the threat.”
“Wait a moment,” Twilight said, irritated. “You mean to tell me that the researchers of Sleipnir would go around looking for ways to destroy things that scared them?”
“No, Miss Sparkle, that is…” Dread tried to say.
Twilight interrupted. “So whenever they found something unusual that was potentially dangerous, they would immediately begin looking for a way to destroy it?”
“I don’t think that it was that simple, Miss Sparkle…”
Twilight interrupted. “If that’s how they’re going to use their research, then why don’t they destroy all sharp objects? Those are potentially dangerous. Or water?! Water can cause ponies to drown, and that’s dangerous! I mean what good is it to study something when you could just destroy it instead? If something’s dangerous then it can’t possibly have any redeeming qualities! If it’s dangerous then it has to go; aren’t I right Dread?”
“Miss Sparkle, that isn’t what I was trying to say,” Dread said. “I wasn’t trying to imply that Sleipnir was some sort of Knights Templar that sought to destroy everything that they did not understand. Please forgive me if that is how I made the organization sound.”
“Alright,” Twilight said, calming down. “What did you mean to say?”
Dread responded, “Give me a moment, Miss Sparkle, it has been a long time since the facility was operational and my memory is not the best.”
Dread stood silently, occasionally making an odd ticking noise somewhere in his body. Twilight was beginning to fear that the android had run out of battery power when he finally gave his answer.
"Keep in mind, Miss Sparkle: my perception of what Sleipnir was is most likely inaccurate, and you would probably get a better answer from Dr. Layne. He was more involved in the organization than I ever was, and had several more years of experience than I had. ”
“Get to the point Dread,” Twilight said, growing impatient.
“Very well, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, the android’s voice shifting slightly as if to simulate annoyance. “I am not going to contradict my previous statement that Sleipnir was a research facility, nor will I contradict my statement that Sleipnir was above destroying that which it saw as a threat. I will however say that Sleipnir was not as destruction-oriented as I had previously implied it to be. In fact, I have only ever seen the researchers of Sleipnir attempt to destroy one thing.”
“Which was?” Twilight asked.
“Never mind, Miss Sparkle, it isn’t important,” Dread said quickly. “As I was saying, my statement that Sleipnir was in constant search of things that destroy other things was a gross overstatement. Sleipnir’s primary goal was research.”
“Okay,” Twilight said. “I get that Sleipnir was a research institute, but there is a big difference between researching something and using pony test subjects. Why don’t you just explain that part?”
“As you wish, Miss Sparkle;” Dread responded, “As I have told you, Sleipnir was a research facility. Often what Sleipnir researched involved the effects of various materials on ponies. I’m not sure what the exact method of selection was, but all of the test subjects were infected with at least one of the three viruses of corruption. It is my guess that the original members of Sleipnir saw the infected ponies as inferior and expendable. That is probably where I got the Knights Templar idea into my head.”
“Okay,” Twilight said, trying to keep Dread from going off topic. “So Sleipnir used ponies for certain experiments… I could’ve guessed that from reading over the test log. What I want to know is why Sleipnir felt the need to run such experiments, and why they couldn’t find an alternate source of test subjects.”
“Well, Miss Sparkle, this might be me exaggerating again, but while Sleipnir was in operation I got the impression that researchers considered the infected ponies to be an alternate source of test subjects.”
“So what you’re saying is that Sleipnir saw infected ponies as something other than ponies?” Twilight asked.
“I did not pull my Knights Templar statement out of thin air, Miss Sparkle,” Dread replied.
“Why? How does a disease make some pony less of a pony?” Twilight asked.
“It isn’t that much of a stretch, Miss Sparkle. Ponies suffering from anthropromorphia are heavily mutated, turpus equus causes ponies to engage in sexual behavior outside of what is normal for a pony, and with sanguinam ungollum … let’s just say that you and Miss Pie are unusually nonviolent for ponies with that disease.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “You think I’m infected with sanguinam ungollum?”
“No, Miss Sparkle, I know that you are infected,” Dread said.
“But how could you know?” Twilight asked; her heart beginning to race.
“The second time that you visited my office I took a blood sample from you to see if I could find the source of your headaches. I believed at the time that it was the virus that caused them, but I found no evidence to support this claim… In any case, I saw the virus in your blood: a standard infection, nothing unusual. I thought that you would have figured that you had the virus on your own. My apologies, Miss Sparkle.”
“B-but that can’t be right!” Twilight stammered, “I can’t have the virus! I don’t think about doing bad things! I’ve never hurt any pony, so how could it be that I have the virus?!”
“It was no accident that you were sent to Sleipnir, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said. “Even if you are unable to remember your past actions; that does not mean that they did not happen. You did something cruel enough to warrant a sentence here. What that action was, I have no idea; but you are by no means innocent.”
Twilight was silent while Dread’s words sank in. Her heart, which had been almost vibrating a moment earlier, seemed to have slowed down to a near halt. Twilight’s heart felt like it had been replaced by a cold chunk of ice: a chunk of ice that threatened to pull her down so that she may never get up again.
“I think we’ve talked enough, Dread,” Twilight said. Her voice was shaky. “I’d like to go back to bed now.”
“What about your book, Miss Sparkle?” the android asked.
“I think I’ll be fine.”
Dread accompanied Twilight back to her room, leaving only when Twilight was safely tucked beneath the covers. After the robot had gone, Twilight lay awake, wondering what she could’ve done that she can’t remember. She wondered what unspeakable acts the virus had led her to do.
Eventually Twilight’s eyelids began to grow heavy, and the lull of sleep began to pull her. In the distance, the insane mare was laughing somewhere in the halls. As she fell asleep, Twilight thought that the mare sounded louder than usual.
When Twilight opened her eyes, she wasn’t in the hospital room anymore. Instead, she was lying beneath a lone tree that stood in the middle of a grassy field that was speckled with flowers. Twilight looked around her, trying to figure out exactly where she was. There were greyish purple mountains in the distance, and the field was surrounded by deep dark forest, but that wasn’t enough for Twilight to guess her location.
“You finally awake?” a voice asked from behind Twilight.
Twilight turned to see a bright red earth pony stallion with a straw-like mane. The stallion had an impressive physique; Twilight could see his muscles rippling beneath his fur.
“Macintosh?” Twilight asked.
“Eeyup!” the stallion answered.
Big Macintosh bent down and began to nuzzle Twilight. As he did so, Twilight felt her heart flutter. Twilight began to giggle involuntarily.
“St-Stop it.” Twilight giggled, “Wh-What are you doing?”
Big Macintosh stopped.
“I thought you liked when I did that.” Macintosh said.
Twilight stammered, “I… uh…I…”
Twilight had enjoyed being nuzzled whenever she and Big Macintosh were an item, but the last time they had broken up had been well over a year ago! Hadn’t it? Twilight’s memories were fuzzy and she couldn’t seem to make sense of them.
Macintosh nuzzled Twilight again before saying, “Come on, let’s go home. I’ve got dinner on the oven and Aj said that she’d dropping by to see the kids.”
“Kids?” Twilight asked. Macintosh seemed not to hear her.
Twilight followed the earth pony across the hill. As they walked, Twilight thought about what might’ve happened. She was no longer in Sleipnir; that she was certain of, or maybe she had never been to Sleipnir at all. Maybe it was just a dream.
Yes, that was it. Sleipnir was a dream. It was a long, strange, terrible dream, but a dream nonetheless.
Soon memories began to flood back into Twilight. The last time she and Big Macintosh had broken up had been over ten years ago, not one. She and Macintosh had gotten back together shortly thereafter. After a few months, Big Macintosh proposed to Twilight on her birthday, and by that summer they were celebrating their honeymoon. Twilight blushed as she remembered their first night together.
The two ponies eventually came upon a house. The house was a large, fancy thing that looked a some pony had haphazardly slapped together two wildly different architectural styles. Twilight wasn't sure whether to call it an over sized farmhouse, or an ugly mansion.
“Kids, we’re home!” Big Macintosh called when they were close enough.
Three foals came out from behind the house, two fillies and one colt. Each of them was a different race of pony, save alicorn. It took Twilight a moment before she could remember their names. The colt was named Bunsen, and the two fillies were named Page Turner and Summerfree.
Bunsen was a unicorn who had a purple coat similar to his mother’s. He was curious foal with a bad habit of mixing cleaning supplies whenever his parent’s weren’t looking. He always seemed to find a way to get to them no matter how Twilight locked them up. Fortunately, Bunsen had yet to mix a toxic concoction, but still the colt’s disregard for safety worried Twilight.
Page Turner was a reddish-yellow pegasus filly who had inherited her mother’s love of reading. She was the only foal in her class to have read the entire collection of Feathered Quill. Page would sit for hours on end reading books while her siblings played outside. Twilight remembered one time when she found her reading a dictionary. When Twilight inquired why Page gave the answer ‘I ran out of things to read’.
It was in Summerfree that Macintosh’s side of the family showed. Summerfree was a light red earth pony with a knack for manual labor. Already the filly was developing muscles that were unusually defined for a foal her age. Summerfree loved to help her father tend the fields; though she hated having to water crops. Summerfree also had a knack for basket weaving, and would make several a week out random grasses and leaves.
“Hey Mom, check out what I found!” Bunsen yelled almost as soon as he saw Twilight.
The young unicorn used a levitation spell to hold a small, jagged lump of a metallic yellow material.
“It’s gold! I found it by the creek, if there’s more we can make a fortune selling it to merchants in Canterlot!”
Twilight took the ‘gold’ from her son to have a closer look at it.
Twilight laughed, “Well this is a pretty neat find, Bunsen, but I’m afraid that this isn’t gold.”
The unicorn’s ears flattened themselves, “It’s not?”
“No, this is a material called pyrite, a mineral that is made up of iron and sulfur. It’s not as valuable as gold, but it’s still pretty rare to find any around this area.”
Summerfree nudged Bunsen with a hoof, “I told you it wasn’t real gold.”
Bunsen glared at his sister and said, “Shut up.”
“You two stop fighting.” Big Macintosh said sternly, “I want things to be nice and quiet for when your aunt Applejack gets here.”
Twilight and her family went into their house. Big Macintosh went to the kitchen to finish up dinner, the foals went up to their rooms to do whatever it was that they did, and Twilight was left to wonder the house. It was strange, Twilight knew the house by heart, and yet it felt as though she hadn’t stepped foot into it in years.
After some time, Applejack, who was Big Macintosh’s sister and one of Twilight’s closest friends, knocked on the front door.
“Howdy Twilight!” The orange mare greeted when Twilight let her in, “How’ve you been?”
“Just fine Aj.” Twilight answered. As she did so, Twilight noticed a lack of another pony, “Where’s Applebloom, I thought she’d be here with you?”
Applejack groaned, “I asked her if she wanted to come, but she said that she had plans with her friends, something about ranking colts. I swear, ever since she got her cutie mark colts have been the only thing that she’s thought about. Every hour of my day is filled with her describing every last colt in her class, over and over again. She’s might actually give Rainbow Dash a run for her money in terms of colt craziness.”
Twilight chuckled, “Well maybe if you get those two in the same room they’ll talk each other into submission. Then maybe you’ll have some peace and quiet.”
Applejack laughed, “I think that’d have an opposite effect. Anyway, how are your kids doin’? It’s been a while since I’ve seen them. I mean what’s it been, two weeks?”
“Oh they’re doing just fine. Page Turner has been showing an interest in science fiction literature, Summerfree has been getting better at plowing fields, and I haven’t had to stop Bunsen from unwittingly making mustard gas for three days.” As Twilight spoke, she realized that hadn’t put any thought into what she was saying, or even consciously said anything.
“Well, that’s good to hear.” Applejack said cheerfully.
Minutes later, Big Macintosh called for dinner. Twilight’s entire family sat around a circular table that her husband had decorated with a variety of apple based foods. Everything from apple pie to applesauce sat before Twilight.
“Honey,” Twilight found herself saying, “did you plan on feeding all of Equestria tonight?”
Big Macintosh chuckled slightly, “I guess I got a little excited while I was cooking.”
Twilight sighed, “Well at least we won’t have to worry about dinner tomorrow, or next Thursday.”
The family began to dig into the banquet that Big Macintosh had prepared. As they did, Twilight felt her head begin to hurt. Twilight tried to complain about the discomfort, but found that she could not force herself to speak. Instead, she continued eating as though nothing were wrong.
As the pain in her head intensified, Twilight’s vision began distort. Objects began to twist and swirl together. After a minute, everything around Twilight started to fade.
The walls were the first to go; they dissolved into a black void. Twilight tried scream in terror, but found that she could not. Twilight’s family did not stop eating their dinner.
Next the furniture vanished, leaving only Twilight’s family and their food. Twilight tried to force her body to obey her, to stop the robotic eating and save her family, but it would not listen. Her family continued to enjoy their meal, oblivious to the world fading round them.
Then the meal disappeared. By now Twilight had given up on trying to regain control of her body. Instead, Twilight merely watched as her family ate a now nonexistent meal. A strange sadness filled Twilight’s heart as she looked at her kin. Twilight longed for them, to be with her family. As she watched, Twilight tried to commit their appearances to memory; she had a feeling that she would forget them after they were gone. Twilight continued to watch her family eat unit finally they dissipated into the void.
Twilight woke up with tears in her eye and a sharp pain in her head. Twilight pressed two hooves to her temples in and began to rub. After a minute the headache went away, allowing Twilight to think about the dream she had just had.
“I have a family.” Twilight said to herself, “I have a husband and three foals.”
Twilight thought for a moment about the new information. Why did she forget her family? She wouldn’t have done so easily, so that could only mean that whatever had happened to get Twilight locked up in Sleipnir.
Twilight climbed out of her bed and went out into the medical hall. There she found Dr. Layne lounging on a bench, reading what appeared to be a magazine.
“Good morning.” Twilight said as she passed the pegasus.
Dr. Layne grunted to show that had heard her.
“Have you seen Dread?” Twilight asked.
“I imagine that Dread is out delivering breakfast to the prisoners.” Dr. Layne answered, not taking his eyes off his magazine.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea.” Dr. Layne looked up from the magazine to glare at Twilight.
Taking a hint, Twilight left the doctor to read while she checked on Pinkamena.
The pink mare was still unconscious when Twilight entered her room, though her flesh was starting to return to normal.
“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena remained motionless. Twilight hadn’t expected her to actually respond, but she asked anyway on the off chance that she might.
Twilight sighed, “Well when you wake up, I’ll ask if Dread can get you cupcake or something.”
Twilight got up to wander around the hospital, eager to exercise her legs... As she was leaving, Twilight thought that she saw Pinkamena stir out of the corner of her eye.
Twilight left the hospital room and began wondering around the areas of the hospital that she hadn’t been in yet. For the most part it was uninteresting; the Sleipnir hospital area being no different than a normal hospital, but it was still a blessing to be able to walk around. Eventually Twilight came upon a door that was marked with a symbol that she had never seen before.
The symbol was a standard black on yellow danger sign that could be found in any legitimate laboratory. The symbol itself resembled a strand of DNA that had its base pairs bent so that they resembled little thunderbolts. The sides of the symbol had been drawn with little triangular spikes, giving it a similar appearance to a wooden ladder that had both warped and splintered.
For a moment, Twilight considered opening the door to find out what was so dangerous that it warranted its own danger sign. Twilight’s better judgment stopped her from doing so. If she was going to find out what was symbol meant it would probably be better to just ask Dread.
Twilight turned away from the door and began walking back towards the area that the rest of the hospital’s occupants lived. By the time she got back Dread had returned from feeding the inmates, and with him were four small packets. Twilight’s heart sunk when she saw the packets; she would have gladly returned to her cell if it meant that she didn’t have to eat another bite of what Sleipnir considered ‘food’.
“Good morning, Miss Sparkle.” Dread greeted, “Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes.” Twilight said without taking her eyes off the small packages that Dread had brought with him.
“That is good to hear, Miss Sparkle. I have breakfast here for you and Dr. Layne.” Dread said, gesturing with a metal hoof to the packages.
Twilight gulped, “Thank you Dread, but I’m not very hungry right now.”
“Miss Sparkle, I understand your apprehension to eat… whatever it is that the Administrator is making me feed the prisoners, but you need to eat. I’m afraid that there’s no telling when the Administrator is going to decide to look into hospital, but when he does we will need to abandon the area as quickly as possible. When that happens we will be unable to scavenge for food in the facility. Better to eat now and starve later than to face whatever demise the Administrator would subject us to when he discovers us hiding in the hospital.”
Twilight thought for a moment. If Dread was right, then it was only a matter of time before the Administrator decided to force them into another part of the facility, and Twilight would need energy to run. She didn’t like it, but eating the so called food was likely a wiser decision than starving herself.
“Alright,” Twilight said, “let me see what’s on the menu.”
Upon opening the packet, Twilight was greeted by the overwhelming stench of spoiled milk that had been mixed with vinegar.
“Sweet merciful plot!” Dr. Layne, shouted while covering his nose, “What the buck is that crap?”
“Breakfast.” Dread answerd.
Resisting the urge to vomit, Twilight looked at what she was about to put into her mouth. It was a small lump of dark grey, powdery material. Wedged inside of the lump were smaller lumps of a greenish yellow, gooey material that glistened like the trails that slugs leave behind whenever they move. Sprinkled on the lump of nameless material, were small flakes that looked like they had been taken off of a pony’s sunburn.
Twilight looked pleadingly at Dread and asked, “Do I really have to eat this?”
“I am sorry, Miss Sparkle,” Dread answered, “but I am afraid that there are no other options.”
Reluctantly, Twilight took a bite out of the lump. Whatever the food was made out of, it crumbled in Twilight’s mouth like sand. The crumbs mixed with Twilight’s saliva, filling her mouth with a sour taste that made her eyes water. The flakes that were sprinkled on the loaf added a spicy taste to the food that clashed sharply with the sourness of the crumbs. When Twilight swallowed she gagged slightly, sending the food back into her mouth. Twilight swallowed a second time, this time keeping the mouthful down.
Twilight took another bite, this time biting of one of smaller lumps that dotted the food. Contrary to all appearance, the smaller lumps actually tasted better than the rest of the loaf. The smaller lump was slimy, almost like gelatin in texture, and its flavor reminded Twilight of the punch that the Pinkie of her world would serve at her parties, though the lumps were had a more sour taste to them.
“How does it taste?” Dread asked.
“Almost as good as it smells.” Twilight answered.
After a few minutes, both Twilight and Dr. Layne had finished their breakfast. Dr. Layne noted that the loaf was not as bad once you got used to the flavor, though Twilight disagreed.
A minute after Twilight finished her breakfast, the alicorn remembered the strange danger sign that she had seen asked Dread what it meant. It was Dr. Layne who answered however;
“Oh, that door? A few weeks before the Administrator showed up, Sleipnir was looking into the prospect of mutating the genetics of ponies to improve the efficiency of hospitals. That room you saw contains experimental equipment to manipulate DNA and RNA without damaging the pony being treated.”
“Okay, how would manipulating a pony’s genetics help a hospital? And why did you need to put a danger sign on the door if it was just that?” Twilight asked.
“Well to answer your first question, the researchers involved with the project believed that if they could tweak a pony’s genetics just right they could improve the body’s natural healing abilities to recover lost limbs and fight off infections more effectively. They never managed to get their theory to work however, all their attempts failed.”
Dr. Layne continued, “As for the danger sign, the equipment was unpredictable and dangerous if used incorrectly. There’s a file somewhere that documents the effects, but for the most part the results of careless tinkering with the equipment resulted in… unpleasant consequences.”
“How could a device that’s designed to alter a pony’s genes? Did the equipment radiation or something?” Twilight asked.
“No… Not exactly.” Dr. Layne paused for a moment, “Actually, I suppose you could say that it did. You see the device used a type of electromagnetic radiation to break down the subject’s DNA structure so that the doctors involved could rewrite it. As far as I know, there was no lingering radiation once the device was deactivated. To be on the safe side however, I would advise you to not enter that room.”
“Okay, is there anything else that I should about the device?”
“If there is, I couldn’t tell you. I never worked on the project and was only told low level information about it. And as I said before, they had only just started working on the project.”
“Why would they conduct dangerous experiments in the vicinity of patients? I mean if they knew how unstable the device was…”
Dr. Layne interrupted, “I assume that they didn’t know how dangerous the experiments would be when they first started. From what I understand Sleipnir didn’t have an available lab to conduct the experiments, so they made a temporary one in one of the lesser used hospital rooms. I am certain that they were planning an expansion to the facility where they would put the genetics division.”
“So what stopped them?”
It was Dread who answered, “All of Sleipnir’s former activities were put to a stop when the Administrator arrived. That includes the genetic experiments and any expansions to the facility. I'm sure you can imagine why.”
“How exactly did the Administrator come into power anyway?” Twilight asked.
Dread and Dr. Layne stood silently, the latter suddenly developing an interest in his left hoof. Twilight wondered if she had poked a fresh scab with her question.
“Have you been to see Miss Pie yet?” Dread asked after a minute.
Twilight answered, “Yes, I went to see her right after I woke up.”
“How was she?”
“She’s still unconscious, but it looked like she was getting better.”
“Good.” Dread said, “Would you care to accompany me while I feed her and Miss Shy?”
Twilight agreed and the two set off to the hospital rooms. They stopped by Pinkamena’s room first. Once inside, Dread took one of the loaves and crushed it into crumbs it with one of his three fingered claws. Dread then took one of the water packets out of the cabinet and sprinkled the crumbs onto it.
“What are you doing?” Twilight asked.
“I am mixing the food with a water packet so that it will be easier to feed to Miss Pie.” Dread answered.
“Shouldn’t you open the packet first?”
Dread made a crackling noise with his voice box before speaking, “No Miss Sparkle, if I were to open the packet all the water would spill out.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said, “but why are you pouring the crumbs onto the packet? Why not pour the water into a glass and then mix the food?”
“Well, the reason why I am not using a glass is that I don’t want to waste my time looking for a glass. Mixing the food directly into the packet is more convenient.”
“Okay, how do you mix the food through the packet into the water?”
“Water packets are designed to function similarly to a cell membrane. Certain materials are capable of passing through while others aren’t. In a couple of seconds, the crumbs will seep through the packet and mix with the water.”
Twilight could already see some of the crumbs beginning to enter the water packet. As the crumbs mixed with the water, the liquid became a dark purple in color. Once the first packet was completely opaque from the crumbs, Dread took any remaining crumbs and repeated the process with a second packet.
Once the second packet was complete, Dread walked to Pinkamena’s side and placed one of them in her mouth. Dread then moved her jaw so that her teeth punctured a hole in the packet.
“I don’t want to pour too much of the liquid into her mouth at once.” Dread said as he watched the purple liquid slowly drain from the packed, “Feeding her liquid nutrients is safer than feeding her standard food, but there is still of a risk that some of the liquid will enter her lungs. I need to be careful.”
“I figured as much. You didn’t have to tell me all that.” Twilight said, realizing a little too late that she might’ve come across as rude.
“Force of habit, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said without looking away from the slowly draining water packet, “I repeat that speech whenever I am feeding a patient in this manner. It helps me focus on feeding the patient. It doesn’t help that this form of liquid feeding is awkward and very easy to mess up.”
“Then why don’t you a different method of feeding her?” Twilight asked.
“I would gladly if another method were available to me. Unfortunately I don’t have the right materials to use any other method” Dread continued to pour water into Pinkamena’ mouth, “As it stands, we are very lucky that the food the Administrator serves the inmates is very soluble, otherwise I would have to manually force chunks of solid materials down my patient’s throats.”
“Is that why the meals are so disgusting?” Twilight asked.
“No, I am fairly certain that the solubility is byproduct. Still, it's best that we are thankful for small blessings."
When Dread had finished feeding Pinkamena, he and Twilight went to Fluttershy’s room to repeat the process. The mare was still unconscious and it appeared that one of the patches of skin that Dread had sewn on to her was starting to come undone, causing blood to start leaking where the seams had loosened.
Dread opened up a drawer and pulled out a sewing needle, a spool of fishing line, and a container of what Twilight assumed to be alcohol. Dread took the needle and submerged it into the alcohol. After pulling out, he pushed the line through the needle’s eye and knotted it.
Dread then walked over to Fluttershy’s side and inserted the needle into the part of her flesh that was becoming loose. Slowly Dread worked the needle in and out of Fluttershy, taking care not to accidentally damage her even further. After what felt like five minutes, Dread cut the line and tied both ends.
After cleaning the needle and putting it and the alcohol back into the drawer, Dread said, “That’s the fourth time that’s happened in the last three weeks. I’m starting to think that I need to find a stronger material to hold Miss Shy together.”
“Did you just put a used needle back into the drawer?” Twilight asked, completely ignoring what Dread said.
“ Yes. Why do you ask?”
“That’s unsanitary!” Twilight protested, “You’re not supposed to reuse a medical needle! Who knows what kind of infections you may have given Fluttershy! What were you thinking?”
Dread did not answer.
“Well?”
“I was thinking that I was lucky enough to have the one needle in the first place, Miss Sparkle.” Dread answered, “I am well aware that conditions here are less than satisfactory. I do not have access to a steady supply of needles to perform surgery with, nor do I have the right material to stitch up wounds properly or keep a patient sedated while I am operating. I am sorry Miss Sparkle, but I must sacrifice sanitation for practicality.”
“Right,” Twilight said, feeling slightly embarrassed of her outburst, “I guess I momentarily forgot what our situation is. I’m sorry.”
“You have no reason to be sorry, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “Your reaction was perfectly understandable. Were we not desperately low on supplies I would’ve acted the same.”
“So when do you think she’ll wake up?” Twilight asked after a few minutes of silence, “Fluttershy, I mean.”
“Not for a long time, Miss Sparkle.” Dread answered, his voice box quivering as if to emulate a sad tone.
Dread had finished feeding Fluttershy and was now inspecting her body for any more loose skin. Fortunately, Dread’s stitching had held for the most part. There were a few areas were the stitches had become undone slightly, but these were easily fixed.
When he was done with the inspection, Dread asked “Miss Sparkle, could you please get me a diaper out of the cabinet on the left?”
“Okay, why?” Twilight asked.
“I need to change Miss Shy.”
Dread revealed that he had to put Fluttershy in a diaper so that she didn’t ruin the sheets every other day. Twilight wasn’t sure how she had missed something like that, or even how she had failed to realize the fact that Fluttershy would need a diaper. Being unconscious did not stop the body from functioning after all, and Dread would’ve either had to put Fluttershy in a diaper, or sit her on a toilet.
For a brief second, Twilight wondered why she couldn’t remember the last time she had used the toilet.
Dread removed Fluttershy’s used diaper and disposed of it in nearby waste basket. He then took a small, damp cloth and began to clean the areas where Fluttershy’s bodily wastes had dried or stained. After that, Dread began applying some sort of powder.
Twilight had changed diapers before, she would have to when she baby sat her neighbor’s children or volunteered at the local retirement home, but there was something about watching Dread change Fluttershy that made her stomach churn. Perhaps it was because she known a version of Fluttershy, perhaps it was because it was because it was a robot that doing the changing; or perhaps it was because Fluttershy’s mismatched skin disgusted Twilight. Whatever the reason, Twilight had to look away from Fluttershy while Dread changed her, if only to keep her breakfast down.
“Well I will need to clean her sometime in the next two days,” Dread said a moment later, “but for now I think that Miss Shy is set. Is there anything you would like to do to pass the time, Miss Sparkle?”
Twilight answered without turning, “I’m not sure. Can I take a look at those books again?”
“Of course, so long as you promise not to find another experiment log.”
Twilight woke up feeling groggy. After Dread had once again shown her his book collection, the purple alicorn had selected a text book entitled ‘A history of machines’. True to its name, the book detailed various inventors throughout history who had revolutionized technology used by ponies. Twilight had spent the entirety of yesterday absorbed with the book, memorizing every detail it had in it. Twilight was so focused on the book that it wasn’t until Dread told that Administrator had announced ‘Nap time’ that she realized how long she had been reading.
As she was climbing out of bed, Twilight thought about what she dreamed of, only to find that she was unable to recall anything except muddled images of earth ponies wearing bowler hats and monocles. Then, Twilight thought about the last two dreams that she could remember; the dream of the four images, and the dream about her family. Twilight wondered why she could remember these dreams in particular. They weren’t anything special as far as dreams go, only a nightmare and a dream about a family that Twilight assumed was created by her imagination. Was there a connection between the two? Did the fact that Twilight remembered both dreams mean something? Or was she reading too much into her dreams?
It was her stomach that snapped her out of her thoughts. It emitted a low grumble and a feeling of emptiness that was almost like a dull pain. Twilight was so absorbed into her book that she must’ve forgotten to eat dinner yesterday. This wasn’t the first time she had done this.
Twilight exited her room and began looking for Dread, only to realize shortly that the android was out delivering breakfast to the inmates. Twilight began thinking of ways to satisfy her stomach until Dread came with breakfast. She remembered a technique that she used during her time studying under the princess. Whenever Twilight was feeling peckish and lunch wasn’t for at least another hour, she would drink as much water as she could to ward off the hunger. This usually increased her need of a toilet later, but Twilight thought that it was a good technique.
Without thinking, Twilight entered a random hospital room and looked through open its cabinet. Using two hooves, Twilight picked up a water packet and threw it into her mouth, practically swallowing it whole. Twilight swallowed two more water packets before her hunger was satisfied.
Twilight then went to check on Fluttershy to pass time until Dread returned. The now multicolored pegasus was still unconscious when Twilight entered her room, though her breathing seemed to be a bit stronger than it was yesterday.
Twilight took a minute to just look over the poor mare. The mismatched skin patches and odd anatomy made this Fluttershy hard to look at, but she still somehow resembled former self. Even though she knew that this Fluttershy was not the one she had known in her world, Twilight could not shake the feeling that she was looking at a friend who was on the brink of death.
After the minute was up, Twilight began examining the stitches that held Fluttershy’s skin together. Having spent so much time with a fashion designer, Twilight could immediately tell that Dread only had the slightest knowledge how sewing was supposed to work. Fluttershy’s stitches zigzagged haphazardly across her body; unnecessarily tight is some places, and not tight enough in others.
“I hope Dread knew what he was doing.” Twilight said softly to herself.
Twilight sat by Fluttershy for several minutes, after which she found herself unable to sit still any longer. Twilight began to leave the room, intent on wandering the halls until Dread returned with breakfast, after which she would return to sit by Fluttershy again. She was almost out the door when she heard a faint voice coming from Fluttershy’s bed.
“T-Twilight? Is that you?”
Twilight turned to find Fluttershy attempting to sit up in her bed, her remaining eye looking as though it was straining itself to stay open.
“Yes Fluttershy. It’s me, Twilight.” Twilight answered, “How are you feeling?”
“Where am I? Why can’t I open my other eye? And why do I hurt all over?” Fluttershy’s voice was faint, even more so than it was normally.
“You’re in a hospital. You were… There was an accident and you were hurt. I’m not sure how to explain this, but you’ve been asleep for a long time.” Twilight wasn’t sure how to explain Fluttershy’s injuries without breaking her heart. After all, how do you tell some pony that one of their best friends is a psychopath?
“What happened to me?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m not sure how to explain it.” Twilight answered, “When the doctor who has been taking care of you returns you can ask him. He knows the story better than I do. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what you remember?”
Fluttershy thought for a moment, “I remember the mayor calling a town meeting. You and she were organizing search parties. I can’t remember who for though…”
“Was it Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked, already guessing where this was going. The Twilight of this Fluttershy’s world had known that their Pinkie Pie had gone insane and organized a sort of militia to bring her to justice.
“Yes!” Fluttershy said excitedly, “Now I remember; no pony had seen either Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie is days! At first, ponies thought that they were playing some sort of elaborate joke on the town, but after no joke was pulled they started to worry. That’s when you and the mayor organized the search.”
‘She has no idea!’ Twilight thought before asking, “What happened next?”
“I went into the Everfree with a group of five. After a few hours I somehow got separated from the rest of the group. I remember wandering around looking for them when something hard me on the back my head and then… nothing.”
Twilight let out a deep breath, “Well at least you’re awake now. In a few minutes we’ll get you some breakfast and explain everything to you as best we can. After that, we’ll look for a way to get you home and you can put this whole ordeal behind you.”
“Thank you Twilight.” Fluttershy said, “There’s just something that I’d like to know right now, if that’s okay.”
Twilight smiled, “What is it?”
“Did they ever find them? Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie I mean.”
Twilight dropped her smile, “Yes… They found Pinkie Pie.”
Fluttershy’s one eye lit up, “That’s good.”
Twilight forced herself to smile again for Fluttershy’s sake, “Is there anything I can get for you until the doctor comes back?”
“Actually, would it be okay if I ask for a glass of water?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight’s smile returned for real this time, “Coming right up!”
Twilight went over to the cabinet and used the scoop to pick up a water packet. She then carried the packet to Fluttershy and placed it on her stomach.
"Chew this and swallow.” Twilight instructed, “Don’t worry about the wrapper; it’ll dissolve in your mouth.”
Fluttershy winced as she stretched out an arm to pick up the water packet. When she noticed the patchwork skin replacement that made up the majority of her body, Fluttershy screamed.
“Twilight, what is wrong with my skin?” Fluttershy asked. Her breathing had become heavy, her body was shaking, and tiny beads of perspiration had begun to appear on her forehead.
“Your skin was badly damaged when they found you,” Twilight answered, “they had to replace parts of it so that you could survive.”
“But-But it looks wrong. Why does it look wrong?” Fluttershy was beginning to hyperventilate.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, “How does it look wrong.” As she said it, Twilight realized what a dumb question that was.
“Wh-When I move it-it-bleeds!” Flutteryshy let out a high pitched squeak when she said the word ‘bleeds’.
Twilight could now plainly see what Fluttershy was referring to. As she moved, the seams that crisscrossed across her body loosened, causing blood to seep through the patches of skin.
“Hang on,” Twilight said; springing towards the door, “I’m going to get help. While I’m gone I want you to move as little as possible. I’ll be right back.”
Twilight ran out to hall calling, “Layne, I need your help! Where are you?”
After a minute of frantic searching, Twilight found the crippled pegasus lying on sofa, sleeping. Twilight placed her front hooves on him and began shaking. A moment later Dr. Layne woke up, and glared at the purple alicorn.
“What?” the doctor asked grumpily.
“I need your help!” Twilight said, “Fluttershy is awake and…”
Dr. Layne interrupted her, “Oh, so sleeping beauty is finally awake is she? Well then I suppose it’s true, the kiss of Prince Charming does cure all manner of ills.” The pegasus laughed, “Although I suppose that in this case it was Princess Charming!”
Twilight had to stop for a moment to process what the doctor was trying to say. How could a kiss cure anything? Furthermore who would’ve been the one to do the kissing in the first place? The only stallion that had access to Fluttershy was Dr. Layne, and Twilight didn’t think that he was the kind of stallion to be romantic.
Twilight shook the thoughts out of her head. Now wasn’t the time to be pondering some strange joke made up by a bitter cripple.
“Something’s wrong with her stitches.” Twilight said, “They’re all loose and she’s bleeding.”
Immediately, Dr. Layne leaped to his feet and asked in a now serious tone of voice, “Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”
The two ponies hurried to Fluttershy’s room. Once there, Dr. Layne began examining Fluttershy’s wounds. After a minute, the crippled pegasus began adjusting the patches so that the bleeding stopped.
When he was finished, Dr. Layne said, “Well it’s not a permanent solution… Buck, it’s not even a solution, all I did was move the skin patches back into place. But until we can find an actual solution it’ll have to do.”
“What is she going to do until then?” Twilight asked, “Lay completely still while we take care of her? What kind of life is that?”
“I don’t want to be a burden to any pony.” Fluttershy said softly.
“You’re not a burden,” Dr. Layne said then he turned to Twilight, “I have an idea, but I don’t think that it’s a good one, or at least not one that the cyborg will approve of.”
Twilight said, “Well whatever it is, it can’t be worse than having Fluttershy bleed whenever she moves.”
“It’s not, but it’s close.” Dr. Layne said quietly.
“Well what is it?”
Dr. Layne took a deep breath, “There is a pill that that the researchers used to sedate subjects for long periods of time. If we were to administer one to Fluttershy here, it would prevent her from tearing her stitches. The only problem is that without proper blood testing, I will be unable to calculate the dosage to give her. If I give Fluttershy too little the drug will not affect her, but if I give her too much she may never wake up again.”
Twilight asked, “Then how do we know how much of this drug to give her?”
Dr. Layne chuckled dryly, “I said it was problem didn’t I?”
“Could you do a blood test on me right now?” Fluttershy suggested.
Dr. Layne answered, “I’m sorry Fluttershy, but in your condition it would be too great of a risk.
Twilight asked, “Would it be possible to give Fluttershy the smallest dose of the medicine, then keep giving her stronger doses until we’ve found the right strength.”
Dr. Layne let out a low sigh, “No Sparkle, we can’t. That would be like feeding a foal whiskey shots so that we could see how many it could drink until it died of alcohol poisoning.”
“Well be can’t just leave her in this state!” Twilight said angrily.
Dr. Layne raised his voice slightly, “I know that, Sparkle, but I am not willing to risk a patient’s life in an half thought out plan to save her.”
Twilight’s ears fell flat, “You’re right, we need make sure of what we’re doing so that we don’t make the situation worse.” Twilight then turned to Fluttershy, “I’m sorry Fluttershy.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Twilight.” Fluttershy smiled weakly, “You were only trying to help.”
Just then Twilight noticed Fluttershy’s bed sheets. There’s nothing particularly interesting about the sheets, they were plain white and sewn from cheap cotton. It was what was on those sheets that interested Twilight. It was something that could very well be the answer to their problems.
Twilight asked, “Dr. Layne, would it be possible to perform a blood test from stains?”
Dr. Layne sighed, “A good thought Sparkle, but unfortunately I need a specific amount of blood to perform the test. The amount of blood that can be collected from these stains isn’t enough.”
The group fell silent. Twilight began thinking of a solution were they could analyze a sample of Fluttershy’s blood without risk, nothing came to mind however. Twilight hated how she was unable to come up with a solution, unable to help a friend in need. Being unable to help a friend made Twilight feel useless, and she hated it. Why couldn’t she think of a solution? Why was she so useless? Why?
Fluttershy asked in a soft voice, “Um, would be okay if I asked to just take the medicine without testing?”
Both Dr. Layne and Twilight looked at patchwork pegasus, thunderstruck.
“Why would you just take the medicine?” Twilight asked, “You don’t know whether or not it’s safe for you!”
“I have to agree with Princess Starbutt over here.” Dr. Layne said, “I cannot in good conscience give a patient medicine without knowing the effects that it will have on her!”
Fluttershy smiled, “Please, I don’t want to be a burden on any pony.”
“You’re not a burden, Fluttershy.” Dr. Layne said, “Any doctor who considers his patient a burden deserves to thrown onto the streets. That said I will not be changing my mind about the medicine.”
“Please, just give me one pill. Is that such a risk? I don’t want to bleed anymore.”
Dr. Layne took a deep breath, “All right. I’ll get you a mild pill.”
“What!” Twilight protested, outraged.
“If I give her a small enough the worse that can happen is that it won’t affect her.” Dr. Layne said, “And if that’s the case, we can wait until the drug has worked its way out of her system then try again with a larger dose.”
“That is completely unethical!” Twilight said.
“Perhaps, but so is skinning random corpses for emergency skin replacement.”
Twilight had no response to that. Ethics had been forgone by both Dr. Layne and Dread, either out of necessity or convenience. By what ethics did a doctor use a sewing needle to perform surgery, or use fishing lines to stitch together wounds?
When Dr. Layne left a few moments later; Fluttershy asked, “Can I still get a drink of water?”
A minute later, Dr. Layne returned with a plastic jar in his mouth. He placed the bottle onto a counter, twisted it open, and poured out a single blue pill. He then got out the scoop used to carry water packets and placed the pill on it.
Dr. Layne carried the pill to Fluttershy and placed it in her mouth. As he so, Dr. Layne said, “Swallow this pill and in a few minutes you should be fast asleep.”
Fluttershy swallowed the pill. At first it seemed as though the pill didn’t affect her, but then her eye began to droop and her breathing began to slow down. Once Fluttershy was asleep, Dr. Layne pulled a blanket over her, taking care not to damage her stitches.
“Well now do we do?” Twilight asked.
“We wait for Dread to come back from the inmates,” Dr. Layne answered, “then we discuss how we’re going to solve the issue of Fluttershy’s skin.”
The two ponies left Fluttershy’s room to wait in the hospital hall. Dr. Layne returned to his magazine and Twilight began wondering around. When she passed the room that contained the mutation device, Twilight stopped to look at it. An idea struck her.
It wasn’t long before Dread returned from feeding the inmates. The android greeted the two ponies and gave them their breakfasts. Twilight wolfed down her food so that they could begin discussing Fluttershy’s treatmeant sooner (she also took a mental note to eat her food more quickly in the future as her brain didn’t have time to process the taste).
It was Dr. Layne who brought up the topic, “There’s been a development with Project 6-19.”
Dread responded, “What’s happened?”
“The subject has been active within the last four hours.”
“That is good. What is the subject’s current status?” Dread asked.
“The subject has been sedated for its own health.”
“So the subject is inactive again?”
Dr. Layne answered “Correct. There was an issue with the subject’s repairs that needs to be addressed.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It would appear that miscalculated when assessing the damage to the subject’s body and what we needed to do in order to repair it.”
“Get to the point Layne!” Dread growled.
Dr. Layne glared at the android, “Whenever the subject moves, the repairs to its body begin to break up. We forgot to take movement into account while administering the repairs.”
Dread’s eyes dimmed and the android tilted his head towards the ground, “That is a problem… Do you have any suggestions for a solution?”
“Unfortunately I do not.” Dr. Layne answered sadly.
It took Twilight a second to get past the two’s odd manner of speaking. They spoke of Fluttershy like she was test subject, which given Dr. Layne’s history wasn’t that surprising.
“I have an idea.” Twilight said.
They looked at Twilight almost in unison.
Dr. Layne asked, “Well, what is it?”
“Do you have any way of getting into the room with the mutation device?” Twilight asked.
“Well, yes but…” Dr. Layne started to say.
Dread interrupted, “Miss Sparkle, you’re not planning on using the machine to try and fix Miss Shy are you?”
Twilight answered, “Well, yes. I think that if I took some time to study the device I’ll be able to use it to stimulate Fluttershy’s cells so that they rapidly heal her. It’ll take me some time to figure out how the device works, and even longer to learn how to safely use it, but once I do…”
Dread interrupted her, “I won’t allow it!”
Twilight blinked, “Why not?”
It was Dr. Layne who answered, “Because the device is too unpredictable! Simply being around it is dangerous, but actually using it is just careless! The researchers who designed the device couldn’t figure out a way to safely use it, and they were much more qualified than you are.”
“Dr. Layne is right, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, “but I would like to add that using the device would put both you and Miss Shy in danger. Simply put, the risk greatly outweighs the possible reward.”
Dr. Layne glared at Dread, “Isn’t that what I just said?”
The pegasus and the android began bickering about whether or not Dr. Layne was clear in what he was trying to say. Twilight sat down and waited for them to stop. After a moment she finally had enough of the foolishness.”
“Are you two done now?” Twilight asked, “Because we still haven’t come up with a solution to fix Flut…”
Dread interrupted, “You are correct, Miss Sparkle, we do need to repair Project 6-19 as soon as possible. I apologize for becoming sidetracked.”
“Why do you keep calling her that?” Twilight asked.
“Calling who what?”
“Project 6-19, why do you keep calling her that? She had a name you know.”
Dread turned to Dr. Layne, “Do you mind feeding the patients today?”
The crippled pegasus glared at Dread, grumbled something, and then went to feed Pinkamena.
The android turned to Twilight and asked, “Would you like to take a walk with me, Miss Sparkle?”
“Shouldn’t we figuring out a way to help Flu…” Twilight began to ask.
Dread interrupted, “Please, Miss Sparkle, I just want to talk.”
Twilight reluctantly accepted the android’s request to walk with him. The two walked silently down the halls, away from their living quarters. Twice Twilight tried to start a conversation. That was Dread’s entire motive to go on to go on this walk after all.
It was only after they had passed the genetics lab that Dread finally said something, “We can talk now, Miss Sparkle.”
Twilight turned angrily to look at the robot's shiny black visor and LEDs, "Why do you refuse to refer to Fluttershy by name? You didn’t have a problem with it before.”
“That is because we were within the vicinity of Miss Pie.” Dread answered.
“Why would that be an issue?”
Dread took a moment before answering, “Dr. Layne and I are not sure how exactly Miss Pie will react to finding out about Miss Shy’s survival. During our early sessions, Miss Pie would tell me that Miss Shy and Miss Dash were both living in her stomach, and that they would sing to her when she was sad or hungry.”
“Pinkie told me something similar a few days ago, but she told me that she only felt that way for a little while.”
“Even if she’s over that mentality, there’s no telling how Miss Pie will react to Fluttershy’s presence. It would be best if we kept her in the dark for the time being.”
When the two got back from their walk, Twilight went back to her room to read the book she received from Dread the day before, opening it to a random chapter. The chapter in question was titled ‘Robotics and Medicine’. It detailed various theories on how ponies might one day be able to replace damaged body parts with robotic substitutes via surgery.
As she was reading, Twilight’s mind wandered away from vacuum powered hearts and copper spinal cords; instead she thought of Fluttershy. Try as she might, Twilight could not get the pegasus out of her head. Twilight imagined how it would feel to wake up with new skin, to find out that your body would tear apart with every move you made. It would be a miracle if Fluttershy managed to retain her sanity, assuming that they managed to save her from her injuries.
‘What am I thinking?’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘Of course we’re going to save her. We’re they good guys, nothing bad ever happens to us, at least not anything that can’t be easily fixed.’
‘Are we the good guys though?’ Twilight asked herself, ‘After all, at least one of us is a psychopath who is more than willing to kill other ponies, that doesn’t sound like something a good guy would do.’
‘Of course we’re the good guys,’ Twilight thought, ‘I mean we’re not the bad guys. It’s really only Pinkie who’s bad, and that’s not technically her fault. Well I suppose the experiments that Dr. Layne performed in the past would make him technically a bad guy.
‘But the way he treated Fluttershy while he was helping her wasn’t something that a bad guy would do. Just because some pony was bad in the past doesn’t mean that they’re still bad.’
‘Then again, is one display of kindness enough evidence to vouch for some pony’s goodness?’
‘I AM NOT THE BAD GUY!’
“How can you know that for sure?”
Twilight’s train of thought came to an abrupt stop when a sharp pain erupted in her head. She instinctively pressed her front hooves to her temples and began to rub. Twilight held her hooves in place until the pain began to subside.
When the pain was gone, Twilight put her book away and laid down on her bed. Using a hoof, Twilight pulled a blanket over her and closed her eyes. Even though, Twilight was now free to move as much as she wanted, it did not compare to the luxury of sleeping in an actual bed
Twilight laid on her bed for what felt like an hour. While she laid there, waiting for sleep to sweep her away from reality, Twilight thought about what she would do if she somehow managed to escape the nightmare called ‘Sleipnir’.
‘Not if, when.’ Twilight told herself.
Twilight thought about the family she saw in her dream the night before. Assuming they were real, would it be possible for her to return to them? If she did, what would her family think of her? More importantly, what would the others do?
Twilight thought for a moment about the friends she had made at Sleipnir. Would they go back to their worlds? Perhaps even reintegrate themselves back into society? Dr. Layne could probably blend in well enough, but Dread and Pinkamena weren’t exactly normal, even by Ponyville standards.
Twilight let out a small laugh. The image of a robot and bipedal mutant walking around Ponyville struck her as funny for some reason that she did not quite understand Perhaps it was because Twilight associated those two so much with the eternal grey that was Sleipnir that the idea of them interacting with the colorful town felt off to her. Or maybe Twilight was so humor starved that anything remotely funny was enough to get her to laugh.
Amused with the initial concept, Twilight began thinking about how exactly the others would interact with her Ponyville.
Twilight decided that Dread’s abilities would make him best suited for the task of educating young foals. Twilight pictured the robot standing in front of a busy classroom and lecturing the foals about basic arithmetic’s.
“Now remember students,” the image of Dread said to the imaginary foals, “when you are adding numbers together and you get an answer that is greater than ten, you put a one next to your answer. For example if you are adding five and six, you would put two ones next each other after the equals sign. Now, can any pony tell me what this number is?”
One of the imaginary students raised a hoof.
“Yes, Miss Peasebottom?”
“Eweven?”
“That is correct.”
Dread then turned his back on the students and began writing a few simple problems on the chalk board.
Dread then turned back to the students and said, “I want you to solve these problems using what we’ve talked about today. If you find yourself in need of assistance, simply raise your hoof and I will be with you shortly.”
The imaginary students all got out sharpened pencils and quills. Twilight could almost hear the scratching of paper as the imaginary students solved the problems Dread set up for them. A full classroom of children all perfectly behaved and excited about learning. Twilight was almost jealous of the imaginary version of Dread.
Coming up with how Dr. Layne might be able to integrate into the Ponyville lifestyle was difficult for Twilight. She didn’t know much about Dr. Layne other than that he was a scientist and doctor. Twilight assumed that Dr. Layne would do well working at the Ponyville hospital, but she wasn’t sure.
Instead, Twilight imagined Dr. Layne working in one of the Canterlot laboratories. The work there wouldn’t be too different from the research that the he had done at Sleipnir, sans pony experiments. Rather than finding new ways to kill ponies, Dr. Layne would be researching cures for rare illnesses, potions to improve the daily lives of ponies everywhere, and maybe even new forms of transportation to allow ponies faster travel across Equestria.
Twilight pictured Dr. Layne sitting in front of a desk, reviewing some designs for a device that ponies could use to cool down objects by slowing down their molecules.
“I just don’t see it happening.” An orange earth pony stallion said from somewhere behind the doctor, “It takes too much power to get the darn thing to work right, and even then it takes hours for it to actually do anything. It would be cheaper just to use a fridge.”
Dr. Layne said nothing and continued to study the designs.
“Are you even listening to me? Darn it Layne, it’s bad enough that I have to deal with several workers complaining about ‘short lunch hours’ all day but to have my most valuable asset just sit there and blow me off…”
“It’ll work.” Dr. Layne interrupted.
“Excuse me?”
“I said it’ll work.”
“I never said it wouldn’t. It’s just not worth the effort to…”
“It is worth the effort, and it will work. Just not how we planned it to.” Dr. Layne gestured toward a part of the designs, “If we alter this part here we can reverse the effects of the device; cooking things instead of freezing them.”
“What good is that? Ponies already have ovens to cook things in. Why would they want to buy another device to do just that?”
“If my theory is correct, reversing the device’s effect will use much less energy than what we originally designed it for. In addition, we will be able to prepare food with having to pay so much attention to it, allowing us to do other things while our food is prepared.”
“That is a good point.” The orange stallion said thoughtfully, “But I still doubt that ponies will want to buy it. Ponies are used to ovens, not space age gizmos that heat food by irradiating it.”
Dr. Layne smiled, “Perhaps, but wait until they find out how cheap the new device will be to buy.”
Next Twilight began imagining how Pinkamena would react if taken back to a version of Ponyville. It went without saying that if Pinkamena were to be reintroduced to society, she would first have to be reformed of her psychopathic nature. Twilight decided that the Pinkie Pie she had known before Sleipnir would be perfect for the job.
Twilight imagined the two Pinkie Pies working together at Sugarcube Corner, baking an assortment of pastries for all of Ponyville to enjoy. In her mind’s eye, Twilight saw the two mixing ingredients into a batter while the oven pre-heated.
“I think it needs something.” Twilight’s Pinkie said after tasting a part of the batter,
“Something to really add an extra bit of oomph for when the cake’s ready.”
“It tastes fine to me,” Pinkamena said, “but I guess that it’s a bit too… bland. Maybe we didn’t add enough sugar?”
“We used plenty of sugar. Besides it’s the flavor that’s off, not the sweetness.”
Pinkamena sighed, “Well if it’s not the sugar, then what? What do we need to add?”
“I don’t know. Something that no pony would expect to find in a cake I guess; a surprise.”
Pinkamena’s lips stretched back into a sadistic grin, her eyes flashed red, and she began to giggle softly beneath her breath, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Pinkie Pie locked eyes with Pinkamena. Pinkie Pie’s grin was not as overtly evil as
Pinkamena’s, but it seemed to hide a much more sinister purpose than it let on.
“In the cabinet, over the sink.” Pinkie Pie said, letting out a soft giggle as she spoke.
Pinkamena crossed over to the kitchen sink were a pile of dirty dishes sat waiting to be washed. Pinkamena reached up over the sink to open a green and blue cabinet. She searched the inside of the cabinet for a moment, and then withdrew a small brown vial.
“Been saving this for a special occasion.” Pinkie Pie said when Pinkamena returned.
Pinkamena opened the vial and the two Pinkie Pies sniffed its contents.
“Yup, that’s the stuff.” Pinkamena said happily, “How much should we add to the batter?”
“Not much, the stuff is pretty strong and a little hard to come by in Ponyville. I think that four or five drops should be plenty.”
Pinkamena carefully tilted the vial over the batter. She took great pains to make sure that she was in control how much of the vial’s contents poured out. The first drop took almost half a minute to fall out. It hit the batter, leaving a crimson stain on the milky substance. The other four drops soon followed, giving the batter a diseased appearance. Pinkie Pie took a metal spoon and stirred the batter until the vial’s contents were thoroughly mixed in. She then took the spoon and licked it.
A split second after Pinkie Pie’s tongue made contact with the spoon her eyes began to water, the pigment of her facial fur turned from pink to a dark red, and smoke began to puff out of her ears. Pinkie opened her mouth, releasing a stream of fire the engulfed half the kitchen. She then rushed towards the kitchen sink and bit down on the faucet. Pinkie turned the sink on and stream erupted from the space between lips and the faucet.
“Good hot sauce?” Pinkamena asked.
Pinkie Pie smiled, “Yup! I can’t wait until our friends try this. They’ll love it!”
Pinkamena poured the batter into a pan and set it in the oven. After setting the timer,
Pinkamena looked at the now destroyed kitchen.
“We’re gonna need some paint.” Pinkamena said.
“A lot of paint.” Pinkie Pie added.
Pinkamena turned and smiled at Pinkie Pie, “Think Bright Pigments is still open?”
“Only one way to find out!”
The two hopped out of the now ruined kitchen and into the streets of Ponyville. As they left they began to sing a song about spiced cake. Even in her own imagination, Twilight could not understand the enigma that was Pinkie Pie.
All that was left was Fluttershy. Twilight imagined that once her skin was repaired she would go back to her cottage with her animals. Specifically she imagined Fluttershy helping some baby otters learn how to swim. In her mind, Twilight saw Fluttershy showing the otters the various motions that they would have to learn in order to move through water. The otters themselves looked very happy to be learning this new skill. It was nothing special, Twilight had seen her Fluttershy do similar activities with animals before, but something troubled Twilight. The image somehow felt… wrong.
‘It’s not realistic.’ Twilight realized, ‘The otters shouldn’t be acting like that.’
‘They’re acting exactly the same way they acted back in Ponyville.’ Twilight told herself.
‘Except I’m imagining how they would react to the Fluttershy I knew, not the one who is in laying in the other hospital room. No matter what you do she’ll still resemble a on eyed rag doll. The animals would never accept her.’
Almost involuntarily, Twilight imagined the exact same scenario as before, but this time she saw a more realistic image of what Fluttershy would look like. She still had the mismatched skin, but her stitches had healed into thick, unattractive scars. Fluttershy had tied a bandana around her face to cover up the hole, though it was fairly obvious that it was missing.
“Okay little otters, today I’m going to show you how to swim to the deepest parts of the river so that you find all the tasty shell fish you can eat!” Fluttershy said enthusiastically (or as enthusiastically as Twilight had ever seen her). The otters on the side of the coin were trembling, seemingly paralyzed.
Fluttershy laid down on her stomach and began wriggling and flailing about. As she did so, Fluttershy kept giving various pieces of information as to what the various motions were supposed to do.
“You do this motion whenever you want to go faster.” Fluttershy said as she rapidly kicked her back legs.
While Fluttershy was distracted by the exercise, the otters began backing away slowly. Once they were a short distance away they turned around and ran, squealing as loudly as their little lungs would allow them. Fluttershy heard the high pitched screams and turned in shock to find her students fleeing her presence.
Immediately Fluttershy got off the ground and chased after the small animals.
“Wait, come back!”
The otters sped up when they heard Fluttershy’s call. Fluttershy in turn broke into swift fly, her bandana falling off as she did so, revealing a thin patch of skin where doctors had sealed up the empty socket. The added speed that came with flight let Fluttershy cover just enough ground to catch up with one of the slower otters.
Fluttershy tried to grab the small animal with a hoof but the otter rolled out of the way, avoiding capture by less than a centimeter. Fluttershy tried to grab the otter once more, but again it dodged her again. She was readying herself for another grab when the otter dove into a small burrow.
Fluttershy tried to land but she positioned her wings incorrectly. Rather than coming to the smooth landing that pegasi usually did, Fluttershy hit the ground face first and slid for several feet, kicking up a small cloud of dirt. When she got up, her face was scraped, the patch of skin where her eye used to be had been cut slightly, causing a thin trickle of blood to flow down her face.
A sudden sensation of pain in her head shook Twilight out of the daydream. It wasn’t as painful as her previous headache, but it was enough to disrupt her thought process.
‘Maybe I should just go to bed.’ Twilight thought as the pain subsided.
Instead, Twilight began thinking about Fluttershy again, this time concerned with how society would react to her. She imagined a scene where Fluttershy was in market district of Ponyville, shopping for food to feed the animals that hadn’t run away from her. At first the ponies didn’t much more besides avoid her. As she progressed through the market though, her treatment began to become steadily worse. Ponies began to whisper cruel jokes at her expense behind her back. If Fluttershy heard these jokes, she didn’t show it. A little further into the market, they began saying those cruel jokes to her face, calling her ‘rag doll’, ‘cyclops’, and ‘corpse face’. Still Fluttershy did not react. After a while the ponies became bored with petty insults and began spitting on her as they walked by. Tears were now beginning to build up in Fluttershy’s eye, but she wouldn’t give these ponies the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
Eventually Fluttershy made it to her destination, a stand that sold all the necessary food required to keep most animals healthy. When Fluttershy approached the stand the vendor had his back turned while he organized his inventory.
“Um… Excuse me…” Fluttershy said softly.
“Just a minute dearie, I’ve got to make sure that two colts didn’t steal anything while they were back here.” The vendor said without turning around.
“Oh… sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I just need a few things to feed my animals.”
“Oh, well lucky for you I’m looking through my selection of animal foods right now. Just tell me what you need and I’ll have them ready when I’m done.”
“Oh I don’t need much, just some lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, and celery.”
“Is that all? Well I should have all that in a minute. Please be patient.”
A minute passed and the vendor turned around with the vegetables Fluttershy requested. The vendor was smiling kindly, but when he saw Fluttershy the smile twisted into a look of horror.
The vendor dropped the vegetables onto the ground, “You? What are you doing here?”
Fluttershy took a step back, “I was only shopping for some vegetables.”
“Well you won’t be getting any here! I don’t do business with monsters, so go away!”
Tears began to form once more in Fluttershy’s eye. She tried to say ‘I’m not a monster’ but was interrupted when the vendor threw a ripe tomato at her face, missing her eye by a hair.
“I don’t care what you are! As far as I’m concerned you’re a ghoul who’ll frighten away all my other customers. Now go away before I call the guards.”
Fluttershy was now crying, “Alright, I’ll go away. I’m sorry, I won’t bother you again.”
Fluttershy turned to leave, but not before threw another tomato at her, this time hitting her squarely on the stomach. As Fluttershy retraced her steps through the market, other ponies adopted the vendor’s actions and began throwing various items at her. Unlike the vendor, these items were not strictly food; paints splattered against Fluttershy’s skin, glass bit into areas where they had managed to get past her fur, and rocks threatened to break every bone in her body.
Fluttershy dove into an alley and hid there behind a dumpster. After a few minutes the jeers of angry ponies died down and Fluttershy risked poking her head out. When no pony attempted to assault her, Fluttershy stepped out of her hiding place. She took two steps forward before tripping on an empty wine bottle. When she hit the ground Fluttershy’s crying became louder.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy said, her words were almost lost in her crying.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy’s words were clearer now.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy’s crying was beginning to subside.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy had stopped crying entirely.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy looked at the wine bottle she had tripped on; her eyes were still red from crying.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy reached for the wine bottle.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy slammed the wine bottle on the ground, shattering the bottom half.
“I’m not a monster.” Fluttershy pointed the jagged end of the bottle toward her throat.
“I AM NOT A MONSTER!”
Twilight forced herself out of the daydream.
‘That’s not going to happen. That’s never going to happen!’ Twilight told herself, ‘The citizens of Ponyville wouldn’t act that way; it’s not in their nature. Ponies don’t hate each other just because some pony’s different.’
‘What about Zecora? Ponies lived in fear of her for months before they accepted her, and even then some still avoided her whenever possible.’
‘Zecora was different; she only visited Ponyville once every few months and never stayed long enough for ponies to get used to her. Fluttershy lives just on the edge of town and has to interact with ponies constantly to make a living.’
‘Doing what though? She can’t be a vet, at least not a successful one. Animals are more easily frightened than ponies, and are much more violent when they fight. If they don’t run away they’ll tear her apart.’
‘Yes, but animals aren’t afraid of the same things as ponies. Animals don’t register damaged flesh as a sign of danger, you could keep a mouse in a cage made of mouse bones and it wouldn’t even notice. The animals would accept Fluttershy as if she had no scars at all.’
‘But that still doesn’t solve the problem of getting ponies to accept her. Zecora was just a zebra, basically a white earth pony with stripes. Fluttershy on the other side of the coin looks like the nightmarish offspring of a zombie and a rag doll. It’ll be a lot harder to get ponies to accept her.’
‘Not necessarily… If we can get Fluttershy to her world’s version of me, she could take care of Fluttershy and slowly reintegrate her into society. Friends are there to help each other after all, no matter what they look like.’
Twilight’s mind was beginning to grow fuzzy as it prepared for sleep. ‘Well in any case, I’m thinking way too much about something that I won’t have to deal with for some time. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Right now my priority concerning Fluttershy should be making sure she gets better. Reintegrating Fluttershy into society won’t matter if she dies.’
‘How though? The hospital isn’t equipped to repair severe flesh damage, or if it is no pony knows how to perform the operation.’ Twilight’s thoughts were beginning to become unfocused.
‘Maybe not this hospital, but maybe we can get Fluttershy to another one.’
‘But how? It’s not like we can just call a taxi and go to the nearest hospital, we’re all trapped in Sleipnir!’
Just before Twilight was fully lost in the realm of sleep she thought, ‘Perhaps not though… After all, Dread had to get us here somehow.’
The room was poorly lit; the only light Twilight had to work by was from the soft glow of her horn. It was enough for her to work by though; she only needed to see a few feet in front of her anyway. And besides, some of the chemicals she was working with were light sensitive.
In front of Twilight was a table set with various test tubes, beakers, and assorted flasks. Twelve of the test tubes were filled with multicolored chemicals, each one marked with its respective symbol. To the side, Twilight had a Bunsen burner set up in case she needed something to be heated up. The experiment she had planned out didn’t call for any of the chemicals she was working with to be heated, but Twilight never knew when inspiration might strike.
Twilight levitated two of the test tubes into the air. One was filled with a lime green substance that Twilight had gotten out of Timberwolf sap; the other contained a clear liquid that Twilight found made a great stain remover. Twilight raised the test tubes together and poured half of one of the two substances into the other. As the chemicals mixed, they bubbled and released a foul smelling vapor into the air, turning a bright orange in the process.
Twilight quickly measured any differences in the new substance she could find, and recorded them in the notebook she kept on a shelf. When she was done, Twilight placed the test tube off to the side, and repeated the process with two more chemicals, this time one was blue while the other was a sickly green. Twilight continued this pattern until all of the chemicals had been mixed to form new substances.
When she was finished, Twilight turned to the table behind her, where a figure wrapped in plastic was bound with straps of webbing. The figure was the next part of Twilight’s experiment. She had drilled holes into the figure’s body earlier that evening, specifically in the skull and torso areas. Twilight had then placed tubes into the holes and connected them to a large bowl that now hung a few feet above the figure’s head.
Twilight picked up a round bottom flask from the table, and one by one mixed all of the chemicals into it. The liquids bubbled and hissed as they combined with each other. Twilight lightly shook the flask and the mixture turned a light purple.
Satisfied with her concoction, Twilight moved the figure’s hood slightly so that its mouth was exposed. She then checked the figure’s breathing and heart rate. Both were faint, but enough to ensure Twilight that the figure hadn’t expired since her last experiment.
“Asleep are you?” Twilight asked the figure, smiling to herself, “Good for you, you need as much sleep as you can get. I know how these past few weeks have been affecting you physically, and I can only imagine how they’ve been affecting you psychologically. You deserve some sleep. But not right now. Right now I need you awake so…”
Twilight opened a drawer on the other side of the room and got out a disposable syringe. She brought the syringe over to the figure and stuck the needle into the figure’s neck. Twilight placed a hoof onto the syringe’s plunger and pressed down, injecting the figure with epinephrine. Almost immediately the shallow breathing of the subject strengthened.
“Awake now sleepy head? Good, now we can begin.”
At this, the figure’s breathing sped up rapidly and it began to struggle against its bonds.
“Hold still. This won’t take long.” Twilight said, being as soothing as her level of excitement would allow her.
“NO. NO. NO.PLEASE NO.” The figure begged in a high pitched voice, “PLEASE TWILIGHT, DON’T DO THIS. I BEG YOU.”
Twilight was starting to get annoyed, “We’ve been over this before. You’re the best subject for me to test my theory on. If I let you go, it’ll be like throwing five weeks of research in the garbage.”
The figure was crying now, “Please Twilight, I don’t want to be here. I want to go home. Please, we used to be friends!”
Twilight paused for a moment, “We are friends. I know this isn’t fun for you. Believe me, I do.” Twilight laid a hoof on the figure in what was as close to a hug as she could manage with the table, “I promise that when this is over, I’ll make it up to you. We’ll hang out with all our friends, play a few games, and laugh about these experiments; it’ll be just like old times, you’ll see. But for right now, I need you bear with me on this, I promise it’ll be over soon.”
“Please, just let me go.”
Twilight lifted the flask up to the bowl.
“Twilight, please don’t.”
Twilight tilted the flask.
“Let me go. LET ME GO!
The mixture was now flowing through the tubes.
“PLEASE NO! NO! NO!”
~~~
Twilight bolted upright, her eyes opened wide and her mouth unsure of whether or not it should scream. She quickly looked around and saw that she was still the hospital room, and still lying on a mattress with slightly uncomfortable bedsprings.
Twilight lay back down and said to herself, “Just a dream Twilight, only this and nothing more. Go back to sleep.”
Twilight closed her eyes and tried to drift off. Instead, she tossed and turned beneath her covers, trying to find a position comfortable enough for her. In some positions she was too warm. In others, not warm enough. Thrice Twilight’s position ended up with her being poked with a broken bedspring.
After a few minutes, Twilight gave up all attempts at slumber as a lost cause. She opened her eyes and instinctively began looking for a clock. There was no clock in the room though, at least not one that worked. The clock that hung in Twilight’s bedroom was a battery powered analog that was forever convinced that the time was eight past five.
Twilight climbed out of her bed and began pacing around in a small circle. How long would it be until the Administrator decided that it was ‘morning’? For that matter, how many hours of sleep did she get?
‘Not many,’ Twilight’s instincts told her.
Twilight turned her mind away from time and started thinking up ways that she might fall back asleep. The methods she used back in Ponyville were mostly unavailable to her, sans reading. Reading was a double edged axe for Twilight anyway, at least as far as sleep goes. It was possible that reading would relax Twilight enough for her to drift off, but there was as much of a chance of her becoming so absorbed in what she was reading that she forgot to sleep at all.
Twilight decided to walk around the hospital for a little bit. If it was almost morning the Twilight would already be up. If not, then she could always return and go back to sleep.
Twilight had forgotten how dark the facility got at night. There was no flashing light coming from Dread’s room tonight, leaving the hospital shrouded beneath a near opaque blackness broken only by a few faulty lights that seemed cursed to flicker pathetically for the rest of eternity. Twilight didn’t mind though, she had long since out grown her fear of the dark.
As Twilight walked through the halls she was reminded of all the horror stories she had read that had taken place in hospitals. Twilight’s mind was invaded by visions stories of patients with an incurable virus; of the spirits of aborted foals cursed to forever wonder aimlessly in search of the mothers who never loved them; and of insane surgeons stalking the shadows for some pony to satisfy their bloodlust.
Twilight laughed nervously. She knew that her fears were probably just her being silly. But still, if there was something watching from the shadows then such thinking could be dangerous. In most horror stories that Twilight had read, there was always at least one character that died because they dismissed their fears as ‘just their imagination’. Even thought Twilight knew that her life was not dictated by literature clichés, there was always a chance that fiction could bleed into reality.
Twilight stopped to look behind her to prove to herself that she had nothing to worry about. Aside from a few benches the hallway was mostly empty; if there was something watching her then Twilight would’ve at least been able to make out its outline. After a minute of staring into an empty hall, Twilight assured herself that her fears were nothing more than her imagination.
As she continued, the feeling that she was being watched began to creep its way back into Twilight’s mind. Thrice she thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and in the distance Twilight thought that she heard the sound of blood soaked hooves clip clopping in the distance. Twilight began to long for her bed, to feel the comforting warmth of her blanket. Without her magic, Twilight was as capable of defending herself as a newborn foal.
Twilight turned around. She was no fool; there was little reason for her to be roaming the halls in the first place and given what her experiences at Sleipnir, if she was afraid of something it not likely unfounded.
Twilight retraced her steps to the best of her ability, but in an act of carelessness she had forgotten to keep track of how many doors she had passed on her walk. This would not have been a problem if there was enough light for Twilight to make out the number that marked the rooms, or if Twilight had thought to leave her light on to find her way back.
“Idiot, you shouldn’t be out here right now.” Twilight scolded herself beneath her breath, “You could’ve stayed in your room and just waited to fall asleep, but no. You had to go out and wander the halls of a semi-abandoned hospital without any source of light or a way of finding your way back if you get lost!”
Twilight took a deep breath and held it for about ten seconds. When she exhaled, Twilight felt herself become much calmer than she had been. Berating herself would not help her get back to her room. She needed to figure out a logical method of figuring out where she was and using that to go back to bed.
Twilight considered sleeping in one of the other hospital rooms, but dismissed the idea. If Dread or Dr. Layne entered her room tomorrow to find her missing they would have no way of knowing where she was. Twilight had no desire to cause either of them unnecessary stress.
Twilight turned around and continued walking. She figured that eventually she would end up at one end of the hall. From there, Twilight could count the doors until she found her room. It wasn’t the best plan Twilight had ever come up with, but it would do.
When Twilight made it to the hall’s end, she turned around and began counting the doors as she passed them. When she reached the number that her room should be, Twilight opened the door and stepped into what appeared to be a supply closet that for some reason smelled like rotten meat.
Twilight sat there, dumbfounded. Had she made a mistake? She counted the doors correctly, she was sure of that, so how could she have the wrong door?
The answer hit Twilight like a falling piano. She had turned around twice while out in the halls.
“Sweet Luna, I need to go back to sleep.” Twilight muttered to herself, “I’m starting to lose my mind.”
Twilight closed the closet door and turned into the direction where she knew her room was. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed that the next door on her right was the door with the strange warning symbol.
Immediately old curiosity was piqued and Twilight was nearly overcome by the desire to open the door. There was no pony around to stop her, and no way could any pony find out afterwards. All Twilight would have to do was open the door and…
Twilight shook her head to snap out of what was almost certainly a bad idea. Both Dread and Dr. Layne had told Twilight to stay out of that room and why. Hay, if wasn’t for Dread, Twilight would still be stuck in that cramped cell. It would be disrespectful for her to throw herself into a potentially dangerous situation based on the off chance that she might learn something.
On the other side of the coin though, what if the technology behind this door was exactly what Twilight needed to get out of Sleipnir? What if she could learn how to use the technology and augment herself so that she could conquer any of the Administrator’s little games? Hay, if she was careful she might be able to turn herself into a goddess worthy of worship, and she would be beautiful.
Twilight shook her head again and smacked herself for good measure. What she was thinking about doing to herself was monstrous. A lust for power was not something to be taken lightly; Twilight knew this better than any pony. It was more than likely that she would end up as a shapeless mound of flesh, or as a monster that was not unlike Sam.
Twilight turned away from the door. She had spent long enough on it and needed to get back to bed. And besides, what good would going in there do her anyway?
As she was walking away, a thought whispered to Twilight in the back of her mind, ‘What about Fluttershy? Don’t you want to save her?’
Almost instantly, Twilight felt herself being drawn back to the door. It wasn’t an enchantment causing this (Twilight had enough experience to know what an enchanted door felt like), but rather it felt like Twilight’s body could not decide which way it wanted to go. It was as if Twilight wanted to go both ways at once. Twilight herself was unsure of how to stop the situation; it felt like she was fighting off both decisions without allowing either side to win.
The struggle didn’t last long though; Twilight jerked her head toward the door and stepped forward. She would have a look inside, and then go back to bed once her curiosity was satisfied. And if she so happened to discover a way to save Fluttershy, then what’s the harm?
Twilight gingerly bit down on the door handle and turned it. The door squeaked open on its dirty hinges. The noise that came from the door echoed throughout the hospital, causing Twilight to jump back and make sure she hadn’t woken any pony. Once she was sure that no pony would bother her, Twilight stepped beyond the door.
The room was darker than the hallway, here Twilight was completely blind. Twilight fumbled for a light switch, nearly cutting herself on a metal object as she did so. When she finally found the light switch, the room filled with a blood red light, similar to the lighting used in dark rooms.
After her eyes adjusted to the light, Twilight found herself starring into the lifeless eyes of a severed head. She screamed and leaped backwards, knocking into another metal object. When she turned to see exactly what she had hit, she found herself face to face with even more heads. This time, Twilight got a better look at them. The heads were all disfigured in some way; earth pony heads with feathers, unicorn heads with two horns, stallion with eyes too big for their sockets, a mare who had somehow grown a hoof out of her left cheek, and a pony that had two faces growing out of either side of the skull, one side was a mare while the other was a stallion. Each of the heads had their eyes opened so that they stared at any pony foolish enough to enter the room. Whether this was intentional or not, Twilight could still feel the lifeless eyes of the countless heads staring at her, judging her for trespassing in what was effectively their tomb.
After the initial shock wore off, Twilight was able to calm down enough to actually examine the heads; she was here for academic purposes after all. The heads were displayed in glass jars filled with a clear liquid that Twilight guessed was used to prevent them from decomposing. The jars in turn were placed on metal shelves that lined the room’s walls.
Twilight supposed that she should’ve expected something like this. After all, the lab was basically studying ways to mutate ponies. Keeping a few failed experiments around for study wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. But the decision to display them right at the entrance was… questionable.
At the far end of the room was a glass tank that was roughly the size and shape of one of Sleipnir’s cells. Attached to the tank was a piece of machinery that reminded Twilight of a pipe organ. The machine was decorated with an assortment of blank screens, buttons, and levers. At the top of the device were two oddly shaped rods that stood on either side of the tank.
Twilight cautiously approached the device. Based on what she had been told, Twilight had to assume that simply being near the device was dangerous. Still, if she could understand the secrets that it had to offer, most if not all of her problems would go away. If not, well then hopefully she wouldn’t end up too disfigured.
Twilight began her examination trying to figure out how to turn the device on; nothing was labeled so the only method of figuring out the device was by trial and error. When she did managed to activate the device it emitted a loud humming sound that made Twilight’s teeth feel like they were vibrating. As the device warmed up, the monitors lit up one by one, the glass on the tank twisted open, and the rods let of stream of sparks.
Twilight quickly shifted her attention to the monitors. Displayed on them were streams of letters that spelled out random gibberish that meant nothing to Twilight. This did not stop Twilight from attempting to get information out them however. Twilight used a simple method of decoding that she had been taught by one of Celestia’s advisers.
In her mind, Twilight counted the number of times each letter appeared and compared it with the consistency that letters appeared in the Equestrian common tongue. Most codes that ponies came up with were simply letters being replaced by other letters, and therefore could be cracked by simply figuring out the pattern in which the letters appeared in. The downside was that the method was turned on its head if the code in question was more complicated than simply substituting letters. The code presented on the screen was one such code.
There was no rhyme or pattern to how the letters appeared on the screen. Sometimes they would come in instances of four or five, other times they would spell out forty five letter nonsense. Once, the screens only displayed the letter ‘Q’ copied eighty times.
Twilight gave up on decoding the screens; she only knew the one method of decoding, and thinking of other method would keep her here for days. Instead, Twilight began looking for a way to activate the device’s function. After that, she would remove a section of the device’s casing and try to reverse engineer how it worked.
Twilight pressed what was most likely the button to activate the radiation (the big red one) and raced as fast as she could to the far end of the room. The lights in the room faded into near darkness, the air filled with a low hum, and the rods on the device sparked and released two crackling streams of light that struck the tank with a loud ZAP. A second later, the electricity spewing from the rods began to travel down the tank’s glass walls, giving it the appearance of a bird cage. From inside the tank small holes had opened up in the floor releasing a light purple gas that swirled around like a serpent in water.
After a few minutes of watching the spectacle, Twilight began to notice errors in the machine’s design, namely the design of the tank. Based on what Twilight knew about the device, she could infer that the tank is where subjects would be placed to be mutated. But the tank was clearly not built to contain radiation, so any pony near the device while it was active was at risk of being mutated on accident. Twilight could think of only one reason why the scientists of Sleipnir would design a device this poorly. But in order to confirm her theory, Twilight would have to wait until the rods stopped spewing out sparks.
She sat there for a few more minutes while the device ran its course. When she once more approached the device, Twilight focused all of her attention on its case rather than its buttons. After a little searching, Twilight found a chink in the device’s build that was just large enough for her wedge the tip of her horn into.
Twilight noted the chink’s location and began searching the room for something to pry it with. She quickly realized that there was nothing in the room for her to use. Twilight shouldn’t have been surprised; she was in a laboratory, not a tool shed.
Twilight snorted. Once again she was confronted with a problem that could’ve easily been solved if she had access to her magic. How earth ponies could spend their entire lives trapped in this eternal frustration without killing themselves was beyond her.
Twilight was about to give up when she was suddenly struck with an idea. If she could stick the tip of her horn into the chink, then she be able to use it was as an organic crowbar. Sure, it was possible that she might hurt her horn in the process, but so long as Twilight was careful that wouldn’t be an issue.
Twilight eased the tip of her horn into the chink, taking care that she didn’t force it in. When the horn was at a point where it could not go farther in, Twilight shifted her head so that her horn was putting pressure on one side of the chink. To her surprise, the casing easily slid out of the way when Twilight applied force.
With the device’s casing out of the way, Twilight bent down and began examining its interior. What she found were some wires that connected to various parts of the device, but nothing that told her how the device actually worked. Investigating a little further, Twilight found that connected to the back of each of the device’s screens were small computer chips, the same kind one might find in a digital clock.
That didn’t make sense though. A device used to calculate the intricacies of a pony’s genetics and rearrange them should’ve required more computing power than a clock. Shouldn’t it?
Twilight considered the probability that she was wrong about the computer chips. She had spent as much time studying technology as she did anything else, but not enough to call herself an expert. She also had to consider the possibility that the device she was trying to study was beyond even her comprehension, and that she was wasting her time trying to understand it.
Twilight tried to force herself to focus on the device, but something about it kept bothering her. Something was wrong with the device, though Twilight couldn’t place a hoof on what it was. All the wires were connected and none of the computer chips looked damaged. Aside from that, there was nothing in the device that looked amiss.
Then the answer came to Twilight with the force of a slap to the face. There was nothing in the device’s casing but wires, nothing. Whatever emitted the radiation used to mutate ponies wasn’t here.
Twilight closed the device’s case and turned her attention on the twin rods on its top. After all, they did emit sparks when the device was active. After taking a moment to move a shelf to climb up on, Twilight hopped onto the device and began to look over the rods.
The rods were wrapped tightly with metal wires that covered of the rods’ surfaces. At the top of the rods were objects that reminded Twilight of steel donuts. Something about the rods seemed familiar to Twilight, as if she had seen them somewhere before.
‘These are the same type of rods that Dread has in his bedroom!’ Twilight realized.
Aside from a small difference in height and diameter, the rods were exactly the same as the ones Dread uses to recharge himself. What they had to do with mutation, Twilight had no idea. She doubted that Dread needed a radiation emitter to recharge his batteries, so all Twilight could come up with was that the rods were there to react with the gas inside the tank.
Twilight hopped down from the device and approached the can shaped tank. After sliding it open, Twilight investigated the tanks walls, where the gas had condensed into tiny droplets. At the bottom of the tank was a small hole that was obviously meant to be used as a handle if the areas under the tank needed maintenance.
Twilight bit down on the handle and pried the floor from the tank without a second thought. After taking a moment to get the taste of metal out of her mouth, Twilight began to inspect what she hoped was the source of the device’s mutagenic abilities. She was disappointed with what she found.
Beneath the floor of the tank was a set of pipes, not unlike the ones that could be found beneath the average sink. The pipes were set up so that whatever liquid they carried passed through some sort of filter before being shot up into the tank. Thinking that that filter was important to the device, Twilight tried picking it up with her mouth to get a better look at it.
As soon as Twilight teeth made contact with the filter, a scorching hot pain forced its way into her mouth. Twilight let out a loud shriek and leaped back from the red hot pipes. Her mouth continued sting with pain for a minute, after which the pain deteriorated into a tingling sensation.
Twilight considered going back to bed once again. She was being sloppy in her research and she knew it. She knew better that to bite down on something without making sure it was safe, especially if that thing was a part of a plumbing system that carried Celestia knows what in it. She was lucky that all she got was a burnt tongue. She could’ve been poisoned for Luna’s sake.
But even as Twilight contemplated sleeping, she found herself wanting to stay even more. And why not? She would likely never have an opportunity like this again. And besides, she had already examined most of the device by now, what was the harm in staying a few more minutes and finishing the job?
Unhappy with both extremes, Twilight compromised with herself that she would look at type of filter the device use then be on her way. Twilight bent low into the tank’s plumbing (taking care not to touch the pipes) and read aloud to herself what was inscribed onto the filter.
“Berry Punch’s berry special grape juice mix.”
Twilight blinked and double checked the inscription, believing she had some sort of mistake.
Once more she read, “Berry Punch’s berry special grape juice mix.”
Twilight stared at the filter with her mouth open, her left eye twitching slightly as she tried to make sense of it. After a moment, she turned her attention to the purple droplets that dotted to interior of the tank. Without thinking, Twilight leaned in towards the tank’s wall and licked one of the purple droplets. Sure enough, they were grape juice, although it was very sour grape juice.
Twilight stepped back from the device and sat down on the floor. The device had no way to emit radiation, no way to calculate data, no way to do anything except spray ponies with grape juice vapor. This was all that there was to the device.
‘But that can’t be right.’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘The room is filled with mutated heads. Those had to come from somewhere. I mean, that’s not something you can just fake right? The heads have to be real, just look at them. If the heads are real then that means that there is some way to use the device, and I just haven’t found it yet!’
With that thought, Twilight got up to examine the nearest head. The head in question had belonged to unicorn. It seemed completely normal aside from a twisted horn and a bloated eye that had somehow grown teeth. Looking at the thing made Twilight’s stomach lurch, but despite this she opened the head’s jar and turned it over. The head hit the floor with a dull SPLAT. Twilight poked at the head with a hoof. As she did so the fur and skin began to flake off, leaving behind large, bright yellow patches. Seeing these patches, Twilight pressed down on the head. There was no skull inside of it.
“IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE?” Twilight screamed.
She kicked the head towards the device. It bounced and hit one of shelves, knocking over more of the jars. Twilight didn’t notice, she was mad; mad at the fact that some pony would go to much trouble just to set up an elaborate hoax; mad at how they deceived both Dread and Dr. Layne, convincing them that they were able to mutate ponies; mad that what was likely Fluttershy’s best chance at recovery was a lie.
Twilight kicked another shelf, sending countless jars falling to their doom. When the jars hit the floor they shattered with a satisfying CRACK. Twilight then kicked the foam heads at the device, relishing in the act.
After a minute, Twilight collapsed onto the ground. The hot tears rolled down her face and her body trembled. Twilight wanted to continue her tantrum, to break the deceitful device in front of her into a thousand pieces, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
After several minutes, Twilight got up and plodded back to her bedroom, her head hung low. Twilight counted the doors on her right until she got to the one that belonged to her. When she crawled back into bed, Twilight cried once more.
Twilight ignored the voice. She was in a warm place and didn’t want to leave yet.
“Princess, it’s time to wake up.” the voiced called again, this time slightly louder than before.
Twilight turned away from where the voice was coming from and pressed a hoof to her ear. Why was the voice vexing her? Couldn’t whoever was speaking to her see that she didn’t want to be disturbed? Why couldn’t they just let her…
“ATTENTION STAR BUTT, IT IS TIME TO GET UP NOW!”
Twilight opened her eyes and turned to see the scowling face of Dr. Layne.
“Oh… Good morning.” Twilight said as her eyes began to droop.
“Miss Sparkle, if you go back to sleep I swear…” whatever Dr. Layne was about to say was lost as Twilight drifted back to sleep.
Dr. Layne bit down on Twilight’s blanket and pulled it off of her. “MISS SPARKLE, WAKE UP!” he snapped.
Twilight’s eyes flung wide open.
“I’m up, I’m up,” She said as she scrambled to her feet.
Dr. Layne glared at Twilight for a second before saying, “You’ve over slept for about two hours, and the cyborg told me I had to wake you up. Something about keeping your sleeping habits regular. Anyway, your breakfast is on the counter, feel free to come out whenever you please. If you need me, I’ll be on my bench.”
Dr. Layne turned and began to exit the room. As Twilight’s body woke up, memories of the previous night returned to her like birds in the spring.
“Dr. Layne wait, I…” Dr. Layne had closed the door behind him, “have something that I need to tell you…”
Twilight sat back down on her bed and was considering going back to sleep when a low rumble in her tummy demanded food. She looked at the bag the doctor had left on the counter and investigated it. Inside were three brown egg shaped objects that looked like they were made out of some sort of fudge. Twilight munched the objects down as quickly as she could.
When she was finished, Twilight left her room and went to find either Dr. Layne or Dread. It didn’t take her long to find the former sleeping on the same sofa he had been the day before. Twilight thought for a moment on how she would bring up the topic of the so called mutagenic lab.
Before she could decide on what to say, Dread came out of Pinkamena’s room and asked, “Layne, are you up? Is Miss Sparkle awake yet?”
Dr. Layne opened his eyes and glared at the android, “Yes, I’m up. And yes, I woke up the princess about five minutes ago. What do you want?”
“It’s Miss Pie, Layne, she’s waking up.”
At this, Twilight forgot all about the lab, “She’s waking up? Does that mean she’s going to be okay?”
Dread turned to face Twilight, “There you are, Miss Sparkle, I did not see you there. To answer your questions; yes, Miss Pie’s breathing has improved over night, so it is safe to say that she will likely wake up sometime within the next couple of hours.”
Twilight grinned, “That’s great! Do you think that…”
“However,” Dread interrupted, “I cannot say for sure what the long term effects of the poison will be.”
Twilight’s smile quickly faded, “What do you mean?”
“I do not fully understand the nature of the poison that was given to her. Right now I can only assume that its only function was to dehydrate the ponies who partook of it. But even if that was all it did, there is no telling how much Miss Pie’s body was damaged from it.”
Twilight’s ears fell flat, “Is there any way that we can figure out if there are any problems?”
Dr. Layne answered, “Unless that ‘forbidden lab’ has some sort of device that analyzes every cell in the body, no.”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably.
Seeing this, Dread asked, “Is there something wrong, Miss Sparkle?”
“Well you see… I, uh… I…”
“Spit it out,” Dr. Layne snorted.
Twilight took a deep breath, “Last night, while every pony was asleep, I went into the genetic slab.”
“YOU DID WHAT?” Dr. Layne shouted. The storm grey pegasus took a step towards Twilight, “OF ALL THE STUPID THINGS THAT…” Dr. Layne was interrupted when Dread stomped one of his metal hooves.
“Calm down, Layne. There is no need for shouting,” The android said.
Dr. Layne glared at the robot, his body rigid with anger, “She disobeyed us and in doing so put herself in danger. Buck, she probably put us all in danger! She needs to know that when we say not to do something, that means that SHE SHOULD NOT DO IT!” A vein began to pulse in Dr. Layne’s left temple.
“She is not a child, Layne, and we are not her parents. Even though she did something that we told her not to, we have no right to punish her for it.”
Dr. Layne’s body relaxed and the crippled pony seemed to shrink a little, “She could have gotten hurt, Dread. We have no idea what’s beyond that door.”
“I understand your concern Dr. Layne, but Miss Sparkle is clearly unharmed, at least visibly. There is no cause to berate her.”
“Are you saying that you approve Twilight’s reckless actions?”
“No, I will have a word with Ms. Sparkle later on her irresponsible behavior. But for right now I am more interested in what she has to say.”
“Very well then,” Dr. Layne said begrudgingly, “let’s hear it then.”
Twilight took a deep breath and began recounting everything she had discovered the previous night, from the fake heads to the grape juice mix. As she was speaking, Twilight couldn’t help but watch Dr. Layne’s face to see if he reacted to anything she said. The doctor listened with a blank look on his face, almost as if Twilight’s story bored him.
“Well, that’s disappointing,” Dr. Layne said when Twilight had finished, “I wasn’t expecting to gamble on the lab to save Fluttershy, but still…” Dr. Layne trailed off into a low grumble.
“We’ll find a way Layne,” Dread said, “the loss of one answer does not break the puzzle.”
Dr. Layne sighed, “I suppose you’re right. If anything, Twilight’s news should be a relief. Now I don’t have to worry about mutant parasprites laying eggs in my eyes. Anyway, I’d like to get back to my nap, so I’ll leave you two to discuss the lab.”
Dr. Layne turned and walked back to the sofa he had been sleeping on.
“So…” Dread said, after almost a minute of awkward silence, “is there anything else you would like to say about the laboratory?”
Twilight thought for a moment then said, “No, not that I can think of.”
“Well in that case, is there anything that you would like to do?”
“You said that Pinkamena was waking up, right?”
“Yes, I believe I mentioned that before we brought up the laboratory.”
Twilight smiled, “I’d like to see her, if that’s okay.”
Dread walked with Twilight to Pinkamena’s room. Pinkamena was sleeping softly, her lips curled into a small smile. Occasionally she would twitch a little, but for the most part she lay there motionless. Twilight almost couldn’t recognize her; she looked like a different pony entirely. Her fur was cleaner, her cheeks less sunken, and her hair had curled back up.
“Um, Dread?” Twilight said when she noticed that something was amiss.
“Yes, Miss Sparkle?”
“Where’s her straightjacket?”
“Ah yes, the straightjacket,” The android said, “I removed Miss Pie’s straightjacket when I bathed her… If I remember correctly I placed it in one of the drawers so that I didn’t lose it.”
“Don’t you think we should put it back on her before she wakes up?”
“Yes, that would be wise. If you will give me a moment, I will fetch it.”
Dread went over to the where the drawers were and pulled out the off white jacket.
The android turned to Twilight and asked, “Would you mind holding Miss Pie up while I put the jacket back on her?”
“Not at all.”
Twilight climbed onto the bed and propped Pinkamena into an upright position with her snout. Dread pulled the straightjacket’s sleeves over Pinkamena’s forelegs; first the left, then the right. As he began to buckle the straps of the straight jacked into place, Pinkamena began to mutter something.
Seeing this, Twilight said, “Dread, I think she’s waking up!”
“I’m almost finished, just a few more buckles.”
When the last buckle was secured, Dread hastily lowered Pinkamena onto her pillow and pulled the blanket over her. A second later, Pinkamena’s eyes fluttered open.
“Dread? Twilight? Is that you?” Pinkamena asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“Yes, Miss Pie, it is us.” Dread answered.
“Then that means that it wasn’t a dream. I’m really imprisoned in Sleipnir, and I really ate…” Pinkamena’s ears fell flat and her eyes began to tear up, “Dread, why am I still alive? Why didn’t you kill me?”
“Miss Pie, I don’t understand…”
“WHY AM I NOT DEAD YET?” Pinkamena shrieked, and then she turned over and began to cry into her pillow, “I don’t deserve to live.”
“Miss Pie, why would you think such a thing?” Dread asked.
Pinkamena, or perhaps Diane, continued to sob into the pillow, ignoring Dread’s question.
“Miss Pie, I want to know why you believe that you deserve to die.” Dread said.
“Because…” Pinkamena choked, “Because I’m a monster. I killed two of my best friends and I… I…” Whatever Pinkamena was going to say was lost in a stream of tears.
Dread extended one of his claw-like appendages and laid it on one of Pinkamena’s shoulders.
“Miss Pie, I understand the guilt that you feel, but what you’ve done in the past does not invalidate your life. Your death will not bring Rainbow Dash back, nor will it avenge her. One death cannot be undone by another.”
“How… How am I supposed to live with myself; knowing what I did?” Pinkamena asked.
“All sins can be forgiven, Miss Pie, but you must learn to forgive yourself first.”
“Dread, that doesn’t make any sense. How can I forgive myself?”
“As for that, I cannot say. If you would like, Miss Sparkle and I will give you some time alone.”
“Yeah, I think I’d like that.”
After Dread and Twilight left Pinkamena’s room and were a safe distance away, Twilight asked, “Was that Pinkamena or Diane?”
“I’m not sure.” Dread replied, “Probably Diane though, given her emotional state.”
“Yeah, I suppose it isn’t like Pinkamena to start crying like that. It’s just something about her felt off, like she wasn’t really herself.”
A few minutes of walking later, the two met Dr. Layne at his bench.
“Back from visiting our little cannibal? How is the little psycho?” Dr. Layne asked.
“She is awake at the moment.” Dread answered, “And I suggest that you not call her a psychopath in front of her, she’s in a delicate state of mind.”
Dr. Layne sighed, “Alright, I’ll watch my tongue. Have you noticed any lasting effects from the poison she was given?”
“Not at this time, no.” Dread answered.
“Well let’s hope we don’t find any at all.” Dr. Layne said, “Anyway, I want to talk to the two of you about the fake lab.”
“What about it?” Twilight asked.
“I’ve been giving it some thought while you two were visiting Pinkie; something about Twilight’s story bothers me.”
“I told you everything I know!” Twilight snapped.
“I’m not calling you liar, Twilight, let me finish,” Dr. Layne said, “What did you think about the lab??”
“I figured it some kind of elaborate joke.”
“You mentioned that the heads were made out of foam, and that there was no way the device could work, correct?” Dr. Layne asked.
“Yes. What about it?”
“Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through just for the sake of a joke, doesn’t it?”
Twilight shrugged, “I guess so… But I’ve seen ponies go even farther to make their jokes work. Like this one time Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were…”
Dr. Layne stomped a hoof in frustration, “Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“I suppose so,” Dread answered, “considering neither of us have any idea what you’re going on about.”
Dr. Layne sighed, “What I’m getting at is that I think that the whole mutagenic lab thing might’ve a cover up for something. As to what, I have no idea.”
“Interesting theory,” Dread said, “but what exactly could the higher up to that would make them so paranoid? Why would they need to set up such an elaborate hoax? It’s not like they didn’t have other ways to keep things secret. ”
“Yeah, when I was in the lab last night I didn’t get the feeling that there was anything more to it. What you’re describing sounds like something a teenager would come up with.”
Dr. Layne stomped his hoof once more, “Well then why would they go to so much trouble? I mean those heads could not have been cheap to make, and the time it would’ve taken to set up the tesla coils and mist effects! DON’T YOU SEE IT? There has to be a reason! There has to something more!”
“Perhaps there is, Dr. Layne,” Dread said, “but does it matter? I mean it’s an interesting theory; it’s just that we have so much more to worry about at the moment. Don’t you think we should focus on the problems before us?”
Dr. Layne’s ears fell flat, “Yes, I suppose so. I’m sorry; I-I started thinking about the possibility and allowed my imagination to get the better of me. It won’t happen again.”
Dr. Layne turned around and started to walk off.
“Wait,” Dread said.
Dr. Layne stopped and asked, “What?”
“There’s no reason to be embarrassed, I was not trying to put you down. It is an interesting theory, just not one that we should focus on at the moment. Perhaps when both Miss Pie and Miss Shy are back to full health we can look into it.”
Dr. Layne gave a small smile, “I suppose that would be acceptable. I can wait.”
Once more Dr. Layne started back toward his bench. When he was a small distance away, Twilight heard a small click from somewhere behind her. She turned to see Pinkamena slowly walking towards them.
“Hi.” Pinkamena said softly when she was near enough.
“Hey Pinkamena,” Twilight said happily, “or are you Diane?”
Pinkamena looked at Twilight questioningly, “Diane is my middle name? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing!” Twlight said quickly “I just… I… So how are you feeling?”
Pinkamena smiled, “I’m fine, a little woozy though. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for how I reacted earlier. I was having a nice dream and I suppose that I…” Pinkamena trailed off.
“It’s okay,” Twilight said with a small smile, “I understand.”
Pinkamena smiled, baring her unnaturally pointed teeth, “Thanks you.”
A split second later, a loud grumble emanated from Pinkamena’s stomache.
“So… how long until dinner?” Pinkamena asked.
The android turned to look at something off in the distance, “About five minutes, can you wait that long?”
“I think so,” Pinkamena answered.
“If you’ll excuse me, I should’ve been preparing the cart two minutes ago,” Dread said, “I will leave you two to catch up.”
Dread turned and trotted off towards the hall of cells.
“I didn’t know he could move that fast.” Pinkamena said, “I mean I’ve only ever seen him walk. I figured that was as fast as he could go.”
“He moved pretty quickly when he was breaking me out of my cell, though I wasn’t really paying attention at the time?”
“That reminds me, what are we doing out of our cells?”
Twilight explained the effects the Administrator’s loaf had on ponies and how Dread piled them both onto a cart and brought them to the hospital.
When Twilight was finished, Pinkamena asked her, “Any idea what the beeping was?”
“Beeping?” Twilight asked.
“The last thing I remember was a high pitched beeping.”
“Oh yeah!” Twilight said, a faint memory of a high pitched beeping coming back to her, “I haven’t really thought about it.”
Pinkamena shrugged in her straight jacket, “Well, I guess it’s not important. Who knows, it might’ve just been the intercom freaking out or something. Anyways, do you mind catching me up on what’s happened while I’ve been out?”
Twilight explained what had happened during her stay at the hospital. Her recount of the events was out of order and mostly focused on the falsehood that was the mutagenic lab.
“It was really disappointing,” Twilight continued with her story, “I know that we weren’t planning on using the lab to help Fluttershy anyway, but still…”
At this, Pinkamena’s eyes widened and her entire body tensed up, “Fluttershy?”
“Um, yes… She’s in a hospital room not far from here if you want to see her…” Twilight said, a shiver flowing down her spine as she spoke.
“Yes, I would like to see her…” Pinkamena said, her left eye had begun to twitch, “In fact I’d like to see her now if that’s possible.”
“Um… sure,” Twilight said, “right this way.”
Twilight led Pinkamena to Fluttershy’s room. As they walked, Twilight could not shake the feeling that she was making a grave error; that she should turn around and tell Pinkamena that Fluttershy was no condition for visitors.
Twilight ignored these feelings and opened the door for Pinkamena to enter the room. When she saw Fluttershy’s motionless body, Pinkamena’s eyes grew wider, her lips curled into a twisted smile, and her entire body started to shake.
“Is this my Fluttershy?” Pinkamena asked, “The one I k-killed?”
“Yes.” Twilight answered.
“She’s not dead, is she?”
“No, she isn’t.”
“Good.”
Pinkamena approached Fluttershy with a hungry look in her eyes. She tore the blanket off her with her mouth and threw it aside. Pinkamena examined Fluttershy’s torn up body much like a wolf examines a wounded dear. She traced each of Fluttershy’s stitches with her eyes and sniffed every patch of skin.
An alarm rang in Twilight’s mind. What was she thinking, bringing Pinkamena here? Didn’t Dread tell her that they needed to keep Fluttershy a secret? She had to get Fluttershy away from her, undo her unforgivable error. If she didn’t, then Pinkamena would… Pinkamena would…
“What’s wrong with her stitches?” Pinkamena asked, interrupting Twilight’s train of thought.
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when Pinkamena spoke.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“Her stitches, they look sloppy. Like the pony that sewed them had never held a needle before.” Pinkamena said.
“Oh, that…” Twilight explained everything she knew about how Dread recovered Fluttershy and the medical treatment he had given to her.
“Weird…” Pinkamena said when Twilight finished.
“What’s weird?”
“Something about what you told me seems off.”
“What exactly?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena shook her head, “I’ll need to talk to Dread about it, because he’s the only one who would have the answer. But something is odd about how he brought Fluttershy here. Anyway, the stitches need to be redone.”
Twilight and Pinkamena stayed with Fluttershy for a minute longer, leaving when they heard Dread announcing dinner. Twilight led Pinkamena to the area where they usually eat and there Dread gave them both Ziploc bags of what appeared to dried pieces of peeled skin, burned mucus, and cheese. The two ponies ate their food quickly (Dr. Layne chose to eat slowly) and Pinkamena spoke;
“Is it okay if I talk you about Fluttershy?”
Dr. Layne choked on the skin peel that he had been eating, and when he coughed it up said, “Fluttershy? What are you talking about?”
“I showed her Fluttershy.” Twilight admitted.
“You did what?” Dr. Layne asked, already his voice was beginning to rise.
“I forgot.” was all Twilight could say, her mind was clouded with fear of what was about to come.
“Forget? Forget! HOW COULD YOU FORGET?” Dr. Layne’s eyes started bulging, “WE TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL THAT PINKAMENA ABOUT FLUTTERSHY UNTIL WE SAID SO! AND YOU WENT AND SHOWED HER FLUTTERSHY? YOU DID NOT FORGET; YOU DELIBERATELY DISOBEYED US!”
Twilight felt herself shrink a little, “I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking at the time and…”
“Of course,” Dr. Layne said, his voice was hoarse from yelling, “you weren’t thinking. Tell me, Princess, how would you feel if one of your best friends was killed because you weren’t thinking?”
“Well I…”
“Your actions could’ve gotten Fluttershy KILLED, did you think of that? No, you weren’t thinking. And it was your lack of thinking that nearly cost Fluttershy her LIFE! IF I EVER FIND OUT THAT YOU’VE DISOBEYED US AGAIN I’LL…”
“STOP IT!” Pinkamena roared. Tears were beginning to run down her face, “Yelling is not going to solve anything!”
“Miss Pie is correct,” said Dread, “all this yelling is pointless. This is the second time today that I’ve said this, but there is no reason to punish Twilight when no harm was done. Miss Pie has clearly not harmed Miss Shy, nor has she even attempted such a thing. Am I correct, Miss Sparkle?”
Twilight nodded.
Dr. Layne grumbled, “What good does it do to have rules if no one is willing to enforce them?”
“The rules,” Dread answered, “are in place to prevent possible harm, at least as far as I’m concerned. If a rule is broken and no harm was done, then the rule’s existence becomes meaningless.”
Dr. Layne glared at Dread. He looked as though he were ready to pounce on the robot, but thought better of it.
“Very well then,” Dr. Layne said through gritted teeth, “but when harm does come when a rule is broken, don’t come crying to me.” Dr. Layne stormed off.
A moment later, Dread gave Twilight and Pinkamena their dinner. The food was waxy material that rolled up onto a piece of plastic. Twilight expected it to taste disgusting, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually pretty good.
When they were done eating, Dr. Layne came back with a softer look on his face.
“I wanted to apologize for earlier,” he said, “it wasn’t right for me to yell at you. I’m sorry.”
Twilight starred at the pegasus, slightly shocked at his apology, “It’s okay. I know that you meant well…”
Dr. Layne took a deep breath, “Thank you, Twilight, I’ll try not to snap at you like that again.” He then turned his attention to Pinkamena, “Any thoughts on Fluttershy? How did you feel when you found out she was still alive?”
Pinkamena looked at the pegasus with mild surprise, “Why do you ask?”
Dr. Layne shrugged, “I’m a scientist. I want to know how the mind of some pony infected with a severe case of sanguinam ungolum reacts to finding out that one her victims survived.”
Pinkamena shivered at the word ‘victims’ and for a moment seemed like she unsure if she wanted to answer. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but would quickly swallow the words before they came out.
Seeing this, Dr. Layne said, “If you don’t want to talk about it then I won’t hold it against you. Just say so and I’ll return to my bench.”
“No,” Pinkamena answer, “I’ll answer your question; I just need to figure out how to put my thoughts into words.”
“Take your time.” Dr. Layne said as he pulled a small notebook out of his coat.
Pinkamena took a deep breath, “When I saw Fluttershy lying on the bed, my first thought was that it wasn’t right, that she should be inside me, playing with Rainbow Dash. I think I was about to bite at her neck when I remembered Rainbow Dash wasn’t actually inside me, and everything else Dread has talked to me about. I don’t think that stopped me from wanting to kill her, I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting to kill her… but at least I managed to ignore the urge.”
“That’s wonderful, Miss Pie.” Dread said, “This is a major improvement for you.”
Pinkamena gave a small smile and continued, “Anyway, I examined Fluttershy’s injuries a little bit. I wanted to get her help. I still want to get her help.” Pinkamena suddenly looked at Dread, “How did you get Fluttershy here again? I think Twilight might’ve already told me, but I forgot.”
Dread made a clicking noise from somewhere inside him, “I went back for her through the reality warp. Why do you ask?”
Pinkamena beamed, “Because if we can get to the reality warp, we can get Fluttershy to some actual doctors and maybe save her!”
Dr. Layne laughed, “I hate to burst your bubble, Pinkamena, but do you really think I’d still be here if I could just leave?”
“Dr. Layne has a point,” Dread said, “the Administrator is in control of all exits, nothing gets in or out without him knowing it.”
Pinkamena’s ears fell flat, “Oh… Well anyway, after that Twilight and I left and…”
“Wait a minute!” Twilight interrupted. She looked at Dread in his ‘eyes’ and asked, “If the Administrator knows about everything that comes in and out of Sleipnir, then how you did hide Fluttershy?”
“I… I’m not sure.” Dread said, “The Administrator has never seemed to notice. I assumed that he was just distracted when brought Miss Shy aboard. He hasn’t said anything about it.”
Dr. Layne seemed to shrink, “Now that you mention it, I don’t think the Administrator has said anything in the past few days, not even announcements.”
Twilight felt as if her blood had turned to ice, “What does this mean?”
“It would mean,” said a genderless voice on the intercom, “that you are not as clever as you would like to think.”
Twilight could feel her heart trying to pound its way out of her chest. She tried to scream, but fear choked her throat so tight that no sound could escape it. They were dead, she was sure of it. Everything, the lab, Pinkamena’s recovery, Fluttershy, meant nothing.
“So, how long have you been watching us?” Dread asked.
“Since the beginning, Dread.” the Administer replied, “You have done nothing that we do not know about.”
“Then why ignore us?” Dr. Layne asked, “If you knew everything we’ve been up to, surely you would have felt the need to do something about it?”
“We did nothing because there was nothing that needed to be done.” The Administrator answered, “Your poor attempts at secrecy barely made for good comedy, yet alone anything that could pose a potential threat. We control everything in this facility, Mr. Layne, it is impossible to keep secrets from us.”
“So why reveal this to us now?” Dread asked, “And now that you have, what do you plan to do to us?”
“Because we at Sleipnir had elected to allow you to continue your delusions for some time, and have only just now elected to ‘burst your bubble’ as the children say. We’ve debated on the topic before of course, like when you decided to remove one more guest from their room than was actually selected for treatment, or when you thought that it was a good idea to bring a torn up chew toy into the facility and attempt to treat her. But we digress.”
“That answers my first question,” Dread said, “but what about my second?”
“Nothing too much, we simply ask that the patient Twilight Sparkle be returned to her room, and patient Pinkie Pie receive the treatment she was scheduled for three days ago.”
“And if we refuse?”
“That would be a very poor decision.” The Administrator answered.
Dread didn’t respond. Instead, he stood perfectly still.
“He’s not seriously considering this is he?” Pinkamena asked Twilight in a panicked whisper.
“Of course not, he’s… he’s just looking for the best way out of this.” Twilight did her best to sound reassuring, but her voice quivered when she spoke.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Dread finally answered, “we, Dr. Layne and I, have been testing out a new form a therapy, and taking our test subjects away would set us back several months.”
“Would it now?” The Administrator asked; his voice becoming more feminine, “What exactly would this new form of therapy be?”
“It was a theory that we came up with while researching the standard ‘release of tension’ exercise that you do with the guests. We decided to expand the time the guests have outside of their rooms so that they release more of the tension that holds them back; more freedom, less stress.”
“Interesting…” the Administrator said, “We certainly would not have thought of that, but we certainly see the logic behind it… Perhaps there is something to this new exercise?”
Twilight allowed herself to relax a little. ‘Maybe this’ll turn out alright after all.’
The Administrator continued, “Perhaps we should do further studies on this new exercise… Yes, in fact we at Sleipnir have decided test this exercise on ALL of our guests!”
Dread responded quickly, “That isn’t possible. We have no method of keeping the guests under control, we do not have the rations to feed then, and the time it would take to unlock all those cells…”
“There will be no need to control our guests, their behavior is fine as it is, they will be able to feed themselves,” the Administrator said coldly. His voice was now almost entirely feminine “and the locks are electronic.”
As soon as the Administrator finished, an alarm pierced through the entire hospital, bright lights flashing rapidly with its rhythm. The sound was like the screech of a metal being rubbed against metal. It pierced Twilight’s ears like a blade pierces an envelope.
“WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!” Dr. Layne shouted. His voice was barely audible over the siren, “THERE’S A WAY OUT THE BACK, HURRY!”
The four of them raced towards the far end of the hospital. The doors on both sides of the hallway flew past Twilight’s vision. When they had almost reached the exit (a metal door with the word ‘EXIT’ painted on it in large red letters) Twilight stopped.
“FLUTTERSHY!” Twilight screamed. No one seemed to hear her.
Twilight quickly turned around and headed back towards Fluttershy’s room. On her way, Twilight saw that several of the inmates had already found their way into the hospital.
‘Not good! Not good! Not good!’ Twilight’s mind screamed.
When Twilight got to Fluttershy’s room, she instinctively tried to use a telekinesis spell to open it. The spell was pushed back into Twilight’s head, causing a headache that blurred her vision slightly. Twilight ignored the pain and opened the door with her mouth.
Fluttershy was still fast asleep, blissfully unaware of the alarms. Twilight tried to use her nose to roll Fluttershy onto her back, but her horn got caught on one of Fluttershy’s stitches nearly tore it open. Undeterred, Twilight circled around Fluttershy’s bed, looking for a spot where she could safely roll Fluttershy onto her back. She found none.
Twilight stomped a hoof in frustration. She hadn’t thought this through. Any moment now one inmates would find their way into the hospital room and, if they were lucky, kill them on sight.
Tears were beginning to build up in the back of her eyes. It wasn’t fair, they were the good guys. This sort of thing wasn’t supposed to happen. They weren’t supposed to die like this. They were supposed to…
“NEED A HAND?” a voice yelled from the door, breaking Twilight’s train of thought.
Twilight looked up to see Pinkamena panting on the other side of the room.
“HELP ME GET FLUTTERSHY ONTO MY BACK.” Twilight commanded.
Twilight and Pinkamena went to opposite sides of Fluttershy’s bed. Pinkamena climbed up onto the mattress and used her head to push Fluttershy onto Twilight’s back. When she was safely on, Twilight and Pinkamena hurried out of the hospital room.
Some of the inmates had already wondered into main hospital. Most of them were covered in each other’s blood; the ones who weren’t were spastically slamming into walls while they giggled at whatever strange thoughts went through their heads. Twilight allowed herself to relax a little.
“I don’t think that they’re looking for us.” Twilight said to Pinkamena, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the alarm “If we can get to the back without them noticing, we should be fine.”
“SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH.” Pinkamena replied.
The two walked slowly down the hall, taking care not to make any sudden movements. Twilight was extra careful so that Fluttershy didn’t fall off. They had made it about halfway to the back when all of a sudden, the alarms stopped.
“PRRINCESSSSS” One of the inmates shouted from across the hospital.
Twilight turned her head to see a horde of nearly fifty ponies, all of them twisted in appearance. Some of them had scowls that would frighten a gargoyle; others had painful grins that looked like they were tearing the ponies’ lips apart; a few didn’t even have faces, only a big shapeless mouth full of pointed teeth. Most of them looked like normal ponies in structure, but there were a few that looked more like walking trees than anything. Some were thin, some were large, but they all had at least one thing in common; all fifty of them were stampeding across the hospital, right towards Twilight.
Twilight and Pinkamena ran for it.
As Twilight was fleeing, she looked back to see some of the horde catching up. A small, heavily mutated earth pony leapt at Twilight, grabbing on to her leg. The maddened creature bit down. Twilight let out a scream and tried to shake it off. The animal managed to stay on for half a second longer, only letting go when Pinkamena jumped on it.
The pain from the bite didn’t go away, and Twilight didn’t have time to nurse it. She picked out a random door and quickly entered it, leaving it open just long enough for Pinkamena to follow. The room was dark, but there was just enough light for Twilight to make out a metal object. Twilight knocked it over so that it made a barricade against the door (breaking several glass objects in the process). This made the room even darker, as the metal object blocked what little light that came through the door. Twilight didn’t mind this though. If it meant being away from the horde of psychos just beyond the walls, she could deal with a little darkness.
“That… was too close.” Twilight said, gasping for air. The adrenaline from being chased was beginning to wear off, and Twilight was just now realizing how out of breath she was.
“Yeah,” Pinkamena said, panting even more than Twilight, “Is Fluttershy alright?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s still on my back.” Twilight answered, “Though I’d like to set her down if that’s alright, she’s heavier than she looks.”
“Don’t do that yet, there’s glass everywhere. Let me find a light.”
Twilight heard several loud ‘thumps’ from where Pinkamena was searching for the light switch. When she found it, the room was filled with a cherry red light.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Twilight said dryly.
They were in the same room that Twilight had once thought to be a secret lab. Most of it was still in order, though there were a few fallen shelves from when Twilight threw a tantrum. Twilight found a spot near the machine were there was little debris and carefully set Fluttershy down.
“Is this good?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena looked at where Twilight had placed Fluttershy and shrugged through her straight jacket, “Good a spot as any I guess.”
Pinkamena then opened her mouth as if to say something else, but then closed it.
Seeing this, Twilight asked, “Something wrong?”
Pinkamena looked down and began mumbling “It’s nothing important… It’s just um… It’s just…”
“What is it?”
Pinkamena looked up and asked quickly, “Do you think you could undo my straight jacket for me?”
Twilight looked at Pinkamena questioningly, “Why?”
Pinkamena sighed, “Well for starters, it isn’t fun being tied up like this all the time. Secondly, I’d be more useful if I could use my arms; I could carry Fluttershy and stuff. Lastly, if one of those goons outside breaks in, I want to be able to fight them.”
Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, I mean,” Twilight gestured towards Fluttershy, “I know that you don’t want to kill us, but what if you lose control of yourself? I’d be putting both me and Fluttershy in danger if I let you out.”
Pinkamena’s sighed, “I know… But I want to help somehow. I want to make up for eating… for what I did long ago. I promise that I’ll do my best to keep from… you know. If for some reason I can’t and I attack either you or Fluttershy, kill me.”
Twilight considered it for a moment, and then deciding that having Pinkamena untied would be easier in the long run began undoing the buckles on her straight jacket. It wasn’t easy; whoever had designed the jacket did so under the assumption that either a unicorn or some creature with claws would be the ones doing the buckling. As it was, Twilight had to bite down onto the buckles and use her tongue to lift the prongs; from there Twilight had to wiggle her teeth underneath the actual belt, lift it over the prong, and undo it. By the time Twilight had undone all but one of the buckles, her lips and tongue were sore from being poked and pinched repeatedly.
“And yet, I can’t do the cherry stem thing.” Twilight said, referring to the popular myth that those able to tie cherry knot make for good kissers. “Give me a second and I’ll untie your arms.”
“Hey, no rush,” Pinkamena said oddly cheerfully, “I think those goons left when we shut the door on them; short attention spans and whatnot.”
Twilight was about to reply when something started knocking on the door. A hoarse voice said from beyond it, “Hey is there any pony in there?”
Twilight and Pinkamena were quiet, both were unsure of what to think of this new voice.
The voice continued, “I saw you two being chased by that mob back there. Real nail biter, those guys looked like they were ready to rip you apart. Glad you got away. Anyway, they left when you shut the door on them, must’ve gotten bored or somethin’… They’re gone though, you can come out now.”
Pinkamena started to move towards the door. Twilight tapped her with a hoof and shook her head.
The voice continued, “Come on guys. You can out, it’s perfectly safe.” Whoever the voice belonged to tried opening the door themselves, only for their effort to be stopped by the shelf Twilight knocked over.
The voice continued, “Come on, we were cell neighbors. I know at least one of you used to stay right next door to me. I would’ve said hi if it weren’t that muzzle they stuck me in, hated that thing. I always envied how you were able to talk to each other.”
The voice’s tone became colder as it went on, “Though, I never liked how you two were always whining, day in and day out. ‘Waah I don’t belong here! Waah I didn’t mean it!’ It was fucking annoying. Your voices were like pieces of glass being shoved of my ear. I want to make you guys shut up. I want to make you guys shut up for a real long time. I’m not gonna do it quickly either. I want to savor this. Might rape one of you while I’m at it. I remember one of you having a real nice plot. Yeah, wouldn’t mind getting me a piece of that… You wanna know what the best part about this is?” The pony speaking began chuckling to himself, “I don’t even have to force you to come out.”
Twilight looked at Pinkamena and quickly whispered, “Please tell me you know what to do.”
Pinkamena seemed genuinely surprised, “Me? Why I know what to do? You’re the smart one.”
“On some things, yes.” Twilight answered, “But I don’t know how to deal with psychopaths. I figure that since you’re… well, you know… you might know how to convince him to leave.”
Pinkamena scowled at Twilight. “Yeah, we killers are all the same,” she said sarcastically, “we all meet every Thursday to talk about our latest kills and then enjoy a nice roasted fetus for brunch. I can totally talk the crazy guy out of killing a raping us. We’re best buddies after all!” Pinkamena finished with a wide, toothy smile.
Twilight, who had never heard Pinkie Pie use sarcasm before had to pause for a moment to collect her thoughts.
“Maybe we can take him?” Pinkamena offered, “It’s two against one after all and...”
Twilight shook her head, “No, that’s too risky. We don’t know how strong he is.”
“Maybe we can out wait him? I mean he’s got to get bored eventually. Maybe he’ll decide that the other inmates are easier targets and leave. Or maybe one the inmates will just kill him and be done with it.”
Twilight considered this option for a moment before replying, “Well it’s better than trying to fight him. The only problem is that we can’t be sure of what he’s doing. He might leave in an hour and we’d never know, or we can go out on a day and find him waiting for us.”
Pinkamena groaned, “Is there any way out of this?”
Twilight shrugged, “Not one that I can see. We’ll try waiting him out for a little while, then we’ll decide if we want to confront him.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Both Twilight and Pinkamena prepared themselves to go through a long period of boredom. Pinkamena grabbed one of the foam heads and began playing with it like it was a ball, bouncing it off the walls a floor. Twilight sat herself in a corner near the machine and tried to go to sleep.
As she sat there, Twilight began thinking about how easy their predicament would be if she only had access to her magic. Twilight placed a hoof to her horn and began tried scratching at the claylike substance that covered it. As she scratched, a dull headache formed just beneath the base of her horn.
After a while, Twilight gave up on scratching her horn and instead began listening to Pinkamena playing with her head. As the foam skull collided with the walls, it created a soft ‘thump’. Twilight liked the sound; it reminded her of a foal’s heartbeat while it was napping. The only difference was that occasionally Pinkamena would hit a spot on the wall that produced a much louder ‘thump’. Either Pinkamena threw the head harder those times or the wall was hollow in one spot. Either way, the sound was relaxing for Twilight.
As she was listening to the beat of Pinkamena’s head playing, the memory of Dr. Lanye’s theory about the lab crept into Twilight’s mind.
‘I think that the whole mutagenic lab thing might’ve a cover up for something. As to what, I have no idea.’
As Pinkamena struck the hollow part of the wall more and more, Twilight was beginning to think that maybe Dr. Layne was onto something.
Twilight got up and asked Pinkamena were she bounced the head so that it made the loud ‘thump’. Pinkamena pointed her to a section of the wall that was in between two of the shelves, opposite the door.
“Why is it so important?” Pinkamena asked.
“Just a hunch.” Twilight replied.
Twilight began examining the area around the spot Pinkamena showed her. She tapped the wall a few times and found that the eighteen inches between the two shelves were hollow, or at least less solid than the rest of the room.
As Twilight examined further, she noticed a small spot on one of the shelves that jutted out slightly. When she looked closer, Twilight saw that it was some sort of switch. Twilight placed a hoof on it and pushed down. The switch gave way; and the section of the wall that Twilight was began making a series of clicking sounds.
“Twilight, what did you do?” Pinkamena asked.
“I… I just… I have no idea.”
The clicking sounds increased in frequency and volume after half a minute. Then, when the clicks sounded more lick pots and pans hitting each other than actual clicks, they stopped.
“What was…” Pinkamena started to ask.
She was interrupted by a soft hiss that emanated from the wall. Lines appeared where the hollow part of the wall met the solid parts. The lined off section slid backwards and then fell into some kind of slot, revealing a narrow staircase that led downward.
“Whoa…” Pinkamena said, “Where do you think it goes?”
“Somewhere…” Was all Twilight could say.
“Do you think we should check it out?”
Twilight was about to answer when the voice spoke to them again, “You coming out soon? I’m getting lonely. Could use some comfort…”
“Better than staying here.” Twilight answered.
Pinkamena grabbed Fluttershy and put her on Twilight’s back. Together they began their decent down the narrow stairs.
The stairway went down farther than Twilight thought. It seemed like she and Pinkamena had been climbing down them for hours with no end in sight. The descent was made even slower than it should have been because Twilight had to juggle keeping Fluttershy from falling off her back, and taking care not to fall down herself. There was no light in the stairway, meaning that Twilight had to awkwardly locate each step with a hoof before she could move down. This wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the fact that whoever built the stairs thought that it would be funny to build the steps with an uneven amount of space between them. Sometimes there would be five inches between two steps, then three inches between the next. Twilight had to bend her neck back at various degrees to keep Fluttershy from sliding off. The largest distance between two steps was about sixteen inches; on that one, Twilight thought she was going to snap her neck in two.
Pinkamena offered to help carry Fluttershy at point, but Twilight wouldn’t allow it. Twilight believed Pinkamena when she said that she would hurt Fluttershy, but Twilight didn’t want to risk tempting her by having her have contact with Fluttershy for a long period of time. Instead, Twilight proposed that Pinkamena walk down a little further down the stairs from Twilight, so that if Fluttershy did fall she would be able to catch her.
“Be careful,” Pinkamena said suddenly after what felt like hours of silence, “The stairs get a little slippery up ahead.”
When Twilight reached the section of the stairs Pinkamena was talking about, there was indeed something coating the steps that made them feel slightly off, but Twilight didn’t think that slippery was the right word. Gross would’ve been a better fit.
As they progressed further downward, the air began to smell like a shoe smith’s workshop. Twilight tried to identify the metal she smelled and came to the conclusion that it was either copper or iron. As they went on, the smell intensified until it was almost unbearable. Twilight had to suppress the urge to hold her nostrils to keep the stench out.
A few more minutes later of walking into the stinking miasma, Pinkamena called out, “I think I’ve found the edge of the stairway! I’m gonna see if I can find a light.”
By the time Twilight got to where Pinakmena was, she had just found a light switch and was just turning it on. A single light bulb lit up a small portion of the stairway. When Twilight saw the substance that coated the stairs, she had to fight of the urge to vomit. The stairs were coated in a dark red material that had caked onto the metal. In some places, Twilight could see small giblets of flesh that were scatted at random among the mess, some of them still had bits of bone still attached to them.
“Whoa,” Pinkamena said, “What happened here?”
Twilight didn’t have a response, the fact that she had been unknowingly walking in the blood of some other pony, possibly multiple ponies, had made her mind go blank.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Pinkamena asked, waving a hoof in front of Twilight’s face.
Twilight blinked, “Yes… I’m fine. Just startled is all.”
“We should probably keep moving. I don’t want Fluttershy to wake up and see…this.”
Twilight agreed. She turned around to get a better idea of where they should go next. There weren’t many options, the stairway led directly to a single door that didn’t even have a doorknob.
Twilight pushed against the door (which was mercifully blood free) and accidentally knocked it off its hinges.
Twilight was hit by the smell of rancid meat. Beyond the door was the scene of a massacre. Disfigured corpses were scattered throughout the entire room. Some were lying on the floor with their bodies crushed like over ripe grapes, their guts spilled out like salsa that had gone stale. The rest of the corpses were either attached to the walls with bones or hanging from the ceiling by intestines.
Whoever did this evidently had an artistic side, however twisted. The corpses were posed in various positions that reminded Twilight of post modern art. The corpses on the floor were all laid out so that they made little stars. The ones nailed to the walls were posed so that they resembled an intricate design when viewed all at once. The bodies suspended from the ceiling resembled birds flying through a bloody sky.
Many of the bodies had begun decomposing, fungi had formed on the eyes of a few, others had large patches of greenish brown mold visible were the ponies’ fur had flaked off. The flesh on many of the ponies’ faces had receded, making the corpses look like they were smiling.
“Sleipnir was a research facility, right?” Pinkamena asked.
“What?” Twilight replied, having forgotten what she was doing, “Yeah, Dread said that Sleipnir was something like a research facility. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that doesn’t look like any kind of science lab I’ve ever seen.” Pinkamena replied, gesturing toward something on the far side of the room.
Twilight looked at where Pinkamena was pointing towards, and saw what looked like some sort of altar. On it was a single book which had been opened to a random page. Twilight was reminded of a dictionary; she used to have one on display like that back at the library.
“Maybe this section of Sleipnir studied magic?” Twilight suggested, “I doubt that the entire facility was dedicated to the study of biology.”
“That doesn’t explain why every pony in here is dead.” Pinkamena said.
Twilight was about to suggest that perhaps one of the spells they were experimenting with backfired, but then realized that no spell could’ve caused bodies to become nailed to the walls or hung from the ceiling. At least, Twilight hoped that there wasn’t a spell that could backfire like that.
“Maybe if I look at that book we can find out what they were doing here.” Twilight suggested.
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea…” Pinkamena said, “I mean if the stairway was too graphic for Fluttershy then this…” Pinkamena gestured to the carnage, “It just doesn’t make sense for us to stay here longer than we have to. Besides, it smells.”
Twilight wasn’t listening; she had already begun walking through the mess towards the book. If she was right, then that book contained new spells for her to learn, possibly spells that could help them get back to Dread and Dr. Layne. Hay, she might even find a way out of Sleipnir entirely. If she could find something like that in a book, then it would be worth spending a few minutes in a stinking mess of rotten meat.
“Twilight? Twilight!” Pinkamena called, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to read a book!” Twilight said happily.
“What if Fluttershy wakes up while we’re…”
“She’s not gonna wake up.” Twilight called back, “Dr. Layne gave her a pill that should keep her out for a long time.”
“He did WHAT?” Pinkamena asked, outraged.
“It’s fine, Fluttershy said it was okay. Just sit back while I skim. There’s plenty of food around if you get hungry.”
“Plenty of food… Are you saying that I should… How sick do you think I am?”
Twilight had finally reached the far end of the room. The first thing that she noticed was that there was considerably less blood as she got closer to the altar. The altar itself was rather basic; it looked like a fancy table that was carved out of a single block of wood, and then coated with varnish. The only thing about it that made it an alter were little runes that were carved onto its sides.
The book on the other side of the coin; was ornately decorated. Twilight closed the book to get a look at the title, and found that whoever had bound the book did so with an almost supernatural amount of care. The book was bound in a material that was somewhere between leather and ivory. Carved onto the material were little designs, not unlike the one made by the corpses. There was very little written on the covers; no description, no author, not even publication date. All that was written on the cover was a single word that was engraved on the front; NEWT.
Carefully, Twilight placed a hoof on the front cover and opened the book to its first page. The text was written in runes that Twilight didn’t recognize. Under normal circumstances if Twilight found a tome in a language that she didn’t understand, then she would set the book aside until she either found a translated copy or a method of translating it herself. Not this time though; this time Twilight wanted to continue reading, even if she didn’t understand what she was reading about. There was something about the way runes were printed that made Twilight feel as though she was looking at an art piece rather than some mysterious spell book.
But it was much more than that. Twilight wasn’t sure how to explain it, but the book just felt right. Looking over that first page, taking in every symbol, it just felt wonderful. But that was only logical wasn’t it? A wonderful book gave its reader a wonderful feeling, whether they could read it or not was irrelevant.
This book… This book that Twilight found amidst a horrid mass of carnage… Now Twilight understood why they died, why their bodies were posed into such twisted works of art. It was this book; they wanted this book. They tried to share it, to worship it as a group but it wasn’t enough. They all wanted the book for themselves… Twilight couldn’t really blame them.
Twilight laid a hoof on the page, caressed the paper like she would a lover, and gingerly turned the page. These next pages were even more marvelous than the first. Light seemed to stem off the runes so that whoever gazed upon them would never have to fear the evils that lurked in the shadows. Twilight smiled. This book, this fantastic book protected its servants as a mother would her foals.
Twilight was preparing herself to turn the book to its next page, when she heard the sound of children playing. Twilight stopped to listen to the foals’ laughter. It was a good sound, one that reminded Twilight her home.
After listening to the children for about a minute, Twilight realized that she recognized the voices. They belonged to foals named Bunsen, Page Turner, and Summerfree. At first, Twilight wasn’t sure how she knew this, but after careful consideration she realized that these were the names she had given her children. How she could forget something like that, Twilight had no idea, but she was thankful that the book had been as kind as to remind her.
Twilight turned to the next page. As soon as she looked at the symbols on this next page, the air seemed became thick and heavy. Breathing felt like Twilight was trying to inhale pudding. Twilight’s vision became blurry, and the sound of her children laughing became distorted and muffled.
Twilight did not like this sound. She wanted to hear her children laughing clearly, not a distorted version of them. ‘Why had the book taken her to this awful place, doesn’t it love me?’ she thought to herself.
She had to turn the page. That would set everything right. She would hear her children’s laughter once more and be happy again. All she had to do was turn the page…
“STOP READING IT!” a muffled voice screamed at her from somewhere far away.
Twilight turned angrily to whoever was evil enough to distract her from the book. As soon as she turned away from it however, the sounds stopped and the air went back to normal. Twilight stood there dazed for about for a moment when a brown blur zoomed past her and the sound of a heavy book being shut echoed throughout the room.
“Wha-What happened?” Twilight asked.
A brown earth pony stallion in a ratty suit walked out in front of her.
“Are you alright?” the earth pony asked, looking into Twilight’s eyes as though he was trying to past them, “You didn’t read too much did you?”
“No, I’m… I’m fine.” Twilight answered, still confused as to what was going on, “What do you mean by read too much?”
Before the earth pony had a chance to answer, he was attacked by a great pink blur.
Pinkamena grabbed onto the stallion’s throat and began to choke him.
“IF YOU LAY A HOOF ON EITHER ONE OF THEM, I WILL EAT YOUR SPLEEN!” Pinkamena snarled into the stallion’s face.
“Wha-What?” The earth pony choked.
“PINKIE PIE!” Twilight shouted, “What are you doing?”
Without letting go of the earth pony’s throat, Pinkamena answered, “This guy shows up out of nowhere and starts screaming and running at you guys. I don’t know who the buck he, but I’ve got a hunch that up until a little while ago he was upstairs in a tiny cell. If was trying to hurt either of you so help me…”
“No.” The stallion choked. The fur around his face was starting to turn blue, “Not. Inmate. Won’t… Hurt.”
“Let him go, you’re killing him!” Twilight said.
Pinkamena released the earth pony and climbed off his back. She moved about three feet back and glared at the stallion with her muscles tensed.
The earth pony gasped for air. When he had caught his breath he said, “I just want to help. I don’t want to hurt any pony.”
“Why are you here?” Pinkamena growled.
“To stop her,” The earth pony pointed at Twilight, “from reading that.” He pointed the book.
“Why?” Twilight asked, “What’s wrong with it.”
“That book is evil. It’s done horrible things. Just look around you.” The earth pony gestured to the many dead bodies that littered the room.
Twilight looked at the carnage and thought about how she felt while reading the book. How could such a good book do this? The book was wonderful, it would never…
“It was never supposed to be like this.” The earth pony said wistfully. “Something went wrong… With time I think… I need to get back…” The earth pony fell silent.
“Back to where exactly?” Twilight asked, taking her mind off the book.
“I think… I think I might remember if I start heading back there.” The earth pony said, “I’m sorry but I’ve hit my head recently and I’m having trouble remembering things.
‘Join the club.’ Twilight thought to herself.
“If you’d like, you can come with me, as my companions.”
Twilight shrugged, “If you know a out of this mess, I’ll go.”
“Wait a minute, Twi.” Pinkamena said, “We don’t even know who this guy is, yet alone if we can trust him. How do we know that he isn’t planning on killing us the moment we let our guards down?”
Twilight was ashamed that she hadn’t thought of this, “That’s a good point. How do we know we can trust you Mr… whatever your name is.”
The stallion thought for a moment, “I suppose you can’t. But I promise that I’m not going to hurt either of you. I always keep my promises.”
Seeing Pinkamena’s skeptical look, the earth pony added, “There are also two of you and only one of me. If I attack either of you, the other can take me down.”
Twilight and Pinkamena looked at each other. Pinkamena seemed happy with this logic, and Twilight didn’t mind having a fourth pony along. They agreed.
“Good, there’s a door that’s covered up by a corpse. If we go through it and follow the hallway, we should reach… something.”
“We still don’t know your name.” Pinkamena pointed out.
“Right… Let’s see… I think my name was…” the earth pony thought for a moment, “I think my name was doctor…”
“Doctor whom?” Twilight asked.
The earth pony stood in deep concentration for another moment.
“I think it’s… I think my name is Doctor Whooves.”
Twilight, Pinkamena, and their new acquaintance Doctor Whooves left the bloodstained room a few minutes after the Doctor told them his name. Both the Doctor and Pinkamena had to convince Twilight to leave the book called Newt behind.
“It’s evil,” the Doctor said sternly, “if you mean to burn it then by all means take it, but otherwise leave it behind.”
“I’m not leaving it!” Twilight stomped a hoof defiantly, “That book has magic that I, the princess of MAGIC, have never seen before. It should be studied so that we can harness its power.”
“Do you think that you’re the first one to think that?” the Doctor asked, “Countless ponies have dedicated their LIVES to studying that bloody book. Look around you! Do you think that this mess was an accident? Studying that book will only bring misfortune, to you and those around you.”
Twilight resisted the urge to hit the Doctor, “The fact that causes so much misfortune only makes it more important to study! What if there are more books like it somewhere? If we can understand one book, then maybe we’ll know what to do if we encounter another.”
‘And besides,’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘that book may be the only way I’ll ever hear my children’s’ voices again.’
“There is no other book like that,” the Doctor said, “and even if there was it still wouldn’t be a good idea to go sticking your nose in it.”
Twilight was about to make a retort when Pinkamena butted in, “I’m sorry, Twilight, but the Doctor has a point.”
Twilight snorted, “What point? You mean his notion that we should abandon all academic inquiry on the off chance that we might harm ourselves in such endeavors?”
Pinkamena stared at Twilight for half a moment then shook her head, “I’m not even going to try to translate that.” Pinkamena placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “You didn’t see what that book did to you, Twi. When you were reading it, it did something to you. You were mumbling in this weird language and laughing. It was like you were a completely different pony.”
‘You’re one to talk,’ Twilight thought bitterly to herself.
Pinkamena continued, “I’m not sure about what the Doctor is saying about the book causing all this,” Pinkamena gestured to a body, “but I am sure that if the Doctor hadn’t stopped you when he did, you would’ve never looked away from that book.”
Twilight looked toward the floor and kicked at it. Why couldn’t they see how much the book meant to her? Didn’t they know about her kids? Did they just want her to forget them again?
‘You don’t even know if you have kids,’ a voice in Twilight’s head told her, ‘the only evidence suggesting that you do is a dream you had several nights ago, and the giggles that came from that book. Not exactly enough evidence to start calling yourself a mother.’
‘That’s true,’ Twilight thought, ‘but it just feels like it’s true. And the way that book made me feel, how could it be bad?’
‘Opium can make you feel much better than that book ever could,’ the voice said, ‘but that doesn’t mean that it’s good for you.’
“Alright, fine. I’ll leave the book behind,” Twilight said, regretting her decision almost immediately after.
“Great!” The Doctor said brightly, “Now if you’ll just follow me, I think I know a way to fix ALL of this mess.”
The Doctor led them to a door (a different one than the door they came in) that was partially hidden behind a body that was hung by its own esophagus. The Doctor went through first (stopping for a moment to move the body) followed shortly by Pinkamena. Twilight, who was carrying Fluttershy, had to walk slowly and was the last to leave the room. She took one last look at that marvelous book called Newt, and regretfully turned away from it.
The four ponies traveled together for what felt like hours. Most of their time together was spent in silence, broken only when either Pinkamena or the Doctor made an attempt. Twilight kept silent; both because she was still upset about having to leave the book behind, and so that she could focus on supporting Fluttershy’s weight.
The Doctor led Twilight and Pinkamena through a series of corridors that twisted, turned, and doubled back on themselves. Twice the four ponies went down a flight of stairs and up another, only to find themselves in a hall that looked suspiciously similar to one that they had crossed fifteen minutes ago. Twilight tried to keep a mental map of where they had been (in the hopes that she might be able to retrieve the book) but she quickly found this to be an impossible task.
Finally, after they entered a hall for what felt like the fifth time, Twilight had had enough.
“Stop,” she said loudly, “I need a break.”
The Doctor and Pinkamena did as they were told. The Doctor turned around and asked, “What’s wrong.”
Twilight carefully slid Fluttershy off of her back and sighed with relief, “Fluttershy was getting a bit too heavy. Give me a second and I’ll be fine.”
“Now that you mention if, why does that mare (Fluttershy was it?) look so… miss matched?”
Pinkamena shifted uncomfortably. Seeing this, Twilight shook her head and answered, “We don’t know.”
The Doctor walked over to Fluttershy and examined her stitches.
“Well it looks like her wounds are healing up nicely…”
“Wait, what?” Twilight interrupted. She quickly looked over the lines that crossed Fluttershy’s skin. Doctor Whooves wasn’t wrong. Where before the stitches were so poorly done that merely moving Fluttershy risked undoing them, now they were well knitted and tight, as if some pony else had redone them without Twilight’s notice.
“But… but…” Twilight said stupidly.
“Still, it looks like she might get an infection,” the Doctor said, “when we get back to my ship I’ll try and sterilize her wounds.”
“Alright,” Twilight said, her mind still trying to process how Fluttershy could’ve healed so quickly, “I don’t think it’ll take much. Just some soap and water… Did you just say your ship?”
The Doctor had already turned away from Twilight and was at least nine meters ahead of her. Not wanting to get left behind, Twilight quickly loaded Fluttershy onto her back and trotted after him.
“We’re almost there now, I can smell it!” The Doctor shouted excitedly.
“Almost where?” Twilight shouted back, “You still haven’t told us anything!”
“Why are we running?” Pinkamena shouted from somewhere behind Twilight.
The Doctor made a right where four hallways intersected each other. A sign that hung from the ceiling (and the only one that Twilight had seen since fleeing the hospital) stated that the only things in this direction were ‘Mess Hall 14A’, ‘Abnormal Containment Zone Entrance 4 (Authorized Personnel Only) ’, ‘Storage Room 34-R’, and ‘Elevators’. Twilight stopped for a moment and wondered what could’ve made this containment zone ‘abnormal’ before her fear of being lost in this labyrinth of corridors pushed her to continue following the Doctor.
She needn’t have bothered. The Doctor had stopped in front of door with the words ‘Storage Room 34-R’ printed on it in blue.
“Almost there,” the Doctor muttered to himself, “she is somewhere beyond this door.”
“What’s beyond this door?” Twilight asked, panting slightly.
“The exact opposite of that book,” The Doctor said. He turned to Twilight and smiled widely.
Pinkamena came running down the hallway a second later.
“Why did you two run off like that?” she asked.
“Sorry about that,” the Doctor said, “I didn’t mean leave you behind. It’s just that…”
“Save it,” Pinkamena interrupted, “let’s just get Fluttershy somewhere safe.”
“Right. GERONIMO!” The Doctor shouted for no apparent reason.
The Doctor opened the door and the three ponies stepped into a dimly lit room full of wooden crates of, dust, and cobwebs. The Doctor began rummaging through the various crates, occasionally throwing their contents at a nearby wall.
“What exactly are you looking for?” Twilight asked.
The Doctor answered, “I’m not looking for anything. I know exactly where it is, I just need to find it. And let me tell you, once I get this baby started, everything will be fixed.”
“Okay, how?”
The Doctor chuckled, “Well, you see I am what you call a Time Pony. I can travel through time and interact will both the past and the future. With that, I’m perfectly capable of finding the moment when everything went wrong, and stopping it. ”
Twilight, who had never in all her years of study heard of a ‘Time Pony’, asked, “Do you mean you can cast time spells? Because they’re not difficult to figure out, any pony can cast them.” Then, realizing something that should’ve been obvious, added, “Besides, you’re not a unicorn. How are you going to use magic?”
The Doctor actually laughed at this, “Silly filly, there’s no such thing as ‘magic’! That’s just a fairy tale parents tell their foals to kick start their imagination. Why on earth would you believe in something like that?”
Twilight looked at Pinkamena, who seemed just as confused as she was.
“But, you two had an argument over a magic book not too long ago,” Pinkamena pointed out.
“That book? Did I say that was magic?” The Doctor asked, sounding genuinely confused.
“I think so,” Pinkamena answered, “but I don’t really remember.”
“Well, what I meant was that the book produces a hypersonic frequency that speeds up neutrons and can cause RNA to dilute into its basic elemental compounds which then discharge into body’s cell structure, causing inflammation in brain cells.”
Twilight, who actually understood how science works, rolled her eyes, “Yeah, when you put it THAT way magic sounds SO implausible.”
“That’s because magic is impossible; once you get an understanding of science, foolish ideas such as magic seem to be just that, foolish.
The Doctor went back to rummaging around the crates and disappeared. A moment later, Twilight heard the Doctor laughing triumphantly.
“AHA! FOUND IT!” he screamed.
Twilight and Pinkamena went to investigate what exactly ‘it’ was. They found the Doctor kneeling before a tall, thin crate that some pony had decided to paint blue.
“Oh sexy, I found you!” The Doctor cried out as he went to hug the wooden box.
“Um…” Pinkamena said, “What are you doing?”
The Doctor turned his head to look at them; both his smile and eyes were wide.
“Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce you,” the Doctor said. He began caress the blue box like it was his lover, “this is my TARDIS. She’s a time machine. I love her… I missed her so much.”
“Okay…” Twilight said awkwardly, “It looks like an ordinary box to me.”
“Really?” The Doctor asked incredulously, “How? Wait; you haven’t seen the inside yet, have you?”
“No.” Pinkamena answered.
“Well then,” the Doctor said, his eyes twinkling slightly, “I suppose I’ll have to show you.”
The Doctor placed a hoof on the side of the crate. Without thinking about it, Twilight held her breath. The Doctor slipped the edge of his hoof between the crate’s front and side. He pulled at the crate’s front so that it swung out on small iron hinges, revealing the inside of the blue box.
It was completely empty. The blue crate was just an ordinary crate that some pony decided to paint blue. Twilight exhaled the air she had been holding.
“What’s so special about this box?” Pinkamena asked in a confused tone.
Doctor Whooves looked at her like she had made the baby eating joke again. “What’s so special? What do you mean what’s so special? Don’t you see it?”
Pinkamena looked at Twilight, who could only shrug.
The Doctor scowled, “You two must be really dense. But maybe if I show you, you’ll understand.”
The Doctor stepped into the blue crate and began jumping up and down.
“You see, it’s bigger on the inside!” The Doctor shouted excitedly.
Twilight and Pinkamena looked at each other again. Twilight gestured towards the door and Pinkamena nodded. Together the two backtracked through the storage room and into the corridor. Twilight took one last look to where the Doctor was playing in his blue box. Silently, she cursed the idiot for leading them through Luna knows how many corridors, for wasting their time, and for stealing her away from the book. With one last snort in the Doctor’s general direction, Twilight slammed the door shut.
“Well, that was a waste of time.” Twilight said, “Wish I had known that he was one of the crazies earlier.”
“Think we should’ve killed him?” Pinkamena asked, a little too casually.
Twilight shook her head, “No, he’s harmless. I don’t want him tagging along with us, but I don’t want to watch his head roll either.”
“Gotcha, but now what are we gonna do now?”
“I guess we’ll find somewhere to rest for a while, and then try to find Dread and Dr. Layne.” Twilight answered, “Shouldn’t be hard, this place can’t be that big.”
“Might be some food in the Mess Hall,” Pinkamena said.
Twilight nodded, “Yeah, we can rest there for right now.”
The two of them crossed the hall to where a door marked ‘Mess Hall 14A’. Pinkamena opened the door and they stepped inside.
The room was more of a large snack room than a mess hall. There were only three tables; one pushed against a wall and two that stood at the room’s center. Next to the tables was a counter with eight drawers and had a mini-fridge, a microwave, and coffee maker sitting on top of it. Beside the counter was a vending machine with words ‘Koka Kool’ written on it. At the far end of the room was a small television that was set on an old chair. Facing it was an ugly green futon.
“Well, looks like we know where we’re sleeping.” Pinkamena said, gesturing to the futon.
“Uh, right;” Twilight said stupidly. She began to search wildly for something else to sleep on. Friend or not, Twilight didn’t relish the thought of sharing a bed with a cannibal. Unable to find anywhere else to sleep, Twilight resigned herself to the sleeping conditions and tried her best to not think about them.
Twilight carefully laid Fluttershy on one of the tables (the one pushed against a wall) and began looking for something to rest her head on. She found a cardboard box that was tucked away between the microwave and the wall. Written on it was the word ‘Napkins’. Twilight pulled the box out and piled the napkins under Fluttershy’s head to make a makeshift pillow. After that, Twilight poured the rest of the napkins over Fluttershy’s body to keep her warm.
Pinkamena opened one of the counter’s drawers and began inspecting its contents.
“It looks like we’ll be okay on food for a little bit.” Pinkamena said happily, “In this drawer alone, we’ve got crackers, chips, peanuts, and-ooo honey buns!” Pinkamena said the last part with a small hop.
“Any water?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena began looking through the other drawers, “Yeah, there are a couple bottles of water. We should be good for a few days.”
“Okay, adding in the possibility that the vending machine is loaded,” Twilight said, mostly to herself, “and that there might be a bathroom with running water. We might be able to stay in here until Fluttershy wakes up. If she wakes up.” Twilight whispered this last bit beneath her breath.
“Do you want anything to eat?” Pinkamena asked.
Twilight shook her head, “I’m still full from our last meal with Dread, and that room did nothing to help my appetite. I’ll just unfold the futon and try to get some sleep. You go ahead and eat if you want to.”
Pinkamena shrugged, and then popped a honey bun into her mouth. Twilight was reminded of a crocodile biting down on an unfortunate animal. Probably because of Pinkamena’s teeth.
Twilight unfolded the futon, which proved difficult as it wasn’t designed to by unfolded by some pony’s mouth. After climbing in and making herself comfortable, Twilight tried to get herself to fall asleep.
This was interrupted a few minutes later when Pinkamena asked, “Twilight, you know how we left the Doctor alone in the storage room?”
Twilight opened an eye and did her best not to glare at Pinkamena, “What about him?”
“It’s just… I don’t know. I guess I feel guilty for just leaving him there.”
Twilight snorted, “He was insane. You heard him rambling, didn’t you? He would’ve just gotten in our way.”
Pinkamena sighed, “I know, but…”
“Didn’t you ask if we should kill him?”
Pinkamena took a step back, “Yeah, but I meant something quick, like snapping his neck or something. We left him to fend for himself; he’s probably gonna starve.”
Twilight thought about this for a moment then said, “He was doing just fine before he met us, he’ll do fine now that we’ve parted ways.”
Pinkamena’s ears fell flat on her head, “I guess… It’s just that this feels; I don’t know… mean?”
Twilight had to stifle a laugh. The pony who delighted in torture and cannibalism, one who had admitted that she ate her own friend, was worried about being mean to some mad stallion that she had only known for a few hours.
At the same time though, Twilight understood where Pinkamena was coming from. The Doctor hadn’t done them any harm aside from leading them on a wild goose chase. He didn’t really deserve to be abandoned.
‘He took me from that book!’ a thought shouted in Twilight’s head, ‘He took me away from my family! He can rot in that blue box for all I care.’
Twilight said, “Look, let’s just get some sleep. If we run into Doctor Whooves tomorrow, we’ll take him with us. Okay?”
This seemed to brighten Pinkamena’s mood because she smiled and said, “Okie doki loki.”
Twilight sighed and tried once again to put herself to sleep. While she lay there on the futon, Twilight made a mental note to avoid the storage room tomorrow.
Twilight slept well enough. She was wrapped in warmth that seemed to squeeze her like a foal squeezes a teddy bear. It was a good feeling. Twilight pressed herself against the warmth so that she could get it to cover the parts of her that were still cold. Instead, Twilight was hit with a nearly overwhelming scent of blood and sugar.
Twilight opened her eyes and found Pinkamena’s smiling face just inches away from her own. Back in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie’s smile was always warm and friendly, and while this wasn’t untrue for Pinkamena, there was something about her pointed teeth that gave her smile a hungry look to it, like the pony behind the smile was calculating the best way she can slice your throat. Now that they were so close together, Twilight saw the hunger that this smile hid better than ever before.
Twilight pushed against Pinkamena to try and get away from her, but Pinkamena had her arms locked around Twilight’s middle and Twilight was unable to break her grip. Twilight tried to wriggle free, but it was no use. Pinkamena just kept lying there smiling her hungry smile. Twilight’s heart thumped hard and fast in her chest. Twilight’s breathing also sped up and she could feel needles beginning to poke through her limbs.
“Pinkie, I know you have certain urges, but think of all the things...” Twilight stammered. She was interrupted when Pinkamena snored loudly into her face. “we’ve been through? Pinkie?”
“Of course, Rarity, I would like another waffle hat.” Pinkamena said faintly.
Twilight let out a sigh of relief. It took a moment for Twilight to get her heart rate down, but when she did she was able to wriggle herself free. It wasn’t easy, a hug from Pinkie Pie is not something that one can simply break free from, but Twilight managed to slip through her grip by sucking in her gut and pulling herself out of Pinkamena’s embrace.
Once free, Twilight checked to make sure that she didn’t wake her friend. Sure enough, Pinkamena seemed not to notice Twilight’s struggle.
“Looks like you’ve absorbed Rainbow’s sleeping habits.” Twilight said. Her stomach twisted when she said this, and Twilight wished that she hadn’t.
Twilight went over to check on Fluttershy. At first she didn’t noticed anything unusual, Fluttershy was lying in the same position she had been before Twilight went to sleep. However, after looking over Fluttershy twice, Twilight noticed that her body had moved slightly to the left.
Twilight laid a hoof on Fluttershy and gently shook her, “Fluttershy, can you hear me?”
Fluttershy didn’t respond. Twilight was sure that somehow Fluttershy had moved slightly while she and Pinkamena were asleep. She tried to open Fluttershy’s remaining eye to see if it would respond light, only to remember that there wasn’t much light for it to respond to.
‘What do you think you're doing?’ Twilight’s conscience asked, ‘Don’t you know better that bother ponies while they’re sleeping?’
“I just want to see if she’s waking up?” Twilight whispered, “What’s the harm in that?”
Twilight couldn’t think of a counter of a counter argument, but decided not to bother Fluttershy anyway. Instead, Twilight went over to the counter and pulled out a small bag of coffee grinds, a bottle of water, and a filter. Twilight poured the water into the coffee pot and set it up to brew.
While the coffee maker was doing what it was made for, Twilight paced back and forth across the mess hall, wishing that she had a book to read. She considered turning on the television to pass some time, but dismissed the idea because it might attract unwanted attention. Besides, the thing probably didn’t work anyway.
Minutes later, the coffee machine signaled that Twilight’s drink was ready. Twilight poured her drink and began looking for something to eat.
“No, Mom, I don’t want to go to school.” Pinkamena said in a barely conscious tone.
“Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
Pinkemena’s eyes flew open and she bolted upright. “I’m up, I’m up,” she said as she looked around the room wildly.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena scratched behind her left ear and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just having a nightmare; a really weird nightmare.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Twilight offered.
Pinkamena shook her head, “No, it’s not that big a deal.”
“Alright then. Want some coffee?” Twilight gestured toward coffee maker.
“Only if we have cream.” Pinkamena answered.
They found a can of whipped cream, a bottle of syrup that was full, and a bag of sugar cubes. Pinkamena poured half a cup of coffee, dropped three sugar cubes into it, drowned the concoction with syrup, and topped it off with the cream.
Pinkamena drank the coffee in a single gulp. The cream formed a white mustache on her lip, which she licked off with satisfied smile.
Twilight searched the cabinet for something to eat. She settled on a bag of trail mix that was tucked between some chips and what looked suspiciously like dog food. Pinkamena decided to have a honeybun and some of the chips.
The two of them ate their breakfast on the futon. Pinkamena tried to turn on the television, but after a few minutes of playing with the knobs she gave up.
“Well that’s no fun.” Pinkamena said, dejected, “I was hoping that might be able to get it to play cartoons. Oh well.”
“What kind of cartoons did you used to watch?” Twilight asked, trying to make conversation, “Before, you know.”
“Mostly comedy shows. But there were a few slice of life series, I remember this one show about these kittens that all lived in a clock tower. Forget what it’s called… What about you? Was there anything you used to watch?”
Twilight thought for a moment, and then answered, “Not much. TVs never really took off in my world. Scientists couldn’t figure out how to make them cheap enough that ponies could afford them. Movie theatres were pretty popular though. You could pick a two hour drama, or a fifteen minute comedy.” Twilight laughed a little, “There was this one theatre that tried selling these chocolate pickles, and they were constantly advertizing them. No pony bought them, and even the workers snuck them into the trash when they thought no pony was watching, but that didn’t stop the theatre from selling them. No pony in the theatre’s management seemed to realize that they were a bad idea.”
Pinkamena laughed, “That’s nothing. You should see what happens when the Cakes (the ones I knew) tried to get experimental. Three words; chocolate, covered, garlic. They tasted horrible AND gave you bad breath. I sometimes wondered if they were on drugs when they came up with those ideas.”
Twilight and Pinkamena exchanged different stories of all the ponies they knew were completely incapable of creating new foods that tasted good. After a particularly funny story about how Spike once tried to eat plastic, thinking that it was a diamond, Pinkamena sighed and asked, “Twi, when was the last time we talked like this?”
Twilight thought for a moment then answered “I’m not sure. What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Pinkamena paused as if to search for the right words, “I mean talking about not so serious stuff. Small talk I guess you’d call it. It seems like every other time we’ve talked it was either one of us explaining something, or us using each other as psychologists. That’s not how friends talk normally.”
“We talked about dreams at least once, remember?” Twilight asked.
“Did we?” Pinkamena asked, “I don’t remember. When was this?”
Twilight thought back to exactly when they discussed dreams. “I think on my third day in Sleipnir. The same day I fought Sam.”
“Sam.” Pinkamena said, “I think I remember that name. He was some kind of monster, right.”
“Yes, he was definitely a monster.” Twilight answered.
Pinkamena furrowed her eyebrows. “I think I remember, sort of. It’s kind of blurry, like I’m looking at it through a foggy window.”
“Well, Dread mentioned that that poison the Administrator gave you might’ve caused some brain damage...” Pinkamena winced when Twilight said this, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just a little freaked out by the idea of brain damage.” Pinkamena shuddered.
“Well, you’re not a vegetable right now, so I doubt the poison did anything major.” Twilight said, trying to be reassuring.
“Yeah, I guess that’s something to be thankful for.” Pinkamena said. She looked down for a second then made a face like she had been hit, “Wait a minute, did I ever make you call be Diane?”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “Um… Yes. Before you ate that poison, whenever you ate some pony, you…” Twilight was sure exactly how to phrase this.
“I what?” Pinkamena asked. She was trembling now.
“You turned into another pony.” Twilight said. She closed her eyes and waited for Pinkamena to have a nervous breakdown.
It never happened. All Pinkamena did was ask a simple question; “What?”
Twilight opened her eyes. She had expected Pinkamena to either be angry or shocked. Instead, the mutated pony simply looked confused.
“I turned into another pony, how?” Pinkamena asked.
“Not literally,” Twilight explained, “you had dissociative identity disorder, meaning that you had…”
“Meaning that I had multiple personalities.” Pinkamena finished, “I know what that means; I watched a cartoon about it once. I didn’t know that it was a real thing though, I thought it was just something that writers used as a story device. Never even crossed my mind that I might have it. Why didn’t any pony tell me?”
Twilight struggled to find an answer. “Dread might’ve told me at some point, but I don’t remember. I think it was something about not scarring you, but I could be wrong.”
“That doesn’t sound right.” Pinkamena said, “But it does explain a few things, like why I’ve got a few holes in my memory.”
“Holes?” Twilight asked, suddenly concerned. “You never mentioned having bad memory before.”
Pinkamena giggled, “It’s nothing serious, it’s just that sometimes I’ll think that I was going to Dread’s office for the twentieth time and find out when I got there that it was my twenty fourth time. I guess I don’t get to keep my memories from other personalities.”
Twilight smiled, “You’re taking this pretty well. Most ponies would be having panic attacks right now.
“Well after having conversations with a robot, meeting ponies from other worlds that walk on four legs, and becoming a cannibal, finding out that I have a mental disorder is actually kinda relieving.” Pinkamena’s eyes suddenly started tearing up, “I wish that this was all a mental disorder.”
“Pardon?” Twilight asked before noticing Pinkamena’s eyes. When she did, an alarm went off in her head.
“I wish that none of this was real. That I never killed Rainbow Dash, never hurt Fluttershy, never became a monster.” Tears were now rolling down her cheeks. “I want to wake up and find out that this was a dream. A very, very bad dream. I want to throw parties and sing and eat cake and… and.”
Pinkamena started crying. Instinctively Twilight tried to hug her, but Pinkamena pushed her away.
“Don’t touch me!” Pinkamena cried, “You don’t want to touch me, I’m not clean.”
“I just want to help.” Twilight said, “Pinkie I…”
“Don’t call me that!” Pinkamena shrieked. Her face contorted into a glare.With her eyes red from crying added with her already pointed teeth, she looked almost demonic. “Pinkie Pie was a nice pony! She never would’ve hurt her friends!” Pinkamena’s screaming softened to a near whisper, “Pinkie Pie died with Rainbow Dash. The moment I gave Rainbow that drugged cupcake I had already stabbed Pinkie Pie in the heart.”
Twilight once more tried to hug Pinkamena, this time she did not push her away.
“I’m sorry, Twilight, I didn’t mean to go off on you like that.” Pinkamena said. She started to stop crying now. “I know that you were just trying to help. I… I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight said, “it’ll all be okay.”
“Except, I don’t think it will be.” Pinkamena said, “How can it? I killed and ate one of my best friends, and tried to do the same thing to another. How can things be okay after that? And should they be? Do I deserve to live a happy life after what I’ve done?”
Twilight didn’t have an answer to this so instead hugged Pinkamena tighter and started stroking her back.
“And it’s not just what I’ve done in the past either.” Pinkamena said. Already Twilight could feel tears rolling down her back. “I liked killing her. I like eating ponies. I want to eat ponies. And I know how sick and disgusting that is, and I hate it. But I don’t think I can help it.”
No longer wanting to be so close to Pinkamena, Twilight let go and backed away a few feet.
“I don’t know how to help you.” Twilight said. “I wish I did, but…”
Pinkamena raised a hoof. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have put all that on you. I guess I just needed to let that out. I’m sorry. We were having a nice conversation and I went and ruined it with my issues. I didn’t mean to trouble you. Or scare you.”
It was Twilight’s turn to raise a hoof. “You didn’t scare me, not much anyway.”
Pinkamena sighed with relief. “I was afraid that all this talk about cannibalism was making you uncomfortable.”
Twilight had to suppress a laugh, “This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about your dietary habits. I’m used to it by now.”
The fur on Pinkamena’s face turned bright red, “Oh, right. I forgot about that.”
After a few more minutes of talking about various parts of Pinkamena’s past (most of them things they had discussed before and were simply reviewing), Twilight asked her how she felt about Fluttershy now that she had been around her for a while.
“I don’t know.” Pinkamena answered, “I mean; I’m glad that she’s alive. Thrilled actually. It’s just that… It’s just that…” Pinkamena lowered her head, “I’m not so sure that she should.”
“What do you mean? You want to try and kill her again?” Twilight wasn’t sure how to feel saying something like that so casually.
“No!” Pinkamena answered quickly, “I mean, kinda. I don’t know.” Twilight was about to say something to this when Pinkamena added, “I’m not going to try to kill her again if that’s what you’re about to ask. It’s just that I don’t think she should be alive. I mean look at her!” Pinkamena pointed at Fluttershy. “She looks like a chewed up ragdoll. How is she going to live like that?”
“Well, a skilled surgeon can probably fix her skin.” Twilight said, “As for the eye…well she can wear an eye patch.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Pinkamena replied, “I don’t mean live as in living society, I mean live as in... Crap, I don’t even know what I mean.” She shook her head a little then continued, “I guess what I’m trying to say is how is she going to take it when she wakes up. How’s she going to react?” Pinkamena’s ear fell flat, “She’s going to hate me. Hate me or fear me. Maybe both. I’m not sure I can blame her.”
“She seemed just fine when she woke up before,” Twilight said. She explained the conversation she had with Fluttershy several days ago, as well as the reasons why she was put back to sleep.
“She really doesn’t know?” Pinkamena asked when Twilight finished.
“As far as I could tell, no.” Twilight answered then blushing slightly added, “I also may have told her a little fib, kinda.”
Pinkamena’s eyes narrowed, “You lied to her?”
Twilight took a deep breath. “Yes, I lied to her. I wasn’t sure how to explain to her what really happened, or prepared to handle her reaction. I thought that lie would be easier to take.”
Pinkamena shrugged. “All right then, but I’d hate to be you if Applejack finds out you’ve been lying to your friends.”
Twilight smiled. “I’d hate to be you when she finds out that you ate one of your friends.” Almost immediately she regretted saying this and was about to apologize when, to her surprise, Pinkamena smiled.
“She’d probably react the same way she reacts whenever someone does something wrong.” Pinkamena giggled.
“Which would be?” Twilight asked, already knowing where this was going.
“A sit down on yonder hay stack and a starn talkin to.” Pinkamena said, over exaggerating Applejack’s accent.
Twilight laughed. “That’s nothing to how Rarity would react. She’d probably worry about bloodstains before realizing exactly what you did.”
“Oh daarrling, I do hope that you didn’t get any blood on my new carpet. I just bought it five years ago after all.” Pinkamena said. “Wait, are you wearing Rainbow’s skin? Pinkie Pie, that is so uncouth!”
Both Twilight and Pinkamena laughed at this joke. Part of Twilight was guilty that they were technically making fun of their friends, but the thought never crossed her conscious mind. Twilight probably wouldn’t have cared anyway, she hadn’t had a good laugh in long time.
Later that day, Pinkamena started getting antsy. She wanted to explore the various halls outside, mostly to see what might’ve been hidden away or abandoned. Twilight, always eager to learn new things, thought that this was a great idea.
After checking Fluttershy for any reason they should stay by her (Twilight had fed and watered her shortly before they left), they left the room and closed the door behind them.
“Let’s not go too far.” Pinkamena said, “I want to be close in case some pony decides that Fluttershy would make a good scarf.”
“Good idea.” Twilight said. She had a hunch that the only other pony in their area was a crazed idiot who was probably still playing with his wooden box, but it never hurt to play it safe.
They retraced the route they took to get to the mess hall (Twilight was thankful that Pinkamena decided to skip the storage area) and ended up by the door labeled ‘Abnormal Containment Zone’. Twilight didn’t get a good look at this door when she passed by it before (she was much too busy trying to keep up with the aforementioned idiot) and for the first time noticed how strange it was. Most doors in Sleipnir were made of a synthetic wood that gave them the appearance of well, normal doors. But this door, the one guarding the Abnormal Containment Zone, was made out of metal. There were no hinges on this door, nor a knob to turn it which. This one door was a smooth sheet of metal on an unbroken wall of plaster.
Twilight approached the door. It didn’t have the same effect on her as the book of Newt did, but still something about it that drew her in. She wanted to know how such a door could operate, how ponies interacted with it on a day to day basis. It could’ve been magic, but then earth ponies and pegasi would’ve had to rely on unicorns to enter and exit it, unless only unicorns were given access…
"Twilight, what are you doing?” Pinkamena asked.
Twilight found herself staring wide eyed at the metal door. Drool was beginning to drip from the corner of her mouth.
“I, uh… was just curious about this door. That’s all.” Twilight said. A small wave of embarrassment washed over her.
Pinkamena giggled, “Oh that? It’s electronic, like the one that leads to the arena back in the cell hall.”
“Huh, guess I never saw that door,” Twilight said, “or if I did I can’t remember it. How do you open it?”
“Well, the one in the cell halls was automatic, but it looks like this one is either broken or locked.”
“How can you tell?”
“Because we’re standing three feet from it and its not opening.” Pinkamena answered.
“Okay then, how do we open it?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena shrugged, “No idea. Unless we find a crowbar or something, we’re out of luck.”
“Oh, alright,” Twilight said, making almost no effort to hide her disappointment.
Smiling, Pinkamena gestured toward another door and said, “Come on, there’s still lots of things to see!”
They entered this new (and unmarked) door and found a room that had just enough light for Twilight to make out several desks placed in a row. On them were these strange white TV things that Twilight had never seen before. There weren’t any chairs or stools for ponies to sit on and the walls were barren except for a long crack in the wall farthest from the door.
Considering how long the place had been abandoned, there wasn’t much dust on anything. Everything looked like it had just been cleaned an hour or two ago.
‘Come to think of it,’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘I haven’t seen much dust on anything since I’ve been stuck here.’
The two of them wandered through the room. Pinkamena seemed to be interested in the TV things and kept playing with their cords. Twilight on the other side of the coin, gave up on them after trying get a few to turn on with no success.
Instead, Twilight took to looking for anything else in the room that might be useful, or at the very least interesting. She kept hoping that she would come across a desk that had drawer or a cabinet, something that might hold files. But whatever the researchers (assuming they were researchers) did in this room apparently didn’t require any paper work. Twilight could not find any paper anywhere, and it was starting to get to her. Wouldn’t ponies eventually need paper to keep track of their progress? How did they keep records? What was the point of this room?
“Hey Twilight, I found something!” Pinkamena called from across the room.
“What is it?” Twilight asked, her mind still boggling at the paperless wasteland.
“Come see. I’m not sure how to explain it!” Pinkamena answered.
Twilight crossed the room to where Pinkamena was calling from; the desk closest to the door. Pinkamena was jumping up and down and grinning from ear to ear.
“What do you want to show me?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena pointed under a desk and said, “Take a look.”
Twilight looked under the desk, but all she found was some of the dust that the rest of the room was devoid of.
“What are you trying to show me? There’s nothing down here.”
Pinkamena giggled, “Look up silly, there’s some kind of switch.
Twilight did as Pinkamena asked, and found a small red button.
“Do you think we should press it?” Pinkamena asked.
Twilight considered it for a moment then answered, “Sure. Let’s see what it does.”
Twilight pressed the button. Above the desk the room filled with light. Twilight got out from underneath the desk and saw the white boxes were now all turning on at once.
Every screen displayed the words ‘Apple Family Electronics’ beneath the image of a half eaten apple. A second later, they switched to a black screen that displayed an assortment of words and letters that scrolled down to quickly for Twilight to read, much to her disdain. It didn’t take long for the screens to change again; this time they displayed the word ‘SLEIPNIR’ with a handful of images in front of it.
“Well that answers one question,” Twilight said.
Pinkamena either didn’t hear her, or didn’t want to respond. She seemed to be mesmerized by glowing screens in front of her.
“I’ve never seen computers like this before,” Pinkamena said.
“How do you know these are computers?” Twilight asked. The computers Twilight was familiar with were monstrous pieces of machinery. They often needed two rooms dedicated to them; one for the console and another for the monitor. The smallest computers Twilight had ever seen were the ones in lab by Dread’s office, and those took up at least four feet of floor space each.
“Just look at them. What else can they be?” Pinkamena answered.
Twilight couldn’t argue with that.
“Any idea how to use them?” Twilight asked, no longer concerned with their size.
“No, Twilight, we just found them.”
“Oh… right.”
Twilight looked around one of the computers for a way to interact with them, but to no avail. There were no slots on the computers so they couldn’t have simply been missing pieces, but there was no way to input data into them.
Twilight placed a hoof on the desk to lean into the screen, when suddenly the screen changed. She jumped back from the screen in a surprise and the screen went back to its previous look. Thinking that she was beginning to figuring these computers out, Twilight once more placed her hoof on the desk. The moment her hoof touched the smooth surface of the desk, the image on the screen changed. Now it displayed the words ‘Please drag to select action’. Twilight dragged her hoof across the desk and the computer screen cycled through a list of commands for her to choose from. Most of these commands seemed useless to Twilight. Among the more interesting options were: ‘Display Recent Status Reports’, ‘Review Abnormal Containment Procedures’, and ‘Disengage Security Door 173’.
When Twilight selected the first of these options all she got was a screen saying “DATA CORRUPT”. When she selected the second one, the screen displayed a series of numbers that Twilight was in no mood to decode. The last one however…
The sound of scraping metal screeched from outside the room. Twilight and Pinkamena ran out to see the door to the ‘Abnormal Containment Zone’ was being lifted open by either magic or a machine.
A broad smile stretched across Twilight’s face, and she ran to the metal door. As soon as the door was open wide enough, Twilight dashed through it. Behind her, Pinkamena was yelling at her to stop. Twilight didn’t care. The door was open and inviting Twilight to discover its secrets.
She was sorely disappointed.
Behind the metal door was small, empty room that was only decorated with two windows and another metal door. Behind the windows were just smaller rooms that were almost equally devoid of furniture, except that they shelves at the back of them.
Seconds later, Pinkamena ran into the room, nearly crashing into Twilight’s backside.
“Why did you run off like that?” Pinkamena asked in between large breaths.
“I just wanted to see what was behind that door.” Twilight answered. It wasn’t a completely honest answer, but how was she going to explain to Pinkamena the sweet siren call of knowledge?
“Doesn’t seem very interesting,” Pinkamena said. “C’mon Twilight, let’s go back to the computers! Maybe we can get them to play some games!”
“Just a minute,” Twilight said, “I want to see what’s behind this other door.”
Pinkamena snorted, “Alright. Just please don’t take too long.”
The way to open this second metal door was more obvious than the first. There was little slot next it where a pony would slide a card that would open the door. Only problem was that it required the pony wanting to get in to have a card, something Twilight sadly lacked.
Twilight looked around to see if a pony had happened to drop their card when she noticed that behind the glass window on the left side of the room was a box marked ‘key cards’ in black marker sitting on one of the shelves, just out of reach. There was a hole cut at the bottom of the window where a pony could’ve slid a card through if they were on the other side, but it was much too small for Twilight to stick her hoof through to grab them.
Twilight grumbled beneath her breath. Once more she was faced with a problem that would’ve been simple if she had her magic, but was next to impossible without it.
Twilight kicked the glass with her hind legs, hoping that she would be able to solve this problem with brute force. All she got for her efforts was a slight pain in her legs and a still unbroken window.
Twilight inspected the window to see why it hadn’t broken. Twilight wasn’t the world’s strongest kicker, not by a long shot, but even she should’ve been able to break a glass window this thin.
Dejected, turned around to let Pinkamena know that she was done here and that they could go where she wanted.
“Pinka,” Twilight started to say when memories of the Pinkie Pie of her world popped into her head, “I need your help. Do you mind… What are you doing?”
Pinkamena had her face close to the window opposite the one Twilight was interested in. She was twisting her face into various snarls and grimaces.
“Oh nothing,” Pinkamena giggled, “just making funny faces. If you look closely you can see yourself in the window.”
Twilight looked at the window on her side and saw that she could see her reflection in it, however faintly.
“Anyway, Twilight, what did you need?”
Twilight looked away from the window and answered, “Do you think you could slide under this glass and get me one of those cards?”
Pinkamena looked at the slot and then back at Twilight, frowning.
“Have you gone loco in the coco?” Pinkamena asked, “I can’t slide through that!”
Blinking, Twilight asked, “What do you mean you can’t?”
Pinkamena place a hoof as far into the slot as it would go and rolling her eyes said, “Hmm, I wonder...”
Twilight snorted, “The Pinkie Pie I knew slid through smaller spots than that all the time! I’ve even had her talk to me through a mirror!”
Pinkamena looked at Twilight incredulously and said, “Okay, assuming that you’re not going loopy on me, I’m not the Pinkie you knew. Just because she could do something like that doesn’t mean I can.”
“Right…” Twilight said, slightly embarrassed, “I sometimes forget that.”
Twilight went back to trying to figure out how to get her hooves on the security cards. She wasn’t sure why she bothered; unless they stumbled upon something that could break the glass there was no hope of getting them.
She was once more about to tell Pinkamena that she was done when another thought occurred to her. She remembered a technique that Rarity used to use to hide birthday presents without magic; a technique that she could use to grab that box of cards. Only problem was that this technique was one of the few things Twilight could never quite figure out, despite how many books she read on it.
“Pinkamena,” Twilight asked, “can you use your tail to grab things?”
Pinkamena answered, “Yeah, I used to use it to prank ponies. What about it?”
“Do you think you could use your tail to pull that box to where I can grab it?”
Pinkamena shrugged, “I can try.”
Pinkamena pressed her hindquarters up against the window and slid her tail through the slot.
“You’re gonna have to give directions, Twi, I can’t see what I’m doing.”
“It should be right behind you.” Twilight said, “Just keep feeling around.”
At that moment Twilight thought that this was good enough to pass as help. However, after watching Pinkamena brush her tail wildly against the shelves for half a minute, Twilight knew she would have to do a better job.
“Okay, a little to your left… Wait, wait, I meant my left.”
Eventually, Pinkamena found the box of cards. She slipped her tail underneath it and pulled it towards the window. Halfway across though, Pinkamena’s tail twitched, flipping the box in mid air and sending what seemed to be hundreds of cards raining down.
Twilight starred at the mess in disbelief. She had come close to satisfying her curiosity but was stopped by a random muscle spasm.
It took Pinkamena longer than Twilight to realize what had happened; she was too busy starring up at the ceiling. When she did figure out what she had accidentally done, the fur on her face turned bright red.
“Sorry, Twilight. I…” Pinkamena stammered.
“Save it!” Twilight spat, then, catching herself, added, “It’s a small loss. So what if I can’t see what’s behind this door? There’ll be other doors.” Twilight forced a smile, “Like all the doors out in the hallway. We haven’t explored them yet. No use crying over spilt milk; or cards in this case.”
Pinkamena smiled, “Thanks, Twilight. I’ll make it up to you.”
Twilight raised a hoof, “Don’t. It was an accident.”
Twilight’s heart ached at the prospect of being denied access to whatever was behind the second door, but she consoled herself. There would be other things to explore, and possibly greater things for her to learn. What was one door? They had passed hundreds of doors just coming here. Surely one of them would have something worth looking at in one of them.
The two of them started leaving the room. Pinkamena seemed happy that they were finally moving on, but Twilight couldn’t quite let it go. She took one last glance across the small room, as if to commit its image to memory.
Then she noticed something that she could only describe as a miracle. She called Pinkamena to show her the good news. At first she didn’t quite get what Twilight was showing her, then Twilight went up to what she wanted Pinkamena to see.
Caught within the slot of the window was a single card.
Twilight leapt towards the card, wide grin stretched across her face. She bit down on it and rushed to the slot on the metal door. She slid the card through the slot and the sound of an engine roared from somewhere within the walls. A second later, the door began to rise.
The room beyond this door was entirely dark, what little light that flooded in from the entrance only reached about five feet. Twilight could make small noises that sounded like distant crying.
“Think there’s a light switch nearby?” Twilight asked.
“Probably,” Pinkamena answered, “there was a light switch in that stairway.”
They quickly found and flipped the switch. The two ponies found themselves in what Twilight guessed was some kind of hall of garages. Both walls were lined with more metal doors. The difference was that these doors had glass windows in them some that a pony could see what was behind them.
Walking through the hall reminded Twilight of the cell hall she and Pinkamena were imprisoned for some time. Every other door seemed to have something banging on them or screeching. The doors were thick enough to muffle these noises, but they still put Twilight on edge. Images of Sam kept finding their way into Twilight’s thoughts and she had to keep reminding herself that the monster was dead, and that Dread said that it was the worst thing in Sleipnir.
‘But Dread didn’t know everything about Sleipnir, he said so himself.’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘Hay, he wasn’t even sure what Sleipnir was.’
Twilight tried to shake these thoughts out of her mind. It would do her no good getting worked up like this. She was here for research, and she wasn’t going to let a childish emotion like fear get in her way.
Twilight went up to one of the doors and tried to peer inside, but found only darkness. She found that the crying was coming from behind the door she was looking through, but couldn’t make out what it was.
Twilight tapped on the door, hoping that she get a response from whatever was behind it. The crying noise grew louder and was joined by moans from several voices. Twilight could make out the cries of at least forty ponies. She pressed her face against the glass and strained her eyes to see if she could make out any shapes in the darkness. At first she saw nothing, but as she strained her eyes Twilight could just make out a blurred shape. It looked like an old, gnarled tree that had shed its leaves for winter.
“Hello, is any pony in there?” Twilight asked, hoping that she was loud enough to be heard through the metal door.
Whoever was crying behind that door suddenly became very quiet.
“Are you hurt?” Twilight asked, “Why are you in here?”
A small voice that was barely audible through the metal door answered, but Twilight couldn’t make out what it said.
“Stay put.” Twilight ordered, “I’m a princess and I’m going to get you out of there. Just give me a minute.”
The small voice said something again, and Twilight took it as sign that whoever the voice belonged to understood.
Twilight turned to talk to Pinkamena and was met by an empty hallway. Twilight frantically looked up and down the hallway, calling Pinkamena’s name. Vivid images of Pinkamena being kidnapped by one of Sleipnir’s inmates flashed through Twilight’s mind. She had been foolish to let Pinkamena out of her sight. Twilight had no idea who might’ve been lurking in these halls, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to explore. What possessed her to explore an abandoned mental hospital for fun? Twilight couldn’t even begin to answer. Now her friend was missing, possibly dead, and it was all her fault.
“Pinkie!” Twilight called again and then muttered to herself, “Not good, not good.”
“I’m over here!” Pinkamena’s voice called from somewhere down the.
Relief washed over Twilight as she called out, “Where? I can’t see you!”
“Down the hall, there’s a turn on the left!” Pinkamena answered, “You should really check this out!”
Twilight started walking in the direction of Pinkamena’s voice. With each step, Twilight’s relief of knowing that Pinkamena was safe was replaced with anger. By the time she had passed a half dozen of the metal doors, Twilight had begun stomping down the hall, gritting her teeth.
When she reached the turn Pinkamena had mentioned (which at a distance blended in with the rows of metal doors) Twilight found Pinkamena with her nose pressed against one of the windows.
Twilight took a deep breath and asked in a stern voice, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Turning to look at Twilight, Pinkamena asked, “What do you mean?”
Twilight snorted, “I mean, why would you wander off like that? Don’t you know how dangerous it is to wander around here alone? Who know what kind of psycho you might’ve run into!”
“Twilight, this place was locked up when we got here. Who am I going to run into?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight said, “that Doctor Hoof guy or whatever his name was. Either way it doesn’t matter, we shouldn’t get separated from each other. We have no idea what’s down here, and very few ways of defending ourselves.”
Fumbling with her front hooves, Pinkamena said, “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that well… I guess I got excited, this being a new place and all.”
Twilight sighed, “That’s okay Pinki…mena. I probably shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“Can we just move on now?” Pinkamena asked, “I promise I won’t run off anymore.”
Twilight smiled, “Alright then. Now what did you want to show me?”
Pinkamena gave Twilight an almost unnervingly wide smile, “Oh you’re gonna love this.”
Pinkamena hopped over to the door she had previously been looking at and pointed at its window.
“If you look carefully enough, you can see this kind of weird puffball thing!” Pinkamena said.
Twilight looked into the window. The room beyond it was better lit than the last one, but Twilight still couldn’t make out much. What she could see was what looked like a large, pink ball of shaved fur that some pony had dumped in there to get it out of the way.
“What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?” Twilight asked.
“Give it a moment. Tap on the door to get its attention.” Pinkamena answered.
Twilight grumbled about how unhelpful Pinkamena’s answer was, but continued to look at the pile of fur nonetheless. Twilight tapped on the door a few times, but didn’t get a response.
“Are you sure this thing is interesting?” Twilight asked, “Because it hasn’t done anything.”
“Just give it a minute.” Pinkamena answered.
After about five minutes, Twilight had had enough. She tore herself away from the door and beckoned Pinkamena to follow her.
“Please, Twilight? Can’t we stay a little longer?” Pinkamena begged.
Twilight snorted, “No. I’m sorry, Pinkamena, but I don’t want to waste my time looking a pile of shaved fur.”
“It’s not a pile of shaved fur!” Pinkamena protested, “Please, Twilight, if you just give it a minute, I promise you’ll love it.”
Twilight gave an exasperated groan, “Fine. One more minute. But then we leave, okay?”
“Okay.” Pinkamena answered.
Once more Twilight pressed her face against the window, and once more the pile of fur did nothing of interest. Twilight turned to ask Pinkamena if they could go now, but the pink mare just motioned for Twilight to keep looking at the fur ball. When Twilight looked back at the thing, it had somehow moved up to the window and was now starring at Twilight with large blue eyes.
Twilight stared at the thing, unable to comprehend what it was she was looking at. The thing stuck out a small pointed tongue and made an audible ‘phtht’ sound that made Twilight’s teeth clench.
Twilight took a step back and demanded, “What in the hay is that?”
“I dunno. I just found it.” Pinkamena answered, “I think that it’s some kind of pony, but I’m not sure.”
Twilight snorted, “That thing cannot possibly be a pony. I mean look at its fur.”
“What does fur have to do with being a pony?” Pinkamena asked.
Twilight thought about it for half a moment then answered, “I don’t know. I guess I’m not thinking clearly right now. It’s just that… I don’t know. Let’s just move on, okay?”
“Can we keep her?” Pinkamena asked.
“Her? You think it has a gender?”
“I think so, I mean she looks like a mare.”
Twilight took another look at the abominable fur thing (looking at it made Twilight’s stomach twist) and saw that it’s skull was shaped similarly to a pony mare’s, albeit vaguely.
“Are you sure you want to keep it?” Twilight asked, unable to fathom why some pony would want spend any time with it.
Pinkamena shrugged, “I guess so.”
Twilight looked at the living lint ball, and found it biting at its flank for some reason.
“If you say so,” Twilight said. She was about to tell Pinkamena that it probably wasn’t a good idea to take the thing along with them, mostly because they had no idea what the thing was or what it might do to them. Then a thought occurred to her; trying to explain why they shouldn’t take the puff ball to Pinkamena would be like denying a puppy to a filly. No matter how well you craft your argument, the child would still beg and plead for the potential pet. Either Twilight would have to waste a significant amount of time arguing with her friend, or she could give in and deal with the consequences herself. But there was also a third option, one that may seem a little cruel but would at least keep both Twilight and Pinkamena safe. Twilight could set a condition that Pinkamena couldn’t possibly make.
Stroking her mane with a hoof, Twilight said, “You’re welcome to keep whatever that thing is if, and only if, you are willing to; feed it, clean up after it, and play with it.”
Pinkamena beamed, “That sounds like fun!”
“AND,” Twilight continued, “you have to get it out of its cage.”
“Okie dokie loki!” Pinkamena said. She reached into her tail and pulled out the key card they had used earlier.
“Where did you get that?” Twilight asked.
“You dropped it back at the entrance.” Pinkamena answered, “I just picked it up for safe keeping.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Twilight said. “But what are you going to do with it?”
Pinkamena beamed, “I think I can use it to open her cell and let her out.”
Twilight shifted her weight slightly and tried to think of a way out of this.
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, “I mean, I don’t see anywhere to slide it.”
“Yes I’m sure,” Pinkamena said looking up and down the door, “I’ve just gotta find it.”
Pinkamena searched for what must’ve been five minutes before giving up.
“Oh, I guess the card doesn’t work here.” Pinkamena said. Her face seemed to sink in disappointment.
“Maybe that’s because no pony’s supposed to open these doors?” Twilight suggested, “So far we haven’t seen anything benign locked in Sleipnir. Besides us, I mean.” Twilight quickly added in the last part, fearing that she might trigger one of Pinkamena’s self hating episodes.
“I guess that makes sense” Pinkamena said, pausing for a second, “but she doesn’t look dangerous.”
The giant pink puffball was now beaming at the two of them. Twilight could now confirm that whatever the creature was, it at least had hooves. Twilight wondered if the creature shared a common ancestor with ponies. Hyracotheriun, perhaps?
“Looks can be deceiving,” Twilight said, shaking the thought out of her mind. “Remember the lesson we learned when we met Zecora? What, you know who Zecora is, right?” Pinkamena nodded her head, “Okay, well it’s important to not judge a book by its cover. It works both ways. Just because something looks nice doesn’t mean that it is.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Pinkamena answered, “It’s just that… It’s just that… Maybe you’re right and we shouldn’t let her out of her cage.”
Something behind one of the doors started screeching loud enough to drown out both of their voices, and agitate the other creatures held captive. The halls echoed with more banging than before and both Twilight and Pinkamena had to cover their ears to block out the sound.
When this intrusive tumult ended, Twilight nuzzled Pinakamena, “It’s for the best. We really shouldn’t be messing with things unless we know what they are.”
“I guess so… Is it all right if we go back to the mess hall?”
Twilight looked at Pinkamena, “Why? We got here a few minutes ago.”
“I know,” Pinkamena answered, “it’s just that, well, I’m getting a bit antsy. I think I’m starting to get worried about Fluttershy. We’ve been away for too long.”
Twilight furrowed her brow. To her it didn’t feel like they had been gone long enough for Pinkamena to get worried. She wanted to stay and see what else might be in this hall of curiosity (provided that whatever it was wasn’t like that fur ball creature). Twilight was about to deny Pinkamena’s request when she thought back to how they got in the hall in the first place, and how she so rudely denied Pinkamena her first request to leave.
“Alright,” Twilight said, “if you want to go back, we’ll go back. We can always come back tomorrow if we want, right?”
Pinkamena smiled, “Yeah, I guess that’d be okay.”
The two of them started walking back towards the entrance. As they walked, Twilight mentioned her previous behavior.
“Pinkamena,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath, “about how insistent I was earlier… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude, I just… I wasn’t thinking.”
Pinkamena giggled, “It’s okay. I didn’t really notice until you pointed it out to me.”
“Well, whether you noticed or not, my behavior was unacceptable and I swear not to act that again.”
Pinkamena raised an eyebrow, “Do you Pinkie promise.”
Twilight smiled and repeated the old pledge, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Okie dokie loki!” Pinkamena said.
The two of them continued through the hall. As they pass the door Twilight had taken an interest in, Twilight could hear the sound of a crying foal coming from behind it. Twilight’s heart ached for the poor thing, and she wanted nothing more in that moment to see that door open and whoever it imprisoned set free.
‘Is this what Pinkamena felt when she saw that puff ball thing?’ Twilight asked herself, ‘No wonder she wanted to take it with her so badly.’
Twilight reminded herself that the logic she used against Pinkamena taking the fur ball also applied to her door. Doubly so, considering she didn’t even know what her creature looked like. But still…
‘Maybe I was bit too hasty in judging the fur ball,’ Twilight thought to herself. ‘Come to think of it, I didn’t give it much of a chance.’
This thought made Twilight’s stomach twist. She was supposed to be the Princess of Friendship. How could she be so judgmental to a creature she knew almost nothing about? And not just that either, hadn’t her first thought when seeing Fluttershy been about how unattractive she was?
Twilight shuddered. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like this? What changed?
The answer came to Twilight like an ice arrow to the face. Sanguinam Ungollum. She was infected with it, wasn’t she? That had to be the answer. There was no way she could ever be that cruel unless she wasn’t in her right mind.
‘I guess I’ll have to make up for it somehow.’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘Maybe I can do something tonight?’
Twilight was immediately struck with an answer; she would come back to the garage hall and try to free the puff ball thing. It might take her a while to figure out how the doors worked, but Twilight was confident in her abilities. While she was at it Twilight might be able to let out the crying thing she had taken interest in.
When they got back to the mess hall, Pinkamena checked Fluttershy to make sure that she was still relatively safe. When she was satisfied, Pinkamena turned away from the scarred mare and crawled onto the futon and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, Twilight also crawled onto the futon, on the opposite side.
Twilight laid there for a few minutes, her eyes closed but her mind wide awake. She went over her plan to release the fur ball in her head several times, each time imagining a different solution to the locked door. She also thought of how waking up to finding the fur ball would brighten Pinkamena’s day.
However, as she planned what was likely a foolish endeavor, Twilight slowly succumbed to sleep. As she lay there, nearly napping, Twilight heard the distant sound of the laughing mare cackling at some strange thought. Twilight was used to this by now and paid no heed to it. She listened to the mad guffaw for several minutes before she realized that something was wrong. Twilight was at least three stories from where the laughing mare would’ve been and (assuming the Doctor hadn’t turned them around during his wild goose chase) at least half a mile away.
Twilight stirred and opened her eyes, ready to solve the mystery of the laughing mare once and for all. However, the second Twilight had her eyes open, green tendrils grabbed at her head. Twilight managed to emit a surprised yelp before the tendrils pulled back, and dragged her into darkness.
Nothingness surrounded Twilight. No color, nor smell, nor sound. Twilight was in a void of complete emptiness. She felt like she was falling but also like she was standing still. Her eardrums pounded as if she was in the middle of a great tumult, but all was silent. Breathing was difficult; it was like the air was made of water. Or maybe it was water, and Twilight was slowly drowning. She kicked and struggled but got nothing for her efforts. As time passed the laughing mare would occasionally cackle at Twilight’s expense, mocking her for helplessness no doubt. Twilight wanted to scream at her tormentor, to find her make her pay for putting her into this hell. But Twilight couldn’t scream, all that came out was a weak whimper. All Twilight could do was wait for the darkness to finally strangle her, and send her to her death. She even entertained the idea of meeting up with Pinkamena’s Rainbow Dash.
Hours seemed to pass. Twilight shifted between quiet acceptance and violent denial of fate. One minute she would close her eyes hoping that she would lose all thought; and the next Twilight shook and wrestled with the nothingness. But these mood swings quickly became tiring, and Twilight instead took to contemplating the nothingness. Almost immediately, Twilight hit her head on something hard and she was thrown into a daze. As Twilight’s mind went out of focus, the laughing mare cackled gleefully.
When she came to, Twilight found herself in some sort of forest, though it was unlike any forest Twilight had ever seen before. All the trees in this forest were as black as obsidian. They were crooked and barren of any leaf or fruit, but still seemed to be alive. None of the trees casted a shadow, and when Twilight looked up she saw a sky that was grey instead of blue. Twilight then noticed that there was no underbrush in this forest, only a flat stretch of white sand.
By the time Twilight got around to questioning where she was, a small green light sparked between the trees several feet from her. Twilight instinctively stepped towards this light and found that walking in this forest was difficult. With every step the ground shifted beneath Twilight’s hooves and she nearly fell over several times. But still the light hung in front of her, calling her. Something about this light reminded Twilight of the book of Newt, and she was eager to get a closer look.
As Twilight kept walking, she began to get used to the uneven nature of the forest floor. Eventually it was almost like walking on normal ground. But as she kept walking, the farther the green light seemed to be. It was almost as if Twilight wasn’t moving at all, and the forest was just tormenting her.
After what felt like an hour of walking, the green light finally started to seem a little closer. Excited, Twilight sprinted toward the light until she was almost next to it. The light had stopped above what Twilight guessed was some kind of trail or road. It was paved with a metallic substance that had been hammered smooth against the white sand. When Twilight got within ten feet of the green light, she heard the laughing mare giggle and it began to slowly travel down the road.
Twilight leapt onto the road, and was shocked to find that, unlike the sand, it was stable to stand on. It took Twilight half a moment to reorient herself to the ground before she took off. Fortunately, the green light had yet to travel far. Once Twilight was used to standing on solid ground again, she ran off to chase the green light.
Whatever the green light was, it did not want Twilight to catch it. It seemed like hours had passed since she started chasing it. Anytime Twilight got close to it, it sped up so that she was no closer to it than when she started. Several times, Twilight had to stop and catch her breath. During these periodic breaks, the green light hovered in mid air about thirty feet from Twilight, motionless.
It wasn’t until Twilight started approaching the light again that it moved. This time it accelerated slightly faster than Twilight, so that when she was running top speed she still was fell behind. Several times Twilight considered giving up on the green light, but every time she heard the laughter of the mad mare, egging her on.
Finally, after what must’ve been another hour of running, the green light stopped several yards ahead of Twilight. This time, as Twilight approached it, it did not move.
As Twilight got closer to the now motionless ball of light, she noticed that it had stopped at a fork in the road. Twilight hadn’t noticed any splits in the road before, nor could she see any reason why it should here. There wasn’t a sign to give travelers any directions, and the woods seemed to go on for many miles.
When Twilight reached the spot where the path split, the green light fell to ground and began to emit a moss green vapor. As the light smoldered on the ground the laughter of the insane mare echoed throughout the forest, louder than Twilight had ever heard it before. As the laugh traveled through the forest, the smoke coming from the light began to twist and coil in midair. As Twilight watched this anomaly the mad mare’s laughter shifted, as if its source was coming closer. As the smoke was beginning to take a definite shape, the light ceased its smoldering and iron bars sprouted from the ground and encased it, forming some kind of lantern.
The smoke had formed into what looked to Twilight like a robed figure, though it was taller and thinner than any creature Twilight had seen before. It stood nearly twice as tall as Celestia herself, but there was no way that it could be a dragon, no tail, at least not one that Twilight could see. Twilight tried to look under its hood to see if she could identify it that way, but all she found was darkness.
Twilight took a step back away from the robbed figure, contemplating running away. The figure seemed to notice this as it began to laugh in that same voice that had haunted Twilight since her fist day at Sleipnir.
The idea that this thing might’ve been watching her like some kind of tv show was enough to get Twilight to put on a brave face, and hopefully get some answers.
“Who are you?” Twilight asked, puffing out her chest in what she hoped what an intimidating gesture. “What business do you have with me?”
Two limbs sprouted from the hooded figure’s body from where Twilight guessed its shoulders would be. It one of these new limbs over its midsection and bent its body over in what Twilight guess was something akin to a bow. The figure’s hood bent upward as if meant to make eye contact with Twilight, but instead gave Twilight better look at the all consuming darkness that was in it.
When the creature spoke to Twilight, its voice chilled Twilight’s heart. It was not like the laugh that Twilight was accustomed to. That laugh had belonged to a young mare who seemed to be enjoying a twisted joke of her own design. It was never a pleasant laugh nor was it a laugh that could’ve belonged to any pony trustworthy. But at least the laugh seemed to have an illusion of good spirits. That was not the case of the figure’s speaking voice. When the figure spoke, it was with the voice of an old stallion who had long since tired of life. It spoke with barely more than a whisper, but every word was like sand paper rubbing against Twilight’s skull, mixed with serpent’s hiss. The rhythm of each word came out almost sounded like it was singing, contrasting with its accent.
“Thrice now hath the princess seen the remnants of a time long past the memories lost to the man in green and though two left her quite aghast one we know she found serene”
As the figure spoke, the forest began to shift around Twilight. The trees shriveled into tiny seeds which in turn turned to dust. The sand rippled and began to sprout grass and flowers. The sky exploded into a multitude of colors before settling on a clear blue, at its center hung a sun brighter than Twilight had ever seen.
For the first time since waking up in that Celestia forsaken cell, Twilight felt the warmth of natural sunlight on her. She had forgotten how it felt to be under the naked sun. Twilight felt the a flutter of joy most ponies get from being in the sun. Most ponies were so used to this feeling that they didn’t notice it, but Twilight had been looked up for Luna knows how long.
Her joy didn’t lat however. Less than two minutes after the forest changed into a meadow it shifted again. The grass rotted and turned into red dirt. The sky turned a sickly green, and then brown. The sun still burned, but now it had turned a dark orange. Before Twilight had time to fully process what had happened, black obelisks erupted from the ground, marking the places where the trees had been. Then, without warning, they drew back into the ground.
Behind the green figure, between the two paths, a single obelisk rose up until it dwarfed even the figure itself. On this obelisk was a single figure, crucified. Once more Twilight looked up at the decaying body of Pinkie Pie. She looked mostly the same as the last time Twilight saw her, but this time she had a small tree growing out of the socket where her eye used to be.
The figure spoke a final time;
“Innocence when lost, can never be returned no matter how hard we try. For even when our tracks have been burned we look back and ask ourselves, Why?”
Twilight woke up in a cold sweat. She looked around frantically to make sure that she was in the mess hall and not some demented version of Saddle Arabia. When she had calmed down, Twilight took a deep breath and lay back onto her pillow. Twilight thought about analyzing her dream to try and find some deeper meaning, but weariness overcame her and she settled down to go back to sleep. Yet as she lay there, a nagging thought began whispering at the back at her mind. As she turned over on her pillow, the nagging feeling became worse. Twilight persisted in her attempts to sleep however; whatever it was that was bothering her could wait until morning. As for now, Twilight had a semi-comfortable bed and a soft pillow calling her name.
Twilight’s eyes flew wide open. ‘When the feather did I get a pillow?’ Twilight thought as she scrambled to get off the bed.
In the dim light, Twilight could just make out the shape of the thing she had been laying on. It was large, round, and looked like the innards of a barber’s trash bag. She went across the room and turned the light on to get a better look at the thing. What she found was that the thing she mistook for a pillow was pink, horribly unwashed, and breathing. Twilight poked the creature experimentally and two large eyes opened up, and a loud ‘pfththt’ pierced the silence. Twilight screamed involuntarily and bit her own tongue when she tried to silence herself.
Twilight’s scream woke up Pinkamena, who scrambled to her feet shouting, “What’s going on?” When Pinkamena saw the furry abomination that had crept into bed with them, she also screamed.
“How the flying buck did she get in here?” Pinkamena demanded.
“How should I know?” Twilight replied angrily, “It crawled in here while I was asleep!”
“Well, she couldn’t have just walked in!” Pinkamena said, “She was locked up last night!”
“I don’t know, I guess…” Twilight started to say when an alarm went off in her head. “Check the door, I’m going to make sure Fluttershy’s okay.”
“Wait, why?” Pinkamena asked.
“Just do it!” Twilight snapped.
Twilight rushed over to Fluttershy’s side and began searching for anything out of the ordinary. Aside from a slight twitch in her left forehoof, Twilight couldn’t find anything wrong that wasn’t there yesterday. When she had finished her inspection, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.
“Uh, Twilight, was the door always broken like this?” Pinkamena asked from across the mess hall. Twilight turned her head to find the door, the only thing keeping any psychopaths from them. Her heart sank when she saw that it had a hole the size of a buffalo in it.
Twilight was about to react to this new information when a loud ‘BOOM’ shook the room.
“We need to get out of here.” Twilight said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. “Help me get Fluttershy onto my back.”
The two of them wasted no time in vacating the mess hall. Out in the hallway, the found the floors and walls soaked in a combination of partially dried blood, stale urine, bile, and a yellowish green substance that looked like hemolymph. Twilight gagged upon entering the hall and would’ve covered her nose if she hadn’t already stepped in the stuff. For brief minute, Twilight was jealous of Pinkamena’s ability to cover her nose without cramming filth into it.
A second noise echoed throughout the hallway. It wasn’t as loud as the previous noise, but it was enough for Twilight to detect its origin. Twilight instinctively began walking away the source of the noise, assuming that it had something to do with the mess in the hall.
“Uh, Twilight, is it okay if Fluffy comes with us?” Pinkamena asked from somewhere behind Twilight.
“Who’s Fluffy?” Twilight asked. She turned around to see the weird fur ball monster following them, soaking up part of the mess as it went.
“The furry pony we found,” Pinkamena answered.
“You gave that thing a name?” Twilight asked, disgusted with the idea.
Pinkamena was about to respond when a third noise rang out through the hallway. This time it sounded like a stallion shouting. Possibly some pony in danger.
Twilight stopped and thought about the situation. On one side of the coin, whoever was shouting was likely one of the psychopaths wandering the hall; on the other, it might’ve been Dr. Layne or Dread. Twilight weighed the risks versus rewards and decided that it wouldn’t hurt to at least get a look. If turned out that it was Dr. Layne and Dread then Twilight would feel terrible for not saving them; if not, well Twilight could probably take a lone marauder with her horn, magic or no magic.
“Take Fluttershy,” Twilight said, “I’m going to check out that noise.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Pinkamena asked.
“No, that’s why I’m leaving Fluttershy with you,” Twilight answered, “My mind’s made up and you’re not going to talk me out of this.”
“It’s just that being around Fluttershy makes me… I’m afraid that I might…”
Remembering who she was dealing with, Twilight said, “Okay, good point. I’ll take Fluttershy with me. I’ll try not to take too long. If I’m not back in five minutes, go on without me.”
Without saying another word, Twilight turned and ran towards the sound of shouting. Behind her, Pinkamena shouted something, but Twilight couldn’t make it out. She considered turning around and asking Pinkamena what she was saying, but another shout from the unknown stallion encouraged her to keep moving.
Twilight stopped after half a minute. The shouting had been echoing from a large hole in the wall that wasn’t there when Twilight was there last. Ten feet from this hole was the remains of a door with the words ‘Storage Room 34-R’ printed on it, lying splintered on the floor. Twilight wondered what could’ve torn the door down and why, but a shout from inside the storage room distracted her from it. Now Twilight could make out the voice clearly enough to identify who was talking, and the revelation made her wish that she had ignored the shouting.
“Finally stopped have you?” Doctor Whooves asked some pony that Twilight couldn’t see. “Excellent! You’ll pay for killing my TARDIS! Just as soon as I find my sonic…”
Twilight crept into the storage room, curious as to what had the Doctor so angry. Several crates had been knocked over, leaving small gaps in the otherwise labyrinthine passage. These gaps were just large enough for Twilight to squeeze through with Fluttershy on her back. This was helpful, as many of the lights had somehow gone out since Twilight was last there, leaving only small areas lit for her to navigate by.
As she proceeded, Twilight kept checking behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. There was never any pony when she looked, but something was putting Twilight on edge.
‘Relax Twilight,’ Twilight told herself, ‘for all you know, the Doctor is the only one in here.’
But Twilight could not relax; every step she took intensified her sense of foreboding. The sounds of the Doctor throwing things around constantly caused Twilight to jump and frantically look around. She would’ve cried out, if fear of alerting a pursuer didn’t silence her.
After a while the stacks gave way to a large area of smashed crates and their contents. Most of the wreckage was illuminated by a dim light on the far side of the room, but a good section of it was obscured by a large object at its center. The object looked like a gnarled tree with branches that nearly touched the storage room ceiling. Twilight wasn’t sure, but it almost looked like the branches were swaying slightly.
The Doctor showed up a moment after Twilight reached the wreckage, brandishing a screwdriver in his mouth. He tried to say something to the tree, but whatever it was came out as a garbled mess thanks to the screwdriver. The Doctor then charged at the tree.
What happened next was something Twilight wouldn’t have believed if she hadn’t been there. Just as the Doctor was about to make contact with the tree, it throbbed and folded into itself. The tree’s branches ensnared the Doctor and slammed him into the debris. The Doctor screamed something at the tree and tried to get up. The tree bent over again and once more ensnared the Doctor. This time however, the branches pressed the stallion to the trunk. The Doctor tried to kick at the thing, but it was no use. The entire storage room was filled with the sounds of the Doctor screaming, and bones breaking. Twilight stood there, paralyzed by a stream of emotions. Her mind seemed to be unable to decide whether it wanted to try and help the Doctor, or run away screaming. For a full minute, Twilight had to listen as the Doctor suffered. When the minute was up, the screams were replaced with silence.
Twilight stood there, trying to process what she had just witnessed. She knew that she had to get out of there and as far away from that monster as she could, but her legs wouldn’t listen to her. When they finally did listen, they were slow and heavy. Twilight started to slowly backtrack through the maze of crates, as lightheadedness washed over her.
“Not a tree.” Was all Twilight could say; her voice was dry and hoarse.
She had made it to the first turn when the sound of a baby’s cry echoed throughout the storage room. Twilight stopped to listen to it for a moment before realizing that she had to investigate it. She turned around and headed to where the crying was coming from. Her mind screamed at her to ignore the crying and get out of there, but her body kept moving towards it.
Twilight reached the open area and the baby’s cries were joined by a chorus of other cries, from ponies of various ages. She looked around the room for the source, but found only broken crates and… and…
‘No,’ was Twilight’s only thought when it hit her. ‘There’s no way that thing could…’
Before Twilight realized what she was doing she had already taken three steps towards the tree-like being that was emanating the chorus of cries.
“What am I doing?” Twilight asked herself in a low, hoarse voice, “I need to get away. I need to run. That that thing will…that thing will” The creature twitched and Twilight was suddenly aware of how fast her heart was beating.
‘I have to know what that thing is.’ Twilight told herself.
From her position by the crates, about ten meters back, Twilight could only make out the basic shape of the monster. After a few minutes of watching the creature do nothing, Twilight decided that it was safe to get a closer look. Twilight crept forward until she was about halfway between the creature and the crates. Now that she was closer, Twilight could make out the texture of the creature’s flesh. Its skin was covered in rough, multicolored patches of what looked like fur. Small holes dotted these patches in various shapes. It was from these holes that the crying sounds came from, though how the noises were made was something Twilight couldn’t identify.
Rationality finally overtook Twilight’s Celestia damned thirst for knowledge, and she began to back away from the creature. She had made it halfway to the safety of the crates when she backed into a raised piece of broken crate and tripped. Twilight fell rump first onto the broken crate, sending a broken beaker flying. Twilight froze in horror as the beaker soared through the air, and hit the creature right on a small patch of green fur.
The cries stopped.
Two small eyes opened and the hole on that patch twisted into a smile, making it look like a pony’s face.
“Feed me?” The face asked in a foal’s voice.
Twilight’s mind seemed to shut down when the creature spoke to her. She had no idea what to make of the thing, or how to react.
More eyes opened on the creature, at least one for each color patch. Soon Twilight was gaping at a mass of faces, each one saying the same phrase over and over; “Feed me.” Most of the faces looked like they belonged to ponies, but there were several faces that looked like they might have belonged to changelings or even griffons. There were at least a hundred faces that made up the tree creature’s body, each one seemingly independent of the others. Twilight wondered at how a creature could’ve evolved to have had so many faces; then she saw one that she recognized. Near the base of the tree was the twisted face of Doctor Whooves, smiling at Twilight with rows of jagged teeth.
Snapping out of her fear, Twilight picked up Fluttershy (who had fallen of when Twilight tripped) and resumed backing away from the monster, this time a little faster than before. This must’ve angered the creature as every head shouted, “FEED ME!” at her in unison.
“NO!” Twilight shouted back. This was a mistake. The creature screamed at a deafening volume and began to sprout branches from the orifices of the faces closest to the ground, except the appendages that Twilight took to be branches were not branches; they were the legs of the victims that creature took the faces from. Hooves and claws forced eyes out of their sockets and caused broken teeth to scatter as the monster attempted to make itself mobile.
Twilight turned and ran from the approaching monster, her screams lost in its shrieks. Twilight could hear it advancing on her. When she had made it to the crate stacks, Twilight had just enough time to turn before the creature slammed into the spot where had just been standing, knocking down several crates.
Twilight bolted away in the opposite direction. Behind her, the monster shrieked as it changed direction. Twilight’s heart raced, her eyes darted left and right, but any escape route would’ve either required her to squeeze through a narrow gap or climb over a crate; neither of which she could’ve done in a hurry without sacrificing Fluttershy.
Twilight reached a dead end. She was preparing herself to be torn apart when an idea struck her. Twilight bucked Fluttershy over one of the shorter crates with a kick that would’ve made Applejack proud, and then jumped over it herself. Just in time too, as the monster slammed into the storage room’s wall and staggered backwards. Twilight took the creature’s momentary distraction to pick Fluttershy up and start running again.
After a short distance the crates were spaced widely enough for Twilight to slip through without slowing down. Behind her, the monster was only slowed down a little by the crates. The monster screeched as it plowed through the barriers, either knocking them down or throwing them aside. Despite this, Twilight was only able to keep just out of creature’s reach. As she ran, the monster’s constant wails and cries started to louder and more furious.
Twilight eventually broke free of the crates and practically leapt through the door into the hall. When she was out, Twilight checked to make sure that the monster was too small to fit through the door. She then started making her way back to Pinkamena, hoping that she would be able to put the whole thing behind her. She made it about ten feet when a series of popping sounds began echoing through the silent hall.
Twilight turned around to see that the monster was trying to force itself through the door. The creature folded itself over and over until it had compressed itself enough to squeeze through what was left of doorway, breaking whatever bones it had in it.
Twilight screamed and started running down the hall. Behind her the monster let out a loud “FEED ME!” and began chasing after her.
By now, Twilight’s stamina was beginning to run out. Her lungs were beggining to feel like they were made of lead and it was becoming harder and harder to keep moving forward. Twilight dared not to slow down though; there was the sound of a hundred hooves splashing through bile to encourage her not to.
When Pinkamena came into view, Twilight shouted, “Pinkie, start running!”
“What? What’s going on? Why do we need… WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS THAT?”
Within seconds, both Pinkamena and Twilight were running for their lives, the weird furball jogging alongside them as if it didn’t have a care in the world. Twilight considered tripping the oversized lint wad to slow the monster down, but decided that she needed to keep her forward momentum.
Behind them, the monster screamed in glee; probably because it now had four tasty ponies to eat instead of two.
As running became more difficult for her, Twilight started racking her mind for a way out of this situation. She knew that there was something else down this hall, but with the monster chasing them and little oxygen getting to her brain, Twilight couldn’t place her tongue on it.
“We’re about to hit a dead end!” Pinkamena shouted over another scream from the monster.
Twilight looked ahead to see that the hallway ended at three glass tubes that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Each tube was roughly the size of the cells they had stayed in and each had a single word written on them; ELEVATOR.
“Can you run ahead and press all the buttons?” Twilight asked through large gasps.
“And leave you behind? No!”
“Just, do it. I’ll be fine,” Twilight gasped.
Pinkamena let out a burst of speed and quickly made it to the row of elevators. By the time she had pressed all the buttons, Twilight had joined her along with the furball.
Twilight nearly collapsed when she stopped. She turned around to check on the monster’s progress and to see if there was any way she could impede its progress. It had been slower than Twilight thought, being nearly a hundred yards away from them, but it was advancing quickly. In less than a minute, it would be on them.
“Come on!” Pinkamena demanded of the elevators, “Come on!” Pinkamena began banging on one of the glass tubes.
A yellow number lit up on one of the tubes and stared counting down. By now though the monster was less than thirty feet away. Twilight could almost smell the breath coming off its various mouths.
As the monster drew closer, Pinkamena started beating wildly on the glass tube. Twilight set Fluttershy down and prepared herself to charge at the beast, promising herself that she would at least go down fighting.
Then the monster stopped. Twilight blinked and looked around for a reason, but none showed itself to her. There was nothing in the hallway impeding its path and Twilight highly doubted that it suddenly went blind. What could’ve made it stop?
Then Twilight realized that the fluffy abomination was no longer with them. It was walking slowly and calmly towards the tree like monster. When the fur ball was less than five feet from the monster it turned its head back and smiled, winking at Twilight.
“No.” was all Twilight could muster up. The word came out as little more than a whisper.
The fur ball walked up to the monster, let out a final “Pftht” and then the monster let out a triumphant cry. It sprouted multiple arms to pull the fur ball towards its many mouths. It quickly chewed through the fur ball’s lairs of fur and began biting into her flesh. Fluffy didn’t so much as whimper as her skin was eaten of her torso and her organs dangled from beneath her. Fluffy continued to smile at Twilight, even as the monster licked out both her eyes with two tongues. The monster ripped Fluffy’s organs apart and slurped them up as if they were noodles. In less than a minute, the monster had reduced Fluffy to a skeleton; she had been a pony the entire time. The monster then broke the skeleton into pieces and chewed each piece in a separate mouth. When it was finished, the monster turned around and began sulking off. There was a new face on it now, a smiling, pink face that was covered in a lot of fur. It might’ve been her imagination, but Twilight could’ve sworn that Fluffy’s face was waving at them with an adjacent hoof.
Behind her, a small ‘Ding’ rang out, signaling the elevator’s arrival. Twilight picked up Fluttershy and joined Pinkamena in the small compartment. Pinkamena pressed a random number on the elevator’s keypad and the two of them watched the floors go by in silence as they ascended. Twilight decided that the straps binding her wings were the most important thing she had to worry about and started chewing at them. Pinkamena, meanwhile, developed an interest in her tail, and kept wrapping the hairs on it around her hoof.
It wasn’t until the elevator reached its destination that the silence was broken. When they stepped out on floor 362, Pinkamena, her voice almost monotone asked, “Did you see what happened to,” Pinkamena swallowed, “What that thing did to Fluffy?”
Twilight nodded her head, unable to think of anything to say. Pinkamena didn’t say anything else, and the two of them walked on in silence for some time. Twilight lost track of where they were going, or how long they were walking. It could’ve been hours or minutes, Twilight couldn’t tell which. The image of Fluffy being ripped apart kept playing over and over in Twilight’s mind. Her stomach churned at the memory, but she couldn’t take her mind off it.
“It’s my fault.” Twilight whispered to herself, a sudden realization striking her, “It’s all my fault.”
“Is something wrong?” Pinkamena asked, a little less distant than before.
“I-It’s nothing.” Twilight said, trying to fight back her tears, “It’s just that… It’s just that…” Emotion finally overcame her, and Twilight’s words became a stream of sobs, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… I was just curious, I didn’t know…” the rest of what Twilight said was so incomprehensible that not even Twilight was sure what she was saying.
Pinkamena laid a tender hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Calm down, Twilight, just tell me what’s on your mind,” she said.
They stopped in front of a dark red door and sat down. Twilight laid Fluttershy down by the door and then she and Pinkamena started talking.
Twilight started, “It’s my fault Fluffy died… and the Doctor too I guess. I didn’t like either of them, no that’s too nice, I hated them. I wanted to keep as far away from them as I could and now… I didn’t want them to die, especially not like that, but…”
Pinkamena interrupted, “It’s not your fault.”
“Pardon?” Twilight asked.
“You didn’t tell the monster to kill them, did you?” Pinkamena asked.
“Well, no, but…”
“Then how is it your fault?”
“I led that thing right to you, okay!” Twilight shouted before clasping a hoof over her mouth. “Sorry, that came out louder than I meant it.”
Pinkamena furrowed her eyebrows, “What do you mean you led it to me?”
Twilight gave a brief explanation of her experience in the storage room. “I was just curious. I didn’t realize that it would… I’m such an idiot.”
Pinkamena let out a sigh, “Well, no argument here. Let’s just find a place to sleep. We’ll talk more about this tomarrow.”
“Here’s as good a place as any.” Twilight said, “I doubt that we’re going to find another futon to sleep on.”
“Alright then.” Pinkamena said dully. She helped Twilight lift Fluttershy onto her back then opened the door they had been sitting by. The door led into a narrow passage that ended at a sliding door. Pinkamena opened this door as well, and the two mares found themselves in a large room lit with red light. Twilight laid Fluttershy down on the opposite wall of the door and began looking around the room. To her surprise, she recognized the room very well.
Some pony or something had come and cleaned up the carnage, but the holding the book of Newt was unmistakable. The book itself was still were Twilight had left it two days prior, untouched by whatever removed the bodies. This time, however, the book did not call to her like it did before. In fact, the book seemed to Twilight as interesting as an outdated dictionary.
Twilight started to giggle. Her giggles quickly evolved into laughter. Her laughter quickly escalated into a hysterical guffaw that had Twilight rolling on the floor and clutching her stomach.
“Twilight, what’s so funny?” Pinkamena asked, “Did you think of a joke or something?”
“No,” Twilight said in between giggles, “it’s just that… It’s just that… I don’t even know.” Twilight’s laughter quickly intensified to the point that the purple alicorn was no longer aware of what was going on.
After a while, Twilight calmed down enough to realize that Pinkamena had gone to sleep. Twilight wondered why she didn’t say anything, but decided that she probably did and Twilight, in her unusual bout of laughter, simply hadn’t noticed. Twilight considered waking Pinkamena up and apologizing, but decided that it would be better to let her sleep. After going through what they did today, she had earned it.
Twilight curled up next to Pinkamena and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, Twilight got back up a carried Fluttershy over closer to where they were sleeping. If by chance they were attacked at night, Twilight wanted to be able to get Fluttershy in a hurry.
Twilight positioned herself between Fluttershy and Pinkamena and tried once more to go to sleep. The floor was cold and hard, but the heat radiating off her friends was enough to lull Twilight into a shallow doze. But as she lay there, nearly napping, in her mind there came a laughing, an eerie cackle she’d heard before. At the sound of the robbed figure’s laughing, Twilight opened her eyes and expected to be pulled back into that nightmarish forest.
Nothing happened though. When Twilight opened her eyes, the laughing stopped. Twilight listened for a moment for any sign of the emerald clad being, but if it was there it didn’t show itself.
Twilight rolled over and closed her eyes again. If that thing wanted to watch her as she slept, let him. After a minute though, Twilight heard another voice, this time coming from her side.
“Twilight, where am I?” Fluttershy asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
“We’re… somewhere.” Twilight answered, unable to think of anything better.
“Wh-Why aren’t I in the hospital room? Where’s the doctor who gave me the medicine?”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably. She hadn’t put much thought into explaining the situation to Fluttershy if she woke up. Now that she was awake and Twilight was on the spot, she was unable to come up with a convincing lie. How do you explain to a pony who looked and acted like one of your friends, that she had woken up in an abandoned research center. Also that the research center was teeming with psychopaths and whatever monsters escaped with the tree creature Twilight had encountered a few hours before. And also that one of those psychopath’s was her friend who had maimed her some months ago. Fluttershy was fragile and the knowledge that such things existed might be too much for her.
“I, uh, I…” Twilight’s mind raced to find a plausible story to satisfy Fluttershy for the time being, at least until she was ready to understand the truth. Instead Twilight ended up stammering out, “So, how are you feeling?”
“Okay, I guess,” Fluttershy answered. “My side hurts a little, but I think it’ll get better.” She gestured to the spot were Twilight had kicked her earlier to get away from the tree creature. Two large bruises had formed there in the shape of Twilight’s hooves.
On seeing this, Twilight’s stomach did a somersault. “Oh, that; I have no idea what could’ve caused that… But on the plus side it looks like your stitches are no longer falling apart when you move, so that’s good.”
“I guess so,” Fluttershy said, her voice lowered slightly, “I just wish that I didn’t need them. What happened to me, Twilight?”
Twilight shifted, looking away from Fluttershy. Dancing around unpleasant details was never her strong suit. “I told you before, in the hospital, you had an accident and the doctors didn’t have the equipment to fully treat you. I’m sure there’s a way to, but for now you’re stuck like this.” Then, realizing how cold that sounded, Twilight added, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to come out that way. I’m sure that there’s some way to fix you, but for now you’re going to have to bear it.”
Fluttershy sighed, “I guess that’s okay. I’m just worried about how my animals will react when they see me, like this.” While saying the last part she traced a stitch that ran from her empty eye socket down to her belly button. The stitch itself was poorly sewn into the two patches of skin, looking more like a young foal’s attempt a repairing a doll than something that was supposed to hold Fluttershy’s flesh together. It wasn’t hard to imagine Fluttershy scaring animals when she got home.
Remembering a day dream she had a few days prior, Twilight placed a hoof on Fluttershy and said, “Don’t be ridiculous, Fluttershy, I’m sure your animals will love you no matter what you look like. Don’t worry about that.”
Fluttershy smiled. “Thanks, Twilight, that means a lot.”
“Anytime.” Twilight said.
Twilight didn’t say it out loud, but she was glad to be talking to a pony who wasn’t either a psychopath, a possibly mad scientist or a robot. Twilight enjoyed Dread and Pinkamena’s company, but there was a small, barely noticeable bubble of unease that came from interacting with personalities and mindsets that were so foreign to Twilight’s own. True, Fluttershy was a little hard to look at, but at least Twilight knew that she wasn’t secretly wondering what she tastes like or speaking in a near toneless voice that was barely capable of simulating emotions. All in all, it was a refreshing experience.
The two of them sat in awkward silence; Twilight didn’t want to accidently bring up something that would make Fluttershy uncomfortable, and Fluttershy probably wasn’t fully awake.
This silence was only broken when Fluttershy asked, “Umm, is there any way that I could get something to eat? I’m very hungry.”
“Of course, just follow me to…” Twilight trailed off when she realized the danger finding food presented. There were three ways they could get food from the room they were in; go back to the mess hall and get the food from there, go up the stairs and take some food from one of the hospital rooms, or wander around the building until they stumbled upon some food at random. Twilight dismissed this third option as too risky, leaving her to decide which was safer; Scylla, or Charybdis.
If Twilight took Fluttershy upstairs to the hospital, she ran the risk of encountering one or more of the escaped inmates. But if she went down to the mess hall, they might run into that monster or something else that crawled out those cages. Leaving Fluttershy behind was right out; if Pinkamena woke up and Twilight wasn’t there to protect Fluttershy if she had a relapse into her old ways, Twilight didn’t want to think of what could happen.
Twilight shook her head, forcing herself to concentrate. She quickly weighed the pros and cons of both scenarios, and decided to risk going upstairs. Even if Twilight could find the mess hall again, it would mean walking through the halls of Sleipnir for what could’ve been hours, and then she had to find her way back.
“Um, Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.
Realizing that she had been silent for at least a minute, Twilight quickly said, “Sorry, Fluttershy. It’s been a long day for me and my brain is a little slow right now.”
“Oh, well if you’re feeling tired we don’t have to get food right now.”
“No, no.” Twilight said, “You haven’t had a bite of solid food for a long time. It was okay when you were under the influence of medicine, but now that you’re awake your body will be burning up many more calories. The sooner we get some food in you, the better.”
“Alright then.” Fluttershy said, “But if you start feeling sleepy, feel free to come back here and gets some sleep. I’m sure I can find my way back.”
“I’m sure we won’t take that long.” Twilight said, “Besides, I don’t want to leave you alone in a dark hospital.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I don’t mind hospitals, even at night.”
‘Let’s hope the next couple of hours don’t change that.’ Twilight thought to herself before saying, “Can you walk? I don’t know how many of your muscles were damaged when Pink… when you had your accident.”
“I think so, I can move my arms at least. Let me just…” With some effort, Fluttershy got herself onto her feet, but even in the dim light Twilight could see that she was struggling. She managed to take two steps before her legs gave in and the patchwork pegasus fell face first onto the hard floor.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked, rushing to her side.
“N-no,” Fluttershy answered, holding back a cry, “th-that really hurt. T-Twilight, I-I don’t think I’ll be able to walk anymore!” A stream of tears began rolling down from Fluttershy’s remaining eye.
Realizing that she needed to both comfort her friend, and keep her from waking up Pinkamena, Twilight grabbed hold of Fluttershy and pulled her into a gentle embrace.
“It’s okay Fluttershy, calm down.” Twilight said in what she hoped was a soothing voice. She turned an eye to where Pinkamena was sleeping, and was relieved to see that her cannibalistic friend hadn’t so much as stirred. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“But, if I can’t walk, how I will feed my animals? How will take showers? What am I going to do?” Fluttershy began shaking in Twilight’s grasp.
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, you will be okay. Your legs will… are…” Twilight paused to think of a convincing explanation to calm Fluttershy down, “Your legs will be fine. You haven’t used them in a long time, so the muscles in them have degraded to where they can no longer support your weight. With a little therapy and some exercise, you should be good as new.”
“I hope so.” Fluttershy said.
Wanting to get off this topic, Twilight said, “Anyway, until we can get you to a therapist, you can just ride on my back for the time being.”
“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked, “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Oh I’m sure. Trust me, I’ve been carrying you on my back for about two days now.”
“Alright then.”
Twilight helped Fluttershy onto her back. It wasn’t much different than before. Fluttershy didn’t weigh much and her grip on Twilight was just strong enough for Twilight to barely notice it.
“Ready?” Twilight asked after waiting for Fluttershy to settle into a comfortable position.
“I guess so.”
Twilight began to slowly make her way toward the door to the staircase, walking in a pattern so that Fluttershy wouldn’t accidently see Pinkamena. Twilight wanted to put off the little reunion until had had time ease Fluttershy into the concept of her best friend being a cannibalistic psychopath. Twilight expected that this would be a long wait.
Twilight had gotten about halfway to the door when Fluttershy asked, “Twilight, are you sure I can’t just stay here? I mean, you’re walking on all fours.”
“What?” Twilight asked, wondering what was so special about walking on all fours when she remembered Fluttershy and Pinkamena’s mutation. “Oh, that… Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine.” Fluttershy and Pinkamena both came from a world where ponies walked on two legs, the idea that a pony would walk on four legs was probably as foreign a concept to Fluttershy as, well, a pony walking on only two legs.
Twilight got the door and walked out into the stairway. Thankfully, whatever had cleaned up the book room had also taken the liberty to clean out the blood that was on the stairs.
“Hold on tight.” Twilight told Fluttershy as she began ascending the staircase.
Twilight climbed in silence for several minutes when Fluttershy asked, “So, Twilight, what is this outfit that you are wearing? It feels nice, did Rarity make it?”
“What outfit?” Twilight asked, “Do you mean my wings?”
“Wings?” Fluttershy asked, “How did you get wings? Magic?”
Without thinking Twilight answered, “No. Well, yes, kinda. I got them when Princess Celestia decided to make me a princess and…” Twilight shut up when she realized that she might be giving too much information.
“You, a princess? Oh my, I guess I was out for longer than I thought. I didn’t even know regular ponies could be princesses. I’m sorry I missed it.”
“It’s fine. You didn’t really miss much, just a bunch of zealots who were mad at Celestia for ‘tarnishing the uniqueness of princesses’ or something like that. You wouldn’t believe the riots that were started because of me.”
“Really? In that case, maybe I’m glad I missed it. I don’t like it when ponies can’t get along.”
Twilight didn’t know what to say to that, and instead climbed for a few moments in silence. This silence was interrupted when Fluttershy asked, “Is there anything else I’ve missed? How is everyone?”
Twilight gulped and tried to come up with good lie. “Well, Rarity’s still trying to break into the high end fashion industry, nothing new with her. Applejack is still working on her farm. I guess everything is the same as ever.”
“What about Pinkie Pie? Or Rainbow Dash? Did they ever find her?”
“Um… Pinkam… Pinkie’s fine. Same with Rainbow Dash. I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you up and about.” As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Twilight wished that she had just kept silent.
“Yup,” was all Twilight could say. She wished that she had just left Fluttershy in the book room. She’d rather risk Pinkamena killing Fluttershy than build up a false sense of hope.
“Anyway, did you know that there are only two mammals that lay eggs?” Twilight asked, desperately trying to change the subject.
“Oh yes, Echidna and Platypoda . Adorable little things; I’ve only had the opportunity to take care of a few though. Let me tell you, they’re a lot more difficult than they look. Ponies always say that the platypus doesn’t do much, but they couldn’t be more wrong…”
Twilight listened to Fluttershy ramble on about the intricacies of raising egg laying mammals while she climbed the rest of the stairs. After what must’ve been ten minutes, Twilight arrived at what appeared to be a dead end.
“Hang on just a second; I need to find a switch.” Twilight said. Then, remembering the fake mutated heads, added, “Close your eye for a little bit. This next room is a little creepy.”
“Um, okay.”
Twilight fumbled along the floor with a hoof until she hit a small switch. The wall in front of Twilight split in two and was pulled apart by unseen machines, flooding the stair way with a dark red light. Twilight stepped through the door into a moderately sized room full of broken jars, overturned shelves, overdone nightmare night decorations, and a large organ shaped contraption.
A quick look around revealed that something had been through the room since Pinkamena and Twilight fled through it two days ago. Many of the shelves, including the one Twilight used to barricade the door, had been split in half and thrown haphazardly across the room. One of these shelves had hit the phony mutation device, knocking one of its tesla coils off. Whether or not this had been done by the same creature who had cleaned up the carnage in the book room, Twilight didn’t know.
Twilight carefully traversed the minefield of broken glass and metal until she had reached the door. She had just opened the door ajar when a panicked voiced voice echoed throughout the hospital.
“Did you hear something?” the voice asked somepony. Twilight froze. This wasn’t a voice she recognized, meaning one of three things; the owner of that voice would either rape them, kill them, or both.
“No, I didn’t hear nothin’” a second voice answered. This voice Twilight did recognize; it belonged to the pony who had threatened her and Pinkamena two nights ago when had barricaded themselves in the head room.
“Twilight, what’s going on?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight instinctively shushed the pegasus, but when she realized that it wouldn’t do to leave Fluttershy’s imagination to run wild added, “Those are hospital security guards. Visiting hours ended several hours ago and if they catch us they’ll throw me out.”
“Oh, okay. I, um, guess I’ll be quiet then.”
Twilight went back to listening to the inmates talking.
“I’m telling you guys, she’s still around here.” The first inmate said in a frightened tone.
“Oh shuddup, Pipsqueak, will ya?” The second inmate growled, “We aint seen hide nor tail of her for a couple hours. She’s godda be long gone by now.”
“I guess you’re right, Teddy,” Pipsqueak said, calming down a little. “I guess I’m just a bit on edge after seeing what… what she did to Donut Joe. I mean, damn, I’ve seen some fucked up shit in that arena thing, but what she did…”
“I thought it was kinda funny,” said a third inmate with a deep voice. “I mean, in a way she turned Donut Joe into a jelly donut. Know what I’m sayin?”
Pipsqueak made a retching sound and said, “Damn it Glutton! Why’d ya have to put that fucking image back in my head?”
“They certainly swear a lot, don’t they?” Fluttershy said quietly.
Twilight didn’t respond, and instead slowly pulled the door open. She peeked out into the hallway to see if she could locate the inmates. There were only three of them; a mutated blue earth pony with an orange mowhawk, a fat pegasus, and small earth pony who didn’t look much older than a foal. Twilight was pleasantly surprised to find that they were a long way down the hall, sitting around what looked like a Bunsen burner that they had connected to a small tank of gas. With any luck, the light produced by the fire would have contracted their pupils to where they couldn’t see Twilight sneaking around. If not…
Twilight closed her eyes and tried to keep herself calm. She needed to focus on getting Fluttershy food. It wasn’t like Twilight would have to get near the inmates any, just to the nearest hospital room.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight said as calmly as she could, “I’m going to need you to keep your eye shut. Try not to talk to me until I say it’s safe. I don’t want to get us in trouble with the guards.”
“Got it, I’ll keep quiet.” Fluttershy whispered.
Twilight took a deep breath, and pulled the door all the way open. As it swung, the door’s hinges squeaked, nearly making Twilight jump. It wasn’t very loud, but to Twilight it sounded like an un-oiled buzz saw. She quickly checked to see if the inmates had heard the sound, and then slowly advanced into the hallway.
As soon as Twilight was in the hallway she made a sharp left, facing her away from the inmates but also minimizing the possibility that light of their fire would be reflected in her eyes. Twilight pressed herself as close to the wall as she could without bothering Fluttershy, and slowly crept towards the nearest hospital room.
Every step was agonizing. Twilight’s heart pounded inside her chest desperately as she tried to keep as calm as possible. Her ears strained themselves to keep track of what the three inmates were doing, as well as how loud her hoofsteps were. She wanted to run, take Fluttershy and get out of there. But at the same time, Fluttershy needed the food and…
Twilight stopped midway between the door to the head room and another room, exerting all of her self control not to scream at herself. Dread didn’t keep food in the hospital rooms, he got them from some place Twilight didn’t even know. And now, because of her own stupidity, Twilight had dragged a mortally wounded pony into a potentially life threatening situation, and she couldn’t even keep her word.
Twilight bit her tongue and tried to keep herself from having a freak-out. Right now she needed all of her wits to the best out of this horribly stupid situation she had gotten herself into.
Twilight took a deep breath, and continued towards the hospital room. When she got there, Twilight carefully opened the door and slid through it. Once inside the room, Twilight strained her ears to see if the inmates had noticed them. Twilight decided that she and Fluttershy were safe when she heard them arguing over something stupid.
Grinning, Twilight said to Fluttershy, “Okay, I don’t think we’re gonna be able to find you food right now. Would you be willing to settle for some water?”
“That sounds nice, sure.” Fluttershy answered.
Twilight went over to the room’s cabinet and carefully laid Fluttershy on the floor. Twilight then opened the cabinet, grabbed a shovel like object, and used it to pull out a single water packet. Using the shovel, Twilight carried the water packet to Fluttershy, where she placed the packet on the patch work mare’s nose.
“Chew on this and swallow.” Twilight told her.
After a moment’s hesitation, Twilight got out another water packet for herself. It wasn’t until she bit down on the object that Twilight realized just how thirsty she was. As Twilight drank the cool liquid, it was if it washed away some of the stress in her life.
When Twilight finished her water packet, she gave Fluttershy a second one and began looking for anything they could use. The first thing that came to mind was the bed.
Twilight grabbed the pillow from the hospital bed and placed it at the center neatly set blanket that covered the otherwise bare mattress. If Twilight couldn’t feed Fluttershy, then making her comfortable was the next best thing.
Twilight looked back into the cabinet to see if there was any way they could transport the water packets, when she spotted a small, green bottle. She grabbed the bottle and scanned its label, but in the hospital room’s dim lighting all she could make out was ‘vitamins’.
Twilight was about to put it back when a thought crossed her mind. If they couldn’t find any food, vitamins might make for a useful substitute. Deciding that it couldn’t hurt to try, Twilight threw the bottle next to the pillow and continued raiding the hospital room.
Sadly, the rest of the room was barren of anything useful. Either one of the inmates had a similar idea to Twilight, or there was never anything else in the room to begin with.
Rather than be dejected, Twilight took the rooms lack of any useful items as a sign that it was time to leave. Twilight wrapped the blanket around the pillow and folded it into a rough saddle.
Satisfied with her handiwork, Twilight placed the makeshift saddle on her back and said, “Okay, Fluttershy, it looks like we’re done here. Ready to go?”
Fluttershy, who had somehow drifted to sleep in the last four minutes shook herself awake and answered, “What? Oh, yes. I’m ready.”
Twilight helped Fluttershy onto the bundle on her back and carried her out the door. Back in the hall, Twilight turned to the door to the faux mutation room and headed that way. She moved as quickly and quietly as she could without causing Fluttershy to fall off, giving the three inmates a quick glance to make sure that they wouldn’t be a problem.
Twilight didn’t have to worry about her hooves making noise. Two of the inmates, the one with the orange Mohawk and the fat one, were shouting at the small one over something Twilight didn’t care about. At that moment, all that mattered to her was getting Fluttershy and herself to relative safety.
Twilight had just made it to the door when Fluttershy cried out. Twilight looked around at what she might’ve seen and found that the inmate’s argument had escalated.
“Oh yeah?” The blue pony said as he punched the small one in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.
“I’m sorry Teddy!” Pipsqueak tried to say more but was interrupted when Teddy slammed his hoof into foal’s cheek.
“What was that you little fucktard?” Teddy asked as he pressed his hoof into Pipsqueak’s skull. “I all heard was the sound of a little bitch talking smack about my girl.”
Twilight watched in horror as blood began to flow from the foal’s mouth and nose. As Teddy continued his assault, Pipsqueak tried to scream or beg or cry. Twilight wasn’t sure which, but all that came out was sickening gurgle.
“Glutten, get me the light.” Teddy commanded the other inmate, who had been laughing quietly to himself this whole time.
Twilight felt a weak grip tighten around her neck and was suddenly reminded of Fluttershy’s presence. How much had she seen?
Twilight forced herself on the task at hand and rushed through the door as Teddy was just about to place the lit Bunsen burner at the base of Pipsqueak’s tail. As she fled down the stairs, Twilight forced to listen to the echoes of Pipsqueak’s screams as he was burned alive.
After a few minutes, Twilight’s heart beat had slowed down enough for her to think straight. The first thing that came to her mind was making sure Fluttershy was okay, and trying to explain what had happened.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight said tentatively, “how are you doing?”
Fluttershy didn’t respond. Twilight wanted to smack herself for her own stupidity. She didn’t need to take Fluttershy on what turned out to be a fool’s errand, and had paid the price.
After a few more minutes, Fluttershy’s grip tightened on Twilight. The patchwork mare began shaking as began dry heaving into Twilight’s mane.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, resisting the urge to retch herself.
Fluttershy dry heaved once more before saying, “What was that? Why did the do… Twilight I think I’m gonna be sick!” Fluttershy’s breathing became faster, and Twilight feared that she might hyperventilate.
“Calm down Fluttershy.” Twilight said, slowing down so as to keep Fluttershy from having a full blown panic attack, “We’re safe now, they can’t get us.”
“But why would they do that to another pony?” Fluttershy asked, “Wasn’t he their friend?”
Twilight silently cursed herself. This wasn’t how she wanted Fluttershy to find out about how fucked up Sleipnir was. She knew she couldn’t keep it a secret forever, but surely there might’ve been a better way?
“Fluttershy,” Twilight started to say but words faltered in her throat. Half of her wanted to come up with a lie to preserve her friend’s innocence, while the other, more logical, part wanted to tell Fluttershy everything and get it out of the way.
“Y-Yes?” Fluttershy asked, her voice quivering.
Twilight took a deep breath and mustered up as much of her courage as she could. “Fluttershy, while you’ve been asleep things have… things have gotten bad. We’re not in Ponyville anymore, in fact I’m not sure where we are exactly, but those ponies we saw, they make up the majority of ponies here.”
“But, you said we were in a hospital!” Fluttershy said, beginning to hyperventilate again. “You said those ponies were guards! That they were… that they were…” Fluttershy trailed off and began clutching Twilight even tighter than before.
“Well, I lied about them being guards,” Twilight admitted, “but we are in a hospital, kinda. I’m not sure how to explain it, but this place, Sleipnir, houses ponies like that.”
“Then why are we here? We’re good ponies, why are we here?”
Twilight was going to answer, but a sharp pain stabbed into her mind and for a brief second her vision blurred green. “I don’t know,” was all that she could say.
“What are we going to do?” Fluttershy asked, “We can’t stay here. There’s got to be a way out.”
“I’m working on it.” Twilight said, realizing that she had no plan for getting out, “But we’re gonna have to make through tonight at least. Can you handle that?”
Fluttershy’s grip relaxed, but Twilight could still feel her shaking through the makeshift saddle. “I- I think so. It’s just… I hope we don’t meet any more ponies like that.”
Twilight didn’t respond.
After some time, Twilight arrived back at the book room. She carefully laid Fluttershy down and set to work turning the blanket into a makeshift mattress. When she was done, Twilight rolled Fluttershy onto the blanket and placed her head under the pillow.
“Okay Fluttershy, you’re all settled.” Twilight said. “Do your best to get some sleep. I’ll be few feet away if you need anything.”
“Thank you, Twilight.” Fluttershy said. “But if you don’t mind, could lay with me for a little while? I don’t want to be alone.”
Twilight complied and laid down on the blanked a few inches from Fluttershy.
“I’m gonna get you out of this.” Twilight said as several hours without sleep started to catch up with her, “I promise.”
Twilight stirred awake. She raised herself on one hoof and looked around the room. She was the first one to wake up. This was good; she would need time to figure out a way to reintroduce Fluttershy to Pinkamena. If all went well, Twilight would be able to slowly introduce the idea of being friends with a cannibal to Fluttershy. Or she would be able to dodge the conflict entirely and Fluttershy would never have to know. The latter option would probably be better.
She got up and began pacing around the room. Twilight’s mind buzzed with ways to protect what was left of Fluttershy’s innocence, and ways to get Pinkamena to play along. After a minute, Twilight decided that her best bet would be to convince Fluttershy that everything that was happening was actually a drug fueled hallucination, and that she was still laying in hospital bed somewhere. It wouldn’t be too hard to fake evidence; all Twilight would have to do was find one of Sleipnir’s more outlandish features and show it to Fluttershy.
Twilight shook her head. There were so many things wrong with her plan that she doubted that any part of it could work. Still, it was better than nothing. And who knows, maybe it’ll work long enough for Twilight to come up with a better plan?
Her pacing came to an end when she noticed the little green bottle lying a few feet from Fluttershy’s makeshift bed. On impulse, Twilight walked over to the bottle and inspected the label. There was better lighting in book room and so Twilight was now able to find out what the bottle contained.
The label said, ‘One a day Vitamins for mares. Brought to you by the Goodfellow Company.’
She turned the bottle over to see if she could find any information on the vitamins, but couldn’t even find so much as an expiration date. Instead, Twilight found the image of an oil lantern printed in a shade of green so dark that it almost appeared black.
Twilight starred at the image for a full minute. It reminded her of something, but she couldn’t quite place a hoof on what it was. As her mind wandered, the laugh of the hooded figure echoed throughout the room, sending a chill down Twilight’s spine.
She quickly opened the bottle and dumped its contents out onto the floor. What came out was an object that looked like a gumdrop and a folded sheet of paper. Twilight placed the gumdrop back into the bottle and unfolded the sheet of paper. It read;
“Dearest Twilight, how have you been?
Still wondering about your greatest sin?
Or do you doubt there was ever a crime?
Do not be anxious, all in good time.
It seems your friend’s heath’s been boosted
and now she’s grown to be more lucid.
But alas, if she remains so frail,
the two doctors efforts will be to no avail.
I’m pleased to say that you’re in luck
and have the favor of honest Puck
who has decided offer his assistance
in continuing your friend’s existence.
A gumdrop a day, that’s all she’ll need
to bring her back up to speed.
I’m sure you’ll have your many questions,
perhaps about your past transgressions?
But for now, this is all you need to know.
Your greatest friend, the Goodfellow.”
Twilight read over the poem several times, trying to find some deeper meaning behind it. The first letter of each line didn’t spell anything, and there weren’t any metaphor as far as Twilight could tell. It seemed to be straight forward enough, but something about it still bothered her.
Twilight snorted. At least she now had a name for the hooded figure; Goodfellow. She didn’t trust that name, something about it made her hair stand on end, but at least it seemed that it was helping. For now.
She turned the bottle over so that a single fell gumdrop onto her hoof then inspected it. It was green and smelled strongly of citrus but Twilight couldn’t detect any poison, not that that meant much. She raised the gumdrop to her mouth and took a miniscule bite out of it. If it was poisoned, Twilight would get sick in a few moments but wouldn’t suffer any severe consequences.
She sat still for several minutes, focusing all her attention on detecting any trace of poison in her system. After those several minutes had passed without getting so much as a stomachache, Twilight judged that the vitamins were safe for consumption and got up to give one to Fluttershy.
The pegasus mare was still asleep when Twilight got to her. Twilight shook her gently and whispered, “Fluttershy, wake up. I’ve got some food for you.”
Fluttershy opened her remaining eye and turned to look at Twilight, “Oh, Twilight, I had the scariest dream last night. I’m glad you’re here though…” her words drifted off and she fell asleep again.
Twilight shook her again, this time a little more violently. Fluttershy raised her arms to fend Twilight off and said, “Okay, Rainbow, I’ll go with you to the cider line. Just let me…” She opened her eye and looked around the room a few times and then at Twilight. “feed my animals... Twilight, where am I?”
“Sleipnir,” Twilight answered, not quite sure what to make of the situation.
“Oh, so it wasn’t a nightmare,” Fluttershy said, her eye was beginning to turn watery. “And those ponies really did…” Fluttershy choked and a trail of tears began flowing down the side of her face. She turned over and began sobbing into her pillow.
Twilight wanted to say something, anything, but the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t even bring herself to try and tell Fluttershy that none of it was real.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight said after a minute.
Fluttershy sniffed and then said through the pillow, “Yes?”
Twilight took a deep breath and carefully thought out what she was about to say, “I need you to get up and eat something.”
Fluttershy raised her head from the pillow, “What?”
Twilight handed her the gumdrop. “It isn’t much, but it’s all I have. You’re going to need all the food you can get to get your health back.”
Fluttershy looked at the gumdrop questioningly, then popped it in her mouth and swallowed. Pleased with this, Twilight went to check up on Pinkamena. The pink mare was still fast asleep when Twilight approached her. This was good; the more time Pinkamena was asleep, the more time Twilight would have to come up with a plan.
“Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked, “Why did you walk away?”
Twilight’s stomach sank. “Um… N-nothing!” she said with a forced grin. “Just, just go back to sleep. Okay?”
Fluttershy pressed her arms against the floor tried to push herself into a sitting position. Options ran through Twilight’s mind like rockets. She could force Fluttershy to lie down, solve the problem that way, but she might hurt her. She could position herself so that she block Fluttershy’ view of Pinkamena, but she would have to calculate the angle and it was just too risky. Maybe she could drag Pinkamena out of the way before Fluttershy…
“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, now completely sitting up. “Pinkie Pie, is that you?”
Twilight stole a quick glance at Pinkamena. Fluttershy hadn’t been loud enough to wake her; there was still time to stop this before…
Fluttershy had gotten onto all fours and was attempting to crawl to Pinkamena. Twilight’s mind rang in alarm as she tried to think of way to handle the situation. With a considerable amount of mental effort, Twilight got in between Fluttershy and Pinkamena.
She said, “Not now, Fluttershy, Pinka-ie’s had a long day and needs some sleep.”
Fluttershy looked up pleadingly at Twilight, “Please Twilight? I haven’t seen her in so long. It’ll just be a minute, okay?”
Twilight clenched her teeth. Half of her wanted Fluttershy to be reunited with her friend, and the other wanted to keep her as far away from Pinkamena as possible. It was like the door to the head room all over again, only this time it wasn’t just Twilight’s safety that was on the line.
‘If anything goes wrong,’ a voice in Twilight’s head whispered, ‘then I can hold Pinkamena back long enough for Fluttershy to get away.’
‘Fluttershy can barely move on her own. Even if she does somehow get away, who’s gonna protect her from Sleipnir’s other inhabitants?’
‘In that case, I only have to hold her back long enough for Pinkie to calm down. She’s not a bull charging a red cape, she has some self control. Besides, I have to introduce them sooner or later, unless I intend to constantly knock Fluttershy unconscious.’
‘Okay, that’s a good point. I’ll risk it, but if anything goes wrong I’ll tear you to… wait, aren’t I talking to myself?’
‘Yes, I tend to do that when…’
“Twilight?” Flutttershy said, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts, “Are you okay? You went quiet for a while there.”
“Um, yes, I’m fine, just thinking.” Twilight said, briefly wondering if she was developing schizophrenia, “Anyway, I’ll wake up Pinkie Pie and let her know you’re up. Just give me a minute.”
“Okay. I’ll crawl back my sheets, this floor is cold.”
While Fluttershy crawled back to the makeshift bed, Twilight turned and approached the sleeping earth pony. She placed a hoof on Pinkamena’s chest and gently shook her.
Pinkamena’s eyes sprang open and she beamed at Twilight, flashing a good number of pointed teeth.
“Morning Twilight!” Pinkamena said happily as she stretched, “Are you ready to go hunting for some breakfast?”
“Sure, in minute.” Twilight answered, trying to position herself so that Pinkamena wouldn’t see Fluttershy. “First I need to talk to you about… about…” The words caught in Twilight’s throat.
“Is this about Fluffy?” Pinkamena asked, her smile fading, “I know that was hard for you, it was hard for me too. But we can’t…”
“It’s not about that.” Twilight said, “It’s, um… It’s…”
“Excuse me,” Fluttershy said faintly, “But who’s Fluffy?”
Pinkamena got up and looked at Fluttershy disbelievingly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but all that came out was low gurgle. Then, without warning, Pinkamena bent over as if she was about to vomit. Then, just as quickly, she stood straight up and looked a Fluttershy, and then at Twilight. Her eyes began darting around the room widely. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Pinkamena gulped, tried to smile, and then ran shrieking into the hallway.
Fluttershy and Twilight looked at each other, both in shock at what just happened.
Twilight turned to chase after Pinkamena. She was almost out the door when, behind her, Fluttershy cried, “It’s me, isn’t it? She saw me like this and…” whatever Fluttershy was going to say was lost in a stream of tears.
Twilight’s heart lurched. “No, it’s not that,” she said. “It’s something else. I’ll go talk to her. She’s been going through some stuff lately. I’ll be back soon.”
Without saying another word, Twilight followed Pinkamena’s path into the hallway and closed the door behind her. Twilight scanned the hallway, looking for any where Pinkamena could’ve gone. There were doors lining both sides of hall, but none of them seemed to have been opened in years. Twilight strained her ears, listening for Pinkamena’s hoof steps, but Fluttershy’s crying interfered with her.
Twilight’s heart sank. Leaving Fluttershy alone was the last thing she wanted to do, but right then finding Pinkamena was more important.
‘You could just leave her you know.’ The intrusive part of Twilight’s brain said, ‘She’s a cannibal, a killer. She’s no better than any of the other Sleipnir inhabitants.’
Twilight ignored this thought. She had never given up on a friend before and she wasn’t going to start now.
She was just about ready to start searching the rooms one by one, when a loud BANG echoed from the opposite end of the hall. Twilight raced to the source of the noise and came upon an open door with the number six painted on it. Twilight entered the room and found Pinkamena beating her head against the corner of an office desk.
“Monster! Monster! Monster!” Pinkamena shrieked; punctuating each word by slamming her head into the desk.
“Pinkamena?” Twilight asked. Pinkamena either hadn’t heard or chose to ignore her. Instead, she kept harming herself with the table.
“Pinkie Pie.” Still no response. It was as if Pinkamena was completely oblivious to everything around her. “Come on Pinkie, knock it off.”
After a few minutes of futilely trying to get Pinkamena’s attention, Twilight gave up on the effort and switched to a more pragmatic solution. She walked up to Pinkamena tapped her gently on the head.
As soon as Twilight touched her, the pink mare shrieked and kicked her in the stomach.
Twilight flew back, skidding to a stop at the opposite side of the room. Twilight picked herself up as she tried to process what was going on, but what interrupted by a loud, animalistic cry coming from the other side of the room.
Pinkamena threw herself on Twilight, knocking her on her side. Dazed, Twilight tried to get up again, but Pinkamena held her down.
Twilight turned her head to look at Pinkamena. The pink mare barred her sharp teeth in a snarl that made her look more like a wolf than a pony. Her eyes were wild and unfocused, their whites bloodshot from crying and madness.
Twilight’s heart trembled as she looked into the monstrous face. Was this her fate? Was she going to die here and become dinner for a former friend?
‘No,’ Twilight thought, ‘if I die here, there’ll be no pony to stop her from killing Fluttershy.’
“Pinkie,” Twilight said, her voice cracking from fear, “y-you have to calm down. This isn’t you. You have to get a hold of…”
Pinkamena snarled. She was too far gone for Twilight to reach her. Realizing this, Twilight closed her eyes and resigned herself to fate. Hopefully it would be quick.
Twilight felt Pinkamena’s face dig into her side. Sharp teeth plowed through her fur and feathers until they met with a snap. Pinkamena placed her hooves on Twilight’s flank and shoulder and pushed as she tore herself a morsel. Twilight felt something pull off of her, and whimpered. It didn’t hurt as badly as she had expected. Perhaps her mind had somehow shut off pain receptors in its final moments, so that she wouldn’t have to die in agony.
No, that wasn’t it. Something was off about this. She should’ve felt the blood from the wound on her skin, pain or no pain. Was she already dead? Had Pinkamena killed her so thoroughly that she hadn’t even noticed?
A sharp pain in Twilight’s side was her answer. It wasn’t the pain that came with having her skin ripped off. No, this felt more like she had been struck with a carriage whip. A quick glance to where Pinkamena bit showed that she had gotten a mouthful of the rubber strap binding Twilight’s wings.
Twilight got up and found Pinkamena sputtering and licking her arms, “Ew, ew, icky!”
“Pinkie?” Twilight asked cautiously.
Pinkamena looked around the room and then at Twilight, a confused expression on her face. “Twilight, where are we? How did we get here?”
“You don’t remember?” Twilight asked, surprised.
Pinkamena shook her head. “Last thing I remember is waking up, talking to you and…” the fur around Pinkamena’s face turned a dark shade of red, “seeing Fluttershy and having a freak out.”
“You did more than that; you nearly bit my wing off.”
Pinkamena reacted as if Twilight had struck her with a sledge hammer. Twilight thought she could see a small part of the pink pony die inside. She curled up into the fetal position and began crying into her hooves.
“Can’t do anything right. Every pony I love… Why am I a monster? Why? Why Why?”
“Pinkie?” Twilight asked, fearing that she might trigger another relapse.
Pinkamena looked up from her hooves. “Oh, Twilight, I forgot to ask if you were okay. I mean, I should after I – after I…” Pinkamena choked and broke out crying again. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! I-I, Twilight, kill me please. I don’t want to live, I don’t deserve to live. Please, kill me!” Pinkamena fell onto the floor and wailed.
Twilight thought about it. Was Pinkamena going to be a threat to her and Fluttershy? What if Pinkamena was slowly deteriorating into a monster like Sam? If so, then how long did she have?
Twilight shook her head, “No, Pinkie, I’m not going to kill you. You’re my friend, and… and you did manage to snap yourself out of it.” Pinkamena kept crying as if she hadn’t heard. Twilight went up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Come on, there’s some pony who would be very happy to you.”
Pinkamena looked up, eyes wet with fresh tears, “Fluttershy, right? I-I’m not sure if I should. After what I’ve done, I don’t think I could look at her.”
Twilight didn’t know what to say. Once more she was caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Part of her wanted to make Pinkamena feel better, but she also didn’t want to suggest that she condoned her actions.
“Come on, Pinkie. Fluttershy has been worried about you, and besides, you’re going to have to approach her eventually. Unless you want to be left behind?”
Pinkamena took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll try. But what if I lose control again? What if I finish what I… what if I hurt her?”
Twilight didn’t have an answer. She wasn’t even able to defend herself against Pinkamena, how was she going to protect Fluttershy?
Twilight sighed, “I don’t know. But Fluttershy is probably really upset right now because you running away; and I don’t want to leave her alone for much longer. We’ll figure this out later, when we have time.”
Pinkamena looked uncertain. Twilight couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t exactly the most well thought out plan. She was avoiding the problem and she knew it. But at the moment, Twilight didn’t know what else to do.
“Okay, I’ll go see her.” Pinkamena said as she got up. “At least I’ll get to see Fluttershy smile.”
Moments later they were down the hall, retracing their steps back to the book room. Pinkamena dragged her feet behind her as they went and kept looking down. She kept muttering to herself fidgeting with her hooves.
Twilight kept trying to reaffirm that Fluttershy wanted to see her, but all she seemed to do was make her more hesitant.
“I know she wants to see me,” Pinkamena said after the fifth time Twilight mentioned it, “but I’m not sure that I should see her. I think we’ve been over why.”
Twilight didn’t have an answer for that. All she could think about how simpler things had been back in Ponyville, in a time that now seemed like a myth to her. It occurred to her then that having Pinkamena around Fluttershy at all probably wasn’t a good idea, that she should just have Fluttershy stay asleep as much as possible and forbid Pinkie from ever talking to her. But that would only delay the inevitable.
They were almost at the door when Pinkamena collapsed onto the floor.
“I can’t do it!” She said, “I-I…” Pinkamena dry heaved and sputtered. She was shaking like a foal in winter. “Too much blood on my hooves, she’ll never… Twilight, I can’t breathe!”
Twilight flew into a panic. A long list of medical conditions raced through her mind as she tried to comprehend what was happening.
“Pinkie, what’s wrong?”
“My legs feel like needles and my…” Pinkamena dry heaved again.
Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “You’re having a panic attack. You need to calm yourself down. Focus on breathing.”
Pinkamea sputtered again, and then inhaled. She held her breath for a few seconds then coughed. She repeated this cycle for a few minutes, until she was able to exhale normally.
“Feeling better?” Twilight asked when Pinkamena stopped shaking.
Pinkamena nodded and wiped a speck of drool from her lower lip. She picked herself and took a step towards the door.
“Okay, I think I’m ready.”
Twilight opened the door.
Twilight walked into the room first with Pinkamena not far behind. Fluttershy had gone back to sleep since Twilight left her, but there were still damp spots on her pillow from when she had been crying.
“Do you want to wake her up, or should I?” Twilight asked.
“I’ll do it.” Pinkamena answered as she crept closer to Fluttershy.
Pinkamena bent down on one knee and reached out to touch Fluttershy. Her hoof was less than an inch away from Fluttershy’s muzzle when Pinkamena drew it back and said, “No, never mind. I’m-I’m afraid I’ll have another episode.”
Twilight nodded.
She and Pinkamena swapped places and Twilight gently placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s chest and shook her.
Fluttershy’s eye opened; still red from crying. Her gaze met Twilight’s and she smiled.
“Twilight, you’re back.” Fluttershy said. A faint smile stretched across her face. “Did you find Pinkie?”
“Yes, she’s right here.” Twilight answered. She motioned for Pinkamena, who had wandered about three meters away, to come forward. She didn’t at first, but after Twilight motioned again she walked slowly to Fluttershy, her eyes at her feet.
Fluttershy’s face lit up, “Pinkie, I haven’t seen you in so long! Is everything okay? You seemed upset earlier.”
“Everything is fine.” Pinkamena said. She looked like she was about to be sick, and Twilight feared that she might have another breakdown. “I’m glad to see that you’re- that you’re…” Pinkamena choked and a stream of tears came pouring down the sides of her face. She threw herself onto Fluttershy and hugged her tightly.
Twilight tensed up. She had no way of stopping Pinkamena from revealing her past to Fluttershy, or anyway to soften the blow.
“But I… Nevermind, I’m glad you’re better now.” Pinkamena got off of Fluttershy and wiped her cheeks. “I’ll have to throw you a party when we get home.” Pinkamena forced a smile.
Fluttershy looked at Pinkamena, the smile fading from her face. “Is everything alright, Pinkie? You’ve been acting strangely and… what’s wrong with your teeth?”
“What? Nothing!” Pinkamena said, holding a hoof over her mouth, “I just…”
“Pinkie tripped over a rock a few days ago and shattered her teeth.” Twilight said. It wasn’t the best thing to tell her, but it was better than the truth. “We had to replace them, and Colgate only had wolf teeth on hand.”
“Oh, okay. But, why is she acting so unlike herself?”
“Is it because of those ponies?” Fluttershy asked.
“What ponies?” Pinkamena asked in turn.
“Yesterday, I think, Twilight took me upstairs and when saw some ponies that did… things. Horrible things to each other. They made fun of each other, taunted each other, and I think they might’ve…” Fluttershy whimpered and pulled the bed sheet over herself.
Pinkamena shot a mean look at Twilight who smiled guiltily.
“We’ll talk about that later.” Pinkamena muttered before putting on a happy face again. “Right now, I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Thank you.” Fluttershy said, pulling her face out from the covers.
None of them knew what to say after that and several minutes passed in silence. Occasionally Pinkamena looked like she was going to say something, but instead kept her mouth shut and looked away.
“So, do either of you know when we’re going to get home?” Fluttershy asked, breaking the silence. “Twilight told me about this place, she said it was some kind of prison. I don’t want to stay here. Is there any way out?”
Twilight looked down and kicked at the floor. “No; at least not one that I’m aware of. Pinkie and I have pretty much been making it up as we go along.”
Pinkamena nodded, “Yeah, the only ones who would know how to get out of here would be Dread and Dr. Layne.”
Fluttershy looked at Twilight, confused.
“The doctors who took care of you.” Twilight explained.
“Oh.” Fluttershy said.
“Anyway,” Twilight continued, “we got separated from them a couple of nights ago and haven’t seen them since. We have an idea of where they are but to get there we would have to go through the hospital.”
“Which wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t a swarm of psychos up there ready to kill us.” Pinkamena said.
“There weren’t that many last night.” Fluttershy said.
Pinkamena shot another dirty look at Twilight saying, “We’re going to have a LOT of things to talk about later, won’t we?”
Twilight shrunk away from Pinkamena. “Well at least three ponies shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
Pinkamena grunted, “I guess not. So are we going now or later?”
Twilight took a step back, “What? It’s a bit early to be deciding that, don’t you think?”
Pinkamena shrugged, “We were planning on going there anyway. The only thing that’s changed is that Fluttershy’s awake now. Besides, I want Dread to have a look at her as soon as possible.”
Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. “Alright, we’ll leave now, just give me a moment to pack up Fluttershy’s things.”
“I’ll do that. You just carry Fluttershy, okay?”
Pinkamena helped Fluttershy onto Twilight’s back and then set to folding up the bed sheets. While she was packing, Twilight wandered over to the book of Newt and placed it between her wing and the strap binding it down. The strap had loosened up since Pinkamena bit it, so it wasn’t uncomfortable.
She wanted to know what Dread thought of the book, and maybe find a way to use it.
After a few minutes passed, Pinkamena said that she was done packing, and the three left the book room behind.
The climb up the stairs was largely uneventful. Fluttershy asked a couple of questions and Twilight answered them as best she could, but most them Twilight either couldn’t answer or the answer was information that Fluttershy wasn’t ready for.
When they arrived at the head room, Twilight’s vision was filled with a sickly green color and a thousand needles stabbed into her brain. Without thinking Twilight pressed her hooves to her temples, throwing Fluttershy off her back.
The patchwork pegasus landed on her back, nearly hitting one of the metal shelves that littered the room.
“Fluttershy!” Pinkamena shouted as she leapt to her friend’s side.
“I’m fine, I just… " Fluttershy shrieked."W-What are those?”
Twilight’s vision cleared enough for her to see Fluttershy cowering before jar containing a pony head with four mouths.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Twilight said. The headache hadn’t completely subsided, but it had settled to a dull pain behind her horn. “Just some… nightmare night decorations.” Well, it wasn’t a total lie.
“But they look so real!” Fluttershy was began gasping wildly.
“Well, they’re not.” Twilight said. Her head seemed to throb with every word. “Pinkie, could you tear one up for her?”
“Sure.” Pinkamena said. She took a head out of one of the jar and tore at its skin. Soon yellow patches of foam became visible and Pinkamena threw it to Fluttershy. It landed in her lap
“See Fluttershy?” Pinkamena said, “Nothing to be afraid of.”
Fluttershy eyed the thing with disgust and quickly pushed it away from herself. “Okay, but I don’t like them.”
Pinkamena helped Fluttershy back onto Twilight’s back and the three of them continued across the room. They had just reached the door when Pinkamena whispered, “Stop!”
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena made a loud ‘SHHH’ sound and then said in a low voice, “I heard a noise, there’s something out in the hall.” At this, Twilight felt Fluttershy dig her face into her mane.
“Any idea what it is?” Twilight asked.
“No, but odds are it doesn’t want to be friends.”
“See if you can see anything through the keyhole.” Twilight said. She wasn’t even sure that a pony could look through the keyholes in Sleipnir, or if the doors even used keys, but it was worth trying.
“Good idea, let me just…” Pinkamena bent down and pressed her eye beneath the doorknob. A second later, the color drained from her face. “That- Oh… that’s not right. That’s not, oh Luna.” She said, sounding like she was about to vomit.
“What is it?” Twilight.
“N-Nothing!” Pinkamena said, forcing a grin. “Let’s just go back to the book room, and, uh, never come back here again!”
Twilight scowled, “Move over, I’m having a look.”
“Nope!” Pinkamena said, her smile faltering. She raised her arms up as if to barricade the door with her own body; as if that would stop Twilight.
Twilight snorted, “Move!”
“Trust me Twilight, you really don’t want to see what’s going on out there…”
Twilight glared at the earth pony, “I am just going to have a look. It isn’t that big of a deal.”
“But…”
“Please don’t argue!” Fluttershy cried out.
Both ponies stopped to look at the patchwork pegasus, Twilight twisting her head to do so. Fluttershy made an odd squeaking noise and seemed to sink into herself. “I just got reunited with you two; I don’t want to see you girls arguing.”
Twilight gritted her teeth. She had forgotten about Fluttershy, and how she might feel. Also there was a possibility that if Twilight looked through the keyhole, Fluttershy might get exposed to whatever had Pinkamena so spooked.
But still, Twilight wanted to know. Already she could feel curiosity gnawing at the back of her mind. If she didn’t find out, it might consume her.
“Just one look, Pinkie, that’s all I ask.” Twilight said, “I promise you, I’ve probably already seen worse.”
Pinkamena still looked hesitant. For a brief moment, Twilight feared that she would say no. Then the pink mare nodded her head and said somberly, “Go ahead. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Grinning, Twilight set Fluttershy down in a spot where she would be able to see any of the heads, and then eagerly positioned herself to look through the keyhole.
She couldn’t see much at first. The lights were dim and she didn’t have a wide range of vision through the keyhole. But as vision adjusted shapes began to form in the darkness. Within a minute, Twilight was able to make out the outline of an enormous unicorn standing over an earth pony. No, not a unicorn; Twilight could make out something growing out of the pony’s sides.
“A princess?” Twilight muttered.
Pinkamena nudged Twilight on the shoulder, “C’mon Twilight, let’s get out of here.”
“Just a second, I want to find out who she is.”
In the hall, the unicorn’s horn lit up, blinding Twilight, who was used to near darkness. When Twilight’s vision adjusted again, the first thing she saw was the smiling face of Princess Celestia. Except it couldn’t have been Celestia, not the one Twilight had known anyway. Her smile was too wide for a normal pony, a smile that nearly stretched all the way to her ears, filled to the brim with horrid teeth the size of hooves. But they weren’t as bad as her eyes. Her eyes were as wide as a normal ponies face and had a wild, hungry look. Twilight was thankful that they weren’t focused on her.
The creature was looking down on something twitching between its legs. Twilight tried to make out what it was, but the monster had its wings down, blocking her view. The only part Twilight could see was the top of an orange Mohawk.
“You’ve been such a bad boy, Teddy.” The creature purred, barely being audible through the door. Its voice reminded Twilight of sour wine and bile.
Twilight heard a noise that sounded like a cough, and then Teddy said, “You- You shut the fuck up you bitch! When Glutton wakes up he’ll…”
“Oh I don’t think Glutton is going to wake up for a good while. Seems I was too much mare for him. Oh well, at least we won’t be interrupted.” The creature giggled and its wings seemed to writhe.
Except they weren’t wings. Twilight couldn’t believe it, but growing out of this monstrous version of Celestia’s back were two large masses of tentacles, doing something to Teddy; something that Twilight was glad she didn’t have a clear look at.
The monster that looked like Celestia continued, “My, you’re so tense right now. Perhaps it would help you relax if I were to remind you of your Sweet Heart?”
Teddy shrieked with rage, “HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER YOU BITCH!”
“Oh Teddy,” The monster said, its voice changing to that of a filly, “I’m closer to you know than any pony else before. I know everything about you.”
“FUCK YOU YOU UGLY WHORE!” Teddy screamed.
The creature’s smile turned into a scowl and it said, “That was a very naughty thing to say, Teddy. Now I’ll have to punish you.” The creature raised one of its hooves and slammed it down. Twilight heard a sickening crack, followed by Teddy’s pained howls.
The creature’s voice returned to normal and its breathing quickened, “Yes, yes! Cry more! Oh yes, squirm you pathetic little…” The creature finished its thought with a noise that was somewhere between a moan and a triumphant roar. Its tentacles pulsed and writhed as it cried. The sound of flesh splitting and guts popping echoed throughout the hospital. A minute later the monster withdrew its tentacles, revealing a large pile of crimson mush.
Twilight watched in horror as the monster bent its head down into the remains of Teddy, and began lapping it up like a dog. For nearly five minutes Twilight stood frozen, watching the image of her former mentor devour the remains of a pony, listening to the smacking sound it make as it chewed. A pony that it- no, Twilight did not to give a name to what she had just witnessed.
Twilight was about to pull herself away from the gruesome scene, when the monster looked up.
“That was too fast, have to find another. I need more. I’ll find some pony, some pony who I can take my time with. Some pony like…” The monster sniffed and turned its head so that it and Twilight made eye contact. The monster grinned and said, “I SMELL A TWILIGHT!”
She had enough time to jump away from the door and yell “Incoming!” before a long helical horn stabbed through it, skewering one of the foam heads.
“Twilight, what’s going on?” Fluttershy asked, cowering beneath a wing.
“No time!” Twilight had pulled Fluttershy onto her back just as the door splintered behind her.
The monster entered the room and looked around wildly. “Oh Twilight,” it said in a twisted parody of Celestia’s voice, “Mommy’s home. It’s time to play!”
Twilight raced to the stairway, but the entrance had already closed itself. Twilight looked around for the tiny switch to open it, but in her panic she couldn’t remember where it was.
Behind her, Twilight could hear the monster slowly approaching behind her, long tentacles writhing along the floor. Her heart pounded inside her chest, dreading what was to come next.
“There is no need to be afraid, sweet Twilight,” The monster said softly, “for I am ever so gentle to my students. Come, satisfy your princess.”
“If you’re a princess, then I’m the duke of Prance!” Pinkamena shouted from across the room. Twilight stole a quick glance to see that she was standing in front of large machine, specifically the glass tank.
The monster turned and hissed at Pinkamena. “Shut up you filthy mud pony! You’ll get your turn when I’m done with Twilight!”
“Oh please, like any pony would want to have a turn with your old plot. I’d rather…”
“OLD!” The monster shrieked as it charged horn first at Pinkamena. “I’ll show you old!” The pink mare rolled beneath the charging beast’s legs just as it was about to skewer her. The monster tried to stop, but it had built up too much momentum. It crashed into the machine, shattering the glass tank in the process.
The monster shrieked with rage. Twilight tensed up, ready to have the room torn apart around her , but it never came. She looked up and found that the monster had gotten its horn stuck in the machine’s body.
Seconds later, a panting Pinkamena showed up next to Twilight. “Olé!” she said in between pants, “I never want to do that again.”
The monster hissed from the machine. It tried to pull itself free, but its horn had pierced deep into the metal body, and held it tightly in place.
“Come on, that’s not going to hold it for long.” Twilight said, already exhausted. “Let’s just get out of here and find Dread.”
“Okie doki.”
After making sure that Fluttershy was secure on her back, Twilight and Pinkamena made their out of the head room, taking care not to step on any of the broken glass. When they had reached the door, the monster spoke, “Please, Twilight, let me have you. You don’t know what it’s like; the gnawing pain, the eternal lust. Would you be so cruel as to deny me?”
Twilight stopped and said in a cold voice, “I just watched you murder and eat a pony, and I’m the cruel one? I’m sorry, but I don’t see the logic in that.”
She had taken another step when the monster called out, “Wait, you don’t know the whole story! The man in red did this. Twilight, please don’t leave me! Was I not a good teacher? Am I not your princess?”
Twilight turned and smiled coldly at the caricature of Princess Celestia. “Vive le roi.” She tossed one of the foam heads into the air and then bucked it at the machine. It hit one of the buttons on the machine and in an instant the machine came alive. Sparks flew from the twin tesla coils, humming as they became streams of lighting and struck the monster. After them a stream a violet vapor erupted from beneath the monster, whistling like a boiling tea kettle.
She watched as the monster was slowly cooked alive, listening to screams mixing with the noise made by the tesla coils. It tried to pull itself away from its torture. Patches of the monster's fur caught fire, turning the once white hair pitch black. Tentacles flailed wildly as they were cooked from the inside. The monster’s skin tore open in places, releasing steam from boiling blood. Soon the entire room stank of burnt flesh and iron, but still the monster kept screaming.
Twilight had to hold back a giggle. Watching the monster die filled her with a sadistic pleasure. She wanted to stay there and wait for the monster’s screams to silence; for what she did not know. It was only when she felt a single tear fall onto the back of her neck that Twilight remembered her senses.
Fluttershy had been watching with Twilight the entire time.
Immediately, Twilight turned away from the monster and carried Fluttershy out of the room. Once they were out in the hallway Pinkamena went back into the room and moved a shelf to block the door.
“What took you guys so long?” Pinkamena asked.
“I-I wanted to make sure that the monster stayed put,” Twilight lied.
“With Fluttershy on your back?” Pinkamena frowned. “You know how sensitive she is! Why would you do that?” Even as Pinkamena spoke, Twilight felt Fluttershy quivering. Her stomach twisted and Twilight found herself wishing that Fluttershy was still comatose.
“Fluttershy, are you okay?” Twilight asked, trying to be gentle.
Fluttershy whimpered, “Why-Why did you do that? Why would you do that to Princess Cele-Cele… Who are you and what have down with my friends!” Tears began to trickle onto Twilight’s neck.
Twilight tried to turn her head and comfort Fluttershy, but the patchwork pegasus pushed her away.
Fluttershy glared down at Twilight, her eye red from crying. “I want an answer. What happened to the Twilight I know? What have you done with her? Tell me!”
Twilight didn’t have an answer. How many times had she done or thought something unnecessarily cruel for no reason? Or how many times had her own stupidity gotten her and her friends in danger? First the tree, now whatever the hay that Celestia look alike was called. Was she the same Twilight that lived in Ponyville so long ago? Or was she a monster, like Sam?
Twilight was about to offer up some bogus theory to appease Fluttershy, when she thought she heard a faint moan coming from the head room. She gave a warning look to Pinkamena that she hoped the pink mare would understand. “Look, Celestia or not that thing attacked us. Anything we did was in self defense. In any case, we’re exposed here and need to get to Dread and Dr. Layne as quickly as possible.”
“Right,” Pinkamena said, picking up on Twilight’s hint, “Let’s go.”
They headed off in the direction Dread and Dr. Layne had fled a few days earlier. The hallway was only lit by the sparks of light coming from the head room, but Twilight made sure go around the remains of Teddy so that they were in Fluttershy’s blind spot. As soon as they were past it, they broke into a run.
As they ran through the darkness, Twilight wondered if she should’ve told Fluttershy what that monster was, or at least her own understanding of it. She wasn’t sure Fluttershy bought the story about the changeling, or the tentacles for that matter. The last thing she need was for Fluttershy to start thinking the Twilight and Pinkamena were monsters.
‘Maybe we are monsters?’ Twilight thought, ‘Pinkamena’s a cannibal and I… I don’t know what I am. Back there, watching that monster die, that didn’t feel like me.’ The Goodfellow laughed from somewhere down the hallway and Twilight pushed her thoughts away. Now wasn’t the time to be questioning her mental state.
They reached a point where they could no longer hear the humming of the tesla coils. Twilight slowed down to a trot and called for Pinkamena to do the same. They were far enough away from the monster that it couldn’t find them unless it lit up the whole hallway; which case they could just run.
“How far do you think we are from the door?” Twilight asked, panting slightly.
“Not far,” Pinkamena answered, “I don’t remember the hallway being this long though.”
The noise of a door creaking open echoed throughout the hallway. Twilight tensed up, readying herself for round two with the monster. She swiveled her ears up and strained them to pick up on any sound made in the hallway. She was only seconds away from hearing the sound of the creature’s hooves charging towards her.
Those seconds passed and the halls were filled with the sound of hooves striking the floor, heading straight towards Twilight and her friends. But the hooves weren’t charging. No, they were moving rather slowly, and in an irregular pattern. In fact, they sounded almost metallic.
Twilight looked in the toward the source of the sound, and found two red eyes staring at her.
Twilight relaxed a little. Sure the android approaching them looked like Dread, but there was no confirmation. For all she knew it could be some other android, one that might’ve been in league with the Administrator. Twilight needed to be quiet; to watch and wait to see how she should approach the android. One false step and it could cost her and her friends lives.
“Dread!”
Or Pinkamena could scream at the top of her lungs; that works too.
The pink mare leapt on to the android, embracing it in a hug that only a Pinkie Pie could pull off.
“Miss Pie, you are alive?” the android asked in an electronic voice. “But, how? The inmates…”
“Yup! Alive and kicking!” Pinkamena answered, rubbing her face on the android’s cheek. She pulled away from the robot and grabbed one of its fore hooves. “C’mon, I want you to meet my friend!”
She walked the robot over to where Twilight was standing with Fluttershy. Twilight instinctively took a step back.
“H-Hello.” Twilight forced a smile.
“Miss Sparkle, it is good to see you alive and well.” Dread said as he approached. “And I see that you’ve managed to protect Miss Shy. Excellent.” Twilight felt Fluttershy hide her face in her mane.
Pinkamena pulled on the android’s leg. “C’mon, I want to introduce you!” .
‘Well, the android hasn’t killed us yet, and it’s not like it has any reason to toy with us.’ Twilight reasoned
Pinkamena led the android up to Twilight and said, “Fluttershy, can you come out? I want you to meet some pony.”
Fluttershy nervously peeked out of Twilight’s mane, got a good look at the android, and then buried her face in the mane again, trembling like a newborn foal.
“Is everything alright?” The android asked.
‘Okay,’ Twilight thought, ‘that’s got to be Dread. Killer robots tend to not have emotions, even synthetic ones, like Dread has.”
“Oh, I’m sure she’s just shy.” Pinkamena answered.
Twilight sympathized with the patchwork mare. Dread had a very intimidating appearance; like some pony had poured chrome over a pony skeleton then brought it to life. If Dread hadn’t been the first thing in Sleipnir that Twilight knew she could trust, she probably would’ve been afraid of the robot as well. Coupled with their recent run in with monstrous Celestia look alike; it was a shock that Fluttershy hadn’t passed out.
Twilight turned her head and nuzzled Fluttershy as best she could without breaking her neck. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, he won’t hurt you. This is one of the doctors who helped you get better.”
Fluttershy raised her head slightly. “Are you sure?” she whispered, “He looks- He looks scary.”
‘Says the living rag doll.’ Twilight’s mind said. Twilight immediately pushed the mean thought away and said, “Fluttershy, remember Zecora and how we learned not to judge a book by its cover?”
“Well, yes. I guess so.”
Twilight smiled, “Relax, even though Dread looks a little scary he’s really one of the nicest ponies you’ll ever meet.”
“Yeah!” Pinkamena said enthusiastically, “He’s the reason that we’re not in tiny cells right now!”
“What?” Fluttershy looked at Twilight for an answer.
Twilight let out a small giggle, “Don’t worry, we’ll explain later.”
“In the mean time, I need to finish the errand that I came to do.” Dread said, “If you like, you can accompany me. If not, then I shall give you directions to where Dr. Layne and I have been bunking for the past few days.”
Not wanting to lose a friend so quickly after reuniting with him, Twilight said, “I’ll go with you. Just tell me where we’re going. Maybe I can help.”
“Oh, it is nothing difficult,” Dread said, “I am simply retrieving a personal item from my office.”
Twilight gulped. Dread’s office was on the other side of the hospital. To get there, they would have to go past the head room, where Twilight left the Celestia look alike.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, there might be some left over inmates hanging out over there.”
Dread lifted one of his fore hooves and unfolded it into a three fingered claw. “Oh I assure you, Miss Sparkle, a small number of inmates will not be a problem.” The android reached into a small slot on his body and pulled out an electronic surgical saw with a circular blade and a blue handle.
“Are you sure that’s going to do any good?” Twilight asked, eying the saw skeptically. “It doesn’t have much range.”
“Against large numbers, no; but I expect that the majority of the released inmates will have either been killed or wandered into different parts of the facility by now. In any case my body is mostly made up of steel and titanium, so a few inmates will not be able to harm me.”
‘A few inmates might not be able to, but what if you run into one of the horrors we’ve encountered?’ Twilight thought. She would’ve told Dread about the tree monster and the Celestia thing right then and there, but that would also mean that Fluttershy would also hear about the monsters. Twilight wasn’t sure Fluttershy was ready to hear about those things.
‘Then again, if I get Pinkie to take Fluttershy to Dread’s hideout I can tell him about the monsters while we’re doing his errend.’
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” Twilight said, and then turned to Pinkamena, “Do you mind taking Fluttershy to the safe house? I don’t want to risk her getting hurt.”
Pinkamena suddenly had a panicked look in her eyes. “I, uh, don’t think that’s a very good idea. Because I, uh…” She raised an arm to her mouth and pretended to bite down on it.
“Oh, right…” Twilight silently cursed herself. She kept forgetting that Pinkamena was just as dangerous as the other inmates, even if she did have a bit more control over herself.
“I don’t mind going with you.” Fluttershy said. “I mean, if that’s okay with you?” Twilight had a sudden urge to throttle the patchwork mare, but she pushed it away.
“Your company would be most welcome, Miss Shy.” Dread said, “Safety in numbers after all.”
“Wait, what about the mon-“ Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkamena’s mouth before she could finish her question.
“Not yet!” Twilight whispered.
“What not yet?”
“The monster, don’t talk about it just yet!”
“Why not?”
“Because;” Twilight gestured toward Fluttershy.
“Oh, okay.”
“Girls, I can hear everything that you’re saying.” Fluttershy said dryly.
Twilight felt blood rushing to her cheeks. “Oh, really? I thought…”
“I’m half blind, not deaf.” Fluttershy said, “Now what is it that you don’t want me to know?”
“That would be something that I am interested in as well.” Dread said, looking at Twilight.
Twilight’s mind raced. She wasn’t ready to fully disclose what she and Pinkamena had found downstairs, nor was she ready for how Dread might take the news. He and Dr. Layne both thought that Sam, the mutated version of Big Macintosh, was the worst thing kept in Sleipnir; how would they react when they found out about the monsters?
‘Then again, I don’t have to tell him the whole truth. Not yet anyway.’ Twilight thought.
Choosing her words carefully, Twilight said, “Shortly after we had gotten back to the hospital, we were attacked by a monster that looked similar to Celestia. It cornered us in the head room, the room with the fake equipment, and I think I killed it.” Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably on Twilight’s back.
“Was this monster any different from the average inmate?” Dread asked.
Twilight bit her lower lip, “Yes and no. Yes, in that it was just a deranged as the other inmates. And no, in that-“
“In that it had huge tentacles growing out if its back!” Pinkamena blurted out, doing her best imitation of an octopus by waving her arms out in front of her.
A series of clicking noises emanated from inside Dread’s chest. “Interesting. We’ll need to talk about this monster when we have Dr. Layne with us. He knows more about the various strains of sanguinam ungollam than I. In the mean time, I need to know if this monster still poses any threat.”
“No.” Twilight said uncertainly, “Well, maybe. I’m not sure.”
Dread made a low buzzing noise. “Well, until I have more information on this creature, my errand will have to wait.” Dread placed his saw back into its slot and folded back his claws. “In the mean time, let us go some place where we are not so exposed.”
Dread turned and gestured for them to follow. He led them through a door at the end of the hospital and into yet another hallway. Unlike the other hallways Twilight had seen, this hallway had curved, metal walls, so that it felt like iron tube. Twilight wondered at what had possessed the architects of Sleipnir to design a hall like this, or any of the other strange architectural oddities that plagued the facility.
As they passed through the hall, Dread periodically pressed buttons on the wall, causing translucent, blue walls to seal the path behind them. Twilight investigated one of these walls when she first saw them. They looked like the magic force fields her brother and sister in law where famous for, but when she got close to them, Twilight could feel her fur being pulled toward them. Twilight had almost touched the one she was looking at when Dread stopped her.
“It would not be wise to do that, Miss Sparkle.” was all the android had said. Twilight had wanted to protest, but after recollecting the last couple of times her curiosity had gotten the better of her, decided that it would be better to just do as the android said.
They walked past three more of the electric fields, and then stopped at what looked like a submarine’s air lock. Dread unfolded his claws and then, with some effort, began turning the valve counter clockwise until the door made a soft hissing noise.
The door swung outward revealing a small, cramped space that reminded Twilight of a soup can that had been turned on its side. The small room was cluttered with piles of bed sheets, confectionaries, and syringes filled with an ugly brown liquid.
Not long after the door had opened, the pile of bed sheets shifted slightly and a gruff voice said, “Back so soon? I would’ve thought that the book would be harder to get to than that.”
Dread answered, “I have not yet gotten the book. On the way to collect it, I encountered some of our former patients.”
Dr. Layne poked his head out from sheet pile and looked over Twilight and her friends. “Oh, well it’s good to see them alive. Not sure why their presence would prevent you from retrieving the book…” Dr. Layne seemed to think about what he just said because he added, “That’s not to say that I’m not glad to see the two of them alive, it’s just that…”
“Three.” Twilight said.
Dr. Layne looked at her quizzically. Twilight checked to make sure Fluttershy hadn’t jumped off at some point and found that she had hidden herself within the bed sheets she had been using as a saddle. Twilight rolled her eyes and tore sheets off, revealing the patchwork mare.
Fluttershy lifted her head up slowly. She took a quick look at Dr. Layne, and then shoved her face into Twilight mane again.
“She always gets like this around strangers.” Twilight said. She turned her head to face Dr. Layne and saw in his eyes something she had only seen once before.
Dr. Layne grinned, “She’s awake? Excellent! I’ll need to examine her soon. Not right now though, need to wait until she’s comfortable. But this is great! If I can get my hooves on some proper research equipment, I might just be able to… No. Shouldn’t get myself too excited.” Dr. Layne’s eyes seemed to snap back into focus. “Twilight, how long as she been awake? Where there further complication with the stitches? How has she been holding up?”
“She can’t support her weight, but other than that she seems fine.” Twilight said. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Pinkamena sinking back into the hall.
“Any more issues with the stitches?”
Twilight thought for a moment, “No, it seems that the replacement skin has begun healing itself." The Book of Newt, which had been almost weightless since departing from its chamber, suddenly felt heavy. Twilight bit her lower lip and winced as the rubber band that bound her wings began to bite further into her skin.
“Something wrong, Starbutt?” Dr. Layne asked.
“I’m fine,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. The band seemed intent on pinching her wing in two. “Do you by chance have anything to cut the thing binding my wings?”
“Dread. If you will.” Dr. Layne said.
“Of course.” Dread unfolded one his claws and pulled out his saw.
Twilight backed away from the instrument. “No, not that, I meant like a knife or scissors.”
“I assure you, Miss Sparkle, you have nothing to fear from me.” Dread turned on the saw. Its hum wasn’t very loud, but in the small, crowded room its sound bit into Twilight’s teeth.
Twilight took another step away. An image of a pony being cut open by a similar tool flashed into her mind, but a dull pain in the back of her head chased it away.
“Alright, just let me get ready.” Twilight lowered Fluttershy onto the pile of bed sheets, then watched as the patchwork mare made herself a cocoon out of them. After a moment of mild amusement, Twilight added the bed sheet she had been carrying to the pile.
She turned to inform Dread that she was ready, but instead found herself nose to nose with a glaring Pinkamena. “What the hell is that doing here?”
Twilight smiled nervously. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Pinkamena bared her pointed, wolf like teeth. “You know full well what I mean. So why don’t you tell me why the fuck you’ve got fucking book with you?”
As Twilight tried to think of an answer that would appease Pinkamena, she noticed that Dr. Layne had moved over to where Dread was standing.
“I-I don’t know.” Twilight stammered. “It seemed like a good idea, and I guess that I thought it would be worth studying.”
Pinkamena glared at Twilight silently for a minute, then took a deep breath. “So let me get this straight. You thought that the book, the one we found surrounded by corpses, the one that Doctor Whooves explicitly told us not to look at, would be a fun thing to study in your free time? Are you fucking kidding me?” Pinkamena slammed a hoof into the wall.
“When did she start swearing?” Dr. Layne asked Dread quietly.
Twilight swallowed; suddenly her throat felt like sand paper. “Well, Doctor Whooves was a lunatic and the corpse thing might’ve been done for some other reason. We don’t know the full details-”
“Full details?” Pinkamena snapped. “It was surrounded by corpses, how many more details do you need?”
Twilight took another step back. She wasn’t afraid for her life like she was a few hours ago when Pinkamena met the newly awakened Fluttershy, but she did not like being so close to an angry cannibal.
“I-uhh…” Twilight tried to say something in her defense, but it seemed as though every logical part of her brain had decided to shut down.
“That’s enough you two.” Dread said, “The last thing we need is unnecessary fighting.”
“But Dread…” Pinkamena whined.
“No buts. We will discuss the book later when you have had time simmer down.”
Pinkamena opened her mouth as if to reply, but instead sat down and ate one of the confectionaries; in this case a honeybun.
Once Pinkamena was settled down, Dread turned to Twilight and said, “Now that those distractions are out of the way, would you mind describing the monster you encountered earlier?”
Twilight took a deep breath and then told Dread about the Celestia look alike, going to as much detail as she could remember. Then, after some thought, informed them her discovery downstairs and the subsequent break out. 'Why delay the inevitable?' Twilight thought.
“We were asleep while it happened Twilight explained, “And we only encountered three of the monsters, but there’s no reason to assume that there aren’t more roaming around the facility. I’m sorry I don’t have more information.”
“That was quite enough, Miss Sparkle, though I cannot say I am happy with the implications of the matter…” Dread fell silent.
Twilight gave a small smiled, “I guess you don’t know as much about Sleipnir as you thought you did?”
At this Dr. Layne actually burst out laughing, “Oh no, it took a lot less than that to convince that we have no idea what’s going on. Have you seen the numbers?”
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the crippled pegasus. “No, what’s so special about numbers?”
“It’s like-It’s like…” Dr. Layne furrowed his brow and sat his chin on a hoof. “I can’t really explain it. You wouldn’t notice it unless you’re paying close attention but… Bah, it’d be easier to show you than to tell you.”
Twilight waited a moment for Dr. Layne to show her whatever it was he was talking about, but instead the storm grey pegasus walked over to the bed sheets and lay down on them. She waited another moment for something to suddenly reveal itself, but nothing came of it.
She stomped a hoof impatiently. “Well?”
“Dr. Layne rolled over on the sheets and looked at Twilight, “What?”
“Aren’t you going to show me?”
Dr. Layne laughed. “Right now? Do you realize how long we’d have to walk before we get to one of the more obvious spots? Besides, given the story you just told us, I’d say that you’re due for a rest. Too much excitement wears out both body and mind. Take a nap, I’ll show you in a couple hours.” At that Dr. Layne buried himself in bed sheets.
Never one to take denial of knowledge lightly, Twilight turned to talk with Dread, who was idly chatting with Pinkamena. “Dread, can you show me what Dr. Layne was talking about?”
Dread finished up his conversation by patting Pinkamena on the head and saying, “You did very well, I am very proud of you.” The android then turned to address Twilight. “Dr. Layne is correct, Miss Sparkle. you need rest.”
Twilight snorted and mumbled, “Fine.” She wanted to protest, but saw to use in it. Dread and Dr. Layne seemed adamant about the decision, and Twilight didn’t feel like wandering Sleipnir alone. “But could we at least get this thing off my wings?”
Placing the saw on the band, Dread cautioned, “This may sting a bit. Should I accidentally cut your skin, there is a first aid kit by the door.”
Twilight grunted to show she understood and closed her eyes. A moment later and soft buzz filled the chamber and the band’s grip on Twilight. When the buzzing noise ceased, Twilight unfurled her wings for the first time in what felt like eternity.
And that was it. Twilight sat there for a minute waiting for something, some sense of renewed freedom to overshadow her senses, but nothing came. She tried stretching them out further, but aside from the typical satisfaction that comes from stretching a limb, there was nothing special.
Twilight frowned and looked over her wings to make sure they weren’t mangled.
“Something wrong, Miss Sparkle?” Dread asked.
“No. It’s just that with my wings free now, I would’ve thought there would’ve been some satisfaction, a renewed sense of freedom, or something. This just seems disappointing.”
A soft clicking noise emanated from within Dread’s body. “If I am not mistaken, Miss Sparkle, you were once a mundane unicorn. If that is the case, then perhaps your wings are not as important to you as your other limbs; at least on a subconscious level.”
Twilight sighed, “Well, I guess that makes sense. Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure, Miss Sparkle.”
After thinking for a moment, Twilight asked, “Dread, what did Dr. Layne mean by ‘the numbers’?”
The lights on Dread’s face dimmed, and a low clicking emanated from the android’s body. “Get some rest, Miss Sparkle; we’ll explain it in a few hours.”
Twilight tried to ask for a better answer, but Dread merely repeated the command and refused further comment. Realizing that she was going to have to wait for her knowledge, Twilight consigned herself to finding something to kill time.
A quick look around the room showed that every pony else had either gone to sleep, except for Pinkamena, who was apparently sorting the confectionaries by sweetness.
It was while looking around the room that Twilight remembered the book she had brought with her, and found it by the pile of bed sheets. It had fallen to the ground when Dread cut Twilight’s band, but none of the pages seemed to have been bent.
After making sure that Pinkamena wasn’t watching, Twilight cracked open the book and smiled softly as the laughter of three young foals filled her mind.
The hum of the buzz saw filled the dimly lit room. Twilight carefully guided its blade along the lines she drew on her subject’s scaly body. She had intended to use a scalpel for this experiment, but the small blades proved ineffective on the dragon’s hard hide. In all honesty, the buzz saw wasn’t faring much better. Sparks flew as the spinning blade struck flesh, moving at roughly a centimeter per minute.
Not helping was her subject’s struggling. Twilight had wanted to give the adolescent dragon opium to numb the pain, but needles were about useful as scalpels for this matter. Instead Twilight had to settle for giving her subject a blindfold and a large, fireproof gag for him bite on while she worked.
When Twilight was done with the incision, she removed the gag and blind fold from her subject to get feedback on her work. It wasn’t the nicest thing to do with the unfortunate circumstances, but Twilight couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear her subject’s thoughts.
Once the subject had stopped shaking, it opened its eyes to Twilight’s smiling face.
“Twilight?” The subject asked; its voice barely more than a whisper. “W-What’s going on?”
“Oh nothing,” Twilight said happily, “I’m just testing a few new inventions, that’s all. We’ll be done in a couple of hours, and if all goes well you’ll be on your way home!”
“And if things don’t go well?” The subject gulped.
“You know, you have an incredibly high tolerance for pain.” Twilight said quickly. “I mean I knew dragons were tough, but this is ridiculous!”
“What are you-” The subject looked down at the incision on its torso and its breathing quickened and became shaky. Once more the subject began struggling against its bounds, only this time it let out a loud, panicked scream, causing a small stream of green fire to spew out of its mouth. Twilight quickly put the gag back in.
“Will you stop being such a baby?” Twilight said. “I was hoping that you and I could talk while I worked, like we used to back at the library. But no, you just had to freak out like that.”
The subject stared at Twilight with wide eyes, its entire body trembling. For a moment, Twilight considered putting the blind fold back on as well, but dismissed the idea. The subject wasn’t going to have its eyes for long anyway, why not let it enjoy them for a little while longer?
Twilight replaced the buzz saw on the shelf where she kept her power tools, and then used her magic to pull out the chest containing her medical supplies. She picked out her favorite bone cutter and placed its two blades on either side of one of the subject’s ribs.
The subject gave Twilight a pleading look. His breathing quickened as Twilight’s bone cutter bit down on its rib. A sickening crack filled the air, followed shortly by the subject’s muffled screams.
Placing a hoof on the subject’s side, Twilight said, “Oh come on, don’t be a baby. Ribs grow back!” She gave the subject a kiss on the forehead before continuing her work. After about ten minutes of diligent cutting, Twilight had removed twenty ribs from the subject’s body, and placed them in a small plastic case for later experiments.
Satisfied with her work on the rib cage, Twilight put the bone cutter back in its place and took out a scalpel, and one of the thirteen machines she had invented only a few hours prior. The machine she had selected was one she was particularly proud of. From the outside the device looked like some pony had haphazardly stuck several small tubes into a can shaped hunk of metal, but on the inside it was an elegantly designed pump that could mix liquids and gasses together while filtering any unwanted material. If Twilight’s theory was correct, then this invention would revolutionize the Equestrian medical field, all she had to do was test it.
Twilight took the scalpel and used it to sever the blood vessels that connected the heart to the rest of the body, blood spewed out with every slice. Acting quickly, she removed the still beating organ and placed it in a jar the she had prepared beforehand. With only seconds to act before the subject bled out, Twilight placed the device in the now empty cavity and used magic to fuse the metallic tubes with the organic blood vessels. When she was done, the device began pumping blood through the subject’s body more effectively than any heart could.
When Twilight was done wiping any spilled blood up with a paper towel, she let out a deep breath. The first of her replacement organs was a success. If she were to stop here she would almost certainly earn herself some acclaim in the medical field. But her work was far from over. She still had thirteen organs to replace in her subject; the eyes, kidneys, small intestine, large intestine, lungs, stomach, spleen, liver, and gallbladder.
Twilight thought for a moment, looking over the subject’s organs. “Which do you think I should do next?” she asked the subject.
She removed the gag from the subject’s mouth and waited for a response. Instead, she was answered by a low gurgling noise. Twilight scowled and smacked the dragon with her hoof.
“No more!” The subject croaked, “Please, I want to go home.”
“You’ll go home in a couple of hours.” Twilight said irritably. “For now though I need your cooperation while I replace your organs. Now which do you prefer; lungs or kidneys?”
“I want to go home…” The subject said faintly as its eyes rolled into the back of its head.
Twilight snorted, “Fine, lungs it is.”
Several hours passed as Twilight continued her work; with her inventions she had managed to reduce the majority of the digestive process down to four organs. The mechanical lungs were relatively unchanged from their organic counter parts, but the new and improved stomach now handled the work of the spleen, liver, and kidneys. Most of the other organs she replaced where either designed to act as a backup should any of those four organs fail; or else act like a more efficient version of the organic version, such as the new, single intestine that regulated waste produced by the other organs. All that was left to do now was the subject’s eyes.
When Twilight was done sewing up the subject’s torso, she got out a scalpel and a small spoon. She held the tools in front of the subject’s face and with a smile asked; “Are you ready?”
The subject looked at the tools with an expression of horror. It tried to quicken its breathing, but the mechanicals lungs kept it at a calm pace. “Please, Twilight, no! I let you take my organs, but please not my eyes! Just let me keep them. Please?”
Twilight frowned. “But Spike, I need to thank you in some way. I know this wasn’t fun for you, so I thought I could at least give you something you would like. You’ve always talked about how much you wanted X-ray vision, right?” Twilight lowered the scalpel to the subject’s left eye.
“No don’t!” The subject stammered, “I mean, please, the pleasure was all mine. You don’t need to give me anything. JUST LET ME GO!”
The scalpel touched the subject’s eye lid. Unlike its torso, the scales on the eyelids where soft and easily cut.
“Please, I won’t tell any pony! Just let me go home!” The subject’s voice devolved into a whimper as Twilight dragged the scalpel across the eyelid.
Cutting a circle around the subject’s eye, Twilight used the spoon to lift the severed flesh from the subject, leaving the eye exposed to the elements. Tears immediately began forming to keep the eye from drying out, mixing with the blood from the incision.
Twilight picked out a rag and wiped the bloody tears from the subject’s face.
“This may hurt a little; do you want me to hold your hand while I do this?” Twilight asked. A weak blubbering noise was her only answer.
Twilight shrugged and held the scalpel up to the subject’s eye, and slowly pushed it in. There was a small ‘pop’, and the subject screamed as both the pupil and iris where split in two. A clear, watery liquid bled from the incision and flowed down the subject’s cheek. Twilight gently pressed on the torn eye to speed up the oozing process, and after a moment the eye had completely deflated.
Twilight scooped the remains of the eye out of the socket, dried the excess ooze with a rag, and selected a pair of tweezers. The subject’s remaining eye turned to look at the tool. Its entire body shook at the sight of them, but the only thing to come out if its mouth was a low croak.
Placing the tweezers at the back of the eye socket, Twilight began pinching and pulling out small chunks of flesh until she finally caught hold of what she was looking for. Twilight pulled the tweezers, bringing out a small, worm like object. The subject shook more violently than before, shrieking like a wounded pig. Finally, after a minute, Twilight worked the optic nerve free.
The subject screeched and pulled hard at its binds, either to try to defend itself or to clutch at the empty cavity. Twilight giggled and gave it a comforting pat on the arm.
“Don’t worry, we’re almost done” She said. Twilight had intended for this to make her subject feel better it didn’t seem to work. Instead, the subject began thrashing against the table, crying out like a newborn foal, and exhaling a long stream of dark green fire that singed the roof of Twilight’s workshop.
Twilight waited for the subject to calm down before continuing. She was a little less cautious with the second eye, rushing through the eyelid removal like an over excited filly. When it was gone, Twilight pressed the scalpel into the second eye and used it to scoop out the gels and tissues that took so long to ooze out of the other one.
The subject too had gotten bolder. It struggled as Twilight worked, trying to bite or burn her. But for all its efforts it only managed to make Twilight’s control of the scalpel less accurate.
Twilight removed the second eye and put it with the other. Together they looked like a pair of crushed cherries.
After removing the optic nerve from the second eye socket, Twilight brought out the two mechanical eyes she had made less than an hour before collecting her subject. Their build was similar to a camera, only they didn’t need a bright flash of light to catch an image. They were made of a light metal except for the actual lenses which were made of glass. Twilight was quite confident that they would be comfortable.
Twilight placed the eyes into the subject’s sockets, and was satisfied that they fit. She magically linked the eyes to the subject’s occipital lobe, causing a crackling sound to come from within the subject’s head.
The mechanical eyes lit up and emitted a dull green light. Twilight shone the light of her horn directly into them and had to resist the urge to giggle as they followed the glow when she moved.
“Okay Spike, looks like we’re done here.” Twilight said happily. She pressed a button on the side of her work table and the straps holding the subject released it. The subject tried to get up, but all it succeeded in was barely lifting an arm. “You’re probably still in shock from the project, so I’m gonna let you rest down here for a little bit. There are snacks in the cabinet if you get hungry and books on the shelf if you get bored.”
Twilight wiped up any remaining blood and got out a pillow and a blanket to keep the subject cozy while she was gone. When she had tucked the subject in, Twilight kissed it on the forehead and said, “I’ll be back in a little bit, don’t worry.”
Twilight closed a curtain to give her subject some privacy and made her way to her workshop’s bathroom. On the way she passed her last experiment, one that had sadly ended up being a failure. Realizing that she hadn’t visited with it since yesterday, Twilight pulled up a chair and sat beside it.
The experiment’s fur had fallen out in places, showing greenish skin and warts that had formed over night. One of these warts had formed underneath the experiment’s left eye, causing it to bulge out and rendering it blind.
“Hey, Pinkie.” Twilight said tentatively. The experiment’s good eye rolled to look at her, giving an expression that could’ve either been terror, or happiness.
Twilight rubbed a hoof over the experiment’s body, feeling the scars from where she had plugged tubes into it. They were getting better.
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, “I didn’t mean for you to end up like this. The theory was sound and… I’m going to make things right.”
The experiment tried to open its mouth to say something, but all that came out were a couple of flies that had gotten stuck in there Celestia knows how long ago. Twilight shooed the flies away and made a mental note to do something to keep them out of her experiment.
Twilight got a water bottle and poured some water into the experiment’s mouth, taking care not to give too much or to choke it. The experiment’s throat shuddered as damaged muscles tried their hardest to swallow the liquid.
“Honey, are you down there?” A deep voice called from the trap door leading into Twilight’s workshop.
“Yes dear,” Twilight called back, “just finishing up some experiments.”
“Well when you get a chance, Page needs some help with her science homework, and you know how I am about that.”
Twilight giggled, “Don’t worry, I’m almost done.”
She turned back to the experiment, which was looking toward the trap door and an odd, breathy sound hissed out of its gaping mouth. “Don’t worry, that’s just my husband, he won’t hurt you. Anyway, I’ve got to go now, but when your stomach is strong enough, I’ll give you a slice of cake for your first piece of solid food.” Twilight chuckled, “Hey, maybe the girls and I could throw you a recovery party? Doesn’t that sound fun?” The experiment stared at her in silence.
Twilight left the experiment and went to her workshop’s shower. Selecting the brand of shampoo that Rarity had recommended to her, Twilight began the process of rinsing the blood out of her fur and feathers. It wasn’t easy, the blood had clotted in places and Twilight had to rely on a comb to get it out. Finally, after fifteen minutes, she was out of the shower, smelling like apple pie and covered in silky smooth fur that was completely blood free.
After drying off, Twilight climbed up through the iron trap door, and locked it behind her. The entry room around the trap door was essentially a concrete shed where Big Mac stored some of his farming equipment. There was a little more light than in the workshop itself, but that was only because there was a small window on one of the walls.
Twilight’s eyes stung at the natural light, nearly blinding her. After giving them a couple of seconds to adjust, she was met by a large mass of red fur. The next thing she knew two legs were wrapped around her neck and some pony was gently rubbing her nose with their own.
Twilight giggled and answered her husband’s nuzzle with a kiss. A second later they broke off and Big Mac said, “I haven’t seen you all day.”
“I’m sorry; my latest experiment is time consuming and needs constant supervision. I mean the calculations alone took about three hours, and then there are variables I need to consider and-” Big Macintosh interrupted his wife with another kiss.
“Sugar plum, you know I can’t make heads nor tails of that science hoopla you do.” Big Mac said when he broke off, “It makes my head spin.”
Blushing, Twilight said, “Sorry. I was going on a tangent again, wasn’t I?”
Big Macintosh chuckled, “No, I stopped you before you could get that far. I mean, I love hearing you talk about your work, I just can’t understand it. Maybe we talk about it later when we’re eating?”
Twilight smiled, “Sounds good.” Then, realizing an opportunity, added in her best suggestive voice, “Maybe later we could get Rarity so that you and I could talk more *alone*.”
“Maybe, but with that new husband of hers, I doubt it would make much of a difference. Those two are like rabbits.”
Both ponies chuckled despite it being a bad joke.
“Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you before you went to help Page.” Big Mac said, “I won’t keep you any longer. I’d go with you, but I need to finish fertilizing the garden.”
“No problem. I’ll see you at dinner. Love you!”
“I love you too sugar plum.”
Twilight crossed the yard to her house. To her right, the orchards were blooming with white and pink flowers. In a couple of weeks Summerfree would work with her father to harvest thousands of apples, after which Twilight and her other two children work to brew them into cider, and apple wine to be served at Canterlot parties. Twilight was thinking about trying a new apple beverage, Scumble, to diversify their selection. It would certainly be a fun experiment.
The house itself was a three story mansion built with plantation inspired architecture coupled with Cloudsdale esque columns with marble accents. Big Macintosh had wanted a home similar to his family’s house in Sweet Apple Acres, but Twilight had insisted they get something more dignified, if only to keep the Canterlot nobles happy. Of course, Twilight also made sure that her husband got a few things to remind him of home. Much of the interior was based on the Apple family home, particularly the kitchen, where Big Mac spent much of his time.
Twilight stepped into the house’s foyer, a simple room with hardwood floors and walls that were decorated with pictures of Twilight and Big Macintosh’s family.
“Page!” Twilight called out, “You’re father told me you needed help with something?”
“Yeah, Mom, I’m in the library.” Page Turner answered.
Twilight followed Page’s voice into the largest room in the entire house. The library was modeled after the ones kept by ancient unicorn wizards, standing at about two stories tall and built with boulders fitted into each other by hoof. Like every other library, the room was packed with bookshelves that were spaced just far enough from each other to allow two ponies to walk side by side, giving the whole room a slightly claustrophobic feel.
“Page, are you in here?” Twilight called out.
“Yeah, Mom,” Page answered, “I’m in the biology section!”
Twilight traversed several aisles of bookshelves, passing the Zoology and Hippology sections until she came upon a small table that was set by one of the few shelf free walls. Sitting at this desk was a small, reddish-orange pegasus filly that was surrounded by papers and opened books.
“Hey Mom.” Page Turner said when she noticed Twilight. When she sat down beside her, Page added, “I don’t know if Dad told you but, you see… I’m having some… problem with, well-”
“You’re having trouble with your homework.” Twilight said.
Page gave a weak smile and the fur around her cheeks turned a bright red. “Yeah, that’s it. Sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?” Twilight asked.
Page hesitated for a moment. “Well, it’s just you’re always talking about your projects and theories, coming up with ways to make weather without pegasi or new recipes for cider. Since I can’t do magic like a unicorn I thought that you would want me to be a scientist, like you.”
“Why would you think that?”
Page looked at the floor for a moment. “Because every pony on Dad’s side of the family seem to all have similar special talents, well except for Auntie Applebloom; and I figured that you would want me to follow in your hoof steps, but…” Tears began rolling down Page’s cheeks. “I’m scared that I can’t.”
Twilight wrapped a wing around her daughter and pulled her in close. “How long have you been worried about this?”she asked.
“Couple weeks,” Page sniffled, rubbing her head into her mother’s shoulder. “ever since Summerfree got her cutie mark. You and Aunt Applejack kept talking about how much she was becoming like Dad and how y’all were so proud of her and-”
The image of Summerfree’s cutecenera flashed into Twilight’s mind. She and Aj have been talking about how proud they were of Summerfree, but she had no idea that would’ve had this big of an impression on Page.
“I just want to make you proud.” Page said. “I can’t harvest apples like Dad and Summerfree, and I can’t do magic like Bunsen. All I’ve got is science and I’m terrible at it!” Page clutched at Twilight and sobbed, “I’m worthless.”
Twilight nuzzled Page on the forehead, saying, “You’re not worthless.”
Page looked up, her eyes red from crying, “Really?”
“Really;” Twilight answered, “I don’t expect you to have the same talents and passions as I do, or your father for that matter. I just want you to be happy with whatever turns out to be your special talent. So what if you’re not good at science? I’m sure there are plenty of things that you’re good at, and you just don’t know it yet. Whatever it is, I’ll be proud of you for it.”
Page pressed her head into Twilight’s fur. “Thanks, Mom.”
“So what are you having trouble with?”
Page pulled herself out of her mother’s grasp, “It’s biology. Mrs. Cheerilee has explained it several times over, but I still don’t get it.”
Twilight pretended to think for a moment, “Okay, what about biology don’t you get?”
“Everything!” Page stomped a hoof on the table. “One minute we’re talking about DNA, and how it’s nothing like sci-fi novels describe it, then we move on to something called RNA and amino acids and-”
“Oh, microbiology.” Twilight said, “At least, I think that’s what it’s called. I didn’t realize they were teaching it to fillies your age.”
Page’s ears perked up and she said hopefully, “So you’re saying it’s too early for them to teach in to me and that I should just ignore it?”
Twilight smiled slyly. “Nice try.”
Page’s ears fell flat again.
“Let’s start with the basics, shall we?” Twilight said, ignoring her daughter’s disappointment. She took out a pencil and a piece of paper and on it drew three straight lines. “Both DNA and RNA contain genetic information, but they both perform different functions.” She drew lines connecting two of the three lines and then a few more on the remaining line. “The easiest way to recognize the difference between the two is that DNA is double stranded whereas RNA is single stranded. Further differences relate to the chemical makeup of the molecule. For example, DNA contains sugar deoxyribose while RNA contains ribose. The difference is that ribose contains more-”
“Mom, I don’t think they’re going to ask me about the chemical makeup of them.” Page said, pulling out a sheet of paper. “Mrs. Cheerilee gave the class a study guide and it doesn’t mention deoribose, or whatever you called it.”
“Deoxyribose.” Twilight corrected, “And why didn’t you tell me this before? It would’ve been helpful.”
“Well, I was gonna, but then you started talking and I wasn’t sure how to speak up.”
“Oh,” Twilight felt blood rising to her cheeks, “sorry. What’s on the sheet?”
“Just a list of terms that Cheerilee wants us to understand.” Page said, “I thought I could understand it on my own, but all of your books just made everything confusing.”
Twilight took the sheet of paper from her daughter. “Let’s see, ‘What is the difference between a virus and bacteria?’ That’s easy enough. ‘What are the two types of blood cells?’ ‘Mitochondria, ribosome, cytoplasm, cell membrane, nucleus’ that’s just a list of cell parts.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed, “‘What is the purpose of bone marrow?’ Aren’t y’all a little young to be learning about bone marrow?”
“Mom, you just tried to explain the chemical makeup of DNA,” Page said.
“Oh, right.” Twilight suddenly felt the need to quickly change the subject, “Anyway, let’s start with the difference between a virus and bacteria.”
“Okay.”
Twilight thought for a moment, recollecting all her knowledge on microbes. “Well, let’s start with how they’re similar. Both viruses and bacteria can cause infection, and both reproduce quickly inside the pony body.”
“Alright,” Page said, writing the information down, “What makes them different?”
“Well, they’re different sizes for one thing, and they reproduce differently.” Twilight answered. “Bacteria, for instance, reproduce by dividing themselves. Viruses reproduce by attacking cells and multiplying inside them.”
Twilight paused and waited for Page to finishes writing. “The next difference is treatment. Bacteria are easily treated by antibiotics, provided that the pony in being treated finishes their treatment. Viruses on the other side of the coin, well, they’re tricky.”
Page looked up from her notes, “How so?”
“Well, many viruses can’t be treated by medicine or magic. Most viruses aren’t a big deal to ponies, and they usually go away on their own. But sometimes ponies get infected with a virus that can’t be cured or killed, and those ponies have to deal with that for their entire lives. Sometimes they might not realize that something’s wrong…” Twilight went quiet. Something in the pit of her stomach twisted and the alicorn wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or throw up.
“Mom, are you okay?” Page asked.
“Y-Yes.” Twilight said uncertainly. “What’s next on that list of yours?”
Twilight’s eyes flew open. Her chest felt as if she had been stabbed with a rusted sword. She managed to stand up, but her legs nearly buckled under her weight. Twilight looked around, seeing the sleeping figures of the friends she had made in Sleipnir.
‘Family? I have a family?’
None of it felt real. Not the Administrator, not the walls, not even her friends. This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. Real was what made sense, and nothing in Sleipnir made sense.
‘I have to get home. My family… ’ Twilight thought.
She took two steps forward and collapsed back onto the pile of sheets. The pain in her chest had dissolved into what felt like a series of needles stabbing her in the heart. Twilight tried to calm herself by taking a deep breath, but she couldn’t get the air past her throat.
‘But what about Spike? Spike? What did I do to Spike? Oh, Luna, what did I do to Pinkie?’
The image of Twilight’s two mutilated friends burned themselves into her mind. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. Her breathing, which had previously been slow and weak, suddenly sped up to a dangerously brisk pace.
“What did I do?” Twilight cried. “What’s wrong with me? Why did I hurt them like that?”
“Twilight?” Pinkamena said from somewhere across the dark room. “Is something wrong? Why are you up right now?”
“It’s nothing,” Twilight said, trying to keep the image of Pinkie Pie’s disfigured body out of her head. “Bad dream, that’s all.”
“Are you sure? It didn’t sound like a bad dream.”
“Yes, I’m sure!” Twilight snapped. A loud bang rang from where Pinkamena had been.
“Owie,” Pinkamena said, fighting off pain, “You didn’t have to yell at me.”
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, just slammed my head against the wall,” Pinkamena said through gritted teeth, “I’ll be fine in a minute.”
Twilight winced, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell like that. It’s just that, you know how you get sometimes when you’re reminded of, you know, the incident?”
“Hold it,” Pinkamena interrupted, “before we continue, why don’t we make sure that we won’t be bothering our neighbors. I’d do it myself, but, you know…”
“Got you,” Twilight said as she started toward the spot where Fluttershy had fallen asleep a few hours earlier. She found Fluttershy nestled under a pile of bed sheets, sleeping like a foal.
Twilight let out a sigh of relief, “Okay, I think we’re in the clear.”
“Not quite,” said a low, gruff voice. Twilight instinctively backed away from it.
“Dr. Layne?” Twilight said. “What are you doing up so late?”
“Oh, not much,” Dr. Layne answered, yawning, “Just trying to get some sleep while two inconsiderate mares chatter on about dreams and whatnot. It wouldn’t have been so bad if one of you hadn’t screamed all of a sudden. Anyway, now that I’m up, do you two mind cluing me in on what you’re going on about?”
“Nothing,” Twilight said. “I just had a nightmare. We’ll keep it down. Go back to sleep.”
There was a low grumble from Dr. Layne, then the entire room went quiet.
After a few minutes, Pinkamena asked, “Think he’s asleep?”
“Probably,” Twilight answered.
Pinkamena moved so that she was closer to Twilight. “Alright, now why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”
Twilight took a deep breath and described her dream to Pinkamena. For the most part she simply sat quietly and listened, though Twilight could’ve sworn that she had squirmed a little when she mentioned what she had done to her Pinkie.
When Twilight had finished, Pinkamena asked, “Do you know why you did those things?”
Twilight sighed, “No. I think that I might’ve gotten the idea to try and do something with biological processes, at least that’s what I tried to do with Spike, but that doesn’t explain why I would go to such drastic measures. I mean, it wouldn’t have been hard to safely test such theories on animals or something. Why would I hurt my friends like that?”
“Well, maybe you’re like me?” Pinkamena suggested. “You get an itch that you can’t scratch unless you’re hurting some pony else, even if that pony is...” Pinkamena trailed off.
“Maybe,” Twilight said, her stomach twisted at the idea, “but we don’t have enough information to be sure. After all, I haven’t had an urge to kill anything…” Twilight’s mind flashed back to every time she had let her curiosity get the better of her, and the way she had reacted to seeing the Celestia look alike burned alive.
Twilight shook her head, and the images went away.
“Okay, maybe you’re right,” she admitted, “maybe it has something to do with that virus?”
“Probably,” Pinkamena said, “we’d have to ask Dread to know for sure though.”
“I guess.” Twilight said.
The two fell silent. Twilight pondered the nature of the virus, sanguinam ungollum, and when she might’ve gotten infected with it. How long had she had the virus? Was it always in her and no pony ever noticed? Or did she come across later in life? Was it contagious, and if so could she have passed it onto her children? Would they become monsters too?
Not wanting to think of that possibility, Twilight instead tried to list the effects the virus had and figure out which ones applied to her. She didn’t think she was that violent, at least not to the extent of the other inmates of Sleipnir, but still there were times when she either lost control of herself or nearly got her and her friends killed, or worse. Twilight knew for a fact that she wasn’t always that reckless. Was it possible that the virus was affecting her curiosity?
“So,” Pinkamena said, interrupting Twilight’s thoughts, “you and Big Macintosh?”
“Is there a problem with that?” Twilight asked, mildly annoyed. She had a vague feeling in the back of her head that told her that her love life had once been the subject of gossip among ponies she had never met.
“No, no,” Pinkamena said, “It’s just that I never pictured you ending up with a guy like him. At least, not the version of you in my world.”
Twilight sighed, “Me neither. I remember going out with him for a while, but after that, nothing. I’m not sure how we ended up getting married, let alone having children. It’s probably not worth thinking about though.”
“Why not?” Pinkamena asked.
Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but found that she didn’t really have one. “I don’t know. I guess, well, I don’t want to get my hopes up.”
Pinkamena placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and said somberly, “I understand.”
Twilight smiled and was about to reply when something heavy slammed against the door.
“What was that?” Twilight asked stupidly.
Pinkamena answered in a panicked voice, “I don’t know. You don’t think-” Whatever Pinkamena was going to say was drowned out by another crash against the door.
“What in blazes?” Dr. Layne screamed as he leapt from underneath the pile of covers.
“I don’t know!” Twilight said, trying to keep control over her breathing. “One of the inmates found us?”
Another crash against the door.
“Can’t be. That door’s four inches of hardened steel,” Dr. Lanye said.
At that, Twilight’s knees buckled underneath her and the world seemed to slow down around her. Images of jagged teeth and tentacles flashed through her mind, chilling her blood.
Whatever was smashing against the door redoubled its efforts, rapidly hitting it at a pace that was only slightly slower than Twilight’s heartbeat. Then all was quiet. The three ponies waited in silence for the attacker to continue its onslaught against the door, but nothing came of it.
“Is it gone?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena let out a hiss, “No, I don’t think so. It might’ve just gone looking for something to open the door with.”
Twilight gave that suggestion a little time to process, then said, “We need to leave then. If that thing finds a way to get in here, we’re all done for.”
“Better in here than out there.” Dr. Layne said, “There aren’t a lot of things that can break down that door, and most of them can’t be found anywhere near here. Going out there would just mean that we have to introduce ourselves to whoever was out there.”
“Well we can’t just stay here!” Twilight stomped a hoof. “We don’t have enough supplies to last more than a day or two, and that’s assuming that Pinkie doesn’t eat all the food-”
“Hey!” Pinkamena said indignantly.
“Sorry, Pinkie,” said Twilight before continuing. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that we’re not set up to stay for very long.”
“She is right you know,” Dread said from the far end of the room. “When we ran for supplies it was assumed that only you would be needing the edibles, Dr. Layne. If we are to accommodate the three mares, then we will need to go out eventually.”
Dr. Layne snorted, “In case you haven’t noticed, there is something out there strong enough to hit a steel door, one that was designed to survive a nuclear explosion, and make a noise.”
“What do you think woke me up, Dr. Layne?” Dread asked, “I know full well that there is danger outside, but I also know that to stay here without acquiring provisions would mean certain death.”
“Wait,” Twilight said, “why would you need a door to survive a nuclear blast? What are the chances of that happening?”
It was Dread who answered, “Dr. Layne was exaggerating. We think this room used to be used to test radioactive material, but we have no evidence that it housed anything strong enough to causes a-”
“Wait, what?” Twilight shouted. Then, is as calm a tone as she could muster, added, “You mean to tell me that we’ve been staying in a radiation laboratory?”
“Possibly, we’re not quite sure,” Dr. Layne answered, “So far it’s the only explanation that we have for this room.
Twilight wasn’t sure if she wanted to pull her mane out, or beat Dr. Layne over the head with something heavy.
“If it is any consolation, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, “we can only guess at what this room’s purpose is, and our guesses are likely false. We only found the room a couple of days ago after all. Please understand though that we did not have many options for sanctuary.”
Twilight gritted her teeth and glared at the android, but otherwise didn’t respond. If they had been sleeping in an irradiated area, then there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it. She could get angry, but the damage was already done.
“Uh, guys,” Pinkamena said, “has any pony checked on Fluttershy?”
Grimacing, Twilight answered, “No, I distracted by the radiation thing Dr. Layne mentioned. I’ll check on her” Then, turning to Dread, asked, “Dread, do you mind turning the lights on?”
“Not at all, Miss Sparkle.”
When the lights came on, Twilight had to give herself a moment for her eyes to adjust. After that, she went to where they had set Fluttershy and found her still bundled up beneath the sheets, as though nothing had happened.
“She’s fine.” Twilight announced, “I don’t think the attacker woke her up.”
Dr. Layne let out a sigh, “Alright then, now that that’s out of the way, does any pony have a plan for how we could get more supplies. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but not only do we need to get past something stronger than all of us combined, but we also need to actually locate the supplies in order for them to be useful.”
“There was plenty of food in the room we were staying in.” Pinkamena suggested.
Twilight shook her head, “That’s at least a couple hours walk, plus I think that’s where we’ll run into the most monsters.”
Oh, that reminds me, we still need to discuss the monsters, Miss Sparkle.”
“One thing at a time, Silver Platter,” Dr. Layne snapped, “we still need to think of a place to look for supplies.”
Dread answered, “Well, I am not sure if it is a good idea to go there, but there should be plenty of food in the kitchen.”
“So, does every pony understand the plan?” Dread asked.
“It isn’t really much of a plan, Dread,” Dr. Layne said, “when you get right down to it, it’s just you and the two psychos making a mad dash to the kitchen while I baby sit Fluttershy. Everything else is just speculation on variables.”
“Well, I think that it’s a good plan,” Twilight said, mostly to get back at Dr. Layne for calling her and Pinkamena psychos.
They had been discussing methods of acquiring food and water for the better part of an hour, and Twilight was beginning to get sick of it. In that hour of planning all they had accomplished was deciding that Fluttershy would have to stay behind, and that some pony would have to watch her. Twilight had wanted to stay behind, but Dr. Layne had insisted on watching Fluttershy himself, saying that he wanted to evaluate her condition.
“Can we go now?” Pinkamena whined, “We’ve been talking about this for a long time, and it’s not fun anymore.”
“We will leave in a minute, Miss Pie,” Dread answered, “just give me a moment to check that we can leave safely. Please be patient.”
Dread unfolded his claws and opened the large, vault-like door part way then slipped through it. When he was through, Pinkamena threw herself at a wall and began vigorously scratching at her ears.
“Is everything okay, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
“No,” Pinkamena said while clawing at her face, “The itch is back, with a vengeance.”
“Itch?” Twilight asked as the realization dawned on her. “Oh gosh! You don’t mean?”
“I do,” Pinkamena answered solemnly. “I thought I was past this, for the most part, but this is just just…” Pinkamena screamed and pulled several strands of hair from her head.
Twilight took a step back from her friend. “Dr. Layne?” she called.
“I heard,” Dr. Layne answered, “I’m looking for something to restrain her right now.”
“Hurry!” Pinkamena screamed. Beads of sweat were beginning to dot her forehead.
“I’m hurrying!” Dr. Layne shouted as he tossed a basket full of bed sheets.
Twilight’s eyes darted around the room. If Dr. Layne couldn't restrain Pinkamena, then they would have to incapacitate her some other way. Unfortunately though, the only thing in the room that might work as a weapon were the syringes that Dread and Dr. Layne had put in a pile, and unless they were filled with powerful narcotics they wouldn’t be much help.
As Twilight was looking for a weapon, Pinkamena grabbed her head pulled it so that they were looking in each others eyes. Twilight had seen Pinkamena’s eyes look wild before, but this was different. They were the eyes of a wounded wolf. It took Twilight a moment to realize that Pinkamena was crying.
“Twilight, listen to me,” Pinkamena said, her voice trembling, “I know I’ve said this before, but if this urge doesn’t pass and I lose control, kill me. I don’t care how, just do it before I hurt another one of my friends.”
Twilight wanted to say something, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to actually agree to Pinkamena’s request, not verbally anyway. Instead, Twilight asked, “How long have you had this urge?”
Pinkamena let go of Twilight’s head and returned to clawing at her own. When she spoke, it was as if getting the words out caused her great stress. “I don’t know. For as long as I can remember? I thought we’ve been through this?”
“Dr. Layne, find anything yet?” Twilight called.
“No, nothing that she can’t break out of at least.” The stallion answered.
Twilight snorted and turned her attention to back to Pinkamena, “That’s not what I meant. How long has the urge been this strong?”
“Not long,” Pinkamena answered, her voice strained as if she were choking over every word, “just in the last hour or so. Why?”
“No reason.” Twilight answered. In truth, Twilight didn’t particularly care how long Pinkamena had been feeling so murderous. All that mattered to her was distracting her friend long enough that either the urge passed, or Dr. Layne found something to restrain her with.
“Do you have any idea what might’ve triggered this?” Twilight asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
“I don’t know,” Pinkamena answered, her voice slightly calmer now, “but I think its passing.”
“Are you sure?”
Pinkamena nodded.
Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Good.” She then turned and called out, “Did you hear that Doctor?”
“I heard it,” Dr. Layne answered as he climbed over the pile of bed sheets he had made while looking for something to use as restraints. “I don’t think that we’re quite out of the woods yet though, I’ll need to talk to Dread.”
Pinkamena shot a worried look at Dr. Layne, “What? Why?”
Dr. Layne scowled and grumbled, “Because if this becomes a recurring issue, then he and I will either have to restrain you, or,” Dr. Layne shot Pinkamena a dark look, “make sure that you won’t be a problem to any pony ever again.”
Pinkamena swallowed and inched back, “Gotcha.”
Twilight glanced at the doorway, “Speaking of Dread, what’s taking him so long?”
Dr. Layne shrugged, “Beats me, he was only supposed to be gone for a minute or two.”
“Well, should we go look for him?” Twilight asked.
Dr. Layne sighed and said, “If you want. Personally I wouldn’t worry too much until he was gone for more than an hour, but suit yourself.”
Twilight nodded, “I’ll go check on him.”
“I’ll go too.” Pinkamena said, looking in Fluttershy’s direction. “I need to get out of this room anyway.”
“All right then,” Dr. Layne said, settling down at a spot near Fluttershy, “I’ll be examining Fluttershy, see if I can’t find out why she’s been sleeping so soundly. Come back when you feel like it.”
Pinkamena opened the door slightly, and a putrid smell slammed into them. Twilight had to take a step back, her eyes filled up with tears so much she could not see clearly. The smell was so bad that it felt like someone had thrown sand in her eyes. While she was blinded, Twilight heard the sound of two large metal objects crashing into each other.
“What the fuck?” Pinkamena said, coughing slightly.
Twilight blinked the tears out of her eyes to see that some pony had closed the door.
“Something wrong?” Dr. Layne asked from the other side of the room.
Twilight coughed, the scent still lingering in her nose. “Yes. Something smells really bad.”
Dr. Layne sniffed a bit then said, “I don’t smell anything.”
“Come over here,” Pinkamena said while clutching her nose, “it’s coming from the hallway!”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Dr. Layne said. “I assume this means that you two will be staying?”
“No!” Pinkamena said quickly, “It’s just that, well, it stinks. We’ll be going in a minute.”
Dr. Layne rolled his eyes, “Look, if it smells that bad, just wrap one of the bed sheets around your nose. That’ll at least stop some of the smell.”
Twilight doubted that anything short of a gasmask would stop the odor, but given the lack of options agreed. A moment later, Pinkamena had ripped up one of the bed sheets into two roughly even lengths of cloth. She then folded one of the lengths into a make shift bandana and tied it around her snout.
“Do you think it’ll work?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena shrugged, “Maybe?”
Twilight sighed, “I guess ‘maybe’ will have to do. Do you mind helping get the mask on?”
When Pinkamena was done tying the bed sheet around Twilight’s nose, the two once again opened the door. The bed sheets did little to stop the odor, but at least now the two ponies could stand it. They looked down the hall and found Dread standing just before the closest force field.
Twilight and Pinkamena wasted no time in getting to Dread. As far as Twilight was concerned, the less she had to breathe in whatever it was that was causing the hallway to smell so awfully. As they got closer however, Twilight realized that the stench was getting stronger. When they had covered less than half the distance between them and Dread, Pinkamena had to press her hooves against her nose to block the smell out. Twilight unfortunately, did not have such benefits. Instead she had to stop and push her mask up into her nostrils, and hope for the best.
“Dread!” Twilight called out when they were less than a few feet away from him.
The android turned and looked at the two mares. “Why are you two wearing masks?”
Twilight answered, “We’re not sure why, but this hallway smells awful.”
Dread made a clicking noise. “I see. I suppose that makes sense, given the circumstances.”
Still clutching her nose, Pinkamena asked, “What circumstances?”
“Perhaps circumstances was not the best word,” Dread said, “but I believe that I know why the hall smells so bad.” The android unfolded one of his claws and pointed at the area where the force field touched the floor. On both sides was a pile of charred, gooey stuff that reminded Twilight of ink that had clotted from being left open. Looking at the thing made Twilight want to vomit.
“What is it?” Pinkamena asked.
“I am not sure, but I believe that it was whatever attacked us an hour ago.” Dread answered. “Or a part of it at least, seeing as how it managed to break through every one of our force fields.”
Twilight looked at the piles and remembered the ferocity that their attacker had shown not long ago.
“It’s one of those monsters.” Twilight’s voice was shaky. “Nothing else could live through that.” As she spoke, Twilight felt her heart begin to beat harder in her chest. “We need to get out of here, now!”
“Calm down, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “We are not currently in danger.”
“Not currently in danger?” Twilight said, stepping closer to the android, “What do you mean ‘Not currently in danger’? There’s a monster stalking these halls and we’re sitting here starring at some burned piece of crap!” Twilight would have continued, but a dull pain had formed in her left temple.
“Miss Sparkle, if there were any pony here besides us, we would be able to see them.” Dread said.
This caught Twilight off guard. “Wait. What?”
“Look around you, Miss Sparkle, there is no where that any pony could hide.”
Twilight looked in both directions. The hallway curved slightly, and she couldn’t see either end, but there was still enough visible that nothing could sneak up on them.
Refusing to let the matter drop, Twilight said, “That just means that we can’t see it. It doesn’t mean that it’s not here. Besides, if it did leave, where did it go?”
“I assume back the way it came,” Dread answered, gesturing toward the force field.
“Oh,” was all Twilight could say. She looked down at the charred puddle and wondered at what kind of monster could possibly have something like that done to them, multiple times all the other force fields functioned similarly, only to turn around and go through them again.
“Hey guys,” Pinkamena said, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but can we please get going? The smell is starting to get to me.”
“Right away, Miss Pie.” Dread said, then, turning to Twilight, added, “Try not to work yourself up into a panic, Miss Sparkle. Save your energy for when you actually have reason for fear.”
Twilight nodded and Dread switched off the force field. They continued down the hall, stopping every couple of yards so that Dread could turn off another force field. Every force field they passed had another burnt pile at its base. It was almost reassuring to Twilight, if she was correct in what she thought the piles were, then each pile lowered the potential that their attacker was no longer alive.
After about ten minutes they had arrived at the end of the hall and had entered the hospital. It was almost as dark as it had been when Twilight was last there, only this time some of the light’s were flickering, giving the ponies just enough light to make out their surroundings. The last time she had crossed the hospital, Twilight’s mind was so preoccupied with getting to Dread that she had failed to notice the numerous corpses that now littered the hospital.
Many of these bodies had the same basic pony anatomy that Twilight was used to, as well as the strange, two legged anatomy that Pinkamena and Fluttershy possessed. But there were also bodies who’s shapes reminded Twilight of the twisted limbs that made up the tree monster, long and oddly jointed with squashed up faces that reminded Twilight of the rotten cantaloupes. Several of the bodies seemed to be rotten, as Twilight could clearly make out the bones in many of them.
Twilight tried to rationalize why they had rotten so quickly, they couldn’t have been dead for more than a couple of days, but she couldn’t come up with a satisfactory answer.
“Well, I suppose that explains what became of the inmates.” Dread said. “So much for the Administrator’s ‘relieving pressure’ or whatever he called it.”
They walked on in silence for several minutes, during which time Twilight examined each of the corpses as she passed them. She thought that she recognized some of the bodies, but they were either too rotten or too mutated for her to be sure.
They reached the corpse of a changeling that had somehow gotten its body cut from its neck to its belly. Whatever had killed it had pulled the chitin apart and stuffed several pony heads into it. As they passed, Twilight could’ve sworn that one of the heads had smiled at her.
For what it was worth, Twilight was mostly unbothered by carnage that filled the hospital. Perhaps it was because of the virus, sanguinam ungolum, or maybe she was simply desensitized to horror by now, but nothing in the hospital bothered her too much anymore. Nothing until they reached the head room.
A long, black stain coated the floor in front of the head room. Pieces of broken glass dotted the area, each one coated in a dry, powdery substance. Nearby, where the remains of Teddy had once been, now stood only a few splintered bones that had been licked to a shiny gleam.
Upon seeing this, Twilight’s blood chilled. Part of her wanted to go into the head room and confirm that what she feared had not come true, but the other part told her to stay with her friends.
“Dread,” Twilight started to say, but the word caught in her throat.
“Yes, Miss Sparkle?” Dread asked.
“Do you remember what I told you about the monsters we encountered?”
“Of course.”
Twilight swallowed. “Well, I think one of them might be nearby. I don’t know where it is, but…” Twilight stopped talking. Her entire body trembled as she remembered what she and Pinkamena had encountered just a few hours.
“Miss Sparkle, is everything alright?” Dread asked.
“N-no,” Twilight said. Both her chest and legs felt as though they had pierced by needles. “It, it…”
A second later, Pinkamena came out of the head room and said, “Guys, we may have a problem.”
Twilight hit the floor as the needles’s points became knives, and the world spun around her. As consciousness fled from her, Twilight was vaguely aware of the Goodfellow laughing at her.
The entire world was nothing but a void of color and confusion. Twilight was running, to where she did not know. Something had happened, that she knew at least, something that was her fault.
She couldn’t go back, though her heart longed to. But if she did, would her family and friends forgive her?
No. The damage was done, and there was no way she could fix it. Celestia knows she tried though. Nothing had worked, and now the people who once considered Twilight their friend were broken.
She tried to fix them. Trying was all that mattered, wasn’t it? That’s what they used to say back in magic kindergarten.
Except trying means nothing if the end results are worthless. No matter how hard or how long you work at something, it’s all in vain if the product doesn’t function.
Why did she go down into the workshop? If she hadn’t, Twilight wouldn’t have had to hurt her. If she hadn’t, Twilight wouldn’t have had to run from the ponies she cared about. If she hadn’t entered the workshop, Twilight might’ve found a solution. She might’ve even found a cure.
Eventually the chaos and confusion took the form of a forest, and Twilight found herself at a crossroad. At its center was a floating green lamp. From it came a mare’s laughter.
~~~
Twilight woke up to a blindingly bright light. She gave herself a moment to allow her eyes to adjust, and then looked at her surroundings.
She was no longer in the hospital’s hallway; instead she was lying on one of the hospital room beds. The room she was in was clean enough, if she ignored the dead pony lying in one of the corners.
“Hello?” Twilight called out, “Is any pony here?”
The door creaked open and Pinkamena stepped through with a large, if slightly frightening, smile on her face.
“Hey, Twilight!” Pinkamena said brightly.
“Um, hi Pinkie.” Twilight said, “Is everything okay? How long have I been out?”
Pinkamena shrugged. “Not long, maybe half an hour? Dread and I pulled you in here when you fainted.”
“I figured that. But-” Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when she remembered the news that caused her to faint in the first place. “Pinkie, have you seen the monster?”
“Which monster?” Pinkamena asked.
“The one that we electrocuted alive!” Twilight said, annoyed. “You know, the one that tried to… do unspeakable things to me? That one?”
“Oh, that one.” Pinkamena took a step back and looking at the floor. “I, uh, no. I don’t know what happened to it.”
“Do you have any idea where it might be?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena winced and shook her head.
Twilight wanted to both hide under the bed covers and run away at the same time. She could still feel its unworldly eyes staring at her, wanting her in a way that no pony should ever be had. If Twilight was right, and that thing had survived the tesla coils, then there was no telling what that creature might do to her.
“Where’s Dread?” Twilight asked, wanting to get her mind off the monster.
Pinkamena's face brightened at the change of subject. “He went to go get something from his office. Said it was personal to him.”
Twilight snorted. “Great. Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“Shouldn’t be too long. His office isn’t that far away.”
“Alright,” Twilight said, getting out of the bed, “let’s go.”
Pinkamena looked at Twilight with concern, “Are you sure? You fainted and I’m not sure that you should be walking around just-”
“I’ll be fine!” Twilight snapped. Even as she spoke a sharp pain formed at the back of her head. Wincing, Twilight pressed a hoof on the spot to massage it. The pain slowly ebbed to the left, then faded slightly.
When the pain reached a bearable level, Twilight took a deep breath and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap like that. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, and-and I don’t know where I’m going with this. I’m sorry Pinkie, I’ll try not to let it happen again. Let’s just get going.”
Pinkamena smiled and leaped at Twilight, embracing her in one her spine bending hugs. “Twilight, it wasn’t that big a deal. I understand. At least you don’t have to have to deal with constantly wanting to eat your friends.”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably in Pinkamena’s arms. “Yeah, could you not bring that up when you’re hugging me?”
Pinkamena let go of Twilight and blushed. “Sorry.”
Twilight shook her head, “It’s fine, let’s just go and forget it ever happened.”
She made it halfway out the door when Pinkamena cried, “Wait a minute!”
Twilight turned around to see Pinkamena bending over the dead pony, peeling its flesh off with a scalpel. She was humming while she worked. Twilight looked away and exited the room quickly, resisting the urge to vomit. She knew intellectually that her best friend was a cannibal, and had even had a conversation with her while she ate a pony at least once, but to watch her friend butcher a pony with the intent to eat it was something Twilight still couldn’t quite stomach.
Pinkamena came out of the room a few minutes later, carrying her handy work in a trash bag.
Smiling, Pinkamena asked, “Ready?”
“Um, yes,” Twilight answered, trying her best to not look at the trash bag.
Pinkamena darted ahead of Twilight, who wasn’t quite sure which direction Dread’s office was. Twilight followed the energetic mare at brisk pace, just enough to keep up. Despite moving quickly, and listening to Pinkamena’s cheerful humming, Twilight still found herself on edge.
In her mind, Twilight tried to calculate every possible method that an unseen assailant could attack. There was no way to tell for certain that all of the bodies littering the hallway were actually dead, or how many inmates had taken up residency in the many hospital rooms.
Twilight began swiveling her ears around, trying to detect any sign of danger. Anything could attack them at any moment, and there was nothing she could do about it. Every detail needed to be observed, for even the smallest movement could spell her and Pinkamena’s doom.
Her heart began to hammer inside her chest as the dead gazes of the corpses turned into cold glares, the mouths twisted into malicious grins, and the limbs seeming to reach out to her.
“NO!” Twilight shouted. Her entire body was trembling. She wanted to run. She would’ve ran, but her legs refused to listen.
“Twilight?” Pinkamena called from a few feet away, “Is everything okay?”
Twilight blinked. She looked around at the corpses. They were all lying in awkward positions and many of them had large chunks of flesh missing, but none of them were particularly threatening.
Twilight took a deep breath. “I’m fine, just a bit jumpy is all.” A part of her didn’t believe it. There was something wrong and she knew it, she just couldn’t put her hoof on what.
They continued on, Twilight staying closer to Pinkamena. Eventually they came upon the door to the laboratory.
“Hey, Twilight,” Pinkamena said as they drew closer to the door, “I’ve been wondering, how come there’s a hospital right next to a science lab? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Twilight sighed, “Probably the same reason that they built an over blown nightmare night house just to hide a secret entrance. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
They entered the laboratory and found that it was pleasantly cleaner than the hospital had been. There were a few puddles of dried blood and couple of smashed bottles, but nothing too bad. The lighting was better too; whatever electrical problems that had been affecting the hospital didn’t seem to reach the laboratory.
“Dread!” Pinkamena called out, “Are you in here? Twilight’s awake!”
A moment later the android poked his head out of his office and said, “Good. I will be with you two in a moment.”
The android went back into his office and from it came the sound of objects being haphazardly thrown around. Twilight clenched her teeth as she realized that most of those items were likely books that were having their pages ripped and their spines bent. She wanted to protest, but stopped herself as the dignity of a couple books wasn’t important at the moment, even if every fiber of her being told her otherwise.
A few minutes passed and the android came out wearing a pink crochet satchel that was decorated with glitter and a random assortment of stickers.
“Ooh, pretty!” Pinkamena dropped her trash bag and ran to get a better look at Dread’s satchel.
The android made a crackling noise. “I am glad to see that you like it, Miss Pie.”
Pinkamena beamed. “Oh yeah! I love this style. Where’d you get it?”
The android turned and looked away from Pinkamena. “It was made for me by some pony… some pony who was very special to me.”
“Oh?” Pinkamena asked, looking up. “Who?”
The android make a clicking sound and said, “Her name was… Her name was…” Dread gave off another click. “If it is all right with you, Miss Pie, I would rather not talk about her at the moment. Discussing her brings back painful… I would rather not discuss her.”
“Oh,” Pinkamena said, frowning, “alright.”
Pinkamena picked up her bag, and the three continued on their way. As they crossed the laboratory, Twilight looked around at the various pieces of broken equipment. For some reason the whole room seemed larger than Twilight remember, though she couldn’t figure out why. At first she attributed this to the mess left by the inmates, but the mess wasn’t large enough to have that kind of effect.
Twilight shook herself out of it. Now wasn’t the time to be wondering about a room possibly changing sizes. In all likelihood, Twilight’s memory was simply inaccurate. It wasn’t like she spent a significant amount of time in the lab in the first place.
They reached the entrance to the hall of undersized cells without incident. Pinkamena asked a question or two about Dread’s satchel, but conversation never exceeded small talk. The hall itself hadn’t changed much since Twilight had escaped from it, save for few half eaten corpses and the fact that the cells were all now open.
They proceeded slowly. Their hoof steps echoed throughout the hall, announcing their presence to anything that might’ve been in the room. Twilight had expected being reunited with Dread would relieve her of some of her paranoia, but she still found herself eyeing every shadow, and listening for the faintest hint of a foreign noise.
Twilight wanted to tell herself that she was being silly, that she was with her friends now and that there was nothing that could hurt her. But her mind kept telling her that she was wrong. Something was following them, and Twilight knew it. She couldn’t hear its hoof steps, but she could feel it. Something evil was watching them. Watching her. Waiting for the chance to…
Without realizing it, Twilight had gotten a hair-like strand stuck in her mouth. She sputtered, and then spat. The strand came out and hit the floor with a soft splat.
“Is everything alright, Miss Sparkle?” Dread asked.
“Yeah, just a hair on my tongue.” Twilight chuckled.
A brief second of curiosity caused Twilight to look down at the floor where she spat. What she found was a series of small, silvery threads that all seemed to hang roughly an inch above the floor.
“Dread, do you know what these strings are?” Twilight asked.
The android followed her gaze to the floor and ansered, “They would appear to be small strands of silk, Miss Sparkle.”
“Okay.”
“Why would there be silk on the floor?” Pinkamena asked before Twilight could.
As if in answer, a loud shriek filled the hall. Within a split second, cells came crashing to the floor and a large white blur rammed itself into Twilight. The alicorn flew backwards and slammed into one of the cells on the other wall. Her vision blurred, but she was vaguely aware that the thing was still coming after her.
Twilight’s vision came back just in time for her to see the creature’s eight sapphire eyes staring at her. She watched in a daze as the creature opened its mandibles, giving her a clear view down its throat. She came to her senses just in time to avoid having her head bitten off. While it was recovering from its attack, Twilight rolled beneath the monster’s multi-jointed legs and darted in a random direction.
Behind her, the creature shrieked in outrage. Twilight didn’t stop. She had vaguely realized that the monster wasn’t giving chase when something hot and sticky struck her on her hind leg. She managed to get another two or three steps in before whatever hit her pulled, and she fell face first to the floor.
Twilight tried to get back up, but whatever was pulling her kept her off balance. She managed to roll over and see that the monster had hit her with some kind of web and was pulling her in through its mandibles. Twilight dug her hooves into the floor and tried to slow the monster down, but it was no use.
Twilight frantically looked around the hallway for something she could use to fend off the creature, but there wasn’t anything within reach. As she was pulled closer and closer to the monster’s drooling mandibles, Twilight once more tried to fight back. She pressed her hooves into the ground and tried her best to stand up. She managed to get back on her feet, but the web pulling her in kept her from getting much farther than that. Twilight pushed her wings against the ground as well, hoping that they would add the leverage she would need.
It was when her wings touched the floor that Twilight realized how to fight back.
Twilight spread her wings out and kicked off from the floor. As soon as she had reached the height of her jump, Twilight twisted and turned to charge horn first at the creature.
As she took a moment to aim her attack, Twilight got her first glimpse at the creature’s back. Three blue diamonds marked its chitin hide, distracting Twilight enough to lose focus and slam head first into the floor beside the creature.
The monster shrieked in triumph and before Twilight could react, two large pincers bore into her left hind leg. Pain filled Twilight’s every thought, spreading like fire from where the monster bit her to the rest of her body. She wanted to scream, but the sound caught in her throat. Tears rolled down Twilight’s eyes as a single, coherent thought formed in her mind; ‘This is the end’.
“GET OFF OF HER YOU FREAK!” Some pony cried from somewhere far away.
The next thing Twilight knew, something slammed into the monster, managing to knock it off her at the expense of a good chunk of her leg. Through her tear blurred eyes, Twilight could just make out a pink thing wrestling with a larger white thing. She felt like she should be concerned about what was going on, but her mind felt fuzzy and Twilight couldn’t quite get it to focus.
“Miss Sparkle, are you alright?” an electronic voice asked.
“L-leg.” Was all Twilight could say.
“Yes, I see it. Do not worry; the wound does not seem to be serious. We need to do something about the bleeding though.”
Twilight wanted to say something to that, anything, but a bitter cold sensation spread from her wound to the rest of her body, seeming to gnaw at every one of her nerves. All she could muster up was a whimper.
Some feet away, Pinkamena gouged two or the monster’s eight eyes. The monster tried to bite at her, but she was too quick, slipping beneath its legs. Pinkamena slammed a hoof into a chink in the monster’s armor, causing it to shriek in pain.
Something coiled around Twilight’s leg, just above the wound, and tightened, sending needles of pain through her body.
“There, that should keep you from bleeding out, Miss Sparkle, at least until we are able to apply some proper bandaging.”
A loud screech filled the hall. The monster had redoubled its efforts in killing Pinkamena, spraying bits of webbing in all directions. Pinkamena rolled out of the way of these attacks, grabbing each set of silk as the monster stopped spinning them.
“Miss Sparkle, I was able to slow the bleeding but we need to get you back to the hospital. Can you walk?” Dread asked.
Twilight tried to get up, but her legs wouldn’t obey her. The icy chill that bit at her spread to her lungs. Breathing became difficult, as if some pony had placed large slabs of lead on Twilight’s chest. Twilight wanted to cry out, but all she could manage was a weak croak.
“Miss Sparkle?” Dread asked.
Twilight felt the android place two of his claws on her eyelid and pry it open, but she didn’t register what was happening. The whole world was a blur of chaos, and it was fading quickly.
Dread made a loud beeping sound and said at his highest volume, “Miss Pie, do not let it bite you!”
“Wasn’t planning on it!” Pinkamena called back. She had collected enough webs from the monster to form a crude rope. As the monster continued to thrash randomly in a vain attempt to hurt her, Pinkamena wrapped the rope around the various chinks in the monster’s chitin, laughing as she did so. When she was nearly out of rope, she made a final lap around the monster’s legs and pulled on it with all her might.
The monster buckled under itself as the rope tied its many legs together. The monster screeched and struggled against its binds, but to no avail. Pinkamena skipped over to where Twilight lay, giggling softly.
“I hope she likes her new silk scarf.” Pinkamena said happily.
“Now, is no time for jokes, Miss Pie. Please help me get Miss Sparkle back to the hospital.” Dread said.
“What’s wrong?” Pinkamena asked.
“No time, just get her on my back.”
Twilight felt herself being lifted onto a hot, metal surface. She was dimly aware of a soft ticking sound coming from within it, but she couldn’t guess at what it was. The air shifted around Twilight as a series of metallic clinks echoed inside her head.
As they moved, the cold that had gnawed at Twilight earlier turned into a blistering heat. She began shaking as her body tried to fight off whatever was plaguing her. Tears poured from Twilights eyes, and the alicorn felt herself grow weaker.
“Hold her still, Miss Pie.”
The images of Twilight’s parents flashed through her mind. She remembered how they used to comfort her whenever she was sick or sad. But Twilight was sick then, and her parents weren’t there. Where were they? Didn’t they know their little girl wasn’t feeling good? Weren’t parents supposed to be there for their children?
“Set her down right here. We will have to treat her here. Go find some water packets to wash the wound, and a clean syringe, I will need to take a blood sample.”
Noises echoed around Twilight, but they were fain and distant. Every inch of her body felt as though it were engulfed in dragon’s fire. The cold had returned as well, mixing with the burning to form a concoction of pain and misery.
“Get some ice too!”
“Ice? From where?
“I am not sure, Miss Pie, but we need something to cool her down!”
Memories of foals played themselves in Twilight’s mind. Children were playing in the fields that surrounded the house, coming to her whenever they found something new and exciting, asking her about seemingly everything. Twilight loved it, but most of all she loved the sound of their laughter. Was there anything that could compare to the laughter of children?
The memories swept through Twilight, and for the first time since waking up in Sleipnir, she felt truly happy.
Outside Twilight’s mind, Dread and Pinkamena were scrambling around the laboratory, searching for anything that could help their friend. They had nearly ransacked the place, throwing useless bits of junk around in their haste. They had managed to wash and bandage Twilight’s wound well enough, but beyond that, neither one of them knew how to help her.
Finally, after throwing a box of scalpels across the room, Dread said, “Miss Pie, would you please go and collect Dr. Layne? He knows more about biology than I.”
Pinkamena nodded a dashed toward the door, only face first into a solid wall. She staggered backwards, clutching at her snout. “Owie.”
“Miss Pie, are you alright?” Dread asked.
“I’m fine just, what happened to the door?”
Dread limited a loud beep. “I was afraid that might happen.”
Where before there stood the door that led into the hospital now stood a concrete wall, blending seamlessly with the rest of the room.
Pinkamena stared at the wall, her mouth agape.
“We do not have time to worry about it, Miss Pie, help me find-” whatever Dread was going to say was cut off by the sound of the intercom coming on.
“We at Sleipnir would like to apologize for your current inconvenience.” The Administrator said in its genderless, singsong voice. “It would appear that our facility’s proximity to Creation’s edge has caused some of the architecture to become temperamental. If you have any complaints, please file them at the head nurse’s office in section two.”
Dread’s eyes shined a brighter red. “Enough with the act, Administrator, you are not fooling anyone.”
Twilight opened her eyes, aware that she needed to do something, but not sure what. The world around her was a void of disjointed sounds. Her body was a blizzard of fire that threatened to consume her. Colors blurred together in series of colors that sent an acidic sensation through her body.
“Act?” The Administrator said, “My dear Silver Platter, why in the cosmos would you believe that we are an act? We at Sleipnir have only the interests of our patients in mind. Why, if you would only allow us to complete your treatment, then we can assure you that you will see how foolish you are acting.”
The icy inferno ebbed from Twilight’s body until all that was left of it was in her head. The cold and heat stabbed at Twilight’s mind, sending long daggers of pain into her and twisting them. Twilight shook and spat and vomited, the pain in her head threatening to tear her from what was left of the world she knew. Already she could feel herself falling into the void. All sound had gone silent. All feeling had gone numb. All color had turned green.
“It can’t be for our own good!” Pinkamena protested. “My friends have nearly died because of you, you monster!”
“We at Sleipnir would like to thank patients Pinkamena Diane Pie and Twilight Sparkle for playing with some of our more rambunctious guests.” The Administrator said mockingly. “We are however disappointed by their lack of interest in helping their fellow patients in fully exercising their frustration out in a healthy manner.”
Pinkamena screamed and lunged at the ceiling, only for her hoof to get caught on the edge of table and fall on her face.
“Really now, what were you trying to accomplish with that?” The Administrator said. “Simply pitiful, we must get you into counseling for these delusions.”
“Enough!” Dread said, stomping a hoof, “What do you want, and why now?”
The Administrator answered, its voice even more cheerful than normal, “Why Dread, we merely want to know why you’re not dead yet.”
A cold laughter filled the room. It was the first sound Twilight had heard in several minutes. It was distant, echoing off invisible surfaces. It was a cruel laugh, one that would chill the blood of any normal pony. A laugh without joy or mirth, a mare’s laugh, and to Twilight’s amazement, it was coming from her own throat.
Twilight’s mouth smiled of its own accord, and in the voice of an old stallion said, “That, dear brother, would be my fault.”
When the Administrator spoke its voice became deeper, little more than a roar of rage and hatred.
“Answer me, Puck,” the Administrator growled, his voice filled with hate and rage, “what are you doing on my ship?”
Twilight’s mouth opened and from it came the Goodfellow’s laughter. “Oh a bit of this, and some of that here and there. Exactly what, I am not wont to tell. My goals are my own.”
A low growl seemed to emanate from everywhere at once. Beakers began rattling on their shelves, and the walls seemed to groan. “Do not try my patience, Puck!”
The Goodfellow laughed and forced Twilight to leap into the air. Twilight’s wings unfurled themselves and soon she was spinning in mid-air, as though gravity were nothing but a suggestion. “Don’t try to intimidate me, Swahl, I will tell you my plans when I’m good and ready. For now though…” The sound of a spinning coin filled the room. The air shifted around Twilight, throbbing with pressure. Everything turned green, there was a loud pop, and then she fell back to the table.
“Twilight!” Some pony cried. A pair of hooves raced across the lab, stopping at Twilight’s side. “Twilight, what’s happening?”
Twilight’s eyes opened, and her head rolled to look at Pinkamena.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not quite done with your friend yet.” The Goodfellow twisted Twilight’s mouth into a grin. “You see, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to talk normally and I’m not quite ready to go back yet.”
Pinkamena snarled and grabbed Twilight’s neck. “Who are you?” She hissed, “Give me back my friend or I’ll- I’ll kill you!”
The Goodfellow laughed. “Go right ahead.”
Pinkamena’s snarl deepened and her eyes flashed red. She tightened her grip and seemed just about ready to go through with her threat when Dread said, “Enough!”
Pinkamena looked at Dread, then, after half a moment, turned back to glare into Twilight’s eyes. She growled, but laid Twilight’s body back onto the table.
“There’s a good girl,” The Goodfellow said softly. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to our little princess, now would we?”
“Where is she?” Pinkamena growled.
“In here, somewhere.” The Goodfellow smacked Twilight’s head with her hoof. “At any rate, you really shouldn’t be so eager to get her back. Too much venom in her veins, I should think. Yes, far too much venom. In fact, if I had to guess, I would say that she has, oh, five, ten minutes to live? Yes, that sounds about right. Anyway, that’s not really important right now. We have so many urgent things to talk about. First off-”
Pinkamena slammed her hooves into the table. “First off, you can tell me who the fuck you are!”
The Goodfellow twisted Twilight’s face into a scowl. “Swearing, really? And here I thought this was a family show. Oh well, I suppose you’ll want some answers so…” There was another pop, and once more the air shifted. “I may as well get comfortable.”
The table Twilight’s body had been lying on changed into a large, ornate chair with emerald colored upholstery. In front of it was a small, round table, on which stood a tall bottle and three small glasses.
“Chartreuse?” The Goodfellow offered, waving Twilight’s hoof at the bottle.
“No thank you,” Dread said.
Pinkamena looked at the bottle for a moment, scowled, and then growled in the Goodfellow’s direction.
Twilight’s body shrugged. “More for me then.” It reached out with Twilight’s hoof toward the bottle and tapped it. The Goodfellow pushed Twilight’s lips into a frown, tapped it a few times, then slammed her hoof into it so that it flew across the room and shattered against a wall.
“Nevermind.”
Pinkamena gritted her teeth. “Alright, you’re comfortable, now tell us who the fuck you are!”
“Calm down, Miss Pie,” Dread said.
Pinkamena turned on the android and spat, “Why should I?”
“Because right now, I’m your bestest friend in the whole universe,” The Goodfellow answered, laughing.
Pinkamena raised a hoof to strike Twilight, but Dread grabbed her arm before she could swing it. Pinkamena snarled and tried to pull free of the android’s grip.
“Let go of me!”
“Only if you promise me that you will control your anger,” Dread said, “Please, Miss Pie, I understand your frustration, but right now we need to understand our situation.”
“For once the cyborg is right about something,” The Goodfellow said mockingly.
Pinkamena looked away from both Dread and Twilight and said in a low voice, “Fine.”
Dread released Pinkamena and she stomped her way to the back of the lab, glaring over her shoulder at the Goodfellow as she went.
“Who are you?” Dread asked.
“Are you familiar with the spirit known as Discord?” The Goodfellow asked in turn.
The android nodded his head.
“Good. Then you should know that I have absolutely nothing to do with that simpleton,” The Goodfellow said, “My name is Puck, and right now I am the only thing keeping your little friend alive.”
“Explain,” Dread said.
The Goodfellow tapped Twilight’s hoof to her chin. “Oh, I’m not sure that I should. After all, what would be the point in my telling you? It’s not like you’ll benefit from it. And besides, if you really cared, wouldn’t it be much more fun to figure things out on your own?”
Pinkamena shouted from across the room, “Will you just shut up and tell us who you are?”
The Goodfellow forced Twilight’s face to scowl in Pinkamena’s direction and spat. “Fine, I’m almost done anyway, might as well. Right now I’m suppressing both the venom and my brother’s ability to spy on you. Twilight is very important to my plans, and I need her later on. As for my brother, well I just wanted to piss him off.”
“And your brother would be the Administrator, I presume?” Dread asked.
The Goodfellow laughed. “In a sense, yes. And before you ask, no I don’t know what he’s up to. I have suspicions, but nothing more. Anything else you’d like to know?”
“Yes,” Pinkamena said, walking up to where Twilight’s body sat. Her expression had gone from angry to sad. “Will Twilight be okay?”
“You’ve certainly calmed down quickly,” The Goodfellow said, raising one of Twilight’s eyebrows, “I’m not sure pseudo-psychopathy is your only problem. You may want to see a doctor about these mood swings of yours.”
Pinkamena’s eyes flashed red and she pulled her arm back as if to strike Twilight, but changed her mind in the last moment. After taking several deep breaths, she said through gritted teeth, “I don’t care. Just answer the question.”
“Is that all?” The Goodfellow raised one of Twilight’s eyebrows. “There’s nothing else you’d like to know? Nothing at all?”
“No,” Pinkamena said, taking another deep breath, “right now I don’t care about anything. I just want my friend to be okay.”
The Goodfellow raised Twilight’s shoulders into a shrug. “Fine by me.”
“Wait a minute, I still have questions,” Dread said. “First off-”
“Too late!” The Goodfellow laughed, forcing Twilight to give Dread a mocking look. “I’ve already made up my mind. And here’s your answer.”
The sound of a spinning coin once more filled the air, and Twilight’s body spasmed violently. The Goodfellow’s cackling echoed of the walls, filling the room with the mad sound. Slowly though, the sound ebbed. Quieter and quieter until it could just barely be heard. And when it finally went away, Twilight’s body lay limp on the chair.
“Twilight?” A voice called from the empty void that surrounded Twilight. “Twilight, are you okay?”
Twilight opened her eyes to see a pink blur looming over her. Her head throbbed as if she had been recently hit with a sledgehammer. Her throat was like hot sand, and all Twilight could think about was quenching it.
“Water,” Twilight murmured.
“Miss Pie, get her a water packet. They are over on that table there.”
“Right.”
The pink blur moved out of Twilight’s line of sight then returned a second later. Something was pressed to Twilight’s mouth and a cool liquid began pouring into it.
“What happened?” Twilight asked once she had drunk enough to wash away to dry feeling at the back of her throat.
“Well, uh…” Pinkamena explained to the best of her ability about what happened with the Administrator and the Goodfellow, to which Twilight could only sit quietly and listen.
When she was finished, Twilight asked, “So, he was really inside my body?”
“I am afraid so, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said.
Every inch of skin on Twilight’s body seemed to crawl. Her stomach churned at the thought of that thing wearing her like a dress to prance around in. She felt dirty, used. Twilight wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry, or laugh.
“Are you alright, Miss Sparkle?”
Twilight nodded her head. “I’m fine, just a little shocked is all.” It was a lie, but Twilight didn’t want to burden her friends with her feelings. “I think I’ve talked to him before, in a dream. But I thought he was just that, a dream. Do you think that maybe I have dissociative identity disorder? I mean, it would explain-”
“No, Miss Sparkle, I do not believe that this Puck is something you have constructed,” Dread said, “I would’ve noticed if you exhibited any symptoms. Believe me; I have worked with a pony with multiple personalities for many months.”
“Really? Who?” Pinkamena asked, giving Dread a curious look.
The android clicked a couple of times, then said, “Not now, Miss Pie, I would rather we wait until later to go into it.”
“Oh, okay,” Pinkamena said, her ears flattening against her head.
Wanting to change the subject, Twilight asked, “So, did we get any food?”
“I am afraid not, Miss Sparkle,” Dread answered. “We were interrupted, and have not gone back.”
“Right, I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said quietly. Then, forcing a grin, she added, “Alright then, let’s get moving! That food isn’t gonna get itself, so we’ve gotta-” Twilight leapt from the chair, intending to finish the sentence upon landing. On striking the floor however, pain shot through her hind leg, causing her to cry out in pain. Her leg gave out, and Twilight was lying on the floor, trying not to cry.
“You are not going anywhere in that condition, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, extending a claw to help Twilight up.
Twilight took the claw and used it to pull herself up, trying to put as little pressure as possible on her wounded leg. She looked at her hind leg and saw that it was bandaged with some kind of fabric.
“Alright,” Twilight sighed, “take me back to the vault.” As soon as she said it, both Pinkamena and Dread exchanged glances.
“Unfortunately, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, “there is a problem with our route back to the vault, as you called it. You see, due to circumstances beyond my control, our route has been-”
“The door’s gone and we don’t know what happened to it!” Pinkamena said. She turned to look at Dread and added, “Sorry, Dread, but you were taking too long.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight nearly stomped a hoof in frustration, only for her bad leg to remind her why that was a bad idea. As the fresh pain ebbed away, Twilight said through gritted teeth, “What the hay do you mean ‘the door’s gone’? How can a door disappear?”
“Now do you understand why I was taking my time?” Dread said to Pinkamena. Then, turning to face Twilight, added “Something has caused the door to be replaced with a wall. I am not sure what. The Administrator said something about ‘Creation’s edge’ but beyond that, I have no clue as to what’s happening.”
Twilight rubbed her temples. It had been so long since she had dealt with something as obviously magical as a shape shifting wall that she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. “Okay, is there another way back? I mean, we could go back through the cell hall and find a path that way.”
Dread shook his head, “No, Miss Sparkle, that is not an option. There are no paths leading from the cell hall to the hospital. And even if there were, we don’t know what kind of danger lurks in unfamiliar territory. But never mind that, you go rest. We bandaged your leg as best we could, but you should not be moving around just yet.”
Twilight wanted to say something to that, but nothing came to mind. She looked around the room for somewhere to lie down, and chose a spot near one of the broken computers. She limped over and carefully lowered herself to a lying position. She closed her eyes and drifted into the welcoming realm of sleep. It had been a rough day.
The sound of clanking glass woke Twilight up from what was, unfortunately, a very light sleep. After wondering for a second where she was, Twilight looked over to see Dread mixing multicolored liquids and powders into a round bottom flask. She watched for about a minute, then dismissed it as Dread mixing some kind of punch, and almost went right back to sleep. It was as she was closing her eyes that she realized that Dread had taken several of the ingredients from a nearby shelf, and most ponies don’t keep punch in laboratories.
Images of toxic vapor and caustic goo filled Twilight’s mind as sleepiness was forgotten in favor of alarm and panic. Twilight leaped to her feet, and was immediately reminded of the wound she had on her leg. She fought through the pain though, and shouted “Dread, what the hell are you doing?”
Without looking away from the flask, Dread answered, “Miss Sparkle, I am solving our predicament.”
“But-But- Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Twilight stammered, “I mean, what if it spews out toxic fumes or explode or something? Maybe I should mix it, just to make sure everything is fine?
Dread selected a test tube from a nearby shelf and poured some of its contents into the mixture. “I assure you, Miss Sparkle, this mixture will produce no toxic fumes.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t really mean anything if-”
“It will, however, explode,” Dread said, interrupting Twilight.
“What?” Twilight shouted. The image of flying glass shards shredding both her and Pinkamena to pieces worked its way into Twilight’s mind.
“Please do not shout, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, examining a jar of dark red powder, “I need to be completely focused when I add the phosphorus.”
Twilight wanted to protest, but kept her mouth shut in case Dread’s mixture was more volatile than what she was picturing.
When Dread finished pouring the two table spoons of red phosphorus into his mixture, the entire solution began bubbling as if the android had set it to boil. Dread quickly inserted a cork into the flask’s opening and shook it.
“You two need to get as far away from the wall as you can,” Dread instructed. “When I ignite this compound it should create a strong enough explosion to punch through the wall to the other side. Presumably the hospital is still on the other side, but there is a chance that we may breech the hull of the ship and get sucked out into space. Please be ready to run at the first sign of danger.”
“What? Wait, I, uh- Did you just say space?” Twilight sputtered as she tried to process everything the android had just told her. She didn’t have much time to reflect on it though, as a moment later a pink blur slammed into her and carried her over to where the door leading to cell hall stood, pinning her to the ground.
“Pinkie, where did you- Get off-” Twilight struggled to escape the weight of her friend so that she could stop Dread from killing them all, but Pinkamena both eyes clenched and her ears covered by her hooves.
Twilight managed to get herself free enough to catch a glimpse of Dread igniting a match and throwing into the now opened flask. There was a bright flash of light and a deafening sound, and then the entire room smelled of soot.
Twilight blinked. An entire half of the room was covered in burn marks, and much of the furniture had been destroyed.
“Alright, I am done. You two can come over now.” Dread said from across the lab. He was covered in soot, but otherwise looked okay.
Twilight wriggled her way out from underneath Pinkamena and tried to gauge the full effect of Dread’s makeshift bomb. It had made a hole in the wall just large enough for a pony to squeeze through, if she didn’t mind getting a couple of splinters.
Making her way to get a better look at the hole, Twilight wondered at how many inmates or monsters would be attracted by the sound of the explosion. Her heart began to race as she realized that she wouldn’t be able to flee from any danger.
“Everything okay, Twilight?” Pinkamena asked as she came up from behind.
Twilight looked at her smiling face. It was strange, but even though Pinkamena had sharp, pointed teeth and dark, sunken eyes, her smile still seemed to warm Twilight’s heart.
“I’m fine,” Twilight smiled, “just a little woozy.”
When they got to the hole Dread had made, Twilight pushed the fear of monsters and psychopaths out of her mind. It wasn’t like panicking had helped her before.
“Are you two ready?” Dread asked.
“Yeah, let’s get back. I want to make sure Fluttershy is okay,” Pinkamena said.
Twilight nodded, not sure if was time yet to say anything.
Dread nodded and bowed. “Mares first.”
Twilight smiled at the robot and crawled through the hole, and directly into the hall leading to the vault.
Twilight looked around wildly. She tried to count the seconds it took for her to step between the laboratory and the hall leading to the vault, but it just didn’t work. There was no way that she could’ve bypassed the hospital so quickly. She hadn’t teleported, she would’ve noticed if she had, and she didn’t see Dread put anything into his bomb that might’ve made a rip in space.
“Dread!” Twilight called. The world seemed to spin around her. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be possible. What had happened spat in the face of everything Twilight knew about both magic and physics.
When she didn’t get an answer, Twilight’s heart began beating rapidly. Her eyes darted back and forth wildly. Her breath caught in her throat and her legs felt weak. What if what had happened only affected her. What if she was alone? Already Twilight could hear the sounds of approaching enemies. A parade of psychopaths and monsters marching down the hall to kill her, and there was nothing she could do about it. Twilight tried to run, but she only managed a couple of steps before pain shot through her leg and she fell, slamming her face into the ground.
Twilight curled up and closed her eyes. The metallic sound of approaching hooves echoed in the distance. Twilight’s heart pounded, sending panic into every one of her limbs. Every muscle in her body tensed. They would be on her soon, and all she could do was hope that they killed her before the worst of it.
“Miss Sparkle, are you alright?”
Twilight looked up to see Dread’s head poking through the hole. She looked around and couldn’t find any sign of approaching psychopaths.
“I, uh…” Twilight murmured. She stood up and did her best to look like she wasn’t just panicking in a fetal position, taking care not to put too much pressure on her wounded leg. “I was just, I- When you didn’t come through, and the hallway, it just-” Twilight took a deep breath. “The hall, it’s changed and your bomb made a loud noise and inmates and monsters and-”
“Calm down, Miss Sparkle. Tell me slowly.” Dread stepped through the hole, having to stop and un-snare his satchel from a jagged piece of wood.
“The hospital, it’s gone,” Twilight said, taking great care not to let her emotions get the better of her again.
The android looked around at his surroundings, and took a step back. A loud click echoed from within him. “This does not make sense. The hole should have led us to… This is not possible, even with magic an entire section of the facility could not have simply vanished. I do not understand.” Twilight did not want to hear that. She would’ve accepted any answer, any explanation, no matter how little it made sense. Even a half hearted guess would’ve been better, for it would’ve at least given Twilight something to work with, some way to make sense of what had happened. “Do you think it’s related to what caused the door to disappear?” Twilight asked, hoping that she would be able to coax some kind of answer out of Dread.
After emitting a few more clicks, Dread said, “Possibly. No, certainly, but nothing like this has ever happened. We need to regroup with the others.”
Turning toward the hole, Dread said in as loud a voice as his speakers would let him, “Miss Pie, where are you?”
“I’m right here,” Pinkamena’s voice said from the other side of the hole. As she crawled though, carrying the trash bag full of the pony she had butchered, she added, “Sorry, it took me a while to find my bag. It turned out I had dropped it out in the cell hall. Mr. Spider is still there. I would’ve talked to him, but he was all tied up with something.” She came out with a wide grin on her face. “Oh, what happened to the hospital?”
“Well, Miss Pie,” Dread said, “we are not quite sure. It just seems to be gone.”
Pinkamena shrugged. “Alright then.”
Both Twilight and Dread looked at Pinkamena for a moment. Twilight herself wanted to ask her how she could be so calm after finding out something so drastic had happened to a large portion of the building. The only thing stopping her was the near certainty she wouldn’t understand Pinkamena’s answer.
“Let us be on our way,” Dread said.
They hurried down the hallway as quickly as Twilight’s bad leg would allow. None of the force fields had been activated, so they only had to stop whenever the pain in Twilight’s leg became unbearable. As they walked down the hall, it crossed Twilight’s mind that both the smell and charred piles of goo that had plagued the halls before were missing.
Twilight’s mind was a firework display of fears and worries. It seemed to her that what little logic existed in Sleipnir was slowly beginning to come undone. She had faced chaos before and befriended it, but this was different, somehow. Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it, but whatever was happening to Sleipnir’s architecture didn’t feel like something Discord would pull. Not her version, anyway.
After what felt to Twilight like an hour, they reached the large circular door that guarded the vault. The large circular door was still in the same condition they had left it in, to Twilight’s relief.
Dread unfolded his claws and moved into his two legged position to turn the vault’s valve. The door rolled open slowly, revealing Dr. Layne and Fluttershy playing some kind of card game.
Without looking up from his cards, Dr. Layne asked, “Oh, you’re back. Did you find anything-”
“No, Dr. Layne,” Dread said, stepping into the room, “we were attacked and had to come back. Twilight was injured and needs to rest. After I drop her off, I will be heading out again.”
Dr. Layne laid down his cards and stood up. “It’s not serious is it?”
“No,” Twilight said, “it just hurts to walk. That’s all.”
Dr. Layne nodded his head. “Alright, go lie down on the bed sheets. I’ll be with you shortly, just take it easy for right now.”
Twilight nodded and limped over to what looked like the softest pile of bed sheets. She lay down in a position that didn’t put too much pressure on her leg.
“One more thing before I go, Dr. Layne,” Dread said, “I need to have a word with you on some pressing matters. Alone, if possible.”
Dr. Layne looked at the android and said in a low voice, “This doesn’t concern the Administrator, does it?”
“Perhaps, Dr. Layne, but I am unsure.”
Dr. Layne swore underneath his breath. “That’s just peachy.” Then, turning to Fluttershy, he said with a half hearted smile, “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but it seems that we will have to finish our game some other time.”
“That’s alright,” Fluttershy said softly, “but, if you don’t mind, could you please help me move over by Twilight. I’d really like to talk to her.” Dr. Layne gave Fluttershy a much warmer smile and nodded his head. He bent down and let Fluttershy wrap an arm around his shoulders and then helped her to her feet. Dr. Layne slowly walked with Fluttershy, letting her move one of her legs forward before taking a step. Fluttershy’s legs moved stiffly and slowly. She leaned more and more on Dr. Layne with every step.
When they got to the pile of bed sheets Twilight was lying on, Fluttershy was panting and practically fell onto the sheets.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy panted for a moment then answered, “Yes, I’m just out of breath, and a little sore. No, really sore.”
“I’ve been trying to help her walk again,” Dr. Layne said, turning Fluttershy over into a more comfortable position, “So far she seems to be recovering from being att-”
“Dr. Layne,” Dread said, gesturing toward Pinkamena, who seemed to be contemplating her trash bag in the far corner of the room.
Dr. Layne scowled at Dread, grumbled something Twilight couldn’t make out, then continued, “She seems to be recovering from her accident remarkably well. Normally it would take weeks of therapy to for a pony in her condition to even manage a couple of steps.”
“That’s good to hear,” Twilight said, smiling.
Dr. Layne sighed. “It is, but we’re a long way from having her fully recovered. In fact, I’m not sure that, well, let’s hope we can get her to a fully equipped hospital. One with ponies who are actually trained for these things.” Dr. Layne looked over at Dread, who was standing by the vault door, waiting. “Anyway, I’d better not keep Dread waiting for much longer. I’ll check up on you two later.” He turned and walked over to Dread, and the two of them left the vault, leaving the door slightly open.
Twilight tried to listen to the incoherent series of sounds that leaked in through the hallway, hoping that she would be able pick out some new information. She gave up after a minute, both because it was rude to eavesdrop, and the fact that she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Besides, they’d probably tell her what they were talking about if she just asked.
Instead, Twilight shifted slightly to face Fluttershy, who seemed to be just about fully recovered from her walk earlier.
“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked, unable to come up with something better to say.
“I’m fine, I think,” Flutttershy said softly, “Dr. Layne has been very nice to me.”
“How have you been… adjusting?”
Fluttershy began running a hoof along one of her scars. “I’m not sure. Okay, I guess. It’s just a lot to get used to. My skin doesn’t feel right. It’s like I’m wearing an outfit that doesn’t fit very well. I keep trying to open my bad eye, and well…”
“Well,” Twilight said, desperately trying to think of a way to make Fluttershy feel better, “I, uh… Did Dr. Layne tell you anything about the facility?” Fluttershy shook her head. “Not really. He mostly just asked how certain parts of my body felt, and about my life in Ponyville. I’m not sure I want to know about this place, especially after what those ponies did and seeing you…” Fluttershy went quiet.
“Fluttershy?”
“Twilight, what was that thing?” Fluttershy asked.
“What thing?”
“That thing, with the tentacles? You and Pinkie said it was a changeling, but that can’t be right? Changelings don’t have tentacles”
Twilight unconsciously scratched at her bandage. “That thing, it was a monster. I don’t know what else to say about it. It was a monster and if I hadn’t done what I did, it would’ve hurt us. I’m sorry, that’s all I know about them.”
“Them? There’s more than one?”
“Yes,” Twilight said. She glanced over at Pinkamena, who was still poking at her bag of pony meat. “You could say that.”
Fluttershy whimpered.
Twilight reached out and touched Fluttershy in what she hoped was a comforting manner. “It’s okay Fluttershy, the monsters won’t hurt you, not so long as your friends are with you.”
Fluttershy reached down and touched Twilight’s hoof. “I want to go home, Twilight. I don’t want to be here in this awful place.”
“Fluttershy…” Twilight wanted to share in Fluttershy’s desire to go home, or to at least escape Sleipnir, but she found that she couldn’t. After leaving her cell, Twilight hadn’t given much thought to escape, even after she had promised Fluttershy. Twilight wasn’t even sure what constituted home for her anymore. If the dreams she had been having had any bearing on reality, then her home might be a very different place than what she thought of it. Twilight wasn’t sure she wanted to go back to that life.
Of course, that didn’t mean that Twilight didn’t have a duty to her friend. Even if she was unsure of her own escape, Twilight had still made a promise to get Fluttershy out of Sleipnir. And what kind of friend was Twilight if she couldn’t even keep a simple promise?
“I’m working on it,” Twilight said, more to comfort Fluttershy than anything else.
They sat quietly for some time. Twilight eventually pulled her hoof away, and was considering taking a nap when Fluttershy coughed.
“One more thing,” Fluttershy said softly.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“I’ve been noticing that some ponies here, well they, um… I would’ve asked the doctor but-” Fluttershy stumbled over her words for a moment, then asked in a voice that was little more than a whisper, “I want to know why you and Dr. Layne keep walking on all fours?”
“Well, uh; Dread!” Twilight called. She waited a moment, and when the android didn’t answer she swore under her breath.
“I don’t know how to explain this,” Twilight said, “but there are these diseases that have been going around, three of them, and they do things to ponies. Unpleasant things.”
“Oh my, I hope they’re not dangerous,” Fluttershy said.
Twilight shook her head. “No, they’re not dangerous, at least,” Twilight looked over to Pinkamena, “not necessarily. One of these viruses is called Anthropomorphia and it does something to pony genetics. It makes them;” Twilight scratched behind one of her ears. She tried to think of someway of answering without letting Fluttershy in on more than she could handle. “It makes them walk funny, that’s all.”
“Oh, well that doesn’t sound too bad. It isn’t painful, is it?”
Twilight forced a smile. “No, no. Ponies don’t seem to notice. It’s just a mild skeletal restructure. Nothing to worry about.”
“Skeletal restructure?” Fluttershy squeaked, pulling a bed sheet over herself.
Twilight wanted to smack herself. She just had to describe a virus as something that restructures anatomy.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, hoping she could undo some of the damage she’d done, “pony doctors have developed a treatment. In fact, when we get back to Ponyville, I’ll be they’ll be able to treat you immediately!”
“Treat me?” Fluttershy asked. As soon as she said it, Twilight realized that she had said something wrong. “I can’t have the virus. I’ve always- I can’t- I-” Fluttershy began breathing faster, and her left arm started quivering rapidly.
“I meant- I mean that-” Twilight fumbled over her words. She tried searching for a way out of her predicament, but none came to mind. Twilight could tell her a lie, but that would leave her telling more and more lies to cover up inconsistencies Fluttershy’s life on her world, and Twilight’s understanding of it. It was a predicament that Twilight had seen far too often, and would rather skip over it.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight said as gently as she could, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. It’s just that, well… ” Twilight tried to get the words out, but they seemed stuck in her throat.
“I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this,” Twilight finally conceded, choosing her words carefully, “but for right now, until Dread comes back, let’s just say that Dr. Layne and I have slightly different anatomies from normal ponies. Alright?”
Fluttershy waited for her breathing to return to normal before speaking. “I don’t understand. Are you the one infected or am I?”
Twilight hesitated for a moment. “I’m the one infected, I mean a pony walking on four legs? No, my anatomy is screwed up, and now I have to wait for the doctors to come up with a treatment.” Twilight gave a nervous laugh.
Fluttershy looked at Twilight disbelievingly. “Twilight, why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Twilight gave another nervous laugh. She glanced back at the vault door in the vain hope that it would be opening, and that she wouldn’t have to explain anything. The door was completely still.
Gritting her teeth, Twilight took another deep breath and called, “Pinkie, do you mind helping me with explaining something to Fluttershy?”
From across the room, Pinkamena tore herself away from the bag of meat to look at Twilight. Pinkamena shifted slightly to block more of her bag from Fluttershy’s vision, then turned away.
Twilight muttered under her breath, then turned back to Fluttershy. “Let’s just say that the ponies walking on all fours is a temporary problem that doesn’t cause us discomfort, or get in the way of our daily lives.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said slowly, “but that doesn’t really explain anything. Twilight, if you don’t want to tell me, just say it. I won’t be mad.” Twilight sighed with relief. “Thank you, Fluttershy. Just so you know, I want to tell you but,” Twilight hesitated for a moment, “it’s just hard to explain, and I don’t really understand it myself. Dread understands these things better, I’m sure he’ll tell you when he gets a chance.”
“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy said.
“Is there anything else we can talk about?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Yes actually. I want to know -“
Fluttershy was interrupted by the vault door opening. Dread and Dr. Layne entered. Dr. Layne turned to shut the door, but Dread shook his head, saying, “I will not be here long, there is no reason to close the door.”
Dr. Layne grumbled and scowled, then, realizing that both Twilight and Fluttershy were watching, changed his expression to a forced grin. “Right, Dread. But are you absolutely sure that you want to go alone?”
Dread emitted a crackling sound from his speakers. “Yes, Dr. Layne, for the tenth time, I am absolutely sure.” “Well it’s just, you know,” Dr. Layne gestured at Pinkamena.
“I trust, Dr. Layne, that you will be able to handle any situation that may arise. I have faith in you.”
Dr. Layne sighed. “Fine, just please don’t take too long.”
“You need not worry about that, Dr. Layne,” Dread said, “I shall only be here for a moment.”
“That’s not what I… Oh forget it.” Dr. Lanye stomped off to lie on a nearby pile of bed sheets.
“Um, what’s going on?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, nothing much. It’s just that the idiot cyborg has decided that it would be a good idea to go wandering the facility on his own,” Dr. Layne grumbled.
“We need more data, Dr. Layne,” Dread said, “And besides, you still need food.”
Dr. Layne snorted.
Dread took off his satchel and laid it by one of the walls. “Before I go, is there anything any pony needs?”
Fluttershy, who had been trembling quietly, poked her head up and said, “Some tea would be nice, if that’s alright?”
“I will see what I can do,” Dread said, “Miss Sparkle, Miss Pie, do you two have any suggestions?”
Twilight shook her head.
“I think I’m good,” Pinkamena said quietly without looking away from her bag, “I may need some kind of stove, or something.”
“Very well,” Dread said, turning to the door, “I will return shortly. Please be safe.”
After the sound of the vault door turning shut, the four ponies sat in silence. After a few minutes, Dr. Layne coughed and asked, “So, Fluttershy, would you like to go back to our game?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “No, sorry but that short distance I walked took a lot out of me. Maybe we can play later?”
Dr. Layne sighed, “All right, you get your rest.”
“There is one thing I’d like though. If that’s alright?”
Dr. Layne smiled. “I’m happy to help.”
“Twilight mentioned something called Anfropromophia. Could you please explain to me what that is exactly?”
Dr. Layne’s smile suddenly became strained. “Of course, I’d be happy to.” Then, giving Twilight an angry look, he added, “I just wish that some pony had just told me before she went on blabbering about such disdainful things.”
Realizing that it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to be around while Dr. Layne explained things to Fluttershy, Twilight carefully got up and limped over to where Pinkamena was starring at her bag.
“Hi,” Twilight said.
Pinkamena looked up from her. “Oh, hi Twilight,” she said dully.
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked, “You’ve been pretty quiet since we got back.”
“Oh, I have?” Pinkamena gave a small smile. “Sorry, I didn’t realize. I’ve just been wondering about things.”
Twilight carefully set herself into a sitting position. “What kind of things?”
Pinkamena shrugged. “Just things. Like,” Pinkamena glanced over at Fluttershy. The patchwork pegasus was still listening to Dr. Layne’s lecture on Anthropomorphia. “I want to tell Fluttershy what happened to Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight shifted back and looked away for a moment. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean,” she glanced at Fluttershy to make sure that she wasn’t listening, “I don’t think she’ll forgive you if you tell her, and you won’t be able to go home.”
“I know that, Twilight,” Pinkamena sighed, “but Rainbow Dash was her friend and she deserves to know what happened. And besides,” Pinkamena gulped, “I don’t want my friends to forgive me, not after what I’ve done. They should know what happened, all of them.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “I’m not sure they’ll be able to forgive you, Pinkie, this isn’t a normal friendship problem.”
“I know,” Pinkamena said, “I don’t expect them to forgive me, but they deserve to know. Even if it breaks their hearts.”
Pinkamena laid back and looked at the ceiling. She said in a soft voice, “Do you think they’ll hang me, or behead me?”
Twilight’s stomach lurched at the question and she blurted out, “Let’s change the subject, shall we?”
She must’ve said it louder than she wanted, because a moment later Dr. Layne called, “Are you two alright?”
Dr. Layne looked at Twilight, then at Pinkamena. He frowned and said, “Alright, then. Let me know if anything is wrong, alright.”
“Alright then.” Twilight smiled, then turned to Pinkamena, whispering, “Can we have this conversation later? I don’t want to risk Fluttershy over hearing us.”
Pinkamena shrugged and the two of them talked for some time on things that Twilight felt alright with Fluttershy overhearing, such as the importance of balloon coloring and making sure that the flavor of icing complimented the flavor of the cake.
After an hour, Dr. Layne called them over to join Fluttershy and him in their card game. After a brief explanation of the rules, the crippled pegasus dealt four cards to every pony, and they all settled down for what Twilight hoped would be a peaceful game night.
As it turned out, the game night wasn’t quite as enjoyable as Twilight had hoped. The game Dr. Layne had set up was easy enough to learn, all one had to do was know how to add or subtract numbers. But having to hold cards in her hooves was an ability that was completely alien to Twilight. For so long she had relied on her magic to handle the flimsy pieces of paper, that she was at a complete loss as to how to actually hold them. It took her several attempts and many bent cards before she admitted defeat and used her wings.
“Alright, I think I’ve got it!” Twilight said when she finally got a grip on the cards.
“And you managed to keep some of them intact, I’m impressed,” Dr. Layne said sarcastically, holding his cards in his hooves with ease.
“That wasn’t very nice, Dr. Layne,” Fluttershy said with a stern look.
Dr. Layne chuckled, “Oh, I’m just messing. Anyway, who’s going first?”
Pinkamena shrugged. “I dealt, so I guess Fluttershy will.”
“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy said. She looked at her cards for a moment, selected two and placed them on the floor between the four ponies. “I’ve got a nine of spades and a two of hearts, making seven.”
“Alright, my turn,” Twilight said as she laid down a six of spades and a four of clubs, “and I’ve got ten.”
Dr. Layne sighed and laid down a ten of clubs and a nine of hearts. “One.”
Grinning, Pinkamena placed down a nine of clubs and a six of spades. “Fifteen, I win!”
They played several rounds of the game without really keeping track of who was winning the most, though Twilight was certain that it was Pinkamena. The first couple of rounds went by fairly quickly, but it wasn’t long before the novelty of the game ebbed and they began making light conversation. At first they talked about how Dr. Layne came up with the game and they were entertained by a short story about the doctor’s experience as a tutor, and how he designed the game to teach foals about negative numbers. Eventually though, the conversation turned to one that Twilight wasn’t quite ready to have yet, even if it might’ve been unavoidable.
“So, Twilight, what’s it like walking on four legs?” Fluttershy asked when the conversation slowed.
Twilight swallowed and looked away. “Fine, I suppose. I guess Dr. Layne told you why we walk on four legs?”
Fluttershy nodded her head. “I think it was what you were trying to tell me, but it made more sense somehow when the doctor said it. There’s just one thing I still don’t understand, how come you always used to walk normally back in Ponyville? You didn’t just force yourself to do it, did you?”
Twilight faked a cough and looked at Dr. Layne for an answer. The pegasus sighed and said, “Well, that’s something I’ve been trying to build up to, you see,” he paused and looked over at the door. “Dread’s been gone an awfully long time, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, he has, hasn’t he?” Twilight said, faking a grin, “I wonder what’s taking him.”
“I don’t know, I mean he couldn’t have left more than half an hour ago. I mean he’s probably just now-” Twilight swatted Pinkamena with the tip of her tail. “Ow! Twilight, why would you-”
“We’re changing the subject,” Twilight said through gritted teeth.
Pinkamena scowled at Twilight and rubbed at the spot where she had hit her. “Geez, you could’ve just told me.”
Twilight resisted the urge to growl at Pinkamena and said, “You don’t think he got lost do you?”
“No, no, I’m certain he’s fine,” Dr. Layne answered, “perhaps we should get back to the game. Fluttershy, I believe it was your deal.”
Dr. Layne grinned at Fluttershy, who had her eyebrows furrowed, causing her patchwork skin to wrinkle and stretch in a way that looked almost painful. She took a deep breath and said, “Dr. Layne, Twilight, Pinkie Pie. I want you to know that I am very thankful for the way you’ve been treating me since my accident. I don’t think I would’ve been able to survive if it hadn’t been for all your kindness and patience. For this reason, I would like to ask that if you’re going to keep something from me, that you not be so… blatant about it. Please?”
Dr. Layne sighed. “All right, you’ve got us. We’ve got a few more secrets, ones I won’t be telling you for your sake, but I guess I can let you in on this one. The truth is that Twilight and I, we’re not like the ponies you knew back in Ponyville, or any part of Equestria. The truth is, the truth is-”
“The truth is,” a genderless voice cut in from an unseen intercom, “you’re a long way from home.”
A chill shot through Twilight’s spine. She instinctively turned her head toward the vault door, her legs readying themselves to run at the first sign of danger. Beside her, Pinkamena growled.
“What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked, her voice shaking.
“Oh, nothing much, sweet Fluttershy,” the Administrator said in its mockingly sing song tone, “We at Sleipnir were just looking over the facility’s new layout and just so happened to notice that your friends were doing an appallingly awful job of telling you how they tore you from your world, prevented you from receiving proper medical attention, and forced you to endure time with the pony who betrayed you. We just thought it would be kind of us to give them a helping hand.”
Fluttershy squirmed and shifted closer to Dr. Layne, who put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. He glared at the ceiling and said, “You don’t normally grace us with a conversation, so what do you want?”
“Want? We at Sleipnir desire nothing but to see that our patients are treated with the upmost efficiency. Unfortunately, we at Sleipnir lack the necessary equipment to provide the necessary healthcare for several of our guests. As such, we have prepared an opportunity to escort any pony safely off of the ship, on one condition.”
Dr. Layne snorted. “Well then, what is it?”
The Administrator’s voice shifted to a more masculine tone. “We at Sleipnir have noticed that one or more of our guests has been consorting with an individual who would undo all the progress that Sleipnir has made. As such, we ask that Miss Twilight Sparkle be delivered to us.”
Dr. Layne stood up and stomped a hoof. “No!”
“Wait a minute,” Twilight said quickly. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what she was about to do, but she swallowed her fear and forced herself to think of the others. “If I give myself over, do you promise to send my friends back home?”
“Twilight, what are you-” Pinkamena started to ask.
“Of course,” the Administrator said, “We at Sleipnir see no reason to deceive any of our patients. If you come quietly, your friends will be allowed to leave the facility unharmed.”
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In her mind, she saw Fluttershy reuniting with her friends and getting the medical help she needed, Dr. Layne being able to live a normal life as a normal scientist, and Pinkamena being admitted into a proper asylum, and maybe even under Dread’s care. “Alright, Administrator or whatever your name is, tell me where I have to go.”
“Twilight, no,” Pinkamena said. Twilight ignored her. There wasn’t any reason for them to suffer in the hell that was Sleipnir. Not even Pinkamena.
“Due to recent events, the layout of our facility has been altered,” the Administer said, “if you would kindly walk down the hall from your air lock, you will find a shuttle that will take you near to our head office. We at Sleipnir thank you for your compliance.”
Twilight got up to her feet and slowly made her way towards the vault door, taking care not to hurt her injured leg. She tried not to think about what the Administrator might want with her, or what he would do when she met him, but images of horrific torture wedged themselves into her mind, causing her knees to tremble slightly.
As she reached the door, Fluttershy called, “Twilight, why are you doing this?”
Without looking back, Twilight took a deep breath and said, “I made a promise.”
Twilight placed a hoof on the vault door, and was getting ready to open it when Dr. Layne shouted, “Are you serious?”
Twilight turned to look at the doctor, who was scowling at her from across the room.
“Do you really,” Dr. Layne continued, “believe that that thing would ever keep its word? Really?”
“Well…” Twilight said slowly. She kicked at the ground and shook her head. “I guess I really didn’t think about, I just assumed-”
Dr. Layne snorted. “If you want to go, I won’t stop you. But do you really think it’s worth throwing your life away on the promise from the same thing that’s been toying with us since day one?”
Twilight thought about it for a moment. The images of her friends being happy still burned in her mind. She looked at her friends; Fluttershy was trembling on the ground, and Pinkamena crying silently. Twilight’s heart sank. She wanted to tell Dr. Layne that any risk was worth it for her friends. She wanted to say that the Administrator might keep his word and that she didn’t care what happened to herself. But Dr. Layne had a point.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight turned away from the door and returned to her friends. “Sorry, Administrator,” Twilight said, spitting at the ground, “but I don’t think I’ll be joining you after all.” Pinkamena beamed and tackled her in a constricting hug. Fluttershy joined her a second later, though her hug wasn’t quite as strong.
“Well now, that is unfortunate,” the Administrator said in a mockingly cheerful tone, “under normal circumstances be would applaud you for your denial of our offer, but sadly you cannot be allowed to live.”
There was a loud ‘zap’, and then the room went dark, save for a pale green light coming from beneath one of the bed sheets. Fluttershy let out a loud squeal and ducked beneath. Pinkamena released Twilight and let out a low growl.
“And that’s our cue to leave,” Dr. Lanye said. “Take what you can carry and leave the rest, I’ll bet my good wing something’s coming for us.”
“What about Dread?” Pinkamena asked.
“He’ll have to catch up, now let’s move!”
Twilight’s eyes darted around the darkened room, seeking anything that might be important. She focused on the bed sheet where the green light was coming from and removed them to reveal the Book of Newt, its cover emitting the green light.
As soon as she exposed the book, a deep laugh rumbled through out the walls, sending a chill down Twilight’s spine. Choosing to ignore the laugh, Twilight scooped the book into a nearby bag and slung it over her shoulders. The sudden weight caused her leg to erupt with a pain that nearly caused Twilight to collapse.
Gritting her teeth and fighting off tears, Twilight shouted, “I don’t think I’ll be able to carry Fluttershy.”
Dr. Layne swore, “Alright, I’ll carry her.”
A moment later, after Twilight helped Fluttershy onto Dr. Layne, she checked the bandages on her leg to make sure they wouldn’t fall off.
When she was done, Dr. Layne said, “Pinkie, you’re going to have to open the door and go out first. Twilight and I will follow. Our goal is to try and get to the hole that leads to the laboratory. If something goes wrong, we keep moving until we reach the end of the hall. Got it?”
“Yup,” Pinkamena said. She hopped over to the vault door and turned the large valve on it. The door screeched open, letting in a rancid smell that caused Twilight’s eyes to water. It was the same smell she and Pinkamena had experienced earlier, and Twilight silently wished that Dr. Layne hadn’t made them leave.
Clutching her nose, Pinkamena walked through the door, followed by Dr. Layne, and then by Twilight. Aside from the smell, the hall seemed safe enough, if a bit dark. As they walked, their hoof steps echoed throughout the hall, giving the impression that it was much larger than it was.
Minutes passed, and the smell started to get to Twilight. She tried breathing through her mouth, but still the stench managed to break through. Twilight stopped to cover her nose with her hooves, and this seemed to work. Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight tried to think of a more permanent solution to her annoyance. It was too late to go back and get some cloth, and her wings certainly wouldn’t block the scent.
Twilight was considering plucking some of her feathers and shoving them up her nose when her ears picked up the sound of something wet flopping on the floor in the distance. She pricked her ears to try and figure out what might be making the noise, but it was too soft for her to get much out of it.
Ignoring the rancid smell, Twilight hurried onwards to catch up with the others. Her bad leg kept her from moving too quickly, and she had no idea how far ahead they moved on without her.
Behind her, the wet, slopping sound grew louder. Twilight sped up her pace, sending sharp spikes of pain up her leg, causing it to buckle underneath her. She let out a small cry and forced herself to her feet.
Whatever was behind her must’ve heard her cry, as the slopping noise started beating faster. Despite her protesting leg, Twilight forced herself to run. Every time her hooves struck the ground, it was like her leg being battered by a boulder, and every time she pushed off from the ground, it was as if her leg was being ripped apart.
She made it about ten steps before collapsing. Whatever was making the slopping sound was almost upon her, she could hear the noise clearly now. She tried to get up, but her leg wouldn’t do what she told it to. With few options left, Twilight started pulling herself forward with her front legs, and screamed for help.
As she pulled herself forward, Twilight hazarded a look behind her. When she did, the slopping noise ceased, leaving Twilight in a void of silence that was broken only by distant hoof steps. For a second, she stared into the void, unable to make out any details. Then, the creature opened its eyes.
What little light there was in the darkened hall way seemed to have reflected off the creature’s huge, bulging eyes. Whatever it was stared at Twilight unblinkingly, as if calculating its next move. Slowly, a wide grin stretched across the creature’s face, splitting its lips and cracking its skin. Its teeth were large and cracked, yet so white that they seemed to illuminate the area around them. Twilight’s heart caught in her throat. She turned away from the thing and tried once again to get to her feet and run. She managed to get up, but her leg resisted any effort to make it move.
“Oh, Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student,” the creature said in a raspy, gurgling voice, “you don’t have to run from me.”
Twilight screamed and tried desperately to walk on three legs. She hobbled a couple of steps, then something wet and clammy wrapped itself around her bad leg. She tripped, and fell to the ground.
The monster’s tentacles wriggled across Twilight’s body, its icy tendrils feeling every nook and cranny. Twilight squirmed and tried to get away from the monster’s clutch, but it merely laughed and pressed down on her with a mass of tentacles
“All I ever wanted was to be closer to you,” The monster gurgled, “and you went and did THIS to me!” The monster pressed squeezed Twilight’s torso, forcing the air out of her lungs.
Twilight struggled to get free, but she didn’t have the strength to undo the monster’s hold on her. She could only close her eyes and groan with terror. Every fiber of her being told her to fight, but she couldn’t move a muscle. The world seemed to collapse around her, leaving her in a dark, cold void where all she could do was wait for the monster to have its way with her.
Behind her, the monster purred.
“You hurt me, Twilight; I hope you know how that feels. Now, where shall I begin?”
The monster’s tentacles shifted and focused solely on her head. Two of the tendrils wormed their way into Twilight’s nostrils, with two more feeling around her eyes.
The tentacles in her nose pushed themselves in slowly, making Twilight’s nostrils burn as they moved. Twilight sputtered involuntarily and pulled at the tendrils desperately to get them out.
“Help!” Twilight cried out faintly.
Laughing, the monster slowly removed its tentacle from Twilight’s nose. As soon as they were out, Twilight gasped for air, filling her lungs as much as possible. Her nostrils burned as they were filled with air, and something wet and warm trickled down from them onto Twilight’s lips.
“Not very pleasant, is it?” It gurgled, “But enough with the appetizers, onto the main course!”
Chuckling, the monster tore the bandages from Twilight’s leg. Her mind went white with the pain, and she screamed flailed wildly.
“Let me go!” Twilight cried, her voice weak from a lack air, “just let me go!”
“Let go?” The monster asked, gurgling and laughing, “But sweet Twilight, the fun is just getting started!”
The monster’s cold, wet tendrils felt around Twilight’s wound, it was as though her leg was being ripped apart. Tears started rolling down Twilight’s face as they started to dig down further into her torn up leg.
The monster’s tentacles pressed down harder onto Twilight’s wound, and seemed just about ready to make the plunge, when a high pitched voice shrieked, “Get off of her you freak!”
There was a loud ‘Splat’, and the monster reared off Twilight and sputtered. The next thing Twilight knew, some pony had grabbed her and was now carrying her down the hall. Unsure of exactly what was going on, Twilight took the opportunity to catch her breath.
“Pinkie?” Twilight asked, her mind still half in a daze.
“Not now, Twilight,” Pinkamena panted, “that thing’s still after us.”
Twilight blinked and looked back. Sure enough, the monster was clawing its way down the hall not far behind them, pulling itself forward with its tendrils. It shrieked and roared in rage, its eyes maddeningly wide. Twilight stared at it for a moment, then turned away.
“Pinkie, where’s Dr. Lanye? Is Fluttershy alright?” Twilight asked quickly.
Behind them, the monster screamed, “Give me back my Twilight!”
“They’re up ahead.” Pinkamena said, “Couldn’t find the hole.”
“How far?” Twilight asked.
“Just a little…” Pinkamena’s breathing grew heavier and she began to slow down.
Twilight looked up ahead and saw the vague outline of a door that was maybe thirty feet away. She thought about her aching leg and wondered if she could manage that distance in a sprint without collapsing. Then she remembered that she had wings.
“Let me go,” Twilight said, “I can make it the rest of the way on my own.”
“No, I can…” Pinkamena gasped. She stumbled forward a few more steps then faltered. Her grip weakened enough that Twilight was able to squirm her way out and fall to the floor. Ignoring the sharp burst of pain from her leg, Twilight quickly kicked off from the ground and spread her wings.
Free of the burden Twilight’s weight caused, Pinkamena picked up her pace and was soon running alongside Twilight. Behind them, the monster cried out in anger, but with neither of the two ponies handicapped, it was unable to keep up.
“You won’t escape from me!” It shrieked, “I will have you! I will! I will! I WILL!”
Twilight and Pinkamena reached the door and quickly passed through it, leaving the monster in the hall of darkness. Beyond the door and a small room that was half filled with what looked like a large glass tube with seats inside it. Fluttershy was sitting in one of these seats, wrapped in one of the bed sheets from the vault. Dr. Layne was outside of the tube, looking at a metal lectern like thing that Twilight guessed was some kind of control panel.
As they shut the door, Dr. Layne looked up and asked, “What happened? How badly were you two hurt?”
Realizing just how out of breath she was, Twilight gave a quick explanation of what happened.
Dr. Layne swore, “Anything else?”
It was Pinkamena who answered, “Yeah, I lost my lunch bag.”
“Alright, get in the shuttle. Twilight, I’ll make you a new bandage out of a bed sheet later. We’ll be leaving soon.”
Twilight obeyed, selecting a seat near Fluttershy. She tried to start a conversation with the patchwork pegasus, but quickly realized that Fluttershy had fallen asleep. Deciding to follow her lead, Twilight laid her satchel out like a pillow, and closed her eyes.
Twilight frantically read and reread the pile of notes she had written over the past months. Over and over she read the numbers and theories she had come up with, but still she couldn’t find any answers. All the notes explained to her were how she had come up with her experiments, but they never explained why. But Twilight knew that she had written it down somewhere, she certainly wouldn’t have done the things she had done without explanation, there had to be a why.
Behind her, Pinkie Pie moaned on her bed. Twilight put the notes she was reading down and went to her friend’s aid. She had managed to undo some of the effects her experiment had on Pinkie, fixing up some internal organs and molding some bones back into their proper shape. But it wasn’t enough. There was nothing Twilight could do to fix Pinkie’s eye, the warts seemed to pop up faster than Twilight could remove them, and she still couldn’t speak, either because she was unable to, or she simply wouldn’t.
“Hey Pinkie, are you hungry?” Twilight asked softly.
Pinkie’s working eye opened then looked at Twilight with something that until a few months ago she would’ve thought her friend incapable of, fear and hatred.
Twilight gave her a small smile and continued, “I’ve got some apple tarts and cider, if you want any.”
Pinkie looked away from Twilight and gave a defiant grunt. Her stomach betrayed her though, when it grumbled loudly enough for Twilight to hear it. Smiling, Twilight gave her friend a gentle hug, and turned to fetch the food from her cabinet.
On her way she passed Spike, who was sitting between a shelf and a filing cabinet, staring down at one of the comic books she had gotten for him. He hadn’t moved much in the time since Twilight had experimented on him, barely eating any food and only drinking once every few days.
Twilight often tried to talk to him, bringing up how Rarity was doing or asking him what he thought about the comic books she got him. She hoped that by getting him to talk about things that interested him she could stimulate his mind into bringing back the little dragon that used to be her best friend. The one she had torn up and thrown away. It was no use though, something about the experiment had taken something from Spike, and her number one assistant was no more.
After giving Spike a long, sorrowful look, Twilight sighed and returned to getting Pinkie’s food. She selected one of the apple tarts she and Summerfree had baked earlier that day, along with a bottle of homebrewed cider. She broke the apple tart into small, bite sized pieces, and poured the cider into a baby bottle.
When she returned to Pinkie’s side, Twilight slowly fed her friend the bits of apple tart. At first, Twilight had to magically force Pinkie to open her mouth and chew, but after a few bites she began act on her own. Twilight hoped that this was a sign that Pinkie’s condition was getting better, but it was too little for her to know for sure and might very well have been wishful thinking.
“Did you like it?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie didn’t answer. Twilight sighed and gave her the bottle of cider to wash down the apple tart. Pinkie obediently bit down on the bottle, and allowed the liquid to drain into her mouth. When she was finished, Twilight took the empty bottle away and dabbed Pinkie’s mouth with a napkin.
“You know, Rainbow Dash’s birthday is coming up,” Twilight said, “It’s been a while since you’ve thrown a party. Maybe, if you’re up to it, we can go out and throw her a surprise party? I’m sure the girls would love to see you again.”
Pinkie’s eye momentarily watered up, then quickly returned to its vacant stare. Twilight had talked about getting her out of the workshop before, and she had long since learned not to put any faith into the promises. Twilight hadn’t meant any ill will with her promises; she only wanted to give her friend hope. Instead, she held out a treat and then took it away. It was cruel, and Twilight knew it, but she felt that she had to give Pinkie something to cling to.
Sighing, returned to her notes. This time she pulled out the results of the blood test she had done on herself the previous day. She scanned the list of chemicals and tried to discern any abnormalities that might explain her recent behavior. If her theory was correct, then it was likely that her abhorrent activities were the result of a disorder or disease. If that were the case, then Twilight could study the disorder and cure herself.
After several minutes of reading and rereading the results telling her that she was perfectly healthy, Twilight discarded the scrap of paper. It had been a stupid idea anyway. She took another look at Pinkie, who was lying on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Sighing, Twilight lifted up the mess of notes that she had thrown about her workshop and with a practiced horn reorganized them into their proper place.
Deciding to call it a day, Twilight got out two blanket blankets and wrapped them around her friends. She took a moment to make sure that Pinkie’s pillow was fluffed and to turn on a small heater for Spike. Twilight wasn’t sure if they even noticed the effort, but she still wanted to make them both as comfortable as she could.
After tucking them in, Twilight made her way to the shower and turned it on cold. As the water washed over her, she closed her eyes and imagined that it was cleansing her of her past deeds, and that when she stepped out both Spike and Pinkie were back to their old selves, and willing to forgive her.
After a few minutes, Twilight got out of the shower and began drying herself off. She was just about ready to climb up the ladder to rejoin her family, when a hoarse voice croaked from across the room, “Twi-light?”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. “Hello?” She asked. She looked around the workshop to see if any pony had snuck in while she was n the shower, but everything seemed to be just as she left it.
“Twi-light,” the voice croaked again. This time Twilight was able to figure out where it had come from. She almost didn’t believe it. It had been months, and in all that time all she heard was silence.
“Spike?” Twilight asked.
“Twi-light,” Spike replied.
Twilight slowly approached the small dragon, taking careful note of what his body was doing. He hadn’t changed position, and his limbs were stiff.
“Spike, are you alright?” Twilight asked, “How do you feel?”
He looked up at her with an emotionless expression. His robotic eyes stared at her unblinkingly. “Twi-light,” he said, “why?”
“SPIKE!” Twilight shouted as she fell face first to the floor of the shuttle. Her entire body was shaking, her heart was racing, and she was sweating from head to tail. She lay there on the floor, trying to process what she had witnessed. The dream felt real. They all felt real now, her family, her house, and her deeds.
White hot pain erupted from Twilight’s bad leg, pushing the dream out of her mind. She cried out, and tried to grab at it.
“Twilight?” Dr. Layne called from the other side of the dark shuttle, “Is something wrong?”
“My leg, hurts,” Twilight whimpered. Her leg felt like it was being split down the middle. It stung in a sharp reminder of what the monster had done to it the previous day, only this time Twilight wasn't so distracted as distracted by fear.
Dr. Layne swore and sauntered over to where Twilight was lying. “Stay strong; when we get to our stop I’ll get you some pain medicine. How badly does it it hurt?”
Twilight tried to answer, but her words were lost in a whimper. Dr. Layne seemed to take this as an answer, because he placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. He sat with her for a long time, during which the pain in Twilight’s leg ebbed away, slowly but surely.
When she could ignore the pain enough to talk, Twilight said, “Thank you, Doctor. Did I wake any pony else up?”
Dr. Layne shook his head. “All three of you pretty much fell asleep as soon as you entered the shuttle, and I haven’t slept a moment, too much on my mind. I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of replacing your bandage.”
“Oh, I hadn’t even noticed.” Twilight reached down to touch the ripped piece of bed sheet that had been tied around her leg. It was damp with blood, but seemed to be doing an adequate job of keeping Twilight from bleeding out. “Thank you.”
Dr. Layne shrugged. “Don’t thank me yet. Whatever happened to you with that monster caused your wound to get worse. It looked like the thing stuck a bunch of carrots n your leg.”
Twilight shivered, remembering the incident.
“You’re lucky that it didn’t even get a centimeter in, any deeper and I’m not sure you would’ve been able to keep the leg.”
“Less than a centimeter?” Twilight asked, remembering the intense pain she had felt. “I could’ve sworn it was more.”
Dr. Layne shrugged. “Contrary to what horror stories will tell you, it’s actually not easy to damage the body. It takes a lot of effort, unless you have the proper tools.”
“I can imagine,” Twilight said, the image of Spike’s body being torn open by a buzz saw intruding into her mind’s eye.
“I will say that you’ve been showing remarkable resilience. Normally with a wound like that you wouldn’t be able to walk.”
Twilight shrugged. “I’m a princess, aren’t I? My entire existence is a biological anomaly.”
Dr. Layne chuckled, “I guess you’re right. Besides, it’s not like walking is something to complain about. You can go back to sleep if you want, we won’t be reaching our destination for a while.”
Twilight shook her head. “If it’s not too much trouble, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
Dr. Layne got up and sat one of the benches. “Shoot.”
Twilight sighed, and explained to Dr. Layne the various Dreams she had experienced since waking up in Sleipnir. She told him about her family, what she had done to her friends, the Goodfellow, everything. When she was finished, Dr. Layne rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Well, that’s something,” he said after a few moments, “I didn’t peg you for the mad scientist type, I thought you were some kind of tyrant or something along those lines.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Twilight said.
“You said you were trying to undo the damages, right?” Dr. Layne asked.
Twilight nodded her head. “That’s what it felt like in my dream, yes.”
Dr. Layne clapped his front hooves together and smiled. “Well then, if we get off Sleipnir, I believe I can be of service. I do have some expertise in unethical experimentation.”
Twilight tilted her head. “Are you sure? I mean, I messed them up pretty badly.”
“I’ve been around the block a couple of times. Done things I regret,” Dr. Layne shuddered, “but what you described isn’t too out of left field. Not in my experience anyway. When we escape, I’ll go with you to evaluate them and come up with something when I’ve got all the details.” Dr. Layne winked. “We’ll have them back to normal in no time!”
Twilight laughed and clapped her hooves. It was like an enormous weight had been taken off her shoulders. She wanted to leap from the ground and do somersaults in the air. For the first time since arriving at Sleipnir, Twilight felt as though things were going her way.
Dr. Layne gave her a minute to calm down before saying, “There are a few things we need to get through first. Right now our biggest concern is getting out of Sleipnir alive.”
Twilight swallowed. “Right, how do we do that?”
“Same as before, get to the reality warp, and get the hell out of here. Only thing that’s changed is that now I’m sure where it is. Assuming that what happened yesterday also happened to the rest of the station, we could search for years and not find it. That, and might very well be heading for our doom.”
“What do you mean?”
Dr. Layne chuckled. “I mean that the Administrator wanted you to board this shuttle so that he could kill you. Remember?”
Twilight’s stomach sank. Deciding that she didn’t want to think about what the Administrator had in store for them, she said, “I’m starting to feel a little drowsy. I think I’ll lie down for a minute.”
Dr. Layne nodded and helped Twilight onto the shuttle bench , where she sat her head down on her satchel, closed her eyes, and tried not to think about what would come.
Twilight stared at the body before her. Her breath was shaky, and her heart felt like it was ready to burst out of her chest. Applejack’s unfocused eye stared at her with a glazed look. Twilight used her magic to close her sister in law’s eyes and placed a hoof on her throat. The pulse was faint, but there. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She would live, assuming Twilight hadn’t given her permanent damage. It was a heavy rock.
“I told you not to come down here, why didn’t you listen?” Twilight asked the unconscious body. She stomped a hoof in frustration. “Darn it Applejack, why couldn’t we just have a nice dinner?”
Twilight opened a drawer and pulled out the spare pillows she kept for Pinkie, and placed Applejack on it. Then she pulled out a bottle of hard cider forced the cork out. Twilight took a long swig of the sugary liquid, barely tasting it.
She looked around her messy workshop. Journals and notes had been thrown around haphazardly, giving the impression that a storm had recently blown through. Months of research and theorizing to undo the damage she had done in a few hours. Months of hiding evidence, pretending to organize search parties for the friends she kept prisoner just beneath her house. The friends she betrayed.
Well, what was one more going to hurt?
Putting the bottle down, Twilight began searching her workshop for something to restrain Applejack with. She had straps of webbing, but she wasn’t sure that Applejack couldn’t break those. She needed chains. Big, heavy chains that no earth pony could ever break free of. Or she could find a way to disable Applejack’s motor functions. A few minutes with her chemicals would give her plenty of time to cook up a neurotoxin.
As Twilight searched, she began formulating ways to hide Applejack’s disappearance. It wouldn’t be easy, Ponyville was still traumatized by Pinkie vanishing and ponies might start suspecting foul play if another major pony went away. If Twilight was lucky, she could convince every pony that Applejack had gone away to get money to pay for a new playground, sort of like that time so long ago. Ponies would believe her, they always trusted Princesses.
Twilight took another swig of her cider and threw the nylon rope she was looking at across the room. What was she thinking? Was she really considering lying to her family and neighbors, imprisoning her friend, and maybe maiming her again, just to protect her dirty little secret? What had she become? She wasn’t Twilight, that was certain. Twilight wouldn’t do things like this, she wouldn’t even consider them!
She downed the last of her cider and got out another bottle. “I can’t keep doing this,” she said to herself, and pulled out a quill and a blank sheet of paper.
Twilight stared at the parchment for a good five minutes, wondering if she should do it. Her mind was only made up when Pinkie let out a loud moan. With a heavy sigh, Twilight once again wrote the familiar “Dear Princess Celestia,”
~~~
The entire shuttle shook, startling Twilight awake. She looked around to see if any pony else was up, but found that she might as well have been in an empty room. Sighing, Twilight laid her head back onto the satchel she’d been using as a pillow, and tried to go back to sleep.
She lay there for several minutes, then opened her eyes again. Sleep, she decided, would not come for her just yet. Instead, she decided to pass the time by reading, and began rummaging through the satchel. She considered pulling out the Book of Newt, but there was a smaller tome just underneath it, and Twilight preferred her reading material readable. She was considerably disappointed when it turned out to be some children’s novel that some pony had covered in stickers. In the dim light, Twilight could just make out the book’s title, ‘The Best Party Ever’.
Twilight looked at the book for a moment. It seemed to her that she had seen it somewhere before, though she couldn’t say where. Curious, she opened it to the first page, and found that it was some pony’s journal. She wondered for a moment if she should continue. This was some pony’s private journal after all, and she was sure they wouldn’t appreciate her reading it.
She was just about to close the book when the shuttle shook again and the book fell onto the floor. When Twilight reached down to pick it back up, she found that it had opened to a page with a picture glued to it. She strained her eyes to look at the image and was surprised to see that it was a normal looking Pinkie Pie posing next to a light grey stallion in a tuxedo. Twilight stared at the image, fascinated. She was now so used to the hideously mutated Pinkamena that seeing a version of her standing on all fours was almost surreal.
When she had recovered from her initial surprise, Twilight’s attention shifted to the stallion. She didn’t recognize his face, and his tuxedo obscured his cutie mark. Twilight searched the page for a clue to his identity and found a caption written under the picture; “Silver Platter and Me”. The name sounded familiar to Twilight, but she couldn’t quite say where she had heard it before. Shrugging, Twilight turned the page to see what else she could find.
On the next page was another picture. Again, the picture only had the version of Pinkie Pie and the stallion named Silver Platter in it. This time however, they were at some sort of diner. There were two hay burgers on the table between them.
Twilight flipped through a couple of pages, skipping any more pictures that seemed to just be Pinkie and the stallion eating at various restaurants, and found a page that consisted of a picture of a sapphire ring, surrounded by little crudely drawn hearts.
From that point on, the pictures rapidly began to populate with more ponies. The next picture depicted Pinkie and the stallion at the Pie family rock farm, with the entire Pie family showing their rare smiles. After that was a picture of Pinkie picking out dresses in Rarity’s boutique, with some other mares sitting close by, their expressions giddy. She was about to turn the page when she noticed that one of the mares had their face burned off by what looked like a cigarette. She stared at this oddity for a moment, then turned to the next page.
The next image showed Pinkie Pie having some sort of party with their friends from Ponyville, along with a few other mares. Twilight perused the images of her friends, particularly herself. It was strange seeing a photo of herself doing something that Twilight was sure she had never done.
As Twilight examined the image, she found that once more one of the mares had their face burned out of the picture. This time, however, Twilight could make out their cutie mark, which was some kind of harp. Realizing that the cutie mark must’ve belonged to Lyra Heartstrings, Twilight quickly flipped through the journal to find if any more pictures had been burned. The only remaining photos depicted a wedding, another party, and a carriage with bells. Lyra was in all of the pictures, and in all of the pictures her face was burned off.
Twilight wondered what the owner of the journal might’ve had against Lyra, but she doubted that she would find an answer. So, deciding that she should try to get a little more sleep, Twilight replaced the book in the satchel, laid her head down, and closed her eyes.
Twilight found herself in the forest of black trees and white earth. This time however, she was immediately standing on the silver trail. With a snort, Twilight surveyed her surroundings for any sign of the color green.
“Well, you brought me here, there’s got to be something you want to tell me,” Twilight shouted at the trees.
The Goodfellow’s laugh echoed throughout the forest, sending a chill down Twilight’s spine. “Not exactly the patient type, are you?”
“Why won’t you leave me alone? What do you want from me?” Twilight shouted.
“What do I want?” A bright green flame erupted in front of Twilight, blinding her. She flinched and backed away, keeping her eyes shut until the light faded. When she looked back, the tall, emerald hooded figure of the Goodfellow stood in front of her, its tendrils dangling freely at the ends of its arms. It bowed and said playfully, “I merely want to talk.”
The Goodfellow raised its arm, and snapped two of its tendrils. The area around them blurred and twisted, becoming a swirling mesh of black and white. Almost immediately it began to change into new colors, reforming into what looked like some kind of sitting room. There was a small, triangular table at the center of the room, and several lime colored chairs placed around the walls.
While Twilight was still disoriented from the sudden change in location, the Goodfellow pulled two chairs on either side of the small table.
“Have a seat, your Majesty,” The Goodfellow said, gesturing to one of the chairs. “I will be happy to answer any of your questions. Would you like any tea?”
Twilight stared at the hooded figure, her mind struggling to process what was going on.
“I can fetch some scones, if it would make you more comfortable,” the Goodfellow offered.
“Alright,” Twilight said dully. She sat down in the seat opposite the Goodfellow, took the small cup It offered her, and set it down for easy access. With a wave of its arm, the Goodfellow conjured up a plate of cinnamon scones that had frosting glazed across them in a spider web pattern.
“Well then, now that we are comfortable, is there anything you would like answered?”
Twilight scooted a scone near her and took a small bite out of it. With it, all of Twilight’s uncertainty seemed to melt away.
“Several things,” Twilight said. Then, after thinking for a moment, she asked, “First off, why are you so interested in telling me things now?”
The Goodfellow chuckled, the dissonance between its feminine laughter and its masculine speaking voice sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine. “Because the pieces are about to fall into place, and I know longer need to keep you in the dark.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Do you think it’s any coincidence that I’ve been watching you?” The Goodfellow asked.
Twilight shook her head. Given the bizarre nature of Sleipnir and both her friends’ and her own problems, the Goodfellow’s stalking seemed largely incidental at the time.
“I had just assumed that you were a figment of my imagination,” Twilight answered, “until…”
“Until I possessed you those few nights ago?” The Goodfellow interjected. “My apologies for that, but you were dying of venom and I have need of you.” It picked up a scone and tossed it into the void within its hood, where it seemed to dissolve it in the darkness.
“For what?” Twilight asked, taking a sip of the tea.
“Do you remember our first meeting?” The Goodfellow asked.
“You took me into this a weird forest and recited a weird poem. What about it?”
“Oh dear, it seems we’re a bit behind schedule with your memories. Here, let’s speed up the process.” The Goodfellow extended a long tendril and touched Twilight’s forehead. A sharp, icy pain shot through her head from where the Goodfellow touched it. Her eyes came unfocused, the world around her fading into a murky shade of green.
When her eyes refocused, Twilight found herself in a poorly lit dungeon cell. She looked around, dazed. Her cell was a standard Canterlot single prisoner cell; there was enough room for her to pace, but little else, there were no windows, save for the gate that locked her in. The walls were dank and smelled of mildew, bits of slime were visible in places. Her cell was furnished with a single cot, rusty chains dangling from the ceiling, and a toilet that doubled as her sink. She wasn’t chained, but her wings were bound by something.
“Let us see our Mom!” a small colt’s voice echoed down the dungeon hall. Twilight recognized it to be Bunsen.
“For the last time, no!” said another voice, this one belonging to a stallion. “Look kid, I’m under orders from the Princess not to let any pony near the prisoner, and that includes family.”
“But she’s our mother!” a filly’s voice protested, Summerfree to be exact.
“And she’s a princess too,” another filly chimed in, this one was Page, “can’t she just override whatever Celestia ordered?”
Twilight turned her head away from the noise. She was happy that even after finding out what she had done, her children still wanted to see her. Still, Celestia was right for forbidding any pony from seeing her. She didn’t need to be with others, least of all her children. It was bad enough that would be known as the offspring of a monster, they didn’t need to be associated with her any more than they already where. She could only hope that they would be able to live normal lives when all this was over.
“Look kid, your mother committed crimes against ponykind and has been stripped of her title of princess. As far as the law’s concerned, she’s just a unicorn that somehow sprouted wings one day,” The guard paused for a moment, “I’m sorry it has to be this way, but my hooves are tied. I… Look, her trial is in a few days, maybe if you’re lucky you can see her then. Right now, I’m gonna have to ask y’all to leave.”
The sounds of six sets of hooves dragging themselves away echoed throughout the dungeon. Faintly, Twilight could hear the words, ‘Few days, might as well be a few months,’ being grumbled by one of her children. That put a smile on her face, reminding her of the times she would read Daring Doo books to them before bedtime.
Twilight settled herself onto her cot and tried to get into a comfortable position. It didn’t matter if she was found guilty. She wasn’t sure how long multiple life sentences could last for an alicorn, but she decided that it would be worth it if Princess Celestia could find a way to help her friends. That’s all that mattered to her now.
Hours passed, marked only by the routine changing of the guards. Twilight amused herself by trying to come up with and solve new equations. After she had made up about twelve and was working on her thirteenth, the sound of heavy hoof steps echoed down the dungeon hall.
“Well, Twilight Sparkle, what do you have to say for yourself?” asked a cold, almost cruel voice.
Without turning to look at her visitor, Twilight answered, “Anything I have to say, I told you in my letter. What more do you want?”
“What I want is a motive. Usually when a pony goes bad there’s a specific reason. Did you feel unappreciated? Lonely? Or maybe you thought that somehow your actions would lead you to greatness?” The sound of a hoof slamming against the stone floor echoed throughout the dungeon. “Well?”
Twilight shrugged. “I’ve been wondering that myself for several months.”
“That’s not an answer!” Celestia hissed, “Don’t play dumb with me, Twilight Sparkle! I have known you since you were a filly! You don’t do anything for no reason. Now, are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to force it out of you?”
Twilight said nothing.
A golden light emanated from the halls behind Twilight. Heat radiated from the walls, causing beads of sweat to start forming on Twilight’s brow. Twilight closed her eyes and waited for the magic blast to consume her, but it never came. Instead, loud bang erupted from somewhere down the hall.
“How could you, Twilight?” Celestia asked; her voice was shaking. “After all you’ve been through, all you’ve learned, how could you do this?”
“I don’t know, Princess,” Twilight said quietly, “I had hoped you would be able to give an answer. I hoped you could help me fix my mistake.”
“Mistake?” Celestia asked, her voice flaring with anger. “Is that what you think this is; a mistake?”
“Well, no, Princess,” Twilight said quickly, turning to look the Princess in the eye, “what I meant was-”
“You ruined two innocent lives!” Celestia shouted. It had been the same thing Twilight had been telling herself for months, but coming from the Princess, the words cut into her like daggers.
“It can be undone,” Twilight stuttered, “if you just look at my notes-”
“Your notes?” Celestia snarled, “They’re nothing but nonsense.”
“But-”
“But nothing. I’ll decide what to do with you at your trial. Until then, see if you can’t figure out what the hay was going through your head!” Celestia slammed down a hoof once more and stormed off.
“Wait, come back!” Twilight called, reaching out through the bars. “They can be fixed. They can be fixed!”
But Celestia was gone, and Twilight was all alone. She sat there for a long time, in her cold, dark cell, taking in what her former mentor had told her. She wasn’t even going to try to save Twilight’s friends. All of the work Twilight had done for the past months was for nothing.
Without a second thought, Twilight got up and threw herself at the cell door. She collided with the iron bars uselessly, causing a loud clang of metal striking metal to ring out through the dungeon. Undaunted, Twilight backed up and charged again. And again. And again.
The world swirled around Twilight, and she was running though a forest. Behind her, the earth pony and unicorn guards followed her trail, their hooves beating the dirt road like thunder. Up above, pegasi guards combed the sky, ready to catch her should she try to take to the air.
She wasn’t sure how long it had been since she had escaped the dungeon, long enough for her to get to a forest, at least. All she could think about was finding out where Celestia had put her friends, and getting them back to her workshop. From there, she could use her notes to try and undo her experiments, and then promptly turn herself in again. The only problem was…
Twilight slowed to a stop at a place where the road split. The problem with her plan was that there would be no way she could get her friends back, much less save them.
Her legs buckled, and she collapsed to the ground. She started to get up, but stopped. There was no point. Even if she did escape, what would it achieve? It would prove that the Equestrian guards couldn’t catch an out of shape, middle aged mother of three, but that wouldn’t help her any.
She had about decided to turn back and deal with the consequences when a dazzling green light suddenly blinded her. She heard a mare’s laughter from somewhere in the distance, seeming to laugh at her.
“Hello?” Twilight called out.
What answered was a voice that was almost like the hiss of kerosene leaking through a lamp.
What once was locked has been set free What will come next? We soon shall see! Will it run or will it flee? Or will it choose to work for me? And so undo its atrocity?
Without thinking, Twilight answered, “Yes!” As soon as the word escaped her lips, a sharp pain shot through her head, her vision blurred, and the world turned a bright green.
As the pain faded, the green blur shifted into the room where Twilight had been having tea with the Goodfellow. For a moment, Twilight was dazed. Entire years worth of memories rushed into her head like water from a breaking dam. A series of dates, dances, birthday parties, first days at school, and family vacations paraded through her mind at a breakneck pace.
“There now, you should be all caught up with your life,” the Goodfellow said, throwing another scone into its hood, “now we can move on to business.”
Twilight blinked and looked around the room, reorienting herself. “Wait a minute, I have some questions.” Her head throbbed from the sudden influx of information, but she would be damned before she let another mystery show up.
The Goodfellow intertwined its tendrils together and said, “Very well, what do you have on your mind?”
Rubbing her temple with a hoof, Twilight asked, “Why am I just now remembering all this? Why would you erase so many years from my memory?”
The Goodfellow chuckled, “Because when I found you, you where a guilt ridden mess that probably would’ve consigned herself to her cell as soon as she wasn’t being chased by guards, and that would’ve got in the way of my plans.”
“Okay,” Twilight said, her brows furrowing, “what exactly are these plans?”
“Oh, nothing much, I merely wish to destroy Sleipnir,” The Goodfellow said plainly, “Quickly, if possible.”
Twilight nearly fell from her chair. “Destroy Sleipnir?” she asked incredulously, “How? The place is so big that I’ve walked around it for hours in straight line!”
The Goodfellow shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet, but I should have something before you get to that artificial Gate they’ve been using. The only thing I know for sure is that you have to be the one to trigger what I assume is going to be an explosion.”
Twilight snorted. “Okay, why do I have to be the one? Why can’t you?”
The Goodfellow laughed. “Because I have next to no influence over your universe. You see, my brother and I aren’t supposed to be here, neither is that book, or any of the plagues or whatever you creatures call them. When I first came here, I was, in a sense, broken. I couldn’t speak normally, except in poor poetry, and I could only appear before individuals who had come into contact with my brother’s corruption. It was only when I possessed you that I was given a fraction of my true nature, and even then I would only move the laboratory closer to the air lock you were staying in.”
“Alright, I guess that makes sense-” Twilight started to say, then shook her head, “No, actually it doesn’t. What does that have to do with Sleipnir? Why do you want to destroy Sleipnir? And why me?”
“Sleipnir, as it is now, acts as a bridge between worlds, both those clustered in this universe and my own. So long as it exists the worlds can never truly be separated,” The Goodfellow answered, pouring a cup of tea into its hood, “and it’s because of that connection that my brother was able to cross over. And since then, well, you’ve seen the results with your own eyes. Madness, mutation, rampant sexuality, and lots and lots of blood.”
“Wait a minute, do you mean that it’s the Administrator’s fault that the three plagues exist?” Twilight asked.
“Well, they aren’t plagues, but yes,” The Goodfellow chuckled, “Now do you see why it’s so important that we destroy Sleipnir?”
“Right,” Twilight said as yet another question popped into her head, “but you aren’t at full power, how can the Administrator do so much? Shouldn’t he have to work behind some pony else too?”
The Goodfellow shrugged. “I never said he wasn’t. I had a measure of control over your world while you and I shared a body, and I wouldn’t put it past Swahl to do something similar. As for how he made his influence universal, well, I could only guess.”
It slammed its tendrils onto the table and stood up. “I believe that answers all of your questions, save one. The reason I chose you was simple, you were fighting my brother’s influence on you, and you were winning. The struggle was breaking you, yes, but you still resisted nonetheless. That’s more than what most mortals are capable off. With my help, you should be able to fully resist my brother even in a direct confrontation. And the best part is he won’t even be expecting it.” The Goodfellow erupted into a loud cackle. The room started to blur around them, bleeding back into the black and white forest.
Then, without warning, the Goodfellow stopped and said softly, “I’m afraid that this session will have to satisfy your curiosity. Your shuttle is almost at its final stop.” And with that the world dissolved around Twilight.
“Twilight, it’s time to get up,” Dr. Layne whispered gently into her ear.
Twilight stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Dr. Layne was standing over her, a small frown on his face. “Alright, I’m up,” she said, waving him away. She rolled off the bench and onto the floor, and immediately regretted that decision when she landed on her bad leg. Fighting back tears and gritting her teeth, Twilight got up and looked around. Fluttershy was still in the same spot where she had fallen asleep, but Pinkamena had somehow managed to end up beneath the bench she had been sleeping on.
After making sure that Twilight wouldn’t go back to sleep, Dr. Layne went to wake the others up.
“Are we there yet?” Pinkamena asked, rubbing her eyes as she crawled out from underneath the bench.
“Yeah, we’re there,” Dr. Layne answered while he gently nudged Fluttershy. “Wherever ‘there’ is.”
They took a minute to fully wake up and stretch, and then shuffled out of the shuttle. Dr. Layne carried Fluttershy on his back, and Twilight kept her satchel. They passed through a small waiting room. There wasn’t much in it, just a bench for ponies to sit on while they waited for their shuttle, and a few scattered papers. Twilight considered picking up one of the papers and reading it, but Dr. Layne ushered her along, and they entered a dark hallway.
The air smelled strongly of mildew, nearly making her gag when she entered. This hallway was different from the other hallways in Sleipnir. Most of the hallways Twilight had passed through had felt like the kind you might find in an abandoned office building or warehouse. This one on the other side of the coin felt like they had entered a decaying mansion. The hall was dimly lit by a few flicking lights that dotted the top of the walls, filling the air with a light buzz. The floor was carpeted with a soft, orangish material that had been trampled flat by an untold number of hooves. In what little light there was, Twilight could just make out the uneven pattern of vertical stripes on the wallpaper.
As they walked, Twilight thought about her talk with the Goodfellow, and what it told her. She wondered if she should tell Dr. Layne, but decided against it. Fluttershy had fallen asleep again quickly after Dr. Layne had put her on his back, and Twilight didn’t want to wake her up with a conversation about what she would for now think of as demons.
They had walked a little ways further when Twilight noticed some paintings hanging on the left wall. The first few weren’t particularly interesting, just a couple pictures of ponies in formal wear. It wasn’t until they passed the portrait of a stallion wearing an expensive looking suit that her curiosity was piqued. She had only seen the stallion once on a blurry screen, on her first day in Sleipnir, but there was no doubt in Twilight’s mind that the stallion in the portrait was the Administrator, or what he was using as a puppet at least.
“Dr. Layne!” Twilight called. The doctor turned around and grunted. “Do you know who this stallion is?” Twilight asked, gesturing towards the painting.
Dr. Layne glanced over at the portrait and said, “Oh, that’s just Pencil Pusher. He was the administrator of Sleipnir before everything went to hell.” Then he continued walking.
“Wait, what do you mean?” Twilight asked as she followed him.
Dr. Layne sighed, “Once upon a time, Sleipnir was like any other research facility, it had staff who had paper work they had to do, and we were barely paid for the risks we took. We also had the suits who watched over us, even though they didn’t know a damn… single thing about what we were working on. And he was the one who supposedly enforced regulations.” He paused to grumble a bit. “Anyway, I’d tell you more, but I don’t want to risk scaring Fluttershy. Let’s just say he didn’t have a happy end.”
“But isn’t he the one who showed up on the screen every time the Administrator said something?” Pinkamena asked, “I mean, I knew he was loco in the coco, but he seemed at least, you know, alive.”
Dr. Layne shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine. I haven’t exactly been spending a lot of time around the television screens, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Do you know how he died?” Twilight asked.
Dr. Layne shrugged again, “I was hiding in a closet at the time. But my guess is that he was killed by the current adminstrator.”
“Alright then,” Twilight said, dropping the subject. She didn’t have any proof, but she wondered if the Administrator had possessed the stallion named Pencil Pusher, and that was how he exerted influence over the world. It made sense, kind of, at least going by the logic the Goodfellow had presented her with.
After another comment from Pinkie that Twilight didn’t really hear, they continued walking down the hall. The next couple of paintings seemed to depict several ponies constructing something out of steel, showing in detail the process of forming the object’s basic frame, which resembled a dragonfly. The paintings then shifted to presenting various redesigns of the dragonfly shaped object, shortening the wings, widening the body, and eventually contorting it into something that looked more like a whale than anything else. When the paintings ended, they showed the whale like thing flying away from Equestria, with a trail of fire following behind.
Twilight smiled. She liked the paintings, especially the final one. It reminded her of Rainbow Dash in a way, and she was curious as to what scientific or magical breakthroughs lead to such a creation, assuming the paintings depicted the actual construction of a device capable of escaping a planet’s gravity and not some fantasy created by a devoted artist. There were no plaques beneath the paintings to explain which.
Not long after they had passed the final painting, they ran into the only door in the entire passage. Bizarrely, the door wasn’t placed at the end of the hallway, but rather a few meters down on the right side wall. Like the rest of the hallway, the door seemed out of place compared to the other doors found in Sleipnir, looking like it belonged more to a house in Canterlot rather than a research facility. It was large and made of a dark, heavy wood, with an ornate knob that looked like it was made of bronze.
“Well, should we knock?” Pinkamena asked.
Dr. Layne shook his head. “No, let’s just go in. But we need to be careful. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you all that the Administrator probably wants us here.”
“At least it’s nicer here than the cells,” Pinkamena said, “And the hospital. And the vault. And the, actually, maybe not the café.” She gave a small laugh to let them know she was joking.
Dr. Layne groaned and laid a hoof on the door knob. After a moment’s hesitation he twisted it and slowly pushed the door open.
They were immediately hit by the overpowering aroma of wine, flowers, and sweat.
“Oh great,” Dr. Layne said in voice that was a mixture of irritation and disgust, “this place!”
Twilight poked her head in between Dr. Layne and the door frame to see what exactly was bothering him, and found herself staring at a poster of a large, muscular stallion with sparklingly blue eyes, a gorgeous golden mane, and a long, thick horn jutting from his forehead.
She quickly retreated back into the hallway, taking care not to look any of her friends in the eye. She could already feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as her heart beat in such a way as it hadn’t since she was a school filly.
Dr. Layne sighed, “Come on you two. The sooner we get through this lab, the sooner we can get it over with. Is Fluttershy still asleep?”
Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, who was using a fold in Dr. Layne’s lab coat as pillow, a gave him a curt nod.
Dr. Layne smiled slightly. “Good, I don’t want her seeing what’s in the next room.
Dr. Layne walked through the door first, followed by Twilight, then by Pinkamena. The room itself was large and divided by cubicle walls. Here and there were lab tables set up with equipment, but mostly there were piles of what Twilight assumed were more pictures. Aside from that, the first Twilight noticed about the room was the dripping water coming from spots in the ceiling, which was speckled black with mildew. The next thing she noticed was how every wall seemed to be plastered with the image of an absurdly beautiful mare or stallion in various poses and outfits. Twilight stared wide eyed at the pictures, unable to take her eyes away. Each pony on display seemed to have had their bodies molded by an artist, stallions with muscles rippling beneath their fur which seemed to softer than a normal pony’s.
After a several minutes, Twilight finally tore her eyes away from the incredibly beautiful stallion and looked around to make sure none of her friends saw her gawking. She was relieved to find Pinkamena staring at a picture of a well chiseled stallion with an anatomy similar to her own lying seductively on what looked like a birthday cake. Twilight was honestly amused by the stupid, if endearing, grin Pinkamena had on her face as her eyes eagerly devoured every last detail of the stallion.
“Twilight,” Pinkamena said softly.
“Yes, Pinkie?”
“This place is so awesome!” she said excitedly, her voice betraying a small squeal.
“Yeah, turpus equus has that affect on ponies,” Dr. Layne said gruffly from a way’s down the room, “by the way; when you two decide to stop gawking, make sure you don’t step in any puddles. There’s more than water on the floor.”
“Wait, what do…” Pinkamena started to say when her expression changed to a look of disgust and horror. “Eeeeeww!”
“What? What’s ‘eww’?” Twilight asked, suddenly worried that they might be in danger.
“Nothing!” Pinkamena said, forcing a grin. “Let’s just get out of here, and then everything will be just fine!”
They shuffled across the room as quickly as they could, avoiding any spot on the floor where water had formed into puddles. As she limped along, the hair on the back of Twilight’s neck stood up, and a sudden feeling of wrongness settled into her stomach like a stone. Before she exited the room, she looked back on all the pictures. Now that she was over the shock of the stunningly beautiful ponies had worn off, something about the images unnerved her, but she couldn’t place her hoof on what.
Shrugging, Twilight left the room behind and followed her friends into the next one. She immediately wished she hadn’t.
Like the one before it, this room was also wall papered with posters of ponies. Unlike the previous room however, Twilight was not enchanted by anything that she saw. The ponies depicted in these posters all seemed to be contorted, their anatomies twisted in to the point of being unrecognizable. Their spines twisted in unnatural ways, their limbs were elongated and gnarled to a sickening degree, and many of them had large, cancerous mounds of flesh protruding from random parts of their bodies.
And then there were their faces. Hundreds of horrid, pinched in faces sneered at Twilight as she entered the room, their squinty, yellow eyes staring lustily. Their teeth were jagged and uneven, their noses pointed and narrow, and their ears mangled. They looked more like faces that belonged on rats, not ponies.
Twilight looked at the floor so that she wouldn’t have to look at the wretched things. She limped as quickly as she could until she had caught up with Dr. Layne.
“Disgusting aren’t they?” Dr. Layne asked, noticing that Twilight was staring at the floor.
“Ye- Uh…” It dawned on Twilight that the ponies pictured couldn’t help how they looked, and her admitting that she was disgusted by them was unbecoming of some pony who was supposed to be the Princess of Friendship. She swallowed her thoughts on their appearance and said in as pleasant a voice as she could manage, “I’m sure they’re nice ponies, or whatever they are. I mean, don’t judge a book by its cover because it’s on the inside that counts, right?” Twilight forced herself to chuckle.
Dr. Layne shrugged. “That’s rather noble. Personally, these things give me the creeps. I used to have to run tests on them, and I can assure you that they’re not pleasant company.”
“From my experience, most things in Sleipnir aren’t, but Pinkie and I are alright,” Twilight said. She could feel an argument beginning to boil between them, one that could potentially tear their band apart, over something Twilight only half believed in.
To her surprise, Dr. Layne simply smiled sadly and said, “Well, I suppose you have a point there.”
“So,” Twilight said, searching for a way to change the subject, “you said something about turpus equus. That’s one of the diseases Dread told me about, right? Which one was it?”
They passed the image of a twisted parody of a pony wearing what looked like a corset made up entirely of belts. At first, Twilight assumed that it was just another freak that had been put on display, but whenshe realized that the thing was clawing its eyes out with fish hooks with mirthful grin, her stomach twisted. Dr. Layne stopped to look at the picture and said, “Turpus equus is that,” and then he continued walking.
“Okay, what does that mean?” Twilight asked, catching up. She did her best to put the image out of her mind, and focus on what Dr. Layne had to say.
Dr. Layne grumbled for a moment then answered, “Turpus equus, or ‘kinky horse syndrome’ as my colleagues were want to call it. It’s a disorder that plays with the nervous system, intensifying certain feelings and altering others. Most of the time this takes the form of a pony suddenly developing an odd interest in sexual intercourse, though occasionally it does bizarre things like making a pony want to mutilate themselves or-”
“Sticking fish hooks in their eyes?” Twilight guessed squeamishly.
“I was going to say something about over eating or obsessions with loud music, but you are correct.” Dr. Layne coughed, “What we’re seeing here is what happens when turpus equus combines with anthropomorphia, the disorder that give both Fluttershy and Pinkamena their unusual anatomies. For whatever reason, the two disorders don’t play nice together and, well you’ve seen the results.”
Twilight nodded, “Gotcha. Anything else?”
Dr. Layne thought for a moment. “Well, other than some interesting details about how the diseases could sometimes lead to bloated genitals or impossibly flexible spines, not much.”
“What’s going on?” said a soft, faint voice from just behind Dr. Layne’s neck. “Did some pony say something about bloated animals?”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat as both she and Dr. Layne seemed to realize what was happening at the same time. They both started stammering out an incoherent mess of excuses and suggestions that she go back to sleep.
For all their efforts, Fluttershy merely frowned at them. “Guys,” she said in a stern voice, “I know that you mean well, but I’ve gotten enough sleep. I would like to look around for a little bit.”
Twilight smiled and forced herself not to say anything. She thought about trying to block Fluttershy’s vision, but she wasn’t sure that would help anything. Dr. Layne adopted the same forced grin Twilight wore and his ears began rapidly swiveling back and forth.
“If you say so, Fluttershy,” Dr. Layne said nervously, as expecting the mare on his back to explode, “you need to get used to staying up longer, after all. But, if I may suggest something-” Fluttershy grumbled something and Dr. Layne gritted his teeth.
As Fluttershy looked around at the grotesque imagery that surrounded them, Twilight felt her stomach twist into knots. To her surprise, Fluttershy didn’t seem at all fazed by the pictures. She must’ve seen them, the room was lit well enough, yet she gave no reaction to them.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight said calmly, “is everything alright?”
Fluttershy turned to look at Twilight, her lone eye drooping slightly. “I’m fine. I wish we’d move on though, these pictures are, well, um...” She started humming to the tune of a bird song.
Seconds later Pinkamena came walking through the room, stopping every couple of steps to look at one of the pictures, and make a face at them. Twilight watched in stunned silence as she pulled skin around her eyes and stuck out her tongue at the image of a scowling pony-thing with greased hair and clothes with zippers instead of seams. When she was done with the picture, Pinkamena let her face go back to normal and giggled a bit before moving on.
“Oh, there you guys are!” Pinkamena called out when she noticed her friends standing a couple of feet away. She tried running to meet them, but slipped on a puddle of water and fell flat on her face. Old instincts kicked in as Twilight rushed over to help her friend up as quickly as her bad leg would let her. Pinkamena grabbed onto one of Twilight’s good legs and pulled herself off of the floor, laughing as she got to her feet.
“Thanks Twilight, I need to watch were I’m going,” Pinkamena said, beaming.
“No problem,” Twilight said, “you seem happy.”
Pinkamena giggled, “Well, duh. First a bunch of cute stallions, now a bunch of funny pictures, why wouldn’t I be happy?”
Stunned, Twilight looked around at all of weird images of horribly mutated ponies. She had gotten used to them now that she at least understood what was wrong with them, but still looking at them made her skin crawl.
“You think these look silly?” Twilight asked, waving at the image of a ‘pony’ posing with their eyes so small that Twilight couldn’t even tell what color they were and arms so long that they looked like they need a third knee.
“Um, yeah!” Pinkamena said as she giggled.
Twilight took another look around at the images, and tried to picture how any pony could find such things silly. The closest she came to finding any of them silly was the picture of a fat changeling who was wearing a suit woven from obscenely bright colors. But even then the changeling had had the same grotesque features as the others, as well as a dark red substance dripping from its mandibles and oozing out of the chinks in its chitin hide.
“If you say so,” Twilight said, shuddering at the image.
“If it makes you feel better, Twilight,” Fluttershy said from a couple of feet away, “I really don’t find them all that silly either.”
At this, Pinkamena frowned. “You neither?” she asked, a perplexed look on her face.
Fluttershy closed her eye and shook her head. “No, I find them to be sad really. I can’t help but feel bad for these ponies. Just imagine having to live like this, the poor things are probably hurting. It must be horrible living in such a condition.”
“Well, uh…” Pinkamena said as her ears fell flat, “I guess I never really thought of it that way.”
There was a brief silence where they all stood around uncomfortably, none of them having anything to add. The silence was only broken when Dr. Layne coughed and said, “Well, if we’re done here, I’d like to move on.”
Both Twilight and Pinkamena nodded, and they once more started walking. Pinkamena kept a slow pace to match Twilight’s limp. Dr. Layne walked ahead of them, chatting about something with Fluttershy.
“So how’s your leg?” Pinkamena asked.
Twilight took a moment to put a little weight on her bad leg and winced as a sharp pain spread through it. “It could be better,” she said when the pain died down.
“I’m sorry about that,” Pinkamena said tentatively. “Do you think we need to change the bandage?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I just had it changed.” Then, realizing that her bandage was made up of a torn bed sheet added, “Well, maybe if we can find some better material.”
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Pinkamena said, then taking a deep breath, asked, “Do you think I hurt Fluttershy’s feeling when I said I thought the ponies looked silly?”
“Why do you ask?”
Pinkamena took another deep breath. “I’m worried that I might’ve hurt her back there. You know how sensitive she can be! I’m just trying to decide if I should apologize or not.”
Twilight looked ahead to see how Fluttershy was doing. Whatever she and Dr. Layne were talking about, Fluttershy seemed to be enjoying the conversation, at least going by the smile she wore.
“She seems fine to me,” Twilight said, “and if she was hurt, I’m sure she would’ve told us.”
Pinkamena breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I’m sorry I had to ask you, it’s just, I’ve been trying to figure out how to apologize to her for, well everything, and I don’t want to hurt her anymore than I already have. You understand, right?”
“I suppose,” Twilight answered. “Are you still sure you want to tell her though? You can probably go back to your old life. I mean, your teeth aren’t that noticeable.”
Pinkamena shook her head. “Twilight, my old life ended the moment I acted on my itch. I can’t go back, even if I wanted to. Can you imagine trying to live a normal life in Ponyville, looking so many ponies in the eye, knowing that you’ve killed and eaten ponies before, or that you might do it again? I’d rather them know the truth."
Twilight didn’t have anything to say to that, so instead she tried to shift the conversation back to Fluttershy. “Well, maybe you should apologize to her. For hurting her feelings, I mean.” Twilight forced a chuckle, “But wait until later, when you’ve had enough to time to think about what you’re going to say. Alright?”
“Alright, I’ll wait until we stop for, whatever night is now,” Pinkamena said, smiling.
The conversation shifted to the various pictures that decorated the previous three rooms. Pinkamena described her favorites to Twilight, skewing the details so that the images sounded sillier than they actually were. Despite herself, Twilight couldn’t help but laughing when Pinkamena described one of the pictures as ‘a drunken changeling on a pogo stick’.
Before long, they had all reached the far side of the room, where a small, simple door stood, almost hidden among a mosaic of posters. After making sure that every pony was present, Dr. Layne opened the door and they entered another dark hallway. As they entered, an icy chill traveled down Twilight’s spine, causing her fur to stand on end. There was only just enough light for Twilight to have a vague idea of where the walls stood, and nothing more.
Something made a noise from down the hall, the sound reverberating and distorting against the walls. It was a cold, hard noise, not unlike a lead chain stricking the ground. Twilight’s ears swiveled back and forth wildly, trying to find the source of the disturbance.
A second noise came, then a third not long after. Soon the heavy sound formed into a rhythm, with each noise louder, closer than the last. Faster and faster it became, until Twilight could no longer detect any spaces between them. Twilight felt her heart turn to lead as she realized that it wouldn’t be long before whatever was making the noise found them.
“Should we run?” Twilight asked, her voice caught in her throat.
Dr. Layne’s answer came almost immediately. “Yes.”
She had only managed to run for a few feet before pain flared up in her bad leg with such intensity that she collapsed. For a brief moment, Twilight was alone in the darkness. Her heart beat like a jackhammer as she realized that she wouldn’t be able to get away when it reached her. Twilight struggled to get to her feet, but her hind leg refused to do what she wanted. She tried on pulling herself forward with her front hooves. She managed to pull herself a few inches before giving up. Even if she did keep moving, she wouldn’t be able to out run the monster, so what was the point?
A split second later, something scooped her off the ground and the next thing she knew her face was half buried in a mess of long, greasy hair.
“Pinkie?” Twilight sputtered, getting bits of hair in her mouth.
Whatever Pinkamena responded with was muffled by the sound of the monster, but Twilight could just make out something about a twitching tail.
Behind them, the metallic clanging grew louder and louder, even as they ran from it. Twilight hazarded a glance behind to see if she might glimpse whatever was chasing them, only to find darkness.
“Over here!” Dr. Layne called from somewhere ahead of them. Twilight heard the sound of a door being opened, and Pinkamena turned towards it. A moment later, a door slammed behind them and the sound of their pursuer faded away.
“I think we’re safe for now,” Dr. Layne said while gasping heavily, “give me a second and I’ll find a light.”
Pinkamena sat Twilight down and panted for a minute before asking, “Are you alright, Twilight?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Twilight answered. The pain in her leg had simmered down to a dull throb which, while unpleasant, was at least bearable. “What in the hay bale was that?”
“No idea,” Dr. Layne answered, “though if I had to guess, I’d say it was one of those freaks that got loose a while back.”
The room became silent, save for the sounds of Dr. Layne stumbling around for a light switch. When he managed to locate it, a light bulb hanging from an exposed wire lit up and flooded the room with dim light, allowing Twilight to see where they ended up. It looked like a rather large closet, shelves lined each of the walls, holding various cleaning supplies, tools, or other things that Twilight didn’t know the purpose of. A set of brooms and mops stood in one of the corners, a bucket standing nearby for duty. All together, there was just enough floor space for three ponies to sit down comfortably.
Dr. Layne took a cursory look around the room and grumbled, “Of course I end up in a supply closet; it’s always a supply closet.”
“Pardon?” Twilight asked.
“I had to hide in a supply closet when-” Dr. Layne glanced over at Fluttershy, who was frowning at a box of rat poison. “Never mind, it isn’t important. Anyway, look around, every supply closet on the ship should have a few rolls of gauze. Might as well change your bandage while we’re here.”
“I’ll help,” Pinkamena volunteered, Fluttershy followed a soon after. Together they scanned the shelves for anything that looked like a roll of gauze. Twilight and Fluttershy were only able to go through the shelves nearest them, but even then there was a lot to go through. Just on the shelf behind her, Twilight found cartons of glue, screws, mouthwash, and something called ‘mydlo’, whatever that was. It took them several minutes to locate a roll of gauze. Pinkamena found it nestled between the mop and a box full of plates and bowls.
“Alright, Twilight,” Dr. Layne said, “we don’t have anything to clean your wound with, but I found a bottle of peroxide next to the box of computer chips. When I remove your bandage, it’s going to hurt and the peroxide isn’t going to help. Do you want anything to bite down on?”
“No, I’ll be-” Twilight started to say, “Actually, yeah, I’ll take something.”
Dr. Layne nodded, “Pinkie, do you mind bringing the mop over here?”
They moved Twilight onto her stomach and placed the mop’s handle in her jaw. Pain spread through Twilight’s body as Dr. Layne carefully removed the bandage. Twilight bit down on the mop handle so hard that her jaw muscles started to hurt. She could feel bits and pieces of dried blood peel away from her wound, pulling with them bits of dead or rotten skin.
When the bandage was off, Twilight tilted her head slightly to get a look at how her wound was healing. She was shocked at how small it was, given the amount of pain and trouble it caused her, little more than a cherry sized crater. The flesh around it, however, was spongy and almost green in color. Black lines radiated from the crater, marking the places where the Celestia look alike had grabbed at her.
“Shit!” Dr. Layne hissed loudly as he spat out the bandage.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked instinctively, already knowing the answer.
“Necrosis,” Dr. Layne said, “The flesh around the bite mark has died and started rotting.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “It wasn’t anywhere near this bad the last time I looked at it. Whatever that thing did to you must’ve been worse that I realized, it shouldn’t have rotted this quickly.”
Dr. Layne rubbed his temple with a hoof. “I’m sorry, Twilight,” he said solemnly, “but I don’t have the tools her to treat this. The best I can do is apply the peroxide and hope it helps.”
He turned to Pinkamena and said, “Pinkie, do you mind looking around for pain killers? They’ll make Twilight more comfortable to move around.”
“Okay,” Pinkamena said quietly, “I think I saw some by the staples.”
As she started searching, Dr. Layne uncapped the bottle of peroxide and said to Twilight, “You may want to bite down on the mop again. This isn’t going to be pleasant.”
It was as if Dr. Layne was pouring liquid fire into Twilight’s wound. Her entire leg throbbed in protest as the disinfectant splashed onto her. Twilight bit down hard, her jaws threatening to split the mop in two.
The pain lingered for several minutes after Dr. Layne recapped the peroxide. It seemed as if every still living cell in her leg was focused solely on causing Twilight agony.
As the pain started to ebb away, Twilight spat out the mop and tried to speak, but all that came out was an incoherent gurgle. Dr. Layne quickly re-bandaged her leg and said, “Well, that’s all we can do for right now. Do you care if we keep the gauze and peroxide in your satchel? We may need them again.”
Twilight nodded, “Go ahead. Just make sure the peroxide won’t spill onto the books.”
Not long after Dr. Layne placed the items in the satchel, Pinkamena called out, “Found it!”
“Inside voices, Pinkie,” Dr. Layne grumbled.
Pinkamena smiled sheepishly, “Sorry.” She handed him a small, white bottle.
Dr. Layne took a moment to read over the bottle’s label, then said, “We’ll save these for when we find something to operate with. In the meantime, they’ll have to stay in the satchel.”
“Um, Dr. Layne?” Fluttershy asked in a soft voice.
Dr. Layne turned and smiled, “Yes Fluttershy?”
“If it’s not too much to ask, did any pony find food lying around here?”
Dr. Layne shook his head. “No, we wouldn’t find any in here. There might be a vending machine nearby that we could break into, but beyond that we’d be hard pressed to find even a bag of chips.”
Dr. Layne stood up and shook his head vigorously. “Twilight,” he said, “how long do you think it’ll be before you’re ready to start walking?”
Twilight flexed the muscles in her bad leg experimentally. The painkiller had done an excellent job at dulling any feeling she might’ve had, though there was still an unpleasant twinge that might be troublesome.
“I’ll be fine,” Twilight answered, standing up as slowly as possible.
“Alright,” Dr. Layne said, smiling, “we’re going to have to leave soon anyway, so we may as well start now. I saw some flashlights by the rope. We can use those until we can find a light.”
“What about the monster?” Pinkamena asked. All three mares looked at him simultaneously. Fluttershy seemed to be on the verge of breaking out into hysterics, her left fore-hoof shaking like a sapling in a rainstorm.
Dr. Layne took a deep breath. “We run as much risk out there as we do here. If that monster is still around, there’s not much stopping it from finding us in this tiny box, with nowhere to run. If we hear it coming, we can run. At any rate, I need to keep you three healthy, especially you two,” he gestured at Twilight and Fluttershy.
“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said, frowning.
“Not like we have any choice,” Pinkamena said.
In a way, the flashlights almost made the dark hallway even worse. The beams of light illuminated just enough for them to see a few feet in front of them, making Twilight all the more aware of the oppressing darkness that surrounded them. The painkiller helped keep her calm, if only a little, but she still found herself subconsciously swiveling her ears around for any sign of an approaching monster.
The others seemed to be more relaxed. Fluttershy had fallen asleep again on Dr. Layne’s back, and Pinkamena had starting humming that tune she was so fond of. Twilight wished she was as calm as they were, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever had chased them earlier was still around, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
When she stepped in a puddle, Twilight nearly screamed. She quickly looked down to see what she had stepped in, and felt her stomach fill with lead as she realized that it was a dark red liquid.
“Dr. Layne?” Twilight called softly, trying as hard as she could to keep the panic out of her voice.
“Is something wrong?”
“You could say that.”
Dr. Layne shined his flashlight onto the blood, and followed a trail of it to a nearby door. It was too wet for it to have been there long, not yet sticky or crusty. Cautiously, he approached the door then, perhaps thinking better of it, slowly backed away.
“Let’s keep moving,” Dr. Layne said in an obviously forced calmness, “a cafeteria shouldn’t be far from here.”
They continued on in silence, whatever fragment of calmness Twilight possessed was shattered by the blood. Memories of the corpses she had seen back in the hospital crept their way into her mind. She could feel them staring at her, smiling at her, beckoning for her to join them. Cold, unseen hooves reached out to caress her warm flesh, while gnashing teeth readied themselves to rip it from her.
Twilight shook her head. She was imagining things, she told herself. Whatever was behind that door was probably just a victim to one of the inmates. Nothing to worry about. She had seen plenty of corpses by this point, what was one more?
This did little to calm her nerves, and Twilight found herself walking closer to Pinkamena than she normally did.
Dr. Layne opened the next door they reached. Twilight wasn’t exactly sure why this door was so special, save perhaps the lack of blood. The only thing that distinguished this door was an old, partially broken sign that said ‘Ponk’. Twilight wasn’t exactly sure what this meant, though she supposed it was probably acronym, or something.
The door opened to a small room that resembled the one Twilight and Pinkamena had passed through to get to the monster containment area. On one of the walls was a large glass window that looked into another room filled with shelves and office supplies. On the other side of the room sat a couple of chairs that had the cold, unfriendliness of furniture that hadn’t been used in ages.
Dr. Layne tried to open a door opposite the one they had entered through, but found it locked. He turn his back and looked at it for a moment, as if he was considering kicking it down, but instead grumbled and asked, “Pinkie, do you mind breaking that window? I’d do it, but I don’t want to risk hurting Fluttershy.”
Without saying a word, Pinkamena picked up one of the chairs and swung it at the window. The glass shattered with a loud crash and sprayed the opposite room with hundreds of little shards. Humming to himself, Dr. Layne poked his head through the hole, his neck coming uncomfortably close to a jagged edge of the broken window, and pulled out a small bronze key.
He carried the key to the door and unlocked it. After storing the key in his coat pocket, Dr. Layne pulled the door open and entered, Pinkamena and Twilight not far behind him.
“What the fuck?” Pinkamena said in a stunned voice as soon as Dr. Layne had turned on the lights.
They were greeted by a carriage size statue of Pinkie Pie, smiling down at them blankly. It was a poor imitation of the real thing. Its head was too large for its body and the paint was peeling off in places. It’s mane, which was rounded to simulate curls, had been cracked open, revealing bits and pieces of loose wires and machinery.
As Twilight looked away from the horrid parody of her friend, she realized that they seemed to have walked into a warehouse sized room full of Pinkie Pie iconography. There were other statues just like the first one of various sizes scattered around the room, along with posters, charts, graphs and paintings that wallpapered the entire room in a garish mix of pink. On the shelves sat what looked like plastic figurines and plush toys that looked like they had been ripped from a small filly’s toy chest. The floor was littered with abandoned papers, writing utensils, and confetti.
Hoping to get some idea what was with this room, Twilight bent down to look at one of the discarded pages and read the first few lines. It was titled ‘Pinkie sense theory number seven hundred and ninety two (792)’, gave brief explanation of the concept of ‘Pinkie sense’, and then proceeded to go on a long, thesaurus exhausting ramble that ponies went on when they had no idea what they were talking about, but still needed to finish the paper. Twilight dismissed the paper as rubbish.
She looked up to make sure that she hadn’t gotten herself left behind, and found Dr. Layne and Pinkamena staring at a model of Pinkie’s head that was at least twice the size of a pony. As she got closer, Twilight noticed that the words ‘Sugarcube Corner Quick Mart’ printed in fading letters on one of the sides.
“Found a vending machine,” Dr. Layne said.
The ‘mouth’ of the object turned out to be a plastic window, behind which sat a number of pre-wrapped pastries, ranging from honeybuns to glazed donuts. Just looking at the things made Twilight’s mouth water.
Pinkamena shattered the window with her flashlight, and quickly grabbed as many of the pastries as she could.
“Calm down Pinkie, we’re not in any rush.” Dr. Layne said calmly.
Pinkamena smiled guiltily, and laid the food in a small pile.
Dr. Layne woke up Fluttershy and the four of them started going through the stash. Twilight got a pack of donuts and a candy bar, Fluttershy got a couple of snowballs, Pinkamena got herself some honeybuns, and Dr. Layne got a few gingerbread ponies.
When they were done eating, they packed up the food into Twilight’s satchel. While she was making sure that they wouldn’t have to search through the food for her pain killers, Twilight’s hoof brushed up against something small and plastic. Without warning, a jolt of pain shot through her head like the crack of a whip.
Without realizing what she was doing, Twilight took the object out and said in a slurred voice, “Fluttershy, you need to take you need to take your vitamins. Here, I got them for you.” Almost mechanically, Twilight handed her the bottle.
“Um, thank you, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, taking the bottle. She popped the cap off and swallowed a single vitamin tablet, then put the bottle back into the satchel.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” Pinkamena asked through a mouthful of honeybun, “You seem a little off.”
Twilight shook her head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a little dizzy there, that’s all.”
They finished their meal quietly and started to explore the large room. Dr. Layne thought that there might be another exit to the room, one that didn’t lead to a dark hall.
As they looked around, Twilight noticed that Pinkamena kept scratching the front of her neck and staring at the floor. When Twilight went to talk with her, she giggled nervously, beads of sweat forming on her brow.
Twilight shrugged. She supposed it was understandable to be uncomfortable in a room with your face plastered everywhere.
After several minutes of getting nowhere, Twilight started looking at the various toys and charts that littered the room. She was particularly amused by this one play set that depicted Pinkie Pie as a train conductor.
Walking past it, Twilight’s heart skipped a beat as a flash of red suddenly blinded her. There was a sound of something heavy hitting the ground, coupled with a shrill cry. Fearful that one of her friends had been hurt, Twilight stumbled forward, and tripped on a fallen doll. She managed to catch herself before falling.
As her vision cleared, Twilight realized that some pony was making a whimpering sound. When she could see clearly again, she found that it was Fluttershy, who was staring at a pile of fallen pictures. Whatever fell must’ve hit Dr. Layne on the head, because he was sprawled out on the floor.
Twilight glanced over at Pinkamena, who was rubbing her eyes, and slowly approached Fluttershy. She had started going over a list of ways to treat an unconscious pony, and concussions, when her eye was drawn to the thing that fell. It was a large, metal box with the words ‘CUPCAKES INCIDENTS’ written on it in dark red marker. Its lid had fallen off when it hit the ground, spilling countless little photographs and documents.
Fluttershy let out a loud scream and tried to scramble away from Dr. Layne. Twilight sprang to intercept her before she could get to far. Fluttershy only managed to crawl a couple of feet before she collapsed into a fetal position, clutching at her limbs and whimpering.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight said tentatively, approaching her friend slowly now.
Fluttershy looked up at Twilight, tears rolling down the side of her face. “Twilight,” she said in a shaky voice, “what happened to Rainbow Dash?”
Twilight took a step back and glanced over at a set of Pinkie Pie plushies. “Pardon?”
With some effort, Fluttershy stood up. She took a deep breath, then said, “Rainbow Dash disappeared about the same time Pinkie did. But Pinkie is the only one here, so something must’ve happened to Rainbow Dash!”
Twilight swallowed and started flicking her eyes around the room, racking her brain for the story they had given Fluttershy before.
“Is every pony okay?” Pinkamena called from somewhere behind Twilight. Fluttershy’s pupil narrowed into a pinprick, and she let out terrified scream. Once more she tried to pull herself away from what was bothering her, and again she collapsed after a couple of feet.
Both Twilight and Pinkamena rushed to their friend’s aid. She had curled up into a fetal position and was shaking violently.
“Fluttershy, are you alright?” Twilight asked in a gentle voice. Fluttershy whimpered, but gave no response.
“What happened?” Pinkamena asked, taking a step back from Fluttershy.
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know. There was a red flash, something fell and must’ve spooked her.” Then, remembering that Dr. Layne also needed attention, added, “Go make sure Dr. Layne’s okay. I think whatever fell hit him on the head.”
Pinkamena went over to where the doctor lay, and began to feel around his neck. Twilight turned her attention back to Fluttershy who seemed to be settling down, though her body was still shaking like a new born foal. Twilight tried to comfort Fluttershy, but the she was unresponsive to her efforts.
Behind her, Pinkamena let out a cry of rage. Twilight turned to see her friend ripping up several bits and pieces of paper. Deciding to forgo comforting Fluttershy for a moment, Twilight got up to see what was driving her friends crazy.
Pinkamena ignored Twilight as she approached, seeming to be lost in whatever madness that was consuming her.
“Pinkie?” Twilight called softly. Pinkamena ignored her and began stomping on a pile of torn up paper.
“THAT. IS. NOT. ME. ANY. MORE!” Pinkamena shouted, punctuating each word with another stomp.
Twilight wondered if she should just let Pinkamena burn herself out, and then talk to her. She dismissed the idea when she thought about how much longer this might go on.
“Pinkie, you’re scaring me.” Twilight said calmly.
Almost immediately, the expression on Pinkamena’s face turned from rage to regret. Without saying a word, Pinkamena sat down beside Dr. Layne’s unconscious body, put her head in her hooves, and started weeping.
Twilight wondered if she should comfort her friend, but decided to satisfy her curiosity first. Scanning the scores of torn of bits of paper, and selected one that look mostly intact. At first, Twilight wasn’t sure what to make of it, just some poorly lit photograph. As she examined it, however, she slowly began to understand why the photos had upset her friends so much.
The image depicted some alternate version of Rainbow Dash tied down to a table, with a version of Pinkie Pie standing over her, wearing an ugly patchwork dress. The details were fuzzy, but Twilight could just make out small details about the room they were in. The walls were bare, save for a few lines that could’ve been anything from cables to streamers, and a poster that had some kind of inscription on it. After taking a second to decipher it, Twilight found that it said ‘Life is a party’.
As soon as Twilight read those words, her mind flashed back to a story Pinkamena had told her on one of her first days in Sleipnir. The story of her first kill, and Rainbow Dash’s death.
Twilight ripped up the photo and threw the pieces away. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what to do. Both of her friends needed her, but she couldn’t think of way to resolve the issue without causing more conflict. Unless…
Twilight walked up to Pinkamena, and nudged her gently. Pinkamena looked up, her eyes puffy and red.
“”You saw them, didn’t you?” Pinkamena asked.
Twilight nodded her head.
“Looks like I’m not the only fucked up party pony around,” Pinkamena choked up a laugh as fresh tears formed in her eyes. “By the looks of it, there’s hundreds of us evil Pinkies, all of whom one day decided to- How many of me are there? How many times has a Pinkie Pie killed her friend and, and-” Pinkamena let the last two words die on her lips.
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered, unsure how to react to something like that.
Pinkamena croaked a laugh that sounded almost broken. “Here I was thinking that the things I’ve done, the depths I’ve sunk to, I thought I was the only one. A broken Pinkie Pie among thousands of nice, friendly versions. But no, apparently backstabbing, murderous Pinkie Pies are as common as apple trees!”
Pinkamena’s voice grew quiet as she continued. “Who knows, maybe we’re all murderous bitches, deep down? Maybe some of us are just better at keeping it under control? Just ticking bombs, ready to betray are loved ones at a moment’s notice.”
“That’s not true!” Twilight said, “Pinkie, I think you’re over thinking this. They were just a few pictures. They weren’t even that good! For all we know, they were all pictures of the same event. You’re working yourself up over nothing.”
“They weren’t the same, Twilight,” Pinkamena said sourly. “Just look at them, they’re all from the same angle, they all include alternate versions of me and a tied up Rainbow Dash, and they all have different furniture in the background. Some of them even have pony hides hanging from the walls.
“Okay, okay,” Twilight stammered, trying desperately to think of a new strategy. “But those Pinkies aren’t you, and you don’t have to be like them. You can still redeem yourself!”
Pinkamena’s looked at Twilight incredulously. “How?”
Taking a deep breath, Twilight said, “You can start by telling Fluttershy what happened.”
Pinkamena’s eyes widened and her face grew pale. She looked away from Twilight, and whispered softly, “I don’t want to. Not now.”
Shifting her weight onto her good leg, Twilight placed a hoof of Pinkamena’s shoulder. “You have to tell her eventually. She deserves to know.”
“You saw how she reacted to those photographs. Imagine if- I can’t tell her.” Pinkamena looked at Twilight pleadingly.
“Would you like me to tell her? Or Dr. Layne?” Twilight asked.
Pinkamena lowered her gaze. “No, no, I’ll do it. Just give me a second.”
She got up and slowly walked over to wear Fluttershy was lying. Fluttershy glanced up at her and then looked away.
“Fluttershy,” Pinkamena said somberly, “there’s something you need to know.”
“About what you did to Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked coldly. “I heard everything you and Twilight talked about. I’m not deaf you know.”
Pinkamena took a step back. She looked back at Twilight as if she could offer any solution.
“Look, I uh,” Pinkamena gulped and looked at the floor. “Yes. That’s right.”
Fluttershy’s eye flared with an intense anger beyond what Twilight thought she was capable of. Her entire body tensed as if she wanted to pounce on Pinkamena. Twilight wasn’t sure that she shouldn’t. Then, like a bonfire caught in a wave, crumpled back into a fetal position, and started sobbing.
Pinkmena looked at Twilight pleadingly. Taking the cue, Twilight walked over to where Fluttershy was crying and tried putting a hoof on her. Fluttershy flinched away, shouting, “Don’t touch me!”
Twilight took a step back, but kept close enough to talk with Fluttershy softly. “Look, I know this is a big shock, and you have every right to be angry at Pinkie, to hate her even. But I want you to at least hear her out, okay?”
“Why should I?” Fluttershy said in a cold hiss.
Twilight had to think for a moment. Why should Fluttershy hear her out? It wouldn’t bring Rainbow Dash back, nor would it make her feel better. If anything, it might make things worse.
“Because,” Twilight started to say to buy more time, “because she wasn’t in her right mind! That’s why.”
Fluttershy’s eyebrows knit together, creating a web of odd crinkles on her patchwork face. “Alright, I’ll hear her out, but only on the condition that she really wasn’t in her right mind.”
Twilight sighed and motioned for Pinkamena to come over. She dawdled towards them at a snail’s pace, never taking her eyes off the floor. When she did reach them, Pinkamena stood still, occasionally fidgeting with her hooves.
“Twilight tells me that you have something to say about what you did to Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said coldly. “Is that true?”
Pinkamena gulped and began pulling on her hair. “Um, yes, I wanted to tell you that, I’m sorry.” She started scratching behind her ear.
“Is that all?” Fluttershy asked, raising an eyebrow.
Pinkamena’s eyes began darting back and forth, beads of perspiration began forming on her brow.
“No, you deserve to know what happened,” Pinkamena sighed, then took a deep breath. “I have a disease called sanguinam ungollum. I don’t know if Dr. Layne told you about it, but it basically makes me want to- want to do bad things to ponies.”
“It makes you evil, you mean?”
Pinkamena winced as if Fluttershy had struck her with a sledgehammer. “Yes. I can keep it under control now, for the most part, but back in Ponyville, back when she was still alive, it took every ounce of my self control not to do something heinous. It was like having an itch that I could only scratch by hurting some pony.”
She paused for a moment, as if to collect her thoughts. Fluttershy glared at her with such contempt that it sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine.
“I tried to relieve the urge with small things,” Pinkamena continued, “pranks, and surprise parties. Things that hurt ponies, but in ways that made them smile. It worked, for the most part, but every so often the itch would become so strong that I had to shut myself away until it passed. On one of those times, I couldn’t get away from ponies. The Cakes were busy and needed me to run the shop. I thought I could keep it under control but-” Tears started to flow down Pinkamena’s cheeks.
“But you couldn’t, and Rainbow Dash paid the price,” Fluttershy said coldly.
“And you,” Pinkamena murmured before stammering, “I’m sorry!”
Fluttershy took a moment to look over her scars and patches, and frowned. “So, it wasn’t an accident then?” She shot an accusatory glare at Twilight, but said no more.
“No,” Pinkamena said, sniffling. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to get better but-”
“Just shut up.” Fluttershy turned away from them, “Leave me alone. I need some time to think about this.”
When Pinkamena opened her mouth to say something else, Twilight held up a hoof and shook her head. Pinkamena had said her piece, and for now that would have to do. Perhaps later Fluttershy might want to talk more about the incident, but for now Twilight needed to keep them apart.
“We need to make sure Dr. Layne’s alright,” Twilight said, “we’ve wasted too much time as it is.”
They walked over to where the Dr. Layne lay motionless without saying a word to each other. Twilight put a hoof on his neck to check his pulse. His heart was beating in a low, but steady beat. Twilight sighed with relief.
The next thing she checked was the place on his head where the metal box had struck him. There was a small cut, but Twilight didn’t think it was anything serious. She reached into her satchel and pulled out the gauze. With Pinkamena’s help, she quickly wrapped a bandage around Dr. Layne’s head.
“I think he’ll be alright,” Twilight said when they were done.
Pinkamena said nothing.
They waited for several minutes before Dr. Layne’s eyes twitched. He woke up with a dazed look and started feeling around the area where he was hit.
“Twilight? Pinkie?” Dr. Layne asked, “What happened? Did something hit me?”
“Yes,” Twilight said sympathetically, then pointed at the box. “That.”
Dr. Layne swore loudly. “How long have a been out?”
“Maybe half an hour,” Twilight said, “but I’m not sure.”
“Is any pony else hurt? Is Fluttershy okay?”
Twilight sighed, “It’s complicated. Come on, let’s go.”
She helped Dr. Layne to his feet, and together with Pinkamena they walked over to where Fluttershy was sitting. When Dr. Layne offered to carry her again, Fluttershy scowled at him and snapped, “I’ll walk, thank you very much!” and proceeded to get up and storm off.
“Twilight, what happened while I was asleep?” Dr. Layne asked.
They found a back way out of the room half buried beneath a mountain of Pinkie Pie shaped plush dolls. After clearing them away, they entered a long, narrow passage that was only just larger than a crawl space. The walls and floor were made of solid concrete, and their hoofsteps echoed for some distance, giving the feeling that they were walking through a cavern.
When they first left the room with all the Pinkie Pie memorabilia, Fluttershy had insisted on walking by herself, despite grimacing and making an audibly pained grunt with every step she took. Every few feet she would collapse to the ground, and whimper for a moment. At first, Twilight and Dr. Layne tried to help her, but she scowled at them and defiantly got up and continued walking.
Fluttershy eventually consented to letting Dr. Layne carry her again after she had collapsed for a fifth time and was in tears, but she still met all attempts at conversation with a glower or snarl. Twilight couldn’t blame her.
Pinkamena dawdled just behind Twilight, her eyes downcast. She hadn’t said a word since they vacated the room dedicated to her. Twilight almost couldn’t stand it; there was something eerie about a sad Pinkie Pie. Twilight tried to talk to her, to cheer her up, but her words fell on deaf ears.
They reached a small, wooden door that was covered with deep gashes and had splintered in places. Dr. Layne pushed it open and they entered into small, dark room that was slightly smaller than the closet they had previously taken refuge in. Dr. Layne felt around for a light switch, but instead he found a button that caused the far wall to slide open, blinding Twilight with a bright light that flooded into the room.
When her vision adjusted, Twilight had to rub them to make sure they weren’t deceiving her. The wall had opened up to a room filled with bushes and shrubs and flowers. Flowers! After so long in a nightmarish prison of steel and concrete; Twilight could hardly contain her joy at seeing something as naturally beautiful as flowers. She rubbed her eyes once more, just to make sure that she wasn’t a mistake. But then the aroma of vegetation hit her, and Twilight knew that there could be no mistake.
“The botany lab,” said Dr. Layne as he entered the room, “one of Sleipnir’s more vanilla research facilities. We mostly just studied the effect a zero gravity environment had on lilies, and other equally exciting things.”
“Think we should stock up on food?” Twilight suggested, her mouth watering at the thought of lilies.
Dr. Layne shrugged. “Why not? It could be a while before we find another vending machine. Just be careful, we don’t know who’s lurking around.”
Twilight entered the room as quickly as her bad leg would allow her. Her mind wondered at the flora that surrounded her. Everywhere she looked there were plants growing in beautifully organized shapes, and flowers of every imaginable color. Twilight breathed deeply, savoring the floral scents.
As Twilight browsed the aisles of plants, she noticed that Pinkamena had sat down by the door, and placed her head in her hooves. Deciding that she should cheer her friend up, Twilight selected some daffodils, which she remembered that the Pinkie Pie in her world used to enjoy, and brought them over to her. Pinkamena sniffed the flowers and smiled, but then quickly set them aside.
“Not hungry,” Pinkamena mumbled. Twilight noticed a glazed look in her eyes, and decided that it might be best to give her friend some space for a little bit. She went back into the lab to get some flowers for Fluttershy, but when she tried to give them to her, Fluttershy just scowled and looked away.
Twilight sighed. Normally friends fighting like this was a simple fix; a little communication, maybe some singing, and the whole problem would go away in about twenty two minutes or so. But this was not a normal friendship problem, and Twilight didn’t know how to solve it. She doubted any pony had ever had such a strange and grotesque friendship problem in all of history, no matter what world they were in.
When Twilight was done filling her satchel with a choice selection of flowers, grasses, and berries, they all got ready to move on. Dr. Layne opened a door and the far end of the lab, and a large mass of a black, tar like substance seeped into the room.
“What the?” Dr. Layna said as he looked down at the mess.
“I think it’s slime,” Pinkamena said in a half hearted voice. “I used to use the stuff in kids’ parties. It was, slimy.” Pinkamena looked down at her hind hooves and mumbled something to herself.
Dr. Layne sniffed, and then sighed, “Well it doesn’t smell too bad, might as well keep moving forward.”
Both the walls and floor of the hallway were coated with tar. It had dried in some places, giving the room a crusty appearance. Twilight couldn’t help but think that some giant monster, maybe a dragon, had sneezed in the hallway. The thought both amused Twilight, and made her want to vomit.
After they had walked some distance, small wood-like objects began to crunch underneath their hooves. Twilight couldn’t make out their exact shape, as they were covered in the same black tar that coated near everything in the hallway, though she noticed that many of them were as thick as apple tree saplings, while others were as small as acorns. Twilight shuddered to think of what the objects might be, and forced herself not to think about them.
This became harder and harder to do as they went on. Soon they were stepping on the objects more frequently until they were practically walking on the things. Twilight tried to look at everything but the objects, but she soon found that the black tar had plastered them to the walls. Forcing herself to look forward, and not at the tar covered objects, Twilight began to hum the song she and her friend’s used to sing every winter wrap up, anything to get her mind off of the objects.
Her bad leg slipped on one of the larger objects, and Twilight fell to the floor as an explosion of pain erupted from her wound and spread throughout her body. She fell onto a pile of the objects, their sharp edges digging into side. When Twilight’s mind cleared enough to register anything but pain, she let out a cry and grasped for her leg.
When her vision cleared, Twilight found herself staring eye to eye with the tar covered skull of a gryphon. Twilight screamed and tried to scramble away, headless of the searing pain that radiated from her leg. The pain quickly overpowered her desire to flee, and she collapsed some distance down the hall.
As Twilight lay there, waiting for the pain to ebb, she was vaguely aware that some pony was approaching her, snapping bones as they came along.
“Are you alright, Twilight?” Dr. Layne in a calm, reassuring voice.
Twilight nodded as the pain in her leg returned to its normal dull throb. “I’m fine, it’s just that-” She looked around at the black tar that coated the hall, and the objects that were embedded in it.
They were bones. Countless bones, from ponies, gryphons, diamond dogs, and creatures that Twilight didn’t recognize. Twilight had seen corpses in Sleipnir before, but this was different. Twilight couldn’t quite tell what, but something about the bones lying in the tar unsettled her in ways that mere corpses hadn’t.
“Who were these people?” Twilight asked.
Dr. Layne shrugged, “Does it matter? There’s no help for them now.”
“Maybe they used to be Pinkie’s friends?” Fluttershy suggested in cold, harsh voice. Twilight quickly looked to where Pinkamena was to check that she wasn’t about have one of her episodes. Fortunately, it didn’t seem that she had heard Fluttershy’s remark.
“That,” Dr. Layne scowled, “was uncalled for.”
Fluttershy shifted her position on Dr. Layne’s back so that she was facing away from them.
“Tell that to Rainbow Dash,” Twilight heard her mutter.
Dr. Layne shook his head, and then bent down to help Twilight up. Twilight covered in the tar like substance, and she couldn’t shake it off. Dr. Layne helped brush away some of the cracked bones, but it seemed that Twilight was going to have to resign herself to being covered in the sticky substance.
Twilight looked back at her now irreparably filthy body and sighed. She’d already gone the better part of a month without a shower, but now-
Her heart skipped a beat as her mind registered a horror far greater than the bones. She whipped her head wildly, searching for where it might’ve fallen. She found it lying by a broken ribcage; it must’ve fallen off while she was panicking. Twilight raced over to where her satchel lay, and to her horror found if covered in the black tar. She opened with as much speed as she could, and looked in to check on her books.
To her relief, she found that neither the photo album, nor the book of Newt had any tar on them.
