I felt as if I'd shit myself upon seeing the monster that was the Goddess appear before us, her drones and Tholian servants surrounding us. I'd heard about the incidents between rogue Tholians and members of the Assembly that occurred several times in the course of their existence. Some of the spiders desired to reject the ideals of their people and join the Alliance to provide their intel on the Assembly's movements, while others would abandon both sides and serve their own desires.
But I had never in all my time of being in the Alliance would I expect a group of them to form an alliance with one of our oldest enemies.
When I faced her for the last time in Maripony, we had planted a balefire bomb underneath the Goddess' fortress courtesy of Red Eye. We had expected to wipe her out with ease, but I had also found that the Enclave were planning to side with her as well, the two of them wanting to destroy Red Eye and his army before it was too late. And it would indeed be too late, as the Goddess and the Enclave High Council member Harbinger would perish in the explosion while I would hide in one of the safe rooms.
At least, I thought that's what happened. It would seem that she was rescued in the nick of time by this rogue group of Tholians before the bomb went off, and thirty minutes was more than enough time for them to get her out of there.
The Goddess let out another distorted laugh as she looked down at us, all of her alicorns facing us as she spoke to the Tholian commander. {{I AM PLEASED WITH YOUR EFFORTS, CAPTAIN, YOU MAY RETURN TO YOUR SHIP AND PATROL THE AREA AROUND THE BASE.}}
The Tholian gave a slight bow before he replied to the Trixie-monster in a robotic voice. "WE WILL ENSURE THAT NO INTRUDERS GET BY OUR FORCES, YOUR EXCELLENCY."
{{SEE TO IT THAT YOU DO.}} The Goddess replied before the spider captain turned and made his way out of the room, two of his guards following behind him as the others took positions around the room. {{NOW THEN, WHERE WERE WE?}}
Calamity glared at the smoky form of Trixie as he spoke to her. "Well fer one thing, y'all had just taken us prisoner moments ago, and ya haven't told us all why!"
{{THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION, PEGASUS. AS FOR WHY WE DID SO, THERE IS SOMETHING OF GREAT POWER WE DESIRE TO CONTROL, AND YOU HAVE GAINED IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING IT!}} My eyes widened at her words, she couldn't have meant Pahvo, could she? Of course, she did. The planet had quite the arsenal that a being such as the Goddess could use, and with the power she already wielded, who's to say she wouldn't do more harm to the galaxy than Tilly could ever do had she gained control?
{{AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR RETURNING THREE OF MY CHILDREN TO US, IT WILL BE GOOD TO HAVE THEM IN OUR NEW ARMY ONCE AGAIN!}} The trio of sisters looked at each other as the Goddess laughed, the other alicorns giving faint smiles at us before the Trixie-monster continued. {{UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMS THAT YOU ARE RELUCTANT TO JOIN US ONCE MORE. NO MATTER, I HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD TO ALLOW YOU TO DECIDE.}}
The green sister pulled out her tricorder and tapped a few buttons on it, the Goddess questioning her in a menacing tone about the device. {{WHAT ARE YOU DOING?}} I noticed all of the alicorns opening their wings and taking a battle stance as the scan concluded.
"I am merely taking a scan of you, it will not affect you or your drones in any way whatsoever." The tall mare replied as the Goddess steadied, her alicorns folding their wings as they also calmed. As she examined her data, the green sister looked to Velvet as she spoke. "This is most intriguing, I'm detecting large swaths of psionic energy above and within the vat. The structural arrangement of the energy is very loose and seems to be affecting the entity I've found in the deeper section of the vat."
I raised an eyebrow at the green mare's words before Velvet asked, "Are there any lifesigns inside?"
"Indeed, though my readings are a little.. fuzzy. It seems it is because of the taint having altered her natural appearance and abilities."
"Most likely." I replied to the alicorn before we all turned our heads to face the Goddess again. As I thought about it, the results made sense, the Goddess was not only very powerful with telepathy and magic, but she could appear as a large, gaseous entity when she wished to reveal herself to visitors or her children. During the Great War, Trixie was set to be the first of an army of alicorns that would serve in the fight against the Zebra Empire, but when the bombs fell on the Last Day, she had fallen into the vat by accident and absorbed a large amount of I.M.P. fluid (AKA taint) that was held inside. Some time after that, she became what many came to know as the Goddess, a being that took random ponies and turned them into mindless drones using the taint over the past centuries after the war.
I also wondered about the vat of taint and it's capabilities, if Trixie could become a being such as the Goddess after prolonged exposure to the liquid, could her children also do such a thing? When I was pursuing him, Red Eye had plans to become the next Goddess by performing a similar act at his cathedral, and he would have succeeded, had I not stopped him. Magic also had similar properties to psionic energy, they could both be used to control a subject and had the capability to harm other lifeforms and damage objects. And taint was a special product that could give anyone that absorbed it such powers, that was how Trixie could talk to her alicorn drones and command them, after all.
My thoughts were swiftly forgotten as the Goddess explained her intentions, all of us staring up at her as she spoke. {{NOW THEN, ABOUT MY PLANS FOR YOU ALL. MY ASSETS TELL ME THAT PLANET YOU HAVE VISITED HAS A VERY POWERFUL WEAPON WE CAN USE TO CONTROL PART OF THE QUADRANT. THE GODDESS DESIRES TO CREATE A BASE THERE AND SCARE THE ALLIANCE INTO SUBMISSION!}} She let out a faint chuckle before she continued, my friends giving looks of surprise at her words. {{AND YOU WILL LEAD US THERE, ONCE I'VE CONVERTED YOU ALL INTO THE FIRST OF MY NEW DRONES, OF COURSE!}}
I heard Velvet gasp in fear as Calamity held her hoof, the three alicorn sisters taking defensive stances around the couple as the Goddess focused on Steelhooves. {{UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO THANKS TO YOUR.... DEFECTS.}}
"Actually..." The Applejack's Ranger said as he looked to the blue alicorn, who nodded as she removed his helmet. I swore I heard a gasp of some sort from the Trixie-creature as she spoke.
{{...I SEE, THEN. THIS IS GOOD THEN, THE MIGHTY ALICORN HUNTER CAN FINALLY KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE AMONG THOSE HE TRIED TO DESTROY SO LONG AGO!}} The Goddess laughed as Steelhooves looked with frustration to the three sisters, who gave looks of agreement to the unmasked soldier before they all looked back to the gas cloud that was Trixie.
{{AND DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU, DESTROYER!}} I cringed at the Goddess' words as she focused on me, her eyes giving a vengeful stare as she continued. {{I REMEMBER WHAT YOU TRIED TO DO AT MARIPONY YEARS AGO, YOU WERE A FOOL TO TRY AND STOP ME AND MY CHILDREN, FOR I HAVE SURVIVED!}}
"And we have found a way to preserve our kind." The blue alicorn said to the Goddess as she looked to her, the being's eyes meeting her gaze as she continued. "Velvet Remedy and her friend Xenith have helped us in giving us the male alicorns we desperately required to breed. And while my sisters and I have not found mates of our own, we find comfort knowing we have survived." The tall mare looked to me as she spoke once more. "And the so-called "Destroyer" only meant to prevent you from destroying the wasteland and it's people not drive us to extinction."
{{OH? AND WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?}} The Goddess replied as the blue alicorn stood her ground, her gaze still holding as she answered.
"Because she tried to fight for peace in our land, she gave up so much to allow us all to rebuild. You had plans to wipe out any and all species that wouldn't or couldn't become one of us, and after seeing what Littlepip and her friends have done, we see what her true intentions were... and how wrong your plans were." I saw the Goddess' eyes shift to an angry demeanor, our blue alicorn unfazed by her expression as she continued.
"Granted, some of Littlepip's methods in certain situations were... extreme," She looked to me upon saying that, then looked back to the Goddess as she continued. "But she only meant well in the end, despite the collateral damage she caused. After all they have done, my sisters and I agree when I say that a pony can do many amazing things, no matter what their race is, and to kill others because they don't wish to join our kind is evil."
{{ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!!!}} The Goddess yelled angrily, the room shaking slightly as we stood in shock. As the room ceased it's shaking, the Trixie-thing continued. {{IT WOULD SEEM YOU ALL REQUIRE SOME RE-EDUCATION ON THIS MATTER, WE WILL DO SO AT A LATER TIME.}} The Goddess' eyes then moved to face the Tholian guards near the entrance, both of them moving to us as she spoke. {{YOU TWO, TAKE OUR GUESTS TO THEIR CELLS, IF THEY TRY TO RESIST, STUN THEM! WHEN THE PATROL HAS RETURNED, THE UNICORN AND ZEBRA WILL ASSIST US IN CREATING THE REPRODUCTION BREW IN THE LABS.}} As the guards motioned for us to start moving to the door at our left, we started to walk towards it.
I gasped in surprise as I was picked up off of my hooves by smoky, tentacle-like arms and brought to hover face to face with the Goddess, my friends looking on and crying out in worry as the Trixie-abomination spoke again. {{AND AS FOR YOU, LITTLE ONE, I BELIEVE WE SHOULD SHOW YOU HOW MUCH WE.... MISSED YOU AFTER MARIPONY.}}
"Ya keep yer lil hooves off our friend!" Calamity cried out furiously as he started to turn, myself looking to him in fear as I replied.
"No! Don't interfere, just do as the Goddess says.. please." I said to my friends as they all looked up to me, tears in Velvets eyes as the Goddess spoke to them all.
{{IF IT WILL SATISFY YOU ALL, I WILL NOT END HER LIFE. AS I SAID, YOU WILL BE OUR FIRST NEW ALICORN DRONES TO SERVE IN MY CAMPAIGN, AND WHY WOULD I KILL THE ONE THING I NEED TO TAKE OVER THE GALAXY?}} As she looked to my friends, Velvet wiped her eyes and nodded slightly, the others doing the same before turning back to the door, the Tholian guards following behind them as the doors opened.
As my friends and their guards exited the large room, the Goddess spoke once more. {{OH, I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY OUR TIME TOGETHER.... LITTLEPIP.}} As she said my name, I felt a sharp pain in my head, which escalated as the Goddess used her powers to torture me. I closed my eyes tight and let out screams of agony and anger as the Goddess continued her torment, laughing almost maniacally as she enjoyed the sight and sound of my suffering.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It had been several hours since my torture session with the Goddess ended, and I was now trotting over to my cell, two Tholian warriors in EV suits walking behind me to ensure I didn't try anything. The brig was on the other side of the door that the Goddess had instructed us to go to, so I didn't have to walk very far. As one of the guards deactivated the cell's force field, I felt relief wash over me as I saw my friends inside, their faces beaming with thankfulness as I was thrown into the cell, hitting the floor hard. Calamity and Velvet helped me up, the torture having made my body weak and sore. Though I hadn't been in one of the Terran Empire's agony booths during my training at New Khitomer, I think I knew what it felt like, thanks to the Goddess... and I didn't like it one bit.
I'd managed to find enough strength to lift my head and face my friends, Velvet's eyes were red with tears, Calamity looked worried, Xenith and Steelhooves (still having his helmet off) both looking at me with calm but stern expressions, and Velvet's alicorn sisters all looked to me with worry as well.
"What the hell did she do t' ya, 'Pip?" Calamity asked me painfully, I could tell he had cried a little too from how his voice cracked.
"She... she tortured me. She used her psionic abilities to harass my mind and body." I shivered a little as I remembered one of the worst parts of the torture, a slight bit of pain returning to my head as I finished. "It was horrible."
"We could hear your screams from here, Littlepip." Velvet said as she sniffled, embracing me as she cried some more into my shoulder. "W-what is wrong with her?!"
"Well, I did try to kill her, after all." I replied to my friend as I looked to the trio of sisters, who all gave sad expressions to me before the blue one spoke up.
"We understand what's happened as well, we could feel the pain you went through from here. We had to cease our telepathic connections if we were to be in working order." I nodded in understanding as Velvet stopped crying, wiping her tears again as she spoke to me.
"How do we escape? They've put magic inhibitors on our horns, and we don't have any allies in the area to assist us!" The others gave a grim expression as I gave a reply.
"They damaged our engines during the fight at Pahvo, when the search group looks for us, they'll find this place and get us out." My friends gave hopeful smiles at my words, all of them collapsing into frowns again as Xenith spoke.
"What do you think they will do to our crew aboard the ship?"
"I'm guessing the Goddess will try and turn them into more drones for the mission." I said as I frowned along with my friends, the purple alicorn speaking up next as Calamity stood next to Velvet.
"And, we're all stuck here? Waiting for the Goddess to turn us into more of her children?"
"It would seem so." Steelhooves replied as we sat, myself taking a breath before speaking again.
"Well, we could at least form some kind of plan while we're in here. We still have our equipment, right?"
My friends all nodded before Calamity spoke up. "It seems the Goddess is still bein' a fool when it comes t' our gear, she jus' let us hold on t' it while we sat in here."
"Indeed, and thanks to her mistake, I believe we have one plan we could try during our rescue." The green alicorn said as we all looked to her, a smile building on her face as she explained. "While Littlepip was being tortured, my sister and I analyzed the data we'd both acquired from our mission to Pahvo and my scans from the Goddess. The crystals we saw on Pahvo could be manipulated to perform certain actions one wants from them, and they also have a strong connection to other psionic entities around them." We all looked at each other as we started to understand what she was getting at. "The Goddess also has a high amount of psionic energy thanks to her being altered by the taint, if we can get the crystal here and find a way to connect it's reach to her, we may be able to stop her."
"But we still have a few problems here," Calamity said to the purple mare, all of us raising our eyebrows as he continued, "The Goddess has plenty o' alicorns and Tholians at her disposal. We can't fight all o' them and get the crystal to her at the same time."
"That's true, which means we'll need a distraction of sorts." As Velvet said that, we all stood as we heard a klaxon go off, the two Tholian guards outside our cell looking around before one of them spoke.
"G'ZALLS TO T'SKANG, WHAT'S HAPPENING OVER THERE?"
We all gasped in surprise as we heard the officer on the other end reply. "AN ENEMY FLEET HAS DROPPED OUT OF WARP, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"