//------------------------------// // A 'shocking' turn of events // Story: Shouldn't have enslaved humanity [OLD VERSION] // by NoobMaster69 //------------------------------// “What are those things?” A lieutenant asked, trying to discern exactly what the fleet of ground-bound helicopters were. “Do I look like I have all the answers?” Colonel Shield asked his fellow soldier, annoyed at his incessant bugging. It’s just that they’ve been surrounding us for thirty minutes, just hovering there” the lieutenant explained, “At first, I thought they were going to kill us, but if it is, why haven’t they done it yet?” As if answering his questions, several helicopters began emerging from the ground and began heading towards them. “Well, one thing’s for sure,” Shield answered. “After what we just went through, there’s no way they’re just showing us mercy.” The ponies all stared in fear as the helicopters neared them and landed. The doors of the helicopter opened, revealing hundreds of masked humans. The force exited the helicopter and began advancing toward the ponies. The humans began, walking past the line of drones without provoking them, and taking up positions in front of the group. One of the humans stepped ahead of the group, definitely their leader if Colonel Shield was guessing correctly. "Attention, equines!" He announced, "My name is Major Abbott, and my job is to watch over you lot. If you do anything deemed unacceptable, then you will be executed on the spot. Now, which one of you is the highest ranking member of your army?" Colonel Shield looked around, and saw multiple soldiers staring at him. He gulped, then made his presence known. "That would be me!" He announced, walking up to the major. As he was walking, two masked men approached him. "Stop!" One of the men announced as he walked up to him. He removed his sword from its scabbard, and observed it for a moment, before losing interest and holding it at his side. The two soldiers then walked behind him. "Proceed," one of them said, and they began to approach Abbott. As he was walking, a second wave of helicopters began emerging from the ground, which split into two groups. About five of those helicopters approached the ponies, while the other four seemed to be headed somewhere else. "Name and rank?" Major Abbott asked as Colonel Shield stood in front of him. "Colonel Shimmering Shield of the hundred and thirty first brigade of the Equestrian Royal Guard," the colonel answered. The colonel heard a few snickers from some of Abbot’s men. It didn’t take long for the snickering to turn into full blown laughter. Even Abbot looked like he was trying to suppress his own laughter. Colonel Shield was confused. "Is something funny?" He asked. After composing himself, Abbot responded. "We Utopians are still getting used to your horsey names, and it seems like my men are having some issues in maintaining professionalism.” With that, the laughing from Abbot’s men quickly ceased. "Aaannywayy, I need you, Colonel Shield to hand over all the weapons of your soldiers. If I, or any of my men, find any weapon after this has been done, the offending soldier will be executed on the spot," he said, as the four helicopters landed nearby them. “Understood?” Abbot finished. The doors of the arriving helicopters opened revealing fewer soldiers than the previous group, but this time they were followed by dozens of men in lab coats. "Yeah, collect their weapons, got it," Colonel Shield answered. "Good, glad we have an understanding,” Abbot said, though his smug smile gave off a sense of triumph to the major. “Now I've gotta go tend to the scientists. I expect all of your weapons to be handed over to us when I get back."   20 Minutes Later… "We're ready, you can tell the major to start sending the subjects in now," A scientist told one of the soldiers. Ten separate tents had been set up around the Utopian surface camps. Each one manned by multiple scientists, with soldiers standing guard, and equipped with various pieces of equipment that would be used to run tests on each pony. Two such pieces of equipment were machines that measured Keifer's and Chaotic radiation. Upon receiving this data, the scientists will determine which of the prisoners would be of use for further study. As for the rest, well, it wasn’t up to them. "Bring the first batch!" Major Abbott ordered, and the soldiers went to bring over the first ten ponies. Major Abbott watched the ponies as they were processed. The majority of them apparently were unworthy of further study, evident by the said subjects looking rather relieved once their tests were finished. Of course, he “conveniently forgot” to mention the fate of those that would not be taken by the scientists, a thought that brought a smirk to the major’s face. Just then, his left pocket began vibrating. Who would be calling at a time like this? Upon seeing name on his smartphone, the major became a bit puzzled. It was General Holden himself. The generals usually didn't personally check up on any operations or relay orders themselves, usually sending a lower ranking officer to do it for them. "General Holden sir, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Abbott asked. "Major Abbott," he greeted, "There's been a change of plans, we're no longer executing the unwanted prisoners." A shred of disappointment came over the major’s face upon the ruining of his little “practical joke. “I see. In that case, what is to be done with them then?” Abbott asked. “The other generals and I have discussed it and it was just approved by the world leaders,” Holden explained. “After having taken more time to discern the ponies’ capabilities, we decided we want to put those abilities to good use. Thus, the surface camp will be converted into a labour camp and the prisoners housed there as POWs.” “It’s going to be a lot harder to police the prisoners, considering the force you sent with me was only enough for the number we originally planned to keep,” Abbot pointed out. “Precisely,” Holden replied. “To remedy this, we’re going to be sending you a shipment of 1,500 remote-activated shock collars to put on each pony, which will be preset to go off if they tamper with it or leave the perimeter. ETA in an hour.” “Understood sir. Those collars should be enough to compensate for the unplanned increase in prisoner population. What of the scientist’s tests then, if not to determine who we keep and who we dispose of?” Abbott asked. “The scientists will be given free reign to take any prisoner from the camp any time they wish. However, they will still need to run their tests before the prisoners enter the camp, so they can discern which subjects to prioritize,” Holden explained. “Any more questions?” “No sir,” replied Abbot.   Chrysalis groaned as she began regaining consciousness, slowly opening her eyes to find she was trapped in a rather large cage, alongside a still-unconscious Cozy Glow. There was a second cage next to the one she was in, this one containing Tirek, who was regaining consciousness as well. Both cages sat in a rather large tent, along with various pieces of what looked like modified medical equipment, among other things. Ahead of her was the flap that functioned as the entrance of the tent, with some sunlight coming through the crack. Cozy Glow was now beginning to regain consciousness. “What on Equus happened…” she asked no one in particular. “You mean you do not recall?” Tirek asked groggily as he stood up. “It was those flying things…” Chrysalis answered, a slight growl in her voice. “So then, where are we?” Cozy Glow asked. “We’re in a tent, obviously,” replied Tirek. “I mean where have they taken us?” Cozy clarified. “Our location.” “No idea,” Tirek replied. “Well then, let’s find out who was stupid enough to attempt to imprison us,” Chrysalis said, followed by shooting a blast of green energy at the door of the cage. To her surprise, the door didn’t budge, just rattling slightly but receiving no visible damage. That was odd. Nothing a stronger blast couldn't fix… or so she thought. She shot out another blast of energy, stronger than the last. However, the result was just the same as before. "What is the meaning of this?!” Chrysalis shook the cage bars violently. "Well, it’s not magic, since the Utopians are devoid of it…" said Tirek, thinking out loud. He touched the cage bars and, sure enough, felt no magic. “… and this cage has no magic to speak of. Just as I suspected, we're in Utopia." "Devoid of magic?” Chrysalis asked, "How are we going to take over if we can't even get out of these prisons?!" "Don't worry, I can still easily get us out. All I have to do is…" Tirek tried pulling the bars apart, only to find that he couldn't. He strained as he tried again, using all his might to try and pry the bars open. He eventually gave up, panting and completely out of breath. The result of his efforts was that the two bars he had tried to pull apart had barely moved. “Well this is a new development.” That was when Cozy Glow realized something. "Hey, what’s with the collars around you guys’ necks?" She asked. "What?" Chrysalis asked, both her and Tirek raising one of their hooves to confirm Cozy’s observation. Sure enough, there they were. Chrysalis immediately began trying to take hers off, but to no avail, as her hooves couldn't properly grip it. Tirek seemed to be having more luck, with him succeeding in getting his fingers under the collar. The moment he tried pulling however… Tirek screamed in agony as he was shocked by the collar as it made a mechanical crackling noise. This was nothing like the electric shock he had experienced previously, the pain was unreal. He felt like every single nerve in his body was being set on fire all at once. He started spasming, unable to move his body as it vibrated uncontrollably. But after a few seconds, it stopped, just as suddenly as it started. Fortunately for him, there were no lasting effects, the pain had completely faded. He did suddenly feel extremely fatigued though, and he fell to the ground, no longer having the strength to stand. "Tirek!" Both Chrysalis and Cozy Glow called out, slightly concerned about him. A few seconds after he had been shocked, two men rushed into the tent, hearing his screams. Both men had their helmets off, and stared at the newly awakened prisoners with worry. "What happened?" One of them asked. "You tell us! That thing shocked him!" Cozy Glow said in anger. "Who are you people?!" Chrysalis asked angrily. "Release us at once!" Chrysalis commanded. "We need to go get the major," one of them said. "Agreed," the other replied. "What are you waiting for?! Did you not hear what I said you overgrown monk - " she stopped talking as both of the men ignored her and left the tent. "What the…" she said. She was in disbelief that humans of all creatures would show her such sheer disrespect. "How dare a bunch of humans defy the queen of the changelings?!" She asked, outraged. She started blasting away at the cell door in rage, energy blast after energy blast. "I am a queen! And I will not tolerate such - " she was cut off as another voice came from just outside the flap of the tent. "Such what?" The voice said, before a man flanked by two soldiers stepped in. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and took one out, followed by taking out a lighter and lighting it. He put it in his mouth and inhaled slowly, followed by breathing out a puff of smoke. He looked rather menacing, especially with the dim lighting of the tent, and that was the only thing that kept Chrysalis from snapping at him then and there. The moment he walked into the tent, it was clear who was in control. He slowly walked up to the cell Chrysalis was in. "Were you saying something?" He asked. "Who are you?” Chrysalis asked with venom in her voice, “And why have you brought us here?” “I am Major Abbott, the officer who is currently in command of this camp,” the major introduced himself. “And the reason for your current condition is two-fold. One, you three were hostile towards our drones, and secondly, we received intel that you have absorbed the ‘magic’ of the creature known as Discord. Considering that you are well… criminals, you can see why we might view that as a threat.” Chrysalis could only growl in response, but it did not phase the major. “According to our current intel, Discord is omnipotent or near-omnipotent. Since you’ve ‘stolen’ his power, we were left with the assumption that we were dealing with three criminals with the power of God himself. What I want to know is that if this is indeed the case, then you shouldn't got have been able to counteract our drones with ease? So, tell me, what exactly happened when you absorbed his powers?" The major asked. "Clearly you haven't even the slightest idea of how magic even works if you think absorbing his magic will make the three of us gods," said Chrysalis. "Now that you know we're not 'omnipotent criminals', what exactly do you want with us?" "Well, once we had you three in our custody, we took your radiation levels. You know what we found?" He asked rhetorically, "Each of your levels of harmonic radiation, or what you call “magic,” are off the charts. In other words, you three are in fact the most powerful individuals we've ever come across." "Obviously we're the most powerful," Cozy Glow said proudly, "We're probably more powerful than all the Alicorns combined." "Precisely," Major Abbott asked, "Therefore, this means you're also the biggest threat to Utopia, and considering your criminal history, well, it wouldn’t be prudent to have you all running loose, now would it?" "So what are you going to do? Keep us imprisoned forever?" Tirek asked, before giving a confident laugh. "I've escaped the most secure prison in the world a total of three times, and my friend here," - he nodded towards Cozy Glow - "Has escaped Tartarus once as well." "Afraid not,” Abbot revealed. “It was us who freed you the first time, followed by the one known as Discord teleporting you away," said Major Abbott. "How do you know all of this?!" Chrysalis asked. "The people of Utopia know a lot more than you think, Ms. Chrysalis," said Abbott. "So, what are you going to do? You can't keep us locked up forever," Cozy Glow asked. "I'm afraid, little miss, that we can,” Abbot replied. “I have no idea what's going to be done with you. So, I will be off to go find out what the higher ups want done with you and return once I do," he said, before turning around and walking away. He stopped just in front of the tent flap, turning around to face them once again. "And by the way, I wouldn’t tamper with those 'necklaces'. It'll shock you if you go beyond the camp's perimeter or tamper with it." "Why doesn't she have a collar?" Tirek asked, gesturing towards Cozy Glow. "We're not going to shock a child," Abbott said with disgust. “For the monsters this world’s inhabitants think we are, even we have lines we do not cross.” He then turned around and exited the tent.   "So, any suggestions?" Asked Felix. "Well, if you want, we could get Tirek to help Eris," said President Alexi. "Since when do you care about Atticus's daughter?" Felix asked. "I don't, at least not until recently. If there is a chance that Eris might become a... 'draconequus', as they call it, she will gain the same abilities as Discord once she wakes up.” "I won't allow you to take advantage of a minor," Felix said firmly. "I didn't say anything about taking advantage of anyone," Alexi replied. "We should also find out how exactly they were able to defeat the Discord creature," said Xi Mingzhe. "Yes we should, but I highly doubt they're just hand that information over to us," said PM Jack. "We can use some enhanced interrogation methods," Aladeen suggested "We’re not going to torture them, Aladeen. We could easily drug them, but we want them to work with us," PM Bjorn said. "We potentially have three extremely powerful assets at our disposal, and although we wouldn't need their help on the battlefield, imagine what else they could do for us. Imagine what we could achieve if they worked with us. We could have real life teleportation stations, laser guns, tanks and jets with energy shields around them, and super soldiers. It doesn’t just have to be military technology either, imagine what magic could do for us in the field of medicine, construction, energy production, and agriculture." "Or we could just use some enhanced integration methods," Aladeen suggested. "Listen Bjorn, those are all excellent suggestions and things that could very well happen in the future, but don't you think it's a little far-fetched?" PM Mateo asked. "Yes and no," Bjorn answered, "This is magic we're talking about, literal magic. The possibilities are… well… endless. From what I understand, harmonic radiation can do pretty much whatever you want it to do as long as you manipulate it in the right way. These ponies, especially the unicorns, have evolved in a way that allows them to harness the unique properties of harmonic radiation. Say we can combine magic, technology, and let's say genetics. Imagine what the human race could achieve with the power to manipulate harmonic radiation in combination with technology. What if the draconequus is the final stage of human evolution? With their help, all of this can become a possibility." "That sounds an awful lot like playing God, Bjorn,” Felix pointed out. "We've already done it, haven't we?” Bjorn pointed out. “We created Discord, and if Eris survives, that’s one more draconequus completely by accident. We have the final stage of human evolution starting us right in the face, we just have to figure out how to do it again.” Major Abbott entered the tent, along with four other soldiers. "Good news, you three," he said as he and his escort walked towards the cells. "So, what do you people want?" Chrysalis asked. "Well, you're about to find out. The leaders of Utopia themselves wish to meet you," he said, followed by giving a small nod to one of the soldiers. The soldier took out a pair of keys from his pocket, followed by walking towards the cell that held Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, followed by inserting the key into the lock and turning it. What was strange was that none of the soldiers seemed to be carrying any weapons, and Chrysalis saw it as an opportunity. The moment the door opened wide enough, Chrysalis leapt at the soldier with murder in her eyes. Before she made contact however, she received a powerful shock just like Tirek. She began spasming, which caused her to miss her target and fall to the ground beside him. Every single nerve in her body burned as she jolted back and forth on the ground. The constant shocking lasted for about ten seconds, during which she felt like she was being burned alive, before the pain abruptly disappeared, leaving her lying on the floor, too weak to move. Chrysalis looked up at the major with both fear and anger, and saw that he had some sort of device pointed at her. "I'd recommend not doing that again," said the major, putting down the remote. "You can only take so many of those," he said, before looking to the soldiers, "Help her up, let's get them to the leaders."