A body was strapped to a metal sheet, tied with thick elastic cords. Starlight's eyes widened, not with shock, more...curiosity. Why was this there? Who exactly was this person? These questions surrounded her head, deafening and overbearing, demanding the truth. Suddenly her view was obstructed, a matt black drape was meticulously placed over the steel sheet. A figure with a insectoid mask walked forward,violet eyes barely visible behind the beady marbles that resembled the mask's eyes.
Slowly pulling the mask off to reveal lilac skin, not too different from Starlight's own, the woman smiled at her, just a tad too widely to be comfortable with.
"Are you...Starlight?" She asked after a moment of pause.
"Uhh...yeah" came the hesitant reply.
"So you're the one Flute sent, nice to meet you! The name's Twilight Sparkle, and as of now, I am your boss."
Starlight hesitated.
"Flute?"
"Yeah, maybe you don't know her by her name...try... a woman with yellow skin and long pink hair?"
"Oh...yeah, thats the person who sent me, who even is she? She just showed up in this dark alley and sent me here!"
"That does sound like her!" Twilight grinned as if laughing at an inside joke Starlight wouldn't ever understand.
"...So...what exactly is my job? I mean I know I'm supposed to be your assistant, but what exactly do you do?"
" Why tell you when i can show you?" Twilight's grin turned a bit feral again as she lifted her gloved fingers above her head and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, a multitude of wires shot from the roof of the lab, coiling around starlight and rooting her in place.
"What are you-LET ME GO!" Starlight's heart was beating so hard, jumping out of her chest as she struggled against the snakes of metal.
"Calm down Starlight. This won't hurt a bit..." That smile replied, wider than ever and twice as unnerving. Twilight reached out with a pair of goggles, placing them over starlight's eyes.
The world....
Faded...
Into blackness.....
"Can you hear me starlight?"
"Twilight? Where...am I?"
"This is a virtual world I created for explaination purposes"
"And you couldn't just TELL me?"
"Ugh...don't be a bore...Nevermind, I'd better get on with the explaination!"
The world spun rapidly until Starlight's disembodied form was overlooking the city.
"H-how?"
"No questions!" Twilight's voice took on a sing song tone, which irritated Starlight to no degree.
This is the city of canterlot,Starlight thought. Why am I here? What exactly does this crazy scientist have to explain?
"Lots and lots of things Starlight, so quit your yapping and let me get on with it!"
can she hear my thoughts?
"Yep! so can you just not think for a bit while I start the explaination, your inner voice is as loud as blitz's, meaning you've got a very healthy ego. Also meaning : SHUT UP."
Starlight shut up.
"This...is Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria."
"Yeah no fucking shit sherlock, I knew that already." Starlight replied without thinking.
"Didn't I ask you to shut up?" Twilight's voice was even, but barely hiding the rage speckled through it. Sorry, it's just that I get really frustrated when someone interrupts me.
Starlight winced, this woman was less stable than the government in Yak-yakistan, it would be prudent not to enrage her.
"Anyway, as I was saying before someone interrupted me: with the power Canterlot holds as being the capital city of Equestria, comes a whole lot of trouble. Namely the Canterlot mafia and cartel, or the cmc- cute nickname, right? Diamond and Jay's li'l sisters came up with it."
"Diamond? Jay?"
"I'll explain who they are later m'kay? So, as I was saying, there are 5 pre-eminent members of the cmc, first up is Jay, her real name is Applejack, but what's the point of joining the mafia without making a codename for yourself right?"
Starlight would have gasped at the way the landscape melded and burned out, forging an all new world in which she observed a woman in a tavern of sorts, but she really was over Twilight's scientific BS at this point. The woman had light aprcot skin and honey coloured hair in a loose ponytail, with a cowboy hat on, Starlight assumed it was traditional, and to be fair she pulled it off well, but it was still an odd choice of clothing.
"Are you gonna listen or critique her fashion choices?" intoned Twilight flatly.
"Jay is flute's most trusted informant, after all, she runs the most popular bar in all of Canterlot, and you know how loose people's lips become after a few pints. She's pretty strong in battle cuz she has to deal with rowdy drunks all the time, so avoid conflict with her."
"Next uppppp..... "
The world spun again and it turned into a busy highway, packed full of impatiant cars sluggishly trudging along.
"See that skyscraper? "twilight asked.
Starlight nodded, it was hard not to see it, it was literally the centre of the mindscape.
The world zoomed in until Starlight was on the rooftop behind a cyan-skinned person with prismatic hair holding what looked like a rifle.
"Meet Blitz, aka Rainbow Dash! Of course you're not really meeting her, cuz this is a virtual world but still!"
"She's the cmc's best assassain!" Twilight's voice lowered to a conspiritorial whisper. "Rumor has it Jay and her are friends with benefits!" Starlight rolled her eyes, she really didnt care about mafia love lives, but this kind of informatio could save her someday....maybe?
"The next one's a doozy, lets see how you react, cuz this might be a bit of a surprise!"
For the third time reality formed a new place, this time the centre of canterlot square, where a pale woman with luscious purple hair and a dazzling embroidered dress posed for the papparazzi.a very familiar woman....
"RARITY?" Starlight exclaimed,"no way!"
"Good reaction." Twilight's triumphant tone echoed. "Damn, I should have got it on camera!"
"Yes, the famous Rarity, aka diamond, fashion icon and designer, actually is part of the mafia, Flute helped get her career off the ground, so diamond is indebted to her. Diamond uses her connections to get a lot of info on the upper crust, who have lot of money that we can extort!" Starlight shuddered, Rarity was famous, like really famous - one of the most well known people in Equestria, not just Canterlot. To think she had decieved the country was, frankly terrifying. But she had a feeling she was going to have to get used to that if she wanted to survive in this hellhole.
"Who next...lets see, Cannon and Shotgun!"
The mist Starlight was becoming so familiar with formed a casino, bold and unapologetic, brash lighting that said, "I will blind you and not pay for the medical bills, go fuck yourself! :) " Overall an atmosphere not unlike Starlights hometown.
"This is Canterlot Casino, the biggest casino in allllll of Equestria! The owner is, surprise,surprise, part of the cmc!" The view zoomed in to see a rosy-skinned woman with ecstatic, cheerful, bouncing curls.
"This is Cannon, she's the cmc's wallet, I'm not saying she rigs the games, but the house wins more often than not..."
"You said there were 2, wheres the other one? Shotgun?"
"you'll see..."
The woman suddenly started shivering and in a second her entire demeanor changed, the bubbly curls ironed out into limp tendrils and her excited cerulean eyes shifted to a dull, dark indigo.
"Fascinating isn't it? Pinkie has a rare condition called dissasociative identity disorder, her other personality is called pinkamena, or shotgun; she runs the Canterlot drug ring! It's a two in one offer, drugs and money!" She's honestly so fascinating, I'd love to experiment on her and see just how twisted her mind is! Unfortunately Flute won't let me..."
Starlight wasn't surprised at this point.
"Speaking of our glorious leader Flute, or Fluttershy- nobody calls her that though, at least nobody alive." Starlight was expecting to see a new landscape but instead was faced with an onyx abyss.
"Surprised? I think it'd be better if you met her in person. She will take advantage of everything you care about and use it for her own desires, it was her that recruited all of us- including me. She let me do whatever I wanted with the enemies she sent my way, granted me a lab and funds to continue my research, with the condition that I use my findings for her benefit. I am loyal to her only as long as the supplies continue, or until someone gives me a better deal, as is everyone else."
"Flute sent you to me, meaning she thinks you have some potential to be in the cmc. But now it's up to you, will you accept the chance for power and knowledge, or reject the person you have the potential to become."
2 buttons appeared in front of her- a classic RPG "Y/N". Starlight could have laughed at the illusion of choice created, she knew that if she refused, there was no way out other than in a body bag - possibly after being experimented on by Twilight, which she inferred wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.
She knew what she had to do. Slowly she reached out her hand to tap the "Y" ; a haziness overtook her buckling to her knees with a splitting headache she wrenched open her eyes to stare at Twilight, grinning as largely as ever.
"good choice!"