//------------------------------// // 9: Just a Nightmare, Just a Nightmare // Story: Maniac's Melody // by Dementia Ravenmane //------------------------------// Twilight struggled against the chains, they were keeping her in the rusty bed that she was strapped to. She tried to use her magic, but stopped once she saw her broken horn laying on a pedestal next to her bed. The room she was laying in looked like some sort of facility, and the walls were covered in rust, mold and dried blood. A large and old machine was standing against a wall, it was rusted and covered in dials. The lavender mare screamed for help, screamed for somepony to find her. Suddenly, a pony appeared next to Twilight: the pony was a chalk-white unicorn mare with a white and purple mane, the eyes seemed to have been cut out, and in their place a red and blue vortex was present. The pony was also constantly crying a glowing green liquid. Despite the mutilations, Twilight instantly recognized the mare as her mother, Twilight Velvet. Twily tried to say her mother's name, but when she opened her mouth Velvet levitated a knife into Twilight's mouth and cut out her tounge. Twilight didn't even feel any pain, she was too shocked and scared. The lavender mare just watched as her mother placed the tounge next to the purple horn. Helpless and scared, Twilight felt tears beginning to pour down her face. Velvet just looked at her with an expressionless face before leaning forward and licking away one of the teardrops. Velvet then backed off a bit, and more ponies appeared around Twilight. They all bore the same mutilated eyes and expressionless faces. For a minute or two, they just stood there watching Twilight, who was trying to not break completely. Suddenly, some of them stepped aside to reveal a to Twilight all too familiar pegasus. "Missed me, Twilight Sparkle?" Fluttershout said with a subtle smile. Twilight's eyes widened, and she began thrashing around, trying to break free from the chains and escape from her possessed friend. But all she managed to do was to exhaust herself, and she could only watch in horror how Fluttershout walked up to her. Fluttershout slowly ran a hoof through Twilight's mane, and stopped to nibble slightly on the crippled unicorn's left ear. "It's so sad you forced me to do this. You would've been perfect as my personal assistant," Fluttershout whispered, a tone of disappointment and malice in her voice. The pale pegasus then circled around the terrified Twilight, she then giggled in a way that reminded Twilight too much about Fluttershy. "Would you kindly finish this, my dear Crusaders?" Fluttershout called. Three fillies made their way up to Twilight and jumped up next to her on the bed. When the lavender mare realized who the three fillies were, her eyes overflowed with tears of fear and sadness. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stared at Twilight with their red-blue vortex eyes for a couple of seconds before doing anything. Apple Bloom stood up on her hind legs and smeared her hoof in the green liquid pouring from her eyes, the filly then touched Twilight on the left hind leg. Twilight felt a tingle and sensed a strange smell coming from the area Apple Bloom touched. When she looked at her leg, Twilight could see a spot where she was decaying, rapidly. In only a few seconds a hole into the bone was created. The lavender unicorn tried to scream, but she couldn't since her tounge had been cut out. She just trashed in panic while the Cutie Mark Crusaders continued to spread decay over her body. "What's the matter Twily? Cat got your tounge?" Fluttershout cackled madly. Twilight's vision began to blur, and she realized that it was only a matter of seconds before it would all be over. She began crying, but her tear canals had decayed into nothing. Everything darkened as she decayed away. "Twi...wake...stimula...now!" A sting in her shoulder made Twilight bolt up in bed. She looked around herself and saw the hospital room. The lavender mare tried to calm herself, she was soaked in sweat, she was hungry and she was hyperventilating. "There Twily, take slow, deep breaths. In through the nose and out through your mouth," Stable said. Twilight took some deep breaths and forced herself to calm down. Just a nightmare, just a nightmare... the lavender unicorn thought as she regained control over her breathing. "I-I'm fine... It w-was just a n-nightmare," Twilight mumbled, stuttering slightly. Stable gave her a concerned look. "It must've been quite a nightmare. I had to triple the dose of narcotics to keep you in bed, and then give you pure epinephrine just to wake you up before you fell into a state of unreversive coma," Stable said while reading from a notepad. Twilight sighed, she had already forgotten who most of the ponies in the dream were. "I was chained to the bed... and... and... three fillies... they k-k-killed me..." Twilight mused quietly, tears formed in her eyes and slowly trailed down her cheeks. She was shaking, but not because she was cold. A sting in her shoulder made her wince, and she saw a syringe on a metal arm inject a clear fluid into her. "That should help your body get rid of the rest of the epinephrine," Stable explained as the metal arm retracted into an open hatch in the ceiling. Twilight exhaled slowly as her body stopped shaking. She crawled out of the bed and stood up on her shaking legs. "Muscles have degenerated at a constant rate of 2.5% each day, I suggest we take a tour of the base. Both to make sure you won’t get lost and to re-activate your muscles,” Stable smiled and extended a hoof. Twilight tried to grab it, but failed. Mostly because Stable was nothing more than a hologram. Stable chuckled. "Funny..." Twilight muttered as she crawled out of the bed. Once she stood up, she realized that she was wobbling, alot. It's tiring to stand up, I really should begin exercising when all this is over. After a few seconds of wobbling on the spot, Twilight followed Dr. Stable out of the hospital room. The lavender unicorn found herself standing in a fairly large hallway, it was mostly unpainted metal, but some areas had symbols and signs pointing out directions painted on them. A number of ponies, both real and holographic, were walking and talking with each other. Twilight noticed that the floor was made out of some sort of glass-like material, and that it was glowing beneath holographic ponies. "The floor is one large projector," Twilight remarked, Stable nodded. The duo then began walking down the corridor, with Twilight asking Stable about everypony and everything she saw. “So, this will be the last place on our tour of this base: The War Factory.” Stable said as they reached a particularly large door in the corridor. Above the door there was a picture of an armoured vehicle with a cannon mounted on it. Beside the picture there was a sign. “Armoured Vehicle Dispatchment Area, Safety Gear Must Be Worn At All Times.” Twilight read out loud as she took a step forward to the massive door. A glowing display was placed right next to the door, and Stable was talking to somepony through it. After a brief conversation, Stable nodded, the display turned off and the massive armoured slowly turned outwards, showing Twilight the insides of the massive hangar-like War Factory. “That… is one big door…” Twilight mumbled as the at least one meter thick door opened completely. The lavender unicorn took a couple of steps into the hangar-like area and took in the impressive scene: the room was huge, it had a very industrial look to it and vehicles were standing everywhere; they were either unused and neatly lined up, or they were well used, dirty and partly broken, as ponies were working with replacing parts on some of them. "Impressive, is it not?" Stable remarked as he came up next to Twilight. She simply nodded slowly. "But that's not why we're here. Grab a helmet, there are some ponies who wants to see you," Stable said and gestured towards the nearest wall, where a number of yellow construction helmets were hanging on a metal rack. Twilight took a helmet and put it on before following Stable, who had began trotting through the massive hangar. Twilight observed the many vehicles in the hangar, they looked like they could take on a platoon of Royal Guards on their own. Well... most of them did, some looked like they could eradicate entire armies by themselves, and the giant hangar was full of them. The purple librarian lifted her head to see a large vehicle hanging in the ceiling, it looked like a sleeker, more dangerous version of the transport that had brought her to the base. A loud clanging sound interrupted her train of thought, somepony had dropped a silvery wrench, and it had landed mere inches from Twilight's head. She looked up at the aircraft hanging right above her, a wall-eyed dark blue earth pony was leaning out over the edge of the vehicle, bearing a sheepish and concerned face. "You okay down there? I-I just don't know what happened," the pony shouted in a surprisingly deep voice, revealing him to be stallion. Twilight nodded and continued trotting after Stable, this time keeping an eye to the ceiling. After getting exactly five wrenches, eighteen screws and five hoofulls of small metal pieces (she had counted) dropped on or next to her by mistake from various clumsy ponies, Twilight and Stable had finally made it through the largest part of the vehicle bay. At least they make good helmets... Twilight philosophied as she removed her helmet and dropped it in a hatch labeled "Helmets, Hazardous Environment Suits (Mark IV only) & other protective equipment". They entered a smaller room, where individual ponies where working on armour, weapons and strange devices. At one table, a very familiar pony was sitting fidgeting with a white metal backpack while talking to a small hologram of a gray earth pony with a pink bowtie. The white mare pulled her well-combed blue mane away from her deep-green eyes and continued working. "Hey, will ya look who's awake? Welcome to the armoury. Had a good recovery, Twily?" Scratch said without looking up from her work. Twilight trotted up to the white unicorn and curiously observed the work she was doing. Scratch was using a tiny manual screwdriver to fasten a pair of pulsating tubes on a green card filled with small silvery lines inside her backpack-thingy. Not understanding why, Twilight noted to ask Scratch later what it was, if she got the time. "Um... Yes. I'm fine, thank you. How do you know my real name," Twilight asked, confused that Scratch somehow had learnt not only her real name, but her nickname. "That you can blame on Herr Doktor over there. Poor stallion can't keep his mouth shut about special patients. By the way, you can call me Shatter," Scratch said, chuckling slightly. Twilight gave Stable an annoyed glare, she didn't like too much undeserved attention. "Okay... Why can I call you Shatter?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because that's what ponies call me. My full name is Melody 'Shatter' Scratch," Shatter mumbled and fastened a small, beige card in her backpack. She closed the hatch on the backpack and used the screwdriver to secure it. Twilight rubbed her chin, both of the last names where very familiar. Twilight's train of thought was interrupted by something tackling her to the ground, and she could already guess who was responsible. "Hello Crystal, did you miss me?" Twilight groaned in irritation as she wormed her way out from beneath the brown unicorn. Crystal laughed as she helped Twilight up, but stopped as soon as Shatter's disapproving glare met her. "Seriously!? We are inside a military facility, at least try to pretend that you actually are able to act professionally," Shatter scolded. Crystal retreated with a silent "yeah whatever" and turned back to Twilight. "Sorry, I guess. But you're still the only one here I can jump without getting noticed," Crystal said, holding back a snicker. Before Twilight could reply, all the lights turned out, and red emergency lights activated in the ceiling. "What happened?" Twilight shrieked. The lavender unicorn ignited an orb of light at the tip of her horn and turned to her four companions, two alive and two holograms. "I don't know, the entire PBPU grid is in chaos. Apparantly there is some sort of disturbance in the power grid, strange readings have been picked up from somewhere and the radar has been jammed. Literally, jam is for some reason seeping over the radar monitors. Hold on a sec... Yep, it's cloudberry jam," Octavia babbled, her eyes changing colour so rapidly that Twilight got a headache from looking at it. Stable trotted up to Octavia and gave her a powerful, holographic slap. "Sorry for that, PBPUs run on a separate power grid. When something like this happens, the regular information grid is not sufficient to send all the data. Therefore some of it gets converted over to the power grid, as an extra data slot so to say. As you can see, that data sometimes is picked up by PBPUs, who begin babbling uncontrollably about everything they pick up, relevant or not," Stable explained as Octavia regained control over herself. She rubbed her temples before giving everypony a sheepish face. "Whatever, this isn't good. We have to get to the command center ASAP," Shatter barked before galloping out into a corridor. The rest of the ponies had little choice other than to follow the best they could, which was difficult considering the dull, red light in the tight corridors. "Excuse me? I'm not allowed in? I'm the highest ranking field operative on this Faust forsaken base! I'm a bloody field captain!" Shatter yelled at the holographic soldier guarding the entrance to the command center. "Well excuse me Captain Scratch, but my orders are to only let in Generals, Commanders and higher ranks," The soldier spat back, everypony in the group groaned. This one PBPU was serious about not letting them in. "Um... Excuse me Mister, Sir. Why are we not allowed in?" Twilight asked. The guard turned to her. "Because the command... Excuse me ma'am!" the soldier began, but quickly saluted when recognizing Twilight. The purple mare lifted an eyebrow, was the soldier addressing her? "Eh, could you maybe... I don't know, let us in?" she tried, hoping the guard wouldn't notice that he had taken the wrong pony. "Yes ma'am!" the guard replied, disappearing before the armoured door slowly opened like an aperture. The five ponies walked inside, the door closed and the soldier from before could be heard over a speaker. "Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle on the bridge! All personnel report!" the voice barked. The chaos in the large room stopped instantly, all the uniformed ponies running around, checking screens and yelling just froze. They all turned to Twilight and made one perfectly syncronized salute. Now what? Uh, maybe I do like they do in the books! "At ease!" Twilight yelled, all the ponies in the room stopped saluting and slowly began moving closer to Twilight. They whispered among each other. "Is it really?" "Yes it is!" "But, how?" "It's the most talented unicorn in Equestria, don't question it." Twilight backed a little, she wasn't sure on what to do. Shatter cleared her throat. "Can anypony tell us what in the name of Discord is going on?" she spoke loudly. The ponies in the room began talking among each other before one stepped forward. It was a young pegasus, he was wearing a brown uniform and a headset. "We aren't sure captain! All we know for sure is that Area 73 had a 087," the pony said. Twilight raised an eyebrow. What does that mean? "Excuse me, but what does that mean in Equestrian?" Crystal asked. Twilight could hear that she was annoyed of not understanding. The uniformed pegasus paid her no attention. "What's an 087? Where's Area 73?" Twilight curiously asked. The pegasus turned to her. "An 087 is something unknown, we're not sure on what happened. Area 73 is located at what used to be called Ponyville," one earth pony said. Twilight felt a chill run down her spine, the coincidence that it would be Ponyville, just when she was there, it didn't feel like a coincidence. It's as if somepony is toying with me, if only I knew who... The lavender unicorn stopped thinking as a loud noise erupted from the command room's speaker system. The sound was loud, obnoxious and terrifying at the same time. Everypony looked around wildly in confusion, monitors were checked, orders were barked, Shatter threw herself and Twilight to the ground, they covered their ears. The most peculiar reaction however, came from Crystal: she curled up in a ball, clenching her ears while spasming slightly. Shatter threw her a concerned look and ignited her horn: a light-blue barrier formed around Crystal, sealing her from the sound. She instantly calmed down, and laid down on the metal floor, rubbing her temples. "What's happening to her?" Twilight managed to say as the loud noise died out. "She's a mutant, her cells, proteins, everything really, isn't carbon-based. The carbon has been replaced with Chrysalium. It has a five to ninety-five per cent chance of happening to infected ponies. That's why she's so strong, durable and swift. However, it's also her curse as powerful sonic waves can disrupt, and possibly destroy her cells," Shatter said with a sigh. "Will she recover?" "Yes, just leave her in a field of Chrysalium. The stuff enables her body to rapidly heal." Shatter pressed a button on the wall, and a minute later two muscular earth ponies appeared. Shatter told them to get Crystal to the nearest Chrysalium field. They nodded, picked up the mutated mare and promptly carried her away. "We've managed to pinpoint and dechipher the signal, ma'am," a unicorn stallion said as he approached the two mares. "It appears to be some sort of beacon signal, sent from Area 73. We turned our spyglasses at the spot and saw a large Changeling base surrounding the area. They appear to be searching for something," the unicorn continued. Twilight scratched her chin. Ponyville is my old home, that much I remember. But what could be there that's of any value? Twilight stopped speculating as all the lights in the relatively small command room turned off. An ominous female voice appeared from the speakers in the room, who were now glowing red for some reason. "I know you're confused, and frankly I don't care. But I know you're there Twilight Sparkle. I can hear you. If you want answers, go back to the place where all of this began. Oh, and do it now. I'm an impatient pony," the voice was replaced by white noise and all of the lights turned back on. The entire command room was quiet, all ponies were either staring at the speakers or at Twilight. The lavender mare herself wasn't really sure on what to do either. "With all due respect ma'am. It's most probably a trap. We've detected very high Changeling activity in Area 73," a middle-aged earth pony told Twilight. "I know, but it doesn't seem like I have much choice. I need answers," Twilight replied. The earth pony, who was a mare, saluted and turned back to her colleagues. "This is actually a good opportunity to wipe out those Changelings. Your presence alone will be enough of a moral boost for our troops," Shatter mumbled to Twilight. Twilight nodded slowly and thought about her options for a while. This isn't my type of decisions... "Um, sure... I'm not the expert. I suppose we attack, or something," Twilight stammered. The entire room saluted at once. Without questioning the lavender mare, the ponies returned to their stations and began preparing. "Now what?" Twilight asked Shatter, who responded with a sinister smile. "Now? Let's go practice war, Twily..."