//------------------------------// // Pairbond (Chapter 4) // Story: Subject Delta - Rapturous for Equestria // by TheMightyT //------------------------------// Subject Delta – Rapturous For Equestria *TheMightyT* Chapter 4: Pairbond >---< Subject Delta chooses C, saving Twilight life. Is it the right choice? Only time will tell… >---< “And then Father, the Rapture dream was finally over. You taught me that ‘evil’ is just a word. Under the skin, it’s simple pain. For you, mercy was victory. You sacrificed, you endured, and when given the chance, you forgave. Always.” -Eleanor Lamb, Daughter of Subject Delta. *** Twilight had just gotten between the two stone slabs as she heard the snarling. She was laying on her stomach, propped up at the rubble behind her; trying to make her as small as possible, hoping that she could remain unseen. But whatever was coming closer didn’t rely on sound or sight. They smelled her… She was looking outside her hiding place, seeing no signs of creatures coming closer. She was wondering to herself if she had imagined the snarling, but another snarl destroyed that thought. Now she could see shadows, made by the shining moon; moving across the stone floor. She could only hope the shadows would hide her from them. She just kept thinking, trying to calm herself. ‘Please, Celestia, please. Make them go away. Please!’ But Celestia wasn’t there to protect her star pupil… The Timberwolves slowly came closer, searching for their prey. Relying on their smell, they found their prize. It was hiding from them between some rubble. The pack was hungry, this would be an easy treat. They could smell the fear that came off the young mare. If she was trying to hide from them she probably was hurt… an easy meal. The pack was small, as Timberwolves tended to break the larger pack into smaller ones when food was scarce. This pack consisted out of three young Timberwolves and an older one, bearing the scars of combat. The older one was looking around, searching in the shadows; always expecting the worst. The younger ones were fighting between themselves, fighting over the right to take the first bite. The older one howled, breaking the fight apart. They could hear the mare screaming… not that anything could stop them from eating tonight. Twilight saw the Timberwolves slowly coming closer, searching for her. She knew that Timberwolves had excellent smell, so she knew that she couldn’t hide from them. But deep down, she kept hoping for someone to save her. She didn’t want to die like this, not being able to say goodbye to all her friends. Then it dawned on her, she never thanked her friends for being… her friends. All those adventures they had together and not once she had thanked them. She was hating herself for that now, Death coming closer; yellow eyes searching for her. She just hoped death would come quick, she didn’t want to suffer. Tears were felling on the stone floor beneath her, as she was thinking about all her friends. ‘Spike, I should have thanked you for all those times you kept believing in me, even if I messed up so bad. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie… you were the best friends anypony could ever wish for… I just hoped to get more time to spend with you girls…’ She was sobbing now, not caring that the Timberwolves could hear them. After all, it would be the last time she had the chance to cry. Twilight knew that her friends wouldn’t come, it would be too late. But deep in her heart she kept on wishing that she could just hold them one more time before she would… go... The wolves were fighting amongst themselves, probably for the right to get the first bite. One of them howled to break the fighting and she screamed for help. She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that somepony, anypony would hear her. But there was nopony there to save her… The Timberwolves were trying to get the prey out, trying to reach it with their paws. They weren’t stupid, going in such a small place would be a dumb idea; as the prey was still alive. The youngest and also the smallest one in the pack was trying to reach the prey, but he got pushed away from the opening by the Alpha male. They were too busy finding a way to get to their prey so they didn’t hear the heavy footsteps coming closer. Hearing a loud growl they quickly turned around, prepared to fight for their food. The monster that was standing before them was gigantic and looked tough. The younger wolves wanted to back off, giving up their food; so they could live to hunt another day. The Alpha, however, wasn’t going to give their prize up without a fight. They began to go closer, they would try to attack it in the back. Bite it in the throat, until it suffocates… Twilight was trying to avoid the wolf’s clawing. If she could only use her magic, then she could save herself. But her horn was still throbbing, the pain had even become worse. She had to fight off the darkness, that was trying to take her back. If she lost consciousness, she would be a dead pony. But her attacker got pushed away, replaced by an even bigger Timberwolf. She could see various scars on the legs of this wolf, it’s claws also trying to reach her. Suddenly, she heard a loud growl. Her attackers backed off, prepared to fight for their meal. As they were backing off, she could see outside again and what she saw… she feared it more than anything she had ever feared in her life. It stood tall, probably even larger than Princess Celestia. Even with her almost perfect knowledge of all animals of Equestria, real and mythical; she didn’t knew what the thing that was wearing some sort of armor was. It looked to strange, even for the Everfree Forest… The signs of fighting, scars and various burn marks could be seen on its armor. It made her think that it was a hunter of some sort, maybe a carnivorous creature that had found it’s shelter in the Everfree Forest… Its armor itself was something Twilight had never seen before, having some sort of ports all over it. She could see the glow emitting from its helm, as if it had a light inside of it. The helmet itself was made out of some sort of metal, which looked like copper. Two bars of that metal divided the glass, behind which the eyes of the thing that wore the armor would probably be; in three parts. It had two small holes in the helmet, beneath the eye-level one, also made out of some sort of glass. She deducted that it probably was some sort of lighting device. But the helmet wasn’t the strangest thing on this… monster. Tubes of some strange material, as she could look through them, ran from the sides of its helmet to its back. She could see two containers of some sort peaking over its back. Maybe it held some kind of air, for the thing to breathe. She couldn’t see any openings for breathing anywhere else. The rest of the armor looked like a mix of the strange, copper looking metal and some very durable looking kind of cloth. It wore very heavy looking boots, with metal tips. She could probably hide Spike in there, they looked big enough for it. It had metal kneecaps and bracers. The bracers had some kind of ports in it, which she couldn’t understand the usage of. The left arm of the thing also had some kind of symbol on it: a triangle. The same symbol came back on… the hand of its other arm. It had hands like Spike, but she counted five fingers, not the normal four. Around its middle it had some sort of belt, heavy weights hanging from it. There she could various straps made out of some other strange looking skin of some sort. It probably was something to counteract the weight of the containers on its back. She could also see a sheathed knife, so it was armed. A shiver ran over her spine, this thing was very strange indeed. She was hoping, with all of her hearth that it was friendly. The Timberwolves were approaching the golem, she would call it that for now. It looked a bit like a golem, strange creatures that only those ponies who were very powerful in magic could make. The act of making golems was a myth, of course, it was impossible to bring something to life; that was one of the few things magic couldn’t do. The golem just stood there, waiting for the wolves to act first perhaps. It reached for it back, returning with something large in its hand. It looked like some sort of… large club, maybe? She couldn’t see it clearly. The golem stepped closer, trying to intimidate the wolves. The Timberwolves jumped back, but returned to their steady approach immediately. The moment the group of wolves came in the middle of the room, they split apart; moving in groups of two. They were going to surround the golem, trying to attack it in the back; getting an easy kill by biting its throat, causing it to suffocate. It kept looking at the wolves, the club in its hand. The golem was smart enough to keep the wolves at bay and in front of it. He lashed out, its club only going through thin air. In turn the Timberwolves also faked an attack, returning before the golem could hit them. They were scouting each other out, searching for weak spots to take advantage of. Suddenly, one of the wolves charged while snarling. The golem moved, meeting the attack with one of its own. But before the golem could hit the wolf it backed off again, leaving the golem’s left side open for attacks. One wolf jumped, biting in its left arm; but the golem kicked at the wolf, pushing it back. Another wolf tried going for its left leg, but before it could reach its target it got hit by the club of the golem. The wolf laid on the ground, unconscious. The golem pulled his left leg up and, with a sickening crunch, stomped on the head of the wolf. Now only three were left. Twilight felt a wave of nausea going through her stomach, hearing the sound of the Timberwolf’s skull breaking. Two Timberwolves attacked, trying to get revenge for their falling group member. But the first one met the gloved fist of the golem and she could see it going limp, falling death on the ground. The second one managed to get a hold of the club of the golem. Without warning the club began to emit smoke, the wolf having difficulties to keep biting in it. The wolf fell on the ground, its lower jaw missing. The golem raised its spinning weapon, puncturing the chest of the wolf with it. It slowly pulled back, now only one wolf was left. Where was it? The Alpha male attacked the golem in its back, causing it to lose its grip on its weapon. The golem got hold of it and, with one mighty swing, threw the wolf across the room; against the stature where once the Elements were kept. The golem was searching for its weapon, but the wolf, not ready to give up, stood back up and leaped at the golem. The golem reached out its hand, revealing its glove to Twilight. She could see various ports one it, one on each fingertip and a big one in the middle of the hand. It also had some sort of tube running at the back of its arm, feeding into its glove. She could see that fire was forming from its fingertips, hitting the wolf in its chest and out of the air. The wolf tried to put itself out, but a quick stomp of the boot of the golem ended the misery of the wolf. All the wolves were dead now, only she was left. She feared for her life as the golem took its weapon back, attaching it to its back. It came closer, its heavy footsteps vibrating the stone floor beneath her. It stood before her, but she couldn’t handle it anymore. The darkness took her, the last thing she saw was the golem kneeling in front of her; its lights shining over her… *** A chariot soared through the sky above Ponyville, the residents of the town asleep. The moon was shining, the stars twinkling in the sky. It was a beautiful night to be flying, Spike hoped he could do this again. But his thoughts were with Twilight, of course. As the chariot came closer to Applejack’s farm, he knew that the girls would probably already have celebrated Twilight magic prowess. He would be too late to witness it, but he still had the chance to see Rarity… ‘Oh, Rarity’, he thought. He almost got lost in another dream filled by the appearance of the beautiful, snow-white mare; but his dream got interrupted by the descending of the chariot. He could see the pasture now and the five mares he all considered his friends… Five? Where was Twilight? The five friends waited for the slowly descending chariot. They all wore smiles on their faces, thinking that Twilight had failed her spell. They knew how important this ordeal was for Twilight, so they would all try to cheer the purple mare up. Spike got greeted by the five friends, smiles on their faces. He stepped of the chariot, which immediately set off back to the castle; a slightly frightened look on his face and he asked to no one in particular: “Um, where is Twilight?” “How do you mean, Spike,” asked Rarity, a worried look on her face, “We thought that Twilight was with you.” “Yeah, Sugercube, when Twilight didn’t turn up we all thought she was with ya," said Applejack, trying to get answers from Spike. The five mares surrounded Spike, asking him questions he didn’t have any answers for. Even Pinkie Pie, always random and filled with joy, had stopped her bouncing way of moving. “She did the teleportation spell, alright,” began Spike, “But if she isn’t here…” “Well, spit it out Spike! Twilight could be in danger for all we know!” Rainbow Dash had lost her otherwise always present confidence about her. Nobody could become more worried than the Element of Loyalty. “If she did the spell and failed during the casting,” Spike began explaining, frantically moving his hands, “Then she could have end up anywhere!” The group was shocked and the next minute was filled with more spouting of questions (“How do you mean, anywhere?”) and general concern for their friend. They all came up with rescue plans, but searching for Twilight without knowing where she could possibly be was a lost effort. But there was one shy mare who had the right idea: “Um, I don’t want to bother anyone… but couldn’t we just ask Princess Celestia for help?” “That’s a great idea, Fluttershy,” said Spike, a small smile on his face as he was praising the mare, “Applejack, do you have some paper and ink we can use to sent Princess Celestia a message?” “Sure thing, Sugercube!” And with that the group galloped off to Applejack’s farmhouse. Spike ran after them, his short legs keeping him behind a bit. Pinkie Pie returned for him and picked him up; setting Spike on her back. They all wanted to help their friend as fast as possible. Entering the empty farmhouse, the group sat down at the table waiting for Applejack to get them everything they needed. It was Saturday night, so Big Macintosh was out of the barn; it was his night out. Apple Bloom and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders were having a sleepover at Scootaloo’s place. Applejack quickly returned to the impatient group. Spike quickly wrote a small text, folded the letter and, with a deep inhale, magically blew it off to the castle. All they could do now was wait for the Princess to respond. Suddenly there was a bright flash outside and someone knocked on the door. Outside was Princess Celestia, her royal expression bringing calmness to the concerned friends. They greeted the Princess and Spike began rambling: “Princess, Twilight did the spell, but she didn’t- and she wasn’t there- she could be anywhere…” Princess Celestia smiled at the rambling dragon, trying to calm him down. “Now tell me the whole story calmly, Spike. I want to know what happened… .” While telling Princess Celestia what happened another flash disrupted them. Princess Luna was standing there, accompanied by two of her guards. In the distance more shadowy figures could be seen, flying in the moonlit sky. “Celestia, I’ve informed the guards… What happened to Twilight?” After telling everyone what happened from the beginning, the girls and Spike looked hopeful at Princess Celestia. The Princess of The Sun was thinking what course of action to take and suddenly she had an idea. With a golden glow of her horn a large mirror appeared, floating in her magic grasp. She set it down on the ground, the ponies and Spike looking strangely at her. The group was interrupted again by Pinkie Pie acting strange, bouncing up and down; shivers running over her whole body. “Oh, oh! Twilight is in danger!” “Pinkie Sense,” asked Spike carefully. The pink mare nodded as response, still shivering; her tail ‘depoofing’ and ‘repoofing’ itself. The group turned back at Princess Celestia, giving her their undivided attention. She was the only one who could give them some closure about the situation of Twilight. Now it was even more urgent, knowing that Twilight was in danger. Pinkie Pie struggled to keep herself still, so Princess Celestia could concentrate. While preparing her magic, she began speaking: “I’m going to do a variation of a location spell. I need something that belongs to Twilight and then we be able to see what see sees. Hopefully it can narrow down where she has teleported herself.” “But what can we use, what belongs to Twilight,” Spike began asking. He stopped when he saw that the ponies around him where looking at him. “Spike, if you could come a bit closer, please.” Spike did what Princess Celestia asked, standing still next to the mirror. A glow, the same golden glow as the magic of Princess Celestia, surrounded him and jumped from him into the mirror. The mirror began levitating in the air and figures and forms could be seen instead of a reflection. Swirling figures and shadows moved through each other, slowly forming what Twilight was seeing. They could make nothing out in the swirling blur, but the fact that the spell had worked gave them the confidence that Twilight was still alive. Then they saw it, a figure standing taller than Princess Celestia. It threw something out of its hand and a Timberwolf which jumped at it caught fire. The group gasped, Princess Celestia looked determined. As the one-eyed monster came closer, its light shining on Twilight, the mirror went silent. The connection was broken. Princess Celestia was using her magic on it, trying to rewind all that happened; searching for clues. Everyone felt an aura of pure anger surrounding the Princess of the Sun. They all felt sorry for the monster, if it decided to hurt Twilight. The Princess looked shortly up from performing her magic, addressing her sister: “Luna, could you… ?” Luna nodded and removed herself from the group. A look of concentration came on her face, her horn glowing a dark blue. Princess Celestia worked on the mirror, now trying to make the image more sharply. They could see the monster more clearly and it looked like nothing they had seen before. But before they could examine it closer the image zoomed in, concentrating on a statue in the middle of the room. All the ponies, except Spike, recognized it; knowing it was the statue where once the Elements of Harmony were kept. Princess Celestia turned to her sister and said: “She’s in our old castle in the Everfree Forest, Luna!” A beam of dark blue magic, almost invincible before the nightly sky, shot through the night; reaching for the moon. For everypony it seemed that the moon began to shine just a tiny bit brighter. Princess Celestia, waiting for the Princess of the Night to perform her magic, began giving everypony something to do. “Spike, could you go to the Library and search for an old book, a tome if you will, titled ‘Mythical Creatures of Old Equestria’?” Spike nodded and Princess Celestia turned herself to Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow Dash, could you help Spike getting there quickly. I want to see if this ‘golem’ of some sort is know in old maretales.” Dash helped Spike on her back and took off, her trademark rainbow trail following her. It only took seconds and the Element of Loyalty could no longer be seen. Princess Celestia called for one of her guards and began to give him his orders: “Take my sisters guard’s pegasi division, they know the Everfree Forest very good. I want my own pegasi guard to join them. I’ll be there shortly.” The guard nodded and flew off, in the distance a big group of guards could be seen; a mix of Luna’s and Celestia’s guard. Another guard came, an unicorn this time and Princess Celestia gave him his part of the orders: “I want the unicorns concentrating on teleporting the rest of the guard, my sister and the Elements, on my sign. We‘ll wait until we know where the ‘golem’ is.” The guard nodded and ran back to the group, shouting orders and preparing the unicorns of both guards to set up a trap. Princess Celestia began to address the five elements present, but was interrupted by her sister. “I can see them, they’re going through the Forest. The ‘golem’ is carrying Twilight in its arms.” Princess Celestia thanked her sister, now waiting for the figure that rapidly flew closer. Rainbow Dash touched down, Spike almost falling from her back with a very heavy and old looking book in his hands. Princess Celestia took the book in her magic, searching for creature. Princess Luna opened her eyes, her horn still glowing and the beam still visible. She addressed the five Elements and Spike for their part in this endeavor. “We’re going to surround this ‘golem’ when its stops to rest. One group, under command of my sister will come from the air. The rest of the guards, under my command, will be teleport in a circle around the ‘golem’, effectively surrounding it. You are all part of the ground forces, but I want that you all stay close to me. The ‘golem’ has Twilight, so we are not going to engage in combat in any situation!” Luna looked at the Elements before her, paying the most attention to Dash. Dash shrugged in compliance, she wouldn’t do anything to hurt her friend. “Spike, I want you to go back to Ponyville and alert the nurses and doctors in Ponyville’s Hospital. It’s best to be prepared for anything.” Spike struggled against that order, but he understood that he couldn’t help much in the confrontation with the golem. He began to get on his way, only to be called back by Princess Celestia; who gave him the book back. Receiving the book he again began running to Ponyville, hoping deep in his heart that everything is fine with Twilight. Princess Celestia asked for the rest to follow her, saving time to address the gathered ponies all at once: “Twilight Sparkle has been victim of a teleportation failure, trapping her in the Everfree Forest. She is in the hands of a ‘golem’ and I’m unable to say more about it. I’m unsure what it is… I want everyone to be careful, we don’t know how the ‘golem’ will react. The plan is to surround it and try to get Twilight back”, she looked at Fluttershy, hoping that the yellow mare’s special talent of dealing with animals could help them once again, “I want everyone to stay in formation and I want no one to try to attack the creature. If anyone brings Twilight into danger… then the ‘golem’ would be the last of his or hers concerns. Did everypony understand?” All the ponies nodded, the guards mumbling. They were ready to save Twilight! The groups were formed, Princess Celestia taking the task of teleporting the air forces on her; her sister being helped by the rest of the unicorn guards. Applejack began asking if it wasn’t a good idea to bring the Elements of Harmony, but Luna told her they wouldn’t do any good without Twilight bearing hers. Pinkie Pie smiled, to everyone’s dismay and said: “It’s okay, Twilight isn’t in danger anymore.” Before anyone could think about what the pink pony had said, most of them already blaming it on her randomness; they got interrupted by Princess Luna. “They stopped at the bank of a river, between Zecora’s hut and our old castle. I can’t see Twilight clearly, the ‘golem’ stands over her.” Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at each other, completely understanding each other. In the pasture outside of Ponyville, part of Sweet Apple Acres, two big flashes of magic could be seen. The residents of the town stayed deep at sleep; Winona, the farm’s dog, began barking when she got awakened by them. If everything went to plan they would save Twilight. They would get the chance to research some strange creature, that even Princess Celestia herself didn’t know about. But none of them would be prepared for the events that were going to happen, events that could change Equestria forever… *** “Sometimes we need to make choices without knowing the consequences. Only time will tell us if we made the right one…” -TheMightyT *** Shout-Outs: IraqLobstah, for giving me some much needed ideas and RainbowDash575, for being an awesome friend! Check them out! Author’s Note: Subject Delta has no idea what is coming for him. What will happen? How will he react? You'll see that in the future, but the really important question is: Is Twilight alright? That, and more, in the next chapter! Now, some more story related stuff. I’m not going to include moral choices in the story anymore. The last three caused me to experience a very bad case of ‘Writer’s Block’, which is --believe it or not -- a “real” sickness. That, and I’m not as dynamic as a writer as I thought I was. So, no moral choices anymore; but that gives more space for cliffhangers. And I know you will love those... About my writing style, it changes as I go. I receive many tips about how I can improve, so I’ll be trying to incorporate them in future --and past-- chapters. I’m also going to limit quotes to the beginning and end of the chapters, so I don’t break the ‘flow’ of the story so much anymore. I also apologize if it seems like the characters are not “in-character”, I’m hoping to improve as the story goes on. Some random trivia about this chapter: *During writing the official soundtrack for BioShock 2 was used. To be more specific: ‘Sounds from the Lighthouse’; name of the song used: ‘Pairbond’. Some in-game music is used too, to be more specific: ‘La Mer’ by Django Reinhardt’. Also, music from BioShock was used. To be more specific: ‘I Am Rapture, Rapture Is Me: The Official BioShock Score’; names of the songs used: ‘Dancers on a String’ & ‘Cohen’s Masterpiece’. *The Author hates the term ‘Writer’s Block’. *The chapter originally consisted out of three parts, but the third part was moved to open the next chapter. So next chapter you’ll see how your choice affected the story! *This is the first 4000+ words chapter. Aiming for 5000+ words next! Postscript of the Author’s Note: Many things went wrong during the writing of this chapter. I learned a valuable thing about myself: I’ll try to do anything to try to please my readers. I know now that I’m not a good enough writer to do that, to be able to include moral choices. Coming up with possible things to happen for the three choices, trying to come up with three different ending… it was too much… I hope nobody is disappointed, because I understand. I promised you all moral choices, but know this: I will not get the other two choices go to waste. When the story comes to an end, I’ll post a chapter with possible different endings, what would have happened if B or A had won and more. But that’s –hopefully-- in the far future. Originally this chapter was going to be posted with a WIP-tag, because I just wanted to give you something this weekend. I tried my best to write, but luckily today I was able to write the last 2500+ words of the chapter; those being what could make or break the story in my opinion. So I hope it's good enough and that you all like it! I’m also going back in previous chapters, correcting mistakes and such. Nothing should be changed content wise.