//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Wingless 
// by Ryonne 
//------------------------------//

	A bolt of electricity shot through the sky, momentarily illuminating the world below before disappearing into the hefty storms clouds. As the first drops of rain began to fall on the sleeping earth, a light wind played with the desert plants’ withered leaves. For many creatures of the wilderness, this was a moment of beauty and salvation; after long periods of drought, this moment was almost paradise.
        It was that way for some; not as much for others.
        A figure tore over the sands, leaving a path of dust in its stead. Behind him fluttered the shadow of a large coat, kicked up in its momentum. As another flash of lightning lit the scene, an onlooker may have caught a glance of the fellow’s body. Wet, matted strands of hair clung to the being’s face, blocking most of its true countenance but revealing a single, panicked eye. There was an odd air of determination about it, evident in its steady forward pace, which conveyed a certain air of mystery. It was calm and collected in its forward gait, yet ever so desperate in its visage. It came to a sudden halt in front of a lofty iron gate. Straightening itself to full height, the silhouette considered its opponent.
        Dropping onto a knee, the being studied the dust below in a sort of silent contemplation. After a quick nod and a swift jump, it stood. Then, it vaulted onto one of the lowest reachable bars, wriggling its legs into a secure position before continuing. As the rainwater coated the slippery iron, the figure slowly but surely began its ascent up the fence.
        Suddenly, a small object fell from the silhouette, briefly taking from in a flash of lightning before disappearing once more into the darkness. Though the curious object made a thud as it hit the wet desert floor, the feeble noise was drowned in a sudden roll of thunder which intervened on the scene.
        The shadow scrambling up the gate halted suddenly and turned to stare at the object. For some reason, it seemed to be regarding it in the reigning twilight of the night. Shaking its head, the silhouette turned and flung its leg over the gate. Another flash of light, and the being's back was revealed. A yellowed, dirty lab coat was, though concealing the rest of the figure's body, completely visible, before it vanished over the fence. Once more, it returned to the shadows.
        As the shower intensified, the multitude of raindrops soaked the metallic device, slowly burying it in the wet sand.
        In the darkness, a single red dot lit up on the object.


WINGLESS


A fanfiction by Ryonne



Chapter 1


        A bolt of electricity shot through Rainbow Dash’s sleeping body, and she was awake. With the sudden jolt from her peaceful slumber, the cyan pegasus found herself on her hooves, her forelegs raised above her head and her teeth grit tightly. As she carefully studied her surroundings, the look of anger on her countenance transformed into that of slight confusion. The room she was in was… empty? As the rapid rate of her heart began to slow, the mare realized she was standing on her two hind legs. She promptly returned to all fours.
        She stared about herself. The room was comprised of a vast, milky white void, which stretched on as far as Dash could see. As the mare took a closer look, she realized that there was actually nothing in her immediate vicinity. Had she gone blind? She turned her gaze down to her chest. It was still there. Despite the fact that her mane was slightly shorter than she had remembered, nothing noticeable had changed.
        Spinning around and attempting to spread her wings, Dash jumped into the sky. For a brief moment, she felt the wonderful gliding sensation which had overcome her so many times before; she felt the wind in her mane, the whistle of air as it flew past her head, and the abrupt tap of her hooves as she came back to Earth.  She had only jumped four feet.
Quickly lifting her hoof to crane her neck backwards, she took a second to analyze her own body. A large metallic saddle was attached to her back, firmly restraining the two feathery limbs she loved so dearly. Just between the two wings was a single, blinking red light, which emitted a loud ticking noise with every flash it made. As the beat of her heart began to slow, she noticed that so too did the constant blink of the light.
        "Hello?" Rainbow Dash called out into the milky white void of the distant horizon. Her voice fell flat. She had expected some kind of echo, or any indication that the room wasn’t the endless chamber she was beginning to regard it as. Desperate to receive some kind of a response, she raised her hoof and brought it down against the cold, metallic ground. Again, she could only hear the dead clap. In a final attempt, she opened her mouth to scream.
        "Oh, it appears you have awakened," another voice interrupted. Suddenly, a small velvet pillow and wooden table materialized in front of Rainbow Dash, who closed her mouth abruptly. "We would ask that you seat yourself over there so that we may give you a briefing as to why you are here." There was an odd tranquility to the voice's tone. It was definitely male, but it was almost too deep to be the voice of an average pony. Rainbow Dash felt her muscles relax at its sound. However, her own instincts intervened as she took an aggressive step forward.
        Rainbow Dash cast an angry glare up to the sky. "Why don't you come out and show yourself, and maybe I will?" she shouted at nothing in particular. She didn't know what she was talking to, but, previous events considered, she had instinctually gone with the assumption that it wanted to kill her.
        "That cannot be executed at the moment," it replied, showing no change in emotion. At this, the ground beneath Dash began to transform, sprouting forth pebbles and rocks from the cold metal of the floor. As this new Earth began to mold itself, it transformed into a sort of fixed path, matching the position of Dash’s legs almost exactly. Correspondingly, she took a nervous step back and lifted her hoof off of the strange ground. On both sides of the passageway, a multitude of torches arose from the grass and began to rearrange in a frantic pattern, almost as if some alternate force were lining them up with the small path. Her eyes followed the gray stones back to the pillow and table, still sitting in silence as if to beckon towards the mare. Rainbow Dash took another step back. Leaning down, she tapped one of the stones. Yes, it was definitely there.
        "From past data, we have found reasoning with a subject to be more difficult when said subject is not even willing to approach its observer." The pegasus lifted her head and returned her glare to the heavens. The voice continued, "And we believe doing so contrasts what is customary of pony culture. Perhaps we could rectify some of your grievances with a little… illumination, if it is not a hindrance."
        With a sudden flash, the torches burst into life. The flickering lights of each individual flame danced up towards the white sky, which slowly began to dim to a dark shade of purple. Rising from the horizon, a mighty skyline, dotted with thousands of shining stars, began to take form in its depths, punctuated by the glow of a brilliant moon. At this, Rainbow Dash jumped back, then leaned forward. Her wings spread, she turned, a stupefied expression painted across her face, to the ground surrounding the path. The placid landscape had begun to give birth to fuzzy green blades of grass and numerous weeds. She returned her gaze to the first two items that had been created as her mouth dropped open.
        "Uh, what was that?" she called in a meek voice towards the sky. Shaking her head, she adopted a more gruff tone of voice. "Uh, I mean, whadda you think you're doing here?"
        "It will be explained when the subject agrees to seat herself," came the deep drone of the voice, which now appeared to be emanating from the very ground itself. "Averagely, subjects such as you willingly comply with the demands set forth by the test control unit, and do not cling to their own personal opinions. We trust you can adopt their abilities?" Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to retort, but closed it as she let loose an exasperated sigh. She began to walk down the path. It was odd; though she had assumed that the torches were artificial, she could smell their fire and feel its very heat as she walked past. The cyan pegasus halted on the large pillow and lay down.
        "Well," the voice said with a faint hint of exasperation. It now appeared to be emenating from behind her. "We may begin now, if we encounter no further complications—"
        "Who are you?" Rainbow Dash interrupted, shifting around on the soft fabric. She turned to shoot a menacing glare behind her, only to find herself face to face with a torch.
        "You have requested information of the control unit’s identity, but we fear the query is invalid. It is not exactly a pony in the conventional definition of the term," the voice replied.
        "Uh… right.” Furrowing her brow, she cocked her head as she stared intently into the torch's flame.
        "Yes. The official testing classification would be ATaMoTS, acting as an acronym for 'Artificial Testing and Manipulation of Terrain Simulator'. We would request that it be referred to as Adam, however, as it should come of more casual nature for both units to refer to themselves by conventional names, subject Dash. After all, the control unit is not the ATaMoTS itself; it is only the machine's representation. It truly is their mistake for--"
        "Hold on a second," Dash broke in again. "What do you mean by ‘they’?" She rose from her lying position and looked out on the wide landscape surrounding the small table.
        "Oh," Adam said with a pause. "They are the original designers of the control unit. Has that not been clarified yet? Adam is actually an artificial intelligence. The core—as the classification “control unit” suggests—is designed to oversee and control testing environments while providing a database of information from past tests. As to the current whereabouts of the original designers, the database finds no information, but Adam is now in complete control of the testing center. The user will not find data specifically notable about them." The voice stopped abruptly, and there was a sudden shifting noise in the distance. Dash started, turning to face the source of the sound.
        "You are here for a definite reason, however," the voice continued, causing Dash to turn back towards the cloud line. "You have been selected to take part in a testing course of their primary device: the ATaMoTS itself. The basis of the project is simple. We will run a sequence of scenarios, and you will simply need to relax and respond to them as you normally would in an everyday situation. Afterward, you will be queried as to the realism of the event. Do you comply?"
        Rainbow Dash glared up at the sky. "You—Adam, thing, or whatever you are—better lemme go. I got a life, you know! My friends need me. The last thing I want is to be roped into your silly little prison gimmick."
        A light breeze blew over the scene, playing with the flames of the nearby torches. "Prison?" Adam questioned, a note of confusion seeping into his normally emotionless voice. The cyan pegasus turned her attention to a lightning bug that had suddenly entered the makeshift campsite. It paused for a brief second, appearing to scan the pony before blinking away into the inky blackness of the night.
        "Ah," said Adam. Suddenly, Dash's saddle clicked off, falling to the stone ground with a loud clang. "It seems we learn more about the pony mind every day. Please excuse our momentary lack of judgment; it would certainly hinder our testing relationship to exhibit such mannerisms of hostility. We would like to apologize for briefly detaining you in this saddle."
        Rainbow Dash spread her weary wings and allowed them to hit the breeze. Feeling the cold air against her feathers, she released a long sigh of relief. However, the look of relaxation quickly turned to one of determination. In a flash, she was once more soaring through the sky. The thrilled pegasus tore through the cloud line above and pursued what she expected to be the ceiling. Once again, she felt the wind blowing through her mane; she could hear the faint whistling noise as her body slipped through the atmosphere. But no matter how fast she flew, she could still here the solemn voice of Adam pierce the night.
        "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Dash."
        A roaring sound, similar to the noise of a thousand gears grinding against each other, sounded throughout the world. Dash turned a curious eye downward and put on a slight frown. However, her mouth quickly dropped open as she watched the ground begin to draw closer to her. Soon, the familiar flooring of weeds and tall grass was level with her soaring form. The grass shook and dirt flew into the sky as if a heavy wind had disrupted them. She slowed her escape, and soon came to a rest on the soft dirt beneath her. Half defeated, she dropped onto her stomach and panted as she caught her breath. She turned to stare up at the sky, and listened as Adam cleared his throat.
        "We see you exhibit quite the aggressive attitude," he said with the faintest hint of annoyance. The world began to melt away until only the white, empty room remained. "This is an infinite testing course. Unless the coding calls for walls to be created, it will stretch on indefinitely. To put it in terms that you will understand, the testing chamber possesses the same qualities as your Equestria, to some extent. It certainly varies from subject to subject as to what they regard as relevant, but we certainly do not see a goal in flying for all eternity." Rainbow Dash only gave a soft whimper in response.
        Shakily rising to her hooves, the cyan pegasus watched as the atmosphere began to transform once more, generating a deep purple horizon before shifting to a pitch black. Once more, the millions of stars which had so recently been purged from the chamber returned, bathing the exhausted mare in their soft glow. The grassy floor beneath her melted away until only a single, white cloud remained.
        "To adopt a term you will easily understand, time does figuratively fly, does it not? Our records tell us it has already been a full day in Equestria! Now, we can infer many things from your actions, but the one thing that is most prevalent is that you seem a bit… exasperated? We suggest that you take this brief period to get some rest. It will allow the control unit time to arrange your first testing situation. To accommodate your slumber, a small scene has been arranged from your memory; please observe. Perhaps you may remember this? We discovered this within your subconscious. For now, we would request that you relax. After all, how could this testing experience possibly be beneficial if neither of us is actually enjoying it?"
        "Hold on," Rainbow Dash called out, "No, get back here! Tell me what's going on here! Lemme go! I--" She halted, and released a deep sigh, allowing her head to droop downwards. Her eyes trained on the soft cloud as ideas swam through her mind. The cloud was definitely from her memories, but how could he have known that? How had he accessed her brain without her awareness? The more she considered Adam, the less she trusted him. However, she could absolutely agree with one thing that he had said: she was incredibly tired. The weather pony dropped onto the soft fluff of her new bed. Though her eyes burned with the deep sensation of exhaustion, she didn't feel that she was able to drift off to sleep just yet.
        The events of the day weighed down on her psyche, challenging her perception on the situation as a whole. How long would she be there? What would need to be done before she could escape? Would this "Adam" attempt to hurt her? The small pegasus' eyes drifted towards the clouds above. It seemed like the tension which had been building in her throughout the entire day was reaching its capacity. She shifted around on the clouds, attempting to retain control of her actions. This echoed the crisis of a dam overloaded with water. Closing her eyes, she stood. It seemed that somewhere on that dam, a crack was formed. Raising her head high, she released a passionate scream which traveled through the air and pierced the reigning silence of the night. For the first time that day, she could hear her echo.
        With that, she dropped back onto the cloud and fell into a deep sleep.

        ~~~

        Cold.

Something reached out and poked Dash. Amidst her peaceful slumber, she could feel it cut into her like a knife. It struck directly through her coat, enveloping her entire body in a strange burning sensation. The absent thought of cold lingered in her mind, dancing through her world of sleep. With another gust of wind, however, it jumped to the forefront. And with her eyes burning and mind reeling from confusion, she was awake.
        Quickly finding her hoofing, a quivering Dash rose from her position on the ground. After a quick but wide yawn, she turned a puzzled eye on her surrounding environment. The sky above had turned a dark shade of gray, and small crystal white snowflakes fell from its icy depths. As she ever so slowly began to come to her senses, she studied the ground beneath her. The previously grassy plains had transformed into an icy terrain, punctured by large, spikey rocks, which protruded from the thick snow. The cyan pegasus turned to the horizon, a confused expression dawning on her groggy visage. In the distance, Dash could just make out the outline of several mountains piercing the small hills in their circumference.
        All of a sudden, something clicked in Rainbow Dash's mind and she understood the situation completely.
        The weather pony sprung off the ground and soared across the mountaintop. Reaching the surface's precipice, she halted abruptly. Taking great care in her hoofwork as she strode to the edge, she peeked over the cliff to view what lay below.
        The mountain dropped off into a vast and intricate forest. The trees scattered about the distant ground appeared almost as minuscule blades of grass, peeking up from winter's frozen soil. It would seem that an average pony would be absolutely horrified when placed in an event such as this, but Dash merely raised her eyebrow as she took a step back. She turned her head to the sky. Right now, the one thing she needed was an explanation, and the only place she could get it was from the heart of the machine itself.
        "Adam, what the hay happened here?" Dash cursed towards the sky, shooting her invisible foe a menacing glare.
        A sudden loud grating sound, echoing the noise from earlier, suddenly filled the room. Rainbow Dash jumped slightly and spun around, searching her surroundings for the cause. Immediately following it, a rising whirr sounded, stretching out for a few minutes before terminating. Then, the entire world shook, a loud rumble resonating through the mountains and disturbing the multitude of trees on the ground. For a split second, it seemed even the lights of the sun had dimmed before abruptly returning to their brilliant glow. Finally, she could hear the familiar noise of Adam take a deep breath in, and let it release.
        "Hello, subject Dash?"
        "Um, anything to say about - I don't know - everything?" the confused mare replied, absently waving a hoof at the ground. "Where'd all the snow and mountains come from?"
        "Our processors had assumed that you were familiar with this landscape," Adam said. There was a pause before he continued, “The observation core was exploring the depths of your mind further while you slept. We have always found the absent thoughts of a pony while they sleep to be quite… interesting. At any rate, it reached a section about extensive pony history, and began to analyze the psychology surrounding it and your personal reactions. To abbreviate what could be an extensive monologue, we will simply state that the control unit was curious as to how an average pegasus like yourself would react to the same extreme temperatures that your ancestors experienced. Regard it as one of our first little science experiments, so to speak."
        "Wha—Are you crazy?" Dash countered, shaking her head in disbelief. "You—You know what’ll happen. You saw that the ancestors couldn't-"
        "Oh calm down, will you?" Adam interrupted, suddenly switching to a peculiar low tone of voice. Shifting back to his formal way of speaking, he continued, "Pardon that- It perplexes us as to how surprised you are by this. You are a pegasus, after all. You should possess the dexterity necessary to survive through a situation such as this. It is only for a brief period of time; we can’t be expected to hold you forever. Besides, we understand you're a weather pony, correct?"
        "I—Well—Uh," the mare stammered, reaching for a good comeback. "You're right." She paused to turn her glance to the ground and then brought her head back up. "Alright, that's it. I've had it with this cryptic mumbo-jumbo you've been feeding me. I want to know what you're doing with my head, and I want my answers now!" She raised her hoof and spread her wings, a piercing glare decorating her face. 
        "We would suggest for you not to be so bold with the testing core, subject Dash; know your place. You’ll soon find that this place isn’t exactly as it seems. At any rate, the test protocol states that—to ensure the stability of a testing situation such as this one and to ensure its results will not be influenced—we are not allowed to speak to you until this has concluded. Good luck!"
        "But wait!" Rainbow cried, jumping up into the air and hovering slightly. "Adam, I want to--"
        Only silence answered her plea.
        Rainbow Dash released a sigh and lowered herself back to the ground. “Well,” she mumbled to herself, “I guess there's only one thing left that I can do.” The cyan pegasus began to trudge through the snow. As she felt the icy cold powder hit her hooves, she quickly concluded these weren't the best conditions to be walking in. Returning to the cliff side, she jumped off the mountain and plummeted towards the ground below. Just as she was about to hit the treetops, her wings flew open and she made a sharp turn away from the ground. The soaring mare glided over the trees, their leaves rustling in her wake. As she flew on in the freezing conditions, she slowly felt her energy draining at an alarmingly quick rate. Reluctantly, she slowed down before coming to a halt in a clearing.
        The second her hooves touched the ground, she swallowed a large gasp of air, graciously welcoming the oxygen which flooded her lungs. Almost immediately after, the welcoming gasp gave way to one of pain. She caught herself, and took a slightly more moderate breath in. Her eyes widened in surprise. Though she had been expecting the situation to be somewhat dangerous, this seemed a bit… severe. She turned to face the trees.
        Rainbow Dash trudged on through the piled snow. She shuddered as a freezing gust of wind rustled the snowy trees' leaves. Regaining her composure, the pegasus continued. Despite her efforts, the terrain was becoming more and more difficult to traverse; she suspected that she was now walking in two feet of snow. As her forward motion grew sluggish, she froze in her tracks. In a sudden jolt of realization, the mare’s eyes lit up.
        Something was wrong.
        Until now, Rainbow Dash had never felt like she was in true danger. However, this was different. She was a weather pony—one of high regard, at that—if the temperature was growing this frigid...
        An overwhelming sense of terror washed over Dash as her heart began to rise in pace. Each bated breath which accompanied a shaky step through the mounds of snow burned her throat. The pegasus did her best to maintain a forward pace, pausing at intervals to take what struggled breaths she could muster. It had seemed a certain instinctual sense of determination had overtaken the mare, temporarily blinding her to her own fears as she scanned the environment for any method of warmth available.
        A stinging sensation had attacked her hooves, making it at once known as a serious threat. As Rainbow shambled forward, she could feel her knees almost buckle with every reluctant step. Gradually, her hooves began to lose feeling before turning completely numb; the very tips of what she required to continue on had absolutely lost all warmth. The cyan pegasus' eyes watered as she struggled to keep them open. Desperate to attain some end to the pain, Dash halted in her tracks and began to bite at her own skin, tearing at the dampened fur of her coat. Eventually, the pain of the situation became too much; the mare's legs gave out beneath her and she felt her body land on a strangely comfortable pillow of snow.
        As her vision grew hazy, her mind played with the concept of rest. Though she knew it wouldn't help her at all in her journey for shelter from the cold, it suddenly seemed like a Heaven awaiting her, beckoning to her through the frozen wasteland. A bit of mist lingered on the far edges of the forest, moving slowly through the trees. If she could just get a bit of sleep… The onset of fog approached at a rapid rate. Soon, it enveloped her entire vision, coaxing her exhausted body into a deep and peaceful slumber... 
A faint voice called to her, ushering through the sudden darkness which encircled her view.

        "This place… isn't exactly as it seems."