Putting on a lab coat, Sharp Shot checked himself in the mirror for a bit before leaving his room and heading to the lab of the crystal castle, where a group of ponies wearing similar lab coats were hard at work. All of them were mixing chemical concoctions and taking notes on reactions with various instruments as their boss made his way to an empty desk where a luminescent green liquid sat above a bunsen burner bubbling merrily. As he got closer to the beaker, Sharp Shot used a small iron rod to mix the substance, only for it to melt in the liquid, causing him to smile.
"Test subject 1, Pearl Shine. Testing empathic arrow one. Anger." One of his scientists narrated and wrote it down as the entire group observed a pony thrashing around a sealed room with foam on her lips as the team continued to watch neutrally behind a pane of heavily reinforced glass.
"Test subject 2, Rock Slide. Testing empathic arrow two. Fear"
"I give up! I give up! See? m…my hooves are up, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Just please don't hurt me!" A bulky stallion was reduced to a shaking mess as he kept crying his eyes out uncontrollably in a corner as they kept taking notes.
Sharp Shot smirked as he flew up and saw more of his serums taking on different colors and being dispersed in various lab rooms where results were watched and cataloged efficiently.
"Test subject three…Sadness… Test subject four, Guilt… Subject five Joy…Subject six, Pity…." Soon, the room was filled with a cacophony of sounds ranging from sobs to screams to laughs and incoherent words. All this elicited a light chuckle from Sharp Shoot as he kept collecting data with enthusiasm. All the while, more and more of his arrows were manufactured. Enjoying himself, Sharp Shot selected a range of arrows and a crossbow and started to shoot the test subjects himself. Making the cries and laughs into some sort of music. Dancing in the center of the room and spinning around, Sharp kept shooting his targets dead center with freighting accuracy despite not even looking at the targets. In contrast, his companions keep taking notes, amused by his antics.
" vital signs are good…."
"This one is about to faint, decreasing the dose by two percent…."
"Dosage fading, doubling it now…."
"All positives here…."
"Zero pain…"
Sharp Shot started to mix more of his formula before bathing the arrowheads with it, inhaling the fumes released by the formula's reaction with the same pleasure of baking a cake. Mixing another one, he started to fill capsules with a luminescent red light shining on his face as he kept grinning at it before taking a moment to admire his work and spun around when no problems seemed to appear.
"Mr. Shot!" Cadence snapped him back to reality, and he saw her glaring at him. "Are we interrupting?" She asks sarcastically.
"Oh no, your highness, please this way, we are about to start with the last one" he gives her a polite bow before guiding her inside the lab.
"Test subject seven, Quartz Cut. Testing empathic arrow Seven. Apathy" Sharp Shoot listed out in a recording device before approaching a light pink cristal stallion sitting on a chair, connected to some cables as the doctors and scientists inspected his vitals.
"All signs in the green so far, your highness." A doctor informed Princess Cadence as she observed the procedure, next to a crystal mare with yellow fur, as they both watched Sharp Shot approach Quartz, who remained unresponsive and had a neutral expression.
"One minute after the arrow was shot, with no visible marks at first glance." He inspected the side of Quartz's neck. "No internal or external damage and only a slight burn mark the size of a mosquito bite as evidence of the strike," He continued narrating before looking at Quartz, who stared back at him. "How do you feel, sir?"
Quartz looked down for a moment before returning his gaze forward. "Mostly bored," He replied lazily. "Is this gonna take long?"
"Hmm, the subject seems responsive enough. The effects are nearly instantaneous. Initiate the stimulus test." Sharp Shot called to one of the doctors. Who nodded and brought forth a covered silver plate that they opened in front of the stallion, revealing a lettuce salad with bread, tomatoes slices, honey mustard, and an extra serving of cheddar on the side.
"His favorite dish," The mare next to Cadence explained, slightly worried as the princess look at her empathetically.
"Tell me, Mr. Quartz, do you recognize the dish in front of you?"
He looks down at it before nodding. "Cheese salad and honey mustard, it looks like my wife made it. It even has the happy face of condiment she likes to put in the middle" The comment made the mare smile but then start to get worried with how unimpressed he was when he said it.
"It because it is. We asked her to make this particular dish just for you."
"I see" was Quartz's only reply.
"What do you think about that?"
He looked at the dish once more before shrugging. "That it would taste good, I suppose."
Sharp Shooter looked at the doctor next to a lie detector who nodded affirmatively.
"Cognitive and long-term memory remains intact, good, on to the next test." He marked the checklist as the lab workers brought forth two buckets of water, one boiling, and the other freezing cold. "Tell me, Mr. Quartz, do you know what this is?"
"Hot and cold water." He continued responding in a bored tone.
"Indeed, would you mind putting your hoof on either of them?"
He shook his head. "No, they will hurt me if I do."
"What if I told you that princess Cadence herself is ordering you to do it."
"Then I would ask why and then refuse. I will not injure myself for no reason." He remained adamant.
"Excellent, still in control of reasoning and operating on the logic of self-preservation alone, it seems." Sharp wrote all that down before looking at the princess. "We are ready for the final test, your highness. Bring her in."
Cadence nodded before sending the mare towards Quartz, who rushed to him while Cadence flew up next to Sharp Shot " Are you ready with the antidote?"
"Here it is, princess." Sharp raised one of his wings, revealing the syringe with a golden substance inside he was holding.
"Quartzy? Quartzy is me, Melody," The unicorn asked, caressing the cheek of the stallion, yet other than looking at her, he seemed unresponsive.
"Yes, I know who you are. My wife, do you want something?" He asked coldly, his tone remaining neutral.
"Quartz, please snap out of it. This isn't you, don't you remember?" Melody asked, becoming afraid of his gaze and how the glimmer in his eyes seemed to be gone.
"I told you, I remember. What are you talking about? Snap off of what?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"Interesting, the subject seems unaware of the shot. The change happened, but he isn't aware of the shift in his emotions." Sharp Shot wrote it down as the mare tried to make emotional contact even so far as hugging him. "Please, Quartzy! Just come back to me! Please!"
"Ok, I've had enough, Sharp. Bring him back now!" Cadence ordered, pointing at the couple.
"Of course, the test ended already anyway." He nodded and approached them, smirking internally.
So not even love can shake its effects then. With this, I can create something, not even the princesses will be able to break…
"What? Sir, wait!" One of the doctors called for them before pointing at the monitor he was watching" There's a sudden spike in the subject's heart rate."
"What?" Sharp looked surprised at the machine. "Brainwaves on the rise too, sir," Another reported.
"The effects are deteriorating, numbness disappearing. He's coming back." The doctors kept listing off. Surprised, Melody saw Quartz's eyes start to glimmer once more, making her gasp in happiness.
"Me…Melody?" Quartz shook his head before holding it and closing his eyes in pain. "What happened? W…why are you crying?" His eyes suddenly widened as he held her hooves in worry. "Is everything ok? Did something go wrong with the experiment? Please tell me I didn't lose my mane, and…why are you smiling?" He asked, confused before been tackle-kissed by her in pure ecstasy, making the doctors chuckled.
"There is no trace left. It looks like love wins again, sir."
Cadence breathed a sigh of relief at the news. "Thank the stars."
"Hmm, this means there is a flaw yet to be ironed out. Don't worry, princess, I will work on that." Sharp responded, putting the needle down on a nearby table.
"That will not be necessary, Mr. Shooter. I believe this is a good place to stop the trials." She said with a shake of her head.
"But princess, the flaw…."
"True love is never a flaw, Sharp. As my student, you better than anyone should understand this, right?"
"Right"
She then looked over her clipboard. "And I believe this was the final emotion to be tested, am I right?"
"Indeed, we have already approved, Sadness, Guilt, Fear, Joy, Pity, Anger, and now Apathy. All are working and eliciting the desired response. With sadness, guilt, and fear zapping away the desire to resist arrest and encouraging the secession of the subject's current actions. Joy and pity seem perfect in enabling negotiation and aiding in seeing the reasoning for their actions and apathy? well, you saw the results."
Cadence nodded in response before turning the page. "What about anger?"
"The test subject demonstrated a boost of adrenaline and a small boost fast-twitch muscle response, as well as hyper-awareness. We also erased the rage response and can now keep them fully conscious and in control of their actions. It is still in experimental faces, but I believe it could be of use to the royal guard or, if modified correctly, it could inject discord in organized criminal groups."
"That will not be necessary" She crossed the hated word from the list. "Anger is still an emotion to be studied and approached with caution and delicacy. Neither the crystal empire nor Equestria is ready to weaponize such an emotion. So until I tell you otherwise, I want that variable arrow and any research associated with it off the list and kept on hold pending review. Do that, and you have my seal of approval."
"Consider it done, your highness."
You naive, paranoid idiot! How do you expect us to study the emotion of anger if you keep putting any research about it on hold?! Sharp Shooter internalized as Cadence smiled and called for one of her maids with a seal and some red ink. She placed her seal of approval on the project.
"In that case, I officially place…." She stopped when the princess started to hear slurpy sounds, and turning to their left, they both saw the couple still making up.
"Ahem!" Clearing her throat, the couple snapped out of their daze, breaking their kiss and snapping to attention in front of the princesses. "Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Quartz and Ms. Melody. You will receive your check at the entrance, but for now. Would you mind taking that to another room? Preferably at your home?" She winked at them, causing the couple to blush from embarrassment before nodding and giving a vow before leaving in a rush.
"Now, where was I? Oh yes! As princess of the Crystal Empire, I officially give my signature of approval for the emphatic arrows as well as their circulation in the free market." She handed over the proper documentation to Sharp Shoot with her seal of approval on it too. "You are going to save a lot of lives with your invention Mr. Shot."
"That was always my intention, your highness" He gave her a polite bow before leaving along with his team, not before taking a handful of his approved arrows.
"So what do you we do with the aggro arrows, sir?" A member of his research team asked Sharp Shot as they advanced down the hallway once they were alone.
"You heard the princess, any research on the subject of anger must be placed on hold, for now, leave the cataloging and storage of it to me, and focus on circulating the rest of the arrows through to packaging, production, and publicity for their upcoming release, also order a team to bring any experimental aggro arrows to my chambers for safekeeping."
"Consider it done, sir."
"Good, you have your orders. Now leave me be." He raised the box of arrows he took that didn't look too different from a pack of pencils at the moment, with each approved emotion listed on it. "I have another appointment to attend to," He remarked, and his team dispersed, leaving him alone as he made his way toward Amber, Stellar, and Hurricane's room.
I have my product now to get my spokesmares.
Knocking a couple of times, the pegasus stood in front of the door as he waited for an answer, which soon arrived in the form of Stellar opening the door for him. "Greetings, Ms. Stellar. Might I come in for a moment?"
"Shot, you come just in time." Amber answered, stepping outside with a saddlebag. He noticed that Stellar was wearing one too, along with Hurricane. "Your help will not be required in the end, Stellar and I have finished our training this morning, and we are preparing to leave."
"So soon?" He asked in surprise. "Don't you at least want to rest and start fresh in the morning?" He pleaded, following along as they advance down the hallway
"We can't take the luxury and risk the trail going cold. Time of the essence." Stellar replied determinedly. "Thanks for the offer, though."
"Wait!" He rushed forward and stood in front of the three mares.
"Give it up, Rusty! We are leaving," Hurricane snarked in exasperation, but rather than the answer, he offered them the box of arrows. "At least take these with you."
Amber looks at the package suspiciously. "You shrunk your arrows?"
"It is my business trademark, shrinking and growing ammunition for easy transportation. Take one out of the box, and they will return to their normal size." He demonstrated, pulling out one of the arrows, which seconds after leaving the package grew to the size of a regular gray arrow with some fog emanating from its head. "The princess just approved my designs. They are ready for field testing." He tapped the arrow with the box twice to shrink it again and put it back in before passing it to the guards. "The antidote is at the bottom of the box. Please, I guarantee that it will make your job a lot easier."
The guards looked at one another until Stellar finally nodded and took the box.
"If they work, we will make sure to detail their use in our report," Amber explained as they resumed their march.
"Thank you so much. I promise they will serve their purpose." He called after them with a smirk before leaving.
"Do you believe him?" Hurricane asked the two once they were out of earshot.
"He's a rat, and he is only after bits and fame. Giving us a defective product would only hurt his name and his business reputation. A pony that dedicates to his craft would never do that," Amber reasoned. "Besides, as we agreed, we will use them only if the situation requires it. Not to mention…."
Unknown to them, inside the box was a concealed gem charged with magic and linked to an identical stone which Sharp Shot was using as an earring at the time. "…what could he possibly gain by sabotaging our mission?" Sharp kept listening with a smile as he entered his room.
Ah, Centurians, so paranoid, so quick to profile other ponies, so easy to fool with a well-performed act. He chuckled lightly to himself as he closed and locked the door before covering his windows and lighting a candle on the table to illuminate the now darkened room. He poured himself a measure of brandy in a crystal cup. "Report." Sharp Shot ordered, keeping his eyes forward as a pony hidden in the shadows knelt beside him.
"Everything is proceeding according to plan, sir. Although faster than expected."
"Oh, how so?"
"Crossfire Tempo has finally managed to speak with Celestia, sir. She and the head of directors are voting to approve a response team inspired by your idea and install her as the head instructor for the recruits. After a demonstration and having earned both the captains and the previous ruler of the unicorn empire's favor, It looks like the approval is almost guaranteed."
"A response team with her as their teacher? No, that would not do at all. It's too soft. Equestria needs strength!" He got angry for a moment before sighing and taking a sip of his drink. "But it's a step in the right direction, at least. We can work with that and make our way towards erasing that moronic team of clowns doing nothing but flips on the air. What about the princess?"
"Complete success, she and Ms. Tempo seem to be on better terms, and she has agreed to visit her spa in Appleloosa. Not only that, but the prince seems to be preparing for a trip to Las Pegasus. He's going with the sons and daughters of the rulers of other nations without his aunts. He's even going to spend a week in Ponyville seeking advice from the elements. He will be completely vulnerable."
"Hmm, I see, you are right. Things are progressing far faster than I would like. And Princess Luna is a factor we can't ignore either." He swirled his drink deep in thought, weighing his options. "Ponyville is out of the question. It will be far too risky for us to make any sort of move, but that royal meeting could have potential. It could be a real shame if something were to happen to our dear prince…."
"…I gonna have to stop you right there, honey!" Suddenly a new female voice echoed in the room, startling the pegasus who dropped his drink and started to look around.
"Who's there!?" He demanded, looking around, getting confused when the pony's eyes he was talking to suddenly turned green, and his body started to shift and morph, resembling the shadow of a great serpent type of dragon, with antlers for horns.
"Oh Shootie, that's so mean. Did you already forget about me?" The dragon baby talked as vines and flowers started to spring from everywhere around the pegasus as he glared at the shadow dragoness in front of him.
"Desire," He spat in anger. "Where is my spy?"
"He's right here" she split open half of her chest like it was a jacket illuminating the room with bioluminescent purple light coming from moss inside her body, and in the middle of it was the unicorn stallion in a ninja outfit concealing his face. He hung there with a dopey smile and vacant eyes, occasionally chuckling as vines and flowers restrained his body. "Don't worry, he's fine. I just wanted to flex my magic a little, and the poor guy seemed so lonely."
"Desire, this wasn't part of our deal!" He accused angrily, making the dragon simply chuckle and snake around him. "Aww, don't be mad, Shootie, if it helps you feel better, I haven't broken our arrangement in the slightest" Suddenly, Sharp Shot felt his neck grabbed from behind with a vine tail as he was lifted to hang in the air as the dragon smiled impishly bringing them face to face. "But I can't let you get in my way. I'm having way too much fun so far, and I haven't even sent the invitations out for the party yet." She started to pet his head as he struggled to get free. "Don't worry. You can come too if you wish. I'm a benevolent spirit. After all, you simply will have to be fashionably late."
"What?… Are you doing?" Sharp questioned in surprise as he kept straining to break free.
"Just tying up loose ends, I can't let you get in the way after all. Neither you, my crazy brother or that pompous cheap copy stepping into my turf, no, that won't do at all. So I thought that as good friends, you could do ME a favor and keep Discord, her and her family busy with a lesson in true love while I work."
"I'm no one's flunkey!" He yells in repulsion at what she is implying
"Oh Shootie, don't be a grumpy gus, yes I know how the first time is always a mess and can even be a pinch scary, but I promise you I will be gentle." Snapping her fingers, a tiny black flower appeared from thin air with a sharp end on its stem. "And who knows, you might even enjoy it." She then stabbed him in the heart with the flower. Surprisingly the action doesn't hurt at all, and instead, Sharp only felt a slightly odd sensation coming from his heart and working its way to the rest of his body.
"See? It wasn't that bad, was it?"
"What did you do to me?" He asked in surprise and fear, grabbing the flower and trying to pull it out to no avail. Not only that, but he could feel his body being slowly covered in leaves, moss, and wood-like armor.
"I just did some gardening, now rest my little seed." she tossed a bag full of golden sand into his face that knocked him out cold instantly. She then picked him up and delicately placed him in his bed as the flora kept growing and expanding over his body. "Rest and grow big and strong, so when you are ready, you will show that pink cheap knockoff princess who keeps calling herself the mare of love what real love looks like, yeah that sure will catch the attention of Discord. Oh, and I'm taking your spy too, you don't mind, don't you? I've simply grown attached to the little guy." She kept laughing until she disappeared into the shadows as the flower kept adding more pieces onto his layers of skin and armor, which soon started to resemble a black tuxedo.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the crystal empire. Hurricane stopped and turned around to see the two Centurians. "I'm sure you are aware that once we leave the empire, we will be completely off the grid, right?"
"This isn't our first tracking mission, ma'am. We know how to re-establish contact and fend for ourselves without communication." Amber reassured her.
"Just making sure." Hurricane nodded, and they continued to advance, but she stopped them once more by extending both of her wings. "Remember, no matter how easy or even desirable it might be. You don't want to cross that line. Trust me when I say it is not worth it." She reminded them once more before turning around and kept advancing. "Please keep that in your mind at all times."
Amber looked at the edge of the town before looking at Stellar, who did the same "Ready?"
She nodded with a determined smile.
"Then let go hunt a hitstud," Amber reiterated, and they took the first step out of the city together, heading into the frozen badlands.