Chapter 1 (and technically Prologue)
"Welcome to the Nightmare, Worms!"

"You know how to whistle, right? You just put your lips together and...blow."

Roughly 200 years or so before Littlepip left the Vault....
Congait (Old Kongo, Zebrica)

"Long ago, war was commonplace in this world. Plague, improper resource gathering, poor farming, questionable racism, killing just to survive the next day, all factored in the decay of this world. But as the world became corrupted, we watched and learned from it. With the power of the printing press, peace slowly returned as knowledge was given to the public for the first time, the words of the Princesses were released globally far and wide to settle disputes and rein in those who cause ignorance and fear in the masses.

And so things went on their course for a thousand years, and our race thrived on the wealth of knowledge you all provided us. In exchange, we secretly helping in our own way to vastly improve the lifestyles of the equine races with a invention here and there that saved lives or at the very least improved upon them. After all, what is a story but a way to bring creativity into reality through the ages? And so we grew lazy and happy, yet always watching you from afar as your children became adults and had children of their own, creating a seemingly endless cycle of generations filled with new ideas we eagerly helped out with depending on how interesting they were.

In fact, the only reason we come out today is because several years ago, there was a incident. One involving a clan member who unfortunately was caught out in the open by a purple mare awhile 'snacking' on her library shelves. Mind you, our existence back then was the folklore of legend, mythical beings that eat books and bring the fiction to life. This member, after a tussle with this mare and her friends, agreed to a truce of sorts, in which we slowly came out of hiding one by one to offer our services to make up for the embarrassing shame and to repair the mare's library back to normal.

It was then that the war slowly began that our members joined sides with the Ministries covertly, providing ways to vastly improve the technology of the world by decades if not centuries overnight. Inventions of armor, of weaponry, of tanks, planes and 4-wheeled vehicles, of bombs and rockets, of orbiting satellites and deep-sea satellites, we were there when they were unveiled...and we were appalled and frightened. But at that time, we were too far in that it was next to impossible to back out, even as quite a few took sides with the Zebras to advance their technological warfare to be on a near-equal level.

However, that is not why we stand before you today, in front of all those listening in via TV, Pipbucks or radio. In the grand scheme of the Fog of War, a single whistle must be blown for everypony to hear, a whistle to end the endless massacre before it overtakes the world and turns everything we have worked so hard on to dust and ashes. THAT, is why we called you all here to today, to reveal everything about this sham of a war, from botched assassinations to illegal and extremely vile experimentations of the worst kind. We will NOT be sil-"

"Will you SHUT UP!!! For crying out loud, Ananzi, it's 8 am and you're still rehearsing that stupid speech when we've all heard it a thousand times. You've freaking memorized it from page to page, there's no need to repeat it constantly in our presence." A sharp yell came from the nearby seat in front of me over the heavy whirring of the Vertibuck's engines, disrupting me from my grand speech that the entire world will soon hear in several hours.

In a way, I was a bit jittery with the thought of stage fright, being judged by eyes of all kinds by those who do and don't support the war. Who am I? Heh, not too long ago, I was one of those who signed up for the chance to advance ponykind into the future. Now, however, I am to be a traitor to the cause, someone who will be despised and hated, in other words, a whistle-blower. No, not a literal one, but the kind that causes sides to form, the one that causes reform in government, forming cracks into the very foundation and shattering hopes and dreams of the corrupt and sick-minded.

Okay, enough. Bad enough I was betraying everyone I ever knew back home, I don't want to think about political fallout and ruined lives. With our southbound heading, we were heading straight into the belly of the beast, aka the infamous Congait. Luna would give her left wing just to launch a full-out attack on the main base of the Zebrian Empire. Sounds corny, but for whatever reason, zebras have been placed as the common threat for equine kind despite the fact the only difference between them is the stripes that ward off disease-carrying insects.

But for those who didn't know this before, Zebras used to have a long line of proud lineage, one filled with vast wealth, territory and culture. Many, many zebras were descended from royal blood, others from proud warriors that conquered nations and slaughtered villages with ease. Then ponies, armed with the technology and knowledge, descended down to the cities or rode boats to meet them and grew extremely greedy upon what they encountered. After all, they believed themselves to be superior despite being completely outnumbered, using their magic and slightly better weapons to cheat, disrupting the very balance that they once had. Kingdoms fell, hut homes burned, looting was commonplace, and well, as the history books say, the Zebras became 'undesirables' in their own land. Slavery, racism, cultural ignorance...we kept out of such affairs, though a few of us slowly began to shift the system in a few decades, if not a century. With a bit of flexibility and heavy blackmail on our part, Equestrian puppet politicians slowly realized how much wrong had been done to the zebras and began to return to them their lands and rights despite the fact most of the equines who felt right at home opposed it greatly. And until the war started, the two nations were evenly dead-locked given how much respect their seemingly immortal leaders had for each other and for the lives of their subjects. But we knew better, for certain events were staged by a 3rd party I shiver to think about to this day, a evil force with influence and power that forced us to assist the equestrians and the zebricans by any means so that both sides would not fall together to this unseen force of malice and corruption.

So yeah, that's the basics of Zebrian history in footnote form, though I could easily go on for hours talking specifically about it since the past is something I often research on. As well as most things the Zebrican Continent is known for, but that will remain a surprise til I get to the conference. A press conference, I mean, one with all the radical and rebel news networks and reporters that don't kowtow to Luna and her fascist, dictatoring ways of blocking freedom of speech and press from the masses. Of course, they were lured here with a small amount of what we've uncovered over the years awhile working undercover in the Ministries.

Speaking of which, there were about 6 of us in the Enclave Vertibuck, most of whom were strapped in since the turbulence was unsettling to say the least, being all bumpy and the like. I suppose that due to our small stature, being bookworms, we needed strong yet small-scale seat belts to keep us from falling off as the others chatted amongst themselves in a ancient, forgotten language so that the 'airheads' aka Enclave Pegasi pilots couldn't overhear. Heck, they had blinders on and were instructed not to look behind them or make any contact with the passengers as we boarded one by one by the Sweet Apple Farm Helipad several hours ago. Our presence is not to be known by the equine community after all, only certain members of the Ministries can call upon our help when needed. Oh, they are gonna fry after this...

But that's the price they pay for dealing with the dark arts and advanced technology far beyond normal pony comprehension. I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over Celestia's student and her friends being tossed into jail, as well as all the Legate's corrupt commanders and generals, a stalemate to be sure. Too many crimes against their own kind, too many illegal experimentations that deny the very order of reality. Not to mention what may happen to future generations if we don't stop this travesty from happening.

"Relax, Osebo. If anything, my memory is not what it should have been after that incident not too long ago. I just wanted to repeat it one more time before we arrived at that top secret press conference." I replied, which caused my rival's whiskers to shake in annoyance, his beady yellow eyes glaring right through me as if I was a slab of meat on the table.

"Just be certain this IS the last time before then, you ignorant buffoon. I did not decide to leave the warm comfort of the Ministry of Peace watching millions of bits go to waste on that shy Pegasus's projects just to listen to you talk about the past. If anything, I had a tendril dripped into each and every one of those radiation programs, including selling fake red mercury and acquiring the black kind instead, so I expect them to be shifted to common household use once we end this pointless war as you promised. The invention of my own megaspell microwave will earn more bits than the cost of the war after all." The lean, purple spotted whiskered Bookworm with densely thick prescription glasses growled at me, in which I shrugged.

"Indeed, and your help in also infiltrating the Ministry of Awesome will vastly improve weather conditions and global famine instead of weaponizing it to murder thousands. I will keep to my promise, and soon, even the SPP will be under your direct command after this." I said calmly, causing the lecherous scientist known full well in our community for handling megaspell and balefire testing and weaponizing. Sadly, despite the fact we are immune to radiation poisoning like cockroaches, he lost his hair in a freak megaspell accident that turned his lab and the 'homeless test subjects' into mutated radioactive mushrooms, which he never forgave me for giving him the wrong amount of iodine for Radaway potions.

"I, for one, am just glad to be away from all those horrible soldierssss and their energy weaponssss. Even that awful Applejack is a ssssinner in my eyessss, allowing her friend to be killed in front of me awhile I 'hid'. None of them truly undersssstand that those energy weaponssss were meant to sssstun and knock out, not to blow gaping holesss through flesssh and musssscle." Onini hissed angrily with her forked tongue, shifting back and forth her long neck in order to get more comfortable in the large plastic seat. She was essentially a non-combat analyst covert-working in the Wartime Technology Ministry, working on ways to make the armor tougher, more durable yet light enough for Earth types and Unicorns to move around in. Unfortunately, her discoveries in non-lethal energy were discovered and corrupted by scientists who wanted to see how much damage can be done to zebra civilians. In a way, she was the first on board with my plan when I suggested it, though she had this odd look in her eyes towards me doing so. Weird.

"You think you have it bad???? It's been non-stop parties at that loudly obnoxious ministry. Sis and I could barely keep our heads on straight with all the Mint-Als and booze consumed. Not to mention all that rude spying on the other ministries, their computers, their homes, in the streets and parks, throughout the underworld crime rings, in each zebrican village, placing bugs and drones to pick up conversations and photos just to snatch up equines who just felt the war was wrong? Mind you, it's been a real pain to find a way to get those Steel Rangers into those Pinkie Balloons, which is why we were able to sneak out awhile the offices were in utter turnoil with the calculations. But even then..." Mmo trailed off, his usually cheerful mood a bit downcast just thinking of the endless, unneeded surveillance and the imprisonment of anyone who even thought Luna was a terrible ruler or thought the zebras were nice. He and his sister were basically working in counter-spying operations deep inside the Ministry of Morale, hidden in such a way that not even Pinkie knew her every move was being watched.

"The fact we now know what she knows hurts us even further. The world is in danger, but we don't know how or why at the moment. Conflicting images of heroes and villians from a far-off future appear randomly to us now, each with a story we cannot access at this time, a key of sorts is required to unlock the knowledge. One that we now know is in Zebrica. Til then, the world as we know it will be destroyed by a unknown factor, one that surpasses this meager war a million-fold, thus getting both sides to stop and check house is the only way to get them to work together to end this new threat. Only then will these visions of the forsaken and sorrowful vanish." Mmo's twin sister Boro said sadly, her tendrils shaking in absolute fear over seeing the future through her former employer's eyes. Her wings trembled just recalling the broken world over and over in over through the eyes of the survivors, unable to even comprehend why it happened or who caused it. Both of them were showing signs of Mint-al withdrawal, possibly addicts at this point, a truly bad sign indeed.

"I won't let that happen. That, I honestly promise you. This war can easily be ended with what we now have, and countless lives will be saved in the process." I stated firmly, causing Osebo to snicker in amusement over my outdated ideals for a better world. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just that you were once the most gung-ho on the war, claiming to be the brilliant scientist who will create spells to turn the deserts in Zebrica into grassland and convert megaspells into specialized power generating turbines so that everypony will have free electricity. Now that you see the truth behind the curtain, all those nasty schemes and experiments, you decide now to have a conscience and expose the one whom you thought was a saint to the world." Osebo grinned wickedly, knowing full well that his ministries crimes were of a lighter sort since he knew about Fluttershy's single flaw that shifted the tide of war.

"I was blind, now I see. That is all you need to know about why I am doing this. Even if we are locked up for treason, the rest of the world will change dramatically in a flash." I answered, antennae wavering to sense the cruelty Osebo had for science in general, his absolute passion in causing suffering amongst the masses. But even then, he had a line of morality, for if everypony was dead or dying as result of that terrible future, then he would lose everything.

Likewise, Onini carried with her a deep sadness, a hollow well of tears and blood as a result of her past actions. She was on board solely to bring about the end of the Steel Rangers, the Pipbucks, the Vaults, everything that she assisted with that will one day bring about the end of the world, she only sought retribution and revenge. Even if it meant speaking out and destroying every last piece of advanced technology those horses would have taken centuries to make without our hidden guidance and knowledge of rare earth material locations. No issue with the twins, they clearly had no love for the partymaker or her paranoia with spying on everypony. And no, this isn't my analysis on what they were feeling, it was more or less Bookworm empathy though it was more about what they were feeling than their thoughts. It's sorta a thing we do to check each others mental state, but we also have quite a few other hidden talents that will astound most ponies we come in contact with.

Still...now that I think about it, "We seem to be missing someone in their seat. Didn't I tell you guys not to unbuckle since these flying contraptions tend to shake and rattle, which to our small bodies could be the same as a 7.0 earthquake?"

"Huh...now that you mention it, I wasn't paying much attention to him since he was reading that huge novel that's now on the floor. Must've went to the bathroom or something." Boro said, slightly puzzled as to why she didn't see her seat partner unbuckle and leave so silently unseen.

"We don't have a bathro-" CRUNCH! The entire aircraft shook and buckled with a thunderous collision, the engines to the turbines going out seconds later as we watched helplessly in our seats as the lights flickered on and off, oxygen masks dropping down unhelpfully in front of us. Seriously, why the heck do the enclave even need these, or even ask for such aircraft to exist?

"What, what happened? Did we hit a sssolid cloud?" Onini groaned, rubbing a slightly bloody gash on her forehead dealt by the seatbelt. And yes, some clouds can be rather solid in Zebrica, something about talisman manipulation seeded into the evaporation of the water supply below. Of course, I was more concerned about the 'living' clouds being the culprit til I craned my neck just enough to check the cockpit nearby to see that the fatheads were basically of no use to anyone.

Of course, by no use, I mean they were pinned to the ceiling by massive scaled ivory talons that shattered the bulletproof windows and curled upwards to ensnare the front of the ship. Did not need to be a doctor to know all the blood and organs on the ripped-up seats meant instant death from above. "Well, we're boned. Dragon got us by the head." I stated firmly to the others awhile retracting my neck to normal.

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Mmo and Boro screamed in panic, bolting towards each other in a deep hug embrace to absorb the fear together, awhile Oboro smirked in his typical fashion.

"Dragons, huh? I've been meaning to bag a few after the conference." Unclipping his seat belt, he climbed down to the floor and pulled out his Spasm NeuroDisruptor pistol from under the seat cushion. "This should disorient it long enough for us to create a web to bind it's wings."

"I'm not sure if that'd work on this Dragon given it seems to be of the Class G variety, but whatever. All of you, let's get out and continue on before..." I was interrupted as the sounds of multiple high-pitched roars could be heard outside. "Okay, apparently it's not just one."

"We have to get out of here anyways! We really hate dragons!" Mmo shouted, getting out of his seat along with Onini and Boro. Took me roughly a half minute to unstrap as the others went to the left side of the Vertibuck, unfolding and stretching their gossamer wings for proper takeoff.

And just as I was carefully getting down to the floor, the side-door nearby crumbled like tissue paper by 5 foot, metallic talons, yanked outward and tossed aside taking my comrades by surprise. A long, greasy red tongue shot out from the doorway, snatching the pistol from Oboro suddenly and retracting it into the open jaws of a iron Wyvern which screeched in satisfaction.

"Like my new friends, Ananzi?" A gleeful, manical voice called out as I proceeded to go over to the side-door, coming face-to-face with my 'trusted' collaborator several dozen feet away on the head of a Class D Longbody Dragon, a elemental-type from the Neighponese Lands.

"Mmoatia, what the heck is wrong with you? I promised High Command no harm would befell their soldiers and your so-called friends gutted them!" Orobo yelled angrily towards the ebon gray punk who was currently half our size, but twice our age sneering as if he had somehow won the lottery. Wearing a coat made of green horse hair, he was the last one I would think would try something like this given into account his hatred of the war in general which seared his antennae.

"Well then, you shouldn't have made that promise. They'll be good additions to the glue factory in any case." Mmoatia, or Moat as I sometimes called him, giggled fiercely at the stern glare he was receiving awhile stroking his small beard. "Good, good, give me that look all you want. But the fact of the matter is, I'm ending this little charade here and now."

With a snap of his tendril, dragons of various Classes, nationality and types descended from the clouds above by the hundreds, roaring and snapping their teeth hungrily. Many of which were mounted by war-clad Zebra Troopers in full gear, their faces blank and completely obedient like robots, as they surrounded the Vertibuck in a tight ring formation.

"You see, there is no escape from this cleverly designed trap. Given into account I'm the only one who had travelled here frequently, you fools trusted me to set up a route by air, and I led you all into a well-planned ambush." He chuckled, swirling his moustache as if to taunt us. "Even now, the Zebra Empire has been in my employ well enough to put down this as a escalation of war into forbidden territory."

"Your employ? Seriously, what is going on?" Boro shivered in fear, causing Moat's grin to spread up to reveal razor-sharp fangs.

"Did you idiots truly believe that I'd want this war to end? I'm a member of the TransEquine Organization, why would I ever want those stupid inbred mammals to mass-breed after this?" Moat chuckled, unraveling his own wings which gleamed a purplish glow in the sun's reflection. "As the #1 organization that supports the war, we will ensure that your pathetic prophecy never comes true."

"What the heck are you talking about? This stupid war affects all of us, not just equines. Get these stupid dragons out of our way!" Oboro hissed, annoyed that his favorite gun was devoured so easily.

"Nnnnnnope. You manipulative fools will be coming with me. We have a slight detour to make at the 6 Points." The sly liar said, signaling for his shorter, biped Class H soldiers with hand claws to approach us. Of course, they're also known as Gargoyles due to the fact they can make their flesh harder than stone, but can't fly as a result.

"Oh, crud...everyone, shield your eyes!" I shouted out, suddenly aware of what Moat's plan was, or at least part of it, but my words fell short as my comrades-in-arms froze in place, save for Mmo who was attempting to say something.

"Ananzi, figurines! Don't let him take-" And then silence as his body was more-or-less petrified by the soulless glaze those dragons are well-known for in snatching prey and stealth missions. And what was that about figures? Those wooden carvings Mmo had been whittling back at home base? Backing up somewhat which appendage covering my face, I could barely make out long grasping claws grabbing my friends one-by-one and backing out of the doorway into the open air.

"Mmoatia, you bastard! You aren't attempting to-"

"Yes, yes, I am. The dragons are sick of this war as we are, and what better way than to extinguish Equestria in a endless blaze of Balefire for all eternity?" Moat chuckled, snapping his appendage again as a new Gargoyle appeared swooping in towards me with eyes ready to sparkle.

"Oh no, you don't!" I yelled, puffing out my cheeks before unleashing a humongous amount of white goo out of my mouth, engulfing and enveloping the minor dragon into a wing-trapped cocoon that with a ear-piercing cry, plummeted to the savanna below. "Try that again, you two-faced traitor and I'll make sure your dragon falls next!"

"Tsk, tsk...such violent words from one of the top magic researchers in the Arcane Ministry. Trust me, that cannon fodder is nothing compared to the horrors I have in wait. Heck, those Buttercups I acquired-oh wait, that's a Image Classified thing, never mind. Either way, looks like I'll have to deal with your meddlesome self myself." Moat chuckled, flying down off the dragon's head over to the edge of the doorway, as the two of us locked eyes with sharp hatred.

"True, but in terms of scale, I have the upper 'hand'." I smirked, towering over Moat by a few inches, causing him to frown a little.

"Size isn't everything, you stupid scholar!" He screeched angrily, launching himself towards me with a flurry of slashes from his appendages and tail claw, moves I quickly read and counter-acted with blocks and parries.

Unfortunately, he read my strikes and blows just as well, our clash for the most part was just a stalemate of blocks and slashes going nowhere fast. Jumping backwards at the exact same time, both of us spewed multiple batches of internal thread gobs which collided in mid-air and solidified into chunks of plaster in milliseconds.

"Heh, you've still got it, Ananzi. But I'm afraid this is where your journey ends." Mmoatia gloated, knowing full well that we were at a slightly higher level than most bookworms.

"Technically, it's where your plan ends. I just hit the red button with a transparency gel." I pointed out, as on the control panel above our heads, a single red button labeled 'Emergency Beacon' was pushed inward by see-thru thread during our barrage. Moat's face fell, turning fiercely angry knowing that with the beacon activated, my escape route was well in hand along with the Vertibird's auto-destruct. Every Enclave Ship would pick up on the beacon and track my position in mere moments. "It seems you haven't thought of every contingency plan as I have, should we be caught."

"Oh, I believe I have thought this well-out. But it seems that I may not need you with me after all, being the most troublesome." Pulling out a rather plain book, he opened it up with a flap and 'reached' into a page. Kinda like putting one's hoof into water, the paper rippled along the surface as he pulled something peculiarly shiny out.

"That-that's one of the Dark Arts the Lone One once used! The ancient magic known as Libliomancy!" I said, shocked that such a technique would be in this foul fiend's 'hands'. After all, with it, any item or person in a book would be brought to life in exchange for the story it once held in ALL books, turning them blank right after to make the contents unappetizing for us.

"Yes, it is quite the trick, ain't it? After we locked him up, it took a lot of resources in the Ministry of Image to find out how he came to find such power that has been locked away for almost a thousand years. I'm so glad this war started just so I could obtain it." Moat smirked, bringing the item which shone brightly towards me. "Too bad you won't be around to see this world of pathetic ponies go up in balefire flames when all my pet projects come to fruition."

"You'll never get away with this. The public deserves the truth about the ministries and the war!" I yelled, although I found myself being pulled forward by a unknown force, skidding on the floor helplessly as Moat glowered happily.

"The truth? All they need to know is that this war is about to come to an end, thanks to this 'incursion' on Zebra soil. Sure, there'd be survivors in most of the vaults/zebra corrals I haven't set up to fail or turn on it's inhabitants, but I've made plans well in advance to cleanse them as well. You really shouldn't have left your 'friend' all alone with that 'magician failure', accidents do happen after all if a few numbers are erased." He grinned viciously, causing two of my hearts to drop in sorrow knowing that the Princess's student was in grave peril. "As for getting away with it, I doubt anyone can stop me once you're gone."

"Dad will, he'll stop you." I muttered, glaring at him as I felt parts of my body being sucked into the object bit by bit. Moat only smiled with fangs at the idea, as I suddenly found myself looking through what seemed to be golden glass at him, squeezed inside a cramped, narrow space.

"Possible, but unlikely. Either way, I'll be back in say, 200 years or so. More than enough time to get the others unstonified (as I have a Basilisk for that sort of thing) and tortured severely for the information I desire." He said, turning towards the door and reared back his left proleg, taking careful aim at what I could only determine was a blackened crater from a previous airstrike. "Yes, that'd do. So long, my hated rival! I'll tell the others you fled like a coward!" He laughed gleefully launching me and the object hard and fast like a missile towards the open wound in the Great Plains.

Even as I steeled myself for a imminent blackout, one that could cause me to fall into a near-coma status, I logged away all my memories, all my projects, all the various things there are into a imaginary folder. I knew that one day, should I be retrieved, me and Mmoatia will battle again, and this time, I will punish him for the Ultimate Taboo he was about to commit in Zebrica, no matter what it took. 'Farewell....Twilight.' I thought, just as the capsule I was in crashed hard and fast into the crater with a deafening boom, in which I found myself falling for what seemed to be forever into a shiny black abyss....

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Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Radiation Assimilation: After being in the Irradiated Plains, you'll find yourself to be highly resistant to radiation in general. However, you can get sick drinking radiated food or drink in large quantities. Unfortunately, your normal perk of acquiring a Host has been damaged as a result, but best of luck to you in general, fellow Bookworm!

S|P|E|C|I |A|L
2|1|4|3|10|4|4
Special Ability: Inf. Memory- Recall everything you know, and replay it in your mind to get out of hard situations. Kinda like a game guide walkthough, but on past stuff, not present.

Lv 1 Sticky Shot- Allows the usage to unleash seemingly unbreakable web strands on foes, though due to poor PER, your aim is lacking.