Chapter 9:
Secure, Contain, Break In
I didn't know what Omen did to the body. That is, I did not know what Omen did; or that is what I told myself, then. All I knew is that when he walked out of that room, he lost that disturbingly bright attitude that I had grown so used to. I showed him the hair, and he was puzzled. I never thought I'd see the day. He understood what it meant, as did I.
Princess Cadence was somehow involved. Did she give Monsoon her hair? Did Luna? Monsoon's ambiguous testimony left much to our guessing. Part of me—heck, most of me—didn't even want to find out. For what were the implications of the discovery? Something was happening in Equestria. Nightmare Moon, Luna, Cadence, the cult, sanity, insanity... perhaps a new dark age was on the horizon. I considered telling Princess Celestia, but then I figured, she might be involved as well. How was I to know? I felt that I should simply let go. Warn my friends and flee, perhaps. The Griffin Kingdoms seemed rather inviting. I'd only have to get used to a more meat-oriented diet. It's not like we couldn't digest it....
Yet there was this feeling at the back of my mind—that last remaining remnant of my foalhood—that didn't let me rest. Once upon a time, it had led me to discover the myth of Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony. It had introduced me to my friends. Indeed, it had saved Equestria before. Perhaps this time is no different.
I dared not return to Ponyville after Cloudsdale. It had all been too much. Omen promised he would help out—pull a few strings, he said—and bade farewell. Always in a hurry, that stallion, somewhere to be, somepony to meet. When the Sun rose, I was on solid ground again, and Omen was long gone.
By the time the Sun set again, I was in the one place I shouldn't have been: slumming away my time in the Mental Ward. I remembered Luna's warning about returning to Canterlot. I also knew that the princess—or princesses—wouldn't look for me there. Sitting on the dirty barstool, my thoughts muffled by the club's deafening music, hidden past an ocean of raving bodies, I was so close to them, yet we were worlds apart.
How odd that this club, of all places, would serve to be my safe haven in troubled times.
The temptation to order something other than the filthy tapwater they had—indeed, to drown all my troubles in alcohol—rose by the minute. I knew better than to go down that road, though. I had business to see to.
Vinyl Scratch did not see me come in. She never did. Presently I was intrigued by her feeding procedure. I recalled she was of Nupraptim blood; a vampire “clan,” as they called themselves, whose descendants were said to hold powers over the minds of other ponies. To what extent these powers went depended greatly on the individuals, both vampire and victim. I don't think I need to give much explanation as to why Vinyl's attempts at charming a drunken pony were disturbingly amusing.
She was out there, on the dance floor, grinding against the uncountable mass of ponies having their fun. After a while, my eyes adjusted to the rapidly flashing lights, and I could follow Vinyl's movements with relative ease. Her target was a mare dancing alone—as alone as you can be in such a crowded place, anyway—and she soon made her move. She got her attention by stepping in close, and I could see that the way she twisted her forehooves was more than just the club's fitting dance routine. She waved the mare closer, and closer, until she finally lifted her sunglasses and leaned in, fixing her gaze in the victim's eyes.
I put my glass of water down and stood up. Picking up my black saddlebag from under the barstool, I whipped it over my back and made my way over to the wobbling bodies on the dance floor.
Vinyl's prey went numb and she collapsed into her hooves. It appeared I was the only one to notice, or perhaps fainting was such a common occurrence in the club that it surprised nopony anymore. Vinyl adjusted the mare's head, letting it fall gently over her hoof, exposing her neck. She opened her mouth wide and bared her fangs, ready to bite. Vinyl's head came down fast, but a purple glow yanked her wild neon-hair upwards, stopping the fangs from reaching their targeted artery.
“Brushed your teeth recently?” I asked her, still holding her head up with my magic.
“Yes! Celestia damn,” she yelled back, either out of anger or simply to be heard over the music. Perhaps a little bit of both.
“Good.” I nodded. “Now let her go.”
“What?!” She attempted to bite her neck again, but I wouldn't let her.
“I said let her go!” I repeated, making sure she got that. “You, me, Octavia, your room. Now!”
She struggled a bit more, pretending she didn't hear. When a few more pulls at her hair assured her that I wasn't letting up, she reluctantly let the limp mare fall to the ground, groaning loudly. I levitated the mare and carefully placed her beside the dance floor—she wasn't getting trampled on my account—before following Vinyl's lead to her dressing room.
I leaned on Vinyl's dressing table, my bag on the floor to the side. I pushed my wounded cheek up and down gently. This light massage helped with that constant, numb pain, I found. “Isn't it midnight yet?” I asked.
For a lack of a reflection, I had to turn my head to see Vinyl pacing nervously before the window; still broken since her previous attempt at an escape.
“If Tavi's not here, no it isn't,” she replied.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes! She gets very anal about time. She's never late.”
“Hmm.” I turned back and continued looking at my scar in the mirror. “What is she even doing all night? Or where?”
“Like I know. I'm just glad I don't have to babysit her twenty-four-seven.”
“Don't you like her company?”
“It's not like that.” If she hadn't been long dead, I imagined she'd have been blushing. “It's just, the only thing worse than a Devorador is a fledgeling Devorador.”
“Oh?” I put up my injured hoof and began examining the bite wound. It seemed to be healing well.
“'Cause it's always solitude this, animalism that. City's got everything we want. Food, shelter, everything! And they'd still rather just go walk around in the woods or something. Those vamps just ain't right in the head, I say.”
“That's not very nice of you to say,” a new voice cut in.
I stopped looking at my wounds, turning to the newly arrived Octavia. She sat on a chair by the opposite wall, her legs crossed comfortably.
“And I really, really wish she'd stop doing that,” Vinyl said, pointing at her accusingly.
“It's always nice to see you as well,” Octavia replied. She then turned to me. “The very same, Miss Twilight.”
I nodded at her in greeting. “The pleasure is all mine.”
“Oh, will you two stop?” Vinyl groaned.
“Yes,” Octavia said to Vinyl, “I assume she's here for a reason. Most likely she wants to talk about Miss Aurora.”
I was glad that at least one of them remembered. Aurora Iris was the name of the young unicorn mare who had gone missing, and after Vinyl revealed that she, too, suffered from that ominous bad blood disease, I asked these two to look further into the matter.
“Indeed,” I said. “Have you found out anything?”
“No,” Vinyl was quick to the response. “Saw her friends in the club. Asked them about her. And you know what? They didn't even know what I was talking about.”
“Entirely correct,” Octavia said. “While I do not have the... connections, that our mutual friend here does, I did ask around among the few ponies that I do know. Nopony seems to remember her. Her name was even scraped off her apartment door up on the tower. It's almost as if she had never been to Canterlot.”
“Almost?” I asked.
“Yeah, and that's the creepy part,” Vinyl said. “It's like, like ponies who should know her don't, and those who don't kinda do.”
“What Miss Vinyl is trying to say is, I believe,” Octavia interjected, “that we did ask regulars in the club. Ponies who come here often, but didn't seem to be personally acquainted with Miss Aurora. Some of them remembered seeing a pony who fit her description, albeit they couldn't, understandably, give us much more than that.”
“And let me just say,” Vinyl continued, “that I'm totally out of this. You know? I don't know what's happened to her, and I don't care! So, yeah, we, we did what you want, now leave us alone. Cause, you know, we intend to live forever.” She gulped. “Isn't that right, Tavi?”
Octavia didn't look at her. “Indeed, Miss Vinyl's concerns are not unfounded.”
“See? See?” Vinyl asked, twitching nervously.
“And while I do share them,” Octavia went on, still only looking at me, “I want you to know that I continue to stand by you. If you require my further assistance in the matter, do not hesitate to ask.”
“What?!” Vinyl snapped, shaking visibly. “Are you insane? We just saw a pony get erased from the world! Damnatio memoriae, Tavi!”
Octavia continued to ignore her friend. She shifted her gaze down, still keeping her chin high. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly; her dead lungs made a terrible racket. She then looked at me again. “I am certain that—”
“Tavi, are you listening to me?” Vinyl asked.
“Given the proper persuasion—”
“Tavi.”
“Miss Vinyl will certainly—”
“Octavia Melody!”
“Shut up, Vinyl Scratch!”
Vinyl was visibly taken aback by her sudden shift in tone, but it wasn't enough to get her mouth shut. If anything, it plunged her into overdrive. “But seriously Tavi, this is crazy insane, don't you understand, this is suicide, this is worse than suicide, don't you see—”
Octavia got up from her seat and began slowly walking towards Vinyl. Vinyl began backing away.
“Do you know what I see?” Octavia asked, walking on. Her steps were less like those of a pony and more similar to a predator stalking its prey in the wild. “An entitled, whiny little filly, who can't keep her mouth shut for a split second.”
When Vinyl's rump bumped into a wall, she quickly changed direction. She began circling around the room backwards as Octavia herded her. Octavia's stature grew, and her mane took on a darker shade of grey.
“But Tavi—”
“And if you allowed me to finish a sentence,” Octavia interrupted again, her voice becoming deeper with each word, “perhaps I wouldn't need to....”
Octavia's words were replaced by unintelligible growls as her muzzle changed shape and clawed paws emerged where her hooves had been. The wolf that was now walking towards the DJ was almost as big as her prey and I combined. At an uncareful step, Vinyl's hind legs were twisted and she fell back, forcing her to continue crawling on her back if she wanted to keep ahead of the predator. She crawled into a corner and covered her face, Octavia leaning in close. Her bared teeth almost touched Vinyl's turned cheek.
“T-Tavi?” She laughed nervously.
The wolf stepped back to release Vinyl, sitting down before her. Vinyl's shock seemed to linger. Even as Octavia regained her original form, she stayed there, leaning back into the corner, giggling anxiously.
Octavia's ruffled mane fell to hide her face. She whipped it back and moved a few remaining stray locks from her face.
“I'm s-sorry,” Vinyl stuttered.
“No,” Octavia whispered, looking at the floor. “I am.”
I walked closer to her. “Does that happen often?”
“This was the first time,” she said. “But the stars know I've been close, with this... Miss Vinyl.”
“S-sorry,” Vinyl repeated.
“No!” Octavia yelled again. “I am sorry!”
“Deep breaths, Octavia,” I said. “I mean, if that helps.”
“I really am sorry though,” Octavia said, turning to Vinyl. “You see, that. That is why my sire advised me to stay away from the city. That is why I spend most of my time alone. It helps control the chaos.”
Vinyl finally stood up and walked closer. She put a hoof on Octavia's shoulder. “Hey... you're not a monster.” She was still no expert wordsmith, but I thought I felt some genuine emotion in her voice. “W-we're not monsters. Remember that.”
“That's what my sire keeps telling me as well. Remember who you were and all that.” Octavia sighed. “Sometimes it's easy to forget, though.”
“Sounds like solid advice to me,” Vinyl replied.
“It hollows you out inside, death,” Octavia said, turning to me. “You can't imagine it. No wants. No needs. No passion. The aggression—the sheer emotion—of the wolf, it makes me feel alive again.”
“Hey,” Vinyl said, “I don't go around morphing into flesh-eating beasts, and I'm doing fine.”
“Are you?” Octavia asked. “Or are you just afraid of death?”
“I, well I... I do stuff, you know? I have an honest-to-stars job! One I might lose if Twilight here keeps—”
“Alright.” Octavia sniffled. “Alright. I haven't looked at the cello since... I should really pick it up again.”
“Good idea.” Vinyl nodded with a proud smile. “Why don't you go do that right now? I'm sure Twilight can handle—”
“Not happening, Miss Vinyl,” Octavia interrupted.
“Well it was worth a shot....” Vinyl grumbled.
When I saw an opportunity to re-enter the conversation, I took it. “Thank you. Both of you, I mean, for helping me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Vinyl sighed.
“My offer still stands,” Octavia said. “Oh, and Miss Vinyl? I'm sure my sire would be extremely disappointed if you let me wander off doing favours for Night Shift unsupervised.”
I didn't know what made Octavia so keenly interested in helping me, but I also knew better than to question my good fortune.
Vinyl buried her face in her hooves. “Damn it, but I don't need this.”
“Well, you're getting it anyway,” I said. “I have something very special in mind for you. My whole plan hinges on your agreement, in fact.”
“Your whole plan....” Vinyl rolled her eyes.
“For you see, I believe I know what happened to Aurora Iris. I saw Night Guards around her apartment the last time I was here. And I saw two of them carry off a large case somewhere into the mountains. A case big enough for a pony.”
“Wait,” Octavia cut in. “Are you saying that the Night Guard... that is Luna....”
“I think they took her to Containment, alive or not. I intend to find out why. And that is the reason I'll need you.”
“Containment?” Octavia asked. “That's where I was brought back, isn't it? I can tell you where the entrance is located, if that's what you need.”
“Somewhere in the mountains, no?” I asked. “I was hoping you could do more than just that.”
“What?” Vinyl interjected. “You wanna get inside that top-secret place where Luna makes her Night Guards?”
“That's the idea.”
“Are you even sure that this Aurora chick is even in there?”
“She probably is.”
“Is it too late for me to opt out?”
“It definitely is.”
“Forgive me, Miss Twilight,” Octavia said, “but it does sound like a risky undertaking. You are operating on conjecture.”
“Suffice it to say,” I said, “I really have no choice in the matter. The sooner we get in there, the greater the chance we'll find her.”
“I see,” she replied. “How about tomorrow evening?”
“Tavi!” Vinyl cut in. “Are you seriously—”
One look from Octavia silenced her.
“Tomorrow?” I asked. “That's the evening of the gala, isn't it?”
“And?” Octavia gave a devious grin. “All the more reason for the princess to be distracted.”
“Except this is a short gala?” Vinyl cut in again.
Octavia and I looked at her questioningly.
“Oh, of course, you're out of town all the time, you two. They've pushed back the start of the triple-G. Been big news. It's like, some last-minute decision.”
“Pushed back?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Vinyl continued. “Sure, it'll go all night 'till dawn, but it'll only start at midnight. Sort of, to give Cadence more time to prepare. That's what I pieced together, anyway, since I don't exactly get out much for these big announcements they do in the afternoons. Sun hurts my eyes, you know. And we lowlives never get invited anyway, so....”
“Not all guests are from Canterlot, though,” Octavia said. “If we didn't hear about it, surely neither have they, or not all of them. Certainly the princesses are preparing to cater to the guests that happen to arrive on time, that is, early.”
“They'd have to placate a lot of disgruntled nobles,” I said, “explaining everything. Sounds like total chaos.”
“It's perfect.” Octavia smiled.
“It is settled then.” I picked my bag up and took out Monsoon's hair-amulet. It levitated gently over to the very confused Vinyl Scratch and dropped down around her head. She visibly shuddered as the string encircled her neck. There aren't many things out there that would make a vampire feel cold; truly, the amulet was special.
“W-what is this?” she asked.
“It's what you're going to be wearing. Can you feel it, the surging magic?”
“Yes.” She looked at the amulet in complete bedazzlement. “I've never—”
“It will vastly improve your inherent magical ability. Get used to power, Vinyl. We're going to need it.”
I was in the deepest parts of Canterlot's crystal mines. Although I was certain that the Night Guards had me tagged the moment I entered the mouth of the cave up above, for the time being, they wouldn't show themselves. My black bag bounced on my back as I walked down the steep ledges. It was heavier than I had expected, but I wouldn't carry it via magic, for casting any spell would have broken the illusion I had Vinyl Scratch put on me.
Memories flooded my mind; I passed the very place where the changeling Queen Chrysalis had taken Cadence and myself so long ago. It figures, I wondered, that my journey would circle back to this place. Descending below the crystal formations that I had blasted away in years past, I found a new tunnel that led deeper down, just like Octavia had told me I would.
Hidden in the darkest depths of the mountain, I finally found what I was looking for: a rectangular doorway of thick metal, like that of a vault, embedded by enchanted gemstones at the edges and giving off a noticeable magical aura. This was the place never meant to be seen by but a select few.
A lone Night Guard sat before the door, piercing me with her gaze. As I got closer, I noticed that this one was of a rare breed, for she lacked the definitive bat-wings I was used to seeing. From her dark, scaly forehead sprouted instead a long, jagged horn, not altogether unlike that of a changeling. I pondered whether this had any further implications as to Luna's past, or if it was but a curious coincidence.
“Halt!” the Night Guard lifted a hoof, stopping me. “Who goes there?”
Do they all enjoy speaking ye olde 'Questrian, or is it just this odd one?
I tipped my hat and held my head high. “Lulamoon,” I answered. “Trixie Lulamoon.”
A thin line of light shot up vertically across the middle of the door, and the heavy metal parted with the sound of rushing air. The two halves slid into opposite sides of the embracing rock as the Night Guard stepped aside, allowing me passage.
The room I entered was one of moderate size and seemed entirely sterile; smooth walls of silvery metal held a similar ceiling above a floor all the same. Another door, identical to the one I had just passed, blocked my way forward. The entrance closed behind me, leaving me in complete darkness for a little while. I noticed a faint, barely sensible aura in the air that sounded like authority and tasted like oppression.
White light flashed and flooded the room, leaving me to rub my eyes in pain. When I could finally open them, four Night Guards stood before me; one unicorn mare and three of the common pegasus breed, all stallions.
I noticed that the unicorn had a small, nondescript metal ring around her horn. Considering that Night Guards weren't known for their love of fashion, I assumed its purpose was practical rather than decorative.
The guards' faces bore no expression, perhaps save for a speck of disdain. I straightened my back and looked at them confidently. I needed to sell that I've been here before.
Wordlessly, two pegasi walked behind me as the third reached to take off my cape and hat. I didn't resist. My bag was the last to go, being placed neatly at the wall by my carefully folded clothes. The unicorn, then, stepped up.
“Head down, legs apart,” she gave the order.
Hmm. “I'd rather not,” I said.
“Head down, legs apart.”
“Refresh my memory, please.” I mimicked Trixie's haughty attitude as best I could. “Why do I need to go through this, again?”
The unicorn looked at me impatiently.
“I don't like it at all,” I said.
“And we don't like your attitude,” she responded. “Illusion check is compulsory. Even for you. Especially for you.” She waited a moment, but I didn't budge. “Present your horn.”
I figured that's what this is about. And I definitely don't want them going through with it, else my little adventure could come to a premature end.
“You know...” I began, taking a few steps to the side, leaving the circle of guards. “I think you know me. You have to. I'm one of Luna's oldest agents.”
“Tsk,” the mare spat.
I walked around her. She didn't even bother to move her head to follow me with her gaze. I put my bag on again and turned so that they could clearly see it. The guards slowly turned and shot me impatient gazes.
“You're not getting in until you pass the test,” she said. “But please, make me report this.”
Lifting a hoof, I pointed at a small hole cut into the side of the bag. “That won't be necessary. Look.”
The pegasi turned to look, and I tried desperately to stop myself from shaking; I'd reached the fulcrum of my entire plan. But it would work. It had to.
The unicorn raised an eyebrow at me, giving an expression of discontent. I pointed at the hole again. Come on. She rolled her eyes, then began walking closer, squinting to look into the hole in the meantime. I thought my heart was going to split my chest in two.
Her steps stopped. I took a deep breath. Her eyes went wide. I exhaled. She lifted her head and shook it before looking at me confusedly. She turned towards the rest of the guards, each standing stunned, looking at my bag as well. For a moment, I saw a hint of defiance in her eyes, and she blinked repeatedly, as if trying to blink away a daydream.
“Now, please, Miss....” I began, getting her attention again.
“Skyglow,” she finished for me. She stood at attention.
“Miss Skyglow. Are you certain you need to perform the illusion check twice?”
“What?” She said the word lousily, cocking her head and giving me a confused look. Her eyes seemed empty and defocused, as if she had forgotten to close them before falling asleep.
I couldn't help but smile. “You've just checked me. I came off clean. Don't you remember?”
She looked away for a moment, putting a hoof to her forehead. She shuddered, put her hoof down, then looked at me again. “Yes, yes I do.” Her words were slow and lazy. She gulped. “I do now.”
“Would you kindly let me pass?”
“Oh. Of course.”
She walked to the door and put a hoof at the centre. The metal parted, opening the way forward.
“Now, please,” I added, “leave me alone for a moment.” I looked at my hat and cape, sitting on the floor. “Getting dressed.”
The guards nodded sluggishly and left the room, leaving me alone. I can barely believe it. We did it.
I looked down at my “clothes” again. The “ witch hat” was but an old Hearth's Warming cap that Vinyl had dredged up from her wardrobe, and the “cape” was a large piece of rag cloth, once an oversized doormat to the Mental Ward. It even said “Welcome.” Yet to the guards they were Trixie's brilliantly sewn stage attire, complete with their vibrant colours and celestial pictures.
Wearing these things, somehow, I still felt less stupid than I would have wearing the actual thing.
After putting them on again, I put my bag onto the floor, laying it on its side. I looked into the tiny hole as a grin crept onto my face.
When I opened the bag, a pair of very, very angry eyes greeted me in turn. Not much was left intact of Vinyl Scratch; I only barely managed to squeeze in her head, tying the string of the hair-amulet around her horn. Her dead heart was jammed up the stub of her neck as far as could be, wired to the brain by only a few loose veins. The rest of her we had packaged and hidden, in relative safety, back in her nightclub room. Because honestly, if somepony broke in, and found a bunch of bodyparts there, it's not like they'd tell anyone.
Her head lay sideways, one of her eyes pointed at the hole. She couldn't turn to look directly at me, but I saw her eyes shifting in my direction. “I'm going to kill you,” she mouthed, exaggerating her facial movements to make sure I received the message. “I'll bite your legs off!” That's the most she could do, what with missing her lungs and all.
I leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “You're doing great. Keep it up.”
Her mouthed response was something to do with a rake. I couldn't tell exactly.
A small gust of mist poured from the bag and snaked curiously up my body.
“No,” I whispered, “stay hidden for now.”
The mist bobbed; that was nodding, I imagined. With that, the small pillar of mist collapsed into the bag again as Octavia embraced what was left of her friend. I closed my bag and put it on again.
With the two cleverly hidden vampires on my back, I left the sterile room and found myself in a vast space. Everything was padded with the same metallic material, and powerful magical lights lit everything from above so that there were no shadows. The suffocating aura I had felt in the small room was also present here, and leagues stronger in intensity. Its origin or reason I couldn't tell.
For being inside a mountain, the area was also oddly orderly in shape; the floor was flat, the walls were straight, and although the ceiling was slanted at an angle high up, it still seemed as smooth as a mirror.
Filling up this enormous space were ponies innumerable. Pegasus Night Guards in scale armour marched up and down, blades attached to their wings; clearly, in here, they weren't meant to fly but to keep order. Their unicorn counterparts, although much fewer in number, walked about as well, consulting groups and individuals, and being saluted in turn. A few “regular” unicorns like myself walked about as well, often wearing lab coats and some of them even had surgical masks hanging around their necks.
At my hooves, a few differently coloured lines were painted onto the floor, and they traced out in different directions, running through the entire space. Etched into the floor were also a few words at the beginning of each line; the red line was marked with “Large Scale Containment” and led to a gigantic archway at the far end. The green line turned to the right and led to a set of stairs: the “Labs,” apparently. The third, blue line ran to a smaller tunnel beside the large archway, and was specified as the guide to “Small Scale Containment.”
To the left, there was another, smaller space blocked off by a tall glass wall, through which the only way seemed to be yet another vault-door; inside I could see more regular unicorns—all Night Shift employees, I imagined—exchanging papers, writing in books and notepads as they slaved away at boring but necessary paperwork. To the right, taking up considerable space in the room, was a something like a stage; a portion of the floor stood higher than the rest of the level.
I would have to find where Aurora was kept in this labyrinthine complex, and fast. I looked to the side to see the three pegasi that had stopped me when I entered; their apparent leader Skyglow was nowhere to be seen, however. I didn't know where she was; all I knew is that I needed to get going.
I walked closer to the strange podium at the right to inspect it more closely. Whatever I do, I pondered, distance between me and the front door can only be good. For the time being, at the very least.
Just as I got near the platform, an alarm shrieked and red lights began flashing around it. I was startled, for a moment, before I saw that nopony else seemed to care. After a while, the alarm stopped going off, and in a bright flash of light, and a large thunderlike burst, three unicorns appeared on the stage. Each of them wore a horn-ring similar to Skyglow's.
Each unicorn also held a leash in their mouth, and each leash was attached to a large wolflike creature, lying on the stage between the three of them. Upon coming to its senses—although still clearly disoriented—it began violently growling and lashing out at its captors. As it got up, its true size was revealed: I'd dare to risk it was at least two, perhaps even three times my own size. Even Octavia, taking on the form of a wolf herself, would've been dwarved by a real werewolf.
One of the unicorns zapped it with a spell. “Sit down!”
The behemoth howled in pain and recoiled; the three unicorns strained the leashes in a well-choreographed pull to tumble the beast off its cloven hooves again.
“Make space!” another unicorn yelled, pushing me aside as they pulled the creature off the stage.
The werewolf seemed to have been through much already; one of its legs barely moved and its anger seemed to be more a product of confusion and fear rather than genuine rage. A dozen winged Night Guards swiftly surrounded the group, and together they began hauling the werewolf towards the “small scale” tunnel in the distance.
And if that's small, I thought, I'd prefer not to find out what they call big.
Built like a fortress, buzzing like a beehive and efficient as a well-oiled machine, Containment was everything the tales suggested, and everything I had never believed it to be. How would Luna build all this? I wondered. She's been back for less than a decade. An excavation this large into the mountain would surely be noticed. Unless...
If this was really the place where Trixie's wagon was constructed, then it was no stretch of imagination that all of this fit into a much smaller space than it appeared. Either way, at least now I knew where half the royal budget has been going these past few years.
“Full moon was last week!” a voice came from behind me. “It's insane.”
I turned to see a bright faced, mint green unicorn in a lab coat looking right at me. Then, after a second, a realisation hit me: I recognised this mare.
“Heartstrings?” I asked confusedly.
“You know I prefer Lyra, Lulamoon,” she chortled, but then she furrowed her brows and tilted her head, looking at my forehead. “Hey, where's your, uh....” She poked her own horn.
“My what?”
“The... the ring. Didn't Skyglow give you one? I thought you'd have one.”
Oh dear. I still didn't know what having “the ring” meant—Lyra was apparently missing hers—but it was clearly something important.
“Yeah, about that.” I forced a giggle. “Skyglow's been giving me a hard time recently.”
“Yeah, she really has a stick up her ass for you.”
Is that so? “Tell me about it. Anyway, I don't think I'll need my ring now. Won't be staying long.”
Lyra blinked once, then shrugged. Her casual attitude, it seemed, would be my saving grace.
“So, uh, Lyra,” I continued, “what were you saying? I was distracted.”
“I was just saying how weird it is. I'm at Ponyville enjoying my week off, and then this Night Guard flies in last night like hey we're looking for Twilight Sparkle have you seen her and oh there's been a werewolf attack in the middle of the month so you gotta come in. Stars. World's upside down these days.”
“Wait, they've been looking for—” I paused. “Looking for Starbutt?”
“Oh yeah, you were with her in Horsmouth, right? Any news on that?”
“Well—”
“Nah, hold on, let's sit down somewhere quieter.”
Behind the glass wall, the noise of the main area was dampened to a barely audible murmur. I sat at a desk, my bag within reach. Looking around, I found this office—for lack of a better word—to be quite homely. Shelves lined the other wall and large tomes lay side by side on them, each signed with a date. The youngest, at the far left, seemed to be from a few months after Luna's return; the beginning of Night Shift, no doubt. Lyra was off fetching another book from a shelf further down the aisle.
“You seen the zombies?” I heard a lab-coated mare ask a stallion by another desk.
“It's dinner soon,” he replied in a tired tone.
“But, I mean, who does that? Just dump three towns' worth of corpses in the same cell?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And I have to sort them now. Like, I get a black-and-white photo of this old hag from Ponyville, and they send me in there to find her.”
“I was thinking a hay sandwich....”
“Half her face was missing. She had no eyes. Her brains were dripping through her jaw!”
“And there goes my appetite. See, this is why nopony wants to work with you.”
Lyra's eventual return made me shift my attention away from that riveting conversation. She dropped the book onto the desk and sat down opposite to me. Opening it somewhere past the middle, she quickly skimmed the page before putting her hoof triumphantly under a certain line.
“See? I remember it 'cause it was with that hotshot Sparkle.”
I played along. “It's good to see Luna finally sending her out to see the real world.”
“Yeah. She needs that lesson, I think, always just sitting in Ponyville. Being shielded like that.” She stopped for a moment. “Not that everypony needs to see the world. I mean, I'd sooner operate a hundred monsters than actually go out and wrestle one myself.” It was around this time that she began trailing off. “I do so love the bipeds. Always interesting. Opposable thumbs, Trixie. Opposable. Thumbs.”
“And you do the paperwork too,” I carefully said.
“Well, yeah, it's alright. Good pay.” She sighed. “So anyway, what happened in Horsmouth?”
“You don't know?” I asked in feigned surprise. “Sparky said she'd write a report.”
“Well, she didn't. Or it didn't reach us plebeians down here if she did.”
“I'm sorry, but I'm not here to report on Horsmouth. It's something else.”
“What?” She tilted her head in surprise, then looked down at the book. “No,” she then said, looking at me again. “Horsmouth. Says so right here. You're still on Horsmouth until we get the report.”
“It's a... private matter,” I replied.
“Private matter?” She raised an eyebrow.
I reached for my bag and put it on the desk, hole facing Lyra. “Yes. I'd like to know about somepony, an old friend of mine. I really didn't know where else to ask.”
“You do know that's not why we're here, right?” She asked. “Take it to the Royal Guard.”
“Please,” I said. “It's very important.”
Come on, Vinyl. Work your magic.
“S-sure,” Lyra replied. “What do you need?”
“Look here,” I said, pointing at the hole in the bag. Blatant, yes, but desperate times.
Lyra's pupils diluted slightly as Vinyl's mind spell reached her.
“Now,” I began, “please tell me about one Aurora Iris. Do you know anything about her?”
“Aurora?” she asked.
“Aurora Iris. A unicorn. If she was brought here, it would have happened around a week ago.”
“I...” she seemed to struggle to form words. “I don't know. I mean I....”
“Can you check for me? Would it be in this book?”
“Y—” She shook her head. “N-no.” She looked down, and mumbled under her nose. “No, no, no, no....”
“Are you sure?”
I reached for the book, but Lyra gasped and quickly slapped my hoof away.
“Yes,” she said. “No, not in the book. It's not in there. It's not in there.”
I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was struggling. Although I wasn't convinced by her words, I put my hoof down, deciding not to push her too hard. She grabbed the book and held it jealously at her chest.
“Can't you tell me anything?” I asked.
“I can,” she answered quickly.
“Will you?”
Her mouth opened, but no sound came. She looked down again, mumbling something. Then she looked at me again. “I'll show you.”
“Thank you.”
She didn't seem to register my words.
“Thank you, Lyra,” I repeated.
“Thank you!” she burst. “I mean, you're welcome.” She clung onto the book like a filly clings to her blanket at night.
I stood up, putting my bag back on. I didn't know how long the tenuous hold of Vinyl's spell would last. “Then let's go. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible.”
Lyra got up as well, standing awkwardly on three legs as she held the book with the fourth. I raised an eyebrow.
“I think you can put that down now.”
We crossed the main room and passed by the gaping archway. Lyra's gaze was constantly on the floor, and I saw that she was robotically following the blue line; our destination was, it seemed, Small Scale Containment.
The line ended at the entrance to a short tunnel, which in turn led to a different room. It was a long, wide corridor that stretched deeper into the mountain before coming to a dead end. A sign hung from the ceiling at the entrance, declaring this place to be “Containment Block-S #1.” Smaller letters just below read “Cells 1-30.” From the look of it, this was something similar to a prison block; simple cells with iron bars lined along the wall as a few Night Guards patrolled up and down. A small, crammed office was wedged into the corner beside the entrance, and a Night Guard looked at us from within with a raised brow.
Opposite to the office there was also a stairwell, going further down. I turned to Lyra questioningly.
“Where are we going?”
“Aurora,” she replied. “Aurora, she's at the b... at the end.”
Lyra nodded at the guard in the office, and began slowly walking forward. She was still looking at the ground, although there was no line to follow. I could see her mouth move; she kept on mumbling to herself.
“At the end, at the end, at the end....”
Lyra led me past many cells. Some were empty, others were locked tight, and the occasional reaching hoof—or other appendage—from within was quickly pushed back into the cell by one of the patrolling pegasi.
In the end, we reached the end of the corridor indeed. Lyra stood by the wall at the end of the tunnel and pointed at cell number thirty, which stood empty. Its open door I could interpret only as an invitation.
“What is this?” I asked Lyra. “Where's Aurora?”
She looked behind me before whispering, “I'm sorry.”
I heard the clatter of hooves, and before I turned, my head was bashed with such force that I banged it on the floor afterwards. A swift kick landed me inside the cell. I wasn't knocked out, luckily, and when the ringing in my ears stopped, I thanked the stars that I only felt blood running down the side of my head from split skin; my skull wasn't fractured. When I managed to look up, I saw several pegasi at the entrance to the cell, and a grinning Skyglow. Lyra stepped back behind them sheepishly, avoiding my gaze.
Skyglow lifted a hoof, and two pegasi stepped closer, pinning me to the ground as they removed my hat and cape. I didn't even resist; weak as I was, I wouldn't have wanted to risk getting on the wrong end of their wing-blades. My bag was the last to go, being given over to Lyra. The guards stepped aside, and Skyglow came up above me with a triumphant sneer.
“Well, well, well,” she said. “You got in, Trixie, I'll give you that. But did you really think you were going to get far? Rules are rules, you know.”
I stood up, looking her in the eye.
She looked back at Lyra. “Excellent work, by the way, Doctor Heartstrings.”
Lyra nodded at her. “Thank you, but you really had more to do with this than I did. If you hadn't realised what happened in time... thank you for warning me.”
“We work together, back to back. That's what we do.” Skyglow turned to me again. “It's clearly something you've forgotten. But you really aren't as clever as you think. What are you even doing here?”
“Something important,” I said.
“Is that so?”
“Excuse me,” Lyra cut in, rubbing her head. “I think... I think she was asking questions about...” Lyra lovered her voice to a whisper. “I think she was asking about Aurora Iris.”
“Oh? Is that right, Trixie?”
“Maybe.”
“Aurora Iris was captured, logged, and contained. That is all any of us know. That is all any of us need to know. Why would you care about her?”
“I heard she was cheating on me, the bastard.”
“Very funny.”
The two pegasi each grabbed one of my front hooves and kicked my back legs out from under me. Skyglow's horn began to glow, and she brought it closer to mine.
“I wonder what you're so desperately hiding, Trixie. Trust me, you won't be in such a witty mood once I find out.”
I closed my eyes. A shiver was sent down my spine, and I could tell: the disguise spell was no more. Skyglow stepped back, and even the normally indifferent pegasi seemed surprised.
“Trixie... Twilight Sparkle.” Skyglow stammered. “You're not Trixie at all!” After her initial confusion, her bright mood returned with a short laugh. “Here we are, scouring the country for you, and then you actually turn up here? I'm sorry, but you are quite insane, if I do say so myself.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“I'm not sure what prompted this little detour of yours,” Skyglow continued, “but it doesn't matter. Princess Luna is already on her way. You can explain everything to her, in person, in just a few short minutes.”
Skyglow turned around, and waved a hoof. The pegasi dropped me to the floor and went to follow their leader, leaving the cell. Without thinking, I leapt up, but I wasn't fast enough. The door closed before me, and I was left inside, rattling the bars.
Skyglow looked at me again. “You're not getting out of there. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be.”
I didn't answer. Instead I closed my eyes and felt power gather at the tip of my horn. Then there was a shock of crippling pain, and I fell down yet again as my spell fizzled.
“Missing something?” Skyglow asked, gesturing at the ring around her horn. “As I've said, you're staying in there. Don't even try to teleport.”
Well I guess at least now I know what that aura means, and what those rings are for. I stood up carefully, assessing the situation. So, no spells. No bag. No plan. Neat.
Skyglow watched me amusedly for a while before turning to Lyra. “I do wonder how she got in. Open the bag, please, and be careful.”
Lyra put my bag down to the floor and opened it. “Wow” was the only thing that she could say.
Skyglow used a spell to lift Vinyl from the bag, holding the bodyless head high. Vinyl's eyes moved frantically, turning from one guard to another in fright. I imagined she'd have been begging for mercy if she had the ability to.
“What in Tartarus is this?” Skyglow asked.
“It's a...” Lyra began, putting her hoof in Vinyl's mouth. “It's a vampire, it's a, from the fangs, it's a Nupraptim.” She took a quick look at me, then lifted a hoof to cover Vinyl's eyes. “It's brilliant.”
“Brilliant?” Skyglow asked.
“This, this type of vampire, it has potent mind control abilities. They're all about mental suggestion, etcetera. All it takes is a gaze into their eyes, and they have you. This one seems especially dangerous. I wonder how it's still... a-ha!”
Lyra prodded at the stub of Vinyl's neck, and her heart was set loose as the veins holding it snapped, landing on the floor with a squish. Vinyl's facial muscles went numb one by one, as if an invisible pair of scissors began cutting their invisible strings. Soon, Vinyl was entirely lifeless, and Lyra picked up the heart.
“Fascinating,” she said. “I mean, this whole idea, it's insane, and it's brilliant.”
“Please stop singing her praises.” Skyglow rolled her eyes, and pointed at the amulet strung around Vinyl's horn. “And what's that?”
“I'm not sure,” Lyra replied.
By this time, the attention of the entire group was on the severed head and the strange amulet it wore. But I knew that there was something else in my bag yet. The mist floated out in a thin stream, and crawled silently along the floor to enter my cell. Slowly and quietly, the mist turned into a grey pony behind me. We exchanged a wordless look, and I pointed at the bars and the guards. I was worried that she might not agree.
But Octavia smiled.
The bars? They didn't stand the chance. The guards? Now they were a challenge.
When they saw a grey wolf burst from my cell, they didn't have time to think. In a matter of seconds, Octavia was already upon them, kicking one at a wall and pinning another to the ground with a single paw. For all her bravado, Skyglow's magic wasn't enough to subdue her alone, and so the immense lupine overpowered the group.
Before the alarm was sounded, Octavia was able to kick Vinyl's inanimate head and heart my way, and I hastily threw them into my bag. As I ran by, I could even snatch up the amulet and hang it around my neck quickly. When reinforcements arrived at the alarm's shriek, they had the option to pay attention to a random lavender unicorn running for her life, or to pursue the monster tearing Containment apart. Their choice couldn't have been more obvious. By the looks of it, if Octavia so wished, she could've left scarce of many attackers; she chose to restrain herself to drag out the battle.
I wondered what made Octavia so difficult for them to deal with, considering the ease with which they handled the werewolf I saw when I entered. Was it that the werewolf had already been tired out by the time they brought it here? Was it the smaller space that allowed Octavia to put up a fight? Or, perhaps, it was simply her intelligence that gave her an edge over a simple beast overcome by terrified rage. Whatever the case, I didn't care; all that mattered was that she was doing well. Yet even so, I knew this would be over sooner rather than later.
It was as such that I managed to turn Equestria's largest monster reservoir into a lawless Tartarus mere minutes before the princess' arrival, all in my quest to find a solitary Canterlot mare before the world supposedly ended at the hooves of some displeased deity. All things considered, I was doing quite well.
Admittedly, I did come to the realisation that I still had no idea where to look, and my time was running short. I remembered that Lyra hesitated at the stairs near the entrance to this wing, and thinking about it, placing your top-secret hostage at the deepest level of your underground facility sounded somewhat logical. Taking a leap of faith, I rushed down the stairs, my bag bouncing on my back. Good thing Vinyl's dead, for the moment, or she'd hate me for this.
“Containment Block-S #2” had much in common with its upper counterpart, except that the cells were locked by the heavy vault-doors that I had seen in other places in the facility, and I thanked my luck for not being put into one of these. Without much ado, I rushed past the cells and found another set of stairs going further down at the end of the block.
Block three, four, five! Will this ever end? My heart was in my throat and even running down the stairs was getting tiring. My steps became jumps, and by the time I reached the bottom, even the sounds of struggle above seemed to have died down. For a while, I was afraid that I'd gone the wrong way; there would be truly no turning back from here.
But there it was. Somewhere under block eleven or twelve, I found a large door blocking my way where the next containment block was meant to open. A glowing sign above declared that I had reached “Special Quarantine.” The door resembled the vault-doors from above, but seemed even more secure; a network of wires spread across its surface in intricate circuits. At the centre, there was a disk-like protrusion roughly the size of a hoof, and what appeared to be a small screen beside it.
I put a hoof onto the disk. A second passed, and nothing happened.
Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
Not pulling my hoof back, I pushed at the disk. The door immediately made a screeching sound and the wires upon it glowed. The screen lit up and read a pair of simple words.
“Access denied.”
My exhausted hind legs gave way, and I sat down, staring at the screen. I pushed the disk again and again. The result was always the same. Still wheezing from all the running, it was hard to think. Is there a reason to think? It's over. I can't open this door physically. And I can't use my magic in here.
Hold on.
I got this far. How did I get this far? Octavia. No, Vinyl! She could use her magic.
Looking down at the amulet around my neck, I finally realised the obvious.
All along, Vinyl had a horn-ring of her own. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, and tension mounted in my horn once again.
I screamed in pain. When my sight cleared, I found myself on the other side of the door. I took a deep breath and hissed. My horn felt colder than ice. My body was boiling. My head was splitting. But I did it.
Before me was a corridor, similar to but shorter than the ones above. It was completely devoid of guards; the vault-doors at both sides were left on their own. If Aurora Iris—or what remained of her—was yet to be found in Containment, I knew that this would be where she is. I only needed to find the cell.
The closest cell, on my right, was marked by a small sign as “D- Q-” in writing I could tell to be Luna's. With the letters I've received over the years, I've learned to recognise it. As to the meaning of the letters, I could only guess; perhaps they were the initials of whoever—or whatever—was inside.
I walked along the corridor, looking at each sign by every door, finding a variety of such two-letter codes. A select few of the cells were open and unmarked. I could peek inside, and all I saw was a sterile, metal-padded room, crystal clean as if nothing had ever set hoof inside them before.
It was near the end of this eerie hallway that I found what I was looking for. The letters A and I marked what I collected to be Aurora Iris' cell. I felt my heart rate climb again. With a deep breath, I touched the door, and it opened.
Inside I saw a large bed, comfortably made with soft pillows and a bright red blanket at the centre of the otherwise sterile room. In the bed a unicorn mare lay, sleeping peacefully. Empty patches in her otherwise luscious deep-blue mane showed the signs of pulling; her white coat held a thin layer of dust, as if she hadn't moved in a long time.
I walked up beside the bed and pulled the blanket off her. She didn't flinch.
“Aurora Iris?” I asked.
She slept on.
“Aurora Iris!”
I shook her slightly, calling her name again and again, always to no response. The shaking turned violent and the bed rocked under her.
“Wake up! I only have a few minutes! Wake up, damn you! Wake up!”
Losing my temper entirely, I pushed her out of the bed. She landed on the other side, colliding with the cold metal floor with a thud. I swiftly ran around the bed to see the mare holding her head. She stood up slowly, nearly tripping as she did. Looking around in confusion, she finally fixed her stare on me.
“Where am I?” she asked.
I don't know what I was expecting. “Y-you're—”
She charged at me and knocked me down, standing over me and looking at me with an expression that no sane pony could make. “I didn't do it!” she yelled. “I swear!” She then ran off, galloping around the room with no direction, yelling unintelligible half-sentences and broken words at the top of her lungs. “I didn't! I di—! I know I didn't k—! Kill him! I don't know! What happened?! I do, I no!”
She stopped as suddenly as she had started, sitting down and staring at the wall before her, mumbling further ravings. “Why is she looking at me like that? Why? I didn't ask her. I didn't, I didn't.”
I walked up to her carefully “W-who's looking at you?”
She turned to me with an empty stare. “Cadence.” Tears began rolling from her eyes. “Cadence,” she repeated through clenched teeth. “Cadence!”
“What did she do?”
“Why did she have to look at me? Why not anypony else?”
She turned away from me, facing the wall, rocking herself back and forth gently. It wasn't long before she began scraping at her head with her hooves, scrubbing her mane.
“I don't know,” she whispered to herself. “I can feel her eyes on me. I don't, I never. I wouldn't. I can't even remember. What happened? Why did she look? Her stare....” Her mad mumblings eventually deteriorated to little more than a horrid gurgling, forced painfully through her stiff throat.
And finally, I broke. I sat down as well. Then I collapsed, falling to my side. The coldness of the floor was the only thing keeping me from passing out.
So this is the mare I risked—and, so it would seem, lost—everything to get to. Whatever happened to her, whatever Cadence did or didn't do, none of that matters now. Aurora's mind is gone, and mine might be soon as well. She's been turned inside out. Will I?
Once Luna is through with me, I know: the darkness is all that remains. Will I end up like Aurora, lobotomised and locked up in a cell... or worse? Is there any worse?
There we were, each of us sobbing on the cold floor; one mare already insane, and another on the brink. I curled up, hugging and fondling my own tail, catatonic.
After a while, I heard the sound of hooves nearing. I didn't look. Aurora screamed, then fell silent.
“Rise,” Princess Luna's voice commanded.
Her voice rushed over me, and like a crushing tide, swept my fear away. I took a deep breath and sat up. I still wouldn't look at Luna, but I caught a glimpse of Aurora. She wasn't dead, only sleeping.
“Stand,” Luna said.
I stood up. Slowly, I turned towards Luna. I paid no mind to the Night Guards that were her escort, looking the princess straight in the eye. I didn't want her last memory of me to be of a crippled mare lying on the ground.
Next to Luna and the guards, Octavia floated; although she was a pony once again, a wolf's oversized hind leg twitched where one of her legs should have been. Driven into her forehead was a crossbow bolt whose tip, I imagined, was silver. One of her eyes was completely unresponsive; the other, independent of its pair, slowly turned in its socket to look at me.
“S-s-sorry,” she choked.
Luna threw the incapacitated Octavia to the floor.
“We've found Monsoon Descent,” Luna said. “We are thoroughly disappointed.”
If I'd denied to myself what happened to Monsoon, I could do it no longer. How interesting it is, to see Luna in such a new light. How she would do so much protect Cadence's terrible secret!
I said nothing.
Blue light engulfed the sleeping Aurora, taking her back to her bed and tucking her in gently. The amulet lit up with light too, and, ripping its string in two, floated to Luna. The bag was the next to fly up; its mouth opened and Vinyl's head and heart came rolling out next to Octavia.
“We could have them burned,” Luna said. “We should make you watch.”
But you won't, will you? Yet she scoffs at the thought of murder, clinging onto her last remaining shred of morality. For Aurora, and the rest of her victims, death would've been a release. Keep telling yourself you're a good princess, Luna. We both know the truth.
I blinked once.
“'Tis with a heavy heart that we make this decision, Twilight Sparkle.”
Luna's magic surrounded the bolt between Octavia's eyes, and with a pull, liberated her from it. As the wound healed, Octavia's wolf-leg shrunk and turned into a proper, hooved leg, and her eyes quickly regained their synchrony. She hopped onto her hooves and bowed deep before Luna.
“Tell Vinyl Scratch,” Luna said, “that this was her final warning. As it was yours.” She pointed towards the cell's door, still open. “Take your friend and leave. You will be escorted outside.”
Octavia quickly, and without a word, gathered Vinyl's remains into my bag and left the cell. The guards followed as the door closed behind them, leaving only Luna and me—and the sleeping Aurora—inside.
“Are you going to blank me?” I asked Luna.
“Know that if I had found any other pony in this room, we would not be having this conversation.”
“And you won't kill me.”
“You must think me a monster. And in many ways, you would be right.” She glanced at Aurora for a moment. “You must realise, however, that I am not the kind of monster you have deluded yourself into thinking I am.”
Aren't you? “What are you going to do, then?”
“I have come to ask for a favour.”