//------------------------------// // Dark networks in the city // Story: My Pony Academia // by Omegafr //------------------------------// During the night, no one had noticed the absence of Twilight and Rarity, as they were roommates, the others just thought they were together somewhere. And indeed, they are still together, but not for the better. ---------------------------------------------------------- The morning was rising in the city, along with the anxiety of the group of friends that the two unicorns were not to be found in their room, not even knowing if they had spent the night here. While some remained relatively calm, like Fluttershy or John, although just as worried as the others, the exact opposite was true, Drew was getting into a state. "WHERE ARE THEY?" he yelled as he found their empty room last. "Relax, maybe they just got up before us and are somewhere in the school." he nodded, raising his hands to his friend to keep him from breaking a piece of furniture. "They're not answering their phones..." Rainbow Dash warned after trying unsuccessfully, adding a layer of stress to some people's shoulders. "Let's split up and search the whole school." Light continued. In no time at all, the entire school was under the scrutiny of the increasingly anxious ponies. As time went on, things got worse, Twilight and Rarity didn't answer their call, and the worst was yet to come. When everyone had gathered in the yard after their search, John was the only one who didn't come back empty-handed. "I found this in the garage, do you know anything about it?" He asked, holding out the bag in front of him that a certain stallion recognized. Drew recognized the bag from the deluxe store with the dress missing. It didn't take long to put the pieces back together and think of the worst-case scenario. "FELIX!!!" he shouted before vigorously placing his hands on Light's shoulders to shake him out of hatred. "IT'S FELIX LIGHT, HE'S DONE SOMETHING TO THEM I'M SURE!!!" he shouted again, about to wake everyone in the school grounds. "DREW STOP IT, IT'S NO USE!" Said the orange earth mare as she put her hands on Drew's shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. "WHERE DOES HE LIVE, IF HE'S TOUCHED ONE HAIR OF TWILIGHT AND RARITY, I'M GONNA..." "STOP!!!" Finally shouting Light, managing to get silence before he spoke up. "First, we're going to call the police and tell them that our friends didn't come home last night and we don't know where they are right now. Second, we're going to pair up and go through the town with a fine-tooth comb." he said, also placing his hands on Drew's shoulders, exchanging the most serious look he could. "We're going to find them, Drew, so please calm down." Drew was still breathing heavily, but finally looked down, realizing his act was useless. "LANCE!" He called, "Get a city map on the Internet fast." He asked as he turned to him. Light's plan was already in place, as the girls called the police and calmly explained the situation, the boys all recorded the city map on their phones. Minutes later, all had set up the groups and each had an area of the city to search down to the last corner. Light and Rainbow Dash would cycle to the harbor, Applejack and John would cycle downtown, Fluttershy and Harri would cycle to the south rural area, Pinkie pie and Teddy would cycle to the north rural area, and Drew and Lance would cycle through the urban neighborhoods and alleys. "They all have a map of the city on the phone." Rainbow Dash confirmed to the boys. "They've got external batteries just in case." Lance informed them as he took out these devices which would be very useful today. "Folks, I swear we'll have them back by sundown." said the Pegasus. Without further discussion, each group left for their side of town to search, except for Drew and Lance. "We need the bastard's address." said Drew right away. "Are you on Drew? I mean, we don't have any proof that..." "TWILIGHT AND RARITY ARE IN DANGER, DAMN IT!!!" He yelled at him, cutting him off, looking as scared as Felix's. Lance had some doubts about trusting Drew's instincts completely, but Drew had never been wrong before. Having already proven his reliability several times, he decided to take part with his friend. "The principal must have it on her computer." he thought. "Okay, I have a plan." ----------------------------------------------------------- Drew suddenly opened the door to the principal's office, slamming it shut and jumping out of her seat. "Celestia, there's a fight in the locker room downstairs." He said alarmed, on familiar terms with the warden as he had become accustomed to doing. "A fight? I'll follow you." she said as she stood up, even though Drew was the kind of stud that would normally stop her on his own. Drew ran with the manager at his side to the locker room, a place far enough away for Lance to search the computer. In a hurry, the unicorn entered the office and sat down on the previously occupied seat, beginning his somewhat forbidden search. Lance quickly found the site on the desk where the students' information was being recorded. He searched for Felix's file and found his address in seconds, wrote it down on his mobile phone before closing the site and leaving the room as quickly as he had entered. He went to the front desk, waited for Drew to finish playing bait with the principal and joined him. His wait was short and Drew arrived faster than he thought he would. "So what's up with Celestia?" Asked Lance first. "Who cares, you got the address?" He asked for a wave. Lance showed him his phone with the address written on it, mission accomplished. "Okay, let's go!" "Yes." he nodded. While the others were already at the scene in different parts of town, Drew and Lance were just leaving school, hoping to find their friends at the home of their only suspect. ----------------------------------------------------------- The sleeping kingdom into which they were plunged gradually began to evaporate. It took several minutes for them to regain control of their bodies, which unfortunately were not lying on their cozy bed. After having felt a feeling of grip on their wrist and the hard wood under their hindquarters, the two mares finally began to open their eyes again, to see the horrible reality. Twilight and Rarity were in a horribly dark place, so dark that they couldn't see anything, not even their own bodies in the dark. The first thing they felt, however, apart from the difficulty of breathing in this confined place, was their position, sitting on a wooden chair, hands and feet tied to the same chair. Feeling that they were not free to move, panic brought them back to order, not recognizing where they were. It seemed to be a dusty basement with only a lamp on the floor lighting up in front of them. "Awake at last." announced a light but recognizable voice in the darkness. As they forced their bonds to try to free themselves, their faces decayed as they looked ahead, discovering a pony also seated, its arms resting on the top rail of its chair and barely lit by the lamp at its feet. The pony seemed to have been waiting for Twilight and Rarity to wake up, giving them a disturbing smile that only he had the secret to. The pony was known to the two unicorns, since it was Felix. The mares began to hear their hearts beating in their chests, unable to say a single word, Felix began to speak. "I promised you a bright future." he began, closing his eyes, then opening them again, "Never mind, I'll use the money to feed you at least." "WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO?!" The purple unicorn shouted at his kidnapper, breathing heavily, evoking his panic. "I'm going to make you useful to the entertainment society." he said, resuming his smile and eye contact with the frightened unicorn. "But let me explain quickly, so you know why I'm doing this and why later you'll thank me." "Thank you for kidnapping us and tying us securely to his uncomfortable chairs?" Asked the white unicorn, managing to speak in an angry but rather calm tone compared to Twilight. "I knew I should have put tape over your mouth, but it's too late." he replied. So, me, the other members and the one your stupid friends put in jail, we're the Reprobates," he said with a hint of pride in his voice. As Rarity reluctantly listened to him, Twilight began to use magic to knock Felix out with a heavy object. Seeing only the lamp in the dark, she decided to focus on it, but nothing happened. "Oh by the way, since you are unicorns, I have to stop you from using your problematic magic." the stallion replied. He had had the intelligence to wrap the horns of the two mares in a special and rather rare fabric, preventing the use of magic. Caught in a trap, Twilight and Rarity could only close their eyes and hope that the whole thing was a nightmare. "In short, our organization eliminates individuals who are useless to society," continued the stallion without really considering whether they were listening to him. "Typical example, old people, once they retire, they're useless so they're granted death, be it peaceful or brutal." "YOU MONSTER!" Rarity shouted, suddenly losing her temper over this example... "And so my purpose will be to make you useful because it's all well and good to study, but you can already be useful then..." he then explained, ignoring Rarity's words. "And what are you going to do with us?" Asked Twilight more calmly, staring at him with a look of hatred. "That you will be soon enough." he said as he stood up and approached them. "But let me tell you, girls, if I find that you're not being cooperative..." He stopped and grabbed their horns, one in each hand, reinforcing the fear in their faces with his astonishingly angry grip. "I know some ponies who'd give me a good price for his horns." he said before he let go. "I'll buy some missing accessories, see you tonight." he finishes. Without saying another word, he turned around and could be heard going up a staircase, opening a trap door and closing it again, leaving the mares terrified. They looked at each other to try to find an ounce of hope in each other's eyes, the lamp being now at their feet, but only tears were coming out of it. Felix, these words are terrible enough in themselves, but what scared the mares the most was the very common way in which he expressed himself, believing that he did this every day. No longer daring to face the grief of the other, they ended up closing their eyes and crying continuously, having their friends as their only glimmer of hope. ---------------------------------------------------------- The different groups formed lose no time in asking anyone they meet if they have seen their friends by showing them a photo of them. The answers were systematically negative but their morale was not affected, they knew they could not afford to give up. Only Light and Rainbow Dash couldn't find anyone at the old port, searching for empty old wrecks moored there, which must have been the landmarks of thugs. Drew and Lance couldn't stop running to their destination, not thinking what to do if they failed. The two unicorns were 100% certain they would find them there, and the bigger and stronger one guided the computer enthusiast through the city's passageways. Drew was familiar with the neighborhood because it was where his parents used to live before they were forced to move for work, leaving their big boy at his high school boarding school. Lance's parents lived in a small village with no school, forcing them to send their son to a famous city to get a good education. Rarely leaving the school, he could only follow Drew through the narrow streets until he stopped, looking at a house to their left. "There it is!" Lance again looked at the address on his phone and matched it with the street name and house number. It was where Felix apparently lived, an old building, the door was gnawing and the glass in the windows was dirty. "Well, what are we going to do with the hand..." Lance fled cut by Drew's kick on the window in front of them, which instantly shattered, scattering the pieces of glass down the alley. "Let's search the house!" He said simply, before rushing into the hallway he had just created. Lance didn't answer, and simply followed him through the pieces of glass that littered the floor of the apartment as well. The inside was as similar as the outside, with old, squeaky furniture, an unpleasant smell of leftover food and little trace of cleaning or broom. "I'll do the first floor, you do the ground floor." he said, noticing a spiral staircase. Lance nodded and the search began, hoping to find their friends here as Drew's instincts told him. At first glance, there was no trace of Felix inside, even though Drew would have wanted him to spit out his teeth personally. All the pieces were combed through, the search took several minutes, seeming to take hours due to the lack of results. Suddenly, Lance lifted the half-ripped carpet out of the living room to reveal a trap door, opening onto another room. "Drew, I've got something." he said, calling from the ground floor. Drew came down the stairs and saw the hatch, and Lance immediately noticed the glimmer of hope in his eyes. He approached it and opened it in a violent uprising, feeling his impatience to know what he was hiding in it. Lance preferred to approach the edge of the staircase leading to the darkness first, calling out. "Twilight? Rarity?" "Lance?" Evoked a voice from below... "GIRLS!" Called out louder to Drew. That call was enough to get Drew down the stairs in a big hurry, Lance followed him carefully, lighting up the place with his phone. "Boys, I've never been so happy to see you." said a broken voice amidst some light crying. The boys found Twilight and Rarity tied to chairs and swallowing their last tears of despair. As Lance lit them up, Drew slowly untied them, afraid of inadvertently hurting them in the process. When they were released, he screamed. "WHERE THE HELL IS THAT SON OF A BITCH?!" Drew then asked, regaining his rage. "He's here." said a new voice. Everyone turned their heads to the stairs, from which Felix descended, with a gun pointed at the group. He turned on the light switch and lit up the whole room. Our friends reflexively put their hands in the air. "Looks like I have unwanted guests, I'll do something about it. My spectators won't care about you, I guess I can always kill you and sell your organs." he nodded and smiled. Felix's sentence made Lance swallow his saliva, not wanting to end up like that. Twilight had a risky idea, but now it was time to try to get it loose. With her hand, she abruptly removed the cloth around his horn and used her magic to forcibly pull Felix's weapon out, spanking it in the air to avoid him. "WHAT?" he shouted in surprise. That was all it took for Drew to act, and he rushed at the pony his size, which was now prey. He clenched his fist, and in a split second, it smashed the pony's jaw. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Rarity cried out in surprise at the turn of events. Felix's body crashed to the ground, his jaw destroyed, along with a few teeth lost in the impact. Drew savored the moment, remembering seeing Felix's fear in his eyes for the first time after his charge. A single punch put an end to the nightmare that Twilight and Rarity were about to experience. "Boys, I..." Rarity tried to say, between his sobs and his doubts... Drew cut her and held her in his arms, and she could feel tears streaming down her shoulder... "Never again... never again, from now on, I'll stay with you." he said as his voice changed as the tears came out of his eyes. "I thought... I thought I'd never see you again." he finally said before letting go, flooding Rarity's garment that kept her firmly in his arms. As Twilight looked at them, she followed suit and also took Lance in her arms, this time without shedding a tear. "Thank you." she said as she huddled in her savior's arms. Lance responded with an ever-warming, comforting embrace, thinking it was far more effective than a long speech. "Drew, I think we need to tell the others now." he finally said, cutting the silence. "Make a group call on messenger, and I'll notify the police so they can arrest this jerk." he says, taking his phone out of his pocket. As Drew called the police, Rarity couldn't bear to see his cheeks wet with grief and wiped off the drops with his fingers, a smile forming on both faces. While Lance told everyone the good news, Twilight used his magic to move the gun away from Felix's body as a precaution. The friends left the house and waited for the police in front of the house, explaining the whole story, with the girls talking about the organization of the Reproved Ones. ----------------------------------------------------------- Back in high school, the unicorn group is greeted by an avalanche of hugs and kisses on the cheeks. No desire to know what else had happened, the reunion takes place in the best possible atmosphere. The friends simply decide to forget the story and bury it forever, hoping to never have to deal with this strange organization again. "We know who to put on the front cover of the next issue." Teddy remarked to Pinkie, already seeing their next hits. "I can already imagine the headline, 'Guided only by his instincts, he becomes a hero worshiped by all;'" said Drew, flaunting his ego in front of everyone in shame. "DREW!!!" A voice screams loudly across the hall. Turning around, the black unicorn recognized Celestia's white face and multicolored hair, with an expression that would be called "annoyed". Drew seemed to have something to reproach himself for, given the abnormal director's gait. "Ah uh, Director Celestia, hey." he laughed embarrassed while placing his arms in front of him. Seeing the most physically impressive pony afraid of a woman's reaction seemed to amuse the rest of the audience. "You're going to come with me, you have things to say to me." she said, grabbing his arm and carrying it to his desk. He was not going to give any resistance and followed it up by looking away from his friends, who were laughing out loud at the situation.