//------------------------------// // Chapter #4 // Story: Operation Imortuus // by Pika53 //------------------------------// Equestria, Forest east of Foal Mountains; Abandoned Barn, 7:05 pm, 8th July 20xx, Night, Weather: Stormy Groaning softly, Jaden could do little more than blink while lying on his back upon the floor of the loft; dazed by the concussive force of the magical blast. He could hear the others murmuring nearby but couldn’t move due to a dazed alicorn laying rather awkwardly on top of him as a result of the explosion. Coughing, Tess slowly sat up and shook her head; allowing him to also rise to a sitting position just behind her. Letting his gaze drift, Jaden could see the others were just managing to recover from the blast as well. The loft itself looked as though a bomb had gone off as a vast amount of hay had been strewn across the place by the explosion. Fortunately, the lanterns weren’t damaged by the blast so there was still plenty of light and no immediate threat of a fire. “W-wha… t-that was… unexpected.” Tess gasped. “Gah! Did anypony get the license of that carriage?” Cameron groaned while sitting up and rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. Turning, the cyan pegasus shot them a wicked smirk before continuing. “Ooo… gettin' rather cozy are we?” Jaden replied by rolling his eyes and giving said pony a certain hand gesture that he knew many individuals would consider rude. The act merely elicited snickers from the pony in question as Tess turned toward them in confusion before realizing what was meant and squealing indignantly. Turning his attention back toward a particular hay bale, Jaden noted the peculiar results of the spell as six of the, now animate, dolls put curious menace into the act of observing the team. The almost feral gleam in the dolls stares was somewhat disconcerting. The gray doll meanwhile, gazed back at them curiously while the blue one he’d previously been examining was bouncing merrily in place, in a manner reminiscent of another pony he knew, while chanting “Fun! Fun! Fun!” to itself in a shrill, high-pitched voice. “Who are the dweebs?” the pink doll with the flat main asked. “Can I eat…” “NO!” the other dolls, save for the hyper one, snapped. “No fair. I’m starvin’!” the pink doll whined. Moments later the pink doll was distracted by the sound of something squeaking nearby. Turning, it leaped at something just out of view and Jaden swore he could hear a rat squealing from somewhere in the vicinity of where the pink doll had landed. “Whoa! That thing just inhaled the rat!” Cameron gasped. Jaden and Tess exchanged glances before turning to Fiora. “Well, I think this takes care of our rat problem.” Jaden remarked; smirking as the darker colored pegasus grimaced. Turning back to the remaining dolls, Jaden noted that they were smirking at the team with an almost maniacal gleam in their eyes. The platinum maned blue unicorn however, appeared to be oblivious to what was happening as it continued to jump up and down while chanting to itself. “So, what should we do with them?” the butter yellow pegasus asked. Jaden thought he heard the smaller cyan pegasus mention something about target practice but wasn’t sure because the doll had a sharp raspy voice that was somewhat difficult to follow. “Pills!” the tan earth pony with a black mane squealed before grunting as it got punched in the face by one of the other dolls. Slowly, Jaden and Tess turned to one another and stared before the boy spoke up. “Uh, it seems your spell worked a little too well.” "Gee, ya think?" Tess drawled sarcastically. “I think somepony needs a hug.” Jaden retorted; snickering as the alicorn planted her face in a hoof and uttered a long suffering sigh. “I also can’t help but wonder if you somehow managed to channel Pinkie into that one.” he continued, gesturing toward the blue doll which had stopped bouncing and was giving them a bright adorable smile. Tess merely shrugged in reply as the squad slowly rose to their feet. “Uh, Tess, did you perhaps uber charge them? If so, you do realize they could be active for days.” Shadow asked. Tess turned to the unicorn colt and blinked before shrugging again. Looking on, Jaden could see that the mauve colored alicorn was in charge of the group of little ponies; much as he knew them all by name. In fact the only pony in the group that seemed out of character was the blue one. An intriguing idea for what could be done with the cunning little creatures sprang to mind as he continued to observe them while they just stared right back. He would have to be careful in how he presented the idea as it required the dolls total cooperation to work. “What do you want?” the little alicorn suddenly barked. Lost in thought, Jaden didn’t reply as he continued to stare at the dolls. Moments later, he was snapped out of his reverie as the little creature practically shrieked “If you’re going to say something than SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!” while stamping a hoof impatiently. Blinking in surprise, Jaden turned to his companions, who were equally stunned; struggling to stifle a growing smirk at the unexpected outburst. “Ooo, it seems we’ve gotta feisty one!” Zander crowed. “Yes!” Jaden replied in the best strangled Russian voice he could manage without bursting into uncontrollable laughter. It really didn’t help matters that Tess was giving him a flat incredulous stare before sighing as the little alicorn scowled at him. “Well, I will have you know that I cherish any victory over a filthy alicorn.” he continued, while still in-character; eliciting snickers from Cameron, Zander, and even some of the dolls. “Of course you do considering your far more mentally advanced than the rest of us.” Tess retorted, rolling her eyes as the purple toy continued to glower at him. Jaden snorted in amusement; noting the evident sarcasm in the mare’s voice. He was also absurdly pleased she’d caught the reference. “I was gonna say earlier that I think I’ve got a proposal that could be mutually beneficial to all parties if you’re interested.” he continued; returning to the original question. “Go on.” the lavender colored doll prodded. “Well, considering how late it is, and the weather, it might be better to discuss the proposal in the morning. We could use the time to rest up since it’s quite a walk to our destination from here.” Jaden replied. The ponies, both big and small, looked to one another; exchanging opinions without uttering a single word before finally murmuring in agreement at the idea. Jaden meanwhile, turned his attention to the platinum maned blue unicorn. It took a moment for said doll to realize it was being observed before casting him a curious look. “So, what should we call you since the only name that comes to mind doesn’t quite match your charming personality.” he asked. The doll seemed to mull something over for a long moment before responding. “In that case, just call me Edi.” After mulling the suggestion over briefly, Jaden nodded. It was a simple name and Jaden rather liked the sound of it as the now larger group began to make themselves comfortable. *************** Equestria, Forest east of Foal Mountains; Abandoned Barn, 9:30 pm, 8th July 20xx, Night, Weather: Stormy Lying on a hay bale, Edi watched the rather bizarre spectacle occurring around her with an air of bemused indifference as she quietly snacked on a bag of chips that were surprisingly still edible despite being in the dilapidated barn for who knew how long. Curiously, it had been Rarifruit’s unique abilities that had led to the discovery of the snacks among the plethora of more questionable items. Shifting her gaze, Edi could just make out the deluge of falling rain through an opening on the far side of the loft and knew that in the morning travel would be more difficult do to the mud. Not that it bothered her of course; although she suspected some of the others wouldn’t appreciate the situation. Turning back toward the group, Edi knew deep down that she was different from the other dolls. After all, in one sense, when all their energy was gone they’d cease to exist and would return to lifeless toy hood. Of course their current existence was nothing more than a projection of one of the big ponies’ mental image of something they’d seen in a video. After the spell ceased, they would still ‘live’, in a way, within the big pony’s memories. On reflection, that was probably something the others wouldn’t like to hear. Even though she didn’t understand how or why any of it worked, Edi didn’t question it any more than she questioned how she could use magic; she just could, and she left it at that. She also didn’t question how she knew the population of Ponyville; although, upon reflection, it was a curious thing that she knew anything about the town since she’d never been there before. Shrugging inwardly, Edi let the thought go and took a sip from a nearby bottle of water. She also had a hunch about what the bipedal thing and the big ponies’ proposal could be but wanted the see if she was right; or how the other dolls would react. Speaking of the others, they were all busy entertaining themselves in a number of ways. Edi watched Pinkis Cupcake curl up in a darkened corner on the far side of the loft and go to sleep after gorging herself on no less than a dozen rats. ApplePills was in a similar state as she continued to consume the contents of a rather large bottle of pills near the pink pony. Derpigun and Rainbine meanwhile, were taking part in a card game with most of the big ponies. Edi was intrigued by the game and figured she’d join in on a future round. She also thought Fluttershout might be interested; that is when she was done attending to her current charge of course. If she recalled correctly, shortly after they’d all been brought suddenly in existence the bipedal creature had challenged Brutalight to a sparring contest. After the rules had been set, the pair tore into one another with such speed and agility as to leave everypony else utterly captivated. In fact, if she hadn’t known better, Edi would’ve assumed they’d rehearsed the event sometime prior. Of course the duel had ended in a draw as both combatants had come perilously close to actually killing one another. Now, in a nearby corner of the loft, Fluttershout was looking after Brutalight; considering said pony had recently consumed another type of beverage that had been found after she’d enhanced it with her magic. It was obvious however; that Fluttershout wasn’t amused by Brutalight’s increasingly eccentric behavior and was discreetly looking for a way out. Edi winced at the memory of Brutalight’s sudden revelation about having wings and subsequent attempt to fly. That hadn’t ended well but at least she’d attempted the stunt from another hay bale so Brutalight was likely okay. Edi also suspected that one of the big ponies had tampered with the beverage prior to Brutalight getting a hold of it but couldn’t prove the theory. Rolling her eyes, she had to wonder who would leave such things just lying around a place like this. Finally, there was Rarifruit. Edi snorted softly as she recalled all the drama surrounding that particular pony. Judging from the ruckus downstairs, Fruity, Edi rather liked the nickname, was still rather angry about something one of the big ponies had said. As she recalled, the incident began with what Edi guessed was some sort of unfair assumption regarding Rarifruit and Pinkis Cupcake being mother/daughter based on the relation of the souls of the beings used to create them. The first comment had elicited little more than an exasperated snort from Fruity but was quickly followed by a rather inane comment about somepony named Andar-something liking mares with disproportionate cutie mark regions and love handles which had prompted a shriek of fury from the white unicorn. From somewhere downstairs, said pony was shouting things unprintable as she attempted to kill the bipedal thing and the big green pony for making the comment. Shaking her head, Edi snorted again; amused by the varying degrees of incredulity worn on the faces of the card playing group at the continued commotion. “Someone stop this crazy wench! She’s tryin’ to kill us!” came a shout from downstairs. “Don’t care dear!” the big carmal pony, ‘Tess’ if Edi recalled the name correctly, retorted while rolling its eyes. “Look out! She’s got a freakin’ lawnmower!” a second voice shouted from downstairs. “How is she even operating that thing?” the first voice retorted. Taking another sip, Edi rolled her eyes once more at the craziness surrounding her. If the current situation was anything to go by then this whole experience was bound to get interesting. Edi was snapped out of her musing moments later as a sudden commotion nearby grabbed her attention. Turning, she watched as Fluttershout continued to fuss over Brutalight who was acting even stranger than usual. “C’mon, your gonna sleep it off!” the butter yellow pegasus growled. “I don’t wanna!” the lavender alicorn whined. Edi barked out a laugh as she watched the pair continue to bicker among themselves; particularly when Brutalight called Fluttershout “mommy”. Edi knew instinctively that she could have so much fun with Brutalight about that but wouldn’t dare mention it as she did value her life. Soon after, Brutalight fell asleep and Fluttershout began making her way toward the main group. Clambering to her hooves, Edi quickly hopped off the hay bale and approached the butter yellow pegasus. She then nodded toward the card playing group and after a brief pause Fluttershout nodded in agreement and the pair made their way toward that part of the loft. “So, 'mommy'?” Edi remarked casually. “Mention that ever again and I’ll fill you're head with so much noise you won't be able to function!” Fluttershout snarled. Giggling, Edi waved a hoof in a placating manner. After all, there was no reason for anypony to get all worked up over the matter. Of course she didn’t think any of the big ponies would make a big deal over the issue; although some of them might say something. The outcome certainly wouldn’t be any different than what was already happening downstairs. Giggling again, Edi looked forward to seeing what would happen next.