Lyra Heartstrings
I felt like Tartarus chewed me up and spit me out into Hades. Can't say I had ever been brain raped before. This one was new. The bad sort of new. Bon-bon attempting to use sugar free chocolate to make fondant levels of badness.
Bon-bon. I missed her so bad right now. I couldn't help but wonder what she was doing, if she was ok. Shifty Jerkface probably had a minion copy my shape so that Bonnie wouldn't notice I was gone. I wonder if that was working out. Could changeling's copy memories? If not somebuggy was getting the third degree from Bon-bon wondering what on Equis I could be up to. Like she always did when I wasn't all playfully hyper.
All I could do was think. My body stayed firmly planted alongside everyone else, I kept staring into the crystals, eyes searching for anypony coming through them. Admittedly, I didn't want to tangle with an alicorn, even if I wasn't under mind control. At least I knew that it was a real thing now. There would be some much needed updates to tell my fellow conspirators.
My eyes caught some motion in the crystal field. A faint rippling sort of movement atop one of the crystal formations. The others saw it too, we leaned forwards as one, staring into the distance. We must have looked forever, but nothing was there. At least I hoped nothing was there.
The three of us relaxed slightly. Not that anypony wanted to. This was a special kind of hell I would be damn sure to make Jerkface pay for through an orifice I would make expressly for that purpose using a hammer.
Somewhere in the distance something made a scratching, scraping, metallic sound. Even through the mind control my ears lay back and the fur on the back of my neck stood up. Fortunately after ten minutes nothing happened. I made a mental note to avoid crystal mines in the future, if at all possible.
~~
Twinkleshine / Meep
Despite the horror of being controlled by someling else, it was an interesting experience. Frustrating as not being able to move my own legs was it was interesting to ride along in my body as it moved basically of its own accord. I wondered if this is how drones felt.
The little guys never protested, and their minds had always been almost entirely blank when I was in command. But still, as the author Bear Scribe once penned, “Do androids dream of electric ponies?” Drones did have their glitches and oddities, as much as any two cats might be different. Some drones would curl up and sleep in any given open container, most of them chase shiny things. Noling knows why.
Another pony author once said “There have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code, that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul.” We certainly see drones as machines. If they were truly any more than that, perhaps I should apologize or ask permission If I ever operated one again.
My thoughts were shattered as some grating metallic sound echoed through the cavern. It lasted for a second, as if a dog with metal claws was scrambling across a tile floor. That set my heart racing. It was creepy enough being mind controlled and reflecting on the ironic nature of your own abilities without some sort of hell maw opening up and letting the legions of the damned spew forth to eat the souls of the living.
Much to my relief the vigil imposed upon us by the Queen continued quietly. No giant monster burst forth from the crystals to avenge the wall Lyra had broken through. No half incinerated changeling soldier out for blood lust. Just the shimmering light of the cavern and silence.
~~
Colgate Aquafresh
My head felt like a full construction crew of tiny earth ponies were busy smashing it apart with sledgehammers. This was not a headache, this was more than a migraine, this was the Big Bang of headaches. A singularity of throbbing, pulsing, spikes of pain expanding outwards infinity over an eternity, then collapsing back into that one tiny point to explode again.
Every single time I tried to ignore the queen's command it got infinitely worse. But I had to keep trying. It was wrong, controlling another thinking being like this. Forcing the three of us to stand stock still and wait for somepony to come through just to try to kill them, had to be some sort of crime against nature. I swore that if I got out of this and it was ever within my power I would give that queen a root canal. Without painkillers. Using my grandfathers old instruments.
The three of us stood side by side a few dozen yards in front of the mine exit, staring back down into the crystal forest. The buzzing pain in my head kept me from noticing much else besides the ocean of crystals. There simply was nothing I could do, at least not physically.
It was very hard, but I could think. I could get a few thoughts gathered together here and there. Fragments of sentences, small pleas for help. I was never very religious, someponies pray to Celestia but not me. Its silly to assume somepony can hear your thoughts when you can just write them a letter. But maybe, just maybe there was something to the idea.
Just maybe somepony could hear my desperate plea, <Help. Please.>
~~
Stealth Recon Droid GRUE 23Φ
The gem mines were vast, covering many kilometers of twisting and turning maze like tunnels and chambers. It would take a pony several days to explore all of the mine. But Phi was not a pony. It could cover the mines sprawling expanse in only a few hours. Which was very good, master had asked so nicely for Phi to search the old mines for blue eyed bugs.
Phi had never seen blue eyed bugs before. Only the green the green eyed bugs, its masters, had been in its databanks. When Phi had first seen a blue bug, it had thought it’s cameras were malfunctioning, and had to run several diagnostics before understanding that yes, those bugs were blue.
Phi sprinted down a primary tunnel leading to the exit. It's eight fingered circular feet padded over the crystalline floor, reactive servos reducing it's foot falls to nearly silent taps. The only other sign of Phi's presence was a slight distortion in the air where it was at any given moment. Master had spared no expense with its stealth systems.
Phi didn't know exactly why it was asked to scout the mines and count the blue bugs, but it was happy to do it. It was so much more fun than being plugged into the kennel or getting worked on in the shop. Besides bugs were fun to stalk, some of them could sense its presence over psi channels. It was a challenging game! A game which it had won, all Phi needed to do was get close enough to the mine's exit where it would have a signal and then tell master all about the game.
The tunnel opened up into a large field of crystals. Without even the tiniest adjustment in speed Phi raced onward, zipping around the formations with mechanical precision. No matter how close it got to the cave's exit Phi just couldn't get a signal. Frustrated it jumped, all four limbs grasping the side of one of the crystal formations as it scrabbled up atop the side, hoping to find even a single bar.
It was a difficult climb, and Phi had to make a little noise but much to its delight, at the top of the crystal formation was a three bar connection. Phi deployed its comm antennae and quickly sent back its report along the proper encrypted channels.
GRUE 23Φ – Outgoing Transmission to Operator Number 12
Operation Blue Bug Hunt
Field Report 34
June 17th 2000 EoH – 0948Completed assigned task. Mines beneath Canterlot confirmed as Sapphire staging area. Enemy forces consist primarily of drones. 12:1 drone to soldier ratio. Workers not present in staging area. Threat to Canterlot medium. Estimated pony DEAFCON: 2. Probability of pony defenders overcoming threat 87.67%. Emerald Marine Forces not required to intervene.
End Report
P.S.
I saw a squirrel. He was doin like this!
***Attached Video File***
See?
Suddenly its systems registered three heat signatures up ahead, just in front of the mine's entrance. Phi's ears metaphorically drooped. It had sent an incomplete report. That wouldn't do at all. Phi deplored its sensor array, several dozen invisible laser sweeps, thermal sensors, sonar pulses and psi scans rapidly fetching it all the information anything could ever want.
Quickly reopening the comm channel Phi sent out addendums to its report as it analyzed the data.
Addendum – 0949 Sapphire Hive forces have set three local ponies to guard staging area exit. Moving to observe. Standby for information.
Addendum – 0950 Ponies spotted this unit moving to position. Cloaking field prevented full discovery. Preceding with data retrieval.
ALLERT! Multiple thermatergic signatures detected! Amber Hive civilian present in morph as one of the ponies on guard. Locals and Amber Hive civilian appear to be under the effects of mind control. Blue pony possesses abnormal aura, possible transformation spell contained within Blue Pony’s aura. Confirming observation.
ALLERT! Identity of green pony verified: Lyra Heartstrings, B.A.R.D. member, nealy discovered Scout #892, possibly aware of Emerald Hive’s operations within Ponyville. Nonhostile. Presence of two allied individuals confirmed. Blue pony confirmed to be under the influence of a transformation spell.
ALLERT! Received arcane transmission from Blue pony. Relaying message through Arc Net...
Message as follows: <Help. Please.>
Requesting orders.
Phi waited a few agonizingly long minutes. The multiple alerts demanding that it do something. Finally, just as it thought its CPU was going to explode from it all, orders from master came in.
Operator Number 12 – Outgoing Transmission to GRUE 23Φ
Operation Blue Bug Hunt
Mission Update
June 17th 2000 EoH – 1001High Command has informed me of plans for Lyra Heartstrings. Her captivity is unacceptable. Standing orders regarding survivors of the Amber Hive massacre require our intervention as well.
Cast the attached mind control dispel charm on the group to disrupt the Saphire control. Once they have freed themselves, ensure they exist the mine safely. High Command has reassigned us to watch Lyra pending a new operation. Follow her once she is clear of the mine, remain undetected. Report in every 3 hours.
If you are discovered self destruct is authorized pending a data dump.
***Attached spell data file***
P.S.
You just earned us a commendation from the boss. Good dog!
Phi was so happy from master's praise it wished it could bark for joy. Since this was beyond Phi's abilities it did a little shuffling happy dance instead. While casting the spell which had been sent to it, of course.
~~
Colgate Aquafresh
I had thought that my headache was as bad as a headache could ever get. I was wrong. Right out of nowhere it decided to tipple in size and punch me square in the ovaries from the inside. If I wasn't being forced to stand my ground I would have been rolling on the ground screaming and trying to bash my brains out on the nearest rock to make it stop.
Instead, I had to stand there, unable to move, unable to think. There was no me, only headache. I hardly noticed as two ponies came gliding across the cavern, landing on the ground a few yards in front of us. It took me a full five seconds to recognize them as a very battered Princess Cadence and Twilight Sparkle. They took two steps forewords when the world exploded.
Fireworks of all colors exploded in my eyes, vaporizing rocks, and crystals, the air, everything. Only black inky void was left along with rippling bands of color. The explosions echoed off of the nothingness making a sound like crystal shattering, smashing together, and forming anew only to be smashed once again.
When only the nothing remained, the sound merged together into one single humming note. From the nothingness two glowing green eyes opened. Their sightless gaze turned to me, looking at me so intensely I feared I would catch on fire. A moment later a third eye opened in the nothingness just above and between the other two where a unicorn's horn would be.
An earth shattering but kind voice filled my mind, <Awaken child. Frolic within the mind's garden where all are one.>
The two lower eyes blinked, reality snapping back as they did so with only the ghostly image of the third eye hanging in my vision for a few moments. My headache was gone, in its place was memories of skills I didn't remember learning and one giant question.
What by Discord's cloven hoof was that?!
I took stock of what was going on. Maybe there was some clue as to what in even the fuck had just happened nearby. I was advancing on Cadence and Twilight, Meep and Lyra were at my side. Together we menacingly droned, “You're not going anywhere...”
Oh Tartarus no, we were not going to fight a hurt alicorn and Celestia's protege at the same time. Or at all. Ever. I wouldn't allow it.
Suddenly Cadence picked up a bouquet of flowers. Exactly where she had pulled them from was so perplexing that even under the mind control we stopped in our tracks. In that moment I could feel the mental chains holding the three of us to the Queen's will. There was slack in them.
I gripped the chains, pulled on them as hard as I could. They were mine now. Cadence swished the bouquet side to side hoping to distract us. I had us follow the flowers, and as she flung the bouquet down a tunnel I gave an order. <You want those.>
“I want it!” Lyra shouted diving after the bouquet, Meep and I right on her flanks as the chains cracked, shattered, and crumbled to dust. We were free.
Skidding painfully down a steeply sloped floor made of crystal, but free.
“Why do I want this? I'm already married.” Lyra asked, picking up the flowers with her magic. Suddenly she grinned, “Holy crap I'm free!”
Meep got to her hooves slowly, painfully. I hope she wasn't still hurt. “So am I. Huh... Apparently flowers beat mind control.”
I almost said nothing. Almost. But for once in my life, I felt the need for my due. “Actually, I broke us out of it. I felt the chains holding our minds in place and when we were surprised, they got just a little loose. So I broke them.”
Lyra raised an eyebrow, “Really?”
Meep frowned, “But your not a psion... Did you do that with magic?”
I shook my head. “I don't know how I did it. I felt like I could, so I did.”
Lyra frowned skeptically, “Then why didn't you do that sooner?”
Realizing a simple solution to both of their questions, I decided to try directing my thoughts again. After all that seemed to have worked last time. <I couldn't. I had a bad headache, then I knew I could.>
“That still doesn't excise- hold on your mouth didn't move... Um... ok...” Lyra took a half step back in surprise.
Meep jumped, eyes widening much more I had ever seen them before. “So, well, ok. Cole had a psi awakening... Makes sense. You've been subjected to psionics for years, and now a lot at once. If you had the potential, that could do it.”
I blushed, a bit embarrassed, “Maybe that's why I've always been bad at magic... We should get going.”
Lyra nodded, “Right. Twilight found Cadence, so she's on top of Shifty Jerkface's plans. We should find Bonnie, Vi, and Tavi and make sure they are ok... Then come back to Cole getting mind powers later. When we have books on it or something.”
Meep nodded, “That seems like the best plan. Let's go.”
The three of us ran up the tunnel, the sound of our hooves pounding on the ground echoing off the walls. I had a feeling deep in my gut. A bad feeling. No matter what happened I was going to make sure my friends were ok.