Chapter 7 Rising Action
Bright Night lay strapped and unconscious on an operating table. There was a single surgical light above him, that was the only source of light in the entire room. He had tubes of all kinds and sizes connecting him to various machines. There were at least five different fluids flowing into his body. His eyelids started to flutter as he was struggling to open them.
~~~
Ow, my head, I thought as I was starting to wake up. I can remember them strapping me up to the table and attaching all these tubes to me, but that is all I remember since I hoofed-myself over. I don’t remember my head hurting this much before I fell asleep.
I couldn't feel my hooves (or any part of me for that matter). I tried to open my eyes, but they wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t even move them around in their sockets. It seemed as though my body was no longer my own.
“How are you feeling?” I heard a voice ask. I may not have been able to see who the voice was coming from, but I could tell by the sound of it that it belonged to the mare who called herself Trixie.
Of course I could not answer, but she must not have been expecting me too, since she immediately continued talking.
“Don’t worry, the paralysis is only temporary. It is only to numb the pain.”
What are you doing to me? ~ I heard a voice ask in a very digital tone. If I had been able to, I would have jumped out of startlement!
“I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of installing a neural transmitter into your cerebrum,” Trixie said mockingly, “That way, I can hear every single thought that goes through your pathetic little mind.”
That doesn’t answer my question ~ The digital voice responded
She rolled her eyes and sighed, “Very well,” She said, “I am simply restoring you to your original programming.”
Programming?
“Yes. You were created as an experiment. First of all, we wanted to see if it was possible to Artificially create a living fully organic being; however, we knew that it wouldn’t satisfy us to simply create a regular pony, so we attempted to create an alicorn, the most powerful of all ponies,” She explained, “As to your ‘programming,’ You were never supposed to develop a mind of your own. You were supposed to do as we commanded without question. When you decided to escape, we had to use magic to remotely erase your memories, so that nopony would find out what we were doing.”
How do you plan on removing my free will? ~ I asked, still requiring the machine to translate. The thought of me completely losing my self terrified me.
“I guess that telling you can’t hurt. After all, knowing won’t help you once it is installed,” Trixie said pulling a small little microchip out of a drawer.
“This chip will override your brain, giving us complete access all the systems within your body,” She continued, “Once this is installed, we could even control your thoughts should we want to.”
With that she let out a maniacal laugh.
~~~
“It’s alright, Twi. He chose to give himself up, not you,” Applejack said holding Twilight in her grasp trying to comfort her
“Like I don’t know that!” She yelled, “That’s not the problem. The problem is, I had no problem letting him do it!”
Twilight pushed Applejack and the others away and started to pace around the room. She hated herself right now. She felt like she had betrayed him. She felt as though (should he survive), that even if he forgave her, she wasn’t sure she could ever forgive herself.
“I didn’t even care enough about him to try and find another way. I mean, what good is it to save the life of one pony, if it means sacrificing another?! I didn’t even try to find a better solution. I was happy to see them take him.”
Twilight sat on the cold stone floor, having expended all of her energy, as a tear started rolling down her face.
“I became an alicorn because I had supposedly mastered the magic of friendship, but in that moment... That one single moment... I completely disregarded everything I learned about friendship over the last three years. And now Bright will be the one to face the consequences for MY actions.”
“It’s not like you knew just how horribly, awfully, terribly, mean they were going to be!” Pinkie blurted out
That got Twilight fired up again.
“That’s not the point! I knew nothing good would come of it. I knew he would have to pay if he turned himself over. It doesn’t matter if I knew just how bad they would be, I shouldn’t have let him go through with it anyways!”
Once Twilight finished, she collapsed to the ground and began to sob.
~~~
Twilight had been gone for hours, and Spike had heard nothing from any of Twilights friends. He was starting to get worried.
He found the anonymous letter on the writing desk about an hour ago, and after reading, he immediately notified the Princesses. It took them awhile to arrive, but once they did, they didn’t even bother taking the time to knock. Both of them bore a look of serious concern as they walked in.
“Let me read the letter!” Princess Celestia commanded of Spike
Princess Celestia took a moment to read the letter, but the concern on her was replaced by a look of worry before she even got halfway through the letter. Once she finished, Celestia gave the letter to Luna. As Luna read it her face did the same.
“Spike, we must go now,” Celestia said
“But you just got here,” He replied, “Why aren't you gonna help me find Twilight?”
He was angry and confused. Knowing the stress he was under, the Princesses decided to ignore the fact that he was yelling at them.
“That is why we must leave,” Explained Luna
“Fine, let’s go,” Spike said
“No Spike. Twilight is in enough danger as it is, we need not risk your life as well,” Luna stopped him
“Princess, with all do respect, I am Twilight’s number one assistant, and thus it is my job to assist her whenever help is needed, and last I checked, help is needed.”
“But Spike-” Celestia started before Spike interrupted her
“Not only that,” He continued, “But it is not just Twilight who is in danger but all of my best friends!”
“But-” Started Luna, before she too was interrupted
“Lastly, my help may come in handy.”
“Thou art not taking no as an answer, art thou?” Luna asked, rolling her eyes in annoyance
“Correct,” the little dragon confirmed
"very well," she said annoyed, "Then we shall depart."